I'm surprised that I have this up so soon, especially with my classes scheduled the way they are. When did I get all the time to write this stuff? Anyway, even though I've rather liked having no author's notes in the beginning of the chapters, I do have some warnings that I wanted to put up before you all read this.
Warning 1: This chapter is kind of long. I hadn't intended to make it this long, but I couldn't find any good place to cut off for the next chapter. I apologize if the length is a problem for anyone.
Warning 2: I make a slight, quick reference to another story of mine regarding Antauri's sense of touch. But quick as it is, it's still there. If you'd like to understand more about it, the story "Void" is where the rest of that can be found. However, I'm pretty sure the story can stand without it. I just thought I'd mention it in case it became a little confusing. "Void" is just where I go into more detail about it, that's all.
The next warnings are the really important ones.
Warning 3: There is a good deal of OOCness in this chapter, and I apologize in advance for it. However, it unfortunately was necessary, and I promise that it's not just random "I'm changing their personalities because I feel like it." There's really a reason for the strange behavior, and that will play into later chapters. But I just thought I'd give you all fair warning. Hopefully, you'll still continue reading the story.
Warning 4: I advise you all to be very careful when reading this chapter. Not everything is as it seems. Certain things that are looked upon here may or may not be the case for the story as a whole, and I'll leave it up to you to try and determine what I mean and why I would bother mentioning this.
Anyway, that's all for now. On with the story!
The first thing that he heard as he slowly returned to the waking world was the needy chirping that called for his attention. Rubbing his eyes, Otto then slowly lifted his head to see Ring sitting on his chest. Seeing that he was finally awake, the mong bird chirped a little louder and flapped her wings happily. She then hopped off and landed in the grass as the green monkey slowly sat up and stretched his arms.
Watching him for a while, Ring then chirped and flapped her wings again to get the monkey to notice her. Looking at the chick, he smiled and carefully scooped her into his hands.
In the five days since they had arrived on Verdane and he found the baby bird, he had noticed just how much she had grown. When Ring had first hatched, she had been about the size of a mouse and was able to fit in the middle of one hand. But after just four days, the mong had become as big as one of Chiro's Sun Rider action figures. Even though she could still fit in one hand, he was afraid that she would fall if he didn't hold her with both hands.
He wondered how large mong birds grew when they fully matured. Kalli had told him that mongs were ready to leave the nest three to four weeks after they hatched, and he wanted to see how much she grew until then.
But he didn't mind waiting that long. He was afraid that once she was fully grown and ready to leave, she wouldn't want to stay with him anymore. And even though he'd like to keep her, he knew that he'd let her go if she wanted to go because, even though he had found her as an egg, Ring technically didn't belong to him. And even though he really wished he could, he knew that he couldn't take the mong with them to Shuggazoom, because this was her home planet. Letting her go would be the right thing for him to do when the time came.
Until then, however, he enjoyed taking care of the baby bird. Even if it meant that she would wake him up earlier than the others.
Looking around, Otto saw that everyone else still remained asleep, just like they had been every other morning for the past four days. And also just like every other morning for the past four days, the fire that they had made to keep them warm through the night continued to burn just as strong as it had when they all had fallen asleep.
The mechanic sighed softly as his large eyes turned to look at the Super Robot. Even though he couldn't see, he knew that Antauri was once again meditating on the Robot's foot. That was where he remained every night while the rest of them slept behind the machinder. Though he technically slept outside like they all did, the other stayed on the Robot's foot instead of joining them around the fire.
Ever since the first night, after his argument with Chiro, the silver monkey had become strangely distant from the rest of them and spent most of the time sitting alone. He was usually still around, and they always saw him close by unless he went to take a walk and think (which was becoming more frequent now), but they could all feel that he was far more withdrawn than he had ever been before. Even when all seven of them were together talking, Antauri seemed to stand outside and away from them all, closed up in himself unless he was spoken to.
The green monkey knew it had something to do with the argument that went on between Antauri and Chiro. They all did. But none of them knew what really happened because they both refused to talk about it. When Chiro had come out of the Robot after speaking with Antauri that first day, they could all see how angry he seemed, and he refused to answer their questions about what happened. The second-in-command was the same way when he had come out of the robot several minutes after the teen. Even to each other, the two refused speak of the incident, and any conversation they had (if any) somehow managed to avoid the subject entirely.
They all could sense, though, that Chiro may have felt a little guilty about the argument. After a while, he tried to include Antauri more in their conversations and activities. But it was more difficult to determine how the silver monkey felt about it, especially since he continued to draw away from them.
Otto couldn't understand any of it. He didn't know why the other was trying to isolate himself from them all, especially since he obviously still cared about what they did and what happened to them. Late one night, he had woken to see Antauri adding more wood to the fire to prevent it from going out and leaving them cold under the dark night sky. But before he could say a word, Antauri disappeared.
He wondered if any of the others knew that it was Antauri who kept the fire alive at night to keep them all warm. If they did, they never said anything about it. He himself never even mentioned it, nor had Antauri.
Something was definitely wrong about the entire situation. Otto could feel as though something was…different than before, and it wasn't supposed to be. Even though Antauri had always been a little reserved before, they knew that he was always there for them no matter what. They knew they could count on him. After all, he was always there when they needed his help, and guided them when they were in trouble. He always seemed to know what to say and when to say it, and Otto didn't know where they would be without him.
But ever since the argument with Chiro, it seemed as though Antauri had changed somehow, and that he was hiding something. He felt – and wondered if the others felt this way too – as though he was standing still, fixed in one spot as Antauri slowly walked away from him. He felt as though all he could see was the back of the silver monkey, and that the other was beginning to disappear from his sight. And he was afraid that if something wasn't done soon, there would be too much space between Antauri and him – and the rest of them – to ever reach him again. He was afraid…of losing a member of their family.
