Chapter 35 part 2

"Well, shouldn't we first set up a base camp or something?" Amelia asked. "That way we can have a central area to focus our search on."

"That would be helpful if we had more people," Hannah remarked. "Oh, and if we knew what language or languages the people on this world speak."

"Then we also would need to separate and not stay together," Wes added.

Amelia looked as if they betrayed her, although Charlie was fairly sure she was being melodramatic rather than actually upset.

"Well, I think we should first explore this area so we can see what there is here," Beth commented. "That way we'll at least be able to not only gather supplies, but also knowledge of the surrounding area." Then Beth was quiet for a minute before she suddenly added, "Oh, and keep track of the area, like mapping it or something, so we'll know what's where."

"You know, I like that idea," Tim said. "It lets us learn more about this world and you never know when we might run into other people."

"Well, if we're going to be here a while, we'll probably need to at least learn one of the languages from this world," Beth said. "So, if we find other people, we should approach them so we can start learning their language."

"Actually, that part might not be such a good idea," Ralph remarked.

"Not now Ralph," Hannah groaned.

"Actually, he might have a point," Amelia said. "I mean, what if we ran into the beaver-kin before the pronghorn-kin in the first world we entered?"

Beth sighed. "You know, I have to agree with that. Though, we can always just have a few of us approach rather than all of us. That should allow us allies to rescue those who approached any people we encounter in the even they turn out to be less than hospitable."

"Well, I'd only agree with that if we don't encounter someone's residence or something," Wes said. "If we find someone's house, then they could be less likely to be hostile towards us."

"Uh, I'm not sure I really agree with that," Tim said. "We might need to have Charlie use her magic to check their thoughts or to watch them for a while."

"Well, whatever we do, we should first see if we can find a water source," Beth sighed. "We can discuss what to do if we encounter any locals once we have our necessities covered."

"Sounds good to me," Ralph said.

"Well, then where should we try first?" Amelia asked.

_

Beth was very much entertained at how Charlie was reacting to the trees. It was almost like she was on a caffeine high with how she was running around looking at all the trees. No one else seemed to be as hyper as Charlie was.

Not only that, but her eyes were as big as saucers as she examined the trees. Beth wasn't sure if they should check to make sure Charlie wasn't being affected by something indigenous to this world, much like the incident with the spores.

However, she didn't want to make Charlie feel like they were wondering if they needed to worry about her state of mind. Nor did she want Charlie to feel like she was joining others with the teasing she'd been getting on that incident.

Although, it did have its benefits. Such as how after about an hour of their search for water, Charlie came running up, holding a few mushrooms covered in red spots that were about the size of her hands.

Apparently she'd used her magic and found that these were edible. Which at least allowed them to get some food to try. Though, Charlie did let them know that the mushrooms that had blue spots weren't safe to eat and should be left alone.

As the day wore on, Beth started to wonder if they should find a place to camp, even though they hadn't found any water source yet. She didn't see anything, but felt like there should be some nearby. Not that she had any evidence to support that feeling.

Although, as they rounded yet another tree, she suddenly realized they were by the cliff that they'd been above when they first arrived on this world.

"Hey, I think the cliff that we-" Beth stopped when they saw a man stumble from behind a tree, or what looked like a man, given he was in rags that looked like they were draped on him, with how little they actually covered, and so emaciated that Beth would be willing to accept that he was among the living dead. "Uh, I think I see someone over there."

"You know, I think this local might be more willing to talk with us rather than attack us," Hannah remarked. "We can offer some food for him."

"I think it might be more than that," Amelia commented. "I think he might be sick."

"Then lets leave him alone," Ralph said. "I don't want to find out if what he has is something that would kill all of us."

"Tell that to Charlie," Tim remarked, his voice full of amusement.

"What?!" Ralph exclaimed.

Beth looked for Charlie at that point, and could only groan softly as she saw Charlie already heading over to talk with the man. When she had reached him, it looked to Beth like she was talking with him, but she couldn't hear what was being said.

Though, she started heading over herself when she saw the man push Charlie away and then half stumble half try to run away. Beth wasn't sure what was said or why he was running, but she have a feeling that she needed to know. Not that there was any real urgency as Charlie didn't try to follow him, but merely watched him trying to make his escape.

