The world on the inside of the door was quiet and peaceful. A few harmless pixies darted around chasing one another. It was a little meadow; soft green grass covered the forest floor. Trees stood tall, bright with colorful leaves. A few places were sprouted with flowers.
Puck and I laid Ash down who was grimacing in pain. It was probably way worse than what my cut had been.
"Ash." I said, "Can you look at me?"
Slowly, he cracked his eyelids open and looked at me. His eyes were watering a bit in pain and I realized just how vulnerable he was at the moment. It scared me. He was the one who was supposed to be the one who didn't get hurt on this quest. He tried to move a bit, but he howled in pain and squeezed his eyes shut once more.
Rummaging through my bag, I pulled out the salve he had healed me with. Puck helped Ash roll over on his stomach to reveal a bloody mess. His shirt was tattered to pieces and his skin was thrashed.
A pixie whirled by my head landing on the grass near Ash's head. She gestured to her mouth and back at all of us.
"That would be great; thanks." Puck told her.
The pixie whirled back away leaving me and Puck to a groaning Ice Prince. I carefully lifted Ash's shirt to get it out of the way. I would have to take it off completely so I took out one of my many daggers and cut away the shirt until his back was bare. I spread the salve all on his back, wincing with him every time he groaned in pain.
The pixie returned, this time with a tree nymph carrying a tray of food. Another nymph came into the clearing soon after with something to help Ash. I found a needle and thread and stitched up his back as best as I could. Puck had to step away (he was feeling a bit queasy). I thanked the random nymphs and Puck went to talk to one who was gesturing at him to follow. They disappeared in the woods, now leaving me and Ash alone.
I pulled out a clean shirt and helped Ash sit up, sliding it over his head. His cheeks were slightly pink so I felt his forehead, which happened to be a little warm. He looked tired and his dark, shaggy hair sticking to his forehead with sweat.
"Thank you." He whispered, closing his eyes and carefully leaning against a tree trunk.
"No need to thank me." I told him.
I knew that was hard for him; saying thank you. In our world, thanking someone was like telling them you were in their debt. That was not something the Ice Prince does often.
"Ash," I said, sitting crossed legged in front of him.
"Hm?" He grunted.
"Do you think we'll save everyone?" I choked.
He sighed and opened his eyes.
"We'll be fine. We'll get this done quickly and then we can go back to our normal lives."
I got up out of frustration and anxiety. I started pacing until I took out one of my throwing knives and hurled it towards a dead log.
At that moment, puck walked back into the clearing.
'So, the nymphs said we can stay here as long as we need. This is their land but they don't mind." He walked over to Ash, "How are you holding up Ice Boy?"
"I'm fine." Ash said through gritted teeth.
"Ya, right." Puck scoffed.
'Puck, be nice." I scolded, grabbing a roll from the tray of food and stuffing it in my mouth. "We'll leave as soon as Ash is able to walk comfortably."
"I'm good. Let's go." Ash said, struggling to stand up.
"No, you're not. Sit." I ordered.
"I don't have to listen to you." He stated matter-a-fact-ly.
"If you don't want to die, I suggest you listen." I spat.
He grumbled, mumbling something under his breath, and relaxed on the ground.
"Eat something. We want to leave soon, but we need to be able to stay on our feet." I told them.
I started to walk off into the woods, Puck and Ash picking at the food.
"Where are you going, Princess?" Puck questioned.
"For a walk." I responded before disappearing into the woods.
Honestly, I needed to let loose for a bit. Finding a clearing nearby, I pulled out my throwing knives, daggers, sword, and pulled my bow off my back. There was a mound of earth across the clearing. I probably shot stabbed, and pulverized it for a good hour or two. By the time I was done, my forehead was covered in sweat and the moon was starting to rise. I packed up all my weapons and walked back to the clearing Ash and Puck were at. When neither of them came into view, I kind of started to panic.
"Ash! Puck!" I called. No reply. Suddenly, I heard a twig snap behind me. Swinging around, I brought out my throwing knives, ready to pierce anything or anyone.
"Gosh Ice Boy! You ruined it!" I heard Puck say somewhere up in the trees.
"That wasn't me! It was that stupid squirrel! It knocked a nut down or something! Do you honestly think that I ever make noise out in the woods!?" I heard Ash rant, also in the trees. "How do you think I hunt, you numbskull!?"
They both started bickering, although I couldn't see either of them.
"Hey!" I yelled. They both were quiet. "Both of you come back down here! We're leaving since Ash can so easily climb up a tree, indicating he's fine! Come on!"
I waited until two figures dropped from a low branch and walked towards me. Ash had his arms crossed over his muscled chest and Puck had a smirk plastered on his face.
Once they were closer, I could tell Ash was still hurting a little.
"Are you alright to go?" I questioned him.
"Yes, let's go." He responded, grabbing his bags off of the forest floor.
He was limping slightly still.
"Are you sure, Ash?" I asked.