Wasn't there any way to fix this?
A soft peep brought him out of his thoughts, and the green monkey looked down at the bird in his hands. Ring looked at him curiously before chirping again, and he knew she meant that she was hungry.
He smiled a little and gently stroked her ebony feathers. The time he had spent with the mong had helped him understand her and how she felt, especially since she still couldn't change colors yet. He had managed to notice little clues in her behavior to help him know what she was feeling or what might have been going on through her mind. By taking care of her as much as he had, he was able to tell when she was happy, sad, angry, upset, or in this case, hungry.
But he hesitated a little, not wanting to get food for her just yet. He liked to wait until one of the others was awake before going to find something for her to eat. He made the mistake of taking Ring with him and Nova the first night when they were looking for food and had nearly lost her to a larger bird of prey. Since then, Otto preferred to leave her with one of the others until he returned with food for her.
Luckily he watched as Kalli began to stir slightly, rubbing her eyes before slowly sitting up and stretching her body. Grinning a little, the green monkey got to his feet. Since he really needed to find some bugs for Ring (her favorite food of choice), he decided to ask the sorceress if she would take care of the bird until he got back. Even though he had noticed that the girl didn't seem to interact with the bird as much as Chiro and the others did, he hoped that she wouldn't mind watching over Ring. Besides, Antauri didn't spend a lot of time with the chick either.
As he walked over, Kalli looked up at him and smiled a little. "Good morning Otto," she said gently.
"Morning Kalli!" he replied softly so he wouldn't wake the others. "Do ya think you could do me a favor?"
"Sure Otto. What is it?"
The mechanic held up the mong. "Could you please watch over Ring while I get food for her?"
Her smile faded a bit as her golden eyes glanced at the bird. "Oh…I don't know, Otto…"
"Please Kalli? I really need to get her some food, but I don't wanna take her with me. I promise I'll be really quick!"
"I don't know…She may not like strangers taking care of her…"
Otto shook his head slightly. "You're not a stranger," he answered, petting Ring on the head. "Besides, she didn't mind when I left her with Nova, Gibson, or Sprx…though she did get a little sad…" He paused for a moment. "Well, she didn't mind too much." A small pout then appeared on his features as he helped up the bird again. "Pretty, pretty please?"
Kalli frowned a little, playing with her hands as she looked at the green monkey and the mong bird. After a moment, she finally replied hesitantly, "Well…I guess so…"
Otto grinned again. "Thanks Kalli!" he said happily. Then he carefully placed Ring in the girl's hands.
But as soon as the bird left his hands and was placed in the girl's, Ring let out a deafening shrill that echoed all through the fields and jarred the others from their slumbers. The bird thrashed about, tossing its head as she viciously tried to peck at the sorceress's hands.
The others, now fully awake, shot up and quickly covered their ears. "What's going on?" Nova asked, forced to shout in order to be heard over the bird's piercing wail.
"I dunno!" the mechanic answered, covering his own ears as well. "Ring just started freaking out!"
"Well, DO something about it!" Sprx retorted.
Continuing to struggle in the girl's hands, Ring finally successfully managed to leave a small cut on Kalli's finger. Surprised, she opened her hands and dropped the mong, who flapped her wings and slowly fluttered to the ground. But Ring still continued the loud panicked screeching that tore through their ears and seemed to rattle their minds.
Finally Otto knelt down and scooped the bird into his arms, holding her close and gently stroking her feathers to calm her down. Soon her struggles ceased and her anxious cry quieted into soft chirps as she nuzzled comfortably into the green monkey's torso.
Hesitantly, the others lowered their hands, looking at the mechanic in confusion. "What was that all about?" Gibson asked.
"I dunno," Otto replied, continuing to stroke Ring's ebony feathers. "She's never done that before…I was just trying to give her to Kalli so I could go get some food for her."
"I probably must have scared her a little," the sorceress said, rubbing her finger. "It's not her fault…"
Noticing her actions, Chiro approached her and gently took her hand in his. "You're bleeding…" he said softly, a concerned expression in his sapphire eyes.
"It's just a small cut, Chiro," the girl replied, smiling in reassurance. "I'll be fine."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, of course I'm sure. You worry too much."
"If you say so." Turning to look at Otto, the boy said, "Just be more careful with Ring, okay Otto?"
The green monkey nodded slightly. "Okay. Sorry about that, Kalli."
She shook her head slightly. "It's not your fault. Don't worry about it."
"Anyway," the teen leader said, "how about I look after Ring for you while you get some food for her?"
The mechanic grinned. "Okay! Thanks Chiro!"
"No problem," the boy replied. He hesitated a little, however, as the green monkey slowly placed the bird in his hands. As they all watched, they held their breaths in anticipation as Otto slowly pulled away from the mong.
Ring blinked a little, looking from Chiro to Otto. Though she didn't cry again, she chirped unhappily and looked as though she wanted to go back to Otto.
"Don't worry, Ring," he said softly. "I'll be back soon. You be good for Chiro while I'm gone, okay?"
The mong cheeped once, as though giving the mechanic an affirmative answer.
Smiling, the green monkey then looked at the leader. "I'll try to get back as soon as I can."
"Okay," Chiro responded.
Satisfied that the teen would take good care of the chick, Otto turned and headed towards the forest area. He knew that he'd find plenty of bugs for Ring to eat there. As he began his trek, though, he noticed that Antauri was standing next to the hill, once again away from the group and watching them all with curious cobalt eyes.
Thinking quickly, Otto headed over to where the silver monkey stood, wanting to have some kind of conversation with the other. "Morning Antauri!" he said cheerfully.
"Good morning, Otto," the second-in-command replied softly. "What was it that was happening earlier?"
