Noah studied the sky above her, then flicked open the compass that hung around her neck, She studied it for a moment, then pulled out her journal flipping back a few pages and comparing her compass to what ever was on the page.
"I think.." She looked around for a moment then back at the compass, "I think the Village was that way." She pointed to where she was talking about, "I think we're North east from it so, yeah, that way." She snapped her compass shut and shoved the book back in her bag. "Looks like we have three or four hours before it get's dark so let's make progress while we can."
Navigating may not have been her job but every one in the troop had to know a thing or two encase of emergency, she just hoped her skills were good enough to get them back to some semblance of civilization.
Ra'eon watched Noah in fascination. Thank the stars she had made whatever note she had made. Otherwise, it would have taken way longer to find the village. He should have known where they were– he would have known, had it been before he'd gotten trapped– but he was still re-connecting with the islands. "Oh, good!" He grinned and waved at Oreni. "Get up, we're going." Oreni glared at Ra'eon, but stood.
"Can you untie my hands? It's hard to walk with them like this."
"No." Ra'eon shook his head. "The effects of the pearl haven't worn off yet. You might still try to kill us."
"I won't!" He exclaimed, turning to Noah. "Please?"
"What are you looking at me for? Ra'eon already said no and I support most of his Choices. And I'm still mad at you." Noah shook her head in disbelief.
"You could at least come up with a good excuse, walking around with your hands tied isn't difficult." Noah did not say exsactly how she knew this, but she also knew that it wouldn't be too difficult for him to escape those knots given enough time. She was anxious to get moving, every second spent here was a second more they were stuck in the jungle.
"Now, You can either follow us or, you can stay here and see how hospitable the jungle is in comparison." With that she began marching forward, hoping Ra'eon was following. If Oreni had even the smallest bit of intelligence he would follow.
Oreni wrinked his nose at Noah. Ra'eon had no idea why he even bothered trying to appeal to her when she was the one who'd stabbed him. She also made some good points– Oreni really could have picked any other excuse. Ra'eon watched as she marched off, then glanced at Oreni. He seemed to be considering staying there, but Ra'eon wasn't going to let that happen. He grabbed Oreni's arm and pulled the man after Noah. It was refreshing not being the one leading for once. Back then, everyone had always looked to him or Kai for answers or directions. It made sense, since he was the god of these islands, but it got a little dull after a while. He still loved it, but a change of pace every once in a while never hurt anyone. Even though they were basically stranded out here, Ra'eon couldn't help but enjoy the walk. No matter how wild or dangerous the islands were, he would always see them as beautiful. Maybe that was just his immortality speaking. Still, the vivid greens of the leaves and bright colors of the flowers couldn't be anything other than beautiful, could they?
Noah lead them through the jungle for a bit, she took in the vivid colors and unique shapes, it was a beautiful place to be stranded, and as she was quickly reminded by the massive snake she nearly walked into, quite deadly.
Her breath paused, she took a step back then another.
"Ra'eon, Please tell me you can deal with that because I certainly can't and it doesn't look very happy and it's bloody moving, help." SHe shriek in a very high pitched whisper. There were things Noah could handle, animals she could meet in the wild and not bat an eye. Spiders weren't a problem, giant deadly cat's, no issue. Wolves, bears, fine, she ran into a few Gators and crocodiles on a few trips, no issue. Snakes were an issue, especially large ones.
"Ra'eon, please, Snake, Big, not nice."
Ra'eon wasn't really paying attention to where he was going and almost ran into Noah when she stopped suddenly. "Huh? Why'd you– oh." His eyes landed on the snake. It really did look like it was about to kill something, so he could understand Noah's fear. Hopefully, he could convince the snake to get out of there and not bite anyone. Ra'eon took a deep breath and stepped around Noah, dragging Oreni behind him.
"Can you not? Just leave me with her or something. I don't want anything to do with your snake conference." Oreni grumbled, his steps slowing.
"No. Shut up." Ra'eon turned to the snake. "Um, hello. If you don't mind, could you relax somewhere else? Or if not, could you promise not to bite any of us?" Any words addressed at the snake were in Ra'eon's native language, since it was the closest one to the islands and therefore more likely to be understood by the creatures of the islands. The snake swayed it's head back and forth slightly.
