Thanks for all the lovely reviews! This is a really quick update for me, mostly because the chapter was already written and I just needed to go through and tweak. Okay, here's how the story's going to work from here on out: each chapter is going to have four different storylines from four different point of views which eventually all come together. Now I'm going to give it a try, but if it starts to get really confusing and convoluted, give me a shout and I'll start consolidating storylines before you can say, "UM, you imbecile!"
Well, now that that's outta the way, I'm also bringing back my practice of having the characters do the disclaimer for me! Because I'm a lazy bum, yay!! It'll be two of the few characters we've been introduced to so far. Luna and Lumas, come on out!
Luna: Hey! UM owns nothing except for the fic itself!
Lumas: All characters belong to their respective owners. Enjoy the chapter!
Da Solo
--Alone--
Alone.
For the first time in her entire life, she was alone.
Ana was in a state of panic as she ran through the forest. Why? Why had they split up? They could have, they should have stayed together! Ana was nothing without her sister! Then why?
Spiky burs that had fallen from the trees were matted in her orange hair. Her face was bruised from the three times so far that she had tripped and fallen. Her ankle was in great pain; she had probably twisted it a while back. All in all, she was a mess. Some ninja she was.
She glanced backwards, hoping to see Kat running behind her. But there was nothing there besides the path Ana had plowed with her own frantic footsteps. How could Kat leave her?
Suddenly, Ana was pulled to a stop. "Aw, crap," she muttered. One of her bright orange pigtails had gotten caught on a tree branch. Stopping for a moment, she began to untangle her hair from the branch. Her heart began to slow a bit, and she started to gather her thoughts. Ana finally freed herself. She looked back again. Although her sister wasn't following her, neither was anything else, so that was a good thing. The young ninja sat down under the tree and sighed. Maybe, if she waited, Kat would be able to catch up to her. She had promised that she would...but...
"Ana, look out!" Ana quickly rolled out of the way as their foe charged at her. She jumped to her sister's side. The attacker, a purple dragon with bright yellow eyes, turned to face the two ninjas.
"Tricky little things, aren't you?" he hissed menacingly. He unfurled his wings, yellow to match his eyes, and began to flap them, causing powerful winds to fly at the ninjas. Kat and Ana braced themselves as the winds pushed them back.
"Ana, get out of here!" Kat cried suddenly, unsheathing her katana and gripping it tightly. Ana looked at her sister, blue eyes wide.
"And leave you here?" she asked. Kat nodded slowly. "No!" The dragon had stopped flapping his wings now and got ready to charge at them again.
"Ana, go now!" her sister said. "I'll be fine! I'll catch up to you!"
"But what if you don't?!"
Kat opened her mouth to answer, but she was cut off as the dragon leapt at Ana. Acting quickly, the purple-haired ninja leapt at him and countered his blow with her sword. The dragon howled in pain as she slashed at his snout, leaving two long cuts. "Ana, hurry!"
"Kat, I'm not leaving you!" Ana cried. The dragon slashed at Kat with his talon, but a kunai knife thrown by Ana stopped him. It stuck right on what looked like a vein. Taking advantage of his temporary weakness, Kat slashed out at the dragon again. She glanced back at Ana.
"Ana! Go now!"
Ana stopped. She had never heard Kat talk to her like that. Kat had always been kind to her. She had never yelled at her before. Slowly, hesitantly, Ana nodded and turned to get away. She looked back for a moment. The dragon had risen to his feet again, preparing to strike. Kat gripped her katana even tighter. The two sisters' eyes met, and then Kat smiled. Ana couldn't help but smile back, nervous as she was.
Then she turned and ran...
She sighed. How long had she been running? Was Kat ever going to arrive? Of course she is, she thought. Any second now, she's gonna appear, she's gonna tell me that she killed the mean dragon... Seconds passed. There was no sign of Kat. Seconds turned to minutes, minutes to hours. Ana was beginning to grow tired. She felt her eyes starting to droop.
"No!" she cried. "I can't fall asleep!" But it was so dark in the forest! And she was so exhausted! Suddenly, Ana noticed something that she hadn't seen before. There was a beam of light, coming from only a yard or two away. Could it be...the end of the forest? Gathering up whatever remaining energy she had, the orange-haired ninja rose to her feet and cautiously made her way towards the light. Carefully, she pushed through the leaves and was met with an overflow of sunlight, so bright that it hurt her eyes. Blinking away the sunspots, Ana began to take in her surroundings.
