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Shiva watched Teacher crouch down to her small height, and he caressed her snow white hair with his hand.
The snow white strands found their way through the space between Teacher's fingers as he pulled back, and Shiva felt a little better after his small display of affection.
After her mishap from falling out of the window, both Shiva and Teacher realized that the curse did not affect her, for she was protected by the goddess.
Shiva's aunt was gone of course, since she turned into a tree and became free of the curse in a cruel, yet painless way.
Her neck was craned up to meet his eyes, and followed him to where his axe was kept.
"You're taking it with you? I thought you were just going to collect sticks." Shiva's eyes wandered from the axe to the floor as Teacher picked it up with one hand.
Although she never wanted to admit it, she despised the axe, especially since it was used for the wrong reasons. Without any means of protection, the axe was the only thing protecting Teacher and Shiva from other Outsiders, soldiers, or something even more mysterious hiding in these woods.
"Well, sticks aren't going to keep you warm, I'm afraid. We're going to need logs, especially since it's snowing. But it's alright, just stay here and wait for me. Feel free to help yourself to any bread if you're hungry." Teacher grasped the door handle and turned it, then opened the door. "I'll be back later."
Giving each other and small wave, Teacher left the house, leaving Shiva all alone in a dingy old home surrounded by snow. Although hesitantly, Shiva decided to clean up the house for Teacher's return a little later. Grabbing a broom that was most likely the size of three of her put together, Shiva started to hum and sweep.
Shiva awoke from her nap by blinking open her eyes and letting out a small yawn. She didn't know how long she had been asleep, and Teacher either wasn't back yet or he was home, but severely quiet. Regardless, Shiva threw off the bed-sheets and got her black boots on to walk down the stairs. Her stomach growled involuntarily from all the cleaning she did, but when Teacher got home it would give him a chance to praise her for all the work she did while he was gone.
"Teacher?" She asks, wiping her tired eyes. The house seemed practically abandoned without her guardian in it. Normally when she awoke from a nap, he'd be in the kitchen tending to the fireplace, reading, or making a snack while he taught her how to read. The downstairs was so cold that if Shiva tried hard enough, she could see her breath turn to smoke.
Shivering now, Shiva walked over to the dying fire and poked it a little with a stick to feed the flames. The soot kept the fire was becoming any larger, which meant she would have to be in a cold house until Teacher came back with what he promised. Shiva sighed, "Brr, it's cold."
Pulling open the curtains, she noticed the snow was still there, although the slowly setting sun which was going to envelope the land in darkness soon enough. Teacher was still not back, and Shiva's heart skipped a beat. "He should have been back by now! S-Should I go find him?" She questioned to herself, looking out the window and at the door with a finger to her head.
Shiva knew he was an Outsider, and most definitely a being the likes of which she's never known before, but she didn't know if he could see in the dark; Let alone make his way back carrying heavy firewood. After some very careful consideration, and with pure determination alone, Shiva threw on her coat, scarf, and boots to venture out into the cold and dark Outside. Armed with nothing more than a lantern and her wit, the little girl trudges through the sludgy snow in search of her guardian.
Teacher had some trouble carrying both the axe and multiple logs of wood back to his and Shiva's home, but once he got back after the sun had set he figured Shiva must have been asleep by now. Struggling to open the door, he makes an irritated noise and ends up leaving the firewood outside and simply taking the axe in. He notices small footprints in the snow leading away from the house, but while lost in thought, he simply brushes them off as if it was an animal.
"Shiva, I'm back. Would you like me to start a fire?"
The house was spick and span despite having difficulty seeing in the dark. However, it was much too quiet and cold. He figured Shiva must be in bed right now, with as many blankets as she could find over her, but something about the house felt empty and different. He couldn't find the lantern either. How peculiar. He thought, searching around for it.
