Chapter 3
“Do you think Flynn dropped us off at the wrong place?” I asked Rocket
“Nope, definitely Cloudbreak islands!” She cheered. We kept walking and walking across the islands, no civilization. It’s surprising that she lives here. But the place was beautiful, waterfalls were hanging from the islands and the flowers were blooming.
“This place is wonderful!” I said, holding her hand tightly. She smiled as we kept walking, and we got to the end of the island. The sun was halfway through the sky.
“I should go find civilisation with your friend here…” Rocket confessed.
“Ok…” I replied “But please be back soon, ok?”
“Sure!” She answered. And wandered away with Swift. I walked off in the opposite direction. This place was new, and unusual. I kept going and jumping from island to island. The day was quite slow as I was exploring. But there weren’t many animals there, and one of the islands was shrouded by grey clouds. It looked like a storm was on the way. So I went onwards but walked quicker. I had a feeling someone was following me.
The sun was setting over the horizon after hours of searching for answers and the stars were coming out. I was dazed and tired. And there was a nearby house, a funny looking one that didn’t even look like the ones back in Windsong. So I lay down under the nearest tree and then looked at the sky. Being out in the open alone was fun, watching all the glowing stars that lit the twilight sky. I fell asleep. But I was so dazed I forgot to do something I was doing every night for the past eight years…
The next morning…
I woke up feeling like I did last night. I was somewhere different this time; In the house, maybe? There were two people at the door and I didn’t notice there was someone that looked a little like me standing right next to me. When I saw him, I screamed. Then fell back on the bed. He was clearly male. And he was wearing different clothes from me.
“Are you… Ok?” He asked. I looked at him
“Me? Oh I’m fine alright. But a few questions though, where am I? Who are those guys?” I pointed to the door. It was open and there were two other guys; one was (possibly) a pirate the other a vampire.
“I am sorry to startle you, ma’am. I, I mean… We, Found you under a tree during the night. A group of greebles tried to attack you while you were asleep. So I picked you up and brought you here? Are you happy? And those two are Wash Buckler and Night Shift” Another one was behind them that looked a little like Rocket, it was possibly her dad. I got out of bed. And tried to walk, realised I had been afflicted by my curse overnight and fell.
“Dude, what’s Rattle Shake even doing? It’s a girl!” Wash shouted.
“Be quiet…” The guy behind them said
“You lot, there’s other girls like us you know. So please be quiet” Said the guy now known as Rattle Shake
“Ok… Nice to meet you all… And I’m Venima…” I said, getting back up on my tail.
“How did you get here?” Night said.
“A blimp, how else?” I hissed. I looked at Shake. He looked at me back, and then I grew dazed again and felt like I was hypnotized by him. Then fell over again.
“She’s not going to make it…” The guy behind them joked. Rocket and swift flew through the window (which was shaped like a hexagon) all of a sudden and landed at the guy behind Wash and Night.
“Daddy?” She glanced up at him
“I forgot to mention, that’s Spy Rise!” Shake said. He had a snake gun in his left hand. Which I had just noticed.
“You’re not going to shoot me, are you?” I said, looking at it
“Umm… No?” He replied. I got up again.
“It was a crazy story. Got on the sugarbat there and… I’m not good with flying things… Sorry…” She said.
“It’s alright…” Spy Rise said to her, cuddling her. Seemed they had a strong relationship as father and daughter
“Well… We should go outside…” Shake confessed. He took me outside and told me to wait at the rock, then disappeared. The place was beautiful, I have to admit. Maybe Cloudbreak was populated after all? I sat and waited for him to come back, he looked somewhat like me. Except his muzzle was shorter than mine, and his scales were darker. He also wore brown instead of black and grey… But it didn’t really bother me much. Suddenly a purple dragon with yellow horns flew down next to me, then a blue dragon with a unicorn horn and feathered wings afterwards.
“Hey, look! We’ve not seen you around here before, are you new?” The blue one said.
“Yes…?” I answered, looking puzzled; the purple dragon looked at me surprised.
“Well, then. I’m Spyro… That there is Whirlwind; you’re probably wondering what’s with Rattle Shake, he’s a bit cocky we both admit that. Well we’ll be off…” Spyro said flying off with Whirlwind. Shake came back and sat down next to me.
“I don’t suppose you know how to bounce, eh?” He asked me.
