Legacies
A Sequel to Crossing
of the Paths
By MMM/AJ
A/N: Well, I must apologise for not posting at all for the first half of the summer. To make up for my overall business, I've got a 23 pager ready for you here! Now I've got to contend with my summer homework assignments, oy.
Part II - Resurrection
Chapter VII – A11
There was just something about Shakara et Benca that rubbed Ashley Ketchum the wrong way. It could have been that nagging frown that was always at the corner of Shakara's mouth, or the judgmental glint in her purple eyes. It might even have been the way that her bladed tail swished idly from side to side as she constantly eyed everyone with distrust, giving the impression that she would strike at them at any moment. But most likely it was that sinister metal symbol imprinted on her forehead, the same symbol that adorned Ares' skull. All these factors taken together were certainly enough to make any person wary in Shakara's company, but it seemed to have an amplified effect on Ashley, who was used to Tanis' outgoing and friendly personality. Shakara stared at her sharply as the doors of their gunship slid shut.
"There should be enough room in the back room for you to sit in." Tanis said to Shakara as he sat in the pilot's chair.
Shakara merely grunted an affirmation, and Ashley could practically taste tension in the air. She made a decision then that she felt she would regret in the pit of her stomach, but thought would be good at the time.
"I'll sit with you, if you don't mind." Ashley said to Shakara, and followed her as she opened the door into the cylindrical chamber.
As the two of them found seats, the ship rumbled to life and Ashley felt them rise from the ground and accelerate. She looked over at Shakara, knowing that this situation might be tense and unpleasant, but she wanted to make a friendly gesture toward Shakara. Shakara's shifting eyes ran over her again and again, and yet she said nothing. As the ship gained speed, Ashley began to feel more and more uncomfortable.
"I'm going to take us toward an old human city, I need to know the general state of things in the world now." Tanis shouted back at them over the loud hum of the gunship's rhythmic propulsion systems.
"Whatever you want, It's your own time you're wasting." Shakara said pointedly.
Ashley frowned for a quick moment, but hid it before Shakara could see. She was becoming angry at the dismissive and even hostile way that Shakara was treating them, and she hoped that her anger didn't show. She smiled at Shakara, who only stared at her without showing any emotion in turn. Her tail continued to flick across the floor, its blades making a soft yet unnerving scraping sound. A bit of turbulence jolted the ship, and the blades tapped the floor, and Ashley nearly cringed. Shakara only turned away and looked back at the front of the ship. Ashley felt sweat begin to bead on her own forehead.
As the royally disconcerting ride continued, Shakara began tapping her clawed fingers on the metal bench that she sat on. The glisteningly sharp blades made a sharp rapping sound, and they came in terse, three tap increments. The scraping of Shakara's tail blades on the floor accented them, causing an almost torturous annoyance for Ashley. She clenched her fists in her jean pockets and ground her teeth, but she kept right on smiling the whole time through.
"You know, you could just come out and say it." Shakara suddenly said, still looking up at the front of the ship.
"Say what? What do you mean?" Ashley said, straining not to show her excruciating frustration.
"You dislike me, you hate being back here with me, you think I'm extremely annoying and a tad offensive." Shakara said plainly, not turning to look at Ashley.
"I never said-" Ashley began, but Shakara cut her off.
"Of course you never said anything, but it's written all over your mind and your aura. Anyone with even the slightest touch of psychic ability could sense it from miles away. You reek of it. I've been wondering why you haven't outright declared it to me, but now you've demonstrated that you don't have significant memory capacity to remember that I can read your mind like an open book." Shakara said, turning and scowling at Ashley acidically.
Ashley was completely taken aback. She was incapable of responding, and even if she weren't she wouldn't have the right words to say. She stumbled over a few words, but again Shakara cut her off.
"Listen, whenever you put on a façade of feelings, or feel the need to lie to me, don't. I can sense your thoughts without even trying, so when you think you can conceal something from me it insults not only my intelligence, but my psychic capabilities."
Ashley gave up on responding, knowing that Shakara could just read her no matter what she felt. She simply scowled and watched as Shakara stood from her seat.
"I'm going to ask Tanis a few questions, if you don't mind." Shakara said, and then walked up to the cockpit. Ashley sighed and followed her.
"We've got serious problems." Tanis said as they entered the cockpit.
"Good, just what I need; more good news." Ashley said, now feeling perfectly irritated. "Get on out with it then."
"Ares' fleet has queried us again, and now my responses aren't good enough. They've ordered us to return to base for inspection, since we've deviated from scheduled flight plans. Already three more gunships are on their way to escort us." Tanis said gravely.
"Well, I'm not exactly eager to meet my father, so you'd better think of a plan to get us out of here." Shakara said snappishly.
"What the hell is that?" Ashley said as the screen turned to face a new and horrifying scene.
In the screen before them a great and towering line of orange-yellow tinted clouds stretched massively into the sky. The light from the setting sun behind them cast a sickly orange glow over it, and its bottom was wreathed in shadow and webbed with yellow lightning, which filled the darkness thicker than the thickest arachnid's trap.
"Well, the console in front of me is flashing "Incoming magnetic storm", so I'm assuming its some sort of magnetic anomaly in the Earth's atmosphere. Tanis said.
"My father said that these have happened all the time since the Black River was finished." Shakara said cryptically.
"Black River?" Ashley asked.
"It's the name he gave to the dimensional vortex I was telling you about, the one that looks like the great strip of darkness high in the atmosphere. The energy involved in such an interdimensional construction causes massive disturbances in the planet's magnetic field, which eventually culminate into storms like these, which we most certainly shouldn't be flying towards." Shakara said, urgency suddenly filling her voice.
Tanis tapped the controls and the view screen whirled around to show three of Ares' gunships fast approaching them from behind, their lasers already glowing at full charge.
"Unless you know of a better way to lose them, we're going through that storm." Tanis said flatly.
"You don't understand, the EMP associated with such a disturbance will knock out this ship's engines, computers, everything! We'll fall out of the sky!" Shakara said forcefully.
"I've yet to hear a better idea, and besides, we can psychically fly this thing through the storm and make it look like we disappeared." Tanis said.
Shakara only shook her head and shrugged her bladed shoulders. "It's your choice." She only said.
