Taking Care

Taking Care


They ran through the woods quickly. Lia’s small six year old hand held in that of her mothers, as her mother carried her baby brother. It was dark and Lia could hear only the sounds of her breath and her beating heart. She couldn’t hear who was chasing them. Didn’t know who he was or why he was after them, she just ran as her father had ordered. Her mother dragged her along, Lia’s legs almost too small to keep up with her mother and her demon speed. They were tiger demons and so could run like the wind. But Lia was still a child. Her demonic abilities were not fully developed. Her lungs burned fiercely, but Lia just kept running. Every now and then a tree branch or bush would hit and cut her, but again she paid it no attention. She could smell the fear surrounding her mother and it only increased her own.
They came upon a creek and Lia and her mother crashed into it, water spraying everywhere. Lia sharply sucked in her breath as the cold of the water penetrated her skin. Her mother wouldn’t let her stop though, so Lia pushed herself on. After all her father would never let a little cold stop him. Her father had once told her that if she ever wanted to mask her scent then she was to take to the water. Lia supposed that’s what her mother was doing now. But the creek was deeper then they had expected and Lia moved sluggishly through it. With desperation her mother slung her up and over onto her back and Lia clung to her in dear life.
A sudden veering to the right nearly had her knocked off but she just tightened her hold on her mothers shirt, being extremely careful of her little claws.
The all of a sudden her mom brought her down and placed her baby brother in her arms.
«Listen to me now Lia,» she said seriously as she knelt before her children, golden eyes staring into golden eyes. «I want you to stay in this cave and protect your brother. You are not to move until I come for you.»
«But mama,» she protested, panic rising within her. She didn’t want to be left alone.
«I need you to be a big girl for me now Lia, I have to go back and help your father. You’ll be safe here,» she promised. Quickly leaning forward she kissed each of her children, pushed them deeper into the small cave then dashed off back through the water to go help her mate.
Lia shivered in the darkness, holding her brother closely to her. She shivered as much from the cold as from fear. She didn’t want to be alone; she wanted her mother and father.
When her brother started fusing she relinquished her tight hold, sat down, and placed Reed in her lap. She loosened the blanket surrounding him a bit, knowing how he hated being constricted, and gently stroked his small little ears white as their fathers. He was only a few months old and still pretty small, but Lia had come to think that he was pretty cute. Everyone doted on him so much that she sometimes felt left out, but her friend Myria told her that all grown ups were like that around newborns. Lia couldn’t really understand why, he didn’t look all that special to her, but she just accepted it like one of those inexplicable facts of life.
Now though, he calmed at her touch and Lia put her sling on her like she had seen her mother do countless times, so that he was nuzzled against her chest. Her mom had told her that that way he could hear your heartbeat and it would calm him down. She rocked him slowly like she had seen her father do and soon he was fast asleep. But now, without Reed to worry over, Lia’s mind moved to other things.
The forest was quiet, unnaturally so. Her father had told her that whenever a forest lost all its sound it was because danger was in the woods. Lia knew it was the man that had come after them, but knowing that didn’t help her any. She wanted her parents to be alright. Wanted to know what was going on, to help them. But her father had ordered them to run and then her mother had told her to stay put.
The eerie quietness of the land surrounding her put her on edge and Lia’s ears swiveled too and fro on top of her head, searching for any and all sound. Every now and then she would turn up her nose and sniff, like her father taught her, trying to recognize any enemy scents, hoping she wouldn’t find any.
Her arms were wrapped tightly around her brother and the rest of her was concentrated on the outside and any potential dangers it might yield. She was tensed and waiting, though for what she didn’t know. She felt sure that something was wrong. That her parents should have come for her by now.
A snuffling outside the caves entrance attracted all of her attention and she strained her ears, nose and eyes to try and identify the potential danger.
Her eyes widened in fear when the scent of bear penetrated her nose, and she quickly moved as far back into the cave as possible, hopping the bear wouldn’t notice them. She carefully moved her brother so that he was resting against her back and not her front. That way, at least she could protect her brother better.
