Here it is! I'm sorry for not updating in a while. I really don't have that much of an excuse. This chapter is even longer than the last one, though, so hopefully that will make up for some of it.
Eternity's Shadow Thank you for the praise and for reviewing. It means a lot to me.
Call me Blue Streak You're obsessed? With my story? Is something like that possible? I'm sorry this didn't come out soon. I'll do better next time.
And I'll except the brains…but what do I do with them now that I have them? Thanks for reviewing.
Liaranne You like my writing style? Thank you! You don't know how much that means to me. I hope this chapter lives up to your expectations.
Not going to tell me, eh? I make it pretty clear who the king is in this chapter
And I can't tell you what's wrong with Danny. I'm just evil like that. Thanks so much for the review!
Lightning Streak Now that's not true. I'm sure you could type something up like this and do a wonderful job. Probably better than me at any rate. Thank you so much for the praise and the reviews.
Chaltab What can I say that I haven't already told you? Thanks for the support, Chaltab.
Renoirkmk Thanks for the praise and the review.
Kuroneko I'm glad you liked my disclaimer. It would have been nice to hear your thoughts after you read it, but thanks anyway for the review.
Taka-Sama I can't answer any of your questions. Your just going to have to find out. And I'm sorry this wasn't soon. Thanks for reviewing.
JNgirl Not exactly. It's not set in the past, but I still have it retain some of that aspect. For example, the guns have sort of a science fiction feel to them. I've created my own little world, I suppose. Thanks for reviewing.
Glean-Glean I'm not sure how many chapters I'll have. Quite a few after this. Thanks for the reviews!
Disclaimer: -checks license, social security and birth certificate- Darn I'm still not famous…yet!
Chapter 3
Princess Valerie gazed down on the capital from her high view at Axion Palace. She was concentrating more on the conversations her father, the king was having behind her. He was discussing the disappearance of the Mansons' daughter with the girl's father right now.
"I can assure you that we are doing everything we can to find her."
"And what about the rumors I've been hearing? They say she was spotting in Apparition's Cliffs! Is this true?"
"From the reports that have come back from the scouts, yes."
"It's dangerous out there! And that Resistance group is out there, too. I know my daughter wasn't exactly the most popular in the palace, but-"
"If you are implying that I am not really trying to find your daughter then you are mistaken. You and your wife have helped me greatly. You do bring up a good point about the Resistance, however. We wouldn't want them finding her."
"Then what are you going to do?"
"Apparition's Cliffs is vast and very dangerous as you said. Perhaps having more people search for your daughter would be wise. I'll have General Lancer take his soldiers out to find her. The added security will help also if the Resistance decides to attack."
"Thank you, Your Majesty. My wife and I are extremely grateful; as I'm sure Samantha will be also."
Valerie scoffed. She doubted that. The girl was a freak, in her opinion. She was always preaching how short-sighted they all were, and how there was a war coming. All the lies about a war weren't even the thing that started it. She'd always been a freak. Valerie was glad she was gone. And she'd fit in with the Resistance just perfectly. It's probably where she was headed all this time.
Valerie scowled. If there was anyone she truly despised then it had to be them. There wasn't going to be a war! Her father was capable in keeping the peace. Her father's actions had been justified when the rumors had started, but they hadn't stopped and, from what she heard, the people were starting to murmur against her father and the other nobles. That was worrying her. She was used to the peaceful, happy life that she had been living. Now everyone in the palace was tense and if the angry murmurs from the people continued then someone might even suggest a Revolution.
Which is probably exactly what they wanted. She could just picture men sitting around, laughing at her expense. Happy that their ploy had worked at that those at the palace were stressed and miserable.
Valerie stopped her thoughts when they got there. She hadn't brought up her concerns and worries with anyone else, but she knew that others were thinking them. She had to pretend, though, that everything was okay. And it was, she assured herself. Her father could take care of it.
But she was still worried. It was hard to deny that fact.
Her eyes narrowed as they shifted to glare towards the direction where she knew Apparition's Cliffs was located. She was comfortable where she was being the princess. And, she thought, if she had anything to say about it then it was going to stay that way.
The oblivion that was wrapped around Danny's mind slowly started to thin and he gave a mumble in his sleep. His senses were gradually creeping back and the mumble turned to a groan. He hated when this happened. Waking up was so hard, but he had learned he just needed to keep pushing it. Finally, his eyes cracked open.
His vision was blurry, but he could still recognize his room. He needed to know what had happened. What had caused the blackout this time?
"Danny?"
He gave a grunt as he tried to sit up, but was pushed back down into his pillow. "I'm fine, Jazz."
This was the usual statement that she was greeted with every time and Jazz gave a sigh.
