Two children, a boy and a girl, ran side by side with their feet pounding on the pavement of a winding, secluded path. Their laughter floated into the air and was carried away by the wind, twisting and twirling with the rays of an afternoon sun.
The little girl's eyes were wide with excitement, the thrill of adventure coursing through her veins. The two friends had only just escaped the headmaster, and he was not going to be pleased if he found that two of his students had slipped away during afternoon tea.
The boy stumbled and glared when the girl laughed, but quickly recovered and was off once again. It was a race this time, to see who could reach their place first. They ran as fast as their tiny legs could carry them, and before they knew it the scenery had changed from a garden path to the wooded land beyond. The children chased and stumbled their way through the familiar green mesh with light hearts, the sort of lightness that only a child can be blessed with.
Suddenly, the little girl disappeared from view. When the boy realized that his friend was no longer with him, his strides slowed until they came to a stop. He jerked his head from side to side in panic, his eyes searching the mossy maze frantically. A streak of red caught his eye, and the next moment he was being tackled by a giggling, freckle-faced schoolgirl.
"I got yoooouuu," she teased good naturedly, prodding him in the back repeatedly with her finger.
"Clary. That wasn't funny," he groaned, vastly unamused.
"Jace," she mocked him, putting her hands on her hips. He didn't react, instead turning to continue his trek.
"Oh come on Jonathan, don't be so serious! Ugh." She walked beside him for a little while, until she couldn't bear the silence any longer. Spontaneously she began to poke and prod him again, grinning widely and willing him to do the same.
He sighed and brushed off her attempts at tickling him, hiding his small smile with a cough.
"Come on Clary, we're almost there."
"My name is not Clary, it's Clarissa," she mumbled half-heartedly. She'd decided last week that the name Clary was too childish, opting instead to be called by her full name. As so many children do, she yearned to be seen as mature and grown up.
He grabbed a hold of her hand and began to run again, this time faster and faster until they just became red and gold streaks of color darting through the trees.
They stopped abruptly, letting go of one another so as to catch their breaths. Jace recovered first, and he walked up to the large tree before them with a mischievous glimmer in his eye.
"Do you reckon I can make it to the top today?" he asked, appraising the oversized trunk critically. The branches started low to the ground, making it perfect for small bodies to sit in and climb like a ladder. The oak was so tall that the children standing before it couldn't see the roof of the leaves. It was possibly the oldest and most beautiful creation in the forest.
Clary rolled her eyes. "You say that every time. There's no way you can make it all the way to the top, you'll fall before you get there!"
Jace regarded her with a smirk that didn't fit his angelic face, then turned and scrambled up the trunk like a monkey to the first branch. He sat swinging his legs and gazing down at her as she watched him with wary eyes.
"Clary," he called down. Her eyes turned questioning. He seemed to hesitate, deliberating his response before continuing.
"Will you give me a prize if I make it to the top?" He asked.
"Uhm, well… what do you want?" Clary asked, her eyebrows scrunching in thought.
"I want a picture."
"…A picture?"
"Well…" Jace's cheeks turned a delicate shade of pink. "You're always drawing in that book of yours, right? I like the things you draw. I want one that I can keep for myself." His mouth set in a stubborn line.
Clary was silent for a moment. "You looked in my sketchbook?" Her eyes were deadly calm.
"Uhm… well, not exactly. You see, it was just laying out in the open and I couldn't help but glance at it," he said in a most innocent manner. The little girl narrowed her eyes.
"Okay, fine. I'll give you a picture, but only if you reach the very top. You're lucky we're friends, or you would already be dead."
The golden haired boy smirked and chuckled, giving her a small wave before swinging himself onto the next branch.
He kept going like that for a good ten minutes, until he found himself perched at quite a precarious position.
"Um, Jace!" yelled Clary, who was still watching from the ground. "Jace, I don't think you should go any higher. Come down!"
The boy slowly slid his eyes to the ground, swallowed, and then glanced back upwards.
"I'm nearly there! Six more branches!" He called back, carefully shifting his weight so that he was crouching on the balls of his feet. He could feel the thin tree branch groaning under his slight weight, but it held steady.
"It's dangerous!" Clary protested in panic.
