#both of them arw so nd

[spacebrick3]

WHG - Kjiersten’s Victory

Alright, so I felt I should make something to describe Kjiersten’s victory in the Writeblr Hunger Games; (I can’t do any of the other days really since this turned out to be like 3k words already and I do need to actually get other stuff done haha)

 It’s going along with the rebellion/conspiracy started by @ratracechronicler and @concealeddarkness13 - also, @writer-denois and @owlsofstarlight your characters Ra’ae and Maldl showed up as the only other two in the final days of the Games.

I should have an ‘after-the-games’ post made for Kjiersten as well sometime, but here’s my take on how the Games ended;

Day 19:

Kjiersten stood at the edge of the forest, thinking. All three of the tributes had managed to get together the night before, but with the Capitol clearly listening in, there had been no way to discuss how they would get out. It had been an awkward conversation, then, none of them able to say what was on their minds, but there had been some interesting topics brought up, and they had been able to learn a bit more. Like the fact that Maldl had once served in a communication outpost left over from the days before Panem, handling the wires there.

They glanced over at the trees. It seemed like a nice day for some whittling.

Grabbing a vaguely straight tree branch, they hiked back into the forest, around where they knew the other two tributes had been last night. They were both District 11, so they’d likely stick together. Then, making sure he was close enough to the clearing that the tributes would be able to hear them, they started scraping at the edge of the branch with their knife.

Scrape. Scrrrrrrrape. Scrape. Scrape. Pause. Scrape. Scrape. Scrape. Pause. Scrrrrrrrape. Pause. Scrrrrrrrape. Scrape. They kept methodically slicing at the edge of the bark, making as much noise as possible, until they were almost sure they had to have attracted the attention of at least one of them. Then they repeated their small statement, making sure that Maldl would be able to understand it:

Lstn. Msg. Rply w 1 arw e.

They were sitting about to the southeast of the clearing. Ra’ae had been carrying a massive longbow the day before, and Kjiersten waited for about five minutes before a long, black-shafted arrow came whistling through the trees a few meters away from them, directly east. They had their attention. Again they turned their attention to the branch, clearing another section of bark to get the next message across:

hg nds. tdy o tmrw. o Cp wl snd smthg. Y? N?

Another few minutes passed, presumably while the two of them translated the message. Then came the sound of an axe chopping at wood, five strokes delivered quick, then the same five to repeated the message.

Chop. Chop. Chop. Chop. Pause. Chop.

SN. Understood. Maldl and Ra’ae were agreeing, and also implicitly stating that they would follow their lead on this. Kjiersten mulled for a second about how the other two could fake their deaths. It would be the best course of action, especially since the Capitol had always been suspicious of their leadership of the Connection Project. Losing the Games would mean losing that - at least in the open - and that couldn’t happen. And besides, he thought a little ruefully, it would be nice to win the Games, at least in practice if not theory.

R, they finally sent. expls at nw cnr. st off nd rmv trckr. hc pk. QSL? (Do you acknowledge?)

QSL, came the reply. Acknowledged. Ra’ae was going to go find the explosive Kjiersten had rigged up back - was it two weeks ago now? The Games were really starting to blur their perception of time. Ra’ae would set it off from a distance, with any projectile he could find, then rip his tracker out. The others - Tom and Kallias especially, although they guessed a majority of the mentors might be in on it by now - would come collect them then, and most of the Capitol would be none the wiser.

What about Maldl, though? Both of District 11 dying together, especially after having been alive so long, would be suspicious. And if they died simply setting off a trap, the Gamemakers would be even more incensed. Best to let things go out with a bang, then.

M. Tmrw. Hr. Fht s Cp wnt spct ayt. Fg ot wo srv thr. QSL?

More silence, and they worried that they’d omitted too many letters in the interest of speed. But finally the reply came back QSL, and they sighed in relief. Tomorrow morning, they and Maldl would meet back here for a fight, and they’d decide then who would win and who would fake their death. But until then, there was nothing to do but kill a few hours until the next day, although hopefully not literal killing.

What to do until then? They looked down at the now mostly-shaved stick in their hand, and shrugged. Why not whittling?

