The four of them walked west around Zone 3 for hours. They were heading towards the Urqaani camp—situated on the west edge of Zone 3—and according to Eve, wouldn’t get there until tomorrow. Caruso knew they could save time by cutting across Zone 4, but without a slimekey, Webber was stuck in Zone 3. Caruso didn't mind, he was in no rush.
It was clear Webber wanted a slimekey. But with only three days left to find one, it was becoming more and more unlikely. There had been enough deaths among the Foresters and Urchins to allow for an additional key. But besides hoping for a very precise storm, there was little anyone could do.
This didn’t stop them from trying. Pango had a knack for predicting weather patterns. So whenever he came to a knoll, he, with the injured stoat riding his shoulder, would climb up to peer out through the canopy, or sometimes just to smell the air. Unfortunately, on all of Pango's climbs, the weather was reported to be clear with no sign of deteriorating.
Eve had them stay closer to the Zone 2 line in the hopes of avoiding Forester patrols. Being close to the shroomline also allowed them to pick the Zone 2 medicinals. Eating only medicinals wasn’t ideal, but it was better than eating nothing but Zone 3 drugshrooms. They found plenty of sourstems, some pennylace, and a large patch of dog's vomit; all of which could be eaten safely in large quantities. The taste left a lot to be desired. Earlier at the anima station, Caruso had seen Eve pack a bunch of things into a sack. He wished he'd thought to tell her where the dried edible shrooms were.
Since the anima station, Eve still kept an eye on Caruso, but she no longer breathed down his neck or walked in his blinkshadow. This let Caruso relax and finally enjoy some time alone with Webber. It had been a strange transition, going from the intensity at the anima station back to Webber. Webber never questioned him about the station, or what was going on inside his head; it seemed Webber just wanted to slip back into their old groove. And it was exactly what Caruso needed. As he spent more time with Webber, the heaviness of his situation became lighter and easier to bear. It didn't take long before they were back to their old regular selves.
Caruso told him the story of his shroom growing challenge with Kactus. Webber thought Kactus was “a huge twat” and his grin widened as he anticipated the man's downfall. Then, at the reveal of the shroommoth infestation, Webber paused in his tracks, looking like he wanted to punch something. But soon broke into cheers at the part when Niko returned with the truthbutton and forced Kactus’s confession. Webber didn’t know what to think about Kactus’s ensuing break down.
‘So he actually cried?’ Webber asked.
‘Yeah, a lot. Full on sobbing. It got a bit awkward.’
‘Holy shit. Then what happened?’
‘I helped him with his medicinal garden.’
‘Ha! You big softie! Not sure I woulda forgiven him.’
‘I reckon you would’ve.’
Webber looked sceptical but shrugged it away. ‘So, tell me about this bird, Miranda.’
Caruso countered by asking Webber about Eve. And after needling each other for information, they soon began laughing at the absurdity of both being into girls older than their great grandparents.
Webber told Caruso about all the fights he’d been in, he was especially proud about the time he punched a charging shroom cat in the face. They then spent a long time talking about the trees and the shrooms and all the little things that friends find to talk about.
It was night time when Pango sat down to rest by a little stream. His stoat eagerly leapt from his shoulder, towards the water. It drank thirstily, before limping around sniffing various shrooms—it never strayed too far from Pango.
Eve decided they'd all walked far enough for one day. She sat down and inspected a crossbow from the sack she'd filled with choice items from the anima station.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Webber slapped Caruso on the shoulder, ‘Check this out.’
He plucked a brightly lit purpleveil from the ground and after taking a moment to get his bearings, lobbed it up and away from himself. Webber kept his eyes locked on the shroom. He shuffled a few repositioning steps while cupping his hands out infront of him, then, as the shroom neared the ground, Webber blinked before it.
The shroom glanced off his wrist.
‘Shit! I can get it.’ He tried several more times, needing to pluck a fresh shroom once his original one started to dim. Finally, he made the perfect catch and looked back at Caruso triumphantly.
‘Nice one!’ Caruso said. ‘What does blinking feel like?’
