A Legend Begins Again: Part Two

     "You've gotten a lot better, whelp," he said. "I suppose I should be impressed!" Bloodhook shoved Garin backwards and used his long, thin tail to trip Garin up onto his back. Garin grunted and tried to sit up, but Bloodhook stomped a hefty foot onto Garin's chest and forced him back down.

     "What... What are you doing back?! I-I thought you'd been--" Garin stammered.

     "Been what? Sent to the locker? Made into shark bait? Stranded on a desert island?" Bloodhook snarled angrily, pushing his foot down harder onto Garin's chest. "No, mate... What I've been is waiting for this moment! The moment of my revenge!"

     "You... Lost the Pawkeet... In a fair and square fight!" Garin growled with a cough, glaring up at Bloodhook, who lifted his foot slightly... only to slam it back down on Garin's chest, causing the young Usul to grunt in pain and wheeze.

     "The ship is only PART of the ordeal now, you bilge rat!" Bloodhook hissed, kneeling down and putting his cutlass to Garin's jaw. "Remember this?"

     Bloodhook raised a claw and pointed to the left side of his face, which, as Garin remembered, still had the mark. Garin winced as he remembered giving it to Bloodhook. It had been purely by accident, unintentional, but at the time the old buccaneer seemed to have deserved it. The scar didn't show any signs of fading over the years, and still stretched from the corner of Bloodhook's mouth, and all the way back and even through his ear. Garin glared up at Bloodhook.

     "What, are you looking for an apology?" he growled defiantly, but couldn't hold back a slight smirk. Bloodhook growled angrily at him and pushed the blade harder against Garin's flesh. Garin winced and pushed his head away.

     "I'll take that as a no," he said, then suddenly brought his legs up and kicked Bloodhook in the gut, knocking him off balance just long enough for him to get up.

     Springing to his feet, Garin drew out his dagger and held it at the ready as Bloodhook charged him with an angry yell. Garin blocked the attack, but was thrown back by the sheer force of Bloodhook's rage. He let out a grunt as he fell onto some stairs, but lifted his arms as Bloodhook tried to run him through, blocking the attack. Bloodhook growled in pure rage and started to push back on Garin, attempting to knock the dagger from his hands. Garin growled from the strain and tried to get Bloodhook off of him before his strength gave out, but then, a thought struck him, and he quickly slipped down between Bloodhook's legs, though the slide down from the stairs left would obviously leave a few bruises. Bloodhook swung around to confront Garin again, but Garin moved behind Bloodhook as he spun, and bolted up the stairs of the mill.

     The upper level of the mill was a bit lighter than the floor below, and Garin wasted no time shutting the stair door on Bloodhook, then quickly moved a heavy barrel in front of it, hoping to stall Bloodhook long enough for him to make his escape, or at least come up with a plan. Garin jumped back with a start, as Bloodhook slammed against the door hard, letting out a roar as he did. He gulped, then raced over to a window, and slashed his dagger across the wooden planks that covered it to break them away quickly, then looked outside.

     The drop down was too far for him to make it safely, but there was a small ledge that he could stand on, then climb up to the roof. Garin put his dagger into his teeth and stepped out onto the ledge, then jumped up to grab the edge of the roof. Once he had a good hold, he started to pull himself up onto the slightly slanted roof. He pulled his dagger out of his teeth and stabbed it into the roof so he could hold onto it and pull himself up more. He panted for breath and got onto his knees, when suddenly a shadow appeared over him. He stared at it, wide eyed, then groaned to himself and rubbed his temples with his free hand.

     "You idiot, Eyries can FLY!!" he yelled at himself, then quickly pulled his dagger out of the roof and sprang up, just seconds before Bloodhook's cutlass stabbed into the spot where he had been sitting. Garin tried to head further up the roof, but Bloodhook swooped down on him and knocked him over to the edge of the roof, where he clung to the edge with his hands desperately, his dagger falling into the river below. Garin cursed aloud, then glared at Bloodhook as he landed in front of him, laughing madly.

     "What's the matter, whelp?" he asked, lowering his cutlass to Garin's face. "Afraid to get wet?!"

     Garin blinked. Wet... Wet meant water. The water, of course! He looked up at Bloodhook and grinned a wide, crafty, defiant grin.

     "Me? Its you who could use the bath!" he said, then let go of the edge and dropped into the water below... knowing that Bloodhook didn't know about his seaweed necklace! He slipped it on, then swam to the bottom, where he quickly recovered his dagger, and even better, found a chain and large hook, then waited...

     Bloodhook snarled and flew in circles over the river, even checking the water nearest the waterwheel, thinking Garin might be hiding there. Bloodhook growled to himself for the second them, then flew up over the river again.

     "He can't stay underwater forever!" he snapped to himself, looking down at the water, and even watching to see if Garin had somehow escaped him some other way...

     Suddenly, the end of a chain came flying out of the water and wrapped around Bloodhook's ankle tightly and holding there, causing the large Eyrie to screech out in shock and struggled.

     Garin smirked to himself and swam quickly towards the waterwheel, and attached the hook he had found, which was now linked with the chain, to one of the edges of the waterwheel, then came up to the surface to watch as Bloodhook was dragged down into the water, despite his trying to escape. Soon, the Eyrie was brought to the surface again by the rotation of the waterwheel, but this time, he had enough time to pull his ankle free, though he was out of breath and now clearly, very tired. Garin chuckled to himself, but gasped as suddenly Bloodhook lunged at him and picked him up by the throat.

     "You think that's funny, do ya!?" Bloodhook roared, then flew higher, with Garin still in his grasp. Garin kicked and struggled with all his might, knowing he had to get free before they got too high up, and finally, managed to succeed. But even so, he fell straight through the small dock of the mill and landed in the water, the wind knocked clean out of him. He coughed and sputtered, grasping his chest and wincing in pain, but before he could recover, Bloodhook appeared over him, reaching down into the water and pulling him up roughly by the front of his vest. Garin grabbed at Bloodhook's hand and coughed again, trying to regain his breath and strength to fight.

     "Any last words, whelp?!" Bloodhook demanded. Garin gritted his teeth at him, then quickly slashed his dagger across Bloodhook's arm, forcing him to release him. Bloodhook screamed out in pain and grabbed his arm as Garin scrambled back towards the mill. Bloodhook growled in rage and pulled out a knife.

     "Oh no you DON'T!" he hissed, then threw the knife at Garin...

     The knife hit, and Garin cried out in pain, stumbling in his run, then falling into the river below, vanishing from sight. Bloodhook grinned and walked to the spot where Garin had dropped his dagger, bending over and picking it up. He examined the dagger with a chuckle, then tucked it into his belt.

     "One down..." he said, then walked back into the mill.

      ***

     Garin gasped as he came up for air underneath the mill, then dragged himself into the shallow water, gritting his teeth to keep from yelling out in pain as he held his side. The knife Bloodhook had thrown had gone and stuck itself into the thick layers of leather that made up the sheath for his dagger, under his left arm. Though he wasn't really wounded, the impact had still hurt on an already hurting part of his body. Garin rolled onto his back, his ears submerged in the water, muffling all sound as he panted... then slowly slipped into unconsciousness.

To be continued...