187 replies to this topic

[Neutron12]

Well it's good that Cindy and Libby made it to the hospital on time I can't believe Marie is already talking! Sounds like she's gonna be a pretty smart baby Great chapter!

[JimmyxxCindy4EVER]

I made a wordle for the first chapter! Lemme know what ya think. If ya like it, I'll make more of them! Just one question, though. Mara, you made one for the entirety of TOSOT. How do I do that with my ENTIRE fic thus far??

[Katia11]

nice!

[Mara=^.^=]

[color="#9932CC"]I made a wordle for the first chapter! Lemme know what ya think. If ya like it, I'll make more of them! Just one question, though. Mara, you made one for the entirety of TOSOT. How do I do that with my ENTIRE fic thus far??

If you have the entire fic saved in a .doc file somewhere, just copy and paste ALL the text into the wordle box and have at it. Also, nice pink

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =

[JimmyxxCindy4EVER]

Thanks for the tip, Mara!

[TheKingInTheNorth]

Just read through this whole thing, and I gotta say, it's one of the best Jimmy Neutron fanfics I've read!

I've read a lot of fics which (in my opinion) put too much emphasis on the romance, and not enough on the adventure itself, but I like how you're doing this one. The romance is present, but not to the point that the actual adventure takes a back seat. Very well done!

I think you've captured the personalities of the characters very well too... Jimmy's loyalty, and prideful (sometimes arrogant) confidence; Cindy's aggressive, competitive spirit (as well as her softer side); Libby's calm, collected, rational, peacemaking demeanor; Sheen's hyperactive cluelessness; and Carl's... scapula.
I also love the interactions between all the characters, particularly Sheen & Cindy - they're just like brother and sister!
I will say, it does seem kind of unlikely that, after 6/7 years, Jimmy & Cindy would still be pretending to hate each other... but I guess that's the beauty of fanfiction! (And I guess Cindy did sort of explain it near the start).

(BTW, I LOLed when Jimmy found himself naked in front of Commander Baker! )

Anyway, keep it up! I can't wait to see what's gonna happen! I wonder what Calamitous and Eddie will do, now that the babies have been born...

[JimmyxxCindy4EVER]

I'm SO glad you love this so much!! Ideas are still brewing in my mind, but I'm currently at a loss as to how to put them together in future chapters; writer's block, ya know, it plagues all of us... If you, or anyone else, for that matter, has/have any suggestions, please feel free to post or drop me a line! Again, SO glad you're into this!! It means so much to me!

[JimmyxxCindy4EVER]

FINALLY!!!! After ALL this time, I've come up with another chapter!! This one's in Sheen's POV! Enjoy!


Emerging Compassions

Chapter 39: An Awkward Proposal
(Sheen's POV)


It had been 3 months since Taylor's birth, and she was getting more adorable with each passing day. It started out as a normal day, with me actively playing my video games that afternoon while Libby took care of Taylor at her place. I was playing the latest UltraLord video game, Ultra Universe Quest, and was battling the level 7 boss when my cell phone rang. I put the game on pause and went to answer it, picking it up, pressing the “talk” button, and saying, “Hello? ?”

“Hey, sweetie! !” came the familiar voice on the opposite end. It was my sweet, ultra-awesome girlfriend Libby! ! She sure sounded excited when she spoke to me! I wondered what she had to say...

“Hey, 'Love Puppet'! What's up?” I wanted to know.

“Hon', you are NOT gonna believe this...! ! !” she began, “Get yo' butt over here right now! ! Our daughter- well, you better come see for yourself!”

“I'll be right over, Ultra-Libs! !” I informed her, a huge grin spreading on my face.

She just giggled and replied, “See ya soon! 'Bye!”

“Bye, Libs!” I concluded, and hung up. Boy, was I ever psyched! ! Whatever was going on with Taylor, it had to be MEGA exciting, so I stopped my game, saved my progress, and hurried right over to her house, eager to find out what was happening!

I knocked on the front door impatiently, and within seconds, Libby answered it. “What's so exciting, babe? !” I eagerly asked of her.

“Come see fo' yourself! !” she urged with an ecstatic grin, grabbing my arm and pulling me inside and into the living room, then pointed and added, “Right over there, Sheen! !”

I hurried over and immediately was in awe! Our little girl was just starting to crawl! I squatted down to her level, looked into her hazel eyes, and coaxed, clapping my hands slightly, “Crawl to Daddy, Taylor! Come on!”

