Disclaimer: I'm sorry, I WOULD have BOUGHT Banjo-Kazooie/Tooie and all characters and/or places associated with it, as well as the companies Nintendo and Rareware, but I left my $50 billion in my other pocket. So guess what? I don't own the above companies/games/characters/anything else you want to sue me for! And by the way, for those who haven't figured it out, I don't have $50 billion , and own nothin' except for the story ideas, Kazooie's family (ie, Traz, et al...), Slither, Sanjy, Shadow, etc, etc, etc.
PART 4: Another long journey...
Finally, Buddy and Matchooie were standing just infront of the last door. As it sensed Matchooie's card, it opened slowly. Matchooie swallowed and stepped through. The outside was dark, as it was night, and the moon shone brightly above them. They stepped into a grassy forest, huge trees and vines all around them. Buddy sniffed the trees around him. "Those don't smell like normal plants, Mach," said Buddy.
"Normal plants?! What the heck do you mean by that?"
"I... dunno. They just smell... weird or somethin'. And if my nose's correct, there's one right behind us that's- ! Matchooie, DUCK!!!" And Matchooie did, the vine just missing him by a few inches. The huge vine tried to slam itself down on him, but he rolled out of the way and took to the air in one easy movement. It was then that the sheep dog remembered what real pain was like: when his ankle buckled and sent him falling on the grass. His already injured ankle was slammed into the sharper edge of a rock. "Congratulations, Buddy," he thought to himself, "you're at the mercy of an oversized weed." Matchooie found himself flying up into the air, dodging from one side to the other. The vine grabbed for him again, but only managed to grab a single feather. Finally, it realized that Buddy was a much easier target. Matchooie clawed it with his talons, managing only to unleash something burning- the acidic sap! It burned him, shock causing him to lose some altitude. But as it hovered over Buddy, his mind quoted a single line from, "Exotic Plant Life", page 40. "In many huge, motion-capable plants, there is a single power source which gives extra power to the plant. Ussually, this is protected from distruction by the sheer acidity of it's sap, but plants that do manage to get this power source destroyed ussually die within 3-5 minutes." In didn't take Matchooie a long time to see the well hidden giant root-looking growth with the multitude green sap veins running through it. There was only one thing to do. Grabbing a long, sharp stick, Machooie dug it into the root. The plant turned around. Huge drops of a green, sticky substance were pouring onto the ground, filling the air with a burning smell. As Machooie aimed to dig it into the root again, the vine wrapped itself around Machooie, squeezing him as hard as possible. If this kept up, he would suffocate.... but the plant was otherwise busy. As Matchooie fought to stay conscious, it lifted him off of the ground and slammed him down. Then, it tossed him a few feet away. It then curled around Buddy's slashed ankle. Buddy gritted his teeth, then let out a harsh scream as the vine began to drag him away. But it got weaker and weaker, until finally, Buddy was able to think again. The vine had stopped moving. Its sap running out, it had bled to death. A soft, calm voice echoed through his head. "So... you've managed to destroy my vine? Now, your task will be even harder!" Buddy growled in response, saying, "Task?! Why don't you take your task and shove it?!?!" But only an evil cackle answered him.
Buddy slowly untangled his bleeding, twisted ankle from the vine, wincing. Then he dragged himself across the grassy floor, towards Matchooie.
"Match? You alright?" There was no answer. Buddy placed his shaking paw on Machooie's long neck. There was a pulse, but it seemed faint. Buddy realized with a shock that his paw was wet... wet with something red and sticky. Matchooie didn't look like he had broken anything, but his head was bleeding all over the grass, and he was unconscious. Buddy checked his head wound... it look black-ish and infecteted... a very bad sign. But still, he was still alive... something had to be done! As he studied his pal more closely, he began remembering something... the wound was poisoned, obviously, but he had seen it before... where? Buddy felt mad and frustrated all at the same time. Why? Why couldn't he remember? Everything seemed to have gone wrong. At that time, the moon went behind soon clouds, casting the entire place into full darkness. Confused, frustrated and angry, Buddy threw back his head and gave a long, mournful howl at the hidden moon.
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Sitting next to a small campfire, Sanjy stiffened, her ears pricking up at a distant sound. "What's wrong?" asked Banjo, looking at her in concern.
"I heard something." At this, Banjo looked around, preparing to see a huge vine trying to kill somebody. No vine. "No... A howl... a dog's howl..." The noise happened again. Traz walked over, his deep green eyes fixed on the two bears. "Hey, Sanj. Didya hear that? It sounded like... some kinda howl... or something."
