Chapter 6: Rocked
"For the last time. No!" A newt yelled at her companion. She stood five feet and two inches tall with bright green skin and shoulder-length hazelnut brown hair. Her attire consisted of a dark blue tunic with black trousers, held together by rope that functioned as a belt. On her right side was a silver pin that read "NGS" and her belt held basic tools such as a compass and map. She also had a black backpack
"C'mon just one?" Her companion pleaded. He was an orange frog that stood just over five feet tall with short chin-length black hair. He wore the same coloured tunic as his older companion, albeit smaller and the same black trousers with the same pin, albeit bronze coloured
"Zoey, please can you just share your beetle jerky with Marshal?" The eldest of the group groaned. Like Zoey, she was a newt albeit blue and five feet and six inches tall with dark navy blue hair that was braided down to her neck. with a purple tunic and a platinum pin on her right side and navy blue pants that completed her look. "We'll all get rewarded if you just be nice for just five minutes PLEASE!"
"I will, once Marshal stops nagging me." Zoey whined.
"Ughhh." Marshall resigned. "Sorry Tiffany, I'm just super hungry, that's all."
"You being super hungry does not entitle you to be annoying as hell." Zoey glared.
"Enough, both of you!" Tiffany shouted, knocking both amphibians into silence. "If you two keep bickering then there will be consequences so please just shut up."
"Hmph!" Marshall huffed.
"Gughh" Zoey scowled.
"Chirrp?" Their snail chirped in confusion. She was a large snail that was light blue with a dark brown shell sitting atop her back. On her shell was a platform that was split parallel; on the forward facing side were four seats with a rope used to steer her. On the aft section, was a hold for storing bags and other equipment. Both sides of her shell had a small pouch for storing other equipment.
"Don't worry about it Tracy." Tiffany reassured her.
About fifteen minutes of driving later, they arrived at their destination; it was a rocky area roughly six-hundred meters across that bordered the edge of the nearby swamp. "Alright, this is supposed to be sample site C and, according to Kemps, this area contains rocks dating back around 45 million years, and all we need to do is get around ten pounds of some rocks and then we're good to go." Tiffany read off her notepad whilst she, Zoey and Marshall disembarked. "Let's get going."
Soon enough, the group went to work on collecting rocks; Marshall picked up a rock that looked really strange. "Aye check this one out, it looks pretty weird."
"That is because you're holding a coprolite" Zoey corrected.
"A co-whatnow?" Marshall raised his eyebrow and titled his head.
"She means you're holding a fossilized piece of doodoo." Tiffany elaborated, causing Marshall recoil as he dropped the ancient turd. "Though we still need that because it can be useful for finding out other things."
Afterwards, Zoey was inspecting a narrow cave, inside were some small stalactites. From her backpack, she took out some measuring tape and measured the length of the structure. "eighteen centimeters long, and with a growth rate of about one centimeter per two-hundred years, that's around nine-hundred years." She wrote it down in her notebook. "And the surrounding cave, given its depth below sea level, it's likely around two million years old."
"Whatcha got there?" Tiffany asked.
"Got some rocks here dating back to the Mivarike period, the looks of this suggest that these are igneous which are consistent with the consensus that this area is volcanic in origin." Zoey picked up a large black rock that appeared sponge-like.
"Nice eye Zoe'!" Tiffany pointed finger guns. "Note this down in your journal, I'll see what Marshall is up to.
Tiffany turned to see Marshall having picked up a black, shiny piece of rock that shined like glass. "Tiffany, what is this shiny rock? Is it obsidian or something?" Marshall asked whilst he held up the shard.
"Yup, you're exactly right, that is obsidian." Tiffany nodded, though something behind Marshall caught her attention. "Uhh, what is that?"
"Oh that's just rock city." Marshall chuckled as he showed Tiffany and Zoey the towers of rocks he stacked together. If we're going to spend several hours in this pit that barely anyone cares about, then we could at least have some fun, is what Marshall thought.
Zoey growled and opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out once Tiffany shot her a glare.
"Hmph." Zoey resigned.
"In the meantime, why don't you continue collecting samples eh?" Tiffany pointed towards another slightly larger cave entrance. "There could be some interesting stuff down so you go investigate that." And so I don't have to hear you two bickering for like two minutes.
"Alrighty." Zoey nodded before she approached the cave entrance and began to gather more geologic samples. "Alright, so we got some more igneous rocks, likely dating back to a similar era although..the deeper ones must be a few thousand years old-" She mumbled to herself when suddenly, something caught Zoey's eye. It was poking out of some rocks, and was a very faded green. With all her strength, Zoey pulled it out to reveal a flat square object with a smaller black square, corroded metal pins dotted the board whilst strange intricate patterns spread across it. The hell is this? Zoey thought whilst she placed it into her bag. "Y'all, come look at this." She called out to Tiffany and Marshall, grabbing their attention before she presented it to them.
