If you guys like this then please read and review the other fics that I
have up! It would mean allot to me! I work really hard on my fics so please
take the time to read them. Thank you! I hope you like it! I had so much
fun writing this chp! And if you guys like it then tell me and I will start
to write the second chp for you. This fic is for my best friend Tara. It
was her gift for Christmas.
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FRIENDSHIPS BOND
A QUEST TO SAVE THE MYSTICS
By Draco
Tara awoke to a light breeze on her skin. It softly played with her long, deep brownish-red hair. She smiled at her best friend curled up beside her. She moved a loose strand of bright red-orange hair out of her friend's eyes. Her friend smiled in her sleep. Tara stood up and stretched. Judging by the sun it was about 8:30 in the morning. It was a bright sunny day and the air was warm and inviting. She grabbed her cloak and draped it over her shoulders. The wind filled the fabric, causing it to flutter. Tara reached into her bag and pulled out some food. Starting up the fire again, she began to warm the food. The smell wafted over to Tara's friend and she stirred.
"Mmmm....." she said bitterly. "Why do you get up so early?" Tara just laughed.
"Good morning, Kakeru," she said sweetly. Kakeru rolled over with a smile.
"Good morning." Kakeru poked her best friend, a little Dragon that was Kakeru's partner in crime and her protector. It was about the size of a big dog and had a wing span twice the size of Kakeru herself. Kakeru and the Dragon had met when Kakeru was still a baby and they hadn't spent more then one day away from each other since.
"Daisuke!" Kakeru spoke up "Get up!" The dragon took a swipe at Kakeru, hitting her in the head with his long tail.
"AWE! Daisuke, what was that for?"
With out opening his eyes, Daisuke smiled showing a mouthful of sharp pointy teeth. Kakeru rubbed her head.
"Stupid non-morning people!" she mumbled as she took a seat next to Tara.
"So," Kakeru said with a flick of her long tail. "What's for breakfast?"
Tara smiled.
"Is that all you think about? Food? Honestly, Kakeru!"
Kakeru grinned a wide grin showing off her sharp canines. Kakeru's
long cat-like ears twitched as Daisuke came to sit beside her.
"Decided to join us, I see," Kakeru said with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah, well, I like food and the way you eat..." Daisuke ducked, nearly missing Kakeru's hand which was aimed at his head. Kakeru glanced at Tara.
"Tara, you OK? You seem so quiet." Tara didn't say anything. "Tara?" Kakeru asked. Still nothing. Kakeru put her hand on Tara's shoulder. Tara was startled and jumped a little.
"What? Oh sorry, Kakeru, what were you saying?" Kakeru looked
worried.
"Watch'ya think'n?" she asked.
Tara looked at her with a smile.
"Nothing. I just feel a strong force around here but I can't figure out if
it's bad or good... but I'm drawn to it though..."
Kakeru poked the fire.
"Yeah, I felt that as well." Kakeru looked up from the fire and at Tara. "It was in the middle of the night, woke me up. I forgot about that."
Daisuke yawned. "Me, too," he said bluntly.
Tara looked up at the sky.
"I wonder if Ken is almost back with the water?" Kakeru licked her lips.
"Yeah, I hope he gets here soon. I'm so thirsty!" Tara stood.
"I'm going to go check," she stated. With that Tara lifted into the air
and flew off into the trees that brimmed the meadow that they had spent the night in. Kakeru turned to Daisuke.
"I hate it when she does that!"
Daisuke laughed. "Yeah, me too!"
~~~
Tara flew as fast as she could, dodging this way and that to avoid trees. She spotted Ken and lowered herself to the ground in front of him.
"Hey!" she said. "Need a hand?" Without an answer, she took some of the water from him. The water was in a little sack that glowed.
"Careful!" he said. "Sometimes that spell doesn't like to be transferred to another person so fast. You have to give it time to know your
power level. And with your level you could over-rule the spell without
even knowing it! And then I would have done all that walking for nothing!"
Tara rolled her eyes.
"Come on, Ken. You worry too much!"
Ken was going to start arguing, but was lifted off the ground.
"Waaaa! What are...you doing!?!" he exclaimed.
Tara gave a mischievous smile.
"What? You're taking way too long and Kakeru's thirsty!"
Ken shook his head furiously.
"Noooo! Tara, I hate FLYING!!!"
Tara paid no attention to Ken and started to dodge through the trees with no trouble at all. She flew straight up and out of the canopy with Ken floating at her control.
"TARA! WE BETTER GET THERE SOON!" Ken yelled covering his eyes.
Tara just laughed and flew back to where she had left Kakeru and
Daisuke.
Kakeru's ears twitched. "Hey! I can hear Ken!" She smiled wide and
stood up.
Daisuke looked up. "Where? I don't see any thing," he stated. Kakeru looked at him.
"He'll be here in a couple of minutes with Tara. I think she's flying him here."
Daisuke lit up. "Hah! Poor Kenny boy! He hate's flying!" No sooner did Daisuke say that than Tara and Ken came into view. Kakeru ran up to where they were going to land.