"Huh?" Following the other's gaze, he turned and watched as Chiro began to play with the chick. "Oh that…See, I was trying to give Ring to Kalli so I can get food for her. But for some reason, Ring didn't like that."
Antauri blinked a little. "She didn't?"
The mechanic shook his head slightly. "Not really. Actually, she didn't like it all. When I placed her in Kalli's hands, she got really upset all of a sudden and started crying…Weird, huh?"
Glancing at the young sorceress, the silver monkey replied thoughtfully, "That is rather strange…"
"Yeah…Anyway, I better go and get some food for Ring before she gets any hungrier."
"I suppose you should go take care of that."
Nodding a little, the green monkey turned to head towards the forest again. However, he paused and looked back at the other. "Antauri?"
Once again tearing his focus away from the girl, the robotic simian turned to his brother. "Yes Otto?"
"Are you…okay?"
Frowning a little, Antauri gave a small nod. "Yes, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"
"I…dunno," Otto replied, shrugging slightly. "I guess I thought you looked…tired for some reason."
His frowned deepened as he watched the green monkey leave to find food for Ring. Placing his hand to his chest, he sighed softly. Was it beginning to become that noticeable?
Shaking his head slightly, he suppressed the matter and once again turned his attention to the girl. Even from where he stood he could see the darkness in her golden eyes as she examined the cut on her finger. She then quickly glanced at the bird sitting on Chiro's shoulder before turning to the boy to speak with him, a pleasant smile was on her lips, and the dark look in her eyes was gone.
But he felt that she was up to something. As she continued to deceive them all with her artificial kindness and her feigned innocence, he knew that she intended to do something. What she was planning to do, he wasn't sure. He would keep a close eye on her, though, to find out what her true motivations were.
"So what exactly are we doing today?" Sprx asked as he finished up the last of his breakfast. "Are we still looking around the planet for Kalli's people?"
"Of course we are," Chiro replied, brushing any stray crumbs off his gloves. "We have to make sure we check everywhere we can. As much of this planet we've seen already these past few days, there's still so much more that we haven't looked at yet."
"But who knows how long that would take?" Nova commented. "It could take us weeks to search the entire planet."
"We have to try though. Kalli's counting on us, and we have to help in any way we can."
"I don't mind looking around," Otto pipe in. "I kinda like exploring the planet."
"Yes, but Ring doesn't really share your sentiments," Gibson rejoined.
Chiro blinked a little. "What do you mean?"
Frowning a little, the green monkey looked at the bird as she sat perched on his tail. "Well, Ring doesn't really like flying around in Gibson's ship. She gets kinda scared."
"It happens the same way every time," the chief of science stated in mild annoyance. "Just as we're about to take off, she begins to chirp frantically…"
"Like this morning?" the red monkey quipped.
"Well, not quite like that…I'd say what happened this morning was more hysterical than frantic…"
Nova shook her head slightly. "You were saying, Gibson?"
The blue monkey turned to her. "What? Oh, right. As I was saying, she begins to chirp frantically and beat her wings vigorously."
"Maybe she's just trying to fly," Otto said, stroking the bird's feathers gently.
The hot shot gave a small laugh. "Or maybe she's just trying to hit Gibson's head."
"Well, she succeeds, I can tell you that. But the worst part is when we're in the air and she starts hopping about the ship and jumbling with the controls."
"She's just nervous," the mechanic defended softly. "Flying on the ship makes her uncomfortable…"
Gibson let out a long, drawn-out sigh. "I understand that, Otto, but you need to have better control over her. I get rather anxious that she may damage the controls somehow."
Kalli, who had been washing up at the river for the first part of the conversation, slowly approached the teen leader. "Hey Chiro," she said softly. "Why don't you take care of Ring for a while?"
He turned to look at her. "What?"
She smiled a little. "While the others are gone, you can watch over Ring until Otto gets back. That way it'll be easier on Gibson."
Chiro and Otto looked at each other. "I dunno…" the green monkey replied softly. "I've never been away from her for that long before."
"It'd be good for her," the girl answered. "As the chicks get older, the parent mongs spend less time with them. Even though it's only been four days, it's never too early to start. Besides we won't be going very far today. Chiro said that he was going to show me around the Super Robot."
The boy looked at her. "Really? You finally wanna?"
Smiling, the sorceress nodded. "Sure."
Thinking it over for a moment, Otto then grinned. "Well, okay. Besides, Ring kinda liked when I left her with you before, Chiro. I'm sure she won't mind if you looked after her again for a few hours. Just be sure to feed her when she gets hungry."
"Okay," the leader replied, gently taking the mong into his hands. "She eats…bugs, right?"
"Yeah, but they're not hard to catch. In the forest, there are a lot of bugs in the tree trunks."
"All right. Anyway you guys had better get going if you're gonna cover a lot of ground before it gets dark."
The monkeys nodded slightly and began heading for the Robot. As they were going, however, the teen finally noticed that Antauri stood among them. Even though he had said nothing, the silver monkey had listened to the entire conversation, awaiting and obeying instructions as he gave them.
When the robotic simian began to leave with the others, Chiro hesitated slightly before putting Ring on his shoulder. "Antauri?" he called.
Pausing for the moment, the second-in-command turned to look at the boy. "Yes Chiro?" he responded quietly.
"Uh…" The teen rubbed the back of his neck, not really sure of what he wanted to say. Ever since the night of their argument, things had become strange between them. He found it difficult to speak to the other now when he had no problems before. He felt as though a barrier had forced its way between them, and he wasn't sure where to start breaking it down.
Biting his tongue a little, he quickly thought of something to say. "I…um…I hope you find something today."
Antauri blinked a little, slightly bemused. "I…hope to find something today as well," he uttered softly. With that, he turned and headed to the robot.
Once the silver monkey was gone, Chiro sighed and slapped his forehead with his palm. "Well that went well…" he muttered sarcastically.
