She wasn't a peaceful sleeper. She created chaos. A lot of it. She moved around a lot. She talked in her sleep.

I didn't sleep a wink that night.

–

"Ninaaaaa, wake up. You're drooling all over the place."

Argh... My eyes were heavy and I had trouble opening them.

"What..?" I said with difficulty.

"We have to leave! To look for my things! We're both already dressed, you're the last one to wake up, haha! Sleepyhead!" she kept touching my face.

Seriously? How did she have so much energy already? It was still early in the morning.

"Ugh, leave me alone." I said, rubbing my eyes.

"It's unusual for you to wake up so late, everything okay?" Jill asked softly.

"No. I didn't sleep at all. Because of this intruder." I pointed to Dyanna.

"Me? What did I do?"

"Chaos. Too much chaos. I swear you'll never sleep with me again." I said, yawning in annoyance.

I got dressed to go out.

In the meantime, Miss Rich said that she had buried her treasure near a large boulder, where she had been a few days before. But she didn't remember where this boulder was.

"How is it possible that you don't remember?? You were there more than a single night."

"Well, I'm not used to sleeping on the grass, like you lot!" she retorted.

Privileged. Yeah, lucky you.

"Let's split up. Dyanna, you go over there, we go over here. Afterwards we'll meet up at this point, okay? Don't get lost."

"What? But I'm scared to go alone."

"We can't do it any other way. I don't think you have the strength to carry Nina."

"Okay..." She couldn't say anything to that statement, as she wasn't very muscular. Just very thin. She would have snapped like a twig at the first gust of wind.

We set off east, Jill and I. There was a mountain on that side and it was possible there were large rocks in the area. Dyanna, on the other hand, went west, where there was a river. That was also a rocky area.

Jill's strategy made sense. Both areas could have been the one she meant.

We walked around for quite a while, at least two hours. But we found no boulder that matched the girl's description. She had said that it was very large and of a particular shape: a large crack in the center, covered in moss. We found all kinds of rocks, but there wasn't a single one like that.

"I think she lied to us. Maybe she just wanted to use us to have a place to sleep for a night." I said, without even a shred of trust in her.

"I didn't think you were so pessimistic. Maybe I'm having a bad influence on you."

"Hahaha, I don't think it's your fault. I don't know... Too many things have happened to me lately. I wasn't like this before. Now I have a hard time trusting people. Except for you, I guess."

"You make me feel special like this." he said jokingly.

"Well, I won't deny that you are." I replied quickly.

He smiled very genuinely. He hadn't expected it. Maybe no one had ever said that to him. For a world that had always used him and thrown him away, my words must have sounded new to him. Strange, different.

"Thank you, that's a nice compliment. I don't know if I deserve it, though."

I just smiled at him. I didn't say anything. There was no need.

We walked back to the meeting point, but there was no sign of Dyanna.

I sighed.

"See? She just used us. She already ran away. I told you we shouldn't trust her."

"Let's wait a little longer, maybe something happened to her."

"Hmph. If you say so."

We sat down on the grass, next to each other. It was so natural for both of us that he always took me with him. We didn't even notice anymore.

"Really, she's not coming back."

"Well, maybe you're right... We'll see."

I could see he wasn't sure. He didn't believe in her. But he wanted to. Maybe for a deeper reason. That I didn't know.

Then I heard a noise. Fast, uncoordinated.

"Someone's coming."

"What? Your hearing's crazy! How do you do it?"

"I don't know, haha. It's always been like this. But now shhh. I think I hear something."

I turned my ear toward the sound.

"It seems like a voice to me... But I can't make out the words..." I tried to concentrate even more "Uhm... A female voice... Yes, yes, it's a girl."

Hm? Wait, a girl? Dyanna?

"Is it her??" he asked surprised.

"Err, I think so..." I didn't believe it. "I think she's shouting something."

"Let's go towards her right now! She could be in danger."

"What? But then we'd be in danger too..."

"Nina, come on, there's no time."

He grabbed me quickly and started sprinting towards where I was leading him. What a formidable pair we were. I was the commander, he was my soldier. Or maybe it was the other way around. I don't think I'm that intelligent.

Then we saw it. Her. Hiding behind a tree, scared.

"What is she doing?" I asked, confused.

"Look over there. There's a wild boar."

"A wild boar? So what?"

"I guess she's afraid of them."

Once again I thought - how privileged she was. What a privileged girl. She was scared of wild boars? Give me a break. There were far scarier things in this world than a little wild boar.

"Psst. Dyanna, come here!" I said. The wild boar was far away, and hadn't seen us, but it could have been a problem if it perceived us as a threat.

She couldn't hear me. She was too busy shaking.

"Dyanna!" I whispered even louder. She couldn't hear me.
Haaaa... We had to get closer to her.

"Dyanna! Dyanna!" she finally turned around and noticed us.

"Guys! You came to save me!"

"That's right, so be grateful. Now come with us, and be quiet, don't let it see you."

"Ok. I'll be as light as a ballerina, I promise! I did ballet."

