Fables/Fairytales Fan Fiction ❯ To Break a Spirit ❯ clan war tragedy ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

SFH: Haha! I'm just throwing the Chapters out^^ I guess I should explain the title a bit: Zelda has this really fiery, electric SPIRIT, right? Well, what would happen if that spirit was BROKEN?! She would go EMO^^! Okay Enjoy Chapter 3!

Dedication: This one is dedicated to Storm, my very-loving sister, who has supported me ever since I began writing this story.(I have up to chapter 9 in a notebook in my room^^)

Disclaimer: Do I have to do this every time? *Sigh* do not own RuneScape or clan wars, or the Dark Angels. That belongs to Royal.

To Break a Spirit

Chapter 3: clan war tragedy

“YOUR CLAN IS VICTORIOUS!!”

<Oh yeah!> I heard Sky shout in my head, <I totally pwned!>

<We both did, Sky,> Storm's voice replied.

What? I thought.

<Oh oops,> Faln's voice said guiltily, <We haven't told her yet…>

<Ooops.> Sky's voice sounded sheepish. <By the way Zelda, we can communicate telepathically in clans.>

Ooooooh. That explained it. But I wanted to make Sky feel bad anyway.

<SKY YOU NINCOMPOOP!!!> I screamed, <Why didn't you tell me this before, huh?>

<Nincompoop?> Storm sounded amused. <That's a new one.>

<I'm full of `em,> I said darkly, <Some of which I'd rather not use.>

<Okay I'm in the right clan, right?> asked Bsomero's deep tone.

<Wait, what are you doing here?> I asked him, surprised, <Don't you have a clan to lead?>

<Yeah, but they all agreed that we would like to join you, Princess.>

<WOULD YOU SHUT UP ABOUT THE WHOLE PRINCESS THING ALREADY!!!> I shouted, <I'M A PERSON, YOU KNOW!!!>

<Ouch Zelda, that hurts my brain, y'know,> said Storm in a pinched voice.

<Okay fine, whatever,> I said in an exasperated tone.

Then came a chorus of voices, kind of echoey in my mind.

<Hi, I'm Tink the Amazing WonderGirl!> I laughed out loud at that.

<I'm Redhawk. Nice to meet you!>

< My name is Elvislim. Hi!>

<U-uh, yeah, o-of course,> I stammered. So the ruthless mage girl had a nice side to her, huh?

Suddenly, a small voice said out loud, “Hello. Do you have room for one more in your clan…?”

I turned to the barely hearable voice. There, about as tall as my shoulder (which was pretty short), was a little girl who looked maybe…seven? Eight? She had raven black hair in the wind braid style, wore a white shirt and red pants, and carried the basic longbow. A quiver with bronze arrows was on her back. Her large brown eyes stared innocently at me. Awww, how could I refuse?

“Uhhhhh, I guess,” I said slowly, “but I need your name.”

“Oh, I'm Miko…hi…”

“And you need to talk louder,” I added, “Clan Phoenix is confident, not cowardly, and I will not tolerate shyness! Understood?”

“U-understood.”

“NO STUTTERING EITHER!”

“UNDERSTOOD!!” Miko shouted right back at me. Wow, she was a fast learner. Cool!

Then Sky and the others came and joined Miko and me. We had some small conversation, then challenged again and again and again, winning every time someone accepted the challenge. It became routine. Sky would do the challenging. The other clan leader and I would decide the conditions for the fight. Then we would fight. My clan would win. HA! We were unbeatable.

Alas, all good things must come to an end.

“Are you the suddenly popular Clan Phoenix?” an unfamiliar boy asked me towards the end of the day.

“Yeah, why?” I replied.

“I'm Lot, Lot Dragons. I challenge you to a clan war,” he answered.

“I accept.” I stepped into the choice realm portal. This time, however, I was nice and let him go first in choosing. He had selected the classic wilderness stage, which was absolutely okay with me. He also shut off eating, drinking, and prayer, which I had no problem with. When he finished, we were whisked away to the arena.

I shuddered. It looked exactly like the scary wildy. Pits of lava occasionally spewed their contents into the air, making it very hot and stuffy in the arena.

<Dudes!> I shouted in clan chat, <It's another one! Get in the portal!>

Almost instantly, my clan came through the whirlwindy portal. I couldn't help but grin; they all looked so professional and manly…it wasn't fair! It's not my fault I was born short and had a late start in school because my parents chose to HOMESCHOOL me. The Falador tutors were uneducated and so I had not gotten a good education until I was nine.

“Okay, after this I have to go,” said Tink, flipping her curly brown hair behind her, “I have a blind date in Karamja tomorrow and the boat leaves early.”

“Same here,” Miko said quietly, “My parents don't like it when I'm gone too long.”

Well of course they wouldn't. A seven year old shouldn't be alone in the first place, I thought mentally.

