Things Lost and Found (a Waglington and Mianite fanfiction)

Chapter 6

587 views?! O.o Wow. When I started writing this, I didn't think that many people would read it. I'm happy to be proven wrong! :D Anyways, I hope you all enjoy the new chapter. (Keep in mind what Sparklez was up to in the last chapter.)

 *Wag's POV*

Tom's redwood faded into the distance as I kept an eye out for the towering jungle trees I sought. I was beginning to doubt my sense of direction when the first imposing silhouettes appeared on the horizon. This jungle was old enough that the trees had grown truly massive; my wizard tower could disappear beneath the canopy without a single spire visible. Some of these trees might even be older than me, I thought, though I'd personally stopped keeping track of my age somewhere around 275. Time starts to lose meaning after being immortal for so long. Funny how losing most of my powers has brought time back into focus for me.

Glancing at the sun like I had been doing every 30 minutes or so, I knew I was out of time. It was already mid-afternoon. I used as much magic as I dared for speed until I reached the edge of the jungle. I began descending into the shadowed understory, only to fly straight into a nearly invisible spider web stretching between two neighboring trees. Even worse, the web was occupied.

Now wizards are still people after all, and people have phobias and things they just don't deal with very well. One of the things this wizard didn't deal well with was arthropods. Be they spiders, insects, centipedes, silverfish—it didn't matter. They could all burn in the Nether as far as I'm concerned. I now had a green jungle spider the size of my hand sitting on my sleeve, not to mention the horribly clingy spider silk now covering my robes.

"Nyah!" I yelled as I started flailing, trying to dislodge the eight-legged nightmare from my robes. I finally managed to fling the spider from me onto a tree a few feet away. Unfortunately, jungle spiders tend to have a bad temper and an even worse tendency to jump unbelievable distances for being so small. When the venomous little creature lunged back at me, I dropped as fast as I could to get out of the way. Thankfully, it missed me (it had been aiming for my face). Unfortunately, I was looking at my mortal enemy, and not at where I was going. I flew myself right into a thick branch that caught me across my face.

Stars and black spots danced before my eyes as I careened through a few smaller branches beneath me and landed in a pool of water on the jungle floor. My splashes seemed muffled in the surrounding undergrowth as I broke the surface of the cool, murky water sputtering. Shaking the last of the spots from my eyes, I used my magic to hover inches above the surface of the pool. I couldn't manage any more with how much I'd already taxed my original powers that day; it would start taking a physical toll if I pushed myself further. I quickly looked through the canopy and branches above me, trying to see if the little demon spider was still after me. I finally spotted the creature re-spinning its tattered web far, far above.

At least it gave up on chasing me. I really need to watch where I'm flying, I thought as I gingerly touched a cut on my cheek that was oozing blood. I'll take some penicillin when I get home. Testing the length of the cut, I found it partially crossed one of my tattoos. I really hope I don't get a scar from something so stupid. I also dearly hoped that when the cut healed, my tattooed skin would close properly. My tattoos and red eyes were as much a part of me as Sonja's orange hoodie was her or Jordan's red shades were him.

After momentarily considering teleporting the little creature to the Nether out of spite, I forced myself to forget the now passive jungle spider and summoned a firestorm to dry my robes, using the manna supply I'd cultivated after coming to Ruxomar to fuel the spell. The red flames would not hurt me, (since I'd cast the spell) and staying over the water while I used it would minimize any chance of the dense vegetation catching fire. The only sounds in the immediate area were the water dripping from my soaked robes and the hiss of the magic flames as they fell into the water below me. Not even the wind stirred in the branches high above. The jungle should be full of life, but it was completely still aside from myself and the spider I was still glancing up at occasionally. Life has been rather scarce since the world's quintessence started disappearing. I suppose my crashing through the trees like an elephant probably didn't help. It should have attracted hostile mobs though. After a minute or two in the eerie quiet, I was mostly dry, and the spider silk on my robes had burned away. I landed by the edge of the deep pool and began examining my surroundings, looking for cocoa pods hanging from the visible trees.