Chapter 9

Okay, I've got to apologize for not posting a new chapter sooner... ^_^;  School has been keeping me on my toes for preparing for finals, so I've been slowly editing this chapter. -_- :P

But anyhow, I guess it was worth waiting for because this Chapter has some excitement in it! :D

Argh! This pic took FOREVER to finish!!! DX I had this pic in my mind for about a week, and then I had started working on it about 3 days ago... -_- But then when I looked at it, I realized that the hoods I had drawn for it looked awful and I scrapped it and started over D:<

Anyways, So I guess you can call this pic 9.2 cause It's sort of a re-do of the other crummy one. -_- oh well, I spent about as much time on this one because I couldn't do it all in one day due to homework.. :P :3

Chapter 9

(Shoot! Shoot! Shoot! Why was I so stupid?! I should have hidden my identity and kept the hood on at all times!) Lefty’s brain screamed at her.  Lefty hastily opened up her bag and began to search for her sword, but a hissing voice made her freeze dead in her tracks.

“So is this one the Prophet? She looks so puny, and FRESH…” A shadow hissed telepathically, causing Lefty to run behind a tree and hide in fear as a shadow backed towards Lefty’s direction holding a struggling figure…

(Crud!!!!! They are talking telepathically, trying to see if I respond… At least I think they are... That’s what happens in movies anyways… ARGH!  I hope they don’t notice me here… Bless you lord for it being nighttime! Otherwise, I would stick out like a sore thumb…) Lefty breathed, silently thanking the lord while tried to identify the figure the shadow was holding…

“You have the light hood that maskssssss your face, ssssssso I cannot touch it… But we have your friends… Ssssso if you don’t ressssspond, we will gladly dissssspossssse you all one, by one until you talk… I know you are the Prophet young one… ANSSSSSSWER ME!!!!” The shadow hissed at the figure…

Lefty’s legs were now shaking, “HELP!!!! SPACE!!!!” A familiar voice screamed… “Cat! Just hang on!” Lefty telepathically screamed at Cat, as she ran through the objects in her bag… Lefty had gotten good at telepathically talking, ever since Toby had trained Lefty the basics of being a Prophet, talking telepathically was very useful if one was too injured to move or talk physically…

“I grow impatient Prophet… If you don’t ssssspeak to me, I WILL desssstroy you firsssst!!!!” The snake sounding shadow screamed telepathically, causing Lefty to scream in pain as she fell down to the ground…

The shadow stopped what it was doing and quickly turned around “Ssssso, the real Prophet wasssss hiding nearby…. Come to ussssssssssssssss Prophet, we need you…” The Shadow cooed as he dropped Cat onto the ground… (FRUIT!!! I just blew my cover!) Lefty grimaced, as she frantically started searching for the sword in her bag with the energy she had left…

Lefty didn’t listen to what else the shadows were saying as she finally found her sword through the mess of things that Toby had put in there from the day before and quickly grabbed it. Her sword sliced through the air as a bright blue glow began to envelop it, making a soft humming noise as it charged…

“Argh! Prophet! You are quite a powerful one for ssssuch a young age!” The shadow hissed as it closed its eyes. “Why won’t you join ussss? You are far too young to wield sssssuch power… The massssster can help you…” The shadow hissed angrily while still trying to desperately coax Lefty into joining, before the light completely enveloped the sword…

Lefty managed to crack a smile at the shadows, “Thanks, but I prefer having my friends here…” Lefty grinned as she started swinging the sword towards the shadows, causing them to scream in anguish as they let go of her friends…

As soon as the gang was let go, they immediately began to pick up their weapons and slash at the shadows; although some slashed more blindly than others… (I hope that this is over soon, because I can’t keep this up much longer…) Lefty grimaced, as her knees started to give away due to Lefty not being able to handle the massive amount of energy being drained from her at once. “Guys! Please try and hold them off as long as you can! When you see a break, go for it! I can’t keep this up much longer! Ugh! Also, Cat! Get ready to catch me if I fall!” Lefty mentally screamed at her team, as she fell to her knees…

“No prob! I think they are learning their lesson! They won’t be staying much longer!” Space shouted to Lefty as he sliced through a shadow, causing it to shriek in pain before dissolving into mist… Making Space nearly grimace everytime another shadow fell… It was almost like they wanted to toy with their minds as they died…

Lefty nearly gagged at the sight of that, but her focus quickly changed to see that Toby was managing to chop down 4 or more shadows at a time, like trees.. Lefty gasped from both the pain and amazement she was feeling through her body, as she saw the shadows start to run away, shrieking their heads off in terror… Lefty then quickly let go of her sword since it was safe, and immediately dropped to the ground and started panting…

Shila had noticed this and quickly dropped her bow and ran over to Lefty, “Oh my word Lefty! Are you ok?!” Shila screamed as she quickly grabbed Lefty and started hosting her up. Lefty gasped, “Ya… *Huff* It just *Huff* Took *Gasp* A lot of energy out of me…” Lefty barely managed to get the few words out as she breathed hard…

Space then quickly ran over to Lefty and helped Shila hoist Lefty’s head up, “Are you sure you are ok? Toby said that…” Space questioned, before a loud growl coming from Lefty interrupted him, “I don’t care what Toby said, I said I’m fine! We need to get the heck out of here before they come back!” Lefty growled as her eyes slit and started to glow a faint blue in the dark, making Space flinch at Lefty’s sudden mood swing.