After a few more seconds the other gunships had come up along side them, and Ashley stared at the screen worriedly as they hovered with them , the guns glowing bright with charge. Tanis suddenly smiled.
"They've sent their final warning, and they're about to fire." He said almost hopelessly. "I guess the game's finally back on. You might want to sit down or brace yourselves."
Shakara jumped into the gunner's seat, but Ashley didn't make it to the benches in the back of the ship in time. The sudden acceleration sent her flying backwards and she spun around on the slippery metal floor until her feet met a wall. She heard explosions over the thrum of the engines and knew the battle had already started. She climbed up off of the floor and braced in a bench, feeling extremely out of place again as the seat which was designed to fit Tanis' body structure failed to fit tightly around her. She barely steadied herself when Tanis shouted a warning.
"We're about to enter the storm, hold on!" He yelled.
Suddenly all the lights inside the ship went black, and an intense series of spark-filled flashes filled the bridge for a brief moment. The airtight doors were sealed so well that no further light could enter the now un-powered craft. Ashley suddenly felt herself fall to the ceiling as the ship plummeted toward the Earth. Then she slammed back down to the floor when the ship suddenly stopped falling. A glowing illumination flooded the ship's interior as Tanis and Shakara concentrated their powers to lift the craft. Tanis gripped Shakara's hands in his own, and his bright orange aura merged with Shakara's blood red aura. In that moment, as Ashley looked on in awe, both Shakara and Tanis were one with each other, Shakara's mind free from chaotic emotions and Tanis reaching a new level of co-operative power.
The thunderous crashes of the lightning outside the ship were deafening, even through the thick steel hulls. Ashley felt the craft rock violently and shake as bolts of energy struck it multiple times and tossed it about. Even Ashley, with her dull human senses could feel the electric energy humming in the air, and she was sure it was an unhealthy dosage. The time crept by and Tanis and Shakara showed no visible signs of movement. The storm continued to intensify.
Finally,
after what felt like an eternity of continuous electric explosions
and nauseating tossing of the ship to and fro, the storm finally
cleared. Slowly but surely, lights in the ship began to flicker on as
the systems rebooted. It was a miracle that any part of the ship's
electronics could have remained intact, but none of the passengers
even dared to question it. Once the engines began to feebly hum a few
rounds, Tanis and
Shakara let go of each others' hands and
stopped glowing. The damage to their ship became apparent.
Almost every single part of the holographic consoles had shorted out. In several places the equipment has completely fused. The communications panel was nothing but a hunk of carbonized metal and silicon. The main view-screen was burned to a crisp, and the engines were making sounds like they could give out at any moment. When Shakara pressed the weapons triggers on her gunner's joysticks, the lasers didn't respond.
"Nice job, I'm sure we're space-worthy now." Shakara said bitingly.
Ashley felt herself grinding her teeth; part of her wished she had been left inside the stasis tube.
Chapter VIII – S2
"Well, if my father didn't know anything was up before, he sure does now." Shakara remarked sharply.
The negative emotions emanating from Tanis and Ashley were almost stifling to Shakara, she felt as if she were suffocating in a cloud of anger and frustration. It was almost tangible to her, and she couldn't help but add to it with her own frustration.
"We'll need to stop using our powers from here on so that Ares doesn't discover us." Tanis said. "I hope this ship can hold out long enough for us to find a new ride."
Shakara looked at the dead view-screen and frowned. She sensed life energy of a human settlement below. Then, she forcefully shut down all her abilities so that her father couldn't detect her.
"The human town you wanted to see is below us now. I'd suggest we land there before the engines breathe their last. Shakara said, trying to make her own anger go away.
"Let's go then, my stomach is absolutely desolate and I could eat an entire cow!" Ashley said.
Tanis nodded and sat back down in front of the control sticks. Shakara pushed in front of Ashley to get back at the gunner's seat, even though she knew the weapons would be ruined. A part of her wanted to sit next to Tanis and away from Ashley, who was becoming more and more unpleasant by the moment. Ashley let out a small huff of indignation as Shakara pushed past her, and then moaned in anger when she saw that one of Shakara's knee blades had cut right through her jeans.
"These are my favorite jeans, look what you did to them!" Ashley whined, looking down at the gash in the fabric.
"At least it missed your skin." Shakara said, smirking to herself.
The ship suddenly wobbled underneath them before Ashley could respond. Tanis tried to bring them down as slowly and smoothly as he could, but obviously the control mechanisms had been affected and the ship rolled and tumbled like a drunken bee. Ashley again tumbled to the floor and Shakara braced herself in the gunner's seat. It wasn't too long before a monumental crash signaled their touching solid ground. The engines coughed one last time before exploding and filling the inside of the ship with smoke. Tanis jumped up and threw the outer door open and Ashley followed him out. Shakara opened a weapons cabinet in the back of the troop compartment and pulled out as many explosive grenades and laser rifles as she could carry. The smoke irritated her lungs and she coughed as she stumbled out of the warped doorframe and into the twilight.
"What are those for?" Ashley asked incredulously when Shakara stepped out carrying an arsenal of laser weapons.
"In case we're found out. Here, hold these." Shakara said, and handed Ashley the guns.
Shakara primed one of the explosive grenades in her hand and then tossed it into the gunship's open door. Tanis and Ashley didn't need to be told, they all ran and dove for cover behind the crest of a nearby hill. A great thundering concussion shuddered through the ground, and several satisfying smaller bangs soon followed afterward. Shakara looked up to see that there was little left of the gunship now except a scorched hull and skeleton-like framework of steel.
"And what was that for?" Ashley further inquired, holding awkwardly onto the black and red colored laser rifles.
"So that Ares would have a reason not to come searching for us." Shakara said, standing back up. "We'll need to find cover now, the other gunships will undoubtedly be here soon to survey the site. We need to hide."
Tanis stood as well. "Alright, the human town is less than a mile west of here, let's go."
The three of them sprinted as hard as they could across the dry, barren flats and toward the squat little brick buildings of the settlement. The lights in the windows glowed drearily in the last few hints of twilight before dusk, and the temperatures of the desert around them were already falling to their nightly lows. Power lines stood starkly inside the structures like watchtowers, and as Tanis, Ashley, and Shakara entered the city limits the gentle humming became audible. A pub near the town's center was alive with raucous laughter and shouting, and distinctly human smells of body odor and beer entered Shakara's nostrils for the first time. She couldn't react with anything other than disgust.
