No one else moved a muscle, we all just stared in the direction Herbalist Hardandra had disappeared in. In fact, it felt like none of us were even breathing as we stared after her. I glanced around at all the adults around me, waiting for some signal, someway we were supposed to act, but none of them moved or said anything. That's when I remembered what Ocean had shown me- the image of Hardandra crying holding something bloody in her hands... What if that had been Mister Smokes? As soon as that thought crossed my mind I took off after Hardandra.
I raced up the path towards her house, hoping that I was wrong, that once I got there something minor would've happened to Smokes. Something that would alert and scare Hardandra but not cause physical injury to either. The wind seemed to fight me as I raced forwards, it pushed me as I ran into it, and at the same time made it hard to see as my hair flew everywhere.
I reached the top of the hill and could finally see Hardandra's house when my foot caught on a rock and sent me tumbling head over heels. I sat up somewhat dizzy, looking around. Hardandra. Mister Smokes. I scrambled to my feet frantically before, once again, breaking into a run. I thought back to the picture Ocean had shared with me, Hardandra had been sitting in front of a fence by the barn, so she must've been in the back yard by the mare barn.
I stopped dead in my tracks as soon as I saw Hardandra. The scene in front of me was exactly like the one Ocean had shown me. Hardandra was sitting on her knees, cradling a bloody body close to her chest. She was crying so hard that it didn't look like she was even breathing. I don't think I was even breathing anymore, I just stood frozen, staring at her as if time itself had frozen us where we were.
I don't know how to help her, I don't even know where to start. I'm eight years old! I don't know how I ever thought I could become a Hunter or a Leader, I can't even help my friend! I didn't even realize I was crying until my father and other Hunters had arrived.
I couldn't look away from Hardandra, not even to focus on whoever was suddenly dragging me away. Even when I could no longer see Hardandra through the surrounding Hunters, I still stared after her as if somehow my gaze could help her comfort her. Swiftly I was pulled around the corner to the other side of the house where I could no longer see anyone.
"Kate. Kate!" Hunter Ryan broke me out of my trance, he must've been the one who pulled me over here. I looked up to meet his gaze. "What happened?"
"I-I don't-t Kn-know." I stuttered, shuddering as the image of Hardandra and Smokes came back to mind.
"It's going to be okay," Hunter Ryan said putting his hands on my shoulders, "everyone will be okay..."
"Mister Smokes?" I asked hoping I had assumed wrong, that it wasn't Smokes' body that Hardandra had been holding. Hunter Ryan shook his head sadly, standing up straight once more and looking over his shoulder. Just then someone began screaming, which I would guess was Hardandra, and I instantly ran forward, back in the direction we came from. Hunter Ryan caught me immediately and held me in front of him so that I couldn't move.
"Hardandra's okay, they have to take Mister Smokes' body to bury him. She can't hold onto him forever, Kate. She has to let go. She has to move on."
"B-but Smokes is her Spiritus Vinculum she can't just forget him!"
"I don't expect her to forget him, Kate. The village just needs her to accept it and move on. Most villagers won't understand why it's going to be hard for her to move on, but we do. As her friends, it is our job to help her continue to live without Mister Smokes. You were the closest person to her, Kate, and I hate to ask this of you, but you have to find a way to help her move on. It has to be you Kate, so I need you to calm down right now, so we can go back over there and you can help your friend. Can you do that Kate?" I nodded my head slightly, wiping my eyes on my sleeves.
"Okay," I whispered, "I'm ready." He nodded in response and we both walked back around to the other side of the house. Hardandra was standing, staring blankly at the forest as if waiting for something. Half the Hunters had vanished and the others were standing there rather awkwardly as if unable to decide what to do next.
"Hunter Ryan. Kate," my dad said when we came into view, "take Hardandra inside." Hunter Ryan nodded, walking towards where she was standing before turning back to me.
"Go wait in the house, we'll be there shortly." Hunter Ryan said turning back towards Hardandra. I nodded, even though he was no longer looking at me, and immediately went in through the back door. I went straight to the kitchen and began making tea before even realizing what I was doing. Maybe, I thought, I should add some herbs to it, to help Hardandra relax. Suddenly Hardandras and my conversation came to mind.
"What does Ilnim do?"
"Well, it can be used for many things, but the main one is relaxing. If a person is grieving it helps them relax and sleep." I pulled some Ilnim out of the drawer and began crushing it to put in the tea as our other conversation came back to me.
"So why did Smo tell me I needed to fill an entire box with Ilnim I have NO clue." All the signs had been there, Smokes somehow knew he was going to die, didn't he?
"I don't understand why. Why have you been acting so strange lately Smo? What's wrong? You know I need you with me if something happens right?" She had asked him. "Come to me if anything happens, okay? I love you, my sweet boy." Her words seemed to fade in my mind as I dropped the crushed Ilnim into the tea. As if on cue, Hunter Ryan led Hardandra into the house and sat her down on the couch. I walked slowly so that none of the tea would spill and handed her the cup gently.
