Eco-Challenge FS (5)

yelled Sunny in excitement. "Rae, Kay, we did it! We are in first, and flew the entire way! Now, it is time to land. See that little clearing straight ahead? That's where we are going. Adjust your harnesses, and we will fly in single file. Me first, then Rae, then Kayde. It's easy.

Kay, eyes on Sunny headed straight for her. So close that Sunny ducked to keep Kay from colliding right into her. Kay landed with a thud on the ground falling to the right, and Sunny grimaced when she heard the crack of the glider wing.

"Any broken bones?" Gingerly unlocking her harness, Kay stepped out and then fell momentarily to the ground, wanting to kiss it, but not daring to.

As Kay made it to them, Sunny knowing that Rae was alive, laughed in relief. Kay looked up to see Rae hanging upside down in her glider, still strapped in. Cocking her head way to the side, she looked at Rae and grinned.

"I was kinda hoping you could tell me that." Rae said sarcastically. Hearing the sarcasm, meant she was doing better, which just made Sunny grin more.

"Well, we have to think of something quickly. We won't be in first for long if we stay around debating this." Sunny pointed out to her. "So, either cut yourself out, or we have to take precious time climbing up and getting you."

Rae looked down at them again. "Oh Frell! she said as she took out her knife and cut the harness strap. Throwing the knife out of the way as she hurtled to the ground and landed with a loud thump, she just lay there for a minute, not moving. "Frell that hurt", she thought to herself.

"Rae? Ray?! Say something!" Kay said frantically, shaking her. Finally opening her eyes and grinning up at Kay, she said, "Some ride, huh?"

undoing the nuts and screws in Rae's glider and soon all the pieces had fallen to the ground. Rae collected them up while Sunny and Kay disasembled THEIR gliders. Soon all the glider pieces were packed up and the group was on their way toward the next checkpoint.

Rae laughs. "I did it... I actually did it..." she mutters. She begins humming. Soon, she's singing and even dancing as she hop-skips along the track...

The large bird that 'ghost spotted flew in close to Wiz's glider and eyed him steadily as they soared. Wiz tried not to get nervous, but seeing as how the bird was bigger than the hang glider, he was scared.

Grack tried to move in to intimidate the big bird, but it had no effect. Chryse and Grack both manuvered to soar near the bird and Wiz and tried yelling to scare it off. Still no effect. It just flew on, staring at Wiz like he was it's next meal.

All of a sudden they all caught a rough updraft and they became much too busy trying not to crash into each other. Wiz's glider struck the bird on it's side and a large snap was heard.

Wiz's glider was swiftly falling to the ground. The bird didn't seem injured, a bit confused, but it was flying well and, more importantly, flying away from the gliders. Chryse and Grack were still fighting with their gliders against the updraft and could do nothing to help Wiz.

Jila and Geraden came flying out of nowhere, it seemed. Geraden's great claws closed upon the glider and Wiz. "Gently Geraden. You don't want to break anything more." cautioned Jila.

"I know, I know." replied Geraden irritably. He had been enjoying his time alone, soaring with Jila and was a bit out of sorts to be pressed into rescue service so abruptly. Nevertheless, he was very careful when he set Wiz down on the ground.

"I'm ok. Not even a bruise. You guys go on a little bit more. I'll take down my glider and meet you up a head. Just let me know where to go."

"If you guys are all agreed then, Geraden and I will stay with Wiz for a few minutes. I want to make sure he's ok and that will give you guys time to get down here, "said Jila.

*Comm!* Jila yanks her comm unit out of her pocket. "Team Slewfoot, as you get almost to the landing area there's a wicked updraft. Be Careful."

*I'm sorry.* Jila thinks to Geradan as she slides out of the harness. *I was so scared for Wiz. I know that you wouldn't have hurt him.* Geradan slowly swings his large head around to Jila, and with his cheek, pushes her up against his side in a hug.

