Disclaimer: ... Look! Dots!
Thank yous:
Fairy Whisperings: oops, sorry Midnight! (Sweat drops) heh heh well at least THAT'S cleared up! And thanks for the character bio; I'll be putting Midnight in for sure!
Twister91: Hush woman! I can't fit everyone into every chapter! . Just sit quietly with your purple iguana and Ryou!
Tiger Priestess: thank you for the bios! I'll put them in! And I hope Antauri isn't watching either; an angry Antauri isn't gonna be fun... or is it? (Grins evilly)
Everyone gawked at Onyx in astonishment; what he really going say it? Prove what they all knew and show that he actually had a soft side? Cait sat petting her iguana (there! See? You're in it Cait!) and drinking can after can of Sprite as she watched beside Ryou unblinking. Otto leant forward in anticipation so much he fell into the water, causing those beside him to sigh and roll their eyes before becoming glued on the scene once more. The Stripe team all stared; Emerald bouncing eagerly, Citrine smirking, Amber and Ruby trying to keep their expressions neutral but Amethyst seemed more worried than eager, especially when she glanced at the monkey beside her who had his green-yellow eyes fixed on the monkey at the centre of attention with silent hatred and anger. Amethyst gulped and placed a hand on Antauri's arm,
"Antauri..." she spoke quietly but flinched when he pulled his arm away and began storming towards Onyx. Amethyst let her hand drop and watched helplessly as the usually calm and stoic second-in-command was now charging like an enraged bull towards the one who he'd always feared would steal his wife away.
Onyx could feel his heart hammering hard against his chest, trying to break free and show Ichigo his true feelings, but something held it back. It could've been nerves, as everyone was staring cow-eyed at him right now, but more than that he thought it was pride; what would his father think of this? Onyx envisioned his father, huge and terrifying, towering over Ichigo and squashing her with one repulsed stomp like she was a fly of some sort. His father had always hated anything remotely cute or sweet and Ichigo was practically the epitome of both things! No, he couldn't tell her! He couldn't bear the thought of what Matt would do to her if he found out. He looked down sadly and resigned himself to this train of thought; he gave a small sad flickering glance at Ichigo before making his features cold and hard.
"I hate you" he whispered, feeling each lying word pierce into him. "I hate you with all my heart and I can't understand why you're so freakishly cute and happy all the time! You're so weird! I wish you'd... you'd..." he glared as best he could into Ichigo's shocked and upset eyes and willed himself to go on, "I wish you'd just disappear for good!" he cried into a thick silence. He panted and looked at her, feeling sick with himself at what he'd done, and then he heard a drip. He looked down at the miniature puddle then up to find its source; he felt his heart shatter when he did as he stared into Ichigo's big tearful eyes that now seemed to fill with a despair and sorrow he'd never thought possible for the constantly optimistic female.
"I-Ichi..." he started, but suddenly a mouth full of sand clogged his words and caused him to shut his eyes. Everyone looked away, covering their faces, as the planet's surface began to change rapidly from jungle into desert in a violent sandstorm.
Once the wind had died they looked back and saw that both the hot spring and Ichigo were gone.
Ichigo blinked tears and sand from her eyes as she found herself in a dark dank cave. From the ceiling hung huge stalactites, ones which could easily squash her if they fell, and water dripped from them rhythmically. She whimpered slightly, crawling away from the huge natural daggers, and looked around herself. She saw glittering rocks in the walls of the cave and seemed awed by the sheer hugeness of this place; she walked up to a wall and touched the glittering surface. She gasped and quickly jumped back as if she'd been burnt. Cold! The walls were so cold they burnt and Ichigo looked closer at them. Ice, not rock. She looked around again and realised she was in fact in a huge cave made of ice; it could very well have been a glacier, and Ichigo whimpered again, this time scared that she might freeze to death with only a small wet towel to cover her body.
She squeaked when a small piece of ice crumbled off the wall and her heart began to pound again.
