Welcome to the Jungle[Lanying, Raen]

[Zack]

Man, flying was fun! Zack was having a blast flying the gummi ship. Raen and Lanying had suggested that he should learn to fly the ship as well, though they seemed to be a bit reluctant to say so. He couldn't imagine why and he immediately jumped at the chance to fly the ship. After all how often did the chance to fly yourself to a whole new world happen in one's life?

It sure did take awhile to get used to and his flying was.....best described as rough. However, he was too excited that he was flying a ship to notice. Soon though he noticed a world that looked very different and decided to land there. As he did so though, it became more and more obvious that the world was just a huge jungle and there weren't really any clearings to land in. However he spotted one quickly enough. "Hang on!" he called out to the other two as he went in for a landing.

He managed to land the gummi ship...albeit very roughly. The bump was much larger of one then one would normally be used to from landing. But the important thing was that he landed it right? "That was awesome! I hope I get to do this more often!" he exclaimed after landing the ship. He then got up quickly and rushed outside. "C'mon! Let's check out where we've landed!" he exclaimed as he ran out to check out the new world.

[Aerith]

To Hold at Arm's Length

Thank goodness they had slept for a while before deciding to take off again. Raen had the bright idea to see if Zack could actually fly the ship (he would, of course, probably claim that it was all her idea, but she knew better than to put the helm of the ship into the hands of hyperactive Zack). The ride was less than smooth. Who was she kidding? The ride was downright rough. Even had she still been in her exhausted state, she doubted she would have been able to sleep through the experience. Zack, of course, was oblivious, far too excited over flying himself to a new world to notice the look of sheer terror on her face at several points. The whole time, she was silently invoking the names of every deity she could think of, pleading that they would not run into that dreaded whale again.

At last, a new world came into view. This one looked very lush, which was pleasing to her. Greenery meant there was an ample supply of water to support such a diverse ecosystem. Her joy quickly turned to tension as Zack attempted to land them somewhere in the jungle. Whoever invented these seatbelts deserved to be kissed. Without them, she probably would have been tossed into the nearest corner, which would not have been pleasant, to say the least. Zack quickly jumped up from his seat and rushed outside like a child running into a candy store.

Lanying, however, took her time getting out of her chair. She smoothed first her hair then her skirt a bit and stood up. "Are you sure you are all right?" After making her way toward the ship's exit, she paused and turned to look at Raen. "You can stay here if you do not feel well enough." Part of her had suggested this purely out of fear, rather than out of actual concern for his well-being. She did not expect that they would encounter another battle here, but she was not eager to risk Raen to the darkness if they did. It was uncertain what would happen should he be consumed.

[Nothingness]

Never Again. Ever!

That was quite possibly the worst flight he'd ever had to endure. Not only did Zack have a lead foot, but he also had spasms in his arms judging by how they couldn't help but randomly turn every five seconds. And then it was over--they had landed. While Zack eagerly abandoned ship, Lanying and Raen needed to first get rid of the massive amounts of adrenaline currently pumping through their bodies. Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes for a second, he unfastened his seat belt and stood up. "I don't care whether or not he has munny, if Zack damaged this ship then he's paying for all of it!"

With that rather angry thought out of the way, he heard Lanying ask him if he was feeling alright? If he wanted to stay on the ship? He doubted anyone would want to stay on this ship after Zack's little joy ride. "She's still afraid of me." He hoped that she would adjust to the fact that he wasn't, nor going to, go down the same path as her and Zack, but he didn't see that happening anytime soon. "I'm fine, don't worry. 'Sides, I need to make sure our "pilot" didn't happen to break anything on our only mode of transportation. You can go scope out the surroundings--I'll be right behind you." Hopping out of the ship he was really hoping that Zack didn't burn out the engine, overpower the thrusters, destabilize the stabilizers, or...(the list went on and on).

[Aerith]

Hunter or Hunted?

Raen walked past her and outside the ship, wisely to examine the state of their vehicle. Landing in a jungle was nice in theory, but who knew what awaited them here? Of course, according to Raen, it was her job to find that out. Perhaps it would do her some good to venture out into the jungle alone. She always sorted her thoughts more efficiently in the quiet. This was, naturally, assuming that Zack would not want to accompany her. Somehow, she could imagine him jumping at the chance to go into the jungle with her. Well, more importantly, without Raen around.

When she stepped off the ship's ramp, she immediately liked this place. There was green everywhere and she could even hear the sound of at least one waterfall somewhere off in the distance. Everything seemed peaceful, but then again, Neverland had seemed peaceful as well. And they all knew how that had turned out. She saw Zack being his usual excited self nearby, and Raen was looking over the ship. Picking a time when Zack's back was to her, she slipped off into the trees, not really with any specific idea of where she was headed. She made sure to step lightly and carefully enough so that Zack might not be able to hear her leave and then follow her.

