Arella's Ash

Chapter Nine, Part One

That night was filled with fear. I seemed to wake up with every sound. Despite feeling at ease earlier, I began to feel scared with every passing hour. One time either Ray or Liana got up for something and I nearly shot branches at them. Yet everytime I woke up in fear, King and Pom were there with me until I fell asleep again. At some point Leo woke up at the same time I did. We locked eyes for a moment before making an attempt to rush out of the tent at the same time. It didn't go over too well, but we eventually made it out.

The dark forest at night was cold. Extremely cold. And creepy, too. A slight breeze caused the trees to move with creaks. The leaves and branches under our feet seemed to multiply in sound. King and Pom followed us out of the tent and took a place at either of my sides. Leo and I stood back to back. I faced one end of camp, he faced the other. I started to feel my magic moving inside me, like it was reacting to my terror. Every sound that I heard, I turned my head to face it. After what felt like an eternity of this, my heart started to beat at a normal pace. Leo seemed to relax just a little behind me. Then I heard something.

"What are you two doing out here?" A groggy Ray asked, rubbing sleep from her eyes.

"I- I thought I heard something and so did Ash. We came out here to check," Leo said. His voice sounded scared.

"I don't see anything. If it's really that scary out here, why don't you join us? Liana is slightly awake."

We followed Ray into her tent to find Liana sitting up slightly, looking cold. She was shivering and trying to grab anything to keep warm. Leo, being a gentleman, rushed to our tent and retrieved our cloaks, sheets, and blankets. We used what they had as a bed of some sort, and what Leo brought as a mound of blankets. With Leo, the dogs, and I, the temperature in the tent seemed to rise a little. Leo was at one end of the tent with Ray to his side, huddled up. I was next to her, also bundled in my share of the blankets. King slept at my head and Pom in the small space between Liana and I. For once that night, I went into a peaceful sleep for a few solid hours.

Waking up the next morning was almost painful. One minute I'm warm and happy, the next I'm freezing and missing whatever dream I was in. Nothing important, but still. Ray shook me awake, whispering minor threats if I didn't get up. Nothing like being threatened by your best friend to make ones morning. Eventually I just lazily slapped her away and took in the glory of the cold. As you can tell, that was not my day. Walking outside the tent, I saw the Sun in the sky. Another crime of the day; having the Sun out and it still being cold. Liana was huddled over our small fire, handling our breakfast while Leo examined all the leaves on the trees and how they differed in shape. That seemed very boring, and I imagine that Ray thought so too. She, instead, was making an attempt to climb the trees. I decided that what Ray was doing was more interesting than anything else that was happening, so I joined her.

"Enjoy being a squirrel?" I taunted, easily reaching her.

"Not one bit. No good food up here," She laughed, climbing higher. I followed after her, and soon we were at the top. I will admit, it was pretty despite the weather.

Ray and I sat in the tree for a few moments, just watching the world. That peace was interrupted.

"HEY! You two!" Leo called up to us. "Get down here!" I saw him point to the fire, indicating that breakfast was ready. Ray and I shared one look and a head nod before rushing into action. I reached for branch after branch, watching the ground every couple seconds. Once I was close enough to the ground, I made a jump down, using a little of my magic to bring the leaves to aid my fall. As soon as my feet hit the ground, I was running to Liana and Leo like my life depended on it. And let's face it, when playing with Ray, it did. I heard her, steps behind me, but that wouldn't stop me. Nothing could stop me in that moment. The cold air mixed with sweat was oddly comforting. It had meant that I was trying, really trying. I tripped over something at the last second, yet I remember what Calista taught me. I tucked my head and rolled, feeling the ground on my back. I got up and sprinted the few steps to where our friends were waiting, very unimpressed.

"Cheater," Ray panted, putting her hands on her hips to catch her breath.

"Not my fault that I'm faster," I said, smirking as I sat. She took a few more deep breaths before sitting next to me. Leo put one of the pilgrim bottles in her hand and another in mine. We ate breakfast in silence, taking in everything around us. King put his head in my leg as I ate, so I shared some of my breakfast with him and Pom. The dogs played in the area by the tents while we all looked at one another.

"So, I suppose we should get moving at some point today," I said, breaking the silence.

"I suppose we should. Let's get packing then," Liana agreed. Just as we set up, we packed everything back in the cart as fast as possible. Ray took it to be her job for the moment to be in charge, so she mounted the horse with confidence. She smiled back at us, then with a nod of her head and a command to the horse, we started moving. 

Leo walked up front with Ray, instructing her on where to go. Liana snuck Leo's spare quill and inkwell to draw patterns on her arm with a sly smile. Every line she drew looked like a masterpiece in itself. I don't know where she got so good at drawing, especially on a bumpy cart, but the girl had talent. I stuck to studying the notes and what we knew about Jasper, so that when we found him, I'd be prepared. I figured that he would try to escape us, so I needed an inescapable plan. One that even a magic criminal who evaded capture for years couldn't get out of, but how? I let my thoughts wonder as we moved past trees and animals. I eventually came to the conclusion that I had one thing that Jaspers capturers did not possess. I had magic, although it didn't work all the time. I still had a leg up over the others. Plus, if Jasper was really watching, he would see that I wasn't a threat to him.

As the day drew on, Leo began to stress. He was worried that we wouldn't reach the town in time. I understood the worry, I didn't want to be stuck in the dark, creepy forest another night either.

"So, how much further until we reach danger- oops, I mean a town?" Ray sarcastically asked.

Leo sighed, "Not much further. A few hours at most, although I don't know why you would ask, as you are so adamant about disliking people."

"I don't dislike people. I just find most of them inconvenient, especially at the moment. Who knows if these people will be like Lucius and Felix?"

"If I remember correctly, you were the one so pushy about us going! It was you who insisted!"

"I stand by that!" Ray snarled. "But just because I knew coming with Ash was a good idea, it doesn't mean that I can't complain about some things."

I rolled my eyes at them. "Great! Act as if I'm not here at all, will you." They both fell silent. I didn't mean to be rude, but I didn't ask them to come along. I didn't need them coming and fighting either. I let out a sigh similar to Leos and apologized for snapping at them. They both apologized as well, and we acted as if it had never happened. Problem solved. 

Hello!! Wow, this was a lot. I've decided that because school is starting and I won't have as much time, I'm going to break up the chapters. Stay tuned for part two. As always, I hope you enjoyed! <3