The promise I made

"How much longer do we have to walk?" Adam whines, tilting his head. Captain Yami walks ahead of us, silent. "Seriously, we just finished a really intense battle. Why do we need to walk like, ten thousand miles?" 

"You're not going to last a second once we start fighting the Spade Kingdom." I say flatly. I see Yami glance back at me. Adam turns to look at me. "Why are you so serious all the time? You can drop the act now. We made it. We both passed."

"It's not an act."

"So you're this unbearable all the time?" He says, raising an eyebrow. I look over at him. "I guess," I say, letting down my brown hair. I take off my jacket, revealing my combat suit. It's tight and compressed, but the stretchy material allows me to be as agile as needed. I wore this all the time when training with Lolopechka. "Woah, what are all of those from?" Adam says. His tone is softer, more relaxed. I see his eyes on my arms. I look down and see the hideous scars I've been cursed with. The flesh around them is still purple and bruised. The scars are months old, but they look freshly cut. A part of my curse. I look forward and flatly say. "They're cuts." I say, obviously. Adam rolls his eyes. "Who did you piss off?" He says, huffing. I shake my head. "You should see her. I took the hand she did this with." Adam stays for a moment, stunned. "Did you win?" 

"No. She managed to get past me anyhow." I look down at the ground. Don't cry. Don't cry. "But you took her arm," He says. "regardless if she got away, she won't ever be able to use her arm again." 

"It doesn't matter. She killed my best friend with other." Before he can reply, Yami opens a door. "We'll rest up in here. Feel free to bandage yourselves up as well." He walks in, without bothering to hold the door for us. I sit on the bed closest to the door. "When did she cut you up?" Adam continues, icing his face that I kicked. I wrap up my arms, partly because they are bruised, and mostly because I can feel my cuts reopening. "Five months ago." I say quietly. Adam's eyes widen. "They should've healed now, right?" He asks. "They should, but my opponent cursed me. They never fully heal. When they do, open back up. An 'eternal reminder' of my failure to protect." 

"Protect who?" Adam asks, confused. 

"Her queen." Captain Yami interrupts. "She's from the Heart kingdom. She fought Vanica Zogratis." I look over at him. He's taking off his shirt, attending to his very few wounds. His face looks agitated. I walk over to him, looking at his back where I struck him. He's blistered and burned. I reach into my jacket and he turns, obviously on alert. I frown. "It's just Aloe. It helps the burning." 

"I don't need 'yer help." He grumbles. I huff and apply it to his back anyhow. "Adam, go get some water for us." I say, tracing Yami's wounds. Adam rolls his eyes. "Yes sir," he saluts, walking out of the room. Yami stays silent. I bite my lip. "I didn't mean to get you that hard. I'm sorry it was just adrenaline." Yami grunts. "I've handled worse. No problem." 

"All done." I say. "Just apply some of that for the next two days and you'll forget it ever happened." Yami stands back up, facing me. He looks down. "Your arms are bleeding." He says, flatly. I stare at him. "My cuts are reopening." I say, looking down. Yami stands up, firmly placing his hands on my shoulders, then sitting me down on his bed. He unwraps my arms, looking at them. "You feel em' every time they open?" He asks, as he bandages one arm up. I shake my head. "Just for the stitches to cut my skin as the wounds reopen? No, thanks." I say, scoffing. I grunt as he tightens the bandages. He quickly bandages up my other side. "All done," he says. "Why are you being so nice to me?" I ask, looking up at him. He looks down at me. "I could say the same for you," he counters. I shake my head. "I wasn't rude to you. I was standing my ground." I say, looking up at him. "Bratty, aren't you?" He says, putting his shirt on. I frown. "I don't like being bossed around." I say. He nods, moving closer. "well you might have to get used to it," He whispers, brushing back my hair. "Because I'm your captain."