[Fiction] Puppeteer's Relics

[Fraizen]

Hey Kon I've been away but now I return :P
Thanks for the update mate

[Kon]

Chapter finished. Took forever, huh?

Chapter 12

"Think we got any closer to your parents?"
"I don't know. If only we had some sort of clue..."

The sun was going down again, and everything they had met were grassy plains and a few villages here and there. Once, they had stopped to get drink and food in one of those villages, but nothing special had happened that day. It was getting warmer and Zack felt his cold slowly disappearing. They hadn't talked much, Zack didn't want to disturb her and just wanted her to recover from what had happened that morning.
"So, all in all, there's not really a city we can visit in Namidia if you'll want to come with me, except Lunata, which is already at the border and can't be really seen as a desert city. I could show you the never ending sandstorm in the center." Zack explained as they talked about Zack's home.

A bird caught Zack's eye. It was brown, with white stripes, and it was quite big, but it wasn't as big as a hawk or an eagle. It sat on a tree branch and eyed Zack and Laura nervously.
Did he remember it from anywhere...? The shape of the colors reminded him of something, but what was it? He tried to go back to the past in his head, to the moment where he had seen the feather, but he couldn't recreate any environment next to it... except the sky. And something brown under it... but what was that?

He turned his head to Laura, intending to ask her whether she knew that bird, but then he instantly was reminded of where he knew it from.
The feather in Laura's hair. It was exactly the color of the bird.
"Laura, have you got that feather in your hair for long?" Zack asked.
"Why? Do they rot or anything?" she replied, taking it out of her hair and holding it as far away as possible from her body.
"No, but I think that bird or one of its buddies gave you the feather."

The bird, whatever kind of bird it was, cocked its head and flew away.
"Come on, chase it!" Zack yelled, spreading his arms as he started running after it. Laura followed closely behind him.

It flew over the plains, turning to the south, there, it flew towards a forest. Zack followed it, not thinking about where it was flying, just ran behind it until it entered the woods, and then Zack stopped since he noticed that Laura was way behind him already.
She arrived panting.
"How can you run so fast...?"
"Laura, it isn't supposed to be autumn yet?"
"Huh?"

Laura looked up and saw that none of those trees had leaves. The leaves were rotten and lying on the ground. "I guess this is what you heard yesterday... but why?" Zack muttered, not being able to understand what had happened. There must have been a reason.

"I remember those woods... I remember them... I think we lived in a village in them..."

"Let's get going." Zack offered, taking a step into the woods. The leaves under his feet were rustling as he slowly disappeared behind the trees, Laura following him. Something wasn't quite right about this place.

"Laura, can you hear anything besides our steps and the wind?"

Laura held on for a moment to search the surroundings.

"There's still my fishy feeling. Flaris is full of magic, and I don't like magic. Besides, I didn't have my daily near-death experience yet."

Soon, they arrived at a few forgotten houses, three or four. One of them was burned down, the others seemed to have suffered from storms. Not a single soul lived there...

"I guess... this is it. The place you grew up at."
"I was hoping to find another relative... but this place is dead."

Leaves rustled though none of them had moved and Zack whirled around to see a woman with a covered face in a brown cloak. She was emitting a faint, green glow.

"You stole our protection and our life, human. What have you come back for? Have you not left enough destruction?" the cloaked person asked.

[Fraizen]

Thanks for the update
Ohh eeeee o ah ah ting tang walla walla bing bang
its stuck in my head haha

[Kon]

Chapter 13

The ground was shaking as the cloaked person lifted a hand. Zack lifted his sword and stood in the dancer's stance immediately, ready to defend himself. Laura was looking around for a covered place and ran up to one of the old houses' ruins, preparing her bow and concentrating to collect the power of the wind around her.

Leaves on the ground were rustling as they slowly moved away. What the heck was she doing there? Laura felt uncomfortable as she raised her bow, aiming at the cloaked person. Was she supposed to shoot...? But why wasn't Zack attacking them?

Laura looked at Zack and noticed he was pointing down to the ground with his loose finger. Was this a sign for her...? Were these earthquakes induced by HER?
Laura hopped up on what was left of the wall of that house and raised her bow again, pulling back the bowstring, but not letting go. She was ready to shoot whenever something happened.
The earthquakes got stronger again.

