Awkward Meetings
Disclaimers: This might spoil the story's plot a little, but I will mention that certain characters from Rayman's 1st game titled 'Rayman' will be used and/or mentioned. I will also add little song lyrics from time to time (Not into the story's plot, mind you. I don't want this to turn into a Song Fic.) to kind of set the mood for the story. I don't own any of these songs. *cringes* Don't sue!
Notes: If anyone wants their characters to play a part in my story, you can e-mail me. All you have to do is send me their bios. (personality, hair- color, age, background, etc.) Talk about desperate.
------------------
So suffocate
or get out while you can.
No one told you to come.
I hope it sucks you down.
----The Swamp Song-----
------------------
"Where's the girl?"
As Ivy traveled to her new destination through the swamps, her family wasn't doing so good without her presence. It seemed that Ivy left at just the right time, for two cloaked figures had attacked the Thorn household just a couple minutes after her absence. Pierce, Ivy's father, gasped for breath as a figure wrapped in a green hunter's cloak pinned him to the wall of his house. Another cloaked person, this one with a dark purple cloak that resembled a mage's robe, had a good hold of a whimpering Davis just beside Pierce. The poor boy didn't even have to will to speak. The person holding Pierce spoke to him again, only sharper. "Answer me, you swampsucker!" The creature pounded Pierce against the wall. "Answer me or my 'pets' will answer for you."
"I will never help you two. I have more dignity than to help victims of Morphina's soul-binding magic." Pierce's comment was answered by a round of laughter from both figures. The cloaked person that held Davis threw back its hood with a jerk of its head, revealing the head of a white-tinted wolf furry with amber eyes and purple facepaint that trailed underneath her ears like ancient runes carved into her face. Her muzzle curled into a smile.
"Listen bottomfeeder, we're helping Morphina of our own free will. She trusts us because we like the power she gives us." the wolf replied smoothly with a chrisp tenor voice. She sniffed. "Let's just finish the job here, Agent B.R. This place stinks even worse than the swamp."
"Don't worry, Freya. This will only take a second." Agent B.R. kept Pierce pinned with one hand, and pulled out a sharp dagger from underneath his cloak with the other. Pierce let out a small gasp. "You have one more chance, marshdweller. Tell me where the girl went!" B.R. pressed the dagger to Pierce's right cheek until it cut him.
"I have no need to repeat myself. I will never tell anything to the likes of you!" Pierce lowered his voice into a growl. Agent B.R. mumbled at the stubborn human, but then shrugged. "Oh well." It took only a few seconds before the dagger's silver blade was thrust into Pierce's exposed stomach in a flash of grey. Smiling, B.R. left his victim fall to the ground like a sack of potatoes. Blood darkened the floorboards under Pierce as the last of his life left his body.
"Why'd you do that for?" Freya asked, her amber eyes clouded with confusion. "He could've been put under servitude by Morphina!" B.R. seathed his dripping blade back into his cloak. Two yellow eyes glowed like fire from underneath the hood.
"That's what the boy's for. Use your mind, dog-brain." Agent B.R. snapped. Freya growled at this insult, but she still kept her hold on Davis, who was now silently sobbing in both fear and despair. "Yes, the man could've had some information on him, but this kid is pulsating with magic power. It's not as strong as the female, but he could have some potential as a follower." He turned to Freya. "Summon the zombie chickens. They can carry the boy to his fate."
Freya nodded. She brought a paw to her jaw and whistled so crisp and loud that it vibrated off the house's walls. When the note subsided, three clawed zombie chickens followed to her command. They cackled in their own sharp garbled language as Freya handed Davis to them and gave them instructions in the same tongue that they spoke in. "I'm so glad that Morphina gave us these zombie chickens. Imagine the lower back pain I'd have to go through by carrying this little sucker."
"Would've done you some good, Freya." Agent B.R. hissed as the two of them walked out of the now empty Thorn household. They stood in front of the petty barrier that was supposed to keep out visitors like them, now torn and stripped of its magic. "The poor swampscum didn't even know how to put up a proper barrier." Kicking away a piece of charred wood, Agent B.R, with Freya and her flock of zombie chickens, walked out of the household's property. "It's such a shame that we didn't get the location of the female from that marshdweller."
