[ti]Ep 3.5[/ti]Unto Trouble [Closed]

[Jack Darby]

WEEK 2, DAY 2

Grand Basin National Park, NV

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Jack Darby groaned as he looked at his trail map for the fifth time. He glanced at the compass in his one hand, then checked the sun as he shielded his eyes with it. The afternoon light beat down hot and unyielding, not a cloud in the sky above. The trail below him, rather than looking well-kept, was half-hidden by grass and rock. It looked as if it hadn't been serviced in some time, which definitely was a sign they'd taken a wrong turn. The nearby babble of his classmates had ceased some time before, leaving only the sounds of the forest around him.

It had been a simple day trip into Grand Basin National Park. He and some of the other Memorial High School classes were supposed to go on a couple of hikes, talk to some rangers, enjoy nature and all that. Jack had been glad for a break in the heavy schoolwork he had lately, but couldn't help but feel apprehensive. He'd been thinking a lot about forests lately...and the kinds of things in them...long-legged, magenta-eyed things that were always watching, always ready with sharp teeth and acid-dripping claws.... He had to force himself not to think about Airachnid, or all the things that could go wrong. For a while, it had worked, and Jack had enjoyed himself.

But he had lagged behind his trail group at some point, even though he hadn't meant to. He wanted the company of people to feel safer, even if he wasn't a people person. Jack had kept pace, even making some small talk with his classmates, but his mind drifted. He kept thinking back to the trees, to what might be between them, behind them, lurking further in the wooden deep. Eventually he stopped paying attention to what people were saying and kept watching the trees. When someone asked what he was doing, he clumsily brushed them off by saying he was looking for birds.

At some point, all he could focus on was the trees, and the people had disappeared. Jack sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, forcing himself to take a deep breath. Hadn't Red Alert told him only a week ago that going off alone was liable to get him killed?

[Miko Nakadai]

Miko had been so excited for this field trip when it’d been announced. While it was still in Nevada, absolutely anywhere was more exciting than the tiny little town of Jasper, and hey? Anything beat sitting in a stuffy classroom for hours upon hours doing work.

Only… it’d gotten old pretty fast. The National Park had turned out to be a whole lotta nothing, and while the change of scenery was nice? It wasn’t much to look at once you’d been staring at it for a while.

The lack of a decent cellphone signal hadn’t helped, either.

Begrudgingly, Miko had been on her best behavior - following her group, listening to the totally amazing (not) facts about nature and the general area, she’d even made some notes on the off chance there would be a quiz later on!

At some point on one of the many tours, she’d spotted Jack - and while she hadn’t gotten a chance to divert herself away from her group and talk to him, it was nice to see a familiar, friendly face in the crowd. The occasional glance in his direction had been given if she’d seen him, though it didn’t seem like he’d spotted her, almost as if his attention had been anything but the trail, which… yeah, she totally got. This place sucked, and her backpack was starting to feel real heavy.

Was it time to go home yet?

Turning her attention in vain to her cellphone once more - there went that promise of texting Bulk cool pictures of the area - she could only grumble in frustration as what felt like the millionth message failed to go through.

Looking up as she slipped her phone into the safety of her pocket, it was then she saw Jack… or at least, she thought it was Jack… wandering away from his group.

Wrinkling her nose in thought before she made the decision to follow, she was quick to break away unnoticed from her group - having become quite the expert at that in recent days. She made a point of keeping Jack in her line of sight, but not to the point she was creepily close. If nature called and he had stepped away for a second, she didn’t wanna intrude on his personal space - though when he kept wandering and wandering, looking at his map every so often, she… wondered if she should say something. What was he even doing?

Boys were so weird.

“Jaaaaack! Hey, wait up!”

[Jack Darby]

Jack jumped a little too high, came a little too close to letting out a scream for his liking. He whirled around as if to face Miko with fists up, but when he saw it was her, he relaxed. A long sigh left the boy, one hand whisking back the fringe that always stuck down into his eyes. He walked over to meet Miko halfway, a grumpy look on his face.

"I think we're lost," Jack admitted dully. He looked back at his map, brow knitting in exasperation. "Do you remember where we last saw the group? It says here we should still be on Baker Lake Trail...but I don't see a trail anywhere. There should be a creek, too."

