"There you are, you little devil!" hissed Cho. He ducked behind the stump of what used to be a towering tree. Peeking out from behind it, he saw the stranger, who beside another stump. Out of his brown robes, the sudden guest pulled out a little book, and began to read it.
"What's this," thought Cho, "Not another linking book. Atrus wouldn't be that risky. But now I probably could see the stranger's intentions." Cho sneaked over to the back of the stranger's stump. As he slowly walked towards it, being sure that he remained unnoticed, he remembered this land from his youth.
He loved to climb the trees, but many stumps replaced them. He loved to sit in their shade, but it was much too warm now. He loved to see all the wonderful creature who lived in the forest, but all the creatures were gone with their homes. Cho always wished for the trees to grow again, but Gehn would probably cut down. The forest was very much like D'ni, Riven, and even Gehn: it was great once, but no longer.
Finally, Cho snuck up behind the stranger to see what he was reading - a message from Atrus? A map of Riven? A list of all the weaknesses that Gehn and his army had? - and saw... something. What, he wasn't sure.
It looked like a diary of some sort, but it was not written in D'ni, nor Rivenese, nor any language he had ever seen before. What was it? Cho remembered going into Gehn's laboratory on Book Assembly (or Crater) Island, and he read a diary with similar text. But what language was it? Using a foreign language to write was to Gehn's advantage, for nobody could see what he was up to, but it was also to Atrus's advantage, now.
After a while, the stranger closed the diary, and walked over to the opening of what looked like an underground shaft. Cho knew that threw this shaft, the Book Makers shipped wood to be chipped at Book Assembly Island. To Cho's amazement, the stranger climbed into the mine car inside the shaft. Was he that crazy? The car had a bottom that opened when it reached Book Assembly Island, dumping its contents into the chipper.
Cho then had an idea. He would sneak over to the mine car, and snatch the diary from the stranger. Then, he would bring it to Gehn. Genius!
Slowly and quietly, he climbed down to the mine car, making sure that the stranger was not looking. He carefully outstretched his arm to him. And then... the stranger pulled the lever, and the car began to move.
Frantically looking around, Cho realized that his sleeve was stuck to the back car. But it was too late to do anything now. The car was moving at full force, with Cho dangling behind it!
******************************
A strange man climbed up to the boiler. His heart was racing, but only because of an exciting ride on a mine car. It reminded him of a roller coaster on his home Age. He felt a bit of disappointment, having his Trap Book taken away by a man in a black-and-red suit, but otherwise he was just curious about this mysterious world, and who this "Gehn" guy exactly was. And why the car felt like it was held back by something.
The man did not notice someone limping over to the lake. This person was badly scratched and bruised, as if knocked over and over into hard stones. His clothes were ripped, and were incredibly filthy. The bottom of his pants were drenched, as if plunged into water, and singed, as if burnt by the special heat rings used to repel the water. He could hardly walk, let alone limp or crawl, since his arms and legs happened to be very sore, as if stretched out and dangled like a flag from a certain mine car.
Cho groaned as he looked at his reflection. His face was scratched, and black with soot. As he washed it, making sure not to drink any of the water since he did not have any powder on him, he thought only one thing: Stupid job! Stupid mine car! Stupid stranger! Stupid promotion!
After he finished washing his face, Cho turned around and noticed two things: the boiler door was open and the stranger was gone. But surely, the stranger would simply be inside the boiler, seeing in disgust that the pipe was overflowed with water, blocking the way out, right? Cho entered the boiler. No! The water was gone! The stranger must have been smarter than he thought.
Cho climbed down the pipe to the crater wall, and from there, he walked inside to the underground Ytram pool. This was another symbol of Gehn's madness and cruelty. Gehn would lower down a cage into the pool, complete with a food pellet inside. Once he heard the cage close, Gehn would raise up the cage, and inside would be a Ytram frog, which was desperately croaking inside - as if Gehn would listen to its pleas. And then Gehn would open the cage a bit to see his price, and a hideous grin rose on his face. Finally, he would take his heek, thrust open the cage, and... you could guess the rest.
Gehn didn't even use the Ytram for a good cause, either - he didn't even use the Ytrams for decoration like what he did with whark bones until he used the wharks against the villagers. Instead, he just smoked them in his pipe, laughing greedily about all the things he made the Rivenese do. Fortunately, Gehn got his just reward: Cho sometimes found Gehn lying unconscious in his office, his pipe lying next to him, still lit.