"Someone's in trouble. A dog."
"How do you know?" piped up Tooty. Sanjy looked down at her.
"I... he needs help."
"Hey, I'll go scout it out." voleentered Traz. "If I'm not back in an hour, send the DR Trimmer/Mower after me." Banjo didn't know if Traz was joking or not. Traz spread his wings and took off, following the noise of the howling. His ears closed in on the sound, but he only saw his target after a half and hour of "exploration". Finally, he swooped down on what seemed to be a white thing with something red lying next to it.
Buddy stopped his howling and looked up. Something was diving down at him at top speed. There was no way he would survive an attack, not in his condition. Matchooie wasn't exactly in good shape either... he was muttering softly about guts. He was delerious, and soon, he thought, they would both be dead. But his fears were quieted by his nose... in his dejection, he had forgotten to use it. It was the exact same scent that they had been chasing after all that time! Or rather, one of them. It wasn't exactly the medical force, but it was help. A red breegull landed on the ground next to him. "Who're you, and-" The bird was cut off by the sight of his brother, bleeding on the grass.
"He's hurt- can you go get help?" Traz swallowed and kneeled by his brother. He did need help, and he wasn't going to get it there.
"I'm Buddy, his roommate. You alone?"
Traz shook his head. "I'm going back for help." Buddy didn't seem particularily appreciative of the fact that he would be left alone again, but at least someone now knew where he was..."Gimme two hours. I'll be back."
"It's not like I'm going anywhere," was Buddy's half joke. Traz didn't want to leave his brother, but the sooner he left, the sooner he could get back. Traz flew off as quickly as possible, leaving Buddy alone to build a small fire, and try to help Matchooie as best he could. The wound was looking even worse, and Matchooie seemed to be reciting each page of "Workings of the Body". It left Buddy wondering whether or not Machooie would remember all that he was muttering on their next test... that was, if they ever lived to see it. As Buddy cleaned the wound, he thought. It seemed to be just yesterday that all he had to worry about was studying. Heck, it WAS just yesterday... or rather, the day before, realized Buddy, looking at his watch. The digital face showed 12:30. His mind began to wander. What would be happening at home right now, if he where there....
"Buddy! Go to sleep! I'm warning you..."
"Lighten up! I'm nineteen, now, incase you haven't noticed..."
"Nineteen, and you're still here."
"Well, as soon as I can get an apartment, I'm outta here."
"As long as you don't get one that's too shabby. And it must be in a good neighbourhood. And please, one that's not too dirty, or-"
The thought disappeared from his head. His mother would be having a cow, he decided, if she knew that he was lying out there, with his ankle bleeding all over the grass, not having eaten all day- the thought caused a growl from within his stomach. There was nothing around that he could eat, unless he wanted to poison himself. His nose told him that even the grass was unsafe, and he didn't want to add sickness to injury. That put his mind on his mother, again. If she knew that he was out here, she would call every doctor within a ten mile radius.
The dog figured that her overprotectiveness was guilt. He knew when she was pregnant with him, she suffered a terrible accident. She would survive, the doctor said, but the litter within her didn't stand a chance. Refusing to give up her son, she looked around for any other options... and found an experimental treatment which could help save her babies. It worked, kind of, but Buddy was the only pup left alive, which was why he was the youngest off all his mother's children, and not one of a set of octuplets. It also left two things: one, it left Buddy with an amazing ability to see colours, and two, it left him very weak and sickly.The doctors hadn't thought he and his mother could make it. They did, but they were the exception, not the rule. In fact, so many had died from it, the treatment was dicontinued.
This meant that he was in and out of hospitals for most of his childhood, and when other children were running around playing, he was being hooked up to an IV tube. He had practically been raised on liquids, or anything that could be slid through his veins. It wasn't that way now, he was healthy and could outrun nearly everyone in his class, and keep pace with the cheetors and breegulls, who were obviously built for speed. As a baby, he was kept in an incubator. As a child, on an IV tube. As a young adult, on the racetrack and gym- had he missed something? The small comical though disappeared as he snapped back to attention, again. The stars seemed to have hidden themselves from view, as well as the moon, which was well concealed behind a dark cloud. There was nothing to do but wait, he decided.
