Left.
Right.
Left.
Right.
Valentine hung his head and focused on putting one foot forward at a time. He tried not to look into the endless jungle that made him fear they were lost. He tried not to pay attention to the burning pain down his whole body, that flared with every beat of his heart. He tried to ignore the fatigue that crept into his limbs and made him slower and clumsier with every passing minute.
He tried.
Left.
Right.
Left.
Right.
"Don't fall too far behind," Red called out. Valentine looked up, disheartened to see he had lagged behind Red, so far that he could only faintly see him through the thick greenery. During his pause, he'd already sunk ankle deep into the ever-present mud.
"I'm trying," Valentine groaned. He jerked his foot free of the wet dirt and struggled over a fallen trunk.
"I offered to carry you. You told me you were well enough for the trip." Red appeared, offering a hand over the obstacle.
"Well, I haven't dropped dead yet." Valentine took the hand, letting Red pull him the rest of the way over the trunk.
"It's been half a day since you were poisoned, and you were supposed to die in hours. Forget walking, how are you even alive?" Red said.
"Good question," Valentine said, though he provided no answer. "Can we continue?"
The forest managed to be staggeringly isolating, yet alive with life at the same time. Endless trees in every direction made the pair aware of just how small they were, but constant bird calls, insect buzzing, and wildlife at every corner reminded them it was made of thousands of diverse moving parts. to the forest, they were small as the ground bugs that they crushed underfoot, not worthy of note in the slightest.
The pair trudged onwards through the jungle. Light barely crept through the canopy, putting the forest in a state of eternal twilight that made time impossible to track. All Valentine knew was that it wasn't quite night yet. He almost yearned for a cool night; the jungle was thick with humidity and he had sweat through his clothes. They had avoided rain thus far, luckily. He didn't know what they would do for cover if it began to pour.
Though he hid it well, Valentine's condition was worsening. His nerves were lit with a burning sensation that stole the feeling from his feet and hands. His vision blurred when his focus slipped, even slightly. His brain felt like clay constantly molded by an angry sculptor. A great pressure pushed on his mind that made clear thought impossible, and he was plagued by splitting headaches.
Finally, when the last remnants of light left the jungle, he could walk no longer. Valentine fell to his hands and knees, sinking up to his wrists in the mud. His breaths were slow and ragged; he was struggling to even breathe properly. His muscles were no longer under his control, no matter how solid his determination.
"Are you alright back there?" Red called from afar.
"No," Valentine croaked. He gave up. His body couldn't move. His limbs burned so hot he couldn't feel them at all. A vice had been tightening over his windpipe until it became too small to breathe through.
Red appeared beside him. "What's going on? Are you okay?"
Tears dripped into the mud. Valentine shook, all confidence and ego forgotten. He had never felt like this before. Even Niramor had never hurt him like this. When the pirate shot him, he had no fear of death. Flesh wounds had never fazed him. But now, his fragile mortality weighed heavy upon him. Cuts and breaks were easy once you got over the pain, he had learned, but he was helpless against this invisible enemy that killed him from the inside.
He was going to fail. He would lie down and die in the forest mud and never be found. After surviving countless unspeakable trials, and a long list of setbacks, this was finally it. He would be forgotten.
As if summoned by the tears, rain began to drip from the canopy. It slapped against a thousand leaves, creating a chorus of pattering. The pair were soaked in short time. Wet hair curtained Valentine's face. Tears were only a memory, something he thought he had forgotten how to do years ago.
"Red," Valentine sniffled, "Idon't want to die… "
An arm looped around his chest and Red lifted him over his shoulder. Valentine's body was slack like a corpse, but he still sobbed quietly into Red's shirt.
"Hold onto me, I'll keep you safe. We're going to make it, I promise."
Valentine hadn't moved for an hour. His breathing had slowed and quieted, to where Red could only hear it when he stopped moving and keened his ear. When he moved at full pace and he could hear it no longer, his worries spiked. He didn't dare stop walking though; he feared if he stopped then he wouldn't have the energy to start again. He mentally encouraged Valentine to stay alive, though he received no response.
He trudged onwards, ignoring the pain of his muscles. Cipher Pol training was the last time he was this physically drained. He was in peak physical fitness, having followed a strict diet and exercise routine for the past six years, but the jungle was unforgiving. Wet ground, uneven terrain, thick humidity, low visibility, and unclear directions made it a ruthless journey. He wondered how long ago on his trek the average citizen would have collapsed from exhaustion, or suffered a medical attack and dropped dead.
Red stopped inches before the shore of a river. The wet dirt, held together with only thin roots, bent dangerously under the weight of the two, threatening to break and drop them in. In the dark and the rain, he hadn't seen or heard the river until he was nearly swimming in it. Red carefully stepped back and set Valentine down against a tree. He didn't stir.
In the meek moonlight that fell through the canopy, the river glowed silver. It was wide and shallow, too far to throw a stone over but low enough to see the riverbed through the water. Red plucked a large mushroom from the ground, barely able to wrap his hand around the stem. After he tested the weight, he tossed it into the water.
The water immediately churned and thrashed. Spray flew and scales flashed just under the surface. Bits of the mushroom floated to the surface until, as rapidly as it started, it stopped.
"Butcherfish," Red said with a groan. They were well known for their intense aggression and ability to tear apart a man in moments, leaving the clean bones to float up on shore days later. It was impossible to tell how far the river went on for, and he didn't have the time to find a place to cross. He walked to where he laid Valentine and picked him up gently, holding him across both shoulders.
"I'm sorry about this," Red said to his unconscious friend.