"Where should we go?" Tanis asked, scanning the different buildings frantically.
"There, that looks like some sort of factory. Everybody's going to be at the bar, not working." Ashley said, pointing at a building that had four great transformers in front of it. All the town's power lines stemmed from them. On the top were two steam vents, one of which was pouring a cloud of the thick white vapor into the darkened sky. Tanis, Ashley and Shakara ran over to it with all haste and found the door unlocked.
Inside the building was almost totally dark, the faint twilight from the outside did not filter through the thick yellowed windows. The sound of humming machinery came from the far corner of the vast chamber, and the air tasted of some unknown metallic chemical. Shakara now felt doubly uncomfortable.
Ashley produced her flashlight and turned it on. What the narrow beam revealed wasn't especially noteworthy, there was a large machine dominating the center of the room, rising almost all the way to the ceiling 20 feet above them. Catwalks filled the space around it, looking like thin spider webs of steel. There were all manner of tools and machines lying strewn willy-nilly on the ground, including the most primitive of wheelbarrows to what looked like laser drilling devices. There was a large shaft near the left side of the massive machine about ten feet wide with stairs descending into the pitch blackness below.
Red lights suddenly flooded over the town and a great whooshing noise was heard a few blocks away in the town.
"Quickly, they must plan on searching the city!" Shakara said, and ran towards the staircase leading into the shaft.
Shakara took Ashley's flashlight and lead them down into the abyss below the factory. They descended thousands of steps, and the humming of the machinery above was lost to the distance. When they reached the bottom, three or four passageways branched off into the inky blackness, and in these tunnels the smooth steel walls of the shaft gave way to natural rock that appeared to be bored through. Shakara picked one at random and lead them into the tunnel with the piercing knife of the flashlight's light as their guide.
"This must be some sort of mine." Ashley said as they passed trolleys filled with various unidentified ores.
"Be careful, we don't know if there are any pitfalls or other hazards." Tanis said cautiously. By the time they had reached a dead end in the stone corridors they had all run out of breath and were panting and sweating like dogs. The three of them sat with their backs against the rough stone wall and rested for a moment.
"We need to save batteries, so I'm going to turn this light emitter off for awhile." Shakara said. "I hope none of you are afraid of the dark.
When the flashlight beam suddenly flickered out, a total and complete darkness fell over Shakara that only compared to the ones she had gone through during her father's training for her. He had forced her to live days in complete blackness, and she had learned not to let the sensory deprivation bother her. But at the same time, this brought back memories of him that were less than pleasant and she suddenly felt anxiety begin to creep into her mind. The darkness was all encompassing, but at least the sound of Ashley and Tanis' breathing was there as an anchor to reality. She focused in on the sound and the fear slowly receded. Her entire world shifted to revolve around audio perceptions, and she was at ease.
After a few minutes, Shakara heard a suspicious sound, some pebbles tumbled to the stone floor. It stopped after a moment, and then started again. The tiny stones clattered to the floor in the darkness, the sound stark and slightly unnerving in the otherwise deathly silent passage. Shakara could hear nothing else besides her companions' breathing, no sounds of approaching footsteps. There was a sudden, loud cracking sound, and then the sound of several large stones hitting the floor. This was all Shakara needed to hear, she turned on the flashlight.
Pointing it up at the ceiling, Shakara saw the bare stone was cracking just a few feet away from them down the tunnel. Another large chunk of stone fell and smashed to pieces on the floor.
"It looks like we may have to make a break for it!" Tanis said urgently, getting up off of the stone floor.
A rock fell and struck Ashley squarely on the skull, and she shouted in surprise. "Argh! I hate cave-ins!" She yelled at the top of her lungs.
"We need to get out of here, right now!" Tanis said urgently, running down the corridor to escape. Shakara caught up to him and grabbed his arm.
"Don't be foolish! We'll never make it out on foot! There's no time! If we teleport, the Acolytes will zero in on us in an instant!" She said, holding Tanis' arm firmly.
"Then what should we do?" Tanis replied angrily, his will to live burning in his eyes.
"I don't know! All I do know right now is we must avoid capture at all costs!" Shakara shouted over the now loud rumbling.
"I'm not willing to pay my life!" Tanis said.
At that moment, a monumentous crash boomed from down the corridor and rocks tumbled down from the ceiling. Shakara pulled Tanis with her away from the falling stone and back toward the dead end. The floor shifted under her feet, tilting forwards violently and throwing her off balance. She and Tanis landed on top of Ashley and the three of them were buried under a pile of smaller rocks. They all slid together down the newly formed slope through yet more piles of rock until they finally emerged unharmed inside a new room. When the rumbling finally stopped, Shakara picked her way out of the pile and looked around her. It was pitch black again, the rocks had broken the bulb in their flashlight.
"Is everyone alright?" Tanis shouted.
"I'm bruised up, but otherwise fine." Ashley said, her voice muffled under a pile of stones that she had not yet dug out from under.
"As am I." Shakara said, reaching her hands out in front of her to feel the darkness.
More tumbling rocks were heard as Tanis and Ashley pulled themselves free, and a loud metallic thump filled the air when Shakara's foot hit what felt to be a very larger metal drum. Pain thudded through her foot and she held back the urge to use her recover ability to heal it. She reached down with her hands and grasped the object with which she had collided. It was a metallic crate of some sort, and it felt rusted in her hands. She threw it aside and continued to fumble around the darkness.
"I can't see a blasted thing!" Ashley griped, "Where'd the flashlight go?"
"It's broken, and because of that we may be lost down her for years." Shakara said grimly.
"Well how nice, yet another cheerful happening in an otherwise splendid day!" Ashley shouted, her anger no longer contained.
At that moment Shakara ran headfirst into a stone wall, the rock clacking against the metal of Ares' Symbol upon her forehead. Instead of being upset however, she became excited. Her instincts told her that the presence of a metal crate might mean that this cave had been inhabited at some time, and thusly there could be lights installed in the ceiling. She felt up and down the walls for a few minutes, coming across metal pipes but no switches. Then she came across a framed doorway, and next to it, a switch box. She eagerly flipped the switch and cringed when the light flashed back on and stung her eyes.
