I have never seen her move so fast, not even when she was running to help someone in critical condition. She ran so fast that I lost sight of her within the first few seconds. On the bright side, at least I knew where she was going, although I don't know if Mister Smokes is still in the barn. Maybe he went into the forest for something and got hurt... What if Smokes is hurt? What if he's so hurt that Herbalist Hardandra can't even save him? What would happen if a Spiritus Vinculum died?
Just the thought of it made my stomach turn, what would happen to me if Ocean died? I raced faster in the rain, whatever happens, me and Hardandra have to make sure Mister Smokes is okay. I don't know what Hardandra would do without him...
Flashback:
"Herbalist Hardandra," I asked handing her a cup of tea, "how did you meet Mister Smokes?"
"As you know my father used to be a Hunter, just like many people in our village..."
"I remember, your father saved a TON of people in a stampede."
"Yes. I am much like him in that way, I always prefer saving people over killing others. Anyway, not all of our Hunters returned home that day. Then the next day everyone had returned except," she took a deep breath, "except my father. The village told me not to worry, but the day after day of him not coming home, I knew I had to look for him myself. I knew the townspeople didn't know where he had gone and I knew none of them would dare to tell me the probability that he was dead. I packed some food and herb into a bag and went in search of him. It took me days to find him..."
"What happened?" I asked.
"He had been trampled... No one knew he was down there, he wasn't supposed to be down there but he was. I didn't know what to do, he was the only person I had left, until... Well until Smo popped up. Mister Smokes had ended up in this world by accident, the same night as my father died as it turned out. Smo had even been injured in the stampede. His leg was broken and because of this, he had been hiding in a bush for over a week on his own. He was barely living when I saw him, but when I did I felt it. The Spirit Bond. And I knew, even if my father wasn't going to be there for the village and me anymore, that didn't mean we were alone. I needed to be there for the village and now Smo needed me... And more than anything I needed Smo...
Flashback end.
I sped up even more racing to the barn. I threw the door open, looking around for any danger. No one was there, it didn't look like anything had even happened. The mares and foals swished their tails lazily. If anything had happened to Mister Smokes it didn't happen in here... So where did they go? I ran blindly from the barn to the house, no one was there either. I began to panic, squeezing my eyes shut trying not to cry. That's when I remembered, I can use their light to find them! I took a deep breath, focusing all my energy, instantly golden orbs began to appear. I opened my eyes, the two nearest orbs appeared to be a little way into the woods. That had to be them!
I took off again in the direction the golden orbs were in, and there they were. Herbalist Hardandra and Mister Smokes. Hardandra was crying and Smokes was curled up in a tight ball hissing.
"What's going on, what's wrong?" I asked crouching down by Hardandra.
"Someone hurt Smo, he won't come out he's so scared..."
"Smokes?" I asked laying down on the ground to be more at eye level with him. He stared at me blankly.
"Smo? You have to come out... I have to get you back to the house, make sure you aren't hurt..." Her words faded as I closed my eyes and watched their energies. I blocked out Hardandra's blue energy to focus on Smokes's black, fearful one. It was clear that Hardandra was slowly reaching him as the amount of black in his energy faded. As soon as it was gone though, blue took over and with it an almost unnoticeable gray. What does gray mean? I'll probably have to ask Hardandra about it later, not now. I opened my eyes glancing over to the two of them.
Hardandra was still sitting on the ground; however, no she was holding Smokes. She cradled him so that his head was resting against her shoulder and her head could be buried in his soft fur. He chirped softly to her as if trying to comfort her. After minutes of them sitting together like that Smokes chirped again, this time louder and more demanding.
"I know," she said softly, "but you need me more." Smokes chirped again. "No, Smo. They will be fine." This time Mister Smokes growled and he sounded more wolf than a ferret.
"What's he saying?" I asked glancing between Smokes and Hardandra.
"He wants us to gather a few herbs and head back into the village to make sure no one is hurt or anything."
"Oh."
"However, one of us would have to stay here to watch the horses."
"Why? The mares and foals in the barn seem fine."
"Not them, the others. The horses in the pasture heard all the commotion and keep running. Someone has to watch and make sure none of them go through the fence."
"Well... How about you two go to the village and I keep an eye on the horses?"
"Normally, yes, but if they do go through the fence it would take you would have to run to the village, find us, and we would all have to run back. While if Smo or I stayed we would only have to send the other a message."
"That makes sense..."
"Not only that but Smo can't carry very many herbs to the village."
"I got an idea! It only takes Smokes like a minute to run between the village and your house, not only that but he knows more about herbs than I do."
"Where are you going with this?"
"If you carry down as many herbs as you think you'll need and end up needing more or different ones Smokes can run back and get them faster than I could-"
"That doesn't solve the other problem though, what if horses get out?"
"You didn't let me finish! You'll be in the village, not only that but animals from The Other can communicate with each other the same way Spirit Bonds do. So, theoretically, if the horses got out I could tell Ocean and Ocean could tell Smokes who could then tell you! And if your in the middle of helping someone and can't exactly leave, Smokes knows what to do and can take over... As long as that person doesn't need stitches Smokes will be fine taking over."
"I guess that could work..."
"And you wouldn't HAVE to leave Smokes alone for any long period of time." Smokes chirped in agreement and Hardandra nodded.
"Okay."
"Okay!" I said happily back.
"I'm going to go inside and pack the herbs we need, I don't think anyone was badly injured mainly just rope burn and scratches it seemed like... It's going to be chaos, I completely forgot."
"Forgot what?"
"The Water Whisperer will be at the village soon."
"Oh... I forgot about that too." We stared at each other, these next few weeks should be interesting.
"I guess we should really get moving." With that said Hardandra and Smokes headed towards the house and I headed to the backyard. She wasn't kidding when she said the commotion had upset the horses up here. A few stood, pressed against the fence, calling out to the horses in the village. The rest, however, were running through the pasture, rearing, bucking, kicking at any other horse that came near them. Could they sense that their friend had been captured? More than that did they know one of their friends had been killed?
The Herd had been huge, could they remember every last horse that was there with them? What if they can communicate with each other telepathically just like Spirit Bonds can? If so, did they feel the adrenaline of the fight? Did they feel the exact second their friends, possibly family, gave up? Did they feel their leader, their old protector submit to the enemy? Did they know the exact moment it happened that a villager, a Hunter, a human, had killed that paint mare?
If all of this was true if they knew and felt every time one of the horses from the Herd died then no wonder they hated humans. I mean if you had seen many of your friends get murdered and you knew who or what the murderer was then you probably wouldn't trust them either.