The man let out a deep sighed and gave only an apologetic look towards Anne which she returned with a glare. The two stared at each other for awhile and Anne looked away as the others wolves from above called out Jacob.
"Oi, come back here! It's bro Jacob's turn!" and Jacob then bowed his head for the last time and got out of the room.
The gate was closed again, leaving Anne lying on the floor. Anne felt exhausted already and yearn to fall asleep. But she knows better, and rather than sleeping, she remained awake and alarmed.
Minutes went by and the gate quietly turned open, and to Anne's delight, the gate revealed a set of lips and not a pair of eyes — it was Toto! and Anne internally smiled at the sight of him.
He instantly released Anne from her bounds, and when the last rope had been untied, Toto carried Anne and immediately fled out of the place inconspicuously.
-------
Toto lied down on the blanket and closed his eyes. Anne sated on the cloth and sighed. Toto opened his eyes and looked at Anne worriedly. She would never know if Toto was looking at her or wasn't.
"Toto." Anne spoke warily.
"What?" he answered nonchalantly.
"I can't sleep." Anne told him truthfully. The event earlier crept at the back of her mind and she felt very uneasy.
"Lay down so you could." Toto answered.
"I don't want to." responded Anne.
"Then what do you want me to do?" Toto asked.
"Teach me how to wield a sword." she straightforwardly told him.
Toto was surprised with what she had plead.
'You don't need a sword, you're the saviour.' he thought to himself.
But of course, she didn't know.
"Alright ..alright." Toto stood up, pretending he wasn't pleased with the idea.
He reached out to his other pocket and pulled out a sword with its scabbard on it. It was the sword he was afraid to wield since the sword doesn't recognize him as its owner. But he cannot give Anne his current sword as it's too long for her.
"Here." He handed Anne the sword from his pocket.
"Woah, you got a lot of stuffs in your pocket." she said as she had accepted the sword.
"Just a few.. okay... Now pull out the sword." He stated.
Anne stared at the weapon. She then slowly pulled out the sword on its scabbard and had placed the container on the blanket. For the time being, she was clutching the sword with both of her hands.
Toto stared at her in disbelief. Since she had managed to pulled it out from the scabbard, the sword then recognizes her as its owner. Toto hide his incredulity and spoke once again.
"Now try to attack me with that." Toto challenged.
"Are you serious?!" Anne retaliated in incredulity.
"Yes. We gotta know what you got." Toto smirked after. Anne was hesitant. There was no way she would attack Toto. A moment had passed and Anne was still making up her mind.
"Okay... I'll give you an hour. If you'll not then ---" Toto didn't manage to finished what he was saying when Anne launch an attack. She managed to collide the sword on Toto's left arm, and it was unintended. Toto gasped in pain as an air escaped from his mouth. He quickly drew his sword and point it towards Anne.
Anne stared at him and his sword in horror.
"Sh*t" Toto cursed and put the sword out as he realized what he was doing. He clutched his arm with his right one as he felt the cut bleeding.
"I'm sorry .. I'm sorry." Anne panicked and drop the sword as she shakes.
Toto forced a smile at her, "I'm alright. This is nothing." He said while clutching his arm.
"Get the sword and keep it in your pocket." Toto told her as he sated on the blanket.
Anne's hands quavered with her knees as she knelt down to get the sword. She moved back to the blanket with the sword in her hand. Of the blanket, she got the scabbard from off the surface and put the sword away with it in her pocket she surprisingly found. The moment the sword reached her pocket, the sword shrunk. Or was the pocket had an intense storage capacity that could carry heavy stuffs at great number. She don't know.
Anne looked at Toto worriedly. Toto took off his outer robe, and undershirt as he inspected the cut. With his bare skin shown, Anne knew Toto was around her age. But the thing was, Toto's face was still covered by the covering hood on his head.
Toto started rummaging his pocket in search for a cloth to put pressure on the cut. He was rapidly losing blood. That's the reason he thought the sword was dangerous.. the sword does not recognize him. And if a sword does not, it would inflict a fatal wound to its foe.
Toto was treated as a foe by his own sword. But he commanded it all along.
But he haven't expected the sword to be that mad as it managed to gave him a fatal cut.
"I'll find one," Anne volunteered as she panicked and searched in Toto's robe a piece of cloth.
Toto stared at her and wondered why she was worried. For once, he was nearly killed. But no one, not even his brothers were worried about him. Besides, it was a small cut. Toto realized the edges of the cut was healing by itself. After all, a sword could never fully turn its back on its master. But the cut ought to be treated right away as he was losing blood himself.
Anne hurriedly looked in his pocket, and when she spotted a cloth, she shifted in Toto's side and tied it around his cut.
Toto saw the stress in Anne's face.
"Anne!" he whispered, loud enough for Anne to her. Anne was startled and she looked at him with guilt in her eyes.
"I'm okay." Toto said and a genuine smile crept on his lips.