A/N: Hey, guys! I'm BAAAAACCKKKK!!!!!
Kazooie: It's about freaking time!
Hehe… sorry. It's the new year, so it's time for a new chapter!!
Banjo: Yay! Start it! START IT!!
Okay! Alright!! Here it is.
Well, it worked.
I gained the power of the spirit-call.
But little did we know what was happening back home…
The Amethyst Shamans: Chapter 6: A Deadly Attack
The longer they were gone, the more suspicious Kazooie grew. Though she continued to play around with Tooty, deep inside she was wondering what the heck those two were doing.
Soon, from within the entrance to Isle o' Hags, their group of friends- Bottles, Jamjars, Mumbo, and Wumba- approached the two.
"Hey, birdbrain!" Jamjars called out. "Where's Banjo?"
Kazooie huffed unladylike in annoyance. "He went out. What's it to ya!?"
"Er, Kazooie," Bottles started. "Haven't you noticed that Banjo's been acting a little… odd?"
"So? What's your point, wormmuncher!?"
"We want talk with him!" Mumbo replied, getting annoyed.
"We worried!" Wumba added.
"Speak for yourselves…" Jamjars grumbled.
"Everything's fine!" Tooty piped up. "He's just happy that Kyra's here!"
"Yeah, so back off!" Kazooie added harshly. Truthfully, she was worried herself, but that didn't mean everyone else on the planet had to butt in.
Bottles stood in a defiant pose. "Hey, you can't just tell us off! We have the right to worry about Banjo!"
"I didn't say that!" Kazooie retorted. "I said to lay off him and let him be happy! Jeez!"
Before anyone could come back with a retort, a boom echoed across the Spiral Mountain, rocking the ground violently. Everyone fell off their feet as the soil beneath them shook. As a large shadow fell over them, they glanced up in horror.
"Oh, no…" Kazooie whispered in reluctance.
----------
This world was strangely familiar.
Like the world he encountered before,
But filled with bright, comforting flickers of light
That twinkled like stars.
He could feel her presence, deep within,
But he didn't care.
He simply enjoyed once more the feeling of absolute peace and tranquility…
………But suddenly…
…He could hear voices…
Soft, silky voices that melded into one dull roar.
Voices… that whispered softly to him…
Talmar… Talmar, they said mystically.
It sounded as if they were whispering a name.
But…Who was Talmar?
He never heard that name before.
Yet it sounded somehow…familiar…
Like a bird awakening after the long winter cold.
Left truly baffled, he awakened…
----------
As Kyra lifted her fingers from his brow, Banjo awoke from his trance, slowly opening his aquatic blue eyes and coming back into reality. Blinking a few times to get rid of the blurriness, he looked at Kyra, a smile on her face.
-I believe it worked.-
Banjo blinked, slightly surprised as he could swear he heard her voice in his head, for she didn't open her mouth.
-Can you hear me, Banjo?-
-…Yes, I can…- His voice brightened in realization. -I can! It worked!!-
The two laughed in joy, glad that the process had been successful. As they quieted down and Kyra began putting away her incense, she looked up at Banjo in concern as he sat quietly in deep thought.
-Is something the matter?- Kyra asked.
Banjo sighed, staring down at the dusty ground. -I…could've sworn I heard voices during the whole thing…-
-Voices?-
-Yeah…they…!!!- But he didn't finish that thought as the ground below his behind opened up. Surprised, he stood quickly and looked down to find sharp mole claws digging up the ground. From within out popped…
"Jamjars!" Banjo exclaimed. "What the heck are YOU doing here!?"
The sergeant mole glared up at Banjo through his sunglasses. "I could ask YOU the same thing, furball!" He turned his attention to Kyra. "And who's she!?"
Sighing, Banjo gently grasped her by the paw. "Kyra and I were…well…it's none of your business what we were doing!"
"And I ain't planning on makin' it my business!" Jamjars retorted callously. "The point is, you ain't back at Spiral Mountain, and that blasted monster's back! And he's twice as nasty as before!"
Hearing this, Banjo's expression grew serious. "We'll hurry back as fast as we can!"
But as they began their descent down the stairs… "No, wait!" They turned back as Jamjars motioned them to follow him. "It'll be dumb to take the long way around! Follow me!"
----------
After crawling through many organized tunnels, the trio emerged from the deep, dark underground back in Spiral Mountain. As the shaking and thundering tremors from above became noticeable, Jamjars popped out, followed by Kyra, and finally Banjo. He squeezed through the tiny hole, looking up at a paralyzed Kyra. Joining her side, he too stood in shock as he looked up in horror.
They could tell it was the same monster from before, but it seemed to have grown twice as large and twice as vicious. It snapped at all the beings around it as they quickly dodged every attempt of a stomp or a claw swipe or a bite with its nasty, sharp teeth.
Upon noticing the bears' arrival, the gang scattered, and after a mess of mad dashing and dodging, they eventually reached the trio that had just arrived.
Tooty threw her arms around her brother's waist, greatly frightened. "Banjo!!" she cried. "The monster's back! Do something!"
Fearfully, Banjo looked back up at the monster, just as he saw a red blur plant itself like a parasite on its face. The beast snarled in anger, grabbing the pest with its claws and hurtling it towards them. The figure fell to the ground and tumbled on until it stopped at Banjo's feet.
"Kazooie!!" Banjo cried, kneeling beside her and looking over her worriedly. She was covered in many bruises and injuries, and glared up at her partner through a black eye.