‘Want to give it a go? Jump on my back and we can blink together.’
‘But that only works if you’re heavier than me, right?’
‘You don’t think I am?’
‘Well, I am taller…’
‘Yeah, but you’re also skinny as shit.’ Webber crouched down. ‘Go ahead, jump on. We’ll soon see who’s right.’
Caruso climbed on and tried to somehow brace himself in case Webber suddenly blinked out from under him.
‘Ha! I knew I weighed more.’ Webber said.
‘What do you mean?’
‘We just blinked…’
‘What? No way. Do it again.’
Surely he would’ve noticed it if Webber had blinked. This time Caruso looked at a nearby ash tree studded with bright bakkostems for reference. Without warning, all the shroom lights around him instantly shifted five paces. It was an incredibly disorientating feeling. Caruso lost all sense of balance, tightened his grip on Webber, and they both toppled over.
‘Ha!’ Webber said. ‘I did the same thing when I started blinking. The trick is imagining you’re already there.’
‘Do you get that icy drip down your spine?’
‘Mines more of a cold buzzing. I heard that blinkers normally feel a cold buzzing. When I feel the cold buzz in my spine, I also feel, like, an echo of the same buzz five paces away. All I need to do is “choose” the other one and I instantly blink there. I know that sounds weird as shit. What’s walling like? What tricks can you do?’
‘Tricks?’
Webber looked at him expectantly. Not wanting to disappoint his friend, Caruso found a spot where no branches hung above. It was dark, but with all the surrounding shroom lights he wouldn’t have a problem seeing his walls. He plucked a few blades of grass and dropped them into the breeze. Then, walling in line with the wind, he launched himself straight up, almost thirty paces. He caught himself with the same wall on the way back down. The catch was a little jarring—that would take some to iron out. Even though he had launched himself higher to get onto the shroomcap earlier today, it still seemed to impress Webber. Caruso didn’t mention how much of an adrenaline rush it gave him.
‘My turn!’ Webber said.
‘You sure?’
Webber nodded and rushed to the same spot. Caruso worried it would be harder to judge the walling when it was for someone else, especially at night, so decided to hold back. He launched Webber just twenty paces in the air and caught him without much difficulty.
‘The fuck was that?’ Webber said once he landed. ‘I barely left the wall. Launch me again. Higher this time.’
Caruso launched him closer to thirty paces. Then forty. Webber loved it. He landed with a big grin and asked to go higher still. Caruso launched him again and again, each time a little higher than the last. It was actually easier walling for someone else; easier to judge the speed and distance, and easier to remain calm.
Webber couldn’t get enough. He started to think of increasingly more extreme things to do. First, he had the idea of seeing how many times he could blink while in the air. They found a clear stretch that pointed to the Godshroom. Caruso had to run along beneath him to ensure Webber didn’t blink out of walling range, as well as ensure the breeze didn't affect him too much. As he could only blink once every one or two seconds, Webber managed only three blinks before Caruso caught him.
Next, Webber wanted to see how fast he could go if he ran in a straight line but with Caruso giving each of his strides a little wall boost. They were disappointed to discover that walling didn’t make Webber run any faster, it just made him spend more time in the air. However, if the wall only caught the back half of Webber’s foot, this allowed the wall’s momentum to launch him out on a diagonal, instead of straight up. This made Webber considerably faster. A few times, Webber missed his footing, or Caruso mistimed a wall, sending Webber sprawling over the ground. But Webber always jumped back on his feet, ready to go again. He was impossible to discourage, completely fearless, and he never once doubted Caruso’s ability to wall for him. Finally they got the rhythm just right.
When Webber incorporated blinking in between the boosted strides, he was faster than a sprinting horse—although he quickly ran out of walling range.
Caruso was waiting for him to find his limit, but he didn’t seem to have one. Only when Webber declared he wanted to try and jump over a nearby pine tree did Eve come and impose a limit for him.
‘Okay boys, let's call it there before Webber kills himself. Caruso, its time we had a chat.’ Eve sauntered off motioning Caruso to follow her.