…
Within Reach
Chapter 9: Failure to Thrive
Alf really wasn't being the unreasonable one here, no matter what Abe and Toby thought. As far as he was concerned, he had every right to be suspicious of the fact that some industrialist suddenly decided that he wanted to join the Mudokons' resistance for absolutely no reason. It wasn't even like it was a disgruntled Slig, this guy was dressed like one of the higher-ups and didn't look like he had worked a day in his life, whatever he was.
The thing was that Abe was a bleeding heart and the others went along with whatever he said, including Toby. Normally Alf would've done so too, as Abe had proved himself as more than capable of making the right decisions, but this decision didn't make much sense, not for someone as fixated on protecting and preserving his kind as Abe was. Alf had a hunch it was all that sweettalking Vesper had been doing.
Just because he didn't do anything yet didn't mean anything. He could've been a spy planted by the cartel to collect information on them and plot a swift takeover. Even now there could be a fleet moving in, waiting outside the forest until nightfall and then swooping in to burn everything to the ground, including the entire rebellion. Honestly, it was a clever plan. It would've explained why they hadn't immediately hunted them down after the events at the brewery.
Vesper was some kind of trouble; Alf was sure of that.
Needless to say, he felt stupid agreeing to let him come along with them.
Of all the people to be right, it was unfortunately Toby who was when he predicted the Mudokons' weariness and reluctance to help out. They had gotten a small group of guys, but it wasn't going to be the fleet who threw together huts in a matter of hours. Worse still, they needed supplies, so this meant a trek into the woods to find whatever they could use. They had enough wood and no nails, so it was a matter of vines and whatever else could hold the hut together.
He had hoped Vesper would give up and head back to the village. Though he couldn't say he was happy with the thought of him sulking around where Abe might be sleeping. Not that he had to worry about that, because Vesper seemed determined to haunt their footsteps. Alf tried to block him out, but Vesper kept trying to strike up a conversation with little results.
Until he managed to get his hooks in. It was something along the lines of, "It's a far cry from Nolybab," that stoked up the curiosity of one of the accompanying Mudokons- one whose name Alf couldn't remember. Chances were that he was curious because this was where Abe had gone and, like many of the others, he looked up to him.
Next thing Alf knew, he had to listen to Vesper lapse into this overly descriptive ramble about Nolybab while the others, including Toby who was there, listened with captivation.
It didn't help that Vesper spoke so smugly about it, occasionally throwing in a comment about how eager he was to leave or glad he was to leave the city behind- "Odd knows I would've left years ago from the noise pollution alone, but now that I've had my eyes opened there's no way I could've kept living in that," -almost like he was rubbing it in Alf's face.
Alf had to believe it was an act, because nobody could be this naïve to chat up former slaves like they were walking on the same level. Abe saved the Mudokons; Abe just brought Vesper along because he asked him to. Alf managed to hold his tongue and hide his frustration rather well. If well was stomping through the underbrush and grinding his teeth whenever Vesper said something especially irritating.
It was around then that Stoopy unexpectedly stopped them at the base of a palm tree. It wasn't fully matured and not even half the height of some of the others, looking almost twenty feet. He pointed upwards towards the top.
"Palm fronds," he said.
"For what?" Alf asked.
"They're waxy and waterproof. Put 'em on the roof and the rain rolls right off. Otherwise, the roof wood's gonna rot," Stoopy said matter-of-factly. He rolled his shoulders in a lazy shrug. "Might still, but this'll slow it down."
"Alright, palm fronds," Alf agreed. He looked up at the fronds, high up in the air, caught in the light reaching through the canopy. He stared for a long moment. "…So, what, we cut the tree down?"
"Not worth it. These young ones are too hard, too narrow, too much work and not enough wood. It'd be a waste." Stoopy, always the environmentalist. Alf supposed he agreed that there wasn't much use in cutting down a tree that hadn't even reached maturity if they couldn't really use it. It just reeked of something the industrialists would do.
He noticed Stoopy was eyeing him out the corner of his eye. "What?"
"Quickest way to get 'em is to have someone climb up there and pluck 'em," Stoopy answered matter-of-factly.