"How do you feel?"
"Worse than usual," he admitted. "What happened?"
"You were an idiot and over-exerted yourself. Not to mention there was no one around to help because you sent Tucker away when he could clearly tell you needed help."
"Who found me?"
Danny strained to see over Jazz who was hovering over him, worried, when Tucker's voice answered. "Sam did. I had barely arrived at where her and Jazz were talking and she suddenly becomes really agitated. Insisted on knowing where you were. She dragged us out to look for you. It was pretty dark, but she found you quickly."
"Sam? Who's…oh, Sam!"
The events of yesterday were leaking back into his memory. He cringed as Jazz spoke up. "You have a couple of large bruises, Danny. Did you fall?"
He ignored the question. "How much does she know?"
Tucker gave a laugh. "We've made up crazier stories than the one we gave her last night. She doesn't suspect anything."
Jazz raised an eyebrow and turned to look at Tucker. "You think so?"
"Are you saying she does suspect something?" Danny asked.
"I talked with her last night, Danny. She may not have many practical skills, but she's smart. Danny, you have to be careful."
"I'll be fine. What time is it?"
"Almost noon. I'll bring you in some lunch." Jazz turned towards the door to leave.
"Thanks. Can you ask Sam to come in here also?"
"Sure. Why?"
"I forgot to tell her some things last night. We sort of got…sidetracked."
Jazz nodded and left. Tucker gave him a teasing smile. "Sidetracked how?"
Danny shifted to give Tucker a glare, but it was muted as he winced afterward. Jazz hadn't been lying about those bruises.
"If you have to know," he snapped "we got to discussing Vlad and other things."
Tucker sobered immediately. "Oh."
"Yeah. I got uncomfortable and walked away. You'd think I could handle it after telling everyone else, but when-"
The curtain was pulled away and Sam stepped in, carrying a bowl that obviously had Danny's lunch inside. Danny sat up and swung his feet over the side of his bed as she walked over to hand it to him. "You wanted to see me?"
Danny studied her face. He had to agree with Jazz that she was smart. He could tell that just by talking with her last night. But, at the moment, he wasn't picking up anything from her that might endanger his secret.
"Yeah, I didn't get to tell you everything last night. There are still some things we need to go over."
She gave a nod of understanding and he went on. "Even though you don't have any experience you'll still have to fight. I won't just send you out immediately, but you should be aware that you might have to if something happens. As soon as I've talked with you you'll go with Tucker. He'll give you a gun and two energy canisters. This is important, Sam. One of the canisters will have a green stripe painted on it. Do you remember when I asked you if you believed in ghosts?"
She'd been patiently listening to everything, but gave a start at his question. "Yes," she insecurely replied.
"Do you, Sam?"
The two waited as she took a few seconds to answer. "Yes,' she answered truthfully.
Danny gave a grateful sigh. That made everything easier. "Vlad Masters doesn't just have people working for him. He's recruited ghosts also for his attack on Amity. We needed a way to fight them also so Tucker was able to convert the energy in the canisters so it would affect ghosts, too."
"Tucker did this?"
"With a little help," Danny amended. "He worked with my mom on this."
He could tell she wanted to ask the question, but he didn't want to hear it so he answered it for her. "My mom disappeared one day. We're not quite sure what happened. After her disappearance, Tucker had to use her notes to come up with a way to convert the canisters. The canisters for the ghosts are hard to produce, though. You only have 20 shots in a canister, so you need to be careful if the chance arises that you have to shoot one. Actually, you need to be lenient with the shots from the non-ghost canisters because the canisters aren't easy to come by in the first place. Do you have any question?"
He could tell she did, but she merely shook her head no.
"Let's see then. I've already explained the privacy rule. The only other thing I think I need to tell you is that this place needs to remain hidden. I don't think I'll get lucky again and find a place like this for us to stay if our home here gets attacked. Vlad not knowing where we are is probably one of the only reasons we're able to still fight against him. That's everything I think. If you do have questions then you can always come to me, Tucker, Jazz or anyone else. I want you to stick with Jazz for these first couple of days. She'll help you learn what happens during the day here, get you into a sort of routine."
"All right. Danny?"
"Hmm?"
"How are you feeling?"
Honestly, he thought, my whole body aches. "Better, thank you."
"Your welcome." She turned when Tucker motioned for her to follow him outside. She glanced back, but Danny gave her a reassuring smile and she left. Danny glanced down at his food that was getting cold. Finally he got up and walked over to his desk, ignoring how sore he was. The sheet he had written down about Sam still sat there from where it had been last night. He was realizing like Jazz that it could be risky with her here-it was just as much of a risk with everyone else-but she intrigued him. She'd been wearing the same dark clothes he had seen her wear yesterday which wasn't the most sensible thing to do in this hot weather. She had stated she was a vegetarian and she had no practical skills to help, but she had still come out here where there was little to no vegetation and had offered to help all the same.
