(That's right, people, I'm back! I'm not gonna waste any time, so without further adieu, here's Chapter 10!)
Later that day...
It was evening. Miro and the others would walk for one more hour before they stopped for the night. As they went, the number of trees finally began to thin down, and was replaced by grasses and shrubs. They were finally out of the forest.
"Whew, this is sure nicer." Anna says, looking around. "We can see things way better now."
"Yeah, I guess." Miro says, shrugging. He remained relatively quiet during the trip, as did Matthew. Miro's genes prevented him from being the most expressive in the world, but he rather liked it that way. Why talk unless it's something important?
"Well..." Ricca says. "Since we're clear of the trees now, this will be a good time to rest." No one disagreed with this. They were rather tired from all of this walking, and quickly unloaded all of thir supplies for the night.
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Jack was bouncing along with the horse's movements as Nami steered it down the main path. She was very serious about getting her son back, and it showed. She drove the horse like an insane five year-old with a go-cart chasing after small animals. Jack attempted to warn her about riding like this, but he was too preoccupied trying to keep his balance on the bag he was perched on while Nami was driving a flaming streak down the pathway. After a few more minutes of this, the horse suddenly slows, more and more until it came to a total stop. The two dismount the horse.
"What's the problem, Greaser?" Nami says in a bit of frustration. Jack walks around it, finally opening it's mouth as though inspecting the hood of a car.
"Hmm..." He says, shutting Greaser's mouth and turning to Nami. "The horse broke down. And I don't see a gas station anywhere near here, so I guess we'll be walking it the rest of the way."
"Greeeat." Nami says, pulling her bag off of Greaser and slinging it over her shoulder. "That's just like Takakura, getting you a low-warranty horse. Of course, it's your fault too, trusting your finances to an old guy with huge eyebrows that smells like garlic bread."
"Of course, it would have to be my fault." Jack says, the two of them beginning to walk down the path. "That horse is only for local travel, and yes, Tak smells a bit off, but he's pretty much the only guy who ever knew my dad, so he has that going for him."
"Well, didn't you know your dad?" Nami asks.
"Well..." Jack begins. "Kinda. Back in the city, he was always working in the basement with Tak. They were raising animals in there. Mostly pidgeons and rats, since that's all the city has. Then one day I went downstairs and gave them an idea: To actually farm outside the city. That way they would have more room, more animals, and they wouldn't have to try and grow crops in the cracks on the floor using a 50 watt bulb."
"Really?" Nami says. "Jee, I can see where you get it from..."
"Get what?"
"Err, nothing."
They continue to walk down the path, keeping an eye out for any fresh signs of their son.
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The group was resting normally enough, Matthew reading further into the rather dull history of Miro's family, Anna reading over his shoulder, looking for whatever Matthew seemed to find so interesting, and not finding it, Ricca on the branch of a nearby tree, scouting silently for anything suspicious, and Miro looking into the fire they set up, exploring the back of his angsty, teenage mind in silent meditation. Suddenly, however, Miro stands up.
"Hmm? What is it?" Matthew asks, looking away from the book and over to Miro, Anna doing the same.
"I think I'm gonna have a little walk." Miro says, turning from the fire.
"Don't use up too much energy, remember, you'll be having a big walk with the rest of us in the morning." Ricca says from the tree. Miro nods and walks out of the firelight without another word.
He himself wasn't even sure why he was doing this. He just knew that there was something he had to do that night. Something beckoned him off. As he walked up the riverside, he looked around slightly, as if wandering in a dream. Finally, after about a minute, he stops and turns his gaze to the water. In the moonlight, the clear water sparkled like a stream of white diamonds, flowing out into...
'Waaaait a minute...' Miro thinks to himsef, his eyes narrowing. 'This rings a bell... I've done this before, staring into the water, minding my own business, and then suddenly...'
"HYAH!" He yells, whipping around in a karate stance, prepared this time for the surprise. He remains in the stance for a few seconds. He looks left, and then right. Nothing. He relaxes and lets a sigh escape, turning back to the water. Perhaps this time he would actually be able to enjoy the hypnosis of the water without-
"HI MIRO!"
Before crashing on cue into the water, Miro lets out a surprised noise that was something between "YAY!" and "CRAP!". Once he was safely clinging to the shoreline again, he looks up to the one that gave him this shock on more than one occasion.
"KATE!" He yells, trying to sound angry. "I... You're... Why the heck can't you just tap my shoulder like normal people?!"
"I could, but what fun would that be?" She replies, holding out a hand to pull him out. Miro shakes his head.
"No way, I'm not falling for that again!" He says. "I'll get out by myself, thank you very-"
Before Miro finished, Kate's paitence ended and she grabbed Miro's arm, yanking him out of the water and placing him on the ground.
"I don't feel like messing around with you, don't worry." She says. "Oh, and..." in another quick movement, Kate pulled the blue ribbon that Miro had found in the woods earlier from his pocket.
