A/N: Sorry it's been so long, real life got in the way. I've been writing a novella for my Senior Project of High School. Anyways, Chapter 9! Have fun!
Meet the Family Ch 9
(Day 2 of the Hunt, day after paperwork was approved)
Anamaria glared at the portal from her place on the baking concrete while the last of the supplies were being loaded up onto the trucks. She could see some of the Creatures, as they called themselves, mingling around the trail and just out of her reach should she wanted to harm them. If she was to be bad, that is. Alas, her mother forbad her from any fighting or harming anyone she met. Anamaria didn't know if this included her brother and Kaz, but by the time they reached the two boys she wouldn't care.
"I can't believe I can't go," grumbled a little voice to the right of her. Anamaria looked down at the miserable face of Talia. After Diego had returned home with news of the exploration of the Perim world, Talia had called her mother to tell her the plan. Aunt Renee immediately put a stop to Talia's "little" adventure by putting Diego on and in a shortened version of the conversation said that under no circumstances was Talia going. Not even Colonel Smith could change her mind.
"We'll bring back lots of pictures, okay?" Anamaria assured the little girl, kneeling to give her a hug.
"No presents?" came the muffled question.
"The colonel said no," Anamaria replied. "Besides, I don't think that these guys have souvenir shops."
Honking behind them alerted them that the Humvees were packed up and ready to go. Anamaria looked over her shoulder to see Diego hanging out of a window and waving for her to hurry. Her mother must be inside a Humvee already. Colonel Smith was standing through a sunroof, in full military uniform, waiting on her. She gave Talia another hug and growled, "Behave yourself while we're gone."
She was rushing towards her Humvee before Talia could retort. Reaching the door and opening it, Anamaria turned to see Talia, tears slowly crawling down her face, stepping back from the convoy and waving. Quickly, Anamaria sat in her seat and closed the door just as Colonel Smith gave the order, "Forward, ho!"
Immediately, the Humvee lurched forward, jerking Anamaria's head around. As the convoy moved closer and closer to the portal, Ana felt surer of herself that she and the rest of her family would bring Tom and Kaz home. Finally, the portal ring passed by her to surprise her with a tree almost right in her face. She jumped, surprised at the colorful flora.
"Howdy," a voice that surprisingly sounded like it came from the Appalachians called out. Anamaria stuck her head out the window to see the caller, a little yellow man with a purple pointed hat paired with goggles and a bit of a distinguished belly that was dressed for mountaineering, minus a shirt. He was perched on what looked like a motorcycle stuck between a giant metal wheel with curved spikes sticking out.
There were two others with him, each radically different from the other. One looked like he had frilled lizard in his ancestry and only the barest amount of armor on his arms and legs. His scaly skin, Anamaria was sure that the skin was scaly, was a mottled combination of browns and underbelly of yellow. His teeth and jaws were fitted like an alligator. His body had small amounts of muscle, but it was mostly lean and built for speed.
The other was a large vibrant red ant that stood on two legs and the other four as his arms. He was quite fat, his exoskeleton budging at places. His antennae were a contradiction to his body; they were like bendi-straws. If he weren't so smooth, Anamaria would have called him a tick.
A thud on one of the nearby Humvees caused Anamaria to turn her head to see a green bat Creature, clad in nothing but a loincloth, perched on the roof. He had protruding fangs, and his wings were basically his arms. Maya, Richard, Tiny, and Eito stuck their heads out of the passenger's window while Marietta and Nathanial opted to stay inside the Humvee with Anamaria's mother.
Anamaria was grateful that her mother wasn't looking at the practically nude man. Then he began to speak.
"I am Rarran, an Underworld scout. These are my companions: Blaizer," the mountaineering man tipped his hat, "Siado," the lizard man waved, "and Wamma."
"Hello!" waved the fat ant cheerfully. Colonel Smith and Diego stepped out of their Humvee to introduce themselves to the strange beings.
"I'm Colonel Smith, and this is Captain Diego Majors," Smith introduced himself and her brother to the locals. Anamaria felt a surge of pride on how her brother presented himself in combat uniform; with a salute and a serious expression, lips in a thin line and eyes hard, her brother looked like he was ready to face death itself.
