Sever All Ties
Chapter Fifteen: Trouble in the Tunnels
Disclaimer: I don't own Radiata Stories or any of the characters in the game; they are the property of the brilliant minds at Square Enix.
Author's Note(s): Words in '…' indicate a thought. Words in "…" indicate spoken words. This story will proceed based on the assumption that Jack has joined Ridley on the path of the non-human. This path would inevitably lead him to face his former friends and allies in combat. It is these fights I will illustrate in this story. Some creative liberties will be taken regarding who they face (i.e. Jack will face opponents in this fic that you don't get to face in the game). I hope you enjoy.
Walking into the mine, Jack strode confidently down the path. He had been through these tunnels before, and knew where to go. Further, he knew that the creatures in the mine were no match for either he or Ridley. It would be simple to get Dyvad's ore and get out now. They could use the path that the dwarf had told them about, to the Ocho Region. Jack's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Ridley's heavy breathing behind him. He turned, and saw that she was nearly doubled over, gasping for breath. She was also pressing a hand to her side. Jack instantly forgot everything else, and was immediately at her side.
"Ridley," he said. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"
"I…"Ridley began. Her voice was cut off by a wince of pain. "They…"
"Don't say anymore," said Jack.
Gently, he wrapped his arm around her waist. Holding her in his arms, Jack lowered her to the ground so that she was lying on her back. When he looked at her side he saw a slash mark, undoubtedly made by a knight's sword. Jack immediately brought forth a vial of Herb Extract DX for Ridley. Even after it took effect, Ridley still looked drained. Jack was furious. He had failed to watch out for her, and she had been hurt. Worse still, he had not thought to make sure she was all right before proceeding into the cave.
"You're going to be okay," Jack said softly. "We'll just wait here until you're feeling better."
"No," Ridley said, beginning to rise. "It won't be long before they get through that wreckage to come after us. We can't just be sitting here when that happens. You should know that. Now, let's keep moving. I'll be fine."
"Ridley, we can wait," Jack said, gently trying to push her back down. "I can handle whoever comes here to face us, and you need rest."
"We need to get out of here," Ridley said hotly. "And the sooner we get that ore, the sooner we can leave. Now, let's go."
"All right," Jack said, with a defeated air. "I was just trying to help."
"You've done a fine job so far," Ridley snapped. "Let's go."
Hanging his head, Jack could do nothing but go on. He fell in next to Ridley, watching to make sure she was, in fact, all right. Other then a slight limp and the blood on her armor, she seemed to be okay. Excepting her anger, of course. Jack knew she had good reason to be angry with him. He was angry with himself for allowing her to be hurt. But, they did have to go on. Walking down the path, Jack made certain he was watching every angle. He would not allow her to be hurt again.
As they rounded a corner of the path, Jack and Ridley suddenly came face to face with a group of Robo Dwarves. The robotic mining machines saw the humans, and immediately moved toward them. Gently pushing Ridley back, Jack stepped forward and drew his sword. As they closed the distance, Jack steadied himself for the oncoming assault. He sidestepped the initial strike, and cut into the first robot. Turning, Jack's saber struck again. His slash destroyed another robot. As he moved sideways, a rock flew past him and crashed into the wall. Rushing forward, he hammered into the machines, pushing them back. Programmed to attack any intruders, the machines continued their assault despite its obvious futility. Firing rocks and swinging their clawed arms, the robots continued to attack. Jack, however, was unfazed. Momentarily on the defensive, he quickly found an opening to attack. As one of the machines began to swing its arm, Jack's sword moved to intercept. His blaze saber severed the robotic appendage, and he followed by slashing through the robot's torso. Turning, Jack saw his final opponent approaching. He rushed forward and brought his sword down on the Robo Dwarf, crushing it and leaving only a pile of metal parts.
