Sacrifice

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Ana smiled at Hendrik before sitting back down on the bed. "I'm feeling better than yesterday." She took the fur and curled it around her shoulders, not realizing that she was still a bit cold. The girl looked around the area in curiosity, eyes taking in as much as they could. "I'm curious, how long have you lived out here alone?" Had the boy no village to return to? Maybe his village was taken over by beasts or, heaven forbid, they threw him out. That would be a horrible fate to befall the poor young man. Forced to disguise himself so the monsters would not hunt and kill him. The young girl couldn't imaging such a life. Yet here he was, asking her how she felt and caring for her.
 
Hendriks smiled back, thankfull that at least Ana was better than she was before, she looked around a little curiously before she asked him how long he'd lived out here, at that he frowned a little and looked to be in thought before speaking "If I were to guess... 3 years, if I remember correctly... What's the date today?" Hendrik asked, wondering if his guess was right, after all, he'd not been able to check it in such a while... Something told him he'd passed his birthday multiple times without even knowing it, after all, it felt like he'd been in this tree forever... Definitely longer than at least a year or two.
 
((I'm so sorry, I keep trying to write a response then falling asleep at my computer...))

"It's the sixth day of the first spring month." Ana answered, biting her lip as she thought of the year. "It's the tenth year of the rabbit's star." She sneezed, shivering a bit as her body fought the fever. "Have you met any other humans in the forest? Or only the other creatures?" The young girl seemed quite curious about what life in the forest was like, though a bit of fear still tinted her views of the dark forest. She would have to explore more when she was well, maybe study the plants around the strange place Hendrik called his home. That would be nice.
 
Hendrik nodded "It really has been ten years... Last day I kept track of was the day of that ritual, same day as today." he said, looking a little worried as Ana sneezed a little, beginning to shiver a bit. It seemed it wasn't too bad though, but he'd have to tend to her a little more soon enough, he listened to the question she asked before he spoke "You're the first human I've met here... Alive that is." he said, looking a little awkward. The question made him think of the many times he'd seen other humans floating in that river, mainly women though, young ones like Ana, but none of them were alive like she was...
 
This was extremely curious. "How old are you? And what ritual are you talking about?" She wasn't too fazed over the fact that he didn't find girls alive. She would be more surprised if he met someone else alive. The girl sneezed, shaking her head in a futile attempt to shake off the cold that left her shivering. Ana wondered just how Hendrik had survived in a forest quite like this. The monsters surely would have killed him by now if not for the attire he was wearing when he first took her to his home. The home itself was quite confounding; the home stood unlike any other she had ever seen.
 
Hendrik frowned "If it's been ten years... I'm 20 now." he said, recalling what his age was before today, he wasn't sure when his birthday was though... It seemed he had forgotten during all these years here. "As for the ritual... I guess the same one you'd been to, it's more of a sacrificial ceremony... But." Hendrik decided to get straight to the point "They used to sacrifice younger girls, usually around ten. However that year, there wasn't any girl young enough to fill that role, so they dressed me up as one and used me as a sacrifice." he remembered his hair was rather long before he had started cutting it when he was in the forest.
 
Ana bit her lip, feeling horrible for the man. "I see-" She coughed into her arm, cut off by her own illness. He had survived ten years all alone in the Dark forest. Getting over her little fit, Ana looked up at her savior apologetically. "I'm sorry, I suppose I'm a bit more sick than I originally thought." She sniffled, pulling the fur closer around herself. "It's quite amazing that you've survived so long. I'd think the creatures of the forest would have eaten you by now." Then again, she should technically be dead as well, but it seemed luck was on her side at the moment.
 
"I-It's nothing really..." Hendrik said sheepishly, he looked a little worried though about her coughing "I think you might need to put that blanket back around you... It's a little chilly around here." he added, wondering if he should make some more of that herbal soup... Hopefully that was all she needed, because if this was more than a fever, he'd have to gather some more powerfull herbs sooner or later; it had been a while since he'd had to do this, the only other time was when he himself got sick out here, he wasn't used to the climate here either at first after all.
 
Ana nodded and pulled the fur around herself. "Thank you." The girl sniffled, rubbing her nose. "Do you have more of the herbs you gave me yesterday? They taste horrid, but they helped." Ana looked like she wanted to ask more questions, but first she had to focus on getting a little better so she could explore around Hendrik's home and maybe even in the forest sometime.
 
