Darkened Paths: Part 2
(Chapters 4-6)
~*Princess Zelda*~
Chapter 4
Kurai was alone. For the first time in her life, she was afraid. Afraid that she would get killed, afraid that she would die, afraid of being alone. She was afraid. And lonely. Zane was dead, her parents were dead, her friends and family were dead. Dead. The word struck her heart as if someone had shot a sharp, icy arrow through it.
Before, Kurai hadn't really thought about it. The meaning of the word suddenly came clear to her now. She would never see her parents again, she would be without them forever. And forever was a long time. She would be alone, forever.
Kurai stopped and sat down against a tree. Her home was far away now, she had been walking for two days and two nights without stopping. At first she ran, and she didn't look back. Then she had slowed down, and had been walking ever since. Her long brown hair was tangled and the blood covering her body had dried. She tried to scrub it off her face, but she couldn't. She looked around her, being afraid. The smallest noise sounded as loud as an explosion, she was still nervous. What if some of the evil elementals got away? What if they could come back to life? She knew that Serena, a Psychic elemental, could bring people back from the dead. But she had been killed also. What if there was one of those that had lived?
Kurai sighed. She had no food, no water, nobody. Only her Pokemon. Ninetales, Vulpix, Rapidash, Moltres, Cyndaquil. That was all, the rest of her pokemon had been lost in the war. Actually, it wasn't a war, more like a battle. But what was it all about? That was something to ponder while she had time.
There was a rustling in the bushes. Kurai turned, and her heart stopped.
Standing there, as if perfectly fine, was Voltra. But how could that be? Kurai had killed her herself! How could Voltra still be alive!? She grinned her evil grin, then two more people stepped out. A woman with long red hair and green eyes and a man with purple eyes and black hair.
"Yes, these are my 'associates'."
"How are you alive? I killed you!" Kurai stood up, drawing her sword.
"Well, my friend here," she guestered to the man with black hair, "happens to have a gift of reviving people." Voltra's grin grew wider. "So me and Eivy here are now alive again, and don't worry, you won't be dying any time soon." She turned to the man with black hair. "Azrial, if you please." Voltra grinned as the man stepped forward. Kurai was out in a second.
~*~*~*~*~*~*
When Kurai awoke, she was in a chamber. She was chained to the wall by her wrists, and the chains had cut deep inside of her arm. Those scars would never go away. There were dead bodies everywhere, and not a living person in sight. She saw little Embyr, her eyes glazed over and brown instead of red. She saw Byrn and Blaze, their faces covered in blood. The tears stung her eyes. Her pokemon were still on her belt, all of them. Voltra, Eivy, and Azrial were gone, probably leaving Kurai to suffer and starve to death. There was no food and no water, so she was still pretty much in the same situation as before, except surrounded by corpses of her family members and friends.
She lay there in the dungeon, no food or water, no chance of escape. She tried many times to melt the chains, but to no avail. She tried pulling herself free, but only succeeded in cutting one of her wrists to the bone. Kurai spent hours crying, over her family, her friends, her situation.
She was there for days, starving and without water. She couldn't escape. She was about to lose all hope and give up living, when one day hope came bursting through the walls.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Kurai screamed. The wall to her left fell apart, scattering bodies as it did. After the dust had once again settled, she saw a boy.
He was no older than 14, and he had brown hair and eyes. He carried a sword, nothing special, just an ordinary sword. He had a crooked smile, and his eyes sparkled. He was wearing a long black cloak and holding in his other hand a small bomb.
"Who the h*ll are you?" Kairu spat at the boy.
"Me? Oh, you're Kairu, right? Well as for my name, that can wait."
Kairu was speechless as the boy dashed over and cut her chains with one swing of his sword. He grinned at Kairu, then took her hand and ran out the hole in the wall. Once they got out of sight of the building where Kairu was, she shook his hand off of her.
"What are you doing?!" She stared at him, her eyes blazing more than ever.
"Well I'm saving you, what does it look like?" He gave her a lopsided grin.
Kairu cursed under her breath. "Who are you?!"
"I'm me, of course." After a moment he answered, "And as for my name, I'm Jake."
An ordinary name for a seemingly ordianary person. Kairu sighed. Well, at least she was free of the chains. She stared at her wrists, or what was left of them.