Taylor looked first at me, then Libby, who was right next to me in the same pose, then back to me, cocked her head a bit, then lifted herself off the floor and inched forward a few paces. Then, seeing as gravity had proven too much for her at the moment, she plopped back down on her stomach again, sprawled out. I took one of her little golden-skinned hands and reassured her, who seemed to be a bit startled and start to whimper a bit, “It's okay, Taylor! You'll get better soon! You're just starting to learn, that's all. You'll be fine.”

Slowly, a smile spread on her face, which told me she understood and knew she was gonna be just fine.

Suddenly, my watch started blaring an alarm like crazy! It was some hi-tech communicator watch Jimmy made me one year for my birthday. I pressed one of its buttons and Jimmy's image appeared on its screen. “What is it this time, Jimmy? ?” I wanted to know.

“You need to come to my lab right away!” he urged me on the other end, his voice hurried and anxious.

“I just started to play with Taylor, and guess what? ! She's starting to crawl now!” I informed him proudly, “And also, I think we need to stick together as a family, no matter what we do.”

“Then bring them along! I'm gonna call Carl and get him over here, as well. This is urgent! !” Jimmy persisted, and hung up, my watch's screen going black.

“Well, it looks like we're goin' to the lab, babe,” I hastily informed Libby, looking over at her.

“What? ! All 5 of us? ? We can't leave our kids behind, Sheen! !” she protested.

“I know. I told Jimmy that, and he said we might as well bring Taylor with us, like Cindy will bring Marie. He said it was extremely urgent!” I added rather anxiously.

“Okay, good. Ya up fo' another adventure, hon?” she wanted to know, picking up Taylor and gesturing to the baby carrier you could strap to yourself to carry a child while leaving your hands free, which I immediately grabbed and fastened onto myself. Libby then gently placed our daughter in it with her facing me, with me proceeding to fasten her in firmly yet gently.

I stroked her jet black curly locks around her ear and softly told her, “Mommy and I are gonna go on an adventure! This'll be fun!”

She just gurgled and cooed her response as she looked up at me and grinned her adorable toothless grin. Libby smiled and said, giggling softly, “Aw, how cute! Let's go, Sheen!”

“Right!” I agreed, heading out of her place, down the road a few blocks, and arriving at Jimmy's place in under a minute.

Just as we expected, he was waiting for us with an anxious look on his face, accompanied by Carl, Cindy, and his daughter Marie. She looked exceptionally cute, with her auburn hair pulled into pigtails and gazing at us while on all fours with her brilliant green eyes. She donned a cute pink teddy bear t-shirt with some sparkle jeans and tiny purple tennis shoes.

“Hello, Sheen? We have an urgent situation here! !” Jimmy reminded me firmly, waving his hand in front of my face, startling me a bit. I guess I had been admiring his daughter so much I forgot to listen to what he had to say!

I shook my head vigorously, then managed to say, “Oh, sorry, Jimmy. Marie is just so cute...” Taylor proceeded to look up at me again with a curious look in her eyes, then giggled.

Cindy apparently took notice of this and pointed out, “Libs, your daughter just laughed for the first time! How adorable is THAT? !”

“Guys, focus! !” Jimmy urged us, catching our attention again as Cindy picked up her daughter, “We have a dire situation on our hands! Let's head into my lab, stat!” With that, he pressed a button on his watch that teleported all 7 of us inside. Once inside, he sat at his lab chair and got right to work, typing furiously on his keyboard.

“So, Cin,” Libby questioned, “What's new with your daughter, Marie?”

“Well,” she replied, setting her down on the lab's concrete floor, “Marie here is just starting to walk and is speaking in broken sentences already! I think we have a little genius here!”

Marie giggled, sitting upright and nodding, and added, “Me smart! Me smart!” She then got up onto her 2 feet and toddled a few steps, then fell forward, but that didn't even seem to phase her, seeing as she just giggled afterwords. We all just laughed ourselves as we watched her, all save Jimmy, who was still hard at work.

Carl smiled at her admiringly, then turned to Jimmy and wanted to know, “So, what seems to be the problem, Jim?”

“A little busy, here, Carl! But, I will say that I'm currently trying to figure out how the villains escaped the late Cretaceous Period after being trapped there for 6 years, or has it been 6 years since they've escaped? ! This is all very puzzling...,” he mused to himself, continuing to type furiously.