"Well, it's about TIME you showed up!" she scoffed, coughing.
"Kazooie, are you insane!? You're getting creamed out there!"
"Hey, I was trying to weaken it while we waiting on your lazy butt!"
The brute screeched again, making the situation that much more urgent. "Alright, alright, fine! That was my fault, but it doesn't matter now! Just climb in, and we'll take care of this creep once and for all!"
"Alright! Now you're talking MY language!" Kazooie trilled in glee as she leaped into the backpack, readying herself for battle.
Kyra watched as the duo rushed in to engage in battle with the ruthless creep. She knew ruefully that the creature certainly came from the witch, Gruntilda. Since the priestess had conveniently led Banjo away, the old hag probably sent it in for a sneak attack. Guilt lay heavily on Kyra, through no one noticed or knew.
But as she watched Banjo and Kazooie failing to successfully land any hits on the beast, determination rose up most strongly in Kyra at the moment. Her friends needed help, and so she drew her amethyst dagger out and prepared to attack.
Banjo was knocked to the ground once more by the monster, reeling in pain. He didn't look all that bad, but Kazooie looked much worse. Beaten and bruised badly, she leaned over Banjo's shoulder, groaning in pain.
"Are you okay, Kazooie?"
"Just peachy…" she complained.
"Looks like it wants revenge on you for driving it off last time," Banjo deducted, jumping to his feet a it attempted to stomp them flat as a pancake. "Cause it looks pretty mad at you!"
Suddenly, a blast of purple light slammed into the side of the monster's face. Everyone turned to see Kyra pointing the dagger up at it, the tip glowing brightly.
-Kyra…?-
She gave him a stern look. -I shall distract him! Hurry!-
Banjo nodded and rushed in as more beams of purple light came from the tip of her amethyst dagger, striking the beast with hot energy. It shrieked in pain, and with a pain-crazed taste for revenge, blindly swung a humungous claw in a wide, killer arc.
The claw struck both bears and they were sent back swiftly by the extreme force of the blow. The dagger flew from Kyra's paw and buried itself point-first into the earth below. Banjo was sent flying into the wall back-first, then dropping down into the damp grass. He gasped as he felt the force of the impact shoot up and down his spine, but then in realization as he felt a wing droop over his shoulder.
"Kazooie!!!" Hastily, he removed his backpack and held an unconscious Kazooie in his arms. The impact against the wall would've most likely crushed her delicate body as she laid unnaturally limp. "KAZOOIE!!!!" Banjo cried, tears threatening to leak out as he began to fear the worst.
A snarl drew his attention back to the monster, and fear transformed into anger. Thinking quickly and noticing the dagger planted in the ground, he gently laid Kazooie on the ground and rushed towards the monster, pulling the dagger up as he passed by it. He stopped when he stood in the center of its luminous shadow.
It sneered disgustedly down at him, growling deeply and dangerously. Banjo returned the glare hatefully, his lips curling back in a snarl. This freak of nature hurt his friend, and it was going to pay.
As Kyra recovered, she looked up in shock and amazement as a swift-moving Banjo avoided the brute's attacks and countered with a round of blasts from the dagger. How on earth was he able to do that!?
The fiend reeled and stepped back at the force of the limitless blasts coming from below. Banjo stood his ground, his arm trembling violently from the force exerted from his own paws. Finally, when the villain collapsed from abuse, Banjo let the power go, regarding it unemotionally as it mysteriously disappeared out of thin air.
Silence followed. Complete silence. Banjo stood perfectly still for a few moments, ever gripping the amethyst dagger tightly. Then suddenly, he cried out in pain, clutching his paw painfully, and the dagger dropped from his grip, sizzling.
Kyra rushed to his side, looking over his injured paw in shock when she found it to be burned badly around the palm and lower parts of the fingers. She retrieved her dagger, which felt strangely warm.
She looked back at Banjo uncertainly as he winced in pain. It truly baffled her how someone like him could ever harness the power of the amethyst dagger when he was never exposed to them before. It took her years to develop her own skills with it, yet he learned in only a desperate split-second. But how? How was he able to let alone grasp the concept of magic? Did he even know?
He looked at his injury in slight shock, then up at Kyra questioningly. -Kyra… What happened…?-
That at least she could answer. -Amethyst daggers respond to its wielder's strongest emotions. It may sometimes react negatively to anger or hatred, thus it singed your paw as a reaction.-
Banjo sighed, glancing painfully back down at his burns.
"Banjo!!" Bottles called out frantically to him. "Kazooie's heavily injured! We can't tell how bad!"
Remembering this, Banjo grew worried. "Get her in the house, quickly!" he ordered hastily, rushing over to help them carry the injured bird inside.
Kyra stood hesitant for a moment more, then sheathed her dagger and went in to help as well. The puzzles surrounding Banjo would have to be settled later, for the breegul's life was much more important.
A/N: GASP!! OH NO!!! Ehehe… um… Nothing against you, Kazooie…
Kazooie: Why are you making me DIE!?!?
MEEP!! (cowering) Y-you're not gonna die! Honest!!!
Kazooie: I BETTER not…
Banjo: Oh, calm down, Kazooie, you're scaring the authoress.
Kazooie: (grinning) I know, huh? BOO!!
AAAAAAHHHHH!!!! (runs away screaming)
Banjo: Nice going, Kazooie. You scared her off.
Kazooie: Hehe…
Banjo: Well, anyway, review, readers out there.
