Chapter 13.

The

Clashing

Of

Waves;

Act III,

Part IV

ME: (Here's revised chapter number two! Once again this is just another chapter mashed together with the next one; The chapter after this one was just too short for me and this arch was going on a little longer chapter wise then what I really wanted so I hope you don't blame me for chapter gluing!

Anyways, here it is, please enjoy, and I own NOTHING save for my own OCs!)

"Memories consume
Like opening the wound,
I'm picking me apart again . . .

You all assume
I'm safe here in my room,
Unless I try to start again . . .

I don't want to be the one
The battles always choose . . .
'Cause inside I realize
That I'm the one confused . . .

I don't know what's worth fighting for
Or why I have to scream.
I don't know why I instigate
And say what I don't mean.

I don't know how I got this way,
I know it's not alright.
So I'm breaking the habit . . .
I'm breaking the habit . . .
Tonight . . ."

"Breaking the Habit" – Linkin Park

~X~

They say that a shark has to swim constantly, otherwise it would drown.

Most would probably think that that principle also applies to half-sharks.

But that wasn't really so much the case.

"Tuff! Dammit, slow down! I only got two legs here!" Riley breathed, his lungs burning like he was in marathon, trying to catch up with his twin.

"No, Riley! We can't! We gotta find Cassie before that monster does!" Tuff shouted back, pushing aside another low-hanging branch as he sprinted, "She's paces ahead of us by now and we need to catch up to her before anything else happens!"

The said branch then snapped back, its leaves smacking Riley full in the face. Surprised, he let out a grunt and fell on his backside, the back of his head jarring with the hilt of his sword. In a daze, he watched the spots in his eyes explode into colorful bursts. "Like me seeing stars?"

Tuff looked back and let out a groan of agitation at the air. He rushed back, ducking under the branch this time and grabbed his brother's hand, pulling him to his feet. "Riley! This is not the time for in-coordination!"

"I beg to differ," Riley countered with a hand to his head. "Considering the fact that I think Mother Nature just gave me a concussion."

"Well, if it did, you're out of luck, because Dr. Marlin went back to town to get help." Tuff stated.

"Heh, "Out of luck". . ." Riley gave a dry chuckle. "That just makes up both our middle names, doesn't it?"

Tuff felt his eyebrow twitch at that before rolling his eyes. "Riley, this is sooo not the time for one of our old inside jokes."

"Well, I'm sorry, Tuff, but it's in my nature." Riley rolled his eyes as well.

Tuff simply frowned more deeply and turned on his heel. "We're wasting time! Each minute we waste, Cassie grows closer to getting herself killed. We have to hurry or –"

He stopped his rant when he felt Riley's hand on his shoulder. "Tuff, hold on." Tuff did so, stopping and turning his head so he could catch the inquisitive frown on Riley's face from the corner of his eye. Glad to have his attention, making an unimportant note on the dry stare he was giving him, Riley said, "Look, I'm just as worried about Cassie as you are and I'm all for finding her before she becomes victim number eight on this so-called "Great Master's" hit list. But I've never seen you get this worked up over one girl before. What gives?"

Riley wasn't exaggerating when he said this. The both of them knew that. Ever since they started traveling together eight years ago, whenever they both decided to go out of their way to help a female in distress; Tuff usually was the most reserved and most logical out of the both of them. He would always think things out carefully before moving forward with a plan and would always tell Riley to be conservative of his energy, given the type of conflict that was plaguing the matter. Most of the time, Riley listened out of the sake and sanity . . . And other times he just ignored and went on with what he was doing for the hell of it.

The incident at Rum Island was a good example of that tactic. He had to admit throwing those chickens was a pretty handy diversion for the locals . . .

But this time, Tuff was acting the opposite of how he usually handled himself; he was being narrow-minded, stubborn and wasteful of the energy in both his and Riley's bodies. Which Riley really didn't notice until the events of almost half an hour ago.

