Chapter 10
Hashashin Attack
Narrator
--
"Master."
Master was staring at a bookcase, and turned his head at the voice. "Yes?"
"Master, our brother has failed you. He came back saying that the yoshi that killed our other two brothers was not home, and that he was attacked by a blue yoshi."
Master chuckled darkly. "I know."
The Hashashin was suprised. He took off his headpiece and stared at Master.
"How?"
"Do not question me unless I give you leave to do so. I know all that goes on with my children. Now, go. Get me Makal."
"Yes, Master."
Makal, meanwhile, had been snoozing on his bed of hay. Last night, he was given an old, itchy blanket. It even came complete with a human tooth bundled away inside.
Luxury.
"Wake up."
Makal groaned, and turned away. He really hated being woken up.
Someone kicked him in the ribs... hard. "I said, GET UP!"
It was Ikla, and Makal slowly struggled to his feet. Ikla bound his arms behind his back, and began pushing him out of the cell and to Master. He navigated the stairs and was pushed onto his knees before his former "Master".
"Makal."
"Give me up, you don't have a chance."
Master laughed an evil laugh.
"I did not call you here for another chance. I called you here for questioning."
"I know nothing," said Makal.
"That's for sure," muttered Ikla, and Makal pretended he heard nothing.
"What have you told our enemy?"
Makal leered. "I told them that you were a coward that has others fight his own battles."
Master whirled around and smacked his hand across the yoshi's face.
"Do not speak out of line, unless you would like me to cut that sharp tongue out of your mouth."
Makal stared, and Master continued. "I'll ask you again. What did you tell them?"
"I thought you knew everything about your children!" shouted Makal. Master turned back. "Yes! I know everything about my children! A yoshi is not my child, fool! Now answer the question!"
"I told them about my position on this subject of war, and nothing more! Now, would you let me go back to sleep?"
Master seemed to buy the explanation. "Very well. Ikla, return Makal to the cell. Order half ration on his meals today, and quarter ration of water. Tomorrow, return his rations to normal."
"What is this for?!" shouted Makal. As a Hashashin, he normally could last days without food, but he was a yoshi, now... and yoshis love to eat... and he was hungry, dangit!
Master whirled around again. "'This' is for thinking differently from your master. Now, to the cell with you. Ikla, send me Dareyl."
Ikla turned away and dragged along Makal. He shouted 'Dareyl', and Makal was scared.
Dareyl was practically the mirror image of Fajor, though he was far older. Dry Bones were really Yoshis and Koopas that were slain before their times. After decomposition occured and the skeleton remained, the dead creatures were either resurrected, or given a second chance to find peace. Once inner peace was found, the Dry Bones were permitted to sleep; permitted to go to their eternal rests. True Death was granted when a Dry Bones either finds Inner Peace, or by being killed again. Dareyl was one of the oldest Dry Bones on the island, and having been once a yoshi, he knew their tendencies. Dareyl was almost 312 years old. The only reason his bones even remained was thanks to the gift/curse of his resurrection; his chance at finding happiness in his wronged life. Normal Dry Bones would have found peace by his time, but he never found it, nor did he look for it. His death was horrific, and he was once a Cheif of the yoshis. He was killed by the Hashashins. They kidnapped both he and his mate, and forced him to smash his eggs in exchange for his mate's life. When he did it, she was still murdered. Her murder plus his forced violence against his own led to his mental downfall. He began to laugh when he saw something or someone in pain. Eventually, the Hashashins decided to kill him, and make him one of their own. They killed him using the bones of his mate. His mate was one of the only few of the yoshis and koopas that did not return after being wronged.
Dareyl was actually older than his master, and yet, he still bowed to him.
"Yes?" he asked.
"I want you to find the blue yoshi in the village. Take something of value to him and bring it here. I'd prefer it if you brought back something that he couldn't live without. He is likely watching Fajor."
"Yes, master."
Dareyl left the Hashashin camp and headed to the village. He walked to the village, but saw the yoshis standing guard. Not wanting to attract attention, he instead walked to a wall of the village and climbed, not being effected by the ivy and other irritants. He snuck around the village until he found the house that the blue yoshi his master spoke of was in. He saw Fajor sleeping on the couch, and he saw a purple yoshi next to the blue one in a bed. On a table next to Fajor's sleeping form was an egg with blue and purple spots, and Dareyl knew what the colors meant.
