Aquatic Kingdom Hearts

Aquatic Kingdom Hearts

Chapter 28: Making New Friends; Cave Introductions

Little While Later

After the group had broken through the wall, they had met the newest edition to their group. At first, Rourke and the troops were about to shoot at him, but thanks to Milo, the Atlantean robot had fully become a member of the team. Right now, at the moment, Sweet was overlooking at the remains of the creature that attacked Milo and the others. The robot had brought it back with them; it considered the possibility to study its anatomy. And after a few shot at charades, the robot's point was made across. Sweet, along with Jack, Rourke, Helga, Eric, Ariel, and even Frey were examining the creature along with Sweet.

After the autopsy, everyone stood around waiting for Sweet to make his presentation. It was when Sweet was done with his analysis, did Rourke finally ask, "So now that we're done looking inside his innards, what exactly is this…thing? I mean, what are we dealing with here?", Rourke pointed out to the Bat monster.

Sweet scratched the back of his head as he said, "Well, I gotta say, I have never seen anything like this in my whole life. And that counts from dissecting a frog.", he used a collapsible pointer and pointed at the creature's skin, "At first on inspection from the skin, there's resemblance to amphibian tissue, but the hair follicles would seem to rule that out, showing it's some sort of mammal."

Then Jack asked shrugging, "So what…is this beastie some sort of flipper mutant?"

Gibbs nodded to that as he gave out his two cents on this, "Aye. It might be some unknown aberration that may have been left behind time itself."

Sweet nodded to that, "You're probably right, but after examining the organs, I found that this creature's organs are perfectly formed. Even though the head's been crushed slightly.", he then walked over to it as he lifted the arm to show everyone the killer claws on the creature's hands, "What this thing is…is a highly evolved soldier/predator caste. The thing is, this thing couldn't have just developed just like that….", giving a short pause for effect, Sweet then finished up, "…This thing's part of a colony."

Everyone groaned, paled, or gasped at that concept. Even Frey paled as he asked, "Wait, wait a minute! Are you saying that there are more of these things?", Sweet shrugged at that, not sure of how to go on that.

Audrey just huffed and groaned as she folded her arms in disgust, "Great. So now we're part of the food chain."

Milo shook his head as he corrected that, "Nah, Audrey. We've always been part of the food chain. We've just forgotten about it, living in cities and whatnot."

Audrey just huffed as she pointed out to the robot, "And I thought tin cans like those were gonna be our only problem."

Then Frey shot out, "Wally's not gonna be a problem."

Then Mole asked, "Wally? What ez a Wally?"

Feeling slightly embarrassed at that, even by everyone looking at him, Frey answered, "That's…what I decided to name him.", he pointed to the robot, "Along the way out he made this kind of whirring sound like he said Wally.", he then shrugged, "Besides…he kind of reminds me of my uncle Wally."

The robot, now named Wally, spoke out in a sound that made it sound like speech as he droned out, "WAAAAALLEEEEE."

And then Sweet pointed out as he signaled the robot, now named Wally, to turn the creature over. Sweet then pointed to the back and the feelers on both sides of it, "From what I can gather, this creature's backbone indicates that this thing has a huge brain inside his noggin, which would indicate these guys are smarter than what they look like. And the feelers must also help it tell its surroundings.", and then turned over to the head as he tilted the head over as he could open the jaw, "But this thing is definitely subterranean, due to the fact that it's lost its sight in all four eyes, and developed heightened senses of smell and hearing in order to see.", he pointed to a few strange spoon-shaped follicles in the mouth, "These little suckers create a sort of sonic clicking that echoes off anything it hits and sends the message and image right back at it."

Then Helga asked, adjusting her gun, "Found any physically disabilities? Weaknesses we can exploit?"

Then Sweet stated, "Pretty much. Like us, their bodies are frail enough to get shot, stabbed, or crushed. But their echolocation can also be their weakness as well. If another sound bombarded to them but much higher, it would disorient them."

Rourke sighed as he afforded no time to be wasted at this point, "Alright, people. We have a few realities to face. First, we're short handed like we were before and we can't go out the way we came in. Second, there might be a huge pack of these things following us, so when we reach our final marker, we'll be posting watch and sentry duty.", and then walked towards the vehicles, "Now, let's move it."

And everyone did, although some were slightly nervous as they somewhat looked up. They wanted to be sure those creatures weren't overhead and ready to pounce on them in a split second.

The Final Marker

It had taken them quite a while, and it had been a long journey, but they finally made it. Eric and Milo had gotten them all to the Final Marker; it was a bridge that led to the other side across a huge chasm. But the thing that made it the final marker was the stone structure on top. It was apparently a lantern/chandelier that was constructed from the stalactites on the ceiling, and the odd thing was, it was lit up with a yellowish green glow inside. But whatever caused it to glow like that, one thing was certain, their journey was almost at an end, and they would reach the ruins of Atlantis in no time at all.

Milo stood at the other side of the bridge to where the convoy was, and looked over at the Journal. He looked at the page containing details of the Final Marker and was certain, "This is it. It's gotta be."

Eric smiled brightly at this as he padded his Uncle on the shoulder, "We did it. Atlantis is as good as found."

After hearing their confirmation, Rourke ordered out, "All right, we'll make camp here tonight.", and after that was declared, everyone made ready for camp.

Audrey looked at the strange glowing cavern chandelier as she just asked out loud, "Why is it glowing like that?"

Ariel looked at the strange chandelier on the cavern ceiling. She then asked Eric, "How do you suppose it's doing that?"

Eric shrugged as he answered in his best way, "Well, I think it's like the Angel clams you find in Africa."

Ariel lit up as she smirked, "You mean the ones that glow underwater."

Eric nodded, "Yeah, I think it's the same with them. I think that the reason that it can do that…is because it can do that.", that earned a playful scowl from Ariel at that answer, as Eric shrugged.

Mole scoffed as he simply gave them his answer, "Pah! Eet ez a natural phosphorescence."

Vinny, who stood side Mole as a buddy would, pointed out to everyone as they all made ready for camp, "That thing, is gonna keep me up all night. I know it."

Night

Dinner Time

It seemed as though Vinny didn't have to worry about the light, for like the sun, the chandelier's light seemed to dim a little. That night, a few secured perimeter sentries were placed around the camp. If there were more of those strange creatures that attacked them, they would be ready for them in no time flat. But for now, it was dinnertime, as the crew and pirates sat in a circle together with trays at the ready. Cookie came rolling up to them as he called out, "Come and get it!"

He wheeled up what looked like a cauldron attached to wheels as he started serving up whatever it was. He made his first stop to Sweet as he took up a ladle and pronounced the meal, "For the appetizer…", and dropped a blob of slop that looked like something out of a science fiction movie, as Sweet grimaced at it, "…Caesar salad."

He then wheeled up to Helga as she grimaced at the slop on her dish, as Cookie announced, "Bratwurst."

