Hey y'all! I know I said I would post earlier in the week but the late days had caught up to me so I kept waking up late and I was helping my mom move so sorry. But I am updating a day early and updating tomorrow so here is my gift to you. I hope y'all like it. On with the story.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in relation to Dreamworks or Disney. I only own my own characters and added scenes.
Once camp was set up the chamber they were in seemed to have gotten darker almost as if it was night time. The only light that was within the chamber was from the various camp fires scattered around and the strange chandelier. A voice was yelling out something as they went to each campsite dragging a cauldron and dropping a portion of whatever was inside onto each plate. As they got closer to one of the last campfires they could see that there were 5 people surrounding the fire that was within a steel pot and each were sitting on a variety of seats, from buckets to boxes. They looked up as the cook came closer, already having heard his bellows a few minutes ago.
"Hello Phil! Vhat food have ya brought us now, comrade?" North asked eagerly holding out his tray.
"Well for the appetizer, ceasar salad, escargot and fresh spring rolls." He said smirking as he scooped up some strange see through food that was filled with something and dropped it onto everyone's tray. Everyone just gave out disgusted looks and gaged, except for North who grinned and almost basically squealed. He quickly started to eat disregarding everyone's look of disgust.
"North what is this crap?" Abdima asked looking a bit green once Phil had left.
"Vhat crap? This is Holodets." North answered with awe. Porc groaned once he heard what it was.
"You know what that is?" Tiana asked as Cupcake poked at the food making it jiggle.
"Yeah it's basically a meat Jell-O. Dated this Russian chick that loved the traditional food, had me tried it. Thought she was trying to kill me." He answered giving the food a distrustful look. While the gang poked at their food, Phil had moved over to Aster who was working in a corner surrounded by books and papers.
"Aster. Here you go. This should make you less slender. Big guy like you should be big not skinny." Phil told him placing some food on his tray. Aster grabbed the tray and wrinkled his nose at it.
"Thanks, Phil. This looks, uh, bouncier than usual." Aster stated as the food moved around when he moved the tray.
"You like it? Well, have some more. This should buff you out, how a man your size could be skinny I'll never know." He said as he dumped more of the jelly like food onto the tray before moving away. Aster gagged and placed it on a spare rock, not really wanting to touch it particularly since it seemed to be filled with some type of meat. He turned back to his books hoping to gather more information before they had to get up the tents and sleep. What Aster didn't know was that he was being watched by North while the others were still poking at their food though Porc had given it a try, apparently his ex-girlfriend hadn't made the one he tried last time very well.
"You know, ve should get Bunny here. Us trying to get him to get over death may have work for avile but now that he iz isolated? May reverse." North stated still watching Aster as he bent over some books.
"It's revert, North. But your right." Tiana said before looking over her shoulder at Aster.
"Hey Rabbit! Why don't you sit with us?" She called out waving a hand. She saw Aster jump and look at them with a surprised look as well as some distrust. Which actually caused a pang of hurt to go through her heart. Aster is still effected by what had happen and he still doesn't trust them or himself.
"Really? Ya don mind?" He asked cautiously putting down some papers.
"Nah. Course not. Park it here." She answered point towards the rock next to her. He gave a small smile and walked over to them gathering the Journal and his tray of food.
"Thanks shelia. It's great to be able to be a part of your-" Before Aster could say more though he ended up sitting on a whoopee cushion that was made from a hot water bottle. Porc, who was the one that had sneaked the hot water bottle, was on the ground laughing hysterically.
"Porc!" North, Abdima, and Tiana yelled, unimpressed by the joke, while Cupcake just smoked a cigarette rolling her eyes.
"What? Were we stopping the pranks already? I thought we were making sure he didn't revert to how he was before?" Porc asked still trying to control his giggles. Aster glared at Porc until what he said finally sunk in.
"What's he talking about?" Aster asked the others who weren't looking him in the eye but were glaring at Porc.
"What we weren't supposed to say anything?" Porc asked as the others glared at him.
"No we weren't, you idiot it was a secret." Abdima hissed gritting his teeth.
