Iridescent: Chapter Fourteen

Iridescent

Chapter Fourteen

~Travelers~

After the Fall

“I still can’t believe you lost our catch!” Zathura cried, “You had him right there!”

Ren smiled, “It is kind of hard to screw that up, boss.”

“Oh, shut up!” Dante shouted, his voice echoed off the surrounding mountains.

“If it weren't for Ai protecting you with that force field you would be dead,” Yin stated. She was the most visibly irritated.

“We didn’t do that bad,” Sanya tried to steady the mood, “What do you think little princess?”

“Frankly, I could care less,” Ai stated, staring straight ahead.

“I’ll fix this!” Dante looked over his shoulder as he trekked up the mountain.

“You bloody well fix it!” Zathura stopped and placed her hands on her hips, “My feet hurt from all this bloody walking!”

“Maybe you shouldn’t have worn those hooker boots,” Yin muttered.

Zathura looked over her shoulder, “Say that again! I dare you! These boots were made for kicking ass and taking names! There’s a nice place on the heel for you!”

Ren decided to step in, “Now, now, lady’s. I really think that it isn’t a good idea to be arguing in a place like this where an avalanche could bury us in dirt.”

Zathura and Yin didn’t pay any heed and only argued louder. Ren tried to be the voice of reason but sensed that he was being ignored. Sanya and Ai walked behind everyone else looking at the scene ahead of them. Dante rubbed his temples in an attempt to soothe and excruciating head ache. The Blue Gold had left him in an overall cranky state.

“Will everyone just shut up!?” he shouted and turned to face the others. When he had their attention he continued, “This could be a good thing, you see! Maybe Thunder Lad and Helpless Girl will go back to powerful mommy and daddy! We’ll rally the whole gang! I had that planned the whole time!”

Zathura blew a large bubble, “Are you freaking serious? The kid himself said that his parents were gone.”

“I believe him!” Sanya raised her hand with excitement.

Zathura looked at Sanya, “You’d believe me if I told you the sky was red.”

Ai closed her eyes and sighed, “Look, he has a point.”

Everyone looked at her.

“Are you being serious?” Zathura asked.

Sanya stuck her tongue at Zathura, “Look at that! Even princess believes him!”

“Didn’t see that coming,” Ren agreed, “Why so, P?”

Ai shrugged, “For the obvious reason that he wants to protect his sister, of course. He feels threatened knowing that there are people out there looking for him. Sure he said that his parents had left but even if they had, this alternative plan will work out fine.  He needs to find a safe place, which will be his main objective. That leaves only one option. He needs to leave the Island. If we stop him, he has nowhere to hide and will be much easier to hunt him. Isn’t that right, Dante?”

“Uh,” Dante looked around, “yeah! That’s the whole plan I thought up! See you guys! I had the whole thing planned out at the beginning!”

Yin placed a hand on her forehead, “Goodness…”

“Well, genius,” Zathura looked at Dante, “How do we find them? So far all we’ve been able to tell is that they flew into the mountains. Who knows how far they got before touching ground?”

“Over here,” Ren pointed at a nearby cave.

The others walked up to his discovery. Yin walked in and stooped down by an old fireplace. She touched the warm ashes.

“They’ve been gone for a few hours. They could still be in the area. There’s no traveling fast in these mountains. Especially with a dependent little sister,” Yin said.

“Well, I suppose we should get going then,” Dante continued through the mountains.

“Aww, but my feet hurt! Can’t we sit a while!?” Zathura complained.

“Why?” Yin smiled as she walked passed, “Were those boots not made for walking?”

<<<>>> 

Vicky looked over the platform. The water was so calm and the rush of the waterfall was calming. She packed her things. Kew was curled up in the corner fast asleep. Vicky poked at Kew and he stirred slightly and raised his head.

“Kew,” the little neuw looked around curiously.

Vicky pointed to her shoulder and Kew stretched and ran toward her. He jumped up on her shoulder and kewed. Vicky got up and walked to the edge of the platform. She jumped off and plunged into the clear waters. Kew let go of her shoulder and swam easily to the surface.

