Heroes
by Kikyo-the-Walnut
Prologue
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I do not claim to own Neopets or any related indicia. And yes, I am aware of how pathetic that sounds.
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A blue Shoyru stood against a tree, her paws clutching a bow and arrow. Alertly she looked around the densely forested area, looking for some sign of intrusion. She saw none, but did not relax her grip on her weapon. She couldn't allow even one enemy into the kingdom. The Kingdom of Brightvale was too young, too new to be uprooted.
The night sky twinkled above her, and the stars glowed blue.
Nearby, a Lupe, rich purple in colour but with an exotic lavender marking on his hind leg, was also crouched behind a tree, eyeing the princess Shoyru and her petty bow. He was only about nine feet from her, yet he was cleverly concealed behind the tree, invisible to all but himself. He watched as her eyes darted about, looking directly at the tree he hid behind, and recalled his mistresses directions.
Kill the Princess Tanysa, Jhudora had commanded from her cloud high in Faerieland. Make sure she dies, and hurry. I cannot wait long, she is in the way. She must be destroyed, Calix.
Calix patted his own weapon, a shining silver dagger secured at the hip. You will be rewarded handsomely.
Tanysa held her stance, waiting for something to happen.
Calix rushed out, his purple coat barely visible.
His dagger was hidden in the darkness. Only the shine of the metal gave it away. Purple metal.
Tanysa's eyes widened when she saw the metallic glint, and she knocked an arrow. She quickly let it go. And watched it speed to the target.
Calix only jumped to the left and continued his onslaught, and the arrow hit the dirt harmlessly. He reached within a foot of Tanysa and in the blink of an eye his dagger was out and stabbing Tanysa's leg.
Tanysa gasped, eyes widened even more, fell down. All in a few second's time.
Calix laughed, a cold, unfeeling laugh that made Tanysa shiver and grapple for her bow.
"And you call yourself the princess. The expert with the bow." He taunted, looming over her.
Tanysa clutched her leg and glared at him, trembling with pain.
"Why would you seek to kill me?"
"I don't know," Calix barked gleefully. "None of my business. Mercenaries don't question the employer. They just kill. Why don't you go ask her yourself… Why not ask Jhudora?"
He laughed again and slipped out into the cover of the forest, paws muffled by the foliage and the blanket of night.
Tanysa whimpered, and looked at her leg. She started in surprise. The wound had already closed up, leaving no trace of its existence, and making her wonder if she'd been stabbed at all. What? She wondered.
She touched her leg thoughtfully, and looked around in the direction the Lupe had run off. Where was he now? Why had Jhudora wanted to kill her? Or at least… alter her?
She heard twigs snap behind her. She turned her head, still puzzled, and saw a Lupe—a different one—clad in armor rushing toward her.
"Jeran!" she called in relief.
"Tanysa, what happened?" Jeran demanded, leaning over. "Are you all right?"
"I'm not sure," Tanysa said, standing up. "A Lupe came out of the woods and stabbed me with a purple-ish colored blade… But the wound closed up almost immediately." She frowned at her leg. "The Lupe was strange, too." She told Jeran about the marking on his leg.
"Weird," Jeran muttered. Then he asked, "Can you walk?"
"I think so. Yes," Tanysa replied, taking a few steps. "I don't know what the purpose of that dagger was, but right now I'm fine!"
Jeran smiled, relieved that Tanysa was okay for the present. "Come on," he said. "Let's get back to Brightvale. I would have preferred Meridell, but it's too far away."
"You're right," Tanysa agreed. "Let's go."
Tanysa led the way, walking as though she was unharmed. Jeran walked close to her, ready to steady her if she fell, but she didn't so much as bobble. If the dagger wound already closed up and Tanysa's all right, Jeran thought, why did someone ambush her in the first place?
"Tanysa! What are you doing back here? And Jeran! I thought you were patrolling the forest!" King Hagan of Brightvale exclaimed when Tanysa and Jeran came into the throne room. He'd been sleeping, but had been roused by the commotion Tanysa and Jeran had caused.
"I was, but Tanysa got wounded," Jeran informed him.
"Hurt? Tanysa?" Hagan looked Tanysa up and down.
"The wound closed up already," Tanysa explained. "I'm not sure—"
She stopped mid-sentence, and looked directly at Jeran. Her eyes became suddenly bright and her bow, which she'd kept with her, clattered to the floor.
"Tanysa, what is it?" Jeran demanded.
Tanysa didn't answer the question. Her pupils seemed to dilate and she started panting. As if she were having some internal struggle.
