Chapter 9: Ravens of Ravel Ravine

 =-Stick-=

Another one! Stick inwardly squealed in delight. Just the perfect length! He picked up the next stick, adding it to his pile.

"Why, in the world, would you bring sticks into the arena. Why?" Behind him, his teammate, Six, impatiently asked.

"Hey, I could say the same thing about that noteblock necklace of yours." 

Under every one of Six's noteblocks was either ice or gold. As they traversed through the gloomy forest, Stick worried about their shininess giving them away. 

"Well, noteblocks are useful. What can you do with sticks?"

You just don't know their power. 

The dark leaves of the trees surrounding them slowly faded into bright lime green. When they left the forest behind them, they're face to face with a mountain that Stick couldn't see the top of. "Uhh...we're not going up that, right?" Six asked.

"No. Remember what happened to MJ and Blueveria?"

"What happened to MJ and Blueveria?" 

Stick sighed. "Got yeeted off a mountain?"

"Oh."

That year, there were snowstorms. They blurred the fighting, the bloodshed, but they couldn't blur the pain. The loss of MJ and Blueveria was one of the greatest ever since the first Hunger Games.

"So we're going around it, right?" 

"I mean...if you want to go under it, I'm not going to stop you."

Stick took the lead, glancing around him as he carefully treaded along the foot of the giant mountain. 

"I don't think that's possible." Six muttered.

"Yeah, that's the joke." Stick abruptly stopped. "Or, maybe not."

"Hm?" Six frowned. "Oh...oh my."

Just under them, an enormous ravine split the ground in half. Stick shuddered, and he dropped a couple sticks into the ravine. They fell, hit the ground, not even an echo in the air. I hope those aren't the important ones. 

"So...how are we going to get around this?"

"Good question." 

Stick scanned the area for a solution, but his thoughts were cut off by a shrill bird call. By the time he glanced up to search for the one who started it, it was too late. Something hit him from behind, and he was plummeting. 

Panic swarmed his mind. Sticks! He closed his eyes. They'll still work right? Surely?

He got his answer a second later when he somehow safely landed on a giant boulder. It still works! He opened his eyes to see the sticks formed around him in a protective spiderweb shape. Six's screams echoed above him. Catch him, too. 

"How did you do that?" Was the first thing Six said when he landed unharmed beside him.

"It's uh, stick magic." Stick answered. "But our priorities are finding a way out first."

Very little light reached the bottom of the ravine. The afternoon sky was dim, the sun nowhere to be seen, making it even harder to see. 

"What hit us?" Six asked.

Stick glanced up. He could only see dark figures swirling overhead, framed by the bleak white skylight. "Birds. This must be one of the hazards Cyclo made."

"Precisely, they are ravens." That was a new voice. Stick scanned the area. Beside them was an even bigger boulder, four shadowy figures stood atop of it. 

Unsure of what to say, Stick traced the path of the ravens with his eyes. He hadn't realized their leader was coming for him until it was too late. Sticks! They formed a protective shield around him and Six, reducing the pain. 

The leader raven was as quick as a spark, but Stick recognized the tuff of purple feathers on her feathers. "I know that!"

Light shone from the side when one of the four figures lit up a torch. Stick recognized Creamy and Othr, the other two were unfamiliar to his eyes. "Remember last year, how Viper and Rift won the simulation with their parrot somehow? Their parrot - Ravish - was killed in the global. Cyclo had the brilliant idea to make her alive again in the simulation, except as some much bigger and more dangerous bird." Othr explained. 

Creamy :o

Rain started to fall and the ravens backed up against the crevices of the ravine where they'll be shielded from the sky. Othr found a cave too, and Batuganda lit up a campfire. "We've been trapped in here since dawn, Creamy and Othr joined us a bit later in the morning." Bat explained. 

"Since there's six of us now, we might have a bigger chance of making it out." Othr said.

"Aren't we supposed to like, fight?" Six asked hesitantly.

"Cyclo didn't specify if teaming up was allowed." Creamy recalled.

"It is at the global." Simartar told them.

A couple drops of rain found their way into the cave, and beside Creamy, Appa shivered a tiny bit. "I mean, we'd be pretty stupid to start fighting right now." Stick commented. 

Outside, one of the ravens let out a cry. "Are they ever going to leave?" Six asked.

"If we starve first then yeah, probably." Othr replied. "They're not vultures, they'll want us alive."

"Are we going to starve first?" Six blinked.

"Unlikely. Ravish and her unkindness will want to attack us first. Probably as soon as the rain stops." Bat answered. 

A brief silence fell. None of them had any idea on how to escape the ravine, and even if they did, the ravens are still out there, just waiting for them.

