AN: (to understand this piece of sillyness - read the review of 27-07)
Alys blinks in the direction of the fleeing Storm. 'Grabs some more chocolat?'she mutters to herself, frowns then sits up. "HEY YOU'RE THE ONE TAKING MY STUFF! Come back here you piece of wind!" Jumps up and pursue. Comes about as far as a MB before slowing down, panting. "Next time... i'm bringing... my horse." she mutteres and returns to her chair, staring dejectedly at the empty box. Hold on, one left. Smiles, sits back and begins to type...
Chapter 19: Taken
"There is something else the council has failed to mention to you." The Tinker said as they landed on his doorstep.
Queen Skyla raised an eyebrow but didn't look very surprised. "There are a lot of things it seems." She said darkly. "It's hard managing a kingdom, or rather the council, when you're not around 247." She looked at the doorway and couldn't help but remember the last time she was here. She closed her eyes and shook her head; she couldn't afford to think about Joanie at the moment. "What is it that the council left out Master Tinker." She said tiredly and followed the old man inside. Her Skydancers piled into the living room.
The Tinker had gone to one of his workbenches and was rummaging around the pieces of junk and gadgets.
"About three weeks ago there was a disturbance at one of the Tor mines." He said in a heavy tone, revering to one of the natural minerals of the Skyrealm. "A load of the mineral was stolen by three heavily disguised, cloaked figures."
Slam shook his head disgusted. "I bet you Twenty bucks that it's Jumbo, Muzzle and Snarl." He said to no one in particular.
The Tinker spared him a smile. "Suspected but no confirmed." He said. "According to Councilman Malakai at least. The Councilwoman Faolin suggested on the spot that we call you in but…"
Skyla's eyes flashed with irritation. "Head Councilman Malakai overruled her no doubt."
"No doubt."
Skyla sighed softly and folded her arms over chest.
"Well, it's not such a big loss." She said. "True, it's valuable but except use it for trade there's nothing Skyclone can do with it."
The Tinker became very silent as he found what he was looking for. "I… Would like to disagree with that." He said in a heavy tone. "There is something I didn't mention to you."
Queen Skyla blinked and frowned at him. "Master Tinker?"
The old man sighed and cleared his table.
"Would one or two of you go to my kitchen?" He queried in the Skydancer's direction. "There's bound to be a few cockroaches in the cupboard. Would you catch them for me? Just one will do."
Sharing a look amongst them, all five moved to the kitchen. Something told them that they didn't want to be in the room for this news.
Skyla was still looking hard at the Tinker.
"What is it?" She asked softly.
The old man didn't answer immediately as he began to set up what looked like a cylinder with Tor crystals encircling the top and bottom.
"Two weeks ago," he began slowly, "the evening you came the girl… I was away for the day. When I came back, I found that my place had been ransacked. Some phials were destroyed, books upended, my whole book case thrown over…" He shook his head to himself before continuing. "At the time I had thought that it was the old tomcat that comes in here every now and again. There were feathers all around so I figured that he had chased a bird in here. There were some random papers missing and one of my note books but, you know how things can get lost in this place."
Not sure how to respond to that, Skyla only stared at him before she glanced back and noticed her Skydancers standing in the kitchen doorway. Slam had his hands enclosed around something.
She motioned for them to come closer.
The Tinker held out his hand as Slam handed him the cockroach. He threw the insect into the closed cylinder and placed a small power cell over the top. The group drew closer as they watched the crystals flare up and create a small shield around the dome.
"Funky." Slam muttered under his breath. The Tinker's eyes were shadowed as he stared back at the boy and opened a small door on the side of the cylinder. Through the barrier they could see the cockroach running around inside before it noticed its passage to freedom. If cockroaches could speak it would've whooped in delight and headed for the exit. When it crossed the barrier it jerked, stumbled and landed on its back. The Tinker picked it up before it could begin it's futile struggle to regain its footing. Holding the bug out to the group he lifted the hard outer exoskeleton of the outer wings.
A cold chill passed through the group as they realize that it didn't have any wings.
"I wanted to tell you about the disturbance." The Tinker said dejectedly. "But then you showed up with the girl and, it just left my mind. I only noticed afterwards that the missing notebook was the one with this design in it. And, I only realized today when I saw Lord Weirmon where it must've gone. If I had know about the missing Tor I would've figured it out sooner but because the council was so closed mouthed about it…"
Skyla shook her head, as she felt the world crumble around her.
"Master Tinker I thought that you of all people would be careful with your inventions." She whispered. "I give you a lot of free rein to do as you please, more than I should according to some people. The least you can give me is…" She cut off what she was going to say and rather turned to her Skydancers.
"We have to handle this very carefully." She said. "I want you to go back to the palace, find out who the witnesses were, and go talk to them. I doubt whether you'll find anything around the mines but just make sure. Also, request a stock take from the Master Miner, I want to know how much of that mineral Skyclone has."
The group nodded and with their own separate bows and acknowledgements of her orders they left the building.
