Chapter Twelve: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
"… And the ship, it sinks, like lead into the sea…"
Narwhal and Seiryuu both felt very uneasy, there was a sense of dread encroaching upon them, the Full Moon shined down the waves in a beautiful way, but something just wasn't right.
-Are you okay? We are about halfway through- Smilodon talked to Narwhal, the Feline Friend peeked from the open hatch to peek at Narwhal focusing, Smilodon was terrified of the water.
-Get Bald Eagle, tell her to fly high and scout our surroundings, I have a very bad feeling about tonight- Narwhal told Smilodon without looking at her, as she was focused on using Seiryuu to the Diamondback afloat, the Dragon swimming under the APC.
-I'll go wake her up then- Smilodon nodded closing the hatch.
Smilodon took a deep breath as she walked past the Friend at the wheel. Collared Peccary had her legs all the way up, at the wheel as she laid back, as she had not much left to do but wait.
Smilodon looked at the other Friends who had fallen asleep, Bald Eagle and Boomslang were holding hands as they laid besides each other in the floor, she was about to wake up Bald Eagle when she saw something strange that got her attention.
Père David's Deer was shaking and breathing heavily, was she having a nightmare, Smilodon thought her tougher than that.
-Shifuzou, wake up!- Smilodon called to the Deer, using her old nickname from the times Japari Park was open, the Deer never answered and struggled in her dreams which worried Smilodon.
When Smilodon tried to touch Père David's Deer, she felt a chill up her spine as something was behind her, Byakko's paw manifested on it's own to defend her Smilodon and swiped away that shadow that was creeping behind Smilodon's back.
-Boomslang! Bald Eagle! Wake up already!- Smilodon roared as she unsheated her sword, Byakko couldn't manifest inside the APC, she had to be on guard to protect the Relic with her life.
Bald Eagle and Boomslang yawned as they stood up and woke up instantly, both recognizing those chills in their spines as Nightmare's presence, returning to haunt them once again.
-I thought we killed her!- Boomslang squeaked terrified again.
-Did it get our Healer?- Bald Eagle asked, which got Collared Peccary to jump from her seat at and rush to the scene, only to be pushed aside by dark energies that surrounded her Deerie.
-She is holding on but I can't get to her!- Smilodon explained to the group as Collared Peccary tried again, this time she saw what repelled her, it was a shade that looked like Nightmare.
-You fucking Bitch!- Collared Peccary roared in pure anger, at the impotence of being unable to even touch Père David's Deer, she would try to kill Nightmare herself if she hurted her Deerie.
-Calm down, there must be something we can do to help her- Byakko's paw manifested to softly tap Collared Peccary's face, trying to calm her down before she tried charging at it again, hurting herself more with no results whatsoever like before.
-Tonight we're going to face coordinated attack by the Fiends, Narwhal had a very bad feeling about the Full Moon and I see why now, Nightmare was tagging along with us to guide them- Smilodon explained the current situation to Boomslang, Bald Eagle and Collared Peccary, they were very vulnerable in the ocean and even more so without their Healer, this could get ugly and Smilodon grimaced thinking this could be their end.
-Boomslang you go cover Narwhal and make sure her focus isn't interrupted, Bald Eagle you circle around the APC scouting for Fiends and provide backup when the battle starts, and Collared Peccary you stay here take care of Shifuzou and try to remain calm no matter what happens- Smilodon explained to each other Friend what they should do, given their Leader was out of commission now, she hoped no one would need healing.
-What are you going to do?- Collared Peccary asked Smilodon angrily brushing away the tears that leaked from her own eyes.
-I'm gonna go outside and try to use Byakko's wind to protect the APC, one good hit and they could flip it, that wouldn't end well for any of us- Smilodon said as she moved to the big hatch in the middle of the vehicle, soon followed Bald Eagle who just jumped high and took flight, Boomslang sighed following them.
Collared Peccary was left alone with the afflicted Père David's Deer, all she could do was whimper and desperately try to hold back her desire to cry loudly, beat herself against the floor of the APC. She saw that glimpse of shade before, it made her feel guilty, in spite of her being unable to do anything to help.
-Try to talk to her, she will listen to you, I'm sure of it- Rhyolite talked to Collared Peccary over the speakers, trying to snap her out of her mopping, the Friend just didn't reply to him at all.
Whatever Nightmare was doing to Père David's Deer, she was barely holding on for now, Rhyolite knew that Collared Peccary could save her Friend with a little help from him. He'd just have hand to her something that Rhyo trusted not having or using.