He only made it about half the distance between Charlie and the nearest tree when he fell to the ground and didn't move again. Amelia was already by the man's side, checking his vitals. Beth walked over to Charlie, not sure what happened, but had a feeling that whatever was wrong with the man had reached its natural end.

"You okay?" Beth asked Charlie, unsure what exactly had happened.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Charlie answered, sounding rather distracted.

"What was that about?" she followed up.

Charlie shook her head. "I really don't know. All he said to me was to get away and then he pushed he away from him," Charlie replied. "He sounded rather scared that I was here more than anything else, I think."

"At least he didn't try to attack you, right?" Beth joked.

"I guess," Charlie said as she shook her head again.

Beth couldn't help but wonder if Charlie was really feeling okay. She couldn't say why she wouldn't be, but it wasn't like she encountered something like this all that often. Which was also why she didn't have anything to compare it to.

"Well, lets go see what Amelia can find out," Beth said. "Maybe she'll understand something that we don't that can help us understand what that was about."

Charlie sighed. "I guess."

"Well, at least we know he wasn't pushing you away because of your BO," Ralph remarked as they started walking towards Amelia.

"Like you're one to talk," Wes commented.

"Hey, I smell like roses, thank you very much," Ralph protested.

"Yeah, dead, rotted roses."

"Fair point," Ralph allowed before both of them started laughing.

Beth smirked as Charlie merely rolled her eyes. At least it wasn't anything that they hadn't joked about before. Although, Beth couldn't help but think they all could use a bath. That they were all likely smelling rather ripe.

"So, what'd you find out?" Beth asked as they got closer to Amelia.

Amelia looked up from her examining the man, a worried expression on her face. "Well, I think he died from being sick or maybe malnutrition," Amelia said, looking rather unsettled. "I'm not really sure." Amelia looked at the man's body again. "For all I know he died from a failed heart or something. He didn't really seem very healthy in all honesty."

"Maybe we should travel the direction he came from?" Tim asked. "It might lead us to others that live on this world. Maybe they could let us know what that was about."

"Should we bury him first, though?" Hannah asked. "I mean, it just seems like a dick move to just leave him here."

"You want to dig the grave?" Wes asked.

"I will if you can't," Hannah retorted.

"Be my guest," Wes said. "I don't think we even have a spade, let alone a shovel."

"Well, I guess I can use my magic, since you don't know how to use yours to move the ground," Hannah said.

Beth frowned at that exchange. It almost felt like they were taking shots at each other for the sake of taking shots. Were they maybe pushing themselves too hard? she couldn't help but wonder.

"You know, when we find a water source, it might be good for all of us to just take some time to relax and take a break for a day," Beth suggested. "I mean, I think we're all getting really tired. Maybe it's from the time difference from the last world and this one, or maybe it's that we've been travelling for so long without taking a rest, but I think we could really use it."

"Sounds good to me," Tim said immediately.

"I wouldn't mind it," Amelia said, as Hannah's efforts with her magic started becoming apparent as the man's body started to sink into the ground, almost as if it was merging with the ground.

"Gonna give him a headstone?" Wes asked.

Hannah shrugged. "I could, but what would it say? 'Here lies a man who I didn't know and didn't really care about?'"

"Maybe something a little more eloquent," Ralph suggested. "Like 'here likes a creepy dude who pushed my friend away because she stank to high heaven.'"

"How about 'here lies a man who was a stranger to me. May he rest in peace.'" Beth suggested.

"Yeah, that sounds better," Amelia said.

"You know, why are we even looking for a water source?" Ralph asked. "Can't we use magic to create water?"

"We could, but who knows if we might need water for something else as well," Charlie commented. "If we use up our magic to always create water for us, then what will we do if we actually need it to defend ourselves from, say a griffin?"

"She'd got you there," Tim remarked.

Ralph merely laughed. "Yeah, but I still say we should use our magic for that anyway," he said, his stance as obstinate as ever.

"By the way, I think you were saying something earlier, Beth," Wes said as a stone headstone came up out of the ground where the man's body had disappeared into the ground. "What was it you were trying to say?"

Beth looked at Wes for a few minutes, felling rather confused, before she remembered what she had been saying before the man appeared.

