A Trip to the Jungle

(AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story was written before the addition of certain characters in game, and as such they are missing from the story, perhaps in the future I will write again and include them. Also, the character I play in this game and the one I write about in my other stories are not the same person, they share a name, nothing more.)

Arania walked through the airport quickly. Another five minutes and she would have missed her flight completely. They had taken way too long to board her luggage. As it was she was running very late and was lucky to catch her flight to Rio. Her first real trip since graduation only three months before. She was doing some post graduate research for an entomology magazine. The topic would be a certain species of butterfly only found in the rainforest of South America. The article would look very good on her resume when she got back and started looking for a job. She was lucky though, had the magazine not sponsored the trip she never would have been able to afford it, she would have to remember to thank Professor Michaels for recommending her to them. Finally she settled in for the long flight. She heard the chatter of the people around her, but also heard something else they couldn't, the chatter of the bugs who had managed to get into the passenger area of the plane before the cargo hold got to cold for them.

"Wonder if the humans will drop any food this time?" said one beetle, "I like the green things they feed each other." This one was the loudest because he seemed to be sitting right above her head. Arania looked around briefly and seeing that she was sitting alone and the ones in the seat behind her were too busy talking to each other to notice her, she whispered.

"Hello little one, how did you get on here?" She spoke to the beetle and acted as though she were reaching for the light, instead helping the insect onto her hand and bringing him down closer to look at him.

The beetle's surprise was evident in it's voice. "A human, I can understand you, you can understand me. How is this possible?"

Arania laughed softly, "I am not a normal human little friend, I am what is called a mutant. I have always been able to talk to your kind. Now, how did you get on this airplane?"
"I was hiding in one of the moving things when it came up onto this really, really big thing with bird wings. The moving thing had food on it. It was good food." the beetle looked around, trying to find the food cart it had used to come aboard the plane.

"If you wish, little one, you can hide in my pocket until we arrive where we are going. I will feed you." Arania showed the creature her shirt pocket where no one would see him. The beetle climbed into it and hid just before the stewardess walked past. She looked out the window watching the clouds and eventually falling asleep. She was woken up by the stewardess gently tapping her shoulder.

"Ma'am, dinner will be served shortly. Please put down your tray." the stewardess said before moving on to the next sleeping person and repeating it. Arania stretched a little then checked on the beetle.

"Almost time to eat little one. Do you have a name I can call you?" she talked softly, watching to make sure no one was listening to her.

"Among my kind, I am known only as Blue Shell. You can call me whatever you wish."

Arania looked at him and saw that his shell was indeed a lovely shade of turquoise blue. "Then Blue it will be." she stopped talking when her food arrived. She had ordered the chicken, which was served with broccoli and potatoes. She gave the beetle a large piece of broccoli. Then she settled down and ate almost all of what she'd been given.

"Hmm, this food wasn't that bad." she commented to herself after the plate was taken away. She looked out the window, watching the clouds pass for a while. The eight hour flight was only three hours in when they hit a little turbulence. The beetle started panicking when the plane shook.

"Quiet, little one, it is only something called turbulence. The vehicle will only shake a little then it will stop." she pulled him out and gently stroked his shell till the turbulence stopped. Then she helped him back into her pocket. She tried to sleep little more before the plane arrived at their destination. She woke up again about three hours later, then read for the rest of the flight. The landing was uneventful. She claimed her bags and got a taxi to her hotel. After getting settled in she reviewed her paperwork on the location of the butterflies she was looking for.

"Hmm, it looks like I need to go about fifty miles into the forest to find the only place they've been seen." She felt a little movement from her pocket, "Oh, sorry Blue, I forgot you were in there. It's safe to come out now, we're in my room."

"Thank you human, I appreciate the meal, and the help for the ride." Blue climbed out and sat on the table next to the papers. "Where are we anyway."

