Chapter Four
Andrew and Katy woke a couple of hours after dawn and immediately looked to the ground to check if the beasts were still there. Sure enough, several of the wolf-like creatures were prowling around the tree. Apparently they were bent on making the teens their next meal.
Katy groaned. "These guys don't give up. We're trapped. Now what?"
"I could try and fight them off with my sword," Andrew offered.
"Don't be silly Andrew. There are far too many of them. They'll kill you."
"But Katy, why would they be so desperate for food that they would stay here all night waiting for us?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, wouldn't it indicate that these powerful predators don't have a plentiful source of food, even in a place such as this where there is meat aplenty? Which would further indicate—"
"—that there are even tougher predators around here, whom they must compete with."
"Exactly. There are tougher predators in this forest that we didn't even meet up with yet. So we really need to be on our guard. These vicious creatures aren't even the worst of it."
"Andrew, suddenly I feel so fragile. I mean, normally, all the animals around me are way smaller than me. They are scared of me. Now that we're surrounded by these large predators, I feel so vulnerable. They can end my life with one swipe."
"Yeah, I know what you mean. Suddenly we're not on top of the food chain anymore."
They sat there on the branch for a few minutes, pondering their next move. The air was hot and muggy. Brightly colored leaves waved in the breeze. Orange and gold insects crawled along the bark. White monkeys swung through the trees. The forest was alive. Alive, and dangerous.
Katy broke the silence. "I'm starving. If the animals don't get us, the hunger surely will. Do you think that whoever sent you The Kingdom of the Light intended for this to happen? That we get stranded here, with danger surrounding us on all sides?"
"That's a good question," Andrew replied. "I don't even know if the book was meant for me, or if by chance I was the first one there to take it. I guess that we will have to find him, or her, if we want to know for sure. For now, the reason why we were brought here is a total mystery to me. I just hope that some good comes out of this in the end, that we aren't going through it all for nothing. If we want to make it through this alive, we need to believe that it is all for the best, and that there is an important reason for us to be here. Or else, we will first die on the inside to hopelessness, and then, death on the outside will quickly follow. It is important, no, it is crucial, that we stay in good spirits if we want to make it out of here alive and whole."
Katy gazed into Andrew's hazel eyes with a hard look filled with determination and resolve. "You're right. We're here for a good reason. We are here for a purpose. And we will make it out alive and well, if it is up to us to do so at all."
Andrew leaned in for a quick kiss. "That's the spirit."
"So, are we going to have to kill monkeys to eat?"
"I don't know. At least that would be better than eating bugs."
Then Andrew looked around, and noticed that on the very ends of the branches there grew amongst the colorful leaves what appeared to be large, purple fruit, each about the size of a grapefruit. Their surface was smooth, and many-faceted. Hanging from the tree branches they looked like big, purple cut diamonds, only without the sparkle.
"Look Katy, fruit!" Andrew pointed out the fruit to her. "We aren't going to starve after all. And the monkeys and bugs will live. The fruit will save us. I'll just climb to the end of the branch and get some."
"Wait," said Katy. "How do you know that they are safe to eat? Maybe they're poisonous."
"You're right. For all we know they could be poisonous. But look. Do you see that animal?" Andrew pointed through the branches and leaves at a small, furry, brown creature some two hundred feet away. It was about the size of a house cat, with six legs, hanging upside down from the end of a branch. Four legs gripped the limb, while the other two fed on the purple fruit.
"Yes, I see... oh, I get it. He's eating the purple fruit. I guess they are safe, thankfully. Unless he has a different physiology than us. This is a strange place, after all. It's quite possible that his nutrients are our poison."
"Maybe. But you always have to take a little risk to get anywhere," said Andrew. "I'm going to get them."
"Okay Andrew, but please be careful," Katy cautioned. "The branches are very thin at the ends."
"Thanks. I will."
He ventured out onto the rough branch, sixty feet above the hard forest floor. It tapered off, and grew narrower and narrower the farther away from the trunk he went. Insects climbed all over his face. They tickled.
When he was about seven feet away from the end, the branch became too narrow for Andrew to crawl on. He would have to swing his way across the branch to the prized fruit, Tarzan style.
"When in Rome, do as the Romans. And when in the rainforest, do as the monkeys," Andrew muttered. He swung down, grasping the overhead branch with both hands. Hand over hand he swung along the branch monkey style, towards the end, and the prize: the enticing purple fruit.
Andrew's heart was now pounding like a tom-tom. He dangled six stories above the ground. He knew that if his grip slipped he'd be eaten alive by the hungry animals below, if he even survived the fall at all. It was very risky. But he had no choice. They needed to eat. They needed energy to hike out of the forest, whilst defending themselves against the wild animals that roamed there. If they wouldn't eat now, they would easily fall prey to the next band of predators that came along. They would not have enough energy to run or to fight.
