Joan

Chapter XXX

When I feel that chain break loose from around my neck, my heart literally skydives out of my chest and I'm frozen in shock as the ring flies up right in front of my face. In the blink of an eye, it's already falling from my reach, even as I scramble to snatch it up. In dismay, I watch it gleam in the sunlight before disappearing down below, blending into the green canopy.

"No!"

I'm so panicked by the ring that I forget I've just fallen out of a cliff and am currently free-falling. But in all actuality, the cliff isn't as far of a drop as I first thought when I was shot out. Oh, it definitely isn't a you're-not-going-to-walk-away-scratch-free kind of cliff, but it's not like the one we ventured to before.

Breaking through the green, jungle canopy, I figure that an idea on how to get through this alive might have been beneficial. By God's pity- because at this point, what else could it be?- I end up fall across a branch on a tree. I mean, it nearly chops me in half right in the middle of my stomach, but I'm alive and able to get a good enough grip to pull myself up and straddle the branch.

I can't even say my priorities are straight right now because my brain immediately floods with worry on how to find that ring instead of, oh, I don't know, how to get down from this tree. All I can think about is finding that ring- I cannot lose that ring. It doesn't even feel like my heart is in my chest anymore, my thoughts are scattered, and I'm panting like a dog again.

God, I can't lose this ring. Oh God, I cannot lose this ring.

It's kind of a miracle it stayed on that long, I mean seriously, I've been through some crazy, intense shit and it stayed on through all of that, except that damn talon.

Like a zombie, I mindlessly scurry down the tree, slipping a little here and there but not even caring as I finally get on solid ground and begin searching the jungle floor for the small silver ring. To find a ring like that in an area like this is like looking for a four-leaf clover, but I'm determined. I can't leave this place without finding that ring.

I figure it couldn't have flown far from me when I fell, so I carefully begin combing the area, squatting on the ground and moving around fallen debris in hopes of finding the important piece of jewelry.

Fuck me if I can't find this.

My dad gave me that ring, a ring that was once his wedding band, a ring that's a family heirloom, a ring that's supposed to remind me who I am- that ring is crucial to my family.

After scrounging the area with more scrutiny than a doctor during a procedure, I have no choice but to assume the ring went farther than I'd thought and that I have to track it down.

I leave no rock unturned in my continued, expanded search. The further along I go, the more I start to despair, but suddenly, a break.

A little further up ahead, an object faintly gleams in the sunlight. Racing over without hesitation, I pluck that ring off the jungle floor and finally breathe my first real breath in over seven minutes or so.

"Thank God."

Now that I can leave again, I need to recalculate-

You know what? Fuck me. Fuck whatever demon is messing with me.

Just as I start walking forward, a magical, hidden root that goes completely unnoticed by me, pops up out of fuckin' nowhere and sends me flying. As I fall forward, the ring slips right out of my buttery hands, out into the unknown again.

"Fuck!"

Scrambling to my feet, I run after the thing, determined not to lose sight of it this time, but it had bounced along the ground like it was a bouncy ball instead of a metallic ring. It must have dropped down off the ledge a little further up. Glancing down for a brief second to see if I can catch a glimpse of a glimmer, I hurry to descend the slight decline.