I finished chapter 7 tonight, after forcing myself to do so. There's a reason for that as well... usually it's being tired and school stuff that keeps me from writing, but I must admit it wasn't that this week. After knowing about it for a few years, I got into watching Lucky Star subs and have made it to episode 19 so far. It's random and pointless, but I love it. I still made myself finish chapter 7 though, which turned out well.
Chapter 6 Training Skydancer
Stormy awoke early the next morning, feeling restless and very sleepy, despite the fact that she’d slept through the night. She felt like something important had happened while she slept, but she couldn’t remember anything. The last fuzzy edges of the dream she had slipped away as she awakened into full consciousness. She jumped as her door was slammed open, wincing as the echo bounced off the walls. She turned to her door, thinking she’d find Murky there, angry at something, but instead, she saw Lurky, beaming and happy as could be. “C’mon! Let’s train the horsey! Murky says I get to help.” He had her breakfast tray in his hands.
Groaning inwardly, Stormy slid off her bed. “I need to eat first,” she stated. She reached up and took the tray from Lurky, setting it on her table. She ate slowly on purpose, prolonging the fact that she needed to work with Lurky today. She was used to working by herself and had gotten used to no one interfering as long as she did what she should. Murky hadn’t been part of her training for a long time. Every so often, he’d check on her powers or give her some sort of test, but typically he was off doing whatever he needed to do instead. Now she had to deal with his assistant, if he could even be called that.
“Oh boy oh boy oh boy!” called Lurky. “We’re gonna have fun!”
Stormy gulped down the rest of her drink, that same inky black liquid that was disguised as juice. She gave the tray back to Lurky. “You need to take this back first,” she reminded him, annoyed.
“Got it!” he called as he dashed out of her door, the rattling of dishware apparent. Stormy had a feeling that it wouldn’t end very well. A few seconds later, she heard Lurky’s “Uh oh!” following by tumbling and crashing and the tinkling of shattered glass. “I’m okay!” Lurky yelled, as though someone cared how his tumble had turned out. Stormy shook her head. This was going to be a long day indeed.
A half hour later, Stormy found herself and Lurky in the room where Skydancer was kept. She noticed a large pile of hay and a watering trough had been placed out for Skydancer, but that he was nowhere near it. If not for the swishing of his tail, he would have blended in perfectly with the shadows in the room. “Such a pretty horsey,” commented Lurky.
Lurky was going to be no help in training Skydancer. Stormy had the hunch that Murky had merely made him help her so that Lurky would be out of his hair for the day. She had not the slightest idea of how to train a horse, but it had to be more of an idea than anything Lurky could come up with. Stormy moved closer to Skydancer and was about to reach out to him when Lurky called out again.
“Lookie! I even gave him food and water!”
Stormy turned to glare at him and didn’t see Skydancer shift his weight to bump her. Stormy fell to the floor, landing on her butt. A quick bit of pain was felt before it faded away. She got to her feet. “Stop distracting me!” she yelled to Lurky. But Lurky wasn’t paying any attention to her. He was fixing the pile of hay into a nice, neat stack. She turned back to Skydancer, who looked at her, uninterested. He looked away, and his head disappeared into the shadows again. “Hey! Skydancer! I’m gonna train you and you’re gonna do what I say!” she stated, stomping her foot on the ground to emphasize her point. She received a snort in reply for her statement and saw Skydancer’s tail flick back and forth.
Stormy emitted a low growl, not used to being so ignored. She stomped her foot again. “Did you hear me? I said I’m gonna train you! Murky gave you to me!” The only reply she received was a flick of his tail.
Studying the horse, she decided to try something new. She judged the height from the ground and then, when Skydancer had turned his head away from her yet again, dashed to his side and swung herself up on his back. She sat up, attempting to adjust herself to the new height…for all of five seconds. Skydancer reared up on hind legs and dumped the unsuspecting Stormy from his backside. She fell onto her left side on the stone floor and groaned. Tears pricked at her eyes as she sat up, rubbing at the pain she felt. She didn’t want to cry, not in front of Lurky and especially not in front of Skydancer. The tears spilled over anyway and she rubbed at her eyes. This wasn’t how it should be. Skydancer should listen to her and do as she said, not do what he wanted.
“Duh, why are you crying?” asked Lurky, turning around from his haystack. He’d missed the whole thing.
Stormy looked up at him through watery eyes and broke down in a fresh wave of tears. She hurt and ached, and her side was throbbing in pain. She drew her knees up to her chest and cried into them, never answering or looking at Lurky.
“Don’t cry. You’ve got a pretty horsey,” he insisted.
Over the next few days, training sessions continued in much the same fashion. Stormy would attempt to get Skydancer’s attention or mount him, and he’d buck her off his back, annoyed at her actions. She knew she needed a new plan and quickly. Skydancer wasn’t going to let her do anything with him at this point. It was time to think about something new to try. Stormy knew she needed to come up with something fast when Murky commented on her attempts.
“What a waste!” he cried. “That horse doesn’t like you and won’t like you until you train it!” He said this after watching Stormy fall off Skydancer for the umpteenth time. “Or maybe you just can’t train him… maybe I shouldn’t have given you that horse.”
Stormy looked up at him, anger flashing through her green eyes. She felt something inside her snap and wanted to give an angry reply back. She began to open her mouth when Murky continued to speak.
“And don’t think about replying to that. If you’re going to be angry, don’t say it to me!” he sneered before turning and leaving the room.
Stormy tried to speak, knowing that to do so would be pointless; the words she wanted to say would not come out. Angry, spiteful words came to mind, but they were words she could not speak nor yell nor whisper. They had to be contented to stay in her mind and she still had no idea why she couldn’t do the things she wanted. Her mind made no connection to the juice concoction she drank with every meal.
Murky’s snide remarks prompted Stormy to consider a different approach to Skydancer’s training. She knew that trying to force the horse to do anything wasn’t working; all it earned her were bruises all over her body and a bruised ego. She wasn’t used to not being listened to like this, not from human or animal. Skydancer was forcing her to consider other options. At this point, the horse liked Lurky better than it liked her. Skydancer let Lurky feed him and lead him about on a rope. Stormy had no problems relegating these tasks to him; by the time she’d finished training him for the day, she was bruised and exhausted, and didn’t feel like doing anything else. At that point she was usually angry with Skydancer as well and wanted nothing to do with him anyway. Lurky was more than happy to take up these jobs.
The next day, Stormy entered Skydancer’s stable area and looked thoughtfully at the horse. The urge to continue doing what she had always done was tempting, but instead she forced herself to sit on a nearby stool and simply watched the regal creature, whom once again had hidden in the shadows. She could see the swishing of his lavender tail and heard the soft noises he was making. “You’re supposed to be my horse,” she stated suddenly, hating to sit in the silence. “That’s what Murky says.” Skydancer did nothing to acknowledge that she’d even spoken. “You’re supposed to help me defeat Rainbow Brite. Murky hates her. He says she’s his enemy.” A whicker was the only reply she received.
Stormy ran the toe of her boot through the dust that had gathered on the stone floor. It felt strange talking to a horse that couldn’t talk back. Then again, she guessed that they weren’t supposed to talk. Despite this fact, she continued. Talking to Skydancer was better than talking to Lurky and much better than talking to Murky, who only berated her and laughed. “That’s why he gave you to me. Rainbow Brite has a horse too. I heard Murky talking about the horse one time. He helps Rainbow Brite and can run really fast too. Murky said that he must be the fastest horse in the universe.” Stormy heard what seemed like a snort from the shadows. She decided to play this up. “He can outrun anybody. He’s raced against other horses and won every time. He can fly too.”
There was no response from Skydancer this time around, and Stormy wondered if it was because of what she’d said. She grinned to herself and decided to continue with her lie. She was having too much fun now that she’d gotten started. Before she could speak again, Lurky stumbled into the room, carrying a large pile of hay. “I gots more food for the horsey!” he cried. Stormy watched him and then saw the rock in his path. Any person could easily avoid it, but Lurky was different. “Wa—“ was the only bit of sound that left her mouth before Lurky’s red shoe caught the underside of the rock. Lurky flew forward, as did the hay. Stormy covered her head and closed her eyes as bits and pieces rained down over everything in the stable.
When she thought that everything had settled, she opened her eyes. The usual dingy grey room was covered in sticks and strands of yellow. She looked down at herself and saw the same thing. Grimly, she began picking the bits and pieces of hay off of her clothing. It had gone everywhere – on her clothes, in her boots, and in her hair. She removed as much of the hay from herself as she could see before she began picking at her hair. The pieces had gotten stuck in her thick, lavender hair and every time she thought she’d pulled it all out, she found yet another piece stuck somewhere else.
Stormy cut the training session short, retreating to her room where there was a tiny piece of glass that she could use as a mirror. She pulled her hair out of its pony tail and unbraided the tiny piece on the side. Then she set to work, meticulously combing her hair for the tiny pieces of hay. A small pile formed on the table beside her. It seemed to take forever to find each tiny piece, but at last Stormy was satisfied. She then took her belt and overcoat off, and set to pulling the hay off of the dark grey material, finding it easier to take care of than her hair. As soon as she was satisfied that every piece of hay was removed from her hair and clothes, she set to rebraiding her hair again. She made a mental note not to let Lurky carry in the hay while she was working with Skydancer. “If only he’d stayed away a bit longer, I might have been able to really get to Skydancer,” she mumbled to herself.
Meanwhile, Murky was in his laboratory, flipping through a hardbound book. It was the book that served as a journal of sorts, the one where he kept notes on his plans and experiments, most of which had failed upon execution. With the exception of Stormy, nothing had been truly worthy in the end. Failed experiments did not sit well with him, but he was beginning to take them as they came. After all, there was still plenty of color in the world, and still the Rainbow Brite brat that existed and protected all of it. He couldn’t give up, not as long as she kept the color in the world. It would be much easier once she was out of the picture and Rainbow Land was plunged back into darkness. The days of the Evil One and the servitude of the inhabitants was all but a distant, pleasant memory.
Of course, he’d been a servant of the Evil One as well, having come to Rainbow Land on accident. He was younger then, and had recently acquired Lurky through a trade gamble gone wrong of sorts. The bumbling oaf had an infantile, trusting quality and Murky figured that he could use him in the end for something. He was still quite leery of the large furry creature, and became outraged when Lurky had been the one to push the wrong button on the rickety space craft, plunging them into the throes of a dark land. They had been captured and taken by the ruler of the land, whereby Murky pledged his loyalty and servitude, promising to accomplish and achieve the goals required. He’d been given a stone castle of sorts, if you could call it that. In reality it was merely a lavish home built out of a cave.
Time had passed and he’d completed the tasks before him. Lurky had come in handy to assign the more physically assertive tasks to. Between the two of them, they’d built a transport vehicle that Lurky drove; Murky never could drive it properly. The gears always frustrated him, and he always stalled the vehicle out or couldn’t get it to steer properly. Whatever the case, he simply delegated the task to Lurky, letting the creature think that it was because it was a special job to hold. Lurky had never suspected it was because he was a terrible driver.
Once he’d adjusted to the darkened land, he set to work planning and scheming. The sprites became his servants, simple creatures that he never spared a second thought to. He commanded, and they obeyed. They obeyed anyone who was larger than them and cowered easily. A whimpering sprite was indeed a very annoying sound to have to listen to constantly. Lurky got on better with the sprites, and Murky tried to keep him as far from them as possible. He didn’t need Lurky getting some foolish idea that the sprites needed to be freed or something. That would have never pleased the master.
Everything had changed once Rainbow Brite had come seeking to fix the darkened land. A child had won out against the darkness and claimed the stupid Color Belt that gave her the powers to do so. Luckily, the Color Belt had not destroyed him along with his master. Murky simply kept to the area that became dubbed as the Pits and used the extra space for storage and newer experiments. He did not go into Rainbow Land unless it was necessary to; he hated all that color and the happiness it brought. Once it was destroyed things would be much better, especially since he would be the master of the world this time around.
His thoughts turned to Stormy and the training of the girl. The brainwashing was coming along nicely. Slowly he was getting the girl to believe that she would defeat Rainbow Brite and come to be his second in command. She was starting to hate the color and cheerfulness he told her about, but it would still be a long while before he could say that she was ready to attack Rainbow Land sufficiently. He could have easily chosen to force the ideals upon her, but decided against that route. He wanted them to instead become ingrained into her, a part of her soul that she simply could not live without. In the end, if she ever questioned his rule or word, she’d not be able to blame him for the brainwashing, only herself.
His book was flipped open to the pages he’d first written up shortly after buying Stormy at the black market auction. He’d recorded the girl’s attitudes and behaviors; she had cried a lot in those days. Murky groaned at the memories, remembering that annoying cry that lasted forever. He was glad that she had quickly gotten over that. The gloom variant he had created for her had helped a great deal. His fingers turned a few pages until he found his notes and observations on the various variations he’d concocted within a relatively short timespan.
Variant #11 has a quick effect on the girl. However, this variant puts her in a trance state, and does not allow for any external thinking. My commands are obeyed and carried out, but with a slowness that will cripple my effect with her in a battle. Variant wears off after only five hours, and the girl doesn’t remember anything she’s said, done, or learned within the time the variant affected her body. Scrap.
Indeed, Murky remembered many of the variants and how useless they had all turned out to be. If they didn’t put Stormy in a trance state, they had unpleasant side effects that Murky was not willing to clean up after, or they simply did not satisfy him. Variant #23 had been the perfect one, the one that had been effective in all areas. The only area it seemed to lack in was the immediate response he desired after giving a command, but Variant #24 and #25 had each had slight tweaking and that produced terrible results. Variant #23 was what he gave Stormy from there on out.
There was still quite a way to go with her training, but Murky was confident that one day she would face off against Rainbow and win. He would make certain that she would have all the tools necessary to do so. All it required was more patience on his end. He had to have time and patience to make the plan successful. Without one or the other, he would be doomed to fail. He slammed the book shut at the mere thought. There was no way that he, Murky Dismal, would fall at a scheme as great as this one. He was destined to become the next ruler of Rainbow Land.
I did mention before that Lurky's love of horses began when Skydancer was brought to the Pits. I think you'll also find that chapter 7 is quite intriguing...and rather teasing!
Lost Storms: Stormy's Forgotten Past
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Chibi Rachy
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Re: Lost Storms/Chapter 6
"If you're obsessed with your yesterday then you're destined to repeat it." - Ariel of Icon for Hire
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Chibi Rachy
- Posts: 2533
- Joined: Thu Jan 22, 2009 1:51 am
- Location: West Virginia
- Contact:
Re: Lost Storms/Chapter 7
I mentioned in the last update that I liked how this chapter turned out. As you can probably guess, I just finished chapter 8. I actually only had about 3 more paragraphs to go before I left on my weekend trip, but they didn't get finished in time. It's quite all right though. I worked on a lot of chapter 8 at school because of having a two hour delay one day. I wrote a good bit then, as I didn't have anything else to do to get ready for the day or week. Anyway, enjoy!
Chapter 7 Rainbow’s Questioning
“Murky’s been awful quiet lately,” commented Buddy Blue one afternoon. It was a late spring afternoon, and all the star sprinkles that had been needed were stockpiled in one of the lower rooms of the Color Castle. Rainbow had had no need to visit the Earth today. Everything was in order, just as it should be. Everyone was simply relaxing in a clearing near the Color Castle.
Rainbow sat up; she had been laying in the grass, watching the clouds pass by. “I think that’s a good thing. He never seems to have any good ideas.”
“What if he’s up to something?” suggested Shy Violet.
Rainbow thought about this a moment before answering. “I don’t know. We don’t know what he’s up to, if anything. He could just be doing nothing.”
“Besides, Rainbow can take him on,” piped up Red Butler from under a tree. “She took on the Evil One and saved us.”
“I had to,” replied Rainbow. “This land couldn’t survive in darkness. It needed light and color and life.” Rainbow eyed the Pits uneasily. Murky is
no match for the Evil One. I don’t think he can do any real harm.”
“What if he did?” asked Twink?
“Then we’d take care of him,” answered Rainbow. “I have my Color Belt to protect us with.”
“Rainbow would never let us down,” agreed Canary Yellow, smiling.
Rainbow lay back in the grass and looked up at the clouds. She knew Murky could never create something so terrible as the Evil One had done. She’d seen some of his pranks, and they weren’t always very good. She was reminded of his last escapade where he’d shown up in the Color Castle, meaning to take her Color Belt. It might have been a plan that would have worked, but Murky’s assistant, Lurky, had tripped over something downstairs and alerted everyone to his presence. She and the Color Kids had quickly scared him off. It had been so simple to do. She frowned, but let the thought slip from her mind.
Later that evening, she lay awake in bed. Nighttime had come long ago, yet she found she couldn’t fall asleep. She stared up at the dark ceiling, hoping that if she stared long enough she would be able to sleep. It didn’t help; she only started rolling from side to side, trying to find the more comfortable position. Was Murky up to something? she kept thinking over and over again. Sitting up, she made her way to the colorful pole that Twink always used to access the tallest tower in the Color Castle.
“Twink?” she called softly. “Twink, wake up.” She listened carefully, hoping that Twink heard her soft calling. She didn’t want to wake up anyone else in the Color Castle. She heard no stirring from above. She studied the pole, wondering if she could pull herself up the pole as deftly as Twink was able to. She figured it was worth a try. Stepping back a few feet, she took a running start before jumping up and clasping her arms and legs around the pole. She attempted to pull herself up, finding it to be harder than Twink made it look. She made slow progress, slowly clenching and unclenching her legs as her hands reached high above her head. It took awhile, but finally her body was halfway above the hole to the top tower. She pulled her legs up and swung herself onto the floor. She sat there for awhile, trying to catch her breath. The small climb had exhausted her, and she felt that she could fall asleep on the spot. Briefly, she considered sliding right back down the pole and crawling back into bed, but then all the effort would have been for nothing.
Rising to her feet, she crept around the opening and over to Twink’s hammock, where the white sprite was dozing softly. A light purple blanket covered his body, and Rainbow noticed the alarm clock nearby, the one that let Twink know when the sun was up. His body loved to sleep late, but Twink did not. He wanted to be up as soon as the sun was in the sky so that he could join the other sprites who worked in the Color Mines. Rainbow knew that he would return to the Color Castle after she had finished breakfast. “Twink,” she whispered in a low voice. “Wake up, Twink.”
The white sprite mumbled in his sleep before rolling over, facing away from Rainbow. Rainbow reached out and gently shook him. “Twink, wake up,” she tried again.
Twink groaned before rolling back over. He slowly opened his eyes and tried to focus on Rainbow. “What is it?” he asked sleepily, yawning.
“Twink, do you think Murky would try something?”
“Huh… um… no…” he began, trying to wake himself up.
“Are you sure?”
Twink sat up, sleep clearing away more quickly. “Murky would never get to you, Rainbow. He’s too silly. His plans never work.”
“But what if they did?” asked Rainbow persistently.
“Then you’d stop him,” replied Twink without a doubt. He yawned and covered his mouth with his right hand.
“But what if I couldn’t?”
“You would. You always do,” answered Twink. “You have the Color Belt and us to help. Don’t worry about Murky.”
Rainbow nodded. “You’re right, Twink. I shouldn’t worry about him. Go back to sleep, okay?” She covered her sprite up and he closed his eyes, soon fast asleep again. Rainbow rose to her feet and moved to the nearby wall, resting her elbows on top of it. She glanced up at the night sky and looked off into the distance, toward the treacherous Pits. A bit of lightning streaked the sky in the distance. Rainbow had never been to the Pits, and she never intended to go there. What she had seen on her quest to restore the land to its natural state had been enough. Why that part of the land remained dark was a mystery; it was a snag in an otherwise beautiful world. Sighing, she returned to the pole she’d climbed up and slid down it. Crawling into bed, exhaustion hit her, and she drifted off to sleep.
She woke up, finding herself sitting beneath a large tree, one that provided a large amount of shade. The cool breeze blew, setting off goose bumps along her arms. Rainbow shivered slightly, pulling her arms closer around her body. She looked around her, surprised to find herself in an open field. The tree she had woken up under was the only tree she could see for miles; grass and flowers spread as far as her eyes could see. Looking about, she tried to figure out what to do. Her hands lowered to her side and that’s when she felt it. She looked down and saw a brown star pouch, the same type of pouch that the sprites wore. She opened the clasp and found a handful of colorful star sprinkles inside.
Rainbow walked through the field, happy and carefree. She couldn’t remember why she had come to this place, but she felt very peaceful and happy inside. The star sprinkles jangled together inside the pouch and provided an odd rhythm to her walking pace. She began to sing to herself, the one song that always made her smile. “Whenever my happy smile turns upside down, I know how to turn my troubles around. I feel the yellow sunshine warming my skin. I open my eyes and let the green in…” Rainbow trailed off as she looked around and noticed that the landscape had suddenly changed.
Instead of the bright, cheerful colors that had dotted the field before, everything was a gloomy, dismal grey. It was as though the color had suddenly been sucked from everything around her. Rainbow frowned and then shivered. This place without color was dull and depressing; the feelings she’d felt before were slowly vanishing. It looks like the work of Murky…but he’s nowhere to be found…he’s usually so quick to make his work known! This thought puzzled her. If it wasn’t Murky, then who could have taken all the color away?
Hesitantly, Rainbow continued forward, finding more of the grey landscape. “Oh!” she said with a start, when she remembered the pouch at her waist. She opened the pouch and carefully took out a green star sprinkle, not wanting to waste the small supply that she had. She held the star sprinkle to her Color Belt. At first, nothing happened, and Rainbow wondered if her Color Belt was somehow broken. A few moments later, a faint glimmer of light appeared and absorbed the star sprinkle. A rainbow beam shot from her belt and enveloped the land in front of her. A path of green paved the way. Rainbow reached for another star sprinkle, but stopped short suddenly.
Rainbow gasped and raised a hand to cover her mouth. “Oh no!” she whispered. The path of color that the star sprinkle had created was gone. As quickly as she had made it appear, it had gone, sucked away. Rainbow looked ahead, in the distance, noticing something that she hadn’t seen before. It looked like another person, but she couldn’t be sure. She slowly made her way toward the person.
The person she saw was enshrouded in shadows. Rainbow had no idea who it was, only that it looked like a girl. The hair was in a ponytail of sorts, and it looked as though she was wearing a dress. Rainbow could discern no other physical features. Tendrils of grey wisps streaked out from underneath her, as though she was the one responsible for this gloom that could not be fixed by simple star sprinkles.
“You’re the one doing all this!” stated Rainbow. “Why? The land needs the color to surive!”
The girl looked up at Rainbow, but said nothing. She appeared as though she was bored, and quickly looked back down at the ground again.
“Can’t you speak? You need to stop this. Everything will die if you don’t. Don’t you see?”
She was answered with a shrug and nothing more. A few more tendrils streaked out from beneath the girl, which could be taken as a reply that she didn’t care in the least. Rainbow had no idea what she could do. She reached for the pouch at her waist, pulling out a blue star sprinkle. She pressed it to her Color Belt, and again, the Color Belt was slow to respond. It shot forth a rainbow beam that enveloped the shadow girl completely.
Rainbow gasped when the rainbow beam disappeared. The shadow surrounding the girl had not disappeared, but now, a set of striking green eyes looked back at her, angry. Rainbow took a few steps backward, not expecting this. The eyes that had suddenly appeared disappeared just as suddenly.
This is not something that can be solved so easily a voice interjected inside Rainbow’s head.
“Who’s there?” Rainbow called, searching for the source.
It’s not always as easy as using star sprinkles continued the voice.
Rainbow realized that the voice was coming from inside her head. It seemed impossible. She wondered if it was the girl speaking to her, but then she realized she knew that voice. It was the same voice that had brought her to Rainbow Land in the first place, and the one that she’d grown up hearing all her life.
Some problems take more than a quick fix. Time and effort is needed little Wisp. You should know that all too well.
Her original name was not something she’d heard in a long time. If she didn’t know who was speaking before, she certainly did now. “How do I solve a problem that I don’t even know about?” she asked out loud.
You will know in due time, Wisp. It will come about sooner than you expect. Days or years, it will come to Rainbow Land. Remember the time it took you to complete your quest. That was a test of your abilities.
“I’m still not sure what you mean. Is Murky going to cause trouble? He always does that.”
I cannot tell you what it is that will come to Rainbow Land. I only know that it is something you will have to take care of, and it will not be an easy task. However, if you prevail, you’ll find that it will benefit Rainbow Land in due time. Good luck, Wisp. With that final goodbye, the voice seemed to disappear from her head.
Rainbow shook her head to clear her thoughts. Now that the voice was gone, her head felt emptier than usual. She looked toward the shadow girl again and then looked down. The tendrils of grey she’d seen earlier were snaking their way up her boots, turning the parts they touched as grey as the landscape around her. She took a few more steps backward, and then turned tail, breaking into a full run. She glanced down, noticing the tendrils still stuck to her, and were continuing their way up her body. She continued to run and run and run…
Until she woke up, sitting straight up in bed. She was doused in a cold sweat. Rainbow looked around at her surroundings, noticing that she was back in her own bedroom. It was sunrise, and the first faint rays of light were creeping into her window. “That was some dream,” she said aloud in a soft voice. “It was…what was it about?” Already, the last faint remnants of the dream were fading away, slipping from her memory.
Throwing back the covers, she slid from the bed. She padded lightly across the floor and to a nearby window. She pushed it open and looked off into the distance, watching as the sun began to rise on Rainbow Land. Indigo and pinks and oranges melded and mixed together and Rainbow watched, resting her chin on her hand, elbow resting on the window sill. Another new day in Rainbow Land and she knew there was much work to be done. She needed to take Starlite and survey around the area, making sure everything was just so and that Murky had not interfered where he shouldn’t.
“It’s going to be another beautiful day,” she said to no one in particular, sighing happily. She turned when she heard the unmistakable sound of Twink behind her.
“You’re up early, Rainbow,” he commented, yawning. “I usually wake you up.”
Rainbow started to tell him about being woken by a dream, but decided against it. She couldn’t remember what the dream was about, and knew that she couldn’t answer his questions. “I just woke up early today. The sunrise was beautiful,” she remarked, gesturing toward the window.
“What are we doing today?” asked Twink.
“Well, I figured that you and I could make a trip across Rainbow Land and make sure all the colors are just right. We’ll need some star sprinkles to bring along, just in case.”
Twink nodded happily. “I can go talk to the other sprites once they head to the Color Mines. I’m sure they have plenty I can take.”
Rainbow smiled. “Thanks, Twink.”
“Are you feeling better after last night?” inquired the white sprite.
The question caught Rainbow off-guard. She then remembered that she had went up to see Twink in the middle of the night. “Yes, I am. I realize that you and Buddy were right. Come on. I bet the rest of the Kids are starting to wake up too.” She smiled and headed for the door of her bedroom, followed by Twink. There was something nagging her in the back of her mind, but she didn’t know what it was. Whatever it was, it didn’t seem too important.
I couldn't help but to do a chapter that focused fully on Rainbow and not on Stormy. I may do another one in the future, as it seems to work well. Feedback and/comments are greatly appreciated
Chapter 7 Rainbow’s Questioning
“Murky’s been awful quiet lately,” commented Buddy Blue one afternoon. It was a late spring afternoon, and all the star sprinkles that had been needed were stockpiled in one of the lower rooms of the Color Castle. Rainbow had had no need to visit the Earth today. Everything was in order, just as it should be. Everyone was simply relaxing in a clearing near the Color Castle.
Rainbow sat up; she had been laying in the grass, watching the clouds pass by. “I think that’s a good thing. He never seems to have any good ideas.”
“What if he’s up to something?” suggested Shy Violet.
Rainbow thought about this a moment before answering. “I don’t know. We don’t know what he’s up to, if anything. He could just be doing nothing.”
“Besides, Rainbow can take him on,” piped up Red Butler from under a tree. “She took on the Evil One and saved us.”
“I had to,” replied Rainbow. “This land couldn’t survive in darkness. It needed light and color and life.” Rainbow eyed the Pits uneasily. Murky is
no match for the Evil One. I don’t think he can do any real harm.”
“What if he did?” asked Twink?
“Then we’d take care of him,” answered Rainbow. “I have my Color Belt to protect us with.”
“Rainbow would never let us down,” agreed Canary Yellow, smiling.
Rainbow lay back in the grass and looked up at the clouds. She knew Murky could never create something so terrible as the Evil One had done. She’d seen some of his pranks, and they weren’t always very good. She was reminded of his last escapade where he’d shown up in the Color Castle, meaning to take her Color Belt. It might have been a plan that would have worked, but Murky’s assistant, Lurky, had tripped over something downstairs and alerted everyone to his presence. She and the Color Kids had quickly scared him off. It had been so simple to do. She frowned, but let the thought slip from her mind.
Later that evening, she lay awake in bed. Nighttime had come long ago, yet she found she couldn’t fall asleep. She stared up at the dark ceiling, hoping that if she stared long enough she would be able to sleep. It didn’t help; she only started rolling from side to side, trying to find the more comfortable position. Was Murky up to something? she kept thinking over and over again. Sitting up, she made her way to the colorful pole that Twink always used to access the tallest tower in the Color Castle.
“Twink?” she called softly. “Twink, wake up.” She listened carefully, hoping that Twink heard her soft calling. She didn’t want to wake up anyone else in the Color Castle. She heard no stirring from above. She studied the pole, wondering if she could pull herself up the pole as deftly as Twink was able to. She figured it was worth a try. Stepping back a few feet, she took a running start before jumping up and clasping her arms and legs around the pole. She attempted to pull herself up, finding it to be harder than Twink made it look. She made slow progress, slowly clenching and unclenching her legs as her hands reached high above her head. It took awhile, but finally her body was halfway above the hole to the top tower. She pulled her legs up and swung herself onto the floor. She sat there for awhile, trying to catch her breath. The small climb had exhausted her, and she felt that she could fall asleep on the spot. Briefly, she considered sliding right back down the pole and crawling back into bed, but then all the effort would have been for nothing.
Rising to her feet, she crept around the opening and over to Twink’s hammock, where the white sprite was dozing softly. A light purple blanket covered his body, and Rainbow noticed the alarm clock nearby, the one that let Twink know when the sun was up. His body loved to sleep late, but Twink did not. He wanted to be up as soon as the sun was in the sky so that he could join the other sprites who worked in the Color Mines. Rainbow knew that he would return to the Color Castle after she had finished breakfast. “Twink,” she whispered in a low voice. “Wake up, Twink.”
The white sprite mumbled in his sleep before rolling over, facing away from Rainbow. Rainbow reached out and gently shook him. “Twink, wake up,” she tried again.
Twink groaned before rolling back over. He slowly opened his eyes and tried to focus on Rainbow. “What is it?” he asked sleepily, yawning.
“Twink, do you think Murky would try something?”
“Huh… um… no…” he began, trying to wake himself up.
“Are you sure?”
Twink sat up, sleep clearing away more quickly. “Murky would never get to you, Rainbow. He’s too silly. His plans never work.”
“But what if they did?” asked Rainbow persistently.
“Then you’d stop him,” replied Twink without a doubt. He yawned and covered his mouth with his right hand.
“But what if I couldn’t?”
“You would. You always do,” answered Twink. “You have the Color Belt and us to help. Don’t worry about Murky.”
Rainbow nodded. “You’re right, Twink. I shouldn’t worry about him. Go back to sleep, okay?” She covered her sprite up and he closed his eyes, soon fast asleep again. Rainbow rose to her feet and moved to the nearby wall, resting her elbows on top of it. She glanced up at the night sky and looked off into the distance, toward the treacherous Pits. A bit of lightning streaked the sky in the distance. Rainbow had never been to the Pits, and she never intended to go there. What she had seen on her quest to restore the land to its natural state had been enough. Why that part of the land remained dark was a mystery; it was a snag in an otherwise beautiful world. Sighing, she returned to the pole she’d climbed up and slid down it. Crawling into bed, exhaustion hit her, and she drifted off to sleep.
