Hey, next chapter here. Sorry for the cliff hanger in the last chapter.(not really, I had fun being able to do that.) Hope you like this chapter, sorry about the lots of back story though, but I feel it is needed. Please read and review!(especially on Whiplana, I want to know if you guys like her.)


Chapter 4
A Girl and Her Story

"Nothing feels as good as being loved by my best friend."-Karen Kostyla

Ratchet woke looking at wooden planks. What happened? he wondered, then remembered that his leg had really hurt and everything had gone black. But where was he? He looked around and saw that he was in a wooden room with a table, two chairs, a mirror, a dresser, and another bed. The door was closed and the one window had its shutters closed. Barely any light came into the room. Ratchet sat up and noticed something was different. What was it? He looked around and didn't see anyone. Was it that Clank was not there? It was weird but he knew that was not it. Then he realized that his leg didn't hurt anymore. He pulled back the covers and looked at it. He was startled to see that his leg was no longer swollen but back to its normal size.
"Admiring your leg?" he heard someone from the door say. He jumped and turned to see the female lombax looking at him. She walked over to him and sat on the bad beside him. He turned and swung his legs off of the bed. She smiled at him and asked, "How are you?"
"Fine, thanks," he replied. Now that he was closer to her he could get a better look at her. He hadn't noticed it before but she had hair. Her hair was short and barely reached her neck but it was there and it was the same color as the rest of her, dark orange with white stripes. Her eyebrows were the same white color as her stripes, which made them stand out. She had on brown gloves that looked too big for her. Her shirt and pants looked baggy. She had rolled up the sleeves of her shirt so you could see a little of her arms. She had also rolled up the legs of her pants and had tucked her shirt into her pants. She had a vine wrapped around her waist, like a belt, and he noticed that her shoes looked too big for how big her feet should be for her size, even for lombax feet which were big anyways. But most importantly, she had no tail. He stared in shock at where her tail should be. Then he looked at her left ear and eye. Maybe she had lost her tail in battle like her ear?
"Female lombaxes are born without tails," she told him. He looked at her in shock. Had she read his mind? And how could they be born without tails!? Ratchet knew it helped him keep his balance often. Is that why Angela had always been clumsy and falling over all those years ago? The girl lombax chuckled and said, "I can't read your mind, I can just tell what you are thinking by looking at your expression. Now, before you start asking questions, I would like to explain a little."
She got up and held out her hand, then said, "I am Whiplana Drazphind, but you can just call me Whip. My mother was Seraphina Drazphind and my father was Jarmac Drazphind. I am 23½ years old."
Ratchet shook her hand and she sat back down on the bed, then continued, "When the lombaxes left Fastoon my mother did not go with them. My parents had guessed that Tachyon would betray us and started making an underground bunker and an escape route after Alister Azimuth started helping him. When Tachyon struck my mother was pregnant with me. My father, Jarmac, helped the other lombaxes while my mother went into the bunker. She waited for my father for two days, and would have waited more if there had been more food. I believe he is dead. She did too and left in the special ship my father had made to escape. She ran out of fuel before she could get to a safe planet. She was forced to land here. This is a dangerous planet and all the dangerous creatures quickly attacked her. She left the ship and climbed up a tree, one of the few places that are safe on this planet. The ship was quickly destroyed. She built this place, which would have been hard being halfway through her pregnancy, but she did it. This is a tree house. That's right, she was pregnant and built a house in the trees. I was born here. When I got old enough she started to teach me everything she knew. She taught me all about the lombaxes, technology, and, most importantly, how to survive here. She told me about her past and especially my father. She wanted me to know him as well as she did. By the time I was 15 I had learned everything. She was happy and often told me what a big, strong, and pretty girl I was. But she dearly missed my father. She was no longer distracted with training me and was not worried about me being able to survive. She started to deteriorate. I tried to help her but there was nothing I could do. She missed my father too badly. She would often ask me to accompany her on walks for her to feel more at peace. One of those times we ran into some two-legged scaly creatures with sharp teeth and flat faces with two beady eyes we call Troggles. They are nasty, vicious little things. They are half my height but came in a group and we were soon overwhelmed. One grabbed my ear and pulled, trying to separate us. The rest were attacking my mother. She was not in good shape at that time. I was so desperate to get to my mom that I let it tear my ear off to run to her. That is how lost part of my ear. By the time I was able to get all of the Troggles off of her, it was too late. She was losing too much blood. I held her in my hands as she died. But she was happy that she would see my father again. When she was gone I turned to the Troggles in a rage. They charged at me and I charged at them. I punched them and whipped them so badly that they started to run away. But then their leader stood in front of me and snorted. The others turned to watch. The leader was the one that had held my ear. He didn't like that I had gotten away. I didn't like that they had killed Seraphina, my mother. He jumped at me and I dodged, then punched his face. He fell on his back and I tried to hit him with my whip. He grabbed it in his teeth and rolled, pulling me with him. I fell to the ground and he leaped at me. I backed away but he clawed my face before I could get far enough away. That is where this scar over my eye comes from. I whipped the leader across the belly as hard as I could and it fell over, screeching. I had given it a scar as well. Its group ran over and picked him up with their floppy ears and ran off. I chased them but they went into a place I had never been before. Seraphina had taught me to never go into places I had been without the proper equipment. I was forced to come back. I have since named the lead Troggle of that group Slash, and have named the group Nastys. I have been hunting him down since. Jorgmet and his group came soon after that. They went underground on purpose and built their base. I started going down and exploring the ventilation shaft. I eventually learned the whole layout and figured out how to mess them up. Jorgmet became furious and it was quite funny. When the ships with explorers started coming I wondered how they had found me. At the time I thought they were here to rescue me. But they were all eaten by the underground creatures I heard you call Norpiods. The ships were taken by Jorgmet and his robots. They turned them into scrap metal and used them for various things. I was very surprised when I saw you, a lombax, come out of your ship. I watched you the whole time. I would have rescued you soon but I had to wait for the guards to go. Good job breaking out, but you should have been quieter. You know what happened after that until you passed out. Your friends were really worried, especially Clank. I made an antidote out of their poison and used it on you. Then, while we waited for you to wake up, I told them I all of this and answered their questions. Now, what are your questions?"
