Chapter seven folks! Shame the hols are nearly over. Also, I'm thinking of doing a short about Daisy and how she feels about being kidnapped to the song Missing by Evanescence. It'll be a one-shot so it might not work, but I've had it in my head for AGES! Anyway, enjoy my chapter!
Chapter 7
Dash through the canyon
"BOULDER!" Hassleberry yelled.
"Run!" James shouted. Everyone turned and ran off, except Hannah, who looked around confused.
"What's going on?" She said. Aster ran back to her and grabbed her wrist.
"Ask questions later" He said quickly. "Run!" With that, Aster ran off to catch up with the others, with Hannah clinging on for dear life. Everybody dashed around the canyon, but the boulder was still gaining on them.
"Kagehoshi really isn't making this easy for us, is she" Jaden said.
"Do you even know where we're going, Private Truesdale?" Hassleberry shouted.
"You were following me?" Syrus yelled back. "I was following Aster, he's faster than me."
"Well all I know is that I don't want to turn into a pancake" Aster yelled.
The gang continued running to try and get ahead of the boulder. However, when they turned a corner, disaster struck.
"It's a dead end!" James exclaimed.
"We're doomed!" Jesse said.
"Stand back" Aster said. Everybody obeyed. Aster walked towards the boulder, which was only meters away.
"Are you nuts?" Jaden exclaimed.
"He knows what he's doing" James said. When the boulder was close to Aster, he gave a small smile. Just as the boulder reached Aster, he punched it, causing the boulder to shatter into rubble and dust.
"Whoa!" Jesse said, wincing slightly.
"Didn't that hurt?" Syrus asked.
"Nope" Aster said, walking back towards the others.
"Dammit!" Kagehoshi's voice hissed. "Don't think you'll be getting off that easily though" Suddenly, the canyon started shaking again.
"What now?" Jaden moaned. Without warning, small boulders rolled down the sides of the canyon.
"Oh, come on!" Aster moaned.
"Here we go again" Syrus said and he started to run again. Everyone else followed, narrowly avoiding the falling boulders
"At least we're getting a good workout" Jesse said.
The gang continued running along the canyon passage, the boulders falling in all directions. Suddenly, James tripped and fell flat on the ground, and a boulder was about to fall on top of him.
"Dad!" Aster cried out. James looked up and, after seeing the boulder, braced himself for the impact. Syrus stepped in front of him and, using his sword, sliced the rock as if it were cheese. Aster rushed to James and helped him up.
"Dad, are you okay? You have to be more careful. C'mon" Aster and James ran off again.
"Thanks for saving my Dad's life Syrus. Hey no problem Aster" Syrus muttered before running to catch up with everyone else. The rubble and boulders continued to fall in a massive rockalanche. Suddenly, part of the ground cracked open, revealing a pool of lava. Jesse jumped over it successfully, and so did Hassleberry, Jaden and Syrus. James grabbed Hannah by the arm and jumped across the gap as well. Aster ran around the corner towards the pit of lava.
"The pit's larger now!" Jaden exclaimed. "He'll never make it!"
"Don't be so sure" Aster said. His manacle's orb glowed green. Aster jumped at the edge of the pit, doing a forward flip and landing on the other side successfully. He almost lost his balance, but quickly regained it.
"What did I tell ya?" Aster said triumphantly. A faint cracking was heard. The earth under Aster's feet was crumbling. "Uh oh" Aster said. The earth gave way and Aster fell towards the lava. Quickly, he grabbed onto a rock sticking out of the wall. He tried to grab the rock with his other hand, but it slipped, so Aster was hanging onto the rock with one hand, absolutely terrified for his life.
"Aster!" Syrus cried out.
"He's too far down." Hassleberry said. "None of us can reach him."
"He's done for" Jesse said clutching his head.
"No he's not" James said.
"Little help here!" Aster shouted. James looked down at Aster's terrified face.
"I've got an idea son. Don't worry" James yelled down to him.
"Well that's good. Because I think my hand's slipping" Aster said. Sure enough, Aster's hand was slowly and gradually slipping away from the rock.
"I want you to let go." James said.
"WHAT!!" The gang, including Aster, shouted at the same time.
"Are you nuts? He'll be fried!" Hassleberry yelled.
"We're trying to save him, not kill him!" Hannah snapped.
