CHAPTER EIGHT
They all crowded around the fire, holding out their respective sticks with marshmallows on them. They all made smores and talked casually.
"It was awesome, we saw soooooo many species out there!" Marteen gushed, and Martin told them different stories of what happened, some of which seemed very exaggerated. They, however, listened intently regardless.
They then heard a splash, and then suddenly Kris was soaked. She screamed in surprise and confusion. She then coughed, and shivered.
"What was that about?" Koukin asked. Marteen looked out, and saw that there was a silhouette in the water. She blinked and turned back to the group.
"Musta been some sorta fish that decided to make a splash." Marteen
reported. Martin snorted a bit.
"Well, at least you know what it feels like to be a cold turkey!" He joked. Chris rolled his eyes.
"Martin, nows not a time to make cheesy jokes." he said. Martin smiled and shrugged his shoulders.
"Worth a try."
Kris pulled the jacket over her head, and set it out to dry. Chris pulled his own jacket off and lent it to Kris. She shook her head.
"I'll be fine."she said, but Chris threw it into her lap.
"Take it, we're similarly sized, and I'm not wet, so I'll be fine without it." he said. She sighed, figuring she would not be about to out argue herself, and pulled on the jacket. It was a tiny bit bigger than hers, but not that big.
Meanwhile...
All eight of them were blabbering nonsense in panic. Catching on to this, Donita promptly screamed.
"Everyone, that is enough!"
They all sat in silence. They studied each other, not quite believing what they saw. The boy Donita cleared his throat.
"Okay, now that THAT'S over, allow us to introduce each other to better grasp the situation." he explained briskly, and then put a hand on his chest, and the snake that was around his neck looked at it with perplexity. The snake did not look happy to be where it was.
"Donito Donato, extrordinary fashion designer and creator of "Donito Donato's living Jewerly line."" He said arrogantly. Donita narrowed her eyes.
"Donita Donata, ditto." she said crossly. The two stared each other down, not sure what to make of it.
Both Zach and female Zach raised their hands.
"Zach/Achary Varmitech." they said in unison. They turned to each other with identical confusion. Donita held up her hands before they could voice their surprise.
"Okay I think I know what's going on here..." she said and began to explain her theory.
Jimmi roared in wild joy while Jimmy verbally voiced his frustration upon tasting defeat. They had finished their super intense session of video gaming, and Jimmi had come out as the victor.
"Hah! Beaten to a pulp! Take that, boy me!" She cried out in victory. He grumbled.
"Well, at least I lost to myself rather than to a normal girl..." he grumbled dejectedly. Koki hissed.
"Hey, what's that supposed ta mean?" he growled, and Jimmy promptly held up his hands in defense.
"Nothing!" he said quickly, to which Koki "hmmped" at him, causing him to regret saying it. Meanwhile, Jimmi was doing a victory dance, an then decided to sit with Koukin near the fire. He handed her a stick and marshmallow. She roasted it, catching it on fire and then squealing in surprise, quickly trying to extinguish it. She looked at the burnt marshmallow and frowned.
Jimmy got up and decided to sit next to Koki, who still huffed in annoyance. He gave her an awkward, apologetic grin, which ultimately turned into a frown as she glared at him.
Aviva shivered. Somehow, it still seemed a little cold even though they were in a rainforest. Nighttime, however, loved to make areas colder. She looked over to Akiva, and too her surprise, he decided to sit there, loose and slightly sprawled.
"Huh, I wonder why it seems like girls are the only ones who get cold. I'm freezing while you seem perfectly fine, despite the fact we're, more or less, wearing the same clothes." Aviva said. Marteen looked up.
"I'm fine." she said. Jimmi also looked up and smiled.
"So am I." she said. Aviva huffed.
"Girl or boy, I'm fairly sure nothing can penetrate your skin, Marteen, and as for you Jimmi, you have that warm looking shirt!" she complained. Koki agreed.
"Don't worry, I'm cold too." she said with a shiver.
"Well, this was fun and all, but I'm cold and tired, so I'm gonna head off for bed. Akiva, do you mind helping me get out the spare hammocks?" she asked. He nodded, and the two went into the tortuga. Jimmi and Jimmy began to yawn. Koki and Koukin smiled, amused.
"I think it's best we all head off to bed, then we can head somewhere else in the mornin." Koukin said. Koki nodded and scratched the back of her cheek. Kris looked up.
"Er, Koki, was it? Take my hammock. I'll camp out here with the sleeping bag." Kris said. The other sister and the brothers smiled.
"Yeah, we can all sleep out here!" Martin said enthusiastically. Jimmy and Jimmi both shook thier heads.
"'Count us out'" they said in unison, then they too, headed into the tortuga. Koki an Koukin both went into the turtle ship without a word, too tired to respond, but also silently declining. Marteen frowned.
"Aw whatever, have fun in your boring indoors, me, boy me and the others will have fun all by ourselves!" she cried out. Martin joined in with a "Yeah!". However, once settled within the sleeping bags, they were out like lights before too much conversation could happen between the two.
Kris sat in her sleeping bag, looking up at the sky littered with points of light. stars were interesting, and it was fun to point out constellations. However, not even thinking about the cosmos could distract her from the disturbing feeling within her. Chris, who was still awake, could somehow sense her discomfort, and turned towards her. Maybe sensing her emotions was a counterpart thing.
"Something wrong, Kris?" he asked. He was nodding off, but still alert enough to talk to with comprehension.
"I dunno... It just seems like... Something awful is about to happen." she said. He propped himself up on his elbows. He understood, he had been feeling it too, but at the same time, he couldn't understand why he felt this way.
"What do you mean?" he asked. Maybe asking her will yield some answers. She seemed quiet tonight, probably thinking about it more in depth than he did, for he was laughing and joking along with the others, and not thinking much of it.
"I'm not sure... But the most disturbing thing is... That I feel like it'll somehow... Connect with our siblings." she finished. He blinked in surprise. He shuddered at the thought of something bad happening to them.
"I just hope they'll be okay." he soothed. She nodded then fell silent for a few moments.
"I hope so too." she concluded finally. She waited. After hearing nothing, he turned to see her counterpart sound asleep. She smiled softly, and turned the other way to fall asleep as well, subconsciously snuggling into the collar of Chris's jacket in the process.