Libby apparently noticed how quiet I was, so she asked, “Sheen, hon, are you feeling okay? You haven't really said anything in a while...”

“Libby, I'm fine,” I told her, “I'm just deep in thought about something...”

“Well, that's a first...,” she told herself aloud. She then went elsewhere to listen to some music for a while.

Let's see... I thought to myself, Just HOW can I pull this off? ? I mean, how DO most guys propose to their girlfriends? It usually involves something romantic, but just what's romantic for Libby? ! It's all very confusing for me! I hope I get some ideas soon, cuz she probably won't want anything UltraLord-related... This is gonna be hard for me; I can tell...

My thoughts were interrupted when Jimmy announced, almost scaring the heck outta me, “Guys, I've figured it out! ! What they had to do to escape was...”

As he was explaining himself, my gaze wandered to Marie again while the others paid attention to Jimmy. While I was watching her, I noticed her pulling herself up again and attempting to take a few more steps. Unfortunately, she was dangerously close to one of his control panels as she toddled ever closer, then stumbling again and catching herself this time on a nearby stool. She looked at it, then at the control panel above her, then climbed up onto the stool and stood up, steadying herself with the edge of it.. I had a bad feeling what would come next!

All the blinking lights must've fascinated her, because she exclaimed in awe, “Ooo! Pretty lights!” Without warning, she began pressing all the buttons at once randomly, as well as pulling a lever or 2.

Naturally, this frightened me, so I ran up to Jimmy while yelling, “Jimmy, JIMMY! ! ! Over there, your daughter is-! !”

He immediately took notice of my cries and saw where I was frantically pointing, so he hurried over with me while saying urgently, “Marie, no! ! Don't pull that-!”

But he was too late. All those buttons she pushed and levers she pulled really did it in for all 7 of us. Before we knew what was happening, our surroundings instantly changed from his lab to some primitive grassland with some tribal huts in the distance and some random trees dotting the area.

“Jimmy, where are we? !” Carl nervously asked him.

“From observing our surroundings carefully, according to my calculations, we have been transported back in time to the Stone Age!” he informed us

“Great. JUST great...,” Cindy griped, slapping her forehead, “Thanks a lot, genius! ! If you hadn't spent so much time jabbering and instead paid attention to your daughter, we wouldn't be IN this mess! !”

“In case you're forgetting, Cindy, she's YOUR daughter, too!” Jimmy reminded her, annoyed.

“Oh, yeah. She's still your responsibility, though!” she snapped, clearly irritated, “Which you failed to keep watch of!”

“If you'd been watching her, we wouldn't BE in this mess, now would we? !” he retorted.

All that arguing clearly worried Marie, so she crawled up to them and yanked on their pant legs while urging, “Mommy, Daddy, pwease, no fight! No fight!”

Jimmy let out a sigh of defeat and muttered, “I just can't say no to that cute little face... She's right, though. We shouldn't be fighting; we should be working together to get out of this.”

We all voiced our agreement, nodding simultaneously.

Then I thought to myself, Rats! Now that we're in the Stone Age, I can't come up with anything to propose to Libby! It's officially ruined! ! Then I suddenly remembered something. Of course! ! DUH! ! ! I said to myself, feeling very stupid, feeling the ring container in my back pocket, I put this here in case I ever needed it! Sure was worth my last 80 bucks! I then muttered to myself, “It's a good thing I have it in my back pocket. That way, I'm not screwed!”

Unfortunately, I wasn't quiet enough about it, cuz Libby asked, “What's in yo' back pocket?”

Trying to keep her from finding before I was ready, I kept facing her as I tried to back away, saying nervously and handing her Taylor in her carrier, “Trust me, babe! You- you wouldn't wanna find out about it too early!” I wasn't watching where I was headed, though, and ended up tripping on a root backwards and landing on my back, then a slight incline in the ground made me turn over onto my stomach. “Okay, that hurt... Ouch.” I said, rubbing my lower back.

Libby bent over to get a closer look after strapping our daughter in, then wanted to know while reaching into the pocket and grabbing its contents, “What's this in your back pocket? ?”

“It's nothing, really, Libby! Honest! !” I tried to convince her, turning over and sitting upright.

She examined the container, then opened it and gasped, “A ring? ! Sheen, why didn't ya tell me? !”

“I was wanting it to be a surprise...,” I admitted, defeated, getting up onto my feet. Then I had a thought and exclaimed, “Hey, wait a minute! Isn't the guy supposed to do this? ? Gimme that!”

