Well, once again I've only seen 4 episodes of 2nd season (mid-season at that.), so if anything's wrong - I'm sorry. I guess in a way Heart of the World does follow Flames of Regret, even though it wasn't intended to. Heart of the World is a two-parter, this being part 1 (and obviously done), I'm working on Part 2, hopefully it will be up soon...And, yes, I am flashback obsessed...
Heart of the World
A War Planets/Shadow Raiders Fanfic
Planet Ice...Present Day...
"Remind me again, how do we get ourselves into these situations?" Pyrus asked of Zera as they looked up a sheer ice cliff face that rose a good thirty feet above their heads.
"Oh, I don't know. Does the word Beast Drones mean anything to you?" Zera returned sarcastically.
Pyrus frowned at her, and looked up at the ice wall behind them, which rose even higher. "I don't suppose you know where we are."
"Lost in the middle of nowhere." Zera supplied, walking past him up the path between the natural ice walls.
"Now, why didn't I think of that?" Pyrus rolled his eyes, but followed her along the path. "We're probably going the wrong way."
"I didn't hear any better ideas from you, Matchstick."
"This is your world, you'd think you'd atleast know your way around..."
Jade, Cryos, and Graveheart glanced down a sheer ice cliff at the path below, similar to the area Pyrus and Zera were walking along.
"There's nothing down there." Jade stated.
"But they couldn't have gone much farther than this with the Beast Drones so close." Graveheart brought up, glancing over the mostly barren landscape. He turned to Cryos. "Maybe they went in another direction."
"No, I'm certain they went this way." Cryos replied.
"From what I hear those two kids should be used to fighting Beast Drones together." Femur said from behind them. "They're probably already back at the Palace wondering what's taking us so long."
"Probability 0.001 percent." Voxx said, floating up.
"Then they're probably-"
"If you don't shut up, Toad." Jade took a step forward threateningly.
"Perhaps we should go back to the Palace." Graveheart said. "We could search better in ships."
"Over here!" Tekla called, and waited for the others to join her where she knelt by some blackened ground. "Look at the ice. Beast Drones were definately destroyed here."
"Then where are Pyrus and Zera?" Jade asked.
"Voxx, fly down into the chasm and look for signs of life." Tekla told her companion.
Jade looked over the edge at Voxx's path down the cliff. "That's a pretty long way to fall."
"But if they're not down there..." Cryos trailed off. The group grew silent, awaiting Voxx's return.
A minute later it came back up to hover above the chasm. "No lifeforms present...But an anomaly found in cliff face." It projected an image of a gash in the ice wall the stopped slightly less than ten feet above the floor.
"That looks about the size of-" Cryos began.
"Pyrus' staff." Graveheart finished for him.
"Then they are alive." Cryos was relieved.
"The kids' alive, no guarantee the princess is." Femur pointed out. Cryos and Graveheart paused.
"Pyrus would not have gone without Zera." Jade said confidently.
"Then we can follow the chasm to find them." Tekla stood up.
"Brilliant idea, Babe, except we don't know which way they went." Femur pointed out.
"Then we will follow Graveheart's earlier plan and return to the palace for ships." Cryos stated.
"I knew we should have gone the other way." Pyrus said as they came up on what looked like a dead end.
"Well, you should have said so." Zera told him.
"I did say so." Pyrus told her. "Guess we'll have to go back."
"Wait, there's a cave." Zera stopped him, and walked forward - looking inside. "Get over here, Lavahead, I need a light."
"I'm not a lantern." Pyrus objected, but went over to investigate the cave entrance as well. "It looks pretty big."
"These caves usually have multiple entrances. Come on." Zera entered, and glanced back impatiently when he didn't follow.
"You're really going to get us hopelessly lost." Pyrus told her, but followed.
Planet Ice...Several Years Ago...
A younger Zera looked up at the tall Ice woman beside her as they stood at the entrance to a dark cavern. "Where does it lead, Mother?" She whispered.
Glace, Queen of Ice, smiled tolerantly at her daughter's awe. "That depends on who you ask."
