The Shadows of Hubrid Nox: Part I
Linkidu looked around and sighed. Sakirina was off prowling around the Haunted Woods. She had gotten mad at him earlier because he didn't want to do anything she wanted to do. Kairensri was off patrolling the forest, so Linkidu was home alone. He sighed again and plopped down in a chair. He hated making Sakirina mad. Looking around the cave that they lived in, Linkidu saw the small box in which the Gem of Truth was kept. Slowly getting up, he walked over to the box and carefully opened it. He was surprised to find that the Gem was still in the box. Sakirina usually took it with her when she left the cave. Linkidu supposed she had forgotten it in her rush to leave. He took the Gem out of the small wooden box and held it in his paw. It flashed, much as he remembered it had when they had first found it, which was the first time they had encountered Hubrid Nox. Surprised, Linkidu dropped the Gem. "Uh oh," he muttered. "It better not be broken or Saki will be extremely mad."
He picked up the Gem and turned it over in his paws. It didn't appear cracked, but there was something different about it. He couldn't place what it was, but something about the crystal was...well...wrong. Shaking his head, he placed the large blue Gem back in the box and put it on the shelf. Linkidu went to the mouth of the cave and sat down. He stared at the sky, not really thinking, not really looking at anything. Suddenly he became aware of someone moving around close to the cave. He looked up to see Kairensri.
"You're back soon," Linkidu muttered glumly.
"No I'm not, I've been gone a couple hours," replied Kairen, sitting down against the cave wall. "Where's Sakirina?"
Linkidu sighed. "She got mad and walked off," he replied. Kairen raised an eyebrow.
"Why?" he asked.
"I dunno. She's just been kinda moody lately. I guess I just wasn't being cooperative. She'll probably be back soon," Linkidu replied.
Kairen smiled slightly. "Why don't you just tell her you like her and get it over with?" he inquired.
Linkidu scowled. "How did you know that?"
"It's obvious," Kairen replied. "Anyway, I still think you need to tell her."
"I'm afraid if I do I'll start to be uncomfortable around her," Linkidu protested.
"You're not uncomfortable now are you?"
"Well, no, but..."
"But what? Telling her you like her isn't going to change how comfortable you are around her! It might possibly make her uncomfortable around you, but it won't make you uncomfortable around her," Kairen told Linkidu.
"I guess..." Linkidu mumbled.
"Look, I'll tell her you like her, then you won't have to," decided Kairen.
"No thanks," replied Linkidu. "If I'm going to tell her at all, I have to tell her myself."
Kairen shrugged. "Whatever."
Linkidu snuggled back against the wall and promptly fell asleep.
***
Suddenly waking up, Linkidu realized that Sakirina had been gone for hours now. She rarely stayed away from the cave that long. He began to get worried. Could something have happened to her? Linkidu looked into the depths of the dark forest, as though he could see her if he looked hard enough. To his surprise, a vision of Sakirina being dragged through the woods by two shadow unis appeared. Linkidu gasped. What could this mean? He had a bad feeling about the vision and the Gem.
Looking around, he saw Kairen sprawled against the wall across from himself. Walking over to him, Linkidu shook Kairen awake.
"Wah?" Kairen mumbled sleepily.
"Kairen! Sakirina's still not back and it's been hours since she left!" Linkidu screeched hurriedly. Kairen snapped to awareness.
"How long since she left?"
"I don't really know. Maybe three or more hours!" Linkidu figured.
Kairen got to his feet. "Three hours!"
"Yeah! And I saw a vision of her being dragged through the Haunted Woods by a couple of unis!"
"A vision? We better find her, and quick!" exclaimed Kairen. "Come on!"
Linkidu grabbed the Gem out of its box and hung it around his neck on the pouch Sakirina usually kept it on.
***
Sakirina wandered through the forest, not going anywhere in particular. She came to a fallen log and sat down. She had been wandering the woods for hours now, just to wander. Earlier she had gotten mad at Linkidu because he had just been moping around the house and he didn't want to do anything fun. Now she wished she hadn't yelled at him. Looking around the small clearing that she was sitting in, she saw that there was an extremely tall tree in the center of the clearing. Walking to the tree, Sakirina ran her paws over the bark. It seemed unusually smooth. She sat down and leaned against the tree, putting her head on her knees. The sighing of the wind in the trees soon put her to sleep.
Sakirina snapped awake, having heard a crackle of leaves, seemingly in her dreams. The sky was dark now, and few stars could be seen through the clouds. Tonight's sky was as stormy as Sakirina's thoughts. Peering through the darkness, she shakily got to her feet. "Shush!" a voice whispered fiercely. Uh oh, she thought, looking for the source of the voice. A shadow at the edge of the trees seemed to move. Sakirina felt for the pouch where she usually kept the Gem of Truth while she was away from home to find it wasn't there. She had left the Gem back at the cave. Another shadow near the tree Sakirina was standing against moved. Looking around, Sakirina saw more shadows move. As the light of the moon hit them, she could see that they were pets painted shadow.
