insatiable [in-sey-shuh-buhl]
1. not satiable; incapable of being satisfied or appeased
Law made his way through the thicket with Bepo and Shachi in tow. Their journey to the temple had been an uneventful one, save for the occasional tiger or velociraptor they'd managed to encounter; but they had been quickly taken care of by Shachi, Bepo, and Penguin. So far, there had been no need for Law to use his abilities. Needless to say, getting the object of their desire had been far too easy. It was the getting out that had proven to be the biggest challenge.
The moment Lavender's delicate hands had lifted the golden egg off the pedestal, as she was instructed to, the whole room had began to tremble. Law had managed to grab the back belt loop of her shorts and pull her out of the way just as a piece of the ceiling fell and smashed the pedestal to pieces. Simultaneously, all four entrances to the cavern had began to close, cutting them from their freedom and from the light. He wasn't sure who had yelled "run" but run they did. Dust and rubble pelted down on them as then all made a dash for the nearest exit.
Surprisingly enough, Lavender was the quickest one of them, managing to duck out from under the closing door, followed by Shachi, and Penguin who pulled Bepo and his large form from under the door. The last one to slide out was Law with his hat and nodachi in hand. Law laid there, panting and staring up at the sky before turning to look at his crew. Shachi and Penguin were trying to catch their breath while talking animated about what had just happened; Lavender cradled the egg against her chest with one hand while the other was on her knee, quite possibly trying to stop her legs from shaking. The poor girl.
"Let me see the egg," Law said as he sat up. Lavender looked at him before walking over and handing the egg to him.
The dark haired doctor took the egg just as he was placing his signature hat upon his head. Holding the egg with one hand, he examined it. The egg was large, bigger than an ostrich egg. It was gold, but despite its heaviness, it wasn't solid like the people in town had had described it to be. Neither was it hollow... Law was confident that there was something in it as he weighed it in his hands. His brows furrowed. That's strange.
"Uh, captain?" Penguin's voice reached his ears. Law looked up and then noticed something else. The ground beneath them was trembling. And by the looks of it, the rest of his crew had noticed it too.
But alas, the rumbling was getting louder, which prompted everyone to look at the sealed entrance to the cavern. Law furrowed his brows before scrabbling to get to his feet.
"Everyone out of the way!" he bellowed, grabbing Shachi's uniform pulling with him as he pushed Lavender to the side.
The crew had enough time to part before the stone entrance shattered and something terrible roared.
"Take the egg!" the captain instructed as he shoved the object into Lavender's cook fumbled with it for a moment before she was pushed again, but this time towards the large stone bridges connected to the temple.
The countless bridges, which could be seen from where they were standing at the top of the temple, proved to be as complicated as a maze that disappeared into the vast jungle. The bridge itself, while tall, was only seven feet in width and had no rails.
"Head to the bridge!" Law instructed, giving Lavender another push as the girl was putting the egg into the rucksack she had brought with her. "Go!"
And so they did as whatever had burst out of the cavern gave them chase. And by the chorus of roars and chuffs, there was more than one. They'd ran quite a bit with Law yelling "left" or "right" depending which way he wanted Lavender and the group to run. The goal was to get off the damn bridge and stay together.
But alas, like with everything else, nothing went according to plan. As they had managed to find a way to get off the bridge without falling to their deaths, they just had to land into a dinosaur nest of all places. With the black masses from the temple still chasing them- and now the mother dinosaur, the group had somehow managed to split up, giving Law a headache.
The jungle was large, and while he had no concerns over the rest of his crew, he worried about Lavender. From what he had gathered, she had little to no experience in combat and who knows how good her survival skills were. And she had the egg too.
"Fuck," the captain cussed while struggling to stay up as he stumbled further into the forest with Bepo.
Somehow Law and Bepo had managed to shake off the black masses, they'd ran into Shachi who was screaming at them to run. And it was no secret as to why. Fucking- Law and his bear companion twisted around to run the other way, away from the dinosaur. But alas, much to Shachi's and Bepo's distress, Law stopped the face the dinosaur.
"C-captain!" Shachi cried out in confusion as he skidded to a halt.
While running for cover and not moving may have been the best choice, Law had ideas of his own. A blue sphere appeared and expanded around them and the dinosaur, and it was then that his crew realized what was happened.
"Room," Law simply stated while holding up one hand, "Shambles."
And suddenly, the tyrannosaurus rex stopped before it was simply… pulled apart. Law began attaching its body parts to branches and rocks. He stuck certain body parts in science gone wrong way. Tiny arms attached to the animal's flank and a tail at the end of it's neck... Truly, a terrifying ability.
The terrified cries of the tyrannosaurus filled the forest and Law's had obscured his face and victorious grin.
Lavender wasn't sure how long she had been running in search of her crew mate. There was no doubt that Penguin had the stamina and speed to move about quickly and for a long period of time. However, Lavender, who had lived a relatively soft life her entire life, did not. Aside from her lack of endurance and running, carrying the heavy egg in her rucksack was draining. Fortunately for her, whatever black creatures had been chasing her and Penguin were nowhere in sight, and nothing potentially dangerous had come after the girl.