Vicky stayed underwater a while longer. She looked up and saw Kew swimming in a circle around where she lay submerged. He dove down again as swam toward her with powerful kicks from his back legs. Ker swam around her curiously before swimming back to the surface for air. Vicky smiled and rose to the surface.

“Kew!” cried Kew as he swam in circles.

Vicky swam toward the southern wall of the basin. Kew swam alongside her. At the base of the basin, Vicky brought out the ice axe. Kew climbed up onto Vicky’s shoulder. She climbed the steep wall. When she crested the steep rise she looked back at the tree. It was really a peaceful place and she considered staying while everything blew over. But she decided against it. She wanted dearly to find her friends.

The wind whistled through the mountains. Occasionally, a few rocks tumbled loose from their holds. Vicky was used to it, she lived in the mountains for a while and the different noises didn’t startle her. Kew sang a type of song of intermediate kews. Vicky smiled at Kew’s singing or excessive talkativeness. Kew continued singing for a majority of their travel.

All of a sudden, he grew quiet and Vicky grew uneasy. Kew curled closer to Vicky’s neck and his tiny body shook. His hairs stood up on end making him look twice as large and he gave off a high pitched growl. Ahead of them a head of a wolf peered from behind a large rock.

Vicky took a step back and reached for an axe attached to her belt. The shuriken on her arm returned to its ‘X’ form protecting her as a shield would do. She heard something behind her and turned, attacking with the axe in her hand. Only briefly did she see her attacker but in the moment all she cared about was defending herself.

Her first attack was unsuccessful as the person dodged. She backhanded with her axe only catching his clothing as he jumped back. As he took a step back, Kew ran down Vicky’s left arm and lunged at the attacker. He batted at the boy’s face creating a very good distraction. Vicky kicked out and knocked the boy in the stomach and pushed him over with the butt of her axe. When he fell, Vicky jumped on top of him and pressed her shuriken blade up against the right side of his neck. She raised her axe high above her head when she stopped.

“Chaud?!” Vicky exclaimed.

“Ow,” Chaud replied.

Vicky hit him in the for head with the butt of her axe.

“Even more ow!” Chaud held one hand to his head.

She got up and sighed, “That’s what you get for scaring the living day light out of me! No wonder Zara hits you all the time!”

“Yeah, but that isn’t an invitation for everyone to start hitting me,” Chaud sat up, “Nice to see you too by the way.”

Vicky waved over her shoulder, “Yeah, yeah.

Kew sat on his haunches unsure exactly what was going on. He narrowed his eyes at Chaud, his ears flat against his head. Vicky looked back at the wolf.

“Did you tame her?” Vicky asked.

Chaud shook his head, “Not exactly. She seems to like my sister for some reason. Her and I tolerate each other.”

“Your sister?” Vicky looked at Chaud, “She’s here with you?”

“Yeah,” Chaud nodded.

Vicky looked at Chaud’s appearance. He had defiantly seen better days. His eyes looked tired and he looked skinnier than the last time they meet, “You look like you’ve had better days.”

Chaud smiled, “I’ve had a rough few days.” Chaud changed the subject, “Where are you headed to?”

Vicky shrugged, “I didn’t really have a plan. I was thinking of wandering around in the mountains. There aren’t a lot of people up here. It’s relatively safe.”

“Not so sure about that anymore,” Chaud muttered.

“Why’s that?” Vicky asked.

Chaud sighed, “We’re being followed by some bounty hunters that the New Order hired or something. My sister and I need to get off the Island. You coming with?”

Vicky looked around, “Don’t see why not. I was enjoying not having to fight anyone though.”

“Yeah,” Chaud smiled, “Sorry about that. It seems everywhere I go trouble isn’t so far behind.”

Vicky nodded, “All I wanted was peace.”

“You got into the wrong occupation girl,” Chaud shook his head.

“Actually, I got into school to be a medical assistant for the Tower,” Vicky explained, “But then I kind of got dragged into something else.”

“That was my fault wasn’t it,” Chaud apologized, “I’m sorry if I pulled you away from your dreams.”

Vicky waved her hands reassuringly, “Oh no! It’s fine! This is much more fun!”