"What did?" Kalli asked as she gently took his hand.
"I was…I was just trying to talk with Antauri." He shook his head a little. "Why is it so hard to apologize?"
The girl frowned slightly, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. "It shouldn't be hard to apologize to someone you care about. But then again, Antauri hasn't apologized to you either."
"I know…but it was kinda my fault for yelling at him first."
"He still upset you, though, didn't he? He should at least apologize for that."
The boy frowned. "I guess so…"
"Anyway," she said, gently tugging on the boy's arm, "c'mon. I wanna see what the robot is like."
"Well…" Chiro then smiled. "Okay. Let's go."
Sprx sighed softly as he sat on top of the Fist Rocket, staring out at the surroundings. He and Nova were taking a break from flying (something they did quite often), and his companion had wandered off somewhere to stretch her legs. He hadn't felt much for a walk, so he decided to remain behind and wait for her as he thought over the past few days.
He had never worried before…about their strength as a team. That was really the one thing he thought would never change. It was true that at times he had doubted certain members in certain situations. But to his relief, everything always worked out. Never had he thought, though, that anything like this would happen to them.
Especially when it came to Chiro and Antauri. Ever since the kid joined the team, the two of them had been so close. Never in his life could he have imagined that such an event would cause such a rift between them.
He knew that the reason for the change in their relationship was because of the argument they had had a few days ago. But what he couldn't figure out was why they had had the argument to begin with. The two have had a few disagreements occasionally – even two with such a close bond as Antauri and Chiro were bound to share a quarrel or two – but never had they had anything that prevented them from speaking to each other.
And what Sprx really found strange was that Antauri had begun to close himself off to the rest of them. It was bad enough that the second-in-command spoke less to Chiro than he used to. But why was he doing the same to them? They hadn't even been involved in the argument at all. What was Antauri trying to do by detaching himself this way?
What was the real reason for Antauri's sudden change in behavior?
The red monkey grumbled softly and placed a hand to his head. No matter how much or how hard he thought over the matter, he couldn't come up with any way to explain what was happening. And without knowing exactly what was wrong, there could be no way to figure out how to fix it.
He glanced up when a mass of grey and yellow caught his eye, and he jumped off his ship and landed in the soft grass below as Nova appeared and approached the rocket.
"Ready to go?" he asked.
"I guess so…" she replied softly.
Watching her for another moment, Sprx frowned. He could see that look in her eyes again. The strange uncertainty that she had gotten before, the first time they had arrived on this planet and looked for any trace of Kalli's people days ago…the same look that appeared on her features every so often when she returned from thinking on her own or when she thought he wouldn't notice.
But he had been aware of it every time. And while he normally avoided asking about it, he decided that he didn't want to do so this time.
"So…wanna tell me what's up?" he asked softly.
Looking at him curiously, she tilted her head ever so slightly. "What do you mean?"
"Well, ever since day one, you've had that look on your face that makes me think there's something on your mind that you're not telling me. You've had some time to think it over. Now…do you wanna talk about it?"
He prepared himself for any resistance she would have to answering his question, with his own persistence to continue asking her until she folded. However, he didn't expect what she did next.
Sighing softly, the yellow monkey looked down at the ground. "When we first came here, I felt really happy because it was…nice here. And it just felt so peaceful."
"Yeah…" he agreed. "I think we all were really excited about finding this place."
"All of us except Antauri."
He blinked a little. "What?"
"When we were waiting for Chiro, I talked to Antauri about this place. And he said that even though everything looked peaceful, he felt there was something more to it."
"What do you mean by that?"
"He…it was like he felt something wrong with this place. Like something bad happened here, y'know?"
Sprx shook his head. "Can't we go anywhere without this kind of thing happening to us?"
"Seriously though, Sprx. When Kalli was telling us her story about what happened to her, I couldn't help but think about what Antauri said."
"So…" the red monkey said slowly, "you think that what Antauri felt was everything that happened to Kalli and her people before?"
"Well yeah. I mean what else could it be? But if something really bad happened to this planet, why haven't we been able to find evidence of it?"
The hot shot paused for a moment as his mind searched for a way to answer her. "We don't know how much time has passed between the time Kalli remembered and now," he finally said. "Maybe…the planet just took care of itself."
"Maybe…but if that was true, it wouldn't be too hard to find any trace of Kalli's people, should it? I mean, we've been looking everywhere. If the planet naturally took care of them all, it should be easier to find something of them."
"So what are you saying, Nova? You think that something else is happening? You think…something is trying to keep us from finding them?"
"I…" She exhaled heavily, folding her arms over her torso. "I don't know, Sprx," she answered honestly. "Maybe it's not preventing us from finding anything…whatever it is. Maybe it's….just responsible for what's happening now."
Frowning a little, Sprx looked at her. "You mean us not being able to find Kalli's people?"
"That…" the yellow monkey said hesitantly, "and…what's happening to Chiro and Antauri…"
Whatever he had been expecting, that certainly wasn't it. Opening his mouth to respond, he shut it again when he realized that he didn't know what to say to her. So instead, he remained silent and waited for her to explain what she meant.
"See, Kalli was telling us about how the sorcerer who had been trying to teach her – an outsider to this planet – ended up destroying her village and attacking her people. But that doesn't mean that he was always like that. What if he just became like that by coming here?"
"But why? Why would he suddenly do something like that if he wasn't that way before?"
"I don't know…because of this place…this planet." She lifted her gaze to look at him. "When we first arrived here, didn't we feel something strange about this place? Didn't we feel…in a way that we never have before?"
Hesitating slightly, Sprx then nodded. It was true about what she was saying, and he knew it. Just being on that planet made him feel…inexplicably different…and look at his surroundings in a way he never would have before. He felt more relaxed and at ease than he ever had, and he had assumed that it was just something about the planet that made him feel that way. It was a feeling that he never wanted to let go.
