Surprisingly, I found time to write, although I was a bit disappointed that this story received only 35 views...oh well. You have to work for results, right? :) Now, without further ado, Chapter Two of Rip in the Sky.
The first thing he felt was ribbons of cold. They danced and twirled, attacking his body as he descended through the darkness of the creatures. Through the place where they had come from.
He stayed in that area for several minutes before a cold chill began traveling through his bones. He didn't know how, but he felt as if all of his knowledge and memories were jumbling themselves around in his head, as if some large dark hand had ripped his soul out. That should not have been able to happen! He was an angel, so technically, he was a soul…
Pit managed to hold on to the memories of Palutena (1), Pittoo (2), and Red, but the rest was slipping away, farther into the void. A harsh tugging feeling was ripping at his figure, and Pit instinctively wrapped his wings around himself, blocking the stinging jabs. As soon as the pain let up for a second, Pit blindly whirled around, aimed for a hazy spot that appeared to be light, and folded his wings to dive into the area.
Everything cleared, and he tasted fresh air, the cold vanishing instantly. He felt the sunshine warming his body.
Then there was the familiar sensation of falling through the air. A deep laceration on his arm that he hadn't noticed before burned as he plummeted downwards, mind dimly registering the pretty white clouds whooshing by. Within a matter of moments he was drenched, Pit automatically shaking his wings to clear the droplets and wincing when a few landed on the open wound.
He opened his eyes a split second before the trees loomed into view. He managed to extend his smaller-than-average wings, gliding toward the ground. The angel valiantly ignored the painful ache resting on his arm, although it was not the easiest thing to light blue eyes widened, darting around rapidly in a useless gesture to slow his flight.
CRASH!
The angel smashed into the shrubbery at full force, wings instantly becoming stuck inside the small, tightly knit web; fortunately, it was not a very pointy breed of bush. He lay there for a while, dirtied wings tangled in the bushes, mind taking in the slight shock of the event. The impact had created more bruises on his body, light purple blossoming on his thigh. As he had thought many times before, he dazedly wished he didn't need to wear a toga all the time. The cloth hardly acted as good armor, unlike some of the other Smashers' clothing.
After recovering from his previous disoriented being (and picking himself up), he scrutinized the surroundings. The trees around him were very close to each other, and looked quite old; when he looked a little closer through them, there was a faintly flickering castle. It disoriented him, but he knew that he could not head into the castle for help when he was, to the humans' eyes, a creature either to be worshipped or to be shot down. And he couldn't risk the latter.
He collapsed on the forest floor again, breathing hard, trying only to recuperate. Pit hoped fervently that nothing and no one would find him there. Doubtless there were creatures in the forest-probably with noses craving for blood-but he wanted enough time to rest, to regain his strength. Evidently that brief moment earlier in the bushes hadn't helped at all.
He stayed there for a few more moments until he managed to gain enough energy for his senses to come back. The forest's fresh smell was overshadowed by the heavy, salty tang of his lifeblood, which had apparently seeped through his makeshift bandages. He had temporarily staunched the blood flow with a few fallen feathers, but they were already blood red and wouldn't last long. Pit felt a little selfish for only worrying about himself, although it was probably the right thing to do in this situation.
Only then did he remember the mess that had occurred in the mansion that Master Hand had created for them specifically to fight. The captain glanced up at the sky, noting the small black tear that was still fading away, and experienced a small pang of worry.
Goddess, I hope Skyworld didn't split apart from that tear the creatures came from…
His home was up in the clouds and was also, unfortunately, the closest area populated with souls, which was presumably what the creatures had been devouring. Even if the rip in the sky was too high up to really rupture Skyworld, or was incapable of touching heaven, the creatures would still have descended upon the area to raze and terrorize the innocents. Pit hoped fervently that every person there was okay, especially Lady Palutena. He had sworn to protect her; if she had been injured in any way, he would feel pain no one could imagine…not even in their darkest dreams.
Taking a deep breath, he rose, cringing slightly as his wound began to throb harder. The few feathers that he had stuck there had peeled off again, revealing an injury with a steady stream of crimson liquid still flowing out. The once-white plume, now stained dark red, was on the ground. He frowned. He wasn't stupid enough to leave anything on the ground.
Really, I don't know anything about this place. Half-humans might not be very…welcome here. And I don't want to leave anything that can be tracked to me.
The winged boy began digging a shallow hole, finishing as fast as he could. Dumping the bloodied feathers into the fissure, he kicked dirt over it, effectively covering the feathers. Hopefully, there isn't anything around that has a good nose.
Standing up, he began wandering around the forest, bow in hand and all instincts ready. Every step he took was one of pain; every path he took seemed endless. Not to mention that feeling of impending doom that he had been feeling since he had entered this aberrant area. It seemed to be everywhere, although it was not quite as stifling as the darkness that the spectral creatures had emitted. This was obviously somewhere else-whether it was another world or another time period, there was danger here. He knew, although it pained him to admit it, that this place was not anywhere in the mansion or its surroundings. It felt just sort of…wrong, like the Primids that had attacked the Smash Mansion along with Tabuu. The atmosphere had radiated destruction the same way it did presently, while the Smash Mansion just felt homely.
Speaking of the creatures, where could they be? Pit wondered. His hand unconsciously tightened its grip on his bow. They traveled through the hole with me…unless…they have a leader? No, that doesn't make sense; they seemed too powerful, too domineering, in their ghostly actions. Why would they need a leader?