And up to Vinny's tray as he announced the slop, "Spaghetti, Meatballs, and a side order of Italian herbs bread."

And up to Jack's tray he announced, "Roasted hog with potato wedges."

And up to Audrey's, "escargot.", making Audrey look at it questionably until she gulped nervously.

And then up to Mole, who didn't seem to care about it as he looked happy and famished, "And your Oriental Spring rolls.", And then passed on by, leaving the group to pale at their meal, as he went on by.

Mole looked back to Audrey's dish and pouted, "I wanted the escargot."

Audrey just handed him her dish as she sarcastically said to the drooling Moliere, "Knock yourself out."

Milo and his group were just sitting around, discussing on the matters on hand of the map. Wally was with them, curiously examining a paddle ball as it went up and down, and then struck him in the face a few times comically. However, that all changed as Cookie rolled on in as he handed them trays, "There ya go, Milo. Put some meat on them bones.", and then poured him some slop, that bubbled as Milo cringed at that. He then poured a few slop piles for the kids, as they each cringed, and then filled Max a bowl of sludge, "Here ya go, boy. Eat 'em up."

Frey gulped at the slop as he cringed away from it, "And I thought the mystery meat at school was bad."

Ariel kind of cringed as well as she gulped, "I don't think this is fit for a shark to eat. Let alone a human being."

Eric gulped at it as well as he sarcastically commented on Cookie's cuisine, "Thanks, Cookie. That looks…greasier than normal."

Cookie lit up, ignoring the sarcasm, and asked, "Ya like it?", and much to Eric's horror, he poured some more slop on his dish, "Well, have some more.", and then he strolled away, advising, "Y'all better eat some more as well. You teenagers and yer diets. Yer all so skinny, that if you stood sideways and stuck out yer tongues, you'd all look like zippers."

As Cookie left, Max took a sniff of his food, and then cringed. Dax and Sebastian popped up, and sniffed it as well, as Dax looked like he was about to throw up, and Sebastian just fainted, gasping, "Mother of Pearl…"

Wally walked up to the dog's bowl; seeing that no one was going to eat it. He took the bowl, and with an open port in his chest revealed, dumped the concoction inside. The compartment closed and then, Wally let out a whirring sound that sounded like a burp, "BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAECH!"

Dax just gulped at that as he cringed and shivered, "At least he's good for something when it comes to getting rid of toxic waste."

Back with the crew and group, Sweet had noticed that Milo and the kids were eating alone as always, save for the Atlantean robot that was now with them. It was then that while everyone was eating, well mostly Mole eating…Sweet scratched his chin as he pointed out to them, "You know, we have been pretty tough on the newbies.", he then shrugged as he suggested, "What do you say we cut 'em some slack."

Jack nodded to that as he pointed out, "And if I may add in, none of you'd lot would've gotten this far without any of them.", and then looked at his food for a small paused…and ate a spoonful, causing the others including Gibbs and his crew, minus Mole, to cringe at this.

After regaining her stomach, Audrey sighed as she half-smiled, "Yeah, you're right.", she then hollered on over to them, "Hey, guys! Why don't you come sit with us?"

After hearing that, the group looked a little surprised as Ariel smirked, "really? You don't mind?"

Helga shook her head as she said, "Nah, park it here." After that was said, and an approving nod from Milo, they all got up and walked over there with their 'food'. They each sat around the circle next to someone; Ariel sat next in between Eric and Helga, while Frey sat next to Vinny and Milo sat between Audrey and Sweet…with Wally following behind.

As Milo sat down he commented to everyone with an excited smile, "Gee, this is great. I mean, you know it's an honor to be included in your…"

But then as Wally sat down, which he scooted next to Milo and Sweet, a funny sound was heard. It was the sound that a person made when they farted; Wally looked around, trying to figure out what that was as he made a sound that sounded like, "HUuuUUUH?" And then everyone turned around to see Mole, rolling on his back kicking the air, laughing insanely hard. It appeared that he had planted a whoopee cushion under the robot's seat as he sat down.

This earned everyone to scold him as they shouted, "MOLE!"

After stopping, Mole sighed in relief, "Ah, forgive me.", and then innocently looked at them and to Wally, "I could not rezizt."

After that, everyone got back to try to eating the stuff Cookie had given them. However, Helga had noticed that Eric, while eating, had not taken off the artifact Milo called, the Fist of Zeus. She then asked the boy, "Hey, kid. How come you're still wearing that thing?"

Gibbs pointed out as well, "Aye, lad. Your hand's probably gettin' tired of that extra weight."

Eric shrugged as he looked at his new weapon. The Fist of Zeus, the Atlantean glove that he was now wearing, had amazingly turned the tide of the battle he had against those bat monsters. It looked like an ordinary fingerless armored glove, but when activated it became a glove that covered shi fingers, hand and forearm. It gave him immense strength in his left arm, as the jewel glowed when it did. He then answered, "Yeah, you'd think so. But this…I don't know, the metal that it's made of feels light. As if it doesn't have any weight to it at all.", it was still a mystery at that as well.

Then Milo shrugged, "Yeah, I checked on that glove, and it said it was supposed to be given to this Chosen hero." He then shrugged as he went back to his book, "Though I don't know, I think it's some kind of fairy tale story…made up for the children, I'm guessing."

After that, Ariel leaned near Eric as she whispered, with no one noticing, "You still haven't told him?", Eric looked at her confused as she asked, "You know, about being the Seablade bearer?"

Eric knew that this would come up eventually, and just shook his head lightly at that. In truth, they hadn't told Milo any of this, in fearing that he would panic. Though, in truth, Eric was much worried about telling him this, and making him worry. Though he sighed to himself, knowing full well that he would eventually have to tell him.

It wasn't long until Audrey spotted Milo with his nose still stuck in the Shepard's Journal. Whenever someone saw him, they always saw the same thing: Milo still reading the Shepard's Journal, even when they weren't using it for a map or the coordinates. It was then she finally asked, "Hey, Milo, don't you ever close that book?"

Eric smirked at that as he pointed out with a joke, "It's a pretty good best seller. Readers like my uncle here are gonna make it a worth selling title."

Sweet had to chuckle at that, but then pointed out, "Yeah, but you two must've read it a dozen times by now."

Milo nodded at that, but then stated as he focused on the book with a serious look on his face, "I know, but this…this doesn't make any sense." He opened it to a page that he pointed out, "See, in this passage here, the Shepard seems to be leading up to something. It refers to it by two names; The Heart of Atlantis, or the Second Heart of the Sea." After hearing that, it caused Eric and Ariel to nearly stop at their attempt to eat. Even Frey stopped as they heard that, as all three teens let Milo continue, "It could be the power source the legends refer to.", and then turned the page as he finished, "But then it just…it cuts off. It's almost like there's a missing page."