After reading the note, Dr. Marlin had swiftly formulated a plan of action right off the bat. The plan was simple; Both he and Tuff make tracks for the forest and see if they could get a lock on Cassie's trail, hopefully leading to her, while he went back into town as fast as his two legs would take him to get help for tracking down who was apparently deemed "The Master".

Dr. Marlin was explicitly clear this time when he told Tuff and Riley that when they found Cassie, they would stay with her. The threat to give them enough prune-based medicine to make their bowels come out of their backsides was proof enough of that.

In spite of the great urgency of the situation, Riley was grateful for the short break that they were given during this conversation; his legs felt a little if not close to jelly and his throat was so dry that a bucket of ice cold water forced down his throat would be greatly appreciated, along with maybe an air pump for his lungs because, seriously they felt like there were about to explode . . . .

Tuff didn't remove the hand on his shoulder or respond instantly at Riley's question. He, himself, was a little curious at the nature of the problem at hand.

Why was he so eager to find Cassie? I mean, sure he was worried about her, after all, what sane person wouldn't be?

But that wasn't just the only reason.

There was something about Cassie. He didn't know what it was but it just seemed to be . . . Like it was brightening to him.

Sort of like . . . When it was pitch black all around you and you have to wonder why there isn't some sort of light for you to use to guide yourself out of the darkness. Suddenly, without warning, a lit match would appear before you, giving you just enough light to find the door keeping you in the dark and push it open. Something unexpected and yearned for yet when given, uplifting and lucky. Something that most people wouldn't dream of receiving in their lifetime.

Cassie almost seemed to radiate that for him.

That . . . And he may, sort of, not really,have a very small crush on her . . .

Not that he would ever admit that. Especially to Riley, of all people.

Tuff was only silent for one more minute before answering. ". . . . Riley, in all the years we've tried to help people who would rather see us used as watchdog charms or bait for serpents, which one of them have actually done anything to help us in return?" Not waiting for his brother to respond, he added, "Cassie is risking her life to save ours, just two random strangers that she met who she has enough reason to suspect are monsters simply because of what DNA makes up half of our blood. Even though it's only been like, what, two days now, I've seen how scared she was by all this. We've never asked her to put her life in danger and yet she does it anyway to help a town she's never even been to before and keep the both of us out of harms' way.

" . . . . For all the good we've tried to do over the years, it doesn't amount to a hill of fish bones the instant someone catches a glimpse of our teeth. The one time where someone finally sees that, I was dumb enough to think that she wouldn't put herself through anymore rigmarole then she already has. The one time I truly want to help someone despite the consequences, we let her fall into deep water without a preserver. How can I just let that go as it is and just pretend that nothing ever happened?"

Riley just looked at his brother. He took his hand off his shoulder and just stared at him. Tuff, trying to ignore that, simply crossed his arms over his chest and let his eyes fall to the ground. In the few minutes of silence that passed between them, Tuff had to admit that the scuffs of dirt and leaves scattered on the ground were especially interesting –

The heavy silence was finally broken when Riley suddenly snorted and fell on all fours to the ground.

Tuff started a little. "Riley, what are you –?"

Riley cut him off by what he asked out of nowhere. "Hey, Tuff, Cassie has a sort of a flowery, salty scent, right?"

Tuff instantly grew flustered. "W-wha – Why would you think –?"

"I'll take that as a yes." Riley put his nose to the ground, snuffling the dirt. "I'm asking because I think I've just picked up something on the ground."

Tuff couldn't help but feel a little doubtful at those words. In the melee of things, he had completely forgotten about his brother's supposedly evolved sense of smell. He said supposedly because usually the only thing that Riley had ever tracked down for them were cute girls. Not that he ever complained about it . . . "Really, Riley? You mean your nose actually found something this time other then something that's tall, dark, beautiful and round in all the right places?"

"Your faith in my skills is astounding, you know that?" Riley said just as dryly. "I told you a million times that I'm working on it."

"That's what you said last week when you tracked down those footprints leading to that butcher's daughter." Tuff pointed out.

