The Elemental Wars: Jasper's Desire

Fifteen...

A few days have passed. It's gotten a bit warmer thankfully, but it has snowed yet again. However, Belle and I have been unable to get the opportunity to spend time out of the prisoner room. Hopefully today is the day where that changes and maybe we can get some chores done to try to prove ourselves.

I slowly get out of bed and head towards the door, peeking through the bars to see who's outside. I smile and let out a small sigh of relief at the sight of Blake, who will definitely let us go if he has permission to.

"Psst," I make a noise to try to catch his attention. The young teen turns his head to look at me, giving me a small smile.

"Hey Jasper, what's up?" Blake asks, bundled in a coat.

"Can Belle and I spend some time out of the prisoners room? We've been stuck here for six days now," I ask, bringing up how long it's been. "Remember, we're going to do chores like you suggested."

"Oh, right! I'll ask the next person who walks by!" Blake responds, his smile widening before he turns back to guarding. I turn back to Belle, sitting down on a bed next to her until I hear Blake's voice call into the room.

"You're both free to go!" He says, opening the door slowly. I smile and get up to my feet, Belle doing the same.

"Thanks man," I tell Blake as we walk out and he holds the door open for us.

"I suggest maybe you two could go hunting?" Blake brings up. "There's been a big lack of food recently, as you know very well. Just head to the weapon supply and grab a weapon of your choice and head out! And don't worry, Brielle gave me the go to let you both go hunting."

"Thank you so much," I smile, my stomach growling at the mention of food. I haven't eaten in now over twenty-four hours! I can't help but feel a tingle of excitement as I think about hunting once again, like I did when I was a part of The Opposing Elements.

"Come along," I beckon towards Belle as I lead her towards the weapon supply, knowing that she did not know where it is.

As we enter the weapon supply room, I notice how many different weapons there are to choose from. Bows and arrows, spears, swords, knifes... all made by hand. Mason is a master at weapon making, and he made sure to show kids he was training how to make weapons too. I grab a spear off of a shelf while Belle grabs a small knife.

"Let's go," I give my girlfriend a smile and I take her hand as we head off into the wilderness. Once we step outside, the sharpness of the cold air hits us.

"Still very cold," Belle points out. "Let's make this quick." I nod in response and lead the way down the rocky path towards the valley. The frozen, grassy ground of the valley crunches beneath my feet as I walk, but no signs of any animals to catch yet.

"Should we walk all the way to the river? There's at least gotta be fish. And if it's frozen over, we can break through the ice with our weapons," I asks, not really sure where we should go.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," Belle responds. I then lead the way all the way towards the river, which is a bit of a walk. It is hard, especially due to the cold, but I hope it will be worth it.

Once we approach the river, I notice that it is only partially frozen, with the sun having melted some parts of it. I approach one of the more melted area and look down to see if any fish will swim by. Belle approaches a different spot, ready to stab her knife towards any fish that dare to swim by.

After a bit of waiting, a spot the silvery glimmer of a fish underneath the ice. I wait for it to eventually reach my area and when it does, I stab at it with my spear, killing it instantly. I then bring the bleeding fish out of the water.

"Nice, babe!" Belle compliments with a smile. "Do you think it will be sanitary to eat? You stabbed it quite bad."

"Sanitary or not, food is food," I respond, placing the dead fish on the hard ground.

"You sure are Maya's son," Belle responds, which results in a laugh from me.

"Except if I eat something unsanitary it might make me sick," I point out with a chuckle. "But I think it's fine. The cold will keep any germs from getting to it and cooking the fish will kill that might be on it."

"Yeah, you're right," Belle responds. She then gasps as she notices another fish trying to swim by. She pulls out her knife and uses it to stab at the fish once it gets close, killing it. She then brings it out of the water.

"Nice! I would've missed that," I laugh.

After no more luck, Belle and I take the two fish we caught and bring them back to the base.

Once we return, we bring our weapons back to the weapon supply and head back into the main halls. We then head over to the kitchen to drop off the fish we caught. Maybe they could be for dinner later. Only a few seconds after we head back out into the halls, we run into a familiar face.

"Hey Dana!" Belle immediately greets her. I immediately notice that the younger woman seems stressed and overwhelmed.

"Hey Dana, what's the matter?" I ask my half-sister, not really expecting a proper response.

"Maya's having her baby. It's way too early. She or the baby might die," Dana immediately brings up, her voice stressed. "And my triplets are sick and I... I'm just overwhelmed..."

"What?!" I immediately respond, feeling a bit shocked. I panic out of worry for my mother, my biggest supporter, and I head off towards the healers' room in a rush. Belle hurries behind me.

No way....