Disclaimer- I do not own Skies of Arcadia or any of the character outside of Maiev, Morgan, and their crews. I might let you use them in a story though if you ask nice enough.
Skies of Arcadia: The Ruins of Tal'Kalen
Chapter Three: Introductions and the First Trial
"Oh shit," was the only thing Domingo, Gilder, and Maiev could say as they watched The Journeyer sink into the cyclone, the engines dying. Each of them watched hopelessly from their decks, unable to stop the plummet.
Domingo clenched his fists tightly and then slammed the railing of his ship as hard as he could, cursing loudly. His mind was would have been flying a million miles an hour if he wasn't still half drunk. This sobering ordeal was quickly taking away from his buzz though. The emotions of rage at the black pirates, despair for the health of his former captain and friends, and anger that his buzz had been erased so quickly swirled through his mind. He shakily fumbled into his coat and pulled out a small velvet case. He opened it up, pulled a cigar from it, closed it, and put it back into his jacket. He pulled his Zippo from his pocket and lit the cigar. He shoved the Zippo back into his pocket and ran back for the bridge.
Gilder continued to curse. He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, not wanting to believe what he'd just seen. He put his glasses back on, and shading his eyes from the sun, could not see The Journeyer. It really had happened.
Maiev's eyes were stuck wide open in shock for a few moments. Blinking it off, she ran back to the bridge, just in time to hear Morgan's voice from the ship's radio.
"Well, it's pleasant seeing you again, Maiev. But I'm afraid I don't know the owners of these other two ships. Care to indulge?"
"Hey, listen man. I don't who you are, but my friend just got dropped down there, and I don't plan on letting him rot. I'm headed in, who's following me?" Gilder said with authority, almost commanding instead of asking.
"Yes, there will be time for introductions later. I'm coming to Gilder, I can't leave my former captain and friends trapped down there," Domingo said shakily.
"Good man. I knew you would come."
"I'm coming too. I don't know them very well, but they showed me courtesy and a hell of a fight," Maiev said. "I'll deal with you later, Morgan." Her voice dripped venom with these words.
"Well, since this seems to be a party, I may as well join you all as well," Morgan said.
The Claudia and The Discovery were already on their way into the re cyclone. "Tyrande, take her down," Maiev said quietly. Tyrande nodded, finally releasing the iron bit she had on her bottom lip. She wiped away the trickle of blood running down her chin and concentrated on getting The Vashj down safely. The Red Dawn followed closely behind.
Vyse never lost consciousness, and had felt the full impact of The Journeyer. It had fallen right to the bottom of the cyclone, and then farther down, beneath the sands. He laid on his back for a few minutes, his head aching terribly. This is not good... he thought weakly. He sat up and looked around, seeing no real damage to the bridge area. He looked down and saw Aika, knocked out cold from the drop. A small trickle of blood ran down her forehead, and a bruise was quickly forming across her cheek. He looked down and saw that he was still tightly holding onto her hand. Before we fell...she told me...that she...loved me? Vyse sighed as he stared at her beautiful face. Well, it has begun, he thought. He gave her hand a final squeeze and got up with a groan. He put his hand to his back, and felt a large bruise forming there already as well. This adventure was not off to a promising start.
Vyse walked down the steps to the next deck. He did it rather slowly, as his legs felt bashed too. He looked over and saw Fina lying on the floor, also unconscious. He walked over and knelt beside her. He pushed some locks of silky soft hair from her face and behind her ear. He smiled slightly and sighed. I hope you can come to soon... He sighed, got up, and headed for the boiler room.
He knew it was fairly uncaring, but he gave a chuckle at the site that met his eyes down there. Kirala was flat on her back, one hand still clenched around a steam pipe. On her stomach laid the unconscious form of Pow, who must have been flipped into the air on impact and landed right on Kirala. He sighed as he looked around. The engine room looked like it had taken the most damage, and the engine's themselves looked fairly banged up. He wasn't sure if the ship would even be able to start again.