She woke up, finding herself sitting beneath a large tree, one that provided a large amount of shade. The cool breeze blew, setting off goose bumps along her arms. Rainbow shivered slightly, pulling her arms closer around her body. She looked around her, surprised to find herself in an open field. The tree she had woken up under was the only tree she could see for miles; grass and flowers spread as far as her eyes could see. Looking about, she tried to figure out what to do. Her hands lowered to her side and that’s when she felt it. She looked down and saw a brown star pouch, the same type of pouch that the sprites wore. She opened the clasp and found a handful of colorful star sprinkles inside.
Rainbow walked through the field, happy and carefree. She couldn’t remember why she had come to this place, but she felt very peaceful and happy inside. The star sprinkles jangled together inside the pouch and provided an odd rhythm to her walking pace. She began to sing to herself, the one song that always made her smile. “Whenever my happy smile turns upside down, I know how to turn my troubles around. I feel the yellow sunshine warming my skin. I open my eyes and let the green in…” Rainbow trailed off as she looked around and noticed that the landscape had suddenly changed.
Instead of the bright, cheerful colors that had dotted the field before, everything was a gloomy, dismal grey. It was as though the color had suddenly been sucked from everything around her. Rainbow frowned and then shivered. This place without color was dull and depressing; the feelings she’d felt before were slowly vanishing. It looks like the work of Murky…but he’s nowhere to be found…he’s usually so quick to make his work known! This thought puzzled her. If it wasn’t Murky, then who could have taken all the color away?
Hesitantly, Rainbow continued forward, finding more of the grey landscape. “Oh!” she said with a start, when she remembered the pouch at her waist. She opened the pouch and carefully took out a green star sprinkle, not wanting to waste the small supply that she had. She held the star sprinkle to her Color Belt. At first, nothing happened, and Rainbow wondered if her Color Belt was somehow broken. A few moments later, a faint glimmer of light appeared and absorbed the star sprinkle. A rainbow beam shot from her belt and enveloped the land in front of her. A path of green paved the way. Rainbow reached for another star sprinkle, but stopped short suddenly.
Rainbow gasped and raised a hand to cover her mouth. “Oh no!” she whispered. The path of color that the star sprinkle had created was gone. As quickly as she had made it appear, it had gone, sucked away. Rainbow looked ahead, in the distance, noticing something that she hadn’t seen before. It looked like another person, but she couldn’t be sure. She slowly made her way toward the person.
The person she saw was enshrouded in shadows. Rainbow had no idea who it was, only that it looked like a girl. The hair was in a ponytail of sorts, and it looked as though she was wearing a dress. Rainbow could discern no other physical features. Tendrils of grey wisps streaked out from underneath her, as though she was the one responsible for this gloom that could not be fixed by simple star sprinkles.
“You’re the one doing all this!” stated Rainbow. “Why? The land needs the color to surive!”
The girl looked up at Rainbow, but said nothing. She appeared as though she was bored, and quickly looked back down at the ground again.
“Can’t you speak? You need to stop this. Everything will die if you don’t. Don’t you see?”
She was answered with a shrug and nothing more. A few more tendrils streaked out from beneath the girl, which could be taken as a reply that she didn’t care in the least. Rainbow had no idea what she could do. She reached for the pouch at her waist, pulling out a blue star sprinkle. She pressed it to her Color Belt, and again, the Color Belt was slow to respond. It shot forth a rainbow beam that enveloped the shadow girl completely.
Rainbow gasped when the rainbow beam disappeared. The shadow surrounding the girl had not disappeared, but now, a set of striking green eyes looked back at her, angry. Rainbow took a few steps backward, not expecting this. The eyes that had suddenly appeared disappeared just as suddenly.
This is not something that can be solved so easily a voice interjected inside Rainbow’s head.
“Who’s there?” Rainbow called, searching for the source.
It’s not always as easy as using star sprinkles continued the voice.
Rainbow realized that the voice was coming from inside her head. It seemed impossible. She wondered if it was the girl speaking to her, but then she realized she knew that voice. It was the same voice that had brought her to Rainbow Land in the first place, and the one that she’d grown up hearing all her life.
Some problems take more than a quick fix. Time and effort is needed little Wisp. You should know that all too well.
Her original name was not something she’d heard in a long time. If she didn’t know who was speaking before, she certainly did now. “How do I solve a problem that I don’t even know about?” she asked out loud.
You will know in due time, Wisp. It will come about sooner than you expect. Days or years, it will come to Rainbow Land. Remember the time it took you to complete your quest. That was a test of your abilities.
“I’m still not sure what you mean. Is Murky going to cause trouble? He always does that.”
I cannot tell you what it is that will come to Rainbow Land. I only know that it is something you will have to take care of, and it will not be an easy task. However, if you prevail, you’ll find that it will benefit Rainbow Land in due time. Good luck, Wisp. With that final goodbye, the voice seemed to disappear from her head.
Rainbow shook her head to clear her thoughts. Now that the voice was gone, her head felt emptier than usual. She looked toward the shadow girl again and then looked down. The tendrils of grey she’d seen earlier were snaking their way up her boots, turning the parts they touched as grey as the landscape around her. She took a few more steps backward, and then turned tail, breaking into a full run. She glanced down, noticing the tendrils still stuck to her, and were continuing their way up her body. She continued to run and run and run…
Until she woke up, sitting straight up in bed. She was doused in a cold sweat. Rainbow looked around at her surroundings, noticing that she was back in her own bedroom. It was sunrise, and the first faint rays of light were creeping into her window. “That was some dream,” she said aloud in a soft voice. “It was…what was it about?” Already, the last faint remnants of the dream were fading away, slipping from her memory.
Throwing back the covers, she slid from the bed. She padded lightly across the floor and to a nearby window. She pushed it open and looked off into the distance, watching as the sun began to rise on Rainbow Land. Indigo and pinks and oranges melded and mixed together and Rainbow watched, resting her chin on her hand, elbow resting on the window sill. Another new day in Rainbow Land and she knew there was much work to be done. She needed to take Starlite and survey around the area, making sure everything was just so and that Murky had not interfered where he shouldn’t.
“It’s going to be another beautiful day,” she said to no one in particular, sighing happily. She turned when she heard the unmistakable sound of Twink behind her.
“You’re up early, Rainbow,” he commented, yawning. “I usually wake you up.”
Rainbow started to tell him about being woken by a dream, but decided against it. She couldn’t remember what the dream was about, and knew that she couldn’t answer his questions. “I just woke up early today. The sunrise was beautiful,” she remarked, gesturing toward the window.
“What are we doing today?” asked Twink.
“Well, I figured that you and I could make a trip across Rainbow Land and make sure all the colors are just right. We’ll need some star sprinkles to bring along, just in case.”
Twink nodded happily. “I can go talk to the other sprites once they head to the Color Mines. I’m sure they have plenty I can take.”
Rainbow smiled. “Thanks, Twink.”
“Are you feeling better after last night?” inquired the white sprite.
The question caught Rainbow off-guard. She then remembered that she had went up to see Twink in the middle of the night. “Yes, I am. I realize that you and Buddy were right. Come on. I bet the rest of the Kids are starting to wake up too.” She smiled and headed for the door of her bedroom, followed by Twink. There was something nagging her in the back of her mind, but she didn’t know what it was. Whatever it was, it didn’t seem too important.
I couldn't help but to do a chapter that focused fully on Rainbow and not on Stormy. I may do another one in the future, as it seems to work well. Feedback and/comments are greatly appreciated
"If you're obsessed with your yesterday then you're destined to repeat it." - Ariel of Icon for Hire
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Chibi Rachy
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Re: Lost Storms/Chapter 8
This needs to be updated. Yes, I am working on Chapter 9 when I've a chance, but it's been so long since I've given everyone an update on this and I feel that you all deserve it, especially those of you who really enjoy where this is going. Unfortunately, this is the last of the backup chapters that I had so after this you'll have to wait until I actually finish a chapter XD
Chapter 8 Stubbornness
She reached up, using the lavender mane to pull herself up upon Skydancer’s back. She held on, waiting for what Skydancer’s next move would be. As if on cue, Skydancer reared back on hind legs and let out a loud whinny. Stormy held on tightly, not saying a word. It seemed to be Skydancer’s way of being defiant. The first few times she’d been able to mount him, he’d caught her off guard; he’d reared up and Stormy had fallen from his backside. She remembered how Skydancer would snort a reply at his fallen rider, the fog rolling from his nostrils. Now he seemed to accept that she would mount him, but he nevertheless showed his dislike at having someone upon his back. Tiny hands merely held tightly to the mane until he settled down, having made a point.
~ Flashback ~
Stormy had no idea how long it’d been since she’d received Skydancer as a present. It hadn’t seemed long, but she had no way to keep track of the passage of time, nor knew about things such as days and weeks and months and years anymore. Time was merely where she was, this present that she lived in. The lack of sunlight and moonlight did not help her any to show that one day had become night, which would lead to another day. She was too young to have ever learned about how time was kept in her world, and here no one said a word to her. A day finished when she felt tired and went to bed. A new day began when she woke up or was woken up by Murky or Lurky to take care of another task. It was all she knew now, and all that it seemed she had ever known.
She had been patient with her training of Skydancer, which was hard for Stormy to do. However, being patient was better than the alternative of being bruised every night she went to bed. The pain wasn’t especially pleasant. Each session, she had come to the place where Skydancer was stabled, usually finding that Lurky would trail behind her, babbling about taking care of the “horsey” or fetching food that he somehow was able to procure. Lurky’s insistence on caring for Skydancer left Stormy free to take care of training him, though it was proving to be more difficult. Stormy had no word for Skydancer’s actions, though an observer might describe them part of being stubborn.
Today she was going to try to mount him. She had sat and talked to him, trying to rile him up. Much of what she had told him was lies. She only used what Murky had told her about Rainbow and her horse and then elaborated on it with a child’s glee. Lying was very easy, especially when it was a horse you were trying to fool. There was no way she could be caught; Murky wouldn’t care about what some horse knew, and Lurky was too stupid to know. Stupid had easily become a favorite word; she had picked it up from Murky.
Stormy entered the room and took a deep breath. Today she would see if her talking and patience would pay off. In her hand she held an apple, her usual peace offering to Skydancer. She didn’t care much for the fruit; pushing it aside at breakfast. Now she just set it aside to give it to Skydancer. However, instead of placing the treat on the floor near where Skydancer stood, she gathered her courage and walked toward Skydancer, apple in hand. Skydancer took one look at her and went back to staring at the stone wall in front of him. Stormy gulped, and raised the apple in her palm, tiny hand raised upward toward Skydancer’s uninterested head. Take the apple! Take it! She yelled inside her head. Skydancer’s head turned to her suddenly, as though he could read her thoughts. Stormy took a step backward, but her hand was still extended upward. “Please,” she begged, though it came out in more of a squeak.
Skydancer looked down at the apple and took the entire thing in one huge bite. He munched on the apple, bits and pieces falling from his mouth. Stormy lowered her hand, not enjoying the now sticky feeling of the bits of saliva on it. She wiped it off on her dress, but still looked at her right hand with disgust. She stepped further back, giving Skydancer space. She was determined to mount the horse today, but she realized that she didn’t know how she was going to do it. She tried to recall seeing how it was done before, only then to remember that she’d never seen horses before Murky had given Skydancer to her.
Stormy looked about the room, trying to figure out what to do. What was left of yesterday’s pile of hay was in one corner. There was some type of brush in another corner that belonged to Lurky. A tiny wooden stool was near the brush. In another corner were odds and ends of Lurky’s – a ball, paper, and a bell. He often would bring things for the horsey to play with. Stormy wasn’t surprised when the “horsey” didn’t want to play like Lurky expected. She couldn’t stand playing with him either. Her eyes settled on the stool again. It might work. She could use it to stand on, and then somehow pull herself up onto his back. Her eyes drifted from the stool to Skydancer. Studying him, an idea came to her. She could use the stool to stand on, and then grab Skydancer’s mane to pull herself the rest of the way up.
A few minutes passed by, and Stormy still stood, considering her plan. It could work and she should try it. After all, she had promised herself she was going to mount Skydancer today. Standing around doing nothing was her way of putting off the inevitable. Slowly, she moved across the room to fetch the stool. She carried to Skydancer, and set it down by his side. Skydancer paid no attention to her, sparing only a glance for the stool before he went back to staring at the wall. Stormy looked up at Skydancer, his backside seeming a long way from the ground now that she looked at it. She stepped up onto the stool, and reached out to pet Skydancer. Still, the horse spared no attention to her. The warmth radiating from his body was soothing. Stormy sighed and then looked at him again. It was now or never.
Her fingers grabbed lavender mane gently, and her feet raised off the stool some, testing what she was about to do. Skydancer now watched her, and she grew even more nervous, knowing that even he was paying attention to her actions. Without thinking further, she pulled on his mane and used it to hoist herself up on his backside. Skydancer whinnied, and backed away from the corner. Wide-eyed, Stormy tried grabbed for his mane, but he was thrashing around too much.
When Skydancer reared up on hind legs, her tiny legs could not grip his sides enough to keep her on his back and she slid off, landing hard on her side. She only felt intense pain as tears formed in her eyes. She looked up and noticed that Skydancer still had not settled and was close to stepping on her. She rolled away, even though it hurt to do so. She could hear Skydancer starting to settle down, but she didn’t care. Her hands gripped at her side, knowing it would be bruised and sore for quite some time.
Stormy had no idea how long she laid on the ground crying. She didn’t want to move; every time she tried, it would hurt too much. Instead, she just stayed put, the cold from the stone seeping into her clothes. When she became too cold to even feel any comfort from lying still, she knew she had to get up and to her room. She turned her head, just barely able to glimpse Skydancer. The horse was back to the same position he’d been in when she’d first came to see him. His tail flicked back and forth as he faced the wall. It was as though she wasn’t even there.
Slowly, she forced herself to sit up, stopping in place every time the pain flared on her side. It had to be bruised; she could sense it. She wanted to lay back down, to keep the pain from hurting so much, but she knew that she had to move. She didn’t want Lurky or Murky to find her. She could hear Murky’s voice inside her head, knowing that he’d have nothing good to say, only to insult her. Dreading having to face him, even for a few minutes was enough motivation for her to try again to pull herself up. She was able to get into a sitting position, and then drag herself to her feet.
Walking was quite a different story. Her right side flared in pain each time she raised her foot to take another step forward. She continued on with her strange hobble and made it to the stairwell that would take her to her room, feeling lucky that she hadn’t met anyone along the way. As soon as she even let herself think that, she heard the unmistakable footsteps of Lurky, along with his attempts at humming. She knew his destination and wished that she’d have been able to leave earlier than she had, just so she wouldn’t have encountered him at all. She continued up the stairs as far as she could before stopping, hearing his footsteps growing ever closer. She put her back to the wall, using it to support herself and to hide her strange walk. The less questions that Lurky could ask, the better. Answering him was tiring, and she knew it would easily go back to Murky in some fashion.
“Hiya!” called Lurky, waving to her as he descended the stairs.
“Hi,” replied Stormy tersely, wishing for him to keep on going.
“Didja go see the horsey yet?” he asked eagerly.
Stormy nodded. “He needs food.”
“Oh, I’ll get more food for him!” Gleefully, Lurky continued down the stairs without incident.
Stormy breathed a sigh of relief, listening to his retreating footsteps. When she couldn’t hear them anymore, she turned and continued the slow climb. Once inside her room, she sighed again, this time thankful that she hadn’t run into Murky as well. She walked the last few steps to her bed and crawled upon it, favoring her left side. Her side ached and throbbed from all the walking. She touched it gently, each time setting off a new spasm of pain that lasted only a few seconds, but was enough to make her wince. She’d look at the bruise later, but for now, she forced herself to try and sleep. Sleep would help dull the pain for a little while.
~End Flashback~
To Stormy, that incident had occurred a little bit ago. She knew that days had passed. To anyone else, it was a few weeks ago. She had stopped training Skydancer for a few days, resting and healing herself before trying again. When she felt well enough to return, she merely sat and talked to Skydancer, again weaving lies into a story that sounded good, even to her. By this point, her story had grown. Rainbow Brite was this girl who wanted to keep everything colorful and used her horse to help do that. Her horse could now shoot beams from its eyes that would put color into anything; no horse had the power to do that but hers. As always, Skydancer had acted nonchalant, but still willingly took the apple every day that she offered.
Trying to get up the courage to remount Skydancer had taken time. And then, she had fallen off yet again, not quick enough to grab at Skydancer’s mane. She was prepared for the fall this time, and managed to fall into a roll, keeping herself from bruising so much. It had taken a few more tries before she had realized that it would be best to keep ahold of the mane after she swung herself up onto Skydancer. The day she tried that was the day that everything changed. When Skydancer reared, she stayed put, hands gripping tightly to the lavender mane. It seemed like forever before Skydancer settled. He had tried moving about, wanting to bounce her off, but she held tightly, not wanting to lose when she had come so far.
Now, Skydancer would merely raise up on hind legs, still hoping that he could get rid of his stubborn rider. Stormy had learned to accept this, knowing that he was as reluctant to be ridden as she was to ride him. She indeed wanted to try, but she didn’t think it was necessary that she had a horse to do so. Murky still insisted and so she kept working. He would not take no for an answer.
Feeling tall, Stormy sat up straighter on Skydancer’s back. She looked around the room, noting how far away from the ground she seemed to be. She was not eager to fall again, but she knew that now that she had been able to mount Skydancer, the next step was trying to actually ride him. This new task made her nervous all over again. She was afraid that once she had taken Skydancer outside that he would try to run from her. She did not know that Lurky would always walk him on a rope after she had finished training each day.
Just as she was about to try, she realized one thing – she had no idea how to make him move forward! What did she do? Tell him? Was there some sort of command to make him walk? What about turning? This was too confusing. Stormy’s brow furrowed in thought. Just what was she supposed to do? She sat there, still holding on, pondering what to do. She felt a sudden jerk below her, but paid no attention, thinking it was Skydancer trying to get rid of her again. Only when she looked up did she realize that Skydancer was not trying to get rid of her. Instead, he had backed himself up and was walking toward the exit to the cave at the far end. Stormy’s legs automatically tightened around Skydancer, her fear that Skydancer would try to knock her off once again.
Skydancer ignored the change in his rider’s attitude, continuing toward the exit. Stormy gulped, but held tightly to his mane, waiting to see what would happen. She just couldn’t dismount while he was moving, yet she feared that he would try to escape with her on him. What could she do then, if he tried to do such a thing? Her eyes wandered down to the cave floor, noting how far away it seemed. She’d fallen off Skydancer enough times to know it was a painful fall; she wondered just how much more painful it’d be if he were moving at a fast pace.
Stormy shook her head, angry at herself. She could do this. She wasn’t going to be scared and act like a baby. Sitting up taller, she took a new outlook on her situation. If Skydancer tries to run away, that means I go with him. I’d be able to run away too. Such a thought had never crossed her mind before. She was surprised to find that the idea was a bit fun to think about. She wouldn’t need to have Murky tell her she could go and defeat Rainbow; she could do it herself.
As they exited the cave, Stormy took note of her surroundings; she couldn’t recall the last time she’d been outside Murky’s lair. She realized that she’d been so wrapped up in training Skydancer that she had neglected her own training. A quick glance at the storm clouds reminded her that she always itched to make something happen, yearned to manipulate the clouds into doing what she wanted. She looked down at Skydancer, who still appeared oblivious to her. A new idea crossed her mind. What if she showed Skydancer what she could do?
She raised her hand to the sky, pointing a finger to the nearest storm cloud. She could feel the energy it radiated, and knew it would work perfectly. She concentrated, focusing on bringing the energy into a condensed area and then- Crack! A brilliant flash of white struck down in front of them, twenty feet away. All the while, her feet gripped Skydancer’s sides and she held onto his mane tightly with her left hand. As she had expected, he reared up in fear, surprised at the lightning strike. “I did that,” she stated when Skydancer settled onto all fours. “I have the power to do that and more. I’m only learning, but I will be much stronger someday.”
Skydancer trotted onward, heading up the pathway that overlooked the Pits. Stormy became annoyed that her show of power had not made a difference. She looked to the sky again, sensing the same storm cloud still in the vicinity. I’ll show him again… maybe he thinks I didn’t do that. Again, she raised her hand to the sky, searching out the energy she needed. Her fingers deftly pulled the cloud closer again, before she tugged at the energy. Another white flash of lightning struck the ground twenty feet away. Skydancer reared up as Stormy held tightly once more.
This time, Stormy said nothing. There was no need to. Lightning was not going to strike so near in such a short time period. She wondered if Skydancer knew that. He was just a horse, but he might be able to tell…Stormy wasn’t certain. She relaxed her hold some on his mane as he continued up the path, stopping at the edge of the cliff at the top. It was one of the highest points in the Pits, overlooking Murky’s lair. Everything seemed much farther away. This was a part of the Pits she had never been to before; she normally was kept to the lower cliffs.
As she sat upon Skydancer, something stirred deep inside her. She felt as though this is the view she should be taking on the Pits, not stuck inside of it. It was yet another thought that she had never considered before. It just came out of nowhere. Why had she never thought of it before? What was causing it all of a sudden? Her eyes scanned over the dismal landscape, wondering why. It was something that she couldn’t figure out. Silently, she continued observing the landscape, trying not to think of anything. If she could clear her mind, everything would be peaceful.
By the time that Skydancer turned around to walk back to the cave, Stormy’s mind was somewhere else. She was focused on figuring out what to do next for training, and how that could benefit her in the end. She had no plan at this point, and knew that for Skydancer to accept her as his true rider, she needed to prove it to him. How was the question.
Chapter 8 Stubbornness
She reached up, using the lavender mane to pull herself up upon Skydancer’s back. She held on, waiting for what Skydancer’s next move would be. As if on cue, Skydancer reared back on hind legs and let out a loud whinny. Stormy held on tightly, not saying a word. It seemed to be Skydancer’s way of being defiant. The first few times she’d been able to mount him, he’d caught her off guard; he’d reared up and Stormy had fallen from his backside. She remembered how Skydancer would snort a reply at his fallen rider, the fog rolling from his nostrils. Now he seemed to accept that she would mount him, but he nevertheless showed his dislike at having someone upon his back. Tiny hands merely held tightly to the mane until he settled down, having made a point.
~ Flashback ~
Stormy had no idea how long it’d been since she’d received Skydancer as a present. It hadn’t seemed long, but she had no way to keep track of the passage of time, nor knew about things such as days and weeks and months and years anymore. Time was merely where she was, this present that she lived in. The lack of sunlight and moonlight did not help her any to show that one day had become night, which would lead to another day. She was too young to have ever learned about how time was kept in her world, and here no one said a word to her. A day finished when she felt tired and went to bed. A new day began when she woke up or was woken up by Murky or Lurky to take care of another task. It was all she knew now, and all that it seemed she had ever known.
She had been patient with her training of Skydancer, which was hard for Stormy to do. However, being patient was better than the alternative of being bruised every night she went to bed. The pain wasn’t especially pleasant. Each session, she had come to the place where Skydancer was stabled, usually finding that Lurky would trail behind her, babbling about taking care of the “horsey” or fetching food that he somehow was able to procure. Lurky’s insistence on caring for Skydancer left Stormy free to take care of training him, though it was proving to be more difficult. Stormy had no word for Skydancer’s actions, though an observer might describe them part of being stubborn.
Today she was going to try to mount him. She had sat and talked to him, trying to rile him up. Much of what she had told him was lies. She only used what Murky had told her about Rainbow and her horse and then elaborated on it with a child’s glee. Lying was very easy, especially when it was a horse you were trying to fool. There was no way she could be caught; Murky wouldn’t care about what some horse knew, and Lurky was too stupid to know. Stupid had easily become a favorite word; she had picked it up from Murky.
Stormy entered the room and took a deep breath. Today she would see if her talking and patience would pay off. In her hand she held an apple, her usual peace offering to Skydancer. She didn’t care much for the fruit; pushing it aside at breakfast. Now she just set it aside to give it to Skydancer. However, instead of placing the treat on the floor near where Skydancer stood, she gathered her courage and walked toward Skydancer, apple in hand. Skydancer took one look at her and went back to staring at the stone wall in front of him. Stormy gulped, and raised the apple in her palm, tiny hand raised upward toward Skydancer’s uninterested head. Take the apple! Take it! She yelled inside her head. Skydancer’s head turned to her suddenly, as though he could read her thoughts. Stormy took a step backward, but her hand was still extended upward. “Please,” she begged, though it came out in more of a squeak.
Skydancer looked down at the apple and took the entire thing in one huge bite. He munched on the apple, bits and pieces falling from his mouth. Stormy lowered her hand, not enjoying the now sticky feeling of the bits of saliva on it. She wiped it off on her dress, but still looked at her right hand with disgust. She stepped further back, giving Skydancer space. She was determined to mount the horse today, but she realized that she didn’t know how she was going to do it. She tried to recall seeing how it was done before, only then to remember that she’d never seen horses before Murky had given Skydancer to her.
Stormy looked about the room, trying to figure out what to do. What was left of yesterday’s pile of hay was in one corner. There was some type of brush in another corner that belonged to Lurky. A tiny wooden stool was near the brush. In another corner were odds and ends of Lurky’s – a ball, paper, and a bell. He often would bring things for the horsey to play with. Stormy wasn’t surprised when the “horsey” didn’t want to play like Lurky expected. She couldn’t stand playing with him either. Her eyes settled on the stool again. It might work. She could use it to stand on, and then somehow pull herself up onto his back. Her eyes drifted from the stool to Skydancer. Studying him, an idea came to her. She could use the stool to stand on, and then grab Skydancer’s mane to pull herself the rest of the way up.
A few minutes passed by, and Stormy still stood, considering her plan. It could work and she should try it. After all, she had promised herself she was going to mount Skydancer today. Standing around doing nothing was her way of putting off the inevitable. Slowly, she moved across the room to fetch the stool. She carried to Skydancer, and set it down by his side. Skydancer paid no attention to her, sparing only a glance for the stool before he went back to staring at the wall. Stormy looked up at Skydancer, his backside seeming a long way from the ground now that she looked at it. She stepped up onto the stool, and reached out to pet Skydancer. Still, the horse spared no attention to her. The warmth radiating from his body was soothing. Stormy sighed and then looked at him again. It was now or never.
Her fingers grabbed lavender mane gently, and her feet raised off the stool some, testing what she was about to do. Skydancer now watched her, and she grew even more nervous, knowing that even he was paying attention to her actions. Without thinking further, she pulled on his mane and used it to hoist herself up on his backside. Skydancer whinnied, and backed away from the corner. Wide-eyed, Stormy tried grabbed for his mane, but he was thrashing around too much.
When Skydancer reared up on hind legs, her tiny legs could not grip his sides enough to keep her on his back and she slid off, landing hard on her side. She only felt intense pain as tears formed in her eyes. She looked up and noticed that Skydancer still had not settled and was close to stepping on her. She rolled away, even though it hurt to do so. She could hear Skydancer starting to settle down, but she didn’t care. Her hands gripped at her side, knowing it would be bruised and sore for quite some time.
Stormy had no idea how long she laid on the ground crying. She didn’t want to move; every time she tried, it would hurt too much. Instead, she just stayed put, the cold from the stone seeping into her clothes. When she became too cold to even feel any comfort from lying still, she knew she had to get up and to her room. She turned her head, just barely able to glimpse Skydancer. The horse was back to the same position he’d been in when she’d first came to see him. His tail flicked back and forth as he faced the wall. It was as though she wasn’t even there.
Slowly, she forced herself to sit up, stopping in place every time the pain flared on her side. It had to be bruised; she could sense it. She wanted to lay back down, to keep the pain from hurting so much, but she knew that she had to move. She didn’t want Lurky or Murky to find her. She could hear Murky’s voice inside her head, knowing that he’d have nothing good to say, only to insult her. Dreading having to face him, even for a few minutes was enough motivation for her to try again to pull herself up. She was able to get into a sitting position, and then drag herself to her feet.
Walking was quite a different story. Her right side flared in pain each time she raised her foot to take another step forward. She continued on with her strange hobble and made it to the stairwell that would take her to her room, feeling lucky that she hadn’t met anyone along the way. As soon as she even let herself think that, she heard the unmistakable footsteps of Lurky, along with his attempts at humming. She knew his destination and wished that she’d have been able to leave earlier than she had, just so she wouldn’t have encountered him at all. She continued up the stairs as far as she could before stopping, hearing his footsteps growing ever closer. She put her back to the wall, using it to support herself and to hide her strange walk. The less questions that Lurky could ask, the better. Answering him was tiring, and she knew it would easily go back to Murky in some fashion.
“Hiya!” called Lurky, waving to her as he descended the stairs.
“Hi,” replied Stormy tersely, wishing for him to keep on going.
“Didja go see the horsey yet?” he asked eagerly.
Stormy nodded. “He needs food.”
“Oh, I’ll get more food for him!” Gleefully, Lurky continued down the stairs without incident.
Stormy breathed a sigh of relief, listening to his retreating footsteps. When she couldn’t hear them anymore, she turned and continued the slow climb. Once inside her room, she sighed again, this time thankful that she hadn’t run into Murky as well. She walked the last few steps to her bed and crawled upon it, favoring her left side. Her side ached and throbbed from all the walking. She touched it gently, each time setting off a new spasm of pain that lasted only a few seconds, but was enough to make her wince. She’d look at the bruise later, but for now, she forced herself to try and sleep. Sleep would help dull the pain for a little while.
~End Flashback~
To Stormy, that incident had occurred a little bit ago. She knew that days had passed. To anyone else, it was a few weeks ago. She had stopped training Skydancer for a few days, resting and healing herself before trying again. When she felt well enough to return, she merely sat and talked to Skydancer, again weaving lies into a story that sounded good, even to her. By this point, her story had grown. Rainbow Brite was this girl who wanted to keep everything colorful and used her horse to help do that. Her horse could now shoot beams from its eyes that would put color into anything; no horse had the power to do that but hers. As always, Skydancer had acted nonchalant, but still willingly took the apple every day that she offered.
Trying to get up the courage to remount Skydancer had taken time. And then, she had fallen off yet again, not quick enough to grab at Skydancer’s mane. She was prepared for the fall this time, and managed to fall into a roll, keeping herself from bruising so much. It had taken a few more tries before she had realized that it would be best to keep ahold of the mane after she swung herself up onto Skydancer. The day she tried that was the day that everything changed. When Skydancer reared, she stayed put, hands gripping tightly to the lavender mane. It seemed like forever before Skydancer settled. He had tried moving about, wanting to bounce her off, but she held tightly, not wanting to lose when she had come so far.
Now, Skydancer would merely raise up on hind legs, still hoping that he could get rid of his stubborn rider. Stormy had learned to accept this, knowing that he was as reluctant to be ridden as she was to ride him. She indeed wanted to try, but she didn’t think it was necessary that she had a horse to do so. Murky still insisted and so she kept working. He would not take no for an answer.
Feeling tall, Stormy sat up straighter on Skydancer’s back. She looked around the room, noting how far away from the ground she seemed to be. She was not eager to fall again, but she knew that now that she had been able to mount Skydancer, the next step was trying to actually ride him. This new task made her nervous all over again. She was afraid that once she had taken Skydancer outside that he would try to run from her. She did not know that Lurky would always walk him on a rope after she had finished training each day.
Just as she was about to try, she realized one thing – she had no idea how to make him move forward! What did she do? Tell him? Was there some sort of command to make him walk? What about turning? This was too confusing. Stormy’s brow furrowed in thought. Just what was she supposed to do? She sat there, still holding on, pondering what to do. She felt a sudden jerk below her, but paid no attention, thinking it was Skydancer trying to get rid of her again. Only when she looked up did she realize that Skydancer was not trying to get rid of her. Instead, he had backed himself up and was walking toward the exit to the cave at the far end. Stormy’s legs automatically tightened around Skydancer, her fear that Skydancer would try to knock her off once again.