Red sprinted towards the shore and leapt for the other side. The air formed together under his feet, and he flew. He walked an invisible bridge, far above the surface. It wasn't halfway across the river when he started falling more than he rose. His Geppo couldn't handle the extra weight of Valentine and his feet sunk through the footholds he created. Every stride dropped him further down, and his safe arrival at the other side was looking unlikely. He heard the splash of his foot breaking the water, and he was sure the Butcherfish did too.
With a determined roar, he created firmness under his feet and tried to gain distance between him and the river. Even after he was a few inches above the water, he could hear water breaking and snapping jaws behind him. He didn't dare look back, channeling his fear into determination and putting everything on the quality of his Geppo.
The other shore of the river loomed ahead, though it was far steeper and higher than he'd expected. Taking Valentine in his arms, he heaved him on shore where he landed safely, if roughly. With Valentine safe, Red slammed into the vertical face of the shore, sending his vision spinning. He grasped frantically, managing to wrap a hand around a firm root. He pulled on that, using the last of his strength to get a leg up on shore and pull himself up to safety.
He lay on his back, chest heaving. A Butcherfish dangled from his pant leg, chewing furiously on the hem. With a scowl, Red ended the flopping with the heel of his boot.
A quiet groan from Valentine made him forget all worries about his own condition. Valentine was dying. No matter how sore he was, Valentine was worse. There was no time for rest. He lifted Valentine onto his shoulders and continued on his Sisyphean task.
Now, a large snake followed in his wake. An exotic jungle species with blue scales, turned milky in the moonlight, and glaring yellow eyes. It was clearly better suited to the terrain, slithering with ease past obstacles that hampered him greatly. A jungle vulture that daringly stalking him. It moved no closer, but made sure not to fall behind. It made itself tantalizingly vulnerable, as if it knew Red didn't have the time to deal with it.
A low rumble from the brush froze Red mid-step. In response, the snake shot back into the jungle. The growl continued, growing in volume and intensity. Branches snapped and bushes rattled, but Red couldn't pinpoint the source. Yellow feline eyes flicked open in front of him, followed by another nearby. Panthers, black as death and barely visible in the night, stepped towards him. Their paws were almost mockingly quiet with every fall, showing how they came so close without being noticed. Their jaws hung open, tongues swaying with every step. Yellowed fangs dripped in anticipation.
Red made careful steps as they began to circle him. He had Valentine on his shoulders, which limited him greatly He figured he could handle them if he wasn't hindered-not that he would ever welcome a fight against two cats heavier than him-but while carrying Valentine he didn't like his odds. If Red set the injured man down he'd be welcome prey for the hungry cats, so that wasn't an option.
Red shaved, hoping to catch them off guard. One heartbeat passed, and he flickered back into sight a hundred meters ahead in a full sprint. Cries of frustration sounded behind him. Beads of sweat already decorated his face, for Soru wasn't easy with an extra passenger. The panthers' screams came closer as they crashed through the brush towards him. His headstart was all he had, and it wasn't getting any larger.
Red bounded over fallen trees and ducked under massive roots. He used his mobility to his advantage, jumping off the air to make sharp turns and using Soru to travel to hard-to-reach locations. He could only hope that it confused the predators enough, he didn't dare stop to see if he had lost them.
His hopes were dashed when a panther screamed only just behind him. With a grunt, he spun around. His foot lashed out and connected with the panther's solid skull, nearly snapping his ankle. It fell in a heap at the foot of a tree, dazed but not dead. Red landed on his good ankle, his other throbbing in pain and not in any shape to take the full weight of him and Valentine.
Another scream brought his attention to the other cat. The ground shuddered as its long, powerful legs sent it sailing towards him. He hugged Valentine to his chest, fell onto his back, and sent his good foot into the panther's ribcage, pushing it off towards its partner. Red flipped back onto his feet, returned Valentine to his back, and sprinted; though it was more of a determined limp with his bad ankle. He'd lost all sense of direction, trying only to escape with their lives intact. Sooner than last time, he heard their fast approach.
The bushes beside him exploded and a panther soared towards him. Laden with Valentine and caught off guard, he hadn't the time to defend himself. The panther cried in triumph.
A flash of blue scales in the moonlight, and the beast never struck. The snake from before was wrapped around its neck, grappling furiously with the beast. Up close he appreciated its true size, the width of man's thigh and longer than he could see in the dark. It wrapped around the panthers neck twice, and twice more further down its body. The snake's jaw opened wide, so wide they nearly formed a straight line, and Red watched it bite down on the panther's head, from behind its ear to its nose. A curved fang pierced an eye, emitting a shriek from the predator-turned-prey. It tried to run off, making it only ten paces before tripping over itself and falling to the ground. It convulsed weakly, before settling in eternal peace.
The snake locked eyes with Red. He gulped. His beast savior unraveled himself from the panther's neck and slithered off. It stopped to look back at Red expectantly.
Red searched for any sign of the other panther, but found none. It was either fleeing or hiding excellently. If it did come back, it wouldn't hurt to be near that snake, and it wasn't like he knew where he was going anymore. Hesitantly, he began to follow the snake's path.
It kept a polite pace, enough that Red could keep up. His muscles burned as if his clothes were filled hot coals, and he feared collapsing with every step. Exhaustion robbed him of his sense of time. Perhaps hours past, perhaps minutes. All he knew was pain with every step. The jungle blended into an endless blur of trees and mud, and it seemed to swallow him.
Then it was gone. Under his feet was firm and dry ground, something he had forgotten. There was a clearing, and a bright spot… a fire? A structure, a hut, and a woman! Her features were lost to him as he took difficult steps towards her.
"You there!" Red's strength was waning, each step shorter than the last. His voice was weak and ragged. "Are you Aria? The healer?"
The woman looked between him and the body he carried, but answered with a hesitant, "Yes."
"Thank the heavens," Red said. His strength failed him and he fell. His mind left his body and the world disappeared.