Night 19:

The anthem had just finished playing. They had managed to get to a hill overlooking the northwest part of the forest, and looked up just in time to see a blinding flash of light illuminate the edge of the dark mass of trees. Flaming debris lit a few of nearby trees ablaze, and they burned with bright yellow light. Smoke billowed into the air.

Even though they knew it was fake, they couldn’t help but wince. That was a much bigger explosion than they had expected, and they hoped Ra’ae had known more about the explosives than they had and had been able to get out of the way in time. But they couldn’t know, not until after the Games ended. Even as they still stared down at the conflagration, a pitch-black Capitol hovercraft descended through the smoke and fire to retrieve him. It hovered only a second over the edge of the flames before launching itself back into the sky.

Kjiersten watched it go until it was only a speck in the sky. They hoped desperately that Ra’ae was alright, and that they hadn’t just witnessed a sacrifice like Val had performed the Games before in order to make Dean’s win believable. Something like that shouldn’t have to happen here. Everyone else had been able to get out fine - Veth, Kaine, Erya, Kallias - they’d watched them all get rescued, picked up in nondescript hovercraft and taken to the safe house. Sadie too, although they were sure there’d be no shortage of teasing about the fall that had allowed her to rip her tracker out. Especially since they themselves had managed to get up the trees several times to rest.

Tomorrow was coming fast and with it, the end of the Games, one way or another.

Day 20:

It was time. Early this morning, they had hiked back down from their hill and back to the clearing, trying to decide which weapon would be best for a theatrical fight. They found a mace they didn’t remember picking up or even carrying around, as well as a few different knives and one Molotov cocktail, but no matches. Barring anything else, the mace would probably be best to give the Capitol a show. At the very least, it looked interesting. They shuddered at the thought of having to actually use it, though, and hoped Maldl had either a way to convincingly fake his or their death.

Maldl had gotten there before them, and stood, bored, leaning on a massive longsword. They were taken aback slightly - where had he managed to hide that when the three of them had been talking? - but recovered, trying to adopt the same casual position with the ‘mace-over-the-shoulder-“ look. Since that nearly overbalanced them and made them fall over, they decided against it.

“So!” he called, voice echoing. “This is where it ends. Right here, right now!”

Typical theatre. The Capitol would be eating it up. “Unless you want to keep chasing each other back and forth. There’s just the two of us now. No point in dragging it any further!” they shouted back.

“Well then, who’s it going to be? Me or you?” he shouted again, raising the sword and charging. Kjiersten managed to drag the mace of the ground and block his stroke, the longsword locking against the head of the mace. “So what’s our plan?” Maldl hissed against the rasp of steel on steel.

“One of us has to fake dying!” they whispered back, pulling the mace away and stumbling back. He spun the sword in his hands, an impressively agile move for a five-foot-long blade, then spun an underhand stroke at them, which they were only barely able to block.

“Again, me or you?”

“I don’t know! Are you a good actor?”

He grinned. “The best.” Then he twisted his sword, wrenching the mace up and out of Kjiersten’s hands. Dimly, they heard it clatter to the ground behind them. “At acting, that is.”

“What?” they asked, taking a nervous step back. “No - no, you’re not doing this.”

“I am,” he said, his face changing from his amiable smile into something harder. “But you’d know about it, wouldn’t you?”

“What are you talking about?” they asked desperately. “Please - I just want to help everybody get out of here alive? Why are you trying to stop that?”

“Get everybody out alive?” he asked mockingly. “You tell that to Ra’ae too, before you killed him?”

“I-“

“You modified that explosive last night! Gave it a bigger radius and everything! I watched him die, Kjiersten! He thought he was safe and then you killed him!”

They felt their blood run cold. So their suspicions last night had been correct. The blast radius of the mines had been changed to be larger than usual, probably by some sadistic or ‘tech-savvy’ sponsor. They hadn’t known, even though probably even a cursory inspection could have revealed it. And now Ra’ae was dead because of it. Actually dead, not all this Games faking-your-death stunts they’d been trying to arrange. “Why?” they whispered to themselves. “Why did this have to happen?” they asked again, louder this time. Falling to their knees, they stared at the ground as if it could hold the answers now.