"We don't need it now." Freya commented. She stopped and bent down low to the ground to rub the dirt away from a fresh footprint. "I've found the girl's trail. It's still fresh, and judging by how deep these are, she's going at a slow pace."
"Why didn't you find that out sooner?" Agent B.R. fumed. "You are a member of the canine family. Why couldn't you just sniff her out like the dog you are?"
"This swamp stinks and irritates my allergies, and the girl was smart enough to cover her scent with the stuff hunters use when killing animals with a good sense of smell." Freya looked into the distance. "Besides, I don't think a fragile doll like her would get very far in this swamp. With our sense of direction, we can catch up to her in due speed." Agent B.R. nodded. Davis tried to scream for help, but the zombie chickens kept him held tightly under the commands of their master Freya. Davis finally shut up after Freya bound his mouth shut with a piece of torn cloth.
"You're right. She won't know what hit her with a couple of surperb and speedy trackers such as ourselves." He grinned underneath his concealing hood.
"Morphina will be pleased...."
---------------
Ivy walked at a slow pace, looking at each landmark for a clue on where she was. Although she tried to hide it, Ivy was hopelessly lost. Sighing to herself, the poor teenager sat down on a mossy stump in the middle of a circle of short shrubs. "I wish that I was more interested in Dad's silly old maps. Then I'd probably know where this Jano-guy was." She brushed a tendril of dirty red hair from her vision. "I hope he isn't some kind of hermit who lives out in the middle of nowhere." She opened the book of 'Monsters Throughout the Ages' to its title page. Inside, she saw the signatures of her grandparents, along with a few names she didn't recognize. She traced her fingers across the ink that made up her grandmother's handwriting.
"I wish you were here right now." She got up from her seat on the stump, holding the book like it was a precious piece of treasure. Once again, she scanned the surroundings. Strange, she thought. Why is everything so quiet? She listened for any sounds in the swamp. Nothing, not even the croaking of frogs or the cawing of crows. "I've got a bad feeling about this." she whispered. Suddenly, she heard a splash of water off in the distance. It sounded like it was only a few feet away, but then again the deep silence made the smallest sounds vibrate throughout the marshes. She sucked in a rushed breath of air, and held her ground. She felt cold sweat trickle from her forehead as she took out a leather pocket knife from her knapsack.
"Show yourself!" she shouted. "I'm not afraid of you!" She heard a hiss pound through the marshes, so close that it hovered in her ears. Ivy saw a flash of movement in the shrubs next to her. As quick as humanly possible, Ivy pinned down the thing that was moving in her line of sight to the ground with her pocket-knife. To her surprise, the thing that she attacked turned out to be a bright red scarf. She felt a jerk from the scarf, and she saw that it was connected to a large purple swamp snake. She yelped in surprise as she saw the snake stare at her with large ebony eyes. The creature struggled under her still-holding grip. She killed swamp snakes before, but this one seemed.....intelligent somehow. Suddenly, the snake started to speak in plain English.
"Help! I'm being attacked!" Ssssam, the swamp snake, cried. Before Ivy knew what happened, she was sent flying by a strong blow to her stomach. She fell down on her back onto the dirt a just a few feet away from where she was originally standing. Coughing up blood, Ivy struggled to get back on her feet again. When she did, she saw the great guardian in all of his glory, and he didn't look happy. One of his elegant gloved hands was curled into a fist, and another held her pocket knife. His face had a look that could curdle milk.
"What are you doing here?" Rayman demanded. Ivy heard Sssam the snake shout something along the lines of "I bet she's behind the strange stuff lately!" behind him. Ivy brushed the dirt away from her clothes and held up her hands to show that she wasn't dangerous. She didn't want to meet the anger of someone as powerful as Rayman. After all, he did destroy the Grolgoth and the evil Mr. Dark in his past adventures. She didn't wanted to be labeled as an enemy.
"I mean no harm. I was a little jumpy, and I thought your friend was a threat to me." Ivy explained. "I didn't even harm him. I only attacked his scarf with my knife. I just thought that he was someone..." She paused, for a lack of a better word. "....else..."
