A/N: Hey everybody, I'm so sorry this has taken me so long to post! I've had it written out in a notebook for a little bit (class is SO boring) but school has been very demanding homework wise. I have written so many papers this semester that it's been hard to sit down and write for fun. Plus October has been a hard month for my family. First my Guinea Pig Ryo-Oki died on the 6th. She lived a long and happy life (about 8 years) so it was her time but it was still a little sad :( Then on the 19th one of my cousins died. Finally on Sunday the 28th, my dad's twin brother had a sudden stroke and passed away Tuesday the 30th. My dad is devastated and so is my aunt. She just lost her daughter and her dog with in two years of now losing her husband. He was only 58, just retired and he was so looking forward to it and he didn't even get his first pension check. And he and my dad had so many plans and now my dad won't get to do those plans with his brother, it's really sad :'( I'm doing okay personally because I wasn't super close with either my cousin or my Uncle, although I did see my uncle a lot and he was my God Father as well. Mostly though, I just feel bad for the family. We all still can't believe they are gone because it was so sudden. But that's mostly why this chapter was delayed.
Disclaimer: "I don't own Captain Planet and the Planeteers or anything related to it for that matter, Ted Turner and TBS/Hana-barbara do as far as I know. This story is completely for the fun of writing and sharing."
italics means thoughts
Following Destiny
Chapter 6: The Great Panda Poaching Project
Gi walked into the dinning room alone, much to the others dismay. She shrugged as she approached the table and pulled out a chair.
"Sorry guys, she still won't come out of her room," she said apologetically as she grabbed a plate for dinner.
Wheeler sighed heavily as he roughly piled some salad on his plate.
"This is not good. Linka hasn't left her room in days!" Ma-Ti said incredulously.
"Yeah and she needs to eat, this ain't healthy," Wheeler added.
Gi threw her hands up, exasperated with the situation.
"Of course it's unhealthy! It's not like I don't agree with you but what can we do?! We can't make her come out or make her eat! She lost her cousin so it's natural that she's depressed."
"Gi is right. This is something that will take time and the only thing we can really do is let her know we are here for her in any way we can be," Kwame stated in his usual calming tone.
Wheeler dropped his fork onto his plate with a loud clatter displaying his loss of appetite.
"Well what about her being here for us?" he said as he shoved his plate of food away.
"Wheeler, she-"
"Lost her cousin, I know," he replied cutting Gi off, "But the rest of the world ain't gonna stop turnin' and wait for her to be over this. I mean she hasn't shown up for any of our trainin' sessions since we got back from D.C. and an eco-emergency could happen any day-"
"Like today," came Gaia's voice from the doorway.
Everyone turned to look at the spirit of the Earth approaching gracefully but with a worried look set on her face.
"I'm sorry to interrupt your dinner, planeteers, but we have an eco-emergency on our hands."
The four teens rose from the table, the half eaten dinner immediately forgotten, and followed Gaia to the crystal chamber. As they entered the room Linka walked in from the beach. Everyone stared at her openly, surprised to see her there. Her eyes were slightly red rimmed and puffy and she sniffled a bit making it obvious that she had been crying again recently. But she was dressed and there with the rest of the team so it was a start. Gaia smiled at the blonde's attendance.
"I got your message, Gaia, what is the problem?" Linka asked meekly.
The earth spirit's smiled deepened in response. "I'm glad to see you, Linka; I wish it was under better circumstances though."
She waved her hand over the crystal viewer and a man sporting a tacky green suit and slicked back hair with a ponytail at the nape of his neck appeared.
"Who's the pimp?" Wheeler asked humorously.
"This is Looten Plunder and he is causing our current eco-emergency. He is a poacher and right now he's in the southwestern mountains in the Sichuan province of central China taking panda's illegally," she answered.
Ma-Ti stared at the panda's locked in crates on the screen, the color draining from his face. He put a hand to his temple trying to ward off the small throbbing that was beginning to build from the scene on the screen.
"We must go free them immediately!" he cried.
"My sentiments exactly," Gaia said.