Something of value to him... like his child.
He climbed in through the window and reached for the egg, but was dealt a fairly painful blow to the back. When he turned around, he saw Fajor getting off the couch. He smiled.
"You see, I know that doesn't belong to you."
The Hashashin drew a sword, and slashed at Fajor, but he grabbed the weapon and pulled it free. However, Dareyl saw through the disarming move, and when he lost his weapon, he wasted no time, and threw a frenzied punch into Fajor's stomach. Before Fajor could react, he launched a powerful uppercut, followed by a kick that knocked the extraordinarily talented yoshi to the ground, propped up partially by the couch.
"So, this is Fajor, the great yoshi who defeated my brothers? Shame. You have some skill, and you aren't entirely a bad fighter... but today victory does not belong to you."
The Hashashin stomped his foot on Fajor's chest, knocking the wind out of him once more, and then threw another punch, this time knocking the yoshi unconscious. He picked up the egg, leapt out the window, and ran, shoving the two yoshi guards out of the way as he ran through the village gates. Before long, the Hashashin made it back to the fortress, and spoke to his master, holding the egg out with one hand.
"This belongs to the blue yoshi," said Dareyl. Master nodded. "Excellent. Take it to Ikla. He is guarding the cell that holds Makal. Tell him to toss it into the cell with Makal. Once he's done with that, he has the rest of the day to himself, as do you."
Dareyl nodded, and turned away. He navigated the twisting hallways and found the cell, with Ikla staring at the grey yoshi, whom did nothing but stare back. Both yawned, and sighed, and it was clear that neither of them were having any fun.
"Ikla."
Ikla looked up at Dareyl, and was immediately in a standing position.
"Yes, sir."
"Master wants you to throw this in the cell. You have the rest of the day to yourself after you do."
Ikla snickered. "Are you sure you don't want to try a yoshi omelette?"
Dareyl did not laugh, but he did nod his approval of the joke. Dareyl had not laughed in 288 years, since he was killed at age 24. When a joke was told, he either nodded approval, or simply was unresponsive. He turned and left, the egg now in Ikla's hands. Ikla unlocked the door to Makal's cell, and saying nothing, tossed the egg into the cell. Makal sprung to his feet to dive for the egg, not wanting it to hit the floor. Though he was a yoshi, he did not know that the eggs weren't fragile, and hitting the floor would do next to nothing to damage the egg. He caught the egg before it hit the ground and fell on his back, turning to one side and pulling his legs close, cradling the egg.
"Makal, you're pathetic. You've changed."
"Yes. For the better."
"No! For worse! And you'll be pathetic until Master reeducates you. And unfortunately, he says he won't do that until he wins the war! Why did you not let the egg hit the ground?"
Makal's eyes shut tight as he held the egg. He did not respond.
"Because you are weak! You are a coward! I am glad to be rid of you!"
Makal's eyes opened again, and he gently rubbed the egg with one hand, still in his fetal position holding the egg.
"Ikla, what makes you so brave? You are not a yoshi as I am now, so I know you didn't stay and fight."
"I reported back!" Ikla exploded. "I reported your loss to Master! You should thank me for helping you come home! You owe your life to me!"
Makal nuzzled the egg. "No, you owe your life to me. If Fajor wasn't busy with me, you wouldn't have made it out of there."
Ikla opened the door and delivered a powerful kick to the yoshi, causing him to yelp loudly in pain.
"Silence! I will not tolerate such false words!" screamed Ikla. Makal laughed through his pain.
"Words that all Hashashins will say when they are defeated! 'You will die for your words', 'I will not tolerate this', 'Silence'..."
Ikla wanted to kick the yoshi again, but decided against it. His anger diminished in the slightest, and he sighed. "I will not waste the rest of my free time speaking to you. I have things to do."
Makal smiled. He knew he had won the fight.
"Enjoy your half ration for today, Makal," taunted Ikla, before closing the cell, locking it, and leaving. Makal's body slowly unbent, and he placed the egg in his lap.
This egg... it is so simple, yet it is so important. It is so unworthy of thought, yet I care enough for it keep it from smashing on the ground... is this the egg I came out of?
Makal had been unconsciously rubbing the egg with one hand.
