Hello again everyone! I intended to upload this chapter in May and roll on into Song of the Petalar, but things happened and this chapter was... uncooperative. It's not my favorite and I definitely feel I rolled out of my writing groove, but nonetheless I hope you all enjoy and leave a review~ I love hearing from you guys!
Frustration roiled within Leopara.
While Leopara and Cheetara were set to the back breaking work of sweeping the deck, the rest of the cats occupied themselves with nothing at all.
Lion-O was getting chummy with an insane fishman that Leopara knew was only going to fan the flames of his anger and deepen his thirst for revenge. Tygra had taken residence over the railing of the ship to feed the fishes- if there even were any in the sandy waves- while the kittens were being fed by a fish.
Even more annoying, most of the crew stood around with expressions like their heads were resting on platters instead of their shoulders: vacant and useless.
Leopara ground her teeth as she pushed the broom, sweeping up the debris from the deck. The bristles caught and snagged on the wood, a grating sound as splintered wood scraped against wood.
"Why don't I feel good about this?" Cheetara asked herself aloud again.
Because this is menial and our king's madness is being encouraged by an insane fishman. Leopara thought, gaze turning to the crow's nest, where she could see Koinelius and Lion-O looking out over the rolling waves of sand-water. If she strained her ears reaching up towards them, she swore she could almost hear their voices, quickly stolen away by the wind. She flicked her ear, frustrated. If only she knew what they were saying exactly… not that it would do her any good.
"What do you think Koinelius's vendetta with the ramlak is anyways?" she asked Cheetara.
"I don't know." Cheetara straightened and followed her gaze. "But I get the feeling things are only going to get worse."
"I couldn't agree more."
The first mate approached them again, looking around the deck where a couple of the only fishmen to join them in the endeavor were sweeping up the remaining debris- rather poorly, she might add, and succeeding really only in spreading and scattering the splitters and bits all over- then back to them.
With a raised fist, he gave them a thumbs up.
Leopara took that to mean the deck looked good.
"How are you doing?" he asked in that slow, vaguely stupefied voice of his; he always sounded like he was about to receive a shock, and maybe he was. Maybe it was shocking that she and Cheetara actually knew how to sweep.
"We're fine." answered Cheetara blandly.
Fine? Leopara resisted a sigh and shook her head, flicking her ears in agitation. "We were just wondering why your captain is hunting the ramlak." Leopara said in a light, musing tone of voice, like she wasn't fishing for information.
If we're going to have to clean this stupid deck for a stupid captain that tried to eat us, I will know why. she thought, her ears flicking back at an angle and a deep furrow forming as she knit her brow. She quickly perked her ear up and swiveled it towards him, forcing her expression to relax.
Not her most convincing display of innocent curiosity. By far worse than any she had ever used on Jaga.
Jaga...
He blinked his fishy, green eyes at her in surprise. Then, he looked out over the sandy waves sadly.
"We used to have an oasis home out there. But the ramlak drank it dry, and took the captain's leg and so many of our people…" He turned his head down, shoulders sagging and eyes closed. Sadness radiated from him, blue and like drops of water clinging to a stalactite before falling; ever present, continuous, and building higher. "The Captain has been hunting it ever since."
Leopara's gaze drifted towards the crow's nest, where she could see Lion-O leaning out with a telescope, his attention on the horizon, where purple clouds darkened the skies. The sadness that she had felt was drowned out by rising anger.
She thought of the absent expressions of the fishmen, the scream of the one that got dragged into the depths. All for a pointless crusade that wouldn't return their home or families to them.
"It doesn't seem like the rest of the crew shares his feelings."
The first mate gaped at her like, well, a fish out of water. But he said nothing in protest, instead looking down with guilt and regret. Would that be her, Cheetara, and Tygra, years in the future? Still following Lion-O, obsessively hunting Mumm-Ra with hatred and anger- they themselves tired and filled only with sorrow?
Leopara took another look at the crew, some milling around doing very little, others cleaning dolefully. They weren't useless… they were tired, and defeated, and abandoned by hope of a better future.
Her anger before, roiling waves crashing against black nothingness, ignited into a spark, a fire of rebellion.
She refused to let this be her fate.
A crash of lightning into the sandy waves jolted her out of her ruminations. Her attention snapped towards the brewing sky as another flash of lightning stuck. The smell of freshly spun glass reached Leopara's senses as churning sand turned into thousands of drops of molten glass quickly cooling as they were flung from the waves below.
The putrid stench of the Ramlak hit her second and drowned out anything else. Its moan carried over the crashing waves and bolts of lightning.
