Chapter 5

When Kurt woke the next morning, he could feel the sunlight streaming onto his face, warming it. He was cosy and fairly comfortable and he didn't want to get up, so he just rolled over onto his other side, deciding that breakfast and seeing Rachel and Mercedes could wait. He was tired and sated and sleepy.

The smell of cooking eggs drifted past his face, and he breathed it in, confused. He couldn't smell the kitchens from his bedroom.

Then he realised that his bedroom was in fact miles and miles away and that he was lying in a tent on the ground in Mothlem Forest, and he wouldn't be seeing Rachel and Mercedes for another two weeks.

He rolled over again and blinked his eyes open, the delicious smell stronger when he was facing this way. Blaine must have woken up early to get cooking already.

Blaine.

He sat up quickly, his head hitting the canvas ceiling of his tent and he ducked down, patting his hair. He pulled off his blanket and shrugged a jacket on over his tunic, then crawled out of the tent.

Blaine was sitting by the fire, humming quietly as he poked at the eggs lying on a flat rock beside the fire. He looked up when Kurt emerged, slight smile broadening to a grin. Kurt smiled back and shuffled over to the fire, wrapping his arms around his knees and watching in silence whilst Blaine finished frying the eggs. When they were about done, Kurt fished two plates out of a saddlebag for him and helped him serve.

'Good night's sleep?' asked Blaine.

Kurt nodded, taking his plate from him. 'Yeah, as good as you can get in a forest. You?'

'The usual.'

Kurt wasn't sure what that meant, but he assumed Blaine had slept well too and didn't press the matter any further. 'Where did you get the eggs?' he asked.

'Bird's nest up that tree.' He pointed to one of the trees that bordered the clearing. 'Are they done enough?'

'Yeah, they're delicious, thanks.'

'Good.'

They finished their breakfast and Blaine offered to wash up the plates, but Kurt refused, taking them away from the camp and sloshing them with the water from Pippin's small water sack. When he was done Blaine helped him pack up his tent and they saddled their horses, preparing to leave.

Kurt pulled out the compass as they left the clearing, turning Pippin until they were riding Northeast through the trees.

They travelled all day, not talking as much as they had previously – the excitement of just meeting hadn't worn off yet, but they weren't as hurried to know as much about the other as possible. They mainly just talked about the Forest and what was going on around them. Kurt told Blaine some more about his task and Blaine showed Kurt the disassemblable bow that he kept strapped to Merry's saddle.

They stopped and camped for the evening again, Blaine refusing when Kurt offered him his tent. He said he preferred to be able to see the stars.

The next day was much the same, but the compass started glowing brighter. When they stopped for the night and Kurt set it down by the fire, it was nearly vibrating. He smiled excitedly at Blaine.

'We're getting close.'

And indeed they were. By the mid-morning the next day, the compass was vibrating so much and glowing such a bright shade of electric blue that Kurt had to wrap it up to hold it.

They soon came to a steep rise in the ground where the undergrowth thinned away and the ground became rocky. Blaine looked up the slope, then back at Kurt.

'I think we should leave the horses here,' he suggested. 'That'll be hard for them to navigate.'

Kurt nodded in agreement. 'And we're probably going to find it today, so we won't have to walk for long.'

The tied the horses to a tree, propping the water sack open for them and making sure they had enough rope to eat the small tufts of grass that grew around the bases of the trees. Kurt tied the compass to his belt, checked his knife, and hitched a daysack containing food and water around his shoulders. He watched Blaine unstrap his bow and assemble it – without stringing it – then slide it into a quiver he slung across his back. He pulled a long knife out of his saddlebag and slid it into his belt.

'Ready?' Kurt asked.

'Ready.'

They set off up the slope at a steady pace. It was steeper and longer than they had originally thought it was, and Kurt found himself having to pull himself up with tree roots and branches at several occasions. It was a good thing they hadn't brought the horses.

They were both panting by the time they reached the top, and Blaine sagged down against a tree trunk. He laughed breathily, shaking his head. Kurt nodded and they caught their breath for a few minutes before Blaine straightened up. 'Let's go,' he said.

The trees at the top of the slope were older and bigger than the ones lower down. Kurt wondered if they were in an older part of the Forest, or if it was just that these trees were higher up and got more sunlight. In any case, it made navigating them a lot easier.

By now, the compass was going absolutely haywire, jittering about it Kurt's hand as he held it out in front of him, squinting to shield his eyes from the bright blue light.

'We're definitely close,' he said to Blaine. 'It can't be more than a mile away.'

Blaine nodded as his face lit up with excitement. 'Then let's go find it!' he exclaimed, striding off in the direction the compass was pointing. Kurt laughed at him under his breath for a few seconds, appreciating how he walked, then hurried to catch up with him.

They continued through the trees for about fifteen more minutes until Blaine stopped.

'There,' he said, pointing in front of him. 'Through those trees. A blue light.'

Kurt grinned at him and they hurried through the last few trees until they broke through a tangle of branches into a large clearing.

Kurt glanced up, his eyes flickering to the blue light on the far side of the clearing. He looked around. A stream ran through the grass over to their right, a large tree dominating the area as it spread out its huge, ancient limbs…

Kurt's stomach dropped as it hit him. He knew where they were. He had been here before.

He gasped, clutching at thin air until his hand felt Blaine's shoulder and he clung on for dear life. He knees felt like they were going to give out. His head was swimming. He was going to be sick.

