Daughter of the Sea, thank you for your review, you were the only one that did. This chapter was written by tkb17, the previous one by nimbusMM
Because it wasn't put last time: Disclaimer: none of this, besides Arianna and Zack and the plot, belongs to us. Dang.
Zack PoV
I stood in shock. Just where were we? Arianna let out a small gasp. I looked around in panic. There had to be some way we could get back! I pulled out a small, locking blade pocket knife.
"Huh" said Arianna she held up a plastic water bottle. "I found your bottle." Her eyes were wide and she seemed to jump at the slightest sound. I snapped a branch off of a tree. She jumped and whirled, throwing the bottle. It hit me square in the face. I staggered backwards, dropping my branch. "Shit!" I held my hand up to my face. Blood was pouring out. I pinched my nose and ducked my head. "Damn it damn it damn it."I muttered under my breath as the blood continued to pour.
"Sorry!" Arianna said with a hint of hysteria in her voice "I'm so sorry!"
"Don't worry about it. I'll be fine" I think. After a while Arianna's deer-in-the-head-lights look passed, and my nose stopped bleeding. I looked up as I felt the blood, still sticky, crack on my face. I grimaced, but figured I'd just have to deal with it. Arianna and I began searching for a way back to Death Valley. We tried walking over the spot, and examined every inch of the woods around us, but to no avail. It was as if we had walked through a porthole leading to the middle of nowhere. On the ground in one spot it was clear of any sign of humanity except for Arianna's and my footprints.
Finally we had to stop and face the fact that, at the very least, we would be spending the night here in the forest. I grabbed my knife, pointed this out to my sister, and began walking, Arianna right behind. We walked for around fifteen minutes, and I heard a stream in the distance. We kept walking until we found it and I washed my face in the stream. It took forever to get the now-dried blood off of my face. But the water was different. It was clear and looked pure, much unlike the rivers at home. I washed my hands and looked around as Arianna sat against a tree, apparently lost in thought.
It was around three or four o' clock when we finally decided to settle in. I snapped long brances while Arianna looked for leafy twigs. When I finally had enough long branches, I began sticking them in the ground, crossing those on top with other long branches. By the time I was done with this, Arianna had acquired quite a large pile of leafy twigs with which we made a roof. We finally completed this just before the sun went down and it was starting to get hard to see. We stepped back to admire our work, realized we could barely see it and then settled into our little leafy house.
I awoke with a groan. I was not a morning person, and after sleeping on the ground…well… any way I got up and looked around our 'camp.'
I kicked Arianna lightly in the foot to wake her up, to which she barely lifted her head and replied, "Mmmph…I'll be up in time…" before promptly going back to sleep. I kicked her again in the foot this time a bit harder, before she opened her eyes. When Arianna finally was fully awake and up, we walked downstream to see if we could find a more…hospitable place to camp. We each ate one of the power bars in the back pack and kept walking.
Noon came and went, and still there was no sign of life. We came to a clearing and saw, at the other end, a campfire and a few wagons with horses. Around the fire we variously armed men with spears, bows and swords. Unsure of their intentions and likely somewhat afraid of the weapons, Arianna began to back away, and I followed her. Arianna, in her haste, tripped over a branch, drawing a glance from a few of the men.
"Look! Over there!" one shouted
Ohhh a clifty. But you see that blue thing underneath this text? Click it. It has the power to make me and nimbus very happy. And a happy us means a happy you! So click it!
