They woke up to the pattering of rain on the oiled tarps above them. Adeliz was in charge. Ines had rarely been as emotional as she was the night before, and the Akalak wanted to give her some extra rest. It was the rainy season, and the brief showers the day before were no match for the force of this downpour. The rain hitting the tarp was a comforting sound that kept the witch feeling sleepy.
"We need to move." Indigo had already packed her hammock and was in the process of taking down the tarps. "Where we're camped is probably secure from mudslides, but I'd rather find somewhere we can stay dry." Adeliz tried to climb out of the hammock and would have slipped in the mud if the tarps hadn't kept the dirt beneath them drier than outside of the camp. She undid the knots and folded the hammock into Indigo's bag, again, just as she finished packing the second tarp. They had both slept fully clothed, boots and all, and so it only took few chimes before they were heading down to cross the swelling stream.
The jungle was just as alive in the rain as it was under the clear lights of Syna or Leth. Birdcalls and the hooting of monkeys cut through the pattering of rain on the leaves and hitting the dirt. At least there were fewer bugs. The stream had been tiny before, but it was still no match for their tall boots, and it took little time to step through. Indigo pulled out a pouch of pork jerky and handed it to the Akalak. "Breakfast. After we find a place to start a fire, we can find something sweeter to eat. I need to boil this water, too." The young woman gestured to a waterskin on her hip, protected from the rain with a waterproofed poncho and marked with chalk. "I collected it in my pot as soon as the rain started. It may still be okay to drink, but I'd rather be safe than sorry."
Indigo made liberal use of her machete as they traveled parallel to the stream. Adeliz also held hers out, but she seldom cut down any plants. She found it difficult to hurt the plants and even eat the jerky when she knew that they could feel things the same as her. Ines somehow had no qualms with eating meat or cutting down plants, but she always tried to ask permission. The Kelvic had a much more rounded understanding of the circle of life than the Akalak.
"Thank you for comforting Ines yesterday." started Adeliz. "I live in the same body and share her thoughts and her memories, and I still could not have said what you said and as well as you said it."
"It was nothing. I was simply speaking the truth. I don't believe Caiyha is stupid - she knew what she was doing, and what she was doing for Ines. I can't begin to fathom her plans, but that seemed obvious enough to me." The rain seemed to be letting up now, but Indigo was still following the stream instead of looking for a trail like she had the day before.
"Still. It means a lot to us. It is much harder to convince yourself of the truth than to accept it as it is given to you." insisted the Akalak, hoping that she would accept the good she did for the Kelvic. The rain had fully stopped. Every movement of birds or animals between the trees released a torrent of water as the leaves shifted, but traveling was going to be a bit easier now. The air was somehow even more humid because of the recent rain, but the view that visited them as they reached a break in the trees made up for it one hundred times over.
