We leapt over lures, and we vaulted over cables. Vines stretched in our wake to seize a prey that had already left. The expedition would not slow for any curiosity or trifle. We really just wanted to go ho.
I scrambled across a sprawling gash of a boulder that looked like sothing had simply taken a bite off a mountain and spit it out as it was passing through. It stood so starkly out against the verdant waste that I couldn't help but say, "You know, there's a creature in the Sunset that makes similar stones."
Rilah snickered from the back, as Janny began cresting the formation, with Fimbs seconds behind him. A little confused, he asked anyway. "Oh yeah? How's that work?"
"Totally..." I replied, looking back to make sure that my timing was perfect. "It's a type of colossal earthworm that burrows deep enough into the ground to touch bedrock." In a couple seconds, Fimbs would be past the point of no return, so I let the sentence hang in the air, until—"They call them boulder droppers, because they excrete solid granite whenever they surface."
Janius's head snapped up quickly, as the realization fell over him. He glanced quickly back to his hands, touching the cool stone that no plant life had really claid as its ho; aside from a shallow carpet of moss on its lower sections. His voice trembled as he responded, "You don't an...?"
"Yes!" I laughed triumphantly. "What you're currently scrubbing across your whole body is worm poop!"
"Ew!" scread Fimbs, as she barrelled over Janny in a rush. "This is so gross this is so gross— Get outta my way!!!"
Janny didn't much look like he was enjoying his stay in the fecal flatlands either, but he was no match for the girl in her adrenaline fueled rampage. "Hey, ow! You're stepping on my— I need to go first, or we'll both fall!" He tried to rationalize, but she wouldn't listen.
Inevitably, they both tumbled ass over teakettle onto the leaf littered forest floor. I nearly missed it, with how wholly absorbed in full-bodied, roaring laughter I had beco.
They remained entangled in a wash of limbs and hair tousled akimbo for just a beat, as a sniggering Rilah jaunted to a soft landing inches ahead; with torch in hand. She turned about, only to smile down on our caterwauled compatriots, and complete the joke. "You should know that when droppers get this big, they usually move to the Nightwhere, so odds are really high that this is just a rock."
They both flushed beet red under her teasing gaze. "That wasn't funny," Janny murmured, while Fimbs only sighed with relief.
Rilah held up a finger to his claim, and said, "Actually, it was very funny, first of all; and secondly, it would have been washed clean by the rain like several weeks ago! You two really overreacted, and that's not our fault."
"Co on, we need to go." I ushered, impatiently. There were fathoms of unexplored wilds before we ca across anything that would appear even remotely recognizable. "We've made too much noise, and it isn't smart to stay in one spot for too long."
"Buh- Wh..?" Fimbs looked around, crestfallen and overwheld at the entire ordeal. I felt a little bad that it turned out the way it did, but we really had overstayed our welco.
"I'm sorry," I said, helping her disentangle herself from the burlier boy who beca her footstool. "I didn't expect you to trample Janny! Are you two okay?"
She huffed, blowing hair out of her eyes, while I was helping her to her feet. Without a girl kneeling on his chest Janny finally groaned, "I've been better. Just, maybe next ti you plan your pranks when we're not at risk of cracking our heads open."
Rilah chid in, before I could even say anything. "To be fair, you're always going to be in so sort of mortal peril out here in the stalks. There's not really a 'safe place' to joke around in."
I jerked my thumb over my shoulder, as she said all that I wanted to. "You took the words out of my mouth, Ri." Janny had a look on his face like I had just said sothing that made his point stronger, so I threw my palms up, and admitted, "But all that being said, it's a good reason why we shouldn't be joking around out here; at all. I thought it'd be harmless, and I apologize. Let's just get ho in one piece, a'ight?"
He nodded, and brushed himself off. I turned back around, and started jogging. "Follow us! We need to hurry. Who knows what could have heard us while we were busy embarrassing ourselves."
"Who's embarrassed?!" Janny shouted, which I totally should have seen coming. I knew it was a bad idea even when I was forming the words in my mouth.
I put a finger to my lips, and waved my other hand like it was on fire. "Shh! Guys, let's talk about it later! It's really important that we don't draw attention right now."
He tossed his palms up to the sky, and shirked his shoulders as he hurried to catch up. It was clear that I didn't have to tell him that it wasn't the ti.
Rilah handed the torch as I passed, and picked up her pace to stay in step with . We slid over hills, and we skipped over prop roots. Translucent webbing with threads thick like ropes hung close to where we passed, which we made very special care not to trip and stumble into. Their presence made it clear that we were drawing close to a stopping point.
Knowing that we had made more than enough ground to have outpaced any encroaching predator, we had slown to a comfortable walking pace again, as Fimbs marveled at the milky-white threads painted auburn by the flitting firelight. "I never thought that a spider's web could hold itself up with such thick strands!" she gasped, but I cautioned her not to touch them.
"Feh! You wouldn't believe how strong spider's silk is." Rilah chid in. "It's the strongest substance in the world. It's even harder to tear than iron!"
"Haha!" Fimbs laughed as her obvious exaggeration, then when nobody else did, she furrowed her eyebrows. "You're kidding."
I said, "It's true. If you build a bridge out of solid iron, and one made of ropes from this stuff, the iron one will break first. That's why you shouldn't touch them. If you get caught up in it we won't be able to free you."
She blanched. "But— How is that possible? I was just..." She shook her head, instead of continuing.
Rilah continued, gesturing to a large web over her shoulder with an extended thumb. "It's the thickness. You're used to little baby webs so small that you can see right through them. If you put a whole bunch of those together, and braid them like a rope, you wind up with these big strands."
"Yeah, I guess so. I never considered how that might work at all. Every ti I think about spiders, I picture this delicate little net so thin that a pinky finger could tear to shreds. It's kind of hard to unsee that."
I held up a finger, causing everyone to stop short. Angling my ear over to the right, I listened closely to the sounds of light yipping and snarling off to the right ahead. Guess I was off by a few feet.
Janny ca up behind , and asked, "What is it? Do you hear sothing?"
"Gentry nippers." I said, quietly, while starting off to et them where they were. "A few feet ahead."
"W-what are those?" Fimbs asked, "and why are we walking toward them?"
"Like little, tiny, biting dogs with teeth that can gnaw through bone. Nothing to worry about." Rilah whispered.
You could hear the urgency and panic in Fimb's voice, even when she whispered. "They sound like very much a big deal to ! I happen to be using these bones for sothing, you know?!"
"Relax, I'm sure Zoel has a plan for going this way, right, Zo..?" Janny looked my way. I shook my head, violently. "Well, at least a really good reason, right?" I kind of dipped my head to the right, in a half nod half shrug. "See? He's got it all under control."
Rilah giggled. "Guys, they're really nothing to worry about!"
"So, they don't like eating people?" Fimbs offered.
"Oh no, they love human flesh. Why would you even think that? Did I say that?!"
"Then why," Fimbs growled between gnashed teeth, "and I repeat, Why are we heading toward the slaughter hounds?"
I answered by parting a fern and exposing the scene ahead, for all to see exactly how I had left behind the carcass of the mammoth spider, with little puppy-sized vermin picking apart its carapace.
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