"But I'm asking you." Zera pointed out.
"True enough." Glace looked solemnly into the cave in front of them. "Someone I trust very much once told me that these ice caverns lead to the heart of the world."
"The heart of the world?" Zera repeated. "Have you ever seen it?"
"Not yet." Glace admitted.
"Have you been looking for it a long time?"
"Ever since I was your age."
"And you still haven't found it?" Zera was disappointed.
"Not yet." Glace repeated. "But I'm not going to stop looking."
Taking Zera's hand she led her into the cavern. "Is that what we're looking for today?"
"It is."
"How will you know when you've found it? What is it like?"
"Like no other place in the entire system." Glace answered. "Legend says it's an ancient and powerful place that holds the secrets of the roots of our planet cluster."
"Do the other worlds have hearts?"
"I would imagine."
"Do you think you'll ever find it?"
"I certainly hope so."
"Today?"
"There's always that chance. I..." Glace began, but trailed off as a rumbling sound filled the cavern.
"What is that?" Zera asked.
"By the Glacier, surely it's too soon..." Glace whispered.
The ground shook, and a loud noisse filled the cavern. Stones and ice began to fall from the roof. "What's going on?" Zera asked, frightened.
"Come on." Glace held tightly to Zera's hand, and started to run back the way they'd come. Then the roof of the cavern came crashing down...
Planet Ice...Present Day...
"I wonder if she meant the World Engines." Zera thought aloud, her voice quiet.
"Did you say something?" Pyrus glanced over his shoulder at her.
"Nothing, Lava-head." Zera snapped, looking away. Pyrus looked at her blankly, then turned back to the passageway.
"The path splits." He stated, glancing between the two tunnels. "Left or right?"
Zera studied the two tunnels, frowning.
Planet Ice...Several Years Ago...
Zera awakened with a groan, reaching up a hand to hold her head. Glancing around at the rubble of stone and ice around her, her eyes widened. "Mother! Mother?" A groan came from her right, and Zera scrambled over a pile of the rubble. On the other side Glace sat up, holding her head gingerly. "Mother!"
Glace turned. "Zera!" She cried out in relief, reaching up to pull her into her arms. "Are you alright, Snowflake?"
"My head hurts." Zera answered truthfully, glancing around. "What happened?"
Glace glanced around as well, and at the pile of rubble behind them. "Raiders from the other worlds." She guessed. "There must have been a battle, and it caused a cave in."
"What do we do now? That's the way out." Zera brought up.
"Not anymore." Glace replied. "But these caves usually have multiple entrances. We'll just have to find one."
"Won't Father look for us?"
"Of course he will, and find us - I promise. But there's no sense in just waiting around here. If you can rescue yourself - do it. Atleast when in familiar territory. Come on." Taking Zera's hand she led them further into the cave.
"Are you sure there's another entrance?"
"If not we can always retrace our steps." Glace paused as the path split. "Left or right?"
Planet Ice..Present Day...
"Left." Zera chose.
Pyrus looked at her worridly. "It's your world." They started up the tunnel. He glanced over at her. "Are you alright? You've seemed out of sorts since we entered the cave."
"I'm fine." Zera told him. "It's just..." She glanced around, "My mother used to take me exploring in ice caves like these..."
Pyrus paused, glancing around the tunnel, and back at Zera. "We could still try the other way along the cavern." He offered.
Zera looked over at him, startled. Then she smiled. "We've come this far, we might as well keep going."
Pyrus nodded, as they started on their way again. "So, your mother explored alot of these caves?"
"She said she was looking for the heart of the world."
"What's that?"
"I'm not sure she even knew. She said it was an ancient and powerful place unlike anything else on Ice."
"You mean the world engines?" Pyrus queried.
"That's just what I was thinking." Zera admitted. "She was always searching the ice caves...she wanted to see it herself."
"Did she?"
"No, she never did..."
Planet Ice...Several Years Ago...
"It's a dead end." Zera stated unneccessarily as they turned the corner to find a solid wall.
Glace sighed. "I guess we try the other way."
