Chapter 5: Caught!
~~~~~~~~~~
I woke up woozily in a dank stone dungeon. The stone was a deep sort of green, obviously unkept because it was very cracked and lined with slime. Water was dripping from the ceiling onto my head. I looked up and got an eyefull of dirty water. I shook it out and looked around warily. There was a large wooden door, held to the stone with iron hinges. There were no windows of any kind, and I was hung up by my wrists and ankles by heavy iron manacles. I was also strapped to the wall by gilded bars across my chest and knees.. Luckily, the incredible pressure trying to pull my arms and legs from theyr sockets more then masked the chafing and the back pain. I couldnt move anything but my head. I looked up warily as the huge door swung open. A tough looking Gazimon entered.. If you dont know, Gazimon are bipedal rabbits. They typically have scruffy greyish blue fur and black apikey marks above and below theyr eyes, and long tails with leather wrapped around the end and a poof of fur. Theyr claws are quite long. This one was carrying a lunch tray, which contained a plate of crude bread, some questionable meat, and a shallow bowl of water. He pulled up a small stepladder and picked up some of the meat.
"Here..Eat..You'll feel better" It said shortly.
I tilted my head forward and pulled it into my mouth tiredly. It tasted like an old boot, except without the flavor and as if it was an old boot that had stepped in many things during its lifetime. Needless to say, it wasnt good...The only thing that stopped me from spitting it out was the screaming hunger. I also ate the bread when it was offered..It wasnt much better. It somehow managed to be stale, tough, and soggy at the same time. Next, it carefully tipped the bowl up, letting some undeniably filthy and stale water mostly make it through my parched lips. The rest splashed down and soaked my clothes. I felt a little better, though...Despite the bad taste in my mouth. I attempted to get some answers, not really expecting any...
"Why am I here?" I asked breathlessly
"My tribe doesnt trust humans....At all...Sorry"
"So why are they feeding me?"
"Technically...Im not supposed to be down here, let alone giving you food.They uh...Want you to die, actually."
"....Why are you here then?"
"Because..Iv never seen a human. And I wanna get to know you. I dont beleive the stories they tell of them..."
"Like what?"
"That theyr all just controlling maniacs that kill whatever they dont understand"
I didnt have the heart to tell him how right they were..."Were not all like that"
"Thats what I said, but the queen insisted..." He sighed heavily "Now its my turn to ask questions..Why are you here?"
"Im here to save someone I love...But I dont seem to be doing well.."
He looked me in the eye, dead serious.." Really?"
" Of course!..Why would I lie about something like that?"
"To save your skin"
"You dont know me very well...I hate to ask, but could you help me get out of here?"
He looked troubled....He looked abck up at me "Ill see what I can do..I cant promise much..."
He left me there, taking the tray out with him. I hoped he could get me out...I wondered what he had in mind. There was no use dwelling on it now...I tried to sleep against the rough stone and uncomfortable chains...Finally, blackness overcame me and I difted off. I had a dream of my brother. He was sitting at a computer, typing away at a very long looking computer code...He seemed to be hacking something. Suddenly, he looked aound behind the chair he was at and gave a big grin....After that, I saw only blackness, like the tape had been ripped away. After what seemed like seconds of dark, I awoke to the sound of heavy fighting oustide my cell. I futiley turned my head, as if I could see through the stone..All i could tell was the there were flashing lights out the door, which I could see under the crack of it...Someone was doing some serious damage, because the wall was chipping in places. The door was kicked roughly open by the same Gazimon as before...
"Come on, kid, move it!"
"I cant, Im chained to the wall!"
"Are you now? Static Force!"
He let loose a shock. But it didnt LOOK like static. It looked like at least a million volter...He aimed it very precisely, because instead of the iron catching the voltage and electrovuting me, the wall it was held to was smashed. The manacles clanged uselessly to the floor. I dropped down in short order, rubbing cirulation back into my limbs. He tosses me my pack, too... Allright! He obviously knew what he was doing...