But he was beginning to understand what Nova was saying. After all, if the planet could change someone for the better, couldn't it also change someone for the worse? Even if that someone…was Antauri?
"What if…" he heard the other say softly, "this place really does change people? Almost like…a way to defend itself from outsiders. What if we're not really supposed to be here…?"
"So what…? Are you saying that it's our fault for everything that's happened to them just by coming here?"
Closing her eyes, Nova nodded. "Yeah…I guess I am."
Sighing softly, the red monkey thought for a moment, hoping to come up with any way to comfort her. Carefully, he placed his hand on her shoulder. "Okay, so maybe this planet can change people…But that's not really our fault. We didn't know. Besides, Chiro wanted to come here. And if we hadn't, Kalli would still be stuck in that orb."
Opening her eyes, she looked at him again. "I know…but what if this change is permanent? What if things never become the same way again?"
"Well…unfortunately, if that happens, there's nothing we can really do about it. All we'll be able to do is go on the best we can with whatever happens. But really…I wouldn't worry about it too much."
Nova frowned as she stared at him. "Why's that?"
"Because…it's Chiro and Antauri. If there were any two who could get through something like this, I'm pretty sure it's them."
"You think so?" she asked, turning to face him completely.
He nodded. "Yeah. And for now, we'll try to help them get through this. The rest, though, is really up to them. But in any case, worrying about it really won't help at all."
"Yeah. I guess you're right." She paused a moment before letting out a small laugh. "Wow…that's new."
"Hey!" Sprx protested. "I have my moments!"
Nova laughed again. "However rare those are."
He stuck out his tongue at her. "Let's just go," he said, pouting slightly.
As they were about to get into the Fist Rocket, however, they heard the familiar signal of an incoming transmission within both their communication systems. Exchanging curious glances, they activated their ear receivers which expanded to accept the transmission.
"Nova, Sprx!" they heard Chiro say urgently. "You guys gotta come back and help me!"
"With what?" the yellow monkey asked. "Is everything okay?"
"NO!" the boy replied quickly. "I'm in big trouble!"
"Why? What did you do?"
"I…I-I lost Ring!"
"You WHAT!" they both exclaimed.
"You lost her?" Sprx repeated. "How could you lose her?"
"I don't know!" the leader said remorsefully. "I was just showing Kalli around the robot…then I showed her how to use the computer and Ring got hungry. So we went back outside, and then Ring was gone! I asked Gibson to keep Otto busy for awhile, but we don't know how long he can do that before Otto wants to come back for Ring. You guys gotta help me find her!"
"Okay Chiro," Nova said, wanting to calm the boy down. "We'll come back and help you look for her."
"Okay. Thanks guys…"
With a small sigh from them both, they ended the transmission and their ear antenna returned to normal. Then without another word, they hurried into the Fist Rocket.
When he had returned, he had expected the Super Robot to be empty. It usually was upon his arrival, and even though he had heard Kalli wanted to look around inside, he had felt that she would want to return outside quickly enough. However, he hadn't expected the rather large mess he was staring at to be there and greet him.
But when Antauri walked into the main room, that was exactly what he found. Panels from the walls lay on the floor, tossed aside along with cords and cables that he suspected were supposed to be attached inside. More cords and cables, even a spring or two, hung out from the openings in the walls, emitting a spark of electricity every few seconds.
Even the entryway to Gibson's lab had been opened, and he could see pieces of equipment were turned over or knocked down, leaving an open clutter in the blue monkey's area to be seen by all. Luckily no chemicals had been spilled, but Antauri was certain that the chief of science would still be displeased with the state of his workplace.
And as he stared at the mess, he frowned deeply while trying to determine why the interior of the Robot was left in shambles. Since Chiro and Kalli were most likely the last ones to be in the Robot, were they the ones responsible for this messy condition? Perhaps not Chiro, for he knew that the teen respected the Robot and treated it as his home, just as they all did. The same could not, however, be said for Kalli. Then again, what possible reason would she have to doing something like this? It really made little sense, and he wasn't sure how to come about with an answer.
Hesitating slightly, the robotic simian then carefully stepped over the parts that lay strewn on the floor and made his way towards Gibson's lab. Even with all the time he had spent in the Super Robot, he wasn't as familiar with its internal structure as Gibson or Otto. He understood the basic materials and knew enough to help fix the machinder in case of the need to repair, but on his own he would have more difficulty. So rather than attempting to mend the interior himself and risk further damage to the Super Robot, he decided to wait for the two who were most capable to return and be there to assist them instead.
In the meantime, he decided to try and fix the mess left in the lab. At least by returning any disrupted objects to their upright positions. It would be up to the blue monkey, though, to place them in their proper places, since he wasn't sure where everything was supposed to go and didn't want to further upset the order of the lab.
As he finally reached the room, he carefully surveyed the damage that had been done. Nothing appeared to be too broken that couldn't be fixed, at least he hoped. But he knew that it wasn't up to him to make that judgment. Closing his eyes, he began to focus his mind on a table that had been turned onto its side in order to stand it up again.
Chirp chirp…
His eyes blinked open again as the faint sound reached his ears.
Chirp chirp…
For some reason, that sounded strangely familiar to him.
Chirp chirp…
Looking around quickly, the silver monkey then turned and focused his attention towards the main computer. Frowning slightly, he swiftly walked to the consol and placed his hand on the switchboard.
Chirp chirp…
He could feel the slight vibrations that came from within the computer consol. Slightly startled, he pulled back and carefully inspected the panel. Near the bottom, close to the floor, Antauri discovered a rather tiny hole, almost unnoticeable at first glance. But upon further investigation, he noticed that the small hole was connected to two large cracks in the metal surface. As he followed the cracks, he noticed that they created a larger circular rift in the consol. Cautiously fingering the little hole, he pushed it inwards, causing the round metal piece to pop out easily.