"Well, don't look at me! Who'd you have climb up to get the others?"
"Bill, but he's laid up with a twisted ankle," one of the Mudokons behind him chimed in. "… Y'know, it's your house, Alf."
"Do I look like I'm made for climbing trees?" Alf asked, pointing a thumb in his own chest. The Mudokon who said this shrugged a little. "Tell ya what, I'll boost one of you guys up. Then you'll be almost halfway."
"Or I could do it," Vesper suggested.
"I'm not picking you up," Alf said sourly. Vesper's confident smile dropped to a flat look.
"No, I meant I could climb up there and get them myself… Without you having to touch me." He brushed past Alf, almost bumping his shoulder as he looked up at the palm.
It wasn't that high. Definitely not high enough to kill him and testing his claws on the trunk showed that the wood was pliable enough to hook onto. Making up his mind, and it was perhaps only to show up Alf, Vesper reached down and pulled off his shoes, tossing them onto the moss nearby.
"What the?" Alf muttered. Not at his actions- he couldn't say he was surprised at this point- but at the weird state of his feet. They were clawed like his hands with long, finger-like toes, and he wore half socks only covering his heels and ankles.
"My kind are adept climbers by nature. I'm a little out of practice, but instincts should kick in," Vesper explained. Which was true, Chiromors were born with the skill, with pups easily climbing up furniture before they could even walk.
While he hadn't climbed in years, it came back to him in seconds as he hooked his claws on and lifted himself up. The gentle pull on his claws, the weightless scaling, that satisfying tightening of his muscles; it all came back to him. That wasn't to say that the tree was easy to climb compared to the fuzzy walls and playground equipment pups were released onto.
The exterior was firmer, sometimes not allowing a good grip, and the narrow body of it meant he had to wrap his arms awkwardly around it. Almost like the tree didn't want to be climbed, but Vesper reminded himself that he was born to bypass these obstacles. That, and that the group was watching him, and he couldn't back down without losing some credibility.
He made it three quarters of the way up before it became noticeably more difficult. As the tree narrowed in further, it became more awkward to get a proper grip, being forced to wrap his arms practically around the tree as he scaled it.
Thankfully, he made it to the top in a relatively short amount of time. He beamed to himself as he reached up for the fronds, twisting them by the base and working them until he could break them free, then tucking them under his opposite arm. Once he had what he thought was a decent sized bundle he called down to the others.
"Is this enough?"
The others were watching him from below. The two Mudokons he had been chatting up seemed impressed by his feat, much to his delight, while Alf stood there with a sour look, which he also reveled in.
"A few more," Stoopy said without making any effort to raise his voice.
Alf huffed and shouted up, "He said-."
"I heard him. Hold on," Vesper called back. Alf silently crossed his arms as he continued to watch him break off fronds. Both Toby and Stoopy could tell that the tension was mounting but knew better than to say anything.
Finally, Vesper got enough that when he looked down Stoopy gave him a thumbs up, and then he firmly bunched the leaves under his arm and began to start making his way down. He had expected that it would be a little easier getting down than climbing up, which was the exact opposite as he realized how increasingly awkward the changing size of the trunk was going to be. He began to slowly shimmy his way down, relying more on strength than his claws.
Which turned out to be his downfall, quite literally.
It started with his right foot, which was reaching down, hit a slick portion of firm, waxy exterior and the claws wouldn't stick. He tried to catch himself with his left foot and hands, but the narrow trunk mixed with the weight led to a failing grip. Then his left foot caught and his weight twisted his ankle, and it was either release his hold or possibly break his ankle.
Next thing he knew, he was plummeting down the truck of the tree. Ridges in the bark scuffing up the inside of his pants, fingers desperately scraping without hold, dropping straight downward before suddenly thumping onto the forest floor so hard that his upper half was thrown back and he landed flat on his back. The wind was knocked out of him, leaving him staring wide eyed up at the top of the tree and the flurry of partially broken fronds that fell over him.
Silence.
Silence broken only by the sound of Alf wheezing before doubling over in laughter. Which was so loud that he almost missed the accompanied snickering from the two unnamed Mudokons. Toby looked concerned, but it went unnoticed, and Stoopy leaned over and looked down at him.
