[Incomplete/Abandoned] Eyes Like Stars || A Heartless Marissa Meyer Story

Chapter 7 (part 2 of 2)- Jack's Resolution

When Jack woke up he immediately started coughing and choking up dirt from his lungs. He gasped in air, which of course set him off coughing again.

Wiping spit from his mouth, Jack lifted his head, frantically searching for his sister. He spotted her a few yards away, also coughing up dirt. Jack scrambled over to her, hugging her little body as it convulsed with her coughs.

Jill soon caught her breath and leaned into Jack, her breathing hitched and uneven. She hid her face in his shirt, and Jack knew she was crying from the shock of it all. He didn't comment on it though, just held his sister, calming her down by rubbing her arms and her hair.

While they sat there on the ground, covered head to toe in dirt, Jack looked around at their surroundings. He wasn't able to see much, considering how dark it was. To someone like Jack, who lived in a realm with eternal daytime, this was completely foreign.

As his eyes adjusted though, he was able to make out a few more details. They seemed to be in some sort of woods, as large trees grew up around them. They were sitting on a space of packed dirt, with roots running in all directions around them. They were merely normal roots though, none shone obsidian like the one that had gotten them here.

Jack looked up above them, trying to make out where they must have fallen from, but all he could see was a canopy of branches, and nothing but darkness beyond.

The forest was ominously silent. There was no rustling of leaves with a wind, and no sounds of animals moving along the ground. The whole forest seemed to be caught in a trance.

As Jack had been thinking his hand had stopped moving in Jill's hair, and she turned her head up to look at him. He tried to hide most of his trepidation, but Jill knew him a little too well.

"Jack..."

At that same moment the forest broke it's silence and Jack heard a solitary caw from a crow. He and Jill both turned quickly in the direction of the noise, and as more crows joined in to the call they spotted a large black bird perched on the branch of a tree a little ways away. It's beady eyes pierced into them, watching them.

Jack and Jill sat staring back at the bird, until after some time it took off, giving a call to the other crows, who also took off from many of the other trees in the area, flying up and away from where Jack and Jill sat.

Upon the retreat of the crows the forest started to return to normal sounds. An owl hooted from some distance away, the wind rustled in the treetops, and the pitter patter of small feet announced that there must be small mammals living here too.

A small mouse raced past Jack and he say it carrying a small crust of bread in its mouth. Bringing it back to it's family he supposed.

Seeing as Jill had calmed down a bit now, Jack got to his feet and collected his pack, slinging it onto his shoulders and preparing himself to walk for a while, since they no longer had an idea of where they were going.

He was surprised, though, when he found Jill clinging to his arm, new tears running down the tracks on her dirty cheeks. Jack knelt in front of her and gave her another hug. But he soon pulled away, holding her shoulders and looking her in her eyes.

"What's the matter Jill?" he asked.

Jill's breath hitched and she looked away from him.

"I don't want ...t..to do this a...anymore," Jill whispered, hanging her head.

"Why?" Jack asked bluntly, "because of the crows?"

Jill shook her head.

"Because it's dark? Because of the dirt?" Jack persisted.

Jill shook her head.

"It's not any of that," Jill said.

Jack shook her shoulders slightly, getting her to turn and meet his eyes.

"Then why Jill? What changed?" Jack pressed her.

"N...nothing," Jill replied, "I don't know Jack, I'm just s...scared."

Jack looked straight into his sister's teary eyes.

"I get that you're scared. That's okay. But we still have to do this," Jack lifted his hand from her shoulder and pointed at the sky above them through the trees, "we can't go back. We could stay here in this forest. Or we could move on and settle down somewhere else. But we can't go home. Not unless we finish this quest."

Jill nodded and pushed herself into his shirt again. Jack sighed and lowered his hand, pulling her back into his embrace.

"And I'm not going anywhere. I'll still be here for you," Jack added softly.

Jill hiccuped in response.

Knowing he wasn't going to get anywhere further with his sister Jack picked her up as he stood. He grabbed her pail from the ground as well and hooked it onto his pack.

Jack started walking, holding his sister against his chest, her legs wrapping around his waist and her head on his shoulder. He also had his pack on his back, weighing him down from the other direction. It was a heavy load, and he'd get tired eventually, but despite the darkness and the excitement from their fall it was still early in the day for Jack. He'd be able to walk for a few hours.

--

It seemed that Jill had gotten far more tired from their eventful morning than Jack had. Sometime during the past two hours she'd fallen asleep in Jack's arms and he hadn't had the heart to wake her to walk on her own.

But now even Jack's treacle fueled strength was running out from carrying such a heavy load for such a long time. Despite his unique diet his body still had the restrictions of a 14 year old kid.

During his walk he'd come upon what looked like a used fire ring. There was a stack of cut wood next to it, and the leaves on the ground around it had been cleared for safety.

As Jack tired he decided to double back to the fire ring as a place to set Jill down so she could finish her nap while he rested for a bit.

Finding the fire ring again, Jack set down his sister and his pack and stretched, his body happy to be free of the weight.

Apparently he hadn't realized how tired his legs had gotten as they quite literally collapsed under him.

So Jack sat on the ground. He leaned his back against his pack and pulled his sister onto his lap. She shifted in her sleep, but soon curled back into his chest.

Jack in turn looked up at the sky above the clearing. The sky was perfectly clear and free of clouds, but there were no stars to be seen. Not that Jack had particularly expected them.

Jack couldn't tell where the dim light he had been seeing by had been coming from earlier, but he did know that it had gotten darker now near the clearing with the fire ring. Jack mulled these things over in his head as he stared at the charred remains of someone else's burnt out fire.

He sat there quietly as he waited for his sister to wake up. She'd be in a better mood once she got over her shock, he was sure of it.

So he simply sat, waiting and thinking.

Perhaps he was here for more than simply following Jill. Maybe, even though it was her idea to come here, he would be the one to keep them pointing forward.

A/N: And here's the second part of the chapter. Sorry if having multi-part chapters bothers anyone, it's just that my chapters are usually around 1,000 words (short, I know) and I want to keep updates at least a bit consistent if I can. Anyway, I'll be back with another update in a week!
Also, Hi  ! I see you haha. I'm getting this out for the sake of finishing what I started, but thank you for reading it, I appreciate you!