He unwrapped Kirala's hand from the pipe and carried her and Pow up two flights of stairs to the bridge. He left them in the corner until they would reawaken. He glanced over to Aika and saw that she was still out cold. He sighed as he went back below and carried Fina up to the bridge on his shoulders. He placed her beside Kirala, and hoped for the best.
He wasn't ready to go out and look at the surroundings of this foul place they had fallen into. He sat back down next to Aika and sighed. His head had a new throbbing pain. He probably shouldn't have moved in the first place, but his friends well being was more important to him than his own. Aika moaned slightly. Vyse looked over to her, a hopeful smile creeping onto his face. She slowly picked herself up off of her stomach and got to her knees. She rubbed her temples for a few seconds before looking at Vyse. She smiled and threw herself at him, tightly grasping his neck in a friendly hug. "Vyse..." she whispered, a hint of pain in her voice. "We're alive...aren't we?"
Vyse chuckled and replied, "Yes, Aika. We're alive. To the best of my knowledge at least."
Aika smiled and hugged Vyse tightly. "I'm glad you're all right," she whispered and delivered a small peck on Vyse's cheek. Vyse sighed as he returned the hug. Aika pulled back. "Is Fina ok? What about Kirala? And Pow?" Vyse pointed to the unconscious forms in the corner. Aika nodded, inwardly knowing that they would be ok. Aika fell back into her hug.
Vyse rubbed her back before saying, "I'm going out on the deck and seeing what it's like out there. You stay here and rest. Call me if the others wake up. Ok?" Aika nodded and laid back on the floor with a groan and placed her gloved hand to her forehead.
Vyse got up shakily and walked onto the deck. The area had a misty gloom about it, and it was hard to see very far. He couldn't tell much about the construction of the place except by the soft glow of a row of torches hanging from a far wall. Vyse noticed that the ship was perfectly upright and hadn't tipped over or fell forward. He sighed in relief. At least this would make the task of escaping a little easier.
Why had they come down here again? Oh, that's right. There wasn't much of a choice in the matter. When your engines cut off, you're going down whether you like it or not. Vyse didn't even know if it was worth going through and searching the ruins with the extent of the injuries to his crew.
Vyse closed his eyes as hard as he could and rubbed his forehead. "Vyse!" What was that... Vyse looked about, trying to figure out where the call had come from. He heard his name being yelled again. He blinked and tilted his head back, and saw the odd form of The Claudia descending to the ground. Vyse suddenly remembered. They weren't alone. They had friends here as well. He decided that he had forgotten about them under the duress of the situation. The Claudia landed next to the tattered form of The Journeyer. Gilder walked out from his bridge and called over to Vyse. "Vyse! Are you all right, man? Is everyone ok?" There was a slight hint of worry in Gilder's normally calm voice.
Vyse looked over and nodded. "Thank the moons you're here, Gilder. I'd completely forgotten that you were with us in that battle. Thanks."
"We'll talk about that later. Are the girls ok?" Vyse nodded again.
"Aika's woozy, and Fina and Kirala were still unconscious when I came out here. I can't really decide what this place is like..."
Gilder nodded. "Domingo should be here soon as well. So should your other friends, whoever they are. In fact, here comes Domingo right now," he finished as he pointed up to the darkened sky. The Discovery landed on the other side of The Journeyer. Domingo walked out onto the deck, puffing on his cigar and unscrewing the cap of a fresh bottle of loqua.
"Are you alright there mate? Are the girls ok?" Domingo asked in between gulps of loqua. Vyse nodded. The Vashj was next, landing next to The Discovery. The Red Dawn came last as it landed beside The Claudia. "I'm coming over lad," Domingo said as he backed up a bit. getting a running start and jumped from his ship over to Vyse's. "You look fine in all accounts of what just happened to you. Where's the girls?"
"They're back in the bridge. None of them are exactly with it after the crash," Vyse said in a low tone of voice. "If you'll excuse me for a moment, I think I have to pass out." And with that Vyse sat down on the deck and fell backwards.
"Cheers mate," Domingo said and took another gulp of the loqua. "I don't blame ya." Domingo looked across to Gilder. "Is everyone all right over there?"
