Well, I'm glad I'm still making you guys laugh and cry and squeal and beg for more. Don't worry, you'll be happy. Eventually :)

Chapter Thirteen

She felt cold. It was an unusual occurrence. No matter what the temperature outside the shelter, she had always slept feeling warm and comfortable. Safe. But not this morning. This morning, even in her still-sleeping mind, she could feel the empty space beside her, the missing body and the warmth that used to inhabit it.

Slowly, consciousness replaced unconsciousness, and she blinked her eyes open. Her sleep-ridden suspicions were right: aside from herself, the sleeping bag was otherwise unoccupied. She lifted her head, trying to coax her vision into focus.

"Spencer?"

Silence.

Crawling out from under the too-cold embrace of the makeshift bed, she stepped out into the equally cold air of daybreak. A quick sweep of the area, and her eyes landed on what they sought, her breath involuntarily catching in her throat. Spencer stood waist deep in sparkling water as the falls tumbled gently down over her nude body.

Ashley quietly cleared her throat. Anyone who looked closely could see the tint of red on her cheeks. Likewise, anyone who mentioned that fact would quickly find themselves with a swift knee to the stomach. Ashley Davies does not blush. Nor can she be overwhelmed by the female form. And she definitely does not acknowledge the absolute breathtaking beauty of Spencer Carlin naked under the clear cascade, beads of water running torrents down golden locks and smooth curves as she finally stepped up onto the dry bank, milky skin dripping and glistening invitingly in the rising sun.

Nope, not affected at all.

When Spencer looked up from wringing the moisture out of her hair, she found her towel being offered to her. How Ashley managed to present an air of indifference is one of the great mysteries of the world.

"You're up early," the brunette noted when Spencer accepted the towel from her.

"Couldn't sleep."

"How's the shoulder?"

"After freezing water pounded down on it? Burning." Ashley handed Spencer her clothes once she had dried herself off. "Breakfast?"

"Yeah. I'm going to grab a quick shower first, though." A cold one, please.

"All right. I'll get something started."

While Ashley grabbed her own towel, Spencer gathered up some of the now dried wood from the beach and carried an armload back to the fire pit. A second trip was made for a handful of brush. She then made the mistake of looking up in the waterfall's direction.

Spencer quietly cleared her throat. Anyone standing within twenty yards of the blonde could see the fierce red splashed across her cheeks. Likewise, anyone who mentioned it would quickly find themselves on the business end of a not very intimidating glare. Because lets face it: Spencer Carlin cannot pull off a respectable glare when distracted by an undressing Ashley Davies. Nor can she ignore the overwhelming flare of lust spurred by glimpsing that spectacular female form. And she definitely acknowledges the absolute breathtaking beauty of Ashley Davies in all her divine splendor under the clear cascade, beads of water running torrents down dark curls and perfect curves as she all too soon stepped up onto the dry bank, bronzed skin dripping and glistening tantalizingly in the rising sun.

Cold shower, anyone? Wait, been there, done that.

Ashley toweled herself off and slipped back into her clothes. It was around that moment when Spencer realized she had yet to actually light the wood before her. Flushing a new shade of red all over again at her lusty diversion, she quickly snapped the lighter on and set fire to the brush.

Ashley swaggered over, continuing to run her hair through the towel. "Enjoy the show?"

"Did you?" Spencer easily countered.

"Do you really want me to answer that? Or should I show you?"

"Should I even dignify that with a response?"

"A decent eye rolling might do it."

Spencer squinted up at her friend. "Not worth the effort."

Ashley chuckled. "You certainly recover fast."

"That's because I don't think with my crotch, unlike some creatures."

"Are you implying that I'm one of those creatures?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?" Spencer mocked.

Ashley grinned. "Touché."

Indeed, Spencer had recovered from her fluster quickly, and as always, Ashley was pleasantly impressed by Spencer's ability to match her verbal sparring blow for blow. The brunette could count the number of people that could admirably keep up with her banter on one hand, and incidentally enough, all were female. Those select few had earned a certain form of respect from the Davies girl, even if she wouldn't admit it to anyone else.

"So, let me make sure I understand our dilemma."

"Okay."

"The arrows need wings to balance them when they fly. Without them, it'd be next to impossible to hit anything more than two feet away. And, the general material of choice is feathers. Am I right so far?"

"Yes."

"All right, so in order to harvest said feathers, we need to bring down a bird, but in order to bring down said bird, we need arrows that fly."

"Yep."

"So basically, life hates us, and we're screwed."

"Basically." Ashley frowned, causing Spencer to smile. "We're not screwed, Ash."

"You just said we were!"

"Yeah, but you're so cute when you're frustrated."

"I am not cute. Ashley Davies does not do cute. She does hot and, and sexy and smokin'...saucy, suave, sultry, and naughty, but she does not do cute," she insisted, ticking the adjectives off on her fingers for emphasis.

"You're adorable."

"Stop it."

"Like a little fuzzy puppy."

"Shut—Really? Does that mean I can sit in your lap and you'll rub my belly?"

