Young Writers Society

"It...It's not claustrophobia," Maahes finally said. He returned to staring at the map. "Spirits are made up of elements. Djinn like me are spirits of fire and air. So water and being in the earth make me uncomfortable, but a...a leader puts things like that aside..."

Bo looked between Raiden and Maahes.

He had to admit, he agreed with both of them. I mean, regardless of whether Maahes was a leader, if the tunnels were the fastest way, he'd say they should all just... suck it up. Of course, he hadn't seen the tunnels yet either. So he couldn't say for sure.

"Aren't you like... always in a little pain though?" Bo asked. "Like, how much pain does being underground put you in?"

Aegeas threw his paws up. He didn't understand what this claustrophobia or growing a pair stuff was, but it was obvious they'd keep bickering about it. "If Maahes will be in any pain at all, we shouldn't go underground - it's the shortest route, which, with our luck, means it's probably the most dangerous, so we need all the help we can get."

It fell upon Boris to be a voice of reason, which was of little surprise to him.

"First, why don't we find the river, observe the mouths of these tunnels, and then decide at the crossroads?
Any decision made right now would be based upon speculation, so there's little point in staying here."

Boris did have a point, but neither Codix or Nadira liked the thought of Maahes being uncomfortable in the tunnels. They each gave hesitant nods. Though no words were exchanged, they knew the consensus would be the same - when they finally arrived at the mouth of the tunnels, they would both object to going through it. They could handle whatever was in the jungle if it meant ensuring the comfort and safety of their friend.

"Let's do that," Maahes said. He gave a weak smile before starting to lead the group in the direction of the tunnels. Nadira and Codix exchanged one last look before falling into step behind him.

Adjusting the straps of his oversized gun, Aegeas followed Codix and Nadira. He didn't plan on going into the tunnels, both because Maahes would be uncomfortable and Aegeas didn't like being in any place that could fall apart and crush him, but the river sounded okay enough.

Bo followed behind, falling into the formation they established earlier on the side. "On the road again," he said cheerfully, even though cheerful wasn't exactly what he felt. The way he said it though, amused him, because he'd kind of talk-sung it.

All things considered, the path hadn't been so terrible. Sure, Aegeas had tripped a few times, and the others had had to push him over rocks and fallen trees (curse his height), but the wildlife had kept its distance. The creatures that had rustled the bushes had stayed in those bushes, while Aegeas had only had to swat a few bugs before they could've crawled up his legs. The birds had chirped and squawked and crowed; the leaves on the trees had swayed and shook and fluttered in the wind; the fish in the river had dived into their homes or swam downstream.

That made Aegeas a lot more willing to go into the water, clear and empty as it was. He dived into a nearby bush, yanked his cannon off, slipped off his clothes, and slipped into the water. And it really was refreshing to see the blood and dirt wash off his fur as he swam leisurely from one end of the river to the other. It wasn't exactly the water he was familiar with, but what else could he expect from being on another world? Still, he spent plenty of time diving down, chasing the fish, and resting on the river's surface while staring up at the canopy.

Still, he got the feeling he was spending a little too long in the river (though he didn't want to admit that), so he found himself in the bush again, putting his pants and shirt back on. "Ready to get going?" he said, shaking water off of himself as he strapped himself to his cannon.

Bo put a hand on his hip, over one of his guns. He nodded to Aegeas as he came out of the bush. "Yeah! I'm ready to go if you are!" he said with a smile, looking over towards the tunnels and forests they were heading towards.

"I'm ready," Maahes said. Codix didn't think he sounded all that ready from where he was standing with Nadira - as far as they could both get from the river - but he also knew that Maahes had no intentions of bringing that up.

White ants, in the ground, at the roots of everything.

Boris had seen them up in the trees where he had scouted from, and the others saw them too, under their feet, breaking down the corpses of animals with acidic saliva, but they had seen nothing near to this all-consuming degree. They harvested all, birthed all, were all.

They were the context to the deep humming of the jungle, from within the sunset-hued fungus that coated all surfaces, and within the ground, miles underneath the soil. And the deeper into the jungle the company marched, the heavier this humming felt, and the more the tree trunks were gilded in thousands of white, racing dots, scurrying in their units in mathematical chaos, as only insects could. The effect was dizzying.

But here, in these long, high, earthen tunnels, they were inescapable.
The sound of crawling went from ambient to deafening. Millions of little white bodies scrambled in and out from the tunnel’s mouth, and did not fade softly into black.
They convulsed.

Perhaps worst of all was that these tunnels were disturbingly narrow on the inside, moreso than the outside had suggested they would be. Bo, the broadest of the party, would be able to enter, but not so comfortably turn around. And the party as a whole? Once all were in, even if they were near the entrance, it would be impossible to make a swift retreat if they needed to. Once all were in, they would have to press on, into the long, restless dark.

Boris changed his mind.

“Well,” he said, turning to his companions, “I can think of a few ways I’d rather perish. Care to see the others?”

__

To the left was thick, thick canopy, a localised, artificial night. A creek stretched out from inside, leading not from the river they had come from, but the rivers that lay ahead. Rivers that would keep them alive.

And to the right, wide, open space, a boon to visibility, even if the shortage of river meant shorter survival, and less material for navigation.
And the open space they could see by, meant that others could see them.
Well. Something was bound to see them, wherever they retreated. This open ground simply made it fairer.

A fat, pink, six legged lizard the size of a cat sprinted out from the wide open, and viciously tried to shake off what looked like fleshy reddish seeds that had attached themselves to the flesh of its back and belly. It rolled heavily on the ground, threw itself viciously against a tree. For the five to ten parasitic spores it had lost, thirty more remained.
The lizard raced in circles, before it gave in, and plodded dociley back into the tall, golden grass.

The grass over which more spores blew, like dandelion seeds in the wind.
Dandelion seeds that slowly fed on your blood.


Someone suggested they try their luck with the canopies on the left, to which an exiting deer-like animal disagreed. It did not fancy the canopies at all. It also ran out shrieking and bleating like a creature on fire, for it was teeming with eggs, spilling out of its sides, ears, and eyes. A few purple and orange wasps had not realized that their job was done, for they remained, circling the desperate head like over-doting mothers.

Boris pulled out his rifle, watched the miserable creature run out into the open clearing, and once it was six hundred yards out of the way, he shot it down.

He stared for a moment, at the tiny stream of vapor that wafted up from the corpse, for it was not a bullet that he had fired, but a beam of light. Not to mention the recoil from the shot had been unnaturally gentle. Sweet, bloody Christ. He lowered the rifle, pulled his eyes away, and turned back to the group.

“Right, if we enter the clearing, we’d best avoid the poor carcass. But I’d say we have a fair chance. Probably. Personally, I vote for the canopies, there’s cover, the rivers mean longer survival, better navigation. Stars are useless when you don’t know them.

So,” said Boris to his circumstantial friends, “Has that helped us make up our mind?”

"Sure," Aegeas said with a nod. "We can sit here and wait to die. It'd be a lot more dignified than ending up like whatever the f*** you just shot to death."

Boris raised an eyebrow at Aegeas. He liked that grumpy curmudgeon of an otter, but he didn't understand him at all. Humour, especially morbid humour, was the superior coping mechanism, and not enough people from these strange other worlds seemed to appreciate it.

Boris dropped his disbelieving half smile, and nodded seriously.

"Alas, I'm more the blaze-of-glory sort of man, than the sort who lets wasps eat his innards until nature takes its course. But if that's the sort you are, far be it from me to put you out of your misery against your will.
I'll toast your brave spirit when I make it home."