AN- Hello, Ibeyla here! I'm really proud of this fic right now. I've had 370+ hits and 33 reviews!! For a Zoids fic of only 10 chapters, that's not half-bad.XP My Kingdom Hearts fic that I once thought of abandoning due to poor response, Heart of a Wyvern, has managed 9 reviews and 70+ hits. I have 3 reviews for Rebirthingand almost reached 40 hits. My other Zoids fic, The Distant Stars, had 5 reviews and almost hit 25 hits. My poor Ecco the Dolphin fic, Search for the Starred Ones, has 1 lonely review and almost reached 10 hits. Poor lonely thing.XD Lol. Well, things have gone from bad to worse for poor Raven. I was going to have a second villain alongside Ambient, but I got worried because a similar character named Zachaule appears in one of Blade Liger Knight's fics. I didn't want to steal her thunder, even though I had developed this character from an evil apparition that came to me in a dream, long before I had even heard of . Still, I just don't want to get her upset. I sent her a PM asking for her permission to add my character, but I haven't heard back from her. So until I get an official yes or no, my character will appear. Knight, if you're reading this, please know I'm not stealing this from you, this character came from a real-life experience and an apparition from a fever-induced dream a few years ago when I feel ill from pneumonia. The figure and dream terrified me, and it makes me feel better when I write about them. I'm really sorry if he's similar to Zachaule, but I wanted to keep him as close as possible to the dream. I digress, thanks to all the readers who have stuck with this fic so far!! I've reached a milestone, my first double-digit fic!!XD I think I'm doin okay for a newb who's only been here for less than 2 months, am I right?XD Anyway, I won't keep you any longer. Without further delay, chapter 10- The Shadow of Death! (gives ya a really bad feelin, don't it?XD)
.:Chapter 10- The Shadow of Death:.
Ambient looked out over the darkened canyon as the rain continued to pour down, a dark shadow beside him.
"So… you failed to retrieve the Magnite or capture Raven, correct?" the shadow hissed, its red-orange eyes narrowing as it continued to stare into the depths of the canyon.
"Yes… but Raven won't be going anywhere for awhile… I made sureof that." Ambient said back, his spined tail twitching at the thought of his near-kill.
"I will pay them a visit soon, but not now. I refuse to kill such a weak creature. My prey should give me a challenge… and in Raven's current state a mouse would give me a greater challenge!" the shadowy creature laughed cruelly, its voice filled with malice. Its spine-tipped tail flicked in anticipation, and its sharp, blade-like silver claws tightened, digging deep cuts into the stone below. Its coal-black bird-like wings twitched impatiently as his laugh faded.
"Yes Leiden…" Ambient said, joining in with his laugh, "… you may have the pleasure of killing him, for I have had the honor of hunting him down and enacting my revenge, just let Orkari have him before you finish him off." Ambient said proudly, smirking at his earlier hunt, "May I ask why you are so intent on killing him, Leiden?"
"Yes Ambient, you may…" Leiden said, lifting his head slightly, "… like you, Raven's parents found me as well. Unlike you, who was fortunate enough to be in stasis, I was fully awake. The horrific tests were nothing compared to yours, and since you had the honor of dispatching those retched scientists, I believe I should have the pleasure of killing their child; after all I've been through…" he told his tale, curling his lip slightly at the mention of Raven's parents, exposing his glittering, coppery fangs.
"Well… we are two of a kind, and now the odds are in our favor…" Ambient said evilly, a grim expression on his face. Leiden looked up at the draconic Organoid before turning his piercing gaze back towards the twin crescent moons. At the thought of his approaching hunt, a twisted grin crept across his muzzle, exposing his saber-like golden fangs. Then he laughed a demented laugh that could chill the blood of even the most hardened soldier.
Shadow groaned loudly as he slowly became aware of a stinging sensation on his nose. He slowly opened his eyes, blinking them several times, trying to clear the haze that recovery sleep causes. As his vision cleared, he recognized Okamau, who was jumping up and down and squealing loudly.
"Okamau… go away and let me sleep…" he grumbled, closing his eyes and trying to go back to sleep. Okamau screeched and swiped his nose, causing his head to snap back and his eyes to flash open. He was about to tell the hatchling straight, when he saw she was covered in blood. He looked at the hatchling strangely for a second, then it hit him. He whipped around to where Raven had been-
And he wasn't there.
"Raven!!" Shadow shouted as he shakily got to his feet, his legs wobbly from the recovery sleep. Okamau squeaked and ran out into the main chamber, leaving bloody footprints. Shadow knew something must be horribly wrong, and rushed out into the front chamber as fast as his weak legs would allow. What he saw made his circuits run cold. Raven was collapsed on the ground, the blanket Copper had given him covering him up. Okamau was beside him, looking at Shadow sadly before she ran to Raven's front.