"Quit flopping around, you lazy lumps! The chase is on!" Coinelius called down from the crow's nest.
Leopara exchanged a glance with Cheetara as the first mate scrambled to answer his captain's call. He sprinted towards the front of the ship. As the fishmen quickly stirred to panicked action, they each blinked, gold and pink locking gazes. What should we do? they both seemed to ask each other.
Leopara shrugged helplessly.
The crew scrambled to grab their harpoons as the tattered sails flapped and strained in the wind, but neither she or Cheetara moved.
Unhurried footsteps sounded from behind them as Leopara watched the ramlak's tentacles squirm in the air. Was it… lounging in a thunderstorm? Maybe it was hoping for rain. Leopara sure was. She was sick of these deserts and this nonsensical sea. What were the waves?! If they were sand, why did they move like water? If they were water, how could there have been an oasis? Why didn't the sand separate from the water and sink to the bottom?!
Leopara glanced over her shoulder, where Tygra stood, staring out at the ramlak with a firm expression. There was a pitter patter of metal as Lion-O and Koinelius hurried down the ladder from the crow's nest.
"Don't you have business with the railing?" Leopara asked Tygra scathingly, crossing her arms.
He glanced at her with annoyance. "We have more pressing matters at hand right now."
Leopara turned on him, one hand holding the broom the koi had handed her, the other on her hip. She raised her hand only to tap him on the chest. "We have been busy this entire time while you did nothing. You are so not getting off the hook for leaving all the cleaning to Cheetara and I." Cheetara gave him a crooked smile, a dangerous glint in her eye as she also rested a hand on her hip.
"Fine, fine!" Tygra heaved an exasperated sigh. A shrill moan from the ramlak resonated amidst the cacophony of wind and thunder. "But we can worry about that later!"
"Hmph." Leopara turned away.
He was right, of course. She just had to make sure he knew his time spent over the railing wasn't going to be accepted with grace. Oh no, he'd be dealing with camp whenever they got off this stupid boat and out of the Sand Sea.
Lion-O and Captain Koinelius finally got down from the nest and rushed past them, running straight for the bow of the ship where the first mate was looking through a looking glass. Leopara wasn't sure what more he expected to see that he couldn't see with his own eyes.
"Thunderstorm just blew in, straight ahead!" the koi called unhelpfully as the two reached him. The ramlak's moan carried across the waves as it dove into the sand. "I suggest we go around it!"
"Tell us something we don't know!" Leopara shouted, cupping her hands around her mouth to carry her voice. She didn't know if her words reached him. Cheetara reached up and gently lowered Leopara's hands, shaking her head. "What? We've been in it for minutes now!"
Koinelius pushed his first mate out of his way, looking out over the waves. "And lose the ramlak's trail? Full speed ahead!"he ordered, shouting over the roaring waves.
"But captain, we'll never survive!" The first mate tried to reason.
He was probably right, but Lion-O didn't care either. He shouted as he ran to the helm, "The only thing not surviving is the ramlak!" Arriving, he pushed the fishman out of his way and took over the wheel. "Into the storm we go!"
The ship strained and echoed the groans of the ramlak as Lion-O spun the wheel. Lightning flashed in a rhythm further within the storm, a constant crashing sound.
Despite herself, Leopara gaped at him, dumbfounded.
"Lion-O! This is madness! What are you doing?" Tygra called.
Lion-O turned towards them, his face contorted with anger. His eyes were wide with a mad look, and their blues so dark and dull. "Not letting anything stand in my way." he growled. "Not a storm, not you!" he yelled, face twisting more.
Cheetara stared at him with a slack face and wide eyes. Tygra looked taken aback and shocked.
Leopara felt anger rising. The winds grew stronger as they sailed deeper into the storm and lightning struck around them in abundance, more and more. Not even a second went by between each crash. The striking, like cymbals being smacked together in a constant cacophony of noise, pierced her ears, Ahead of them, the winds swirled with debris.
Stones?
Or maybe giant chunks of glass, lifted from the sandy waves mere moments after being struck.
And Lion-O was steering them right towards that swirling vortex. The winds howled and warbled in warning, fiercer as the ship plunged onwards. Her hair whipped to and fro, coming undone from its bun. She reached up, snatching her hair pin, Jaga's staff, and clutched it tightly for a moment before tugging it loose. Her mane unfurled, long strands whipping her in the face as she clutched the staff tightly to her chest.
Her mind raced. What should I do? What to do? He's going to get us killed!
… and we will have not accomplished anything!
