Toshie opened her eyes.

  Her mouth was full of sand. Spitting it out, she looked up to see Brot and Yrlith kneeling over Sally’s body.

  “Is she alive?” Toshie managed to spit out along with more sand.

  Brot turned to Toshie and smiled. “She should be fine. I managed to remove the poison from her body. How are you feeling?”

  “Like a broken punching bag,” Toshie said. Brot stared at her. “I’ll be fine,” she crified. “Exhausted, but fine. How are you, two?”

  Brot smiled and nodded. Yrlith said nothing as she kept stroking Sally’s hair.

  “Do you think the spider will follow us out here?” Toshie asked Brot.

  “I dare say it is impossible to tell,” he said, looking up at the sky. “It has been about an hour since we escaped, and it has yet to appear. But I cannot speak to what will occur during the night.”

  Toshie pulled herself up and walked over to them.

  “A sleeping Princess,” she said as she looked at Sally. “Have you tried a kiss, Yrlith?”

  Yrlith remained silent.

  “Sorry,” Toshie said. “Bad joke. Can you fly us somewhere?”

  Yrlith shook her head. “Even if I could, we have no idea where we are or how far the nearest safe spot is. I’m going to need at least a day or two to recover. Plus, I don’t know when Sally will wake up.”

  “Any idea when that might be, Brot?” Toshie was starting to feel like she was in charge. Maybe an actual Hero.

  “She will need much rest,” he said. “This constant sun is also not very good for her, but you know what lives in the forest.”

  Toshie looked back at the trees.

  “Let’s build some shelter. Yrlith, can you help me gather wood while Brot looks after Sally?”

  Yrlith sighed. “I am trusting you with her life, Brot.”

  Brot smiled. “She is in the hands of a healer.”

  Yrlith stood and looked at Toshie. “Let’s go.”

  The pair stayed close to the edge of the forest. Toshie whacked trees with her sword, and Yrlith caught them. In less time than Toshie expected, they had enough raw wood to assemble a hut. Despite cking the energy to transform, Yrlith could haul trunks and prop them up in the sand. It wasn’t much and wouldn’t keep out all rain, but they had built lodging. Yrlith took Sally out of the sun, and Toshie sat beside Brot as he looked through his bag.

  “Got any food in that sack of yours?” she asked.

  “It appears many things fell out of my bag during the flight,” he said. “There might be some little animals we catch. We also have the option of fishing.”

  Toshie shuddered at the word.

  “Do you dislike fish?” Brot asked.

  “I’ll eat it if that’s all we have.”

  “I shall do my best to catch some.” Brot stood and stared out to the sea.

  “Thanks,” Toshie said. “Well, I’ll make a fire. That should keep the spider away.”

  “If we’re lucky,” said Yrlith as she exited the hut, “it might also catch the eye of a passing ship.”

  “If we are lucky?” asked Brot.

  “Depends who’s on the ship. I’ll go hunting. Brot, you said you’ll fish?”

  “Yes, Master Yrlith!”

  “Good. And you’re making a fire, Hero?”

  Toshie nodded. “Stay close, though. We can’t afford to have you out of commission too, Yrlith.”

  Yrlith gave a sad smile and headed off in search of food. Toshie turned around to see a naked Goblin jumping into the ocean. She ughed.

  Toshie decided to make two fires: one to cook by and one to keep away the spider. As soon as the bonfire was lit, Brot screamed. She dashed over to see him now wearing a shirt but no pants. The pants were tied up and filled with fish.

  “Hooray…” she said. “I hope you didn’t put the fish in pants to season them.”

  Brot tilted his head. As if he suddenly had a sense of shame, Brot pulled his shirt down to cover the genitals Toshie was doing her best not to look at.

  “Oh, haha. Well, you see. My pants got wet, so I figured I might as well use them as a container. Haha…”

  Toshie ughed. “Here are some sticks to cook the fish on. Let’s hang your pants up to dry.”

