Norbert jumped over the first insect, landing on its hard exoskeleton head and leapt forward to the next one. Focusing with all his effort to have the light bleed through his system Norbert rushed past the group. Having jumped out the other side, with only a few scratches on the task, Norbert ducked down to the ground as a fireball flew at his head. Scrambling on the ground, Norbert looked ahead to see a small crater formed, the grass around it black.
Gulping, thoughts running through his head if that happened to him if he had been hit, becoming a smoking pair of legs Norbert pushed on, running in a zig-zag position. At every dodge to the side, Norbert heard an explosion behind him; no longer looking back, just forward, Norbert sprinted ahead. Looking up, panic surged within himself, for further ahead, Norbert saw a single hill, and out of the hill came a swarm of insects, all of a similar type that threw the fire, with dark brown skin, having six legs and the head of a spider. From its mouth, Norbert caught where the fireball came from.
Jumping to the left, knowing he could no longer go any deeper into the territory, Norbert headed right, remembering the ostrich creatures from yesterday were able to cross at some point, hoping that it was outside of the territory of these insects. Looking ahead and seeing insects, Norbert clapped for a dagger before dismissing the thought. If he stopped for even a second to attack, he would be instantly swarmed and either ripped to pieces or become a shish kebab.
Impacting them again, Norbert jumped more into the air and ran on top of the insects. Landing squarely in the centre of their bodies allowed Norbert to keep at the correct height. Looking ahead, Norbert needed another fifteen meters of running before being free and on solid ground again. Leaping for the next two, Norbert made a path to jump off the rest of the way.
Stepping to the left, he pushed against the body, feeling it give out under his impact; Norbert looked down and slowly started to fall, seeing a mouth open to swallow him. Quickly pulling a dagger out, Norbert stabbed it downwards, feeling it crunch into the carapace; with it now down, Norbert jumped off the insect, leaving his dagger behind as the horde consumed the one he had just killed.
Finally out and seeing only a few groups ahead, which Norbert could survive, sprinting forward, Norbert whooped into the air; having been given victory over this battle, Norbert looked back, feeling bile come up his throat at what he witnessed. The insect he had defeated was no more; Norbert saw a rain of blood covering some bugs around it, having ripped apart their fallen comrade. Looking carefully, Norbert saw some of them eating it as well. Shaking his head to remove the memories, Norbert sprinted forward, knowing that at this pace, he could keep it up for as long as needed.
Continuing to sprint, not wanting to meet his maker, Norbert ran along the ridge, looking for a place to cross over. The sun slowly moved along the sky as Norbert ran during the day. Norbert ran on the mostly flat ground, careful of the rocks that occasionally checked around him. The horde that before was following him slowly quieted down to a group of fifty or so, still way too many for Norbert to tackle. Up in the sky, the clouds started to come in as Norbert checked to see if Obsius was around to guide him back to the town.
Watching his eye on the river below him, Norbert looked to see whether it narrowed, hoping they weren't on the other side yet and decimating everything there. As Norbert ran forward, the pack that was following him suddenly stopped. Norbert, not even looking or caring at what caused it dived down the slope to the river, knowing now was a good time as any. Taking his bag off and holding it above his head Norbert jumped into the river.
The cold hit him, the water invading his clothes, blades of ice hitting his skin. Feeling the current take him further down the river, Norbert didn't fight it, only focusing on reaching the other bank. With water going into his eyes, Norbert slowly made progress until his feet finally sunk into the bank. Squelching his boots through the rocky bank, Norbert slowly climbed up the river onto the closest hill.
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Falling, dropping his backpack next to him, Norbert breathed in, relieved that he was still around. Norbert closed his eyes, letting his fear wash away with every breath. Counting the sheep jumping behind his eyes, Norbert just counted them, forgetting everything else he would know.
ACHOO
Norbert sneezed, shivering as the wind went over the hill. His clothes stuck to his skin. Norbert shivered, feeling the cold that engulfed him. Taking his clothes off, Norbert squeezed them out, forming a small puddle of water on the hill, watching as it slowly disappeared into the hill. With the clothes a bit drier than before, Norbert donned them again, looking around for the way back. Looking through his bag Norbert picked out the pear, eating into it again, happy for some familiarity with the strange occurrence he had just experienced. Feeling around with the pear in his mouth Norbert confirmed the book was still dry, happy it did not take a spill.
Looking around, Norbert saw nothing to discern the border where the insects stopped. Not finding anything, Norbert ran back up the river to return to the camp and notify the others of what he had seen. Taking a breath in for the long run he would need to make, saying a quick prayer that he wouldn't overshoot the camp, Norbert once more took off at a run, going up and down the hills.
As the sun slowly descended, Norbert made his way back to the camp, always keeping an eye out on the other side of the river to ensure nothing reared its head. But for all his caution, nothing ever happened, the bushes once more obscuring the other side's infestation.
As the sun dipped below the horizon, Norbert looked up, seeing a black object in the sky. Smiling and shouting at it, the bird descended before Norbert opening his arms, caught the bird. The incessant chirps and pecks on the head made Norbert more aware he was in trouble.
Still laughing, Norbert scratched the bird's head, asking, "So buddy, which way back to the camp?" The bird flapped up, landing on his shoulder and pointing his head in a direction slightly to the left. Having overshot the camp, it seemed Norbert nodded in confirmation before the bird took off again into the sky, Norbert following along with the pre-determined direction.
Rising one of the final hills, Norbert could see the lights of civilisation, or so he hoped, and it wasn't the fire-breathing insects that attacked the town. Walking back to the camp, Norbert looked around; the sun had finally set; Norbert made his way around the camp, looking at Martitia and hearing noises from the camp; Norbert remembered the orange he still had in his backpack.
Pulling it out, he peeled it, tossing the peels on the ground outside the camp before eating the pieces within. As he only had a handful left, Norbert opened the tent flap to see if the person he was looking for was inside.
Seeing the usual crowd around the table of scouts, Norbert thought, what did the rest of them do during the day if they left after him and returned before? Shaking his head, Norbert made his way to the table.
"Well, what a day I had," Norbert said, sitting down at a space on the bench. Plopping the last piece of orange into his mouth before continuing, "Did you have any idea what was on the other side of the river?"
The rest of the group just looked between Norbert and Martitia, not wanting to interrupt whatever was happening.
"We believed there was something but had nothing specific. I guess from your reaction that you found out what that was?" she asked, leaning back slightly, waiting for Norbert to speak.
"Found something I did; a whole nest of fire-breathing insects came after me", Norbert said while looking around in his backpack, pulling out the book, opening it up to the correct page and spinning it around.
The rest of the group crowded around, and people from other tables became quiet, wanting to hear the latest news. Norbert looked and saw Dobert stand up from his table in the centre, making his way over to the table, leaning over to look at the book.
"I have no clue how many there were; at first, there was a large variety of insects just milling about. I was sitting on a ridge, eating while identifying them. I started getting up and walking about the place to have a look. Suddenly they started fighting each other when a fireball came my way. I dodged to the side, and then, all the insects became interested in only me." Norbert said, babbling, remembering the site he saw of the hill bellowing out more of the beasts. "When I was running around, what I thought was a hill must have been a nest of sorts as they came streaming out in a constant flow."
Gulping for air, Norbert continued, "After making my way out, I ran across the ridge, following the river for who knows how long. A decent amount, around fifty, kept on following me until, at some point, they all stopped at once. Not looking around, I went to the other side of the river, returning here." Norbert finished his story.
Martitia looked up at Dousan, "Meeting time?" She asked, only receiving a nod in return.