Wild-filly: *shuffles feet and has decency to look embarrassed* heh.....
sorry?
*Is swatted violently with leftover protest signs by various muses who have been out of work for some time*
Wild-filly: Hey no fair! *knocks muses out of way and returns to keyboard* Am very sorry, but suffered from severe writers block at the same time discovered Naruto and have thus spent every spare computer moment reading the manga and trying to bully my computer into downloading the episodes.
Kaioshin: -_- wild-filly takes her anime very seriously, and wholeheartedly recommends that EVERYONE reading this tries Naruto, as the person who made it is a huge DBZ fan and the series itself is superb.
Wild-filly: ^_^ I may even introduce a new muse.... However he is proving less than easy to kidnap and force to help me write chapters and waste nice readers' time, so I'll get back to you on that next disclaimer.
Kaioshin: *coughs*
Wild-filly: O.O oh yeah, the disclaimer
Disclaimer: Don't own, therefore kindly don't sue, because if you do you will simply be wasting your time as I still don't own anything remotely of value ^_^
***Chapter 14***
Drifting lazily on the cool thermals rippling above the low mountain range, Gohan silently cursed the lack of ki-signature readings here. Back home it would be a piece of cake to locate his brother, even if he and Trunks were suppressing their Ki after breaking or stealing something of Gohan's and fleeing for their lives. Now, it was as if he had lost a major sense; it was like not being able to open one eye.
Vegeta flew a little way off from the group, face giving away no clues as to what he was feeling, but a strong sense of frustration and perhaps even of anxiety surrounded the air about him. Piccolo surveyed the emotionless warrior quietly, continuing his scan of the terrain from the air, yet one eye always fixed on the troubled Saiyan. The stubborn prince would be the last to admit it, but he truly was concerned for the well being of his son.
Tripping ungracefully over a rocky outcrop, Harry sprawled on the mossy ground, nursing a gashed knee. The sharp marble had torn right through his black robes and now left an unpleasant streak of blood along the edges of his robe and trickling down his leg. Hermione clambered awkwardly over the uneven ground over to him.
'Harry, are you alright?'
Harry gritted his teeth and struggled back to his feet, trying to ignore the numbing pain crawling down his leg to join the gently oozing blood. Hermione covered her mouth with one hand in dismay as she noticed the deep cut, 'we'd better put a bandage or something over that. I'm not properly qualified to heal it with magic'.
Harry shook his head stubbornly, 'don't worry, I'm fine. Where's Ron?'
Hermione jerked her head towards an off-shooting valley, 'him and Goku headed over there; if he sees anything he'll shoot off sparks and either us or the ones in the air will see him'.
Harry nodded, gingerly stepping forward towards the next bit of vaguely flat ground. A sharp jolt of pain shot up his leg, but he bit his lip and steadfastly ignored it. There was no way he was going to quit now just because of some stupid little cut leg – there were two children kidnapped by the evillest man in the world out here somewhere, and he had to help get them back in any way he could.
Hermione sighed in exasperation, flyaway hair trawling over her face. If Harry passed out from blood loss, maybe then he'd see sense to ask for help. What was it with male egos? Didn't he remember that one of the aliens was a healer? Either way, they had more urgent matters to attend to. Harry would come to his senses in time, or lose them completely; which ever came sooner.
Gohan did not observe this exchange, instead his glide brought him alongside a particularly forbidding cliff face. There were bigger mountains back home, and more treacherous cliffs, but this one seemed rather unusual for this world, let alone country. Sliding to a stop and hovering pensively in midair, Gohan pondered over just what had caught his attention about this particular cliff. The others surrounding it seemed almost identical, but something irked him about this one.
Head cocked to one side in the classic "confused Son pose", Gohan floated cross-legged in the air, looking startlingly like his father who continued to unsuccessfully locate the boys as he too had several unscheduled meetings with the rather unforgiving ground. What was so special about this particular cliff?
Then he saw it.
*
Cold black eyes casually avoiding the limp body of the fainted Death Eater, the Dark Lord unfolded from his high armchair, lithe form shrouded almost entirely by jet-black robes save only his head. Lord Voldemort appeared in considerably better health than when he had first emerged from the depths of Wormtail's cauldron; not quite so skinny, yet his face remained pallid, eyes snakelike and devoid of emotion.
