|| And here we have chapter 4 of Sunburn and Stealth Elf, AKA "the part where it turns into a bad soap opera". ||

Chapter Four

It was around eight o'clock when Sunburn awoke the next morning. Stealth Elf had totally crashed immediately after he'd finished his story, which was to be expected as she hadn't slept in nearly forty-eight hours. Sunburn stood up and stretched, yawned loudly, then stepped outside the tree. The Sun was high in the sky, though it wasn't glaring because the trees were blocking a lot of it's light. He wandered a bit, not straying too far from the hollow tree, until deciding to sit down on the grass. He cast a glance back to the tree, then, bored out of him mind, began to sing quietly.

"Well, I don't show off, don't criticize

"I'm just livin' by my own feelings

"And I won't give in, won't compromise

"'Cuz I only have a steadfast heart of gold

"I don't know why, I can't leave though it might be tough

"But I ain't out of control, just livin' by my word

"Don't ask me why, I don't need a reason

"I got my way, my own way..."

In her corner, Stealth stirred. Sunburn wasn't very good at being quiet. She sat up and grumbled, fixed her hair, then stepped outside to see what the hell Sunburn was up to.

"It doesn't matter

"Now what happens, I will never give up the fight

"Long as the voice inside drives me to run and fight

"It doesn't matter who is wrong and who is-"

"What are you doing?" Stealth cut him off, successfully scaring the crap out of him.

Sunburn turned back to her, trying to regain his complexion and look as though she hadn't freaked him out. "Oh, er, uh, hey Stealth Elf. I, uh, what are you doing up already?"

Stealth glanced up at the sun, quickly determined it's position, then replied, "I would not be if you had not woken me up."

Sunburn sweatdropped. "Oh, sorry... I'm sort of loud by nature."

"I can tell." She sat down beside him, inhaled deeply, and exhaled. "It is a beautiful day, hm?"

Sunburn nodded. "Yeah... Man, what I give to be back at the Citadel instead of on a mission. Eh... speaking of which, we should get a move on. The longer we stand here doing nothing, the worse things are going to get." He stood himself up and started forward. "Go back to sleep," he instructed. "I'll be back soon."

With a scowl, Stealth replied, "No. I am going with you." she declared promptly.

"We agreed yesterday," Sunburn reminded her. "You stay. I go. Got it?" Stealth Elf was just sort of... staring. "Nngh, don't do that! It's creepy!" The phoenix sighed. "Look, you can come after me if I don't return in three hours, got it?" She was still staring at him. "You have no idea what an hour is, do you?" Stealth shook her head. Sunburn looked away in exasperation. "Okay, right then... Just come looking for me when I've been gone for a long time, okay?"

Stealth nodded slowly. "Okay..."

Sunburn flashed a smile, then turned back around to leave.

"U-Um..." He turned back, his left eye twitching. "Y-You have been gone a long time..."

Sunburn blinked. Then he smiled again. "Stay put, alright? That's all I ask. I'll be back soon."

He left before Stealth Elf could manage a response. She watched him go. "How soon...?"

"Yes! Yes!" Kaos exclaimed. "At long last! Victory is mine!"

Glumshanks tilted his head. "'At long last?' Sir, it hasn't even been two days."

"I know." Kaos smirked. "I'm just awesome like that."

Whirlwind, in a cell with her name etched over it, was shooting a death glare at the Dark Portal Master. Trigger Happy was scratched eagerly at the glass separating him from Kaos, who was tauntingly spinning one of his goldslinging guns on his finger.

While Kaos cackled heartily, Glumshanks was taking a closer look at the capsules in the wall. He clenched his teeth. "M-My lordship..." he stammered.

"What?!" Kaos snapped. "Can't you see I'm busy making people miserable?!"

"I hate to break it to you, sir, but you're celebrating too soon."

Questioningly, Kaos looked back up at the thirty-two capsules in the wall. Sure enough, and much to his shock, only thirty of them were filled. "WHAT?!" he roared. "How could this have happened?! All of the search parties came back positive! Glumshanks!"

The troll jumped. "U-U-Uh... one of the parties must have failed and panicked... Lied about being positive. Maybe."

Kaos growled and turned away. The Skylanders were muttering among themselves, and Trigger Happy heard Whirlwind say determinedly, "Sunburn and Stealth Elf." "Ugh, those filthy little-!" said Kaos in frustration. "Agh, you can't even trust your own minions to do anything these days!"

Glumshanks was fighting the urge to say "Well maybe if you paid them..." but he instead said, "What do you suggest, my lord?"

Kaos folded his arms and tapped his foot. For a moment, it was silent. Even the Skylanders (those that weren't unconscious) were anxiously awaiting his response. "Glumshanks," the Portal Master said. "I want you to hire Bounty Hunters."

His servant looked taken aback. "B-Bounty Hunters, my lord?" Kaos nodded. "B-But, those are even less reliable that what you already have! B-Besides, how are we supposed to pay them?"

Kaos shot one of Trigger Happy's guns and grabbed the coin out of the air. "Money isn't and issue." Glumshanks clenched his teeth. "Go now!" Kaos barked. With that, the troll scurried away.

