Okay, peoples!! I dunno what else to say, I've had to work on my other stories, school's been a huge weight on my shoulders, and I've had writers block! That explains the lateness of this chappie! Remember to review, now! ENJOY!!!
NiGHTS and Zephyr were now just chatting on how their lives have been for the past ten years. NiGHTS said that nothing was really new other than the new dreams that have been created and those that have been forgotten. Zephyr had told NiGHTS all about her life in the waking and about Alex and Andy. They both have had a relatively normal decade, well…. it depends on who sees what as normal. Soon the two was resting on each other, Zephyr had her head on NiGHTS's shoulder and his head was on hers. The Nightopians were sleeping in their laps.
Being in the Dream World, Zephyr didn't have a dream so the rest was relatively boring. She woke up with NiGHTS still asleep; she then got a smirk and quietly slipped away from him. Right then, there was no telling what the teen had in her mind, but it seemed very impish so there had to be something going on in her head. Just the look of sheer glee and her snickering at her own plan spelled BAD NEWS! She climbed up into and the rustling of leaves roused the Pians and they looked up to see what was going on. She motioned them to stay quiet and they obeyed without a chirp.
Zephyr gently yanked off a nice long leaf and hung down from the branch and was careful not to let her hair interfere. Well, all she was doing was an experiment to see if NiGHTS actually HAD a body other than his head and hands. What? Knowing a guy for ten years would get you wondering about stuff like that. She dropped the leaf down that scarf thing on NiGHTS's "shoulders". It just…dropped and faded into black…Unfortunately, this apparently woke him up and well, lets just say that he was flying around, upside-down, bobbing and it looked very hysterical. This image was so funny, Zephyr was laughing her head off and was clutching her stomach to keep her sides from splitting. He was paralooping, and diving just to get what was in him, out.
Finally, after around ten minutes of laughing and flying, NiGHTS finally got the leaf out and it drifted to the ground. NiGHTS just stared at it for a few moments, dumbfounded that such a little thing could cause such a big mess…He looked up at Zephyr whose laughing came to an abrupt halt as soon as her gaze met his. He smiled a mischievous little grin and Zephyr just knew that nothing good could come from a look like that. She swung her legs over the tree she was hanging from and as soon as she landed, scrambled to make a run for it.
Now, as fast as she was Zephyr was no match for NiGHTS when he was flying. So, the only thing left for her to do was to hide. Except, the only hiding place that could be seen was the windmills on the floating sections of earth that Zephyr would never be able to reach in her life. So, she just kept on running for dear life.
It was a few minutes before she came to a stop, hands on her knees panting. She fell flat on her back and just laid there…watching the clouds roll on by lazily. She closed her blue eyes for but a few seconds and when she opened them NiGHTS was standing over her with his arms crossed and foot tapping, but he was smiling. That was not good. Zephyr was about to get up and run, but NiGHTS was too fast for her, grabbing her by the wrists and flying into the air. The movement was so unexpected, Zephyr yelped as he to them higher and higher.
"Uh…N-NiGHTS? This is just a j-joke, right?" Zephyr asked nervously. The Nightmaren seemed to ponder this and grinned.
" Dunno, you tell me." He said and with that he dropped Zephyr from the dizzying height. Zephyr was left screaming down to the ground.
" THIS IS GONNA HURT!!" She screamed. Seconds before she hit the ground something grabbed her foot and her face was left inches away from the ground.
NiGHTS was still holding on to Zephyr's foot, just smiling and floating. He began to laugh at his little trick. Zephyr however was not so amused. She didn't like the fact that she was tricked into thinking she was going to die, especially by her friend who was supposed to be the good guy here! NiGHTS set Zephyr down and wiped a tear from his eye from laughing so much.
When she regained her composure, Zephyr was ticked, REALLY ticked. When NiGHTS wasn't looking, she tackled him to the ground. Unlike most people when they were tricked like that, instead of beating the pulp out of NiGHTS, she tickled him until he cried. It was hard to find a Nightmaren's ticklish spot, but once you have it's the perfect weapon. Zephyr finally accomplished her task and got off of NiGHTS waiting for him to get up. Seeing as he doesn't have any actual lungs, he didn't need to catch his breath.
"Well, that was fun. Let's go." He said, standing up and about to fly off. He noticed that Zephyr wasn't following. "Hey, Zephyr! If you keep us waiting you'll…." He trailed off when he turned around and saw Zephyr with her mouth covered and in the paws of Clawz, the over-sized Nightmare cat.
" I hate it when I'm right." NiGHTS sighed under his breath. And turned his attention to Clawz. Zephyr was attempting to struggle free, but the more she moved, the more the cat squeezed her. NiGHTS couldn't understand, why was Wiseman after Zephyr? She didn't have a red ideya, is she did NiGHTS would have known be now.
Zephyr had managed to get her mouth free and took a large gasp of air. " NiGHTS! What is this thing?!" She yelled in a panic. Clawz immediately covered her mouth again.
" That's Clawz, one of Wiseman's henchmen." NiGHTS explained. He saw a look of confusion on her face; he forgot to tell her about Wiseman! " I'll explain later, for now, just hold tight!" He ordered.
Zephyr didn't have much choice, she was being held captive by a giant cat with deadly beyond deadly claws. As NiGHTS charged it, it jumped out of the way, dragging Zephyr along for the ride. The fight continued like this, making Zephyr a little nauseous. NiGHTS got an idea and was about to paraloop, scaring Clawz into dropping Zephyr and pouncing off. NiGHTS flew to Zephyr's aid, catching her just in time.
