Around morning time, we left the abandoned "gecko" camp behind us in search of the usual; bluer skies, greener grass, and the lion-controlled stronghold where Rainy is being kept. Or at least we think so. For all we know, the highly respected Prince Rainbow could be on his way to justice for his kingdom and we'd just be butting in; the blue koala and pink elephant caught up in the middle of battle just like little lost lambs.
But we've been through far too much to just sit back and wait. If what we're thinking is true (which is what all signs point to), then we shouldn't push our luck by waiting any further. Besides, I highly doubt that someone would take the trouble of setting up a false trail for us, leaving behind a precious manuscript to guide us on a false quest.
It's been sleeting (raining and snowing) for quite some time now, and me and Happy have been on this trail for hours and have yet to find any sign of Rainy. Or food, for that matter. The skies are dark and everything is wet and miserable. It's as if we caught the sky right in the middle of a cold.
My paws hurt so much! I know we should stop at some point and set up camp, but before this terrible storm dies down I'm not setting my butt back on the ground. Besides that, it's far too damp to start a fire so we'd probably freeze. At least all this moving is keeping us moderately warm...
But one thing that will destroy our plans is a lack of food. If we're too weak to keep moving, we'll have to sit down and rest; resulting in wasted time and shivering on the soggy, slowly freezing marsh of a ground. Sitting down, we'd probably be waist-deep in water! It'd be just like being pushed into a shallow pond in the dead of winter.
After a long while, I regret to say we did not find the least bit of food. We had to brave the sad grass, and on a count of three we both sat down. It was so submerged that every blade appeared to struggle for air; but to our surprise, it wasn't as deep as we thought. But it was only a small victory when we were still soaked to the bone; from the second I sat down I knew that I would be miserable for the remainder of the trip. The water would be infinitely difficult to wring out of my short but overly absorbent fur. Happy sat down in hopeful silence, at least he could just dry off on a rock. I was the only one complaining.
I complained loudly into the pouring sky about everything under the sun. I was rewarded by another 10 fat drops of rain on my nose. Why'd Rainy go off like that? Why do I always have to rescue everyone? But my thoughts always returned to my growling stomach. I couldn't believe there wasn't a single edible thing around! Not an apple, not a weed, not even a clover. Everything was too bogged down to offer us the slightest fruit or flower...
Or so we thought.
Ten minutes into the overflowing stream of complaining, I was ready to reach into the muck and eat a paw full of soggy grass when we noticed a small amphibian poking their head out of the water.
"Hello, my name is Blueberry." said the frog, tipping the top hat she were wearing for an unspoken reason. "We don't normally get mammals here, its far too wet for them! You must be a long way from home."
Happy spoke first, apparently seeing nothing strange about Blueberry's waterproof top hat. "We're on a journey, we're just passing by. But we need some plants we can eat! I tried catching some mosquitos, but they were too tiny and quick. We're staaaaaarving!" He whined.
"Well, umm... I don't know what you mammals eat, but why not the red pears?" she replied, curiously glancing up at the red jeweled treetops. Strangely, an angry gust of wind shook the trees and one dropped down right in front of me as she said that. Odd...
I hadn't noticed it at all during the trip and it was hope in fruit-form. The red pear was the color of the sunset that I'd long forgotten after I'd first set foot in this rainy forest. The fruit was a sweet orange around the bottom, and as you moved up to the top it began to blush into a lovely red. It was so colorful against the drabness of the environment that it seemed to glow.
I thanked Blueberry multiple times and she dove back underwater laughing to herself. Maybe at our unwillingness to look at the trees? Still, we were all laughing to ourselves even afterwards because yes! We had found food!
Happy gathered up a few more fruits and we set off again, lightly eating them as we walked. We came upon the sight of a few hills in the distance-- and was that a cave? We sped up our pace eagerly. Things were surely going our way, finally-- soon we'd be safer and warmer and--
"I wouldn't eat those pears, if I were you!" a voice warned. It stopped us in our tracks and we looked around for it's source to find a small rabbit bounding towards us.
"Did you say that?" I asked the lop-eared bunny. She caught her breath a moment and then explained.
"It wasn't Blue's fault. She just didn't know what else, that's all. If mammals really could eat those fruits, then there would be a whole lot more here! What I mean is..." she was talking too fast. "The cave I live in is over there, we need to get you both some medicine."
We were both fast to understand and we raced over to the hill. After a few paces, though, Happy stopped.
"Oh no... I feel it's effects coming on... This is so bad..." He muttered and melodramatically dropped down to the ground. "Vision... blurring... Head... hurting..."
"Happy, please, we need to get going! It will be better once we--"
"I can't... *wheeze* get up." he loudly interrupted. He may be a bit sick, but now he was just fibbing.
I padded back over to where Happy lay and tapped him on the back.
"C-carry me?" he asked with fake timidness.
I was hesitant, but when I realized he probably would just keep complaining if I didn't surrender, I allowed him to climb onto my back. "Oh, sure..."
Let's hope the medicine works!
*TO BE CONTINUED