"Thanks..."
"Dont mention it" Was his hurried, slightly panic reply..
I decided that whatever was worrying him, I should get away from it...I picked up my pack, took out the iron sword, and strapped it to my back. I started for the door, but felt long claws go through my coller and yank me back just in time for two beams of electricity to miss me. The tiny hairs on my arm stoof up and two Gazimon burst through the door. They didnt look near as strong as the one that was with me, so I didnt worry too much. I took one by surprise, beating it to the head with the flat of the heavy blade. The Gazimon that was with me took out the other with a quick boot to the chest. We made tracks out the door, him in the lead. We went through a twisting maze of corridors, all of the same stone until we finally got to a slightly better kept section. The stone was clean and grey, and much more evenly built. Then it got rough. Gazimon were practically throwing themselves at us now...One particularly large group had to be zapped out of the way. We were just a few yards away from a large drawbridge...When the floor started shaking.
"Whats that?" I asked nervously
"Thats... the queen.." He said with a pained expression.
"Queen??"
"You better lower the drawbridge..Ill hold her off"
I ran to the heavy wooden bridge and looked for the way to activate it...It wasnt going well. I couldnt find any mechanisms of any kind. No pullleys, levers, buttons, nobs, switches, or anything...I looked back to my guide for help....He was busy. He was fighitng what had caused the floor to shake. I behled, in utter disgust, the fattest, ugliest Gazimon yet. She must have weighed a ton. And did I mention ugly? Her fur was freyed in some places, and there was a small trail of drool running down on side of her chin, and a trail of meat juice going down the other side. I frankly couldnt tell how she managed to move. Even her tail was fat. She elled in a voice that sounded like nails on a chalk board while a cat sat on an oven...
"Why are you lettting him escape?! Dont you see he just wants to enslave us all??"
He was obviously trying to reason with her, while avoiding the heavy, clumsy fists she was swinging around. "He is trying no such thing! If youd just give him a chance-"
"Why would I do that? Im the Queen! You do what I say or else!!Now apprehend that human before he figures out where the control pad is!"
Luckily, she was stupid too...I immediatly started rubbing my hand aong the wall around the exit. I couldnt feel anything softer then stone...I resorted to knocking on it. Success! I found a hollow spot, and started to tug at the seam of it. I had no luck..I gave up and banged my head on the top of the hollow brick. To my surprise, the stone swung down on a hidden hinge, dangling down. I turned around in triumph to tell the Gazimon we could get outta here. Severel things happened at once..I heard a sound that was like a squeak..What I saw was amazing. The Gazimon I was escaping with had apparantly leaped forward, tired of evading, and buried his fist into the severel folds of fat. The slovenly creature's eyes were bugged out, a look of utter surprise etched across her face. The Gazimon fell the the floor gracefully. The Queen didnt. She crashed down, making an impact the actually dented the stone. I was surprised she didnt roll down the hall...
"Sorry.." Gazimon said shortly, then hurried over towards me "What are you doing? Open the door!"
I hastily pressed on the blue pad that had shown itself. The bridge lowered..It was going painfully slow, and I heard marching footsteps coming down the hall...Gazimon looked worried.
"Thatll be the Elite Guard.."
"What are they?"
"What do they sound like?" He said shortly
"Uh..How strong..Are they?"
"Pretty tough..."
"Have you ever fought them?"
"Why would I do that? Im the captain.." That explained a few things. Gazimon looked at the drawbridge and back down the hall. A line of spears had made itself visible..."This is no good..We'll have to jump for it!"
"Uh...Jump?"
"Yeah..You can jump, right? Nothing big, just 30 feet..."
"Thirty feet?? Just...Hop thirty feet, from a standing position?"
"Yeah..We dont have time for a run at it.."
"What do you think I am, a rabbit?" He gave me such a look... "Er..Sorry. But I cant make that!"
