Just then, Shawn heard a rather loud gurgling sound. Scanning the area to see where the sound would have come from, she noticed a sheepish grin on Reza's face.
“I must be hungry,” he responded to her quizzical stare. About to roll her eyes, Shawn realized that she was also hungry.
“Alright then,” she replied, “let's go find something to eat.”
They wandered around for almost an hour in the jungle looking high and low for anything that could be passable as food. Finally, they came across a incredibly tall tree that seemed to have bright pink teardrops hanging from some of the higher branches.
“That's got to be fruit, yeah?” Reza asked as he pointed at the pink teardrops.
“Hopefully. Looks like we will have to climb for it. Can you climb?”
“Not really.”
“Well, we both need to be at the top of that tree if I'm going to use hoti vayu to teleport us closer to the others. Let's see...”
It was then that Shawn saw some long thick vines halfway between her and the fruit.
“Alright, Reza. I'm going to climb up there and get some of those vines to help get you up the tree. How does that sound?”
“I'd rather you didn't. What if something happens to you? I don't want to be stranded here by myself.”
“Don't worry about it,” Shawn replied. “Everything is going to be just fine.”
“If you say so.” The worry in Reza's voice was evident, but it didn't concern Shanaka too much. She had been climbing trees ever since she was little, and easily started up the tree. When she was about three quarters of the way to her destination, she heard a loud gasp at the base of the tree. She looked down and saw a large furry creature with sharp claws approach Reza, who was still stranded on the ground.
“Reza,” Shawn called out loudly enough to get his attention, but not loud enough to attract the attention of the beast. “Work your way behind the tree, slowly, and duck down.”
As Reza did what he was told, the creature continued to advance, and Shanaka wrapped her arms and legs around a branch and prayed, calculating as fast as she could while still taking enough time to specify a general area.
“Hoti Agni.”
A swarm of fist-sized meteorites rained from the sky in the general vicinity of the beast had been trying to sneak up on Reza. Several hit the surrounding trees, which sputtered a bit from catching on fire, but were too wet to cause any real damage to the trees or other foliage. A good number of the meteorites managed to hit the beast and felled it to the earth. Several tree branches also fell to the earth, but none on the tree she was currently in. She had tried to concentrate her attack on the area directly in front of her, which seemed to work out well. Shawn shimmied back down the tree and plopped down next to Reza. A few of the smaller meteorites where still continuing to smolder on the ground when she reached the spot where the attack had taken place.
“Well,” she said “I guess that means we have fresh sura for lunch instead of fresh fruit.”