Taming Storm.
Chapter two.
A/N: Hey guys! Here's the second chapter and I sure hope that it won't be a disappointment! Tell me if it is, I'm not exactly winning any best author awards right now! Nothing much happens in this chapter but it should get slightly more interesting in the next one. I emphasise the word SHOULD. Oh yes, and I have been told by someone that "Jaded" means a worn out horse and I most certainly do not mean Storm to be a worn out horse. I meant mottled greys and whites, like a storm cloud. Sorry for any confusion I may have caused!
Thanks to my reviewers!
Rayfan: Hey, thanks! I must be doing a better job than I thought!
TurquoisePhoenix: Thanks! Shalaki and Jano do go back a long way but saying anything more will be giving WAY too much away at the moment!
Ryoko D: It's nice to be writing again too!
Admiral Merco: (You've changed your screen name!) Thanks! You're doing a good job on the sequels to Dawn of Janus too!
"Watch out!" Rayman's reflexes kicked into action and he ducked as a small rucksack hit the wall just above his head and scrambled out of the way before it could land on him. Sasha, red faced and frustrated, stormed over to the bag and gave it a good kicking.
"Do you often throw things across the room when you are annoyed?" Rayman asked, seemingly oblivious to how dangerous it was to provoke Sasha into a worse mood. Sasha ignored him, brushed her hair away from her flushed face, picked up the rucksack and brandished it with the air of someone brandishing a head that had been separated from the body.
"It doesn't hold anything!" She exclaimed, shaking it and watching angrily as the measly total of one pair of shorts, two tank tops and a worryingly low number of undergarments fell out on to the floor. Rayman smiled as she examined the former contents of the rucksack. "How'm I expected to survive a three day journey with just these?"
"You're not, you can get a lot more in that."
"I only got this lot in with a great deal of shoving down!"
"Come on, I'll give you a hand." Rayman took the bag from Sasha and dumped the right way up on the floor. "Get what you want to take."
Sasha glowered at the bag, muttered something that Rayman was grateful that he didn't hear and crossed to the wardrobe.
Fifteen minutes later, six tank tops, three pairs of shorts, a pair of jeans, some T-Shirts and an adequate number of undergarments had been calmly and successfully packed into the bag by Rayman, along with a few other odds and ends that they might find useful on the journey. And there was still room for a lot more. Sasha had given up trying to help in the first five minutes and was now getting changed behind a screen.
"There!" Said Rayman in a horribly patronising tone. "That wasn't so difficult!"
"Beginners luck!" Sasha emerged from behind the screen, dressed in her old, faded, light blue jeans, a white sports top and her combat boots. She glanced over the bag from behind a pair of purple tinted sunglasses, then looked at Rayman. "Alright, well done! That's a lot better than I could ever do!" Rayman smiled, he knew that Sasha hated having a member of the opposite gender being better at her than something, even something as pathetic as packing a bag.
"What're you taking in the way of weapons?"
"Weapons?!" Exclaimed Sasha, as though the thought had never crossed her mind. "What do I need weapons for? I've got my martial arts and they take up no space!"
"Martial arts sometimes fail and your gunbelt and knife will take up no space. Not in the bag anyway."
"Fine, fine." Sasha strode over to the wardrobe, retrieved the gunbelt and put it on. She opened the gun cabinet and had a brief discussion with Rayman over which gun to take. After some argument, she finally chose an air pistol and holstered it and shoved some spare clips for it into her bag as an afterthought. Finally, she strapped her knife to her boot and looked at Rayman.
"Happy?" She enquired.
"Perfectly." Replied Rayman with a mock bow. He watched as Sasha pulled on her coat, struggled between the shoulder straps of the rucksack and staggered slightly under its weight.
Rayman opened the wooden door and threw his weight against it, expecting gale force winds and torrential rain but found out that he had jumped to conclusions. A beam of sunlight fell on his surprised face and there was a light breeze lifting his hair slightly.
