If you've read Just a Photograph, you would know what happened. If you haven't, here's the summary. I accidentally deleted my almost completed chapter 3. Yeah that's pretty much it. I normally write in my phone, because I'm always travelling around (although I hate that).
Anyways, welcome back, writer me! And thank you, you guys and gals! Thank you for being oh-so very patient with me for 2 months ish!
Sorry for the wait (again), by the way. After my exams, my friends had planned a lot (not really) of activities for the celebration of no exams, so I was kinda busy. Went jogging for one day (every available night now), went cycling on the next day, and then badminton on the next day. And then, on the next couple of weeks, I went to work. Also, I was experimenting way too long (I apologize) on some short fanfictions (Some are TUC, [one of which I have just published] some aren't) I thought of when I was going to sleep for quite some time (What do you call them? Sleep thoughts? Bed thoughts?). So, yeah. Pretty busy.
And now, it's time. Time to unleash some words and cause mayhem. Hehe. Welcome to chapter 3! Enjoy!
As the blood balls were in range, most of my senses dulled and sharpened at the same time. My eyes were only focused on the incoming blood balls. My ears drowned the surrounding noise. My hand moved by its own. My body spun together with my daggers, almost mechanically. I felt and saw my daggers hitting a lot of blood balls. Then it was over.
My surroundings gradually came back to me. First the arena, then the shocked faces of the Underlanders. I was breathing rather heavily, I noticed. My heart rate rocketed and my head hurt as well, annoying me with a loud buzzing sound, like a bee in my ear.
What happened? Why are they like looking at me like that?
"You hit all fifteen blood balls," said a voice in my head. I recognized it as my other self.
I looked down. Fifteen oozing shells laid on the floor. My clothes were mostly red, glistening under the light. Realization slowly dawned on me.
I hit ... all fifteen. With my rager senses. Only with my rager senses.
He was silent for a while as I cursed myself.
Are you serious!? Of all the times I've fought! And it controlled me again! Again! I should've known!
"At least that's something good."
How is that 'something good'?!
"We can see Stellovet's reaction."
That calmed me a little. To wipe her stupid grin off her face and turn it into complete and utter shock sounds satisfying.
I looked back up to find her, but my vision was mostly blocked by the crowd of Underlanders rushing towards me, talking in excited voices and questioning how I did it. I felt them pressing in on me, and that was when I saw their weaknesses.
So many weaknesses. So many things to hit. The dots danced around, constantly begging and pleading me to hit them. It was like a game of darts. Those dots were the bull's-eye, and I was the thrower. The darts was on my hands. I could throw them. I could shoot and score so many points. I could win. I could end this game of -
No! Not again. I won't let you control me again. Not now, not ever.
Among the noises and buzzes, a loud and commanding voice called my name. I ignored it and called for Ares, making sure my voice was loud and clear enough.
"Ares!"
I kept my daggers and raised up my hand. A gust of wind flowed behind me, followed by a claw grabbing me by the wrist.
"I know a place," he said, after he had carefully tossed my body onto his neck.
I laid down on my bond, heavily breathing and trying my best to control it. The buzzing softened, but it still found a giant target: Ares. His fragile wings, being punctured by my daggers. His exposed neck and back, being snapped and stabbed. His eyes -
No, no, no! Dammit! Happy thoughts, happy thoughts!
But it wasn't working. All of those were altered, with blood tainted on them. That only meant one thing.
I took out my dagger and carefully rolled up the left arm side of my armor. Under the faint light, the upper side of my arm displayed a number of scars. They were all self inflicted. I aimed the blade at my bicep and scratched it, drawing blood. It barely hurt.
Ares must've heard my grunt or smelled the fresh blood, as his head jerked around and his body was tense.
"Warrior! What are you doing!?"
The blood leaked out and onto Ares's midnight fur, staining the black with an ugly pool of red. The buzzing was much softer. It was working.