"Wh-What happened?!" Shadow gasped, still in shock. Okamau didn't respond, she was too preoccupied with Raven. She cooed and nudged his arm softly, but Raven didn't react. Shadow ran over by Okamau and leaned down to him, his shock now transformed into pure terror and fear. Raven's eyes were closed and his breathing almost nonexistent.
/Raven…/ Shadow said mentally, /Raven wake up…/ he carefully nudged his arm. He didn't respond, and that worried Shadow even more. He whined and gently nosed his shoulder, now fearing he was dead. A groan from him told him he was alive, but unconscious and in a lot of pain.
Remembering the blood that covered Okamau, he turned and looked him over, trying to find the wound. He froze when he saw the blood-soaked area on the blanket over Raven's side. 'Oh no…' he thought, seeing the rest of the blood that covered the floor.
Okamau rubbed against his leg, whining loudly. Shadow looked at her, and she looked up at him and made a strange, gasping noise. He looked at her strangely, not understanding what she was doing. Her mouth looked like it was trying to form words as she kept making the gasping noise.
"R-Red…" she rasped, her voice hoarse from not ever being used to speak.
"What? What did you just say?" Shadow said quietly, looking at the blood covered hatchling in disbelief.
"Red… hurt… Rrr-Raven… h-elp… pwease…" she squeaked, struggling to form the words. Shadow stared at her, not believing she had actually spoken. It took him a moment before he actually realized what she was doing…
She was asking him to help Raven.
"I don't know how Okamau, but Copper does." He told her, "Go wake him up and get him out here!" She flew into the chamber with an understanding nod. Squeaking loudly, she landed in front of Copper's nose. She swiped his nose with her sharp little claws and screeched loudly at him. Copper's eyes flickered open and he blinked them a few times before he stared at her.
"Go away Oka and let me sleep…" he muttered as he started to close his eyes and lower his head.
"Raven… help… need!" She squeaked, turning and running into the front chamber. Copper didn't move, too shocked to even breathe.
"Copper get out here NOW!!" Shadow's shout shook him from his daze. He realized Raven wasn't in the chamber anymore and that Okamau's footsteps were made from blood. He jumped to his feet and ran out into the main chamber and froze at the sight. Blood covered the floor around Raven's collapsed form. Raven was covered in the blanket he had given him, although now it was soaked in blood in places. Shadow was trying to wake him up, and Okamau was perched on his shoulder.
"What the Helkat happened here?!" Copper shouted, completely clueless.
"Okamau said the red Organoid came back and attacked him. He's really badly hurt and he's not responding, I think he's unconscious. He feels cold, he may also have hypothermia." Shadow informed him, not looking up from Raven.
"He came back? Where'd he go?" Copper asked.
"I don't know, Okamau can't say much more than a few words at a time." Shadow replied, still not looking up from the injured boy collapsed on the floor.
"Rrraven! Wake up, Rrraven!" Okamau chirped, flapping her wings as she leaned down. Unknown to her Raven, even if he was conscious, wouldn't have been able to understand her.
"Here, let me get a look at his wounds…" Copper said, walking over beside Shadow. Carefully, he pulled off the heavy blanket, exposing his torn side.
"For the sake of Eve!!" Shadow cursed loudly upon seeing the wound. Okamau cocked her head and looked at him funny, and then he realized what he had said. "Err… pardon my Zoidian." He said quietly, laughing nervously.
"Thank Eve that Oka covered him in the blanket, otherwise he would of bled to death in a matter of minutes. For some reason the wound is clean and has already started to heal." Copper said in astonishment, seeing how his wound had already begun to scab over.
"He's strong for a human… but he still might have hypothermia." Shadow said, looking up at Copper.
"I don't think he does…" Copper said matter-of-factly, "… he's not shivering and his wounds are light colored, which all indicate he doesn't have hypothermia."
"Okay… what should we do?" Shadow asked, "Should we move him or something?"
"No, if we move him in his state he might go into shock, and he could die. The most we can do now is wake him up." Copper said sternly.
"He won't wake up, Oka and I have tried." Shadow said.
"Then let him rest, it will help him get his energy back. Also he will heal faster during sleep, like when we enter recovery sleep. We'll still need to keep a close eye on him." Copper said, carefully covering Raven back up in the blanket after nudging Okamau off of the boy's shoulder.
"Oka and I will stay out here and watch him; could you go out on the ledge and stand guard?" Shadow asked the gold-clad Organoid.