The door to the pool was opened, and Cho walked in. But as soon as he did, he felt an unusual sense of silence. It was quiet. Too quiet. Then, he found out the reason: someone had turned off the fan that was usually making a racket. And then he saw it...
A pair of feet sliding up the chute where the fan was. And Cho had no choice but to follow it. But he didn't want to go up there! Who knew where it led? Cho thought, "What would Gehn say? What advice would he give?"
And said Cho heard a voice in his head; the voice of Gehn, say, "Shut up and stop whining, you idiot!" Okay, so Gehn wasn't the best advice giver.
********************************
"Now... where... you little... nuisance?" Hissed Cho. The stranger was now going into the prison - the prison, out of all places! The stranger led him all over Riven doing who-knows-what, and had him dangle like a flag from the mine car, had him thrown off a Maglev - twice! - and other annoying things. What now?
The stranger opened the drain, and pulled something at the bottom. Suddenly, the prison shook, and the a part of the side wall opened up, revealing a hidden passage. So that's how the Moiety prisoners escaped!
Cho followed the stranger in. Apparently, the stranger looked like he was here before. The mysterious person opened the stone door in the middle of the hallway, and large, stone room.
The room was circular, and around the room, there were strange stone pillars, each with a design of a creature engraved on it. But the most horrifying thing about this room was that in front, surrounded by Rivenese water, was the emblem of a Moiety dagger. But there was nothing to worry about... right?
The stranger began pushing down stone pillars:
A fish: All the thing did was sink to the floor.
A scarab beatle: Strange. All it did was sink to the floor, yet the stranger pushed it down faster, with more excitement.
A Ytram: Sank to the floor again, except faster. Wait a minute- a fish, a scarab beatle, and a Ytram. Weren't these major creatures of Riven?
A Sunner: The stranger was racing now, a smile exploded onto his face.
A Whark: The most important creature of Riven. But here something unusual happened.
The water in front of the Moiety dagger began to ripple, and then flow away. The stranger's smile lowered into a curious stare. And then, the dagger emblem flipped over to reveal...
A Linking Book. Its edges were burnt, and it had a crystal on its Gateway Image, but it was a Linking Book. The stranger slowly walked over to it, and slowly put his hand on the Linking Book, and vanished.
Cho was shocked. A linking book! The Moiety found a way to power up a Linking Book! They had an Age, and Cho knew exactly how to enter it! Gehn would love him now.
Cho saw it right in front of his eyes: He would tell Gehn everything, and Gehn would send Maintainers into the Age to crush all the rebels and retrieve the special "book windows" that was spotted with one rebel, used to power up Linking Books faster and easier than Fire-marble Domes. Then, as a reward, Gehn would make Cho the second-in-command of a thousand worlds. And he would give him ten private Ages, he would be clothed in the finest clothes, wear the finest jewelry, sip wine as if it was just water, and have a woman in each arm.
And he would have palaces - five, ten, as many as trees!- each at least 40 stories tall! He would fill them with expensive antique vases and chandeliers and paintings, and gold! Fabulous gold! He would roll in his gold coins as if they were just fallen autumn leaves. He would learn to juggle his plentiful gold bars; who would care if one dropped and shattered, for he would have a million or so more! And he would stroke and gloat upon his thousands upon thousands of gold nuggets. He would be rich! Filthy, filthy rich!
But then, Cho heard voices behind him.
"Has the messenger of Lord Atrus linked yet," whispered one voice.
"Yes," whispered another voice, similar to the other except a bit muffled, "Let's follow... MAINTAINER! MAINTAINER ON MOIETY GROUND!"
"Where?"
"Right there!"
Cho turned around and saw two rebels: one, perhaps a maintenance worker, who was clad in normal Rivenese attire, and another, who was wearing the notorious red-and-black suit and mask and a blow gun in his hand. The Moiety rebel without a uniform yelled, "Don't just stand there! Get him! GET HIM!"
Cho shrieked, and ran towards the Linking Book. Then, he leaped for the Book, leaving the back of his neck exposed. And the last thing he remembered was the familiar feeling of slipping out of consciousness, combined with the sickening lurch of linking.
*****************************
To be continued...
Sorry for taking so long, but since school's resumed, I don't have as much time to write.