*I am sorry also* Geradan whispers. *I know he is your friend and you wished him no further harm. I forget sometimes about your emotional side.*

"Raegun has plotted everyone's position." Larraq comes over to Velorek and Jila carrying Raegun. "Everyone's doing fine. It looks like Team RainbowMonkey is going to bypass the landing zone and come down on the beach. Should we tell them that their next destination is Fantasy Land?"

"Naw, they'll find out when the get their next set of maps. Is everything packed up here?" Jila asks, checking Raegun's scanner, and with her finger tracing a couple of the routes to the beach.

"Yes." Velorek answers with an irritation to his voice. "When Crais sobers up he's got a Lot of work to catch up on. Larraq and I did most of the packing ourselves. And I cooked for you."

led by Spyral hooked up side by side and linked the ends of their gliders, making one big glider. With the help of an updraft, and some help from Spyral's wing, they caught some wind and approached the team ahead of them.

Kitten was still waving a paw at Granny Po half way up the side of the mountain. *Granny Po sure had lots of cool friends* Kitten thought...at least they knew how special Artickittens were. It also helped that they were easily manipulated...just the way Kitten liked it. She waved her paw one last time at the speck below that was Granny Po then turned to look at her new benefactors and their passengers.

Thor was harnessed to the back of...how did the Scooby girls say...oh yeah...a hard bod! He really hadn't been happy about that, insisting that he should ride on Charley's back...but none of the girls could carry Elvis or Thor up the side of the mountain. So Charley had enlisted two guys from the Olympic team to help. Charley could be very persuasive when she wanted to, the guys had nearly tripped over themselves in their enthusiasm. It was amazing; she would lean forward give a little giggle and they would run to do her bidding. It strangely reminded Kitten of how SWORD and Leaped acted sometimes. Kitten looked down at herself and wondered when she'd be big enough to do that. Oh well...

Craning her neck Kitten could see at least two of the three stooges were busy sleeping off lunch, their little tummies bloated to three times their original size. Fidget wiggled even in her sleep, a paw twitch here a leg kick there. Mischief didn't seem to mind, her head was leaned back and she was purring like a chain saw. How such a small form could make such a loud noise was beyond Kitten...it was just down right rude if you asked her. Artickat's didn't purr or twitch in their sleep...at least Elvis never complained.

Speaking of Elvis, Kitten looked down and saw that Elvis's ears were still in place, hopefully they would stay that way. It had taken her quite a while to get them positioned and clothes pined just so over Elvis's eyes. Kitten had never known Elvis was scared of heights until he had balked at the idea of climbing the mountain. What a whiner he could be...it wasn't like she was asking him to jump off the side of a mountain or anything.

Trouble for his part had chosen to ride with Charley's roommate but he seemed compelled to try to climb out of the backpack. Kitten had offered her duct tape (one of the many things that Artickat's always keep handy) to help tape him in but Julie had resorted to hooking his harness to the zipper with a lock. Trouble was now busy trying to pick the lock...even as Kitten felt a stab of pride she hoped they reached the top before he succeeded because he had one of her bags of Crunch.

Having checked on the misfit gang and seeing that everything was okay, Kitten felt safe to take a nap. Charley smiled when the soft sounds of purring began to come from the harness on her back.

Meanwhile, Team RainbowMonkey finally lands well toward the other side of the African Savannah. They quickly disassemble their hanggliders, change their boots once again, and check their map and compass for directions. They know they are still in first place but by how much of a lead, they Don't know. Getting their bearings they walk quickly but quietly through the lush growth.

"Because if I've still got time after we've got everything set up," Jila says on her way back through for more boxes, "I'm going swimming. And I think it's about time that Geradan gets a good scrubbing. Larraq, Velorek, care to join me?"

"Can they drown?" Jila asks Raegun quietly. "I mean, Crais still hasn't sobered up yet and I'd hate to get him out there and have him go under and drown. I'm not sure that Rae would forgive me for that."