"Sure, just come get me if he wakes up or his condition worsens." Copper shouted to the dark Organoid as he walked through the curtain of falling water onto the ledge. He yawned and curled up, facing down the cavern. It was going to be a long night, he knew it, but at least he knew Raven was stable and breathing.
'I'm not sure I'll be able to save him if he gets another injury like that… if his condition gets any worse I may have to take him to the abandoned house where I got the supplies from… there's enough equipment there to start a hospital…' he thought, looking towards a distant peak, partly obscured by the clouds. He yawned and lowered his head, lightly tapping the tip of his tail against the stone like a sleepy cat. And like a sleep cat, his eyes closed and he was soon snoring quietly.
Leiden stood alone on the ledge, looking at the twinkling stars with piercing red-orange eyes. His dark grey and silver cat-like body seemed to glow in the moonlight, giving him an otherworldly appearance. The coppery fangs that were visible shined a golden color in the eerie light, and his knife-like claws glinted like silver blades. The black spines that adorned his shoulders, back and hip gave the large metal cat a demonic appearance.
He looked, for all the world, like a metal panther from heck. His large paws could easily wrap around a basketball, and the five large claws that adorned each one were strong and sharp enough to cut through a plate of steel. His golden teeth were sharper than a Liger's, and his powerful jaws were more than capable of driving them deep into anything unfortunate enough to get captured by him. His raven-like wings were darker than the midnight sky, and were powerful enough to propel the heavy cat at amazing speeds in flight.
Leiden was abnormally large for an Organoid; nearly ten feet long and four-and-a-half feet high at the shoulder. He was partner-less, even though the Zoidians had created him in a laboratory, like the wolf-like Organoids of the sunken city of the Zoidians. With his claws, teeth, spines and strength he could easily rip apart any human that was foolish enough to face him. He had the ferocity and ruthlessness to match his frightening appearance, and his determined and bloodthirsty nature meant that anything unfortunate enough to get caught beneath his claws had no hope of escape.
"Well…" Leiden grumbled, noticing the rain was letting up, "… it appears that the storm is clearing up…" he got to his feet and shook the rain from his metal body. "I think I will go and bring that human back for Orkari to feed on, as Ambient requested." He said evilly to no one in particular as he spread his coal-black wings. Without making a sound, he jumped from the ledge and soared down the cavern, flying towards where Raven and the three Organoids were hiding…
Copper heard what sounded like the beating of wings somewhere down the canyon. He opened his eyes and looked around, trying to find the sound's source. Suddenly, he heard a loud growl above him and the flap of a pair of wings. Before he could even blink something crashed into him, pinning him to the ground. He growled and snarled, trying to get free of his unknown assailant.
"Stop squirming, Organoid…" A voice hissed, "… or I'll kill you right now." Copper wisely stopped his struggling, but the weight on his back didn't lessen. His chest threatened to cave in, and his breathing was ragged. With a last whimper, he lost consciousness.
"Pathetic excuse for an Organoid…" Leiden hissed in disgust as he stepped off the unmoving Organoid and looking into the cavern.
"Ready or not…" he hissed evilly, "… here I come…"
Shadow heard a commotion out on the ledge. Just as he was going to call out to Copper, a dark figure stepped through the silvery curtain of rainfall that obscured the entrance. Its red-orange eyes glowed with hate, and its long tail flicked, the long spines on the tip bristling.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?!" Shadow roared at the figure, tensing for a fight.
"I am Leiden, and I am here to retrieve Raven…" the cat-like Organoid answered, its eyes narrowing into dangerous-looking glowing slits. "Give him to me or I will be forced to kill you."
"Why are you after him? What did he do to you?! He's only a child!" Shadow growled, sizing up his opponent.
"The Same reason Ambient was- revenge…" Leiden growled back, stamping his paw down for added emphasis on 'revenge'.
"But Raven didn't do those things to you! His parents did! Now leave this place or Copper and I will-"
"Will what? Fight me?" Leiden said sarcastically, lifting his head and laughing evilly, "Do you really think you can win against me, while your friend is unconscious and you can barely stand?" Shadow stared at him at the mention of Copper.
"What did you do to him?!" he roared, whipping his tail in anger.
"Don't worry he'll live…" Leiden said with an evil smirk, "… but I can't say the same for you if you don't hand Raven over to me…"
"Never Leiden! I won't let you kill him!!" Shadow roared, crouching down, ready to pounce at the slightest movement.
"Who said I was going to kill him?" Leiden replied with a wicked smile, "I only said I was here to retrieve him, not kill him. But if you insist…" he lifted his paw and looked at his extended razor blade-like claws with idle interest.