"It got us some free meat, didn't it?"

"Yeah, until her father showed up with a meat clever."

"Not the point." Riley ran his hands over the soil and leaves, pushing them aside as he looked for something. "While those footprints only got us closer to becoming shark filet," He found what he was looking for and brushed the offending leaves hiding it aside. "These footprints will get us closer to finding someone who's trying to keep that from happening for a change."

Tuff looked down at the ground where Riley pointed him towards. The instant he saw the said prints, he felt all feelings of doubt fly out the window.

A size three foot with the middle curve of it covered by the design of some material it was wearing.

Cassie.

~X~

The ruby was of exquisite brilliant cut.

It was just about the size of her nose and the clarity was truly a medium vivid red, signifying its excellent quality. It was unbelievable that Cassie had actually managed to squirrel away something like this and never sell it until now. But still, it was understandable, knowing the amount of thieves and bandits lying out there in the ocean for the chance to sell their own livers for gems like this.

Mother Logai gave another hum of approval at the jewel before setting it down and picking up another pleasantly-shaped diamond with the set of tweezers pinched between her claws.

This diamond was cut into a the regal and elegant trilliant cut, making a sort of upside-down triangle; this one was a as tiny as her little finger, making her have to dig in her pockets until she found her eye-piece to examine it more closely. Unlike most diamonds, that would just be clear and clairvoyant, this one was an unusual mixture of light and dark brown that still sparkled and crackled light when held up to the small lit lantern on her counter.

She really had to admire the features of this jewel; it almost seemed to take on a type of golden-yellow/brownish color while in the highest light. Heh, in a way it sort of reminded her of –

SLAM!

"LOGAI!"

Mother Logai TigerPelt jumped in her seat, her reflexes kicking in and dropping the tweezers to exchange them for the largest, longest, thickest needle in her pincushion strap and tossing it towards the intruder with top speed and perfect accuracy before falling behind the counter –

THUNK!

Dr. Haddock Marlin, anticipating this only seconds before he came in her shop, had brought up his cane as a shield over his face and grunted when he felt the needle make impact with the wood, almost forcing him back half a step. He patted himself on the back for not flinching when he regained his footing and saw that the said needle had pierced clear through the wood and was now stuck halfway through, only inches away from where it would've definitely and quite literally poked his eye out.

Wow, who'd have thought that something so small could be so lethal?

Mother Logai set the stool back up from where it had clattered to the floor and climbed back on top of it before squeaking out, "Haddock! You knuckle-head! How many times have I told you; never sneak up on me like that while I have my needles handy!"

Dr. Marlin casually plucked the needle out of the cane. "Probably about four hundred and nine times, Logie." He came over to her and gave back her needle as he said, "Anyways, now's not the time to argue semantics; I came here to check something by you. Did Cassie come back here at all?"

Taking her needle back, Mother Logai raised an eyebrow at him. "No, she hasn't been here ever since I met her and those Shark brothers earlier today."

Dr. Marlin groaned while rubbing his face. "Ach, damn it, I was afraid of that. Which means she's probably still out there somewhere . . ."

Mother Logai raised an ear at that last part. ""Still out there"? Haddie, what are you talking about? What's going on with Cassie?"

Dr. Marlin ran a hand through his hair again. "Heh, you know, I'm surprised, Logie. I thought you would've known by now."

"Known about what?" Mother Logai prodded, growing more curious and frustrated by the second. "I don't understand what all the fuss is about, other than the obvious –" She stopped short when a thought then came into her mind. "Wait . . . Does this have something to do with that huge bandage on Cassie's side?"

"You saw it?" Dr. Marlin looked at her with a bit of surprise.

"I caught a peek of it when she changed into some pants I lent her while mending the original trousers she was wearing." Mother Logai said, leaning on the counter. "That and I overheard the boys talking about it when she went into the back room. I knew you were the one who patched it up; I know your handiwork anywhere."