"That musta hurt." Jake still had his smile, and he reached in his sleeve for something. He pulled out a bottle of a pink liquid, and she wondered how he did that. Jake read the look on her face. "No, I'm not an ordianary guy, you're right." He smiled. He sprayed some of the liquid on her wrists, stopping the bleeding and closing up the wounds the best he could. The scars still remained, however, they would never go away.
Jake took Kairu's hand and led her to a small rock. He muttered some words and the rock disappeared, revealing a staircase. He led her down the stairs, and when they got to the bottom they entered a large room, more like a cave. There were bottles of things everywhere and a bed in the corner. On one side was a fireplace. Kairu still was confused, this was all happening so fast.
"I suppose you're hungry, right?" Kairu just nodded. Jake walked over to the simmering pot on the stove. He said a few words, and a bowl appeared out of nowhere. He filled it up with a kind of stew. He guestered to the table on the other side of the room and pulled a chair out for her. She sat down numbly, still not exactly understanding what was exactly going on. Kurai ate her stew slowly, waiting for an explanation. Jake sat down across from her.
"I suppose you want an explanation, huh?" Jake smiled and looked down at his feet.
"Yeah, that might be good." Kurai finished her stew and leaned back in her chair.
"Well, I'm not an ordiary person. I'm a wizard. Not an evil one, I ran away when I was younger. My parents wanted me to grow up like them, and I was scared of the Head Wizard. Pretty good thing too, or I would have killed you instead. I sometimes do that, send out a tracking spell and see if people are in trouble. Then I put a charm on them or something like that and send them away. It usually keeps the trouble rate at a minimum around here.
Now that you know about me, I'll tell you what I know about you, which isn't much. Your name is Kurai and you're alone. You're about my age, and a strong warrior."
"That's pretty much it."
"But it's strange, usually I can tell more about a person. Unless you're not a regular person of course..."
"Well I'm not."
Jake raised an eyebrow. "You're a wizard too?"
"No, guess again." Kurai grinned.
Jake grinned back. He held his hands out in front of him and made a small orb of fire and threw it at Kurai. It was the Flame of Truth. It was supposed to bounce back with what he needed to know, but it didn't. Kurai's body absorbed it and her eyes grew a little brighter for a second. Her grin grew wider too.
"But...what happened?" Jake was confused.
"I guess your spell didn't work." Kurai leaned back farther in her chair.
"Well then." Jake formed a bigger orb, still made of fire, and threw it with all his force at Kurai. She merely smiled and her body absorbed the fire once again, her eyes glowing some more. She smiled at Jake and challenged him to a battle outside.
"Maybe if we have a little show of powers you can guess." Kurai stood up and began walking towards the staircase. Jake followed, picking up his sword as he did. He was the confused one now, wondering exactly what she meant. They went outside, it was dark now. She stood on one side of the clearing, and motioned for him to do the smae thing.
"You can go first," she said, crossing her arms and waiting patiently. Jake once again used a fire spell, Flames of Fury. He shot them at Kurai, and she just grinned and welcomed the flames. She then drew her own sword and turned it, as if wrapping the flames around it. Jake looked on, stunned. Kurai shot twenty beams of fire at Jake, who quickly put up a sheild spell. She took her sword out and jabbed at it, causing it to fall apart. She swung again, remembering her practice she had a while ago. Then her eyes, for a second, turned blue and she dropped her sword, falling to her knees. Jake saw this and knelt beside her.
"What's wrong?" he asked, his face full of concern.
"It's...it's my family." Kurai replied through the tears. Jake picked up her sword, then dropped it. Kurai put it back in her sheath. He looked at his scorched hands, and led her back inside. Once indoors, they sat on the small sofa by the fire.
"Now, tell me everything."
Kurai told Jake her story, from the day before her birthday up until today, when he had saved her. Jake hugged her during the parts she broke down crying at, and comforted her the best he could. He understood why she had broken down crying, she had been thinking of her birthday.
"And that's it. Now, now I'm alone." Kurai wiped the tears off of her face with her sleeves. Jake gave her a hug, trying to comfort her.
"I'm sorry, I had no idea...but you're not alone. You've got me."
Kurai smiled a little, hugging Jake back. She had a new friend. She, for the first time since her birthday, was happy.
