Divided we Stand
Author's Note- Before you read this I'll be honest, writing a Sekirei fic (and this one in particular) makes me very uncomfortable for 2 good reasons: First, I haven't watched Sekirei (I don't read manga) in a good 6 months, so characters may be a bit OOC, but I'll be trying my best with it, just a fair warning. And second, this isn't my fic idea to begin with- I was given permission to write and edit this idea by Flair the demon dragon king, but still, not my idea, and that makes me uncomfortable...
Regardless, I encourage constructive critisism; if this fic is garbage in your opinion, by all means, let me know. If it's the greatest fic ever written, then don't let me know, because I KNOW it isn't and if you think it is then you're deprived of good reading, and I'm sorry for you.
So without further stalling, here we go:
Chapter 1: Welcome to the Playground
Once sleeping so soundly on the ground, Minato shivered as a frigid wind blew across his body. Acting by his baser instincts since he was still asleep, Minato tried to pull the blanket over himself more, but he could not, there was nothing there, nothing covering him.
"Unghh... what... where is my blanket..? And why is it so cold in my room..?" Minato rubbed his arms vigorously as he sat up and looked around for an open window that must have been the source of the cold wind- there was none. There was nothing.
Nothing, was the sight Minato was greeted with when he looked around what he expected to be his room. A barren, grey wasteland, totally devoid of life and features save for a few hills and mountains in the distance- no grass, no trees, no houses, no people. Minato was all alone, in this cold wasteland.
"What is this place..? Where did my room go? Where did Izumo Inn go?" Minato wondered aloud, pushing himself to his feet and looking around.
"MUSUBI? KU-CHAN? MATSU? TSUKIUMI?" Minato called for each of his sekirei, he was answered only by his empty echo.
"You're all alone, I hope you've realized that by now." A playful woman's voice said from behind Minato. Minato spun around to face the source of the voice, and hopefully get some answers, what he found was... not quite what he expected.
In front of Minato was a small floating amorphous orb of light that cackled cruelly at his bewilderment.
"Who are you? Where am I?" Minato asked, the orb's response was more laughter at his expense.
"I will answer as I see fit- for now I will only tell you that I am a... proctor, a teacher, a... mentor, so to speak, and this is a test for you, Minato-san." The orb answered thoughtfully, elaborating what little information it was willing to tell with great care.
"A test..? What kind of test?" Minato asked curiously- a test from a floating orb in the middle of a grey, unknown land? The amount of questions has long since surpassed the amount of answers, and they only kept piling on.
"A test of resolve..." The orb started to warp and distort, growing in size as its formerly snow-white glow of purity turned black as if a bottle of ink was spilled onto it.
"A test of resourcefulness..." The orb continued darkly, it's convulsions started to become more fine-tuned, gradually giving the once so peaceful-looking orb a massive, hulking and fearsome draconian-like shape, with massive jet-black wings, burning red eyes and teeth as sharp as swords; Minato was stunned, taking a step back out of sheer shock, his breathing became shallow and quick.
"And a test... of survival." The dragon ended in a deep, dark, voracious voice, topping it all with a mighty roar that sent Minato racing in the opposite direction.
"What is this? What am I supposed to do?" Minato said in terror, sprinting as fast as his feet could carry him.
"THAT'S FOR YOU TO FIGURE OUT!" The dragon roared, melting into the ground and letting Minato run into the nothingness, once again leaving him all alone with nothing but his fear and confusion.
"This place... this is not where I'm supposed to be..." Haihane observed blankly, dragging her feet through the flat, blank landscape.
"Natsuo-sama will not be happy when he realizes I'm gone... he'll have to deal with Benitsubasa and Karasuba all by himself..." Haihana paused to laugh lightly at the thought of what Benitsubasa would try without Haihane there to stop her.
Stupid flat-chested girl... she's not going to get him... but she's too dense to figure it out... Haihane started to laugh harder, barely able to contain herself as it was, but she only kept going.
'Oh Natsuo-chan, I love you!' Benitsubasa's likely botched confession to Natsuo played out in Haihane's head, not to good effect. 'Well I don't love you!' Natsuo said back, Haihane was bursting with laughter, clutching her stomach in pain from her laughter.
"HA HA HA HA! Oh Benitsubasa, you're so dumb..." Haihane wiped a tear from her face, cutting her cheek deeply with her claws as she did so.
"OUCH! Damn... good thing I didn't try to cover my ears this time..." Haihane wiped the blood from her cheek with her right sleeve, looking ahead for some sort of activity or otherwise sign of life, there not being much else to do in this blank landscape- to her surprise, she found something.
A figure in the distance, barely visible from where she was, just a slight outline of color in stark juxtaposition to the surroundings was all Haihane could make out- it was something different, which was exciting after so many hours of nothingness.
"Hm? Someone else is here? Perhaps I can find some answers, and get back to my T.V... I'm probably missing something..." Haihane started to hustle towards the figure, claws at the ready just in case it was something hostile- not that it mattered at this point, anyone would at least provide a clue as to where she was or how to get back.
As Haihane neared, the figure started to wave to her- well, whoever it was, they were alive, for all the good that brought.
It's... a human... perhaps Natsuo-sama? No... it's not him... but who is it? Haihane wondered as she came closer to the figure.
"Oh, it's you..." Haihane said in surprise once she finally came close enough to Minato to tell who he was- she didn't totally recognize him at first, she only remembered him as the ashikabi who helped another ashikabi and sekirei escape- an enemy, in other words. Curiously Haihane didn't feel that killing him was necessary, and she was even calmed by his presence, lowering her claws back to her side.
Hm... no sense in killing him, SOME company is better than more of nothing... even if it isn't friendly... Haihane mentally shrugged.
"You're... Haihane... from the Disciplinary Squad... why are you here?" Minato asked, also in surprise; of all the people he could find in this odd place, why Haihane?
"I don't know. I don't even know where 'here' is." Haihane shook her head. "What about you? Have you any idea what's going on?"
"I... don't know... but... I know it isn't safe to stay here..." Minato said, looking back to where he had come from for any sign of the dragon he encountered- nothing, which seemed a mixed blessing at this point.
"Is something following you?" Haihane looked around him for whatever was capturing his attention- nothing.
"M-maybe... I think... we should go together." Minato suggested, Haihane scoffed at the suggestion.
"And why should I go with you?"
"Well... it's your choice, but do you think the alternative is better?" Minato asked, rhetorically looking around at the empty surroundings to prove his point.
"Hmph... fine, but the moment we get out of here, we're enemies again." Haihane rolled her eyes and motioned for Minato to lead on.
"Alright, I want to get out of here just as much as you do..." Minato said, leading the way.
"Oh, by the way... what's your name again?" Haihane asked, having caught up to Minato, she was now walking right by his side, although at a safe distance of 5 feet apart- just out of Haihane's claw-reach for Minato's safety.
"Sahashi Minato."
"Good to know."