Around me, everyone began the usual routine: check that the armour is okay, adjusting grips on bows, et cetera. Faln, however, leaned toward me and muttered, “We have to go after this anyway Zel. Your parents are throwing a birthday bash for you tonight, and it would be rather awkward if you weren't there.”

I rolled my eyes. Did I want a bash? No. Did I need a bash? Also no.

I heard Faln chuckle in my ear. “I thought you'd be annoyed. Anyway, you should keep the tiara, just in case. Oh, and it needs a power-up. Just say `restore and protect', ok?”

I nodded, and then muttered what he told me to do. The light from the emerald began to pulse the way it did before, spreading warmth throughout my body. Then something new happened. For an instant, something like a deep green force field flashed for a moment around me. I blinked, and it vanished. That's when I noticed something.

“Hey, has anyone seen Royal?” I asked.

Everyone shook their heads except Sky, who just stared straight ahead.

“Sky? Is something wrong?” I asked him.

“Huh? Oh no! At least-” he stared at the ground, frowning slightly. “-I hope not.”

“Wait, what?” I started to ask him, but then the start bell rang.

Dark thoughts forming in our heads as to where Royal could have gone, we walked to center of the arena, expecting some lame five-person clan, or a supersized one.

No one was there.

“What's going on?” I wondered, “I know that a guy challenged me, and his conditions were fair. Why would he disappear?”

“Maybe he realized that he couldn't beat us, and quit,” Cupcake suggested helpfully.

“Or decided that we weren't good enough to face his clan,” Elvislim added.

“Or he's the type of guy that runs away and expects us to chase after him!” Storm snarled, her hand tightening around her longsword. “And that's exactly what I'm going to do!” And she stormed (no pun intended) into the darkness.

<I DON'T THINK SO!> Storm hollered, <THIS COWARD IS MINE!!!>

Weirdly, I suddenly got this cliché-feeling that something bad was going to happen, something really, really, really bad, and I had a hunch that it involved Storm. Then I thought, Oh, she's the toughest knightess in RuneScape. She'll be fine. But I followed her anyway into the darkness.

“Wait Zelda, wait!” a young voice called out to me. I turned on a dime and was very surprised to see Miko running toward me, her dark hair flapping. “You can't just go on your own! You could have been ambushed!” she wheezed, clutching the stitch in her chest, “But if you're going to go anyway, try the other clan exit. I know that a lot of the cowardly clans tend to hide there.”

I stared at her, stunned. Was there the possibility that a seven-year old had given me advice? And the possibility that said seven-year old sounded confident for the first time?

“Um, how old are you?” I finally asked.

“I'll be twelve next week,” she answered, her expression a mixture between confusion and offense. “Why?” oh. Oops, won't make that mistake again.

“Um, just wondering,” I answered, and then started for the other side of the arena. Although, Miko insisted on running ahead of me without providing an explanation.

<Hey Storm, what's the status with the other clan?> Tink asked.

<Can't find him yet,> was the brief reply.

I would also have said something rather snide, but then I heard a scream just ahead of me. It sounded just like-

“Miko!” I yelled, beginning to run full force until I reached the other portal, where I saw Miko on her knees, a figure aiming an iron arrow toward her heart. He wore black-dyed dragon hide, I'm not sure what color, and wore a cowl to hide his face.

<G-g-guys?> I said shakily, <I think I found him…..>

<No duh,> Redhawk said irritably, <We're fighting maybe twenty guys over here!>

<what?!>

At that moment, Storm caught up to me. “Zelda, you al...” she froze when her blue-gray eyes focused on Miko's captor. “Zelda,” she muttered out of the corner of her mouth, “Run.”

“What, why?!” I cried frantically.

“You heard me Zelda. Run.”

“That won't be possible,” the archer said coolly, “or necessary.”

“Won't it?” I replied, turning to do what Storm said to do. Unfortunately, the archer was right: about thirty knights closed in on us, all of them with hooded cloaks. I froze.

“Oh.”

“`Oh' is right, Zelda,” on of the creepy guys in front said in the same cool voice as the archer, “and it's no use calling for help. We already took your clan out.”

I felt a chill run down my spine and settle in my stomach. His voice was familiar…and he knew my name…

“Royal,” I whispered.

The knight threw back his hood, revealing the very guy whose name I uttered. He flashed a horrible grin at me.

“Recognize me now, princess?” his tone was mocking as he took a step toward me…and another…and another…okay now I was really scared. Then-

“KEEP YOUR FILTHY HANDS AWAY FROM HER!!!” Storm screamed, raising her rune longsword to hack Royal to pieces.

At a glance from Royal, two clan members grabbed Storm's arms and pulled her back, one of them forcing the longsword out of her hand. Royal's brown eyes moved to look at her.

“You have spirit,” he said thoughtfully, “And I like it.” That made me mad, and I mean MAD. This guy was creepy!

“HEY!!!!” I shouted, and then did the weirdest thing: I dropped my kiteshield and put both hands on my scimitar, wincing about the fact that the hilt was barely long enough for both hands. Putting all my anger into this one blow, I swung a Royal with all my strength, intending to stab him through the back and pierce his filthy black heart.

