Well I think you guys have waited long enough. I promised I'd post this chapter when I was finished with part 3 of this on my DeviantArt profile. So go check that out too. I have one poster up and another one will be here later this week. Enjoy. (Not like I need to say it)
Candice wept uncontrollably over Tremor's body. "How could this be happening?" She screamed in her mind. "How could he die! Just when I finally got the courage to tell him! It's not fair!"
The dragoness was crying so loud she didn't notice the other guardians approaching through the trees. Stella, Flame and Ember had all seen the wave of Tremor's energy sweep through the forest as Candice did and hurried to investigate. When they had reached the battle ground they heard the ice guardian's scream. They rushed through the trees and found her leaning over the body of the earth guardian.
"Oh no." Stella gasped in horror as she figured out what was going on. The three of them stood for a moment in shock. Candice's sobs were the only noise they could hear over the wind and the rain. It took Ember a moment to get her bearings as tears began to fall from her eyes as well. She took a step towards the ice dragoness and Flame grabbed her tail.
Ember turned to the fire guardian with desperation in her eyes. She knew what he was worried about. "I think I can help." She whispered. "But there's not much time."
"But...Tremor is..."
"I know..." Ember choked and sniffled loudly. "But I have to try. I can't let it end this way. Not without a fight. It wouldn't be fair to Candice."
"Alright then." Flame nodded. "What can I do?"
"Can you get her out of here? I'll need some space and silence if there's any chance of helping."
Flame swallowed nervously as he approached Candice. He took a deep breath and a determined look spread across his face. "Candice." He placed a paw on her shoulder, grabbing her attention. The dragoness looked at him with wet, bloodshot eyes. She held Tremor's head close to her chest, afraid of letting him go.
"Come on. We need to go."
"W-what?" Candice's eyes widened.
"Come on." Flame jerked his head away from the willow. "You should..."
"No!" Candice protested loudly. "I'm not leaving this spot!"
"Candice."
"No! I won't! I won't leave him ever again! Do you hear me?"
"Candice." Ember came up and reached out to take a took hold of Tremor. "I need you to leave for now. Please."
Candice turned towards the fire dragoness. She couldn't believe she was taking Flame's side in this situation. How could she betray her like this?
Taking the cue from his dragoness, Flame quickly grabbed Candice allowing Ember to pull Tremor away from her.
"No!" Candice screamed as she realized what was going on. "No! Tremor!" She screamed as Flame did his best to push her towards the clearing beyond the trees. She wanted to fight but was too grief stricken to put up a decent brawl. "Tremor! Don't leave me! Tremor!" She struggled against Flame's muscular bulk but the fire guardian was determined to help his dragoness.
"Stella!" Ember called. "I need you to gather some fire wood as quickly as you can."
"Gotcha."
"Stella!" Candice cried desperately. "Stella, help me! Tremor!" The lightning dragoness could only hang her head sadly. She wanted to console her friend but now was not the time. Not while there was something to be done about the situation.
After a long, loud struggle, Flame managed to get Candice outside. Once she had enough room, Candice tried to get around the fire guardian. However, Flame was ready and tackled her to the ground before she could get away from him. Candice wailed and struggled beneath his weight.
"Tremor!" She sobbed. "Tremor why!"
"Candice." Flame tried to get her attention. When the ice dragoness didn't stop he was forced to get serious. "Candice!" He shouted and flames blew from his nostrils and clenched teeth. The sudden display caused the dragoness to stop crying for a moment and look up at him.
"Listen to me, please." Flame sighed. "Ember's trying to help you right now. But you're not making it easy on her or Tremor by going ballistic like this."
"Tremor..." Candice choked back another sob and snorted loudly. "He...He's..." She was beginning to hick-up hysterically.
"I know. I know." Flame said softly and nuzzled her comfortingly. "I'm not sure what Ember can really do for him at this point." He leaned back and stared her in the eye. "But I think we should at least give them both a chance. Don't you?" Candice just stared at him in silence with the occasional hick-up interrupting the silence between them. "I'm going to let you up now." Flame sighed. "I want you to promise me you'll keep your cool." Then he realized what he had just said and gave a slight smirk. "As much as you can considering you're the ice guardian."
Candice couldn't help but laugh letting a couple more sobs and hick-ups escape. It was definitely something Tremor would have said if he were there.
Flame stepped off of her and Candice got to her feet.
"I know it's tough watching someone you love die, before your eyes." Flame hung his head. "I almost lost Ember that way. But it was nothing short of a miracle that she's here with me today." He looked back at Candice who was listening in wide-eyed silence. "I don't know how much of a chance Tremor has, but I don't think you should give up on him just yet until we've expended every last option."
Candice's lower lip quivered for a moment before she burst into another fit of tears. "Flame!" She sobbed and buried her face in his chest scales. Flame was a little surprised by the gesture but he didn't reject her. He reached up and hugged her close, stroking her neck softly to calm her down.
"I know." He whispered. "I know."
"No you don't." Candice shook her head and pulled away to look him in the eyes. "I love Tremor." Flame jolted as if he had been stuck. He almost couldn't believe what he was hearing from the ice guardian's mouth. The one dragoness he thought despised Tremor with a burning hatred. Candice noticed his expression and shook her head sadly, letting the frozen tears fly. "I know what you're thinking." She squeaked. "I couldn't admit it before." She looked the fire guardian in the eye and thrust her chest out and stood before him in a proud display of her power. "But I'm in love with him."
Time seemed to move at a snail's pace. The minutes turned into hours, the hours turned into days. Candice stayed outside the grove of trees, looking across the horizon. She curled up just below a couple of the trees to keep from getting drenched by the rain. The weather hadn't improved at all in the past several days. The hurricane hadn't hit them too hard and kept mostly along the coastline. Candice paid the storm no attention. She only had one thing on her mind and it was all she could see wherever she turned.