Vinny just sighed as he stated, "Milo, relax. We don't get paid overtime."

Milo chuckled as he shrugged, "I know, I know. Sometimes I get a little carried away is all."

Ariel had to smile at that; seeing as how Eric wasn't the only one to have an adventure streak in them. She then smiled to everyone as she encouraged, "But, you know, that's what this all about, right? I mean, discovery, teamwork, friendships, and adventure." However, all that earned from her little guess was a moment of silence from everyone. And then she shrugged as she sighed, "Unless, maybe…like Jack, you're all just in it for the money."

After a moment of silence, everyone just simply shrugged as they answered, each, starting with Audrey, "Money."

"Money.", Sweet smiled.

"Money.", Packard shrugged, still containing her sourpuss face.

"Money.", Helga answered as she picked at her dish.

"Money.", Mole mumbled as he continued to eat his 'food'.

Vinny was thinking about it for a moment, and then finally answered, "I'm a gonna say….Money."

Ariel sighed at that as she shook her head, as Eric did as he replied, "Well, I guess we set ourselves up for that one.", but then groaned a little as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Ariel looked at him concerned as she asked, "Eric, are you alright?"

Sweet looked at the boy and asked, "Is something wrong with your neck?"

He nodded, "Yeah, I just think…I might've hurt it when…", but was interrupted as Sweet stood up, walked behind the boy, and grabbed his head. And with a few careful quick jerks, Sweet cracked/adjusted the boy's neck. After a few sore seconds, Eric felt his neck get better, and looked amazed at Sweet, "Wow, I…I feel better. How'd you learn how to do that?"

Sweet shrugged as he sat back down, "An Arapaho medicine man."

Jack said out, "Gesunhtite."

Frey shook his head as he said, "Arapahos are Native Americans, Jack."

Eric looked stunned by that as he joked, "And you never pay any attention in Feeny's class."

Ariel was a little amazed by this as she asked, "You were taught by Native Americans?"

Sweet nodded to that as he pointed out, "Born and raised with 'em.", he then pulled out a photo of his father, an Army medical officer, and his mother, a beautiful Native American woman, holding a baby Sweet, as he explained, "My father was an army medic. He settled down in the Kansas Territory after he met my mother."

Ariel was more interested as she asked, "Really?"

Sweet nodded as he finished, "Yep, I got a sheepskin from Howard U…", and then pulled out an Indian necklace with a few Indian tokens, "And a bearskin from old Iron Cloud." Then Sweet finished as he finished, "Halfway through medical school, I was drafted. One day I'm studying gross anatomy in the classroom, the next I'm sewing up rough riders on San Juan Hill."

It was a while then, as Frey picked at his food, he grimaced as he stated to everyone, "You know…I'm probably the only one saying this out loud.", and then lifted his tray up…by the spoon as it had stuck to the slop, which stuck to the tray like clay, "…but this stuff is disgusting."

"Not so, Mate." Jack said as he ate a spoonful and took a swig from a rum bottle, "Anything is edible so long as you wash it down with rum.", the only thing Frey did at that point was roll his eyes in disgust and exasperation.

It was after that, the moment was ruined as Cookie came up, with his cauldron of slop as he announced, "Main course." It was after that was said, everyone made excuses, saying that they had enough, they were watching their weight, or that they told him not to go through any trouble. Cookie just smirked as he believed everyone and pushed the cauldron back to his wagon truck, smiling, "Hahaha. Don't you worry. It'll keep, and keep, and keep."

After he had left, everyone cringed at their plates, almost on the verge of throwing up. All except for Jack, Mole, and Wally, who seemed to not care what it was made out of. Packard looked at her cigarette, and monotonely said out loud, "Thank God I lost my sense of taste years ago."

Then Frey stated, "You know, I don't think this food was meant to be eaten. I think it was meant to plaster walls together.", and when that was said, everyone dumped Cookie's 'food' into the fire, creating a small mushroom cloud.

After dinner, everyone set up to pitch their tents for the night. Everyone worked diligently, feeling the spell of sleep nearly fall on and over them. The Iceland team did a pretty good job at setting them up. Jack and his crew were pitching their tents and afterwards, fell right to sleep, with no problem at all. Even Eric, Milo, and Frey had gotten their tents put up. Wally just found a spot, and folded back into his shell, with Max jumping on top of him, with Sebastian and Dax sleeping next to him.

However, Vinny had stopped for a moment as he looked over to Ariel and asked, "Aren't you going to pitch up your tent?"

Ariel stopped as she looked at her tent in confusion, "Uh, I did." In truth, it didn't look as neat and tidy as the others were. It was most likely put up like a blind seamstress, seeing as how messy and shabby it looked. It was when Eric had finished his tent; he walked over and assisted in showing Ariel on how to do it. As they pitched it up together, she asked him, "You and your Uncle are pretty good at this. Did you ever go camping?"

Eric shrugged as they finished up the tent, and it looked perfect, "Yeah when I was younger, but me and Uncle Milo hadn't gone camping ever since Grandpa Thaddeus past away."

As Ariel settled down and sat near her tent, she curled her legs up as she rested her head on her knees. She then asked interested, "You never talked much about your grandfather. What was he like?"

"Yeah, you mind talking about him?", Audrey asked, getting their attention as she set up her sleeping bag, "I never got to meet him when we were back in Iceland."

Eric shrugged as he sat down at his tent and went on, "Where do you start?", he then sighed as he smirked for a moment as he went on, "After my parents died, he and Uncle Milo were the only family I had…that and my missing brother. He was sort of like a second father figure to me, really, next to Uncle Milo. He'd tell me stories all about Atlantis and Mermaids, and how there were some evidence to their existence.", he then looked at his side to where his Seablade and Zeus fist were placed, and then to Ariel, "In more ways then one he was right." And then he just smirked at something as he chuckled lightly.

This caught Ariel's attention as she asked him smiling, "What?"

Eric shook his head as he explained to her and Audrey, "Well, I was just remembering. One time, when my parents were alive, I was eight years old, we were hiking along this stream, and I saw something shining in the water. It was a genuine arrowhead.", the girls looked pretty impressed by this, as was Frey as he was just lying back and listening to the story, "Well, you'd think I'd found a lost civilization like my grandpa carried on about it.", but then he shrugged as he finished, "It wasn't until I was nine and taking Feeny's class, we were in show-and-tell, that he pointed out that the arrowhead was actually some compressed shale mixed with zinc pyrite that had fractured into an isosceletic triangulate."

After hearing that, Mole, who was dressed in his jammies and holding a stuffed mole animal, he chuckled at that part, "That is so cute.", and then walked over to his bed.

It was when he left, Frey got up and looked to Audrey as he asked, "So, Audrey, nothing personal…but how does a teen girl like you become the chief mechanic of this little excavation?"

