Page 32 of Swipe Right for Stardust

A rustling sound caught my attention. I turned to see the surrounding plants shifting, their leaves trembling and stems elongating.

“Zarnak?” I said, a note of concern in my voice. “Is this... normal?”

He frowned, scanning our surroundings. “No, it’s not. The pollen must have triggered some kind of defensive mechanism in the local flora.”

As if on cue, a vine lashed out, narrowly missing my arm. I yelped in surprise, stumbling backward.

Zarnak grabbed my shoulder, pulling me to him. “We need to move. Now!”

I nodded, trusting his assessment completely. As we turned to run, more vines whipped through the air, grasping at us. Zarnak positioned himself slightly in front of me, shielding me from the worst of it.

We sprinted through the jungle, dodging and weaving between the increasingly aggressive plant life. Adrenaline surged through my veins, lending me speed I didn’t know I possessed.

“Watch out!” I called, spotting a thorny tendril snaking towards Zarnak’s leg. He leapt over it just in time, flashing me a grateful look.

Suddenly, I felt something curl around my ankle. I glanced down to see Taffy, our little tentacled companion, clinging to me. But instead of slowing me down, the creature seemed to be using its other tentacles to bat away encroaching vines.

“Zarnak! Taffy’s helping us!” I called out. Our odd little mascot was strangely endearing.

“Remarkable!” Zarnak replied, dodging another vine. “It seems we’ve made a loyal friend!”

We continued our mad dash through the jungle, fear and exhilaration mingling, spurring us on. Despite the danger, I feel a thrill at facing this challenge with Zarnak by my side.

As we ran, I caught glimpses of other teams in the distance, all facing similar plant-based perils. Snippets of panicked conversation drifted our way.

“Xylok! The vines have my antennae!”

“Priya, darling, now might be a good time to use those plasma shears you insisted on bringing!”

In any other circumstance, I might have laughed at the absurdity of it all. But right now, all my focus was on keeping up with Zarnak and avoiding the increasingly creative attacks from the jungle around us.

“There!” Zarnak called out, pointing ahead. “I can see a clearing!”

I pushed myself harder, ignoring the burning in my lungs. We were so close to safety, I could almost taste it.

As we burst into the open space, I risked a glance back. The angry vegetation seemed unable or unwilling to follow us out of the deep jungle. We’d made it.

Panting heavily, I doubled over, hands on my knees. “That was... intense,” I gasped out between breaths.

Zarnak nodded, his chest heaving as well. “Indeed. But we succeeded, and we’re unharmed. That’s what matters.”

I straightened up, meeting his gaze. In that moment, flushed with our narrow escape and the thrill of our shared adventure, I felt an overwhelming urge to kiss him.

Before I could act on that impulse, however, a chime sounded from our nav device. The race wasn’t over yet.

“Ready for the next challenge?” Zarnak asked.

Was that excitement in his voice? Just a little?

I grinned, my earlier exhaustion forgotten in the wake of our triumph. “With you? Always.”

The world spun as the teleportation ended. I stumbled, disoriented, and grabbed onto Zarnak’s arm to steady myself. As my vision cleared, I gasped at the surreal landscape before us.

Floating rocks hovered in midair, defying all laws of physics I knew. Waterfalls flowed upwards, their spray creating shimmering rainbows in the alien sunlight. My mind raced as I tried to process the impossible scene.

“Zarnak,” I whispered, tightening my grip on his arm. “Are you seeing this?”

He nodded, his expression a mirror of my own awe. “Incredible. The gravity here must be drastically different from what we’re used to.”

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