Skydancer ignored the change in his rider’s attitude, continuing toward the exit. Stormy gulped, but held tightly to his mane, waiting to see what would happen. She just couldn’t dismount while he was moving, yet she feared that he would try to escape with her on him. What could she do then, if he tried to do such a thing? Her eyes wandered down to the cave floor, noting how far away it seemed. She’d fallen off Skydancer enough times to know it was a painful fall; she wondered just how much more painful it’d be if he were moving at a fast pace.
Stormy shook her head, angry at herself. She could do this. She wasn’t going to be scared and act like a baby. Sitting up taller, she took a new outlook on her situation. If Skydancer tries to run away, that means I go with him. I’d be able to run away too. Such a thought had never crossed her mind before. She was surprised to find that the idea was a bit fun to think about. She wouldn’t need to have Murky tell her she could go and defeat Rainbow; she could do it herself.
As they exited the cave, Stormy took note of her surroundings; she couldn’t recall the last time she’d been outside Murky’s lair. She realized that she’d been so wrapped up in training Skydancer that she had neglected her own training. A quick glance at the storm clouds reminded her that she always itched to make something happen, yearned to manipulate the clouds into doing what she wanted. She looked down at Skydancer, who still appeared oblivious to her. A new idea crossed her mind. What if she showed Skydancer what she could do?
She raised her hand to the sky, pointing a finger to the nearest storm cloud. She could feel the energy it radiated, and knew it would work perfectly. She concentrated, focusing on bringing the energy into a condensed area and then- Crack! A brilliant flash of white struck down in front of them, twenty feet away. All the while, her feet gripped Skydancer’s sides and she held onto his mane tightly with her left hand. As she had expected, he reared up in fear, surprised at the lightning strike. “I did that,” she stated when Skydancer settled onto all fours. “I have the power to do that and more. I’m only learning, but I will be much stronger someday.”
Skydancer trotted onward, heading up the pathway that overlooked the Pits. Stormy became annoyed that her show of power had not made a difference. She looked to the sky again, sensing the same storm cloud still in the vicinity. I’ll show him again… maybe he thinks I didn’t do that. Again, she raised her hand to the sky, searching out the energy she needed. Her fingers deftly pulled the cloud closer again, before she tugged at the energy. Another white flash of lightning struck the ground twenty feet away. Skydancer reared up as Stormy held tightly once more.
This time, Stormy said nothing. There was no need to. Lightning was not going to strike so near in such a short time period. She wondered if Skydancer knew that. He was just a horse, but he might be able to tell…Stormy wasn’t certain. She relaxed her hold some on his mane as he continued up the path, stopping at the edge of the cliff at the top. It was one of the highest points in the Pits, overlooking Murky’s lair. Everything seemed much farther away. This was a part of the Pits she had never been to before; she normally was kept to the lower cliffs.
As she sat upon Skydancer, something stirred deep inside her. She felt as though this is the view she should be taking on the Pits, not stuck inside of it. It was yet another thought that she had never considered before. It just came out of nowhere. Why had she never thought of it before? What was causing it all of a sudden? Her eyes scanned over the dismal landscape, wondering why. It was something that she couldn’t figure out. Silently, she continued observing the landscape, trying not to think of anything. If she could clear her mind, everything would be peaceful.
By the time that Skydancer turned around to walk back to the cave, Stormy’s mind was somewhere else. She was focused on figuring out what to do next for training, and how that could benefit her in the end. She had no plan at this point, and knew that for Skydancer to accept her as his true rider, she needed to prove it to him. How was the question.
"If you're obsessed with your yesterday then you're destined to repeat it." - Ariel of Icon for Hire
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Chibi Rachy
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Re: Lost Storms/Chapter 9
I've put off posting this for some reason. I've had this chapter finished for awhile and even chapter 10 is done. I just wanted to give some space between postings. Since it's summer now, I've been getting more writing done. However, my writing is spread out. I've been doing another version of a oneshot I did last week and am working on the teaser for a new oneshot in the RB fandom. I promise to do my best at updating. My goal is to work on chapter 11 of this story once I finish the teaser chapter for the other one.
Chapter 9 Defiance and Clouds
“Stormy! I need you in my lab right now!” shouted Murky up the stairwell. It was early in the morning and he had just risen from bed. He had an idea for training, and wanted Stormy to get right to work. She’d spent the past few days solely with Skydancer, working diligently with the horse. Murky didn’t mind, but he didn’t want her ignoring her training as well. He smiled at the thought that with every passing day, he was getting closer to beating Rainbow Brite. Rainbow Land would be a distant memory once he finished with it. Minutes passed, but Stormy did not make an appearance. “Stormy!” he called.
“I’m busy!” was the reply he received.
“Don’t speak to me like that! You listen when I tell you to do something!” Murky then realized that Stormy had not had her glass of gloom variant yet that morning. He quickly spun and turned to face a different direction. “Lurky! Take the girl her breakfast!” he yelled.
Being as patient as he could, Murky gave Stormy an hour to eat and have the gloom variant take effect. He then yelled for her again. “Stormy! In my lab!” He waited, but did not receive an immediate response. A few minutes later, he was about to make a trip up to her room when she finally arrived in his laboratory. “Where have you been?” he asked.
“In my room,” replied Stormy. “I was getting ready to go train Skydancer.”
“Why didn’t you come right away when I called?” asked Murky accusingly.
“I wanted to finish what I was doing first,” replied Stormy.
Murky studied her for a moment. Could she be growing immune to the gloom variant finally? he wondered to himself. It’s very possible that she’s immune to its effects. I should test her and see... I can’t have her defying me! “Come here,” commanded Murky. He knew that in years past, Stormy would automatically obey his command and be at his side in an instant.
“For what?” asked Stormy, cocking her head to the side.
Murky rubbed his chin, forcing the anger that was threatening to bubble over to cease and desist. “I see… off with you now.”
Stormy looked confused. “Why did you call me down here?”
“No reason that you need to no. Go on now!” he commanded sternly. “I’ll call you again when I need you.”
Stormy shrugged, leaving the laboratory. Murky quickly went to his bookshelf and pulled the journal off the shelf that he’d kept notes on the various gloom variants with. He flipped through the pages, looking at the last recorded variant that had been the version used on Stormy after her arrival in the Pits. It was too weak to use now, and Murky had to strengthen it without compromising any of the other elements. He didn’t want to have to deal with side effects yet again. Setting the book on the table, he gathered the necessary ingredients and set to work mixing up a new gloom variant.
Stormy made her way to Skydancer’s room, entering silently. Skydancer still stood in his favorite dark corner, but no longer ignored Stormy as he used to. He paid attention to her when he felt like it, and ignored her at other times. Stormy knew she was getting closer to proving that she could be worthy of being his rider. After she had demonstrated her powers to him, he’d begun to slowly come around. Still, he was quite stubborn and not always trusting of her. She hoped to break that someday.
After dealing with Murky, she felt like going for a ride. She’d gotten used to Skydancer and would urge him to ride on faster, until the wind whipped about all around her. It reminded her of a vicious storm, one that would whip the rain and pelt anything nearby with stinging nettles of water. She swung up onto Skydancer’s back and spurred her ankle into his side. Skydancer turned to the entrance and began a slow trot that quickly became a gallop before he broke out into a run once they’d emerged into the dark outdoors. Stormy held tightly to Skydancer’s mane, her only goal to enjoy the ride and the adrenaline rush that it provided. The duo ran off into the hills and up into the high cliffs.
Suddenly, Stormy urged Skydancer to stop in a particular spot. She had climbed to the highest point in the Pits and could see everything for miles around. There was Murky’s castle, almost blending in with the surrounding areas, save for the black smoke plume that rose from the top. Stormy turned her eyes toward the far horizon. There, the light was much brighter, much more cheerful. It was the place Murky called Rainbow Land, the place where Rainbow Brite lived. Someday, she knew she’d end up there and defeat the bright and cheerful girl. Murky said that it was her destiny to do so.
Stormy was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn’t notice Skydancer leap gracefully from the cliff. His legs pumped as he flew through the air and up into the dark sky. Thunder rumbled loudly and the air became cooler. Stormy took notice when she began to shiver. She looked down and saw the ground far below her. Blinking, she looked forward, noting that they were flying through the sky. She looked down again. The landscape seemed very far from them. Fear started to creep up on her. “Skydancer….what… how... where….” She trembled as she spoke.
Skydancer gave no notice of hearing her. Instinctively, he continued forward. Stormy watched with wide eyes as he flew straight into a cloud. She squeezed her eyes shut, feeling a soft mist on her skin before once again opening her eyes. It was dark inside. Stormy slid from Skydancer’s back and her feet sunk a little ways into the cloud before stopping. She could feel the soft rumble of thunder beneath her feet. Slowly, she walked around the cloud, taking in her surroundings. Reaching out a hand, she made to touch the surface, the fluffy-like shape of the cloud itself. Her fingers clasped around the substance and instantly she felt a low humming against her fingers, a rhythm unseen.
“Skydancer, how did you do this? How’d we get here?” she asked, full well knowing the answer, but still wondering if she was dreaming. She’d seen Skydancer fly, felt like she was on his back as they glided through the air without any wings to aid them.
Skydancer whinnied a reply and turned away from Stormy, effectively ignoring her. Undaunted and used to such treatment, Stormy made her way to the edge of the cloud cover, stepping carefully, hoping that she wouldn’t fall through. Her feet stayed on the soft ground and she looked out before her, taking in the landscape. Up here, she could see everything. It was hard to pinpoint any specific locations, but now she had a better vantage point of the area. Not only could she see the Pits, but in the distance she now could see Rainbow Land in its bright splendor. There were no grey clouds, no darkness. It was all bright and cheerful. Stormy shuddered at the thought before turning her back on the scene.
Thrusting her hand out, Stormy closed her eyes and sensed the weather around her. She could feel the strength of the storm. It was so close to her fingertips. The raw power that was within this cloud was much stronger than what she had ever felt on the Earth. There, distance between herself and the nearest storm was far and thus the strength and power she felt was much less. Now, so close to the source of the storm, the power crackled and buzzed. Tempted, she pulled more storm clouds closer, noticing how quickly they responded to her call. Up here, there was more power, more force, and a better connection to the storms she longed to create.
An idea crept into her head and she smirked at the thought. Making her way to the edge of the cloud again, she looked out, seeking the out of place brightness of Rainbow Land. She couldn’t have that at all. Placing her hand directly in front of her, fingers splayed, she commanded storm clouds to gather over Rainbow Land, to create a storm such as they’d never seen before. The wind blew around Stormy, and she concentrated on moving closer to Rainbow Land, feeling the power erupting from her fingers. She put her energy into the cloud, thunder and lightning striking below her. Skydancer galloped about, every stomp producing heavy rainfall.
Patty O’Green ran for the Color Castle, trying to escape the heavy rain that fell in buckets. Sprites had already run past her, heading for the safety and warmth of their homes. She’d been out in Green Grange with Lucky, spreading green star sprinkles over the field there. A once sunny day had quickly turned ugly, and now nothing but thick grey clouds covered the sky. Her green hair and clothing was plastered against her, and the falling rain was cold on her skin. Lucky ran beside her, keeping his arms over his head to try and keep the rain off. It wasn’t doing very good, but it was his defense mechanism.
She quickly entered the Color Castle and pushed the door shut behind her, sinking to the floor. She was exhausted from running, and cold from her wet clothing. Lucky sat beside her, breathing hard after all the running. He was dripping wet and starting to shiver. Unwillingly, she rose to her feet and took her sprite in her arms. She headed for the stairs, knowing that she could dry off and change in her room. On her way up, she met Rainbow, who was coming down. “Patty! You’re soaked! And Lucky looks so cold!” she exclaimed.
“It just started pouring suddenly,” explained Patty as she continued up the stairs. Rainbow turned and followed her. “I don’t know where it came from. It just started. One moment it was sunny, and the next it was pouring rain.”
“I wonder where it came from,” pondered Rainbow. A huge roll of thunder made both girls jump. They looked at each other and smiled nervously.
“I don’t know… Maybe Murky’s up to trouble again.”
Rainbow held open the door to Patty’s room. The two girls made their way inside. Patty sat Lucky down on a chair and went scrounging for a towel. Rainbow sat on Patty’s bed. “I don’t know. He’s been pretty quiet lately. Maybe he’s trying to cause trouble. His last visit didn’t work so well.”
Patty found a towel under a pile of clothes in her closet. She returned to Lucky and began toweling him dry. Rainbow took the towel from her and continued what she’d started. Patty went in search of another outfit. “He’s never learned that the star sprinkles will never be his,” commented Patty from somewhere deep in her closet. Moments later, she stepped out, dressed in dry clothing. “Do you think he ever will?”
“Will what?” asked Rainbow as she scratched the back of Lucky’s head. The sprite smiled and chattered happily.
“Will ever learn. Do you think he will?”
“No one knows when it comes to him,” answered Rainbow honestly. She handed the damp towel back to Patty.
“It’d be much easier if we just knew what he was doing.”
From up in the sky, Stormy smirked. The bright light she’d seen coming from Rainbow Land had quickly disappeared. Everywhere she turned now looked like the Pits. She felt satisfied with her work and sat on the cloud to watch the storm play out. She’d set the major factors in motion. She’d set up the lightning, thunder, and downpour of rain. Now all that was left to do was to watch it play out before her. Skydancer settled down and stood beside her. No words were spoken, as both horse and rider enjoyed the tumult of the storm together.
“Lurky! Find her! I need her now!” roared Murky. He’d searched the castle from top to bottom after calling endlessly for Stormy, with no luck. There was no reply to his endless calls. Sending Lurky after her might be a better idea, though he didn’t know how luck the bumbling assistant would have. At any rate, it saved him the trouble from having to do it himself.
“Okay Murky!” agreed Lurky without hesitation. He ran off and Murky knew he’d head for the stable room before anything else. He would want to look there because of Skydancer. Sometimes Murky wondered whether Lurky was growing too attached to the creature.
Lurky covered the entire area of the lair, and had no luck in his search. He scratched the top of his head. “I wonder where she is?” he asked himself. He stood near the entrance to the lair and heard the thunder and lightning just outside the door. He looked outside suddenly. “I’ve got it!” he cried happily. He walked outside and cupped a hand to his mouth. “Stormy! Stormy! Where are you?” Lurky walked along the paths around the Pits near the lair, slowly making his way around in circles. Still, he had no luck. All he could hear and see was the darkened sky splattered with lightning.
Skydancer nudged Stormy after awhile, showing his intention to leave. “Not yet, Skydancer,” replied Stormy, waving him away. Skydancer continued to nudge Stormy’s shoulder, sensing that they needed to head back. “Fine, fine,” grumbled Stormy after a few more minutes of being nudged.
Stormy rose to her feet and swung up onto Skydancer’s back. She held tightly to his mane as he jumped from the cloud. Instinct told her that she’d end up free-falling and land smashed onto the ground. Reality told her that Skydancer was able to glide smoothly toward a flat area in the Pits and land gently on all four hooves. She slid off Skydancer, blinking. Her legs felt strange, as though they weren’t used to solid ground. She stood still for a few minutes, gathering her senses and making sure that her legs wouldn’t buckle underneath her. She looked at her surroundings as she waited, and groaned at the sight she saw.
“There you are! Murky wants ta see ya!” called Lurky cheerfully. He tried his best to run toward her, but his loose shoelaces tripped him up. Lurky fell forward and landed heavily on the unforgiving ground. However, he acted as though the fall didn’t phase him, quickly rising to his feet once more.
“I’ll be in,” replied Stormy, as she climbed onto Skydancer’s back once more. She wondered what Murky was up to this time.
Stormy soon found out Murky’s intentions. She made her way to his laboratory, following the sounds of angry shouts and the smell of some sort of food. She entered to see a table set in the corner, Murky in another. He was scribbling something into one of his books and Stormy could see part of a grin that seemed to cover his face. He appeared to be pretty happy about something. “You wanted me?”
Murky hopped off his stool and turned to face her. “Yes, I did. I wanted to check up on your training with Skydancer. Lunch seemed the best time to do so. Have a seat.” Murky gestured to the nearest chair. Stormy looked at him. He was being nice…too nice. She ignored the feeling in her gut and instead sat down. A light lunch covered the table – bread, some sort of purplish berries, and small chunks of meat in a broth. At her place was a glass of the all too familiar juice. “Go ahead and eat,” he encouraged, picking up some of the berries and tossing them into his mouth.
Stormy reached for the glass of juice, feeling a bit parched. As she raised the glass to her lips, the smell wafted to her noise. It was stronger than it had been before. Tentatively, she took a sip, tasting it. It was more bitter on her tongue, more sour. She made a face and sat the glass down. “This is disgusting,” she remarked.
“It’s a…different sort of berry. A bit more bitter than you’re used to, but it’s all I could find,” lied Murky. “You need the vitamins from it.” Truthfully, he had no way to completely mask the bitter taste once he had increased the potency of the gloom variant. It had been the only thing that had hypothesized would have no side effects. It was merely a stronger combination of the previous variant.
The meal continued in silence, but Stormy obeyed Murky’s command and continued to slowly drain the glass of juice. Murky kept one eye on her behavior as he ate, noticing that she drank more juice with each time she picked up the glass. He watched as she cleared her plate and then sat silently. A half hour had passed, enough time for the variant to have entered her bloodstream and begin to take effect. It was time to test this new variant and see exactly how much control he now had over the girl. “Stormy, get me that book off my lab table,” he commanded.
Wordlessly, Stormy slid from her chair and retrieved the book from the lab table, bringing it right back to Murky. She set it on the table in front of him and stood, waiting for further orders. “Ah, good!” he exclaimed. “You may go to your room for the rest of the day. You’ll need to rest up for your training session with Skydancer tomorrow.”
Stormy turned and made her way toward her room. She felt something tugging at the back of her mind, like she’d suddenly forgotten something. She couldn’t recall how she had felt before lunch. She couldn’t remember what she’d been thinking about. All she remembered was the storm she’d created and the cloud adventure with Skydancer. The tugging disappeared as quickly as it’d come, and she focused on obeying Murky’s command. Her body moved forward on autopilot. She didn’t realize it, but she’d been pulled back into his clutches and power, without the ability to think on her own once more.
Chapter 9 Defiance and Clouds
“Stormy! I need you in my lab right now!” shouted Murky up the stairwell. It was early in the morning and he had just risen from bed. He had an idea for training, and wanted Stormy to get right to work. She’d spent the past few days solely with Skydancer, working diligently with the horse. Murky didn’t mind, but he didn’t want her ignoring her training as well. He smiled at the thought that with every passing day, he was getting closer to beating Rainbow Brite. Rainbow Land would be a distant memory once he finished with it. Minutes passed, but Stormy did not make an appearance. “Stormy!” he called.
“I’m busy!” was the reply he received.
“Don’t speak to me like that! You listen when I tell you to do something!” Murky then realized that Stormy had not had her glass of gloom variant yet that morning. He quickly spun and turned to face a different direction. “Lurky! Take the girl her breakfast!” he yelled.
Being as patient as he could, Murky gave Stormy an hour to eat and have the gloom variant take effect. He then yelled for her again. “Stormy! In my lab!” He waited, but did not receive an immediate response. A few minutes later, he was about to make a trip up to her room when she finally arrived in his laboratory. “Where have you been?” he asked.
“In my room,” replied Stormy. “I was getting ready to go train Skydancer.”
“Why didn’t you come right away when I called?” asked Murky accusingly.
“I wanted to finish what I was doing first,” replied Stormy.
Murky studied her for a moment. Could she be growing immune to the gloom variant finally? he wondered to himself. It’s very possible that she’s immune to its effects. I should test her and see... I can’t have her defying me! “Come here,” commanded Murky. He knew that in years past, Stormy would automatically obey his command and be at his side in an instant.
“For what?” asked Stormy, cocking her head to the side.
Murky rubbed his chin, forcing the anger that was threatening to bubble over to cease and desist. “I see… off with you now.”
Stormy looked confused. “Why did you call me down here?”
“No reason that you need to no. Go on now!” he commanded sternly. “I’ll call you again when I need you.”
Stormy shrugged, leaving the laboratory. Murky quickly went to his bookshelf and pulled the journal off the shelf that he’d kept notes on the various gloom variants with. He flipped through the pages, looking at the last recorded variant that had been the version used on Stormy after her arrival in the Pits. It was too weak to use now, and Murky had to strengthen it without compromising any of the other elements. He didn’t want to have to deal with side effects yet again. Setting the book on the table, he gathered the necessary ingredients and set to work mixing up a new gloom variant.
Stormy made her way to Skydancer’s room, entering silently. Skydancer still stood in his favorite dark corner, but no longer ignored Stormy as he used to. He paid attention to her when he felt like it, and ignored her at other times. Stormy knew she was getting closer to proving that she could be worthy of being his rider. After she had demonstrated her powers to him, he’d begun to slowly come around. Still, he was quite stubborn and not always trusting of her. She hoped to break that someday.
After dealing with Murky, she felt like going for a ride. She’d gotten used to Skydancer and would urge him to ride on faster, until the wind whipped about all around her. It reminded her of a vicious storm, one that would whip the rain and pelt anything nearby with stinging nettles of water. She swung up onto Skydancer’s back and spurred her ankle into his side. Skydancer turned to the entrance and began a slow trot that quickly became a gallop before he broke out into a run once they’d emerged into the dark outdoors. Stormy held tightly to Skydancer’s mane, her only goal to enjoy the ride and the adrenaline rush that it provided. The duo ran off into the hills and up into the high cliffs.
Suddenly, Stormy urged Skydancer to stop in a particular spot. She had climbed to the highest point in the Pits and could see everything for miles around. There was Murky’s castle, almost blending in with the surrounding areas, save for the black smoke plume that rose from the top. Stormy turned her eyes toward the far horizon. There, the light was much brighter, much more cheerful. It was the place Murky called Rainbow Land, the place where Rainbow Brite lived. Someday, she knew she’d end up there and defeat the bright and cheerful girl. Murky said that it was her destiny to do so.
Stormy was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn’t notice Skydancer leap gracefully from the cliff. His legs pumped as he flew through the air and up into the dark sky. Thunder rumbled loudly and the air became cooler. Stormy took notice when she began to shiver. She looked down and saw the ground far below her. Blinking, she looked forward, noting that they were flying through the sky. She looked down again. The landscape seemed very far from them. Fear started to creep up on her. “Skydancer….what… how... where….” She trembled as she spoke.
Skydancer gave no notice of hearing her. Instinctively, he continued forward. Stormy watched with wide eyes as he flew straight into a cloud. She squeezed her eyes shut, feeling a soft mist on her skin before once again opening her eyes. It was dark inside. Stormy slid from Skydancer’s back and her feet sunk a little ways into the cloud before stopping. She could feel the soft rumble of thunder beneath her feet. Slowly, she walked around the cloud, taking in her surroundings. Reaching out a hand, she made to touch the surface, the fluffy-like shape of the cloud itself. Her fingers clasped around the substance and instantly she felt a low humming against her fingers, a rhythm unseen.
“Skydancer, how did you do this? How’d we get here?” she asked, full well knowing the answer, but still wondering if she was dreaming. She’d seen Skydancer fly, felt like she was on his back as they glided through the air without any wings to aid them.
Skydancer whinnied a reply and turned away from Stormy, effectively ignoring her. Undaunted and used to such treatment, Stormy made her way to the edge of the cloud cover, stepping carefully, hoping that she wouldn’t fall through. Her feet stayed on the soft ground and she looked out before her, taking in the landscape. Up here, she could see everything. It was hard to pinpoint any specific locations, but now she had a better vantage point of the area. Not only could she see the Pits, but in the distance she now could see Rainbow Land in its bright splendor. There were no grey clouds, no darkness. It was all bright and cheerful. Stormy shuddered at the thought before turning her back on the scene.
Thrusting her hand out, Stormy closed her eyes and sensed the weather around her. She could feel the strength of the storm. It was so close to her fingertips. The raw power that was within this cloud was much stronger than what she had ever felt on the Earth. There, distance between herself and the nearest storm was far and thus the strength and power she felt was much less. Now, so close to the source of the storm, the power crackled and buzzed. Tempted, she pulled more storm clouds closer, noticing how quickly they responded to her call. Up here, there was more power, more force, and a better connection to the storms she longed to create.
An idea crept into her head and she smirked at the thought. Making her way to the edge of the cloud again, she looked out, seeking the out of place brightness of Rainbow Land. She couldn’t have that at all. Placing her hand directly in front of her, fingers splayed, she commanded storm clouds to gather over Rainbow Land, to create a storm such as they’d never seen before. The wind blew around Stormy, and she concentrated on moving closer to Rainbow Land, feeling the power erupting from her fingers. She put her energy into the cloud, thunder and lightning striking below her. Skydancer galloped about, every stomp producing heavy rainfall.
Patty O’Green ran for the Color Castle, trying to escape the heavy rain that fell in buckets. Sprites had already run past her, heading for the safety and warmth of their homes. She’d been out in Green Grange with Lucky, spreading green star sprinkles over the field there. A once sunny day had quickly turned ugly, and now nothing but thick grey clouds covered the sky. Her green hair and clothing was plastered against her, and the falling rain was cold on her skin. Lucky ran beside her, keeping his arms over his head to try and keep the rain off. It wasn’t doing very good, but it was his defense mechanism.
She quickly entered the Color Castle and pushed the door shut behind her, sinking to the floor. She was exhausted from running, and cold from her wet clothing. Lucky sat beside her, breathing hard after all the running. He was dripping wet and starting to shiver. Unwillingly, she rose to her feet and took her sprite in her arms. She headed for the stairs, knowing that she could dry off and change in her room. On her way up, she met Rainbow, who was coming down. “Patty! You’re soaked! And Lucky looks so cold!” she exclaimed.
“It just started pouring suddenly,” explained Patty as she continued up the stairs. Rainbow turned and followed her. “I don’t know where it came from. It just started. One moment it was sunny, and the next it was pouring rain.”
“I wonder where it came from,” pondered Rainbow. A huge roll of thunder made both girls jump. They looked at each other and smiled nervously.
“I don’t know… Maybe Murky’s up to trouble again.”
Rainbow held open the door to Patty’s room. The two girls made their way inside. Patty sat Lucky down on a chair and went scrounging for a towel. Rainbow sat on Patty’s bed. “I don’t know. He’s been pretty quiet lately. Maybe he’s trying to cause trouble. His last visit didn’t work so well.”
Patty found a towel under a pile of clothes in her closet. She returned to Lucky and began toweling him dry. Rainbow took the towel from her and continued what she’d started. Patty went in search of another outfit. “He’s never learned that the star sprinkles will never be his,” commented Patty from somewhere deep in her closet. Moments later, she stepped out, dressed in dry clothing. “Do you think he ever will?”
“Will what?” asked Rainbow as she scratched the back of Lucky’s head. The sprite smiled and chattered happily.
“Will ever learn. Do you think he will?”
“No one knows when it comes to him,” answered Rainbow honestly. She handed the damp towel back to Patty.
“It’d be much easier if we just knew what he was doing.”
From up in the sky, Stormy smirked. The bright light she’d seen coming from Rainbow Land had quickly disappeared. Everywhere she turned now looked like the Pits. She felt satisfied with her work and sat on the cloud to watch the storm play out. She’d set the major factors in motion. She’d set up the lightning, thunder, and downpour of rain. Now all that was left to do was to watch it play out before her. Skydancer settled down and stood beside her. No words were spoken, as both horse and rider enjoyed the tumult of the storm together.
“Lurky! Find her! I need her now!” roared Murky. He’d searched the castle from top to bottom after calling endlessly for Stormy, with no luck. There was no reply to his endless calls. Sending Lurky after her might be a better idea, though he didn’t know how luck the bumbling assistant would have. At any rate, it saved him the trouble from having to do it himself.
“Okay Murky!” agreed Lurky without hesitation. He ran off and Murky knew he’d head for the stable room before anything else. He would want to look there because of Skydancer. Sometimes Murky wondered whether Lurky was growing too attached to the creature.
Lurky covered the entire area of the lair, and had no luck in his search. He scratched the top of his head. “I wonder where she is?” he asked himself. He stood near the entrance to the lair and heard the thunder and lightning just outside the door. He looked outside suddenly. “I’ve got it!” he cried happily. He walked outside and cupped a hand to his mouth. “Stormy! Stormy! Where are you?” Lurky walked along the paths around the Pits near the lair, slowly making his way around in circles. Still, he had no luck. All he could hear and see was the darkened sky splattered with lightning.
Skydancer nudged Stormy after awhile, showing his intention to leave. “Not yet, Skydancer,” replied Stormy, waving him away. Skydancer continued to nudge Stormy’s shoulder, sensing that they needed to head back. “Fine, fine,” grumbled Stormy after a few more minutes of being nudged.
Stormy rose to her feet and swung up onto Skydancer’s back. She held tightly to his mane as he jumped from the cloud. Instinct told her that she’d end up free-falling and land smashed onto the ground. Reality told her that Skydancer was able to glide smoothly toward a flat area in the Pits and land gently on all four hooves. She slid off Skydancer, blinking. Her legs felt strange, as though they weren’t used to solid ground. She stood still for a few minutes, gathering her senses and making sure that her legs wouldn’t buckle underneath her. She looked at her surroundings as she waited, and groaned at the sight she saw.
“There you are! Murky wants ta see ya!” called Lurky cheerfully. He tried his best to run toward her, but his loose shoelaces tripped him up. Lurky fell forward and landed heavily on the unforgiving ground. However, he acted as though the fall didn’t phase him, quickly rising to his feet once more.
“I’ll be in,” replied Stormy, as she climbed onto Skydancer’s back once more. She wondered what Murky was up to this time.
Stormy soon found out Murky’s intentions. She made her way to his laboratory, following the sounds of angry shouts and the smell of some sort of food. She entered to see a table set in the corner, Murky in another. He was scribbling something into one of his books and Stormy could see part of a grin that seemed to cover his face. He appeared to be pretty happy about something. “You wanted me?”
Murky hopped off his stool and turned to face her. “Yes, I did. I wanted to check up on your training with Skydancer. Lunch seemed the best time to do so. Have a seat.” Murky gestured to the nearest chair. Stormy looked at him. He was being nice…too nice. She ignored the feeling in her gut and instead sat down. A light lunch covered the table – bread, some sort of purplish berries, and small chunks of meat in a broth. At her place was a glass of the all too familiar juice. “Go ahead and eat,” he encouraged, picking up some of the berries and tossing them into his mouth.
Stormy reached for the glass of juice, feeling a bit parched. As she raised the glass to her lips, the smell wafted to her noise. It was stronger than it had been before. Tentatively, she took a sip, tasting it. It was more bitter on her tongue, more sour. She made a face and sat the glass down. “This is disgusting,” she remarked.
“It’s a…different sort of berry. A bit more bitter than you’re used to, but it’s all I could find,” lied Murky. “You need the vitamins from it.” Truthfully, he had no way to completely mask the bitter taste once he had increased the potency of the gloom variant. It had been the only thing that had hypothesized would have no side effects. It was merely a stronger combination of the previous variant.
The meal continued in silence, but Stormy obeyed Murky’s command and continued to slowly drain the glass of juice. Murky kept one eye on her behavior as he ate, noticing that she drank more juice with each time she picked up the glass. He watched as she cleared her plate and then sat silently. A half hour had passed, enough time for the variant to have entered her bloodstream and begin to take effect. It was time to test this new variant and see exactly how much control he now had over the girl. “Stormy, get me that book off my lab table,” he commanded.
Wordlessly, Stormy slid from her chair and retrieved the book from the lab table, bringing it right back to Murky. She set it on the table in front of him and stood, waiting for further orders. “Ah, good!” he exclaimed. “You may go to your room for the rest of the day. You’ll need to rest up for your training session with Skydancer tomorrow.”
