A/N: I'm starting to think that these chapters maybe a monthly thing. I'm not sure yet. Anyways, Ch 7 is now up. I don't own Chaotic. If I did, I wouldn't be writing this, now would I?
Meet the Family Ch 7
When the Dread Tread finally came a stop, Sarah was pretty sure that any fillings that she had were jingling around in her head. Though she still had her blindfold on, her other senses made up for the lack of sight. There were birds chirping jovially from beyond the metal of the Underworld tank, and leaves rustling in the wind. Sarah felt her hand be taken by Gespedan and led her out to the war air.
"Don't take off your blindfold yet," warned Gespedan. "There are others coming out as well."
There was a small breeze as the Overworld scout left her to retrieve the rest of the gang and the Creatures that had come with them. Sarah fidgeted as she tried to figure out where she was. There was a slight humidity in the air, making her backpack cling to her back, suggesting somewhere slightly tropical. The birds suggested somewhere in the Overworld, since they would have to reach Kiru City in three days and there were not many places in the other territories where birds lived.
"Okay, you all can take off the blindfolds now," came the call. Quickly, Sarah ripped off the piece of fabric to see trees and colorful plants decorating the hard brown earth. Turning slowly to take in as much of her surroundings as possible, she came face to face with Krystella and Jystella.
"What are you doing here, Krystella?" Sarah asked surprised and a touch annoyed. Krystella glared at the Danian player.
"Do you honestly think that I'm going to let my newbie sister go out into Perim with no guide? You must have been hanging around the bugs for too long!" the brunette snapped. The blonde twin placed a hand on her sister's shoulder.
"Will you chill, sis? She was just asking," Jystella said. Krystella growled and the two walked away just as Tom, Kaz, and Peyton came up behind her.
"Hey," Tom said in greeting cheerfully, then frowned. "You okay?"
Sarah stared after the set of twins. "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine."
A sharp whistle attracted the attention of all the players and Creatures. Gespedan was standing on an uneven stump.
"Okay, everyone. Huddle up!" Quickly everyone gathered around him, eager for the activity to come. The humans were listening because what the Overworld scout said could be used to their advantage. The Creatures gathered around because they needed to know what the rules were.
"Chaotic players! You are now on the edge of the Forest of Life. As you know, you are racing to Kiru City and in order to finish and win, you have to touch both the gate into Kiru and your Tribal Leader. For Overworld players, that means Maxxor, Underworld players Chaor, Odu-Bathax for Danians, and Mipedians go to Prince Mudeenu. You cannot use your scanners, and the Codemasters have reassured us this by turning off the porting ability. You have three days to reach Kiru City and touch both to finish and win. Now, there is a catch," Gespedan motioned to the other Creatures, "hence why these guys are here."
The humans glanced at each other, curiosity that had been at them ever since they saw the Creatures boarding with them eating away even faster. The Creatures, however, were desperately trying not to laugh. Rothar had just simply given up and was snickering uncontrollably.
"You Players are going to be hunted by us. You are allowed to use Battlegear as a way to slow down the Creature that's after you, if you get your hands on some. Hand to hand combat is allowed, though not recommended. The same goes with groups. If you get caught, you still have to touch the gate," Gespedan continued explaining, grinning at some more horrified players' expressions. Sarah, however, was wired with anticipation. Who wouldn't be excited to have the chance to outwit a Creature, even it was only one time before they were caught? The Tribal Alliance was really going all out on this race!
"Creatures, you are allowed only four attacks per day. We don't want our friends hurt, just caught. Use your attacks wisely; after four, you're done. The wristband that Bodal and Ulmar came up with will shock you when you go over your limit. One short shock to start off with, and then it will get more intense with every attack you do. Danians, you're not allowed to call upon the Hive. Mipedians, you can only use your invisibility four times, like your attacks. No Mugic or Mugicians and the Battlegear option is for humans only." Here Gespedan fixed a steely gaze at his fellow Creatures. "If you hear a human that is not your own, do not interfere. If it's a group of humans, you have to capture your own human. Your teammates cannot grab him or her for you. You have to catch them." Nods from the Creatures, absolutely serious, showed that they were honorable and follow the rules laid down for them.
Sarah watched as Gespedan gained a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Well, then. Let call out names and who with who."
The blue scout whipped out a list. "Dan, you'll be chased by Dasalin." An African American boy with cornrows nodded and looked to the slim red Danian.
"Attacat, you have Kevin and Kate." Here, Gespedan frowned. "Did you two have to put both of your names on the same slip of paper?"
