I ran, tearfully, through the village; dodging rchants, and low-hanging bridges, as I crossed over to the far side of town—There wasn't a mont to waste!—If the adults wouldn't do the responsible thing, if they wouldn't even try, then it was undoubtedly up to to find Rilah; and I knew just whom I would ask, to help .
I stumbled through the rows of tilth in the planting zone, caring little of the ungerminated seedlings of cabbage, garlic, and strawberries that I trampled along the way. I had already lost too much ti to needles courtesy. Now, every single second wasted is breath casually pulled from Rilah's lungs, or blood drawn directly from her veins.
'Just a bit longer,' I promised to my legs, already past their breaking point, with my furious overexertion. 'Any second now... There!' Spotting my quarry, I waved, and flagged him down, vociferously. "Heeeyy! Over heere! Janny!"
He looked up from where he was kneeling, fists full of weeds and worm castings, as he prepared a plot for the sumr crops, to his side. "Huh? ...Zoel?! What's going on?"
I quickly closed the distance with my long—though by no ans elegant—strides, and scraped to a halt; kicking a cloud of dust into his face that nearly masked his entire huddled form behind a wall of billowing opaque fulvousness.
"There's no ti for to explain, I need you to co with right now, and grab as many survival tools as we can find!" I belted in a rush of air and spittle, grabbing him by the shoulders, and pulling him onto his feet. "Co on, let's go! I'll explain along the way, there's not a mont to lose! Rilah's counting on us!"
His posture was curious, and hesitant, until that last line, when suddenly a look of sharp clarity fell upon his features, and he nodded resolutely. "I trust you," and off we sped.
Poor Fimbs was left blinking, alone, in the fading obscurity of the descending dust cloud. She had been crouching behind the barrel of soaking bluebells, and one mont she was joking casually, and the next she was cast into a maelstrom of tawny mist, and a flurry of limbs. To be certain, I didn't even see her, in my hurry, and just as surely, I was already gone. "...H-huh?!"
He turned into the gardening shed, as I hurriedly explained "She got separated from while I was out there, earlier. I ran back as fast as I could, but nobody seems to care."
He stopped , mid-pants hop, and asked for clarity, "Even Vassur?" and I nodded.
"He was convinced that she was already dead." Janius scowled, and shook his head. It was not an expression I saw him wearing, often. He was realizing in that mont, just how dire the situation actually was, so I conceded, "Actually I was going to go myself, but I thought I might have a better shot with you?"
His eyes widened, for a fraction of a second, as if embarrassed to have even had a second thought, about the matter. His head shook, as he attempted to clear his thoughts. "No, you're right. Rilah needs us, and if nobody's gonna help, I'd rather it be us." He slid on the suspenders of his overalls, and switched his sandals for so deerskin boots, before turning to , with his determination renewed. He clapped on the shoulder, and touched his forehead to mine. "I'm not losing the both of you, today."
I smiled back, as I felt the cool sun-borne sweat from his brow intermingle with the exhaustive made warmth of mine. "You're not gonna lose either of us, Janny. I'mma make sure of that. We both will, together."
A sheepish voice added, "A-are we going sowhere...?" I looked over my shoulder, and sighed. 'Of course it was Fimbs! Which of the five did she co from?!'
"What are you doing here, Fimbs?! We've got to go, I don't have ti to play with you!" I groaned, impatiently.
"B-but I...?!" she tried, but I still didn't have ti to entertain her notions.
"Go away! Rilah's in trouble, and I'll tell you about it later." Janny put a hand up, in front of , moving to silence. I should have known, even if this were my operation, he would be the leader.
He spoke softly, to her, in a way that always made curious. "Where we're going, it's going to be dangerous. Zoel is afraid that you are going to hold us back in The Stalks. Can you promise that you're not going to complain, or slow us down, if you co with?" I was shocked that he knew what my issue was, before it had even occurred to ; to ask why I was angry, but I guess that's what makes him a natural leader, and why I'm not.
He even phrased it as a yes, or no, question, knowing full well that we had a premium on ti, at the mont, and that her wordless nod would suffice; given how small, and indistinct her voice would beco at tis—especially when in distress. I nodded back, resolutely, and grabbed a fork for her to use.
She took the makeshift weapon, made of two staves with the ends split open and held in place with a rock—normally used to fling bales of straw, or sheaves of grain, into the barn—now being repurposed as a stabbing implent or a spacing tool, and it looked in her hands as out of place as a rhinoskink in the canopy. Janny shook his head, replacing her weapon with an unfired torch, and smiling at her with a pat on her shoulders to signify his approval. It seed so much more suited to her fra, that I felt embarrassed not to have thought of it myself. "You're in charge of the light, Fimbs. You're the most important out of all the three of us. Don't let us down, alright?"
Her cheeks flushed, and she nodded fervently, as if she thought she would take off into the blue without working off the ecstasy. She smiled a kind of adoring smile, that I only imagined when hearing so of Vassur's legends of spoils, and indulgeance, that always followed after a particularly frought campaign into the wild green yonder.
I swallowed hard, as my mind flashed back to the scene in The Sunset, where... it might have been the light, but just for a second I kinda thought it looked like Rilah had made that sorta expression, too. Janny handed a sickle, and the touch brought back to the situation at hand. "Do you still rember the way?" he asked.
I grinned, and pointed at my noggin. "This thing hasn't failed , yet!"
"Then lead the way, junior wayfinder." he japed, with a twinkle in his eye.
"Alright, then. Let's go," I smiled, then turned towards The Daylight, as a serious expression fell over my face.
"I-I'm here too," Fimbs added, for no good reason.
"Seriously, do we have to bring her?" I offered, but he rolled his eyes and gestured my attention back to the forest.
"Like you said, we don't have ti. Rilah's waiting."
"Alright, alright! I get it..." I grumbled, setting off at a jog, to asure their capacity for encumbered speed. They surprised by keeping pretty close on my heels, even with his thick leather pouch full of who-knows what, and her unwieldy club of a torch in hand. Satisfied, I picked up the pace, and before long, all the three of us dove into the treeline shade.
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