Stormy turned and made her way toward her room. She felt something tugging at the back of her mind, like she’d suddenly forgotten something. She couldn’t recall how she had felt before lunch. She couldn’t remember what she’d been thinking about. All she remembered was the storm she’d created and the cloud adventure with Skydancer. The tugging disappeared as quickly as it’d come, and she focused on obeying Murky’s command. Her body moved forward on autopilot. She didn’t realize it, but she’d been pulled back into his clutches and power, without the ability to think on her own once more.
"If you're obsessed with your yesterday then you're destined to repeat it." - Ariel of Icon for Hire
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Chibi Rachy
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Re: Lost Storms/Chapter 10
I'm feeling pretty generous, and so I've decided to post this chapter early. I don't have chapter 11 done yet, but I'm working on it. I've been so inspired lately with my writing, and very pleased overall with the works that have come of it. So in my own self-celebration of that, I give you the next chapter. From here on out, things are gonna get interesting!
Chapter 10 Glimpse
Stormy relaxed in a chair as she listened to Murky’s lecture for the day. Small as ever, she looked bright and eager to listen, but it was merely the gloom variant from that morning that was acting as the control. Time had passed, but as before, she remained as small as ever. Without realizing it, she had aged to just beyond her eighteenth year, and had spent more than 12 years with Murky Dismal. Memories of her life before living with Murky had faded away, and she was left with a large blank in her memory. She could no longer recall her mother or the home she had grown up in. Everything consisted of Murky and his teachings.
Today was another lecture on color and the positive effects of plunging Rainbow Land into darkness. This Rainbow Brite sure seemed like she knew it all. What was so good about color anyway? No one needed color to survive. Color wasn’t needed to be happy. Why did people need to be happy anyway? Stormy scoffed. No one needed color that much.
“…And because you’ve done so well, we’re going to focus on Rainbow some more,” began Murky. “Tomorrow I’m taking you to Rainbow Land. You’re going to spy on Rainbow with me and report back with what you see.”
Stormy swung her legs back and forth. “Okay,” she answered.
“It’s time that you began your battle. I’ve taught you everything you need to know about color and that brat. Now we prepare to take action.”
Stormy sat up straighter in her chair at the mention of Rainbow. “What do I do?” she asked.
“You’ll go with me to Rainbow Land tomorrow. I want you to begin spying on Rainbow Brite and her friends. I want to see what you can find out.”
“What if they find me?” asked Stormy.
“You’ll pretend to be friendly and make peace. Gain Rainbow’s trust and you’ll be fine. Just don’t mention me. That could cause trouble.” Murky rubbed at his chin, appearing deep in thought.
“What about Skydancer?” asked Stormy.
“Skydancer will stay here. You’ll use him later. For now, your only concern is spying on that Rainbow brat and her friends,” stated Murky, clenching a fist in front of him. Stormy didn’t know what he could be picturing in his mind, but it apparently made him quite happy. “I want you to go to your room and rest up for the rest of the day. You’ll come out tomorrow when I call for you.”
Automatically, Stormy’s legs moved and she slid from the chair she sat on. Robotically, they began walking and Stormy had no say in the matter at all. She was used to this, and it didn’t seem strange at all that her limbs would move without ever being told to. Closing her door, she walked to the lone table and chair in her room. Upon it sat a book, one that Murky had taught her to read. It dealt with the explanation of gloomy theory and why colors had to be dispelled. Murky had written it himself after years of study and research. With the book, Stormy understood more thoroughly why color had to be destroyed. Rainbow Land was not meant to be such a happy, cheerful place. The entire world should be plunged into darkness, just as it had been before. Darkness exemplified her storms and powers. When was the last time that anyone saw a thunderstorm with plenty of colors? Never.
Smirking, Stormy thought of her unique power, the ability she had now to control the stormy weather she felt she had been named after. Not only could she manipulate the weather to strike down any target she deemed an enemy, but she could also ride the clouds with Skydancer, drawing from the power source directly, instead of at a distance. Skydancer aided her as her means of transportation and extra pull in the storm. Through training him, she had discovered that he could help affect the storm by galloping about, which could cause rain or lightning to spill forth from the cloud, depending on his mood. As rider and horse, they had formed a bond slowly and were inseparable. Stormy didn’t want to leave Skydancer behind tomorrow, but Murky’s orders were to be followed, without question. Even as the thought crossed her mind, she instinctively thought that Skydancer didn’t belong on the trip.
The next day, Stormy was summoned from her room after breakfast. Lurky cleared away the dishes while Murky grabbed a gloom gun, one of his favorite inventions. He slung the strap around his neck and looked at the girl before him, smirking. Yes, his plan was finally beginning to take effect. It had taken many seasons, but he had finally trained the sniveling, crying brat with the uncontrollable powers to become a power machine, capable of creating large destructive storms and obeying his every command. It all seemed too good to be true and he was going to test Stormy today to make sure that he wasn’t making a mistake. The girl would help him spy on Rainbow and then eventually attack. He felt confident that Stormy would take to this new mission well. After all, she’d picked up on his gloom theory quickly enough. Now she followed his beliefs, but how closely was the question. He would soon find out.
He led Stormy outside where Lurky had parked the grunge buggy. The engine sputtered as he climbed onto the back behind Lurky while Stormy got into the trash container that served as the passenger sidecar. “Let’s go, banana brain and make sure you aren’t seen by anyone!” commanded Murky.
“Right away, Murky!” called Lurky happily as he turned the grunge buggy toward the path that lead directly out of the Pits.
Stormy watched all of this silently. She was finally going to leave the Pits and see just what Rainbow Land looked like for the very first time. The only glimpse she’d had of it was from a cloud, right before she’d conjured up a storm that turned Rainbow Land as dark as the Pits. Deep down, she was excited for this trip. She had heard plenty about Rainbow Land from Murky, but she wanted to see it for herself. Now, she would be able to. It was time to get to know the land where Rainbow Brite lived before it became dark once more.
The grunge buggy bounced and banged over the rocky pathway, partly because of the unpaved road and partly because of Lurky’s tendency to prefer to speed along as fast as he could go. Murky grinned to himself, but quickly frowned as they crested the hill that crossed over into Rainbow Land. Darkness became light. Greys become colors spread across the land. Nothing was left untouched by color. It made Murky sick to his stomach to see. He shielded his eyes from the onslaught of light as best he could while holding on. “Ack! I hate all these colors! Why does it have to be so bright?”
Stormy squinted and then covered her eyes as well. She wasn’t used to such bright light. The Pits was always dark and stormy, and any light inside Murky’s lair was kept dim. She had never been under natural sunlight, not that she could remember. She slowly opened her eyes, trying to adjust to the new brightness. Her eyes watered as she adapted to this process, and she didn’t think she could stand such bright light. Eventually, her eyes became somewhat accustomed and she took in her surroundings. She couldn’t recall seeing anything like this. “What are these things?” asked Stormy, pointing.
“Those are trees!” exclaimed Lurky. He began pointing out various plants and animals. “Those are flowers. And that’s a bee. Ohhh and there’s a butterfly! There’s a bush over there, too!”
“Quiet you fool! We don’t want anyone to hear us!” yelled Murky as he bopped Lurky on the back of his head.
Lurky rubbed the sore spot before apologizing. “I’m sorry, Murky.”
“Now, hide the grunge buggy behind those bushes over there,” instructed Murky, pointing out the desired spot to Lurky.
“Gotcha, boss,” replied Lurky as he quickly jerked the steering wheel, making the grunge buggy turn sharply to the right. It lifted off the ground before settling into place.
Stormy sat in the passenger seat for a moment, letting her stomach settle from the crazy ride. Once she felt like her stomach wasn’t being tossed about, she climbed out of the bucket and stood beside Murky. In childlike wonder, Stormy glanced at the newness of her surroundings, trying to take in as much as she could. Murky glanced down at her. “Don’t you get too excited. We won’t be here long. Follow my lead. Lurky, guard the grunge buggy.”
Stormy instantly snapped to attention. “Yes,” she replied.
Murky began tip-toeing through the bushes, avoiding clearings and any bushes that wouldn’t hide him and Stormy adequately. Stormy was alert, keeping both eyes and ears open while taking in the scenery. They were coming upon some sort of strange place. A large castle stood at the center, while little hills surrounded it. Furry things, like colorful baby Lurky’s, were rushing back and forth, chattering in a language that Stormy couldn’t understand. They ran into the hill-like things, and Stormy realized that these must be their homes.
“Those are the sprites,” whispered Lurky as he pointed them out. They come in all colors of the rainbow. That castle up ahead is the Color Castle. It’s where Rainbow and the Color Kids live. Those things near the castle are where the sprites live.” Murky’s finger pointed in the distance to an area with a track connected to it. “That place is the Color Mines. That’s where the sprites work and get the color crystals that bring color to the world, as well as power Rainbow’s Color Belt.”
Stormy nodded, letting the new information sink in. She would need to know the landscape for later. The layout was very simple so far. She wondered what they would do today. Murky had said they were spying, but what did that mean? Would she see Rainbow Brite today?
“Today, you will watch the sprites and Color Kids in action in the Color Mines,” said Murky, answering her question without knowing. “I have a special spot in there to hide where we can see everything. Let’s go. Stay close and don’t let yourself be seen.” Murky continued sticking to the underbrush, making slow progress. Stormy followed, guided by the necessary urge to do as told.
The pair took a long route, making their way around to the back of the Color Mines. It was a slow trip, but one that kept them hidden from any watchful eyes. Murky showed Stormy a small entrance about halfway up the mountain. It was too small to walk in, and the two had to crawl on hands and knees for a few minutes before the tunnel widened into a large open cavern. There was nothing back this far in the Color Mines, but Stormy could hear the echoing of both voices and picks as the sprites worked the crystal free from the rock. She could barely see in the darkness, but found that her time spent in both the Pits and the caverns aided her vision. Murky led the way once more, taking them as close to the main area of the mine as he could get. A large boulder obstructed any good view and Stormy wondered how they would be able to see anything.
Her confusion was answered when Murky quietly opened a door on the boulder. Stormy realized that it was a hollow boulder, with room inside to hide without being seen. He gestured for Stormy to enter and closed the door behind him as he followed her inside. There were two small holes, large enough to place an eye up to. The boulder was situated in a darker corner of the main area, so they wouldn’t be so easily caught. Murky whispered softly, almost so quietly that Stormy didn’t hear him. “Watch and learn all you can. Don’t say a word.” With that, he said no more, but focused his attention on the hole directly in front of him. Stormy copied him and leaned up on tip-toe to get a good look.
The Color Mines was a very active place on this day, but it was really no different than any other day. Indigo and Canary Yellow were supervising the sprites today. The rest of the Color Kids were inside the Color Castle. Shy Violet had made some modifications to the Color Console and the rest of the Kids were helping to test it out. Rainbow Brite had gone off to an undisclosed location in Rainbow Land, but had promised to return soon. With all this information in mind, Indigo and Canary Yellow watched and waited for her return.
Sprites happily mined the color crystals from within the rock. The room glowed in rainbow colors, a dazzling display to behold. Sprites chattered back and forth as they mined with their picks. Some of them sang in rounds, while Indigo and Canary Yellow chattered amongst themselves. There wasn’t too much to do when one supervised. They offered help when it was necessary, but the sprites mostly liked to take care of the work themselves. The most either girl had had to do on this day was move the heavy color crystal baskets to a table just outside the Color Mines. There, a group of sprites worked to break the crystal to release the star sprinkles within.
“…a play about the sprites. I want it to be about the ones who mine color crystal,” explained Indigo, trying to describe her newest idea for a play. “Each of us could play a sprite, or the sprites could perform it.”
Canary Yellow clapped her hands. “I like it! Would we play a sprite of our color?”
“It doesn’t matter,” replied Indigo. “I think it’ll be about one sprite finding a special color crystal that shows all the colors in it. And it does something special for Rainbow, but I’m not sure what.”
Rubbing a hand against her chin, Canary Yellow tried hard to think of an idea to continue Indigo’s plot. She struggled, knowing she was better at doing choreography for Indigo’s musical plays, rather than come up with ideas. She tried her best anyway. “Maybe it keeps Murky’s gloom away from the person who wears it?”
Indigo considered the idea. “I like it. I think I could fix it up some and make it fit really well in my play. Thanks a lot!” she replied happily, clasping her hands together.
Canary Yellow smiled back at her. “Will you need my help with anything?”
“I don’t have any songs or dances for this one, but I know you could be a sprite. If you didn’t want to perform, you could help with other things, like the props or scenery,” suggested Indigo.
Before Canary Yellow could utter a response, a green sprite ran up to the two of them and chattered in sprite speak. He pointed and gestured to a color crystal basket full of blue color crystals. Other sprites stood by the cart.
“Of course we can help you,” answered Indigo.
Both Indigo and Canary Yellow walked over to the basket. They placed their hands on either side of the basket while two sprites took up a position in front and in back of the basket. “This is heavier than the last basket,” commented Indigo. “Did you put more crystal in it this time?” The sprite in front shook his head in reply. The basket was quickly delivered to the table where a red sprite took over. Canary Yellow and Indigo walked back into the Color Mines and resumed their conversation about the play while the sprites continued to work, sing, and chatter.
Stormy watched all of this from her secret perch, watching each scene. The first thing she noticed was the happiness that radiated from everyone. She couldn’t see any sadness among anyone. The amount and brilliance of the color in the room appalled her and she felt disgusting having to stand and constantly view it. She had no idea who the two girls were; for all she knew, one of them could be Rainbow Brite. Their conversation hadn’t given any clues. Stormy had no idea what a “play” was, but she thought it was something she wouldn’t enjoy.
Only when a noise directed everyone’s attention away from their work and the mine fell silent did Stormy realize that she’d been lost in thought. She quickly placed her eye back to the peep hole, noticing another girl enter the Color Mines. This girl wore a blue dress, accented with color on the sleeves and tops of her boots. She wore her yellow hair high on her head, held in place with a ribbon. Around her waist was a belt with a rainbow and star.
“Hi, Rainbow,” called the girl with the short hair. “How was your trip?”
“It was wonderful, Canary Yellow. We made sure the roses were brightened with plenty of color. They’ll have no trouble growing now.” Rainbow smiled and the girls smiled back at her. Sprites gathered around her to chatter away in a language Stormy did not understand.
Stormy watched the interactions between the girl who had been identified as Rainbow. Everyone looked up to her. She was the boss here. From her colorful outfit to her infectious smile, Stormy didn’t think there was anything about Rainbow that was sad or gloomy. It sickened her. The sooner she stripped Rainbow of her powers, the sooner the land would no longer be bright and colorful. She wanted to see the dark landscape and create the storms that would rumble day and night. She wanted to see Rainbow Brite in the middle of it all, begging for her color back. I can take her down and get rid of her. She’ll be no trouble. Who will they look up to when their Rainbow Brite is no longer able to save them?
Chapter 10 Glimpse
Stormy relaxed in a chair as she listened to Murky’s lecture for the day. Small as ever, she looked bright and eager to listen, but it was merely the gloom variant from that morning that was acting as the control. Time had passed, but as before, she remained as small as ever. Without realizing it, she had aged to just beyond her eighteenth year, and had spent more than 12 years with Murky Dismal. Memories of her life before living with Murky had faded away, and she was left with a large blank in her memory. She could no longer recall her mother or the home she had grown up in. Everything consisted of Murky and his teachings.
Today was another lecture on color and the positive effects of plunging Rainbow Land into darkness. This Rainbow Brite sure seemed like she knew it all. What was so good about color anyway? No one needed color to survive. Color wasn’t needed to be happy. Why did people need to be happy anyway? Stormy scoffed. No one needed color that much.
“…And because you’ve done so well, we’re going to focus on Rainbow some more,” began Murky. “Tomorrow I’m taking you to Rainbow Land. You’re going to spy on Rainbow with me and report back with what you see.”
Stormy swung her legs back and forth. “Okay,” she answered.
“It’s time that you began your battle. I’ve taught you everything you need to know about color and that brat. Now we prepare to take action.”
Stormy sat up straighter in her chair at the mention of Rainbow. “What do I do?” she asked.
“You’ll go with me to Rainbow Land tomorrow. I want you to begin spying on Rainbow Brite and her friends. I want to see what you can find out.”
“What if they find me?” asked Stormy.
“You’ll pretend to be friendly and make peace. Gain Rainbow’s trust and you’ll be fine. Just don’t mention me. That could cause trouble.” Murky rubbed at his chin, appearing deep in thought.
“What about Skydancer?” asked Stormy.
“Skydancer will stay here. You’ll use him later. For now, your only concern is spying on that Rainbow brat and her friends,” stated Murky, clenching a fist in front of him. Stormy didn’t know what he could be picturing in his mind, but it apparently made him quite happy. “I want you to go to your room and rest up for the rest of the day. You’ll come out tomorrow when I call for you.”
Automatically, Stormy’s legs moved and she slid from the chair she sat on. Robotically, they began walking and Stormy had no say in the matter at all. She was used to this, and it didn’t seem strange at all that her limbs would move without ever being told to. Closing her door, she walked to the lone table and chair in her room. Upon it sat a book, one that Murky had taught her to read. It dealt with the explanation of gloomy theory and why colors had to be dispelled. Murky had written it himself after years of study and research. With the book, Stormy understood more thoroughly why color had to be destroyed. Rainbow Land was not meant to be such a happy, cheerful place. The entire world should be plunged into darkness, just as it had been before. Darkness exemplified her storms and powers. When was the last time that anyone saw a thunderstorm with plenty of colors? Never.
Smirking, Stormy thought of her unique power, the ability she had now to control the stormy weather she felt she had been named after. Not only could she manipulate the weather to strike down any target she deemed an enemy, but she could also ride the clouds with Skydancer, drawing from the power source directly, instead of at a distance. Skydancer aided her as her means of transportation and extra pull in the storm. Through training him, she had discovered that he could help affect the storm by galloping about, which could cause rain or lightning to spill forth from the cloud, depending on his mood. As rider and horse, they had formed a bond slowly and were inseparable. Stormy didn’t want to leave Skydancer behind tomorrow, but Murky’s orders were to be followed, without question. Even as the thought crossed her mind, she instinctively thought that Skydancer didn’t belong on the trip.
The next day, Stormy was summoned from her room after breakfast. Lurky cleared away the dishes while Murky grabbed a gloom gun, one of his favorite inventions. He slung the strap around his neck and looked at the girl before him, smirking. Yes, his plan was finally beginning to take effect. It had taken many seasons, but he had finally trained the sniveling, crying brat with the uncontrollable powers to become a power machine, capable of creating large destructive storms and obeying his every command. It all seemed too good to be true and he was going to test Stormy today to make sure that he wasn’t making a mistake. The girl would help him spy on Rainbow and then eventually attack. He felt confident that Stormy would take to this new mission well. After all, she’d picked up on his gloom theory quickly enough. Now she followed his beliefs, but how closely was the question. He would soon find out.
He led Stormy outside where Lurky had parked the grunge buggy. The engine sputtered as he climbed onto the back behind Lurky while Stormy got into the trash container that served as the passenger sidecar. “Let’s go, banana brain and make sure you aren’t seen by anyone!” commanded Murky.
“Right away, Murky!” called Lurky happily as he turned the grunge buggy toward the path that lead directly out of the Pits.
Stormy watched all of this silently. She was finally going to leave the Pits and see just what Rainbow Land looked like for the very first time. The only glimpse she’d had of it was from a cloud, right before she’d conjured up a storm that turned Rainbow Land as dark as the Pits. Deep down, she was excited for this trip. She had heard plenty about Rainbow Land from Murky, but she wanted to see it for herself. Now, she would be able to. It was time to get to know the land where Rainbow Brite lived before it became dark once more.
The grunge buggy bounced and banged over the rocky pathway, partly because of the unpaved road and partly because of Lurky’s tendency to prefer to speed along as fast as he could go. Murky grinned to himself, but quickly frowned as they crested the hill that crossed over into Rainbow Land. Darkness became light. Greys become colors spread across the land. Nothing was left untouched by color. It made Murky sick to his stomach to see. He shielded his eyes from the onslaught of light as best he could while holding on. “Ack! I hate all these colors! Why does it have to be so bright?”
Stormy squinted and then covered her eyes as well. She wasn’t used to such bright light. The Pits was always dark and stormy, and any light inside Murky’s lair was kept dim. She had never been under natural sunlight, not that she could remember. She slowly opened her eyes, trying to adjust to the new brightness. Her eyes watered as she adapted to this process, and she didn’t think she could stand such bright light. Eventually, her eyes became somewhat accustomed and she took in her surroundings. She couldn’t recall seeing anything like this. “What are these things?” asked Stormy, pointing.
“Those are trees!” exclaimed Lurky. He began pointing out various plants and animals. “Those are flowers. And that’s a bee. Ohhh and there’s a butterfly! There’s a bush over there, too!”
“Quiet you fool! We don’t want anyone to hear us!” yelled Murky as he bopped Lurky on the back of his head.
Lurky rubbed the sore spot before apologizing. “I’m sorry, Murky.”
“Now, hide the grunge buggy behind those bushes over there,” instructed Murky, pointing out the desired spot to Lurky.
“Gotcha, boss,” replied Lurky as he quickly jerked the steering wheel, making the grunge buggy turn sharply to the right. It lifted off the ground before settling into place.
Stormy sat in the passenger seat for a moment, letting her stomach settle from the crazy ride. Once she felt like her stomach wasn’t being tossed about, she climbed out of the bucket and stood beside Murky. In childlike wonder, Stormy glanced at the newness of her surroundings, trying to take in as much as she could. Murky glanced down at her. “Don’t you get too excited. We won’t be here long. Follow my lead. Lurky, guard the grunge buggy.”
Stormy instantly snapped to attention. “Yes,” she replied.
Murky began tip-toeing through the bushes, avoiding clearings and any bushes that wouldn’t hide him and Stormy adequately. Stormy was alert, keeping both eyes and ears open while taking in the scenery. They were coming upon some sort of strange place. A large castle stood at the center, while little hills surrounded it. Furry things, like colorful baby Lurky’s, were rushing back and forth, chattering in a language that Stormy couldn’t understand. They ran into the hill-like things, and Stormy realized that these must be their homes.
“Those are the sprites,” whispered Lurky as he pointed them out. They come in all colors of the rainbow. That castle up ahead is the Color Castle. It’s where Rainbow and the Color Kids live. Those things near the castle are where the sprites live.” Murky’s finger pointed in the distance to an area with a track connected to it. “That place is the Color Mines. That’s where the sprites work and get the color crystals that bring color to the world, as well as power Rainbow’s Color Belt.”
Stormy nodded, letting the new information sink in. She would need to know the landscape for later. The layout was very simple so far. She wondered what they would do today. Murky had said they were spying, but what did that mean? Would she see Rainbow Brite today?
“Today, you will watch the sprites and Color Kids in action in the Color Mines,” said Murky, answering her question without knowing. “I have a special spot in there to hide where we can see everything. Let’s go. Stay close and don’t let yourself be seen.” Murky continued sticking to the underbrush, making slow progress. Stormy followed, guided by the necessary urge to do as told.
The pair took a long route, making their way around to the back of the Color Mines. It was a slow trip, but one that kept them hidden from any watchful eyes. Murky showed Stormy a small entrance about halfway up the mountain. It was too small to walk in, and the two had to crawl on hands and knees for a few minutes before the tunnel widened into a large open cavern. There was nothing back this far in the Color Mines, but Stormy could hear the echoing of both voices and picks as the sprites worked the crystal free from the rock. She could barely see in the darkness, but found that her time spent in both the Pits and the caverns aided her vision. Murky led the way once more, taking them as close to the main area of the mine as he could get. A large boulder obstructed any good view and Stormy wondered how they would be able to see anything.
Her confusion was answered when Murky quietly opened a door on the boulder. Stormy realized that it was a hollow boulder, with room inside to hide without being seen. He gestured for Stormy to enter and closed the door behind him as he followed her inside. There were two small holes, large enough to place an eye up to. The boulder was situated in a darker corner of the main area, so they wouldn’t be so easily caught. Murky whispered softly, almost so quietly that Stormy didn’t hear him. “Watch and learn all you can. Don’t say a word.” With that, he said no more, but focused his attention on the hole directly in front of him. Stormy copied him and leaned up on tip-toe to get a good look.
The Color Mines was a very active place on this day, but it was really no different than any other day. Indigo and Canary Yellow were supervising the sprites today. The rest of the Color Kids were inside the Color Castle. Shy Violet had made some modifications to the Color Console and the rest of the Kids were helping to test it out. Rainbow Brite had gone off to an undisclosed location in Rainbow Land, but had promised to return soon. With all this information in mind, Indigo and Canary Yellow watched and waited for her return.
Sprites happily mined the color crystals from within the rock. The room glowed in rainbow colors, a dazzling display to behold. Sprites chattered back and forth as they mined with their picks. Some of them sang in rounds, while Indigo and Canary Yellow chattered amongst themselves. There wasn’t too much to do when one supervised. They offered help when it was necessary, but the sprites mostly liked to take care of the work themselves. The most either girl had had to do on this day was move the heavy color crystal baskets to a table just outside the Color Mines. There, a group of sprites worked to break the crystal to release the star sprinkles within.
“…a play about the sprites. I want it to be about the ones who mine color crystal,” explained Indigo, trying to describe her newest idea for a play. “Each of us could play a sprite, or the sprites could perform it.”
Canary Yellow clapped her hands. “I like it! Would we play a sprite of our color?”
“It doesn’t matter,” replied Indigo. “I think it’ll be about one sprite finding a special color crystal that shows all the colors in it. And it does something special for Rainbow, but I’m not sure what.”
Rubbing a hand against her chin, Canary Yellow tried hard to think of an idea to continue Indigo’s plot. She struggled, knowing she was better at doing choreography for Indigo’s musical plays, rather than come up with ideas. She tried her best anyway. “Maybe it keeps Murky’s gloom away from the person who wears it?”
Indigo considered the idea. “I like it. I think I could fix it up some and make it fit really well in my play. Thanks a lot!” she replied happily, clasping her hands together.
Canary Yellow smiled back at her. “Will you need my help with anything?”
“I don’t have any songs or dances for this one, but I know you could be a sprite. If you didn’t want to perform, you could help with other things, like the props or scenery,” suggested Indigo.
Before Canary Yellow could utter a response, a green sprite ran up to the two of them and chattered in sprite speak. He pointed and gestured to a color crystal basket full of blue color crystals. Other sprites stood by the cart.
“Of course we can help you,” answered Indigo.
Both Indigo and Canary Yellow walked over to the basket. They placed their hands on either side of the basket while two sprites took up a position in front and in back of the basket. “This is heavier than the last basket,” commented Indigo. “Did you put more crystal in it this time?” The sprite in front shook his head in reply. The basket was quickly delivered to the table where a red sprite took over. Canary Yellow and Indigo walked back into the Color Mines and resumed their conversation about the play while the sprites continued to work, sing, and chatter.
Stormy watched all of this from her secret perch, watching each scene. The first thing she noticed was the happiness that radiated from everyone. She couldn’t see any sadness among anyone. The amount and brilliance of the color in the room appalled her and she felt disgusting having to stand and constantly view it. She had no idea who the two girls were; for all she knew, one of them could be Rainbow Brite. Their conversation hadn’t given any clues. Stormy had no idea what a “play” was, but she thought it was something she wouldn’t enjoy.
Only when a noise directed everyone’s attention away from their work and the mine fell silent did Stormy realize that she’d been lost in thought. She quickly placed her eye back to the peep hole, noticing another girl enter the Color Mines. This girl wore a blue dress, accented with color on the sleeves and tops of her boots. She wore her yellow hair high on her head, held in place with a ribbon. Around her waist was a belt with a rainbow and star.
“Hi, Rainbow,” called the girl with the short hair. “How was your trip?”
“It was wonderful, Canary Yellow. We made sure the roses were brightened with plenty of color. They’ll have no trouble growing now.” Rainbow smiled and the girls smiled back at her. Sprites gathered around her to chatter away in a language Stormy did not understand.
Stormy watched the interactions between the girl who had been identified as Rainbow. Everyone looked up to her. She was the boss here. From her colorful outfit to her infectious smile, Stormy didn’t think there was anything about Rainbow that was sad or gloomy. It sickened her. The sooner she stripped Rainbow of her powers, the sooner the land would no longer be bright and colorful. She wanted to see the dark landscape and create the storms that would rumble day and night. She wanted to see Rainbow Brite in the middle of it all, begging for her color back. I can take her down and get rid of her. She’ll be no trouble. Who will they look up to when their Rainbow Brite is no longer able to save them?
"If you're obsessed with your yesterday then you're destined to repeat it." - Ariel of Icon for Hire
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Chibi Rachy
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Re: Lost Storms/Chapter 11
I posted chapter 9 on fanfiction.net, so I figured I'd also post the next chapter in line here, which would be chapter 11. I rather like this chapter, and you'll find out why. I'm about halfway through chapter 12 at this point, and chapter 12 has to be finished before I can work on Dangerous Duplicate or anything else. I still want to do another Thunder and Stars short story, but I digress. Before I forgot, I'm still looking for tasks for Murky to give Stormy in terms of attacking Rainbow. From small to big, I'll take whatever ideas you give. Like I said in the ideas thread, I already have the idea for the "final" attack. I just need some to lead up to that. This story is certainly going to be longer than Shadow of a Rainbow so I hope those of you who are reading will stick around I'm very pleased to see that this story has recieved over 200 views so far! Happy reading!
Chapter 11 New Look
It was a few days later when Stormy got the chance she desired to take on Rainbow Brite. Murky had allowed her to train for the coming attacks. It had been his only instructions, but it was also the only thing Stormy felt driven to do. She didn’t want to fool with anything else or listen to any more of Murky’s lectures at the moment. Zapping rocks with lightning was a more pleasing way to pass the time. She had decided to work with Skydancer later as well. Even though Murky had told her there were no immediate plans for using him, she wanted to be ready. She had to be ready for when that time came.
“Stormy!” called Murky’s voice from somewhere behind her.
Stormy turned, letting a lightning bolt go astray. It ended up hiding the side of one of the cliffs, and knocking rock loose. A small avalanche started, piles of rocks sliding down the sides of the cliff before settling in a pile of dust at the very bottom. “Coming!” she replied, angry that she’d slipped up because he’d interfered with her concentration. She made her way to Murky, who stood just outside the entrance to his lair. He had to ruin a good thing.
Murky smirked at her when she stopped in front of him. “It’s time for you to help me with Rainbow Brite. You’re going on a mission with me. It’ll be simple, but I want to see your potential. I’ll be your backup.”
“What are we doing?” asked Stormy. It wasn’t anything big. He only wanted to test her in action. She knew she was capable of much more…she had to be. It’s why she was helping Murky, wasn’t it?
“You’re going to steal some color crystals for me. I need more any way. My supply is almost gone. I’ll be a distraction in case you fail,” Murky explained bluntly. He wasn’t up to sugar coating anything.
Stormy felt anger building up inside of her, but quickly pushed it down. She wasn’t going to fail. She would prove to Murky that she could complete his task and collect these color crystals that he wanted. She then realized her problem – she had no idea what a color crystal was. This same realization seemed to dawn on Murky. “I’ll need to show you some color crystals,” he said. Stormy felt relieved inside. She didn’t have to ask about them. “Follow me,” he instructed.
Murky led Stormy back inside his lair and up the stairs, beyond her room. He took her to a place she’d never been before. It had to be one of his personal storage rooms. She had known about them, but had been instructed to not to go to places he did not ask her to. She followed his command, and found it suddenly strange that she’d never wanted to explore any of these rooms. They walked through the piles of stacked objects. Stormy covered her nose as they passed one peculiar box that reeked.
