"All packed Abi?" Sophie asked, poking her head in my doorway, and looking down at where I was just fastening the straps on my backpack. I stood up, swinging the heavy bag onto my shoulders.
"All packed." I replied with a grin, moving out into the hallway. "How about you?"
She scoffed, and rubbed the back of her neck. "Of course I'm packed." she tried to lie, uncomfortable under my knowing gaze. "Well, actually, there are a few things I need to add in. I'll just be a minute."
"I thought so." I commented smugly as she headed into my room, where half of her stuff littered the floor. She'd been busy planning the trip itself and had forgotten all about preparing herself physically for it.
Marching into the main room, I took in the scraps of paper strewn across the table where my mum sat, writing evaluations and calculations for the next month of work on a notepad. I plonked myself down beside her, and surveyed the amalgam of maps and notes Sophie had made. Apparently paper wasn't used very much on Earth any more, so she was having a lot of fun writing stuff down on ours. She hadn't understood why, with all our advanced technology, we didn't put everything 'online' or store it in our data devices, but, you see, paladanian reasoning is that technology can malfunction and writing by hand improves brain function. Besides, unlike humans, paladanians know not to waste paper, and only make as much as is needed, so as not to harm the environment.
Sophie's notes were mostly rather unnecessary, and we did have digital maps, but I wasn't going to take Sophie's fun away from her. I could tell she'd been writing everything and anything, and on one scrap of paper she'd even drawn a little stick figure with wild eyes and a few strokes of hair. There was one pile of notes that lay in one corner of the table, that she'd taken down for her report. Interesting; ususally she just typed everything straight into her digi-file. Seeing a few phrases I didn't recognise, I picked up the notes and stifled a laugh as I read through them. Of course she'd written stupid little jokes on them. Ah, the strangeness of Earth humour.
At that moment the jokester herself tripped into the room, carrying her backpack aloft. I stared at her, eyebrow raised. "Why are you doing that?"
Her face went red. "It's an efficient method!" she earnestly defended herself, pulling the bag down as I laughed.
"Maybe you should just stick to wearing it normally." I advised her.
She beamed in a lopsided manner. "Duly noted." Then she scooped up the map and a few notes off of the table and stuffed them in her pockets. She grabbed a container off the kitchen counter and swept the rest of her papers into it before setting it on what had recently become her designated chair at the table.
"I think we're ready now." she asserted.
I went through a mental list. I'd packed everything I needed clothes, utility and camping-wise, bid farewell to my father in the morning and logged onto our data unit (a combination of devices that worked like a computer and had access to the systemwide communication network) to send a message to Leila, updating her. We'd been keeping vaguely in touch, though it seemed she was usually too busy for an actual conversation, whilst I was generally pulled away from the interface by some idea of Sophie's. We'd only exchanged messages a few times, but even so, I wanted her to know where I was. I needed to still feel connected to my friend, especially after recent developments in the friendship area.
Knowing everything was accounted for, I nodded. "Yes."
Mum rose from the table, placing down her device and walked over to us. "You'll be heading off now then." she noted.
"Yeah." I wrapped my arms around her in a hug, and breathed in her scent for the last time that day. She gripped me tight and then pulled back, a fond smile on her face. "I would tell you to stay safe, but I know you're smart enough to handle yourself." she said, and then turned to Sophie. "Now you I'm sure will think of something rash to do. Just keep yourself out of trouble."
Sophie grinned. "Yes, ma'am." Mum embraced her as well. She was very fond of Sophie, the human friend she'd let stay in her house, and I could see she thought of her almost as a daughter. That made me smile. Yeah, Sophie was like a sister to me.
After we left the house, with mum waving us off, we headed to one of the stalls in town and easily hired a transport. As the automated cart bumped and rocked down the long, rough road which led to the dense jungle, Sophie and I chatted casually to pass the time, sometimes exchanging comments with the driver as well. He was a patient, reserved man. I supposed he had to be, as his job involved taking people long distances in the vehicles his company owned.
I looked out the back, smiling as the sight of the mountains grew smaller and the town I'd lived in all my life faded out of view, until all I could see was the lengthy road and the sparse nature that surrounded us. It was weird, going on a journey like this with Sophie. I mean, sure, my family had been to all sorts of places in Flauraan before but I'd never gone just with a friend. I felt as if this would be a unique experience.