-Piggy! Do remember that "gun" Bald Eagle fooled around when she got her shades?- Rhyolite tried to reach for the Friend again, this time Collared Peccary actually responded.
-Yes… I remember that- Collared Peccary recalled breathing deeply, calming down, standing up and looking at the lock-box.
Collared Peccary looked inside the lock-box and found the gun, she wielded it with both hands and looked up the iron sight, just like she remembered how Humans did it on Action Movies.
She kept breathing deeply as she steadied her aim, feeling cold sweat all over her body, as she watched Père David's Deer spring back to like and sit with a shadow becoming visible behind her. The shadow made Père David's Deer open her eyes, which looked dead and empty, like some sort of creepy puppeteer, using the Deer's body to protect itself from the gun.
-Nightmare will need to manifest physically to devour your Friend, that's the moment you should empty that Desert Eagle on her head, it might just be enough- Rhyolite kept talking to Collared Peccary wishing he could do more, but it was all on her now, to save her Friend or become Nightmare's next prey.
Nightmare started to manifest physically, Collared Peccary could smell her Fiend stench, which reeked of blood and guts.
Collared Peccary didn't hesitate, much like she always did when faced in combat she just charged in, firing two shots into each Nightmare's empty eye sockets before tackling her head-on.
Collared Peccary barely managed to stop Nightmare from biting Père David's Deer head clean off, with a terrifying mouth full of teeth that looked more like something out of hell itself, the Pig used her momentum to tackle the Fiend and pull the trigger five more times, narrowly avoiding Nightmare eating her arms.
-Light, please save them!- Rhyolite pleaded overcharging all the light sources to replicate Sunlight, burning through most of his energy, in an attempt to kill Nightmare once and for all.
Nightmare's double ethereal form, both horse and shade, crumbled away in silence, the blinding flash of light snuffing away their last bits of consciousness away into nothingness.
-You did it! She is finally fucking dead and gone!- Collared Peccary clamored in joy to Rhyolite, but the AI didn't respond to her outright, which left Collared Peccary feeling really cold.
-Thanks… Low power… Energy saving mode...- Rhyolite said in a very clunky robotic voice, clearly burned out after pulling that stunt to save them, Collared Peccary bowed to him in respect.
Père David's Deer body was very cold, Collared Peccary could barely hear her faintly breathing, the Pig cuddled with her as she reached out to grab one of her own Healing Draughts and administering it to the Deer. Père David's Deer quickly regained her body warmth, she drank the potion in big chugs, a bit of the viscous green fluid leaking past her lips until she was done.
-Some Friend protected me from Nightmare, she nearly broke me but she couldn't kill me in my sleep, someone stopped her-
Père David's Deer rambled taking very deep breaths, as tears ran down her eyes she held Collared Peccary's hand, unable to properly express how glad she felt that Piggy was by her side.
Their tender moment was interrupted by a big wave splashing the Diamondback, the APC barely avoided being flipped over by another shockwave of force on the other side stabilizing things.
-We are under attack Deerie! you gotta go out there and make sure no one gets killed!- Collared Peccary remembered why she was by herself trying to save Père David's Deer, the battle had began in earnest awhile ago, things going sour for the Friends.
-Get me one of my boosters- Père David's Deer order tiredly.
Collared Peccary looked around their backpacks, one that they had stuffed full of Père David's Deer homebrew items, finding the colourful Sandstar snacks Collared Peccary was looking for.
-Open wide!- Collared Peccary giggled amidst their current situation and circumstances, it had been so long since she got to do this, she loved feeding her Deerie while she was helpless.
-You stay here, replace Rhyo's batteries and make sure he can warn us of any leaks, we don't want to be near this vehicle if it sinks- Père David's Deer gave Collared Peccary her orders as the stimpack like snack was working it's magic, giving her the strength to stand up and do her duty, as the Cadre's Healer.
-I don't even want to harbour that thought…- Collared Peccary muttered to herself, her hands trembled as she went back to work, putting the gun back into the lock-box where it belonged.
Père David's Deer opened the hatch and peeked outside, the Deer had to immediately hold onto her beret and take cover, for there was a fierce battle taking place all around their APC, the power of the Gods was in full display as they battled versus a horde of Harpies as their Leader lurked beneath the waves.