Why?
He vowed to find out.
On the second day, Sam woke up with the thought: Where do I go to take a shower here? Immediately, she became irritated with herself. The thought made her think of all the girls she knew at the palace. They were too engrossed in their appearances and other superficial problems to concentrate on the things that mattered. But she did care if she looked clean, and, at the moment, that didn't seem possible.
Her question was answered as she stepped outside her room and looked down at the river. Danny knelt down on the bank, filling a few jugs. He sat the last one aside and then, to Sam's surprise, leaned forward and dunked is entire head under the water.
The action seemed so ludicrous that she started laughing. Danny's head broke the surface and he looked up as she shook his wet bangs away from his eyes. He gave a smirk when he realized who was laughing.
"You get used to it," he called up to her.
"I suppose I don't have a choice," she reasoned as her laughter quieted. "That's it, though? You don't wash your whole body?"
"I can't say for the others, but I do. However," he paused as his smirk grew "you won't be seeing me do it."
And then he gathered up his jugs and left Sam there, trying to interpret if there was some inner meaning in that.
She took the issue up with Jazz when she found her in the kitchen.
"It's difficult," Jazz sighed. "We basically have to do it in the dark. Look, when you need to take a bath, come tell me and I'll make sure you're not disturbed. I do that with all the other girls that live here."
In the dark? Is that what he had meant? Something told Sam there was still something more to it.
"What about you," she asked Jazz. "Who looks out for you?"
Jazz raised an eyebrow. "Oh, no one disturbs me. If they do, they'll soon be missing a few important appendages courtesy of my brother."
"Hello."
Sam almost dropped the bowl of food she was carrying. How had Danny surprised her like that? He'd come out of nowhere. She gave him a glare.
"Hello."
"That for me?"
"Actually," she deadpanned "It's for me."
"Aren't you helping Jazz right now?'
"She gave me a break so I could eat something, too. Why do you care?"
"No reason." Right, like he was going to tell her he'd been watching her all day for any clues as to who she was. "Want some company?"
Sam gave a scowl. "Not really. What is this, Danny? We aren't exactly friends."
"Maybe I want to be friends." It was the truth. He didn't want to be on bad terms with anyone here, but, at the moment, he was concentrating on learning all he could about her.
Sam's gaze was piercing and Danny internally told himself not to do any of his nervous habits.
"Fine."
Danny gave a sincere smile as he followed her over to the cavern's wall to lean on. "Great so…how do you like the bed?"
Sam gave a minute smile. She didn't know what to feel about this. Her first impression of him hadn't been the greatest and it was hard for her to let go of that. But it seemed like he was trying so why shouldn't she?
"It's fine." They hadn't had a bed for her and the first night she had slept in Jazz's room. That next day, she had first seen Danny in the afternoon with a collection of wood that he had claimed would make a bed. He'd done it by himself and he had actually finished during that one afternoon. Jazz had been showing her everything and telling her what she needed to do and she hadn't been able to come over and ask him about it. It was a pretty sturdy bed, but from afar it had looked as if he didn't have any tools with him…but that was probably her imagination.
"Really? That's good. I wasn't exactly sure how it would have turned out."
Sam looked up and the two met eyes before she looked away. "It's fine,' she repeated.
Danny frowned. This wasn't exactly working out. "So you're a vegetarian?"
"An Ultra-Recyclo Vegetarian," she clarified.
Well it was something. "What's that?'
He was interested? From his attitude before she doubted that he would become one over night, but she had barely met anyone that had showed interest.
The conversation had progressed from there. Danny found himself enjoying the conversation, but every answer about her past was vague and he grew increasingly agitated. His gaze wandered over to where others were practicing.
"Are you listening to me?"
He turned back to her. "No," he admitted. "Are you almost done?'
"I'm done, yes." At least he was honest, she thought. That was a lot more than she could say about any of the boys at the palace.
"Well, Jazz hasn't come back to get you, and there's still a lot of things you need to know. I think we should start your training."
"Training?"
Danny stood up and motioned her to follow him. He led her out to a spot where there was space enough for them to train.
"You need to learn how to fight. There's always the risk that something will happen or that I might need you to go out on missions with others."
He was being the leader again which was fine with Sam, but she kind of missed the smiling and joking part of him that had appeared when they were talking. The thought of them being friends was becoming more comfortable to her every second.
"Shouldn't you be helping me with my aim? We mostly just use the guns, right?"