What was she even talking about? Ballet? Whatever that means.

And whatever it was, it didn't help her. She put her foot on a branch that made an incredibly loud CRACK!

I don't even know how she did it. Absurd.

The boar noticed us. And it wasn't very happy.

Before he could take off, we started running. Running like furies, super fast. An enraged boar wasn't exactly the best of company, let's say.

"But why are we always running, the two of us?" I asked, particularly tense.

"I wonder that too! I think I've run more in the last few days than in my entire life put together!" he replied, giving a tired smile.

"Aaargh, I'm here too! Wait for me!" she shouted.

"Then move! Don't slow down!" he said.

Somehow, we managed to escape the danger this time too. But not without difficulty.

Jill and Dyanna arrived at the tent completely out of breath and I, too, even though I hadn't run, was exhausted.

Then she started laughing.

"Hahahaha! I haven't run this much since gym class! This was fun after all!"

Fun? We could have been killed! And she was laughing!

"Anyway, it was worth it!"

She started to take something out from under her dress. It looked like there was a pocket inside.

What a peculiar dress. Ours were completely different. In shades of white and brown. Hers, on the other hand, shone with gold, with lots of little circles that reflected the sunlight and made it sparkle. I don't know for sure if it was really gold. But that was the only precious material I knew.

"TA-DAAA!" She showed us with her hands a strange container. Made of a material I had never seen before. Hard, and blue. And with a colored writing on it. But I didn't understand it, and I certainly wouldn't have asked her what it meant. My pride said no.

"It's the famous ointment! In the flesh! I found it!"

Wow. That was the long-sought-after object, now before my eyes. The one that could solve all my problems, but also, possibly create new ones.

But I didn't want to think about it. The possibility that he could leave me.

What if I healed and everything else stayed broken?

"Huh, I've never seen anything like it. What material is this?" Jill asked curiously.

"Plastic! Ah, biodegradable, though, don't worry. We do have morals!"

"Err, we weren't really worried. I don't even know what exactly we should have been worried about..." he replied confused.

"What! Preventing pollution is something very important! We must avoid it at all costs, and you should care!"

"What is she talking about?" I nudged Jill.

"I have no idea. I don't understand a word she's saying."

Dyanna was offended by our ignorance and nonchalance. I guess she didn't understand the gulf between our two worlds.

"Anyway... We can fix your leg now! Excited?? I am!" she said, all fired up. "My life has never been so eventful!"

"Not particularly. Are we sure it's good for me? I don't trust this... To smear something I don't know all over myself."

"Yes, yes, I promise. There are definitely side effects but you're never supposed to actually read what they are. They scare you more than anything else. Almost certainly nothing will happen to you, don't worry!"

These statements of hers did not reassure me at all. At. All.

"Come on, Nina, let's try it. I'm here with you if anything happens." said Jill, softly.

These words, however, comforted me. And they made me ready. Ready for whatever might happen to me. I felt strong. Protected, but not vulnerable.

"Go on, put it on me." I urged, with a newfound confidence.

"Okay! Now I'll start spreading it on you!"

In that moment of silence, as she held my bare leg in one hand and the ointment in the other, I was able to focus on her face, so close to mine. She was an objectively attractive girl. One who was closer to Jill's beauty than mine. Her facial features were different from those of the people I knew. She had very long eyelashes and thin eyebrows. A thin but long nose, with a little bump. It was very straight, and from the front, it reminded me of an arrow. Her mouth was large, plump. And she had very pink lips, almost unnatural. Her hair was light brown and wavy, with two small braids that started in the front and connected in the back. And then two more large ones that stuck out in the front. The rest of her hair was loose. She must have had a lot of it to be able to do such an elaborate hairstyle. It was incredible how it hadn't come loose at all, nor been ruined. Maybe it was due to some other secret item of The Rich. I envied her. I had to do my hair every morning.

Her skin was pale, but not too pale. She was tanned by the sun and her face was dotted with freckles.

She and I were completely different.

Our two worlds were contrasting in everything: the way we dressed, the way we spoke and even our features. Nothing in common. We couldn't really coexist.

"Done! It didn't hurt, did it?"

"Uh, no, no." Well, I hadn't actually felt anything. I was too focused on her. I wasn't even thinking about the ointment anymore. I couldn't even tell if it had been hot or cold.

I touched my leg. I was trying to figure out if anything had changed.

"My bone's still broken though." I noticed.

"Duhhh. It won't heal right away. You'll have to wait a few hours at least. Hm, wait while I check..." she began to turn the container, looking for something, and observed some tiny writings. "Oh, right! Yes, it says right here that you have to wait at least five hours to see results. For more serious injuries, up to a day." She put a hand to her chin. "Hmm, with such a long waiting time it's not very useful for real emergencies. I'll have to report this to the company." She finished, speaking to herself.

One day. I still had at least one more day with him.

And I would use it until the last second.

If it really was the last.

Because I wasn't ready to say goodbye to him.

Not at all.