[AuroraSky]

"Allan would ya hold up with the running? I swear that ya gonna knock over somebody." Miriam scolded. Her husband, Allan, sighed and rolled his eyes. This trip would have been much more peaceful if only the two hadn't spent the whole time bickering and actually took some time to enjoy the trip. But Miriam was being as annoying as ever today, and Allan was dishing it right back out her like the fool he was.

Instead of slowing down however Allan sped up, only hoping to spite Miriam. He hurried along until he felt a pinch on his behind, and turned to see his wife with anger in her eyes.

"ALLAN DIDNT YA HEAR ME?! I SAID SLOW DOWN BECAUSE YOU MIGHT KNOCK SOMEONE OVER!" Miriam yelled this time, her voice cracking as she did so. Allan cringed and turned around. "Ya I heard ya. The gods heard ya, everyone in the blasted town heard ya! Wanna yell a little louder?" he retorted. MiriM huffed. "If the Gods heard me I wanna no what happen to my prayer for another husband." She muttered.

Meanwhild Farley walked idly, laughing on the inside at their fights. They always managed to get a good chuckle out of him.

[AuroraSky]

Miriam sniffed and trotted up to her husband's side, observing their surroundings with great distaste. "Allan, where are ya going? The pen is back that way!" She used a razor sharp claw to indicate. Allan rolled his eyes and sighed. "Yes yes, I know darling. I just thought maybe we could take a nice day off, ya know? For once actually go somewhere." Miriam looked around once again and shook her head. "If ya wanted to take me out, ya shoulda taken me somewhere outside the farmlands!" She whined.

"Geez Miriam give the guy a break." Farley muttered, ignoring Miriam's death glare. "Why don't we find you someone to love so you can stop pestering us already!" She retorted back. At this Allan stuck a claw in front of her, nearly knocking her off balance. "Miriam, hush already. Ya making enough noise to wake the dead. Farley is welcome wherever we go, got it?"

The Plush Chimerantula pushed him aside and continued.

[AuroraSky]

Farley rolled his eyes and secretly wished the female would just turn and go back home. No one wanted some downer on a trip with them, did they? Man he wished he could go back to the old days when he and Allan were just two bachelors having fun. But that was a long time ago, and Miriam had changed everything. How he longed for her to leave.

Allan glanced at his old friend as if reading his thoughts. He gave him a look of disdain and Farley shrugged. Allan skittered over to him and gently prodded him with his claw. "Problem?" He asked. Farley looked back at him and said nothing, and Allan immediately understood. "She's a pain, but she's a good gal when she wants to be." He muttered back. Miriam looked back suspiciously and the two smiled at her as if nothing was wrong. She rolled her eyes and moved ahead even further.

"Allannnnn, Farleyyyy, where are we going? I don't wanna stray too far off the farmlands!"

[AuroraSky]

Allan winced at her voice. Lately she had been whining a bit more than usual and it made him very tense. Ah, well. "We were hoping to find the waterfall." Allan called up to her. Miriam instantly turned around, curiosity written all over her face. "The waterfall? But Allan we're bugs!" She yelled back. Farley looked at his friend in shock. "You haven't shown her how to change into a human yet?" He asked. Allan simply gave him a look and Farley understood. Miriam would probably be twice the pain if she was a species as vain as humans. "Look Farley, I would appreciate it if you really didn't say anything about the human form. When the times comes we'll show her how, but for the time being-" Farley raised his claw.

"Buddy, trust me. I know that telling her wouldn't be the best plan." He gave him a half smile. "But I gotta admit, I'm curious to see what she would look like!" Allan laughed. "Now that's a sight to see."

[AuroraSky]

Miriam had been constantly glancing back at the two guilty Chimerantula, knowing that they were probably discussing her. As if she cared what that old Farley thought! He had always had this...grudge against her because she married Allan. Well she had no regrets, no sir-ee! Allan treated her well and put up with her tantrums, and there was no way Farley was going to take him away from her!

