Author's Note: Here's the 9th one after months without updates… Sigh… Anyway, I'm sorry if the layout was different and
more reader unfriendly in Chap 8… I don't know what happened in Chap 8's layout… But that's what
Fanfiction.net did so I can't do anything about it, but I still hope u enjoyed despite the new layout. Well…
Enough talk… Here's Chap 9! Enjoy!
Chapter 9: Damsel in Distress
The deafening scream of Crystal could make the whole River Mountain tremble and collapse when she was abducted by the enormous aubergine Hydra. When the Hydra took Crystal by its neck, it went swiftly deeper River Mountain. Riku and Mickey tried to catch up to the gargantuan beast, but a cloud of fog started to cover the area, which made the monster flee without any difficulties. They entered the place and started to search for Crystal. They could hear her loud screams echoing everywhere; it was their only means of finding her. However, after a while, the scream faded and stopped. Now, they were at a lost…
"Dammit! How can we find her now!" Riku whined.
"Don't worry… I'm sure the creature can't move that fast." Mickey said.
They continued their search. The fog was getting thicker as they got deeper into the vast mountains. Suddenly, Riku realized that Mickey also disappeared by his side. He must have gotten lost somewhere along the fork they had taken or Mickey was the one who got lost.
"MICKEY! WHERE YOU!?" He shouted.
No response was heard and he was all alone in that foggy place. Now, he was in a dilemma in who to search for first, Crystal or Mickey. Hoping to bump into Mickey, he continued to walk further. Suddenly, he heard a rustling sound behind the bushes along the road. He took out his sword to defend himself to what was to come. He waited patiently for the creature to come out. After a short while, something bounced out, which startled him and made him fall to the ground. It was a white furry creature that has a red snout on its nose and purple wings on its back. It also had an antennae with a red sphere on top that wobbled back and forth as it walked towards Riku. Riku gave a sigh of relief thinking that the creature was a harmless one.
"You're just a Moogle… You scared me!" He shouted at the moogle.
"kupo… kupo…" It nodded cutely.
The Moogle seemed to understand English. Riku asked it if it saw a black mouse who wore red shorts passed by. It gave a cute shrug saying that it did not see someone pass by. Riku patted the Moogle and went on his way when suddenly, it yelped as if it feared something beyond the path Riku had taken.
"What's wrong?" Riku asked.
"k… u… p… o…" the Moogle's voice trembled.
It trembled and started acting out what it feared. They were as if playing a game of charades in the middle of nowhere. The Moogle tried to elongate its neck and crawled on all fours and showed its canine. Riku knew instantly what it was trying to say.
"You saw a hydra!? Does it have a girl on its neck?" Riku asked ecstatically.
"KUPO!" the moogle nodded.
"I'm looking for it… It got my friend. Can you help me?" Riku asked.
The Moogle hesitated, because it feared for its life. It sat on a rock thinking about what to do when finally, it snapped its small furry fingers and nodded. Riku jumped for joy.
"Thanks! Now where did they go?" Riku asked hastily.
The Moogle flapped its small wings and led Riku to the path where it saw the menacing Hydra. They took the left path, the right, and then left again… After so many turns, Riku lost track of where they were going. River Mountain was like a labyrinth behind the fogs.
"Are we there yet?" Riku panted.
Not minding Riku's comment, the moogle kept flying. Finally, they were halted by a strong quake on the ground. Riku almost lost balance; the Moogle stopped flying and pointed at an opening. He trod cautiously at the entrance while the Moogle hugged his foot. He could hear the never-ending scream of Crystal. They were in the right track.
"That girl has lots of energy…" He thought.
They saw Crystal entangled in a sticky greenish substance. They moved silently to Crystal as the monster was wrecking. Crystal saw them and almost gave a shout of joy when Riku stopped her. They moved closer to Crystal who was now shaking herself as she tried to get out of the irritating goo.
"What took you so long!?" Crystal whispered yet piercing to the ears.
"I'M SORRY! I lost my way inside… Now keep quiet while I take you out of this mess." Riku yelped back.
As if it heard their small conversation, the monster turned its elastic head back and stared at them. It screeched and started chasing Riku and the Moogle behind him. Riku tumbled away while the moogle elevated at a higher area as the escape the Hydra's gnashing jaw. It tried to grab Riku by the leg, but Riku managed to escape with this swift evading moves. They were jumping and tumbling on all corners of the area as the Hydra attempted to catch them. Finally, Riku was able to find the opportunity to attack. He snuck behind it, jumped towards its head, and cut it in half.
"NO! You'll just make it stronger!" Crystal screamed.
"Wha--?" Riku uttered.
The Hydra laid down the ground as if already dead. Riku went nearer to the body when suddenly it sprang back to life. It sprang one head from the cut neck and another one came out. Riku's eyes widened as he saw the unimaginable transformation.
"What the--!?" He exclaimed.
The Hydra overwhelmed Riku; he was already losing hope. The fight went on; Riku ran in circles as the Hydra chased him. The gliding moogle attempted to distract the Hydra while Riku tried to escape its heads. The Moogle flew around it creating a distraction. The Hydra tried to catch the annoying Moogle with its mouth; it created a loud noise like crashing cymbals as it tried to gnaw the moogle. With its swift flying moves, the Moogle was able to distract the Hydra, and at the same time, evading its mouth while Riku ran for Crsytal.