Kevin and Kate, mocha skinned brother and sister and looked like two sacks of flour compared to the rest of the humans, looked at Gespedan with an earnest expression. "Yes!"
Attacat rolled his eyes as Gespedan shook his head and muttered, "All right."
Going back to the list, Gespedan called out, "Jenifer and Zhade."
Jenifer was a shy, brunette of a girl who preferred the company of adult Mipedians rather than her fellow humans.
"Mike and Staluk." Gespedan continued down the list. "Hannah and Qwun. Ralph and Ekuud. Here's an oldie but goodie; Jystella and Krystella versus Aivenna and Nivenna."
From the corner of her eye, Sarah saw Jystella and Krystella look at each other, then turn to the two lieutenants. She felt a tiny amount of pity for them, but only a little.
"Next up is Tom and Intress. Kaz and Rothar. Sarah and Tassanil. Peyton and Vinta."
Sarah looked between her boys. Well, this should be interesting. Who would expect that the highest and most difficult would be after them? Intress and Vinta were great trackers, so making sure that their tracks were impossible to follow was important. Tassanil was a noble but he was no pushover. He had chased enough humans out of Mt. Pillar's reservoir to know how they operate. Rothar was pure muscle and any places that Sarah and her friends could squeeze into could be uprooted to make room for his fellow hunters.
Gespedan quickly finished his list, which included Tangath Toborn, Ghatup, and Illizar. Putting away the parchment, the scout looked straight at the humans.
"Humans, you have an hour head start. I suggest you use it wisely," he said. Sarah and Tom exchanged looks of surprise just as Gespedan shouted, "GO!"
Sarah barely registered Gespedan's voice before her legs carried her to the left, following Tom as they disappeared into the forest.
….
Rothar watched in distaste as the humans scattered in the general direction of Kiru City. Wait an hour? The humans surely didn't need that much time!
"What are we suppose to do for an hour?" he grumbled to Gespedan. Gespedan shrugged.
"Check over your supplies, look over maps, figure out what attacks to use. The list is endless." Tangath Toborn plopped himself down on a small boulder and began to look over a map.
"And if we've already done this?" Rothar pressed.
"Just shut up and sit down all ready!" Kamaganth, the she-centipede Underworlder, cried, then muttering under her breath, "Good grief."
Rothar grumbled a little bit more before leaning up against a thick tree, arms crossed. Silence enveloped the group, a bit uncomfortable because they didn't know what to say to one another. The vehicles had already left and heading back to Kiru City. Finally, Qwun asked, "So, any ideas as to what tactics the kiddies are going to use?"
"Slip into small spaces, that's for sure," Attacat spoke up.
"Or run backwards so that their tracks mess us up," piped Vinta.
"Or climb over rocks so that they have no tracks at all," added Intress.
"Climb trees and jump from branch to branch!"
"They don't have the stamina or the coordination to do that!"
"Okay, enough with the worst case scenarios here!" Qwun shouted over the din, clamping his hands to his ears.
"Too late, you asked." Aivenna shook her head in mock sadness.
"Now, you have to deal with the repercussions," Nivenna finished with no mercy. Qwun groaned.
The bantering of each human's special technique and factors made the hour pass by quickly. It had passed an extra five minutes before Gespedan noticed that they should be moving to follow their designated human(s).
"Hour's up! Let's move out!" he shouted, jumping up and grabbing his gear. The rest of the group looked at him in surprise before rushing to snag their own gear.
"See you in Kiru!" Gespedan shouted before using his speed to disappear into the Forest of Life. Rothar turned to Intress, Tassinal, and Vinta.
"Find our humans together?" he suggested. Tassinal and Intress nodded, predator grins on their faces.
"Oh yeah," Vinta agreed with enthusiasm. Together, the group of four went after Tom, Kaz, Peyton, and Sarah.
…
Klay was running as fast as he could through the thick shrubs of the Graalorn Forest. The magnificent trees around him casted dark shadows over him, and the sun glinting through the leaves made seeing possible. It was the shadows that had the blonde jumping from side to side as he ran.
Takinom was after him, and hearing possible wing beats was causing Klay to panic. Little did he know that the she-Creature was right above him, riding the thermals so that she wouldn't make any noise.
The winged Underworlder grinned as she went into a steep dive. This was going to be fun.
Flapping her wings to level herself out as best as she could with trees all around, Takinom ducked behind a bush as Klay whirled around looking for the source of the flapping. Carefully, she placed one foot forward. A twig snapped and she grimaced. Klay was running as fast as he could as soon as he heard the snapping twig.