Tara landed gracefully on her feet and lowered Ken to the ground. Ken landed on one foot and then fell onto his butt.
"I HATE FLYING!" he declared again as if Tara hadn't heard him the
first fifty times. Ken got up brushing the grass and dirt off his cape. He looked up just in time to see Kakeru in mid air.
"KEN!" she yelled as she shoved him to the ground again. Ken laughed.
"Kakeru, what are you doing?"
Kakeru looked into his eyes while sitting on top of him. She grabbed a lose strand of Ken's thick long blue hair and played with it.
"I was so worried about you!" she exclaimed.
Ken raised his eyebrow with a chuckle.
"No you weren't!"
Kakeru laughed. "OK, maybe I wasn't, but it gave me a good reason to hug you!" She smiled a crooked grin and got off of Ken helping him up with her long tail. Kakeru turned to Tara.
"LET'S EAT!" she yelled as she bounded back to the campfire. Ken
and Tara laughed as they watched Kakeru tackle Daisuke to the ground and proceed to roll around on the dirt play fighting. Ken looked at Tara.
"She's 17, but she sure doesn't act like it!"
Tara smiled. "Yeah, but she's a Taily and they don't seem to mature as fast as us, although its probably just her!"
Kakeru looked up after pinning Daisuke to the ground.
"I heard that! Have you even ever looked at the size of my ears? And
Ken, I'm 17 and a half! That's a half year older than you, and don't forget it!"
Ken shook his head and took a seat next to Kakeru. She got off of Daisuke and sat on Ken.
"Kakeru...um... Oh, never mind."
Kakeru smiled at Tara across the fire. Tara didn't smile back, she just looked into the fire.
"Tara... you still thinking about that force or whatever?"
Tara nodded.
Ken was confused. "Um, what force?"
Kakeru explained to Ken, never once taking her eyes off of Tara.
~~~
After they were all done eating they sat back and relaxed. Tara, for the time being, had pushed away her feelings and was now sipping some herbal tea. She was watching Ken play with a spell that he hadn't quite mastered yet.
Kakeru had wandered off to a nearby tree in the meadow to look for
some fruit.
Ken, Tara, and Daisuke all looked up from what they were doing after
hearing Kakeru scream.
Daisuke opened his thin leathery wings and with one swoop lifted off
the ground and flew in the direction of the scream. Ken took off at a full run and Tara shot into the air.
Daisuke could see what was the matter as soon as he rounded the mound of grass blocking his view.
"IT'S A DROCUN!" Daisuke yelled back to Tara and Ken.
That made Ken pick up his pace. Ken drew his sword and charged
over the grassy mound just in time to see Tara shoot a blast of energy at the giant reptilian animal. The beast stood on its hind legs and had
a thick stocky tail. Drocuns are the distant cousins of Dragons, Ken remembered. He could see Kakeru in the Drocun's big taloned hand struggling to get free.
Tara shot another energy blast at the Drocon, hitting it in the back. The Drocon screeched an ear-splitting roar as the attack seared into his back.
Ken ran as fast as he could down the hill.
Daisuke flapped his wings as a fireball blasted out of his mouth. The
Drocun dodged that attack and went after Tara throwing Kakeru onto
the ground.
"KAKERU!" Ken yelled as he came closer to the fight. Ken watched in horror as the Drocun blasted Tara unexpectedly with a giant blue fireball. Tara screamed and forced a shield up in front of her but it was too late. Tara was forced to the ground alongside Daisuke, knocking them both out cold. The Drocun turned back to Kakeru on the ground.
"NO!" Ken screamed as he ran up in front of her.
"POWER OF DAY, POWER OF NIGHT, PUT UP A SHIELD AND HELP ME FIGHT!" Ken yelled thrusting his sword in the air in the direction of the Drocun. "SHIELD SPELL! DEPLOY!"
Just as another deadly ball of blue fire shot toward Ken and Kakeru, a see- through shield appeared in front of them. The shield started at the tip of Ken's sword and shot outwards, protecting them.
Ken screamed at the incredible force of the blow. Kakeru jumped up and wrapped her arms around him for support. Stretching out her arms she helped him hold the sword. The Drocun took a swipe at the shield with his long claws and Ken pitched back, leaning hard on Kakeru.
"I... CAN'T... HOLD... IT... M-MUCH LONGER!" Just as the shield
was giving out, the Drocun was hit from the side.
Ken dropped the sword, fell to his knees and then slumped over.
"KEN! What's wrong?" Kakeru yelled desperately, trying to keep Ken
awake.
Ken said nothing as blackness overcame him. He then went completely limp in Kakeru's arms.
"Ken... KEN!" she screamed, fearing the worst. Kakeru's eyes went
blurry as the tears washed over them. She wiped them away as she saw Tara slam another one of her blasts at the beast. The Drocun roared and took a swipe at Tara. Tara spun around in a circle and thrust her arms out taking a battle stance in the middle of the air.
