The boy fought the assassin who was blocking him. He swung his sword forward as he charged towards the enemy. He felt a surge of energy swelling up inside him and attacked the assassin more fiercely with more force. It could be because someone had shown up for his help, and that had given him moral support or that he had a reason to be stronger than he was before. He had learned swordsmanship and martial art since he was young. Though he might not be as strong as some people out there, he was strong enough to defend himself. He knew that his life was always surrounded by dangers. It gave him a reason to learn the necessary skills to protect himself and survive in a cruel world full of conspiracies.
The girl did not know martial arts. She learned how to survive in the mountain fending off vicious animals, but going up against the skilled assassins who had learned and mastered fighting skills for years and been fighting most of their life would be too much for her.
Although the girl was agile and had built stamina over the year, she was not strong enough to face skillful assassins. She could dodge the swings and thrusts of the sword, but it would be only a matter of time before one swing hit her but still, that couldn't scare her. The brave soul kept the assassin running around, and got him tired. She continued to flee from the assassin and when she gained enough distance; she shot arrows at the assassin.
Since the girl was running backward, aiming her bow and arrow at the assassin, she tripped on a vine, causing her to tumble backward. She fell on the ground and the assassin saw it as an opportunity to kill her off. He barged forward at full force and swung his sword down to cut the girl.
Out of natural instinct, she lifted her bow up to block the sword but the sword cut through the bow and landed on her shoulder. She used the arrow in her hand and thrust it forward right into the assassin's abdominal area.
It managed to injure him but he wasn't dead and he wasn't going to leave her either. He retracted his sword and took another swing. At the same time, the girl pushed herself off the ground, sped behind him and took out her knife that was strapped to her waist and stabbed the assassin in the spinal cord making him paralyzed instantly.
The last assassin noticed that he was the only one left. He realized that it was better to flee and get more reinforcement later than dying without a single one surviving to relay the message to the head-quarter. They had been paid a hefty price for the mission and they must complete the mission. He took off and fled from the scene.
Back in the hurt where the little girl stayed, the elderly woman treated the wound on the boy's back and the cut on the girl's shoulder. The little girl had brought the injured boy along with her to her place. He was a well-mannered boy with proper etiquette but a little stiff on personality.
In the silence, the woman studied the boy and thought how similar the two children were. They were so resilient and remained composed in such adversity of the cruel world they faced. She did not ask or question their situations, but looking at the boy and his clothes, she figured out that he must be from a noble family.
The trio sat in silence until the woman broke it as she offered him to stay just the way she had offered the little girl back then when she had found her. "If you have nowhere to go, you may stay here. However, if you must go… leave after you are healed."
The boy did not get a bad vibe from them. Besides, the girl had saved his life so he gently nodded, accepting the offer and turned his head towards the girl. "Thank you for helping me back there."
The woman went out the door to the shed to get more woods. Seeing that she had left, the boy got up and approached the girl who was sitting on the chair by the wall. He took out his pendant and handed it over to her. "I don't have anything with me right now but take this. In the future when I have a chance to, I'll properly thank you." The boy dropped the pendant on the girl's hand.
The girl shook her head to decline the payment. "Ah... You don't need to. I saved you because your situation reminded me of my past."
The boy knitted his brows and asked sternly. "Were you chased by assassins too?"
The girl took a deep breath before narrating what had happened with her. "No. My sister and I were sold to a brothel when I was small. I don't have much memory of my life before the brothel, but my sister didn't want me to follow her footsteps. So, she took me away. We tried to escape but were pursued by the brothel men workers."
Her eyes held a profound sadness but she radiated a determined aura that she was going back there someday to tear down the place. She continued, "My sister, to save me… she acted as a decoy to give me time to escape but she was killed in the process." The girl raised her head to look at the boy standing in front of her and said, "If you want to thank me, teach me how to fight instead."
The boy furrowed his brows. He felt that she might do something dangerous if she knew how to fight. "What are you planning?"
Afraid that the boy she rescued might have seen through her, she looked down to avoid eye contact with him and remained silent. The elderly woman came back with some woods and threw a couple of pieces into the stove. The boy looked briefly over at the elderly woman before shifting his attention back to the girl. "May I know your name?"