Chapter 5 Scene 9

Stefi and Pelubo wake up half an hour after dawn when a tiny amount of light seeps into the hole they are in near the exit of their mountain passageway. It takes them a minute to remember where they are.

"We have to get out of here," announces Pelubo.

"Yes, but are the bats still around?" asks Stefi.

"I don't hear any. But let's eat something first."

They eat in almost total darkness, having to feel the fruit to determine what they are eating. Then they find the liana rope hanging into the hole from a stalagmite. Pelubo gives Stefi a leg up to help her get started climbing the rope. Once she is out, Pelubo throws their bags containing food and rarites to Stefi. Then he climbs out, takes the rope, and puts the Statue of Ulaorun that was standing against the wall into a bag.

They go to the opening, which is just above the path the native children took to get to the Mountains.

"If we had known this opening was here, we could have gotten to you a lot sooner," notes Pelubo, "but we wouldn't have gotten the tools and liana vines we needed."

"You guys did great," says Stefi. "Now, how deep is that water?"

"Not too deep. Let me go first."

Stefi does not object as Pelubo takes the bag with their stuff and hops down into the water, plunging in up to his chest.

"That's not too deep?" Stefi was expecting it to be a lot shallower, and now knows what she's in for since she and Pelubo are just about the same size.

"Well, it's not over our heads. Oh, you might want to take your shoes off, the bottom is a little muddy and you'd probably lose them."

Stefi realizes Pelubo is right, and takes off her shoes and gives them to him to put in the bag. She takes a deep breath and drops down into the murky water next to him. "Eww!"

"Are you okay?" asks Pelubo.

"Yes."

"Then let's go. It's only a few hundred meters."

They slog along the west edge of the Swampy Forest, past the Mountains, and then outside the Sanctuary, when Pelubo suddenly stops.

"What is it?" asks Stefi.

"Snakes. We have to go around them. Follow me."

Pelubo leads Stefi away from the Sanctuary and into the Swampy Forest. He tests each step carefully, and the water gradually gets shallower. After a few minutes they reach a path that is completely out of the water.

"Does this path go to your Village?" asks Stefi.

"I think so. It's not the one we were on two days ago, and I think this one ends a few meters to the north. We can ask Keruka. Now I think we are clear of the snakes."

Something suddenly jumps at Stefi's feet, causing her to scream. "No we aren't!" She runs a few steps to the side, to the west.

Pelubo looks down, and says, "That's not a snake, that's just a lizard."

Then Stefi screams again. "I'm sinking!"

Quest 62: Get Stefi out of the quicksand.

"Hold still!" Pelubo realizes Stefi can't sink too far and that he has to catch the lizard while he has the chance.

You found a Blue Croaker!

He puts the lizard in the bag and turns to Stefi, who has sunk in quicksand a little past her waist. Fortunately she didn't get too far off the path, and he is able to reach her with the liana rope. After a fifteen minute struggle he succeeds in pulling her out.

Quest 62 complete!

You have won the Bronze Quicksand Trophy for rescuing five people from quicksand!

A bronze trophy depicting a native child who looks like Bukela sunk up to the middle of the stomach in quicksand and with arms outstretched appears on the screen, and then fades away.

"Are you okay?" asks Pelubo.

"Yes, but why didn't you rescue me before catching that lizard?"

"Because you couldn't sink too much and we need to find all the rarities and statues or we are all doomed."

"How could you be sure I wouldn't sink too much?"

Pelubo takes a deep breath and determines it's best to tell the truth. "A few days ago I fell into the quicksand from a tree branch and sank up to here." He holds his hand at the bottom of his chest. "You were sinking slowly and didn't have all that momentum, so you couldn't sink so far unless you struggled a lot."

"Was someone there to help you out?"

"No, I was stuck for hours until the others found me. But I found a lot of rarities so it was worth it."

Stefi accepts the explanation after a few seconds' thought. "I'm sorry I got so freaked out over that lizard. Thank you for saving me."

"Thank you for spotting that lizard; that may have saved us now. Now it looks like the path is clear, so let's get back to the Village."

They were less than a hundred meters away and make it to the Village easily. Pelubo puts the rarities and statue in their boxes. Pelubo tells Stefi,

"There's a box of soap over there. You can wash up in the ocean."

Stefi gratefully takes the opportunity to do so. Pelubo also takes some soap and cleans up a decent distance away from Stefi and then they wait for the others to arrive.

## Sequence

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