"Like who?" Rayman asked. He lowered his fist, and his face seemed to soften. Now he was expressing a look of somewhat distrusting concern.
"Well," Ivy rubbed the back of her neck, which was now raw and somewhat bleeding from the blow Rayman gave her earlier. "I've been trying to seek Jano, the guardian of the Cave of Bad Dreams. You see, Dad told me that only he could train me to get rid of Morphina."
"Morphina? Yeeeek!" Sssam curled into a shivering heap by Rayman's feet like an injured kitten at the mention of Morphina. Rayman looked down at his friend, and then let his gaze wander towards Ivy. "Who is this Morphina?" Rayman asked to both Sssam and Ivy. Sssam didn't feel like answering, and Ivy didn't know much about the topic herself. The redhead shrugged hopelessly, and Rayman sighed to himself. There was a long silence, before Ivy pointed to his hand.
"Can I have my pocket knife back?" Ivy asked. Rayman, forgetting that he still clutched the tool, tossed it to her. She caught it gracefully. "Sorry I'm not much of a help. I don't know much about Morphina myself. All I know is that she's a dark mage that has the power to make anyone her slave with the use of soul-binding powers." Rayman nodded, and started to reflect on how Morphina's powers sounded like the mind-control machine that inslaved Clark in the Tomb of the Ancients. "Go on...." Rayman coaxed. "Okay. She can also turn into anything she wants, and she's one of the oldest demons in the entire world history."
"You forgot to m-mention that ssshe's bad!" Sssam whimpered underneath them. Ivy looked down at Sssam. "He's not much of a swamp snake, is he?" Ivy commented. Sssam, somewhat offended, rose from his shiveling stance. "I may not be much of a fighter, but at leassst I don't get lost in these ssswamps!" Ivy growled at this comment. So, this little snake was spying on me, she thought. She fingered the pocket knife in her hand. He has enough skin on him to make a purse, Ivy thought evilly.
"If you want," Rayman added, noticing the fire in the duo's eyes and hoping to break up the feud between the girl and the snake. "I can take you to the entrance of the Cave of Bad Dreams." Ivy turned to meet Rayman's gaze. Her eyes danced with joy. "Really?" she squeaked with excitement. Rayman merely nodded. "The place is a short walk from here. If we hurry, we can catch Jano in a better mood than when I first met him."
"Why are we helping her?" Sssam whined, casting a dark glance at Ivy. "She does know what in Polokus's name is going on, and she does know a thing or two about this Morphina gal." He looked at Sssam. "You can go off on your own, Sssam. If that's what you want...." The purple snake shook it head. "No! I will help my friend through thick and thin, no matter how bad the company is!" Sssam hissed. Ivy frowned, knowing that the last part of the comment was an insult directed towards her.
"Well, I guess that settles it then." Rayman held out his palm to Ivy. "I'm sorry I gave you such a blow earlier. When people hurt my friends, I tend to get just a little...touchy..." Ivy gripped his hand and shook it firmly in a form of friendship. "It's okay. I'm like that too, Rayman." Ivy stated. After they were finished with the handshake, Rayman made Ivy to the same thing to Sssam to seal the deal. She grabbed the tip of his tail and shook a bit hesitantly, for she still didn't trust the snake's fine-pointed teeth and his midnight eyes glaring at her. After the deal was sealed, Rayman appointed himself as the leader of the group.
Ivy smiled to herself as she followed her new leader through the swamps, Sssam watching her untrustingly by her side. She glared at the violet snake with emerald eyes as she continued to think to herself. After this short little quest was over, she couldn't wait until she told Dad and her brother Davis about her new friends.
Oh well, what you don't know won't hurt you, right?
------------------------------------
As Rayman and his crew traveled through the marshes, Agent B.R. and Freya hurried with their bounty to where Morphina told them to meet her. Davis squirmed as the spell-bound zombie chickens carried him like he was a sack of potatoes. He remembered his father dying at the hands of Agent B.R. Whatever the costs were, he hoped that Ivy didn't meet the same fate as Pierce Thorn. Davis managed to undo the cloth bandana tied around his mouth as the sinister group slid across the swamp.