"Is Father going to find us soon?"
"Yes, Zera. Soon..." Glace paused, and walked forward to kneel next to the wall in front of them - picking something up. "Metal?"
"What is it?" Zera came forward.
"It's metal." Glace held up a chunk of silverish metal.
"But there isn't any metal on Ice. Or any other world but Rock."
"Like nothing else in the entire cluster." Glace repeated to herself, deep in thought.
"Mother?" Zera looked uncomprehendingly up at her.
Glace smiled sadly. "So near, yet so far." Putting the metal in the bag on her back she stood and took Zera's hand. "Let's try the other tunnel."
Planet Ice...Present Day...
"You went to the world engines of Ice, didn't you?" Pyrus asked her.
"Yes, why?" Zera asked in return.
"Just thinking."
"About?"
"Fullfilling other people's legacies..."
"You've lost me." Zera crossed her arms.
"Your mother wanted to see the heart of the world...you've been to the world engines..." Pyrus explained. "My father always wanted to see the cluster at peace...Fire was the second world to join the alliance..."
"When...When did your father die?"
"During the Golden Jubilation." Pyrus told her.
"That was when...." Zera began, but trailed off. "Light!"
"What?" Pyrus blinked, then saw what she was looking at. "The way out! Guess you didn't get us lost afterall."
"You're the one who's always getting lost, Matchstick...." Zera retorted as they exited the tunnels onto another barren expanse of Ice's landscape.
"It looks like we're still lost to me." Pyrus stated.
"Well, atleast we're out of the ravine." Zera looked around. "I suppose we should just pick a direction."
"If we do, we could be walking away from our rescuers." Pyrus pointed out.
"Wait." Zera dug into her pack and pulled out her locket. "Well, Father's not nearby."
"That's the necklace with a tracer in it..."
"My mother gave it to me." Zera tied it around her neck.
"How can it let you know when Cryos is nearby?"
"Mother gave Father a present, too." Zera smiled.
Pyrus hid a smile of his own. "So, do we walk or wait?"
"I suppose we should wait a little while." Zera glanced around. "But if noone comes soon, we should probably start walking."
Pyrus nodded his agreement.
To Be Continued....
Salmon 2002
Heart of the World
A War Planets/Shadow Raiders Fanfic
Planet Ice...Present Day...
"Remind me again, how do we get ourselves into these situations?" Pyrus asked of Zera as they looked up a sheer ice cliff face that rose a good thirty feet above their heads.
"Oh, I don't know. Does the word Beast Drones mean anything to you?" Zera returned sarcastically.
Pyrus frowned at her, and looked up at the ice wall behind them, which rose even higher. "I don't suppose you know where we are."
"Lost in the middle of nowhere." Zera supplied, walking past him up the path between the natural ice walls.
"Now, why didn't I think of that?" Pyrus rolled his eyes, but followed her along the path. "We're probably going the wrong way."
"I didn't hear any better ideas from you, Matchstick."
"This is your world, you'd think you'd atleast know your way around..."
Jade, Cryos, and Graveheart glanced down a sheer ice cliff at the path below, similar to the area Pyrus and Zera were walking along.
"There's nothing down there." Jade stated.
"But they couldn't have gone much farther than this with the Beast Drones so close." Graveheart brought up, glancing over the mostly barren landscape. He turned to Cryos. "Maybe they went in another direction."
"No, I'm certain they went this way." Cryos replied.
"From what I hear those two kids should be used to fighting Beast Drones together." Femur said from behind them. "They're probably already back at the Palace wondering what's taking us so long."
"Probability 0.001 percent." Voxx said, floating up.
"Then they're probably-"
"If you don't shut up, Toad." Jade took a step forward threateningly.
"Perhaps we should go back to the Palace." Graveheart said. "We could search better in ships."
"Over here!" Tekla called, and waited for the others to join her where she knelt by some blackened ground. "Look at the ice. Beast Drones were definately destroyed here."
"Then where are Pyrus and Zera?" Jade asked.