"Look, Aster's manacle has another ability other than increasing his agility and fighting. It's the only way he'll be saved." James said to the others. He turned back to Aster. "Listen, when you let go, wave your hand over that green orb in the manacle."
"Are you sure this'll work?" Aster said. "My life's kinda on the line here."
"Positive" James reassured. Aster closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them and looked up at his father.
"If this doesn't work, I am so becoming your personal poltergeist." Aster said. At that point, Aster's hand slipped from the rock and he fell towards the lava.
"NO!" The gang minus James screamed. As he fell, Aster looked at his manacle.
"Here goes nothing" Aster said. He waved his hand over the orb. Instead of glowing green, it glowed yellow. Suddenly, golden wings like a phoenix appeared near Aster's back. Aster spotted them appear and was both amazed and surprised.
"What the-" He started. "Whoa" He said as the wings moved him up through the air just moments before he come in contact with the lava. He landed far from the edge of the pit with the others. The wings disappeared as he came in contact with the ground. Jaden hugged Aster's waist.
"Thank God you're alive" Jaden cried.
"What did I say about the three second rule?" Aster reminded.
"Sorry" Jaden said quickly, letting go of Aster.
"What was that?" Syrus wondered.
"Phoenix wings" James said. "An ability of Aster's manacle. They allow him to fly through the air."
"Uh…guys" Jesse said.
"What's wrong, soldier?" Hassleberry asked.
"Is it just me or are the walls closing in?" Jesse said.
"Run for it!" Jaden yelled.
"This is getting ridiculous" Aster said. The gang ran off through the canyon again, the walls slowly but gradually closing in on them.
"There's an exit up ahead!" Jesse shouted. He ran through it in no time, Aster, Hannah, James and Hassleberry close behind. Jaden ran through after them. However, Syrus was still nearing the exit, and the walls were nearly close together.
"Aw, man" Syrus said. He spread himself flat and edged himself towards the exit. He made it just as the walls closed in.
"Thank God that's over" Jaden said.
"We're not out in the clearing yet. We need to find a cave or something, because in case you haven't realised, the boulders are still falling from the walls." Aster said. So, everybody started running off again, the boulders still falling from the walls of the canyon.
…
Kagehoshi slammed her fist on the edge of her font.
"Dammit" She hissed angrily. "They're alive. I was sure I had them, especially Aster." She looked into the waters of the font. The heroes were all running through the canyon.
"There's a cave. Over there!" Aster yelled, pointing straight ahead of them. Kagehoshi smiled.
"Maybe I should give them a little present." She said. She crouched down and picked up an object wrapped in red cloth. She spun around and disappeared.
…
The gang all entered the cave safely. No sooner had they entered, the boulders immediately stopped falling. Everybody either leaned on a wall of fell onto the ground in exhaustion, all of them gasping for breath.
"Ohh, I'm out of breath" Hannah gasped. Hassleberry sat up.
"I could…keep going for…for another hundred miles…urgh" Hassleberry said between breaths and collapsed onto his back again. Aster laughed rather shakily and sat up.
"You wish" He joked.
"Ourgh! I've got a stitch" Jaden moaned clutching his side.
"My glasses are steamed up" Syrus said, rubbing the steam off the lenses with his yellow jacket.
"F-fuh-four eyes." Jaden stuttered jokingly.
"When the m-moon shines over the c-cow shed…" Jesse sang tauntingly. Aster moaned.
"Stop arguing will ya!" He moaned, slamming his fist into the ground and breaking it slightly. "At least we're all alive"
"A world which Kagehoshi controls" James said.
"Hmmm…great!" Hannah said sarcastically. Some slow clapping was heard in the distance. Everyone turned to the sound. Standing by the entrance of the cave was Kagehoshi, slowly applauding the gang.
"Bravo" Kagehoshi said. "I didn't think you'd survive that"
"Is that…" Jesse said, swallowing. "Kagehoshi?"
"Yup" Aster said. Hassleberry stared at her, his eyes practically love hearts.
"What a babe!" Hassleberry exclaimed. Kagehoshi chuckled.
"Thank you, dino boy" She said. Aster stepped forward, a ball of blue energy surrounding his right hand.
"Cut the crap!" He spat. "What are you doing here?"