Jace clenched his teeth and blocked out her cries, instead turning his attention to the next branch. He'd always been unreasonably stubborn, and this time he had a prize to claim. He carefully stood up with slow precision, reaching his arm above his head to wrap around the thick bark. Then, oh so slowly, he began lifting himself up as he ignored the tree's protests. It dipped underneath him, and he got one leg over it before… crack.
His eyes flew open wide in shock, and he found himself falling, endlessly falling. He could feel sharp edges and rough branches slicing his arms and face, and above the wind whizzing through his ears he could hear Clary screaming his name. He clenched his eyes shut tight and had just enough time to wrap his arms around his head before he hit the ground. He felt the breath go out of him in a whoosh, and an unbearable rod of pain shot up his leg like a lightning bolt. He laid there in complete silence for a moment, unable to open his eyes fully. They'd grown quite heavy, as had his head. The green above him swirled and spun in a dizzying dance.
"Jace!" The little red head sprinted to where her friend had fallen and dropped to her knees beside him. She slowly reached for his shoulders and turned him over, drawing out a low groan from the injured boy. Her large green eyes filled with tears when she saw the cuts covering his face and arms. She blinked them back.
His breathing was shallow and labored, but he opened his eyes a fraction and winced, so at least his head hadn't been injured too badly.
"Jace. Jace, it's okay. I'll help you get back to Miss Petrie, she'll fix you," Clary said, her hands fluttering helplessly over his torso and arms. She was at a complete loss of what to do.
"Oh!" Maybe she did have something useful she could do. "Stay here." She quickly got up and raced to her little hello kitty backpack—it was her favorite one—and pulled out a small box.
Jace watched her through squinted eyes, determined not to make any sound of pain. He remained perfectly still as she returned and took his left arm onto her lap, tugging and pulling here and there. After she'd done the same to his right, she seemed to be satisfied, smiling slightly and returning the small box to her bag.
Jace looked down to see his arms littered with pink-flowered Band-Aids covering the worst of his cuts.
"Clary! Take these off right now!" he exclaimed in displeasure, his head suddenly much clearer. Clary looked up in surprise.
"Why?"
"They're pink! And they have little flowers on them! I'm a man, not a little girl."
Clary rolled her eyes and made no move to remove the bandages.
"Oh Jace, grow up. I'm helping you, it's your fault for being an idiot and going higher than you should have," she retorted. "Plus, you're not even ten yet. Alec is closer to being a man than you."
Jace scoffed and turned his head away, then seemed to realize that he was still sprawled out on the ground. Wincing slightly, he slowly pushed himself to a sitting position. One of his legs was folded awkwardly under the other, but when he attempted to move it a flash of white-hot pain forced him to stop. His breath hitched sharply, and Clary's anger evaporated at the pitiful sight.
"Jace, let me help you," she said, reaching for him. Jace glared at her outstretched arms and tried to move again, but this time the agony was even worse. He groaned in frustration and pain, glancing at Clary again.
"Look, we're not going to get back in time if you don't let me help you. Then I'll be in trouble too," she said.
"Then leave already, nobody asked you to help me. Just go home," snapped Jace. Clary's eyes flashed and she sat down deliberately, crossing her small arms over her chest.
"Who do you think I am?"
They sat like that for a moment with their eyes locked, fiery gold clashing against electric green. Suddenly Jace's eyes dimmed, and he lowered them as the rigidness left his shoulders.
"I don't want you to get in trouble."
Clary took this as a sign of admittance, and after a bit of struggle she had him on his feet. Well, foot.
He leaned against her heavily with an arm thrown around her shoulders, and the heat radiating off of him was stifling. Clary had always been small for her age, and though her friend was lean he was still much taller than her. She staggered under his weight, slowly beginning to make her way back their well-trodden path. His breath was uneven in her ear, and as she looked at him in worry she saw that his hair was already stuck to his forehead with sweat.
Soon she was breathing rather hard as well, but they still had a long way to go. She set her jaw in determination and continued on, with Jace's injured leg dragging along behind him. A few times along the way she asked him if he was okay, but he simply gave her a curt nod and kept his mouth clenched tightly shut. She hated to see him in pain, and she knew how hard it must have been for him to accept her help. Even at such a young age, she knew how independent he was.
From the day he'd arrived at the boarding school for "lost children", he'd been quiet, quiet and cold. She remembered when a group of boys had approached him on his second day there, hoping to befriend the new kid. He had stared at them with such little emotion; he hadn't even had to speak before they decided that they didn't want to play with him after all. And he'd seemed just fine with that, or at least, he'd made no attempts to stop them when they left.
