Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for Mary, and some other characters I made up. Besides them, all the other characters belong to the wonderful Cassandra Clare.
A/N: Sorry, I said that I will update last Tuesday or Wednesday, but by the time I got this chapter to my beta it took more time. The reviews were very motivating! Thank you!
To my anonymous reviewers:
To Zanna (who replied long ago): Thank you for reviewing! Sorry, I didn't reply through my other chapter.
Reni: I haven't read a lot of TMI fanfics either these days. Thanks for reviewing. :)
To my three really anonymous reviewers: Thanks so much for reviewing, Glad you liked it.
To clace: Lol, they are cute. Thanks for reviewing!
Annoymus1997: It's so sweet of you to review even after all this time that I haven't updated. Thanks for the corrections! :)
**Thank you to my beta Regina de Morte a.k.a. Mezza for editing this chapter.**
Clary's cheek felt warm, as did the small of her back. The heat caused her to wake up; she was confused since, usually, she was cold in the early spring mornings. When she opened her eyes, she saw the inside of Jace's neck. So that's why it's so warm. Clary slowly removed herself from Jace's embrace. But when she did Jace pulled her body closer to him, making her face touch his bare chest. Clary blushed when she realized that Jace slept without a shirt. Clary took his hands that were on her back and tried to untwine his hands from her to let herself out. She slowly got out of his grip, off the bed and put on her shoes. Lying on the ground next to her was the pillow she placed between them. Some time during the night, she assumed, it fell on the ground.
Through the window the sun came out of the high hills and spread light into the darkness. Clary had seen sunrise before, but never as beautiful as this. The mist that covered the ground was rising up to the orange sky. Behind her Jace made a low groaning sound as if he were about to wake up. Maybe now is my chance to escape, Clary realized. She quickly put on her day dress and found her belt with her map. She took a few pieces of food they bought the pervious day and put them in a sack. She got her cloak off the ground and tip–toed to the door, but stopped when she saw the shiny dagger that had come off of Jace's belt with his swords. I should take it incase something goes wrong, again. Just as Clary was about to pick the dagger up, she heard him move again.
"Where are you going?"
Clary froze when she heard his voice.
"I was going to help Luce make breakfast," Clary lied as she turned around hiding the sack behide her cloak. Jace didn't sit up to look at her, instead he spoke while lying on the bed. She sighed in relief, knowing Jace would have realized she was trying to escape, if he saw how she was dressed.
"Alright," said Jace softly, then went back to sleep. Clary felt a guilty pang in her chest. She picked up the dagger and put it in her belt pouch. She slowly opened the door, slipping through without a sound. She stayed still by the door for a moment.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, then swiftly descended the stairs. She went to the kitchen where she knew there was a back door. Just as she entered the kitchen she stopped short when she saw Luce by the fireplace. Luce turned around when she heard Clary enter, and smiled.
"Oh, your up, Mrs. Lewis-"She stopped when she realized that Clary was already dressed, ready to leave. "You're not going to stay for breakfast are you," she said sadly.
"I'm afraid I'm not, Mrs. Menon. I have to go before… my husband wakes up," Clary said.
Luce frowned at her. "Why, child? Did you two get into a fight?" Clary nodded, lying.
"Yes, and a horrible on in fact. I have to go before he finds me," Clary said.
"But what about the baby? It's not safe to be traveling alone you know." Clary almost smiled at Luce's efforts to stop her from leaving.
"We'll be fine," Clary said. Then she dug into her pocket and dumped what was left of her money on the table. "I hope this will be enough. It's all I have right now-"
"I'm not going to take your money," Luce interrupted. "You need it right now more than I do."
"But-"
"If I can't convince you to stay here, then take the money," Luce said in a stern voice. She looked at Clary with a serious expression, but softened when Clary met her eyes. "I hope your not making a mistake."
"I'm not," Clary said. She looked at the window and saw that the sun was higher up in the sky. "I have to go." She quickly put the coins back into her pocket.
"Wait," said Luce. She picked a loft of bread and wrapped it in a cloth. "Take this, too. For me." Clary took the bread and put into her sack.
Clary hugged Luce and whispered, "Thank you," as they broke away.
"You're welcome," she said. Clary then waved at Luce and ran out the backdoor. She did not turn back once as she followed the direction of the sun east into the forest.
OoOoOoOoO
After a while, Clary stopped running. She rested her head on a tree truck as she waited for her breathing to even out. She looked at the sun through the branches of the trees; it wasn't noon yet. Clary looked at the tree branches again and realized that most of them already had new leaves and were turning darker green. Her time was running out. She quickly checked her map and found where she was. She took a breath and began to run again.
