Title: Charged!
Author: Black_Wingedbird
Rating: G
"Some storm brewing out there!" Hercules yelled over the groaning wind. He pulled the wooden shutters on the academy windows shut, using his immortal strength for a seemingly innocent task. Inside the building, the candle flames danced nervously upon their wax perches.
Outside, the sky grew coal black and a cold wind tore around the buildings violently, events that always preceded a terrible storm. Just minutes before, the sun had been out and shinning brightly begging for the cadets to cease their studies and relish the warmth of the golden rays.
Hercules moved to close the next window. Through the chaos that filled the academy, he was faintly aware of Iolaus and Jason attempting to do the same beside him. As Hercules grasped the flailing wood, he glanced out side. He pulling the shutters closed when it registered to him that the stable doors had blow open. Hercules remembered that in their haste to get inside, the horses were not properly put away and now stood to escape in the fury of the storm.
"Jason, Iolaus! We need to-" Hercules began to shout but was interrupted by Chieron, giving the same orders.
"Cadets! The stable doors have blown open! Quickly gather the horses and put them back!" The Centaur stomped a front hoof, emphasizing the haste of the situation.
"We‘re on it Chieron!" Hercules shouted over the wind and rain. He quickly tugged on Iolaus‘s elbow on his way to the door. "Come on guys!"
Once the door had been opened, cool, moist air surged inside the academy and extinguished the nearest candles. The sky had grown darker, if that were possible, and lightning dramatically lit the sky while the thunder confirmed that it was the loudest of all. Spurred by adrenaline and a little fear, Hercules, Jason, and Iolaus ran to gather the escaping horses. The poor beasts were whinnying shrilly, a noise that could only be made by a horse in fear.
Jason was the closest to the rickety barn and reached inside blindly with practiced skill to produce three lengths of rope. With an accuracy equivalent to Hercules, the prince tossed a rope to Hercules, then to Iolaus. Jason and Hercules each managed to slip a rope over a horse's neck. They were struggling to bring them into the barn while Iolaus was in pursuit of a white mare who was trotting away from the academy, and the storm.
Hercules glanced behind him as he heaved on the rope that brought the frightened animal into the barn. Iolaus needed help, as he lassoed the mare but she would not allow herself to be taken back in the direction of the storm. Hercules handed his captive horse to Jason with out a word. It was no use trying to talk to each other over the deep, threatening rumble of thunder. As Hercules fought against the pressing winds to join Iolaus, he caught a glimpse of Chieron coming out of the Academy to help. A dry crack of lightening struck the ground about fifty feet off, and everyone jumped at the proximity of the deadly heat. Lightning was soon striking all around them, and objects were lifted into the air and played with by the screeching wind. Iolaus had finally managed to win the horse’s trust and lead the white mare back to the stables by the time Hercules was within distance to help. As Iolaus reached up to push his disheveled blonde hair out of his eyes, a stray lightning bolt tore from the sky and struck him with an intense force, sending the smaller cadet to the ground.
"Iolaus!" Hercules yelled for the safety of his friend but the storm would not even grant that small mercy as a rumbling boom of thunder echoed it‘s sister of lightening.
The demigod ran against the wind to where his friend was now laying limp on the ground. The mare was a few feet away, the rope hanging loosely and tauntingly around her neck as she reared in fear and danced nervously around the fallen blonde. Hercules ignored her selfish concerns and dropped to his knees in the mud quickly pooling around his friend. The sickening smell of burnt flesh and smoke assaulted his nose as Hercules leaned over Iolaus, rolling the still body onto it’s back.
Chieron was quickly at his cadet's sides and shouted, “Let’s get him inside!" while placing a reassuring hand on Hercules’s shoulder.
Hercules picked up his unconscious friend and he and Chieron began their way back to the haven of the academy. Jason had finished securing the other horses and quickly caught up to the white mare. After securing her within the large wooden barn, he shut the double doors and reinforced them with a thick length of wood before jogging through the screaming winds to join his friends.
They reached the academy together, although the task wasn’t easy. Chieron opened the door and steadied it with a strong arm for the three cadets. Hercules entered first and lay Iolaus on a table with Jason close behind out of concern for his friend, no matter how annoying the former thief could be at times.
Hercules stepped back and took a look at his friend as Chieron approached. The scene would have been comical if not for it's realism. Iolaus's blonde hair was charged by static and standing on end while his skin was dark with soot and warmer that it should be. He looked like a well-loved doll Hercules had seen a little girl playing with in the village.
Chieron left briefly but returned with a bowl of water which he set down on the table beside Iolaus. With a stony face, he bent over and put his ear to the cadets chest, listening for a precious heartbeat.
After a few seconds, he straightened and announced to the few occupants of the room, “His pulse is fast, but strong. He'll be fine."