"C'mon, I just wanted to give you a present. To congratulate you on surviving my canyon attacks." She picked up an item wrapped up in red cloth. She started to unravel the cloth. Everyone watched, but Aster didn't make the blue orb disappear.
"I hope you like it." She said sweetly. She dropped the cloth on the floor. Everybody was horrified at what Kagehoshi was holding. It was a head. The head of a man named…
"Sekio" Aster breathed, completely horrified.
"No!" Syrus screamed, squeezing his eyes shut. James and Hassleberry stared, open mouthed. Jaden looked completely grossed out.
"Ew" Jesse muttered, covering his mouth with his hand.
"You can mount it above your fireplace." Kagehoshi said, more acidly this time. She threw it towards the others, and it landed by Hannah's feet. There was blood still leaking from the neck, as if the head had been freshly cut. The bone was visible in the neck, some of the belts on Sekio's head were slightly stained with blood and Sekio's eyes were blank and lifeless.
"Uh…lady. If you're trying to gross me out, it's not working. I'm blind." Hannah pointed out, waving a hand over her eyes to prove it.
"The worthless fool couldn't even stop a bunch of kids. Those who disappoint me pay the price." Kagehoshi spat, completely ignoring Hannah. She sighed. "Oh well. Guess I'll have to give his position to some other deserving psychopath." Aster was staring at the floor, shaking with rage.
"You…you…" Aster said. He jerked his head up suddenly. "YOU'RE THE PSYCHOPATH!" He shouted, sticking his right arm out as the blue ball of energy grew larger and fiercer. Aster leaped up in the air as he prepared to attack.
"Go on, Aster. Knock her dead" Jaden cheered.
"Cream her, Phoenix" Hassleberry yelled. "Sekio may be an enemy but he fought a good fight. He didn't deserve this."
Kagehoshi looked up as Aster fell down with his attack towards her.
"There is a time to fight and a time to talk" She said. "And now's not the time to fight." She snapped her fingers and disappeared, just as Aster landed again. Aster's blue ball of energy disappeared. He whipped his head in different directions, looking for Kagehoshi.
"Where'd she go?" Aster wondered. "Coward" He muttered as he walked back towards the others.
"How could she do this?" Syrus whimpered. Hassleberry gave the head a light tap with his boot.
"She's hot, but what a bitch." Hassleberry muttered.
"With us trapped in a world Kagehoshi controls…we're screwed" Jesse said. Jaden turned towards Aster. He was leaning on a wall looking down at the floor. Jaden walked up to him.
"You okay, man?" He asked.
"I'm fine." Aster said quietly. "But when I was about to attack Kagehoshi, I saw one of her eyes. They had no kindness in them. But, somehow, they seemed familiar." Aster shook his head quickly and looked up. "Probably my imagination." He looked at the cave entrance. It was just approaching sunset.
"We should rest up for now" James announced. "God knows what enemies we might encounter tomorrow."
"Hopefully ones that can't have their heads cut off" Syrus said trembling. Everyone lay down on certain parts of the ground and fell asleep. Aster walked towards the mouth of the cave and placed his hand on the wall, his hair blowing in the mysterious breeze. He looked at the sunset.
This was how it all began. He thought to himself. One simple sunset.
Suddenly, Aster felt dizzy. He clutched his head and moaned slightly. He noticed Hannah shift uncomfortably in her sleep, but she settled down quickly.
So she felt it too. Aster thought. He looked around outside, hoping to see an enemy, but there was no-one in sight. Aster shrugged and walked back into the cave. He sat down with his back to the wall. Aster reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out Daisy's necklace. This was all he had left of his girlfriend. Now it hurt to even look at it. Aster felt his eyes sting. He wiped them with his arm and lay down. Aster put Daisy's necklace back in his pocket, closed his sapphire eyes and fell asleep.
Kagehoshi watched the cave from a distance. She was hovering in the air, completely invisible.
They're stronger than I thought. Kagehoshi thought. Next time I won't underestimate them. She started to disappear. Next time, they'll definitely die. They shall face the wrath of the fires of hell. Kagehoshi disappeared, leaving the gang asleep in the cave.
Well…er, that's chapter seven for ya! Next time, the gang face a fire spirit! Stay tuned, review, favourite, blah blah etc. etc.
