Book The End Between Us, Chapter 2: When Life Gives you Trackers...

Hi hi! So here we go, and don't worry. I'll be posting a lot more frequently now. I hope to have the next one out within a week! I've gotten so much motivation it's almost oozing out my skull! ^-^ If you haven't read chapter 1, here it is. Without further adieu, I bring you Chapter 2: When Life Gives you Trackers...

Chapter 2
[P.O.V. Oracle]​

Graff didn't admit it, but he was pretty nervous. I could tell by the way he was breathing heavily and by the way his​

eyes darted around the room. Good. I wanted him to be nervous. Team Apex had been tracking him for a long time now and we deserved this small victory. Graff gulped ever so slightly and recollected his composure, standing up taller and looking us in the eye.

"So what? You've all dropped to sneaking around? Couldn't take us all on?" He said bravely. I shrugged.
"Not really. We were just tracking someone... specific." I said matter-of-factly. I didn't have time for his little mind​

games. I had a short fuse and needed to keep my temper cool. Graff seemed taken aback by that and I smiled. "Check him, Eil." I said to my teammate. He walked over and looked through Graff's pockets, pulling out iron ingots, some diamonds, and an old, beaten up book. He then pulled off Graff's sword and laid it on the ground away from him. Eil stepped back and nodded to me. Convinced he didn't have anything to be used as a weapon on him, I also stepped back and lowered my sword, but was careful to keep it out. Graff stood quizzically for a moment, as if unsure of what to do, but then stepped back as well. That was fine with me. There was nowhere for him to go but through us to the exits.

"You can keep your armor on. We've heard you enchanted it with thorns anyway." Eil sneered. He was enjoying this​

track just about as much as I was. I began to walk around the immense space, whistling at its sheer size. I had to hand it to the owner. It must've taken ages to mine out this base just the way they liked it and it was beautiful. Such a pity it was being used as a prison. I turned to see Eil packing away Graff's supplies and looking through the chests nearby. Graff stood there and I could practically hear the gears turning in his head. I wandered back over to Eil and looked through what he had found, being careful to keep an eye on our prisoner. Eil looked up from where he was crouched in front of me.

"There's still some good items here. Looks like they didn't get to finish raiding. How sad." He laughed and I chuckled​

back before turning to Graff. He seemed to be frustrated more than anything and that annoyed me.

"If you're going to kill me, can you hurry up with it so we can all move on with our lives?" He huffed. I walked​

over and tapped on his armor, wincing slightly as the enchantment bit back.

"We don't intend to kill you, so don't worry about that. It isn't worth the pain of going through that armor and we​

need you for something important. Besides, you'd respawn anyway." I couldn't tell if Graff was relieved or more worried, but his eyes began to dart around the room again.

"What could you possibly need me for? I don't carry anything nonessential on me and if you think keeping me here​

is going to get me to give you anything, you're sadly mistaken." He was probing, testing to see how much he could find out, but I wasn't going to bite. He wasn't going to get that satisfaction from me. This was my show. I chose, instead, to ignore him and wandered over to where his belonging were. He began to move towards me, but a quick draw from Eil left Graff blocked by a sword blade. Eil smirked and shook his head while I knelt down to look through his equipment. Iron, diamond, steak, a sword that glowed faintly in the dim light, and an old book were all that was in his possession. Nonchalantly, I grabbed up the book and turned it in my hands. It was faded and the leather was beginning to peel back from the binding. I started to open the cover, but a noise behind me caught my attention. I turned quickly, raising the sword still in my right hand. Eil had Graff pinned against the wall with his sword point up against his throat. I moved closer and held the book up to Graff, who reached for it immediately. Pulling it back, I paced back and forth in front of him and took great joy in seeing his glare. I held the book up.

"Oh. Is this your diary?" I mocked. Eil snickered and I motioned for him to drop his sword. When he did I​

tossed him the book. "Why don't you read us a bedtime story, Eil?" Eil smiled and nodded.

"Galaxy would've loved this." He said gleefully. I agreed. Galaxy and Lozzy had wanted to come with, but had stayed​

back by my orders. I needed them elsewhere. Besides, no matter how fast Lozzy was on her feet or with a sword, she would have difficulty against someone tanky, and Galaxy, despite being a powerful fighter, was clumsy with his footwork. No, I needed Eil with me on this mission. He was a well-rounded combator. The sound of Eil beginning to speak brought me out of my thoughts and I listened expectantly.

