Crystal Powers

~20~

Sapphire slowly slipped on the ring that her mother had given her.

She said that it would give her luck, but right now, they are not having much luck.

They couldn't find a place to settle that would be safe from large animals and safe from the hunters.

"Ugh, we've been walking for ages, can't we just stay in a tree in here, like we've been going for the past...whatever?" Phoenix asked, obviously tired from walking.

Tesla rolled her eyes, "You are one of the laziest people I have ever met." she sneered.

Phoenix flashed a smile and replied, "It's a specialty."

Practically everyone was unhappy with the fire kid, so they just ignored him, as they walked.

~~

Sapphire hoped that they would eventually find a place soon.

Although she wasn't entirely as tired and lazy as Phoenix, she noticed that the sun was going down at an alarming rate.

"I'm not saying I agree with Phoenix over here, but the sun is going down kinda quick, don't you think?" she asked, afraid that she was going to get the silent treatment too.

Dawn looked at the nearly nonexistent sun and nodded, "You're right, we should stop." she said, ignoring the whiny kid that was complaining in the background.

They decided on a tree in the far back, hoping that it wouldn't catch the hunters' eyes.

It was just big enough for all five of them to sleep comfortably, well, as comfortable as they could get from being in a tree. They decided on three branches that they would use to sleep for the night.

The highest branch would be where Camden and Sapphire would be, the middle branch would be where Phoenix would be, and then finally, at the lowest branch, would belong to Dawn and Tesla.

As the sleeping arrangements were settled, they all felt tired from the long journey. But they always had to be on the watch. Not everyone was to be certain.

~~

In the morning, they woke up not to hunters, but rather to Phoenix screaming like he was being murdered.

Camden looked down to see what all the commotion was about and saw that Phoenix was huddled at the very edge of the branch, and getting closer and closer to him was just a small, runt squirrel.

"Get away you beast!" Phoenix shouted, his voice slightly echoing.

"Phoenix! Shut up!" Sapphire harshly whispered, wanting to get more sleep.

The terribly annoying boy in the middle of the tree would not keep on complaining about the squirrel and how it looked like it was going to eat him alive.

"Phoenix, squirrels don't do that. All the squirrel wants to know is why you are afraid of him." Dawn said, trying to calm the boy down.

The squirrel twitched its head in surprise, seeing how Dawn correctly knew what it was thinking about.

"Okay, fine, I'll tell you why I have a fear of...squirrels," Phoenix mumbled, a bit embarrassed.

"Ooo get the popcorn, this is gonna get interesting," Tesla said, receiving an elbow from Camden.

"A year after I had situated inside the forest where we were, there was this squirrel. It looked average, but let me tell you something, it wasn't. After I let the squirrel mind its own business, it went and attacked me. Attacked me! For no reason!" Phoenix yelled dramatically.

Everyone stared at him, very disappointed.

"Is that all?" Dawn said, resting her head on her hand.

"Well, what more do I have to say?" he shouted.

He was going to keep on ranting, but they heard something entering the forest.

"The hunters..." Tesla whispered, her eyes widened.