She reluctantly handed it to me, then I got down on one knee and looked up at her with pleading eyes, opening the ring case with it facing her.

“Sheen, is this-? !” Libby began, but I held up my hand for silence.

“Yes, it is, Libs. Liberty Danielle Folfax, beautiful, flawless Libby,” I continued, “Will you marry me?”

“Sheen, this is so awkward, with our current situation an' all, but how can I resist such an adorable face? ! Yes, the answer's YES! !” she practically squealed, pulling me up to my feet again.

The others had apparently witnessed the whole thing, cuz Cindy interjected, “Aw, how romantic is THAT? ! Of course, I'd want whoever proposed to me to be just as romantic, if not more so! !”

Libby slipped on the ring, then the 2 of us rejoined the group.

“Aw, that was so sweet, Sheen!” Carl told me with a huge grin on his face.

“Thanks, Carl. I do what I can for my Libby-licious here!” I responded.

Libby just giggled flirtatiously when she heard that, saying, “I just love it when he calls me that...!” Then she faced Cindy and gushed, “Oh, my gosh! I can't believe I'm finally engaged! !”

“Words can't describe how happy I am for the both of you. But despite that fact, we're still trapped in the Stone Age, and have yet to find a way to get back to our time...,” Jimmy reminded us firmly, picking up his daughter and beginning to think seriously about our situation...

[TheKingInTheNorth]

Great chapter! I love all the Sheen/Libby moments in here!
Wow, Sheen actually looks like he'll be a pretty good father! (Nice to see him being distracted by something other than Ultralord! ) Jimmy though... he still seems to have a little way to go.
I'm kinda hoping we'll see a bonding (or at least semi-bonding) scene between Sheen & Cindy sometime. Nothing romantic, of course - just a scene where they can talk and try to sort out their differences...
Once again, great job! I wonder how they'll escape from the Stone Age...

[Katia11]

Oh man! Hope they get out of the stone age soon!

[Neutron12]

Hey! Sorry I haven't replied for a while but great chapter! Taylor and Marie sound so cute And I'm interested to see how all of them get out of the stone age!

[JimmyxxCindy4EVER]

Still in the thought processes of it, but it's slowly getting there!

[JimmyxxCindy4EVER]

Finally, it's FINISHED!!!!! Hope ya like it!!


Emerging Compassions

Chapter 40: A Primitive Land...
(Carl's POV)


I could still see that Cindy and Libby were pretty annoyed with our current situation, so I made an attempt to make the best of it by saying, "Okay, so we're in the Stone Age now... We've been worse off than this before, like the time the entire town got warped back several million years and all those villains were after Jimmy..."

"Oh, I could think of something worse than that, Carl!" Cindy sarcastically commented, shuddering heavily, "Like when Neutron and I switched minds? ! I nearly saw things I shouldn't have at that age! !"

"Yeah," Jimmy heartily agreed, "Likewise with my situation! I put off relieving myself as long as I could, until at the end of the day I couldn't bear it any longer! Once your insane mother had gone to bed, I left all the lights off and shut the door behind me as I relieved myself in the dark... God, you can only imagine how humiliating that was! I nearly tripped on your wet bathroom floor 3 times! ! !"

"You think THAT'S bad, Jimmy? !" she interjected, an even more humiliated look on her face, "I had slipped in a mud puddle after it had rained the first night right after we'd switched places, getting INSANELY filthy after I'd taken out the trash, so your mom insisted that I bathe before bed! She almost had to literally drag me into the bathroom by the shirt collar! I finally convinced her that I could take care of myself after 10 whole minutes, so she left me be afterwords. I had to shut off the lights and stuff a towel underneath the bathroom door before going through with it! I couldn't help but notice while I bathed, even though it was pitch black, that I had a little something extra... That really freaked me out, so I hurried and finished and dressed myself, then flipped the lights back on so I could see where the laundry chute was and toss your mom your dirty clothes. Now if THAT wasn't a nightmare, I dunno what is! !"


Flushing extremely hard, he muttered to her in a voice I could barely hear, "Be thankful that you weren't in a public location when that happened! ! I definitely know how that feels, and it's NOT fun one bit! ! !"

That got the rest of us insanely curious, so we all sat on some nearby rocks while I asked, "What exactly was so horrible, Jim? !"

