[ 05/07/499 ]
When I woke up the sun had just risen and Alia was still sleeping.
If hunger had not pulled me out of my sleep, I would probably still be like her at that moment.
But yesterday I hardly ate anything either, because after only 1 bite we were caught by Haku and Sayori.
So I had to find something to eat before my body gave up.
Which was about to happen, given the speed at which events had taken place over the last four days.
So I set off in the opposite direction to the camp, to try and find some wild food and hopefully some meat.
After more than an hour of searching, I had managed to find about 20 mushrooms, berries and wild carrots.
My body would still be short of protein, but my belly would be a little fuller and I would have plenty of energy.
I then returned to Alia who was still sleeping.
I turned on the fire that had gone out and put all the food on a plate and cooked it.
Once everything was ready I went to wake Alia up.
"Is it only now that you are waking up? I said to her.
"It's you who didn't come to get me up, it's not my fault."
"Say, the one who was asleep just ten seconds ago."
"So, what did you make for dinner?" She replied, changing the subject.
"There's not much, but I managed to find some mushrooms, berries and carrots.
"Did you find them in the camp?"
"No, I went into the forest before while you were awake."
"Oh and you're sure everything is edible."
"I spent 16 years of my life in this forest so I can assure you that everything on this plate is edible. I can even taste it before you to prove it if you want.
"No you don't, I believe you." She said with her mouth full of food.
"Don't eat it all, I haven't eaten anything in over four days.
"It's okay don't worry, you'll get more than I will."
So we finished eating that meal.
Even though it wasn't very substantial, I still felt that it had given me some energy.
"Shall we go straight to Dorta? Alia asked me.
"Yes, we'll feed the horses, take the coach and then head for Dorta.
"Well, I'm ready, we'll go when you are.
"Well, here we go."
We took the bags and headed back to Yo.
I think it took us an hour and a half to get back to my house.
I mean Alia's house.
When we saw the horses, they looked pretty good.
So we took some food and water and gave it to them.
But above all, we finally prepared a real meal with meat, pasta and rice.
What usually with the rest of my family would have been two meals for six, we ate for two in one meal.
After we finished eating. I went to stand at the control of the coach and Alia came to stand next to me.
"Here we go, towards Dorta!" she said, pointing to the horizon with her index finger.
I can't really explain why, but every time I move from town to town, I get a feeling of dread in my stomach, like I'm afraid something bad might happen. I didn't pay too much attention to it during my first trip to Taiki, but since my journey to Meh, this strange feeling has only become stronger. It's not the first time I've travelled between several cities, although since the beginning of the preparation for the war, it's the first time I've done so much in such a short time.
But for this trip this uneasiness is even more heavy than usual, but for this time I think it's a mix of stress, apprehension and mostly due to my impatience to see them all again, because despite 16 years of existence, it's the first time I've left my family for more than 3 days.
The last time I left them for several days, I had just turned 7 and to celebrate this event I went to spend a weekend with my grandparents, but the distance separating us from my family was not very great since they also lived in Yo.
Unfortunately, I never saw them again after that weekend as they are no longer with us. Even now I don't know when or where they died or why they died. But I've heard my parents talk about it between them, and apparently they were murdered by someone, but the killer was never found.
This is a phenomenon that is not uncommon in this state. Karroé is one of the poorest countries, some people do not hesitate to commit one or more murders to steal the food of the dead.
Just thinking about this for a few seconds made the stomach ache worse.
"Yù, do you know which way to go?"
This question brought me out of my thoughts and I could see that we had already arrived at Yo, but that there were two roads ahead of us, on the left, towards Taiki and the right towards Koret, and Dorta, our final destination.
"Yes, we have to head northwest. So we have to turn right.
"All right."
A few seconds passed without either of us saying a word, but the gap was only brief as Alia asked me a question.
"What were you thinking about?
"When?"
"Just before I asked you which way we should go. I saw it, you were like absent, like you were thinking about something.
It's not something serious, is it?"
"Oh that. Nah, don't worry, I was just thinking about what I'd say to them when I saw them all again. Nothing more."
"Well, if that's all, I'm glad."
"If you like, you can go and rest in the back during the journey, I'll take care of running the coach."
"Thanks, that's nice, but I'd rather stay here so I can make sure you don't take us somewhere weird."
"Thank you, trust prevails." I said ironically.
The rest of the journey took a little over 6 hours, as the road was not in very good condition, but nothing bad happened to us.
And thanks to this journey, I managed to learn more about Alia.
Alia - Presentation
- Sex: Female.
- Name: (Unknown) Alia.
- Age: 19 years old, born on (Unknown).
- Height: 1.72 metres.
- Weight: (Unknown).
- Hair/Colour: Smooth brown hair, down to the middle of the back.
- Eye Colour : Brown / Orange.
- Physical Characteristics : Nothing special to specify.
- Clothes : Black wide-legged trousers, sky blue long-sleeved t-shirt and black sleeveless jacket, and black, white and red shoes.
- Strength: (Unknown).
- Abilities: (Unknown).
Despite all the new information I know about him.
There is still one thing I regret during this trip.
It is that she did not answer my question: "And your parents, do they know that you travel in the country?
But for some reason, the smile she had been wearing since the beginning of the trip vanished in a second and since that unanswered question, I haven't had the courage to ask another one.
We knew we had arrived in Dorta because there was a big billboard saying "We wish you a pleasant stay in Dorta" and next to the billboard we could see the time on it: 4:53pm.
This was rather good news as it meant that we still had a few hours to look for my family in this town.
But without warning I heard:
"Can we go buy something, I'm hungry?
I looked to my left and saw Alia looking me in the eye with a look that begged me to stop and eat something.