Chapter 10 -- 10
Kaya exhaled, eyes scanning the tree again. Then she remembered—Oh yeah, the freeloaders.
Dragging herself back through the brush, she pocketed the sulking sparrow without ceremony. But the snake?
Oh no. Not a chance in hell.
She wasn’t one of those people—the kind who warmed up venomous reptiles in their shirt like it was a sweet fairytale bonding moment. What if the thing bit her in her sleep? What was she supposed to do then? Die dramatically under a tree? Absolutely not.
So she did the logical thing.
Wrapped it. Bound it tighter than a military-grade parachute. Tied it with thick leaves until it looked like a leafy little burrito. Well, a donut-shaped burrito—because she’d left just a tiny hole near its nose so it could breathe. She wasn’t cruel. Just careful.
The climb up the tree wasn’t as graceful as she liked to imagine it would be.
Her ankle throbbed with every move, and her arms screamed in protest. But she grit her teeth and kept going, because lying down below, exposed and helpless, wasn’t an option. And if she let herself get soft now—if she let the pain win—then what was the point?
She hadn’t made it this far just to sleep on the forest floor and become someone’s midnight snack.
After what felt like forever, Kaya finally dragged herself onto the thickest, sturdiest branch she could find. It wasn’t too high, but it was enough—enough to keep her off the ground, away from whatever could be lurking down there. Her limbs trembled from the effort, her legs burning, her ankle throbbing from earlier. Gritting her teeth, she stretched her legs out in front of her, trying to ease the pain.
She leaned her back against the trunk and looked out over the dark jungle. It was quiet. Almost too quiet. But when her eyes lifted to the sky, something in her stilled.