Striding in a slow, strangely elegant gait, he crossed the hearth to where the snoring boys hovered, bound in shimmering bindings, in the air. Smoothly drawing out a black wand from a hidden pocket in his sleeve, Voldemort murmured an overpowering spell, taking control of Macnair's former charges and releasing the bindings.
Clattering to the floor like loose toys, the two demi-Saiyans thudded onto the densely carpeted hearth, still deep in slumber. The Dark Lord's eyes narrowed to near slits, delving through their minds like a thief in a pyramid, breaking into every corner and exposing every thought laid prone by the innocence of sleep. They were not of this world. They weren't even fully human.
The Dark Lord snorted softly to himself. He himself was no longer fully human; no longer could he be any judge of humanity. These children whoever, were probably even less so than him.
Voldemort had never held much interest in the alien paranoia of muggles and a very obscure branch of the Department of Mysteries, due to the simple fact that he wasn't interested in anything apart from himself. If these two possessed unusual powers due to an alien background, then that was just fate and could easily be manipulated to suit his gain.
Two young, impressionable half-bloods. True their muggle heritage was nothing special, but the warrior blood infused in their veins and wired through their minds was incredible. Too easy would it be to ensnare their minds and use them as puppets. Dumbledore wouldn't kill children, but he may be killed by them.
A low, echoing laugh erupted from the chilled chamber, filling the twisting corridors with a sense of foreboding. If the Dark Lord was happy, then someone somewhere was about to become VERY unhappy, very quickly.
*
'Dad! Piccolo! OVER HERE!'
Gohan stood perched on the rocky ledge, peering intently at the smoother surface of the cliff face. Piccolo's sharp Namekian hearing caught the cry first and the fighter plummeted from the air, diving towards where his former pupil balanced with a look of intense concentration on the ledge below.
From where he was grumbling, trying to extract his leg from a hidden crevice that had suddenly leapt up from where it had been lurking and grabbed the Saiyan's ankle with murderous intent, Son Goku looked up and tried to locate the sound of his eldest son's voice. He could see the fluttering of Piccolo's cape diving down behind an outcrop just a couple of hundred metres ahead of where he was currently trapped. Grinning in relief, Goku gently tapped the ground near where his foot was stuck, creating a series of fissures in the solid rock. Easing his foot from the gap, Goku scanned the area for where the teenagers had disappeared off to.
Ron had met similar problems as to Goku, however was unable to free himself with such ease and his ankle was wedged firmly down a rabbit hole, complete with furry inhabitants not appreciating the sudden door installation. Goku glided over to where Ron was scrabbling the ground for his wand, which had conveniently jumped from his grasp in time of need and was nestled comfortably in a clump of weeds. Seizing him by the shoulders, Goku casually lifted the violently protesting wizard and dumped him on the ground beside his escaped wand.
'Gohan's found something, I'll have to carry you and the others up to the cliff ok?'
Ron stammered furiously, but was not given any opportunity, or notice to respond as Goku grabbed him by the shoulder again and materialised instantaneously on the narrow ledge. Gohan smiled as Ron hurriedly pinned himself against the cliff, edging back from the sheer drop barely a metre away.
'We've found the entrance'.
Tearing his eyes away from the certain death or at least, certain pain just before him, Ron's eyes gingerly surveyed the surface he was standing on. There were deep gouges in the rock beneath him, as though something metallic had ground into them for some time. Something waving gently in the crisp breeze flickered in his range of view. It was a little lock of snagged horsehair caught between two rocks.
Comprehension dawned in Ron's eyes, 'they were taken by a Death Eater on some kind of horse thing, weren't they?'
Gohan nodded, 'I'm sure there's a concealed entrance or something here, since this ledge has the most scrapes in it. Quite a few of the large ledges have some of these marks too, but not as deep'.
Vegeta hovered beside Piccolo, bored concentration writ across his face, 'shall I simply blast our way in, or is there more to this entrance than meets the eye?'
