The Grand Mistress

The climb to Mt. Sun wasn't easy, not even for a strong man like Hawk Monsanto. His way was rather too dangerous as a thick cloud covered his view and the strong wind slammed him now and then against the big hard rocks which he relied on to climb. There were times he had stopped, not because he was tired but because he had lost his sense of direction and the signs that Mario marked on the map didn't come handy as he couldn't rely much on his eyesight right then. However, knowing how bad the weather was and how short Simione's supplies, he went on his way without the slightest thought of giving up.

After three long hours, Hawk stumbled on the part of the mountain where he found an empty backpack. Nearby some human things scattered like a torned raincoat, spoiled food, damaged goods and a shoe with no pair. The shoe looked like it was owned by a woman and so Hawk immediately suspected it was Cat's.

"Cat!" Hawk called her name although the howling wind surely would render his effort futile. He tried to look around to find the girl, hoping she was nearby talking shelter but he hadn't seen any. No one also responded to his calls. What could have happened to Cat? Did she fall on the cliff or something?

Hawk looked more but there's just no sign of her and so he continued on his way up, hoping she was somewhere up there very okay. Soon, after such a hard challenging climb, Hawk found himself in the clearing. The climb had been finished and so he looked at the map and scrutinized, trying to check what Mario marked for him. When he somehow knew where he was, he walked for minutes and called for the girl. He knew it wouldn't be long until the night struck as he had spent all afternoon climbing through such a dangerous way. Hawked looked and looked but to no avail and when the day bright started to withdraw, he became overly worried what could have happened to her.

"Where the heck are you Cat?" Hawk cursed, already frustrated. He didn't climb such a mountain for nothing and so he hoped she would just appear from wherever. Hawk then searched and searched, almost like a wild man when soon, he heard something unusual from somewhere. He stopped his tracks and listened. He heard such a sound earlier but he thought that it was just a whistle of the wind but soon realized it wasn't. It was definitely man made and so he followed such a noise until he found himself near a river bank. It was flooded with rushing already brown water and fallen branches. Hawk was transfixed on how chaotic the sight was, he almost didn't notice the girl that was stuck on the water a few meters away.

"Hawk," Simione thought she was dreaming, nevertheless she called his name. To her shock, the man ran toward her side and when his hand touched her shoulder, she realized he was real.

"Why on earth are you here?" The girl's eyes bulged out of shock. She knew the situation at the trail up to Mount Sun so she never expected any help. Someone could die climbing up as she almost did when she attempted to climb down and so  Hawk's presence seemed very impossible then.

"I came for you!" Hawk saw that Simione's lower body was submerged on the riverbank, suspended by a big trunk of tree that fell on her. She was stuck. "What happened here?"

"I tried to fetch water to drink," The girl narrated. "What I remembered next was that something fell on me and I wake up with this,"

She was referring to the tree that fell on her. It was really a good thing that she was in the riverbank, so when that trunk rushed on her, her body just merely submerged in the water with little force. She bumped her head though into some stone as only half of her body fell into the water and so she fainted for a few hours. When she woke up, she was cold and terrified, especially that the water was rising as minutes advanced and she was afraid that she might drown any moment then. As she struggled to free herself, she heard someone calling her name and even though she knew it was just purely hallucination, she dared to make a sound using the whistle that hung around her neck and that was how Hawk found her.

"Steady," Hawk asked her not to move as he attempted to get off the big trunk and free the girl. It was such a big piece though and the howling wind and striking drain drops made the job more complicated but with his eagerness to save the girl, he was able to somehow make the trunk move a little bit in enough distance to free the girl. 

Simione was relieved when she felt everything around her loosened but her lower body, most specially her feet had gone numb because it had been in the cold rushing water for many hours, making her unable to move well. Hawk noticed her struggle and so he picked her up with his strong arms and gathered him somewhere safe. He settled on a big tree that had lustruss leaves as he tried to cover them both from the rain.

"Thank you," Simione told her, and only when she was already safe did she feel how terrified she was. She was all shaking and even wanted to cry, which she was unable to do earlier when she was on the verge of death. Heck she was in the same situation twice that day. First, when she attempted to climb down this morning, the wind knocked her off and she fell down. She was lucky her body was caught in a big bush, or else she could have died. During that time, she lost her backpack and all her necessary things, she was left with nothing then but only the one she was wearing in her body, minus her other shoe.

Hawk had seen how terrified she became. She went pale and she was shaking nervously that the man had to embrace her hard to calm her off. 

"I thought I was going to die," She said as she held onto his warmth. "I...I thought I might not be able to go back to Devon City...my grandpa...brother Don,"

"Shhhhh.." Hawk comforted her. "I'm here Cat. I won't let you die like that. I'll make you safe,"

"Thank you," That was the only thing she managed to answer him as her mind was preoccupied with the thought of death and all other negative things that struck her. Hawk realized then that with her current situation, it would be hard to bring her home. Also, the weather had gotten so bad that even when they were already taking shelter from the tree, he felt very unsafe. With such, he knew he had to find a shelter for them.

"Cat you have been here before, do you know a place where we can take shelter?" Hawk tried to ask her although he knew she was not in the right mind to answer. Luckily Cat did give him something as she pointed in a certain direction, claiming there was a cave there, which the mountaineers used as a camp site whenever they stayed here. Mt. Sun was popular to hikers and mountaineers, especially because it was one of the mountains that was difficult to climb in their country. Many enthusiasts therefore come once in a while to take the challenge of climbing it and so that was why a camp site was made.

Hawk carried Cat to the direction she told him and soon, Hawk found himself in a cave-like space in the pile of big stones attached to a rocky hill. Bamboo benches were made there and there was a space for fire. In one corner, an old dusty tent was standing. 

"I'm afraid we have to stay here for a while. We need to wait for the weather to calm down," Hawk announced as he put Cat on the bamboo bench. He then went inside the tent to find something dry to cover Cat and was glad he found a thick blanket inside. It was so dusty though and so he had to dust it off and make it have no insects before he put it over Cat. 

"You'd better take off your clothes," He instructed before he went to make a fire. The surroundings were getting more dark and gloomy, without the fire, they couldn't see anything anymore. Good thing, Hawk's backpack was still intact and so his goods and tools were safely tucked inside. He took the lighter and started making fire with the leftover wood that he found in the fire area. He thought he had to thank whoever was the one who camped there before them because they sure left enough firewood for them to last the night. Plus the tent and blanket was really helpful.

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