Congo Jungle

The countdown ended, and a blue flash filled the crowded transport room. Humid air suddenly pressed in on Razan, along with the smell of decaying plants and the sound of thousands of insects.

As no one was around, he allowed himself a moment to be disgruntled about the temperature before deciding where to go.

Sophie landed at the base of a huge, flowering tree. The bright yellow flowers provided a distinct contrast to the browns and dark greens of everything else around. Butterflies and bees flitted about, their colors making this place feel even more cheerful and alive.

"Pardon me," she said to a bee, reaching through to pick up a grey and red flag.

Tucking it into a pocket, she looked around for the trail.

Peter glared up into the trees in case of monkeys, saw only plants, and pulled two devices out of his backpack.

One was the communication device. It said the rest of his group was to his south, with Razan being the closest to him.

The second device was a map. It showed where all the trails were. His location was close to the northern border, which explained why everyone was south.

He stepped onto the trail, counting his steps until the blue dot which showed his location moved. Ten. Then he stopped, doing mental calculations to see how far apart everyone was.

Marie's first action was to pull out her cutlass. She knew they'd been promised that no two contestants would be put next to each other, but she still couldn't relax unless she had a weapon in her hand.

That done, she pulled out her communication device and pushed the talk button.

"Sound off, where is everyone?"

Razan was the first to answer. "I am by a stream, flowing west."

"I'm by a tree with yellow flowers," Sophie said quickly. It was evident from her voice she was trying to be helpful, but she clearly didn't know what would help.

Peter cleared his throat. "Captain, you're near the south-east corner. Sophie is about a mile north-north-west of you. Razan, you're in the center, half a mile south-east of me. I think I hear the stream."

Marie smiled. "Thank you, Sergeant. Razan, Peter, follow the water to find each other, then travel together to find Sophie. Sophie, head west."

"Yes, Captain."

"Yes, Captain."

"Which direction is west?"

Marie decided she'd have to give the child lessons in cartography. "Do you see the sun?"

"Umm… Yes, I think. It's hard to see through the trees."

"That direction."

"Right!" A pause. "Do… you want me to go straight towards the sun, or follow the trail?"

Marie rubbed her face.

Peter walked down the stream bed, impressed at how waterproof his boots were. It hadn't been something he'd checked when buying them, but it was certainly something he appreciated now.

As he moved, he spotted three flags. A pink and teal one, a blue and lighter blue one, and a grey and yellow one. He wasn't sure if the grey and yellow belonged to the Wasps or the Bees. But that wasn't really important, as neither of them were teams they had a truce with.

He rounded a bend and slowed, hearing voices. He couldn't see anyone yet, but he recognized Razan's voice. Not recognizing the second voice, he pulled the six-shooter out of its holster and got ready to fire.

Slowly moving around a bush, he saw Razan facing him, talking to a woman from the Diamonds. Her back was to him. Razan had his longer sword out, but at rest, his face perfectly neutral.

Nop had said fighting was encouraged. So Peter took aim and fired three times.

Blue-green paint exploded across her back, and she vanished with a yelp. Two flags floated down where she had been; one grey on black, and the other belonging to the Stars.

Razan bowed to Peter. "Thank you."

Peter put his gun away, looking around for anyone else. "Any time. She wasn't fighting?"

"No. She was explaining to me that fighting is vulgar and she does not participate."

"Oh." Peter felt a bit ashamed. "Well… I'll keep that in mind for next time."

Razan gave a faint smirk. "Indeed. It's good to know who the easy targets are." He pulled out his communication device. "Captain, we have met up."

There was a moment's pause before Marie's voice came through. "Good. Go find Sophie. Sophie: head north. Er, turn right."

"Yes, Captain," both men said at once, with the words echoed by Sophie.

Peter checked his map. "Looks like we can follow the stream for a ways. The trail crosses over it."

Razan bowed. "Lead the way."

Somehow, Sophie hadn't imagined that she'd be alone this long. Every moment she spent away from her group, she grew more nervous.

True, she'd been alone in Bolivia, but that was on a cliff. With no one around for miles. No one was hunting her.

A bird chirped behind her, and she spun around, clutching her new knife to her chest. No one was there. Nothing was going to attack her. She was safe.

Sophie turned north again, putting her knife away. It had been Antoni's knife. Razan had insisted she keep it, and give her small folding knife back to her brother. This knife wasn't stolen, which was very important to Razan. Honestly, Sophie didn't like it as much, but she trusted him when it came to weapons.