"I told you, Sam, that we can't waste any of the shots. Unfortunately, that's just something you'll have to learn on your own."
That was a comforting thought, but she could see the logic in it. She had no idea what she was doing, though, and she felt completely stupid as she moved into a stance. The verdict wasn't good by the smile that Danny was trying to keep down.
"You're too open…pretty much everywhere. I'll go more into that when we start on teaching you defensive moves. Punch me."
"What?'
Try to punch me. We have to get the basics down."
Sam sighed. This was going to end very badly. Closing her eyes, she limply let out a punch.
It was caught easily by Danny. She opened her eyes warily, but Danny just gave her a smile.
"Here," Danny fluidly moved behind her, still holding on to her hand. He glanced down. "Feet apart, right foot forward." She obediently followed the instructions. He gently grasped unto her left forearm. "You have to twist your body. Your left side goes back as your right side goes forward. It gives your body leverage, and you can put more power in your punch." He silently put her body through the movements. "Did you feel the difference?"
She was feeling something, but she wasn't sure if the training had anything to do with it. All she knew was that he was entirely too close.
She was too close! Darn it all, what was happening to him? He could feel a blush threatening to bloom any second. They were barely even friends and now…what he needed was a distraction.
His silent plea was answered as there was a shout and both turned to see two men stumble through the tunnel. One was holding up the other who was limping badly. Blood could be seen in many places and Danny sprang away from Sam and ran over with others to help.
"What happened?"
"Attacked," the young man carrying the other person grunted out. His burden was lifted as others helped to take him to their make-shift infirmary. He sagged all the same. Danny could see he was exhausted. He waited as the other went on. "We were over by the northwestern ridge and got attacked. We were outnumbered. We tried to hold them off, but then we ran out of shots and…." He glanced over where his friend was now.
"Where's the third one in your team?"
"Still out there," he replied breathlessly. "I couldn't carry both. I had to leave him over at the small haven you set up there, but I'm afraid…there was some blood…but he's not as bad as Will over there."
"Don't worry; I'll take care of it. As for Will, I want you to keep a tab on him Chal. Help Jazz out, do what she tells you. Get some sleep first. I can see you're exhausted. The northwestern ridge isn't exactly close."
"Wait-" Danny had already turned toward the infirmary to find Jazz and the plea was unheard. His sight of Danny was then blocked as others swarmed in to tend to him and ask what had happened.
"Jazz, I need a medic. Where's Lolita?" Jazz didn't even look up from Will as she answered.
"She's not here. You sent her off with a patrolling team a few days ago, remember?"
Danny cursed and Jazz did look up now to give him a disapproving look. "That's right. She's with Luke. But then who…" His mind went over who might know medical treatments. Jazz was needed here. Lolita was out, and probably could be reached in time. His eyes went back to Jazz as a thought occurred to him.
"What have you taught Sam about healing the wounded?"
"It's one of the first things I've been teaching her," she remarked distractedly. "She said she knew how to sew, so I taught her a few things about stitches and bandaging someone. She's a fast learner, so-"
"Thanks." Danny grabbed one of the first-aid kits that Jazz always had laid out for taking out in the field and left.
Sam was still standing in the same place. She knew that she shouldn't be surprised, but seeing the two come in like that had been a shock. And then Danny was standing in front of her.
"You have your gun on you somewhere, right?" Sam shakily nodded her head, internally dreading what was going to come next.
"Take this. We're going to go save our stranded comrade."
Unfortunately, Danny and Chal never met up again. It wasn't for lack of trying on Chal's part.
"Where's Danny?"
Jazz looked up to spot Chal looking around anxiously. It was easy to deduce from the wear and tear in his clothes and his obvious fatigue that he had been Will's teammate.
"I'm not sure. It sounded like he was going to leave. He was in a hurry."
Chal paled.
"Why?" Jazz asked.
"He doesn't know who he's fighting," Chal turned and then swayed as his fatigue overwhelmed him.
Jazz was there in an instant, checking on him as she spoke. "What do you mean? Isn't it more of Vlad's men? A ghost, maybe?"
No, no it's not."
Panic swept across Jazz's face and Chal looked at her confused. Yes, it was probably a good thing for Danny to know, but he was a competent fighter. He always seemed to be so lucky, too.
But Jazz knew something that Chal didn't, and the fear that her little brother was in danger, though always there, was so apparent that Chal could feel it.
And Jazz had always tried to be the calm one.
A disaster was coming soon, and, unbeknownst to them, Danny wasn't the only one in its line of fire.
I promise the action will start next chapter. I'm dreading it because I can't write action, but I won't keep you guys waiting like I did with this chapter.
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Faith's melody