"Shiva? I apologize if I took too long. The logs were quite heavy and I needed-" He started to ascend the stairs and check on Shiva, only to discover that she was nowhere to be found. Now in a panic, Teacher searched the house and called out for the little girl, only to discover that she was truly gone. "She must have thought I abandoned her. Just like her aunt did... No, t-that's not like her. Shiva must be looking for me! Right, then I'll find-"
The door opened suddenly, but it didn't belong to his little Shiva. It was one of the other cloaked Outsiders, and by the looks of how frantically they stepped inside, there no doubt there was trouble. Teacher watched as they desperately tried to keep their composure as they exclaimed, "The soul is being hunted. The crows saw the wolves, watching her through the trees! We must act quickly before they take the soul away!" Soon after, a few crows perched themselves onto some nearby snow-covered branches. "We can take you to her. It is not far, but she is in great danger."
Teacher's eyes widened, and did exactly as he was told without another word. Grabbing the axe, he pushed the cloaked Outsider aside and looked up at the crows. "Take me to Shiva, now. We're going to deal with them properly." Obeying, the crows took to the skies, allowing Teacher to follow them exactly to where Shiva was located.
As much as Shiva didn't want to admit it, she was lost in the woods, with only a dying candle to light her way. She could hide and wait out the darkness, but it would be too cold to get comfortable enough to fall asleep. For now, she trudged on through the snow in search of Teacher. Her hands were red and numbed due to the bite in the air, and occasionally she would let out a sneeze and wipe it on her sleeve.
"Teacher? Are you out here? I'm cold..." Suddenly, a twig snapped. Either in the tree or on the ground she couldn't tell, but as she whisked around, she saw two glowing pairs of eyes watching her through the darkness, most likely looking for their next meal. Then two turned to four, four turned to six, six to eight, eight to ten.
Ten eyes watched on in the dark, preying on Shiva in a way that made her realize she might be their next meal. Gripping the lantern tighter, Shiva takes a few steps back while watching them through the trees. Her throat tightens in fear and despair, almost as if wanting to ask, "Haven't I gone through enough?"
Her eyes narrow and she clenches her teeth together, before letting out a, "Leave me alone!" Turning on her heels, Shiva makes a break for it through the trees with her lantern in hand. The handle squeaks as she throws it in multiple directions as she sprints through the snow. She feels weighted down by everything at this very moment, like running in a dream.
The creatures in the dark let out a shrill growl and took off towards her, bounding through the snow so easily that Shiva couldn't believe it. She risks a look behind her, and what she see's makes tears spring to her eyes. A pack of five wolves were hot on her tail, most likely hungry from not being able to find food in winter. "S-Stay away! Go-" Mid-sentence, she stumbles, but still keeps her balance and continues running. "Save your breath for running, not talking." Shiva told herself.
Unfortunately, it was no use. The grey wolf continued gaining on the poor girl, with its teeth bared and saliva dripping from its open mouth ready to take down its prey. "No-" Her sentence was short-lived as the wolf grabs hold of her ankle and drags her to the floor with its other four pack members following suit.
She clenches her eyes shut and feels the wolf create pressure on a muscle, almost like restraining her to the point where she couldn't kick if she wanted to. Letting out a scream in pain and fear, Shiva tries her best to move, only to stop. Despite the dark, she could feel blood, her blood, seep out of the wound on her ankle and fall onto the snowy forest floor below. Shiva was going to die here, alone, and Teacher wasn't there to protect her. A second wolf sniffed her hair, almost like taking an interest in this being they've never seen before. This was Outsider territory, so it was no wonder that they wolves haven't seen a human before.
Another wolf growled at the lantern containing hot fire, and the pack seemed to steer clear from the lantern all together as if they knew what it was from past experiences. Shiva cried out again as a wolf tried to maul through her coat as she laid on her back, and punched it in the nose using a free hand. Attempting to flee again, the little girl tried crawling through the snow by reaching out an arm, only to have it be crushed under the weight of a wolf's jaws almost out of nowhere. Tears streamed down her cheeks even more now, the pain of it all so overwhelming she felt like fainting in the snow.
Shiva could feel the bone snap and the skin break, only to realize something. These wolves weren't just trying to go for the kill, they were seemingly playing with their food. Letting out a shriek as the wolf started to attack her already broken arm, she was flipped onto her back, exposing her neck which the wolves could easily clamp on to.