Audrey chuckled at that as she lay down on her sleeping bag, "Well, I inherited this job when my dad retired. But the funny thing was he always wanted two sons, you see. One to help him run his machine shop and the other to become middleweight wrestling champion. But he got my sister and me, instead."

Ariel then asked, "So…what happened to your sister?"

Audrey shrugged, "She's 24 and 0, with a shot at the champion belt next month on WWF.", that earned a surprised looked form the three as she chuckled, "Anyway, I'm hoping that with a few more jobs like this, I can save up a bundle so my Papi and I can open another shop."

After hearing that story, Ariel turned her attention to Helga, and then asked, "So Miss Sinclair…."

"Call me Helga.", Helga replied, settling down for the night.

Ariel corrected that as she lay down, "So, Helga…what's your story? I mean, what did you used to do before all this?"

Helga sighed, not sure if she liked to reveal that much, but shrugged, "Well, I used to live in an aristocratic home. My family were sort of this well-bred family living 'High on the Hog' lifestyle.", she cringed a little, "But that wasn't for me. I didn't want to spend the rest of my life in a stuffy dress, playing Miss Snob in front of a bunch of penguins that looked like rejects from Monopoly." She then sighed as she replied, "So I did what any other person did; join the German army. I've been to every combat mission, until Whitmore hired me as one of his excavation " It was then that they heard a small chuckle escape from Ariel's lips, and Helga with a half-smirk, asked, "What?"

She shook her head as she stated, "Well, it's just that you kind of sound like my mother.", getting a confused look from the other's face, Ariel answered, "Well, she kind of acted like you did. That and she was pretty tough like you were…and kind of sweet."

Helga raised an eyebrow at that sweet comment, with everyone who knew her laughing. It was after a while she smirked at the laughing too. It was then and there when that was said and done, Packard strolled on in there, wearing fluffy slippers, her jacket, and facial makeup.

Milo asked, "Forget your jammies, Mrs. Packard?"

The only thing she said was, "I sleep in the nude."

After that was said, Sweet tossed the four newbies a pair of sleeping masks and advised, "You're gonna want a pair of these, y'all. She sleepwalks."

As Vinny settled down, he stated, "Well, as far as me goes…I just like to blow things up."

Helga shook her head as she just advised, "Come on, Vinny. We're all being brutally honest here. Tell the kids the truth."

He then sighed, knowing he wasn't gonna like it, but then Vinny answered, "My family owned a flower shop. We would sell roses, carnations, baby's breath, you name it." he then sighed as he didn't like what was coming, "One day, I'm making about three dozen corsages for this prom, you know, the one they put on the wrist, and everybody, they come. "Where is it?", "When is it?", "Does it match my dress?" It's a nightmare.", he then sighed in relief as he finished, "Anyway, I guess there was this leak next door of gas or what. BOOM! No more Chinese laundry. Blew me right through the front window.", he then lit a match to symbolize that moment, "It was like a sign from God. I found myself that boom."

It was then that everyone heard digging as they all turned to the end of the camp. They saw Mole digging a hole, with him smiling all crazy. After he had completely submerged, he turned off his light, and chuckled crazy and satisfied as he fell fast asleep.

It was then that Milo just had to ask, "Okay, just…what's Mole's story?"

Immediately, Sweet pointed out, "Trust me on this one. You don't wanna know.", he then pointed to Audrey as he told her, "Audrey, don't tell them. You shouldn't have told me, but you did.", and then pointed back to Milo, "And now I'm tellin' you...You don't wanna know.", and then blew out the light, letting everyone drift off to a well-deserved sleep.

Later That Night

Despite Jack's snoring and the bugs that buzzed around them, no one lacked in any sleep at all. The lights were dimmed a bit, and a few guards were kept on sentry duty. So far the beasts had not shown up, but they knew they were somewhere nearby; as they looked around, they heard the echoing clicking sound that the creatures used to see in the darkness. However, even though they were keeping an eye out for the creatures, they didn't take an eye out for the other intruder that got past them. The figure was crouched behind the Digger, and like an ape or wild monkey, they jumped near the camp tents.

As the light slightly shined on the camp, the figure was revealed to be human. It was a girl around the age of sixteen years of age, with a slim and slender figure. She had dark tanned skin, with hair that was silverish white and going down her back. But she was also wearing the strangest armor anyone had ever seen.

On her chest, the breastplate was somewhat organic in reminiscent to an oyster shell on the left side, with a small piece of armor on the side of her abdomen, and left an opening that showed a tiny portion of her cleavage, but also had on her neck a black neck guard. On the left shoulder, it seemed to protrude up a bit, and on the back, was sort of bulging slightly, as if there were something else on the back of it. on her shoulders, were armored shoulder pads shaped like seashells. Her pack stomach was exposed, but around her waist was a stylized utility belt of some sort, with a few packs on the left side, and a few metal mini star shaped objects hanging on the right side, and behind her belt looked to be a stylized stick about as big as a 14 inch ruler, and had stylized Atlantean writing on the handle.

On her right forearm, was a gauntlet shaped arm band, with a protruding shape going upward with two small ice blue blade tips sticking outward a little. On her left forearm, did another gauntlet armband with a smooth design on it, with several symbols on it, resemble a keyboard of some sort. On both the sides of her quadriceps were scale and triangular-shaped leg guards with seashell shaped knee guards, and on her belt covering both front and back, was a silk blue loin cloth that ended at her knees. On his forelegs and ankles, were scale-shaped armor leg guards. On her hands, were sort of sharp knuckle gloves with a sort of crab feel to them; the fingers in claw-like fingers. The same was with her sandals, as they were encased in armored claw toes. Her face was covered by a tribal mask/helmet that was somewhat frightening as the eyes and open mouth glowed bright blue. And around her neck, was a small bluish white crystal pendant that glowed as brightly as the mask's eyes.

She crept like an animal into the camp area, looking around rather curiously. It wasn't until she stopped at Milo's tent that she began to look around. She then grabbed Milo's sack as she scavenged through it. She looked around the bag, finding anything of interest to her curiosity. That is until she finally found something; it was a photo, of Milo and his grandfather, with a young Eric sitting on the older man's lap, looking as happy as any. The intruder took her left hand, and traced her armor clawed fingers on the picture, almost cherishing it.

Then suddenly, someone arose from one of the tents, and another as well as they yawned out loud. The stranger shot up, and then jumped/scurried back into the darkness once more. As that happened, the lights went back on, to reveal Jack, Eric, and Frey, each holding up a roll of toilet paper as they quietly walked past Cookie, who muttered in his sleep, "The redhead's got a gun."

The three, completely half-asleep, stopped by a nearby rocky ledge as they fiddled with their pants for a moment. Eric and Frey were the first ones successful, so they went to the bathroom first. However, Jack was having trouble with his zipper as he struggled with it, muttering, "Bugger. Bugger, bugger, bugger, bugger….", while still holding the flashlight. While he struggled, he also made the flashlight fiddle around a bit as it hit the rock chandelier.