"Aaaaaahhhhh!" Tara screamed as she flew right at the Drocun.
"SHIELD OF FIRE!!!" she yelled as she hit the Drocun in the head.
The Drocun was unfazed as the fire sizzled out on his hard scales. Kakeru dragged Ken over to the other side of the tree out of harm's way and jumped up the tree with ease. She grabbed a large vine from the tree and leaped into the air.
"Mmmmaaaahhh!" she yelled as she shot through the air. Just as
she was about to hit the ground, wings ripped out of her shoulders. They were huge with white tips changing in color from orange to dark
red as they got closer to her back. Kakeru soared with the vine wrapped
around her hand tightly. She whipped around and rapped the vine around the Drocun's neck. The Drocun reached up uncovering his soft underbelly.
"TARA, NOW!!!" Kakeru yelled.
Tara closed her eyes and formed the biggest energy ball she could
make without using too much of her power at once. Her hands lifted above her head and she slammed them down aiming for the Drocun's stomach.
"TAKE THIS, YOU BASTARD!" Tara yelled as the blast collided with the Drocun's belly.
The Drocun screeched another high pitched roar in agony. The
Drocun forced his hands down but Kakeru's hand had the vine in it and it
flung Kakeru forward.
"Waaaaaah!" Kakeru yelled as she flew past Tara.
"KAKERU!" Tara yelled "YOU HAVE WINGS! USE THEM!"
Kakeru flapped her wings and regained her composure in the air. The Drocun took the time that Tara was distracted to attack. He slammed Tara down with his huge hand. She hit the ground hard, the blow knocking the wind out of her. Tara couldn't move even though she saw the hand come down on top of her. Tara was being held to the ground with her hands pinned to her sides, preventing any helpful spells.
"NO!" Kakeru screamed as she flew back to the fight scene. Kakeru
flew straight at the Drocun's face and whipped the Drocun in the eye with
her tail. The Drocun smacked her away with his free hand. The force of the blow knocked Kakeru to the ground. The Drocun was preparing to blow Tara away with one of his blue fireballs. Tara closed her eyes as if that would stop the attack. Tara could hear Kakeru in the back ground yelling.
This is it. I'm going to die, Tara thought to herself as she felt a wave
of fear and pain go through her. But what Tara felt next was not pain but the hand lifting off of her. Tara opened her eyes and looked at the Drocun as she frantically scooted backwards. She stopped as she saw the Drocun lift into the air.
"What the hell!" she said out loud. "Drocuns can't fly!" Then she heard someone saying something. It was a phrase over and over. Tara listened closer.
"Earth, earth hear my plea. Destroy the evil, set them free."
Tara looked around trying to locate the voice. She spotted a man about 20 years old or so in a long, dark red cloak, with armor on his shoulders, chest, and shins. He had short brown hair and blue eyes that
sparkled.
Tara watched him move his hands in a sideways motion with a thrust. Then Tara watched as the Drocun was flung into the side of the mountain. Tara now noticed that there were thin vines all around the Drocun and they were holding him in the air. The Drocun smashed into the rocks and fell to the ground dead.
The man took in a deep breath as he made his way over to Tara. Daisuke had joined up with Kakeru and they were now both staring at this
man that had saved them.
Tara said nothing but looked at the man as she stood. She glanced at
Daisuke and Kakeru, checking on them, then looked back at the man. He smiled as he came to stand in front of her.
"I would say that you're Tara." Tara looked at him closer.
"Do... I know you?"
He chuckled. "No," he said, extending his hand. "My name is Alan. It's a pleasure to meet you, Tara."
Tara looked at his hand hesitating, but when she looked into his eyes
she knew he was not someone to fear. She took his hand and shook it but the moment their skin touched she felt a surge of energy go through her. Her eyes widened as she saw flashes of Alan's past. She gasped. She wanted to pull away but something told her not to. When the flashes stopped, she drew her hand away fast.
"Oh my God! You're.... you're that force I felt!"
Kakeru and Daisuke's ears perked up trying to hear what was going on
as best they could.
Alan nodded. "I could feel you and I was drawn to you, so... I came."
Tara searched for answers but none came to mind.
"Why... why me? Why was I so special?"
He looked her in the eyes. "To tell you the truth... um... I... um... never mind," he said glancing to the side.
Tara already felt close to this person as though they had met before. And not just met before, but had had some sort of past together. She looked deeply into his eyes and was lost for a moment but something made her look at Kakeru and Daisuke again as though there was something wrong, but they were fine. She turned back to Alan and then did a double take on Kakeru. Tara looked around, worried.
"KAKERU! WHERE'S KEN?"
Kakeru jumped up.
"Oh, no I forgot! He passed out after using the shield spell. I tried to wake him but he wouldn't!" Kakeru bounded off to the tree where she had
left Ken with Tara, Daisuke, and Alan close behind.
Kakeru grabbed Ken's hand and shook him a bit. Ken did nothing.
