I relaxed as soon as I realized it was Cienar. He was back in his normal form and I rushed to him despite my burning lungs. He had just stood up but I jumped to hug him and made him fall back down. "Ah-!" I didn't let go. "You scared the crap out of me!! Are you okay?!"
He sat up but I still stuck to him like glue. "I was, but not now. I think I landed on a rock." He rubbed his back and I moved off of him. "Oh, sorry. Are you sure you're okay?" He looked surprised that I was worried. "Why are you asking me that? You're the one who got kidnapped and almost drowned. I can breathe underwater, remember?" I looked to the river and then back at him. "What happened down there?" He followed my eyes and smiled. "I beat the hell out of him that's what. I told him I would have sushi for dinner if he ever went near you again."
I smiled in return. "Thank you for saving me." He moved to kneel so he could stand up more easily. "Don't mention it. Now, let's find the others and get out of this jungle before anything else takes you away." He held his hand out to me and I took it to stand.
It wasn't long before we made it back to where Arine and Ikko were waiting. Arine put his hands on his hips. "Both of you are drenched! Where were you two?" Cienar took his staff from leaning against a tree. "Around." Arine glared. "Did you do anything to her?!" Cienar smiled. "Yes. A ton of dirty things." I punched him in the arm. "Shut up, you pervert!" He rubbed his arm in offense. "How rude." When I turned back to the others, my eyes met with Ikko's. I blushed, remembering what had happened between us and Ikko quickly looked away and started to pace. "Can we get out of this damn jungle now?! My hunger is killing me!" Arine turned to him with a tinge of uneasiness. "You're not going to... eat one of us, are you?"
He gave Arine an irritated look. "Depends on how annoying they're being." Arine stepped back. "Okay, we'd better get going!" He then turned on his heel and walked away quickly as we followed behind.
Some hours had passed and I could tell that Ikko was getting restless. I turned to Cienar. "How much longer until we're out of this place?" Cienar didn't look at me and kept walking. "A while. If we're lucky we'll make it out of here by nightfall." Arine groaned. "Really? but it would be so much easier if we flew over this stupid jungle!" Cienar stayed firm. "It would be. Until you were burned to a crisp once a dragon rider sees you."
Arine crossed his arms and mumbled to himself. "Stupid patrol." I felt bad. This meant that Ikko would have to go hungry for another day. Arine, Cienar, and I could snack on fruits all day but he had nothing. The feeling started to fade once I remembered something. I heard a scientist back in the market where I used to get things for Mary say something about a magenta fruit and show a picture of it to a colleague. I knew that I had passed by some a few minutes earlier but didn't realize that they were the same ones.
I then ran back in the direction we came from and startled the others. I heard Arine and Cienar call for me but I continued to run until I reached a clearing. I looked up and saw the fruit I was thinking of on a tree ahead. Unfortunately, the fruit strangely grew only on the higher branches. I walked up to it and started to climb. The branches were farther apart the higher I went, but I somehow managed to make it to one of the top branches and secured myself so I wouldn't fall.
But there was a problem. The fruit were on the very end of the branch and the leaves of the tree were moving weirdly. I hesitated for a moment before beginning to crawl toward them. The leaves were moving against me and they tickled. I held in the laugh as much as I could and reached for the fruit at the end of the branch. They were too far away. 'Just a little closer...' I reached farther, but then the branch broke.
I went tumbling down each log of wood and got the wind knocked out of me with every hit. "Ah! Ow! Ow! Oof! Ah! Ow!" I finally hit the ground. "Owiee!!" I then sat up shakily and looked down at myself to see that I was covered in scratches and bruises. 'Do I like hurting myself or something?! Because this kind of stuff happens way too much to be considered an accident!!' I was annoyed until a bunch of the fruits fell from the top of the tree and covered the ground, as well as me.
I smiled and later gathered all of the fruits up into a huge leaf pocket I made and went back to the others. They were calling my name and searching for me when I came running up to them. Arine rushed to hug me as soon as he saw me. "What are you, an idiot?! You scared us!!" I blinked. 'Oh. Right. I should probably not go running off in an enchanted jungle randomly without telling anyone where I was going.'
Arine pulled away and I gave him a nervous smile. "Sorry... I just needed to get something." Cienar raised an eyebrow. "What are you holding?" I looked at the bag in my arms and opened it to show him the fruit.
He was surprised for a moment, then smiled. "I forgot about those kinds. How smart of you to get them." I smiled back but Arine was confused. "What are those? What do they do?" I walked up to Ikko who wasn't paying attention to us anymore. He was most likely distracted by his hunger by the look of restraint on his face. He finally looked at me once I handed him the bag.
I held my smile even though it was nervous. I hoped he wouldn't take this the wrong way. "These fruits are blood substitutes for demons and angels. They are used mostly by angels and I heard they're quite good." He picked one from inside and examined it. "I haven't seen these in a very long time. Since I was a white angel." He smiled. "Thank you, Silvera." I was about to say that he was welcome, but Arine suddenly turned me to face him. "You're covered from head to toe in cuts! What happened while you were getting those?!" I looked down at the mess I made of myself again and Cienar and Ikko did the same.
I shrugged it off. "A branch might've broken, and I might've hit some things on the way down..." Ikko's eyes narrowed. "So tell me. Do you just go out LOOKING for trouble?" I crossed my arms. "It's not that bad." Cienar walked up beside me. "We could've helped you get the fruit." I sighed. "I know. But I like to know that I can still handle things on my own. I don't like relying on anyone." I pulled out of Arine's grasp, wondering why I felt guilty for it. Ikko then ruffled my hair so it was just as messy as the rest of me. "We're not asking you to rely on us. We're asking you to let us help you. There's a big difference." Arine smiled. "Yeah, it's what friends do, right?"
My smile came back and Cienar raised his hand toward a nearby stream and pulled some water from it. It was cool to see it rise and float as if it were moving on its own. It then began to glow which surprised me. "I'll heal you before we keep moving," Cienar stated. I was surprised. "You have healing magic too?!" He nodded with a small smile.
Soon after the sunset, we were all too tired to keep going. Walking for so long wore us out, so we made camp near the end of the jungle. I was the last one awake. I saw Arine sleeping soundlessly next to me, Ikko sleeping while sitting against a tree, and Cienar with his head against his staff. I noticed that both Ikko and Cienar slept as if they'd have to wake up at any moment and fight some monster that crept into our camp. I smiled. 'I am so glad I have them. I don't know what I would do without them. They're the best friends a girl could have.' I then allowed myself to lay down next to Arine and comfortably drift off for the night.