(A/N I'm baaaaaaaack! So, if anyone's reading this, you'll probably notice that this was uploaded... Two days late. I meant to do it Friday, but my laptop was left in the car, and it was really cold... It sort of froze. It was about one in the morning when I got home, and simply wasn't in the mood to wait up for my computer to return to room temperature for me to do the editing and uploading of this chapter. So, anyway, here's chapter four, and I'm going to try and get (once again) back on schedule.)
Disclaimer: I do not own Neopets. That's all I got this chapter. Yeah. ...'Kay.
Defenders of Neopia 2: Brotherhood chapter 4: Those awkward moments...
Jeffory's eyes opened slowly, his vision hazy. Where was he? His head ached, as did the rest of his body. It felt like he had been hit by a truck. When his vision cleared, he turned his head to the side, with difficulty, and saw a familiar face.
"Hey! You're awake!" Jack greeted, louder than Jeffory would've liked. His friend was grinning ear-to-ear. Jeffory absently wondered if there was anything that could dampen the mynci's spirits. Had his brain been working correctly, he would have known that there was, in fact, multiple things that could do so. He looked around, and realized he was in the remains of the Air Slasher.
"Yeah, and now I'm deaf..." muttered Jeffory, shooting Jack an irritated look. Jack either didn't notice, or didn't care, as he began to speak excitedly.
"But dude, that was so cool!" he exclaimed. Jeffory just tilted his head to the side, confused. "Wha-" he started only to be cut off by Jack. "When you were all like, 'I'M FALLING!'" he made an exaggerated motion with his arms, nearly swatting Jeffory in the face. "And then you were like 'boom, fire!' and then you killed the dragon!" Jack finished loudly, panting heavily.
Jeffory was still confused, before realization struck him. "Oh... that... thing?" he asked, trying to find the proper word to describe the phenomenon. Jack nodded, understanding what he was trying to say. "Yeah! You did that when you killed Kass, right?" he asked. Jeffory only nodded slowly, still trying to remember exactly what had happened. He didn't really remember anything but bits and pieces. It was different than when the Voice took over. Those moments were far too memorable.
"Where are the others?" Jeffory questioned, looking around the remains of the ASM2. Jack sat down in the chair next to Jeffory and scratching the back of his own head. "Ahh, Hunter's outside trying to see if he can fix the Air Slasher and Kendra's trying to get in touch with the Academy.
"She said there was no signal out here, though, so now I don't know what she's up to..." Jeffory noticed the look that appeared in Jack's eyes when he mentioned Kendra but decided not to address it directly, instead bringing up the subject of the Christmas dance.
"So..." Jeffory started, a sly look in his eye. Jack's grin slowly left his face, not at all liking his friend's tone. "Yeah...?" he responded slowly, looking awkward. "Who are you taking to the dance? I mean, really!" Jeffory added the last part when Jack's mouth had opened, no doubt going to attempt a bold lie. "It's... none of your business!" Jack declared, crossing his arms. Jeffory rolled his eyes at the immature position his friend was in. He looked almost like a five year-old. With a shrug, Jeffory said; "Fine. I'll get it out of you eventually." Jack grumbled in response.
Outside, Hunter was a mess. "It's hopeless... absolutely hopeless..." he moaned, dropping a broken piece of the airship in the snow. He then proceeded to drop face-first to the ground and wail into the ice-cold snow. Behind him, Kendra rolled her eyes, putting her cellphone back in her pocket. "Hunter! I'm trying to concentrate!" she snapped, for the upteenth time. Hunter stopped his death wails for long enough to give her a pitiful glance over his shoulder.
"YOU CAN'T POSSLIBLY UNDERSTAND HOW I FEEL!" he shrieked, returning to his sobbing heap. Kendra just sighed. Her exasperated look turned to one of relief when she saw Jeffory stumble out of the destroyed airship. She cringed when he banged his head on the way out. She floated over to his side, placing a fin on his shoulder. "Are you okay?"