Chapter 5
Kurai woke up to find herself in a warm bed. She wondered where she was for a moment, then remembered she was at Jake's home. She looked around her, and saw a huge bedroom. There was a night stand beside her bed, a large wardrobe against the wall, and many candles glowing brightly. Jake was nowhere in sight, and neither was the room she had been in before.
Confused, Kairu got out of bed. She opened the door, and was surprised to see the room she had been in before. She looked around, and noticed that the door she had just come out of was the one Jake had used to go into the library yesterday. She looked around to find Jake, sitting on the couch and reading a book titled "Dragons: Volume 129".
"Good morning." Jake didn't even look up from his book. "Your sword's over there, and if you need anything at all just tell me." Kairu didn't bother him at all, just sat in the chair across from the couch. She sighed, her mouth smoking. This time, Jake looked up. "Hmmm...well, I've learned something since yesterday. You're not a regular person, you're a fire elemental."
"Finally." Kairu grinned.
"And from your last 'sigh' it seems that you are taking on the characteristics of a dragon..."
"Dragons? No, it just seems that way. I've never even talked to a dragon, only seen them. And trust me, I'm not taking on any new characteristics."
"If you say so..." Jake still looked skepitcal.
Kurai held out her hands in front of her, and fire zoomed from one to the other. While she had time, she thought she'd amuse herself and take a few moments to think. Did anyone else survive? She hadn't seen her cousin at all, what was her name? Oh yes, Julie. Her parents were electric elementals, but Kairu had heard that she didn't have the powers that they had had. Where was she now?
Kairu's fire lost control and headed for Jake's head. Without looking up, a small sheild of water appeared in front of his face, and the fire was reduced to a tiny flame, which soon was extinguished with a slight hiss. Kairu looked sheepishly at Jake, who just smiled.
"Oh, do you want breakfast?" he offered.
"Sure."
"What would you like? I can get you anything," he said with a grin. He took out a wand, about 10 inches long and made of a chestnut colored wood. She told him what she wanted, not much, as she was accustomed to not eating a lot at mealtimes and as long as she had a regular meal wasn't all that hungry. He waved his wand and exactly what she wanted appeared in front of her. Jake came over to join her, as there was extra food. They ate in silence, Kairu not really wanting to talk anyway. Jake seemed to understand and didn't force a conversation.
When they were finished, Kairu stood up. She asked Jake how long he was planning to let her stay, and he said as long as she wanted. He wasn't planning on staying very long himself, and Kairu wondered about that, but he said that she could come along with him if she wanted. She said she'd have to think about it, she wasn't sure of what lay ahead for her.
"Well, if you don't want to stay with me, that's ok."
"Like I said, I'll have to think about it. I still don't know what to do, I'm all alone now. My family and friends are all dead, and there's nothing I can do except wait. I know I've got you, but everyone I've known is gone. I think what I'd like to do is just wait and see what happens. I want to keep wandering, really. Maybe find a place to live. I just don't know right now."
"Well, I understand completely. I don't want to stay in the same place for a long time, I'm always a little afraid of being found. I've only been here three weeks, and I think its time that I should move on. If you want to come with me tomorrow, it's ok."
"Sure, I'll do that."
They sat there talking a while longer, Kairu was able to talk about her parents without breaking down into tears and Jake could talk about his. They talked until lunch, then they ate and took a walk outside. Jake told some more about his past, and Kairu revealed some more about hers. They showed off their powers some, Jake ending up with singed hair that he could fix with a simple spell. They had a swordfight, and it reminded Kairu of Zane. Oh, if only he was here now. There wouldn't be as big an empty space in her heart as there was now. She almost dropped her sword, but kept going, not showing how almost everything she did reminded her of someone she had known.
After awhile, they stopped. The time flew by rapidly, and they ate dinner outdoors, just sandwiches. Kurai and Jake walked back to the rock that led to Jake's home in slence. Kairu remembered her mother's smile, her father's laugh, Embyr's bright eyes as she rode her Ponyta, Claire's icy stare when Kairu made her angry, then how her eyes sparkled as she laughed, how Byrn and Blaze always got in trouble, and how she and Zane were best friends. She rembered how Serena and Flora and Misty had gotten in such mischeif when they were younger and as they grew older had become experienced fighters. Those were they days, she thought. She had taken them for granted then, but now she wished she hadn't. Why did this happen to her?