Riku reached Crystal at the other end. He took out his sword and slit the goo that trapped Crystal. When she was freed from the said trap, Crystal coughed heavily and went on her as if it choked her to death. Panting, she stood up and squinted.
"What took you so long!? Can't you see I was choking to death!?" Crystal screamed.
"… What's wrong with you!? I saved you with my life!" Riku shouted back.
"Should I say TH…!"
Crystal suddenly stopped when she felt a warm breeze of air touched her back. She saw Riku, staring at something behind her, already a meter away from her. She did not want to look behind; she knew what was in store for her. She gulped and looked at her back anyway. There, meeting its eye, she saw the Hydra's head an inch away from her. She wanted to move away, but her feet did not cooperate. Its mouth was already salivating as if preparing to swallow Crystal.
"… R… I… K…U…!" She yelped.
"Don't move…" He whispered.
Riku jumped high above the air and prepared to cut its head again. The Hydra saw him and one of its head attacked Riku while the other one still staring at Crystal. In midair, Riku twirled around it as it tried to catch him. He fell on its back and jumped again to cut the head. He was successful, and with a swish, the Hydra flinched in pain and lost its focus on Crystal. Her heart pounded quickly as she ran on the other end.
"MAKE THAT THING STAY AWAY FROM ME!!!" Crystal screamed.
"I'm on it! Maybe you could help out a bit! It's not that EASY to slay a Hydra!" Riku answered.
"Fine… What will you do without me?" Crystal whined.
The Hydra now sprang three heads. It was getting stronger every time Riku cuts its heads. With its three heads intact, it was ready for another round in no time. Riku went closer in front of the monster as Crystal tried to surprise it from behind. Not minding Crystal, it confronted Riku. While the Hydra's heads focused on Riku, Crystal cast a bolt of lightning against its body. It screeched in pain and convulsed as its legs started to collapse to the ground. Instead of going at its head, Riku jumped over making a roll on the air and stabbed its body. The Hydra flinched even more; it rolled around the place trying to ease the pain, but it rendered useless. Riku and Crystal thought they defeated the menacing creature that almost put an end to their life. In fact, they were already, hugging each other and jumping around the area while the Moogle danced in the air.
"Yey! Serves it right!" Both of them screamed.
"KUPO KUPO!" The Moogle danced.
Riku realized he was hugging Crystal, his girl "rival". Crystal realized it too, and her eyes widened as if shocked. They let go of each other, and faced the opposite direction. Both of them were blushing and did not want each other to see it. The Moogle giggled.
"What are you giggling at?" Crystal asked incriminatingly.
"Yeah! Why!? Is there something funny?" Riku followed.
The Moogle did not stop laughing and went to the bushes. Now, Riku and Crystal were the only ones left in that barren area. They stepped closer to each other.
"Ugh! Why did I do that?" Crystal said in a prissy way.
"Hah! You think you're the only one! I'm surprised myself!" Riku replied.
"Well… It's the past and probably we were just overwhelmed… Ya… That's it… Nothing more."
"Yeah…"
As much as they wanted to convince each other that it was nothing, they could not stop thinking about it. Riku and Crystal sighed at the same time. While they were about to exit the place with their new found friend, the Moogle, they heard a faint hiss. Riku and Crystal looked behind and there, they saw the Hydra menacing as ever.
They were about to run when suddenly someone threw a bow and a pack of arrows towards Riku. He jumped and catched it. He then looked at the newfound weapon and wondered how it could possible help them. From the bushes, he saw Mickey.
"Use those arrows and combine it with Crystal's fire elemental magic to cut the Hydra's head!" Mickey shouted.
"But… It will just grow back!" Riku argued.
"Trust me!"
He precisely aimed the bow at its neck. Pulled the elastic string towards his body, and shot the arrow towards the Hydra. The arrow swiftly went towards the Hydra. Crystal then cast a small ball of pyre to the arrow just before it hit the neck. The piercing arrow was now on fire and hit the Hydra's neck. Its neck fell off and burned it to ashes. They were expecting that it would grow back, but to their surprise, it stopped growing.
They continued it until the three heads were gone. With their team effort, the Hydra was defeated in no time. Again, they jumped for joy as if doing a winning pose. Riku was jumping, Crystal was twirling around, the Moogle was dancing in the air. Mickey walked towards them.
"Whoa! That was a big one. Haha! Sorry, I got a little late." Mickey said.
"What took you so long?! We were at the edge!" Riku exclaimed.
"Hehe… Took a wrong turn... Hehe…" Mickey giggled.
"Well… Whatever! We're losing time here! We better get going before it's too late!" Crystal shouted.
The argument stopped and they exited the area. Suddenly, the Moogle followed them as if it wanted to join their perilous journey. They stopped to see what the Moogle wanted.
"kupo… kupo…" it begged.
"What? You want to join us?" Riku asked.
"kupo…" it nodded.
"Fine fine… But Moogle sounds dumb… I'll call you Kupo!" Riku said.
Kupo flew around them making happy sounds. They fled the cursed area of River Mountain with their new member. They thought they were already safe, but they were being watched, watched by the creatures that lurk every corner of the land. It could be right behind them as it waited for the right moment to make the move. It could be the strong wind that was touching their very bodies. They would never know until it would hit them.
End of Chapter 9.
*At last! Done. I hope u like it. Please R & R! Thanks! =)