Lost At Sea

When Scarlett awoke, at first she was just like an empty shell that had not yet been refilled with memories or feelings: She lay on the soft ground, half hidden by the high ferns and bushes, and felt the dull ache in her body without being angry or worried about it, just accepting the signals her brain received in a detached, stoic way.

The pain was not too bad after all, it was just there and she could accept it for now. Her exhaustion as well was not as bad as it had been before. She felt a bit thirsty and very hungry, but she did not feel as if she was dying anymore.

Still, something was weird. It was not the gag in her mouth or the bonds that constricted her arms and body, because now she began to remember why those where there and how she had gotten into this situation. She wanted to be free again, of course she did! But at least she knew for what reason she had allowed herself to be tied up and she knew that she would be released soon enough. She was in the forest and had not yet been killed, so it seemed their plan had worked.

But where was Chris?

She decided that she had been lying around useless for long enough. So Scarlett struggled to get up with her hobbled ankles, rolled to the side and then brought herself into a kneeling position. Here she was, dirty as a monkey, with leaves in her hair and sticking to her skin, mud on her cheek and a lot of small insect bites that had not been there before she had fallen asleep. But at least there was no sun burning down on her: The forest was calm and the air had cooled down to a pleasant temperature. Compared to the beach this was paradise, if only the 'protection' of her restraints would not be necessary.

The sun! Scarlett stared up to the canopy, her eyes widening. Where was the sun? When they had arrived the sun had been high above them, bathing the forest in bright light that got dyed green as it fell through the canopy. Now it was a lot darker, colors were harder to make out. Was this already twilight? For how long had she been out of the game?

Just when she was beginning to panic in earnest she heard something at her side. She turned her head and there was Chris. That was a mighty relief, because for a moment she had suspected that things had gone wrong after all and that, somehow, he had been forced to leave her alone here at the lake.

But there he stood, looking a tad better than before, less crazy and definitely less close to death. He even smiled as he approached her.

"Finally", he whispered into Scarlett's ear meanwhile he helped her to her feet. She still felt a bit dizzy from the hunger, but the water alone had given her some new strength. "You've been asleep for hours! I'm glad that you're awake now. Come over here and let me give you something to eat."

She would have hugged him back, so glad he was still alive and seemed so much better than before, but with her arms strapped to her back Scarlett had to content herself with little - all she could do was groan in agreement and relief and nod slightly. She followed him as good as she could, with stiff legs and aching feet. Nearby he had set up a small camp between the bushes and not too far from the brink of the water, with lots of fruit and even some small fishes from the lake nearby. Three or four of those fishes he had put on a stick and fried above a small campfire. They smelled especially delicious.

"Here, kneel down and try to make yourself a bit more... comfortable." He made a face and frowned when he remembered that there wasn't a lot of comfort to be had for Scarlett in her condition. "I'll take the gag out, but don't talk loudly, okay? Because I doubt we are alone... I've seen the Natives just a short time ago, and, they were pretty close to us."

When he took the gag from her mouth she couldn't hold back a pained moan, cramped as her jaw muscles felt. "Thanks", she coughed and whispered and then ate the first banana he offered her so fast that she nearly bit his fingers.

Had she thought before that she was dirty as a monkey? Well, now she was also being fed like a favorite mule. But the fresh fruit was delicious and she ate the second and third one just as fast as the first.

"Wait a second, give me... give me a break", Scarlett pleaded with a tired smile, a bit breathless, when she had eaten the third banana out of Chris' hand and he immediately offered her what looked like half of an especially large orange. "I could eat until I burst, but... shouldn't we take as much as we can carry and then get going? It's getting dark already!"

He hesitated. He looked at her pretty sternly, and then he shook his head.

"No, I don't think we would make it back to the beach. Frankly I think we better stay here for the night."

Scarlett stared at him, taken aghast completely.

"What the fuck", she whispered, fighting hard against the urge to start screaming at the top of her lungs. "Stay for the night, are you fucking crazy? I can't stay like this for a whole night!" She moved her arms as good as she could and was shocked by how heavy and limp they felt on her back.