Hendrik smiled and nodded; he needed to heat up some more water anyways, so he threw a few logs into the still burning fire and looked around, spotting the still steadily flowing stream of water not too far from the fireplace... That was what had petrified the tree over the course of many many years, the water was safe to drink, but only when boiled. He carried the small empty pot towards the stream letting it sit there for a while, filling it up with water before he put it back over the fire and let it boil. Then, he looked around for a bit more of those herbs, he had a pile of dried up ones on that crudely fashioned table right next to the fireplace.
 
Ana coughed, feeling her throat dry up. "There's water here? I thought you would have to go to the river to get some." She said, trying to ignore the scratchiness of her throat or the general sickness she felt. The herbs would help, she told herself. "What kinds of creatures live here? Or have you not seen any others in this forest?" Though she didn't want to talk, Ana continued to ask questions, determined to gain something useful out of the whole situation. She didn't want to think of the fact that her family probably thought she was dead or that more girls like her would be sacrificed in the years to come. However, some things were simply meant to be.
 
Hendrik noticed the water was boiling again so he went over and placed the herbs in the empty wooden bowl before approaching the small pot and scooping out the hot water, he listened to Ana speak, she sounded a little sick but he was glad she wasn't sick to the point where conversation was impossible. Bringing over the bowl carefully and holding it out to her, he spoke "I haven't seen too many... Just shadows, maybe a few growls... If I did, I doubt I'd live to tell the tale... I would smell like a human and they'd probably suspect something." he said, looking more than a little sheepish about this.
 
"I see..." The girl took the bowl and sipped at it, scrunching her nose at the flavor. She would just have to bear with it. "Wouldn't they have sought you out by now, or do they generally keep away from this area?" Ana wondered what the creatures were like. If she wasn't in her current predicament she most likely would have been out and searching around to see if she could find a creature or maybe even some new plants. She drank more of the herbs and water. Hopefully it would help in some way to fight off that damn illness she had. At least, she hoped.
 
"They can only really smell me when I draw too close." Hendrik explained, his costume wasn't merely a visual thing, it seemed to work with staving off the beasts around for the most part. However the only problem comes when he drew too close as his scent becomes more noticeable. He looked at Ana for a moment wondering how she was holding up against that fever she had developed, perhaps he'd need some stronger herbs soon enough...
 
Ana nodded, downing the rest of the herbs before scrunching her nose in disgust. "I see-" She was cut off by a yawn, tired already. The girl blushed, embarrassed by how tired she was already. "I'm so sorry, I guess I'm a bit tired..." Shaking her head and trying to quickly shift the conversation, Ana decided to ask a more personal question. "Do you miss the village? Your family?" She looked patient, willing to listen or drop the question altogether if need be.
 
Hendrik nodded understandingly when Ana apologized for yawning, blushing a little, she was sick after all so it was only natural to feel more tired than usual. She changed the subject suddenly asking him if he missed the village or his family, Hendrik just nodded "I don't remember too much anymore..." he admitted, despite naturally missing his family and the village, he could hardly remember what it was like back there anymore... It had been quite a while since he had been left in this forest as a failed sacrifice.
 
"Oh..." Ana was unsure how best to respond to that. He didn't seem too terribly troubled by the fact, but it must have been hard on Hendrik when he first was lost in the woods. The girl yawned again, blinking as she started to struggle to stay awake. She wanted to stay awake and ask more questions, but her body was currently rebelling. It wanted her to sleep, and she needed rest to get over the sickness.
 
Hendrik noticed that Ana was yawning, she looked very tired "Get some rest... We have time to talk later." he said with a small smile, his mind was on other things though... What did his family look like? The town? He couldn't remember any of it anymore, it's been such a while since he's thought of such things. Until it had been brought up for the first time since then, he didn't realize how much it bothered him.
 
Ana smiled a bit as she laid down, ready to sleep. "Thank you..." Without another word, the girl was asleep much faster than most. Her fever burned through the night, getting worse in the morning. She woke up blearily, confused and a little bit out of it. Her head was pounding, and she was sure it would split open if she left it alone. How her illness could have gotten worse that fast was a mystery to the young girl, but her thoughts were interrupted by the piercing stabs to her brain. She let out a small groan before turning over and curling up as best as she could. She just wanted to fall back asleep.
 
Hendrik noticed that Ana was rather restless when he finally woke up again after falling asleep, her fever was definitely getting worse which was never good as he got up he noticed that her blanket had been tossed aside in her sleep meaning she was now quite cold. Quickly pulling the piece of leather over her to trap the little body heat she had left he decided to speak a little "I'm going into the forest... You need stronger herbs, get some rest until then... Ok?" he said, starting to put on his "costume" again, slowly but surely looking like a beast from the forest once more. This was something he did every other day anyways, so he shouldn't be long, unless he gets too close to one of those creatures again of course.
 
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