Back in the little hut deep in the mountain, the elderly woman treated the wound on the boy"s back and the cut on the girl"s shoulder. The boy was a well-mannered boy with proper etiquette but a little stiff on personality.In the silence, the woman studied the boy and thought how similar the two children are. They are so resilient and remained so composed in such adversity of the cruel world they faced. She did not ask or question their situations, but looking at the boy and his clothes, he must be a boy from a n.o.ble family. After some times pa.s.sed, the elderly woman uttered, "If you don"t have anywhere to go, you may stay here, however, if you must go, leave after you are healed."
The boy did not feel any bad vibes from them. Plus, the girl saved him too so he gently nodded to accept the offer and turned his head towards the girl, "Thank you for helping me back there."
The elderly woman turned around and went out the door to the shed to get more woods. After she left, the boy got up and approached the girl, who was sitting on the chair by the wall. He took out his pendant and handed it over to her, "I don"t have anything with me now but take this. When I have a chance to in the future, I"ll properly thank you." The boy dropped the pendant on the girl"s hand.
The girl shook her head, "Ah... You don"t need to. I saved you because your situation reminded me of my past."
The boy"s eyes widened and asked sternly, "Were you chased by a.s.sa.s.sins too?"
The girl shook her head again, "No. My sister and I were sold to a brothel when I was small. I don"t have much memory of my life before the brothel but my sister didn"t want me to follow her foot step. So she took me away. We tried to escape but was pursued by the brothel men workers." At this point, the girl"s eyes shows a glint of sadness but she radiated a determined aura that she is going back there someday to tear down the place. She continued, "My sister, to save me, she acted as a decoy to give me time to escape but she was killed in the process." The girl turned her head to look at the boy standing in front of her and said, "If you want to thank me, can you teach me how to fight instead?"
The boy furrowed his eye feeling that the girl may do something dangerous if she knows how to fight, he asked, "What are you planning?"
The girl looked down to avoid the boy"s eyes and remained silent. At this time, the elderly woman came back in with some woods and threw a couple pieced into the stove. The boy looked briefly over at the elderly woman and then shift his attention back to the girl, "May I know your name?"
"Hli Ja... Hli Ja is what my sister called me," the girl replied.
The boy was about to say something but the elderly woman interrupted loudly, "Didn"t I told you to take it easy? Don"t stand up and move around too much if you want to heal fast."
The boy obediently went back and sat on the bed where he was earlier, facing the girl he asked, "What town where you from?"
Hli Ja remained silent for a moment and hesitantly replied, "Buffalo Mountain. The town has a big mountain that is naturally shaped like a Buffalo"s head and back if you look at it from the side thus the town is named after the mountain."
Of course, the boy knew the town. "Keep the pendant. I"m not sure how long I"ll be here. I may not have time to teach you much if anything at all." The boy replied.