'Is... Is it going to cave in!' her mind raced with panicking thoughts and she ran blindly, hoping to find an exit. She felt tears well up again as she ran,
'What do I do? Where do I go!' her mind raced with these questions and she sobbed at the thought of being crushed to death or trapped in this frozen prison all alone forever. Her mind turned to all her friends and family; her brothers, Ryou and Otogi, grief stricken at losing their triplet sister, Antauri, blaming himself for her death, the Monkey team, mourning the loss of a comrade, the Stripe Team, feeling the pain of their friends' grief, Caitlyn, shutting herself off from everyone in a bid to not talk about her pain, her daughter, Zakuro, no doubt lashing out in rage at everyone as was her way of showing grief and Malachite trying to calm her and live with his own sadness. Ichigo felt another sob escape at the thought of causing her family grief and pain,
'Jet too' she thought, remembering how they would always go out and do stuff together, 'and...Onyx...' her thoughts lingered on the grumpy black and white monkey, his cold glare as he told her he hated her and his words that were like arrows to her heart. But then, how could she be surprised? She'd always known that Onyx hated anything cute or cuddly and she knew that she annoyed him, being useless at fighting and another 'liability' as he'd once put it, and yet, she'd always had a feeling that behind that cold hard outer mask, was a warm, gentle person begging to be let out and she thought that maybe... just maybe, he was going to show it for a second.
"Ow!" she cried as she suddenly ran into something. She moaned slightly in pain and rubbed her now-throbbing head as she looked up to see what she'd run into. She squeaked in fright when she saw a black and blue monkey towering over her, glaring with blood-red eyes. He seemed to be studying her and Ichigo instinctively held on tighter to the towel around her.
"I-I'm s-sorr-" she stammered,
"Quiet!" barked the monkey, making Ichigo wince like she'd been hit. He seemed to study her more then he dragged her to her feet and pulled her along with him. "What are you doing in my home?" he barked again, Ichigo had the feeling that this monkey no doubt always barked. She tried to keep up with his fast pace,
"I-I'm sorry! I-I turned up here by accident! I-I had been at the hot spring-"
"What hot spring?" he barked again, cutting her off. She winced again,
"T-the hot spring on Planet Stripe!" she explained quietly, feeling uncertain whether she should be telling him this or not. She watched as a slow smile seemed to spread on his features and it made Ichigo feel sick to see it. He looked at her like she was a prized trinket, one long searched for, and his attitude seemed to defrost a little,
"And do you know the Stripe Team?" he asked, in a softer voice. Ichigo, surprised by this change, blinked,
"Uh... the Stripe Team? Well uh... yes I do-"
"Excellent!" he cried and pulled her towards a door, concealed by ice. Ichigo watched in amazement as the monkey just held out his hand and the ice seemed to retreat.
He smirked at her amazement and dragged her through the door.
"And what is your name, pray tell?" he purred, causing Ichigo to shiver with repulsion. She eyed him wearily, unsure whether to answer, and the monkey's eyed hardened again,
"Answer me!" he barked commandingly and Ichigo let out a small sob. He growled low and Ichigo wished for that moment that she could switch places with someone else, someone stronger who would no doubt put this bully in his place.
"I-Ichigo" she stammered, feeling his glare intensify and wondering if he'll use his ice powers on her. This seemed to please his temper, however, and they continued down the corridor. Ichigo looked around at the bareness of the walls and wondered how someone could really live like this. He then pushed open another door and Ichigo gasped.
They entered what seemed to be a palace hall, with long winding pillars made of iridescent ice and complex scrollwork running down them. Trails of leaves ran along to the top of each pillar and ended at the ceiling high above them. Patterns ran along the ceiling and met at each pillar before running outwards again to meet at the next one and the pillars seemed to lead up to a magnificent throne made of solid ice, shining proudly at the other end of the room. However, despite this splendour, Ichigo was shocked to find statues dotted around which frightened her to her very soul. The statues showed people of different species crouched or contorted in fear in a way that seemed so lifelike Ichigo could swear she could hear their silent screams. But then one caught her eye and Ichigo felt her body go numb. She realised then that these weren't just statues, these had once been living breathing beings, and she walked almost in a daze up to the one familiar fearful face. She dared not touch it in case it burned her like the wall, but she gazed with sorrow into her friend's face,
"Otto..." she whispered mournfully, as she gazed upon the frozen statue of her friend.
Antauri seemed to explode the moment they realised Ichigo had disappeared, as did Ichigo's brothers, and the explosion landed directly on Onyx.
"You stupid pig-headed useless incompetent fool! Look what you've done now!" roared Antauri, punching Onyx hard. However, he could've hit Onyx with a ten tonne bomb for all the effect it had on him. Onyx remained silent and shocked despite all that went on around him, only awakening when a flash of white caught his eye,
"Ichigo?" he said on instinct and found him staring into the angry eyes of Ryou, whose eyes got narrower at onyx's remark,
"You wish" he hissed and Onyx actually felt scared for his life. He looked into Ryou's eyes and saw no intention of sparing his life unless he could do something useful then and there. He noticed Otogi behind Ryou, no doubt ready to attack if Onyx tried to escape the first vengeful albino.
