Fables/Fairytales Fan Fiction ❯ To Break a Spirit ❯ clan wars ( Chapter 2 )

SFH: Welcome back to To Break a Spirit! Things get slightly fluffy here, so if you hate that kinda thing, feel free to skip over it^^

Dedication: This dedicated to Faln, without whom my sanity would have gone OUT THE WINDOW!!

Disclaimer: do not own RuneScape or clan wars^^

 

 

To Break a Spirit

Chapter 2: Clan Wars

 

Clan wars.

Definition: the greatest thing in RuneScape.

Of course, Zamorak forbid we get there without trouble. We ran into a ghost halfway through the wildy, and Sky had to beat it back. Then we encountered a dozen rogue zombies when Storm the Ingenious Idiot suggested we take a short (actually long) cut through a haunted cemetery. Faln, obviously, would then sweet-talk me into not losing my temper.

At long last, we reached the arena, and my anger evaporated, replaced by sizzling hot excitement and ice-cold nervousness at the same time. It was packed with knights, knightesses, mages and archers, a lot of them with the powerful stuff: rune armour (and even dragon armour!), death rune-wielding mages, and archers with green dragonhide armour, maple bows and adamant arrows. I, on the other hand, looked like a noob who tried to enter the Champion's Guild. I could feel the stares of the really muscular guys as they called out to Sky, asking them to join their clan. He was obviously a favourite here.

Storm pointed out a room separate to the arena where I could get changed into my stuff. I silently followed her in, went to a stall, and began undressing. First I put on the under-armour clothing, which was just a skin-tight white shirt and pants. Next, I started putting on my adamant armour. On with the plateskirt, then the platebody. I refrained from putting on my helm because my hair would become all matted and sweaty and would mean a really long bath. So, instead I tied my hair into a ponytail to keep it off my face.

Storm was waiting for me when I left the stall. She was all decked out in her full rune and wearing her helmet, obscuring her face, and with her kiteshield and longsword. Silently, she reached into her pack and pulled out my weapons: my brand new oak longbow and steel arrows, then my adamant kiteshield and my prized possession, a rune scimitar. I put the bow and arrows into my pack but donned the sword and shield.

“I'm ready,” was all I said.

Storm began making fake crying sounds, burying her face in her hands. “My little sister is all grown up! Wearing her addy and her rune, and old enough for clan wars! I'm so proud!”

“Okay Mom,” I joked, “Let's meet up with the others.” I had to admit, making jokes was definitely a good way to relax the nervousness that was clawing away at my stomach.

Sky, Royal, and Faln were waiting for us outside the changing room. Sky and Royal were also in their full rune armour, but Faln was in his green dragonhide armour and had his maple bow and mithril arrows.

“Sooooooooo who's clan leader?” I asked.

“Not me,” said Sky, “I stink at being leader.”

“Same here,” said Faln. Royal just muttered something unintelligible.

“Looks like you're leader, Zelda,” Storm said cheerfully, “`Cause there is no way I'm being leader. Consider it another birthday present.”

“Ooooo…kay?”

“So what's our clan name Zel?” asked Faln.

I would have exploded at the forbidden use of my nickname, but then I remembered, Faln! That was Faln! He's safe! “I don't really know,” I admitted, “I don't want it to sound stupid, that's for sure.”

“How about `the very cool clan?'” suggested Sky.

“Or perhaps `llamas are cool?'” asked Storm.

“You could name it after a mythical creature,” said Royal. “Like dragons or unicorns or something.”

“These are all great suggestions,” I said, “but can we narrow it down, like Royal was doing?”

Royal shot a smirk at Sky. “Told you she'd like mine best.”

Sky ignored him. “Great idea, Zelda. What do you want to narrow it down to?”

“I dunno. Definitely something powerful, like a dragon, but not something that can be considered evil. I like to be the good guy,” I explained, “Maybe perhaps…the thunderbird?”

“That would be great,” said Sky, “But what exactly is a thunderbird?”

“It's an ancient legendary creature,” Faln explained, “It's said that when it flaps its wings, it makes thunder, and when it blinks, it makes lightning. Although,” he added, turning his attention towards me, “I kinda like the idea of a phoenix. It's also a bird, but it has fire for feathers.”