"Ah….nice job there!" Tanis said, covering his eyes in the unexpected brightness emanating from the ceiling.
After a few moments, Shakara's eyes finished adjusting and she looked over the room that they occupied. There were several metal crates, barrels, and pipes all over the floor, and more pipes lined the walls in a sparsely woven latticework. The stone was a grimy yellow color, a mineral that Shakara didn't recognize. The doorway she had found lead off into the darkness beyond, turning a left corner.
"Shall we proceed?" Shakara asked, stepping into the only corridor.
"It's not like we have anywhere else to go." Ashley said, pointing at the pile of collapsed rock they had barely escaped.
The three of them walked down into the darkened corridor, which surprisingly wasn't as dark as the mine shaft they had just came from. There seemed to be a dim light coming around the corner ahead of them, and the light from the odd storage room they had just came from still radiated behind them. Shakara knew she couldn't predict what would lie ahead, but she still wasn't prepared for the sight that met her eyes around the tunnel's corner.
When they did turn that corner, the passage before them opened up into a massive cavern that appeared to be miles wide and long, and several hundred feet high. They were now walking on a sturdy steel catwalk, and on the floor of the cavern below sat a glowing city that was in a perpetual state of twilight. Yellow lights flickered and glowed in the buildings and streets below, and the other cave walls around them were lined with similar meshes of catwalks and pipes, along with many dotted tunnels that lead to other unknown rooms.
Before Shakara could say anything or even react, the sound of a human woman screaming met her ears. She jolted around to see a middle aged woman in tattered clothes staring at her in sheer terror. The woman then reached over and slammed her hand against a large red button on a panel in the wall and then ran down the catwalks away from them. As soon as the button was pressed, a deafeningly loud klaxon blared throughout the gigantic city-cave and red flashing lights flooded every nook and cranny. Shakara was frankly stunned, she had no idea what to do. Soon she heard clomping footsteps approaching them on the catwalks.
Hundreds of human soldiers wearing armor and headgear stormed up to them carrying large, sleek looking laser rifles. They didn't even take time to pause and ask questions either, they saw Ares' symbol on Shakara's forehead and opened fire.
Ashley jumped to the ground to avoid the sizzling bolts and Shakara felt there was nothing for her to do except use her powers. She raised a psychic shield and felt the lasers pound it with incredible force. The sheer power that these men had built into their weapons was astounding, with each blast that Shakara blocked, her energy dropped significantly. She knew there could be no toying around any longer. With one large psychic gesture, she grabbed the weapons out of her opponents' hands and tossed them down into the city streets hundreds of feet below.
"Stop!" She shouted in her loudest psychic voice, feeling it echo back to her with great force. "We're not servants of Ares! We've merely stumbled upon your hideout!"
But words were not enough to convince these men, and Shakara could not blame them when they began throwing grenades at her and her friends. She grabbed the grenades out of the air and threw them down the empty hallway behind her. The collective explosions shook the catwalk upon which they stood and collapsed the tunnel they had just came through.
"Silence!" Tanis shouted. "If you will not believe her, then believe me! I do not have Ares' Symbol upon my skull and I am free from his influence! We mean you no harm! Trust me, if we were Ares' minions, the Acolytes would already be swarming into here behind us!"
"They may yet, after we used our powers as such." Shakara whispered to him.
"Who are you?" One of the men in the back shouted.
"I am Tanis, son of Mewtwo, and this is Shakara et Benca, daughter of Ares."
"She's his daughter, we must kill her!" A man in front shouted, and charged forward with a rather large knife.
Shakara knocked the blade out of the man's hand by swinging her tail up and striking his knife with her tail blade. She grabbed his arm and pulled him close to her so that she could see his eyes through his visor.
"My father is a cruel, wicked person, and I no longer want anything to do with him! If you need any proof, and watch!" She said, and raised her hand to her forehead. Her claws extended from her fingers and she slowly raked them across the symbol on her forehead. The grinding of the metals rattled her skull and a bolt of red hot pain emanated from the symbol as she defaced it. It was still so much a part of her that to damage it was physically painful, but in the moment she had a point to prove and a boiling pot of anger at her father simmering in her mind.
"This symbol stands for everything my father lives and fights for! I dishonor it! I swear it off! I deface it with my own hand! That is an act of defiance that would normally result in death by Ares' hand itself, and there is no changing the damage I have done to it."
Shakara threw the man back and lowered her clawed hand to reveal great gashes in the symbol that were leaking an ominous red blood. "Do you now know the strength of my convictions?" She growled at the man. He whimpered a small but and backed away until he was amongst his shocked comrades once more.
"If you do not serve Ares, what is your business here?" Another bolder man asked, stepping forward.
"We came here by accident, fleeing the Acolytes." Tanis said. "We actually were in a mineshaft not too far from this spot when the rock collapsed and deposited us in one of your storage rooms."
"Excuse me," Ashley said, standing back up and walking up to stand by Shakara's side. "Don't you think it would be odd that one of Ares' minions would keep a human girl like me with them, especially without some sort of controlling device? If you won't listen to them, listen to me. At least you can identify with my humanity. We need food, water, and shelter. Will you trust us and provide those for us?" She asked pleadingly.
The men whispered amongst themselves for a moment, except for the particularly bold man who had approached them just now. He instead took off his visor and held it in his arms for a moment. His hair was short and trimmed in a militaristic crew-cut, and his brown eyes stared at them searchingly.
"Well, if you were Acolytes then you would have controlled my mind the moment I took off my neural-inhibitor helmet, so I think that for the moment, I can believe you." He then turned back towards the other humans in his group. "Bring General Wells immediately! Have word sent to the Council of our situation immediately!" The man said.
The human troops stood nervously, still pointing their weapons at Shakara. They were utterly silent, a few of them shaking slightly. Shakara understood their distrust, she thought it healthy for any rebels who were facing a possibly enemy spotter. Shakara took the silent moment to reach out with her mind and check her surroundings. She knew their cover was blown already, so there was no use in continuing the psychic silence. She felt the Acolytes hundreds of feet above them in the town, but oddly they were not coming down to investigate. In fact, she sensed them moving back toward their ship. She psychically watched as they boarded it and flew off without further investigation. She was suddenly very confused.
