So i tried moving that weird bit about cronus to the end of chapter 7, ill post both 7 n 8 so you guys can check it out
let me know if you think it worked or not
--- Chapter Seven: Camp Crystal ---
---The gang watches as the ragged man pokes at the fire. As the arm falls out of the flame all three take a step back, Chione covers her mouth to stifle a gasp. Cronus’ foot lands on a fallen branch which snaps with seemingly earth shattering force. The ragged man turns his head slowly towards the group, looking into the darkness of the dense brush and grins wickedly. He stabs his machete into the open palm of the charred hand and uses the handle to shakily stand up. Holding the machete in one hand he stands towards the darkness with open arms, that evil grin still on his face. (artist note: Cronus left his backpack at camp, so he is carrying his axe)
(note: actions have been separated from the speech at which they are occurring, they will be the next line down from it instead. This now means that if something is written two lines down then it occurs later on the timeline instead of the same time as the above speech)
Tuco: Friends! Please… no need to be afraid, for everyone is welcome at Camp Crystal. Now, why no come join me by the fire?
*Tuco motions to multiple rocks and logs placed around the large fire*
Cronus: *whispering* Rhea, head over there *pointing to the north end of the camp* and climb up the hill a bit. We’ll distract him while you see if you can get a shot in.
*Rhea nods and runs off silently, circling around the camp*
Cronus: Chio, be ready for anything… I don’t like this guy, there’s something off about him…
*Cronus starts walking towards the camp, he motions Chione to follow behind him.*
Cronus: Uhh… Sorry to bother you sir, we were just wondering through.
*Tuco watches as Cronus and Chione walk out of the brush then eyes them up and down.
Tuco: You don’t look like travelers; you’re not carrying any packs… *looking at Cronus’ axe* You’re not carrying any wood either… Any chance that axe is meant for me friend?
*Cronus starts to say something but hes cut off*
Tuco: Oh don’t bother lying… It doesn’t matter anyways. These things start in all kinds of ways, but they all ways end the same. *playing with the machete* Now, why don’t we find out what you and the little miss can do?
*Tuco starts laughing as he continues to play with the machete, flipping it in his hand and twirling it in the air. Suddenly he whips the machete behind him to reflect a PEP shot. The charred arm that fell out of the fire explodes as its hit by the reflected shot
Tuco: *grinning* Oh this is exciting; you have a friend in hiding… *glancing over his shoulder* I wonder if she’ll come out and play.
*he rolls his head back in laughter as we see Rhea’s eyes widen in shock*
Rhea: How does he know!?
*Tuco jumps to the side dodging a vertical axe swing from Cronus. With his new position he can see Chione running at him with two of her daggers in her hands. His eyes suddenly shift to the far left; he flips the machete to a backwards grip and spins to the left. Chione jumps into the air, spinning slightly she swings the daggers towards Tuco. As Tuco makes his way around he catches another PEP shot with his machete, reflecting it into Chione’s right shoulder. Her arm goes limp but she keeps going with the attack. Her left arms swings at Tuco and he blocks it with the machete. Chione twists her wrist, angling the blade around the machete so the dagger is on Tuco’s side of the machete. Once Chione locks her dagger around the machete she pulls hard. Tuco manages to hold on to the machete but he’s thrown off balance for a second. Just as Chione pulls Tuco a PEP shot explodes on his back and he goes unconscious.
Cronus: Chio!
Chione staggers back as Tuco starts to crumble towards her but Cronus catches him and tosses him on the ground to the side.*
Cronus: Chio you all right? Your arm-
Chione: *wincing and holding her right arm* Yeah, I’m fi-*she breaths in through her teeth* I’m fine…
*Chione tries to move her arm but it just flops a little*
Cronus: *still a bit worried* You should be able to move it in a few minutes…
*Rhea comes running in from the north side of camp*
Rhea: Where is he! Where’s that bastard! *She spots him on the ground* You… *She spots Tuco on the ground then starts walking towards him* You son of a bitch! *she slams her foot down on his chest and points a pistol at Tuco’s head*
*Chione stares at Rhea with one eye, the other closed tight from the pain*
Chione: Rhea! St-*she winces again and squeezes her arm* …Stop.
*Rhea stares back at Chione for a moment. She hears Tuco groan under her foot, shifts her hand slightly, and blasts him in the chest.*
*Cronus helps Chione to her feet*
Cronus: C’mon Chio, let’s see if this guy has anything useful around here. Rhea, tie up Mr. Friendly. We’ll be heading back to camp in a bit.
---About an hour later the gang walks back into their camp with Tuco in tow. Rhea walks him over to a pillar and ties him up to it, then walks back to Chione and Cronus who are getting ready for some sleep.
Cronus: We’ll be getting up in a few hours so we can drop that guy off as soon as the gates to the fort open up. I don’t want to stay this close to the Varren any longer then I have to.
Chione: What are they doing way out here anyways? Don’t they like to stay as close to Alpha as they can?
Cronus: That’s what I thought too, but now I'm worried they're up to something…
Rhea: You mean the rumors of a crusade don’t you Cronus.
Chione: Crusade?
Cronus: You remember the Prophecy of Alpharon right Chio?
Chione: Well yeah…*reciting like a student*Fourty-Two years after the Exodus, a prophet of Panzen by the name of Schultz Alpharon had a vision. Panzen told Alpharon that the human race is impure and damned; That humanity is tainted by the demons that roam the land disguised as humans. Panzen told Alpharon thathe must save humanity and destroy those who work to destroy its sanctity. And so Alpharon spread the wisdom he had received so that humanity rise up and destroy the evils of this world.
Rhea: She’s like a freaking dictionary!
