4th March 2013 Monday
Day 63
Multi chapters can be a little OOC, some things might change from the main story!
Disclaimer: We only wish we owned the characters…
Dex was the first to emerge from his tent, of course. He held his arms over his head as he pulled his tired muscles in a stretch. His gaze fell to the golden sunrise that caressed the meadow green hills, rolling in the distance. The river close by bubbled excitedly as it quickened over the smooth rocks.
"What a beautiful sight," Dex breathed in the fresh air before a sly grin crossed his features, "It'd be a shame for the rest of the team to miss out on this."
Very carefully, Dex grabbed one of the pans used from last night's dinner and a large stick that was nearby and walked as close as he could to the tents.
"Wake up everyone!" he banged the stick on the pan in an uneven beat, startling those who were sleeping soundly.
"Dex, what the heck?" Jenny appeared from her tent, looking tired but already dressed. Zap spilled out of the front entrance to his tent, looking almost too tired to move.
"What's going on?" his speech was gluggy and hoarse. They all looked over to Tung's tent who had forgotten that they were sleeping in tents when he was so rudely awoken. Because he jumped up so quickly, he hit the top of the shelter with his head and the tent collapsed on him. He ran around frantically with a green sheet covering him, giving the tracker an appearance of a green ghost. Dex held his hand out and stopped the hysterical frog boy, turning him so that he was facing the others and pulled the tent off his head.
"All right team, we're going to split off in search for some Prunella Vulgaris," his response of blank stares caused Dex to operate Habibot's projector. An image of a purple flower appeared. "This image has been sent to your wristcoms; basically we're looking for a purple flower with amazing healing abilities. Today's teams are Jenny with myself, and Zap with Tung."
"Oh, man," Zap groaned as once again, he was the one stuck with the tracker.
"Don't worry, the teams will change every day we're here, or until I decide that we're working better," the leader exclaimed as he walked over to Jenny.
"There is another little catch though," he somewhat whispered these words almost in the hopes that the rest of his team wouldn't hear. "Your wristcom will receive a challenge every so often that you must complete with your team member."
Groans were heard all around, even from Tung.
"Boy, you just make this even better, don't you," Jenny complained as she hauled her knapsack on to her shoulders and made her way towards the small forest behind them. Dex gave one last nervous glance to the other team before following her, Habibot floating behind him.
"Well, what do we do now?" Tung's nasally voice questioned the pilot. Zap looked around with a bored expression.
"You're a tracker," he stated the obvious before pointing to the other side of the forest. "Track."
"It's not that easy dude," the frog boy debated, hauling his own back pack on to his back. "I don't have a scent to go off."
"It's a purple flower," Zap dully pointed out as they walked next to the stream. "How hard can it be?"
He was silenced by the vibration emitting from Tung's communicator. Flipping it open, he read the small notice box on the screen.
"Hey Zap?" questioned the tracker, catching the attention of the older boy.
"Yeah?"
"It says we have to work together as a team and row a canoe down the river," he read aloud, eyes following the words.
"What canoe?" as soon as the words left his lips, Zap turned and noticed a red canoe bobbing in the water.
'Oh great, thanks Dex,' he inwardly cursed at the object.
"Let's go, it might lead us to the flower," Tung muttered cheerfully as he hobbled over to the clear waters, Zap moaning and following his footsteps. The tracker used his frog like legs to bounce in to the small boat, the canoe shaking violently once he was in. Zap waded into the water and pushed the boat off the rocks, albeit with a bit of difficulty due to the heavy occupant. Activating his wings, Zap left the water and flew into the seat behind Tung, grasping an oar.
"Ready?" Tung asked rhetorically as he placed his oar in the water. "Row, row, row-"
Zap tried to keep up with the childish acts of the tracker, but only fumbled his oar in his hands. He was slightly distracted with the water that Tung's paddle was splashing on to his face.
"Tung!" the little frog boy turned around at his name, noticing the pilot's dripping face and enraged expression. "Stop splashing the water!"
"Dude it's not-" he couldn't finish his sentence once he caught sight of Zap. The pilot had wide terrified eyes and his mouth was ajar, pointing a shaking finger in front of him.
"What?" Tung questioned, although once he turned back to the front, he didn't need to ask.
It's hard to tell from the top of the river how tall the waterfall is, but when the water is raging as heavily as it was in front of Tung and Zap's boat, you could assume that it was going to be a big one.
Tung stood up in the boat, trying to push past Zap and get to the back. "Quick, paddle away!" Unfortunately for the boys, the rocking caused by Tung and the quick rapids, the boat tipped and swayed before capsizing and throwing its occupants in the water. Zap and Tung surfaced, spluttering out any water that entered their lungs.
"Way to go, Tung," Zap groaned before splashing the tracker in the face. Tung shook the excess water off before his eyes followed the canoe, watching it fall down the waterfall.
"Zap," Tung cried, the pilot finally paying attention to their impending doom. Zap managed to float himself on his stomach, flashing his wings as they dried off. He soared up in to the sky, taking this chance to see how tall the cascade was. He paled when he saw Tung on the very edge of the cliff, tumbling down.
"Zap!" he called once again as he went overboard. Pointing one hand straight ahead, Zap rocketed down alongside the rushing water in hot pursuit for Tung. Although the tracker was splashing around a lot, Zap managed to grasp his hand. He began pulling the frog boy up and out of the water, but due to the tracker's weight and another large swell of water, Tung and Zap were both pulled under the water.
