Feeling his chest heave with the effort of keeping up, Oren slowed his pace to catch his breath. "When I find you, you guys aren't gunna be able to get away from me again!" He huffed as a lighthearted chuckle made it apparent that his threat was a playful facade.
"You'll have to catch us first you big lump!" His brother's voice sounded from deeper within the woods.
"He won't! Oren's as slow as a sleeping sleech!" Another voice teased from somewhere above him in the trees.
"Am not!" The young grey mudokon snapped back. Looking around in the tree tops above, he squinted his eyes as he struggled to discern the shape of his friend through the sunlight and greenery. As the leaves swayed, he could barely make out the faint outline of Fern's long feathers. I've got you now! He thought to himself as he quietly leaped for the lowest branch and began climbing up the trunk after her. Her nimble frame was just above him now, no more than an elums' length away. "We'll see who's slow now!" He grunted as he bounded upto the branch where she was standing.
"Oh no! What ever shall I do?" She said with friendly sarcasm as she backed closer to the edge of the tree limb, her brown eyes shone with a mischievous smirk as she was well aware of Oren's dislike of heights.
Oren held in a gasp as the nimble mudokon before him outstreched her arms, and had seemingly free fallen from the tree. When he was able to sum up the courage to look down below, he was thankful to discover Fern had landed on her feet.
"C'mon Oren, you'll never tag me at this rate!" She teased before disappearing into the forest below. The thrill of the chase ebbed away any fear he had of falling as Oren climbed down and followed the sound of Ferns footsteps. Knowing that they weren't allowed to roam much further from their cavernous home.
Making it to the border of their territory, the dark grey mudokon didn't have to look very hard to spot his brother. After all, being bright red in a lush green forest was a dead give away. Deciding to abandon the chase with Fern, Oren would settle for giving his brother a good scare by sneaking up on him from the far side of the boulder he was poorly hiding behind. Tensing his muscles, he crouched to remain more hidden, and watched his footsteps, avoiding the loud crunching of leaves.
Being close enough to hear his brothers breathing from behind the stone, Oren scaled it, momentarily looking down at his older brother before he leaped and landed ontop of him. Surprise was clear as day on the young red mudokons face as he flailed about, trying to shake off Orens weight. "Gotcha this time Ferris!" He yelled in triumph, sitting atop his brothers back.
"Yeah yeah, you win- now get off of me before you break my spine!" He laughed after the shock wore off, being replaced by a good humored grin. Sliding off to the side, the two boys couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of the outcome of their game of chase. The brothers had almost always managed to catch eachother while their friend Fern had outwited or out paced the pair of them.
"You two slogs want to try catching me again?" She yelled from within a nearby spooce bush. It had taken a moment for Oren to spot her, as her dark green skin blended in flawlessly with the surrounding plants. Making her way over to them, she waited for an answer.
Ferris considered it for a moment, but deep down he knew he'd have to decline. "Nah, I better not," he finally spoke up. "It's almost time for me to-" As if the mention of his training had summoned him, all three children could hear their shamans voice echoing between the trees. "Ferris! It's nearly sundown, you need to practice your fighting techniques!" And with that, their day of fun was coming to a close.
"You guys can keep playing if you want, but I don't want to keep dad waiting, or he might have me get up early for morning patrol again." The scrab colored mudokon grinned at them both. "It was a good game tho!" Ferris smiled at his friends before obediently heading back home, leaving the pair of them behind.
While Oren didn't like the fact that Ferris had to spend so much of his days training to become the new chief, he had to admit that the thought of being alone with Fern made his heartbeat quicken. Though seeing the look of disappointment on her face made his pulse slow down again. "You okay?" He asked with concern.
"Yeah, It's just..." she started, "Do you ever feel like... Ferris is getting far away from us?" Fern asked, a blend of sadness and pride reflecting in her eyes as she watched her friend dissappear into the brush.
Oren was releaved to know that his own worries seemed to echo in her mind as well. The two of them knew that his eventual role in the tribe was a heavy burden, one that took quite a bit of his time away from his closest friends. "I worry about that all the time." The dark grey mudokon admitted. "But then I remember that..." His voice trailed off, would he dare to say it? "I'm not alone..." He ventured, unable to hide a flush of red on his cheeks.
Fern blinked in surprise, then smiled with what looked like relief and agreement reflecting back at him. "That's true." She responded with a peace in her voice that he had never heard before. "And I'm not going anywhere." She concluded with certainty.
Oren was used to Fern always being the bold one, taking the lead, and getting the group into mischief. But having his feelings for her out in the open, made him feel at ease, even if Fern didn't know his comforting statement meant more than what she understood. I know Ferris will be a good leader one day... and as long as Fern's here beside me, everything will be okay. Oren reasoned to himself, shaking off the last of his doubts. "We better be going too. We're not supposed to be out here after dark."
Taking that as a challenge, Fern got up and raced ahead of him. "One last game of tag on the way home?" She prompted playfully.
"If you think you can getta way from me a second time today you're wrong!" He taunted as he caught up to her, passing through the trees as fast as his his legs would carry him, the entrance to the raisin caves and the setting sun in full view.
