Disclaimer: I own nothing. In this fic, or in life. No wait, I own Delu Nyoka, my OC. That's all though. Everything else belongs to Darren Shan and his mighty author-ness! BTW, this is my first (published) fanfiction! So please go easy on me?

Enjoy!

Chapter One: In the Jungle

Delu Nyoka

I peered curiously through the small opening between the trees. Not far down the river, a large group of tents and caravans and such were gathering together. It looked like they were setting up a camp of some sort. I shrugged and was about to turn, when something in the camp caught my attention. A cage was being lowered out of one of the caravans, and what I saw inside it sent a shiver down my spine. Some great, horrid beast was trapped inside, snapping it's huge jaws, snarling loudly. I caught a waft of it's scent: blood and death. When it let out a horrible feral howl, I leaped down the branches of the tree I was perched in, and run for the innermost parts of the jungle, not wanting to be scented myself by the beast, even if it was in a cage.
I had seen what kind of people came to camp at this part of the jungle, some pleasant, most unpleasant. There were the activists and eco-whats-its, they were ok. I didn't see why they tried so hard to protect life from fate, but many things from the 'civilized world' confused me. But it was the hunters who frightened me. They brought their weapons and traps, and their hounds, then they killed so many of the animals. And without purpose, I would find stacks of animal corpses, missing only their furs, left to rot in the hunters' abandoned camps. They also tore down the trees, homes to so many creatures, without a second thought. I sincerely hoped that these newcomers were not hunters, but neither did I root for them to be environmentalists, either. I just hoped for them to be... visitors, I guess.

Evra Von

Darren and I wandered around the camp, looking for various jobs that had to be done around the camp. We didn't have to search much, after all we were unpacking at a new location. Having just finished one job, we had just started looking again when Mr.Tall appeared near us.
"Boys," he said. "I would like you to go try and find something for the Little People to eat. They are quite hungry after the journey." Then he walked off to check on how everyone else was faring with the unpacking. I groaned, not looking forward to having to search through the thick underbrush of the nearby Jungle. I turned to look at Darren, and I couldn't stop myself from laughing at the look on his face.
"We... in there... hunt?" he stuttered.
"Yeah, I guess so," I shrugged. "What's so scary about that. I mean yes it's a pain, but it's not scary, is it"
"That's a jungle!" he cried. "There could be jaguars, or panthers, or crocodiles, or snakes"
"Ahem," I coughed, "Just what is so very frightening about a snake?" He blushed a bit at my question.
"Uh, sorry about that," he muttered in embarrassment. "I meant, like, poisonous boa type snakes, ones that aren't friendly like yours.You know"
"Ah, don't sweat it, Darren. I know what you meant!" I grinned foolishly, then started to walk towards the jungle. "So, you coming? Or am I going to have to drag you"
"All right," he sighed, putting his fears aside. I actually was kind of looking forward to seeing what kind of wildlife we might find in the jungle. It would probably be full of different kinds of snakes, and unlike Darren, I was looking forward to meeting them.
It didn't take us long to get to the outskirts of the Jungle, and we only hesitated a moment (Darren thought he saw something in the trees) before walking into the thick undergrowth of ferns and small plants. Thee trees above us were thickly grouped together, thick and ancient looking, with vines hanging loosey off of their branches. Only a small amount of light reached the ground, and it had a dark, greenish colour to it. Darren stepped on a twig, which snapped loudly under his foot, causing a group of birds in a nearby tree to flee in a fluttering mess. A few feathers fell to the ground with the bunch of leaves that the birds tore loose from the tree they had been roosting in. The tree's foliage was so thick that I hadn't even seen the birds sitting in it before they had taken flight. I leaned over and picked one of the feathers up, it was a beautiful shade of perriwinkle, and it was very large, probably almost eight inches long.
As Darren and I moved deeper into the Jungle, we found it more and more difficult to make our way through the thickening undergrowth. But suddenly, we stepped out into a clearing. It wasn't a natural one, I could tell instantly from the huge tree stumps scatterred throughout it. It was most likely caused by foresters coming and cutting down the giant trees for lumber. From the side of my eye, I caught a glimpse of Darren lunging at something. He had apparently seen some sort of animal to bring back to the Little People. I turned around to see what it was, and soon after he came back out of the trees holding up a small monkey, with an obviously broken neck. He was looking at it somewhat sadly, he still didn't like to see or cause death, I guess. Neither did I, but I was slightly more more used to it, thanks to the time I had spent with the Cirque already.
My attention was taken off of Darren, though, when I saw something rustling in the tree branches above him. Something big.
Something that was lunging down towards Darren!
"Darren, look out!" I shouted.

A/N Heh, yeah. It's not really great, and it's really short, but it's just a tease at what I hope to make into a really good fanfic... Reviews are, as always, appreciated! Chapter two coming soon!