Bella leaned over the young boy, worry written all over her face. Vince and she had managed to get a splint for his leg, but he was still in pain if his constant grimaces and whimpers were any indication. He still hadn't woken up yet though, and for that she was grateful. Sleep stemmed the pain some, but only a little.

His unconscious state wasn't necessarily a good thing. They needed to know who he was and where he lived so that they could get him back home, and looking after him was slowing down their journey considerably. Bella felt ashamed that this boy was in pain and unconscious, and all she could think about was continuing her journey and had for a few brief intervals considered following Vincent's advice and leaving the kid in the forest.

Guilt filled her when she realized only her natural curiosity was keeping her around. She wanted to know who he was and why he was so deep in the forest so late at night. The only way to get those answers, though, was to patiently wait for him to wake up.

“Bella!” Vince called, startling the girl. She turned to face him, catching the long stick he threw at her solely on instinct. “I know you're worried about the brat, but you still need to train. You've almost got your strength under control with these past few weeks of training, but you still have a long ways to go.”

“Right.” Bella nodded and stood, readying herself for another training session with Vincent. He swung his own makeshift staff at her, and the battle began.

HALFA

Henry awoke with a soft groan. Where was he? And why did his leg hurt so bad? The only thing he remembered was running after Pip, his dog, and falling down a hill. He sat up quickly when he remembered the noise that spurred on his fall and the log that rolled atop his leg. But how had he managed to get free?

Grunts caught his attention, and he turned to see two people fighting. His eyes widened frightfully at first, but he relaxed when he realized they weren't trying to deliberately hurt each other. Had they saved him? He remembered seeing two silhouettes coming towards him, but he thought it was just his imagination working overdrive. The pain had pushed him to call for help anyway, but after that everything had gone black and he could remember no more.