Clary had only been there for a month when he appeared, but she'd already accumulated a sizeable group of friends. She was really quite content, and enjoyed playing with her newfound companions. But sometimes, she felt a little too surrounded. While she enjoyed their company, Clary had never really been used to being around other people so often.
So, every day she would go on an adventure all on her own. She had begun running off during teatime and exploring these very woods, each time venturing out a bit further, until she'd learned the different twists and turns of the trees by heart. Eventually she'd come across her beautiful oak tree, and from then on that's where she had sat to sketch in, read, and sometimes just think.
A few weeks after the strange little boy had arrived, she found said person sitting in her tree while she was on one of her adventures. Her tree.
At first she was angry. She had every intention of confronting him and making him leave, with her small fists balled up and her high-pitched voice shrieking at top volume. That is, until she caught sight of his face.
He'd been leaning against the tree in one of the first branches, swinging his feet back and forth with his eyes lightly closed. That's not what had stopped Clary in her tracks, though.
No, what had stopped her was his expression.
It was one of complete contentment and calm, so pure that she felt as if she would taint him if she made another noise. The sun was shining brightly that day, and it had gleamed down on him almost as if heaven were smiling. He looked like an angel; devoid of the wings, of course.
Suddenly she felt oddly like an intruder, just standing there looking at him. But as she made a move to leave, a twig snapped under her foot. She found herself staring at a pair of molten gold eyes.
They considered each other for a moment, neither one speaking.
Finally, Clary said "Erm, hello. I'm Clary. And your name is Jonathan, right?"
He tilted his head in consideration. "Jace," he responded after a second. It was the first time he'd spoken to anyone, save for the occasional adult when it was necessary. Clary smiled and ran forward to scramble up beside him. He made no move to leave, and didn't ask her to go away.
From that day on, it was no longer just Clary's place. It was theirs.
A gasp from Jace dragged Clary from her memory, and she realized that her shoulder had drooped and his injured leg had caught on a tree root, jostling it roughly.
"Oh Jace, I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed in panic. To her surprise his mouth twitched a fraction into a small smile.
"S'ok. You're stronger than you look, you know."
Clary smiled slightly in relief, hoisting him up a little on her shoulder as they continued on. She could just barely see a light in front of them if she looked hard enough; the exit, and also the entrance to the school's large garden.
"Almost there," she grunted, her breathing fast from the exertion. She wiped a trickle of moisture from her brow with her free hand, wiping it on her jeans.
Finally, after what felt like ages, they broke through the final barrier of leaves and vines.
"We did it," she breathed, stumbling a bit before regaining her footing. Jace was still relying on her heavily, but made an effort to support himself a bit more with his good leg. Suddenly she felt him stiffen, and she was about to ask him if he was all right when a voice spoke.
"What a curious scene we have here."
Clary froze, and slowly raised her head to meet the gaze of Master Ledbetter. She felt like a bird caught in a cage.
He was a lean man of an older age, with wispy white hair and mid-length beard, but his eyes were always bright and lively. All of the children loved the headmaster, and her heart sunk at the thought that she'd disappointed him.
"You know, I used to go to a school not extraordinarily different from this one. Sometimes I felt as if I were a bit… caged in. Have you ever experienced that?" he implored curiously.
The two children didn't respond. He took a step towards them and crouched down, so that he was at their level.
"I find that the stars are quite lovely at night," he said, gazing at the sky with twinkling eyes. He looked back at the children. "Much more… ahem… exciting, to be out when the dark blankets the day." Translation: If they went out at night instead, they were far less likely to be caught by one of the other teachers.
He looked at her meaningfully, before straightening and smiling again.
"Is he quite alright?" He asked, gesturing to Jace's slumped form.
"Oh. Um, no. He took a terrible fall and hurt his leg," said Clary, glancing at Jace again.
"I can speak for myself," he muttered with his head cast down.
"Yes, well it's that stubbornness that got you into this mess, now, isn't it?" Retorted Clary, some anger seeping into her voice. He was so ungrateful.
Master Ledbetter watched their exchange thoughtfully.
"Miss Fairchild, how about you take him to see Mrs. Petrie. I'm sure she will have him fixed up in a heartbeat." His eyes sparkled, and after giving Clary a light pat on the head he sent them on their way. When she looked back, he was gazing considerately into the forest from which they'd come.