Jack sheathed his sword and turned to face Ridley. The young girl seemed to have recovered her composure, and was ready to continue. Without waiting for Jack to say anything, she walked past him and down the tunnel. Jack followed, and their journey continued. They quickly made their way through the rest of the mine. An elevator took them down several levels, where they decided to explore a side path. Following it to its end, they found themselves in a large, open cavern. In the middle of this room was a floating green square. When it became aware of their presence, it began to float toward them.
"You think this is what we're after," Ridley asked Jack.
"Looks like it," Jack replied. "I can see the tunnel that leads out of here on the other side of the cavern."
"Then let's take him out," Ridley said in a determined voice.
"No other choice," Jack said, starting forward.
Instantly, Jack's saber was in his hand, and he was charging at the Earth Cell. Ridley, a step behind, also prepared to attack. A flurry of saber and axe strokes hit the creature, which fell back. As they continued their assault, the Earth Cell attacked suddenly. Earth Magic similar to the kind Jill had invoked was instantly streaking toward them. Boulders and stalactites fell from the ceiling all around. Both humans were forced to alter their path so that they could avoid the falling debris. Closing the distance again, they resumed their onslaught. Though they landed blow after blow, the creature itself seemed unfazed. Shrugging off their attacks, the Earth Cell continued to throw debris at them, forcing their attack patterns to shift. Finally, Jack planted his feet and began moving forward, determined to defeat their opponent. Deflecting attacks, he continued to close the distance. However, as he moved closer, the Earth Cell fell back, focusing its attacks on Ridley. The young girl was incapable of doing anything but defend against the oncoming assault. Though she occasionally managed to deflect one of the rocks, Ridley's actions were mainly limited to lunging from side to side in an effort to avoid the falling debris. Jack moved quickly, trying to attack the Earth Cell, so it would shift its focus onto him.
Then, just as Jack had reached the Earth Cell itself, Ridley's defenses crumbled. One of the Earth Cell's falling rocks hit her, and she fell. For the second time since they had been together, Jack watched helplessly as Ridley fell to the ground. He was assaulted by memories of the blood orc encounter. Ridley had almost died that day, and he had been helpless. This time, however, there was no one to tell him to keep fighting. All thoughts of combat were forgotten as he rushed to Ridley's side. Throwing the debris off, he cradled her unconscious body in his arms. The sound of more rocks falling made him jump quickly to his feet. Sprinting across the cavern, he tried to put as much distance as possible between himself and the Earth Cell. When he had reached the far end of the cave, he gently set her down, and turned to face the pursuing Earth Cell. His face was solemn, barely masking his rage.
"You'll pay for that," He said. His voice was cold and hard.
Rushing forward with almost reckless abandon, Jack threw himself at the creature in front of him. His blaze saber cut through all of the rock that was thrown at him. As he closed the distance, the Earth Cell began to fall back. When his saber connected, Jack's ethereal opponent visibly shuddered. Taking this as a sign of its weakness, he continued his assault, refusing to give it the opportunity to attack. Finally, one of his sword strokes cut through the Earth Cell. It hung suspended in the air for a moment, before shattering. As it fell apart, Jack saw something fall to the ground. When he examined it closer, he found what could only be the ore they had come for. Picking it up, he carefully stored it away before turning to leave.
Running across the cavern, Jack knew he had to get back to Ridley. However, he couldn't see her. Realizing this, he sped up so that he was sprinting by the time he reached the place where he had left her. She wasn't there. He looked all around, but couldn't find Ridley. Beginning to worry, he even started down the tunnel to the Ocho Region. However, after going far enough in that he should have caught up to her, he turned back. Walking back to the main cavern, he tried to think of where Ridley could have gone. As the cavern came into view, he saw the silhouette of a young woman at the mouth of the tunnel. She was moving away from him, and into the center of the cavern. He called out to her, and began to run. When he got into the cavern, however, he couldn't see anyone.
"Ridley," he called out. "Ridley, where are you?"
"She's fine," a voice from behind him said. Jack turned to see Lily, one of the bandit guild's assassins, facing him. "I stumbled upon her, all by herself, and couldn't bring myself to leave her."
"Well, I'm here for her now," Jack said. "She's hurt, and needs help."