“Phoenix. I like it,” I grinned. “Very well. My clan is now called Phoenix.”

“Now all we need is a crest,” said Storm, then she began to pout. “I liked the thunderbird idea. It's like me.”

“Then rename your clan that,” said Sky.

“Excuse me! You think I'm going to give up the name `coconut' for a slightly cooler name! No thanks!”

“I think we get the point, Storm,” I said,” So what exactly do we do for a crest?”

“Just talk to that guy over there.” Sky pointed to some random guy walking around and talking to people. I went over, talked to him, and within a few minutes had a handful of badges with the image of a phoenix, its fiery wings spread in flight. I walked back to the gang, where they all put a badge on their chest.

“Okay, now what?” I asked.

“We can recruit, or we can challenge,” answered Sky, “Your choice.”

“I think we can challenge,” I decided after a moment.

“May I?” Sky asked, winking. When I nodded, he walked over to another five-man clan. This one had only two girls, a mage with golden hair that fell halfway down her back and a girl who was like a mix. She had curly brown hair, an addy plateskirt, a leather body, an amulet of defense, and an oak shortbow. The other three were burly teenage boys in full rune. One had his helmet tucked under his arm. On their upper left arm was a badge with a lightning bolt. “Oi!” Sky called to them, “Clan Lightning! Clan Phoenix challenges you!”

The boy with his helmet under his arm stepped forward with a grin. “Sky! My man! How's it goin'?” He and Sky knocked fists with each other. “So is Phoenix your clan, or are you with someone else?” the other boy asked. He sure had a friendly smile, I noticed.

“Second one. It's my friend's first time here. She's leader.”

“Oh? And where is she? Is she cute?”

I felt myself blush furiously. “I'm here,” I said quietly, stepping to stand by Sky. Then I wished that I was taller. Sky was a good foot taller than me.

The other boy gawked at me. “You are the leader? The princess of Falador is leading a clan?! What an honor!”

“So you want to fight or not?” I asked.

“Sure, let's go ahead!” then Bsomero and his clan walked away.

“Wait a minute!” I protested, “Where are they going!”

“They're going to the real arena,” Sky said patiently, “We call this the arena, but it's just the challenge hall. The actual arena is through that portal.” He pointed to a purple portal at the end of the hall. “You need to go through first.”

I gulped and nodded. Then I went where directed and stepped in. it was like stepping into a whirlwind. I closed my eyes tight against the wind. After it stopped, I opened my eyes.

I was standing in a room that was dark as the new moon. I waved my hand in front of my face, but saw nothing.

“This is where we decide the locations and conditions of the fight,” came Bsomero's voice from somewhere in front of me. “Since you're new, I'll let you have the first say.”

“Okay, but how do I decide what to do and where?”

As if by magic, a list of locations appeared in front of me. The letters hovered in midair, waiting for me to select. Dark forest…plateau…castle tower…classic wilderness… Then came the conditions…no magic…no range...no melee…take all enemies…leave five…staked fight…no I didn't want that…

Finally, I decided on the conditions. “Done,” I said.

There was a moment of silence while Bsomero checked what I came up with. Finally, he said, “Okay, that's great. May the best clan win.” Then I was sucked into the whirlwind once again.

 

It took a little while longer than the first whirl, but that only prolonged the agony. I was going to have a talk with the inventor of that thing, that was for sure.

I was standing in the dark forest, but it was nothing like I had imagined it. The trees were dead and menacing, with clawlike branches. The ground was not lush grass, but sparse and worn. A fitting place for battlefield I might say.

“So how was the choice realm?” Storm asked behind me, making me nearly jump out of my skin.

“Don't scare me like that!” I yelled at her. She gave me her puppy pout.

“I'm sorry,” she said innocently, “I didn't mean to startle you.”

“Whatever, just don't…do that to me, okay?”

“Oh hey Sky,” Storm said cheerily as Sky came through the portal, followed closely by Faln and Royal. Just like Mom, my sister became easily distracted by the smallest thing.

“I like what you've done here,” Sky said casually, as if he were commenting on how my bedroom looked, “The clawed branches are a great touch.”

“Thanks so much,” I replied, “So what now?”

“We go to the center of the arena and wait for the fight to start.” Royal's reply was blunt and agitated. What had I done to offend him..?

