Sakura's Journey Chapter 19 Rescued at Last
I stared up in mute silence. A gust of cold wind blew by, making me shiver. At the top of the hill by our side, there was Johnny, and a slender. I didn't know who this was at first, but I realized right away as Laurianne stumbled forward. "Papa?" The tall faceless being ran down the hill alongside Johnny and they hugged their respective children. Johnny then turned and embraced me in a warm hug as well. "Hey kid! You're freezing cold." I didn't answer. I didn't react. My mind hadn't caught up yet. Finally, tears started to stream down my face. We're safe...WE'RE SAFE! I felt an aura behind me, though...one that was sorrowful and lonely. Juan...his family wasn't here. Did he even have one? I felt bad for him...but he did have a wide smile when he understood that he'd finally be leaving this place after spending a good 2 years out here.
We spent long minutes just all talking to each other, going over most of what happened. Leaving out the part about me and Daemon...yeah... I still wasn't too sure what to think about that. Did I really mean it? Was he more than just a friend to me? Watching him play with Squible and his dad right now, hearing his full laughter and seeing him smile. Maybe he was just 12 and I wasn't even 14 yet. Maybe this could ruin our friendship if we ended up splitting apart. Maybe I wasn't sure about anything anymore, but yes. I liked him. The slender that was rapidly speaking French to his daughter, showing excitement over everything from her tendrills to how she stood up to a bear to how she lived this long out here in the woods, was grinning widely, his fangs gleaming. He finally turned to us, looking at Johnny particularly. He slowly shrank down in size, his skin tone darkenning and a clump of blonde hair growing on his head. He finally opened blue eyes, identical to his daughter's. "Thank you...human." Johnny looked back to the being, smilling in a way he never had before and still holding Daemon close to him. "Merci, slender." The blonde man looked amused at his attempt at French and shifted back to his slender form before fadding away with his daughter who seemed overjoyed.
Johnny turned to me and finally noticed Juan who was looking scared and confused, remaining apart from the rest of us. "Kura, who is he?" I motioned for the small dark skinned boy to come closer to us. "Juan. His twin brother was taken like we were...he's been out here for two years." Johnny put a hand up to his mouth, eyes wide. "These people took a kid away, FOR TWO YEARS? God, I've been panicking after only a week!" He hugged Daemon tightly again. "Aw come on dad, you're embarassing me!" Johnny stepped away from his son, but not even ten seconds later, a shivering Daemon ran back and hugged his dad. "I missed you daddy." That's when I thought of something. "Wait a minute, how are we gonna get out of here? You're not a slender and I can't slenderwalk yet." Johnny smirked and pulled a walkie-talkie type device from his bag. "We call your dad with this to say I found you guys, then, we walk back to the spot where he brought me and he'll take us back!" Juan stepped forward, speaking for the first time since this reunion. "Me too?" He was shivering and his brown eyes were wide open. Johnny bent down to his eye level and smiled gently. "Yeah, you too." Juan ran up and hugged this man he didn't even know.
At first, the device didn't work. We got no signal. We walked up the hill and over for about a mile when Johnny facepalmed. "RIGHT! Kura, your dad told me that it might not work on ground level, but if you climbed a tree, then maybe it'll work." I took the precious item in my hand, knowing it was key to our escape. Extending my tendrills, and being surprised when Johnny didn't even react, I began to climb, being as careful as can be. The branch I stood on cracked and I nearly dropped it, earning a collective gasp from the humans below me. Thank God for tendrills... I was hanging on to the tree and the device using only them. I got my footing back and resumed my climb. I was on the highest branch I could be on, seeing the mountain in the distance behind me and a vast sea of trees everywhere else. "It's still not working!" I was beginning to panic. What if we can't escape? I was then surprised by what Johnny, of all people, suggested. "Try your slender form. You'll be taller!" Daemon turned to his father, raising a brow in confusion. Johnny was always freaked out by everything slender related... I shook my head and focused.
Static numbed my limbs and my vision blurred, finally, I heard a slight crackling sound from the thing I was holding at the reach of my highest tendrills. I focused it and called out. "Daddy? Daddy?!" There was the slightly static-y sound of something clattering to the ground followed by rushed footsteps. "Kura? Sakura? Is that really you?" I grinned widely. "DAD! I missed you so much!" I heard him speak again, his voice shaky as he obviously chocked on sobs. "K-Kura...I missed you too..." I didn't want to turn it off, I didn't want to climb back down. I wanted to stay up here in safety. I wanted to hear my dad's voice. He kept speaking in a more steady voice now. "Go back down with Johnny and let him take you back to where I dropped him off...Then call me again. You should have a better signal there. I'll come get you." With slight sobs, snot dripping from my barelly visible nostrils, I agreed and shut off the radio, climbing back down slowly. I handed Johnny the device once again, now standing as tall as he was. He looked me head to toe. "You look so much like your dad." I was incredibly surprised. He just praised me...for my slender powers...even comparing me to my dad! "You too, Daemon." He ruffled his kid's hair and I played with my scarf. I felt so proud. I started this journey eager to have my powers, then when I got them, I was scared. I then went from being disturbed by what I am to being proud. My scarf...I had family that loved me and I was more than just an ordinary person. I was a slender.
(Sarah's P.O.V.)
I couldn't even breath when that thing turned on, when I heard that voice. Tom had rushed over to his little radio, on the edge of tears. Angie was also up and by my side right away. She had dropped her bowl of cereal when she heard it. I didn't get to speak to her... But I was so happy to hear her voice. To hear that she was well... They'll be back soon. The three of us turned and looked at each other before we all rushed into a group hug. Angie squeeled a bit though. "Hey, watch the stomach! That hurts!" We all laughed. I was so happy...God I missed hearing laughter. His especially. His aura radiated a pure happiness unlike anything I had ever felt before. I'm not sure if he even realized that he released his tendrills and that they were swaying in the air as though they were moved by some kind of music only he could hear... My brown eyes met his sky blues and he swept me off my feet and kissed me. It didn't matter if Angie was here, we were happy. This was the first time we had shared a kiss since the kids went missing and I was enjoying this immensely. We broke apart, gasping for air and I laid my head on his shoulder.
Angie was crying and laughing at the same time. "I totally needed to see that guys!" Tom flicked a tendrill towards her and pushed back her hair, making it fall all over her face. Brushing the strands from her eyes, she ran up and pushed him. We were all laughing and crying and playing as if we were all little kids again. They'll be home soon...
AN: Hey! ArashiKira here to say: we are getting close to the end. There will still be multiple chapters though, just having everyone walk out of the woods and all that and a few more chapters after that...but I'll stop this here for now...why? Well...remember when I said I'd be updating Nature's Spirit? Making it longer and better? Well, I'll be doing that now and for a bit...ok I also ran low on ideas for this fic XD Anyway, I'll update Nature's Spirit to make it a better fic and hopefully get more readers into both that fic and this one...then, I shall return here and finish what I have begun! Thank you all for reading so far, I hope you all don't mind waiting a bit for this work to be done...I might take as long as...uhm...until next Monday or so to get back to this fic...Which isn't too long, BUT STILL XD