"Oh, yeah. I was," Beth said, partly rebooting her brain with her words. "Uh, I was saying that I think the cliff we passed a minute ago is the same one that we entered this world by."

"Really?" Hannah asked. "It looked different to me."

"Well, why don't we take a look?" Tim suggested. "At the very least, we might be able to find out something else about it that can't from here. Maybe we'll even be able to see a source of water if it's not the same cliff as the one we arrived on."

Beth nodded, pretty sure that it was the same cliff, but if they could see a water source from it, then it wouldn't be that big of a deal if she was wrong. Though, she couldn't help but wonder what kind of world this was.

"What I hope most is that the clouds or mist or whatever above us goes away soon," Charlie remarked as they started searching for a way to get to the top of the cliff.

"Why?" Amelia asked. "It feels nice not to have the sun beating down on us. Especially since there's no sign of water around so far."

Charlie merely shook her head. "It's just that I think it would feel better if we had the sunlight around us while we walk through the trees," she answered.

"I still hope that it'll stay for a while," Amelia said.

"Well, hopefully we'll find some water before it clears," Beth said, hoping to stop a dispute before it even begins.

"She started it," Hannah quipped.

Beth glanced at Hannah who merely laughed. "Sorry, couldn't help it," Hannah quickly added.

Beth shook her head. They really needed to take a break. If they didn't she was sure that they'd start to get on each others nerves without even meaning to. Even more than when they were actually trying to get on each others nerves.

Beth was starting to think they'd need to set up camp before it got too dark when they finally found a path up to the top of the cliff. It was narrow and looked like it was slippery, but they didn't have any real difficulty climbing to the top.

When they did reach it, Beth wasn't very happy to learn that it wasn't the same cliff. Although, it reveal a small stream nearby that ran along on the other side of the cliff. Which Beth couldn't help but be happy about. It would give them a chance to even bathe.

Not that any of them had any energy to go and get any water at the moment. While they had done some reading while they travelled, none of them had energy to do more than set up their tents, make a quick dinner and go to bed. Beth couldn't help but wonder if maybe it was this forest that was taking it out of them or just maybe an after effect of the previous world.

Or maybe it's something else altogether, Beth told herself as she settled in her sleeping bag before closing her eyes and falling asleep almost instantly.

It wasn't until she woke up in the morning that she even realized that she'd fallen asleep. Not that she really felt rested. If she wasn't hungry and wanted breakfast, she would likely have succumbed to the temptation of falling back asleep and getting more rest. Even though she still liked the idea of taking a bath by the stream.

_

How they'd convinced her to go down to the stream close to a hundred feet from the camp downstream, Charlie couldn't figure out. She had a bad headache that she couldn't explain, but she could at least ignore it for the most part. She hoped it would go away. Like these headaches usually did. Although, at the moment, her attention was focused on a completely different headache.

"Can't I just take a bucket of water to the tent and give myself a bird bath there?" Charlie complained, Beth and Hannah walking on either side of her with Amelia behind her. As if she needed escorts to the stream or she'd run. Which was probably accurate.

"Sorry, we all agreed. Girls get to bathe first, then the boys," Beth said. "Which means they can't leave the camp until you're done, and I'm pretty sure you don't want them around while you take a bird bath."

Charlie scowled at Beth. Her best friend was right, but that didn't make it any easier to take. She couldn't see any bushes around the stream and none of the others allowed her to bring anything to give herself any privacy while she bathed.

Charlie also didn't ask why they didn't bring water back with them to heat up so they could take a real bath, since not only did they not have anything big enough for them to sit in to have a real bath, there wasn't any realistic way for them to bring it with them.

Her biggest concern was the fact that her friends expected her to strip completely in order to take a bath. Her biggest objection to this was the fact that she still didn't like the idea of being naked around anyone. Even her friends.

Although, they did at least let her bring a bucket with her. Charlie had in mind to take a bird bath here, not that she was sure her friends would make it easy. If she was quick, she could strip to her underwear and wash herself and then get dressed in the change of clothing she'd brought with her before her friends complained about it. She planned on changing her underwear when she got a chance back in her tent, but her plan would only work if she was able to execute it fast enough for her friends to not figure out what she was doing.