The Soul Survivors

a not so new beginning

i watched eeva's facial expression morph from confused to terrified. eeva began to speak. "but how is that-" she managed to get out before i interrupted with, "listen, i know. but now we have to run." eeva leaped to her feet and took off in the opposing direction of the deadly shadow, with hook, emma, and i trailing shortly behind. avoiding creatures of neverland, fallen trees, and everything in between, eeva and i ran quickly through the forest. as we all reached the jolly roger, i grabbed the satchel that contained all of our shadow capturing materials. i looked over to find a lit candle in the palm of eeva's hand, and her gesturing to get pandora's box out of the bag. i held the box high in the air, and opened it, the shadow being ripped away from existence. i smiled and jumped around, in hopes of giving ella a high five, but instead, found her lying on the ground. i walked closer to discover she had fallen and rendered herself unconscious. i swiveled my neck so i could yell loud enough for hook and emma to hear. "emma! hook! help me!" i screeched, turning back around to check on eeva. her breathing had stopped. mine did for a minute there, too. "help! someone! help me! please!" i could feel the tears flowing down my cheeks, as i laid my head down on eeva's chest. "please. eeva, stay with me." i whispered. polar came up behind me. some would find it startling, but i found it as a sign of relief. "polar, polar, help, please, i just-" i said, with polar cutting me off. "okay. christ. just shut up. take her to your quarters," he said. i picked eeva up and carried her to our cabin on the lower deck of the jolly roger, and set her on her bed. i fetched a rag and soaked it with cold water, knowing that's what hook did to emma last time she was ill. polar was standing in front of eeva. he extended his arm, flipped his wrist, and waved his fingers, releasing a sort of magic into eeva. i sat down by her side, patting her forehead with the cool rag. a teenage girl with brilliant green eyes came in, sitting silently next to me, looking concerned for eeva; for her well being. eeva awoke, looking around. she attempted to sit up, and failed. "what happened?" she asked me. i took a deep breath, and replied with, "after we caught the shadow, you tripped and hit your head pretty hard." we all just kind of sat there for a moment, until hook and emma walked in. "you okay kid?" emma asked. eeva looked at her and nodded, without saying a single word. everything remained silent, until i leaned over and wrapped my arms around eeva. "your heart stopped for a moment, eeva," i said. "we were all so worried," i whispered, trying not to think about what i would've done with out her. she wrapped her arms around me too, then simply stated, "i'm sorry." so was i. but that couldn't keep us down on peace breaking. i released my hold on eeva, and turned to face hook, emma, polar, and the teenage girl i had yet to meet. she was looking at me too. "ella," i said to her. "my name's ella." she stared at me with immensely emerald eyes. "nice to meet you ella. i'm majestaire," she said, holding out her hand for me to shake. i accepted her handshake, and turned to polar. "thank you," i said. "thank you. so much." he scoffed, barely acknowledging the fact he saved a life. "it was nothing," he said, avoiding eye contact. that seemed to be his strategy at the time. no matter how hard he tried to hide behind his attitude, he cared. i could tell he did.

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a short time unconscious wasn't going to keep any of us sitting idly by in that ship. eeva said she was perfectly fine, but we all thought it'd be best to leave her with majestaire in our room. hook, emma, polar, and i set off back into the forest. we did what we always did; snared animals for dinner, collected drinking water, cut medicinal branches. you know. stuff like that. it was different being in the forest without eeva. i could manage, of course, but it felt off. so i just trudged on. emma noticed i was feeling upset, and slowed her pace to walk next to me. she slightly leaned over and bumped me with her side. "hey kid. worried about your friend?" she said. i looked up at her and sighed. "i guess so. i don't really know what to think." emma looked straight forward and said, "she'll be fine. always has been, always will."