Melting An Icy Heart (CANCELLED FOR REWRITE)

Chapter 7: One Step Closer

Fangar was up long before the sun, and had encouraged Raven to do the same thing. Now they were riding on his speedor, to the area were Raven had described living, before she had met him. "See anything that looks familiar?" Raven was looking closely at where they were going before she spotted the clearing. "There! That's it." Fangar stopped his speedor, and allowed her to get off. "This is it alright. But, there's even more of this white stuff than there was when I left. I wonder why." "Umm, I might know where that came from." Raven turned her head swiftly, waiting for an explanation. "You see, hunters have the ability to create snow and ice. And that white stuff is snow, while ice is what the fortress is made out of." "So if hunters did this. Do you think I could have done it myself on the day I left?" "What do you mean?" Just as she was about to answer, when a screech broke through the air. "PHOENIX! Raven we need to get out of here!" Raven grabbed his hand and ran towards her den. "Come on. We can hide inside. The plants and trees will protect us." "What?" "You'll see in a moment." They ran inside, just as the ground shook. Raven peered from the lip of her den, keeping Fangar's mouth covered, to help keep him quiet. Large bird like feet stomped through the snow, and a wave of heat covered the area. Fangar became dizzy, and was starting to black out. He fell to the ground with a thump, attracting attention. Raven panicked, looking around she found what she needed, a small silvery root lay at her feet, she tapped it, and it moved, with the end pointing towards her. "A little help please." She whispered, watching as the end moved up and down almost as if nodding. A rustling sound came from outside, as the flap of wings were heard, then faded. Raven checked outside for anymore danger, when the coast was clear, she took a handful of snow, dumping it on Fangar's face. He sat up quickly, before looking around. "What happened?" "We got some help. I told you the plants would help, and they did." Fangar looked to the huntress as if she was crazy. "Come on, I'll show you." They stepped out, as the clearing came to life. Many different plants extend their stems and surrounded the two. "They're alive?!" "Of course they are. They're plants." One came close to Raven and nuzzled her, making her laugh as she pat it lightly on the head. "Fangar, I would like you to meet the plant, that helped us. Dionaea Muscipula otherwise know as the Venus Flytrap." It was a deep green, with silver streaks on its leaves. A large tongue like thing came from it's mouth, and licked her cheek, causing her to laugh again. "It's great to see you too. I missed you all so much." Fangar was amazed, he had always been told that these kinds of plant wouldn't hesitate to eat someone, but it was like she and the plants were the best of friends. He felt a short blast of air on the back of his head, before a sweet scent reached his nose, turning he saw another Venus Flytrap behind him, but instead of it being green it was orange with some snow on it's head. "Aww, he likes you. Go ahead and pet him, he loves it when you do that." His hand hesitantly reached for its head, as he began to stroke the soft foliage. "What? When did that happen?" Fangar turned to see Raven talking to a plant that resembled a large violet flower. "That's right after I left. I'm so sorry, I should've been here, but I was so mad about the snow, I let my anger get the best of me, again. Do you think the sword can help? Fangar and I were going to look for it, but we had to come here first, because when I was captured, I kept my eyes covered the entire way to the fortress, so I didn't know where we were. I guess it's a good thing we did, otherwise this would have never been brought to my attention." The plant made many different movements, along with some hissing noises. "Your right. If we can get the sword, then maybe this all could end. So it's settled." She turned towards him and smiled. "You ready to go? We've got a war to end." He nodded as they both ran to his speedor. "Bye, I'll do my best." Raven called to the plants, as the returned to their spots, waiting for the end of the war. "We need to find a tree with four trunks, it should be just south of here. You can't miss it." "Raven, I was wondering. Were you actually talking to those plants?" She grabbed him around his waist as they sped up before answering. "Yep, they helped raise me after I lost my mother. I eventually leaned how to talk to them. If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be here right now." They hit a bump, causing Raven to tighten her grip slightly. "Just what where you talking about? The only thing they did was hiss and move." "That's how they communicate. And they told me that that thing had been there before, and it wasn't alone. The first time it was there, was on the day we met, when Maula captured me. They said it looked like the eagle legend beast, but covered in fire, and there was a black mass riding on its back. And that mass took on many different shapes while it was there. And it returned today while we were there, if I hadn't gotten help from the plants, there was a good chance we would have been goners. We need to be careful, I don't even want to think about what could've happened if we had been caught. There's the tree, we need to take the left path, until we come to a cave with a boulder covering the entrance, the boulder should have a snowflake carved into it." He made a sharp turn, making Raven squeak, and hide her face in his back. They drove for a while in silence, until Fangar spotted the wall. "I think I've found it." Raven's head shot up, and her eyes widened. "Great eye. We just need to find out how to open it now." When they dismounted the speedor, their search began. (timeskip two hours) "Raven, are you sure this can even be opened? We've been searching for awhile