#nr 2

“Reiken!” the two said.  

“What’s...” Reiken started.

“We need your help” Hein said quickly “One of the kids from the village got lost.  We think that she might have wondered into the tree and gotten lost on the mountain”

Gruen wiped the rain out of his face.  “We’ve been searching for hours, but no one knows the mountain better than you” he said “We don’t know what else to do... Please”

Reiken blinked at them.  It took him a moment before he finally processed what they were talking about, a frown forming on his face.  

“Rei please!” Hein begged “We’re begging you, we need your help.  She’s just...”

“Stop” Reiken said quietly, looking away from them “You don’t have to beg me...”

“So you’ll help?” Gruen asked excited.  

Reiken nodded and stepped back.  “Just give me... a moment” he said “Come in”

He walked to his room, wringing his hands together.  

For a moment he stopped and took a deep breath, he just wanted a nice quiet day, without having to go outside.  Shaking his head started changing clothes.  First a long sleeved shit, thick coat and then his boots.  

He hesitated before pulling on a pair of gloves.  It was cold outside, If they did not find the girl before nightfall she wouldn’t survive.  He knew how it felt being outside in this weather.  

And he nearly froze to death when it happened. 

Reiken glanced around in the bedroom before leaving.  Both Hein and Gruen still stood in the door, just out of the rain.  

“Where did they last see her?” he asked.

***

Reiken ducked beneath a broken branch.  

They’ve been out there for a long time and the sun has started setting.  Not long now and the temperature would start going down rapidly. 

He found the place where the little girl went into the forest.  

There were at least four spots that she might have gone to.  He sent Gruen and Hein to one of them, and told the rest of the search party to go to the other two.  Now he was on his way to the last one.  

The most dangerous one of them all.

“GINA!” he called out, eyes searching for the demons that came out in the rain and cold.

For a moment he paused, he could have sworn that he heard something.  It sounded like crying.  

“GINA!” he called again.  

Again he heard the sound and made his way towards it.  “GINA” he continued calling, listening for the sound that now turned into what sounded like crying, following it.  

When he finally reached it, he found the little girl soaked to the bone, hiding in a burrow barely large enough for her.  

Reiken knelt in font of it, he flicked his wrist, reaching for his power and stopped the water from falling on the two of them.  

“Hallo...” he said hesitantly. 

The little girl looked at him, her eyes going wide and she started crying again.  

“Hey, little one” Reiken said gently “It’s alright.  I’m going to take you home now”

She looked at him and shivered.  

“Are you cold?” he asked softly and she nodded.  

Reiken sighed, smiling as he shrugged of his coat and held it out to her.  

Gina crawled out of her little burrow and Reiken quickly wrapped her in the coat.  The coat was infused with power, so it did not get wet.  Just what Gina needed, the girl wouldn’t survive very long if he did not get her to some place save.  

A shiver ran through his body as the rain immediately soaked him.  

Just as Reiken got to his feet, a wailing scream sounded through the air.  Gina buried her face in his shoulder as she started crying again.  

Reiken clenched his jaw and started running.  He knew that he wouldn’t be able to outrun that demon, but he needed to get Gina out of here as fast as possible.  If he fought the demon now, it might take to long and if he got injured he wouldn’t be able to get her to town. 

***

The moment Hein and Gruen saw the figure moving through the rain towards them, they knew that it was Reiken.  

He moved a bit strangely, holding something in his arms.

Hein’s eyes widened and he shot forward.  “He found her!” he yelled as the others stared after him.  

It took Gruen a moment before he followed after Hein.  

Reiken just kept on moving when they reached him.  There was an empty expression on his face, like he had no idea what was going on around him anymore.  

His hair hung in his face, water running down it.  He was soaked to the bone.  The thin material of his shirt, clung to his body.  

Hein caught Reiken’s shoulder.  “Rei?” he asked, stopping him from going further.  

Reiken startled like he was just woken from a dream.  He blinked a few times before looking at Hein.  “Hein?” he asked confused.

“Yeah it’s me.  What happened to you?”

“I...” he started glanced down tot he bundle in his arms “Gina...”

Before Hein could say anything the rest of the villagers reached them.  One of them took Gina from Reiken’s arms.  As the weight disappeared, his body just gave him. 

Gruen managed to catch him before he fell in the rivers of rainwater that ran down towards the village.  

“Reiken?” he asked, looking down at the limp form in his arms.  

No answer.

“We should get him inside” he said and Gruen nodded. 

“He’s freezing cold” Gruen said “We need to hurry up”

Hein nodded.  “Will you be able to carry him?”

Gruen nodded.  “Go, make sure my Grandmother doesn’t do anything stupid and get the house heated up”

“Be careful” Hein said and he started sprinting down towards the village and Gruen’s home.  

Gruen watched Hein go for a moment before he turned his attention to Reiken.  A shiver ran through the other guy every now and then.  He was pale as a ghost, it even looked like his lips were turning a slight blue tint.  

He took a deep breath and picked Reiken up in his arms.  With a few shifts he got Reiken settled, bridal style.  

For a tall guy the red head was kind of light.  

“Alright” Gruen grunted “Let’s get you to someplace warm”

He moved as fast as he dared to.  The rain pouring down on both of them.  When he got to the front door, Hein already opened it and he stepped inside.  

The heat slammed into him like a fist.  

A soft whimper sounded from Reiken, the first sound since he fainted.  

“Put him here” Hein said and gestured to the cot that stood in the small living room.  They could put Reiken to close to the fire, not before he started heating up slightly.  

“Get him out of those wet clothes” Gruen said and shivered “I’m going to change quickly”

Hein nodded and started with Reiken’s shirt.  

When Gruen returned Reiken was dressed in some of his old clothes, which seemed to big for him.  He placed the stack of blankets on the ground. 

The two wrapped Reiken in the blankets and placed a medium heated, water skin on his chest.  After that the two pulled blankets around their own shoulders, sitting down in front of the fire.  

Every now and then one of them would check on the unconscious guy.  

As the colour started to return to his face, he muttered incoherently.  After a while he started moving around restlessly, like he was having a bad dream. 

Some of the words became clearer with time, until it turned into a restless mumbling that made Hein and Gruen give each other worried looks.  

Reiken shivered.  It felt like the cold had taken hold of his bones and refused to let go.  There was heat coming from the one side of his body and a warm spot on his chest.  

Voices whispered softly and slowly he managed to open his eyes.  

Slowly he curled up on his side, trying to get more heat.  The voices disappeared and two faces appeared in front of him.  

Hein and Gruen.

“Reiken?” Hein asked quietly “Are you with us again?”

“What... happened?” Reiken asked through clattering teeth. 

“You found Gina and got soaked in the rain before passing out” Gruen said “I had to carry you back”

Reiken’s eyes widened and he quickly sat up.  

The world turned and Hein caught him before he could fall of the cot.  He started shaking again.

“What the heck are you doing?” Hein snapped.  

“I’m sorry...” Reiken muttered as Hein let him lay back again.

“Don’t apologize you idiot” Gruen said “We are friends, we take care of each other and the girls will never forgive us, if we let something happen to you while we could have done something”

Reiken nodded slightly.  “I... caused... caused trouble... again” he said, teeth clattering “I’m... sorry...”

Hein and Gruen sighed.  It’s going to a while before they got Reiken to stop apologizing for everything.  

“Lay back and don’t move” Hein said “You nearly frozen when we found you.  Take it easy and warm up some more”