Zack felt the earthquakes getting stronger under him and suddenly hopped up as something... like wooden teeth shot out of the ground. What was this...?
Zack didn't know what had happened as he tried to find out what to do next while flying up in mid-air. The wooden teeth had opened again, and he would fall straight into them...
Then, all of a sudden, he felt wind pressing against him and flinging him to the right, away from the teeth. He was spinning around, but managed to land on his feet to see Laura with her palm pointing towards him.
He was now between the wooden teeth and the cloaked person as the earthquakes increased again. He just stared at the manically smiling face with the blue eyes that showed itself from the cloak.

"You want to attack me? Do you think that I'm not safe? The forest's siren died because of you, the woods will protect me."

Zack charged towards her, swinging her sword towards her, as suddenly something wrapped itself around his foot. He stopped his sword right next to her throat.
"Seems like only what you summoned protects you."
"What...?"

His leg was pulled back and he slammed his sword in the ground to keep himself in position. Laura was shooting arrows at the wooden teeth, hoping to provoke whatever was underneath so it would come out. Zack took out his sword and slashed it at the vine, freeing his leg.

"Then...aren't you... human?"
"Yes, we are. We're not the ones who did this to you, however. And it seems like your little bud there is going out of control." Zack spoke as the earthquakes increased again. He jumped towards the wooden teeth that had opened again and flew towards the middle like an arrow with his sword in front.

Blood was splashing out of the ground as he flung himself away, pulling the sword out on the way, and whirled around to see what was coming out. A vine shot out of the ground, flying towards Zack, but Laura shot it down in mid-air, cutting it in half. The cut vine was shaking on the ground as the wooden teeth fully opened and an adult earthquake went through the woods as a huge monster jumped out. A huge monster made of wood, with wooden teeth at the top... it was bleeding at the top, where Zack had stabbed it. There were yellow spots shooting out of the top, underneath the wooden teeth. Zack guessed it was a poisoned trap.

"Laura, you're an arcane archer, if I remember that right, but don't use fire here. You'll burn down the woods."
"Okay..." she replied as one of the crystals that Zack had seen glimmer up lost its spark. A red one.

The wooden monster suddenly spurt a liquid towards Zack from its huge mouth and Zack used his Backstep technique to hurl away to the right before it would hit him, then, whirled around and charged towards it in the Serpent's stance. He jumped up as the monster blurred the liquid towards him again, but the smell of it made him want to run away already. He stabbed the sword right through one of the openings of the monster that resembled an eye, but according to how his sword felt, there was only wood inside there. What the hell kept this alive?

"Stop, forest cage! I command you to stop!" the green cloaked person yelled as the monster turned around towards her and shot one of the vines at her. The cloaked woman screamed and dodged it closely.
The monster took another vine towards her, but Zack had bounced off the monster and thrown himself in the way as it caught him.
Instinct wanted him to grab his sword, but it was still stuck in the monster's eye.
As if the monster would have read his thoughts, it threw him between the wooden teeth while staying far away from the sword. Next thing it did was grab the sword and fling it towards Laura, but it didn't aim well and the sword just stuck itself on one of the house walls.

Ugh... what was this...? Zack lifted up his shirt over his mouth and nose so he wouldn't breathe the poison in, but it made him feel light-headed already. Only then he noticed that Laura had been shooting arrows at it all the time. The monster, apparently called a forest cage, apparently had a hard time deciding who to deal next with. He decided to go for Laura, the cloaked person was just interested in staying away while Laura would hurt it even though he wasn't attacking her.

Zack looked down on the ground as he noticed this monster wasn't bleeding anymore... the color was natural red. Oh my god... this thing wouldn't digest him...? He tried to break one of the wooden teeth or grits, but they were too hard. If only he had his sword. The wooden monster was approaching Laura, swinging its vines at her while she jumped down from the building, shooting arrows at it repeatedly. They were just bouncing off, but Laura was hoping that one managed to hurt it, so she kept aiming for the same spot and shooting at it. How would she be able to take this thing down without burning down all the forest...?

The vines kept on shooting at her as she jumped around, steadily shooting arrows. Her arms were getting limp and her mind drifted away as she felt the effects of overusing magic.
One of the vines shooting at her came in surprise, it was too fast for Laura to dodge, she slammed her bow at it. The vine wrapped itself around the bow and flung it away. Great, now she was unarmed.