"Ken...." Kakeru looked to Tara with a worried expression.
Tara walked up to Ken on the ground and knelt down touching his
face.
"Kenny?" Still nothing. Tara looked to Kakeru who now had tears in her eyes. Her wings shrunk into her back and her ears were down. Her lower lip trembled.
"Aw, honey, its not that bad," Tara said with a smile. She brought Kakeru into a hug. "He just used up all of his power while using the spell. That spell can take a lot out of a person. Most people can't even pull that off without at least 3 levels higher than he is!"
Kakeru sniffed. "Well, is he going to be OK then?" she asked rather like a child.
Tara hugged her even closer. "He's going to be just fine. He just has to wake up, which should be soon. Don't you worry about a thing, OK?" Kakeru lay down beside Ken and put her head on his chest.
"OK, if you say so." She hugged Ken close and closed her eyes.
Daisuke lay down beside Ken as well, and watched over the two.
Tara looked to Alan and gestured for him to follow. He did so.
They walked to the fire and sat down.
"Alan... I know you, don't I?" Tara asked bluntly. Alan adjusted his seat and let his long red cloak fall to the ground. He looked at her with those eyes. Tara looked down in thought.
"I...know your soul somehow." She looked up. "It's an old soul... Like mine." She looked deeper into his eyes. "And there's something that your not telling me... isn't there?"
Alan smiled. "There always was nothing I could keep from you."
Tara looked confused.
"Um... what?" She raised an eyebrow. Alan sat up straight.
"All right," he said waving his hands in the air. "This is going to sound kinda', well, weird but you have to hear me out."
Tara looked intrigued and leaned forward.
"112 years ago we were together in a life. We were inseparable as
children and then as time went on we became... lovers." He took her
hand. "Our love, friendship, and devotion to each other was so strong that we became bonded... Do you know what that is?"
Tara shook her head slowly, a little uneasy.
"It's when two people are so close that they can share their life energy." He began again. "That means you can feel the other person's
joy, love, life, thoughts, and even pain." Tara was finding this hard to take, as if she was starting to remember something. Tara nodded, gesturing for him to continue.
"One night when we were asleep there was a terrible fire in the nearby village. We went to help the people... I went into a house... but... it
fell over with me inside." Alan winced. "I could her you screaming outside as I took my last breath, knowing you were taking one of yours. Before this had happened, that very same night we had made a pact that we wouldn't forget each other and in the next life we would find each other and bond once more." Alan looked down at the ground as if he was drained.
Tara stood up. "And...and what if I don't believe you? What would you say to that...?"
Alan looked up. "I'd say that you are lying to yourself... and that deep down inside you know that its true." Tara took a step away. She turned to face him.
"Its a dream... A dream that I..."
Alan looked hopeful.
"I have it once every so often." She held back tears.
"I'm outside and there are flames all around... some.... someone is
inside a hut dying... and I'm in s-so much pain." Tara hugged herself and shrank into her cloak. "It was only a dream... or what I thought was one..."
Alan got up and wrapped his arms around her. Tara didn't say any thing, just letting him hold her.
"I know... I know how it feels... to be alone." He hugged her even closer and whispered into her ear. "Well, no more..."
~~~
Kakeru awoke to someone stroking her long furry ear. Her eyes
fluttered open and she looked up to see a very tired looking Ken.
"Ken..." she said with a sleepy smile. "You... OK? You scared me real bad."
Ken smiled a weak smile. "I'll be all right, Ru... How about you?: he
asked as he closed his eyes sleepily.
"I'm fine besides some minor bumps and bruises." She hugged Ken
closely and looked into his pale face. "Why Ken? Why did you do the
shield spell if you knew it could have hurt you?"
Ken opened his eyes and gazed into her big green ones. "Because, Kakeru, that Drocun would have killed you... and not having you there by my side would hurt me more then any spell could.... I love you, Kakeru. You are my best friend."
Kakeru's eyes started to fill with tears. "Ken... I... don't..."
Ken weakly wiped a tear that slid down the left side of Kakeru's cheek. Kakeru leaned forward ever so slightly and kissed Ken on the nose but when she started to move away Ken wearily lifted his hand and placed
it on Kakeru's cheek. He pulled her in and kissed her on the lips softly. She kissed back enjoying the moment. Kakeru pulled away. She looked deep into Ken's indigo eyes.
"I love you too, Kenny, and thank you for saving my life... I kinda' like it!"
Ken smiled as much as his weakness would let him as Kakeru rested
her head on his chest once more.
~~~
"That's so romantic!" Kakeru said spinning around with her hands in
the air. "I hope I find someone like that!" she said, flashing a quick smile at
Ken resting on the ground.
Tara smiled at Kakeru, happy that she was OK.
"So that's what those dreams were about! Remember Ken? We tried to figure them out, but we never could!"
Ken nodded, smiling at Kakeru's enthusiasm.
"Hmmm, " Alan began, "I think finding you was my biggest reason to set off on this quest, but I can't help thinking there is something else...something we all need to do."
