A/N
Hello again! So this is kind of a "filler chapter" with an important ending. Not much else to it.
Twill's P.O.V.
The trees didn't do too much to stop the snow from blowing in my face. It was hard to see very far ahead sometimes. It had been several hours since I set out, and about three hours since I realized it would have been smarter to wait for the snow to stop before setting out after Kailia and her captors. I sighed, taking a rather large amount of snow into my mouth as I did so. I didn't bother to try and spit it out. Instead, I closed my mouth and felt it melt on my tongue, before drinking the resulting mouthful of water. I was getting thirsty, but I didn't want to get into my supplies just yet. Especially with all this fresh snow falling.
I blinked some snowflakes off of my eyeslashes, looking around. It was darker than I had realized. Actually. It was getting very dark. Nightfall was eminant. I stumbled forward. I had to find some sort of shelter. It had to be protected from the wind and snow, so that I could build a fire. Without a fire I would freeze to death.
I stopped again, looking around. In the heavy snow, with darkness falling, I had no idea where I was. I turned around and looked at my tracks quickly disappearing. Wonderful. If it weren't for the snow, I probably would have had no trouble finding my way around. I knew these woods, we all did. But being unable to see in front of me was not helping. I settled for just wandering blindly, hoping to regonize something or, if I was abnormally lucky, find shelter.
My foot caught on something and before I could do much about it, I was falling. The landing wasn't very hard. The thick layer of snow, along with the pack I had strapped to my chest, cushioned my fall. I pushed myself up now. I just sat there for a moment. I sat in the snow and thought. About Kailia, about where she was. Was she ok? What had they done with her and the other girls. Some of those girls were as young as fifteen years old. They weren't ready for whatever lay ahead of them. Kailia and I were only seventeen. Kailia wasn't small, but she wasn't big either. I knew she would try to help those younger girls. I just hoped she didn't cause herself any harm because of it.
The snow was melting through my clothes now. I shivered. This wasn't good. I really needed to find shelter. I stood up once more and pushed my feet forward. Taking one freezing breath after another, I just told myself to keep moving, keep searching for shelter. I picked up sticks as I walked, telling myself I would use it for firewood when I found a good place to stay for the night. I ignored that little feeling of doubt that wiggled its way into my heart, telling me I wouldn't find shelter.
I saw something in the corner of my eye. I turned to look. I couldn't tell what it was. Just that it was rather large, and black. I stood for a moment, looking at it. It could be an animal of some kind. That was doubtful though. No animal was dumb enough to be outside right now. Aside from myself that is. Besides, it wasn't moving. I moved toward it slowly, my hair whipping about my face. The thought that I should tye it back flitted through my mind. I kept moving forward. If it was an animal, it would have moved by now, right? Just a little closer.
A whoop of joy flew out of my mouth as I finally saw what it was.
A cave. I could see it now, clearly through the snow. I quickly made my way over to it. I stepped inside, finally feeling the relief from the wind and snow. It was still cold, but a different cold. A still cold. I walked further in. The wind blowing past the cave mouth made me want to laugh. I was safe from that now. I let the rather impressive pile of wood in my arms fall from the death grip I had on them. They clattered to the floor of the cave and I collapsed beside them. I reached out shivering hands, feeling for the pile of sticks. It was too dark to see them, but I could feel them. I arranged about half of them in a circular pile as best I could. It took quite a bit of searching, but I eventually found two rocks that I could use to start a fire.
It took only a few minutes to get a fire started, I had done it many times. I curled up next to it, dropping the packs and hovering my hands above the flames. I looked around. With the fire giving me a decent amount of light to see with, I looked at the cave I was in. It was tall enough for even a pretty tall person to stand upright in, and deep enough to shelter a reasonably sized group. I looked at the reast of the wood I had gathered. It was a fair amount, but not enough to last through the whole night. I needed more. I sighed and stood back up.
I took a deep breath and dashed outside, gathering stick without venturing too far from the cave. The wind tried to knock me over, but I wasn't about to let it. I had a cave and a fire now. I had to dig through the snow some to find wood, but when I scurried back into the cave, I had an armfull of wood. I dropped it on top of the rest of the wood. Satisfied, I plopped down beside the fire once more.
I pulled a blanket from one of my pack and rested beside the fire. My eyelids had grown heavy, and I could feel sleep coming for me. I reached out and added enough wood to the fire to keep it burning for a few hours. I told myself I would wake up when it needed to be replinished. As I drifted off to dreamland, I was thankfull. For my freedom, for my fire, and for the fact that I had a place to sleep in safety. With that thought in mind, darkness enclosed my mind and I fell asleep. I didn't even see them when they entered my cave. I didn't even hear them laugh when they saw me.
Vote, Comment, all that good stuff, k?
Stay incredible,
Brook
