Sorry, I haven't been able to get on the internet because of viruses and such. This may be my last part for a while, because we are moving and selling our computers, but this one will be long.







Steel awoke to a burning pain in his side. Groaning, he rolled over and saw he was out in the dusty terrain, with a cold pack to his side. He struggled upright, and looked down at the wound. It was a bad burn, and the cold pack didn't seem to be helping. He ruefully stood up, bleary-eyed and groggy.
What had happened?
He swayed, trying to remember the night's events. All he could remember was a flaming. . .thing, coming at him.
A stab of pain hit him, and he pressed the cold pack even closer to his side. . .and then he remembered.
Right! The. . .the rabbit with the sword. . .that had turned to flame. . .Yes! And so they threw him out here in the hot, dusty plains, thinking he would heal, but hoping he would not.
He stumbled along, hoping to reach civilization. After two hours or so, his feet burned and ached, and the cold pack was a hot pack. A little further. . .just a little further. . .there was a hole up ahead where he could rest.
Thankfully, he flopped down in the cool shade of the hole. Looking up, his brows furrowed as a clicking, scraping noise reached his ears. Oh well. . .he closed his eyes.
They snapped open as a scuttling figure came out of the shadows. Click. Scrape. . .Cliiiccckkk. . .Scraappe. . .his eyes widened as he stared up at the deadly poison barb, mounted on a tail, pointed straight at him.
He didn't feel a thing.

Tazz sped along the path. She stopped so suddenly that she almast fell. What was going on? A turtle landed on her from a tree, bearing her to the ground. Surprised, she tried to scramble out of the way, but suddenly she was spinning, and then all went dark.
She woke to a fire, burning to her left. Groggily, she tried to sit up, but a spear butt knocked her down. A turtle prodded her, calling to someone outside of her line of vision,
"She's awake, Sire."
A creature slithered into view.
"Soooo." It said in a hissing voice.
"The rabbittt awakenssss."
Everything came terrifyingly into focus, and her predicament was quite clear.
She was surrounded by turtles of all sizes and tuff turts, along with lizards and dragons. The great bonfire next to her roared up every time a dragon breathed on it. She was tied to a wooden pole, and there was nothing she could do.

Nightshade bounded up the staircase, just managing to catch Kaz as he rounded a corner, talking with the RP leader. Pulling him to one side, she told him in a low voice what she had seen. Immediately, Kaz turned to the leader, told him to wait where he was, and followed Nightshade down the steps.
It was dark in the basemend, and clicking of pincered spiders sent chills up his spine. Looking warily around, he heard dull scraping sounds, followed by the thud of axes. He followed Nightshade the length of the basement before he saw it.
A band of dirty rabbits gathered in a corner, while about thirty others were digging a tunnel. The clicking grew louder, and he spun around in time to see a behemoth standing over him, eight spiked legs outspread, multihued eyes flashing, and poison dripping from razor-sharp pincers. Drip. Drip. Drip.
He stared up at those hypnotizing eyes, but tore his attention away as he realized that it was not him it was looking at.
Sudden realization overtook him, and he managed to whisper in a hoarse voice only one thing, before there was a yelp, and the spider turned away.
"Nightshade!"
A muffled yell rose above the noise, and Kaz took to the air, following silently as his wings skilfully rose and fell. Scuttling now, the spider's eyes darted around, as every spider, small and large, gathered to it. He could feel millions of eyes boring into him as he flew, but it did not distract him.
A overhanging ledge barely missed him, as he ducked into a huge cavern. Click. Hiss.
A murky smell raised above the clamour of tiny legs.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Suddenly, his wings were snapped to his sides as filmy webbing engulfed his whole being. A monster, a spider that made the one carrying Nightshade look small, rose into view, rearing to its' full height. Plummeting through the air, he realized that there was very little hope of any of them making it through.

Defalcon stood, arms crossed, as he reprimanded Triphe.
"You acted like a baby back there! Your sister came all this way, to tell you that your family cares, and you sneer in her face and turn away! And then, when I tell you to quit behaving like a child, you have the brass nerve to sit there and sulk! No matter how much you hate Yazz, it won't change the fact that he doesn't hate you! You style yourself as a warrior, but you are, Triphe Jackrabbit. A true warrior would either graciously decline, or go back, not sit there and ignore everyone!"
He threw up his hands.
"I've got a mind just to leave right now, and let you solve this silly problem yourself. Tazz, your younger-aye, younger-sister, knows more about war than you! I don't know why I took up with you, kid. Maybe it was because you had an air of confidence around you. Well, I'll tell you, kid. Being a warrior isn't all fun and roses. It means discipline, it means maturity. It doesn't mean this!"
He swept an arm around at their surroundings.
"Kid, you got alot o' thinkin' to do between now and when your sister Tazz returns. What'll you do then, eh? Sit with your back to her and ignore her, like you're doing to me?"
Triphe turned.
"Defalcon, go ahead, leave! I don't care. You sit there, yelling at me, when you would have done the very same thing in my place!"
His voice rose an octave.
"And when Tazz arrives, I'll tell you what I'll do! I'll turn to her and tell her to get lost, because I'm going my own way!"
He was yelling now, his face beet red.
"And I was not ignoring you! You can sit there, stone-faced, if you want, but as for me, I'm not staying all day, just for the sake of some bent out of shape old hare! And don't you call me 'kid' again! [I]Never![/I}"
Defalcon turned, his face expressionless, but he spoke softly. His tone held a dangerous note, and sparks flew from his eyes.
"You do not do well to reprimand ones with more experience than you. Continue your journey alone, if you wish."
He turned then, and was gone, his last words echoing in the breeze.
"If you have the guts to."
And there was no sign of him anywhere. Triphe, dumbfounded, stared at the spot where he had disappeared, open-mouthed. Now he was alone.

Coppertop whooped as they entered the asteroid belt. Ducky and Wild Angel stood at the viewport, watching asteroids go by. Without warning, something appeared out of the haze of Space, and struck the ship with a crack. Everything spun once, and in a matter of seconds they were in freefall.



I have to get off, now that I've got everyone in a predicament. Well, almost anyone, anyway. I won't be on for a looooooooong time, sorry. About two years, in fact. Hope ya like it! Bye for now.