"You got it, Gaia! This panda poacher's gonna pay! Let's get to the Geo-Cruiser gang!" Wheeler yelled leading the way out the door.
Linka was the last one out but before she left Gaia stopped her.
"Linka, can I have a moment?" she requested.
The young girl stopped and looked at her boss. Gaia placed her hand on Linka's shoulder lovingly. She took a deep breath and held eye contact with the Russian.
"Linka . . . I know you are dealing with a tremendous tragedy that is still rather fresh but unfortunately the world waits for no one. World issues won't wait for you to be ready to deal with them but you must find the strength to continue your planeteer duties," she inhaled deeply and continued, "People all over the world need you, and so do the others. Remember your teammates are here for you as well as me."
Linka smiled faintly, "Thank-you, Gaia."
Gaia gave her shoulder a motherly squeeze before releasing her. Linka turned to leave but Gaia's voice stopped her halfway through the door.
"One more thing, dear."
She turned back to the beautiful spirit.
"I know you feel responsible for your late cousin's fate and that you now doubt your worth, but you must not do that to yourself or the consequences could be disastrous," Gaia said with worrisome eyes.
Linka opened her mouth to say something, but Gi appeared in the doorway and spoke before she could.
"Linka, are you coming? The Geo-Cruiser's ready to go."
"Yes, Gi, I am coming now," she replied.
She eyed Gaia suspiciously before following her Asian companion to the aircraft ready for take off. They climbed in and took their seats as Kwame set the navigational systems for mainland China.
xXxXxXx
Several hours later the Geo-Cruiser touched down outside a small village in the mountains of the Sichuan province. Kwame opened the doors and everyone piled out and took a look around. Linka looked in awe at the scene laid out before them. The Geo-Cruiser was parked near a giant ravine with a cascading waterfall spilling into it creating a rapidly flowing river at the bottom. A rickety old wooden bridge crossed it leading to a tiny village on the other side. The entire area was covered in a sea of endless trees. Wheeler stepped next to her, his hands in the pockets of his baggy jeans, and whistled at the scenery surrounding them.
"Would ya look at this place? Man, why can't all our missions take us to places like this?" he thought out loud.
Linka said nothing in response as she continued to stare blankly. Wheeler and Linka walked back to the Geo-Cruiser simultaneously when Kwame called everyone over.
"So what's the game plan, Kwame?" Wheeler asked.
"Well for starters we could check the village across the gorge for information about Plunder. Then we'll have to set out on foot to look for Plunder's camp because the trees are too dense for an aerial search from the Geo-Cruiser," he instructed.
With that decided, the team headed for the rope bridge that led to the village. They didn't get far in their journey when Wheeler was pegged in the head from behind by a small stone. He let out a yelp of surprise as he put his hand to his head automatically and turned to search for the one responsible.
"What's wrong, Wheeler?" Gi asked, surprised by his sudden out burst.
"Somethin' hit me," he said vehemently.
Kwame walked past Wheeler and looked around. "Is someone there?" he called out.
Another pebble was beamed off Wheeler's forehead in response.
"What the hell!?" he bellowed, eye's darting for the culprit.
Suddenly a kid a little smaller than Ma-Ti jumped out of a nearby tree with a sling shot raised pointedly at Wheeler.
"Leave this place now!" he demanded, "We do not need anymore trouble here!"
"Yo, we ain't here to cause trouble, we just wanna know where Plunder-ow!" Wheeler cut himself off as the kid shot him again.
"Why you little . . ."
Suddenly Linka plucked the slingshot from the young boy's hand. She had managed to approach the boy while he was distracted with Wheeler. He turned to the blonde towering over him and glared, although it didn't faze her in the slightest. He jumped to try and retrieve it but she held it much higher than he could reach.
"Hey! Give that back!" he shouted.
"Nyet, I will not," she replied simply.
"I'm not afraid of you!" he announced bravely.
"Good, we don't want you to be," Ma-Ti said approaching the boy.
The boy stepped back, unsure of what to think.
Kwame took a turn to speak. "We are here to find a man named Looten Plunder."