"What was a secret? What did he mean 'make sure he didn't revert'? What are ya all hiding?" Aster asked already feeling his temper beginning to snap. The others glanced at each other before slumping their shoulders, resigned.
"Bunny, after the incident vith the creature," here a shadow crossed Aster face, making the others start to worry, "ve became very worried about your mental state." North answered.
"My mental state is fine North." Aster growled crossing his arms.
"No it wasn't Bunny. You held yourself responsible for those 5 people and it'z not healthy. Ve all saw it and so ve decided to make you have other emotions than remorse and guilt." He states seeing Aster's eyes darken making him look almost dangerous.
"I don't hold myself responsible for those 5 people."
"Yes, you do."
"No. I don't. I hold myself responsible for the death of 155 people." Aster quietly stated, not looking anyone in the eye. The rest of the group was shocked. They had expected Aster to only blame himself for the 5 crew men not the other 150.
"Aster, you can't blame yourself for their deaths. There was nothing you could have done in either incident." Tiana said trying to get Aster to look at her.
"Yes I could 'ave. I could have translated the Journal correctly and I could've figured out that the Leviathan was an actual thing and not something symbolic. Maybe if I had Monty, who had helped me around the sub, would be alive. Maybe if I had Pippa, a girl who got seasick yet was a crewman, a girl who I helped get better, would be alive. And maybe those twin brothers who looked like they were up to no good would still be going around having fun and living life! And maybe if I hadn't mistranslated that passage 5 fucking people would still be alive! So you tell me whether I could've done anything to prevent it. Huh?! You tell me!" Aster yelled out standing up breathing heavily. Everyone was speechless. They couldn't believe how much Aster was holding in, but now that they did, they were going to make sure he stopped holding them in.
"Aster the Leviathan vas unavoidable. Zhe translation vas just a mistake. If you haven't been here ve vould all be dead or lost. Ve needed you and ve still need you. Because you are zhe only one who can translate that Journal. You know that your grandfather vould not want you to feel like this." North told Aster gripping his shoulders as he looked down at him. "I feel ze pain of the crewmen as vell. The girl zhat you mentioned? Pippa? I treated her seasickness zhat first day. And zhe twin boys? I helped zhem when they got hurt pranking another crew member. I vill always remember these crewmen and even though there vas nothing I could've done, I vish I could've done something. Maybe I could've gone to their room or vhere they vorked and shown them the vay to the boat. But I didn't and I vill have that over my head. So, Aster. Yes maybe you could've done something but maybe you couldn't do anything. You must forgive yourself Aster or you will burnout." North stated finally getting Aster to look at him.
Aster stared into North's blue eyes and could see the concern within them, in fact when he looked at everyone's eyes, they all seemed a bit worried. Aster knew that he couldn't hold onto the deaths of those people forever, and even though they may haunt him, he needs to forgive himself because they're right. He will burnout and right now he couldn't afford it.
"Your right. There's nothing I could've done and I need to accept that. So I'll try a'right?" Aster said.
"Zhat is all ve ask. Now let us talk of more pleasant things, da?" North replied slapping Aster on the back almost making him fall over. "Sorry."
"That's fine, just don't know your own strength." Aster said as he sat back down and picked up the Journal again to read it. Everyone began to eat again and make small conversation but Tiana noticed that Aster wasn't eating and was just reading the Journal as always.
"Hey, Aster, don't you ever close that thing?" She asked.
"That's true, you must've read it a dozen times by now." Abdima said bouncing his spoon on the food, obviously amused.
"Yeah, I know, but there's something here that- that doesn't make any sense." Aster stated still puzzled over this strange section.
"Like what?" Tiana asked.
"Okay, look. See, in this passage here, the shepherd seems to be leading to something. He called it the Heart of Atlantis. It could be the power source that the legends mention, but then it suddenly cuts off. It's like there's something missing, like a missing page." Aster explained still unable to understand why there may be a missing page.
"Look, Aster. You need to relax, Atlantis isn't going anywhere and we don't really need to do overtime." Abdima stated.