Her luck quickly ran out as the bears head jammed into the cave sniffing her out. She knew the minute it caught her scent because it immediately started trying to shove its way in. she sent one silent thank you to the heavens for having designed the cave so small. But the bear didn’t let its massive bulk stop him. Pulling back he reached in with his claws trying to grasp them. Quickly Lia squirmed back keeping out of reach. The bear pulled back and started scratching at the entrance making it bigger. Lia’s eyes widened as her fear increased. It would only take a few inches, a matter of seconds before the bear would be able to reach her. The panic was taking over her. She was going to die. The bear was going to clay and devour her before her parents ever came.
At her brother’s cry, Lia came back to herself, and though the terror still lived within her, she had to protect her baby brother. He was helpless without her.
She’d have only one chance at this, and so she crouched, claws at the ready, preparing for when it would stick its muzzle back inside. She didn’t have long to wait. The minute she saw that long brown snout, she sprang forward, gauging it deeply. Instinctively the bear reared back, giving Lia the room she needed to dart out as if the hounds of hell were on her tail. She forgot the river and dashed up the bank and into the forest, running with all of her might. It took her a few moments before she realized that the bear wasn’t chasing after them.
Quickly she moved to check her brother, sighing in relief when she confirmed that he was perfectly fine, until he shivered. Lia tucked him and his sling inside her shirt, so that he rested against her skin, hoping that it would keep him warm. She had been told early on that babies had to be kept warm or else they could get really sick. She sighed in relief when he snuggled up against her and fell asleep.
Now that the danger had passed Lia looked around her but she didn’t recognize a thing. She had no doubt that she could find her way home by scent alone, but He could still be there. Her mother had charged her with the protection of her little brother, she couldn’t return home just to endanger his life. She sighed again. Home was just not an option. She would have to find another place to hide until her parents came to get them.
As the night deepened Lia shivered herself, finally realizing how cold it actually was outside. First things first, she had to find some kind of shelter for them. Something that would keep the both of them warm and safe until their parents arrived.
With determination filling her entire being Lia started walking, keeping her eyes trained for any suitable hideout, thankful for the full moon that helped her see in the darkness. She found nothing at first, but refused to give up looking. Her father was a brave youkai, who never gave up no matter the difficulties he had to the enemies he faced. He was looked up too and admired by all and Lia wanted to grow up like him someday. He had always told her that it was up to the strong to protect the weak, and it was her duty to keep her brother safe. She would make her father proud of her. She swore it.
With dogged determination she walked on, ignoring the numbness of her feet, hands and ears, which she had tucked close to her head, hoping that her hair would act like a blanket, keeping the sensitive appendages warm.
They sprang up now at the sound of a growling in the distance. She stilled as a deer does when it senses danger, and slowly swiveled her ears from side to side trying to pick that sound up again. When all remained quiet after a moment, Lia moved warily forward again. She had only taken a few steps when she heard growling again, but this time it was more then one. Before she had time to process it all, a pack of wolves stepped from the bushed and approached her slowly, heads down and eyes fixed.
Lia’s ears laid back and she bared her own small fangs, growling at them in return. But they could smell that she was only a pup, her threat meant little to them for they smelled no adults nearby. A pup was no match to a pack and they all knew it.
They kept approaching, boxing her in between them and a large tree at her back. Her eyes flicked from one side to the next; desperately trying to find a way out, for she knew her parents couldn’t save her now. For the first time in her life, Lia was alone and responsible for someone much more helpless then her.
When one wolf leapt at her, she moved instinctively out of the way, narrowly missing its jaws, but this seemed to be a signal to the rest of the pack to attack and they did. Lia had the opening she wanted however and quickly made for it. She flailed out at any wolf who snapped close to her while keeping a protective hand on her brother inside her shirt. Her ears were strained to the max as he ran, trying their best to track all the wolves movements.
She needed an out but all the trees around her didn’t have low enough branches for her to climb on and she couldn’t jump high enough.
A growl to her side alerted her but too late, and she was knocked off her feet. She twisted her body so that she couldn’t land on her brother, but the landing was harsh. Lia didn’t have time to lick her wounds however and instead got right back to her feet and dashed away.
She didn’t have a choice. She would have to try and jump. Her legs were tired, and her lungs were burning. She wouldn’t be able to run much longer.