"Creamy." Stick spoke up. "Don't you still have that parrot?"

"Don't refer to her as that parrot, her name is Appalachia." Creamy nodded towards the lime green bird, currently perched on his shoulder.

"Well, since Ravish used to also be a parrot, what if you made Appa talk to her? That might awake something in her." 

"What? We're not putting Appa in danger like this."

"The hazards are designed to harm humans right? Appa's not human." Othr joined in as well. 

"...Alright." Hesitantly Creamy stood up, exchanging a glance with Appa as they left the cave behind. Cold wind brushed Appa's feathers. "I'll wait for you. If they start to look hostile, run."

Appa blinked at him, confused. 

"I mean, fly."

Creamy swallowed as Appa took off. Soon, the last sounds from her flight disappeared into the deep ends of the ravine.

Five minutes passed and Creamy's already worried. Twenty minutes passed and the sky is turning dark. Forty minutes passed and the sun is setting. An hour went by and how long is Appa taking? 

The firelight from their cave was fading, the rain had stopped, and all that's left is depressing humid air. Creamy sat alone on one of the boulders, glancing upwards for any sign of life. Perhaps he was too focused on any sight of Appa's light green body, but he didn't notice the two shadows approaching from the side until the diamond axe was right on his neck. "Hello." He managed to say calmly.

"Hello, Creamy, where's your teammate?" Omega asked.

There was something in his voice that Creamy didn't like, although he couldn't tell what. "Welcome to the uh, trapped under a ravine gang."

"Cyclosword calls this the Ravel Ravine." Omega's teammate, Conhadda, said. "We were hit by something, and that was how we fell. I have no idea how we're alive. I haven't realized that the-"

"Shh," Omega hissed. "Creamy, where's your teammate?"

I can't let him kill me. "Well, the rest of the gang are inside there." Creamy didn't specify where there is. "There's six of us. If they see that you're hostile, you'll be gone."

Omega dropped the diamond axe. "I suppose we should work together."

"Not like we have a choice." Creamy shrugged. 

"Who else is here?" Omega queried. 

"Othr, Stick, Six, Bat, and Simartar. You can find them inside. I'm waiting for someone." Creamy told them. 

_-Omega-_

Omega blinked, taking in the sight of the cave. He found Stick first, with his pile of sticks, always standing out in the crowd. He remembered the days where he just arrived in Hive District, and flashed Stick a smile. Simartar's teammate Bat was next, looking Omega right back in the eye, as if he knows everything about him. Omega shuddered, then stared right back. Othr was next in the ring, he often visited ConCraft to see Creamy, but no one really has a clue where he lived. Six was there, fiddling with his noteblocks. Then there's Simartar, don't look at him. 

Conhadda didn't seem to find it at all difficult to settle in with them. "Did you guys all get hit by something?"

"Yup, those ravens." Othr said. "Creamy sent his parrot to go talk their leader, did you see him outside?"

"Yeah, don't think he's successful so far." 

"Then again, if they weren't successful at all we'd probably be dead by now." Stick explained.

A long silence hung in the air, interrupted only by the occasional gushes of wind that found its way into the cave. A particularly strong one blew out the fire, and a shadow fell over the cave when Othr turned to relight it. 

It's Ravish, the purple feathers on her chest visible clearly, even in the dim light. All seven contestants backed up against the wall in unison. 

"She's fading." Bat breathed. 

"Hurry!" Creamy emerged from behind the raven leader, his voice urgent. "She can take one of you up before she's gone forever. Who here is the most capable?" 

Silence. Omega was about to volunteer when Six blurted out, "Stick! He can bring us up with his stick magic!"

"It doesn't work like that-" Stick objected. 

"There's no time! Stick, get on her back!" Creamy helped him up, "and when you're out there, try finding a way to get us out. We're all allies now." 

Ravish leaped into the air, stretching out her wings. The cave shook a little, and she's gone.

=-Stick-=

Wind split Stick in half as Ravish took him on one of the scariest experiences he's been on ever since he was little. By the time he's at the top, he was convinced that he was already dead.

A luminous purple light woke him from his half-dead state. Ravish was there, pain in her eyes as she writhed on the floor. "What's hurting?" Stick asked softly.

Ravish's only answer was a barely audible cry. Then she's fading, lighter and lighter until she was nothing but wind. 

Stick blinked. Twilight's fallen, still covered up by clouds. He had to move, he had to save the other seven. Or just Six. He was still aware of the fact that they're all still enemies in the end, and his teammate was by himself. He could only pray that nothing bad would happen down at the bottom of the ravine.