I giggle as something soft and wet licks my cheek.

"Stop," I whisper. I move my hands around, looking for the culprit. Another lick before my hands land in soft fluffliness. I gently push them away before opening my eyes.

Only to be met with brown starry eyes.

I open my mouth to scream as it tries to lick me again. As it opens its mouth and sticks its tongue out I notice it has almost no teeth, and the few that it does have are tiny and harmless looking. "What are you?" I ask, avoiding its tongue.

It pulls away from my face and cocks its head to the side. I try to get a better look at it but my back flares in pain when I try to move. From the head, the animal almost looks like a deer. But that can't be possible. No deer is colored as if it was painted by a child. This deer-thing's fur is vibrant hues of orange and yellow mixed together, and on top of its widely colored fur it's speckled with sparkles.

"It's a wister."

I crane my neck to try to see past the brightly colored deer but pain shots through my back up to my neck. "What's a wister?" I groan.

Stepping out from behind the... wister, Om's eyes dance with enjoyment. "Your ride for now."

"I get to ride it?" I can't help the excitement that accompanies my words.

Om nods, a grin making their face shine. "I asked Tace for help and it sent this lovely creature."

The wister ducks its head and continues trying to lick me.

"He sure is a sweetheart." I grin. I cup the wisters head in my hands and stroke its fur. It's so soft and smooth. "You're so pretty. You know that?" I ask it.

His tongue hangs out of his mouth. I giggle. "He reminds me of a puppy."

Om tilts their head. "What's a puppy?"

My jaw drops.

"You don't have puppies here?" a familiar voice joins the conversation. I grin as Cam comes into view. He grins back.

"I've never heard of puppies before."

I squish my face up to the wisters and talk in a baby's voice. "Well this guy is an absolute cutie. Yes you are! Yes you are!"

The wister bounces slightly and pants at my voice. Part of me wants to ask like a child if I can keep him.

"So this is what Tace sent us?" Cam asks. He places his hands on his waist. "Will it be able to carry Mats?"

I scoff. "You think I'm too heavy for it?"

Cam's eyes widen with panic. "That's not what I meant!"

"You think the wister is too weak and small to carry her?" Om asks in the same offended voice I used.

Somehow his eyes widen farther. "I think I just asked a question I shouldn't have."

Om shoots me a smirk and we burst out laughing. Cam's eyes dart between us. It's hilarious how clueless he can be sometimes. He rolls his eyes. "Ha ha. Very funny you two."

Mine and Om's grins grow farther.

"Should we get a move onto to the healer then? That way we can be on our way to the capital a little faster?" Om asks.

I nod. My gut is still tight with the worry I have for Peggy. I really hope she is okay and that they aren't hurting her too much. "When did you say your king was making his announcement?" I ask.

Cam and Om walk over to me and each grab one of my arms. "In about two days. Though he announced that yesterday, so we probably only have a day to get there."

I hiss out a breath of air. Both from the pain that jolts my back as they lift me up and at the small timeframe we have.

"How long would it take us to get there?" Cam asks, voicing the questions that I can't because of the pain that renders me speechless.

Om's quiet as we walk over to the wister. It lowers itself down to the ground until its belly is almost touching. "Normally it would take a few days, even more with a stop at the healer."

My hopes crash down into the ground. "But we don't have that kind of time!" I exclaim.

Om nods. "I know."

"Is there any way we can get there faster?" I ask.

They lower me down onto the wister so I'm lying on my stomach and so fur flies into my mouth. I sputter as I try to get it out.

"Is this comfortable?" Cam asks.

"Sort of? How long until we reach the healer?"

"About half a day. So if we need to change how you're laying we can."

I nod.

"Are we good to go?" Om asks.

I nod. Though I'm not sure how well they can tell.

"I'm good," Cam says.

A shadow falls over me and the wister as Om bends down and strokes its head. "We're going to head off now if you could follow please."

The wister seems to nod in response along with a low neigh like a horse. I can't believe that this animal could get any cooler than I already thought.

Om backs away and starts to head into the trees. I don't see Cam follow them as the wister raises itself off the ground. It shakes a little and wobbles to the side but once it's all the way up it balances us out and trots after Om.

I let myself close my eyes and relax my head on its neck. As it trots through the woods I'm jostled up and down a bit. My back jolts in pain at the worst jostles and doesn't seem to want to disappear. But it's not so bad that I'm thankfully not to be in near tears.

I sigh. Its fur is so soft. It's like a nice fluffy blanket. If the ride were a little smoother I would probably fall asleep. But it's not and my back is in constant pain, so I won't be able to rest.

Part of me is mad at myself for almost enjoying this. Why is it that when I get hurt I have people to look after me, and a nice animal to help. While Peggy's getting hurt and no one's looking after her? How is any of this fair?

Why was she even kidnapped in the first place? If I'm right and it was Za and it was because he wanted her to heal Tace then why didn't he just ask her first? How would he have even known about our world? How would he have gotten there? There's so many questions and none of them have answers.

But how did I think I would be able to save Peggy?