********************************
Kazooie walked through yet another door, her wings hanging at her side. A strong feeling that something was wrong, something concerning Machooie, surged through her. But that was nuts. He was safe in a university somewhere. Much safer than she was, ironically. A slight vibration seemed to be flowing through the metal floor. It was probably her imagination, but... "We've gotta find a way out," said Shadow.
"Why the sudden need, Nightie? Something up?"
"Not unless you don't see sudden death as something." Shadow pointed at a small, steel grater in the ground. "Help me get this open," he said, pulling at a smooth metal handle. Kazooie shrugged and pulled at the grater. The vibration had grown, now the entire room was rattling as if shook. FInally, a noise could be heard. Something like... water! Shadow looked at both sides of him, worried. With a huge groan, the grater finally opened, just as a huge torrent of water came rushing into the room. Kazooie jumped in, followed by Shadow. "Fly for it! Don't stop!"
"What does it look like I'm doing, breakdancing?!" The huge torrents crashed in behind them, catching up to them with every second. "Where does this go, Nightboy?"
"It should lead right back to the forest, but not we came from."
"Oh, joy-" Kazooie realized that another dash of water was coming in at them from the other way. They were going to be drowned! "Fly as high as you can! Hurr-" But the sentence was rudely interrupted, as the crashing wave forced Shadow underwater. He only managed to get one long breath. There was a place were the tunnel was a bit higher... but would they get to it in time? Kazooie surfaced, and looked for Shadow, before a wave forced her underwater. Kazooie could see him, fighting the waves which were pulling him back. She held out a wing, trying as hard as she could to reach him. But Shadow wasn't about to loose his life to a torrent of water. He grabbed Kazooie's outstretched wing and kicked. They were almost there, but their air was running out. Kazooie felt herself begin feeling light-headed.
Shadow kicked, never letting go of the red wing in his. He began to swim ahead, pulling Kazooie with him. Finally, he reached the highest part of the tunnel. His head broke the surface. At that rate, they had about two minutes before that part of the cave was completely filled with water. Kazooie looked like she was gasping for breath in the cave. "I... didn't get to.... hold my breath.... that time," she said, looking flustered.
"C'mon. The other side should be.... coming up." Kazooie took a deep breath and dived, following a black breegull in the water. Each place seemed more and more treacherous, as the currant tried to slam them into the side of the tunnel. A particularly strong force of water sent her crashing headfirst into something hard. Then, she knew nothing else.
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Buddy drew in a deep breath through his nose. Suddenly, there was the scent of lots of water, as if he had somehow teleported to a river- or rather, a river had teleported to him. Two people... breegulls... a male and female... where dumped there. They both smelled familiar. One was another one of the scents he and Matchooie had figured to be the missing siblings, the other was a scent that had been around the other so many times, they had to be connected, somehow. Buddy could hardly see in the darkness, but he could smell that they were close by. He grabbed a burnt, but clean, stick, and hoisted himself up. Using the stick, he limped over to the place where the scents had emerged, and looked down. On the ground, two soaking wet breegulls were lying down, unconscious. But not for long, it seemed, for the red one was already to stir. She gave a cough, spat up some water, and rubbed her head.
Kazooie slowly came to, her head still pounding from being crashed into a wall. A shaggy, white dog was staring at her, and she immediately got to her feet and into a fighting stance. The dog drew back quickly, as if startled. As Kazooie watched him, she saw that he was hurt. No contest there, she decided. The dog spoke. "So... lemme guess. You're Kazooie?"
"How'd you know my name, Mop Butt?"
"Look, your brother's hurt. He needs help."
"My... brother? Traz? What's up, Shaggy?" Kazooie jumped. She hadn't noticed that Shadow had regained consciousness and he placed a wet wing on her shoulder. "And who're you?"
"Buddy leaned on his "walking stick" awhile before limping over. Matchooie had gone quiet again, for which Buddy thanked God. "Not Traz. Matchooie." Kazooie's eyes widened. How could she have known? The feelings she had had just a few hours ago...? Shadow looked at the dog. "You're not looking so good yourself, whoever you are."
"The name's Buddy. I'm Matchooie's roommate. Hey, I found your other brother, though..."
"Traz? Where is he?"
"He went off to get help. He said that he wasn't alone, though, so I guess..." Matchooie stirred and groaned a little. "What happened to him?!"
"We got attacked by some kinda giant.... vine?"
"Well I'm gonna go look for Tra-"
"No, Scorp. You just stay here with these two." Kazooie looked a bit miffed.
"What're you trying to say, Blackbutt? I can't look after myself?"