"Do you sense it?" She whispered to Tanis, "Our company isn't coming after all."
Tanis nodded, a bewildered look on his face as well. He turned around suddenly when a man approached him.
"The General wishes to see you!" He said hesitantly.
"Try to make a good first impression please, for all our sakes." Tanis said back to Shakara, who only huffed a little in indignation at the remark.
Chapter IX – R12
The artist's block finally gave way as Ruru grasped her frayed horsehair brush. Onta sat behind her and watched as she daubed the green paint onto the cave wall to put leaves on a tree. She gave form to the Kokiri Forest as she remembered it, still wondering if it had indeed been burned to the ground during her absence. The howling winds of the Dead Lands continued to wail their foul dirge through the cave passages overhead as Ruru painted the scenes out slowly and surely. She did not hear footsteps as they entered the cave.
"I've got some more food." Aquel said as he emerged into the room.
Ruru set her brush down and turned to where Aquel had laid a fresh sack of edibles. "What news?" She asked eagerly.
"Well, you remember I told you of Iress' regent upon the Dantunian Throne, Queen Ianalka?" Aquel asked.
"Yes, I remember you told me she is a greedy and apathetic monarch who only cares about her own pleasure." Ruru replied, unwrapping more salted meats.
"Well, we're now planning the coup against Iress, and it will start with Isaac assassinating Ianalka and having the highest Dantunian Council member reclaim the throne. Isaac himself has volunteered the assassination."
Ruru found her suspicions of Isaac shrink a little more upon hearing Aquel's words. Assassinating a Iresian monarch would certainly mean death for the perpetrator should he be caught, no matter their rank. Ares and Anmor did not take kindly to treason. "What then?" She asked.
"We will immediately evacuate the entire council to the Dead Lands, accompanied with the entire Dantunian army and set up a temporary stronghold to await the inevitable assault by Iresian forces. We have already sent word to Bensor that the rebellion is beginning, their forces should arrive just as we finish preparations here in a week and long before the Iresians arrive."
"What of Isaac?" Ruru asked.
"Right now, he's gathering more info from Anmor as we speak, but he will return in two days to perform the assassination. After that, he will no longer go to meet with Ares, as most likely his cover will be blown. We will give him a place alongside the Dantunian Council inside our stronghold."
"Out of curiosity, who is the eldest member of your council, the one who will reclaim the Dantunian throne?" Ruru asked, picking up an apple.
"It is not I, I am far too young for the position. The man who has been on the Council for the longest is named Eumil Ayatta, and he is the Sovereign of the western province of Nulive. He is very calm and intelligent, but his stalwart aggression in politics and military matters makes him an excellent man for the position." Aquel said.
Ruru nodded as she chewed on the apple. It was very sweet, a taste she didn't get to enjoy very often. She wondered if there weren't many fruit trees growing in Dantun.
Aquel looked over at the mural Ruru had been painting. "I see you've made some progress recently." He remarked, staring at the wet paint.
Ruru nodded and swallowed the piece of the apple. "I've still got two thirds of the forest left to paint, but once it's finished I'll only have the Gerudo Valley left to paint." She said.
"Any reason why you're painting your homelands last?" Aquel asked curiously.
Ruru sighed. "Because it would be hard to stare at them every day and not be able to go home to them." She said in a longing tone.
Aquel suddenly took on a look of embarrassment. "I'm sorry, I really am." He said.
"Every day my sister and I would wake up at dawn and practice at the archery range. If it weren't for her, I would be nothing with the bow. At night she taught me how to put my feelings into a brush and to give life and form to paint on a canvas. Hardly any of our people have artistic talent like this, they spend all their time practicing with blades and learning lore. The fact that my sister knew this craft made me admire her even more." Ruru said, her voice slowly trailing off during the last sentence.
The room was hushed except for the endless droning of the winds above, Onta and Aquel wanted to give Ruru her moment of remembrance.
"The cold desert nights at my home in the desert were always the most beautiful in the summer. My room in the old Gerudo Palace was at the top of a particularly large tower, and I could always look out the window at night and see for miles over the plains beyond. I could see the hills where the dry dirt gave way to lush grass a fertile farmlands, and the specks of light from the farmers' houses dotted the distance like glimmering topazes. If the moon was full, I could see the tiny lines that were roads crisscrossing the lands in the distance, and every once in awhile a cloud of rising dust meant that a wagon or carriage was passing through the night."
"It was truly a sight to behold, more than once have I stayed in Hyrule Castle overnight, and I too was gifted with a wondrous view. I once overlooked the entire Castle City from a tall tower, I could watch all the people do their nightly business like ants below, and the wavering light of the houses beyond shone just as you described them." Onta said, his aged face showing a pining regret.
"Friends! You may yet return to these lands should the war be won!" Aquel said.
"Yes, but I may never see my sister again." Ruru said miserably.
Neither Onta nor Aquel knew what to say at this point, so they remained silent once more. Once a few minutes passed, Aquel spoke up once more.
"We have also sent messengers out to the other nations in hopes that they might provide us with aide as well. It will be at least a day before they reach Theria and Il'Nead, and it is doubtful that our third messenger will even make it to Hyrule, seeing as the Iresian presence is strongest there. We should have an answer from Theria and Il'Nead the day of the Assassination, and perhaps even reinforcements before the battle even begins." Aquel said hopefully.
"I want you to make it clear to the Dantunian Council that their stronghold isn't to be erected anywhere near the cave Onta and I share here. Should any of the Iresian troops find their way to this chamber, Ares and Anmor could find us and acquire my piece of the Triforce. To have that happen would mean certain defeat, for the power of the completed Triforce could overcome even the sucking energy vortexes here in the Dead Lands, and your army would be decimated."
"I will make absolutely certain of it."
"Also, you should ensure that this region where our cave is located remains totally inconspicuous. We cannot have anything draw Ares or Anmor's attention here. Do whatever it takes to make this the least interesting piece of land in the entire region." Ruru said.