"Probably," Lily replied. "But I don't really care."
"Lily," Jack began. "Please."
"Well," the young girl began. "I don't know. Let me consider my options. On the one hand, I should take her and you back, because that's what the king commands."
"Void's always been real concerned with doing what the king commands," Jack interjected.
"Well, I suppose we haven't," Lily agreed. "But on the other hand, the king doesn't always pay to have his commands enforced. And Miss Silverlake has a pretty good sized bounty on her head."
"Well, that's a shame," Jack said solemnly.
"I know," said Lily. "But perhaps we can come to some other arrangement."
"I'm listening," Jack said.
"Ortoroz sent me after some rare ore," Lily explained. "And I think you have it."
"So, if I give you the ore, you'll release Ridley," Jack asked.
"Something like that," Lily said.
"No games, Lily," Jack said. This is too important."
"If it's so important, then show me the ore," Lily said levelly. Jack nodded, and brought the ore out from where he had stored it.
"Okay, you can see the ore," Jack said impatiently. "Now, where's Ridley?"
"Put the ore down, and step away," Lily commanded. "When I have it, I'll tell you where she is."
"That wasn't part of the deal," Jack exclaimed.
"Fine," Lily said, turning around. "The girl's worth more then the ore. See you later."
"No," Jack said quickly. He tossed the ore onto the ground. Lily turned around, and picked it up. "There it is. Now, where's Ridley."
"Behind you," Lily said. Jack turned quickly, and saw Ridley's unconscious body being held by Iris. Lily's teacher wore a fiendish grin.
Vegeta26: There's another chapter finished. I'm really sorry it's taken me so long to update, but I've been gone for something like three straight weeks, and I've just been pressed for time. In any case, I'm back and I can't wait to hear from all of you.
Passionate-melody: Thanks for the review. I'm glad you like the story so far. Once again, I apologize for the wait. However, I hope you'll ignore that and continue to read.
Stizzo: I certainly don't think I expressed any "Internet rage" at all in my reply to your review. Rather, I think you've misunderstood what I wrote, something you seem pretty good at doing. What I did instead was provide an assertive, logical counter-interpretation of my work, which more than adequately addressed the inconsistencies you attempted to point out in it. Your next review seems even more humorous to me, because it shifts the focus away from the story itself, and on to my logic in writing it. I clearly articulated my reasoning in the last response, explaining that Jack's facing his former comrades would not be as simple an affair as it was in the game. The game makes no references to the difficult ordeal that this would have been, and the changes it would have brought about in Jack. Therefore, the storyline of the game remains intact, yet the growth and change of the characters can be incorporated. I don't know why the creators didn't put more emphasis on this element of the story, but that hardly rules out writing a story along those lines. In fact, it seems to me that the entire point of a fanfic is to explore a part of a story that isn't developed in the original work. Otherwise, people would just post the game's story word for word, over and over. I'll close by saying again that I'm not angered by what you wrote. If anything, I think it's funny. I did ask for people to review, but it seems ridiculous to me to write such a lengthy indictment of my story and close by saying that you like the story, and that none of your suggestions are practical. The expectation that any criticism of my work be focused on the story, and contain some sort of workable alternative is hardly unreasonable. If you insist upon reviewing any additional chapters, I would ask that you do so in the form of a personal email or message, and any dialogue exchange can be handled there.
Blue Persuasion: Good to hear from you. It's good to know the Jack/Ridley plot is still something you enjoy. Jack has still retained some of his boyish thoughts and actions, despite his growth. Can't wait to hear from you again.
Squall Leonhart 501: Thanks for the review. I really appreciate the praise. I'd also be more than happy to talk with you about a story. Send me a message or an email, and I'll share some tips with you.
Music's Fallen Angel: I'm glad to hear that you're enjoying the story. As for the romance, rest assured that more of it will come when it fits into the story. I firmly believe that it can't be forced into the chapters. More is coming, though.
R Omega: Thanks for reviewing. I hope you continue to enjoy it.