By midday, Clary was famished and most of all thirsty. She hadn't had any food or water all day. She finally let herself sit under a tree and ate some of the bread Luce gave her. Then, to lessen her thirst, she ate the apple that she stole. But it didn't help, the saltiness of the bread and the sweetness of the apple made her thirstier than ever. Clary, however, got a little more energy from eating and began to run once more. She knew she would eventually find a path in the direction, if she read her map correctly.
Clary grew dizzy the more she ran, but she tried to blink it away. Soon she began to slow her running into walking, and her walking into stumbling. The dizziness increased so much she didn't see the large tree truck in front of her and tripped. Clary quickly got up and dusted herself off. She checked if she was injured, but didn't see anything. Then she felt wetness sliding down the side of her eyebrow to her cheek. Clary touched the spot and then saw that her hand was red with blood. I have to find water. She studied her map again and saw that there were no rivers or lakes nearby. The forest is lush. Maybe there is a creek, so small that it's not in the map.
Clary watched the little animals and followed them for a while in hope of finding water. The small bunnies hopped north, while the squirrels scurried south. Clary sighed, losing hope, when a deer ran out of the bushes stopping right in front of her. The doe looked at Clary as if she was staring right into her soul.
"Hello," Clary said softly. The deer jumped and ran off, but stopped before she disappeared out of Clary's sight. She turned her head a little as if she were waiting for Clary to catch up with her. It's another sign. Clary quickly ran after the doe until it disappeared from her view. She looked around her surroundings to see where the deer could be, but paused when she saw the sparkling blue pond. Clary silently thanked the deer and whoever sent it.
Clary took off her belt, cloak, shoes, and her green day dress; she placed them by her sack. She knew it would take longer to dry if she went inside the water with her white under dress, but she didn't want to go into the water naked. It'll be okay, I'll just be a little wet for the rest of the day. Clary went to the pond. It was cool between her toes, but refreshing. She slowly walked into the water and stopped once she was waist up. She cupped some of the water into her hands and brought it to her mouth. The water was surprisingly sweet. She dropped her head into the water and drank it until she didn't feel thirsty.
Afterwards, Clary began to swim, the coolness of the water didn't feel so cold anymore, and she was able to move around the pond without shivering. She washed her hair and the grime off her skin. The little sting on the side of her head reminded her that she had to wash her cut. She rubbed the spot with water until she didn't feel any dirt or see any blood on her hands. She swam back to shore, dragging her wet under dress to dry land. The cloth was almost transparent now, but she felt more protected this way. She dried herself by lying in the afternoon sun on a tall boulder.
She stayed there for what felt like an hour until her under dress felt less damp, and her hair curled to dryness. Clary put her clothes back on, and tied the belt around her waist. Then, all of a sudden, she heard giggling behind her. She sharply turned her head to the noise.
"Hello?" she called out in the direction. There was more giggling. "Who's there?" Out of the trees came three yellow butterflies. As they flew, their yellow wings looked as if they were spreading gold dust. The butterflies came closer, and Clary realized that they weren't butterflies, but pixies.
"Come," they laughed. They slowly flew back into the forest. Clary grabbed her things and followed them. The pixies flew around trees, dancing from truck to truck. The gold dust shimmered when the sun hit them and was mesmerizing.
"Hurry up," they called in harmony. Clary picked up her pace. She followed them until she forget what time of day it was; she didn't even look where she was going. Her eyes only focused on the pixies and wouldn't let her see anything else. In the background she heard noises coming from far away. Then heard a voice that almost seemed like it was calling her name.
Clary, Clary, Clary.
But the sound faded away once the pixies told her to hurry once more. The forest grew darker all of the sudden, and the only light came from the pixies. Clary didn't even look up to see why it turned so dark so quickly. She stared the pixies attentively: like moths do to light.
"Over here," they said as they began to circle around a tree branch. Unexpectedly, a peach began to grow on the branch until it was full grown. The peach, too, looked very bright like the pixies, but instead of yellow and gold, it glowed pink in the dark forest.
"Eat," said the pixies as the slowly circled around Clary.
"Eat," they whispered in her ear. Clary's hand slowly twitched toward the peach and broke it off the branch. The pixies started to giggle and laugh.
"Eat," they persuaded her once more. Clary brought the peach near her lips. The pixies laughter began to sound sinister as she brought the peach closer to her mouth and her mind fogged.
"CLARY!" Clary jumped and dropped the peach on the ground. The pixies vanished, and the forest returned to its original color. She turned around and saw Jace on his horse. Her mind began to circle, confused as to what had just happened.
"Jace," Clary said breathlessly. Her guilt came back to her from before. She looked down at her feet as Jace got off his horse and walked to her.
