Chapter 5: Gift

If it hadn't been for Shanti, Shreya wouldn't have been there at all.

It was her that took the fall. She came up with a story about Shreya bringing her back to their side of the forest. Shreya, the good, well-behaved sister who wouldn't have dared traversing the border for anything else but saving Shanti's life. Shanti said Shreya kept her out of trouble, but that didn't spare Shreya of anything.

Pravaah punctuated her verbal lecture with a round of punishment for both of them. Heavy-handed discipline delivered by force. They weren't allowed their nightly rations, a consequence that they were all too familiar with during leaner months.

Huddled against her for extra warmth, Shanti whispered get-away plans to her: act like it's an ordinary day. Mosey on out when no one's looking. It's not like anyone would be keeping track of her. That's what Shanti did whenever she wanted to border-hop, and it worked for her pretty much every time.

The words "pretty much" hadn't escaped Shreya's notice, but she put her faith in Shanti's plan regardless.

And it worked when she tried it the next morning, after her mother had gone hunting. Shreya walked. She made it out into the forest, wearing the same hat as yesterday, back to the old wall where she'd met Ellie.

Things would've ended differently if they'd been any further away. The pig—Marietta, was it?—would've been eaten and the bear would've had Ellie between her jaws. They were all more than fortunate that she'd been a young bear, hurt and frightened out of her wits.

Her back leg had been crushed, as if something had clamped down on it and she'd shimmied herself free of it. The bear couldn't pivot. Shreya had exploited that disadvantage during their fight, attacking her from behind and staying out of her range.

Shreya reached down and shut her eyes for her. In terms of mouths the bear could feed, Shreya hazarded a guess of two families. Her weight would be too significant for her to carry back on her own, though, and there was the greater issue of her having to explain why she'd been in human territory. She wasn't supposed to be here, let alone hunt here. It was better to leave it, as wasteful as it was.

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A/N: This is an interactive fantasy serial. Voting takes place on Thursdays through Sundays on the story's main site. The most up-to-date chapters can also be found there, but uploading will happen in parts on RRL as well.

The next post will be Chapter 5.2.

Chapter 10 is out now on the main site. Voting will end Sunday at 11:59 PM EST. Still accepting character suggestions on Chapter 10. See the main site for more details.