It's been a few weeks since that day Lucas first skinned the rabbit. It's snowing and in the corner of Lucas eye, a deer can be spotted. Lucas is holding onto Diego's rifle. "It's heavy Diego, I can't hold it up right." Lucas says.
The rifle is wobblying ,but alucas is trying his best, Diego then coughs a bit. "Lucas, this might be the toughest thing I'll be teaching you. I'm willing to wait months as this will be hard for you to learn." Diego says as he watches the deer.
"Don't worry I won't fail you anytime soon." Lucas says as the deer is drinking from a river oblivious to Lucas and Diego's presence.
"Listen to me Lucas you must be quiet, don't catch its attention or else It'll run away." Diego says whispering to him.
Lucas nods and he keeps the rifle pointed at the deer, he is sweating a bit. Lucas takes multiple deep breaths as he is going to kill an animal. His arms are shaking, and he knows it's from both fear and the weight of the rifle.
"Calm down Lucas, just pull the trigger whenever you feel ready." Diego says as he had spent a few days teaching him how to aim and shoot properly. Lucas was not that bad at learning, and if he weren't a kid he could of learned much more.
Lucas can't hold the riffle straight, but he is still growing up. He wants Lucas to learn now because he is young, and he has his whole life ahead of him.
Lucas is scared and it's not helping with the fact that he can't concentrate. He can't shot at the happy and lively looking deer, he can't take its life away.
Even if he did want to shoot the deer, he wouldn't be able to hit it where he wants to as the gun is heavy. If he pulls the trigger now the bullet will definitely miss, and the deer will run away. He concentrates and he accidentally pulls the trigger, his hands are slippery so the bullet obviously misses the deer.
The deer then runs away quickly and Lucas begins to tear up. "Hey Lucas calm down, you should be proud you actually shot at the deer. Well you did miss the deer, but that's a big accomplishment Lucas." Diego says trying to calm him down.
Lucas drops the riffle, and hugs Diego. "I'll do better next time, I'm scared, but I'll kill it." Lucas says as he is shaking a bit.
"Yeah I know you will Lucas, that's why I'm not going to pressure you." Diego says as he hugs Lucas back. "I was also scared when I killed my first animal, I was shaking more than you did."
Diego then looks at where the deer ran off to. "Lucas we still have all the time in the world to do this." Lucas can feel his hand twitch as he said that.
Diego then stands up, and looks at where the deer ran off to. "We can chase the deer although it may take us all day, but I don't see any other option." He then coughs, "Lucas, we just need a lot of patience, we are going to kill that deer."
Lucas holds Diego's hand, and Diego grabs the gun, they begin to chase after the deer. It's not snowing too much so they won't have limited visibility. The snow isn't too deep for it to slow down Lucas so they are a bit lucky on that. Lucas won't have the excuse of using the weather as a reason as to why he can't shoot.
They keep on walking, and Diego coughs again. "Lucas there is something I need to tell you, we have lived within this district, but Iriage is known for its poverty. It's full of people who can be considered poor, and it's specially attractive to dangerous ones." Diego says.
"These areas are dangerous Lucas, the problem is that deer like coming here." Diego then pulls out a map, and shows Lucas a red line "Never cross that line as rumors have it that past that line lives dangerous people."
"Listen, no one has yet to prove this rumor, but it's better if they haven't. Don't cross that line no matter what, I've never gone past it myself." Diego says as Lucas nods.
They continue to walk. "We are only going to move forward 300 more steps. If the deer hasn't turned left or right, it's a lost cause as it's near past that line." Diego says as he continues to look forwards hoping that it took a different route.
"Well I want to go get that deer, I don't want to give up that quickly." Lucas says, but he is scared of what's passed that imaginary line that Diego said.
"I've heard you say that Lucas, and it's a great thing as it will give you more confidence." He says as they keep on walking slowly, Diego then reloads the riffle. Lucas guesses Diego is nervous to be near bad people as the shot was pretty loud.
They then spot the deer looking around, they stop moving. Diego then hands the riffle back to Lucas who barely managed to hold onto. Lucas then points the gun at the deer. "Lucasx try to stay calm because if you're nervous you'll miss, and that deer would enter the bad areas."
Diego is also sweating, but it's for a different reason. He doesn't know if people are around them, and if they are good or bad people. Lucas struggles a bit and he whispers. "I'm not strong enough to point it straight." Diego kneels down, and holds the gun steady for Lucas.
Diego then whispers. "This isn't cheating as I'm only making it stable, you would have to do the rest of the work by yourself." Lucas has his fingers on the trigger, and he concentrates. He shots at the deer again, but he misses once again.
