First off, I would like to say thanks to Robert Teague for the review that he left :) I love a good, informative review. I had so much fun with this chapter. I had originally intended to end it further ahead in my story notes than it actually did, but I had so much fun with the events in the chapter that I decided to really flush them out and add more details. As always, feedback is appreciated, but I'm one of those people who writes for the passion, rather than the reviews that a story could receive. Also, this story is written for someone very dear to my heart, as she was the entire reason I started to watch Rainbow Brite and some of the elements that will appear in this story will have been chosen because of her. Enjoy!
Chapter 2 A Stormy Encounter
Days slowly passed, and to Rainbow, it seemed like an eternity. Every day seemed to pass by more slowly. To get out of bed became a huge task in itself. She couldn't figure it out, didn't have the energy to even try to figure it out. The cheer and joy that usually enveloped her personality was beginning to fade, and the effects were being felt by all the inhabitants of Rainbow Land.
Twink crept softly into Rainbow's room, wondering why she wasn't up and about yet. It was very unusual for her to sleep very long past sunrise. He knew that as soon as the sun had finished rising, she often jumped from bed to get a head start on the day. He was even quite certain that Murky Dismal was up and about by now, and that Rainbow was the only being asleep in Rainbow Land. He climbed up onto Rainbow's bed and began to gently shake her. "Rainbow! Rainbow! Wake up! There's so much to do today!" he chirped happily.
Rainbow's sleeping form began to stir beneath the covers, and she groaned in annoyance, covering her head with her pillow. Twink tilted his head to study her. "Come on, this isn't time to be silly, Rainbow!" he tried again as he shook her. He yelped and jumped out of the way as she rolled over and slowly opened her eyes.
"Uhh…Mmm… Twink?" she asked, her vision blurry. She blinked her eyes, trying to clear away the sleep within. Slowly she sat up, knocking Twink off of her and onto the floor.
"Oof! Hey, careful, Rainbow!" he called as he stood and rubbed his head.
Distractedly, Rainbow looked over the edge of the bed at her dedicated friend. "What's wrong, Twink?" she asked drowsily.
"You've been asleep all morning! We've got to get a move on today! Everyone's up and about but you!" explained Twink as he danced about wildly. "There's so much to be done!"
Rainbow rubbed her eyes and regarded the excited sprite with a look of very little surprise. "It'll keep for awhile yet, Twink. We don't need to worry about it just yet."
Twink put his hands on his hips. "That's not like you, Rainbow! Come on, come on, come on!" He reached out for Rainbow's hand, but she pulled away. Twink backed away as she threw back the covers and swung her legs onto the floor.
"Let's get started then… I suppose it won't get done any other way, will it?" asked Rainbow as she smoothed her dress over.
Twink looked confused. "Well of course not, Rainbow. It's your job to spread the color on Earth."
Rainbow waved his comment off and trudged off toward the door, to the outside where she knew that Starlite would be waiting for her, as he did every, single day. Twink ran to catch up with her. "Do you have the star sprinkles, Twink?" asked Rainbow tiredly.
"Of course!" Twink rummaged around in his pouch and pulled out a handful of the colorful stars, placing them in Rainbow's outstretched hand. The hand automatically moved to her belt, causing a quick flash of white light as the sprinkles were inserted.
"Good morning, Rainbow!" called Starlite. "You know, the most magnificent horse in the universe gets restless just standing around waiting for those who sleep late."
"You know, Starlite, that ego of yours is quite annoying today," remarked Rainbow, as she boosted herself up onto his back.
"Well…I… uhh…" sputtered Starlite, unsure of what to say to that remark. Rainbow had never before said anything like that to him, or to anyone else.
Lifting Twink up to a spot behind her, she pressed her finger to her belt, a rainbow of bright light emitting forth and traveling across the expanse of the sky, seeming to go on forever. Starlite turned to look at Twink and Twink shrugged. He had no idea what to say to Starlite about Rainbow, or what could even be said. Starlite took a running start upon the rainbow pathway across the sky and just as quickly the rainbow disappeared behind the trio.
Emerging from behind the doorway of the Color Castle came Stormy, a strange look on her face. She'd heard the exchange between Rainbow and Starlite. "That's odd. That's not the Rainbow I know. Something's not right here…" She leaned against the frame, puzzling over the strange scene she'd witnessed.
"What's not right?" asked Tickled Pink, coming up behind her.
Stormy turned to face her. "Rainbow. Something's wrong with Rainbow. Her usual self is gone. She pretty much just told off Starlite for his ego, and while that horse needs his bubble busted every so often, Rainbow's never done that to him."
Tickled Pink nodded. "I was walking past her room this morning when Twink was trying to wake her up then. She wasn't exactly herself then either."
