The Lost Gems

Chapter 18

March 9th 1,034
6:30 a.m

I woke up before everyone else. I pulled Sals arms off of my waist and gave him a light kiss on his cheek and got up. I slept on my bad hand and it was really starting to hurt. I unwrapped my bandages and checked out my hand it was still a little puffy and didn't look like it was starting to seal back together. Fresh blood started to escape the stitches and I wondered if it got stretched apart because of how I had slept on it. It made me mad that I couldn't do anything without getting hurt. I wrapped my hand up again and put my hair into a high ponytail. The sun was rising so I decided to go sit and watch. The orange haze lit up the tops of the trees leaving it beautiful just as it was last night. It made me hopeful that there was still good in this world and that it wasn't destroyed.

I heard moving behind me and jumped. I turned around to see Sal stretching out and yawning.

"Aqua it's way too early you need the rest come over here." Sal whisper yelled across the cave.

I respected him and came back, not because he told me too but just because I wanted to be with him. I slipped under the blanket and he buried his chin into my neck which hurt me but I didn't tell him to move because his touch was comforting. He fell right to sleep. I was super uncomfortable and couldn't fall asleep. I had to be careful of my hand, neck, and my nose and with one false move everything would either sting or shock in pain. Sleeping on the ground made it all even worse. I spent the next what seemed like days but was really and hour and a half shifting and tossing and turning. I couldn't get comfy and just wanted everyone else to wake up so we could get on with our day.

After squirming for forever Clay woke up and soon did Diamond and then after that almost everyone was awake except for Rod and Tanz. We all went over to them and ripped their blankets off.

"Good morning sleepy heads." Diamond chuckled. They both groaned and started to get up.

We started to pack up all of our stuff. Instead of leaving at night we were going to leave early this morning because we had the energy.

We took some knives and scratched our names inside the cave walls. I lightly held the blade in my left hand being careful not to touch my stitches. Within a few minutes I etched new memories into the wall.

March 9th 1,034
~A journey that changed our fate but determined our friends
-Aquamarine
-Diamond
-Tanz
-Salvatore
-Clay
-Rod

I knew it was cheesy but once I carved those words into the Rock I knew it was set in stone. We were set on changing the way everyone lived and willing to risk everything even our own lives. It's true we met new people and have made life long friends. I smiled and backed away from the wall I know it's in a weird place and no one is likely to ever see it but I didn't care.

I picked up the knife and handed it back to Diamond.

"Okay let's get going." Sal stated.

*******

We had been walking for about an hour now. No signs of anything out of place or anything dangerous. If we came across any body of water we would avoid it, we didn't know what kinds of evil were lurking in them and didn't want to come across anything like her again.

It was starting to get colder as we walked so we put our only extra layers on and kept walking. The wind was crisp and eerie feeling. I had a sense of déjà vu like I've already felt this before. Then I remembered a few days ago when there was knocking on the door but when I opened it nobody was there only a cold gust of wind. The thought gave me goosebumps but I just kept walking.

Since it was still early morning with each step I took there was a crunch from the frost. The weather was all out of sorts lately. The woods were silent besides the crunching from our boots. The area seemed weird and I felt like if I talked something might hear us and the other probably felt the same too because they hadn't said a word.

The trees were darker and way taller than the other trees we have passed, there were no beautiful flowers like before, and the sky looked as if it was a smoky grey instead of the normal cool blue. No birds sang, we never heard running water, and there were lots of prickers and thorns. We looked for signs or anything that could help tell us where we were but there were none. All we could do was follow Clay and Rod and hope that they were leading us to the right place.

I decided to break the silence and talk.

"Hey Clay, Rod how much longer do u think it's going to take us?" I asked.

"Well it took Rod and I three days to make it here so it might take a little bit longer than that considering our injuries and we are taking breaks." Clay said.

I nodded and told them thanks. We needed a plan. Like and actual plan that won't get us all killed as soon as we stepped in the base.

We had been walking for about three hours now and it was around ten in the morning. It was a perfect time to stop and take a break.

"So what is our plan?" I asked. Everyone stopped and turned.

"I'm not sure I guess just attack." Sal replied.

"No we have to have an actual plan if we are going to pull this off." Diamond added.

"There are vents throughout the base that might help." Rod said. "Or there's another way but it could be dangerous to Clay and I."

Rod explained to us that mutants couldn't be around a rare type of flower called viola odorata because of its strong perfume. It had affects on the onyx stone. All mutants were created from this stone. It was there kryptonite, slowly weakening their strong inner core, if exposed to too much it could kill them. He explained that it was a flaw in the creation of all mutants that Genieth had tried fixing many times and has failed. It was the stone itself that had weakness but Genieth refused to admit that. It was something that couldn't be fixed... A fatal flaw. Rod explained that he knew where the flower grew because all mutants had been warned to stay away from that area when leaving the base. We were lucky because we were going to walk past that area and be able to retrieve the flowers.

We wrapped up our conversation and began to walk again. I couldn't help but think of ways the flowers could help us in the base. Do we just cover ourselves in them and hope it effects them in a bad way before they could kill us? I wonder if there is some sort of heating or cooling system in the base too? Could we run the scent through the vents and then hope it effects all the mutants. All I could do now was walk and hope for the best.

5/18/16

Vote and comment on the story so far!~Ellsa K.