Where You Belong

Clothes Snatcher

"I'm not quite sure what you expect to find here. We've been looking for like an hour, and there's no sign of how to get you guys back home." Lexi said, leaning against the nearest tree and crossing her arms. The extreme heat of the afternoon, coupled with the high humidity in the air, had her sweating profusely in her skinny jeans and short-sleeved t-shirt. If only she'd had the good sense to wear a tank top, maybe she wouldn't feel so miserable.

Law and the two engineers weren't in any better shape, judging by the stooped-over posture and heavy breathing. Law outwardly looked normal, though he kept taking off his hat and smoothing down his hair, which was slick with sweat. Not only that, but he still wore his hoodie. She wondered how he could wear that thing on a daily basis and not die of heat-stroke.

"I'm not sure myself, though there has to be something that gives us a clue." Law said, staring up at the entrance to the cave they'd come from, watching as the tiny stream trickled down the side and into the river beside it. It cut close, but didn't exactly go through the tunnel, just around it.

They'd been wandering around since before lunch, poking at stray rocks and scanning the entrance bit by bit. As the morning became the afternoon and the sun rose higher in the sky, so had the temperature, making their search all that more unpleasant.

"Well, I'm pretty sure if there was something here, we'd have found it by now." Lexi sighed, pushing off the tree and hopping over the rocks in the river to the other side. Law followed after her, trailed by the exhausted engineers, too tired to complain or say a word.

"You're sure this is where you guys came from?" She reiterated, watching Law inspect the inside mouth of the cave for the eighth time that day. He peered at the rock, slowly nodding.

"Yes, I remember feeling the rock when we came out."

"Hmm..." Lexi hummed, eyes lazily drifting over the cave again. The inside was dark further in, but the light of the sun illuminated the first fifty or so feet inside. They examined the sides, but still found nothing.

"I say give it a rest for today. Who knows, maybe there'll be something tomorrow or the next day?" Lexi tried convincing the captain, who still wanted to keep searching in and around the cave yet again. "We've been at this for a while now, we need a break and obviously we're not finding anything this way."

Law was silent, staring at the cave, before nodding silently. Though he wanted to search some more, he realized that Lexi was right. There were no clues as to how they'd gotten here, and the longer he looked the more time they were wasting. She knew it, and he knew it too.

"Fine." He supplied, following her and the others outside of the cave and over the river once more. They made their way back to the forest path towards where Lexi's truck was parked. The walk back seemed shorter than when they'd found there way here. After exiting the forest, they walked through a grassy field towards the main road, spotting her truck as soon as they stepped out of the coverage.

"God, it's so hot." Lexi complained, pulling several times at her collar to try getting more circulation to her chest. Law agreed, but was beaten out by the engineers.

"Is it possible for a human to melt? Because I feel like that's what I'm doing." Penguin panted out.

"Just put me in the freezer when we get back, Lexi-chan." Behind him was Shachi, in as bad a shape as his friend.

"I'm definitely taking a cold shower when we get home. The air conditioner has been acting up lately, so it won't be exactly pleasant getting back to the house." Lexi sighed again as they reached the truck, and she pulled the key out of her pocket before unlocking it. They all climbed in and she started up the engine. With one more glance towards the tree line, Lexi turned the truck back towards home and sped off down the road.