Koinelius's peg leg wheezed as he climbed the steps to the helm, looming beside Lion-O. There, the influencer. "Faster! Faster! I can taste its foul breath on the wind."
"Captain, please!" Cheetara shouted, her voice piercing Leopara's ears sharply. "The ship won't survive long in this storm!"
"It's time to turn back." Tygra reasoned.
"Before you get us all killed!" Leopara added, thrusting out her arm and gesturing all around.
The laughed. "Ha ha! I see you're as soft as the rest of the chum on this ship. Come on, lad, it's you and me!" Lion-O turned his head to look at him and smile ever so subtly, a glint in his eyes Leopara didn't like.
"I'm right beside you," he said in a low and rough voice, letting go of the wheel, "Captain."
"Lion-O!" Leopara exclaimed.
It was too late. He and the Captain ran to the front. Leopara twisted her arms and pushed Jaga's staff into her backpack, running forward to grab the wheel before it could spin. Part of her wanted to turn it, hard. But the ship was being bombarded by the debris; turning the ship would only expose more of it to be struck, making it that much harder to protect and easier to tear apart. She looked back at Cheetara and Tygra, mouth agape and hair snapping in the wind. "What now?! Lion-O's lost it!"
They exchanged glances, both unsure.
Over the wind, she could hear the ship's cannon power up and begin blasting the debris from the sky. She looked ahead. Lion-O stood on the bow, slashing at any rock that came too close to the ship with Omens, yelling with each slash.
"Isn't it exhilarating?!" Koinelius called to him, laughing.
Lion-O leapt onto the bowsprit, cutting down even more rocks- an unnerving laughter reached Leopara's ears as she clung to the wheel and fought with it to keep it steady.
"Ha… haha! Don't forget to save some for the ramlak!" She stared, almost able to make out the fine details of his crazed, euphoric expression.
"Snya…" Snarf contributed.
This is what I was afraid of! "Tygra, what do we do?" Leopara repeated, looking back at him and his shocked expression.
He was quiet for a moment. "We should prepare ourselves."
Leopara nodded and stepped back from the wheel. With a deep breath, she held out her hand, visualising her well of magic and drawing from it, then pushing the magic out against the wheel. Opening her eyes, she saw blue threads wind and pull around the wood, halting it in place mid-spin.
With several cracks of thick lightning striking ahead, the ramlak groaned and began to rise from the depths, watery sand cascading off of its deep green tentacles. Slowly, it's elongated, bulbous purple body began to rise, thin near its mouth, lined with wriggling purple tentacles, growing wider like a jug going down. "It's surfacing. Now's our chance!" Koinelius called.
It towered over the ship, far larger.
The fishmen stood there, gawking. They had their harpoons, but did nothing. One thick tentacle slammed into them, crashing into the deck and breaking it again. "I just cleaned that!" she yelled, reaching to her belt to withdraw her scepter.
Koinelius helped Lion-O back to his feet and ran back to his cannon. He fired blast upon blast at the ramlak's purple body to no avail. Lion-O ran forward with a harpoon, but quickly lost it, batted out of his hands by another tentacle, he drew Omens and lashed out in front of him as he ran forward.
The fishmen climbed to their feet as Leopara, Cheetara, and Tygra leapt down smoothly. Cheetara darted forward, smashing a tentacle. Tygra fired his pistol. Leopara focused, a burst of anger making her magics bubble over. She swung her scepter.
A long and thin sheet of wind erupted from her scepter, racing towards the arms of the ramlak. It cut deeply through the deck, water from beneath bursting through the cracks, and yet more water spilling and gushing from the severed limbs.
I didn't lose focus that time! she thought proudly.
She swung again, severing another, and leaving another long cut in the deck. The ramlak had a thick arm wound around the deck tightly.
A fishman was yanked forward as he pierced one with his harpoon. The thrum of the cannon firing, brru, brru was a constant noise. The ramlak wrapped around one of the masts and snapped it in two. The broken mast fell onto one of the spheres protruding from the deck, spilling clean water across the deck.
Leopara readied another blade of wind when Cheetara darted in front of her. "Leopara, stop!" she exclaimed, stumbling a little.
"Stop?!"
"Take out the arms! Then we go for the head!" Koinelius called, his voice distant and almost lost over the winds.
"You're destroying the ship!"
Leopara balked at her with offense. "I am not! The ramlak-" the wood cracked and crashed next to her foot. She jumped, looking in shock at the deck behind her, cut so cleanly.
Cut.
What, how? She traced it with her eyes, following it towards the tentacles, and then back behind her.