"Blimey!" Sasha had stepped out onto the platform, openly marvelling at what seemed to be a totally different world. There was no rain, the sky was clear and the sun was beating down on the ground. There was no sign that the storm had ever occurred at all, even the ground was dry and not at all churned up as it should be. Rayman joined his friend on the platform and watched her struggling out of her coat. His face showed indifference but his voice betrayed his anxiety.
"I don't like this. Even a world as magical as this would show after effects of that storm." Sasha straightened up, her coat rolled up and squashed under her arm.
"You think it was stopped by something?"
"That's exactly what I think."
"Trying to make us think the storm was a one-off, that it was irrelevant?"
"You got it."
"Well maybe Jano's got answers. C'mon." Sasha began to climb down the tree, closely followed by Rayman. When they reached the bottom, they barely had time to take a step away from the tree before the sound of thundering hooves came to their ears and the sight of Storm charging along the dirt track straight at them. Storms eyes were bright and happy and her mane and tail were flowing out behind her. One of Sasha's smiles shone through and she ran a few steps forward, dropping her coat on the ground.
"Storm!" She cried. Storm continued to thunder towards her, throwing up thin clouds of dust every time one of her elegant hooves hit the ground. Rayman tugged at Sasha's wrist.
"Sasha, get out of the way!" Sasha ignored Rayman's urgent voice and stood happily in Storm's path, confident that Storm had control over the situation. Storm showed no sign of slowing down as she got within a few metres of Sasha and stopped literally eye to eye with her. Sasha glanced down at Rayman.
"See, she had it under control!" Rayman didn't answer, he was flat on his back having fainted with relief that Storm had stopped. Sasha rolled her eyes, raised her hand to stroke Storm's face and didn't flinch as Storm jerked her head up to meet it. "Let me see your leg Storm." Storm promptly raised her injured leg and allowed Sasha to examine it. Sasha bent double and looked over the wound, totally oblivious to the fact that Storm had picked up the end of her plait in between her teeth and was chewing it. The skin around the wound was puffy and tender but apart from that, it was healing nicely and didn't seem to be causing much bother judging by the speed with which Storm had turned up.
"Ok girl, that'll heal up completely and no one'll ever know it was there! Oi!!" Sasha realised that her plait was disappearing into Storm's mouth. "Drop it!" Storm spat out the plait and made a noise that sounded uncannily like a human laugh. Sasha wrinkled her nose in disgust as she wiped the horse slobber off with her bare hands. Storm turned her attention on Rayman who still had not emerged from his coma and began to lick his face vigorously. Rayman's hands twitched and he laughed in his sleep.
"Mmmm, get off, that tickles." His eyes flickered open and he let out a startled yell as he saw straight up one of Storm's nostrils and dodged away, accidentally kicking her in the face as he did so. Storm jumped away, snorting in anger. Sasha flung her plait over her shoulder and laughed slightly.
"Serves you right Storm!" Storm snorted angrily again, tossed her mane and took threatening steps towards Rayman who backed away looking absolutely terrified. He raised his hands in defence as Storm broke into a trot but he knew he couldn't attack this creature.
"Don't even think about it madam!" Sasha's voice, sharp and commanding cut across the air. Storm stopped dead and turned to face Sasha with a sheepish look in her eyes. Sasha glared at her, though her inner emotion was amusement. "Rayman's my friend thank you very much, and I'm not keen on seeing him get flattened!" Storm bounced forwards and buried her head in Sasha's chest. Rayman smiled at the forming bond between them. Sasha wrapped her arms around Storm and planted a kiss behind her ear. "I need to ask you a favour." Storm pulled her head away and cocked it to one side as if to say: "What is it?"