He nodded, clutching his skull. "Oh, yeah, brilliant!" he hissed. She rolled her eyes. "What exactly did you do to it?" she asked, pointing at the remains of the Silverwing. Jeffory sighed. "I really don't know..." he answered giving her an apologetic look. "But Jack said I used it at the Space Station a year ago. You know, when I was fighting Kass?" Kendra nodded, motioning for him to continue. "But other than bits and pieces, I can't remember ANYTHING about those times when I... go all Hot-head," he finished with a slightly bitter chuckle.
Kendra nodded, telling him he didn't have to continue. "Well, you saved our lives back there, Jeff," she said to him, making him chuckle. "Yeah... Hey, any luck getting someone to pick us up?" he asked, hopefully. She shook her head, with a sigh. "No, I can't get a signal in this damn place!" she growled. Jeffory just stared at her, flabbergasted. It was funny, he could've sworn he had heard her curse. But that wasn't right. Kendra never cursed.
Right?
Kendra realized what she had done, and covered her mouth with her fins. "Oh my God! I just cursed! I shouldn't do stuff like that! That's your guys' job!" she exclaimed, pointing a fin at him. Jeffory glared at her, unamused. Behind her, Jack stumbled out of the air slasher, wearing an odd look on his face. "Hey! Are you calling us men VULGAR?!" he asked, looking as if he had been struck.
Kendra stopped her fussing and looked at him for a moment. "Well, no... I meant..." she trailed off awkwardly. "'Cause if you are..." Jack paused for dramatic effect. Kendra tensed. "...thank you!" he finished, a dopey grin on his face. Jeffory face-palmed, and even Hunter stopped wailing to stare blankly at him.
"Anyway..." Kendra said, changing the subject. "I can't get in touch with the Academy and it's getting colder now!" she was obviously beginning to panic. And for good reason. Jeffory could see the sun disappearing over the mountains in the distance. "Damn, more and more monsters are going to be coming out after dark..." he muttered.
"I don't like the dark..." muttered Hunter looking over his shoulder, obviously on edge. Jack groaned. "Oh, grow a pair, Hunt!" he said, pointing at his nether-regions. Kendra looked revolted, Jeffory face-palmed yet again and Hunter looked insulted.
They fell into an awkward silence, before Jeffory suddenly felt a pull in his chest. It was coming from the direction of the Silverwing. He began walking away from his friends and towards the Silverwing. Kendra looked at him in worry, and Jack mirrored her look. "Hey, Jeff? Where ya goin'?" he called. But Jeffory ignored him-no- he didn't even hear him. All he could hear were the strange sounds coming from the downed dragon. It was a... humming sound.
As he grew closer, the humming grew much, much louder. And on top of that, he could swear his legs were moving on their own. As soon as he got to the dragon's side, he dropped to his knees, the rotting body's stench filled his nose and it made him gag. Even so, he continued listening to the sound. It was no longer a hum. It was a voice.
"Oh, no..." Jeffory muttered to himself, suddenly feeling alone.
"Je...ffffffff...ory..." it hissed, barely above a whisper. This voice sounded different than the sound he had begun to associate with the being within him. It sounded quieter. Calm, perhaps? As soon as it had started, however, the voice stopped. It was as if it had said his name in a dying breath... "Jeff?" Hunter called from the airship, but like with Jack, Jeffory did not hear him. He began circling the Silverwing silently. When he reached its right leg, he stopped and dropped to his knees, as something shiny caught his attention.
He reached over to its talon and noticed something chained around it. "What is..." he muttered. He pulled the chain off of it and examined it. It was a tag. And on it was...
"Project D.W..." Jeffory muttered. Horror struck him when he remembered seeing that in his dream; his nightmare. He had hoped it had been just a dream... but this "Project" was real and this...was the result. The increased ferocity, even more tolerance to pain... Jeffory began to shake.
"Jeffory!" Jack's voice snapped him out of his trance. "You are SERIOUSLY freaking me out!" Hunter added. Jeffory stood up and turned back to his friends, pocketed the tag, and walked back to them.