The rest of the gang had now huddled around Lefty but gave her space as she stood up, “Wow Lefty! I didn’t know you had on glow in the dark eye makeup!” Princess exclaimed, now curiously trying to figure out why Lefty’s eyes were glowing… “Hush up! I don’t wear makeup! I never have, never will! I don’t understand why you guys are so darn curious about me all of a sudden! It’s not like I just magically grew two horns out of my head!” Lefty growled, now pushing away the group from herself as she angrily flicked her tail back and forth…

“But Lefty, you said you didn’t wear makeup… So why would your eyes be glowing?” Stripes spoke, for the first time in quite a while, seeming hurt and curious about what Lefty had said… Lefty was taken aback by Stripes’ sudden tone change, “I don’t know why ok? Perhaps it’s just a trick of the moon or something! I DON’T know! Just… leave me alone!...” Lefty whined, as she ran off towards the tree she had just been hiding behind and sat there with her arms and legs tucked around her, tears forming around her eyes as she tried to pull herself together…

“It’s because she is the Prophet, her powers were just unlocked… It can take a toll on one to get used too, both physically and mentally…” Toby replied, as he walked up to the group…

All of the gang, save Space, looked up in confusion at Toby… “What do you mean?” Cat asked, looking more puzzled than ever… Toby frowned as he looked at Lefty, sitting over at the tree with her hood on, shivering in the dark, “It’s complicated, but let’s just say that your friend over there is sort of going through an early growth spurt… It’s taking a toll on her, since she wasn’t prepared for it just yet… I would suggest that you just try and tolerate it the best you can until she’s back to normal.” The dwarf shrugged….

Stripes didn’t seem quite convinced yet, “Say what you want dwarf, but I’ve had enough! I’ve been exceptionally nice towards you, but it’s time to stop beating around the bush! Tell us the truth NOW!” The wizard ordered as he held his staff towards the dwarf…

The gang stood with horror written over all of their faces, “Some secrets cannot be spoken but to the chosen ones…” The dwarf frowned as he grabbed the staff and thrust it off of him as if it were a toothpick. Stripes squawked in surprise as he fell down on the rough gravel… Space clutched his fists, “ENOUGH! You are NOT HELPING! We need information RIGHT NOW!” Space bared his fangs as he helped Stripes up… The dwarf quickly grabbed something out of his pants and thrust it at them… “YOU WANT INFORMATION?! HERE! TAKE IT! I’M DONE WITH YOU ALL!” The dwarf screamed, his face red, as he stomped off into his house…

“CRA-BOOM!” Lighting flashed through the sky as small rain droplets dripped onto the gang… Cat silently picked up the item, to find that it was a small scroll with words written in ink… Cat hastily unfolded it, “It’s a map of some sort…” Cat squinted at the tiny words…

Stripes quickly walked over to Cat and observed it, “It’s not just any map… It’s a map of Estyren’s whole continent!” Stripes gazed in awe as he studied it… Shila sighed as she rolled her eyes, “Um guys, I don’t mean to be rude here, but it’ raining and we’ve got to keep moving before anything else finds us… The dwarf, um Toby, isn’t gonna help us anymore, I think… So Stripes can you guide us out of this town?” Shila asked, shivering from both fear and being wet…

Stripes mumbled something and then placed his paw on the map, “Ok, we are here… We need to get to the Rocky village A.S.A.P… If we take the path right, we should arrive in about a day…” Stripes replied, as he continued to look at the map…

“A whole day?!?” Princess whined, overhearing the conversation as she sat down in the wet road… Stripes frowned, “Yes, a whole day… Unless, you wanted the trip to take over a week, going over the mountains…” Stripes frowned… Princess straightened up, “No a day is good.” Princess laughed nervously, out of fear…

Lefty finally stirred from her sitting position, “Ok, so we go through Rocky walkway… That’s fine, because there’s some water and berries that we can eat and also save for later…” Lefty mumbled, her hood covering her face so the gang couldn’t tell what her face was showing at the moment… “Sorry, I… snapped…” Lefty replied in a low voice, as she stood up from the tree she was leaning against, still shivering…

Cat walked over to Lefty and put a paw on her shoulder, “It’s ok… You can’t help it right now…” Cat smiled while putting her own hood back on, “At least we have each other to go on this adventure!” Cat smiled, trying to lighten the mood…

Lefty mumbled as she looked up at the rain clouds, “Ya, at least there’s that… But had I known all this was going to happen, I would have bopped Stripes in the head over there for not thinking!” Lefty grinned a little as Stripes whirled around, “HEY! Pardon me! But I wasn’t miss ‘Who bit my tail’ over there!” Stripes howled as the gang reached the exit of the village….

So wasn't that pretty interesting? Just wait for the next chapter, where the gang FINALLY gets along with their journey XD... (I say finally because the gang has been stuck inside toby's house for the past six chapters XD) I'll try and post it alot quicker than this one because summer vacation is coming soon and I'll have a boat load of more time! ^_^ so stay tooned soon! :3 Oh, and just so you know... Lefty is not trying to be a jerk right now, she's just sort of freaking out k? But, that gets explained later on! >:D