He blinked slightly, looking at the opening. It was bigger than he had thought it would be. It appeared to be large enough for two hands to be able to fit through the gap. And while the section he had just removed hid the space rather well, it had come out with no trouble at all. Almost as if it had come out before.
Shaking his head slightly, Antauri then crouched down and slowly inserted his hands into the hole in the computer's consol. Closing his eyes, he sighed softly and concentrated as he carefully felt around. The limitations on the sense of touch for the silver monkey's body made the task a little more difficult for him, but the ability of foresight replaced what he lacked. After about a minute or so, he finally retracted his hands, carefully holding Ring as he did so.
Blinking slightly, the mong bird looked up at the simian and chirped hoarsely.
Looking at the chick for a moment, the silver monkey then turned to look at the mess that still lay behind him. "Is that what's happened here?" he asked softly, looking at the bird again. "Is the reason for this mess because Chiro had lost you and had been trying to find you?"
Ring simply chirped once, though it sounded rather tired and doleful.
Frowning deeply, he carefully placed the mong on the computer panel. "I better call Chiro," he said, placing a hand to one of his ear antenna. "He must be worried about you."
As his ear antenna expanded, he tried to pick up the teen's communication signal. "Antauri to Chiro," he said, sending out the message to locate the other. "Antauri to Chiro…Come in Chiro…"
Suddenly, all he could hear was a high-pitched screeching that reverberated throughout his systems and rattled his circuits. "Gaah…!" Quickly he interrupted the transmission, cutting off the piercing sound. As he shook his head to dispel the lingering echo of the feedback, he glanced up at the computer when an error message appeared on the screen.
He blinked in confusion and frowned, his cobalt eyes focused on the monitor. "What…?" he muttered. Pressing a button, he watched as several icons appeared. On the left-hand side was an icon of himself positioned beside a white arrow with a large red X crossed through it. On the other side of the arrow were icons of the rest of the team.
Staring at the images for a moment longer, he then knew exactly what it meant. "What happened? Why can't I contact the others?"
He was brought out of his daze by the sound of Ring's raspy chirp. Looking down at the bird, he saw as the chick settled on the switchboard in exhaustion and her head seemed to droop a little. Glancing up at him, she cheeped almost pleadingly.
In truth, Antauri really had no clue about the care and handling of birds, much less a young one such as Ring. And he was especially hesitant to take care of the mong since he wasn't sure how she would react to him. Still, he knew how fond Otto was of the little bird, and until he could find either the other or Chiro, he would have to watch over the bird to the best of his abilities.
Awkwardly he cupped his hands together and held them up to the bird. She looked at him in slight curiosity before she half-waddled, half-dragged herself off the consol and into his waiting palms.
As she settled herself, the silver monkey could feel her weakness and fatigue, which caused him to wonder how long Ring had been lost. But he decided to dwell on the matter later, and for the moment take the chick to get some water and revitalize her. Then he would have to come up with a way to locate food for her without bringing her with him.
And all the while, he would have to try and discover why his communication systems had been cut off from all of the others.
Even after so many hours of dormancy since the fire was put out, the charred wood retained some dying embers and a thin trail of grey smoke that rose into the air before quickly disappearing. That was the image that Otto seemed to be staring at as he sat by the fireplace. He sat with his arms wrapped tightly around his legs and his chin resting on his knees. His onyx eyes, though appearing to be focused on the wood in front of him, were really glazed over by a thin hazy film, preventing him from seeing anything very clearly.
Watching him from a short distance away, Nova sighed softly. "Poor Otto," she said quietly. "He must be so worried."
"Yeah," Sprx agreed softly. Then glowering at Gibson, he added, "Though maybe he wouldn't have known about Ring if it hadn't been for someone telling him about it…"
"I didn't mean to tell him!" the blue monkey retorted defensively. "It slipped!"
"It's okay, Gibson," Chiro said, fidgeting with his communicator. "I should have been the one to tell Otto about what happened in the first place." He sighed in agitation. "Why can't I get a hold of Antauri?"
"It's odd that he's not here," the chief of science stated. "Since the Brain Scrambler's in its proper place, we can deuce that nothing has happened to him."
"Well, he does usually go out for a walk when he gets back," the yellow monkey said. "Maybe he's just doing that."
"But that doesn't explain why I can't get a hold of him," the leader returned, dropping his hands in frustration. "And we could really use his help looking for Ring out here."
"Chiro," Kalli said softly, "I think maybe we should go without him. We really need to find Ring soon, especially before it gets dark. We can't waste any more time."
Glancing at the girl, he sighed and nodded slightly. "Yeah, you're right," he said, looking back at the green monkey. "I just need to do something first."
Hesitantly, the boy walked over to where Otto was sitting, still staring emptily at the fireplace. Kneeling beside the other, he spoke softly, "Otto…?"
The mechanic gave no answer.
"Look Otto…I'm really sorry about losing Ring. You trusted me to take care of her…and I let you down. I'm really sorry. I just wish…there was something I could do to make it up to you."
The green monkey remained silent and unmoving for another moment. Then, after rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand, he turned to look at the boy. "It's not really your fault, Chiro," he replied in a low whisper. "She's always been a little too curious…and I probably shouldn't have left her for so long…I just wish I knew if she was okay…"
"Well, the rest of us are going to do our best to find her…"
Blinking slightly, the green monkey glanced behind the teen to where the others stood. "You guys are gonna go look for her?"
Chiro nodded slightly. "Yeah. We already looked for her on the Super Robot and she wasn't there. So we decided to look around out here for her."
"I should come too," Otto said, stretching out his legs.
