A/N

Thanks for the reviews. Every one of them will go through something pretty harsh so there is much more to come.

Chapter 4

A beautiful danger

They were now in the deep forest and the heat along the humidity was taking every bit of moisture in their body out of them. Every step was a task as they had to go over and under fallen old trees and clumps of thick brush. They have been walking for hours and hoped they were going in the direction of the Beacon as they followed the sun but had to stop on occasion to check their position as it was hard to see through the canopy. They were now going upwards and it made the hike much harder as the floor was slippery from decaying leaves and the ground being moist.

"I don't know why they call it a rain forest, if it doesn't rain," Paige said while hacking away with her machete.

"Be careful what you wish for, we're going uphill and we could get washed away easily," Prue said as she was in front of the group.

"At least I would get something to drink before I died," Paige said.

"Oh by the way nice Tarzan impression," Phoebe said while walking behind Paige.

"It was more like George," Piper said and wiped her brow and realized she just coded mud on her face from her sleeve.

"Ok guys lets take a break," Prue said as they came to a little clearing.

"Thank god," they all said as their limbs were burning from the constant use of them.

"How come we have not found any water vines since we left?" Paige asks and looked over a log before sitting on it.

"I don't know but we need to find water," Prue replied looking around.

"I found the river," Piper chimed in and sat next to Paige.

"I think it found you," Phoebe said with a chuckle as she put her hands on her knees to catch her breath.

"We all agreed about the Beacon earlier and were not changing course, and we don't have a container to boil the water in so it would not matter," Prue said as she too put her hands on her knees while bending over to catch her breath as well.

"Do you still have that cricket?" Phoebe asks as she was getting hungry again.

"Nope I don't like carrying dead things in my pocket," Prue replied and gave a smile.

"Too bad I couldn't get the turtle we could use it shell for a way to boil water," Piper said while Paige was picking clumps of mud off of her.

"Can I be in the rear?" Paige asks.

"Why?" they all asks.

"Because you all are starting to stink," she replied and they all smelled themselves and then tried to move their noses far away from their own odor as possible.

"Oh god we stink," Phoebe said.

"It sure would be nice to know what is edible here in the way of plants," Paige said and then felt something hit her on top of the head and she remained perfectly still. "What was that?" she asks nervously. Piper bent down to pick up what fell as it looked like it had a paper cover to it. She used her machete as she was not sure and turned it over to get a better look. "Ask and you shall receive," Paige said as she picked it up. It was a guide to edible plants and other survival information. The book looked like it was at least 10 years old by the date on the cover and it was a little damaged on some of the pages. It had a brownish color to it and some damage but otherwise was readable.

"So now they are just throwing things down on us?" Piper asks as she looked over the book with Paige. Phoebe closed her eyes and started slapping her hands together.

"Cheeseburger – cheeseburger – cheeseburger," she said and then open them hoping that greasy goodness would fall from the sky but then she put her hand over her mouth and tripped over a few branches as she got a look above her.

"Phoebe what's wrong?" Prue asks and then followed her sister's eyes up.

"Oh god," she said and they all looked at what may have dropped the book. There was a skeleton of a person who was attached to a parachute that was already decaying. It had a backpack that was open slightly and that's probably what the book fell out of.

"That's not right," Piper said while trying to get some distance from what was right above her head. Prue began to look for a long stick so she could reach it.

"Prue what the hell are you doing?" Phoebe asks as Prue started poking about 15 feet above them at the skeleton.

"Hay we need a container and whoever this was may have some supplies," Prue said and the skeleton began to break in pieces and collected on the forest floor.

"Stop that, I'm sure that's bad luck somewhere," Piper said and moved further away close to Phoebe.

"I don't want to eat the food I'm pretty sure it expired," Paige said when the skeleton's head hit near her feet and a large centipede crawled out its eye.

"I've had nightmares like this," Piper said while covering her mouth. It took Prue about 5 minutes but finally she was able to get the parachute along with the remaining parts of the skeleton down from its canopy graveyard. She used her machete to poke around in the bag and make sure there were no critters that could bite her. There was a canteen and a knife with some old food that was clearly out of date and mostly crumbs. But the best thing of all was a compass that came off the skeleton arm and was attached to his tattered clothing.

"This is perfect," Prue said and was clearly very happy as she held up the items.

"Well another person's misfortune," Paige said while nodding her head.

"We are so going to hell," Phoebe said while looking at Piper.

"Do you think we should say something, you know like a prayer?" Piper asks.

"Yeah poor guy," Prue said and she used her machete to dig a small hole and put his remaining parts in it. Paige made a grave marker and placed it on the fresh dirt. They said a little prayer and were thankful for what they were able to get. She took off her pants and now everyone was not sure what to say.

"Prue what are you doing?" Piper asks.

"We need to keep as much moisture as possible, so take off your undies and socks," Prue replied and then did something that stunned them even more as she put her underwear and wrapped it around her head.

"Ok that is just gross," Phoebe said.

"No it's survival," she replied and put her pants back on and her boots but left her socks off.

"What about blisters?" Piper asks as Phoebe started taking off her pants.

