As they packed up for the morning, Indigo rustled through her bag and pulled out a shiny flask. "Oh, by the way, did you leave this at the camp? I found it when I was packing up. It looks too clean to have just been left in the dirt."
"No...is there anything in it?" Indigo shook her head.
"I still feel like you should have it." She tucked it into the bat's own bag. Another mysterious gift from Bala's Bowl. Ines felt like she should take it, too. Like it was meant for her. They had a lot of hiking to do to make it back to Syka before sunset.
--
Ines hustled behind Indigo. When she'd said she'd wanted to get back to Syka in a day, the witch didn't realize how fast they'd have to go. They weren't in a rush, but she could feel the strain on her legs and breathing. She just had to push to the point that it felt good. Leaving Bala's Bowl made all three of them sad, but Ines had her job to do.
They followed an entirely different path this time. The jungle was pulled in closer around them, and the ranger made more liberal use of her machete to cut their way through. It felt overwhelming with the Nura feedback, and the Kelvic had to tune it out since they were hiking at such a steady pace. She thought back to the tangled growth in the back of Bala's Bowl. It felt dark, like it was unnatural or angry, which upset her. The rest of the grove was happy and gorgeous. She hadn't been able to bring herself to explore it, but she'd need to go back. It was her Godess-given job to inspect and fix issues like that. She just needed to get better so that she could.
It started to pour. Indigo had routed them in a way that would avoid flash floods, but the ground was still mushy from the wet.
"I love the smell of the rainforest when it's raining. It smells...heavy? But green. I don't even know how something can smell like a color." Indigo turned her head to look at Ines and smiled.
"It does smell green. I can agree with that."
Indigo had brought a hat, and it protected her from the rain - she was not so lucky. Her hair and clothes stuck to her body, and she had already bathed in the lake that morning before the half-Myrian woke up. She didn't need another bath! As much as she loved the jungle, a beach nap sounded amazing... lying on a hammock in the sun with a soft breeze. That was one thing that here couldn't compete with. Naps in Taloba ended with her waking up sticky and tired. Maybe Indigo would want to nap, too.
"Do you like the beach or the jungle better?" she asked. Ines had her own answer, and she suspected that hers was the same.
"They both have their strong points. I like the jungle because it's my home. I like the beach because it's the home of my friends, which also makes it my home. Bonfire cookouts are better on the beach, but I like camping in the jungle."
"I feel the same. I love napping on the beach, but there's nothing like it here," A large raindrop landed in her eye as she looked up to scan the foliage. As she rubbed her eye and blinked hard, she continued, "Nothing like it, alright." They laughed - this entire trip had been full of laughter. Ines was so thankful that she had a chance to bond with Indigo and to share their stories. She really liked Indigo, and apparently she liked Indigo in ways that made Adeliz blush and hide. The bat had no idea what she had to be embarrassed about.