Stealth Elf was sitting quietly inside the hollowed tree, drawing in the dirt with a stick. This was generally her favorite pastime, besides stabbing things. She wasn't sure what exactly she was drawing. Most of it was total nonsense. Some of it made some form of sense. A lot of it would only make sense to somebody who was very in touch with nature, a Life element. Or maybe none of it made any sense whatsoever. It was very difficult to tell.

The thing is that Stealth wasn't really paying attention to what she was doodling. For some reason, her mind was fixed on Sunburn, and she couldn't draw her thoughts away from him. (The numskull,) she thought. (Why do I care? I do not. I do not care. I should not care. I should just wait for him like he said, and then finish the mission...) She startled herself upon realizing that she was starting to draw the Fire Elemental emblem. She quickly wiped it out of the dirt, making sure that there was no trace of it ever being there in the first place. She heaved a sigh. (This is stupid.)

She stood up and walked outside, her legs somewhat numb as she had been sitting in a seiza-style (sitting upon the legs, or kneeling). That didn't happen very often. Or maybe she just didn't notice it normally, as it was the way she always sat. She glanced up at the sun, which was marginally farther from the spot it was in when she had last checked it. It had been nearly two and a half hours since Sunburn had left to explore the island, though Stealth had no real way to determine this. However, she could tell that it had been a reasonable amount of time, and it would probably be sensible to look for him now. She questioned why she was actually worried about his return, eventually drawing the conclusion that she had no way to leave without him. Making sure that both of her daggers were in hand, she scaled a tree and set out.

Sometime later, on the other side of the island, Sunburn was soaring above the trees. He had already checked every centimeter of the island's ground, and there was nothing living there at all besides the plants. He'd thought maybe that there was something or someone hidden in the sky, but he seemed to be mistaken. "Well, this was a big waste of time." He flapped his wings and set back in the direction of the tree. "Ugh, if Stealth left to look for me then I have to go track her-" But before he could finish his thought, something blasted his wing and her came spiraling down. "Ugh! Wha-?! Ow!" He crashed through the branches of a tree and landed on the ground with a loud THUMP! Carefully he rolled onto his stomach, as he had landed on his back, and stood back up. The phoenix shook himself, then cast a glance to his bleeding wing. "Okay, who's the wise guy?!"

Somebody chuckled from a few meters away, and Sunburn swung around to face them. It was a Fire Spell Punk, smirking mischievously, accompanied by a Loose Cannon and a Drow. The Drow, unlike most, didn't wear a mask, and still had his pupils. He looked generally untrained and unprofessional, though the spear he was carrying looked lethal. The Loose Cannon was wearing a very unamused expression, unlike his companions. "Nice shot," the Spell Punk chuckled. The Loose Cannon Troll grunted in response.

"Who the hell are you?!" Sunburn exclaimed.

"Nobody important," the Spell Punk replied with a shrug. "But, uh, we are gonna have to ask you to come with us."

The Drow snickered. "Yeah, don't give us any trouble, guy," he added.

Sunburn growled. "I'll be damned if I go willfully with minions of Kaos."

"Minions?" The Spell Punk chuckled once more. "No way, nope. He just hired us to pick up you nuisance. And your friend." He turned to the Troll. "He is supposed to have a friend, isn't he?" The Troll shrugged.

"Yeah, he is," the Drow replied. "What's the plan, boss?"

Sunburn anxiously backed away, but was stopped when the Loose Cannon shot him again. The blast only grazed him, but it still caused him to stumble. "Eh, just follow my lead," the Punk said casually, wiggling his wand at Sunburn and causing him to flinch. As the Spell Punk continued to wave his wand, Sunburn's eyes drooped, and he slowly... became... unconscious...

"Sunburn?" Stealth Elf called. She bounded from one tree to another, her ears perking at the slightest of sounds. (Where...?) It seemed like it would have been smarter for her to stay in the tree. At least then Sunburn would know where she was. For all Stealth knew, Sunburn was returning to the tree at that very moment. Now the question was whether or not it was best to keep searching for him or to go back. She just didn't know... but it turned out she didn't have to. "Sunburn!" She'd found him sitting in alone clearing. Apparently he hadn't found anybody on the island, but what was he doing just sitting there? Stealth leaped down to meet him, and Sunburn glanced at her.

"What are you doing here?" he growled.

Stealth blinked. "Um... y-you told me to-"

"I told you to stay in the tree," Sunburn snapped. "Don't you know how to follow orders?"

Stealth's ears drooped slightly. She was somewhere between confused and angry, though she was trying not to show that she was either. "I-"

"I'll have you know that I'm Spyro's second in command," Sunburn was quick to cut her off. "and if you're going to be a Skylander, you have to learn how to follow orders." He narrowed his eyes at her. "Unless you don't really plan on being a Skylander..."

"W-What?"

"Unless Chop Chop was right," Sunburn continued with a rasp that wasn't normally present in his voice. "You are a double-agent, aren't you? In fact, I'll bet you killed that tree guy and framed that other tree guy! Is that right?!"

