[Click]

“AHHH!!!” Waking up in a cold sweat with a scream, I bolt upright in the bed gripping the rough woolen blanket in a death grip.

“EEEEEKKK!”

“Who’s there?” Hearing an unfamiliar squeal in the darkness of the room, I grab a knife from the sheath on the bedside table and throw it in the direction of the sound.

[Thump]

“AAhhhh!”

After hearing a thump I assumed the intruder was struck I jumped out of the bed and grabbed the remaining two throwing knives from the sheath and got in a defensive position while I waited for my eyes to adjust to the darkness.

“Mr. Allen! What’s going on?!” Busting open the locked door Aiden stood in the doorway in nothing but a pair of cloth pants holding his dagger in one hand with a lantern in the other.

“I heard you yelling and rushed over! Are you okay?!”

“Yeah, it’s just an intruder, far wall I think I got them with one of my knives.” I walk over to Aiden and take the lantern from him and move to there I heard the thump.

Laying there on the floor with a throwing knife sticking out it its shoulder was a small child. It was wearing ragged cloth clothes with a torn and holy hood covering its head.

“Thief! What do you think you’re doing in here?!I’ll have your hand cut off if one item is missing from this room!” Rushing over Aiden grabbed the intruder by the collar of its shirt and lifted it off the ground. In the process the hood fell back revealing a couple of lumps on its head.

“Aiden, calm down it’s only a child. No need to be so rough.” I light the other lanterns in the room so were no longer in the dark and I push a chair towards the child and Aiden.

“Sit them down in the chair, we need to remove that knife first before the questions come. I have things here, can you go bring me some herbs please?” Calmly I pull out a few rolls of cloth to be used as bandages and a needle and thread. “A couple of cups and some cold water as well please.”

“Are you sure? It may be a child but it’s still a thief.” Cautiously Aiden puts the child in the chair still keeping his dagger out. Adjusting his grip he causes the dagger to point in the child’s direction.

“Eeek!” Letting out a small squeal the child makes itself small in the chair and attempts to hide.

“I believe I can handle a child Aiden. Thank you for the concern but what I need the most right now are the herbs and water.” Pulling a chair next to the child I observe what I can see noticing a bright blue eye peeking out at me from behind its tiny arms.

“Oh…Okay. I’ll get them right away.” Putting away his dagger Aiden slowly walked over to the door and left, constantly looking back at the child. I noticed when he looked at it, he wasn’t looking at the child itself but he was looking at the lumps on its head.

Once he left I turned and looked at the bed to see Luna laying here looking at us. Not attacking the intruder or even showing a single hint of aggression towards it concerned me at first, but I decided it meant that there wasn’t a reason for her to and that the child wasn’t here to do me or her harm. I reach a hand out and put it on top of the child softly causing it to flinch slightly.

“He’s gone now you can stop hiding, I won’t hurt you.”

Slowly the child poked its head out and looked at me. A soft face and bright eyes with tears building up, not the usual thief id run into back home.

“Can I take a look at your shoulder? We need to get the knife out so it doesn’t get any worse than it already is.”

The child shakes its head viciously and slides to the edge of the chair.

“I’m sorry for throwing it at you but you startled me and my instincts took over. I just want to help stop the pain, I promise.”

Looking down the child slowly slides back to the center of the chair.

“Good, I promise I’ll be as gentile as I can.” I get out of the chair and kneel on the floor in front of the child and take another look at it. The kid couldn’t be more than thirteen years old, and now that I got a better look I was able to determine for sure it was a girl. She was small and frail looking but she didn’t make a sound aside from when I scared her or when she was stabbed. “Do you have a name?”

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Slowly she nodded her head. Wincing a little I looked at the knife and notices it was right beside the joint, so any movement

“My names Thomas, and this here…” I motion for Luna to come over here and she dose slowly wagging her tail. “…is Luna, my partner. Can we know your name?” Luna walked closer to the girl causing her to flinch. The child backed up as far as she could into the chair and had a death grip on either side of the seat. Luna was calm and sniffed her softly and wiggled her nose.

“Luna back up a bit, you’re scaring her.” I softly pet Lunas head while she takes a seat beside me. “So you know who we are, can I at least know your name?”

Slowly the girl relaxed her death grip on the chair and opened her mouth slightly. Nothing came out but she seemed to be thinking about what to say.

“…crisa…”

Softly, barely louder than a whisper I hear her say her name.

“Crisa huh? That’s a pretty name.” I smile and look at her trying to get her to relax a little.

If I can at least get a minor friendship going with her hopefully she’ll let me get that knife out of her shoulder.