"Hmm, this looks similar to other stuff found by the others. Just keep it for now and give it to Senior Galt when we get back." Tiffany advised. Suddenly, they both hear clanking noises, causing them to turn around. Their jaws dropped upon seeing what Marshall was carrying.
"Look what I got!" Marshall heavied as he dragged his bag across the floor, it bulged and poked with dozens of rock samples, from metamorphic to igneous to sedimentary. "I managed to identify metamorphic rocks from igneous and…the other one involving sand and mud..I think."
"That's awesome Marshall!" Tiffany chuckled lightly. "Though maybe don't carry so much. Zoey, why don't you help him?"
Zoey opened her mouth to speak but paused when Tiffany glared at her. "Hmph, alright then." Approaching Marshall, she grabbed the bag off Marshall. "Step aside, lemme show you how it's done." Grabbing both sides of the bag, she tried to lift up the bulging bag. Despite all her heaving, and despite all her heaving, all her grunting and all her strength, it only lifted a couple inches off the ground.
"Uhh do you need help with that?" Marshall offered assistance only for Zoey to flick her hand at him.
"Nah I got this, stand back." Zoey tried lifting up the bag again; her jaw clenched whilst beads of sweat climbed down her face, and despite all her heaving, the bag still did not budge.
"Are you sure?" Marshall scratched his head.
"I told you I'm fine!" Zoey snapped back. "I don't need any help."
"Yeah, I seriously doubt it." Tiffany added."Marshall, you go and pack everything else up while Zoey and I put this on the back." She and Zoey huffed, puffed and grunted before they finally lifted the bulging bag off the ground. Meanwhile, Marshall collected all their equipment and stowed it in Tracy's pouch before he climbed back onto Tracy. He then turned to see Zoey and Tiffany still struggling to carry the bag of rocks. If they're struggling so much, why don't they want my help? He thought to himself. Screw it, I'm gonna help 'em anyway. Disembarking Tracy, he approached Tiffany and Zoey, lowered himself under the bag and then with all of his strength, lifted it up so that it wasn't being dragged across the floor.
"I said, I didn't need any help." Zoey grunted.
"You looked like you did, besides, you aren't complaining that Tiffany is helping you." Marshall pointed out before Tiffany glared at Zoey, the latter scoffing in response. The group let out a sigh of relief in unison after placing the bag onto the cargo hold on the aft section of Tracy's saddle. Once that was done, the trio set a course for the main camp.
"I'm bored, have you got anything I can do?" Marshall asked Tiffany and Zoey.
"I would, but I'm driving right now so..sorry." Tiffany shook her head.
"Nah, not really." Zoey replied.
"Hmph" Marshall folded his arms and looked around, hoping that something interesting might catch his eye; giant spider in the distance? Seen that before. Misty peaks? Been there a week ago, nothing interesting. That giant cave in the mountain? That's cool, they probably won't let them visit it though. Sighing, Marshall sunk into his seat.
Forty-five minutes later, the trio arrive back at the main camp. The camp consisted of twenty-four tents arranged in groups of six whilst dozens of amphibians ranging from newts to toads to frogs scattered around, each preoccupied with their own set of tasks. Each of the six groups had a group leader; two of the leaders were frogs, two were toads and two were newts. Likewise the groups had a combination of two same amphibians but with one different one such as two toads and one newt for example. Pulling up towards the parking area, Tiffany, Marshall and Zoey parked Tracy before they disembarked, then one of the head staff members approached them. He was a toad that stood five feet tall with a dark green tunic with navy blue sleeves, his pants were dark green, the same tone as his tunic. His skin was the same color as a basil leaf whilst his scalp was littered with hundreds of pea-sized warts, raging from as small as a pea to as big as a chestnut. In his eye sockets sat two bright blue eyes.
"Ah, you're back. How was the excursion?" He asked.
"Went pretty good Professor Advar." Tiffany replied. "Collected a hell of a lot of rocks too." She smiled.
Advar looked at the bag bulging with rocks mounted on Tracy's cargo section. "I can see that." His eyes widened. "Did Marshall and Zoey get along?"
Tiffany paused. "Uhm, uh, y-yea sure they did." She pulled an awkward smile whilst shrugging.
Advar was not amused. "Whatever, I'll help you take the bag off Tracy, then take them to Professor Divi, she'll give further instructions once everyone has regrouped."
"Aye aye sir." Tiffany grabbed one side of the bag whilst Advar grabbed the other side. Her hands trembled and jaw tensed whilst her legs were like wet pasta; Advar however didn't bat an eye, upon getting the bag off Tracy, Advar swung it atop his head like it was an empty cardboard box and began carrying it towards the sample collection area. Tiffany meanwhile stood there, at a loss for words. "Why even ask me to help you if you could just do it yourself?" She muttered under her breath.