He'd hit a nerve with that accusation, but Stealth couldn't come up with a response.

Sunburn cast her a death glare. "If I were you, I'd leave before Eon saw through your disguise." But Stealth Elf didn't move. She was returning his glare steadily. "Go on! Go!" Sunburn shouted. "Go back to whatever spawn you came from."

Stealth still returned his gaze, but after a moment, gave up. "Fine." She turned and approached the tree that she came from, casting Sunburn another glance back. However, she scrambled up the tree without hesitation when he yelled "Go!" at her again. Sunburn watched her leave with somewhat of a smirk on his face. When she was well out of sight, Sunburn groaned and collapsed.

The Fire Spell Punk from before floated out of his body, snickering madly. His companion, the Loose Cannon, stepped out of the bushes. "Where's the other one?" the Spell Punk asked. The Troll pointed in the direction Stealth Elf had gone. "Already? Heh, you can always trust that guy to be right on top of things." They both turned to the unconscious Sunburn. "What do we do about this one? Poke him?" The Troll gave him a baffled look.

Stealth punched a tree and growled loudly. She tried to collect herself, pressing both hands against the tree in frustration, but it didn't seem to be working. She took took a couple steps back and fell to her knees. "Calm... down... calm..." She slowed her breathing back to it's normal pace. Then she stayed right where she was for a while. "Stupid... stupid Sunburn..." she muttered.

Something poked her in the back, and her ears perked. "What?" she grumbled without turning.

"Some day, huh?" somebody said. They walked around Stealth so she could see them. It was the unprofessional-looking Drow with the spear. "I saw you arguing with that guy. What a jerk."

Stealth looked up at him, then quickly back down. "What do you want?"

"Those Skylanders are a bunch of losers, y'know," said the Drow. "No respect, nope. None of 'em. You don't belong with them." Stealth was quiet. "I heard what that jerk accused you of. No respect, nope. Not him, not nobody. I know you're not guilty." Stealth still didn't reply. "You know who else know's you're not guilty?" the Drow asked, still being met with silence. "Kaos."

Stealth looked up at him uncertainly. "Him?"

"Yep." The Drow smirked. "Now that guy's got respect, yep. You should leave those Skylanders. Come with me. Go to Kaos. You're way better off with him."

Stealth Elf scowled and shot her gaze to the side. "My Master taught me to recognize the difference between Light and Dark," she growled. "I will die before I side with the Dark."

The Drow frowned. "Alright, then..." Stealth soon found his spear pointed at her throat. "I'm gonna have to ask that you come with me."

Stealth didn't move. She didn't say anything. She just sighed.

"I'm not poking him! You poke him!" Reluctantly, the Loose Cannon was poking Sunburn with a stick. "Be careful, my magic weakened him," the Spell Punk reminded him. The Troll continued poking until Sunburn started to stir. He opened his eyes, and upon realizing what had happened, shot up to his feet.

"Where is she?!" he roared. "Where's Stealth Elf?! What did you do to her?!" There was still blood streaming from his wing and dripping onto the grass.

"That doesn't matter," the Fire Punk said. "Now c'mon. We don't want any trouble."

Sunburn's pupils suddenly became a lot smaller. "Trouble... you've got loads of it now!" He set himself on fire and shot himself directly at the Spell Punk, effectively pummeling him.

"Hey! Hey!" The Spell Punk exclaimed. "You! You, get him!"

The Loose Cannon charged at Sunburn, knocking him into a tree. He stumbled, but continued to persist. He blasted the Troll with his fire beam, giving it's face a good burn. It roared and fired a missile at Sunburn. It his side, causing his blood to spatter the ground again. The Spell Punk clenched his teeth and examined him. "God damn it, look what you did! He's dead now!" The Troll's eyes widened. "One of a kind, too. Phoenix-dragon. Would have gone for millions on the black market." The Troll looked disappointed in itself. "Ah hey, buck up!" The Spell Punk pounded it on the back. "We'll still get plenty from Kaos."

The Troll nodded, then pointed back to Sunburn when the Fire Spell Punk started to leave. "Hm? Ah, leave him," the Punk responded. "What use do we have for a dead guy? Leave 'im here to rot, I say." So the Troll followed him back into the wood.

And for a moment...

...just a moment...

...it seemed as if all hope was lost.

|| I remember when I still legitimately used the word "sweatdrop" in my writing. I do still kind of use it... like I used sweating as a character expression, but I don't actually write out the word "sweatdrop". That's just cringey. (Ow. I hate that word.)

What, did you expect me to say something about the edgy, over-the-top cliffhanger here? Well, I'm not going to. There's really nothing for me to say about it, after all.

I will say that this story really exemplifies what a great character Sunburn is. In comparison to everyone else, at least. The way that he gets frustrated with Stealth's naïveté shows that he's flawed, but his will to protect her despite the fact that they barely know each other proves his strength. This isn't the only example, a keen eye would be able to catch more. That's the only one that I feel like pointing out, though. ||