"Nah. But someone needs to stay back and look after them... they won't survive an attack." He said it sincerly, as if he truly meant it. Kazooie just crossed her wings and looked at him. "I guess you're right, Tall, dark and stupid." Shadow rolled his eyes before taking off into the night. Buddy limped back to his position near his friend and folded his arms. Kazooie did the same. She didn't need to be a psychic to know that it was going to be a looong night...
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After a half an hour of flying, Shadow was beginning to hear voices. Some familiar, some a bit strange. He just missed flying into a red-crested breegull with drops of paint dotting his feathers. "Hey!" cried Traz, as he fluttered to a quick stop and hovered in midair. Shadow veiwed the other breegull's features carefully. "Do you know somebody named... Kazooie?" The other breegull seemed shocked, apprehensive and a bit curious all at once.
"Where is she?" He then flew down in one easy glide to the ground. Shadow looked down and realized that he recognized some of the tattered people traversing the grassy forest, and swooped down to land gracefully infront of them travellers. "Sanjy, Banjo-"
"You know him?" asked Traz, his green eyes squinting to watch the black breegull.
"Um... Traz, this is Shadow, and Shadow, meet Traz," said Banjo. Not sure of what else to say, he let them look each other over. Finally, the introduction over, they continued back to where Kazooie, Matchooie and Buddy were waiting.
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Kazooie stared up into the dark sky. It was amazingly quiet, but it was a disturbing kind of quiet... horror movie-type quiet. Kazooie walked over to Buddy, who was still tending Machooie. For some reason, her eyes were fixed on the way his paws spilt drops of medicine onto clean cloths and pressed them to her brother's forehead. Buddy shook his head. "What's happening, Flea Circus?" she asked. Buddy looked up at the sky, then a look of realization sparked into his eyes.
"Of course! I was so stu-!"
"What is it, you walking tick market, what's up?!" asked Kazooie, shocked.
"It's a poisoned wound. I know the antidote to it... it's a certain plant that grows in almost every part of the world."
"What good's that? We can't find it-"
"NO! I can smell it, it's somewhere close by!" Buddy was so jumpy, Kazooie wondered how much caffeine he had had before this. She looked around... no sign of help coming, and Matchooie was getting so much worse... she decided to go look for it herself. "Where is it, Mop-boy?"
"I'm no mop, reddie. It's just over there." The flames of the fire Buddy had built crackled in the night, sending tiny sparks into the air. "How'll I find it, Shag? It's so dark, and I don't know what it looks like-"
"Here's a flashlight... unless you have night vision-" Kazooie took the light. "It looks like clover... but its leaves are red and orange with green spots. And it glows in the dark. Not really hard to look for, unless you're colour-blind." Kazooie already had a mental picture of it, and with that, she took up Banjo's backpack and stepped away from the warmth and light of the fire. But before she left, something occured to her.
"How do YOU know what colour it is? Dogs are colourblind!" Buddy smiled uncomfortably.
"Long story. Don't ask." He swallowed. "Go, already!" Kazooie turned and headed into the dark forest.
Swinging her flashlight around, she scoured the ground for the multicolour clover. But suddenly, the whole forest was lit up by a green flash. It was only for a second, but she now had the feeling that she was being followed. "Who's there?! Come out and fight like a bird!" she trilled. But only a soft wind answered her. Kazooie, however, kept moving her flashlight from place to place, looking for the hidden person. As she passed a tree, something touched her neck. At first, she thought it was a branch, but then she saw another wing... the wing tightened, and before she could react, she was slammed against a tree.
"Hello, Kazooie... remember me?"
"I don't even know you, ya psycho! Now lemme g-"
"You should know me, since you and your family killed my father!" Kazooie could have swallowed her tongue. It couldn't be... "Yes, it's me. We were to be married, remember that?" The bird was pressing her to the tree, his breath raising her feathers each time it passed. She felt something else pressed against her side. It was a gun, fully loaded, being pressed against her side so hard it began to hurt. "I was Francis, Kazooie. But I'm Franky, now. And I'm not letting you outta here." Again, the flash of green light, and a... disturbance opened up. It looked like a heatwave, but it was, Kazooie guessed, a portal. Franky began dragging her slowly towards the portal, all the while, whispering in her ear. "Here's the good news... we'll be married, soon..." Kazooie tried to slip out of his grasp, but it only made him hold her tighter. "Don't worry, once you get "home", there's no escaping. It's on the very top of my own, personal castle, protected by magic. No one can get in, or out unless I say so..."