“He was my friend!” Maldl shouted. “So now I’m just paying you back! You thought you were safe here, and now you’re going to die! Sound familiar?” As he shouted, he spun the sword again, then brought it down in a sweeping arc. Silver flashed bright in the morning sun as the blade whistled through the air.

Just before it hit, Kjiersten looked up at it. Time seemed to slow, and they realized something. Even though it felt like a part of them had been ripped out at the news of Ra’ae’s death, they hadn’t done it. They hadn’t made the mine or even modified it. Maybe they were complicit, but they were not at fault. Maldl was wrong.And despite everything, they still didn’t want to die.

With a cry of despair, they dove out of the way. A tearing pain split their left side as the sword came down, but they managed to get far enough that they could claw their way back up to a standing position. “Not ready to die quite yet?” Maldl asked, venom in his words. “That’s alright. Ra’ae wasn’t either.”

“I didn’t do it!” they managed to choke out. “Can’t you understand? I wasn’t the one who modified that mine!”

“Sure. Tell that to Ra’ae.”

“Damn it, Maldl, I’m trying to help you!” they shouted, wincing as the pain in their side flared again. Pressing a hand to it, they found it sticky with blood. “We can still both make it!”

He lowered the sword for a second, eyes blazing with anger. “One of us is going to die here today. If the only way to live is to accept the help of a murderer, then I believe I will be happy to go down fighting.”

“Please! No matter who dies today, Ra’ae’s still going to be dead!” They stumbled over to where the mace lay. Suns of Thiorna, they didn’t want to fight. But they didn’t want to die either. And they had a terrible feeling that, in just a few minutes, those desires would enter direct conflict.

“Yes, he is,” he agreed. “But, personally, I have a feeling that it might be more than a little dishonorable to his memory to accept the help of his murderer.” He adopted a fighting stance, sword held out straight in front of him. “No more words. It ends here.”

“PLEASE!” Kjiersten shouted, but it didn’t do any good. Maldl charged. They managed to dive out of the way, raising the weapon defensively and listening to the shrieks of metal on metal. No theater this time. “I didn’t kill him! I had no idea the mines were changed! Just listen!”

“No. You broke your word to Ra’ae,” he said, swiping at their head and missing by just a few inches. “I’ve no reason to trust whatever you say.”

They raised the mace to fend off a particularly vicious swing. “Maldl. Please! I am begging you – just let us get out of here! Continue-“ Metal clashed on metal again as he slowly drove them back, their feet sliding uselessly on the ground. “-continue your vendetta later! But right now you’re just playing into the Capitol’s hands!”

“So were you!” he shouted. “Betraying Ra’ae with a trap! I’m sure the Gamemakers just loved that!”

“I didn’t do it! I didn’t kill him!” They knew it was useless, though. Maldl had seen Ra’ae die and blamed Kjiersten for it, and in all honesty it was an understandable reaction. If they had watched Sadie die – following orders from someone who had promised them safety – they suspected they’d react similarly. “Please, Maldl!”

He shook his head. “No,” he said, “I don’t think so.” Then he started to advance again, swinging the sword wildly in front of him.

They stumbled backwards, frantically looking for a way out. In a perfect world, they would have had the advantage here – Maldl was almost blind with rage now, and any experienced fighter would have been able to slip through his defense. The problem, of course, was that the world was not perfect and that they were far from an experienced fighter. Plus, they didn’t want to kill Maldl if it could be helped, but he appeared to have no such qualms.

So what could they do? Kjiersten was fairly sure almost the entire Capitol hovercraft fleet was under their control – if they could make it look like Maldl was dead, and remove the tracker somehow, then he could be picked up. But he was getting closer, sword still windmilling in front of him, and they were running out of places to go to.

Their gaze fell on their backpack, on the other side of the clearing, and something resembling a plan began to form. There were weapons there, weapons he wouldn’t know about. That could give them enough of an edge, at least for a few seconds, that it was possible they could overpower him and win the fight. It’d be hard to get around him, though, and-

You know what? they decided. Screw the worrying. Either I do it right or it’s not my problem anymore. And with those inspiring words, they grabbed the mace and threw it at him, whipping it through the air towards his head.

