'...,' Wren's mind was blank, all she could do was stare at him but now that they were so close, she had no choice but to close her eyes and feel. Feel the way his chest moves up and down, feel his warm breath on her lips, feel his hand that was now at the nape of her neck and trembled ever so slightly. "Michael," again her voice was barely a whisper and seemed somewhat breathless. "Wren..."
Michael hesitated once more, fearing his next move would cause nothing but trouble. He wanted desperately for her to know and reciprocate his feelings. 'I've loved you for longer than I've loved myself Wren. Please forgive me...' Michael noticed Wren had closed her eyes and they were both breathing slowly but heavily. Michael finally closed the distance and touched their lips together. Softly kissing Wren in efforts to not scare her off. Wren's eyes shot open, 'He-' without much thought she closed her eyes and kissed Michael back, enjoying the warm and slightly tingly sensation of their lips softly brushing together.
After a few more moments , Michael reluctantly pulled away from Wren's kisses, but continued to hold her face in his hands, fearing he could not stop himself if they continued. Wren looked as reluctant as he felt, but shook her head to clear her thoughts, 'What the hell got into me? It...bu...Michael?'. Wren noticed something and froze, "Lady Wren I-" Wren put her hand over Michael's mouth and moved her eyes to look out the window, slightly nodding her head to get Michael to follow her gaze.
Outside the car Wren could see small, pale blue/green creatures cautiously getting closer while looking around curiously. They had slightly humanoid bodies but had simple facial and body features with seemingly no hair to be seen. "We will talk later when we are safe. We don't have the time for this. Cover the rest of your wounds. I have extra clothes in a bag under the seat." Wren whispered quietly near Michael's ear and he shivered at the feeling. 'Dang! I need a cold shower. This is just making things worse.' Michael nodded his head and gathered all the strength he could to calm himself down, 'Wren's adorable blushing isn't helping!'
He motioned for Wren to look the other way, resulting in an eyeroll from her and she then turn to watch the little creatures outside the car. "Hey Michael, I don't get the vibe that they are a danger to us, but I also sense quite a bit of nature energy flowing from them. I wonder if these are the- Oh here, if you find another wound patch it yourself. I already placed my energy in it so no need to strain yourself." Wren whispered as she handed Michael the paste then dug under the backseat of Naya's car. Michael nodded, removed his pants, and took the container and applied the paste to the side of his thigh and near his hip.
*CRASH!* The crashing sounds had all but stopped up until this point but now the sounds were closer together and coming this way. "Shit, we have to go. Naya is probably freaking out." Without another word, Wren grabbed the worn sports bag, got out the car, and ran towards the forest. 'This is so embarrassing,' Michael was mortified because of how exposed his body was, but he quickly jumped out of the car and ran after Wren. Just as the pair made it into the tunnel a large paw swiped towards them, causing Michael, who was behind Wren, to misstep and fall to the ground.
Wren turned back and quickly supported Michael so he could continue running. After a few more steps he was able to run on his own. They were both panting, running as fast as they could, deeper into the trees, towards the narrowest part where the tree with white bark marked their escape. They looked back towards the entrance and locked eyes with the creature that was after them. Although only one eye was visible to them, that one eye was as menacing as it was large. The red, orange, golden colors seemingly ablaze within that eye, ready to kill at any given second. Michael reached for Wren's hand and took the lead, not wanting to turn back around and see his eye again.
Little did they know, the creature moved his eye from the entrance and put his snout down the tunnel. Still unable to reach them, the creature snorted in annoyance, which was minor to him, but the force of the wind caused by that snort knocked Wren and Michael forward. They were thrown off balance and pushed forward with the force of his breath, hitting the ground and surrounding trees. Michael tried to reach out for branches, rocks, and anything to stop his body but he couldn't; his momentum was just to strong.
On the other edge of the tunnel Wren also tried to stop her body but had no luck. She looked towards Michael and saw that he wasn't facing the direction of their destination and he didn't realize there was a large splintered branch right in his path. "Michael!" Wren desperately yelled his name and reached out to him, focusing all her remaining energy to save him. "Aah-NGH!," THUD! Wren's voice echoed in the otherwise silent tunnel. *Cough cough,* "Mi- *cough* are..." Wren was coughing and spitting up blood from the impact of the branch impaling her torso.
Michael was pushed slightly farther into the tunnel because of Wren and when he was stable, he looked back in horror. "WREN!" He stood up as quick as he could, grabbing the sports bag, and ran towards Wren. At the same moment, Naya came out from her hiding spot, saw Wren and a lot of blood, and ran towards her friend instinctually. Michael reached Wren before Naya, and bent down to lift her head. The direction in which Wren hit the tree, missed the more vital organs in her body, but it also caused a smaller branch to impale her thigh, causing her to loose a lot of blood in a short time due to the two separate puncture wounds.
"Michael, what can we do? How did this-" Wren weakly lifted her arm and grabbed Naya's calf. "I-it may not...*cough* work because... *spit* get...get the small bl-" Naya knew what Wren was referring to and immediately grabbed the bag from Michael and looked for the bottle. Michael looked shocked but awaited his instructions. Wren opened her mouth and tried to speak but was to exhausted to make a sound. She instead motioned for Michael and Naya to move closer towards her. Once they were close enough she put her first and middle finger on each of their foreheads.
There was a whooshing sound, they all closed their eyes, then opened them again and were faced with an unfamiliar sight. The surrounding area was all but empty, with only a fee trees and a light layer of fog layered the area, causing everything else to look distant and dark. "Guys..." Wren's voice was nothing more than a faint echo to their ears. "I'm losing my consciousness...It will hurt, but I need both of you to lick the tip of your finger then dip it in the small bottle Naya has...make the Kalina clan symbol on the middle of your chest as best you can...I have lost enough blood, so my part is taken care of...it is heavy but Michael, I need you to carry me and the tree through the checkpoint..."
Michael and Naya were looking around the empty space, still trying to find where Wren's voice was coming from. Her voice seemed to get softer each time she spoke. Michael and Naya both tried to speak out and call for her but couldn't even make a sound. "Michael, when we get to the tree with white bark...my hand-put..." Wren was having a hard time focusing her thoughts. "My hand needs to touch the Kalina..." Without speaking Michael nodded his head in response.
"Good...this will hurt your body and exhaust your mind...we will likely all pass out once...other side...note-note explaining...hurry... " Michael and Naya opened their eyes and saw that Wren had passed out right in front of them. They wasted no time doing as Wren instructed with the powder and once they were done, Michael lifted the branch along with Wren in his arms as carefully as he could. "The tree is not far away, are you ready Miss Naya?" Naya was trembling but nodded her head as they quickly walked a few trees over. "Into the unknown we go." "Huh!?" Naya asked in confusion but had no time to think as her body and mind seemed to be getting crushed under an enormous weight. "Aah!"