LotRseer3350 – Thanks again for all your reviews. It just wouldn't seem right starting a new chapter without one!
"There's no use arguing, Skinner," said Allan Quatermain. "We set up camp here."
"Isn't it best we keep moving?" asked Rodney Skinner, who didn't like the thought of another python slinking into his tent while he was sleeping. Or something larger...
"And not be able to see what's coming after us?" objected Quatermain. "Trust me, our chances are better staying put for the night."
"You want me on guard duty again?" asked Skinner, obviously fearful of the task. He rubbed the spot on his arm that the snake had plunged its venomous fangs into.
"No," said Quatermain. "You need your rest. I'll stand watch for tonight."
The tent flap flew up into the air and then dropped as Skinner went inside. Ironically, for once he could not get a wink of sleep.
Meanwhile, Quatermain sat on a stump and leaned against his rifle, watching and listening to his surroundings. He began to ponder the mystery before him. Who was ultimately responsible for the killings on the mainland? How did this island fit into the picture? What were the creatures the League had watched from inside the Nautilus? What was their purpose? And what was the connection between the monster and the missing student Victor Frankenstein? Several theories began to form in Quatermain's mind. He wouldn't be able to prove any of them without deeper investigation.
> > > > > >
On the other side of the island, Mina Harker and Captain Nemo had also set up camp for the night. They were both tucked peacefully into their own tents.
Mina awoke to a quiet but unpleasant sound. The snapping of a twig. She laid wide-awake, completely frozen and intently listening for another sound. After a moment or two of stark silence, she heard the soft patter of nearby footprints. They stopped for a moment. Mina waited for them to pass. When the sound picked up once again, it was obvious that the footsteps were moving closer to the tent.
Mina silently crept forward and pushed back the flap of her tent. She saw nothing. The footprints in the sand in front of the tent indicated that whoever she had heard had turned and run in the opposite direction.
Mina climbed out of the tent and looked all around her, scanning for some sign of the thing that had made the footprints. The creature emerged from behind a thick tree. Mina spotted him too late. The creature was clenching a blowgun between its yellow teeth. And it was aimed straight at Mina.
Captain Nemo heard footprints as well. As he started to rise to investigate, his tent flap was slowly pulled back. Nemo reached for his sword, but he was stopped by a sharp stinging pain in his neck. He noticed the blowgun clenched in the intruder's teeth. Then the world began to spin around him.
> > > > > >
The next day, Allan Quatermain and Rodney Skinner spent hours trying to retrace their steps.
"We're going to die," moaned Skinner. "Out here. In this wretched jungle. We're going to die here."
"Skinner, shut up," drawled Quatermain.
"We're surrounded by all kinds of terrible creatures," lamented Skinner,
"But naturally," said Quatermain. "They call it a bloody jungle for a bloody reason."
Suddenly, Quatermain stopped hiking. He just froze in his tracks. He then slowly lifted his rifle and aimed it at a spot somewhere in the brush.
"Oh, no," Skinned muttered softly. "Now what?"
As if in answer, an orange and white striped beast leapt from the foliage and tackled Quatermain, knocking the rifle from his hands.
Quatermain shook his head from side to side, trying to keep the tiger from biting into it. He would have rather tangled with the python again.
Quatermain pulled himself below the beast, trying to lower itself beneath reach of the tiger's jaws. As he predicted, the tiger attempted to stick its head between its front legs and failed.
"Do something!" Quatermain called to Skinner. The tiger was backing up, trying to bite at Quatermain. It managed to move its paws over the hunter to hold him still. Skinner looked at his feet for some kind of weapon, but found nothing.
Quatermain grabbed the tiger's two front legs and pushed them aside as hard as he could. He then rolled himself onto his stomach and pulled himself out from underneath the tiger as fast as he could. He ran for his rifle, but the tiger had its powerful paws on the gun before Quatermain did.
Skinner was hiding behind a fallen tree limb.
"What is it with you and old tigers?" he called out.
The tiger and Quatermain stared each other down, waiting to see who would strike first. When Quatermain was confident it wasn't going to be the tiger, he pulled his machete. The tiger quickly clawed it from his hand.
Suddenly, another figure leapt from behind the brush. This time, the figure was human. A dark skinned young boy with long black hair, dressed only in a loincloth. The boy was holding a spear that appeared to be hand crafted from wood and stone. He growled at the tiger as if he was another animal
The tiger turned to the boy and began to claw in the air. The boy dodged back and forth. He began to move around the large cat. The tiger followed him. They were circling each other now. Moving like two prized fighters. Boxers in the Queen's navy.
The tiger lunged. The boy pushed it back to the ground with his spear. The boy then jumped back as the tiger tried to claw his legs.
The boy now began to make low grunting noises. The tiger watched, its mouth opening wider and wider as the noises continued. The tiger barred its large white fangs. Fangs that put the gargantuan python to shame. The boy just grunted louder. It was as if the beast and the boy were challenging each other.
The beast lunged towards the boy. It moved away just as the spear plunged into the ground beside it. The boy removed the spear from the spot it had struck and tried again. Again, he missed. As he grasped the spear one more time, the tiger swung its paw against it and broke the weapon in half.
The boy now quickly moved back towards the brush, never turning his back on his opponent. He grabbed a wide stick and swung it in the tiger's face. As the tiger lunged forward again, the boy struck it over the head with his club. The tiger reared its head in pain and then tried again. Again, the boy clubbed him. The tiger now roared in fury. It sprung itself into the air and landed on the boy.
The boy grabbed the lion's powerful mouth and held it closed. The tiger struggled and struggled to get free, but the boy never seemed to lose his grip. He fastened his hand around the club before letting go of the tiger's nozzle. As the tiger tried to sink its teeth into the boy, the boy shoved the club into the tiger's mouth. The tiger's teeth quickly became embedded into the hard wood.
The boy then grunted and pushed at the tiger. In an amazing feat of strength, he managed to roll the tiger over onto its side!
The tiger soon came back to its feet. With murder in its eyes, it sunk its teeth deeper into the club, snapping the hard wood into pieces. It then turned its teeth to the boy once more.
Skinner finally managed to get his hands on a large rock. He threw it at the tiger, but it missed and hit the head of the spear instead. When the two stones hit each other, tiny sparks were created. The boy's eyes took on a new life as he watched this. He and the tiger raced to the broken spear, but the boy made it there first. Taking the head of the spear in one hand and the rock in the other, the boy began to frantically rub the two together. A small fire started on the ground before him.
The tiger growled in deep terror as it witnessed the burning flames. It then turned and bolted back into the jungle.
Quatermain slowly stepped forward and put out the fire.
He then took a good look at his rescuer.
A/N – What say you, readers? Who is this mysterious stranger? Review and let me know what you think.