Gilder nodded. "Yeah, nothing too serious here. Nothing but a few bumps and bruises. The Claudia looks just fine."
"Good to hear. Now, let's find a way down from these ships so we can stand on level ground again."
"You go ahead," Gilder said. "I'm coming over to check on them." Domingo nodded. Gilder got a running start like Domingo did and leaped across to The Journeyer's deck. Domingo held out the bottle of loqua to Gilder. "Thanks," he said, taking the bottle from Domingo and taking a full swig. He handed the bottle back and walked back into the bridge. Domingo, with his better judgment, decided to go with Gilder.
Gilder sighed as he walked into the bridge. Aika had slipped back from consciousness again. Fina and Kirala were still sitting up against the wall, lights out. Pow was wrapped up at Kirala's feet. Domingo nodded. "They'll be all right. The ship however, won't. It's going to need some real repairs."
Gilder grunted. "Yeah. Shit, this may take days. Go out and find a way down, I'll try to fix up some of these worse cuts." Domingo nodded as he headed back outside. Looking straight to the front of the ship he could see a torch illuminating an area of wall. Upon closer inspection, he saw that in front of the wall was a slim pathway with stair leading up and down to the ground level from it. Domingo sighed, and miserably thought, And I took the energy jumping over here?
Maiev had left the bridge of The Vashj and was waiting on the deck with Jade, who was still carrying her rifle. She called over to Domingo. "Hey there, stranger. Is everyone ok over there?"
Domingo called back, "More or less. Everyone will be good to go in the long run." He took another swig of the loqua. "Gilder here will take good care of them. Just because he's one of the toughest bastards around doesn't mean he's always like that," Domingo said with a hearty laugh. "Come on down to the ground level, it's easier speaking from there. There's a pathway right off the side of your ship." Domingo said no more as he took to the path and went down the stairs. He pulled his pistol, which was a model similar to Gilder's, from his belt just in case.
He waited at the ground level with his pistol aimed at the ceiling, ready if anything came at him from the darkness. He looked almost comical with the gun in one hand and a bottle in the other. Maiev, Jade, and Tyrande came down a few moments later, Jade still carrying the rifle, and Maiev and Tyrande armed with sabers.
"It looks like we're going to have to start a fire if we're going to be stuck here awhile," Maiev said softly. Domingo nodded his agreement. "Besides, who knows what's lying in wait out there."
Tyrande shivered. "This place really gives me the creeps. I'm picking up some pretty bad vibes from it," she stated shakily.
"Good, I thought I was the only one," Jade muttered. "Hey, what's your name stranger?"
Domingo took another drink. "We can make all of our formal introductions when everyone is together. Plus, I have to look for Baltor's ship. I haven't seen it since we crashed here."
The girls simply nodded. "We'll have to set up a perimeter then," Maiev said.
"Right. We'll get it set up. Ok then, you can come aboard the ship if you want, I assume you know Vyse." They nodded again and followed Domingo as he bounded back up the stone-carved stairs. Domingo jogged across the deck to the bridge. "Gilder, has anyone else come to yet?"
Gilder shook his head. "No, but Aika looks like she's about ready too. Kirala and Fina shouldn't be out for much longer either. I'm surprised Vyse isn't back up yet."
"I am. Up that is, just not standing," Vyse called from the deck.
"All right then. Before I go, I want to mention to you. I haven't seen Baltor's ship yet. I knocked him down here, but I don't know where he could've gone," Domingo said quietly. Gilder nodded gravely and cursed through his teeth. Domingo walked back out to the deck and stood in front of Vyse. "You all right, lad?"
Vyse nodded. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Are the girls up and around yet?" Domingo shook his head as he through the stub of his cigar off the deck.
***A Few Hours Later***
The five crews had assembled on the ground level and were seated around a large bonfire, started from spare materials and wood that was of no more worth from The Journeyer. They had all been formally introduced to each other. Fina, Aika, and Kirala were all back up and around. Aika was back to normal, but Fina and Kirala were still a little woozy. They had both taken harsher hits, but would be ok.
