On Darius ship, Cortes was still in a feverish stupor, drifting in and out of sleep. sensing someone nearby he forced himself to sit up, wings snapping back defensively. Baldr stepped back, giving him a wary look as he walked past the couch to grab some maps from the table.
"Talk about jumpy.." he muttered to himself. And jumped when the wings snapped back again.
--Got good hearing too..-- he thought, looking at the guy out of the corner of his eye. The winged figure watched him silently for a moment, then, having decided he was no threat, lowered the wings, tucking them close to his body.
Baldr scooted back to his master and friend as fast as he could. He sat back down, handing the requested papers over.
"That guys weirding me out, his expression, the way he reacts...it doesn't seem human somehow..."
"Leave him be old friend, he's not here to hurt us. I owe it to him to try reverse the damage my brother did to him. From what i gathered, Oslo used him in some twisted genetic experiment...its not his fault"
From his seat at the back of the ship, Cortes could hear every word. He sighed, wondering if this was really such a bright idea. He sneezed, the wings trembling as he did. He sighed, getting to his feet and peering out the window. Where were they?
Sighing, he walked over to where Darius and Baldr were sat, ignoring the latter's glares in his direction. He tapped inquisitively at the radar, and somehow Darius understood where he meant.
"Were close, my brother is near, i can sense it..." seeing Cortes' pissed expression he sighed "ill make sure he undoes the damage he's caused.."
"If its possible to..." Cortes scribbled on a nearby piece of paper. "For all we know i could be stuck like this permanently."
"We'll try everything. For now. Lets find that idiot brother of mine.."
Cortes nodded, sighing, then sneezing again, the wings flapping agitatedly. Baldr ducked and glared at the bird-man. "your brothers been missing a year now..how d'ya know he's still alive, or even in the same place..."
"Because its too dangerous for him to venture out, there are a great many who would gladly clobber him.."
"This guy included i bet..." Baldr added, earning a glare from Cortes.
They flew on in silence, Cortes pacing around the smallish living space. He felt cramped, like he should be flying out in the fresh air. He stretched the wings, tucking them back in again a second later. What the hell was the matter with him? He looked out the window, and thought about his beloved sky angel, Sirus.
--Where are you? i want to see you, before this virus erases what little of me is human...-- he sighed, resting his forehead against the cool glass. and seen a brief flash of white. a wing? He squinted out the window, but couldn't see well enough. Had one of the birds followed them? Or were there some resting on this block? whatever the reason he had to find out!
He ran away from the window, hitting the control for the skylight. He pulled himself up and onto the top of the ship.
"What the hell?!" The two twisted in their seats to see where the sudden blast of wind had come from.
"What's that lunatic bird-brain doing? he'll get us all killed?!" Baldr yelled above the howling of the wind.
Darius didn't answer, he merely watched the main window as Cortes swooped up and round. he hovered a moment in the air, then turned to face them, pointing towards the right.
"This way.." without hesitation Darius swung the ship round to face Cortes.
"How can you trust his judgement sir?" Baldr asked. Darius pointed out the window
"Take a closer look!" he said. Sure enough, at close glance, some birds were hovering near the winged human. They were circling towards a block in the distance.
"You think he can communicate with those things?" Baldr asked, bemused.
Darius shrugged "if he can, its a miracle...i have a feeling this will help us find my brother..."
Cortes could barely see more then a few feet in front of him, but if he focused on the white wings ahead of him, he was able to follow the right direction.
Every so often he looked behind him to check the ship was following him. Then he would swoop on ahead, and gradually the block came into focus. It looked a barren place, mostly made up of rock. Built into the rock face he saw, as he got close enough, was a makeshift door.
He landed on the rocky ground, and his legs gave way, pitching him to the ground. The chill seeped rough his clothing, already dampened by snow. He shivered, but sat up, twisting round to see where the ship was.
It landed not far away, and he dimly seen two people running towards him.
--I think...there's something..-- he sneezed --important here.-- he shook his head, felt like it was stuffed full of cotton wool.
"Lets get inside, fast." Darius suggested, and the three barged the door down, stumbling into a rough-hewn cave. Cortes sneezed again, shaking the wings to dislodge the water. They felt a lot heavier now they were soaked, and he stumbled along behind the other two as they ventured deeper into the cave. Cortes pulled his familiar gun from its holder, just in case.
Up ahead the path split into two. Cortes pointed at the wider tunnel, indicating he'd take that one, then promptly walked off down it without waiting for a reply.
"Hm, pretty cold." Baldr remarked, but followed Darius as the other set off down the path.
