S1 EP5 - V(4) Doubts

The next morning everything feels a bit stiff and I feel cold. I free myself from Cleo's and Ivory's arms and haul myself up.

"Come on, get up! We want to make it on time. Let's re-coordinate first. Do you see any recognizable features that can be found on the map?"

Drowsy, Luke also straightens up and stretches, "Hmm, let's see."

Luke looks at the map, then looks around while yawning, "We have to go that way."

"Doesn't sound very convincing though.... Why that way of all places? Besides, we'd better figure out exactly where we are on the map and then use the compass- "

"I'm just tired...There are lots of little mushrooms growing in the other direction, leading to the mushroom region. In other words, exactly the opposite direction from Stelzheim."

"Also, we should watch out for water noise, since Stelzheim is near the big river," Jay adds while still half asleep.

Seeing the two of them so relaxed, yet fully in the picture, reassures, but also amazes me.

"Does anyone know what time it is?" asks Cleo, rubbing her eyes.

"It's already after eight... My stomach has already growled...", Jay replies in a relaxed manner. Way too relaxed, in fact.

Astonished, I look at him, "What do you mean, your stomach has already growled?"

"His stomach always growls at eight," Luke explains me as the others are getting to their feet.

After all, to be on the safe side, we decide to use the compass and map to keep reorienting ourselves along the way, counting steps to estimate approximate kilometers. My 69 steps correspond to 100 meters. Meanwhile, we also collect all the food we can find. Every now and then we take small breaks and rotate carrying the backpack. Towards afternoon, I start to worry if we can really make it until tonight. Spending the night like this... not exactly comfortable... And besides!!! I'm going to disappoint mom so much!! How could I possibly forget that?! Ahhh!! Those high expectations!!

Cleo notices my bad mood and holds me back a bit. She puts her hand on my shoulder comfortingly, which looks a little ridiculous since she's shorter than me. She looks sympathetically into my eyes and with that look tells me not to worry. I pull up the corners of my mouth a little, but I'm not really convinced by her comfort. It's still very sweet of her.

"Look, over there!" Enthusiastically, Jay walks towards the long wiggling bridge in front of us. There's something wrong with the bridge though... Or rather, the surroundings... It's so unsteady. The water around it is pretty close... and flowing very fast.

"Pass me the map, please. Is the bridge marked?" I ask.

"Yes. It should be the one here where the zig-zag symbols are" answers Luke.

"Oh... guys... I think...", Luke looks over at the bridge again to reassure himself, "this bridge floods regularly!"

The water is already rising, so we have to hurry. Since the bridge has withstood the floods so far, we assume it will also withstand all of us at once.

"How much more is the water rising?!", Grey holds onto the terrain in horror. Cleo is also showing signs of difficulty. I am afraid that those two dwarfs might be washed away....

"I don't know, but we should quickly get out of here!"

By the time we are off the bridge, the water is already chest high at the two of them. Therefore, we head for the nearest trees, which we climb up. Luckily, the water stops rising a short while later.

"Oh great, we'll never get there in time like this" I sigh out loud.

"Kuro, do you have any ideas?" asks Grey curiously.

"No," he replies coldly.

"You don't talk a lot, do you?"

"Right."

"Why not?"

"..."

"Sorry..."

"If you really want to arrive today, what do you think of swimming? We're already wet anyways, and we don't have any fire either.", Jay shrugs his shoulders and gets ready to jump off.

"Yes, why not..." Cleo is also getting ready to jump off.

Ivory shrugs her shoulders and jumps first. Jay, Luke, Cleo and Grey follow her example. I roll my eyes and carefully climb down with the backpack. It should better stay as dry as possible. I quickly realize that I can barely stand, which is why I wait to pass the backpack to Kuro. He should be able to stand, just like Ivory.

"What is it, Kuro?" asks Ivory after she's completely dunked in the water once.

"It's impossible."

"What do you mean, impossible?"

"I can't swim." That knocks everyone out of their socks. None of us expected that.

"Ehh, you're about my height. I can stand here, so you should be able to do it too. Besides, you can hold on to things anywhere." She moves closer to me and takes the backpack from me to balance it on her shoulder.

As if it's no big deal, he nods to her suggestion and calmly climbs down. "We can continue. Apologies." Somehow, I would have expected more resistance....

Kuro shimmies from one tree to another, clinging to Ivory from time to time.

"You're surprisingly calm for someone who can't swim" Ivory points out.

"Thanks..."

In the meantime, Jay has been picking up floating fruit and eating them.

"Where to now?", Jay addresses Luke, who is currently reading the map. "Oh, eh, you guys want some?" he suddenly realizes as he bites into a plum or a similar fruit.

"Emm... this way. It should be through tall grass for a while now. That's why we'd have to go through a flooded area with no trees. Just like over there."

"Okay... We trust you..." Well... more or less we have no choice....

We continue to swim and wade for a while until the water finally begins to subside again.

"Arghh! We need to grab each other!" Grey suddenly screams.

Immediately I reach for Grey and try to hold him in place. Together we form a chain with the others. Kuro is also dragged along by the water, which is why he clings to Ivory in nearly visual panic. She gets startled and almost loses grip herself. In the meantime, the backpack gets a little wet. However, this brief, hectic moment is enough to make Kuro a little more human. This is the most emotional thing I've seen from Kuro so far. Also, his hairstyle is finally getting messed up. I began to wonder if his hair was even real with his neatly done ponytail.

Together we continue to fight our way to the next row of trees and wait until everything has subsided.

It is already pitch dark, we are completely soaked, and in the end we have lost our sense of direction. At least the water is gone. I am on the verge of crying. At some point I even think I hear voices.

"Do you hear that too?", Luke pulls me out of my thoughts.

"I thought I was just imagining it!" My mood, no, all of our moods rise and we start running. Soon we also hear headlights that we are running towards.

"Hellooo?!!!"

"Hello!"

"Hey, hey, the third group is here!"

A few figures emerge, though I can match an outline to my mother.

"Wow, I didn't expect you guys to make it today despite the flood... Oh, you guys are soaking wet. Come warm yourselves up!" mom laughs at us. Just as I'm about to stroll off in relief, I feel that gaze on me again, making me question my entire performance.

Desperately, Jay steps forward and interrupts her gaze. I use the moment to shake off my negative thoughts and focus on my freezing body. Then he asks the question of all questions, "Are we going to get some food too, or do we have to find it ourselves first? I'm about to die of hunger!" As if to reinforce what he said, his stomach growls really loud. But he is right. We're all very hungry and tired.

Mom smirks and looks over at Professor Zenli and Mr. Freed.

"Don't worry. You'll find enough food in your huts for today and warm jogging suits."

The huts are on stilts and look very cozy. We girls walk to our hut and check it out first. It doesn't have a water supply, but it does have three towels and jogging suits. We find some fruits and nuts. That's not quite much... I guess we will have to search for food starting tomorrow after all.