Eventually we were dropped off in an expanse of land with a wetter climate than what we'd left behind. Before us, huge, rainforest trees stretched out for kilometres, obscuring our view of whatever lay beyond. I knew further on there was a rainforest village, but Sophie and I wouldn't be going near them. We were staying strictly independant, and keeping to the craziness of uninhabited jungle.
We said goodbye to our transport, and then set off down the path towards the trees. Today's was going to be a long hike.
Three hours later, all I could see was green. Sophie was behind me, myself leading the way and we were trekking down unmarked tracks, with vines hanging down all around us, the sounds of tropical animals filling our years and sweating from the humidity. We were both wearing thin clothing just for this purpose but all that did was allow bugs to bite at us, so we spent a lot of energy just waving them off.
Eventually the trees didn't press in so much and we could see more of the wildlife. I struck up some conversation as we went along.
"A lot of the animals here rely on the wet climate to survive." I told Sophie, and then pointed at a amphibious creature that subsequently crawled out of sight. "They wouldn't survive in the heat anywhere else."
"Yeah. We have animals like that on Earth as well." Sophie replied, pushing leaves out of the way as she trudged along behind me. "Not that I've seen any in person; I only really see cities back home."
"Really?" I asked, intrigued. "That's strange."
"Yeah." she shrugged nonchalantly. "But the travelling all over the universe gig I have kind of makes up for it."
I laughed, throwing my head back. "You'd hope it would, wouldn't you?"
I swear I could hear her facial muscles stretch themselves into that infectious grin of hers. "Yeah well you know, it's pretty flashy, bouncing from planet to planet."
"Do you see much of nature on those trips?" I inquired, thinking of what she'd told me of the research processes she went through.
"Sometimes. The Eridanus didn't only visit cities, you know." she said.
"I suppose not."
We marched on for a while longer in pleasant silence, both of us just enjoying being in a place so teeming with life. As I looked at each plant and animal, I identified its species if I could and any connections they had with the medical science I'd been learning.
"Ooh." I exclaimed at the sight of a certain familiar leaf. Sophie had the map out behind me but looked up to see what the fuss was about. I plucked a few leaves from the branches of the plant and stored them in my pockets. "These leaves can be crushed and made into a salve which soothes bites of the kind we've been experiencing."
"Oh good." Sophie answered, relief latently present in her voice. "We'll definitely need them."
Soon we stopped for a break, and just idly explored the area around where we were. We saw all sorts of animals and plants, in all colours and sizes. But we were tired from the long walk, nonetheless, and not long after we began to set up our camp for the night, deciding to go further tomorrow. I determined from looking at the movement of clouds overhead that it would rain the next afternoon, so we planned things from there. Dumping our bags, we pulled out a small tarp and some rope and set to work putting up a shelter. We lay our blankets on the floor, needing little extra warmth due to the humidity, and got some food and other equipment out of our bags. We sat like that for a while, and I nibbled on a small muesli bar bought from the markets as Sophie had some dried fruit, and then she pulled out her digi-file and started to note stuff down, using her scanner to help her determine details. I shook my head, a fond smile on my lips. She never did stop did she? At least it was for a worthy cause. I hoped as much as she did that one day the expedition would be found, and if doing this research gave her permission to look for it, I was glad. Man, my friend was good.
We went to sleep early that evening, both of us exhausted from the day's events. For the first time in a while I had a dreamless sleep and awoke refreshed and a little stiff the next morning to find Sophie waiting anxiously to pack up and continue. With a bit of a laugh, I hopped out of my blanket and helped her take down our camp.
Progress was rather leisurely this time around. We were taking a circular route through the jungle, so that in two days time we'd be back out where we'd planned for dad to pick us up. Fortunately, we'd covered more than the needed distance for the day, so we had fun just enjoying the wildlife around us.
When we reached a section of jungle covered in tall, broad trees with rough trunks and birds everywhere, Sophie grinned at me and proposed a new objective.
"Race you to the top of this tree!" she exclaimed, and sprinted to the nearest trunk where she gripped onto the vine twisted round it to pull herself up, and started climbing.