"What are you doing here?" Sakirina whispered nervously, shifting around to face the shadowed pets.
"We have come to claim what is rightfully ours," a shadow uni hissed, as other shadows gathered behind us.
"I do not have what you have come for, and I will not tell you where it is," she replied firmly.
"You lie," the uni stated angrily.
Sakirina began to get angry with this uni and all the other shadow pets. "I do not lie. I swear that I do not have the Gem of Truth."
Suddenly two shadow eyries attacked from behind. Sakirina turned to face them and swung a paw at the smaller one. "Guys! Guys! Lord wants 'er unhurt," the shadowed uni told them. The eyries didn't reply but backed reluctantly away from Sakirina. She was breathing heavily now, carefully watching the two eyries. "Where is the chia?" the uni asked.
"Who wants to know?" Sakirina retorted, still gasping for breath. The dark uni smirked, but did not reply. He made a whistling noise and Sakirina was hit on the head with a stone. She fell to the ground, out cold.
***
As Kairen and Linkidu walked through the dense forest, they began to talk about where Sakirina could be.
"Could you tell where they were in the vision?" Kairen prompted.
"No, one part of the Haunted Woods looks just like the rest of it," Linkidu replied.
"True."
"I think I have an idea where they could be though," said Linkidu.
"What?" asked Kairen.
"You know how that old techo, Denekin his name was, kidnapped us?" Linkidu told him.
"Yeah..."
"I think they might have put Sakirina where they put us before when they kidnapped us," replied Linkidu.
"Good idea."
I hope we'll be able to find the house, Linkidu thought. I suppose it's more of a problem if we don't find the house though, because if we do and Sakirina's not there we can at least look for a trail.
Finding the house was not hard; Linkidu had managed to remember how to get there. He tried the door, and to his surprise, it opened. The red usul and yellow chia pushed the door wide open and looked around the small room. No Sakirina. As they were turning to leave, bags were thrown over Linkidu and Kairen's heads. They struggled, trying to pull the bags off. Hands picked up the two bags and someone whispered into Linkidu's, "Stop wiggling or I'll get rid of you, the usul, and the lupe." That made Linkidu settle down. He could feel the bag bumping up and down as whatever had picked him up strode off through the woods.
To be continued...
Linkidu looked around and sighed. Sakirina was off prowling around the Haunted Woods. She had gotten mad at him earlier because he didn't want to do anything she wanted to do. Kairensri was off patrolling the forest, so Linkidu was home alone. He sighed again and plopped down in a chair. He hated making Sakirina mad. Looking around the cave that they lived in, Linkidu saw the small box in which the Gem of Truth was kept. Slowly getting up, he walked over to the box and carefully opened it. He was surprised to find that the Gem was still in the box. Sakirina usually took it with her when she left the cave. Linkidu supposed she had forgotten it in her rush to leave. He took the Gem out of the small wooden box and held it in his paw. It flashed, much as he remembered it had when they had first found it, which was the first time they had encountered Hubrid Nox. Surprised, Linkidu dropped the Gem. "Uh oh," he muttered. "It better not be broken or Saki will be extremely mad."
He picked up the Gem and turned it over in his paws. It didn't appear cracked, but there was something different about it. He couldn't place what it was, but something about the crystal was...well...wrong. Shaking his head, he placed the large blue Gem back in the box and put it on the shelf. Linkidu went to the mouth of the cave and sat down. He stared at the sky, not really thinking, not really looking at anything. Suddenly he became aware of someone moving around close to the cave. He looked up to see Kairensri.
"You're back soon," Linkidu muttered glumly.
"No I'm not, I've been gone a couple hours," replied Kairen, sitting down against the cave wall. "Where's Sakirina?"
Linkidu sighed. "She got mad and walked off," he replied. Kairen raised an eyebrow.
"Why?" he asked.
"I dunno. She's just been kinda moody lately. I guess I just wasn't being cooperative. She'll probably be back soon," Linkidu replied.
Kairen smiled slightly. "Why don't you just tell her you like her and get it over with?" he inquired.
Linkidu scowled. "How did you know that?"
"It's obvious," Kairen replied. "Anyway, I still think you need to tell her."
"I'm afraid if I do I'll start to be uncomfortable around her," Linkidu protested.
"You're not uncomfortable now are you?"
"Well, no, but..."
"But what? Telling her you like her isn't going to change how comfortable you are around her! It might possibly make her uncomfortable around you, but it won't make you uncomfortable around her," Kairen told Linkidu.
"I guess..." Linkidu mumbled.
"Look, I'll tell her you like her, then you won't have to," decided Kairen.