However, the Creatures looked like he was just a bug, insignificant and tiny. Anamaria realized that what would impress humans would not even flick an eyelash to these people. Then Diego began to speak.
"My team, hand-picked by me, are in those Humvees. If there's any trouble, they have the right to defend themselves and anyone under their protection. If they need to kill, they will kill. And while some of them may be brig rats, they are loyal, strong, and honorable," Diego finished his speech and rested in parade formation, both hands behind his back and feet shoulder width apart. The Creatures, Blazier in particular, showed a little bit more interest after the announcement, but still had the expressions of belittlement.
Anamaria gritted her teeth as the Creatures returned their attention to Colonel Smith and addressed him.
"We are your guides to Kiru City. Our Tribe leaders will meet you there and explain the situation fully," Siado said in gritty voice, like there was sand stuck in his teeth and constantly grinding. Rarran spread his arms and took off of the Humvee. The colonel and Diego returned to their Humvee as Siado and Wamma began to walk. Blazier started up his bike and the giant wheel began to turn, digging into the earth and moving forward.
Anamaria noticed that Maya wasn't driving and her head was still out. Before she could silence the Hispanic woman, Maya cried out in a loud voice, "Hey! Siado, Wamma, you guys need a ride?"
Blazier stopped his bike while Rarran hovered as Siado and Wamma considered the option. Finally, Siado grinned, showing more of his sharp teeth. Wamma cried, "All right!" and started towards Maya and Richard's Humvee. Siado made his move towards Anamaria's side, with Eito in the driver's seat. Tiny had called shotgun while her mother was with Diego and Colonel Smith in the first Humvee. Marietta and Nathanial were in the other Humvee with Richard and Maya.
Siado knocked on Anamaria's window. She opened the door to let him in with suspicion. She wouldn't trust these people until she had her little brother back. After all, family was what the Majors clan cared about the most.
Siado hopped in and took in the metal and cushion surroundings of his carrier as he closed the door. "Interesting. Very much like a Dread Tread," he commented.
"Look, Siado, was it? You're going to have to help us with directions, okay?" Eito called from the driver's seat. Siado leaned forward to look through the windshield. Anamaria was grateful that Eito saw that she wasn't exactly in a talking mood. That mood darkened as Siado just said, "Just follow Blazier and the others and we'll be good to go," and leaned back into his seat.
Anamaria growled to herself. How was she supposed to avoid his questions? Tiny, however, made the first move.
"So, we know that there are four major tribes here. Which one are you from?" the demolitions expert asked.
"I am a Mipedian. My tribe lives out in the desert, or do you not have those?" Siado explained, sarcasm laced in the last part. Anamaria glared and answered for Tiny. "Yes, we do have deserts. Do your people not have manners?"
Siado snapped his head towards her, but she continued. "Oh, wait. Ario, Zhade, and Qwun were perfectly polite with us when they came to us, so it must just be you."
Siado glared at Anamaria and hissed. "Watch your tongue, human! You are in our domain now."
Anamaria pressed as close as she possibly could despite her seat belt to Siado. "I am also, I'll admit it, an overprotective sister, and my little brother is currently in 'your domain', so excuse me if I don't like you right now!"
With that, she settled back into her spot. Siado, meanwhile, was looking at her up and down with a frown. Normally, she would tolerate the elevator eyes once, but because she figured he had never seen a full grown human before, she allowed him to evaluate him two more times before giving him a warning growl, still remembering her promise to her mother. Siado looked her in the eyes and nodded.
"You'll do," he said with a nod of satisfaction. "You'll definitely do."
Anamaria tried to wrap the meaning of what the Mipedian meant when Eito interrupted. "So, Siado! What have the kiddies told you about our history?"
….
Maya was having a grand time with Wamma in the Humvee. Granted, she was slightly squished between Nathanial and Wamma, but she was still having a good time! And currently, she was getting juicy bits of information about the Creatures' weaponry.
"So, the Gauntlets of Might give you extra muscle, huh? I'll remember that next time I'm in an arm wrestling contest," she said, digesting the tidbit of information. Richard snorted from his position as driver. "Like you need any help with that."
Maya quickly shot a glare to the dark man just as Marietta asked, "What about your leaders? What are they like?"