She was in a zoo, or what was left of it. Rusty, broken cages were scattered around in no particular pattern. Up ahead, Ana saw the remains of what used to be a picnic area, overturned, rotting tables and broken benches. The wind rustled the dry grass, long dead. Ana shuddered.
What could have happened here?
She started slowly down the stone pathway, one of the few things still intact. For some reason, she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched. Ana glanced nervously back and forth. She thought she had seen something move out of the corner of her eye. Her quivering hand started to make its way towards her katana. She placed her hand on its handle, ready to pull it out at any given moment. A sudden voice from behind her made her jump.
"W-who are you?!"
Ana whizzed around, sword in hand. The owner of the voice cringed. "N-n-no! D-don't hurt me!" he cried, cowering to the ground. Ana relaxed her sword arm for a moment and took a look at him. He was a young boy, maybe a year or two older than she was, with grayish-blue eyes. He had blonde hair, a yellow and orange striped shirt, and denim shorts. Red sneakers donned his feet. And he looked scared as hell.
"P-please!" he cried again. "I-I won't f-f-fight you! Just don't h-hurt m-me!" Ana felt a sweatdrop forming. Geez, he stuttered more than her.
"I'm not going to hurt you," she said, putting her katana away. The boy looked up.
"Y-you're not?" he stuttered. She shook her head and offered him her hand. Taking it, he muttered a quiet, "Th-thank God," and got up. "I'm L-Lucas, by the way," he said.
"My name's Ana," the young ninja replied.
"A-Ana? Th-that's a pretty n-name." A slight blush ran across Ana's face, but she shook it away.
"Thanks," she said. "Lucas, what are you doing here?" Lucas looked at her, then looked down to the ground and sighed.
"There's n-n-nowhere else to g-go," he said. Ana cocked her head. "The entire, the entire t-t-town has been invaded. W-why are you here?"
Ana had no idea how to explain her predicament, so she simply said, "Pretty much the same reason you are." The sunlight started to fade as a dark cloud passed over it. "Oh, it looks like it might rain!"
"I-I know a place we can s-stay!" said Lucas suddenly, sounding a bit more confident despite the stuttering. "I go th-there a lot! C-come on!" He took Ana's hand and began to lead her down the path. The young girl was going to resist, but the arrival of more dark clouds and a slight drizzle led her to do otherwise. She only hoped that Kat would be able to find her. Ana looked at Lucas again.
But at least now, she wasn't alone.
The fox wore a grey jacket over his green shirt. A red bandana was tied around his neck. His pants were green to match his shirt, and he wore fingerless gloves and red boots. On one side of his belt was a small reflector; a gun in its holster was on the other. His eyes were also bright green. His name was Fox McCloud. And he was not happy.
"You want us to do what?" he cried, looking at the image of a red-clad bloodhound on the large monitor.
"That's right, Fox," said the dog. "You need to look into this. The government can't spare any of its troops."
"General Pepper!" Fox shouted. "We just got back from our last mission. Which you gave us, may I remind you?" He crossed his arms. "No one, including me, is going to want to do another one this soon," he said.
"Fox, an explosion this large can't go uninvestigated!" Pepper argued. "What if it has deadly consequences?"
"Then it's the government's concern," the vulpine shot back. "You always seem to forget," he said, "that Star Fox is not part of the government."
"Yes, but you're the best I've got. Please, Fox. I'll pay you!" Fox's ears perked up at the word pay.
"I might be able to persuade the crew with money," he muttered. "How much are you talking?"
"One-thousand credits?" offered Pepper.
"General," Fox said, "one-thousand credits wouldn't even persuade Slippy to join. And you know how bad he is with money."
"Fine, then," he sighed, "five-thousand credits, or you're doing it for free."
"Five-thousand credits it is," said Fox, "though I'm not too sure the crew will be too happy."
"You're the commander," Pepper said. "Boost morale. Pepper out." With that, the image faded. Fox sighed.
"Oh, Falco's going to kill me for this." The vulpine left the room with the monitor and walked out into the hallway. He figured that his crew would probably be in the lounge, seeing as it was Friday Night Football. The loud buzzing of a TV and the even louder shouting at players informed him that he was right.
"Okay, guys," he said, walking in, "we've got a new mission."
"WHAT?!"
"No way!"
"Already?"
"The hell does Pepper want this time?"
