Blade Saga
Part Two: The Blade That Twists Plots
By Kat Warrior
Author's note will be at the end.
The mountains were cold in comparison to the forest, which the three travelers actually found refreshing. Traveling in the heat of the lower elevations had tired them out much more easily, slowing their pace. But as they got higher, the air got cooler and made traveling almost pleasant. The journey could have been enjoyable had their objective not been a serious one.
"We'll have to take this hike again when we have Tily back," Rayman commented, "I bet she'd love it up here. The view is awesome, and the air feels almost magical."
"It does," Ly agreed, smiling as she looked out over the forest below. "Mountain air does seem to be enchanted, doesn't it? But it does to all forest creatures. Trees are beautiful things, but they can be a bit stifling, I suppose. To woods-dwellers like us, this air is quite special."
Globox took a deep, satisfied breath. He didn't think he'd ever taken an enjoyable trip up to the mountains. In fact, the only time had been when he and Rayman were trying to save the world from Andre. He'd gotten captured that time, but he wouldn't let it happen again. He had to be useful.
"It's getting chilly up here," Rayman commented, pulling his hood up over his head. "That's on odd feeling when you know it's really summer."
Ly stopped and fished a blue sweater out of her bag while Globox took a ski- cap out that had holes cut in it for his eyes. Uglette had insisted on him taking it and now he was glad that she had.
"This just feels so awkward!" Rayman declared with a laugh when he looked over the three of them, "But let's keep going, huh? I want to be as close to that cave as possible when night comes. I've got a feeling that these mountains aren't too friendly at night."
"Indeed, they aren't," Ly agreed, "Some of my kin watch over them some times, and wolves like to prowl around here after dark looking for something that's strayed from its pack or herd. However, unless hunting has been bad for them of late, the wolves should leave us alone."
"I hope they've had a good meal recently," Rayman murmured as they kept walking. Globox didn't say anything, but it was obvious that he was nervous. He'd never seen a wolf before, but he'd heard about them and how dangerous they could be.
***
Tily lay curled up at the bottom of her cage. She was still terrified, but she had stopped crying long ago. She was just too tired to do that anymore. She just wanted to be at home with Ly, Rayman, Globox, and even Murphy.
She lifted her head when she heard something moving in the shadows of the poorly lit room. She didn't doubt for a moment that it was Arachnid or one of his children scurrying around. She had thought she knew what they wanted when they had captured her, based on the story Ly had told her, but now she wasn't so sure. She'd been placed in a cage and ignored for the most part.
Tily forced herself to sit up and peer out into the darkness.
"Is someone out there?" she asked.
"Yeah. me," a quiet but irritated voice replied, "What do you want, fairy, more bread?"
"No," she informed the voice, "I want to know why I'm here. Is it to give Arachnid power so he can make bad things grow like before?"
"You're a smart one," the voice admitted, "But no. We might use you for that when you get older, but for now we're hoping to draw Rayman to you. He has some pretty awesome powers too, you see, so he can also be helpful. Once we have him, getting your big sister Ly should be a snap. She is the most powerful fairy out there, you know."
Tily was quiet for a moment, letting it sink in. Then she spoke.
"I don't think it'll work," she informed the voice. "I'll bet Rayman can see right through your trick. He's pretty smart, you know. And anyway, there's nothing you could do to make him use his powers for bad."
The voice chuckled. Had it not belonged to one of her captors, Tily would have called it a friendly voice. "We don't need him to use his powers," the voice told her, "We didn't use the fairies themselves before, either. We have other means. but you'll find that out in due time. Now just go back to sleep. Your only job is to be a guest and bait, so you have nothing to fear."
Tily sighed and curled up again. She hoped that Rayman wouldn't fall for the trap. But neither Tily nor her captors knew that he was searching for the sword that had defeated Arachnid the first time around.
***
Rayman rolled over in his sleeping bag and looked at the fire. It was dwindling slowly, but he didn't want to get up and tend it quite yet. A wolf howled not far off, startling him. He calmed soon however, not letting himself worry about being the wolf's meal. If only he knew the language of wolves as Ly did, but she was fast asleep.