Andrew made his way along the last segment of the branch, dangling high above the solid forest floor. He was very relieved when he finally made it to the end safely.
"Katy, I've reached the fruit!" he called.
"Great. Then you're halfway back to safety already."
He was finally at the goal, when Andrew realized that he had no means of carrying the oversized diamonds back to the trunk of the tree, when swinging itself would require both his hands. He tried stuffing them in his jeans pocket, but they wouldn't fit.
"Katy, I can't carry them! Get ready to catch!"
"Okay. Go ahead and start throwing!" Katy called.
Using his one free arm, Andrew threw the coveted fruit to Katy. He thought he would surely fall, that his grip would give way and he would plunge to the ground, his wrecked body to be devoured instantly by the starving beasts. But miraculously, his grip held.
He dangled from the tree branch with one arm as he threw the fruit to Katy. The hungry wolf-dogs sixty feet below eagerly awaited his fall. Their snarls and growls filled his ears. Whatever you do, don't look down, Andrew told himself. He felt like he was bait dangling from the end of a huge line, about to be cast into the water to the hungry fish below. The branch bent under his weight, bringing him even closer to the hungry mouths.
It took an almighty effort on Andrew's part just to keep on hanging from the branch with only one arm. Beads of sweat poured down his face. It was getting harder and harder to keep holding on. He could be moments away from death. The animals gathered in a group directly below him, jaws wide open, awaiting his fall that was sure to come. Their long whip-like tails flicked back and forth in excitement.
Andrew found the purple fruit to be surprisingly heavy for their size, and hard, so he tried to lob them to her as gently as possible. Consequently, many of his throws missed, and the heavy fruit went crashing noisily through the branches to splatter on the floor below. Big purple splashes of juice appeared around the tree.
This gave Andrew an idea; a way to use the fruit to help them out of their predicament. So he threw to Katy many more than they could eat. His right arm burned and ached, as he struggled to hold on. And who knew if he was even helping them at all? Like Katy had pointed out, it was possi
ble that the fruit were poisonous, and he was only bringing them closer to their death. But he tried to push that thought from his mind to concentrate on the task at hand.
When he deemed they had enough of the fruit for his plan, Andrew swung back along the branch towards the tree trunk. When he reached the segment of the branch where it was thick enough for walking, Katy grabbed his hand and heaved him up. They made their way carefully back to the trunk, where Katy had formed a large pile of the fruit.
She hugged Andrew briefly. "I'm so glad you're safe. I hope we don't have to do that again."
"Yeah," Andrew rubbed his aching arm. "After that terrifying experience, even the bugs are looking attractive. In fact, I think I ate a few by accident while crawling on the branch."
"So you have a head start on me for breakfast then. Did they taste good?"
He smacked his lips. "Mmmm. Nothing like a yummy tree bug for flavor."
She laughed. "Why do we need so many of the fruit? We can't eat all of this."
"You'll see why soon. I have an idea that will help us with our little wolf problem. But first, let's eat."
Katy knocked her fist against the hard fruit. "Hello. How do we open this thing?"
Andrew examined the smooth fruit. He tried biting into it directly, but only succeeded in hurting his teeth.
Katy played around with the rigid stem. "Oh." It popped off in her hand, along with most of the fruit's top.
Inside was a thick, citrusy liquid that tasted like a mix between lemon and grapefruit, with a salty tang to it. They ate their fill of the odd tasting pulp. Besides for quenching their thirst in the hot rainforest, the thick fruit juice was nourishing and filling.
Katy patted her stomach. "That was good. Hopefully we won't die in five minutes from poison."
Andrew chuckled, and hoped he was right about this.
"Okay, so what's the big idea?" Katy asked. "Why do we need so many? Are we going to start a fruit store?"
"Simple," Andrew replied. "They are hard as rock, big, and heavy. Exactly what we need. We throw them at the beasts until they are scared off."
"I like it. We fight, instead of run. We use the forest against itself. Let's do it!"
They walked to the edge of the branch, carrying some of the fruit.
"Fire!" called Andrew. They threw at the creatures sixty feet below, periodically walking back to their stash to reload. And it wasn't long before they saw results. Andrew scored a direct hit on one of the beast's snouts, as Katy hit one in the hind leg. The injured animals yelped and growled. And soon the teens scored more and more hits. Katy cheered whenever they managed to injure one of the beasts that had wanted to eat them.
After several more strikes, the predators looked at their bloodied and limping comrades, and ran off in search of easier prey.