The deer then runs into the dangerous area Diego said they couldn't enter. "That's a shame, but I guess we have to find a different deer then." He stands up and turns around.
"No, I want to go after that deer, it's the only one we've spotted in a while" Lucas says as he keeps on staring at where the deer ran off to.
Diego sighs. "We just can't do that Lucas, I just told you we can't go there. I understand that no one has seen anybody past that line, but it's way too risky." He says as he grabs Lucas's shoulder.
"I want to do it." Lucas says and Diego tries to make him leave, but he stays still. "I'm sad I couldn't kill the deer when all I did was talk about how I was going to do it." He still doesn't budge.
"Lucas, being stubborn is one of the worst traits a person can have. We are risking our own lives for something we aren't sure we will get." Diego says, and Lucas looks down as he turns to Diego.
They begin to walk away, but Diego hears some footsteps behind them. "Lucas stop moving now." He whispers, and he puts his hand on Lucas's mouth so they can listen.
He points his riffle around as he pushes Lucas so that they are in the ground. He doesn't know who was following them, and doesn't want be seen because they could be killed. So far the odds aren't good. If they see a bad person that person won't reveal his true intentions, and possibly kill them quickly. If they were good it would take time for them to convince them that they aren't bad.
Lucas looks around, and when he is about to speak he stops himself. He can't speak right now, and Diego was right, they should of just left immediately.
After a while of nothing happening, they are still lying on the ground. They haven't heard any footsteps the last time they did, the footsteps became fainter. "Listen Lucas, let's leave now when we have the chance." He whispers and Lucas agrees.
They get up slowly and begin to walk away, and as they walk Diego would have them stop to hear if they were being followed. "Lucas, this is the reason why we shouldn't have gone further, it's my fault I brought you here in the first place." Diego whispers.
Lucas then spots a deer and he pulls on Diego's leg, Diego looks, and he sees it. "Leave it Lucas, we are in a serious situation right now, we can go hunting another day." He whispers and Lucas nods again.
Diego is pointing his gun around, and he can't help but sweat at the possibilities. This is the most danger he has ever been in, and it's more stressing when he has a kid. They then hear a twig snap, and Diego turns around. He is now pointing his gun at a young man who has his hands in the air.
Diego looks at the man. "Hey…can you not point that at me." The man said, but Diego isn't stupid. How could Diego believe that the stranger isn't going to kill them as soon as he lowers his gun.
Lucas hides behind Diego. "Tell me your name, and if you're alone!" He yells at the man, he still has his riffle pointed at him.
"Sorry but I can't tell you my name, but I'm not alone here." The man said, and Diego begins to look around. "Don't worry my partner isn't nearby, and he isn't a bad person so please call down."
"If you kill me my partner will call the SDA, and since you have a kid with you I can assume you wouldn't want to risk that." The man says, but his voice is a bit shaky.
"Are you sure you aren't lying about your partner not being around. What if he is trying to ambush us, while you distract me?" Diego says, and Lucas begins to look around to see if another person is around.
"Well I heard the gunshot, and when I went to investigate, I saw the deer and you two. If I was going to kill you I would of done it already when you two first heard my footsteps." He says as he lowers his hands a bit. "Why would I show myself when you two were looking relaxed? It's idiotic do me to do that when my partner isn't here as it's risky."
"I'm sorry but I can't trust you, you can understand because of where we are. I have a kid which means I have to be more suspicious for his safety." Diego says as he watches the man lower his hands more, and he can see he has no weapons.
"Well can I just leave as it seems none of us wants to hurt each other. I won't try to approach you two since if I do it will be more suspicious, and you will shot me." The man says as he looks at Diego.
"That's not possible I just don't know what you're doing. How do I know you aren't lying to me at this instant?" Diego says as he still has a steady grip on his riffle.
"Look I just wanted to check out the noise alright, that's it there is nothing more I wanted to do. If I knew this was going to happen I would of stayed away from you." The man said.
"Look around us Lucas, make sure we won't be ambushed." He whispers to Lucas, and Lucas looks more faster. "Listen, I won't lower my gun so don't try, focus more on why I shouldn't shoot you." Diego says to the man.
The man then raises his hands much higher and nods. "I'm just in the wrong place at the wrong time, I have no intention to hurt any of you two." He says as he is shaking a bit.
"Alright then, just walk away slowly. We are leaving as well, and let's hope we don't see each other again." Diego says and they all begin to walk away slowly. They continue to walk and as soon as Diego can't see the man, he grabs Lucas, and they begin to run away.