"Well it's not that Rae wouldn't forgive you for the drowning." Raegun replies. "She'd just ship him back to the mansion, dry him out, restart him, wipe the drowning from his memory.... he'd be the same as usual. It would take time to do all that though and That's what she'd be angry about. He will sober off in due time and then he'll be fine. But they can swim very well."

"Uh Kay," said Sunny with exasperated tolerance, "We are here to win a race, not put together a scrap book. We'll come back for a picnic some day and you can take pictures, okay?"

"Kay, I can't believe you brought a frellin' camera! lol" Sunny says as she starts to head towards the next check point. Kay and Rae are looking at Sunny...

"Hey...we are now in SECOND place. One of the IQ teams is in the lead...I thought you wanted to win this thing...Rae." Sunny mentions as she stops long enough to wait for Rae and Kay to catch up. Sweetiepie was flying around scouting out the area for Team Heat Delirium. Rae and Kay catch up to Sunny, look at each other.

"Hey, when you were yelling frellfrellfrellfrell with your eyes closed...I decided until you regain composer, I would take the lead. You ready to have it back?" Sunny grins

*p.s. People...Savannah is a city in GA...Savanna (is is one or two n's?) is what I think you mean. lol Sorry...I keep picturing the teams in GA! lol I know I'm nit picking. Sorry. :) *

Suddenly, Sunny, Kay, Rae and Sweetiepie found themselves surrounded by picturesque southern archetecture. All agog, they walked down a cobblestone street, looking at the Magnolia trees.

Rae whipped out the map, and with Kay's help got them pointed back in the right direction. Soon they were walking through herds of wildebeest again.

"Ya gotta watch those stray thoughts." Sweetiepie said. "With Cable TV Land the next movie is only a thought away and I'm sure there must have been an adventure movie somewhere that included scenes in Savannah Georgia."

Just then, a rhinocerous took exception to sharing the veldt with them and decided to charge. Team Heat Delerium were suddenly way to busy to ponder further adventures in misspelling...

they race ahead of the charging Rhino. As he decides that they are out of his territory and tires of the chase they start to slow down, catching their breaths.

was quite a feat, with the three gliders stuck together, but Team Holy Rollers made it, and in third place. They looked ahead and saw Team Heat Delerium ahead and a rhino slowing behind them.

"Kara, keep an eye on that rhino. We don't want to encounter him on our way to the next checkpoint, if possible." Spyral said, shaking the dust out of his wing and dimantling the gliders.

"It IS roomy in there." Mouse said, misquoting Bart Simpson, as she watched Spyral make everything disappear into his wing. "Do you want us to take our packs, or are you ok with them in there too?"

"I'm good for now. If things start to get heavy, I'll let you know." Spyral answered. Just then, a small gold trophy fell out of his wing. Mouse looked at him dubiously and asked, "Containment problem?"

Spyral grabbed the trophy before Mouse could get it, and shoved it back into his wing, but not before Mouse caught a glimpse of the lettering. She made a mental note to rag on Spyral about being the "Worlds Best Harp Player" later.

Kara said, "Hey, let's get this show on the road. Change into the hiking stuff again, and let's boogie oogie woogie. And where's Twig? She should be spotting the next checkpoint for us from the air, along with any unfriendlies..."

"Ah! No! Raegun!" Larraq and Velorek protest, a moment to late as Crais turns on the general comms and begins singing. Raegun provides muscial accompaniment:

"It was bad enough when Raegun sang...but Craisdroid, is tone deaf!!" Sunny said looking at Rae. Sunny managed to get Rae's comm turned off so the song wouldn't distract them while they worked on taking back the lead in this race.

"Terrain's not too nice." Rae notes, looking over Kay's shoulder. "This may be another one of those things were we save time by going around."