He flinched and ducked, which gave them the opening they needed to dive past him and start running. The backpack was close, and they had just managed to scoop it up when Maldl tackled them from behind. They crashed to the ground, managing to keep their grip on the backpack but screaming in pain as the fall seemed to rip open their side again. Somehow they managed to roll over, and found themselves looking up into a face contorted in rage.

“This is how it ends!” he shouted, levelling the sword.

“Maldl-“ they managed to gasp out. “Just – one – Ra’ae said something – for you – he talked to me-“

“Did he now?” he asked, putting a little less pressure on.

No.“Yes – he was talking to me – about you – and he said-“ While they were trying to think what a fictional Ra’ae would have said about Maldl, their other hand scrabbled in the backpack, looking for – where was it? – there.

“What did he say?!” he almost screamed at them, pressing the sword once more into their neck. “Tell me nowor you die!”

“He – he said-“ In one movement, they pulled their hand out of the backpack and threw what they had managed to grab at Maldl. The Molotov, though it wasn’t lit, was still a fragile glass bottle full of liquid. It shattered in a burst of glass shards and alcohol, sending him reeling back, almost dropping the sword as he clawed at his face.

They didn’t wait. Closing their fingers around one of the knives, they lunged at Maldl and buried it in his upper arm. He screamed in pain, but they still twisted the knife, burying it deeper until they saw a glint of gold and copper instead of the silver knife. A flick of the blade, and the small computer chip was out.

Maldl was still fighting, though, and he managed to backhand Kjiersten with the butt of the sword. They managed to stay upright, but it gave him the time he needed to clear the blood, glass, and alcohol from his face. If he had been murderous before, they thought distantly, now he was pushing the verge of madness. His eyes gleamed with a burning light through the mess of cuts and bruises, and his mouth was twisted into a snarl.

“Now-“ they started, but he cut them off. With an incoherent scream of rage, he threw himself towards Kjiersten, who only barely managed to dodge in time. They dropped the knife, leaving themselves with only the mace – a knife wouldn’t help against this kind of fighting. No more time to think as Maldl barreled towards him again, sword whistling in a deadly arc.

Think – what could they use? They weren’t more experienced fighters than Maldl, not even in his state of unthinking rage. So they had to be smarter. He had brute strength on his side, but he wasn’t using it as well as he could have. So how could they use that to their advantage?

The first thought that came to their mind was leverage. Their mace was heavier than his sword, and with the way he was swinging it…They waited for Maldl to take a particularly vicious swipe, bringing the sword in from the left. Then, gritting their teeth and knowing that there were about a hundred ways this could go wrong, they stepped betweenhim and the blade, using the mace and the weight of their body to twist the sword from his hands.

Maldl tried to step back and recover, but Kjiersten didn’t let him. This might be their only chance, and they didn’t want to let it slip away now. They wrenched the mace up and over and slammed it into his head. As they had brought it down, though, they had let their fingers slip down the handle to the point where only the handle, and not the spiked end, had slammed into his head. He was unconscious, cut and bloody, but he was alive. The Games were not going to claim another victim.

He looked terrible, though – crumpled on the ground, with his face covered in blood. His arm looked a mess, and they hoped they hadn’t damaged anything while they were trying to cut the tracker out. But it was necessary – Maldl had to both look dead and act dead, and they didn’t think he would have done either of those willingly.

After just a few minutes, a silvery-grey hovercraft descended from the sky. They knew they should get out of the way, but they had a question they needed to ask. The pilot, who they recognized as one of the mentors, emerged from the ship to pick up Maldl, and shook his head. “You should get out of here,” he said. “Dangerous for you to be seen too close.”

“Wait – please,” they said, raising their hands in a pleading gesture. “I just need to know – is Ra’ae really dead? Did that explosive really kill him?”

The pilot was silent for a second. “I don’t know,” he said. “It wasn’t one of ours which picked him up – it was a genuine Capitol hovercraft. How they got there before us, I don’t know. So Ra’ae might be alive, just in the Capitol’s custody. We’re thinking of mounting a mission to get inside – possibly with the help of your Connection Project – and seeing if we can find him. You’ll be updated as things happen.”

They nodded. “Thank you.” The pilot saluted, and turned back to the craft with Maldl’s limp form in tow. Kjiersten watched as the hovercraft lifted off again, engines rotating back to horizontal once the ship had cleared the trees.