"Considering you were the one that I was always patching up, I'm not that surprised." Dr. Marlin quipped before turning on his heel. "Anyways, listen, Logie, have you seen any of the town guards tonight?"

"No, but I heard that their captain had them sent off the lower-east side of town." Mother Logai said.

"That's a mistake. Tell Henry to bring them back and send them to the forest, ASAP!" Dr. Marlin ordered, heading for the door.

"What? Why?" Mother Logai asked, leaning far over the counter as she watched him go.

"I got a lead to where the Local Monster's heading." Dr. Marlin turned his head towards her, his tone urgent. "It's a long-shot, but there's a young woman out there who needs help and there's no time to waste!"

Mother Logai hopped off the stool and landed in a crouch on the floor flawlessly before rushing behind him. "And where are you going while I'm doing all this?"

"I need to get back to Tuff and Riley!" Dr. Marlin swung open the door as he had with Dr. Oigi's only hours ago. "There's still something I need to tell them!"

Mother Logai watched him rush out of the door, heading out it herself while calling to him, "And you're going to go find them alone?!"

"There's no time to get anyone else involved, Logie!" Dr. Marlin called back. "Hurry up and go get the Captain, now!"

Mother Logai made to follow him. "But Haddie –!"

"NOW!" Were the Good Doctor's final words before disappearing around the corner.

Mother Logai watched the corner for a minute or two in silence. In that moment she was dealing with two emotions that she completely loathed working with; confusion and worry.

Confusion was because she had absolutely no idea what the hell was going on for a change.

And worry was because she knew exactly what he was planning to do if what he said about the Monster was true.

After all, the two of them grew up together; she knew every course of action that Dr. Haddock Marlin had taken in his life and how little he cared about how he himself got hurt in the process. She could not stress that part enough.

But she also knew how much he hated it when she allowed herself to follow him during these courses. Which made it all the more amusing for her whenever he got flustered at her for point-blankly ignoring his orders to stay behind.

Mother Logai mulled over Dr. Marlin's words in her head. She had two choices. She could do the responsible thing for once and go ahead and talk to the Captain of the Guards . . . Or she could just do what she always did, mainly just screwing his orders and doing things her own way.

Hmm . . . The mature and logical choice?

Or the dumb and irresponsible choice?

Mother Logai tapped a claw to her chin as she thought. And thought. And thought. And thought.

A grin spread over her muzzle when she finally came to a solution.

It was simple. Who was to say she couldn't do both?

Mother Logai had to work fast. She had to get back in her store, carefully put the jewels away and put them away in a safe place; grab her old staff that she kept under her bed, for safety reasons, an old lady needs to be prepared for anything after all; close up shop while using what very little magic she had to conjure up a Speech Mote, and considering she was a Jakkai that was no easy task; quickly relay her message into it and send it straight for the Council Hall where she knew Captain Henry would be.

She did it all in the time of . . . One minute and thirty-eight seconds. Hah! Her personal best!

She watched the golden-magicked sparrow soar from her hands and fly down the path behind her before Mother Logai dropped to all fours and began scampering towards the same route the Knucklehead took.

This put a whole new meaning to the phrase about killing two birds with one stone.

She just hoped her sparrow wouldn't let anything happen to the message.

"Code Silver 16. Young female civilian in danger of serial murder monster attack. If left unattended, victim shall be killing number eight. Immediate reinforcements requested. Follow Messenger to Sender to assist."

~X~

The Master had never felt such anger as he did now.

His comrades have just brought back his second-in-command. What was left to be exact.

He choked back a gasp and fell to his knees. He reached a hand out but pulled it back.

Nothing he could do would do anything to change this.

The instant the Master saw his second-in-command; he knew it was too late. The Dead-scent filled his nose and he could see the huge tear in the shoulder almost splitting his second-in-command in two.

His second-in-command had still been alive only a candle burning ago, growling with hunger and excitement.

And now, like a fire put out . . . His second-in-command was gone. His comrade was gone.

He could barely look at his comrade now. He couldn't stand the Dead-scent.

