Only You

Chp 6

I forced myself to take a deep breath to keep calm and studied my surroundings. All I saw were trees, the sky, more trees, a few animals and guess what? More trees. I sighed heavily and started walking, hoping I'd be able to find somewhere safe to stay until I found a more permanent place to stay.

Hours later it began to grow dark and I still hadn't found a place to stay, usually I'd be ok at night but nothing was like it should be here. A lot of the animals were basically hybrids of random things and I wasn't sure how to deal with it. With a huff I decided to wait until morning in a cave I'd spotted.
"Just watch, somethings going to happen and I'm going to regret my life choices." I grumbled under my breath as I stepped into the cave. As if spoken into existence a growl rumbled throughout the cave, making the floor shake slightly. My heart spiked a little and I squinted into the darkness.
"Great going Astrid, you opened your big mouth and now you get to die by some hybridized beast." I rolled my eyes internally, not entirely sure how I could be sarcastic in moments like this, and backed away from the large lion-bear thing in front of me.

"Uhhhh hey there, lion, bear, thing." I started awkwardly, backing away slowly.
"Look, I'm practically a twig, you don't want to eat me." I gestured to myself, earning a hungry roar from the beast.
"I guess your just happy to have a snack then. Well, in that case... bye!" I bolted, throwing up a wall of green fire between as I ran frantically. I glanced back to make sure I wasn't being followed anymore and let out a quick sigh of relief before I realized I was coming up on a cliff that led into a river.

Oh fudge....

I grumbled to myself and tried stopping -key word there, tried- and ended up tumbling off the edge of the cliff and into the freezing cold rushing water of the river. I fought to keep my head above the water, looking around for literally anything to grab onto.
"So much for helping this world, I'm going to die before I even stay a full day!" I hugged before I was shoved under the current and fought my way back to the surface, ignoring the stinging pain in my side as I crashed into a rock.
That's going to leave a mark...
Before long I heard the one sound I wished I wouldn't hear while in a river.

A waterfall, can't wait.

I began trying to swim towards the bank of the river, fighting the current until I couldn't anymore. I gave up and watched as the edge became terrifyingly close. At this point I was too numb to say or anything, I hugged myself to try and get warm, well as warm as I could be, seeing as how I'm still stuck in a river and heading for a waterfall. I sent up a silent prayer, hoping that someone would find me and help me before I go splat or drown. The cold seeped into my bones and I shivered harshly, squeezing my eyes shut right before the drop.

There it was. For a moment I was weightless, cold, but weightless. I felt like I was flying and nothing could bring me down. The rushing of the waterfall and air around me began to grow quieter as I grew too cold for my body's liking. I felt as though my brain was packing up to go on vacation as I fell through the air and I wished it would take me with it.
Instead of the cold, hard crash into the water I was expecting I crashed into something strong and surprisingly warm and -for a moment- my brain made a joke about someone peeing in the river.
"You're safe, rest." A voice commanded. I scrunched up my eyebrows and curled up against what I now know as a person. I know I shouldn't trust a stranger, but to be fair they saved my life and they were so warm. For a split second I thought I recognized the scent but brushed it off as my brain malfunctioning and allowed myself to fall into a dreamless oblivion.

~~~~~

When I woke up I found myself on something soft, but also a bit scratchy and the sun was burning my corneas.
"Close the curtain mom...." I grumbled, rolling over to shield my eyes. I heard a masculine chuckle from nearby and shot up, the events of the day before rushing back to me.
I blinked as I let my eyes adjust to the light and focused solely on the young man whose back was to me. Two oddly familiar looking wings spread out slightly and resting on the ground.
"What...." I coughed and pulled the blanket that had fallen into my lap, around my shoulders.
"What exactly happened?"

"Well I was out hunting when I heard the lion bear, clearly sarcasm is your go-to." He replied, amused.
"Hey in my defense I don't belong here, I've never even seen a lion bear until last night."
"You'll get used to them eventually, are you cold?"
His question shocked me to be honest, I wasn't used to a whole lot of people caring about how I felt, let alone a stranger.
"I'll be fine, thanks. For y'know, saving me and all." I mumbled.
"You haven't changed have you?" He asked with another chuckle.

He makes it sound as if we were friends....

"I'd like to say personality wise, no. Physically and all that yeah I've changed. But I had to." I squinted at him in thought, trying to remember if I'd seen him before.
He scoffed and shook his head as he began to turn around, his green and amber eyes sparkling mischievously.
"You said you wouldn't forget me, I'm hurt."
I gasped as realization dawned on me, making me feel like an idiot.
"Damian!?"