Title: Rain
Chapter: 6
Author: Squeezynz
Universe: Land of the Giants
Rating: PG, Adventure
Feedback: Pleeeeeeeeeeease
Spoilers: Hardly
Archive: sure, just let me know
Disclaimer : all his, Irwin Allen, never mine..boohoo!

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Many people think of a forest as a quiet, peaceful oasis, far from the madding crowds, and populated with singing birds and the hypnotic rustle of the leaves. Mark had an entirely different opinion. To him the forest was a cacophony of sound, from the constant beating of the rain on the leaves and bark of the Giant trees, to the background hum of the small amphibians that lived in the bogs and ponds scattered throughout. At that particular time of day you could clearly hear the rush of water streaming between the roots and stems of the low growing ferns and bracken. In places it became a roar as it cascaded over rocks and exposed root systems. Before the start of this rainy season, these streams and torrents simply hadn't existed. The bogs had been merely damp mossy glades, now they were traps for the small and unwary. The mud was the worst. Up until now, it had only caused a problem by becoming dry and choking clouds when they got a decent windstorm. Now the fine silty soil became like potters clay and clung, sucking and pulling with every footstep. Walking through a forest in any storm had its hazards, with falling leaves and branches as big as freight trains crashing down with little, or no warning to the imprudent traveller. Keeping an eye open for all these natural hazards tended to wear heavily on the nerves of anyone caught out in these conditions. Mark and Valerie were no less susceptible because of their familiarity with the forest over the last two years. It served to make them even more aware of the possible pitfalls, and kept them on the knife edge of exhaustion throughout the long days.

The last day on the track, before they reached the Spindrift, had started out quite normally. A quick breakfast at day break, followed by the inevitable packing of the tent and sleeping gear, culminating in a quick survey of the area immediately surrounding the camp site, then into the harness and off they went. If the path was wide enough they both pulled together and made a fair speed. But on this last day the track had narrowed and Valerie was forced to walk behind Mark, and the travois, keeping watch for birds and curious mammals, and of course any stray Giants. Giants had become the least of their current problems, given the onset of the rain. In fact, apart from the two crooks they had encountered in the hut, plus the boy, the Giant population was keeping a very low profile. The rain was certainly a blessing in that regard. By the end of the day Valerie, however, would have traded an army of Giants for a warm fire and dry feet. She had spotted a few animals while Mark labored ahead of her, but nothing to alarm her, and the birds seemed to be keeping to their nests that day. Even the flying insects were grounded for the time being. The only ground life she saw was a trail of ants, carrying small pieces of leaves back to their burrow. They both gave them a wide berth, not wanting to risk drawing any attention to themselves. Ants in this Giant world were still a hazard given that they were about the size of a small pony. They had nasty biting pincers, just like their Earth counterparts, and had the same abilities in regards to their size/strength ratio. So, wherever possible, the Little People kept well away from any sign of the ants and their nests. After a lunch break, and a short haul of about an hour they agreed to halt for the night by a stand of bamboo like grass stalks, closely packed together in a semi-circle, making a naturally curved shelter belt, perfectly positioned to protect the tent from the wind, and any stray water bombs from the leaves above. Mark set about creating a fire from the bundle of dry timber they had collected the previous two days in anticipation of more rain. The bamboo like shelter belt also proved to have a good supply of papery bark that had remained mostly dry, being sheltered at the bottom of the clump. Valerie busied herself with setting up the tent and checking what provisions they had for their supper that night. Their supplies were now critically low, but with the Spindrift now only a day away, they felt confident that they could find something to feed themselves, from their immediate locale. With this in mind Valerie hoisted the empty spare backpack over her shoulder and went over to Mark, where he crouched over the smouldering fire, the rain by now had waned to a drizzle, but it was still enough to make keeping the fire alight a challenge. Mark looked up as Valerie approached him and smiled at her, although wryly, given the rain dripping into his eyes from his hood.

" I don't know how long this fire will last if the rain doesn't stop, we've almost used up all our dry kindling." He turned back and poked the fire, it hissed and spat as a smattering of drizzly rain drops landed on the embers.

