Congo Jungle

Peter picked up another flag, keeping his eyes on the trees around them. This area had two competing flocks of birds in it, and their verbal attacks on each other was making it hard to detect any other sounds.

"Would they shut up if you fired into the air?" Razan asked, glaring up into the leaves.

"This many of them? No," Peter answered. "They're more likely to start yelling at us."

"Don't want that," Razan grumbled, looking at the trail behind them.

Peter followed his gaze. "Hear something?"

"Not with those birds above us."

It was nearing the halfway point in the contest. The sun had set rather suddenly half an hour ago, meaning it was nearly pitch-black here on the jungle floor. So far they'd defeated fourteen opponents, and had collected somewhere around fifty flags. They still hadn't reached the specific crossroads where they'd planned on setting up a trap, but that didn't matter as much as them still being in the contest.

Peter tried to spot someone hiding in the trees. Instead, his eyes landed on another flag. He reached out, smiling.

"Oh, good evening," Razan said calmly.

The moment Peter's fingers touched the flag, a rope snapped tight around his wrist. He yelped, being yanked back and up into the air by his arm.

"Good evening," came the formal reply from Peter's left.

Peter spun slowly, trying to get his wrist free, then trying to get his toes to touch the ground. As he continued around, he saw Razan and another samurai bowing to each other. They drew their swords, completely ignoring Peter.

Still spinning slowly, Peter wasn't able to see what happened next. He heard swords clashing, then a pause, followed by another flurry of blows. Peter assumed it must have been an epic battle.

Before he spun back around to where he could see them, he spotted movement on the trail ahead of him. Someone in dark clothes was moving on all fours at the edge of the trail. Peter squinted, trying to divine colors in the darkness, and finally smiled as the person looked up and he recognized Rani.

She grinned, silently sneaking towards him. The rope spun him away from her just as she reached into a bush. Peter wasn't sure what she was doing until suddenly the rope went slack, and he dropped to his feet. Wasting no time, he pulled down a length of rope and ran at the enemy samurai.

The man saw he was loose, froze, then dropped to his knees and bowed deeply. "I forfeit."

"Bail," Peter ordered.

The samurai sat up. "If you do not mind, I'd rather not."

Peter was about to tell him that was too bad when Razan put his sword away.

"Remember this, Ariharu," Razan warned.

"I shall."

"And the flags?" Rani asked, suddenly at Peter's side. He twitched, stumbling away from her. She gave him a self-satisfied smirk.

Ariharu held out a pouch to her. "Of course."

Razan frowned, eyes narrowing. "All the flags, please."

"My debt lessens," Ariharu said, his tone joking. He reached into his shirt and pulled out two flags the same color as his clothes.

"Thank you," Razan said, taking them with a bow.

That done, Ariharu jumped to his feet and ran off.

Peter looked at Razan. "Why didn't you want to bail him?"

"He is a good man," Razan shrugged, turning to Rani. He bowed. "Star."

She gave a quick bow in return. "Drifter. So, let's see what we've got." With a flourish, she upended the bag and shook everything out.

Peter pulled a light from his pocket and turned it on, letting them see the colors properly. They spent a few minutes sorting through them, finding seven of value to the Drifters and five of value to the Stars, and then they brought out their own collections and traded a few flags. Rani had found four flags in Drifters' colors, which vastly improved their position in the contest. Finally they divided Ariharu's worthless flags.

"Do you know if Sophie is still in?" Rani asked, layering the new flags into her purse.

Peter shook his head. "She was taken out pretty early."

"I believe she was bailed by Chimeg," Razan said. "We found her in the area where Sophie vanished."

"Did you bail Chimeg?" Rani asked.

"Yeah, after a decent fight," Peter admitted.

Rani grinned. "She won this contest last time. She's gonna be pissed at you."

Razan bowed, grinning back. "Thank you for the warning."

Marie watched a woman in brown and orange colors jog down the trail.

The woman did not see the tripwire.

She hit it and fell flat on her face.

Marie stepped out of the bushes and pressed the tip of her cutlass into the woman's skull. "Bail now and I'll swear that never happened."

The woman grumbled something into the leaves of the jungle floor, reaching into a pocket. A brief blue flash, and she was gone. Marie picked up the measly three flags which replaced her.

