Chapter 10 - Rescue Mission (Part 2)
Writer's Note: OHHHH BOY, how long has it been? Gosh, it's been 2 years? So sorry to the few people that were really looking forward to more chapters. To be frank, this chapter gave me the biggest writers block I've ever had. I just could not figure out where I wanted to go with the Plot, and I ended up bouncing from one idea to another. Eventually, it got to the point where I was so frustrated, that I ended up putting this story to the side for a while. Needless to say, other things started coming up, I started getting interested in other things, and basically forgot about this story...Until now, FINALLY! Now just to say, I'm no less IN LOVE with Orianna then I was when I first started writing this. She's still my all time favorite game character, and she always will be! I don't play league much anymore though, so there is that. And if you are wondering, yes, I will be writing more. I never intended to give up on this story entirely. I love it too much for that. But if you want updates, leave a review or favorite, because that kinda stuff is honestly my driving force to keep writing! I have a little happy party everytime I see a new review and favorite. I know, I'm a dork, but I can't help it XD Anyway though, here's the chapter. HOPE YOU LIKE IT!
"Oh, you do know him? How interesting." Koona said in a shrill voice.
My body had become stiff. I'm not sure if it was out of fear, or from that punch he gave me back there that sent me flying. Either way, it felt like a weight had been placed on my back. I adjusted my gaze to make contact with Orianna's. She continued to look down, as if she was waiting for a que to say something else. As redundant as it sounded, this is the most robotic I've ever seen her act.
I turned to look at Ember's almost lifeless body that laid in front of the tree she was thrown into. Thankfully, it looked like she was still breathing, but she was definitely in bad shape. I wanted to get up and run to her side now more than anything, but I don't think that was an option at the moment. I clenched my fist, curling up grass and dirt in my palm.
"Hey, Ori...are you still in there?" I asked the mechanical girl.
Orianna lifted her eyes to mine. The curious look that I remembered from her, returned to her expression. She cocked her head to the side.
"wHaT Do YOu MeAN? wHO iS STilL In THeRe?" She asked.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a scowl form on Koona's face. I was pretty sure what I was about to do would be the end of me, but I couldn't seem to stop myself. I managed to use my struggling limbs, to push myself off the ground, and onto my feet. I made sure to do it slowly this time, as to not fall back down.
"Yes boy, whatever could you mean?" Koona said in a disturbing tone of voice. The kinda voice you'd hear before you were murdered. I took a deep breath to try and calm my nerves.
"I'm talking about the stubborn and overly independent girl I met yesterday." I said, patting the dirt off of my trousers and bandages. "The one who refused to let a stranger help them, and teleported them...gosh, who knows how many miles away. Oh, by the way, you owe me a new pair of pants."
As per what I expected would happen, I felt a large hand grab the top of my head and lift me up. I could feel my skull being crushed by an immense strength. I was then thrust up against, what I assumed was, a tree. I let out a loud gasp as all the oxygen in my body had been forced out all at once.
"Oh, I'm sorry, you must be referring to someone else. My little pet here is nothing like what you explained." Koona said in the same disturbing tone.
I wanted to fight back, but how was I supposed to fight against this much power? It was like David vs Goliath, but I was missing my stone. I grabbed onto the man's arm in reflex, trying to hold myself up.
"wAIt, DoN'T-" Came Orianna's voice. I'm pretty sure I was just as surprised as he was that she actually said something because I soon felt the man's grip get even tighter. I wanted to scream out in pain, but I didn't have the breath to. My consciousness was starting to wane, until...a pulse of energy filled around the man's hand.
"HOW DARE YOU TRY AND STOP ME!" The man screamed.
"I...i APolOGiZe…" Orianna responded hesitantly.
My body tingled as the energy flowed from the man's hand, into my own body. A burning sensation flowed through my veins. It was just like what happened back at the shed, but way more intense now. Before long, the wounds that my body had inflicted, seemed to almost completely heal themselves. My aches and pains were completely gone too. My body fumed with a power that I had never experienced before. Deciding to just go with it, I grabbed onto the man's arm again, and squeezed as tight as I could.
