- You think I'm going to let you go alone and make you nibble by the critters that swarm there? I would be a very bad friend, he just grimaced.
There was a lump In my throat and my heart sank. This time, I snuggled up against him shamelessly. I liked to tease him and make fun of his desire to become a guardian, It's true. But his daily training had made him as muscular as the adults dedicated to our protection. That he was with me to reach the sea reassured me much more than I was ready to admit. Not to mention the fact that he was defyIng a taboo to protect me… I wouldn't have believed him capable of It, to be honest. But, I hardly had time to cry about all that.
"Let's hurry before the boat disappears," I said, separating myself from him.
"Let's hurry carefully If you don't mind," he calmed me. Neither of us has ever gone this far and surface creatures are not legends, I remind you.
- Spoiler.
And without waiting, I rushed towards the sea. I knew the surrounding branches well enough to have observed them for a long time. The first moments of my race were therefore perfectly assured. However, very quickly, the ceiba seemed to me foreign, tortuous, and dangerous. I slowed down, much to Vernor's relief.
As soon as possible, I clung to a vine or slipped on the large leaves with resistant frames that we sometimes used for roofing. It didn't take long for us, out of breath, to find ourselves at the edge of our forest. The following trees were Infinitely lower.
- And there, what do we do, Madam Adventurer?
— On descend!
Unlike when I had jumped from our territory to land on a branch that I had observed all my life, I took precautions to find a platform that seemed solid enough to support our two combined weights. The branches of the ceiba on which we stood had become much thinner. Worse, they were much rarer. The peaks of the neighboring forest seemed far too low to me. I could see them, as could the big water In the distance and the boat. But I realized at the same time that our unit of measurement was incapable of evaluating the height we had to descend.
"How far do you think there Is?" I asked my friend all the same.
- A sight.
I turned to him with a surprised look. He was smiling at me. He was as unaware as I was of the distance that separated us from the benibacs, the trees in the nearby forest. We had always been told that everything our eyes could catch was less than a sight away. In our dense forest, it was not at all the same as It is now. We had barely left the territory for an hourglass we were already running out of landmarks.
All of this mattered little, In the end. Whatever the distance, I was determined to run toward this boat and get to know Its occupants. So we began a vertical descent, much more complex than I had first Imagined. The rough wood prevented us from slipping but scratched us on all sides. Impossible to hold together on the slightest branch, so we took It in turns. Sometimes, often, you had to drop from one branch to another, much lower. And that was for those who were more or less aligned. Other times, you had to hold on to the reliefs of the trunk. It was only when a piece of bark tore under my weight and I almost fell that I became aware of the danger that this descent represented. I also realized that going home would be impossible.
Do you think there are any locals on that thing?" Vernor asked me, halfway up.
"That's what I heard," I replied. But I'm only sure of one thing: I want to see It with my own eyes!
I was concentrating on keeping my balance. The catches were many and varied but not very reliable. Twice more, I almost fell and Vernor had some difficulties, too. None of us wanted to crash into the ground or smash our heads against the trunk of the nearby tree, so we kept our conversations to a minimum.
We finally reached the level of the second forest, at least the top of the benibacs. At this height, we could finally discover the ground. The truth. It was dark and covered with old leaves and branches of various sizes. He was so far that jumping down would have killed us. There were only two ceiba branches left to hang on to and we couldn't imagine ourselves content with small holds In the bark to get to the foot of the trees.
The tops of the new trees, the benibacs, seemed to us very thin In comparison with our immense dwellings. The branches, more numerous and more flexible, would never resist our weight and the ground remained Invisible below. For foliage, the new trees were adorned with tiny, very thin stems that looked prickly, but had a slightly rounded tip. When I ran my hand over them, I was surprised to find them soft.
- What do we do? Vernor asked me, again glued to me.
He stood on one of the last branches of our trees. Two or three arms lower, the trunk became almost smooth. It was the same with all the other trees in our cells forest. Only flexible trees had ramifications at this height.
- Looked! I replied, trying not to react to his sudden proximity. The branches seem to thicken as they descend. If we jump, we must be able to hang on.
"Are you crazy…
He didn't finish his sentence. He had already called me crazy a little more than an hourglass earlier and I hadn't reacted well. This was my mother's treatment and I didn't like It, even though she had never seemed to suffer from it.
"If we can't hold on to the branches?" Or worse: what if we got stabbed?
