fleets: Dang, I bet people forgot about this story since it's been so long... X( Sorry! I'm having a ton of end-of-the-term papers to write, so I haven't been too motivated to do even more writing.
Chapter 9: A Case of Underestimation
Dark paced around in his room, trying to think of a way out. At the same time, what would he do if he escaped? He didn't know where he was, and for all he knew Hawk and Kestrel might have been telling the truth when they had told him how the government was after him. After all, Dark had that bad feeling when he first saw those government agents come around to the pizzeria to make inquiries just before the two Talon mercs had kidnapped him. And then there was that note Vaati had left that had mentioned something about being wary of the government.
But… it was the government. They were supposed to be law bringers and paragons of justice, weren't they? And on the opposite spectrum were people like Talon Three who dealt in the shady realm of the underworld, always skirting along the line of barely legal (or maybe blatantly illegal) actions. And yet, how right was that assumption? Who was he to say the government was justice, when it seemed like they dealt with equally shady ventures. The only difference was that one had more overall power than the other – one had more legitimacy backed by that powerful word "federal."
The question came down to who he trusted more: the government, or Talon Three. Should he take his chances with his country, or should he take his chances with a group that had once attempted to get rid of him and his friends a while ago? Logically speaking the answer appeared obvious, but Vaati had thrown his cards in with the former leader of Talon.
But then… Hawk and Kestrel had mentioned how Talon Three had disbanded. It was all too possible that Dugal and the rest were no longer on the same side.
This was too confusing.
"Hey Bates," he mumbled under his breath. The little sentry eye that had been floating by the windowsill with its eye closed woke up. "Whose side should I be on?"
The eye flapped its wings once, its equivalent of a shrug. "It is inherently obvious that I would allot myself to whatever Lord Vaati decrees as an advantageous arbitration."
"Mmm," Dark hummed to himself, still thinking about what to do. Just then, there was a faint knock from the door and Hawk and Kestrel walked in. Dark immediately jumped off the bed he was sitting on, but Hawk raised a hand.
"Relax." He and Kestrel dragged over the chairs in the room and sat down across from Dark. As a sign of apparent truce, they placed their guns on a table in front of them out of reach. Dark relaxed a little, but he eyed them with caution just in case. He didn't trust that they didn't have something else besides their guns; he doubted they would place themselves in a defenseless position.
Hawk ran a hand through his hair. "A few things have come up and we decided it would be best if we told you what we knew so we can have your full cooperation."
Dark said nothing and instead regarded them with a suspicious eye. Hawk continued, while Kestrel sat next to him expressionlessly.
"I'm sure you've heard about how the United States is being suspected of withholding information regarding Avilux. Kestrel here," Hawk poked his thumb over to Kestrel, "managed to piece things together from what we knew from Dugal as well as from a few classified cables from the government, and can confirm that this is true. The US knows more about Avilux than it is admitting to everyone else. The thing we don't know is why they're keeping things hidden, but we can make a few accurate guesses," Hawk winced at the word; he wasn't a fan of rumors and speculation, "from what we know of the government's movements."
Hawk held out his hand toward Kestrel, and at this moment the other man shifted in his seat and took out his computer. He pressed a few keys, and then passed it over to Hawk who then turned the screen around for Dark to see. It was a satellite image of a mountain range, and Dark recognized the blazing fireball that had been the chaotic goddess they had gone against a while ago. The same image had been released in public when it had first caused a commotion.
"This photograph hasn't been released to the public," Hawk explained, and Dark looked up at him in surprise. The man pointed at the corner of the image where there was a blurred, grey smudge that was out of focus. "Look here. Do you see anything odd about that part of the picture?"
"It's just a grey smudge. Maybe clouds?"
"That's what they appear to be, yes," Hawk agreed in a voice that suggested both of them knew more about the smudge than they let on. Frowning, Dark leaned forward to look at the smudge again.
Then, he gasped when it occurred to him what it could have been.
Hawk smirked. "You and I know that those aren't clouds, Dark. You probably know more about it than we do, but we pieced a little bit together from Dugal's behavior after the Avilux incident, as well as what we gathered from government cables. That is what the government is currently calling the Castle in the Sky, and Kestrel and I are fairly certain that you, your friends, and Dugal have been there before."