"Where's that? In your twisted mind, or aren't you even original enough to come up with that?"
"When I get my revenge, Kaz... you'll wish you had never killed my father. What he did to you won't even come close to what I'll do," he smiled sadistically. Kazooie had a short flashback. He was raising something, bringing it down on her back, over and over... She couuld hear her own cries of pain. And anger. And stubborness. She had refused to beg him to stop, even though her own blood was dripping down her back, in a small pool on the floor. Even though each lash sliced though her flesh.That was what flowed through her when she grabbed the gun and twisted it away from him. When her long, sharp talons cut into him, and he let out a cry of pain and shock.
Kazooie took to the air quickly, before he could stop her, and aimed a forcefull beak bomb at him. He ducked it before taking to the air himself, and getting ready to attack. Kazooie floated up easily in one glid, and launched herself at him again. "I'm gonna cut off your precious flight feathers, Kazooie. Keep them nice and trim. And you'll just fall like a rock when you try to es- ugh!" Kazooie had hit him with Banjo's backpack, only losing a little altitude. In response, he scratched her with a sharp talon... but she sent herself beak-first into his side, causing him to fall. A few familiar voices could now be heard, and a red and black flash swiped past Kazooie and landed on the ground. Franky had had all he could take. "If not now, later," he said, and disappeared into the dark forest. Kazooie landed, and rested for a few seconds against a tree. But all the while, she was thinking and trying to speak and catch her breath at the same time. Traz nodded and showed Kazooie the contents of a clamped fist.
"This what you meant?" Kazooie noded at the glowing clover in his fist.
"Yeah- what the-? I never told you..."
Traz pressed it into her wing. "I just... had a feeling." Kazooie realized that she was gaping, and suddenly walked away from him.
"Let's get this to Match! And-"
"Kaz. You ok?" Shadow walked in step with her. Kaz scoffed.
"He couldn't do me a thing if he tried."
"I bet. Just... be careful, Scorp." Kazooie walked ahead; she had no time for this... though it was sweet of him to ask.
At the camp, all present were watching eagerly as Buddy used the end of a bottle to crush the plant into a thick paste, and added some bottled water to make a reddish-orange mixture, with glowed. He looked into the kit again, removed a syringe, and emptied the contents onto the ground, washing it out with water. Finally, he filled the syringe with the substance, and dug it into Matchooie's wing. The breegull flinched, and went still. "Now, he needs rest... and I wouldn't mind getting some too." Buddy stared at the group around him, with a grin on his face. "And if Matchstick were awake, he'd tell you guys to do the same."
"He wouldn't dare!" answered Kazooie.
"Didn't your mama ever tell you to respect your elders?"
"I see no elders here."
"Fine... have it your way." Buddy lay down on the ground and closed his eyes. Sanjy and Banjo were snuggled up together, and dead to the world. Kaz felt her eyes start to close. Finally, she dropped off to sleep. Shadow stared at Kaz for a long time, who seemed uncomfortable on the hard ground. With a small smile, he pulled her up to him, and laid her body to lean on his before joining the others in sleep. Buddy opened his eyes and grinned at the sleeping couples. Then, he too curled up in a circle and fell asleep.
Some time later that night, Shadow was awoken by someone touching him. "Huh?" The body came into focus. "What is it, Sanjy?" Sanjy rubbed her arms uncomfortably. "I thought I heard something... I saw... a flash of light."
Shadow was awake, now, and he sat up slowly, easing Kazooie's body off of him slowly so as not to wake her. "Tildy, huh?"
"Exactly Tildy." Sanjy and her friend walked towards the place where she had seen the light. The darkness was unnerving, to say to least. Suddenly, a force pinned Shadow to a tree, threatening to crush his thin body. "SHADOW!!! Tildy, let him down!!" She hadn't expected her to obey, however, Shadow fell to his knees, getting up slowly as he spoke. "What- cough what do you want, Tildy?"
Out of the shadows, a beautiful, green-skinned woman sitting on her broom so that her legs hung over it, drifted into veiw.
"So... you are on my side, on not?" she started.
"What the heck are you-"
"The birds and bears!" she interrupted Shadow. "You have been helping them."
Sanjy and Shadow looked at each other. "We have not," said Sanjy.
Tildy rode up to Sanjy's face and extended a hand of long, poisoned finger-nails. She pushed her hand up to Sanjy's face as if to scratch her. Sanjy flinched as if expecting pain. "Leave her be, Tildy. We've been doin' our jobs like normal.' Tildy turned around to face him. "LIE! I am not a fool, you know. I know you have been... close... to them."
