There were only so many songs I remembered in their entirety. Our trip was lasting much, much longer than I had been expecting. The map made it seem so close. My feet were killing me; Jane's probably hurt too given her slight limp.

We need a break.

The map had little detail. It was a zoomed-out map, one that covered a massive area at the cost of such detail. I hadn't had a proper meal since my mushroom incident a few days ago and our water reserve was running a bit low.

We tried filling it up along the way, but even with those measures, we were still about four empty bottles away from hour goal. If we died because we were a few cups short of a gallon, I might as well dig my own grave first.

Less work for Turtley to bury us; he'll surely outlive us both.

While I was staring at the map, trying to look for the smallest coffee stain that might happen to be a village, Jane squinted her eyes. What had she found? No clue, but it might be interesting.

"...Just a rock."

Back to the map.

I was like a monkey, rotating the image as if it would magically appear. How the heck would I know? Apparently, there were some magic things in this world. Maybe it was a magic map that only showed me things I reeeeeeeally wanted.

Jane piped up again.

"I see something!"

I was excited too. Had a village magically appeared when we needed one? Turtle Almighty, I hoped so.

"That's still a rock."

Jane looked down at the ground, trying to count the grains of sand in her little area. I could FEEL her embarrassment. It radiated off of her as if she were a heater in the cold winter. It was somewhat cute, knowing that she was so embarrassed.

I want back to my map. I tried rubbing my finger around the edges, trying to feel for any messages that may have been written on the paper. The fingers could see what the mind couldn't. There had to be something more to the map, something I wasn't seeing.

My fingers felt something, a tiny bump on the paper. I fucking knew it. This map IS special.

As I ran my finger over it a few more times, the tiny little bump disappeared. It was a grain of sand stuck to the paper from our time on the beach. Nothing changed with the map, it remained just as it was; regular paper.

Jane looked excited, staring into the distance. Her eyes looked at something very far away; had she seen something again? Boy did I love rocks... Maybe her eyesight wasn't perfect. Did they even have glasses in this world?

"I see something!"

I was skeptical, so I kept staring at the map, not making any progress on my end either. She had cried wolf twice already, so the third time probably meant it was also a rock. I didn't even want to give her the time of day.

"I really see something!"

Not buying it.

Jane got fed up with me, hitting my shoulder and forcing me to look kilometers past our current position. There were houses. It wasn't marked on the map, so it must not have been super massive and important.

As much as I hated needing to speak with people again when we were this close to turtle heaven, we needed supplies. We wouldn't last two more days based on how little water we had. So I acquiesced, we needed to go.

The walk there was fairly short, taking us over a small hill. With the increased height, we were able to see the full extent of the village. It was very small; there couldn't have been more than three dozen houses.

There was a thriving forest surrounding the entire left half of the village, allowing easy access for hunting and trapping and scavenging. From a hundred meters away, I could see some red berries that were growing on the bushes that lined the edge of the forest. They were big and plump, looking like a mix between a grape and a cranberry.

I was tempted to pick some and have some non-hallucinogenic food, but I knew just how agitated people get when you walk into their home and suddenly start eating their food.

Some of them had already spotted us as we were walking towards them. Before they could get a real good look at who we were, I hid Turtley in our backpack. He was fine with sitting on the extra pair of clothes at the bottom, watching everything unfold through one of the seams.

A young man who was roughly 15 came to meet us. His deep blue, nearly black, hair hung behind his head in a gathered braid. His eyes were the same colored blue as his hair had been, very dark.

He stood apprehensively across from us, holding a worn and beaten metal hoe. He was either a farmer or he chose it as his weapon to meet us with.

Remember Max, we need their water. Don't initially kill them if they don't try and kill you. Save it for later once I have everything I need.

I began the conversation, "Hello! My name is Opnoble and this is my friend Carann. We've been traveling for about a week and have run out of resources, we were hoping to stop by and have a little exchange in order to get some food and water."

The boy didn't relax. They were very far into the middle of nowhere, so I assumed any visitors were bad visitors to them. The boy clearly was apprehensive about me, barely looking at Jane. Good instincts kid, that just makes you the first person I'll kill should the going get rough.

His voice was low and cracking; clearly, puberty was hitting him, "We could give you some food and water, but... I would have to ask our elder first."

The fact that we were basically begging for food and they even entertained the idea was good enough. They must clearly now see me as the super-duper hostile element that would slaughter them all for the heck of it.

Now that I think about it... why don't I do just that? It would be a bit easier than having to ask for food and it being denied. Yes, that was now the plan. Untold destruction and kill everyone.

While I was going about my plan to do such a thing, the boy returned and gestured for us to follow. I was off in my own little thinking bubble, imagining at least three ways to rip out his spine. Fun stuff.

We were brought to a small pavilion, it was a basic canopy over some logs that were the frame. Wooden tables and chairs had been built and put underneath the shade created by the canopy. The tables were long, able to easily hold 50 people.

It looked like everyone in the entire village was there, laughing and chatting as they cooked an enormous pot of stew. So that was why the boy came to us so quickly, everyone was already outside.

We walked through the mass of people, a lot of them looking very similar to the boy; dark blue eyes and hair. They didn't seem to care all that much about our presence, enjoying the atmosphere around the picnic-type event that was going on.

"Elder," the boy addressed an old ass man, "These are the strangers I met that came from the south."

The old man wearing a red robe was super old. I mean, like really old. I wondered just how old he was. He had a white beard and not a shred of hair on his bald scalp. His nose and ears were also leaking white hairs while his sagging skin nearly covered his eyes. I was sure that a slight gust of wind would send the bag of bones flying through the sky.

