Hey, everyone.
School has officially scared me. Well.. More than usual, that is. Someone had the bright idea of decorating the halls with painted paper for the new semester. Which is fine, the hall with my lockers has penguins, and even if they're kinda creepy looking, they're still penguins, so I'm not complaining about that. No. What scared me the most was the fact that the main hall has been decorated with clocks for the theme of going back in time or whatever it is. And after watching TUE again yesterday... (shudders) Green and red and purple clocks... Why'd they have to use those colors? They look exactly like Clockworks abode! Wah! I'm even somewhat tempted to make a time medallion out of cardboard and wear it tomorrow... It's that creepy!
Ah... moment of terror over, doumo to the readers, arigatou to the reviewers, and douzo for the chapter.
(doumo and arigato both mean thank you; douzo translates to 'here you go')
Bleh. I use too much Japanese. Maybe I should go to something like, oh I dunno, French? Merci, monsier/mademoiselle? (Mmph, Iknow, I spelled those wrong.) To prove that I'm actually taking the class, and not an anime-obsessed person who throws in random Japanese words:
Kaki no ki (w)okashite kudasai. Meh, I just asked to borrow a persimmon tree. Yah. Rambling shall stop. Story:
Chapter 3: Evacuation
"W-what do you hear?" Dash asked fearfully.
"I don't hear anything!" Star exclaimed.
Danny nodded. "Exactly."
And indeed, not a sound could be heard. No wind, no rain, no thunder. Which meant...
"The storm's over!" Danny said, jumping up from the chair and moving towards the door. He opened it cautiously, just a crack. Sunlight streamed in. Danny flung the door open all the way. Everyone inside the plane cheered loudly.
The treetops were bathed in sunlit glory, the occasional parrot or macaw croaking out a burst of song. The air was clear and crisp as it always was after a rainstorm, fresh and with a faint lingering smell of rain, mixed with salt from the nearby ocean, the rich smell of damp soil, and the leafy scent of plants.
But the hurricane's rage was evident: branches hung brokenly from trees, leaves and palm fronds plastered to them. But most startling of all was the water. It had somehow managed to rise up into the forest from the heavy rainfall, leaving various shells, seaweed and driftwood littered on the forest floor, which had become nothing short of a swamp. Many places were thick with a muddy black ooze, and many more were submerged under anywhere from an inch to a foot of water. Soggy leaves floated limply upon the surface of these oily puddles, clung to the mud, and lay scattered and waterlogged on the rare patch of somewhat-dry ground.
Danny stepped out onto the doorstep of a limb, surveying the storm's damage to the plane. It was even worse than it had previously; the whole tail had been ripped off, as had part of the remaining wing. The fuselage itself was so beaten and dented it was barely recognizable as an airplane at all, looking much more like a lump of metal that a blacksmith had beaten randomly--although no blacksmith could make anything as horrendous as the plane, whether purposefully or accidentally.
There was another problem, too, one much more serious than a wrecked plane. Two of the five sturdy limbs which had originally supported the plane had snapped off; one coated in muck and the other half-submerged in an oily puddle. And the branch Danny was standing on was creaking ominously.
Danny didn't know much about physics, but he did know that the three small branches which remained were insufficient to support the plane. Should the one he was standing on break, the entire structure would fall to the ground. And the ground was quite a long way down.
Danny stepped cautiously inside the plane, where the students had been celebrating raucously. He cleared his throat, and the noise almost immediately died down. Danny certainly would have been impressed, and rather surprised, if not for the sudden graveness of the situation.
"I kind of hate to break up this celebration..." he said, "but this plane isn't going to hold up here much longer. We need to get out, and fast!"
The mood in the plane changed so quickly it was as if someone had changed the channel on a television.
"W-what do we do?" Star asked nervously.
"Um..." Danny said, trying to compose a plan quickly. "Well, we need to get out of this airplane. Uh... Everyone, get over to that pile of stuff we made and get what you think you'll need the most, then get out. And watch your step, too. It's a little slippery, and part of the wing's missing."
There was a long moment of silence, then the plane exploded into action. Danny hurried over to the pile of items they had gathered. They couldn't take all of it, of course, but some things they would need if they were to survive in the jungle.
Danny was quick to find the backpack he had taken onto the plane. He stuffed it quickly with several of his parent's more useful inventions, 'accidentally' dropping the Ghost Gabber out of a nearby window. It was, after all, entirely useless. Danny also grabbed Jazz's Bearbert--he had a feeling she'd want the little bear back. A few more things seemed necessary to grab, and then his backpack was full. He shouldered the purple bag and then sorted out through which things might be useful in the jungle from which things were not, helping other people to hurry in the process.
Then Danny hurried over to the door, helping the few people who remained out of the plane.
Paulina hesitated when she looked at the muddy ground.
"I don't really think-" she began. Danny shook his head and shoved a vine to her, for the purpose of climbing down on. The plane creaked and shifted slightly, and Danny forced the remaining people to evacuate at a faster pace. Ten left, then five, then three, two...
And then, he was the only one left aboard the plane. He reached for the vine as the branch cracked and creaked...then snapped!
Danny lost hold of the vine, and it swung out of reach. The plane hung, supported only by two branches on the opposite side. Then it leaned, angling the side Danny was on downward.
More creaks and groans, and the sound of popping. The plane tilted even more, Danny barely keeping his balance.
Another loud crack, and the plane, supported now by a single branch, leaned forward even further.
The final limb snapped with a deafening crack, just as Danny jumped, pushing himself away from the plane so it would not fall on top of him. He landed in the mud, falling forward and throwing out his hands to break the fall.
The plane crashed to the ground behind him, splashing filthy water over the assembled students and sinking deeply into the mud on the left side--the side which had the only door. Had they not evacuated, they would have surely been trapped inside the plane.
Danny got to his feet and brushed himself off, but in reality this only spread the mud on him even more. Grimacing, he turned to address his companions.
"So, now what?" Kwan asked.
"Deeper into the jungle, I think," Danny said grimly.
"But," Paulina said, throwing the jungle a fearful glance, "shouldn't we head towards the ocean? There's water there."
Danny shook his head wearily. "No. We can't drink salt water, and there's probably not much of a beach left." He looked into the emerald depths of the jungle. "Into the forest it is."
For the record, this was a short chapter. But, it got the job done. And not a very evil suspenseful cliffhanger there… Tut tut, I must be loosing my touch!
Anyway, before I go off and mutter to myself, I've decided that I like giving previews for the next chapter. Particularly as I have the story about half finished already ;)
Scales and Sand:
He skidded to the halt, sending a spray of mud flying. Paulina had been halted by a large snake which had apparently dropped down out of the overhanging branches. Vibrant green scales and a back pattern of black dots and lines adorned thick coils. Its mouth was open and it bared fangs in a venomous hiss, forked tongue snaking in and out from between the needle-sharp teeth.
Without thinking, Danny lunged at the snake, hitting it with the flat side of the machete. The blow stunned it momentarily and it fell from the tree.
Recovering quickly, however, the snake's head rose up, powerful coils bunched and fangs glinting with murderous intent. A clear drop glistened from the end of one of them--poison?
Danny wielded the Fenton Machete, instinctively falling into a fighting stance. The snake's head moved side to side, black tongue flitting out. Then, with no warning, it struck.
Hm, and THAT seems long enough to be going on with, doesn't it? (throws head back and cackles maniacally) Mwa-ha-ha! Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha! Okay, there Nonny, is THAT better for ya?
-E.P.