Hey again, updating is so annoying! But fans are nice so it's worth it, much appreciate the reviews!
BTW: this chapter has a rather disturbing part about three quarters of the way down, please don't freak out but it seemed rather pointless to up this fic to an M, unless of course, I decide to make future chapters a bit more...well, you'll see in good time my friends...ENJOY!
"What can I do?" I asked as I rummaged through a draw in search of cigarettes. Christina sighed and brought her knees under her chin.
"I know someone who hides out in Silver Valley" she uttered. "He's a shaman and he may be able to cast a spell-"
"I don't want to put Tabby under a spell!" I cried, horror swelling in my heart. Christina shook her head.
"I didn't mean that. The shaman can cast a spell on you, he can make you..." she blinked hard, as if dreading what she was going to say. "Well, anyway, when he's done that, you can pretend that you're new to town and you can grow close to her by pretending you're vulnerable" I was confused; I understood exactly what Christina was saying but I didn't understand how this was supposed to strengthen my relationship, if anything, it would push us apart. Not wanting to offend Christina, I accepted.
"This is the place" Christina whispered as we stopped in front of a large oak tree. Its leaves were dead and the bark was beginning to crumble. I folded my arms and sat down on a nearby rock.
"No offence Christina, but this seems really dumb, how do you know the shaman isn't hiding in a different tree?" I said sarcastically. Christina wasn't listening. She was crouched on one knee with her head bowed, holding out a gold dagger. I remained silent, waiting to see where this was going. After five minutes I lost interest and was about to leave when the ground suddenly began to tremble. I rushed to Christina's side and attempted to drag her out of the forest.
"No Espio" she shouted. "This is supposed to happen" I threw my stare to the tree and noticed it was protruding a liquid. Both of us stared as something was beginning to form from the ooze. Pretty soon, there was no liquid left and a tall man dressed in animal skins stood before us.
"Greetings my little ninjas" he rasped. "Please come inside my home" He seized us both by the wrists and dragged us through a hole in the tree. I couldn't see anything as we flew down the shoot, everything was black. We fell to the ground with a thud and light grew in the room. The odour was very unpleasant and I felt sure I was going to throw up. The shaman lifted Christina off the ground, his fingers tight around her neck. He held out his grubby hand and Christina handed him the gold dagger. I threw a confused glance to Christina.
"A gift" she explained. The shaman set the dagger down on a table then seated himself, awaiting an explanation as to why we had sought him. Christina crouched on her knee again, sort of like a bow. I followed suit and Christina spoke. "This is Espio the chameleon, a member of the Chaotix agency, my name is-"
"I know who you are, foolish girl" the shaman snapped "You are a friend of Tabitha's, are you not?"
"That is true. We seek your help because this chameleon needs to win Tabby's trust. She kinda told Espio that she loved him and now he's fallen for her" the shaman raised an eyebrow; Christina's posh speech was going back to its usual tone. "Kinda weird really" she added with a forced laugh. The shaman got to his feet and pulled out a book. Christina's face lit up but this left me confused; how could he know what Christina's idea was when he had been told less than what I had?
"I need to send you two into the forest to get me some items that will help with the process, or should I say, should make the process less painful?" he uttered a tinny laugh. We were give a sheet of...well...animal hide each with a list written. The list I had been given was shorter than Christina's, but mine was far more gory. The instructions were to kill a man and take the skin, to remove the eyes, fingernails, clothes, hair and teeth. Christina was give the easy task of collecting ten types of leaves and fifteen different sorts of berries.
"Begin" the shaman cried as he pulled a lever which threw us outside. From the gooey feeling I had in my stomach, I could tell that we had been turned to liquid in order to get out.
"Okay Espio, you go to town and pick a decent looking guy, you know, clean and well dressed and stuff, not some scruffy dude with dirty teeth. I'm gonna stay in the forest and get what's on my list" she turned and began to walk away.
"You sure you don't want to swap lists?" I asked feeling sick with the task I had been set.
"You know what you want" she called without turning back.
Yet again I was confused. Not wanting to waste anymore time, I journeyed to town and spent a good hour or so picking out a man who looked well groomed etc. but looked as though he deserved what was coming to him. Finally, I saw someone worthy. The man had fair skin with grey eyes and jet black hair. He was slim but not scrawny and tall, about five foot eleven inches. If Christina and the shaman had planned something that would affect my appearance then I wanted to make sure I looked good. I jumped down from my hiding place and switched to invisibility. This guy sure walked fast! I looked at the list and checked to make sure this was the person I needed. I didn't think much to his clothing though. It consisted of a khaki coloured sweater with dark burgundy cords; the outfit was rounded off with a pair of brown walking boots - truly hideous in my opinion. Yet, this would have to do. I spent another hour following this guy around town before he turned down an alley way. Seeing my opportunity, I switched so I was visible. My prey turned around and nearly jumped out of his skin.
"Who the hell are you?" he yelled as he put up his fists. I noticed that he had a strong British accent and struggled to contain my laughter, my mouth curled into an evil smile and I took out a shuriken.
"We can do this the easy way or the hard way" I rasped, secretly regretting what I was going to do. The man lowered his fists as he saw my weapon then fainted. Well, that was easy enough...
I returned to the oak tree and put the items on the floor. It seemed as though Christina hadn't returned yet so I waited for about twenty minutes. Just as she reached the tree the shaman appeared from the same liquid as before.
"Excellent, you have both successfully completed your tasks. Come now, we have work to do" my heart felt heavy in my chest as we descended down the hole once more. When my eyes had adjusted to the light yet again, I noticed a large coffin type case; very much like a medieval Iron Maiden but without the spikes. Christina and I put the items on the table and seated ourselves. The shaman sprinkled some crystal particles in the case and chanted some strange words that made them glow. Christina smirked at me and separated the different sorts of berries.
"Chameleon, please join me over here" I did as I was told. "Remove all your clothing" Making sure that Christina wasn't looking, I removed my weapons and clothing, rendering me freezing. The shaman wasted no time pouring and smearing some burning wax-like liquid over me. I cringed as the liquid poured over the more sensitive parts of my body and caught a glimpse of the shaman sneering at my pain. When my entire body was covered in the ooze, the shaman pressed the skin perfectly into the case. He motioned for me to step into the case. Without warning, I immediately grew to the height of the human I had murdered. I stared in shock and terror as the shaman and Christina closed the case. My face was pressed tight against the case and I could see the shaman walking towards me with the human eyes in his hands. In a split second, my eyes had been ripped out of their sockets and the human ones put in their place. Strangely enough, I wasn't in any pain, the liquid seemed to have numbed my body. I passed out soon after the hair that had been thrown in with the skin had attached itself to my head. The sounds of the shaman laughing remained in my head until I woke up...with a completely new image!