Sensations came back quickly. Even Jarl's eyes began to tingle in harmony with the thousand prickles that coursed over his body.
Finally he could limp along and as the power returned to his muscles he began to step out briskly.
"What was it?" Waltk asked.
Jarl Gare shrugged. "I don't know for sure, but it must have been some sort of thin force field—able to resist concerted pressure, but not quick, sharp shocks like our leaping bodies."
The tangled jungle finally dwindled away and the pair were striding across fields rich with vegetation.
"It is beautiful," Waltk declared. "Such bright colors shining like jewels through this fog."
Jarl Gare glanced at Waltk sharply, and then at the gray vegetation. He grinned. "I wish I had your eyes, Waltk, or been raised on Jupiter where I'd have to develop such keen perception."
Waltk shrugged his big shoulders. "You Earthmen have good eyes, too, but you do not need them as much as we do."
"Are we still heading right?" Jarl Gare asked.
Waltk nodded. They plodded on.