It was almost all the way through the ship!
She couldn't have done that! ...could she? Leopara looked down at her scepter. The gem whirled with chaotic mint green energies. From the movement of her swaying as the ship rocked under the force of the ramlak, it left a pale trail of wind.
Oh no… every time she had swung, it had begun even before she even meant to release its power. Her winding and following motions...
"I- I didn't mean to!" she shouted. Her words were lost with the wind.
The ship groaned more and split further, sliding lopsidedly as the ramlak wrapped its arms around. Cheetara leapt up as water burst forth over the sliding deck, but Leopara lurched forward, stumbling, and fell into the railing with such force her breath was knocked out of her- and her scepter fell from her fingers. She scrambled, trying to catch it.
Scraping against her claws, it descended into the sands below. It bobbed atop the sands, suspended there- rising and falling with the waves, sand splashing onto it. A little less of it visible with each racing heartbeat. Leopara stretched, willing it back to her.
A wave of sand finally washed over it, pulling it down.
"No!" she cried, hands still out-stretched.
The ship lurched and she quickly scrabbled to keep a hold of the wood, digging her claws in until the wood splintered her fingers.
Tears welled up in her eyes automatically. My scepter… it had been hers for years, an extension of herself.
The ship careened dangerously as the ramlak wrapped more and more around it, breaking it a task made easier by her recklessness. Below her, the waves beckoned hungrily. As the hold burst, the water, foul from stagnation, splashed against Leopara, soaking her. She gagged, almost retching, but she was not washed away with the debris.
The ship lurched again and screams filled the air as the fishmen were thrown from the ship and into the sea.
And finally, the ship, which had been dragged down by the ramlak, came apart into pieces. Leopara let out a scream as she held onto the railing to keep from tumbling down the slippery, broken deck. Lightning continued to strike all around, crashing and thundering like the clashing of cymbals.
For a moment she felt like a kitten clinging to Jaga's side after he demonstrated lightning to her, an example of how powerful and dangerous magic could be. How she needed to be careful, needed to be calm when she used magic or it could spiral out of her control just as it could fizzle into nothing.
I'm sorry, Jaga. I should have been careful.
Lion-O stood across the distance, holding onto the railing as well as he looked down at them all. There was horror in his face.
Koimelius stayed in the cannon. "What are you doing?!" he demanded of Lion-O. He stood, grabbing a harpoon. "Don't stop now, lad. Its end is nigh!"
"The crew, they're going to drown!"
Now he's concerned. she thought sardonically. She wanted to laugh bitterly or cry. But not when we told him this was insane!
She caught Koinelius's cruel words in snatches over the wind. "Never mind them. We can always get a new crew. We finish him now, before he submerges again."
"Isn't it the crew we're fighting for?"
A crash of lightning right near Leopara left her ears ringing and her vision swimming with light. She whimpered a little, closing her eyes tight and hugging closer to the railing.
What could she do? She'd lost her scepter and she couldn't stand to do anything at this angle…
She couldn't do anything.
"Everyone, over here!" Lion-O called out. Leopara cracked open her eye. They were so far away- the waves were pushing them apart. She swallowed and looked down at the waves lapping at the wood. She knew how to swim. She could swim. But could she swim that distance? Her arms burned from holding herself up, from holding so tightly to the railing.
The others were near him. They swam to him, onto the broken masts he had leapt onto. "Wait there!" he yelled to her.
"O-okay!" Leopara called back.
He aimed a harpoon and fired. It soared through the air while she looked around for the ramlak or Koinelius. Both were gone, and, as she watched, the skies cleared as if by command. The harpoon pierced through the deck and Lion-O planted himself firmly on the masts.
And began to pull, dragging himself and the others closer. As they neared, Leopara shifted and grabbed a rung lower on the railing, carefully beginning to lower herself, arms shaking. When the wood of the mast bumped into the piece of the ship, she let go and let herself slide down while the fishmen eagerly scrambled up the deck.
Lion-O dropped the harpoon, which went between the overlapping masts, to catch her by the shoulders. She pushed her hands against his chest to steady herself.
"You steered us into quite a storm, Lion-O." Cheetara scolded Lion-O lightly. Leopara stepped back and crossed her arms, frowning.
"I lost sight of what was important, and for that," he bowed his head with shame, "I'm-"
A groan from the ramlak, once again, interrupted them. It burst from the sand, two long purple tentacles from its mouth lashing forward. Snarf screamed, while Leopara thrust out her hand. Her barrier flickered, it's watery form manifesting only to dim and fall in droplets. No! Why now?!