As he tripped along the passageway, Cortes wished he brought a torch. But on the ground he noticed some white feathers...which meant one of the birds was close by. Like any bird, they hated the rain, and would of course seek shelter, but inside a cave? seemed a little odd..unless it was a tame bird..?
Sure enough, as he continued, he heard a familiar chirping, and it somehow calmed him. Knowing one of them was close. He sniffed the air. Smelt like food..his stomach growled angrily. he sighed, and crept onwards. A flickering light soon made it easier to see, and he could hear sounds, human sounds.
He rounded a corner, and felt a familiar surge of hatred. The tunnel opened into a massive cavern, lit by a large roaring fire. Standing at the other end, a pale shadow of his former self, but there nonetheless, was Oslo. On a makeshift perch sat a familiar bird. Cortes twitched his wings, looking over at the bird.
Somehow sensing him, the bird took off from its perch, flying over. Cortes held out his arm, and the bird settled upon it.
Oslo had gotten used to living in this freezing, dark hellhole. He couldn't risk going above ground, those blasted pirates had overridden the place. The sphere had no chance. So he was trapped in this dank hell hole for all eternity, with only a stray heavens bird for company. Even his powers had never truly returned, they were very week. The rare times he venture into the sunlight, it failed to charge him as it had used to. The battle with Lena, the little lady of light, had damaged him for good.
He jumped as the bird took off from its perch. Where was it off to? He turned to watch it, and felt a pang of fury as the bird settled on an outstretched arm. Of someone horribly familiar.
"You.." he snarled, glaring at Cortes as the pirate stood there "you're still not dead yet? but judging by your appearance its not far off..."
Cortes said nothing, he had no voice to express the words of fury that were building up inside him.
--This is your fault you twisted bastard!!-- he raged inwardly as Oslo walked towards him.
"What's the matter, cat got your tongue? Or should I say...bird got your brain?"
The bird took off from Cortes arm, and the other snapped the wings out. his was going to get nasty..
From their position some twists and turns away, Darius and Baldr heard a muffled thud, followed by some loud scuffling noises. They looked at each other, then turned and ran back towards the sounds. Eventually they rounded the corner and into the same cavern as the two having the fight.
By the looks of it Cortes wasn't holding out too well, his body, weakened by fever, was not able to defend itself against Oslo's onslaught. He tried to knock Oslo away with the wings brute force, but a blast knocked him off balance. And before he could even react, he was being pinned to the cold ground, a cold hand around his neck, cutting off his air supply.
"Now to dispose of you for good.." Oslo snarled, grabbing Cortes gun from where he'd dropped it during the initial scuffle and aiming it the pirates heart "say bye bye birdie.."
Cortes closed his eyes, cursing himself for his weakness. Dieing at Oslo's hands..damn it...
"BROTHER, STOP IT! LET THE MAN GO!" Oslo looked up as he seen his brother come tearing in.
"Well well.." he said coldly, keeping the gun aimed at Cortes as he spoke "i should've known you'd come here to gloat."
"I came here to get some answers...namely the cure for whatever you did to that guy.."
"I've got a cure right here.." Oslo charged the weapon, this time aiming it at his captives head "all he needs is a little 'shot'.."
"Stop it Oslo!" Darius raged "you lost, enough's enough...what will killing him prove"
Oslo tightened his grip around Cortes' neck as he answered "hmph, this bastard and his little pack of feral rats got in my way, spoilt my plans. He harboured those two brats, stole their mother back from my grasp...death is the least he deserves in my opinion!"
Cortes could barely breath, the whole room was fading...what little grip he had on consciousness was slowly starting to go..
Oslo got a shock the next second, when his brother charged over and barged right into him, sending them both sprawling, and releasing his grip on Cortes, the gun skittering over the floor.
"Baldr!" Darius yelled, and the other understood. Running over to where Cortes was curled up in shaky ball, coughing and spluttering, he helped him sit up, and gradually Cortes was able to breath again.
Oslo at blast managed to shove Darius off him "hmph, you've gotten stronger since i last had to see you..."
Darius glared "with the sphere gone, i was finally free to leave...all thanks to the rebels...i was no longer a prisoner!"
"And so you set off on this pathetic mission to try and save that weak rebel leader? Don't bother, he'll die eventually anyway!"
"Not while there's a cure to stopping what you did to him!" Darius snapped.