He smelled something else too.

He smelled the Evil-Light. And he smelled the Sea-Metal.

His game. Those Half-breed mutts. They did this.

They killed his second-in-command. They dared to hurt his comrade. The comrade who would've been . . . . . . Who would've been . . . . . . .

His comrades whimpered from around him. They were just as sad as he.

The Master was angry. No, livid. No, furious. No, infuriated.

That damn woman . . .

She would never stop hurting him, would she?

Why was she set on making him feel pain?

Why did she continue to torture him?

Why did she continue to be alive again and again and again and again and again and make him kill her all over again and again and again and again and again –?

Why could she just die?!

Why couldn't she just DIE and LEAVE HIM BE?!

And why . . . why did she have to kill his comrade . . . . ?

wasn't he enough . . . . ?

The Master brought a hand up to his face. He could still feel the pain from the first time that damn woman dared to hurt him. He could still feel the pain from the second time that she dared to again.

And this time, he could feel the raw pain from where she had hurt his heart.

The heart that lay still before him.

. . . That woman . . .

. . . . . . . That damn woman . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . That damn woman will pay for this . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

No more chances!

No more games!

No more mistakes!

He will end this hunt tonight.

He will KILL that woman like he was supposed to . . . Slowly and PAINFULLY . . .

He will make her SUFFER.

He will make her FEEL the pain that she gave him.

yes, Yes, Yes.

She will NEVER come back again after this. She will NEVER make him feel pain again.

Never, Never, NEVER –

One of his comrades howled.

The Master snapped out of his thoughts. He turned to his comrade as he came close. "What, comrade? What is it?"

His comrade gave two barks and another small howl.

The Master felt his anger and hunger mix within him at his comrade's words.

His grin came back along with a lick of his lips.

His second-in-command would be avenged.

And soon.

The woman was here.

~X~

The bridge looked as gloomy and perilous as Cassie remembered.

It was far, stretching Rope Bridge; it went across the possible hundred and sixty feet gap that separated Pound Island from Blue Island, the once sturdy ropes tied into it looking frayed and thin with age while the planks of woods were hardly any better off, swaying uncomfortably with the random gusts of wind, making a collection of creaks and whines. It was wide enough so one person could go walk on it at a time, but it seemed only capable of only supporting someone of her weight and stature. Cassie had never been happier to be as thin as she was in her life. Although her senses were telling her so badly not to, she peered ever so slightly over the edge. She immediately felt like paling at the sight of the very, very, very, very far reach of the water's surface below.

She stepped back and crossed her arms, feeling the rise of goosebumps dotting over her skin under her fingertips.

She couldn't believe this; only a complete and total idiot with a death wish would risk crossing this bridge.

Which led to another thing that she couldn't believe; how she didn't just cross this the first time and save herself a lot of trouble.

Cassie sighed lightly and stared at the bridge. Aside from the edginess and the fear of actually going on that thing, she felt like scolding herself for not remembering this earlier. Okay, yes, she was on the run for her life the last time she was on that island but still, that gave her no excuses to be forgetful. Even if she did end up losing her memory at the time . . . And end up falling off another rather very high cliff . . . And almost drown and bleed to death at the same time . . .

Cassie smacked a hand to her face. Oh, great, now she was horrible at beating herself up when she had more reason to and not to. And she was the one always chastising Vince for being hypocritical with his thought process.

Cassie shook her head and made herself get back to focusing on the matter at hand. Her plan was simple; cross the said bridge in front of her, reach the next island over and confront this "Master" who, for some reason or another, was hell-bent on killing her.

That last phase was going to be a little tricky. When she did meet this "Master", what would she do then?

Just give herself up without a fight? Oh, hell to the no. Not after what he and his wolves did to all those poor people and their families. No one should deserve to suffer like that; especially without reason. No, this so-called "Master-of-The-Forest" had to be stopped. Otherwise, the whole village will always be living in fear of his unprovoked wrath.

Otherwise, she would've abandoned Riley and Tuff for nothing.

