It Has Begun

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As soon as I heard the cracking of ice splash into the water, I felt a hand pull me towards them and arms wrap around me.

There was silence. I was shaking so much in terror but I slowly opened my eyes. "Shrew." My voice was barely a whisper. For a few moments our eyes met, but I broke away out of shame.

"Why did you save me..." I said just loud enough for him to hear. I heard a sigh escape from him, "I promised I'd always protect you, didn't I?" He said with pain in his voice.

I held back tears, remembering that my friends were here watching. "Yeah, I remember," I said back quietly. Shrew let go of me and we went our separate ways, but I hesitated for a moment when walking away from him and turned around.

I quickly went to Shrew and whispered in his ear, "Thank you," my voice faltered out of sadness, and before I could stop myself, I gave him a small kiss on the cheek.

I don't know why I waited to see his reaction. Maybe I wasn't going to hide from finding what Shrew would do to me after what happened. Shrew was surprised, he looked at me with his eyes a bit wider. "You're....welcome." he said. Though there was red on his cheeks and he was shocked, I knew he was hoping this hadn't happened the way it did.

A lump in my throat made my eyes water, but I forced myself not to show that I was depressed. It hurt. Everything hurt. But it was best they never knew.

I hope.

"Let's keep going," I said, deciding it was good to continue our journey. I looked up at the sky, "The sun is going to set soon, we should find shelter." I looked at Storm, who nodded after some time. "I'll lead," My friend said and we silently continued our journey. The shock of me almost getting frozen to death and Shrew and I being distant put an atmosphere where nobody felt like talking.

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"We can stay here for the night," Storm said at a small cave. It was a bit larger than the shelter I used for my friends when all of them were injured. "This is a good place to stay in. We should have a hunting group. Who wants to go?" I asked.

"I'll go," Sorrel said with a grin, "Me too!" Bracken said soon after Sorrel had spoken. "Sounds good. Anyone else?" I asked my friends.

"I'll go." Star said, but I sensed he wasn't feeling well at the moment. His eyes were drooping tiredly and he started coughing after volunteering. "Star, let me have a look at you first. Fire, join the hunting party and please get me some water for Star if you find any." Fire nodded and I told Star to find a place to rest in the cave. Shrew and Storm started to collect leaves and bark for our bedding.

I gave Star the rest of the water I had left to store which seemed to slightly ease the coughing. "Star, you sure you're alright? You seem to have gotten worse since you used your night vision skills." Star shook his head, but there was weariness in the way he was moving. It reminded me of the way my friends were fighting the leopard bite poison.

"I think I just have a little cold, Leaf," he rasped, "Probably from the wind." I sighed, this obviously wasn't just a cold. He wasn't looking well. "Just try to rest and if you feel any worse tell me. I'm going to make warm honey and ginger water once Fire comes back from the hunting group." Star hummed a reply and when I looked back at him he seemed already fast asleep.

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"We're back!" Sorrel and Bracken exclaimed each with a vole in their hands. Fire soon appeared after them with a small supply of water and a bird. "There was a stream where we hunted so it was easy to get what you needed." Fire told me after I thanked him.

Fire used his skills to create a campfire so I could heat up Star's drink to soothe his cough. I put in two spoons of honey and two thin slices of ginger into the water and the aroma immediately made its way around the cave.

"That smells amazing. Too bad it's only for Star, I would've loved to drink it all." Bracken said making a disappointed face. I held back a laugh and couldn't help but smile. "You'd get a stomachache that way if you drank it all at once," I replied.

Once the drink started boiling I moved it away from the fire and outside in the wind. It didn't take long until the drink cooled and I asked someone to wake Star up.

"What do you have for me Leaf?" Star said stretching. I gave him the drink, "Take sips, if you gulp it all down you won't feel well." I instructed and Star obeyed, taking small sips.

"Let's all go to sleep and start going in the morning, I'm beat." Fire said with a yawn. Storm nodded, "I'm already halfway done with that." She said sleepily, laying on the leafy bed next to Fire. He smiled and sat next to her as she slept.

"Go to sleep Leaf, I'll be fine tonight." Star motioned to the bark and leaf bed where Shrew was laying down on. "But-" I tried to protest. "Go. None of us can handle you two being apart right now, just go." Star said sternly, sending the message that he won't back down. I sighed, "Goodnight, Star. See you in the morning." I said.

"Night," Star said saying something else I couldn't hear. I turned and hesitantly moved near Shrew. I noticed he was breathing softly so he was probably already asleep. With quiet sigh of relief, I lied down on the other end of the bedding.

Soon enough, I fell asleep.

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While resting in peaceful darkness, I heard a distant, muffled sound of coughing. I was so relaxed in the darkness I took no notice of the noise I heard.

"Leaf." Someone called my name, "Leaf. Wake up. Now!"

"Hm?" I grumbled, trying to wake up. I opened my eyes and saw Shrew looking at me urgently. Almost on instinct, I turned to Star.

"Oh no....Someone get water!" I called. Immediately, Shrew handed me a cup of water. Star was having a bad coughing fit.

Quickly, I got the remaining amount of honey and mixed it with the water. Once the solution was well mixed, I gave spoonfuls of the water to Star, "Star! Drink this, it'll help." There was urgency in my voice, Star was even looking worse than yesterday.

Star heard me and after a while, his coughing stopped. "Leaf..." I heard Star say weakly, "The poison came back. I'm going to be leaving soon...you guys are getting fainter by the minute." I froze, He was dying!?

"Star, no! I won't let you go!" I told him, "You have to see our new home!" Star shook his head sadly, and I felt a wave of grief pass by all my friends else who were standing behind me. He had been a really great friend to me ever since we were put inside this virtual world, he couldn't leave now!

"But I have to tell you something first..." Star said to me, "Yes, what is it?" I asked, my voice cracking as I tried to hold back a sob. Star took a deep, shaky breath, and I figured that he was struggling for breath.

"You're my sister."

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Hey guys!
So how is the story going along so far? Starting this chapter the story will come to its best point and I hope you'll really love the ending. ^-^ This is a really fun story to write and I hope you're enjoying it too! (Besides that cliffhanger, and all the other cliffhangers, sorry! It's just too much fun)

Anyway, hope you're having a great day and happy reading! Bye! :)

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