"Can you come with us to the Cave Of Bad Dreams? There's something bad coming, we. Me Rayman and Jano I mean, need your help to defeat it. Can you come?" Storm slowly lowered her head and shook it dolefully from side to side. Sasha and Rayman stared at her, disappointment flowing between them. "Why not Storm? Are you. Oh." Sasha remembered something that Jano had read from the Book of the Ancients. "Do we need that uh. What was it? The Hyoran Amulet?" Storm nodded her head then let out a soft whinny and Sasha knew she was saying sorry. Storm suddenly cantered a few paces away from Rayman and Sasha and dropped onto her front knees. She whinnied. Sasha raised her eyebrows as Rayman shot a questioning glance at her. Storm whinnied again, louder this time, more impatiently. Then it hit Rayman.
"Sasha, I think she's going to take us to the cave!" Storm snorted and nodded her head vigorously.
"You're right, d'you ride?"
"No, I don't!"
"I do, so I'll go first." Sasha crouched down to pick up her coat and strode confidently over to Storm's shoulder, swung her leg over and pulled herself up onto her back. Rayman reluctantly followed but as he reached the horse's shoulder, Storm suddenly stood up straight, nearly knocking Sasha off balance. She swung her head round and snorted at Sasha, clearly expressing reluctance to let Rayman anywhere near her back.
"I'm not sure she wants me to ride her." Said Rayman nervously, slowly backing away. Sasha rolled her eyes and spoke to Storm.
"It was your fault you got kicked up the nose Storm, now let him up." Rayman approached again as Storm grudgingly sunk to her knees. Sasha grabbed the hand he extended and pulled him up. He settled himself behind her but before he could get a firm grip around Sasha's waist, Storm had launched straight into a flat out gallop from a standing start. Rayman shut his eyes tight, praying that he wouldn't fall off. Sasha however was casually holding on to a handful of Storm's mane and was experiencing no difficulty in keeping her seat.
The ride on Storm was one of the most wonderful experiences that had ever happened to Sasha. At the speed that Storm was travelling, the wind should have been roaring in her ears and the pounding of Storm's hooves should have been easily audible. However, it was silent. Storm's mane and tail were flowing out behind her but Sasha's dark plait was flat on her back. It seemed to take hours, it seemed to take minutes, Sasha never knew but she did know that they arrived at the Cave of Bad Dreams safely. She dismounted and was surprised to find that her legs were trembling.
"Thanks Storm." Sasha reached out a hand to scratch Storm between her ears. Storm closed her eyes and blew gently through her lips, clearly enjoying the attention. Rayman was frozen to her back and Sasha had to prise him off. He put a hand to his head.
"Never again," He muttered. "Never, ever again."
"Is that her?" Sasha jumped. She hadn't seen or heard Jano approach and his voice had startled her. She nodded.
"This is Storm." Jano came slowly out of the cave and raised a hand to shield his eye from the glaring sun. Storm lowered her head and pawed the ground nervously as he approached her. Jano extended a hand but quickly withdrew it. He glanced up at Sasha, almost as though he was waiting for permission to touch Storm. In reply, Sasha laid a hand on Storm's hindquarters and gave her a gentle shove towards him.
"Don't judge him by what you see." She murmured in an undertone to Storm. She raised her voice. "Go on Jano."
Storm took a few nervous steps forward and Jano raised his hand to meet her. He had nearly made contact with her face when a something behind him spooked her. Panic flared in Storm's eyes as her head snapped up and she jerked around and ran. She was gone in seconds. A moment's silence followed.
"Come into the cave, I've got something you'll need." Jano turned away and disappeared into the tunnel. Sasha was feeling depressed again. Whenever Storm departed, she always felt like that and she was irritated with herself for not being able to explain it. Rayman noticed her expression and he tried to say something comforting.
"She'll come again. She really likes you."
Sasha shrugged.
"I'm really worried about her. Someone's tried to kill her once, what if they go for her again?"
"You don't know that she was attacked, she might've had an."
"Oh, Rayman, you didn't see the state she was in, you didn't see her! A horse doesn't get that worked up about catching its leg on a thorn, it just doesn't happen. No, someone went for her and they'll try again, I just know it."
