Here it is. It might be about twelve hours late for 'Saturday morning', but it underwent some last second revisions.
Last chapter someone asked to be a Beta Reader. Now The Ninja has no idea how that's supposed to work since the story is still being written out. The best The Ninja can do is give them an outline of the entire thing since there aren't any physical chapters. For the moment The Ninja would have to decline for Beta Readers, but might have a few later on after she wrote out an outline for the story.
At this point there's well over 200 reads. The Ninja would like to thank all of you with an extra long chapter. The next chapter will be posted sometime Monday.
Session 07: Breaking Point
The mark of Ta-Kutep took on a light blue color that quickly ripped a hole through Hannah's long sleeved shirt. Pain shot up the poor usul's arm, as if falling to her death wasn't enough.
But at that moment quite the remarkable thing happened. Seconds before hitting the ground a burst of wind shot up from the ground, pushing against the falling usul to slow their descent. Hannah felt a strange, almost magical, wind pushing her body up from the ground that felt almost soothing.
Moments after the comforting sensation began, it was over. The wind stopped, and the two were dropped from a harmless height of four feet into the bushes. Stunned, Hannah instinctively checked to see if Garin made the journey to the ground safely. Beside her the pirate lay unconscious, but alive.
" Oh my ... BORRIS! MORRIS! "
Jeran! Looking towards the balcony in horror, she realized that the knight must have seen that strange display of power too. If he did, then he most certainly saw Garin.
Not good. Not good at all.
" Ms. Hannah took a pretty bad fall. Go down below and search for her. "
She had to admit he knew how to keep his cool under pressure, but how would she hold up? Her arm ached to the point that she wanted to cut it off, and her body didn't take the impact of the ground too well. Against it all she had to get Garin away from the house, and running across the backyard into the streets of the town wasn't an option. They'd never make it!
From above, the two young knights jumped from the balcony to the ground floor unharmed. Borris is a Blumaroo, and their rubbery tails protected him from the impact. Morris had much of the same protection, except in his legs being a Quiggle.
Borris was the first to the bushes where Hannah fell. Lowering into a kneel, he pushed the shrubbery aside with his paws. " ... They're gone! " He cried in disbelief.
" That's not possible! " Morris rushed over to the bushes and searched himself, finding that they were indeed gone. He found a little more though. " Jeran, I found something! " Passage in the ground that lead to places unknown. There was no latch on the outside, and it looked pretty well fitted into the ground.
Jeran could see the secret passage's door from the balcony, but knew that he couldn't open it in the conventional matter. His sword couldn't fit in the cracks beside it, and blowing up the thing would draw too much attention from the citizens. " Just great ... "
" JERAN! " He winced as his King bellowed his name. " What on Neopia happened? "
" Ms. Hannah escaped. " Jeran replied softly, turning to face the Skeith. " And she took another boy with her. I didn't get a good look at him, but he looked to be a pirate. "
Armin listened to their conversation with impending dread. " I was afraid of this. She must have figured out what we were getting at, and decided to jump ship. " Skarl looked to the Bori who tried his best to hide. " Do you know anything about this, boy? " Armin, too scared to answer, just stared. " GAH! If he doesn't want to talk, we'll deal with him later ... "
Jeran took in a sharp breath. " Sir? "
" Feed him and get the knights to take him. I'll question him once we get back. "
Take him where? Armin stepped away from Jeran and drew his slingshot. " What are you talking about? " He demanded, drawing a shot on the King. " I'm not going anywhere! "
The King pulled out his Golden hammer, ready to defend his decision. " I have the right to arrest anyone who is seen as a threat to Neopia! If you're not willing to tell us where that wench ran off to we'll just have to hold you in contempt! " He glared at Jeran. " Arrest him! "
Jeran hesitated to the thought of arresting a child, so Armin saw it at his chance to escape. His slingshot loaded quickly, he shot an exploding Snowball at the ground by Jeran's feet. Living up to it's name the snowball exploded into a flurry of light and snow on impact, enough of a distraction for Armin to slip through the bars of the balcony.
If Hannah could make it ...
He thought he could too! Armin jumped from the balcony, curling into his people's 'defensive bori position' that allowed him to take the bulk of the impact with his hard shell. It still hurt, but luckily the bushes below him broke his fall.
The bori uncurled from his fetal position to meet the blade of a rather displeased Quiggle. Shoot! He forgot about those blasted kids! " H-Hi. " He stuttered, crawling back towards the outer wall of the house.
Outnumbered, Armin slowly dropped his weapon to raise his hands. There was nothing else he could do on his end, so he hoped that his friend was doing okay.
