The Princess of the Moon

Chapter 8

Zën landed in a clearing about an hour or two away from my house. He laid down and gestured for me to get off of his back, which I did.

I stumbled as I got off and landed on the knee that was already injured. I clutched my knee and bit my lip, stopping myself from screaming out. Tears pricked the edges of my eyes, and I stubbornly didn't cry. I took a deep, shuddering breath and let it out.

"Is it that bad?" Zën asked, watching me clutch my knee. "Or, are you just being a drama queen?"

I didn't answer as the pain became somewhat bearable, and moved to a sitting position.

"What are you doing?" he asked when I took off my boots and then my pants. "Not out here. This isn't a bedroom."

"I have shorts on," I said, my voice shaking. I took a deep breath and braced myself as I pulled my pants off to show my knee.

"Oh, Dear," Zën said, shocked. "That can't be good."

"No, it isn't," I replied, looking to see my kneecap out of its socket, and I could tell that it was very swollen and deep purplish color. I grabbed my bag and shuffled through it. I knew that the first thing to do was set it back into its place before wrapping it up and making sure that it healed correctly.

"What are you doing?" Zën asked, watching me grab some cloth out of my bag and tying the ends together.

"I'm going to pop my knee back into place," I said. I tied the cloth around my leg and held the pieces out to him. "Here."

Zën narrowed his eyes at me. "Why "here"?" he asked. He glared at the cloth and didn't take it from me, leaving me very annoyed with him.

"Grab the ends of the cloth and hold on tight while I do it," I said.

"Do what?" Zën asked. However, he did what I said to do and held the cloth with his beak.

I didn't reply as I took a handful of my shirt and placed it in my mouth. I took a deep breath and swung my body to the side, and pulling my leg towards my body. I bit back a scream of pain as my knee popped back to place. I laid down and buried my face into the ground so that Zën couldn't see my face.

Zën gently placed the cloth pieces down and stared at me. He was quiet as he walked over to me and nudged my face so that he could see it.

"What?" I asked, my voice shaking with pain. "Going to nag me, again?"

Zën shook his head. He blinked his eyes and walked towards my knee with me, watching him. Gently, he touched the knee with his beak and closed his eyes.

I watched, stunned when his beak started to glow, and the pain in my knee subsided into nothing. "What th-?" I asked when Zën pulled away from me and smirked.  I looked at my knee to see that it looked very normal and didn't look swollen.

"I healed your knee," he said. "Your welcome."

I scowled and sat up, watching as he laid down. I pulled the cloth off of my leg and rolled it up again. "And, you didn't do that, to begin with, because..?"

"Because I don't like you," he replied. "However, you have earned my respect. You could have asked me how to heal your leg, but you didn't."

"I wasn't aware that you could," I replied.

Zën shrugged his shoulder. "You still could have told me to heal your leg," he said. "Or ask for a better way to set it back into place than that."

I shrugged my shoulder and looked away. "I am not used to asking for help," I muttered. "I am used to coming up with plans on my own if I am injured or something."

"Has this happened before?"

I nodded my head slowly. "Let's just say... it was more painful and gory than this time."

"Ew."

***

I looked around to see that we were in a clearing surrounded by cliffs on every side. Near the base of one cliff was a cave, and it was glowing a bluish color.

I cocked my head and felt this pull, but I didn't move just yet. "What is that?" I asked, pulling my bag back onto my back and standing.

"That is a cave," Zën replied, causing me to look back at him and scowl. He blinked slowly and gave me an unimpressed look. "What?" he asked. "You asked."

"I am talking about the bluish light," I said. "Not about the cave. I knew that it was a cave."

"Well, you didn't specify what you were talking about," Zën replied. "Why don't you go check it out. See what is in there."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Why?" I asked, causing Zën to look at me unimpressed.

"Just... do it. Your questions will be answered." He paused. "Oh, and leave your stuff. You don't need anything."

I hesitated but dropped the bag at my feet. I took the quiver off of my back and placed it on the ground near it.

"And, whatever you have in your pockets," he said.

I huffed and took some loose change out of the pockets before placing it into my bat. I had no idea why I had some in there, but it didn't matter right now.

"Take off your socks, too," he said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Well, you don't have your boots on, and you don't have time to put them on and lace them up. It is just easier to take the socks off."

I rolled my eyes and took my socks off. I tossed them onto my bag. "Anything else?" I asked.

"No," he replied. He gestured to the cave. "You are free to go."

I rolled my eyes before starting to make my way to the cave. I took a deep breath and sent a silent prayer, praying that I will not get killed and have my questions answered just like Zën had said.