"There you are! We've been looking all over for you, ya know." Mitchel threw his hands in the air, both relieved and happy to have found me.672Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhxbdMHuRNq
Rodney on the other hand was yet again in one of his lazy moods. "He has, I haven't. I've just been following him around because there's nothing else for me to do."672Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡErJQ2nW7JR
"I'm feeling the love." I threw a wet cloth at Rodney, satisfied at the squirming he did as it hit his face. Mitchel and I enjoyed our little giggle at his misfortune.672Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe6ppiZHQUi
"It's really not funny guys." He wiped vigorously at his face, wiping away some invisible dirt.672Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Dw4aF08hr
"I'm just sharing the love." I grinned at him, dodging the wet cloth aimed at my face at the last moment.672Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCQ4TvURF17
"Screw it, you two will find me over here doing my own thing." He skulked off to a nearby bench and made himself comfortable.672Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡArhcU32K75
"What's up with him?" I threw my head in his directions but directing the question to Mitchel. 672Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8QbzlB1Dxy
"He's stressing about tomorrow." He shrugged, pulling his lip as if he didn't really care.672Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxGl0zeQdtc
"No, he's not stressing about tomorrow." Rodney called from his little spot in the corner.672Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡELZSZlcpbN
"Then enlighten us please." I called back, using his bad mood as a distraction from my own bad mood.672Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgXFCPHqlrg
"I'm just not looking forward to the long walk." He dusted himself off, avoiding eye contact with us.672Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD9sxrvebkV
"Oh I get it." I walked over to him, looking down at him fiddling with lint on his shirt. "You're upset because our next base move isn't into Melis territory."672Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKxS94inhaX
"Shut up Laila." He threw an angry glance at me, turning away from me and continuing with his preening regime.672Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqyO2AKl5gJ
I went down on my knees and tried to catch his eye. "Hey, look at me." I waited until he very reluctantly looked up at me. "I get it, don't get me wrong. I'm still waiting for the day where we go to our base in Lupus, hell the last time we went to Lupus was the night I was recruited into the orginisation, and I don't think it's happening anytime soon either." I held his cheek in my hand when he dropped his head, forcing him to keep looking at me while I spoke. "We all will get a chance to go back to our home lands some or other time. It will happen, you just need to have faith, okay?" He nodded at me, I finally had gotten through to him.672Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0ki9ynr6aq
"Well then." I stood up, changing my mood completely. "Grab a brush, both of you. Let's get these horses ready for a ride." 672Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMqU4ZrLRT1
Once we had the horses cleaned and saddled up we headed out, taking it easy for the first stretch through the dense forest. We kept a rough triangle formation but we didn't really pay attention to our surroundings, enjoying the world around us without worrying about being attacked. When we reached an open area we began a trot, trying to get out of the open as quickly as possible all without bringing attention to ourselves. We rode around for about an hour before heading back, stopping by an apple tree we found on the way back. We shared a few with the horses who ate them gratefully under the shade of the tree. As we ate away to our heart's content we heard a buzzing sound coming from a few trees over and on investigation found a large bees hive dangling from one of the branches. 672Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTWVeMcl36z
"Honey sounds like a really good idea right now." I looked up with my hands on my hips trying to find a way to get up to the hive safely.672Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3AmUfqayqW
"How are we going to get up there? That's such an awkward climb, ya know." Mitchel stood close to me also looking up and trying to find a solution.672Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL0gSfQ5odN
"I bet neither of you two can get up there." I pointed with my thumb with a smirk on my face.672Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYqUQeKqBsl
"Step aside ladies." Rodney pushed us aside to get to the trunk of the tree. "Let me show you how it's done." He began scaling the tree, awkwardly at first but he finally found his footing. Mitchel and I just watched him climb without any comments.672Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP3H0j90SWQ
"Hey be careful up there!" I called out as he settled onto the branch where the hive hung from.672Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLHoROeBGn4