Dark froze, while Bates fluttered towards his shoulder. "They know about the Master's Palace…"
Before Dark could decide whether or not to tell the two men that they were right, Hawk caught on to his split hesitation. "Aha. So we were right and you do know about it."
Dark flattened his lips. It was no use hiding it now. "So how did the government find out about it?"
At this, an outright murderous expression appeared fleetingly on Hawk and Kestrel's face. They glanced at each other, and it was a few seconds later when Hawk smiled sourly at Dark. "That's because one of our former coworkers decided he could gain a better profit by working with the government after Talon Three disbanded."
"Once Dugal lost his arm there was nothing to stop Condor from doing what he wanted. He didn't consider the two of us a big enough threat to take him down if he sided with the government and leaked everything he knew about Talon Three," Kestrel mumbled bitterly. "The only reason why they haven't caught us yet is because they're using all of their energies in tracking Dugal down instead."
"And they still haven't caught him yet?" Dark was a little impressed.
"No," Hawk paused, "but I dare say it's only a matter of time before they catch up to him. We don't think he knows about Condor feeding the government information about how we work."
"And what does this have to do with you guys kidnapping me?"
"The only reason why we're interested in you is because Condor and the government is interested in you." Hawk gave his charmingly disarming smile again. "They are bound to be frustrated if we take whatever they were interested out of their hands."
"Unfortunately we found out recently that they're more interested in your Engst friend, who we suspect is with Dugal at the moment," Kestrel added.
Dark raised a skeptical eyebrow. "So basically you're picking a fight with America because you're upset with one guy who decided to follow a more legal life?"
Hawk wagged a finger, tutting. "Not 'upset,' but absolutely 'furious.' We don't take kindly to traitors."
"But it's the government!"
"We're stubborn when it comes to these things."
Dark crossed his arms over his chest and took a deep breath. He turned his head slightly towards his shoulder to look at Bates for help, but the sentry simply oversaw the conversation with mild interest. Shifting his weight, Dark frowned and gazed at Hawk sternly. "So I can either throw my lot in with you guys or the government."
At this moment, Kestrel scoffed. "I'll say this frankly, but you don't have a choice, kid. You're coming with us."
As Dark began to protest, Hawk held up a hand and stood up, interrupting him. "Before you argue with us, just keep this in mind: there's a good reason for the speculations of America attempting to create a super-weapon. Don't think your country is always on your side."
Hawk and Kestrel left Dark to think about those words.
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Vaati groggily rubbed his eyes as he blinked at the early morning sun. He'd had some trouble falling asleep thanks to the combined effect of jetlag and general unease of being within ten feet of someone he didn't like. Groaning, he rolled over off the couch, and with a cat-like stretch he stumbled towards the door to get some fresh air.
The rolling gurgle of the waves lapping against the beach was surprisingly loud to his ears. He figured he would've enjoyed the soothing sound if he wasn't already irritable from his messed up sleep pattern. Vaati took off his shoes and took a few steps down the beach, letting the sand tickle his toes and enjoying his first time completely alone since a while. The tropical humidity of the island was the only thing he didn't particularly like, as it forced him to abandon his purple-grey jacket: he liked the feeling of having something around his shoulders, and walking around with only a t-shirt made him feel exposed. He understood practicality though – he wasn't so stubborn about it that he was going to walk around sweating underneath his jacket…
He whipped up a small wind in the sand and watched the beige, grainy tornado make its way out to sea.
Alone. Alone at last.
As soon as Vaati allowed himself a small hint of a smile, he heard something else mixed with the sound of the waves. His mouth immediately flipped into a frown. It was voices, he was sure of it. It had been a brief sound but it had been different enough from the other natural sounds of the island that his ears had caught it. To confirm, he saw a faint flicker of light in the far side of the beach, and the shadow of a ship even farther out in the ocean. So much for being alone.
The low thud of the plane door opening made Vaati turn his head. Dugal was up and mostly awake – the sorcerer was pleased to see that though the Talon leader could hide his fatigue, he couldn't hide the faint dark rings that were faintly evident under his eyes. He appeared less like the dangerous Talon and more like a ruffled businessman especially since he had opted not to wear his trademark black suit in the hot, humid weather.
