CHAPTER II

Thursday came around faster than Cameron expected, but she successfully packed everything she had (which admittedly wasn't much) and managed to drag it all to the private runway, where her ride and another woman were waiting.

"I've never been on a private j—" she began to say.

"Plane."

Cameron blinked.

The green-and-black-haired woman stared at back at her blankly, arms crossed and a cigarette sticking out of her mouth.

"...before..." Cameron said cautiously, frowning. "...Are you the pilot, Miss...?"

"Snake," the pilot replied simply.

Cameron almost scowled at her blunt tone, but opted to put on a curious smile instead. If I'm gonna be a counselor, might as well practice being friendly, she thought before gushing, "Interesting name! Does it mean anything?"

When the woman didn't respond, Cameron began packing her things onto the plane as she went on, "Because I have never heard of someone naming a child something like that."

The pilot removed the cigarette from her mouth and drawled, "Save the jaw-flappin' fer later, hunny. I don't wanna fly with a headache." She dropped the cigarette and stomped on it with a high-heeled boot.

"Oh!" Cameron exclaimed, startled by the vicious action. "I—I'm sorry! I'm just a bit anxious... going to a new place and everything, y'know?" She chuckled nervously, backing onto the plane.

"Sure." Snake put her hands in her pockets and ascended the boarding ramp. "Just put a sock in it 'til we get there." She rolled her eyes and muttered, "I tell ya, they get weirder every time I do this run. Hope she don't need no AC or nothin'."

Cameron exhaled as she sat down in the cabin, staring out the window. "I hope this was a good idea," she murmured, watching the city drift away as the plane taxied along the runway before lifting into the air.

-

KayCee's exaggeratedly-large ghostly form reclined on a cliff face, watching the plane soar by with a grin on her face and echoing Cameron's next statement.

-

"Wow!" Cameron exclaimed, making Snake grimace in the pilot's seat. Dang it! the latter thought. Left the cockpit door open. Stupid.

"I didn't this forest was so big!" Cameron prattled. "We've been flying over it for hours! It's, like... ENDLESS!"

Shut up... "Yeah," Snake snarled out loud, "why d'ya think it's called the f***in' 'Oceonica' Forest, huh? 'Cuz it's BIG! Now what'd I say 'bout talkin'?!"

Cameron frowned and prepared to apologize.

HONK!

Cameron jumped in her seat, surprised by the sudden burst of sound from outside. She turned to the window quickly—and gasped as all the colour drained from her face. "Oh... my..." she breathed.

Outside the window was what appeared to be a massive four-eyed blue jay about the size of the plane itself.

Cameron gawked as the creature let out another honk, flapping its wings slowly as it kept up with the plane.

Then she shrieked, "SNAKE!"

Snake jerked backward, almost pulling the plane upward. She gritted her teeth as Cameron came flying into the cockpit, squeezing her in terror. "Th-there's a giant BIRD outside the window!" the counselor screamed.

"What?" Snake hissed through her teeth.

Cameron looked over her shoulder. "G-Giant bird!" she stuttered. "Huge—giant—what if it attacks the plane?!"

"GET BACK TO YER SEAT!" Snake thundered.

Cameron scurried out of the cockpit without a second thought, looking out the window again.

There was nothing there.

Great, she thought, trying to figure out whether this was a good thing or a bad thing. Now I'm seeing things...

For the rest of the flight—as long as she was awake, that is—Cameron kept her eyes on the window. However, there was no sign of any giant birds, and eventually, she fell asleep.

-

Cameron was snoring loudly by the time sunlight hit her eyelids, waking her from her slumber. She quickly realized the plane was no longer moving, and called, "Hello?"

When there was no reply, Cameron slowly rose from her seat. "Uh... what's going on?" she said, looking into the cockpit. "S—Snake?!" she cried when she saw it was empty.