Concentrating all of her energy and power into her legs, Lia bolted for the tree in front of her and just before she hit it, she contracted her knees and sprang forward, her one clawed hand outstretched. Just when she felt her forward momentum slacken, she slammed her little hand into the tree closing her eyes as she prayed they would hold her up.
When she jerked to a stop and remained dangling, Lia opened her eyes and looked beneath her, where the wolves were still trying to get at her. They were too close for comfort and Lia looked up. Thankfully, there was a branch nearby. Setting her legs against the trunk, Lia aimed her body for the branch and lunged forward, catching it and swinging nimbly atop it, one hand still protectively holding her brother to her.
She grinned down at the wolf pack, now far enough below her to allow it, and finally let out a sigh of relief, collapsing to the wood below her. Her legs felt like jelly and she hurt all over, but she was alive and her brother was safe within her arms.
Eventually the wolf pack gave up on her and moved away. Relaxed though she was, Lia wouldn’t return to the ground. There were way too many dangers down there waiting for her. There was still the question of the cold to contend with though. Looking around her for anything, Lia’s eyes spotted an owl hole in the trunk above her and she grinned happily. That would do well enough for her purposes.
Quickly she jumped up and approached the hole sniffing attentively. The owls scent was old, indicating that no animal had lived here in a while. She scrambled inside. Thankful for the first time for her small and slender frame. It was slightly cramped but not unbearably uncomfortable. It would do perfectly for her needs. She didn’t plan on living in it, after all.
Huddling inside she brought her knees and arms up in order to keep her brother warm and settled down to wait once again. At least her parents could no longer claim that she wasn’t patient.
As the night progressed, the cold deepened and the wind picked up. Lia tucked her entire body around her brother, giving him her warmth, as she kept her ears perked up for any more sounds of danger. She couldn’t relax, not completely. Her body was on complete alert and would be until she was with her mother and father again. Only then would they be truly safe.
The storm rose and blew furiously, numbing Lia’s hands and feet. She only tucked herself more tightly together, her sole priority on keeping her brother warm. It started to fall just as the sun began its ascent. Lia was exhausted and full of worry. Her mother and father hadn’t come for them yet. She prayed with all of her might that they were okay, but as the sun fully rose in the sky, he heart began to hurt and her eyes to fill with tears. Surely if they were alright they would have come for them by now? she thought desperately, valiantly trying to hold back the oppressive sorrow that threatened to consume her.
They had to be okay, because they had promised never to leave her or her little brother and her father never broke a promise. At least… not on purpose, her mind whispered. They’d do their best not to die, but sometimes these things happen. That’s what her mother had told her when her friend’s father had died. As the tears threatened to overwhelm her again and fall down her cheeks, she heard something in the woods.
«Lia!»
Her ears perked up eagerly and she stilled, refusing to breathe until she heard it again.
«Lia!» Her heart soared.
«Daddy,» she whispered quietly, hope steadily rising within her.
«Lia!»
«Mommy.» Quickly she scrambled from her hiding spot and perched on the branch looking every which way, still careful of her brother.
«Lia where are you?» they called and Lia nearly bounced where she perched.
«Mommy! Daddy! I’m over here!»
When she saw the blur of black coming through the trees, Lia leapt off the branch, sure and confident that her father would catch her. Before she knew it she was held tightly against her father’s chest and listening to the steady beating of his heart.
«Oh god baby, I was so worried about you,» he whispered knuckling her and taking in her scent again.
Her mother was there as well, hugging her. «Lia, where’s your brother?» she asked.
Leaning back but keeping her legs firmly anchored to her father, she gently took her brother from her shirt, where he was still sleeping peacefully and beamed up at her parents.
«I took good care of him, just like you told me too,» she declared with pride, handing her brother over to her mother who had tears in her eyes.
Gently her father stroked her cheek, ignoring the blood and bruises she had all over her. He smiled down at her in great pride before once again hugging her against him. Tucking her to his own chest as she had done with her brother.
«Yes you did my daughter. You did indeed.»
She snuggled against him with her ear pressed over his chest, listening to the steady thumping of his heart. He and mother were okay, and she had made sure that her brother was as well. Now, she could finally rest.