Goku reappeared, this time floating in midair with Harry hanging onto one arm and Hermione gripping the other. Neither seemed very happy with this particular turn of events.
Gohan fixed the probable doorway with an annoyed glare, 'there has to be some way of opening it without alerting everyone that we're here. I know it's inevitable that they'll find out, but I'd rather not have them use Goten or Trunks as hostages too soon'.
Hermione tore her gaze away from the unpleasant ground below and pensively surveyed the stone surface, murmuring to herself as she thought out loud.
'They must use the Dark Mark or something to enter, since it's something that all Death Eaters have and can be used to identify them. If Voldemort were to use the entrance himself, he'd use something different since he doesn't have a tattoo to the best of our knowledge......... but what?'
Something opened in Harry's mind, a brief moment of recognition. Something Dumbledore had said, something that had bothered him for sometime.
'Goku? Could you let me stand on the ledge for a moment?'
Goku glanced at the thin adolescent in surprise, 'sure, do you have an idea?'
'I think so. I'll need to try it though'.
Gohan slid off the ledge to allow Harry more room to manoeuvre his way to the freezing stone, Ron watched carefully as Harry groped down his leg, fingers disappearing into a deep tear in the robe's fabric. Wincing, Harry withdrew his fingers, now smeared with his own blood, spilt on the marble outcrop below.
Tentatively, he pressed his hand against the icy rock, grimacing at the cold and pain of his leg combined. Taking back his hand, the fingerprinted blood stood stark on the iron-grey stone. Nothing happened. Just as Harry was about to sigh and say that he didn't know what else to do, the blood vanished, sinking deep into the mountain.
A burnished gold handle appeared, skull and snake motif even more carefully fashioned; this was the Dark Lord's own door. Seizing the handle, Harry twisted and pushed. The ornate door swung silently open, revealing the pitch-black pathway within.
*
Remus Lupin clattered through the door into Dumbledore's office, breathing heavily and robes in disarray.
'Sorry I took so long Dumbledore, do you know that something has happened to your gargoyle?'
Dumbledore smiled benignly, 'I am aware, don't worry about it Remus'.
Shuffling over to the desk where Snape, McGonagal, Hagrid, Flitwick, Tonks and Moody were already congregated, Lupin moved into a better viewpoint where Albus sat in his squashy armchair. Snape curled his upper lip in distaste, pointedly standing further from Lupin than was completely necessary while Tonks grinned amiably at her comrade.
Dumbledore cleared his throat, 'as some of you already know, our castle has been visited by some strangers who are in fact not of this dimension, the problem however, is that two of them have been taken captive by Voldemort, who is more than capable of exploiting this "gifts". These gifts of theirs' are exceptionally powerful, not of magic origins at all, but something else. They are perfectly able to kill or maim without use of wand or any tool, yet they have offered us no violence in the least. Under mind control, however, we have no such guarantee'.
Moody's magical eye went haywire, sliding in and out of focus, 'some branch of dark art?'
Dumbledore shook his head, 'no, it's some sort of spiritual energy to do with martial arts'.
Moody blinked in surprise, 'they're muggles?'
'Not quite – none of them are entirely human and all are capable of magic in varying degrees'.
Lupin sighed, 'what do the captives look like?'
'No older than nine years each, just like normal children apart from their hairstyles and gifts'.
Tonks' eyes flashed, 'Death Eaters kidnapped children to use as weapons?!'
'It would appear so. Their gifts are extraordinary and I have no doubts that they stand on similar or even greater levels than the adults'.
Hagrid growled, gripping the shaft of his crossbow even tighter, 'have you a plan for us, Professor Dumbledore, sir?'
Dumbledore's eyes darkened, 'yes...... but we cannot act yet. We must wait for the aliens to find and recover the children. There is a possibility that they may prove a match for Voldemort but if they don't, then they will require assistance. It is vital that none of they die here. Especially the small purple elven one, as he is in fact their ruling deity'.
One of Lupin's eyes twitched. This was definitely a mission never to forget.
*
wild-filly: once again I apologise for the very late update, I've just been having a real time of it with homework – I have NOT stopped writing any of my fanfics, I just don't always have enough to time to update as often as I should ^_^ sorry about that!
