I'm not sure what your name was. 6w5, was it? Well, this one's for you- another chapter that I am unsure of.
Hopefully I'll get these all done. The term is ending, and I have extra credit work to do.
Chapter Nine: The Greatest Lie
They were in the thick of battle. Drow warriors launched at the Skylanders at all angles. Spears were thrust out. Bodies thrown all over. Weapons brandished. All in the hope of trying to sway the battle to one's favor- though neither force was anywhere close to winning.
The Skylanders of the Cloudbreak Islands had been called to the outskirts of the region, hoping to intercept an invading force. The mere sight of these Drow was very curious. Drow came from the Darkness, and the Darkness had better things to do than engulf the boonies of Skylands in evil- it must've thought that the denizens of Cloudbreak were absolutely worthless. For the moment, it mattered not to the Skylanders. They would figure that out when they won the battle.
When, or if, that would be, still had yet to be determined.
Rattle Shake had cleared out a circle around him, freeing himself for an offensive attack. He launched venom from his snake gun, shooting it at incoming enemies. His heart thudded in his chest. Today could be the day he died. No time to think about that! When those thoughts came up, then that destiny was assured.
He noticed the tiger-like Skylander known as Trap Shadow lunge after him. But he wasn't after Rattle Shake. He dragged a few of the Drow away in order to help him out. Rattle Shake could never truly figure out what Trap Shadow was trying to do. He was an unpredictable beast- at least he didn't attack his friends.
Out from the circle, Rattle Shake could see a Drow warrior hitting something against a tree. Moving to get a closer look, he found what the warrior was fixated on- Wash Buckler! The Skylanders' leader had been backed into a corner, Drow to his right, tree on his back, and the edge of the island on his right. The Drow warrior was slamming Wash Buckler into the tree, trying to crack his head open. Though Wash Buckler was holding him back, he was definitely stuck.
Rattle Shake acted without thinking. He launched toward the two, ripping the Drow off of Wash Buckler. They slipped off the edge of the island, and Wash Buckler saved Rattle Shake by grabbing the back of his vest. The Drow warrior had grabbed onto his front, but lost his grip and plummeted down into the depths of Skylands.
Rattle Shake was quickly pulled back up onto the island. The rest of the Skylanders joined them, congratulating him on saving their leader. Rattle Shake could hardly reply. What had he just done?
Trap Shadow patted Rattle Shake on the back, saying, "That was impressive work, Shaky! Completely knocked that Drow right off his feet!"
"I...I killed him," Rattle Shake stammered. Yes. That was definitely what had happened. He had killed that Drow, shoving him off the island.
"Aw, don't be like that! An outlaw like yourself, you must've killed tons of people before deciding to join us!"
Rattle Shake shook his head.
"Oh...my bad."
"This was the first time you killed someone?" Wash Buckler asked. His body had been bruised all over, bleeding coming from a small gash on the back of his head. Overall, though, he seemed no worse for wear.
But what kind of comment did he just throw out? "Like we need to systematically kill people?" Rattle Shake yelled.
"I didn't mean it like that," Wash Buckler insisted. "I get it. It was wrong of me to assume otherwise, and I'm sorry."
"Heh heh, I guess assuming really does make...you know...," Trap Shadow cut in. "Look Shaky, you didn't mean to do it. That has to be important, right? The universe will forgive that. Besides, we don't know for sure that the Drow is dead. He could've landed on another island. If you don't find the body, then they're probably not dead. Everything's going to be okay."
Rattle Shake very much wanted to believe that was true.
It wasn't like the Skylanders ever expected to kill anyone in their duties. The Portal Masters planted the rules firmly into their heads- take down oppressive forces, never out. Skylanders with shady pasts who were used to killing had to wait for a while before getting put on a mission like this- to ensure that they fully understood the rules and were indeed willing to commit. Though killing someone couldn't always be entirely avoided- the Portal Masters would forgive Skylanders for breaking the rule if they did it in self-defense or were trying to help out an ally and found no other alternative.
Nobody had put Rattle Shake in the wrong.
Well, nobody except Rattle Shake, of course.
Several weeks after the incident occurred, Rattle Shake had locked himself firmly in his room on the Skylanders' base in the Cloudbreak Islands. He wanted to cry about the whole ordeal, to voice the pain that was now going through his head. But no tears ever came out. Not even a wail escaped his jaws. The only thing that existed was the lump in his throat. Could it be possible to feel so upset and guilty over something that you can't even cry about it?
The Skylanders came by to give him meals- Rattle Shake hadn't even come out of his room to eat. They all gave him their best wishes and advice. (Though Trap Shadow stopped being kind after the first week and continually told him, "So you killed a guy. Big whoop." This actually relieved Rattle Shake somewhat to know that the big purple lug hadn't changed all that much.) Nothing they said made him feel better. He'd killed someone! Something should happen after this!