She seemed so lost as if she couldn't recognize where she was or what was happening. "Here," I said softly, slowly releasing the cup, "drink this." She slowly lifted her head and as soon as she met my eyes, her entire posture changed. Hope bloomed in her eyes and she began to tremble.
"Kate! Katie! Do you know where they took Smo? My sweet boy, my poor sweet boy, tell me you know where he is? He can't be left alone! Someones going to hurt him! You know! Please, Katie! You remember how scared he was that night, someone was trying to kill him! I know it, Kate! Please we have to find him," She exclaimed setting the cup down and grasping my hands tightly in hers, "we have to help him!" I began to tremble as I tried to hide my fear and not cry in front of her.
"Hardandra, you need to drink the tea," I said softly, attempting to pull my hands from her.
"No. No-no-no-no-no. No! Please, Katie! My sweet boy, my Spiritus Vinculum, you're the only one who understands Kate! He's my best friend! I can't do it without him! Please! We have to bring him home." I attempted to back away, but she simply tightened her grip around my wrists.
"Hardandra let go of Kate." Hunter Ryan said Walking around the edge of the couch.
"No. No, Ryan. She is the only one who can help me! Listen he can't be dead! He showed me something that happens in the future, he wouldn't see a future without himself would he?" She finally released her grip enough that I could slip my hands out of hers and back away further."
"Hardandra," Hunter Ryan warned, "you need to calm down."
"No! Why can't you see? What Smo showed me, hasn't happened yet! It's the reason we had to get all the Ilnim! He has to be alive then! For the future that he showed me! It hasn't happened yet! We have to find him!"
"HE'S DEAD, Hardandra," Hunter Ryan sighed, "I'm sorry, but he's not coming back." She leaped off the couch, sending the cup flying to the floor as she grabbed my arm. Instantly everything changed, suddenly I was underwater. I couldn't move though. I could hardly see too, at least until I caught a glimpse of hair. A horse's mane to be exact, Ocean's mane. I reached towards it and right before I touched it the vision was ripped away and reality came crashing back down. I fell to the floor gasping as though I actually had been underwater. Hunter Ryan had pulled Hardandra away from me and was staring at me worriedly as he held onto Hardandra.
"I know you saw that Kate..." Hardandra trailed off as her eyes filled with tears once again.
"Are you going to do that again or can I let you go?" Hunter Ryan asked.
"I won't," she said, "I'm sorry, I-I can't right now." Her voice broke as she sank back into the couch and began to sob again.
"No ones asking you to do anything right now, Hardandra. Just relax, okay? The other Hunters are burying Mister Smokes and we would like to hold a proper ceremony for him whenever your ready, but for now take some time."
"They don't want a ceremony for Smo," Hardandra said softly looking at the floor.
"What do you mean," Hunter Ryan asked, "he was a huge part of our village, he helped save countless people after hunts."
"Are you that blind?" Hardandra asked her voice shaking. "You don't get it, do you! Maybe Smo deserves a proper ceremony, but only you, the Leader, Katie, and I see it that way. The rest of the village saw him as merely a ferret."
"But he was a ferret, Hardandra. I have stood by your side when your other friends left you. When your father died and you brought home a ferret you claimed you were bonded to. I stood by your side because I believed you, watching the way you both communicated? The way you both knew what the other wanted, needed, without ever saying a word? I believed everything you said about that ferret because I saw the bond you two shared. Sometimes you forget that as human as he seemed, as many conversations you had with each other, all the lives you saved together, he was always, still, a ferret!"
"But he wasn't JUST a ferret..."
"I said he was a ferret, not JUST a ferret... I guess I still just don't understand why you don't want to give him the ceremony he deserves?"
"Because then the village would be required to attend. To say goodbye to someone they believed did nothing. There was no way what happened the other night and him dying tonight was a coincidence. I always knew not everyone in the village liked Smo, but to take it this far? To do something like this?"
"What are you talking about?" Hunter Ryan asked. Instantly it clicked in place in my head and I stood up catching both their attention.
"She's saying Smokes didn't just die... Someone in our village killed him." I said.
"If that is true," Hardandra opened her mouth to object to Hunter Ryan's words, "I'm not saying it isn't, but if it is... Then as the top Hunter, I promise you, Herbalist Hardandra, that I will find who killed Mister Smokes and they will have to face village punishment for what they have done." Hardandra bowed her head, as silent tears rolled down her cheeks, but before she could say anything Hunter Ryan spoke up again, "I think it's time to get you home Kate. It's been a long day and you need to get some sleep." That was that normally I would've argued, but all I wanted was to go to sleep and pretend that tonight never happened. Maybe, I would fall asleep and when I wake up I'll realize that this was all just a dream and everything was actually okay...