Ken tried his best to sit up. Kakeru could see that he was having trouble so she wrapped her long tail around him and pulled him up to a sitting position. Daisuke pushed a log up to Ken's back so he had something to lean on. He took a deep breath and looked to Alan.
"You said we all have to do something? What?"
Alan shook his head. "I don't know, Ken. All I know is someone needs our help." Alan turned around and pointed. "That way, in that direction, someone needs help... and I intend to help them."
"That's the way we were going." Kakeru spoke up now, sitting on the
ground. She nuzzled her way under Ken's arm.
"Yeah, we were going that way," Tara spoke up. "I wanted to go that
way because I felt... compelled to."
"Yeah, and she wanted to go alone but Kakeru and I weren't going to
stand for that!" Ken said with a smile.
"Don't forget about Daisuke!" Kakeru added.
"Oh yeah, I wouldn't," Ken added, "plus when was the last time I gave up an adventure no matter how big or small?"
Tara shook her head with a smile. "Unless the adventure has something to do with flying... Hey, Kenny?"
Ken rolled his eyes. "Oh, shut up!"
Kakeru giggled from the spot under his cape and arm.
"You too!" he said putting his hand in her orange-red hair. She nuzzled her head on his side and Ken closed his eyes and smiled.
"So," Tara said addressing everyone, "we'll head off tomorrow, then."
"Why tomorrow?" Ken asked.
"Because you're in no shape to be going anywhere right now! And don't be stubborn because I know you feel like crap!"
Ken huffed. "Stupid spell!" he mumbled.
~~~
The next morning Ken was the first to awaken. He was feeling much better than before but not completely back to his old self. He looked around him and tried to get up but he didn't want to wake up Kakeru who was lying on his stomach. He lightly moved her off of him and sat up properly. He stretched and yawned, turning his head to look at something behind him that caught his eye. Expecting it to be a rock or something, he only half glanced at it, but then he did a double-take on the thing, making sure that what he just thought he saw was in fact his imagination. But to his surprise, he wasn't seeing things! He gasped quietly as he took a look at the Drocun that stood just a few meters away.
The Drocun was obviously hurt badly but even when hurt Drocuns are
deadly. Ken slowly got in front of the still sleeping Kakeru and tried to reach for his sword which was just out of reach, not once taking his eyes off the Drocun. Ken didn't know if the Drocun would be smart enough to understand this, but he tried none-the-less. He looked the Drocun right in the eyes and talked through his mind. Ken had learned to do this when he was just 11 years old and somehow it never seemed to work on people, just on animals.
GO AWAY! GET OUT OF HERE! OR I AND MY FRIENDS WILL BE FORCED TO KILL YOU!
The Drocun obviously didn't understand what Ken had said to him.
Ken could see this clearly as the Drocun took a swat at his own head, thinking the voice was someone talking into his ear. Ken started to panic and the Drocun could feel the fear that was coming off of him. Drocuns get excited when there's fear in the air, just as sharks do with blood in the water.
The Drocun reached down taking Ken by surprise. Ken lunged for his sword without making a sound but just as he was about to grab it, he was picked up by his arm. Knowing there was nothing else he could do, he screamed.
"TARA! TARA! HELP!" His words, however, were stifled from the sickening pain in his arm as he heard a distinctive crunch!
"AAAAHHHH!" he screamed as the pain became unbearable. Tara sat up straight, confused.
"SHIT! Alan help me!" she yelled as she jumped into the air. Alan did the same and they both formed huge energy blasts and threw them as hard as they could, being careful not to hit Ken.
Kakeru ran back and out of the way and stood next to a panicking
Daisuke.
"KEN!" Kakeru yelled feeling useless.
Alan landed back on the ground and dug his feet into the dirt. With a grunt of concentration, vines whipped up and out of the ground wrapping the Drocun from head to toe. The Drocun still hadn't let go of Ken.
"Let me go!" Ken yelled obviously in a large amount of pain.
As soon as the Drocun could no longer move he was bombarded with
more of Tara's strongest energy blasts. The Drocun finally dropped Ken and Alan hastily caught him before he had a chance to hit the ground. Tara turned around and yelled at Kakeru.
"Quickly! Let's go before he can break free!"
Alan was already in the air with Ken in his arms. Kakeru nodded and grabbing the bags that were left, stuck Ken's sword in her belt, her wings ripping out of her back once more. With one giant swoop, she lifted into the air with Daisuke right behind her.
Kakeru flew as fast as she could and managed to catch up with Alan.
"ALAN!" she yelled over the wind. "Is Ken OK?" She got her answer when Ken gave a stifled cry of pain.
Where the hell did that Drocun come from! I could have sworn he
was dead! Tara thought as she flew. She avoided some feathers that were
flying her way off of Kakeru's wings.
"Bastard!" she said out loud now. "Poor Ken!"
They flew for about 10 minutes looking for a good spot to land with food and water in mind.
"We're almost there," Alan stated. "Just a little further. I promise."
