A slight crunch was heard, and Shannon clung to Sayid's arm with a gasp of fear. "It's alright. It's just a bird." Sayid assured her. Shannon heard a rustling and swallowed hard, her breathing speeding up. "It's alright. It's just the wind." Sayid told her.
"I wasn't scared." Shannon stated, staring at him and detaching herself from him. "I was just making sure nothing got you."
Sayid glanced at her. "That's very considerate of you." he said.
"Stop it!" Shannon snapped. "I scared, okay? I don't want to die!"
Sayid stared ahead, watching the path. "I didn't say anything." he pointed out.
"Yeah, but you have this way of...saying things without...saying things." Shannon looked away. "It freaks me out."
"Alright, I'll stop if it bothers you." Sayid agreed.
"It doesn't bother me, it's just that –" Shannon stopped. "You're doing it again!" she exclaimed.
Sayid shook his head. "I'm sorry. I'll just stop talking." he said.
"No, I wasn't telling you to stop talking, I like you talking to me, it's just –" She shook her head. "Never mind." she said, shaking her head.
"Tell you what," Sayid turned to her. "If you want to get away from me so badly, why don't you climb that tree and take a look around from the top?"
Shannon looked the tree over. It looked sturdy enough. "Alright," she agreed, "I think that sounds fine." Shedding her pack, she readied herself, once, twice, three times, and tried to pull herself up. She fell back onto her rear. "Darn it!" she cried, and pushed herself up. Grabbing onto the branch, she tried again, but again, she failed.
"You know," said Sayid, "I think you could use some help."
Shannon glanced back at him. "Not a chance." she said, smiling.
Shannon grabbed hold of the branch again, readied herself, and then pulled herself up onto the first branch, the second, the third, with a grace that Sayid admired. It was not often that he saw a girl who could climb, and Shannon – of all people – was the last girl on Earth he would think of as a tree climber.