She felt her nails dig into her arm at that thought. She couldn't help but wonder what they were doing right now . . .

Cassie once again shook her head, this time patting her cheeks once again to snap out of it.

Focus, Miss Blue, focus! Worry about them later.

. . . That is if you do survive this.

She let her hands fall to the knives dangling by her hips. They were about the same length as the skin from her wrist to her elbow and were as thick as her little finger. Hopefully, they would be enough to get her out of this in more of one piece than before.

If worse came to worse, she would have to use her tail again. Once again, that might be a little tricky since she still felt so tired from the charge she gave to that other Were-Dog. It had been a long time since she had to go almost full-power like that; probably since she didn't really train as much as she used to, of course . . .

But that didn't matter now. She was here, she was injured, she was superbly annoyed at all of this craziness and there was no more time for hesitation. She had a chance to fix things and she was going to take it.

All she needed was to draw this "Master" out, get him away from his wolves and then –

"Cassie!"

Cassie felt her ears fly up at those voices. No way. It couldn't actually be –

She whirled her head around and her stomach immediately clenched.

Tuff and Riley Luck stood from where they had emerged from the forest behind her. Both clearly looked haggard and tired but all the same relieved, with small leaves stuck to their shirts and pants and a few in their hair along with some small sticks from Maker knows what. Despite this, they looked as happy to see her again, going as far as smiling at her regardless of their current and questionable state.

Cassie didn't know why they were so messy and couldn't care less. She just didn't know what to do right there and then. After all, these two were supposed to stay away from her, for God's sake! Wasn't that the whole point of her running away from them?

"Geez, Cassie, there you are!" Riley grinned, making no mind of the small, thorny vines that got stuck to his hair. "We've been looking all over for ya!"

"W-what?" Cassie stuttered. She felt the hand over her chest clench at the hard, cold feeling building up in her. "But I-I thought that you two went to –"

Tuff made a face at a twig he just pulled out of his hair and tossed it aside, saying, "We found Dr. Marlin a lot sooner than we thought; he was just on his way to find us when Riley almost cleaved him with his sword."

"Hey, in my defense, I swear I sounded like a raccoon having a heart attack." Riley claimed.

Cassie really didn't have time to be having this discussion with them. She knew how highly evolved a were-beast's sense of smell could be. After all, she knew Vince. She knew it was only a matter of time before this "Master" came out looking for her from the island only a few miles away from her.

And if she didn't think of something and fast, Tuff and Riley would be right on his menu.

She tried to stall for time; she hoped that the two Sharkman before her wouldn't see right through her as she asked, "Didn't– Didn't you two find my note?"

"It eluded us at first," Tuff sent a dry glare towards Riley, who begun to innocently pick out the vines in his head. "But we did and that's why we're here."

Cassie felt compelled to just run but she held it in, gripping her hands together in front of her. "But what about Dr. Marlin?"

"He went back to get help from the Town Guard." Riley growled as a particular vine snagged on his bang and refused to let go.

"Why . . . Didn't you go with him?" Cassie internally cringed at how guiltily obvious her voice sounded. Maker, she might as well just paint a huge sign over her head saying, "I'm trying to think of a way to ditch you again, see it and stop me!"

They didn't seem to notice her internal freak-out, despite the fact that her tail was probably dying to explode with circuits of nervous splashes on her fin. – Cassie reminded to say thanks to whatever entity up there was looking out for her for a change. – Tuff simply said with a small frown. "Because he said that we were supposed to stay with you, remember?"

Cassie's ears went up at those words . . . Before almost instantly going back down at the utter irony behind them and crossing her arms over her chest. "Oh, you mean like before when you left me at the sub?"

Tuff fought back the wince at the heavy bitterness in her voice. Cassie was now looking at him crossly while her arms were folded across her chest and her now stain-glass-like design tail floated behind her. All traces of the edgy, erratic nerves that came all-too-clearly from her before had vanished and all that was left was a woman who looked as though she had been vexed by a man.