Skyla sighed and turned her attention on the Tinker. She gave him a reassuring smile. "I don't blame you." She said immediately. "This is just turning into a terrible day. Now please, tell me how this works…"
There was a heavy tone that hung around the group as they trudged through the undergrowth. They had gone to the mine as Skyla requested but soon found out that there was nothing new to hear or see. Whatever evidence there was had been destroyed by the passage of time. A bit at a loss of what to do, they had decided to scout around the area Lord Weirmon and the animals had been found.
Still rattled by what they had seen in the palace and at the Tinker's they decided to do it together.
The air on the ground was hot and humid.
Slam glanced up towards the sky before he looked at his friends.
"This is turning into a bum Christmas." He said to no one in particular.
Jade glanced at him but didn't say anything She looked around her but wasn't sure what she was supposed to find.
"I wonder what's going to happen to Joanie?" Camille asked out of the blue.
Jade glared at her.
"We shouldn't think about that now Camille." She said sharply. "It'll only distract us." The dark-skinned girl snorted. "You're one to talk Sister." She said. "I bet you a first shower round that you've been thinking about her the whole time. Anyway, who died and made you queen of what to think?"
Jade blinked and pulled herself up. "That's not…"
"Yo, you guys!" Slam jumped in, recognizing Jade's tone. "Let's keep our cool okay? This is not helping… Where's Breeze and Angelica?"
The two girls immediately forgot their argument and looked around wild-eyed.
"Did you see them leave?" Jade asked Camille, who had walked just in front of them.
"No." The girl said panicky. "They couldn't just…"
Slam took a deep breath. "BREEZE! ANGELICA!" He yelled at the top of his voice. "WHERE ARE…"
"Over here!" Came a faint reply from somewhere ahead of them. "We found something."
Glancing at each other the three flew up and zigzagged through the plant stems.
They found the two missing Skydancers in a strange open clearing.
Angelica was standing over Breeze as he studied the ground. Plants leaves, broken stems and other lobbed off material were scattered around a perfect symmetrical circle.
"This is like, so not normal you guys." Angelica told them wide eyed before she glanced back at Breeze. "See anything?"
The Indian boy stood up. "I think a hurricane did this you guys." He said as they clustered around him. "Quite recently as well. I would say…"
He never got to finish his sentence.
As something pulsed through the clearing, five loud thuds of flesh meeting earth could be heard…
AN: Grinning wickedly You're allowed to hate me for stopping it here. More next week! Take care now, oh, and sorry for the mistakes in some of the previous ones (and this one), still no Beta.
Love you lots like Jelly tots!
Alys.
Alys blinks in the direction of the fleeing Storm. 'Grabs some more chocolat?'she mutters to herself, frowns then sits up. "HEY YOU'RE THE ONE TAKING MY STUFF! Come back here you piece of wind!" Jumps up and pursue. Comes about as far as a MB before slowing down, panting. "Next time... i'm bringing... my horse." she mutteres and returns to her chair, staring dejectedly at the empty box. Hold on, one left. Smiles, sits back and begins to type...
Chapter 19: Taken
"There is something else the council has failed to mention to you." The Tinker said as they landed on his doorstep.
Queen Skyla raised an eyebrow but didn't look very surprised. "There are a lot of things it seems." She said darkly. "It's hard managing a kingdom, or rather the council, when you're not around 247." She looked at the doorway and couldn't help but remember the last time she was here. She closed her eyes and shook her head; she couldn't afford to think about Joanie at the moment. "What is it that the council left out Master Tinker." She said tiredly and followed the old man inside. Her Skydancers piled into the living room.
The Tinker had gone to one of his workbenches and was rummaging around the pieces of junk and gadgets.
"About three weeks ago there was a disturbance at one of the Tor mines." He said in a heavy tone, revering to one of the natural minerals of the Skyrealm. "A load of the mineral was stolen by three heavily disguised, cloaked figures."
Slam shook his head disgusted. "I bet you Twenty bucks that it's Jumbo, Muzzle and Snarl." He said to no one in particular.
The Tinker spared him a smile. "Suspected but no confirmed." He said. "According to Councilman Malakai at least. The Councilwoman Faolin suggested on the spot that we call you in but…"
Skyla's eyes flashed with irritation. "Head Councilman Malakai overruled her no doubt."
"No doubt."
Skyla sighed softly and folded her arms over chest.
"Well, it's not such a big loss." She said. "True, it's valuable but except use it for trade there's nothing Skyclone can do with it."
The Tinker became very silent as he found what he was looking for. "I… Would like to disagree with that." He said in a heavy tone. "There is something I didn't mention to you."
Queen Skyla blinked and frowned at him. "Master Tinker?"
The old man sighed and cleared his table.
"Would one or two of you go to my kitchen?" He queried in the Skydancer's direction. "There's bound to be a few cockroaches in the cupboard. Would you catch them for me? Just one will do."
Sharing a look amongst them, all five moved to the kitchen. Something told them that they didn't want to be in the room for this news.
Skyla was still looking hard at the Tinker.
"What is it?" She asked softly.