The young boy's face hardened at the mention of Plunder's name. Gi noticed and quickly added, "We are here to stop him."
"Who are you people?" he asked his guard still raised.
"We're the planeteers, who're you?" Wheeler barked, still irritated from the slingshot attack.
"I am Ling. I live in the village over there," he said pointing across the ravine.
"Well, Ling, my name is Gi, and this is Kwame, Ma-Ti, Wheeler, and Linka."
As Gi finished the introduction Linka handed the slingshot back to Ling assuming he wouldn't use it on them again. He snatched it back defensively but stowed the weapon back in a pouch at his hip. Taking his self-disarmament as a good sign, Kwame spoke again.
"We need to find Plunder so we can stop him. Can you help us?"
Ling looked at each teen carefully before answering.
"No," he paused, taking in their disappointed faces before continuing, "but my father can."
The planeteers looked happy to have a starting point after all. Ling headed for the bridge, motioning for the others to follow. The group stepped onto the old bridge, Ling leading the way. Linka was slightly uneasy about being on the swaying bridge. Wheeler was behind her and took note of her rigid form. He smiled impishly before he purposefully shook the bridge, causing Linka to grab the fraying rope railings immediately. Wheeler laughed out loud tipping Linka off that the sudden movement was in fact due to her jocular teammate.
She turned around and glared at Wheeler. "Grow up, Yankee!" she shouted as she shoved him.
The bridge gave another jolt from her action eliciting the same response as before, which aroused another wave of laughter from the American. Linka scurried across the rest of the bridge quickly while Wheeler continued his leisurely gait, snickering at Linka the whole way.
xXxXxXx
The planeteers followed Ling through the tiny village, taking note of the people milling around. The teens stuck out like sore thumbs and moved under scrutinizing gazes. Gi leaned closer to Kwame feeling a little uncomfortable with the attention being directed at them. Ling stopped outside a shabby looking house with a sunken in roof. He turned to his followers waiting behind him.
"This is my house. My father should be inside. Come."
He led the way into the tiny domicile. The planeteers stopped shortly inside the front door while Ling went into the back to retrieve his father. He returned shortly with a thin man in tow. The man, presumably his father, had a dirty white tank top on with ripped up green pants and a fair amount of stubble on his face. He looked at the teens expectantly so Kwame stepped forward to discuss the matter at hand. Before he could speak, however, Ling's father spoke.
"My son tells me you five are here to stop that rotten man from stealing the panda's in this area," he said coldly, clearly unhappy with the present situation.
"Yes sir that is correct. Ling told us you could help us fine him."
The man nodded his head before saying, "The people of this village have been very unhappy about Plunder's presence in our province. He's been taking our pandas and destroying our rice paddies and forests along the way. Unfortunately we do not have the means or power to stop him," he finished with a tiresome sigh.
"Well that's where we come in Mr. . . ." Wheeler trailed off.
"Fa," the man stated simply.
"Alright then, Mr. Fa, you just point us in the right direction and we'll take care of the rest," Gi smiled.
"But how? He is a powerful man with very powerful weapons and you are just kids," Mr. Fa bluntly pointed out.
"Don't you worry about us, we're far from unarmed," Wheeler smirked taping his ring.
Mr. Fa stared at them seriously then walked over to a desk on the other side of the room. He opened the top drawer and pulled out a colorful piece of paper that was folded several times. He walked back over to Kwame and unfolded it before him revealing a map of the area. Mr. Fa pointed at a cluster of trees on the map down river from the village.
"Plunder set up camp in this area. Be cautious in approaching though. He's set up booby traps all around the surrounding area to catch pandas and also intruders."
Kwame took the map from him and pocketed it.
"Thank you for the warning and your help."
Mr. Fa bowed slightly in response, "Good luck young ones."
The planeteers said their farewells and headed out of the town to take care of business.
xXxXxXx
Wheeler jumped down another set of rocks on the way along the ravine.
"Man, why can't these jamokies ever pick a spot for their base that isn't a pain in the ass to get to?" he complained as he jumped to the next boulder.
