14/100 OB Tribe
OB Tribe
Author: MBSugarSweet
Rating: G - PG
Character(s): Mal/River
Set: #3
Prompt: #14 Tightly Coiled Piece of Metal That’s Fun For Everyone
Summary: The gang tries to find River before it's too late
Mal looked down at the drawing in his hand, navigating through the jungle. If someone had told him four months prior that he would be following a map drawn by a little psychic furball, he never would have believed it. Fate had a funny sense of humor. One minute he was preparing himself to tell the crew that he’d be leaving after the mission was over, and the next Mamoru was scurrying up to him and dragging a piece of paper with her that changed his mind completely.
“Are we almost there?” Simon whispered, looking over Mal’s shoulder at the drawing. Mal nodded, pointing with the barrel of his gun to where they were. Mamoru had drawn River just around another bend in the forest. They just had to get to her.
“What’s that sound?” Kaylee whispered, trembling.
“Chanting,” Zoe said grimly. “Oingo boingo.”
“Oingo boingo?” Jayne repeated in disbelief. “What the hell is that?”
Simon gave a start. “Oingo boingo?” he repeated, his face paling further in the moonlight. He turned to Mal. “We have to hurry,” he urged, taking off ahead of Mal. “They’re going to kill her. Soon!”
Mal didn’t have to be told twice. He led the others as silently and as quickly as he could over the forest ground. He could sense the creatures watching in the night, studying them to decide which one to pick off and eat. They were prey in the jungle, not the hunters. He didn’t care, as long as they got River out alive.
“What the hell is oingo boingo?” Jayne repeated impatiently.
Simon looked scared. Just the sight alone frightened Mal. “It’s a chant the OB tribe uses to call the Eater.”
“English, Doc,” Jayne whispered, as Zoe hushed them.
Simon continued whispering, but his voice trembled. “The OB tribe. They’re supposed to be extinct. For a long time the Alliance believed that the Reevers were part of the OB tribe-usually found in jungles and rainforests. They skin people alive and eat part of their insides while the person lives in agony. Before the person dies, the OB tribe head cuts out the person’s internal organs and feeds them to the Eater.”
“What the hell is an Eater?” Jayne demanded, looking like he was tempted to flee.
“I-it’s part of the arachnid family. It looks like a giant spider.”
“G-giant spider?” Kaylee repeated, swallowing hard.
The chanting stopped.
Mal’s heart did, too. The crew of Serenity all looked around at each other, knowing just how bad of a sign that was.
A moment later, River’s ear-piercing scream shook the jungle.
“Move!” Mal shouted at his crew, withdrawing his second gun. They swarmed into a clearing in the jungle, where River lay naked on a wooden platform, part of the skin on her stomach peeled back. A man stood beside her, his hands doing the dirty work, while a tribe of at least fifty men stood around and watched.
“See this?” Mal demanded, his voice loud as it carried throughout the clearing. The OB tribe head or whoever the hell he was stared at the gun in Mal’s hand. “This is a tightly coiled piece of metal that’s fun for everyone. You release her right now or you’ll find just what it does.”
He didn’t give the man a chance to move. He shot him in the forehead, watching as the man fell backwards. The tribesmen all began to call out in a panic.
“No women! Keep your eyes out!” Zoe shouted.
Mal fired a path through the men to River. Simon was right behind him. When they reached her at the wood, her eyes were open and alert.
“How you doing, little albatross?” Mal asked her, glancing down at her just once before glaring at the men who had done this to her. They were standing back and keeping their distance, though one of the men was eyeing River’s stomach hungrily.
Mal shot him.
“Stomach hurts,” River whispered.
Simon prepared an injection. “This will help with the pain,” he told her softly, soothingly. Mal glanced down at her to reassure himself that she was okay. Then he turned to the rest of the Serenity crew, who had all the men at gunpoint, except for Zoe, who was still scanning the surrounding area for the women and children.
They were going to do this again, and Mal knew it. These ‘men’ would kidnap helpless girls in the middle of the night and bring them back here to this awful jungle and torture them and eat them alive and then sacrifice them to this Eater creature. All because they lived in fear of it.
He would be happy to rid them of their fear.
“Kill them,” Mal ordered flatly, shooting one of the men who dared to glance at River’s unconscious body. “All of them.”
The Serenity crew opened fire.
~End 14/100~
Two chapters today, because I'm in a GREAT mood! I just got a new job! YAY! I'm SOOO excited!!!
