Night 1-
We reached the edge where desert met jungle just before nightfall. The turtle laid me down against a couple of large rocks. He was being surprisingly gentle to someone he considered a prisoner.
I finally got to see the paratroopa face to face and he looked even cooler than I thought. He was around 6 feet tall standing on two legs in blue colored shoes. Yellowish scales toned his exposed legs, arms, and head. Each appendage escaped from a different hole in his blue shell. His face extended into a beak that hooked like a bottle opener.
"We'll camp here tonight," he started toward the jungle. "I'll get some firewood. You stay there." He pointed one of his four fingers where I was laying.
"Is there anything I can do to help," I asked a little afraid of being left alone.
"Just stay there," he repeated disappearing into the brush when I nodded my agreement.
I couldn't explain it but a weird feeling of being watched fell over me. My eyes focused on the tree line but I couldn't see anything except a giant red and white mushroom top peaking above several bushes. "Yuck mushrooms," I said when my stomach growled.
Moving and squirming, I somehow managed to shift my backpack in front of me. It reminded me of my internal pains and took extra effort to open the small top pouch where I kept a pack of peanut butter crackers.
I, also, wrestled open a side pocket that housed the rolled hooded sweatshirt I used in case I got caught in the rain without an umbrella. It was riddled with wrinkles but it was the only added layer of protection I had. If I recall my studies correctly, the desert's temperature should drop dramatically once the sunsets.
Suddenly I remembered that turtles were coldblooded and freezing temperatures could freeze the reptile itself assuming the same rules apply to this world. I considered his push to reach the deserts edge and his search for firewood concluding that he may need the sweatshirt more than me tonight.
He returned carrying a bundle of wood and a small mushroom with a brown and white spotted cap. He smirked setting the wood in a pile after seeing I hadn't moved.
"You're still here," he sounded a little surprised. "I'd have thought for sure you'd have tried to make a run for it."
"I promised I wouldn't run," I answered as he lit the fire. "Besides I want to meet your king."
The reptile shot me a disbelieving glance that disappeared when he saw the conviction in my eyes. A grin spread the length of his face, "You are a strange human. Not many people go willingly to my king's palace." He broke the mushroom in half. "I'm glad you're my prisoner."
"Yeah well," I laughed, "I figured this would be the only time I'd ever get to meet royalty. Hopefully, I can make a good impression."
"Me too," the paratroopa said without thinking. He saw my smile and looked away in embarrassment. "Here eat this." The reptile handed me half of the mushroom.
I took it reluctantly. "Yuck," I said making a face.
"Just eat it," the turtle laughed then tried turning it into a cough. "Mushrooms have special abilities here. A whole one would probably heal all your injuries but this was the only one I could find. It'll only heal some injuries since it's only half."
"What about the one over there," I motioned toward the bushes but the giant mushroom top was gone.
"What?"
"I could have sworn there was a mushroom in those bushes," I returned my attention to the turtle munching on his half. "Never mind. Thank you for the food."
I bit into the bitter tasting fungus and made a face that made the paratroopa laugh choking on his meal. It wasn't very good but I managed to eat my entire half. The reptile was right. I felt my ribs beginning to mend. I took two crackers from my package and held the others toward him.
"What's that," he asked suspiciously.
"Peanut butter crackers," I answered, "I had some in my backpack."
"How come you're giving me so many," he asked dumping the remaining crackers in his hand.
I smiled eating mine. "You're bigger and stronger than me. As my captor, it's only fair you get the majority share."
He sniffed one before eating it. A smile spread across his beak and he ate all the others at once. "What did you do to me," he mumbled as the peanut butter stuck to his upper lip.
"Sorry that's a side effect of peanut butter," I laughed as I worked to free the condiment from the roof of my mouth as well.
"Sleep time," he ordered looking into the now star filled sky. "I'll take the first watch. We'll leave at daybreak."
"I'll take the first watch," I volunteered and went immediately into my reasoning. "It'll be easier for you to recapture me if I runaway if you're more refreshed. Besides with the excitement of today, I don't know if I could fall asleep even if I tried."
The turtle thought about it before agreeing and fell asleep almost instantly. I kept my eyes fixated on the jungle as I couldn't seem to shake this feeling of being watched. A couple times I thought I heard twigs snap and saw animal eyes flicker thanks to the fire's light.
Just as I figured, the reptile began shivering. He must have chosen this spot to camp because he thought he would be close enough to the jungle for warmth but far enough to protect against predators. I removed the hooded sweatshirt after crawling to the sleeping animal.
"I think you need this more than me," I whispered draping the warmed garment over the resting turtle. I returned to my position by the fire and continued my vigil into the jungle brush.