"Allan, where are we gonna find the waterfall? Aurora says that that's a myth! After all, how do ya find a waterfall on a farm?" She asked. Allan and Farley exchanged a quick glance then hurried to catch up to her. Farley, as usual, did stay behind Allan and frequently shoot some glares. "Well Mir, I thought that while we were on our little day trip we could find some adventure. Wouldn't ya like that? Some adventure?"

[AuroraSky]

Miriam shrugged, even though everyone knew that Allan's offer had highly interested her. Miriam had always wanted to do something, ANYTHING, but Allan was always the voice of reason. Luckily today, Allan had lost his voice. Never in her life did she ever think her husband would ever think about doing something as risky as going off the mainlands and into the deep forest. "Allan, do ya even have any idea how we are going to get there?" She asked. Farley snorted.

"Of course he does. He wouldn't take us out at random and put his precious little wife in danger, now would he?" He retorted. Miriam stepped forward, her claw raised dangerously, when her path was blocked by Allan.

"No no dear, never mind him. He's just in a bad mood, that's all. Now let's go and stop creating a fuss!" He said, passing her. Miriam looked once more at Farley before following.

[AuroraSky]

Farley, although he would never admit it, was a bit frightened by Miriam. Sure, she seemed like she was just a helpless bossy girl but Farley always thought that if she wanted to she could certainly cause you some damage. He wiped a little sweat off of his head and quickly followed.

There paces were tiny and Farley really wished that they were humans so they could over more ground. But of course Miriam was to remain unknown to this change or else the consequences would be most troubling. Damn, he just realized how many strings were attached to this girl. Since he was in the back, he took the opportunity to look around and survey. They were still on the mainlands, but this part was beginning to get less and less familiar. He could hear the rumbling of a river up above and knew they were reaching the end. Excitement coursed through him, but he tried his best to show little satisfaction.

[AuroraSky]

Allan was sweating, but half from his nerves. Why were things always so weird now? Before he had met Miriam he and Farley used to be the best of friends and always stick together. But ever since Miriam came all of the good times had halted and Allan had married her. He knew that Farley would never forgive him, but as much as Allan and Miriam fought, he did see the good in her that most didn't.

"So I was studying a few maps in the library when I noticed that Aurora had an old map tucked away in the back of my book. I looked at it and saw that there was a waterfall, once that is supposed to be very beautiful. So I thought it would be nice if we could all go since you guys are my family." He was cautious at the last part, but neither made any comments, so he breathed a sigh of relief.

[AuroraSky]

"But Allan, do you have the map with ya? I don't want to have to travel aimlessly." Miriam replied, stopped for a second to sit on a rock. Beside her a ladybug stirred, but a few snaps of her claw and the bug bolted.

"YES Miriam, I'm not a dolt!" Allan replied. "It's right here." He said, pulling out a tiny scroll that had been stabbed by his tail. Farley helped him unroll it and the three peeked. The map was old and brown, but it was ery clear. "All the blue paths are safe ones," Allan explained. "And all of the red ones are dangerous. The path in yellow is what will take us from the other side of the river to the waterfall. Sound good?"

"Allan this looks like it will be more than just a day trip." Farley complained. "If we aren't home by nightfall Ro will start to get worried. Ya know how she panics already."

[AuroraSky]

Allan shrugged. "If by the evening we aren't close, then we'll turn home. Tomorrow morning we'll tell Ro where we're going so she won't fret. Simple." He offered. Farley still looked doubtful, but Allan was to into the trip to care. "Now Miriam, this trip is going to require a lot of walking. I don't want to hear ya complaining about ya aches and pains now, ya hear?" Miriam merely huffed. "Just tell us where to go Allan, got it?"

Farley glanced at the map again. "Looks like we'll have to follow this dirt path to the edge of the river." Allan double-checked then nodded before rolling the map back up. As he and Farley started walking, he noticed Miriam wasn't following. "Mir, what's the hold up? Ya wasting time!"

Miriam looked back at him fearfully. "Allan, ya never said anything about how we're going to cross the river. I can't swim and last time I checked there wasn't a bridge!" She exclaimed. Farley snickered and Allan pushed him semi-roughly.

