This can't keep happening to me. My emotions are seriously out of whack. I don't know how many times I've accepted my death over the past few months and kind of lived to see the next day. The first few times I just thought it was lucky. Okay, I'm saved, what a miracle. But the reality is, I quickly realized, that this stupid idiot is seriously the best guardian angel ever. His timing is also impeccable. He couldn't find us five minutes ago when we were barely swimming in our prison, when we weren't laughing and crying like idiots. No, he has to rush out on his white horse when I'm getting ready to meet Satan. Or God. Or both. "It was nice of you to come," I mutter under my breath, feeling more than a little bitter at both the moment of his appearance and the emotions bursting through me. "It's nice, isn't it?" Xavier's voice echoes, and I turn my expressionless head toward the water that is rising fu

He sighs and pulls another small fruit from his bag. "Don't make me come get you." Tugging on the fruit's shell, he waves the treat toward my face. Almost robotically, I walk beside him and slide to the ground. "Good girl," he smiles, patting my head. My hand automatically rises to drop his hand, but the warm feeling that accompanies his gesture makes it stop just short of doing so. He starts laughing again. Why is this crazy kid in such a good mood? I've never seen someone laugh so hard in such a short time. "What's up? You decided to be nice to me today?" he teases me, tapping my forehead with his finger. It stings really bad, and I give him the worst glare I can muster. "That wasn't the plan," I mutter, reaching for the fruit as my stomach lets out a particularly embarrassing growl that echoes through the cave. My expression turns to anger as he pulls his arm out of my reach. "Let me feed you," he

My eyes open quickly and I inspect my surroundings. The shirts from the previous night are strewn about the cave, the fire nothing but cold ashes. From what I can tell, the sky is still full of low fog and thick mist, the rain having retreated far to the horizon. I can't really see the sun, if there even is one in this world, only the gray darkness.With a grace I didn't know I had, I slowly stood up and made my way to the mass of clothes at my side, careful not to shake the rope that bound my ankle. Shivers ran down my body and I shivered as the wind brushed my neck. My clothes are still pretty wet, but not as soaked as last night. I take my long flowing shirt and spin it around, shaking off the excess water, and tie it around my waist like a makeshift skirt. There's no way I'm putting on these soaked pants, especially with this stupid rope to ruin things.Xavier stirs in his sleep, scaring me with the disturbance of his breathing. I inwardly beg him not to wake up. Preferably never.

"Yeah, these are the only living bushes we've found here," Yi said thoughtfully, "they only seem to grow around water sources.""Yeah, Ray said something about that. I wonder if these are plants that are simply attracted to water, or if there's some other reason for their location." I walk over to the plant, examining the roots and stems."Even though this is a forest, it's really the only part we've seen so far that looks truly alive," Ray comments, his feet gripping the gray grass as he approaches. "Isn't it weird that everything looks so gray here, like we just walked into a picture book? Even these stems and leaves on the plant have a grayish tint.I have to admit that Ray is right. The veins of the leaves are a deep gray, as if the very essence of this world is contained within them. Touching the leaves with my hand, I wince as a sharp edge slices through my skin. "What the fuck?" I mutter as the bright red pulses from my brand new wound on my thumb. It's throbbing, leading me to

We trekked for endless days and short nights. It seems at first that every step leads to deliverance, but when I lose that hope towards the evenings, it seems that we are only getting further away from our goals. We try to rest, but I am too anxious. So far we have seen nothing and no one except the Shifters.Even them I see only once or twice, and only at a glance, as if they were trying to hide us. It's strangely disconcerting to see the Shifters running from us, as if we were the bad guys in all of this. I guess from their perspective, we can be.To try to pass the time by walking and running, I've been practicing making weapons. After many experiments, I realized that weapons will not hurt tangible people, but will affect the world around us. I was afraid to try it before, but now I realize that it is necessary both for our survival and for an even higher purpose that none of us realize yet. Already I have a feeling in my heart that we are meant to travel to the water, because the