*Is swatted violently with leftover protest signs by various muses who have been out of work for some time*
Wild-filly: Hey no fair! *knocks muses out of way and returns to keyboard* Am very sorry, but suffered from severe writers block at the same time discovered Naruto and have thus spent every spare computer moment reading the manga and trying to bully my computer into downloading the episodes.
Kaioshin: -_- wild-filly takes her anime very seriously, and wholeheartedly recommends that EVERYONE reading this tries Naruto, as the person who made it is a huge DBZ fan and the series itself is superb.
Wild-filly: ^_^ I may even introduce a new muse.... However he is proving less than easy to kidnap and force to help me write chapters and waste nice readers' time, so I'll get back to you on that next disclaimer.
Kaioshin: *coughs*
Wild-filly: O.O oh yeah, the disclaimer
Disclaimer: Don't own, therefore kindly don't sue, because if you do you will simply be wasting your time as I still don't own anything remotely of value ^_^
***Chapter 14***
Drifting lazily on the cool thermals rippling above the low mountain range, Gohan silently cursed the lack of ki-signature readings here. Back home it would be a piece of cake to locate his brother, even if he and Trunks were suppressing their Ki after breaking or stealing something of Gohan's and fleeing for their lives. Now, it was as if he had lost a major sense; it was like not being able to open one eye.
Vegeta flew a little way off from the group, face giving away no clues as to what he was feeling, but a strong sense of frustration and perhaps even of anxiety surrounded the air about him. Piccolo surveyed the emotionless warrior quietly, continuing his scan of the terrain from the air, yet one eye always fixed on the troubled Saiyan. The stubborn prince would be the last to admit it, but he truly was concerned for the well being of his son.
Tripping ungracefully over a rocky outcrop, Harry sprawled on the mossy ground, nursing a gashed knee. The sharp marble had torn right through his black robes and now left an unpleasant streak of blood along the edges of his robe and trickling down his leg. Hermione clambered awkwardly over the uneven ground over to him.
'Harry, are you alright?'
Harry gritted his teeth and struggled back to his feet, trying to ignore the numbing pain crawling down his leg to join the gently oozing blood. Hermione covered her mouth with one hand in dismay as she noticed the deep cut, 'we'd better put a bandage or something over that. I'm not properly qualified to heal it with magic'.
Harry shook his head stubbornly, 'don't worry, I'm fine. Where's Ron?'
Hermione jerked her head towards an off-shooting valley, 'him and Goku headed over there; if he sees anything he'll shoot off sparks and either us or the ones in the air will see him'.
Harry nodded, gingerly stepping forward towards the next bit of vaguely flat ground. A sharp jolt of pain shot up his leg, but he bit his lip and steadfastly ignored it. There was no way he was going to quit now just because of some stupid little cut leg – there were two children kidnapped by the evillest man in the world out here somewhere, and he had to help get them back in any way he could.
Hermione sighed in exasperation, flyaway hair trawling over her face. If Harry passed out from blood loss, maybe then he'd see sense to ask for help. What was it with male egos? Didn't he remember that one of the aliens was a healer? Either way, they had more urgent matters to attend to. Harry would come to his senses in time, or lose them completely; which ever came sooner.
Gohan did not observe this exchange, instead his glide brought him alongside a particularly forbidding cliff face. There were bigger mountains back home, and more treacherous cliffs, but this one seemed rather unusual for this world, let alone country. Sliding to a stop and hovering pensively in midair, Gohan pondered over just what had caught his attention about this particular cliff. The others surrounding it seemed almost identical, but something irked him about this one.
Head cocked to one side in the classic "confused Son pose", Gohan floated cross-legged in the air, looking startlingly like his father who continued to unsuccessfully locate the boys as he too had several unscheduled meetings with the rather unforgiving ground. What was so special about this particular cliff?
Then he saw it.
*
Cold black eyes casually avoiding the limp body of the fainted Death Eater, the Dark Lord unfolded from his high armchair, lithe form shrouded almost entirely by jet-black robes save only his head. Lord Voldemort appeared in considerably better health than when he had first emerged from the depths of Wormtail's cauldron; not quite so skinny, yet his face remained pallid, eyes snakelike and devoid of emotion.
