Karin looked over at him sadly, she didn't know what to say, she was an only child so she didn't know what he was going through.

Tarvo leaned against the window sill and breathed in a deep scent of water. He lost himself there, in that moment, leaving his troubles behind him.

Karin continued to watch him, feeling bad.

Tarvo scattered vines over the window and sat next to Karin. "What do you dream about?" he asked, trying to lighten the mood.

Karin looked down. "I dreamed about... you..."

Tarvo was slightly shocked and slightly embarrassed. He was embarrassed because he had never dreamt of her. He wanted to sometimes, just so he didn't feel lonely while he slept. But sometimes it was more than that.
He looked away from her slightly, trying to cover his embarrassment with what little hair he had. It dangled just under his ears. His fther had always hated Tarvo's hair, always wanted it to be shorter. Tarvo had resisted, remebering how his mother liked his hair longer than the rest of the boys in the village. His not cutting his hair was supposed to make her feel close, but it made her feel further away the longer it got.
He turned back to her and smiled. "I wish I didn't have nightmares like I do. Then I might have something nice to tell you about."

Karin looked up at him, looking a little shy, she was glad he hadn't asked further and she smiled a little. "I just hope you don't have too many nightmares."

He leaned his head back. "Yeah, so do I."

Karin looked at him sadly and squeezed his hand.

Tarvo squeezed hers back. He liked being with her. She made him feel like he wasn't the only person with familoy issues, like he wasn't alone.

Karin smiled and just sat there for a while, holding his hand, letting him know that she was there for him, she wondered if this was what it felt like to be protective of a sibling but something told her it wasn't.

Tarvo rested his head on Karin's. He was protective of her from the moment he saw her. He didn't know why at the time but he does now. It was because not giving people a chance was wrong and she was different. It was in her eyes. She wasn't like the other humans that had come into their territory. She had seen things that she should never have seen. Her lifes stroy was in her eyes.

Karin sighed softly and closed her eyes. She liked having Tarvo's presence near, and not having to worry about her parents hurting her, or the people at school ignoring her, she finally had someone she could count on... it was a nice feeling.

Tarvo kept an eye and an ear on the window. He knew they would still be looking for them. How they hadn't found the tree house by now was beyond him. But he didn't want to be here when they did. All hell would break lose.

Karin had almost dozed off when she heard a twig snap outside and a creaking of branches followed. She opened her eyes and sat up.

Tarvo had also heard it and was up and away from Karin before she could sit up. He crouched under the window and motioned for her to stay down, shushing her as he did. He parted the vines a little to see what was going on. Two men from the village had begun to climb the tree and made their way to the tree house.
Tarvo crawled over to Karin and whispered to her. “When they reach the door, we jump. I’ll catch you so you don’t have to worry. When we’re down, we run for it. Okay?”

Karin looked at him nervously and nodded.

The door rattled slightly and Tarvo jumped from the window, landing in a roll on the ground. He stood quickly and looked up to where Karin would soon appear. He held his stance at the ready to catch her.

Karin immediately jumped after him but she was a fraction of a second too slow, one of the men grabbed her ankle and she found herself dangling from the window.

Tarvo quicky grabbed the quiver of arrows and the bow he had hidden the day that he ran away with Karin and aimed at the man's arm. He hastily loosed the arrow, it pierced his wrist and a agonising howl was quick to follow. Tarvo ran forward to catch Karin as she fell. He set her down and grasped her wrist, running towards the waterfall.

Karin screamed as she fell then stumbled along behind him.

It wasn't long before they made it to the waterfall. Tarvo stopped momentarilly, listening for following footsteps. He didn't hear any yet, but knew they wouldn't be too far away. He turned to Karin. "Are you okay?"

Karin was panting and nodded. "I'm fine..."

Tarvo looked towards the water, then back to Karin. “Do you have enough energy to swim?” They needed to swim through the clear water if they had any chance of getting away from the men of the village.

Karin nodded and caught her breath.