Jack stuffed his map under one arm, checking his compass. He was facing due south, while the trail they'd been on had faced westward. But he thought he'd been heading west, not north...how could he have misread something as simple as a compass? The trees loomed all around him in that moment, and he glanced at them with a wary look. It wasn't a long one, though, since Miko was around and he didn't want her thinking he was afraid.

Which he wasn't, because that would be stupid in a situation like this. He was just...aware. It always was good to be aware of your surroundings, especially in an unfamiliar place like the Grand Basin. Arcee had even told him so before she'd seen him off to school.

[Miko Nakadai]

Flinching as Jack jumped and whirled around, Miko found herself tensing - one hand instinctively moving to grab hold of the strap of her backpack, almost as if its presence helped ground her in the moment. Was he about ready to punch her? Man, she was lucky she wasn’t too close!

What had him so jumpy? Maybe he’d been up to something he shouldn’t have and was spooked 'cause he’d totally been busted! The grumpy look on his face didn’t reveal much, and as she moved into a walk to meet him, the smile would quickly fade at hearing his first words. There was no friendly greeting, no ‘hey Miko, fancy seeing you here on this stupidly boring trip!’ - just the dull, and slightly scary admittance that they might be lost.

“Lost? Whaaaat no, we can’t be! I just came from over uh…”

Spinning quickly on a heel, combat boots digging slightly into the soft dirt with her movements, Miko realized that she’d not really been keeping track of just which direction she’d come from, or how long she’d been walking for. Time really flew when you were following your friend around the woods! Maybe she should’ve been paying more attention, but she hadn’t thought it was a big deal. Jack had a fancy map and compass, so clearly he had everything figured out.

Except he obviously didn’t.

Turning back to him, she shook her head.

“Okay maybe just a little bit.” the hand that’d been clutching her backpack would move, doing a small pinch gesture to show juuuust how much she meant.

“But it’s fine! This place isn’t that big, right? Show me the map?”

Her backpack was full of drawing supplies and a couple of snacks - nothing useful like actual equipment. That’s what tour guides and the rest of her group were for!

“I’m super pro at reading maps, don’t worry!” she smiled.

[Jack Darby]

Jack listlessly handed over the map to Miko, sincerely doubting her words that she could read the map and tell which way they'd come from. This probably wasn't even a proper trail they were on - more like something beaten down by the movement of animals. Jack had read stories of people following the impossibly-thin trails of deer into the woods, only to get lost like he and Miko had. He shifted the straps of his backpack to bite less into his shoulders, feeling their weight like a heavy hand on his upper back. Somewhere above, a crow cawed and launched itself into the air, flying away to who knew where.

"Actually, Miko, this place is that big," Jack told her outright. "We should probably stay in place so we don't end up more lost. That's the first thing you're supposed to do...right?"

He hated how unsure he sounded. When he'd been in the Pacific Northwest with Arcee, waiting in the woods hadn't been an issue. He'd set up his tent, taken a favorite book out, and read while she was out scouting. He'd been camping before, and used to being outside, even though he hadn't done anything outdoorsy recently. For Jack, this might as well have been routine.

Magenta eyes flashed in the back of his mind again. He turned around, not wanting his back to the forest. He stared ahead, the trail thinning out even more into bush and rising terrain. Yeah, this was definitely an animal track of some kind, and he hadn't been paying enough attention to notice it.

"How'd you even end up out here?" Jack said.

[Miko Nakadai]

Taking the map, Miko was quick to uncrinkle it from where it’d been momentarily folded under Jack’s arm. Her gaze was focused, tongue poking out just slightly as she tilted the paper this way and that, trying to make some sort of sense of it as she half-listened to what Jack was saying.

“Stay in place? Well that’s boring.” she scoffed, eyes not leaving the map. “Nobody will ever find us if we just stand here, we should totally keep moving while we try to find our way back!”

They hadn’t said anything about what to do if you got lost - then again she probably hadn’t listened even if they had. It wasn’t exactly something that happened very often, the trails were all obvious and well-marked, and around the more touristy areas there was plenty of signage.

Until there wasn’t, of course. Which go figure was where they now found themselves.

Still keeping her attention on the map, rather than Jack and what he was doing, she would hum quietly in thought, letting his question linger a moment as she traced one finger along part of the paper.

