Wizards of Pagonia - Chapter One, Part III

It was a time of legends, wizards, and heroes...

Speaking of which, who are ours? CK, the giraffe, had no powers and no intention of leaving the small island of Pagonia. He had rarely ever traveled and he liked where he was. Despite the island belonging to the Blot though. But Kitty, the cat, knew there were adventures waiting for both her friend and herself outside the island. Little did she know that their adventure would begin on Pagonia when she infused CK's paintbrush and a heart shaped charm with diamagics. This gave Kitty the ability to fly and CK control over paint and thinner, a substance used to either create or destroy.

No sooner did they gain their powers though did the Brat show up. The Phantom Brat was the daughter of the Phantom Blot, and she had come to collect the misfit's new powers. But they fought back and managed to escape before CK lit their house on fire. Little did the tall mammal realize that the Brat would be scared by the flames and vow revenge on them both!

Knowing the Brat would hunt them down, the two friends decided it was time to leave the island. Moving quickly they headed to Southern Pagonia to the docks. When they got there though, they found Mel: a fox writer and ex-pirate who was also a wizard in trouble. CK and Kitty offered her to come with them to the Mainland, and she accepted that offer when notorious pirate captain Black Spot nearly killed them all.

Now the trio flee towards the Mainland in-

*****
"A flying boat!" Kitty chirped as she looked over the side of the railing. It was amazing, the huge three story boat was actually cutting through the air as if it was its second nature. But then again, it was no normal boat. On both sides of the ship were horizontal, triangular sails that caught both sea and air currents. There were two big sails and two little sails. And on the back of the ship were two long, blue, metallic panels. They were connected to an prototype solar engine that used the sun's energy to lift the boat up off the ground and into the air. Other than that, it looked just like a regular boat: sails, mast, ropes, life boats, crow's nest and everything. "This is amazing Mel!"

Mel smiled from behind the wheel's helm. She looked proud of her ship as she manned it herself. She inherited this boat from her employment in the N.A.V.Y. and she stole all the technology when she worked for Captain Orangebeard. It was the pinnacle of sailing technology, and it was the only boat she refused to rent out to people. Normally she hardly ever sailed it, but this was an emergency. This boat was fast and it could get her and her two new friends to the mainland.

"Why thank you," Mel replied. She then looked across the deck and realized something. "Wait! Where's CK?"

"Tell me when it's over!"

Kitty and Mel turned to look towards the source of the noise. CK was hiding under the stairs, shivering like a little kid who just heard a noise in his closet. The giraffe was terrified of heights, and the boat was so high up he could feel all the fluff coming off the clouds. He was shaking so hard you'd think the poor fella was cold. But he had never been a big fan of heights. Even as a youngling he hated them. CK wished he could get off, but he was trying to be brave. Or at least not look over the railing.

When Kitty remembered her friends fear she sympathized, "Aww, you poor thing. I forgot you were scared of heights."

CK looked up at his friend and asked, "Now what makes you think I'm afraid of heights?" Kitty warmly chuckled. CK then slowly got on his hands and knees and got up from under the stairs. "I ain't scared of no heights! Watch and learn sista'!" He ever so cautiously got up to his feet and walked forward. But he was still trembling in his wobbly knees, causing the floor boards the shake. But when he finally got up, he busted, "See?"

Then he looked over the railing. Swifter than eagles he ran towards the pole mast and clung onto it like it was his mother. "Oh, where the heck is Crocie when I need him?"

"Crocie?" Mel asked.

"Stuffed animal," Kitty replied.

"He is NOT a stuffed animal," CK retorted. "He is my personal advisor."

This statement earned friendly laughter from both Kitty and Mel. And hearing their laughs forced some courage throughout CK's body. He gulped, stood up, and breathed deeply. In. Out. In. Out. In a steady fluid rhythm until he found himself standing upright without shaking. When he looked around the ship, he smiled and said, "Well, I guess this isn't so bad."

KA-BOOM!

The whole ship shook and rattled, knocking CK back over to the mast and Kitty off her feat. Mel hollered, "What the heck?"

Kitty quickly rushed over to the side of the ship and looked over the railing. She gasped what she saw. She yelped to the fox behind the wheel, "It's a ship!"