"AH, WHAT THE-"
I was tossed to the side again as he said that. This time, my body threw itself into overdrive. I flipped back around in midair, landing on my feet, somehow managing to stay upright. I stood there for a second, trying to figure out how the heck I just did that. I clenched my fist as I felt the energy that came from his hand still flowing through my body. It was like it was...empowering me.
I looked up to see Koona staring at me with a surprised look on his face. There was a red mark around the part of his arm that I grabbed. The mark seemed to steam...like I had lit it on fire. I stood in awkward silence, rolling back and forth on the palms of my feet. I really didn't know how to follow up a stunt like that, I was just as shocked as he was.
Orianna was also looking at me with a surprised look. Well...as surprised as she could make her face look anyway. She tilted her head to the side again, as she always did. I decided to wave to her for no apparent reason, quickly throwing my hand back down as soon as I threw it up. Don't ask me why I did that, I do weird things when I'm in awkward situations, leave me alone.
"MASTER KOONA!" Came the voices of a bunch of men.
I threw my head around to see a terrifying sight. About 100 bandits came barreling out of the tree's. I had no time to react before they had completely surrounded me. They wailed and howled, clashing their weapons to their armour.
"Wa-wait, where did you guys come from?" I asked.
Before I could get an answer, two of the guys from the group charged at me. One had a spear, the other had a mace. Normally I would have run in the other direction, but my empowered body had other ideas this time. I centered my feet in the grass, and stood in a fighting position.
The guy that had the spear, hurled the thing right at me, making its way quickly to my face. I reacted so fast that I'm not even sure what happened. All I know is that the spear ended up behind me, broken in half.
The guy with the mace, jumped up in the air, and brought the weapon down on me. I instantly dashed back, just nearly dodging the blow. I, in turn, made a fist, and threw it back at the man. My hand pounded into his armour with such force that it managed to create a dent. The impact sent him flying back a good distance, knocking into some of the other bandits like bowling pins. He laid sprawled out on the ground for a little bit, before looking back up to me with a look of terror. I stared in awe of what I had just done. I looked at my fist, then back to the guy. The thing that confused me the most was how I did that without breaking my hand.
I was thrown back into action when the guy that had the spear, swung a short blade at me. I managed to send my reactions into overdrive again, grabbing the man's hand after stepping back to dodge it. My eyes glowed as I realized I knew a move from this position. I twisted the man's arm around, bringing it over my back, and launched him over my shoulder. I watched as the guy went overtop of the group of men, all of their eyes watching dumbfoundedly as their friend soared above them, before crashing into the ground a ways back.
"Wow, those martial arts classes actually came in handy!" I said, pounding my fist into the palm of my other hand. When I did so, a puff of air burst from the impact. It even caught me off guard, causing me to jump back in surprise.
Once again, I was given no time to relish in my newfound powers before dozens of the men came charging at me, waving their weapons in the air frantically and screaming things like "YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS" and "FOR MASTER KOONA!"
I readied myself in a fighting position again. I would've loved to run at this point, but I really had nowhere to go. Two guys is one thing, but I don't think I could handle this many guys at once. To my great displeasure, I wasn't able to find out.
"STOP!" Koona yelled.
All at once, the men that had been running at me, stopped in their tracks. They threw their weapons down on the ground before collapsing on their hands and knees. I cringed as the men all simultaneously smashed their faced into the dirt, and started begging for their Master's forgiveness.
I turned to look at Koona. I was surprised to see that he was clenching the spot where I grabbed him. I couldn't begin to imagine why. There's no way someone like me could manage to hurt a guy like that so easily.
Behind him, Orianna stood in a fixed position. She didn't seem to be affected at all by what was going on. Yet, she tried to stop Koona back there when he had me pinned to the tree. I knew there was more here than was going on with her, and this guy was the cause of it.
"You...boy...what is your name?" Koona asked.
I narrowed my eyes at the man. I wasn't sure if he was asking me out of respect, or if he just wanted to know the name of his next victim. I stood back up on my feet, cautiously. I hesitated a bit before answering, but I eventually decided that I was dead whether I told him my name or not.
"My...my name's Mykale…" I answered as loud as I could, while still saying it under my breath.