"I'm fine." He responded firmly.
"Alright-y, let's go!" Puck said cheerfully, leading the way.
Ash and I followed behind, cautious. Thankfully, the wyvern was long gone so it was safe to continue the way we were headed.
It was quiet with a few sounds of creatures off in the distance. We were always on guard just in case we were to be confronted by something else that would be happy to kill us.
Ash looked a little uncomfortable, but didn't say anything, as he's not one to complain. Puck was always random places; in front or behind us, and sometimes he would climb up trees and jump to the next one following along. I was way too jittery. If I even as much as heard a tiny rustle of leaves, I would pull out, a knife only to be told to "calm down" by Ash.
I had no idea where we were going, but Ash had taken over and I trusted he knew where we were going. I didn't normally wander this far into the Wyldwood. I'm only so fearless.
The moon has sunk down below the earth, leaving us in darkness and in more danger.
"Maybe we should stop." Ash suggested.
"No, we need to keep moving." I said, continuing to walk forward.
"Princess, I think that's a good idea." Puck agreed with Ash.
"We need to keep moving." I repeated.
At this point, I was still walking forward, although I didn't hear the boy's footsteps behind. Suddenly, I was being flung over someone's shoulder and carried back to where they had been standing. Puck set me down, snickering. I shot him a glare and stood back up.
'Fine." I gave in.
"Not like you had a choice…" Ash mumbled.
I chose to ignore his comment – stupid smug looking Ice Prince….
The next thirty minutes consisted of setting up a make-shift camp easy enough to be picked up quickly in case of an emergency. Soon, Puck and I were crowded around the fire trying to keep warm, Ash standing off by a tree.
"I'll take first watch." Puck volunteered, standing up from his place.
"Mmmk." I mumbled groggily.
I didn't even bother to move, I just laid down where I was by the fire. I saw Ash bundle up a blanket and put it near my head before lying down, his own head resting on the bundled blanket, and pulling me so my head lay on his chest. I didn't say anything; I just laid there. I could feel his cool skin through his shirt and I could hear his heart beating through his flesh.
Strangely, I felt a weird sensation in my stomach. I could feel my cheeks turning pink, but I quickly pushed it all away, falling into a deep sleep.
When morning came, I was still curled up on the ground. Ash and Puck were already cleaning up and putting things away.
"Why didn't you wake me up?" I asked them.
"Ice Boy wanted to let you sleep." Puck said smirking.
I thought I saw Ash's cheeks tinge slightly, but it was gone too quickly to tell.
I brushed it off and started helping. We managed to get it all cleaned up in a matter of minutes. Soon enough, we were already starting on our way again.
Halfway through the day, Puck was whining about how much longer we would have to go.
"We should be getting to the Briars by nightfall." I growled for the hundredth time.
He continued to whine until we heard a rustling nearby, causing him to go dead silent. We all kept quiet, drawing our weapons silently.
We waited.
"Ahahaha!" A small voice chirped.
Looking down, we saw a redcap with a little makeshift sword, trying to look intimidating. I tried holding in my laughter, burying my face in Puck's shoulder. A few more scurried out and they stood like a wall in front of us.
"What do you want?" Puck asked, bemused.
"This is our territory." The 'leader' hissed.
"Well, we were just passing through. So, if you could just move out of our way-" The leader growled, cutting me off both in speech and in step.
"Alright listen here, buck-o," I started, holding up my dagger, "Move out of the way or I'll make you move out of the way; and it won't be pleasant."
For a second, I thought they would actually move, but after a second the menacing smile reappeared on the redcap's hideous face.
"Not going to happen." He sneered, raising his puny sword.
"We don't want any trouble." Ash told them, his sword ready if needed.
"Ah… Prince Ash." The leader snarled.
The other redcaps snickered to each other.
"We will let you go on your way,"
"Thank You-" Ash started,
"-, but you must leave the girl with us."
I was about to protest and start throwing knives at them, but Ash held his hand up to stop me.
"No." He answered coldly, his glare almost sending icicles at the band of redcaps.
"Fine then." The leader gave in… almost, "Attack!" He screamed.
A sudden stinging appeared on my ankle and I swatted away with my knives, killing a few of the redcaps in the process. I could feel the summer glamour around me. I let it move up from the ground into my veins and up to my fingertips.
In one swift motion, tree vines all attached themselves to a squealing, squirming redcap.
"I could have done that." Puck grumbled.
"But you didn't." I said pointedly.
Walking over to the leader, who was suspended in the air by his ankle, I looked him in the eye, spinning my throwing knife in my right hand. He trembled a bit, but you could tell he was trying not to.
"What do you want from me?" I whispered menacingly in his ear.
He shivered, his eyes growing wide in fear. A whimper escaped his gnarled lips as I threatened to slice his neck with the cold blade.
"Fine! Fine! I'll talk!" He wheezed.
I removed the blade and he started rushing; spitting out words.