"Indeed, we will place no extra troops here, but not so few as to arouse suspicion. We will put no fortifications here, host no special forces here, or organize any specialized troop formations here. All Ares and Anmor will see from the backs of their dragons is a standard patrol moving along a preset path. This I will ensure." Aquel said solidly.
"I'm curious, does Isaac talk much of Hyrule? Does he bring much information in from his espionage?" Onta asked, not realizing how far he was shifting the conversation.
"He has told me many things, and I can relay them to you now. He has told me of a steady yet controlled logging of the Kokiri Forest, the wood being used as fuel for smelting plants which have been built on the side of Death Mountain. The trees are being slowly thinned out, but not overtly destroyed. He says that the trees that were burned in the fires of the initial Iresian invasion have since been replanted in order to provide future fuel. Hyrule field is still a productive series of farmlands, but now Ares and Anmor take what is not necessary to feed the populace. He has also mentioned water being siphoned off of the Zora's river in moderate amounts. Hyrule Castle remains intact, but Sirpala has been missing since the initial invasion and the Castle now serves as Anmor's throne and seat of power instead. More and more great mines and factories have been built on, in, and around Death Mountain as Ares' lust for material ore grows. The Hylian workers are paid subsistence wages, and the Gorons are paid nothing at all save the rocks they are allowed to eat." Aquel finished.
"It sounds as if Ares and Anmor are sucking the vitality and resources out of Hyrule at a steady pace. All I can do is be thankful that he hasn't ravaged the land and killed thousands. Is there any word of my people?" Ruru asked.
"Isaac has told me that the Gerudos have been slipping away from Hyrule at a steady pace for many years now. They've been slowly fleeing and escaping from under Ares' watchful eye. Isaac says that nobody within Iress or Ares' Empire have any idea where they might be going, but the palace is beginning to fall into disrepair as fewer and fewer Gerudos are inhabiting it each year."
"A part of me is proud, Q'Diri must have taken up temporary Eldership when I left, and she must be leading them slowly to safety. If I ever see her again, I will have to tell her how happy I am that she has been so successful." Ruru said, a warm smile now on her face.
"There is one more item of relevance I should mention. You are familiar with the ancient Elemental Temples of Hyrule, those which used to house the Six Medallions?" Aquel asked.
"Yes of course! I made a pilgrimage to the Spirit Temple when it was decided that I should be apprenticed to my sister. The Temples were places of mystery and great holiness." Ruru said.
"Well, they were thoroughly demolished when Ares began searching for you and your piece of the Triforce. He tore them all down brick by brick trying to find you, and now because of this elemental magic has been running wild all throughout Hyrule. Fires, floods, sandstorms, and all other manners of natural disasters have become terribly frequent, and Ares and Anmor do little to provide relief efforts to the citizens. Monsters have become much more frequent, but the Iresian troops will slaughter them on sight so they have not been a major problem. The general magical atmosphere of Hyrule has become harsh and dangerous as time passed, and there has been nothing done about it." Aquel said.
Ruru felt rage quiver in her throat. "How dare he destroy such sacred relics! Is he even aware of the imbalance he has inflicted upon my lands? The only solution left may be completing the Triforce myself and using it to restore balance to the chaotic energies."
"There is nothing left that I haven't relayed to you now, so if you don't mind I should be going." Aquel said, nervousness obvious on his young face in front of Ruru's anger.
"Very well, but be sure to bring me the news as soon as you receive it!" Ruru replied, gaining control over her indignation.
Aquel picked up his cloak and put it on over his head. "I'll try and come again in three days, after the assassination! Until then." He said, and ducked out.
Ruru sighed, her feelings mixed as she contemplated the new fate of her homeland. She sat and ate a few more mouthfuls of fruit, and when she was satisfied she turned back to face her mural. The brush felt especially heavy in her hand when she picked up and began painting once more.
Chapter X – J6
"The last of the rations are on board now." Jenna said, wiping the sweat off of her brow as she walked across the deck of the Lemurian Ship toward Piers.
Piers nodded in acknowledgement. "We should be ready to set out just as soon as Felix gets his dawdling behind down here and on the ship."
Jenna grinned and walked up to stand beside Piers as they looked at the stone of the caves in front of them. The boat rose and fell gently as the tide flowed in and out of the caves underneath the island, and the soothing rush of the water against the stone echoed deeply throughout the caverns. The strong smell of brine was only matched by the odor of the old and slimy seaweed that covered the worn waterline on the cave walls. A few other Lemurians were still hauling some last minute items on board the ship, but they would leave soon enough, this was a journey that only Jenna, Felix and Piers would take. Any more than that, and they stood the risk of being detected by Ares.
"The few leaks in the middle decks have been patched, you should have totally smooth sailing for many months." One of the Lemurian citizens said, striding up behind them.
"Thank you. Have you seen Felix by any chance?" Piers asked.
"I'm here!" Felix's voice called out from the left of the bow.
Jenna and Piers walked over to see Felix running along the crumbled docks and toward the gangplank. He was carrying his old knapsack, the same kind they used to carry on their old adventures when they needed to keep plenty of items and supplies. It was stuffed full and had various items sticking out of the top where it was precariously buttoned closed. Felix made his way up the gangplank, his pack making rattling and clinking sounds with each step.
'We've already gotten all our necessary supplies squared away in the lower decks!" Jenna said in a mildly irritated tone.
"But, just in case we have to enter a battle, I've brought these!" Felix said, and produced Jenna's old Masamune sword, Piers' Excalibur Sword, and his own Sol Blade.
"It's been years since I've felt the handle of the blade in my hands." Piers said, taking Excalibur still in its sheath. He pulled it out and the proud sword shone brightly for a moment in the low light of the caverns.
Jenna took the Masamune Sword and it felt heavy in her grip, which told her she was out of practice now. The countless years she had spent lazing in Lemuria must have gotten her out of shape, and she knew she had to practice once more. She felt she owed it to the beautiful blade in her hands.
"I've also got all our old battle supplies, waters of life, mist potions, and psynergy stones. Should we have to fight, we will be ready." Felix said, putting the Sol Blade away.
"Shall we shove off then?" Piers asked, and Jenna and Felix nodded.
"All ashore that's staying ashore!" Piers shouted, and the few straggling Lemurians quickly ran over to the Gangplank and walked down to the docks. Once there they brought the gangplank down and began untying the riggings that held the ship in the dock.