Dugal looked as though he was going to say something to Vaati, but then his head shot up towards where the faint light had been. His eyes narrowed behind the glasses when he saw the ship in the far distance.
"Ohhh let me guess – there are people on this island who aren't supposed to be here," Vaati drawled sarcastically. "It's starting to seem that you have incredibly poor planning."
"Since when have they been here?" Dugal asked sharply, ignoring Vaati's quip.
Vaati shrugged. "They were there when I walked outside." He pointed at the plane that was invisible to the naked eye thanks to his concealment spell. "We can just sit tight inside the plane until they leave. They won't be able to find it."
Dugal rubbed his wrists as he stared out at the flickering lights that were gradually approaching. Then, shaking his head he immediately jumped down from the plane. "No. If we stay here for a week then they may leave, but we can't do that."
"Tch yeah, I would hate to sit in that plane with you for a week."
"Sentiments shared," Dugal replied stiffly. Then, "I would prefer to take care of the temple as soon as possible before this place gets overrun by the government, and leave when we're done."
"You're sure it's the government?"
"Absolutely. Though I don't know how they figured out where we were…"
Vaati sneered. "Perhaps you underestimated them?" He shoved the thought aside on how he was guilty of underestimating opponents as well. "And what makes you think they won't follow us into this temple of yours?"
Dugal gave a tight-lipped smirk. "They won't." Brushing sand away from his shoes, he quickly walked towards the brush.
Vaati frowned at the retreating figure. Back when he had reigned as the greatest sorcerer alive, he hadn't exactly known anyone else with the same degree of disgusting confidence he'd had. He'd never really thought much of his own arrogance before. Now that he was with someone with a similar sense of superiority he was beginning to see what his own mistakes in the past had been.
Firstly, the inability to admit making a mistake. It was obvious to any idiot by now that things weren't going according to predictions, yet the Talon leader was stubborn to deviate from original plans because he adamantly believed that his original plans were flawless. Second, the idea of invincibility even though he was crippled in more ways than one. It sounded like Dugal was forgetting he no longer had the same status he had a few years ago ever since his exclusive group had disbanded and he'd lost his good arm.
Even though Dugal's past track record for getting things done was no doubt impressive, Vaati was beginning to have some doubts on this venture's success. Maybe he was having doubts because he wasn't the one in charge and he never trusted anyone else to do a better job than him. Maybe it was because he had committed the same mistakes again and again (as much as he hated to admit it) back in the past…
"Whatever," he muttered. He was just going to follow along for the time being until he understood more about what was going on. For now it was a game of patience: a clear deviation from his earlier approach. It would be nice to think he'd learned a thing or two from his past… failures. That he was more dangerous because of it.
Because when he did learn more about the whole picture of what was going on, the claws were going to come out. Dugal wasn't stupid – he probably knew he'd lose control of Vaati if he let him know too much.
XXXXXXXXX
Dugal didn't understand it. He thought he'd taken every precaution to keep anyone off of their tails, and during all of his years in the field this was the first time someone had caught up to them this much. Of course, perhaps this was the first time he was dealing with the government being extremely serious about catching him. They were bringing out jet fighters for Din's sake; he certainly hadn't expected that one. Sure he'd caused trouble before, but not to the extent that they were involving military force.
He pushed aside the broadleaved tropical plants that were growing in the way of his path, making them rustle behind him. At least, he thought, he had the mysterious Engst boy with him. He trusted that the kid would be able to throw off most pursuers with those strange powers of his, but at the same time he knew he couldn't rely on them forever. Most of the reason why his powers worked at all was because their pursuers didn't know what to make of them: once they got used to them it was going to be a lot harder to run.
Dugal frowned, and then turned his head when he noticed there was no rustling noise behind him where Vaati was supposed to be following. He was momentarily taken aback when he saw the sorcerer hovering above the plants and following him instead of walking through them. Vaati noticed him looking his way, and shot a smug grin as he flipped his hair out of his face. "Worried I wasn't following you? I'm just silent like the wind. Hahahaha!" The sorcerer laughed at his own joke.