"You okay?"
He was anything but okay. He was mortified beyond belief and was probably bruised his entire back in one fell swoop. He ignored any possible damage and scrambled to start damage control, using his adrenaline to hop back to his feet.
"Heh, guess I'm a little more out of practice than I thought. Well, whatever. What goes up must come down, right?" Vesper rambled. He scrambled to gather up the fronds that had fallen and hastily shoved them into Stoopy's arms with a tight stretched smile. "Here you are! Pleasure to be a help, but I think I'll be off now. I should really check in and make sure Abe's resting. You know how he is."
Stoopy raised a confused brow at this rushed out answer and watched Vesper take off the way they came. He walked briskly, his face burning like he had landed on it instead of his- and Abe was going to end up find out about this when he was complaining about his back later. How embarrassing, how mortifying, and his one chance to really stick it to Alf, who had only barely reigned himself in. He was just glad he couldn't hear what they were saying about him.
"I really shoulda told him not to fall asleep. There was this guy once who fell off a stepladder and hit his head, got tired and went to sleep, and he was dead by morning," one of the unnamed Mudokons said. That sort of sobered everyone up. Nothing like the reminder of one of them dying to kill a good mood. "…So, who's going up next?"
Thankfully, Vesper managed to make it back to the village on his own. He decided to keep up the pace until he made it to Abe's hut, not wanting to make eye contact with anyone on the way. He steadied himself outside before pushing through the curtain.
Only to find that Abe wasn't there. It took him aback for a moment, and it took him as long as realizing his backpack was gone too to realize that he was far from resting. Vesper sighed and his ears folded back in dismay. He really hoped he was going to take a moment off, but he couldn't say that he was surprised he didn't.
They hadn't spoken once about Abe's confession last night. In fact, Abe had almost pretended like it didn't happen, choosing to only remember and regard their night together afterwards and not what he had said about the pressure he was under and his feelings towards the other Mudokons. Vesper knew one night to vent his frustrations wouldn't just get rid of them, but he did know Abe felt bad about how he felt. It wasn't healthy.
While Vesper wanted to believe that maybe Abe really had just been picking up the slack from the other Mudokons and got a little overwhelmed, he was starting to see hints of the pressure he was under. Something as innocuous as how frequently he had to remind the Mudokons to stay together during the trek through the woods could've been protectiveness from past experience. His absolute shock that the Mudokons would do something nice for him was also telling.
That wasn't to say that Vesper was under the impression that they were bad people. In fact, they were coming off a lot better than the impression he got when Abe had opened up to him, but there had to be a reason Abe felt like he had to handhold them so much. It was clear that the Mudokons were capable of taking care of themselves, but Abe's reaction to the village alone showed that he didn't think they would.
Maybe he was just allowing them to ask for as much as- if not more than- he could give, and they only started doing for themselves once he was no longer there to do it. The way Abe had spoken about it made it seem like he couldn't say no.
The Chiromor had started to walk towards his suitcase only to stop, hands on his hips and a pensive look on his face. Then he made up his mind and turned to head right back out the front door.
He didn't care if he was overstepping his boundaries, he came here to help Abe and if that meant having to say no for him then that was fine. He already made spectacle of himself once today, what would a second time hurt? So, he headed right back outside and began to look for the blue skinned Mudokon. Starting by looking around the immediate area and continuing out when he couldn't see him.
Eventually Vesper decided to take the plunge and ask some of the Mudokons if they had seen him. The first one he approached was alone, sitting on the ground and trying to stitch some shreds of burlap together into a useable stretch of fabric.
"Excuse me," Vesper began. The Mudokon's head shot up and his eyes must've doubled in size. Apparently another one of the nervous ones, so he didn't risk coming any closer. "Have you seen where Abe went?"
"…He's not in his hut?... Uh, no… Maybe… Maybe go ask the guys up there." He pointed up at one of the lookout perches towards the front of the village, if the front would be the way they came in. "They might've seen him?"