"Voxx, fly down into the chasm and look for signs of life." Tekla told her companion.
Jade looked over the edge at Voxx's path down the cliff. "That's a pretty long way to fall."
"But if they're not down there..." Cryos trailed off. The group grew silent, awaiting Voxx's return.
A minute later it came back up to hover above the chasm. "No lifeforms present...But an anomaly found in cliff face." It projected an image of a gash in the ice wall the stopped slightly less than ten feet above the floor.
"That looks about the size of-" Cryos began.
"Pyrus' staff." Graveheart finished for him.
"Then they are alive." Cryos was relieved.
"The kids' alive, no guarantee the princess is." Femur pointed out. Cryos and Graveheart paused.
"Pyrus would not have gone without Zera." Jade said confidently.
"Then we can follow the chasm to find them." Tekla stood up.
"Brilliant idea, Babe, except we don't know which way they went." Femur pointed out.
"Then we will follow Graveheart's earlier plan and return to the palace for ships." Cryos stated.
"I knew we should have gone the other way." Pyrus said as they came up on what looked like a dead end.
"Well, you should have said so." Zera told him.
"I did say so." Pyrus told her. "Guess we'll have to go back."
"Wait, there's a cave." Zera stopped him, and walked forward - looking inside. "Get over here, Lavahead, I need a light."
"I'm not a lantern." Pyrus objected, but went over to investigate the cave entrance as well. "It looks pretty big."
"These caves usually have multiple entrances. Come on." Zera entered, and glanced back impatiently when he didn't follow.
"You're really going to get us hopelessly lost." Pyrus told her, but followed.
Planet Ice...Several Years Ago...
A younger Zera looked up at the tall Ice woman beside her as they stood at the entrance to a dark cavern. "Where does it lead, Mother?" She whispered.
Glace, Queen of Ice, smiled tolerantly at her daughter's awe. "That depends on who you ask."
"But I'm asking you." Zera pointed out.
"True enough." Glace looked solemnly into the cave in front of them. "Someone I trust very much once told me that these ice caverns lead to the heart of the world."
"The heart of the world?" Zera repeated. "Have you ever seen it?"
"Not yet." Glace admitted.
"Have you been looking for it a long time?"
"Ever since I was your age."
"And you still haven't found it?" Zera was disappointed.
"Not yet." Glace repeated. "But I'm not going to stop looking."
Taking Zera's hand she led her into the cavern. "Is that what we're looking for today?"
"It is."
"How will you know when you've found it? What is it like?"
"Like no other place in the entire system." Glace answered. "Legend says it's an ancient and powerful place that holds the secrets of the roots of our planet cluster."
"Do the other worlds have hearts?"
"I would imagine."
"Do you think you'll ever find it?"
"I certainly hope so."
"Today?"
"There's always that chance. I..." Glace began, but trailed off as a rumbling sound filled the cavern.
"What is that?" Zera asked.
"By the Glacier, surely it's too soon..." Glace whispered.
The ground shook, and a loud noisse filled the cavern. Stones and ice began to fall from the roof. "What's going on?" Zera asked, frightened.
"Come on." Glace held tightly to Zera's hand, and started to run back the way they'd come. Then the roof of the cavern came crashing down...
Planet Ice...Present Day...
"I wonder if she meant the World Engines." Zera thought aloud, her voice quiet.
"Did you say something?" Pyrus glanced over his shoulder at her.
"Nothing, Lava-head." Zera snapped, looking away. Pyrus looked at her blankly, then turned back to the passageway.
"The path splits." He stated, glancing between the two tunnels. "Left or right?"
Zera studied the two tunnels, frowning.
Planet Ice...Several Years Ago...
Zera awakened with a groan, reaching up a hand to hold her head. Glancing around at the rubble of stone and ice around her, her eyes widened. "Mother! Mother?" A groan came from her right, and Zera scrambled over a pile of the rubble. On the other side Glace sat up, holding her head gingerly. "Mother!"
Glace turned. "Zera!" She cried out in relief, reaching up to pull her into her arms. "Are you alright, Snowflake?"