A wolf howled again, closer this time. Its howl echoed over the mountains, a lonely, sad sound. And yet, victorious some how.
Globox and Ly were both awake now, looking around in sleepy confusion. When the wolf howled again, even closer, Ly became panicked.
"Quickly, Rayman!" she urged, "Add to the fire! We must be able to see them! They're hungry. they've had bad hunting of late!"
Obediently, Rayman added wood to the fire and poked at it with a stick, keeping his wits about him all the while. He didn't think the wolves would like him much, but Ly and Globox could easily be their targets. But perhaps if they were desperate enough, they would go for him, too.
Rayman stood, preparing to fight the wild animals off. He didn't want to kill them or badly injured them, but his friends needed to be protected.
One wolf snarled as it shook the water out of its fur that had come from one of Globox's small rain clouds. Another one scurried away, having been hit by and energy blast from Ly. Rayman charged his fist and flung it at the biggest wolf he could find, hoping that it was the pack's leader.
The large wolf yelped and then snarled when it was hit. It stood there a moment, gazing at Rayman with its amber eyes. Not wanting to take his eyes off of his enemy, Rayman stared back, unsure of what to do. They remained that way for a few minutes, the chaos around them quickly dying down until stillness was brought back to the night air.
The wolf broke the gaze and then turned to leave, the pack following it. Just before vanishing over a hill, the wolf glanced back at Rayman for a brief moment. Rayman continued to gaze back until the wolves were all gone.
"You should feel honored, Rayman," Ly said quietly, "The Alpha wolf honors you now. You proved to be very brave. The Alpha might even have his pack protect us on our journey."
Rayman turned to look at her quizzically. "Really? All I did was stare at him."
"Yes," she agreed, "But before that you had the courage to strike him to protect your friends, your pack if you will. And then by standing tall and staring him down you proved your courage."
"Let's get back to sleep before anything else happens," Globox suggested, "I'm still sleepy." He emphasized this statement with a large yawn.
They all settled into their sleeping bags again, hoping that they wouldn't be interrupted again until morning.
***
Morning came only a few hours after the attack from the wolves, but the small group of travelers didn't rise with the sun. They were still exhausted and since the cave wasn't too far from where they were, they had silently agreed on sleeping in.
Their late breakfast wasn't much, but they were all too tired to care. Even Ly seemed exhausted. Rayman hadn't thought it possible for fairies to become tired, but he was being proven wrong. Ly wasn't bitter or surly, but she was quite and moved slowly.
"How far is it to the cave? And how will we know which one it is?" Globox wanted to know.
"Not far at all," Ly informed him, her voice quiet and tired, "We should reach it in about two hours. We'll know the cave by the little shrine just outside the entrance. Of course, the cave has been re-created by mortal hands so it is assumed that the place where that philosopher was staying hasn't been re-opened yet. You may have to find your own way through, Rayman."
"I will," he assured her with a smile. He looked at his fist and said, "I might not have dynamite or any of those other fancy explosives, but I think these hands will do me plenty of good."
"Let us hope so for Tily's sake, and possibly the sake of our world," Ly sighed.
***
Ly's estimation was correct, as they reached the cave in two hours exactly. The sun was close to being directly over-head, letting the group of travelers know that it was close to noon. They ate a quick snack for lunch, and then planned out their trip into the cave.
"The passage is narrow," Ly informed her comrades, "Only one of us will be able to go in. Two of us could go in, but it would have to be single-file and would be very inconvenient." She looked at Rayman. "Are you willing to do it?"
"I was born willing!" he replied eagerly. He stood and walked up to the opening. He looked into the cave as far as his eyesight would allow, and then to the small shrine. A small, white marble headstone was settled just about a foot from the entrance with the philosopher's name inscribed on it along with a few other words. "Chasm- His determination inspired us all." Bright, exotic flowers that seemed to have come from Rayman's home forest were tied to the stone, indicating that someone had recently visited.
