An Excellent Sense of Direction (2)

Writers: AL, Devin
Date Posted: 8th October 2008

Characters: Jerroll, Edele
Description: Jerroll takes Edele exploring ashore.
Location: Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 12, day 1 of Turn 4
Notes: Silver Sails

The sky was now a deep sapphire tone. Jerroll chuckled. "There are only three places on Pern that get louder at night: a tavern, a Gather, and the jungle." Insects and small animals sent up a chorus around them.

Edele tilted her head, then stopped and turned. "We should probably turn back." The walk had revealed a lovely array of fauna that Edele would have never dreamed possible until she had seen it. Despite the beauty, it _was_ getting late.

"Ok." Jerroll turned around and headed back down the path. He stopped at the first fork. "Do you remember which way we went?"

Edele froze in place and looked from one path to the other. "No...but I thought you would remember."

He studied each fork for a few seconds. "It's this one." He stepped off to the left.

The woman hesitated, but followed him. She had thought...no, she wasn't really sure. Edele cursed herself silently for not paying more attention, but Jerroll had seemed so sure of himself. They came to another twist, then another fork and the woman glanced over at him. "Right?"

"Sure." They went on for a little while, going deeper into the jungle. The trails got thinner and the last of the light faded from the sky.

Finally Edele came to a dead stop. "You don't know where we are any more than I do, do you?"

"Lost in the jungle at night. Exciting, isn't it?" A little smile played on his lips.

"Not really." Edele frowned deeply, then glanced over at a shadow where she had thought she had seen movement. "I'd rather be on the boat right now, especially since felines normally come out after dark...don't they?"

"I thought you were adventurous?" he teased. "Here." He pulled a knife from his belt and offered it to her. "If a feline attacks, you can fight it off."

Edele's eyes widened as she regarded the weapon. "I don't know the first thing about using a knife!" There was a rustle in the underbrush and Edele took a quick step closer to Jerroll. "What was that?"

He chuckled. "Probably something small and not dangerous. Maybe I should teach you how to use a knife when we get back to the ship."

"I don't know when I would ever have the chance to use it." Edele wasn't so sure what she heard was small. It didn't _sound_ small. "I seem to only get lost in the jungle with you."

"There are lots of good reasons to carry a knife and know how to use it." He thought of the crew member that had attacked her.

"I guess you're right." Similar thoughts had come to Edele and she shuttered, rubbing her arms. "But right now, we need to find our way back."

"We could explore a little more, since we're out here," he suggested.

"And get ourselves even more lost?" Edele gave the first mate a dubious look. "At this rate, we'll be lucky to find our way back before the ship sails!"

"Does being out here really bother you that much?"

"It's more of the idea that we might not be able to find our way back." Edele admitted. She opened to say something more, but a long, low growl cut off any words that might have escaped and her eyes widened.

"That's not as close as it sounds ... but I guess that's our cue to get out of here." He put an arm around Edele and pointed her back down the trail. "The ship is that way."

"What?" Edele couldn't help but turn her head back to look in the direction where she had heard the growl. "But I thought you didn't know..."

"We were never lost," he admitted. "I wanted to spend some more time out here."

"We were never..." Edele picked up her pace, her frown deepening. "But why did you want to spend more time out here? If you had wanted to, you could have just said so instead of leading me to believe we were lost!"

"I thought it would be fun ... an adventure." Not the greatest idea, in hindsight.

"Shaffit, Jerroll!" Edele wanted to hit the man, but she figured that she'd do so later - when there wasn't a feline in such close proximity. Was it chasing them? She couldn't tell. She certainly hoped not. Jerroll said it was further away than it sounded but...what if it were closer instead?

"Sorry ... left up here." He shifted her toward the turn in the path. He could probably kiss his cookies goodbye for this one.

"Sorry? Sorry? That's all you have to say? Sorry!" Edele's voice raised as the anger began to well up. "Do you realise that I was sharding _scared_?"

"I wouldn't let anything happen to you." He took a firmer grip on the glowbasket as their pace increased.

"You should have just told me. I would have stayed with you!" Despite the light from the glow, the shadows shifted across the ground. Edele tripped over something, perhaps a root, but she managed to catch herself. "Now we're trying to find our way out with a feline at our backs!"

"Should I go back and kill him for you? I'm sure he'd make a nice coat." It was terribly inappropriate, but he was starting to find this funny.

That did it. Edele let her arm swing at the man, fist smacking into his arm. He was so infuriating!

"Hey!" he rubbed his arm. "That's a pretty good punch. Maybe you could go take care of him yourself."

Edele growled and pointed toward the path. "Just get us out of here!"

"Alright. Ladies first." He set his free hand against her waist. "I'll steer you."

Edele was about to snap at him not to touch her, but the less she argued, the more quickly they would escape the jungle. So, she set her teeth and tramped on, seething silently.

A while later, the sound of running water greeted them, although they could still see nothing but jungle ahead. "Almost there. Keep straight."

Edele did as directed, still angry and the passage of time as they walked not abating any. After a moment, she snapped out, "You're not getting any more cookies."

"I figured that. Except you still owe me for the trip over here." The trail widened and the water got much louder. "And I want _good_ cookies. No burning or loads of salt or any cute little tricks you might want to pull."

The ship's cook remained silent. It was all a joke to him! Well, she wasn't about to give him those cookies. Edele picked up the pace, relief flooding her features when the water finally came into view. "Let's get out of here." She muttered, still quite annoyed.

Jerroll helped her into the boat and pushed off from shore. "Are you going to pout all the way back?"

The only answer Jerroll got was a withering glare. She turned away from him after a moment and looked toward the direction of the ship.

"Too bad it's so dark. I bet you're cute when you're angry."

"Shut up." Edele snapped, huddling into herself as if trying to ward off the nonexistent cold.

He rowed steadily, heading for the lights of the ship. She wouldn't hold a grudge for long, would she?

Last updated on the October 11th 2008

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An Excellent Sense of Direction (2)