1 Prologue #1

It was a sunny summer afternoon when a young couple in their mid-twenties went on a hike deep in the mountains to forget about their problems plagueing them in their daily lives. The pair looked stunning, even in hiking boots and sports outfits.

However, both of their faces contained hints of sorrow that couldn't be washed away. When the man looked at the sad profile of his beloved he couldn't help but feel helpless. Because he knew that he was unable to solve the problem that plagued her.

"Come on, cheer up. Try not to think about it okay? We will solve this issue when the time comes, so let's enjoy the fresh air and the view allright?" he tried to cheer her up.

And the view was indeed breathtakingly beautiful: A lush green forest brimming with life, crystal clear rivers and loud waterfalls crushing down from dozens of meters of height.

It was not without reasons that this mountain was one of the few nature reserves in this country. Famous for its flourishing Flora and diversity in the Fauna it was the most popular and best visited mountain in the region.

The woman nodded to the try of her fiancé to console her. "You're right, I shouldn't keep brooding over this problem of mine since its already so rare for us to go out together like this. I know that your time table is filled to the brim with meetings that you pushed aside for this chance. I really shouldn't ruin it for both of us."

The man laughed "I could say the same thing to you, ms. surgeon chief. Your planner isn't any less cramped than mine. Let's just enjoy our stay at this mountain for the night."

" For the night? You're not thinking about camping are you? It's completely forbidden!"

"Come on, don't be so inflexible. We can just say that we got lost if the rangers come" He grinned. While she gave him a glare she didn't say anything else and pulled out the map, pointing to a certain spot. "If we're already staying here then I want to go there. It's the most beautiful waterfall in the entire mountain." she demanded while blushing. Seeing that she agreed to it he smiled and pulled a device out of his backpack. "I will be setting the GPS then."

Hearing those words out of his mouth the corner of her lips started twitching. "Dear, do you happen to remember what happened the last time you used the GPS?"

Now it was his turn to blush in embarrassment. "That was simply because the GPS was faulty. It wasn't because of me!" "So it wasn't because of your terrible sense of direction?", she teased with a face full of mirth. "Well I guess it was just that one time so it should be all right this time."

... ~2 hours later:

"I really shouldn't have trusted you.", she said with an expressionless face.

After walking for a few hours the light inside the forest had dimmed considerably, it wouldn't be long until it was completely dark. And yet the both of them still hadn't arrived at their destination. Not even a tiny sound of a river flowing could heard, not to mention a waterfall.

Hoping to vanish into the ground he stood in front of her and tried explaining in an apologetic voice.

" You know, maybe the GPS signal wasn't clear enough..."

" Or you typed in the wrong coordinates, what could be more believable...

I don't know, what do you think?", she interrupted with a sarcastic smile on her face. Feeling a chill running down his back he took a few steps back, pointed his gaze elsewhere and smiled while sweating profusely at the sight of his annoyed fianceé.

"It's getting dark, we should probably stop here for today. That tree looks quite good, why don't we use this for tonight?"

Trying to change the topic he pointed at an old acorn tree. Knowing that continueing to argue wouldn't help, she sighed and put down her backpack, taking a long rope out of it. "I guess it'll do. It's already too dark to continue walking, we wouldn't be able to prepare our camp on time."

"I'll start preparing dinner then", he replied while taking out canned food, a camping cooker and a plastic plane. Spreading the plane on the ground, he put the cooker on top of it. Carefull as to not spill anything, he filled the denatured alcohol into the cooker. And finally, after filling the cans contents into a small pot he lit the cooker and started warming up the ravioli in tomato soup.

Meanwhile she started climbing up the tree in a blink of an eye. With movements resembling a monkey she arrived on a thick branch about five meters above the ground. With an amazing handiwork she begann binding the rope around the stem and branch, creating a makeshift harness to prevent someone from falling down the tree.

When she finished the last sling she climbed down on a rope she knotted to the branch. Landing next to him with a soft thud she asked: "You still remember how to tie your harness right?"

Handing out a warm bowl of ravioli with a spoon he rolled his eyes. "Do your seriously think I would dare to forget how to tie it after what happened last time?"

Recalling himself hanging from a tall tree, held six meters above ground with only one foot bound to a rope he couldn't help but shudder.

"Well, I still remember that hilarious look on your face when your were freestyle bungee-jumping" she started laughing. "And you said just minutes before it happened that I should leave the climbing to you since girls shouldn't do the dirty work. Plus you wanted to prove so much just how much of a man you where. At least you let me tie a safety rope on you before you went up, or it really wouldn't have ended nicely."

Blowing on a spoonful of ravioli she grinned at him. "And thats why you should always let the more experienced person climb first, all right~?"

Recalling the unusual hobby of the girl in front of him he sighed and agreed. "You're right, but could you please stop nagging? You're litteraly crushing my pride right now."

Sighing exaggeratedly, she finally concentrated on eating.

"But you know, even if you suck at climbing, you're still one hell of a businessman.", she consoled him.

"Do you speak like that to your patients as well?"

"Nope, this way of speaking is reserved to you only, honey."

"Is that so. Well, lets eat up!"

It was quite the leisurely evening after eating, even though a certain someone had quite a few problems climbing into his sleeping harness.

By the way, the woman slept higher up with only one rope securely binding her to the tree.