Chronicles of Yugure: Plummeting into Uncharted Depths

Day Twelve

The day starts out surprisingly dry. I am still a tad damp, and chilled. My body feels like it never actually dried. The scales on my arms, tail, and wings feel decently dry, my feathers cold, yet not terribly wet. My fur, well, let's just say that I have really dense fur.

With my pads sore from who knows what, I travel on. I can feel a kink in between my shoulders. Again, I have no clue how this happened. Perhaps I slept funny last night. The climbing above the trees goes much smoother, as the bark is decently rigid and no longer slick from rainfall.

The forest is much more lively today. I can smell honey from afar. Although I do not care for such a rich, sweet flavor, I have had little to eat and I must keep up my strength. One problem, though, is the bees. I am not well equipped to take on such a daunting task as diverting the bees from their hive.

I follow my nose anyway, arriving at a large hole in a dying tree. The hum could be heard before I even approached the hive's tree. Instinctively, ideas arrive to my brain as a way to solve this puzzle of getting rid of the bees. With strong enough pheromones from a flower, they may leave.

Flowers are an easy fix, now that my scales have dried. The after math of the rain still resides on my beautiful emerald scales. My exposed "pollen" has smeared over my scales, drying into a crispy substance, since it wasn't properly taken care of upon being wet in the first place. Scrubbing that off with a sponge that was on hand in my bag, I can get down to making myself some breakfast. Of course, the breakfast is pre-made, but I won't be picky.

The aromas of the flowers is just perfect for the task at hand. Enough bees leave the hive for me to reach in and scoop the honey out. It comes out in wads upon wads of honeycombs. There are more than enough to sustain me for the time being.

"I must get going, there is no time to lose." Talking to myself, I eat on the go. To get to the shoreline as fast as possible, I'd need to make up for lost time. Enough time has been wasted and I must get to Sendaar as quickly as possible. The honey leaves a nasty, sticky residue on my hands that acts like an adhesive to everything that I touch. There is not a drop of water to be found to wash off my hands from this obnoxious discomfort.

What joy I feel when I hear the sounds of waves and gushing water. The ocean! My heart flutters as I bound through the brush and treeline to finally meet with the warm sand. White grains of dirt clutch to my syrupy hands and grate along them as I walk, making me cringe. I quickly stick my arms into the water and scrub vehemently. Feeling content, I remove my hands from the salty water.

I look to the sky, which is decently cloudy, feeling completely lost. "Where in Yugure am I? None of this looks familiar at all." My face pouts and wings droop. What am I to do with no heading?  Faintly, my mind remembers something about a star that can guide me to the island where this mysterious clan of Sendaar's lives. Sadly, it is still early in the afternoon, and I have not seen the sky since I first went into the labyrinth of the island.

Milah said that Sendaar lived farther south of the island that he lives on. So, if I can spot the volcano which is decently close to his property, I could calculate a good sense of where I should be heading. My slitted eyes scanned the horizon for plumes of smoke or significant shapes that I could identify as the volcano. Sadly, I have traveled too far off to see any shapes that could be the volcanic island.

"Improvising is the only option I 'ave left then."

Taking out my beaten up compass, I search for south. A couple estimations later and I have a new heading. My hands sift through my satchel and make sure that the container holding the leftover honeycombs is secure and won't leak during my flight. The rest of my luggage seems in fairly good shape, despite the rough travels I have encountered the past few days.

I feel like I have been travelling for months, yet it's only been a bit more than a week. Groaning, my body wishes for home, where I can enjoy my time of leisure and not this rough wilderness where I have no real form of safety. I also wish that I didn't have to continuously write these journal entries. It's not that I don't enjoy writing to some mysterious audience who probably won't get past my second entry, but the time that it takes to fully develop each passage and jot it down before the sun sets and my natural lighting is gone is indeed a dubious task.

My wings carry me up far above the island that I had been travelling for the past night or so. To be quite honest, I am very glad that I am off that speck of a jungle. Although I enjoy cataloging and discovering new species of plants and animals, I do not want to be stuck in the wilderness without resources or any form of shelter for much longer than a few hours. Not that I am complaining... well, fine. I'm complaining, but still, would you want to?

The feeling of actually accomplishing something and getting somewhere fills my bones, making me fly faster to my destination. I know I won't make it there by tonight, but the idea of getting there by the end of the week sure does encourage me.

I've been so busy thinking of getting to my destination, that I haven't even thought of looking below me and enjoying the scenery! Oh, the vibrant sapphire blue of the ocean is absolutely heavenly to look at. Sea serpents play in the forming waves, pterosaurs glide in the updrafts and breezes without a care in the world, and I can see the more civilized creatures, sitting on their homemade porches, watching me fly by.

Part of me wishes I had something to barter with for lodging, because I would truly enjoy a real bed rather than a nest of leaves. I already am cranky from sleep deprivation and could use some civil hospitality or even just some company to pass the time by.

Evening is closing in and I don't want to land. I'm now afraid I may get grounded for another two nights or so, but I know I must do so soon, or else I won't be able to spot any land and would be forced to go down blind. I pick a nice, calm island that looks like it's not inhabited. With a few palm leaves and a couple of sturdy sticks, I make myself a small tent, not much bigger than I, so it will be a tight squeeze tonight.

Starting a fire would be a good idea, the thought sparks motivation to leave my feeble fortress in search of firewood. A few good sized logs and a spark and I'm good to go. The hypnotic blaze of the miniature bonfire puts me into a daze. Its warmth is comforting as the stars glimmer.

"Oh, the stars!" I snap out of my state of daydreaming to get a look at the constellations. My face peers into the dark night, looking for that one star Milah had mentioned to me. "THERE!" I jump, making my mobile home collapse to the ground. Taking out my sketch journal, I draw out my island and the constellations and make a map of where I am to head at first light.

Mumbling under my breath a few irritated words, I set my sleeping quarters back into an acceptable condition. The sand has a cooling sensation underneath my belly and the graininess doesn't bother me tonight. It actually feels like a massage, calming my tender muscles.

I stretch out my hind quarters. They have recently developed a few cramps down closer to the hock, but a few inches above it. "You'd think at my age, I wouldn't start falling apart already," musing to myself, I realize that there is no point in making a conversation when there is no one to reply.

I'm deciding to head off to bed at a decent time. It's around seven thirty, from my calculations, but I have been known to be off by a few minutes or so. I hope that the added rest will aid me in quicker travels to Sendaar's island.

Crickets begin to sing their harmonious song as a grouping of lizards come to warm themselves by my fire. The tranquility of today has not gone unnoticed. I have had a very calm day compared to the past few days before this one. It's allowed my mind to rest itself of the stressful situations I've been putting it through. With the tune of the crickets and my peaceful thoughts, it won't be long before I nod off.