A/N:

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Chapter 6

Alone

"Help!" Paige yelled as night was coming and she was still firmly stuck in the mud that was up to her chin. Her arms were resting on top of the thick soup. She was afraid to move, afraid to be sucked deeper into the swamps depths. She was extremely thirsty and the thought of drinking the water that was stagnant on top of the mud almost made her sick and probably would if she drank it. "Help!" she yelled again but got no response. The fire that once raged through the forest was now done and small amounts of smoke and hot embers were left. The sun was setting and new fears would arise as many things came out to hunt in the shadows. "What if they are hurt or dead?" she asks herself as she watched the sun disappear over the horizon.

Piper was unconscious and her arm dangled from the tree she found refuge in before her eyes closed. The cut on her finger was dripping small amounts of blood into the water beneath her. She opened her eyes slowly and everything was fuzzy as her stomach was not happy with her awakening. She took in a deep breath while using her other hand to gently pushed her self up and then almost fell into the murky water but managed to stop that event from happening by using her other hand to grab a branch. She grunted as her finger was extremely sore but her head felt worse. She put her hand to the cut just under the hair line that was near her ear and could feel a warm liquid. She pulled it away and focus her eyes as light was fading quickly on the Crimson blood. "Heal," she grunted out and a elder orbed in. She just pointed to her head and he healed her injury. "Are they alive?" she asked while taking in her surroundings.

"Yes but you will need to fine them," he replied.

"What, ok this is done you need to get us back together and we go home," Piper said while her finger still hurt. "And why didn't you heal this?"

"One heal per person remember, Piper you will know how to find them, you just need to focus and let your instincts take over," he replied and before she could say anything else he was gone.

"Ass," she said and noticed how dark it was getting. She was stuck in a tree with no means to make a fire and searching for them at night was a death wish. "Please be ok," she said and looked up into the night sky and could see the white beacon in the distance, but had no idea how long it would take to get to it. "That is were they will go," she said and tried to get comfortable as the swamp took on a whole new life when the sun flees from the sky.

Prue has been trying to make a fire for hours now and even though most of the materials was dry, she could not get it to flame. She looked over the small barely moving water that she crossed earlier and could see more alligators then before. Crossing here would only get her killed she was even afraid to get near the water as she may be a victim of mistaken identity. She could see smoke in the distance the could tell the fire has subsided. She can also see the white beacon and assumed that if they were able, that's where they would be going. She decided to wait till morning and hope that alligators would be gone or she would find another way across. She sat down and leaned against a tree and pulled her knees in close to her chest as new sounds filled the air. Some she recognizes as owl's but others seemed like a horror movie and even the ground was moving as spiders and other insects were on the hunt. Sleep was not going to be easy or come at all. Here she was the most powerful witch in the world but without her powers she was at the mercy of the most powerful force, nature.

Phoebe stopped running and had no idea how long she's been running for. She could tell it was getting dark and needed to start a fire and maybe try to find her sisters. After resting for a moment and feeling extreme dehydration with a massive headache and no energy, she started the task of building a fire. She gathered starter material and felt a little ironic creating something she just ran from, but fire was life when trying to survive at least that's what her guide told her. It would protector her from any animals that are out hunting and give her the ability to boil water and cook food, fire was everything. It would also serve as a beacon if any of her sisters were close they might be able to see the flame. By the time she gathered what she needed it was pitch black and she had to work in the dark. She still had her striker and after about an hour managed to get her fire going. She smiled and felt a huge sense of relief as the forest around her was taking out of the darkness and given the orange light that came from the flames. She sat down and piled on some more wood but knew it would not be enough to get her through the night. She checked her canteen and had only a few drops of water left and although she was dying of thirst, she decided to save it for the morning. "Prue!" she yelled and closed her eyes in hopes to hear a response back, but got nothing but the noises of the swamp. She was on dry land at least, but now she wanted water to boil. This was the first time they have ever been separated, not even in the Amazon did that happen and now she was alone until she found them. "The beacon," she said as she saw it in the sky and marked its direction." That's where they'll go," she said and got near the fire to settle in for a long night.