Maya listened very closely to Wamma as he began. "Well, there's Odu-Bathax representing Queen Illexia. He's the leader for the Danians, which is my Tribe, but he has a bit of a temper. Well, all of them do, especially Chaor, but he'll come later. Anyways, Odu-Bathax knows how to keep morale up in Mandiblors. Tough, dedicated, everything a Danian is. He guards the Northern Gate of Mount Pillar and is one of the highest ranking Danians."
"And I'm guessing that you are the complete opposite, hmm?" Nathaniel grinned. Maya barely contained snickers as Wamma looked as undignified as possible on an ant.
"Not completely," the red Danian whined. Maya shook her ruefully and motioned him to continue.
"Prince Mudeenu is the Mipedians' leader, which is the Tribe Siado's from. They're desert dwellers and have Invisibility. Mudeenu is somewhat ruthless, but truly cares about his Tribe." Here, Wamma leaned in so that Maya's head and Marietta were closer. "But just to warn you, he looks kinda ferocious to human."
Maya looked in the rear-view mirror to Richard. "Remind me to annoy this lizard man, will ya?"
Nathanial slapped on the back of her head as she snickered uncontrollably. Richard ignored her and told Wamma, "Please continue."
Wamma nodded and went on. "The Underworld leader is Chaor."
Marietta nodded seriously. "Yes, I've heard Kaz talk about him a lot. Apparently he has a temper."
Wamma snorted. "All the Underworlders have tempers, so don't do anything too stupid." He glared at Maya, who was a bit taken back at the ant.
"I'm not completely idiotic," she snapped, pouting at the triumphant look that Wamma was giving her. She knew better than tick off certain people, and an entire Tribe called Underworlders were not to be messed with.
"So, if there are Underworlders, then there must be a people above them?" Richard asked hesitantly, treading on unknown grounds. Wamma nodded.
"Yep, they're the Overworlders," he said. Maya raised an eyebrow. This should be interesting.
"Their leader's name is Maxxor. This territory that we're in now belongs to them," Wamma continued.
"I've heard Diego say that Tom's favorite card is a guy named Maxxor, but not much other than that," Richard supplied. Maya snorted.
"If he's high on Tom's favorites' list, then of course Diego's going to approve," she interjected. Marietta stared at Wamma with curiosity.
"Where are we meeting your leaders? Kaz really didn't say in his letter," she asked.
"The Overworld's capital, Kiru City. We figured that you be more comfortable aboveground," Wamma explained.
A squeal of brakes alerted Maya that Richard stopped the Humvee after Diego. Another squeal informed her that Eito stopped as well. Maya looked out of the windshield to see two doors open to reveal Diego and Smith hopping out. Maya was grateful when Nathanial took the hint and opened his door; she knew what a bag of Skittles felt like now.
Taking a mighty leap from the edge of the door, she landed feet first in a field of tall grass and instinctually brought up her handgun. A quick overview of the field showed a wall of trees on one side and open field on the other. She moved forward a few paces and from the corner of her eye saw Eito and Tiny perform the same ritual. Satisfied, she holstered her weapon and came face to face with Wamma. He had watched her clear the area for harmful objects.
"Is this 'check the area' thing instinctual with humans or just the military?" he asked curiously.
"Drilled into our heads, buddy. Not even Quetzalcoatl can shake it out of our heads," Maya replied tartly. Siado bounded out of Eito's Humvee, Anamaria right on his heels. Richard came around the Humvee and shouted, "Clear!"
Diego and Colonel Smith came around as well. Diego began to bark orders. "Maya, Marietta! Start breaking out the MREs! Tiny, Eito! Set up the tents with Nathanial! Richard, you're with me and Ma! We're getting firewood!"
Blazier opted to go with Diego, Richard and Diego's mother in search of firewood. Tiny, Eito, and Nathanial ruffled through the supplies in Richard's Humvee for the tents. Anamaria and Colonel Smith gathered around the remaining scouts to talk. Maya and Marietta began to shift through the Colonel's Humvee for the Ready Made Meals.
In less than an hour, dinner was made. Everyone was laughing and carrying on over the freeze-dried food and fresh fruit. Maya was minding her manners and not asking anything too personal about their guides. Diane wasn't looking too well so Diego made her get back into the Humvee. It was almost sunset when she heard something snap in the woods around them. Quickly she stood.