"You're back. Nice to see you again, guardian." The snake's words hissed around Ra'eon's mind, making his skin crawl slightly. He'd have to get used to this, too, it seemed. "I won't move, but I won't hurt anyone in your group."
"Really? I mean– thank you, thank you." Ra'eon sighed and turned to Noah, switching back to speaking her language. "Come on, we can pass safely. Just, uh, walk quickly or something. Or you can close your eyes and I can guide you past, if you want."
Noah did her best to calm her breathing, It was ok Ra'eon figured it out, it would be alright.
"So if I just walk by it's not going to hurt me, I'm just going to slowly approach and-." Noah mumbled under her breath as she got closer, she could do this she was almost to where Ra'eon was now, so close. Now she was past him, and a few more steps, and another. then she was past the reptile, she turned around waiting for the other two still shaken but very much unscathed.
"Ok, can we like move please the further I am from the very polite nice snake the happier I will be."
Ra'eon waited for Noah to pass the snake patiently, keeping a warning eye on it. The snake stared back at him, staying perfectly still. "Of course, we can continue moving. Please, lead the way." He walked after Noah, giving the snake one last nod. It was already ignoring him again, which was totally fine with him. "And if you come across anything else like that, just call me."
"Are we going to have drama like this the entire trip?" Oreni complained, glaring at Ra'eon and then at Noah. "Seriously, it was just a snake. You shouldn't have to worry about anything with the high and mighty guardian protecting you." He snorted. Ra'eon closed his eyes for a second and let out a breath.
"Can you stay quiet for one minute?" He hissed, tightening his grip on Oreni's arm. "If you can't, I will make you." Oreni pressed his lips together. Hopefully, Ra'eon's threat would keep him quiet. He didn't need Oreni's useless remarks on this trip.
"Excuse me, I'm not the one that got us stuck out here, I'm trying to fix your mess, so save the comments." Noah replied looking at her compass again altering their coarse slightly, " Right , no more distractions, This way boy's, Ra'eon there's a tree root there don't trip, Oreni feel free to fall on your face I could use the amusement."
She continued on, occasionally stopping to look at the compass, as the sun dipped below the horizon she sighed heavily, "Well Looks like we're stuck out here for tonight. We'll have to camp."
Oreni's mouth pulled down into a pout, which made Ra'eon smile. He followed Noah's guidance, refusing to feel even the slightest bit silly that she was the one leading them around. But she obviously knew better, and this would give him a chance to keep an eye on Oreni at all times. Ra'eon laughed out loud at Noah's comment, which Oreni glower even more. Noah really was amazing. "Alright. I'm okay to just lay on the ground there, but if you're not, I get that. Do you need me to help you with anything?" Ra'eon asked, glancing around the area.
Noah pulled out her jacket out of her bag and curled up on the ground, "Nope I'm good, I've slept in worse."
She felt useful for once, it was nice, being able to do something on her own.
"Oh, Ra'eon, do you think anything will try to get us in your sleep or will they leave us alone because you're you know a deity or something."
"Perfect!" Ra'eon grinned and sat down, tugging Oreni with him. The other man grumbled, but didn't fight him. "Oh, good point. I'll put something up to make sure nothing bothers us." He closed his eyes and mumbled a few words in his naitive language and clapped softly. Now, anything wanting to hurt them, whether it be animals or the weather, would skirt around them. "There. We'll be fine. And you! Don't leave if you want to live. I can and will find you." Ra'eon glared at Oreni, who rolled his eyes but nodded.
Noah was already asleep, she was quite exhausted from the day's events.
(I have no Idea what else to write so uh yeah, she goes to sleep)
(Yeah, that's cool.)
Ra'eon soon settled down, his eyes glued to the sky above him. He was tired, but his eyes refused to close until he had finally seen the stars. They were utterly beautiful and paired with the soft sound of wind through the trees, helped lull him to a dreamless sleep.
He woke up with the dawn and sat up, slightly surprised to see that Oreni was still there. He was curled on his side and still asleep, his expression one of annoyance even as he slept. Of course.
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