The Adventures of Rin and Aya

“See? Isn’t this just fantastic?!” For the past five minutes Raf had been going on and on about how much he supposedly loved the fact that their group had gotten separated. (Even though he was the one to suggest it in the first place.) Micah’s jaw was clenched tightly as he walked a little ways ahead of Raf, the red head’s whining clearly getting on his nerves. He had never really liked any of the guys he shared a house with, but Raf had always been on the top of the list. Raf and Chase. Definitely Chase…

The small flame Raf held in his right palm bounced animatedly as he waved his arms in the air for emphasis. “And not only that, but I get stuck with you two! What are the odds of that?! For my sake, please keep it PG. I’ve already gone blind all thanks to you, and I don’t want to go deaf too. I’m a little surprised I’m not deaf and traumatized already, but you guys are really unusually quite. Is your room sound proof or something?” Bad question to ask.

In only a matter of seconds Micah had spun, grabbed onto the front of Raf’s shirt, and shoved him roughly into the hedge wall. A small breeze suddenly picked up and the hedges started shivering almost as if they had sensed the deadly tension that had suddenly appeared. “I swear, the next time you say anything regarding what happens between me and Ra’ Shari I am going to kill you!” He practically yelled at the top of his lungs.

Raf had only been half listening. Most of his attention was focused on the crushing pressure that had suddenly appeared around his legs, arms, and neck. It felt like, of course, he was being pushed into the wall, but it also felt like something was pulling him into it as well. What had wrapped itself around his neck was practically cutting off his air supply, turning his face slightly red, and he tried to lift his hands up to his neck, but they too had been wrapped up and were beginning to get crushed. He opened his mouth and tried to say something, anything, but he couldn’t breath and the only sound that left his throat was a terribly painful sounding choking noise.

“Stop!” Seeing the vines wrap themselves around Raf’s body Ra’ Shari jumped forward and grabbed onto Micah’s arm, trying to pull him away. “Micah stop! It’s killinghim!” Tears started forming in her eyes and panic started taking over as she gave up trying to pull Micah away from him, and instead she reached out and clawed at the vines strangling Raf. She frantically wrapped her fingers around the writhing vines, and she tried tearing them away, but they only ended up wrapping themselves around her fingers. She narrowly managed to pull her hands away each time she tried.

The first few tears started falling down her face and she cried out when she realized that her attempts at saving Raf weren’t helping at all. Micah, still with his arm pinning Raf to the wall, watched Ra’ Shari try to save him with narrowed eyes that still burned with anger. Of course he knew that he should save Raf, but at the moment he didn’t want to. He wanted to stand there and watch him suffocate to death. His eyes focused again on Ra’ Shari when she cried out in panic and fear once more. Raf’s condition kept getting worse and worse at a quick pace, his eyes starting to roll into the back of his head and his face was turning slightly purple, and Micah knew that Ra’ Shari was absolutely traumatized.

Biting the inside of his cheek he pulled back, tugging on Raf’s shirt, managing to rip the vines in the process and when he was loose Micah let him go. Raf fell to the ground, barely managing to hold himself up on his hands and knees, but in only a few seconds he collapsed onto the dirt floor. Ra’ Shari too had gone with him, and she was just starting to sit up, legs tucked underneath herself.

Her whole body was trembling and she reached out, pushing Raf carefully onto his back and the first thing she did was check for signs of breathing and a pulse. Both were there, but they were weak. Standing up slowly on shaky legs she quickly wiped at her face, ridding it of her tears, and she turned towards Micah. He still stood where he had been as he was pinning Raf to the wall, his face hard as he brooded over the fact he hadn’t killed Raf. He knew he had made the right decision though. If he had indeed let the vines strangle Raf then he would have ruined everything with Ra’ Shari and that was the last thing he wanted.

“We need to keep moving so we can find the others,” Ra’ Shari said quietly, just barely above a whisper. “Help me carry him.” Naturally she expected some resistance, but the fact that Micah didn’t even move a muscle shocked her, and she felt a little betrayed. “Fine then. I’ll carry him myself.”

Bending down she looped her arms under Raf’s, and she lifted his upper body into a sitting position. Now that she could get a better grip on him she wrapped her arms around his waist and with a great effort she dragged him about a yard before tripping over her own feet.

Micah’s face fell in defeat as he sighed heavily. He quietly stepped over to her and took her place as he kneeled to loop his arms under Raf’s. “Grab his legs. You’ll have to lead, but our eyes have adjusted to the darkness so we should be fine.” Ra’ Shari nodded, thankful that Micah was helping her with Raf, but she still couldn’t help but feel disconnected from him. She grabbed onto Raf’s ankles despite this, and her and Micah lifted Raf up off the ground, continuing on their way through the maze.

---

“This…is boring,” Aya said in a dull voice. It had already been a half hour since the rest of the gang entered the maze, and so far nothing utterly amazing had happened to the three who stayed behind.

