Done
A/N: Please note, this takes place in what I am tentatively titling The Humanverse which, as the title might tell you, takes place in a world where Kelsey is actually human. Once more this is made in response to an a not-really-a-prompt from Nella at Chez Apocalypse's Lets Read With Nella! The Tiger's Curse. Also this Kelsey acts a tad bit more stereotypically middle American, and can be more than a bit snarky.
-TC-
Blearily, I blinked my eyes and tried to look around. That lasted for all of point three seconds before I realized two things. One: my head hurt more than it ever had before, and Two: I couldn't breathe. I jerked forward, and a white light exploded behind my eyes, as I heaved, retching and trying to get the water out of my lungs as I flailed about. The only sensations my body seemed capable of handling at that moment seemed to be abject pain and panic. With one final heave I spat up the water and could breathe again. Rolling over onto my back I took in great heaving breaths and tried to focus on anything, the heat of the sun, the sound of the jungle, the feel of water on my skin, anything to distract myself from the pounding in my head. After a solid twenty minutes, the pain let up enough that I could slowly, oh so slowly sit up. The clearing seemed deserted, and I felt a slight pang at the thought that Ren had left me. Then that pang turned into something else; anger. What did he think he was doing, leaving me in the middle of the jungle? I'm a teenager, an american teenager, and he left me in the middle of the fucking jungle. Did he want me to die? And then my anger turned into something else; fear.
I'm a teenager in the middle of an Indian jungle, by myself, with no clue how to get back to the road. What was I thinking!? I can't believe that I let myself get sucked into this, I traveled half a world away, to a continent that I have no clue how to navigate. I've been bumbling my way through everything, I wandered into a tomb with Indiana fucking Jones level traps, and only made it out because of a tiger who is also a man who has gone through centuries of isolation and is probably not exactly right in the head. I mean seriously, that little talk about hunting? Creepy as hell now that I think about it. This was way to dangerous, I mean I almost died while taking a swim!
I sat up as quickly as possible and looked for my backpack, prepared to pack up my stuff and take my chances. As I turned I caught sight of a familiar form on the ground. On the ground, cradling his face, was my quote unquote "hero" Ren. "Ren, what happened to you?" The dude was probably more than a little bit crazy, but I couldn't just leave him on the ground, how else was I going to find the road?
"Kelsey" Ren said, spitting out a little blood "You have a stronger punch than I anticipated, I don't think you need to worry about being protected anymore" he said with a laugh.
I noticed a throbbing feeling in my hand, and deduced that I must have hit him while I was flailing around. I regarded him blankly "Seriously, dude, I mean really? Really? I took you down? Me? Have you seen me? I might be thin, but I'm not all that healthy and I'm definitely not athletic, my family might be, but they're super vegans, so that's not really a surprise. The point is, I am about one hundred pounds of nothing, and if me decking you while panicking is enough to take you down then I think you might be in need of some protection. By the way, where's the road?" Ren pointed off to the left while he stared at me dumbly.
Then a look of understanding came over his face. "Ah I understand why you are being so strange now Kelsey, you have hit your head." Ren got up and walked over to his pack. I decided to humor him for a bit before starting off. While he searched through his pack, I searched through mine. Anik sure can pack, there were blankets, towels, trail mix, swiss miss packets, wire, matches and more (I decided not to question how on earth he got all of this stuff to fit into the pack and just went with it). Ren eventually stopped rifling through his bag and came up with a bottle.
"Here Kelsey, have some aspirin and lie down, I'm sure you'll feel much better after a nap."
I almost dropped the sack "You're kidding, right?" I said raising an eyebrow, there was no possible way he was this stupid. Ren just continued to give me that same dopey smile. I breathed in through my nose, getting my blood pressure up would only make things worse. As I tried to formulate an intelligent and calm reply, Ren took the liberty of unscrewing the cap of the bottle and shaking two pills out into his palm, which he then offered to me.
Screw it.