Fox looked over his crew and sighed. Peppy, an older gray hare, stood with his mouth wide open. To the right, flopped on the sofa, was a green toad, Slippy. A blue vixen named Krystal sat on the chair next to him, shaking her head in disbelief. And leaning on the TV, beer bottle in hand...er, wing, was a blue bird with red rings around his eyes: Falco.
"He wants us to investigate an explosion at a remote location," Fox said.
Falco took a drink from his bottle. "No way. Why the hell does he want us to do that?" he asked. Fox shrugged.
"He's paying us for it, right?" asked Peppy.
"Probably not enough," Krystal muttered, tugging on her blue boot to make it more comfortable.
"Five-thousand credits," the commander said. Only Slippy looked impressed.
"Dude, do you know how many video games that could buy?" the toad said. Falco picked up a crumpled piece of paper from the floor and chucked it at Slippy's head. He ducked, but it knocked off the red and white cap he had been wearing. "Hey!"
"Slippy, five-thousand credits is barely enough to fix the engine in the Great Fox," said Krystal. Their ship's engine had been acting strange lately, and it required a lot of money to fix.
"Oh...I forgot."
"And you call yourself the ship's mechanic," Falco spat, taking another drink from the bottle.
"Now, now, no fighting," said Peppy, always the one to break up disputes. "I assume you four will be taking the Arwings, right, Fox?" he asked. Fox nodded. "Then I'll follow behind with the Great Fox as fast as she can go."
"Don't push her too hard, Peppy. She's going to break down any second," Krystal reminded him.
"We'll leave tomorrow," said Fox. "We'll go, we'll check around, we'll come back, we'll get our paycheck. I'm trying to make this as quick and painless as I can, guys."
"Stupid Pepper," the bird muttered. "He thinks we're his own personal troop." They all nodded in agreement.
"Well, we've got to make the best of it," said the vixen. "You know, when life gives you lemons..." Falco finished off the rest of his beer in one huge gulp.
"Spike the damn lemonade," he said.
Captain's Log Number 235:
I seem to have found friends on this strange planet. After the Dolphin crashed yet again, I was met by two strange old men. They promised to help fix my ship. What good fortune. I'm glad that their lab was nearby, the Pikmin and I could barely walk after that crash. It seems tha...
"Hey, shorty, whatcha writin'?" Olimar looked up at the one who interrupted his writing with annoyance.
"None of your concern, demon," he muttered, closing his book and putting it in his back pocket.
"I told you, the name's Red, not 'demon'," said the little imp, crossing his arms and sticking his tongue out.
Olimar simply waved his hand in an I don't really care kind of motion. "Doesn't your little witch girl need help?" he asked, hoping to rid himself of this little annoyance. However, he got the exact opposite of what he had hoped for.
"Mistress Ashley is not a witch!" Red shouted, giving Olimar a well-aimed punch to the space helmet. It was a wonder that it didn't crack. "She's a sorceress. There's a difference, shorty!" Olimar shook the stars out of his eyes. Geez, that demon could pack a punch.
"Fine, fine, sorceress," he muttered. "And you're not in a position to call me short. I'm taller than you." Red pulled his jet-black pants up a little higher, like he was trying to make himself taller.
"Mistress Ashley's taller than you," he spat. "So I can call you short. Got it, shorty?" he said, a bit menacingly.
"Just be quiet, you stupid imp," said Olimar. The demon glared at him.
"I already told you, it's Red!" he said. But he walked away from Olimar and over to a young girl with long black hair that was tied back into two large pigtails. She wore a headband and a red dress, along with black stockings and strange, almost witch-like orange shoes. Around her neck was a neckerchief with a knot that resembled a skull. During the entire conversation, she had kept to what seemed to be a potion. "Mistress Ashley," said Red, "shorty over there called you a witch." The girl didn't look up from her potion, but Red seemed to have been used to this.
"Stupid demon-thing," Olimar muttered again. When he had accepted help from the two old men, he hadn't realized that meant staying in the same house with an annoying devil and a creepy witch girl. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw some of his Pikmin, cowering in a corner. They weren't exactly happy to be there, either. But it was better than being out in the cold.
"Ashley, how's the potion coming?" asked a voice from the kitchen. Ashley looked up for a moment, but didn't say anything.
"Mistress Ashley still is searching for some of the ingredients!" Red answered for her. An old Goomba walked out of the kitchen. He had grey hair and wore swirling glasses.
"Oh? What do you need?" he asked. He turned to Olimar for a moment. "Dinner will be ready shortly," he said.