Then suddenly, the chandelier lit up again bright, but this time something flew out. It was a bunch of tiny bright fireflies as a few flew around Jack. As the two boys finished up, they saw Jack finally waking up, and swatting away some of the flies near him. Eric looked to Frey and asked, "Do we even want to know?", with Frey shaking his head no. However, some of the flies flew near them, and they both started to swat them away. It was only until Eric grabbed his toilet paper role and smack one of them, did he realize they were all in trouble. As soon as he smacked it, the paper lit on fire.

Eric threw it away, now fully awake with Frey, and then they both heard a buzzing sound. They looked up at the stone chandelier, and saw an army of those fireflies flying right towards them and the camp. As soon as Jack finished swatting at them and struck at one, did he hit something that made a roaring sound. Now fully awake, Jack went wide eyed, as did the boys as they saw what Jack had struck. It was another one of the bat monsters that they had tangled at the temple, and it was hit square in the bat nose.

The beast growled at Jack and the boys, as Jack gulped, "Oh bugger.", but then their attention was turned to the fireflies that were advancing, as the beast roared out in anger. Then the trio ran for the camp, yelling out 'Fire', and as they did, anything that the fireflies landed or came in contact with, caught on fire.

Jack ran over to Gibbs as he kicked him awake, "Gibbs, you dog! Get up!"

Gibbs woke up, and groaned to Jack, "Jack, you know better…"

"Save it!", Jack said quickly as he woke up the others, "Wake up you dogs! Those beasties are here, and there's fire brewing!" The pirates all woke up to that as they got up, and saw the whole camp going on to blaze. The boys hurried and woke up everyone they could, and tried to warn about the bat monsters as best they could.

Rourke groaned in his tent as he got up, half-asleep, and muttered, "I'm gonna kill 'em." Thinking it was some dumb stunt; Rourke shot out of bed and walked out his tent. He then shouted out, "Thatch, go back to be…", but then stopped as he finally woke up, seeing the camp go on fire.

Everyone now fully awake, were doing their best to put out the fire. But no such luck, despite everyone's chances, as the fireflies flew all over the place, sending them ablazing. Helga was one of the few ordering around, as she got Ariel out of bed and she ordered her and Audrey to help out as best they could, "Get some water on that fire!"

Knowing it was futile, Rourke grabbed a black combat vest, holding two 9mm handguns, and strapped it on his chest. He then ordered everyone out loud, "There's no time!", he then pointed to the bridge, "Get us into those caves! Move it! Move it! Move it!"

Milo, who was fully awake and had the Shepard's Journal in hand, ran for the truck, "This won't end well!"

"Men, move it! Run!", Jack bellowed to everyone as he ran for the truck. Everyone else did the same as they grabbed what they could, and ran for the vehicles. The two scrambled to the cars. Suddenly, Eric stopped for a moment, and then ran back to the flaming camp. "Eric!" Jack cried as he got to the driver's seat with Frey, who had with him his daggers, "I believe we were running in that direction."

Ariel stopped as well, as she loaded into the back of the truck with Audrey, "Eric, where are you going?"

"I have to get my stuff!", Eric cried. He ran over to his tent, put on his Seablade and Zeus fist, picked up the Atlas Sphere, and was about to hurry back to Jack and the others. However, he stopped as he looked around and didn't see Max. He heard barking coming from his tent, and ran back to get him. He ran back into his flaming tent, and scooped him up, "Come on, boy.", and ran out of there.

As soon as he did, his tent blew up as he ran over to the truck. Then suddenly, Dax, who was blown out of the tent, landed on Eric's shoulder, sizzling, and groaned, "Oh sure, save the dog…", and then suddenly, they were scooped up by Wally, who made a mad dash for the truck. He threw them in there as one of the trucks exploded behind them

It was then that when everyone was in their vehicles and driving towards the bridge, they heard it. The screeching sound was all too familiar to those who entered the temple and met the beasts. Everyone who wasn't driving looked up at the cave ceiling and saw an army of those Bat demon creatures. They were clinged to the wall, looking down at the crew all hungry, and then they detached from the ceiling. And as they spread their arms, wing folds flapped out of their arms as they glided down upon those who were running by the vehicles.

Ariel paled at this as she stated the obvious, "They can fly!"

Mole noticed too as he looked out the window on the Digger. He shouted hysterically, "Zey fly! ZOSE CREATURES CAN FLYYYYYY!"

As they crossed the bridge, a group of five bat beasts swooped on the last truck behind the Thatch's vehicle. They impacted on the truck, causing it to tip over on its side. The driver and passengers tried to escape, but the beasts used their claws to pin them down. They screamed as the beasts gnawed on them; the air filled with screams and the sound of flesh being ripped off.

As the beasts flew overhead, those who had guns began to shoot at them. But those who fought were easily the ones to get picked off. The beasts swooped in and scooped them up with their slightly skinny yet powerful legs. They tossed them into the air as a few swooped in and got them with their teeth, eating them instantly in the air, or tearing them apart and then eating them. Even one swept over the side of the Thatchs' truck, and mistakenly swiped at Frey's left side.

Frey cried out in pain as he nearly lost control of the truck. Jack grabbed a hold of the wheel as Frey righted himself up. He scolded at the boy, shouting, "Keep your bloody eyes on the road! Unless you've had any rum, I can't blame you for drunk driving!"

Frey took the wheel with only his right hand, and muttered, "Don't worry. You don't have to worry about me drinking." He then heaved his breath slightly as he looked at his left side. The beast had missed his arm, but his ribcage and stomach he didn't, next to where his stomach met his ribs, one of the claws were stuck in, sticking in his side as it slowly bled out.

One of the trucks, a fuel truck, was currently on fire as it made its way to the center of the bridge. The driver screamed as he panicked on the flames, and a few of the creatures landed on his truck. However, the fireflies reached the fuel tanks, and then suddenly…KABOOM! The tanker exploded in the center of the bridge, causing the creatures to fly away scared of the huge sound, and the bridge to split in the center. As it did, the vehicles began to slide down the forming slides that used to be the bridge. The vehicles crashed onto a rocky ledge that the bridge sent them off to. The vehicles, spinning out of control and crashing into one another, then slid down into a large black hole pit. For a moment, as the vehicles descended down the deep darkness, there was absolutely nothing. And then, there was a loud crash, and all was silent.

Later On

It was pitch black to where they were, but after a moment of silence, one familiar voice rose up from the darkness. "Alright," Rourke yelled as he lit a match to light up the area, "Who's not dead? Sound off!" A series of moans and groans echoed throughout the cavern. "I said sound off! Audrey?!"

"Yeah."

"Mole?"

"Oui."

"Sweet?"

"Present."

"Helga?"

"Present."

"Cookie?"

