THERE HAD BEEN TALK. rumors amongst her brother and his compeers, whispered conversations that halted whenever lina entered the room. no reason to worry, lee, he had constantly assured her. she’d had no reason to disbelieve his avowals; he’d be privy to such information in his position, surely, so she’d taken his word as fact. and then, suddenly (to her, suddenly), war was at their doorstep, finding lina wholly unprepared for the letter that would arrive beneath her own front door. she was lucky, or at least thought she’d been lucky, to be assigned to the back lines - thought maybe she wouldn’t be required to face the brutal realities of a hard-fought battle that lived within a canvas hospital tent.
she had, as it turned out, vastly underestimated the scale of a violent war.
it was early when she’d reported to her assigned station, sun barely peeking through the crack between hill and horizon. she wouldn’t be removing arrows or stitching wounds just yet - today, her job was simply to run, between tents and manors, to fetch water, bandages, whatever supplies may be needed to repair the war-ravaged bodies that crowded every tent. she accepted her task readily, and spent the following hours ducking in and out of tents, weaving through castle grounds, moving as quickly as possible to minimize the damage where she could.
by now, the sky had been dark for hours. the day faded quickly when she kept her head down, eyes avoiding the bloodied faces and ears tuning out raspy cries. the waves of injured soldiers had started to finally slow, but after a trip to deliver a sedative to a particularly battered young man - several years younger than her own brother - she felt the exhaustion seeping into her bones. she needed a break, excused herself under the guise of fetching more supplies and just walked. walked until she found a secluded shed, and relieved to find it empty save for a few dozen bandages, slipped inside.
she moved towards the back wall, letting her weight rest against it. she shut her eyes, trying to erase the images of blood and pierced flesh that played over behind them. breathing out slowly, she started to relax after some time.
she’d lost track of how many minutes had passed when the door of the shed slammed. her eyes snapped open, startled by the sudden intrusion, slightly concerned that she was about to be berated for abandoning her post. “ I’M SORRY — “ she started, squinting to make out the silhouette in the doorway, “ i was looking for something. “