"Kalli says you should stay here…she says that if Ring didn't go too far, she might be able to find her way back to you, but only if you stay in one spot."
"But…"
"Don't worry, Otto. We'll look for Ring as hard as we can. But Kalli says that the best thing you can do for her is to stay here just in case she can find you."
Pouting slightly, the green monkey then slowly nodded. "Okay…"
Smiling a little, the boy then got to his feet. "Oh, and Otto? Can you keep a lookout for Antauri? I've been trying to call him for awhile now, but he's not answering for some reason."
The green monkey tilted his head to the side in slight confusion. "Uh…okay…"
Nodding a little, the leader then turned to the others behind him and motioned for them to follow him. The five of them began to head away, walking further into the large open field before spreading apart from each other.
Otto watched them leave until they all disappeared from sight. Then with a small sigh, he lay back in the grass and stared up at the clear blue sky. "I really hope she's okay…" he muttered. "I wonder what she's doing now…"
As he began to imagine what the baby bird could be up to, he shut his eyes tightly to try and prevent any bad thoughts from entering his mind. Unfortunately, the attempt was unsuccessful.
"Otto?"
Eyes snapping open, the mechanic bolted to sit up at the sound of the familiar voice. And sure enough, he watched as Antauri slowly approached him from the other side of the hill. In his hands, he seemed to hold a small leaf pouch.
"I'm glad I finally found you," the silver monkey said, standing at the other's side. "I've been trying to…"
"Where have you been?" Otto asked, interrupting the other as he got to his feet.
The robotic simian frowned slightly. "I…was in the forest. But Otto, I need to…"
"Chiro's been tryin' to call you. Why haven't you been answering?"
"I…wasn't aware he had been trying to reach me. Otto, what is going on?"
The green monkey clenched his fists tightly as his shoulders tensed. "Ring's gone missing, and Chiro and the others are trying to look for her." He shook his head slightly. "But you're too 'busy' to help them!" he shouted angrily. "You're too 'busy' going off by yourself that you don't know when we need you anymore! Why are you trying to leave us behind! It's like you don't care about us anymore!"
Exhaling loudly, he suddenly felt his body relax and his fingers uncurl while the abrupt burst of anger quickly passed through his system. For a moment, he wasn't entirely sure of what had just happened or what he had just done. But as he caught the confused and even slightly pained expression in the cobalt eyes of the other monkey, his actions began to sink in all too soon.
Eyes widening slightly, the mechanic took a step back and away from the other. His hands began to shake, and his mind furiously searched for something…anything to say. "Antauri, I…I-I didn't mean it…"
The silver monkey studied the other for a moment before focusing his gaze at the ground. "Otto…" he said softly.
"I'm really sorry, Antauri. I-I didn't…mean to yell at you…"
He looked up at the mechanic again. "Otto…" he repeated.
The green monkey didn't seem to hear him. "I don't even know why I yelled at ya…I…I wasn't…I mean, it's not your fault…"
Reaching over, Antauri gently placed his hand on Otto's shoulder. "Otto, it's all right," he assured. "You're simply upset that Ring is lost. I understand."
Hesitantly, the mechanic glanced at the other.
Thinking for a moment, Antauri then stepped away from his brother. "Wait here," he said. Then he turned towards the robot and jumped up, vanishing from sight.
He had watched the other go, but Otto hadn't been really paying attention. Placing his hand to his head, he heavily sat back down on the grass, still slightly bewildered by the event that had just occurred. He was glad that Antauri hadn't gotten angry with him, but it had happened so quickly...he still couldn't believe that it had happened at all.
As far as Otto could remember, he had never been angry with anyone before. Even with everything that had ever happened to them, even with all the fighting and hardships they faced, he had never really been mad at anyone. Sometimes he would become slightly upset or frustrated with others, but it was never anything that would cause him to yell at anyone like he had just done.
And while it was true that he was worried about Ring, that worry hadn't been enough to yell at Chiro, who had been watching over the bird before she went missing. He didn't blame the leader at all for what happened, and he certainly hadn't gotten mad at the other. So why had he gotten so angry at Antauri? It hadn't been Antauri's fault that Ring got lost either. So how could he have spoken to the other that way? And to accuse him…of no longer caring for all of them? Where had that even come from? How could he say something like that?
Sighing heavily, he shut his eyes and buried his face in his hands. What was going on? Why was this happening to them? Were they really drifting so far apart? He felt as though…the connection that he held with Antauri had become something so fragile…that it was beginning to crumble around him…and would shatter completely if nothing was done to save it. And that thought alone left a terrible pain in his heart.
The sound of mechanical whirs reached his ears, and he knew that the second-in-command had returned. But he was tentative to look at the other, still guilty of how he could ever raise his voice to him that way.
"Otto…" he heard Antauri say softly.
Dropping his hands to his sides, the green monkey finally slowly raised his eyes. The silver monkey stood beside him, and a small smile was set on his features. But more noticeable than that was the black bird that sat on his shoulder.
"Ring!" Otto exclaimed, jumping up onto his feet.
The mong chirped excitedly, hopping off Antauri's shoulder and flapping her wings rapidly to keep from falling too fast before landing in the mechanic's arms. He held her close to him, and she snuggled deeply into his torso while chirping softly.
Watching the two of them, the silver monkey smiled before clearing his throat. "As I was trying to tell you before…" he explained, "I had found Ring in the Super Robot a while ago. But when I tried to contact you or Chiro, I was unable to…"
Blinking, Otto looked up at the other. "Wait…you found Ring in the Super Robot? Chiro said that they looked but couldn't find her there."
"Actually…I had found Ring in the Robot's main computer."
"Wh-what?"
Antauri sighed softly. "I'll explain it to you later…"
"O…kay…But wait, you said that you couldn't talk to me or Chiro?"