The only thing that's gotten me this far have been the notes. Without those I would still be at home worrying about her, knowing nothing.

Tears start to pool in my eyes. I bury my face in the wisters fur. When I do, I hear a soft whine, but I ignore it. This is all my fault. Maybe if I had tried harder to warn Peggy about the fight and something being off she would have listened. But what if her being kidnapped had nothing to do with the fight? Maybe I shouldn't have left her alone. I should have invited her to stay the night, or gone home with her. Then none of this would have happened and she'd still be back at home. Mom would be happy to see her again and not annoyed with me.

I jerk my head to the side as something grabs my shoulder. I breathe a sigh of relief when I see it's Cam.

"You scared me!" I snap.

He gives me a sheepish smile. "Sorry. I didn't mean to. You just seemed sad and I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Oh." My eyes fill with more tears.

This is something I had forgotten about. How much Cam cares. How sweet he is. Anytime I was sad or just in my feelings he was right there, always ready to comfort me. "I'm good," I tell him.

He raises a brow, like he doesn't believe me. And maybe he doesn't. Because I sure don't believe myself. "You sure?" he asks.

I nod.

He nods, but the look on his face says he doesn't believe me. But he's letting the topic drop and for that I'm glad.

"I miss this," I say, gesturing between us.

His cheeks go red. "Me too."

I smile. "You know, whenever I saw you I always thought you hated me for ruining our friendship."

When I look back at him his eyes are wide. "I could never hate you!" he hurries to say. "I was mad at you. That's for sure. But I never hated you. I hate Peggy, because if she hadn't shown up and claimed you everything would be okay between us."

I look away and stare at the orange of the wisters fur. "She didn't claim me," I mumble.

Cam barks a laugh. "You say that, but that's not how it looked."

I scrunch my face. "What do you mean?"

He rubs the back of his neck. "The fact that you can't see what I mean is messed up, Mats."

I blink.

He sighs. "When you guys first chatted it was when we were trying to find our classes. We had just found yours and were about to try and find mine before we split up, so we'd been standing outside your class. This girl with pink hair peeked out of the class and stared right at you. She acted like I was invisible when she asked do you have class here? You nodded and before either of us could say anything she grabbed your arm and pulled you into the classroom."

I shake my head. "That's not how I remember it."

"Well that's how it happened. Then slowly after that she kept pulling you away until you started telling me you were always busy. Then, well you know what happened from there."

I blink.

Is that really how it all happened? Did Peggy claim me? I can't even say whether that's true or not. I had been so awestruck by her. She was the complete opposite of me. Confident, bubbly, social. I was shy, and timid. Cam had been my only friend at the time, so when Peggy wanted to be my friend I couldn't pass that up.

"I'm still sorry," I whisper.

Cam nods. "I know."

"I-"

The wister stops.

Cam raises a brow before walking away. I only catch some of the words that he and Om exchange. I try to sit up to see them but my back flares. I hiss out a breath. Stupid fight making me get hurt.

Om comes out from around the wisters head and looks down at me. "We're going to be crossing another bridge," they say. "You're going to need to try to stay calm while the wister tries to focus on getting you across. Neither of you are fond of the bridges."

I glup. "Great."

Om nods and turns away to face the wister. They tell the wister what to expect and to try to stay close to them. Cam will be behind the two of us in case of any... accidents. Which I really hope that there won't be one.

After a few more moments of just standing around the wister starts to walk again. I bring my hands further up its neck and hold tight as it steps onto the bridge. The bridge sways side to side, almost as if it were a swing just starting to get its momentum. I squeeze my eyes tight and try to draw in deep steady breaths. But everytime the wister takes a step the bridge sways more and more.

"I don't know how much more I can take," I say into its fur. I don't think anyone will hear me, but it's worth a shot of throwing it out there before my breakfast comes out.

"We're almost there," I hear Cam say from somewhere behind me.

I try to nod but it only makes the dizziness and the nausea worse.

After a few minutes of silence Oms voice breaks through it. "I'm on the other side! You only have a few more planks to go!"

My breathing hitches. We're almost there. My grip tightens as my excitement grows. But the more it grows the more the feeling of dread grows too. What are the chances that something bad can happen within those few steps? One of the planks could fall loose right as the wister is about to step on it and then it would either fall through the hole and be stuck or get frightened and panic and make the bridge fall side to side. Or knock me off and I could fall down into the sky. Down and down and down until I hit the ground. Or would I just fall for forever?

"You made it!" Cam exclaims.

I open my eyes to see green grass and dirt below us. I sigh with relief and relax my grip.

"That wasn't so bad, right?" Om asks.

I nod. If I open my mouth I have a feeling vomit will come out.

Om laughs and pats me on the shoulder. "If it makes you feel better, the healer is on this island."

I grin. That means no more wister, Mattie, and bridge adventure.

"How far?" Cam asks.

"Not far. We just have to make our way through half the forest and then we'll be there."

I pat the wister. "Seems our time together will be over soon."

It whines in response.

"I'm sad about it too," I say and rub it's neck.