Journey to Tarvos: Day 2

Title: Journey to Tarvos: Day 2
Characters: Joel/Teegan
Series: Another Life

Joel woke feeling cold and damp.  Tilting his head back, he looked out of the opening of the shelter. The morning was grey and foggy.  Gently, he unwrapped his arms that had been holding Teegan tight and quietly slip outside.

The air was heavy and the sky completely grey with clouds.  The rain hadn't started to fall yet, but Joel thought it wouldn't be too long before they were soaked.  He thought back to the hard packed dirt of his family's farm.  The days they'd prayed for rain to only get more sun and wind.  There was no way they could coax food from the dried ground.  Joel was anxious to try his hand at growing plants here on Gliese.  He remembered that Tarvos was in the north.  He'd have to ask Teegan about food production.  But first things first, he needed to find a tree and relieve his bladder.

With thoughts of the stark contrast between Earth and Gliese in his mind, Joel walked several yards from their camp.  The lush forest that surrounded the river they were traveling was a wonder to him.  He could hear small animals foraging for food as well as bigger animals heading toward the river for their early morning drink.  Just as he was finishing, he heard another large animal crashing through the trees.

"Joel!  Joel!" Teegan yelled as he trampled through the woods.

Pulling up his pants, Joel called out, "I'm right here."

"We need to start traveling.  The rains must have started early," Teegan said urgently.

Joel looked up.  "It's not raining yet."

"Not here. Further up north.  And in the mountains," Teegan explained.  "We should eat and break camp and be on our way."

Joel looked at the young warrior.  "Is there a problem?"

The young man looked away and answered, "No, no problem.  Just the river will move a little faster."  Then he gave Joel a crooked grin.  "We are strong."

A light mist started to fall as the men walked back to their camp.  As Joel dismantled the shelter, folded up the tarp, and stuffed it back in the canvas satchel, Teegan pulled out a few apples and some goat cheese.

"A light, but filling meal to give us energy for the day," he said.

By the time, they'd finished their meal and put the few things back in the boat, the mist had turned into a heavy drizzle of rain.  Teegan untied the rope and the two men pushed the boat into deeper water.  They jumped in the boat and started up the river.  The water was faster and it took strength to push the boat against the current.

Joel was grateful for the rain as it muffled the sound of the rushing water and the slap of oars on the water's surface.  The clouds hid the sun so the bright rays didn't hurt his eyes as it did the previous day.  The only problem was the drizzle was cold and Joel knew his health wasn't as good as Teegan's.  He didn't want to become ill.

A light tingling, like that of what he felt the previous day, flittered through his body.  The rain didn't feel quite so cold.  He shook his head and rowed harder.  He didn't want Teegan to have to do more than his fair share of the rowing.  They would both feel the burn of strained muscles in their arms tonight.

As he rowed, Joel thought of how he'd wanted Teegan to tell him of Tarvos and how food was grown in the colder climate.  But the need to concentrate on rowing took all his energy.  The drizzle blurred the scenery around him.  Ducking his head, Joel continued to row.  He'd find the time to learn about his warrior's home later.

"Joel.  Joel!"

Teegan's shout startled him out of his rhythmic rowing.  Stopping and turning, he gave him a quizzical look.

Teegan pointed toward the shoreline.  "Let's stop there for lunch."

Joel looked up toward the sky.  The dark clouds obscured the sun so much, he hadn't realized the passage of time. The ache in his arms felt like he had been rowing for days.  The grumbling of his stomach told that it'd been at least a few hours since their morning meal. Joel nodded and changed the grip on his oar.

The swift current of the river made hard work of turning the small boat and rowing to shore. Joel's arms burned with effort.  The wooden boat turned inch by inch until finally they were headed toward land.

When they neared the shore, Joel jumped out before Teegan could and pulled the boat closer.  He quickly tied the rope around a small tree.  He didn't want the boat to be swept away.  By the time, Teegan waded out of the water, both men were shivering.

"Let's build a fire and warm ourselves," Teegan's teeth chattered as he spoke.  "Just around the bend up ahead, is the fork in the river.  We'll go toward the right.  The current will be with us then, not against us. We'll make better time than we did this morning."

Joel nodded his understanding. He wanted to gather dry wood and get warm.  They'd talk more of their path when the fire was burning brightly.  "How do we find dry wood?" He asked.  Then shaking his head in shame, he explained, "We seldom had rain where I grew up.  There was dry wood everywhere.  But here...." Joel's voice drifted off.

