The Marked People

welcome to camp

Indigo

I don't bother hunting for something to eat. I have nothing to start a fire with and I doubt Phoenix would be thrilled about eating the meat raw. The idea has my own stomach twisting and I remember when I once tried it, I spent the next few hours sick and Demon had just shaken his head at my stupidity.

So instead of catching any birds that watch me from the branches of the trees, I keep my eyes open for any of the plants that I know are edible. Living out here where getting food isn't a case of buying it from a shop means that I've learn how to forage and I spot a plant that I know is edible. The leaves are incredibly poisonous but the root is fine to eat though it's bland.

Digging it up, I'm satisfied to see that there is a clump of roots and continue to dig around pulling up more. My head is thudding from exhaustion and I eventually give up searching for food. Making sure I don't drop any of the roots I've found I walk back to where Phoenix is.

He's asleep and not wanting him to stare moodily at me, I leave him to sleep while I attempt to clean the dirt off our meagre meal. I don't have a lot of hope that Demon will still be where I left him so I've resigned myself to the fact that I'll be taking Phoenix to the camp by myself.

Chewing on one of the tasteless roots I nudge Phoenix with my foot. He shifts his body in his sleep and I half kick him, making him jerk awake.

He frowns annoyed at being woken up and I toss a few of the pale looking roots onto his lap "Here, it might not taste great but they'll fill you up and they actually hold quite a bit of energy."

Phoenix looks at my findings with distaste "This is what you woke me up for?"

I'm not in the mood for his spoilt brat attitude and take another bite out of my own meal "Fine don't eat it, if you faint I'll just drag you there, though it might mess your hair up."

Phoenix glares at me from under his eyelashes "I don't care about my hair."

He takes a moment before saying sheepishly "it's my jeans I care about."

I can't help but laugh, "You're worried you'll ruin your jeans?"

Phoenix shrugs "I'm a sucker for well made jeans and this pair has already been through so much."

I don't reply but instead grimace, as I taste dirt in my mouth, obviously I didn't manage to get all the soil off.

Once we're finished eating we start walking again, hiking through the forest while I try to get us back on track. Taking the detour to escape the tracker means that it takes me a moment to figure out exactly where we are but once I decide on a direction I don't plan on stopping for long.

Phoenix walks behind me, almost sedately and his sudden willingness to comply has me slightly unnerved. I understand his reasons for doing it. He even stated that if he did get away he'd just die of thirst out here but I still didn't think I'd ever see Phoenix bend to a mere human.

*            *             *           *                

It takes us a day and a half to finally arrive at the cliffs. The large rock face is grey from constant weathering while small caves are drilled into the rock at the bottom that disappear into the dark. The cliffs tower above us, rising hundreds of meters into the sky and I've often thought that our camp has one of the most intimidating looking front entrances ever. 

I look at Phoenix "Here we are, welcome to camp."

Phoenix looks at the caves with wide eyes and I tell that his instinct is telling him to run, though his logical mind must already know it's pointless.