Content-Type: text/x-zim-wiki
Wiki-Format: zim 0.4
Creation-Date: 2020-08-08T00:41:59-03:00

====== Chapter 2 ======

## Chapter 2
#### The chapter with the cockatrice grenades

###### Somewhere in the world...
"//Gooooooooooooooood// morning, Cinder!"  
"Go away, Galena."  
"Dohohohoho, so good to see you in such high spirits! Now, do you have the spheres ready?"  
"Gems."  
"I'm sorry?"  
"Gems. //Now.// "  
Frowning and grumbling, Galena the griffoness digs around in her pack, throwing the small, chained black dragon a few of the shiny gemstones. Cinder rolled her eyes, scooped them up, and wasted no time in shovelling them into her mouth, chewing loudly as she went.  
"My spheres, Cinder?"  
Cinder, her cheeks puffed out to contain the gemstony goodness, simply points towards the sleeping basilisk in the corner, next to which was a pile of small black spheres within which were cores of eerie, glowing green crystal.  
"//Cindeeeeeer//," Galena whines, "You didn't move them very //faaaaaaar!//"  
Cinder ignores her, choosing instead to swallow her meal in one loud gulp, before reclining back and picking her teeth with a small twig.  
"//Cindeeeeeeer!//" she whines, much louder this time, "Move the stupid //spheeeeeeeres!//"  
"//Galeeenaaaaaaa,//" Cinder mocks, "Do it //yourseeeeeeeeelf!//"  
Galena splutters, tearing up as her beak moves open and shut, unsure of whether or not it should be complaining or crying.  
She quickly settles on her usual outcome of crying.  
"//Gaaastoooooooon,//" she cried, shrill enough to have Cinder cover her ears, "//She's being mean to me agaaaaaaaaain!//"  
The doors to the stone cavern are slammed open by a very large, freakishly muscular griffon, face scrunched up in anger and with a terminal case of the crazy eyes.  
"I DO NOT APPROVE OF YOUR SASS LITTLE DRAGON CEASE IMMEDIATELY," he summarily shouts.  
"And I don't approve of your steroid abuse, Gaston," the little drakess sasses back, "But you don't hear //me// complaining about it."  
"FLAP YOU," he eloquently replies.  
"They're //performance enhancers!//"  Galena rage-sobs.  
"You need //intelligence enhancers,//" Cinder deadpans.  
"Move the stupid orbs!" she shrieks.  
"No."  
"Move them!"  
"No."  
"//Move theeeeeeem!//"  
"Ah-hah. No."  
"It's your job to move them so move them!"  
"It really isn't, and no."  
"Then you don't get anymore gems!"  
"Then //you// don't get anymore obsidian spheres."  
"How would you like a sphere to the face?!"  
"I would like it quite a lot."  
Galena screeches in defeat, while Gaston delivers a very helpful "FLAP YOU" towards Cinder.  
"//Gastoooooon//, go get a //helpeeeeer!//"  
"FISH THING GO HERE NOW THERE IS WORK TO DO NOW COME HERE NOW," he bellows back towards the door.  
Indeed, only a few seconds pass before an anthropomorphic fish-man shuffles in with all the enthusiasm of an underpaid janitor, letting out a long and protracted sigh as he readies his sack and walks over towards the basilisk's spherical bounty.  
"You're lucky we need you for this!" Galena pouts.  
"You're lucky I can't barbecue your face," Cinder sasses back, blowing a small plume of smoke her way while jostling the black metal chains wrapped around her like a dog harness. The chains were attached to a thick collar made of the same metal, which was in turn attached to //another// chain that was leashed to a huge block of the same metal resting against the wall, completing the 'leashed dog' experience that Cinder both loved to hate, and hated from the bottom of her little heart.  
"//She's threatening me again, Gaston!//" Galena extra-screeches. "//Why is she so meeeeeeean?!//"  
"SHE IS STUPID GALENA IGNORE HER ALSO WHERE ARE THE GLOWY BOMBS MISTER FISH THING--"  
A loud **fwoosh** rang out with a bright green flash and an accompanying screech as the fish-man on orb collection duty was turned to stone by the basilisk who created them. Right away, Gaston runs over, snatches the unpetrified sack from the statue's grasp, and darts back to Galena's side.  
"GOT GLOWY BOMBS NOW CAN WE GO?"  
"Yes, Gastie." She fixes Cinder with her best stink-eye. "We'll be back tomorrow, you big meanie."  
"Please fall down the stairs on your way out," she shoots back, drawing another angry screech out of Galena before she gets pulled away by Gaston.  
Once the pair are gone and the doors to Cinder's prison are shut and locked behind her, she looses a groan of frustration, falling onto her back and splaying out. The resident basilisk takes that moment to take it's new statue deep into it's lair, allowing it's little basilisk babies to run around Cinder's enclosure like a pack of small, neurotic dogs, chirping loudly like hellish, autotuned cicadas.  
"I hate my life," she groans.  

###### The approaching fleet...
"I hate him so much," Tempest growls under her breath, glaring aside at the human object of her ire.  


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Created Saturday 08 August 2020

