Disclaimer (cause we kinda forgot these exist)
ElvenQueenLibrary and RainyDayReading342 do not own the Wingfeather Saga or it's characters. Although they might be a bit OOC. We only own Marissa, Liam, Arthie, Itzel, Ash, SB, and many of the minor characters like the Fangs, or Stranders. Enjoy the story!
Liam couldn't feel his feet. Or his face. All he knew was that they had trudged through the island's forest for days on end. The only thing he could feel were the tight bonds digging into his wrists, biting his skin and stinging.
He forgot when he stopped trying to focus on escaping, the children, or even his pain. He was a mindless, numb, zombie. Just one foot in front of the other. On and on...
...on and on.
He suffered many, many mosquito and bug bites all over him. The humid weather of the thick undergrowth on this tropical island made his ragged clothes stick to his helpless, sweating frame, and made it hard to breath.
Liam Wingfeather was giving up.
Arthie woke up to Itzel's bloodshot eyes and mud-streaked face.
"Come on, it's time to go," she croaked. Her hand rested on his shoulder, her other arm trying to shield her eyes from the bright sunlight peeking through the leaves and foliage of the forest trees.
Normally, if this was an exploring adventure back in Anneira, Arthie would have loved the sound of the whispering leaves and the way the broken sunlight danced on the forest floor through the leaves and made it look like an unfinished painting.
But right now, he hated it.
He hated this island, and this forest. They had been traveling around the entire island every day, trying to hide from Amrah and her small band of Fangs. But they were running out of places to go, after five days.
Five.
Days.
Arthie made his sore arms move, pushing him up from the mucky ground where he slept. He halfheartedly attempted to wipe the mud from his face, knowing it wouldn't help.
"I'm coming," he said. Tired and hungry, he slowly stood up and wobble over to Ash, who she herself was already stirring.
They had tried to teach Ash how to fly, and it looked like progress. But they were starting to lose hope. Ash, even though she was trying as hard as she could, was not able to even lift herself from the ground fully. Let alone fly them off of the island.
Ash needed another dragon to teach her. It couldn't be done by a human.
So, to sum up the situation that the children were trying very hard to not think about, they were stranded on an island with a bunch of murderers trying to kill them and running out of places to hide.
"What's for breakfast?" Arthie asked, rubbing his growling stomach.
"More...apples," Itzel grumbled, holding up a brownish, reddish lump with dirt rubbed on it. They had found an apple tree, and rejoiced at first.
But now, Arthie was pretty sure he would never eat another one again.
Ever.
He was surprised he didn't vomit when she handed it to him and he bit into it.
He was so incredibly sick of apples.
He chewed nonetheless, forcing himself to swallow.
"Okay, we'll go after everyone has had something to eat," he said. Itzel handed Ash another apple, and Ash reluctantly sniffed it.
NO! APPLE! NO! APPLE! she chanted.
"I'm sorry, but its the only food we have," Itzel sighed. Ash huffed, then took it in her jaws and ate I whole, gagging.
Soon, the children were mounted on Ash, a small sack of apples slung over Arthie's shoulder as they trudged through the island, traveling somewhere. Anywhere.
They didn't have an exact destination. Just somewhere where they were away from their last campsite. Arthie wondered if they would survive. Would Liam find them? Would his father or mother come with an army of Anneiran soldiers rushing over to save them?
Or would they be too late?
As Itzel clung to his shoulders, Arthie heard her whisper:
"Maker, please rescue us. I don't want to die. Please."
A few hours later, Arthie woke up with a sudden jolt. He didn't realize he had fallen asleep on the back of Ash. But they were stopped. Arthie blinked a couple of times, eyes adjusting to the sudden brightness. That was unusual, since the forest offered some shade.
But when his vision cleared, he understood why.
"Why did you bring us to the forest beside the beach and the cave?" he asked Ash.
SMELL! SMELL! SMELL!
"Smell wh-" Arthie was cut off when there was a crashing of the bushes on the other side of the cave. Ash sunk lower in the bushes. Arthie had flashbacks of the first day, when they hid in the exact same spot and saw Amrah threaten to find them and kill them.
