Chapter ten: Trust and a Mad Beast
"... Mel...?"
Melody grunted ever so silently. Her eyes hurt to open and her throat had a nasty salt-taste lingering in the back. Something was burning right into her sockets. More than likely the sun.
"Hey... Melody?"
Oh, what a sweet voice that was. Melody opened her eyes to see her friend, only to be immediately blinded by the brilliant gold-white light.
"Lor-?" The hedgehog tried to say, but something caught in her throat painfully and was forced to sit up and choke. She felt her sister's gentle hand pat her back.
"Hey, hey. Easy." Lor soothed calmly. When she resorted to rubbing, the imprints on her back from the dirt and grass gave her touch a funny feel. "How're you feeling?"
"Like... like I swallowed an ocean..." Melody groped her throat.
"Thank the Gods Shard got the water out of your lungs in time."
Melody coughed before looking back to her. That's right. She fell asleep in the spring. "Lor. Did... Did I drown?"
Lor's face dropped as she looked away. "You nearly did. All I know is that Shard left me in a hurry, then came back and told me you were on the surface unconscious." She covered her face with her hands, casting aside her semi-wet bangs. "I didn't know if you were dead or not. Shard said you were filled with the water and couldn't breathe. Then he... He grew legs, Mel! Actual legs! Walking legs!"
Melody was succumbed to too much fatigue to know what she was talking about. Who could grow legs all of a sudden?
"Ah, you're awake."
Melody gasped, then choked. Shard's voice caught her off guard. By the time she looked up, he was looking over her, leaning on what appeared to be a skirt made of large tree leaves woven with gold grass weeds just over his waist where his tail should start. But when she looked down, he did indeed have two blue legs, accompanied by two blue feet. Along the sides of his legs were two tiger-like marks running along the outside on each. "And how art thou this noon?"
"Uh-uh... T-très bien, m-merci." To her surprise he laughed.
"I see the spring did not take your voice. That's good."
"She nearly drowned to death!" Lor yelled, standing up and moving her face in close to his threateningly. "It's good she's even breathing!"
"H-hey, take it easy." Shard backed away slightly with hands raised. "She was never going to die in the first place. The magic wouldn't allow that. Only on unwelcome trespassers would it try to kill."
Melody was too transfixed with his never-before-seen legs to listen. Her fatigue made it nearly impossible to react accordingly to the world around her.
"Monsieur...?" Melody asked quietly, brushing aside a bit of brush. Something had been on her mind since she was able to stand.
"What is it, Milady?"
"Umm... Where are we?" That's what's been on her mind. Nothing about anything they passed by looked familiar. Where was the castle? The garden? The shore, even?
"You swam quite a distance, Melody." Shard chuckled. "I don't know how you did it, but you somehow made your way just close enough to the river where the magic was weak. Thankfully I could still hear your thoughts and find you."
"I... I'm sorry..."
"Don't worry about it, Melody." Lor huffed from behind, arms crossing her almost bare body. "Let's just get back and put our clothes on."
For the first time, Melody was aware of what she was wearing. Immediately she blushed and wrapped her arms like Lor.
"The shore line shouldn't be too far now." Shard pointed out as the three came to a clearing. Looking out to the side of if he trail, Melody could see between the trees the shore Zale was still waiting at, completely unaware of what she had done all this time. In fact, it looked as though he were napping. It was impossible to tell, though, because the beige cloak covered him from the sunlight.
But aside from that, the view was absolutely gorgeous! The large spring had such a magnificent appearance with how the crystal blue water shimmered in the sunlight. When she paid extra attention to the sound around her she could just make out the sound of the water lapping the edge of the small cliffs over the sound of the nearby waterfall.
"I want to try something before you go back to the castle." Shard said, noticing Melody had taken a short pause. "Since we're here, I want you to try the waterfall. It'll be-"
"She almost died!" Lor hollered. "She and I are getting out of here!"
"Now hold on." Shard tried to calm her down. "I just want her to try a trick, that's all. I think it'll help with what you've told me."
"Wow... This is a bit... underwhelming..." Lor muttered to herself at the sight of the waterfall, if one could even call it that. There was only a thin stream of falling water in front of a grove in the cliff barely big enough for three bodies comfortably.
"What, were you expecting roaring water crushing stones underneath it?" Shard chuckled.
Melody was, to her guilty humor.
"Here," The guardian took a hold of Melody's arm and took her in, followed by Lor. Inside was a little eerie mixed with a feeling of awe. The drizzling water morphed the incoming light so mysteriously as it bounced off the rocks, and the acoustics were so different than outside. It was like it was coming from everywhere, filling her eardrums.
"Lean into the water." He suddenly told her.
"Wh- what?!" Melody shook her head in surprise. "Lean in?!"
"Please, just trust-"
"No way, Buck-o!" Lor intervened once more, not hesitating to separate the two. "She's gone through enough! We're leaving right now."