"Are you two coming?" Jano's voice, quietly commanding, cut through the air. Rayman and Sasha turned towards the guardian who was waving a hand towards the entrance to the cave. Rayman made the first move into the cave but stopped as he saw Sasha staring at the spot where Storm had been just moments before. Jano and Rayman exchanged looks and Jano spoke bracingly to Sasha.
"The sooner you find Shalaki, the sooner you can protect Storm."
Jano had been expecting Sasha to explode in anger after hearing those words but she did nothing of the sort. A tear ran down her face and she nodded.
"Ok."
The interior of the Cave of Bad Dreams was exactly the same as it always was except for the books. A pile of at least ten dusty, ancient books was sitting on the floor and if Rayman had had a neck, he would have broken it falling over them.
"Jano," Rayman said, picking himself off the floor and dusting himself down, "Where did you get all of these books and why did you get them?"
Jano suddenly grinned, a grin that sparkled with mischief.
"The books? Oh they're just what intruders into the cave dropped when I chased them off." He spoke in a tone of utter innocence. Rayman and Sasha exchanged a look and Sasha challenged Jano.
"I've never seen those around before."
"There's a lot you don't see around in here." He replied evenly. Now-" Jano's tone turned business-like and he opened one of the books.
"This," He said, tapping a piece of parchment tucked between the pages, "Is a map showing the route you need to take to find Shalaki. I'd guess that the journey would take a maximum of three days, are you prepared?"
"You have no idea." Muttered Sasha as she remembered how angry she had gotten at the rucksack.
"Alright then, now Sasha, you take this." Jano carefully closed the book and held it out to Sasha. She swung the rucksack off of her back and placed the book inside it. Jano glanced at her edgily, then pulled Rayman away slightly.
"Rayman, It should be a relatively easy journey, as far as I know there are no real dangers on the route but I want you to be careful. We're not working under normal circumstances." Rayman nodded. "And be wary of Shalaki. She. she can help but she can also be a great danger to you. She's a-" Jano lowered his voice even further and Rayman had to lean closer to hear. "She's a twisted ancient."
Rayman's eyebrows shot up and he took a quick glance at Sasha to check that she wasn't watching them.
"A twisted ancient?" He muttered, after seeing that Sasha was still trying to stuff the book into her bag. "A twisted ancient?! How can a twisted ancient help us? And while I think about it, why is she roaming around this world unchecked?"
"She's not roaming as such, I've heard that she's got her own kingdom and that's where the map will guide you to. I think you had better explain to Sasha what a twisted ancient is, you can exercise more control over her when she's appalled. And she will be."
"I don't know much about a twisted ancient myself other than the fact that if you meet one you should climb up the nearest tree and stay there 'til it's gone."
"Well, you know about Shaela and Azrael don't you?"
Rayman's eyes narrowed and his breath came out in a low hiss.
"Everyone knows about them."
"Well, Shalaki's their daughter."
Rayman was spared answering, as Sasha had finished with the rucksack and was staring at him and Jano with a faintly questioning expression. Rayman arranged his face into a smile and hoped that Sasha wasn't about to pull her usual stunt of reading his mind.
"Better get going Sasha."
Sasha nodded her agreement, deliberately not asking what he had on his mind.
Jano escorted them out of the cave and said his farewells with anxiety.
"You two be careful. Just promise me to be careful."
Biting down slight impatience and keen to get moving, Sasha gave him her word and Rayman did the same.
Jano watched as they walked away from him, up the road that led out of Rayman's world and carried on watching as they disappeared into the sunset.
He turned his eye away from the spot where he had lost sight of them and muttered malevolently.
"Shalaki, if you hurt them, I'll."
But what he would do to Shalaki was never found out, as a few Zombie Chickens decided to take that particular moment to make a bid for freedom and Jano chased them back into the cave with a burst of flame from his mouth.
"Accursed creatures." He muttered.
A/N: Ugh, I don't think I'm too happy with this chapter. Well, I guess there's no help for it until I get feedback.
