Free Web NovelChapter 121: Chapter 120 - Settling In
Point-of-View: Aurora Pretorius
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This is nice...laying down on the thick, green grass, a cool, pleasant breeze blowing across, and the chirping of crickets and croaking of frogs echoing out in the background...I’m in bliss right now, with Dot’s head resting on my stomach and purring.
"Wow, you sure look peaceful and relaxed...mind if I join you?" Asked Alexis with a smile, as she approached me.
"Go right ahead," I replied with a nod, letting out a content sigh as the breeze picked up a bit. ƒгeewebnovёl.com
It was the 6th of July, the fifth day since we came here. And I was absolutely loving it in this place.
Alexis and Inoka were pretty apprehensive for a couple of days, but they’ve gotten used to it and settled in already. I guess the RVs with all the amenities and stuff helped with that.
It’s been raining a lot here these days, but it’s also super peaceful and relaxing. And training here is really fun. The others asked me to help them with physical training, so I suggested jumping across branches and trees, to help improve their mobility.
If someone falls and gets hurt, Inoka can heal them right away. And, well, most of them have required that multiple times over the last couple of days, him included. Dieter and I are the only ones who haven’t fallen.
I’m pretty used to this kind of stuff, so it was easy for me, and he was an acrobat before being captured by Harmony, so he’s got some really good balance and reflexes too.
"Yeah, it looks like it’ll probably rain soon," Came Inoka’s voice, as the guys got back from training, looking pretty exhausted.
"Hey, do you think we could go to the nearest town or city and explore?" Asked Zoraiz eagerly, "I kinda want to see what this country is like."
"Well, Neo said we should keep a low profile for a while, so I don’t think we should. And honestly, I don’t want to see any other people," He grumbled in response. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
"They’re your fellow countrymen though, so why not?" Inquired Dieter curiously.
"What does that have to do with anything? I’m really not the type who has any semblance of national pride or whatever," Inoka shrugged indifferently.
"I get that, though my circumstances are a bit different...I’ve never thought of America as my home country, but I’ve never been to Pakistan, where my mother migrated from, so I can’t think of it as my home country either. But you lived here for your entire life except for the last year or so," Pointed out Zoraiz thoughtfully.
"Yeah, and I have a lot more bad memories than good ones," He retorted dryly.
"I guess that’s fair. I’m not all that attached to Germany myself," Mused Dieter thoughtfully.
"What about you two?" Zoraiz asked us, as they reached the spot we were lazing at.
"I think I did feel a bit of national pride at some point, but it stopped mattering to me after a while during my time living with cheetahs in Namibia," I replied, after mulling it over.
"Ugh, go shower, you guys are all sweaty and gross," Alexis groaned, as she tore up some grass and tossed it in their direction...right as the wind changed direction and ended up blowing all the grass onto her face, "Ew, it’s in my mouth!"
"Heh, nice, that’s what she said," Smirked Inoka in response.
"Careful, your Mike’s showing," She muttered dryly.
"Nah, I made jokes like that all the time even before I met him," He shrugged smugly.
"Yeah, I bet. Wait, that doesn’t make sense...didn’t you live alone for, like, five years with no friends and minimal human contact?" She frowned suspiciously.
"I mean like on online posts and stuff," He huffed in response, his eyebrow twitching slightly with an annoyed look on his face.
Think she might have touched a sore spot right there...
"Hm, guess that makes sense. Okay, seriously, go shower, guys...you all really stink. Aurora, back me up here, your sense of smell is way stronger than ours, after all," Grumbled Alexis as she tugged on the corner of my top.
"Well, uh...I can dull my senses if I want to, so...," I replied with a sheepish grin.
"See? You guys smell so bad that she had to block off her sense of smell!"
"I didn’t go that far-..."
"You know, it’s not like you two don’t get all sweaty and stink after you train," Huffed Inoka indignantly.
"Hey, I didn’t say anything, don’t drag me into this. And besides, sweating is a normal bodily function, I know I smell when I sweat, it’s not a big deal," I pointed out with a shrug in response.