"Ahh...Mykale, is it?..." The man responded, letting a sinister smile color over his face.
Without a word, Koona threw his hands out in front of him, then whipped them to the side like a macho man would do when flexing for the girls. I heard the men behind me all get up from where they were, and return to the group of bandits that still surrounded me. I'm guessing that he signaled them to back off. Sweat started to drip down my face as images went through my head of what this guy might do to me.
"So then...as my little pet here has so graciously made me aware of, you two know each other. Is that correct?" The man asked.
A spark lit up in my head as soon as he asked. You'd think it would of been due to the fact that he called Ori his pet, but it was actually...well, in a way, that's exactly what went through my head. I looked over to Ori who was standing alone. I don't know why I didn't notice it before, but her pet...I mean, her ball friend, wasn't anywhere to be seen.
I couldn't imagine what would've happened to the thing. It seemed like Ori loved that ball more than anything. It was almost like another part of her. The same went for the ball. It kinda acted like her dad, in a way, with how overprotective it was towards her. So then why would she go anywhere without it. I mean, unless Koona took the thing captive and blackmailed Ori into….oh.
Before another thought crossed my mind, a giant hand wrapped around my head again, just like last time, and shoved my face into the ground. Dirt and grass filled my mouth. I instantly started coughing all of it out, trying to gasp for air from the impact.
"YOU DARE TO IGNORE ME!?" The voice of Koona said in rage.
I was then tossed up into the air. I flailed my body around, trying to catch myself. I was then met with a knee to my back, and an elbow to my gut, all at the same time. I could feel my innards getting crushed. I tried to scream out in pain, but all of the air had been puffed out of my body once again. All I could do was cough up more blood.
My body collapsed on the ground. I tried to move, but it felt like every single muscle in my body had stopped working. This was more strength than I've ever witnessed in my life. It was like I had just been mauled by a dozen bulls. I rolled over onto my back, looking up at the tower of a man that stood in front of me.
"Hmm, so you're still alive after that as well? You are indeed a tough one." Koona said in the same shrill voice that he liked to talk in.
"Ngh...wha-...*cough*...what did you do…*cough*...with the ball?" I asked, seeming to have to gasp for breath after every word.
With a chuckle, Koona bent down beside me. He grabbed my hair, and picked my head up off the ground by it. I grimaced in pain. It was a good thing that my hair was as thick as a Horses mane, or else that would've hurt a lot more.
"So, I take it that means you DO know this little machine?" Koona asked with a snark.
I looked up at the man's face that was now much closer to mine. I was able to see a lot more detail that I hadn't seen before. All the scars from places I couldn't even imagine. There was a smile across his cheeks that made my body shake. It was a smile that told me I was going to die in the worst way possible.
"It is as you say...I have that robot's little ball friend." Koona remarked. "It was the only way I could control that monster. She could've probably killed all of my men if she wanted to, but once I got ahold of the ball and threatened to destroy it...that thing was a lot more manageable. It's rather sweet actually."
I could feel a scowl forming on my face. I turned my eyes to look at Orianna. She stood in the same spot she was in before, but this time she had an expression on her face that I hadn't seen before from her...she looked sad. Her head sunk down, and her glowing blue eyes focused on the ground in front of her.
"Ya know, I was planning to tear her apart piece by piece and sell each part. However, after I saw how powerful she is, I think I'll keep her around for a little while. She makes a pretty good slave, am I right?" Koona added.
I could feel a rage begin to boil up inside of me. I narrowed my eyes, letting my head sink down just like Ori did. I could feel the man's breath run down my spine. I could tell he was trying to get under my skin. I'm guessing this was the first part of the torment I was about to endure.
"I mean, afterall, I don't need to rush things. I can just tear her apart when I get bored with her. Wouldn't you agr-"
In a blink, I threw my hands up and wrapped my fingers around Koona's arm that held me up. I tightened my grip as hard as I could. Once again, I could feel power begin to flow into my body. I lifted my eyes to meet with the man's. His expression instantly changed after he tried to yank his arm away, but was unable to this time.
