Aisulu (Adventure in Action 2024)

Chapter 1 -action prompt /The boots

In a hidden rainforest, you and your team must use your skills to survive. Will you overcome the dangers or fall victim to the lurking predators?

***

The dimension portal flashed blue, and Aisulu and her six companions found themselves in a jungle.

"It's thirty degrees Celsius," Aisulu said, studying her instrument.

Zack took out his notebook to make notes about the location according to protocol. "So, this is the sixth jump, right? What about the humidity?" he asked while searching for his pen.

"Ninety-nine percent," Aisulu replied, then looked around like the others to see where they ended up.

Murphy, their leader, placed his hands on his hips and dictated, "Jungle, with all its characteristics, or rather write, dense vegetation, creatures... Do you see anything other than plants?"

Zara, the biologist, took a step forward, reaching out her hand to move a considerable leaf aside. "I swear, it looked like a pair of eyes were staring at me just now."

"Where?" Paul, the team's doctor, asked, and the others gathered around Zara with interest, then stepped back in horror as a black quadruped animal faced them.

"What should I write about the creatures? Leopard?" Zack asked from behind them.

"Write that it's leopard-like because its skin looks metallic or seems to be..." Zara replied.

"Okay. What about lighting conditions? It is semi-darkness, ok. Atmosphere and mood?" Zack looked up from his notes.

"Well..." Zara began. "Judging by the animal's forward-leaning torso and flattening ears, it seems ready to attack. So, in terms of mood, I'd say we're in danger."

"How serious do you judge the danger? Should I initiate a new gate?" Aisulu asked.

"Look!" Sofia, the psychologist, pointed behind them. "It's not alone; there's another one just like it over there."

As they looked around more carefully, they saw four black creatures staring at them with gleaming eyes, ready to attack at any moment.

"Initiate a new one immediately; let's get out of here!" Zack ordered.

Aisulu tinkered with her instrument and then said tremblingly, "Four minutes for the recharge!"

"How much? Don't annoy us!" their leader snapped.

Paul, the doctor, didn't conceal his reproach: "I told you we needed a soldier in the team! What good is a communication manager, for example, in cases like this?"

"We're on a low budget, you know. I'm responsible for communication and technical matters!" Aisulu replied.

"I didn't mean to be rude, don't take it personally, but seriously, we should at least bring guns with us; we need to consider such cases when we can't study the foreign culture and the language!"

"You're right," nodded Murphy. "But let's focus on this now. We need to solve this problem. Do you think we can stall for four minutes?"

"Now it is three minutes!" said Aisulu uncomfortably, squirming as she couldn't do anything in this tight spot, unable to accelerate the counter.

"They're getting closer, and they can jump at any moment; judging by their muscles, this distance is not a challenge for them!" replied Zara, edging closer to the others, who huddled together, trying to cram into as small a space as possible.

"We need to distract their attention somehow! Maybe with a sound effect?" suggested Murphy.

Aisulu put the dimension control device under her arm and took out her phone. She searched for a song.

"Something loud and fast! Hurry, because one of them is already showing its fangs!" Jeremy urged.

"Natural phenomena?" asked Zack, still doing his notes.

"Leave the list now!" replied Murphy in horror.

Aisulu quickly pressed her phone and turned the volume up to maximum. Soon, the rapid beat of drums could be heard, starting the music of a Bharatanatyam dance. The monsters stopped for a moment, but only for a moment, and then started moving towards them again, showing even more teeth.

"What if you danced? Maybe that would buy us some time, too!" pleaded Zara.

"What? Are you crazy? I don't have my dancer's outfit with me! And besides, what a stupid idea!" Aisulu objected. But she saw that the situation was worsening, and they were still at two and a half minutes. She handed her device and phone to the trembling Zara beside her and removed the ankle bells from her backpack. She took off her boots and tied the bells to both ankles. This was the only thing from the dancer's outfit she had with her.

She stood in front of the team, put her hands in a prayer position, squatted down, touched the ground with her hands, then brought her index finger to her lips, stood up, brought her hands together in prayer again, then waited for the right rhythm in the song to start circling the team, performing the piece with hand and foot movements.

The monsters stopped, somewhat bewildered, watching as one of their prey annoyingly flailed their hands and stomped their feet with the bells, creating incredibly annoying frequencies.

Zara exclaimed jubilantly, "Twenty more seconds!" then, as it reached ten, she counted down loudly. Aisulu continued to dance the piece tirelessly while the monsters remained motionless.

The dimension portal flashed blue before them, and everyone jumped through. The black monsters couldn't make sense of the blue light and how their dinner had turned into two cylindrical pieces of leather. Within seconds, Aisulu's brown boots were shredded into tiny pieces.