Naturally, the main question was posed was why Morgan had contacted all of them to appear in this place. His answer had come smoothly, the result of previous planning. He' said, "I knew it would be a dangerous place. And I knew that it would be too much for me and my crew to handle. But I knew each of you would agree to help and join in when you knew that the discoveries we could make here would make us rich an' put us in the history books. And in the cases of Vyse, Aika, Fina, Gilder, Kirala, and Domingo," he'd pointed to each one as he said there names, "Put them back into the record books." The answer was good enough for them, and they took it without much extra thought. They were all scratching for some spare cash, and who would pass up a chance to go down as a legend?
Maiev and her crew were slowly changing their minds about Morgan. He wasn't as bad as they had first thought. At least this was the thought from all of them except Angela and Jade. The chances of ever getting them to trust Morgan was roughly zero.
It was all quiet for a few hours after the landing. The crews had mainly stayed near the bonfire and talked about how they would go about searching the ruins the laid before them, and occasionally the odd sailor's tale. A perimeter had been set up around the camp. All of Morgan's crew was patrolling the outside area with the exception of Gix and the helmsman Lupe. Each was armed with a cutlass and a single shot pistol.
Azinzas was the only man patrolling by himself. He was the second gunner of The Red Dawn, and by far the largest man on the crew. He was a hulking behemoth of a Nasarian, standing six and a half feet tall and with arms as thick as steel girders. Despite the stereotypical appearance of a man who was all brawn and no brains, he was quite the opposite. He held quite a bit of smarts in his head as he'd received a formal education when growing up in Nasrad.
Azinzas walked across the cold stone with care. One hand held the cutlass in a death grip, and the other his pistol. He was nervous. And he had every reason to be. It wasn't everyday one stumbles into a place as dark as this, with moons knew what lurking behind every corner.
He had strayed a little farther off path than this normal patrol routine. He saw something in the darkness that had intrigued him. Walking over to it, he found that it was an old stone table. Its age couldn't be determined, but it looked like it had seen quite a few ages pass by. Azinzas leaned a hand against the table, testing its strength. The table didn't buckle or budge a bit, much to Azinzas' surprise. As he pulled his hand away, his fingertips lightly brushed across an ancient engraving.
Azinzas gave a grunt of wonder. He brought his face closer to the surface so he could read the inscription. To his surprise, it was in modern Arcadia.
"He who intrudes upon Tal'Kalen beware,
You have surely sealed your fate,
This truth to you will become clear,
With the awakening of Pyr'Kizate."
Azinzas brought his back, rubbing his chin in thought. I do not like the way this reads. Something here has surely been planned for us by whoever used to live here, he thought, a slight moment of distress creeping into his brain. He looked back at the inscription and right above it was a circular indentation in the stone. Azinzas placed his hand in the indentation and slowly moved his hand across it. This craftsmanship is- his thoughts were cut off as he triggered a switch at the bottom of the indentation. A small section at the bottom slowly slid down into the table.
Azinzas stood straight up and silent for a few seconds, listening intently, looking about the darkness for any movement. He could hear the sound of granite rubbing against granite in the distance. He gulped and silently started to back up, moving back to the camp. He didn't know what he'd just unleashed, but whatever it was, it couldn't possibly be good. The raspy growl that soon emanated from the darkness confirmed his thoughts.
Azinzas called out to the other patrolling crewmen. "Trey! Yoshi! Everyone get over here. Something is not right..." he stuttered. Trey and Yoshi, the other gunners were soon at his side.
"What is it man? What's not right?" Trey whispered coolly. He was an ex-Valuan soldier who had become a rogue after The Rains destroyed Valua.
Azinzas pointed into the darkness. "Ready yourselves," was all he could get out.
"Well, all right then. I'm always up for a good fight," Trey said with a sneer as he raised his bulky battle hammer into a defensive position. Yoshi nodded and held his pistol at eye level so he would be able to get a quick shot.