Prue could feel a beam of sunlight hit her face and when she tried to move, her neck protested the action by giving her a sharp pain as it was stiff from being in a position all night. She rubbed the back of her neck to get out the kinks and stood up to stretch out her body. Day was a welcome sight but she was still very tired, thirsty and hungry. She needed a fire tp boil any water but considering the trouble she had earlier, she knew it may be better to find another resource or find one of her sisters. She grabbed her canteen and a long stick she has been using to walk with as well as a weapon if needed and started looking for another way to cross the alligator infected water. She had to stop on occasion as an alligator would be warning its body with its mouth agape on the tall grass. Sometimes she could hear them running off when she got close and into the water. "Piper, Phoebe, Paige!" she yelled and stopped to wait for a response but got nothing. "Where are you guys?" she said and continued to walk forward as the heat was already building and the humidity.

Phoebe stayed awake for the most part and was relieved to see the sunrise. She took the last few drops of water from her canteen but knew she needed more. She dusted herself off and looked at the marker she make the night before. She put the fire out has starting another forest fire would not be a good idea. Everything around her had some scars from the fire on it, from the trees to the ground that seemed much darker than before. There was almost a fog but it was leftover smoke that still filled the air. She was heading to the beacon and began the long walk into the Everglades.

Piper stepped out of the tree and into murky water and immediately hated the sensation. She wrapped her finger with some of her shirt she tore off to keep it clean, but it hurt like hell regardless. With her good hand she pulled out her machete and adjusted her canteen that was empty. She was surrounded by water but none of that she could drink until she could get a fire going. She looked around looking for land and because of the fire she can actually see a clearing ahead of her. She decided to find land first and make a fire if she could. "I really should have went on the dam survival trip with Phoebe and Paige. Something tells me there doing much better," she said and began to trudge through the knee-high water. She kept an eye out for bubbles and would stay away from anything slithering in the water as it was probably a water moccasin. She would see crawdads swimming and would grab a few for later and put them in her canteen if they fit.

"Prue, Piper, Phoebe!" Paige's horse voice yelled. She was covered in mud and bug bites that attacked her last night. She had no choice but to drink a little water as dehydration was making her sick. She was thankful almost delirious to see the sun and now had to find a way out of the mud. She looked around her for something she can use as leverage. She tried to turn her head but the rest of her body seem to be firmly encased and she could not move it very far. "Fuck," she said as nothing was reachable or even visible. Her body was shivering as the cool night made the mud even colder and close to hyperthermia. The smoke made visibility difficult to see in the distance and although she was thankful the fire was over, she was now in a much desperate situation. She could not continue to drink the water as it would make her sick but if she moved she could potentially get sucked further in and drowned. She tried orb over and over but because of their powers being blocked she was not going anywhere soon. "Dammit just let me do it once," she yelled while looking up. But no matter how much she tried or asks, she could not complete something that over the years has become natural. She stopped moving as a Python slithered past her and seemed to go on forever. Its body was the size of her head but fortunately either did not notice her or was not quite hungry enough yet. She could not get over the amount of insects that moved with ease on the mud surface even the Python glided on it. She could feel its massive body weight go over her arm as it headed off either to deeper water or the burnt forests behind her. Once she felt it was gone she struggled to get her arm above the mud line again. Her energy was zapped and she was now truly starting to panic," Help!" she yelled and closed her eyes praying that someone would answer her.