The tentacles wrapped around Lion-O and yanked him forward.
"No!" she and Cheetara shouted. Leopara lurched forward, trying to snatch him. She didn't even come close to grabbing him.
"Lion-O!" called Tygra
"Give him back, you slimy sack of tentacles!" shouted WilyKat, raising his fists at it.
Lion-O was pulled inside its mouth. Leopara gaped in horror shared by them all. After a dumbfounded pause, she angrily exclaimed, "Hey! He was apologising! Put him back right now!"
"That's what you're mad about?" Tygra asked with exasperation.
She shot him a withering look, snapping out of it before she could respond. A shadow loomed over them. The ramlak towered over them, tentacles circling its mouth wriggling. Abruptly, Omen's familiar song resonated with them and she blinked. The ramlak groaned in pain and discomfort, rearing back. A bright glow illuminated it's long body and then-
The Sword of Omens burst through, slicing down. Water poured and gushed from inside as Lion-O leapt from it, landing on his feet. The water poured out in a waterfall and rain, drenching them all.
"Our water!" one fishman called.
"We got our water back!" cried another.
An uproarious chorus of cheers burst from the fishmen as the ramlak deflated and deflated, pouring out enough water to flood as far as she could see. Miles of it. She raised her hand, feeling the droplets against her fur, washing away all the dirt, the dust, the gross bilgewater before. Leooara sighed and turned her head back, feeling it on her face.
The fishmen had their oasis back.
She looked at Lion-O after a moment. "Now, you were saying something before you got eaten?"
"Yeesh," he remarked, "you're really not going to give me a break?"
"And why would I do that? Tygra isn't getting one either." Tygra let out an aggrieved sigh.
Lion-O and the twins blinked at her while Cheetara smiled. "What did Tygra do?"
"It's what he didn't do." She pivoted to face Lion-O better, jabbing him in the chest. "But this isn't about that."
He held up his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright! I'm sorry for the way I've behaved. You didn't deserve it and… all of you were right."
Leopara smiled. "Maybe you should listen to me once in a while, King Lion-O. I am your advisor sorcereress."
"Since when?" he scoffed.
She balked in offense. "Since I was groomed to be!" She pushed at his face, smooshing his cheek, but he just laughed and batted her hand away.
The sun was setting beautifully on the oasis by the time they were prepared to leave the fishmen. "We better get moving before the sun sets." Tygra called to Lion-O, manning the little boat the fishmen had given them.
Cheetara smiled at Lion-O smally as he turned away from the first mate. The koi nodded and waved to them, and made his way back down the sandy beach to his fellows.
"So, what orders do you have for your crew?" Cheetara asked.
He faced them completely, each of them waiting in the bobbing boat. He had a stern and determined expression. "Set our course for the Book of Omens." he said.
Cheetara saluted. "Aye aye, Captain." Leopara shook her head affectionately, bumping shoulders with Cheetara.
"And what shall we do with these two stowaways?" asked Tygra.
WilyKit and Kat, as if a signal had been given, turned on their cute charms, purring and nya-ing at Lion-O. He eyed them seriously. "I said I'm not going to babysit. It's a good thing they've proven they can take care of themselves." With that said, Lion-O waded into the sandy waves.
"Yahoo!" the twins exclaimed while Leopara smiled at Lion-O. She held out her hand to him and helped pull him aboard.
They smiled at each other for a moment before he made his way to the steering.
Leopara sat back and looked out at the horizon.
It was beautiful, like the first rays of sunshine after a long storm. Even the sandy waves looked pretty, reflecting the sun's light in a dazzling array of colors.
The kittens fell asleep quickly, leaning against each other. Tygra moved towards the back of the boat as Lion-O stepped forward to take over, and sat with Cheetara were in their own little world, murmuring to each other- words she couldn't hear over the din of the propeller and waves. Snarf dozed heavily in her lap, purring and snoring softly while she gently stroked his dark crimson fur, idly musing of how Jaga would have felt about the two and watching Lion-O's back.
He was... unwavering.
Whatever he put his mind and determination to, she knew now what it would take to make his focus waver. It reassured her, somehow; whatever quest he set out to accomplish, he would. And all that could move him from his goal was... them. Everyone on this little boat.
She knew he would find the book and, maybe... he would defeat Mumm-Ra with its knowledge within.
Leopara sighed softly, smiling to herself as she drifted into sleep.
It was easier than the nights and weeks before.
A special thank you to all my reviewers, Frankannestein, The Night Whisperer, and Heart of the Demons!