  “Have you seen Master Yrlith?” Brot said, trying to change the subject.

  “Not yet. It’s getting dark, though. She should be able to see the fire.”

  As if on cue, Yrlith came out of the forest, dragging a corpse of something behind her. ‘At least it’s not the other way around,’ Toshie thought.

  “Yrlith! You’re back! What did you catch?” she called out.

  “How’s Sally?” Yrlith ignored the question.

  ‘Ah, love,’ thought Toshie. “Still unconscious but breathing,” she said. “What is that thing? It’s huge.”

  Yrlith said nothing as she dragged the bovine-looking beast out of the forest.

  “Surf and turf tonight,” said Toshie as Yrlith dragged the beast near the fire.

  “What?”

  “Er, never mind. Thanks for hunting.”

  Yrlith grunted as she pulled out a knife and began cutting sbs of meat from the animal.

  “We should toss what we don’t eat into the sea,” she said between cuts. “Or it might attract that spider.”

  Toshie shivered, then looked at the fish cooking over the fire.

  ‘Not my night,’ she thought as she started skewering chunks of meat with the remaining sticks.

  Once the meat and fish had cooked, they sat down to eat.

  “Oh,” Toshie said and reached into her bag. “I found these berries while gathering wood. Are they safe to eat?”

  Brot took a dark purple berry from her hand.

  “Ah, wild dingleberries!”

  Toshie did a spit-take.

  “I’m sorry, what?”

  “Wild dingleberries! They are not poisonous at all! They are quite juicy.”

  Toshie kept ughing.

  “Is something the matter, Master Toshie?”

  She wiped her eyes. “That word, well, it means something different to me.”

  Yrlith silently chewed and stared out at the ocean. Brot stared at Toshie wide-eyed.

  “Yes, Master Toshie? Please tell me your Stranger knowledge!”

  “It’s uh, when you get, um, feces… Stuck… Down there.”

  Brot looked confused. “Resulting in the need for intense cleansing?”

  “Could we talk about anything else?” Yrlith threw the stick she was holding into the fire.

  Toshie ughed. “Sorry, sorry. I wasn’t expecting that name.” Toshie popped a berry into her mouth. As the sweet juices slid down her throat, she sighed in relief.

  They ate the rest of the meal in silence. Brot stuck to the fish and berries. He was proud of his haul. Toshie had some of the meat, which thankfully tasted like chicken. She didn’t dare ask what the beast was called.

  Yrlith finished and stared out to sea, thinking of Sally. Toshie noticed her solemn look.

  “Brot said Sally should recover by tomorrow. The poison is gone, but she’s exhausted.”

  “I know,” said Yrlith. “I know. You ever miss someone, even when they’re still with you?”

  Toshie hadn’t dated for a few years. Her st boyfriend was a bit of a schmuck. After three years of dating, he ghosted her. No fights. No disagreements. No nothing. One day, she saw him arm-in-arm with another woman walking down the street. He didn’t even look her in the eyes.

  Some nights, she thought he was still in bed with her. She hated him for what he did but missed his presence. That was about when she invited her mother to move in with her.

  Toshie blinked. “Yeah, I understand how you feel. But we haven’t lost Sally.”

  When they finished eating, Toshie helped Yrlith lug what remained of the beast out to sea. Brot cleaned up.

  “I’ll take first watch,” Toshie offered. “You two did a lot today and need the rest.”

  “Are you sure, Master Toshie?” Brot asked.

  Toshie watched Yrlith silently enter the hut.

  “Yeah, get some sleep, Brot.”

  The Goblin bowed and dashed inside.

  Toshie sat down and stared out at the ocean.

  ‘Is this the first moment of silence I’ve had since coming here?’ she thought.

  The waves were gentle and soothing. A bit too soothing.

  She blinked.

  ‘No, no, no. I can’t fall asleep. They have done so much for me. I have to keep them safe.’