Jungle Love

"Now no one touch a thing while we're out there unless I say otherwise. Does everybody understand?" Dr.Grace said sternly. A couple of the Avatar team members had a timid mist about them as if their thought of being eaten by overgrown plants had projected itself. Thalia Bianchi, the handy one of the group, tried her hardest not to smile; she couldn't help but love when Grace got all serious. It always made her wonder how she could make her melt, and that she'd be the only one who could. The members all got in their pods and were transported into their avatars.

The helicopter blades thwipped as they flew to a small clearing not far from the Hallelujah Mountains. "Keep the chopper here Trudy. Just in case someone gets too scared…or half eaten because they do something stupid." Grace told her, Trudy chuckling at the last part. The group spent a while looking at huge flowers and tall, twisted tree trunks; some had flagged down floating plants with honey-like nectars inside. "Hey Thalia" a member named Rufus said in a low voice, his Indian accent very prevalent "You wanna go check out that cool plant right there?" She lowered the binoculars she was using to spy on a bird-like creature and looked where he was pointing "But Dr.Grace said not to go wandering or touch things without her say so." She replied with a slight Italian accent. "C'mon, please? It looks so cool, but I want someone to go with me, and you're the only one who won't rat me out the second you're asked whose fault it is. Please?" "Okay fine, but make this quick, the rest of the group's already moving to the next spot on the route."

They came to an odd looking plant that looked like an evolved form of a venus fly trap. "Are you sure we should be poking around something that looks like that? I mean fly traps are carnivorous you know." "Oh give me a break Thal. The thing's closed. It's probably already got something in it." "…Probably?" He ignored her response as he got closer. "Whoa cool!" he said, moving a few leaves out of the way of the plant's base "These things look like diamonds or something!" He yanked one from its spot and went to show Thalia, who didn't want to get anywhere near the area. "See?" he said with a smile "It's gorgeous!" "Wow, that is pretty" she agreed. Her eyes squinted and ears looked like industrial satellite dishes as they moved "You…You hear anything?" Rufus' ears perked as he pinned where the noise was coming from "Uhh…It's the plant." "How do you--?" "—It's the plant! It's right here!" She looked behind him to see that a vine had wrapped itself around his left leg "Oh shit!" she shouted "Uhh..uhh! Stay there! I'll go get help!" Thalia ran back to the trail they were at with the group "Crap! I totally forgot where the next stop even was!" she said to herself "Uhh—uhh—uhh. What do I do? What do I do!?" she stammered with adrenaline, her accent became thicker. She felt her throat "The communicator! Oh duh" She spoke as she held her fingers to the two circles on her collar "Dr.Grace!?" she blushed hard, knowing this would make her mad "Rufus and'a I are a bit to the left of where'a those birds are we looked at a while ago! He needs help!" "What!? I told everyone to stay with the group dammit!" Grace shouted "I'a know! I know! Just please help us!"

"Aaaaah! Help meeee!" Rufus yelped as he dangled upside down over the group. "We have to get him out before he's eaten!" Grace said "You two run around it and try to distract it. The rest of you help me take down that vine and pry him out." Everyone did as instructed, Thalia being one of the distracters. "Rrrahhh!!" Grace and a few others grunted as they freed Rufus from his entanglement. One of the distracters threw their backpack up into the air, making the plant think it was food and snatch it up. "Come on people! Let's move!" Grace ordered as someone from the group helped her walk Rufus back to the chopper. "Take him" she told a woman to her left as they got to the chopper. "Dr.Grace?" Thalia said as she caught up to her. "You! Tell me what happened right now!" she commanded as she whirled around. "I'a uhh—It's'a not…It's not'a his fault! It was mine! I'a wanted to look at the plant, but'a didn't want to go alone. I'm sorry Doctore, really" "It was your fault?" Grace asked with a hint of confusion. "Yeah." Grace sighed "Just get in the chopper."