"I'd prefer to not share such an experience, but given all the interested looks on your faces, I guess I'll tell you..," Jimmy nervously informed us, resting his elbows on his knees and his forehead in the palms of his hands, "Ugh... It was the most humiliating experience I ever went through! ! Remember how you used to wish I'd go to college and leave Lindbergh Elementary behind? Well, I went, but I soon wished I hadn't, due to everything the students put me through! Especially this one student who was particularly jealous of my intelligence, Seymour Nimmelfarb! What I had gone through beforehand was nothing compared to what he ultimately made me do!"

"So, what was it he forced you to go through with?" Cindy persisted.

He responded so quietly that none of us could make out what he said. "Could ya say that again, Jimmy? None of us could hear you just now," Sheen reminded him.

"I said, 'he forced me to streak on the campus'! ! He told me it would finally get me accepted by my peers there, when it really got me EXPELLED! ! ! That freaking jerk! !" Jimmy exclaimed in frustration, almost letting out a scream afterword as he temporarily lifted his head from his hands, then covering his entire face that time.

Marie crawled up to him, supported herself with her hands on his knee, and said in attempt to comfort him, "It okay, Daddy. It over now."

He slowly removed his hands from his face, looked into her adorable emerald eyes, and picked her up onto his lap, a smile slowly spreading across his face and his eyes watering a bit. With that, she got up on her 2 tiny feet, took a couple steps, and landed on his chest with her little arms spread wide, an adorable grin on her face. He gently hugged her back, then told her, "Thanks, Marie. I needed that."

"Welcome," she replied, and climbed down from his lap to the ground, then crawled over to Cindy, who picked her up gratefully and held her.

Libby unstrapped Taylor for a moment, turned her around so she could face the others, and strapped her back in again. Taylor had somehow seen that entire thing, so she clapped a bit and giggled in approval.

"Aw, how sweet," I observed, then something moving in the distance caught my eye. I turned to face it, and immediately recognized what it was: a llama! ! "I don't believe it!" I gasped, "I didn't know they had llamas in the Stone Age! !"

"Pffft, llamas. BIG deal...," Sheen remarked, rolling his eyes.

"I heard that, Sheen! !" I reprimanded him, annoyed, and stuck my tongue out at him as I turned to face him.

"Sheen," Libby scolded him, "It's obviously a big deal to Carl, so leave him be!" Taylor seemed to agree with her, so she blew a strawberry at him as a retort.

I turned back around to see the llama again, but it was nowhere to be found, no matter where I looked. It must've gotten scared by our little spat, so it ran off. Oh, well... I then turned to face Jimmy and asked, "So, how far back in time have we gone, Jim? ?"

Jimmy took a look at his multi-purpose watch and did some calculations on it, then looked at me solemnly and said, "Approximately 11,000 years, based on our surroundings alone..."

"Aw, man! Is UltraLord still around? !" Sheen griped.

"Shut UP, Ultra-Loser! !" Cindy snapped, "We're in the PAST, not the future, you dimwit! ! ! That stupid show of yours doesn't even exist yet! !"

"Rats!" he complained, glaring at no one in particular.

"So, it's about 9,000 BC, right?" Libby clarified.

"That would be the correct approximation, Libby," Jimmy told her informatively, "We're in the Neolithic Era, the New Stone Age, where agriculture is just beginning to be utilized. Civilization is just beginning, and tribes are less nomadic and more settled."

"And just WHERE are we, Jimmy?" Cindy wanted to know, a bit irritated.

"We're in what will become ancient Sumeria, according to my calculations," he informed her and the rest of us, entering in a bit more data into his watch, "The location of some of the very first cities in human history. For now, though, there are only primitive villages here and there, and will be that way until the 4th millennium BC."

"So that nearby river must be the Tigris, right? Connected downriver to the Euphrates?" she guessed.

"That is correct, Cindy. You sure know your ancient Mesopotamian history!" Jimmy congratulated her, clearly impressed with her history knowledge.

"Well, when you make grades as good as I do, you've gotta be prepared for anything!" Cindy added, blushing pretty hard with a light giggle.

"Not to mention a photographic memory...," he put in, flushing and laughing softly.

"Are y'all forgettin' where we are? !" Libby sharply reminded them, waving her hand in front of their faces.

Shaking his head vigorously a bit and clearing his throat, Jimmy returned to reality and agreed, saying, "You're right, Libby. We've got to work together to get outta this mess my daughter accidentally got us into."

