Chapter 9

Return To The Past

Narrator

--

"Rise and shine, traitor!"

A guard stood over Makal, and he opened his eyes, groaning when he saw his former partner.

"Ikla, don't you know I hate waking up at whatever time this is?" he asked, sitting up in the hay bale he called a bed. Ikla said nothing, only kicking the yoshi. He fell to his side, and Ikla dropped two cantelopes on his head.

"Ow!" he yelped, and Ikla chuckled darkly. "Next time do not talk to me as if I were your friend."
Makal felt two decisions cross his mind: He could get angry and shout, or he could remain kind, and keep acting like Ikla was his friend.
Kindness overwhelms any friend turned foe with time, believed Makal.

"But you are my friend," said Makal, earning himself another strike to the side. He groaned loudly when the strike hit.

"We were partners, and nothing else. You're dead to me, Makal! You're dead!"

Makal stayed down, not responding as Ikla continued.

"If it were up to me, you'd be fed poison! But Master says that he will try and reeducate you. So, you must live..."
Makal smiled, still on his side. "So you gave me two cantelopes that were not poisoned? You're spoiling me, my friend."

"...but I did not say that you will be comfortable!" shouted Ikla, kicking Makal one more time. He turned and left the cell, leaving Makal groaning on the floor.

"Eat your breakfast, and quiet down," he said in a normal tone.

--

Lila's eyes opened, and she found herself on the beach again. For a moment she believed that Kai and Sytik and all of her new friends were just a dream, but she looked around and saw the two yoshis...

Aww!

The yoshis were hugging, and neither of them noticed the girl waking up.

Finally, both of them looked at her, and she was laying down again. They approached her, and saw that she was awake. "Good morning," said Sytik, and Kai smiled at her.

"Good morning," she responded. Sytik's face turned serious. "Are you ready?" he asked. She took a deep breath. "I'm a little scared."

Kai put her hand on Lila's forehead like she'd done before to calm her. "Don't be. It doesn't hurt, and it's very safe. You have nothing to worry about."

Lila took another deep breath, and nodded. "Okay, I'm ready," she whispered.

Sytik gently lifted Lila to a sitting position, and Kai walked a few feet in front of her. Lila shut her eyes, taking another deep breath. Kai's tongue shot out, and Lila was no more. An egg dropped to the floor, and Kai looked at Sytik.

"It's your turn," she said. She made sure that she told Lila about their plan to make her a unique girl. Sytik smiled. "Yes, I'm ready."
Sytik walked a few feet away, and turned around, his own tongue shooting to the egg, and making it vanish, only to reappear again with blue spots as well as the original purple. Kai smiled, picking up the egg that began bobbing on the sand. She cradled it in her arms as Sytik smiled at her.

"Lila, I know you can't understand what we're saying now, but we brought you back to the beach for a reason: We want you to remember that this is the beach that saved your life not once, but twice," said Kai.

Obviously, Lila's egg was unresponsive, only bobbing in her mother's arms.

"Let's go back to the village," said Sytik. Kai nodded.

--

A clash of swords.

"Leave now, and never return!"
"How dare you defy me? Swine! I will destroy you!"

Fajor's blade met the Hashashin's blade. Two Hashashins had been attacking him originally, but he managed to dispatch the first. When Sytik left Fajor searched for crystal, and spent the night welding it to his sword and several others. The downside was that Fajor was on his last legs. His body was alright, but he'd suffered a blow to the back of the head when the battle began. He'd been fighting a loss of consciousness for the course of the battle.

"I'll be the one to gain praise from Master!" shouted the Hashashin. Fajor blocked another attack, and whirled around, slicing at the armor that protected the Hashashin on the way down. The attack caused his enemy to recoil, and he delivered another slash. The Hashashin fell to the ground, and Fajor delived a final stab to the heart. He pulled the thick and heavy headpiece off of the Hashashin, and saw what it really was.

"You're-" Fajor began, and the Hashashin nodded. "Yes, we Hashashins are Dry Bones," he said in a slow drawl.

"Then that means... you cannot die?"
The Dry Bones laughed weakly. "False. What you believe is but a myth created over years. Tell me something, yoshi. How do you kill what is already dead?" asked the Dry Bones. Fajor remained still, his sword in the Dry Bone's chestplate still. He was frozen. "I...."

For once, Fajor did not have an answer. He was the trainee.

Dry Bones chuckled, slowly and clearly in pain.

"It's easy to kill us Hashashins once you get through our armor. You must cleanse our souls."

Fajor stared.

"You've cleansed mine and my brother's souls through battle... and I feel that if you... fight another Hashashin... you will cleanse their spirits, too."

The Dry Bones gestured for Fajor to back off, and the yoshi obliged, pulling the sword out of his enemy and stepping back. The Dry Bones dragged his body to his fallen comrade, and took a crude bomb from a pouch on his belt. He lit the fuse.