“Here they are!” he called happily. He pointed to a large set of boxes. Stormy looked inside the one box that he pointed to. Small pieces of shiny rock barely covered the bottom.
Stormy blinked, wondering what purpose these rocks could serve besides just looking pretty. “What are they for?” she asked.
“These are what Rainbow uses to power that dreaded Color Belt of hers. It’s where her rainbow power comes from. I can use these in my gloom potions and to trick those Color brats. They’re very handy. I need more. The colors don’t matter of course, but blue is always good to have, as is green.”
“Do you want every color?”
“Of course! I have many uses for them. I need more and don’t have time to take care of it myself. That’s why you’re going to do it for me. It should be simple enough for you. Understood?”
Stormy nodded. “Got it,” she replied.
“Good. I don’t need you messing up now. I’ve spent so much time making sure you were ready to take on Rainbow,” remarked Murky as he turned around and headed back toward the door.
Stormy again followed Murky through the piles of boxes and random things he’d tossed about in the room. She glanced around, knowing that she wouldn’t enter this room again without his permission. Her eyes settled on a box nearest the door. She glanced inside as they passed it. There was an emerald dress, and a pair of thick leather boots. She felt drawn to them somehow, not knowing why. She reached out a hand to touch the fabric of the dress, but it was smacked away by Murky. “I didn’t tell you to touch that!” he yelled angrily.
Pulling her hand back quickly, Stormy rubbed the spot he’d smacked. She had no idea why the box was so important or why Murky didn’t want her touching it. What she couldn’t shake is why she felt drawn to the items in the first place. Before she could consider it any further, Murky pulled her from the room, shutting and locking the door behind him. He looked her in the eye. “You are to never enter this room unless I’m with you. Now rest up for tomorrow. I’ll see you then.” Murky turned and headed back for the stairs, descending back down to his laboratory.
Why? she wondered as she watched him disappear. It didn’t make sense. She wanted to know why she had wanted to touch the clothing. Why did Murky have such colorful clothing to begin with? He never wore it. She looked down at her own clothing. It was the same shades as his and certainly not colorful. She’d worn the same plain grey dress and slip-on black shoes for as long as she could remember. Murky had always replaced the outfit when it would wear out, but it was never any different. Always the same, never changing, always colorless.
Meanwhile, Murky paced back and forth in his laboratory. He knew that Stormy would stay away from the room without going near it now that he’d given the instructions. He feared the questions that could come of it. He wasn’t sure if she remembered the outfit or remembered how she came to the Pits, and he didn’t want her finding out. It’d be so easy to command her never to ask questions about it, but that worried him. Would she pick up on the gloom variant? How she could never do something after Murky gave her the command? He didn’t need a mutiny on his hands. No, he’d distract her mind. Without access to the room, Stormy would forget what she’d seen. If he gave her something new, she might very well forget she’d even seen the darned outfit! Why had he kept it so near the door? Why had he kept it at all? It should have been tossed out with the trash. Instead, it had been shoved in that room, collecting dust all these years.
He snapped his fingers, suddenly realizing what he could do. He’d make Stormy a new outfit. He rubbed his chin. It had to be for a purpose though, not just thrown out there. She might become suspicious. Of course, he realized, the reason is so easy. He was sending her to begin attacking Rainbow Brite. She shouldn’t look shabby and shoddy. He’d create an outfit befitting to the cause, one that would rival Rainbow’s. Where Rainbow’s shown brightly with colors, Stormy’s would use sharp greys. Instead of a rainbow for a symbol, Stormy would have the lightning bolt, which not only symbolized her power, but also linked her to Murky.
In what could only be called a fatherly effort by a stretch of the imagination, Murky worked on the new outfit throughout the night and much of the next morning. He holed up in his laboratory, even keeping Lurky away under orders to keep an eye on the girl and make sure she trains. Murky had no doubt that Stormy would follow his command from yesterday, so Lurky was merely being kept at bay. He didn’t need that bumbling oaf stumbling over fabric or pulling out stitching.
After he finished the outfit, he chose to sleep for a few hours and catch up on sleep. By late afternoon, he felt more like himself and was ready for the next step in his plan. He called for Lurky to come to his laboratory. The outfit was on a nearby table, partially hidden from view. He wasn’t having Lurky go and spoil things.
“Yeah, Murky?” called Lurky as he entered the laboratory.
“Bring me Stormy. Tell her it’s time to go to Rainbow Land. Then you can get the grunge buggy ready, got it?”
“Sure thing!”
Murky waited patiently for Lurky and Stormy to return, tapping his foot. Within a few minutes, Stormy entered in front of Murky. She looked to him for her instructions.
“I found her, Murky!”
“I can see that. Now go fetch the grunge buggy and wait outside!”
As soon as Lurky was gone, Murky reached for the new set of clothing. “Since you’re going to be attacking Rainbow Brite, you needed an outfit that was up to par. I want you to outshine that brat in every way, and that means you’ll look the part too.” He held out the bundle to a surprised Stormy, who held out her hands to take it. “Go change, and then meet me outside. Lurky will have the grunge buggy ready. Don’t take too long, understand?” Stormy nodded, and Murky smirked before leaving Stormy in the laboratory.
Stormy watched as he left the room and then looked down at the clothing in her hands. She quickly ran to her room to change, not wanting to disobey orders. She lay the various pieces on her bed. There was a long sleeve one piece under suit, a puffy dress that went over it, a belt that had a lightning bolt in a cloud, and a pair of thick leather boots, which also bore the mark of a lightning bolt. To top it off, there was a lightning bolt clip for her hair, a striking silver color that gleamed when tilted. She looked at the clothing spread on her bed in awe, still amazed.
Jolted by the memory of Murky’s words to not take very long, she quickly changed. Off came the pull over grey dress and simple boots. One went the under suit, which seemed to be made of a stretchy fabric. As she put it on, it fit snugly, but not too tightly. Next came the dress, which opened in the front like Murky’s vest. It puffed upwards at the top of her shoulders. She secured the dress in place with the belt, which fastened around the back. She then pulled on each boot, finding the insides comfortable and soft against her bare skin. They came up to her knees. Finally, she fooled with her hair, fastening the new clip into place.
Satisfied, she picked up a piece of glass off her table. It was large enough to see one’s image in, which is what Stormy intended to use it for. She looked her new outfit over, pleased with the way the various greys blended together so flawlessly. This outfit was much better than her previous one, and looked nicer too. Placing the glass back on the table, she left her room, and went to meet Murky. She knew it was time to finally prove herself to him and show that she was indeed competent.
She climbed into the grunge buggy, taking the side passenger car again while Murky clung to the back frame of the grunge buggy. He’d nodded his approval at her outfit, apparently pleased with his work. Lurky didn’t notice anything different, and if he did, he didn’t say a word. Stormy felt nervous inside, though she’d never let that show on the outside. She knew her instructions, she knew the plan, and knew she could complete it as had been asked of her. Yet, there was still a part of her that felt as though she wasn’t up to the task.
Concentrating, she worked to push away the nervousness that was consuming her stomach, the fear she felt at doing something entirely new. She’d trained long and hard for this, but would the actual attack be anything like it? Would she not be strong enough, her training worthless? Of course, she realized that it could be the very opposite. She might have trained so well that she could easily overpower this Rainbow Brite. This was the thought she chose to keep in mind and use to fight the nerves. She looked up at Murky, whose attention was not focused on her, but on the road ahead.
“Drive into the forest once we’re in Rainbow Land. We’ll leave the grunge buggy there and head to the Color Caves on foot.”
“What if they see us, Murky?” asked Lurky as he focused on the road ahead of him.
“They won’t. And if they do, I’ll take care of them. Just like always,” Murky answered with a laugh.
Familiar terrain came into view as the trio crossed into Rainbow Land. Darkness became light, and colors became abundant. Murky closed his eyes at the sight, disgusted by the brightness and all the colors. “I’ll never get used to this!” he exclaimed. Stormy said nothing, but squinted at the bright light until her eyes adjusted. Again, she looked around, studying the land, keeping it in mind for later. In the distance she could see activity going on, but couldn’t make out any specific details.
She was shook from her focus when Lurky squealed tires as he parked the grunge buggy behind a large clump of trees. She climbed out, and stood beside Murky. She watched as he pointed off in the distance, directly at the mines. She remembered it. “Today I’m going to lead you in the same way as before. This time, however, you’ll be on your own once inside. I’ll create a diversion at the entrance.” He handed over a sack that he pulled from inside the passenger car of the buggy. “You’ll put all the color crystals you can grab into this. Remember, I need all colors, but green and blue are the best ones to have.”
Stormy nodded. “I get it.”
“Good. Let’s go then.” Murky waved an arm and Lurky and Stormy followed in a line behind him.
Soon, the trio found themselves successfully sneaking around to the back entrance of the Color Caves. Some commotion was taking place near the entrance with a few of the sprites, and the Color Kids’ attention was focused there. Stormy gulped as Murky gestured for her to continue forward, knowing that she should head directly for the hollow rock they’d used before. She looked back to see if Murky was still watching her, but he’d vanished. Taking a deep breath, she headed for the hollow rock, and shut herself inside. Now, she’d watch for the chance to collect color crystals when no one was looking.
Meanwhile, an argument between sprites was taking place outside of the mines. The three Color Kids on duty for the day watched as the sprites yelled back and forth at each other, giving them a chance to speak before stepping in. Red Butler stood with his arms crossed, listening to each side of the story. Buddy Blue copied him, and Canary Yellow bit her lip, not enjoying the fact that the sprites were arguing in the first place.
Finally, a lull in the arguing appeared, and Red spoke up. “It seems like as long as you aren’t in the way of each other when you’re mining, you’ll be fine. Red color crystals and orange color crystals aren’t that close to each other.”
“Right,” agreed Buddy Blue. “There’s plenty of room in there for everyone. No need to argue about it.
The sprites looked to Canary Yellow for her input. “It’s about getting our work done without all the arguing.”
The two sprites, one red and the other orange, looked at each other. At first, it appeared as though they were set to argue again. Then, each one broke out into a smile. Red Butler grinned at the triumph. They didn’t need the arguing and he was glad that the sprites were talking nicely to each other again. “Let’s get back to work and finishing mining color crystals for the day,” he stated. “We’ll soon be able to rest and enjoy the rest of the day without any trouble.”
I'm very pleased to see that this story has recieved over 200 views so far! Happy reading!Chapter 11 New Look
It was a few days later when Stormy got the chance she desired to take on Rainbow Brite. Murky had allowed her to train for the coming attacks. It had been his only instructions, but it was also the only thing Stormy felt driven to do. She didn’t want to fool with anything else or listen to any more of Murky’s lectures at the moment. Zapping rocks with lightning was a more pleasing way to pass the time. She had decided to work with Skydancer later as well. Even though Murky had told her there were no immediate plans for using him, she wanted to be ready. She had to be ready for when that time came.
“Stormy!” called Murky’s voice from somewhere behind her.
Stormy turned, letting a lightning bolt go astray. It ended up hiding the side of one of the cliffs, and knocking rock loose. A small avalanche started, piles of rocks sliding down the sides of the cliff before settling in a pile of dust at the very bottom. “Coming!” she replied, angry that she’d slipped up because he’d interfered with her concentration. She made her way to Murky, who stood just outside the entrance to his lair. He had to ruin a good thing.
Murky smirked at her when she stopped in front of him. “It’s time for you to help me with Rainbow Brite. You’re going on a mission with me. It’ll be simple, but I want to see your potential. I’ll be your backup.”
“What are we doing?” asked Stormy. It wasn’t anything big. He only wanted to test her in action. She knew she was capable of much more…she had to be. It’s why she was helping Murky, wasn’t it?
“You’re going to steal some color crystals for me. I need more any way. My supply is almost gone. I’ll be a distraction in case you fail,” Murky explained bluntly. He wasn’t up to sugar coating anything.
Stormy felt anger building up inside of her, but quickly pushed it down. She wasn’t going to fail. She would prove to Murky that she could complete his task and collect these color crystals that he wanted. She then realized her problem – she had no idea what a color crystal was. This same realization seemed to dawn on Murky. “I’ll need to show you some color crystals,” he said. Stormy felt relieved inside. She didn’t have to ask about them. “Follow me,” he instructed.
Murky led Stormy back inside his lair and up the stairs, beyond her room. He took her to a place she’d never been before. It had to be one of his personal storage rooms. She had known about them, but had been instructed to not to go to places he did not ask her to. She followed his command, and found it suddenly strange that she’d never wanted to explore any of these rooms. They walked through the piles of stacked objects. Stormy covered her nose as they passed one peculiar box that reeked.
“Here they are!” he called happily. He pointed to a large set of boxes. Stormy looked inside the one box that he pointed to. Small pieces of shiny rock barely covered the bottom.
Stormy blinked, wondering what purpose these rocks could serve besides just looking pretty. “What are they for?” she asked.
“These are what Rainbow uses to power that dreaded Color Belt of hers. It’s where her rainbow power comes from. I can use these in my gloom potions and to trick those Color brats. They’re very handy. I need more. The colors don’t matter of course, but blue is always good to have, as is green.”
“Do you want every color?”
“Of course! I have many uses for them. I need more and don’t have time to take care of it myself. That’s why you’re going to do it for me. It should be simple enough for you. Understood?”
Stormy nodded. “Got it,” she replied.
“Good. I don’t need you messing up now. I’ve spent so much time making sure you were ready to take on Rainbow,” remarked Murky as he turned around and headed back toward the door.
Stormy again followed Murky through the piles of boxes and random things he’d tossed about in the room. She glanced around, knowing that she wouldn’t enter this room again without his permission. Her eyes settled on a box nearest the door. She glanced inside as they passed it. There was an emerald dress, and a pair of thick leather boots. She felt drawn to them somehow, not knowing why. She reached out a hand to touch the fabric of the dress, but it was smacked away by Murky. “I didn’t tell you to touch that!” he yelled angrily.
Pulling her hand back quickly, Stormy rubbed the spot he’d smacked. She had no idea why the box was so important or why Murky didn’t want her touching it. What she couldn’t shake is why she felt drawn to the items in the first place. Before she could consider it any further, Murky pulled her from the room, shutting and locking the door behind him. He looked her in the eye. “You are to never enter this room unless I’m with you. Now rest up for tomorrow. I’ll see you then.” Murky turned and headed back for the stairs, descending back down to his laboratory.
Why? she wondered as she watched him disappear. It didn’t make sense. She wanted to know why she had wanted to touch the clothing. Why did Murky have such colorful clothing to begin with? He never wore it. She looked down at her own clothing. It was the same shades as his and certainly not colorful. She’d worn the same plain grey dress and slip-on black shoes for as long as she could remember. Murky had always replaced the outfit when it would wear out, but it was never any different. Always the same, never changing, always colorless.
Meanwhile, Murky paced back and forth in his laboratory. He knew that Stormy would stay away from the room without going near it now that he’d given the instructions. He feared the questions that could come of it. He wasn’t sure if she remembered the outfit or remembered how she came to the Pits, and he didn’t want her finding out. It’d be so easy to command her never to ask questions about it, but that worried him. Would she pick up on the gloom variant? How she could never do something after Murky gave her the command? He didn’t need a mutiny on his hands. No, he’d distract her mind. Without access to the room, Stormy would forget what she’d seen. If he gave her something new, she might very well forget she’d even seen the darned outfit! Why had he kept it so near the door? Why had he kept it at all? It should have been tossed out with the trash. Instead, it had been shoved in that room, collecting dust all these years.
He snapped his fingers, suddenly realizing what he could do. He’d make Stormy a new outfit. He rubbed his chin. It had to be for a purpose though, not just thrown out there. She might become suspicious. Of course, he realized, the reason is so easy. He was sending her to begin attacking Rainbow Brite. She shouldn’t look shabby and shoddy. He’d create an outfit befitting to the cause, one that would rival Rainbow’s. Where Rainbow’s shown brightly with colors, Stormy’s would use sharp greys. Instead of a rainbow for a symbol, Stormy would have the lightning bolt, which not only symbolized her power, but also linked her to Murky.
In what could only be called a fatherly effort by a stretch of the imagination, Murky worked on the new outfit throughout the night and much of the next morning. He holed up in his laboratory, even keeping Lurky away under orders to keep an eye on the girl and make sure she trains. Murky had no doubt that Stormy would follow his command from yesterday, so Lurky was merely being kept at bay. He didn’t need that bumbling oaf stumbling over fabric or pulling out stitching.
After he finished the outfit, he chose to sleep for a few hours and catch up on sleep. By late afternoon, he felt more like himself and was ready for the next step in his plan. He called for Lurky to come to his laboratory. The outfit was on a nearby table, partially hidden from view. He wasn’t having Lurky go and spoil things.
“Yeah, Murky?” called Lurky as he entered the laboratory.
“Bring me Stormy. Tell her it’s time to go to Rainbow Land. Then you can get the grunge buggy ready, got it?”
“Sure thing!”
Murky waited patiently for Lurky and Stormy to return, tapping his foot. Within a few minutes, Stormy entered in front of Murky. She looked to him for her instructions.
“I found her, Murky!”
“I can see that. Now go fetch the grunge buggy and wait outside!”
As soon as Lurky was gone, Murky reached for the new set of clothing. “Since you’re going to be attacking Rainbow Brite, you needed an outfit that was up to par. I want you to outshine that brat in every way, and that means you’ll look the part too.” He held out the bundle to a surprised Stormy, who held out her hands to take it. “Go change, and then meet me outside. Lurky will have the grunge buggy ready. Don’t take too long, understand?” Stormy nodded, and Murky smirked before leaving Stormy in the laboratory.
Stormy watched as he left the room and then looked down at the clothing in her hands. She quickly ran to her room to change, not wanting to disobey orders. She lay the various pieces on her bed. There was a long sleeve one piece under suit, a puffy dress that went over it, a belt that had a lightning bolt in a cloud, and a pair of thick leather boots, which also bore the mark of a lightning bolt. To top it off, there was a lightning bolt clip for her hair, a striking silver color that gleamed when tilted. She looked at the clothing spread on her bed in awe, still amazed.
Jolted by the memory of Murky’s words to not take very long, she quickly changed. Off came the pull over grey dress and simple boots. One went the under suit, which seemed to be made of a stretchy fabric. As she put it on, it fit snugly, but not too tightly. Next came the dress, which opened in the front like Murky’s vest. It puffed upwards at the top of her shoulders. She secured the dress in place with the belt, which fastened around the back. She then pulled on each boot, finding the insides comfortable and soft against her bare skin. They came up to her knees. Finally, she fooled with her hair, fastening the new clip into place.
Satisfied, she picked up a piece of glass off her table. It was large enough to see one’s image in, which is what Stormy intended to use it for. She looked her new outfit over, pleased with the way the various greys blended together so flawlessly. This outfit was much better than her previous one, and looked nicer too. Placing the glass back on the table, she left her room, and went to meet Murky. She knew it was time to finally prove herself to him and show that she was indeed competent.
She climbed into the grunge buggy, taking the side passenger car again while Murky clung to the back frame of the grunge buggy. He’d nodded his approval at her outfit, apparently pleased with his work. Lurky didn’t notice anything different, and if he did, he didn’t say a word. Stormy felt nervous inside, though she’d never let that show on the outside. She knew her instructions, she knew the plan, and knew she could complete it as had been asked of her. Yet, there was still a part of her that felt as though she wasn’t up to the task.
Concentrating, she worked to push away the nervousness that was consuming her stomach, the fear she felt at doing something entirely new. She’d trained long and hard for this, but would the actual attack be anything like it? Would she not be strong enough, her training worthless? Of course, she realized that it could be the very opposite. She might have trained so well that she could easily overpower this Rainbow Brite. This was the thought she chose to keep in mind and use to fight the nerves. She looked up at Murky, whose attention was not focused on her, but on the road ahead.
“Drive into the forest once we’re in Rainbow Land. We’ll leave the grunge buggy there and head to the Color Caves on foot.”
“What if they see us, Murky?” asked Lurky as he focused on the road ahead of him.
“They won’t. And if they do, I’ll take care of them. Just like always,” Murky answered with a laugh.
Familiar terrain came into view as the trio crossed into Rainbow Land. Darkness became light, and colors became abundant. Murky closed his eyes at the sight, disgusted by the brightness and all the colors. “I’ll never get used to this!” he exclaimed. Stormy said nothing, but squinted at the bright light until her eyes adjusted. Again, she looked around, studying the land, keeping it in mind for later. In the distance she could see activity going on, but couldn’t make out any specific details.
She was shook from her focus when Lurky squealed tires as he parked the grunge buggy behind a large clump of trees. She climbed out, and stood beside Murky. She watched as he pointed off in the distance, directly at the mines. She remembered it. “Today I’m going to lead you in the same way as before. This time, however, you’ll be on your own once inside. I’ll create a diversion at the entrance.” He handed over a sack that he pulled from inside the passenger car of the buggy. “You’ll put all the color crystals you can grab into this. Remember, I need all colors, but green and blue are the best ones to have.”
Stormy nodded. “I get it.”
“Good. Let’s go then.” Murky waved an arm and Lurky and Stormy followed in a line behind him.
Soon, the trio found themselves successfully sneaking around to the back entrance of the Color Caves. Some commotion was taking place near the entrance with a few of the sprites, and the Color Kids’ attention was focused there. Stormy gulped as Murky gestured for her to continue forward, knowing that she should head directly for the hollow rock they’d used before. She looked back to see if Murky was still watching her, but he’d vanished. Taking a deep breath, she headed for the hollow rock, and shut herself inside. Now, she’d watch for the chance to collect color crystals when no one was looking.
Meanwhile, an argument between sprites was taking place outside of the mines. The three Color Kids on duty for the day watched as the sprites yelled back and forth at each other, giving them a chance to speak before stepping in. Red Butler stood with his arms crossed, listening to each side of the story. Buddy Blue copied him, and Canary Yellow bit her lip, not enjoying the fact that the sprites were arguing in the first place.
Finally, a lull in the arguing appeared, and Red spoke up. “It seems like as long as you aren’t in the way of each other when you’re mining, you’ll be fine. Red color crystals and orange color crystals aren’t that close to each other.”
“Right,” agreed Buddy Blue. “There’s plenty of room in there for everyone. No need to argue about it.
The sprites looked to Canary Yellow for her input. “It’s about getting our work done without all the arguing.”
The two sprites, one red and the other orange, looked at each other. At first, it appeared as though they were set to argue again. Then, each one broke out into a smile. Red Butler grinned at the triumph. They didn’t need the arguing and he was glad that the sprites were talking nicely to each other again. “Let’s get back to work and finishing mining color crystals for the day,” he stated. “We’ll soon be able to rest and enjoy the rest of the day without any trouble.”
"If you're obsessed with your yesterday then you're destined to repeat it." - Ariel of Icon for Hire
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Chibi Rachy
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Re: Lost Storms/Chapter 12
I just finished Chapter 13, so I figured I'd post the next chapter early for everyone. This chapter is the first of many where Stormy will complete tasks for Murky to prove her worth, all building up to a final task much later on. If you'd like to contribute some tasks, drop me a line. Thanks to Fanchan, I've got 4 easy tasks. I need some medium tasks and hard tasks. If you've any ideas, just lemme know. I love using reader ideas and bringing them to life. Enjoy
Chapter 12 Pushing Limits
Stormy took a deep breath. This was it. It was her chance to prove to Murky that she wasn’t worthless. Quietly, she opened the door to the hollow stone and snuck out, closing it as quietly as she could. She held tightly to the sack, not wanting to lose it. She edged closer to the main area of the mines and scanned the area for sprites or Color Kids. Spying none, she kept moving closer. Her heart beat faster and faster, and her palms felt sweaty. Still, she saw no one near the entrance.
Then, suddenly, there was a loud crash and things outside seemed to take a different turn. Stormy could just make out Murky’s voice among the others. No one ran into the mines. There was plenty of yelling. Stormy heard more crashes outside and tried to hear what was going on, but could discern nothing in particular. She then remembered what she was supposed to be doing.
Taking this as her chance, Stormy quickly began scooping color crystals of every shape and size into her sack. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet…all went into her sack. She made sure to grab twice as many green and blue ones, just as Murky had asked for. Her work was quick and easy, and the sack grew heavier with each second that passed. She was satisfied when the sack was near full and she could barely heft it over her shoulders. She took one last look at the color crystals in the mine and turned to head back to her hollow rock and keep an eye out for Murky.
It appeared as though she had finished up just in time. She could hear a voice in the distance, one that was squeaky. She moved quickly, hoping he didn’t see her. Instead of heading for the hollow rock, she hightailed it for the back entrance. She peeked out the back door and saw Lurky and Murky running for the grunge buggy, clouds of gloom being sprayed behind them. She quickly followed them, tossing her sack into the grunge buggy and climbing on top of it as Murky and Lurky took their proper places. Lurky started the vehicle and off they sped in a cloud of fumes and exhaust.
Twink blinked, uncertain of what he’d just seen. Had there really been someone in the mines? He couldn’t mistake the running footsteps or the sack they carried, but other than that, he had no identifying details. It wasn’t Murky…he’d just seen Rainbow chasing him away. I’d better report this to Rainbow he thought to himself. He turned and ran from the Color Mines, not watching where he was heading. He bumped right into Rainbow, who’d been running from the other direction. They bumped and fell backwards. Twink rubbed his head and looked to Rainbow, who was rubbing an elbow.
“Twink, what’s wrong?” asked Rainbow, noticing the look on Twink’s face.
“Someone’s been in the mines, Rainbow. I saw them running away.”
“It couldn’t have been Murky,” thought Rainbow out loud. “I just took care of him.”
“I think it was someone else,” suggested Twink. “I didn’t see who, but they carried a sack. Do you think they took some color crystals?”
“If they had a sack, they must have, Twink. I wonder if they’re with Murky?”
“I don’t know, Rainbow.”
Rainbow pulled herself to her feet and dusted off her dress. “We’ll have to keep an eye on Murky. If he’s got someone else working for him, there’s no telling what kinds of trouble he’ll start causing.”
“What about the color crystals?” asked Twink.
“What about them?” asked Rainbow. “I think we’re finished for the day. Murky’s interruption ruined the sprites’ concentration.”
“No, I mean, what about the color crystals the person in the Color Caves took?” asked Twink.
“Starlite and I will check around Rainbow Land and see if we can find them. If they’re not with Murky, they won’t have gone far. Only Murky and Lurky would dare live in the Pits. You take the Color Kids and look as well. We’ll see what we can find.”
Deep in the Pits, Murky was going through the sack that Stormy had handed him. He was pleased to see all the various color crystals and even more pleased to know that his stock wouldn’t run low again for awhile. Now he could work on color crystal experiments and their effects when combined with different gloom variants. “Good work,” he stated, complimenting Stormy. “You’ve passed this round. Are you sure you weren’t spotted?”
Stormy debated on whether or not to tell him she’d heard a voice as she turned to leave, but decided not to. It wasn’t worth telling, was it? “No, no one saw me.”
“Good,” replied Murky with a cackled. He hefted the sack onto his right shoulder. “Follow me. We need to put these away properly, and you’re going to be the one to do so.”
Once again, Stormy was led to one of Murky’s personal storage rooms. Again they passed the box with the outfit she’d seen before, but this time, she didn’t worry about whether or not it was better than the one she wore. She was happy with the change of clothes. She quickly forgot about the strange outfit when she heard a loud scratching noise. She covered her ears to block out the sound and watched as Murky dragged a large wooden box closer. She moved closer, and looked inside. This box had eight slots in it and a heavy lid with a lock.
“I want you to sort the color crystals by color and put them in this box. It makes things easier for me,” was Murky’s excuse. The truth was, he just didn’t want to take care of it himself, and Lurky wasn’t smart enough to handle a task such as this without getting distracted halfway through. He started to walk away, before turning around quickly. Stormy had just taken the sack in hand and opened it. “Stay away from anything else in here. When you are finished, you will come right to me in my laboratory. Don’t touch anything else.” Satisfied, he turned and walked out of the room, leaving Stormy to her task.
Suddenly Stormy wished that she hadn’t filled the sack close to bursting. She had no idea she’d be stuck doing something like this. She began filling the slots, wishing there was some way to make her task go faster. While she worked, she glanced about the room, trying to discern what other boxes might hold. Some boxes were left unlocked and opened, but Stormy could not make herself go exploring. Frustrated, she continued her task, and her mind wandered to the dress at the door. Why did Murky have something like that? Surely he didn’t wear it. She giggled at the thought of Murky in a dress.
Time seemed to pass slowly and the colors all seemed to blur together. She would rather be training and preparing for the next time she went to Rainbow Land. The sack became emptier and emptier, while her anger continued to grow. As she reached into the sack and pulled out the last color crystal, she angrily tossed it into the box, not caring where it landed. Her body longed to follow Murky’s command now that she had completed the assignment and she obeyed. Rising to her feet, she walked toward the door, pausing to look at the outfit once more. She was drawn in, she couldn’t resist. She only wished that she knew why.
Murky was tinkering with a few vials and beakers on his table while mumbling to himself. Every so often he’d refer to a large tome that rested nearby. Sometimes he delighted in what he read and other times he growled in frustration. Stormy watched him for a few moments before speaking up. “I finished sorting the crystals,” she stated.
Briefly looking up from his work, Murky acknowledged her. “Oh? Yes, well good. Go off and train now. I don’t wish to be disturbed.”
Stormy exited the laboratory, heading directly to Skydancer. She knew exactly what she wanted to do and he could help her out. There was only one way to get rid of her anger. Skydancer was in his favorite spot among the shadows, but he turned his head when someone entered the room. Stormy looked at him, determined. She strode purposefully over to his side and grabbed hold of his mane, using it to swing herself up onto his back. Long ago she had been afraid of this creature before her, but no more. They were a team. “Let’s go to the clouds,” instructed, holding on to the lavender mane. Skydancer whinnied in reply and took off for the exit.
Taking a running start, Skydancer jumped over the edge of the nearest cliff, soaring on the breeze before letting flight take over. He headed for a large storm cloud, one that he knew would please Stormy. He flew at high speed, eager to land and take part in creating a storm. Instinctively, he knew that was why she wanted to head for the clouds, though he could never vocalize his thoughts.
Stormy enjoyed the breeze the rushed past her face. The adrenaline rush was something she’d gotten used to, though she had no words to describe the feeling. To feel as though you were going to fall one moment and then find yourself moving through the sky was an incredible experience, one that she relished. It was over all too quickly as she felt Skydancer gently land on the edge of the cloud. Down she slid, letting her feet sink into the fluffy matter. She looked about their temporary shelter, a pleased look on her face.
Closing her eyes, Stormy held out her palm. She began to get the feel of the cloud, studying its makeup. As she finished with the cloud she was on, she branched out, feeling out the surrounding area. She gauged that the clouds were saturated with water, ready to burst, a perfect situation. She began willing the clouds to come to her, come closer to her base so that she could release the water within. They heeded her call; she did not have to look to know this simple fact.
Opening her eyes, she suddenly thrust her hand outward, palm open. She commanded the clouds to open up and pour. This was not a storm she wanted to start slowly and build to a cacophonous roar. No, she wanted this storm to be unleashed at its full potential, a torrential downpour. She wanted her anger to be visual and seen, even though her storm was confined to the Pits. She’d fill the cracks and crevices of rocks and watch them overflow with water. The image was calming, soothing.
Skydancer caught on to his mistress’ excitement and began helping with her storm. He galloped about, stamping and pounding his hooves. Below, lightning crackled as it flashed, lightning up the otherwise dark atmosphere of the Pits. He whinnied and raised up on hind legs before falling and letting a mighty bolt of lightning fly. It streaked through the air, striking a group of stones near Murky’s lair. The stones cracked open, smoking from impact.
Stormy continued, letting the storm become even more intense. She became more wrapped up in the emotions produced as a side effect of the storm. Her green eyes swirled with the intensity and she let her hands and feet direct her anger. She was on the verge of losing control, yet loving every minute that she was part of it.