"This is mine." She says.
"I know it's yours!" Miro replies. "That's why I hung on to the thing, you wore two of them in your hair when you were a kid."
"I know you knew." Kate says, shrugging. "Or at least I know now. But... how did you know? It looks like any other ribbon, dosen't it?"
"Well... I recognized the length and shade of blue it was and... Wow, that's weird... I dunno, I guess it just stuck to my mind."
"Oh, that's so... creepy." Kate says, looking at him strangely. "Anyway, let's get back to your camp."
"Uh, sure." Miro says.
When they had reached the camp, the rest of the group looked over to them, the same question obviously on their minds.
"...Oh, right." Miro says, noticing their looks. "This is Kate, a... neighbour from the Valley. Kate, this is-"
"Matthew, Anna, and Ricca." Kate says, pointing to each of them. "I know, I've been following you guys for the last little while. I was in the bushes back when you all met that phycho red-haired woman."
"Oh." Matthew says plainly.
"Then were you one of those people that attacked me and Matthew a while after that?" Miro asks.
"What? No, I don't even think I saw anyone like that..." Kate replies.
"Well, if the introductions are all done, let's do something productive." Ricca says, still not off of the tree. "Like baking something, or, I dunno, sleeping."
"No need to be sarcastic, Ricca." Matthew says. "We're all friends here."
"Right." Miro says, glancing over to Kate. "...Friends."
"Right." Kate says, crossing her arms.
"Hmph." Miro says, transferring to his less friendly attitude and facing away from Kate, crossing his arms and walking away slightly.
"Hmph." Kate returns, also looking away from him and walking off. Both take very determined steps away from one another at first, the others simply watching, but then their pace begin to slow. Finally, both of them come to a lurching stop, still facing away from each other, though. Miro looked like was struggling against something, clenching his teeth and giving a frustrated growl. Kate looked about the same. Miro began tightening his fists, and finally...
"Grr...rrrr....gahh...rrmm...- Oh, who the hell am I kidding?!"
He and Kate finally ignore their stubborn sides, turn around and run toward each other, immediately locking in a well-deserved, perfectly-excecuted, and long-awaited kiss.
Later that... week...
Miro and Kate finally part from the tremendous kiss, both looking dazed and more happy than anyone had seen them. Matthew, Anna, and Ricca were playing marbles to pass the time as they waited for them to finish, and looked up when they noticed that they were.
"That's... gotta be a record!" Miro says, practically bouncing with joy.
"Yep, you passed the record three days ago." Ricca says in a bored tone. "Now if your trip to Lipsville has come to a complete stop, we have a lot of time to make up for." She gets up quickly, after winning the Marbles game with a single well-placed flick, and motioned for the others to do so as well. Anna and Matthew obey, stretching and yawning.
"Jee, you sound a bit bitter, Ric." Miro says, laughing slightly.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ricca asks, glaring at him.
"COUGHTHIRDWHEELCOUGH." Matthew says, the others trying to stifle their laughter. "Ugh, man, I don't feel so good today." He adds sarcastically.
"Here, lemme make it WORSE!" Ricca yells, driving her fist four inches into his gut. He crashes to the ground like a deck chair and the others immediately shut up.
"Okay, somebody drag along that twitching lump and pack up supplies, LET'S MOVE!"
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"Aha!" Jack proclaims, running through the trees to something he had seen.
"What is it now?" Nami asks, walking along behind him with a frustrated look on her face. "You've gotten us lost for four days with one of your 'Aha!'s, which brought us off the path, thank you very much. What is it this time?"
"I've found it!" Jack says, pointing. "I found the path again!"
"Well, it's a start." Nami mumbles, catching up to Jack and stepping back on the path. They look around where they were, seeing some familiar trees, bushes, and Greaser nibbling on the grass nearby. Nami gives Jack a cold stare.
"We're right back where we started!" She yells, hitting him on the back of the head.
"Oww..." Jack moans, rubbing his soon-to-be lump. "Well, at least... Hey, wait, look!" He walks to the other side of the path and bends down, looking at the dirt.
"What is it?" She asks.
"I'm not sure, take a look at it." He says. Nami walks over to where Jack was and looks as well. There were prints on the ground.
"He was here." Nami says. "I can tell by his shoeprint. And..." She walks farther off the path, following the trail. "...There's a different set here, too. He's with somebody, now. The tracks go off into the woods. I guess we'd better follow them. C'mon, let's move!" She starts walking off, following the trail. Jack follows, but spots something in the corner of his eye. He turns his head to look at it. It was another footprint, but it was different from the others. The top half looked normal, but instead of a bottom half, the only thing there was a small dot of a heel. In fact, it almost looked like... a high-heel.
"...Naah." Jack finally says, shrugging it off and turning to catch up with Nami.