"Let her decide." Shard held his ground. "There is no way for her to drown. She's completely safe-"
"She could fall! All she needs is one push and it'll be goodbye Melody forever!"
"But will she ever get that push?" Accompanied by Shard's firm glare, Lor kept silent. Seeing he won he turned back to the silent brunette and took one hand of her's. "Melody, trust me. I swear on my life nothing bad will happen because we'll be right here."
It felt as though time skipped a beat. One moment Shard was holding her by the hand, and the next she was tilting her head down in front of the falling water about to lean through it. With the guardian's guidance, she penetrated the thin flowing wall and let the gentle clear water wrap around her head.
Magical was the only way to describe it. The running water embraced her hair and flowed down her cheeks and upper back. In contrast to the cold spring, this water felt a bit warmer, like the very sun warmed it up naturally with the thought of fragile children playing in it. It was so inviting, and every bit of water touching her traveled smoothly further down. It had her attention so much, she had no idea she wasn't breathing. It wasn't until Shard pulled her back reality hit her hard and she gasped for air.
"How was it, Milady?" He asked with a gentle smiled when she was able to steady her breath.
"Oh, monsieur! It was wonderful!"
Suddenly without warning he wrapped his arms around her and gave a sigh of relief. "That's amazing to hear. I'm so happy to know my plan worked."
With the sudden surprise of it all, Melody was consumed with joy and awe to do nothing much more than embrace back.
"Oh, there you are Melody!" Lor and Melody had just returned to the castle with Zale and their clothes back on when they heard a hesitant young voice. Coming out from a nearby area of the castle grounds was none other than Scuffy with her advisor Xydrin.
"I did as you told me." Zale instantly declared, bowing his head. "Now, would it be all right-"
"Hmm? O-oh! Yes! O-of course!" Princess Scuffy nodded, gripping her hands together nervously. "Thank you, Zale. You're free."
Zale looked to smile under that beige hood of his ("A little too happy, if you ask me," Lor later commented) and shuffled away without looking back.
"You wanted to see us, Princess Scuffy?" Lor bowed politely. Melody followed suite.
"Yes, umm..." Scuffy struggled for words. Melody couldn't help but gaze in admiration for her unique exotic patterns trailing down her tail. The colors of silver-grey and light blue danced around and made different stippling effects. It was the first time Melody could really pay any attention to it.
"What Scuffy is trying to say," Xydrin came in. "Is that there has been talk in the village since your arrival. We have received numerous questions about you two. We thought it would be a grand treat for both you and the citizens if you two would care to pay a visit."
"Scuffy?" A familiar voice called from above. All four looked up to see Neveah leaning out a window looking at them all. She waved happily, and Scuffy answered with a nervous one of her own. "Scuffy, Yuki just came to me. I have no problem letting Thorn guide the two to town."
"Uh, th-thank you!" Then Neveah disappeared.
"Well then..." Xydrin sighed, rubbing his forehead.
"We don't have much of a choice, do we?" Lor laughed half-heartedly.
"O-oh no, you still can choose." Scuffy frantically explained. "Please, don't let that prevent you from-"
"Well, I've actually wanted to go for a while now." Lor said thoughtfully before smiling. "It's very convenient in a sense."
"Oui! Me too." Melody chirped in.
"Wonderful!" Xydrin grinned. "Quickly. We need to find Thorn before he heads to town by himself."
"What about me?" A gruff voice startled the group from nearby. They turned to see Thorn leaning out another window closer to their eye-level.
"Oh, heaven can really hear us today." Xydrin laughed. "Good timing, sir Thorn. We have just received word that-"
"I am to take those two to the village." Thorn finished in an irritable monotone voice. "Yes, I know. Yuki found me not one minute ago."
"Wow..." Lor muttered. "He's fast."
"He's still in his adolescent stage." Xydrin huffed with a smirk. "And for about three hundred more years it'll be like that."
"Wait, what?!" Both Lor and Melody looked off-guard with his comment.
"Oh, that's right. You're still new to this." The hedgedragon scratched the back of his head. "I-I'll explain later when the time is right."
After a little bargaining with Lor, Xydrin and Scuffy were able to get the two girls and their escort moving. First it was to the gates separating the castle from the rest of the village. Past that, the three were just a few feet away from standing in the middle of a bustling road. Immediately they were greeted by a horse-drawn wagon and little children in loose clothing chasing one another and laughing merrily. Something about the latter churned Melody's heart in a bitter-sweet way.
"I'm sure you'd much rather visit the village market." Thorn said bluntly, carrying on with the tour. "That's the only place here readily available to the public right now due to our activities planned ahead."
As they made their way, Lor and Melody frequently noticed bystanders bowing their heads to them, more particular in Thorn's direction. And every now and then he answered back with a nod of his own.
"Monsieur?" Melody asked quietly as usual. "I-I noticed you were not wearing your usual uniform with the square patterns." It was true. Thorn was now wearing very loose, light cloth seen more commonly among farmers or lower-middle class status.