"That makes eight who never saw the wire," Ebba called, getting comfortable on her branch again. "I told you people don't pay attention."

Marie moved back into the bushes, leaning against the tree Ebba was in. "I am surprised. I thought for sure they'd be looking for traps."

"It's a focus thing," Ebba said. "They notice anything small which looks like cloth. Not a perfectly straight line on the trail."

"Shame on them," Marie decided.

Ebba laughed, then pulled her legs out of view as footsteps became audible on the trail.

Crouching slightly, Marie prepared to fight. And then relaxed as Louis and Asani came into view.

The two men immediately saw the tripwire and stopped, looking around. Marie stepped onto the trail as Ebba made herself comfortable and visible again.

Asani gave Marie a nod, putting his weapon away.

Louis beamed. "Hello, hello!"

"Good evening, minions, how goes the hunt?" Ebba asked.

"It goes well," Asani reported. "We've found six of our flags."

"I've got four, so we're doing fairly well," Ebba said. "Any news from Nali?"

"We heard from Till she's haunting the north-west quadrant with Nsona," Louis said.

"Should we give our flags to you?" Asani asked. "Looks like you're in a defensible position."

"Aye, well-defended," Louis said, smiling at Marie. "Oh, we found three Stars flags; you're in a truce with them, correct?"

Marie nodded. "Stars and Seabirds, other than yourselves."

"Ah, I have a Seabirds flag," Asani said, pulling handfuls of flags out of his pockets.

As he was digging, something else fell out of his pocket as well. Before Marie could tell what it was, Louis grabbed it off the ground and slipped it into his own pocket. She raised an eyebrow at him, getting an unreadable smile in return.

"Here you are," Asani said, handing over an orange and blue flag.

"Thank you," Marie said slowly, taking it. She knew this group did things for attention and drama, and suspected whatever was going on was related to that. Naturally, they couldn't admit it was all acting, so if she asked they'd have to lie. She'd really rather not be lied to.

As Louis was digging through his flags for the purple and blue ones, someone approached their position from off the trail. They made a truly insane amount of noise trying to get through the thick foliage. By the time the man stumbled onto the trail, he had four firearms pointed directly at him.

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The man, wearing two shades of red, slowly put his hands in the air and stepped back into the jungle.

"Asani," Ebba ordered, motioning to the man with a jerk of her head.

Asani nodded, then pulled out a dagger and dove into the bushes. There was a brief scuffle, and he dragged the man back onto the trail.

"We would like to thank you for your donation of flags to our group," Louis told him with a flourishing bow. "Will you be bailing on your own accord, or would you prefer we waste ammunition on you?"

The man glared.

"No need to waste ammunition, dear," Ebba said happily. "Asani can simply stab him."

"I'll bail on my own," the man grumbled, pulling away from Asani. He shot a glare at Louis before vanishing in a flash of blue light. A respectable number of flags floated down in his place.

"Why do I get the feeling he doesn't like you?" Marie asked Louis, moving to sort through the flags.

"Because he doesn't like me," Louis answered.

"Ah, that would explain it, yes."

Asani smirked, kneeling down to go through the flags easier. "He thinks fights ought to be serious things. Louis dueled him over the idea, and won using a shoulder cannon filled with candy."

"Somehow, that didn't change his mind," Louis lamented.

"Any good flags?" Ebba asked, leaning forwards on her branch.

"Not for us," Asani answered, holding up a flag to Marie. "Seabirds."

She took it, thanking him. Meanwhile, Louis moved to pass his flags up to Ebba.

The men stayed for a few minutes longer, drinking water and resting in the relative safety. No one else passed through. Finally they said their farewells and left, heading north.

Marie stepped off the trail, going back to her position against the tree Ebba was in. "How many more people do you think will fail to see the tripwire?"

"I say we'll get to fifteen," Ebba decided.

"So, seven?" Marie thought about it. "I'll say five."

Ebba grinned down at her. "And what are we wagering?"

Razan glared at the flashing light in the middle of the trail. It was on for three seconds, then off for three seconds, repeating this change endlessly. It was bright enough that his eyes were constantly adjusting, even when he wasn't looking at it.

"Let's go around through the jungle," Peter said nervously.