Cronus: Uh… R-right. Well, because of that prophecy Chimera have all ways been killed on sight, but there has never been a large scale hunt. There’s just too much area to search for anything of that caliber to happen. But recently, there have been rumors that the Varren have gathered an army and are going to use it to hunt down every last Chimera. We can’t really be sure but seeing a large group of soldiers out in some middle-of-nowhere fort is kind of unsettling. Anyways, the point is we need to stay as far away from them as we can.
*Cronus looks over at Tuco who’s slumped over in his bindings*
Cronus: All right, let’s get some sleep.
--- About an hour later the entire camp is asleep. The readers view is at an aerial position, then zooms in on Chione who is fidgeting in her sleep. Finally the readers view switches to Chione’s view (currently black)
*Chione slowly wakes up, her eyes blurry from the short sleep. Strangely there’s a dark shape hovering over her head. She blinks a few times to try and bring the object into focus, and when it does her eyes snap wide open in fear.*
Tuco: ‘Ello kitten, enjoy your nap?
*Chione screams into a gag as Tuco grins and pulls his head away from her face*
Tuco: Now, what was it I wanted? *he thinks for a bit* That’s it! *He shoves his hand into Chione’s jacket and pulls out all six of her daggers* You know these are quite nice… I think I can come up with a few uses for them.
*Tuco laughs and stands up, then walks over to the other side of camp. Chione struggles to move but she is bound as well. She manages to roll over a bit and ends up finding Cronus who is slumped against a stone pillar about two feet away from her.*
Tuco: Now, how ‘bout some target practice?
*He laughs manically as he throws five of Chione’s daggers at Cronus and each land with a loud schlock sound as they bury themselves in Cronus’ chest. As the last one hits Cronus falls over to his side, landing next to Chione. Chione screams even harder into the gag but still only a muffled sound is heard.*
*Tuco keeps on laughing as he begins to pace the camp, playing with the last dagger as he does.*
Tuco: You know, it’s kind of funny… You’re the only bounty hunters to ever catch me, yet you spare my life? Now I can’t just leave without repaying that kind of mercy. Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe it was you *he points the dagger at Chione* who saved my life, so to repay your kind actions I’ll be putting on a show. You already saw the first act, *he motions at Cronus* but trust me there’s much more to come.
*Tuco starts to walk over to Rhea as Chione hears a quite muffled sound coming from Cronus. She looks up to see Cronus staring at her. He makes a noise and looks down at the daggers in his chest then motions towards Tuco. Chione looks back at Tuco to see him standing over Rhea*
Tuco: *He looks back at Chione* How ‘bout an anatomy lesson for act two? But where to start, there are so many options… *He crouches down over Rhea and starts mumbling to himself as he points out various regions on Rhea*
*Chione Rolls closer to Cronus, her back now facing his chest, she twists her arms in their bindings so she can bend them towards Cronus. The tips of her fingers scape at the ring on the end of one of the daggers until finally one barely hooks through. Chione pulls on the dagger and Cronus groans as it slides into her hands. Rolling back to her original position she begins sawing at the ropes around her wrists. Suddenly we hear muffled sounds coming from Rhea, Tuco has his hand around her neck. The muffled protests grow louder as he pulls her up into a half sitting position to talk to her.*
Tuco: You know… It was pretty cold shooting me in the back, but you didn’t stop there. You shot me again while I was on the ground. Now it might just be me, but that seems a little unnecessary. In fact, I'm beginning to wonder if you even have a heart. So, why not do the scientific thing? But before we can get started with that we’re going to have to break through thist nasty little sternum of yours. *He taps the back of the dagger on Rhea’s Upper chest making a quiet tok sound*
*Chione is cutting the rope around her wrists as fast as she can, barely half way through the thick rope.*
Tuco: This’ll require a bit of force, so you may feel a bit of a tingle.
*Tuco laughs as he raises the dagger over Rhea’s chest*
*Chione’s eyes widen as she watches Tuco bring his other hand up to grip the dagger, the rope binding her hands still has about a quarter left.*
*In slow motion Tuco brings down the dagger, Rhea’s eyes close tight in anticipation and Tuco’s grin grows into a wicked smile. Suddenly his eyes snap open, his face loses all expression and his pupils shrink. The dagger sinks into the earth leaving a fine line of blood on the side of Rhea’s neck. Tuco collapses onto the ground revealing a dagger sticking out of the side of his neck. The readers view then pans to Chione, with one hand free and tears streaming down her face.*
---It’s sunrise and the gang walks up on a fork in the dirt path. Cronus is carrying a dark stained bag in his right hand. They stop for a second to talk to eachother.
Cronus: See you on the other side of the fort.
Rhea: We’ll be there.
*Cronus turns to walk towards Fort Tusken but Chione stops him by grabbing onto his sleeve*
Chione: Cronus… Are you-
Cronus: Don’t worry Chio, I'm fine. We need to hurry up though I don’t want to stay near this place any longer then we have to.
*Cronus starts walking, pulling his sleeve out of Chione’s weak grip and heads towards the entrance to Fort Tusken.*
Chione: But… I saw you… *almost whispering to herself*
Rhea: Chio *Rhea puts her hand on Chione’s shoulder*, Cronus may look the most human on the outside, but on the inside it’s a completely different story. I’ve seen him walk away from things that would kill anyone else. A few knives to the chest is nothing for him, so stop worrying. If he says he’s fine then he’s fine, alright?
Chione: You sure?
Rhea: No doubt in my mind, now c’mon *she spins Chione around to face the path heading around Tusken* Let’s get moving.
*Rhea and Chione take the path to the left and start the hike around the massive fort, walking with the sunrise on their backs*
Chione: Hey Rhea
Rhea: Hmm
Chione: I'm sorry…
---End Chapter Seven---