Read Adventurers of the Forest :: Something Fishy This Way Comes

Julian continued to keep his eye on Samantha as they walked along the northern path, which eventually emerged from the trees onto a vast plain, where they saw rising ground leading to the low hills. On either side of the path, there were waist-high grasses that swayed calmly in the warm breeze. Relaxing, except for the carcass of a large boar laying just a few metres away.

Samantha, who still felt light-headed, sat down on a nearby log, while Julian went to take a closer look at the dead animal. He knelt beside it and put a hand on its belly. "Still warm," Julian called behind him. "It's been dead less than an hour."

"Hunted?", Samantha asked as she drank from her waterskin.

"Possibly. My guess is that it was defensive. These punctures in its side look to be made by a heavier weapon."

"Punctures," Samantha repeated. "Ones that could have been made by a flail?" Her eyes caught Julian's as the same thing occurred to them. She hoped they weren't wishful thinking.

The breeze picked up and ruffled their hair, mostly Samantha's vibrant ginger-red frizz. The grass swished louder to the north. Was it just the wind or was something approaching them? The pair turned to the noise, both with a hand of their weapons, and saw a helmeted figure walking toward them in the grass. Samantha's shoulder's tensed.

With 12 metres between them, the figure lowered their weapon and fastened it back to their side as they continued forward. "Sam, Julian, are you okay?"

"Dee, it's you. We're okay, but where is Roxanne?", Julian asked, relaxing his hand and standing to meet her.

"We split up. She went east at the junction back there, and I, this way." She pointed in the direction of the forest from which Julian and Samantha had just come. "Good to see you both though."

Samantha followed her finger, then looked back at Desiree. "The new helmet suits you, by the way, and I believe that you're the one who killed this animal?"

"Found it in a tree. Bit scared to take it off...", Desiree hesitated, she didn't want to tell them her fear of taking it off and it possibly killing her. "...Don't want to lose it, you know."

"Or that someone would steal it from you," Julian teased, suggesting with his eyes that that's something Samantha would do."

Samantha glared at him and Desiree laughed, then pointed at the boar. "I thought it'd be a great meal but it was far too large for just me to cart." Samantha cautiously got to her feet, but it didn't go unnoticed. "You okay there?"

"Nothing that's killing me." Samantha shrugged it off as she sauntered over to the boar. "Yeah, Julian, why don't you lead the way since you have the map, and Desiree, you take the front of the boar, I'll take the rear." Desiree and Julian agreed with the idea, and they all took up their tasks and walked quietly north until they arrived at the junction. One that split into three paths; Julian and Samantha looked down each of the three paths.

Desiree flicked her head, gesturing with it in the direction of North. Why her head? Well, that was the only part of her she thought to use since her hands were currently being used to carry the front end of a pig. "North heads to a large waterfall that we'll need to cross to continue. We could go East, and try to find the others, but they could have changed direction and be anywhere. I think either is fine, just not west. I don't feel that west will help us." She had a knot in her gut whenever she thought about the possibility of heading further west.

"I think we should go North, cross the waterfall and just continue North. But I also don't mind going East, although West is completely new territory too," Samantha suggested, sort of agreeing with Desiree.

"Well, I'm happy to keep going north."

The conversation paused as if they were waiting for something or someone.

After a minute, Desiree tentatively broke the silence that had fallen upon them, "Umm... So have we actually decided north, east, or west?"

Sam nodded but was interrupted by Julian before she could speak. "I say, let's go north."

"Sounds good," Desiree agreed, but both her and Samantha were thinking that they'd just said this. Keeping those thoughts to themselves, the group of three continued northward toward the sound of the waterfall.

At the bank of the wide river that split into two levels, Julian and Samantha saw the water was calm and slow-moving to their right. Then saw the gorge where the river narrowed and ran quickly west over rocks and boulders. They all made a silent decision to take the steps that led down the side of the waterfall to the bottom of the gorge, not trusting how calm the water was. Gradually they descended the slippery stone steps to the bottom of the waterfall.

Once reaching the bottom, Julian looked back up to see a magnificent rainbow reflected in the spray; small but perfect, just like his wife whom he wished to embrace. However, it was dark in the gorge and impossible to see through the wall of water where the steps ended. He wasn't sure what lay behind the waterfall or if it was even safe enough for them to cross to the other side.

So carefully, the trio walked along the edge behind the waterfall, feeling for every step before putting weight on each foot. Behind the water was not just rock, but a small cavern dug into it, where there was a pool of still water. The path ran around the side of the pool inside the cavern, passing a stone table and chair on the far side. Julian crept cautiously to the table and saw fish scraps lying on it.

"Something lives here, we better keep movin-," he started to tell them.

But in that unexpected moment, there was a splashing noise behind him. Samantha and Desiree dropped the carcass, it hit the rocky ground with a thwack. Although caught by surprise, they all drew their weapons and scanned the water for what had made the splash.

A strange creature climbed out of the still water pool by the entrance, not far from the girls, and advanced toward them armed with a trident. Its legs were like a human male's but its face and torso resembled a large green fish with bulbous eyes. Its arms were human but covered with large scales. He was some kind of Fish-Man. The trio were unable to escape and realised they MUST fight him as he got closer and closer.

As the Fish-Man creature was slowly gaining on Samantha and Desiree, Julian realised he could use it to his advantage by quietly sneaking back around the pool. The creature was focusing on Desiree, which left enough time for Samantha to ready an arrow in her bow. With the arrow notched, she hastily aimed and fired, sending it straight into his chest.

To Desiree's dissatisfaction, it caused the creature to stumble forward toward her rather than backward. Desiree decided that the best thing to do with a fish in this situation was to punch it in the nose to disorientate it, which is exactly what she did. Why this was what was occurring to her, her mind would only repetitively question later. Now she was only prideful that she had sent the Fish-Man flying backwards into Julian's hammer, which he'd raised for this purpose, to swing at him. Straight into his head.

The Fish-Man fell forward onto the ground. If he was dead after that, then Sam's next three arrows would have diminished any further chance of life. They'd all pulled together to initiate and fulfil this successful plan, without even a spoken word between them. They were becoming a well-oiled machine.

"Fancy grilled fish anyone?", Sam joked with a partial seriousness. Desiree cringed and looked away from the body as Samantha crouched over it to pat the creature down. "What? He might have something useful on him."

"He came out of that pool," Julian told her, gesturing to the water. "You really think he'll have anything on him?"

"Could have been useful and waterproof." Samantha sighed and stood back up.

However, Desiree swallowed the reflux she had from seeing the body and chimed in before Samantha could snap further at him. "There could be something around the cave though."

Julian spread his arms out questioningly and turned slightly in both directions. "Where? Unless you want some basic furniture and some fish bones."

"Alright, Captain Sarcasm, what do you suggest?", Samantha retorted.

"Let's just keep going." And with that he didn't wait, just swung his hammer over his shoulder, leaving it to rest there and walked around the pool. Samantha and Desiree begrudgingly picked the boar back up and followed him.

Once they walked back out of the cavern and the waterfall, they saw steps leading back up past the waterfall and up to the top. The three took them slowly, but at reaching the top they were then at the foot of some hills...