Not Out Of The Woods Yet

by Kiernan

Chapter the Seventh: Flotation

The next few days down the river were fairly uneventful. They saw some deer, countless birds, and a few ground mammals, as well. The most exciting event was when they stopped to rest one night; they ate rabbit instead of fish. Venny's condition was becoming worse, though. He needed greens in his diet, but there was nothing around that was safe to eat. He was needing to stop all the time, he was so sluggish.

One morning, as Perry was waking up, he looked into the river. Among the rapids was a large assortment of driftwood. The river was too cold to float down, especially if Venny didn't have the energy to keep himself above the surface, but what if they had a raft? They could stay above the water and let the current carry them to safety.

He began pulling out the floating logs. They weren't straight, so he had to take care when putting them together. The saw on the back of the knife helped to keep things uniform, and with a few vines cut from the tree branches, they had a reasonable-looking raft.

With both of them aboard, they kicked off into the water, just below the rapids. Having helped move the raft down past the rocks, Venny was already exhausted. He lay on his back, his tail drifting in the water beneath him.

It wasn't a very well-constructed raft; the floor was unstable and there was no steering mechanism. If the craft wasn't just for floating down the river, they would need a rudder to keep their course straight. If they needed to go the other way, a sail would be helpful. They had neither of those. A stabilizing rail underneath would allow them to stand on the raft, but that was unnecessary for their purposes. They just needed to float down the river.

Venny kept his eyes on the clouds. After a few hours, he mumbled, "Perry, are you there?"

Perry grasped his brother's hoof.

"I'm worried, Per," admitted Venny. "I've been having this nightmare these last few nights that we're not going to make it back to Ponyville. I don't even know where we're going. I mean, I trust you to take us somewhere, and you seem to have been going the same way this whole time, but how sure are you that this is the right way?"

Perry was silent. He had originally been sure of his plan, but he was growing less sure with every passing day. They should have found a town by now. The fact that they hadn't was very upsetting. That said, their inability to find edible forage was a good indication that this wasn't a great place to settle. Still, it was just a matter of time now. Rivers lead to the ocean, and oceans meant fishing villages. His greatest worry was that Venny wouldn't last long enough to reach it.

"I'm also afraid that we've doomed ourselves. It's been almost two weeks. I'm starting to wonder if maybe we should have stayed in that cell. I mean, sure, we'd probably still be locked up, but at least we'd be well-fed." He turned to Perry. "I know you're trying, but I'm not like you, Per. I can't survive eating nothing but meat. Most ponies don't even eat meat." He turned back to the sky. "What I wouldn't give for a daffodil sandwich with dandelion jelly right now. I'd even settle for dad's spicy pepper jelly."

Venny laughed and Perry couldn't help but smile. They were both missing their parents at the moment, so much so that they'd even accept being yelled at for leaving if it meant they could sleep under a roof again.

Tears began to form in Venny's eyes. "Do you think... nevermind." Venny rolled over, looking away from Perry. Perry crawled forward, resting his chin on Venny's shoulder, coaxing him to ask his question. "I was just wondering, do you think dad is out here looking for us?"

Perry nodded without a second thought. He could feel it in his heart, Kai was out here looking for them both. If they weren't trying to hide from the foal-nappers, he might have found them by now. It's possible that he wasn't alone, either, as their uncle Sil was also probably roaming around looking for them.

Perry's assurance did not put Venny at ease. He placed a hoof on Perry's head and gently tousled his mane. They were filthy. It had been more than two weeks since last they bathed, and even though they didn't like baths, they'd gladly take one now. The scrubbing, bubbles and the exfoliation would be nothing compared to what they'd gone through during their time in the woods.

The rest of the day passed by in a quiet blur. The only sounds were that of the birds in the trees and the splashing of the water as it tumbled over the rocks below and lapped at the sides of their raft. Venny had napped through most of the day, but despite their speed being slower than when they'd been walking, they managed to make a very large amount of progress today. They didn't stop to eat, in fact they didn't eat at all that night. Perry wasn't very hungry, and Venny had fallen asleep again. They slept on the raft, letting the river carry them through the night.

The next morning, they awoke to a harrowing sight. The river had fed out into a lake. A very large one, at that. With no sail, no rudder, and no paddle, they were becalmed in the middle of the water. Thankfully, they weren't alone. Three other boats were out on the lake. In fact, one of them was approaching them at a rapid rate.

Perry began waving to them, and Venny called out to draw their attention. They were ecstatic. Soon, they would be going home. However, all of that hope drained when they saw the ponies in the boat. There were three stallions, each of a different color.

"My, my, my," chuckled Dark Flash, his face rather badly burnt. "What have we here? A duo of escaped convicts, it looks like. Lets take you back to your cell, shall we?"

Comments

[Bronycommander]

No, now it was all for nothing