Pirate's Treasure

Chapter 8

We were just past Crystal Marsh when Val started talking again. "We need to gather food. I know we're low and it won't last us three months back."

He didn't have to tell me twice before I headed off alone down the path again to find trees with fruit. I was also going to sneak some in for Dinah- I swear, they don't take her anywhere or do anything with her.

It didn't take long before something was following me.  I stopped to hear its footsteps, but when I turned around, nothing was there. I turned back slowly and quickened my pace, and the footsteps matched me. I turned the corner around a tree and was off at a dead sprint. The thing ran after me too, but I didn't dare look back.

I tried to find the fairy village again, but as I was jumping over a fallen tree, my leg caught on some vines and I crashed to the ground. Whatever the thing was, it was coming closer. The vine stuck to my ankle, practically suffocating my leg while I reached for a stick, a rock, anything to fight with. I picked up a thick branch and waited for the thing to reach me.

"What are you doing?" I heard Christian's voice, and even though I was mad, let out a sigh of relief.

"I'm over here!" I called, hitting the vine with the branch, but it just made my ankle worse. "What are you doing here?"

"What part of 'Captain put me in charge of you' didn't you understand?" Christian approached where I was, jumping over the log, examining me. "You got yourself tangled in the Constricting Vines. That's not good." He stated, bending down.

"Would you help please?" I shot at him, and he pulled out his sword.

"I don't know, why should I help you?" He argued back, and my ankle felt like it was about to fall off.

"Because Val won't like it if I died." I stated, my face scrunching at the stinging pain that was beginning to throb. "Please!"

"Fine." He muttered as he swung his sword down on the vine, chopping it off completely. I slid the rest of the vine off my foot, and he helped me up. I tried to walk, but I stumbled and fell back on the ground. "Can you even walk?"

"I can walk." I assured, standing up and limping forward very slowly. "I can walk just fine."

"No you can't." He argued, sliding his sword back on his belt and picking me up, his arms around my back and knees.

"Hey!" I exclaimed, trying to squirm free of his grip. "Put me down!"

"You limping is gonna take too long." He muttered, and we were on the hunt for fruit again. "But don't think this is going to be a usual thing. And I couldn't just let you wander off alone."

"Oh really?" I snapped, because I really didn't believe him. "What's your real reason?"

He stopped for a moment, his face and mine inches from each other, his dark chocolate hair shimmering when the sun bounced off of it, and his emerald eyes endowing deep into my head. "Because I wasn't letting you go alone in a place like this."

I almost couldn't speak, but eventually I broke from his stare. "A place like this? This is a harmless fairy island-"

"Says the girl who got caught in a Constricting Vine." He remarked, starting to walk again. "Besides, who knows what a sneaky girl like you would do."

"Why are you always the one following me?"

"Again, it's my order."

He set me down when we came across a tall tree with a bunches and bunches of bananas at the top, approaching the tree and reaching up the trunk.

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to find a spot to grab so I can climb." He answered without looking back, hopping onto the tree and starting to climb. "Please stay down there and don't crawl away."