"No, I don't think so." Sweetie announces, rejoining them. "It's all pretty nasty, and as far as I can tell that map is NOT recent. Looks like there's been an earthquake or something to change the topography."

There were not one, nor two, nor three lovely ladies but a whole passel of them...and they were all excitedly pointing in his direction. He stood up and tried to wipe his face and straighten his tunic. *Now this is more like it. Appreciation! Bout time!

He supressed a grin and cleared his throat in search of that proper brogue Sword had been teaching him. Maybe this trip wasn't turning out so bad after all!

Indeed they raced over to Ragnar but did they stop? Noooo....they went past and surrounded Mr. Lee!!!! Not a one even seemed to notice the viking...well other than to hand him Mr. Lee's baggage....

Team Deviants made pretty good time. Only the terrain itself was getting in their way. For some reason, all the local wildlife left whatever area 'ghost was scouting through. =)

"yeah, you didn't have any control over that situation. and we didn't know about that updraft either. It's ok. You have nothing to apologize for." said Chryse.

"Don't worry about it. I'm having fun scaring away the wildlife. They don't like me." giggled 'ghost. "It's clearing the way for us and making us go faster than the other teams who are hiking too."

Rae orders Heat Delerium. She is at the head of the group, facing them all, walking backwards and giving one of those pep-talks that had been famous when she was in Mobile Infantry. "Come on, I know we can do this, here. We are some of the very finest that... three species have to offer, so let's get our eemas in gear. We've got drenn to prove here."

"Well, admittedly a nice beach-side cafe would have been more fun, it DID save us from those big, nasty dinosaurs." Rae sighs. "Look, what... what place are we in? Second to LAST? Four out of five? We are doing drenny! I'll abide by what the rest of you decide, but I say we take a chance..." Rae rests her hands on her hips and stares at the others.

Kay asked, rolling her eyes. Oh no. This sounded like trouble to her. But, it didn't look too good for them at the moment anyway. And, the terrain looked awful around them. Sighing, she said, "I am sure I am going to regret this later, but, okay, I'm for it if the rest of you are.

Team Holy Rollers jogged along a path. Most of the animals around them seemed disinclined to bother them. The elephants waved at them with their trunks and the hyenas laughed at them. When the crocodiles started singing, Kara called a halt and hauled out the map.

looking at the darkening afternoon sky. The clouds that roll across the sky are blacker than she has Ever seen rain clouds before. All thoughts of Geradan's scrubbing have gone completely from her head.

"Damn!" Jila says out loud to herself. It looks like the storm of the century is coming straight at the checkpoint. "Batten down the hatches guys! Looks like we're in for some pretty rough weather."

Just as Velorek and Larraq leave what they are doing to check the tents, a great booming of thunder fills the air. The rain follows it, racing across the ocean and the beach, heading for the African Savana (sp? lol).

Meanwhile Larraq, Jila, and Velorek run from tent to tent making sure that each line is secure. Geradan, not being bothered by storms, curls himself a little tighter and settles in for a siesta.

Lastly, the supply tent is checked. Supplies that were on the ground are stacked on the tables to keep them dry. Fluffy is covered with a tarp, placed on a table of his own, and told to shut down for the duration.

Larraq puts some towels in a weather proof bag and the three run back to the Mandroids sleeping tent. The Mandroids have no need for sleep but they do need to rest and regenerate, so they have a large tent for the three of them. Larraq hands out the towels and Jila tries her best to blot the water out of her clothes.

"I d-don't s-suppose you m-might have a b-blanket I c-could wrap up in in here?" Jila comes to the conclusion that she'll never dry out and hopes that a blanket will keep her warm, if not comfortable.

"Here Jila." Crais grabs an extra shirt from a backpack and hands it to her. "You'll feel better if you get out of those wet clothes." The motherly tone in his voice surprises Jila, but Then she sees his left eyebrow raise and the corner of his mouth start to curl up.