"No thanks," replied Linkidu. "If I'm going to tell her at all, I have to tell her myself."
Kairen shrugged. "Whatever."
Linkidu snuggled back against the wall and promptly fell asleep.
***
Suddenly waking up, Linkidu realized that Sakirina had been gone for hours now. She rarely stayed away from the cave that long. He began to get worried. Could something have happened to her? Linkidu looked into the depths of the dark forest, as though he could see her if he looked hard enough. To his surprise, a vision of Sakirina being dragged through the woods by two shadow unis appeared. Linkidu gasped. What could this mean? He had a bad feeling about the vision and the Gem.
Looking around, he saw Kairen sprawled against the wall across from himself. Walking over to him, Linkidu shook Kairen awake.
"Wah?" Kairen mumbled sleepily.
"Kairen! Sakirina's still not back and it's been hours since she left!" Linkidu screeched hurriedly. Kairen snapped to awareness.
"How long since she left?"
"I don't really know. Maybe three or more hours!" Linkidu figured.
Kairen got to his feet. "Three hours!"
"Yeah! And I saw a vision of her being dragged through the Haunted Woods by a couple of unis!"
"A vision? We better find her, and quick!" exclaimed Kairen. "Come on!"
Linkidu grabbed the Gem out of its box and hung it around his neck on the pouch Sakirina usually kept it on.
***
Sakirina wandered through the forest, not going anywhere in particular. She came to a fallen log and sat down. She had been wandering the woods for hours now, just to wander. Earlier she had gotten mad at Linkidu because he had just been moping around the house and he didn't want to do anything fun. Now she wished she hadn't yelled at him. Looking around the small clearing that she was sitting in, she saw that there was an extremely tall tree in the center of the clearing. Walking to the tree, Sakirina ran her paws over the bark. It seemed unusually smooth. She sat down and leaned against the tree, putting her head on her knees. The sighing of the wind in the trees soon put her to sleep.
Sakirina snapped awake, having heard a crackle of leaves, seemingly in her dreams. The sky was dark now, and few stars could be seen through the clouds. Tonight's sky was as stormy as Sakirina's thoughts. Peering through the darkness, she shakily got to her feet. "Shush!" a voice whispered fiercely. Uh oh, she thought, looking for the source of the voice. A shadow at the edge of the trees seemed to move. Sakirina felt for the pouch where she usually kept the Gem of Truth while she was away from home to find it wasn't there. She had left the Gem back at the cave. Another shadow near the tree Sakirina was standing against moved. Looking around, Sakirina saw more shadows move. As the light of the moon hit them, she could see that they were pets painted shadow.
"What are you doing here?" Sakirina whispered nervously, shifting around to face the shadowed pets.
"We have come to claim what is rightfully ours," a shadow uni hissed, as other shadows gathered behind us.
"I do not have what you have come for, and I will not tell you where it is," she replied firmly.
"You lie," the uni stated angrily.
Sakirina began to get angry with this uni and all the other shadow pets. "I do not lie. I swear that I do not have the Gem of Truth."
Suddenly two shadow eyries attacked from behind. Sakirina turned to face them and swung a paw at the smaller one. "Guys! Guys! Lord wants 'er unhurt," the shadowed uni told them. The eyries didn't reply but backed reluctantly away from Sakirina. She was breathing heavily now, carefully watching the two eyries. "Where is the chia?" the uni asked.
"Who wants to know?" Sakirina retorted, still gasping for breath. The dark uni smirked, but did not reply. He made a whistling noise and Sakirina was hit on the head with a stone. She fell to the ground, out cold.
***
As Kairen and Linkidu walked through the dense forest, they began to talk about where Sakirina could be.
"Could you tell where they were in the vision?" Kairen prompted.
"No, one part of the Haunted Woods looks just like the rest of it," Linkidu replied.
"True."
"I think I have an idea where they could be though," said Linkidu.
"What?" asked Kairen.
"You know how that old techo, Denekin his name was, kidnapped us?" Linkidu told him.
"Yeah..."
"I think they might have put Sakirina where they put us before when they kidnapped us," replied Linkidu.
"Good idea."
I hope we'll be able to find the house, Linkidu thought. I suppose it's more of a problem if we don't find the house though, because if we do and Sakirina's not there we can at least look for a trail.
Finding the house was not hard; Linkidu had managed to remember how to get there. He tried the door, and to his surprise, it opened. The red usul and yellow chia pushed the door wide open and looked around the small room. No Sakirina. As they were turning to leave, bags were thrown over Linkidu and Kairen's heads. They struggled, trying to pull the bags off. Hands picked up the two bags and someone whispered into Linkidu's, "Stop wiggling or I'll get rid of you, the usul, and the lupe." That made Linkidu settle down. He could feel the bag bumping up and down as whatever had picked him up strode off through the woods.
To be continued...