"My head hurts." Zera answered truthfully, glancing around. "What happened?"
Glace glanced around as well, and at the pile of rubble behind them. "Raiders from the other worlds." She guessed. "There must have been a battle, and it caused a cave in."
"What do we do now? That's the way out." Zera brought up.
"Not anymore." Glace replied. "But these caves usually have multiple entrances. We'll just have to find one."
"Won't Father look for us?"
"Of course he will, and find us - I promise. But there's no sense in just waiting around here. If you can rescue yourself - do it. Atleast when in familiar territory. Come on." Taking Zera's hand she led them further into the cave.
"Are you sure there's another entrance?"
"If not we can always retrace our steps." Glace paused as the path split. "Left or right?"
Planet Ice..Present Day...
"Left." Zera chose.
Pyrus looked at her worridly. "It's your world." They started up the tunnel. He glanced over at her. "Are you alright? You've seemed out of sorts since we entered the cave."
"I'm fine." Zera told him. "It's just..." She glanced around, "My mother used to take me exploring in ice caves like these..."
Pyrus paused, glancing around the tunnel, and back at Zera. "We could still try the other way along the cavern." He offered.
Zera looked over at him, startled. Then she smiled. "We've come this far, we might as well keep going."
Pyrus nodded, as they started on their way again. "So, your mother explored alot of these caves?"
"She said she was looking for the heart of the world."
"What's that?"
"I'm not sure she even knew. She said it was an ancient and powerful place unlike anything else on Ice."
"You mean the world engines?" Pyrus queried.
"That's just what I was thinking." Zera admitted. "She was always searching the ice caves...she wanted to see it herself."
"Did she?"
"No, she never did..."
Planet Ice...Several Years Ago...
"It's a dead end." Zera stated unneccessarily as they turned the corner to find a solid wall.
Glace sighed. "I guess we try the other way."
"Is Father going to find us soon?"
"Yes, Zera. Soon..." Glace paused, and walked forward to kneel next to the wall in front of them - picking something up. "Metal?"
"What is it?" Zera came forward.
"It's metal." Glace held up a chunk of silverish metal.
"But there isn't any metal on Ice. Or any other world but Rock."
"Like nothing else in the entire cluster." Glace repeated to herself, deep in thought.
"Mother?" Zera looked uncomprehendingly up at her.
Glace smiled sadly. "So near, yet so far." Putting the metal in the bag on her back she stood and took Zera's hand. "Let's try the other tunnel."
Planet Ice...Present Day...
"You went to the world engines of Ice, didn't you?" Pyrus asked her.
"Yes, why?" Zera asked in return.
"Just thinking."
"About?"
"Fullfilling other people's legacies..."
"You've lost me." Zera crossed her arms.
"Your mother wanted to see the heart of the world...you've been to the world engines..." Pyrus explained. "My father always wanted to see the cluster at peace...Fire was the second world to join the alliance..."
"When...When did your father die?"
"During the Golden Jubilation." Pyrus told her.
"That was when...." Zera began, but trailed off. "Light!"
"What?" Pyrus blinked, then saw what she was looking at. "The way out! Guess you didn't get us lost afterall."
"You're the one who's always getting lost, Matchstick...." Zera retorted as they exited the tunnels onto another barren expanse of Ice's landscape.
"It looks like we're still lost to me." Pyrus stated.
"Well, atleast we're out of the ravine." Zera looked around. "I suppose we should just pick a direction."
"If we do, we could be walking away from our rescuers." Pyrus pointed out.
"Wait." Zera dug into her pack and pulled out her locket. "Well, Father's not nearby."
"That's the necklace with a tracer in it..."
"My mother gave it to me." Zera tied it around her neck.
"How can it let you know when Cryos is nearby?"
"Mother gave Father a present, too." Zera smiled.
Pyrus hid a smile of his own. "So, do we walk or wait?"
"I suppose we should wait a little while." Zera glanced around. "But if noone comes soon, we should probably start walking."
Pyrus nodded his agreement.
To Be Continued....
Salmon 2002