Slowly, her adrenaline rush faded and her energy left with it. By the time the storm was nothing but a drizzle and only the rumbling of thunder remained, she had sunk to her knees, exhausted from the effort of keeping the storm going at its full power for so long. Never before had she exerted herself so much. “Sk-Skydancer,” she murmured as her body fell forward and she collapsed from sheer exhausted.
Stormy awoke, only to find herself floating atop a large body of water. She looked around her, but could see nothing except water. There was no land to be had. “Skydancer! Skydancer, where you?” she called. There was no answer and she couldn’t see anything but a grey sky above. “Skydancer!” she cried, more urgently this time.
Skydancer never came. Instead, clouds began to move in, making the grey sky darker. Stormy looked up at them as they gathered. She raised her hand to disperse them, but when she began trying to pull them apart, all she made them do was begin to release the rain water they’d stored. Surprised, she looked at her hand, and then back up at the clouds. She’d never had this sort of trouble before. Once again, she tried to disperse the clouds and keep the rain from falling, but all she succeeded in doing was making it rain even harder.
The water became choppy and she became scared. She couldn’t control the storm, couldn’t get Skydancer to help her. She was alone without any hope. Her eyes flitted about her, searching for something or someone to save her. She blinked twice when she saw a boat version of the grunge buggy floating on the water. Murky and Lurky looked back at her, staring at her as though they didn’t recognize her. “Help me!” cried Stormy, waving her arms around.
Murky merely looked at her. “I want nothing to do with a failure,” he scoffed, crossing his arms and turning his head away from her.
“Please, help me!” Her cry went unanswered as the boat floated away on the choppy waves, taking Murky and Lurky with it. The waves got worse, and she was tossed around. She’d disappear under water for a few seconds and come up sputtering for air. She moved to wipe her eyes, but was thrust under again. Up she came again, coughing and choking on the water. “Help…help me… help...” she cried weakly. Her arms flailed in the air and water stung her eyes. She could barely see, and the waves that were tossing her about only became worse.
“Help….” Stormy called weakly as she sank below the water. She slowly sank, bubbles escaping from her mouth every now and then. She didn’t move and spoke no longer.
From above the water came a flash of light, a rainbow beam that sped through the sky, the only colorful object around in the dark and gloomy landscape. It sped beneath the water, seeking its target. It stopped and wrapped around something, before shooting up out of the water. Stormy was wrapped up tight in the center, safe from harm. Slowly, she began to come to, coughing and spitting up water that was left in her lungs. Her eyes slowly began to open, and she found her vision blurry. She groaned and slowly clenched her fists, trying to gather enough energy to pull herself into a sitting position.
Stormy slowly sat up, and looked about her, wide-eyed. She was sitting atop a rainbow, a rainbow that was moving and taking her somewhere. She glanced over the edge and saw the choppy waves below her, taunting her to fall back into their grasp. Stormy quickly pulled her attention away from the water. She shuddered at the memories of being submerged and then feeling nothing.
Suddenly, she was free falling. As she looked down, she saw dry land coming up quickly. Lush, green vegetation loomed ahead, and she closed her eyes, squeezing them tightly shut. Air rushed past her and all she could think about was how she didn’t want to be flattened on the ground.
The next thing Stormy knew, she was waking up. She slowly opened her eyes, seeing nothing but grey surrounding her. She raised her head, looking around. She couldn’t remember what had come before, the last fuzzy remnants of her dream disappearing as she tried to conjure them forth. What was that about? she wondered to herself. Exhaustion hit her like a ton of bricks. I’m still so tired…maybe I should have created a smaller storm… She looked about for Skydancer, who stood off to the side, watching her intently.
“Let’s go home, Skydancer,” called Stormy, rising slowly to her feet. She took hold of his mane, pulling herself onto his backside.
Skydancer waited until his mistress was situated and then walked to the edge of the cloud. Stormy looked out over the Pits, noting that the storm had mostly subsided. It was back to the usual cloudy storm weather. Skydancer leapt from the cloud, and headed back to Murky’s lair. Stormy paid little attention to her surroundings, thinking of something else. How far can I push myself?
Chapter 12 Pushing Limits
Stormy took a deep breath. This was it. It was her chance to prove to Murky that she wasn’t worthless. Quietly, she opened the door to the hollow stone and snuck out, closing it as quietly as she could. She held tightly to the sack, not wanting to lose it. She edged closer to the main area of the mines and scanned the area for sprites or Color Kids. Spying none, she kept moving closer. Her heart beat faster and faster, and her palms felt sweaty. Still, she saw no one near the entrance.
Then, suddenly, there was a loud crash and things outside seemed to take a different turn. Stormy could just make out Murky’s voice among the others. No one ran into the mines. There was plenty of yelling. Stormy heard more crashes outside and tried to hear what was going on, but could discern nothing in particular. She then remembered what she was supposed to be doing.
Taking this as her chance, Stormy quickly began scooping color crystals of every shape and size into her sack. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet…all went into her sack. She made sure to grab twice as many green and blue ones, just as Murky had asked for. Her work was quick and easy, and the sack grew heavier with each second that passed. She was satisfied when the sack was near full and she could barely heft it over her shoulders. She took one last look at the color crystals in the mine and turned to head back to her hollow rock and keep an eye out for Murky.
It appeared as though she had finished up just in time. She could hear a voice in the distance, one that was squeaky. She moved quickly, hoping he didn’t see her. Instead of heading for the hollow rock, she hightailed it for the back entrance. She peeked out the back door and saw Lurky and Murky running for the grunge buggy, clouds of gloom being sprayed behind them. She quickly followed them, tossing her sack into the grunge buggy and climbing on top of it as Murky and Lurky took their proper places. Lurky started the vehicle and off they sped in a cloud of fumes and exhaust.
Twink blinked, uncertain of what he’d just seen. Had there really been someone in the mines? He couldn’t mistake the running footsteps or the sack they carried, but other than that, he had no identifying details. It wasn’t Murky…he’d just seen Rainbow chasing him away. I’d better report this to Rainbow he thought to himself. He turned and ran from the Color Mines, not watching where he was heading. He bumped right into Rainbow, who’d been running from the other direction. They bumped and fell backwards. Twink rubbed his head and looked to Rainbow, who was rubbing an elbow.
“Twink, what’s wrong?” asked Rainbow, noticing the look on Twink’s face.
“Someone’s been in the mines, Rainbow. I saw them running away.”
“It couldn’t have been Murky,” thought Rainbow out loud. “I just took care of him.”
“I think it was someone else,” suggested Twink. “I didn’t see who, but they carried a sack. Do you think they took some color crystals?”
“If they had a sack, they must have, Twink. I wonder if they’re with Murky?”
“I don’t know, Rainbow.”
Rainbow pulled herself to her feet and dusted off her dress. “We’ll have to keep an eye on Murky. If he’s got someone else working for him, there’s no telling what kinds of trouble he’ll start causing.”
“What about the color crystals?” asked Twink.
“What about them?” asked Rainbow. “I think we’re finished for the day. Murky’s interruption ruined the sprites’ concentration.”
“No, I mean, what about the color crystals the person in the Color Caves took?” asked Twink.
“Starlite and I will check around Rainbow Land and see if we can find them. If they’re not with Murky, they won’t have gone far. Only Murky and Lurky would dare live in the Pits. You take the Color Kids and look as well. We’ll see what we can find.”
Deep in the Pits, Murky was going through the sack that Stormy had handed him. He was pleased to see all the various color crystals and even more pleased to know that his stock wouldn’t run low again for awhile. Now he could work on color crystal experiments and their effects when combined with different gloom variants. “Good work,” he stated, complimenting Stormy. “You’ve passed this round. Are you sure you weren’t spotted?”
Stormy debated on whether or not to tell him she’d heard a voice as she turned to leave, but decided not to. It wasn’t worth telling, was it? “No, no one saw me.”
“Good,” replied Murky with a cackled. He hefted the sack onto his right shoulder. “Follow me. We need to put these away properly, and you’re going to be the one to do so.”
Once again, Stormy was led to one of Murky’s personal storage rooms. Again they passed the box with the outfit she’d seen before, but this time, she didn’t worry about whether or not it was better than the one she wore. She was happy with the change of clothes. She quickly forgot about the strange outfit when she heard a loud scratching noise. She covered her ears to block out the sound and watched as Murky dragged a large wooden box closer. She moved closer, and looked inside. This box had eight slots in it and a heavy lid with a lock.
“I want you to sort the color crystals by color and put them in this box. It makes things easier for me,” was Murky’s excuse. The truth was, he just didn’t want to take care of it himself, and Lurky wasn’t smart enough to handle a task such as this without getting distracted halfway through. He started to walk away, before turning around quickly. Stormy had just taken the sack in hand and opened it. “Stay away from anything else in here. When you are finished, you will come right to me in my laboratory. Don’t touch anything else.” Satisfied, he turned and walked out of the room, leaving Stormy to her task.
Suddenly Stormy wished that she hadn’t filled the sack close to bursting. She had no idea she’d be stuck doing something like this. She began filling the slots, wishing there was some way to make her task go faster. While she worked, she glanced about the room, trying to discern what other boxes might hold. Some boxes were left unlocked and opened, but Stormy could not make herself go exploring. Frustrated, she continued her task, and her mind wandered to the dress at the door. Why did Murky have something like that? Surely he didn’t wear it. She giggled at the thought of Murky in a dress.
Time seemed to pass slowly and the colors all seemed to blur together. She would rather be training and preparing for the next time she went to Rainbow Land. The sack became emptier and emptier, while her anger continued to grow. As she reached into the sack and pulled out the last color crystal, she angrily tossed it into the box, not caring where it landed. Her body longed to follow Murky’s command now that she had completed the assignment and she obeyed. Rising to her feet, she walked toward the door, pausing to look at the outfit once more. She was drawn in, she couldn’t resist. She only wished that she knew why.
Murky was tinkering with a few vials and beakers on his table while mumbling to himself. Every so often he’d refer to a large tome that rested nearby. Sometimes he delighted in what he read and other times he growled in frustration. Stormy watched him for a few moments before speaking up. “I finished sorting the crystals,” she stated.
Briefly looking up from his work, Murky acknowledged her. “Oh? Yes, well good. Go off and train now. I don’t wish to be disturbed.”
Stormy exited the laboratory, heading directly to Skydancer. She knew exactly what she wanted to do and he could help her out. There was only one way to get rid of her anger. Skydancer was in his favorite spot among the shadows, but he turned his head when someone entered the room. Stormy looked at him, determined. She strode purposefully over to his side and grabbed hold of his mane, using it to swing herself up onto his back. Long ago she had been afraid of this creature before her, but no more. They were a team. “Let’s go to the clouds,” instructed, holding on to the lavender mane. Skydancer whinnied in reply and took off for the exit.
Taking a running start, Skydancer jumped over the edge of the nearest cliff, soaring on the breeze before letting flight take over. He headed for a large storm cloud, one that he knew would please Stormy. He flew at high speed, eager to land and take part in creating a storm. Instinctively, he knew that was why she wanted to head for the clouds, though he could never vocalize his thoughts.
Stormy enjoyed the breeze the rushed past her face. The adrenaline rush was something she’d gotten used to, though she had no words to describe the feeling. To feel as though you were going to fall one moment and then find yourself moving through the sky was an incredible experience, one that she relished. It was over all too quickly as she felt Skydancer gently land on the edge of the cloud. Down she slid, letting her feet sink into the fluffy matter. She looked about their temporary shelter, a pleased look on her face.
Closing her eyes, Stormy held out her palm. She began to get the feel of the cloud, studying its makeup. As she finished with the cloud she was on, she branched out, feeling out the surrounding area. She gauged that the clouds were saturated with water, ready to burst, a perfect situation. She began willing the clouds to come to her, come closer to her base so that she could release the water within. They heeded her call; she did not have to look to know this simple fact.
Opening her eyes, she suddenly thrust her hand outward, palm open. She commanded the clouds to open up and pour. This was not a storm she wanted to start slowly and build to a cacophonous roar. No, she wanted this storm to be unleashed at its full potential, a torrential downpour. She wanted her anger to be visual and seen, even though her storm was confined to the Pits. She’d fill the cracks and crevices of rocks and watch them overflow with water. The image was calming, soothing.
Skydancer caught on to his mistress’ excitement and began helping with her storm. He galloped about, stamping and pounding his hooves. Below, lightning crackled as it flashed, lightning up the otherwise dark atmosphere of the Pits. He whinnied and raised up on hind legs before falling and letting a mighty bolt of lightning fly. It streaked through the air, striking a group of stones near Murky’s lair. The stones cracked open, smoking from impact.
Stormy continued, letting the storm become even more intense. She became more wrapped up in the emotions produced as a side effect of the storm. Her green eyes swirled with the intensity and she let her hands and feet direct her anger. She was on the verge of losing control, yet loving every minute that she was part of it.
Slowly, her adrenaline rush faded and her energy left with it. By the time the storm was nothing but a drizzle and only the rumbling of thunder remained, she had sunk to her knees, exhausted from the effort of keeping the storm going at its full power for so long. Never before had she exerted herself so much. “Sk-Skydancer,” she murmured as her body fell forward and she collapsed from sheer exhausted.
Stormy awoke, only to find herself floating atop a large body of water. She looked around her, but could see nothing except water. There was no land to be had. “Skydancer! Skydancer, where you?” she called. There was no answer and she couldn’t see anything but a grey sky above. “Skydancer!” she cried, more urgently this time.
Skydancer never came. Instead, clouds began to move in, making the grey sky darker. Stormy looked up at them as they gathered. She raised her hand to disperse them, but when she began trying to pull them apart, all she made them do was begin to release the rain water they’d stored. Surprised, she looked at her hand, and then back up at the clouds. She’d never had this sort of trouble before. Once again, she tried to disperse the clouds and keep the rain from falling, but all she succeeded in doing was making it rain even harder.
The water became choppy and she became scared. She couldn’t control the storm, couldn’t get Skydancer to help her. She was alone without any hope. Her eyes flitted about her, searching for something or someone to save her. She blinked twice when she saw a boat version of the grunge buggy floating on the water. Murky and Lurky looked back at her, staring at her as though they didn’t recognize her. “Help me!” cried Stormy, waving her arms around.
Murky merely looked at her. “I want nothing to do with a failure,” he scoffed, crossing his arms and turning his head away from her.
“Please, help me!” Her cry went unanswered as the boat floated away on the choppy waves, taking Murky and Lurky with it. The waves got worse, and she was tossed around. She’d disappear under water for a few seconds and come up sputtering for air. She moved to wipe her eyes, but was thrust under again. Up she came again, coughing and choking on the water. “Help…help me… help...” she cried weakly. Her arms flailed in the air and water stung her eyes. She could barely see, and the waves that were tossing her about only became worse.
“Help….” Stormy called weakly as she sank below the water. She slowly sank, bubbles escaping from her mouth every now and then. She didn’t move and spoke no longer.
From above the water came a flash of light, a rainbow beam that sped through the sky, the only colorful object around in the dark and gloomy landscape. It sped beneath the water, seeking its target. It stopped and wrapped around something, before shooting up out of the water. Stormy was wrapped up tight in the center, safe from harm. Slowly, she began to come to, coughing and spitting up water that was left in her lungs. Her eyes slowly began to open, and she found her vision blurry. She groaned and slowly clenched her fists, trying to gather enough energy to pull herself into a sitting position.
Stormy slowly sat up, and looked about her, wide-eyed. She was sitting atop a rainbow, a rainbow that was moving and taking her somewhere. She glanced over the edge and saw the choppy waves below her, taunting her to fall back into their grasp. Stormy quickly pulled her attention away from the water. She shuddered at the memories of being submerged and then feeling nothing.
Suddenly, she was free falling. As she looked down, she saw dry land coming up quickly. Lush, green vegetation loomed ahead, and she closed her eyes, squeezing them tightly shut. Air rushed past her and all she could think about was how she didn’t want to be flattened on the ground.
The next thing Stormy knew, she was waking up. She slowly opened her eyes, seeing nothing but grey surrounding her. She raised her head, looking around. She couldn’t remember what had come before, the last fuzzy remnants of her dream disappearing as she tried to conjure them forth. What was that about? she wondered to herself. Exhaustion hit her like a ton of bricks. I’m still so tired…maybe I should have created a smaller storm… She looked about for Skydancer, who stood off to the side, watching her intently.
“Let’s go home, Skydancer,” called Stormy, rising slowly to her feet. She took hold of his mane, pulling herself onto his backside.
Skydancer waited until his mistress was situated and then walked to the edge of the cloud. Stormy looked out over the Pits, noting that the storm had mostly subsided. It was back to the usual cloudy storm weather. Skydancer leapt from the cloud, and headed back to Murky’s lair. Stormy paid little attention to her surroundings, thinking of something else. How far can I push myself?
"If you're obsessed with your yesterday then you're destined to repeat it." - Ariel of Icon for Hire
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Chibi Rachy
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Re: Lost Storms
I'm quite happy to post this chapter. I finished chapter 14 before my trip and boy do I love it. Also, there's a surprise that goes along with chapter 14, which I have been quite eager to show (Fanchan knows how eager XD). Also, chapter 14 will showcase one of my "talents" when it comes to writing. Chapter 13 was also fun to write. I love this task that Stormy completes. The idea for this task goes to Fanchan. She gave me the suggestion and I took her sentence and turned it into this chapter Thanks Fanchan! If you wanna shoot off some ideas, I need some medium and hard tasks. I'm open to some new ideas!
Chapter 13 Goopy Paint
Rainbow clasped her hands together as she looked out the window from her room. It was a bright, sunny day, and no doubt a warm one. Today she and the Color Kids had a new project to tackle. They had recently finished building a brand-new sprite house for a family and were going to paint it. Lala Orange had taken it upon herself to mix up the orange paint they would need for the outside of the house. Buddy Blue and Patty O’Green were mixing up the tan paint they would use for the roof. The other Color Kids were hard at work gathering other colors of paint for the furniture and walls inside. It looked to be a promising day full of hard work. Rainbow couldn’t wait.
Cheerfully, she descended the stairs into the main hall. She found the other Color Kids waiting for her. She waved to them. “Good morning, everyone!”
“Good morning, Rainbow,” called all the Color Kids as one.
“We’ve got all the paint ready to go, Rainbow,” stated Red Butler, stepping out in front of the group.
“And the weather’s at peak for perfect project weather,” added Shy Violet.
“The brushes are ready too,” tacked on Canary Yellow. She held up a few and then pointed to a large bucket beside her.
“All right then. Let’s get to work!” declared Rainbow.
Together, they all marched down the main road of Rainbow Land, heading for the outer lying area of houses. Over the years, Rainbow Land’s housing units had quickly multiplied in number. This year had been no different. More families were forming and they needed a place to live. It took a long time for the Color Kids to build one house, which wasn’t bad in the years that few sprites needed a new home. Luckily, this had turned out to be a slow year.
As they approached the house, the Color Kids split up. Buddy Blue, Canary Yellow, Indigo, and Lala Orange were going to work on the inside of the house. Buddy was in charge of supervising and making sure things ran smoothly. Rainbow, Red Butler, Patty O’Green, and Shy Violet were going to tackle the outside of the house. Ladders and paint smocks had been set on the ground earlier that morning. Everything was as it should be. Rainbow looked up at the sky again, thankful for the beautiful day in which to paint.
“Do you think we’ll finish everything today, Rainbow?” asked Patty O’Green as she donned a paint smock, a once white apron that was speckled with various colors. She handed one to Rainbow.
“I’m not sure. I guess it depends on how well things go. I don’t think we’ve finished very many houses in a day before,” commented Rainbow as she took the offered smock and pulled it over her head, tying it in the back. She looked to her left and saw Red Butler and Shy Violet taking the lids off the paint pots. The two appeared to be in conversation over something. “I’m going to go check on everyone inside and make sure they’re ready to start.”
“All right, Rainbow,” replied Red Butler. By the time you finish in there, we’ll be ready to start. I’ll get all the ladders set up.”
Rainbow nodded. “All right. I’ll be back soon!” She made her way inside the house, ducking in the doorway so she didn’t hit her head on the low frame. Everything inside was covered up with white sheets. Buddy Blue was mixing up the paint for the walls, which would be a pale blue to match the blue sprite family that would be moving in. “How are things in here?”
Buddy Blue looked up from his work. “We’re almost ready to start, Rainbow.”
Lala Orange, who’d been setting out the paint brushes, readily spoke up. “Everything’s been covered up too.”
Indigo sat cross-legged on the floor, looking at the room around her. “It’s like a blank piece of paper,” she murmured. “So much potential…”
“Are you here to help us?” asked Canary Yellow.
Rainbow shook her head. “No, I just wanted to make sure everyone was ready in side.” She moved back to the doorway, ducking out. “Have fun!” She left the door open behind her so that the room could air out as the Color Kids inside painted. As she turned around, she found Red Butler standing in front of her.
“Everything’s ready, Rainbow. Shall I work on the roof?” he explained.
“Sure, Red. Everyone knows that’s your favorite job,” replied Rainbow. Before she could say any more, Red Butler had gone off to the nearest ladder, quickly ascending the rungs to the roof. He was the one Color Kid they could all depend on to make sure the shingles firmly attached and that they received their brilliant coat of paint.
Rainbow picked up a paint bush and a can of paint, and chose one side of the house. She dipped her paint brush into the can, letting the paint soak into the bristles before removing it from the can. She lifted it to the wall of the house and began painting in slow, even strokes.
“Psst… Rainbow!” came a whisper to her left.
Rainbow turned to peek around the side of the house. Splat! Orange paint flew in her direction and spattered across her cheek. “Patty!” she cried, laughing. Her friend loved to play jokes and she should have known that painting would have provided plenty of opportunities to do so.
Patty O’Green covered her mouth to hide her laughter. “I’m sorry, Rainbow. I couldn’t resist! Paint is just too much fun.”
“That’s okay,” replied Rainbow with a smile.
The rest of the morning passed without incident. Rainbow and the Color Kids took a break from painting as soon as the sun was high in the sky. They were tiring, but very happy. The one thought on their minds at that moment was food.
“All right, everyone. Let’s go get something to eat and then we’ll get back to work,” called Rainbow, untying her paint smock and setting it aside. The other Kids followed suit.
Everyone walked back to the Color Castle in twos and threes, chattering about the morning and all the work that had been completed so far on the sprite house. Many sprites had come by that day to admire the paint job and chatter amongst themselves. Others would come by on a break from the Color Caves and mining, which Twink was currently overseeing.
“The sprites seem to love the work so far,” commented Canary Yellow as they passed a group of sprites chattering about the new house and its future occupants.
“They’re eager for their turn to welcome the new family,” replied Lala Orange. “It’s always such a beautiful sight.”
“Yes, I’ve heard a few sprites talking about a gathering of sorts,” added Shy Violet, tapping her finger on her chin.
“Well, sprite welcome parties are always a treat,” answered Indigo as the group passed by a large bush on the main road.
“Today will be such a treat for Rainbow and her friends as well,” murmured a voice concealed within the bush. Stormy snickered at her comeback, pleased to have a way to ruin Rainbow’s day. She couldn’t believe that Murky had actually let her go off on her own. He still wouldn’t let her bring Skydancer with her, but at least she had the freedom to move about without Murky watching over her shoulder. She didn’t feel so nervous, even though she was once again attempting to sabotage something of Rainbow’s. She stayed crouched in the bush, watching the group of Color Kids disappear. She turned around and focused her attention on the sprite house, which was covered in wet paint, gleaming in the sun. She grinned to herself. This task was almost too easy.
Deep in the Pits, Murky was tracking Stormy’s every move. Without her ever knowing, he’d attached a tracking device to her one night while she slept. It was kept until the puff that rose above her shoulder, a place where she’d never feel it. It was tiny, almost microscopic in size. “Yes, you take care of those Color Brats,” Murky sneered before cackling to himself. He may not be able to see Stormy’s actions, but he could track her location and listen to all her conversations.
The tracking device had been the only reason he’d agreed to let her go to Rainbow Land unassisted. She was stubborn and had wanted to take care of Rainbow on her own. Murky didn’t trust her without keeping an eye on her. The tracking device was the compromise, though Stormy didn’t know that. She had figured that Murky had allowed her to go after all. If worse came to worse, he could merely appear in Rainbow Land to finish the task she had failed out. However, there would be dire consequences for failure.
“Whatcha doing, Murky?” asked Lurky as he entered the laboratory and saw the new tracking equipment set up.
“Quiet you buffoon! I’m listening to this!”
Lurky got silent and listened carefully. “But Murky, I don’t hear nothing,” he replied.
“Just go away!” yelled Murky, effectively shooing Lurky from the room. He smirked and then turned back to his equipment. Static started to overtake the channel he was listening to, and he reached out to adjust the knobs, listening closely for Stormy’s voice. He was interested to see just how this mission would turn out. The best part was that none of it could be pinned on him.
Stormy resituated herself, sitting cross-legged behind the bush. She had enough time before Rainbow and the Color Kids returned to put her plan into action. She closed her eyes, tapping into her source of power. She began to sense out the nearest set of storm clouds, which were located on the edge of the Pits, just where she’d left them before. Raising her right hand, palm up, she coaxed them to cross that invisible boundary, coaxed them to her location in Rainbow Land. She felt the rumbling, knowing that they were heeding her call. It felt so good to be in charge.
She only opened her eyes when she knew that the clouds were directly overhead. She had made sure the fullest clouds rested over that lovely new coat of paint, gleaming in the sun. Well, she’d soon take care of that. With one last glance toward the Color Castle, Stormy let the clouds burst, and rain suddenly poured down. What had once been a bright and sunny sky was now dark, gloomy, and rainy. The rain fell hard; Stormy had no need for a gentle storm for this task. The pounding rhythm of water soothed her nerves. She watched closely as the new paint began to run. The bright orange ran in streaks down the side of the house, while some of the tan paint that had been on the roof dripped down as well. The colors mixed and mingled, forming an ugly sight. Rain splashed into the cans of paint outside, carelessly left uncovered since no one expected the sudden rainfall. Now the paint was nothing but a goopy mess.
Stormy covered her mouth to hide the giggling. It was just too funny to see. One minute, everything had been bright and sunny and the next, it had all been ruined. She couldn’t wait to see the looks on their faces when they saw the damage done. She worked to calm her laughter, to restore her demeanor. She’d not stay hidden long if someone heard a bush laughing! She turned her sights back to the Color Castle and waited for Rainbow and the Color Kids to return. The rain soaking her outfit didn’t bother her in the least. She’d wait all afternoon if necessary.
Murky sat in front of his tracking equipment, not sure of why Stormy was giggling uncontrollably. She’s going to be caught by Rainbow…what is so funny?! He attempted to listen closely, trying to discover any clues as to why she’d be laughing, but came up with nothing. He was confused and puzzled, and would be quite angry if Stormy failed because she couldn’t control her emotions.
Stormy didn’t have long before her wish was granted. Not long after she calmed herself down and quite giving off the idea of a laughing bush, she saw Rainbow and the Color Kids burst forth from the Color Castle. They ran quickly, right on past the bush that Stormy used for a cover and to the house they’d worked so hard on. Stormy quickly turned around, preparing to watch the scene that would unfold in front of her.
“Oh no!” exclaimed Rainbow as she laid eyes on the sprite house with its dripping, runny paint. She had dared to hope beyond hope that the rain had not affected the structure.
“Where’d this storm come from?” asked Red Butler. “It wasn’t supposed to rain today!”
“My morning calculations projected a zero percent chance of precipitation today,” answered Shy Violet.
“Then why is it raining?” asked Lala Orange in a soft voice.
“I… I’m not sure. There’s always a chance for deviation,” faltered Shy Violet.
“What do we do now?” asked Buddy Blue as he crossed his arms.
“Yuck! The paint is ruined!” interrupted Patty O’Green as she peered at the open cans.
“Rainbow’ll think of something,” stated Canary Yellow, trying to be positive.
“Everything’s okay on the inside,” reported Indigo as she opened the door.
All eyes rested on Rainbow, waiting for an answer. Rainbow looked from her friends to the sprite house. Deep down, she felt as though all the hard work had been for nothing, but she quickly banished that feeling. She wouldn’t allow herself to feel that way. Instead, she looked to her friends and took a deep breath before speaking. “We’ll wait until the rain stops and then we’ll paint the outside again. We can make up more paint to use. The inside of the house isn’t ruined, so Buddy, Indigo, Lala, and Canary can finish up the walls and furniture.” She looked around, watching her idea sink in.
“Rainbow’s right,” spoke up Canary Yellow. “We still have the inside of the house to work on. If we work together, it won’t take long to fix the outside of the house.
Rainbow smiled over at her friend. Leave it to Canary Yellow to put a positive spin on things. “It seems like a loss, but we can fix it.”
Red Butler, always ready to take charge when the situation called for it, called out, “Come on Kids. We can go to the Color Caves to get more crystals for the paint. We’ll get the paint ready while the others work on painting the inside.”
Red Butler’s team took off after him, ready to follow and tackle their new job. Rainbow watched as the crew who had been working indoors entered the sprite house and prepared to work. Things were all right for now. Sure, the rain hadn’t been a good thing, but they’d fix the problem soon enough.
From her bush spot, Stormy grumbled. Rainbow didn’t appear to be phased at all! She was actually smiling. Stormy had only set her back for the duration of the storm. They’d come back later on to finish the paint job. Darn it! she thought to herself. She waited until Rainbow had walked passed her bush before sneaking away. She slipped between sprite houses, checking to make sure she wasn’t seen before sneaking into the forest. She headed for the Pits, determined to come up with a task that would do more than just set Rainbow back. If only Murky would agree…
Thanks Fanchan! If you wanna shoot off some ideas, I need some medium and hard tasks. I'm open to some new ideas!Chapter 13 Goopy Paint
Rainbow clasped her hands together as she looked out the window from her room. It was a bright, sunny day, and no doubt a warm one. Today she and the Color Kids had a new project to tackle. They had recently finished building a brand-new sprite house for a family and were going to paint it. Lala Orange had taken it upon herself to mix up the orange paint they would need for the outside of the house. Buddy Blue and Patty O’Green were mixing up the tan paint they would use for the roof. The other Color Kids were hard at work gathering other colors of paint for the furniture and walls inside. It looked to be a promising day full of hard work. Rainbow couldn’t wait.
Cheerfully, she descended the stairs into the main hall. She found the other Color Kids waiting for her. She waved to them. “Good morning, everyone!”
“Good morning, Rainbow,” called all the Color Kids as one.
“We’ve got all the paint ready to go, Rainbow,” stated Red Butler, stepping out in front of the group.
“And the weather’s at peak for perfect project weather,” added Shy Violet.
“The brushes are ready too,” tacked on Canary Yellow. She held up a few and then pointed to a large bucket beside her.
“All right then. Let’s get to work!” declared Rainbow.
Together, they all marched down the main road of Rainbow Land, heading for the outer lying area of houses. Over the years, Rainbow Land’s housing units had quickly multiplied in number. This year had been no different. More families were forming and they needed a place to live. It took a long time for the Color Kids to build one house, which wasn’t bad in the years that few sprites needed a new home. Luckily, this had turned out to be a slow year.
As they approached the house, the Color Kids split up. Buddy Blue, Canary Yellow, Indigo, and Lala Orange were going to work on the inside of the house. Buddy was in charge of supervising and making sure things ran smoothly. Rainbow, Red Butler, Patty O’Green, and Shy Violet were going to tackle the outside of the house. Ladders and paint smocks had been set on the ground earlier that morning. Everything was as it should be. Rainbow looked up at the sky again, thankful for the beautiful day in which to paint.
“Do you think we’ll finish everything today, Rainbow?” asked Patty O’Green as she donned a paint smock, a once white apron that was speckled with various colors. She handed one to Rainbow.