However, she soon discovered that she was not alone with her thoughts. Something was stalking her through the underbrush, and had she not been trained to be so observant thanks to her time fighting the Heartless, she probably would have missed the signs. Soft, animal breathing floated discreetly on the air. Whatever was nearby was hungry.

[Zack]

Zack looked around at their new surroundings. He had landed them in the middle of a lush jungle. It was so exciting, he'd never been in a jungle before. He wondered what they would find here and if anyone lived in this world. Or maybe they'd run into some wildlife or something, that sounded exciting. Or maybe they could find some ancient ruins or something! Yeah, now that sounded like an adventure.

He then looked back and saw Raen looking at the ship. He looked a little steamed and Zack had a guess as to why. He might not have flew the ship as well as he thought he had. He scratched the back of his head a bit nervously. "So....how's it look over there?" he asked Raen. He hoped he hadn't broken anything or he had a feeling he was about to lose his flying privileges.

[Nothingness]

You Lucked Out

Raen couldn't help but notice one thing as he was checking his Gummi Ship for damage: the disgusting smell of the forest. The ocean of Neverland was fine because the wind kept the moisture in the air moving, but this air was stagnant, hot, and sticky. He wasn't going to like it here unless they could happen upon some amazingly open clearing. And then he heard Zack ask him whether or not the ship was okay, which could be considered slightly nice of him to ask seeing as how he was the reason for the inspection.

"Well, doesn't look like she took any damage, so it's all good. And don't worry, you just need a little more practice flying. Just try to not have such a lead foot, and that'll make a world of difference." Raen said all of that very absentmindedly as he was currently crouching beneath his ship. He was inspecting the landing gear, his back to Zack, when it happened again. He felt a massive pulse through his body: constricting, suffocating. It took less than a second to pass, but that didn't change the momentary fear that came with it. He coughed a little, trying to cover it up in case Zack noticed anything strange. "Dammit, this has been happening ever since Neverland. This has to be the tenth time or so since. I need to start trying to control this."

Standing up, he turned around and looked at their current location. Green, brown, more green, more brown, and a few dots of blue in between massive splotches of green and brown. What a diverse world. "I hope we don't get lost in here," Raen mumbled. Then he noticed something. "Where's Lanying?"

[Aerith]

While the Boys are Away, the Girl Will Play
www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1HEACcDBho]Shine (Dubshakra Mix) by Bond

The sound of breathing had not relented in the last several minutes. It was difficult for Lanying to determine exactly how long she had been out in the jungle or how far away from the others she had gone. Her first impressions of this world were beginning to wear thin. It was hot as well as humid here, which was especially noticeable after trekking through the jungle for who knew how long. She knew there was water around here somewhere. Perhaps she could locate it soon.

Ah, speaking of water... She had found it, a large stretch of water dotted with large lily pads and the occasional fallen tree trunk. It almost looked like the water was the path itself. Tall reeds lined either side of the expanse, and Lanying could just barely make out a break in the brush on the far side. Water was flowing from somewhere not visible to her, so she knew this was not just some standing water. Who knew what disease-carrying insects would inhabit a pool of standing water in this jungle?

She was just about to jump to the first lily pad when the animal that had been stalking her finally chose to attack. The blur of fur, claws, and teeth shooting into her field of vision was announced with a deep snarl just soon enough to alert her to the danger. All the giant feline was able to latch onto was air as she ducked quickly out of the way. Her attacker was covered in yellow, black-spotted fur and had the look of a demon in its eyes. Coolly, she drew Allegretto from its sheath. "The cat wishes to play, does it?"

It was quite the unintelligent cat, though. When it next lunged for Lanying, she caught the swiped claws on her blade, then bent back and flipped the feline straight into the water. In a burst of sopping fur, her stalker shot out of the water with a half-hiss, half-yowl and fled the scene. She waited for a few moments, listening for sounds of it returning, but for now, she had discouraged the predator from thinking she was an easy meal.

Her next decision might have been a little more impulsive than she usually was, but she had worked up more of a sweat in that little exchange. And the sight of all that water was calling to her. Raen and Zack were back with the ship and probably had no idea where she was, so she surely did not have to worry about them finding her before she was finished. With another quick look around, she placed her weapons against a small rock nearby and then proceeded to strip down to her underwear. After leaving her clothes and jewelry in a neat pile near her weapons but far enough away from the edge of the water so they would not get wet, she slipped into the water with a relieved sigh. The sweat washing off her skin was such a wonderful sensation. She could stay floating in this bliss forever if it were possible.