Down below in the water was the nastiest ship you would have ever seen in the entire world. All the wood was dark brown, almost smog black, and filled with rot stains and termite holes. The sails were torn and ripped in various spots, making the gray cat wonder how it was even gaining on them. The deck was covered in slim and dirt, and the mermaid figurine on the front was fat, ugly, and dripping with seaweed from head to toe. It was just as horrid and nasty as it's captain.

"Three guesses who it is," CK said when he saw the look on Kitty's face.

"Battle stations!" Mel commanded. She heard stories of how Black Spot had dealt with sea monsters and giant squids, and she knew her boat was a sitting duck out in the open. Unless she protected it! "Kitty, man the cannons."

"Got it!" Kitty chirped.

"What can I do to help captain?" CK asked. He was always very helpful.

"You've got the thinner," Mel said. CK held up his paintbrush when she said that. Thinner was a thick green gooey stuff that could shoot out from his paintbrush and destroy matter. It worked on most matter, except on metal as recently discovered. Mel figured that CK could use it to make a whole in the boat below and sink their ship.

"No way," CK stated, surprising everyone. "I am not using my thinner like that."

"Then it's just a matter of time before he sinks us!"

"I didn't say I wouldn't use my brush, now did I?"

Black Spot focused his looking glass in on Mel. The back of her head was brown and clean. The landlubber must have obviously used shampoo, a concept he was not a fan off. To Black Spot, filthy was good, it meant that he was a man! He figured the smell made him manlier, and it sent fear and intimidation into his victims. Soap was strictly forbidden on his ship. So you could only imagine how made he was when his big, honking black nose managed to pick up the smell of blueberry…

"WHO HAS SOAP ON MY SHIP!?" he hollered, spit running down his beard. He searched his cut rate crew over looking for the misfortunate dog who owned a bar. His eyes first landed on Brown Smudge, his weasely first mate. He was long and nearly starved, with a bandana on his head to cover his bald spot. All over him were patches of fur, missing from all the years of parental abuse. He didn't believe in hygiene either since his parents never taught his that. So he was ruled out right away.

Then Black Spot turned his attention to Mistress Black and Blue. She was an opossum with long flowing blonde hair running out from her red bandana. She wore a white shirt, black belt, and striped pink pants. She smirked at the captain as he paid more attention to her attractive features. Being the only girl on the ship she was always harassed like so. But the crew stopped that last week when she stabbed her cabin mate. He was tossed overboard and no one ever stared longingly at her again. Except for the Captain, who seemed to fear no one.

Finally the miserable rat's gaze landed on Charlie, the echidna. His snout was long and his hair went in all directions. All he wore was pants, and they were torn everywhere anyway. He was so pointy that he was used to sharpen up swords for the crew. And on rare occasions he himself was used as a weapon. He was the most miserable on the ship, always raining on everyone's parade and making the worst of a situation. No one had ever seen him smile a day in his life. And he certainly wasn't smiling now as his violent boss stared angrily at the objects in his tiny clawed paw: a bar of everyday hand soap.

Charlie shrugged and explained, "Practicing my wildling."

From the carrier on his belt, Black Spot withdrew his gun. It was a revolver pistol, and it was just as dirty and filthy as the rest of him. And just as violent. One shot and you die a slow, horrible, painful, agonizing death. Both the Smudge and Mistress gasped at the sight of the pistol. But not Charlie. He had wanted to die since he was born, and the Captain never liked him anyway. He was always threatening to kill him. He was begging that this time would be different.

But what happened next surprised everyone: from above dropped a large gray rock the size of a head. It whizzed through the sky and hit its target right on the head. Black Spot roared as his head throbbed from the object's impact with his head.

"Dang it," Charlie sighed before returning to his wildling.

Up above, CK was aiming the brush over the side of the railing. We was hoping to knock the rat out cold, but judging by his roar it just made him angrier. The giraffe turned around to Mel and said, "Well my plan didn't work. I am now open to suggestions!"

After CK had said that, more cannons began to fire from the ship below! It shook the ship violently, knocking CK and Kitty back over onto their faces and butts. Mel knew she had to do something before Black Spot hit the solar panels and grounded them into the water. If he succeeded, they'd be open to an attack and be sunk in two seconds. The red fox though hard towards her next move. Then she looked down to her feet. Sitting right next to her was the long metal case from when she ran from the shop. Was she that desperate to use its content?