"Relax! I know what I'm doing!" He called back down, shifting closer and closer to the hive.672Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEL0YWyLGIJ
I bit my lip, regretting my decision for introducing the bet, and watched Rodney do his thing. Everything seemed to be going fine until he lost his balance a bit and almost tumbled out of the tree.672Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYSn7dORFmH
"Rodney!" I called again, a little more desperately. "Come down!"672Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAPMuh7gZ3u
"No!" He wasn't having any of it. "I've almost got it!" And just as he said that he lost his balance again, but as he caught himself he kicked the hive and sending the bees into a frenzy. We could hear his little shrieks as he was stung over and over again, and through his violent swatting he lost his balance again but couldn't catch himself in time. We watched in horror as he fell awkwardly to the ground and a very clear and distinct sound of bones cracking as he landed. 672Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe8jqsJY12g
Luckily I was able to jump into action before my mind could register what I had just witnessed. "What's hurting?" I started looking around for the seriousness of the injuries he had sustained.672Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPYSba9xbYX
"My-" He clenched his jaw against the pain. "My right- My right ankle." He tried sitting up to grab at the pain, but his hand went straight to his chest. "I- I can't- I can't- breath." He had a look of confusion on his face as his hand moved quickly to his throat. "Breath." He started panicking, his breathing coming in short raspy bursts.672Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRrJxFPrvWx
"Rodney, Rodney! You need to calm down." I knew exactly what was happening and knew it wasn't good. "Mitchel! Take Rodney's horse back, I'm going to have to get him back to the infirmary." 672Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡacdppvGxxZ
"What's happening to him?" Mitchel was frozen solid in shock still.672Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3oUnmM3JAV
"He's having an allergic reaction to the bee stings and the adrenaline rush is not helping him right now." I looked at him struggling against the pain. "Help me get him on my horse!" 672Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcoGAkU67mZ
We struggled to get his heavy body onto the horse but we managed eventually, listening to his wincing through our grunts. Finally I was able to to climb onto the horse in front of Rodney. "Hold on tight Rodney, this is not going to be a nice ride." And I kicked the horse into high speed. 672Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvLFfh9l4w4
"Stay with me Rodney." I felt his grip failing, his weight starting to take full support on my back. "Rodney! Hold on, please!" I was clenching my jaw against the tears of fear stinging at my eyes. It was barely ten minutes later that we were back at the base, and it felt like he was completely unconscious.672Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWnaRHHOzIg
"Someone help me!" I screamed as we came to an abrupt halt, pulling a few confused looks in our direction.672Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1nHvI3bDQH
Elliot was the first one at my side. "What happened?" He was already working at getting Rodney off the horse.672Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQvHY2oK5wf
"Bees. He's having an allergic reaction, he's also broken his right ankle." I was choking back the tears now. "Hurry!"672Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7X4Gh6eJG1
Elliot threw Rodney effortlessly over his shoulder and walked swiftly towards the infirmary. I followed behind quickly after tossing the reigns of the horse to someone else to deal with. Elliot barged through the door, bringing Agatha's attention towards her new guests.672Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsZp5ENtxYj
"Oh dear!" She cried when she saw how swollen Rodney's face and arms had become. "What happened?"672Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLm9ky6DcfM
"Bees." Elliot answered for me taking over for me as the shock started hitting me, causing me to go into a small panic attack. 672Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJBWWcz5jh3
"Looks like his ankle has had better days too." Agatha already in work mode, assessing Rodney's body from head to toe swiftly. "Bring him over here quickly, he doesn't have long." 672Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkAMtu3BO2h
As Elliot put him down Agatha immediately started working on him, mixing remedies and concoctions to force down his throat. Elliot took me into his arms as he lead me out of the room so I wouldn't have to watch what was happening and to give Agatha her space.672Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXEov59AP5y
"Come on Rodney, don't go dying on me now." Was the last thing I heard from her as the door closed behind us. 672Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOhriLIvz9C
