Secretly thankful that Tom didn't ask any more about my secret I blew out a breath, trying to think of something to talk about. It wasn't until my scanner started to ring that I reached towards it only to have Tom snatch it away before my fingers could touch it.
"Uh uh, Ashley. It's probably just the guys checking up on us." Tom said, waving his finger at me and I rolled my eyes not liking the fact that he'd snatched my scanner away from me as he answered it. As I looked on Sarah showed up on the screen, with Kaz, and Peyton just behind her.
"Finally. We've been trying to get in touch with you two for hours." Sarah complained and I sighed, indicating my arm before I realized that from her viewpoint she probably couldn't see it. Tom solved that problem by holding out my scanner so that my other friends saw my arm in a sling.
"Whoa, what happened to you?" Kaz asked and I groaned, pinching the bridge of my nose as Tom filled him in. "Really? So Khybon and Jigerex stole a piece of battlegear out of Kiru City's armory?"
"A busted battlegear you mean? Too bad no one told Ashley that." Tom replied as I pulled the blanket I had covering my legs up enough to hide my blush. "Don't worry about it, Ashley. Even the Underworlders didn't know that."
"If you're trying to reassure her, dude it's not working." Peyton put in when I snorted, grabbing the pillow under my shoulders before I covered my face with it. "See what I mean?"
"Ashley, you didn't know. Besides Tom owes you for saving his life twice now." Sarah interrupted and I uncovered my face in time to see Tom staring at my scanner with a blank look on his face. "The Forest of life and nearly getting coded ring any bells, Tom?" She sighed and I managed a weak laugh, giving Tom a smile when he turned his head to frown at me.
"Sarah's only telling the truth, Tom. Lighten up." Kaz replied, everyone, hearing me giggle right now. "Told you, Tom."
"Oh very funny, guys," Tom grumbled though after watching me fiddling with my sling my lower lip quivering he finally sighed. "So let's say you did help me out twice. What do you want me to do to make it up to you?" He asked me shaking his head as I immediately smiled at him.
"I still can't believe you talked me into this, Ashley," Tom complained, one arm draped around my shoulders as we made our way through Maxxor's castle. Shaking my head I gripped the back of Tom's t-shirt leaning on him a little heavier than I wanted to and he paused near an archway. "Ashley, you sure you can handle this?"
"I'm alright, Tom just needs to catch my breath," I told him, my other hand on my forehead. Once I noticed him looking at me with one eyebrow raised I lowered my head slightly. "Yes, I agree this was a dumb idea." I finally muttered and Tom sighed as I relaxed my grip on his shirt, backing up slightly until I could lean against the nearest wall. When I lowered myself onto the floor Tom knelt beside me.
"Hey don't say that. Right now your arm hurts but it'll heal eventually." Tom assured me but I shook my head, resting my head on my knees. "Come on, it's not that bad."
"How exactly is this 'not bad'?" I asked him, nodding towards my sling and he shrugged setting a hand down my shoulder. "I know I shouldn't be that bummed but I still feel stupid risking our safety by chasing down a broken battlegear."
"Hey, that wasn't all of your fault, Ashley. Those Underworlders put us in danger, not you. Besides, it was pretty cool how you snatched it from Khybon's hands. Man, that Underworlder looked so surprised that a Chaotic player stole it from him." Tom pointed out to me and I coughed, feeling my cheeks heat up as he lightly patted my shoulder.
"Yeah, that was pretty awesome. I've never done anything that crazy before so I think it was just a split-second decision." I admitted, hearing Tom chuckling as I raised my head. "Never thought that I'd be doing crazy stunts like that in Perim."
"You should have seen me when I ended up porting to Lake Ken-I-Po. I was celebrating my win in the Crellan-Drome when I started panicking." When I raised both eyebrows at Tom he shrugged a somewhat embarrassed smile on his face. "Well, I thought that my parents were freaking out that I'd disappeared back into the real world and Kaz had to explain everything. While he ported home to explain to the other me how to port out, Klay tricked me into porting to the lake. That's how I met Sarah and Mezzmar."
"Wait so is that where you met Najarin too?" I asked and he nodded, watching on as I fiddled with my ponytail. "Awesome. Wish I could have gotten a scan of him."
"Yeah Najarin wouldn't let me scan him the first time we met so I wouldn't try it, Ashley," Tom explained and I nodded, thinking to myself for long enough for Tom to frown at me. "Don't even try it, Ashley. Najarin doesn't like to be scanned by any player." He warned me, shaking his head as I finally grinned at him.
"Even if I ask nicely?" I said and he groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. At least until I leaned over lightly poking his arm with a smile on my lips. "Kidding, Tom. Maybe I can get a scan of another Overworlder though who won't mind me scanning them. Any suggestions?"
"Funny you should ask, Ashley 'cause I know a great addition to your Overworld deck," Tom replied, secretly happy I wasn't planning on scanning Najarin. At least in the near future and after I pushed myself to my feet, a little wobbly he noticed, Tom supported me.
We made it a little further through the castle reaching a room with two chairs and a fireplace. When I stumbled for one of the chairs leaving Tom's side he watched on slightly worried as I barely made the short distance collapsing into the closest chair before I breathed out.
"You should be resting, Ashley," Najarin told me, appearing silently through the doorway and I lowered my head slightly trying to think of a reasonable excuse as to why I was wandering around Maxxor's castle. "I believe we've already had this conversation."
"I'm sorry, Najarin. Guess I'm not a great listener." I replied with a faint smile, rolling my eyes as Tom laughed. Even Najarin had a good chuckle at that as I leaned back in the chair, finding that it was surprisingly comfortable. So comfortable in the fact that I woke with a start not noticing that I'd drifted off until I saw Tom walking into the room with another Overworlder that seemed oddly familiar.
"Oh, so you're finally awake huh?" Tom teased as I stretched one arm above my head, raising my eyebrows as Tangath Toborn strolled into the room carrying a sword. "Ashley, this is Tangath Toborn. He's the one who carried you into Maxxor's castle."
"So this is the Chaotic player who took the busted battlegear back from the Underworlders?" Tangath commented and I sighed, wishing I still had my blanket so I could cover my red face.
"Well thank you for carrying me into the castle. For the record, I didn't know that battlegear didn't work so you can't blame me for that." I replied, wondering when everyone would stop pointing out my mistake.
"Of course but it was still brave of a Chaotic player to risk being hurt," Tangath remarked and I felt my lips curl into a smile. "Tom explained that you wanted to scan me for your Chaotic game?" He added and I nodded, looking for my scanner until Tom handed it to me.
"I appreciate the offer but I can get it myself," I grumbled, ignoring the grin that Tom had as I lifted my scanner one-handed before I scanned the Overworlder. "Thanks, Tangath. Looking forward to the next drome battle."
After an hour of sitting around doing nothing, I pushed myself up from my chair only to see Tom shaking his head at me. "Look once I leave Chaotic my arm will be fine." I pointed out, staggering toward the doorway and Tom rolled his eyes climbing from his chair before he followed.
Porting back to Chaotic I eased myself into an empty chair, rubbing my bandage as Tom joined me. "Next time I'd letting the Overworlders deal with their own problems," I complained and Tom chuckled, leaning back in his chair as I raised an eyebrow at him.
"Until the next time we end up in Perim, Ashley," Tom replied and I snorted, resting my sling on the table as I rubbed at my eyes with an open palm. "Maybe you should go home and rest."
"Good idea. I'll see you tomorrow?" I agreed and Tom nodded, waiting until I ported back home before he let out a breath frowning slightly at my empty seat.