"Alright, thanks," Vesper said. He shot him a friendly smile and moved on quickly. "Be nice, be brief. Don't give them a reason to get uneasy," he told himself. His kind was intimidating, he got that, and he was going to have to work around that if this was going to work. "…I can't imagine what they must've been through to be this flighty."
He shook off the thoughts and stopped underneath the platform. There were two Mudokons sitting near the edge working on something while a third one was walking around doing whatever.
"Hello up there!" Vesper called through cupped hands. The two looked down at him and the third's head popped up behind them. "I'm looking for Abe. Have you seen him?"
"Uh, not me. You?" one of the sitting Mudokons asked the second, who shook his head. Thankfully, the third leaned over them and pointed off into the trees.
"I saw him go that way! Towards the creek!"
"Thanks! I appreciate it!" Vesper called up before heading in that direction. Shoving his hands in his pockets as he strolled out of the village. He thought that maybe Abe could've just gone to get more water or splash some on his face, so maybe he technically was taking it easy. Though part of him knew that probably wasn't the case, he hoped for it.
Much to his dismay he found plenty of Mudokons hanging out around the stream, but no sign of Abe. Some of them might've been the Mudokons they rescued as they were cleaning up again while further upstream some Mudokons were gathering water in buckets, with one collecting it down in the ditch and then handing them up to the ones standing on the bank.
"Hey, you're that guy who came with Abe!" a voice chirped. He looked over in time to see a curious Mudokon running up. He had a noticeable scar stretching from cheek to chin. "I've been meaning to ask you… What are you?"
"I'm a Chiromor. We're related to bats, we come from outside of Mudos, and we don't bite," he rattled off quickly. Maybe a little more briskly than he had intended, but the Mudokon didn't seem to notice. Vesper turned towards him and asked, "Mind if I ask you a question?"
"Oh yeah, sure!"
"Have you seen Abe?"
The Mudokon paused a moment as he looked around the area. "Hmm… Hey, have any of you guys seen Abe?!" he called to the larger group nearby.
One stood up and called back, "He went out to the ruins!"
"He went to the ruins," the friendly Mudokon chirped.
"What ruins?" Vesper asked with a quizzical look.
"Old Mudokon ruins from a long time ago. We don't really get 'em, but Abe's got some kind of connection with all that old stuff. Y'know, the tatts and stuff," the Mudokon continued, gesturing to his chest to reference Abe's own. He then pointed a thumb back in a random direction. "Somebody spotted 'em a couple of days ago out that way. They're about, eh… Half a mile? Kinda hard to tell when you're walking through this stuff."
"And it would be that way?" Vesper pointed where he had. The Mudokon double checked and then readjusted his direction, pointing specifically to what looked like a path into the jungle. Probably a common route that they had worn down over the last few days. "Alright then. I think I might head out there and see how he's holding up. Thank you for the help…" He trailed off, coaxing for a name.
"Russ!"
"Russ. Vesper Ryce," Vesper introduced himself and offered his hand. The Mudokon eagerly grabbed for it only to hesitate the instant before contact. He shifted his hand around trying to figure out how to avoid the claws. Vesper chuckled a little and reached the rest of the way to take his hand and shake it. "They look a lot more threatening than they are," he assured.
With that, Vesper released his hand and started past, heading towards the path with a new destination in mind. As daunting as the tightly packed foliage was, he couldn't deny that there was something exciting about venturing into it on his own, looking for ancient ruins. Coakley would be amazed to hear this- whenever he could get in contact with him again.
It took until Russ scurried up to his side for Vesper to realize that the Mudokon had been following him. He was a little surprised, but not displeased by the accompaniment. He folded his arms behind his back and continued the conversation.
"So, how did you meet Abe?" he asked.
"I was working in the Feeco Depot when he came and freed us. He was bringing a train through to get ingredients for the cure and grabbed us all up on the way! Heh, we were jumping in between speeding trains. Could've been blown to bits, but nope! Abe had it all in the bag!"
"Seems like he usually does. We had a few close calls in Nolybab. Almost got dropped out of the bottom of a tram car hundreds of feet in the air, but just scraped by," Vesper said. "But the Feeco Depot- that's a railyard, right? What was it like working there?"