Razan slowly backed away. "I suspect that's the intended reaction. We should just go elsewhere."

"But…" Peter pulled his map out, checking something. "It'll take us twenty minutes to get around it, if we follow the trails."

"I am in no rush," Razan said flatly.

Peter frowned, then put his map away and pulled out a gun. "I'm going to shoot it. See what happens."

"Please don't," Razan said. "Or at least let me get far away before you do."

"Why? Think it's a bomb?"

"I do not know. But something that annoying is begging to be destroyed, meaning whoever put it there wants us to destroy it."

"True, but…" Peter stopped, thinking something over. He almost spoke, paused, then shook his head with a laugh. "Which of us ranks higher?"

Razan was surprised he'd never really considered the matter before. Marie was clearly the captain, and Sophie was obviously the lowest in the group, but… Again, Razan was surprised; he'd been viewing Peter as an equal.

Unable to come up with an answer, he pulled out his communication device. "Captain, between Peter and I, who ranks higher?"

The answer came almost immediately. "Razan is quartermaster, Peter is navigator."

Razan bowed, and Peter put his gun away with a grin.

"This is your first time alone together, isn't it?" Marie asked. "How's it going?"

Peter took the communication device from Razan. "Going good, Captain. Just needed to decide whose idea to go for."

"Glad to help," she said. "Carry on."

"Yes, Captain," both men said, and Razan took the device back. He turned, motioning the way they'd come, and Peter slipped ahead of him.

It took them about ten minutes of backtracking to get to where the trail branched. They turned down the new trail, walking silently, keeping an eye out for flags or traps. About five minutes later, they walked around a tree to find another flashing light.

"Hmm," Peter said.

"Hmm," Razan agreed.

They backed behind the tree.

"Does this trail cross the other one further down?" Razan asked.

Peter looked at his map. "Not directly. There's a trail a dozen yards thataway which connects the two."

Razan nodded. "What's a yard?"

"It's… about the length of one casual step, heel to toe."

"Ah. Both trails continue beyond the connecting trail?"

"Yes. Could someone be barricading the connection?"

Razan checked the time. "Half an hour left… I'd wager a group collected a good number of their flags and are trying to protect themselves."

"Which would mean they have a lot of flags for the taking."

"Indeed… Staying safe by turning around would be the more logical choice."

Peter grinned. "It's not what Captain Marie would do."

"It's not, no." Razan unsheathed his katana. "Your idea, then. Shoot the light. Poke the hornet's nest and we'll see what comes out."

Peter gave him a formal salute. "Sir, yes, sir."

Razan smiled, hoping for something interesting to happen.

"How many people do you think are still in the contest?" Marie asked, picking up a dozen flags from the latest person who had failed to see the tripwire.

"Enough," Ebba shrugged. "Last time we ended with about a third still in. A good percent of those had found somewhere to sit and lay traps, but people who sit around don't find flags."

"We don't seem to be doing too badly," Marie pointed out.

"No, but that is a giant centipede."

Marie paused, thinking this reply over, then looked up to see Ebba slowly scooting down her branch, knife in hand, her face perfectly white.

"Do you need help?" Marie asked. "I don't-"

Suddenly Ebba shrieked, threw the knife, and fell out of the tree. Marie reached out, but wasn't nearly fast enough. Ebba landed hard on her side, something cracking at the impact. Before Marie could offer a hand, Ebba had pushed herself up and stumbled to the trail, cursing repeatedly under her breath.

Marie stepped closer to her, extremely worried. "Did it bite you?"

"No," Ebba answered, brushing leaves off her arms with shaking hands. "No, no." She continued brushing her arms and shirt. "Nope, no. No, no, no." She was moving around, slowly spinning in place, her breathing ragged. "No, nope, no- Damnit!" She crouched down, put her face in her hands, and screamed.

"Ebba! Ebba, look at me. Listen," Marie ordered, putting a hand on her arm. "It didn't hurt you. It won't get near you. I won't allow it to touch you. Just breathe, dear, I'll keep you safe."

It took a few seconds for Ebba to lower her hands. She laughed weakly. "And I thought I was doing better about bugs."

"I hear the bugs in Sweden are quite small compared to the ones in these climates," Marie said casually.