Light-heartedly cursing her for springing this on me, I ran after her, and started my own endeavor to climb. Sophie may have had the advantage of a head start, but I had my brilliant perception, which allowed me to know the optimal places to put my feet and hands while making my way up the tree. It was a tall one, and I panted and laughed in the same breaths as Sophie's voice carried down to me. She'd slip on the rough trunk and end up dangling from a branch, swearing as she did so, and then look down to see where I was and swear even more. I found it humorous as she clumsily made her way up the tree, and I closed in behind her. Eventually we were climbing head to head and pushing each other around teasingly, competitively, both wanting to win. Suddenly we broke through the foliage at the very top of the tree and there was no more to climb. We breathed heavily, insane grins plastered on our faces as we gripped the trunk still, wobbling dangerously.
I stared out at the view. The tree top poked out above most of the others, and from our vantage point we could see for miles. I could see the telling structures of the rain forest settlement even, far off over the masses of trees that covered the expanse. If I looked in the direction of my town, I could just see the tip of Pier mountain, the second-largest mountain on the continent. It was a breathtaking sight, and I knew Sophie was thinking the same thing as we stood there taking it all in.
Finally I voiced my thoughts. "This trip was a great idea, Sophie. It's simple, easy and just... amazing."
"I do what I can." she grinned at me, and I squeezed her in a quick hug. I was lucky to have her. No matter how close I was getting to my friends back home, this crazy human who'd become my best friend would always be most important, no matter what. We'd done too much together for any other outcome.
We swayed there a moment longer before standing up fully to get into position to climb down again.
Before I could begin though, Sophie gripped my arm and said, "I've got a great idea!" She then proceeded to do one of the stupidest, rashest things possible to do while that high up in the air.
She jumped down, pulling me with her.
I screamed in surprise and terror as we crashed down through branches and leaves, knowing that I would be coming out of this with all sorts of bruises and scratches. Sophie whooped in delight at the thrill and then before we went splat on the ground I reached out and grabbed onto a hanging vine, slowing us down and leaving us suspended.
"Don't ever do that again." I warned her, fuming, and she laughed, shaking her head.
"I knew we wouldn't die." she murmured a little proudly, and I rolled my eyes. Sure, there was no way we would have been in danger, my instincts would never have allowed me not to react in the way I did, but still, I didn't like having my life risked willy nilly like that.
From there on, it was a simple method of extricating ourselves from the tree and continuing. After a few minutes of being grumpy, I decided I didn't care any more and ran in step with Sophie, delightedly enjoying sensation of wind whipping against me as I did so. Early in the afternoon, we stumbled upon the river that wound through these parts, and followed it until we found a spot where the water didn't flow so fast and the bank ran right down into it.
I was dirty and sweaty from the past two day's exertion, and I desperately wanted a dip, but I wasn't going in fully clothed. And I have to admit, I was quite self-conscious and didn't like the idea of stripping down, even just to my undergarments, in front of Sophie, all for a swim.
As always though, Sophie made it easy for me simply by being herself. Without even thinking of how I felt, she threw her bag down upon the highest patch of grass, pressed a button on the teleport watch that made the waterproof cover latch on tighter, and pulled her blue shirt over her head, with an excited laugh.
I tried not to watch while also trying not to look too flabbergasted, as she continued to undress until she was only wearing underwear. Apart from when I myself undressed, I'd never seen anyone wearing so little clothes in my life. My eyes widened as she smirked at my expression and then threw herself into the water. I watched jealously for a moment as she splashed in the cool water, craving to have the self-confidence she did so I could be feeling that water on my skin. Then, all modesty forgotten, I decided I didn't care about being seen in my under-slip, and quickly pulled my own garments off before joining her. It was a joyous afternoon spent in the river, swimming, exploring and attacking each other with splashing, and it only ended when the rain I'd predicted began to beat down on us, and we decided we didn't want hypothermia. We dried ourselves off and then separated to change into dry clothes. I held my rain jacket over my head as I found my way back to the tree we'd determined as a meeting place, spirits barely dampened by the downpour. We sheltered that night nestled among the raised roots of a gigantic tree, wrapped tightly in our blankets and telling each other stories loudly until we laughed ourselves to sleep.
The next day the rain was lighter and we happily trekked through the sludge, chatting amiably. Eventually we walked into a portion of forest less dense than the rest, where there was fair space to walk in between each tree. It was fairly uneventful, all things considered.
The last of the rain had passed, so that final night we decided to camp out under the stars. We found a fairly flat clearing that was slightly less overgrown than the others, and after laying down our bags and collecting the driest wood possible I quickly lit a safe campfire, accounting for wind, the ratio of fuel and tinder, and temperature. Sophie watched me as the flames leaped from the rough timber and I grinned in pleasure, impressed.