The magic button is down here:
Chapter two.
A/N: Hey guys! Here's the second chapter and I sure hope that it won't be a disappointment! Tell me if it is, I'm not exactly winning any best author awards right now! Nothing much happens in this chapter but it should get slightly more interesting in the next one. I emphasise the word SHOULD. Oh yes, and I have been told by someone that "Jaded" means a worn out horse and I most certainly do not mean Storm to be a worn out horse. I meant mottled greys and whites, like a storm cloud. Sorry for any confusion I may have caused!
Thanks to my reviewers!
Rayfan: Hey, thanks! I must be doing a better job than I thought!
TurquoisePhoenix: Thanks! Shalaki and Jano do go back a long way but saying anything more will be giving WAY too much away at the moment!
Ryoko D: It's nice to be writing again too!
Admiral Merco: (You've changed your screen name!) Thanks! You're doing a good job on the sequels to Dawn of Janus too!
"Watch out!" Rayman's reflexes kicked into action and he ducked as a small rucksack hit the wall just above his head and scrambled out of the way before it could land on him. Sasha, red faced and frustrated, stormed over to the bag and gave it a good kicking.
"Do you often throw things across the room when you are annoyed?" Rayman asked, seemingly oblivious to how dangerous it was to provoke Sasha into a worse mood. Sasha ignored him, brushed her hair away from her flushed face, picked up the rucksack and brandished it with the air of someone brandishing a head that had been separated from the body.
"It doesn't hold anything!" She exclaimed, shaking it and watching angrily as the measly total of one pair of shorts, two tank tops and a worryingly low number of undergarments fell out on to the floor. Rayman smiled as she examined the former contents of the rucksack. "How'm I expected to survive a three day journey with just these?"
"You're not, you can get a lot more in that."
"I only got this lot in with a great deal of shoving down!"
"Come on, I'll give you a hand." Rayman took the bag from Sasha and dumped the right way up on the floor. "Get what you want to take."
Sasha glowered at the bag, muttered something that Rayman was grateful that he didn't hear and crossed to the wardrobe.
Fifteen minutes later, six tank tops, three pairs of shorts, a pair of jeans, some T-Shirts and an adequate number of undergarments had been calmly and successfully packed into the bag by Rayman, along with a few other odds and ends that they might find useful on the journey. And there was still room for a lot more. Sasha had given up trying to help in the first five minutes and was now getting changed behind a screen.
"There!" Said Rayman in a horribly patronising tone. "That wasn't so difficult!"
"Beginners luck!" Sasha emerged from behind the screen, dressed in her old, faded, light blue jeans, a white sports top and her combat boots. She glanced over the bag from behind a pair of purple tinted sunglasses, then looked at Rayman. "Alright, well done! That's a lot better than I could ever do!" Rayman smiled, he knew that Sasha hated having a member of the opposite gender being better at her than something, even something as pathetic as packing a bag.
"What're you taking in the way of weapons?"
"Weapons?!" Exclaimed Sasha, as though the thought had never crossed her mind. "What do I need weapons for? I've got my martial arts and they take up no space!"
"Martial arts sometimes fail and your gunbelt and knife will take up no space. Not in the bag anyway."
"Fine, fine." Sasha strode over to the wardrobe, retrieved the gunbelt and put it on. She opened the gun cabinet and had a brief discussion with Rayman over which gun to take. After some argument, she finally chose an air pistol and holstered it and shoved some spare clips for it into her bag as an afterthought. Finally, she strapped her knife to her boot and looked at Rayman.
"Happy?" She enquired.
"Perfectly." Replied Rayman with a mock bow. He watched as Sasha pulled on her coat, struggled between the shoulder straps of the rucksack and staggered slightly under its weight.
Rayman opened the wooden door and threw his weight against it, expecting gale force winds and torrential rain but found out that he had jumped to conclusions. A beam of sunlight fell on his surprised face and there was a light breeze lifting his hair slightly.