"You, what are you doing? How are-"
"I will not...let you have her...I will be taking her back, along with the ball, WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT!." I yelled at the top of my lungs in a furious tone.
"LET GO OF ME!" Koona screamed.
The man lifted his other arm up, and wrapped his palm around my face. In an instant, my head was once again met with the cold earth. It hurt, but not as much as last time. I wrapped my hands even harder around his arm. The power was now flowing into me even faster than before. I felt my body begin to pulsate from how quickly I was absorbing...whatever it was I was absorbing.
"YOU DAMN MAGGOT, GET OFF ME!" Koona screamed even louder. Now he started to pound my head into the ground repeatedly. The fact that my skull hadn't cracked yet amazed me.
I was then picked up off of the ground and flung into the air. My body flailed around, but I still managed to hang on to the man's arm. He gave a grunt before pulling my body back down onto the ground at lightning speed. I didn't have time to think before I was crushed like a bug on the dirt. The impact forced me to let go of the arm.
"You persistent little, WHY WILL YOU NOT DIE!" Koona yelled in a rage.
Everything hurt...but I somehow felt stronger than I ever had before. The wounds on my body seemed to be healing at a rapid pace. I clenched my fist as hard as I could. I felt so much strength...so much power that I have never experienced before.
"...you...now you just lay there motionless!? WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT SPUNK YOU HAD BEFORE, HUH!? AREN'T YOU GOING TO SAVE YOUR PRECIOUS HUNK OF METAL!? HAHAHAHA, YOU REALLY WERE ALL TALK YOU LITTLE S**T. NOW I'M GONNA GUT YOU LIKE A PIG!"
I slowly opened my eyes to Koona lifting his hand up overtop of me. My vision was still pretty blurry, but I was able to make out claws and hair now coming out of his hands. There was also a dark red aura that glowed around them.
"NOW DIE!"
Before the giant's hands could come crashing down on me, I saw a quick flash of light that came flying at the beast. The light stuck into the man's eye, causing him to cry out with a haunting roar that didn't sound human. The creature stumbled back on his feet a bit, trying to hold his balance.
"HEY, YOU OVERGROWN BALLSACK, DID YOU FORGET ABOUT ME!?" Came a familiar woman's voice.
I managed to tilt my head up enough to look behind me. I saw the figure of Ember standing there, still in rough condition from the collision she took before, but somehow managing to move. I was also able to see the group of bandits behind me, that now had a large gap in it. 20 or so of the bandits were now laying on the ground, either out cold or dead, while the rest stared at the woman in terror. Seriously, do these guys know how to fight at all?
"Ember, you're okay!" I said, trying to force a smile as I pulled myself up off the ground. My wounds were still healing rapidly, so it didn't take long before I had recovered.
"What do you mean, 'I'm okay'? You're the one that should be…" Ember began to respond before she cut herself off after seeing my almost fully healed body. "uh...wait...how the hell are you not wounded at all?"
I looked down at myself. The bandages that were covering my body had torn off, and all the wounds that I had had were completely gone. Even the wounds that Ember gave me herself not too long ago. The leggings that Ember gave me were way more torn up now too, but at least they were still staying on me...I definitely didn't want to expose my little elephant trunk to her again.
"Oh, uh...yeah, see, about that...as it turns out, I might have some kind of ability to absorb energy or something, and, uh...use it for myself, I guess...and it...it uh, kind of gives me power?" I said, failing horribly at explaining something that I didn't understand myself.
"Seriously? And I suppose you're going to tell me that you just figured this out now?" Ember remarked in a snarky tone, before folding her arms to look at me suspiciously. I couldn't help but laugh a little bit in response.
"Well, ya see-" before I could finish what I was saying, I saw Ember's face quickly change expressions before pointing to something above me. I began to feel hot breath creep down my spine, as a shadow appeared in front of where I stood...larger...and larger.
"Yes...meat...lovely...meat…" Came a voice that caused my skin to crawl.
I quickly threw myself around to see a towering creature standing in front of me. He still had on the same outfit that Koona had, or at least what was left of it, but this wasn't Koona. Fur came out of every inch of the beasts body, long claws reared out of his hands, and the face of a wolf topped the torso of everything. The monster snarled and growled at me, chomping it's teeth while it most likely pictured eating me alive. As well, a deep crimson aura leaked out of its body, much stronger than what Koona had.