Ken sucked in a ragged gasp and nodded. He then went back to
forcing himself not to cry out. He didn't want to worry Kakeru any more than she already was.
Kakeru dive-bombed into the trees. She was moving very fast as she
flew through the thick underbrush. She spotted a creek and flew straight
up and out of the trees. She hit her head on a few branches and cursed in her native tongue. She looked up and called Tara and Alan down.
Alan stopped and flew down to where Kakeru was, with Tara soon
following. Alan lightly landed on his feet with Daisuke, Tara, and Kakeru landing next to him. Alan placed Ken on the ground. Ken winced as his arm was bumped.
"Ken? You all right?"
Ken forced a pain-filled smile onto his face.
"I..." He sucked in a breath. "I hate flying," he said, trying to get everyone to ease up. Tara laughed sympathetically. Kakeru tilted her head back ever so slightly and let her wings slowly sink back into her shoulders depositing a few feathers here and there on the ground. She knelt down and grabbed Ken's good hand.
"Ken," she whispered under her breath as she held his hand to his face.
"OK," Tara stated as she looked at Ken's arm. "Good news is that I can fix it..." Ken cracked one eye open to look at Tara.
"Go on! What's the bad news?"
"Well, the bad news is, its going to hurt... bad!" Ken bit his lip.
"Fine. What ever. Just...just get it over with!" Tara looked up to Alan.
"Alan, I need your help! This is a hard spell, and I can do it. It just
needs another person for some reason. It always has."
Without a word Alan came and sat beside Tara.
"I just need you to focus some of your energy right in front of Ken's
arm, OK?"
Alan nodded as he began to do what Tara had asked of him.
"Ken, can you hold your arm still please?"
"Yes, but...but what are you... Why... Is it going to hurt really bad?" Ken asked with fear written clearly all over his face.
Tara reached her hand out and stroked his hair.
"Its just going to be a little pressure, but with your arm broken like it is, that little bit of pressure is going to kill," she said bluntly. Ken swallowed hard.
"Oh... OK, do it then." He looked to Kakeru for support. Kakeru smiled and stroked the hand she still held.
Tara closed her eyes and thought about the spell she was about to perform.
"Cast of light..." she started, "heal this wound..." She waved her
hands over Ken's arm. "Take flight!" She continued to say this over and
over. "Cast of light, heal this wound and take flight!"
A green light appeared and seemed to wrap itself around Ken's arm.
Ken shut his eyes in pain. Kakeru looked to her arm. It felt weird, like there was some sort of pressure on it as well. The feeling increased as Ken squeezed on her hand. She looked at her arm and then back to Ken's. Holy, I'm feeling this... but why? Kakeru thought as the pressure fast became pain.
Ken and Kakeru were feeling tingling all over their bodies and Ken for
some reason knew that it wasn't from the spell on his arm. Ken looked at Kakeru with half cast eyes and was worried about her as soon as he saw the pain in her face as well. She was hunched over and she was holding her arm close to her chest. She looked up and straight into Ken's eyes. All of a sudden they were in a forest, much different from the one they were just in.
Ken looked down at his arm. My arm! It…it doesn't hurt anymore! he thought. He could feel his hand in someone's and without even looking he knew it was Kakeru's.
She looked around and then at Ken. Where are we? she asked, but somehow without moving her lips.
I don't know, but how am I able to hear you? he asked looking around as well.
I don't know, but... Oh my God! I know this place! Ken, look! This is where we first met!
1 Ken looked at the little tree he planted when he was just a little boy. It was the same somehow. Ken and Kakeru gasped as they saw a little boy come out of the woods and sit down at the tree and start to cry.
"That's...that's me..." Ken said in a whisper.
A few minutes later a small child came bounding up running on her hands and feet to the crying boy. She had tears in her big green eyes.
"Don't cry," she said to the boy as he looked up. "You make me sad! Why, why are you crying?" she asked as she put a hand on his shoulder.
"I-I-I miss my Mommy!" he said, wiping some tears away trying to look at the girl in front of him.
She had big ears, way too big for her small face, and a long tail that was flicking from side to side.
"Your Mommy? Why, what happened?" she asked still flicking her tail.
"Sh-she died last year and ever since I've been all alone! Nobody likes
me!"
"I like you!" she said with happy a smile showing off her sharp teeth.
"You... you do?" he asked, sniffing and wiping some more tears out of
his eyes.
"Yeah! You're nice!" She sat up like a cat.
"You just met me! How do you know if I'm nice or not?" he asked as the last of his tears fell.
"I don't know! I just know!" She tilted her head. "Wanna' be my friend?" she asked. The boy smiled wide and nodded his head.
"OK! Good! Now I have two friends!" she said happily.
"Who is your other friend?" he asked.
"Daisuke! He's over there! Wanna' meet him? He would wanna' be your friend too!"
"What's your name?" the boy asked.
"My name is Kakeru! And what's your name?"
"Ken," he stated.
"HI, Ken!" she said as they walked over the hill to meet Daisuke.