" You're an idiot, you know that?" She said clinging on to NiGHTS's sleeve, not wanting another one of his jokes to take place.
" Oh, really? I didn't drop a leaf down my collar and get us into this mess!" NiGHTS argued back while setting Zephyr down in the ground.
" True, but I'm curious. Speaking of which, who the hell is Wiseman?" She persisted. NiGHTS was really hoping she had forgotten, but there was getting out now.
" Fine. Sit." He ordered Zephyr, and she obliged. " A long time ago, Wiseman took order of Nightmare, but after some time, he wanted more. He grew so power-hungry, he began to overrule Nightopia, and that was enough, but not for long. He realized what power dreamers had and their impact on this world, and I believe he was afraid of what might happen if they tried to take his power, which isn't possible without help of coarse. Wiseman then learned of the ideya, and knew that they were the key to controlling the waking world. But, the one that he can't take by force is the red ideya of courage. But, he still wanted the other ideya, so he created the other Nightmaren. Reala and I are the only first level Nightmaren ever created. I was the only one who realized that Wiseman was doing a truly terrible deed, and therefore rebelled. But, I was captured and imprisoned in Wiseman's worst torture chamber, the Ideya Palace, and until a year ago, stayed there for what felt like centuries." NiGHTS concluded. Zephyr just sat there, her eyes wide, this was the first time she saw NiGHTS even slightly downcast.
Zephyr smiled and told him he was right to rebel. When he asked why she though that she simply said with a grin "'Cause rebels are fun!". No matter how many years, NiGHTS may never figure her out completely. He scooped her up in his arms and flew off to a different dreamscape. She asked what was going on, but NiGHTS remained silent wanting it to be a surprise.
They finally landed next to a beautiful lake scene with willow trees, lush green grass, and a few flowers here and there. And the water was the cleanest that she had ever seen! It took her a few seconds to soak it all in and realize…this was her dream world. She thought it up a few years back and never forgot about it. There was even the one tree that loomed over the lake with a swing tied onto one of the branches.
" You like it?" NiGHTS had snuck up behind her while she wasn't paying attention and she jumped slightly.
" Are you kidding? It's just like my dreams!" She said while turning to face her friend. He had a proud smile plastered onto his face, simply ecstatic to see Zephyr so happy. It was obvious that she hadn't visited in a while, he came here as often as he could to find her. By the time NiGHTS finished his thoughts, Zephyr was already on her hands and knees on the edge of the lake. For once she had her jacket off showing her white T-shirt with the purple sleeves, her jacket was tied around her waist. NiGHTS floated over and pered into the lake with her, but with a saddened look on his face.
Zephyr had noticed the unnatural nature of her friend and turned her head to see that was wrong. When she stood up, NiGHTS didn't seem to notice, not even when she walked over.
" Hey, NiGHTS…you okay?" She asked, waving a hand up and down in front of the 'Maren's face. He jolted up, looking at her as if he had just gotten ice water dumped on his head. " It's not like you to frown, it just looks wrong on you." Zephyr said in a warm tone. She may have been crazy and loud at times, but there was no stopping her from comforting a friend.
When NiGHTS didn't answer Zephyr figured that he just wanted some time alone. She turned to walk away, she could feel something grab her wrist and pull her in the opposite direction. NiGHTS pulled her into a hug without saying a word. Zephyr was about to ask what was up, she felt something warm and wet drop onto her shoulder. It then hit her…NiGHTS was crying. That was one reason why he didn't speak when she asked if everything was alright, his voice would've cracked.
His crying became slightly more violent when his shoulders started to shake and his breathing became more audible. Within a moment, Zephyr slowly wrapped her arms around him in comfort.
It must be hard…your entire race and species being out to get you and all…She thought. I guess even great Nightmaren rebels have to let go sometimes. I know I do. She thought again.
A few minutes had passed and NiGHTS calmed down and pulled away. He still had a couple tears on his cheeks, but otherwise he was okay. Zephyr's shoulder was soaked, but she didn't mind one bit. As long as NiGHTS wasn't crying anymore, she was just peachy. He floated over to the lake and began to wash the remaining tears off his face. And you guys should know Zephyr, she just couldn't pass up a chance like this. She again tackle NiGHTS, but into the water this time. When Zephyr opened her eyes, her arms were still around NiGHTS, but something was way different. NiGHTS had a fish tail instead of legs. Zephyr would've asked, but she was underwater and was running out of air.
Her head bursted out of the water and she was gasping for breath. NiGHTS came up less violently, but was smiling again.
" Dude! That tail is cool!" Zephyr procloaimed.
" Really? Most people think it's freaky." NiGHTS said with an eyebrow raised.
" Then they're the freaks! Glad to see you smiling, by the way." Zephyr said with her own silly grin.
" Thanks, for being there and all. Now just one thing left to do…" He said still smiling. Zephyr was just about to ask why, but instead got a huge amount of water splashed in her face. She got a mischievous grin and splashed back. This continued for a long time never seeming to stop.
Back in Nightmare…a figure was looking into an eye at the two free spirits having fun.
" NiGHTS…I believe that I've finally found your weakness…" The colossal being murmured and started laughing maniacally, rattling all of his realm. The image in the eyeball was closed in on Zephyr, who was unknowing to the danger…
3….2…1…AWWWWWWW! HOW SWEET!! It's always nice to have a friend there for you until the end. But, what could Wiseman the Wicked be planning? You'll all find out soon enough!! Remember to review!
PEACE OUT!!