Saving Ari

"Ari is waiting to be saved!" Red heard Archer say and then she didn't expect him to grab her and she accidentally hugged his tall frame to keep herself steady.

"Partio!" he yelled.

Blue light glowed in a circle of fungus around them. The spores expanded and in fleeting moments exploded in chorus reminding Red of little specks of stars and they teleported instantaneously to the other side of the island.

For a brief minute, Red's surroundings with the sounds of the ocean's waves crashing on the shores mixed and merged with the forest's night life of tropical cries of cicadas frolicking in the darkness.

"Stay low, and no unnecessary sounds." Ari whispered, his breath touching the top of her small forehead making her stray baby hairs move the slightest bit. She was still hugging him and his scent invaded her senses.

Sweat and salty seawater mixed with a musky manly scent.

Intoxicatingly delicious.

'Fuck, what am I thinking.' she suddenly realized.

She slowly broke their awkward embrace and stood to look at how Archer inspected their 3D map and zoomed into the tree's inner system. She scanned around the area and saw that they were now about a few meters away from the said tree and tiny dry leaves were drifting in the wind.

They danced and pranced in mid-air like mini helicopters only to fall and ultimately kiss the damp ground where the others had lain before them. A beautiful graveyard for the fallen. Destined to be disintegrated into smaller fragments and return to mother nature's sweet embrace.

The grand tree in personal was something she had never seen before. It reached so far into the sky and towered over the other trees that were around it. Its branches old and sturdy, supported sub-branches and birds and small animals that made it into their sanctuary.

The ground was utterly as mesmerizing as well. Moss covered the majority of the floor where it stood mighty, a few toadstools popped here and there. Little frogs of translucent rainbow colors hopped up and about, minding their own business. And dainty flowers adorned the dirt path.

"Where do we go from here?" she asked Archer in a low hush.

Archer stared into the tree's projection showing an elaborate system of hollowed twist and turns. There were chambers as well and what looked like stairs that went everywhere. He spun the projection with a slight flick of his finger and saw there was a small gap within the trunk at the far east side of where they were.

He motioned for Red to follow him and they inched around towards the tree's entrance. Cautiously creeping in silent light footsteps, hiding in the darkness to scan the surroundings for potential threats.

When they saw that all was clear, they moved closer and wobbled to fit in the tiny gap where two huge roots separated into the ground.

The gap was wide enough for Archer's broad frame to fit in with just a little bit of struggling but once they were inside, the hollows magically stretched until they could actually stand with much ease.

Checking the map for the last time, Archer took it into his memory the twist and turns of the hollow tree. He gave the pocket watch for Red to carry and they carefully went deeper into the mysterious.

Red could see their orbs moving at the bottom while about nine orbs above them were shuffling in unpredictable manner. Four orbs can be seen inside the huge chamber located right at the middle of the tree's trunk. Two pairs of stationary beings.

Could any one of these orbs be of Ari's?

They arrived at the first flight of wooden stairs that looked like they were carved out of the tree itself. As they were about to step into it, Red and Archer heard a familiar primal sound calling.

"Meooooowww." A prolonged soft cry was heard.

Red turned to see at the far dark corner, there he was the fat fucking reason they got into this whole mess, Sir Arthur, crouched and poised like he was actually waiting for them to arrive at that exact moment.

When their eyes had met, the feline immediately took it upon himself to trot towards Red and Archer, rubbing his body on Red's leg, leaving loose cat hair sticking out of her jeans. He made an attempt to climb and Red scooped him up with one hand to level his face with hers.

"Sir Arthur, you dumb cat you are actually here!" she whispered loudly. "What is it? Where is Ari?"

"Meeoooww! Meow!" replied the cat, pointing his wet nose above them and making hissing sounds like there was something he was afraid of upstairs.

Red and Archer looked at each other and proceeded to slowly climb up the stairs, careful not to make creaking noises to avoid alerting whatever or whoever were those represented by the orbs in their little map projection.

Each step they took, sweat poured down Red's forehead, the tension of not knowing if these people above them were friends of foe.

Sir Arthur's low thrumming purrs echoed in the hollows of the stairs that wound upwards the next level. Slowly, they reached the last flight of stairs and the darkness turned to mellow oranges and torches lit the hallway.

Just as they were about to step out from the shadows, voices of women talking in an unknown language began to speak in hurried whispers.

"Ye elfhein wo doshiunsei? Zi bondsha?"

"Sey Morgianna, ze elfhein Arikyer ye bondsha un da fri."

"Vaey ze tood, kita fashta run govii!"

The pair and the cat stood still hearing Ari's name being mentioned. Red turned to look at Archer and his face had turned from calm to a face of rage. His brows almost touching and his fists were clenched tightly.

What did those voices talk about to make him mad as hell?

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