"I've got the anchor!" Felix shouted, running across the deck toward a large wheel with wooden rungs.
As soon as all the ropes had been untied and the anchor raised, the rest of Jenna's group of friends emerged from the stairs that lead to the island's surface. Garet, Ivan, Mia, Sheba and Kraden all waved a hearty goodbye as the freshly painted Lemurian ship slowly came free of the dock. Jenna waved back to her friends and continued doing so until the ship drifted around a corner and they were cut off from view. The powerof the magic Lemurian stone pushed the ship through the winding caves slowly and cautiously, and once they saw sunlight streaming through the cave opening in front of them, Piers increased their speed significantly. The ship emerged into the brightly lit space inside Lemuria's fog and storm clouds. The sunlight still shone through the clouds brightly, but Jenna was eager to see the sun directly for the first time in years. The ship swiftly ploughed the waves, heading away from the Lemurian island and toward the fog and storm enshrouded reefs that surrounded it.
"Get ready, the currents will be just as violent as you remember!" Piers said as they came closer and closer to the reefs.
When they rounded the first rocky outcropping and entered the clouds of fog, the ship lurched sickeningly immediately. The boat was blasted forward into a great whirling maelstrom in the seas, and the deck rocked like an Earthquake were occurring. Piers and Felix gripped the wheel like animals, using every muscle in their bodies to maintain course. The ship twirled three times in a whirlpool and then was grabbed up by another current which swept them dangerously close to another rocky reef. Piers and Felix grunted in exertion as they turned the wheel, and the ship tilted to resist the current. They pulled out of it a few moments before crashing into the rocks only to enter another, which was even faster than the first. Rain began to pour down on them as they neared the center of the reefs, and a few flashes of lightning overhead illuminated the thick, soup-like fog.
They rode the current past the wrecked remains of a different ship. It was not Lemurian, and it had tattered sails and a jolly roger painted on its ruined side. This almost made Jenna think about the one time she had fought that beast Deadbeard, but her mind was still occupied with the situation at hand. The current carried them past the wreck swiftly and into another spinning whirlpool.
"Hold fast!" Piers shouted, his face beet red with exertion as he held the ship's wheel in place.
The ship was spun wildly around several more times before breaking free into a zone of relatively calm waters. Felix let go of the wheel and gasped for breath, his face equally flushed. Lightning cracked the sky above them, and yet the thunder that followed seemed awfully quiet. None of them noticed, the gushing currents all around them were hypnotic and had caught their attention. Jenna was staring at the whirlpool they had just escaped. She wondered what was causing it, and appreciated again the protection that its kind was providing for Lemuria. It explained to her why Ares had yet to discover their sanctuary. After a few more minutes of resting, Felix and Piers gripped the wheel again and steered into another current that they would need to navigate.
Jenna had never been seasick before in all her past encounters with the sea, even when she and her party had first came through these currents to reach Lemuria for the first time. When she felt the nausea creeping into her stomach as the boat heaved underneath her, she took it as a sign of the invisible age she had been accumulating in Lemuria. She did not look it, but she was really middle-aged now, and her difficulty with her sword and seasickness made it painfully obvious to her. As she watched Felix and Piers strain to keep the wheel steady, she realized that now was a gift, and she needed to take advantage of the extra years she had been given by the time dilating effects of Lemuria. Her body was technically still in its prime, and she knew now she had to tone it again while she had the chance.
Once the fog began to clear, the current carrying them began to slow. Large rocky outcroppings rose from the mists ahead, and the current pulled them toward the space in between. Bright light filtered through the clouds and fog, making it look like a heavenly passage as they neared it. When they passed between the two massive stones, real and unfettered sunlight shone down at them from above, and the current carrying them slowed to a halt as it dispersed into the open sea.
Jenna looked up at the sky for the first time in many uncounted years. The sunlight temporarily blinded her and she had to cover her eyes, but the glimpse of the deep, beautiful blue she had managed caused her heart to beat anew with excitement and nostalgia. It was many shades deeper than how she had remembered it. Though it was true she had still seen sunlight in the fogged Lemurian skies, it was nothing compared to the potent rays that were shining down on her now. They warmed her skin as she stood there and allowed her eyes to adjust.
Once Jenna's eyes finished adjusting to the light, she soon found herself staring at something else in the sky. What appeared to be a thick ribbon of blackness traversed the southern sky, ascending and descending over the southern horizon in a curve, almost giving the impression of a thunderstorm lurking many miles in the distance. Jenna squinted as hard as she could, but the distance and humidity distorted and obscured it. She was about to call for a spyglass when something else caught her attention.
A hailing whistle sounded hardly a half-mile away from the starboard side of their ship. Jenna whipped her head around to look and saw an entirely metal ship cutting through the waves and approaching them at a fair clip. Jenna had never seen a ship like it before, it appeared to be made entirely of metal instead of just armor plates. It had a single tower in its center with glass windows on the top and several thin metal spires tipping it. Massive cannons were mounted on its in two groups of four, and they were pointing directly at Jenna and her ship. Each barrel must have been at least a foot in diameter from what Jenna could see to estimate, it caused her blood to run ice cold. Most frighteningly of all, it was flying a flag with three crossed bloody swords. Jenna remembered back to the metal vehicles which had carried Ares and his Acolytes, they too had bore this symbol. As she stared at the gigantic cannons on top of Ares' ship, she wondered intensely why they had not fired yet. The hailing whistle sounded again, and Jenna's blood quickened as the ship got closer and closer.
"Just our luck that we'd be discovered as soon as we exited the fog." Felix said with futility ringing in his tone.
"What are we going to do?" Jenna asked, almost a whisper.
"I won't lead them back toward Lemuria!" Piers said stoically. "Despite my banishment, my heart lies with my people and I will not cause their deaths or imprisonment. I do not know of any other way to escape, so we must stand and fight!"
Jenna grabbed her Masamune sword again and frowned. "They aren't firing their cannons at us, it's making me nervous." She said, gripping the hilt tightly.
"They're going to come about on our starboard side, if we're going to fight them we should stand there and be ready!" Piers said, drawing his Excalibur sword.
"Right!" Felix and Jenna said.