"Dang lightning bug bit me on my sit-upons! Someone's gonna have to suck out that poison. I don't think you'll all jump up at once..."

"Packard?"

"Do you suppose we could get reception down here?"

"Jack?"

"Aye governor."

Rourke let out a disappointed sigh, "Mr. Thatch?"

Both Eric and Milo groaned out, "Still alive…"

"Ms. Namba?"

Ariel groaned out as she stood up, rubbing her sore butt, "Oww! My aching...", and then everyone set on the search lights. The room was lit up as everyone scurried on over to help one another. Most of the vehicles were either totaled or topside on the side. Either way, they were in a tight fix as everyone helped each other get up. Ariel saw Eric and Milo groaning a bit a she walked over and helped the two back up, "Come on, up you go.", and then Max popped up as well, whimpering to the two teens, as Eric knelt down and petted his dog, reassuring him.

"Audrey, damage report!" Rourke ordered.

Audrey turned on her flashlight as she surveyed the damage, "Not as bad as it could have been. We totaled rigs two and seven, but I think the digger can still run." Audrey rubbed her backside, "Good thing we landed on something soft."

"Very soft," Jack said, "Quite comfy actually.", he then stated as he slightly bounced on his seat, "Feels like a small rotting pumpkin of some sort. I hope me pants aren't stained."

Then Dax, who was being sat on by Jack, shouted muffled, "That soft and comfy thing is MY HEAD…NOW GET OFF!", Jack did so as he stood up, and Dax and Sebastian got back up, looking worse for wear. And then right from under them, Wally transformed out of his shell form and groggily whirred to life as he was getting up off of the ground, after falling out of the truck.

Sebastian groaned as he and Dax ran up to Wally's shoulders as he got up, "Someone want to tell me why we came on dis lil' field trip?"

Dax groaned as he popped his back in several spots, "I don't know…but we'd better get to a chiropractor after this mess."

Jack groggily walked over to his crew, finding them getting up. He spotted Gibbs, Marty, Cotton, and Cotton's parrot getting out of one of the wreckages. Jack looked around, and then ordered Gibbs, "Gibbs, give me a headcount. How many of our crewmen are down?"

Marty grumbled as he rummaged through the car, getting his grenade launcher, "Down? Most of the crew is dead or eaten."

Gibbs nodded to that as he got most of their weapons out of the totaled rig and handed Jack his sword and gun, "Aye, this voyage is a costly one. And don't get me started on how much bad luck we've been runnin' into lately."

Jack nodded, "Dually noted."

It was while Jack and the pirates were complaining; Mole had gotten up and examined the dirt they were in. He then magnified his vision and came to the conclusion near Helga and Jack, "Pumice ash."

Jack seemed insulted as he turned towards Mole and shot out, "I beg your pardon! Who's pompous?"

Mole shook his head as he pointed to the rock all around them, "No, no, no. Not pompous…pumice. Pumice ash.", he then pointed out to everyone, "We are standing at the base of a dormant volcano."

After that was said, everyone paled at that as Eric and Ariel walked up to the crew, with Milo looking around. The boy then grimaced, "Great, if those things up there weren't the problem, it's this that's gonna kill us."

It was after that, Helga loaded a flare gun, and shot upward. As the flare went upward, they all grimaced as they saw that it was a far way up. It nearly stretched on for like two to three miles up as the flare continued to travel upward. Helga grimaced at this possibility as she saw it go up, "It just…keeps going."

Jack, getting that sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, probably knew this would be it for them all. He then scooted over to Helga and tried the old Jack Sparrow charm, "You know, luv…if we can't find any possible means of escaping. This might be it for…"

Helga sighed with disgust as he looked to Jack with a raised eyebrow and a frown. She then retorted, "Don't even go there."

Eric and Ariel walked over as Ariel pointed out, "That's gonna be a long climb if we have to go that way."

But Vinny, who was with them, pointed out, "Maybe…but maybe that's our ticket out of here."

But then the flare finally hit the surface and blew up, lighting the cavern's top. However, instead of showing the way out, it showed the entrance to have been blocked up. The remnance of the cavern bridge from up top must have slid along with them and blocked the exit. Helga grimaced as she pointed out, "Maybe not."

When Mole joined up with them, he took careful notice of the ash all around them. He then pointed up to everyone, "Everyone. The magma has solidified in the bowels of the volcano, effectively blocking the exit."

Packard just sighed at that as she quirked, "I got the same problem with sauerkraut."

Then Jack just shot back to her, "Usually beans and fiber takes care of that problem. And a little rum to wash it down with."

Eric shook his head as he looked upward to the cave, "I don't think rum or beans can get us out of this, Jack."

Ignoring the last three, Sweet turned back to Mole, a little freaked out as he asked out loud, "Hold on. Back up. Are you sayin' this whole volcano can blow at any time?"

Everyone looked to Mole, a little freaked out or worried, but the dirty fellow shook his head as he answered, "No, no, no, no. That would take an explosive force of great magnitude."

It was then that everyone heard springing sounds coming from the left of them. They turned around and all simultaneously looked at Vinny….who was working on a small time bomb. As he fiddled with it, he stopped and saw everyone looking at him. He then looked at them, with a raised eyebrow as he looked taken aback, "Maybe I should do this later, eh?"

Rourke looked upward at the cave for a moment, and then thought up a plan. He then pointed it out as everyone was listening in, "If we could blow the top off that thing, we might have a clear shot at the surface."

Eric shrugged at that as he stated with Max sniffing around, "Maybe…but we don't know if the slightest explosion, eve if it's at the top, is gonna cause this whole place to give us a lava bath."

Rourke then asked, "Mr. Thatch, what do you think?", he waited for an answer, but got nothing as he asked, "Thatch?"

After his name was called out, Milo ran up to everyone, saying, "Rourke! I can't find Frey anywhere."

They all looked surprised, save for Rourke, as he raised an eyebrow, "I thought he was with you on the truck."

Milo nodded, "He was but he's nowhere around here." Ariel and Eric looked at each other in worry about this, losing their best friend. Rourke then ordered out everyone to start a search team, on finding the boy.

Elsewhere

Back on top, Frey groaned out a bit as he stirred back to life. It seems that as the trucks and vehicles collided while sliding down the shaft, he had been thrown out of the truck. He then was thrown near the rocks, knocking him out cold as he fell under unconscious. It was after a while that he finally woke up, feeling quite sore on his back and butt. He slowly got up to sit up, but then he felt a sharp pain on his left side as he clutched it.

He grimaced as he remembered the claw embedded in his side, and touched the claw in his side, to confirm it, and yelled out, "YEP! ARGH! That's in there pretty good!" He then held on to it pretty hard and slowly but carefully, he started to pull it out. As he did, he gritted his teeth and yelled through them, until finally, he yanked it free as he shouted at the top of his lungs.