The old man didn't answer immediately as he began to set up what looked like a cylinder with Tor crystals encircling the top and bottom.
"Two weeks ago," he began slowly, "the evening you came the girl… I was away for the day. When I came back, I found that my place had been ransacked. Some phials were destroyed, books upended, my whole book case thrown over…" He shook his head to himself before continuing. "At the time I had thought that it was the old tomcat that comes in here every now and again. There were feathers all around so I figured that he had chased a bird in here. There were some random papers missing and one of my note books but, you know how things can get lost in this place."
Not sure how to respond to that, Skyla only stared at him before she glanced back and noticed her Skydancers standing in the kitchen doorway. Slam had his hands enclosed around something.
She motioned for them to come closer.
The Tinker held out his hand as Slam handed him the cockroach. He threw the insect into the closed cylinder and placed a small power cell over the top. The group drew closer as they watched the crystals flare up and create a small shield around the dome.
"Funky." Slam muttered under his breath. The Tinker's eyes were shadowed as he stared back at the boy and opened a small door on the side of the cylinder. Through the barrier they could see the cockroach running around inside before it noticed its passage to freedom. If cockroaches could speak it would've whooped in delight and headed for the exit. When it crossed the barrier it jerked, stumbled and landed on its back. The Tinker picked it up before it could begin it's futile struggle to regain its footing. Holding the bug out to the group he lifted the hard outer exoskeleton of the outer wings.
A cold chill passed through the group as they realize that it didn't have any wings.
"I wanted to tell you about the disturbance." The Tinker said dejectedly. "But then you showed up with the girl and, it just left my mind. I only noticed afterwards that the missing notebook was the one with this design in it. And, I only realized today when I saw Lord Weirmon where it must've gone. If I had know about the missing Tor I would've figured it out sooner but because the council was so closed mouthed about it…"
Skyla shook her head, as she felt the world crumble around her.
"Master Tinker I thought that you of all people would be careful with your inventions." She whispered. "I give you a lot of free rein to do as you please, more than I should according to some people. The least you can give me is…" She cut off what she was going to say and rather turned to her Skydancers.
"We have to handle this very carefully." She said. "I want you to go back to the palace, find out who the witnesses were, and go talk to them. I doubt whether you'll find anything around the mines but just make sure. Also, request a stock take from the Master Miner, I want to know how much of that mineral Skyclone has."
The group nodded and with their own separate bows and acknowledgements of her orders they left the building.
Skyla sighed and turned her attention on the Tinker. She gave him a reassuring smile. "I don't blame you." She said immediately. "This is just turning into a terrible day. Now please, tell me how this works…"
There was a heavy tone that hung around the group as they trudged through the undergrowth. They had gone to the mine as Skyla requested but soon found out that there was nothing new to hear or see. Whatever evidence there was had been destroyed by the passage of time. A bit at a loss of what to do, they had decided to scout around the area Lord Weirmon and the animals had been found.
Still rattled by what they had seen in the palace and at the Tinker's they decided to do it together.
The air on the ground was hot and humid.
Slam glanced up towards the sky before he looked at his friends.
"This is turning into a bum Christmas." He said to no one in particular.
Jade glanced at him but didn't say anything She looked around her but wasn't sure what she was supposed to find.
"I wonder what's going to happen to Joanie?" Camille asked out of the blue.
Jade glared at her.
"We shouldn't think about that now Camille." She said sharply. "It'll only distract us." The dark-skinned girl snorted. "You're one to talk Sister." She said. "I bet you a first shower round that you've been thinking about her the whole time. Anyway, who died and made you queen of what to think?"
Jade blinked and pulled herself up. "That's not…"
"Yo, you guys!" Slam jumped in, recognizing Jade's tone. "Let's keep our cool okay? This is not helping… Where's Breeze and Angelica?"
The two girls immediately forgot their argument and looked around wild-eyed.
"Did you see them leave?" Jade asked Camille, who had walked just in front of them.
"No." The girl said panicky. "They couldn't just…"
Slam took a deep breath. "BREEZE! ANGELICA!" He yelled at the top of his voice. "WHERE ARE…"
"Over here!" Came a faint reply from somewhere ahead of them. "We found something."
Glancing at each other the three flew up and zigzagged through the plant stems.
They found the two missing Skydancers in a strange open clearing.
Angelica was standing over Breeze as he studied the ground. Plants leaves, broken stems and other lobbed off material were scattered around a perfect symmetrical circle.
"This is like, so not normal you guys." Angelica told them wide eyed before she glanced back at Breeze. "See anything?"
The Indian boy stood up. "I think a hurricane did this you guys." He said as they clustered around him. "Quite recently as well. I would say…"
He never got to finish his sentence.
As something pulsed through the clearing, five loud thuds of flesh meeting earth could be heard…
AN: Grinning wickedly You're allowed to hate me for stopping it here. More next week! Take care now, oh, and sorry for the mistakes in some of the previous ones (and this one), still no Beta.
Love you lots like Jelly tots!
Alys.