Without warning the area a good fifty yards in front of them became illuminated with a green glow. The source of this sudden illumination was something vile, something never seen above the dank city ruins. Describing it has a ghostly phantasm would be the best way to, but that really didn't do the creature justice. The creature wore a heavy suit of chain mail armor, all of it being held by...nothing. It floated as if under a spell from a dark wizard. Moving upwards, a helmet with horns poking from either side sat atop a black, disfigured mass of a face. The creature's arms held a tall shield and an enormous broad sword.
Trey swallowed loudly. "Chaps, this one might just be outta our league," he said shakily. He leaned over his shoulder and yelled as loudly as he could to everyone at the bon fire. "Hey, could you blokes get here, and be real quick about it? because if you don't, we may be down a few men before we ever get into the city!" He knew they would have to start the battle by themselves, the others were too far away to be of much immediate assistance. Trey swallowed a deep breath. "What do you say boys? Shall we show this bloke what the gunners of The Red dawn are made of?" Azinzas and Yoshi nodded coolly, and the three charged at the beast.
Yoshi stopped short and raised his pistol. He cocked it and fired as quickly as he could. The round sailed past the other gunners and right into the chest of the creature. It buckled a bit and gave an ear-shattering shriek. The shriek stopped Azinzas in his tracks, as he dropped to his knees holding his ears in pain. The shriek also threw Trey off target, so his intended hammer strike missed the creature's head and harmlessly bounced off of its shield instead. The creature's eyes erupted in a blue flame as it let loose an unearthly growl. It let loose a stream of ice from its gaping maw. The ice slammed full into Azinzas' chest as knocked him off of his feet. With a grunt he got back up, ready to counterattack the beast. Yoshi had reloaded and fired the pistol at the creature again, but the shot was deflected by the tower shield. The creature wailed and sent forth another burst of ice, swatting Yoshi to the ground. Azinzas took advantage of the creature being distracted. He leapt forth and slashed into the creature's armor with his cutlass, hacking away. The phantom just bashed him away with its shield. Trey picked the hammer up again and brought it down as hard as he could on the creature's back. The creature screamed and dropped to its knees with a sickening thud.
The others were still running, but they had a ways to go yet. The creature struggled back to its knees and took another blow from Trey's hammer, this time square in the head. The blow came with another power that it dented the creatures helmet and the recoil knocked Trey flat on his back. The creature had become quite angry with these peppering attacks. It roughly bellows, "Moons...give me strength!" and a circle of red surrounded him. A second later fire burst forth from the ground, slamming into each of the men. The Pyri spell had delivered moderate damage.
"All right, you asked for it," Azinzas bellowed as he ran forth. As he charged he yelled, "Moon Charge!" When he reached the creature he jumped into the air, did a 360, and brought his cutlass down upon the creature. The blow dropped the creature straight to the floor, but it quickly got back up, seeming to hunch over a bit.
The creature was not finished though. Its time was near, but it had one last trick up its sleeve. It dropped its shield to the ground and slid the shield bearing arm across the blade of its sword. A blue liquid seeped from the wound, and dripped onto the sword. The phantom called out, "Now feel my pain. Feel the wrath of Razmodan!" The sword was enveloped in a blue swirl of pure energy. The creature raised the sword and pointed it at Azinzas. "He who hath awoken me, feel the grasp of death."
And with that the creature charged forward, and with speed unknown to man, dodged about Azinzas, drawing deep cuts through his whole body. If he had been able to keep going, Azinzas would surely have died, but Gilder had finally reached the trio. He aimed, prayed to the moons for a direct hit, and fired. The bullet traveled into and back out through the creature's right eye, and it stood still, stunned. Then the armor fell to the ground, followed by the sword. The creature gave out its dying wail before its soul burned away before the men, leaving nothing but the soft afterglow of the creature's eyes.
Azinzas fell to the ground beside the still stunned Yoshi, a look of shock on his face.
An hour later, Azinzas had come to from his shock and told of how he had accidentally let the creature free from its cell. His injuries were bad, but with the help of a few Sacres spells, he was doing fine in no time.