" Got it! "
The room of Moonfade's leader was in shambles, but the mynci could care less. Once given a task he'd make sure that it was done, no matter how much destruction lie in his wake.
Besides, he didn't think that it's leader would be coming back anytime soon.
Kanrik, subconsciously worried about dying or being punished, had a few books with specific instructions on what to do if he died, went into a coma, had a terminal illness ... Heck, he had one about 'a specific food ingredient that'd cause me a world of discomfort if it were to be found in my dinner'. No living soul knew just how much the new guild leader had stored away, but imagined that in any case all of this would be overkill.
The book he specified was bound different from the other black books in soft leather hide. Plain and lacking a title, he wondered just what was so important in this book anyway. His beady little eyes scanned the room and door for any intruders passively before opening the cover to--
The mynci's ears rose sharply to the sound of a sharp click behind him. " Drop it. " Hissed a snappy female voice from behind him. Standing in the frame of the door was Masila brandishing her new favorite toy; a blaster.
" Mean lady ani't gonna be getting this book! " Valin shot a dirty look at Masila. " What'd you want with it anyway? "
Masila seemed disinterested in what he had to say for himself. " That's none of your business. " Taking a few dangerous steps forward, it was clear that she wasn't backing down. " Your primitive brain couldn't understand it all, anyway. "
Valin wouldn't get a chance to respond. The barrel of the small gun that Masila held rocketed forward, shooting a fiery hot beam of light at the place where Valin once stood. A miss! Growling, the acara searched the room for any sign of the mynci.
" Hey there, stupid! " Came taunting from above. " For someone who says she's so smart, you sure are dumb! "
Looking up, she could see Valin hanging from the chandler like his ape-like ancestors. Tucked under his arm was the book that she wanted so much, and she thought if she shot from here ... " You ignorant little beast! Do you know who you're dealing with? "
Her rage got the better of her, and she reacted without thinking. Raising her pistol again she fired in hopes of shooting the monkey down. Valin expected as much and reacted quickly, scrambling up the side of the chandler and using his weight to tilt the bottom towards the shot. It ricocheted back at Masila, who could only duck to keep any of her vitals.
Unfortunately, she couldn't get her ears out of the line of fire.
Her cries of pain filled the air just as Valin made his escape; jumping onto a high bookshelf and disappearing into a vent just out of the feline's reach. Masila stumbled to her knees, clutching her bleeding right tentacle like a child. Just as she feared it ripped the tendril in half, and what was left would have to be stitched up immediately.
" Lady Masila! " A bloodied Shoyru ran into the bedroom, wearing the signature red cape of Masila's followers. Luckily, the blood he sported wasn't his own. " We should return to base ... Your ear looks terrible! "
" Don't tell me what to do! " She glared at the dragon, causing him to shrink back towards the door. " Are we done here? "
" Yes ma'am! " The Shoyru snapped, fearing for his safety. " We searched the entire area, but it seems that most of the Moonfade thieves aren't living here anymore. Those who were left behind are now in our custody, but they're not talking. "
Masila stood now, and crossed the room to stand in front of the Shoyru. He looked to be half of Masila's age and frightened. His fears were confirmed when she grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, slamming him against the wall.
" Make them talk. " Her command was also a threat for his well being. " And get some foot soldiers ready to accompany me to Krawk Island. " Masila's voice softened. " I suppose I'd need about twenty ... "
" Krawk Island, ma'am? " The Shoyru winced.
" The operation will go on as planned, solider. " Masila forged a calm tone. " I will not rest until we crush Moonfade and take what is rightfully ours. " The pain overtook her, and she threw the thief to her right side while holding her forehead with her free hand. " But we'll need to regroup in the meantime. Secure this area and move our thieves into the inner chambers. We'll be leaving at midnight. "
Relieved, the Shoyru bowed graciously to his leader. " Yes, m'lady. " Then hurried out of the room to tell the others.
Masila stared at the door for a moment to insure that the low ranking thief was one, then placed her hand on the door to close it. Removing the hand that cradled her ear, she'd look down at her now blood soaked glove with a frown. This is a taste of the pain he felt ... Her eyes glossed over with tears that didn't fall. Fresh memories of the incident that took place hours before still in her mind, she sat on the edge of his bed.
I remember ... when I was welcome in here.
Instinctively her eyes fell on the dresser beside the bed. Reaching over with her clean hand, she yanked out the first drawer in search for something. Being in this room brought back memories of happier times, and she could only hope that he didn't forget them, either.
I had to admit that I was a bit of a harlot. How old was I back then, in my twenties? I shouldn't have been mixing myself up with a boy his age, but I found something about him that wasn't in any other thief in the guild. Kanrik wasn't born into our profession like Galem and I.