"Thanks, Professor Frankly," said Olimar. The Goomba nodded, then walked over to Ashley and Red. The young girl showed him a list that she had made.
"Hmm...All you need is beeswax, turnip heads, and mandrake roots, right?" Frankly asked. Ashley nodded. "Well, I have turnips in the pantry, and we might have beeswax up in the attic. But the mandrake root we'll have to go shopping for, unless Gadd has some. I'll go ask him, and I'll get those turnips now," he said. Then he left the room.
Red eyed one of Olimar's Pikmin evilly. "You know, we could find a substitute for mandrake root," he said, grinning like a madman. Olimar saw this and quickly scooped up the Pikmin Red was after, a yellow one.
"No!" he cried. "You are not chopping Robert up to be used in some potion!" Red's eyes went wide.
"You named those things?" he asked. "Aren't there, like, thousands of them?" Olimar shot him a glare.
"I named all of the yellow ones Robert. They're named by color," he replied. Red looked at another yellow one, cringing behind a purple Pikmin.
"So that one's Robert Two?" he asked, pointing at it. Olimar nodded.
"That's cruel." Both of them looked up. That was the first time Olimar had heard Ashley speak. "You should respect individuality," she continued, never looking up from her potion. Olimar was about to reply when a shout from upstairs startled nearly all of them.
"I'VE GOT IT!"
Loud footsteps could be heard running down the stairs as another old man, also wearing swirling glasses, dashed down. He wore a long white lab coat, and a single bit of white hair donned his head. "I've got it!" he said again.
"Got what? What did you get?" asked Frankly, walking in. He handed the turnips to Ashley, who nodded her thanks.
"More information on the Great Star, of course! What did you think I was talking about?" Frankly glanced to the ceiling.
"Last time you shouted 'I've got it!', you were talking about that nose hair you were trying to pull out," he muttered. "But tell us, E. Gadd."
"Well," E. Gadd started, pushing his glasses up, "it seems you were right about the explosion. It definitely occurred where the Great Star was located. It also seems that, moments after the explosion, five powerful objects were sent flying from the location."
"The Star points?" Frankly asked. Gadd nodded. "Oh, I knew it!" he cried. "Ha! That's five bucks, Red!"
"Fine, fine," the demon muttered, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a five dollar credit.
"Ahem!" Gadd coughed. Everyone turned to look at him. "There's more," he said. "Apparently, if my research is correct, the Star points will land where they will be found by five specific individuals. These individuals are chosen for what seems to be no reason, except that the Great Star thinks that they are capable enough. How many of the Star points have already been found, I don't know. But that," he said, "is where Ashley's potion comes into play. Ashley, is it done yet?" Ashley shook her head and handed him the list. "Ah, I know where I can find these," said Gadd, "but we have to wait until tomorrow. Will your potion be able to sit that long?"
"It needs to be frozen," said Ashley, her tone emotionless. Gadd nodded.
"Very well, then," he said. "And I believe dinner is ready anyways. Right, Frankly?"
"Yes," replied the Goomba.
"Alright, chow time!" cried Red. He dashed into the kitchen. Ashley followed him, carrying the potion with her, and Frankly was close behind. Olimar, however, was confused. E. Gadd seemed to notice this. He walked up to him.
"Don't worry, sonny," he said. "All will be explained in due time." Then he walked into the kitchen, chuckling the entire way.
So it had begun.
He looked out into the deep red sky, tinted by the shadows, ominous, lurking. It would have been sunset, had he been able to see the sun. That was one thing he hated about these shadows. Always messing with his favorite time of day.
He sighed as a cool wind blew over him, sweet relief from the warmth he was feeling. Too much red. Soon, he was going to be seeing red wherever he went. Maybe this wasn't the best of ideas.
It concerned the fate of the universe, though. Didn't it always? He chuckled to himself. He literally held a piece of its destiny in his hands, he thought. He fingered the small golden point in his gloved hands, grinning slightly.
Heh, wry humor.
Now, though, it was up to the other unfortunate four. Would they realize the power they had found? Most likely not. Would they be able to control it? Even less likely than that. Was this going to get very interesting? He smiled.
Definitely so.
Tada! There you go! Lucas has a speech problem, and Falco's a badmouth, but I hope that you liked it! Hopefully the next update will be quick as well--I've been working ahead, and chapter three is almost done! Thanks for reading!
Psst, wanna know a secret? See that button down there? The green one? Well, guess what. If you press it, cookies come out! Oh, the excitement! Press the button!
Ciao!
-Umbreon Mastah
