Author note: Hey ya’ll! I’m back. I may or may not of gone crazy with the editing after I finally learned how to do so. Most of the things I edited only slightly cleaned up some scenes… (like a word missing here or there or some clarifying information), probably most importantly was the fact that...

*Important*

I took out the feeling up being stared at by Grace in the last chapter and the fact that the creatures eyes in the water were all red which was noted by the creature and changed them to black.

Also, the title of the novel was changed to something wa~y more fitting.

*Important*

Pretty seemingly minor changes (except the title) but were actually important for the future. The reason I changed the title was because after a bit of research I realized that my novels name is very similar to a movie (Possible future PR: You mean exactly...) This is not a fan-fiction of that movie! So after some thinking I changed the title to Mother World.

Anyways, have a nice read!

__

Ricardo was once again trekking through the jungle. To get around the the sheer cliff face he had to move through the forest. He'd already fallen once or twice in the dense underbrush. It was especially hard while still carrying the iron bird on the end of his stick. Luckily, he was good with his hands and strong from his 13 years experience of being a mechanic. He'd started when he was about 13 years old trying to fix up an old chevy with his dad. Eventually he'd gotten to the point where he could fix up just about anything he could get his hands on. On the side he'd tried piloting small airplanes as just a hobby. After he'd joined the NOAA, Ricardo had traveled on the Sublime to a variety of places like Hawaii, The Sea of Cortez and most recently the Arctic. Because of his skill sets he had eventually become the point man for whenever they had to operate the submersible that traveled around with the boat. The NOAA had recruited him when he was about 20 and he hadn't regretted it yet. (Author note: You still don't regret it man? Ricardo: Dammit I was getting to that!) For six years he had traveled around the world and loved living that type of lifestyle.

His dad had always tried to drill a philosophy into Ricardo that he had carried around with him in life. "If it was worth doing, it was worth doing right." This was one of his guiding principles and he had only strayed away from it a few times. Of course, one of the other things his dad said was,"Do as I say, not as I do" but (hey) everyone has they're faults.

*I hope she makes it through!* Ricardo thought about grace lying like sleeping beauty in the shelter. Grace and him had been on the Sublime together for a while and he'd always just got along with her. Sometimes he made fun of her doll like proportions... along with everyone else. However, they were crew mates and that was all. Now however the importance he attached to her could not be any higher.

"Why the heck is this jungle so damn thick here!" *Cra-cra-crack!* Ricardo swung the iron bird club to shred through the thick vegetation and stepped over a fallen tree. "This is taking much longer then I thought it would!"

*ROOOoooaar!*

A similar beast-like roar to yesterday exploded out from somewhere deep in the forest echoing throughout the trees. It rang out again but seemed to be interrupted halfway through its show of dominance. *It seemed...angry and in pain somehow on the second roar...Whatever could make that thing angry must be one mean creature!* Ricardo thought as he continued to plod through the forest. Eventually, he noted that he had began to climb in elevation indicating that he was going the right way. From the beach he'd barely been able to see the top of the cliff. But, from what he saw only small shrubs and other strange plants managed to root themselves in the rocky terrain leaving an unblocked view of the surrounded land.

After about 30 minutes later of fighting mother nature, Ricardo finally broke through the jungle and breathed in a sigh of relief.

*Huff* *Huff* he was bone tired after the hike. He had a vague feeling he was forgetting something important as he sat down against a small tree. "That took much longer then I thought it would... I got only one pair of clothes and in 2 days I've already managed to destroy it. Heheh" He had already managed to tear up the polo shirt and jeans he had on pretty good. Now was looking like a true survivalist now.

After a brief rest Ricardo got up carefully keeping the iron bird away from him. He then walked over to the edge of the cliff and peeked over the edge. Beneath the cliff lay a field of mossy rocks that looked like it would do just fine for what he had in mind. Small waves worked around the edge of the field in an effort to get to the shore. With one last look at the strange thing, Ricardo unceremoniously whipped the stick throwing the bird off down below. A strange sound came out from the body of the bird as it hit the rocks at high velocity. It probably sounded somewhat like a can of spaghetti hitting something at max velocity. *Hahahah!! It worked!! I can't wait to eat meat again. I feel like I've been here for a month.*

After a long while of celebrating he eventually turned around to get a lay of the land. The jungle stretched beyond the horizon. On the opposite side of the cliff lay a winding river that entered the sea. The other end of it was lost somewhere in the infinite amount of trees and different elevations. After a while of getting a load of the view, Ricardo was about to hurry down the cliff and back to the iron bird, when something caught his attention from corner of his eye. Looking again he noticed that one of the highly elevated areas of the jungle terrain looked oddly unnatural compared to the other small hills.

"What in the....It seems oddly reflective in the sun...?" Ricardo was reminded of the old chevy he had worked on in the past. Right after the first drop of rust removal had gotten to work, the sun had illuminated it in all of its tarnished glory. "Is that...metal? I'll have to go get a look at it once Grace is better." Ricardo had this gut feeling that he had to go investigate it. (Author note: Or else the plot wouldn't continue lol... xD)

Eventually, Ricardo picked up the stick and turned towards the dense trees. As he was about to hurry and get dinner a thought surfaced unbidden in mind. A thought that was more important then he could possibly understand at the time. *Does that bestial roar happen every day around the same same time?* ...he was about to find out.