Looking around nervously she slowed down to a slow walk before coming to a stop. She had dried her tears hours ago and choked down her panic enough to think to keep moving. However, she was losing daylight and surely the temperatures would drop. Unfortunately, she had brought no extra clothing aside from the ones on her back and the short and short sleeves would no nothing to retain body heat.
Slipping the rucksack off of her shoulders, Lavender sighed at the sudden decrease of pressure and rolled her shoulders and neck. With the bag securely planted near her feet, did the girl dare to look around. They hadn't discussed a rendezvous point, though it she found it safe to assume that the submarine would be it. They'd left it in an exceptionally small lagoon a mile from town. They'd docked there and made their way to civilization on foot.
My best bet it to get back to town and then go from there, Lavender reasoned while chewing her bottom lip, but…
With an aura of uncertainty, she looked around. What had Benny told me again..?
Spinning around, Lavender stared up at the canopy, hoping that it was open enough for her to decipher the sun's current location. Squinting her eyes, she pursed her lips. The sun rose in the East and set in the West, but.. This is a summer island, right? She thought to herself nervously. In a distant memory she recalled Benny explaining that the sun's position was more or less useless if one didn't know the current season since it varied. Racking her brain, the strawberry blonde tried to remember more about their times in the woods when they went out camping.
Typically Benny had done most of the manual labor such as setting up camp and finding firewood. More importantly he had done most of the navigation whenever they'd gotten lost, though he did make a point to try and teach the baker. And for that Lavender was truly grateful.
"You could always try to find moss or lichen- it tends to grow in abundance on the North side of a rock or tree."
"Really? Why?" she remembered asking him.
Benny grabbed Lavender gently by the land and led her to the nearest rock, covered in all sorts of moss and pine needles. The soil was dry and soft beneath their feet and dying pine needles and maple seeds fluttered down all around them.
"Look here- see how that one side has more lichen than the other? It's because the North side has less light and the lichen likes that."
"A-ah! I understand now. If I ever get lost and can't see the stars- I should look for lichen and moss!"
"Hahah, right you are, Lav! You can also use spider webs!"
"What- truly? Will you show me?"
Slinging the rucksack over her shoulders, the determined cook set out to look for moss and spider's webs. Since this was a tropical summer island, she figured that she'd find more moss than lichen, and she was certain that she would find spider's webs rather easily. After all, the climate was warm and she'd seen plenty of creepy crawlies on their way into the jungle. Circling several trees to get a relatively accurate reading and rummaging through several bushes, Lavender was able to gather enough information to feel comfortable enough to follow her hunch.
"Town is… to the North-West of the island, so…" she paused to turn to the right direction and stared into the depths of the jungle. She'd have to move fast if she wanted to make good time before dark. Find some water too without straying too far from her course. Her stomach clenched and churned with anxiety and hunger. Her tongue felt heavy and her mouth dry. Here goes nothing… she told herself and inhaled as if it helped her gather her courage.
And next time I'm bringing a compass! she thought to herself with slight resentment as she ran through branches and leaves that whipped her skin and cutting her arms, despite her attempts to duck and avoid the offending vegetation.
She ran for some time until her left knee buckled, sending her flying into the dirt with a startled yell. Her hands flew out to break the fall. Lavender was certain that her knees and palms were scraped- like a child who had fallen on the cobble streets of old Hickorytown. Sitting up with her legs folded underneath her, she grimaced as she brushed the dirt from her hands and examined the damage done to her palms. She dabbed the scrape marks and found the skin to be slightly warm and red. They appeared to be a little dirty and scratched up, but nothing too worrisome. I should really get back to the ship.
As she was struggling to get up and examine her knees, A soft, trickling sound reached her ears over the eerie sounds of the jungle. Freezing, Lavender strained harder. A stream? Or a brook, perhaps? Brushing off any remaining dirt off her knees, she followed the source hesitantly. Her tongue felt heavier and mouth dryer as the soft trickling sound became louder and louder. Relief flooded in her and Lavender almost cried when she spotted the small brook. Dropping her bag and scrambling to her knees at the edge of the water, the young woman plunged her hands into the cool water, relishing the feeling of her scratched up palms being cooled.
However, seconds later the was washing dirt off her hand and cupping them together to bring them up to her lips. Primal urges took over and Lavender spent sometime quenching her thirst, her lady like demeanor thrown to the wind for a brief moment.
Letting out a content sigh, Lavender wiped the water from her chin before cupping water in her hands to splash on her face. The cool water did wonders to her warm skin and for a moment all notion of time sensitivity and urgentness were unknown to her. Until…
Something rustled and was accompanied by vicious growling. Lavender froze, her body rigid and eyes wide as she surveyed the foliage. Some leaves rustled in the distance as something brushed against them in order to step into the open. There was a flash of something black and massive and her scream was caught in her throat. Across the brook, the beast stood with a skull head and a hairy body. The beast lowered its head and scented the air, drawing in the scent of Lavender's blood and fear. It chuffed and bellowed, pawing the ground aggressively and getting ready to charge.
The young woman gave her actions little thought and slowly reached out to feel for her pack. Once she felt the rough material, she drew it closer to her before springing up and twisting around. The moment she bolted, the beast roared and leaped over the small stream in hot pursuit.
