The Spirits Animals Cult Story Remastered

I Love You

Tasha couldn't take in the words for a moment, that one sentence, playing over and over in her head, I love you.

Did he actually say that? Tasha couldn't think, her thoughts getting all jumbled up.

She tried to focus on the world around her, but her mind kept wandering away. She wasn't sure how long she just stared at Dawson in shock.

"Tasha? Tasha?" Finally, she heard Dawson's voice, trying to bring her back into reality.

She blinked rapidly. She saw Dawson, his pretty face, and still those three words ringing in her ears, reverberating through her head.

She couldn't seem to say a thing. Dawson said her name a few more times, and Tasha opened her mouth but closed it again.

"I- I- I..." Tasha couldn't seem to talk. She stood and turned, hurrying away. Her thoughts were too jumbled for her to figure out what she should do.

"Tasha!!" She faintly heard Dawson's voice, but everything was getting quieter. She wasn't paying attention.

Tasha didn't know how long she had been wandering around, because she couldn't focus on exactly where she was. Why did he say that? Did he mean it? Should I say that I loved him too? Do I? What should I do? Her thoughts were all connected, going a circle, circling her head, coming up to the surface, and then disappearing again. She couldn't seem to figure out how to straighten out her thoughts.

She kept wandering, not aware of her surroundings, she kept hearing those three words, echoing from the trees, the bird song repeating the words over and over again.

Tasha was getting tired, her feet burning from all the running and wandering she had done. She kept stumbling over tree roots and almost falling. She stopped to lean against a tree. She was shivering now, and it was getting pretty cold. She had no idea where she was. She was lost, and she was scared.

With shaky hands, she climbed up a tree into a fork in between two thick branches, and curled up, trying to keep warm. Maybe they will find me... or maybe they won't...

Tasha started to cry quietly, hidden up in the tree, cold and alone. She felt like a tiny child. She cried to herself while humming, trying to calm down, but couldn't

They will find me, just like they found Shadow when she went missing during that storm... Tasha tried to reassure herself, but it was so dark and cold, she couldn't convince herself.

But she had been right, she started to hear voices, for a moment Tasha didn't recognize any of them, but then she realized who it was. It was Shadow, Worthy, and Shane.

She called out to them, but they didn't seem to hear her. I have to climb out of the tree... Tasha started to move out of her spot. She inched down the tree. Tasha hadn't realized how tall it was when she climbed up. Her fingers were so cold and numb that she couldn't keep a grip. Her hand slipped and she fell to the ground. She felt a stab of pain in her leg as she hit the ground. She wanted to shriek, but it hurt so much that her vision was going black. She heard the group clamor around. "Tasha! Tasha, oh no..." said Shadow. She heard them reassure her it would be okay. But she couldn't reply.

Everything does dark.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Tasha slowly opened her eyes, her vision slowly coming back into focus. She saw her room, Ninani lying snuggled up next to her, Raisha sitting cross-legged, playing cards with Meilin on the floor. Shadow was sitting at the edge of Tasha's bed, watching Dawson, who was resting on a chair right next to Tasha's bed and had fallen asleep while staying with her.

She tried to sit up, but when she tried to get up, she flopped back onto her pillows. Shadow noticed, and looking up, smiled. "Hey, Tasha! You okay?"

Tasha swallowed them and opened her mouth, "Yeah... I'm fine- my leg... hurts." She turned away from Shadow and looked at Dawson again.

Raisha and Meilin looked up from their card game and grinned seeing Tasha was awake, both of them hurried out of the room, presumably getting other people.

Raisha came back with Worthy and Shane, and Meilin with Abeke and Rollan. Abeke had brought a tray of food for her, which Tasha was thankful for. She was starving.

Worthy stayed by the door with Rollan. Raisha left the room again, saying something about Jolt and making cookies. Meilin sat on the floor again and started cleaning up the cards she and Raisha had been playing with. Abeke sat down the tray of food, then left again, not wanting to overcrowd Tasha.

Shane sat next to Shadow on Tasha's bed, he prodded Dawson in the shoulder until he woke up. Dawson blinked and looked up, he breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at the sight of Tasha awake.

Tasha smiled slightly at him, trying to sit up again but wincing and giving up. "What happened?" She asked quietly

"You fell out of a tree... we think you broke your leg," Shadow told Tasha.

She bit her lip, "It hurts to move..."

"Yeah, you're going to have to use crutches for a while" Shane added, then grabbed the tray of food Abeke had brought and handed it to Tasha.

Tasha took a few bites, then turned to Dawson, "I'm sorry... I just..."

"No it's fine, it's my fault, I shouldn't have... surprised you like that. It's okay." He smiled at her then patted her hand, "I'll let you rest and have some food, I'll visit again later"

Tasha nodded and watched him leave the room, then Shadow spoke up, her voice serious. "Where did you guys disappear off to? We went looking after nobody could find you guys."

Dawson spoke up. "It's... my fault really. We... I decided that we wanted to try the d-date thing again a-and..." He stopped talking for a second. "We were attacked by a brigand. It was foolish of me to not tell anyone."

Shadow gave him a small pat of sympathy. "Well, other than Tasha's leg, you guys seem okay. Just... make sure to tell someone where you're going, okay?" Dawson nodded.

"Were they the ones that split you guys up?" asked Shadow.

Tasha smiled. "No, we fought them off actually! Saved the day and everything. It was... after that."

Shadow had a grin creeping up her face. "So what happened? Dawson wouldn't tell us."

Tasha didn't reply for a moment, but then she told them, feeling a tiny bit self-conscious with so many people listening, when she told them what Dawson had said she got several reactions, Shadow smiled excitedly, Rollan made a snickering noise, Meilin clapped a hand over Rollan's mouth but smiled slightly at Tasha, Shane smiled too, and accidentally patted Tasha on the knee which of course hurt. She winced and he pulled his hand away giving her an apologetic look.

Tasha found herself feeling drowsy and everyone left, except for Shadow, just so if she wanted anything someone would be there. Tasha fell asleep and later woke up in the middle of the night when the door creaked open.

Shadow was leaving the room quietly, and Tasha let her leave wondering what she was doing, a few minutes later instead of Shadow coming back in, Dawson did, Tasha closed her eyes again and pretended to still be asleep. Dawson sat down in the seat Shadow used to be in and started to watch over Tasha.

Tasha decided that she wanted to talk to him, so she pretended to wake up, smiling slightly as she saw Dawson, in the dark, she couldn't see him well, but she recognized his smile when he noticed her awake. "Hey, Tasha," he said, gently.

"Hi, Dawson... I have a question. Come over here."

Dawson walked over, and tilted his head. "Yes?"

"Did you... mean what you said before?" Tasha played with a lock of her hair.

"Of course. Why would I say it otherwise?"

"Well... then. Dawson?" Tasha smiled slightly.

"Yeah?" Dawson smiled a bit too.

"I love you, too" Tasha lightly grabbed his collar, bringing his face close to hers, and they kissed.