Cameron started to hyperventilate when she realized she was the only one on the plane. She left me? ALONE?! Or... did something ELSE happen?! "Oh god," she whispered, horrified. "Oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god..." She hurried over to the plane's exit and cracked it open, peeking into the light that waited outside. "Oh god..."

"SURPRISE!!!"

The world seemed to stop spinning for Cameron.

Staring back at her with wide grins on their faces was an assorted group of animals, monsters, and unidentifiable mythical creatures.

Cameron blinked.

And stared.

And blinked again.

And stared some more.

"Welcome to the ZOO, Cameron Walden!!!" one of the creatures suddenly shrieked, stretching out its neck so that it was looking Cameron in the eye. It slung a furry arm around her shoulders and added, "Well—HAH! Of course, it isn't really a zoo! Sorta ironic that I just called it that, really! HAHAHAHAHA!!!"

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, my dear!" an elderly dinasour-like creature rasped, taking Cameron's hand and shaking it.

"She sure is a scrawny-gangly-shaky lil' thing, ain't she?" a reptilian humanoid with a Western accent drawled, grabbing one of Cameron's skinny arms and holding it in the air.

"Oh, nonsense, Carrie," a human-sized red fox interrupted in a sophisticated, gentlemanly voice as he wreathed his unnaturally long tail around Cameron. "I think Miss Cameron looks perfectly fine," he purred, bobbing his eyebrows at Cameron.

"I'll take your word on that, Fabian!" a green-skinned man with black hair and milky blind eyes declared, leaning forward on the fox's head. "Good evening!" he greeted Cameron, before frowning and asking, "Morning?" Then he finally settled on, "DAY!"

Cameron's face contorted, and she took in a deep breath.

The strange creatures all gathered around Cameron, waiting for her response.

It was not even close to what they expected.

"EEEEIIIIAHHHHHHEE!!!!"

The creatures recoiled, startled.

"S-Stay back!" Cameron wailed, waving her hands. "A-All of you! Don't come any closer!"

-

Three of the creatures—a cheetah twice the size of a human, a gray-skinned woman with scarlet hair, and a man with a cuttlefish head—stood together, watching the newcomer ward off the welcome wagon. Neither said anything, but they all immediately knew...

...something had gone wrong.

"Hmm," the cheetah muttered.

The cuttlefish man spurted something unintelligible, allowing the mucus that he secreted to drop into his teacup.

-

"I m-mean it!" Cameron cried, backing up. "Stay away from me! Stay AWAY!!"

Confused, the creatures moved toward her.

"D-D-Don't come any closer!" Cameron stammered.

"Calm down, dearie!" the first creature said in a failed attempt at a soothing tone.

Growing desperate, Cameron pointed in a vague direction and shouted, "Look! What's that over there?!" Then she turned and sprinted away as fast as she could.

The reptilian humanoid frowned. "Huh."

-

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH-HUH?!"

Cameron stopped her screech of terror as she came to a halt at the edge of the landing pad.

"Oh my..."

Below the platform upon which she stood, a stunning sight awaited: a city unlike any she'd ever seen, with curving, organic architecture that almost seemed alive.

In the city was a host of dinosaurs—yes, dinosaurs—and other creatures of legend. Giant birds flew through the air, and a two-headed dinosaur-like creature with three eyes on each head lifted both heads to look up at her curiously.

"What on EARTH?!" Cameron exclaimed, her shock now equaling her fear. She backed away, her breath coming in sharp, short bursts. "This is not happening," she whispered. "I'm dreaming this... I'm—"

She paused as she bumped into something big and furry.

Then she looked up.

A pair of narrow, glowing yellow eyes looked down at her.

Cameron blinked.

"Is there something wrong, miss?" the giant cheetah asked.

At that, Cameron's vision blurred, and she let out a groan as she fainted, the whimsical world before her slipping away.

-

The cheetah caught Cameron on his prehensile tail and looked up with a sigh. Something is wrong, he thought to himself. Something is very wrong...