He made a snap decision. He grabbed me and put me over his shoulders, running with great speed toward the slowly opening bridge. He dased to the end of it, and I felt him tense up...Then I was flying. I looked down to see a moat flying below me...Gazimon seemed to be enjoying this little leap of faith.His eyes were closed and the wind was going through his fur. Tha landing wasnt nearly as graceful as the flight. I threw him off balance, sadly, and he tripped, sending me flying and him tumbling to the ground. A thought went threw my head ~Tuck and roll!~ It was that instinct that stopped me from snapping my neck as I crashed to the ground on my head. I rolled, and my arms and legs flopped to the ground, as I slowly drug to a painful stop. I hoped I hadnt broken anything in my backpack..I had a feeling I would need every little thing in it sooner or later. I rolled over painfully. Gazimon was allready up, looking as if nothing had happened.
"So.." He said cooly "Where to now?"
"Your coming with me?"
"I cant very well go back there now, can I?"
I felt bad..I had lost him home, and I knew it. "Im..Im sorry..."
He shrugged nonchalantly "Dont worry about it...It was boring there anyway. So anyway..You never told me your name" He offered his paw, both to get me up and to sake it.
"Call me Gradius...I guess..." I said...
"Nice to meet you Gradius, Im Tobu..Shall we get going? The Elite Guard will be slow because of theyr armor, but better safe then sorry"
I worldlessly nodded and set off..I didnt know where I was or where I was going, but staying around wouldnt help. I could only hope to get lucky and find some trace of the kidnapper...My only real plan was to look out for anything suspicious. Hopefully, I could either find some kind of trail, or a town that I could ask around in...We were entering a forest now...
"Be careful..This forest is haunted" Tobu said quietly
"Of course.." was my equally quiet reply ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Im finally on my way. After a rough start, I seem to be having some better luck finally...With my new companion, I have to brave this treacherous forest, while at the same time looking for clues. This might be rough, but no one said this would be easy...
Chapter 6: Blazing A Trail
I woke up woozily in a dank stone dungeon. The stone was a deep sort of green, obviously unkept because it was very cracked and lined with slime. Water was dripping from the ceiling onto my head. I looked up and got an eyefull of dirty water. I shook it out and looked around warily. There was a large wooden door, held to the stone with iron hinges. There were no windows of any kind, and I was hung up by my wrists and ankles by heavy iron manacles. I was also strapped to the wall by gilded bars across my chest and knees.. Luckily, the incredible pressure trying to pull my arms and legs from theyr sockets more then masked the chafing and the back pain. I couldnt move anything but my head. I looked up warily as the huge door swung open. A tough looking Gazimon entered.. If you dont know, Gazimon are bipedal rabbits. They typically have scruffy greyish blue fur and black apikey marks above and below theyr eyes, and long tails with leather wrapped around the end and a poof of fur. Theyr claws are quite long. This one was carrying a lunch tray, which contained a plate of crude bread, some questionable meat, and a shallow bowl of water. He pulled up a small stepladder and picked up some of the meat.
"Here..Eat..You'll feel better" It said shortly.
I tilted my head forward and pulled it into my mouth tiredly. It tasted like an old boot, except without the flavor and as if it was an old boot that had stepped in many things during its lifetime. Needless to say, it wasnt good...The only thing that stopped me from spitting it out was the screaming hunger. I also ate the bread when it was offered..It wasnt much better. It somehow managed to be stale, tough, and soggy at the same time. Next, it carefully tipped the bowl up, letting some undeniably filthy and stale water mostly make it through my parched lips. The rest splashed down and soaked my clothes. I felt a little better, though...Despite the bad taste in my mouth. I attempted to get some answers, not really expecting any...
"Why am I here?" I asked breathlessly
"My tribe doesnt trust humans....At all...Sorry"
"So why are they feeding me?"
"Technically...Im not supposed to be down here, let alone giving you food.They uh...Want you to die, actually."