"I think we should seek shelter in the nearest village, but there's NO way we're blending in looking the way we do now. Our apparel is far too modern!" Cindy reminded them.

He just smirked with a light chuckle and replied, "Luckily, I've brought my hypercube equipped with anything we'll need, including some disguise-wristbands to help us blend into the village. I've made one for each of us, including our children, which explains their small size for 2 of them."

"Anything to not get in trouble with the natives!" I exclaimed, taking one as he offered them to each of us and slipping it on. Once we were wearing them, it conformed to the shape of our wrists and matched our skin color, then changed our outfits to match the time period, pelts made from animal skins we could both see and feel.

Libby took one look at hers and remarked, "I was hopin' for somethin' a little more in-style than this... I mean, my baby harness has turned into a sling made from deer skin! An' this outfit made from buffalo pelts is itchy! !"

"Sorry, but that's what it'll take to blend in in this neolithic millennium," Jimmy responded, a slight tinge of disappointment in his voice, "And that would be mammoth pelts you're all wearing, not buffalo. Buffalo aren't indigenous to Mesopotamia."

"Mammoth? But I thought the ice age was over," Cindy reasoned, clearly a bit confused.

"In the time period we inhabit, the last ice age happened 10,000 years ago, meaning it ended in 8,000 BC, but since we've been warped, it's currently 9,000 BC, 1,000 years before it ends," he corrected her.

"So, lemme get this straight... Gigantic glaciers are still covering some of Earth's continents? !" Libby gasped, a terrified look in her eyes.

"Yes, but don't panic! It's alright," Jimmy reassured her, "We're in an area where there are no longer any glaciers. They're farther north of us, where present-day Denmark is located, as well as where modern-day Canada begins."

"Whew! That's a relief! !" Sheen breathed, wiping his brow with the back of his hand.

Then I had a thought... "Hey, where's Goddard?" I wondered aloud.

"Oh, he's right over there, inside that nearby bush," he informed me, pointing to a bush a few yards away from us, "He used that for cover as he activated his camouflage feature to look like a domesticated wolf. C'mere, boy!"

Goddard poked his head out of the bush, cocked his head a bit, then bounded up to him, looking almost exactly like a miniature wolf.

"Okay," Cindy decided, "Shouldn't we head into the village now? ?"

"Yeah, but did that thing of yours disguise our hair, too, Jimmy? They're bound to suspect something if it's not looking like that of the villagers," Sheen pointed out, running his fingers through his.

He gave that a few moments of thought, then said, "Good point, Sheen. Thankfully, it did, giving each of us a primitive appearance, from top to bottom. Now, let's head in! Just remember to act like we've lived here our whole lives, okay?"

The rest of us gave a positive response, signifying that we all understood him, then we began making our way towards the tribe.

As we approached the stone wall of the village, some movement just beyond the gate caught my eye. I leaned over to Sheen and whispered, "That must've been one of the villagers running around just inside the village..."

"Yeah, I saw them, too," he quietly agreed with me, nodding.

One of them looked through the large peephole in the gate, then stuck his head full of ratty and matted hair through the partially-opened gate and asked us something in a strange language. Then, suddenly, something inside me could understand what he was saying! Right after I'd heard his question, my brain somehow translated the strange language into English, which was, "Do you have the authority to enter this village, strangers? ?"

With that, I leaned over to Jimmy and whispered, "Jimmy, I can somehow understand what he's saying! I think I'm going crazy! !"

"You're not, Carl!" he whispered back, "My disguise-wristband I made each of you is doing that."

"Oh, good!" I breathed, then turned to the gatekeeper and began to speak, and the language that left my mouth was the same that the gatekeeper spoke! That fancy device Jimmy'd made must've been doing that, too! After quickly getting over the shock, I told him in his language, "I'm sorry, sir. We're travelers from a nomadic tribe, and we're lost. Could we stay in your tribe?"

"So, I see...," he replied, giving it some thought, then nodded and added, opening the gate for us, "You certainly may! Enjoy yourselves!"

As we walked in, Sheen commented, "Whoa, that was awesome, Carl! How'd you DO that? !"

"The device Jimmy made each of us," I confidently informed him.

Jimmy just smirked and told us, "It's the same for the rest of us, too."

Our adventures in that village were just beginning!