"That's right," the silver monkey replied. "Every time I tried, I received no answer."
"That's weird. You're not damaged or anythin', are ya?"
Placing a hand to his torso, Antauri replied, "I believe my systems are fine…but perhaps we will have to check over all the operations later while we repair the Robot's interior."
The green monkey tilted his head slightly. Even though he had been in the Robot earlier, he had been in too much of a daze after hearing that Ring was lost. "Repair? What happened to the Robot?"
"Again…I'll explain later…But in any case, the best thing to do for now is to make sure Ring gets proper nourishment since we're unsure of how long she had been missing…" As he spoke, the robotic simian held up the small leaf pouch that he had been holding earlier.
Looking at the small bag, then at the chick in his arms, Otto then finally looked back up at the second-in-command. "So… was that why you were in the forest? You were…getting food for Ring?"
Carefully, the robotic simian placed the leaf pouch in the other's hand. "Yes. She seemed rather weak when I found her, so I thought that it would be for the best."
"But what did you do with her when you were in the forest?"
"Well, I just left her in my room…"
"You left her in your room?" Otto repeated, slightly surprised.
Frowning a little, Antauri nodded and folded his arms over his chest. "Yes…it was a bit difficult to get her to stay, but eventually I was able to leave her without worry."
Ring suddenly chirped softly, shifting in the mechanic's arms to face Antauri. She flapped her wings a little, continuing to chirp. Smiling slightly, the silver monkey lightly ran a finger over the mong's ebony feathers. In response, the chick chirped again, settling back down in Otto's embrace.
The green monkey watched his brother in slight wonder. "Antauri?" he asked softly. "Ring…kinda likes you, huh?"
The silver monkey looked up at the other curiously. "She doesn't mind me, I suppose."
"But this is the first time you've spent any time with her, isn't it?"
Thinking for a moment, Antauri then nodded slightly. "Yes, I believe so…"
Returning the nod, Otto then looked down at the bird in his arms.
Watching the other for a moment, the robotic simian blinked. "Is anything wrong, Otto?"
"Um…" The mechanic shook his head. "No…There's nothin' wrong."
The second-in-command continued studying the green monkey for a minute longer. With slight hesitation, he decided to let the subject drop for now. "All right…Well, I'm going to examine the damage done to the Super Robot. Will you stay here and wait for the others? When they return, we can begin the repairs."
"Uh, sure…" Otto then watched as the other turned again and jumped up towards the robot, disappearing from sight. When his brother was gone, he then looked back down at Ring, who simply returned his gaze and chirped softly. As he sat back down in the grass and opened the small pouch to feed her, he couldn't help but frown slightly in confusion.
He couldn't forget the event that occurred earlier that morning when he had tried to give Ring to Kalli. He still remembered how upset the bird had become as soon as she had been placed in the sorceress's hands. Even though she still hadn't learned how to change her colors yet, he had spent enough time with her to understand how she was feeling. And when he had given her to Kalli, he remembered how frightened and distressed the bird had become. It was especially strange, since Ring had never reacted that way to any of the others before.
But he hadn't thought too much of it before. He had only assumed that Ring was so scared of Kalli because the two hadn't interacted until that morning. He had noticed that when he was showing the chick off or letting her play with the others, Kalli had tended to keep her distance. While the others helped him entertain the baby bird, the girl had preferred simply to stand nearby and just watch. He had always wondered why, but he never bothered to ask her before. And he had thought that because Ring had never spent any time with her before, she hadn't been used to the sorceress and therefore became so afraid when he tried to leave her with Kalli.
It had seemed like a good reason, and it made sense. Except now, Otto wasn't so sure. After all, Antauri had spent about as much time with Ring as Kalli had. In fact, he thought that the bird would be more unfamiliar with the silver monkey than with the girl. Even though Kalli hadn't interacted or played with Ring, she had always been nearby when Chiro was playing with her. So the baby bird would have at least seen the girl around. Antauri, on the other hand, had been withdrawn from them and spent more time on his own. He figured that Ring would have had less chance to see Antauri, let alone spend any time with him. And if that had been the case, she would have been just as – or even more – afraid of the silver monkey like she had been with Kalli.
But when he had been watching Ring and Antauri just a minute ago, he couldn't help but feel that there was something strange going on. The baby bird, instead of being frightened by the silver monkey as he had thought she would be, instead seemed to enjoy his company, just as she enjoyed the company of the others. She had seemed to like the other, and Antauri even managed to leave her on her own while he had gone to get food for her. She showed no fear for him at all.
And that puzzled Otto a bit. Not that he could hardly believe that the mong could ever like the robotic simian, but that she wasn't afraid of him as she had been afraid of Kalli. Even though Ring had spent about the same amount of time with both of them – which was hardly any time at all – she had reacted to them in such different ways, and he couldn't make any sense of it.
So he wondered; what was the reason then? If it wasn't because of the lack of time she had spent with the girl, what was the real reason that Ring didn't seem to like Kalli at all?
TBC
Again, I apologize for the length. I have no idea how it got to be that long...
Despite some of the things that happened in this chapter, I kind of enjoyed writing it. Mostly, I think, because of how I portrayed Otto and Antauri's relationship. In the series, to me at any rate, it seems that Otto and Antauri don't interact as much as they interact with all the others of the team. Occassionally Antauri will advise Otto for or against something, or Otto will mention something to Antauri. Yet even though they don't talk a lot to each other, they do seem to have as close a bond as every one else, which has been made apparent by rare moments shared between the two.
And seeing as how these two are my favorite monkeys, I enjoyed writing some kind of interaction between them.
Anyway, I've taken up enough of your guys' time. Please review, and no flames if you can help it. I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as I can, and I hope you'll all read that one. It's going to be a very...surprising one, I think.
Later!