“Huh? Oh! I saw you in one of the other groups, guess they have a few of us out here!” She hadn’t seen anyone from Raf’s class on the trip, so maybe it was for the older kids. Shame, then it could’ve been a true adventure with the three of them! Ah well, she’d be sure to tell him and Bulk all about it when they got back to Omega One.

“Then I saw you sorta walk off, so I followed you.” she shrugged. “You looked a little distracted, not gonna lie!”

Then again she was one to talk, she’d followed him and completely lost track of her sense of direction. Unlike Jack, though, she wasn’t stressed - nor did she show any signs of being nervous. They’d gotten themselves into this mess, it couldn’t be too hard to get out of it!

“Ah ha!” she grinned, jabbing at the map with a finger. “I think we’re around here! Which meeeans we need to go…” she looked up, then back at the map - then up once more.

“Uhh.”

Looking at the map once more for good measure, she would turn so she was facing in a mostly-North-Western direction, give or take. It was sort of back toward the way she’d come from, so that had to be the general direction they needed to go, right?

“Yeah, that way!” she stated confidently before turning to look at Jack, frowning as she offered the map back to him, completely oblivious to the animal tracks or the fact she’d pointed slightly off course.

“Unless you want to sit here and get eaten alive by gross bugs.”

[Jack Darby]

"No, we should stay here," Jack argued. Was he a little grumpier than usual? The answer was yes, and he wasn't afraid to show it. "I have bug spray in my pack if they're what you're worried about. Why didn't you say anything when I went off the trail?"

He walked over and looked at where Miko had pointed. He scanned the trees around them for any sign of familiar landmarks. There were trees where Miko had pointed on the map, so they were definitely in the forest part. That made up a lot of the map they had, of course.

"Look, I know how to set up camp. Why don't we just...chill out, hang around for a bit?" Jack said with a bit of a sigh. He hefted his pack off his shoulders, setting it on the ground and digging through for anything useful. Bug spray, fire-lighting kit, flashlight, snacks...if only he had something like a signal flare, which he wouldn't have been allowed to have anyways because it was a gun. Red Alert's words rang in his head once more, and Jack closed his pack up with a frown.

"There's a bunch of roots we can sit down by over there," Jack said, pointing at a knot that rose out of the stony ground. It formed almost a natural seat, with the earth placed where a low cushion might be. "It's still plenty of hours before dark. Someone's probably noticed we're missing by now and is trying to find us. Here, I know what will help."

Fishing around in one pocket, Jack pulled out his harmonica, smiling a little. If they made enough noise, someone was liable to come investigate and guide them out of the woods. He blew a note through the instrument, then held it up for Miko to see.

[Miko Nakadai]

With a huff, Miko folded her arms across her chest at Jack’s comment that they should stay where they were. It made no sense to her, how were people supposed to find them if they weren’t actively moving around? Surely there was a better chance of bumping into someone if they were walking! Plus she’d looked at the map, and after they’d started walking in the direction she’d pointed out, she’d remember some sort of landmark like a weird tree or rock and they’d be back to their groups in no time!

“Ugggh!”

One combat boot would stomp down as if to emphasize her frustration, and she shook her head.

“Well I think we should walk!” her voice wasn’t raised, though was insistent and firm. Standing here in the middle of nowhere would be so boring and their time could be better spent trying to make their own way back. That’s what Bulkhead would do.

As Jack moved over, she hoped he would see she’d pointed out the right direction and would change his mind. His following words and question were met with a shrug.

“I dunno, you had a map and the compass so I thought you were just doing your own thing! How was I to know you had no idea where you were going!”

While he’d seemed semi-distracted, he’d been moving with purpose, almost - like he knew where he was going, or at least knew what he was doing. If she’d known he was lost she would’ve called out way earlier than she had.

“Camp? We aren’t gonna be out here that long! It can’t be that far back to the trail…”

Keeping her arms firmly folded, she watched as Jack set his backpack down. Quirking a brow, she took note of the contents as he rummaged through it. He was so much more prepared for this outing than she was, almost like he had been expecting some off-road adventure, or planning for the absolute worst - she wasn’t sure.

Glancing at the roots that were pointed out, she’d wrinkle her nose and sigh.

