Shantae sat on a cluster of rocks, overlooking the view of the setting sun over the Sequin Sea. The orange light radiating from the fiery ball reflected and bounced off the water, imitating the night sky that would soon be over the land.
A small sigh emitted from beside her. Looking to her left, Shantae laid eyes on the dark green hair and yellow headband that belonged to her zombie friend. Rottytops was leaning her head on Shantae's shoulder, tired and defeated, lazily watching the sun set.
Shantae had spent nearly the entire day trying to comfort the hysterical zombie, who had ended up going on a rampage in her own home, throwing objects and screaming insults about everyone. At one point, the half-genie was afraid she would have to fight Rottytops just to get her to calm down. Instead, Shantae grabbed both of Rotty's arms in a firm grip and crossed them, gently reassuring the fuming girl. What she didn't expect was for Rotty to burst out crying and crumple into a heap on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably. She didn't even know zombies could cry until that point.
Rotty let everything out. The lengths she goes to be accepted. How hard it is for her to break some villainous habits. Her restraint in not attacking people who annoy her and eating their brains with a cup of quality coffee.
Her love for Sky.
Shantae listened. She silently sat in the chaotic mess of Rotty's house and listened. Once the green girl had got everything out, she wordlessly reached out and pulled Rotty towards her in a long hug. Rubbing her back, Shantae whispered that everything was going to be okay and that they would sort it out together. She told the zombie she was going to take her to a place that she used whenever she was troubled.
That's how they were at a secluded cliff area, with lush grass surrounding a small circle of rocks that were perfect for sitting on. Bushes sprouted further back and the singing of birds echoed from the nearby trees.
The guardian genie reached around Rotty and pulled her closer. The zombie made a small noise of surprise but didn't resist.
"Are you okay?" Shantae asked, brushing some of Rotty's hair out of her face.
"Yes… maybe… no," was the quiet reply. "She hates me."
"No she doesn't. You know that Sky isn't a hundred percent sure about your loyalty."
"I-I thought I proved it to her when I—we saved you from your dark version."
"Yes, but… um…" Shantae had exhausted her supply of reassurances and comforts. There wasn't really anything she could do or say without certainty unless she knew about this 'incident' that Sky spoke of. It was clear to see that the distrust stemmed from whatever happened between the two at the time. She squeezed Rotty a bit tighter as the temperature slowly declined, the sun showing nothing but a fraction of itself.
"Why can't she see me like you do?" Rotty asked, turning to face Shantae with sadness in her eyes.
"What do you mean? I don't see you as anything different to Sky, or even Bolo. You're my friend."
"That's not what I mean, snack cakes," the zombie said, smiling a little when Shantae pulled a face. She really didn't like that nickname. "When we were in your Nightmare Realm, we saw someone we didn't recognise. At least not at first." Rotty paused, thinking back to what had happened during the conversation between them.
"We saw, well, me. In my human form. Bolo then came up with the idea that it was because you saw me for who I really am, and not just what I look like on the outside. Is it true, Shantae?" Rotty looked hopefully at the half-genie, who was looking at the zombie intently.
"Of course, Rotty! That's such a silly thing of you to think – that I wouldn't see you for who you are."
"So why can't Sky do that?" Rotty asked, slumping back down onto Shantae's shoulder. The purple-haired girl sighed, not knowing what to say. The sun finally disappeared, a red hue slowly melting into the dark blue of the night sky.
"What happened, Rotty? This 'incident.' It's clear that's what's making her distrust you." Shantae's mouth was dry. She was beginning to doubt her own ability to help her friends.
"Do you really need to know?"
"If you want me to help you out, I'm afraid I do," Shantae responded. Rottytops exhaled loudly, clearly not happy with having to share the details.
"I may have bitten a few of her birds to keep as my own pets without asking and didn't realise how fragile they were and might've killed them and then we had a fight and I may have hit her in anger and broken some eggs and now she hates me because I'm too selfish to ever think of anyone but myself," Rotty said as fast as possible, gasping for air near the end. She might be a zombie, but she had enough organs intact that she needed nearly everything a human needed to survive, like oxygen.
Shantae, on the other hand, sat there quietly, processing (or at least deciphering) what the undead girl next to her just said. She then began to piece together what seemed like the biggest issue.
Firstly, Rotty had admitted she had taken birds without asking, and ended up killing them. That would obviously upset Sky as her she treated her birds extremely well, sometimes even better than she treated herself. Secondly, she knew that Rotty and Sky both had tempers, and if igniting one of them wasn't bad enough, setting both off would end in disaster. Since both were set off, Shantae wasn't surprised Rotty had resorted to physical violence, as Sky's wit and not-take-crap from anyone attitude far surpassed the zombie. The death of some birds might've even fuelled Sky enough to start getting very personal. Lastly, Rotty destroyed some eggs as a final jab into Sky's pride, before leaving. 'That must be why Sky was particularly snappy and moody a few weeks ago.'