"Do you think It would be worse?" I said with a smirk. In both cases, I believe that the result will be the same, right?
"Don't be smart…
I was terrified! But turning back was out of the question anyway. I then studied the surroundings with a little more attention. We could already start by going down two floors. From the neighboring tree, a large branch plunged into the small forest. By jumping between two small trees, our fall would be slowed by the foliage and the thin and flexible branches. We had a chance to succeed. I wanted to believe it.
I was explaining my plan to Vernor when a scream froze our blood. Despite myself, I grabbed my friend's hand and squeezed It with all my might.
- It was what?
- Not the faintest Idea, he replied just as panicked as me. I've never heard of such a thing.
"One of the beasts we've been told about since childhood?"
- I do not know. If it's one of the beasts we've been told about, we're pretty much in danger. But if It's a beast we haven't been told… I'm afraid It's worse.
— Oh…
How could I respond to such evidence of optimism? We were far too far from our territory to pick up the sounds of children who might have been playing. Besides, I didn't know any child capable of producing such a sound. Not even an adult, to be honest. So it was a creature of the forest. Whether she lived In the trees or on the ground, however, was a real mystery. But, again, I had no intention of backing down now.
So I resumed my progress, slipping between the soft foliage of the benibac forest. After a last look, a little worried, at my friend, I stepped aside to leave the tranquility of my branch of ceiba. In a way, I was taking my first step into uncharted territory. If we had left the territory for a long time now, we were still on our trees. I would be the first senior to touch a benibac. And if this thought made me smile, It was only a façade that masked my apprehension.
Just as I thought, the Incredible density of the foliage stopped my fall. However, I was far from descending slowly and I scratched myself many times. I remember hitting myself once, twice, and then three times before starting to accelerate and then losing all my bearings. Up became down and then the directions reversed again and again. When I opened my mouth to cry out, greenery came In unsmoothly and I coughed it out. A blow a little stronger than the others scrambled my mind and the rest was soon more than alternating greenery and darkness. It could have taken hourglasses and hourglasses, but I think I fell to the floor pretty quickly.
I realized that I had passed out when I opened my eyes again. I was hurting In more places than my anatomy had and it took an incredible effort just to turn my head and regain eye contact with Vernor.
He was lying on his stomach. I was afraid for a moment that he was dead, but his back heaved steadily: he was breathing.
- This is not the time to sleep, lazy!
— I'm in too much pain all over to tell you what I think… but I think so, know It!
Despite my pain, I smile. He was able to be witty, his life could not be In danger. We stood still for a while until our heads stopped spinning. This moment allowed me to capture smells that I did not know. A whole new range of sensations was added then, despite the pains and the urge to vomit. One of my hands on the ground caressed this strange material: the earth. I had been told about It but no one had been able to describe it to me. Today, I touched it and captured Its soft and fresh scent. It was not impossible that I would die soon, from my wounds or be eaten by a creature from below. But I would have had the chance to touch the real ground.
With great difficulty, I sat up a little to admire something other than the broken branches which had deposited me there.
Floor!
I was downstairs. I still couldn't believe It. I grabbed a handful of vegetation and pulled with all my weak might. The sprigs of green let go without resistance. Some came with their root.
"Do you realize we're downstairs?"
"Do you have any idea how to get back up?"
My smile faded. Not that I realized I had made a mistake. Rather than I understood why Vernor had followed me. He was thinking of going up. Probably he had Imagined spending the night in his bed. But I hadn't planned a return trip. My goal was to see this boat and meet its inhabitants. If I could, I would go with them. Going home or not didn't matter to me.
- The boat! I jumped then. How long have we been here?
- Two nights?
- I'm serious!
"I don't know, I was unconscious like you, I'm telling you…
Forgetting about the scratches and gashes covering my skin, I rose to my feet and forced Vernor to do the same. With such a fall and the subsequent unconsciousness, I had lost my bearings. So I looked for our trees to go in the opposite direction, towards what I hoped was the sea.
After a few hesitant steps, I regained my feelings and picked up the pace a bit more, until I started to jog. Vernor groaned and cursed at me but followed me closely anyway. He was of a much better constitution than me, If I could advance, he could too.
"He was still a long way off, you know," Vernor told me. I don't feel any hunger pangs, so that's because we haven't been unconscious for that long.