Piper has been walking for a few hours and finally her feet hit dry land. She went to her knees as all she wanted to do was sleep but she needed water and that ment a fire. She gritted her teeth and pushed herself up to start the process, but unfortunately knew very little on how to start a fire as Phoebe was the one who did it in the Amazon most of the time. She looked for anything dry and look for the moss that hang off the trees but the fire took care of burning it completely. She found some tree bark that was blacked but it crumble in her hands and she had no idea of how to even start. After an hour she gathered what she thought would be a good starter. It was mostly dry grass that seemed to miss the assault of the flames and after gathering some twigs and some bigger branches, she pulled out her striker from her pocket. Her left hand was fairly useless as any pressure on her finger sent sharp pains through her body. She was weak and dehydrated she also felt like a cold was coming on. She got on her knees and tried to stop her hands from shaking as the lack of water and food were giving her the shakes. She began to use the striker and the small sparks would fly in all directions," Dammit," she said in frustration as she knew this was not the correct way. The sparks needed to be focused in one direction so she had to put pressure on her other hand and just deal with pain as she tried again. Occasionally she would see smoke than fill hopeful but then it would disappear into nothing. The sweat from her brow did not make it any easier as it would sometimes drip onto the dry grass. She looked up at the sky that was clear as the sun was almost at its peak. She needed to take a break and sat down near a log. She felt defeated and even tried to use her exploding power to start the fire, but nothing happened. She then unwrapped her finger to redress the wound. The cut was about 3 inches in length on the side of her finger and was extremely red around it, she could even see some white around the scar that was trying to form. "Great its infected," she said and gave a slight squeeze in a attempt to get some out. She screamed as some puss came out near the ends it even smelled like almonds. "Oh god," she said and dry heaved. She now needed the fire more than anything as she could use the water to clean the wound and rehydrate. After she got her composure back she tried again. The infection was causing the fever and making her feel weak and slow to react to anything that requires the tenderness of fire takes to start. After another hour she got her fire and then filled her canteen with water. She put it near the fire and let it boil which took 10 minutes. She then let it cool and moment it touched her lips she could feel a small energy burst. She enjoyed the sensation and looked at the crawdads she had in a pile and got them ready to eat.

Prue found a shallower part of the small stream or river she went a crossed the day before. She stood for over 30 minutes looking for any signs of alligators before taking the plunge. It was only about waist high but it felt like an ocean as every second in the water put her in more danger. But when she got to the other end she filled her canteen and started heading back to the burnt forest she ran from. Along the way she looked for any kind of fire starter but like Piper she was not sure what to use and just look for anything extremely dry. She was heading in the direction of the white beacon or at least she hoped as it was not visible during the day," Piper, Phoebe, Paige!" she yelled and like the others waited for a response but got nothing. She could hear something moving in the waist high grass and tried to pinpoint where was coming from as it could be an alligator. She then saw exactly what it was and she got her spear ready as it was a wild pig. It did not seem to notice her and she held her breath and took aim. With all her might she tossed the spear at the wild pig and make contact. It squealed loudly and began to run off with the projectile firmly implanted in its side. Prue ran after it and was able to catch up to the injured pig but she had to be careful as it could still hurt her. She kept it in front of her moving side to side until it finally collapsed, she then took her machete and stabbed it in the heart. "Sorry," she said as she felt for the piggy but it was food and she was starving. Unfortunately she did not know how to cut or even skin it, but would do her best. She needed to get someplace more stable in order to make a fire and cook her kill. She dragged a bloody carcass to the tree line and took a moment to rest before looking for materials to start a fire. Surviving as a group was far superior then surviving alone. Any time you took time to rest meant time taken away from creating a fire, finding water or building a shelter.

"How the hell did people do this along time ago," she said and used her remaining energy to get a fire going. It took her over three hours just to do that and the day was almost gone. She felt like she made no headway at all as now all she wanted to do was eat, drink and sleep. "Just a few minutes," she said and closed her eyes after she filled her belly with what she could get off the pig. There was a lot left over as she was not sure how to skin it and just went for the meaty parts. She felt safer during the day and now that she had a fire, she herself relax a little. But if she slept too long the fire go out and she would be right back where she started.

To be continued...