One possible idea came up when Rattle Shake was at a complete loss for answers.
He was probably just a big coward who couldn't see the forest for the trees.
It all went back to that encounter he had with the Black Hat Gang. They were a bunch of terrible cowboys who were...cows, for a lack of a better term. Meaning that they had the features of the milk-giving beasts, though they all stood on two legs. The Black Hat Gang were notorious thieves, willing to do anything to get their treasure. They had surrounded Rattle Shake in Iron Jaw Gulch, demanding that he lead them to the center of an ancient volcano where they could find treasure. Rattle Shake summoned the might of snakes to help him get them off his back.
Anyone who heard the commotion described it as an epic tale. They insisted that Rattle Shake had charmed giant cobras to aid him in a glorious battle in ridding the region of the awful bovines.
Only Rattle Shake knew the truth.
Those bovines had been scared off by a bunch of pesky gopher snakes.
It was the biggest lie he had ever told. No, he didn't specifically say anything to spread the rumors- but he certainly didn't try to convince people otherwise. It was probably that incident that convinced Portal Master Eon to make Rattle Shake a Skylander. He had been looking for strong, brave souls to fight for the well-being of Skylands' citizens, and Rattle Shake seemed to fit the bill.
But Rattle Shake was no hero. He was just a big coward who was clever enough to avoid a fight.
Even so, he knew he had never wanted to kill a single living person. Now look at what he'd done.
Rattle Shake pondered this thought one afternoon as he sat in bed. Nobody had come by to see him yet. The summer sun came through the window, lighting up the room. How dare the day be so beautiful when his heart felt so bleak. He had to break out of this guilt somehow. It was never going to go away at this rate. Of course, Rattle Shake figured that the guilt would never go away- but he couldn't mope about it for the rest of his life.
He rose out of bed, slithering toward the door. Time to let the truth come out. The Skylanders had to know what a liar he had been. They'd all put his trust in him, and he had fooled them all. Maybe the universe would forgive him if Rattle Shake told the truth.
Rattle Shake slithered down the stairs and turned right to the kitchen. He found Wash Buckler sitting at the table, showing Trap Shadow a card trick. Neither of them seemed different after the battle from weeks before- not even Wash Buckler, who could've been the one that died that day instead of the Drow. Did they ever feel pain like this? Time to find out.
"Can I talk to you for a moment?" Rattle Shake asked.
Wash Buckler and Trap Shadow turned their attention toward him when he spoke. They looked at Rattle Shake as if he were a ghost. It had been so long since he'd set foot (or tail) into the kitchen.
"Hey Shaky!" Trap Shadow greeted him. "You're a sight for sore eyes! Are you feeling better?"
"No," Rattle Shake insisted. "That's why I came down here, actually. I need to talk to you."
"That's good," Wash Buckler mumbled, uncertain of this idea. "I'm glad you've come around. Dodging the problem doesn't make it go away. Of course...this could simply mean that you're facing worse trouble than we first thought."
Rattle Shake pulled up a chair and sat down. "Have either of you ever killed anyone before?" he asked. "I'm not trying to sound sinister or anything like that. I mean, have your duties ever asked you to do it? Were you given no choice in the matter, if the case may be?"
Trap Shadow merely shrugged at the question. "I've hunted animals for food plenty of times," he said. "Was hard the first time around, but it soon got easier. It was a survival choice I had to make."
"Did you ever feel guilt over it?" Rattle Shake hoped.
"Well it's not like I want to do it. I'm hungry. It's either the animal or me."
"I certainly hope you don't have that mindset living here at the base," Wash Buckler begged him.
Trap Shadow glared at the Mermasquid. "Do you not understand what assuming does?" he asked. "You know, that's a very bad habit you have, considering that you weren't in a very righteous place before becoming a Skylander."
Rattle Shake knew that tale all too well. Wash Buckler had been a pirate, leader of his own scurvy crew that, as opposed to plundering islands, went about doing good deeds. Of course, Trap Shadow wasn't referring to that. He was referring to the time before, when Wash Buckler didn't have a choice in the matter as to what happened.
"Did it upset you, every time you had to take a life?" Rattle Shake asked Wash Buckler.
"Of course it did," Wash Buckler promised him. "It was the complete opposite of what I wanted to do with my life. But we had orders from the captain, and often it was something we had to do to stay alive. Every time my blade cut through someone's torso, I began to hate myself more and more."
"You feel guilty about it?"
"Yeah, we both...Are you trying to relate? To figure out how to deal with the guilt?"
Rattle Shake nodded.
"Shaky, you don't get to relate to us," Trap Shadow argued. "Neither of us could avoid it, and yours happened out of sheer accident. It wasn't your fault. That Drow's death isn't on your hands."
