Chapter 4: Fool

"We're lost, aren't we?"

"No, we're not." Ellie waved her hand dismissively. "It's not much longer from here. We're close."

"That's what you said an hour ago." Marietta said. They were long past her point of comfort. Her hooves pulsed in her shoes, jolting pain up her ankles with every step. If she'd known they were going to be walking in circles, she would've worn a different, although still just as stylish, pair.

She'd forgotten that Ellie wasn't the most sensible and efficient of girls.

No compass. No sticking to the given path. No doubling back to the last place they saw a signpost. A minor interest in something scratched into a tree, because somehow, scribbles in tree bark are more important than finding landmarks. An insistence that they were going the right way. A dog that kept stopping to sniff the air, the plants, the dirt, everything and anything that could slow them down. Great deal of help she was being.

"Can't you get Sunflower to find the Wall?" Dogs were supposed to be good at things like that.

Ellie shrugged. Full-on, shoulders to ears, shrugged as if she couldn't be bothered to check. "She doesn't know where it is. Do you, Sunflower?"

Sunflower stopped in her tracks. One of her ears visibly twitched.

"See? She knows something." Marietta followed Sunflower's gaze. She was staring at a cluster of trees bundled so closely together it was as if they were tied. They were meant to go in that direction, apparently.

"Good job!" Ellie reached out to hug her. Sunflower threw her arm out in front of Ellie, barring her from taking another step. She shot a warning glare at Marietta, then went back to looking at that same spot.

"What's wrong?" There were trees everywhere. The sun streamed through their leaves, patterning leaf-shaped lights over the shadows. Dirt and grass all over the place, the elevation differing and warning them of a nasty fall if they weren't mindful. Ellie failed to see what was so disturbing about the trees Sunflower had singled out.

She glanced over at Marietta.

Marietta's mouth hung open.

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A/N: This is an interactive fantasy serial. Voting takes place on Thursdays through Sundays on the story's main site. The most up-to-date chapters can also be found there, but uploading will happen in parts on RRL as well.

The next post will be Chapter 4.2.

Chapter 8 is live on the site now. Voting on the latest chapter will end on Sunday at 11:59 PM EST.