The forest cage kept on pushing her in now. Every step it took forward meant a step back for Laura.

How would she defeat this thing...? Hoping for help, she looked at the cloaked woman, noticing she had knelt down in desperation, seeing her own summon disobey. Useless for Laura... the monster took another step towards her, Laura stepped back and felt her leg touching a wall. She pressed her body against it in fear as her eyes filled with tears. The monster swung back a vine and Laura heard a thump.
Zack had fainted and crashed against the forest cage's walls. The wooden teeth were closing in on him. No! Not Zack!

"Never give up." That's what her father said. Laura had been trying to learn to ride a bike, but she had fallen down, injuring her leg. "That's an important lesson, Laura. If you'll give up on a wish, it won't fulfill. If you wish to ride a bike, don't give up practicing!

... she didn't want to let Zack die. Her arms reached up, grabbing Zack's sword that had been stuck into the wall earlier as flames shot out of the sword.
She pulled it out, slashing it at the monster as it cut through like hot butter. The wooden teeth opened, throwing Zack out as the monster fell to the ground.

[Fraizen]

how will Laura handle the situation?
Guess I'll have to wait and see :P

[Kon]

Chapter 14

Zack snapped back into dizzy consciousness out of nowhere. His eyelids protested against opening, he felt he was lying on the ground and all of his body felt heavy. He just couldn't get up yet... He was glad the monster went down, even though he didn't know how it had happened.
"Laura...?" he asked, opening his eyes. Was she there? She wasn't in his field of view, and he was too lazy to lift his head up.

"Laura, are you there?" he asked again, a bit louder. Nothing. Where was she? Zack sighed, the fact she was missing forced him to get up. He looked around, he noticed he had laid on the wooden floor of one of the burned down houses. He sat up and turned his head, but Laura was nowhere to be seen.

"Laura?" he yelled as loud as he could. "Oh my god, don't wake me up like that!" she replied from an upper floor of that house. Her voice sounded rough and tired. "Sorry. I'll let you sleep again."

Zack stood up, climbing the white stairs to the upper floor to see Laura on the floor.
He sat down next to her, closing his eyes and letting his mind drift away to fall half-asleep. His ears were still receiving everything from outside as he dove through memories of his childhood.

"... great. Now I can't sleep. Did you have to yell like that?"
"Well... I was afraid you disappeared. Sorry."

Zack opened his eyes and loojed at Laura. "Are you sure you don't want to try to sleep on? I feel half-asleep."
"I'm guessing that cage's poison made you tired. It's almost noon... Zack, I think there aren't any people here who know me, I want to go somewhere else. If only we knew who attacked the forest..."
"That's near impossible to find out, besides, what would you do?"
"I'd try to make them pay..."

Zack was reminded of her crying on the floor, desperate, coming to the conclusion he'd want the same. But there was no way to find it out...

"Where are you going to go now, Zack?"
"The coldness here made me want to visit Cyria again. The town I grew up at... in Namidia."
"Mind if I go along?"
"You thought I would?"
"Well... I followed you to here, but you were always living alone, so I figured..."
"I'm also not as lonely as I used to be, and that's more important."
"So it's to the south?"

Laura got up, stretching her arms and legs. "I'll just... hmm." Laura took the feather out of her hair, letting it glide to the ground smoothly. "So many years... I'll always remember this place."

Then, they left the woods. Yesterday's woman was nowhere to be seen.

[Fraizen]

Thanks :D Konnie Konnie Kon Kon :P

[Kon]

Sorry for the long time this took. I seem to be attacked by writer's block.

Chapter 15

"I'm glad we're getting out of Flaris. I hate the magics up there." Zack stated.

The sun was slowly setting to their left, and even though night was approaching, Zack felt a comfortable warmth inside. Was it because he was going to see home again?