"What was that about?" Hunter asked, arching a brow. Jeffory took out the tag, and showed it to Hunter. "What is..." the kougra trailed off, perplexed. "I've seen it," Jeffory told him. "In one of my dreams," he added when Jack and Hunter sent him a confused stare. "You need to show this to the Commander," said Hunter. Jeffory's eyes narrowed. "And why should I do that?" he snapped. Hunter narrowed his eyes as well. "Because it may have something to do with the strange monster behaviour," he began. "it may hold a clue as to how we can put a stop to it. Y'know, defend Neopia. Our job," he finished with finality, and Jeffory glared, but nodded.
Then, he noticed Kendra's lack of participation in the prior conversation, and looked over to her. She had one fin over her ear, and the other was holding her cell-phone. She looked pretty pleased with herself, and Jeffory hoped she had gotten ahold of someone.
"Did you get someone?!" asked Jack loudly, and Jeffory silenced him by clamping a hand over his mouth. Kendra gave them an appreaciative glance before letting out an excited squeal.
"Oh, um... This is Kendra Mayer from the Brightvale Defenders Academy! Yes, we are currently in the middle of the Fairy Plains. We were sent on a mission but our ship crashed and we're stranded," Kendra explained the situation to whoever was on the opposite line. Jeffory wasn't sure if it was because of the bitter cold, but her cheeks were turning red. Who was she talking to?
"Yeah, thanks," she said before hanging up, still red in the face. She placed the phone back in her pocket before looking over to see her friends giving her weird looks. "Umm..." she started, awkwardly. "Who were ya talkin' to?" asked Hunter, getting to the point. "Oh, um it was Thomas," she explained. Thomas?! thought Jeffory, confused.
"Yeah, um that was the techo you met last year... You know, he hangs out with Scott and Josh..." she was obviously embarrased. Jack looked violated. "What was the point in calling him?" asked Jack, sounding a little bit harsher than intended. Or maybe it was intended. Jeffory wasn't sure.
How had she even gotten his number, Jeffory wondered.
"I don't think I care much for your tone, Jack, but he and the other two were going to pick us up. Turns out they're passing back through here on their way back from their mission," she explained, looking irritated. Jack fell silent, wearing a sour look on his face. "Umm... When will they be here...?" Jeffory asked Kendra, afraid she would snap at him as well. Fortunately, she didn't. "About half-an-hour," she responded curtly. Jeffory arched a brow at the strange way she was acting, but he nodded. He didn't feel like getting on her bad side.
The next thirty minutes were quite awkward. The only person Jeffory would dare to talk to was Hunter, who was slightly pre-occupied with loading the smashed pieces of the ASM2 into the remains where the group was waiting. Kendra had a small orb of fire floating on her palm and was sitting in the middle of the cramped remains, warming the team up while they waited.
The sun had gone down and most of the group (despite Hunter, who was finishing up) didn't dare go back outside, due to the bitter cold and the monsters lurking about. Hunter stumbled back into the ASM2 holding the last, tiny pieces of the airship and placing them on the ground. "Okay, when they pick us up, they'll be able to grab this as well!" he said, quite proudly.
"You really think you can fix it?" Jack spoke for the first time in awhile. Hunter hesitated. After a moment, he nodded. "I'm about forty-five percent sure," he estimated. Jack opened his mouth to respond, but a loud humming filled their ears, and he froze, his mouth hanging open.
The group all gave each other "Uh-oh" looks, before getting to their feet and hudding together. Jeffory feared it was another monster. Maybe another Silverwing? A relative, perhaps. "Uh-uh..." muttered Hunter, voicing all of their thoughts. The humming grew louder and bright lights filled the small, cramped airship.
"CLOSE ENCOUNTERS!" Jack screamed.
Suddenly, they felt themselves being lifted into the air... up, up, up...
(A/N Alrighty. A pretty short chapter, but there are some important things in this chapter that will come into play later, so this chapter is pretty important. Not a lot to say here, really. Please leave a review, and I'll see you all next time.
LaDude out.)