"Ryou...Otogi..." he whispered hoarsely, his throat suddenly very dry, "please, wait. This is no time for rash actions" he felt the steel of Ryou's sword press against his throat and he gasped at the cold metal. "Please... do you think Ichigo would want you to do this?" he asked and both boys seemed shocked at this answer. They looked at each other, talking silently with their eyes before looking back at him with softened expressions. Onyx sighed in relief but it was short-lived when Antauri pulled him up by the fur of his chest,
"I don't care what Ichigo thinks of this! I won't let you live to hurt her more!" he growled, vehemently, claws extending from his hands. He was about to drive the claws into Onyx's chest when a calming hand touched his arm and he looked around.
"A-Amethyst" he stuttered, dropping Onyx, and turning to her. "W-what..." but Amethyst pressed a finger to his lips to silence him and gazed into his eyes.
"This isn't the way" she said softly, touching his cheek, "you know that if you do this no good will come of it. Please, Antauri, please calm down and think rationally" she looked at him pleadingly and Antauri felt himself melt. He hugged her close and sighed,
"Alright" he gave in and jumped at a snort behind him. He swivelled around and saw Onyx glaring disapprovingly. He glared back, "what?" he demanded.
"You" said Onyx simply, "I can't believe you. You just go on at me claiming you'll make sure I can't break Ichi's heart and then you go around being all lovey and hugging Amethyst!" Antauri let go of Amethyst and glared harder at Onyx.
"What exactly are you trying to say?" he asked, putting his hands on his hips "and, further more, her name is Ichigo, not Ichi" and Onyx growled,
"What I'm saying exactly is that you obviously love Amethyst more than Ichigo now!" he accused, narrowing his eyes. Antauri blushed,
"Th-that's ridiculous! Of course I love Ichigo! I married her because I love her! And I have had children with her because I love her!" he reasoned, his voice shrill. Onyx raised an eyebrow,
"Then why does Ichi sleep in her own room again? Why do you seem to find excuses to go be with Amethyst more and more? Why do you hug Amethyst when you've never hugged any other female member? And why..." his eyes narrowed to angry slits. "Do you only ever hug Ichigo when I'm around?"
He watched as Antauri spluttered and blushed and murmurs of agreement to what Onyx said were heard. Antauri felt his hand ball into a fist and his body was shaking, he tried to shut out the agreements and what Onyx had said but they all rang true.
'It was all true... I do find myself spending more and more time with Amethyst and less and less with...Ichigo' he looked shocked at the revelation then saw Onyx's annoying smug grin. He felt himself growl in frustration and he suddenly exploded again,
"Alright! I admit it! I love Amethyst!" he cried then looked aghast at what he'd said. He turned to see Amethyst's shocked expression and words failed him.
"Amethyst... I-"
And suddenly a huge projection filled the sky above them; smirking down at them and making them feel insignificant.
"W-who's that!" cried Sprx, looking awed by it's frightfulness, then he heard a collective growl from the Stripe Team.
"Midnight" they said in unison as the monkey smirked more.
"Ah, good to see I'm not forgotten!" he crowed, "However, I do believe you have lost something! In fact, I do believe you've been careless enough to lose two somethings!" he chided mockingly then the projection panned out to show the frozen statue that was Otto and Ichigo chained up beside him, looking very frightened.
"Otto!" cried Jet
"Ichi!" cried Onyx, then he growled, "If you so much as touch a hair on her head I'll-" but a snort from Midnight stopped him.
"You'll what? I'm the one holding all the cards here! And you'll be the one to do as I say!" he barked and Onyx growled but saw he was right so he held his tongue and reigned in his temper... for now.
"What do you want?" he asked, teeth gritted and he saw this seemed to please the blue and black monkey.
"Ah, that's more like it! Now... I have only a small request of you. It shouldn't be too much trouble." he played casually with a lock of Ichigo's hair as he spoke, making her whimper slightly in discomfort, "destroy the Stripe Team!" he commanded and everyone gawked at him.
"What!" they cried
Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo another chapter out of the way! (Dances) and yay someone's OC actually has a PART in it! And gasp, Antauri doesn't love Ichigo anymore? Review to find out what happens next!