Today was a rough day, and my family wasn't helping any, they're all on my case, trying to make me mad. I eventually decided I had had enough, and after a heated discussion, I told them that I hated them and ran to my room; thank goodness no one followed me. I only heard my sister yell, "You're really living up to your nick name, Ice." I ignored her, as usual. Yes, she did call me Ice, it's on account of my ice blue eyes. My real name is, Alice Hill, I am fifteen years old, I have wavy golden brown hair, I am short and mosty thin, and have a child shaped face.
Right now, I am packing up some things to take with me. I take out my biggest back pack and start stuffing it with my warmest blanket, two jackets, fivten shirts, six pairs of pants, twenty pairs of socks, all of my cash, both of my flash drives, my pocket knife, flint, three pens, and two new notebooks. Then I went and got my tooth brush, a new thing of toothpaste, my hair brush, a handful of hair ties, bobby pins, berets, ten feet of rope, two big water bottles, a jacket, my best boots, and a few other things.
Now that I had everything in my room, I waited until every one was asleep. to go down stairs to the kitchen. There, I loaded the rest of the back pack with pleanty of food. I filled up the water bottles, got the warmest sleeping bag we had, and put on my trench coat. After pulling on my boots, I snuck out the door, and walked about fifty yards into the woods to set up camp and sleep for the night.
* * * * *
I almost slept all night.
Almost, because everything suddenly became too warm, I quickly pushed myself out. It looked to be noon, but my watch said it was five A.M. Confused, I shoved everything in my back pack, and replaced my boots with my tennis shoes. The other weird thing was, yesterday, it was spring, close to winter. This place was in the middle of summer. I was still in the woods, but different woods. It was obviously different by the fact of the tropical colors of certain plants. That didn't make sence though, because it was too cool to be a tropical forest. It felt temperate, but looked tropical.
I headed north, hoping to find a trail, or stream to follow, but that's not what I found. The voice of a man could be heard, so I followed it. I almost called out to him, but it's a good thing I didn't. There was a boy, about sixteen or seventeen years old, forced to his knees, chin up, and a dagger to his throat. I hid as soon as I saw it. They were all dressed strangely, as if I had stepped into ancient Rome. The man who's voice I had heard was speaking to the boy.
"I have a job for you."
The boy replied angrily, "I won't do anything for..." He got a kick to the back by the man holding him.
The other man sneered, "How much is your sister's life worth to you?" He waited for a reply, he got it in the form of an angry look from the boy. "Bring me the fire crystal and she'll live."
I don't know what made me do it, but I pulled out my own dagger and put it to the throat of the man who was obviously in charge. "Tell your man to let him go," I say. He starts to struggle a little, "Do it, or I'll slit your throat," I press the dagger closer to emphasize my words. I was bluffing. I didn't have the guts to kill another human being, but I hoped my bluf was good enough. The man did a flicking motion with his hand and the boy was let go. "I also want your word that you won't pursue us." He grunted, "That's not good enough. Say it aloud."
There's a pause of annoyance, "I give you my word that I won't pursue you."
"Close, but not quite. I don't want to be pursued at all."
"Fine! You won't be pursued at all."
"Good enough. Follow," I say to the boy and dash off.
The two men didn't follow, but the one in charge yelled, "You have three months to bringthe fire crystal to me, or your sister dies. Bring it to the Birooch Blooming Grounds; a man will be stationed there at all times." Then he and his men headed in the opposite direction.
The man had given his word, but we didn't stop running for a wile. The boy was fater and quickly got ahead. "Stop" I wheezed, "I can't go any farther." I fell to the ground, wheezing. He stopped, but was only panting a little, incredible. This was the first time I really got a good look at him, he was, with black hair, dark skin, bright green brown eyes, and long features. He was thin, but had obvious muscles.
He looked at me confused. "What?" I ask, straitening up, I had finally regained my breath.