-Mon dieu!- Père David's Deer exclaimed as she took a deep breath, she generated the strings on her staff turning it into a longbow, then she started taking shots at the Horde of Harpies.
-About time!- Byakko exclaimed as she performed a wind clap that pushed away once again Harpies trying to close in and use their ghostly talons to kill the defenders of their Diamondback.
-I wasn't having a pleasant dream, I can assure you that!- Père David's Deer said while taking another shot, having a long range attack that the others lacked, made her very welcome.
-Their leader had a massive energy aura surrounding her, she is just waiting for us to be exhausted before making her move-
Smilodon explained to Père David's Deer as she protected her, using her parry stance that remained undefeated, but she was rapidly becoming too tired to continue using the Time Amulet.
-Incoming!- Bald Eagle called as she zipped past the air space of the APC, being chased by dozen of Harpies, she baited them within range of Boomslang's turtle shells for a brutal buckshot.
-We are making a dent on them!- Boomslang celebrated as she noticed the gaps in their attack patterns, Père David's Deer guided the Friends into focusing their attacks on the weakened spots, allowing the Friends to pick off the Fiends like cherries.
After being hit hard, their losses quickly adding up, the Harpy Swarm halted their assault and scattered to the four winds, as if something had commanded them to stand aside. The sudden silence made the sound of the waves rather creepy, the Fiend leading the attack emerged, she looked like a Snake Friend as she had a hoodie, the hood also made her look like the Grim Reaper. Pale skin, sharp teeth, glowing eyes, long black nails, almost visible poisonous breath, everything about this Fiend inspired dread, the Cadre knew they were in for a tough fight.
-Don't let her venom get close, fan it away with fire and wind- Père David's Deer ordered Smilodon and Bald Eagle to work together, there was no doubt about the lethality of that breath, the Deer knew that poison was beyond of what she could cure.
-We should run!- Boomslang advised, this situation was the worst possible one to face such an enemy, retreating was wise.
-We can't go any faster than this- Narwhal replied still focused.
The Fiend fully emerged from the waves, revealing her outfit to be black leather full of spikes, displayed tremendous power as a giant snake form of pure energy surrounded her. The Fiend rushed forward to attack the Diamondback, Boomslang and Genbu put the strongest barrier that they could muster, but barely managed to stop her, crumbled under the onslaught. The Diamondback felt the impact through the waves, barely holding on from being flipped over thanks to Byakko giving it a bump from the other side, getting wet which was something the White Tiger wanted to avoid. Bald Eagle tried to attack it from above, but her feathers didn't go through the mass of energy, the energy Snake tried to devour Bald Eagle whole.
-WATCH OUT!- Bald Eagle called to the group it was too late, the energy Snake began to disappear but it's last act was to use its tail to flip over the APC, to the Bird's absolute horror.
Bald Eagle screamed and tried to rush to do something, she saw Smilodon move towards the hatch where Père David's Deer was peeking, Bald Eagle saw them vanish and the hatch close. Leaving the Bird no other option than to try to save Boomslang, given Narwhal could swim, the Snake needed her.
-Gotcha!- Bald Eagle said as she held Boomslang close to her, normally she'd be too embarrassed to do it like this, in this situation all they could do was to attack this Fiend together.
-The APC!- Boomslang cried out, wanting to go help the others.
-FOCUS!- Genbu yelled, the Black Turtle's thoughts reminded the Snake that they had two Guardians down there, they would be fine but not if they got attacked as soon as they resurfaced.
-Don't let the Fiend escape under the waves!- Suzaku warned the Friends, if it escaped them, it would devour the APC whole.
-WE AREN'T DONE WITH YOU YET!- Boomslang yelled as she attacked the enemy with Genbu's turtle shells, given that the Fiend wasn't protected anymore by the energy summoning, she was able to actually hurt her and get it's attention once again.
-There must be a downtime to that form, we must find an opening, there must be a way we can actually damage her- Bald Eagle said to Boomslang as she circled around the enemy, ready to dodge it's next attack, instead the Fiend was waiting for the APC to show up again and make sure it sank for good.
The two Friends saw Seiryuu and Byakko struggling to pull up the APC afloat, when the Fiend started to channel her energy again, which was the moment Bald Eagle dived in to try to get a clear shot at the Fiend while Boomslang shielded their APC.
