Author's note: This took me weeks to get ready, so don't be so harsh if it isn't any good. This is a very long story and possibly the first Wild Thornberrys saga...if you can call this that. ; This story may be called Violent, but that's mainly 'cause Eliza's alternate family is poachers. Well, I hope you enjoy this story. I was happy to write it. And warning: This isn't chaptered because it was too much of a hassle. So don't try and read it all in one try. ;)
Second notice: I have added new scenes to this story. A few more will follow, including a scene that better explains to what happened to Elizabeth at the end of the story, plus a possible scene from the upcoming sequel, "Return to Dark Dimension".
Updated notice: All the new scenes have been added, including the preview from the next story. I also finally took the time to divide this story into chapters for much easier reading. ; Sorry it took me this long…but I was too lazy to do it. Oo;
Yet another updated notice: I have a job now. So I can't update my work
much. But I did manage to go around and fix the paragraphs in here so that
you can read it better. XD Hope this is easier to read.
ADDITIONAL INFO:
Soundtrack:
1. In The Sea-America (The Last Unicorn)
2. Make The Change-??? (Digimon Frontier Dub)
3. Father And Daughter-Paul Simon (The Wild Thornberrys Movie)
4. End Of Forever-Nick Carter (The Wild Thornberrys Movie)
5. Look Through My Eyes (Brother Bear)
Basic Info:
Alternate Titles: The Dark End/Violent
Rated PG-13 for blood, violence, and scenes that may be disturbing
for younger viewers.
On The Other Side
Story by DarkHououmon
A switch was pushed. A lever was pulled down. A chugging sound filled the room. Smoke, black smoke, rose high. A wailing sound of a siren sounded off. A door opened and a sudden wind power shot out. The man in the room backed away, and shielded his eyes. "Such power…It's perfect!" He sneered. The black mass whipped itself together, and seemed to have eyes of its own. It began to move along April Springs. The man stepped from the shadows. "The vortex worked perfectly." The sun's rays began to bathe his body in golden light. It was slowly revealing the man. "Say your prayers, Eliza Thornberry." As the light had covered him completely, he was revealed to be one other than…Sloan Blackburn!
Eliza felt a bit strange being in the same location where she had fallen deathly ill. It was evening, and she decided to go for a walk alone. She insisted that Darwin stay behind to rest. He had already done enough running from that jaguar, and enough walking in the giant maze she found. It would be senseless to let him come with her without proper rest. Donnie had tried to come with, but Eliza wanted to be alone. She seemed to want to reflect on the incident, and her parents understood. They allowed her to go, but only if she comes back before nightfall, and doesn't stray too far in case she is injured. The girl slowly walked in the desert, close to the cliffs where she had once collapsed. It was at that moment that she realized how fragile life can be, and she learned not to take it for granted. But she never really did that, not that she remembered.
The wind seemed to be picking up rather quickly. She took this as odd, since the weather man never mentioned anything like this. The skies grew slightly darker, and the clouds thickened. Eliza started to worry. 'Maybe I should head back..' She turned and started back towards the Commvee. But every step became a struggle, harder and harder. The wind was increasing in strength and velocity rapidly, and seemed to be pushing Eliza backwards, no matter which direction she turned. She gasped as she saw something like a tornado, but smaller, heading in her direction! Dust was kicked up into the air, suffocating Eliza, and she could see large rocks embedded in the ground being lifted out effortlessly as though they were pebbles. The tornado drew closer, and Eliza fell on her stomach. She dug her nails into the surface of the land called April Springs. But try as she might, she just could not prevent herself from being pulled backwards towards the petite twister. Her nails scraped against the ground, leaving thin trails in their wake.
Closer and closer to the twister she got. She closed her eyes tightly, gritted her teeth, and hugged the ground as tightly as humanly possible. She wasn't going down that easily! 'I have to hang on! I just have to hang on!' Her mind screamed. She soon realized that she wasn't being pulled upwards, but only backwards. 'Why is this?' She thought. 'Shouldn't a tornado lift anything it can up? If it could lift those boulders up, surely it can lift me up, not that I want it to.' Her thoughts were cut short as the black wind engulfed her, surrounding her body. She wasn't twirling around like she had expected. Instead, she found herself trapped around a swirling wind mass of black clouds. The ground that she stood on broke away quickly, and, screaming as loud as she could in fright, fell through a dark void. She was falling through a huge mass of nothingness that she could have sworn was the legendary abyss.
