Aru Shah - Jumanji: The Next Level AU

Chapter 18

Our group of heroes were still in the desert, on their camels and in awe at what had happened between Hira and Keira. As much as they wanted to talk about what had happened, Nikita had managed to bring everyone back into reality and tell them that a sandstorm was oncoming. She looked nervous, even though sand was her strength.

"Guys, we should get out of here," she had said, her eyes darting around as if someone would snipe her right then and there.

Rudy looked at her, "What's wrong? You ready to give me my skin back?"

Nikita narrowed her snake eyes at him, "No. Besides, you look much better as a girl. At least you have a fashion sense now. You definitely didn't have one before."

Rudy put a hand over his heart, "How dare you. I do too, have a fashion sense. In fact-"

Mini walked in between them, her eyes showing utter annoyance, "Be quiet, both of you," she looked to Niki, "Now, what's wrong?"

Nikita sighed, "Before I was rudely interrupted, I was going to say that there's a sandstorm on the way. It's best to get out of the desert before it's in view."

Aru drove her camel up to the three, "How do you know?"

Nikita sighed and looked at her, "One of Viper Lazybones's strength is sand. And I can feel an unrest of it in the air. It's cyclonic."

Aru turned her gaze to Mini for a translation. Mini, in turn, promptly explained that 'cyclonic' meant 'resembling a cyclone.' She climbed onto their shared camel. Aru nodded to them, "Okay then, we better get moving." She craned her neck behind her and yelled, "Acharya!"

Aiden, who was sitting on the sand a few feet away from them, turned his head towards her, "Yeah?!"

"Chart the fastest course out of the desert!" Aru yelled. Aiden nodded to her, and she turned back to the three musketeers she had first joined. Getting off the camel, she gave Mini the reins and gave the other two a mock salute before walking to the group's cartographer - AKA Aiden.

To avoid that awkwardness, Mini, Rudy, and Nikita turned their attention over to Hira and Keira - who both had only one life left. Hira was talking to Brynne, huffing about Keira being an ungrateful friend. Both Brynne and Hira were on foot since Niki was using the shared camel, and Hira wasn't atop her camel. Keira, on the other hand, sat on her camel, alone with her thoughts. Niki, having a shrivel of respect for the powerful girl, went to talk to her, leaving Rudy and Mini to socialize - since both of their camel partners were planning  escape routes.

Both Rudy and Mini looked away from each other, not knowing what to say. It was obvious to both of them that they like each other, but they didn't know who would make the first move. Rudy seemed as if he would say something, but that was cut off by Aru.

She whistled, shrill and loud, so that everyone would group around her. She assessed the group before saying, "Okay. So, apparently, there's something at the end of the desert. Aiden doesn't really know what it is, but since we're in the game, it should be another checkpoint - like the Oasis was. We just have to head there before the storm catches up to us."

Nikita gasped as she got onto Brynne's camel, "Too late. Look."

She pointed behind them, and everyone saw something that looked like a wave of dust, and it was fast. Aiden's eyes widened, "That doesn't look like a sandstorm."

Rudy screamed, "WHO CARES?! VAMOOSE, PEOPLE! GO! I'M TOO PRETTY TO DIE!"

Brynne smacked him, "Be quiet."

Mini let Aru take control of the camel, and the latter reeled the camel to face the direction they were supposed to go, "No, no. He has a point."

Rudy and his camel came to a stop next to her, with Rudy yelling, "I KNOW RIGHT?!"

Aiden hopped onto Rudy's camel, pushing his cousin back so he could steer. Rudy pouted, but was a little too frightened by the sandstorm to say anything. Aiden nodded to Aru and the others before lightly whipping the camels and speaking the command word. Without another thought, the camels sped through the desert at 40 miles an hour - hardly enough to outrun a sandstorm.

Yet, the group managed to do it, with few casualties. And by casualties, it meant losing socks and shoes. The storm died down right when the group crossed the border of the desert - as if an invisible wall stopped it from moving any further.

Rudy jumped off the camel and hugged the floor, closing his eyes and sighing, "Sweet ground. Sweet, solid, sandless ground. I'm never leaving you again."

Nikita looked back to where the storm previously was, "The game made the storm stop. Like a wall or something."

Rudy, who was still on the ground, fist pumped, "Hooray for video game physics."

Aiden face-palmed and grabbed Rudy by the back of his girly shirt. He yanked the Rudy up, effectively making the latter dizzy due to lack of balance. Dusting off his hands, Aiden checked the map and analyzed where they needed to go. He briefly checked which direction the wind was going before pointing to the direction of their next checkpoint, "Over there's our next stop."

No one spoke a word as they grabbed all their belongings from the camels. Mini, being a zoologist, felt bad for the creatures and unleashed them into the desert again. The group watched as the camels walked through the invisible barrier and out of sight. Using the map, Aiden swiftly guided the group through the unfamiliar terrain. Soon, they found themselves at the weirdest checkpoint they had ever seen: Floating Rope Bridge Canyon.