Chapter 13
Battle of the Brotherhood
Narrator:
--
"Yoshi, are you willing to risk your friend and his child?" asked Ikla. Fajor shook his head.
"No."
Sytik and Ikla became confused. Fajor continued.
"...which is why I am doing this without him."
Let the protesting begin.
"Fajor, no!"
"I've lost one friend today, and you look like you're getting on in years!"
"Come, let's just go!"
"Yoshi, take his advice..."
"You're injured, anyway!"
Fajor whirled around.
"I am taking your master's life. That's all there is to it. And what's wrong with my age?" asked Fajor. Ikla recoiled a bit.
"Nothing."
Fajor turned away. "I understand that this is too dangerous for you, Sytik. You have your egg to worry about, which is why I want you to go home now. Make sure she isn't injured and will... still hatch. Take her to Kai, and both of you wait for me to return. I will not fall to this scum today, that much I can assure you."
Sytik paused, and Ikla looked back at him.
"Okay. I... I'm going. Good luck, Fajor," whispered Sytik. He turned and ran.
"What about my weapon? I can't pierce his armor with anything else."
Ikla looked up at the castle.
"Master does not wear armor. He wears his black robes, and that is all."
Fajor looked at him. "Why not?"
Ikla chuckled. "He does not need it. He is in the castle all day, and the only outsiders that come in are you, your friend, prisoners, and other tribal messengers. You will use my weapons."
Ikla took his sword from it's sheath and showed it to Fajor. "I can't give you it yet, but I assure you that the other Hashashins will likely be at the sight of the explosion in less than two minutes."
Fajor nodded, and began walking. Ikla drew his sword and Fajor put his hands behind his head. He was ready to turn and attack at any time if the ruse went wrong. The Hashashin brought the yoshi to the guards in front of the main gates.
"Ikla... you're alive!" said one guard. Ikla nodded.
"This fool knocked me unconscious. I came to after the explosion, stumbled into the pit, found that Dareyl had been eaten by the chain chomps, and then they lunged at me. I had to kill them."
One guard nodded. "You did what you needed in order to survive. Where is the blue one?"
Ikla shook his head. "He was killed by the Chain Chomps."
The guards nodded, and allowed the Hashashin and "prisoner yoshi" through.
Ikla led Fajor through the halls past the cafeteria, the bunks, and rec room. He brought Fajor up the stairs and stopped at the last flight.
"Take my sword when we walk up to confront Master," whispered Ikla. Fajor nodded. Ikla began walking up the final flight of stairs. Master stood with his back to the Hashashin and Yoshi.
"Master, I've got the grey one."
Master was unresponsive. Fajor was swift. He elbowed Ikla and quickly yanked the sword free of his hand. He pointed it at Master.
This time, Master chuckled.
"Do you take me for some type of fool, Ikla?"
Ikla groaned loudly, and began floating in the air with a golden light surrounding him. Master turned to face the duo, and his eyes flashed yellow. Soon, Fajor was floating in the air, too. Master ignored him and approached Ikla.
"You think different of me. Has Makal really had such an effect on you?"
"I... don't know what you're... talking about!"
Master laughed an evil laugh.
"I am not a fool! I know you helped this yoshi get here, and because of you the brotherhood is in danger. If you love the yoshis so much, maybe you should have been one!"
Ikla winced. At first he thought Master would turn him into a yoshi, but his fears were not to be.
"But, I suppose it's too late now, isn't it?" asked Master.
Ikla became confused.
"You helped the yoshis, and for some reason, you've reached inner peace by doing it."
Ikla gasped. "No..."
"Yes. You're time has run out. Rest with the others who have succumbed to yours and this yoshi's hand."
Ikla's eyes faded, and he let out a scream. Finally, his bones dissassembled, and he littered on the floor. Fajor slowly was lowered to the ground again, and he looked at his former counterpart.
"Rest in Peace," he said, and respectfully bowed to the pile of bones. Then, he turned to Master. The black robed Dry Bones was holding a mace.
"I know why you are here! You wish to destroy my brotherhood!" shouted Master.
Fajor shook his head. "No. I'm here..."
He slashed at Master, who jumped back in response.
"...to destroy you. Whatever happens to your brotherhood doesn't concern me."
Master tried to strike with his heavy mace, but Fajor easily dodged the weapon. He jumped to the side and ran forward, stabbing Master through his side. But, Master did not disassemble. He must have been more resistant. Still, he let out a grunt when the attack landed. Fajor pulled the sword loose, and Master tried striking with the mace again. He missed once more.
Fajor closed the circle slowly and avoided another attack, whirling around and slashing at him. He leapt out of the way of another strike.
"This will be too easy," whispered Fajor.