"Eliza!" Marianne shouted as she stood on the camp grounds. Eliza had been gone 45 minutes after dark, and although that was normal for her, Marianne couldn't help but worry. "Where are you?" She cupped her hands together in fear when Eliza never responded. She was either hurt or had strayed too far from camp. Nigel had already gone out to look for the missing girl. Debbie stayed behind under command of her father. He did not want to risk having both daughters lost out there in April Springs. "I don't know what's happened." Marianne said as she sat down next to the blonde teenager, who was reading Teenage Wasteland's latest edition.
She peered over above the pages, took a quick stare at her mom, and went on reading again. "I'm sure Eliza's fine. She usually is." But in her heart, she was just as fearful as her mom was. The woman sighed, and crossed her legs, and clasped her hands together.
"But I just can't help but be worried, Debbie. It's not like your sister to disappear like this." Debbie glanced over again. Marianne stood up from the bench, and looked out towards the horizon. "I just know something is wrong. Something terrible has happened. I just know it!" She choked back tears, and Debbie continued to read, trying not to worry too much. She knew Eliza could take care of herself.
'Especially since she can talk to animals.' She thought bitterly. Ever since she'd been told that, she had a warning. If she told anyone Eliza's secret, Debbie would turn into a baboon. Debbie hissed at the thought. But she also knew that Eliza had no choice. 'She revealed her secret to save my life. Goodness knows what would have happened if she had not done that.' She didn't want to think about it. She just hoped that her dad would find her little sibling and bring her home.
Then they heard the familiar sound of Nigel's grunting as he walked back towards the Commvee. Marianne bolted towards him, but froze in her tracks when she saw no Eliza with him. "Nigel, didn't you find her?"
The man panted heavily as thought he had been running form something. "No, I'm afraid not, lovely. All I found were long scratch marks." He pointed in the direction that he had found them. "If they were Eliza's, someone had dragged her away somewhere, but when I followed them, they just…" He shrugged, "…disappeared. Maybe they picked her up or something. But I couldn't find anything else, Marianne." Marianne had a hard time taking this all in. She shook her head in denial.
"She's been kidnapped?"
Nigel shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. It's a possibility." The woman grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him roughly.
"Our youngest daughter is missing! We've got to do something!" The man grasped the woman's hands and pried them off his shoulders. He looked sternly and deeply into Marianne's eyes.
"Calm down, deary. We just need to alert the authorities. They'll know what to do." Marianne sniffed, a few tears running down her face. She nodded slowly, a sad smile on her face.
They walked towards camp, and Debbie stood up immediately. "Did you find her?"
As Marianne went into the Commvee to grab a few things, Nigel shook his head, "'Fraid not, Deborah. We have to go to the authorities and tell them about what had happened."
Marianne came out to say to Debbie, "You're coming with, Debbie. We need as much information to give them as possible." The teen nodded with no argument. As they prepared to leave, Debbie looked over at the horizon in deep thought. 'Eliza, where are you?'
Eliza Thornberry suddenly awoke to a strange headache. "What happened?" She murmured to herself. The last thing she remembered was being.... sucked in...with a strange force. Sucked in? Did that sound right? The girl slowly climbed to her feet, and brushed herself off. Her head still heard, and she felt a little groggy. But she knew she had to keep herself up. She had no idea where she was, and she could be in danger any minute...
"I wish I knew where mom and dad were." Eliza looked at the horizon ahead. It looked like it was a gigantic rug. 'Forest.... it's a forest.' She told herself. What looked like a gigantic rug turned out to be just hills covered in trees. She thought it was an interesting and beautiful sight, but she had to get going. Perhaps someone around here could inform her of where she is, and how she could contact her parents. They may be worried sick about her! Well, she was only gone for a minute, but they may notice she's missing, and go frantic. Eliza placed a hand over her head and scanned the horizon.
