Astrid Vs. Nepozeme

Dustyn

BLAM! I fell in a bush. My back began to hurt and I was stuck. I called for Aluino and he didn't reply.

Nice, I thought. I looked at the unusual sky. It was blue but it had a tint of purple in it. The clouds were missing. At least it's not raining. That would be miserable. I sighed, my body becoming itchy. Then I felt movement.

"Aluino?" I called. No reply. Then, a stick raised up and lashed towards me, attacking. It missed. The bush began to move around. I don't like it anymore. A branch wrapped around my wrist and squeezed it, stopping the blood flow. My fingers quickly grew numb. A long vine circled my waist and tightened into a knot. I began to struggle. A second vine went around my neck and it began brushing the sides, feeling for something. It paused and then started to choke me. I tried to scream but the vine on my stomach jerked and took the air out of my lungs. I used my accessable hand to pull on the vine on my neck. I had difficulty grasping it and then pulling it away. I failed in my attempt.

I heard a bash full of leaves and twigs. The bush stopped attacking and dropped me to the ground. My knee gashed open on a rock and my expression showed pain because of it. I panted for a few seconds. I felt a chill up my spine. I regretted not putting on a coat before I got to this unknown land. It's cold. Wait. I was wearing a coat. Where did it go? I looked around, still on the ground. I didn't stand up because of the searing pain in my knee.

"Are you okay?" I heard from another new voice.

"Yeah," I said, lying. I shook my head and processed the new voice. I looked up and saw a new figure. He looked like the people Aluino showed me. He had his hands in his pockets and he was wearing a white collared shirt that was tucked in half way. He was wearing tennis shoes. "Who are you?" I asked, holding my knee.

"I'm Dustyn. And you're not tujen," He replied.

"Tujen? Like those guys with the gills on the side of their necks? And their being attacked by a huge polluted cloud?" I waved my arms in a circle, imagining a cloud forming.

Sternly, the stranger grabbed my wrists tightly. "Yes. Tujen." He said, seeming to take offense.

I pulled away from his grip. "Don't take it so personal," I mumbled, irritated by his rude gesture.

"Well. I'm sorry," he said, sarcastically. "But since I'm a tujen and my whole family died because of that polluted cloud, I might slightly take it a little offensive when you explain it like it's a joke.

"Geeze. Aluino didn't tell me that you guys were so over-dramatic. You're worse than half of the girls at my school." I said, attempting to lighten the situation.

It didn't work. I don't think he understood because he just looked at me blankly.

"Well. I'm Astrid." I said. "Some elf named Aluino wanted me to come here and try to help you tujen out with your problem." I paused. "And I'm a human."

He faked a laugh. "Yeah. Right. Because you look like you know what you're doing. You almost got eaten by a bush."

"Hey!" I shouted.

"And, besides. Aluino isn't even around. So how am I supposed to know that you're telling the truth?" He questioned.

"How would I even know who Aluino is if he never introduced himself to me?"

"Because everybody knows who Aluino is." Dustyn said.

"Oh. Well. I'm sorry, Dylan. But I don't have time for this," I said.

"It's Dustyn! And what else are you going to do? You can't even move." He put his hands on his hips.

"Well. Dustyn," I said, rolling my eyes. "Uh. Can you help me up?" I asked with a sheepish smile.

His shoulders dropped and he looked straight ahead, annoyed. He put one arm down to help me up. I grabbed his hand and pulled to get up. I stood and my knee pierced. I scrunched my nose and whispered ouch. My whole leg wobbled and then stiffened.

"Will you survive, princess?" Dustyn asked with sarcasm.

"Yeah." I replied. "I just need a bandaid." I looked down at my knee. I felt a little lightheaded. The blood poured down at a flow. It was about as big as my fist, the gash.

"It looks bad, though." He said with a little worry in his voice. "I can get some medicine for you if you want."

"I'll be fine," I said with a soft voice. I went to take a step and then fell to the ground. I was out.

My eyes slowly opened and everything was a blur. I mumbled something but I couldn't process what I said. I felt a cold hand on my forehead and shivered.

"Astrid?" I heard from a familiar voice. "You awake?"

I shook my head and then everything cleared. I saw Dustyn.

"Hello?" He said.

"So it wasn't a dream." I said, miserably.

"You stubborn jack-" He started cursing. "I just saved your life and that's the first thing you say?" He yelled in frustration.

I felt like throwing up. "Calm down, hot-head." I said, sitting up. I put my hands on the ground and felt grass in between my fingers. The sky was still bluish-purple. I didn't see the bush anywhere. But I was still outside.

"You know what, you insataw?" Ugh, that word again. "Maybe you'd die faster if I'd leave you alone." He shouted, full of anger.

"I ain't got time for this crap. I have better things to do." I tried to stand again and succeeded. I smiled with some sass included and then walked away with a limp.

"You'll die pretty quickly, Astrid. You couldn't even survive a weak bush earlier today! What makes you think you can just go off alone and survive somewhere you've never been before?" He questioned. I turned around, walking backwards.

Smiling, I replied. "Because the bush is probably the only thing I need to worry about." I shook my head good enough so he could see it and turned back around. I had no idea where I was going.

I found some trees after maybe a ten minute walk. Dustyn never ended up following me. He stayed behind, like any hot-headed wuss would. I giggled thinking about it. I made it deep into the forests and looked around. The trees were huge! Not like an average oak tree you'd find back at home. At the bottoms of the trunks were roots that were long and thin. They were a glowy blue that faded into white at the tips. The trunk was a really dark shade of brown. A branch hit my face as I walked into it. The leaves weren't green. They were turquoise. And the smell. It smelled so good! It made me feel calm, like the aroma was chanting some kind-of spell into me. And considering that a bush attacked me earlier, it could know magic. I decided to sit down and enjoy the scented beauty.

I leaned on a tree and brushed my hand down the roots. It was so different. The tree had a mind of its own, too. It's branches swiftly and smoothly wiped on my shoulders. There were berries on the branches and I took a couple of them. The branch rested itself on the back of my hand. I put a berry into my mouth. It was green and the size of my thumbnail. It tasted just like a blueberry!

I saw a person walking up to me. He looked like Dustyn but I wasn't sure. He was tujen, for sure. But maybe they all look the same.

"Astrid?" He knew my name!

"The one and only," I replied with a dragged voice. I put another berry in my mouth.

"You shouldn't eat those," He said.

I grabbed his hands. "Why? They taste good. Have you had some?" I said.

"No. But they don't affect tujen that well. I don't think they'll do much better on an insataw." He said with worry in his voice.

"Well, then don't think about it." I layed my head on his chest.

"Astrid, stop. What are you doing?"

"I don't know." I replied. I grew weary. Tired. I felt like I was with someone I know back home. Who was he? I can't remember. My memory is really foggy. Now my head hurts. Like I have some brain freeze. "Can tujen fly?" I asked without thinking.

"What? Uh-no. They don't. You need to see Aluino," was the last thing I heard.