Now she knew how a person felt when they really regretted something. She regretted taking everything for granted, her friends, her parents. She would never hug her parents again, she would never laugh with her friends, she would never see them again. She took all these things for granted, and now it was over. All she had were her memories, and they were beginning to fade already. She had forgotten Serena's laughing, she had forgotten Misty's crying, she had forgotten her uncle's smile. Kurai deeply regretted everything. She was beginning to forget what she wanted, no, what she needed, to remember.
Soon it was dark, and Jake and Kurai walked inside. They went into their own rooms, and Jake explained that the door was a magic one that led wherever you wanted it too. Kurai went inside and fell asleep instantly, dreaming of her parents and sisters and brothers, and Zane and Misty and Flora and Serena. And of volcanos, oceans, and thunderstorms. And of smiling and laughing until crying, and being happy.
Chapter 6
Kurai and Jake traveled together for three months, living in twenty-six different places. Jake used transporting spells to get them to many different places. Then one day, Kurai was once again alone.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Jake awoke to scuffling noises at the door. He threw a ball of whater at the door, and it bounced back. It was the wizards. Coming. For him.
Jake thought for a moment whether he should wake Kurai. If he didn't, she would get killed. If he did, she might get killed. He decided on the latter, sending a spell into her room. A few minutes later, she appeared, pale-faced and her eyes a green color, signaling that she was afraid.
"Wh...what's happening?" she asked, now wide awake.
"It's the wizards, Kurai. They're here. For me." Jake walked over and hugged her. She hugged back, still not understanding exactly. "Goodbye," he whispered through his tears.
"No...no...no more goodbyes..."
"Kurai, there's no way I can make it. Today is my day, I will be gone." Jake picked up his sword from its rack on the wall and held it, creating a sheild spell as he did. He walked out the door, and Kurai listened, afraid. Within a few seconds, everything around her disappeared, leaving her in a forest. The home was gone, replaced by trees and green around her. Jake's whispers, goodbye, echoed around her, making her head spin. She cried out his name, but knowing that she would get no answer. He was gone, and she was alone once again.
Kurai didn't cry long. She had lost a very dear friend. But she knew that wherever Jake would be now, that he wouldn't want her to cry. She wouldn't cry.
Kurai walked and walked. For hours and hours. Alone. Afraid. It was getting dark. She was again, afraid.
She pushed the fear out of her mind, replacing it with happier thoughts. But she found none, only memories reminding her of her family. Kurai couldn't get them out of her mind, they only seemed to make it worse. She cried a little, but then stopped. No more crying. She couldn't.
Kurai drew her sword and held it out in front of her. Good thing it was constantly flaming, or she would be without light for a long time. She sat down, exhausted, against a tree. Kurai checked out her surroundings. She was in a small thicket-like area, the trees shading the area. She couldn't even tell whether it was light or day. If Jake was here...she thought, I'm sure he could find some way... Then tears welled up in her eyes. Jake was gone, dead. They had taken him away from her, the last person she had. Well, maybe not the last. Her cousin, Julie. Maybe she was still alive, maybe she had escaped. Or, since she didn't have much elemental power, maybe she had been killed. But something inside Kurai told her that Julie was still alive, she had to be. Kurai vowed that she would find her some day, she just had to.
Kurai slept, dreaming. When she did her body burst into flames, but it just made her feel warm all over. She dreamt of the place where Julie was. She had short brown hair and bright green eyes. And there were other people too, a girl with blonde hair and blue eyes, a guy with blue hair and dark eyes, an evil figure using dark energy. There was a monster, its teeth dripping green poison.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Kurai awoke to a perfect morning, the sun shining, the birds singing. It was about the opposite of the way she felt. Scared, alone, sad. She got up, picked up her sword, and took off through the forest. She knew that this was the way to the place she had dreamt of, somehow, she just knew. She also knew that this way she would find Julie.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I know, very short, and not too much detail, etc. ^_^ Expect the next part soon please, and hope you enjoyed it. And if you didn't, Kurai will burn all of your flame mails. ~_^. Anyways, please write a review if you read it and stuff. Thanx!
~Princess Zelda