A/N: Welcome back to Purpose! Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy!
I woke up slowly and painfully. Blu mumbled in her sleep and confusion caused me to open my eyes. I could see the sea through a bright opening and I looked around, unsure as to where I was. I became aware of a weight on my left shoulder and looked to see Blu, who shifted restlessly and whispered something, eyes still closed. My other arm throbbed and I winced, everything coming back in one big, mind-numbing rush.
"Blu!" nothing. "Oi! Blu!" more nothing. "Wake up!" I shouted, fingers traveling to her side and dancing over the fabric there. Blu's eyes flew open and giggles poured out of her mouth as she squirmed, trying to get away from me and my torturous fingers.
"Stop!" she gasped, trying to crawl away. I laughed, but stopped, watching as she slid away from me, wiping away tears of laughter. We both sobered as our gazes turned to the entrance of the cave.
"We should leave, yeah?" I whispered, eyes meeting hers. She sighed, but nodded. I stood, ignoring the way my arm pulsed in protest. We shuffled to the entrance of the den, eyeing the ocean wearily. Neither of us like saltwater and weren't eager to get back in and swim all the way back to shore.
"I didn't realize how far away it was last night," Blu remarked, leaning slightly to eye the beach off in the distance.
"That's because it was either swim or get eaten," I said matter-of-factly. She hummed in agreement before asking, "Do you think he will be there?"
"He?"
"The Timberjack."
"It's a he?" Blu shuddered slightly.
"It's a he. Trust me, I got pretty up close and personal with it." I chuckled, despite the subject.
"Well, he could be, but I doubt it. I'm sure he has better things to do than wait for two scrawny girls to wash up on shore, dehydrated and injured." Blu rolled her eyes at me and glared at the water, sliding in slowly. I followed, trying desperately to keep my head above the water. By the time we were ashore, our muscles were throbbing, our breathing uneven, and my arm had gone completely numb from pain.
"Let's hurry to the village," I said, "before this gets any worse." We stepped forward, slowly climbing the hills with screaming legs and lungs. We reached the clearing where we had battled the Timberjack, and only then did I notice the true extent of the damage. Trees, towering oaks and weak sapplings, had been chopped through. The oddest thing, was that they weren't uprooted. Stumps stood in the trees' place, like a lumberjack had come through.
"Guess that's how they got the name Timberjack," I whispered, awestruck.
"That could've been us," Blu muttered uneasily.
"But it wasn't," I replied, stepping forward to inspect the damage up close.
"Kat, come on. We need to get to the village," Blu said, eyes flicking around nervously. Sensing her discomfort, I nodded and turned away from the Timberjack's trail, heading the opposite direction and toward the village.
"How do you think they're doing?" Blu asked after a moment.
"Who? The villagers? We'll probably show up and they'll all be there, soot covered and hair smoking. Then they'll tell us to go collect wood for repairs and forget we ever existed," I replied, moving a low hanging tree branch out of the way.
"Well," Blu began good naturedly, "at least we won't have to worry about chopping down trees." I looked to my right and saw that the Timberjack's trail had spread all the way out here.
"Wow," I gaped, "that's insane! There's a monstrous wing span on that beast!" Of course, I had guessed that, but seriously? That was crazy. Blu didn't look as awed, her eyes glowing with a certain worry that I didn't understand.
"What are you worrying about?" I asked, slowing so that I was walking right beside her.
"Nothing," she replied, refusing to meet my gaze. I poked her side and grinned.
"Oh, come on. If I can't lie to you, you can't lie to me." Blu was silent, shaking her head. I huffed and crossed my arms, but I wasn't really angry. Sometimes, you just can't explain something or don't want to. "We're close." Blu looked up now, eyes tracing the smoke trails that still rose up from the village's location.
"Great," she muttered. I nudged her with my shoulder, giving her that "everything-will-be-okay" smile. She grinned with me, her shoulders relaxing. We climbed up the hill leading to our village, legs protesting the whole way.
"No way," I whispered in despair. The whole village was up in flames. Houses, windmills, storage shacks, and animal pens burned in hungry yellows and oranges, but that's not what had my mind reeling and my heart beating erratically. Corpses. There were dead bodies littered all over the streets, both dragon and human. They were bloodied, ripped up, and pale. I turned away quickly, eyes wide as I tried to wrap my mind around what was happening.