"You paladanians really do understand everything don't you?" she commented.
I turned my head to her, smirking softly. "What makes you say that?"
"I've never seen anyone light a fire from scratch that quickly," she explained, and I raised an eyebrow, thinking of how smart my friend was. "And I saw that look on your face, like you're concentrating on every variable. It's easy to see that the fire didn't just spring up so quickly out of luck."
I leaned back, feeling warmth spread through my chest, part of it from pride, the rest because of the happiness I was experiencing from being here, in the middle of the jungle and camping with my best friend. I shrugged. "Yeah, you're right. I can just... see how everything works, and I can make my actions follow those patterns for the best results."
Sophie plonked herself down next to me, gripping her knees and looking upwards wistfully. "Life here on Flauraan must be perfect. Everyone understands each other, knows what to do, can achieve whatever they want. I wish the rest of the universe was like that."
"Nothing is perfect." I shook my head, heart sinking as I envisioned the ideal world she had been describing. That definitely wasn't a picture of paladanian society. "You already know that our abilities have limits. Emotions, stressful circumstances and just plain arrogance can throw our reasoning out, and cause us to make mistakes. I know that I've made many in my short lifetime."
Sophie looked confused. "But I've seen the way your town works, everyone courteous to each other, with a job that suits their skill, working hard at whatever task placed before them. They always seem to understand. How can you be telling me that your people have problems?"
"It's more complex than that Sophie." I told her, saddened at the thought. "Some people don't ever learn to fully develop the skills to understand as well as we can in my area. It's just good placement, that's all. I mean, sure, a lot of the planet runs the way we do, but in places where there are natural disasters, an abundance of aliens, or just a lot of demand for service or resources, people get stressed, tensions mount, and even though every paladanian feels regret for the wrongs they do, problems arise, and it certainly isn't perfect."
She caught my gaze, and stared intently as if studying my face. "You're not like that though. What you said about learning to develop your abilities, that's important. You could have chosen the easy way, to merely think of yourself and no one else, to use your powers for the wrong thing, to neglect your responsibility to understand. But you always choose the right thing, in the end. I think that's why I admire you so much."
"Ha. You think I'm admirable?" I murmured, amused. "What about the human girl without special powers, who, when things got tough, didn't choose to conform, but instead embarked on a quest to help people, teleporting throughout the universe to gather information and find the lost? That's what I call a good person."
"Me? Don't be silly." scoffed Sophie.
"I'm not." I assured her. "All I'm saying is, maybe there's a reason we were put together, a reason we're such good friends. We bring out the best in each other." Although she grinned and shook her head softly, I knew that what I said rang true to her. I fully believed what I'd said. I helped her to slow down, to stay grounded, to think rationally, and on the other side of the scale, Sophie taught me to take risks, to stand up for what is right, and to never give up. We were a team, and to be honest I don't know what I would do without her.
After we ate a simple meal of some herbs I'd brought from mum's garden and some toasted bread, we placed our blankets down over the damp ground, and lay down, staring at the stars beyond the foliage, beyond the sky itself. As always, I found myself drawn in, absolutely enchanted by the lights of distant celestial bodies that had travelled all the way across the reaches of space to where we now were. I recognized every constellation, every formation, and I loved the stream of thoughts that flooded my mind as I stared at them. Facts, calculations, a deep understanding of how the universe worked, opening me up and fulfilling me. And, to make it better, I was experiencing it in a wonderful place in nature, with Sophie by my side. Suddenly I was thinking of her travels, and how she'd probably seen many of these stars much closer than they seemed here. Wow, she really did have a good gig going on there, traveling the universe, helping people and seeing all there is to see.
"It's like this all the time for you, isn't it?" I asked dreamily, staring at the luminous, twinkling orbs that dotted the night sky.
Sophie sighed tiredly beside me, and I could tell she was smiling. "Yeah. You know, I've been so many places in the universe, but nowhere as good as this." she shifted her head to look at me. "That's because of you. You're my best friend, Abigail Shurn. That's something I've never had before. Thank you for letting me stay, so very much."
She smiled at me, and with a warm feeling filling me completely I smiled back, before answering.
"Thank you for staying." I replied softly, and then I fell asleep, mind filled with a sense of gladness, for the last time before we went home the next day.