Shadow looked slightly nervous, but he continued,
"I don't see why it bothers you." Tildy snarled.
"I am planning a take-over of Big City, you both know this." Shadow and Sanjy nodded. "They are threatening my rule-" she stroked a small, green vine with her finger- "I will reward those who help me, but those who oppose me-" She turned around sharply and caused a stray rose bush to wither- "will feel my wrath. Do you understand me?" The pair just looked ahead. "That is why I am planning to attack them tonight!"
Shadow opened his beak. "Leave them alone!"
Tildy grinned. "Then you do care for them?"
Sanjy spoke up."No. Just... leave them alone, please." Tildy could see the pleading in Sanjy's eyes. Shadow could see it also, and intervened,
"Listen, Tildy. If it bothers you that much, we'll leave them alone. They're left alone, you take over the world, and everyone's happy." Tildy smiled evilly.
"You have untill midday tomorrow to report back here... then I shall destroy them. Understand?" Shadow nor Sanjy responded. Then the light flashed again, and Tildy was gone.
Shadow and Sanjy walked dejectedly back to camp. "What now?" asked Sanjy. "We'll leave to-" his words were cut off as Banjo and Kazooie faced them, having been about to look for them. Kazooie jumped out of Banjo's backpack and landed on the ground. "Leave when, again?" asked Kazooie. Shadow put on a blank face and followed Kazooie away from the others.
Banjo met Sanjy's eyes- her face was firm, but her eyes were sad. "I'm leaving you tonight... now."
"But why, Sanjy? Is something wrong?"
"I can't.... I can't stay with you anymore. I want to leave," she said simply. "You're just not the type I hang out with. You understand, don't you?"
"Did I-"
"No, no," said Sanjy nonchalontly, "You're just not fitting in. Good bye."
Sanjy walked off, leaving Banjo crushed inside. But her own heart was heavy... now, it was back to Tildy. She kept her eyes straight ahead... she was afraid of looking back at his confused face. "Just... keep out of trouble, Banjo."
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Shadow looked straight into her eyes as he spoke, for he wanted the message to get across clearly. "Me 'n' Sanjy are moving out. Tonight."
"What's up, Shady?"
"That's Dark, now. And I just told you." Kazooie noticed the tone in his voice, but there was something else, hidden under the sarcastic words. "Alright, DARK, what's your problem?"
"I told you, I'm gone. Got peoples to meet. And listen, girl," he said, knowing that Kazooie hated the name, 'girl', "I'm back to my job... but I enjoyed you throwing yourself at me." Kazooie's feathers began to raise at this, but she (somehow) kept calm. "Yeah, Darkie, you just go..." He turned to leave.
"Don't forget your cheap garbage!" she said, and threw the necklace she had around her neck at his head. But, to her annoyance, he turned around and caught it before it hit him.
"Thanks... I was going to sell it, anyway!"
"Good! And may you enjoy each one of the 50 cents, Black Hole!"
He ignored the last comment and left, heading towards the forests.
Sanjy was staring expressionlessly towards the sky. "Do you feel as bad as I do?" she asked.
"Do you feel like you sold your soul to the devil?"
"Yeah."
"Then that's exactly how I feel."
Sanjy rubbed her fur. "Maybe we should go apolo-"
"No! It's better this way..." he paused, momentarily. "It's better they get on with their lives, and we'll get on with ours."
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Banjo sighed heavily. Sanjy... gone. Those two words echoed through his mind. Now what...? He looked for Kazooie... and she was leaning against a tree, quiet. "He left?"
"Yeah, sure, what's new." responded Kazooie, listlessly. Banjo sat next to her.
"I know what you mean..."
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The next morning, Banjo awoke, feeling something tap his head. He sat up. Kazooie was leaning out of the backpack, tapping his head absent-mindedly with her beak. He waved his paw backwards, and she pecked him, before diving back into the backpack. "Hey, Banjo! How about we get some food or something, I'm starving!" Banjo yawned.
"Uh, huh." He stretched and stood up, scratching his back. Traz was already awake, and he had started a fire as well. In his spare time, he had the vague beginnings of a sketch. Buddy, the only person there whom he had never drawn, was his next subject. Tooty was curled on the ground, apparently having been next to Traz as she fell asleep. She stirred, and awoke as well.
