Hope

Chapter Seven: Journey to the Sea

When I awoke, it was just past dawn. The clouds had a pretty pink tinge to them, but I didn't stop to admire it for long. I was in the wagon before I registered my legs moving and saw that Zack was sitting up and taking a long drink of water. When he finally put the pitcher down, he looked at me with his dark brown gaze and smiled.

"Hello, Pointedleaf," he said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "You must've trained as a healer in your tribe once."

A corner of my mouth twitched. "I did. Zack, you owe me an explanation."

Zack's smile faded. "Yeah, I suppose I do. Where do you want me to start?"

"How exactly you managed to get yourself sick like that? And don't tell me it's not poison. You asked me for a plant that kills poison."

Zack winced. "You're right. I was poisoned. Unfortunately, I didn't know until a week ago when I got sick. I thought that getting the door to the cells open was too easy..." He trailed off, deep in thought.

I wasn't about to let him go that easily. "I'm surprised you managed to not get sick until a week after you got poisoned. Mind telling me why that was?" Zack looked at me, his eyes wide. "And don't give me that innocent look. This has something to do with your secret, doesn't it?"

Zack nodded. "And I suppose you'll understand why I don't want to say anything about it."

I scowled at him. "No, I don't! I don't understand why you're hiding all this stuff from me! First it was the magic. Now it's the reason why you're able to resist the poison for as long as you did. Tell me something, Zack! I don't care what it is! If your silence gets any one of us killed, that's all on you!"

"And what about yourself?" Zack asked quietly. "I don't see you volunteering your information."

"Mine won't get anyone killed except for me if I tell the wrong people," I retorted. "It has to do with the legacy of my parents. That's all I will tell you. Now, can you tell me something in return?"

Zack shuddered and took a deep breath. "People will want to kill me because of what I am. It's not something I've done or anything I'm going to do. I am something that people don't like and at best they will hurt me if they ever find out. Them included." He nodded towards Tasha and the others, still asleep in their beds. Only Jing was starting to stir as we watched.

"What could be so terrible that you could die if people found out about it?" I whispered. "I have a reason for my death sentence. What's yours?"

"I'm too powerful," Zack whispered back. "And so people think that I'm also too dangerous to afford to have around. And you?"

I sighed. "My parents gained a reputation. Well, not both of my parents, really. Just my father. People hate me for what they did. That's why I had to leave. Why are you here if you'll get in trouble?" Banished... Slyclaw's unrelenting gaze as she told the whole tribe my brothers and I were no longer welcome...

"I wanted to see the world," Zack sighed. "But I was a fool."

I looked at him, some faint emotion stirring in my heart. "No. You're not a fool. You're just stuck between your soul and the rest of the world. Go with your soul every time." Unless you're me. I can never listen to my soul, in case it is just as evil as my father's.

Zack smiled. "I think you should join the others or they'll miss you." He then looked at the water pitcher and added, "Jing will want to come in here, too, I expect."

I nodded and left the wagon. I stopped right outside and watched as Jing picked her way across the uneven ground up to the wagon.

"How is he?" she asked, her eyes full of fear.