Propped up by Darius' assistant, Cortes closed his eyes, trying to focus --Sirus, please...i need you to come here...find us..PLEASE!!--
Meanwhile, Sirus and co had finally located the ruins of the smashed monolith. The prison lay empty, the remains of brigs lying scattered about. They worked their way to where wreckage of the monolith lay scattered about. Lena had pretty much blown it to pieces, but some things remained. Maybe it had been in the back of her mind, but somehow, by fluke or by choice, there were some metal cases scattered about. Inside each one was a whole load of what looked like test tubes, with syringes stored next to them.
"Which is it?" Mahad squeaked, looking at all the cases. Lena shook her head "I have no idea..." she said at last.
"Only Oslo would know.." Sirus hissed, slamming the case shut "and we don't even know if he's still alive!"
--Damnit-- he thought furiously, glaring at the cases --my one chance to save Aran..and i cant find the right needle...now what?!--
He heard a flapping sound, and he scrambled to his feet. There, flying between the blocks, was a familiar white bird. It landed on the block in front of them, head tilted to one side. Then it hopped a few steps back. It seemed to be motioning them to follow it.
Wayan stared at it "you think it knows something? like where the captain is?"
"Who knows, lets just follow it!" Dahlia said quickly, as the bird flew off again. They pegged it back to the ship, where they found a whole flock waiting for them.
"Its just like before!" Wayan exclaimed. Sirus looked baffled, until the other explained a flock of birds had led them to Cortes once before.
"I guess..they consider him one of their own. And these birds are fiercely protective!" Lena added. Sirus had a surge of hope as Wayan steered the ship after the flock of birds.
--Please be OK Aran..-- Sirus thought desperately.
They'd brought every single case back with them, in the vague hope they'd find the right one...
Darius dragged his brother back to the ship. His fury at finding his sibling lent him a fair bit of strength, and the weakened Oslo could do little to get free. Baldr helped the weak and shaky Cortes to walk back to where the craft was parked. Once inside, he found as many blankets as he could, and set about helping the winged human dry off.
Cortes sat perfectly still as Baldr attended to him. He sensed the other didn't trust him, but he was helping him anyway..
He was starting to get drowsy now..the warmth slowly sinking into him. Baldr had to make sure he stayed awake, and kept prodding the pirate to make sure he did just that. The immense wings took some effort to dry, but eventually Cortes seemed comfortable. He flapped the wings a few times to check they were uni njured.
"Any better?" Baldr asked, baffled. Cortes blinked at him, then responded with a grateful nod, the wings flapping in response. His posture was far more relaxed, which meant he trusted the person helping him.
Darius had dragged his brother on board, and tied him to a chair. Oslo was NOT a happy bunny at this.
"Let me go you idiot!" he yelled at Darius, who glared at him.
"Sorry Oslo, but you're not going any where until you tell me what i want!"
"You still want to save that pathetic pirates life? you've grown stupider in my absence.." Oslo snapped.
"I don't have to take that from you any more brother..im free. Your stupid prison doesn't confine me any more...but now you're the one who's trapped...ironic, isn't it?"
"What're you going to do? Destroy me?" Oslo snapped.
"No..but they very well might!" Baldr panicked. Darius looked at the main view screen, where he could see a ship landing close by thiers. He caught a brief glimpse of a symbol, it matched the one on Cortes outfit..
Cortes blinked, shaking his head to clear it as he heard a familiar noise...his ship?!
He staggered to his feet, the astonished Baldr still gaping at the screen. He'd barely taken a few steps forward when the ships main door was kicked open, and a familiar pair piled in.
"Hands up! this is a sphere ass-whooping!" Mahad announced.
Sirus looked at the two brothers. And glared at Oslo. But before he could take even a single step forward, a winged blur shot out of nowhere and flung itself at him. Familiar ginger hair brushed against his cheek, and warm wings open wide...
He just about managed to keep his balance, the weapon he'd been carrying clattering to the floor as he used both arms to wrap around his glomp-attacker and steady him. Once he'd gotten his balance he took a look at the figure.
"Aran..oh thank god.." he said at last. Cortes blinked up at him, smiling happily. Then he hugged Sirus tightly again, and before the angel could ask if he was alright, he found himself being happily kissed b y a very pleased Cortes.
"Blegh!" Oslo glowered as the two at last pulled apart. Darius just smiled at how happy the captain was.
"Hey, wait up you two-CAPTAIN!" this was Wayan, who along with Lena and the rest, had finally caught up to Mahad and Sirus.
"How did-? Why're you?" Dahlia couldn't seem to finish even a single question, instead she happily patted the captains shoulder "you've really got to remember to leave a message when you do a runner! What was that threat you made last time Wayan, about an ass-kicking?"