[Neutron12]

It's so cool that you've hit the 40 chapter mark with your story! The JN stories I try to write only end up as oneshots But anyway, this was a great chapter. I really liked it And I don't know if I've mentioned this before but I like how you keep switching POV's. It gives us a chance to see what all the characters are thinking or feeling. Looking forward to seeing what happens next!

[Katia11]

Nice! Liked it.

[TheKingInTheNorth]

Awesome! Fourty chapters!

Another great job! I can't wait to see what this tribe they've encountered is like... humourous? Serious? Intelligent? Dumb? I guess we'll find out...
And as always, great work capturing the personalities of the characters!

I look forward to more!

[JimmyxxCindy4EVER]

Alright, there ya have it! Chapter 41!! Hope ya enjoy!


Emerging Compassions

Chapter 41: Lost in Time...
(Jimmy's POV)


Our adventures in that lowly village had only just begun. We could not, absolutely could NOT, even hint at the fact that we were from the future to these superstitious villagers. For if we did, in ANY way, we'd be burned at the stake, for sure. I could not, and would not, let that happen to us. It was a good thing my invention I equipped everyone with was discrete enough to not be detected; it could bend with the exact same flexibility as our own wrists, and it matched our skin colors and textures exactly. My watch was also disguised as a fur pelt wristband, except when I activated it. I would not do so unless it was absolutely necessary. For the time being, however, that didn't concern me. We were only focused on blending into their culture. So far, the task was a complete success in doing so.

"Okay, so where exactly are we gonna live while we're stuck here? ?" Libby wanted to know as we made our way through the various huts in the village.

"I hope we can find someplace that's cozy and inviting, and that we're accepted into this place...," Carl noted, clearly concerned.

"Guys, don't worry about it. I've got this prehistoric thing down!" Sheen bragged, acting as if he was examining a manicure.

"Boy, I sure hope so, Sheen...," Libby told him, glaring at the hyperactive teen with her arms folded.

"Don't worry, babe! I got this!" he claimed, trying to act cool. With that, he ran to the nearest hut and pulled back the fur pelt that hung in the doorway.

"Are you sure you should be doing that, Sheen?" Cindy questioned him, hands on her hips.

"Relax, Cindy! What's gonna happen? ?" he tried to convince her, temporarily turning his head to face her, then turned to look inside. A couple stone lamps lit up the otherwise dark hut, illuminating the sleeping silhouette of a young girl approximately our age. She was covered with a camel pelt to serve as a blanket and a mammoth pelt that served as her bed. Some primitive clay pots lay stacked nearby, along with some primitive utensils. Sheen just giggled immaturely as he watched her sleep, but Libby was in earshot of him as he did that.

She slapped him on the face after dragging him away, saying firmly, "Need I remind ya that we're engaged, Sheen? ! Stop that! !"

Carl looked at us uneasily and informed us, pointing at the girl, "Uh, guys? I think we just woke her up..."

I looked around, concerned, and pointed out, glancing at the girl, who was now sitting up and glaring at us, "I think we should make a run for it! She doesn't look happy to see us! !"

"I second that! Let's beat it! !" Cindy agreed, picking up Marie and making a break for it with the rest of us. But a voice calling after us made us stop in our tracks and turn around, searching for the source.

"Uh, who's there?" Libby called out in the primitive language thanks to that nifty invention I'd made.

"It's okay; you may come back," the female voice encouraged us.

We wandered back to where we'd left, curious as to who was calling to us. "I think it's coming from that hut we left, Jimmy," Carl reminded me, pointing.

"You're right. That was me calling you," the female voice said in a friendly tone, "Just one moment, though. I'll be right out..."

"Well, okay," I told her, and waited with the rest of my group. About a minute later, she emerged from her hut, wearing a similar pelt outfit that Cindy and Libby did. Her black hair was surprisingly neat and tangle-free compared to the other villagers we'd seen running around, and she had an olive skin color to her, like many others in the modern Middle East or southern Europe in the Mediterranean. Her eyes were black as coal in the modern coal mines in the present-day United States.

She apparently noticed that we were staring at her, so she spoke up and added, "What are you all staring at? Does my abdominal pelt look stained or something? ?"

"Oh, sorry about that! No, it's not that. It's just that... you're so different from everyone else in this tribe...," Cindy admitted, blushing a bit.

"That's because I'm the tribe leader's daughter. I'm Anya, by the way," she explained, "My father's always pressuring me to look my best, to set an example for my people."