Striding in a slow, strangely elegant gait, he crossed the hearth to where the snoring boys hovered, bound in shimmering bindings, in the air. Smoothly drawing out a black wand from a hidden pocket in his sleeve, Voldemort murmured an overpowering spell, taking control of Macnair's former charges and releasing the bindings.
Clattering to the floor like loose toys, the two demi-Saiyans thudded onto the densely carpeted hearth, still deep in slumber. The Dark Lord's eyes narrowed to near slits, delving through their minds like a thief in a pyramid, breaking into every corner and exposing every thought laid prone by the innocence of sleep. They were not of this world. They weren't even fully human.
The Dark Lord snorted softly to himself. He himself was no longer fully human; no longer could he be any judge of humanity. These children whoever, were probably even less so than him.
Voldemort had never held much interest in the alien paranoia of muggles and a very obscure branch of the Department of Mysteries, due to the simple fact that he wasn't interested in anything apart from himself. If these two possessed unusual powers due to an alien background, then that was just fate and could easily be manipulated to suit his gain.
Two young, impressionable half-bloods. True their muggle heritage was nothing special, but the warrior blood infused in their veins and wired through their minds was incredible. Too easy would it be to ensnare their minds and use them as puppets. Dumbledore wouldn't kill children, but he may be killed by them.
A low, echoing laugh erupted from the chilled chamber, filling the twisting corridors with a sense of foreboding. If the Dark Lord was happy, then someone somewhere was about to become VERY unhappy, very quickly.
*
'Dad! Piccolo! OVER HERE!'
Gohan stood perched on the rocky ledge, peering intently at the smoother surface of the cliff face. Piccolo's sharp Namekian hearing caught the cry first and the fighter plummeted from the air, diving towards where his former pupil balanced with a look of intense concentration on the ledge below.
From where he was grumbling, trying to extract his leg from a hidden crevice that had suddenly leapt up from where it had been lurking and grabbed the Saiyan's ankle with murderous intent, Son Goku looked up and tried to locate the sound of his eldest son's voice. He could see the fluttering of Piccolo's cape diving down behind an outcrop just a couple of hundred metres ahead of where he was currently trapped. Grinning in relief, Goku gently tapped the ground near where his foot was stuck, creating a series of fissures in the solid rock. Easing his foot from the gap, Goku scanned the area for where the teenagers had disappeared off to.
Ron had met similar problems as to Goku, however was unable to free himself with such ease and his ankle was wedged firmly down a rabbit hole, complete with furry inhabitants not appreciating the sudden door installation. Goku glided over to where Ron was scrabbling the ground for his wand, which had conveniently jumped from his grasp in time of need and was nestled comfortably in a clump of weeds. Seizing him by the shoulders, Goku casually lifted the violently protesting wizard and dumped him on the ground beside his escaped wand.
'Gohan's found something, I'll have to carry you and the others up to the cliff ok?'
Ron stammered furiously, but was not given any opportunity, or notice to respond as Goku grabbed him by the shoulder again and materialised instantaneously on the narrow ledge. Gohan smiled as Ron hurriedly pinned himself against the cliff, edging back from the sheer drop barely a metre away.
'We've found the entrance'.
Tearing his eyes away from the certain death or at least, certain pain just before him, Ron's eyes gingerly surveyed the surface he was standing on. There were deep gouges in the rock beneath him, as though something metallic had ground into them for some time. Something waving gently in the crisp breeze flickered in his range of view. It was a little lock of snagged horsehair caught between two rocks.
Comprehension dawned in Ron's eyes, 'they were taken by a Death Eater on some kind of horse thing, weren't they?'
Gohan nodded, 'I'm sure there's a concealed entrance or something here, since this ledge has the most scrapes in it. Quite a few of the large ledges have some of these marks too, but not as deep'.
Vegeta hovered beside Piccolo, bored concentration writ across his face, 'shall I simply blast our way in, or is there more to this entrance than meets the eye?'
Goku reappeared, this time floating in midair with Harry hanging onto one arm and Hermione gripping the other. Neither seemed very happy with this particular turn of events.