"Do you two happen to know a female named Rosemary Thorn?" Davis asked, mostly to Freya who was running right by him. Some inside voice told him that his mother Rosemary Thorn met her fate at the hands of these two. The wolf furry turned to him.
"Hey! How did ya undo-"
"Answer me, you flea-ridden excuse for a fur! If you don't answer me, I'll skin you like the dog you are!" Davis snapped, so loudly that the even Agent B.R. and the servitude zombies halted in their tracks. Freya drew back her paw, ready to slap the ignorant human across the mouth, when the enigmatic Agent stopped her. "Just answer his question, Freya. It won't do him any good anyways." Freya considered this, and relaxed. She smirked evilly.
"Rosemary Thorn rings a bell. I think she was your mother, right?" Davis nodded. Freya continued. "About five or so months ago, Morphina ordered us to cripple the oppenent's power by taking the eldest holder of the power and sapping her of her power...." she saw the look on Davis' face. "...and her free will." Davis mouthed the word 'no' silently. "So I, along with a couple of zombie chickens and Ogres, dragged Rosemary away from her family and put her under servitude like the rest of Morphina's captives. Somehow, Morpina knew that Rosemary's children didn't know how to use their powers yet. Now, they have no way of learning anything unless they consult the knowledge of Jano."
"Jano?" Davis asked. Good, Ivy still has a chance, Davis thought.
"Yes. He's the Guardian of the Cave of Bad Dreams. However, I wouldn't give in to false hope. Morphina made sure that Jano is among her first targets. Your sister doesn't stand a chance." After that, Freya rebound Davis with a tighter bound and the group hurried away once more.
------------------------------------
End of Chapter 2
Morphina will appear in the next chapter. Please be patient. (She's an traveling enigma, not one of those sit-on-their-butts-while-the-commanders- do-the-work types.)
In case you didn't know, furries (like Freya) are half-human, half-animal creatures. If that's too hard for you to imagine, look at all the walking, talking, clothes-wearing animals in cartoons, books, video games, etc.
Sorry for the delay. I had to take a trip to my relatives for the weekend. -__-
Don't forget to review! _
Disclaimers: This might spoil the story's plot a little, but I will mention that certain characters from Rayman's 1st game titled 'Rayman' will be used and/or mentioned. I will also add little song lyrics from time to time (Not into the story's plot, mind you. I don't want this to turn into a Song Fic.) to kind of set the mood for the story. I don't own any of these songs. *cringes* Don't sue!
Notes: If anyone wants their characters to play a part in my story, you can e-mail me. All you have to do is send me their bios. (personality, hair- color, age, background, etc.) Talk about desperate.
------------------
So suffocate
or get out while you can.
No one told you to come.
I hope it sucks you down.
----The Swamp Song-----
------------------
"Where's the girl?"
As Ivy traveled to her new destination through the swamps, her family wasn't doing so good without her presence. It seemed that Ivy left at just the right time, for two cloaked figures had attacked the Thorn household just a couple minutes after her absence. Pierce, Ivy's father, gasped for breath as a figure wrapped in a green hunter's cloak pinned him to the wall of his house. Another cloaked person, this one with a dark purple cloak that resembled a mage's robe, had a good hold of a whimpering Davis just beside Pierce. The poor boy didn't even have to will to speak. The person holding Pierce spoke to him again, only sharper. "Answer me, you swampsucker!" The creature pounded Pierce against the wall. "Answer me or my 'pets' will answer for you."
"I will never help you two. I have more dignity than to help victims of Morphina's soul-binding magic." Pierce's comment was answered by a round of laughter from both figures. The cloaked person that held Davis threw back its hood with a jerk of its head, revealing the head of a white-tinted wolf furry with amber eyes and purple facepaint that trailed underneath her ears like ancient runes carved into her face. Her muzzle curled into a smile.
"Listen bottomfeeder, we're helping Morphina of our own free will. She trusts us because we like the power she gives us." the wolf replied smoothly with a chrisp tenor voice. She sniffed. "Let's just finish the job here, Agent B.R. This place stinks even worse than the swamp."