"I swear," Crais says with a wounded expression on his face. "I have only your health and welfare in mind." Which would have been believable if Jila hadn't heard Both Larraq and Velorek snickering from where they were sitting.

"Here." Velorek chuckles, handing Jila a blanket. "And if it makes you feel any better the three of us will stand together facing away from you if you do want to get out of those wet clothes." And as a gesture of good faith Larraq walks over to the other two, and the three turn to face the door flap. "Any time you're ready."

As quick as she can, before they change their minds, Jila slips out of her wet clothes and into the dry shirt, then wraps herself as tight as she can in the blanket.

Team deviants quickly fashion a make-shift shelter out of the gliders. It's not exactly comfortable, but they're dry. Sort of. They sit back to eat a little while 'Ghost gives off a comforting glow.

the teammates of Team Holy Rollers debates what to do. If they keep going, they can surely reach the next checkpoint, but will risk getting all their clothes soaked and being miserable. If they use the tent that Spyral had in his wing, they will be dry and comfortable, but may lose their place in the race.

the angel says. "I DO have some extra clothes in my wing, that we can change into," he tells the ladies. "I can't guarantee that they will exactly fit you two right, because they ARE my clothes, but they WILL keep you dry while your others dry!"

"Then I guess you should stick to your 'Barbie Fashions'!" the angel replies. "OH YEAH!" he says again, turning his body to dig into his wing. After shuffling around a bit, he pulls out three funny looking umbrella type things. He hands one to each of the ladies, then takes the one in his hand and engages it.

A small umbrella then pops out and they see it is the kind with the little band that straps on the top of your head, like the ones you might see people wearing at the County fair and looking quite rediculous.

"Hope you've got a pair of long jeans in there, Angel, cause the regular ones don't fit me. Or I could always go for shorts, especially if it's going to be hot after the rain stops. And I don't really care what I look like, not being the clotheshorse you are, Twig. Although Rae's motto of 'remember, it's not if you win or loose, it's how good you look doing it!!!' I think now really doesn't count. But I am NOT putting one of those hats on. Sorry Angel, I'll wear a Stetson, or one of those outback hats instead. Got any of them on you??"

if she can get Larraq or Velorak (NOT Crais) to give her a neck/back rub at the next checkpoint. All this hiking is really tough on the muscles!

the angel agrees. "No sense taking a chance on getting trench-foot, from slogging thru the water too much. THAT stuff is NASTY," Spyral nods his head in emphasis. "I remember this one time... at Band Camp..." the angel stoops then as a sheepish grin spreads across his face.

as they race through the rain. She loves being out in the rain, so this is great. Poor Sweetie didn't look real happy about it. But, they would get ahead if they kept up.

But, soon, the heavy rain came harder. The team slowed down, not seeing very far in front of them at all. Then "CRACK!!!" rolled the thunder, as lightning streaked the sky.

"Oh Frell!" said Kay in a not so happy voice now. She wasn't really keen on being in a downright thunder storm. She would much rather watch them from the porch at the mansion.

Oh, it's like being stuck between a 'rock and a hard place.' Remind me again, why am I doing this?" Sunny asked, knowing full well that the trees are no gurantee against the lighting, but it is better than being in the open.

"Let's just say that your idea of adventure and my idea of adventure are not entirely the same. Maybe it's because I've spent more time with humans than you have...or maybe it's because I never liked military life." Sunny chuckled as they kept moving.

"Oh, Rae....I know I shouldn't be doing this...but I don't recall there being a rule against it...but I can "hear" the other teams...and they aren't 'ducking and covering' during this storm. They are moving on...just like us. We should probably come up with a plan or take advantage of that plot hole." Sunny added.

Rae nods. "Okay, it's important that we all stay together, so let's grab hands. Sweetie, on my shoulder, please..." Rae hesitates, then taps her comm. "Raegun? Crais? Jila?"