It was over. They had won the Hunger Games. Almost all of the tributes from this Games had been rescued – a greater percentage than they’d ever managed before. They were people who would be able to build or continue their lives back home, or join the rebellion and help to build better lives for everybody.

It should have been an achievement. They should have felt proud – after all, winning the Games was almost the ultimate status symbol in Panem. But it felt like a hollow victory. It felt like they had failed the people they were supposed to be protecting.

Just one, he thought miserably. One tribute. One out of the six. Five others got rescued. That’s a pretty good percentage, isn’t it?

No. Because it’s one tribute who I failed. Who’s not going to get back to their family. Who’s not going to be able to live the life they could have had. And that’s the problem here. Rescuing tributes from the Games is just treating the symptoms. The Capitol needs to fall for any of this to be worth it.

But you did the best you could. You couldn’t have known that the explosive would have been modified.

I could have checked. Because there’s no room for ‘good enough’ in engineering and there’s no room for it here. I should have done better.

It’s too late now, isn’t it?

No .Because it wasn’t over yet. There was still the messy business of revolution to come, and they would need people to help, to protect those who were trying to make the world better. They’d been hesitant, before, about committing the resources of the Connection Project to the revolution. But the revolution would need it. And now they knew what the others had been through. How they’d suffered just to stay alive. And as they stood there, hovercraft long vanished into the clear blue sky, they promised themselves that nobody else – not a single person– would have to go through it again.

A note: Transcript of each of the messages in Day 19:

Kjiersten: Listen. Message. Reply [to acknowledge] with one arrow east. [arrow is shot east] Kjiersten: Hunger Games end. Today or tomorrow. Or the Capitol will send something. Yes or no? Maldl: Understood Kjiersten: Ra’ae. Explosive at the northwest corner [of the forest]. Set it off and remove your tracker. Hovercraft will pick you up. Do you acknowledge? Ra’ae: Acknowledged Kjiersten: Maldl. Tomorrow. Here. Fight so the Capitol won’t suspect anything. Figure out who survives there. Do you acknowledge? Maldl: Acknowledged.

[us2dinosaurplanet]

Ultimate Story 2: Dinosaur Planet-Chapter 5: Hailfire Peaks 2

Fox landed his Arwing in a cavern with a lava pool underneath. When he got out, Misty grabbed Fox and immediately flew him out with the others because she didn't like what she saw. Misty: “Couldn't you have picked a safer place to land?” Fox: “Heh heh. Sorry.”

Misty rolled her eyes. Peach deactivated her suit and put her coat back on. Fox: “All right, everyone. Spread out and search for anything that can help us.”

And so, the search began. However, it soon wasn't long when Bubbles called for her friends and found her with a Snowhorn in a shackle. Bubbles pulled the shackle apart. Snowhorn: “Oh, thank you, little one.” Bubbles: “You're welcome. Now, can you tell us where Scales placed the Spellstone?” Snowhorn: “Scales has hidden the Spellstone somewhere in the mine. Please, be careful and keep an eye out for Belina Te, the gatekeeper's daughter. She didn't mean to get us in this mess by telling Scales about the Spellstone. She did what she thought was right. Please help her.” Misty: “Don't worry ma'am. We'll look out for her.” Fox: “Alright, guys. Let's move out.”

They rushed out as fast as they could. When they came near a metal door, they saw 2 Sharpclaws beating up a weak Snowhorn. The girls ran up to the Sharpclaws, beat them up, and save the Snowhorn. Snowhorn: “I am forever in your debts.” Misty: “It was no problem. Now let's move on, shall we?” Bubbles: “But the gate's in the way.” Misty: “So we'll bash it open.” Fox: “I don't know, girls. That gate looks too strong to be the normal type of metal that you can just bash open.”

The girls position themselves to bash the gate. Fox: “Hey, wait a minute! Girls, wait! The gate's made of...”

But it was too late! The girls screeched in pain after they tried to bash the gate open. Fox: “Titanium alloy…” Kazooie: “Oh, great. Just what we need, a gate made of material that the girls can't punch through. What will we do, now?”

