“Look if you can’t do it, just say that, but we need those calories so do you want to help me or not?” Indigo said, and hissing out a breath through his teeth, D’Varrus hesitantly nodded. Walking over to her, he started to bend over.
“What are you doing?” Indigo asked sharply.
“I’m picking you up?” D’Varrus remarked, hesitating though before he wrapped his arms around her waist.
“Like petch you are.” Indigo exclaimed, taking a step backwards.
D’Varrus shook his head.
“Listen, I don’t have the strength nor the dexterity to reach those mangoes otherwise. So its either I pick you up, or we go hungry.” D’Varrus said in an even tone. Indigo didn’t respond but eventually she did give a shrug and didn’t move as he went to pick her up. Then angling backwards so that she could reach the mangoes, he held her there for a few chimes.
“Okay. Let me down now.” Indigo said eventually and slowly D’Varrus let her back down onto the ground. Close up, he couldn’t help but notice she smelled like it had been a while since her last bath and he had to wonder how long she had been out in the jungle before he found her. Given that apparently she didn’t have much food in her pack, he had to guess quite a while since she didn’t seem the type to leave unprepared.
He took a few steps back while she loaded several of the small yellow fruits into her bag before cutting one open and handing him half of it. They started to eat as they walked along.
After taking his first hesitant bite, D’Varrus ended up devouring quickly what was left of the sweet yellow fruit which managed to quench some of his thirst, but not enough to satisfy him. While he was busy trying to suckle the juice left on his fingertips, Indigo shot him a disgusted look that he ignored before handing him her water skin which was about a quarter full.
Opening it, D’Varrus took a cautious sniff and took a little bit of pleasure about how it appeared to irk Indigo before he took a small pull from it and handed it back. After a handful more chimes had passed, D’Varrus cleared his throat.
“It was a good idea those mangoes. Thank you for the water.” He admitted begrudgingly though Indigo continued not to say anything as they walked along. Things remained that way for a long while, with Indigo occasionally producing a mango out of her pack to split with him while spending the rest of the time enduring this indignity in silence.
That all changed when they came across an animal path, a well traveled one by the looks of it, and Indigo looked hopeful for the first time. Indigo extracted herself from his grasp to crouch next to the ground on one knee as she appeared to try to study the soil. Then she pulled on his hand until he got down alongside her.
“I cannot see very well. What is this track here look like?” Indigo asked and peering closely D’Varrus thought it looked like a small paw print. Getting down lower to take a good sniff, he thought he could smell that more than one animal had taken this path though it was hard to be sure with this nose of his. He looked back at Indigo.
“I’m not sure. It looks like something with a small paw. I can’t make out any toes because its not that good of a print.” D’Varrus said, and Indigo let out a long sigh. “It does seem like quite a few animals frequent this trail though from the smell though it is hard for me to be certain.”
Indigo appeared to take a measure of reassurance from that as she pointed down the trail.
“I think we are going to have to follow this trail and hope it leads to a water source. I don’t think we have much of a choice otherwise.” Indigo shrugged, pulling herself up on him before returning to their previous position. D’Varrus for lack of a better option decided to follow the trail but kept his ears, nose, and eyes alert for trouble. After a few chimes had passed, Indigo spoke again.
“Normally I would try to keep to the canopy as much I possibly could to avoid running into predators. Petch we really are in the shite walking down here.” Indigo said, and D’Varrus found himself nodding along with her assessment. It wouldn’t have been his first choice but it made sense. It was also a pretty good place for such a predator to ambush them.
The thought made him feel a brief up swell of panic as he looked up into the trees and didn’t quite relax even when he failed to spot anything.
“I’ve been watching the trees, but my eyes are different from yours as much as your eyes are different from your jaguar form.” Indigo said slowly, in a quiet voice, wary about how her voice might carry in the jungle. A silence lapsed between them for a chime, then Indigo leaned against him slightly as she squeezed his arm.
“We should have brought one of those sticks.” D’Varrus suggested quietly.
Indigo burst out laughing for a brief moment, confusing him until he caught a glimpse of her face and realized she had been crying. With the mud mostly gone from her face now, he could see the wetness that glistened around her eyes. D’Varrus went still on the inside.
“You’re right. We should have.” She said, and for an even longer period of time now she went quiet while they followed the animal trail along as best they could. Unfortunately it didn’t last long. It whittled away until they were back in the bush and Indigo had to hand him her machete to help clear the way.
D’Varrus wasn’t familiar with the tool but he was acquainted with the basic concept. He started hacking away at the foliage before Indigo quickly stopped him.
