Note: the characters are a little older.
Zick paced the arena, muttering to himself and thinking of many ways to get the hell out of there.
Who's idea was it to separate them anyway? As strong as she was, Elena couldn't be left alone when there was a Water Worm on the loose.
She was a great Keeper, don't get him wrong. Without her, he'd probably have died a long time ago.
But seriously, everyone got paired into groups except her? She was left with Bombolo at the lake while the other Tamers and Keepers patrolled the rest of the area.
He couldn't really get angry though, normally, the Tutors always put him together with Elena when there was a mission; but this time there weren't enough people, so someone had to go alone.
And she just had to volunteer, ignoring his protests.
Look where that got them, Elena was missing and while everyone else was looking for her; they had locked him up in the Armory because it was Elena. They expected him to act recklessly any moment when it came to her safety.
...which wasn't not true. Just look at the way he acted when she got captured by that Dark Tamer and his deranged Keeper wife. He had nearly gotten himself killed.
But that didn't mean they could lock him up!
A pair of strong female hands pushed his back and he stumbled. He didn't even have to turn around to know who it was. "Not in the mood, Lay."
She frowned and leaned on his shoulder. "What's up with you, lil' Tamer?" She ruffled his messy blue hair playfully.
"Leave him alone, Lay. He's just pissed because he got ordered to stay here instead of helping look for his girlfriend." Teddy teased as he walked in.
Zick glared at him. "She is not my- oh, forget it."
"Finally admitting it?"
"No, your tiny brain just won't get it," he grumbled.
Lay raised her eyebrows. "What happened to the nice boy I know?"
He gently pushed her arm from his shoulder and sat down on a bench.
The purple haired teen glanced at the blond boy with a questioning gaze; Teddy just shrugged.
"C'mon, Zick, you know they'll find her," he tried to cheer him up.
Zick frowned and looked at the two. "Why are you guys here and not with the others?"
Lay froze and Teddy started stuttering for an answer; which gave the young Tamer enough information.
They were send to make sure he stayed in the Armory.
"Unbelievable," Zick got up and walked out of the arena, ignoring the calls of his friends.
At this rate, he wouldn't be surprised if there was a secret stash of lavender hidden just to be a hundred percent sure he wouldn't escape.
He made his way towards the place the Flyvans were left. There weren't many; most got taken by the others in the search for Elena.
The blue haired boy ran his hands through the feathers of one of the Flyvans, already sensing the presence of a Tutor sneaking up on him.
"Lardine," he greeted dryly. "Let me guess, you're here to keep an eye on me too?"
The female Tutor sighed. "Yes, originally it was supposed to be Timothy, but since I'm a lot friendlier Jeremy thought it'd be best if I stayed."
Zick glanced at her and raised an eyebrow. "I find it hard to believe Jeremy said that."
"I may have tweaked the story a bit," she winked.
He smiled for a second, before focusing on the Flyvan and sighing; mentally apologizing to his dad for ignoring yet another order.
Lardine circled him and frowned up at him. "I know what you're planning. You can't leave."
"You can't stop me," he climbed onto the creature, petting it gently so it would stay calm.
Lardine shook her head. "No," she turned and left the room; confusing the young Tamer.
She returned with his Universal Dombox in her mouth. He smiled and reached down to take it from her.
"I was going to say you couldn't leave without this," the Tutor clarified.
"Thanks."
She rolled her eyes. "Just know I'm risking something for you, Timothy will kill me when he finds out I helped you escape."
"I'm not sure, Lardine." Zick shook his head. "Looks like Timothy has a soft spot for you, it won't be long before you end up like Jeremy and Marylis."
The Tutor disguised as a cat shivered in disgust. "Like them? Please no."
He grinned. "Fine, maybe not as corny as them. But I really think that-"
"Like you and Elena, perhaps?" She teased, raising an eyebrow and showing her sharp teeth; it is hard to smile when you are a cat, okay?
He rolled his eyes and ordered the Flyvan to fly up a little. "Bye, Lardine."
Zick flew higher and higher until he was nearly out of sight; she still could hear his faint call of 'thanks for the help!' before he disappeared.
Lardine sighed and walked away, praying to every great Tutor that had every lived that she made the right decision- Carnaby was one of the Tutors she prayed to.
He made it out of the Armory and to the place they last saw Elena. He could see all his friends and family looking for her; he could go two ways from this point.
1. Stay hidden and make this a secret mission. The advantage was that nobody would try to stop him, but if he got in trouble he was on his own.
2. Land on the ground and shown them he didn't listen...again. He would probably get in trouble, and so would Lardine, but it was safe...he hoped.
As he was debating which option to choose, his mother just happened to look up.
Greta frowned and took off her glasses, cleaning them before putting them back on. She squinted a little and froze when she realized there was nothing wrong with her eyesight. "...Zick?" She muttered.
"What?" Zob looked up and sighed. He loved his son, he really did and he was really proud of all the things the kid managed to do. It was clear he was very powerful; even managing to do things that had always ended in death but he still found a way around it.
He was the perfect son for a Tamer.
...Except for the fact he simply refused to listen.
