It was now the seventh day since Blanc and the others had entered the Jaguar Path, deep within one of the three Silver Gardens.
The hunting and fishing of the past three days had made them far stronger than they were when they arrived.
In just seventy-two hours of relentless work, they had achieved what they did not think possible in such a short time. With luck and with Vita on their side, they had managed to hunt gorillas, jaguars, caimans, and eels, killing five of each, until each one of their Marks had turned Black.
Last night, during their usual nighttime training, Blanc, Celine, and Miyanna had also been visited by a family of four sun bears who had come to drink from the waterfall. Two of those sun bears now rested in silence because of Blanc, and their deaths had gifted Blanc a new Mark. A light gray sun shaped like a bear's face, etched behind his thigh.
And now, as Blanc opened his eyes after harvesting the fourth King Cobra that had tried to steal their food during the night, earning him yet another Black Mark on his skin, it was time to wake everyone for breakfast.
They would eat, then leave this place, and begin their attempt to cross the Gardens into the Moose Path.
"Good morning, little ones," Blanc whispered, shaking the twins lightly.
"Brother?" Lune muttered as she opened her eyes, "Is it morning already?"
"Yes, and breakfast is ready," Blanc nodded, "I'll go and wake Celine and Miyanna, make sure Kael does not fall asleep, okay?"
"Mhm," Lune confirmed with a light nod, "We'll see you outside."
And with a smile, Blanc was out of the tent, heading to the one close by to wake his wives.
"What a beautiful sight," he muttered as he looked at his wives hugging each other as they slept.
The sight made him stare for a few seconds.
It was these little things that kept them level-headed these last few days.
Bad jokes and laughter, stories of random things, a hug or a kiss, and eating food together.
All these made it possible not to go crazy, for all they did was kill, kill, and kill yet again.
To the point that, since the day prior, they had stopped eating any type of meat out of pure disgust at seeing it.
They had surrounded themselves with blood and death, but the purpose of it was slowly being achieved.
They were getting stronger and faster, not just physically, but mentally as well.
They were getting smarter, their thoughts quicker, sharper, and clearer in their mind's eye.
Their skin was getting thicker, their bones more dense, and their muscles more defined, to the point that Blanc, Celine, and Miyanna would have put stone carvings of past legends to shame.
And their senses, by the Vita they were better.
Blanc could now hear or smell anything within at least a half-mile radius of them, and see almost perfectly at night when he wished to.
And slowly his body was getting more and more immune to the elements, the electricity of the eels now was a slight tingle, the poison of the King Cobra sweet treat for him, with no effects on his body.
Even the warmth wasn't that bad anymore for him or the rest.
But he worried about the cold that would soon follow.
Luckily, the jaguar pelts he cured and prepared would come in handy.
But that was for later. Now he needed to wake his wives up.
"My love," said Celine as they were having breakfast, "I've been thinking."
"About what?" Blanc asked.
"Well, the turtles, and the fact that only you have seen one," Celine began, "I think that we have been looking in the wrong place."
"What do you mean?" Miyanna wondered.
"Think about it, they are considered almost extinct, but Blanc has seen a baby in the river. Could they not be there?" Celine explained.
"We would have caught one if that were the case," Blanc said.
"Only if they were to remain in this river. What if you were right and there are underwater tunnels that they use? Who knows what is below the Gardens? The gap is deep and has a river, so somewhere between the two, they connect," Celine continued.
"What do you suggest?" Blanc asked.
"That one of us enters the river and checks," Celine said. "I know it might be dangerous, but-"
"Dangerous?" Blanc interrupted her, "It might be more than dangerous; it might mean certain death."
"We harvested aquatic beasts; we have an advantage underwater from a common man," Celine replied.
"That's true," Miyanna nodded.
Kael and Lune stood silent, watching the conversation unfold.
But Blanc thought for a while, and only came up with a single idea, "Fine, but only if I go alone."
"Brother," Kael and Lune spoke in unison, the way they said it a clear indication that they were disagreeing.
"I came up with the idea, I can go," Celine said.
"Nonsense," Blanc pushed that idea aside, "You are pregnant, Celine. I will go and see. If there is nothing, we leave and hope we find turtles in the last Garden."
They all nodded and didn't argue further, knowing that Blanc would not fold under pressure when it came to protecting someone he cared for, even if he had to put himself in danger.
"Wonderful," Blanc smiled, seeing all the nods, "We eat and then go to the river."
And ten minutes later, there they were, all standing on the rocks near the shore of the river.
All except Blanc, who removed all his clothing except his undergarments and the knife he held in his left hand.
His body was painted with Marks, old and new. Some white, some gray, some black.
It had made him a walking painting, one his wives loved to stare at.
"Well then," Blanc turned to the four, "I shouldn't be gone for too long, a few minutes at most, but if I don't resurface after ten minutes-"
"You will resurface," Celine interrupted, to which Miyanna and the twins nodded vigorously, "You will return to us, whole and alive."
"Of course I will," he smiled at them, before jumping headfirst into the water.