Closing her eyes, she laid as still as possible despite the pain. Shiva wanted to cry out, she wanted to shed more tears, but in the disarray she played dead to hopefully stave them off. A wolf growled toward its companion, and they suddenly nipped at each other as if arguing who gets to deal the final blow. Shiva felt the wolf sniff the collar of her coat where her throat resided, as if checking to see if she was still breathing. Shiva's breath hitched, her throat tightened, and the pain only continued worsening from there.
"Shiva!" Through the terror of it all, she could hear Teacher's voice call out to her through the trees. Shiva couldn't help but let out a relieved sigh, prompting the wolves to start growling again and attempt to protect their prey from whatever was trying to steal it from them. Shiva opened her eyes slowly, half expecting to meet eye-to-eye with a wolf, and the other half to be met with blurry imagery from her blood loss.
Without warning, dozens of crows, the Outsiders, bombarded the wolves with their beaks, and starting scolding the wolves about hurting their precious soul. Shiva tried to move, tried to speak, but once Teacher arrived, she knew that she was finally safe. Using his axe, he attacked the wolves who were attempting to steal Shiva away. Closing her eyes, she heard the whimpers and whines of the poor animals as they were hacked to shreds from Teacher's sheer anger and desperation alone.
Risking her eyes open, Shiva starts to hyperventilate as she watches Teacher and the crows seemingly maimed and mutilated her attackers. Teacher's eyes were wide, as if right at this very moment, getting rid of the wolves was his only mission at the moment. A crow flew onto his shoulder and whispered something to Teacher, prompting the Outsider to drop the axe and turn to look at Shiva.
Attempting to smile, Shiva used her good arm to reach out towards Teacher, who was in a frantic state from murdering animals, and from seeing Shiva get badly hurt. Taking off his coat, he wrapped it around Shiva to keep her warm despite the cold. The arm which was attacked by the wolves hung loosely at her side, and blood stained her coat from the blood loss. He would gag if he had the ability to, but all he could do for now was keep her safe.
Shiva was clearly in shock from the attack, as her skin was much whiter than usual, pale even, and she seemed incredibly dizzy. From the blood loss or from the attack, Teacher did not know, but Shiva needed medical attention immediately. Teacher held Shiva in his arms, and used his coat to keep her from getting any colder. Lifting her up by her back and cradling her head, Teacher breathed out, "Shiva! My God, what did they do to you? H-Here, let me get you safe and warm..." "Teacher..." Shiva whispered, coughing due to the cold. "Here..."
Teacher looked to the side as she pushed the lantern towards him, her smile not leaving her face. "I brought it," She sucked in a breath from the pain, "So that you wouldn't be afraid of the dark." He squeezed his eyes shut and thought nothing of the lantern, all he could care about was Shiva. "We must get home, immediately." Lifting her up and carrying her in his arms, he leaves the lantern, and the bodies of five wolves behind in the snow, but makes sure to bring the axe with him.
There were little to no medical supplies in the home where Teacher and Shiva were currently residing, so Teacher made do with what he could. Unfortunately, he had to use Shiva's scarf as a tourniquet for the wound on her arm, but he couldn't ease the pain with the items he had. The arm itself was practically unusable now, especially since the bones were crushed and the blood continued to flow. The only thing that Teacher could cover the table with was with the table cloth.
As much as he hated to admit it, he may need to amputate. As for her ankle, the bite wasn't too extreme. The teeth sunk into her skin fairly deep, but not deep enough to cause any sort of break, but it was most likely sprained, since intense bruising was already starting to occur. Through it all, Shiva said nothing but laid on the table as Teacher did his work.
Shiva was starting to lose consciousness pretty quickly, due to her body slowing down her heart, breathing, and respiration in order to keep the brain from experiencing anymore trauma. "Shiva? Dearest one?" Teacher asks, running a hand through her hair again to keep her awake. "Hm?" Shiva blinks open her eyes, and each time she does, much, much slower. Whether it was from the blood loss or purely from being tired, Teacher swore to himself that Shiva wasn't going to fall asleep.