"Hey, why have you never thought of settling down somewhere, and live a normal life?"
"I'm not that type."
"Type?"
"When I'm in one place for too long, I just feel like leaving."
"Well... see, you're a good fighter, apparently. Why not teach others?"
"I gave a promise to my teacher, and it was to teach only one disciple."
"Why is that?"
"The deadliest foe is the one you can't predict. Me and him are the only Namidian swordsmen, I suppose. Most of the people there aren't fighting, but they tend to use primitive ballistics. Except the Shekars."
"Shekars? The rat-people?"
"Shekars. They fight with spears or other long-range melee-weapons usually."
"Can't wait to see a rat-person."
"If you'll call 'em rat-people, they'll hate you."
"So?"
"Shekars are pretty violent when it comes to humans."

The grass under their feet became rare as Zack smiled, awaiting the plains of Burudeng before him. He smiled, feeling the warm winds around him.

"Gee, it's warmer here than usually."
"The desert's warmer."
"I guess that's your payback for freezing in Flaris?"
"Yep. Anyway, unless you want to sleep outside, we have to find a village."
"Zack... is that a fata morgana, or can I smell fire again? A village HAS to be near!"
"Fata Morganas are visual. I hope you're right."
"Yes, she is." a voice behind them spoke. Zack whirled around, his heart doubling its frequency and his hand grabbing his sword.

"Zack, don't tell me you forgot me so fast! Or is that how you greet old friends?"
"... Hello, Jane." Zack let go of his sword, seeing a familiar face. He felt bad for getting ready to attack.

"Zack... who is she?"
"Business partner. We helped each other out once. I think that sums it up, Zack, doesn't it?"
"Business partners... silly. I just saved your ass."
"You sure did... more often than you thought. I'd like my ring back now."
"Your ring...?"
"You don't check your sheath often, do you? There's some room down there. I slipped it in there, and I want it back now. It's worth a lot more than you think."
"I was the one going for the ring, it's mine, actually."
"Oh, Zack, please. My dead father has debts at Foster's? Never heard something more amusing. I should have let you die and just take the Puppeteer's relic."

Laura hid behind Zack, staring at the stranger in her eyes. "What's a Puppeteer's relic...?" she whispered.

"Aw, Zack, were you too lazy to explain? Well, little lady there, it's a long story. They're so valuable because you get a free wish if you wear all of them, as if the magic powers they carry weren't enough."
"Free wish...?"
"Yes. Anyhow, Zack, give it to me before Elia asks the same. Her way of asking is usually a soldier slicing your head off."
"... The ring is mine."
"Whatever. I warned you. Toodles."

Without any more words, Jane turned to the east and walked off.

"Zack... who the hell was that?"
"Hmm... business partner was a pretty good word for it. We saved each other's butt once."
"She's scary..."
"Doesn't matter anymore. Seems like she threatened me, with that Elia thing. Does she work for Elia...?"
"And what kind of ring is that?"
"Oh, that. That was what I tried to snatch from someone while she helped me at it. It's a ring that can teleport people, but it doesn't fit on my finger and I have no idea how to use it."
"Let me try."

Zack turned his sheath around, letting the ring drop into his hand, which he then showed to Laura. She took the ring out of his palm and tried to put it on her finger, and it slipped right on. "And how is this supposed to work...?" she muttered, moving her hand around, closing her eyes, walking around, stretching her arm, but none of those worked.
"I guess she was really aiming for the ring back then, Zack, because I have no idea how to use this."
"So where's that town you smelled?"

The sun had already disappeared behind the horizon and they switched position, since now Laura would be the one leading. Zack walked right behind her, yawning, stretching his arms. "I wonder what the full story about those Puppeteer's Relics is." Laura suddenly stated.
"Hmm... Well, it's too late to ask Jane, and I don't feel like conquering all Eversun and press the info out of Elia, so it would have to be a random hit, or we meet someone who knows. Maybe we'll even find a relic."
"Hmm... I hope so. Look, over there, I see lights."

As always, Laura saw it way before Zack was even able to spot anything, and they soon entered a small village where they got a room for the night. It had only one bed, and Zack ended up sleeping on the floor.

[XxKiraYamatoxX]

Minor nitpicks...

- 'Magic' is already plural, there's no need to further add an 's' to the end.
- By swordshaft, I'm assuming you mean sheath or scabbard. There's no such word as swordshaft.
- Instead of using swordhilt, just replace it with 'the hilt of his sword'. Again, there's no such word as swordhilt.

[Fraizen]

thanks for the update again Kon
This is the only fic actually bother reading now... sorry Ivan :L