"I wonder what's up with her?"
"Could Murky be at it again, you think?" asked Tickled Pink, worried.
"Murky's not that smart. You always know his plans when you see them."
"Don't forget that robot, Stormy. No one figured that one out right off."
Stormy folded her arms across her chest. "I did."
Tickled Pink smiled, not wanting to argue with Stormy. "Of course…but it can't be Murky, can it?" she asked, worry tingeing her voice.
"Doesn't matter if it is or not. We always stop him or he stops himself." Stormy shrugged.
"What about Rainbow?"
"We'll keep an eye on her, until we can figure something else out."
"Should we tell the others?" questioned Tickled Pink.
"I'm pretty sure they'll see for themselves, but it's up to you. We'll just keep an eye out for Murky and see what happens."
In the Pits, Murky was humming a joyously dreadful tune to himself while browsing through the same tome he'd gotten his invisibility potion from. "This book will be my greatest ally in stopping Rainbow Brite for good. I'm sure there's plenty of new concoctions just waiting to be found…"
"Murky! Rainbow just left on a pretty rainbow!"
Murky glanced up. "Why, things are going better than expected. It's near to mid-day and she's only now leaving Rainbow Land. We might go cause some trouble to throw them off our trail for now."
"What do you wanna do, Murky?" asked Lurky, standing over his shoulder.
"We need some stupidly simple plan that will throw them off! Then they'll think I'm not capable of doing what's happening to Rainbow… yes that's exactly what we should do!"
"Let's go see the colors, Murky!"
"Yes, we'll go steal some color crystals, Lurky! Get the Grunge Buggy ready. Time to head to Rainbow Land to throw them off our trail!"
Lurky dashed to the cavern where they kept the Grunge Buggy and jumped inside, closely followed by Murky who carried a small gloom gun with him. "Drive, tar butt! We must hurry, before Rainbow returns…not that she'll do anything to stop us quickly!" Murky's cackling laughter could be heard echoing off the walls of the Pits as they drove toward Rainbow Land.
Murky directed Lurky to drive to the side of the Color Castle, where the color crystals were brought to be made into star sprinkles. They hid in the bushes and waited for the next mine cart to arrive. It didn't take long until a cart full of blue color crystals ridden by a yellow sprite stopped in front of the console. It took the sprite a few moments to notice the Grunge Buggy sitting in plain view, but it yelped and chattered in fear, calling out for sprites and the Color Kids.
"Uh… why are we not hiding, Murky?" asked Lurky, scratching the top of his furry head.
"Because we need them to think I'm so foolishly stupid to try something." He directed his attention to the sprite, pointing the barrel of the gloom gun at him. His finger rested on the trigger. "Reach for the rainbow, sprite. I want those crystals you've got."
The sprite shivered and shook, chattering wildly, while Murky grinned. He pulled the trigger and the gun emitted a grayish-black cloud that engulfed the sprite and the crystals. He heard the running of footsteps and turned to face the new guests.
"Murky Dismal, you leave that sprite and those crystals alone," cried Red Butler, stepping forward from the group of Color Kids.
"What do you plan to do about it? Call your precious Rainbow Brite?" asked Murky.
"And what if we do?" asked Patty O'Green.
"Oh nothing. I just want these color crystals, that's all."
"What pretty colors we can make!" exclaimed Lurky.
"We really should call Rainbow back," spoke up Shy Violet.
"No," cried Stormy firmly as she stepped forward. "There's no need."
"Don't be so rash, Stormy," called Buddy Blue as he placed a hand on her arm.
Stormy jerked her arm away from him. "I'm not. I know exactly what I'm doing." Stormy stomped her foot on the ground, which caused nearby clouds to move closer, slowly changing from a brilliant white to a dirty, dark grey. The sprites that had gathered back away, hiding in fear behind Lala Orange and Canary Yellow. They knew exactly what Stormy was capable of.
"Listen to Buddy, Stormy. He's right," added Indigo in a soft voice. "Rainbow can take care of this."
"Rainbow's not up to the task," retorted Stormy. She kept one eye on the brewing storm, her lips curling into a smile as she heard the low rumble of thunder.
"Oh you really should listen to your friends, Stormy," taunted Murky. "They would know best, you know."
Stormy glared at him and the first lightning bolt flashed in the darkened sky. Murky held his ground, ever so slowly reaching a hand out to grab some color crystals. Stormy pointed her finger at him. "Don't you dare touch that, Murky Dismal."
"Or what?" he asked teasingly, his fingers snaking around a medium sized crystal.
Stormy stamped her foot, the rumbling thunder echoing her anger. The Color Kids could only watch as she refused to listen to them. She had good reason for doing this, but she had no time to explain it to them, not when Murky was being his usual pesky self. She'd take care of that later, after the accusations that would surely accompany the scolding they'd give her.