"You must stay awake despite the pain." He caressed her cheek with his hand and felt the tears that had dried to her face. "I'm doing as much as I can, but..." Teacher looked over at the tourniquet still dripping blood. "Those beasts didn't want to kill her right away." Teacher thought, as he undid the tourniquet, "They wanted to eat her alive."
Shiva flinched and squeezed her eyes shut as the tight scarf was undone, and allowed Teacher to place it to the side. "Shiva, as much as I hate to say this, there's no way to stop the bleeding on your arm... I have to cut it off-"
"No!" Shiva exclaimed, using her good arm to grab his sleeve.
Her eyes were still shut and her teeth were clenched, but tears started to form again despite her best efforts. Starting to shiver, Shiva couldn't tell if it was because of the cold, or the fear of having her arm amputated without any anesthetic. She was still in incredible pain at this very moment, but the thought of having her entire arm taken off was enough to make her shake her head without another word.
Teacher did not know what else to do. He wanted to console her, press a kiss to her forehead and tell her that it was alright, but he just couldn't. Teacher was her guardian, and yet, he couldn't find the words or the actions he needed to tell her that it was going to be okay. That he was going to be right there with her, feeling the same amount of pain.
For now, all he could do was sigh, run a hand through her hair again, and head towards the axe, still wet with wolf blood. Shiva could hear Teacher walking around the room, and risked opening her eyes. It was then that she saw him drying off the axe with a towel, and knew that whatever was going to happen next was going to be the most pain she felt in a long time.
"Teacher?" She asked, twiddling her fingers together on one hand to calm her nerves. At the mention of his name, Teacher looks over and finishes cleaning the axe.
"Yes, Shiva?" His voice is soft, low, and comforting... and scared.
As he makes his way back to Shiva, he feels so reluctant to hurt her this way.
"I'm sorry for not listening to you. I should have just waited back home, but I didn't listen. I-I wanted to find you-" She sucked in a breath and Teacher quickly held her hand to keep her from moving anymore than she should have. "Was this my fault?"
Teacher blinks and looks her in the eyes, then places the axe on the table and presses his forehead against her own, as if trying to silently tell her that she did absolutely nothing wrong. He wanted her to know that she was a precious joy to be around, and that his life was so much better with her in it.
"No, this was never your fault. It was mine for taking so long. But we must act quickly now, Shiva. Your arm may get infected, so I have to do this."
He removed his forehead from her own and looked around the room for something for Shiva to bite down on as he amputated what was left of her arm. Letting her sorrows be known now, Shiva started whimpering as Teacher bundled up a piece of unused cloth and brought it close to her mouth so that her screams could be muffled. She turned her head away from Teacher and closed her eyes again, prompting a sigh from her guardian.
"Shiva, please open your mouth for me. I'll make this as painless as possible, you won't even feel it."
"Promise me I'll be okay!" Shiva snapped back, her eyebrows narrowed and face so pale from blood loss that she was almost the equivalent of the snow.
She wasn't her usual self, and it was possible that Shiva was still in shock.
Taken aback, Teacher pulls his hand away and looks at what's left of her arm. It was the only way to get her to comply, even if it wasn't true.
Nodding, Teacher says, "I promise, and when we fix your arm, I'll bake you something for being so brave."
Without another word, Shiva's energy is far from drained, so she finally complies and stares up at the ceiling. Allowing Teacher to place the cloth in her mouth, more tears start to form in her eyes, and her breathing starts to quicken from being so nervous.
Grabbing the axe, Teacher lays her arm out to the side and tries to find the best place to chop it off. Her forearm was mauled and torn from the wolf, so he would need to amputate near the elbow for a speedy recovery.
"I'll count to three, Shiva. You must stay perfectly still so that I can make a clean cut. Ready?" She nods twice, and Teacher nods back.
"Alright... one... two... three-"
He brings the axe down onto her arm, breaking off what was left of her arm and causing her to cry out in pain and agony.
Shiva's other hand hits the table and she starts shaking her legs despite being told to stay still.
Another hit should take all of it off, but due to her screams, Teacher finds himself feeling a pain in his chest so awful that he couldn't help but start to cry.
He promised himself to never hurt Shiva, and here he was, cutting off her arm with an axe.
