Not Without Some Help

Nadia had grabbed a sharp rock with her free hand and was grinding it against their wooden cuffs, but she hadn't even chipped it. No matter how hard she sawed the wood, it seemed to repel any attempts at breakage. It was relatively low on the scale of weird things that had happened today, but it still made her furious. If even the simplest acts could be stopped by some wacky magic bullshit, what could either of them do to fight back?

"Love? Do you want to take a break?" Alice asked, putting her free hand on Nadia's bare shoulder.

"I can't take a break." Nadia said, her mouth going a mile a minute. "If I take a break, we lose time, and we leave ourselves at risk of... whatever else is out there, and I need to think of a plan because we have nothing on us and no idea where we are and if I can't fix that then we-"

Alice wrapped her arms around Nadia, as best she could with one hand bound with her girlfriend's. "You're panicking. You need to take a step back and breathe. Don't worry, I'm right here."

Nadia closed her eyes and listened to her rapid heartbeat. She took a few deep breaths and let the pounding in her chest slow to a more gentle rise and fall. She let a couple tears roll down her cheeks, not of sorrow, but of exhaustion. Her muscles ached and her head felt like it was being crushed in a vice. Her entire body felt cold except for where she felt her girlfriend's skin against hers.

Instinctively, Nadia laid a kiss on Alice's shoulder and heard a familiar giggle. "I hope you're not planning on getting rough out here. The wildlife might not appreciate the noise." Both of them lightly chuckled at that, and Alice continued in a lowered voice, "We're not going to get anywhere on our own. We need to find someone and ask for help, starting with these." She jingled the cuffs. Nadia nodded in agreement, but the problem still remained of who they could even find out here.

"I can help you out." Both women turned towards the voice that had apparently read their minds and saw...