The Zafara Assassin 3: Swamplands of Tisitan By: meratocat
Part 1
The future is always uncertain, so the form of help which you will find there is too. uncertain. Sometimes the ones who help you the most are the ones that others think are the most deadly, the most vicious, while other times they may be the ones who no one would expect to rebel. Any way they are all destined to come together in some way or another.
Book 2: Strange Meetings
I awoke the next day before sunrise, with a cool chill running down my back. I opened up my green eyes, and looked down at the bundle of fur at my feet, and smiled. Apparently Zana Taru had crawled up next to me while I slept, for there she was nestled up against my fur, slightly shivering.
I thought about what it was like to her, being so young, yet strung out on a journey so hard. I knew that she would see it through though. Though young, Zana Taru was very stout, and strong-willed.
I slowly slid out from her grasp, careful not to wake her, and then looked out at the rising of the sun. Soon we would have to set out again. As a large whisper of air blew over me, I sighed wishing that I had taken the time to grab Zarrel's pack. I myself could find food almost anywhere, but I wasn't sure about Zana Taru.
I stretched out, and let out a large yawn, and then I started making my way towards a cluster of bushes, which had little red fruits in them, which by their smell seemed edible. I picked a handful from the bushes, and then upon tasting one, found it to be quite sweet, so I dug in, and ate several more until I was full. Then I grabbed as many as I could carry, and walked back over to Zana Taru.
As I walked over, I smiled at Zana, fast asleep, and then I dropped the whole bunch of berries right upon her, "You better eat up. We shall leave within the hour." And then I turned from her to look up at the sun, and then whispered. "I shall save you Zarrel Charmain. my friend."
Zana Taru finished her breakfast leaving a mess of the berries left. "What will we do with all the extra berries?" She asked, looking up to me for an answer.
"I don't know. I can do just fine without food for up to a week, and I don't feel like lugging around food if I am not going to eat it myself." I said. Really I had no idea what to do with the leftovers.
Zana pushed her finger into her fur, thinking. "I got it!!!" Zana yelled jumping into the air.
"What?" I asked, but she didn't answer me, instead she started to take off her jacket, which she wore over a smaller vest. Slightly sticking her tongue from the side of her mouth, she twisted the sleeves around, and around her hood. Then she tied the sleeves into a knot, and lifted up her final product.
"Clever." I said smiling, for she was. She had turned her jacket into a bag. "Though won't you be cold during the night? It shall only get colder as we make our way north." And as I said this, a large gust of wind ruffled up my fur.
"I'll be fine." She said packing the leftover berries into the 'bag' and then walked over to me. "Now are we going to go save mother?"
I laughed. "Just hop on."
Soon we were soaring through the sky, headed northward once again, though not without problems. The wind was getting stronger as I flew, and soon it was starting to make me falter while I flew. The wind was tearing through my feathers, and Zana Taru was bent double, clutching my main as hard as her hands allowed her, making her knuckles go white. She sat shivering upon my back, but didn't say a word about being cold; probably too worried about holding on I thought.
"We have hit a storm!!!" I tried to yell over the wind to Zana as I was starting to be pulled back and forth by the strong wind.
"You must land!" She screamed to me. "We can't kill ourselves!!!"
"No!!!" I said still flying. "We can't give up on Zarrel, we have no idea how long this storm will last, and weather or not it lessens farther up." I said still flapping my wings. I would not give up, and so I kept on flying.
As I flew onward, the storm didn't get better. It only got worse, way worse. The wind blew past my ears, screaming as it went, and pulling my wings this way and that. Zana was now holding on for dear life as all sorts of dust, grime, and other debris blew into our faces. With my eyes half opened, I swerved this way and that to try and avoid the larger particles of stuff which flew past me.
With a large gust of wind, my wings finally gave out under me, and I was thrown right into a branch that was being blown by the strong winds. Even though the branch was small, it was going really fast enough, and hit just the right place to make me go spinning out of control. I flipped this way and that, my wings flailing uselessly at my sides. I lost all sense of direction as I continued that frenzied spin. That was when Zana fell from my back with a scream, then I lost her in the twilight of the wind.
Up was down, and down was up; the whole world spun before me, and I felt like I was going to puke if I spun any longer. My wish was then granted, and I was tossed full force right into a tree, and then fell to the ground. My wings pained horribly, and I couldn't move the rest of myself. A dark haze started to settle across my vision, and I let out a weak squawk as I plummeted into a deep darkness. I had failed Zarrel Charmain. I had lost to the storm; I had lost Zana Taru.