Author: MBSugarSweet
Rating: G - PG
Character(s): Mal/River
Set: #3
Prompt: #14 Tightly Coiled Piece of Metal That’s Fun For Everyone
Summary: The gang tries to find River before it's too late
Mal looked down at the drawing in his hand, navigating through the jungle. If someone had told him four months prior that he would be following a map drawn by a little psychic furball, he never would have believed it. Fate had a funny sense of humor. One minute he was preparing himself to tell the crew that he’d be leaving after the mission was over, and the next Mamoru was scurrying up to him and dragging a piece of paper with her that changed his mind completely.
“Are we almost there?” Simon whispered, looking over Mal’s shoulder at the drawing. Mal nodded, pointing with the barrel of his gun to where they were. Mamoru had drawn River just around another bend in the forest. They just had to get to her.
“What’s that sound?” Kaylee whispered, trembling.
“Chanting,” Zoe said grimly. “Oingo boingo.”
“Oingo boingo?” Jayne repeated in disbelief. “What the hell is that?”
Simon gave a start. “Oingo boingo?” he repeated, his face paling further in the moonlight. He turned to Mal. “We have to hurry,” he urged, taking off ahead of Mal. “They’re going to kill her. Soon!”
Mal didn’t have to be told twice. He led the others as silently and as quickly as he could over the forest ground. He could sense the creatures watching in the night, studying them to decide which one to pick off and eat. They were prey in the jungle, not the hunters. He didn’t care, as long as they got River out alive.
“What the hell is oingo boingo?” Jayne repeated impatiently.
Simon looked scared. Just the sight alone frightened Mal. “It’s a chant the OB tribe uses to call the Eater.”
“English, Doc,” Jayne whispered, as Zoe hushed them.
Simon continued whispering, but his voice trembled. “The OB tribe. They’re supposed to be extinct. For a long time the Alliance believed that the Reevers were part of the OB tribe-usually found in jungles and rainforests. They skin people alive and eat part of their insides while the person lives in agony. Before the person dies, the OB tribe head cuts out the person’s internal organs and feeds them to the Eater.”
“What the hell is an Eater?” Jayne demanded, looking like he was tempted to flee.
“I-it’s part of the arachnid family. It looks like a giant spider.”
“G-giant spider?” Kaylee repeated, swallowing hard.
The chanting stopped.
Mal’s heart did, too. The crew of Serenity all looked around at each other, knowing just how bad of a sign that was.
A moment later, River’s ear-piercing scream shook the jungle.
“Move!” Mal shouted at his crew, withdrawing his second gun. They swarmed into a clearing in the jungle, where River lay naked on a wooden platform, part of the skin on her stomach peeled back. A man stood beside her, his hands doing the dirty work, while a tribe of at least fifty men stood around and watched.
“See this?” Mal demanded, his voice loud as it carried throughout the clearing. The OB tribe head or whoever the hell he was stared at the gun in Mal’s hand. “This is a tightly coiled piece of metal that’s fun for everyone. You release her right now or you’ll find just what it does.”
He didn’t give the man a chance to move. He shot him in the forehead, watching as the man fell backwards. The tribesmen all began to call out in a panic.
“No women! Keep your eyes out!” Zoe shouted.
Mal fired a path through the men to River. Simon was right behind him. When they reached her at the wood, her eyes were open and alert.
“How you doing, little albatross?” Mal asked her, glancing down at her just once before glaring at the men who had done this to her. They were standing back and keeping their distance, though one of the men was eyeing River’s stomach hungrily.
Mal shot him.
“Stomach hurts,” River whispered.
Simon prepared an injection. “This will help with the pain,” he told her softly, soothingly. Mal glanced down at her to reassure himself that she was okay. Then he turned to the rest of the Serenity crew, who had all the men at gunpoint, except for Zoe, who was still scanning the surrounding area for the women and children.
They were going to do this again, and Mal knew it. These ‘men’ would kidnap helpless girls in the middle of the night and bring them back here to this awful jungle and torture them and eat them alive and then sacrifice them to this Eater creature. All because they lived in fear of it.
He would be happy to rid them of their fear.
“Kill them,” Mal ordered flatly, shooting one of the men who dared to glance at River’s unconscious body. “All of them.”
The Serenity crew opened fire.
~End 14/100~
Two chapters today, because I'm in a GREAT mood! I just got a new job! YAY! I'm SOOO excited!!!