Scarlett Hayes's Arc

Chapter 2 of 9

Scarlett followed the muddy prints uphill until her legs shook. The wind cut through her wet top and skirt. Her teeth chattered so hard she couldn't speak. She stopped and hugged herself. The footprints climbed on, but she couldn't. Cold beat her worse than the flood had. "You're blue," Azumi said, landing beside her. "Not a good look. We stop." "He's g-getting away," Scarlett stammered. "You chase him like this, you fall down dead. Then he marries someone warm." Azumi grabbed her wrist and pulled. "Come on. Trust me." Azumi flew ahead, low over the ground, and found a dark cave mouth ringed with green moss. Purple stones glowed inside, throwing soft light on the rock. Warmth breathed out of the opening. Scarlett stumbled in and dropped beside the biggest crystals. They were hot to the touch, like stones left in the sun. "Told you." Azumi flopped down next to her and pressed close. "I heard the cave before I saw it. Warm thoughts. Like a nap made of rocks." Scarlett curled against the glowing stones. Azumi wrapped an arm around her and shared her heat. Slowly the shaking stopped. Feeling came back to Scarlett's fingers. She flexed them and almost cried from relief. "Better?" Azumi asked. "Better," Scarlett breathed. Her clothes steamed in the purple light. She looked at her friend, half naked and grinning, holding her without a second thought. "You didn't have to stop for me." "Yeah I did." Azumi tapped Scarlett's forehead. "Your thoughts got quiet. Scared me." While they dried, Azumi gathered fallen branches from the cave floor. She stacked them and struck a glowing stone against dry moss. A small fire caught, and its flames sparkled strange colors, pink and gold. The warmth doubled. Scarlett spread her skirt to dry and let the heat sink into her bones. Then she saw them. On the cave wall, past the fire, dry footprints. Muddy tracks led in from the mouth and stopped at a flat stone shelf. Someone had sheltered here before her. Recently. Scarlett crawled to the shelf. A cup sat there, still holding water. A blanket lay folded beside it, warm from the stones. She pressed her palm to the blanket. Someone had left it minutes ago. "Azumi." Her voice sharpened. "He was here. In this cave." Azumi closed her eyes, listening for stray thoughts. She frowned. "Someone scared. Ran when he heard us coming up the hill." She pointed past the fire, to a second opening at the cave's back. "That way." Scarlett stood. Her legs held now. Warm, dry, steady. She snatched the blanket and wrapped it tight. The cave that saved her had hidden him too. He'd fled again, but this time only moments ahead. She could catch him now. She stepped toward the dark back passage, into the deeper dark.