Gia sat on the rock overlooking the rocks and dreading the upcoming climb down. Vonn was hefting Mikey onto his back, with her father"s help, and they were tying the boy in place until he woke up, so that Vonn"s hands would be free. Carla kept fretting over them, basically getting in the way, but Gia was having a hard time caring. She was so tired. Both of her parents were acting like children, and she wasn"t sure she had the strength to keep going. Her determination was starting to fade in light of their constant state of danger and impending doom, and she wasn"t sure they would ever reach an end to the journey."If you look just right, towards that highest cliff, you can see the branches of the great world tree," said their lizard escort, pointing further south over the mountains.
Gia squinted against the bright sunlight, trying to see what the lizard what trying to show her, but shook her head.
"I guess that cloud is blocking my view," she said, sadly. It figured, with everything else, that even this would be taken from her.
The lizard just chuckled and said, "That isn"t a cloud, that is the tree."
Gia"s eyes widened as the lizard"s words sunk in, and she stood up to take in the sheer size that she was seeing.
"But that can"t be right! How can it be so big?" she exclaimed.
"It is far away, almost a year"s journey to reach, and half of that time, it"s great branches obscure the sky from view. I have never made the trip, but I have been told only the most skilled survive the trip, and many decide to never return."
Gia glanced at the lizard, and saw a look of yearning on her face that she remembered having when they had first started out on this trek of survival. Thinking of how she had felt when she was filled with determination to keep her family together and safe, she just sighed.
"There are so few things to yearn for in the short lives we are given. Do you not yearn for something?" asked the lizard.
"I want to be done with this trip. I want to have a nice house to have babies and raise my children. I don"t want to have to worry about my parents falling and getting hurt, or my little brother tripping and being attacked by some monster."
"Worrying about things, doesn"t make those things go away, or not happen. It only causes heaviness on your spirit," said the lizard. "Why worry about things you cannot control? Perhaps it would be better to place one foot in front of the other, to do the things you can in the moment that presents itself, than to worry about the danger that hasn"t presented itself yet."
"But how can you be prepared for such a danger, if you don"t worry about it?" asked Gia.
"I am prepared for anything that may happen, because I train my body and mind constantly. Not because I worry about what might happen if I don"t." The lizard tilted her head at Gia, to see if she understood.
"How do you train your body and mind?" asked Gia softly, her eyes darting towards her family, who were almost ready to continue.
"I will show you as we travel, but you must watch me carefully."
Gia nodded, standing up and brushing her pants off. Keeping an eye on the lizard, instead of her parents, she saw how the lizard descended the rocks as if they were nothing more than stepping stones in her path. Shaking her head, Gia knew she would not be climbing down this cliff like that! What if she slipped? She would get sc.r.a.ped and banged up, maybe break something or even die!
Vonn was slowly starting to make his descent, placing his feet and hands carefully, to keep himself from slipping on the wet rocks, and her parents were also making their way carefully.
The lizard had said to train her body and mind. Her mind told her she might get hurt, because her body wasn"t capable of doing the task, she had witnessed the lizard do. So, she must need to train her body to be able to do things, so her mind wouldn"t tell her she couldn"t do it. Taking a breath, Gia started her descent as well, but she forced herself to stretch and move in ways that she knew she could do, without putting herself at risk, while telling herself she could do this.
She was so focused on trying to improve herself, she almost missed when her mother slipped beside her. Gia"s hand shot out, without a second thought, and grabbed her mother"s wrist, keeping her from falling.
"Oh! Gia! Thank goodness you were there!" exclaimed her mother with a wide smile, before returning to climbing.
Gia remained there for a moment, staring at her hand, wondering where that had come from. She hadn"t even noticed her mother was slipping before she was reacting.
When they reached the bottom, the lizard merely blinked, before turning to resume leading them along the path, watching for the dangerous needleteeth. Had she seen her save her mom? Was it because she was trying to improve herself, or not? Gia was so confused, but decided it didn"t hurt to improve herself.
Watching the lizard as they made their way down, she saw that the lizard was walking toe first, then heel. Did that make a difference? Was it because she was a lizard, or did it give her an advantage if she needed to spring into action?
"We will follow this ridge, along the entire valley, until we leave the mountains. It will keep us out of the deeply wooded areas, and away from the rivers that crisscross the floor of the valley. We shall be able to see anything that threatens us easier, and won"t have as much issues with bugs, since your skin is so thin and fragile," said the lizard as they all paused at a branch in the path they were following.
"That sounds good," said Carla, scratching several bug bites she had already gotten.
"When do you think we will reach a camping spot?" asked Tom, pulling the straps of his bag tighter and looking out over the forested valley below.
"Not too much longer, I think," said the lizard, looking ahead thoughtfully. "There are several good spots to stop, but the one I prefer may be too far to today. We shall see how late it is when we reach the first."
"Where are we?" asked Mikey, groggy. "Can I get down? I need to pee!"
Gia helped Vonn quickly until the boy, and then laughed and helped him stand when his legs wanted to buckle from being tied so long.
Vonn helped him get his pants down before he wet himself, while Gia held him up, but it was all pretty funny. Even Mikey was laughing by the end, as they struggled to get his pants back up.
"Why are my legs so rubbery? It feels like they"re getting eaten by ants!" laughed Mikey, as he struggled to stand.
Once he was able to stand and keep up, they resumed their march along the mountain trail, with Carla filling him in on what all had happened since he got hit in the head. When he heard that Sprout had caused him to pa.s.s out, Mikey quickly pulled the small creature out to make sure it was alright.
Reaching a clearing overlooking a large lake below them, the lizard paused, looking around.
"I think we will stop here for the night. You do not seem to have the stamina our young do, so I will not push you."
"Thank you," panted Tom, settling onto a rock. "Being able to see lets me move more, and this old body doesn"t seem to enjoy that."
"Are you calling yourself old?" asked Carla, sitting down next to him after taking off her pack.
"I"ll gather wood for a fire," said Vonn, heading for a small stand of trees just down the path a few feet.
"How are you doing?" asked Gia, sitting next to Mikey. Her body was sore and tired, but she wasn"t sure if it was from trying to push herself, or just from the normal walking. Was all of this even worth it?
"I feel tired, even though I know I wasn"t walking much. I still can"t believe I missed the waterfall! We were supposed to be able to see the world tree!" he pouted, holding his Limcheez in his hands.
"It could be from b.u.mping your head, er, Sprouts head. And the world tree wasn"t really that awesome. It hung in the sky like a giant cloud," said Gia, trying to downplay how awesome it had been.
"A tree that looked like a cloud?" he asked, confused.
"Well, it was so big in the sky, I thought it was a cloud until I was told it was the cloud. It didn"t look like a cloud, just that it filled the sky," she said, trying to make herself clearer, and only making it worse.
"I still wish I could have seen it," he pouted.
"Well, you can probably see it when we get out of the mountains. Until then, want to help me set up the tent before Vonn gets back?"
The grin on his face cheered her up, and Gia hoped the odd feelings she had before were gone for good.