"Pretty rough. Not as bad as some of the guys that came out of the mines, but there were a lot of accidents. One minute you'd be unloading some stock or mopping up and suddenly- splat! Light's out for someone."
"That sounds terrible."
"Yeah, it was! 'Specially if you're working the stockyard. We used to call it the, heh, the graveyard shift. Because, y'know, the falling containers. One crane malfunction in the wrong place and ugh. Like there was this one time-."
Vesper was definitely regretting the direction the conversation was going in even before the anecdotes about horrible injuries came into play. He bit his tongue and listened though, because it seemed like Russ needed someone to talk to. Besides, he wanted to know what was going on in these facilities in case he could pursue something later on. Though the more he heard the less plausible it seemed that any of his avenues would work.
They continued to trek through the jungle, watching as it evolved and changed around them. When they got to an area where the trees were thinned and he could see further, he noticed what looked like towers in the distance. They still seemed to be made out of trees, or covered in trees, but these semi-natural wonders stood out as an impressive sight before the jungle closed in again.
In a matter of feet, the palms closed in like the bars of a cage tangled up in vines and fronds. This section of the woods was noticeable darker and smelled heady of wood rot and wet moss. The ground squished under his shoes, noticeable since it hadn't looked like it rained recently in the rest of the jungle. Thankfully, there was still the remnants of a trail, which he followed while keeping an eye and ear out for Abe.
Easier said than done with Russ still chatting him up, but the other's presence was still a welcome one. Especially since he changed topics.
"-And so here's me, Crazy Eli, the Don, and about ten guard Slogs, all foaming at the mouth, and all we've got to protect ourselves… Is a crate 'bout this big full of wet wipes. Heh, needless to say, we drop the goods and beat feet outta there!"
It looked like the terrain was getting a little mushier too. Trying to save his shoes a little, Vesper avoided a large lump of mud with what looked like a little slug crawling on it, not sparing it a second glance.
"Which is a great escape plan until you're the slowest member of a three-group posse. Eli launches himself over this, uh… Uh…" Russ stopped himself before stepping on the same mount Vesper avoided. He stared at it for a long moment before taking a slow step back, eyes shooting up to the canopy and making sure there was nothing up there. "Hey… I-I think I'm going to head back…"
"What, now?" Vesper turned around and found Russ looking awfully nervous. "Why? What's wrong?"
"That's, uh… That." Russ pointed down at the lump of dirt and the slug creature slowly devouring it. "That's Fleech droppings."
"…Oh Odd, Abe said something about Fleeches," Vesper muttered. Slightly unsettled, but not ready to give up his search, he pointed towards the slug. "And that's not a Fleech?"
"No, that's a Slurg. But where you see a Slurg, you're gonna find Fleeches."
"I see…" Vesper considered it for a long moment before asking, "You are absolutely SURE that the ruins are this way?" Russ nodded and motioned down the ever-fading path ahead. The Chiromor made his decision, knowing there was a good chance he was going to regret it. "I'm going to keep going. You head on back to the village; I'll be alright on my own."
"You sure?" Russ asked. Vesper gave a nod. "Well, okay… But if you see a sleeping Fleech, make sure not to wake it up, and if you do, run, and if you are, don't lead it back to the village. And don't step on the Slurgs, they squeak."
"Duly noted." With that, Russ started to hurry back the way they came. Just seeing how spooked he had gotten was enough to shake Vesper's confidence a little, but he had come too far to turn back now. It wasn't even just out of worry for Abe either, he was sure he was probably fine, but some headstrong determination to not head back to the village empty handed. So, he continued on.
At that point, the whole tone of the journey changed. It couldn't have been more than a minute or two since he stopped hearing Russ' footsteps and yet the whole jungle seemed to shift. It was noticeably tighter, the smell of fauna thriving and decaying was overwhelming, and the only thing he could hear was the distant sound of birds.
It wasn't until he was walking along a tight ridge between a mossy cliff and a seven-foot drop into overgrown thickets that another noise joined the birds. Vesper had turned himself to sidle a little more cautiously, sure this was where the path led, when he caught the faintest sound of something nearby. It sounded like breathing. Labored, husky breathing, and it was coming from somewhere above.
