~Choices~

Xektia braced herself for the loud sound of the whistle but nothing came out, she pondered what was happening but decided not to ask questions. "Well that was fast, I just hope we are prepared for what's coming." Xektia grinned but turned her music off, it was about time she stopped being antisocial and got to know the others and what they had to do.

 

Kayta didn't say anything. She looked around at the others and then at the sand below. It looked stable enough, but she wasn't going to be the first one to jump down and check it out. She didn't want it to look like she was afraid, though, so she made herself busy untying her rope and recoiling it to put it back in her pocket. Who knew when she might need it again? Everything was so wierd today. First the poster, then all the other volunteers, Carmen, the door, and now, another world. And not just any 'other world', if there was such a thing. No, she had to be sent to the one with man-eating sand and drivable rock-type things. Just my luck, she thought. This has got to be the wierdest job ever.

 

"Well, it's about time. I'm up for some classical NORMAL food, what about you guys?" he practically jumped off the creature, landing in the sand. "Hmm..not going to roll around in it this time." he muttered.

 

Carmen literally leapt down, grabbed Zach and carried him back up onto the creature within about a second, "You don't want to be on the sand right now. Everyone stay aboard." This was added to as as she spoke the ground shook and the sand in front of them began to part. Carmen turned around to watch their reactions, she'd seen this many times before.

 

"I should really stop thinking sand is safe." he muttered, not phased by the sand opening up.

 

Kayta smiled as she put the rope in her pocket. It was a good thing she hadn't got down first. "So... if we can't get off the thing, how are we supposed to get to this base of yours?" She asked.

 

As the sand opened infront of her, Xektia watched in amazement- Was it meant to be doing this? "You know, if someone had aksed me what I would be doing today, never would it have ever ocurred to me that I might be riding a rock into some deadly sand to save a world from disaster." She laughed. "Well, I don't care, infact I'm excited."

 

Zach laughed, looking down at the ground, "Agreed. Heck, I don't even think I'm awake right now, just my way of 'making sense of things.' But we're here, and lets make the best of it, eh?"

 

Kayta waited for a moment, but Carmen didn't seem in any hurry to get down off the rock creature and show them this secret base. "Uh..." she wasn't used to talking much, and felt like she had already used all her words for the day, but she was done sitting up here and she couldn't exactly get off into the sand. "So... what do we do now?" she finally asked. She was starting to get depressed again, and she wanted to get distracted before it really hit her. She absent mindedly put her hand into the pocket with Silas's book in it. "I mean, are we just gonna sit here, or what?"

 

Carmen simply smiled because even as Kayta spoke the sand in front of them further parted and a large extravogant structure rose out of the soil. It was like an ancient palace with incredible architechture from the little they could see of it, as it soon became apparent this was only the entrance. The doors slowly swung open, with enough room for the rock creature to simply walk in, which it did with a small pat from Carmen.

 

"Oh wow." Xektia jumped as the creature glided forward through the parting. "Alright, lets have some fun."

 

Kayta felt like she was about to have a heart attack. Were the surprises ever going to stop? She yanked her hands out of her pocket and held on to the creature, trying to keep from falling off. This day was getting worse and worse. Well, at least you're not roaming the streets, dodging the truant officer and looking for the man who killed your family. Yeah, things couldn't exactly get much worse than that, strange new world and all.

 

Mya stared at the others sadly. When she spoke her mind about having fun here, all she got was a lecture on how silly she was. Now eveyone was basically saying the same thing she said. She felt like an outcast and sighed, watching what was around her.

