A head protruded the surface of the wild waves, and he recognized the pale face gasping weakly.
"Phillip!" Cole struggled against the current, swimming frantically toward the figure just barely managing to stay afloat. Another waves splashed him in the face, getting in his mouth and nose and making him sputter. He fought to keep his head above the water.
Phillip stirred, and moaned weakly. There was a red, inky stain in the water where his shoulder was. The current flew the two down the roaring river, rain pelting down on them. Another waves crashed on Phillip and dragged him under. In desperation Cole lunged for him and nearly ran into a boulder breaking the frothing surface.
The fury of the river roared louder than a lion in Cole's ears, the rain lashed at his face and made him blink rapidly, trying to get water out of his eyes. He felt as if he was on a crazy roller coaster gone wrong, being flung this way and that, up and down and all around. His strength was weakening, but that just made him all the more determined to save Phillip.
When Phillip didn't emerge from the turbulent water, Cole took a deep breath and made a shallow dive. Reaching out in the realm of slow-moving water, he felt an arm and grabbed it. Summoning all the strength he had in him, he grasped Phillip by the elbows, silently apologizing for hurting his wounded shoulder, and kicked wildly for the surface.
The rain pelted his head once more when he broke the surface, his grip tight on Phillip's heavy torso. The boy's weight nearly dragged him under. Chest heaving and blinking blearily, he scanned his churning surroundings and caught sight of a large, rather flat boulder protruding the frothing waves several meters ahead of him. Feeling as limp as a leaf and as weak as a string, he let the current toss him and Phillip to the rock, where he reached out and grabbed it.
Groaning, Cole tried to haul himself and Phillip on, but his muscles were like noodles, limp from exertion.
"Thief, theif, theif! Baggins! We hates it, we hates it, we hates it forever!" An unearthly howl reverberated throughout the tunnel, making Cole's ears ring and his blood turn cold. He gripped Shauntel's reins and the scythe while Liana's fists clenched tightly around Aquilla's reins and she fingered a small dagger Phillip had loaned her.
As the high-pitched noise ebbed away, a new sound took its place; the soft, uneven pad of clammy feet, and a strange, guttural noise. Something growled, like a kid with a sore throat.
Cole hesitated, then shone the flashlight down the tunnel where the sound was coming from. The light fell on something, and he cried out in horror.
Limping along on all fours was a small creature reduced to a horribly thin, wiry thing, its stretched skin a pasty, gray color. The creature was nearly completely naked, save for a ragged loincloth wrapped around its tiny waist. It had a scrawny neck, flat feet, long, thin hands with clammy fingers. Most eerily of all, its large, bulging eyes seemed to glow like the eyes of a ghost.
The Thing screeched when the light hit him, recoiling as if burned. "Hssss...the light, precious, it burns!" Its round, pale face twisted grotesquely, flinching away from the flashlight's glow. It drew back from Cole, hissing and whining. "No more, no more...My precious...."
Cole let the reins loose and gripped the scythe with both hands. Heart pounding, he forced himself to speak. "What--What are you?"
The creature flinched away from Cole and suddenly began to weep, a weird, whistling, gurgling noise. He stared at the spectacle as the thing began to mutter to itself. "Curse it! Curse it! Curse the Baggins! What has it gots in its pocketesess? We guess, precious, we guess it my birthday present!"
Cole blinked. "Uh...Are you talking to me?"
The creature suddenly noticed Cole, it's huge, bulging eyes inspecting the boy eerily.
He flinched when the creature's glowing eyes ran over him greedily, like a kid at a candy store. "Bless us and splash us, preciousss, another feast! A tasty morsel, is it? It'd make us, gollum!" At the last bit it made a horrible swallowing noise in its throat.
Cole kept the light on the creature, making it blink and hiss. "The light, preciouss, it burns! It burns the eyes! Nasty, shining, glowing light!"
"What are you?" Cole repeated, brandishing the scythe.
The thing ignored his question, instead hissing through sharp, jagged teeth. "What iss it, my precious? Another hobbitses, is it? Dirty, nasty, thieving hobbitses...it takeses precious, my precious....lost it, lost it, lost it!"
"I'll say you've lost it." Cole muttered.
The scrawny, short creature whimpered, then suddenly snatched the flashlight out of Cole's hand and flung it away, sneering. "Nasty light, burning light, we hates it!" The torch clattered away brashly, sending to group in darkness.
"Don't come any closer!" He held the slender scythe at a threatening angle, shielding himself and Liana, who had drawn her short dagger out of its sheath. Now that the creature was no longer in the light, all Cole could see was a wiry, dark hulking shape slouching in front of him, its eyes glowing in the dark eerily.
It flinched from the movement of the scythe, watching the blade with bulging eyes. "What is it, preciouss? What does it cal itself? Iss it a hobbitses?"