The Fiend roared in anger, using all of its strength to push past Boomslang's turtle shell wall, sinking the APC once again with a brutal tail swipe. Right as all this happened and both Bald Eagle and Boomslang shouted in horror, Smilodon used the Relic one more time, bailing out of the APC and tossing the Relic towards Bald Eagle. Suzaku manifested and grabbed it before the Feline sank into waves, Suzaku handled the Relic over to Bald Eagle.
-Our Friends- Boomslang wailed, about to succumb to despair.
-They are still there, look!- Genbu called Boomslang and Bald Eagle, they saw some big Friend swimming to the shore while holding up Narwhal and Smilodon afloat, Collared Peccary on top of his back with Père David's Deer standing guard over her.
-Who the hell is that!?- Bald Eagle asked loudly very confused.
-No time for that, strike together- Suzaku shrieked very angry, reminding Bald Eagle that they still had a Fiend to deal with, or it would go and finish off their Friends that somehow still lived.
-Together…- Bald Eagle closed her eyes thinking about what they could do, an idea came to her mind, it was quite simple.
-You have it!- The Fiend spoke up, her voice seething with hatred, sensing the Relic was now in the hands of Bald Eagle.
She turned around to reclaim the Time Amulet, the object of her quest to her Mistress, only to be hit with a nasty surprise. Père David's Deer parting gift, a triple sedating shot hit the Fiend on the neck right as it turned around to face Bald Eagle.
The Fiend flinched in pain, using her own venomous breath to counter the effects of the strong doses in her bloodstream, she was so close to being the one that would reclaim the Relic! She wouldn't let these feeble Friends pitiful efforts to stop her now.
-None of you can stand against Jörmungandr, the Relic will be mine, all of you will be consumed by my venom!- The Fiend finally revealed its name, breathing out to cover herself in a shroud of her own venomous breath, using it as smoke cover.
Boomslang tried to use her heat vision to check through the smoke, but it's toxic density was so high she couldn't see the Fiend, the Snake fired a few turtle shells into the poison cloud to see if she was still there. Bald Eagle vision quickly spotted that the Fiend wasn't there anymore, it had used the cover to dive underwater again, to ambush them and reclaim the Relic.
Bald Eagle flew away from that big Friend was taking the rest of the Cadre to the chore, she knew that Snake Fiend whose name she couldn't spell, would follow her blindly. Jörmungandr attacked the Friends from below, Bald Eagle and Boomslang barely avoided being swallowed whole, as Bald Eagle figured out how to use the Time Amulet to safely dodge the giant maw. Bald Eagle felt so desperate then, her desire to avoid the Fiend and save Boomslang so strong, that the Time Amulet stopped time for while Bald Eagle could move freely for a few seconds.
-We got one chance here, just do exactly as I say!- Bald Eagle said to a very confused Boomslang, who didn't fully caught up what just happened, due to the shenanigans of stopping time.
With Genbu and Suzaku manifested at full power, burning brightly like stars in the night, Bald Eagle and Boomslang held hands and focused on creating something very big together.
When Jörmungandr attacked them again, the Friends were ready for her, Boomslang created a large "fist" of out Genbu's turtle shells that Bald Eagle then imbued with Suzaku's Flames.
Jörmungandr smiled as she saw the Friends were finally hers, when she was about to crush them with her Energy Snake, to consume their squashed remains, she was struck with a brutal blazing fist, Jörmungandr blanked out as she was hit with such force that it sent the Fiend straight to the bottom of the Ocean.
-She's done for!- Bald Eagle said nearly dropping Boomslang, in her joy, Boomslang clinged to the bird using her Snake tail.
-Let's catch up to the others...- Boomslang said terrified of falling, in spite of having Genbu with her, the repressed fear was overwhelming her now that her adrenaline was gone.
Bald Eagle flew fast while trying to find their Friends along the way, when they saw Gokoku Island on the horizon, they agreed to look for the rest of the Cadre along the shore. The couple of Girl-Friends scouted around the coast until they both listened something familiar, in the distance they recognized the music that Rhyolite's radio used to play, this made them very curious.
-Over there, I see a campfire!- Boomslang said, using her heat vision, Bald Eagle followed her lead and eventually found them.
-The new Friend is with them!- Bald Eagle noticed, as she swooped in and landed, finally leaving Boomslang on her feet.
Bald Eagle and Boomslang saw that the big new Friend was sitting very awkwardly, Collared Peccary and Père David's Deer cuddled with her while enjoying the music, Smilodon was the close to the fire and Narwhal was helping her dry herself up.
-I never want to swim ever again- Smilodon groaned shivering, she was afraid catching a cold, after barely avoiding drowning.