Sirus hugged Aran Cortes possessively "oh no you don't...nobody's kicking anything!"
Everyone assembled cracked up laughing, and Cortes groaned silently.
"Now Oslo, ya bald ugly goit..we've got a little question for you.." Mahad smirked, as Sirus sat next to Cortes on the couch, and began asking questions, which Cortes hastily scribbled answers to.
"Which ones the antidote to whatever you injected the captain with?!" Wayan glared. Oslo just laughed "now where's the fun in that.."
Lena held a blast up in front of his face "its a lot more fun the getting this up your nose!" she added. Oslo glared "its nice to see you too you little brats!" he looked at the cases the crew were carrying. "Looks like your brother has the right one..but which needle..i don't remember, ill leave that for you to figure out!"
Darius offered Mahad and Lena a small smile as a greeting, then glared at his brother "quit playing about, tell me!"
Oslo laughed "like hell i will...try anything you like...who knows if ill give you the right answer, really want to risk it?!" and he started laughing coldly. Leaving Wayan and the others to deal with the insane Oslo, Mahad lugged the case to where Sirus and Cortes sat. He explained the situation.
Sirus shook his head and sighed fretfully. "It could be any of these.." he looked at the bizarre variety of injection needles. Cortes stared too, and a vague memory flashed back..
Bound to a chair, restrained. Seeing someone in a lab coat with a tray..a needle with many shining pins...but how many? He closed his eyes, struggling to remember...
"Hey..your feathers are escaping again!" Mahad cried, scooping the moulted feathers up from the floor, holding them fanned out. Cortes opened his eyes, blinking sleepily at what Mahad was holding. 6 feathers. why did that- His eyes widened, and the memory came flooding back clear as day. The needle was a six-point injector. He'd only caught a brief glimpse of it, but he was certain.
He tugged Sirus sleeve, pointing at the feathers, then at the case. Sirus didn't get it.
"I got it!" Mahad scooped up a pair of needles from the ones arranged in the suitcase. "it had six of these needle-points.." he held the two out to Cortes "can you remember what it looked like?" each needle had a unique shape and design.
Cortes studied them, struggling to recall the memory a second time. It had a gold marking on..and the plunger had a strange indent on it...
Spotting one that matched exactly to the now fading memory, he reached out and plucked the needle from mahads hand. This he held out to Sirus, who took it from him, removing the safety on the needle ends.
"Are you sure Aran..?" he asked, Mahad hovering nearby anxiously. Cortes looked at it again and nodded.
"Here, let me..I'll do it.." it was Baldr. He explained he'd done medical training to help keep master Darius' health in good shape. The crew stood by, fidgeting with worry as the guy administered the injection they prayed would save their captain. Cortes response was to pass out. Baldr explained to the panicking crew the antidote most likely contained a sedative ingredient. All Cortes needed was sleep.
"We'll stay until he's well enough to fly..." Wayan said at last, and everyone agreed. Sirus stayed with Cortes, who was wrapped up in as many more blankets as Baldr could find.
He watched his lover sleep, running his fingers through his hair. While he was doing this he noticed a few small feathers drifted free from his Aran's hair.
--How odd..-- he thought, gently brushing the humans cheek with his hand. Cortes shifted in his sleep and blushed faintly.
"Do you think...he'll be able to talk again?" Sirus looked up, and wondered how best to answer Darius.
"I'm not sure..i am hoping that the antidote will reverse what mutations it can, and cause them to stop growing, and maybe decrease slightly. I just want to see him happy again...this whole incident. Has caused unforgivable grief for him.."
Darius sighed and sat down "I can only apologise for what my brother has done..." he indicated Cortes "he's a good person, he adores his friends it seems...especially you."
Sirus blushed faintly but smiled "i consider myself very lucky...that i was allowed to stay with him all that time ago...even though i was created by your brother, Aran still let me stay.." he smiled at the memory...how he'd had to keep his feelings for the captain hidden for so long. Until he finally admitted how much he cared for him...
Cortes didn't stir for a good few hours, during which Oslo was looked in the darkest cell the saint nazaire had, and everyone split up to search the block for anything of use.
Sirus had to leave his beloved for a few minutes, when Wayan radioed to tell him they'd found some water tanks, and they needed help carting them back to the ship. He left baldr to look after the sleeping Cortes, and reluctantly left.
Gweeh, another part but m'not done yet '
Random Fact: My foot is dead. And this 5lb laptop is giving me a dead lap.