"My dear raiders. I know none shall believe me when I say this, but the words I speak are true. I have traveled​

far and wide for many years now and have witnessed many things, so believe me, good people, when I tell you I have found what is about to be the secret to my great success." My ears perked up at that and I looked over at Graff. Yes, he had been very successful indeed... Was he about to give us the secret to his wealth in this little book? Graff glared right at me.

"You don't know what you're getting your team into, Oracle. Team Meta outnumbers you. I suggest you forget about​

that book, because it isn't what you think it is." I started to make a snide remark, but stopped for a moment. For some reason I wanted to believe him. For some reason he seemed to be telling the truth. He still stood against the wall where we had left him, but he didn't try to come closer. That was... curious... to say the least. I turned back to Eil to tell him to continue reading. I needed to hear what I supposedly had to forget. This was still my show and I would not have Graff telling me what to do. However, when I turned to Eil, he was quickly reading through the remainder of the book.

"Eil?" I asked, becoming frustrated at his lack of focus. He continued to skim through the book, oblivious to my​

calls. Graff snickered behind me and I could feel my ears getting hot from embarrassment. Suddenly I swung around to face him and raised my sword. I didn't care if we needed him as ransom anymore. Graff saw the blow coming and hastily tumbled out of the way. My sword met concrete in a loud crash and I faintly heard Eil shout behind me. I couldn't be sure though. My blood was boiling and my heart was racing. Graff was going down! I chased him around the base, wildly swinging and bellowing. Only Eild tackling me into a wall stopped me from killing the stupid Meta member. I slumped to the ground and clutched my head in my hands, dropping my sword in the process.

"Jeez, Eil. That's really hurt. What the heck was that for?" I growled through clenched teeth. Eil stood above me.
"Don't forget why we tracked him all this way, Oracle." Eil said impatiently. "If we kill him, his team won't come." A​

little farther away, Graff was still scrambling around trying to find the exit tunnel. However, whether it be by careful planning or dumb luck, we were practically next to both entrances still. By the time Graff had found the exit himself, Eil was already there to block it. Graff struggled to push through for a moment, but gave up and sat down a short distance from us. I laughed to myself at the coincidence, feeling my head throb from the action, and started to stand up. It wouldn't do well to show weakness right now. I leaned against the wall for support and was shocked back to my senses when it moved! I jumped away from it, grabbing my sword off the floor in the process and causing both Eil and Graff to also become alert. Graff stumbled to his feet and Eil was beginning to draw his sword; mine was already out and ready. The wall pushed inwards again and I stepped closer towards Graff. He wouldn't be able to use this distraction as his getaway. Once more, the wall bulged, then crumbled slightly, revealing Monkey and SillyPickles. They broke through the rest of the way and stepped in. Graff stiffened next to me and I blocked his view.

"We've come for our teammate." SillyPickles said impatiently. Next to him, Monkey was tapping his foot. I cursed​

under my breath. The decoy hadn't distracted them for long enough. Eil took a threatening step towards them.

"And what are you going to do in return?" He said menacingly. SillyPickles seemed to shrink back a little. Next to​

him, Monkey drew his sword and stepped forward as well.

"I hate to tell you this, Eil, but if you mess with one member of Meta, you mess with all members of Meta." I felt the​

ground tremble slightly with the sound of footprints getting closer and backed up, pushing Graff back with me. Eil did the same and from the tunnel came three more members: Pingwoo, Obelisk, and Speedcell. My heart sank as I realized we were poorly outnumbered. suddenly there was a rush next to me and Lozzy appeared by my side. She seemed out of breath, but not hurt, and I was thankful that worse hadn't had happened.

"Sorry, Oracle. Turns out they only wanted to chase me for a little bit. There was some kind of yelling going on and that distracted them more than me running around. What's the plan?" I stared down all 6 members of Meta and​

counted our odds. Grabbing onto my sword hilt tighter, I took a battle stance.

"Our plan? We fight."

Thanks for being patient with me guys! Like I said, I'm going to be able to upload more frequently now, so don't go anywhere! Happy Halloween and I hope to see you all in-game soon!

Tags
@0racle
@Eil
@Lozzylouise
@AnonymousGalaxy
@Speedcell
@SillyPickles
@PingWoo
@Colonel_Graff
@LegitMonkeyftw
@DemonicObelisk
@343weapon​

 

Hahaha I just laughed really loudly in my calculus class... xD I'm not leaving any time soon. I hope you like the story though!