The old man acted like he hadn't heard the boy, but when the kid was about to repeat himself, the elder held a hand up.

"You are quite lucky," he addressed us, "Today is our annual forest worship feast. The forest provides for us, allowing us to live off its back. Today is the peak of the harvests, so we have plenty of food. Two more mouths are easy to fill. You are welcome to join us if you wish. There is a cold water river that is about a dozen meters from the edge of the village. You can drink as much as you like, it will never run dry."

The old man slumped a bit after talking so much. The boy helped him regain his comfortable posture and pointed us in the direction of the water. It was just like the super really old man said, the river was amazing. The water was cold and refreshing, more so than even regular water.

I admit that it may have been because I hadn't had truly cold water in a few months, but the water was the best. It quenched that deep thirst I have had for a week now, able to finally drink my fill; until Mr. Stomach was content. My most annoying organ rumbled around in my stomach, not used to such amazing treatment.

Don't get used to it pal. You are at MY mercy.

It quickly calmed down after that; focused on doing its job.

Jane was having an even better time. She looked like this was the first time she had drunk cold water. Her face was curved into a blissful smile, a happy face. I was glad to see it, her being happy made me feel a bit happy. And that was ok.

We both sat by the riverside in silence, slurping our handfuls of water until our bladders were about to burst. We asked about a bathroom and they directed us to the public latrine. It was amazing to finally find something that was even CLOSE to being a toilet.

I miss indoor plumbing.

Once we finished up, we were brought back to the feast. The soup was starting to smell fantastic. I didn't know what kinds of foodstuffs and spices the forest could provide, but it made an aromatic dish that awakened Mr. Stomach's greed.

You'll get your fill soon.

Everyone was standing around the pavilion, waiting for the main event to start. I thought they were talking about the food, but then they brought out a teenage girl in a deep red robe. She had a crown of flowers on her head and looked a bit sad.

Ok, so she is like the master of ceremonies or something?

the girl walked past the massive pot of stew and stood before a blue stone block. I hadn't noticed it since the rock was past the pot of food. And, well, it was just a rock. Nothing adorned it and nothing marked it as special. It was just a rock. Or so I thought.

It's an alter.

I knew what was coming next and started to panic. Jane noticed my increasing discomfort and looked at me strangely. She clearly hadn't pieced together what was going to happen. How could she? She was a young woman from a city, not anyone caught up on the wicked parts of the world.

I need to protect Jane from this.

I reached into my backpack and pulled out a strip of cloth that we had packed in case of medical emergencies. This was an emergency, and it was going to get fairly medical real soon.

I whispered in her ear, "Do you trust me?"

She whispered back, "Like I trust my heart to keep beating."

Good enough.

I wrapped the strip of cloth around her eyes. I didn't want her to watch what I think was going to happen. She wouldn't be able to handle the gravity of the situation.

Only I am allowed to traumatize her.

"Cover your ears and think about the happiest moment in your life. Keep that thought in your mind and don't listen to anything that is said next. Ok?"

She nodded her head and started to smile; clearly thinking of her happiest moment on repeat. I wondered what it was...

The super-duper old man stood up from his seat with the help of the young boy. The young boy had the worst expression on his face, like something important had been stolen from him. Everyone else in the village seemed happy enough, so why was he unhappy?

Four women, each with a crown of flowers on their heads, walked over to the four corners of the altar. They all wore a very serious expression that had a slight smile to them. Their clothes weren't anything as special as the teenager's, just normal fabric.

I watched stoically. This whole thing seemed very planned out and deeply rooted in their village. The gravitas of the situation told me enough about it. This was a ritual.

The girl was laid down on the stone altar. Her robe was slightly ruffled, but one of the women fixed it, making sure everything was perfect. The woman gently stroked the girl's face, prompting the teenager to shed a tear.

I watched the woman whispered something in her ear, and the girl only shed more tears. The atmosphere was getting kinda homey for my taste. Killing was supposed to be pure death, the end of life, the extinguishing of hope, not solemn and meaningful.

The elder moved closer to the altar, his red old man robe was just a little big on him, covering most of his body and scraping the ground as he shuffled. Halfway to the alter, he produced a dagger from his sleeve. It was a standard dagger, sharp and pointy; a short blade and wooden handle. The blade had some writing on it, clearly showing that it was ceremonial in some fashion.

The elder addressed everyone," Today, we celebrate another year of life. Every baby was born healthy, and no one had contracted disease. The forest had provided us with all these great boons; gifts that we must repay in kind. But we are not as great as the forest, we are ants to its great majesty. Just as it gives us life, we must return one back to it. Today, Ali will rejoin the cycle of life that has kept this village safe for generations. Remember her well."

Everyone watching was expectant and filled with excitement; everyone except for the boy and the teenager on the alter, Ali. The elder stood before her while she lay on the altar.

"I pray the forest will return you to us one day, you have been a wonderful granddaughter."

With that said, he plunged the dagger into her chest and cut out her heart. She couldn't even scream or struggle, the woman around her holding her down and covering her mouth. The elder reached into her sternum and removed her still-beating heart. The heart was then held in his hands and offered to the forest, and surprisingly the forest responded.

White light reached out and grabbed the heart, consuming it in a single breath. I was watching everything, disliking the show. The elder made it worse by going back to the alter and collecting a bowl of blood, pouring it into the stew.

"Now, we feast; and remember Ali forever as a part of her will live on within us."

Alright then, time for some stew.