He then clutched his bleeding side as he got up to his feet, groaning, "I'm definitely…going to feel this…in the…morning.", and then looked upward as he clutched his side, as it slightly bled. He looked around to see if he could find a way out of there, but only saw a few passageways leading to who knows where. Frey sighed in exhaustion with himself as he said, "I should have stayed at home for this."

He trotted down the cavern ways, grimacing with every step. However, before he went on, he heard strange growling and hissing sounds from behind him. He gulped as he slowly turned around, and then paled at what he saw behind him. There right behind him at the ledge, looking right at him with drooling sharp teeth, was an army of the bat monsters. Frey paled at them, but then he saw to where he had fallen from, he had left a drip trail of blood. He then grimaced even more as one of them landed to where he was, and lapped up the blood.

He then paled even worse as the one that lapped up his blood…looked at him with an insatiable hunger. Frey gulped, "Great. Now they've got a taste for both meat and blood." He then chuckled nervously as he stepped back, as the creatures slowly advanced at him, "Um…you know I know you guys didn't order this dinner to go…", and then made a mad dash to wherever it was he was heading as he shouted, "…BUT HERE I GO!"

The creatures roared out with much hunger, and then chased after them, running like a pack of gorillas. Frey ran as fast as he could, despite his bleeding side causing much pain. But the fear of being eaten alive like the rest of the crew, overrode the pain he felt as he kept running. He turned a little to look behind him as he saw that the beasts were running at him; on the ground or some using their claws to climb the walls and run on them. Frey grimaced as he muttered, "Great, I'd use my dagger if I could.", and then saw one of the creatures gnashing at him, "…but I think I'll save it for later!"

As he turned his attention back in front of him, he saw he was heading towards a cavern abyss. He knew as he ran towards it, there was going to be a sheer long drop. But right now, all he thought about was getting away from the beast that roared right behind him. He gulped, "Okay, okay. I think if I run fast enough…I can make it!", and as soon as he reached the ledge, with all his might, he jumped as he dived for the other side.

But the odd thing was as he was in the air; he stayed in the air as he glided overhead. When he opened his eyes, he saw the ground flying past him with some of the creatures being left behind as most jumped and took off after in flight. Frey was both amazed and confused by this whole thing. He muttered to himself as he asked, "Wha…? I'm flying? What on Earth am I…?", and that's when he felt something hold onto him by his belt. He looked behind him, to see a female hand covered in some kind of battle armor. But when he looked up to see the owner of the hand, he paled in panic as he yelled in fear.

The same armored female hunter that had been stalking them in the camp had rescued Frey from the beasts for now. She had watched the destruction of the camp, the bridge exploding and even when the strange metal creatures fell down the big hole. The only one left behind, was the blonde-haired boy as he was running for his life. So she decided in the best way, was to save this one. So here she was, with a wired grappling rope attached to her belt and swinging from the cavern walls, helping this stranger to safety.

Frey was a little freaked out by this strange whatever it was that had saved his life, but then stopped as he shouted, "Behind you!" The warrior and he looked behind them and saw one of the beasts closing in on them. It gnashed his sharp toothed jaws at them, anticipating the tastes of the two humans.

Wasting no time at all, the huntress flunged up Frey and grabbed him in her free arm, and used it to wrap it around him as she grabbed the rope. She then used her now free hand to grab something from her belt. She took out a starfish looking weapon, and with a pull of a trigger in the center of it, five scary looking sharp blades popped out. And then with a quick throw, she threw it at the beast's left arm wing, severing the fabric like tissue of the wing. And then it did a U-turn around and sliced at the right arm wing severing the wing's fabric tissue as well. With the wings destroyed, the beast cried out as it was sent crashing straight down to the cavern floor.

Frey sighed in relief as the huntress grabbed her returning starfish shuriken and resheathed it back. But then the next move freaked him out as she threw him into the air. He yelled like a maniac as he flipped in the air, and then landed on his feet. He looked around and saw that he had landed on a Cliffside overseeing the Titan cave. And then suddenly, the huntress back flipped in the air as her grappling line reeled back into the compartment of her belt, and she landed gracefully in the arms of a surprised Frey.

A little startled by this, he put her down as he got a good look at her. she was approximately only two centimeters shorter than him, despite the armor she wore, her biceps, part of her thighs and her waist were visible, showing her to have tanned brown skin. And that she also had long flowing silverish white hair that went down her back. Even though he probably knew this girl was really pretty, her body that was, the mask kind of freaked him out.

He backed away from her some as he asked, "So, uh….", but then paled as they both saw that the bat monsters were still advancing on them, now that they landed on foot and climbed up after them. He shouted to her, "So now what?"

She ran over to him, pulled him by the arm, and then ran for the edge. With a clenched fist and flick of her right wrist, out of her right wrist guard popped out two deadly looking blades about eighteen inches in length starting at the wrist. She then sliced one of the nearby stalagmites, kicking over, and she pulled Frey in as they both rode down the slope of the cave on the rock like it was a surfboard, with the beasts closing in on them.

The escape was pretty amazing as the two surfed the rock they rode on like a skateboard on the cave floor. They sped around a roller coaster shaped cave way, and zigzagged all over the place, as the beasts tried their best to keep up. The twists and turns were way too much for Frey as they were riding the floor, walls and ceilings at the rate of speed that they were going. At this point, he was on the verge of throwing up. Though he had to make sure he didn't throw up an organ, with the wound he had on his side still bleeding.

However, what they didn't expect was that a bunch of the beasts were heading right for them in front. Frey paled as he asked, "Okay, so now what?", the huntress then grabbed him by the waist, and then from her side, the grappling hook line shot up to the ceiling and latching there. And then they were pulled up as both creature groups crashed into each other.

Frey chuckled at this as he looked to his newest colleague through this weird roller coaster ride. But the laugh was short lived as the creatures were once again airborne and chasing after them. They swung through the air, narrowly dodging them with every turn. That is until one of them flew up and snapped at the rope, breaking it. The two fell downward as Frey righted himself, and then landed feet first on two rock sides. And then he caught the huntress before she fell as well, but then the added weight caused him to spread his legs out, as he cringed from a dislocated groin rather than his bleeding spot. But then the moment of pain was forgotten as the creatures dived right at them. breaking his balance, the huntress pushed Frey down the cliff side as the two slid down together as they went fast enough to escape the beasts.

However, they reached a dead end, as they fell down a deep shaft, with Frey yelling his head off. And following them down, diving at them, the bat monsters charged after them roaring in hunger. Gliding them to the wall, the huntress then pulled a fifteen staff handle from behind her belt, and brought it in front. With a small squeeze, the staff handle shot out into a twenty-five foot battle staff with two crescent moon blade tips at the end. She thrusted it into the wall, slowing down their decent as they stopped on flat ground. However, the rocks that they had landed on before, came falling down upon them, as they ran and took cover from the debris in a small crack in the cavern wall.

