Location: 3707'04.68"N 13957'12.33"E

Elevation: 16,400 ft (~5 Km) above sea level

Time since asteroid impact: 3 Years 1 month 1 week 4 days


High above the clouds, Arlo as well as Verena and their friends carried on flying. The devices they used were holding up for such extreme height, giving them all a sense of ease over the now airborne journey. At this height the mountains could only be determined by the shadows they cast, as well as the fact that their peaks moved slower than the rest of the land due to perspective. Any volcano that did erupt allowed for gaining extra height and thus extending the distance they could travel, even when it came to going above the chain of islands that bridged the lands of the former Oykot to the northern land.

"You excited, Arlo?" Verena spoke out, it was a while since they had last spoken, with said conversation mostly on catching up with things. They were both sure of themselves that this was it. They were free from Oykot and compared to that, the differing landscapes wouldn't be harder. While Oykot had stopped them completely for three years, the landscape would only slow their progress, so it was without question that there was nothing that could stop them from getting to Clawtooth together.

Arlo made sure not to get too distracted, otherwise the winged device they were both in wouldn't gain enough lift to fly properly. It was tiring, but necessary for them to continue being at the height they were. There were times when they could take a break, however gliding was much less efficient as actively flying, so said breaks couldn't last for long. Arlo and Verena were in so that Arlo had the pilot seat, so even if Verena wanted a break then Arlo could still pedal and keep the system active. That being said the reverse was not possible.

"About home? I sure am. You?" Verena had to admit that Arlo's confidence had indeed been boosted, whether that was by age or the experiences Oykot gave him, she didn't know for sure. She knew Ivy and Butch must've helped him out in some way or fashion, but she couldn't help but notice that they would both glance at him every now and then, as if to make sure that things were okay. It was something she couldn't ignore, but tried anyways. Curiosity wanted to know so badly why they would be doing this, maybe they were looking at her instead.

"I'm feeling great, and being with you makes it better. But I never knew I would be doing it whilst flying... I never knew flying could be this simple."

She waited for them to stop glancing every now and then, but that never came. It wasn't her that they were looking at. "So... what's with Arlo?" Although no one could stop to look at Verena, she knew everyone was doing their best to look at her. However out of all of them, it was Arlo himself that answered. "They're just making sure I'm okay."

"I don't see why that's... necessary. Did something happen to you?" Verena asked with concern.

Ivy answered "Every now and then he just sort of, you know, faints? We know that it's got something to do with what happened on a particular night before you as a family were separated but apart from that, we have no idea what's causing it." Verena stopped peddling for a second or two upon realising what Ivy was talking about, which seemed to have been noticed by the others. Verena knew exactly what was causing the condition described, but had a feeling that talking about it would jeopardize their current flight.

However it appeared as though her cover was blown, "Verena, is there something you know?" Masahiro asked from her left. She knew she had to eventually tell them, but at this height, who knows what would happen. "I do, but I don't think it's safe right now for that." Arlo looked at her with sudden concern, and for good reason too. He knew Verena wasn't telling him something, and Verena knew that Arlo would only ask her more about it. "You really want to know huh?"

Arlo gave a subtle nod, which Verena took as a yes, even if she didn't know whether her brother actually intended to nod. "Fine. On the night before the mountain that fell... well, fell... Buck had become so annoyed about your antics that he decided to cast you out. Literally. Using some Skullcap plants, he allowed himself enough time to put you on a wooden raft and push you into the river without waking poppa. Or at least, that's what he intended to happen before I showed up to stop him. It eventually led to him saving both our lives from a raging waterfall but... I had no idea poppa would've acted so harshly upon knowing what Buck did."

It was a lot to have let out in such little time, and Verena did wonder if it was too much for Arlo. She kept waiting for him to faint, but he continued on pedaling as if she hadn't said anything. "Are you okay Arlo?" Verena asked, only now realising that no one else had spoken a word after she finished. "I'm fine." He said intensely, though Verena knew it was a matter of time. Sure enough, Verena eventually felt the system they were in shift over to the right. She was suddenly unable to move the pedals properly, leaving the winged mechanism in a gliding state, much less efficient and more susceptible to damage. Looking over to where Arlo was, she found that he was indeed limp, having just gone unconscious.

Before anyone else had the chance to say anything, a massive clanging sound was heard, and the winged-system Verena and Arlo were in started to nose dive while spinning faster and faster. By this time, Verena couldn't hear anything but the rushing sound of wind as the two apatosaurs were essentially falling at terminal velocity towards the ground. It soon came apparent what had happened; one of the wings had become busted due to the strain of the conditions it had to deal with. Right after realising this, the other wing tore off, making the decent even faster.

The ground was getting closer, and Verena noticed a small feature in the system, located between her and her brother. Unsure of that it did, she frantically tried pulling it with her teeth, but it was hard to budge. A rush of adrenaline came into effect after looking towards the ground and pulled harder than she thought possible. Right away, something behind them seemed to happen, and the system they were in stopped falling, now descending at a crawls pace. Looking up, she saw that a massive sheet had unfurled and acted like a parachute. With the way it worked, they were now pointed down, which wasn't too bad save for the blood rushing to their heads. Arlo had not yet woken up, but the new situation they were in would make it more likely for him to do so.

Soon, they were starting to move forwards, though it wasn't long for Verena to figure out what was happening. "You two all right down there?" Masahiro asked, they had come down from the high altitude, and grabbed the parachute to ensure that Arlo and Verena continued making progress. "I see you found the emergency slowdown, nice work Verena!" Kichi added. "We still need to get past these mountains to reach the ice bridge, but I think you two did a good job." Ivy continued.

"You did good there kid, though we have less height to use." Butch finished. As she heard Arlo stir, she knew this setback wouldn't stop them. All that was left was the ice bridge, and then they would be within weeks of their home.


Audio Message #33: Subject Members 1 and 2 - aka Arlo and Verena - has traveled 1,896 miles (3,051 Km's). After a near fatal drop, Verena managed to save herself and Arlo. It has given them less range, meaning they will most likely have to walk across the melting ice bridge. They will make it. Clawtooth Mountain is not too far from them now. Their survival rating are at a 3.5 and 4 out of 5 respectively.

End of message.


A/N: We're approaching a chapter that I've been thinking about since I started working on this story; the ice bridge. You'll see why it's important in the next chapter but, it's something that I've been waiting to get to for quite some time!

Next chapter: Loosing Connection

Fun Facts: N/A