"....Why are you here then?"
"Because..Iv never seen a human. And I wanna get to know you. I dont beleive the stories they tell of them..."
"Like what?"
"That theyr all just controlling maniacs that kill whatever they dont understand"
I didnt have the heart to tell him how right they were..."Were not all like that"
"Thats what I said, but the queen insisted..." He sighed heavily "Now its my turn to ask questions..Why are you here?"
"Im here to save someone I love...But I dont seem to be doing well.."
He looked me in the eye, dead serious.." Really?"
" Of course!..Why would I lie about something like that?"
"To save your skin"
"You dont know me very well...I hate to ask, but could you help me get out of here?"
He looked troubled....He looked abck up at me "Ill see what I can do..I cant promise much..."
He left me there, taking the tray out with him. I hoped he could get me out...I wondered what he had in mind. There was no use dwelling on it now...I tried to sleep against the rough stone and uncomfortable chains...Finally, blackness overcame me and I difted off. I had a dream of my brother. He was sitting at a computer, typing away at a very long looking computer code...He seemed to be hacking something. Suddenly, he looked aound behind the chair he was at and gave a big grin....After that, I saw only blackness, like the tape had been ripped away. After what seemed like seconds of dark, I awoke to the sound of heavy fighting oustide my cell. I futiley turned my head, as if I could see through the stone..All i could tell was the there were flashing lights out the door, which I could see under the crack of it...Someone was doing some serious damage, because the wall was chipping in places. The door was kicked roughly open by the same Gazimon as before...
"Come on, kid, move it!"
"I cant, Im chained to the wall!"
"Are you now? Static Force!"
He let loose a shock. But it didnt LOOK like static. It looked like at least a million volter...He aimed it very precisely, because instead of the iron catching the voltage and electrovuting me, the wall it was held to was smashed. The manacles clanged uselessly to the floor. I dropped down in short order, rubbing cirulation back into my limbs. He tosses me my pack, too... Allright! He obviously knew what he was doing...
"Thanks..."
"Dont mention it" Was his hurried, slightly panic reply..
I decided that whatever was worrying him, I should get away from it...I picked up my pack, took out the iron sword, and strapped it to my back. I started for the door, but felt long claws go through my coller and yank me back just in time for two beams of electricity to miss me. The tiny hairs on my arm stoof up and two Gazimon burst through the door. They didnt look near as strong as the one that was with me, so I didnt worry too much. I took one by surprise, beating it to the head with the flat of the heavy blade. The Gazimon that was with me took out the other with a quick boot to the chest. We made tracks out the door, him in the lead. We went through a twisting maze of corridors, all of the same stone until we finally got to a slightly better kept section. The stone was clean and grey, and much more evenly built. Then it got rough. Gazimon were practically throwing themselves at us now...One particularly large group had to be zapped out of the way. We were just a few yards away from a large drawbridge...When the floor started shaking.
"Whats that?" I asked nervously
"Thats... the queen.." He said with a pained expression.
"Queen??"
"You better lower the drawbridge..Ill hold her off"
I ran to the heavy wooden bridge and looked for the way to activate it...It wasnt going well. I couldnt find any mechanisms of any kind. No pullleys, levers, buttons, nobs, switches, or anything...I looked back to my guide for help....He was busy. He was fighitng what had caused the floor to shake. I behled, in utter disgust, the fattest, ugliest Gazimon yet. She must have weighed a ton. And did I mention ugly? Her fur was freyed in some places, and there was a small trail of drool running down on side of her chin, and a trail of meat juice going down the other side. I frankly couldnt tell how she managed to move. Even her tail was fat. She elled in a voice that sounded like nails on a chalk board while a cat sat on an oven...
"Why are you lettting him escape?! Dont you see he just wants to enslave us all??"