"Yeah, I know. I just get carried away sometimes. But, hey, you know, that's what this is all about right? I mean discovery, teamwork, and adventure. Well unless, maybe you're just in it for the money when we get the power source?" Aster asked hesitantly. The others looked at each other and then at Aster.
"Money." All 5 of them said with smiles. Aster just sighed and rubbed his neck.
"Well, guess I set myself up for that one." He continued to rub his neck already feeling it get stiffer and causing him to feel some pain. As he continued to rub it he suddenly felt a presence behind him, Aster tried to turn around but really couldn't releasing a grunt.
"Vhat, something vrong with your neck?" North asked from behind him.
"Oh, uh, yeah. I think that I must've hurt it when-" Aster started to explain but then North grabbed his head and started to move it around cracking his neck.
"Ahh! Ow!"
"Better?" He asked as he let go of his neck. Aster rotated his head a bit and rubbed his neck a few times. Incredibly, it didn't hurt or even feel stiff anymore.
"Uh, yeah mate. Thanks. How'd you learn to do that?" Aster asked a bit surprised this large man didn't break his neck.
"I learn from the Cossacks." North answered as he sat back down.
"The Cossack? No way, get out of here." Aster said unable to believe the Cossacks taught him how to help someone with a sore neck.
"Yes, it's true. I vas found by them in the forest and they took me in. They raised me and cared for me. I have never found my birth parents but the Cossacks are my family and in fact I was known as the bandit king to them." North replied showing Aster a photograph of him on a horse and surrounded by dozens of men.
"Huh, no kidding."
"Ja, I became the bandit king but one day I came upon this village, Santoff Clausen, there I met a man named Ombric who taught me about medicine especially since I had actually gotten hurt vhen I vas helping some of the citizens vhen a bear had attacked them. The time that I spent there recovering changed me. I vas not a good man back then. There is a reason that I was called the Bandit king, because I vas. I vas a thief, I stole many precious things and I did not stop until I came upon the village and the only reason I vent to that village vas because there was a rumor of precious stones vaiting to be taken. Instead I found a much greater treasure. After that I vent to school for medicine and then joined Pitch and Manny as their medic." North explained with a soft smile, though his eyes did have a haunted look within them. Before Aster could respond though Phil came back and asked if they wanted more. Everyone rushed to say that they were full, even North but he did eat two trays of the food.
"Alright but don't forget, it just keeps and keeps on coming." Phil told them before moving away.
"Hey North I've been meaning to ask. Why is your accent so noticeable and Phil's isn't?" Cupcake asked as Phil walked away.
"Vell, Phil lived in Russia but then moved to America vhen he vas a child. So he kept accent but vas faint." North answered as he gathered his utensils.
"That makes sense. Well let's get rid of this and go to sleep." Tiana said before picking up her tray that was still half full. Everyone agreed and dumped the food into their campfire which actually flared up a good height before it died down. Once this was done they moved to were their tents were supposed to be set and where they began to set them up, but not all of them had an easy time setting up.
"Aren't you going to pitch your tent, Aster?" Abdima asked as he finished tying his off. He saw that Aster was kneeling on the floor trying to tie a rope to the ground, but the tent was falling into itself in the middle and would most likely fall on Aster some time during the night.
"Uh, I did." Aster answered looking up with a confused look. Abdima just gave him a blank look and pushed a rolled up sleeping bag into his arms before moving to fix his tent.
"I guess I'm a bit rusty at normal tent pitching. I haven't really gone camping since my grandfather took me to this forest, rather than the outback." Aster said as he watch the tent get properly pitched. Whenever his grandfather took him camping into the outback they usually just slept in the open with only a piece of fabric over them in case it rained. Tiana had turned towards them when she saw Abdima move towards Aster.
"I never got to meet your grandfather. I was recruited later on. What was he like?" She asked wishing she was able to meet the great man.
"Well, where do you start? He was basically like a father to me. When my parents died, he took me in and raised me as his own." Aster answered and then he suddenly started chuckling.
"What?" Tiana asked with a smile, glad to see Aster looking happier.