"It's all gone. They're all gone," I choked, hands clutching at my stomach. Blu fell to her knees, hands gripping at her fiery hair. I collapsed beside her, refusing to look at the scene behind me.
"We have to go," I said quietly. When neither of us moved, I grabbed Blu's wrist and pulled her up, running away from our home. Tears, not tears of sorrow or grief, but tears made of frustration streamed down my cheeks. I wasn't upset over the loss of the village. I had no emotional ties to that place other than Blu, and she was right here. I cried because these things just kept happening and now we had no where to go. My feet lead me down a well worn path, Blu right on my heels.
Low hanging branches and thorns cut and scraped against our faces as we continued with our frantic retreat. I faintly realized that the usually lively forest was completely silent. We reached a small pile of rocks, obviously a man-made marker, and went left of them. The trees around us slowly got taller and the shrubs larger as we ran. I skidded to a stop, feet knocking rocks loose.
Below us was a tiny clearing, complete with it's own bubbling river and tall, swaying grass. I turned, walking along the edge of the cliff, looking for the next marker. There! I furiously wiped away the drying tears on my cheeks and grabbed the rope that coiled around a sturdy oak. After making sure the rope was secure and anchored to the tree, I handed the untied end to Blu, who wrapped it around her waist. I helped her tie it up and she turned, beginning her descent into the clearing. When her feet touched the ground, she untied the rope and tugged on it, signaling to me that I could pull it up. I did just that and then secured it around my own waist, moving backward so that I could begin my climb down the cliff.
My feet touched caressing blades of grass and I untied the rope, leaving it to hang there for when we wanted to climb up. I stumbled over to the river and my knees gave out, dumping me onto the rough ground. I looked down at the river, examining my reflection numbly. Same old cinnamon hair and golden-brown eyes. I gingerly fingered the tiny cuts that littered my features and winced, pulling away. I bent down and reached out, scooping up a handful of cool, saltless water. I lifted the water up to my lips and drank thirstily. Blu joined me, both of us drinking until our stomachs hurt. I sat back, staring up at the cloudless sky, trying to ignore the foggy smoke trails.
"It seems you get your wish," I remarked. Blu looked up at me with one raised brow, "Escape." Blu looked away and her shoulders slumped.
"I never wanted it to be like this," she told me.
"I know." And I did. I didn't want the village to be completely wiped out, no matter how much I hated it or didn't care about it. The villagers were still people. Blu scooted closer to me, leaning up against my side.
"Kat, what're we going to do?" she asked softly. I was silent as I tried to gather my frazzled thoughts, thinking about everything we would need to do.
"Well, we need to go back to the village-"
"What?" Blu shouted, springing upright, eyes wild.
"There might be edible food we can find, weapons we can get, or maybe one of the village's boats," I explained.
"Can't we just hunt?" she asked.
"With what? We don't have bows or daggers or anything. Not to mention that all of the forest wildlife was scared away by the dragons and fire." Blu looked away.
"I don't want to go back there," she whispered. I crawled toward her and put my hands on her shoulders.
"Neither do I," I assured her, "but we have to." Blu looked up, gaze meeting mine, and my eyes widened with how much trust was in their depths. "Thank you," I whispered sincerely. I stood, ignoring her confused look and strode over to the rope. "We better get moving. The sun is setting." Blu scrambled to her feet and followed me up our ascent to the cliff. We walked slowly, neither of us eager to relive the carnage and emptiness of the village.
"Hey, Blu?"
"Yeah?" I paused for a moment.
"I'm sorry all of this happened." Blu's eyes softened and she looped her arm through mine.
"It's not your fault. You did all you could at the moment," she reassured me. I offered her a soft smile, feeling slightly better. We marched up the village's hill, arms linked together and lips pulled into frowns. We stood there, watching the smoke rise from smoldering buildings, determined not to let it affect us more than it already had. I looked out to the setting sun and tugged Blu's arm.
"Let's go, before anymore dragons show up." We both stepped forward, eyes already watering and lungs already burning.
A/N: And that's the end for chapter two! I hope you liked this chapter and will come back for next week's update.
Thank you for reading! Reviews are appreciated and smothered with love! I will see you all for Chapter 3: Deal With the Devil! BYE :D