"It's okay, little yoshi. I have a good feeling that you'll see your parents again. I believe you will grow to be a great yoshi. I will make sure you are not harmed during your stay."
Makal nuzzled the egg some more, and placed it on his pile of hay. Then, he stood, and walked to a barred window. He stared out the window at the rest of the settlement.
He heard chains being dragged around under him, and he shuttered.
--
With Kai and Sytik...
--
"This is horrible! What do we do?!" sobbed Kai. Sytik comforted the girl, and Fajor was standing, staring out the window.
"I'm sorry, Kai. I'm sorry, Sytik. I know I could've done more."
"No, Fajor. It isn't your fault. But, this time they've gone too far! They stole our egg, and who knows what they're planning to do to it!" said Sytik. Fajor continued staring out the window, seeing a few drops of rain fall from the sky.
"I'll get her back, Kai. I promise," said Sytik.
Fajor sighed. "I thought you might say something like hat- that."
Sytik looked at Fajor, his arms still around Kai.
"You won't stop me, Fajor."
Fajor turned to face him. "I don't plan to."
Sytik fell silent. "I plan to help two- you."
"You're in no condition-"
"I don't care, Sytik," snapped Fajor.
Sytik fell silent. Fajor turned to face him.
"I am 65 years old. I am old enough to bake- make my own decisions."
Sytik remained silent as Fajor continued. "I worry more about you. You only know so much. Like it or not, I'm coming with you."
Sytik sighed, and Kai looked him in the eye, still crying.
"You will stay here!" she sobbed.
Fajor put his hand on Kai's shoulder.
"I must go."
"What's making you go?" asked Kai, sobbing.
Fajor took a breath.
"I'm dying."
Kai jumped, as did Sytik. "Dying?"
Fajor nodded, chuckling. "I'm old. You're young."
"But, you're only 65 years old!"
Fajor turned away. "I know. But my family doesn't exactly have longevity. Most of my ancestors passed away at around 70 years of age. My oldest ancestor was my father, and he only made it to 73."
70 years isn't a long life for a yoshi; some have been known to live over 100 years. The average life span for a yoshi is 85 years. Fajor should have at least 25 years left! Kai only sobbed harder, and Sytik comforted her.
"Can you really be so sure," asked Sytik.
"I've already felt my heart twitching and jumping every so often. But, I'm going to beat death in one way. I'm going to help you get your baby back. If I survive, I'll train you some more."
"Fajor... you've done too much already! Let me take care of it..."
"No. Sytik, you've not done what I've done. You... you and your mate are young. My mate has been dead."
Sytik and Kai gasped. Until then, they didn't even know Fajor had a mate.
"You..."
He started walking to the door.
"Her name was Maiid."
Again, Sytik and Kai gasped, as Fajor revealed his deepest secret to them.
"I left her because our son needed someplace safe. I know that if I had helped raise him, he'd end up in danger."
"This is impossible," whispered Sytik.
"Around a month or so before the egg was laid, a bounty had been placed on my head in the Shy Guy tribe."
"..."
"I couldn't risk my family being harmed. They did not know about the bounty on my head. Very few villagers did. The only ones that did were my closest friends. So I left her, but just to keep her safe. My friends covered for me, made up stories about my being kidnapped or going fishing and never returning... and for a while their stories worked. My name used to be Rajof. I now am known as Fajor. To avoid suspicion... well, I reversed two letters of the name. And it worked; nobody questioned me..."
Sytik and Kai stayed silent, listening to his memories.
"But, years passed, and one by one my friends passed on. Then, one day while I came to get some food from Syd's mother Jade, I saw Gregor staring at a group of yoshis carrying a blanket out of the house. The blanket had something in it. At the end, I saw a tail in it... the red tail of Maiid. So... I turned, ran away, and exhausted my tear ducts."
Kai began tearing. She remembered Gregor's unmoved expression the day his mother passed away.
"At least I don't have to sneak into the village wearing clay on my skin anymore."
Sytik did not cry, he only stared in shock. "You're..."
Rajof nodded. "I'm Gregor's father."
End of Chapter 10
Scorp wrote all of this one, but only because I kind of forced him to. XD
Oooh! Gregor's Dad is really Fajor?! And Lila's been Kidnapped! No, wait! Eggnapped!
Now we're cooking, huh? XD I for one like this chapter! ^^
I hope you enjoy! ^^