ummm... Sorry, haven't been on in like, five days



Don't worry, I will, Kiku.



Chapter Nine- continued (again)



Claw carefully guided the Assassin through the small asteroid field that barricaded their path, avoiding mines and hurtling stones that threatened to hit them. The black ship deftly swerved around another big asteroid, and Claw glanced at the visuals that showed behind the fighter. Blast it! A dozen small red dots that represented enemies were coming up fast on the green dot that was the Assassin. They looked like Shellion troopers... Luckily, Claw could use the asteroid belt to his advantage.

He swung the Assassin around to face their pursuers, and his eyes narrowed when he saw the number of fighters that were chasing them.

He coolly fired off several heat-seekers and turned, not bothering to see the results. The Assassin was rocked as a torpedo narrowly missed it, and the cockpit divider hissed open behind him. Coppertop breathlessly slid into the navigator's seat and took over the controls, leaving Claw free to fire away. He glanced over at her and saw by the steely look in her eyes that she too could use the belt of stone to her advantage. She gave him a subtle signal and he fired off a last round of heat-seekers, then the sleek warship wheeled around and sped towards the most heavily populated area of the asteroid belt. Smoothly sliding around mines and asteroids, Copper wound her way around the stone and iron. The clumsy Shellions gave chase, and bursts of flame behind them showed that the troopers were not having much luck in getting around the mines. Soon there were only a half-dozen following, and the asteroids were thinning out...

Then they were flying into clear space, and the lovely blues and greens of Lohar blazed in front of them, swimming in the velvet black of space. The Assassin turned again and easily fended off the Shellions, buying time while Claw mounted the torpedoes. Then the blasters flared and twin missiles flashed forward. The enemy troopers scattered, desperately trying to get out of the way before they were hit. Suddenly they were no longer the hunters, but rather the hunted. Another explosion blossomed, and the decimated troopers attempted to flee. "Hey, don't go away, the party's not over yet," Copper quipped, and then she throttled forward and the Assassin sped after the fleeing enemies. A last burst of flame and the way before them was clear. Somehow they had gotten turned back around and Lohar, which during the fight had been behind them, was now directly ahead. Copper accelerated, and the lush forests grew nearer.



Kovu had been trotting through the forest for over three hours now. He could see the deep blue sky through the trees, that was an improvement, at least. He hoped it meant that he was nearing the forest's edge.

If he had been able to see the entire sky, he would have seen that dark stormclouds were building up on the horizon. A strong, prevailing east wind had sprung up, but he was unable to feel it. The scent of rain was on the air.

Kovu didn't know it, but the gametrail he was following led to just behind the treeline and around again, back into the woods. He couldn't know that lightning was, at that very moment, flickering among the black clouds, or that distant trees trembled with the vibrations of rolling thunder, or that a curtain of rain was sweeping over far-away valleys. He continued his exhausting trek through the rainforest, the midday heat lying like a thick blanket over the land, and the horizon dark with forboding clouds.



Spooky... I'll try for more tomorrow!