Skylanders: Second Leaf

Chapter __ ~ Sign Me Up

The sun had reached its peak in the sky when the ship had begun nearing the sight of the race. The island, while not the most impressive they had seen, was quite massive. The closer they got, the more there was to see. Crowds of people littering the land, vehicles parked here and there haphazardly. Rows of raised benches behind low fences, peering out over the racetracks of land, sky and water; all contained behind high walls to keep out the 'commoners'. The riff-raff Pandergast didn't deem fit of viewing his magnificent racing spectacle in person. Scrape leaned over the edge of the ship as they neared, her wide eyes trying to take in everything at once. It wasn't much compared to their previous stop, but that didn't stop the Nekokin's intrigue from getting the better of her. Whisp stood beside her, staring off into the distance, the island in her peripheral. The proxy didn't find much use in staring, they would be there in a few minutes or so anyway. There would be plenty of time to take it all in then.

"O-Okay!" Hugo called out, standing near the mast on deck, most likely attempting to center himself so everyone could hear him equally. "We're nearing the island! I'm going to be taking a list of everyone racing, and their vehicle, just in case-"

"Is that really necessary, compadre?" Buzz interjected, giving the timid mabu a skeptical look. "We already have to sign up at the front, why would we need to do it twice?"

"In case there's a mix up! Or any funny business! I need to know how many people are going to be racing in case Pandergast tries anything!" Hugo explained, his voice cracking slightly as it went up on the last few words.

Buzz sighed, rolling his good eye as he took a step back, allowed Hugo to continue with his frantic name taking. The others gathered around as Hugo began talking again, explaining the format he was going to be taking them in. Name, then vehicle, then what type of vehicle it was. Shade had to stop himself from giving an exasperated sigh, finding all of this just a tad excessive. A waste of time, you could say. But nonetheless, Hugo insisted on it.

"Alright! Who all is racing?"

"I'll be racing," Shade stated, "with the Shadow Scourge, of course."

"Kadence and I can race." Whisp piped up. "There is a possible vehicle we could use."

"The Slicing Screamer." Kadence added.

"Um... Shakai, BEN and I can race... land or sky..." Quinn said. "It- It's called the-"

"Chaotic Blessing." Shakai finished Quinn's sentence for her.

Hugo was scribbling down names and vehicles as quickly as he could, glancing up on occasion when someone else made their status clear. A few more people had been added to the list: Angelo with his vehicle, the Heavenly Dove, and Ringmaster with her Parade Floater, before Shoria spoke up.

"Has anyone seen Kaos? I knew he wanted to race, but I haven't seen him since he stormed off..."

There were shrugs in response, a few odd glances between the Creators, but nothing more. No one had really bothered to pay attention when he had left, other than Shoria and Angelo, let alone search for him afterwards. Shoria breathed a sigh, frowning as she looked to the ground, silently hoping he would turn up soon. If need be, she would go looking for him, but they had bigger fish to fry at the moment. Like Hugo's demands.

Kaos sat on the floor, in the same room as before; a low, menacing growl escaping his throat as he glared down at his new appendage. He pressed his head into his knees, pulling his legs closer to his body out of frustration, just wanting to shrink back into the shadows. The thought of this one little variable ruining everything just filled him with a burning fury, more than it probably should have. He didn't need this to be another obstacle to leap over, another hurdle to jump, he had enough of those as it was without this pesky tail getting in the way. Kaos hunched his shoulders, holding the sides of his head, his hands clasped over his ears. His growls had become more of a low rumble in the back of his throat, his anger seeming to subside into numbness. His tail thumped against the wall, but rather than shooting a hateful glare at it, he just moved his hands down into his line of vision, his actions no longer mirroring his emotions. It was almost like they weren't his own. Kaos was quickly brought back to reality, though, as the sound of footsteps met his ears, causing him to tense up almost immediately. As the door to the room opened slowly, a faint beam of light trickling in, Kaos drew back, the shadows seeming to thicken around him, although not enough to hide him as the light grew. As he shuffled into view, Shakai bore an expression of guilt, biting his lip at the sight. The Dragonoid's wings lowered, his tail hanging limp.

"I-I'm sorry, Kaos... It's- It's my fault, isn't it. That you suddenly gained..." Shakia motioned to the tail, almost reluctantly, "a tail like my kind..."

Kaos blinked a few times, then got to his feet, brushing his robes off as he forced himself to regain his composure. He cleared his throat as he met Shakai's gaze, the look in his eyes almost mirroring Shakai's own grief.

"Shakai, no. Of course you didn't cause it." Kaos said quietly. "I don't know what did, but it wasn't you. I promise. Just... don't tell anyone. I don't want anyone knowing about this, okay? It'll be our little secret."

"They might be able to help, though, if we just-"

"No." Kaos cut him off, looking down at his tail swaying back and forth slightly. "They already treat me like a freak. If they found out I had... this, they'd treat me like even more of an outsider."

A last-ditch resort on Kaos' part, but luckily, Shakai bought the freak card, giving a solemn nod. Kaos managed a smile up at him, which Shakai returned kindly, cocking his head to the side slightly. The Dragonoid offered his paw, as if Kaos needed it, but he took it anyway, despite a bit of reluctance.

"Are you sure you don't want help to get rid of it? I could probably..."

"Shakai. I'm sure. I just need to get used to it." Kaos patted Shakai on the shoulder, then began heading out into the hallway. "Now, come on. We have a race to win."