Magics: Escape (Book 2)

Chapter Fifteen

Kai knew that finding Shintaro wasn't going to be easy, but he didn't expect it to be too hard either, since Linda was tracking Moon's head. But just trekking through the forest was difficult, especially since they hard large backpacks to slow them down, unlike last time, when they had nothing. Abby seemed more comforted that they had the backpacks of supplies, but Kai could tell she was nervous and worried for her father. Even Chase was quiet and figdety, which wasn't normal for him. He would have thought up some joke about how Kai was walking next to Abby and helping her over logs and ditches.

This is just the first day, Kai told himself. Don't be so negative. Focus on finding Shintaro. He took a deep breath and scanned his group of friends, unsure if he should give them a word of encouragement or simply remain silent. It was getting darker by the minute, faster than Kai thought was possible, but Linda wasn't calling for a stop.

This part of the woods obviously wasn't a very good place to set up camp. Everywhere Kai looked, there were fallen trees, thorns, rocks, and holes in the ground, indicating that snakes lived near.

Kai shuddered. He despised snakes. He hoped wherever Linda picked didn't have any of them. The group had come across a few wild animals, like foxes and bobcats, but none of them had wanted to pick on any humans. Kai noticed that Abby was very fascinated with all of them, even the squirrels that darted up the trees every few moments.

Abby squeezed Kai's hand suddenly, and Kai looked up, only to stop just before walking straight into Falte, who had stopped. Confused, Kai let go of Abby's hand and walked around his father to check on him, and Chase did as well.

Falte noticed Kai watching him and waved his hand dismissively. "Sorry. I haven't done this in a while." He straightened his back and started walking again, sighing deeply.

"Linda," Chase called up to the leader, and she paused to turn her head over at him. "It's getting pretty late, and some of us are getting tired. We should hurry to find a place to sleep."

"I know," Linda sighed. "I'm looking. This forest is thick." She turned back to look in front of her as she walked, careful not to step in holes or loose rocks.

Kai fell back to Abby's side again, glancing up at the darkening sky. The trees were almost hiding the clouds, but if he tipped his head enough and stared through the branches, he could see the bright red of the setting sun.

Hopefully this forest clears out quickly, he thought with a quiet sigh, looking down at his feet nervously. Last time they had traveled through the forest at night, wolves had encountered them.

But that was because they had smelled Chase's wound. Now, none of them were hurt, so the wolves hopefully would leave them alone.

Movement to Kai's right caught him off guard, and he almost froze in place. He turned his head to find out that it was just a rabbit, hopping merrily around a bush, cleaning its face and picking up berries.

It's so cute, Kai found himself thinking. Why is it so cute? The bunny was rubbing its nose, cleaning its smooth, brown and orange fur. Its ears were flopped downward, and its tail was adorably poofy. Kai frowned at himself and looked away as Abby tipped her head at him with a smile.

She followed his eyes to where he had been looking and made a small "Aw" sound. Thankfully, she didn't blink at Kai in astonishment. Kai didn't really want to make it known that he liked cute, fluffy bunnies. Then again, he knew Abby wouldn't judge him. She probably liked them even more than he did.

"Watch out for the -" Linda's voice called abruptly, but before she could finish her sentence, Chase, who was walking in front of Kai and Abby, went tumbling forward, yelling in shock and throwing his arm out to catch himself. Kai cringed as Chase landed harshly on his stomach, his backpack slamming painfully onto his upper back.

"Rock," Linda finished bluntly. She had stopped walking, and as soon as Chase had fallen, so had everyone else. Nanami cried out and ran to Chase's side, angling her head to see if he was alright. 

"Chase!" Abby cried, her voice shaking. Kai glanced up at her, hoping that she wasn't being too emotional about this. It was just a fall. Kai realized with a small smile that she was trying not to laugh.

"Ow," came Chase's voice, grunting with pain. He shoved his arms and legs under him and sat up. He rubbed his right shoulder, wincing. Then he touched his chin, which had a small cut on it.  As he moved his feet away, Kai saw a long rock jutting out of the forest floor. 

"Are you okay?" Nanami and Abby asked at the same time, and Abby was still trying to hold back her laughter. 

"I'll be fine," Chase replied, struggling slightly to stand up with the weight of the backpack holding him down. He finally got to his feet, hissed through his teeth, lifted one foot off the ground, then knelt back down. 

"Did you twist your ankle?" Linda said, coming forward. "I know what that feels like. Hopefully you didn't, because that would make it hard for you to walk through the woods." She cocked her hip and glanced down at him.

"Even if I did," Chase countered, "I could still walk." He stood back up again and hopped on the foot once or twice. "I just bruised it, I think. The pain will go away in a little bit." He stood straight again and sighed. "You could have warned me a little sooner." 

"I warned you after I almost tripped on it," Linda said bluntly. "You happened to me right behind me, and apparently not fast enough." She bopped his arm with her hand, then turned around and put her hands on her hips. "Argh, where in the world are we supposed to set up camp?" She gazed around as Chase shifted his weight from one foot to another.

"At least Falte didn't trip on it," Chase said meaningfully, but his voice was also slightly playful. Kai nodded in agreement, then almost snorted with annoyed laughter when Chase continued: "His backpack is practically the size of him. I don't know how he'd get up." 

"I already know that I'm short!" Falte protested. "You don't need to push it back up in my face!" He crossed his arms. "And the backpack is not the size of me. I could get up just fine. I just probably wouldn't shake off the fall as quickly as you, because you're a teenager." 

Kai agreed again, and was very thankful that Falte hadn't fallen. Hopefully, he thought, we don't have any serious setbacks. And hopefully, his mind added, we find a place to camp.

~

OH

MY 

GOSH

YOU

GUYS

I 

FREAKING

UPDATED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Y'all, it's been way too long since I've done this. I think I'm slowly inching past my writer's block. It might take some time, but I think I can continue this book frequently enough. I hope you all are happy that I finally updated!!

Thank you SO, SO, SO, SO, SOOOOOO MUCH for your patience!!! 

I love you all so much! You guys mean so much to me!!

Thanks for reading!!!!!! 

Peace!!~~