Without another word, he cuts off the arm entirely and watched the blood seep out of her arm.
Acting quickly, Teacher grabs needle and thread, and all the gauze bandages he can find in order to close the skin together.
The handiwork was messy, but he managed to not only stop the bleeding using the stitches, but he wrapped the arm in gauze and tied it together to keep the bandages from coming undone.
It was then that he realized Shiva wasn't screaming anymore, and his eyes widened before going back to check on her. Tears still stained her cheeks and yet the cloth hadn't gone down her throat.
"Shiva? Wake up." He tried to take the cloth out of her mouth, while at the same time listen to her heartbeat using his other hand. There was no pulse, her heart had stopped.
"S-Shiva, I'm so sorry. You're alright, you have to be okay." He pleaded, cradling her head despite the blood on his hand.
His own tears kept flowing now, and in a state of pure desperation, laid Shiva back down, opened the front of her outfit, and started to perform CPR. "I promised you that I was going to save you... Shiva, my dearest, Shiva..."
Lifting her chin to open her airway, he quickly gets to work again. Putting his dominant hand over the other, he pressed the heel of his hand to her sternum and began to press down while counting how many compressions he does.
He hated to perform mouth-to mouth resuscitation, and wasn't willing to place his "lips" on a little girl, so he stuck to simply pressing down to get her breathing again. Although he could not feel, he tried his best to restart Shiva's heart.
"Shiva, damn it! Survive! Survive..." He starts to slow down his chest compressions, and the tears continue to fall, "Survive... for me."
Teacher couldn't just give up, Shiva was going to survive. She was strong for a little girl, and he promised her that she was going to be alright.
Continuing his chest compressions, he occasionally blew some air into her mouth and hoped for the best.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, Shiva took in a breath and started to cough.
"Shiva! It's alright, I'm here. I'm here..." Teacher exclaimed, holding her close and lifting her off the table.
"T-Teacher..." She tried to say, but he voice was raspy and slow.
"Don't speak, my darling. It will only make your throat ache."
Complying, Shiva only pressed herself closer against Teacher and rested her head on his chest, much like an infant in need of physical contact.
Gently rubbing her back, Teacher begins to take Shiva upstairs.
His eyes wandered to the amputated arm still on the table, as well as the bloodied axe. Shiva didn't say anything, but allowed Teacher to hold her in his arms without making a fuss.
She had her face buried in his shoulder, and her one good arm was wrapped around him as he ascended the stairs to put Shiva in her bed. The fire in the fireplace crackled, so Shiva had much needed warmth. Sitting on the bed with Shiva still in his arms, Teacher simply holds Shiva and makes sure that everything was alright. He gains the courage to speak up.
"Would you like some water? Food? You must be incredibly weak."
She shakes her head, and grumbles, "Maybe later."
Teacher looks down at the floor while still consoling Shiva after her temporary death. "What was it like? Having passed away so suddenly?" He risked asking, hoping the poor girl wasn't too offended.
Looking up at Teacher, they suddenly lock eyes and Shiva tries to smile. The nub where her arm used to be started to hurt again, but she paid it no mind to keep Teacher from worrying.
"Uh, well... It was dark... really, really dark. I couldn't see or hear anything, and I couldn't feel either. It just felt nice and warm, like being wrapped in a big blanket. I wasn't scared anymore, I guess. But I wondered where you were."
Teacher sighed and felt guilty after realizing that even in death, there was no place for Shiva.
Just an empty, black void where she was to spend the rest of her days; alone, yet calm.
Teacher picked her up and settled her into bed, while also being mindful of her leg. "No matter where you are, I'll always be right here to protect you. But I'm afraid you need to eat, even if you don't want to. I'll make something small."
Pressing a kiss to Shiva's forehead, he turns on his heels and begins to descend downstairs again.
"Teacher?" Her voice was quiet and crackly.
"Yes, Shiva?" Teacher asks, looking at her again.
"I love you lots." Teacher feels a knot in his chest as his eyes glance over at the nub that used to be her arm.
He amputated her arm, and she still told him how much she cared.
Nodding, Teacher replies, "I love you more, Shiva."
"Heehee, well, I love you most!"