Chapter 3

Some of this chapter's a bit confusing at the moment, and muddled up. Sorry if you don't get it, just PM me (if you're from the Clan) and i'll answer all your questions :)

Please remember it's a first draft...

Chapter 3

Kira thought fast. Should she tell Lisa? Or make up someone?
“New girl. I only started today.” Kira lied. Lisa smirked and said,
“Really? You seem to know a lot for a new girl.” Kira panicked. Lisa was getting suspicious. Slowly Kira backed up, but Lisa kept closing in. When she realized that there was nowhere for the hooded girl to go, Lisa pushed her. Taken by surprise, Kira stumbled, tripped over and landed on the ground. Her hood came away. Kira got off the ground as Lisa took a step back from her.
“Y-You!” she cried. Then, before Kira’s very eyes, the shock turned to anger.
“You!!” Lisa screamed. The group of girls had come back around the corner, hearing Lisa’s screams. They now looked at Kira with equal shock.
“Well don’t just stand there, grab her!” Lisa hissed. Hearing this, the girls ran at Kira and she bolted away. Kira knew exactly where she was going. The Forest. Kira ran as fast as she could, her heart pumping, her muscles acing, but the girls hot on her heels. Kira made a sudden turn, which confused the girls. They started to run after Kira again, this time a little bit behind. As Kira entered the Forest, her followers stopped. They were not going in there. Slowly, one by one, the girls turned and headed back to school. Kira slowed to a jog, breathing heavily, and collapsed onto the Forest floor. Only then did she realise that she was shaking. With loud rasping breaths, Kira crawled over to a rock and sat on it.

The figure lurked in the trees, always watching the girl. He wondered why those others had been chasing her. He strode towards her, hidden from view. He was behind her, about to grab her when he stopped. It was not time yet. Give her another day’s freedom. So he crept away, always keeping her in sight. All he had to do was wait for her and watch.

“…Nine…Ten…Fourteen!” Kira finished counting the money and stood up. A burst of pain in her stomach was gone as quickly as it had come. She needed to buy some food, fast. Putting her hood back up, she left the Forest and was striding down a street when she took a look around. Spotting the Inn she had seen earlier, Kira swung open the door and stepped inside. There was laughter and muttering, men and women talking to each other, the scrape of knives, forks and chairs, which brought happiness to Kira. She had never been anywhere so cheerful. She made her way to the bar.
“What’ll it be love?” the woman behind the bar asked.
“Could I get a… lamb brew and jug of water?” Kira answered. The woman wrote Kira’s order down in a small notebook and gave it to the chef.
“That’ll be three silvers please,” the woman said, turning to Kira with an outstretched hand. Kira dug in her pocket and pulled out them out.
“Here,” she said, giving the woman the money. As the lady walked off to get Kira her change, Kira looked about her and saw, in the corner of the room, a dark figure. She could just make out a pair of dark green eyes, staring at her. Kira blinked hard, and the figure was gone.
“There you go,” the bar woman had returned, holding a steaming bowl of lamb brew in one hand and the change in the other.
“Oh, thank you,” Kira took the bowl from the woman. Kira stuffed the money back into her pocket and said,
“Could I have my water please? And maybe a fork?” the woman went to get them and shortly returned.
“Thanks again,” said Kira as she went to sit down at a table.

*

Kira stepped out of the Inn half an hour later, greeted by a cold blast of air, and the sun starting to set. She used up most of her money buying groceries so she wouldn’t have to come back to town for a few days, and was heading back to the Forest when she came across two men, one of them holding something. Kira put the bags down and went to see what they were talking about. Her mouth dropped. In one of the man’s hands was a magnificent bow, made of polished oak wood. The man was bragging about it to the other man who was standing, looking at the bow in awe. But where were the arrows? Kira spotted them. Hanging over the man’s shoulder in a quiver were thirty or more beautiful arrows.
“Here! You boy” the man shouted, looking at Kira. Kira still had her hood on so the man could not see her face.
“Me?” Kira asked.
“Yes! You boy. Come here and hold my bow and quiver of arrows,” the man cried.
“What do you want me to do with them?” Kira asked, bewildered.
“I want you to come with me back to my house, and hold these. They are heavy, and I don’t want to hurt my shooting arm,” said the man. Kira jogged over to the man and took the bow from him, then put her head through the gap between the wood and string so that one arm was through the gap, and one end of the bow resting on Kira’s other shoulder. The man then passed Kira the quiver of arrows, which she hung over her free shoulder. She now had both hands free.
“Come on then,” the man said. He started to walk down the road, with the other man following. They were deep in conversation so neither looked back. It was now or never. Kira paused where she was, but the men just kept walking down the street. She ran to her groceries and picked them up, then with one last glace over her shoulder, Kira ran off into the Forest with the bow.

She’s good, very good. Thought the figure as he stood behind a tree watching Kira as she ran into the Forest with the man’s bow. She had only seen him once and had probably forgotten him. She ran past the tree he was hiding behind and kept running into the Forest. He followed at a jog.

Kira had to stop and double back for her bag. Once it had been retrieved, as it was already dark, Kira took out a lantern, and tried to set up a camp. It was a difficult job, and the cold was coming on, numbing Kira’s fingers. At last Kira had a suitable shelter and willingly she crawled in, took off her shoes and snuggled deep inside her sleeping bag. Forgetting the bow, her groceries, and her bag at the side of the shelter, Kira closed her eyes and entered the world of sleep.

The Wolf Pack howled longingly, waiting for their pack leader to return the call, but like last night, it never came. The pups and older wolves were tired, the pads of their feet throbbing painfully after a full day and night of running. They stopped at a stream and drank their fill, before flopping down onto the ground for well-earned rest. The other wolves went off in a small group to find food. Tomorrow at dawn, the search for their lost pack leader would continue.