Well. Guess who finally got their lazy butts off YouTube and decided to write another chapter? Das rite, it's me. I deserve an award :).
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We flew in silence for what seemed like ages. Hal would break the quietness by saying how many miles and kilometers (he loves to be exact) were left until we got to our destination, or he would hum a tune. I decided to start a conversation. "Where are we going anyway?"
Hal spoke. "An unidentified planet-"
"We're going to an unnamed planet," Seren interrupted. "it's mostly water, but there's one small island. That's where the enemy base is"
"Oh, okay." I sat back, not knowing what else to say.
".5 miles, or .8 kilometers, to enemy base." Hal stated.
It made me nervous how close we were. What if everything goes wrong? What if I blow our cover? What if one of us doesn't make it out? I did not want to mess everything up.
"So kid," Seren said. I interrupted her before she could say anything else.
"Can we establish now that we will treat each other like we're the same age?"
"Can we establish now that we will treat each other like we're the same height?" She asked.
"Can't promise that."
"Then no," she stated. "Anyway, what's your ability?"
"Reading minds. Yours?" I said.
"I can make people see what I want them to see."
"Speaking of abilities, you know that guy you were gambling against was cheating, right? I could hear it in his thoughts."
"Of course I knew. I made him see different cards than what I saw. So that's how I won."
"That's cheating!" I exclaimed.
"Well he cheated first, so we're even."
"Whatever." I sat back. I was pretty sure that wasn't how it worked, but from what I learned, you don't argue with Seren.
"We're here!" Hal yelled, which made Seren and I jump.
Seren sighed. "Please don't scare me like that! I know we're here!"
"Sorry." Hal apologized.
Seren started flipping more switches. "Preparing ship for entrance into the atmosphere."
"Where are we going to land?" I asked.
"On the beach. We have to keep it as far away as possible from the base."
"And where is the base, exactly?"
"Right in the center of the island." She answered.
"And how far away from the beach is that?"
"Quite a ways."
"About 6 miles." Hal said.
"We have to walk 6 miles?!"
"Yes we have to walk 6 miles. It's not going to be fun for anyone so shut your trap and quit complaining!"
"No need to yell Seren. 6 miles is a lot for a normal person, or even a tall person like me!"
"Oh you did not just say that!"
"I did and it's a fact so shut your trap and quit complaining!" Seren opened her mouth and closed it just as fast. I smiled to myself, pleased to know that I have rendered such whacko shrub like Seren speechless.
No one spoke. Seren landed the ship without another word to me. Then, I started to worry. I remembered that I shouldn't have argued with her. I knew something awful was coming my way and it was coming soon.
Seren opened the dock and still didn't speak to me. Hal left first. I was next and Seren after me which, in hindsight, was a bad idea. I stepped out into the dock and stood for a minute, letting the sun hit my face. It was warm and I loved it. I'm used to warm, coming from where I do, but for some reason, that sun felt different. I just stood, letting the warm rays hit my face when I felt hands on my back. They shoved me and I fell headfirst down the dock. I landed on my butt in the sand. I could hear Seren and Hal laughing at me. I stood and turned to watch Seren prance down the dock.
"Not funny," I said, brushing sand off my butt. Seren smiled.
"Not funny, you're right. Hilarious." She pushed me again and this time, I landed on my face in the sand. I stood up and spit out sand. I decided then that I hated the beach. Seren was standing with Hal, just watching me. I walked over to them and spit the sand that was still in my mouth at her. The look on her face was downright murderous. She tried to charge but Hal grabbed her arms.
"Let me go so I can murder the evil troll!" She screamed. Hal gripped her tighter.
"We don't have time for this Seren. Besides, we kind of need him alive." Seren continued to struggle.
"Hal, I swear to god I will rip your arms right out of their rusty sockets!"
"Seren, stop. You can kill him later."
"Fine. If you ever cross me again punk, I swear I'll kill you." she threatened.
Seren turned to walk away, but stopped herself. She turned around and grabbed me by my collar. She pulled me down so that she could look straight into my eyes with that cold, icy glare. "You better watch yourself," Seren let me go and pulled on some black leather finger-less gloves that she got from her pocket. "I'm already planning your funeral." That's probably the nicest thing she's said to me since we've met.
"Will there be flowers?"
"Excuse me?"
"Just joking. What are we planning on doing?" I asked, trying to change the subject.
"We're finding the base, then going back."
"That's it?"
"We need to find some path there and besides, it will be dark by the time we get there," she turned toward Hal. "Why don't you stay with the ship."
"Good idea." He answered as he turned and walked toward the dock.
Seren took an earpiece out of her pocket and put it in her ear. "Is this working?"
"Yes!" Hal yelled from the dock. Seren was cringing and holding her ear.
"Ow!" she exclaimed.
"Sorry. I forgot you had the earpiece in."
Seren rolled her eyes. "Figures. Alright kid, let's go." I rolled my eyes.
We started walking into the jungle. It was really beautiful, with all the tall, green trees. There seemed to be thousands of different plants. I could hear the sounds of many different creatures in the distance: the howls of wolves, the croaks of frogs. The whistles of many different species of birds sounded like a chorus, singing their song before the night took over the little island. The sunset lit our path with an orange glow.
I knew this was going to be a long walk, so I decided to tap into my power and read Seren's thoughts. There was a lot of anger, mostly toward me, followed by lots of cussing. I kept listening though, laughing in my head at all the insults she would come up with. Suddenly, she stepped in a mud puddle. More cursing.
"Ugh." Seren groaned, shaking her boot off. I chortled. "What?" she said with a murderous tone in her voice.
"Nothing." I said quickly.
"That's what I thought."
About two hours passed by, and there was only a sliver of light left in the night sky. Seren crouched behind a bush. "We're here. Welcome to the most dangerous place you'll ever be right now."
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Hey! I just really quickly want to say that this chapter was a collab with a friend of mine. I'm hoping we can collab again!
xoxo, mockingjaylunar