Rayman turned to Ly and Globox, smiled at them, and then turned and entered the cave. When the darkness enveloped him, the white ring on his stomach started to glow, providing him with the necessary light to travel the rest of the way through the cave. He was rather shocked with this, wondering why it hadn't happened before. But perhaps it was because his travels hadn't taken him into such a poorly-lit cave before.
His every foot-step echoed through the dark emptiness of the cavern, and every now and then he would stop to see if someone was following him. But every time he turned around, he was alone. If someone had been following him, he would have seen them as the cave offered no places to hide.
As he walked, he was grateful that the cave went straight and that there were no decisions to make concerning whether to go left or right. The people who had dug the cave hadn't been fools. In a short time, he came to a dead end. He pushed against the wall and kicked it, to see if the rocks blocking his path would easily crumble. A few pebbles came loose, but nothing else happened.
Rayman wasn't ready to use his fists yet, so he started climbing around on the rocks, searching for a peep hole. He found one, and small though it was, he tried to look through it. Rather than seeing more rocks, he saw black emptiness. That must have been where the sword was.
He leapt off the wall and took several steps back, powering up his fist. When his swirling hand became too much for even him to handle, he let it fly into the wall. Even as the rocks crumbled and fell, he ran the way he had come to avoid being buried.
It took several minutes for the rocks to settle and the dust to clear, but when it did Rayman was able to see into what looked to be a gigantic room. He helicoptered over the mess of rocks and into the new area, looking about in wonder. The many lanterns, bags, and other utensils hanging on the walls along with the shelves of dusty, crumbling books indicated that someone, a philosopher, had once lived there. Rayman knew that he had also died there. He was afraid of finding a skeleton, but there was none. Had Chasm completely decayed already?
His eyes fell upon an object that caught the light of his stomach ring. He approached it carefully, hoping that it was the sword he had come for. After bushing several burlap sacks away and dusting his find off, Rayman was pleased to discover a wonderfully made sword. The blade shown a beautiful blue, and the handle proved to be a sparkling gold with delicate designs molded into it. Surely it had taken the maker years, even decades to complete.
Rayman yelped sharply when, despite how careful he was being in handling the sword, the blade made a slit through the glove and the flesh on his left hand. He instinctively dropped the sword to examine the wound. Surely the blade was filthy from years of neglect and would more than likely cause infection.
The cut wasn't deep, but it still stung greatly. Even as he tried to stop the small amount of bleeding, he noticed that the sword was glowing, and not just from the light emitting from his own body.
The glow grew from soft to blinding, and Rayman was forced to cover his eyes with his hand. What was happening? Was the sword alive with his blood? When the light died down, Rayman removed his hands and looked around. It was all he could do to keep from hollering in shock when he saw someone standing before him looking the sword over. What surprised him even more was that it was a person like him.
"Who are you?" he ventured, "Are you what made the sword glow?"
The stranger looked up, revealing his bright red eyes that were far from hidden behind his long, black forelock. His skin looked at if it was snow- white, but that could have been the room's lighting.
"We both are," he answered to Rayman's second questing, his voice surprisingly low. "I was trapped in it from spilling my blood on it, and your blood freed me from it. I can't thank you enough for that, but now we are drawing life from each other. That means that either one or both of us has to die."
Rayman was quite, not sure of what he should think. He'd cut himself and freed someone who had been trapped in the sword that he needed to save Tily with. And this stranger was convinced that either one or both of them had to die. Was he hallucinating? Had he actually been knocked out by the sword's light and was dreaming?
"But. who are you?" he asked again.
The stranger looked at him for a long time, his expression stoic. "I'm Chasm."
END PART TWO
A/N: Well, there ya have it. Rayman has finally found the sword, but it's caused the whole adventure to go from simple to complex and even more dangerous. And just what kind of person is Chasm and what did he mean? I guess you'll find out next chapter. Chasm, Arachnid, and his children belong to me. Everyone else belongs to Ubi Soft Entertainment.
