King of Creatures

Chapter 9

Aoshanay and Max shared a bag. Max wore a giant bag that apparently held two tends, four sleeping bags, and a few more camping gear in it. Aoshanay carried a regular bookbag that apparently held hers and Max's belongings. Penelope carried a simple brown leather messenger bag.

Nervously, Amari had taken them outside, following the white line on the ground. They reached the wood line, Amari turned back to see his bedroom window, still cracked open. Then he looked down at the ground behind him, the white line didn't stay. How were they supposed to find their way back if the path was gone? Amari shook the thought out of his head before guiding the group into the woods.

"I should've brought bug spray." Aoshanay said sadly as she swatted away a nat. Penelope dug in her messenger bag and pulled out a small spray can and handed it to her. "Thanks." Buster trotted happily alongside Max, who had taken off his flannel and tied it around his waist.

Eventually, the path lead them back to the fairy ring, but instead of it going through the ring, the line went around it. "Woah, we're not in in that thing, are we?" Penelope asked suddenly, stopping in her tracks. "Cause, this is where we found you, and you did not look good."

"No." Amari said. He wondered if the voice he had heard last night was still around. If it could hear them. No, probably not. He didn't know how, but Amari felt like it had taken that creature a lot of energy to talk to him. He wouldn't be able to hear it until he got closer.

The group kept walking, around the fairy ring and deeper into the woods.

They kept walking for hours, the path was just dead straight ahead. Amari knew they'd be out of the woods soon, but everyone was tired. What time had they left? It had been around one o'clock. It had to be closer to eight right about now.

"We should take a break." Amari said stopping and tearing his eyes away from the path to look at the others, who all looked beat.

"Finally." Penelope said, flopping down onto a fallen tree. Max sat his giant bag down and rubbed at his shoulders as Aoshanay began frantically searching through her bag.

"Do you want to set up a campfire?" Max asked. Aoshanay whipped out a pack of something so fast her bag fell over.

"I have to go to the bathroom." Aoshanay said so quickly Amari almost didn't catch what she had said. "Penny, come with me!" She dashed into the woods and Penelope followed with a sigh.

"I guess we should've take a break earlier, huh?" Amari asked, feeling bad. Max stared at where the two girls had disappeared before looking at Amari, pointing to his own bag. "Oh yeah, sure go ahead."

Amari watched as Max found some sticks to use as firewood, placed a bunch of rocks into a circle, and grabbed a piece of paper, using a lighter to light it on fire and lowering it onto the firewood. He blew onto it before grabbing a bottle of lighter fluid and spraying some onto the sticks, the flames suddenly rising higher.

"You like to bar-b-que?" Amari asked awkwardly. Max shrugged as he added another piece of paper onto the fire. Amari sat next to the fire, bringing his knees closer to his chest, resting his chin on them. Buster had already curled himself into a ball besides the fire.

"My dad used to bar-b-que every Sunday." He said, staring into the flame. Max sat back from the fire. Amari looked at him, the orange of the flame dancing on Max's face, making the difference in his eye colors more prominent.

"I never met my dad." Max said quietly.

"I guess, technically, me either." Amari said. Max let out a small laugh.

"Whew! I feel better." Aoshanay said happily returning. Both her and Penelope took their seats by the fire. Max got up and starting rummaging through his bag. "Hey, don't worry about the tents tonight. Let's just sleep under the stars." Aoshanay said dreamily, looking up at the sky. Amari looked up too, he was surprised to see that the trees didn't block out too much of the sky. You could still make out the stars and the moon.

Amari noticed Max looking at him. "Yeah, we don't need to set up the tents tonight." He said. Max nodded before pulling out four perfectly rolled up sleeping bags.

"Looks like we're using our bags as pillows." Penelope said sourly as she took her sleeping bag from Max.

"Hey guys." Amari said, the three looking at him instantly. "I-If any of you guys need a break, you can let me know. I don't know why I didn't break before hand or anything but...Yeah, if ya'll need anything, feel free to let me know, okay?" Everyone nodded, Penelope made a conflicted face and turned away, zipping herself into her sleeping bag and laying down.

Hours after everyone had already fallen asleep, and the light of the fire had begun dimming, Amari still sat awake. Staring up at the stars. He felt, weird. Unsure of what he was doing. If he had made the right decision. He looked over at Aoshanay, who still had her sunglasses on, even while sleeping and had put on a silk bonnet because; "I'm not gonna let some dirt ruin my hair." Then at Max, who was sleeping on his side, Buster laying comfortably in his arm. Finally, over at Penelope, who laid on her stomach, drool coming out of her mouth.

She seemed to have the most issue with him, yet she slept like that? Amari let out a small laugh and rolled his eyes. What was he doing? Where was he going? He laid down on his back and placed his hands behind his head.

He was a guide. He was supposed to guide the three to some sort of monster to kill it. But it didn't feel right. When the creature had spoken to him, it sounded kind of sad, kind of happy. Like, waiting for a friend to come home after years of not seeing them, and being afraid of how much they might've changed.

He heard an Owl hoot somewhere in the distance, but it sounded more like a hello.