"Why are w-" Itzel started sleepily as she was roused. But she stopped speaking when she saw Arthie put a finger to his lips.
She blinked then looked out over to the beach.
Her eyes widened and she pressed herself flatter to Ashes back.
Arthie looked back to the beach and saw...
"Oy! Boss, we're here!" a skinny Strander boy in the front of a long line of Stranders emerging from the forest cried out.
Arthie watched as a large company of Stranders came from the woods on the opposite side of the them, each carrying a load of cargo or supplies.
"The cave is completely empty, except for ash and rubble," said one of the Stranders as they started setting up camp on the beach.
Then, to Arthie and Itzel's absolute horror and amazement, they saw a tall, blond headed but dirty and tired figure emerge from behind a tree. He had tight bonds on his wrists, and was being forced to help set up camp by the Stranders. His head hung in defeat, his shaggy, uncut hair hung in his tired eyes, and his clothes ragged and torn.
But Arthie and Itzel still had to clamp their mouths shut so as not to cry out, because they recognized the boy.
"Liam," Itzel whispered.
Liam collected a last stick for the campfire. He hoped it was enough for the Stranders. He staggered over to the pile of twigs and set his sticks down on it.
"Tie 'im up, Gath," growled the voice of the brown bearded Strander to another named Gath.
Gath nodded and marched over to Liam. "Come with me," he said.
Liam was taken to the mouth of a massive cave. This must be the one they all kept mumbling about.
Gath shoved him inside and took some chains on the wall and tied Liam to them.
"Now, you stay there, boy. Not that you could get away if you wanted to," he added with a slight chuckle.
Liam didn't try. He only watched him walk out of the cave on the sandy beach, and join his company.
Then Liam felt a weary tug on his heart as he watched the Stranders eat and drink their breakfast. Then his tired body fell into a restless sleep.
We have to do something.
It was Arthie's only thought as he and Itzel watched Liam be forced into the cave and undoubtedly be chained up in the exact spot they had been when they had first arrived on the island.
"No, no, no, no, no..." Itzel whimpered.
So Liam had come to save them after all. But he had probably gotten captured as well.
"We have to save him," Itzel whispered fiercely.
"We'll get caught! Or...die!"
"Well we are going to die anyways if we stay here on the island and not do anything and let Amrah catch us," she said, with a solemn but broken kind of passion. "We need to take whatever chance we have left of rescuing Liam and ourselves. And if we get caught, at least we know we tried our best to live. If we die, I want to die trying."
Arthie stared at his little sister.
To die trying.
Then he nodded. He reached down and patted Ash's head.
"Ready to come get some really mean guys?" he asked.
Ash huffed.
READY! KILL! READY! FIGHT!
Arthie slipped off of Ash's back, and so did Itzel. Arthie grabbed a sharp edged stick, but Itzel stopped his hand.
"Wait," she said, and she reached into one of the pocket folds in her skirt and pulled out a dark, jagged dagger.
"Where did you get that?!" Arthie gasped quietly.
"I stole it from Snort when we escaped the cave. As we passed him I grabbed it. I didn't know if we were going to need it...but, you should have it."
She handed him the short but deadly blade, and Arthie felt the weight of it in his hand. He had a weapon. That could kill.
To die trying.
The realization hit him like a wave, but he forced down the urge to hand back the dagger and run away screaming. He had to fight and be brave for his sister.
So he wrapped his fingers around the handle, put one hand on Ash, who was ready to dash out of the bushes and spew flames on everyone, and swallowed hard.
"Maker help us," he whispered, before he let out a war cry and leapt out of the bushes with the dragonet's and Itzel by his side, and rushed into the Strander camp.
To die trying.
A/N Elvie: The reason why the chapters on my version come later is because I don't always have access to the Internet, and I usually read and edit a bit of the chapters, not much, just some grammar.
I'm kinda begginning to wonder wether we made the right choice having the characters go through so much hardship… Oh well, it's already been done. No way we can back out…
If you have any questions, feel free to leave a review or to PM either Rainy or me! We will try to answer them as long as they aren't asking for spoilers!