Tori's Misfits

Chapter 16

As we walk on Jaccia begins telling us stories about a*****e her mom used to take her to. It sounds like a fictional place to the rest of us. “It has large selections of clothing and material, of all types. We would go and each pick out two new dresses and mom would buy material to make things at home.”

“I have never heard of such a*****e before. Are you sure you didn’t just dream it up?” Tori asks.

“I swear the store had dresses in colors and styles you could only dream of, they even had a section for boys and men. If you liked something and it wasn’t in your size, they would alter it to fit.” She insisted.

“I see an opening up ahead, maybe we can rest there.” I inform the girls.

They quiet down and we continue walking, stopping a few feet from the opening, shocked that it appears to be lit up. I glance at the girls, and see that Tori is already linking Tia by the blank expression on her face. After a few minutes she nods, and I continue towards the opening.

I stop as I enter another chamber that is lit up from high above, the girls come to stand beside me with looks of wonder on their faces.

The chamber isn’t as large as the pool chamber but is well lit, and even has some fauna growing in places the sunlight reaches. The opening is too high to climb to but makes a nice change from the darkness of the tunnels. Continuing into the chamber, I see that the ground is littered with rocks of different sizes making it hard to walk on. We carefully pick our way to the center then turn in circles trying to take it all in. The jagged rocks hanging from the ceiling look much like different sizes of icicles. Some have smooth edges, others jagged, there are hundreds in different sizes and colors.

Tori starts picking up some of the smaller rocks and stacking them to the side, making a clearing among the rocks. Jaccia and I help, and we soon have a small area cleared that we lay our blanket out on and sit down to rest.

Jaccia gets out the water jar and a piece of jerky for each of us passing them out. While handing Tori hers, Jaccia lets out an exclamation, “Why didn’t you tell us you were hurt. Tori?”

“I just scraped my arms and legs a bit when I fell but they don’t hurt anymore,” she replies.

“We need to clean the scrapes, and make sure they are not too deep.” I started getting up and walking over to her.

She signs and repeats that she is fine, we keep bugging her until she agrees to let us check and clean them.

I cut a small piece of our blanket and pass it to Jaccia who uses a little of the water from the drinking jar and dampens the cloth, then proceeds to wipe the dried blood from Tori’s arms and legs. Most are just surface scrapes, but there is one on her calf that is very deep. It is long and twists around her leg, in places almost to the bone. So, I cut another piece of the blanket and Jaccia wraps it around her leg and ties it.

“So should we head back to the fork after we rest, and start exploring the other tunnel?” I inquire as I take a drink.

“Yes, let's head back, we can rest at the fork entrance and decide whether to go on or wait.” Jaccia answers.

Tori lays back on the blanket after eating and taking a drink, soon nodding off. I look at Jaccia and she is watching Tori sleep with concern on her face. We get up and walk a short distance away so as not to disturb Tori while talking.

“The cut was deep and is still bleeding, I am worried about infection,” Jaccia tells me.

“Yes we will need to keep an eye on it and Tori, she is too stubborn for her own good.” I say with a nod.

“How long do we want to let her rest?”

“I’m going to look at some of the plants and see if they can be useful, while she is resting. Then we can head out.”

Jaccia states she will stay with Tori.

I wander over by the plants and open my connection, asking mother nature, which might be of help. I am scared to handle any that I don’t recognize in case they hold poison.

I am feeling better in this chamber with the light filtering through and the growth of plants, so I use the time to calm myself and recharge.

I see a plant that looks somewhat familiar and head towards it. I sense it has healing and cleaning abilities, so it will be good to use on Tori’s wounds. I say a thank you to the plant and Mother Nature, making sure not to pick enough to kill the plant. Seeing something scutter across the ground, I let out a small scream and jumped back. Then laugh at myself as I see a lizard darting behind a rock.

Jaccia looks up from Tori to check on me, and I smile and shake my head. “Look, I got some herbs to help with Tori’s wounds. We need to soak one of the leaves in water, then use it to clean them.”

Jaccia nods and goes through our supplies but finds nothing to soak the leaf in. We talk and decide we should wake Tori up and head back to the sleeping tunnel. We would explore the second fork when she felt better.

Having a solid plan, we wake Tori up, telling her we need to head out. She sits up and agrees, and we carefully wipe out traces of us being there and head back to the fork.

Jace’s POV:

I have never been a patient person, like being on the move all the time. Laying in my assigned cot, waiting on the others to fall asleep, is driving me crazy. I listen to the breathing around me, while concentrating on keeping my own breathing even and slow. There are six to a room, and I can tell that at least two are still awake. I hope that they fall asleep in time for me to leave and get back in the morning. Usually, when I need to leave at night Mister Toben puts me on watch with himself. However, he hasn’t been the same since his encounter with Madam Kim’s dark magic. Everyone was so sure she had killed him when he fell limply to the ground, but it turns out he was just unconscious. He is still recovering and is not due to resume duty for a few days yet. When he does there is talk that he will be given a lesser position. Either way, I cannot depend on him to help this time or in the near future.

I turn in my cot and listen again to those around me, noticing that everyone's breathing is slow and deep, several snoring already. As I listen to the sounds of my bunk mates sleeping, I can't help but think that some would help us save the children. There are some good people here even now, but most are too scared for themselves and their families.

I look around from my cot and realize it is time. I slip out of bed, making sure to be quiet, I tiptoe to the door and check the hallway for movement. Seeing it is clear, I open the door and sneak out, closing it softly behind me. I make my way to the back door and step out into the night. Running to the edge of the woods I think about the distance and having to pick up the supplies I need to take with me, deciding to change into a bird that runs, I choose the bustard. I know it is fast and I can carry the supply sack when I get to it. I will still need to be careful, as they are not native to the area. Shifting into the large bird once I am sure no one is near, I begin running towards town.