In fact, Galem was the one who brought the sniveling little boy home on one of our nightly raids. He wouldn't tell us where he came from besides the fact that it was 'more beautiful than any other town he's seen before ...', and then he'd look at us sorrowfully. I wanted to return the boy to his homeland, wherever it was, because he gave the thieves a very uneasy feeling. The aura he gave off was unpleasant for some odd reason. Galem and the leader before him wanted to exploit his powers of 'intimidation' to make him a fighter, though, and their word overrode my own.
I did not approve of their methods of 'unleashing that power'.
I didn't like it at all ...
But I, and he, had to endure ... bide our time ... until that glorious day ...
Masila followed the sound of sobbing down the halls of the Thieves Guild, arriving in the dormitories of the newly recruited members. Training for the new recruits was hard, but it was rare that one of them actually started crying. Thieves were naturally hardy, even the females, and learned from an early age that crying would get them nowhere.
Since Masila was a high ranking member of the guild even back then, she didn't need to knock to ask permission to go into a lower ranking member's room. She just pushed the door open and looked for herself. Sitting in the corner was a small blue gelert who couldn't be any older than thirteen failing at dressing his own wounds. Masila didn't have to take a closer look to know that those injuries were not from basic training ...
He'd been beaten.
" Hey there ... " Her heart went out to him immediately. " Are you going to be okay, little one? " She said, kneeling beside him with almost motherly concern.
" I just got careless ... " The gelert shot back, trying to hide his face. " I should be more careful next time ... " He tried to sound strong, but it was obvious he'd been crying recently.
Masila reached out for his paws as he tried to cover his face, catching his wrists in her gloved hands to lower to his lap. The gelert boy looked up at her, his yellow eyes giving off an eerie glow in the darkness. It was unnatural. His right eye was starting to swell from the beating he took, but besides that his face looked fine. He didn't even have the terrible scar at this point!
" You poor thing ... " The twenty-something said pitifully. " I'll have to put something on your eye, or it'll swell shut. " She lead him to stand, which he did with great difficulty. Not only was he weighed down by his limping, but by the heavy armor that every thief was supposed to learn to move in. " Go sit. I'll be back shortly. "
Masila left to get some provisions from her room, and by time she got back the gelert was quietly sitting on the edge of his bed. He looked at her in silent greeting when she came to the door, then returned to looking at his dirty hands.
" Do you have a name? " She asked off hand as she dipped her rag into a bowl of water. Receiving no response frustrated her, but she didn't give up yet. " My name's -- "
" Masila ... " The gelert piped in, his eyes still on the floor. " You're General Galem's girlfriend. "
Though taken back by the boy's description of her, she nodded. " Yes, that's right. " She said hurriedly as she placed a temporary patch over the swollen eye. Masila couldn't stay to long, so trusted the gelert not to remove the ice pack or patch until she got back. " Does it hurt anywhere else? "
" No ma'am. " He said hurriedly, his head tilting slightly from the weight of the ice pack. " Thank you, ma'am. "
Smiling, Masila leaned over to give the boy a kiss on the forehead. " You're welcome. " And with that she stood to leave.
" Ma'am? "
Stopping in mid step as the boy called her again, she'd look over her shoulder with a confused expression. The boy, much to her surprise, smiled just enough for her to see the difference she had made.
" Kanrik. " Feeling a bit of heat touch his snout, he'd look away briefly. " My name -- is Kanrik. " He stuttered on the words, embarrassed.
My visits did not stop there. I graced his doorstep every time I heard that they were trying to 'break him in', either to clean his wounds of comfort him. For the first few visits he was incredibly shy, but over time he opened up to me ... and only me. At first he only told me about his day (and how terrible it was), then he started telling me about his homeland ...
I listened to his stories about how he grew up with his mother, and how she played an important role in this land's society. The way things were handled there was like something out of a dream. There was order, but no fear. There was wealth, but no one was necessarily poor. There lay scholars and doctors, but rarely one that you'd call ignorant. Among it all faeries, those closest to the gods themselves, lived among the normal folk. These faeries were not worshiped as they were here, but ordinary creatures who lived ordinary lives ...
Galem said he was full of it ...
I am not sure ...
Digging through the drawers, she found something quite promising. Pulling it out, she could see among other things the patch that she gave him on that night over fifteen years ago. He kept it ... her heart soared, and she brought it close to her lips so she could savor that lovely scent. Her heightened emotions did not last long, though, as realization came back to her.
I killed him ...
She murdered a man that she swore that she could never hurt!
This time, she couldn't stop the tears from falling.