"Don't worry about me. Keep on going," I said, slicing another part of my arm, bigger this time. The pain was slowly replacing the buzz. Almost there. Just a few more cuts.
Ares hesitated, unsure, but decided to comply.
"You will want light," he said, angling in toward a row of torches on the tunnel wall. I reached out and snagged one. I could see my arm now, flowing out without stopping. I covered it with my free hand, trying to stop the leak. The buzz was gone, for now.
I looked ahead, and saw where we were going. A small underground lake flanked by dozens of caves. Ares dove into one with a narrow entrance. Inside, the cave opened up into a wide space. Large crystal formations grew down from the high ceiling. I slid off his back and stood on the clear stone floor.
"Woah. Is this your secret hideout or something?" I asked, scanning my surroundings and seeing food supplies, blankets, and spare torches.
"Yes, my hideout," said Ares. "At one time it was also Henry's. We came here when we did not want to be around others. Now it is less my hideout than my home."
"Oh. Sorry for asking."
"It is fine."
Silence ensued. I wanted to ask him about Henry, but had to think of a way to phrase it right to not insult him. Once I thought that the question was alright, I spoke.
"Why did Henry bond with you?"
"Henry chose me because I was wild and known to disobey many of the rules of my land. I chose Henry because I was flattered and he was royal and under his protection I knew I could be absolved of many things," said Ares, smiling solemnly.
I nodded, understanding and secretly laughing. Who knew that Ares was a rebel? That might fit us. A bond of rebels. Of course, I was more than that, but he doesn't need to know that.
"It was not all bad. We flew well together and shared many many of the same tastes. In most ways, we were suited to each other. In one, we were not."
Ares then eyed at my left arm. I knew that he was going to ask why. But thankfully, right when he had opened his mouth, there was a rustling of wings at the cave entrance, and Aurora flew in with the Queen.
"We knew you would be here!" she cried. She bounced off Aurora and almost danced across the floor, clapping her hands together. I shifted my position, hiding my left arm with my body. I didn't want to hear questions I didn't want to answer.
"Was it not wonderful? Did you see it? Did you see the look on Stellovet's face?"
"As if she had a mouth full of vinegar," Aurora purred, apparently also in a good mood.
I cracked a smile. I could imagine that on her stupid little face.
"She thought to make you look like a fool, and instead you hit the total! Almost no one has ever done this! It was brilliant!"
So it was a very rare thing. Though, I would like to hear about the ones who did hit the total. Maybe Solovet or Mareth? I slipped in a mental note to remind myself to ask them about it. I didn't want to spoil the Queen's excitement, so I just rolled along with it.
"Really?"
"Of course! And I have not seen Stellovet so put out since the picnic!" said the Queen, giggling at the memory.
The bats made a "huh, huh, huh" sound. It took me a moment to realize that they were laughing.
I cocked my head, interested and amused. "What happened?"
"You should have seen it. Vikus forced us all to go this picnic with my Fount cousins because he thought it would help us get along better. And Stellovet kept pretending she heard rats, and making Nerissa terrified. So Henry trick her into eating moth cocoons. She spent the whole afternoon picking silk out of her teeth and saying, 'Ah will noth forgeth thiseth!'" she said, doing a pretty great imitation of someone with their mouth full of silk.
"Henry could trick her into anything." Ares said, followed by a few more "huh, huh, huhs." And then suddenly his laughter faded. "He could trick all of us."
Their happiness drowned and was replaced by sorrow. That traitor had treated them far worse than he had treated Stellovet.
"Whatever Henry was wrong about, he was right about my Fount cousins," she said grimly. "Especially Stellovet. She dreams of Nerissa and me dying because she thinks Vikus would be made king then and she, as his granddaughter would be a princess."
Another quiet moment. I knew that little vixen was pretty bad, but not that bad. I found another reason to dislike her.
Then, Aurora piped up on a more positive note. "The Warrior's feat will be good for you, Ares."