"What's up?" Tiny asked. Maya shushed him. He narrowed his eyes; Tiny did not like attitude thrown at him. "Don't you be shushing me, missy!"
"Shut up, Tiny! Can't you hear the leaves? Something's moving out there!" Maya snapped. It was true, something was pushing leaves on bushes around, and it was directly in front of her. Another step towards a bush, and then all hell broke loose.
….
Richard did not know what to expect on this trip. True, he made a list in his head about what could happen: giant rats, quicksand, stubborn kids, vicious locals. But nothing prepared him for the two kids popping out of the bush in front of Maya. Nor did the giant armored black cat hot on their heels.
Maya had the cat pinned so fast with her knife all Richard saw was a blur of fur and skin. The rest had their guns trained on the fur ball for back up. Their guides looked bewildered on why the humans were so tense. The two children, however, barely made it pass the Humvees before Eito caught them.
By the fire, Richard kept his gun on the cat as Eito dragged the children over. In the light, he could see that they were brother and sister, with mocha skin and hair. They looked to be about six or seven years old.
The cat was a different story. He had humanoid features to him, but they were covered in a soft, downy black fur. His armor only consisted of two bands circling around his strong arms meet his broad torso. He was growling low in his throat, eyes trained on Maya's stony face.
"Attacat, are those your humans?" Rarran asked suddenly.
"Yes, and I would appreciate it if you would let me go so that we can get back to our game." The low rumble sounded from deep within Attacat's chest upwards to his voice. Richard's paranoia took a step back at "game." Blazier and Siado had explained to them the activity that their leaders had come up with for the players to keep them entertained until the adults reached the city.
"No!" the girl screeched, laughter betraying her.
"Don't let him get us!" the boy giggled, obviously enjoying Attacat's discomfort. Richard looked to Diego and the Colonel for instructions. The Colonel nodded slowly and said, "Sergeant Tonaka, release the children."
Eito let his grip on the children go and they rushed off beyond the Humvees, giggling and laughing. Richard raised a brow when Colonel Smith turned to Maya and said, "Lieutenant Gomtez, release Attacat."
Maya frowned but did as she was ordered. Attacat, growling, bounded right after the children. The Colonel nodded. "They'll be back."
Ten minutes later, Attacat returned with the two children as night engulfed the camp. "May we stay for the night?" he asked politely, the children slung over his shoulders with their hands bound together.
The next morning following a rather uneventful night, the team was packing up and readying to move on to Kiru City. Attacat stayed in Richard, Eito, and Tiny's tent and kept the children with him at all times; he only went to sleep when the children stopped giggling and snuggled up to him. In Tiny's words "Is he really that snugglable?"
Richard shook his head as he packed up the tent. Attacat took his two charges while everyone was still asleep, heading to the city. Tying down the bundle of tarp, Richard tossed the tent in the Humvee. Looking over the camp, he felt proud about how well the team worked together in breaking camp.
"I call driving!" Maya cried, grabbing the keys away from Richard. Immediately, she clambered into the Humvee while Richard watched her in surprise. He had hoped that Maya wasn't in the mood for driving, but apparently not. He groaned inwardly; Maya had a bad habit of riding on another's bumper.
He got into the backseat, putting Wamma in the middle. Rainclouds swirled ominously, threating a wet day. The Colonel gave the order to move out and the Humvees went onward. Richard talked to Wamma, Nathanial, Marietta, and Maya during the trip, keeping a firm grip on the handle when Maya went over bumps in the road. Sometimes they saw Creatures with humans hanging onto them as they rushed past.
A little before midday, Richard saw Kiru City for the first time. Awe overtook him as the castle came into view, the city sprawling out beneath it. He wasn't the only one amazed. Nathanial inhaled sharply while Marietta muttered, "Oh my." Maya had muttered something in Spanish in reverence to Mary. Wamma just chuckled.
"You should see your faces," he chortled. It took little time to reach the wall's gate. Richard took a deep breath as Blazier and Rarran lead them up a bunch of stairs, bouncing the Humvees' passengers.
"Showtime," he muttered when the team reached the city's heart.
A/N: Chapter 9, done. Chapter 10 will come later, I swear. Review please!