"Hey, Ralph," she said, drawing his attention. In fact, if she hadn't said anything, he was pretty sure he'd have passed by without noticing her.
"Hey, Hannah," Ralph said, sounding weird even to himself. Even in times like these he usually made himself sound cheerful, but with what had happened, he didn't think he would be able to pull it off properly. "Is Amelia alright?"
Hannah smiled, brining immense relief to Ralph. He was sure she'd only smile like that if her best friend was fine. "Yeah, she's alright. Apparently she slipped and fell into one of the deer-kin's pool of blood, then as she tried to stand up, she fell again because of how slick the blood was," Hannah replied. "If nothing else, I think she passed out because of the smell."
Ralph nodded. "Yeah, I don't think any of us were prepared for that," he commented absently, as he looked out over the camp.
"Earth to Ralph," Hannah said, pulling Ralph's attention back to her.
"Yeah?"
"Don't be like that, okay?" Hannah admonished Ralph. "We did what we had to do. Who knows what would happen to these people if we hadn't done that."
Ralph nodded as he sighed. "Maybe, but I mean, it was like one of the slasher movies I usually pick," Ralph said, part of him refusing to accept that the scene he'd witnessed as he walked out of the deer-kin camp was something that couldn't have been avoided. "I mean, there was all that blood and gore, but then that smell…" Ralph trailed off, not sure how to finish that sentence.
"Was terrible," Hannah finished for him. "Relax. We survived. And we saved all these people." Hannah paused before she smiled and continued, "Just be glad we didn't have to worry about Charlie. I mean, who knows how she would have taken that scene."
Ralph chuckled, starting to feel more like himself somehow. "Yeah, I doubt she'd have handled it near as well as Amelia," Ralph commented."
"Ha. Ha," Amelia said from behind Ralph, making him jump. "You realize I'm awake, don't you?"
Ralph turned in surprise. He actually hadn't even noticed Amelia, though he wasn't prepared for what he saw. Her entire head was practically coated with drying blood. He didn't expect to see her like that and was about to say something about it. However, Hannah saved him, though she probably wasn't aware of it.
"Maybe, but you still freaked out about the blood," Hannah replied smugly.
Ralph chuckled as Amelia glared at Hannah. "I didn't freak out about the blood," Amelia protested. "I couldn't get up after I fell. Then it was the smell that got to me. Not just the blood, but I think the intestines and stomach were punctured. That smell is much worse than the smell of blood."
Hannah shrugged. "Maybe, but I don't have any evidence to look at," Hannah replied.
"Okay, fine. We'll have this on hold until we get back with Charlie. She should be able to show you what I remember about it," Amelia said. Ralph glanced at Hannah as smirked at the green expression she had on her face. He doubted it would end well for Hannah.
"By the way," Ralph interjected before any more could be exchanged between the two, "Either of you know where Wes or Beth are?"
"Sorry, I only woke up about the time you got here," Amelia replied.
"I can't say for sure, but I think she's closer to the edge farthest away from the rise," Hannah said. "Or at least that's the impression I got when we were on our way up here, but I think she fell asleep, so I haven't been able to confirm that, but Wes should be around here somewhere nearby. Just not sure exactly."
"Thanks," Ralph said, helping Tim lay down. "I'll leave Tim with you guys and see if I can find Beth. We might as well make sure everyone is as okay as they can be,"
"We'll take care of him," Amelia assured Ralph.
Ralph nodded and set off to look for Beth. Just to make sure that she was alright, if nothing else. No one stopped him and he kept his ear out for any conversation from the pronghorn-kin that might indicate where Beth was. Not that there was much conversation at the moment anyway.
Most pronghorn-kin looked exhausted and were sleeping. Though, a few here and there worked at menial tasks, such as cooking something that they either had been able to forage nearby or that they had either with them when they were captured or when they left the deer-kin camp. Some children were awake as well, and they seemed to be given chores to do and none were playing.
When he was maybe ten feet away from the edge of the camp, he found Beth. Like Amelia, she was a mess of drying blood. Unlike Amelia, she only had that on one side of her. Although, she certainly looked worse than Amelia.
Ralph knelt down to feel for her pulse, but as he reached for her, a little girl ran up and slapped his hand away from Beth. Ralph was startled at what happened. He looked at the little girl in surprise and chuckled as she glared at him and tried to position herself between him and Beth. He estimated that the girl was around five or six, had reddish-purple hair, blue eyes so bright they almost glowed, and clearly nerves of steel.
"Protecting her, huh?" Ralph said gently.
The girl looked at Ralph startled. Ralph suspected that since Beth couldn't understand her and vice versa, the girl probably had expected that Ralph wouldn't be able to understand her either.
"Y- yoo c'n talk," the girl gasped.
Given how young the girl looked, Ralph decided to overlook the subtle insult her statement contained. "Yeah, I can talk," Ralph replied. "So can my friend Beth here." Ralph motioned towards Beth. "She just can't understand your language. We're not sure how I can either, but we're glad that I can."
"How do I know yoo're no' from the deer-kin camp," the girl asked cautiously.