"A real pleasure to meet you, Anya," I politely told her, gesturing to each of my friends as I introduced them and myself, "I'm Jimmy, and these are Cindy, Libby, Sheen, and Carl. And the little girl Cindy's holding is our daughter, Marie, and that's Sheen and Libby's daughter Taylor in Libby's baby sling."

"Nice to meet you all! I see you are not from this area, that you have traveled a long way," Anya noticed.

"Yeah, an' we're exhausted," Libby put in, lifting her pelt a bit so Taylor could nurse and sitting on a nearby rock.

"Well, it is nearing sunset, so why don't you stay with me? ?" our newfound friend suggested, shading her eyes as she glanced toward the setting sun disappearing behind the distant mountains.

"You do have the largest hut in this village, so I think it could work out...," Cindy agreed, seeming to be deep in thought about something.

"Uh, Cindy? Is something bothering you? ?" I wanted to know, taking one of her hands in mine.

She looked around at the rest of us for a moment or 2, then grabbed my wrist while carrying Marie in her opposite arm, saying firmly yet quietly, "I need to speak with you for a moment. Excuse us, Anya..."

"Take as long as you need," she politely returned with a nod.

"Thank you," Cindy said gratefully, then took me between the back of Anya's hut and the village wall discretely.

I noticed that she'd gripped my wrist so tightly, it was almost sprained. I rubbed it fervently in an attempt to alleviate the pain, then lowered my voice and asked her, "Okay, that really hurt, Cindy. What is it you want?"

"Our parents. They must be worried sick about us!" she quietly replied.

"Gas planet, I hadn't taken that into consideration! You're right, Cindy!" I told her, a tad shocked.

"One question remains, though... How are we going to contact them when we're separated by thousands of years? ! We're in 9,000 BC while they're in the year 2012! !" Cindy softly exclaimed.

"Thankfully," I informed her confidently, "I've created a new feature on my watch that will let us do just that. With the use of tachyons, I can send the signal to whatever time period I desire, provided there's a functioning device that is able to receive the signal on the opposite end. Since our destination date is 2012, we should have no trouble at all reaching it."

"Well, then, what are you waiting for? ! Activate it!" she quietly urged me.

"There is, however, one setback to activating my watch in any form: it would cease to be camouflaged while I'm using it, increasing the risk of us being found out as visitors from another time," I hastily warned her, peeking around the side of the hut cautiously.

"Then, let's step out of the village and head to the river, then activate it," Cindy finally convinced me.

"Good idea," I agreed, and headed back to the group with her.

"What was that all about, Jimmy?" Libby wanted to know.

I just shushed her with a finger to my lips, then motioned her and the rest of them to follow me.

"Is something wrong, Jimmy? ?" Anya questioned me, clearly a tad concerned.

"No, just matters that only concern our tribe, strictly confidential...," I told her as we headed out of the village.

"Oh, okay. Be sure to be back before moonrise," she reminded us.

"Will do," Cindy promised with a nod from the rest of us as we passed through the village gate.

After we had walked away a fair distance, Sheen pointed out, "Uh, Jimmy? Do they have bathrooms in the Stone Age? ? Cuz I really gotta go! !"

"I'm afraid not, Sheen...," I hastily told him, checking my watch's data on the current time period, "According to my data, the Stone Age inhabitants of this time period probably relieved themselves in the nearby rivers wherever they lived."

"Ew, that's nasty!" Libby remarked with a grossed out look on her face.

"No way! I think it's cool!" Sheen exclaimed, and ran into the river, which was luckily flowing slowly so he wouldn't be swept away. After taking care of his needs, he returned with a satisfied look on his face.

"Well, I'm glad at least you're fine with that, Sheen...," Cindy put in, looking equally disgusted.

"Yucky!" Marie agreed, blowing a strawberry about it.

"Like it or not, that's gonna be our only option in that situation," I hastily informed them, "At least, until we get back to our time again..."

"Well, we came out this far away from the village for a different reason, right? ?" Libby clarified.

"You're right, Libby. Our parents need to know about this," I agreed, setting up my watch to send out the tachyon transmission...

[Katia11]

good job!

[TheKingInTheNorth]

Lol, Sheen and his crazy antics!
Oh Jimmy, is there anything you can't invent?

Nice work! I wonder how their parents will react... then again, they're probably used to this sort of thing.

[JimmyxxCindy4EVER]

Just a friendly reminder: it's been updated on FF.net, too!