"You're much too talkative for that, Mr. Engst," Dugal snapped moodily and shoved the impeding plants aside with more force than necessary. The good thing was that Engst probably had a few more tricks that he wasn't sharing yet that would still be good for getting rid of anyone who got too close to them. The bad thing was... also that Engst probably had a few more tricks that he wasn't sharing yet. Dugal wasn't prone to trusting other people to begin with, but with the Engst boy it was even worse. There was something about the kid's eyes that were unnerving, and it wasn't just because they were an unnatural red, which he'd always assumed was from albinism…
No, there was that glint in the kid's eyes that he'd only ever seen in the very few people who he had pegged as a legitimate threat. His eyes had that hungry look to them – the look that said nothing was going to stop him from getting what he wanted. While that kind of persistence was a good thing when they were on his allies, they were troublesome when they were on someone independent and selfish like the sorcerer. Neither Dugal nor Vaati were the type to follow – they weren't going to last very long as soon as either side had all of the information they wanted.
Because as much as Dugal hated to admit it, he was relying heavily on Vaati for this venture and without him he would be forced to give it up. He needed his expertise on magic to get through the temple. To make sure Vaati didn't take advantage of his dependence, Dugal was doing everything to make sure the sorcerer didn't learn more about this project than he needed to. In this way, Vaati was dependent on Dugal for information.
The only thing… the ONLY thing that was keeping the two of them on equal grounds of respect was their dependence on each other to succeed. It was a tricky game; as soon as Dugal allowed Vaati to figure out his pieces on his own, it was over, for the sorcerer would no doubt turn on him to finish the project without him.
He wasn't going to let that happen.
Dugal stopped walking. He strained his ears to see if he could catch the noise he thought he had just heard. Vaati had heard it too, and the sorcerer floated lower in the air as he snapped his neck from left to right. Dugal was the first to catch movement and he grabbed the hovering sorcerer by the foot and yanked him down next to him behind the dense brush. Ignoring Dugal's insistence to stay low, Vaati raised his head slightly towards where there had been something sneaking around. He frowned – there were several men in military gear who were guiding flashlights through the shadows casted by the trees in the faint light of dawn. They were bothersome, but Vaati was pretty sure he could handle them and have them out of the way.
"Do you want me to get rid of them?" Vaati mouthed quietly. He gave a mischievous grin. "I can turn them into stone, if you'd like, and set them up along the beach. Maybe they'll spread rumors of Medusa and Gorgons on this island."
Before Dugal could reply, there was a strange movement in the shadows of the trees next to them. Both their heads immediately to the unusual shadows by the trees; they were cast towards the direction of the sun in the opposite direction of natural shadows, and they… moved. As in they stretched from one shadow to the next like dripping wax, except it was very quick moving wax. Dugal said nothing, but turned towards Vaati for an explanation. Vaati only shrugged.
"Don't look at me, I don't know what that is." Then, with more frustration he added, "Maybe if you told me a little more about this temple I would be able to help you more."
Dugal kept his temper in check. "Now is not the time to argue, Mr. Engst." He took a cautious step back away from the goopy shadows that were circling them and slowly approaching.
The shadows continued to circle, jumping from one forest shade to another and never staying in sunlight for long. Vaati counted three of them moving together. His eyes trailed off from the moving shadows to where he and Dugal were currently crouching. It was then he got a bad feeling about the way the shadows were moving.
In an effort to hide from the searching military, the two of them had ended up ducking within a large shade.
"Hey Dugal, we need to move out of here," Vaati hissed. "Never mind those guys searching for us with flashlights – I'll take care of them. We have to get out of this shade."
Dugal shifted his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Is there a need to hurry without fully understanding – "
"Think about why you hired me you insolent fool! It's a sorcerer's instinct and I trust it more than I trust you." He quickly and forcefully grabbed the other man's left arm to drag him up to the tree canopy and into the sunlight.
He was equally forcefully stopped by Dugal's prosthetic right. "What are you doing?" Dugal seethed, obviously offended by the wind mage's choice of words.
Vaati was about to retaliate with a good burst of magical energy to the insufferable man's face. He was on the verge of losing his patience anyway, and he had convinced himself that he had had enough of playing the civil game. Before he could gain that sense of satisfaction, however, the goopy shadows chose that moment to strike and rushed towards the two dysfunctional allies with frightening speed.