Gohan fixed the probable doorway with an annoyed glare, 'there has to be some way of opening it without alerting everyone that we're here. I know it's inevitable that they'll find out, but I'd rather not have them use Goten or Trunks as hostages too soon'.
Hermione tore her gaze away from the unpleasant ground below and pensively surveyed the stone surface, murmuring to herself as she thought out loud.
'They must use the Dark Mark or something to enter, since it's something that all Death Eaters have and can be used to identify them. If Voldemort were to use the entrance himself, he'd use something different since he doesn't have a tattoo to the best of our knowledge......... but what?'
Something opened in Harry's mind, a brief moment of recognition. Something Dumbledore had said, something that had bothered him for sometime.
'Goku? Could you let me stand on the ledge for a moment?'
Goku glanced at the thin adolescent in surprise, 'sure, do you have an idea?'
'I think so. I'll need to try it though'.
Gohan slid off the ledge to allow Harry more room to manoeuvre his way to the freezing stone, Ron watched carefully as Harry groped down his leg, fingers disappearing into a deep tear in the robe's fabric. Wincing, Harry withdrew his fingers, now smeared with his own blood, spilt on the marble outcrop below.
Tentatively, he pressed his hand against the icy rock, grimacing at the cold and pain of his leg combined. Taking back his hand, the fingerprinted blood stood stark on the iron-grey stone. Nothing happened. Just as Harry was about to sigh and say that he didn't know what else to do, the blood vanished, sinking deep into the mountain.
A burnished gold handle appeared, skull and snake motif even more carefully fashioned; this was the Dark Lord's own door. Seizing the handle, Harry twisted and pushed. The ornate door swung silently open, revealing the pitch-black pathway within.
*
Remus Lupin clattered through the door into Dumbledore's office, breathing heavily and robes in disarray.
'Sorry I took so long Dumbledore, do you know that something has happened to your gargoyle?'
Dumbledore smiled benignly, 'I am aware, don't worry about it Remus'.
Shuffling over to the desk where Snape, McGonagal, Hagrid, Flitwick, Tonks and Moody were already congregated, Lupin moved into a better viewpoint where Albus sat in his squashy armchair. Snape curled his upper lip in distaste, pointedly standing further from Lupin than was completely necessary while Tonks grinned amiably at her comrade.
Dumbledore cleared his throat, 'as some of you already know, our castle has been visited by some strangers who are in fact not of this dimension, the problem however, is that two of them have been taken captive by Voldemort, who is more than capable of exploiting this "gifts". These gifts of theirs' are exceptionally powerful, not of magic origins at all, but something else. They are perfectly able to kill or maim without use of wand or any tool, yet they have offered us no violence in the least. Under mind control, however, we have no such guarantee'.
Moody's magical eye went haywire, sliding in and out of focus, 'some branch of dark art?'
Dumbledore shook his head, 'no, it's some sort of spiritual energy to do with martial arts'.
Moody blinked in surprise, 'they're muggles?'
'Not quite – none of them are entirely human and all are capable of magic in varying degrees'.
Lupin sighed, 'what do the captives look like?'
'No older than nine years each, just like normal children apart from their hairstyles and gifts'.
Tonks' eyes flashed, 'Death Eaters kidnapped children to use as weapons?!'
'It would appear so. Their gifts are extraordinary and I have no doubts that they stand on similar or even greater levels than the adults'.
Hagrid growled, gripping the shaft of his crossbow even tighter, 'have you a plan for us, Professor Dumbledore, sir?'
Dumbledore's eyes darkened, 'yes...... but we cannot act yet. We must wait for the aliens to find and recover the children. There is a possibility that they may prove a match for Voldemort but if they don't, then they will require assistance. It is vital that none of they die here. Especially the small purple elven one, as he is in fact their ruling deity'.
One of Lupin's eyes twitched. This was definitely a mission never to forget.
*
wild-filly: once again I apologise for the very late update, I've just been having a real time of it with homework – I have NOT stopped writing any of my fanfics, I just don't always have enough to time to update as often as I should ^_^ sorry about that!