With nowhere to go but forward, Vesper continued further down the ridge until his path was blocked by a tangle of roots, which he then used to easily climb up to the higher level. He thought himself rather clever until he got up there and noticed something amiss. He stood and looked down at the scene with his hands on his hips.
There were nearly a dozen purplish black dots squirming around through the moss, obviously Slurgs. Some grouped up on clumps of Fleech offal while the others started to squirm in his direction. They must've been lured in by the sound or vibrations of his footsteps as they inched towards his shoes. That or he stepped in something on the way here, which he sincerely hoped not.
There was a weirdly sour smell to the air. That breathing sound was closer too, but still sounded like it was coming from above. Vesper slowly looked upwards and finally spotted the source of the noise dangling from the tangled branches above.
The creatures were green with leather, scaly skin and hung down from the branches by long protuberances that almost looked like tongues, being that they came out of what looked like a gaping mouth. Though what was odd was that it looked like there was another mouth on their backend, opening and closing in quiet snores and showing ragged teeth. They were armless, legless, and might've been eyeless, though he couldn't see if it was the same on the opposite side.
These had to be the Fleeches he had been warned about. There was something strangely threatening about them even though they were on the smaller side. Just the way they slightly swung in the non-existent wind, literally hanging over him. It the time he was standing there watching them, one opened its downward aimed mouth and dropped a clump of dark refuse, which splattered onto the moss. Vesper grimaced as he saw the Slurgs crawl eagerly to it.
He knew he had to get away fast and he started to take a carefully slow step back only to freeze up at a loud squeak. He yanked his foot aside and looked down to see that he had stepped on a Slurg that had been crawling up out of the moss. He hadn't even felt it underfoot, it just squished as easily as any clump of dirt.
Then came a few soft thumps and he snapped his head forwards to see the Fleeches dropping down from the branches. If he thought he would have a second, he thought wrong, because the creatures immediately began to croak and crawl towards him, and they were moving a lot faster than the Slurgs.
Vesper jolted and strode two steps before dropping himself down the steep embankment, grabbing the roots to stop him from tumbling off the ridge at the bottom. He was just able to land on the ledge and began to hurriedly sidestep back towards the path but didn't get more than a few feet before catching a glimpse of green and looking up in time to see a Fleech right above him on the ledge.
In a split second, the Fleech's tongue shot out and lashed him hard across his back and head. It felt more like a narrow club that a whip, knocking him forward and throwing him down into the bramble filled ditch below. The thorns clawed as his clothing as he sunk through and then landed heavily on the mushy, mossy ground beneath. The numerous squeaks that followed suggested he must've landed on another bed of Slurgs.
Panicking, Vesper recovered quickly and began to crawl underneath the thicket to get distance between him and the beasts. For a moment he thought he might've been safe, as the Fleeches were croaking nearby but not following him into the thorns, but this was short lived as one of their tongues darted through the brambles and hit his thigh so hard that he wouldn't have been shocked if it drew blood.
He clawed at the ground and dragged himself out of the other side of the thicket before clamoring out of the ditch, boosting himself up with a rotten log to get up to the ledge and back to level ground. He then broke into a wild sprint into the jungle, somewhat steering him towards where he thought the path might've been without knowing where he was going. The croaking continued to follow behind him.
Whenever he thought he might've lost the Fleeches and stopped to get his bearings, even if it was for only a few seconds, he would hear this stretching, coiling noise of the Fleeches tongues as they closed in on him. Then the croaking would begin again, and he would continue to run blindly. It felt like it was going on for ages and yet it might've been less than five minutes. The humid air was suffocating him.
He could've fended them off with his gun if he had enough bullets. Maybe a warning shot would scare them off… If his gun was here and not still hidden away inside his coat back at the hut. One of many things he would regret doing today.
Vesper looked around desperately for something to make sense of where he was going and eventually this paid off when he spotted a strange landmark. It looked to be a large stone bound by thick, old ropes so that it was suspended in the air. Worn markings were carved into the front depicting a symbol that he couldn't decipher the meaning of. It was a sign to him that he was getting closer to the ruins.