Gi jumped onto a set next to the irritated American. "Come on, Wheeler, this is part of what makes the job interesting! Plus it keeps us in shape," she finished with a playful wink.
Kwame stopped a few rocks behind them and took out the map again. "According to the map, we have to follow along this gorge. The cluster of trees Plunder is stationed in is somewhere off to the side of this ravine."
"Gee, that really narrows it down," Wheeler griped sarcastically.
He moved to jump off another rock but slipped and slid the rest of the way down landing in a heap in some bushes. Linka rushed down to help him. She jumped hard off the edge of a sharp rock and skipped the last three landing near the bush Wheeler was laying in. His head popped out of the bush with a dazed look on his face. She grasped his arm and hoisted him out.
"Thanks, babe," he said while shaking some twigs out of the unruly flame atop his head.
"Wheeler, are you alright?" she asked.
"The only thing injured is my pride," he admitted sheepishly.
The rest of the group made their way down as quickly as they could.
"How did you jump that far, Linka?" Ma-Ti asked in awe once they made it down.
"I was the long jump champion at my high school two years in a row," she said indifferently.
Wheeler flashed her a rueful smile as he said, "Wow, hot, smart, and athletic. Man, Linka, you're one hell of a catch."
Her eyebrows furrowed slightly at his remark.
"This is no time to be joking around!" she hissed and turned away in a huff.
Wheeler's smile fell as she stalked off to continue their mission. Kwame and Gi hurried after the irritated girl. Ma-Ti noticed his teammate's crescent fallen face and patted his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him.
"Do not lose heart my friend. Linka's not mad at you it's just that she's still trying to cope with what happened to Boris. She blames herself," he said forlornly, "But she will be okay eventually."
"I hope you're right, little buddy," Wheeler replied, although there were traces of doubt on his face.
Ma-Ti grinned warmly, "Trust in my heart power."
The pair ran to catch up with the others. The group traveled in relative silence until they suddenly heard rustling and growling behind some trees a little ways off in the bush. They stopped and listened for a moment.
"It sounds like a struggling animal, "Ma-Ti determined.
Kwame waved at the others to follow his lead. The team made their way through the thicket in search of the being responsible for the noise. Kwame pulled a giant branch out of the way and a terrified panda trapped in a wire mesh net suspended from a thick tree limb was revealed.
"We must help him!" Ma-Ti cried out and rushed forward.
"Ma-Ti, wait!" Kwame ordered.
He tried to grab the boy as he ran past but missed. The young teen made it half way to the panda bear when another net snapped up from the ground and snagged him. It happened so fast he was dangling from the tree in a matter of seconds.
"Ma-Ti, are you okay?!" Gi cried.
"Yes, just startled," he replied.
The others edged closer to the boy keeping an eye out for other traps. Once they were sure it was safe, they scrambled over to their encaged friend. Wheeler examined the netting before saying, "Don't worry, little buddy. I'll get ya down. It's gonna take some time to burn through this though so hold tight."
Wheeler raised his ring and aimed it at the section connecting the net to the tree.
"No, Wheeler, help the panda first!" Ma-Ti insisted.
Linka was investigating the area for signs of the poachers when she noticed a red beaker flashing and beeping quietly on the tree with the panda. She looked over at the tree Ma-Ti was stuck in and saw an identical beaker. She took a moment to process what that meant then her eyes widened as realization dawned on her.
"Guys, we are about to have company!" she shouted and proceeded to direct their attention to the discrete device.
Gi eyed the tiny toy suspiciously. "What are those?"
"They are homing devices! The people who set them know these traps have been triggered and they will be coming to collect what they caught!"
As if on cue the ground started to shake slightly and the gang could hear the roar of an enormous engine steadily approaching.
Link looked over to Wheeler and shouted, "Hurry, Wheeler! We have to get Ma-Ti out of here!"
"I'm tryin', babe, but this net's made of wire!"
Another string snapped under the unyielding heat from the beam of fire his ring was generating but there were still several more.
