315 Alone Under The Stars

"Vy, Vy! Look at this!" An unidentifiable boy clung onto Vy. 

He was showing her something he had found. She looked down to see a small serpent coiled in the centre of the boy's palm. When Vy tried to identify the boy, she could not. 

The boy had no discernible facial features that she could see, as a shadow was cast upon him. 

"How do you know my name?" Vy asked the boy. 

"Of course I do! You're my big sister!" The boy chuckled with glee, "You're so funny sis, how can you forget your little brother?"

With those words ringing in her head, Vy opened her eyes once more.

She was back in the Jungle. The rumbling of the ground woke her up from her dream. Though she was still groggy from sleep, she quickly got up and took note of her surroundings. 

Something or someone was going to pass through this path. She needed a place to hide, fast. Vy looked up at the tree she had leaned on for sleep. The best hiding spot in such a short period of time was upwards. 

So,  she began to climb up the bark of the tree. It was difficult to see where she was going with minimal light,  so Vy relied on her sense of touch. Once she found a study branch, she clung onto it and observed the activity below. 

Her new hiding place was high off the ground, giving her an aerial view of the nearby surroundings. 

-Maybe I should find a taller tree tomorrow and see above the canopy of the Jungle.- she thought to herself. 

Just then,  a flickering light source approached her location. Vy looked intently at the group that was fast approaching. Much to her surprise, it was a group of humanoid looking creatures. 

They were carrying weapons and torches in their hand, as if in some form of formation. They had their bows strung and ready to shoot. Not everyone in the group looked entirely human. Some had animal-like features. 

One of them even had scales that covered their entire body. El had never mentioned anything about other survivors or other creatures apart from the spider beasts. Were these human-looking creatures friend or foe?

"We shouldn't be out here at this hour," one of them said to the others anxiously in a whisper.

"Argh, we'll be fine Ayisha! Besides, with the cover of the night, those spider beasts won't be able to find us so easily." The leading member of their group reassured her. 

One of them sniffed the air, noticing a different scent. They stopped in their tracks as they were right underneath the tree that Vy was hiding in. She held her breath for as long as she could as the group fell silent. 

"What is it?"

"I think there's someone or something watching us."

As she continued to observe the group from her hiding spot above them, she noticed that most of the group had red bands around their wrists. The red bands looked identical to the ones she had. 

The same as the ones Sorren had on his wrists. 

-They must be survivors living in the jungle too.- she thought to herself. 

Vy had trekked through the Jungle for two days before ending up where she was. From what she recalled El had told her, the group had never ventured further than a day's worth of travel. 

They were too afraid of travelling in the night. 

Just then another rumble could be felt from the ground. It was coming from ahead of them. The group down below could feel it too, all of them tightened their grip on their weapons. 

"Retreat! Retreat!" The leading creature whispered to the rest. 

While still keeping in their formation, they quickly retreated back down the path they came from. Vy was curious as to where they were going to, so she followed suit from above. 

Though it was dark and she nearly missed her steps a couple of times,  Vy managed to keep up with them. The group was so focused on retreating, they did not even notice the rustling of the leaves above them. 

Vy stopped short as the group came up upon a series of vines. Each of them swiftly climbed the vines and headed into the trees. She had been so focused on following their movement down on the ground, she did not notice what was ahead of her. 

Through the cover of hanging vines and tree branches was a series of dimly lit tree houses. The sound of a whistle shot through the air. In an instant, all the lights were extinguished. 

Silence hung over the air. Vy made a mental note of the location of the treehouse before heading back to where she had come from. Much to her surprise, she did not find any spider beasts. It had merely been a lone deer, nibbling on the grass on the path. 

Curious as to where the group was headed, she followed down the path they were taking. By now, the sun was on the rise, streaming rays of light through the canopy layer of the forest. 

"What were they going to look for," Vy muttered to herself as she squinted her eyes to look. 

Vy recalled the time El mentioned something called safe boxes.

"Every now and then, we would go look for these safe boxes. They are planted all across the Jungle, marked with the symbol of a sword," El explained. 

"What's in those boxes?"

"Sometimes it's weapons. Sometimes it's rations or even medical supplies. The spooky bit is that it always seemed to contain something we needed."

With the help of the sunlight, Vy had a much easier time finding what she was looking for. Under the careful cover of some dried leaves and vines, she noticed a wooden box. 

It was about the size of a large trunk chest. Vy had the urge to open it, but she also did not want to alarm the group that someone tampered with their items. Hence, she decided to camp near it and wait for the group to come back. 

That way, not only would she be able to learn of its contents, she might even get a chance to interact with the group. Presuming that they are not hostile, of course.