"They are," Ebba muttered. She pushed herself to her feet, wiping her arms and shirt down again despite having nothing on them. "How much longer do we have here?"

Marie checked her watch. "Eighteen minutes."

"Damnit." She started to wipe her arms down again, stopped, and made a conscious effort to lower her hands to her sides, fists clenched. "Eighteen minutes, I can survive that."

"You don't want to, though."

"I'm holding all the flags." Ebba began pacing nervously. "If I bail without handing them off to someone in my group, I'll have failed miserably as group leader."

Marie watched her for a few seconds, then sighed and took her jacket off. She stopped Ebba, putting it around her shoulders.

Ebba pulled it tight around her. "I can't wear this. Your colors."

"To hell with the colors. It's eighteen minutes. Seventeen, now. If anyone comes by and doesn't recognize you, regardless of what you're wearing, I'd be very surprised."

With a faint smile, Ebba slid her trembling arms through the sleeves and shoved her hands into the pockets. "Thank you. It helps."

Marie nodded, scanning the trail and keeping an ear out for footsteps. "When you landed, what cracked?"

"I don't know; ribs? Shoulder? We'll see what still hurts tomorrow. Incidentally, how many weapons do you keep on you at all times?" Ebba asked, pulling a small knife out of a pocket.

"At minimum? Nine. Why?"

Peter hid in the bushes, perfectly still as a searchlight passed over him. Razan crouched on the other side of the trail, invisible from Peter's position.

"See anyone?" the man with the searchlight asked.

"No, but I can't see anything in this place," a woman called from a few feet away. "Too many trees."

"I'll put in a formal complaint," the man said with a laugh. "Let them know that this jungle just has way too many trees."

"And you'll do that right after you tell them the desert has too much sand," she joked, moving back towards Peter and Razan.

The man turned his searchlight back the way they'd come. "Yeah! And the ocean? Too much water. Gotta do something about it."

The woman's laugh was cut off as Razan made an obvious noise. She turned towards him, meaning her back was to Peter.

"Hear something?" the man asked, waving his searchlight back in Razan's direction.

Peter took aim. With a steady hand, he pulled the trigger. A paint ball hit the woman in the back of the head, and she yelped before vanishing in a blue flash. The man swung his searchlight to find Peter, giving Razan the perfect opportunity to leap onto the trail and put his sword against the man's throat.

"Bail," Razan ordered.

The man slumped. "Aw, come on, really? We're so close to the end. Can't I just give you any flags that are worth something to you and we part as friends?"

Razan's eyes flicked over as Peter stumbled onto the trail. "What will we get in return?"

The man straightened up. "I'll owe you a favor."

"What kind of favor?" Peter asked, turning his light on to check which flags the woman had dropped.

"If I ever have the chance to bail you, I won't," the man answered with a shrug.

"Sounds fair," Razan decided, lowering his sword.

Peter aimed his light at the man to check the colors on his clothes, then back at the flags. "And what will you owe us if I give you these flags?"

"I'll convince Anya to not yell at you for bailing her."

"I do like not being yelled at," Peter decided, picking all the flags up. None of them were of any value to the Drifters, so he handed the whole batch over.

"Thank you," he said with a bow. "I'm Cheevin, by the way. Leader of the Parrots."

Razan bowed as Peter gave a nod, introducing themselves as well.

"Nice to truly meet you, not just see you around the ship," Cheevin said, digging in a pocket. He brought out a handful of flags, holding them out. "Any of these worth something to you?"

"Yes," Razan said, picking out a Stars flag and one of their own flags. "Thank you."

"No problem," the Parrot said with a grin. "Will you be-"

A gunshot rang out, and paint hit Peter's shoulder. The three men dove into the bushes, not bothering to see who was shooting. Another shot sounded out as Peter climbed around a huge tree.

He hesitated, checking his communication device, and silently cursed upon seeing Razan was on the other side of the trail. Before he could decide what to do, a raven appeared in front of him.

"Five minutes left in the contest," she announced.

"Thanks," he hissed, hearing another shot followed by Cheevin's yell of alarm. "I don't need any more reminders."

The raven bobbed and vanished in a bright blue flash.

Peter grimaced at the obvious sign of where he was, then hurried around another tree.

All he had to do was get far enough from the trail, crouch down, and silently wait for the contest to be over.

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