Book 2: Rift Wars

Chapter 23: Bright

Smoke and Ash

Rift Wars

Chapter 4

Bright

Zareth held Inky close to his chest trying his hardest to run as fast as he could through the woods. Cryptor led the way holding back any branches that might hinder his efforts. She was sweating profusely and she was gasping for air.

"Pixal!" Pixal stood up on the roof and looked on as he ran. She saw that he had Inky in his arms and jumped down opening the door letting him in. Running down stairs and looked at Borg.

"Oh my goodness. Inky! What happened to the poor girl." He wheeled forward taking hold of her in his arms letting Pixal wheel him back into the room where Inkys mother just inhabited a moment ago. Zareth walked into the room with Borg looking over the little girl he longed to see for so long.

"No Inky...not now. We only just got back." Zareth ran his hands over his face and looked up at Borg who pulled her shirt up and looked over the wound.

"What is this...ink?" He looked at Zareth.

"She's the master of ink. Her blood is literally ink."

"Well whatever it is its clotting faster then most bloods it might have saved her life. Turn on the overhead light if you please." Zareth reached up doing as he said. Both of them looked within the wound and noticed that it hadn't been glass it was a large pieces of metal rod in her. Borg touched it which resulted in Inky gasping and crying out in pain. Zareth bent down and took hold of her hand.

"I got you babe. You'll be alright." He ran his fingers through her hair. "When we're done here and all these Hornets are gone. We're gonna go travel. See some things you never thought you'd ever see." Zareth said. Inky opened her eyes a little seeing him.

"P...Promise?" She asked "Like the ocean? N...Never seen the ocean." She said a stray tear running down her face. Zareth didn't like making promises. He didn't like being put into a corner by anyone. But this was Inky. This was his Inky.

"I promise baby. I promise." He kissed her forehead running his fingers through her hair again. He heard a loud piece of metal hit the floor and he looked up at Borg who nodded.

"I thought...I thought you forgot about me." Her eyes unfocused. She kept looking at Zareth trying her hardest to stay awake.

"What happened while we were away? Did you do something fun?"

"S...Stayed with Cryptor. Then I was kidnapped...drugged...he saved me. We went to the dark island...found another nindroid there named Cygnus. G...Groundskeeper or summat..." She was starting to slurr her words. "Was ma fault. Ma fault. Pushed b...button." She took a deep breath and tossed her head.

"She's not breathing good Borg." Zareth said. Mr. Borg pulled out a Oxygen mask and fit it over Inkys face. Inky took a deep breath and looked up at Zareth.

"I dreamed...that we went out for ice cream...and you ate all their van...vanilla and rootbeer." She said. Zareth chuckled and smiled down at her.

"Sounds about right." He said.

"Alright Im done. The rest is up to her now. She'll just be a little weak for a few days. I suggest we keep her in bed for a bit." He said putting tape over her wound. "Wasn't very deep. It was just the blood loss. If she hadn't of been the master of ink...I'm sure she would have bled out on our doorstep." Borg said running his fingers over Inkys forehead. "Get some rest young one. I'm sure your mother and father want you well rested for this trip to the ocean hum?" Borg patted her hand and walked out of the room to find a hallway full of ninja. Cryptor walked passed Zareth who was scanning the small crowd.

"Wheres Danny?"

"You know what this means right Danny?" Midnight asked. Her own wrists crackled back to life and she fired at some hornets as she ran by.

"I know..." Danny said looking up at the hornets converging on their spot. "Help them they'll need your help so much more now then ever." Danny asked. Midnight nodded.

"I know..." Danny said and looked back as she saw Zareth yelling to her. Danny smiled down at Zareth as she took flight up toward the large grouping of Hornets flying toward her. Midnight ran over to Zareth.

"You need to go back." Midnight grabbed hold of Zareth.

"What do you mean go back. I need to go help my sister!"

"She needs to prove to herself that she's not a Hornet! She needs to show you that she's just Danny, and she didn't just murder people. She wants to save whats left of the city."

"She can do that over here...can't she?" Zareth asked. Realization passed through him. "No...Danny!" He tried to break Midnights hold on him.

They flew up into the sky as far up as Danny could go without freezing out. She looked at the Hornets as they charged their weapons and pointed it at her.

"Gaya wishes you to give over Nina to us. We need to take her back to the dark island." Danny looked from one to the other charging her main weapon.

"Thats where you messed up. We don't call her Nina...we call her Inky. You cold hearted bastards." She pulled the trigger. A bright flash and all the hornets within that radius just stopped moving and fell to the city. Cryptor jumped forward catching Danny as she fell to the ground. He hovered down toward Zareth and lay her in his arms.

One of her arms was missing, her hair was charred, a wing was shattered and the other was missing, she was missing a chunk of her leg.

"Danny...Dannygirl?" He pulled her to him and started to wail.

"Zareth..." Midnight called to him. Zareth looked up at her. Midnight put a suitcase on the ground and opened it. It had an imprint of a body within. Zareth almost looked angry.

"You expect me to put her in their to bury her!"

"Oh of course not...you do that to dead people." Midnight smiled at him. "Theirs a way to get her processor to restart normally. I however don't know it. Their is a...command you can follow that will lead you in the right direction." She tapped her finger to the side of her head and a small mini SD card popped out and she handed it out to him. "Follow the white rabbit."

A few weeks later Zareth and Inky found themselves on the train heading south as the SD card had told them. Forgotten was the white suit he normally triversed in. Inky also left her normal clothing behind. Her hair hidden under a boys hat. They both wore old tattered clothing. The large suitcase held firmly in front of him as they found their seats. He sat down on the outside putting the suitcase in front of Inky. She pulled her legs up and hissed in pain holding her side. She felt Zareths fingers over her wound. She could feel the soft buzz as he scanned her.

"I'm alright." She said sitting back leaning against Zareth. Soon enough she fell asleep Zareth watched as the train left the station.

"Don't worry Danny...we'll find you. I promise."

Will Continue in Book 3: Fragmented Code