"Well, I was just thinkin about something that happened when I was 8 years old. Uh, we were in the outback following this little stream and I suddenly saw something gleaming in the water. So naturally we stopped to see what it was. And it was a genuine boomerang. I got so excited about it and of course I thought it was something special when really it could've belong to some aboriginals' kid that was playing with it near the stream and just dropped it. Yet my grandfather made it seem like I had discovered something amazing that has never been seen before, he just went on and on about what an incredible find it was. It wasn't until I was older that I learned it was just a lost toy that got some mud on it making it appear old." Aster answered and as he did, Porc walked by and was holding what appeared to be a stuffed groundhog toy.
"That's so cute, Aster." He commented as he passed hugging the toy and Aster could see that he was actually in pajamas.
"Oi, shelia, uh, Tiana. I h-hope you don't take this the wrong way but how does a teen like you become the chief mechanic and engineer of a multi-million dollar expedition?" Aster asked hoping to finally have that one curiosity answered. Tiana looked at him and removed her shoes think about how to answer that question.
"Well, I took the job after my dad retired and what was actually pretty funny was that he actually wanted sons. One to run his shop and the other to be a boxing champion. But he just got me and my other three sisters. My mom actually died a few years ago in a car accident when she went to visit a family friend in Italy. We were back in India, and when we heard the news, well my dad took it hard so he moved us to America and that's where I studied to be what I am now, well there and what my dad taught me." Tiana explained with a look of hurt in her eyes at the mention of her mother.
"I'm sorry about your mother I know how that feels." Aster said looking down at his arms.
"It's alright, it was a few years ago and besides that's when I met Dima, so it's not all bad. I gained an older brother and my dad gained the son he always wanted."
"Dima?"
"Abdima. He was the family friend my mother was visiting, he had some trouble so she went to help out. We grew closer then and now we work together."
"Guess that explains why he's so protective of you. So what happened to your sisters?"
"One is a dentist, the other a professor and the third has a shot at getting the title next month in middle weight. I got this job so that I can save up some money so that my pita and I can open a second shop." Tiana explained with a smirk as she laid down on her sleeping bag still facing Aster as he tried to get comfortable. Cupcake soon walked pass them though she was just wearing a coat and some face cream.
"Goodnight everyone, and no I didn't forget my pj's. I sleep nude." Cupcake said as she passed Aster not letting him answer the question that he was planning to ask. Before he could fully process this, North tossed him a sleeping mask.
"Trust me, you vill need it. She sleepwalks and she know you saw her, she vill not be pleased." He said as he walked pass, having finally finished his tent. Abdima was laying on his back within his tent flipping a match between his fingers already having covered his eyes with a sleeping mask.
"Well, if you want to know my story. I just like to blow things up." Abdima stated. North walked over to him and pulled up the sleeping mask looking down at him with a frown.
"Now, Dima, tell him truth or you vill be on naughty list." North said before letting the mask snap back hitting Abdima in the face. Abdima just glared at North but soon just sighed.
"Fine. My family owned a flower shop back in Italy. We sold a variety of flower, some of the most beautiful ones you have ever seen, and one day I was making some bouquets for a wedding. And so I guess there was a gas leak of some sort next door because next thing I know. Boom! No more fresh bread and no more fresh flowers. The explosion blew me right through the front window and it was like a sign from god. I found myself in that boom and decided to learn all I can about explosives especially when Tia's mother died coming down to visit me and my family. Once that happened I moved down to America to study with some experts and soon De Luna found me and asked me to join though for this expedition I was in prison and he had to pull some strings to get me out. And don't ask I'm not telling, I haven't even told Tiana." Abdima explained. Suddenly they heard ground being moved around and when they turned to look, they saw that Porc had dug a deep hole into the ground completely covering him from head to toe.
"Uh what about Porc? What's his story?" Aster asked confused as to why anyone would be so obsessed with dirt.
"Trust me Bunny. You no vant to know. Pierre Porc's story iz best untold. Tiana, you no tell him. You shouldn't have told me, but you did and so I say to you that you don't vant to know. Now let's turn off lights and go to sleep. Big day tomorrow." North stated before turning off the lit lantern completely covering them in darkness except for the chandelier of course. Aster could hear everyone start to settle down and try to get comfortable. So Aster just laid on his back and thought about everything that he heard today and couldn't believe the backgrounds of his fellow men and woman but he was glad he had them here with him. And so with those last thoughts Aster drifted off into the dream world.