The three of them hurried over to the starboard side as the metal ship came dangerously close and began turning to face them. Felix unlocked the hauling wheel for the anchor along the way and it spun madly until the anchor hit the bottom. The hailing whistle sounded again as the metal ship finished turning to face them, displaying the three swords painted on its side. Jenna gripped her sword more tightly. The metal ship came to a stop just a few feet away, it had closed the distance at a remarkable speed and stood there silently next to them. Jenna, Felix and Piers looked up at the top of its deck, which was at least seven feet higher than them. When the sound of footsteps was heard from above, Jenna expected to see a pack of Acolytes to appear and attack, but instead a lone human-looking woman poked her head over the rim and spoke.
"Hello! Hello down there! Can you help me?" she shouted.
"Why should we? You sail under the flag of Ares!" Felix shouted back.
"You must let me explain! I've stolen this ship from one of his ports and I've been on the run for weeks since!" she replied.
Jenna exchanged glances with Felix and Piers, who both looked extremely suspicious. "Why should we trust you?" She shouted.
"You have to! I'm running low on food and water, and being alone for so long is driving me mad!" the woman shouted back, desperation in her voice.
Jenna looked over at Felix again, and his face was twisted in thought. "What do you think?" He asked quietly.
"From what I remember, Ares and his minions were powerful, so much so that he could kill us in an eye blink if so he wished. Either this woman is telling us the truth, or Ares is playing a malicious game with us." Jenna said to Felix equally quietly.
Felix nodded. "All right, you can come down, but don't bring any weapons with you!" he shouted.
The unknown woman ducked back out of view for a moment and then reappeared with a rope ladder, which she tossed down and began to climb. Jenna observed her when she stepped onto the wooden deck of her ship. Her skin was a deep reddish brown, as if she had spent her life living in harsh sunlight. She had dark orange hair that was bound in an extremely thick ponytail which hung past her waist and was held in place by a golden clip with an extremely large ruby set in it. She wore extremely large pants that looked like half inflated bags covering her legs and a strip of a top that had geometric patterns on it. An empty scabbard was tied to her back, and she was wearing an odd looking metal collar around her neck. When she turned and Jenna got a look at her face, her blood raced even faster. There was another symbol on the woman's forehead, a circle with curved spines sticking out. That symbol was the same one that had adorned Ares' skull, and the woman's eyes were just as red as his. Her slender and flexible form moved like a serpent's, suggesting physical grace and poise. She looked at them as one who had just came back from a five week pilgrimage to Mt. Aleph's Peak.
"Thank you for hearing me out! My name is Kalana and I've-"
Piers interrupted her, saying "Why do you have that symbol on your head, and why are your eyes as red as Ares himself?"
"I can explain! Just listen!" Kalana said, nervously looking down at the Excalibur sword in Piers' hands. "I was captured by Ares and forced into his servitude. He marked me on my forehead plainly as you can see, it is a symbol of my imprisonment. I became an officer in his navy, and I've been waiting for years for an opportunity to escape. I was working on board one of his freighter ships one day when this opportunity arose. The ship was docked in port when a mysterious explosion rocked the area, destroying practically everything. Almost all of the Acolytes were killed, so I took the chance to commandeer one of the few ships undamaged by the explosion, this warship." She said, pointing up at the metal ship she had climbed down from. "I've been on the run since."
"So what do you want us to do?" Felix asked, now with skepticism.
"Let me travel with you! Your ship is far more inconspicuous than mine, and you know much more about these waters than I do! I only ever sailed freighters along set trade routes, I've never been out in these distant seas." Kalana said, almost begging.
Felix grabbed Jenna's shoulder and walked her away from Kalana. "Should we trust her?" He whispered.
Jenna's mind was slightly conflicted. She remembered that when Isaac fought with Ares, Ares had played with him like a toy, tormenting him for minutes on end and vastly enjoying it. She wouldn't put it past him to set up an elaborate act like this, but at the same time she found Kalana to feel very sincere. She knew that it was dangerous to play any of Ares' games, but she also felt a great lump of doubt forming in her stomach, and she was still too kind to turn away someone in need who might genuinely need it.
"Who's to say that there isn't a horde of Acolytes still sitting in wait on her ship?" Felix added.
"Listen, I think she's being sincere. I've got a gut feeling about it. But, we shouldn't blindly trust her either. We shouldn't let her go back onto her ship if she wants to come with us." Jenna whispered.
Felix scratched his chin, and then nodded slightly. "Good idea." He said.
The two of them walked back to where Piers was about to strike up a conversation with Kalana. Kalana looked at them with what appeared to be honest fear and anxiety in her eyes, but Jenna could also see inner strength hidden underneath a veil of weakness.
"We'll let you come with us under one condition." Felix said assertively.
"Name it!" Kalana said, excitement now evident in her voice.
"You cannot go back to your metal ship, not for anything. If you wish to sail with us, you must do so right now without hesitation or returning to your ship." Felix finished.
"You've got it!" Kalana said without pause. "Now please, tell me your names! I want to get to know you!"
"Keep your shirt on! You'll have many weeks to get to know us, we're going to be out sailing for a long time and you'll be able to ask us all the questions you want." Piers said in reaction to Kalana's exuberance.
"Yes, and we should probably get started." Jenna said. "I'll weigh the anchor again Felix, you head back to the helm."
It was almost as if the entire ordeal hadn't happened as Jenna slowly cranked the wheel to lift the anchor from the bottom. Kalana had followed Felix off to the helm, and Piers had gone belowdecks to recheck whether their supplies were still properly squared away. She was in a very mild shock that nothing unfortunate had happened. She fully expected the Acolytes to start attacking from nowhere at any moment, but they still didn't come even as the anchor finally came to rest hanging in its starboard port. When their Lemurian ship began to move, and Kalana's metal ship fell away from them, it made Jenna think that perhaps her hunch had been correct. But she knew that they might have to do a bit of rationing, as they had only packed supplies enough for three people. At any rate, she was grateful that she had proven to be a much better judge of character than she had originally thought.
A/N: I must thank you guys for helping me catch the stupid errors in the last chapter. Hopefully this one will be a bit better, though there might still be one or two floating around after having eluded my checking. The fact that you guys help me to improve myself like this is much appreciated!