He swallowed. "Look, I don't know what a 'hobbitses' is, but I'm pretty sure I'm not one if them."
The creature took a step forward, cocking its pale head. "Is it a Baggins, preciouss--?"
"Stay back!" He jabbed the curved blade in the thing's direction. "Get any closer and you'll pay for it!"
"Where is Baggins, preciouss? It ran toward the goblinss, it did!" Its huge eyes narrowed slightly. "Does it know where Baggins iss? My preciouss...Baggins took my preciousss!"
Cole didn't like the way it looked at him and Liana.
A fountain of water poured out of the side of a wall, spraying water droplets on the boys. Exhausted from running around like crazed chickens, Cole and Phillip collapsed against the stone surrounding them. Lungs burning they gasped for breath. The dark, churning river had risen up to their knees by now.
Wiping a strand of soaked black hair from his eyes, Cole blinked, trying to see through the stifling darkness. There was only the faintest hint of light, merely the reflection of the waves.
"Maybe there's a way out down there." Phillip's shaking voice echoes eerily off the glistening walls of the cavern. Movement from the figure beside Cole suggested Phillip was pointing down a tunnel several feet away from them, a dark hole.
"We already checked it." Cole replied. "Twice."
Phillip groaned in a compound of frustration and despair. "I told Mom and Dad that I'd protect Liana!" With a shuddering gasp, he clutched his curly locks and leaned his head against the wall. "That was one of the last things they told me...Before they were smashed."
Cole turned at tried to look at his companion through the darkness. "What? Your parents were--?!"
"It was Lord Garmadon." Phillip's voice switched from desolate to bitter.
Cole blinked in shock. "You're kidding."
"No. I'm not." The figure beside him clutched his head, as if trying to keep his very mind from shattering to pieces. "You've heard of him, I assume?"
"Of course." Of course he had. Everyone knew the tales of Lord Garmadon, how he had wreaked havoc throughout Ninjago over a decade ago, trying to take over by destroying innocent villages and slaying a great number of people with the Skulkin army. There were plenty of tales explaining how he disappeared. Some say a jealous Skulkin general betrayed him. Others say his brother Wu sent him to the Cursed Realm. More claim he was turned into a potato. There were so many myths about what happened, one didn't know what to believe.
A head protruded the surface of the wild waves, and he recognized the pale face gasping weakly.
"Phillip!" Cole struggled against the current, swimming frantically toward the figure just barely managing to stay afloat. Another waves splashed him in the face, getting in his mouth and nose and making him sputter. He fought to keep his head above the water.
Phillip stirred, and moaned weakly. There was a red, inky stain in the water where his shoulder was. The current flew the two down the roaring river, rain pelting down on them. Another waves crashed on Phillip and dragged him under. In desperation Cole lunged for him and nearly ran into a boulder breaking the frothing surface.
The fury of the river roared louder than a lion in Cole's ears, the rain lashed at his face and made him blink rapidly, trying to get water out of his eyes. He felt as if he was on a crazy roller coaster gone wrong, being flung this way and that, up and down and all around. His strength was weakening, but that just made him all the more determined to save Phillip.
When Phillip didn't emerge from the turbulent water, Cole took a deep breath and made a shallow dive. Reaching out in the realm of slow-moving water, he felt an arm and grabbed it. Summoning all the strength he had in him, he grasped Phillip by the elbows, silently apologizing for hurting his wounded shoulder, and kicked wildly for the surface.
The rain pelted his head once more when he broke the surface, his grip tight on Phillip's heavy torso. The boy's weight nearly dragged him under. Chest heaving and blinking blearily, he scanned his churning surroundings and caught sight of a large, rather flat boulder protruding the frothing waves several meters ahead of him. Feeling as limp as a leaf and as weak as a string, he let the current toss him and Phillip to the rock, where he reached out and grabbed it.
Groaning, Cole tried to haul himself and Phillip on, but his muscles were like noodles, limp from exertion.
Yayz, I caught back up! It wasn't too hard, I'd read half the posts coming through moderation. Vury nice stuff, moar soon? :3
A head protruded the surface of the wild waves, and he recognized the pale face gasping weakly.
"Phillip!" Cole struggled against the current, swimming frantically toward the figure just barely managing to stay afloat. Another waves splashed him in the face, getting in his mouth and nose and making him sputter. He fought to keep his head above the water.
Phillip stirred, and moaned weakly. There was a red, inky stain in the water where his shoulder was. The current flew the two down the roaring river, rain pelting down on them. Another waves crashed on Phillip and dragged him under. In desperation Cole lunged for him and nearly ran into a boulder breaking the frothing surface.
The fury of the river roared louder than a lion in Cole's ears, the rain lashed at his face and made him blink rapidly, trying to get water out of his eyes. He felt as if he was on a crazy roller coaster gone wrong, being flung this way and that, up and down and all around. His strength was weakening, but that just made him all the more determined to save Phillip.