Which was . . . somewhere close to being the case.

". . . That was a poor lapse of judgement on our part, I will admit." Tuff held up his hands in a gesture of peace. "But the situation demanded a change of plans and that was the best thing we could come up with that wouldn't put you in danger."

Cassie's face remained the same as before as she shot back, "And leaving me alone while a mad beast is out there hunting for me was a better idea?"

Tuff wanted to smack a hand to his face but settled instead for rubbing his temples much like Cassie did before. "Cassie, we didn't have any other choice. What if we ran into trouble while you were us? It was too risky to have you out in the open like that!"

Cassie felt frustration boiling inside her like a bubbling pot. Any ideas that she had regarding her second escapade went right over her shoulder. Right now, the stubborn red-haired Sharkman in front of her was just begging for a well-preserved ribbing.

"Like it's not risky when you two are? You two are just as capable of getting hurt as I am! Don't forget, you both almost got flattened like bugs when that over-grown poodle came after me! What was I supposed to do? Just sit around and wait while your heads get ripped open too by some other lackey of this Master?" Cassie snapped.

"That's not the point, Cassie!" Tuff snapped back before he could stop himself. "I know you're worried about us because of this whole situation but you shouldn't have to! Giving yourself up is the worst thing that you can do! Why did you even resort to this, anyway? We barely even know you and the same's likewise for you! It makes no sense whatsoever!"

"What is so wrong with caring?!" Cassie exclaimed. Her hands curled into fists and fell to her sides, trembling almost unnoticeably as she went on, "You both don't need to put yourselves in danger because of me! You did your part; you don't have to keep going out of your way to help me! I told you in the note that I'll never forgive myself if anything ever happened to you two! Why can't you just accept that and –"

Riley, who had been listening to this whole conversation while ridding himself of any stray leaves and sticks and the like in silence, finally decided to step in with a sigh.

By which, he simply straightened his hand and gave a small chop to the top of Cassie's head.

Cassie blinked. Well . . . That was a little random.

The chop itself didn't actually hurt; it was more like a tap on the head like when a misbehaving child would be swatted on the hand by its parent if anything. That didn't do anything to stop the small bud of befuddlement growing in her head.

Riley's face was placid as he then lifted his hand away. "That was for making a dumb-ass decision and thinking that you would get away with it." Almost as randomly as before, he put a hand to her cheek and pressed his lips to her forehead in nothing but a friendly kiss. "And that is for trying to protect us when it's usually the other way around." Neither one made any mind of the aggravated face that Tuff made, yet again, at the completely unbelievable actions of his twin brother.

Tuff halted in mid-step of reaching out and strangling Riley when he then added to the temporarily addled Cassie, "Cassie, it's truly admirable what you're trying to do. Your heart's in the right place, but that doesn't do you much good if you're not going to be around for us to thank you." He took his hand off her head and smiled gently down at her. "Early idiotic plans aside, we promised we'd protect you and that's what we're going to do. Like I said, when a Quillotian makes a promise, he keeps it. And that includes chasing down and tying the one we're supposed to be looking after in a chair if it leads up to that. Be warned, we are fully prepared to do so."

Cassie was once again silent at the clear sincerity of Riley's honesty. That odd sense of flattery was back again, along with her dusted blue cheeks and her incapability at looking at the both of them in the eye. This time however, it was coupled with great shame and disappointment for reasons that were all-too-obvious to name.

She wanted to say something. An apology for acting like a spoiled brat only trying to get her reasoning across to stubborn men? A thank you for coming after her regardless? She didn't know what to pick.

She hadn't even started to consider her options before she heard a howl. A very, low howl that was in no-ways friendly.

From their position, despite the darkness of the new-moon sky, the three could easily see the faint shapes of birds as they scattered and flew into the sky at the sound. They easily knew what was coming and it was easy to deduce that they were escaping. Their caws echoed as they flew, in either warning or fear of the danger coming. That did nothing to ease them.

Cassie could feel her blood run cold.