***
Zana Taru opened up her eyes, and then closed them again, thinking of the dream that she had had last night. She had dreamt that her mother was going to die if she and Dorono did not get a special flower. Then as they were flying, she lost Dorono into the abyss, while she herself fell into a large thorn bush.
Zana opened her eyes, looking at all the brambles that surrounded her, and held her fast to the large bush that she was in, and then a tear slipped down her cheek. She really did want to believe that what had happened was a dream, but she knew it to not be true. What happened had, and from what she saw, Dorono had died. Now it was up to her to save her mother, but how? She had no idea of where she was, and even if she did, where could she find the flower of Trinifucus. She knew that it was in the North, and by the ocean side, but Zana had no idea which way was North.
Zana tried to pull herself from the bush without scraping her skin upon the many thorns, but luck was against her, for by the time she got out she was covered with little thorns. Zana Taru began to flail her arms about trying to get the thorns off, for they burned her like many fire ants crawling up her pant legs. She looked down, and then let out a yelp of fright, for there upon her legs were many fire ants; she was standing in the middle of their anthill.
With a cry of pain, Zana ran headless of the thorns catching in her hair, for all she wanted was out. Once far away from the burning ants, she sat down, and began to cry, a long drawn out wale. "Why didn't I listen to Dorono, and just stay back home with father?!?" She cried. "Why???"
"Well, I'm sure you could answer that question of yours better yourself." A voice sounded from up in the trees.
"Wha!!!" Zana Taru said in surprise jumping up, and looking around, seeing nothing. "Who said that?!?"
"Use yer eyes. Why do you think you've got them?"
Zana Taru looked up into the trees at two emerald green eyes that were smiling at her, and she fell back with a start. The voice that belonged to the eyes then began to laugh. The voice was feminine, yet strong. Powerful, yet carefree. "Who are you?" Zana asked again.
"If you mean my name, well it's Tron. Tron Bonne."
Zana looked wide mouthed up into the tree. Tron Bonne. It was a strange name to her ears. It sounded nothing like a normal pets name. "Your name." Zana said. "It's."
"Different? Yeah, I know. That's because I'm different myself."
"What are you?" Zana asked, all fear gone from her now. Whatever was up there didn't sound evil or dangerous, but sounds like looks can be deceiving. "Show yourself!"
"If you insist!" The voice rang out. Suddenly, from the tree a girl dropped, but she was no ordinary girl. Upon her back were large bat-like wings, and her hair was a dark purple, with lime green stripes going through it. Her hair was pulled back into a braid, which rippled down her back. She wore a long black and violet dress, and high heel shoes. She spread out her hands, looking at Zana who stood flabbergasted. "Well."
"You're a faerie." Zana said at last. She had heard much tell of faeries. Though she didn't really know that any existed, and she never expected to meet one face to face; especially not this type of faerie. This faerie was a faerie of darkness. Zana slit her eyes as she saw the sword belt upon the dark faerie Tron's waist. She had heard much tell about these faeries. They were evil, rotten to the core, and wouldn't hesitate to kill you at all. Zana reached down to the ground, and picked up a large rock, and then pulled back her hand, ready to release the stone if Tron tried anything at all. "Don't you come any closer you element of evil!"
At this, Tron took a step back like she had been punched in the face. Zana looked up into the faerie's eyes, and saw an expression of sadness, though it was quickly replaced with the same carefree look that had been upon Tron's face the whole time before. She reached down, and pulled her sword from its shelf, and then upon swinging it above Zana's head, replaced it with a smile. "If I was so evil, I could have killed you right then." Then Tron let out a sigh. "Nowadays, everyone gets cut out for just their looks."
Zana Taru looked up into Tron's face, and finally realized that she was right. Just because she was born a dark faerie did not mean that she was evil. Just like the fact that her mother was the top assassin in the land did not make her evil either. Zana's frown then turned into a smile, "Sorry." She said slowly, and Tron laughed.
"No problem Kiddo." Then she looked deep into Zana's eyes, "You know what? You remind me of someone. A friend of mine; also a purple zafara. We had so many misadventures together." And Tron laughed once again. "Bunny." She said. "Bunny Ketsotsu. That was her name." And Tron smiled as her eyes seamed to go far away, then they quickly zoomed back to Neopia. "You know what kid? You remind me of her, ya do. Her and I had many misadventures together. What is yer name kid?" Tron asked looking down once more upon Zana Taru.
"It's Zana." She said, "Zana Taru."
"Zana Taru!" the dark faerie said with a smile. "So your not all to good yourself, or at least so I would presume, knowing the fact that your mother is who she is."