and we haven't found anything." Raven poked her head out from the other side of the cave. "We need to keep looking. This might be our only chance at ending the war. Please Fangar, I want to help, and if you don't want to do this anymore, then you can go on your way. You've done more than enough for me, and I want to thank you." She walked over and gave him a kiss on the cheek, unknowingly causing her pin and his harness to touch. After she kissed him, the snowflake carving began to glow pink and blue, with the colors pulsing through the snowflake. The ground shook, as the boulder moved to the side just enough for the two of them to squeeze through. "I don't know what we did, but we must of done it right. Let's go, the sword isn't far now." They rushed inside, not noticing as a certain black mass closed the door. Raven and Fangar hadn't walked very far when the boulder moved back, with a loud slam. "No, that was our only way out." "What?" Raven started to cry. "My mom said that was the only way out of here. She never said anything about it closing behind us. How are we supposed to get out now?" Raven felt a hand touch her shoulder, before she was pulled into someone's arms, and a gentle voice spoke in her ear. "We'll get out of this. I know we will." "How can you be so sure?" He wiped her tears, and looked through the darkness, into her emerald eyes. "I just do. Now we need to find that sword." Raven calmed down slightly, before speaking again. "We can't even see. I was told that there were certain things we needed to see, or we would never get to the sword." "Raven, I've seen what you can do. And I know that you can do great things. You need to use what's in you, to your advantage." Raven was becoming so confused, why was he saying these things to her. Could he possibly? "Fangar, why are you doing this for me, and saying these things?" The moment of truth was now, Fangar took a deep breath, before telling her what he had wanted to, since the day they met. "Raven, I love you." "Excuse me?" "I said that I love you. Ever since they day we met, I've been in love with you. I've only wanted to protect you, and make you happy. Every time I thought about continuing my plans to marry Liella, it just felt wrong. And when I got to know you, I decided to cancel my plans, because you were the one I want to be with. You're the most amazing woman I've ever met. You're kind, smart, funny, beautiful, and you never cease to amaze me. I know you may not have the same feelings for me, but I thought it'd be best to let you know." "I love you too." "I thought you might... Wait what?!" "I said I love you too. That first night in the dungeon, when you came to see if I was alright, and then told me to hide so I wouldn't get hurt. My heart soared. At first I tried to deny my feelings, because I thought you didn't love me back, but when we started to spend more time together, I accepted my feelings. I've just been to shy to tell you untill now. And I didn't want to tell you, out of fear that I would be rejected, and have my heart broken. I've only wanted you to be happy." "Well, then I'm glad that we feel the same way about eachother." "And if my second voice is still out there, then they just lost their chance. I don't care if I'm supposed to be with them, I'd rather be with you." The pin on Raven's cloak began to glow the same pink as it had last night. The cave became light, as the beautiful light cascaded across the room. "What's happening?" "I have no clue, but now we have a way to see where we're going. Let's go, we need to get to your fathers sword." She nodded before grabbing his hand, and following his lead. "How do you know where to go? I thought I was the only one who would be able to tell where to go." "It's just till we get to a turn, then I'll let you take over." She smiled, and allowed him to lead. They continued to walk like that for a couple hours before they came to two tunnels. "Which way?" Raven walked forward, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. She turned to the right, as her eyes flew open. "This way. We keep going strait, until we see a another door with a snowflake. And if there are any splits where we can't go strait, then we take the right tunnel which is highly unlikely." Fangar grabbed her hand, and led her once again through the tunnels. They walked until, Fangar collapsed from exhaustion, but still tried to walk. "Fangar, please stop. Let me carry you, I've still got plenty of energy left, and you need to rest." He was about to protest when he felt himself being lifted, before being set down on something soft. Looking around, he saw white fur, with two large bushy tails, covering him gently. "Go ahead and get some sleep. I'll keep going, I'll rest when I get tired. And there'll be no debate on the matter." Fangar decided to just listen to her and get some sleep, he closed his eyes, and tried to let sleep overtake him,but it would not come, until a sweet voice came to help.

Go to sleep,
Rest upon your bed,
May this night bring dreams to your head

Fangar soon discovered that Raven had begun to sing for him, as for reason it was unknown, but the song was doing it's job very well.

Hear my voice,
Never let it die,
Keep this lullaby

His eyes grew heavy, as the song became sweeter. Sleep overtaking him as he began to drift.

Soon the sun shall set on,
Long it will be till dawn,
Never from you will I be gone

Staying awake became impossible, then sleep captured him, as he began to rest.

Carry on,
Rid this world of fear,
Now the time is near,
Peace will soon reign here...

Raven felt all tension in his body release, when she finished her song. Her smile became gentle, as she pulled her tails up higher on him. "I hope you sleep well." She whispered, before continuing to walk. It wasn't long before she too needed sleep, and layed on her side, being cautious of him, as she closed her eyes to rest. The force from before watching her closely, envying the hunter.