A Mirage Of Milk And Honey

Chapter 11 - Beautiful But Deadly

Honey felt that, personally, she was doing fairly well hopping from spiderweb to spiderweb.

After Aedis had managed to dissuade Chip from committing the serious crime of second-degree murder, the four of them continued on their journey. After jumping three webs, the four of them had gotten accustomed to the bounce. So much so that instead of collapsing each time they landed, they were able to jump from one to another.

Honey wouldn't call it 'smooth going' all things considered—she still stumbled occasionally, but there was a surreal feeling coursing through her veins. Each time her feet left the sturdy but flexible material below her, and her body became weightless as she was launched into the air all for gravity to weigh her down again, she couldn't help but enjoy the experience. Knowing there was something below to catch her made it far less horrifying.

She ignored the eerie feeling surrounding her, deciding that if they were in danger, the others would have taken notice, and instead focused on the task at hand.

Zemira's giggling and shrieks of joy only helped to progress the gleeful feeling, and soon Honey was chasing the other girl as they made their slow descent into the woods.

Honey had almost caught up with her target—who she felt was most likely going easy on her—when a twinkling green light caught her attention.

The distraction caused her to lose her footing and Honey splattered onto one of the webs, the bounce absorbing her impact.

Zemira, having heart Honey's strangled yelp, came to a bouncing halt as she turned, only to burst into a fit of laughter.

The other girl herself let out a chuckle, her hair in disarray, before turning to what it was that had caught her attention.

A cluster of mushrooms sprouted from one of the trees, just at the base of where the web attached itself. The glow was pale and almost hypnotic as she stared at it.

"Woah..." She mumbled out, reaching out a hand before thinking better of it.

"It's a sign." Zemira said, her voice deep and rich from where she crouched beside Honey.

"Of what?"

"That we're going to die here."

Honey spun to look at Zemira in shock, but the cackling that followed was not what she expected.

"I'm kidding! It only means we're getting closer to the bottom." The black haired girl said, a satisfied grin on her face.

Honey sighed in chagrin, turning back to the mushrooms and their soft luminance.

"Are there a lot of them on the forest floor?" She asked.

"Contrary to what you may be imagining, the forest is only dark in the middle. The top has sunlight, and the bottom has hoards of glowing plants, creatures and even some rivers."

Honey's eyes widened as she tried to picture it. "Really?"

"Yeah, it's... it's actually quite pretty." Zemira said, her gaze softening as she stared at the mushrooms, as though reminiscing, before her expression hardened. "Don't be fooled though, it's still dangerous."

Honey nodded, before pulling away from the glowing fungi.

"We should hurry up then. We don't want to lose the boys."

Zemira chuffed at that, before making a proud declaration. "The boys are miles behind." She said, stretching her arms.

"Think again!" A voice suddenly said, and Aedis landed on the web they'd been resting on with such force that the two of them went sprawling atop one another in a tangle of arms and limbs.