Ch. 2

Hikaru looked around her. Where the hell was she?

“Ow.” She was finally starting to feel the pain. Hikaru looked up, but only saw the clouds in the sky. She’d been sleeping... and then she fell... and ended up... here.

Was she still dreaming? Hikaru laughed nervously. Of course she was. How was it possible that she fell and ended up outside and obviously somewhere other than her room? Trying to ignore the pain (it wasn’t real... if it were real, this dream would be real too...), Hikaru pinched herself... hard.

“OW!” she cried out, rubbing her arm. Breathing became slightly difficult as she began to freak out. This “dream” was real. “Oh jeez...” Hikaru whispered, rocking back and forth. “Crap. Where the hell am I?”

Trying to calm down, she took a deep breath and looked around again. This place... looked... slightly familiar. It felt familiar. Hikaru gasped in surprise as she realized where she was.

It was the field she saw every night in her dreams.

Except... it was very different. There were no more fairies. No more unicorns. There were no birds singing. The river was dark and muddy. The grass was yellow and dying. And there was no prince.

Slowly standing up, Hikaru tries to take a deep breath. What the heck was going on? How had she been transported here? And what had happened here?

Feeling something warm against her skin, she looked down at her neck. The necklace! Hikaru’s hands fly towards her necklace. Had this had something to do with her being transported here?

“You bet I did!”

Hikaru looked around her. There was no one there.

“Down here you idiot! And get yer hands offa me! I can’t breath!”

Hands... off? Hikaru looks down at her hands, still holding the necklace. “Are you talking to me?” Hikaru asks, feeling stupid for doing so.

“Excuse you? Feeling stupid for talking to me?” the whatever it was responds. “Just take her hands offa me lady!”

Hikaru frowns as she takes her hands off of the necklace. What a rude... uh... whatever it is.

“Rude?! Whatever it is?! I only decided to talk to you right now cuz you looked so lost and stuff! How’s that rude? I’d say that’s real nice of me!”

“Ok. Who the hell is talking and how do you keep reading my thoughts?!” Hikaru shouts, frustrated.

I’m in the necklace, genius. And you’re the descendent of the Maiden. Of course I can hear your thoughts! And you can hear mine too! Sheesh!”

Hikaru looks down at the necklace hanging around her neck. “YOU?!” she shouts.

“Jeez woman! Not so loud! Just think it! Just think it!” the necklace shouts in Hikaru’s head. “Do you want them to find you?”

“Them?” Hikaru thinks back. This was going to take some getting used to.

“You don’t know about the war?!” the necklace asks back in disbelief.

“War?”

“Yes war! That’s why you were called here, weren’t you?! To stop the war!”

“WHAT?!”Hikaru couldn’t help it. She shouted. At the top of her lungs. And who wouldn’t? She jsut found out she was supposed to stop a war! She’s only 16!

“Quiet!” shouted the necklace. “If they hear you shout and they find you, I won’t be able to help you!”

Before Hikaru can respond, however, both hear a rustle in the bushes. “I heard something over here!” a man shouts.

“Crap! Go! Hide!” the necklace shouts in her head.

Hikaru looks around her. All the bushes she had seen in her dream had disappeared. She didn’t know where else to go! But the people were getting closer.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” the necklace shouts.

“Where am I supposed to hide?!” Hikaru thinks back frantically, still looking around her.

“Do you not see those trees over there?!” the necklace replies, annoyed. Hikaru looks for the trees. They’re far away.

“What about them? Just letting you know, I can’t climb! I’m a total klutz! I’ll totally just fall! So don’t even-“

”What are you, stupid?!” the necklace shouts, even more annoyed than before. “You don’t climb it! You go in it!”

Go... in... a tree?!

“Hurry up, woman!” the necklace shouts, much more panicked than before.

Hikaru starts to run towards the tree as fast as she can without tripping over her feet (she really is a klutz). “Uh... Mr. Necklace... sir? What am I supposed to do to get into the tree?” she questions awkwardly.

“Ah jeez. Don’t even know how to get into a tree! Please. Even a 5-year-old knows how to!” the necklace replies mockingly.

“Just hurry up and tell me!!” Hikaru shouts, frustrated.

“All right, all right. Just knock on that tree. They’ll let you in,” replies the necklace with a sigh.

“They?” asks Hikaru.

“The fairies! The fairies!” shouts the necklace.

Fairies?! Hikaru was beginning to get excited. She finally reached the tree. Panting, Hikaru knocked frantically on the tree. “Um... hello?!” she whispered. “Hey! Uh... can you let me in?”