Taking one last chance to stop Stormy and allow them to alert Rainbow, Shy Violet spoke up once more. "Stormy, please don't do these. You know what we're supposed to do…"
Murky leaned closer to Lurky to whisper. "Time to make our escape while they're caught up in conversation. Tip-toe toward the Buggy and don't make a sound!"
Stormy was about to give an angry retort that would fill the sky with lightning, but another voice quickly spoke. "Let her be. She knows exactly what she's doing. There's a good reason for it," whispered Tickled Pink in a soft voice.
"What?!" exclaimed Lala Orange and Canary Yellow in surprise.
Tickled Pink nodded. "She'll tell you all, but let her take care of Murky now, please."
Pleased that Tickled Pink had spoken up in her defense, Stormy turned back to Murky, only to find him hopping into the Grunge Buggy with Lurky at that very moment, blue color crystal in hand. "Oh, you aren't getting off that easily!" she yelled. "Skydancer! Let's move!"
The midnight blue horse leapt from behind the Color Kids, and Stormy climbed aboard. "After those two!" she cried, the storm following the pair as they chased after Lurky and Murky. The Grunge Buggy sputtered and coughed as it ran around the length of the Color Castle before crossing the bridge to the mainland. The Color Kids and sprites turned to watch as Stormy followed in close pursuit, knowing that the Grunge Buggy was nowhere near as fast as Skydancer.
The chase soon disappeared into the distanced and the only sounds that could be heard were the fading rumblings of the sudden thunderstorm that Stormy had conjured over the Color Castle. The Kids turned to face Tickled Pink.
"What's this about Stormy and letting her do that?" asked Red Butler, arms crossed over his chest.
"She knows we always contact Rainbow when there's trouble," added Patty O'Green.
"How can you be sure she wasn't being hard-headed?" quipped Buddy Blue.
"Because she knows something's up with Rainbow, and I've noticed it to. I don't think calling her would have helped today."
"What do you mean?" asked Lala Orange.
Tickled Pink looked around at her friends, realizing they had not seen or observed anything like she and Stormy had. "Let's go into the Color Castle, and I'll explain what I've seen, and what Stormy's seen."
Stormy's small hands expertly gripped Skydancer's mane as she sat up straight on his back. She didn't mind the rain falling on her, or the wind blow against her backside. Her eyes were currently trained on Lurky and Murky, and she manipulated the storm's lightning to strike dangerously close to the Grunge Buggy.
Murky focused nervously on the storm around him. He knew exactly what this brat was capable of, but had never seen her powers in full swing, until now. "Watch the road mango bat!" he yelled as Lurky swerved around yet another fallen tree branch.
"I'm trying, I'm trying!" yelled Lurky back over the roar of the storm. He pressed the gas as far as it would go and shifted the gears to increase their speed. He hated this storm overhead and would have preferred to have been deep in the Pits instead. He winced as another loud rumbling of thunder roared overhead.
Hands shielding his eyes, Murky kept an eye out for the entrance to the Pits, and spied it less than a mile away. "Hurry! We're almost there!" he yelled, pointing straight ahead on the road. He turned to see where the brat and her horse was and saw that she was barely the length of the Buggy away from them. She's about as bad as the Rainbow brat he thought to himself.
Stormy continued to follow Murky and Lurky, finding the chase rather boring, as the Grunge Buggy was too slow to make things fun or interesting. Instead, she worked on driving them toward the border that separated the Pits from the rest of Rainbow Land, and scaring them every so often. She did enjoy the frightened jumps the two of them made when the thunder and lightning suddenly crashed around their heads. She took extreme pleasure in their terror and gleefully continued to randomly scare them.
Before she knew it, they had crossed into the border of the Pits, and she watched as they drove up the winding pathway toward Murky's lair. She held Skydancer at ease, waiting to see if Murky would return to attack her. When she was certain he wasn't coming back out, she turned to Skydancer. "Let's get back to the Color Castle, pronto. I don't wanna deal with the accusations of the other Kids, but maybe Tickled Pink can help me out." The pair galloped back the way they had come, and as Stormy looking up to the slowly clearing sky, she noticed the tips of a rainbow path heading back toward the Color Castle.
Stormy is such a fun character to write... I do enjoy her personality. Feedback is appreciated, especially if anyone catches mistakes or areas that need to be clarified a bit better. Let me know and I'll work to fix them. Also, if anyone has any good information on the geography of Rainbowland, it'd be greatly appreciated. I can't seem to really find a good source from my research and I need to get more ideas on the area surrounding the Color Castle and the Pits. Thanks in advance if anyone can!