Mix Matched

9

 Mist and Emma grabbed each other by the hand and made their way into the woods milliseconds after they had reached the bottom of the building. Emma led Mist to the small fairytale-like area and had her sit down so she could examine how badly she had been hurt. Half way through the forest their invisibility started to wear off, by now it was almost gone. Emma gently took Mist's still semi-translucent wing in one hand and slowly lifted it up.

"Ow! What are you doing!?" Mist snapped. She turned around to face Emma.

Emma just gave her a stern look and mouthed she knew what she was doing and that she could help. She then Motioned for her to sit down.

"I'm not sure why I'm trusting you." Mist sighed as she carefully sat down, her wings facing Emma. For what seemed like hours of pain and biting her lip so as not to yell and accidentally scare Emma or alert anyone that might be in hearing distance, Emma finally gave her the ok to get up. She had put a splint on her wing and Mist could already feel it healing.

"Thanks, how did you know what to do?"

Emma simply just shrugged and mouthed 'dragons'.

By the time the sun was setting, Mist and Emma had decided they were in the safest place they could be and had made each other flower crowns, counted and named all the coy in the pond, and braided each other's hair to pass the time.

While it was getting darker and darker, Emma wanted to show Mist her newly found "hunting skills" by trying to catch fish in a nearby stream but ultimately failing and falling in, getting soaked in the process and making Mist laugh like she used to with her friends.

But when night fell, they knew a fire would give away their hiding spot and cause more trouble for the girls then help them in any way. Thankfully it was a warmer night then it had been for a while and with luck, they wouldn't freeze.

Mist longed for the tops of the trees, but Emma had yelled - or tried to - that she was still badly hurt and should stay on the ground. They made a compromise for Mist to sleep in the lower branches of the willow tree and Emma would sleep next to the trunk.

It was past midnight when Emma was sure Mist had fallen asleep. She got up and started pacing around the tree, weaving in and out of the drooping leaves. Not being able to talk kept her mind racing and it was almost impossible to stop the thoughts that were slashing through her mind. But as thoughts came and went Emma grew more and more exhausted, both mentaly and physically. It wasn't until she heard footsteps near her.

She bolted to the tree and hid in the small crevasse she was supposed to be sleeping in. Two figures made their way under the willow tree, not being loud but obviously not trying to be quiet either. It was clear that they had not seen or heard Emma and were just here to check another place off of the forest.

Without warning, Mist grabbed Emma and lifted her up into the slightly more hidden branches. It was perfect timing too because just then the two guards casually walked over to the tree and sat down right where Emma had been. They talked for what seemed like hours before they decided to leave and check off some more places on their list.

"That was close," Mist whispered as quietly as she could. Emma nodded vigorously, but in doing so, losing her balance and causing her to grab the closest branch to keep her from falling, making the leaves rustle just enough to catch the attention of one of the guards.

"Did you hear something?"

"No." the other guard said.

"I think we should check that tree again," guard 1 said pointing back to the tree where Mist and Emma were hiding.

"I'm sure it was nothing, Fred," guard 2 said, dismissively.

"It sounded like a child swinging on a branch or something, so we need to check it out!" Fred whined, tugging at the other guard's arm, like a child. Come to think of it, Fred did seem quite a little shorter than his partner.

"Fine, fine. But if there's nothing there, you better not say 'but but but'" guard 2 moaned.

"I won't!"

The guards turned around and began to look around the tree again.

Mist gave Emma a hard look and Emma shrugged, still holding onto the branch so then she wouldn't fall. Mist rolled her eyes and pointed up. Emma understood, reached for the next branch, and started to climb. Once they were high enough, all they had left to do was wait and hope that they wouldn't find them.

Mist looked around, calculating where they could go through the trees, without making too much noise and without flying. Emma picked a wall nut and threw it as hard as she could into the next tree. It made a loud cracking sound against the bark, making the guards turn and begin to search that tree, bidding them time to escape.

"I see something up there! It has to be them!"

"What? Where?"

"Up the tree!"

"Are you positive?"

"Yes!!! You climb up and I'll stay down here in case they try to get away."

"I swear if you're wrong- Fine."

Mist looked at Emma in confusion, only knowing what she was doing by the time the guard was climbing up the tree next to them. She watched as Emma carefully and quietly climbed down the tree; almost as if she had done something similar before. Mist opened her wings and glided down to the bottom.

By the time they got to the trunk, the oldest guard was high up in the branches.

"The only thing up here is a squirrel! You're such an idiot!"

"Uh, bro..."

"What do you want now?"

"The escaped girls.... They're right here."

"Yeah I'm suuurrreee they are."

"But, but! They aRe!"

Emma motioned for Mist to get away from the guard and glared back at the quaking little guy basically hugging the tree. A gesture of her finger across her throat followed by her silently shushing him made him almost look as if he was going to pass out from fright. Mist grabbed her arm and started to dart behind the trees, only stopping to catch their breath when they were sure that they hadn't been followed.

They made their way to a very tree-dense part of the forest. They knew they couldn't stay for long, but they were desperate for a break and because of the thickly-grown trees it would be hard for someone to get to them. Laying against the trunks Mist and Emma relaxed. Mist calmed her wing which was now throbbing from the pain of gliding. Emma was rubbing her wrists which were now bruised from cuffs that seemed like no problem getting off at first but now pain proved that wrong.

"What do we do now?" Emma spoke in a hushed tone, "We have nowhere to go and we're exhausted. It's only a matter of time-"

"-I know, I know. There's only one place we can go."

"That's the worst idea I've ever heard."

"Do you have any better ones?"

"...No."