The same group remained around the fire for a little longer. Gilder had been staring into the flames thoughtfully, but felt a twinge in his head. Something wasn't right. He looked up into the sky, where he could see only tiny shafts of light from the red moon above. Suddenly, the light was cut out. A swirling black vortex had replaced the light, blocking their exit. As a consolation prize, a red glow enveloped the area, and they could finally see their surroundings without the help of a flame. The morale of the groups was fairly low at this point, as was to be expected.
Fina sighed. "So, we have survived the first trials of Tal'Kalen. Their will be many more to come."
Vyse looked at her. "You're right. We may never be able to get back into the skies," he said dejectedly, looking up towards the dark swirl.
Aika frowned. "that doesn't sound like you at all Vyse. Come on, we'll find a way out. Besides, we've been in worse situations than this."
Vyse smiled. "Yeah. I guess we have. We'll find a way out."
Fina sighed. "There is a way out."
Vyse looked up, surprise in his eyes. Domingo stopped in mid-drink to look at Fina. "You mean you know a way outta here and haven't told us about it?" he asked.
"No, it's not like that. I just didn't know if it was true or not. That creature Razmodan proves it all though. We have to find the Heart of the Desert. It is a sacred orb that has been said to belong to the sorcerer who created these monstrosities. He is said to have kept it locked away somewhere in the ruins, and only that can open the way to get back above ground..." she trailed off. "But we'll have to scour every area. It could be anywhere."
"Glad I brought plenty of this then," Domingo said with a sigh, and took another long drink from the bottle.
Pow perked his ears up. H heard something off in the distance. He slowly sat up to his haunches and started to growl lowly. Aika took notice before anyone else. She squinted her eyes looking out across the stones and saw two dark figures approaching. She grabbed a hold of Vyse's arm and shook him. "Vyse! Pay attention! Look out there, someone's coming!"
Vyse stood up and drew his cutlass. By now everyone had seen the figures and were standing up preparing themselves for a fight. Vyse walked forward cautiously, Gilder, Maiev, Angela, and Morgan right behind him. Suddenly the figure called out, "Ahoy! I bring no trouble this time lad, I come to make peace!"
Vyse lowered his cutlass and muttered, "Baltor. Son of a bitch." He turned back to face the others and wave them off. "It's all right," he said, much to their confusion.
The two figures walked into sight. Baltor the Black Pirate and his helmsman Korgon walked slowly, Baltor with his hands raised in front of him to show peace, Korgon holding his shoulder, a long trail of blood running down his arm. "It's all right lads, we've come to make amends," Baltor said with a chuckle.
"When are you going to figure out that you will never beat us?" Vyse asked, sounding very agitated.
"Probably never, Vyse. Probably never."
"Big surprise there," Aika muttered and rolled her eyes. Fina and Kirala giggled lightly.
Baltor ignored Aika's comments. "Now come on, Vyse. You wouldn't leave an old friend and his comrade out in the middle of unexplored territory with the rest of his crew missing, victims of moons knows what is out there? Would you?"
"Your crew is missing? Did you even look for them?" Maiev chimed angrily.
"Yes, of course I looked for them. But I didn't have to look long to find what was left of them after those monsters got to them."
"So, you mean your whole crew is gone?" Jade said as she silently stepped into the light.
Korgon looked at her and gave a gasp. "Y-You! You're the one who shot me!" He started stepping back slowly.
Baltor threw his fist back and grabbed Korgon by his shirt, pulling him forward. "Stay fast you dog. There's no reason to run off and get yourself devoured. So...would it be ok if we joined you crew for awhile?" Baltor asked almost pleadingly.
"Well...ok," Vyse said.
"But only if you will help us repair our ship, and help u find what we came here for," Fina broke in with authority. Aika smiled up at her air pirate protegee.
"All right, all right. Ya got yourselves a deal. I'll help you out if you'll keep us with ya. It can't be any worse than wanderin' through those darkened ruins," Baltor said.
Domingo sighed. What a long road ahead, he thought, and took another drink from the bottle.
Author's Notes: Whew, another chapter done. The next two won't be as action based, but it will pick up again after them. I want to thank everyone who has reviewed so far; I don't plan on quitting on you guys. Please continue to read and review. I'll get some more chapters out here soon, I hope you're all enjoying it so far.