"Uh…..a…...a we-werewolf?" I stammered under my breath.
"MYKALE, GET OUT OF THERE, HE'S A FALLYORE!" Ember yelled at me, giving off a worried tone that I've never heard from her voice.
Just as I was about to turn to run, the creature instantly vanished from my sight. I didn't even have time to blink before it was gone. A knot formed in my gut as my senses started going haywire. I knew something was wrong, and when I turned back to Ember, I knew why…
The creature was there, standing in front of Ember, it's claws in the air, ready to strike. It seemed like the world around me froze. It was like I was just standing there, knowing I had to move, but my legs just didn't go fast enough. I gritted my teeth as the hard realization hit me that Ember was going to die if that creature attacked her. I clenched my fist, urging my legs to move faster...but I had nothing more to give.
"aCCeLeRatE."
Suddenly, even more energy filled my body than before. I could feel my legs pick up speed...faster...and faster. I decided not to question how at the time, and instead just decided to go with it. I closed my eyes, and when I opened them, I was standing in front of the creature. My arm was up, blocking the beasts attack almost effortlessly. Without a second thought, I pulled my right hand back and put every ounce of my energy into a punch. My fist hit the monsters body, and seemed to have no effect at first. After a second, the wind pressure came rushing past me. I watched as the creature was hurled back, crashing into a group of trees, seemingly shaking the whole ground as it did so.
I stood in awe for a short time...I don't think I was ever going to get used to this power. I looked at my fist that was now steaming from the power that I just exerted from it. I clenched a few times to make sure that it was really my hand I was looking at. When my fingers touched my palm, I could feel them burning, like I had been rubbing my hands together for hours straight. It didn't hurt though, it just made my skin tingle.
There was no way that this could be magic I was using. The village where I came from, having children with the ability to control magic was banned. If I really was able to control magic, then I would of been dead before I could even say my first word. No, this was something different. I couldn't put my finger on it, but whatever I was doing...it was more like the opposite of using magic. It was like I was…
*SMACK*
My thoughts were cut off by a fist that cracked into the back of my skull. The attack caught me so off-guard that I made a slight *yelp* sound. I grabbed the back of my head that was now bruised, and bent down to grovel in pain.
"Ahh...w-what the hell?" I asked in a shuttered tone.
I looked back through forced tears at Ember who was standing over me with a pissed look on her face. Her gaze was fixed on the ground, darkening her eyes from my vision. She gritted her teeth almost as hard as she clenched her fist.
"What the hell did you rush in there for!? I didn't need you to save me!" Ember said in an aggravated tone.
I could feel my draw drop. "WHAT!? ARE YOU SERIOUS!? First of all, if I hadn't stepped in, you would probably be dead from that blow. Secondly, is this really the time to get upset about that!?" I yelled back in an equally irritated tone.
"DAMMIT, I CAN'T STAND PEOPLE LIKE YOU! Always wanting to play the hero! I am so sick of everyone thinking they need to protect me! I CAN TAKE CARE OF MYSE-" Ember berated back at me, but before she could finish, I saw the same demonic hand reach around me in a blink. I looked as Ember's eyes grew wide before the claws raked across her body. My heart plummeted as I heard the sound of clothes and skin tear. I opened my mouth to scream, but no words came out, the only sound that I could make was…
"aaaahhhhhhhHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I screamed as I saw Ember's body fall limp on the ground. Blood poured out of her chest. I could feel my chest grow tight and my breathing speed up. I grabbed my ribcage as I could my heart beat a mile a minute. I looked at the image of Ember, and a familiar image of a little girl took her place in my mind. My eyes grew wider and wider as tears began to flow out uncontrollably, and I couldn't seem to stop my screams.