"Blimey!" Sasha had stepped out onto the platform, openly marvelling at what seemed to be a totally different world. There was no rain, the sky was clear and the sun was beating down on the ground. There was no sign that the storm had ever occurred at all, even the ground was dry and not at all churned up as it should be. Rayman joined his friend on the platform and watched her struggling out of her coat. His face showed indifference but his voice betrayed his anxiety.
"I don't like this. Even a world as magical as this would show after effects of that storm." Sasha straightened up, her coat rolled up and squashed under her arm.
"You think it was stopped by something?"
"That's exactly what I think."
"Trying to make us think the storm was a one-off, that it was irrelevant?"
"You got it."
"Well maybe Jano's got answers. C'mon." Sasha began to climb down the tree, closely followed by Rayman. When they reached the bottom, they barely had time to take a step away from the tree before the sound of thundering hooves came to their ears and the sight of Storm charging along the dirt track straight at them. Storms eyes were bright and happy and her mane and tail were flowing out behind her. One of Sasha's smiles shone through and she ran a few steps forward, dropping her coat on the ground.
"Storm!" She cried. Storm continued to thunder towards her, throwing up thin clouds of dust every time one of her elegant hooves hit the ground. Rayman tugged at Sasha's wrist.
"Sasha, get out of the way!" Sasha ignored Rayman's urgent voice and stood happily in Storm's path, confident that Storm had control over the situation. Storm showed no sign of slowing down as she got within a few metres of Sasha and stopped literally eye to eye with her. Sasha glanced down at Rayman.
"See, she had it under control!" Rayman didn't answer, he was flat on his back having fainted with relief that Storm had stopped. Sasha rolled her eyes, raised her hand to stroke Storm's face and didn't flinch as Storm jerked her head up to meet it. "Let me see your leg Storm." Storm promptly raised her injured leg and allowed Sasha to examine it. Sasha bent double and looked over the wound, totally oblivious to the fact that Storm had picked up the end of her plait in between her teeth and was chewing it. The skin around the wound was puffy and tender but apart from that, it was healing nicely and didn't seem to be causing much bother judging by the speed with which Storm had turned up.
"Ok girl, that'll heal up completely and no one'll ever know it was there! Oi!!" Sasha realised that her plait was disappearing into Storm's mouth. "Drop it!" Storm spat out the plait and made a noise that sounded uncannily like a human laugh. Sasha wrinkled her nose in disgust as she wiped the horse slobber off with her bare hands. Storm turned her attention on Rayman who still had not emerged from his coma and began to lick his face vigorously. Rayman's hands twitched and he laughed in his sleep.
"Mmmm, get off, that tickles." His eyes flickered open and he let out a startled yell as he saw straight up one of Storm's nostrils and dodged away, accidentally kicking her in the face as he did so. Storm jumped away, snorting in anger. Sasha flung her plait over her shoulder and laughed slightly.
"Serves you right Storm!" Storm snorted angrily again, tossed her mane and took threatening steps towards Rayman who backed away looking absolutely terrified. He raised his hands in defence as Storm broke into a trot but he knew he couldn't attack this creature.
"Don't even think about it madam!" Sasha's voice, sharp and commanding cut across the air. Storm stopped dead and turned to face Sasha with a sheepish look in her eyes. Sasha glared at her, though her inner emotion was amusement. "Rayman's my friend thank you very much, and I'm not keen on seeing him get flattened!" Storm bounced forwards and buried her head in Sasha's chest. Rayman smiled at the forming bond between them. Sasha wrapped her arms around Storm and planted a kiss behind her ear. "I need to ask you a favour." Storm pulled her head away and cocked it to one side as if to say: "What is it?"