Frey and the huntress bundled together as the rocks fell downward crashing. The beasts halted their charge, seeing that the chase would prove too fatal, and flew back to find the others. The Huntress then broke away from Frey long enough to see that the creatures were retreating back. She sighed at this as she turned back to the stranger…who was now gone as she looked in surprise under her mask. She was about to give up the search, until she looked at her arm and saw fresh blood. She knew that she didn't possess any injuries, but then knew now that he was injured.

After making some distance, Frey leaned on a wall to take a small breather. He then told himself hysterically, "Great, first Atlantean robots, then Bat monsters with a bad attitude, and now I'm in a cave with a strange tribe girl in armor I saw in a movie…and wears a loin cloth skirt.", he then clutched his side, as he grunted in pain. The wound wasn't getting any better; he needed medical attention right away now.

He sighed a little as he turned to his left…only to come face-to-face with his female masked savior. With the claws on her gloves and sandals, she clinged to the wall in a Spider-Man fashion. This caused Frey to jump back on his butt, scooting away from her as she hopped down, crouched and crawled after him. It was as soon as his back was to the wall that he knew there was nowhere else to go to.

Not wanting to hurt her, he merely commanded her as she approached him, "Stay back. No, don't…", but she came closer to him as she knelt over to his left side, "Don't come any closer!", but she didn't listen as she was more focused on his injury. She pulled back his arm to see it, as he questioned, "What are you...what are you doing?", and then suddenly, in a split second, the clawed tips of her gloves and sandal toes retracted, exposing her human toes and fingers.

She then reached around her neck as she leaned in over to his bleeding area. Thinking the wrong way, Frey felt this girl was after one thing. And that was enough for this pheromone wacko, "Get…GET OFF!", as he shoved her off. She jumped back a little in surprise, looking at him quite confused. Frey sighed a little as he stated, "Okay, now you stay there, like a…like a good wild girl, alright?", but she wouldn't listen as before, she approached him once more. He sighed, "You don't listen well, do ya?"

And just before he did anything, she stopped at his side once more. Then she took her crystal pendant as it glowed brightly, and tipped it over his wound. And then very quickly, placed her hand on top of the wound, causing Frey to gasp, "ARGH! WHA…?" But then he stopped as the pain went away; Frey looked in amazement as he looked at his wound. As the female hunter slowly took her hands off the wound, it began to rapidly heal up as the blue glow faded away, showing no scar or marks of any kind.

Frey looked at the hole in his shirt in amazement, and back at his female savior, "What the…? Who are you? David Copperfield? How'd you do that?"

But then his questions didn't go unanswered as the huntress looked at his right hand in confusion. She lifted it up with her left hand; from the movements of her helmet, she looked deeply confused about something. It was then; she reached for her mask helmet slowly, and pulled a tube out that hissed a little air out. Frey gulped at this, 'Oh great, I'll be anything she's gonna…', but then stopped as when the mask came off, and then looked stargazed, '…be absolutely bablicious.'

He saw that the huntress was a dark tanned skin girl with flowing silverish white hair with three bangs in front and a small braid on the left side; she appeared to be sixteen years old like he was, with a bright blue double crescent moon tattoo under her left eye with a small mole dot to it. She also had on a golden earring on each ear, but what really got him, was her blue eyes that looked at him eye-to-eye.

She then reached for his right hand with her left, and then aligned them together, almost seeing if they had the same number of fingers. Almost in amazement, she looked at Frey with her eyes; all intense and focused on him, but also carried with them a glint of surprise and gentle nature to her as she gazed upon the stranger.

And then much to Frey's surprise, she leaned in close to him, and placed her head to his chest. A little weirded out by this, Frey didn't know what was going on. She didn't need long, but he heard it; his heart beating as she smiled with much amazement. She sat up on her knees, and gently taking him, placed his head to her chest, to listen to her heartbeat.

Now Frey knew the line of weirdness was crossed. He hadn't gotten far with a girl, but never this far when a girl would let you lay your head to her chest. He pulled away, chuckling nervously, ignoring the fact that he may have gone too far with this, "Uh, thanks. You've got a nice heart beat.", he chuckled rubbing the back of his head in nervousness now, "It's really nice."

Almost letting those words sink into her head for a moment, the hunter girl finally said in her own voice, in English, mimicked what he said, "It's really nice."

Frey chuckled again as he absentmindedly responded, "Well, yeah, I mean it's the first time a girl ever did…", but then stopped as he looked to her surprised, "Y…You do speak.", he then sighed in relief as he explained, "And all this time, I thought you were either a mute or didn't understand me.", he then chuckled a little nervous from this, due to the tension of the moments they had.

Then the girl sat up as she grunted for a moment, and crouched on her feet and knees, pointing to herself, "Kidagakash." Frey seemed slightly confused by that, as she continued, "Kidagakash Nedakh."

"Gezunhtite?", Frey asked with a raised eyebrow.

The girl shook her head as she said, "Kida.", Frey was still confused, but then she said as she pointed to herself, "Ki…da."

Frey then asked, seeing if he got it, "Kida?"

The girl, now known as Kida, nodded as she smiled to him. Then Frey got it now; she was introducing herself to him. He smiled as he crouched like her as well as he answered, "Oh, I get it."

Then Kida repeated, "Oh, I get it." She then pointed to herself as she said, "Kida.", and then placed her hand on Frey's shoulder, "Oh, I get it."

Frey looked at her even more confused, but then get that she misunderstood that last part. He shook his head as he corrected her, "No, no. Wait. I'm Frey.", and pointed to her.

And then Kida mimicked him as well, misunderstanding even more, "No, no. Wait. I'm Frey.", and then pointed to him.

Frey sighed, but now finally figured it out, "No, wiat.", and then pointed to himself as he said, "Frey…", and then to her, "Kida.", and back to him, "Frey."

Finally understanding it, Kida placed her hand on Frey's facial cheek gently, and soflty said, "Frey."

Frey smiled at this accomplishment as he nodded, "You got it.", but their small moment was ruined as they heard a drilling sound, accompanied by a gunshot. Frey lit up as he knew who it was, "Commander Rourke!", slightly confused, Kida stood up along with Frye as she listened to the strange sounds.

As she heard the gunshot once more, she smirked as she got one part right, "Rourke."

Smirking at that, Frey walked over to her as he got her attention. He then asked, "Kida? Could you take me to my crew?", it was after that, Kida turned away, and surprisingly made a perfect mimic of the gunshot. Frey smirked as she somewhat got it, "Yeah, that's it. Rourke." But then he paled again as Kida held him around the waist, and she shot out another grappling line. And when they jumped off the cliff side, Frey shouted, "Uh, can't we just walk?"

And Kida simply replied, "Can't we just walk?", and swung over to where the Digger and crew were heading.

Next Chapter: The City of Atlantis; A Humble Request