" Its only got to last long enough for me to find something to cook on it " Valerie observed, " I'm going to find that bush we marked on our way out, it should be over near that twisted elm tree over there, its also near that grove of mushrooms we found, so I figured a meal of fungi and fruit would fill a few corners. " She grinned down at Mark as a particularly large droplet hit him square in the face and he spluttered and shook his had to clear his eyes. A second later a similar raindrop landed on her own head and she let out a shriek as the icy cold water found its way under her hood and down her back.

" Ooooh... that was cold, I hate it when that happens."

Mark was laughing as he stood up, they really were a couple of drowned rats.

" I'd better try and stretch that extra plastic cover over the tent using those grass stalks, otherwise we'll be floating out of our beds tonight." He squeezed her shoulder and started towards the sled.

" I'll be back as quickly as I can." Valerie started to walk away from the makeshift camp.

" Be careful out there, and yell if you need help, okay ?" Mark watched her with concern as she slipped and slid down a slight incline, getting to the bottom with more luck than grace.

" Don't worry, you'll hear me good and loud." with that Valerie raised her hand in farewell and was swallowed up by the greenery.

Mark watched where she had disappeared for a couple of seconds then turned back to the tent and started to lay out the plastic sheet, eyeing the stalks for the best anchor points. Behind him the fire continued to hiss and spit as if complaining about the weather as well.

Valerie found the distinctive tree in short order, and was gratified to see a good crop of mushrooms had sprouted in the damp conditions. She had taken the smaller hatchet with her, and now hacked at the stalk of the smallest fungi, which gave easily. They wouldn't need more than one between the two of them, it was very filling. Valerie often wished they had better access to spices on this planet, because, for the most part, the mushrooms were fairly bland, but the younger they were the nuttier the flavour. After obtaining the first item on her shopping list, she packed away the hatchet and proceeded to work her way around the tree to where she knew the fruit bush was last seen. Sure enough it was there and laden with even more fruit than before. This particular bush seemed to fruit almost all year round, which gave them a repetitive but reliable food source when other avenue's dried up. The fruit itself was small and hard, like an unripe peach in colour, but instead of being bitter it was very sweet, the flesh being hard but fibrous, a bit like coconut. It had a large stone inside which made it necessary to pick alot to get the most food value, but that was a small price to pay. Valerie picked about six of the grapefruit sized berries and packed as many as she could into her backpack next to the mushroom. The rest she held in her arms, then she turned around and started to retrace her steps back to Mark.

She got to within a hundred yards of the temporary camp site when disaster struck. Valerie heard a rumbling crash come from over to her left where the ground was slightly higher than the path she was currently on. She stopped and looked over that way, but couldn't see much. Starting to move again she suddenly saw the bushes and ferns bending over as if an invisible foot had flattened them. She froze and watched as the phenomenon came inexorably closer to her position. Valerie could see Mark clearly up ahead on the slight rise above the trail, and she called to him.

" MARK... MARK... CAN YOU SEE WHAT'S HAPPENING ?......OVER THERE, I CAN'T SEE WHAT IT IS FROM HERE." She put down the fruit in her arms so she could wave and catch his attention.

Mark turned round at the sound of her shout and waved back to her, looking in the direction she was pointing and shielding his eyes from the rain.

His mouth dropped open in surprise. He quickly cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted back to Valerie.

" VAL, GET MOVING.....ITS A MUD SLIDE.....RUN TO YOUR RIGHT, QUICKLY......RUN !!! He started to move towards her at an angle, away from the path she was on. Valerie had started to run before he had finished shouting to her, and now she could hear the rumble of the rocks and branches being rolled end over end by the rushing mud. She had barely reached the incline that Mark had indicated when the first rocks broke through the side of the path she had been on and started to catch up to her. Another burst of speed saw her scrabbling on her hands and feet up the muddy slope, grasping any greenery to help her get up the slope faster. Behind her the mud slide was slowing down now it had found the smooth trail to spread out over, but it was still slowly but steadily gaining on her. She suddenly found a knotted rope in front of her and made a grab for it, above her Mark had reached the top of the bank and let the rope down to give Valerie some added grip. She pulled on the rope and Mark took the strain, at the same time pulling her up the slope as fast as he could. His feet were slipping in the silt but he managed to keep himself from sliding over the edge. Before long Valerie was at the top and together they fell onto the flat plateau, hearing the rush of the mud below as it followed the natural course of the lower path. Valerie was out of breath and liberally coated with slime from head to foot, Mark was only slightly better off, his back being coated with mud where he had hit the ground with Valerie on top of him. They clung to each other, panting, as gradually the sounds of the slithering mud and rocks faded away. Valerie lifted her head and looked at Marks mud splattered face.