Ratchet looked at her blankly, trying to take it all in. After a few moments he asked her, "Why do female lombaxes have no tails?"
Whip laughed and said, "I don't know, it's just how we were born."
"Why don't you lose your balance?" he asked, looking at her curiously.
She smiled and said, "We have bigger legs to counterbalance the weight of our upper body."
He looked at her legs and noticed that she really did have bigger legs than him, then asked, "How did my leg get so bad?"
"The Norpiods have a poisonous bite. Even a baby's bite can kill you. It was probably just delayed because it was weaker and your body was trying to fight it. But it always wins. No one survives without getting the antidote," she stated.
"Why are your clothes baggy?" he said.
"I had to steal them from Jorgmet because my mom didn't bring any clothes for me and I buried her in her clothes so I had nothing else to wear. I am smaller than them so it is too big for me. But I made do," she replied.
He looked at her fur pointedly and said, "Why are you such weird colors?"
"I have no idea. My genes got messed up somehow?" she wondered.
"What did your parents look like?" he asked, trying to find out how she got her colors.
She pulled a picture out of her pants pocket and said, "The one on the right is my mom and the one on the left is my dad. They were both tall for lombaxes. That's why I'm tall"
He looked at the picture and saw a white lombax with red stripes and blue eyes on the right and a gray lombax with black stripes and the same amber eyes as Whip on the left. The white one also had her hair in a little ponytail. They were around the same height and looked happy. When he was done looking she put it away.
"You said the name Alister Azimuth like you didn't like him, why?" he asked curiously.
"Because he is the reason all of this has happened. If he hadn't trusted a Cragmite my family would still be together and alive," she said angrily.
Ratchet scratched his head and said awkwardly, "He wasn't actually that bad of a guy. He knew he made a mistake and he never forgave himself for it. He was willing to do anything to change what he had done. He died trying to save time."
Whip looked at him sharply and said, "You knew him?!"
"Yes, I met him when I was trying to find Clank," he replied.
She looked down at her feet and said, "My mother told me everything I know about lombaxes and she hated Alister so I hate him too. I guess if I had gotten to know him I might have thought differently. But now is not the time for me to ask questions, but for you. I will ask mine later."
He looked at her for a moment before saying, "Why are there so many dangerous creatures on this planet?"
She shrugged and said, "I don't know, but I can tell you what I do know about the planet. After a while it grows bigger. But not really. It is the plants that are growing more and more and they grow on top of each other when there is no more room. That is how the plant maze was made. At first the Norpiods were small in number, but when the mazes started to get bigger so did their numbers. They found it easier to find prey for all of them. They only have their maze under areas with no trees. As long as you are in the trees on this planet you are safe. Right now we are in the Great Jungle, the biggest area of trees on, what did you call it? Oh, that's right, Marnith. The Norpiods queen is on the actual planet. Then planet itself is actually a very small thing of dirt with some water. Lots of the plants make their own water. Don't ask me how, I have no idea. Anyways, that is where the queen is, so don't ever try going there. I tried once, and actually got very close, but then was attacked and almost killed. Luckily I had some antidote with me or I would have never survived. I am never doing that again. The rest of the creatures have made themselves at home here in the jungle, constantly fighting for survival just like me. That's all I know about Marnith besides the non-basic stuff."
"What are Jorgmet's plans?" he asked.
"He is raising an army and building ships to take over something. I am not sure what they really want but I know that it isn't good for anyone. This is just a little outpost, not their main base," she said as she scratched her chin in thought.
"Who is 'the boss'?" he said.