She moved around a bend, and found a flag in the middle of the path. It couldn't have been a more obvious trap if there had been a sign pointing at it. Sophie took a step back, wondering if there was a way around it.

She looked up into the trees and around at the bushes, but saw no one. Doubt filled her mind; maybe this wasn't a trap.

And then she felt something sharp poke into her spine. Squeaking, she spun around, pulling the knife off her belt again. She found herself facing Leyla, the Caterpillar woman she'd stolen the shield from in the Sahara. She had a small, round shield on her arm this time.

"Well, you're holding your weapon correctly now, but it's in the wrong hand," Leyla said, an amused smile on her face.

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Sophie took half a step back, feeling her face turn red. "No, well, yes, but Keiko said I'm left-handed, since I can't ever hit anyone if it's in my right hand."

"Being able to hit people is important," she conceded. Then she poked Sophie with her axe again. "If you don't mind, I'd like all your flags, please."

Sophie stood tall, holding her knife in front of her. She tried to hold herself like she knew she was going to win this fight. Looking Leyla straight in the eye, she said, "No."

"Allrighty then." Leyla pulled her axe back for a powerful swing.

Confidence shattering, Sophie turned and ran. Leyla laughed, running after her.

Praying to find Marie, she slid around a corner and hopped over a fallen branch, glancing back to see Leyla right on her heels. With that momentary distraction, she dashed around a tree and straight into another person.

"Whoa, careful, Princess," Grace said, stumbling back. She saw who was chasing Sophie and smiled. "Heya, Leyla."

"G'day, Grace," Leyla said with a grin.

"Help," Sophie squeaked, hiding behind the taller woman.

"Ooh, I've got bad news," Grace said, stepping away to lean against the tree. "I'm in a truce with both of yous. Can't help either one."

Before Sophie could properly comprehend that, Leyla reached over and grabbed her shirt.

"I was going to let you go if you gave me your flags, but you didn't." She twitched, and Sophie found the wind knocked out of her as she landed hard on the ground. The axe head was pressed into her sternum. "Sorry."

Sophie tried to scramble away, but couldn't. She tried to breathe, and also couldn't. The pressure from the weapon became worse and worse as Leyla leaned in, until suddenly there was a blue flash. Her body tingled as she landed back in the transport room.

A raven hopped over. "Do you require medical assistance?"

Sophie sat up. "I… lost?"

"Yes. Are you hurt?"

"I lost," Sophie said again, pulling her knees to her chest. "I failed. I couldn't- I couldn't do it."

"Are you hurt?" the raven repeated.

"I- I tried. I didn't- I- I should have- I can't-"

"You have an elevated heart rate and are beginning to hyperventilate. Sending you to medical."

There was another flash, which Sophie barely noticed. She'd completely failed. This was worse than the reef, where her body had given up after several hours, and far worse than needing to ask for the platform on the cliff. This was her failing, and failing so badly she was completely removed from the contest while still conscious! She knew Marie was going to be disappointed in her. There was no way around it. Everyone was going to find out. She wasn't good enough. She'd tried her best, but she just wasn't good enough.

A strange lavender smell filled the air, and Sophie fell asleep convinced they were going to send her home.

"Captain, Sophie's device has just vanished off the map."

Marie glanced at her own communication device, stepping off the trail to focus on it.

"I assume that means she got bailed?" Marie asked, frowning.

"That or it was destroyed," Peter answered. "Should we continue to her last known location? It's not far."

Marie thought it over briefly. "Aye, see if there's any trace of her. If someone caught her, they now have all the flags she collected. At least you can try to get them back. Then head to the area we discussed."

"Yes, Captain," Peter said.

Marie put the device away, worried. She hoped it had been a quick fight, at least, and that the girl wasn't hurt. Sophie was just learning how to defend herself; having someone toy with her might seriously hinder her progress.

Shaking her head, Marie moved back onto the trail and continued walking. She found one flag in a bush and another half-hidden under leaves on the ground. A few minutes later, she found a man from Poison failing to hide behind a tree.

In his defense, the tree was at a crossroad. He was probably perfectly hidden from the other three trails. Unfortunately for him, though, his back was completely exposed to the trail Marie was on.

With a sigh, she pulled out a pistol and shot him in the back. He screamed, wildly waving an axe as he spun around.

Marie, standing well out of range, was unimpressed. "Bail before you embarrass yourself further."

The man stopped. He looked her over, then gave a wan smile, pulling a handful of flags out of a pocket. "How about I give you these, and we forget we saw each other?"

"An excellent idea," Marie agreed, putting her spent pistol away. She stepped forwards, then stopped as she saw his hand still holding his weapon. "Set them on that branch, then back away."