"Can you come with us to the Cave Of Bad Dreams? There's something bad coming, we. Me Rayman and Jano I mean, need your help to defeat it. Can you come?" Storm slowly lowered her head and shook it dolefully from side to side. Sasha and Rayman stared at her, disappointment flowing between them. "Why not Storm? Are you. Oh." Sasha remembered something that Jano had read from the Book of the Ancients. "Do we need that uh. What was it? The Hyoran Amulet?" Storm nodded her head then let out a soft whinny and Sasha knew she was saying sorry. Storm suddenly cantered a few paces away from Rayman and Sasha and dropped onto her front knees. She whinnied. Sasha raised her eyebrows as Rayman shot a questioning glance at her. Storm whinnied again, louder this time, more impatiently. Then it hit Rayman.
"Sasha, I think she's going to take us to the cave!" Storm snorted and nodded her head vigorously.
"You're right, d'you ride?"
"No, I don't!"
"I do, so I'll go first." Sasha crouched down to pick up her coat and strode confidently over to Storm's shoulder, swung her leg over and pulled herself up onto her back. Rayman reluctantly followed but as he reached the horse's shoulder, Storm suddenly stood up straight, nearly knocking Sasha off balance. She swung her head round and snorted at Sasha, clearly expressing reluctance to let Rayman anywhere near her back.
"I'm not sure she wants me to ride her." Said Rayman nervously, slowly backing away. Sasha rolled her eyes and spoke to Storm.
"It was your fault you got kicked up the nose Storm, now let him up." Rayman approached again as Storm grudgingly sunk to her knees. Sasha grabbed the hand he extended and pulled him up. He settled himself behind her but before he could get a firm grip around Sasha's waist, Storm had launched straight into a flat out gallop from a standing start. Rayman shut his eyes tight, praying that he wouldn't fall off. Sasha however was casually holding on to a handful of Storm's mane and was experiencing no difficulty in keeping her seat.
The ride on Storm was one of the most wonderful experiences that had ever happened to Sasha. At the speed that Storm was travelling, the wind should have been roaring in her ears and the pounding of Storm's hooves should have been easily audible. However, it was silent. Storm's mane and tail were flowing out behind her but Sasha's dark plait was flat on her back. It seemed to take hours, it seemed to take minutes, Sasha never knew but she did know that they arrived at the Cave of Bad Dreams safely. She dismounted and was surprised to find that her legs were trembling.
"Thanks Storm." Sasha reached out a hand to scratch Storm between her ears. Storm closed her eyes and blew gently through her lips, clearly enjoying the attention. Rayman was frozen to her back and Sasha had to prise him off. He put a hand to his head.
"Never again," He muttered. "Never, ever again."
"Is that her?" Sasha jumped. She hadn't seen or heard Jano approach and his voice had startled her. She nodded.
"This is Storm." Jano came slowly out of the cave and raised a hand to shield his eye from the glaring sun. Storm lowered her head and pawed the ground nervously as he approached her. Jano extended a hand but quickly withdrew it. He glanced up at Sasha, almost as though he was waiting for permission to touch Storm. In reply, Sasha laid a hand on Storm's hindquarters and gave her a gentle shove towards him.
"Don't judge him by what you see." She murmured in an undertone to Storm. She raised her voice. "Go on Jano."
Storm took a few nervous steps forward and Jano raised his hand to meet her. He had nearly made contact with her face when a something behind him spooked her. Panic flared in Storm's eyes as her head snapped up and she jerked around and ran. She was gone in seconds. A moment's silence followed.
"Come into the cave, I've got something you'll need." Jano turned away and disappeared into the tunnel. Sasha was feeling depressed again. Whenever Storm departed, she always felt like that and she was irritated with herself for not being able to explain it. Rayman noticed her expression and he tried to say something comforting.
"She'll come again. She really likes you."
Sasha shrugged.
"I'm really worried about her. Someone's tried to kill her once, what if they go for her again?"
"You don't know that she was attacked, she might've had an."
"Oh, Rayman, you didn't see the state she was in, you didn't see her! A horse doesn't get that worked up about catching its leg on a thorn, it just doesn't happen. No, someone went for her and they'll try again, I just know it."
