Aru Shah - Jumanji: The Next Level AU

Chapter 12

Aru was walking forward, glancing back at the group from time to time. She momentarily saw Rudy being given a stern talking to by the one and only Aiden Acharya. Of course, she didn't take to mind, thinking it was just another one of their little arguments.

She thought about what Rudy said about not being able to take back what she said. She wished she could. She didn't hate Boo. She knew for sure that it wasn't his fault that her mom died. She just wasn't in the right headspace at the moment. As they walked, a weary traveler on a camel caught her eye.

She stopped in her tracks and turned to the group who looked at her with a mixture of fear and curiosity. She narrowed her eyes and was about to say something sarcastic, but she pushed it down. No one needed to hear her opinion at that point in time.

Rudy raised an eyebrow, "Something wrong, Shah?"

She shrugged, "We need camels. They're the best method of transportation if we're ever going to get out of the desert."

Everyone sighed collectively and Mini asked, "What do we do now then?"

Aru looked around, "We need to split up, but stay in groups at all times. This place is sketchy. Thieves everywhere, so you always need to keep an eye out."

Suddenly, whirring was heard through the streets of the Oasis. The gang looked around, trying to place the sound to anything it might have been coming from. Mini's eyes widened when she realized it was a biker. An ordinary one, yes, but she was still terrified.

Everyone looked at her, and before she could say anything, the biker sped past her, grabbing her backpack in the process. Mini squealed before stepping back into the group, making no move to get her backpack back. Rudy face-palmed, "I guess I know where a few of us have to go now."

Aru nodded, "I'll split us up. Aiden and Rudy will go get Mini's backpack. Mini and I will get the camels. The rest of you, stock up on any essentials we might need for the rest of the game."

Everyone nodded to her, and sped off in different directions. Aiden and Rudy ran to catch up to the biker so now, Aru was left with a very frightened Mini. That was never good, in any situation.

She sighed and massaged her temples, "There should be a camel shop we can get some camels from. You have any money?"

Mini stomped her foot, recovering from her frightened shock, "You think I have money? Even after my backpack was stolen? MY BACKPACK?!"

Aru snickered, "Fine then." She cracked her knuckles menacingly, smiling. Her eyes glinted under her hood, "Time to do it the old fashioned way."

Mini narrowed her eyes and gasped at the revelation, "You don't mean, we're going to-"

Aru nodded, still smiling, "Steal, Mini. We're gonna steal some camels."

----

Aiden and Rudy were still behind the biker, who had now slung Mini's backpack over his shoulder. They saw the biker go through an alleyway, and disappear. Rudy sprinted over to the alley in hopes of finding the biker in a dead end. He got one of his wishes. The alley was a dead alright, but there was no biker in sight - only a passageway. It was a passageway that was too small for a motorcycle to go through, so how did he vanish like that?

Aiden caught up to Rudy, catching his breath in the process. Rudy was about to walk through the passage when Aiden grabbed his wrist and stopped him, "We weren't done talking back there."

Rudy rolled his eyes, "I get it. You like her. She's yours. End of story."

Aiden narrowed his eyes, "That's the gist of it, but imma lecture you until that crucial piece of info melds itself into your head to the point where you can make a song out of it."