Thank you so more for reviewing Pink Wolf Princess and maintestreet! It means a lot to me. Also, two things I forgot to mention. 1) I do follow penguin-STRUT's 60 Phases fic, so I am doing my best to have little to no similarities. I felt like there were some in the Album theme, but I do make sure to look at her chapter's in order to not copy anything. 2) Everything found in the chest from the previous chapter will be explained, so each will have its own chapter/drabble.
Anywho, I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!
"No!"
"Just let me see it!"
"No! I've got this. If I can navigate the Animarium, I think I can handle a little hiking route. " Taylor moved forward, map and compass firmly in hand, her steps long and purposeful as she maneuvered over the rocks, muddy earth, and fallen branches. Eric, only a step behind her due to the narrow path, tried to make a grab at the map, but it was instantly thrust out of reach.
"Uuugh!" Eric was quickly loosing interest and patience with both this discussion and the situation. It had been going on for over an hour, and what had at first started out as joking complaints had now turned into a desperate attempt to suppress his frustration before he sucker punched a tree.
"Stop whining, we're going the right way."
His next words were forcibly ground out between gritted teeth. "Taylor, we passed that bush three times. Just let me see the map."
"You don't need to see it because I knew exactly where we are." She sighed in exasperation as she took another glance at the map, stopped for barely a second, and turned left and up a hill.
Eric's eyes widened when he saw where she was headed. "That's not even a trail!" Under normal circumstances that wouldn't have been a problem, but by now he'd had enough of this whole experience and just wanted to get the hell out of there.
"Yes it is. It's right here on the map." Taylor smirked at this flawless logic as she waved said map in the air and hopped over a log.
"Look, I'm a trained navigator…" His sentence was cut off when Taylor turned and glared.
"Yea? Well I'm a trained fighter pilot!" Without another word, or an attempt at an explanation, she swiveled back around on her toes and marched onward.
Eric groaned loader. "What does that even have to do with anything!" He took a moment to stop and think before following his girlfriend. "Ok, at least let me see the compass."
Not bothering to wait for him, Taylor threw back a slightly annoyed "Why?" over he shoulder.
"Because we entered on the south trail, so I could use the compass to see which way north is and that'll get us back to where we started." Why she wouldn't just give in and simply let him look at the damn thing was beyond him…until he thought about it and realized that, roles reversed, by now he would have torn the map in four and claimed he didn't need it at all.
Taylor, ignoring the fact that Eric was currently unmoving and silently cussing up a storm so large Noah's arc had no hope of surviving, glanced at the compass, then at the map, back at the compass, and nearly tripped over a rock as she exited the dense forest. "Crap."
Eric, still a few steps behind, called up. "What?"
Taylor pointed to a green metal sign informing all passing by that they were currently on Highway 203 and it would be two and a half miles until the next off ramp which joined Route 85. "We're lost."