Shantae sighed again. There was a clear reason why everything happened, but she really didn't want to have to break it to Rotty like this.
"Alright," she began. "You're in the wrong here –"
"I know that!" Rotty interjected, not meaning to yell so loudly.
"Then what do you want me to do!?" Shantae yelled back, throwing her hands into the air, before placing her head in her hands. "I can't even help my own friends…"
"Yes, you can, I've seen in before, and I'll see it many more times, I'm sure of it," Rottytops encouraged, but to no visible effect. "Look, I just want to you to help me find a way to fix this. I know what I did was wrong, you don't need to tell me that, but if you want something in return…"
This got Shantae's attention. She snapped her head up and stared at the zombie, who was sporting a cheeky, almost seductive grin. So much for being hysterical.
"What are you implying, Rotty? If it's what I think it is…" Shantae shuddered, not sure if it was from the cold or from the thought that came across her mind. "Leave it for Sky." She glanced at the undead girl and noticed some of her energy had disappeared at the mention of the bird keeper.
"No, it's not… that. Although I admit, I have thought about it before," Rotty teased, her grin returning as Shantae blushed as red as her garments. "But I was going to offer you this," she continued, waving a scroll of paper in the air. Where she was even pulled that from, Shantae will never know.
"But I want you to help me apologise to bird girl," Rotty finished, using the pet name she kept for Sky.
"'Bird Girl?' Really? Surely you could've come up with something better than that, like—"
"Shantae."
"Fine. You killed Sky's birds, so she'll want some back," the genie started, formulating a plan that would hopefully get the two former friends back together. "Do you know of any rare birds that she may not have?" she asked.
"Rare? Why rare?"
"Because, Rotty, bringing her any bird won't mean much but a cheap apology. You want it to mean something, don't you?" Shantae questioned, watching Rotty for an answer. She nodded.
"Then a rare bird will show her that you're truly sorry, and would mend your relationship a bit. The rest is up to you, though. You probably won't be getting into her bed—" Shantae paused. Maybe she could get back at the zombie for the embarrassment a few moments ago. "—or her pants, for a while." That did it. 'Who's embarrassed now, Rotty?'
"I-I-I, uh, w-well I do know of a-a bird that she might, um, that she might like," the zombie stammered, certain Sky-themed thoughts entering her mind. 'Snap out of it, Rotty, don't think like that. Not here anyway.' Taking a deep breath, Rotty composed herself and turned to face Shantae, who was giggling away like a schoolgirl.
"Shut up," she said, but couldn't help smiling at the situation. "There's a bird I know for a fact that featherhead wouldn't have. She's too scared to go to Mud Bog Island. But do I need to get the bird?"
"What's wrong with getting the bird?" Shantae asked, thinking of the monstrosities that greeted her on her visit there. Hopefully the bird wasn't one of them.
"It's highly aggressive. It nearly took off Poe's head once, even though he was just passing by and had done nothing to disturb it," Rotty explained, not bothering to mention that she got too scared to out without one of her brothers for a week after that. "I'd rather get its egg and give it to Sky. That way she can teach it to be friendly from birth, rather than letting an actual one tear her to bits."
"Surely there's another bird you could get? And wouldn't getting its egg be really risky?"
Rotty shook her head. "Once a week, it hunts from dawn to dusk, bringing in a massive beast to feed itself for a week. I could run in and grab while it's away."
"How do you know that? I thought you weren't interested in birds," Shantae said. "Before you met Sky," she added quickly.
"Uhh… Abner brought back a book he had found buried near a tree. Since I had no new comics at the time I decided to read it. It was the recordings of a bird enthusiast, who had studied this particular bird for a few months. Judging by the blood on the last written page, either the bird or another beast got to them," Rotty recited, piecing together the memories of that book. "It also said that they only ever spotted seven of these birds."
"You know what you have to do," the half-genie said, before noticing the look on her friend's face. "What? You expect me to go back there? Never. Not after last time. Besides, you know the place better than I do."
"But—"
"No 'buts,' Rotty, this is your doing, and you have to fix it," Shantae stated in a tone that wouldn't take no for an answer. She didn't like being so forceful and unfair, but there was no other way to handle this situation. Plus, that trip to Mud Bog really had mentally scarred her.
"I'm scared. What if I die? What if the egg breaks? What if she never speaks to me again?" Shantae looked over to Rotty again, to see her hugging herself in what appeared to be fear.