Ralph closed his eyes, trying to maintain hold on his patience. He told himself that she's just a little kid and doesn't know any better. That helped a little, but he wasn't sure how much longer he'd be able to keep that hold.
"You see the pack she's wearing?" Ralph asked, hoping this would let the girl know that he wasn't there to hurt Beth.
"Yeah," the girl said. "What abou' it?"
"Well, do you see my pack?" Ralph asked. The girl hesitated a moment before nodding slowly. "Do you see the similarities between the two packs?" The girl nodded slower this time. "Wouldn't you think that they might be made from the same place?"
"Uh, 'm not sure what yoo mean," the girl said, confusion clear in her voice.
Ralph sighed. He could understand that. So, he couldn't be that annoyed with her. "How about this, then? Since the packs are so similar, wouldn't you think that might mean I know her?" Ralph asked after thinking about it a minute, still kneeling.
The girl shifted her stance, looking from Beth, to Ralph, and back again, clearly trying to figure out if what Ralph said made sense to her. As the girl seemed to come to the conclusion that Ralph did likely know Beth, given how her stance became less protective and she stepped to the side, a woman came over and scooped the girl up, glaring at Ralph as she used herself to block Ralph from Beth.
Ralph sighed. Did he really have to go through this again? It kind of looked like it, but the woman had dark blue hair, but her eyes were the same color and intensity as the girl's so he assumed that she was the girl's mother.
Ralph opened his mouth to speak, but stopped when the girl turned her head to the woman and whispered something to her. Ralph couldn't hear what was said, but the way the woman regarded Ralph changed noticeably.
"Sorry about that," she apologized. "I promised that what she did for my daughter, I would return in any way I could."
Ralph nodded, relieved that he wouldn't have to go through explaining how he was a friend of Beth's. "Don't worry about it," Ralph replied, a little amused as the woman's eyes widened in surprise.
"Tol' yoo," the girl giggled.
"It's nice to know that she had someone looking out for her," Ralph continued. "I just wanted to check her pulse, but if you say that she's alright, then I'll accept that."
Ralph didn't want to seem like he didn't trust her, so he figured he'd let it go. Besides, it was starting to get dark and he wasn't sure if he'd be able to get back to Hannah and Amelia by the time he wouldn't be able to see without any light. Though, a thought came to him that he figured he could ask about without seeming like he was attacking the woman.
"Would you mind if I cleaned her?" Ralph asked. "I'll just wipe down her face and maybe her hair, too."
The woman considered Ralph's request, glancing at her daughter for a minute before looking back at Ralph. "Why would you want to clean her face? She's a warrior and has been tested in combat. The blood is a mark of honor."
Ralph was surprised at that statement. "Well, if you think it should remain, I'll let it go, too," Ralph replied, wondering what Beth's reaction to the blood on her being a 'mark of honor.' He tried to keep a straight face, though he couldn't be sure how well he managed.
To get his mind off of Beth, he turned to the woman and the girl. "If you don't mind, would you tell me a bit about what's going on?" he asked. If they weren't going anywhere for a little bit, he might as well see if he could get any information. "My friends and I are new in the area, and we're not sure what's going on. Why are the beaver-kin like this and what's up with the deer-kin capturing your entire village?"
"Daddy knows," the little girl said, cheerfully.
"Where is your father?" Ralph asked.
The woman's face told Ralph what he needed to know. The girl's father was either injured and couldn't speak or was dead. Which meant he wouldn't be able to ask him that question and he was back at square one.
"Uh, would you know anything about all of this, ma'am?" Ralph asked the woman.
"Well, I guess… Uh, that is…" the woman was clearly surprised at Ralph asking her to answer, which showed not only in her tone, but how she couldn't seem to put any full sentence together for a minute. "You see, that is, no one asks the women those kinds of things. You need to ask one of the men."
Ralph was a little annoyed by the fact that the woman wouldn't answer, but he wasn't going to bother. There may be reasons he doesn't know about, especially since this is an entirely different culture he's dealing with.
"Well, would you either bring someone here who could answer those questions for me or take me to that someone?" Ralph asked, wondering if he would be better served just laying down somewhere where there was enough space and taking a nap instead of trying to get an idea of what was going on.
After a what felt like an hour to Ralph, but was probably a minute in reality, the woman sighed. "Wait here," she told him. "I'll see what I can do."
"Thank you," Ralph said, earning a look of confusion from the woman.
"Men normally don't thank women for anything," the woman mused. Ralph assumed she was talking to herself and didn't expect a response, so he stayed quiet. For one thing, if he talked to her a little more, she probably would have replied, which would mean she wouldn't be getting someone that Ralph could ask his questions to.
While he waited, he idly wondered what Charlie was up to. She'd surely gotten to Petals' forest by now. Even if she had encountered some deer-kin, he was sure she'd find a way to get past them.
Ralph didn't realize how tired he was. He let his eyes close while he waited, the dark around him helping him drift off to sleep. Even the light from the starlight or the crescent moons as the night fully covered the sky, didn't keep from falling asleep or staying asleep. His sleep was deeper than any he could remember having at all.