Silence. Hikaru can feel her heart beating faster as she begins to hyperventilate. “Hey... what’s going on?! What do I do?!” she asks the necklace.

“Uh... I don’t know!” admits the necklace.

“You don’t know?!” shouts Hikaru. Grabbing the necklace, she does the only thing she can think of to do: pound it against the tree. “Stupid... necklace!” Hikaru shouts, still not daring to raise her voice and attract attention to herself.

“Ow! That... hurts! Stop... it! Stupid... woman!” shouts the necklace. Hikaru stops and instead glares at the necklace. “Now listen, I...”

There’s a creaking noise, and Hikaru turns to see the tree has opened up. “It opened,” Hikaru thinks in amazement.

“O-of course it did!” shouts the necklace. “Now hurry up and get inside! They’re coming!”

Hikaru doesn’t question him (yes, the necklace is a he) and runs inside of the tree. The tree closes up immediately and leaves Hikaru trapped in darkness. “It’s uncomfortable...” Hikaru thinks to the necklace quietly, trying to move in the cramped hollow tree.

“Oh, quit your whining!” replies the necklace.

“Why’s it so dark? I thought fairies were supposed to make things all light and happy!” Hikaru complained, ignoring the necklace’s comment.

“Aw, just listen for the people! We need to make sure they’re completely gone before we leave this tree!” the necklace commands.

“Fine...” Hikaru replies. She’s silent for a few minutes, carefully listening, then talks again. “Uh... but can’t they just knock and get in too?”

“No! Stupid. The fairies won’t let them in! They’re the enemy!” replies the necklace.

“Oh... I see,” replies Hikaru. “Then... why didn’t they let us in sooner?”

“I can’t read fairies minds! Only yours!”

“Well then... guess,” Hikaru says, annoyed. This necklace was starting to get on her nerves.

“Mm... maybe because they didn’t recognize you at first... but then when you were pounding me against the tree... they probably recognized me... so in other words, I saved you,” replies the necklace smugly.

Hikaru’s silent again, but she can’t help her next question. “So... where are the fairies?”

“Sh! I can hear ‘em coming!”

Hikaru pouts a little, but presses her ear up against the tree.

“There’s no one here,” she can hear one man say.

“Guess you must’ve imagined it,” says another.

“Guess so,” responds a third man.

Hikaru hears the shuffling of feet as the 3 men turn to leave the area. “Sounds like they’re leaving,” Hikaru tells the necklace.

“Yeah... we gotta get outta here as soon as they’re completely gone,” the necklace comments.

So Hikaru stayed in the same position, listening carefully. It was only about 5 seconds later when...

“Hey! You’re-“ shouted one of the men before there were the muffled sounds of a fight.

“Junno!” shouted another one of the men, in a horrified tone. Hikaru’s eyes were wide open. What was going on outside?!

“You crazy-!!” one of the men yelled, and there were sounds of swords clashing heard outside.

“Ohmygod!! Swords?!” screamed Hikaru. She was not going back out. (What if there was like... a dead body? Ew...)

“Yeah swords. Main weapon here. Calm down. Whoever’s beatin’ them up is here to save you,” said the necklace.

“You’re not worried?! What if those men get hurt?!” shouted Hikaru. How could the necklace be so uncaring?!

“I’m not being uncaring. It’s just better this way. The more men they lose, the easier it is for us and the sooner the war will end,” replied the necklace.

Hikaru’s mouth was wide open as she stared down at the necklace in disbelief. “You...” she said out loud, but stopped when she realized it was quiet outside.

Pressing her ear up against the inside of the tree again, she could hear footsteps... a person walking towards the tree. Crap. Hikaru scooted back, towards the back of the small circle. Truthfully, she was absolutely terrified.

A knock on the tree.

“They won’t open it, right?” Hikaru frantically asked the necklace.

“If it’s the enemy,” the necklace replied.

Hikaru couldn’t breath. Ten... very slow seconds went by. She was beginning to feel dizzy... but still couldn’t breath. The tree slowly opened up. It wasn’t an enemy! Hikaru let out a sigh of relief. But when she saw who it was, she forgot how to breath again, and immediately fainted.

So Prince Hayato walks in... and sees Hikaru has fainted. “What the... this is the maiden?”

Mm... sorry this chapter is a bit short...

Yeah... so. I reaaaaaaaallyyy hope you all liked the second chapter... I hope everyone will keep reading until the end!!

Don't forget to review :)