Sander Sides: The Four Heroes of Old

Bird's Eye View

"Roman, according to my calculations, we have nearly 2 hours left of sunlight." Logan stated.

"Yeah, so?" Roman said distractedly, attempting to slash away at some hanging vines with his dull sword prop. Logan rolled his eyes.

"Soo..." He said annoyingly. "We'll need a plan for when night comes. You know... Shelter...fire...water...the common necessities for survival in the wilderness?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah whatever." He waved it off. "We'll get there. What's important is finding Virgil and Patton." Roman continuing walking through the brush, hardly listening.

Logan sighed, hurrying to catch up with him.

"Look, I'm not disagreeing with you, Roman. I want to make sure they are safe just as much as you do. But even if we find them before night fall, we will still need a plan of action if we are going to survive. Who knows what's out here? If we don't find out where we are soon, we will be out of light and out of luck."

Roman stopped.

"Alright, then what's your plan, 'genius'?" He crossed his arms.

"If we could get a lay of the land, then perhaps we could find a landmark. A mountain, a river, a town...something. We just need to figure out where we are and what options we have."

"And how do you suppose we do that?" Roman asked smugly, hoping to see him stumped.

Logan gestured to something behind Roman. He followed Logan's gaze to a large, extremely tall tree. He looked at it dauntingly before bursting into laughter.

"You are going to climb THAT?" He said through another exaggerated chuckle. "I didn't take you for a thrill seeker, Logan."

"Oh, that's because I'm not...." Logan smirked. "...But you are."

Roman stopped laughing. He looked up at the tree. It had branches that looked easy enough to climb...but it had to be nearly twenty stories high!

"You expect ME to do THIS? It's a death trap!" He declared, pointing at the tree.

"Oh...I'm sorry. Are you too afraid, Roman?" Logan teased. He could see Roman's failed attempt at hiding his embarrassment.

"Me? Afraid? HA. You wish, Book Germ. I....love heights. Always have! Always will!" Roman huffed, going over to the tree, trying to look as confident as ever. "Just you see! I'll get a 'lay of the land' in no time."

Roman began climbing the tree, going from branch to branch. Logan could hear him mumbling encouragements to himself.

***

After about 10 minutes, Roman was halfway up the tree.

"How are you doing up there?!" Logan called out to him.

"OH, just dandy!" Roman called back. "You sure you don't want to join me up here, Mr. 'Make Roman Do All the Work'?!"

Logan laughed. "Your words, not mine!"

Roman climbed higher. His heart was racing, but he knew how to breathe through it.

"....You're fine, Roman. You're fine." He said to himself. "It's just a little bit high up is all, no big deal..."

He reached up, pulling himself onto the next branch, which allowed him to see a giant nest that was built inside of a massive whole in the trunk. He marveled at the large, blue and gold speckled eggs within the nest.

"Wow...incredible!" He looked at them in awe. "Hey, Poindexter, I just found some cool looking eggs up here!"

Logan looked up at him. "Really?!"