She could hear the voices of the other guardians deeper into the forest. Candice tried to make out exactly what was being said but soon gave up as the wind continued to interrupt. Every so often Flame would come out just to check on her and offer to go hunting for her. Candice refused to eat the entire time. Whenever Flame tried to coax her, she would just turn away from him.
At last Stella came out to check on Candice.
"I'm sorry about not coming to your aid beforehand." She apologized sadly. "I wanted to. Really I did. But I felt it would have been more beneficial if I focused on helping Tremor at the time."
"How is Tremor?" Candice mumbled.
Stella paused for a moment before letting out a tired sigh. "Well...In all honesty...I can't tell. There hasn't been much improvement, if any. We're trying our best...but Ember is still weak and growing weaker by the hour. Flame has her taking rest breaks to regain every little bit of her strength back." She sat down beside her friend and stared out at the dark sky. "I hate to admit it Candice...But things aren't looking very promising." The ice dragoness just sighed. "That doesn't mean you should give up on Tremor though." Stella continued.
"I didn't even get to tell him." Candice whimpered. "I found him...and he..." She couldn't finish the sentence and began to sob softly again.
"Faith and hope."
"What?"
"Faith and hope." Stella repeated. "Have faith that everything will turn out alright. And hope for the best when it does." Candice just stared blankly. Stella only smiled. "We know how much Tremor means to you. We're trying to do out best to give Tremor a fighting chance." She stood up and turned to go back. "You should do the same. If you really love him, then you'll do whatever you can for him."
"I will." Candice nodded and sat up proudly.
"That's the Candice I know."
Five more days passed. The storm had subsided and the winds had died down but the days were still rainy and overcast. Candice's faith was beginning to waver. The other guardians had been working hard but from the way things sounded, Tremor was taking a turn for the worst. Ember was trying every possible idea she could think of but she was quickly running low on stamina.
Candice sighed as she stared at the ground. She had been thinking back to all the times when she and Tremor used to argue with one another. She wished that she could hear his voice once more, even if it was him just trying to get on her nerves. She felt empty and restless. Whenever Tremor was around she had been more energetic due to the fact that she was not to be outdone by him.
"What a jerk." She chuckled and shook her head. She remembered when he had first come up with his nickname for her and what she had done to him. It had given her such satisfaction at the time and still did now. The more she reflected on their time together the more she regretted not seeing him as more than just a pest or a friend. The more she thought about it the more she began to despise herself. How could she say she loved him when there was so much tension between them?
Candice shook those thoughts from her head. "No. I won't think that way ever again!" She muttered to herself. "When Tremor comes back I'm going to show him how much he means to me. I'm not going to let him out of my sight ever again." She sighed peacefully. It was the most her mind and heart had been at rest in nearly three weeks. "I love you Tremor." She whispered as tears began to fall from her eyes again.
Several hours passed before Candice heard footsteps approaching. She sat up after wiping her face. The ice guardian turned around to see Stella emerge from behind the willow branches they had strung up as a makeshift curtain. Candice looked at her inquisitively. Stella gave an exhausted sigh and stared back at Candice. The ice guardian's eyes widened.
"No." She whispered in her mind and she began to tremble. Candice squeezed her eyes shut as tears began to flow yet again.
"Come on in." Stella murmured, jerking her head back inside the shelter.
Candice paused for a moment as Stella turned back inside, holding the branches out of the way for her with her tail. At last she gathered her courage. If she was going to have to live the rest of her life without Tremor, she was at least going to pay her respects and say good bye.
With her head hung low she ducked under the branches. Flame and Ember were both exhausted. The two fire breathers had just collapsed close to the willow trunk when the ice dragoness walked in. They nodded respectfully to Candice and turned their gazes away.
It was then Candice saw Tremor's body laying on the ground where she had left it. The forest floor was still stained red and the blood was already crusted over. Candice sighed, not sure what to do or say. Just as she was about to speak, Tremor's side moved. The dragoness gasped in surprise. She watched silently as Tremor's sides rose and fell with his breathing. Candice was frozen and a numbness overtook her. Was she dreaming?
At last she had her answer. One of Tremor's eyes opened just a crack. His eyeball rolled around, taking in his surroundings. It was then that he saw Candice standing off to the side, staring down at him in wide-eyed shock. Candice snapped out of her trance when a gentle smile spread across Tremor's mouth. It was the same one he gave whenever he had wanted her to know that everything was okay. However, the smile didn't last long. Tremor's strength was gone and he slowly closed his eye and fell back asleep.
Candice choked back a sob as she stepped forward. A relieved smile spread across her lips. She bent down and nuzzled him gently so as not to hurt him. His wounds hadn't healed yet and were covered in herbal leaves Stella had gathered. Feeling bolder, Candice lay down beside him and leaned closer, planting a kiss on his cheek. "Welcome back." She whispered softly
Off to the side, the other guardians smiled at each other. Sensing them, the ice dragoness turned to them with tears of joy overwhelming her. "Thank you. I love you all."
"What are friends for?" Stella placed a paw on her friend's shoulder for a moment before curling up by the fire.
Candice smiled at her and looked to Flame and Ember. Ember was already fast asleep, exhausted by the long days of working on Tremor. Flame was almost asleep as well but managed a smile before closing his eyes.
Candice turned back to Tremor and scooted closer to him. She felt warmer having him beside her. She bumped his cheek again before giving it a loving lick. She was finally at ease so she whispered to him in his sleep.
"I love you."