"Good Morning. What's for breakfast?"
"Kazooie," said Banjo, half-asleep. Kazooie gave him a few viscious pecks.
"Hey! Cut that out!" Kazooie giggled and dove down, just missing his paws.
"So what now?" asked Tooty. Kazooie spread her wings out of the backpack.
"First, we find some breakfast!"
Traz looked at the map he had created. "There's a river somewhere near here... wanna go look around?" Kazooie attempted to take flight, dragging Banjo off his feet.
"Where?! Where?!" Traz pointed in the direction of the water.
"There, there. C'mon. We'll go look for fish... and you guys... er... do somethin'.
Banjo noded, and did what he had wanted to do for a long time. He rolled over and fell asleep. Tooty stared at Matchooie, who was groaning and rubbing his head. "I've got one heckuva headache," he mumbled, before groggily getting to his feet. "Hey, Tooty... TOOTY?! How did- I mean- where's-"
"Banjo's sleeping over there, and Kazooie and Traz're off fishing."
"What happened?!"
"You got hit on the head pretty hard, Matchooie. Are you ok?" Matchooie pressed his wing to his head... blood. But other that a throbbing and bleeding head, he felt fine. It seemed to him that it was better to let Buddy sleep, since he still looked as if he could use it.
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Kazooie flew ahead of Traz and tried to land on the slippery, moss covered rocks which jutted out of the gently flowing stream. But, she slid on them, and Traz turned his head just in time to hear a loud Splash!. "Breegull... best bait there is."
"Traz... don't... even... say it..."
"For those who really want to GET INTO their fishing."
"Only YOU could be this dry even when you're standing in a river." Kazooie walked across the stream, hopping from rock to rock. She could she fish swimming around in the water, and tried to grab one... "Gotcha! Traz! Help me with this thing!" The breegull threw it to her brother, who knocked it's head against a stone to quiet it. "There. Now it won't feel a thing. But... think we could get a better catch if we-"
"-went swimming? Let's go for it!" she shouted, and dived into the water. Somewhere behind her, Traz was using his huge wingspan to propell through the water. But... something was strange... Kazooie realized that she was shivering, and that Traz was doing the same. In shock, the two breegulls tried to surface- but the surface of the water was covered in ice. It seemed like they were about to drown under the icy water.
Kazooie then spotted something.... a hole in the ice. But it was slowly freezing over, and then there would be no chance for escape. Traz looked over to it, and they shot forward towards it like twin bombs, trying to get to the hole in the ice before- their beaks hit ice. But a cracking sound was heard. Maybe they could... not wanting to die so easily,they rammed the ice again, shooting out of the hole and above the ice! Traz's entire body seemed to get the breath shocked out of it at the cold! The entire landscape was in a giant blanket of white! Traz held his sister's wing, and started forward in the first direction he thought of, for everything was simply white, and up and down seemed like one, with little or no difference. Suddenly, Kaz was pulling him in another direction. "T-t-traz! L-look! A c-c-cave!" she shivered out. In a momentary lapse between winds, a patch of black had been revealed. Choking back the temptation to lie down, they battled towards the cave. Kazooie felt another quiet moment between the gusts and saw the black entrance once more then.... a huge gust of wind sent her flying into her brother!
"Kaz..." he said weakly, and lay on the ground, gasping for air. The cave was only a few feet away... only...
"C'mon, Traz," she said, hoisting him up , "It's almost... there..." It was no easy task getting to that cave. Their wings were covered in ice, and for every step they took, the wind seemed to push them two steps back. It was a viscous tug-of-war between the wind and the breegulls, and it wasn't going to get any easier. Finally, Traz held out a wing.... and touched something hard... dry... warm?! He stumbled into the cave, dragging his shivering, wet sister behind him. It was surprisingly warm in the cave, and the ground was soft, as if it were carpeted. A fire burned nearby. Too tired to question their luck, they lay down on the soft carpet and allowed the warmth and coziness to steal away their consciousness.
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Banjo shook snow off of his fur. This was the most... um... sudden? blizzard he'd ever seen. Matchooie stood up and looked around at the snow-laden landscape. "W-w the heck are t-they? K-kaz and Traz-z sh-shoulda been b-back by now..."
"L-let's go l-look for t-them," said Banjo, shaking off some more snow. Buddy, whom had long since awoken, raised his nose to the air. "Their scents're faint guys... but... I think they went... this way." He pointed towards the river.
"W-well we know that! L-let's g-go already!" Matchooie kicked snow with his feet.
