The Journey [On hold]

Chapter 8- Dreams

'Help, I can do. But I'm quite selfish when it comes to cookies.'

I somehow managed to think enough to agree with her, even seeing the prowling tiger in front of me.

"Nice kitty. We don't have to fight." I said, not very persuasive as I waited for te help. Anytime now, creepy-person-who-is-hacking-the-system-and-can-talk-in-my-head. A name for you would be good too.

'Just the hacker is fine. Now let me focus.'

"Fine then, be like that." I muttered as the tiger got closer. It was way too close for my liking, but I didn't dare move.

"Kayla?" Andrew said uncertainly from above. I probably looked like a zombie, just standing there clutching the food and talking to someone in my head. What did he expect me do after saving him? Pull out a sword and decapitate it. (That would be pretty cool, but he might wanna set his bar a bit lower.)

"Toss it the food!" Sim called out.

........ Wow, now I feel really dumb. The bar of expectation is underground at this point.

I threw the food at it, but I'm as bad at aiming as I am at catching. It hit the tiger square on the head, only making it angrier.

'You might want to take cover.'

I looked around for cover, but though we were in the middle of a forest, there really wasn't much- mostly just prickly bushes. I jumped up and grasped the branch of a tree, struggling to pull myself up.

I didn't get all the way up, unfortunately. Really unfortunate, because I felt the angry tiger ripping off my shoe. Help, please?

The second I thought it, I heard a loud rumble in the sky. The tiger's pull disappeared, and I felt the split second heat on my leg and the shock running through it. I slipped to the ground, landing on something very hot and very soft...

"Holy poop, get it away!" I yelled, jumping away and stumbling as my shocked leg gave way beneath me. I did my best to scramble away from the charred tiger carcass, utterly grossed out.

I felt Sim and Mark on either side of me, pulling me to my feet. I leaned on them as we trudged out of the forest, Jess and Andrew quiet for the moment.

"Sooooo.... We gonna get going, Kayla?" Andrew said after a bit. "Because if we are, I think we should go farther into the forest and-"

"Get going where?" Jess interrupted.

"Kayla's not going anywhere, she's hurt."

"And definitely not with you. From what her and Jess have told us, you're a jerk."

I glanced back to see Andrew raise his hands in the air a bit, palms out in surrender. "Wow, no need to get all protective."

"Shut up, please, Andrew. I still need to explain things to them." I said, wincing as we reached the stream and my friends set me down in the grass. "And then I think we should stay here for the night."

"Explain what, Kayla? You aren't going anywhere without us, you know." Sim replied.

"I might have to. But just listen for now." I wasn't really eager to talk at the moment, wanting nothing more than to drift off into my thoughts and maybe into dreamland, but I couldn't leave them hanging. Also, Andrew might try to drag me back to his tent in my sleep, and that would certainly end badly.

"Wow, it's only day two." Mark was the first to speak as they looked at me with wide eyes. My explanation now wasn't as rushed as my original one to Andrew, but I guess it was quite a bit to process.

"That's what I said!" Andrew exclaimed, and they both grinned while I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, whatever. The important thing is... I can't exactly travel inconspicuously with four other people."

"We're coming with you, no question. Five heads are better than one." Jess chirped immediately.

"Two, actually. I'll be going with her, while you three can survive your Journies normally." Andrew said, stuck up as always. Wow, I felt like I'd known him for ages.

"No way. We're her friends." Sim shot back.

"That's what I said. But he has a point- Five people will be more easily noticed than two." I stepped in before they could argue. I knew that they saw the reasoning. I also knew that it hurt. Not only was this exciting, a lot more than sitting by a stream and hunting for blueberries, but it would also give them a purpose, and chance to help me as my new friends.

Sim sighed. "At least sleep on it. The sun will be setting soon."

"Yes, you can stay at my tent if you'd like." Andrew offered, looking slightly awkward.

"You might kidnap her in her sleep or something." Jess said jokingly.

"Yeah, I think I'll stay here."

His haughty expression came back in a moment. "Fine. It was just out of kindness anyways- I'd rather not have an idiot like you taking up space."

"Wow, chill. She's not trying to be rude." Mark said. I had a feeling he would rather be friends with Andrew than enemies.

Andrew just huffed and stood up, striding away.

"If he holds his head any higher he might snap his neck." I muttered, stretching out on the grass and taking off my hoodie to use as a pillow.

"Good night." Jess said, and was met with a chorus of replies from all of us.

'Good night, Kayla. Though after tonight, there might not be much time for sleeping.'

-•-•-•-•-•-•

A desert. I was in a desert. This was a desert, right?

I mean, I was aware it must be a dream desert. Quite the realistic dream desert. Way too hot, lots of sand. I'd had more interesting dreams than this.

There was that one dream where I was in an oddly named school called Warthogs where I was in this four team dusting tournament and my broom was horrible... We've already established that I'm weird, and so are my dreams.

This didn't seem as odd as usual, though. Just lots of sand, sand, and more sand. It was boring, really. I took a step forward, intent on finding something fun in this dream, maybe a distraction from my mission tomorrow. I found something alright- A whirlpool of sand churned at the bottom of the sand drift where I stood.

I could see something, or maybe someone, being sucked in even from here. My first instinct was to save them, but all rational thought told me there was no way I could. If I tried to save them, I'd be sucked in too. Was this some kind of dream lesson foreshadowing thing? That I couldn't save everyone, that I'll need to know that in the near future?

Some may say I looked into this stuff too much, but drifting off into questions and thoughts was a way to keep myself grounded as I watched the figure get pulled into the sand. At first they seemed to be struggling, but they started to go limp, as if they'd run out of strength, and their mind was telling them that there was no more use in fighting. It was an "accept my fate" moment- I'd read about it.

That sounded a lot like sheltered Kayla- I didn't really like to face the fact that that was me. I'd rather imagine myself as a hero.

Imagine that, in a situation like this, I would give my life to try and save whoever was down there.

My internal ramble stopped as realized I could hardly see the figure anymore. They were almost lost.

"Wait!" I yelled, practically throwing myself down the hill. I was falling more than I was running, the sand giving away underneath my feet. As soon as I reached the whirlpool, I felt it begin to pull me in, but I didn't even bother to wait for it. I least towards the middle, but whoever I'd come to save was already gone. It was too late for me to even try.

'You were right earlier, Kayla. You won't be able to save everyone. Please, just remember to save yourself.'