'It seems like this is...some kind of forest located in...Africa? How did I get back here?' The place where Eliza was originally was Australia. Her parents had gone there to film some type of wallaby. There's no way she could've gotten all the way back to Africa alone.....and not this fast, she added mentally. "I just have to find some help!" With that, the girl finally began running. She could feel the breeze push against her face, and her feet dig into the hard yet soft dirt of the Savannah.
She stopped suddenly as she heard the sound of a gunshot. 'Oh no...poachers?!' She began breathing quickly. She began to sweat a little, and looked around frantically. She didn't know if was hunters or poachers, but she didn't want to take her chances with either of them. She heard another gunshot...this one was a tad closer. Eliza let out a scream of surprise, and bolted to the nearest tree. She climbed up, and clinged on to a branch. The branch was a bit thick, and wobbly, but she was still able to maintain a grasp. She looked around the area, and attempted to search for any signs of poachers, or even life. She found something moving through the tall grassy area. She narrowed her eyes to get a closer look, but it was no use. The figure was too fast....
She sighed. She hadn't heard any gun shots after the second one for a few seconds. She believed that the shootings were over. She looked to the ground, and jumped off the tree. She fell to her knees, and then climbed back up again. Her knees were a little scraped, but nothing major. She took another look ahead of her. "There's poachers in this area...I just know it. I have to inform the authorities right away." Then she looked around the place again. She didn't see any smoke, no road, no machinery...no signs of human life. 'The question is...how am I going to tell anyone?' She looked around her, and suddenly felt a little scared. She knew she couldn't remain scared for long. She would have to sooner or later get up and start looking around for means of escape.
Eliza started to walk across the grassy plains. She was hoping that if she continued in one direction, she would eventually run into someone she knew could help her. She faintly remembered that this was where she ran into Sloan and Bree Blackburn for the first time. She squinted her eyes and could see the railroad tracks that snaked across the Savannah. She knelt down and stared at the barren ground. She did so remember when she tried to help that black rhino...She felt the ground for any signs of dried blood. She found nothing... 'It must've dried up pretty quickly.' She rubbed her right arm with her left hand, and closed her eyes. She did recognize this place too well. But now she didn't know where to go...or who to turn to. She decided to keep walking on. Perhaps she'll run into someone who could help her get back to her parents.
She did hear some sudden noises. "What was that?" She asked softly. She thought she heard something, like a scream. She then saw some rustling in the bushes. "What?" She peered closer to the bush. Something was moving in there, she knew it. She stepped closer, careful not to make a sound. She kept her head low, and her back arched up. She slowly moved her arms out, and pushed the branches away. There, huddled up in a small ball, was a cheetah cub.
It kinda looked like Tally, except this cheetah cub looked female, and she had a stripe going across her eyes rather than had the glasses-like stripe go around her eyes. She looked up and saw Eliza. Her ears folded back, and she gave a small hiss. She spoke little worlds, "Get away from me."
Eliza was taken aback by this sudden display of fierceness. Why did this cub want her to leave? Didn't this cheetah cub recognize her? Perhaps that this is a cheetah cub she's none too familiar with. The human decided to reply back, just to get a reason, "What's wrong?" Now it was the cheetah's turn to look surprised. Her ears perked up straight and her eyes flashed open widely.
Raising a paw slightly, she asked, "You....you can talk?"
Eliza smiled. "Of course I can." She knelt closer, but the cub just backed off a little. "What's wrong? Why are you moving back from me?"
"Because..the last time I saw you...you were about to...."
But before the cub could finish a shot rang out. Eliza Thornberry could feel a bullet shoot past her, just barely missing her and the cub. She panicked, and quickly grabbed the cub. "Come on, we have to go!" She gritted her teeth as she tried to look for a place to hide.
The cheetah cub set her sights on a nearby tree. She raised a paw up and pointed in that direction. "How about over there? We should be safe there!"
