The Fruits of the Petrified Forest

Three

Faren took her hand off the tree and the second she did, the door closed behind her and was sealed behind vines as if it was never there in the first place.

'There's no turning back now. The only way out is through,' Armani said. Faren gulped. She didn't know what to expect and only then did she realise how true her fear of the unknown really was. She closed her eyes and breathed in heavily. She felt a hand take hers, and quickly after the other one was being held. She opened her eyes, and Sadiki was holding her left hand, Armani was holding the right. She squeezed their hands and started walking.

'Remember, it's for Akuji,' Armani reminded her.

'She had better love me after this,' she chuckled. They started walking through the forest, but it took Armani a while to let go of Faren's hand. She didn't really care, she liked that he was thinking about her. In all honesty, she was starting to develop feelings for Armani. She liked him. He cared about her and even took her friend along with them when he realised he was in danger. He volunteered to take her to rescue her sister and comforted her when she was scared. And above all that, he was really hot, according to Faren anyway. She knew she liked him at least just a little bit from the moment she saw him. They weren't talking when they were walking. No one started a conversation and when someone spoke, no one kept it going.

The petrified forest was in a room. A really large one that no one ever uses. They hide people in there because it's dangerous and incredibly hard to navigate. There were poisonous plants everywhere, and the only edible foods around were apples, pears and oranges and you can never be sure if they are contaminated with anything, so people generally avoid it. The room is one that mimics the outside atmosphere. If it's raining outside, it'll be raining in the room, and it has a feel of being in the real outdoors to the point where you might briefly forget you're still in the building. The sun that's there has a UV rating, just like the real one outside.

'I'm so hungry,' Sadiki said.

'Then eat, just don't blame us when your food runs out,' Armani said to him.

'It's getting late, maybe we should stop for a fire for dinner,' Faren pointed out.

'Okay, does anyone here know how to build a fire?'

'Nope, never learned,' Sadiki said.

'I know how to build it, but not start it,' Faren said. Armani told her to build it while he went to find some kindling. Within a few minutes, they had a fire and Armani started to cook their food. They ate quickly and in silence, then continued walking. It came to nightfall and Faren couldn't see. She looked around, but everything was pitch black. She was going to scream but thought better of it. She moved her hand around frantically, trying to find Sadiki or Armani. She hit her wrist on a tree, and it wasn't one of the real trees, it was a stone one. She shook off the pain and kept trying to find them. She hit someone's arm, and as soon as she did, she felt so much safer. The person moved his hand to hold mine, and then I realised who it was. Armani. His hands were a lot rougher than Sadiki's. She squeezed his hand, mainly out of her fear, but also because she wanted to hold his hand longer. A huge gust of wind came, and it started to rain. She looked around and could see again. She hugged Armani while trying not to cry. She didn't want to look like a baby in front of him.

'We should probably set up camp for the night,' Armani said. Faren nodded while still hugging him. Sadiki put his bag down.

'Are there any tents?' He asked.

'Yes, there are tents. We just couldn't bring them from the South Side because they would have noticed them when we were walking through the North Side.' He reached his hand under one of the logs and pulled out a tent bag. 'Come pitch it.' The three of them pitched the tent and got in once it was up. Armani reached under the log next to it and pulled out three mats, one at a time. 'They aren't very comfortable, but it's better than the sticks and stones on the ground.' Sadiki and Faren both took one and unrolled it in the tent. Sadiki took the right side, and Faren in the middle. Armani came in after and unrolled his mat next to Faren's. They placed their bags at the end of their mats and fell asleep.

'Faren? Is that you?' She asked.

'Yeah, yeah it's me. I'm here Akuji,' Faren said.

'Are you with anyone?'

'Armani is here.'

'Armani? He took you here?'

'You know him?'

'Faren, you need to leave. Leave the Petrified Forest now. You can't be here, it's too dangerous.' Akuji started to change her own shape, and Faren turned to run.

Faren sat bolt upright. Sadiki was lying next to her, still, sound asleep. She didn't know why she didn't tell her sister that he was with them in her dream.

'Faren?' Armani asked when she started breathing heavily.

'I'm sorry I'll go back to bed.'

'Don't apologise. Come here. Maybe if you're closer to someone else you'll sleep easier.' She moved over so her back was next to Armani's stomach. He put his arm around her shoulders and she smiled. He was right, it was much easier for her to sleep with him hugging her.

Armani and Faren got out of bed when the sunlight reached the tent and got something small to eat so they could start the day with at least something. Sadiki slept longer than them, but Faren made him something as well. He got out of bed when Armani woke him and Faren took down the tent. When Sadiki was finished with his breakfast and the tent and mats were put away, they kept walking. Armani had to tell Sadiki off a few times for trying to get into his backpack for food, but he was still eating all the time anyway. Faren thought Sadiki was getting sick of Armani bossing him around, but at least they had someone who knew where they were going and what they were doing with them. Without Armani, the other two would have gotten themselves lost a very long time ago. They kept walking, only stopping once for the bathroom, which was just behind a tree, so not even a bathroom at all. They came to a river and saw the sunset on the horizon. Armani found another log with the next tent underneath and pitched it himself while Sadiki and Faren filled up the water bottles and purified them with the iodine from Armani's bag. They got into the tent, this one slightly smaller than the last. Sadiki wanted some fruit because they didn't have much left, so the three of them walked around the forest to find something to eat. Sadiki found a tree that had some yellow leaves on it. There were a few apples growing off it. He pulled one off it and took a bite. He made a sour face and threw it back into the bushes. They kept walking, but by the time it was dark, none of them managed to find any other fruits. They went back to their tent and went to sleep. Armani let Faren sleep in his arms again, knowing that it made her feel safer than what she really was. Halfway through the night, they heard Sadiki breathing heavily. Faren and Armani both thought that he was just snoring.

They woke up at sunrise again and when Faren saw Sadiki, she screamed. Armani came running inside to see if she was okay. Sadiki had turned a pale shade of blue. Not fully, there were small patches of his usual pale colour underneath the pale blue.

'Erythrina genus poisoning. He was breathing heavily last night, I thought he was just snoring, but it was shortness of breath,' Armani said.

'He only ate an apple,' Faren said, on the verge of crying, this time she wasn't trying to hide it.

'Did he take it from a tree yesterday?'

'I think so.'

'He must have taken it from that tree. The poisonous one.'