He headed in that direction, and it wasn't much further before he saw more signs of a civilization lost to time. Trees carved with designs and sigils faded by weather and time, occasional patches of stonework hidden underneath layers of moss and forest rot; it wasn't nearly as grand as he was imagining, but it was hints of something remarkable. Something Vesper would've found very interesting if he wasn't in the middle of being hunted.
This could mean that Abe was somewhere nearby. Starting to become desperate, Vesper decided he was close enough, raised his fingers to his lips, and whistled loudly.
"Abe!" he called out. "Hey! Are you here?!" There was no response. He whistled again in a longer burst. "Anybody out here?! Anyone?!" he yelled more desperately.
…
"…Vesper?"
A voice called back from a distance. Vesper instantly breathed a sigh of relief.
"Yes! Where are you?!"
"Up here! Where are you?"
"I'm coming!" Vesper finished before breaking into a run in the direction of the voice.
Though he couldn't hear the Fleeches, he could imagine them creeping along behind him, waiting to pounce and sink their teeth into his calves. Or just batter him with their impressively powerful tongues and eat whatever remained afterwards. His heart pounded so loudly that he could've imagined any noise hidden underneath it. He had to get to Abe, away from these creatures, and back to safety.
Instead, he pushed through some oversized ferns and found himself face to face with a wall of roots. At least, that's what he thought it was made of. The texture of it was gnarled and grown into itself, giving the shape of massive roots that had swallowed each other up, then were carved with the same intricate detailing of the trees before. A large symbol in the center was circular in nature and looked partially like a Scrab, something significant.
Though Vesper was focusing more on the fact that this was basically just another cliff. He looked up to see a ledge above, and that's when Abe ran down along it and stood over him.
"Wait there, I'll come down!" Abe yelled through cupped hands.
"NO! No, you stay right there! I'm coming up!" Vesper yelled back, waving his arms in a panic. He looked back to make sure the Fleeches weren't nearby, which they weren't, and then back to the wall.
Technically it was just as wood so he could climb it. It would be just like climbing those walls when he was a pup, except falling could mean a fractured leg, a literal tongue lashing, and possible death for both him and Abe who would probably come down to save him. He couldn't screw this up, he realized, and pulled off his shoes. He hastily tied the shoestrings together and hung them around his neck.
He braced himself with a deep breath and began to climb up. Much to his surprise, the gnarled rooting was easier to climb than the palm had been. The roughness scuffed up his palms and pants but was still more pliable, allowing his claws to hook in without slipping. Once he was a few feet up he had enough confidence to move faster. He kept his eyes on the wall, watching where he planted each hand and foot, and not down at the ever-growing distance to the ground.
That wasn't to say it went easier than last time, because this time fatigue caught up with him pretty quickly. He had to stop momentarily to try and catch his breath, but the tightness on his muscles couldn't relent, and thus offered no relief.
"Just a little further! You almost got it!" Abe encouraged.
The Chiromor took a deep breath and continued to climb. It didn't take him long to scale over the carvings, using the grooves to help pull himself up, and made it to the top. Abe reached down grabbed him by the back of the vest to help him up the rest of the way. Vesper sat on his knees for a minute trying to catch his breath. He looked a little wobbly, so Abe took him by the shoulders to keep him from falling back.
"Deep breaths. You'll feel a lot better in a minute," he said.
Vesper nodded stiffly before moving to lay down on his back. He didn't care about his clothes; they were probably already ruined at this rate. At least it was dry up here. He looked up at the patch of sky above through squinted eyes and as he waited for his heart to stop pounding so hard.
"What happened?" Abe asked after a minute, still knelt beside him.
Vesper swallowed thickly and asked, "Fleeches are green?"
Abe caught on quickly. "Yes…?" he asked uneasily.
"I just- I just got chased- across the WHOLE jungle- by Fleeches," Vesper got out in-between pants. He wiped over his face and slicked back his fur. "One of them coldcocked me with its tongue."
"But how- Why were you out this far?" Abe asked in disbelief. He paused a moment, a look of realization passing his face, and then muttered, "Please tell me you came to look for me and Alf didn't leave you in the woods."