“Actually I,” I started “Don’t know, but I can do this!” I got up and my left hand started glowing light green I span around but then landed flat on the grass tied in vines.
“Not entirely experienced yet, eh? You’ll learn…” He said.
“I know a few people, same species at the tavern in Ironjaw, amigo. We’ll just pop there tonight.” He added. A tavern? Well, this is getting exciting…
That evening…
Yep, the tavern was packed. It was somewhere before sunset, and my father was probably there in human form. Nobody was there that looked like him, so I kept looking; still no humans, just Mabus and Dirt Sharks and maybe a few Gillmen. There was another snake behind the counter. She looked almost like me but pale green scales and short black hair. I wandered over to her and asked.
“Umm… Hey, I’m looking for someone called Victor Skyfang. I’m just wondering if you’ve seen him or heard of him… Is he here by any chance?” She glanced at me.
“Nope, never heard of him… Try again tomorrow night, he’ll obviously be there. Oh well, gotta get back to- Hey wait a minute… Shake there told me ‘bout you before you got here, your name’s Jemima, right?” She said. I was extremely disappointed to hear that. First she said that my father wasn’t here, now she’s calling me Jemima. I didn’t want to upset her so I stayed calm.
“Oh, ok then. Mine name isn’t Jemima, it’s VENima…” I answered her.
“Oh, well then, name’s Timber. I have an acquaintance, she rarely comes here though. She’s always in her own little world…” I decided to tell her why I was here
“I’m her ‘cos I ran away from Wind-“ The next moment, one of the dirt sharks burst through the doors.
“Danger ahead, Skylanders! It’s a fire viper by the Serpent’s peak! Someone has to stop him before he destroys the town!” Everyone froze for 30 seconds or so then started panicking. I didn’t do anything but turn to Wash Buckler
“Fire what?” I asked
“Fire Viper, they’re an issue around these parts…” He answered back, jumping onto the table. I thought of the second the Dirt Shark said ‘Skylanders’, I believed that the guys I was with were possibly Skylanders that my mother had told me about a few years ago.
“Alright, guys…” Wash started to say. Everyone kept panicking; then said it again.
“Guys! Stop your blubbering! We’ll stop the viper! Come on! Stop!” Then everyone froze again… He jumped off the table; then turned to me.
“We’ll need some… Extra people…” I didn’t know how to fight back then, but it was a real surprise they wanted me to save the city from a ‘monster’ and the way he said it made me know I’d be the only ‘Extra Person’.
“Me?” I wondered
“Yeah, you’re included,” He confirmed to me, jumping off the table into the middle of the tavern. I didn’t want to come, but I was the new girl, so it was kinda weird and all. There were only a few people in the tavern still panicking, though the noise died down, “there’s an 8 year old in the bunch, and we’ll leave her at the house…”
“Are you sure about that…?” I suggested, really it wasn’t a good idea leaving kids alone (in my opinion anyway, I used to stay around my parents all the time when I was Rocket’s age)
“Don’t worry, dude, uh… I mean dudette, we’ve got her covered!” I turned to everyone around me… And Timber was hiding under the bar.
“Well, I don’t really know about leaving her all alone…” I continued to say. Wash turned to two other guys; one was Night and the other another guy I met in the meantime, Rubble Rouser (I tend to call him Rubble for short)
“Uh… Babysitting? Heh, these guys must be crazy…” Rubble said, nudging Night.
“Nope, it is serious…” Night answered back. I know she wouldn’t be that much of a nuisance, but I hadn’t known much about her, yet…
Well; it wasn’t until a few more minutes until everyone from the SFH (Swap Force House, as they said) was in the tavern.
“It’s ok, guys… Well, I’ve rarely used my powers. It’s only for someone in need or in case of emergency, an-“
“This is an emergency, senorita,” Rattle Shake said, “so it is a good time to use that magic of yours…” I hadn’t a choice but to go with the flow as he was the only one in the group who actually liked me, despite him being cocky. Everyone shifted outside and waited for me; Timber was still hiding under the counter, she slowly got up and turned to me.
“Go on, girl! It’ll be a great experience with all the dilly dallying and the flames and all the drama for you! Eh, don’t worry I’ll be here…” She told me as slithered to the door behind the counter and slamming it shut. I just shrugged and joined everyone outside the tavern. |