[Zack]

Zack gave a sigh of relief when Raen said nothing was wrong. Good, he hadn't damaged the ship. hat meant there was the possibility of him flying again! Raen told him to not have a lead foot next time and Zack gave an embarrassed laugh. "Sorry, the excitement got the best of me," he told Raen. "After all how often do you get the chance to drive a ship that can travel to other worlds?"

Zack noted that Raen seemed to tense up for a moment, but he went on like nothing happened. He guessed it was probably the darkness, but Raen probably didn't want to really talk about that. So Zack let it go for now. They didn't need to worry about it every single time and if he was able to handle it then Zack would give him the benefit of the doubt.

It was then Raen asked where Lanying was. "You mean she's still not on the ship?" he asked, concerned. He looked around and didn't see her anywhere nearby. He knew she could take care of herself, but all the same he was concerned. They didn't know what awaited them in this world and they really should have stuck together til they knew the area better. "I guess she must've gone into the jungle..." he said after he was done looking around.

[Nothingness]

Neither Guns Nor Roses

Despite knowing that Lanying could easily take care of herself, Raen still felt that it was dangerous for any one of them to go wandering off into the jungle, new world or not. Sipping air in between his teeth he looked off the side and rocked his head left and right, slightly. "We should probably go look for her. After all," his eyes scanned the ground, seeing light footprints leading into the jungle, "It's easy to get lost in these places." Raen started to walk into the jungle when he suddenly stopped. Grabbing a low hanging branch, he gripped it in his hand and literally froze it solid. Snapping it off, he shoved it into the ground. "This shouldn't thaw anytime soon, and even then it's still a good marker." And with an escape plan made, he continued to march deeper into the brush.

After a few minutes of chopping down branches, freezing some, and thinking about how awful the climate of this world was, he finally saw the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. A break in the treeline provided a rather nice look at a reed-lined river and... "What have we here?" Raen walked over to a small rock next to the river and knelt down. Lanying's clothes were lying in a neat pile along with her weapons. Looking to the river, he could somewhat make out Lanying's mostly naked figure between the reeds. Whistling, he stood up and turned around. "I always figured you were a modest woman, Lanying. But man, seeing you now, well, this changes everything." Laughing to himself he walked a little ways further down the river, and stopped on top of a rather large rock. He figured that giving Lanying some privacy would be best. "After all, Hell hath no fury as a woman scorned. I just hope Zack realizes that."

[Zack]

Zack nodded his head in agreement. They both knew Lanying would be fine by herself, but being alone in the jungle was still not the best of ideas. He then followed after Raen and watched as he froze a branch and put in the ground. "Good call. Don't want to get lost in here,"' he said and continued following him into the jungle.

They continued through the jungle for a couple minutes, cutting up any branches that got in their way till Raen seemed to have spotted something. It was a river and as Zack followed after Raen, he saw him turn around, though he wasn't sure why. Then he started walking away. "Raen, why are moving aw-?" he started out asking until he then spotted what Raen had seen.

Lanying had decided to take a dip in the river...in her underwear. Zack immediately turned away. He didn't need to peek at her and have her be all angry at him for doing so, even if it was accidental. Plus, he was a ladies' man, not a perv. "Ah, I'll just...uh, be over there with Raen," he said and quickly moved over where Raen was. He made sure to look out at the jungle.

[Aerith]

I Cannot Look You in the Face Ever Again

She would have heard Raen's footsteps before he came into view, but she was too focused on the subtle sounds of the water running past her ears as she floated. Having already made up her mind that she had plenty of time before Raen and Zack reached her, she was not expecting to hear anyone, much less Raen, speak. So, when he did, she yelped and immediately went vertical in the water, then quickly found the nearest lily pad to use as cover. Despite the coolness of the water, she felt her cheeks burning. Not just her cheeks, either. Her whole face and probably neck, too, was burning.

To make matters worse, Zack was right behind Raen and also saw her. She held her breath, waiting for him to make some suggestive comment, but he instead mumbled something about being over where Raen was now. She tried to glare in their general direction, but it was not coming off very well. Then, she took a small stone she found wedged in one of the floating logs and squeezed it in her hand. But she could not even throw it. She was, at this point, far more embarrassed than angry.

At least they had their backs to her and were some distance away. And they had not touched her clothes, either, so they were still in that pile close to the shore. Taking the lily pad with her, she kicked toward the shore, still trying to hide as best she could. Upon reaching the shallows, she had to abandoned her cover and stumble out of the water. Unfortunately, she was so flustered that she lost her balance and slipped back into the water with a splash and another shout. She was up quickly, though, and scrambled the rest of the way out of the water. Immediately, she went behind the rock her weapons were resting against and attempted to dry herself off as quickly as possible.