[AuroraSky]

Farley glared as Allan pushed him. "What? Why can't she swim?" He asked. Miriam looked down, clearly ashamed, and Allan pushed Farley again. Then in a low voice he said, "Look, she had a bad experience when she was younger and she doesn't like swimming or water. And I would also appreciate if ya didn't make a big deal out of it. She's already self-conscious." Farley was shocked by this. Miriam had always come off as a very self assured female, but this? And it was just water, how bad could it be? But when Allan gave him the "look" he decided not to press the matter any further.

"Look Miriam, I'm sure we'll find a way. We'll build ya a bridge if we have to." Allan offered with a smile. Miriam looked up and nodded, suddenly incredibly thankful for Allan.

Farley trudged onwards. "Come on guys, ya wasting time. If we don't hurry we won't make it in time!"

[AuroraSky]

Miriam, Allan, and Farley walked in a line with Allan in the middle. The day was still young and they still had a lot of ground to cover. Minutes passed full of silence and soon it turned to awkwardness. "So..." Allan said. Both Miriam and Farley looked at him then rolled their eyes and turned away. It was painfully obvious they both wanted Allan to themselves. "How are ya Farley? I mean, we don't talk as much now that-" Allan stopped mid-sentence and glanced back at Miriam, who was watching him intently. "Now that...I...moved out." There. That was better.

"Well I'm still enjoying the bachelor life. It's a shame ya left it." Farley said bitterly. Miriam opened her mouth but Allan stopped her. "Yeah well I'm happy, so it's not really missed. I do, however, miss all the good times we had. Ah, remember when we visited the slums?"

Farley laughed and smiled. "Oh yeah, and remember how we had to sneak in as Chimerantulas and then turn into-"

[AuroraSky]

Miriam stopped. "Into what?" Allan and Farley both laughed nervously and looked away. "You know...er..." Allan stuttered. "Party animals!" Farley yelled out. Allan gave him a look of gratitude and Farley grinned. If there was one thing he was good at, it was lying to a dame. Miriam, although not fully believing them, decided not to ask anymore questions. At least not with Farley around so she could juice it slowly and painfully out of Allan. "So you guys had a lot of fun in ya bachelor days, huh?" Miriam asked. Allan smiled up at the sky as if all of his memories were painted along the wide, blue canvas.

"Yeah we did. We used to go to all kinds of clubs and parties, drink, smoke, and just goof off." Farley smiled at his old friend. "Yeah, we did have some pretty wild times. I remember once I hooked up with this chick and then her dad came home and Allan had to come pick me up." Allan laughed. "He was standing naked outside the house!"

[AuroraSky]

Farley noticed Miriam's confused expression and prodded her. "What's the matter, the story a bit too graphic for ya?" He asked with a toothy smile. She glared and shook her head. "All I don't understand is how a Chimerantula could ever be naked. It simply make no sense to me..." She muttered with a slight tone that suggested they told her what was up this instant. Allan glanced at Farley, and then looked away. Miriam was about to pester him about it when Farley decided that this would be an appropriate time to speak up. "Look, if ya brain to just too small to understand things, then fine!" Allan tried to hide his laugh as Miriam gasped.

"I am NOT stupid! I'm very smart, aren't I Allan?" Allan looked up quickly and forced a smile. "Sharp as a tack ya are."

[AuroraSky]

Miriam huffed. "Well I don't want to talk about your little stories anymore. I think instead we should just focus on our trip and get this whole day over with!" She exclaimed, walking faster. Allan sighed and Farley laughed. "Well isn't she a load?" He asked with a grin. Allan glared and shoved him, but playfully. "Yes she may be a hard gal but I still love her. Now let's see what's going on here on the map...." He followed the blue path up to the river. "Looks like it should be just a few more feet ahead."

"ALLAN!" Farley and Allan both jumped. "HELP!" In an instant they were both scuttling to Miriam. Farley bursted through the weeds blocking their view to the river and jumped back immediately. "Allan, look! There's a cliff!"