Chris reacted fast and most likely without thinking: He pulled her leash, tightening her 'collar' and forcing her to lean closer towards him. Scarlett cursed under her breath and glared angry at him when she was choked for that short moment.

"Hey! Don't do that ever again!", she whispered with a voice sharp as a firestone.

"I'm sorry, okay? I didn't want to hurt you. But I said you should not talk so loud! Their cattle does not talk at all, ever! If these guys are still out there and notice that I'm having a conversation with a beast..." He did not have to finish the sentence. Scarlett nodded, albeit still pissed off, and did her best to whisper as faintly as possible.

"Listen, I'm doing my best to stay cool. But why are we still here? I thought the plan was to grab food and water and return to the beach before sundown, to get me out of this fucking harness!" "It was, but you were unconscious. I could not carry you plus the backpack filled with water and food. All I could do was set up camp and hope that you regain consciousness at some point."

"You said I was asleep, now suddenly it's 'unconscious'! Did you even try to wake me up?"

"Of course I did! But there was no way to wake you up, at least I found none. And then I thought, since they did not attack me with you at my side, that we could as well stay here for the night anyways. We can eat and drink more, the air is better and we might sleep good enough. Tomorrow we will be rested and ready to return to the beach."

Scarlett felt frustration welling up inside her, like a knot in her stomach that would not go away from however many water and fruits. "Listen, you don't know how this feels... I'm naked and I am tied up, my arms and hands feel really bad. I can't possibly stay like this for a whole night! So if you think that you may get a chance to rest here that's fine, but for me it's not going to be a good night at all..."

Chris hesitated, then he smirked. It was kind of a sweet smirk, even ironic, but what he said next did not reassure Scarlett at all.

"Listen, I know it must feel horrible. But I got to break it to you: You have already been like this for about ten hours and your arms are still fine! I mean okay, I can imagine they don't feel really good, but what I mean is that they are still healthy. I checked on them regularly Scarlett, they are not really damaged or anything. The harness does just what it was designed to do."

"Chris, I don't care if it works just fine, I want out of it!"

"I know" He nodded and she could see his bad conscience, but again he did what she had asked him to do when they had still been on the beach: He made a tough decision. "But in the darkness one of us cold step on a snake and get killed. There may also be predators in this forest. And even if we meet no dangerous animals, we can still simply break a foot or a leg or get impaled on a splintered branch. I have not seen a hospital on this island yet. Have you?"

She thought about all he had just said and studied his face thoroughly. He looked as worried as she was, and Scarlett still thought he was being honest.

"But I... how am I supposed to sleep, Chris?" She knew her voice was a little pleading by now, but she could not really help it.

"I will make things as comfortable as I can for you", he said with a faint smile. "I have a plan." He looked like he wanted to kiss her again but then instead just patted her head. It felt awkward: Surely this was the more secure alternative, in case they were being watched - but it also felt demeaning and patronizing in the worst possible way.. "Look, I already prepared this."

One of the cans they had brought with them stood close to the fire. Scarlett could see a green liquid inside. A spicy, not directly unpleasant smell got into her nose when Chris picked the can up and showed it to her.

"Do you remember those thick green leaves, the ones the Natives feed their cattle?"

"Their females you mean, Chris."

"Sure, but it's not that big a difference, right? However, I don't know what exactly these plants are, but I have seen the Natives using them a hundred times. They do two different things with them: They feed their females with them and also they boil them and use the syrup as a kind of balm. For example they massage it onto their catt... I mean onto the females' arms."

"I'm not sure if I'm supposed to laugh or start screaming", Scarlett said sarcastically. "That's your plan? Smear green goo on my arms, as if I wasn't already looking enough like a cave-woman?"

Chris smiled. "Just try it out. Trust me a bit and turn around."

So Scarlett did turn around. For a moment nothing happened, but then she felt Chris' hands on her arms. He smeared the green balm onto her skin, at first carefully and then with more effort, effectively massaging it into her aching flesh all the way from her shoulders over her upper arms and elbows and down to her wrists and hands. The effect was surprising: The massage itself felt good, Scarlett's skin was being cooled and her muscles mostly stopped aching. The pain and discomfort that the bondage caused her did not matter that much anymore.