“Fine, whatever,” she begrudgingly relented. “We can sit for a bit I guess if I can use some of that bug spray." now that she was standing here, she hadn’t realized how much her feet hurt - between following Jack and the actual tour around the National Park, she must’ve walked for miles. “But if nobody comes for us soon then I want to try my idea!”

Dropping one arm to her side, the other would shift the strap of her backpack just slightly, a quiet hum of thought escaped her at the sight of the harmonica.

“You know any good songs to play on that thing?” she asked as she began walking over to the tree roots.

[Windshield]

Jack played his note—and something in the woods answered.

It was a harsh, echoing noise that spread through the deep growth. But it only sounded once and not a single time more after that; strong, rigid, sharp—not the mere crackling of falling trees or the hush of a distant river. No... Perhaps those were the deathly throes of an animal, the roar of a furious bear, or the mating call of a violent buck. It was not a gentle thing, one way or another. They were quite far from where it came, though if they'd heard it well, they could most certainly tell that it came somewhere from the general direction Miko had pointed.

As if in protest of this, a flock of birds left those treetops, joining into a swift, formless cloud that darted overhead, passing the two children in quite the hurry. Crows or ravens, perhaps. They cawed for a while and then they'd gone silent too with the growing distance, settling somewhere further away.

It was only then that they could finally start to hear it—if they stopped squabbling, that is.

Hear what...? Something was off, certainly. So, so very off... And then, the realization.

The forest had gone silent.

[Jack Darby]

"Well...you know I would've stayed with the group!" Jack protested, but Miko was right. He did have a map and compass, and still managed to get lost. So much for all that bushcraft reading he liked to do when he wasn't busy studying. At least Miko was listening to his idea now, and had gone to sit where Jack had pointed out. He gave her the bug spray without a word.

At the question of the harmonica, Jack said, "Yeah, I know a few. Smoke On The Water, Let It Be, Hurt, Gimme Shelter...any requests?" His frown would perk up a bit into a smile, albeit a tired one. He'd thought before about having jam sessions with Miko and her guitar, but hadn't been confident enough in his playing to ask. That, and Miko's idea of music could mean a headache for the base, and that didn't seem productive with all the tension lately. Maybe when they got home he'd give the thought another try, and see if Miko could come over to his place. They could jam in the garage, especially if Arcee was out patrolling - plenty of space for her guitar and sound set there. But would his Mom allow it?

These thoughts were interrupted by the cry that sent the forest into silence. Jack froze, turning his head towards where the sound and fleeing birds had come from. Cold fear prickled at the back of his neck as he nearly dropped his harmonica, eyes fixated on the darkness of the deeper woods. Every inch of him was trying not to panic.

Through a veil of forced calm, Jack slowly asked, "What was that?"

[Miko Nakadai]

Scoffing at Jack’s words of protest, Miko was quick to gently snatch the bug spray from his hand as she kept walking. She wasted no time in applying it to her arms and hands, rubbing some onto her face and neck, before screwing her face up as the smell hit her. Ugh, this stuff smelled gross, and she couldn’t help but cough, though wouldn’t hand the small container back as she moved to sit down, peering at it to see what the offensive flavor of this stuff was.

Lemon scent? Yeah right!

Peering up at Jack as he mentioned various song names, she’d laugh, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Let it be? Man, that’s such an oldies song.” she grinned, totally not surprised that was on his repertoire. Then again, they were all kind of older songs - but that one stood out in particular. “Smoke on the water could be pretty good! Don’t think I’ve eeeever heard that done on harmonica before…”

Too preoccupied with the disgusting smell of bug spray, and the conversation at hand - Miko didn’t quite hear the strange noise somewhere in the distance, or at least not enough to really pay it much mind. Being around Autobots as much as she was, she kinda tuned out a lot of the weirder non-organic sounds, Bulk sure had some weird grunts and groans, especially when he was trying to pick stuff off the floor!

She did notice the birds, though. The squawked caws, the flurried movement as they darted overhead. Maybe someone was heading this way - in which case, ugh, Jack was totally right in that sitting here was the right thing to do.

Then, the silence.

Even the bugs had stopped making noise, it seemed. The general chitter of birds going about their day had paused, and for a second everything felt… still.

Until Jack spoke.

“Uuuh. A deer, maybe? Or some kinda elk? Maybe it spooked a bird nest!”

She hadn’t heard the noise, not to the point she could recall it and identify it as anything of note, but something had spooked everything into going quiet, though she wasn't too worried. 