Terrence looked up and smirked at Zob. "He's really hard of hearing, isn't he?"
"Shut up, your son was supposed to watch him."
"Probably got distracted by that Mamery girl." He shrugged.
Leniley glared at him. "Hey! Don't bring my daughter into this!"
Zick flew a little lower and smiled apologetically at them. "I'm sorry," he started. "I just really need to find her."
He flew off, following his gut feeling (and his monster allergy) and hoping he wasn't wrong.
Zick jumped off the Flyvan and looked around. The trail let right to...
The sewers, figures.
But there was one thing that wasn't quite right; how would a Water Worm fit into such a tiny space?
He walked through the sewers, following his monster allergy to find-
"Let go of me, you stinky monster!"
Elena.
He ran towards the sound, finding his best friend struggling heavily against a Gorka. It wasn't very powerful, from what he could see.
"Keep quiet!" The Gorka hissed.
Elena glared and kicked him hard.
The monster growled. "You asked for it," he raised his hand.
"Don't touch her."
The orange haired girl nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard his voice. "Holy Spit! Zick!"
The young Tamer walked into view, his eyes red and his hand stretched out. "Let her go," he ordered.
The Gorka blinked, trying to resist even though he knew he couldn't. "As you wish," he hissed, letting go of Elena.
She hit the ground hard and winced. "I swear, Zick, if you don't can him I'll kill him!"
"Don't worry," he assured, shooting a Dom-ray at the monster.
The Gorka growled, its hand morphing into a hammer-shape before slamming it against the wall; the rocks fell, right where Elena was standing.
She couldn't go anywhere, there was a higher chance she'd get hit if she ran. Her eyes locked on Zick; fear in her eyes and mentally saying goodbye. There was no chance she'd survive-
Zick ran in front of her.
"What are you doing?" She pushed him away and looked up nervously, the rocks were coming closer and the Gorka was watching the scene with a sick sense of delight. "We'll both die!"
"No," he shook his head and concentrated.
Elena watched wide eyed as his Enviro-Dom created a bubble around them; just when the rocks hit.
The blue haired Tamer glared at the Gorka. "I think that's enough."
The monster could only stay frozen in place as Zick canned him.
Elena pushed herself up from the ground and smiled at her best friend. "Zick that was amazing! How did you-"
He smiled and wrapped his arms around her. "I'm glad you're okay."
The fifteen year old prayed to every God she could think of that she wasn't blushing. "What did I tell you about hugging me?"
He smiled again, but made no move to pull away. "Yeah, yeah, you'd beat me up. But I'm already in enough trouble as it is," he said, finally letting go.
She frowned. "What-"
"I got ordered to stay in the Armory while the others were looking for you; in case I'd do something reckless."
The Keeper looked around and blinked. "Well, they weren't wrong."
"Zick? Elena?"
Both of them flinched at the voices of the other Tamers. Timothy's lectures were the worst.
Zick sat alone while it was lunch break at school, for some reason Elena hadn't showed up yet-
"Zick!"
There she was.
The orange haired girl ran up to him. "What happened? Did you get grounded? Please don't tell me you got grounded because of me!"
"Relax," he laughed and motioned for her to sit beside him, which she did. "I didn't get grounded...if I let the Bursties practice singing in my room."
She flinched. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay," he shrugged. "It's not your fault you got captured. Why are you so late anyway?"
She rolled her eyes. "Why do you think? Bombolo was having some cramps, and you know what that leads to."
He chuckled.
"You know..." She started, after a moment of silence.
Zick raised an eyebrow when he saw how uncomfortable she was getting, she was continuously shifting in place and playing with her fingers. He smirked, already knowing what she was about to attempt to do.
"I never really thanked you for saving me..." The girl refused to look at him.
He shrugged. "It's okay, you saved me a lot of times; and I do the same. It's our thing, besides," he grinned. "You didn't murder me for hugging you so we're even."
"Yeah, just don't do it again," she grumbled.
"How come you make such a big deal about that but you didn't even punch me for kissing you."
Elena blushed at the memory. He had kissed her on the cheek during the little Tamers vs. Keepers battle everyone had. She knew he had done it to distract her from their Snyakutz battle/game, but that didn't make her heart jump any less.
She shrugged. "Didn't have any time, we needed to save that White Gorka, remember?"
"Of course I do," he scoffed. "I was expecting a punch from you at any moment after I pulled that stunt."
She smirked. "Good," she punched him playfully in the shoulder. "There, now I punched you for the kiss."
He raised an eyebrow. "If I can get away with it that easily then maybe I should try something else," his eyes almost sparkled with mischief. It was the kind of look she'd expect from the Tamer twins and Teddy.
Zick got up and placed a quick kiss on her lips just as the bell rang. He put his hands in his pockets and calmly jogged up the stairs, all the while ignoring the teasing of his classmates who had witnessed the scene.
He grinned at David who was giving him a thumbs-up while Annie just looked worriedly at Elena; debating if she should go check on her or not.
"Ezekiel Zick! Get back here! I am not finished with you yet!"
...maybe it was safer for her if she just stuck with David and let Elena and Zick handle this themselves...