"She's' right want that cause infection if they break open?" Paige asks while picking up the backpack.

"You can leave them on just make sure they stay dry, so when we can, put them over the fire," Prue replied and finished putting her boots back on. Paige tucked her arms into her shirt and did the wonderful dance of removing the bra without removing her shirt.

"Piper come on," Phoebe said as she put her underwear on her head.

"Nope they stay where they are and anyway I'm so caked with mud it's almost like a layer," Piper replied as Paige put the bra on her head.

"Before anyone says anything I know what I look like," Paige said and put the backpack on.

"Weird science comes to mind," Phoebe said and laughed.

"Ok lets go and Paige hand me the compass or should I call you cone head?" Prue said as she looked at her. But then broke out in laughter when Paige tilted her head slightly and now looked more ridiculous.

"Sure," Paige replied and handed her the compass. Prue looked at it and made sure to follow the direction of the Beacon that they marked earlier.

"Southwest ok here we go," she said and started cutting once more to make a path as they followed her. "Keep an eye out for water now that we have the container to boil it in."

They continued their hike and as the headaches started which meant dehydration but they were still going uphill and Prue wanted to find some kind of flat land so they could camp for the night and find food and water. She understood that it was a resource game and needed to give enough time to build the shelter and fire not to mention look for nutrients before the sun went down. Finally after reaching the top of whatever hill they were climbing, she decided that this was a good place to rest and maybe even find shelter for the night. It was still relatively early in the day but they were exhausted, hungry and extremely thirsty.

"This is a good of a place as any," Prue said and sat down on a log.

"Can we take the underwear off our heads now?" Phoebe asks and just wanted to collapse on the ground but she has already seen a large centipede and other things crawling around in their hike and decided to remain standing.

"Sure," Prue replied as they all remained silent for a moment while rubbing their temples because of a headache. Paige was trying to read the small hand guide to survival in the Amazon and came across something interesting.

"Hay if we find this there might be water in it," she said while pointing to a picture of a 'Scythian root'. This herb because has the ability to retain water in human body," Paige said and they all looked at it but trying to find something like this was going to be difficult.

"Notice the word retain water, Paige we need water in order to retain it," Piper said and Paige rolled her eyes.

"I know Piper, I'm just trying to help," she said clearly upset with the sarcasm.

"We need to split up again and look for water or we are going to kill each other," Prue said.

"I will go with you," Paige said while walking over to Prue as she was a little mad at Piper right now.

"Ok Piper you and Phoebe go that way and we will go this way, remember to mark your path and let's meet back here in 45 minutes," Prue said and they headed off into different directions in their groups.

"I think she got mad at you," Phoebe said while walking behind Piper.

"It's kind of hard to take anyone who wears a bra on their head seriously and I know she's trying to help but it's not like we know what these things look like," Piper said when she heard something rustling close to her feet. She readied her machete as she was on edge to begin with and looked down. There was a small bird struggling to fly and she smiled a bit at possible food.

"Oh look it's a baby, it must have fallen," Phoebe said while looking for a nest above her.

"Sucks to be it," Piper said and started to reach to the baby bird until something grabbed it before she could and pulled it into a 3 foot diameter hole. She jumped backwards with her hands to her body with Phoebe next to her who did the same. They both did not speak for a moment trying to comprehend what just took the small bird.

"Ok – ok I think that was the giant tarantula," Phoebe said as they both started walking sideways while keeping a very firm on the hole and were bunched up together.

"Like tarantula wasn't bad enough, they have to put the word giant in front of it?" Piper asks while clenching her teeth as she hated spiders.

"Ok we just move away and then run," Phoebe said as they continue to move sideways until they felt a little safe. Piper just started shaking her hands out and got the shivers.

"Did I say I hate this place," she said and they both were now looking down for any holes. They both stopped when they heard a scream in the distance. "What was that?" she asks.

"It sounded of like Paige," Phoebe replied and they made a run for their new camp. Once they emerged Paige was pulling Prue out of the jungle by her arms.

"Oh god what happened?" Piper asks as she runs up to them.

"I don't know we were walking and everything was fine and then she just started screaming and holding her leg," Paige replied.

"Prue did something bite you?" Piper asks while her hands shook as she took off Prue's pants.

"Yes and it really hurts," Prue replied as tears were streaming down her face that was also contorted in pain.

"Fuck," Phoebe said while starting the pace and Piper felt something crawling on her hand and did the normal reaction of shaking it off. It landed on the backpack that Paige took off once she got Prue back to camp and saw it was a large ant.

"Oh thank god," Paige said and then killed it.

"What?" Piper asks completely confused.

"It's a bullet ant," Paige replied while rubbing Prue's back.

"I don't understand is it poisonous?" Phoebe asks.

"No but it will hurt like hell for about five hours, but the pain will come and go for the next 24," she replied as Prue was rocking back and forth as it felt like someone took hot pliers and grabbed a chunk of her leg and started to twist." We need to get hers comfortable as possible and keep her calm, she will probably start going a little delirious on us soon," she said while Piper was stroking Prue's hair that was not covered by her underwear. She has never seen her sister in so much pain as Prue went into a fetal position.

To be continued…