Oh, forget it. Just get the clothes on, get the clothes on...

She had never gotten dressed so quickly in her life. She even made sure to put all her jewelry back on. The more articles of clothing she had on, the better. Though, she did not know if she could ever face those two again without her face turning bright red. Time would tell, starting now.

She popped up from behind the rock, grabbed her weapons, and walked over to Raen and Zack. The greater focus was on Raen. It was his comment that had bothered her the most. "I am modest, thank you very much. I did not expect you two to happen upon me this soon. Besides, I was not completely naked." Well, that had not lasted long. She was blushing already. Frustrated, she spun around and stormed off into the jungle. "Are you two going to stand around laughing at me? We need to keep exploring!"

The raised tree root that she should have noticed easily caught her by surprise. While giving voice to her disgust, she pitched forward onto her face. Again, she was quick to jump back up. She angrily smoothed her disheveled hair and clothes and continued storming off, muttering to herself.

[Nothingness]

Don't Mind Me

Raen made sure to stifle his laughter as he heard Lanying slip and fall back into the water. He was in for hell later, but it was worth it. All of them seemed so high-strung, well, maybe not so much Zack as himself and Lanying, but that was beside the point. A little good fun was needed to loosen them up a bit. With Lanying's voice giving them to go-ahead to turn around, Raen couldn't wipe the smirk off of his face. Turning around he said in a rather smug, matter-of-fact voice, "Hey, we all gotta let loose once in a while. Can't stay tense all the time--it's not healthy." As soon as he said that, he watched Lanying trip and fall flat on her face. Stifling another laugh, he quietly teased, "Neither is tripping over things." Yeah, he was gonna get it later.

It was actually pretty difficult to keep up with Lanying as she stormed through the jungle. More than once something Lanying had shoved out of her way snapped back and hit Raen or barely missed him. He was finding it hard to not antagonize her further, but managed to hold out seeing as how he was in enough trouble with her already.

[Zack]

Zack continued looking out at the jungle, it all basically looked the same to him. As he looked he heard Lanying slip and fall into the water and he tried to hold back the instinct to go and help. After all he didn't think Lanying wanted their help right now. They waited a few more moments and soon she came up to them and spoke, mostly responding to Raen's comment. Her face turned red as she talked, due to embarrassment most likely.

She then turned around and began storming off into the jungle. Unfortunately for her she tripped and fell. "A-Are you okay?" he managed to ask just as she got back up. He followed after her and Raen, electing to stay quiet since Raen was already taking care of the antagonizing. Plus, she didn't need both of them ganging up on her.

He wanted to say something that could possibly make her feel less embarrassed, but he couldn't think of anything. So he just kept walking forward. Maybe he could try changing the subject. "So, you guys think anyone lives out here?" he asked the both of them.

[Aerith]

Violence Can Sometimes Be the Answer

In a bizarre and unexpected turn of events, Lanying wanted to hurt Raen far more than she wanted to hurt Zack right now. At least, she could blush all she wanted with both of them behind her and unable to see it. Eventually, she would have to look at them again, though. It would be difficult to travel with the two of them and not ever look them in the eye. She took several deep breaths, trying to achieve some semblance of serenity. How did the emperor manage to stay so calm practically every minute of every day?

She was aware that she had no idea where she was going and that blindly crashing through the jungle was very unlike her. So, she stopped abruptly to gather herself. With the amount of noise she was making, that jungle cat might decide to try catching her off-guard. Oh. Of course. That would be a good piece of information to tell Raen and Zack. "I do not know about people who might live here, but there is a rather aggressive and hungry spotted cat who attacked me earlier." It was obviously the cat's fault she had been seen swimming in the water. If the infernal creature had not attacked her, she would not have sweated nearly so much so quickly, and she would not have decided to go for a swim. Suddenly, she wanted the cat to show itself. She would greatly enjoy punishing it.

[Nothingness]

Don't Bring the Rain

Deciding that he had had his fill of tormenting Lanying, Raen was somewhat glad that Zack decided to change the subject. Raen had heard rumors from the occasional adventurer of people living here, but he had always found them to be pretty far-fetched. It didn't seem plausible that anyone could actually survive in a jungle like this for an extended period of time. Still, best not to doubt the possibility.

Almost as if on cue, the second Lanying mentioned that a large jungle cat was on the prowl he heard a distinct roar in the distance. Or perhaps it was a rumble of thunder, because at that moment it began to rain. Well, "rain" wasn't an appropriate word for it. "Torrential downpour" was more fitting. "Well, isn't this just great." Zipping up his jacket and flipping his hood over his head, he crossed his arms. Despite the thick canopy the rain was unrelenting and had already effaced their tracks. "Bad to worse," he muttered.