"We Hashashins... we die... without a corpse."

The bomb exploded, and Fajor was thankful that the two Hashashins had been far away from his hut. His head pounded, and he stumbled about. The injury he sustained to his head needed medical attention. He began stumbling through the woods in what he hoped was the direction to the village. He found the fence surrounding the village, found Gregor hard at work building on it, making it stronger, and found the entrance where two yoshis guarded. They allowed him through without a struggle, and he fell to his knees in the village, dragging himself still to the medical hut, clutching his head. Sytik was sitting in the medical hut with a colorful egg on a table. He was using a stethescope on the shell of the egg, and jotting down some notes.

Fajor shrunk back. He didn't want to interrupt, especially if Sytik was busy with a soon-to-be hatchling. He forced himself to stand, and began walking back out of the hut. In his blurring vision, he saw Kai speaking to the Chief. The Chief smiled, nodded, and mouthed some words, then shut the door as Kai walked away. Fajor fell to his knees again, and Kai saw him. She approached with a curious look on her face.

"Fajor? Is something the matter?"

He looked up at her. "Two hushashins-- I mean, Hashashins taxed- attacked me at my home. One hit me in the head, and now I feel funny."

She knelt down and pulled one of Fajor's arms around her neck, helping him stand. "Come with me, you need to see Sytik."
He nodded slowly. "I tried. He was with a beg."
She looked at him while walking. "You mean 'egg'?"

He nodded slowly. She smiled. "That is our egg. He was making sure it was healthy. Don't worry, we can interrupt. He can always get back to her after he's checked you out if he isn't finished yet."

Fajor nodded. "I defeated them."
She smiled, now at the medical hut with Fajor. "Sytik!"

Sytik turned to her and smiled. "Kai, she's perfectly healthy. I can't find anything wrong with her- Fajor?"

He nodded slowly. "Yes."

Kai brought him to Sytik. "What is it? Is he okay?"

She shook her head. "He says two Hashashins attacked him. He defeated both of them, but one hit him in the head."
Sytik gulped, and walked back to the table, taking the egg off and placing it on a chair. "Lay him down on the table."

Kai did as she was told, and Fajor looked even more disoriented. Sytik approached him with a notepad and quill, and looked at his eyes. "Focus. I'm going to ask you some questions."
Fajor tried to nod, which was difficult in his position.

"Who are you?" asked Sytik. Fajor's eyes met his. "...I'm Fajor...?"

Sytik nodded, jotting something on the paper. "Good. Now, do you know where you are?"

"The Medical Hut..."

Sytik continued writing, and smiled. "Do you know how old you are?"

"I'm... uh... I'm... Yes, I'm 65 years ole-- old."

Sytik wrote something again, and nodded. "Who is this lovely girl?" he asked, gently nudging Kai forward. She blushed, and smiled.

"That is Kai."

Sytik put the notepad down. "Good!" He helped Fajor sit up, and inspected the wound Fajor received.

"You have a mild concussion, Fajor."

Kai gasped. "Are you sure?"

Fajor shook his head. "No, I don't have a cushion. Why do you ask?"

Sytik turned his head to face Kai. "I rest my case."

Fajor was watching the two yoshis, but he wasn't really getting any of it. Sytik placed something cool on Fajor's head. "Kai, let him stay a few nights at your house. At least once a night or whenever he falls asleep, I want you to wake him up. If he doesn't wake up or has trouble doing so, call on me. As far as I can tell, it's mild, and the symptoms should go away within a few days."

Normal humans can take weeks to recover from a concussion, but Fajor was not normal, nor was he a human. Kai nodded. "I will."

"The hashin- Hashashins are really Dry Domes- Bones," said Fajor. Sytik turned his head to the yoshi in alarm. "You mean...?"

"No, I thought so too, but they are not invisible- unvinc- immortal."

Sytik nodded. "Fajor..."
"Sytik, go back to my hut today and take one of the weapons I have on the table in my room. The tiny- the shiny ones are mixed with crystal."

Sytik nodded, then looked at Fajor. "You actually went out to gather crystal after the sun set when the island is the most dangerous?" he asked. Fajor nodded as if it were nothing. Sytik shook his head to clear it, and spoke again.

"Alright, but you must go back with Kai. Kai, will you take him and Lila, too?"

Fajor gasped, and coughed. "Wait, that girl? The human?"
Sytik nodded. "She was very sick..."

"Is that her in the peg- egg?"

Kai nodded. "I told you it was our egg."
"But you didn't say it was Lila."

Sytik shrugged. "Well, that's her. She's going to be a healthy baby girl from what I can tell."
Fajor said nothing. He dragged his frame off of the table and stood up again. Even in his elder years, Fajor was not a force to be taken lightly. There was even a rumor that thirty years earlier he managed to defeat a Chain Chomp using only a sword. Fajor dismissed the rumor as false, but the Chief was convinced that a Chain Chomp would wimper at the name 'Fajor'.

