To put it simply, this story is about two soulmates, a strange companion and narrator, and the adventure of a lifetime.
. . .
You're still curious, aren't you? Very well, I'll describe this story out in a bit more detail to you.
Karl is running awa...
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***
The ship carrying Sapnap arrived at the trading post as his necklace grew ever dimmer. At this point, Sapnap had figured out that his soulmate had probably taken a faster boat than him and arrived a lot sooner than him. I hadn't checked in on Karl in a while, but I presumed he was far past the trading post by now.
As the crew busied themselves with carrying crates of goods off of the ship, Sapnap stepped foot on land for the first time in five days. He immediately wobbled and almost fell over. Once he'd recovered and could stand without wobbling, he started exploring the trading post. It didn't take too long for him to see all of it, as it was just a couple of small shacks surrounded by forest and water.
A man who worked at the trading post came over to Sapnap and started talking to him. "Hey, have you heard yet that the crown prince is gone?" he asked.
Sapnap's brows furrowed. "No, I haven't. Where'd he go?"
The man shrugged. "No idea. He just up and left one night and his guard found his bed empty in the morning. Apparently, he climbed out of his window."
"Interesting." Sapnap responded. "Is there a reward for finding him and returning him to the castle? I'm currently traveling around and there might be a chance I can find him."
"Oh yeah, there's a large reward." said the man. "I would go try to find him if I could leave. The king's offering 10,000 tillers for his safe return to the castle. That would feed my family and I for three years!"
"Wow, I'll keep an eye out for him. I definitely wouldn't mind having 10,000 tillers to my name!" Sapnap said.
The man laughed. "Yeah, I don't think anyone would mind that!" Sapnap laughed as well.
"Well, I must be off." Sapnap said after some silence.
"Good luck finding the crown prince!" the man called as Sapnap started to walk away.
"Thanks!" Sapnap called back. He stopped by the ship quickly to say goodbye to Punz, as the two had grown close during Sapnap's time on the ship, then headed south-east, following the glow of his necklace.
***
Vines. There were vines everywhere. They were above Karl, below him, and blocking his way forward. Behind him, the vines were quickly blocking his path back to the little trading town that he'd left yesterday after a good night's sleep in a tree. (It wasn't very comfortable, but it was better than being caught and taken back to the castle.)
By now, Karl had figured out that he had wandered into an enchanted vine patch. It looked like a few vines at first, but when you got inside the mass, your exit disappeared and you had no choice but to fight through the vines as quickly as you could and try not to get caught by them. There were vines constantly trying to wrap themselves around his ankles to trip him. He knew if he fell, it wouldn't be long before vines would start winding themselves around his body and there would be no escape.
So, with no other choice, Karl kept fighting his way through the vines, hoping he would make it out alive.
***
Sapnap was gaining on Karl fast. He was gaining on him fast enough that he was utterly convinced that he was going to find his soulmate today. However, knowing the circumstances that were hindering Karl's progress, I knew Sapnap wouldn't catch up to him today. He would soon come across the same enchanted vine patch Karl had found and he'd have to make his way through it as well.
Sure enough, an hour later, Sapnap came across the vine patch. For a couple seconds I thought that maybe he'd wander into the forest to avoid the patch, but no, he started plowing right through it. I hesitantly followed him. Since I was invisible right now, the vines couldn't affect me and I could go right through them. It wasn't so easy for Sapnap though.
I already knew that Sapnap didn't have too good of survival skills, but this was proving to me that he was completely devoid of them. Instead of pausing for a minute to take a pocket knife he'd brought with him out of his bag, he just tore and kicked at the vines until they cooperated, which wasted precious time and energy. It would be so much easier if he only took out his knife and cut the vines in half.
After something like two hours, Sapnap was slowing down. Vines were now mere fingertips from encompassing Sapnap's ankles and holding him in place. I didn't really want to help him since he needed to learn how to get through this kind of stuff on his own, but then again, I didn't want him to die in here either, especially not when I was watching and could help.
With a gush of wind, all of the vines disappeared. Sapnap looked around in amazement. "What the fuck just happened!?" he asked. When he got no answer, he just shrugged and said, "Well, at least I'm saved from those stupid vines."
As he started walking again, I sighed loudly and spoke. "I swear to the gods, you really need to learn some survival skills. I can't keep saving you like this when you get in a pinch. It goes against the Code of the Powerful Beings, and I really don't want Jupiter to make me mortal, no offense."
Sapnap looked around wildly, trying to find me. "You're back! And what do you mean by 'needing to learn some survival skills'? I'm fine without them!"
"So you're telling me that if I hadn't been around and cleared the vines for you, you wouldn't have gotten stuck in there?"
"Uh, well, no, but-"
"There you go. You need to learn survival skills."
"Well there wasn't anything more I could do!" Sapnap protested. "I didn't have any weapon or anything to-"
"You have a knife in your bag." I interrupted.
"Oh."
I sighed again. "I'll leave you alone for now, but next time you get in a pinch, you're getting a lesson on what you could've done to prevent it."
"I-"
"For now, just remember to check all the resources availible to you if you get in trouble. That could've saved you in the enchanted vine patch."
"Okay . . ." Sapnap said like a little kid getting scolded by its mother. "I swear I won't get myself in another bad situation though."
"I'll let you believe that for now."
"HEY- WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT? I CAN TAKE CARE OF MYSELF, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!"
I just chuckled and floated away.
***
Author's Note
Word Count - 1,178
No A/N this week because I forgot to write it and also Space AU is being a pain right now (looking at you, chapter 7).