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Unknown to Kazooie and Traz, two people were watching them. The 'cave' in which they were was covered in a thick, red carpet. The walls had elegant paintings of all different forest scenes, from green blankets dotted with flowers, to the bleached landscape that lay outside the protection of their cave. A fireplace lay at one end of the cave, sending many small sparks into the air. "They'll be safe, here," said one to the other. The second one nodded.
"But... the others are still out in that! Shouldn't we try to lead them here?"
"Yes. We will, don't worry. They'll find it, following them." The person pointed toward the siblings.
"All we wanted to do is leave the stuff for them... but... I don't want to leave them here a-"
"C'mon." He took the bag from his friend and left it on a table. "They'll be fine. Don't worry." And with that, the two figures whispered a code, opened a door in the cave and disappeared.
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Buddy felt the wind grow silent. Or at least, it stopped its vicious attack on their group. As it stopped, a cave could clearly be seen in the distance. Buddy sniffed again. Yes. They were there. They were in that cave. And a good thing too- sniffing them out became harder and harder as the snow covered their tracks, and froze his nose. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Banjo and stumbled into the cave. Buddy was surprised at the warmth, but his nose detected nothing except for themselves and the most tantalizing smell of... food!
Matchooie sat down cross-legged next to his sleeping siblings, and woke them gently. "Well, gee, someone's been taking a nap while we've been out there getting our butts frozen off..."
"Quiet, Match. It wasn't exactly a joyride for us, either," said Traz, groggily. The warmth was trying to make him fall asleep again, but he rubbed his eyes. Kazooie yawned, stretched and muttered "Shut up, Matchstick," before sighing and awaking fully. "I wonder-"
"-where we are?" Kazooie and Traz looked at each other for a moment, before sniffing the smell of food. She was just about to investigate, when something caught her attention... it was a black and silver tipped feather.
"Shadow," she whispered. Then she gripped the feather to herself as if it were precious. But a glare crossed her face, and she held the feather out to the wind and allowed it to
be blown across the landscape. A little while away, Traz watched his sister. He could almost guess her thoughts. Wordlessly, he handed he a peice of bread from the mysterious package, which Buddy had said was safe. She pecked some, her eyes still fixed outside.
Finally, she got up, and walked towards Banjo. "By the way..." she fished into his backpack. "What's this?" She held up a book entitled, "Knitting for Beginners". Banjo blushed.
"Errm... it's a... um... book." Kazooie snickered.
"So THAT'S what those knotty things under your bed where!" Banjo reddened. Tooty was smiling. On account of her brother, revenge was in order.
"So... where's that grotty old parrot you were sleeping with a few nights ago?" If that breegull could have turned any redder, she would have.
"(He's NOT grotty!) That's none of you're business, Miss 'Uses-Cosmetics-More-Than-Soap-and-Water'!"
"C'mon, Kaz!" Traz was choking on laughter, "Still sleeping with..." he paused for effect or breath, whatever. "Mr... SNUGGLES!!!"
"Oh, shut up and tell us who's the girl bird you're always painting!"
"That has nothing to do with it! She's a good subject!" She said, his face turning hot. That time, Matchooie and Buddy learned more about the four than they ever wanted to know.
But the fun and games were interrupted when Buddy let out a growl. "Someone else's here..."
"Who?!" Buddy sniffed around through the very back of the cave.
"Someone back here..." he limped over. A peculiar green wall of light separated them from a deep precipice which seemed to have no bottom. Traz looked around.
"Buddy, anything else?"
"Yeah... people. I've smelt him before, but I can't... somewhere in the street... just disappeared. Whatever it is, it's in trouble!" Traz, Banjo and Kazooie had a strong sense of whom was in trouble on the other side.
"Kaz?" said the male breegull, "We might've found Mumbo!" Kazooie and Traz took to flight, dragging Banjo with them.
"Toots! Stay here with Bud, ok? Hey, Match! You comin' or not?" Matchooie shrugged, and took to flight after them.
Banjo sheilded his eyes from the brightness of the green light. But as he squinted through the light, he could just make out thef form of someone unmoving chained to the ceiling of the cave. "It's Mumbo!"
{Author's Note: Whoops. I miscounted the number of chapters. Anyway, I think I'll start a personal rule for multi-part stories. If you want to know what happens next, tell me and I'll post. If you don't, I won't. As I said before, my following material may contain some disturbing scenes. So... with that warning... bombs- er- review away!}