Revolutions

15 - Teqosa

"The chest must be around here somewhere," Upachu says, unhelpfully. "It's not as though it developed legs and walked away.

"It was under your protection," I remind him. "You fell asleep and let it out of your sight!"

"How was I supposed to know I should've used it as my pillow to safeguard it?" he says. Both of us exhale in exasperation and grumble something inaudible to ourselves, allowing the silence to cool our tempers.

"Bickering isn't going to help," I say with a sigh, trying to calm myself down. "Who would know about the chest and want to steal it?"

"We had our suspicions before," Upachu ponders aloud, "and this seems way too conveniently timed, only making Qaschiqe a greater suspect. I'm starting to think he never left the area and was waiting for his opportunity to retrieve the chest."

"If he is responsible, perhaps he hasn't gone far," I say. "It's dark, but perhaps I can find some clues with torchlight."

The moon barely casts any light onto the night landscape, so already I begin to despair over the lost chest. Not expecting any significant breakthrough, I grab a long branch and wrap it in some strips of torn cloth from a tattered robe, much to Upachu's objection regarding me using part of his makeshift blanket. I light it with the dying embers of our small campfire and wave it around to see if I can pick up anything in the darkness.

To my surprise, a single, muddy footstep is imprinted on the ground next to where the chest was stashed. It's fairly large, almost equal in size to my foot, and is set pretty deep into the mud. I deduce the person who took the chest is a large man, whether that's from bulk of muscle or fat. I hope to the gods it's the latter, giving us a chance to catch up to them.

I scan for any more footprints and, after making many large swoops with the torch around the campsite, I finally see one more footprint, similar in size, with the imprint heavier at the front of the foot. It's likely the thief was sneaking about, trying not to wake Upachu, and was walking on their toes as they escaped. I can only wish their propensity to sneak around, plus the weight of the long chest, means they took their time leaving the area.

Unfortunately, besides one more footprint away from our setup, those three footprints are the only ones I can see, especially before reaching the edge of the clearing and entering a patch of the forest that is nearly pitch black, save the dim light from the torch. I don't have much hope in catching the culprit tonight, but I fear any time spent not searching is more of an opportunity for them to gain distance between us. I yell to Upachu to stay put while I head into the dense woods. He shouts something I can't quite understand, but I carry on, using the two footprints outside our immediate campsite to calculate the direction I should begin to walk, as I hope I'm going in the same as the suspect.

The torch barely illuminates anything, and I frequently trip over shrubs and fallen branches as I drift about the forest. The smoke from the campfires and smoldered temple starts clearing up the further away I get, and the fresh, earthy, herbal aromas of the various vegetation is a much needed relief. I travel a ways in, walking among the familiar hills I have traveled numerous times since I was a child, and after what feels like walking all night, I contemplate how much I should advance in this maze of trees before turning back, hoping I haven't wandered too far from our camp and the temple to make my return difficult.

As I consider when to head back, I hear a loud snap of a twig a short distance away. It sounded like the branch was pretty thick, and I grow nervous that it might be a large, opportunistic predator stalking me, its future meal. I stop in place and look around feverishly, swiveling my head to and fro to watch for any silhouettes rushing toward me to pounce. The forest is still, with only insects' rapid, pulsating chirping filling the air. Is the creature waiting for me to make the next move?