"Brother, am I going to die like the others?" she asked as she lay in bed, addressing her brother, who didn't look much older than her.
"No, Sarah, how many times have I told you not to talk like that!" said the young man.
He took the bowl of soup, which was boiling on the wood stove beside him and contained various herbs and what looked like animal skins floating in it, and tried to make his sister drink it with a wooden spoon.
With his dirty black chin-length hair and sharp black eyes, North was a skinny, ordinary young man who looked different from the people of his village and neighboring towns.
The sick girl was Sarah, a seven-year-old with brownish-blonde hair and light green eyes, who, until two days ago, had seemed curious and full of life.
Born and raised in the foothills where winters were very cold, the two siblings knew that getting sick in winter meant almost certain death.
"All you have to do is lie down and rest, and your brother will go and get the herbs you need."
'The herbs and animal skins we have will only last for three days at the most.'
'I need to get more before they run out because my sister needs to be fed proper medicinal food for at least ten days in order to survive.'
North, whose worst fear came true two days ago when he had returned from an unsuccessful hunt and was told by the villagers that his sister had suddenly collapsed and fallen ill, had pondered what to do but couldn't find a solution.
The village they lived in had herbs and animal skins to cure illnesses in winter, but the village elders only provided enough for three days to the sick.
He thought about what would happen if he secretly stole the herbs, but when he remembered what happened last winter, he gave up the idea.
The village elders had expelled a patient who had stolen food for a similar reason the previous winter.
Without a hut for warmth or protection from the wilderness, the man's body was found a few days later, partially eaten. Animals had torn him apart.
Having ruled out this idea, North considered the other option of going to the nearest town to buy supplies, but after realizing that he didn't have enough time or money, he gave up on this idea as well.
The town was a two day journey on foot, but distance and time weren't the real issues.
In winter, when the mountains were full of hungry wild animals, he had no chance of surviving on his own.
In the village where North and Sarah were born and in the surrounding human settlements, people showed great physical strength and endurance.
But hunting, which was difficult for people his age, was even more difficult for North, who grew up as an orphan and had to take care of his sister.
Eating enough to increase his physical strength was a dream for him.
While the children in the village had families to take care of them and feed them, he tried to feed himself and his sister by doing the work of adults with his meager strength.
This, combined with weaker physical strength and stamina than his peers, let alone adults, meant that his desire to hunt enough to save his sister would result in him being eaten by wild animals.
'If I steal supplies, I'll be caught, and it will kill Sarah and me. It isn't possible to hunt and trade for herbs. I am too weak. I think my last resort is to go to that place...' As he was thinking all this, there was a knock on the door.
knock... knock...!
After coming out of his reverie, North straightened his back, turned his head, and looked at the door. The door opened.
A beautiful woman in her early twenties, with blonde braided hair reaching down to her waist, entered the room.
She was holding a fabric that resembled a blanket in one hand and a bag containing herbs in the other.
This beautiful older sister, who was always kind and friendly to North and Sarah, was none other than the neighbor's daughter.
Her name was Laya, and like many women in the village, she had suffered because of tradition.
In the village where they lived, every woman who turned eighteen had to marry a man of her own age from the village.
If she refused, she was banished from the village.
So far, so good. The real problem began with a tradition that dated back hundreds of years.
On their wedding day, the man had to go into the forest to hunt a horned red boar as a demonstration of strength and willpower.
The man had spent the night in the forest and returned to his wife at dawn with his prey.
For an adult male, spending the night in the forest near the village wasn't a big problem and could be survived as long as one was careful.
But hunting the horned red boar was a life and death struggle.
In their village, where adult men could possess a physical strength exceeding a thousand kilos, even hunting teams of two to three people faced dangerous and challenging conditions when hunting large animals.
Due to this strange tradition, two out of three men who had married in their village and neighboring villages had lost their lives on the night of the wedding.
As if that weren't enough, young women weren't allowed to marry again.
This woman, named Laya, was one of those who lost her husband on the day of her wedding.
"North, can I come in?"
"Of course you can come in, sister Laya."
Sarah, who was about to drink her soup when she heard the conversation, turned her head, looked at Laya, and smiled, saying, "Sister Laya, is that you?"
"Yes, Sarah, it is me. I came to see you. How are you?"
"I am still alive, and I feel like a burden to my brother and you."
When North was about to get angry at Sarah for saying that, Laya smiled and replied, "Then get well as soon as possible and make your brother and me happy."
After North heard this, he told Laya to sit on the chair next to him.
A short time after Laya sat down, Sarah finished her soup and fell asleep.
When the room was quiet, North got up to take the bowl and spoon and put them in the water.
Following putting them in the water, he took a small bowl, put some herbs in it, and poured some boiling water over them.
Then he gave the bowl to Laya, brought another chair into the room, and sat across from her.
After a short period of silence, Laya said, "North, this is a dry clean fabric and some herbs," pointing to what she had put in the corner.
Sarah continued, "With the herbs I brought, we have enough for a few more days at most. This won't last. We need to find a solution. Maybe I should go to the village eld..." North interrupted her.
"We know this won't work, especially for us two orphans. They won't give us extra herbs. I've considered all the options and decided to go to the South Forest at sunrise."
When Laya heard this, her expression turned to fear. "No, you can't do that. No one who has gone there has ever returned. Even if you can find herbs without being caught by the monsters, what if those pointy-eared forest people catch you?"
"Sister Laya, I have no choice, I can't wait for my sister to die. I'm going to look for herbs and maybe I'll get lucky and come back with something good."
"But this..." Laya wanted to continue, "My decision is final. I won't change my mind. I'll leave at dawn and be back in 3 days. Can you make some soup for Sarah with herbs while I'm gone?"
"Okay, you take care of yourself. I'll take care of Sarah." With Laya's reply, it became quiet again. "
He was also aware of how dangerous the South Forest were, but there was no other way out.
In the evening, after checking on his sister, he lay in his own bed and fell asleep, dreaming of the days when his sister was curious and full of energy.
In the morning, he gathered his equipment, wrapped Sarah tightly, and left the house.
He headed towards the South Forest and began walking.
If he encountered no problems, he would reach the outskirts of the forest by midday.