"Don't worry, Freya. This will only take a second." Agent B.R. kept Pierce pinned with one hand, and pulled out a sharp dagger from underneath his cloak with the other. Pierce let out a small gasp. "You have one more chance, marshdweller. Tell me where the girl went!" B.R. pressed the dagger to Pierce's right cheek until it cut him.
"I have no need to repeat myself. I will never tell anything to the likes of you!" Pierce lowered his voice into a growl. Agent B.R. mumbled at the stubborn human, but then shrugged. "Oh well." It took only a few seconds before the dagger's silver blade was thrust into Pierce's exposed stomach in a flash of grey. Smiling, B.R. left his victim fall to the ground like a sack of potatoes. Blood darkened the floorboards under Pierce as the last of his life left his body.
"Why'd you do that for?" Freya asked, her amber eyes clouded with confusion. "He could've been put under servitude by Morphina!" B.R. seathed his dripping blade back into his cloak. Two yellow eyes glowed like fire from underneath the hood.
"That's what the boy's for. Use your mind, dog-brain." Agent B.R. snapped. Freya growled at this insult, but she still kept her hold on Davis, who was now silently sobbing in both fear and despair. "Yes, the man could've had some information on him, but this kid is pulsating with magic power. It's not as strong as the female, but he could have some potential as a follower." He turned to Freya. "Summon the zombie chickens. They can carry the boy to his fate."
Freya nodded. She brought a paw to her jaw and whistled so crisp and loud that it vibrated off the house's walls. When the note subsided, three clawed zombie chickens followed to her command. They cackled in their own sharp garbled language as Freya handed Davis to them and gave them instructions in the same tongue that they spoke in. "I'm so glad that Morphina gave us these zombie chickens. Imagine the lower back pain I'd have to go through by carrying this little sucker."
"Would've done you some good, Freya." Agent B.R. hissed as the two of them walked out of the now empty Thorn household. They stood in front of the petty barrier that was supposed to keep out visitors like them, now torn and stripped of its magic. "The poor swampscum didn't even know how to put up a proper barrier." Kicking away a piece of charred wood, Agent B.R, with Freya and her flock of zombie chickens, walked out of the household's property. "It's such a shame that we didn't get the location of the female from that marshdweller."
"We don't need it now." Freya commented. She stopped and bent down low to the ground to rub the dirt away from a fresh footprint. "I've found the girl's trail. It's still fresh, and judging by how deep these are, she's going at a slow pace."
"Why didn't you find that out sooner?" Agent B.R. fumed. "You are a member of the canine family. Why couldn't you just sniff her out like the dog you are?"
"This swamp stinks and irritates my allergies, and the girl was smart enough to cover her scent with the stuff hunters use when killing animals with a good sense of smell." Freya looked into the distance. "Besides, I don't think a fragile doll like her would get very far in this swamp. With our sense of direction, we can catch up to her in due speed." Agent B.R. nodded. Davis tried to scream for help, but the zombie chickens kept him held tightly under the commands of their master Freya. Davis finally shut up after Freya bound his mouth shut with a piece of torn cloth.
"You're right. She won't know what hit her with a couple of surperb and speedy trackers such as ourselves." He grinned underneath his concealing hood.
"Morphina will be pleased...."
---------------
Ivy walked at a slow pace, looking at each landmark for a clue on where she was. Although she tried to hide it, Ivy was hopelessly lost. Sighing to herself, the poor teenager sat down on a mossy stump in the middle of a circle of short shrubs. "I wish that I was more interested in Dad's silly old maps. Then I'd probably know where this Jano-guy was." She brushed a tendril of dirty red hair from her vision. "I hope he isn't some kind of hermit who lives out in the middle of nowhere." She opened the book of 'Monsters Throughout the Ages' to its title page. Inside, she saw the signatures of her grandparents, along with a few names she didn't recognize. She traced her fingers across the ink that made up her grandmother's handwriting.
"I wish you were here right now." She got up from her seat on the stump, holding the book like it was a precious piece of treasure. Once again, she scanned the surroundings. Strange, she thought. Why is everything so quiet? She listened for any sounds in the swamp. Nothing, not even the croaking of frogs or the cawing of crows. "I've got a bad feeling about this." she whispered. Suddenly, she heard a splash of water off in the distance. It sounded like it was only a few feet away, but then again the deep silence made the smallest sounds vibrate throughout the marshes. She sucked in a rushed breath of air, and held her ground. She felt cold sweat trickle from her forehead as she took out a leather pocket knife from her knapsack.