“Go for the bottom. Make your cuts nice and short with plenty of power behind them so you don’t get it snagged on something.” Indigo counseled him, and nodding, D’Varrus did as he was told going for short smooth strokes as he navigated his way through the dense foliage.
D’Varrus could have cried when they eventually heard the sound of running water nearly fifteen chimes later. It turned out to a minor stream which ran lead into a river that Indigo looked pretty excited to see.
“I’m pretty sure this is the Syka River. If it is all we have to do is follow it to the sea and- oh gods please let it be so.” Indigo practically begged as the started to follow the river, keeping it on their left as they worked their way down it.
The going was significantly easier here, and now that it felt less likely that they were going in circles he felt confident about picking up the pace though not so much that it caused unnecessary pain for Indigo. Despite their differences, he didn’t much like hearing her cry out in pain occasionally when she lost her footing and had to step on her bad ankle. So he made sure to not go any faster than what she could easily keep up with as they walked along the river bank.
Pretty soon they were greeted with another blissful sight. An opening through the thick tangle of jungle and through that opening, the sea. At such a beautiful sight they both were laughing quietly to themselves as they hobbled their way to that sandy beach where D’Varrus collapsed onto his knees and dug his fingers into the sand, relishing the feel of it after such a tense journey.
Indigo remained standing on one leg, eyes closed and head tilted up to the sky as she seemed to revel in the breeze that came off the see, blowing her inky black hair so that it whipped about her head. She cut quite a picture like that, offset by the dark silvery sky. Strangely beautiful.
“I suppose we ought to be getting back now.” D’Varrus said after the silence became to much for him. He was starting to feel a bit conflicted about the woman, and he didn’t want to think about what had transpired. Really, he just wanted to be back in Syka and get something to eat.
Indigo opened her eyes after he spoke, looking vaguely disappointed as if wherever she had been it had been a place immeasurably more beautiful than the one she had opened her eyes to come back to.
“Sure. Lead the way.” Indigo said simply, and D’Varrus did just that, keeping the sea on his left as he walked them down the beach. The pigs of course had their chance to taunt him, but he promised them silently that he would be back very soon. Tomorrow even perhaps, though maybe not. He could use a bit of a break from this side of the jungle after that little trek.
It was a long walk back, and a longer silence still stretched between them until finally the crossed by Sharktooth point.
“I’m sorry for what happened back there. It has been a difficult season, and I don’t like having to rely on somebody else. Something I think you can relate to.” Indigo admitted quietly, in a soft voice that was almost lost in the noise of the waves lapping against the beach. D’Varrus blinked several times, wondering if he understood her correctly when Indigo continued as if she hadn’t been quiet for the chimes that ran in between her words.
“I just got so tired of being stuck in Syka. I wanted to get back out in the jungle, but who wants to go with someone who gets lost after going a few feet in any direction?” Indigo asked, before going on to say angrily, “I will torture whoever laid this curse upon me and make it last triple as long as the curse they laid on me lasts.”
They both ruminated on that silently for several long moments, with D’Varrus wondering again about these curses, and why she seemed to think someone was behind them. There was just so much to unpack from what she said, but what really stuck with him was what she had said about him. She said she thought he could relate. It struck closer to the mark than he would have liked.
“I wasn’t on my best behavior either, and I can’t even claim a curse as an excuse.” D’Varrus said, pausing for a moment to take in a deep breath and let it out through his nose before he continued. “Listen I know its probably not something you want to hear, but have you tried asking if people will take you out into the jungle? The worst they can do is say no and then you can move on till you find someone who will.” D’Varrus said as he watched Indigo’s face carefully.
With the light of the moon, half of it was illuminated by the silvery glow, and he saw that half wince briefly at his words before her expression turned steely.
“If they all say no, come find me. I’ll take you. You can give me advice, and I’ll make sure we don’t get lost.” D’Varrus said firmly.
Indigo glanced at him, and for a heartbeat her expression seemed to soften before it sealed back up.
“Looks like we’re back in Syka. There are the Overwater Ranchos.” Indigo stated flatly.
D’Varrus hesitantly nodded, and let it go at that. He had said his bit. Now it was her turn to decide what to do with it.
“So we are.” D’Varrus said. They parted ways soon after that, with him leaving Indigo in the Commons with a woman named Nesra before heading back to the Overwater Rancho to pick over whatever food he had stored away. It was going to be a while yet before morning, and he had time to kill.
WC - 2,022
