CHAPTER NINE:
THE JOURNEY BEGINS AGAIN

-Ruffles-

Getting back on the road hasn't been very easy for us. None of us quite know for sure how long we've been traveling, but it's felt like a while.

We had reached another forest what seemed like a few hours ago.

Except for maybe a berry or two, we had run out of food, and we were starting to get hungry.

"Where are we right now?" Udon asked.

I pulled the map out of my flannel pocket and inspected it for a minute.

"I can't tell for sure," I answered. "But we might be in the Orduron Forest."
Udon and Amp stopped to look at the map with me.

"Huh. That's odd," Udon said. "In this forest, there's a part blurred out."

That did seem unnerving, why was there nothing there?

"Maybe it's something tryin' to keep us out," Amp said. "Like maybe there's some dangerous stuff there that's gonna kill us."

The thought of that scared me half to death. I mean, I already almost got killed twice since I woke up like this. I didn't want to die for real this time.

"Yeah, I'm thinking we avoid that area," I said.

Amp looked a little disappointed. "Awww, I was hoping to have a good battle," he said.

"Hey," Udon interrupted. "If Ruffles doesn't want to go that way, we go a different way. He's been through quite a bit."

Udon got me. He always did. I was lucky to have a friend like him.

"Fine," Amp said, crossing his arms.

As we continued walking, the sun began to set slightly, leaving an orange-colored sky. We couldn't stop to rest yet, however, as we still had a long way to go.

"Hey, I've got a question," Amp said. "What if we don't make it back?"

All three of us stopped again.

"I mean, everyone's thinking it, right?" he continued. "We've already run out of food, we're miles away from civilization, and what if we get attacked? You two barely survived last time."

Amp had some good points. We wouldn't be able to survive another attack. Not without some serious help.

"We're gonna make it back," Udon stated. "I promised you two we would."

"Who made you team leader?" Amp asked, crossly. "You guys wouldn't even know about the mountain if I didn't tell you."

Udon looked upset. This could definitely get bad if I didn't get involved.

"Look," I interrupted. "No one's the leader here, okay? We all want to get back, and we're gonna have to work together to do so. Now, can we please just keep walking."

I felt proud of myself for standing up to Udon.

"I guess so," Amp said.

When we started walking again, however, Udon suddenly yelled in pain.

"What was that?" he asked.

I could see something sticking out of his side. A small dart.

"Hey, look." I said, pointing to the dart.

Udon turned to look, but before he had time to notice, he fell to the ground.

"What the hell just happened?" Amp asked.

Suddenly, a second dart came and hit Amp this time.

"That's not good," he said, before falling unconscious.

I turned to see where the darts were coming from, and saw a few figures in the shadows of the trees.

"Please, don't hurt us!" I yelled out. "We're friendly, I swear!"

My words didn't matter, as immediately after, I too was shot with one of the darts.

And now, my vision was starting to blur. My bones felt like they were turning to mush, as I fell over.

Before I fell under, I heard footsteps rustling in the grass. Something or someone was getting closer and closer.

Then, I passed out.