Hercules and Jason breathed a sigh of relief as Chieron picked up a clean rag and dampened it with the water in the clay bowl. He began to wipe off Iolaus’s face in an attempt to cool the skin, but also removing the soot in random streaks.
Just then, a small groan escaped Iolaus's chapped lips. He turned his head and raised his hands to his eyes, even though the room was only dimly lit by a few candles. His black pupils dilated, overpowering the familiar blue of his iris’. After weakly coughing into his fist a few times, he groaned, “Oh man, I feel like I was trampled by a herd of horses."
As Iolaus blinked his eyes and took in his surroundings, Hercules smiled. “Not quite. What's the last thing you remember?"
"Well," Iolaus said as he worked to sit up, “I remember you, me and Jason trying to gather the horses..."
Hercules looked to Chieron for strength as Iolaus trailed off. “You were struck by lightning,” he stated simply.
Iolaus patted his chest. "And I'm still alive?" he asked, bewildered.
"Thankfully, yes," Chieron said with a sigh. “You had us worried for a while there. How do you feel now?"
"Not too bad," Iolaus replied, standing up. His normal energy was starting to return, as was the storms‘ outside. A stray chair flew past the window in the clutches of the strong wind. Iolaus shook his head at that and continued, “I think I'll stay inside when there's a storm from-"
There was a flash of lightning and Iolaus found himself on he other side of the room.
"-now on." He finished , looking around. How had he gotten over here? His friends looked at him, expressing the same confusion he felt. They looked at each other in silence, except for the echoing thunder and beating rain.
"Uh… Iolaus, are you sure you feel okay?" Jason asked, breaking the stunned silence with his concern.
"I think so..." Iolaus said, unsure how he felt now that he was mysteriously teleporting.
"That was weird," Hercules announced, shifting his weight. "Chieron, how-"
"I've never seen anything like that before," Chieron interrupted. He was still staring at the young cadet and deep in thought.
Suddenly, there was another flash of lightning and Iolaus disappeared.
Hercules, Jason and Chieron looked at each other. "Iolaus?" Hercules called when he could not see the blonde cadet anywhere.
The door leading to the barracks opened and Iolaus entered the room with a pale face.
"Guys, this is not funny," Iolaus complained as he shut the door behind him.
"No one's laughing, Iolaus," Chieron said flatly. For once the centaur was unsure how to proceed.
"How do we make it stop?" Jason asked his concern evident for the friend he considered a brother.
"I don't know," Chieron admitted.
"Um, okay, well while you guys figure it out, I'm just gonna sit here in the corner. If I disappear again-"
As if on cue, a crackling bolt of lightning streaked through the sky and Iolaus vanished.
"What if we tie him down?" Hercules asked, looking around for rope.
No one had a better suggestion at the moment so after searching for a few minutes, they found some rope and a heavy wooden chair. All they needed now was Iolaus.
Iolaus had found himself in the kitchen this time, and before heading back through the academy to his friends, he grabbed one of last night's turkey legs to munch on. All this disappearing stuff was making him hungry. Upon entering the room where his friends were, his spirits were lifted now that his stomach wasn‘t rumbling and he said, “You know guys, I could get used to this.”
Jason snorted.
Hercules rolled his eyes. "Come here and have a seat."
"Okay, thanks," Iolaus replied. Hercules and Jason began to tie Iolaus to the chair and were nearly done by the time Iolaus tore his attention away from his food. "Uhh...what are you doing?"
Hercules answered as he began to tighten the ropes, “I’m tying you down Iolaus, so maybe now you won't-"
There was a flash of lightning and the two muscular cadets stumbled back with the sudden slack in the ropes.
"Well, that didn't work," Jason sighed as they regained their balance.
Then the door leading outside burst open and Iolaus came running in, leaning with his back against the door to close it as water dripped from his wet hair. "That better not happen again," Iolaus said breathlessly, his blue eyes wide.
"Hopefully it won't," Chieron said as he looked outside through a crack in the shutter. "Looks like the storm's letting up."
The students collectively ran to the window to look out. The sky was growing lighter and lighter on the horizon right before their eyes. The wind was calming and now very weak. The thunder that was once continuous and deafening was now near a silent rumble.
"It's going away as fast as it came," Hercules said mostly to himself with enough confusion in his voice for all of them.
As they watched in awe, the final lightning bolt flashed off in the distance and Iolaus once again found himself on the other side of the room.
"Well that was weird," The three cadets announced at the same time with a tone of finality.
Chieron broke the silence. “There’s a lot of clean up to be done cadets. Let’s move on and get busy.”
As the three dispersed, Hercules stopped as he was sure he heard the mischievous laugh of his siblings, Discord and Strife, off in the distance.
Finis