The Lost Ones

Chapter 33

Stampy stirred awake the next morning. He opened his eyes and looked up at Jason.

Jason was still asleep, his hand still resting atop Stampy's head.

Stampy gave a small purr and waited for Jason to wake on his own.

Jason slowly opened his eyes, adjusting to the light that poured in from outside.

"Hey," stampy greeted him.

"Hey..." Jason yawned.

"How are you feeling?"

Jason paused. "Could be better..."

"Yeah..." Stampy nodded. "You ready to get out of here?"

Jason nodded.

Stampy stood and helped him up. "Let's go."

Jason stood up and walked outside the cave to look around.

Stampy glanced around too, curious.

The terrain had changed quite a bit. The trees were gone and were replaced with rocks. In fact, the terrain was much more rocky than it had been the previous night.

"This is... different." Stampy muttered before sighing. "Well, onwards, I guess."

Jason nodded and followed after him. He had tied the bandana around his wrist at this point.

Stampy led them further up the mountain.

Stella occasionally pointed things out to them but it was mostly a calm trip as they progressed toward the beacon.

They were almost to the top now.

"T-there it is..." Jason pointed. This was the first time that they'd been able to see the beacon's beam without anything there to obstruct their view.

Stampy stopped and stared at it. "Wow... I can't believe it..." he muttered.

"We're so close..."

"Yeah." He nodded before stepping forward. "Come on!"

"Race you to that rock!" Jason pointed up ahead at a rock in the distance before running off.

Stampy laughed and ran after him. "Hey!"

Jason kept running, certain that he was going to win due to his head start.

Stampy quickly started to bound up to him and passed him, giving him a quick grin.

"H-hey!" Jason yelled, picking up pace and sprinting towards him.

Stampy laughed and reached his hand out to the rock, quickly getting closer to him.

Jason tried to catch up, but Stampy was far too fast.

He touched the stone and turned to Jason with a wide grin.

"Not fair!" Jason slowed down and placed his hands on his knees.

"Is too! You challenged me!"

"Yeah but... you have like, cat speed or something!"

He laughed. "I mean, maybe?"

Jason playfully punched his arm. "Whatever, let's just keep going." He chuckled.

Stampy nodded and pressed on.

They continued up the mountain, the rocks making it quite difficult to pass at times.

Stampy used his claws to help climb some parts.

Jason had fallen a few times, yet only luckily suffered only a few scratches.