Hours passed and the chamber was quiet except for a few snores coming from a variety of sources. Yet no everyone was asleep. From behind one of the vehicles three figures appeared and each was glowing a soft blue. One of the figures moved away from the others and entered the camp. The figure was in a crouched position and seemed to be covered in silver-blue fur and a large mask covered their upper body. The masks mouth was rather large and wide open and was colored purple. The mouth and eyes were glowing a soft blue while the forehead had a beautiful fern like pattern that went across it in light blue. Near the top of the head there was a hexagonal shape with a blue jewel in the middle, out on the side of the head were two pieces that had the same fern patterns as the one on the forehead. The skin that wasn't covered by the fur was pale as moonlight and adding in the soft light and silver fur, they blended into that fur. Their arms were lean and thin and when they reached to grab one of the bags nearby their finger were long and thin. One of their forearms were wrapped in the fur and the other was wrapped in the same fur but the brace they wore had some silver spikes. The figure was also barefoot and both legs were wrapped in the fur starting from the bottom of their knee and the fur just free fell around his calf. As they began to search the bag they dropped the staff that they were carrying, once the bag was open, they began to throw things out not really finding anything in interest. Let's see, weird helmet looking thing, weird A shape pointy thing…a portrait of an elderly man and a little boy. The figure thought as they caressed the picture, feeling like that was them and their father, before the sinking. But before they could think more about the photograph, a figure crawled out of a tent with a yawn. The figure looked up just as their companion had come toward them to take them out of the area, they quickly replaced the photo and raced away, not wanting to get caught.
The figure that had gotten of the tent clicked on a flashlight showing that it was Aster that had interrupted the other figure. He yawned once more and smacked his lips before he began to move to a far corner of the camber away from everyone. Aster was carrying the large flashlight in his right hand and a roll of toilet paper on the handle of a towel in his left. Aster was still half asleep as he reached the far off corner and didn't notice the variety of objects thrown around the area. Once he reached the corner he stuck the flashlight under his chin and the stuck the towel into the rock in front of him. As he began to undo his belt, he had some trouble unbuckling it due to him still being half asleep. As he struggled with the belt the flashlight's beam hit the glowing chandelier and as it moved away, the chandelier began to glow a more acid green and small specks of light drifted out of it heading down toward Aster who was still messing with his belt. As the lights drifted closer to Aster he had finally gotten the belt open and seen the lights come closer. Aster stopped and blinked his eyes seeing that the lights were actually little firefly looking things, at first he disregarded them and went back to the issue at hand but soon the little fireflies began to converge on him. He stopped again and swat at them trying to get them to leave him alone but more and more of them just kept coming almost completely surrounding them. Aster kept swatting at them until he finally got fed up. Alright ya bloody bastards, time to get serious. He grabbed the towel and swung it through the bugs until finally one of them landed on the rock and so Aster swung the towel down on it, but it didn't just die, the toilet paper that was on the towel instantly caught on fire.
"Whoa! Bloody hell!" He cried out dropping the burning towel. Aster turned as he saw the mass of fireflies-quite literally- head towards the camp and land on the tents instantly causing them to catch on fire. As this occurred Aster looked behind him at the glowing chandelier having heard a buzzing noise and saw more of the fireflies come bursting out of it and start to head towards him.
"Dear god, fire. Fire!" Aster yelled out as he realized that all of those fireflies coming towards them were going to burn down the camp. He ran off into the camp trying to avoid the bugs and alert the camp what was going on, as he ran down the rows of tents they all caught fire as the swarm flew over them still going after Aster. He kept yelling fire trying to alert the team and hope that they could put the fire out before more damage could be done. As Aster was running and yelling, a certain person was woken up clearly pissed off at the commotion he was creating. Idiots probably having a nightmare. He rubbed his face and growled into the empty tent.