"Show yourself!" she shouted. "I'm not afraid of you!" She heard a hiss pound through the marshes, so close that it hovered in her ears. Ivy saw a flash of movement in the shrubs next to her. As quick as humanly possible, Ivy pinned down the thing that was moving in her line of sight to the ground with her pocket-knife. To her surprise, the thing that she attacked turned out to be a bright red scarf. She felt a jerk from the scarf, and she saw that it was connected to a large purple swamp snake. She yelped in surprise as she saw the snake stare at her with large ebony eyes. The creature struggled under her still-holding grip. She killed swamp snakes before, but this one seemed.....intelligent somehow. Suddenly, the snake started to speak in plain English.
"Help! I'm being attacked!" Ssssam, the swamp snake, cried. Before Ivy knew what happened, she was sent flying by a strong blow to her stomach. She fell down on her back onto the dirt a just a few feet away from where she was originally standing. Coughing up blood, Ivy struggled to get back on her feet again. When she did, she saw the great guardian in all of his glory, and he didn't look happy. One of his elegant gloved hands was curled into a fist, and another held her pocket knife. His face had a look that could curdle milk.
"What are you doing here?" Rayman demanded. Ivy heard Sssam the snake shout something along the lines of "I bet she's behind the strange stuff lately!" behind him. Ivy brushed the dirt away from her clothes and held up her hands to show that she wasn't dangerous. She didn't want to meet the anger of someone as powerful as Rayman. After all, he did destroy the Grolgoth and the evil Mr. Dark in his past adventures. She didn't wanted to be labeled as an enemy.
"I mean no harm. I was a little jumpy, and I thought your friend was a threat to me." Ivy explained. "I didn't even harm him. I only attacked his scarf with my knife. I just thought that he was someone..." She paused, for a lack of a better word. "....else..."
"Like who?" Rayman asked. He lowered his fist, and his face seemed to soften. Now he was expressing a look of somewhat distrusting concern.
"Well," Ivy rubbed the back of her neck, which was now raw and somewhat bleeding from the blow Rayman gave her earlier. "I've been trying to seek Jano, the guardian of the Cave of Bad Dreams. You see, Dad told me that only he could train me to get rid of Morphina."
"Morphina? Yeeeek!" Sssam curled into a shivering heap by Rayman's feet like an injured kitten at the mention of Morphina. Rayman looked down at his friend, and then let his gaze wander towards Ivy. "Who is this Morphina?" Rayman asked to both Sssam and Ivy. Sssam didn't feel like answering, and Ivy didn't know much about the topic herself. The redhead shrugged hopelessly, and Rayman sighed to himself. There was a long silence, before Ivy pointed to his hand.
"Can I have my pocket knife back?" Ivy asked. Rayman, forgetting that he still clutched the tool, tossed it to her. She caught it gracefully. "Sorry I'm not much of a help. I don't know much about Morphina myself. All I know is that she's a dark mage that has the power to make anyone her slave with the use of soul-binding powers." Rayman nodded, and started to reflect on how Morphina's powers sounded like the mind-control machine that inslaved Clark in the Tomb of the Ancients. "Go on...." Rayman coaxed. "Okay. She can also turn into anything she wants, and she's one of the oldest demons in the entire world history."
"You forgot to m-mention that ssshe's bad!" Sssam whimpered underneath them. Ivy looked down at Sssam. "He's not much of a swamp snake, is he?" Ivy commented. Sssam, somewhat offended, rose from his shiveling stance. "I may not be much of a fighter, but at leassst I don't get lost in these ssswamps!" Ivy growled at this comment. So, this little snake was spying on me, she thought. She fingered the pocket knife in her hand. He has enough skin on him to make a purse, Ivy thought evilly.