"Heh, now you two look really immature for fighting over this," Smirked Dieter at Inoka and Alexis.
"Really don’t want to hear that from a kid," She muttered with a grumble.
"You’re barely five months older than me, plus I’m like, three inches taller than you. And, you know, you’re way more immature," He shot back with a smug look on his face.
She turned eighteen last month, and he’ll be the same this November.
"Yeah, but you’ve got that baby face thing going on for you," She countered with an annoyed look on her face.
"Well, now, you certainly didn’t deny being immature. Acknowledging that is a sign of maturity, you should be really proud of yourself, way to go!" He grinned as he began clapping condescendingly, before quickly teleporting a few meters away as she sat up with an irritated look on her face.
"You know that he’s trying to aggravate you, right? If you just brush his comments off, he’ll stop," Pointed out Zoraiz.
"Yeah, I know that!" She snapped, before flopping onto the grass and rolling away while muttering to herself.
"She’s as fiery as ever, isn’t she?" Snickered Inoka wryly.
"Half the time, it’s your fault, you know," Sighed Zoraiz in response.
"Well, yeah, because it’s funny."
"I know, right?" Agreed Dieter with a grin, as he teleported back over here.
"You guys are awful," I chimed in with a shake of my head, even though I did kinda agree that it’s funny.
But I shouldn’t encourage them, so I’ll keep that to myself.
"Well, anyway, we really should wash up. I’m positively drenched in sweat," Grinned Inoka wistfully, as picked at his shirt, which was clinging to his skin.
"You know, I kinda want to take a shower under the waterfall...Aurora, you’ve bathed in a waterfall before, right? What’s it like?" Zoraiz asked me curiously.
"Hm...it’s pretty nice, the strong water pressure beating down on you feels good. But you have to make sure your nose is clear of the water, otherwise you’ll end up snorting up water, and that’s pretty unpleasant," I informed him.
"You know, you probably shouldn’t talk about taking baths in front of guys...the way we’re wired, we’ll inadvertently end up imagining it-...ow!" Smirked Inoka teasingly, before I swung my leg out and kicked his knee with a huff.
"I can’t control what people may or may not imagine, but you don’t need to say it out loud, you know," I grumbled with an exasperated pout.
"Well, you’re just so innocent about this stuff that I can’t help it," He shrugged with a sheepish grin.
"Hey, check it out, looks like a bunch of religions are losing a ton of followers, ever since Dracula devastated that island," Remarked Dieter, as he took out his phone and scrolling through it.
"Wait a sec...did you have your phone in your pocket the whole time we were training?" Inquired Zoraiz in surprise.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, I kinda forgot to take it out beforehand, and by the time I noticed, we were already about halfway through training, so I just left it there," He shrugged in response.
"You, uh, should probably be more careful with your phone," Inoka advised him dryly.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever."
"It looks like there isn’t anything new going viral...guess Chaos has gone quiet after Dracula’s attack on that island," Said Zoraiz, as he peered over Dieter’s shoulder.
"Hey, careful, you’re gonna jinx it," Replied Inoka warily.
The fact that Dracula showed up at the Antarctican base using a portal pretty much confirmed that he’s working with Chaos. That’s probably also how he got to the island and killed all those people.
It’s only been a few days since we fought him, but with each day that passed with nothing happening, I only grew more nervous...what exactly is Chaos planning to do next?
We know that they want to establish a world where Meta-Humans can live freely without having to be in hiding, but with everything that’s happened lately, isn’t it safe to say that that’s been accomplished already?
Somehow, I don’t think that Anarchy person is just going to stop...they can’t be satisfied already, that wouldn’t be very chaotic of them. Surely they’ve got more up their sleeve, right?
Or...maybe I’m just overthinking this? Maybe Chaos isn’t as big a threat as I’d initially assumed? Maybe I’m just being paranoid...but still, I can’t shake this feeling that something’s about to happen, that they’re not done yet, not by a long shot. I hope I’m proven wrong on that.
But, unfortunately...it would only be a few more hours before I’m proven right, and my suspicions validated...
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