"Alright everyone, please take a seat." Professor Divi commanded. She was a newt that was around forty-five years old and stood five feet and seven inches tall. She wore a dark blue coloured tunic with gold buttons and a gold rim around the cuffs and collar. On her right side was the NGS badge albeit this time platinum. She also had short black hair that was slightly grayed and covered with a blue hat. She then stood up from her seat, flanked by other members of the NGS. "Ahem!" She cleared her throat. "I hope you are all feeling okay after our second expedition of the day and collected plenty of samples too." Turning to Advar, she held her hand out. "Advar, have you finished weighing each of the sample bags?"
"I sure did." Advar handed Divi the list of sample bag measurements with the top being the heaviest, number one reading "4.9kg '', and the bottom being the lightest, reading "450g."
"As you all know, the one who collects the most amount of geologic samples is not only awarded a place in the Newtopian Geologic Society hall of fame, but, if you remain number one at the end of the year, you will receive thirteen thousand copper pieces AND" A sly smile formed on her face whilst she looked at the camp. "A visit from the King himself."
The camp erupted into cheer with the staff members desperately trying to get everyone to settle down but to no avail; Marshall's mind ran through a million thoughts, all of them bouncing about in his skull; King? As in King Andrias Leviathan? The ruler of Amphibia? That big guy I only saw once in a parade back when I was four? What should I say? What will I dress like? Will he like me? Would Lady Olivia approve of me? He kept running through a bazillion thoughts until.
"Marshall, are you there?! Marshall, can you hear me?!"
Marshall jolted awake, startled by Zoey yelling into his ear. "Uh? Oh? Uhm? Uh, yea-yea I'm awake."
"Now you are, anyway." Tiffany said. "Anyway, it's break period now so do whatever you want for like three hours. We got more to do later on."
"Yeah, considering we got THIRD FRICKIN' PLACE!" Zoey barked at Marshall. "THIRD PLACE! You know what that does to a person?"
"Uhhh, make them mad?" Marshall shrugged.
"It makes them look dumb. Especially when you've been beaten by a group led by frogs!" Zoey pointed at a group led by a blue frog leading his group of a frog and a toad.
"Well maybe it puts y'all in your place considering you guys are massive jerks for no reason." Marshall smirked. "Take a break from insulting us for like five minutes and maybe we'll actually get second place.
"YOU MOTHERFU-" Zoey was about to pounce on Marshall before Tiffany held the two apart.
"For the love of frog, can you two like not fight FOR FIVE MINUTES?!" Tiffany yelled. "For like, what, the fourth time this week you guys keep fighting and arguing, and it's only been two weeks. It's unproductive and if anything it's going to keep us in third place, maybe even push us down to fourth."
"Hmph." Zoey folded her arms whilst Marshall scoffed.
"Look, to clear our heads, how about we go for a nice walk? No sample collecting, no nothing, just a nice walk to chill out. If it helps, I'll stand in between you two." Tiffany suggested with a meek grin on her face.
"Hm, alright then." Zoey agreed.
"Yea I could go with that." Marshall accepted.
"Good, now let's get going." Tiffany said as the trio made their way into the nearby swamp.
Twenty-five minutes later, the trio were still walking in the swamp and the sounds of the swamp seemed to cool down the tension.
"See, we're all cool now." Tiffany smiled. "You don't have to, but we could go rock collecting or just collecting cool stuff you know."
"Like this" Zoey pointed to a strange looking rock embedded within the mud. "This looks to be a piece of petrified wood, I don't know what tree it came from until we get a better look at it back in the camp though."
"How old do you reckon it is?" Tiffany asked.
"I'd say around twelve or so million years." Zoey guessed.
"Hey look what I found!" Marshall alerted Tiffany and Zoey. "It looks like a weird shiny piece of paper that says…Kit Kat?" He presented the paper to Tiffany and Zoey; one side of it was red and the other was shiny, inside a yellow ring were the words "KIT KAT" written onto it.
"What in the frog..?" Tiffany tilted her head in confusion. What kind of paper is that? Who can put metal on paper like that? Who is Kit Kat?
"That's not all." Zoey gestured to Marshall and Tiffany to look behind a bush. They were…
"Footprints." Tiffany said. "And they lead down there." The tracks lead deeper into the swamp.
"Maybe those tracks will lead us up to this Kit Kat person." Zoey suggested.
"I say we follow them!" Marshall was about to set off only to be stopped by Tiffany.
"Woah, should we get permission or something?" Tiffany asked. "I mean, what if Divi finds out?"
"Well, what she doesn't know wouldn't hurt her, right?" Marshall shrugged.
"Yeah, besides, what if they're friendly?" Zoey added. "Let's just follow 'em for a bit."
Tiffany hesitated for a moment, then thought. I might get in deep mud for this but hey ho, maybe it'll be fun." Alright, let's follow em." Tiffany began following the tracks, gesturing to Zoey and Marshall to follow her.
"Alright!" Marshall said as he eagerly followed Tiffany.
"Should be interesting." Zoey went Tiffany and Marshall's way.
After only a couple minutes of walking the group heard a faint voice; the more the group followed the track, the more the voice became clearer and clearer, it was like they were talking to someone, but why? And what for? And who? It only took a few minutes for them to come face to face with their answer.