"What should I do now?" he asked. Sytik turned to face him. "I want you to lay down when Kai gets you set up. You can sleep, but like I said... she'll wake you up at least once."

Fajor nodded. He started walking to the door, waiting for Kai. She approached with Lila's egg in her arms. Fajor felt the lump on his head, and took a breath. Sytik waved the two off, and headed out to Fajor's hut to get the weaponry he asked for.

--

Meanwhile...

--

Sytik continued through the woods until Fajor's hut came in view. Another Hashashin was in view, and he turned when he saw the yoshi. His hands remained free of weapons.

"Where is the swordsman?" asked the Hashashin. Sytik decided to play a game. "You mean he isn't here?"

The Hashashin shook his head. "I know you know where he is, so tell me and I will spare you any pain. Where. Is. Fajor?!"

Game over. Sytik tried to walk inside, but the Hashashin stopped him, drawing a sword from a sheath.

"Tell me!"
Sytik shook his head. "No."

The Hashashin's patience had completely depleted. It slashed at Sytik with the weapon it held, but memories of Fajor's unarmed combat training rushed through his mind. He leapt back during the initial strike, lunged forward and grabbed the weapon, ripped it out of the Hashashin's hands, and leapt back again. He got ready with the sword, and slashed when the Hashashin reached for another sword on his other leg. The attack did not get through the armor, but the Hashashin stumbled back. Another lesson returned to Sytik's memory. Blocking an attack sloppily with the sword he now had, he prepared himself. He grasped the sword tightly with both hands, and whirled around, putting all of his power into the strike, but being blocked by the Hashashin. He leapt back, avoiding another attack, and tried again. Another loud clang echoed through the air, and Sytik took another step back, not fast enough to avoid a scratch from the tip of the sword. He ignored the catscratch and tried a third time. He put all the power he had into the strike, and the Hashashin blocked again, but not without ramification.
A louder clang echoed through the forest, and a half of the Hashashin's weapon fell to the floor. Sytik threw his body into the Hashashin, sending both parties to the ground. The Hashashin quickly regained it's feet and reached into a pouch on it's side, only to toss several balls to the ground. Smoke erupted from the balls, and the Hashashin was gone, with the words "You will pay for what you've done" echoing through the woods. Sytik stood up, catching his breath, and dropped the weapon. He walked inside his hut, and grabbed three shiny, very decorative swords.

He wasted no time. He ran through the woods back to the village, and made sure his wound was okay.

A catscratch though it was, he decided to dress it. Better safe than sorry! He ran back to the medical hut and cleaned his wound, dressing it quickly. He walked to Kai's hut, and knocked on the door. Moments later, she answered, and smiled when she saw her friend.

"Hello, Sytik," she said, giving him a warm embrace. He returned the gesture, and looked around the hut.

"Where is Fajor?" asked Sytik, nuzzling Kai's cheek.

"He's sleeping on the couch. I already woke him up."
"Okay, good. I just wanted to tell him that the Hashashins are looking for him. So be careful, okay? Be really careful," said Sytik. Kai kissed his cheek. "I'll be careful, you don't have to worry."

Sytik smiled. "I better get going, then. I'll talk to you tomorrow, Kai."

Sytik turned to walk away, but Kai put her hand on his shoulder. "Wait."
Sytik stopped, and turned his head. "What is it, Kai?" Kai smiled a kind smile. "Would you like to stay the night?" she asked. Sytik's face lit up, and Kai suppressed a chuckle, and Sytik looked at her. "Where would I stay? You've only a bed and a couch, and we can't leave Fajor or Lila here alone."
Kai hugged Sytik again. "I don't mind sharing my bed with you."

Sytik was usually a blue yoshi, but his face turned pink after he heard what Kai said. She chuckled again. "Come on now, don't you love me?"

Sytik went from pink to red. "Y...yes. Do you love me?"

Kai kissed him once more, a tender kiss like the one they shared the day prior. "Yes."

He smiled, and nodded, walking inside. Kai shut the door, and the two retreated to the bedroom for the night.

End of Chapter 9

I worked on this chapter all weekend, and was kind of embarrassed because I got done so quickly. I couldn't help it though, this chapter was too much fun to write! XD

Yay! Lila's going to be a healthy yoshi! ^^

Aww, SytikXKai! ^^ And Makal seems to really be turning around... and the Hashashins are Dry Bones, who knew? =O I hope Makal can escape, I'm starting to like him now. =)

Poor Fajor, he bumped his head...

Oh, and the Hashashin using the bomb to destroy itself thing is based off of something my cousin saw in Majora's Mask ^^.