Shadow snapped. With an enraged snarl, he jumped at the metal feline, fully intending to rip-out the smirking demon-s throat. Leiden anticipated such a move, and easily dodged. Shadow growled and wheeled around, swinging his tail towards the Organoid's throat. The metallic feline evaded with ease, only fueling Shadow's rage. He roared and lashed out again and again, but Leiden avoided every blow with ease. He smirked and only moved when dodging one of Shadow's attacks, as if he was taunting the great black dragon into making a mistake.
Well… that was exactlywhat he was doing, and it was working like a charm. Shadow's fury and rage had blinded his reason, and he was unaware that he was playing right into Leiden's hands. He continued to lash out at the large Organoid, ignoring the squeaks of warning from Okamau.
Suddenly, Leiden struck. With a deft swat of his paw, he knocked Shadow into the wall with so much force he was knocked out.
Now nothing could stop him from capturing Raven.
Growling quietly, he casually walked towards the unconscious boy, his eyes glowing with malice. As he neared him, a shadow shot from one of the branching chambers and dove at him. Snorting in annoyance, he swatted the small shadow into the wall. The shadow turned out to be a blood-covered hatchling. 'Maybe they saved Raven because they needed something to feed that hatchling? Maybe not…'he thought, not really caring that he had just smashed a hatchling into a wall with enough force to kill it.
Turning from the silent and unmoving hatchling, he closed the distance between he and Raven. With a fast swipe of his sharp claws, he ripped the blanket off of the young human and tossed it effortlessly away. He leaned down and sniffed the human's wounded side, snorting as he lifted away. Lifting his paw and extending his claws, he growled lowly and brought it down with incredible force.
Just as his paw was about to connect with Raven's side, the hatchling flew in front of his face and scratched his sensitive nose. Snorting, he snarled in rage and redirected his paw to strike the hatchling. He swiped it and pinned it to the stone floor, his paw remaining on its little body. It squealed and squirmed under his paw, both in pain and desperation to escape.
"Pathetic creature…" Leiden hissed, "… you just made the gravest and last decision of your worthless life…" He pressed the defenseless hatchling into the stone, intending to crush the very life from it. It squealed in pain and bit at his claws in a vain attempt to escape but it was useless. Leiden laughed cruelly, putting more weight on the hatchling.
Suddenly something rammed into his side with a snarl of rage and pain. He grunted as he was knocked a few feet away, and looked up at his attacker. He sneered at his aggressor, for it was non-other than the gold Organoid. By ramming his side the Organoid had managed to save the hatchling, but had also managed to impale his side and neck on the sharp spines that covered his shoulder and back. Whining in pain, he carefully picked up the now unmoving hatchling and placed it off to the side before turning to face him.
"How… how dare you attack… a defenseless hatchling…" he groaned through the pain, his whole body shaking and on the verge of collapse. Leiden didn't waste any time with the wounded Organoid. With a snarl, Leiden lunged and thrust the golden Organoid against the wall, the points of his claws pressed against his throat. The Organoid whined loudly, but didn't struggle.
Smirking evilly, Leiden slowly pushed his claws into the Organoid's unprotected throat, causing him to scream in pain. His paw lingered for a moment before he removed it, letting the Organoid collapse to the ground with a loud thud.
Leiden cast an emotionless glance at the silent hatchling before he turned back to Raven. He walked behind him and stared at him for a moment with an unfeeling glare. Growling lowly, he leaned down with jaws wide. His jaws snapped shut on the collar of Raven's cloak, and with a snort he lifted him up. He turned and walked towards the entrance with Raven hanging lifeless in his jaws. With a grim laugh he dropped from the ledge with wings half-spread…
… and he was gone…
.:End of Chapter 10:.
AN- And you thought that last chapter was bad?XD Leiden is the most evil thing I have ever created, and let me tell you, he terrifies even me!!XD Oh, I'm planning on starting a new fic like randomcat23's Zoid Drabbles, but its more like a collection of short one-shots based on random words. I asked her for permission, but since I'm at my dad's and away from the home computer, I can't read her reply. If she says yes than I'll post the first one-shot in a few days. Please send in one random word in a review for any of my fics so I can have a few to work with. Anyway, this is the longest chapter I've ever written for this fic, and the darkest. Please leave a review telling me what you guys think!!XD Until next chapter!!
Ibeyla :P
P.S- Anonymous reviews read this!! If you leave a review, I will leave a response to it in my profile under the "Comments to Anonymous Reviewers" section. I treat anonymous reviews the same as a signed review, because once-upon-a-time I was an anonymous reviewer, so I know how much you guys like feedback!!XD I love to hear from you guys!! Please review!!XD