"Come.  I'll show you."

Joel followed Teegan deeper into the woods.  He picked up the fallen branches that were protected by the trees.  Teegan gathered kindling as he directed Joel.  The drizzle had become more of a softly falling rain.  The men were soaked through by the time the fire was started.
They didn't talk much as they ate dried meat and a hard crusty bread for their noon meal. The warmth of the fire slowly ebbed into their skin.  The tremors in Joel's body slowed but didn't stop completely.  He wondered briefly if they should change clothes.  He dismissed the thought as he knew they would be soaked through again in minutes.  They needed to continue on and make a dry camp that evening.  With that thought in his mind, Joel asked, "How far to the fork that we take?"

"Not too far.  Just around that bend. The way will be easier once we do that.  The water rushes with us instead of against us."

Teegan's short clipped sentences worried Joel.  Was the young man becoming ill?  Was he too tired to carry on?  Finally, he stopped asking himself questions he couldn't answer and asked the man sitting next to him.  "Are you too tired to continue?  We could rest the remainder of the day.  Start out fresh in the morning."

Teegan shook his head. "I am well.  Just as you are.  I would prefer that we kept going toward Tarvos."

As if of the same mind, the men stood up. Teegan put out the fire as Joel untied the rope.  The current tried to pull the boat out of Joel's hands.  As he strained to hold tight, he felt a prickling though his arms.  The river didn't seem to want the boat quite as badly as he could hold onto the rope easily.

"Come on. I'll hold it steady," Teegan shouted from the boat.

Joel waded into the water and climbed in. Soon they were again using all their strength against the rushing water.  As they rounded the bend, Joel saw the river split into two directions.  Teegan shouted to row toward the right.  Leaning heavily against each stroke, the second boat was in the correct channel, the rushing water took over the hard work.  The boat felt like it was flying along the water surface.

Joel's arms trembled as he stopped rowing.  He was thankful that he didn't have to row, he didn't think he would have been able to continue for much longer.   He sat back and took a few deep breaths.  Once he felt steadier, Joel turned to make sure Teegan was doing well.

"Are you alright?" Joel asked the exhausted man.

Giving a weak grin, Teegan replied, "I'm good.  Glad the current is with us, that is a certainty. We can rest for a bit and let the river carry us.  Soon, we'll have to get to shore again.  Ahead a ways is where the three waterfalls lie. There we'll carry the boat down the mountain side and get back on the river at the bottom."

"Three waterfalls?" Joel questioned.  He was sure he'd remembered Teegan mentioning anything about waterfalls.  Joel had never seen one.  He smiled in excitement that he'd be able to see what he'd read about in books.

Suddenly the scenery became more blurred. The boat started to travel faster.  And then Joel heard a loud roaring.  The sensations threatened to overwhelm Joel-the roaring sound in his ears, the trees rushing past, the pull of gravity as the boat rushed forward.

"Oh!  Gods of the stars!" Teegan yelled in fright.  "Joel!  Row toward shore!  Hard!"

Joel didn't understand what Teegan was shouting about, but the fear in his face had him reaching for his oar.  He wasn't prepared for the pull of the water.  The oar was ripped from his hand.  He watched as it sped out of sight.  It seemed to just disappear.  Then Joel understood.  The piece of wood that had been his oar had gone over the waterfall.

As soon as the thought completed itself in his mind, Joel felt the bottom of the boat drop out from underneath him.  He flipped head over heals as his body tumbled through the water.  He couldn't scream as the water rushed all around him.  He didn't know which way was up or down. He wanted to reach out and grab Teegan, protect the other man from what waited below them.  Joel's only thoughts were to get the man he'd fallen in love with.

Joel's body plunged down, deeper and deeper into water.  Then he felt himself being propelled upward.  The churning water at the base of the waterfall had pushed him up to the surface.  His arms windmilling, Joel tried to look around for Teegan and swim to the shore at the same time. He had to find him.  He had to get Teegan to shore.  Just as his feet touched the bottom of the river, where water met land, a heavy wooden beam from the broken boat, hit him in the head.  Blood pouring from his wounds, Joel flung his body toward land.  Darkness swirled through his head, and then he laid motionless.

TBC