They keep on running, and Diego would look behind them a few times to see if they were being chased. "For how long are we going to keep on running?" Lucas asks as he begins to feel a bit tired.
"We won't stop until we reach the town that's 20 minutes away, we have to endure it." Diego says, the continue running, and Lucas was too scared to turn around. For some reason Diego pushes Lucas, and two gunshots can be heard, Lucas turns around and sees Diego grunt as he holds onto his leg. Lucas then hears a thud, and he looks up to see the man now sliding down presumably dead.
"Thank goodness I didn't leave my guard down and I killed him, but you understand that it's different than murder. I had to protect you so this was justified, remember that I didn't want to kill him, but he forced me to." Diego says.
Lucas walks up to Diego, and he helps his move. "I'm scared, and I don't think I'll forget this anytime soon." Lucas says as they begin to walk away. "I don't want to cry, but it's hard trying not to."
"I'm sorry Lucas, but this is how the world works. I'm just glad that you're learning, but I still believe you're too young." Diego says, and as they continue to walk Diego looks around them. That partner of his is still somewhere out here, and he doesn't want to run into him.
They begin to slow down. "I'm sorry I can't carry you. I'm not strong enough, and I'm tired already." Lucas says.
"It's fine Lucas, if things go wrong I want you to leave me behind. I won't argue with you as your life is very precious. Listen, some people are just evil with no reason, but the others are sad cases. Most of these people who are evil are forced to be or are denied the opportunity to be good."
"Lucas you are nice, and you should always help out others. It's a small, but great way to make the world better. Kindness spread much faster than you think Lucas." Diego says.
"I'll try to remember that Diego." Lucas continue to force himself to help Diego move, Diego looks back and then. "There is a man right there behind that tree!" Lucas yells.
Diego turns and shots, but since he wasn't looking the bullet misses the man. The man pushes Diego and they both begins to struggle as the man has a knife, and Diego doesn't want to be stabbed.
"Run Lucas, don't worry about me!" Diego yells as Lucas begins to run away. "What is your problem, and why are you targeting us?" Diego says as he tries his best to avoid getting stabbed.
"What? We aren't targeting you, you were just unlucky we wanted to kill someone. You were the first people we saw so it make sense that we are killi mg you." The man says.
"That's a stupid reason, but I can't argue with you as I'm trying to not die." Diego says as he grabs onto the knife, this man is just crazy.
Lucas can still hear them, and he begins to run as fast as he could. What can he do about it? The gun, maybe he should return, and shot the man. He is evil so he shouldn't feel sad about killing the man, but still taking the life of another being is bad.
Even if he wanted to turn around he couldn't, his legs wouldn't let him as he is scared. The one person who cares for him is going to die, and he is starting to cry again. He continues to run, and then he spots another person. "W-who is there?" Lucas says and the person walks closer. It's a young girl that seems to be a bit older than him.
The young girl sees Lucas and begins to laugh at him. "Why are you crying? What are you a big baby?" She says as she points at him.
Lucas then tries to explain his situation. "Oh really? That's still not enough for you to be crying like that, I've seen worse, and I haven't cried once." She said, but then she stops laughing. "Can you tell me where this is happening?"
Lucas points behind him to where they are fighting. "Oh alright, I'll be right back then, just give me a minute or two." She says as she begins to walk.
"What? Don't go it's dangerous for you." Lucas says, but she pushes Lucas to the floor. The girl insults him again before she walks passed him. Lucas then contemplates if he should return, but after a bit he hears a gunshot.
Lucas then hears footsteps, and he can see the girl again. "You're lucky that the guy was an asshole to me anyways." Lucas spots her holding a gun ."My home is back there, but I have some things to do."
Lucas remembers what Diego told him. "Hey want to be my friend?" Lucas says to the girl. She turns around, and looks at him with confusion. "Listen friends help each other out, and well you helped me so I want to return the favor."
She then smiles at him. "Well alright I will be your friend if you return maybe I'll consider it." She then leaves him be, she starts to disappear from Lucas eyesight.
Lucas turns around, and realizes that she must be living inside the forbidden area. If she lives there then it mean she needs help. Before he can think more about it, Diego appears.
"Hey are you alright kid? Someone helped me, but I couldn't see him. Did you see this person or anything as I'm thankful that they saved me?" Dieog says as he hugs Lucas, and Lucas denies seeing someone.
They begin to leave and Lucas can't help, but think about the girl. "Diego I'll meet a very good friend soon, I know I will." Lucas says.