"How is it that you are already worn out?" Was his response.
I look at him and laugh a little, "How is it that you aren't?" Then I smiled, "My name is Alice, call me Ice." I put out my hand, hoping at least that sort of greeting had made it to where ever this was. It did, but not in the same way, he grasped my wrist instead.
"Salim. Are you called Ice for your pale skin?"
"Because of my eyes." I pointed to them. "Where are we?" I looked around, nothing looked familiar.
He nodded a little, "We are in the Sleepless Forest."
"Never heard of it. "It was a strange name for a real forest. Maybe I was in Africa? Salim's name, accent, and coloring pointed to that fact, but the surroundings were wrong.
The look on his face made it obvious that I should already know what this place was, "Where are you from?" he asks. "You're obviously not from anywhere I know of, you're dressed too weird, and your skin too pale."
"I'm from Washington state in the United States." he was confused, "You know, in the United States of America?" he was still confused, "One of the larges countries on planet Earth.
His still seemed confused, "Earth?"
Maybe he knew a different term for Earth? That happens, right? Even among people who spoke english? "Well, what do you call this planet?"
"This is Titus."
I nod, "Interesting, I've never heard it being called Titus before." There's a moon in the solar system called Titus, but Earth was never called Titus. The thought that I was on this moon crossed my mind, but I swept it away, calling myself foolish. Even if it were possible to telleport to another planet (or moon), the restof the planets and moons were too hostile for life.
Just then, something strange happened, the whole world seemed to slow down, and Salim's eyes lit up with fear. He grabed my arm and pulled me to the hollow in a tree. We sat here, scrunched together, waiting. "What's going on?" I asked, but he held his finger to his lips for silence. As he did, someone, or something passed by us. It was white, with strong shadows, everything around it seemed to fade and lose its colors. The shadows even seemed to become more gloomy. I felt more gloomy, like I was worthless, pointless, useless. The effect lingered, even after that thing was gone. Ten minutes later, everything was only just starting to go back to normal.
"What was that?" I asked, still feeling the worthlessness.
He looked at me with a similar look of uselessness, "That was a Soulear, they search the woods for humans in the area. If they find one, they suck the life out of it. They can only see in front of themselves, so the only way to avoid them, is to hide."
"Can't they sense you?"
"Sometimes, if they get close to death."
I shudder, "How often are they at that point?"
"Not as often as they should. That one was far too fat. Some places set people in their path so that they won't ever leave the woods. That's why this place is called the Sleepless Forest, if you sleep, you might never wake up in your own body."
It was a sad thing to think that humans can be this ruthless no matter where you go. "Let's go before that creature comes back." I tell him. He nods, and we start walking. After a while I ask, "So what's the Fire Crystal, and why does that man want it?"
Salim's expression darkens, "It is one of five crystals, formed many centuries ago. All of them different and built to control an element. It is said that if the right person is holding one, they have power over the element it was created by. Few have ever really gotten them to work, but all but one has been used. No one has ever been able to use it, so it doesn't have a real name, and therefore has no real worth. We call it the Useless Crystal.
"The Fire Crystal, however, is the most used Crystal. Meaning, more people have had the ability to draw the power from it, making it the one of most worth. Ledgeworth, the man you helped me from, wants it so he can put it up for randsom. He would get a fortune off of it."
I think about it for a little bit, "I want to help you find the fire crystal."
He shakes his head, "No, go home, this is not your worry."
"I can't."
"What do you mean?" Salim tilts his head at me.
"I ran away from home, hense the giant pack on my back. I went to sleep in the woods somewhere else, and woke up here. I don't know where the heck I am, and I have no idea how to get home. You're the only person I know in this place, and if I follow you, I might learn something."
He blinks at me, obviously confused. I doubt anything like this has ever happened to him before. His features soften a little, "Fine, I gues I can't leave you here alone." He smiles and laughs, "you sure are a strange one."
