~Chapter 9~
Shade gasped, more out of shock than fear or pain. The paw that held him tightened its grip around his airway, making breathing an ordeal. Shade writhed in the assailant's grip, and felt his scrabbling feet lift from the ground.
Now hanging by his neck in the air, Shade attempted throwing kicks at his attacker, along with clawing and biting the grip that held him. But the skin was hard, for some reason, and the body well muscled. He wasn't hindering his opponent at all…
The grip tightened more, shutting off Shade's airway. The Dark Chao gasped desperately, gagging instead as his throat was crumpling. He was flaying and flailing at his unseen attacker, more out of desperation and he knew his struggles were getting weaker. Someone was trying to suffocate him…just then Shade saw the mountain narrow down to a gray pinpoint before his eyes, his strikes growing more and more feeble…
The grip loosened then, as if this shadow thought Shade must have suffocated or passed out, and in the split-second moment his airway was opened a little, Shade gasped, mouth gaping and teeth barred. With a furious gagging roar, he sunk his canines into the paw of his enemy. He forced his jaw muscles to maximum power and felt his fangs pierce the tough skin, slicing through the flesh like paper and feeling them scrape against bone.
The shadowy opponent gave an unearthly roar of pain and fury, and threw Shade to the ground.
The world was still a swimming pool of gray in the young Chao's eyes, and he took a second to restore his dulled senses. The shadow hurled itself at him again. Shade caught the sight of his jesters blowing out behind him. This attacker was a Chao, that much he knew.
Shade stood his ground to fight, but was effortlessly knocked to the ground. A whirlwind of claws fell on him, with such unreal agility and accuracy. Shade felt his warm blood run and soak his fur, and stain the thin snow below him. He screeched, and kicked at his enemy, surprisingly making a hit in its unseen face. The shadow stumbled back, merely dazed, and Shade took the opportunity to run.
But the creature pursued him, and tackled him down with much force again, beating and slashing the young Chao with such primeval brutality. Shade flailed at his enemy again, but the attacks were useless against the shadow. Shade scrambled away on all fours, wincing as the cold, snow-coated rubbed painfully against his wounds and paws.
The shadow was upon him again, and Shade found it pointless to try and defend himself. He curled up, paws over his eyes and simply willed the attacking would just stop…
…
"Stara…" Lunara murmured as she stared at her younger sister. Everyone was sheltered in a cave with the entrance blocked partially with an icy boulder. Honey had a nice fire going, and Berry and Blossom were pressing their forms against Memphis warming up the young Chao.
The younger sister, looking much like her sister only smaller and differently colored, stared at the older sister she thought she lost. She sighed, letting her gaze wander blindly over her mechanical arm.
Lunara followed her gaze, "Stara…what happened?" she gently touched the metal arm, feeling its cold touch on her finger. Stara met her gaze, nodding,
"The fire…" she began in a small voice, "A heavy branch fell on me and burned me really bad." She murmured, "I was really confused and my chest hurt, and I fell asleep." She looked at the gathered Chao, seeing everyone had their heads turned to listen, "When I woke up, someone told me that I was lucky to be alive."
"Who?" Lunara pressed gently. Questions roiled inside her like a violent storm.
Stara looked at her, and began fidgeting her paws, the mechanical one whirring softly with each movement, "I don't know. He said to call him 'Mister.' His voice was really weird sounding too. It sounded like a robot."
"Was he a robot?" Honey asked from where he was heating leftover fruits and berries he had brought along.
Stara shook her head, "He just sounded like one. He said my arm was badly injured and would never work again. He said if I wanted two arms, he would have to give me a new one."
"So…" Lunara said, feeling slightly blown away.
"So, he put a needle in my good arm and I went to sleep again. When I woke up, I had this." She raised her right bionic arm, "Mister said it was en-han-sed…"
"Enhanced." Corrected Blossom.
"Enhanced." Stara repeated, "He said this arm was really strong and had cool stuff built into it."
"Like what?" Lunara asked.
"…I don't know." Stara confessed, "Mister never told me. And I didn't want to break my new arm trying to find out."
Lunara sighed, rubbing her eyes. She found her sister…well, most of her sister, and felt the world seem to clear up a little. The pit of cold emptiness she had restored a little bit. So many months of stress and worry over the little sister she thought she lost was dispersed like a memory. But yet…Lunara sensed her sister wasn't all quite herself…something, something very inconspicuous about her sister was amiss, perhaps. Something…
"When is Shade coming back?" Blossom broke her thought process with her voice. Berry shrugged,
"He said he wanted some time to think. He'd been gone a while. Should we go look for him? He might have accidentally fallen off the cliff."
Blossom snickered weakly, "Yeah, maybe." She agreed half-heartedly.
"I doubt it." Lunara said, surprising herself, "We're probably making his life a living hell with our constant breaks and needs."
Everyone looked at her.
Honey snorted, "So much like you Lunara," he muttered, "To be sticking up for your rival."
Lunara glared at him, "Maybe. He's the one leading us. I think he deserves a little more respect."
Honey snorted again, a smile cracking his face, "Aha! Lunara…if anything I'd think you were the one with the least respect for Shade. Imagine you…defending him against his own team. Hehe."
"We're part of his team now." Lunara said, shrugging, "We need to learn to cooperate if we're gonna reach Galactic Peak before we die."
Honey shrugged, "Whatever."
"Shade'll be back." Lunara said, "He just needed a nice long scream."
…
Shade let his pain and suffering explode through a horribly eerie scream into the mountain air. Everything hurt, everything was sticky with blood. His blood. At least the constant strikes had subsided. The shadowy figure had suddenly gone, leaving Shade huddled, injured severly, on the life-suckingly cold stone.
Shade's breaths hissed through his teeth, his entire body was throbbing in rhythm to the pulsing blood from his wounds. At least he was alive. But was that such a good thing at this point? Fire lived in him. A burning, scorching, searing that made tears come to his eyes. Pain with every pulse, every heartbeat was excruciating. His lungs felt as if a vice had been tightened around them, making his breathing shallow and fast. The cold wind and falling snow seemed to aggravate the pain, making burn like dry ice on his wounds. Shade wished he could just shrink away, fade away…stop suffering…stop suffering…
Get up…Shade willed himself. With very, very slow and gentle movements, Shade pushed his arms into the snow-lined stone, his chest lifting and his head bowing. His arms felt shaky, but he managed to sit up before they gave out. You gotta get back…Shade, head still bowed to his chest, pushed himself to his feet, crying out as he stumbled backward and bumped against a wall behind, hurting his wounds. They'll be wondering where you are. Shade began walking, slowly, tenderly, while he pushed a paw into his shoulder to staunch the flow of blood. His feet shuffled as he went along.
…
"I hear something." Blossom declared, and she looked toward the cave entrance. Everyone else followed her gaze. The silhouette of Shade came into view.
"Oh, it's Shade." Berry said. But as he came into the light, there was a collective gasp from everyone.
Blossom shrieked, "Oh my god Shade!" she cried, seeing his bloody body and feeling slightly light-headed, "What happened?"
Shade sighed heavily, and looked at them, "It's…nothing…just an…accident." He breathed, but everyone in the room suddenly began swimming in his eyes. The cave went grayer…the world was narrowing down to a blurry tunnel. His legs…Shade didn't feel them anymore. The impact of his body hitting the cave floor felt like nothing compared to the harsh pain that scorched his body.
Anuthurr cliffhanger. REVIEW or Shade DIES. 3