A resounding crack broke the unnatural silence of the woods. Immediately alert, he instinctively tried to fly and was surprised that he floated up so easily. Before he could ponder any more about his newfound ability, the loud crack sounded again and he grabbed a tree limb, hoisted himself up, and hid inside the thick leaves and branches.
A huge man-and he meant huge-was striding toward the place where Pit had been earlier, whistling a carefree tune. There were minor bloodstains on the ground where he had cleaned his injuries slightly. He cursed mentally-why hadn't he cleaned it up?
You wouldn't have had time anyway. A small voice (that, oddly, reminded him of Pittoo) in his head told him reassuringly, and he gave a weary sigh. The voice was right-he couldn't have done anything to erase them that quickly. Snapping back to attention, he watched conscientiously as the giant human walked around the area in circles, humming happily, before stopping abruptly. He appeared to be staring at the ground. The angel nervously wriggled deeper inside the tree's branches.
The giant stared for a few more seconds before bending over and touching the blood. He examined his finger, and muttered something strange-like…um…Dis ear isent…what…acid? Pit blinked. Acid? What, exactly, was the definition of weird that these people were used to?
Mumbling more unidentifiable phrases under his breath, the human advanced closer and closer to the base of Pit's tree, tracking the blood carefully while humming a birdlike song. Pit froze. He hoped fervently that the big person was part of the large majority of people who looked anywhere but up.
Unfortunately, fate hated him. The oversized man looked up and his small, bright black eyes followed the tree trunk all the way to the top, finding the white that contrasted brilliantly in the green. The man started slightly in surprise, instantly stopping his humming, but recovered quickly and the look quickly transformed into an expression of worry as the man's gaze located the dark stain on his arm. It was still dripping; the branches were already covered with Pit's lifeblood.
The man turned his head very quickly and scanned the trees. Then, taking out a pink umbrella that much resembled Peach's, he said something and a tiny buzzing noise filled his ears, as well as his eyes instantly finding a small reflective barrier.
Did he just trap me? What the man had just done had made Pit significantly more anxious. What should I do-?
The giant took a deep breath and yelled loudly. The angel flinched at the amount of noise he was making.
"OI! You over there! Yer hurt-are you alrigh'?"
Pit did not reply, looking around for any escape routes. There didn't seem to be any. Deciding to keep the man talking, he replied, not sure what language this world had. I learned all the major languages. It's one of those things that everyone has to learn in case we're sent to help the humans or something.
"I'm fine!" He yelled back in Spanish. The man looked confused. He yelled again in Japanese. The man looked even more befuddled. Finally, Pit tried English and the man's face cleared. Pit heaved a sigh of relief.
"I've never seen yeh around here before! Look-" But Pit wasn't listening anymore. The amount of blood he had lost seemed to finally affect him, and the world tipped sideways as he fell. Again.
He wasn't going to be able to hide his wings if he were falling in plain sight, so he extended them in a small effort to catch the air.
Needless to say, it didn't work. A pair of rough, large hands caught him and gently lowered him onto the ground. So much for dignity.
No, the only place that hurts here is my pride...
The world spun again, Pit closing his eyes to try and regain his bearings. After a few minutes of silence, he opened his eyes to see the man gawking at him. He tried to get up and successfully balanced himself on the ground littered with fallen leaves.
"Thanks." He said quietly. The man smiled warmly, but his gaze didn't waver, still fixated on the slightly bloody wings. "It's kind of too bad that I don't know if you're an enemy or not."
"Yer an angel." The giant said, matching Pit's tone. The surroundings suddenly seemed much more silent. Pit sighed. I get this waaaaaaaaay too often…
"Yes, I am. If you really aren't opposing me, can you tell me where I am and who you are?" Pit knew that lying was not easy under pressure, although it probably was easier when talking to a stranger. It's okay. I can detect lies.
Hagrid abruptly had the impression that he was speaking to someone much older than he appeared.
"I'm Hagrid, Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts, School of Wizardry and Witchcraft. I'm also the gamekeeper at school. Right now, we're here at the Forbidden Forest." The man crinkled his mouth into a forced smile.
Pit didn't understand half of the sentence the man-now christened Hagrid-had uttered. But there was enough information-if the forest was called forbidden, it was a dangerous place. Hagrid was a gamekeeper at a school of magic, which was called Hogwarts. And from the way his mouth looked, the school was probably in some kind of trouble.
The aura around here…it's going to be that. It must be the trouble. Some kind of strong, dark power is ruling this area.
"Er…what's yer name?" The voice broke Pit out of his brooding thoughts. He blinked.
"Um…what did you say?" said Pit, a little embarrassed that he hadn't been paying attention. Hagrid repeated the question.
"What's yer name?" Pit let out a breath, relieved. That was a question he could answer…still, he had to make sure Hagrid could keep him anonymous.
"Can you please keep anything about me a secret?" Pit asked, his voice taking on a severe tone. Hagrid nodded rapidly. The angel grinned, looking a bit happier than he had when he had originally entered this world.
"My name is Pit Icarus. Nice to meet you!"
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. R&R, please!
Knight25: Thank you very much for the review!
(1) Palutena is Pit's goddess.
(2) I will be calling Pittoo/Dark Pit "Kuro" here.