'Falcon' was really only the nickname of the pilot whose parents once came to Brazil from Kansas, United States of America... In reality, his eyesight was worse than that of Mousse when he didn't wear his glasses.
But for some reason, Larry Hawkins always was blessed with very good luck... he always managed to land his plane safely... even if all of his passengers swore to themselves to never fly again with that guy.
Rei had similar thoughts as they were flying over the Amazonian jungle in Brazil... The plane called 'Scrappy' was always tilting like it was drunk, and every now and then the engine would let loose with a loud bang, accompanied by a big, black cloud that came out of it's backside.
"I'm afraid I miscalculated the flying distance between town and your valley..." Falcon suddenly mumbled. "I'm afraid we're out of fuel... I'm afraid we have to land."
"What a surprise," Rei mumbled. After sending a quick prayer to heaven, she asked: "Is there any place where we can land?"
"Don't worry," the pilot said while looking closely, VERY closely for such a place. "I know there is a small village of natives nearby... I'm sure we can land there. Hey, maybe they've even got some fuel."
After several minutes, Falcon suddenly gestured downwards. "There! There's the village!"
"Thank you," Rei grumbled. "I already saw it 5 minutes ago..."
"Please sit down and fasten your seat belts, we're about to laaaand..."
And while shouting 'laaaand', the plane suddenly dropped down from the sky like a rock... at least that's what it felt like to the two girls from Japan.
Nabiki and Rei screamed while the ground came closer and closer, and suddenly, with another loud 'bang' of Scrappy, the plane made a small 'jump' in mid-air, touched the ground briefly, bounced up again and got stopped by a big tree.
Falcon turned around in his seat and grinned. "See?" He snickered. "I told ya I would bring you down safely."
----
After getting out of the plane, Rei quietly asked Nabiki: "Um, I hate to ask, but... Do you mind if, once this is all over, we return to town on foot?"
"I'm starting to believe that would be much safer," mumbled Nabiki. She was still holding her stomach after that drop from the skies.
While Falcon was busy with his plane, several of the tribespeople approached them. An old man smiled and stepped forward.
"Welcome to our village," he said in heavily accented English. When he saw their surprised faces, he laughed. "Yes, I admit it's unusual for people of such a village to speak English... but several years ago, a man from the northern continent visited our village and stayed here for a while. He taught us to speak his language."
Rei, who also spoke a little English, asked him: "Excuse me, but we are searching for a certain valley. Do you know of one that is nearby?"
The old man's face paled when he heard that. "The only valley you can mean is north of here, only a day's travel on foot... But, let me give you some advice: Don't go there! Scorpion Valley it is called, translated from our language. It is a place of horror, where no one ever came back from. Even the bravest men from our village don't go there. I warn you, don't go!"
Nabiki and Rei exchanged a quick glance. "Scorpion Valley, huh?" Nabiki asked.
"This has to be the valley Sting meant," Rei nodded.
She turned back to the old man. "I'm sorry, but it is very important for us to get there. I'm afraid we cannot tell you everything about our motivations, but we came all this way to find something that must be hidden there."
The old man sighed and nodded. "I understand... I respect your decision and won't stop you on your way... although I will fear for your safety. Please, accept our hospitality and stay in our village for the night... we will give you something to eat, and if you like, you can use one of our boats to travel on the river tomorrow. You will reach the valley much quicker that way."
Rei bowed. "I thank you and we accept your generous offer."
When the old man told his people to prepare everything for their guests, Nabiki looked at Rei. "Wow, you surely have a good way of dealing with people." She sounded impressed.
Rei smiled. "Thanks, but I think that's part of being a Shinto priestess... I have much contact with the people who visit our temple, you know?"
----
That evening, Rei and Nabiki were eating with the old man (the village's elder) and his family. Falcon was still working on his 'Scrappy', but the girls didn't really miss his company.
"You know, it's really nice to have guests in our small village after such a long time," the elder smiled. "Just yesterday, another small group of travellers came through here. They also were searching for the valley. Perhaps you know them?"
"Other people were looking for Scorpion Valley?" Rei wondered. "Now that's strange..."
Quietly, Nabiki whispered to her: "You don't suppose those guys... whoever they are... know something about the Zodiac Amulet, do you?"
Sting looked out of his bag. "Who knows? There could be several people that would like to harm the Sailor Senshi... perhaps some evil beings that somehow learned of the amulets?"
Nabiki quickly pushed Sting back and closed the bag. "I thought I told you to stay in there... Do you think those nice people will still help us if they see a talking scorpion?"
"Sorry, ma'am," came the muffled voice of the slow-witted scorpion.
See other episodes by Shritistrang
(Posted Sun, 27 Aug 2006 14:15)
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