Unfortunately, he turned at the last second, whipping out his rune sword from its sheath, and blocked my blow with one hand. Crap! He was strong.

My teeth clenching together, I pushed with all my might against his sword, but it was no use. Stupid guys are justtwo stupidly strong, I thought to myself, punctuating it with several foul words. I tripled my efforts, but Royal's sword didn't budge. Then it seemed as if he was tired of teasing my meager arm strength, and suddenly knocked me backwards by jerking his sword upwards, sending me stumbling backwards until I hit a tree, snapping my neck. No, it didn't break, but it still hurt. A lot.

“Pathetic, princess,” I heard Royal say as he inched toward me, “I really expected more from you.”

I lifted my head, my hair falling off my face. This guy had gone WAY too far, and I had to stop him. “No,'' I muttered, “You can't do this Royal. This isn't you…”

“Yes it is, and you know it, Zelda,” he answered, now only several feet away, “And you know it.”

Behind him, Storm uttered a shriek of frustration, still struggling to throw the clan members retaining a hold on her. “STAY AWAY FROM HER, ROYAL! I MEAN IT! LEAVE HER ALONE!” She screamed. A clan member clapped a hand over her mouth to keep her quiet, but it didn't help much; I could still hear her muffled screams.

“You heard her, Royal,” I mumbled, not entirely sure if he could hear me, “Stay away from me…”

He laughed harshly. “I've been waiting for this for a very long time, Zelda. I'm not about to stop now.” Then the distance between us was closed, and he reached out to grab me. Then a most bizarre thing happened: when his searching fingers got about two inches away from me, they landed on not my skin, but a glowing green surface that matched the glow in the emerald in the tiara. It suddenly glowed super bright, hurling Royal about ten feet away.

Unfortunately, he was almost immediately up on his feet, and I saw a confused frown twist his face. “What the…” he muttered. He then walked toward me again, except when he was close enough to touch, he reached for the tiara on my head, but his fingers closed on nothing but the glowing green surface that shielded me and flung him away yet again. This time, he took a little while longer to get up, and when he did, he did NOT look happy.

“How did you obtain a tiara of protection?!” he demanded.

“Wait, what?” My tiara had a special name?

“A tiara of protection, dunce,” he said impatiently, “One of the rarest and most powerful magical items in this world. How did you get it?!”

“And why should she tell you?” a wonderfully familiar voice asked. Then Faln broke through the clan members' ranks and stood by my side. “Zelda, are you alright?” he put his arm around my shoulders and glared at Royal, who just glared right back.

“Royal said he took everyone out,” I whispered to him, “how did you escape?”

“I ran,” he answered simply, “Sky told me to find you and Storm.” Through that, he maintained his staring contest with Royal.

Very suddenly, Storm finally succeeded in throwing on the clan members holding her. She walked up to Royal, despite the fact that she hadn't gotten her longsword back.

“Look pal, I don't know what your trying to pull, hurting my sister like this,” she snarled, punctuating each emphasized word by poking him in the chest, “I, for one, will tolerate it no longer.”

Royal laughed, flicking her hand away. “You interest me, Storm. I guess since I can't have Zelda, I'll have you.” A ball of white energy appeared in his hand. He touched it to Storm's chest, who was so surprised she couldn't react in time, and she vanished.

“No!” I yelled, leaping out from Faln's protective arm and running to where Storm had disappeared, while hot tears welled up in my eyes. My mind was frantic.

No, no, no! NO! STORM! NOOOOO!!!

I fell to my knees, the tears beginning to roll down my cheeks. Storm was GONE, because Royal couldn't touch me. It was all my fault. I could've taken off the tiara and surrendered without a fight. Instead, Royal went to my defenseless sister, and took her as opposed to me. How could I live with this? With myself?

“Zelda!” I heard Faln cry out, and I noticed him being attacked by three clan members…and losing.

“FALN!” I screamed, getting off my knees. I could barely see through my wet eyes, so all I could do was stumble blindly and soon, I tripped and fell.

“Who are you, monster?” I said in barely above a whisper, “How can you do this without regret?” I wiped my tears away with my hand and saw something interesting: instead of a sneer, Royal's face suddenly contorted in pain and…regret. Then it regained its smooth, cold mask. He squatted down next to me.

“We, Zelda, are the Dark Angels, and soon, you will tremble with terror every time you hear that name,” he sneered into my ear, “See you around.” Then he got up and teleported.

“GET BACK HERE!!” I shrieked into the air, “I'M NOT FINISHED WITH YOU YET!!” I got to my feet and grabbed my scimitar.

“Too late, Zelda, he's gone,” a Dark Angel whispered in my ear, `And now it's your turn.” I felt a searing pain on the sides of my neck as he pinched the nerves there. I fell forward, blood in my mouth, and passed out.