"Let us see how easy it will be!" shouted Master. He threw his mace at Fajor, and the yoshi ducked, the weapon's handle still smacking into his head and sending him stumbling backwards into Ikla's pile of bones. Master pointed his arm at Fajor, steadied with the other...
...and a deafening explosion ripped through the halls. Fajor grunted and dropped his sword as the bullet pierced through his waist, and he fell backwards into Ikla's bones.
"You fight well, Fajor. Your efforts were noble, but you failed. It won't matter. You'll be one of us soon. How does that sound?" asked Master. He took a step forward.
"It's not like you have a choice or anything."
Fajor groaned, but looked to the side. Next to him lay a small, well balanced knife. He looked back at Master.
Ikla's final gift.
"I believe I'll wait until you die. Yes, that is what I'll do."
Fajor quietly grasped the knife, and sat up a little bit.
"And when I hear the last breath escape you... I'll come over and make sure my face is the last image you ever see."
Fajor took aim, and through labored breathing, tossed the knife. Master turned to face him as if to make another threat, but he backed up a step when he saw the knife coming.
Still, he had no time to react. The knife caught him in the center of the forehead, and with a lot of force, too. His neck cracked, and he now stared upward at the ceiling. Master slowly collapsed backwards, and hit the floor but did not dissassemble. Without saying a word, he reached into his robes and pulled out a bomb, blue and bigger than most others.
"Very well... you've beaten me... but let's see you escape with your wound... This bomb will destroy this entire castle..."
Master lit the fuse, and it burned into the bomb. But the bomb did not go off immediately. Fajor did not hang around, though. He stood with difficulty and began half running, half dragging himself out of the castle. He knew that the bomb would likely blow up at any time.
He was out of the castle and several hundred feet away when the explosion took place. It rocked the entire island, from the Koopas to Shy Guys to Yoshis to unclaimed territory. The whole island trembled as the Hashashin tribe was destroyed by it's Master's hand. The debris landed all around as Fajor braced himself behind a tree. He heard collisions of debris with the tree he stood behind. The explosion slowly subsided, and all over the island tribes were likely outside investigating the source of the sound.
Fajor shuddered violently, and looked at the hand that he covered his wound with.
He was bleeding profusely, and his vision faded to blurs every few seconds. He continued limping away from the tree, directing himself back to the village.
It began to rain.
It began to pour.
Eventually, he became too weak to walk. He collapsed to his knees, and began dragging himself through the rain and the mud. He found his way into the village again, where he spotted the medical hut. His vision blacked out, and he fell forward, but regained consciousness again.
He couldn't gain the strength to drag himself to his knees again. He began to drag himself on his belly toward the medical hut, where he could see Kai holding the egg with Sytik. He must have just finished examining her, and judging by Kai's look of happiness, it was good news. They likely hadn't minded the explosion; they were probably too happy about their child. He dragged himself ever closer, until he was at the doorstep. "S...y....t...i...k..."
Sytik turned around. His face turned to a look of horror when he saw the drenched Fajor. But, it wasn't his being wet that scared him. It was the blood dragged on the ground that alarmed him.
"Fajor!" he shouted, and he sprung into action, helping Fajor into the hut, ordering Kai to shut the door, and laying him on a table. He eyed the wound with shock, and looked at Fajor's face.
"Did you...?"
Fajor nodded. "The Hashashins.... have fallen...."
"And Ikla?"
"Dead."
Sytik sighed, and began cleaning Fajor's wounds. He wiped the dirt off the injury and cleaned it out, then pressured it.
"What did this to you?" asked Sytik.
"Some... type... of firearm..."
Sytik nodded, and fetched a pair of tweezers. He carefully reached into the wound and removed the metal ball that was the bullet in Fajor's waist. Then, more blood began seeping out of the wound, and Sytik cleaned it again, then pressured the wound and stopped the bleeding after a minute. Finally, he stitched it up with some medicinal leaves, and bandaged the wound. Fajor was still dizzy and exhausted, likely from blood loss.
"I've done all I can," said Sytik. Fajor wheezed.
"I'm getting too old for this," he breathed. He looked at Kai. "How is she?"
Kai continued to smile at her egg. "Sytik says she's going to be fine," she said.
"When will she hatch?" asked Fajor. Kai shrugged. "We don't know. If she didn't hatch in the camp... it may be very soon."
Sytik looked out the window. "Fajor, rest. When the rain lets up, we'll take you back to your hut if you like."
Fajor wheezed. "Yes... okay."
The rain poured and poured, and showed no signs of stopping. Kai smiled at her egg.
"Welcome home, sweetie."
End of Chapter 13
My cousin and I each did a half of this one. I did the ending, and Scorp did the fight 0.0
I think next chapter will be the last... =(
Keep a look out for the sequel! ^^