“Now Crisa, I'm going to need to get that knife out of you before it leaves permanent damage okay? I won’t lie, it’s going to hurt but you’ll feel better soon after it’s out, I promise. So can I?”

Slowly Crisa nodded her head and looked away from the knife.

Lucky for her it’s a straight blade and not serrated. It’ll come out smooth but I just have to worry about the blood after the knife is out…

I grab a bundle of bandages and hold it beside the knife, ready to cover the wound as soon as the knife is out, and put on hand gently on the handle.

“You ready? I'm going to pull it out on the count of three okay?”

Slightly shaking with tears in her eyes she nods her head.

“One...Two…Three!”

“AAAHHH!”

As soon as the knife come out the blood being blocked by the blade was able to flow free. I quickly cover the wound and apply pressure. All the while Crisa sat there unmoving other than slight shakes from her silently crying.

“You did well. Once the bleeding slows down I'm going to stich the wound up so it can heal properly. Now, hold this bandage in place while I get everything else ready okay?”

Holding back more tears Crisa held the bandage and I went back to the table to get the needle. As I was turning back around to go back to her there was a knock on the door and Aiden walked in carrying a bag and a try with a pitcher and cups.

“I'm back, i got you some basic healing herbs and the water. Are you sure you want to use these on it? It’s just a thief and a criminal, it shouldn’t be treated like a law abiding citizen.”

“Its name is Crisa, and I believe there’s more to it than what we’re seeing. She’s also a child, we should correct and encourage growth in the young when they make mistakes rather than damn and discard them.”

Grabbing the bag I walk over to Crisa and kneel back down.

“Okay, let me take a look and see how you’re doing.”

Putting my hand over hers to take control of the bandage Crisa looks at me in disbelief.

“Why…” Softly whispering as if she was afraid to talk.

“Hm?” Slowly removing the bandage I don’t look away from the wound.

“Why are you taking care of me? I broke into your room and was trying to steal your stuff….”

“You’re a child. You make mistakes and just need to be pointed in the right direction. If people just gave up on everyone then where is the future for this world? Alright, I'm going to start stitching now, don’t move okay?”

“Un.” Eyes starting to tear up a little, I'm assuming from fear of the needle, Crisa makes a little noise and nods her head.

I slide her torn shirt to the side of her shoulder so I can see the wound easier, it’s a little baggy on her anyways so I don’t have to move it much. When I do I notice some markings on her neck, it looks kind of like a tattoo but I decide it’s a question for later.

When the needle passes through she flinches a little but not enough to mess up the process.

“So why are you here Crisa? Where are your parents?” Trying to keep her distracted from the needle I decide to start asking questions.

“They…they’re dead…”

Finishing up the final stich I put the tools down and look at her.

“I'm sorry” Grabbing a few herbs out of the bag I put them in a mortar and pestle and start grinding them, adding a little water to turn it into a paste.

“Aiden can you please grab me a shirt her size? This one is ripped and bloody. I'm sure Missy would know where to get one.”

“But Thomas she doesn’t deserve…”

“Aiden, please get me a shirt for her.” I hate to see intimidate on him but unless I did he wouldn’t do it.

“Ah...um yeah.” With a cold sweat Aiden quickly ran out of the room to find missy and a shirt for Crisa.

“I'm sorry to ask, but can you remove your shirt so I can wrap the wound properly?

“Un...” Nodding her head Crisa began to remove her ragged shirt. While waiting I noticed the mark on her neck went all the way around her neck and had an extension that ended above her heart. She dropped her shirt on the ground beside the chair and sat back straight up.

“What’s that tattoo around your neck?” Starting to rub some of the herb paste over the wound I ask about the tattoo.

“Slave brand, if I disobey an order it tightens around my neck, if I continue it tightens around my heart and kills me.” She answers softly as if she’s afraid the mark will react to just the explanation.

“Slave marking?” Grabbing the bandages I begin to wrap the wound. Going over the wounded shoulder, under her arms and around her chest a few times to make sure there’s a good tight wrap.

“Un…” Looking as if she didn’t want to talk any more about it I decide to drop it for now. I reach out and pat her on the head.

“Were finished, how do you feel? Better?”

“Un!” Looking at me she starts to smile slightly.

“I'm glad.” I ruffle her hair and hit the lumps on her head by accident.

“Eeehh!” Pulling her head away from my head, Crisa covered the lumps with her hands.

“I'm sorry! Are you okay?” I gently remove her hand and look at the lumps to make sure I didn’t hurt her. When I look closely I realize why she reacted the way she did. The lumps weren’t lumps, they were ears.