'Kurt? Kurt? Are you okay?' Blaine grasped his shoulders, forcing him to look at him. 'Kurt, what's going on?'

Kurt simply shook his head, covering his mouth with his hands until he couldn't take it anymore and forced himself to turn away from Blaine to be sick all over the ground.

He fell to his knees as his stomach heaved, the bile leaving a strong acid taste in his mouth. When he was done, he swallowed hard, and looked up at Blaine with fuzzy eyes, shaking. Blaine's face was the picture of concern as he kneeled beside him and gently took his hands.

'Kurt? Are you okay? No, you're not – are you ill? What is it?'

Kurt shook his head until he was able to speak again. He looked at Blaine as his voice quivered then broke.

'This – this clearing – is – where my mother died.'

Blaine's eyes opened in shock and he pulled Kurt towards him, circling his arms around him. Kurt pressed his face into his shoulder, still shaking from the sheer shock of it all. He didn't know why he had reacted so badly, but it really hadn't felt good.

Blaine pulled away from him and looked him in the eye. 'Look,' he said. 'We don't need to stay here any longer than necessary. We'll just grab the necklace and go, okay? I can go and get it, you don't even have to come.'

Kurt shook his head again. 'No – no – you won't be able to touch it yet,' he croaked, then cleared his throat and sat up properly. 'I need to unColour it first. But – can – can you come with me?'

'Of course,' said Blaine, and he pulled them both to their feet.

Kurt wiped his chin and looked down at the puddle of vomit. 'Gross,' he muttered, then shook off the unease his was still feeling. 'Come on.'

They hurried across the clearing, Kurt trying to look around as little as possible – that was where we made our fire – to keep his stomach from swooping again – that was where Mom showed me how she could make plants grow – and finally reached the necklace.

It was hovering about five feet in the air, rotating slowly, shining a bright, electric blue. Kurt could feel it, could feel his Colour in the air. It felt familiar and like home and his magic class, and soothed his insides.

'This could take a while,' he said to Blaine, who nodded and sat down on the grass to wait.

Kurt flicked his fingers at the necklace, encountering an invisible barrier as he thought he would. He started muttering under his breath as he recited the freeing spell Mr Schue had taught them in Telepathic, until the barrier broke down and the necklace fell to the ground. He bent down and picked it up. It felt warm to the touch. He turned round to show Blaine, but was interrupted by an ear-piercing, bone-chilling howl.

Blaine leapt to his feet immediately, grabbing his bow out of the quiver and stringing it in record time. He nocked an arrow and stood beside Kurt, who had summoned a ball of fire, now shivering above his palm.

More howls. Several shivers ran down Kurt's spine and he inched closer to Blaine.

Then suddenly there was a loud crash and the tree line nearest to them was broken by a dozen huge, growling wolves.

'The tree!' cried Kurt, already running towards it. Blaine sped past him, twisting backwards and loosing an arrow in the wolves' direction. Kurt didn't know if it hit but he followed Blaine's example and shot a stream of fire over his shoulder at them. He heard a whimper and tried again, stumbling over the ground.

They were getting nearer to the tree. The ground was strewn with roots and branches and leaves. Blaine soared over it easily, sending another arrow back at the wolves. Kurt twisted round again and shot another stream of fire at them. It just flew over one of their shoulders.

Suddenly he felt his foot catch and fell to the ground, scrambling as he tried to dislodge his foot and get away. The wolves couldn't have been more than fifty feet away by now and were approaching fast.

'Blaine!' he cried, still jiggling his leg and only succeeding to get it more stuck. 'Help!'

Blaine stopped running, panic clouding his features as he realised that Kurt wasn't beside him anymore and that he was in fact lying trapped several feet behind. He ran back and started pulling at the root holding down Kurt's foot. Finally, Kurt felt it lift just enough, and he pulled his foot out.

'Go!' shouted Blaine.

Kurt needed no further prompting, already flying across the uneven ground. He reached the base of the tree and swung himself up onto the first low branch, then scrambling up onto a higher one.

Below him, Blaine crashed against the tree and pulled himself onto the first branch. The wolves had finally caught up.

Blaine only just pulled himself onto the second branch in time to avoid having his ankle bitten off by the sharp, clacking teeth.

They climbed higher, high enough that the wolves were the size of cats, and sat down cautiously on one of the thick branches. They were both panting heavily. Kurt could see that Blaine's face was red, and guessed that his was too. How embarrassing.

'Are you okay?' Blaine panted at him.

Kurt nodded. He was physically unharmed, but he had just avoided dying the same way his mother had, and he couldn't get the images of her out of his head. He let his head drop back against the tree trunk, trying to block out the sounds of the wolves' gnarls and barks below and ignore his mother's screams that were running through his head. He felt a lump begin to form in his throat and willed himself not to cry.

'You're not okay,' Blaine said simply, moving closer to him on the branch. 'Do you want to talk?'

'Not right now,' Kurt breathed.

He felt Blaine take his hand – the one he realised his was still gripping the necklace in. He opened up his palm and frowned at it.

'Are you going to unColour it?' asked Blaine.

'No, I should probably leave it for Mr Schue to see. But then I will. It's a nice necklace.'

Blaine nodded and they fell back to silence, trying to ignore the sounds from below. Eventually, Kurt looked up at Blaine again.

'So what now?' he asked.

'Now,' Blaine said grimly, 'we wait.'