By the time Vaati let go of Dugal to prepare a defensive spell, fifteen-inch dark claws shot out of the ground and slammed against the sorcerer's legs, pulling him down to the ground. They were cold to the touch, and then there was a numbing sensation where they came in contact with the skin. "No!" He brought his hand back to fight, but before he could do anything there was a heavy impact across the back of his head, making him black out.
Just before he lost consciousness, he saw Dugal try to reach for something to defend himself. Something large and black moved across his view and it pounced on the struggling man, pinning him to the ground. The thing had the silhouette of an emaciated dog with its black, leathery skin hanging loosely over its skin. The creature arched its neck and began to bark towards the military that had been searching for them. Vaati felt pressure on his chest and saw the monstrous claws of another dog holding him down.
These… things… they're with the government?
The last image Vaati remembered seeing was a single, faintly glowing, mechanical eye as the hound swung its head towards him.
fleets: Let me give a quick recap/reasoning for my logic behind this chapter since it's been so long since the last chapters (and you might be lazy to go back to them; I know I would be :P). I know you're all thinking that Dugal and Vaati (and probably especially Dugal) are being a whole lot of fail right now. I mean, seriously, these two are making mistakes left and right to an embarrassing extent (and have they really claimed a victory at all at any point in this story? Not really). "Hey fleets!" you argue, "aren't these two characters supposed to be your badass, all-powerful, unstoppable and arrogant duo? What the bleep is going on?!"
Well Thistle (Farore bless his crazy soul) got something right when he predicted that these two are super competent, but only when they're not working together ;)
Also doggies! I kind of hinted at their existence in a quick sketch i did on devart a while back. I'll put up a better deviation of them later, probably.
Midna Hytwilian: Why would I make things easy for them? Except for maybe the bad guys. XD
TwilightWakerofTime: I kind of miss showcasing his abilities, too. I'm trying to find more instances where he can show them off :P
Reily96: I was thinking of writing a scene just before their breakup, but then I figured it would make this already too long story into something way too long :P Hawk's good. Just not Dugal good (but now he's probably at the top since Duggie lost his arm lawl).
i-wish-799: Thank you! Yes, they're going to appear more in this story than the last story. And sorry about the slow updating! D:
msfcatlover: Nope! They're going to have to get used to it quick though, especially with Bates around. :P Yup it's Condor. He found a better gig now that Dugal lost his influence.
LilyMoonstone: I think Bates would appreciate a good cuddle. Bates: x3
jioplip: I like the chess metaphor! I think it can definitely fit for this story. Dugal being the White King makes sense, because he's the linch pin for the Black side to win. Vaati being the White Queen is also perfect, because that's one of the most powerful pieces in chess, having it taken is a huge detriment to the white side, and he's also feminine to boot (er... don't tell him I said that). Actually, I agree with everything on the white side so far. I guess I haven't given much away for the black side (though I agree with the black pawns). You've got it figured out pretty well so far! I guess we have to figure out what pieces Condor, Thistle, and Thyme, and any other unintroduced characters would fill (I think between those three it's obvious Condor will probably be on the black side for now).
Vaati the wind mage1: You're on the right track if you're thinking of something from Phantom Hourglass/Spirit Tracks ;). Yeah I wouldn't really enjoy having to sort out memories from more than one life DX
SubZeroChimera: Yup! One of the temples from the ocean based games (i.e. PH/ST). Probably not exactly the same, but I'm planning to follow the same features.
Shadow R-B: Vaati's just playing the waiting game until he can find the right opportunity to seize power away from Dugal. Of course it might be a little while because of this new development. :P
Kate: Dark's got a tough choice to make (if he even has one! Those guys are stubborn). At first I thought this story was going to be over 30 chapters, but now it might be closer to 20. Actually I have no idea. It'll depend on how many chapters I'll need to do each "checkpoint" in my outline justice. We're not at the halfway point yet, that's for sure. And thanks! :)
Sapphiet: Hahaha maybe I'll do a drunk Vaati scene again for the fun of it (even though I don't really know where I'll fit it in this story. Actually... I might know of one and it involves Thistle lol).