Rae sniggers. "We're going through a plot-hole." She clicks off her comm before he can protest, and the team dives from the torential downpour into the dark and silence of the plot-hole.

They came up with a design that would still get them wet, but would actually take advantage of the gusts of wind to help them pull forward. Fortunately, the weight of the 3 living scoobs is enough to keep the gliders near ground level so they aren't as much of a lightening target. and off went Team Deviants....

"It's something I brought along, just in case this happened. Hopefully, this will do the trick." Sunny said, pulling out a item that looked alot like the "kill shot" thingy Aeryn used on John in "The Flax".

"No, it isn't....this is a special shot...made just for Rae and myself. I had a felling some one would figure out our nac for <<thudding>>. I knew this would come in handy." Sunny said...giving Rae a shot.

"Rae....remember...I had this made....just for us. You know...in case we came down with a case of the <<thuds>>. Well....you <<thudded>>, pretty damn hard I might add." Sunny said, removing the death grip Rae had on her hand. Sunny put the shot back into the box. Then she put it back into her pack.

"Oh, yeah.....I had almost forgotten about that. Good thing you brought it. I have a feeling we will need it." Rae said, getting up. She survayed the area........

*Larraq, chyrse...Larraq* entered chryse's mind...causing chryse to <<thud>> herself, almost out of the nifty little flying thing she and her team mates had made.

almost to the point of hiding in the closet. Not Jila. She has always thought Thunderstorms were pretty cool. Especially if you lived near a lake or the ocean and you could watch the lightning dancing on the top of the water. That was the best. Counting the seconds between the lightning and the thunder was interesting too. One Mississippi, (Mippippippi, lol) Two Mississippi, Three Mississippi.... then you knew how close the storm was. And then when you didn't even get a Mississippi said before the thunder crashed... Jila giggled at the thought. The rain pounding on the top of the tent now was actually very calming. She takes out her data pad to make her notes about the teams.

"Team RainbowMonkey is just coming off the Savana. They'll be here in a quarter arn. Team Heat Delerium... Oh I can't believe Rae did that!...has dropped into a plot hole. I'm not sure exactly where they are at this moment. Team Holy Rollers is next, about an arn out, and Team Deviant is about half an arn behind them but catching up quick. Team Slewfoot was in the air when the rain started. They came down fast but they are making good time."

After entering all the information about the teams and the weather, Jila's sits back and sighs. Something to do. She needs something to do.

"Thanks." Jila takes the cards out of the deck, shuffles them a few times and places the deck in front of her. She takes the top four cards in her hand, studies them, and then adds cards to the right side of the hand one by one, taking sets off as they come up. Finishing that hand with out winning, Jila shuffles the deck a few more times and tries again.

"Yeah. It's a card game for one person." Jila says, taking cards one at a time from the pack, placing them in her hand, and taking out the sets.

"Rae never told us about solitaire." Velorek watches Jila's hands with interest. "I think she wants us to practice relating to people on a wider basis. How do you play this game."

"<yawn> You work with the last four cards in the run, see?" Jila points at the last four cards. "If the suit is the same on the first and fourth card you take the middle two, but if the number is the same you take all four. Like this." Jila picks another card from the deck, places it at the end of the run, and takes out the necessary cards. <yawn>

"Yeah," Jila stretches, then pulls the blanket closer around her. "You guys are great company but I'm not used to sitting around with nothing to do. And the sound of the rain on the tent is just, kind of, peaceful."

"Come here." Velorek puts his arm around Jila shoulders and pulls her a little closer. Having listened to Rae teaching Crais about singing, Velorek thinks that he should be able to give it a pretty good try. He starts to hum to find the tune and then, in a voice just for Jila to hear, sings....

"Sun gave her a shot and she's feeling much better. Thinking something about a double-shot of her baby..." Raegun trailed off in confusion. "Oh! Of course, it's a terran song. 'Wasn't wine that I had too much of, it was a double-shot of my baby's love'." He begins humming along.