Around me, everyone was checking their armour, putting on amulets of defense, strength, and power, and adjusting their hold on their weapons. At least, Sky, Royal, and Storm were. Faln, however, leaned toward me and muttered, “Put on the tiara I gave you. It's more than an attractive ornament, trust me.”

Trust me. Whenever those two words passed through Faln's lips, I instinctively knew that I could always trust him. I opened my pack, took the box out, and lifted the lid. The emerald glittered strangely bright in the shadowy forest. Wondering what Faln meant, I put it on my light brown hair.

Instantly, the light in the emerald began to pulse, the diamonds surrounding it glowing slightly less brightly. Green rays of light shot of the jewel. Suddenly, I felt warmth seep through my body, straight in to my fingers and toes, washing away all the anxiety from earlier. When the light faded to the dim glimmer from before, I felt confident that I would do great.

“Thank you, Faln,” I whispered, then stood on my tippy-toes and kissed him lightly on the cheek. He stared at me.

“You didn't have to do that, you know,” he told me.

“Didn't I?” I replied.

 

FALN'S POV (point of view)

 

Zelda stood on her tip-toes and lightly kissed me on the cheek. I stared at her, though I felt my ears warm up.

“You didn't have to do that,” I said quietly.

“Didn't I?” She said back, giving me this look. It wasn't the icy glare that she had perfected, neither the stricken fear I once saw when she got attacked by a wild bear the day she first donned black armour, nor was it the excitement of being here. It was total bliss, whether from the effects of the tiara or the bliss of being with me, I didn't care. It was the most beautiful face I had ever seen on her face, and I had known her all her life. Even so, back then, her smile was so cute, it melted the hardest heart. Now she was a young woman, and her smile stole my heart.

A clanging bell tore me away from my thoughts.

“That's the thirty-second warning,” I told Zelda, “You'd better get going.”

“Okay,” she said agreeably, and walked until she was swallowed by shadows.

“Faln, Faln,” Sky said behind me, “You need to be a bit more romantic next time. I don't know about you, but I'd rather be eaten alive by a dragon than have Zel mad at me.”

I smirked when Sky invoked Zelda's forbidden nickname. “Like you're one to talk. You get her mad at you with everything you do.”

“Okay, the fight's starting in ten seconds,” said Storm, “and I'm already late. Let's go!” She walked into the forest, and then Sky and I followed.

 

ZELDA'S POV

 

“You're alone?” Bsomero asked, a surprised tint to his voice. “All your friends abandon you? Don't worry. You can join us. It would be the greatest honor to have a princess as a member of Clan Lightning.”

“I never said I was alone!” I snapped back, “And shut up about the whole princess thing already!”

Then the bell rang, and the mage girl started throwing fireballs at me. I guess they decided that she would go first. The only thing worse against magic than addy is rune. I was pretty much a sitting duck.

“Hey! Off my sister! *BLEEP!*” I heard Storm shout, then I saw her charge through the trees, mysteriously changed into her range stuff, and began shooting mithril arrows at the mage. Sky, Faln, and Royal came not long after. They began attacking the other four members, as I gradually lost the strength to keep conscious. The mage's spells were just too powerful…and she had weakened me enough that I couldn't get to her without passing out first… It was too much. I fell to my knees, twisting my torso to the side to keep from breaking my nose, then hit the ground and passed out.

 

STORM'S POV

 

I was MAD when I saw Zel fall down, even though I knew she would be okay. The anger drove me to shoot arrows at my opponent with more umph.

My effort was rewarded when the mage also fell down and vanished. Meanwhile, Faln and Royal had taken out the other two knights. Now we stood and waited for Sky to defeat their leader Bsomero.

 

ZELDA'S POV

 

Almost immediately, after I had passed out, I reappeared in the jail cell, which was pretty much four walls made out of iron bars, with a viewing orb where defeated clan members could watch the battle. There was also a portal where one could leave the arena and go back to the challenge hall. I decided to stay and watch the battle from the viewing orb. My clan was almost unnaturally good. They worked together like a team, and I felt kind of left out…

Then suddenly, in another whirl, I was transported back to the challenge hall, where a voice in my head declared, “YOUR CLAN IS VICTORIOUS!”