Part Two: The Blade That Twists Plots
By Kat Warrior
Author's note will be at the end.
The mountains were cold in comparison to the forest, which the three travelers actually found refreshing. Traveling in the heat of the lower elevations had tired them out much more easily, slowing their pace. But as they got higher, the air got cooler and made traveling almost pleasant. The journey could have been enjoyable had their objective not been a serious one.
"We'll have to take this hike again when we have Tily back," Rayman commented, "I bet she'd love it up here. The view is awesome, and the air feels almost magical."
"It does," Ly agreed, smiling as she looked out over the forest below. "Mountain air does seem to be enchanted, doesn't it? But it does to all forest creatures. Trees are beautiful things, but they can be a bit stifling, I suppose. To woods-dwellers like us, this air is quite special."
Globox took a deep, satisfied breath. He didn't think he'd ever taken an enjoyable trip up to the mountains. In fact, the only time had been when he and Rayman were trying to save the world from Andre. He'd gotten captured that time, but he wouldn't let it happen again. He had to be useful.
"It's getting chilly up here," Rayman commented, pulling his hood up over his head. "That's on odd feeling when you know it's really summer."
Ly stopped and fished a blue sweater out of her bag while Globox took a ski- cap out that had holes cut in it for his eyes. Uglette had insisted on him taking it and now he was glad that she had.
"This just feels so awkward!" Rayman declared with a laugh when he looked over the three of them, "But let's keep going, huh? I want to be as close to that cave as possible when night comes. I've got a feeling that these mountains aren't too friendly at night."
"Indeed, they aren't," Ly agreed, "Some of my kin watch over them some times, and wolves like to prowl around here after dark looking for something that's strayed from its pack or herd. However, unless hunting has been bad for them of late, the wolves should leave us alone."
"I hope they've had a good meal recently," Rayman murmured as they kept walking. Globox didn't say anything, but it was obvious that he was nervous. He'd never seen a wolf before, but he'd heard about them and how dangerous they could be.
***
Tily lay curled up at the bottom of her cage. She was still terrified, but she had stopped crying long ago. She was just too tired to do that anymore. She just wanted to be at home with Ly, Rayman, Globox, and even Murphy.
She lifted her head when she heard something moving in the shadows of the poorly lit room. She didn't doubt for a moment that it was Arachnid or one of his children scurrying around. She had thought she knew what they wanted when they had captured her, based on the story Ly had told her, but now she wasn't so sure. She'd been placed in a cage and ignored for the most part.
Tily forced herself to sit up and peer out into the darkness.
"Is someone out there?" she asked.
"Yeah. me," a quiet but irritated voice replied, "What do you want, fairy, more bread?"
"No," she informed the voice, "I want to know why I'm here. Is it to give Arachnid power so he can make bad things grow like before?"
"You're a smart one," the voice admitted, "But no. We might use you for that when you get older, but for now we're hoping to draw Rayman to you. He has some pretty awesome powers too, you see, so he can also be helpful. Once we have him, getting your big sister Ly should be a snap. She is the most powerful fairy out there, you know."
Tily was quiet for a moment, letting it sink in. Then she spoke.
"I don't think it'll work," she informed the voice. "I'll bet Rayman can see right through your trick. He's pretty smart, you know. And anyway, there's nothing you could do to make him use his powers for bad."
The voice chuckled. Had it not belonged to one of her captors, Tily would have called it a friendly voice. "We don't need him to use his powers," the voice told her, "We didn't use the fairies themselves before, either. We have other means. but you'll find that out in due time. Now just go back to sleep. Your only job is to be a guest and bait, so you have nothing to fear."
Tily sighed and curled up again. She hoped that Rayman wouldn't fall for the trap. But neither Tily nor her captors knew that he was searching for the sword that had defeated Arachnid the first time around.
***
Rayman rolled over in his sleeping bag and looked at the fire. It was dwindling slowly, but he didn't want to get up and tend it quite yet. A wolf howled not far off, startling him. He calmed soon however, not letting himself worry about being the wolf's meal. If only he knew the language of wolves as Ly did, but she was fast asleep.
