“Come on, we’re gonna miss the bus!” Rina hurriedly flapped her arm at her best friend.

“Okay, okay!” huffed Shanai, hunching her shoulders to adjust her pack. “It’s just a lot more humid than I expected…This place you picked is really out there.”

“I know, right? It’ll be perfect!” Rina grinned, her cheeks flushed with equal parts exertion and excitement.

Shanai couldn’t help but smile back; Rina always had had that effect on her. Even since their college days, all it had taken for any argument to end in Katarina’s favor was a flash of that genuine joy and adventurous spirit of hers painted across her face. Of course, there were other parts of her that Shanai loved seeing as well, as she watched her companion turn around and wave to flag down the bus driver.

Case in point, she thought, taking in the sight of Rina’s backside. I’m not sure anyone else has ever made cargo shorts look that good…

Suddenly, the sound of Rina’s shouting came bursting through the daydream in the blonde’s head.

“Shanaaai, come ON! The driver says he’s got to move it!”

“O-okay, right, Coming!!!” She replied, sprinting the last few yards to the platform.

---

The village came into view slowly, the road widening all at once as the thick overgrowth of the jungle parted on both sides. While Rina had been staring at the seemingly endless sea of green for the past hour and a half, the scenery had long since lost its charm for her companion. Leaning forward in her seat, the blonde woman thought she could make out only a few stone structures. Most seemed to be clay huts or homes with thatch roofing, with the larger buildings dotted with openings for windows and collapsable awnings in myriad bright colors. Shanai knew they were miles away from any ocean, but a part of her still hoped there might be some soft sand by the adjacent riverbank, maybe somewhere they could lay out their beach towels. Noting with disappointment nothing of the sort, Shanai turned to take in more of the small settlement instead.

“Rina, look, it’s the village.” Shanai squinted to make out the meager number of structures. “It’s definitely on the smaller side though…you sure this is the right place?”

A few awkward moments passed without a reply.

“Rina?” She tilted her head back to the raven-haired woman. Her companion was still fixed on the passing jungle, so much so that she seemed to be lost in the endless sea of green. Shanai rolled her eyes, twiddling a lock of her strawberry-blonde hair. It had been like this all the way here – Rina seemed to have some obsession with the jungle, like she was looking for something, or someone out in the undergrowth. Shanai leaned back in her seat, starting to second-guess her decision to join her friend on this particular trek.

Rina had always been a bit of a geek – obsessed with this movie or that show, usually something nostalgic, but that was undeniably part of her charm. The way she would babble on about a favorite character in a story, like they were a real person with complex thoughts and feelings – it was always so compelling to hear. Even back in college, when they’d only just met, it had been hard for the blonde to get a word in edgewise – though she was happy to listen to Rina at any time, if only to hear her voice so full of passion.

And not to mention her lips, and the way her eyes sparkle when she’s excited, and…

Shanai blinked once more out of her nascent daydream, hoping she hadn’t said that last bit out loud. Glancing over again, it likely didn’t matter if she had – her raven-haired friend still had her face pressed against the glass. Shanai shook her head. Rina had been acting a little strange…er than usual, ever since she’d asked Shanai to go on this trip with her. Come to think of it, the whole sudden desire to make a trip out into a remote part of the world was a little weird too. Rina could be impulsive at times, but she usually had sound reasoning behind things. This trip was a little more…involved than a typical spontaneous adventure proposal. Rina had shown Shanai the specific towns they’d see along the way, and the out-of-the-way village that she’d picked as a place to stay for a week or so. There didn’t seem to be much rhyme or reason to it, but Rina had been so excited to share this experience, that Shanai had opted not to question it.

And…she had to admit; it had been fun to spend all this time together. With all the stresses of their respective jobs, there hadn’t been much time for the two women to have much time together in the last few years. Shanai found herself thinking ahead to the relative isolation their destination offered and grinned a bit at the prospect.

“Rina, you still with me?”

“…Hm?” came a dreamy reply.

“Snap out of it, we’re almost to that village you were so excited about.”

“Oh, yeah!” the other woman shook off her reverie, and turned and took in the tiny settlement, as if only just noticing it. “I think I can see where we’re going to stay; see that group of huts along the riverbank? The ones surrounded by the little circles of rocks?”

“Hmm-yep, that’s them…I don’t suppose they have running water attached, do they?”

Rina’s laughter was almost worth the realization that they’d have to be camp bathing.

---

They’d met their hosts, bathed, changed into more local attire, and had an excellent, if simple meal before the sun had set. Stretching out to get comfy before turning in for the night, Shanai caught her companion staring out the window, taking in the quiet canopy of the jungle’s edge.

“Something out there?” She arched an eyebrow.

“Huh? No, it’s nothing” was the response – uncharacteristically vague.

“Kat-A-Ri-Na,” Shanai said, pulling out every syllable, using her friend’s full name to get her attention. “Girl, you’ve been staring at the jungle every chance you get – what’s going on with you?”

Her friend turned, looking a bit surprised at Shanai’s reaction. She looked to the side sheepishly.

“Has it been that obvious? I’m sorry…it’s just that I’m really excited to see everything out there…the vibrant ecosystem, the plants, the animals, the…”

Shanai couldn’t help but smile as Rina launched into one of her signature infodumps. It was hard to stay mad at her.

“So why this jungle in particular? What’s so special about it?” Shanai managed to ask sometime later. Her head was swimming with all the facts and figures Rina had quoted, a dizzying amount of information that she’d no doubt explain once they were out exploring in the morning.

“Well, it’s one of the most remote, and least touched by mankind, so the ecosystem is incredibly well-preserved. The people here have a particular reverence for it, because of that and many other reasons. In a way it’s…mysterious, and that makes it the perfect place to explore! Maybe we’ll even find someo—I-I mean something…totally unique!”

Shanai crossed her arms and cocked an eyebrow. “Doesn’t that make it, I dunno, dangerous?”

“Not if you’re well prepared! Besides, we’ll have a guide, right?”

“I guess so…what is this place even called, again? The ‘soon-ah’? The…’say-nay’…?

“The Seoni. You say it like ‘Sea-Oh-Knee’. C’mon, Shan, you know I’m going to quiz you on this later.’ The woman put her hands on her hips in mock frustration, and winked.

“Yes, Ms. Vasquez!” Shanai returned in her best student impression, offering a mock salute.

A villager passing by their hut with recently-filled water buckets nearly dropped them in surprise at the sudden twin bursts of laughter.