 

Zach grinned madly, looking at everybody, "Finally, time to eat some food!" he exclaimed, throwing his arms up in the air and flopping them back again.
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Dante drummed his fingers against his pants, looking around anxiously. He peered over to the left, then to the right, and as if somebody had scared the hell out of him he practically jumped up out of his chair. He was expecting for her to be back soon..but he couldn't help but to worry, especially after the earthquake. He stood up from the floor and ran to the entrance, and he immediately stopped in his tracks when he turned the corner and saw much more than just Carmen. There were other people. He quickly ran behind the wall again, biting his lower lip. He put his hand in a fist and put the side of his hand over his mouth, practically wanting to scream. He took a deep breath, breathing in deeply, then breathing out. He straightened himself out with perfect posture and form, stepping outward and walking toward Carmen and the others, although from his neck up he was as pale as a ghost..and since neck and below he had reptile scales..well, it wasn't possible to be pale. He strode up to them, looking at Carmen and giving her a silent glare with his startling yellow eyes, We'll talk about this later.. was what his glare looked like. Then he put on a sweet innocent face, although it wasn't as easy to pull off as it use to be, considering at the age of 11 an innocent face was perfect, but in your mid-20s, nope. "Carmen, glad to see your safe! That was quite an earthquake..I think it was a bit more than usual, eh? And..who are these..children?" he asked, saying the word 'children' as if it was the worst possible thing to say.

 

Carmen leapt of the rock creature as gracefully as a swan, doing a flip in midair to land beside Dante. "Dante, Dante, Dante", she said shaking her head, "Have a little trust in me, these are more than children. I summoned them, they are here to help" She told him, choosing her words carefully and in a way he may understand. "They are what we need to end the war. This war can not be allowed to continue forever like this." She spoke louder now so all could hear her, "They are to be treated with respect, they are our guests of honour"

Mai was still coming to terms with what she saw, this place had just rose up out of the sand, it was magnificent. She glanced round as the huge doors shut behind them. Now looking round the inside, it was equally impressive. The work that must of gone into making it must have been imense though it looked old, ancient even. She could hear voices mostly coming from further down into the place, this was only an entrance, though she couldn't make out what they were saying. Following Carmen's example she carefully climbed down off the animal and saw who she was talking to do with slight suprise. They clearly weren't human, they were like a reptile. To her own suprise, though she tried not to show it, she wasn't scared of them, well slightly, but that had more to do with how she got the impression he wasn't happy with them being there. She was more fascinated and curious, just wanting to find out more. She glanced down the place wondering what else they would find.

 

Kayta didn't like the man that was talking to Carmen. It wasn't much of a shocker, though. She was in the habit of hating everybody older than herself, and he was no exception. Also, she noticed the his whole body except his head was covered in snake scales. That didn't boost her confidence any. She climbed off the creature slowly, and then walked up to stand next to Mai. She didn't want to get any closer to the lizard-man, but she didn't want to sit on that rock thing any more than she had to. Now that she was back on the ground, she stuck her hands into her pockets and felt her right hand brush against the cold metal of her gun. She grasped the handle tightly, just in case, but left it in her pocket. Than she looked down at the ground and listened to what He and the bossy chick were saying.

 

Dante nodded, although he was feeling mixed emotions, "Shall we show our guests around?"
-------
Zach slid off the beast, going right by Kayta and Mai. He whispering to them, "Great. Now we have an old lady and a grumpy lizard dude. How can our day get better?"

 

Kayta chuckled, Zach had caught her off guard with his joke. She quickly stifled herself though, then she whispered back. "Maybe we're not here for a job after all. Maybe he has snake fangs and we're just here to be his dinner. How's that for 'better'?"

 

Carmen nodded, "That we can do, they will need food and I want them kitted out as soon as possible, I'm afraid time is a luxury we do not have. But we shall treat them well for now as they won't have that once they set out. I just hope she isn't angered by there arrival, for if she is we are in trouble. But we mustn't worry about that now." Carmen looked back at the others, "Everybody off the creature, hurry now"

Mai nodded and whispered back, "No kidding, I wonder what's next." She was listening to Carmen talk as she whispered and frowned in curiousity as they mentioned somebody, who by the sounds of it they were scared of.

 

Dante gulped, his face turning more pale than it already was, "Yes...off that topic." his voice shook. "Come on, let's hurry."
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Zach shrugged, "Can we just get food now?" he complained.