"Woah, woah, woah!" Ash yelled, telling the little creature to slow down.
"Sorry… Virus told us that if we saw the Summer Princess, to bring her back to her. She's recruiting anyone she can to help her; elves, redcaps, even phouka! We don't know her plans, but we joined anyways; we just wanted some fun…" He trailed off.
My face was getting hot; I was angry.
"Let's go. "I said marching past the hanging redcaps.
"Hey! You can't leave us like this!" They all started screaming.
'Why not?" Puck laughed.
And with that, we left them wailing, begging us to let them down, and we went on our merry way.
The warm breeze off the salt water floated around me. I breathed in the salty air and let the sun rays loom over me.
"You look happy. It would be a shame if someone were to splash water on you…"
I cracked open my eyes see Puck above me.
"You do and you die." I said sweetly, cracking a smile.
He just chuckled, but before I knew it, I was soaking wet, in shock, and Puck was running around the grassy shore of the small lake.
"Come back here!" I yelled, using glamour to make a tree root rise, causing him to trip. I came up behind him as he was getting up and rapped my arms around his middle, as well as wiping my wet hair on his back.
"Ew! No!" He screeched.
I giggled.
"Now you're all wet too!" I said, giddy.
"I know. It's not fun!" He wailed dramatically.
I left him whining and skipped over to Ash who was closing his eyes and lying on the grassy ground. I was about to ring the water out of my hair onto his face, but-
"Don't even think about it." He stated calmly.
"Do what?" I questioned innocently.
"Ring your wet hair out on my face."
"What if I just hugged you?" I giggled.
"Nope."
"Too bad." I said, letting the water splash down on top of him.
He was up in a matter of seconds chasing me around the lake.
"You can't catch me!" I sang, giggling as I ran.
Two strong arms wrapped around my waist and started carrying me over to the water.
"No! Ash, No!" I yelled, flailing about, trying to get out of his grip.
In a matter of seconds, I had left his arms and was now sitting in lake water. I stood up and walked back to the shore where Ash was, standing smirking, Puck behind him laughing so hard, he had tears in his eyes.
"That wasn't funny." I said, trying to sound mad, but the smile on my face gave me away.
"Yes it was." Ash smirked.
I punched his arm playfully. I sat on the bank, Puck still trying to control his laughter, and Ash still standing there, staring and smirking at me.
I noticed he had taken his shirt off, showing his toned chest and abdomen, as well as his arms. His skin was a beautiful pale color, almost like snow compared to my tanned complexion.
"What are you looking at?" I asked him. He was concentrated, with his stare on me. I turned around to find nothing.
"Nothing." He responded, going back to his icy façade.
He walked away, crossing his arms over his chest and stood staring out across the lake. Puck walked over and took a seat next to me. We were silent for a few moments until he spoke up.
"He likes you." He said blatantly, running his fingers through his messy red hair.
"No he doesn't." I scoffed.
"Yes he does! Have you not noticed how he's been acting towards you!? You two have hardly fought at all!"
"He's just trying to help and not get in the way." I said glancing over at Ash who was still staring across the lake, not paying an ounce of attention to us.
"He's definitely making an effort not to show it, but he's obviously failing at that. I can see right through him…" Puck trailed off.
"You're insane." I chuckled.
He didn't say anything for a while leaving me to my own thoughts. Does he really like me? Even if he does, what would happen? I'm summer. He's winter. We don't mix or match. Both kingdoms would certainly banish us both. But the real question is: do I have the same feeling? Of course not!
I didn't want to believe it, but the butterflies in my stomach are telling me differently.
"You're blushing…." Puck said in a singsong voice.
"Shut up." I said, pushing him over.
"We should get going." Ash said, approaching us.
"Ya." I agreed, standing up.
He had put his now dry shirt back on. Strangely, I felt a pang of disappointment.
My clothes were still a bit damp, but I would be fine. We gathered our stuff and headed towards the lake. Ash was in front leading; I stood back with Puck, uneasy.
"Why don't you go join him?" Puck whispered teasingly.
"No! I don't want anything to happen; do you want to get us banned into the mortal world?!" I whisper-yelled at him, making sure Ash couldn't hear the conversation.
"So you do like him." Puck smirked, quietly.
I didn't reply leaving Puck giddy in his steps.
"Shut up Puck." I told him.
He tried stifling the noise that was coming from his mouth, but was failing miserably. Ash turned around with a questioning look that I waved off, motioning for him to turn around. Once he wasn't looking, I smacked Puck upside the head.
"Ow!" Puck squealed.
In response, he got behind me and pushed me up next to Ash. I tried to fight him, but unfortunately, he's stronger than I am.
Ash looked strangely at me, confused about what just happened. I shot him a cheesy smile causing him to chuckle slightly.
"So… how long until we reach the Briars?" I asked awkwardly.
At that moment, through the trees, the prickly, thorn laden walls came into view.
"Now." Ash responded, amused.