The Snowhorn then focused his attention on Tricky. Snowhorn: “Hmm…I see your little friend is yet to learn his flame command.” Bubbles: “Earthwalkers can breathe fire?” Fox: “The dinosaurs on this planet, I believe, are very different from the ones that were extinct from yours 65 million years ago.”Bubbles: “Oh.” Snowhorn: “Go on, youngster. Give it a go.”

At that moment, Tricky started blowing fire out of his mouth like a dragon. Kazooie: “Cool!”Snowhorn: “And about your gate problem, I would help you bash through those through those gates if I weren't so weak. I need some food.”

It was a good thing Tricky learned his flame command. The alpine roots were buried behind ice walls and the girls were so much in pain from trying to bash the gate open that they couldn't break through anything for a while. Plus, the bitter cold was too unbearable for them to do anything else, so jumping over the gate was out of the question.

After they found the roots, they were immediately fed to the Snowhorn. Then the Snowhorn got up and charged the gate open. A little afterwards, they caught up with it. Misty: “Thank you so much.”Snowhorn: “My pleasure. You DID save my life, after all.” Misty: “Well, that's true.” Fox: “OK, everyone. Spread out and search for anything.”

And so they began another search. Within a short period of time, Bubbles spotted a Sharpclaw Cannon. She flew over to it and beat up the Sharpclaw operating it. Suddenly, a door to the structure in the middle of the area opened up and out came 5 Sharpclaws. Fox, who was still searching the area, saw the Sharpclaws coming out of the structure. Fox: “Huh? What's going on?”

Just then he spotted Bubbles, who was floating above the cannon, waving at him. Fox: “What in the name of...Bubbles!” Misty: “Fox, what's going on?” Fox: “Look.”

She looked in his direction and saw exactly what he was seeing. Misty: “Oh! Bubbles!”

She grabbed on to Fox, flew in the air and landed behind the cannon. Fox: “Bubbles! What are you doing here?” Bubbles: “I found a cannon, Fox. It might help us.” Fox: “Great! Let me take a crack at it.” Misty: “I’ll get the others to safety.”

Misty flew out and got Banjo-Kazooie, Peach, Rayman, and Tricky out of the way. Fox aimed the cannon at the 5 Sharpclaws in the area and shot at them all one by one. Then he spotted a metal barricade and destroyed it. Fox: “Let’s go see what happened.”

Bubbles helped float Fox off the cannon ledge. Back on the ground, they saw a doorway below the cannon that recently opened. They went in it. Inside was a metal cylinder box. It seemed as though it could be unlocked by the use of the staff. When Fox unlocked the box, it revealed some sort of weird horn. Bubbles: “This is the weirdest looking horn I have ever seen. What is it used for?” Fox: “I don’t know, but whatever it’s used for it may be important. Come on, Bubbles. The others might be waiting for us.”

Bubbles and Fox met the others at where Fox destroyed a barricade with the cannon. They went through the tunnel that was closed off. From there, they wound up within a small area where a snowstorm was blasting in their faces. They were unable to make it through the snowstorm, but they did find a ramp to the left. From there, they spotted a picture of the horn that Fox and Bubbles found earlier. Bubbles: “This might be the time to use that horn.”

Fox nodded, took out the horn, blew on it and out came a Snowhorn from the blizzard. Fox and Bubbles smiled at each other. Bubbles: “So that’s what the horn was used for.”

Fox ran to a nearby platform that helped him climb on to the Snowhorn along with Peach. Suddenly, the Snowhorn began to move. The guys were able to follow along.

As Fox rode the Snowhorn through the blizzard, the girls and Tricky mysteriously vanished. The others still stayed with Fox. Fox: “Bubbles? Misty? Tricky! They ran off again.” Snowhorn: “They’ll come back. They usually do.” Peach: “I sure hope so. I don’t want anything to happen to them.” Fox: “Neither do I, Peach.”

Fox and Peach climbed off the Snowhorn and rushed into a cave with the others. When they entered, Fox saw a snowmobile and got on it. He soon found himself riding through a territory that he and his friends visited before and before long, he was entering the mines and rushed through the tunnel. As soon as he reached the end of the tunnel, he started to hear voices that sounded like Bubbles and Misty calling his name. Fox: “Girls? Girls, are you there? Girls!”

Just then, 2 flashes of light flew in and grabbed Fox before the snowmobile crashed and exploded. Those flashes of light revealed themselves as Bubbles and Misty.