The 12-year-old looked in that direction, and solemnly shook her head. "No, cub. That's too far away...." She breathed quickly and sharply. She listened as more bullets were shot their way. "There has to be a place to go!" She set the cheetah cub down. She instructed her to go run and hide as fast as she could. Eliza was going to try and find some way to stall whoever was coming. The cub nodded quickly and took off like lightning, dashing up the tree faster than one could blink an eye. Eliza smiled, then turned in the direction of which the bullets were coming from. 'No one is getting past me.' She narrowed her eyes harshly, and awaited for whomever it was...to come. Then one last shot rang out. Eliza didn't even see it coming. It lodged itself into her shoulder. It also grazed across the bone a little, leaving a small yet deep cut. She screamed in pain and clutched her shoulder. She tried to stay awake to see her attackers, but it was no use. She slowly sulked to the ground, and lost all consciousness....
"What the?" A dark voice asked. His figure was well shadowed in the darkness. His suit also provided nice camouflage. He had a knife fastened around one of his knees, and had a mustache swaying in the light breeze. He seemed to be wearing dark shades, and was holding a rifle in his hands. Leather gloves were also on his hands. Although it was dark, he could see very well what had happened. "That didn't sound like a cub cry...It sounded like a girl's cry!" He knew that if word got out to the officers, he wouldn't only be arrested for shooting an animal, but shooting and possibly even killing another human! He turned to his left. Another figure, a feminine one, stood next to him.
"Way to go..." She said sarcastically. "Now what are we going to do?" She wore similar wear to the male, only instead she wear black pants and didn't have a knife with her. She had a small handheld gun, and a spear. Judging from the way she was holding it, she was an expert spear-thrower. She too wore gloves, only they were red. The dark shades over her eyes made it impossible to tell if she was glaring or not.
The man scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Well, we could take whoever we shot with us, and tend her wounds you know? Maybe if she thinks we're good, she won't rat on us poaching out here."
The woman looked at him, and then smiled an approval. "Okay."
A small girl was with them. She had a single braid that rested on the back of her skull. She also wore shades. She wore a tan jacket and held a small sniper gun in her hands. A strange medallion was fastened around her neck. It was red and had a paw print mark on it. She wore pitch-black boots, and a spotted scarf was wrapped around her neck. She looked up at her parents. "Shall I check it out?"
The woman nodded. "But be quick, okay?"
"I will!"
The girl ran through the bushes, and looked around. She then saw the figure. Her eyes widened in shock. The other girl was lying on her back, and her mouth was open. Her shoulder was cut and bleeding, and she seemed to be in a lot of pain, or was before she fainted. The child's face was a little pale, and she looked like she was having trouble with the bleeding. But her injury and condition was not the reason why the dark girl had become surprised. The thing was...this girl was identical to her in most ways. "Mom? Dad?" She asked out loud. She figured that the unconscious girl couldn't hear her anyway.
The other adults rushed out, but came to a sudden halt. They too had noticed the likeness between the girl they shot, and their daughter. They may have worn different clothing, and the girl lacked the shades and medallion, but there was no mistaken that she was identical to their daughter. The dark girl knelt next to the fallen girl, and looked at her face more closely. She looked for any differences...any different markings...There was nothing different about her. The father breathed slowly, and finally got the courage to speak, "She looks like Eliza..."
The light shown through the clouds, and revealed the people's faces. The girl looked like she could be Eliza's twin. She was also 12, but didn't have that look of sympathy in her eyes. Instead, they bore a shade of darkness, and it's not the sunglasses. Her skin was also slightly darker, as if she stayed in the sun much longer than Eliza usually did. She put her hands in her pocket, and glanced down at the girl. There was some consideration on her face, but it didn't seem as though she cared for the girl. "It's like she's my twin." Still a tad shaken by the turn of events, she stepped back a little. She was thinking of helping this person, but what would happen if she saw them. Would she recognize them? Would she run off?
The woman looked like Marianne in all angles, but there was the clothes difference. She put the spear on the ground, and placed her gun in her leather holder. She did have blonde hair, but it was put in a ponytail, and wasn't wavy in anyway. Other than that, she looked like the Marianne that Eliza knew. She adjusted the red gloves on her hands, and looked closer at the girl. "This girl does have a likeness of our daughter, Nigel. Shouldn't we help her?"
