Daring Do and the Viet-Conflict

[Write Prompt]

 >"They say Green clothed apes with spears of lightning walked into jungle, but Green clothed apes not leave jungle, they say no one may enter the dark jungle no longer, not safe"
    >"Were they dangerous father?"
    >"Yes, Zecora, our people hear sounds, loud sounds like thunder, even on a cloudless day, you must promise me, never enter jungle my daughter, never do, will do for me?"
    >"I...I promise father"


    >10 years later

    >A loud crackle is heard throught the jungle landscape
    >Daring Do stands upon a hill, illuminated by streams of sunlight passing through foliage

    >"Wh-what was...that?"


---

>Daring perks her ears up hoping to pick up the sound again
>A long stretch of silence tries to convince her it wasn't much to worry about
>But that was just it
>The Silence
>Not single bird, bug, or critter was making a sound
>Just as Daring was easing up to move alone...
>BANG!!!
>Daring too cover behind a fallen log
>Too scared to move she pocketed the lost zephyr of Kala'uki the Jungle King and held her breath
>Somewhere, deep within the jungle she thought she heard something
>Mustering the courage to prove it wasn't her imagination she peeked over the log and trained her eyes to look beyond the treeline
>A flickering leaf caught her attention from far away
>The underbrush then erupted in chaos with thunderous claps, like barrels busting on the floor after being dropped
>The faint voices became loud shouts of agony, fear, and hate
>There were too many voices and claps to make anything out
>The chaos continued to travel in an opposing direction until one of 'them' appeared on the road further ahead
>Daring couldn't make heads or tails of the thing
>It stood on two legs covered in jungle muck and tattered clothes.
>It carried a large stick in one hand and a bag in the other
>Immediately it dropped to its knees and leaned back giving out a pained cry for help before another loud crack was heard
>It nearly deafened her and she dropped again, when she looked back up the creature was flat on its stomach
>Another one came out of the bushes and tried to pull it along with him as several more burst out of the jungle and ran past him
>He was crying as he tried to pull him along
>Another larger creature with a strange device in its hand tried to pull him along
>BANG!!!
>The weaker creature fell to the ground and the larger one fled
>Everything went quiet again
>Daring sat still for what seemed like an eternity
>The sun had to move from high noon to just before sunset before she dared to move a hoof
>She moved as quickly as she could without making a noise
>It was a bit unsettling the jungle was still quiet, save for one bird who wouldn't stop cooing
>When Daring dropped her first hoof on the trail she took a deep breath and ran top speed to the fallen creatures
>She slid to a stop just a few feet away for fear they might be faking
>She observed them as best she could in the dying light
>There were pools of blood beneath each of them
>Daring was starting to regret coming here
>Wait! What was that?
>Daring took another step forward to make sure
>Grief struck her face as she came to an awful realization when she saw the thing's chest rising and falling steadily
>From here there was no denying it either
>The cooing she heard earlier wasn't from a bird, it was the air escaping from the hole in its chest
>Somehow, somewhere, probably earlier something punctured his body clean through to the other side
>But how? And what?
"Tik, tik, tik."
>Daring started at the noise and looked around wildly trying to find its source
>As she did she stumbled over her own feet and fell back on the path
>When she tried to stand back up she found what it was
>Just across from her behind a palm frond was another one of those things
>This one had a smile that looked like it hadn't seen itself in the mirror but that tried to look friendly enough
>It was holding another one of those sticks in its hand with a strange curve to it
>Daring didn't want to stay a minute longer and got up to leave
>She spread her wings and was about to take off before the thing called out to her again and procured a mango
>Daring's stomach cramped up
>The thing smiled again and cut it in half offering up one slice of the fruit
>The other he pretended to take a bite out of it and rubbed his stomach
>Daring's mouth watered at the sight of the bright orange flesh
*CLICK CLACK*
BOOM!!!
>The new monster screamed in fright at the sudden explosion and reared up holding its arm
>The ensuing flash blinded Daring a bit but she could've sworn he did so because he no longer had a hand
>It made no sense to her but yet again the chaos returned to the jungle as if a storm had broken out
>Lightning flashed from every direction and thunder boomed incessantly
>Daring ran as the creature fell behind her
>She didn't know where the path was anymore but she just wanted to leave
>Garbled voices filled in the air around her and she thought for a second it might be another monster coming for her
>That thought left her mind when she remembered the Zephyr was supposed to summon spirits of protection
>Daring ducked behind a small boulder and fished it out
>Sure enough the Zephyr had sprung to life
>Voices, and static were coming out from one end of it while the other stayed silent
>Daring wouldn't get the chance to use it as the larger creature from before came in and yanked it from her hooves
>IT started shouting names and numbers back at the voicebox as he aimed his device at the enemy
>As Daring watched he was struck down by an invisible force and another shouted for him
"Sarge! They got Sarge!"
>This soldier plucked a grenade from his belt and chucked it before running to his side
>Daring watched an emotional moment between the two as the 'Sarge' handed the radio to the boy
>He cried out and looked straight at her before curling his lips in a hateful scowl
>He started shouting numbers where the Sarge left off
"I don't care you have your coordinates! If we're going to hell, we're taking them with us!!"
>The kid shook his head and grunted at Daring before pulling out his rifle and shouted his head off as he charged Charlie
>Clearly he wanted her out of the area
>And she couldn't agree more
>Daring took a deep breath and took off into the red sky
>She could see it all from up there
>One set of murderous apes against another
>Daring wanted watch to see who would win but the whole thing just gave her the willies
>Instead she turned tail for home and didn't look back
>Not until she realized she had the Zephyr stolen from her
>Stopping mid-flight Daring took a look back and seriously thought about going back there
>The fighting had not subsided yet
>Lightning and thunder could still be heard even from this distance
>And now there was another sound
>Like a hard driving wind, coming from far off
>Daring became worried as it got closer but before she could do anything about it the wind turned into a shriek as a large thunderbird flew just over her head
>She struggled to keep her hat from flying off in its tailwind and she witness it drop its eggs over the battlefield
>They tumbled end over end until they fell below the canopy
>Then they erupted in a deafening blast that lit up the entire area around them
>The thunderbird carried on as if nothing had happened
>Daring just floated looking at the blaze with awe
>All was quiet again and the only reason she knew she wasn't deaf was because of the roar of the fire
>There was no more thunder, no more lightning
>And the crickets seemed to come back as well
>Daring had no idea how dangerous this latest quest of hers would've turned out
>Daring thought about chalking this one up as a loss
>After all she had lost the treasure
>And nearly her life
>Daring turned her back to the flames
>She was ready to go home