Legendary Lovers

Season 02 - Chapter 02 (07)

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Time Jump~

Gregory Fletcher's POV~

Later, I was treading across equatorial land entirely foreign to Austin, Wilfred, and me. Susie, however, was familiar with the terrain since she had found the swamp on a previous date, though she had not explored it. She was striding forth with the spirit of a natural-born leader.

"Have any of you climbed these smaller trees yet?" the man with muttonchops asked.

I laughed, thinking Wilfred was joking because my group was named the Monkeys, but I quickly realized he was serious despite the humorous grin on his face. "No, we haven't had a need to."

"Well, they're thick and sturdy. In fact, they're so thick and sturdy that we have been thinking about building houses in them, treehouses. These smaller trees can hold them well enough."

"Actually, you just reminded me that Austin suggested that idea the day we found our hill. I'm not against it, honestly. I'd only be annoyed by having to disassemble everything to relocate."

"Makes sense. The thing with us is that we don't know if there will be an attack from the Snakes. I mean, for the record, we fell in love with the oasis. We have food and water right in our reach."

"I don't think there's a place in this jungle that's safe one hundred percent. Wild animals, like big cats, probably perch in the trees all the time. God knows there's plenty of shit down here, too."

Wilfred sighed. "I suppose you have a point. I guess I just... I don't know. I like the idea of making our situation more... unassailable. I would feel better sleeping on branches than on the ground."

"I would as well," I admitted. "Hell, not only animals, but I bet the Snakes would have a harder time finding us. Maybe they'd spend all their time looking on ground level and pass right by us."

"Yeah, I don't know about them, but I certainly haven't been looking up much since we left the oasis. To be fair, though, jungle animals are better hidden compared to large-ass treehouses."

"True," I confessed. "I'll still bring the idea to the other Monkeys. We usually make decisions amongst our own tribes, but maybe we can meet and figure something out together this time."

"Then I will inform the other Birds when I have the chance. I'm sure they will be in favor. How have you and your people been settling in, by the way? I haven't seen your camp in a while."

I shrugged casually. "We have cots of our own, rain catchers, pretty much everything we need to be comfortable. Oh, and Lianne's been working on that survival guide. We'll have to make a copy of it for you guys. Susie would carry that thing around even after we get off this ginormous rock."

"No doubt about that," Wilfred chuckled. "I'll tell you, Greg, I'll wake up one morning, and she'll be missing, and I don't even have to ask Velma or Juanita to know she's out exploring all alone."

"All alone, huh?"

"Believe me; it was an issue at first. The three of us were against her making that decision, but we learned to let her go. You can't stop someone like her from doing what they love, you know?"

"Yeah, Lianne is the same way sometimes. Ever since she started taking notes on our findings, she's been getting more curious and going out to search for something else to write about."

"I'm shocked Austin lets her get away with that."

"Well, just like you three with Susie, he was against it initially but realized he doesn't have total control over her or over any of us. He's a leader, not a dictator. He'll give us his advice, thoughts, and warnings but won't boss us around. We're adults. Ultimately, we'll make our own choices."