"How do you know my mother?"
"Most creatures around here do." Tron said with a laugh, "Though of course I have my own ways of finding out news. Now that I know who you are, I'm curious. Why are you out here in this dangerous land instead of in the woods were you live?"
Zana Taru looked down, and shuffled her feet. Though Tron seemed nice enough, she did not want to give out any information in case appearances were false. "It's a long story." She slowly said, hoping that the faerie would drop it; she didn't.
"Tell me, I have plenty of time to spare."
"Well I don't!" Zana roared, suddenly becoming quite fierce. "I am on an important mission, that cannot wait for sake of lives being lost." Then she cooled down. "Though I doubt that I shall ever save her now. I don't know where the flower is, and even if I did, I have no way to get there after Dorono passed away through the winds." Zana said softly to herself more then Tron.
"A quest eh?" Tron said smiling. "And who is this Dorono, and what about the flower?" Apparently, Tron was not going to drop it anytime soon.
"He is my friend! Or at least he was. Now I think that he is dead. Dorono." She whispered, and a tear started to drop down her cheek, but the Zana lifted her head, sheer determination around her. "My quest is to save my mother, if you must know, and in order to do so, I must find the flower of Trinifucus! Only I have lost my ride. My friend and hers; Dorono the eyrie. During the storm of yester eve, he and I were blown from each other, and the last thing I remember. the last thing was his screech, which sounded as the cry of a rabbit before it dies."
"Now we're getting somewhere." Tron said, acting untouched. "How can you be sure though that your friend is dead? Surely if you live he would have a better chance, with wings and all."
Zana Taru looked up at the Faerie. What she said was true. Up until then, she had not given thought to the fact that Dorono could still be alive, but now that she did, she saw that chances were that he was.
Zana Taru had made up her mind. She would not leave until she had found Dorono. Dead of living was up to fate. "I shall go to find Dorono!"
"I'll come too." Tron said walking up to Zana with a smile. "I don't have much else to do besides sit around, so I might as well do something." And then Tron grabbed a hunk of her baggy clothes. "Though I would suggest a change of cloths from you before we go. Something to make you look more fierce." And then she rubbed her hand over Zana Taru's hair with a large smile on her face.
Zana Taru smiled up at the dark faerie. Perhaps they weren't as bad as rumors let on after all.
Part 1
The future is always uncertain, so the form of help which you will find there is too. uncertain. Sometimes the ones who help you the most are the ones that others think are the most deadly, the most vicious, while other times they may be the ones who no one would expect to rebel. Any way they are all destined to come together in some way or another.
Book 2: Strange Meetings
I awoke the next day before sunrise, with a cool chill running down my back. I opened up my green eyes, and looked down at the bundle of fur at my feet, and smiled. Apparently Zana Taru had crawled up next to me while I slept, for there she was nestled up against my fur, slightly shivering.
I thought about what it was like to her, being so young, yet strung out on a journey so hard. I knew that she would see it through though. Though young, Zana Taru was very stout, and strong-willed.
I slowly slid out from her grasp, careful not to wake her, and then looked out at the rising of the sun. Soon we would have to set out again. As a large whisper of air blew over me, I sighed wishing that I had taken the time to grab Zarrel's pack. I myself could find food almost anywhere, but I wasn't sure about Zana Taru.
I stretched out, and let out a large yawn, and then I started making my way towards a cluster of bushes, which had little red fruits in them, which by their smell seemed edible. I picked a handful from the bushes, and then upon tasting one, found it to be quite sweet, so I dug in, and ate several more until I was full. Then I grabbed as many as I could carry, and walked back over to Zana Taru.
As I walked over, I smiled at Zana, fast asleep, and then I dropped the whole bunch of berries right upon her, "You better eat up. We shall leave within the hour." And then I turned from her to look up at the sun, and then whispered. "I shall save you Zarrel Charmain. my friend."
Zana Taru finished her breakfast leaving a mess of the berries left. "What will we do with all the extra berries?" She asked, looking up to me for an answer.
"I don't know. I can do just fine without food for up to a week, and I don't feel like lugging around food if I am not going to eat it myself." I said. Really I had no idea what to do with the leftovers.
Zana pushed her finger into her fur, thinking. "I got it!!!" Zana yelled jumping into the air.
"What?" I asked, but she didn't answer me, instead she started to take off her jacket, which she wore over a smaller vest. Slightly sticking her tongue from the side of her mouth, she twisted the sleeves around, and around her hood. Then she tied the sleeves into a knot, and lifted up her final product.