When Phillip didn't emerge from the turbulent water, Cole took a deep breath and made a shallow dive. Reaching out in the realm of slow-moving water, he felt an arm and grabbed it. Summoning all the strength he had in him, he grasped Phillip by the elbows, silently apologizing for hurting his wounded shoulder, and kicked wildly for the surface.
The rain pelted his head once more when he broke the surface, his grip tight on Phillip's heavy torso. The boy's weight nearly dragged him under. Chest heaving and blinking blearily, he scanned his churning surroundings and caught sight of a large, rather flat boulder protruding the frothing waves several meters ahead of him. Feeling as limp as a leaf and as weak as a string, he let the current toss him and Phillip to the rock, where he reached out and grabbed it.
Groaning, Cole tried to haul himself and Phillip on, but his muscles were like noodles, limp from exertion.
Yayz, I caught back up! It wasn't too hard, I'd read half the posts coming through moderation. Vury nice stuff, moar soon? :3
Cole groaned in despair. He tried again to climb the sloping boulder, but it was for naught. The current dragged at the lower half of his soaked body, threatening to carry him and Phillip away.
"Got to...Hang on..." His fingernails scrabbled at the slick stone desperately. "No..." He moaned weakly as he began to slide off, the edge of the boulder in one hand and Phillip's limp body in the other.
"Cole!" A woman's voice broke through the howling rain. Blinking blearily, he looked up, then turned around to scan the bank on the right. Amidst swaying trees and a curtain of pelting rain, he saw four horses standing uneasily at the shore, and two female figures waving at him frantically.
Matilda cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted. "Cole! Get your rump over here, boy!"
Cole had never been so happy to see anyone in his life. With a final heave he let go of the rock and let the current carry him downstream, struggling to keep himself and Phillip above the churning waves. Matilda, her green dress and navy blue robes soaked to the bone, ran several feet ahead of him, then leapt into the river. Like a pro she swam toward Cole, keeping her head above water. A wave splashed her in the face, and she spluttered in disgust.
"Matilda..." Cole's voice was too soft to be heard over the roar of the waves and the fury of the rain. The witch, pointed hat sitting firmly atop her head, reached for Phillip and dragged him out of Cole's weakening grasp. "Come on kid, you made it this far!" Like a mother duck she swam with Cole toward to shore, once in a while elbowing him to get a move on.
Coughing weakly Cole clambered out of the raging rapids and onto the grassy bank, where he rolled onto his back and gasped for air, not caring about the rain lashing his face.
Grunting, Matilda dragged Phillip's limp figure onto the grass. She turned him on his back and knelt over him, wand in hand.
"Phillip!" Cole looked up to see Liana standing nearby with Aquilla. "Is he OK?!"
"That's what I'm trying to figure out." Matilda grunted. Wiping a strand of brown hair from her dripping face, she glanced over at Cole. "You OK, kid?"
"Just dandy." He wheezed sarcastically.
Liana felt her away to Matilda and knelt down by Phillip. "Please, please, please be OK..." She whispered to the pouring rain. "I can't lose him, too."
"You kids aren't dying on my watch!" Matilda snapped. "Merlin's beard, he's alive, sheesh!" She turned back to Phillip's limp figure lying on the grass. She checked his pulse, then listened to his heart. Then she flicked her wand at him and muttered an incoherent spell. Phillip suddenly convulsed and spewed out water, coughing weakly. He leaned over and lost his lunch while Matilda rubbed his back and muttered. "Trying to swallow the river, were you?"
Philip slowly sat up, wiping his mouth with back of his hand. "What--" Before he could finish, Liana flung her arms around him and wrapped him in a soaking wet hug. "You're OK! You're OK!" She whispered over and over, hanging onto her brother as if she would never let go.
"How'd you guys get out?" Cole asked, wiping his face in an attempt to rid himself of the rain dripping down his face.
"My little exploding spell knocked a few rocks loose down a tunnel, and Liana smelled fresh air." Matilda replied as she edged away from where Phillip had purged his bodily contents. "We realized it was a way out, and led the horses away from the mountain and down to this river. Liana heard you shouting, and we followed the sound here."
She looked at Cole through the curtain of rain, which was beginning to ease. "How'd you two get out?"
He grinned wanly. "We figured the underground river might lead out of the mountain, and let it carry us away."
The witch glared at him. "Corpus bones! That was a stupid thing to do! That river could have gone on for miles--!"
Cole interjected. "Better that than stay and let that creature that attacked Phillip finish us off."
Matilda raised her eyebrows in interest. "Oh? Is that what happened to Phillip's shoulder?" She gestured to the teen moaning in pain and lying back onto the grass, clutching his mangled arm.
"Yeah, we--" Cole looked at the torn up jacket and red flesh showing through the dark red river. Bile rose in his throat, and he retched.