Quickly, Takinom took to the air and screeched. Klay ran even harder. She could hear his labored breathing from ten feet away. Flying quickly, she closed in on the blonde player and swiped a claw at him. He screamed shrilly, sounding like a wild boar about to be slaughtered. Chuckling lowly to herself, Takinom raised up until she was in the canopy section of the forest.
She allowed Klay to be in front of her for several feet before swooping down low and swiping at him again. He screamed again and continued running. This continued several times until Takinom came up with another way to toy with Klay. Letting out another screech, she landed on a tree limb to wait.
Klay went farther and farther away from where Takinom landed until he reached the edge of a small creek. Collapsing into the water, he panted heavily, trying to get his body to cool down. Once his breathing was at a reasonable level, he took a few sips of water from the creek under him, not caring about pollution. The Graalorn Forest was mostly unscathed from the M'arrillians, so the water was as clean as anything. After he finished drinking, Klay crossed the creek so that he could dry a bit before running again.
Taking out a map from his pack, Klay smoothed it out on the grass. Checking all the trails and water sources, he estimated that he had the rest of the day to reach the edge of the forest. Just as he finished putting the map away, a rustle came from his left. Snapping his head in that direction, Klay watched it for any more movement before hastily zipping up his pack and swinging it over his shoulders. Taking off at a run, he didn't see the figure rising up from the bush.
Takinom chuckled lowly to herself. Odu-Bathax was right; it was fun to scare slime balls! She followed Klay silently on foot, carefully one foot in front of the other as to not scare the boy even more. As soon as she saw him walking, she let out a horrible war cry that would shake even the bravest warrior.
Klay was running again faster than ever. He tripped over a root and lost his magenta sunglasses. Picking them up, he tucked them away to a safer location other than his face. He was brushing off dead leaves and dirt when the war cry went off at his heels again. Jumping slightly, he rushed to escape, making even more mistakes.
Takinom waited until Klay was out of sight before muttering, "Time to end this."
Taking to the air, she flew through the understory, swerving in and out of trees. She watched as the boy's tracks went from a straight line to twists and curves, even loops to try to throw her off. The first time he did this, she almost ran into a tree. The second time she did. Shaking her head to clear herself of the pain that the limb caused, Takinom paid more attention to her surroundings as she flew once more forward.
On and on the tracks the tracks went. Takinom was becoming angry at herself. How far did she really let that slime ball supporter of Van Bloot's go? He couldn't have gone far; he wasn't really used to running for his life like the other players do. He was better at smooth talking and scamming others to do any running in Perim.
Finally, Takinom came across a stream when the tracks ended abruptly. She actually fluttered a little bit to stay in the air as she surveyed the damp ground. Dropping to the ground, she kneeled down to observe the tracks in the muddy stream just as a few leaves in a tree behind her rustled. Takinom was thankful that her back was facing the trees; Klay wouldn't know that she heard him.
She pretended to study the tracks a little bit longer before using her first attack. Turning quickly, she launched a Flame Orb towards the still shaking leaves.
Klay yelped as the Flame Orb came straight at him. Thinking quickly, he leaped down to the next two branches. The Flame Orb passed him, singeing his pants leg. Takinom was there in an instant, her hand pinning his throat to the tree. Klay struggled as her hand began to squeeze. Finally, just as he was about to claw her wrist and arm, the squeezing hand stopped so that there wouldn't be any bruising to his neck. The she-Creature leaned in close.
"Give up?" she breathed. Klay stopped struggling and glared. Takinom gave him a pointed look. Gritting his teeth, Klay nodded his head irritably. Takinom smiled smugly.
"Good," she purred. Clasping the back of his coat and shirt, Takinom lifted Klay into the air and escaped the confines of the Graalorn Forest.
"Gah!" Klay choked as the ground fell away sharply. As soon as the trees were far enough away so that no branches jutted out, Takinom flipped him upside down and grabbed his ankle.
"Aaahh!" Klay screamed shrilly as the trees came a little too close for comfort.
"Jesus!" he swore. "The rules say that no humans are to be harmed in this race!"
"Yes, and you're not harmed, now are you?" Takinom teased, enjoying herself very much with scaring the living daylights out of the grease ball.
"Oh sure, you say that now, but I know better! When we get to be over an open field, you'll drop me!"
"Is that a suggestion?"
"NO!"
Takinom laughed as she flew, heading to Kiru City as the sun set, bathing everything in orange and red.
…..