Soren pulled his arm away from his face--it had been thrown across his eyes to keep the sunlight out of them--and looked at the two girls with an accusing glare. “Do you have to be so loud? Some of us are trying to relax.” He placed his arm over his eyes once more with a sigh. A few seconds of peaceful calmness had passed over them but all of a sudden a small object went whizzing through the air, smacking Soren on the arm. He shot up with narrowed eyes, glaring at the two girls sitting about twenty feet away, legs tucked underneath themselves, hands on knees, and innocent looks on their faces. “Alright…who threw this?” he asked as he held up a small brown pebble.

“Huh? Where did that come from?” Rin asked while pointing at the stone, a smile threatening to form on her face. Holding his suspicious, accusing glare Soren flicked the rock away to the side and slowly laid back down against the tree, shooting them one last look before covering his eyes.

Aya smiled evilly and quickly scooped up a handful of pebbles. “This is payback for going through our stuff and drenching us in cold water, jerk!” she whispered, wickedly smiling at Rin, her accomplice, her partner in crime, her number one crony when it came to wrong doing. The blue haired girl giggled in excitement, her friend shushing her and telling her not to give it away.

Another pebble soared through the air and ricocheted off Soren’s foot. The next one bounced off his elbow, and the third nicked his chin. His eyebrows, still hidden by his arm, were knitted together in annoyance and he was just about ready to jump up and shout at the two troublesome girls. When another small rock narrowly missed his ear he quickly threw his arm down by his side. “That’s it! I’ve--” His eyes widened in horror when he saw a fist sized rock falling towards his face. Using his quick reflexes he rolled to the left and over a tree root that had come through the ground. The rock hit the ground, creating a huge indent in the soil.

Thinking that this was Aya and Rin’s doing, Soren glanced over at them with large, angry eyes, but they never even noticed. Both girls were looking upwards, their eyes staring along the branches of the nearest trees, terror struck looks on their faces. The pebbles that Aya was still holding dropped from her hand without her noticing. Soren slowly glanced upwards as well, dreading what he might find. “Oh great gods,” he whispered.

“Soren?” Rin asked quietly, her voice shaking. “What are those things?”

He slowly stood up, trying not to make any sudden movements, and when he had accomplished that he started to slide his feet in the girls’ direction. “Monkeys.”

“More like monkeys on steroids!” Aya screeched underneath her breath. High above them on the branches of the oversized trees stood rows and rows of these “monkeys.” They would probably be almost as tall as me,Aya concluded. They had bright, brownish-red fur (though some had fur that was turning a grayish color--perhaps signifying that they were older) and their faces were similar to the anatomy of a baboon, sharp teeth protruding from their black lips. Their tails were black and thin except for a small tuft of fur on the end making the two girls think of a lion’s.

One of these monkeys in particular stood out, probably the leader of the group. He was larger, much more muscular than the others, and the fur on his chest was just starting to gray ever so slightly. Resting in front of him was a large gray boulder roughly the size of a TV, and he stood propped up on top of it, his claws scratching against it in almost the same way a person would tap their fingers on a table. He was staring down at the three below him, dark, beady eyes watching their every move.

Soren had cut the distance between him and the girls in half by now, but it had taken so long to do only that! He had never dealt with these creatures before--though he had heard stories--and from what everyone else (that only being a few) said they didn’t have much patience. “Sspt!” Aya and Rin tore their gaze away from the monkeys and looked at Soren out of the corner of their eyes. “When I say so, turn and run as quick as you can and hide behind that tree,” he said while nodding at a tree almost thirty feet behind the girls.

The monkey leader up in the tree let out a deep guttural noise that shook his sides. He wasn’t happy at all. Sure he was an animal, but he could tell the three below him were planning something. His eyes narrowed on Soren. The monkey could tell he was male…the only male. Staring directly at Soren the leader let out a high pitched screech, his claws sliding against the rock and leaving white trails.

Soren simply stood there. He wasn’t sure what to do. He wasn’t a monkey and he had no way of understanding this creature, but to him the leader’s screech sounding almost like a challenge. The creature screeched again though this time it was louder. His fur was standing more on end and his body had grown stiff; Soren could tell he was getting angry. Was he angry that Soren hadn’t accepted his challenge? Once again he screeched, saliva flying from his mouth and his eyes were wild.

Damn, damn, damn, damn!Soren knew this thing was getting pissed off. Pissed off because he hadn’t accepted his challenge. But how was he supposed to do that? Screech back? There was no way in heck he was ever going to do that. Come on…think!He racked his brain for something, anything that might help them.

Black beady eyes narrowed in anger. That was it. The leader wasn’t going to give this male any more chances to accept his challenge. If this male wasn’t going to fight him one-on-one then he would fight against his whole army. The black eyes darted away from Soren and landed on the two girls practically holding onto each other for comfort and support. They were his new target.

All three of them--Soren, Aya, and Rin--stared in fear as the leader picked up the huge boulder and held it above his head. He sucked in a deep breath of air and let out a horrendously loud screeching sound that sounded almost prehistoric, and all three of their heads started to ache. It seemed as if the sound had went into their ears only to get stuck in their skull, ricocheting against their brain. This was the perfect opportunity for the monkey leader.

He heaved the boulder forward and sent it down towards the ground…right at Rin and Aya. “Move!” Soren yelled as he ran towards the girls. Both of them were too terrified and shocked, however, to get their bodies to work. All they could do was watch the boulder head right towards them.