"We shall see," said Ares.
"It will. It will do you no harm to have a bond who can hit the total," said Luxa with conviction. "No one will dare ignore you now."
I looked away from them. They would definitely not ignore him if they heard that he was bonded to a once-psychopathic killer. I 'saw' Ares glancing at the ground and looking sorrow, but with a glimmer of hope.
Suddenly, Ares's and Aurora's heads shot up.
"What is it?" I asked, immediately alert.
There was a high and wailing pitched horn blowing in the distance. Luxa listened a second and then leaped onto Aurora's back. They were gone in a flash.
"It is a warning, Warrior. You had best mount up," said Ares.
I eyed at the torch I brought. Should I take it with me? I had echolocation, but I didn't want others to find out about it. I didn't want to make myself more superior than I already am. People might ask troublesome questions. But I could use the darkness to conceal my freshly made scars, which would avoid another set of questions. There were so many contradictons. I couldn't decide. What should -
"Warrior!" hissed Ares, clearly ready to take off. "We must hurry!"
Screw it.
I grabbed the torch and threw my leg over his neck. We were immediately airborne.
"What kind of warning is it?" I asked as we swerved out over the lake.
Ares spoke calmly, but his muscles were tense. "It means that rats have entered Regalia."
Rats? Here? Now? Sweet.
"Faster, Ares!" I blurted out, sounding too excited.
Ares gave me a confused look, but didn't push it. "Yes, Warrior, I will hurry," he said. His powerful wings were beating up and down in a blur.
As we sped into the arena, a guard shouted at us and waved at the massive stone doors that separated the playing field from the city. "There are just the two! There, by the doors! Stay back!"
Ares put on the brakes, but we were close enough to get a good view of the battle on the ground. In front of the doors were two rats fighting for their lives against a dozen humans on bats. The smaller rat seemed to leap amazingly high off the ground. It was not getting a lot of action, though, because a much larger rat was shielding it from the brunt of the attack.
I could recognize that rat anywhere.
"It's Ripred! Stop them!"
Ares was already diving. He swooped in from the side, knocking two riders off the front line. He did a figure eight that disoriented a few more, and did a strange hovering motion in the air over Ripred's head, probably signalling them to stop.
They pulled back to avoid hitting him, but began to shout angrily at Ares to move.
"Stop! It's Ripred!" I hollered over the din. They heard the name Ripred, and the Underlanders pulled back in silence.
The big rat stopped spinning and fell almost lazily on its back. His scarred face broke into a big, fanged grin, and he started to laugh. "Oh, look at them, Overlander. Are they not priceless?"
I wanted to agree with him and laugh, as some of the Underlanders' mouths were literally hanging open, but I stifled the impulse. I didn't want to ruin my reputation.
"No," I said, but half of my lips curved up, forcing me to do a half smile. Fortunately, that smile was not seen by the Underlanders. Unfortunately, it was seen by Ripred.
He guffawed even louder. "You know it is! You know you want to laugh, too!"
"Just shut up, Ripred," I said, finally getting that smile off my face. He completely ignored me and chortled in glee.
I scanned around. Not one important figure I recognized was here. Where the hell was Solovet? Shouldn't the general be here?
"Can someone get Solovet?" Nobody answered or flew off. They just sat on their bats, staring hard at the two rats and ready to attack.
Damn. Looks like my title isn't high enough.
I faced to the smaller rat, who hunkered back against the doors, wide-eyed and panting. Was it asthmatic?
"Can I try talking to it?" asked my other self.
Fine. But don't do anything stupid.
As he took control, he extended his hand to it and said, "Hey, sorry about this. I'm Ryan. Nice to meet you."
The rat pulled its gums back from its teeth and hissed viciously at him, causing both Ares and him to flinch.
To make it worse, Ripred was beating his tail on the ground in a spasm of hilarity. "Oh! Oh! You needn't try to sweettalk her," he gasped. "Twitchtip hates everybody!"