[Windshield]

The silence lingered as if the children were suddenly all alone in the forest. No animals, no birds, nothing. One remained undaunted, the other was terrified but he put on a brave face. His paranoia ate away at him, forced him to confront the deep dark of the woods—to stare beyond the thicket, and in it, to spot the faintest of lights—fading.

Fading fast.

Whatever it was, it was gone so soon, much like the alien sound that preceded it. The two might have been related. Whatever caused the forest to suddenly go silent could have created that subtle glow as well. After all, both came from the same direction, appeared and disappeared together.

Were the two mysterious events one and the same? And what did they mean?

If Miko was correct, perhaps those were human sounds and a human torchlight. Members of their groups looking for the two lost children where they'd last seen them—or as close to it as they were now, having wandered off so far. This would have been the better outcome. A happy ending to a brief and boring misadventure.

Of course, there was always a darker alternative—that Jack's worries may have been confirmed.

It was ever-so-hard to tell, but something moved amidst those distant trunks, swaying between them. As if one of the trees uprooted itself and crawled between its siblings. Maybe it was just his mind playing tricks on him, manifesting his fears out of the shadows and shapes of crooked branches. Maybe, just maybe, past events had rendered him unable to pass sound judgement on his surroundings.

But if he was correct...

They were not alone.

And whatever was with them, it was not human.

[Jack Darby]

Jack didn't register the lights at first. He thought it might be specks of dappled sunlight on a tree trunk, catching his eye in a certain way as to startle him. But when they quickly faded, and his brain caught up with the shape and placement of them, Jack knew it was something else. Eyes were the first thing to come to mind, and he thought of a recent nightmare. Magenta eyes had loomed in the dark, appearing before him with malevolent intent -

Jack shook his head quickly, the train of thought quickly fading. Now was not the time to freeze and stay where he was. "On second thought," he said, already beginning to move back the way they came, "we should go. You're right, Miko - we're likelier to catch up with someone if we head back the way we came. It was this way, right?"

He didn't want to make Miko think he was worrying too much. She already had loudly voiced her opinion, and was likely to move with him since it was her idea. Miko could be stubborn, thinking she could take on the world with her fierceness and bravery, but Jack doubted she could deal with something like...something like Airachnid.

It doesn't have to be her, Jack told himself. It could be something else. It could be people. Then he thought of MECH, and he hurried a little more in his walking. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure Miko was following him.

[Miko Nakadai]

Blissfully unaware of the lights among the thicket of trees, Miko seemed content to settle down on the tree root that was actually a lot comfier than it looked. While she couldn’t lean back or fully stretch out, it was nice to have somewhere solid to sit down that wasn’t the foliage covered floor.

She hadn’t cared for the noise, hadn’t put two and two together that it could be anything other than either a search party or some kind of animal, and so she sat - waiting for Jack to show off his harmonica skills.

Maybe if she’d heard it in full she would’ve been more worried by Jack’s next words, though that wasn’t to say they weren’t concerning, given how abrupt they were when only moments earlier he’d been fine.

“What? But I just sat down!” she whined in protest, watching as Jack began moving without her, causing her to scramble up to her feet.

What’d gotten him so spooked? Some scary noise that wasn’t all that scary? Maybe the silence had gotten to him, in which case what the heck, it hadn’t even been that long!

Brushing herself down from the few leaves that’d stuck to her clothes, she was quick to readjust her backpack and push off into a walk, still clutching the can of bug repellent in her hand. She wasn’t quite so hurried as Jack, though was faster than her normal, relaxed pace due to him moving quicker than was probably needed.

“Is this because of the weird noise?”

[Windshield]

When the two kids set off on their way once more, there came a rustling from those faraway trees—the ones swaying strangely in the wind and in the dark.

It was a whisper at first, but if they listened for it, they would know it was growing louder. No longer was the forest silent. Something was approaching from the thicket, still far and unseen, but getting closer, closer. Always closer, always just out of sight, and picking up the pace.

Perhaps they were arguing too loud and attracted the attention of some woodland creature or maybe it was the harmonica, though most animals that lived in the area were skittish by nature and rather avoided humans. Even most predators would rather scurry than seek out strange noises...

But whatever it was, it was faster than them and it was headed in the same direction.