Thanks to all of the reviewers! Keep up the good work, and I'll write the next chapter as soon as possible!
"What's this," thought Cho, "Not another linking book. Atrus wouldn't be that risky. But now I probably could see the stranger's intentions." Cho sneaked over to the back of the stranger's stump. As he slowly walked towards it, being sure that he remained unnoticed, he remembered this land from his youth.
He loved to climb the trees, but many stumps replaced them. He loved to sit in their shade, but it was much too warm now. He loved to see all the wonderful creature who lived in the forest, but all the creatures were gone with their homes. Cho always wished for the trees to grow again, but Gehn would probably cut down. The forest was very much like D'ni, Riven, and even Gehn: it was great once, but no longer.
Finally, Cho snuck up behind the stranger to see what he was reading - a message from Atrus? A map of Riven? A list of all the weaknesses that Gehn and his army had? - and saw... something. What, he wasn't sure.
It looked like a diary of some sort, but it was not written in D'ni, nor Rivenese, nor any language he had ever seen before. What was it? Cho remembered going into Gehn's laboratory on Book Assembly (or Crater) Island, and he read a diary with similar text. But what language was it? Using a foreign language to write was to Gehn's advantage, for nobody could see what he was up to, but it was also to Atrus's advantage, now.
After a while, the stranger closed the diary, and walked over to the opening of what looked like an underground shaft. Cho knew that threw this shaft, the Book Makers shipped wood to be chipped at Book Assembly Island. To Cho's amazement, the stranger climbed into the mine car inside the shaft. Was he that crazy? The car had a bottom that opened when it reached Book Assembly Island, dumping its contents into the chipper.
Cho then had an idea. He would sneak over to the mine car, and snatch the diary from the stranger. Then, he would bring it to Gehn. Genius!
Slowly and quietly, he climbed down to the mine car, making sure that the stranger was not looking. He carefully outstretched his arm to him. And then... the stranger pulled the lever, and the car began to move.
Frantically looking around, Cho realized that his sleeve was stuck to the back car. But it was too late to do anything now. The car was moving at full force, with Cho dangling behind it!
******************************
A strange man climbed up to the boiler. His heart was racing, but only because of an exciting ride on a mine car. It reminded him of a roller coaster on his home Age. He felt a bit of disappointment, having his Trap Book taken away by a man in a black-and-red suit, but otherwise he was just curious about this mysterious world, and who this "Gehn" guy exactly was. And why the car felt like it was held back by something.
The man did not notice someone limping over to the lake. This person was badly scratched and bruised, as if knocked over and over into hard stones. His clothes were ripped, and were incredibly filthy. The bottom of his pants were drenched, as if plunged into water, and singed, as if burnt by the special heat rings used to repel the water. He could hardly walk, let alone limp or crawl, since his arms and legs happened to be very sore, as if stretched out and dangled like a flag from a certain mine car.
Cho groaned as he looked at his reflection. His face was scratched, and black with soot. As he washed it, making sure not to drink any of the water since he did not have any powder on him, he thought only one thing: Stupid job! Stupid mine car! Stupid stranger! Stupid promotion!
After he finished washing his face, Cho turned around and noticed two things: the boiler door was open and the stranger was gone. But surely, the stranger would simply be inside the boiler, seeing in disgust that the pipe was overflowed with water, blocking the way out, right? Cho entered the boiler. No! The water was gone! The stranger must have been smarter than he thought.
Cho climbed down the pipe to the crater wall, and from there, he walked inside to the underground Ytram pool. This was another symbol of Gehn's madness and cruelty. Gehn would lower down a cage into the pool, complete with a food pellet inside. Once he heard the cage close, Gehn would raise up the cage, and inside would be a Ytram frog, which was desperately croaking inside - as if Gehn would listen to its pleas. And then Gehn would open the cage a bit to see his price, and a hideous grin rose on his face. Finally, he would take his heek, thrust open the cage, and... you could guess the rest.
Gehn didn't even use the Ytram for a good cause, either - he didn't even use the Ytrams for decoration like what he did with whark bones until he used the wharks against the villagers. Instead, he just smoked them in his pipe, laughing greedily about all the things he made the Rivenese do. Fortunately, Gehn got his just reward: Cho sometimes found Gehn lying unconscious in his office, his pipe lying next to him, still lit.
