Sakura's Journey Chapter 16 Little Nature's Spirit
After an other night out in these woods, I woke-up feeling stiff and cold. My light pink jacket and striped scarf weren't much against the frigid nights out here. Especially since I was wearing shorts. Everyone else was still asleep, all huddled up together. Squible had burrowed into my hair and I managed to carefully pull him out and lay him against Daemon's neck who twitched a little at the contact, but showed no signs of waking up. I stepped outside from the shelter, wishing any one of us knew how to start a fire. Most of the leaves had fallen from the trees and my steps echoed loudly when I walked. If only I was as silent as my dad... Slenders were supposed to be silent by nature. I wasn't. At least not yet...Maybe I will be in the future. I walked a little and gazed again at the sky, which was still pale and held a pinkish tint towards the horizon, or whatever part of the sky it was I could see through the branches.
It's as I looked up at the slightly golden clouds over head that something cold fell right into my eye. I blinked. When I looked around again, I noticed that a bunch of tiny white flakes were falling slowly, drifting along the gentle breeze. It was snowing. This was the first snowfall. I caught a flake in my hand, smiling as it melted. I wished I had gloves. I stuffed my hands into my pockets, still looking around in wonder. Crunching footsteps sounded behind me and I felt a small creature leap onto my back, clinging to the curls of hair. Squible sat back on my shoulder, also looking at the sky in wonder. Daemon walked by next to me, a few flakes catching in his now mucus tinted hair. I giggled a bit at their color. He looked at me confused before realizing what I found funny. "Aw come on, I can't dye it out here! At least I don't look like a clump of dead grass!" I did my best to flatten down my tangled hair as I shot him a death glare.
He looked back up to the sky, his emerald eyes and his aura radiating with worry. "We better get out of here fast... We'll freeze to death if the snow gets too bad. Not to mention, we don't want to miss Halloween!" I smiled and looked down. Not only was Halloween my favorite holiday, it was also my birthday. I'd be turning 14. I smirked, knowing well it showed my new fangs and taunted my childhood friend. "Yeah, don't think that because nobody celebrates my birthday it means I'm not officially two years older than you!" He pouted and crossed his arms, mumbling under his breath. "Yeah, well...age doesn't always matter!" I smiled sadly and walked back to the second shelter we built, taking some apples from the bag and throwing him one. The others soon woke-up, Juan looking around in awe. Not much snow had fallen, just enough to cover everything in a fine layer of white. He seemed to struggle for words, only being able to speak after a few seconds. "I...I've never seen snow before in my life..." We all looked at him. Even with very few English skills, I knew Laurianne had been with us long enough to at least understand what that meant. Daemon looked shocked. "How can you have never seen snow before?" The little kid looked sad, looking to his feet. He held his very worn out coat closer to himself. "We had just moved here in the summer before we were taken, me and my brother... I never left the building after unless it was to put bags in the piles at the small dump. But even that has a little roof, so..." My stomach turned as soon as the dump was mentioned. The skull... I paled and looked away, Daemon noticing this. "Sakura, are you ok?" I nodded quickly. "Yeah, I'm fine." They didn't need to know...
As we carried on with our day, walking through the fast melting snow which was already gone by the time it was what I assumed to be noon. We stopped a few times to eat snacks from our supplies and drink a bit of water. Laurianne wandered off a bit, chassing Squible. They were looking for some food source like that miraculous apple tree. I wasn't too worried, what could possibly go wrong? Something went wrong... I heard a shrill scream and Squible's frenzied alert cries. Dropping my piece of bread on the ground, I motioned to Daemon to remain with Juan and ran towards the source of the cry. I stopped dead in my tracks. Laurianne was pale and shivering, trying her best to look bigger by waving her six tendrills in the air. Squible rushed to me as soon as I arrived. The source of the distress? A large and clearly angry black bear. Clearly a female, she stood on her hind legs, growling lowly, challenging us. I instinctively stood in front of Laurianne and handed the squirrel to her. "Retourne avec les autres." (Go back with the others.) She nodded and ran off, the bear looking at her and then returning her focus to me. I tried to do the same as Laurianne did, extending my tendrills and trying to look intimidating. I shifted to my other form, hissing and showing my fangs. This confused the bear, but didn't do much more.