"Clever." I said smiling, for she was. She had turned her jacket into a bag. "Though won't you be cold during the night? It shall only get colder as we make our way north." And as I said this, a large gust of wind ruffled up my fur.
"I'll be fine." She said packing the leftover berries into the 'bag' and then walked over to me. "Now are we going to go save mother?"
I laughed. "Just hop on."
Soon we were soaring through the sky, headed northward once again, though not without problems. The wind was getting stronger as I flew, and soon it was starting to make me falter while I flew. The wind was tearing through my feathers, and Zana Taru was bent double, clutching my main as hard as her hands allowed her, making her knuckles go white. She sat shivering upon my back, but didn't say a word about being cold; probably too worried about holding on I thought.
"We have hit a storm!!!" I tried to yell over the wind to Zana as I was starting to be pulled back and forth by the strong wind.
"You must land!" She screamed to me. "We can't kill ourselves!!!"
"No!!!" I said still flying. "We can't give up on Zarrel, we have no idea how long this storm will last, and weather or not it lessens farther up." I said still flapping my wings. I would not give up, and so I kept on flying.
As I flew onward, the storm didn't get better. It only got worse, way worse. The wind blew past my ears, screaming as it went, and pulling my wings this way and that. Zana was now holding on for dear life as all sorts of dust, grime, and other debris blew into our faces. With my eyes half opened, I swerved this way and that to try and avoid the larger particles of stuff which flew past me.
With a large gust of wind, my wings finally gave out under me, and I was thrown right into a branch that was being blown by the strong winds. Even though the branch was small, it was going really fast enough, and hit just the right place to make me go spinning out of control. I flipped this way and that, my wings flailing uselessly at my sides. I lost all sense of direction as I continued that frenzied spin. That was when Zana fell from my back with a scream, then I lost her in the twilight of the wind.
Up was down, and down was up; the whole world spun before me, and I felt like I was going to puke if I spun any longer. My wish was then granted, and I was tossed full force right into a tree, and then fell to the ground. My wings pained horribly, and I couldn't move the rest of myself. A dark haze started to settle across my vision, and I let out a weak squawk as I plummeted into a deep darkness. I had failed Zarrel Charmain. I had lost to the storm; I had lost Zana Taru.
***
Zana Taru opened up her eyes, and then closed them again, thinking of the dream that she had had last night. She had dreamt that her mother was going to die if she and Dorono did not get a special flower. Then as they were flying, she lost Dorono into the abyss, while she herself fell into a large thorn bush.
Zana opened her eyes, looking at all the brambles that surrounded her, and held her fast to the large bush that she was in, and then a tear slipped down her cheek. She really did want to believe that what had happened was a dream, but she knew it to not be true. What happened had, and from what she saw, Dorono had died. Now it was up to her to save her mother, but how? She had no idea of where she was, and even if she did, where could she find the flower of Trinifucus. She knew that it was in the North, and by the ocean side, but Zana had no idea which way was North.
Zana tried to pull herself from the bush without scraping her skin upon the many thorns, but luck was against her, for by the time she got out she was covered with little thorns. Zana Taru began to flail her arms about trying to get the thorns off, for they burned her like many fire ants crawling up her pant legs. She looked down, and then let out a yelp of fright, for there upon her legs were many fire ants; she was standing in the middle of their anthill.
With a cry of pain, Zana ran headless of the thorns catching in her hair, for all she wanted was out. Once far away from the burning ants, she sat down, and began to cry, a long drawn out wale. "Why didn't I listen to Dorono, and just stay back home with father?!?" She cried. "Why???"
"Well, I'm sure you could answer that question of yours better yourself." A voice sounded from up in the trees.
"Wha!!!" Zana Taru said in surprise jumping up, and looking around, seeing nothing. "Who said that?!?"
"Use yer eyes. Why do you think you've got them?"
Zana Taru looked up into the trees at two emerald green eyes that were smiling at her, and she fell back with a start. The voice that belonged to the eyes then began to laugh. The voice was feminine, yet strong. Powerful, yet carefree. "Who are you?" Zana asked again.
"If you mean my name, well it's Tron. Tron Bonne."
Zana looked wide mouthed up into the tree. Tron Bonne. It was a strange name to her ears. It sounded nothing like a normal pets name. "Your name." Zana said. "It's."
"Different? Yeah, I know. That's because I'm different myself."
"What are you?" Zana asked, all fear gone from her now. Whatever was up there didn't sound evil or dangerous, but sounds like looks can be deceiving. "Show yourself!"