Katy cheered. "We did it! We actually did it! We scared off a pack of monsters. And we freed ourselves from this prison of a tree!"
"All right!" Andrew pumped his fist. "Now we can finally start to get out of here."
In defeating the monsters, aside from freeing himself of the tree, Andrew gained confidence, which would help him greatly on his search to find a way out of the forest and to wherever it was he needed to go.
The duo climbed back down the tree that had served as refuge for the night.
Midway down, Andrew inadvertently stepped on a branch that couldn't hold his weight. It snapped with a loud crack that echoed through the forest. The sound had barely died away, when he heard a loud, piercing screech that sounded like "ka-keeeer!" coming from the top of the tree.
Katy was startled. "What's that noise?"
Moments later a scarlet bird came swooping towards them from the treetop. The avian soared in towards the teens, mouth wide open.
Katy covered her face. "It's going to bite us!"
But the teens were not its target. The creature soared to the branch that Andrew broke and circled it, apparently surveying the damage. Satisfied that it was not completely severed from the tree and would continue to grow, the avian shot Andrew an angry glare and with another piercing cry of "ka-keeeeer!" flew back up to its treetop nest.
Katy's face was still covered. "What happened? Did it bite you? Is it gone?"
Andrew patted her back. "It's okay. It wasn't after us after all. It just took a look at the branch that I broke and left."
Katy uncovered her face. "What did it look like?"
"At first I thought it was a bird. But on closer inspection it looked more like a bat. It had red leathery wings that stretched out from its small fur covered body, in what looked like a three foot wingspan."
"What about its face and head?"
"That was its most striking feature. Its head was shaped like no head on Earth. It was a circular cylinder a few inches thick, its facial features arranged on one side, its neck connected to the other. In the center of its face was a large circular mouth, inhabited by row upon row of sharp black teeth. Its eyes were set in small bulges protruding from the side of its face. It was beautiful and ferocious all at once."
"This is great," Katy grumbled. "More freaky animals. First the wolves from Radiation City. Now the red bats from hell."
Andrew laughed. "'From Radiation City.' It seemed that the red bat thingy was guarding the tree from harm. I wonder if all the trees in this forest have them."
"Oh, even better," said Katy. "Freaky animals with a mission."
Now that he was aware of the creatures, Andrew could make out glimpses and flashes of scarlet here and there on the very tops of many of the surrounding trees. They probably inhabited most of the trees in this forest.
"Hey Katy, maybe we can take some scarlet-bat babies and bring them back to Earth with us to guard our trees. That would go a long way towards saving the rainforests."
"Yeah right. Steal from those things? You described their rows of sharp teeth, right? They'd probably chew your hand off."
"Once we're here, we should take from it what good we can."
"I don't care about gaining anything here, Andrew. All I care about now is going home and getting out of this horrible place!"
They reached the ground.
"Okay Katy, I understand how you're feeling. Just please don't panic. Stay calm, and we'll make it out safe and sound."
Katy turned towards Andrew, her lip trembling. "Do you promise?"
"Yes, I promise."
Andrew put his arms around her and hugged her tightly.
"We're here for a reason. We're here for a purpose," he whispered. "We can't forget that."
"I wish I could believe it," said Katy. "We don't know why we're here. Maybe it's for no reason at all. Maybe you picked up that horrible book by accident. Maybe it wasn't meant for you."
She was right, in a way. He had no proof of what he was saying. But he didn't need proof. It was something he felt deep in his heart, and deep in his soul.
"Just trust me, Katy. Please trust me. It's the only way we'll survive."
Katy hugged him tighter. "Okay."
They were now standing in the heart of the rainforest, amongst huge trees with giant colorful leaves, surrounded by the beautiful, diverse and dangerous forest wildlife.
Katy assessed their situation. "All right, so we're stuck in the middle of this rainforest. We are miles, maybe even light-years away from home. We have no GPS device to guide us, nor even a map. And, we have no idea how far we are from any kind of human civilization. We don't even know the direction of the closest settlement, let alone its location."
"True," said Andrew.
"In short, we are completely and utterly lost. We are as lost as an Eskimo in the middle of the Sahara desert, as a fish on dry land, as a Martian on Earth. So what do we do?"
Andrew looked into Katy's green eyes. She was afraid, no doubt about it. And so was he. But he couldn't show it. "You're right. We are lost, and we have no way of knowing which way lies civ
ilization, at least until we find a path, if they even have such things in this world. So our best prospect now is to head in one direction, and stick to it. That way, at least we know that we aren't going in circles, and we just might have a chance of getting out of here."
"Yeah, I guess that makes sense," Katy conceded. "It's our best chance."
"So pick a direction."
"West."
"West it is."