Chapter 7

After our picnic, we had flown all the way to the edge of the forest and pitched camp, setting up our only tent. Chase and Aiden had taken turns on lookout duty in a hammock outside.

"Wake up, sleepy heads!" Autumn chirped. "Sun's up, and we have to get going."

"Five more hours," Aiden groaned.

I sat up blearily. "It's too early, Autumn."

"If you get up, you should know breakfast is ready. If not, you should also know I will have no remorse tipping your hammock."

"Couldn't you just bring breakfast here?" Aiden mumbled.

"First up gets served first." She stepped back outside.

Aiden sat up. "What? Why didn't she say so? Race ya, Hails!"

"You're going down, Aiddie-boy!" I jumped out of my hammock and ran after him.

"Good morning," Chase greeted us. He and Autumn were already eating.

Aiden turned to me. "They didn't count, they were already outside. I say we just call this a tie."

"Deal," I agreed.

"Also, your hair's a mess."

"Shut up." I ran a hand through my knotted hair and tried to pat it down.

"Doesn't matter," Chase said. "She's still the prettiest." My face flushed, and I focused my gaze on the ground.

"What? Chasey, I'm the prettiest. Stop lying." Aiden sat down and grabbed an apple. "She's cheating, too. It's the being-a-princess-thing. Autumn and her both get bonus beauty points. It's discrimination, and I won't stand for it."

"It's okay, Aiden," Autumn reassured him, trying to hold back her smile. "You're a beautiful butterfly. Chase is just jealous."

"A beautiful unicorn-butterfly," Aiden corrected as I sat down next to them. "Thank you for noticing, Autumn. You were always my favorite."

"She's bribing you, don't listen to her," Chase fake-hissed.

"Too late, Chase. Too late."

Chase threw his apple core at him. "Traitor."

"No food-fighting," Autumn reprimanded him. Aiden gave his friend a smug grin and bit into his own apple.

After breakfast, we loaded our peryton and huddled around Autumn as she drew our way on the map.

"We're right here." She pointed to the map. "There's a path there, which leads all the way to the outpost. The only thing we need to do is find the path. The rest is easy."

"Well, once we get there," Chase said, "we do have to convince the guards to help us."

"One step at a time, Chasey." Aiden smiled.

"Stop calling me that."

I giggled. "I have to say, Chase, I admire your determination. Most people, me included, would have just given up on the nickname-thing by now."

"Your nickname is Hails. It's cute. Mine is just awful."

"Just like you then." Aiden grinned. "Autumn, don't think I have forgotten you. Your name is just a bit trickier, but no nickname escapes the great Aiden."

"I can't wait." Autumn laughed.

"I know you can't. Who wouldn't want one of my nicknames?"

"Uh, me?" Chase raised an eyebrow.

"You just don't know what you want, that's why."

"You make no sense, Aiddie," I teased him. "Alright, if everyone's ready, let's go."

Aiden opened his red, orange, and yellow wings. "A journey of a thousand days starts with a single wing-beat," he said wisely. "My math teacher said this to us one day for some reason."

We took off and flew on, scanning below for a path of beaten earth wide enough for a chariot, according to Autumn's description. However, after an hour, we still hadn't seen anything but trees, which became more and more densely packed.

"I don't understand." Autumn frowned at her map. "The whole purpose of that path is to be seen from above to lead travelers - well, besides being the supplies route. We should have seen it by now."

"What do we do?" Aiden asked. "Should we land or keep going?"

"If we keep flying, we should find the outpost at some point, right?" I reasoned.

"In theory, yes," Chase said. "But we should also have found that path." Autumn handed him the map and he studied it, before giving it back to her with a shrug. "I guess we go with Hailey's -" He looked down. Aiden was several yards below us. "Aiden, what are you doing?"

"Maybe we just can't see the path because the trees grew back," he yelled back. "We just have to fly lower to look through the branches." He was now just above the canopy, his feet skimming the leaves of the tallest trees.

"Maybe he's got a point," I said. "How fast do trees grow, here?"

"In Sol, just like the norm," Autumn answered. "Here? Who knows."

"Let's just fly down to him, then," Chase concluded.

Our peryton at our side, we soared lower and caught up with Aiden

"You can't see much," he told us. "The leaves are too thick."

"Ten we keep heading north and a bit east," Chase decided. "We don't have the path, but we do have the sun to guide us."

We agreed and rose a bit higher to catch the right air currents. After about another hour, though, a northern wind made our journey more difficult. My wings were beginning to tire, when Aiden said,

"Look, there's a small clearing below."

"Good eye, Aiden," Chase praised. "How about we take a break?"

Autumn and I were more than happy to comply. Grey and Juno didn't seem too disappointed either, as the clearing was covered in soft, lush grass - also known as flying-reindeer food.

Autumn sat down and spread her map on a rock to avoid it getting stained by the humid soil.

"I still can't believe we missed the path, but if my calculations are correct, we should be right about here." She made a circle with a finger. We weren't too far from the dot that marked the outpost. "If we keep going like this, we should get there soon."

"Good to hear," Aiden said. "Because I don't have any more cookies, and it looks like our lunch is going to consist mainly of apples and hard bread."

"They'll have food at the outpost," Chase reassured him.

"They better." Aiden grabbed his bow. "This is a forest. Forests should have food, right?"

"Don't go to far off," Chase instructed, knowing that plainly forbidding him to go would be pointless. "Make sure you can always see, or at least hear, us."

"And don't eat anything you're not familiar with," Autumn warned. "Some berries look good, but might be poisonous."

"And try not to trip on roots," I added my own piece of advice with a smile.

"I'll be fine, guys. I'll be back in ten minutes. If not, send the peryton after me, because I might have been eaten by a panther." He waved at us as he walked off.

"Hilarious." Chase sat against a rock, scaring off a little sparrow.

"Do you think we'll see any more jackalopes?" I asked Autumn.

"With the noise we're making, not right now. But yes, I'm sure we will. There was one around our camp earlier this morning, but you were still sleeping."

"Aw, I can't believe I missed it."

"Don't worry," Chase said. "There'll be more."

We were chatting and laughing between ourselves, when a scream scattered birds in nearby trees.

"Aiden!" We all jumped to our feet.

----
No, Aiden! What did you do now?
Do any of you have any guesses? ;) If anyone finds the exact reason why he screamed, you'll get a dedication!
Hint: no, he didn't scream because he's out of cookies. It's a bit more serious than that. Good guess though ;)

Also, today was @jmmb3709 's birthday! Happy birthday!
By the way, sorry if it was also your birthday and I didn't mention you, it's kind of hard for me to keep up... So happy early or late birthday to everyone! ;)
More seriously, if it is your birthday today say so in the messages, I'll do my best to answer :)

I hope you enjoyed that chapter!
Cover by @Ebyay :)