Stray In The Storeroom (3)

Forgetting any snow gear and sprinting out the door, I fell into the snow which was now knee high.

“Yelena!” My scream echoed. “Yelena! Where are you?!” My voice was drowned out by the loud blowing winds, but that didn’t stop me from trying. All that I could see in between the flakes in the air was a dim tree line and the bright moon, the only thing lighting my way.

I trudged my way through, still screaming out loud. That’s when I looked down into the snow and found a bloody bandage.

Multiple bloody bandages. They were left next to a jagged line of giant paw prints in the snow. It led into the forest. How long was she out for?

I continued to follow her trail, the footsteps were getting fresher. My vision became blurred, but got a rush of adrenaline once I saw her body sitting against a tree.

Just as I had expected, her bandages were torn off, and she was sitting in the fetal position. Her eyes were closed, and she wasn’t moving. I kneeled down next to her, her chest rising as she took a weak breath. At least she was alive.

I hoisted her up, holding her in both hands.

Now to find how to get home... The snow falling down had covered our tracks. I decided to bolt it towards the tree line and go from there.

Even with her 8 foot tall figure, she didn’t put up much of a fight as I carried her bridal style. Well she did, but she was in worse shape than before. I trudged through the blizzard, the frozen breath of Yelena taking up most of my vision. Each step took more out of me, but the cabin was in sight.

Just a few more yards...

I burst through the door, out of breath as I laid Yelena back down on the couch. Since her bandages were off, her wounds opened up again, and both of us were covered in blood. She sat in silence as I got everything settled down. Time to get some answers.

“Yelena, why were you outside?”

“...I want to rresscue them. Rresscue my people.”

“Rescue? Rescue who?” She paused and took a gasp of air in between her sobs.

“Village. Village of Jinko.” Desperation seeped from her voice, as if something was taken away from her grasp.

“You could’ve gotten killed out there! You know how bad you are!”

“I can do it! I have done it beforre!” The tension was getting hot between us.

“You tore off your bandages and left alone when you can’t even walk. Why were you so stupid? You are safe here, not out there!”

“I...I wwant to save them!”

She was getting in my nerves now. I know she wanted to do the right thing, but she wasn’t listening to what I said.

That’s when I blurted out what was the top thought in my mind...

“What makes you think you can save them if you can’t even save yourself!”

It hit her like a brick. To say the room was quiet after that would be an understatement. She was caught so off guard by my sudden outburst, all she could do was sit still. The silence was finally broken by quiet sobs as she let her emotions wade over her.

“I’m not wweak.” I stood idly by the couch, still a bit irritated by her behavior. Whatever. At least now she knows what she did was wrong. I crossed my arms as I left to the bathroom to grab more gauze for her.

I had seen it as her being rebellious against what was best for her at the time. I had made it clear that what she did was wrong.

Wrong in my eyes.

It took me a few moments before the impact on what I had yelled dawned on me. Basically saying a Jinko isn’t strong is worse than saying deep-dish pizza is superior.

What did I do to her?

I quietly re-entered the living room as to not startle her. She had calmed down a bit, but was now still laying in silence, a single tear in her eyes.

“Hey... about earlier.. I-I’m sorry for what I said.”

Nothing.

“I didn’t mean to say what I said, I was worried and not thinking straight.”

“... That iss wwhy you called me sstupid?” I began to tend to her wounds once again as we spoke.

“I wanted to make sure you knew what you did was wrong.”

“Wwrrong? I wwent to hellp familly!”

“Wait... your family?” She paused after realizing what she had just said.

“Neverrmind.” I moved onto her chest wound, now intrigued in what she had to say. Maybe she was trying to do something good.

“It was wrong to leave like that. It might have been for a good reason, but let me know first. Now, what’s going on with your family?” She paused once more, averting her eyes. “Is something wrong?”

“No.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No.” I finished up bandaging her and flopped down onto the couch.

“Once again, I’m sorry. I was worried if you were safe. That’s the important thing now.” I’m not sure if she accepted my apology, but I hugged her anyway. It was cold outside, after all.

She dozed off into my arms, but I noticed her mutter a word in a language I didn’t know, likely her native tongue.

“Lafimybe... Lafimybe...”