The damp ground squished under Nass's feet like a sponge. the all-encompassing mud covered solely by a thin layer of moss of a deep green color, slightly duller than Nass's skin.
If he'd gather a bunch of it, he'd probably be able to use it to build a hiding place or something somewhere in the woods … though he didn't have time for such childish pursuits.
He trudged through the wet forest full of dirty and melting snow, looking towards the rising sun to orient himself while his twin sister Niss shuffled slowly and clumsily behind him.
He stopped for a couple of moments to let her catch up. Her injured leg was costing them a lot of time, and time really was a luxury that they could scarcely afford, given they were slowly starving to death … but there was nothing to be done about the situation.
He sniffed. "Niss, take a breath," he said. "We're in no rush."
Niss breathed tiredly and deeply and then looked up from the ground, staring at him for a moment before shaking her head. She looked like she was about to hurl.
Nass met her gaze and dashed over to her, then grasped her shoulders and helped prop her up before she could trip and fall.
"You're pushing yourself too hard," he muttered. "You should be taking it easy right now."
"Well, I can't. We need to get away from this place. There are screechers around."
"Those aren't our biggest problems right now. Stop, Niss. We're going to sit down for a while."
Niss protested, but Nass didn't hesitate to use the superior strength of two uninjured legs to enforce his will. Before long, Niss was on her fat, green butt, sitting on the spongy, damp moss, wordily complaining and refusing to admit that she was tired.
Nass crouched down in front of her and faced her. "I, for one, am exhausted," he said. "And you wouldn't dare leave me behind, would you, sister?"
"Sure, I would," Niss said. "You're so annoying—I'd actually love to. It'd be such a relief!"
She was grinding her teeth slightly. Nass frowned.
"Then who would you come crawling to so you could get your bandages replaced? Come here, damn it. Stretch your leg."
"I am not 'coming crawling'! Hey—Nass! You're coming to me! And I can't stretch it. It hurts."
"Okay," Nass murmured, sitting down in front of her and placing her dirty foot onto his lap. Gently, he untied the brown rag that covered her stab wound. It clung to her as if it were glued.
"Ouch!" Niss yelped, flinching.
"Sorry. I'll slow down … but bear with me, okay?"
Niss nodded, trembling slightly.
Nass slowly peeled off the makeshift bandage. As it came off, it quickly became obvious that the normal brown of the cloth was covered by the unsettling black of dried blood. Nass turned away from Niss, lifted the thing up to his nose, and sniffed.
He grimaced in disgust. Rot.
"Is it bad?" Niss asked. "It's bad, isn't it? It feels bad."
Nass swallowed hard, turned back towards her, and smiled widely. "Good news, sister. It smells no worse than the rest of you. I think you'll be just fine after you bathe."
With her wounded leg, Niss lightly kicked him in the chest.
"You're lying," she said, cringing. "Give me that bandage."
"No. All you need is a new one. Wait a moment."
"Why not give that to me, if it smells fine?"
"Because I'm a pervert, and I want to keep it for myself. Didn't you know…? Hey! Back off with those smelly legs. I can run faster than you right now."
"Urgh … May holy Gromph damn you, brother."
"You too."
Niss looked up thoughtfully into nothing. "You think we'd be damned together?" she asked. "That wouldn't be so bad..."
"Who's to say we aren't already?" asked Nass, grinning.
He grabbed the edges of his tattered tunic and ripped off a strip of cloth, the cleanest section he could see. Then, he grabbed Niss's leg again and held it still before tying it up tight … far tighter than he would have if she really were 'fine'.
Niss winced in pain as he made the final knot, then gazed into his eyes, an uncertain expression on her face. She could tell the difference.
"Time to go?" she asked.
"Yeah. I'm sorry if it hurts … But no more arguing, Niss. I'm going to help you from now on. Let's get moving."
They walked for hours, going in the direction to the left of the rising sun. Hopefully, that was north, but he wasn't entirely sure.
Niss finally allowed Nass to help her, for once in their miserable lives. They walked side by side, arms entwined, with her left foot on top of his right. Moving that way wasn't easy, and it certainly wasn't fast, but it worked.
Eventually, they arrived at a dirt road that ran through the endless forest, and they both breathed deep sighs of relief.
"Do you recognize this road?" Nass asked.
"No."
"I don't either," he said, sniffing from the cold. "But even if we have gone through here, the whole place would have been covered in snow back then, anyway. There's no use trying to work from memory. I'm sure we're going in the right direction."
"If north is the right direction," Niss said, shifting on her feet under his arm.
"Of course it is. Niss, this is a huge milestone for us. We've made it past the screechers. Now we just need to follow the road, and we'll get to Lyerateh."
Niss smiled weakly and nodded. "Maybe there's still hope for 'us' after all."
The way she said 'us' made Nass's blood run cold.
He shivered, and goosebumps appeared all over his arms, with little brown hairs amidst the green, all standing on end.
"What if we meet another caravan of slavers?" Niss asked.
"Then we'll kill them and get you some clean bandages … or reveal our true identities, maybe."
"You'd go back to Father? To Ryzayah?"
"Very unwillingly, but for you … yeah. We're running out of time and options."
Niss smiled at him sadly. "Sorry."
"Don't be, you idiot. Seeing as you're injured, it'll be me making the damned choice. Anyway, do you feel like you can keep going? If this is that same road we traveled before, we'll probably need another three days to get back to Lyerateh."
"I can keep going," Niss said.
"Don't lie to me, damn it. Tell me the truth. I need to know."
Niss hesitated a moment, then shook her head.
"Okay. That's fine ... I'm tired as hell, anyway. Let's find a spot to sit down, and I'll start a fire."