"Shit, there's no way I'm gonna break this net in time!" Wheeler cursed, frustrated.
"Then we must call Captain Planet," Kwame announced in a calming voice, "Let our powers combine! Earth!"
Wheeler pulled his ring away from the net and aimed it into the air to meet Kwame's beam. "Fire!"
Linka raised her ring to the sky. "Wind!"
Her ring fizzled and blinked sporadically a few times then nothing, as if she hadn't just tried to call forth her power. She pulled her hand back and stared at the malfunctioning piece of jewelry confused. Everyone else was silent, unsure of what to do. Kwame and Wheeler still had beams of light shooting forth from their rings as they stared at their teammate expectantly waiting for her light blue beam to join next.
"Come on, babe. Jump start that sucker so we can call Cap!" Wheeler said impatiently.
"I am trying!" she yelled as panic started to seep into her body.
She jerked her hand forward again and recalled the name of her element. Again her ring fizzled and died.
"What's going on, Linka?" Gi finally asked.
I do not know! My ring, it will not work!" she replied, terror rising in her voice.
She suddenly felt naked, completely vulnerable. How could her ring stop working? Why? She shook her hand as if to shake some power out of her lifeless ring but of course it did nothing to help. Wheeler and Kwame finally pulled their rings down, interrupting the steady beams of green and red that had been flowing from them. The planeteers just stood there, dumbfounded by their current situation. All the while the rumbling of a vehicle engine was quickly becoming louder. Birds were flying out of the trees over head signaling the proximity of the approaching threat.
"Hurry, you guys must get out of here!" Ma-Ti suddenly shouted.
"We cannot leave you, Ma-Ti," Kwame replied earnestly.
"Please go! We'll all be in trouble if they catch you too!" he tried to reason with the African teen.
Kwame looked at the young boy hard before addressing the rest of the team. "Ma-Ti is right. We have to go now!"
He headed for seclusion with Gi in tow. Wheeler moved to follow but Linka just stood there, gazing hypnotically at her dysfunctional ring, dismay and confusion swirling in her piercing green eyes. Wheeler looked back and saw the blonde still rooted to the spot. He swiftly ran back to her and took hold of her arm firmly snapping her out of her trance.
"Come on, babe, we gotta go!"
"But Ma-Ti, we cannot just leave him!"
"We don't have a choice!"
He pulled her roughly forcing her to move. As they headed for hiding he looked back over his shoulder at the boy dangling from the tree.
"Don't worry, little buddy, we'll be back for you as soon as we can!"
The couple raced through the brush for safety, Wheeler half dragging Linka. Her legs moved mechanically while her mind was frantic with worry for both the young boy they left behind and her powerless ring.
Bohze moy! What is happening?!
To be continued . . .
A/N: Well that's chapter 6. Again I am really sorry it took this long and that it's not super long either (only about 11 pages) but I guess it's better than nothing. Please leave a review, especially if you are new to this story, and let me know what you think or what you think of the development thus far, I really appreciate it! I got some really good reviews for the last chapter but I also got a question that others of you might have been thinking so I'm going to go ahead and answer it. Kaika-sama asked why I didn't do a take on addict Link and that's a good question. Well, mostly it's because I didn't like that part of the episode to be honest. I just really felt that Linka would never have fallen for such a silly trick (you know when Boris sneaked Bliss in a sandwich he bought for her). And even if she did end up taking it accidentally I think she would have realized what had happened and done everything she could to get help right away rather than just join Scum's ranks and be doped up all day. I also don't think she would have assumed he could kick a drug habit so easily either. Linka is very smart and I think it insults her intelligence to assume she would have. Plus it also didn't really fit in with what was going on, like how I was supposed to have her end up using it. So that's why I didn't go that way. Sorry if anyone else was disappointed they didn't get to see that, but I do appreciate Kaika-sama's honest feedback! Another reviewer, brachan90, liked that I didn't go that way so I guess it balances out right? lol Can't please everyone all the time. Hopefully anyone disappointed by that still likes where the story is going! Anyway see you all in chapter 7, I hope.
SakuraJade
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