"Much Worse"
"Jane. Wake up, Jane!"
I opened my eyes, and sunlight poured in. I squinted at Gunther.
"We need to go now," Gunther said. "It is nearly midday already."
I groaned. As much as I wanted to continue my slumber, I felt foolish for sleeping in again.
"How are you feeling?" He said, grabbing my arm to help me to stand. I had not stood on my two legs for nearly three days (That was the fourth day since I left the castle), and could feel my legs wobble beneath me, as if they had never stood before.
But I could stand.
I took a step, pushing myself to walk, but my foot twisted and I nearly fell. I leaned against the oak, and Gunther's grasp around my arm grew bone crushing taut.
"I am fine," I said. He grasp loosened, but he did not let go.
"You might feel dizzy," He said, "And you need to tell me when you do, alright? Or when you are tired."
"Alright," I agreed, though did not take him very seriously.
And of course Gunther would notice. "Jane! I am serious!"
"I know you are!" I said. "And I will tell you!"
"Good," He said. His voice lowered, but he still sounded upset. "Now come along. We have a long way to walk."
"Walk?" I asked. "What happened to your horse?"
His sharp laugh caught me by surprise. "Wow, Jane!"
"Well, excuse me," I glared, "but if you have not noticed, I have been lying sick! Too sick, it seems, to notice whether or not a horse is where he is supposed to be kept."
Gunther sighed. "When we fell, she ran off. She is probably back at the castle."
"Why did you not tell me?"
"You never asked."
I snorted, "Funny. You, good sir, are a jester!"
"And be like that fool at the castle? I do not think so!"
I could feel my face grow red with anger. Gunther had just made fun of one of my best friends! He had no right whatsoever!
"You take that back!"
"Make me, frog rider!" He stepped closer to me, his face so near to mine.
"Pig!" I screamed.
"Swamp dweller!"
"Bog weevil!"
"Beef brain!"
He was so close. He was letting off so much body heat, and his gasping breath mingled with mine. I could not speak and my jaw tightened. Pepper's words whispered in my ear, "Oh, Jane! You have your first crush!"
These feelings were a curse. Could I not even speak to him without blushing?
Gunther was still glaring, waiting for me to shout something nasty back. I swallowed and said, "I will speak of this no more. We are wasting daylight."
Gunther nodded, and turned from me and began walking. I followed. Although I was still angry, I went up beside him and asked, "Do you know where we are going?"
He nodded, ignoring me.
I sighed, "Where?"
"To the river," He answered, refusing to look at me.
"The river?" I asked, "I do not remember passing a river on our way here."
"That is because we did not pass one," He shook his head, trying to make me feel stupid. "The river is about half an hours walk this way."
"What I mean is why are we going to the river?"
"If we follow it, it will lead us to the docks, where the shipmen work. It may take a little longer than the forest route, but this way, we will not get easily lost. One wrong move could have us trapped another day. At least if we follow the river, we will always know where we are going."
I hated how he was taking control of me again. Did my opinion not matter to him in the least? I wanted to argue. But his plan made sense, and bickering would waste energy much needed—very much needed for me, indeed, for I could already feel my legs growing weak and we had only been walking for a few minutes.
***
Less than an hour later, we arrived at the river.
Gunther was distracted, apparently thinking about what to do next. I took this as an excuse to lean against a tree and rest. I had walked the whole way, my pride unwilling to ask him for time to stop and catch my breath.
Gunther was muttering to himself. I rolled my eyes, and decided to ignore him if he was going to ignore me. I easily tuned him out and closed my eyes. I decided to play one of the games Dragon and I played. Sure, Dragon might hate it, but he played along for my sake. We would look at our situation and look at all the positive things that had come from it. This dilemma did not seem very positive, so I tried to think of some.
I was not dead. I was not feeling my best, but I could walk! I was able to travel now, and soon Gunther and I would be back at the castle. Gunther and I were not lost, and we knew where we were going.
And, as I hate to admit it to this day, I was seeing something new in Gunther. Sure, he was still the bossy, arrogant, rude person I had always known, however, he was also showing me that he was patient (somewhat), kind (when he wanted to be), and was smart (occasionally).
"Jane! Jane, are you listening to me?!"
Shaking my head to rid myself of my thought, I replied, "No. What were you saying?"
Glaring, he said, "We will follow the flow of the river. When we find a log or a shallow area, we will cross."
I was hoping that he would continue to gloat, and explain as to why we would cross. Shocking me, he did not, and so I asked with discomfort, "Why will we cross the river?"
"The other side is easier to travel on, which will be better of your condition."
Did you hear that? My condition. The condition that made me a weak, injudicious, whiney little child!
"And what of the log? Why can we not cross here? The current does not look so strong." I said between grit teeth.
His snarly little laugh made me want to slap him so hard he would fall face first into the stream. "Your condition has made you weak. If you were to stay in wet cloths, you could easily catch something, making you so much worse."
'Of course, Jane!' I bit hard on my tongue, trying to calm myself down from screaming unladylike things at him.
"Now, come now, Jane," Gunther said, starting to walk. I followed behind, trying to resist the urge to shove him into the river.
***
"Oh, this is too perfect!"
I looked up to see what Gunther was talking about. He had happened to have found a log that had fallen, and reached the other side. The water looked shallow. If someone were to fall, they would easily be able to wade back to shore, also, the current looked peaceful.
"I will go first." Gunther said, clearly gloating. He easily walked across the fall tree, and called out to me to go when he had reached the other side.
It was easy.
The log was fairly stout, and the walk no more than a few minutes. My knight's training helped me to acquire excellent balance.
But halfway inward, I began to feel dizzy.
I stopped and waited for my balance to return. I breathed slowly, and then continued walking. The dizziness returned, though much worse.
"Jane! Jane, what is wrong?!"
Maggots, how I am stubborn! I did not want to tell him, so I simply kept my mouth shut and tried to regain my balance. I continued walking.
But then everything went black.
Disclaimer: I do not own Jane or anything along those lines...
Author's notes: I FINISHED!! Okay, I know I'm behind on posting...*cough* BUT, I finished the story! All I have to do now is post it. (:
But not that I am done, I am have nothing to write. DX Well, Christmas Break is coming up (YESSS!!!), and I hope I can find something to write by then. :)