"You have got to be fucking kidding me. You're not though, are you? You genuinely think that I need some aspirin and a lie down? How on earth can you be this idiotic? I don't know about you, but when I told my family I was going to a foreign country, they made me take a crash course in first aid, and guess what? Aspirin is not good for concussions, which is what I probably have. Not to mention falling asleep. Seriously, I thought you were a warrior, you should be familiar with the concept of a concussion and what not to do when someone has one. Item number one on that list is typically sleep. The last thing you want to do after you're concussed is sleep. So no, I will not lie down, I'm going back to the road, and I'm leaving." I turned on my heel and began making my way towards the direction Ren had pointed.
"Kelsey" he called, and I turned "And another thing, its not lie down, its lay down, for someone so fluent in english, you grammar needs work." I reached into my backpack and pulled out the collapsible machete that Anik had managed to fit in there. As I neared the edge of the clearing, a man stepped out of the shadows.
"Hello, and who might you be, my sweet little flow-" Which was as far as he got before I pointed the machete at his neck.
"I'm Kelsey" I pointed behind me with my thumb "There's your brother, and I'm leaving, goodbye."
I started chopping away at the leaves, as the man chuckled.
"The road is that way" he said, pointing his thumb in the exact opposite direction that Ren had. I growled under my breath, turned around, marched past the still dumbstruck Ren and began chopping away again. It really wasn't recommended that someone with a concussion be doing hard, or really, any kind of labor, but luckily for me, after a few minutes of chopping away at the dense (though not half so much as Ren) foliage, I stumbled across a path, one that we hadn't come through. It looked like this clearing was a lot more popular than Ren thought.
After an indeterminable amount of time, I stumbled across the road. Reaching into my pocket, I prayed to any and all gods for a signal, and low and behold, my wish was granted. My thumb came down on the number one and Anik's number flashed across the screen as I speed dialed him.
After precisely one ring I heard a click and then Anik's smooth cultured voice purred through the phone. "Hello Kelsey, is there something wrong?" His voice was tinged with worry and I smiled.
"Anik, I need some help." I said.
"I'll be there right away" he said instantly, "I'm tracking your phone now."
I smiled "Thanks Anik." I could hear him over the phone as he started to type something into his computer. A few minutes passed before Anik said "I've got you, I'll be about thirty minutes, can you wait that long?"
"Yeah, but how are you going to get here that quickly?" The Gods apparently revoked my phone privileges at that moment though, because I lost my signal before he could answer.
After twenty seven minutes and thirty nine seconds, I heard something. It was distant at first, but it quickly grew louder. After another minute, the sound was overbearing, and the trees around me were bending in a strong wind. Over the treetops, the helicopter appeared.
I laughed out loud as it descended, Anik at the controls.
When he signaled that I could approach, I made my way over, my hair flying about from the force of the whirring blades. "What is wrong?" He yelled.
"I think I have a concussion" I yelled back. Anik's looked concerned as he said "I'll get you to the nearest hospital" He said, tilting the controls.
I'd never been in a helicopter before, so the experience of sudden elevation was a new one.
"Anik" I yelled. He looked over to me "Thanks" I told him.
He smiled at me, and whether it was the exhilaration of the helicopter or the head injury that gave me the courage to, I leaned over and kissed him. Anik looked shocked for a moment, and I leaned back, unsure. Then he smiled and leaned forward and met my lips with his.
"As fun as this is, I really should be getting to that hospital."
He smirked "As you command Miss Kelsey.
I swatted him on the arm playfully, and together we sailed through the sky.
Below in the clearing I imagined I could hear the sound of Ren crying "Kelseeeeeeeey!"
Eh probably just my imagination.
-TC-
A/N: There we go, my second Tiger's curse fanfic, this one more aimed at what a realistic Kelsey might do when confronted by the waterfall pool scene. Not as happy with this one as I was with the first one, but I like it well enough. Once more my knowledge about this book and my inspiration for writing this story (And master shipwright of the great ship Keldam) comes from the hilarious Antonella Inserra. Anyway's please R&R, every little bit helps. As Houck would say, Namaste.
Edited 12/20/2014: Altering a few words and inserting a few sentences for better narrative flow. Also to include the proper ship name which I somehow missed/forgot about.