Trapped From A Wish

Travel

"Wake up Leaf, it's time to go across the mountains." I heard Sorrel say, prodding me awake.

"Alright, " I said tiredly, it felt like the rest I took for the day didn't even happen and I was still awake. But when I saw Shrew standing with everyone else I forced myself to not feel tired anymore.

As I met up with the group, I averted my eyes from Shrew noticing he was doing the same. "We decided we should head east, the route isn't too risky." Storm said and I nodded, "Show us the way," I said and Storm walked out of the surrounding cliffs back onto a rocky terrain.

"We planned out about half a day's worth of traveling, but I think by then you can show us the way, " Storm said while I stared at the path ahead. It wasn't very risky, as Storm had said, but there were some narrow passages we had to go through to continue our journey.

"Let's get going then," I said and I followed Storm's lead as she wove through the twisting paths in between mountains.

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"We'll need to cross over this ledge to get where we're going," Storm said, everyone looked over at the small ledge that was supported by the mountain. One side was protected by a rocky wall, but the other side was a clear drop down into the hard floor of the mountains. I didn't dare look over the edge.

"You sure there's no other way?" Bracken asked Storm. He looked like he was about to pass out from terror. Storm shook her head, causing Bracken to gulp in fear. I looked at the obstacle that lied before us and took a deep breath, "It's alright Bracken, we'll be fine," I heard Sorrel comfort him.

"I'll go first," I said, surprising myself. Everyone looked at me shocked, but didn't object. Maybe ever since we were put in the virtual reality world I've become stronger. Since I want to do anything to repay my friends for putting them into a mess that they didn't even know about.

I took a deep breath in, and stepped forward. The slight fall of some sediments almost scared me to death before I realized it wasn't going to fall apart. I stepped sideways, taking each step carefully. Testing if the ground was solid before my feet touched the ground again.

After what seemed like a million steps, I finally was on the other side of the ledge. I smiled to turn to all of my friends almost done inching across, "You got it!" I called to them seeming to give them a bit more courage.

Finally, Storm, Shrew, Fire, and Star had finished. Sorrel was almost done, helping Bracken with a few more steps. "One more..." I could hear her say to Bracken who was visibly shaking,"There, we're done." She said as they met the other end.

"I did it!" Bracken exclaimed, looking so happy with himself. I couldn't help but smile at his optimism in such times.

"Let's keep going, we probably have a long way to go before we find shelter and keep moving." Storm said, making me realize how much time had passed. It was the afternoon and it looked like it was going to get dark sooner than usual.

I turned my gaze away from the sky and followed Storm through a dark tunnel. "It's going to get dark in here. Star, could you lead the way until we reach the other end?" Storm asked Star, "Sure," he weaved his way through from the back of the group and started using his night vision skills. I hadn't noticed it yet, but Star's eyes seemed to glow an orange color when he was using his skill. It looked strange, looking like a cat's eyes, but Star didn't seem to notice the change, only making sure where we were headed to led to light.

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"Phew! We're out." Bracken said once we came out of the tunnels, he smiled widely and fell to the ground to hug it. Storm and I failed to stifle a laugh hearing him say, "I missed you so much!"

I climbed up a huge boulder to see where we could go. "Wow," I said in awe. There was a few mountains we had to get by, but after that I saw a glittering river weaving through a forest. "You guys have to come over here!" I called down to my friends as they appeared out of the tunnels.

Storm, Shrew, and Bracken came by my side. "Whoa, it's so big." Storm said looking over the mountains. I took a glance at Shrew and saw he was also in awe from the view. "That's where we're going," I said determinedly.

"Hey Star, come see this!" Bracken called to his friend, but he shook his head. "I'll look at it some other time, I'm a bit tired to do any climbing." Star said, and I soon noticed how exhausted he looked after using his power. He didn't use his power that much it would drain his power...why is he so tired? I thought.

I climbed down the boulder, dropping beside Star. "Do you want to rest? You seem tired." I asked him, but he shook his head. "I'm fine, don't worry about me," Star said. I looked at Star suspiciously but didn't say anything. I still wasn't convinced.

"Let's keep on going that direction until we reach the end of the mountains," Storm said, " Then we can rest and spend the next day exploring the forest." Everyone agreed with her plan, and we all started going across the rock hills and narrow passages.

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After a few hours, we came across a frozen pond. "We'll have to split into twos," Storm announced, "The ice doesn't seem solid enough for a whole entire group of us to get across at once, pick someone to go with." My mind immediately came to pick Shrew as a partner. I turned to get to him, but I then remembered he won't talk to me anymore so I stopped myself. Shrew then paired up with Star.

"There's seven of us so there won't be exactly three groups. You can join us Leaf, so you don't have to go alone." I heard Star's familiar voice next to me. I turned to face him and nodded, a bit too eagerly, to join them.

As I joined Shrew and Star, I noticed Bracken and Sorrel were partners and Storm was with Fire. I smiled, They'll be couples before you know it, I thought to myself. I looked at Shrew, who was trying to avoid me, longing for the same.

"Alright, we'll go first," Storm said, speaking for Fire as well. They each took a cautious step, making sure the ice wouldn't break and continued to carefully walk across the ice.

When they reached the end, I realized I had been holding my breath and let out a sigh of relief. Sorrel and Bracken went next, a bit slower this time. Bracken ended up slipping from the ice and was about to fall, breaking the ice from its solid layer.

It almost stopped my heart, but Bracken's fall was stopped when Sorrel reached out to support him. The two reached the end hand in hand, since Bracken had no time to rest after the trip on the ice and needed help finding his balance again.

"Okay, let's go." Star said, "We have to go quickly since the sun is about to directly shine on the pond." I looked up and saw the small sliver of the sun's rays peeking over a mountain. I took a deep breath and stepped forward with Shrew and Star.

Shrew and Star hastily skidded on the ice, but reached the end quickly without falling. I tried my best to catch up with them, but I couldn't go at such a fast pace and I was a few lengths behind.

When I was about two-thirds across the pond, I saw Sorrel and Storm's eyes get wide. "HURRY!!!" They screamed and behind me I heard a loud crack.

I started skidding across the ice like there was no tomorrow. Because if I did fall, there would be no tomorrow. When I was just a few lengths to the end I felt the ice collapsing below my feet with a drizzle of icy cold water. I wasn't close enough yet!

I took a leap of faith, hoping someone would catch me. I needed someone to catch me. But the one person who was close enough to do that was the one who probably wouldn't try saving me. So I closed my eyes tight to brace myself for impact.