"no..nononononoNONONONO NOT AGAIN!" I thought to myself in terror. "Why did I let this happen again. Why did I let someone die again when I could of saved them. Why didn't I do anything. Why am I so useless. WhydidntimovewhydidntifightwhydidntistophimwhycantidoanythingimworthlessimdisgustingimterribleICANTDOITICANTPROTECTANYONEIHATEITIHATEITSOMUCH!" My thoughts began to run out of control as I grabbed my head and sunk to the ground. I began to slowly reach my hand out to the girl in front of me.
"J-...Jenny?...it's gonna be okay Jenny...I'm gonna...I'm gonna save you this time" I stammered as I bent over and grabbed the woman's body and pulled her closer to me "...I'm not gonna fail you again...I swear…*sniff*...Jenny...you can hear me, right? Please...say something...SAY SOMETHING!" I said through choked tears.
"Well, well, isn't this just sad...seems I traumatized the poor boy, hahahah." Came the now dark and sinister voice of Koona. I saw as his towering shadow came over me. I wanted to fight back, but I was so broken at this point, I couldn't find the strength. I bent over and grabbed Ember's body, trying to pull her away. I looked up with tear filled eyes at the beast that stood before me. His claws now ready to gut both of us. I stood up to try and defend, but before I had the chance.
"cLOckWoRK ShiFt" came a robotic voice.
I looked to see the body of Koona freeze in place. His limbs locked and I could see as he struggled to lower his claw. He said something's through grunts, but I couldn't make out anything. I looked over to the cause of the power and saw Orianna, now much closer to me, her hands held out to Koona. Her eyes glowed so bright, they were almost blinding.
"SiT" The mechanical lady said as she pointed her finger down.
I watched as the body of Koona was thrust down onto the ground by some magical force. He grunted from the impact, and continued to try and fight against it. It didn't look like he was making any progress at all. He still tried to grunt out words, which I had assumed were "YOU DARE DEFY ME" or something like that.
Orianna turned to look at me now. Her blue eyes shot right through me. I clutched the body of Ember as the tears were still present. Then...the strangest thing happened. I could swear that I saw a smile come over the machine's face, or at least she was trying to.
"mY-...KaLE...aRE YoU stILl...In THeRe?"
I could feel my body stop shaking all at once. It was like reality just came over and smacked me across the cheek. I looked down at Ember's unconscious body, and back up to the machine standing in front of me...and returned the attempted smile that they gave. Wiping the tears from my eyes, I couldn't help but give a slight chuckle.
"Hey, that's no fair...You can't use the same line I used, haha." I responded with a laugh.
I looked back down at Ember's body. A wave of guilt flashed over me as I realized what I had seen before. The thoughts of my past overshadowed and became more important than the here and now. I bit my lip, letting a streak of blood flow, grunting under my breath. I held my hand over the girls mouth to check for breathing, and to my relief I could feel it slightly. With a 'phew' I laid Ember's body down gradually. I decided to apologize to her later, even if she didn't know what for.
"Hey Ori, do you have any form of healing magic you could use on her?" I asked.
The mechanical girl looked to Ember with a curious look before looking back to me unsurely.
"ICaN StaBiLIze HeR...bUT i Am noT PrOfiCiENt IN hEAliNg MAgiC." Orianna responded.
"Right, that makes sense. Well, anything would be good."
Orianna then looked over to the beast that was laying down, forcefully, on the ground. His body shaking as he continued to fight against the overwhelming power. It didn't seem like Ori was even struggling to hold him down. This was like an everyday thing for her. Which made me question why she didn't fight back before, even if they did threaten to destroy her partner. Couldn't she of just killed them all before they had the chance? I decided to save all those questions for after we dealt with the problem at hand.
"wHaT ABouT…" Orianna added quizidly
"I'll take care of him...you just focus on fixing this one, okay?" I said with confidence.
Orianna nodded in response and proceeded to release the magic from Koona. His body shook even more furiously as he stood back up on to his feet. His aura grew even more dark and ominous. He growled so heavily that I could swear someone stole his chew toy.
"YOU WILL ALL DIE HERE!" The creature screamed at the top of his lungs as he charged forward at me.
I pulled up my non-existent sleeves and stood my ground.
"Bring it mutt!"
End note: Look forward to part 3 coming soon. I have a lot planned for that chapter, and I can't wait to share it with you guys!