I instantly got back in control.
What the hell do you think you're doing!?
"What? I'm trying to be friendly!"
To a rat!?
"Yeah! You've been friendly towards Ripred. Why not her?"
Okay, that's it. You're banned.
"But I thought we agreed on - "
That agreement was over since you did that. Now stay in there and think of what you've done.
He was silent as I ranted in my head.
God dammit. You've embarrassed me in front of freaking Ripred. I had thought that we were going to fight a rat army, but I get this.
In the middle of my complaints, someone interrupted.
"Ground formation," commanded a voice, and I turned to see Solovet on a bat coming in for a landing. The Underlanders brought their bats down in a tight diamond pattern. Ignoring Ripred, Solovet walked through the soldiers and bats, sending the wounded off to get medical attention. Then she dismissed the rest.
By this time, Ripred had pulled himself together and was stretched out comfortably on his side. Twitchtip still had her nose buried in the hole, in the moss. She was breathing through her mouth in short, distressed puffs.
Solovet crossed to the rats, signaling Ares to land as she went. She surveyed the invaders stonily. "I have just sent eleven of my ranks to the hospital."
"Oh, I barely scratched them. I was just giving them a little live rat practice, and I think we both have to admit they need it," Ripred said with a significant nod.
"You were supposed to meet an escort guard at Queenshead tomorrow," said Solovet.
"Was that tomorrow? I felt certain it was today, And we waited and waited and poor Twitchtip was so eager for her first glimpse of Regalia and I didn't have the heart to disappoint her another minute. Right, Twitchtip?" Ripred said, poking the rat with the tip of his tail.
Twitchtip yanked her nose from the moss, snapped at Ripred's tail, which he whipped out of reach just in time, and shoved her nose back in the earth.
"Isn't she a charmer? Isn't she just irresistible?" said Ripred. "And I've had her all to myself on a journey from the Dead Land. Imagine the fun."
Twitchtip glowered at him but didn't attack again.
"And for what reason do we have the pleasure of her company?" Solovet asked, eyeing Twitchtip.
"Why, I have brought her as a gift. For you, for your people, and for our Warrior here. Yes, especially for Ryan ," said Ripred.
I got caught off guard. Ripred giving me a present? That's unlike him. "For me?"
"Well, not literally. It's not as if I own her. But I made a bargain with her. She's agreed to help you find the Bane, and I've agreed to let her live with my merry little band of rats in the Dead Land if she succeeds," said Ripred. "You see, she was driven out of the gnawers' land years ago and had been surviving on her own."
Bane. That word was mentioned in the council when I was registering as a soldier in Regalia. What was it? The way Ripred said it, it sounded as though 'Bane' was a person, or whatever species there are in the Underland.
"Because she is mad," Solovet said, as if that were obvious.
"Oh, no, not mad. Twitchtip is gifted. Show the people what you can do, Twitchtip," said Ripred. Twitchtip just glared at him. "Go on, show them, or it's back to living with me, myself, and I for you."
Twitchtip reluctantly lifted up her head and brushed the moss and dirt from her nose. She tilted back her chin, took a deep sniff, and grimaced. "The girl's sister is located on the third level of a large circular structure in a room with eight other pups and two grown ones. She's just eaten cake and milk. She's cutting a new tooth. Her catch cloth is wet, and her shirt is pink," Twitchtip spat out. Then she crammed her nose back in the moss.
There was a moment of silence for us to take in all of that information.
Then, "Wait, what? What sister?"
Surprise! It's a cliffhanger! I'm so evil. Please review and critic as hard as you can!
This chapter might not be as good as Just a Photograph, probably because there's the lack of either emotions or action. The more that I think about it, the more annoying it gets. No offense to Suzanne Collins.
Question : Do any of you guys ever hear a random soft / loud buzzing sound in your ear that is not from an insect? I'm curious.