"It makes me more approachable." Thorn explained, sounding unamused about any of it. "It feels wrong to walk around in the village during peaceful times brandishing a sword everywhere I go. What difference does it make with more formal attire more acquainted with portraying my status in the castle?"
"Um... English?" Lor crossed her arms.
"I don't look like I'm going to hold a sword against their throat, will that do?" Thorn sighed. "That and princess Neveah and king Arlax both advised it."
The rest of the walk was silent. Thorn had that personality emanating off all corners of his spirit. He acted as though everyone around him is inferior to his presence, yet didn't mind interacting with them. Like it was his charged duty to play the role of-
"A knight..."
"Hmm?" Thorn turned to answer Melody. "Did you say some-"
"LOOK OUT!" The three looked up just as a crowd of people were screaming and terrifyingly rushing to get out of the road. Charging after them was some kind of large beast with a green leathery hide, angry red eyes, and a pair of large husks coming up and out of his slobbery mouth.
Melody froze. What was that hideous beast? It was like a nightmare came to life in it's ogreish image. -CRASH- A food stand was easily destroyed in it's barbaric state, and it only ran ahead even faster. -CRASH- Went another. It was like a pig only ten times bigger, meaner, and uglier. And in three seconds Melody would be crushed under one of its ash-grey hoofs.
Everything around her started to slow. She didn't even have time to get scared. Her eyes were dead-set on the monstrous beast snorting and stomping its way to her.
"Melody!" Lor's cry tried to call desperately. But the hedgehog's ears became useless. She was deaf to all but a drowned-out muffle and the thundering hoof beat steadily growing louder.
Then she heard a strange command. "ISHIDU-KIA!" Without even being able to blink Melody's chest was but mere inches from the monster's yellow and red-stained husks. The next instant, everything went dark. She wasn't standing at all. That was for sure. Whatever state she was in, everything was pressing into her, like the air around her was drawn to her body.
She felt drugged again, like from Shard's spring. But this time there was no sense of welcoming. The purple robe around her felt like it disappeared. She was completely stripped of her ability to move.
But none of that lasted more than a mere few seconds. The next thing she knew her face planted onto the dirt road. The air in her lungs rushed out, and she was forced to gasp for more, resulting in a painful choking fit.
"MELODY!" The brunette squinted past tearful eyes to see a white figure run up to her and encase her in her arms.
"L-... Lor?" Melody wheezed.
"Stop giving me heart attacks, damn it!" Her sister cried, clutching her even tighter. "What the hell happened?! One second that- thing- was going to pulverize you and the next you melted into the ground!"
"Melted?!" Melody coughed, pained from both her throat and Lor's death grip.
"Melody! What the hell is going on?! Why are you-?!"
"I think it's time to explain myself." Thorn's voice said blunted. When Melody looked up, she wanted to scurry away as quickly as possible.
Thorn's one usual unveiled eye had gone completely white- glowing an unnatural light that faded into black fog trailing from a corner. His hands, too, had the same black clouds encasing and disappearing all around. Melody could also see his long black quills were slowly coming to a halt from lashing back and forth.
Melody heard from behind a clatter of footsteps towards them, followed by a gasp and "oh no..." Turning her head she saw two new figures, one of which being Lusol. The second, though, was new to her. It was a grey hedgehog with strange quills going across the tops of his eyes out. Three layers of grey sharply transitioned from the darker top to the bottom of his face, behind a single quill following each color. The only thing about this new hedgehog before her was that his robe looked exactly like Diamante's and Xydrin's: long blue trimmed with gold.
"Oh my gods, Thorn." Lusol softly let out, covering his mouth with his hand. "You used your powers. What... what do we do?"
The most disturbing thing about how he asked was that he was looking straight at the two girls with a hopeless, lost face.
Hey-o people! It's me! The infamous Shard588!
Umm... I'm sure you're all sick of reading it, but... uh... Sorry for the wait. -bows-
But, I have rewarded your patients with a reasonable plot-thickening soup! Yay!
What was that beast? Why was it in the city? Where did Melody go for that moment? Who's that grey hedgehog? And what the crap is going on with Thorn? And, as my friends would ask, WHAT THE HELL IS LUSOL DOING THERE!?
ewe Oh, the possible answers are limitless!
Any references you need to characters are on DeviantArt already. Just type "[username] [character]" according to the credit list I give you.
Shard588
Melody
Shard
Lusol
Soluna
Diamante
Arlax
Oliver (goes by XtremeLaur on dA)
Lor
Yuki
Zale
Xydrin
Luxi
Scuffy
xFrozenDarkness
Neveah
Thorn
Sharddenyek (Shard also works)
Tempest
-Princess Em can be found under XtremeLaur under "Em" but Emi Wolf is not posted.-
Thank you for your patience and, as always, comment your favorite parts, any questions, and CATCH THE GRAMMAR!