Clary glanced at her friend, and could see that he really was in a sizeable amount of pain. His eyes were beginning to droop and his complexion was taking on a pasty tone.
"Alright, let's hurry."
Somehow she managed to get him through the doors, up two flights of stairs and through all of the endless twists and turns of the old building to the infirmary. Fellow schoolmates gasped and whispered, running two and fro to gossip over the odd scene. Clary locked her jaw and kept walking, refusing help offered by a few of the older students. Jace was her friend, keeping him safe was her responsibility.
"Oh dear!" Exclaimed Mrs. Petrie when her door was thrown open by a little girl with a deathly pale boy in tow.
She jumped from her desk and rushed to their aid, finally relieving Clary of her burden and laying Jace on a bed. Clary stood by the door awkwardly, shifting from foot to foot as the kindly nurse carefully rolled up Jace's trouser leg. She caught a glimpse of the injury for a split second when Mrs. Petrie reached for a cloth and bowl of water. Clary gasped.
The skin on his leg was bruised black and blue, and it was bent at an unnatural angle. There was a large gash running from just above his knee to his ankle, and it was still trickling blood.
He'd been walking with that for all this time? But he'd never even made a sound of protest. How…?
"I see you did a good job patching him up here," commented Mrs. Petrie, referring to the many flowered Band-Aids that were scattered across his arms and cheek. Clary blushed.
"It was all I had, ma'am," she said quietly, suddenly feeling quite silly. The woman took a needle from her workbench and prepared it with a clear fluid, injecting it swiftly into a vein in Jace's forearm. He was out in minutes.
"Well it's a good thing you did. These cuts could have gotten infected if they were left open."
Clary smiled a bit and stepped closer to the bed, peering over the nurse's shoulder to look down at Jace's now sleeping face.
"Will… will he be alright?" She asked. Mrs. Petrie smiled.
"Perfectly fine. He will have a wrapped leg for a while though, so I'd suggest you kept the adventures to a minimum in these next few weeks."
Clary's eyes widened in surprise. She wasn't referring to when they snuck out to their tree, was she? No, one look at the woman's face and Clary knew she was only talking about the adventures that all children made up together. Just a word said in passing.
She sighed and shifted her attention back to Jace. His leg was bandaged now, and it didn't look nearly so bad. His face was relaxed.
"It's getting late, dearie. Maybe you should run along to bed?" Mrs. Petrie suggested kindly.
"But what about Jace?" Clary asked in surprise. It had never occurred to her that she would have to leave him.
"He will be just fine, Clare. A bit of rest here will have him up and running in no time."
Clary furrowed her brow.
"But… friends aren't supposed to leave each other when they're feeling bad, right?"
The woman considered her for a moment, then sighed and chuckled slightly.
"Very right you are, my dear. You may sleep in that bed right there if you wish, but only this once. I mustn't make exceptions so often," she said. Clary smiled brightly and thanked her, before quickly climbing into the bed beside Jace.
"My office is through those doors, if he begins to look like he's in pain go ahead and call me in. Do you have everything you need?" Mrs. Petrie asked.
Clary nodded and wriggled under the covers, snuggling her face into the soft pillow.
"Then goodnight."
"Goodnight Mrs. Petrie. Thank you for being so kind," Clary said quietly. The nurse looked at her in surprise, then smiled warmly. As she made her way into her office she flicked off the lights, leaving a single lamp on in the corner. She called one final goodnight before closing the door behind her with a click.
The room was covered in shadows now, but Jace's bed was washed in a strip of pale moonlight from the window.
Clary looked at his sleeping face a moment more, before closing her eyes.
"I'll draw you a beautiful picture when you wake up, Jace. The best one I've ever drawn, and then you will be happy, I think," she whispered. She began to drift off into slumber, letting the darkness take her down in its depths. A soft dream voice carried by the wind wound its way through her ears just before she was consumed by sleep.
"Thank you," it said.
I don't really like author's notes, but I did want to say one thing. The rest of the story will be told from their points of view when they're teenagers, so it's only this first chapter that they're so young. If you liked it enough bear with me, because it gets better. (I hope so, at least) I hope you enjoyed it a little, feel free to leave a review, blah blah blah…. :)
Have a lovely day,
~Josie