"Okay", she said a little milder. "This is... pretty amazing."

"Thought so", Chris grinned. "I tested it on my hurting feet an hour ago and the effect is pretty astonishing, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but still..."

"Do you think you can spend the night in the bonds now? Your arms don't hurt that much anymore, do they?"

"No, they don't", Scarlett admitted. "They feel kind of limp, but I can still feel them. On the other hand I can't feel too much, if that makes sense. The pain is mostly gone. So...." She hesitated. "I can give it a try, but seriously, I want the use of my arms back as soon as possible.... You understand that, don't you?"

"Sure I do."

"And... do I have to be gagged for the night?"

"Yes, I think so. I'm sorry, I would like to do this just like the Natives do - play our roles as good as possible. But before I gag you again you can eat and drink more, get back some of your strength."

"Sounds good", Scarlett sighed. "The fishes smell delicious."

But Chris offered her one of the thick green leaves instead.

"Are you kidding me? Doesn't the 'cattle' get any fish or meat?"

"Frankly no, cattle doesnt", Chris said with his cheeks turning a bright red again. "But would you... try this one? I think it fits the act, and I swear they don't taste bad at all."

Scarlett opened her mouth and begrudged took the leaf in her mouth. She carefully bit it, just to find that it tasted pretty much like the balm had already smelled: The juice that mixed with her saliva had a spicy and refreshing taste and a note of sweetness that made it in fact pretty delicious. She kept chewing and nodded, a little surprised and a little more friendly.

"Okay, it's edible. And I'm still starving, so give me another one."

Chris did not give her only one - instead he folded three or four of the leaves into a bundle and carefully put it into Scarlett's mouth. Getting fed like this didn't help to make things feel less surreal: Scarlett laughed under her breath while she chewed the leaves like that, some of the green juice dripping down her chin.

But odd as the situation was, once her stomach was filled with some more leaves she felt a little more relaxed, also a bit more refreshed and less worried. Her skin tingled in a pleasant way.

Chris helped her drink from the lake again and once again checked the bonds while the forest around them went all dark. The small campfire illuminated only the surrounding bushes and trunks of the trees, turning the campsite into a small island of light in the midst of impenetrable darkness.

"Okay", Scarlett nodded while Chris placed her on the soft ground with one of the blankets beneath her and some ferns as an improvised pillow. "This is going to be a dreadful night and I hate you for it... but maybe you were right about not walking home so late. It's dark like in a gorilla's' ass out there..."

"You know", smiled Chris, you have a wonderful way of expressing yourself. Very ladylike."

They both giggled and felt relieved for another moment - until, just a second later, a noise rang through the forest, originating from only a few meters away in the darkness. It sounded very distinctly like someone stepping on a birch.

Scarlett stared at Chris, her heart beating faster and harder again. She could see his fear too: The thought that, within a second, disaster might strike from the cover of darkness. If the people who lived in these woods wanted to see Chris dead, there was nothing to stop them. An arrow or a spear, hell even a big stone thrown against his head would be more than enough.

"Give me the harness", Scarlett whispered under her breath. She opened her mouth fast and wide as Chris fumbled with the gag. "And strap it as tight as you cunngh...gnnnnh!" He had already pushed the rubber wedge between her teeth and fastened the straps with flying fingers. He nervously licked his lips as he made sure the devious thing was well set around her head and face. Then he looked around, anxious to make sure that any Natives watching them would see what he had done.

For the rest of the evening Chris did not talk to Scarlett anymore. Neither did she try to communicate with him: She just lay there on the blanket, humid air touching her naked body, and felt insecure, degraded, but at least sated for the first time in weeks. Her thoughts going round and round in her head she was sure that she would not get a lot of sleep tonight. But to her own astonishment, all while she contemplated on how the pain in her arms had dwindled and how she felt calmer and stronger since she had eaten, she already fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.