"I'm going to killing him." Pitch hissed out before he got out of his military cot and strolled out of the tent fully ready to hit Aster upside the head. "Aster, go back to bed!" Yet as he yelled this out, he saw the scene before him. The entire camp was on fire. He could see some of his men throwing buckets of water but they weren't having any effect and Onyx who had run out of the tent had begun ordering the men to get the vehicles out of there before they also caught on fire.
"Onyx! We don't have any time, we need to get into the tunnel across the bridge! Move it!" Pitch ordered before hurrying to get into one of the vehicles so that they could get across. Several of the men split off and began to run across the bridge following the vehicles that were already crossing. Some were lucky to have gotten on the trucks and others were running to catch up, Aster being one of them since he had gone to his tent to grab his bag. Aster was running towards the truck that the gang was in who were all yelling encouragement to Aster to run faster. Aster was close to the truck now but Tiana saw something behind him that caused her blood to freeze. The truck behind Aster had just caught on fire but that wasn't what scared her, what scared her was that it was holding several tanks of gasoline.
"Aster! Jump, now! We'll catch you!" She yelled out reaching an arm out. Aster gave her a look of disbelief but he suddenly felt the heat behind him and so he decided to trust her and jumped. Just as he jumped and landed within the truck, the vehicle behind him exploded. Aster and Tiana looked back and watched the fiery scene behind them.
"Thanks shelia."
"No problem, you would've done the same for me." Tiana said patting his arm as he panted.
On the bridge there were a multiple of vehicles trying to get across, one of the vehicles that was transporting the other gas canisters blew up which caused a chain reaction throughout the whole bridge. The chandelier that hung above them suddenly fell down due to the explosive vibrations, cracking the bridge and almost crushing some of the cars. This caused the bridge to begin to break apart and cause Porc's digger to fall back words as it was too heavy and the angle too steep for it to continue going forward. Porc tried to brake and stop the car from rolling back but it was too heavy and though he cursed up a storm he couldn't prevent what happened neck. The bridge broke off and feel own into the valley below making a ramp and causing a total of 9 vehicles to slide back, each one trying not to hit the vehicle near them but they eventually all crashed. Right before the crash though Aster pushed Tiana deeper into the car so that she woulden't be thrown out but since he was still near the open back of the car, he was thrown out and away from the crash site. As he tumbled across the ground Aster felt a sharp pain somewhere on his chest before he finally came to a rest on the ground, but before he could even think of moving, he began to blackout. Yet right before he did he saw a shining blue light. How pretty…hope that isn't heaven…not ready yet… and he saw and thought no more.
Hey y'all I hoped you liked this chapter and sorry you didn't get your meeting (I will admit its a bit fun to torture ya'll with that possible meeting) but that will be in the next chapter and at least you saw what he wore. I'm so excited for the next chapter and so happy with how well this story is doing. Now on to reviews!
Reviews:
Noon30ish: Thank you so much for reviewing and I'm sorry they haven't meet yet but they are meeting in the next chapter!
Sexyshewolf: Thank you so much for reviewing and I love that line too! I'm glad your liking Aster and I can't wait for you to read about when they first meet.
Guest: Thank you for reviewing and I'm glad your liking the added scenes and I hope you liked this chapter.
Infinityworlds: Thank you so much for reviewing and yes the winter chamber is Jack's favorite.
ArtisticPrincess: Thank you so much for reviewing and Sandy will be showing up later on with Tooth. And I realized I never said who Porc and Abdima were and so let me tell you who they are. Pierre Porc is the groundhog and the reason is name is Porc is because in French that means hog. Abdima Antioco is just an OC I created but if he was a spirit he would be a summer spirit. His name means Destruction and stubborn in Italian. So I hope you like them and I hope you liked this chapter.
Treehugger: Thank you so much for reviewing and I hoped you liked this chapter!
Louise: Thank you so much for reviewing and I hoped you like this chapter. And the ice cave doesn'treally have anything special to do with Jack other than he likes to use it to make frost designs and study the ice in it.
Wheeee: Thank you so much for reviewing and I'm glad your excited to see Aster and Jack meet but sadly that is not till the next chapter.
Alright that's all the review and I will update tomorrow also don't be afraid to ask question! Till next time, bye y'all!