The door to the pool was opened, and Cho walked in. But as soon as he did, he felt an unusual sense of silence. It was quiet. Too quiet. Then, he found out the reason: someone had turned off the fan that was usually making a racket. And then he saw it...
A pair of feet sliding up the chute where the fan was. And Cho had no choice but to follow it. But he didn't want to go up there! Who knew where it led? Cho thought, "What would Gehn say? What advice would he give?"
And said Cho heard a voice in his head; the voice of Gehn, say, "Shut up and stop whining, you idiot!" Okay, so Gehn wasn't the best advice giver.
********************************
"Now... where... you little... nuisance?" Hissed Cho. The stranger was now going into the prison - the prison, out of all places! The stranger led him all over Riven doing who-knows-what, and had him dangle like a flag from the mine car, had him thrown off a Maglev - twice! - and other annoying things. What now?
The stranger opened the drain, and pulled something at the bottom. Suddenly, the prison shook, and the a part of the side wall opened up, revealing a hidden passage. So that's how the Moiety prisoners escaped!
Cho followed the stranger in. Apparently, the stranger looked like he was here before. The mysterious person opened the stone door in the middle of the hallway, and large, stone room.
The room was circular, and around the room, there were strange stone pillars, each with a design of a creature engraved on it. But the most horrifying thing about this room was that in front, surrounded by Rivenese water, was the emblem of a Moiety dagger. But there was nothing to worry about... right?
The stranger began pushing down stone pillars:
A fish: All the thing did was sink to the floor.
A scarab beatle: Strange. All it did was sink to the floor, yet the stranger pushed it down faster, with more excitement.
A Ytram: Sank to the floor again, except faster. Wait a minute- a fish, a scarab beatle, and a Ytram. Weren't these major creatures of Riven?
A Sunner: The stranger was racing now, a smile exploded onto his face.
A Whark: The most important creature of Riven. But here something unusual happened.
The water in front of the Moiety dagger began to ripple, and then flow away. The stranger's smile lowered into a curious stare. And then, the dagger emblem flipped over to reveal...
A Linking Book. Its edges were burnt, and it had a crystal on its Gateway Image, but it was a Linking Book. The stranger slowly walked over to it, and slowly put his hand on the Linking Book, and vanished.
Cho was shocked. A linking book! The Moiety found a way to power up a Linking Book! They had an Age, and Cho knew exactly how to enter it! Gehn would love him now.
Cho saw it right in front of his eyes: He would tell Gehn everything, and Gehn would send Maintainers into the Age to crush all the rebels and retrieve the special "book windows" that was spotted with one rebel, used to power up Linking Books faster and easier than Fire-marble Domes. Then, as a reward, Gehn would make Cho the second-in-command of a thousand worlds. And he would give him ten private Ages, he would be clothed in the finest clothes, wear the finest jewelry, sip wine as if it was just water, and have a woman in each arm.
And he would have palaces - five, ten, as many as trees!- each at least 40 stories tall! He would fill them with expensive antique vases and chandeliers and paintings, and gold! Fabulous gold! He would roll in his gold coins as if they were just fallen autumn leaves. He would learn to juggle his plentiful gold bars; who would care if one dropped and shattered, for he would have a million or so more! And he would stroke and gloat upon his thousands upon thousands of gold nuggets. He would be rich! Filthy, filthy rich!
But then, Cho heard voices behind him.
"Has the messenger of Lord Atrus linked yet," whispered one voice.
"Yes," whispered another voice, similar to the other except a bit muffled, "Let's follow... MAINTAINER! MAINTAINER ON MOIETY GROUND!"
"Where?"
"Right there!"
Cho turned around and saw two rebels: one, perhaps a maintenance worker, who was clad in normal Rivenese attire, and another, who was wearing the notorious red-and-black suit and mask and a blow gun in his hand. The Moiety rebel without a uniform yelled, "Don't just stand there! Get him! GET HIM!"
Cho shrieked, and ran towards the Linking Book. Then, he leaped for the Book, leaving the back of his neck exposed. And the last thing he remembered was the familiar feeling of slipping out of consciousness, combined with the sickening lurch of linking.
*****************************
To be continued...
Sorry for taking so long, but since school's resumed, I don't have as much time to write.
Thanks to all of the reviewers! Keep up the good work, and I'll write the next chapter as soon as possible!