"Oh, of course, certainly."

"Further."

"Of course, sorry."

They spent another minute or so with him pretending to not notice he was about to be in striking distance, and Marie ordering him further back. Finally she had the flags and backed away, only taking her eyes off him long enough to make sure she wasn't about to trip. Somehow she'd found the whole game more entertaining than annoying. And one of the flags had her colors on it, so it was worth the time spent.

Moving on from there, she found a flag stuck on a vine. Around the corner from that she found a tripwire.

Marie frowned at it, then looked up, hand on her cutlass.

Ebba waved from her perch on a branch. "I knew you'd see the trap."

"Can you get down?" Marie asked, looking the tree over.

"Not without potentially breaking an ankle," Ebba answered cheerfully. "Care to join me?"

"Up there? No, thank you. I'll keep you company from down here, though."

"Even better. You stab, I'll shoot."

Marie leaned against the tree. "Anything to avoid wandering through a jungle all day."

Razan pushed his way through dense plants, knowing the trail had to be close. A part of him cringed at the amount of noise he was making, but not making noise was impossible. He had to keep going.

Behind him, Peter was somehow making less noise. Razan wondered if that was a feature of the poncho, or if it came from training, or if Peter was just a natural expert at being quiet. Either way, Razan was begrudgingly impressed.

He finally stumbled out of a bush onto the trail. He looked up and down it, glad he was able to see the ground.

Suddenly Peter grabbed the back of his shirt and yanked him back into the trees. Something orange flashed by in front of Razan's eyes, barely missing his nose, and paint exploded onto a tree four shaku away.

Before Razan could react, Peter had his gun out and was shooting at someone to their left. Peter ducked, and a crossbow bolt took his hat off. He spun behind a tree while Razan dove further into the bush.

"That's not fair!" their opponent yelled, and Razan finally realized they were facing Chimeg. "I had you if not for the hat!"

Razan caught Peter's eye. "I'll distract. You shoot."

Peter nodded, reloading.

Razan waited until he was done, getting his own weapon ready. Finally Peter made a hand signal Razan assumed meant he was ready, and they moved.

Chimeg, crouched on a huge tree root, shot at Razan the moment he stepped onto the trail. He continued straight into the plants on the other side, then dashed around a tree and back onto the trail.

Meanwhile, Peter moved out of hiding and emptied his revolver. Two out of the six paint balls hit Chimeg; one her arm and the other her chest. She sent two crossbow bolts at Peter, both of which hit the tree he was using as cover, before she had to turn her attention back to Razan.

By then, he was almost to her. Almost. Not close enough, though, so rather than risk getting hit, he ducked into a bush with huge leaves.

The leaves were covered in spiderwebs.

Razan immediately fell backwards onto the trail, and was hit in the shoulder with a bolt for his troubles. Deciding Chimeg was better than spiders, he jumped to his feet, dodged a second bolt, and ran straight at her.

She started to reload, then stopped and jumped from the tree root into the bushes. Razan followed on her heels, chasing her around a small tree and back onto the trail. By that time Peter had reloaded, and Razan slowed as Chimeg was hit several more times in quick succession.

She vanished. Over a dozen flags floated to the ground in her place.

Razan automatically looked around for more enemies as he moved cautiously towards them. Peter stepped onto the trail, also scanning the area as he fitted the hat back on his head.

Finally they relaxed, putting their weapons away. Razan collected the flags as Peter checked his map.

"This is about where Sophie vanished," Peter said.

Razan handed him half the flags. "If Chimeg bailed her, that would explain how she had so many flags collected."

Peter nodded, taking them. "Wouldn't be surprised." He glanced at the map again, then put it away, motioning down the trail. "This way."

Razan waited for him to start before falling into step behind him. "Also, thank you for saving me. Excellent reaction time."

"Oh, uhm…" Peter paused, glancing back. "No problem."

Razan watched him for a few seconds. "In your culture, was that rude of me to say?"

"No, not rude, it's just… strange. Most I'd expect would be a pat on the shoulder, or a firm handshake and a nod."

"So physical touch rather than words?" Razan asked.

"I… guess? I don't really know how to react to words."

Razan shook his head. "Forgive me, but I prefer not touching you."

Peter grinned, thickening his accent. "Now I know. If I ever need to make y'uncomfortable, all I've gotta do is give ya a big hug."

Razan bowed, keeping his tone neutral. "And all I need to do in turn is monologue about your strengths and accomplishments."

"I'm glad we've figured that out."

"Indeed."

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