Ken and Kakeru watched themselves as they walked away. Then they both felt the pain in their arms return.
Ken woke up in the same spot he was in before. His arm didn't hurt as
much. He looked over to where for some reason he knew Kakeru would be. He turned and, sure enough, there she was. Kakeru turned to him at the same time. They were still holding hands and Kakeru gave his a little squeeze.
"Hey, Ken?" she asked in a tired voice.
"Yeah."
"Wanna' be my friend?"
Ken just smiled as he had done so many years back and slowly nodded his head.
Well, that's it for chp 1! You like? Well, then give me a good review and I will know! Thx for reading and don't forget to moumantai! And I will say it again if you liked this story then go read my others! OK, well, bye!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FRIENDSHIPS BOND
A QUEST TO SAVE THE MYSTICS
By Draco
Tara awoke to a light breeze on her skin. It softly played with her long, deep brownish-red hair. She smiled at her best friend curled up beside her. She moved a loose strand of bright red-orange hair out of her friend's eyes. Her friend smiled in her sleep. Tara stood up and stretched. Judging by the sun it was about 8:30 in the morning. It was a bright sunny day and the air was warm and inviting. She grabbed her cloak and draped it over her shoulders. The wind filled the fabric, causing it to flutter. Tara reached into her bag and pulled out some food. Starting up the fire again, she began to warm the food. The smell wafted over to Tara's friend and she stirred.
"Mmmm....." she said bitterly. "Why do you get up so early?" Tara just laughed.
"Good morning, Kakeru," she said sweetly. Kakeru rolled over with a smile.
"Good morning." Kakeru poked her best friend, a little Dragon that was Kakeru's partner in crime and her protector. It was about the size of a big dog and had a wing span twice the size of Kakeru herself. Kakeru and the Dragon had met when Kakeru was still a baby and they hadn't spent more then one day away from each other since.
"Daisuke!" Kakeru spoke up "Get up!" The dragon took a swipe at Kakeru, hitting her in the head with his long tail.
"AWE! Daisuke, what was that for?"
With out opening his eyes, Daisuke smiled showing a mouthful of sharp pointy teeth. Kakeru rubbed her head.
"Stupid non-morning people!" she mumbled as she took a seat next to Tara.
"So," Kakeru said with a flick of her long tail. "What's for breakfast?"
Tara smiled.
"Is that all you think about? Food? Honestly, Kakeru!"
Kakeru grinned a wide grin showing off her sharp canines. Kakeru's
long cat-like ears twitched as Daisuke came to sit beside her.
"Decided to join us, I see," Kakeru said with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah, well, I like food and the way you eat..." Daisuke ducked, nearly missing Kakeru's hand which was aimed at his head. Kakeru glanced at Tara.
"Tara, you OK? You seem so quiet." Tara didn't say anything. "Tara?" Kakeru asked. Still nothing. Kakeru put her hand on Tara's shoulder. Tara was startled and jumped a little.
"What? Oh sorry, Kakeru, what were you saying?" Kakeru looked
worried.
"Watch'ya think'n?" she asked.
Tara looked at her with a smile.
"Nothing. I just feel a strong force around here but I can't figure out if
it's bad or good... but I'm drawn to it though..."
Kakeru poked the fire.
"Yeah, I felt that as well." Kakeru looked up from the fire and at Tara. "It was in the middle of the night, woke me up. I forgot about that."
Daisuke yawned. "Me, too," he said bluntly.
Tara looked up at the sky.
"I wonder if Ken is almost back with the water?" Kakeru licked her lips.
"Yeah, I hope he gets here soon. I'm so thirsty!" Tara stood.
"I'm going to go check," she stated. With that Tara lifted into the air
and flew off into the trees that brimmed the meadow that they had spent the night in. Kakeru turned to Daisuke.
"I hate it when she does that!"
Daisuke laughed. "Yeah, me too!"
~~~
Tara flew as fast as she could, dodging this way and that to avoid trees. She spotted Ken and lowered herself to the ground in front of him.
"Hey!" she said. "Need a hand?" Without an answer, she took some of the water from him. The water was in a little sack that glowed.
"Careful!" he said. "Sometimes that spell doesn't like to be transferred to another person so fast. You have to give it time to know your
power level. And with your level you could over-rule the spell without
even knowing it! And then I would have done all that walking for nothing!"
Tara rolled her eyes.
"Come on, Ken. You worry too much!"
Ken was going to start arguing, but was lifted off the ground.
"Waaaa! What are...you doing!?!" he exclaimed.
Tara gave a mischievous smile.
"What? You're taking way too long and Kakeru's thirsty!"
Ken shook his head furiously.
"Noooo! Tara, I hate FLYING!!!"
Tara paid no attention to Ken and started to dodge through the trees with no trouble at all. She flew straight up and out of the canopy with Ken floating at her control.
"TARA! WE BETTER GET THERE SOON!" Ken yelled covering his eyes.
Tara just laughed and flew back to where she had left Kakeru and
Daisuke.
