Entanglement

[Flamebird]

Yvonne started to move. Felicity took a moment of silence to listen. Indeed, the sound of boisterous streams just barely grazed her eardrums. Felicity shoved the high protein bar into her mouth and followed the older woman’s lead. As they cleared a path through the ferns, Felicity felt a throbbing ache in her previously wounded ankle. Through the last several weeks, Felicity had battled hazardous weather, rabies infested animals, and the worst danger of them all, the humidity. Yet now, this miner annoyance of joint pain slowed her down? Banish that sort of thought! It was laughable to think that just a sore ankle could deter her!

Well, she was not stopped by the pain. It did, however, slow her steps. The girl subconsciously started to limp. Her treading was careful, her steps over rocks and tree roots were tedious. With Yvonne still maintaining a slower pace, Felicity kept her complaints to herself. However, Yvonne’s comment about her willingness to answer questions came back to mind. Felicity turned to her major coping mechanism for all pain – blissful distractions.

The teen pushed a tall fern aside. Stepping over a tiny, uprooted tree, she looked towards the dwarf. Her large bag jingled as she awkwardly hobbled along. “Yeah, if you don’t mind me asking, what are you?”

She had to take a moment to rest. If it was any other pain, such as a cut rib or broken arm, she could manage. This was her leg, however. She needed it to walk. The wet, energy sapping air provided no relief as she shoved her sweaty palms into her knees. The luggage she carried only made it worse. She heavily seethed, managing a cautious smile, “I mean, I've seen various human ethnicities, neanderthals, many elves, cat people, fauns, but not you.”

She tried to wave annoying bugs away, “I’m a hybrid, so I'm interested in other humanoids, I guess.”

Felicity pushed herself up, churning pale. She refused to rest until they reached the river. She could not be falling into malnourishment yet! She just ate her superpowered bar! Her distinct body needed boatloads of food to survive. Majorly eating a high protein, wholesome vegetable diet, she needed more than that massive three thousand calorie bar. She forced her concerns aside as she listened to Yvonne speak. They started to tread downhill. As she attempted to maintain balance, the river came into view. The tremendous pressure her stalky body put on her leg caused her to finally shout. She had to grasp branches to stay standing on the steep hill.

Finally, they made it to the river. Felicity fell to her knees, on the muddy jungle floor. Random objects such as her metal blue bird, other map, and journals fell out. She sighed, started to pick all but the map up. The map stayed out.