-Next time, I'll keep you afloat, okay?- Narwhal tried to comfort her, embarrassed the second hit on the APC knocked her out cold, if it wasn't for the Miracle they would have died for sure.
-Who is the new Friend? Hello!- Boomslang asked then greeted the new Friend, the New Friend clumsily waved at the Snake.
Bald Eagle observed the new Friend, she was as tall as Blue Whale, the Bird noticed she had a very nice tone of skin. The new Friend stared back at Bald Eagle, which let the Bird see she had blue eyes, which had soft vertical lines behind the iris, it clashed in an eye-catching way with her short red hair. She had two pairs of white shield plating, that protected both her arms and legs. She was using a white one piece swimsuit, just like her shields, that covered her entire curvy frame nicely. Her footwear was white roller skates with red wheels, her legs were protected by stripped stockings, red and white, her hands were protected by long white gloves with red fingers, her head was protected by a white hard-hat with a red searchlight on it.
-Is the music coming from you?- Boomslang asked coming very close to the new Friend, the new Friend nodded happily, smiling at Boomslang in an adorable way that made the Snake squeak.
-No way… Is that Rhyolite?- Bald Eagle asked coming down to the only logical explanation, that only Sandstar made possible.
The Friend that was now Rhyolite nodded excitedly in response, Bald Eagle and Boomslang had a lot of questions but before anyone could answer them, their exhaustion led them to being overwhelmed by the cuteness proximity of the new APC Friend.
Rhyolite awkwardly opened her hands and reached out to give Bald Eagle and Boomslang headpats, just like how she gave that gesture of physical affection to Collared Peccary and Père David's Deer, which now rested with their heads on her thighs.
-F.. Fri… Friends- Rhyolite muttered her first words, her voice was soft and sweet, like the best tunes of a well played guitar.
The entire Cadre gasped audibly, blushing at the cuteness of their New Friend, Rhyolite blushed hard and looked down. The Diamondback Friend movements remained stiff, clunky and awkward, her new body was so different from her old one, all she knew was that she could still play music from her hard-hat.
-How did this happen though? I mean, I'm glad it happened and she could save us, but still…- Smilodon rambled as she was finally dry, trying to remember what happened but wasn't able, all she could recall before blanking out was passing the Relic.
-Perhaps… I can explain that to you- Passenger Pigeon joined their conversation, having landed right on top of the campfire while the Friends were smitten by Rhyolite's newborn cuteness.
The arrival of the Extinct Bird startled the entire Cadre, which had lowered their guard, thinking themselves safe once again.
Passenger Pigeon giggled while she sat with the Cadre close to her campfire, with the Heart Album in her hands, the beautiful but empty red eyes of Passenger Pigeon ran through it's pages. Passenger Pigeon read a bit of the Heart Album's contents to refresh her memory, recalling back as she put the pink marker on that page, and then finally addressed the Cadre once again.
-Thanks to the Heart Album, I could recall memories of a very similar case, of this Friend that told me all about it- Passenger Pigeon explained herself, as she had met a very wise Friend.
-What are you doing here?- Bald Eagle and Boomslang asked together, Passenger Pigeon just giggled as she knew they were surprised to see a Friend, waiting for them on Gokoku Island.
-Please …- Rhyolite muttered softly, she wanted Passenger Pigeon to tell her, but she wasn't sure on how to spell it out.
-She was likely looking for us, now let her tell us that story- Père David's Deer quelled the Cadre's unrest like a true Leader.
-As Giant Anteater once told me, I'm gonna tell the story of "Tachikomas"- Passenger Pigeon said as she explained in depth the tale of other artificial intelligences, whose physical forms were turned into Friends by the Sandstar, she explained this happened when their Sparkle ignited Sandstar around them.
-Sparkle- Rhyolite said to herself, she thought about it and it made sense, not only she didn't want to die but she wanted to help the Friends, she desired that with every fiber of her being.
-There is also tales of other similar cases called "Star Beasts" but Giant Anteater didn't knew about them to tell me anything, I hope this explanation is clear enough- Passenger Pigeon said finishing her story, closing her Heart Album and putting it in her dress pockets again, the Bird yawned tiredly and laid down.
The entire Cadre was tired too, so Père David's Deer ordered the Friends to lay down and rest, until dawn. Rhyolite promised to stay awake and watched over her Friends, the Diamondback played soft music smiling, as she was now part of the Cadre.