Whisper to the Wind

(9) Keirstrider

Whisper hadn't been able to sleep that entire night. The excitement from the day had lingered and kept her from resting. When she thought about it, however, she hadn't slept more than an hour in the past few days. Her dreams were plauged with the screams and cries of her village, and the image of her little sister being murdered.

Simply thinking about it brought the sting of tears to her eyes, and Whisper quickly pinched them shut. Many times throughout the past week, she had considered grabbed a sword, any sword, and killing herself. She couldn't live with the guilt and knowledge that she had murdered her sister; that if she had stayed, Mouse would have survived. 

Rolling over in her bed, Whisper stared at her roomates back. Droplet was such a quiet girl, scared of everything, even her own shadow. Whisper felt sorry for her. From what she had heard of Droplet's tale, she hadn't had anyone there for her her entire life, so she quickly learned how to blend into the walls and watch everyone. 

For the next few hours, Whisper continued to toss and turn in her bed. Finally, she decided no sleep would come that night and she might as well do something than lie in bed, tormenting herself with the images and thoughts of the night. She slipped out of her bed and grabbed the cloak draped over the end of her bed. No doubt the V'yn had left it there for her. 

Keeping one eye on the sleeping girl, Whisper threw the cloak around her shoulder, tugged her boots on, and exited the room. More students had arrived that day, but in the dead of night, the halls were silent. 

Whisper didn't exactly know where she was going, but she just walked. Outisde, the Gardens were full of radiant light. Even though she was intruigued by the lights, she kept walking. Eventually, her feet brought her to the small path leading into the Ripplewood. She hesitate, glancing back at Alanex, but Whisper knew the forest and had known it since she was born. 

The air felt more fresh in the forest. After slipping into the darkness of the trees, Whisper breathed out a heavy sigh she hadn't realized she had been holding. Her shoulders relazed, and once she felt she was far enough away from the campus, Whisper let herself fall against a tree and slide to the forest floor. 

Whisper didn't know how far she was from home. She didn't even know what direction to head in, even if she did know how far she was from Rippleville. The closest she could get to her home was the forest. Already she felt more at ease in the safety of the dark forest. It was almost as if the trees themselves were wrapping their arms around her, promising to protect her, and whispering in her ear the way her mother did when she couldn't sleep. Before she could stop herself, her eyelids grew heavy, and she settled into a deep sleep. For once, her dreams were not clouded with screams of pain and terror. Perhaps it was the trees.

---

"Whisper," the voice asked. She figured she was still dreaming, and began to slip back into unconsciousness. "Whisper," they voice said more persistantly. With grogy and heavy eyelids, Whisper opened one eye enough to let the light in. It caused her to wince and quickly shut them closed. Someone nearby chuckled at her. 

"Flash," Whisper mumbled, still trying to ease herself into the bright lights sprinkling down through the tree tops. Finally, she managed to open both eyes wide enough to see the older student kneeling on the ground next to her. She smiled warmly and playfully at Whisper as she winced against the light.  In one of her hands were the reins to a large silver white horse. The creature was quite majestic, and definitely larger than any horse Whisper had ever encountered. It's midnight black mane laid in soft waves across the horse's strong neck. Whisper had no doubt the beautiful animal belonged to Flash.

Holding her other hand out to Whisper, Flash pulled the younger girl from the forest floor. Still slightly sleep, Whisper had to hold her hand out against the tree to steady herself and let the many colors fade from her vision.