"No," she replied to herself.

Then the ship shook again.

She rushed down to the case and undid the latches. Then slowly she opened the top lid and exposes what the container held. It was long and beautiful, with the blade as long as her big bushy tail, and the helm bronze with various rubies and jewels. Mel gulped nervously. She knew the sword's power was dangerous and hard to control. But what other option did she have? The fox quickly grabbed it and raised it over her head.

"Ooo, a sword," Black Spot said, seeing it all through his looking glass. "Now I'm reeeal scared."

"Captain," Brown Smudge smiled to his captain. "We are in range of those big light thingies on the back of the ship. What are your commands?"

The treacherous rat smiled. "Fire!"

Mistress Black and Blue rushed to the cannon and lit the fuse. She smiled, showing off all her pointy teeth as she aimed for the rear of the ship. One shot, and they would be shark food! The spark sizzled its way down the rope, letting the anticipation grow. In a few short seconds the cannon ball would zip out and cripple the ship. But just as the flame was about to reach the end of the rope-

FLASH!

Thunder boomed. Everyone looked up at the now gray and cloudy sky as huge drops of rain fell from the heavens above and crashed down onto the ship. It was a severe shower, pounding down onto the crew soaking them almost immediately. The rain was so heavy that it unlit the fuse to the cannon. And as rain continued to drip down the faces of all the crew, violent and shaky waves rocked the boat back and forth. Black Spot almost struggled to keep control of his own ships steering. He grinded his rotten teeth against each other as he fought against the ships' wheel. When he looked up to see how his enemies were doing, he saw what was causing the storm.

Mel held her sword over her head, using it to control the weather currents. Her sword gave her the ability to control both water and the weather. Her goal was to keep the ship below occupied with the storm long enough for them to make their getaway.

"Wow, that's amazing!" Kitty chirped as she gave her approval to Mel.

"Can it do anything else?" CK asked. Mel didn't reply. The tsunami she was creating below answered for her. The wind gained speed, creating tidal waves and showers that rained so hard that you had to close your eyes in order to prevent losing your eyesight. Plants were rising out of the ocean as water turned and bellowed, and for extra measures, lightning flashed and thunder cracked like a mighty whip! Any sucker caught in this kind of storm could only hang on for the ride and pray that it would be over shortly.

CK yelled to the pirates down below, "Take that you suckers!"

However, just then, a harpoon zipped its way through the air and made contact with the bottom of Mel's ship. The ship stopped its flight midair. Mel tried her hardest to get the ship moving again, but neither the harpoon or Captain Black Spot would have none of that.

Kitty explained, "He's trying to ship the sink with us!"

She spoke the truth, as Black Spot's ship began to be gulped up by the salty sea. Mel's ship began to sink with it. Mel's ship was able to keep in the air for know, but the mammals on board knew it wouldn't take long before they'd be victims of Mel's own storm. CK tried to thin out the harpoon, but it was no use.  It was made of metal which meant it wasn't going anywhere. The ship was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

"Oh no, no, no, no, no," Mel cried. "This is all my fault!"

"No it's not!" CK shouted over the crushing sounds of the waves. "We can make it, we just have to find a way to cut the line!"

"I could always fly down and-," Kitty began to offer.

"No!" CK yelled back. "You'd never be able to make it back. Besides, what if Black Spot shoots you?"

As the two argued over a plan, Mel looked at her devious sword. What her friends didn't know is that there was another trick her sword could do. She concentrated hard. Slowly, the purple jewels on the handle of her sword began to glow. The vibrated and sputtered as Mel began to feel something in her head.

"We've got 'em!" Black Spot laughed. He was for sure of his final victory as the ship began to sink towards the ocean.

But at that moment, Charlie's eyes began to glow bright purple. His thoughts were replaced by someone else's, and he had lost control of his own body. Both his thoughts and his actions were betraying him as he got up from the barrel he sat on and walked over to the front of the ship. He moved like a mindless zombie, and didn't ask himself why he was doing what he was doing. As far as he knew, he just had to do it. The small spikey mammal than made his way to the harpoon launcher.

"Mister Charlie?" Black Spot asked. "What in blue blazes are ye-"

He was cut off when the echidna cut the rope holding the two ships together. It snapped almost instantly and sent the ship in the sky forward, leaving the ship in the water to crash against the waves.