"Are you two coming?" Jano's voice, quietly commanding, cut through the air. Rayman and Sasha turned towards the guardian who was waving a hand towards the entrance to the cave. Rayman made the first move into the cave but stopped as he saw Sasha staring at the spot where Storm had been just moments before. Jano and Rayman exchanged looks and Jano spoke bracingly to Sasha.
"The sooner you find Shalaki, the sooner you can protect Storm."
Jano had been expecting Sasha to explode in anger after hearing those words but she did nothing of the sort. A tear ran down her face and she nodded.
"Ok."
The interior of the Cave of Bad Dreams was exactly the same as it always was except for the books. A pile of at least ten dusty, ancient books was sitting on the floor and if Rayman had had a neck, he would have broken it falling over them.
"Jano," Rayman said, picking himself off the floor and dusting himself down, "Where did you get all of these books and why did you get them?"
Jano suddenly grinned, a grin that sparkled with mischief.
"The books? Oh they're just what intruders into the cave dropped when I chased them off." He spoke in a tone of utter innocence. Rayman and Sasha exchanged a look and Sasha challenged Jano.
"I've never seen those around before."
"There's a lot you don't see around in here." He replied evenly. Now-" Jano's tone turned business-like and he opened one of the books.
"This," He said, tapping a piece of parchment tucked between the pages, "Is a map showing the route you need to take to find Shalaki. I'd guess that the journey would take a maximum of three days, are you prepared?"
"You have no idea." Muttered Sasha as she remembered how angry she had gotten at the rucksack.
"Alright then, now Sasha, you take this." Jano carefully closed the book and held it out to Sasha. She swung the rucksack off of her back and placed the book inside it. Jano glanced at her edgily, then pulled Rayman away slightly.
"Rayman, It should be a relatively easy journey, as far as I know there are no real dangers on the route but I want you to be careful. We're not working under normal circumstances." Rayman nodded. "And be wary of Shalaki. She. she can help but she can also be a great danger to you. She's a-" Jano lowered his voice even further and Rayman had to lean closer to hear. "She's a twisted ancient."
Rayman's eyebrows shot up and he took a quick glance at Sasha to check that she wasn't watching them.
"A twisted ancient?" He muttered, after seeing that Sasha was still trying to stuff the book into her bag. "A twisted ancient?! How can a twisted ancient help us? And while I think about it, why is she roaming around this world unchecked?"
"She's not roaming as such, I've heard that she's got her own kingdom and that's where the map will guide you to. I think you had better explain to Sasha what a twisted ancient is, you can exercise more control over her when she's appalled. And she will be."
"I don't know much about a twisted ancient myself other than the fact that if you meet one you should climb up the nearest tree and stay there 'til it's gone."
"Well, you know about Shaela and Azrael don't you?"
Rayman's eyes narrowed and his breath came out in a low hiss.
"Everyone knows about them."
"Well, Shalaki's their daughter."
Rayman was spared answering, as Sasha had finished with the rucksack and was staring at him and Jano with a faintly questioning expression. Rayman arranged his face into a smile and hoped that Sasha wasn't about to pull her usual stunt of reading his mind.
"Better get going Sasha."
Sasha nodded her agreement, deliberately not asking what he had on his mind.
Jano escorted them out of the cave and said his farewells with anxiety.
"You two be careful. Just promise me to be careful."
Biting down slight impatience and keen to get moving, Sasha gave him her word and Rayman did the same.
Jano watched as they walked away from him, up the road that led out of Rayman's world and carried on watching as they disappeared into the sunset.
He turned his eye away from the spot where he had lost sight of them and muttered malevolently.
"Shalaki, if you hurt them, I'll."
But what he would do to Shalaki was never found out, as a few Zombie Chickens decided to take that particular moment to make a bid for freedom and Jano chased them back into the cave with a burst of flame from his mouth.
"Accursed creatures." He muttered.
A/N: Ugh, I don't think I'm too happy with this chapter. Well, I guess there's no help for it until I get feedback.
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