Terminus Part I: The Journey There (Draft)

Chapter 31: Rebels

 On the fifteenth of February, after two days of following a brachiosaur, though not necessarily keeping up with it, the detective pirates reached what seemed to be a sort of camp, deep in the southwestern part of the forest. The thing that immediately surprised them, however, was not that such a place existed; it was that following the dinosaur had taken them two days.

Before them lay various structures, each appearing to be different in style, as if whoever lived here had no desire for uniformity in design. Tents and treehouses were interspersed between stone temples and fortresses. On the outskirts, one could observe gates with large doors, with dinosaurs going in and out with regularity. The various megaphones across the place were making announcements.

"What is this place?" asked Cameron.

"No clue, but I don't think they know we're here yet," guessed Milangelo.

"Well, if that's the case, where should we go to let them know that we are here?" asked James.

"You're the captain, why don't you know? And also, why would you want to do that?" asked Brandon.

"I have a reason," began Persimmon. "Because I, for one, am not gonna sit around hiding while we starve to death because this crew thought it would be a good idea to chase a dinosaur for two days!"

"If you were so concerned, why didn't you say anything earlier, Persimmon?" asked Karnilla.

"Because running through the jungle made so much noise, that I couldn't hear the sound of my own voice!"

"Hey, wait, Brandon, you said you almost died, but why would that be a problem?" asked Patricia, in the midst of the others' argument, but not exactly interrupting it.

"That wasn't exactly the issue, because if I died impaled on a rock, the healing process would be about as painful as dying and then I'd either be stranded on that same rock or fall into the ocean. Can we not talk about this right now?"

Meanwhile, the others continued to discuss their next course of action. "Well, whatever we do, we make this decision together," said James. "So, everyone, I want you to say, in one sentence, what you want to do now that we've found–"

"So, who the hell are you lot?" asked a voice.

James turned around to find a well-built man with sunglasses and what appeared to be some sort of casual military gear standing behind him.

"Hello there, my name is James Baron, my friends and I were just curious about the brachiosaur that was walking through the forest."

"Oh, you were, were you? Well, I shall take you to the chief, and he should be able to determine who you truly are."

"Excellent! A good old take me to your leader-style adventure in some bizarre camp in the middle of the jungle," said Patricia.

The crew was led to a group of tents in the middle of the camp. Hidden within an unusually large tent was a cabin. Their guide, the man who had spotted them introduced the cabin as being the ground zero of the Rebel Hideout.

They walked in to the cabin, to see a man clad in armour.

"Hello there," said the man. "So, what's the meaning of all this?" he asked calmly.

"These people are interested in the dinosaurs," said the man who had escorted the pirates.

"And how so?" asked the man in the cabin.

"We're not from around here, and they look cool," said Brandon.

The man continued to ask questions in order to determine who he was talking to. Once he was satisfied that the group of pirates were no threat to his cause, he introduced himself.