"We are near a thing called a rainforest by us humans. It's tropical, and is full of food. You should like living here." Arania returned to going through her papers. She found the map and the name of the guide the magazine recommended. She then walked out to the lobby and asked the person at the desk where she could find Raoul Fernandez. The man sitting there knew him well, since he often guided tourists into the rainforest. She was able to find him easily following the directions she was given. Raoul was a short man, but looked to be in pretty good shape physically. After an hour or so of negotiating over pay, he agreed to take her where she wanted to go and leave her there for three days before picking her up to return to the city.

The next day they left at six in the morning. they arrived at the campsite at about noon and were done setting up by three. Arania could here the chatter of some beetles and some other bugs but couldn't hear the butterflies yet.

"Thank you Raoul. You can leave now. I will be fine." her firm voice got no objections from the little man, though he did offer her a warning.

"As you wish ma'am, but I warn you that many strange things have happened in this area. Rumors of an old woman who speaks the ancient tongue, you know it as the language of the Aztecs and the Incas." he said briefly, then left

She sat there for a few minutes enjoying the quiet of the rainforest that was so different than the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles. She listened to the insects, trying to determine the best way to approach the butterflies she was sent to find and study. The magazine had originally suggested that she would want to dissect a few of them, but she nixed that idea quick. She told them she would have no need to do so, she would find out all she needed to just from studying their behavior. What she did not tell them was, of course, the whole reason behind it. The fact she was a mutant who could talk to insects being revealed to a magazine like that would have a very detrimental effect on her career. She remembered what had happened in school, just before her parents decided to home school her. That was proof enough in itself. That was when she heard a voice speaking in a strange language. She sat there listening to it for a few minutes, and strangely, she found herself able to understand what was being said.

"Hello nature walker."the voice resonated in the forest around her, "welcome to our home."

Just then an old woman walked out of the woods. She was wearing the large leaves of the trees from the upper levels of the forest. They were fashioned like a tunic, with more as a cape of sorts. Sitting on her shoulder was a small spider monkey, but it was pure white, with blue eyes.

“Who are you?” Arania found herself responding in the same tongue, in spite of the fact this was the first time she had ever heard it.

“I am called old woman by those who have seen me. I am unable to remember the name I was given at my birth. You are Arania, the one who talks with insects and eight legged beings.” the old woman sat herself on a rotting log nearby. Arania stared at her, still surprised by the whole thing.

“My young friend, I know you are confused. But I have good reason to visit you, I know why you are here, and the reason is far bigger than you ever thought.” the old woman showed no emotion on her face except for the occasional flashing of her still bright eyes. “Please trust me, there are many things I need to show you.” and with that she rose and took Arania’s hand, guiding her deep into the forest. They walked all afternoon, and after the sun set they came upon the ruins of an ancient city, and though much of it was overgrown, there was one building untouched by neither time nor nature.

“Summon the lights girl.” the old woman said simply and Arania found she could not fight her.

“Little night flashers, please come light my path.” she called out and within seconds there were thousands and thousands of fireflies lining the sides of the small path to the building. The woman lead her into the building, and the lightning bugs followed them. They went down a flight of stairs and came to what looked like an alter. The room was covered in hieroglyphics, and Arania was able to understand them all, in spite of the fact she'd never seen them before. The old woman pointed to the wall to left of where they stood, and the bugs flew over and lit the wall up. There were pictographs of people standing there. Some had sharp teeth, fangs, and one was of a woman with lines around her head, radiating away and touching all the other people in the picture. One of them had a tail, like a squirrel's, another was a small man bearing a hammer. There was one who really grabbed her attention though. It was obviously a woman, with long hair. The picture showed the woman holding a spider on her shoulder and holding hands with another woman, one with fangs. They were both surrounded by a variety of bugs in the picture.

The old woman took her hand and nodded, confirming her thoughts. "That is you, your fate is entertained with the others in the picture, but most with the woman there." She led Arania back up and to the camp, where she shared a simple meal with her before speaking again.

"You will remember nothing of this, but when the time comes you will experience a sense of deja-vu. You will say yes when offered the opportunity to join the group in the photo. Perhaps someday you will remember all, and then, if that time comes, you will understand." The woman rose and left, waving her hand briefly over Arania.

She came to her senses a few hours later, wondering where the time had gone.