Black and White chapt 9

Crystel’s slept deeply that night. It would seem that nothing should wake her. The trees above her, as threatening as they may have appeared, were calm, and swayed gently in the wind, pattering together almost as if in song. The ground, as green and undesirable it may have felt as they had trotted on it just hours before, served as a giant cushion, letting her sink comfortably into it. The wind would spin and dance, keeping the forest from getting too hot, while the leaves above them seemed to hold in just enough of the sun from the day before’s heat for it to get too cold. 1

But even so, Crystel managed to pull awake from her deep comfortable sleep to the darkness the dead fire Jeff had made hours before had left around her that seemed to blind her completely to the peaceful surroundings. And at first, like what often happens to the best of us as we rise from a deep slumber to a world seemingly forgotten, Crystel forgot completely and utterly where it was she was lying. In fact at that unfortunate moment she had completely forgotten Mirindia, and her quest to destroy the witch. She forgot about Isaac and Jeff, and every other encounter that had occurred. So you can imagine how startled she was as she reached for her lamp in the pitch darkness not only to find it missing but in its place her hand fell upon the rough bark from the tree next to her.2

Crystel’s eyes widened and she bolted up; sleep still fogging up her mind. ‘Where am I?’ she thought fearfully. She felt around, feeling the mossy ground, then the tree trunk again to make sure it was not just her imagination. When her surroundings were confirmed, the first thoughts that entered her mind were, abducted, kidnapped, and captured. These thoughts made her heart begin to thump, and quickly, but quietly, she stumbled to her feet, only able to think about getting away. But as she ran, blood began to properly flow to her mind once again, and the cool wind woke her up from her conscience sleep. Suddenly, she remembered everything and when reality finally returned to her, her face grew hot and she swung quickly around to try and get back before any one noticed her absence and she would be forced to mutter a horribly embarrassing explanation. But as she swung around she felt her foot hook itself on a protruding root and in one horrible moment she felt it twist around sending excruciating pain through her ankle. The muscles seemed to wrench around tearing them in half. And a second later, she found herself laying on the now not so comfortable ground clutching her throbbing ankle, mind spinning in thoughtless agony.3

Jeff, meanwhile, was torn from his sleep hearing loud earsplitting screams. He looked up and saw Crystel not laying where he had left her. His mind began to spin in a minor panic as he quickly jumped to his feet and ran as fast as he could to where he heard her shrieking, He got there in what felt to him like hours, as each cry seemed to send daggers through his chest and head. When he got there he saw Crystel sprawled on the ground face contorted with pain, ankle extremely bloated, and tears streaming down her face. 4

He quickly dropped on the ground next to her, heart beating rapidly trying to think of what he was supposed to do. “C-Crystel,” He stammered, “L-lass, what happened,”5

“I-it’s b-broken” She sobbed, still cling to her over-sized ankle, “I- I b-broke it!”6

“No, no lass, it’s not broken,” He said trying to be reassuring, but hardly knowing what he was talking about himself, “If it was broken it would be twisted around or something. I think it’s just-“ He stopped, and inspected her ankle, he knew what it was, he had seen that kind of injury before, lots of time, “I-it’s just a sprain, that’s all.”7

“J-Jeff,” Crystel cried, “I-It h-hurts, it h-hurts r-really, r-really b-bad. I-I think it’s B-broken. I-I r-really d-do.”8

“It may feel that way but, d-don’t worry lass, I’ll fix it,” although he had no idea ho to, he suddenly really wished he hadn’t promised that.”9

“J-Jeff,” Crystel said. He could tell she was attempting to get a hold of herself, “Y-you need to bring me back to where we camped.10

Jeff looked down at her suddenly feeling extremely weak all over, “You mean I need to carry you?” He muttered nervously under his breath. Crystel didn’t hear him, but Jeff knew that was exactly what she meant. Gingerly, he reached towards her, trying to ignore her pain-filled sobs. As he lifted her up, her screams got louder for a moment as she told him to be gentle, but soon after, he found himself standing with her in arms. She was clinging to his shirt as though her life depended on it, crying her eyes out into his shoulder. Slowly, he began to make his way the way he came, carrying her as if she were made of thin glass. The beautiful creature he had only recently been barley bold enough to look in then way of, he now had pressed against his chest. 11

They approached the camp soon, and Jeff quickly built up the fire again. Isaac woke up a few minutes after the fire had started and Crystel had calmed down a little. Jeff was about to make a smart remark about it but stopped himself when he saw Crystel. 12

As the night drew on Crystel eventually calmed down enough to fall asleep, while Jeff and Isaac sat up by the camp fire. At first Isaac refused to talk, and when he did, he said so many thinks that Jeff could almost taste a nasty reply sitting temptingly at the end of his tongue. But somehow, Jeff always managed to swallow his pride, and in the end, Jeff was somehow forced to give in to the idea that they would keep moving. But there was one condition that Jeff would not budge at, and that was that it was not going to be Isaac, but Jeff who carries her.13

Jeff didn’t care how awkward it would be, For some reason, Crystel meant the world to him, and If she ever got hurt again, he thought that hew would die.14

As the night drew on, and Isaac fell back to sleep. Jeff stayed awake by Crystel’s side, swearing that she would never get hurt again, not even over his cold dead body.15