"No, this was all my stupid plan… Not that stupid. I found you, didn't I?" Vesper managed a smile and a wink; Abe didn't look amused. "You see them down there?"
Abe leaned forward to look over the edge and at what he could see of the thinned-out area below. He couldn't see any movement down below and even though the Fleeches could've blended in, he didn't see any sign of them.
"Nope. Looks clear from here. You must've outrun 'em. Good job, Vess!" Abe congratulated with a smile, which Vesper returned. "…Oh, no, wait. There they are."
Sure enough, there they came crawling out of the ferns and stopping at the bottom of the wall. They began to circle around, having seemingly lost both sound and scent lead. It didn't stop Vesper's eyes shot open, and Abe raised his hands.
"It's okay! I don't think they can get up here," he said. From how the Fleeches were fumbling at the bottom, it didn't seem like they even realized he climbed up, so they were probably in the clear until they had to find a way back to the village. They could figure that out later, Abe supposed. He instead turned back at Vesper with a smile. "I've never seen anyone climb like that! How'd you do that so fast?"
"Light a fire under me and you'd be amazed what I can pull off," Vesper said. Though then he raised his claws and properly answered, "My kind's supposedly built for it. Seems to work well enough, but I'm definitely out of practice."
"I just watched you climb straight up the side of a cliff. I wouldn't say you're that out of practice," Abe said. He sounded genuinely impressed, though Vesper couldn't help but think he was exaggerating a little. At least it felt good to redeem himself from earlier.
What wasn't as nice was being able to hear that croaking again. Even half-exhausted, hearing the Fleeches searching around for him below made him want to get up and split. Eventually it became too much to bear and he sat up.
"I'm good. Let's get out of here before they catch wind of us and start crawling up here. I wouldn't put it past them," he said. Abe perked up at this.
"You want to see something cool?" he asked, fiddling with his bag straps, and getting an eager glint in his eyes.
Vesper was curious enough to say yes and put his shoes back on. Abe offered his hand, pulled him to his feet, and led him around the outside of the ledge. He pushed back some hanging moss and led him to a narrow ridge that looked out over a further expanse of jungle.
In the distance there stood a stone temple in the midst of the towering palms and flowering undergrowth. It looked to be made entirely of dark stone and its most distinct features were narrow, square-shaped windows carved into the upper portion. That had to be the ruins the Mudokons spoke of, not just the carvings littering the area. For Vesper, who hadn't seen structures like this beyond reading about them in books, it seemed unreal.
"Would you look at that…" he said with wonderment. "That's a real temple. An actual piece of history."
"Pretty neat, huh?" Abe asked. He seemed more interested in Vesper's reaction than the temple itself. "I don't think that's the only one too, and it probably goes a lot deeper than it looks!"
"Are you heading over there?" Vesper asked. He didn't miss how quickly Abe averted his gaze.
"Uh, no. Not yet…" There was a silent beat. When he finally looked back, he noticed that Vesper seemed to be waiting for him to continue. Realizing he wasn't getting out of it, Abe sighed and explained, rubbing the back of his neck as he did. "It's those "sacred" kinds of areas where I get my scars from. I got plenty of skin left to mark-up… But I'm not sure if I want another one yet."
"Gotcha. Makes sense," Vesper said with a nod.
"And it's not like she led me out here to get one. I just came out to clear my head."
"You know you probably should've been resting," Vesper reminded with some concern.
"I can rest out here," Abe said. He sat down on the edge and dangled his feet over the edge as though to punctuate his point. Vesper scoffed a little and sat down beside him.
"Between the wild beasts and getting completely lost, I'm sure you'll get a lot of rest out here."
Abe's mouth twitched in amusement, but he didn't say anything. Instead, just deciding to sit there quietly and look out at the view. A soft breeze was able to reach them from here, ruffling feathers and fur. It smelled fresh and the slightest bit sweet like leaves and faint flowers and left the air significantly cooler than the stifling humidity below. It was pleasant, something neither of them experienced very often.
"…I take it back. This is actually very nice," Vesper admitted. Abe hummed in agreement and reached to take his hand.
They stayed like that for a while.