"If you're going to toss your cookies, do it somewhere else!" Matilda snapped.
Cole leaned against a nearby tree and concentrated on breathing while Matilda worked on healing Phillip's shoulder. She got out a bottle of that healing potion and forced it down his throat, making him splutter and gasp. Liana soothed the horses a few feet away, ignoring the cold rain showering down on the group. After a few minutes the ghastly bite on the boy's shoulder mended magically, leaving nothing but a very faint scar. Cole seated himself by Phillip and let the rain slide down his face and patter on his hunched shoulders. Everyone was exhausted, so for nearly ten minutes they just sat at the bank of the frothing river, shivering in the cold.
Matilda had Cole tell her and Liana exactly what happened, so he rasped out the story to them. He wasn't planning on mentioning it, but at one point he said something about the vows he and Phillip made to each other.
The witch snorted in disgust. "Hmph! Teenagers shouldn't be talking about dying, they've got their whole lives ahead of them. Phillip sounds as if he was being more depressing than a dementor!"
Cole refrained from asking what a dementor was.
Matilda blinked rain out of her eyes. "Come on. It's about time we hit the road." With a grunt she pulled herself up, then helped Philip onto his feet.
As they were getting the horses ready, Matilda swung herself onto the saddle of the black stallion and glanced at Philip. "Oh, by the way, in answer to your earlier question, Philip..." Her lips quirked in grim humor. "...A lot could go wrong."
The next morning found the bedraggled group riding away from the Yokai mountains and heading toward Misawa, a little city nearby Stixx. The rain had eased off by dawn, and was completely gone by morning, though the sky was still dark and cloudy, unwilling to let the sun shine yet. Phillip was back to his old self by morning, though he looked a bit pale, and refrained from using his left shoulder very much. He and Cole chatted and joked easily as they rode together, Matilda in the lead and Liana bringing up the rear. The land below the mountain ranges were smoother and had less trees, exposing the group to a slight breeze. Despite the cloudy day and the breeze, it wasn't very cold.
Sometime around noon, Liana nudged Aquilla over to Shauntel and felt for Cole's hands. He was toying with the rings Matilda had given him and didn't notice the girl until she had grasped his hands. He looked up into her scarred, cloudy eyes. Her gaze may have been sightless, but it seemed just as intense and powerful as any other's.
"You saved my brother last night, didn't you." It wasn't a question, merely a fact. Her small hands felt soft and warm on his own. Cole flinched slightly, for in truth he had never had a girl hold his hands before in his life, and the experience was strange.
There was a sweet expression of gratitude on her disfigured face. Before he rasp a clumsy answer, she squeezed his hands and whispered. "Thank you." With that, she nudged her black and white horse away from Cole and walked on as if nothing had passed in between them.
Cole felt his face grow slightly warm in embarrassment. He didn't really think about it as saving Phillip's life, he was just doing what he felt he had to. Liana made him sound like some sort of hero. He glanced down at the iron rings in his hands, still feeling Liana's presence. A strange, new feeling crept into him.
The next morning found the bedraggled group riding away from the Yokai mountains and heading toward Misawa, a little city nearby Stixx. The rain had eased off by dawn, and was completely gone by morning, though the sky was still dark and cloudy, unwilling to let the sun shine yet. Phillip was back to his old self by morning, though he looked a bit pale, and refrained from using his left shoulder very much. He and Cole chatted and joked easily as they rode together, Matilda in the lead and Liana bringing up the rear. The land below the mountain ranges were smoother and had less trees, exposing the group to a slight breeze. Despite the cloudy day and the breeze, it wasn't very cold.
Sometime around noon, Liana nudged Aquilla over to Shauntel and felt for Cole's hands. He was toying with the rings Matilda had given him and didn't notice the girl until she had grasped his hands. He looked up into her scarred, cloudy eyes. Her gaze may have been sightless, but it seemed just as intense and powerful as any other's.
"You saved my brother last night, didn't you." It wasn't a question, merely a fact. Her small hands felt soft and warm on his own. Cole flinched slightly, for in truth he had never had a girl hold his hands before in his life, and the experience was strange.
There was a sweet expression of gratitude on her disfigured face. Before he rasp a clumsy answer, she squeezed his hands and whispered. "Thank you." With that, she nudged her black and white horse away from Cole and walked on as if nothing had passed in between them.
Cole felt his face grow slightly warm in embarrassment. He didn't really think about it as saving Phillip's life, he was just doing what he felt he had to. Liana made him sound like some sort of hero. He glanced down at the iron rings in his hands, still feeling Liana's presence. A strange, new feeling crept into him.
![[derp]](http://storage.proboards.com/6672327/images/YqNTPqyQUocVMYXZgUAI.png)
It wasn't too hard, I'd read half the posts coming through moderation. 