After they landed, Fox put his arms around the girls and squeezed them with all his might. Fox: “Oh, girls. Thank the stars I found you 2.” Bubbles: “Actually we were the ones who found you, Fox.”

Later, they stood together. Fox: ”What were you 2 thinking? Losing us in the blizzard like that! You had me worried sick!” Misty: “We’re sorry, Fox, but Tricky ran off into the blizzard and we tried to stop him, but we lost him in the blizzard, too.” Bubbles: “We found him in a cell. We can’t get him out because we’re still numb from trying to bash that gate open.” Misty: “But get this: we also found Belina Te.” Fox: “Bu-Belina Te, the gatekeeper’s daughter? You found her?” Misty: “Yes, we found her. We have to find the keys for both cells and save them.” Fox:’ Well, then, what are we waiting for? Let’s go.”

And so, Fox and the girls searched for the prison keys. Soon enough, the others were able to catch up and helped out with searching for the keys. After a long search around the area, they were able to find both a silver key and a gold key. The silver key was for unlocking Tricky’s cell. The girls were very happy to have reunited with Tricky as was he. The gold key they found last was for Belina’s.

However, she didn’t leave her cell. Instead, Fox and his friends went in to see her. Belina Te: “Who are you?” Fox: “I am Fox and these are my friends. We were sent by the Snowhorn gatekeeper to find the Spellstone. Do you know where it’s hidden?” Peach: “You must be Belina Te, the gatekeeper’s daughter. Am I mistaken?” Belina Te: “No, not at all. Have you guys come to rescue me?” Fox: “I’m sorry, Belina, but he feels that you have betrayed the belief of the gatekeepers. We were only sent to find the Spellstone.”

Kazooie popped out of Banjo’s backpack. Kazooie: “Serves you right for betraying your own father.”Misty: “Kazooie! Stay out of this if you can’t control your attitude!”

Kazooie pulled herself back into the backpack. Belina Te: “The old fool. I had to save the tribe. If it wasn’t for my father being the gatekeeper, none of this would have ever happened in the first place.”

Belina Te was so mad she crashed right through the wall in the back of the room, leaving a pile of rocks behind her. Fox ran up to the pile. Fox: “Belina. Are you there?” Belina Te: “Listen carefully: find another way to the bottom of the mine. I’ll meet you there.”

They stood by for a bit. Rayman: [“So…now what?”]

Suddenly, Misty sensed something nearby. Fox took notice of this. Fox: “What is it, Misty?” Misty: “I…I can sense water…directly near us…” Fox: “Hm, that must be your special powers kicking in again. Where is it?” Misty: “Um…I…I think it’s on the other side of that wall nearby. Tricky, you wouldn’t mind if you can dig up a hole in that wall, would you?” Tricky: “Not at all. I would be glad to.”

He dug a hole in the cracked wall right of the pile of rocks and went right through, leaving an archway. Fox and the others ran through. They soon found themselves in a cavern with ice and water. Misty stood and stared out at the water, Fox walked right next to her and stared out at it with her.Misty: “Wow. The water is beautiful.” Fox: “Yeah, I know.”

He looked at Misty. Fox: “But not as beautiful as you.”

Misty looked at Fox. Misty: “Really?” Fox: “Yeah, really.”

They gazed into each other’s eyes deeply and happily. Peach whispered to the others. Peach: “Uh-oh. They’ve got that weird look again.”

Bubbles giggled. Soon enough, Fox and Misty were able to come to, they made their way to the other side of the cavern with the others. Then they exited the cavern, ran through a few conveyor belts and caught up with Belina Te. Fox: “Belina.” Belina Te: “You made it.” Bubbles: “We thought we would never make it out alive.” Peach: “But where’s the Spellstone?”

Kazooie popped out again. Kazooie: “Yeah, lady. Cough up the rock.” Misty: “Kazooie! What did I just say!?!”

Kazooie pulled herself back in. Belina Te: “Well, my father didn’t say exactly where it was, but he knew that General Scales had hidden it somewhere close. Look carefully. I’m sure you guys would be able to find it before they do.” Fox: “OK.”

They rushed off as fast as they could towards the next room. Belina Te: “Time is short. You must find the Spellstone.”