She growled again and began to charge at me. I managed to evade her claws, but her arm still hit me right in the stomach and sent me flying. I landed hard on the ground, panic filling me. I knew I would have cried if I had eyes, but all I did was sit and sob, unsure of what to do. The bear turned slowly and started to walk over to me, her brown eyes seeming to stare into my soul. Despite my blured and greyish vision, they seemed to contrast as though I was seeing them with human eyes. Not finding much of anything to do, I began to break down. "I wish my dad was here! I can't do this! I wish my dad was here!" What would he do at my place anyway? All these thoughts happened in only a few instants. The bear raised a paw and was about to bring it down on me when a rock flew and hit her muzzle. Distracted, she missed me. I didn't want to look. I didn't have to. I knew Daemon was behind me. Idiot... But I'll admit, I was greatful. The bear roared at him and began to charge. That's when my instincts took over. I snarled and felt electricity fill me. The bear stopped dead in her tracks and began to whimper, pressing her head to the ground and placing her large paws over it. I pressed on with my mind, filling hers with static. In this, I couldn't help but sense parts of her mind, parts of her aura. I sensed her desire to protect her young. Cubs were hidden somehwere around here. If I had eyes, I'm sure they would have snapped open. I got up and walked in between Daemon and the bear, this time, my feet making no noise as they hit the ground. I was a slender. I was the most powerful creature out here.
Looking to the bear, I replaced the ringing of white noise with a comforting static, retracting my tendrills. The bear slowly raised her head, looking at me with a very confused face. I raised my pale hand towards her, letting her snif my long and bony fingers. She still eyed me suspiciously, but I managed to calm her down enough to actually set my hand on top of her head. I began to slowly back off, never letting the bear out of my sight. I think she could sense that I was looking at her because her eyes never left me. I grabbed Daemon's hand and we both walked backwards until I couldn't see the animal anymore, then we turned around and ran towards the others. When we were back and positively safe, I finally gave in to the pain from my impact with the bear's paw and the ground. My side ached dully and I lifted my coat and my shirt slightly to look at my side. First thing I noticed was that my ribs were dangerously visible from the lack of food out here. Second thing I noticed was the greying patch of skin where I got hit. That was a nasty bruise. I shrunk back down to my human form and Squible, seemingly unbelievably relieved that I was still alive, ran to me and leaped up against my neck. I stroked his back and closed my eyes, enjoying the fact that I was still alive. That's when I decided to look at Daemon again. I smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of my neck. "Thanks...I'd have died back there without you..." He smirked, obviously proud of himself. I playfully punched him in the shoulder. He rubbed the spot where I had hit him, looking at me with a devious grin. I sighed and turned around, deciding to resume our walk. I felt pathetic... Not only had my younger human friend had to save me, I had also gotten mud on my dad's scarf... But I was starting to feel proud I was a slender.
(Johnny's P.O.V.)
We stumbled into a clearing, only to stop and let our jaws drop. The slender by my side soundlessly stepped in front of me and reached a black tentacle to the obviously man-made shelter that was here. It was a simple lean-to, and very small. The slender let his tentacles waver in the wind, reading the area with his aura. He turned to me, looking overjoyed. "They were here. They were here not long ago. I know my daughter was here. She is too young to do this. People were with her. I think they went this way!" He then began to walk in a new direction, leaving me to follow behind. "Hey, dude! Can you slow down a little, please?" He didn't respond and didn't slow down, his tentacles wavering about quickly in obvious excitement. I rushed to get by his side faster, feeling my heart starting to beat in my chest. Daemon...Sakura...We're almost there!
AN: HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY I got an other review, and it's not from the same person :D Anyway, yes...and don't be fooled, it's not over yet :) I am evil, mwahahahaha. You all might find a certain deep interest in the next chapter...I won't spoil anything, but...ya...something's gonna happen...and it doesn't involve people finding them... Until next time, thank you all!