"It might as well be!" Rattle Shake yelled. "I did nothing to try and save him! Inaction is the same thing!"
"Hey hey hey! Easy!" Wash Buckler quickly said. "There was a lot of activity going on during that battle, none of us were sure what was going on, and everything went by too fast for you to even think about saving him. You didn't kill him, Shake. Now just relax and stop beating yourself up about it. We know how you feel. That feeling will go away. Just give it time."
"I've already given it several weeks, and it still hurts as if it were yesterday."
"I know."
"When is it supposed to go away?"
"I'm not sure. It can take a long time to get over something like this. But it helps not to dwell on it. Eventually you'll forget why it had such a big impact on you."
He had to be lying about that. Rattle Shake knew in his heart that it would never get easier. There were people in this world that never got over guilt such as this. They lived with it the rest of their lives, the dread eating at their core. Rattle Shake felt that this would be a part of him for the rest of his life, carrying a reminder of the thing he hadn't tried to stop.
"Hey, let's forget all this deep inner turmoil for a minute, shall we?" Trap Shadow interrupted. "The training room is just below the kitchen. Let's get some sparring done. It's been a while since you've done anything productive."
"Just for a few minutes, Shake?" Wash Buckler agreed. "Try to do something other than dwell on it."
He really wasn't in the mood for sparring. But Rattle Shake followed them down to the training room regardless. He had to move on from this, in any way he could. Or, at least, he had to try.
Oh darn! He forgot to tell them that he was a coward! That was important. He should've remembered that. The lie had to go away, and it never would if it simply stayed in the dark like this.
Rattle Shake stayed back for a few moments, watching Wash Buckler and Trap Shadow spar with each other. Doubt toward his abilities clouded his mind. What if he were to hurt them during this time? He'd definitely never forgive himself for that.
Don't think about it! That destiny would be assured, then.
"Trap Shadow! Why don't the two of us spar one-on-one?" Rattle Shake asked.
Trap Shadow gave a wide, toothy grin. He couldn't be more pleased at the thought. The cat launched himself at Rattle Shake, but missed when the snake dodged out of the way. Rattle Shake launched venom from his snake gun, aiming just above Trap Shadow's head.
"Bonus points if you hit the center!" Trap Shadow taunted. He always liked to taunt during training.
Rattle Shake complied, swiping his tail underneath Trap Shadow's legs. Though tripped up, the cat was quickly back on his feet. He launched once more, just nicking Rattle Shake on the shoulder. The attack was quick- he could hardly notice it.
The same thing could happen during any battle.
"Trap Shadow! Stop that!" Wash Buckler yelled.
The warning came too late. Rattle Shake was hit on the side of his head by a large bear trap. It was one of the few weapons that Trap Shadow had- he preferred to pounce on his enemies. The cat had held onto a large chain, swinging the bear trap attached to it in a large circle, unaware that his sparring partner hadn't noticed.
The pain was certainly evident. Rattle Shake's ear rang for a moment, his head fuzzy. Both quickly went away, leaving the side of his face the true victim. Blood trickled from his nose, the trap hitting him just shy of his mouth.
"Heck! I didn't mean that!" Trap Shadow gasped. "I thought you noticed! I'm so sorry!"
Rattle Shake looked at Trap Shadow's face. Eyes wide, mouth agape, he just looked petrified. Was it true that someone could feel that kind of fear? Did all of the Skylanders have that fear at some point?
Wash Buckler had quickly grabbed a damp washcloth, handing it to Rattle Shake for him to use. "It was just a big mistake," he insisted. "All of this. He didn't mean to actually hit you."
"I get that," Rattle Shake replied. "I was just too big of a coward to move away."
Trap Shadow knelt down to hug him, continually apologizing for the injury. It sounded like he felt guilty over this. It didn't sound like that during their conversation earlier- hurting or killing something was just part of Trap Shadow's job. Now it was certain that he truly did care if he killed something, especially if it was a friend.
"You don't have to apologize," Rattle Shake insisted. "I know it was an accident that you hit me."
"No, no, it's more than that," Trap Shadow admitted. "I was right there when Wash Buckler was being attacked. I could've done something to save him, to keep you from suffering like this. But I was too scared- I could hardly figure out what I wanted to do. You're no coward, Shake. You were braver than the rest of us."
Rattle Shake felt no less like a coward. He wasn't even sure if Trap Shadow was lying just to make him feel better. But the tears fell down his face regardless. It was perfect. He'd wanted to cry, to know that the accident hadn't really been his fault, to know that someone else really did know his pain. He would be fine, Rattle Shake decided. Maybe not now, but eventually- the Skylanders would certainly make sure of that.