"What the--?" CK and Kitty asked. "Why did he-"

The two looked over to Mel as she collapsed onto the floor. She seemed strained and tired, her face as white as her snout. Kitty rushed over to her and helped her get back on her feet while CK tried to steer the boat. But the ship was already loosing altitude thanks to the extra weight the harpoon was putting off. Plus, CK obviously was no sailor. The wheel fought against the giraffe as he tried to play pirate and keep the ship steady.

"So weak…," Mel said. She almost sounded like she was near death. "So… sorry…"

"For what?" Kitty asked. But that's when Mel knocked out.

That was also when the ship crashed.

Everyone was shot forward, off the bow of the ship and onto the deck below. When CK landed his head went right through the floorboard. Kitty dropped Mel as she collapsed onto the floor, knocking her unconscious. Kitty, having landing on her feet, quickly went to the railing. She expected to find the ship being swallowed up by the monstrous black mouth of the ocean. But what she found was snow. Snow, ice, and rock. The curious cat looked around and saw that the flying ship had crashed down into a mountain. And a cold one at that, Kitty was beginning to shiver.

"Hello?" CK asked. "If anyone is alive up there, could they help?"

Kitty rushed over and pulled her friend out. When he was out and saw where they were, he said, "Wow, the Mainland has really gone downhill."

A few minutes later, and CK was carrying Mel while Kitty grabbed her sword. He jumped off the ship and down to the ice below, his hooves crunching down on the freshly fallen snow. He shivered when Kitty jumped down next to him. There plan was to find shelter for the night until they could repair the ship in the morning. They quickly ascended the mountain top in hopes to find escape from the cold. Kitty revealed herself to be better equipped for these situations. She had plenty of fur to keep her warm. But CK was skinny and barley had any meat on his bones. He'd freeze soon if they didn't find shelter.

"You okay Kitty?" CK asked while he struggled to keep Mel steady. He knew he had to get her inside and warm before she froze.

"Could be better," Kitty replied as they made their way through the dark night.

"Could be worse," CK said back.

ROAR!

Something echoed off the mountain's slopes. CK and Kitty stopped dead in their tracks. It was a high, gruff sounding roar that neither of them had heard before. They looked at each other, both showing the same expression on their face. When the echoing stopped, the two presumed walking normally believing it was their imaginations playing tricks on them. Then it roared again.

The two ran for the hills, scared of who the roar belonged to. If the owner was half as scary as the roar itself, he must've been the single scariest thing on this big blue world of theirs. They huffed and puffed through the ice and snow, not dare looking back. Neither of them wanted to be crippled by their curiosity and loose sped. And if the beast was following them neither of them wanted to see what it looked like. On and on they mooched, afraid for their dear lives. For CK it was a lot harder since he had extra weight to bear. But that weight made his run faster. He did not want to see his friends die, and he planned to see they both lived!

Finally after enough running the two came upon a small wooden shack. CK motioned for Kitty to go first, and then he followed. The two rushed through the door and slammed the door behind them, making sure to lock it tight. Whatever was outside roared. CK rushed over to a bed and put Mel down before helping Kitty with the door. The two leaned against it, ready for the attack on it to be brutal.

But no attack came. All the two could hear was the sound of snow crunching, the sound fading after a while. Whatever it was, was gone. The two released their breath. Finally, they were safe in the cabin.

Or so they thought.

For at that moment, wood began to creek from upstairs. CK and Kitty mouthed a gasp as they proceeded to hide. CK covered up Mel with a blanket, and then joined his friend under the wooden stairs. Slowly, the figure upstairs made his way downstairs. Thump, thump, thump. CK could feel his heart bouncing off his chest, and Kitty held her breath. Her tail was wiggling to much that it seemed to be just as scared as it was. And both of them had left their staffs by the door.

The figure kept descending down the stairs until finally he was on the floor. He walked into the living room and looked around. That's when CK and Kitty got a good look at him: he was a brown rabbit and a well tanned face. He wore a beige jacket and pants with a hat to match and a green scarf around his next. Kitty's jaw dropped when he saw him. Her eyes twinkled with fascination.

He's georgeous! Kitty thought.

"Hello?" the rabbit asked. "Is anyone here?"