"Die, knight!" she shrieked at him suddenly, her voice unusually metallic. "Die! You're a threat to my rule over the land!"
"What?!" Hagan looked shocked. "Jeran, what's happening?"
"I don't know!" Jeran didn't take his eyes off Tanysa, who had notched her bow and was pointing it at him.
"Your legacy, warrior. It ends now!" Tanysa unloosed her bow. The arrow flew threw the air, aiming for Jeran's heart.
Jeran braced himself against the marble floor. The arrow whizzed closer.
He caught it in midair, with both hands, and breathed heavily. Panting, he stared at the Shoyru.
"Tanysa, I always trusted you…" he began. He drew his sword.
Suddenly Tanysa stopped knocking another arrow. Her bow fell with a clatter to the floor. She blinked.
"Jeran, what was I d-doing?" she cried out, in a more normal voice. "Was I… trying to hit you?" She motioned to her bow.
"Yes," Jeran said suspiciously, slowly sheathing his sword.
"How could I have done that?!" Tanysa looked wide-eyed. "I couldn't have done that. I couldn't."
"You just did," Jeran told her.
"Tanysa!" Hagan interrupted loudly. "Tanysa, you were a Protector of Brightvale. You were until you turned on your own kingdom. You were until you sided with an unknown, evil force. You were until now."
"I didn't do it!" Tanysa insisted. "Something made me!"
"Nonsense," Hagan said, just as Jeran exclaimed, "That wound!" "You have spiritual powers," Hagan continued angrily. "And those powers would negate a curse, wouldn't they? Into the dungeon. Guards!" He motioned for two armed Skeiths to handcuff Tanysa.
"Sire, she didn't—" Jeran began.
"And you! I bet you were involved somehow!" Hagan roared. "All a plot to overthrow my kingdom! I don't want you to set foot in Brightvale again!"
Jeran and Tanysa stared at each other as they were each dragged away. Tanysa tried to struggle free of the Skeiths, but they overwhelmed her. Her bow lay uselessly some five feet away.
Overhead, the stars twinkled brighter.
"My lord Skarl, I bring uneventful tidings," Jeran reported to his King the next day. His sword was sheathed at his hip.
"Yes? What is it?" King Skarl asked, sounding bored.
"Princess Tanysa of Brightvale. She's in the Hagan's dungeon," Jeran said sadly.
"Princess Tanysa? Isn't she the protector of Brightvale?" Skarl queried. At Jeran's nod, he continued, "How can she be in a dungeon?"
"I'm not sure," Jeran said guardedly. "She's been poisoned somehow. Something about a purple blade…"
"Such a blade is highly unusual," Skarl's advisor, a green Draik, commented. "I think I've read something about that."
"Really?" Jeran asked hopefully.
"Yes. Assassins dip their blades in poison. The poison will kill in a few days, as I recall… about six, I'd guess."
"Six?" Jeran almost yelled, alarmed. "Does anything negate its effects?"
"Yes. A blue Draik's scale will slow the poisoning," the Draik said stoically.
I have to help Tanysa! Jeran thought.
"I must leave, sire," he said simply.
"Tanysa!" Jeran hissed, through the bars of the Shoyru's prison cell. The window of the prison cell, actually; he'd snuck in through the back of Hagan's castle, intent on not being seen. He was lucky that Hagan's "dungeon" was actually on ground level, or he would have had a much harder time.
"Jeran! What are you doing here?" Tanysa rushed to the window. She looked considerably worse than when Jeran had last seen her, only a few days ago. Her eyes were feverish, and her skin looked warm.
"I brought you something, for the wound," Jeran whispered. Carefully, he brought out the Draik scale he'd purchased at the market, and unwrapped the coarse linen around it. He held it through the iron bars. "Press it against the wound. It'll help."
Tanysa nodded, and accepted the scale. She held it against her wound for a few seconds. Presently the flush in her face cooled a bit, and she looked altogether calmer.
"Thank you," she said softly. "This'll help whenever I… whenever Jhudora possesses me."
"Jhudora? You sure?" Jeran asked.
"Yes," Tanysa said with a nod, "Fairly positive, the Lupe who attacked me mentioned her… and I hear her voice ringing through my head sometimes. But that means the only way for my wound to really heal…" she paused. "The only way for my wound to heal… is for someone to defeat Jhudora. Or at least drain her powers."
Jeran stared. "Are you sure that's the only way…?" When Tanysa nodded again, he commented, "But that's impossible, right?"
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Author's Notes: Hmm… well, please review!