"Just believe in yourself. The same way you believed in me, even when I didn't believe I could do anything. Not to mention that I believe you can do it too," Shantae reassured, patting Rotty's back. The zombie stayed silent for a while, her bottom lip quivering. Shantae took the time to look back out over the sea, trying to spot the constellations that her uncle had taught her to look out for. She shivered. It was getting quite cold – usually nights were pretty warm. Must be the area.
"Here."
Jumping at the sound of Rotty's voice, the genie saw that she was holding out the scroll from earlier, though Rotty never took her eyes off the horizon, seemingly avoiding eye contact with Shantae. Taking the scroll, Shantae was surprised to find it was a map of a moderately sized island, with a large circle around the Eastern side.
"You see people for who they are, not what they look like, or what they've done to you before," Rotty spoke, gaining the interest of the guardian genie.
"You look at me and see my human form. You see my spirit, my loyalty, my flaws. You know what I've done to you in the past. Yet you see past that for who I really am."
"Where are you going with—"
"You're kind to everyone, good or bad. You did errands for the Barons, and you even wish them luck. You probably see past their flaws and see the good in them, like you do with me."
"Rotty, I—"
"So it doesn't surprise me when you chase after a woman like Risky. She's evil. She betrayed you. She's out to kill you. Everyone knows of her deeds, yet you, and only you, want to get closer. To an extent, you want from her, what I want from Sky." Rottytops paused, running out of words to say in her speech.
"You want a relationship with one of, if not the most, dangerous people in Sequin Land. Why?"
Shantae swallowed. She wasn't expecting that. She had tried so hard to keep it hidden, to keep her desires supressed. Now Rottytops was asking her why she wanted something from Risky. But Shantae didn't even know herself.
Why risk it all for Risky?
"W-well, I... I feel connected to her. She might be my arch-nemesis, but I know she's good on the inside. Even though she used me to save herself from the Pirate Master, she felt like a friend. She treated me nicely, and she taught me how to work the ship. She even… well, she…"
"She kissed you. I know. That's why I got you that map." Rotty slid over to Shantae and rubbed her back as tears started to form in Shantae's eyes.
"I shouldn't have asked why. I'm sorry. It's not my place to judge you for who you like, or love, especially after everything you've done for me. Even after my rotten behaviour towards you." The purple-haired girl sniffed loudly, a few tears starting to streak down her face.
"I promise to keep it a between us, Shantae. It's not my secret to tell, and I'll support you whenever you tell your uncle and friends. I'll make sure that if anyone ques—Shantae? Oh no, please don't cry."
The roles had reversed; now it was Rottytops who was comforting Shantae, who was crying silently into the zombie's neck as she was affectionately hugged. Now it was Rotty who was whispering reassurances into the other's ear. Now it was Rotty who rubbed Shantae's back, listening to the genie's muffled sobs against her neck.
"Why'd she have to attack again? It was as if she didn't remember anything I did for her," Shantae sobbed into Rotty's neck. The two girls sat there for what seemed like hours, until silent crying turned into quiet sniffles and hiccups.
"Better?" The zombie asked? Shantae nodded, flicking her eyes between Rotty's and the ground.
"Good. I'll get straight to the point. That map shows the closest thing Risky has to a home. Her 'secret' cave is circled, as you can see," Rotty explained, sarcastically waving her fingers as she said the word 'secret.'
"My bet is that she's there right now, planning the next attack. If she even has the funds for it. That's your chance to go confront her," Rotty finished, watching Shantae carefully for any signs of more crying.
"O-o-okay," Shantae shivered. It was really starting to get cold, and clouds were beginning to block out the night sky. "Thanks, R-Rottytops."
"No, Shantae. Thank you. I know what I have to do to get back on Sky's good side. Also, thank you for being such an amazing friend. I couldn't think of anyone who would have come after me like that."
"Th-that's w-w-what fr-friends are f-f-for, r-right?" Shantae shakily replied. Rotty didn't like the way Shantae was starting to shake.
"Come on. You're going to freeze to death at this rate. I don't want a frozen genie brain, I want a warm one," Rotty joked, standing up and extending her hand to Shantae, who gladly took it. "I'll take you home." Hoisting the genie up, the zombie began the walk back, before realising something.
"You wouldn't mind me sleeping over for a night, would you? Some angry green girl was going through my house and throwing everything around like a madman, and I don't think I'll be able to sleep in that mess."
Shantae laughed.
TWO UPDATES IN A SINGLE MONTH!? WHAAAAAAT!?
Gonna keep this short. Got 'work' to do (those chicken dinners don't win themselves)
I'm trying to get the more emotional side of the characters, but I might be making them a bit OOC. Am I?
Also, I probably missed some mistakes while reviewing this chapter, so feel free to PM me if you spot a mistake.
And, I suck at titles.
Feedback and Suggestions appreciated!
-Tommycats
P.S.
RISKY POV IS COMING I SWEAR!