I tilt my head at him, "What do you mean?"
"Well, f most girls I know don't want anything to do with... well...nature," he sweeps his arms around, "refuse to wear pants or anything manly, like what you're wearing, and won't touch a weapon, even if it's necessary."
"Are you serious? Girls here are way too pampered." The life of girls here sounded boring to me, "then again, I always have been more of a thrill seeker than most girls I know. But don't worry, I can be just as much a girl as anyone else if I want to be." I rarely ever did want to be a "true girl," it always seemed like a very stupid way to live, and admittedly, it seemed a little frightening. "What of you?"
"Hunting and camping. I also do a little fighting." his expressions darkened a little from a thought I couldn't read. "Why did you bother trying to save me?"
There was no reason, "I don't know, I just went on impulse. Where are we going?" I ask to change the subject.
Salim sighs, "The Crystals are in Crystal City, but we have to stop and get supplies first, so, first we will stop in Temmer. It's a small town, but it's also well stocked."
* * * * *
We spent the last few hours of light, heading to Temmer. There were many strange creatures and plants, some even had green flowers and purple stems. It was getting close to sunset, so whe we exeted the woods, we found an area in the open that was suitable for camping, and set up camp. Salim was well packed, like he was planning to travel, but he didn't have much in the way of food, so I shared a few granola bars with him.
He looked at the wrapped bar, "What is it?" He asked.
"A granola bar, that's the wrapping." I unwrap it for him. "Here, it's made of oats, chocolate, sugar, and some other things."
"What's chocolate?" He asks me, worried.
"You've never had chocolate? I suppose I'm not that surprised. This is a foriegn territory I don't think almost anyone has been to." I pull out one of the chocolate chips from my granola bar and hand it to him. "This is chocolate."
He takes it and eats it. His expretion is one of understanding, "it tastes like charbroad. This doesn't taste nearly as good, but I can see the similarity."
"Charbroad," I repeat, "interesting. They are probbly the same thing, as this is American chocolate, and I've heard an Australian call it poop chocolate." I laugh, "I would like to one day try this charbroad you talk of." He laughed now too. "So, is it possible to start a fire in this place?" I ask.
"What? Why would we want to start a fire?" A look of fear sweeps his face.
"To keep warm."
"Isn't that what a blanket is for?"
"Yes, but a fire is better, you can warm food on it."
"Only those with the fire crystal can tame fire. It would be too dangerous."
This was a big surprise, "Are you serious? How have you come this far without the basic fire? It is the first step of invention."
"We have always just used the sun, wind, and water for power to create heat and such."
"Well," I smiled, "It's time to teach you how to make a proper fire." I got up and searched for dry wood. I came back with a bundle of twigs, sticks, and logs. I then arranged some stones to make a fire pit. After arranging the wood into groups by sizes, I turned to Salim. "Okay, lesson one on fire starting." I explain to him on each step. After arranging the wood properly, I show him how to use flint and stone to make a spark. Salim jumped back when this happened, and I laughed. "Most boys at home set something on fire just for the fun of it," I told him. "You rarely see a boy who is afraid of fire."
In defense, Salim said, "They taught us as children to be afraid of fire. They would even burn the tips of our fingers to proove it's danger."
"That's very wrong. People should not be taught to fear what is natural and should be normal."
"Well, that's how it's always been."
"I don't believe that fully, but it doesn't mean that can't be changed. The country I live in, America, didn't like the control that Great Brittan, another country, had over them, so they rebelled. Now it's a free country, more or less. Nothing is ever perfectly free, not when you have some big wig determining what is to be done."
Salim nods, "It's a nice fire," he says, "nothing like I have ever seen, except with the fire crystal. I thought only the person who could use the crystal could make a safe fire."
I smiled, "Well, anything is possible"
We then ate dinner, talked, and went to bed. I was actually excited for what would happen tomorrow. I was still thinking about it when I fell asleep.