A wolf howled again, closer this time. Its howl echoed over the mountains, a lonely, sad sound. And yet, victorious some how.
Globox and Ly were both awake now, looking around in sleepy confusion. When the wolf howled again, even closer, Ly became panicked.
"Quickly, Rayman!" she urged, "Add to the fire! We must be able to see them! They're hungry. they've had bad hunting of late!"
Obediently, Rayman added wood to the fire and poked at it with a stick, keeping his wits about him all the while. He didn't think the wolves would like him much, but Ly and Globox could easily be their targets. But perhaps if they were desperate enough, they would go for him, too.
Rayman stood, preparing to fight the wild animals off. He didn't want to kill them or badly injured them, but his friends needed to be protected.
One wolf snarled as it shook the water out of its fur that had come from one of Globox's small rain clouds. Another one scurried away, having been hit by and energy blast from Ly. Rayman charged his fist and flung it at the biggest wolf he could find, hoping that it was the pack's leader.
The large wolf yelped and then snarled when it was hit. It stood there a moment, gazing at Rayman with its amber eyes. Not wanting to take his eyes off of his enemy, Rayman stared back, unsure of what to do. They remained that way for a few minutes, the chaos around them quickly dying down until stillness was brought back to the night air.
The wolf broke the gaze and then turned to leave, the pack following it. Just before vanishing over a hill, the wolf glanced back at Rayman for a brief moment. Rayman continued to gaze back until the wolves were all gone.
"You should feel honored, Rayman," Ly said quietly, "The Alpha wolf honors you now. You proved to be very brave. The Alpha might even have his pack protect us on our journey."
Rayman turned to look at her quizzically. "Really? All I did was stare at him."
"Yes," she agreed, "But before that you had the courage to strike him to protect your friends, your pack if you will. And then by standing tall and staring him down you proved your courage."
"Let's get back to sleep before anything else happens," Globox suggested, "I'm still sleepy." He emphasized this statement with a large yawn.
They all settled into their sleeping bags again, hoping that they wouldn't be interrupted again until morning.
***
Morning came only a few hours after the attack from the wolves, but the small group of travelers didn't rise with the sun. They were still exhausted and since the cave wasn't too far from where they were, they had silently agreed on sleeping in.
Their late breakfast wasn't much, but they were all too tired to care. Even Ly seemed exhausted. Rayman hadn't thought it possible for fairies to become tired, but he was being proven wrong. Ly wasn't bitter or surly, but she was quite and moved slowly.
"How far is it to the cave? And how will we know which one it is?" Globox wanted to know.
"Not far at all," Ly informed him, her voice quiet and tired, "We should reach it in about two hours. We'll know the cave by the little shrine just outside the entrance. Of course, the cave has been re-created by mortal hands so it is assumed that the place where that philosopher was staying hasn't been re-opened yet. You may have to find your own way through, Rayman."
"I will," he assured her with a smile. He looked at his fist and said, "I might not have dynamite or any of those other fancy explosives, but I think these hands will do me plenty of good."
"Let us hope so for Tily's sake, and possibly the sake of our world," Ly sighed.
***
Ly's estimation was correct, as they reached the cave in two hours exactly. The sun was close to being directly over-head, letting the group of travelers know that it was close to noon. They ate a quick snack for lunch, and then planned out their trip into the cave.
"The passage is narrow," Ly informed her comrades, "Only one of us will be able to go in. Two of us could go in, but it would have to be single-file and would be very inconvenient." She looked at Rayman. "Are you willing to do it?"
"I was born willing!" he replied eagerly. He stood and walked up to the opening. He looked into the cave as far as his eyesight would allow, and then to the small shrine. A small, white marble headstone was settled just about a foot from the entrance with the philosopher's name inscribed on it along with a few other words. "Chasm- His determination inspired us all." Bright, exotic flowers that seemed to have come from Rayman's home forest were tied to the stone, indicating that someone had recently visited.