If the argument held water, I didn't listen to It and continued as fast as my scraped legs would allow me. It didn't take long for the sweat to set In and every bit of my clawed body stung me more and more. I felt a bit like throwing up again, probably from the many blows to my head.
After a long run, seeing that the edge of the forest of benibacs did not seem to approach, I started walking again, short of breath. I still kept a good rhythm.
- You're okay? Vernor suddenly asked me.
I was going to answer a little dryly but realized that, no, I wasn't doing so well. I staggered more than I walked, to tell the truth. He must have noticed and was worried about me.
- I do not know. I want to vomit and It doesn't go away.
"We should take a little break.
The proposal was tempting, but I declined it with a forced smile. Vernor didn't Insist and just walked beside me Instead of behind me like all along. He must have been tired, too, because he barely opened his mouth.
Come to think of It, my nausea must not have come from our fall but rather from the strange and heady smell that emanated from the trees. A particularly heavy syrupy perfume escaped from the sap which sometimes flowed over the rough trunks. The forest was dense and by reaching out a hand It was easy to touch the trunks. Ridiculous trunks In comparison with the cells. By holding hands, Vernor and I could have walked around a Benibac trunk. No need to try with a Celba. Many of the trees were scratched, as If scraped. I said nothing to Vernor for fear of frightening him, but I was convinced that these wounds had been caused by the nails of living creatures on the ground. Huge nails that are much stronger than ours.
The sea.
We had walked a considerable time and were struggling to put one foot In front of the other when we finally reached the edge of the forest. The ground we had trod suddenly changed. Its grains became finer and clearer, less sticky. The trees, but also any form of vegetation, suddenly disappeared to give way to this great golden expanse in which our feet sank.
- Wow! Vernor whispered.
Having nothing better to add, I kept my lips closed and walked towards the water. A very light breeze blew and cooled us very quickly.
"Where's the boat?"
Vernor scanned the surface of the water, as I did, but we found no trace of the object of my desire. We were standing In a sort of hollow between two hills which blocked our view to the right and the left. I rushed to attack the one on the left, at a run, only to quickly realize that I would never have enough strength to climb to the top at this speed. After a few strides, I fell to my knees. My nausea was gone but not the fatigue.
"If he's behind one of those two mountains, we'll need several hourglasses to climb. The sun will be down long before we get there. And that is on condition that we have chosen the right side.
I didn't like when he played the pessimist. Even less when he was right. So I swallowed back my tears of frustration and decided to approach the sea.
The water, bluish from a distance, was transparent like the one we knew and we could see some creatures there.
"Do you think they are dangerous?" I then asked, pointing to a beast the size of my hand and gray.
Other of her fellows moved with her undulating. I couldn't see their mouths or legs. This day continued to bring me Its share of surprises.
"Everything's dangerous down there, remember," Vernor growled. Spitting out a speech heard many times.
- But they are so small, what do you want them to do to us?
- There are many, I tell you. Looked! There are some there and there too. And then there, well…
He was right. At least a hundred of these strange things were bobbing In the water.
"And don't you think that If they were hostile, they would come after us?"
- I do not want to know, you see. What are you doing?
"So many muscles and such a cowardice…" I breathed as I moved closer to the water.
I wanted to ridicule him, but I was not very reassured either. However, having come all this way and not dipping your feet In the water because of a few small critters without scales seemed inconceivable to me. I had already missed the only boat for at least two generations.
When my foot approached, the creatures decamped with impressive speed. So much so that I jumped and took a step back. Luckily they weren't aggressive. With such speed, I couldn't have done anything to escape them.
- You see! I said triumphantly, they are afraid of me. We have nothing to fear.
Reassured, I resumed my adventure and dipped my toe in the water. The coldness hit me with the same force as a pebble crushing my toe and a grimace escaped me. Vernor was worried to see me react like this and thought that some kind of acidity was gnawing at my skin. I sneered at him before putting my foot down and bringing the next one. After only a few steps, my ankles were covered with water and I felt the needles of Ice caress the bones of my feet. I had never felt such cold. However, It was out of the question for me to stop there and I continued to advance in very small steps until the water reached my thighs. When my tremors prevented me from continuing, I stopped, looking In all directions. From here, the extent of water seemed much less vast, and yet, I felt much more Insignificant. I gently parted the straps of my ceiba loincloth to observe my frozen feet at the bottom of the water. The light passing through the water gave them a strange hue. The creatures circled me again and when I dipped a hand toward them, they fled just as fast as the first time.