" Thank you....that was a close call...."

" Too close....if you had been any further away...." He tailed off, and together they sat up and surveyed the destruction below them.

The mud slide had cut a swathe through the low greenery, coating it all in a thick layer of mud and slime. The path that Valerie had been on had all but disappeared under the rocks and branches swept up by the slide.

" I will be so glad to get home tomorrow........" Valerie tried to wipe a hand over her forehead to clear some of the sweat that itched there, leaving a wide smear of mud that made her look like she was wearing camouflage make-up. Mark smiled at her and Valerie gave him a look that dared him to say anything. He decided to forego any comments.

" Come on......give me a hand up and we'll get back to camp."

Valerie rolled off Mark and scrambled to her feet, the pack on her back swaying heavily. She extended her muddy hand to Mark who grasped it and hauled himself upright. Then together they turned for home.

" I will be so glad get out of these wet clothes." Valerie trudged wearily beside Mark. Wishing there was a hot bath waiting for her at the tent, knowing that she would have to make do with rainwater in a thimble as the substitute. They had just arrived back at the fire when a heavy sigh from Valerie drew Marks attention.

" Tired Val?" Valerie only managed a small nod. Mark continued " We'll make it an early night okay ? I want to make a bright start tomorrow morning to get home as soon as possible. "

Mark put an arm around Valerie's shoulders and gave them a squeeze, she gave him a small smile, then groaned loudly when she eased the backpack off her sore shoulders. Mark dropped the rope and took the pack from her, lowering it next to the fire. Then he grasped her shoulders and turned her away from him so he could massage her back and neck.

" Oooooh you have hidden talents Mark, this is heavenly." Valerie couldn't hide a groan of pleasure as Marks strong fingers bit into her poor abused muscles. Mark just smiled and said she was welcome...anytime.

After they had cleaned themselves up, under the makeshift overhang, and finished their meal, Mark doused the fire and gently pulled a sleepy Valerie towards their tent. The rain had finally decided to stop, the clouds appeared to be thinning, finally allowing the weak moon to shine through.

" Come on sleepyhead, time to hit the sack. You get in, I'll be there in a minute." He turned away as Valerie crawled into her blankets, the ground had never seemed so soft as it did that night. Her eyes were closed when Mark returned but they opened when he wrapped himself in his blankets and turned towards her.

" Go to sleep Val, just think, we'll be home with Steve and everybody tomorrow, won't they be pleased to see us."

Valerie only murmured and shut her eyes. Mark reached over and placed a gently kiss on her lips, barely brushing his mouth over hers, but it was enough to make Valerie's eyes pop open in surprise.

" Oh......Mark......that was nice." Valerie's sleepy gaze held Mark's and he leaned in for another kiss. This time is was a proper kiss, going on for as long as it took to explore each others lips thoroughly. Finally, breathless, Valerie pulled away and looked up into Mark's warm blue eyes.

" I guess this means we're making progress...." Valerie smiled.

" I guess it does." Mark replied.

He gave her one last quick kiss, then turned and wrapped the blankets more securely around himself and settled down, facing her. In the dim light of the tent Valerie gently touched her lips with her fingers, still feeling the imprint of Mark's lips on hers. She smiled, closed her eyes, and fell asleep. Mark wasn't far behind her.

The forest continued to buzz ,hum, rustle ,creak, sigh and groan all around them as the two tired travellers slept peacefully.

The end.

For now.