Zap was the first to surface, coughing and spluttering as he pulled his elbows on to the embankment. Tung surfaced beside him, breathing heavily once all the water was out of his lungs.
"Some rescue," he commented. Zap turned to him with a death glare, but upon noticing Tung's smile, he couldn't help but laugh along with the frog. The pilot pulled himself out of the creek, giving his hand to Tung and pulling him out afterwards.
"Thanks," he mumbled slightly as Zap looked around at their new location, listening to the dripping of water from their clothes.
"Hey, check it out," he lightly tapped Tung's shoulder to get his attention, and once he knew he had, pointed in front of them. Beside a huge dark oak tree was a small shrub of flowers and amongst them, a large purple flower.
"Guess we found the flower."
Jenny and Dex had started their mission in complete silence, but after a few hours of this, Dex had started to feel bored.
"So how has everything been going?" Dex questioned Jenny as they walked along the path. Jenny stopped her pollen scanner before turning to Dex with curiosity.
"Is that part of this camp? To strike up awkward conversations?" he ceased his own scanner before turning to her, eyebrow raised in surprise.
"No, I'm just trying to talk."
Jenny shrugged her shoulders before pointing her scanner back at the flowers. "Everything's fine. What about you?"
"Well, I've got this weird rash-"
"Oh, Dex," Jenny groaned as she walked further away, her nose turned up in disgust. "That's way too personal."
"What?" he questioned in disbelief. "A weird rash on my leg is too personal to talk about?"
"Let's just say, no medical news," Jenny stopped where she was walking as her eyes looked ahead. In front of them was a large gorge; with two small pieces of rope spaced evenly apart connecting their side to the other side. The clone was about to question its presence to her leader when she heard his communicator buzz.
"This is our challenge," he announced, clipping one of the helmets on to his head.
Where did they come from?
Dex handed the other helmet to Jenny before he adjusted his harness. Jenny copied Dex as she set up her own apparatus.
"Just what exactly are we supposed to do?" she asked when they were finally ready to go.
"We have to walk on those tight ropes, but instead of facing the other side we face each other and hold each other's wrists to keep our balance," Jenny's face appeared to lose all of its colour as she looked down the large chasm.
"It looks pretty high, Dex," she whimpered, feeling her knees turning to jelly.
"All the better," Dex beamed at her as he walked up to the rope.
They both faced each other and grasped each other's wrists. Dex took the first and most terrifying step; he got on with ease. The leader looked up at the engineer, noticing how uncomfortable she was by her grip. Her hands were trembling and her fingers were digging in to Dex's arm through her gloves.
"Don't look down," he comforted as she slowly took a step on to the rope. "Just keep your gaze on to me and we'll make it across."
Jenny's breathing had rapidly increased as she stared intensely at her boss.
"If I make it through this," she seethed through her teeth as they continued on their journey. "I swear, I am going to kill you."
He laughed it off. "So, you are not a big fan of heights?"
"No I am not afraid of heights," she trembled slightly as the ropes moved. "It's the falling that I'm not a fan of."
"That's ok," Dex calmly spoke, feeling his feet shift together and apart as they moved across the rope. "I've got fears too."
"That's not going to help," she interrupted, trying her hardest not to look down.
"I don't like clowns," Dex stated it like it was obvious, but Jenny's head snapped to his eye level once the words left his lips.
"Really?" she asked incredulously, to which he nodded.
"Yeah, ever since I was a little kid they just give me the creeps," he shook as a shiver ran up his spine, causing Jenny to grab his arms tighter. She felt frozen on the spot, and Dex stopped moving.
"Don't do that," she growled, staying where she was. Although she didn't want the leader to notice, he could see the small tears prick at the corner of her eyes. She screwed her eyes shut, breathing heavily.
"I can't…I can't do this anymore," she whimpered, her eyes remaining shut. Dex looked around, a smile gracing his lips.
"Jenny, look at me," he tried to pull her out of her state, but her head fell limply.
"No Dex, no, I can't."
"You don't have to," he felt her grip loosen slightly. "Open your eyes; we're already here."
Slowly, Jenny peeled her eyes open, allowing the sunlight to flood her vision. To her delight, the edge of the cliff was only a step away. Pulling Dex with her, Jenny practically ran to the edge, falling to her knees on the soft grass.
"Oh thank God," she mumbled in to the fresh earth. Dex smirked at the sight, to which Jenny stood up beside him. "We did it!" she wrapped her arms around him in a hug, the leader chuckling as he hugged her back.
"So, do you trust me now?" Jenny pulled a thoughtful expression as she removed her helmet.
"No, I'm still going to kill you," she replied, holding her helmet under her arm. No sooner had the two arrived on this side of the gorge that Zap and Tung turned up, dripping from head to toe and covered in a little mud. Zap, with an annoyed expression towards Dex, raised his hand that held the purple flower.
"What happened to you two?" Dex questioned as he stepped forward.
"Don't ask," the pilot replied in a hoarse voice, handing the leader the prize. "We got your flower."
"Great," he answered, placing the specimen in a sample container. "I suppose we can head back. New challenge, last team back has to make dinner."
He was responded with more groans from the team members; tired, soaking wet and annoyed team members.
"C'mon guys, it'll be fun."
9 Blue's writing tip #4: Read as many books/fanfiction as you can to get inspiration and improvements on structure and wording.
Good length in this one, and a bit different to write. Hopefully the next one will be the same, but Wednesday is a pretty full uni day; already have homework. R&R!