The other Nigel looked the same, only he had a tiny scar on his nose, possibly from an animal attack. He didn't have that same British accent all the time, and his face always looked like a scowl. He thought for a moment, then believed that it would be the best option to help the girl, but not reveal who they were.
"Let's get her back to the comvee." He suggested, then thought again. 'If we take her inside the comvee, she'll discover the trophies, and possibly report us! We can't take that risk!' "Change of plan. Just take her back to the campsite, but don't let her inside the comvee, okay?" The two females nodded, and Marianne slowly picked up the girl. The girl made a pitiful whimper, then fell silent.
Marianne quickly looked at her with sympathy, then hurried to catch up with her daughter and husband. "Hey, wait up! I can't run that fast with a heavy load on!"
Back at the campsite, a teenager was sitting alone in a long chair. She was wearing a two-piece bathing suit. She held, in front of her, a metallic-looking mirror, and was catching some rays. Her dark shades protected her eyes from the sun. It was Debbie, or at least another Debbie. She grimaced at the bright sun, and quickly sat up. "Well, that's enough sun for now." She straightened out her back. "Time to check the satellites." She motioned for the comvee when she heard the familiar footsteps of her family's return. Debbie turned and was slightly curious that they returned so soon, and without a prize too. "Hey, what are you guys doing back so soon? And where's that cheetah cub you were after?"
Eliza, or Elizabeth as she preferred, looked at her sister, and responded, "Dad shot someone!"
Debbie gasped in surprise, placed her hand over her mouth, and stared at her father. "Dad, is this true?" Nigel slowly nodded his head.
"Yes. But she's still alive...and there's another thing..." Before he could stop, the blonde took off towards the direction of the back. She quickly assumed that Marianne was carrying the body. Elizabeth couldn't have, and Nigel didn't seem to be holding anything. So that left only Marianne.
Debbie was about to call out when she noticed the girl, and came to a halt. "Wh-What the?" She gaped, staring at the girl intensely.
She overheard Nigel's voice from behind, "That's what I've been wanting to tell you. The girl looks like Eliza!"
The 12-year-old snorted in disgust. "It's Elizabeth, dad." She said coldly.
"Oh right..."
Elizabeth rolled her eyes, and glanced down at her medallion. 'Thanks to this thing, we've had more than enough trophies....' She smiled darkly, then looked back up. "So...how are we going to help her?" She looked at her double, and seemed a bit more worried this time.
Marianne placed a cloth on the girl's shoulder, and pressed hard. It did cause the girl to shift uncomfortably, but she didn't wake up. Marianne narrowed her eyes, and shook her head slowly. "We'll need that medical kit that's in the comvee. The shot wound is lodged pretty deep. She may need surgery."
Debbie's eyes shot open. She may be tough, but the only thing she couldn't handle was blood. This was the main reason why she never goes on the hunts. "S-S-Surgery?" She shook a bit, which caught Elizabeth's attention.
"Are you scared?" She said, taunting hinted in her voice.
"No!" Debbie yelled in protest.
"Bet you are!" Debbie growled in frustration, and was about to strangle her sister when the girl stirred yet again.
Nigel peered closely at the girl's face, and tried to see if she was awakening. The small girl did turn her head, and moved her eyes a little, but she seemed as though she was out like a rock. Marianne wiped her face. "That was close....we need to remove the bullet immediately."
Elizabeth ran inside the comvee, and after a few minutes found the kit and handed it to her mother. The woman quickly opened it up, and set up everything for the surgery. It shouldn't take long, and didn't require major tools unless the bullet somehow magically went deeper into the shoulder.
Debbie paled, and quickly fled the area. She wasn't about to stick around for blood, even if it was minor. Elizabeth couldn't help but laugh. "Hehehe...what a chicken." She turned back and had seen that Marianne already started the process. One look was enough for her. The exposed bone, muscle, and such surprised her so much that she screamed and backed up.
Marianne and Nigel looked surprised, and Elizabeth could hear Debbie's voice from the comvee shouting, "NOW WHO'S THE CHICKEN?!"
Elizabeth remarked, "SHUT UP!"