They stopped and stood around in front of Fox. Fox: “OK, everyone. Spread out and search. That Spellstone can’t be far.”

And so they went in different directions and searched the entire place.

After a long search, all they found was nothing. However, Bubbles found something that became useful. She found 2 switches that were barricaded. With her strength to bash things open recovered to her fists, she bashed through the barricades, which activated the switches. After bashing the switches, she flew down and saw her friends who were near a lava bridge that wasn’t there before.Fox: “Bubbles. Did you make that bridge appear out of that lava pool? I don’t recall seeing that bridge there. What did you do?” Bubbles: “So that’s what those switches do.” Fox: “What switches?”Bubbles: “Um…nevermind. Can we move on?”

Fox nodded and they all crossed the bridge to a warp pad. Bubbles: “Hey look. It’s another warp thingie. Where will it take us?” Misty: “Hopefully to the Spellstone.” Fox: “Well, there’s only 1 way to find out.”

And so they all stood on the pad and warped.

They wound up in a room with a hideous ice statue. Bubbles: “Ewww! Who would be stupid enough to make that statue?” Fox: “I don’t know, but look what it’s holding in its icy grip.” Tricky: “It has the Spellstone.” Misty: “Yay! I knew it!” Fox: “OK, Tricky. Melt that thing down so we can claim our prize.”

Tricky used his flames and before they were able to celebrate, the ice statue started to crack and move. Bubbles: “Hey! That’s no statue, it’s a hideous monster!” Fox: “RUN!”

As the ice started flying off the monster, Fox and his friends ran and took cover. Then the monster gobbled the Spellstone that it was holding in its grip whole.

At that time, everyone stood in cover. Bubbles: “AHHHHHH! What will we do? What will we do? What will we do? It ate the Spellstone!” Fox: “BUBBLES! Come down. Everything’s under control. I have a plan.” Bubbles: “WHAT’S THE PLAN?” Fox: “I’LL TELL YOU!”

He and his friends huddled together. Fox: “Now, here’s what we’re going to do.”

He whispered his plan to the entire group.

Soon enough, the monster was still looking around. Bubbles: “Oh, lizardface.”

The monster turned itself around and saw Bubbles, Misty, and Peach (in her PPG suit) release their fists at him and began to pulverize him. As the girls were beating up the monster, Fox, Banjo-Kazooie, and Rayman were getting ready for their half of Fox’s plan. Banjo pulled Kazooie out of his backpack and held her like a shotgun (a.k.a. Breegull Blaster, as seen in Banjo-Tooie), Fox pulled out his staff, and Rayman practiced his strafing and magic fist throwing. The monster fell to the ground.  Misty: “Our half of the plan is done. It’s up to you, boys.” Fox: “Good job, girls. Banjo, Rayman. Let’s go.”

All 3 of them walked into the monster’s mouth. They arrived in the stomach. Rayman: [“Guys, look. The Spellstone’s in the uvula.”] Fox: “Let’s do it, boys.”

They attacked the uvula with everything they’ve got. Fox used his fire blaster, Banjo shot grenade eggs out through Kazooie’s mouth, and Rayman threw his magic fists. They kept doing this until the Spellstone slipped out of the uvula. Fox walked up to the Spellstone and picked it up. Fox: “(Sigh) We did it.”

All 3 of them celebrated. They soon exited out through the monster’s mouth. When the girls saw that Fox had the Spellstone in his hands, they started to celebrate, too. Bubbles: “Alright, we did it!” Fox: “You all did a great job, but it’s not over, yet. The worst is still yet to come.”

Later, they met Belina Te back near the cavern where the Arwing was parked. Misty: “You must forgive your father, Belina. Together, you can lead the tribe against Scales instead of fighting each other.” Belina Te: “And that’s what I’ll do. Because of you guys, my people shall no longer live as slaves. I don’t know how to repay you.” Bubbles: “No need to. We’re just doing our job.” Fox: “Speaking of job, we need to continue ours and return this Spellstone to the planet. See ya, Belina.”Belina Te: “Bye. Thanks again.”

And so Fox and his friends returned to the Arwing. From there, they got ready to return to the planet.

[insertsona]

FRIENDS