"Do you know how long I've been trying to find you? When the innkeeper woke me up to tell me you left-"he stopped and took a breath. Clary finally looked up at him. His gold eyes pierced her heart in shame. "Why did you leave and lie to me?"
"I… didn't want be a bother," Clary said. "This is my duty, not yours. You don't even know my mother. Actually, you don't even know me well, so why risk your life, too?" she asked. Jace sighed in frustration.
"Green-eyes, you know why I'm going with you, and it is still the same reason as it was before. If anything were to happen to you, I would feel as if it is my fault. Also, since I know you are going to a dangerous place, if I leave you, I would die of not knowing whether you are alive or not."
"Your reason still does not make sense though!" Clary exclaimed, exasperated. "You still do not know me." Something in Jace's expression changed a bit.
"But that doesn't matter," said Jace in a soft tone.
"But it does." Clary argued.
"It wouldn't be human of me if I didn't care what will happen to you. Would it not?" Jace asked. Clary shrugged.
"I know plenty of people, who wouldn't care about what will happen to me, or to anyone else. Why do you choose to be different?" Clary challenged. She crossed her arms.
"Because I was raised not to be one of those people," said Jace. "If I don't go with you, it will be against everything that I've been taught." Neither of them said anything for a few minutes. Clary sighed in defeat.
"Alright," she said in a small voice. Jace moved closer to her.
"What did you say?" he asked.
"Alright," Clary repeated. "You can join me." Jace smiled.
"Thank you," he said.
"Thank you." She then looked at her feet again, and then at Jace. "I am sorry I lied to you this morning. I do feel guilty for doing so."
"It's fine. But I might take a little time before I trust you again," admitted Jace.
"I know," said Clary. "I won't try to run away from you, again."
"On the contrary, I might not forgive you for lying," said Jace playfully, lightening up the mood.
"And why is that," asked Clary, smiling.
"Luce, when she woke me up, started yelling, and almost had me brought to the village prison."
"I thought she might not interfere; however, I should have known she would wake you," Clary said. She rolled her eyes, and smiled. "Oh, Luce."
"Then, after she stopped yelling me, she wouldn't let me go through the door or even let me change into my clothes until she lectured me about how I should be supporting you, and how I'm supposed to be more kind than usual, because making you angry is not good for the baby." They began to laugh.
"She is sweet though," Clary commented.
"She is," Jace agreed. Clary looked at the sky and saw that it was red from sunset. Jace looked up to, and then back at Clary. "We should probably find somewhere to camp." Clary nodded and started walking. She then remembered the pixies and the peach.
"Jace?" He stopped walking, and looked at Clary.
"Yes?" his eyebrow rose.
"When you found me here, did you see the pixies?" asked Clary.
"Pixies?" Jace's eyebrows furrowed with confusion.
"Yes," said Clary. "Pixies. They were circling around my head, telling me to eat the peach I dropped." Jace looked behind her at the place she first stood when he found her.
"What peach?" Jace asked. Clary turned around to show him.
"The peach over-" she stopped mid-sentence when she saw an object around where she dropped it. On the ground, a black circular ball replaced the bright pink peach. Clary walked closer to look at it, but saw that it was a peach, but only crumpled and old. Clary brought her fingers closer to touch it, but it turned to dust before she could. The black dust, like the pixies, disappeared into thin air.
"Was that the peach?" Jace asked, making Clary jump. She hadn't hear him come closer.
"It was," she said as she stood up. "At least I think it was. Why would the pixies want me to eat that?"
"You know, pixies love to play tricks," Jace commented. Clary was still skeptical.
"But would they play tricks to kill people?" asked Clary. Jace shrugged.
"Maybe it wasn't their intension," said Jace, comforting Clary. "Come on we have to find camp before it gets too dark." Jace put his arms around Clary's shoulders, knowing she was not in the best condition to walk. Jace helped Clary onto his horse's back, and once they were both on the horse, they rode in search of a flat piece of land. Thankfully, they found a good spot before the darkness overtook the sky.
A/N: Very wordy, I know. But it was needed. This chapter kind of looks more on the shorter side, but it's not really. It's just that all the words are clumped into paragraphs instead of dialogue, which takes up more space.
**Also, I wasn't trying to make it so Snow White/Anastasia-ish. But that's how it turned out, oops. Which leads me to another issue…. dam dam dah.
Is there someone who is trying to poison Clary? Or is it just a pixy trick?
And there was that "sign" thing again, if you all paid attention. Do you think they connect, or are they separate? Tell me what you think!
**Reviewers get teasers, and make me happy.
Review! :)