Joan

Chapter XXI

Belly crawling out of the narrow portal, I manage to shimmy out just as it closes.

Getting to my feet, I stand up in the midst of the crowd, brushing myself off. I can breathe a sigh of relief that firstly, I made it and secondly, that we ended up right where we started. Shows I gotta use the power of positive thinking more.

"Joan."

My attention is diverted to Nimu who comes over to me, followed by Lan and Chasan.

She looks surprised to see me, but also relieved. "You made it."

"Yeah, my guardian angel doesn't get paid enough to do this job."

Scanning the many happy faces, I try to locate Rhene or Phili. I risked my neck to get those two reunited and by God they're getting reunited!

I actually decide to use my brain- shocker- and beginning following the rope to track Rhene down. She's exactly where I left her, right at the opening of the once dark jungle, still holding what little of the rope there is. Her eyes roam the faces of the crowd, overwhelmed, before landing on me.

"Hey, Rhene, you failed at your job, you didn't pull me back in when I yanked for you," I tease her.

"I sorry," She mumbles miserably.

"Nah, I'm just playing with you. You did great."

Looking up more hopefully, I can see the unasked question beaming in her eyes. Cracking a grin, I motion for her to follow me.

"I think I have someone you'd like to see."

Eagerly, she follows behind me as I maneuver through the crowd, searching for the dark red-head girl. God, I hate to break this kid's heart after I risked so much to save her freakin' sister. But at last, I spot her frantically looking around.

Leaning down to Rhene's level, I point her sister out.

"Do you see her? Right there."

The little girl cranes her head all sorts of way in order to see in between the jungle of legs before her face finally lights up and she goes tearing through the crowd toward her unsuspecting sister.

I get a taste of that humane side of myself again as I watch the sisters hug and kiss each other; little Rhene even gets swung around in a tight hug.

Okay, and now that all the warm fuzzy feelings have passed...

Looking around for my group, I spot them and round them up. We still have a time limit to beat and a long way to go- four to five days, that's not a lot of time.

"So do just continue on?" Lan asks.

Nimu replies in uncertainty. "I suppose, but-"

Between the jungle of legs, I spot the familiar shadow of aloof footsteps marking a path for me. The hunt is officially back on.

"Come on," I beckon for them to follow. "Enough games, we have a deadline to keep."

I just hope we're done with the unnecessary side challenges and can get onto the real journey. It hasn't slipped past me, though, that those same guiding footprints were the ones that led us into that trap in the first place. Unfortunately, I don't have time to find a backup plan, this Tymos GPS will have to do.

So, leaving the joyful crowd behind, we continue onward on our quest.

"Is Pyranaleath'tai just one big jungle because it really feels that way," I comment as I hack away at some overhanging leaves in my path.

Nimu flinches back and narrows her eyes as I take a wide swing at a big leaf bush.

"Do you mind?"