"If you insist!" The voice rang out. Suddenly, from the tree a girl dropped, but she was no ordinary girl. Upon her back were large bat-like wings, and her hair was a dark purple, with lime green stripes going through it. Her hair was pulled back into a braid, which rippled down her back. She wore a long black and violet dress, and high heel shoes. She spread out her hands, looking at Zana who stood flabbergasted. "Well."
"You're a faerie." Zana said at last. She had heard much tell of faeries. Though she didn't really know that any existed, and she never expected to meet one face to face; especially not this type of faerie. This faerie was a faerie of darkness. Zana slit her eyes as she saw the sword belt upon the dark faerie Tron's waist. She had heard much tell about these faeries. They were evil, rotten to the core, and wouldn't hesitate to kill you at all. Zana reached down to the ground, and picked up a large rock, and then pulled back her hand, ready to release the stone if Tron tried anything at all. "Don't you come any closer you element of evil!"
At this, Tron took a step back like she had been punched in the face. Zana looked up into the faerie's eyes, and saw an expression of sadness, though it was quickly replaced with the same carefree look that had been upon Tron's face the whole time before. She reached down, and pulled her sword from its shelf, and then upon swinging it above Zana's head, replaced it with a smile. "If I was so evil, I could have killed you right then." Then Tron let out a sigh. "Nowadays, everyone gets cut out for just their looks."
Zana Taru looked up into Tron's face, and finally realized that she was right. Just because she was born a dark faerie did not mean that she was evil. Just like the fact that her mother was the top assassin in the land did not make her evil either. Zana's frown then turned into a smile, "Sorry." She said slowly, and Tron laughed.
"No problem Kiddo." Then she looked deep into Zana's eyes, "You know what? You remind me of someone. A friend of mine; also a purple zafara. We had so many misadventures together." And Tron laughed once again. "Bunny." She said. "Bunny Ketsotsu. That was her name." And Tron smiled as her eyes seamed to go far away, then they quickly zoomed back to Neopia. "You know what kid? You remind me of her, ya do. Her and I had many misadventures together. What is yer name kid?" Tron asked looking down once more upon Zana Taru.
"It's Zana." She said, "Zana Taru."
"Zana Taru!" the dark faerie said with a smile. "So your not all to good yourself, or at least so I would presume, knowing the fact that your mother is who she is."
"How do you know my mother?"
"Most creatures around here do." Tron said with a laugh, "Though of course I have my own ways of finding out news. Now that I know who you are, I'm curious. Why are you out here in this dangerous land instead of in the woods were you live?"
Zana Taru looked down, and shuffled her feet. Though Tron seemed nice enough, she did not want to give out any information in case appearances were false. "It's a long story." She slowly said, hoping that the faerie would drop it; she didn't.
"Tell me, I have plenty of time to spare."
"Well I don't!" Zana roared, suddenly becoming quite fierce. "I am on an important mission, that cannot wait for sake of lives being lost." Then she cooled down. "Though I doubt that I shall ever save her now. I don't know where the flower is, and even if I did, I have no way to get there after Dorono passed away through the winds." Zana said softly to herself more then Tron.
"A quest eh?" Tron said smiling. "And who is this Dorono, and what about the flower?" Apparently, Tron was not going to drop it anytime soon.
"He is my friend! Or at least he was. Now I think that he is dead. Dorono." She whispered, and a tear started to drop down her cheek, but the Zana lifted her head, sheer determination around her. "My quest is to save my mother, if you must know, and in order to do so, I must find the flower of Trinifucus! Only I have lost my ride. My friend and hers; Dorono the eyrie. During the storm of yester eve, he and I were blown from each other, and the last thing I remember. the last thing was his screech, which sounded as the cry of a rabbit before it dies."
"Now we're getting somewhere." Tron said, acting untouched. "How can you be sure though that your friend is dead? Surely if you live he would have a better chance, with wings and all."
Zana Taru looked up at the Faerie. What she said was true. Up until then, she had not given thought to the fact that Dorono could still be alive, but now that she did, she saw that chances were that he was.
Zana Taru had made up her mind. She would not leave until she had found Dorono. Dead of living was up to fate. "I shall go to find Dorono!"
"I'll come too." Tron said walking up to Zana with a smile. "I don't have much else to do besides sit around, so I might as well do something." And then Tron grabbed a hunk of her baggy clothes. "Though I would suggest a change of cloths from you before we go. Something to make you look more fierce." And then she rubbed her hand over Zana Taru's hair with a large smile on her face.
Zana Taru smiled up at the dark faerie. Perhaps they weren't as bad as rumors let on after all.