The Master.

He knew she was close.

And he was getting ready for round two.

Cassie looked back at Riley and Tuff and watched with fright as Tuff's hands started to drift to his words. Oh, no. "W-wait, is that where this "Master" is –"

Cassie abruptly cut him off by giving a sudden shout of pain. Both Tuff and Riley's eyes were on her as her face twisted, slapping a hand over her side and falling into a squat on the ground. Her tail was erratic with bursts of exploding rocks and wiggled randomly behind her as she groaned.

The Luck Brothers immediately fell beside her, arms out and ready to catch her in case she toppled over. "Cassie, are you okay? Is your side hurt–"

What happened next was something that Cassie felt incredibly low yet at the same time, incredibly proud about.

BAM!

CRACK!

THUD! THUD!

Cassie had been faking. Her side did hurt, true, but not enough for her to actually near fall down in shock. She had bet on Tuff and Riley acting as they did and, without a moment's hesitation, when time came, she went into action; she shot to her feet while ramming her shoulder into Tuff's chest and sent a wild kick right towards Riley's solar plexus with all the strength she had in her. Just as she predicted, the both of them, having not expecting it, collapsed on their backs with grunts of surprise. Cassie bit back the sting in her side from the sudden movement and the one she felt in her chest formed from the obvious.

She didn't wait around to see if they got up. She turned right on her heal and raced towards the bridge like her life depended on it. Because, let's face it, it was.

The old wood planks creaked and squeaked loudly the instant her foot touched it, her legs quaking at the sudden shift from solid ground to a piece a wood that stood almost two inches from her and thin air, but she didn't let that distract her. She felt the ancient bridge sway violently as she made her way through, making her stumble frightfully a few times and almost very nearly fall over the side twice. Cassie was sure if the Master didn't kill her – or Tuff and Riley, for that matter. – Then deadly weightlessness she came close to grasping each time she found herself staring deep down into the chasm waiting below her would.

She bit her fear back as she started to reach the other side. A small sense of relief started to fill up within her. Okay, this was good. This was good. Her plan could still work. Just as long as Tuff and Riley stayed down long enough –

"Cassie! WHAT are YOU DOING?"

Nope. Didn't think so.

Cassie turned her head around just in time to see Tuff and Riley back on their feet, albeit still a little winded from where she had hit them. But it wasn't until she them rushing towards the bridge that she started to shout, "TUFF! RILEY! NO! DON'T STEP ON THE –"

Too late.

CRACK!

"WHOA ~!/YAAAH~!"

Cassie could watch in horror as Tuff and Riley fell through the now broken first plank. Her heart almost gave out when she saw Riley wildly grab on the rope supporting the plank and Tuff just as insanely grab on to his brother's foot with both hands from below him.

Her horror intensified when the rope Riley held on to snapped from where it had been tied to one of the stakes in the ground. The three other supporting lines were soon to follow in almost a domino-like effect; each snapping from the combined weight of the two well-built Sharkmen holding on for dear life.

Cassie was frozen. Her hands flew to her mouth and she could see her tail go pure white from where it curled around her knees.

She had no idea what to do.

What could she do?

She didn't plan for this!

She planned for the both of them staying put and not getting hurt! Not have them dangling over an endless chasm of death while she watched helplessly!

She had to do something! But what?! The bridge couldn't support any more weight and is she stepped on, she would fall to and –

SNAP!

The last upper line broke.

Cassie felt her heart stopped beating all together.

No.

No, no, no, No! This COULDN'T be HAPPENING . . .

The bridge, along with Tuff and Riley Luck came falling down into the depths of the chasm.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

"NOOOOOOO!"

ME: ACH! NO, THIS WASN'T MEANT TO HAPPEN! TUFF! RILEY! NOESSS! D8

Please do not roast me for liking how this chapter worked out 'cuz of the ending . . . And the fact that it's so late and short. Just remember not everything's as it seems . . . . . . (Waves her hands mysteriously)

'Till next time!