"If you want," Rayman added, noticing the fire in the duo's eyes and hoping to break up the feud between the girl and the snake. "I can take you to the entrance of the Cave of Bad Dreams." Ivy turned to meet Rayman's gaze. Her eyes danced with joy. "Really?" she squeaked with excitement. Rayman merely nodded. "The place is a short walk from here. If we hurry, we can catch Jano in a better mood than when I first met him."
"Why are we helping her?" Sssam whined, casting a dark glance at Ivy. "She does know what in Polokus's name is going on, and she does know a thing or two about this Morphina gal." He looked at Sssam. "You can go off on your own, Sssam. If that's what you want...." The purple snake shook it head. "No! I will help my friend through thick and thin, no matter how bad the company is!" Sssam hissed. Ivy frowned, knowing that the last part of the comment was an insult directed towards her.
"Well, I guess that settles it then." Rayman held out his palm to Ivy. "I'm sorry I gave you such a blow earlier. When people hurt my friends, I tend to get just a little...touchy..." Ivy gripped his hand and shook it firmly in a form of friendship. "It's okay. I'm like that too, Rayman." Ivy stated. After they were finished with the handshake, Rayman made Ivy to the same thing to Sssam to seal the deal. She grabbed the tip of his tail and shook a bit hesitantly, for she still didn't trust the snake's fine-pointed teeth and his midnight eyes glaring at her. After the deal was sealed, Rayman appointed himself as the leader of the group.
Ivy smiled to herself as she followed her new leader through the swamps, Sssam watching her untrustingly by her side. She glared at the violet snake with emerald eyes as she continued to think to herself. After this short little quest was over, she couldn't wait until she told Dad and her brother Davis about her new friends.
Oh well, what you don't know won't hurt you, right?
------------------------------------
As Rayman and his crew traveled through the marshes, Agent B.R. and Freya hurried with their bounty to where Morphina told them to meet her. Davis squirmed as the spell-bound zombie chickens carried him like he was a sack of potatoes. He remembered his father dying at the hands of Agent B.R. Whatever the costs were, he hoped that Ivy didn't meet the same fate as Pierce Thorn. Davis managed to undo the cloth bandana tied around his mouth as the sinister group slid across the swamp.
"Do you two happen to know a female named Rosemary Thorn?" Davis asked, mostly to Freya who was running right by him. Some inside voice told him that his mother Rosemary Thorn met her fate at the hands of these two. The wolf furry turned to him.
"Hey! How did ya undo-"
"Answer me, you flea-ridden excuse for a fur! If you don't answer me, I'll skin you like the dog you are!" Davis snapped, so loudly that the even Agent B.R. and the servitude zombies halted in their tracks. Freya drew back her paw, ready to slap the ignorant human across the mouth, when the enigmatic Agent stopped her. "Just answer his question, Freya. It won't do him any good anyways." Freya considered this, and relaxed. She smirked evilly.
"Rosemary Thorn rings a bell. I think she was your mother, right?" Davis nodded. Freya continued. "About five or so months ago, Morphina ordered us to cripple the oppenent's power by taking the eldest holder of the power and sapping her of her power...." she saw the look on Davis' face. "...and her free will." Davis mouthed the word 'no' silently. "So I, along with a couple of zombie chickens and Ogres, dragged Rosemary away from her family and put her under servitude like the rest of Morphina's captives. Somehow, Morpina knew that Rosemary's children didn't know how to use their powers yet. Now, they have no way of learning anything unless they consult the knowledge of Jano."
"Jano?" Davis asked. Good, Ivy still has a chance, Davis thought.
"Yes. He's the Guardian of the Cave of Bad Dreams. However, I wouldn't give in to false hope. Morphina made sure that Jano is among her first targets. Your sister doesn't stand a chance." After that, Freya rebound Davis with a tighter bound and the group hurried away once more.
------------------------------------
End of Chapter 2
Morphina will appear in the next chapter. Please be patient. (She's an traveling enigma, not one of those sit-on-their-butts-while-the-commanders- do-the-work types.)
In case you didn't know, furries (like Freya) are half-human, half-animal creatures. If that's too hard for you to imagine, look at all the walking, talking, clothes-wearing animals in cartoons, books, video games, etc.
Sorry for the delay. I had to take a trip to my relatives for the weekend. -__-
Don't forget to review! _