A/N: Hey guys! So it's been what, a year? Yeah, um... Sorry? Anyway, would you believe it if I said I got sudden new inspiration for this? Well Yeah, that's what happened. So! Here's what I hope to do: I'm going to try my best to update at least once a month. If not, I'll definitely update at least once every two months. That's a promise~ Anywhere, here's chapter three!
Chapter Three
Aching Pains
Pain was the first thing Danny registered as his consciousness returned. The second thing he registered, only moments later, was a dull, heavy pressure only on his lower legs. But what that was, and why it was so different from the rest of the aching pain in his body, was an enigma for him as he couldn't quite bring himself to open his eyes yet. Danny was no stranger to pain, that much was a fact. But it had been years since he had felt pain like this. Years since he had actually been in a fight. The boy hadn't expected to feel pain like this- even if it wasn't the worst he's experienced- again, as he had never planned to do something this stupid again. Though is whole body ached, his head was the worst as it felt like it was going to be torn in two at any moment due to the magnitude of his headache.
But Danny knew had better things to do than wallow around in his own pain. He had to figure out what exactly happened and why. Dim memories resurfaced as the boy fought with his body enough to be able to pry his eyes open. It shouldn't have come as a surprise to him that all he could see was the dirt ground he had been sprawled upon. It had been his last sight before he lost consciousness.
With a deep breath, the boy attempted to move more than just his eyelids. His body cried out in protest, but he turned a blind eye away from the pain and put all of his efforts into rolling onto his back. Ever so slowly, he was able to inch his body around enough that Danny could see his surroundings.
The sky was darkening, a stark contrast to the lightening sky he had seen mere moments ago when they... They. The girl. She was the reason why he was in such pain. She was the reason he could barely breath without feeling an ache in his body. 'Terra' was the vague name his mind supplied as he began his stunted search for her. The search didn't take long as he located the reason he had no way to move his own legs. The girl, along with a few broken rocks, buried his legs under their combined forms.
Terra was still unconscious, he noticed. Something he was equally glad and worried about. With her unconscious, he could free himself from beneath her. But, there was also the fact that he didn't know of her condition. He could see her taking deep breaths, mostly unaffected by the debris surrounding her yet the breathing seemed to be labored and unevenly taken. A sense of urgency washed over him at seeing this. Without a second thought, Danny triggered his powers, allowing him to phase his legs through the ground and move away.
It took too long, in his opinion, for Danny to crawl back and throw the rocks off of her prone form. He could already see bruises forming on the girl, and the way her foot was twisted did not look good. At best, he figured that Terra would be in more pain than him. At worst she broke something, but the ghost boy didn't want to think of that. Instead, he dragged Terra from the rubble that was surrounding her, making sure not to jostle her too much.
Though he had much experience with being injured, he didn't have as much experience with other's injuries. So he was mostly at a loss how to treat the unconscious girl in front of him without causing her further injury. He decided, with a long suffering sigh, to take a look around. It would be good to find out where they ended up before he lost the chance with Terra regaining consciousness.
There was barely anything to see though. They were still very much in the middle of nowhere. Dirt and rocks surrounded them with little difference in terrain nearby. The ground was flat and there was no water to be seen. All in all, if Terra was injured, they were screwed. Or at least, his secret was.
There was no way in hell that Danny would leave an injured girl to fend for herself. He didn't think that even with her powers that she could make it far, if the earlier display was any indication. He chalked it up to mostly nerves, but the girl seemed to have a slipping grasp on the weird powers she had. But that was simply an observation from their frantic fleeing, for all he knew, she had mastery over her powers. Danny couldn't know until he asked, but that didn't seem to be possible anytime soon.
It seemed as though the world wanted to prove Danny wrong that day because as soon as the thought crossed his mind, a minor groan of pain sounded from Terra. The boy rushed over to her side, hands coming to hover, not touch, over the girl's back in worry of how she actually felt. The small groan was soon followed by cries of pain. The girl's eyes snapped open, coming into her pain and consciousness much sooner than Danny had. It was near impossible to miss Terra's face fill with a pained expression even with her hair mostly obscuring her features. To keep her from moving too much, Danny immediately tried to soothe Terra.
"Hey, it's okay. Just breathe." The soft words slipped from his mouth as Terra began to struggle to move herself. "Terra," he called hesitantly, he needed to get her attention before she did something stupid. He could see that calling her worked as the girl's eyes snapped up to meet his. They stared at each other for a good minute before the Geomancer looked away, taking Danny's advice to breathe through the pain. He could hear her breathing slow down, yet it still hitched as she tried to move her body from it's uncomfortable position on the ground.
"Let me help," the ghost boy said, moving his hands to one of her shoulders. He moved slowly and deliberately as to not jostle her too much, causing even more pain. There was no protest, so moving her came little resistance and hopefully little pain on her part. Danny was also struggling with his own pain, but he pushed it aside to concentrate on Terra since she clearly was worse off.
"Are you hurt?" Surprisingly, these words came from her. Danny couldn't decide whether to look astounded, worried, or laugh at the question. He did a mix of all three, forcing out a strained chuckle as his eyes once more met hers. He could see the poorly concealed pain in her eyes, causing him to worry more.
"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" came his stunned response.
But she just shook her head slowly. He could see her look over him, clearly searching for a sign of injury. "No, this was my fault. It's why I'm asking." Ah, that's why. She was worried he was upset or mad with her. Frankly, he was more upset at himself and his idiotic lack of using his own powers. Sure, Danny wanted to keep them a secret, but he probably could have saved Terra from the pain she was in.
"I'm not hurt," he reassured her, stretching his aching limbs, ignoring their loud protests, as if to prove his words to be true. A little white lie never hurt anyone. "But you are." Danny's eyes flickered down to Terra's foot as he said it. It seemed they were both worrying for someone they barely knew.
"You know, we should probably find some way to fix that up." Danny said, pointing to her ankle, which was clearly swelling now that he looked closer to it. "And," he continued, eyes straying back to the rubble, "we should probably talk about that."