Rayman turned to Ly and Globox, smiled at them, and then turned and entered the cave. When the darkness enveloped him, the white ring on his stomach started to glow, providing him with the necessary light to travel the rest of the way through the cave. He was rather shocked with this, wondering why it hadn't happened before. But perhaps it was because his travels hadn't taken him into such a poorly-lit cave before.
His every foot-step echoed through the dark emptiness of the cavern, and every now and then he would stop to see if someone was following him. But every time he turned around, he was alone. If someone had been following him, he would have seen them as the cave offered no places to hide.
As he walked, he was grateful that the cave went straight and that there were no decisions to make concerning whether to go left or right. The people who had dug the cave hadn't been fools. In a short time, he came to a dead end. He pushed against the wall and kicked it, to see if the rocks blocking his path would easily crumble. A few pebbles came loose, but nothing else happened.
Rayman wasn't ready to use his fists yet, so he started climbing around on the rocks, searching for a peep hole. He found one, and small though it was, he tried to look through it. Rather than seeing more rocks, he saw black emptiness. That must have been where the sword was.
He leapt off the wall and took several steps back, powering up his fist. When his swirling hand became too much for even him to handle, he let it fly into the wall. Even as the rocks crumbled and fell, he ran the way he had come to avoid being buried.
It took several minutes for the rocks to settle and the dust to clear, but when it did Rayman was able to see into what looked to be a gigantic room. He helicoptered over the mess of rocks and into the new area, looking about in wonder. The many lanterns, bags, and other utensils hanging on the walls along with the shelves of dusty, crumbling books indicated that someone, a philosopher, had once lived there. Rayman knew that he had also died there. He was afraid of finding a skeleton, but there was none. Had Chasm completely decayed already?
His eyes fell upon an object that caught the light of his stomach ring. He approached it carefully, hoping that it was the sword he had come for. After bushing several burlap sacks away and dusting his find off, Rayman was pleased to discover a wonderfully made sword. The blade shown a beautiful blue, and the handle proved to be a sparkling gold with delicate designs molded into it. Surely it had taken the maker years, even decades to complete.
Rayman yelped sharply when, despite how careful he was being in handling the sword, the blade made a slit through the glove and the flesh on his left hand. He instinctively dropped the sword to examine the wound. Surely the blade was filthy from years of neglect and would more than likely cause infection.
The cut wasn't deep, but it still stung greatly. Even as he tried to stop the small amount of bleeding, he noticed that the sword was glowing, and not just from the light emitting from his own body.
The glow grew from soft to blinding, and Rayman was forced to cover his eyes with his hand. What was happening? Was the sword alive with his blood? When the light died down, Rayman removed his hands and looked around. It was all he could do to keep from hollering in shock when he saw someone standing before him looking the sword over. What surprised him even more was that it was a person like him.
"Who are you?" he ventured, "Are you what made the sword glow?"
The stranger looked up, revealing his bright red eyes that were far from hidden behind his long, black forelock. His skin looked at if it was snow- white, but that could have been the room's lighting.
"We both are," he answered to Rayman's second questing, his voice surprisingly low. "I was trapped in it from spilling my blood on it, and your blood freed me from it. I can't thank you enough for that, but now we are drawing life from each other. That means that either one or both of us has to die."
Rayman was quite, not sure of what he should think. He'd cut himself and freed someone who had been trapped in the sword that he needed to save Tily with. And this stranger was convinced that either one or both of them had to die. Was he hallucinating? Had he actually been knocked out by the sword's light and was dreaming?
"But. who are you?" he asked again.
The stranger looked at him for a long time, his expression stoic. "I'm Chasm."
END PART TWO
A/N: Well, there ya have it. Rayman has finally found the sword, but it's caused the whole adventure to go from simple to complex and even more dangerous. And just what kind of person is Chasm and what did he mean? I guess you'll find out next chapter. Chasm, Arachnid, and his children belong to me. Everyone else belongs to Ubi Soft Entertainment.