“I’m not sure. I guess it depends on how well things go. I don’t think we’ve finished very many houses in a day before,” commented Rainbow as she took the offered smock and pulled it over her head, tying it in the back. She looked to her left and saw Red Butler and Shy Violet taking the lids off the paint pots. The two appeared to be in conversation over something. “I’m going to go check on everyone inside and make sure they’re ready to start.”
“All right, Rainbow,” replied Red Butler. By the time you finish in there, we’ll be ready to start. I’ll get all the ladders set up.”
Rainbow nodded. “All right. I’ll be back soon!” She made her way inside the house, ducking in the doorway so she didn’t hit her head on the low frame. Everything inside was covered up with white sheets. Buddy Blue was mixing up the paint for the walls, which would be a pale blue to match the blue sprite family that would be moving in. “How are things in here?”
Buddy Blue looked up from his work. “We’re almost ready to start, Rainbow.”
Lala Orange, who’d been setting out the paint brushes, readily spoke up. “Everything’s been covered up too.”
Indigo sat cross-legged on the floor, looking at the room around her. “It’s like a blank piece of paper,” she murmured. “So much potential…”
“Are you here to help us?” asked Canary Yellow.
Rainbow shook her head. “No, I just wanted to make sure everyone was ready in side.” She moved back to the doorway, ducking out. “Have fun!” She left the door open behind her so that the room could air out as the Color Kids inside painted. As she turned around, she found Red Butler standing in front of her.
“Everything’s ready, Rainbow. Shall I work on the roof?” he explained.
“Sure, Red. Everyone knows that’s your favorite job,” replied Rainbow. Before she could say any more, Red Butler had gone off to the nearest ladder, quickly ascending the rungs to the roof. He was the one Color Kid they could all depend on to make sure the shingles firmly attached and that they received their brilliant coat of paint.
Rainbow picked up a paint bush and a can of paint, and chose one side of the house. She dipped her paint brush into the can, letting the paint soak into the bristles before removing it from the can. She lifted it to the wall of the house and began painting in slow, even strokes.
“Psst… Rainbow!” came a whisper to her left.
Rainbow turned to peek around the side of the house. Splat! Orange paint flew in her direction and spattered across her cheek. “Patty!” she cried, laughing. Her friend loved to play jokes and she should have known that painting would have provided plenty of opportunities to do so.
Patty O’Green covered her mouth to hide her laughter. “I’m sorry, Rainbow. I couldn’t resist! Paint is just too much fun.”
“That’s okay,” replied Rainbow with a smile.
The rest of the morning passed without incident. Rainbow and the Color Kids took a break from painting as soon as the sun was high in the sky. They were tiring, but very happy. The one thought on their minds at that moment was food.
“All right, everyone. Let’s go get something to eat and then we’ll get back to work,” called Rainbow, untying her paint smock and setting it aside. The other Kids followed suit.
Everyone walked back to the Color Castle in twos and threes, chattering about the morning and all the work that had been completed so far on the sprite house. Many sprites had come by that day to admire the paint job and chatter amongst themselves. Others would come by on a break from the Color Caves and mining, which Twink was currently overseeing.
“The sprites seem to love the work so far,” commented Canary Yellow as they passed a group of sprites chattering about the new house and its future occupants.
“They’re eager for their turn to welcome the new family,” replied Lala Orange. “It’s always such a beautiful sight.”
“Yes, I’ve heard a few sprites talking about a gathering of sorts,” added Shy Violet, tapping her finger on her chin.
“Well, sprite welcome parties are always a treat,” answered Indigo as the group passed by a large bush on the main road.
“Today will be such a treat for Rainbow and her friends as well,” murmured a voice concealed within the bush. Stormy snickered at her comeback, pleased to have a way to ruin Rainbow’s day. She couldn’t believe that Murky had actually let her go off on her own. He still wouldn’t let her bring Skydancer with her, but at least she had the freedom to move about without Murky watching over her shoulder. She didn’t feel so nervous, even though she was once again attempting to sabotage something of Rainbow’s. She stayed crouched in the bush, watching the group of Color Kids disappear. She turned around and focused her attention on the sprite house, which was covered in wet paint, gleaming in the sun. She grinned to herself. This task was almost too easy.
Deep in the Pits, Murky was tracking Stormy’s every move. Without her ever knowing, he’d attached a tracking device to her one night while she slept. It was kept until the puff that rose above her shoulder, a place where she’d never feel it. It was tiny, almost microscopic in size. “Yes, you take care of those Color Brats,” Murky sneered before cackling to himself. He may not be able to see Stormy’s actions, but he could track her location and listen to all her conversations.
The tracking device had been the only reason he’d agreed to let her go to Rainbow Land unassisted. She was stubborn and had wanted to take care of Rainbow on her own. Murky didn’t trust her without keeping an eye on her. The tracking device was the compromise, though Stormy didn’t know that. She had figured that Murky had allowed her to go after all. If worse came to worse, he could merely appear in Rainbow Land to finish the task she had failed out. However, there would be dire consequences for failure.
“Whatcha doing, Murky?” asked Lurky as he entered the laboratory and saw the new tracking equipment set up.
“Quiet you buffoon! I’m listening to this!”
Lurky got silent and listened carefully. “But Murky, I don’t hear nothing,” he replied.
“Just go away!” yelled Murky, effectively shooing Lurky from the room. He smirked and then turned back to his equipment. Static started to overtake the channel he was listening to, and he reached out to adjust the knobs, listening closely for Stormy’s voice. He was interested to see just how this mission would turn out. The best part was that none of it could be pinned on him.
Stormy resituated herself, sitting cross-legged behind the bush. She had enough time before Rainbow and the Color Kids returned to put her plan into action. She closed her eyes, tapping into her source of power. She began to sense out the nearest set of storm clouds, which were located on the edge of the Pits, just where she’d left them before. Raising her right hand, palm up, she coaxed them to cross that invisible boundary, coaxed them to her location in Rainbow Land. She felt the rumbling, knowing that they were heeding her call. It felt so good to be in charge.
She only opened her eyes when she knew that the clouds were directly overhead. She had made sure the fullest clouds rested over that lovely new coat of paint, gleaming in the sun. Well, she’d soon take care of that. With one last glance toward the Color Castle, Stormy let the clouds burst, and rain suddenly poured down. What had once been a bright and sunny sky was now dark, gloomy, and rainy. The rain fell hard; Stormy had no need for a gentle storm for this task. The pounding rhythm of water soothed her nerves. She watched closely as the new paint began to run. The bright orange ran in streaks down the side of the house, while some of the tan paint that had been on the roof dripped down as well. The colors mixed and mingled, forming an ugly sight. Rain splashed into the cans of paint outside, carelessly left uncovered since no one expected the sudden rainfall. Now the paint was nothing but a goopy mess.
Stormy covered her mouth to hide the giggling. It was just too funny to see. One minute, everything had been bright and sunny and the next, it had all been ruined. She couldn’t wait to see the looks on their faces when they saw the damage done. She worked to calm her laughter, to restore her demeanor. She’d not stay hidden long if someone heard a bush laughing! She turned her sights back to the Color Castle and waited for Rainbow and the Color Kids to return. The rain soaking her outfit didn’t bother her in the least. She’d wait all afternoon if necessary.
Murky sat in front of his tracking equipment, not sure of why Stormy was giggling uncontrollably. She’s going to be caught by Rainbow…what is so funny?! He attempted to listen closely, trying to discover any clues as to why she’d be laughing, but came up with nothing. He was confused and puzzled, and would be quite angry if Stormy failed because she couldn’t control her emotions.
Stormy didn’t have long before her wish was granted. Not long after she calmed herself down and quite giving off the idea of a laughing bush, she saw Rainbow and the Color Kids burst forth from the Color Castle. They ran quickly, right on past the bush that Stormy used for a cover and to the house they’d worked so hard on. Stormy quickly turned around, preparing to watch the scene that would unfold in front of her.
“Oh no!” exclaimed Rainbow as she laid eyes on the sprite house with its dripping, runny paint. She had dared to hope beyond hope that the rain had not affected the structure.
“Where’d this storm come from?” asked Red Butler. “It wasn’t supposed to rain today!”
“My morning calculations projected a zero percent chance of precipitation today,” answered Shy Violet.
“Then why is it raining?” asked Lala Orange in a soft voice.
“I… I’m not sure. There’s always a chance for deviation,” faltered Shy Violet.
“What do we do now?” asked Buddy Blue as he crossed his arms.
“Yuck! The paint is ruined!” interrupted Patty O’Green as she peered at the open cans.
“Rainbow’ll think of something,” stated Canary Yellow, trying to be positive.
“Everything’s okay on the inside,” reported Indigo as she opened the door.
All eyes rested on Rainbow, waiting for an answer. Rainbow looked from her friends to the sprite house. Deep down, she felt as though all the hard work had been for nothing, but she quickly banished that feeling. She wouldn’t allow herself to feel that way. Instead, she looked to her friends and took a deep breath before speaking. “We’ll wait until the rain stops and then we’ll paint the outside again. We can make up more paint to use. The inside of the house isn’t ruined, so Buddy, Indigo, Lala, and Canary can finish up the walls and furniture.” She looked around, watching her idea sink in.
“Rainbow’s right,” spoke up Canary Yellow. “We still have the inside of the house to work on. If we work together, it won’t take long to fix the outside of the house.
Rainbow smiled over at her friend. Leave it to Canary Yellow to put a positive spin on things. “It seems like a loss, but we can fix it.”
Red Butler, always ready to take charge when the situation called for it, called out, “Come on Kids. We can go to the Color Caves to get more crystals for the paint. We’ll get the paint ready while the others work on painting the inside.”
Red Butler’s team took off after him, ready to follow and tackle their new job. Rainbow watched as the crew who had been working indoors entered the sprite house and prepared to work. Things were all right for now. Sure, the rain hadn’t been a good thing, but they’d fix the problem soon enough.
From her bush spot, Stormy grumbled. Rainbow didn’t appear to be phased at all! She was actually smiling. Stormy had only set her back for the duration of the storm. They’d come back later on to finish the paint job. Darn it! she thought to herself. She waited until Rainbow had walked passed her bush before sneaking away. She slipped between sprite houses, checking to make sure she wasn’t seen before sneaking into the forest. She headed for the Pits, determined to come up with a task that would do more than just set Rainbow back. If only Murky would agree…
"If you're obsessed with your yesterday then you're destined to repeat it." - Ariel of Icon for Hire
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Chibi Rachy
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Re: Lost Storms/Chapter 14 (+pic)
I'ma be nice and post the next chapter a day early. I just finished Chapter 15, which was a big pain in the neck to complete. It was just moving along very slowly, but I have finally finished it, so you get to have Chapter 14. This is my latest favorite chapter because it's showcasing one of my best talents. What's that? Read and find out. Also, there's a companion fanart piece that goes along with this chapter, done by Fanchan. Scroll to the bottom to see!
Chapter 14 Darkest Desires
The sky was dark and grey, and thunder loomed overhead. The rumblings were a common occurrence. Murky glanced out the window, delighting in the weather, which was music to his ears. “Ahh…another perfectly retched day!” he exclaimed to himself. He jumped from the stool in front of the window and turned to his dwellings. It was a nice upgrade from the Pits, that was for sure. A quick bit of gloom had turned a once colorful, cheerful room into shades of grey. It was even more pleasant to know that this room had once belonged to Rainbow Brite, the little imp who had once protected her precious Rainbow Land. Only, she’d failed in her quest and now, it all belonged to him. He chuckled at the memory of her fall and the loss of her precious Color Belt.
He glanced down at his own waist, where a simple black belt was tied around his waist. It was amazing what a little gloom could do to something so legendary as the Color Belt. The belt responded to his gloom sprinkles, a modification of gloom and star sprinkles combined. The two items were a powerful combination, one that Murky did not hesitate to show off when the situation warranted it. He’d shown many a sprite and Color Kid very bluntly exactly what he meant.
Exiting the room, he walked down the hallway and descended the stairs into the lower section of the Color Castle, as it once was known. As Murky had detested colors, he’d quickly renamed it to Gloom Palace. It was a much more fitting name for a ruler such as himself. Right now, it was time to take care of a daily task, one he took much pleasure in. This part of day he looked forward to because it meant that he could hold everything he now claimed as his own over Rainbow Brite’s head.
Murky entered a room at the end of the hallway. The room was dark, just as he always kept it. He wanted to deprive her of one of her most prized senses. The colorful world she had once known was no more and Murky took all the more pleasure in denying her the sights of even the greys and blacks and whites he loves so much, except when he wanted to break her spirit. He felt about around the edge of the door for a switch. Flipping it, he bathed the room in a dim glow, just enough to see his prisoner, who squinted and closed her eyes at the sudden bit of light.
Rainbow Brite was chained to the wall with a heavy metal collar around her neck. The chain was a mere five feet in length. Rainbow had enough room to walk back and forth, as well as sit. She didn’t have the luxury of going far. The collar was not reinforced with gloom, as Murky had decided not to take away Rainbow’s true emotions about his take over. He had instead decided to break her spirit the old fashioned way. It had taken awhile, but she had finally stopped believing there was a way to defeat Murky and take back her place as the protector of Rainbow Land. He had essentially achieved the same effect as the gloom variants he created, but unlike the gloom, which could wear off after a period of time, her broken spirit would not suddenly fix itself, would not suddenly wear off.
“Hello, prisoner,” he greeted her sadistically. “It’s a dismal day outside. Too bad you can’t see it. You’re missing out.”
Rainbow did not look up at him. Her blue eyes stayed focused on the cold floor, not acknowledging his presence. Her hair was disheveled and many pieces had fallen out of the ponytail she wore high on her head. Her hair ribbon with the star had ripped and was barely holding the pieces of hair inside. Her clothing was tattered, holes scattered across her dress. One of her suspender straps had broken, the fabric still hanging at her waist. Her boots were scuffed and dirty, a large hole on the toe end of the right boot. The left boot was loosing its sole, and was more holey than its mate. Despite turning everything else into gloomy shades, Murky had left her entire outfit colorful, wanting to always remind her of her once high place in Rainbow Land. She was covered in dirt and soot, the pale purple star gone from her cheek. She no longer had the blessing, and had lost that shortly after Murky began his reign.
“You should acknowledge your ruler when he speaks to you,” remarked Murky, kicking Rainbow’s side.
Rainbow looked up at him as he did so, blue eyes that had long ago lost their bright spark. She winced as he kicked her, but made no sound. She continued to look at him, waiting for what he’d say next. She did not smile or frown when he smirked at her. She had an idea of what he wanted her to do. It seemed as though enough time had passed since the last time it had occurred.
“We’re taking a trip,” stated Murky. “I want you to see what advances I’ve made in Rainbow Land since the last time you were allowed out.” Carefully, Murky took a key from inside his vest, placing it in a tiny hole on the wall. He turned it, releasing the chain that held Rainbow to the wall. He didn’t have to fear Rainbow trying to escape from his grasp. She’d long ago lost hope that anything could be done to stop Murky in his tracks. She stood there as Murky held the chain in his hand. She was his pet in essence.
Murky jerked roughly on the chain and Rainbow began to follow behind him. She’d never dare to walk in front of him. Instead, she followed, eyes on the ground. She’d let everyone down – the sprites, the Color Kids, Lady Brite… she hadn’t been strong enough to protect Rainbow Land, to protect her family. Now they were paying the price of her incompetence, suffering daily for Murky’s sake. It was only on these trips that Rainbow saw the changes taking place in Rainbow Land. A lone tear traveled down her dirty face. I’m sorry she thought to herself. I’m so sorry…
The first stop on the trip was right outside the Gloom Palace. Here, Murky handed off the chain leash so that he was free to talk and do things with both hands. Rainbow’s keeper became the one that had eventually overcome her in the end, proving that even her rainbow could never beat a persist source of evil. She looked at the girl who stared back at her, smirking. Stormy could never resist showing off her accomplishment. She readily took the chain from Murky and tugged on it. While Murky continued on his route, Stormy would jerk the chain every so often, causing Rainbow to skip over her steps, almost tripping. She concentrated on keeping her balance, knowing the fun Stormy would have if she fell, and knowing what Murky would say about her clumsiness.
Stormy tugged at the chain of the prisoner, taking joy each time she stumbled. Stormy wished she’d fall so that she could tease her more. It was a fun pastime, and Murky didn’t care what she did to Rainbow as long as she didn’t hurt her…too much, that is. She knew their next stop on the tour was enough to bring Rainbow to her knees and she enjoyed watching the pained expressions that would cross her face. Rainbow could never hide her emotions well, which made things all the more fun for Murky and Stormy. They trekked across the land, climbing into the mountainside. They stopped outside of the entrance to the Color Caves.
There had been times when Rainbow and the Color Kids had joked and laughed about what would happen if Murky got a hold of the Color Caves and turned it gloomy. No one had ever expected that he’d actually accomplish taking them. Rainbow looked down at the ground, kicking the small stones in the path. How ironic it was that he had finally gotten his way and destroyed everything Rainbow Land represented with a swift hand? She dreaded entering the Color Caves, fearing the sight that would be thrust upon her. She dug her heels into the dirt, trying to prolong her entrance as much as possible. It was no use; Stormy felt her resistance and gave a hard jerk on the chain. Rainbow lost her footing and flew forward, landing face first inside the Color Caves. She pulled herself to her feet quickly before Stormy could continue to jerk on the chain.
“Look around at your precious Color Brats now,” instructed Murky. When Rainbow would not look as he asked, he grabbed her chin and forced her to look around her. She watched as her friends used picks to get at the color crystal deep within the veins of the Caves. This place was still as colorful as ever. It was the only source of color in Rainbow Land. Murky had never infected the Color Caves with gloom once he learned that the potency of the crystals became much lower if they were affected by gloom variants before being mined. He waited until after the crystals had been mined before combining them with gloom.
The various states of array that the Color Kids were in showed that they didn’t fair much better than Rainbow under Murky’s rule. They were dirty, with ripped outfits. Sweat dripped down their faces as they raised callused hands to chip away at the rock. Exhaustion was evident in their faces, and they acted almost robotically. Murky had chosen to replace the sprites with the Color Kids. Sprites would extract the star sprinkles from the crystals or they worked as his personal servants. No Rainbow Land inhabitant had been safe from Murky’s terror. Sprites that had thought they’d no longer deal with an evil as great as the one that had ruled before Rainbow Brite defeated him found themselves back at the very beginning of the cycle.
“Look at your poor friends,” commented Murky. “See what they go through? See what they have to do because you couldn’t save them?”
Rainbow tried to avert her eyes once more, but Stormy jerked her chain. She was forced to work. A cry rang out and she immediately focused on the source. Patty O’Green had fallen to her knees, unaware of the color crystal shards that dug into her skin. She was breathing heavily, and her pick lay at her side.
“I… can’t…go on…” she slowly stated, breathing heavily with each pause.
“Get up you brat! You’ve barely started today’s work. Don’t tell me you’re already tired!” yelled Murky, moving in front of the Color Kid once in charge of everything green.
Patty O’Green did not look up at him. “I can’t… do anymore,” she whispered before she slumped to the ground, exhaustion overtaking her body. She had to rest before she worked herself to death. The rest of the Color Kids were in much the same state. Her friends looked at her, but went right back to work. They were gravely concerned for their friend, but did not wish to feel Murky’s wrath.
Rainbow absently reached out a hand toward Patty, wishing, hoping that she could do something. Murky smacked her hand away, a sneer on his face. “It’s too late for your precious friend. She got what she deserved. You got what you deserved. Let’s go.” Murky was tired of being in the Color Caves. It was time to move on. He’d had his fill here.
Stormy jerked hard on Rainbow’s chain and once again the trio set off. They descended the trail and headed back into Rainbow Land. Rainbow didn’t want to see anymore on this sadistic tour of Murky’s, but she knew he’d continue until they’d visited every location. His next stop was the sprite village, which was dead. Usually it was full of such mirth and joy, with young sprites dashing about and playing games. Now, there was not a sound to be heard.
“Isn’t the sound of silence a lovely sound?” asked Murky to no one in particular.
He led Rainbow to one of the sprite houses and had her peek inside. There the scene was much as she’d find in any of the houses. Groups of sprites were forced to test out Murky’s newest gloom variants. Other sprite groups would mix new variants and store them for later attacks if necessary. Rainbow tried to peel her eyes away from the window, not wanting to see the once bright and cheerful creatures doing this forced labor. They too had suffered under Murky’s rule, which was easily seen from their coats. Once bright and soft, their fur was now dirty and matted. Rainbow felt her head being pressed to the window and closed her eyes quickly, not wanting to see any more.
Quickly, she was jerked away and pulled along, as Murky continued on the trail. This time he lead her off toward an open field, which she recognized as the once lustrous Green Grange. Starlite was here, spreading Murky’s gloom variant around the land. No plant ever had a chance to reach its full potential. If the dark weather didn’t kill it, the gloom variant would stunt it.
Starlite had been reduced to a mere common horse. Rainbow’s once noble and proud steed had been broken as well. He no longer called himself “the most magnificent horse in the universe”, nor did he speak. He wouldn’t even speak to Rainbow, but his eyes told her all she needed to know. She’d let him down, just as she had the sprites and the Color Kids. She watched as he ran the field, a device emitting gloom as he did so. She knew that he saw Murky, but he did not look up. She couldn’t blame him.
“That silly horse of yours has come in handy,” commented Murky. “Lurky takes good care of his pet horsey. Isn’t that right, Stormy?”
Stormy looked to Murky. She was used to playing his silent partner, his secret weapon. He rarely called upon her to acknowledge anything, but when he did, she spoke up. “Of course. Lurky takes much better care of him than Rainbow ever could.”
“You see, Rainbow? Rainbow Land is much better off with me as its ruler. You were only getting in the way. That’s why I had Stormy take care of you once and for all. This land was meant for darkness, not colors. With me as ruler, Rainbow Land will become known around the galaxy. It will be a feared name.”
Rainbow could not ignore Murky. She wished she could block out his voice, block out his desires. She wished she could take her Color Belt back. She had many wishes, but none were meant to be true anymore. She would forever be Murky’s prisoner, forced to watch as her friends worked under his rule. She feared what might happen to them in the future. If only she’d not dismissed Murky as being silly. If only she’d kept a better eye on him and paid attention when he attacked Rainbow Land, they might not be in this mess. If only—
She was forced from her reverie by the all too familiar tugging on her chain. It appeared as though Murky was finished with her for the day and would return her to her room. Back along the main path the trio walked, passing the sprite houses once more. Murky entered the Gloom Palace, but did not lead Rainbow back to her room. Instead, he tossed the keys to Stormy over his shoulder. “I have other business to attend to. Lock her back up and then come see me,” he instructed before ascending the stairs.
Stormy took the keys and twirled them on her fingers as she jerked Rainbow along. She didn’t have to hold back on torturing Rainbow now. Murky wasn’t around to stop her. “How does it feel to be a prisoner?” she sneered. Rainbow didn’t answer, and this angered Stormy. “You should answer me. You’ve no reason not to.” Stormy considered what she had to use for ammo before replying once more. She leaned closer to Rainbow. “I’ll take good care of your friends… they’ll work and work for the rest of time… they’ll never bring color anywhere ever again. Isn’t that great?”
Meanwhile, Murky had secluded himself in one of his favorite rooms in the Gloom Palace. It had once been Shy Violet’s laboratory, but Murky had quickly made it his own. Books lined the walls and beakers of all sizes covered the tables. Murky hopped up onto a stool and looked at an open book directly in front of him. It would be his newest creation—a monster that would bow to his will and do as he commanded, one that would help him to conquer the universe.
Murky suddenly shot awake, throwing off his careful balance on the chair. He wobbled and teetered before crashing to the floor. He looked around him. I’m back in the Pits! I should be… wait… that was all just a dream. As realization dawned on Murky, he tried to recall the dream, but only could remember bits and pieces. The end of the dream especially captivated his attention. A monster that bends to my will and will conquer the galaxy…I shall create my own! What was the rest of that dream about anyway? Murky tried to remember and recall the dream, but it was fading fast from his memory. He focused on what he did remember and decided to work with that. Pulling a different book toward him, he began jotting down notes and ideas. “This could be my second greatest plan of all time!” he exclaimed to himself as he wrote feverishly.
Dream forgotten, Murky worked long into the night on his idea, planning out what he might try to do to recreate it. He’d spend the night pouring through various tomes, looking for the answers he sought. For this brief night, defeating Rainbow Brite was a forgotten task, pushed aside to make way for this new idea that would almost certainly help bring Rainbow Land down.
And here's the fanart piece I promised. As I said, Fanchan did this piece. When I showed her the description for Rainbow in this chapter, she was inspired, and wanted to draw it. This is the result and I do love it
Chapter 14 Darkest Desires
The sky was dark and grey, and thunder loomed overhead. The rumblings were a common occurrence. Murky glanced out the window, delighting in the weather, which was music to his ears. “Ahh…another perfectly retched day!” he exclaimed to himself. He jumped from the stool in front of the window and turned to his dwellings. It was a nice upgrade from the Pits, that was for sure. A quick bit of gloom had turned a once colorful, cheerful room into shades of grey. It was even more pleasant to know that this room had once belonged to Rainbow Brite, the little imp who had once protected her precious Rainbow Land. Only, she’d failed in her quest and now, it all belonged to him. He chuckled at the memory of her fall and the loss of her precious Color Belt.
He glanced down at his own waist, where a simple black belt was tied around his waist. It was amazing what a little gloom could do to something so legendary as the Color Belt. The belt responded to his gloom sprinkles, a modification of gloom and star sprinkles combined. The two items were a powerful combination, one that Murky did not hesitate to show off when the situation warranted it. He’d shown many a sprite and Color Kid very bluntly exactly what he meant.
Exiting the room, he walked down the hallway and descended the stairs into the lower section of the Color Castle, as it once was known. As Murky had detested colors, he’d quickly renamed it to Gloom Palace. It was a much more fitting name for a ruler such as himself. Right now, it was time to take care of a daily task, one he took much pleasure in. This part of day he looked forward to because it meant that he could hold everything he now claimed as his own over Rainbow Brite’s head.
Murky entered a room at the end of the hallway. The room was dark, just as he always kept it. He wanted to deprive her of one of her most prized senses. The colorful world she had once known was no more and Murky took all the more pleasure in denying her the sights of even the greys and blacks and whites he loves so much, except when he wanted to break her spirit. He felt about around the edge of the door for a switch. Flipping it, he bathed the room in a dim glow, just enough to see his prisoner, who squinted and closed her eyes at the sudden bit of light.
Rainbow Brite was chained to the wall with a heavy metal collar around her neck. The chain was a mere five feet in length. Rainbow had enough room to walk back and forth, as well as sit. She didn’t have the luxury of going far. The collar was not reinforced with gloom, as Murky had decided not to take away Rainbow’s true emotions about his take over. He had instead decided to break her spirit the old fashioned way. It had taken awhile, but she had finally stopped believing there was a way to defeat Murky and take back her place as the protector of Rainbow Land. He had essentially achieved the same effect as the gloom variants he created, but unlike the gloom, which could wear off after a period of time, her broken spirit would not suddenly fix itself, would not suddenly wear off.
“Hello, prisoner,” he greeted her sadistically. “It’s a dismal day outside. Too bad you can’t see it. You’re missing out.”
Rainbow did not look up at him. Her blue eyes stayed focused on the cold floor, not acknowledging his presence. Her hair was disheveled and many pieces had fallen out of the ponytail she wore high on her head. Her hair ribbon with the star had ripped and was barely holding the pieces of hair inside. Her clothing was tattered, holes scattered across her dress. One of her suspender straps had broken, the fabric still hanging at her waist. Her boots were scuffed and dirty, a large hole on the toe end of the right boot. The left boot was loosing its sole, and was more holey than its mate. Despite turning everything else into gloomy shades, Murky had left her entire outfit colorful, wanting to always remind her of her once high place in Rainbow Land. She was covered in dirt and soot, the pale purple star gone from her cheek. She no longer had the blessing, and had lost that shortly after Murky began his reign.
“You should acknowledge your ruler when he speaks to you,” remarked Murky, kicking Rainbow’s side.
Rainbow looked up at him as he did so, blue eyes that had long ago lost their bright spark. She winced as he kicked her, but made no sound. She continued to look at him, waiting for what he’d say next. She did not smile or frown when he smirked at her. She had an idea of what he wanted her to do. It seemed as though enough time had passed since the last time it had occurred.
“We’re taking a trip,” stated Murky. “I want you to see what advances I’ve made in Rainbow Land since the last time you were allowed out.” Carefully, Murky took a key from inside his vest, placing it in a tiny hole on the wall. He turned it, releasing the chain that held Rainbow to the wall. He didn’t have to fear Rainbow trying to escape from his grasp. She’d long ago lost hope that anything could be done to stop Murky in his tracks. She stood there as Murky held the chain in his hand. She was his pet in essence.
Murky jerked roughly on the chain and Rainbow began to follow behind him. She’d never dare to walk in front of him. Instead, she followed, eyes on the ground. She’d let everyone down – the sprites, the Color Kids, Lady Brite… she hadn’t been strong enough to protect Rainbow Land, to protect her family. Now they were paying the price of her incompetence, suffering daily for Murky’s sake. It was only on these trips that Rainbow saw the changes taking place in Rainbow Land. A lone tear traveled down her dirty face. I’m sorry she thought to herself. I’m so sorry…
The first stop on the trip was right outside the Gloom Palace. Here, Murky handed off the chain leash so that he was free to talk and do things with both hands. Rainbow’s keeper became the one that had eventually overcome her in the end, proving that even her rainbow could never beat a persist source of evil. She looked at the girl who stared back at her, smirking. Stormy could never resist showing off her accomplishment. She readily took the chain from Murky and tugged on it. While Murky continued on his route, Stormy would jerk the chain every so often, causing Rainbow to skip over her steps, almost tripping. She concentrated on keeping her balance, knowing the fun Stormy would have if she fell, and knowing what Murky would say about her clumsiness.
Stormy tugged at the chain of the prisoner, taking joy each time she stumbled. Stormy wished she’d fall so that she could tease her more. It was a fun pastime, and Murky didn’t care what she did to Rainbow as long as she didn’t hurt her…too much, that is. She knew their next stop on the tour was enough to bring Rainbow to her knees and she enjoyed watching the pained expressions that would cross her face. Rainbow could never hide her emotions well, which made things all the more fun for Murky and Stormy. They trekked across the land, climbing into the mountainside. They stopped outside of the entrance to the Color Caves.
There had been times when Rainbow and the Color Kids had joked and laughed about what would happen if Murky got a hold of the Color Caves and turned it gloomy. No one had ever expected that he’d actually accomplish taking them. Rainbow looked down at the ground, kicking the small stones in the path. How ironic it was that he had finally gotten his way and destroyed everything Rainbow Land represented with a swift hand? She dreaded entering the Color Caves, fearing the sight that would be thrust upon her. She dug her heels into the dirt, trying to prolong her entrance as much as possible. It was no use; Stormy felt her resistance and gave a hard jerk on the chain. Rainbow lost her footing and flew forward, landing face first inside the Color Caves. She pulled herself to her feet quickly before Stormy could continue to jerk on the chain.
“Look around at your precious Color Brats now,” instructed Murky. When Rainbow would not look as he asked, he grabbed her chin and forced her to look around her. She watched as her friends used picks to get at the color crystal deep within the veins of the Caves. This place was still as colorful as ever. It was the only source of color in Rainbow Land. Murky had never infected the Color Caves with gloom once he learned that the potency of the crystals became much lower if they were affected by gloom variants before being mined. He waited until after the crystals had been mined before combining them with gloom.