Spencer rolled her eyes. "So, we'll have to find something that can substitute for feathers for now."

Ashley shrugged. "Notebook paper."

"Definitely."

In a relatively short time, three of their arrows had been outfitted with a trio of paper flaps—doubled for stability, cut into long triangles, and duct taped to the shafts. Eager to try it out, Ashley grabbed the bow, notched an arrow onto the middle of the bowstring, aimed down the length of the beach, drew back, and released. The arrow launched forward from the snap of the string in a perfect arc and sailed a good ten yards before skidding across the sand to a halt.

"Holy—"

Spencer excitedly hugged Ashley from behind and gave her a firm kiss on the cheek. "Ash, you're a genius!"

"I didn't even pull back as far as I could have, and that sucker flew."

Another arrow was notched, and Ashley drew the bowstring back to its greatest tension. Almost faster than they could follow with their eyes, the projectile arced a distance nearly double its previous flight. Both girls grinned.

"Now you just need to be able to hit something." Smack. "Hey! Not me."

"Oh. Sorry."

"Uh huh."

"I say we go try this baby out."

After an hour of walking deep into the woods, the girls spotted their first target about eight yards away. A rabbit sat amongst the trees chewing happily on a cluster of wildflowers.

"Aw…" the blonde whined.

"Hey, do you want meat or not?"

Spencer sighed. "Yeah…I know…" She steeled herself. "Just remember the laws of physics."

"Was I awake in physics?"

"Probably not."

"Okay. Just checking."

"How about it's like throwing a football?"

"Do I look like the sports type to you?"

"All right, fine. Then picture what you'd have to do to get a woman to arch her back a certain way."

"Spencer Carlin, you slut."

"Hey, whatever helps you get the idea."

"You have a dirty mind."

"So do you, so it works out."

"Very true."

"Wait…didn't you somehow pass physics with flying colors?"

"…maybe..."

"You bitch."

"You know, I'm starting to think I'm a bad influence on you."

"Just shoot the damn rabbit, Ash."

Spencer handed Ashley an arrow, and the brunette clipped it onto the string. With a smirk, Ashley crept closer to the unsuspecting creature, avoiding stepping on the not so proverbial twig. One step too far, and the rabbit shifted suddenly, staring in her direction. She froze her movements. The rabbit hopped a couple feet away, then settled down and began gnawing on the greenery again. Ashley raised the bow and pulled the string back, taking aim. She breathed deeply, held it, and released. The arrow sailed a straight path. And by straight, we mean straight into the ground six feet in front of its target. Startled, the creature darted away. Ashley blew her breath out in a gust of disappointment and swore not quite under her breath.

Spencer stepped up beside her. "Well, that was anticlimactic." The brunette said nothing. "I think you forgot the arc."

"…stupid physics."

"You have to point above the target."

"I know." Ashley sighed. " I blame you. I was distracted by the image of sex you put in my head."

"Ah, I see. But hey, your aim was right in line…"

"I guess that's something."

The arrow was retrieved, and another half hour was spent searching for a new target. A second rabbit (or perhaps the same one?) was located, and the motions were repeated. This time, the arrow flew several feet over the rabbit's head and glanced off the tree standing behind it. Again, the bunny ran off.

"Son of a…How does Legolas make it look so damn easy?"

Spencer shrugged. "He's an elf. Magical. And kinda hot."

"Do not say Orlando Bloom is hot." The blonde bit her lip. "Oh my god." Ashley threw up her hands and practically stormed off to pick up her arrow. "You're, like, the worst lesbian ever."

Spencer gave her a pointed look, and the brunette quickly dropped that subject. As they continued on, curving around to start back towards camp, Ashley pushed her way through a leafy thicket and both girls yelped in surprise when a large brownish gray blur flew up in front of them and flapped away.

"Christ, what the hell was that!?"

Spencer rubbed Ashley's arm to calm her down, breathing deeply to try to slow her own pounding heart. "I think…it might have been a quail or something."

"What the fuck is a quail!?" the brunette nearly shrieked, adrenaline still pumping through her veins.

"Pheasant?"

"Oh, right. Big chicken, small turkey? Sorry, mind not really working after that."

"Yeah, that scared the crap out of me."

"No kidding. You okay?"

"Yeah. You?"

"I don't like nature. I think it's trying to kill us." She received a withering glance. "Bad joke. Sorry."

After a third opportunity (and third failure), they reached camp late in the afternoon. The rest of the daylight hours were spent at the lake's edge, but to make the day worse, the fish were not biting. With rations ever dwindling, Spencer filled their pot up with water from the falls and boiled it over the fire, throwing in some of the wild onions and stalks of cattails.

The sun had set, leaving Spencer and Ashley sitting in the flickering glow of the fire. The pan sat between them, and they ate their soup in silence. It was only after they had finished eating that Ashley spoke.

"Well, thank god you've managed to cook something edible because otherwise, I'm pretty sure we'd be eating bark off the trees." The blonde managed half a smile. Only half. Ashley reached over and stroked her friend's back as they stared into the flame. "We'll be okay, Spence."

"I hope you're right."