Peyton was panting by the time the sun set and only a small sliver of pinkish light showed over the horizon. He and his friends had been running all day from their hunters. There had been several close calls, including when they went through a bunch of strong reeds and Tassanil flattened them all. If it wasn't for another player causing a five Creature pile up, the game would have been over for them.
The gang was taking a break from running and checking the maps for farther directions. Tom and Sarah were hovering over the map as Kaz slowly drank water so that cramps wouldn't form. Peyton was digging through his pack to try and find something to eat. What he found instead was a scrap of paper that somehow found its way into his backpack. Frowning, he brought it over to the rest of the gang.
"Hey, guys," Peyton said quietly so that their position wouldn't be given away. Three pairs of eyes turned to see the slip of paper. "Check this out."
Kaz gripped the paper and read out loud, "Dear player, this note is to tell you that the possible two nights that you are staying out in the wilds of Perim, you can use only one night to move forward and the other night to rest. The Creature who is chasing you will have both nights to rest. We suggest that you take advantage of your rest. Can you believe this?"
"Uh, yeah," Sarah said in a bored tone. Tom returned his attention back to the map.
"Do you guys want tonight to be our rest night and tomorrow night we'll be night owls?" he asked. Kaz, Peyton, and Sarah mulled it over for a little while before giving their answer.
"I don't particularly care," announced Sarah.
"I don't mind if we sleep tonight and move on tomorrow night," Kaz added.
"Whatever you guys do is fine with me," Peyton finished. Tom looked at his friends with a deadpan expression.
"Tonight, then, huh?" A chorus of agreement met his statement. "There's a river nearby. Lots of rocks, caves, and trees for hiding and clean water to refill our water bottles. And if we move around a lot and head into the river the next morning, Intress and Venta won't be about to find any trace of our scent."
"If we swim a little upriver or downriver, it'll be even harder for them to follow us!" Sarah excitedly pointed out as Tom began to roll up the map.
"Perfect camping potential!" Kaz agreed.
"Then let's go!" Peyton began to walk to forward.
"Uh, Peyton?" Tom called. Peyton turned to see Tom pointing to the right, map still in hand. "The river's that way."
Peyton brushed it off. "Right."
The gang went off at a light jog, weaving around trees and making figure eights to throw off tomorrow's hunters. They were almost to the river when they came across a wall of thorns. First, they checked how far the wall went. When they saw that it was too far off course, the players tried to go under it. It worked, but with mixed results.
"No pain," Kaz grunted as he attempted to remove a thorn from his sock, "no game."
After freeing themselves from the thorns, Tom, Kaz, Peyton, and Sarah went a little farther to reach the river. The shores surrounding the river were indeed rocky, and there were plenty of outcroppings and hidey-holes for them to stay dry and warm. They chose an outcropping with plenty of cover and began to set up camp.
"Uh, Sarah?" Tom ventured quietly. He had a pot of water in his hand while Sarah was digging through her pack. Kaz and Peyton were trying to start up a fire with Tom's survival kit. Sarah had to flip her hair from her face when she turned to him.
"Yeah?" she asked, a cloth ball in hand. Tom began to stammer, "You, uh, still uh…have a branch in your hair."
Sarah frowned and began to feel through her hair to find the branch. When she found it, she huffed and began to gently untangle it, placing the cloth ball on the ground. Finally, she freed her hair from her pointy menace and threw it away from the camp.
"Thanks," she said, picking up the ball.
"No problem," Tom replied. Peyton and Kaz had the fire going, but they had to wait awhile for the fire to heat up so that they could cook. When the water was boiling, Tom cut open the cloth ball and poured the noodle mixture inside into the pot.
"Think we should have guard duty?" Kaz asked when the soup was finally distributed.
"Sure, that way nobody sneaks up on us," Sarah agreed.
"So who wants first watch?" Tom asked through a mouthful of noodles.
"I can do it; I can stay up late and still get up in the morning perky," Kaz said.
"I'll take first watch with him," Peyton volunteered.
"I'll be with Tom with the second watch," Sarah said as she finished her noodles. Everyone nodded and began to clean up. The fire was put out, and the sleeping bags were unrolled. Kaz and Peyton settled down with some of their Chaotic cards and a lantern while Tom and Sarah wriggled into their sleeping bags.
"Wake us up around 2:30, okay?" Tom said.
"Aye, aye," Kaz said absentmindedly as he set up his deck. Peyton had his all ready set up. Soon, Tom and Sarah had dropped into an uneasy sleep as Peyton and Kaz played.
A/N: Enjoyed it? If you did, please review.