He was obviously trying to reason with her, while avoiding the heavy, clumsy fists she was swinging around. "He is trying no such thing! If youd just give him a chance-"
"Why would I do that? Im the Queen! You do what I say or else!!Now apprehend that human before he figures out where the control pad is!"
Luckily, she was stupid too...I immediatly started rubbing my hand aong the wall around the exit. I couldnt feel anything softer then stone...I resorted to knocking on it. Success! I found a hollow spot, and started to tug at the seam of it. I had no luck..I gave up and banged my head on the top of the hollow brick. To my surprise, the stone swung down on a hidden hinge, dangling down. I turned around in triumph to tell the Gazimon we could get outta here. Severel things happened at once..I heard a sound that was like a squeak..What I saw was amazing. The Gazimon I was escaping with had apparantly leaped forward, tired of evading, and buried his fist into the severel folds of fat. The slovenly creature's eyes were bugged out, a look of utter surprise etched across her face. The Gazimon fell the the floor gracefully. The Queen didnt. She crashed down, making an impact the actually dented the stone. I was surprised she didnt roll down the hall...
"Sorry.." Gazimon said shortly, then hurried over towards me "What are you doing? Open the door!"
I hastily pressed on the blue pad that had shown itself. The bridge lowered..It was going painfully slow, and I heard marching footsteps coming down the hall...Gazimon looked worried.
"Thatll be the Elite Guard.."
"What are they?"
"What do they sound like?" He said shortly
"Uh..How strong..Are they?"
"Pretty tough..."
"Have you ever fought them?"
"Why would I do that? Im the captain.." That explained a few things. Gazimon looked at the drawbridge and back down the hall. A line of spears had made itself visible..."This is no good..We'll have to jump for it!"
"Uh...Jump?"
"Yeah..You can jump, right? Nothing big, just 30 feet..."
"Thirty feet?? Just...Hop thirty feet, from a standing position?"
"Yeah..We dont have time for a run at it.."
"What do you think I am, a rabbit?" He gave me such a look... "Er..Sorry. But I cant make that!"
He made a snap decision. He grabbed me and put me over his shoulders, running with great speed toward the slowly opening bridge. He dased to the end of it, and I felt him tense up...Then I was flying. I looked down to see a moat flying below me...Gazimon seemed to be enjoying this little leap of faith.His eyes were closed and the wind was going through his fur. Tha landing wasnt nearly as graceful as the flight. I threw him off balance, sadly, and he tripped, sending me flying and him tumbling to the ground. A thought went threw my head ~Tuck and roll!~ It was that instinct that stopped me from snapping my neck as I crashed to the ground on my head. I rolled, and my arms and legs flopped to the ground, as I slowly drug to a painful stop. I hoped I hadnt broken anything in my backpack..I had a feeling I would need every little thing in it sooner or later. I rolled over painfully. Gazimon was allready up, looking as if nothing had happened.
"So.." He said cooly "Where to now?"
"Your coming with me?"
"I cant very well go back there now, can I?"
I felt bad..I had lost him home, and I knew it. "Im..Im sorry..."
He shrugged nonchalantly "Dont worry about it...It was boring there anyway. So anyway..You never told me your name" He offered his paw, both to get me up and to sake it.
"Call me Gradius...I guess..." I said...
"Nice to meet you Gradius, Im Tobu..Shall we get going? The Elite Guard will be slow because of theyr armor, but better safe then sorry"
I worldlessly nodded and set off..I didnt know where I was or where I was going, but staying around wouldnt help. I could only hope to get lucky and find some trace of the kidnapper...My only real plan was to look out for anything suspicious. Hopefully, I could either find some kind of trail, or a town that I could ask around in...We were entering a forest now...
"Be careful..This forest is haunted" Tobu said quietly
"Of course.." was my equally quiet reply ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Im finally on my way. After a rough start, I seem to be having some better luck finally...With my new companion, I have to brave this treacherous forest, while at the same time looking for clues. This might be rough, but no one said this would be easy...
Chapter 6: Blazing A Trail