She looked at him sadly and said, "I'm sorry but I have no idea. They never mentioned his name where I could hear it and I was too busy trying to save you guys to go see him when he came to see you. That was the only time he came so it must have been really important."
Ratchet looked disappointed but said, "It's okay. Have they taken my ship yet?"
Whip shook her head and said, "No, but they will soon to make it so you guys are stuck here. We should go get it soon."
"Where are Clank and Hertis?" he said, looking around and not seeing them in the room.
"They are outside playing chess. They are both really good. Are you feeling well enough to go see them?" she said, looking down worriedly at his leg.
"I'll be fine," he said and slide off of the bed. He grunted a little when his leg hit the ground because it hurt a little but it was not nearly as bad as it had been before. She hoped off too and he noticed that she really was tall. She was 1 and a half years younger than him but was a little taller. He limped slightly as he went to the door and opened it. There was a table and two chairs out here too. There was a chess board on the table and Clank was sitting at one end while Hertis sat at the other. Clank looked up when the door opened and saw Ratchet. He immediately jumped up and ran over to Ratchet.
"Ratchet, you're okay!" he cried with joy as he ran up and hugged Ratchet. Ratchet bent down and hugged him back.
"I'm fine Clank, just glad to be out of that place," he said.
Clank moved out of the embrace and said, "Me too."
"Ditto," Hertis said as he got up and walked over to Ratchet. He clasped his hand on Ratchet's shoulder and said, "Good to see you up and about boy."
"Good to be up," Ratchet replied. Then his stomach growled. Everyone looked at Ratchet for a second then burst into laughter. Ratchet started laughing as well. When they had calmed down Clank turned to Whip and said, "Miss Drazphind, do you think you could get him some food?"
"No problem, but please at least call me Whiplana. I don't like to be treated so formally by friends," Whip said, then went back into the house. Ratchet looked around and saw that they were on a deck of sorts. He walked to the edge and looked down, seeing that they really were in a tree. Then Whip came back out and said, "I just grabbed some of the leftover fruits from dinner but I hope they suffice."
She set them on the table and Clank said, "Thank you Miss Draz... I mean Whiplana."
"I like to help," she replied as Ratchet came over and started to gulp down the food. The fruit tasted so stronggood/strong after that food that Jorgmet had given them. Whip watched him for a bit then said, "Now it's my turned to ask questions. I saw you guys meet Hertis, but not each other. How did you and Clank meet?"
Ratchet stopped eating and looked at Clank. Clank looked at him. Then Clank turned to Whip and said, "I was created in a robot factory on Quartu and had just been made. I was smaller than the other robots, so I fell off of the conveyer belt. That was when I found an infobot that showed me…"
Clank told her how he had ended up on Veldin and then Ratchet took over and told how he found Clank. They kept switching who was talking and soon it grew dark, but they still told her more. She listened in fascination at all the adventures they had had together and how many times they had saved the universe. When they had finally finished telling her of their adventures it was almost morning and the food was gone. Whip said with admiration, "Wow! You guys are amazing! You have done so many wonderful things! I can't believe that the universe is so big! I wish I could go out there." She said the last part in a longing way.
"We have done a lot, but there are always bad guys out there and that means our work is never done," Clank said.
"I suppose," Whip replied.
"Would you like to come with us when we leave?" Ratchet asked her.
She looked at him in surprise and said, "Of course! I have always longed to see the worlds my mother told me so much about."
Then a thought stuck her and she said, "Since you were not raised by lombaxes, do you not know how to speak, read, or write in lombax?"
Ratchet hung his head and said, "No, I don't."
"That's no reason to be ashamed. It's not your fault. No one but lombaxes could have taught it to you, except for the few people they taught it to," she reassured him, "Besides, my mother taught me, so I can teach you."
Ratchet looked up at her in surprise and said, "Really? You'd do that?"
She smiled at him and said, "Of course. I could teach you a bunch of other things about lombaxes as well, but first I think we should get off of Marnith."
"Lets worry about that later. Your story was fascinating and all but I'm tired and would like to sleep now," Hertis interrupted.
"Alright lets get to bed. Ratchet, you and Hertis get the beds. Clank, you can decide where you want to sleep," Whip said.
Ratchet looked at her quizzically and asked, "But what about you? Where will you sleep?"
She smiled at him and said, "I have been living here my whole life. I often like to sleep outside and tonight is the perfect night for that. I'll be fine, don't worry, you just get some sleep."
He looked at her doubtfully but went into the tree house and kicked off his shoes, then climbed into the bed. Hertis climbed into the other bed and Clank hopped onto the table and went into his dormant form. Whip went to the window and opened it, then jumped out. Ratchet jerked up and looked out of the window. Had she fallen? He sighed in relief when he saw her climbing into the crook of a tree limb. She looked at him and said, "See? I'm fine, just go to sleep. You need your rest after all of that has happened."
He nodded and laid back down. He didn't think he would be able to fall asleep but when he closed his eyes he was out.