The various states of array that the Color Kids were in showed that they didn’t fair much better than Rainbow under Murky’s rule. They were dirty, with ripped outfits. Sweat dripped down their faces as they raised callused hands to chip away at the rock. Exhaustion was evident in their faces, and they acted almost robotically. Murky had chosen to replace the sprites with the Color Kids. Sprites would extract the star sprinkles from the crystals or they worked as his personal servants. No Rainbow Land inhabitant had been safe from Murky’s terror. Sprites that had thought they’d no longer deal with an evil as great as the one that had ruled before Rainbow Brite defeated him found themselves back at the very beginning of the cycle.
“Look at your poor friends,” commented Murky. “See what they go through? See what they have to do because you couldn’t save them?”
Rainbow tried to avert her eyes once more, but Stormy jerked her chain. She was forced to work. A cry rang out and she immediately focused on the source. Patty O’Green had fallen to her knees, unaware of the color crystal shards that dug into her skin. She was breathing heavily, and her pick lay at her side.
“I… can’t…go on…” she slowly stated, breathing heavily with each pause.
“Get up you brat! You’ve barely started today’s work. Don’t tell me you’re already tired!” yelled Murky, moving in front of the Color Kid once in charge of everything green.
Patty O’Green did not look up at him. “I can’t… do anymore,” she whispered before she slumped to the ground, exhaustion overtaking her body. She had to rest before she worked herself to death. The rest of the Color Kids were in much the same state. Her friends looked at her, but went right back to work. They were gravely concerned for their friend, but did not wish to feel Murky’s wrath.
Rainbow absently reached out a hand toward Patty, wishing, hoping that she could do something. Murky smacked her hand away, a sneer on his face. “It’s too late for your precious friend. She got what she deserved. You got what you deserved. Let’s go.” Murky was tired of being in the Color Caves. It was time to move on. He’d had his fill here.
Stormy jerked hard on Rainbow’s chain and once again the trio set off. They descended the trail and headed back into Rainbow Land. Rainbow didn’t want to see anymore on this sadistic tour of Murky’s, but she knew he’d continue until they’d visited every location. His next stop was the sprite village, which was dead. Usually it was full of such mirth and joy, with young sprites dashing about and playing games. Now, there was not a sound to be heard.
“Isn’t the sound of silence a lovely sound?” asked Murky to no one in particular.
He led Rainbow to one of the sprite houses and had her peek inside. There the scene was much as she’d find in any of the houses. Groups of sprites were forced to test out Murky’s newest gloom variants. Other sprite groups would mix new variants and store them for later attacks if necessary. Rainbow tried to peel her eyes away from the window, not wanting to see the once bright and cheerful creatures doing this forced labor. They too had suffered under Murky’s rule, which was easily seen from their coats. Once bright and soft, their fur was now dirty and matted. Rainbow felt her head being pressed to the window and closed her eyes quickly, not wanting to see any more.
Quickly, she was jerked away and pulled along, as Murky continued on the trail. This time he lead her off toward an open field, which she recognized as the once lustrous Green Grange. Starlite was here, spreading Murky’s gloom variant around the land. No plant ever had a chance to reach its full potential. If the dark weather didn’t kill it, the gloom variant would stunt it.
Starlite had been reduced to a mere common horse. Rainbow’s once noble and proud steed had been broken as well. He no longer called himself “the most magnificent horse in the universe”, nor did he speak. He wouldn’t even speak to Rainbow, but his eyes told her all she needed to know. She’d let him down, just as she had the sprites and the Color Kids. She watched as he ran the field, a device emitting gloom as he did so. She knew that he saw Murky, but he did not look up. She couldn’t blame him.
“That silly horse of yours has come in handy,” commented Murky. “Lurky takes good care of his pet horsey. Isn’t that right, Stormy?”
Stormy looked to Murky. She was used to playing his silent partner, his secret weapon. He rarely called upon her to acknowledge anything, but when he did, she spoke up. “Of course. Lurky takes much better care of him than Rainbow ever could.”
“You see, Rainbow? Rainbow Land is much better off with me as its ruler. You were only getting in the way. That’s why I had Stormy take care of you once and for all. This land was meant for darkness, not colors. With me as ruler, Rainbow Land will become known around the galaxy. It will be a feared name.”
Rainbow could not ignore Murky. She wished she could block out his voice, block out his desires. She wished she could take her Color Belt back. She had many wishes, but none were meant to be true anymore. She would forever be Murky’s prisoner, forced to watch as her friends worked under his rule. She feared what might happen to them in the future. If only she’d not dismissed Murky as being silly. If only she’d kept a better eye on him and paid attention when he attacked Rainbow Land, they might not be in this mess. If only—
She was forced from her reverie by the all too familiar tugging on her chain. It appeared as though Murky was finished with her for the day and would return her to her room. Back along the main path the trio walked, passing the sprite houses once more. Murky entered the Gloom Palace, but did not lead Rainbow back to her room. Instead, he tossed the keys to Stormy over his shoulder. “I have other business to attend to. Lock her back up and then come see me,” he instructed before ascending the stairs.
Stormy took the keys and twirled them on her fingers as she jerked Rainbow along. She didn’t have to hold back on torturing Rainbow now. Murky wasn’t around to stop her. “How does it feel to be a prisoner?” she sneered. Rainbow didn’t answer, and this angered Stormy. “You should answer me. You’ve no reason not to.” Stormy considered what she had to use for ammo before replying once more. She leaned closer to Rainbow. “I’ll take good care of your friends… they’ll work and work for the rest of time… they’ll never bring color anywhere ever again. Isn’t that great?”
Meanwhile, Murky had secluded himself in one of his favorite rooms in the Gloom Palace. It had once been Shy Violet’s laboratory, but Murky had quickly made it his own. Books lined the walls and beakers of all sizes covered the tables. Murky hopped up onto a stool and looked at an open book directly in front of him. It would be his newest creation—a monster that would bow to his will and do as he commanded, one that would help him to conquer the universe.
Murky suddenly shot awake, throwing off his careful balance on the chair. He wobbled and teetered before crashing to the floor. He looked around him. I’m back in the Pits! I should be… wait… that was all just a dream. As realization dawned on Murky, he tried to recall the dream, but only could remember bits and pieces. The end of the dream especially captivated his attention. A monster that bends to my will and will conquer the galaxy…I shall create my own! What was the rest of that dream about anyway? Murky tried to remember and recall the dream, but it was fading fast from his memory. He focused on what he did remember and decided to work with that. Pulling a different book toward him, he began jotting down notes and ideas. “This could be my second greatest plan of all time!” he exclaimed to himself as he wrote feverishly.
Dream forgotten, Murky worked long into the night on his idea, planning out what he might try to do to recreate it. He’d spend the night pouring through various tomes, looking for the answers he sought. For this brief night, defeating Rainbow Brite was a forgotten task, pushed aside to make way for this new idea that would almost certainly help bring Rainbow Land down.
And here's the fanart piece I promised. As I said, Fanchan did this piece. When I showed her the description for Rainbow in this chapter, she was inspired, and wanted to draw it. This is the result and I do love it
"If you're obsessed with your yesterday then you're destined to repeat it." - Ariel of Icon for Hire
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Chibi Rachy
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Lost Storms/Chapter 15
Okay so I haven't updated this in a very long time. The apartment and moving zapped my energy and will to write, but I think I'm finally settled in enough that I can get back to working on my projects. Of course, I can't promise much since I'm soon to have a fulltime teaching position. I'm hoping that I'll still be able to write because I have direly missed doing so. I've just not had the energy to, which is a poor excuse. Anyway, here's chapter 15.
Chapter 15
Stormy dashed away from the Color Caves, laughing to herself. She couldn’t believe the latest task that Murky had given her, but she’d completed it, regardless. It had seemed very silly at the time. She hadn’t realized how funny it would be. She could still hear the shouts and yells from behind her, but no one knew that she was behind the prank. Stormy stopped behind an outcropping of rocks and tried to catch her breath before looping back around to the Pits. It had been an interesting morning, that was for sure.
~ Flashback ~
Stormy crept up to the Color Caves, around to the back entrance that Murky had showed her. Murky had given her another task to prove herself, and Stormy thought he was kidding. It seemed so simple, so easy. Murky’s words echoed in her head. Scare the sprites with your powers… There were no other instructions besides that. Murky seemed distracted by something and had soon shut himself in his laboratory to work. Stormy was left to take care of the task, knowing that she had to complete it. She had felt a tug in her body, and knew she should head to Rainbow Land. She had walked faster when she had heard the unmistakable sound of Lurky’s voice, calling for her. Lurky was always trying to convince her to join his games.
Now she stood near the back entrance, and pondered her task. Even if it was simple, she wanted to do it right. She’d much rather be fighting Rainbow Brite. What did the sprites matter when that girl kept spreading color around Rainbow Land? One day Stormy would show her exactly what she could do. The day she defeated Rainbow would be the day that Murky would take over Rainbow Land. What Stormy didn’t realize was that over the years, she had slowly begun to share Murky’s goal. She wanted to defeat the girl of color and get rid of all the brightness. She may not hate it as much as Murky, but it was annoying. Besides, such bright colors weren’t involved in her storms, unless you counted the bright flashes of yellow when the lightning struck. Therefore, Rainbow wasn’t needed.
Shielding her eyes, Stormy glanced up at the sky. The sun shone brightly, and puffy clouds dotted the blue sky. She closed her eyes and felt out the clouds, searching for their storm potential. She was disappointed with the levels she found, but the clouds would do for what she wanted. The amount of rainfall they could produce wouldn’t matter this time around. She only needed the thunder, and possibly the lightning. She opened her eyes and listened to the voices around her, the happy chattering of the sprites mining color crystal. The voices mingled with those of the Color Kids on duty, but Stormy didn’t care who was with the sprites.
Pulling the clouds toward her, Stormy began to direct their movement over the Color Caves. It was a slow process because she didn’t want it to see so sudden. Slowly, the clouds blocked out the sunny sky and the day became grey. Once the clouds were in position, Stormy listened once more. She couldn’t hear individual conversations, but she knew that someone had to notice the change in the weather all of a sudden. She raised a hand to the sky, and began the first of many rumblings of thunder. She intertwined this with sudden bursts of lightning that would make anyone jump from fear.
She could hear the sprites crying out in surprise and grinned to herself. This was too easy. The hardest part was being patient. She waited for a few moments before continuing her torment. She heard the sprites cry out once more and heard the Color Kids trying to calm them down. She giggled. She conjured up a particularly large boom, once that echoed throughout the Color Caves. She was rewarded with more screams and the distinct dropping of pick axes.
Stormy couldn’t remember how long she continued to scare the sprites, but it was enough to satisfy her. By the time she had finished, she couldn’t hear any sounds of mining from within the mines, but she did hear the chatter of scared sprites. She heard the voices of the Color Kids trying to calm them down without much success. She turned away from the Color Caves, smirking. There wouldn’t be much work completed today.
~ End Flashback ~
Murky didn’t look up when Stormy entered his laboratory. He was too busy jotting down notes and equations into a new book of his for his newest project idea. It was a rough idea, but it would be a marvelous creation to use on Rainbow Land to enforce his laws once he became the new ruler. He only looked up when his pen ran out of ink. He replaced it in the inkwell and noticed Stormy waiting to catch his attention, her eyes focused on him. “I take it you scared the sprites?” he asked.
“Yes. They don’t like thunder or lightning,” replied Stormy. “They yelled and ran about. The Color Kids couldn’t calm them down. I don’t think they’ll be mining much longer today.” Stormy looked at the floor. Suddenly her fun didn’t seem so grand. It was just some silly task that Murky had given her to prove herself. It didn’t really matter to him.
Murky rested his elbows on the table and looked at the girl who stood before him. Then he looked back down at his notes for his latest project. It would make a nice addition to his future kingdom. He’d combine the two and then he’d be unstoppable. The thought made him laugh to himself. He then focused on Stormy once more. “Good. I have your next task. I’ve found out that the Rainbow brat is going on a night picnic tonight to see the stars.” Murky made a face as he spoke, finding the entire idea disgusting. “She’s going to see the stars with her friends,” he mocked, twirling a finger about before pointing it directly at Stormy. “You’re going to ruin it. Make it rain, block the clouds, just ruin her good time.”
“Where will they be?”
Murky rubbed his chin. “I’m not sure. You’ll have to find that out yourself. You can do that, can’t you?” He glared at her.
Anger started to well up inside Stormy, but she merely acknowledged Murky, answering his question. “Yes.”
“Good. Then go to Rainbow Land tonight when the moon begins to rise and follow them. Then ruin their fun.”
“I will,” answered Stormy, nodding.
“Then go. Keep in mind you’re not to fail,” reminded Murky as he took his pen from the inkwell and went back to writing down notes. He smirked at his newest notes and once again conjured the image of his potential creation in his mind.
Stormy turned and left the laboratory. Another silly task. All part of the idea of “proving herself”. She wanted to get things over with. Why wait and then attack Rainbow Brite? Why not now? She smacked her hand against the wall. Part of her wanted to attack Rainbow tonight instead of spoiling some picnic. Another part of her refused to let her act on it. She didn’t understand the conflicting emotions.
That evening Stormy snuck off to Rainbow Land long before the sun set. Unlike Murky, she wasn’t sure of the time of day in Rainbow Land compared to the Pits. She left with plenty of time to spare, just in case. She wasn’t going to mess up. As she crossed over into Rainbow Land, she felt a sigh of relief escape her lips. Now that she was away from Murky, she could take care of things her own way. She kept to the trees, making her way toward the Color Castle. The sun was just beginning to set; she could tell she’d be waiting for a little while until darkness enclosed the land.
Sprites were out and about, enjoying the sunset and spending time with their families. This made it harder for Stormy to sneak past without being seen. She had to settle for a bush farther away, unable to get any closer. She picked the tiny sticks and leaves from her hair and settled in, eyes on the Color Castle through a small hole within the bush. She would be able to see Rainbow and the Color Kids crossing the bridge to leave, and then follow them wherever they were headed to. She ignored the dull pain in her knees as she stayed in her crouched position, constantly watching the Color Castle.
Time passed and the sun set. Stars dotted the sky, along with the moon that providing a beam of natural light. It was a simple sky, white stars and white moon. Stormy stifled a yawn and tried to return feeling to her legs. She noticed movement out of the corner of her eye and looked back to the Color Castle. Rainbow was leading the Color Kids across the bridge that connected the Castle to the main land. Stormy saw that each of them carried something. The group turned left and began walking toward a large meadow.
Rising to her feet slowly, Stormy stretched and tried to work the feeling back into her legs. It felt funny to try to walk after the amount of time she’d spent hiding in the bushes. She glanced around before exiting the cover of the bush. She heard a snap! as she stepped forward and winced. She glanced around to see if anyone had heard her. Seeing no one, she took off, keeping to the shadows, her outfit blending in, save for her lilac hair.
“This spot is perfect!” commented Rainbow as she stopped atop the small grassy knoll. “Let’s have our picnic here tonight.”
Red Butler stepped forward, a red and white checkered blanket beneath his right arm. “Buddy and I will set up the blanket.” He began unfolding it and handed a side to Buddy Blue, who’d set down the basket he’d carried with him. The two boys worked together to finish unfolding and spreading the large blanket over the hill. Once it was laid out, everyone else took a seat, setting their picnic contribution in front of themselves.
“I brought banana bread,” spoke Canary Yellow, pulling a covering off a large plate to reveal the sliced fruit bread.
“I’ve brought some cherry pie,” stated Red Butler. “Lala Orange helped me make it after I picked all the cherries.” He smiled proudly at his cooking accomplishment.
“I have blueberries,” said Buddy Blue, taking the cloth off the top of his basket.
“Oranges,” called Lala Orange.
“I found some delicious limes,” answered Patty O’Green with a glint in her eyes.
“Plums make for a tasty snack,” commented Indigo, placing her basket into the center.
“Grapes are both delicious and healthy, as well as our garden yielded a plentiful bounty,” remarked Shy Violet.
“And I made a fruit punch to wash it all down with,” finished Rainbow, pointing to a jug and a basket that held cups.
From the bottom of the knoll, Stormy watched the group, concealed in the shadows and half hidden behind a large tree. She heard the laughter that floated off the top of the knoll, and felt strange inside, some new feeling that she had no words for. She clenched her fists together and released them slowly, only to clench them tighter in the next few moments as the laughter became louder. I need to take care of this picnic… she reminded herself, forcing the feeling aside to focus on her task at hand.
She looked to the starry sky and began to observe her surroundings, and what she was capable of doing. She could make out a few tiny wisps of clouds in the distance by squinting. Realizing that she was better off to use her powers instead, she closed her eyes and offered up a hand. There… behind me… I can move them from the Pits. They’ll soak up some more water on the way, which will be perfect… Stormy acted on her thoughts as she turned around, using a “come hither” motion to bring the clouds to her. The clouds obeyed; as they reached the edges near the knoll, Stormy slowed their speed, causing them to move in slowly. The sky that was once bespeckled with light became dark and overcast. She opened her eyes and listened for a change in conversation.
It suddenly became quiet on the knoll and Stormy grinned to herself. She would watch for a little longer to see what would happen. If all else failed, there was always the rain route. The clouds she had called had just enough water inside to create a small rain.
Rainbow was reaching for another piece of banana bread when she heard Lala Orange gasp. “Hey, what happened to the stars?” asked Lala Orange.
All the Color Kids looked up at the sky, now darker and without the tiny pinpricks of light. “That’s strange,” commented Shy Violet. “None of my predictions called for a cloudy night sky. It was supposed to be clear.”
“Do you think they’ll go away soon?” asked Indigo.
“I don’t know,” answered Rainbow. “Maybe they will and then we can see the stars again.”
Stormy heard the hushed conversation on the knoll, but could not understand what was being said. All she knew was that no one left, no one seemed mad, nothing. She felt annoyed and without thinking, unleashed the storm that had built up inside the clouds. This time, she heard cries of surprise and saw plenty of movement. She giggled to herself. That was much better.
“We need to get out of the rain,” said Red Butler.
“Let’s go back to the Color Castle. It’s nice and dry there,” added Patty O’Green.
The Color Kids and Rainbow quickly covered and packed up their picnic gear. The squelching of their boots could be heard as they ran for the Color Castle, slipping and sliding in the soft, muddy areas. Stormy watched as they retreated and silently followed them back to the Color Castle. No one noticed the lone girl following behind them. Everyone was more concerned with getting out of the rain and being dry once more.
Stormy watched as the group headed down the main road that lead past the sprite houses. She stayed where she was, content with how the evening had turned out. She was about to turn around and head for the direction of the Pits, when she heard one of the girls cry out. She turned quickly, and caught Rainbow sliding on a patch of mud before falling face first into it. As Rainbow’s friends gathered around her, concerned, Stormy giggled, a little too loudly.
“What was that?” asked Canary Yellow.
“I don’t know, but whatever it is, it’s scary,” replied Indigo.
Rainbow pulled herself to her feet as both Buddy Blue and Red Butler held onto her hands. “It’s probably just the wind playing tricks,” she stated as she brushed some of the mud from her dress.
Stormy clamped a hand over her mouth. In her enjoyment, she’d forgotten to act quietly. She didn’t need Rainbow discovering her identity before it was time. Quietly, she back peddled into the forest, disappearing from sight. As soon as she was far enough away from the sprite homes, she ran quickly, racing home.
The storm stopped as quickly as it had started, but by that time, no one was interested in a night picnic anymore. Much of the food was wet, and the bread and pie were soggy from all the water before being covered up. Each of the Color Kids had sought drier clothing while Rainbow cleaned up the mud that covered her front. It would be awhile before anyone would try to have a night picnic without making sure that no bad weather lurked near. Stars twinkled in the sky above the Color Castle, but no one even peeked out a window to watch the spectacle. Instead, beds were sought, a place of warmth and refuge.
Chapter 15
Stormy dashed away from the Color Caves, laughing to herself. She couldn’t believe the latest task that Murky had given her, but she’d completed it, regardless. It had seemed very silly at the time. She hadn’t realized how funny it would be. She could still hear the shouts and yells from behind her, but no one knew that she was behind the prank. Stormy stopped behind an outcropping of rocks and tried to catch her breath before looping back around to the Pits. It had been an interesting morning, that was for sure.
~ Flashback ~
Stormy crept up to the Color Caves, around to the back entrance that Murky had showed her. Murky had given her another task to prove herself, and Stormy thought he was kidding. It seemed so simple, so easy. Murky’s words echoed in her head. Scare the sprites with your powers… There were no other instructions besides that. Murky seemed distracted by something and had soon shut himself in his laboratory to work. Stormy was left to take care of the task, knowing that she had to complete it. She had felt a tug in her body, and knew she should head to Rainbow Land. She had walked faster when she had heard the unmistakable sound of Lurky’s voice, calling for her. Lurky was always trying to convince her to join his games.
Now she stood near the back entrance, and pondered her task. Even if it was simple, she wanted to do it right. She’d much rather be fighting Rainbow Brite. What did the sprites matter when that girl kept spreading color around Rainbow Land? One day Stormy would show her exactly what she could do. The day she defeated Rainbow would be the day that Murky would take over Rainbow Land. What Stormy didn’t realize was that over the years, she had slowly begun to share Murky’s goal. She wanted to defeat the girl of color and get rid of all the brightness. She may not hate it as much as Murky, but it was annoying. Besides, such bright colors weren’t involved in her storms, unless you counted the bright flashes of yellow when the lightning struck. Therefore, Rainbow wasn’t needed.
Shielding her eyes, Stormy glanced up at the sky. The sun shone brightly, and puffy clouds dotted the blue sky. She closed her eyes and felt out the clouds, searching for their storm potential. She was disappointed with the levels she found, but the clouds would do for what she wanted. The amount of rainfall they could produce wouldn’t matter this time around. She only needed the thunder, and possibly the lightning. She opened her eyes and listened to the voices around her, the happy chattering of the sprites mining color crystal. The voices mingled with those of the Color Kids on duty, but Stormy didn’t care who was with the sprites.
Pulling the clouds toward her, Stormy began to direct their movement over the Color Caves. It was a slow process because she didn’t want it to see so sudden. Slowly, the clouds blocked out the sunny sky and the day became grey. Once the clouds were in position, Stormy listened once more. She couldn’t hear individual conversations, but she knew that someone had to notice the change in the weather all of a sudden. She raised a hand to the sky, and began the first of many rumblings of thunder. She intertwined this with sudden bursts of lightning that would make anyone jump from fear.
She could hear the sprites crying out in surprise and grinned to herself. This was too easy. The hardest part was being patient. She waited for a few moments before continuing her torment. She heard the sprites cry out once more and heard the Color Kids trying to calm them down. She giggled. She conjured up a particularly large boom, once that echoed throughout the Color Caves. She was rewarded with more screams and the distinct dropping of pick axes.
Stormy couldn’t remember how long she continued to scare the sprites, but it was enough to satisfy her. By the time she had finished, she couldn’t hear any sounds of mining from within the mines, but she did hear the chatter of scared sprites. She heard the voices of the Color Kids trying to calm them down without much success. She turned away from the Color Caves, smirking. There wouldn’t be much work completed today.
~ End Flashback ~
Murky didn’t look up when Stormy entered his laboratory. He was too busy jotting down notes and equations into a new book of his for his newest project idea. It was a rough idea, but it would be a marvelous creation to use on Rainbow Land to enforce his laws once he became the new ruler. He only looked up when his pen ran out of ink. He replaced it in the inkwell and noticed Stormy waiting to catch his attention, her eyes focused on him. “I take it you scared the sprites?” he asked.
“Yes. They don’t like thunder or lightning,” replied Stormy. “They yelled and ran about. The Color Kids couldn’t calm them down. I don’t think they’ll be mining much longer today.” Stormy looked at the floor. Suddenly her fun didn’t seem so grand. It was just some silly task that Murky had given her to prove herself. It didn’t really matter to him.
Murky rested his elbows on the table and looked at the girl who stood before him. Then he looked back down at his notes for his latest project. It would make a nice addition to his future kingdom. He’d combine the two and then he’d be unstoppable. The thought made him laugh to himself. He then focused on Stormy once more. “Good. I have your next task. I’ve found out that the Rainbow brat is going on a night picnic tonight to see the stars.” Murky made a face as he spoke, finding the entire idea disgusting. “She’s going to see the stars with her friends,” he mocked, twirling a finger about before pointing it directly at Stormy. “You’re going to ruin it. Make it rain, block the clouds, just ruin her good time.”
“Where will they be?”
Murky rubbed his chin. “I’m not sure. You’ll have to find that out yourself. You can do that, can’t you?” He glared at her.
Anger started to well up inside Stormy, but she merely acknowledged Murky, answering his question. “Yes.”
“Good. Then go to Rainbow Land tonight when the moon begins to rise and follow them. Then ruin their fun.”
“I will,” answered Stormy, nodding.
“Then go. Keep in mind you’re not to fail,” reminded Murky as he took his pen from the inkwell and went back to writing down notes. He smirked at his newest notes and once again conjured the image of his potential creation in his mind.
Stormy turned and left the laboratory. Another silly task. All part of the idea of “proving herself”. She wanted to get things over with. Why wait and then attack Rainbow Brite? Why not now? She smacked her hand against the wall. Part of her wanted to attack Rainbow tonight instead of spoiling some picnic. Another part of her refused to let her act on it. She didn’t understand the conflicting emotions.
That evening Stormy snuck off to Rainbow Land long before the sun set. Unlike Murky, she wasn’t sure of the time of day in Rainbow Land compared to the Pits. She left with plenty of time to spare, just in case. She wasn’t going to mess up. As she crossed over into Rainbow Land, she felt a sigh of relief escape her lips. Now that she was away from Murky, she could take care of things her own way. She kept to the trees, making her way toward the Color Castle. The sun was just beginning to set; she could tell she’d be waiting for a little while until darkness enclosed the land.
Sprites were out and about, enjoying the sunset and spending time with their families. This made it harder for Stormy to sneak past without being seen. She had to settle for a bush farther away, unable to get any closer. She picked the tiny sticks and leaves from her hair and settled in, eyes on the Color Castle through a small hole within the bush. She would be able to see Rainbow and the Color Kids crossing the bridge to leave, and then follow them wherever they were headed to. She ignored the dull pain in her knees as she stayed in her crouched position, constantly watching the Color Castle.
Time passed and the sun set. Stars dotted the sky, along with the moon that providing a beam of natural light. It was a simple sky, white stars and white moon. Stormy stifled a yawn and tried to return feeling to her legs. She noticed movement out of the corner of her eye and looked back to the Color Castle. Rainbow was leading the Color Kids across the bridge that connected the Castle to the main land. Stormy saw that each of them carried something. The group turned left and began walking toward a large meadow.
Rising to her feet slowly, Stormy stretched and tried to work the feeling back into her legs. It felt funny to try to walk after the amount of time she’d spent hiding in the bushes. She glanced around before exiting the cover of the bush. She heard a snap! as she stepped forward and winced. She glanced around to see if anyone had heard her. Seeing no one, she took off, keeping to the shadows, her outfit blending in, save for her lilac hair.
“This spot is perfect!” commented Rainbow as she stopped atop the small grassy knoll. “Let’s have our picnic here tonight.”
Red Butler stepped forward, a red and white checkered blanket beneath his right arm. “Buddy and I will set up the blanket.” He began unfolding it and handed a side to Buddy Blue, who’d set down the basket he’d carried with him. The two boys worked together to finish unfolding and spreading the large blanket over the hill. Once it was laid out, everyone else took a seat, setting their picnic contribution in front of themselves.
“I brought banana bread,” spoke Canary Yellow, pulling a covering off a large plate to reveal the sliced fruit bread.
“I’ve brought some cherry pie,” stated Red Butler. “Lala Orange helped me make it after I picked all the cherries.” He smiled proudly at his cooking accomplishment.
“I have blueberries,” said Buddy Blue, taking the cloth off the top of his basket.
“Oranges,” called Lala Orange.
“I found some delicious limes,” answered Patty O’Green with a glint in her eyes.
“Plums make for a tasty snack,” commented Indigo, placing her basket into the center.
“Grapes are both delicious and healthy, as well as our garden yielded a plentiful bounty,” remarked Shy Violet.
“And I made a fruit punch to wash it all down with,” finished Rainbow, pointing to a jug and a basket that held cups.
From the bottom of the knoll, Stormy watched the group, concealed in the shadows and half hidden behind a large tree. She heard the laughter that floated off the top of the knoll, and felt strange inside, some new feeling that she had no words for. She clenched her fists together and released them slowly, only to clench them tighter in the next few moments as the laughter became louder. I need to take care of this picnic… she reminded herself, forcing the feeling aside to focus on her task at hand.
She looked to the starry sky and began to observe her surroundings, and what she was capable of doing. She could make out a few tiny wisps of clouds in the distance by squinting. Realizing that she was better off to use her powers instead, she closed her eyes and offered up a hand. There… behind me… I can move them from the Pits. They’ll soak up some more water on the way, which will be perfect… Stormy acted on her thoughts as she turned around, using a “come hither” motion to bring the clouds to her. The clouds obeyed; as they reached the edges near the knoll, Stormy slowed their speed, causing them to move in slowly. The sky that was once bespeckled with light became dark and overcast. She opened her eyes and listened for a change in conversation.
It suddenly became quiet on the knoll and Stormy grinned to herself. She would watch for a little longer to see what would happen. If all else failed, there was always the rain route. The clouds she had called had just enough water inside to create a small rain.
Rainbow was reaching for another piece of banana bread when she heard Lala Orange gasp. “Hey, what happened to the stars?” asked Lala Orange.
All the Color Kids looked up at the sky, now darker and without the tiny pinpricks of light. “That’s strange,” commented Shy Violet. “None of my predictions called for a cloudy night sky. It was supposed to be clear.”
“Do you think they’ll go away soon?” asked Indigo.
“I don’t know,” answered Rainbow. “Maybe they will and then we can see the stars again.”
Stormy heard the hushed conversation on the knoll, but could not understand what was being said. All she knew was that no one left, no one seemed mad, nothing. She felt annoyed and without thinking, unleashed the storm that had built up inside the clouds. This time, she heard cries of surprise and saw plenty of movement. She giggled to herself. That was much better.
“We need to get out of the rain,” said Red Butler.
“Let’s go back to the Color Castle. It’s nice and dry there,” added Patty O’Green.
The Color Kids and Rainbow quickly covered and packed up their picnic gear. The squelching of their boots could be heard as they ran for the Color Castle, slipping and sliding in the soft, muddy areas. Stormy watched as they retreated and silently followed them back to the Color Castle. No one noticed the lone girl following behind them. Everyone was more concerned with getting out of the rain and being dry once more.
Stormy watched as the group headed down the main road that lead past the sprite houses. She stayed where she was, content with how the evening had turned out. She was about to turn around and head for the direction of the Pits, when she heard one of the girls cry out. She turned quickly, and caught Rainbow sliding on a patch of mud before falling face first into it. As Rainbow’s friends gathered around her, concerned, Stormy giggled, a little too loudly.
“What was that?” asked Canary Yellow.
“I don’t know, but whatever it is, it’s scary,” replied Indigo.
Rainbow pulled herself to her feet as both Buddy Blue and Red Butler held onto her hands. “It’s probably just the wind playing tricks,” she stated as she brushed some of the mud from her dress.
Stormy clamped a hand over her mouth. In her enjoyment, she’d forgotten to act quietly. She didn’t need Rainbow discovering her identity before it was time. Quietly, she back peddled into the forest, disappearing from sight. As soon as she was far enough away from the sprite homes, she ran quickly, racing home.
The storm stopped as quickly as it had started, but by that time, no one was interested in a night picnic anymore. Much of the food was wet, and the bread and pie were soggy from all the water before being covered up. Each of the Color Kids had sought drier clothing while Rainbow cleaned up the mud that covered her front. It would be awhile before anyone would try to have a night picnic without making sure that no bad weather lurked near. Stars twinkled in the sky above the Color Castle, but no one even peeked out a window to watch the spectacle. Instead, beds were sought, a place of warmth and refuge.
"If you're obsessed with your yesterday then you're destined to repeat it." - Ariel of Icon for Hire