Kakeru's ears twitched. "Hey! I can hear Ken!" She smiled wide and
stood up.
Daisuke looked up. "Where? I don't see any thing," he stated. Kakeru looked at him.
"He'll be here in a couple of minutes with Tara. I think she's flying him here."
Daisuke lit up. "Hah! Poor Kenny boy! He hate's flying!" No sooner did Daisuke say that than Tara and Ken came into view. Kakeru ran up to where they were going to land.
Tara landed gracefully on her feet and lowered Ken to the ground. Ken landed on one foot and then fell onto his butt.
"I HATE FLYING!" he declared again as if Tara hadn't heard him the
first fifty times. Ken got up brushing the grass and dirt off his cape. He looked up just in time to see Kakeru in mid air.
"KEN!" she yelled as she shoved him to the ground again. Ken laughed.
"Kakeru, what are you doing?"
Kakeru looked into his eyes while sitting on top of him. She grabbed a lose strand of Ken's thick long blue hair and played with it.
"I was so worried about you!" she exclaimed.
Ken raised his eyebrow with a chuckle.
"No you weren't!"
Kakeru laughed. "OK, maybe I wasn't, but it gave me a good reason to hug you!" She smiled a crooked grin and got off of Ken helping him up with her long tail. Kakeru turned to Tara.
"LET'S EAT!" she yelled as she bounded back to the campfire. Ken
and Tara laughed as they watched Kakeru tackle Daisuke to the ground and proceed to roll around on the dirt play fighting. Ken looked at Tara.
"She's 17, but she sure doesn't act like it!"
Tara smiled. "Yeah, but she's a Taily and they don't seem to mature as fast as us, although its probably just her!"
Kakeru looked up after pinning Daisuke to the ground.
"I heard that! Have you even ever looked at the size of my ears? And
Ken, I'm 17 and a half! That's a half year older than you, and don't forget it!"
Ken shook his head and took a seat next to Kakeru. She got off of Daisuke and sat on Ken.
"Kakeru...um... Oh, never mind."
Kakeru smiled at Tara across the fire. Tara didn't smile back, she just looked into the fire.
"Tara... you still thinking about that force or whatever?"
Tara nodded.
Ken was confused. "Um, what force?"
Kakeru explained to Ken, never once taking her eyes off of Tara.
~~~
After they were all done eating they sat back and relaxed. Tara, for the time being, had pushed away her feelings and was now sipping some herbal tea. She was watching Ken play with a spell that he hadn't quite mastered yet.
Kakeru had wandered off to a nearby tree in the meadow to look for
some fruit.
Ken, Tara, and Daisuke all looked up from what they were doing after
hearing Kakeru scream.
Daisuke opened his thin leathery wings and with one swoop lifted off
the ground and flew in the direction of the scream. Ken took off at a full run and Tara shot into the air.
Daisuke could see what was the matter as soon as he rounded the mound of grass blocking his view.
"IT'S A DROCUN!" Daisuke yelled back to Tara and Ken.
That made Ken pick up his pace. Ken drew his sword and charged
over the grassy mound just in time to see Tara shoot a blast of energy at the giant reptilian animal. The beast stood on its hind legs and had
a thick stocky tail. Drocuns are the distant cousins of Dragons, Ken remembered. He could see Kakeru in the Drocun's big taloned hand struggling to get free.
Tara shot another energy blast at the Drocon, hitting it in the back. The Drocon screeched an ear-splitting roar as the attack seared into his back.
Ken ran as fast as he could down the hill.
Daisuke flapped his wings as a fireball blasted out of his mouth. The
Drocun dodged that attack and went after Tara throwing Kakeru onto
the ground.
"KAKERU!" Ken yelled as he came closer to the fight. Ken watched in horror as the Drocun blasted Tara unexpectedly with a giant blue fireball. Tara screamed and forced a shield up in front of her but it was too late. Tara was forced to the ground alongside Daisuke, knocking them both out cold. The Drocun turned back to Kakeru on the ground.
"NO!" Ken screamed as he ran up in front of her.
"POWER OF DAY, POWER OF NIGHT, PUT UP A SHIELD AND HELP ME FIGHT!" Ken yelled thrusting his sword in the air in the direction of the Drocun. "SHIELD SPELL! DEPLOY!"
Just as another deadly ball of blue fire shot toward Ken and Kakeru, a see- through shield appeared in front of them. The shield started at the tip of Ken's sword and shot outwards, protecting them.
Ken screamed at the incredible force of the blow. Kakeru jumped up and wrapped her arms around him for support. Stretching out her arms she helped him hold the sword. The Drocun took a swipe at the shield with his long claws and Ken pitched back, leaning hard on Kakeru.
"I... CAN'T... HOLD... IT... M-MUCH LONGER!" Just as the shield
was giving out, the Drocun was hit from the side.
Ken dropped the sword, fell to his knees and then slumped over.
"KEN! What's wrong?" Kakeru yelled desperately, trying to keep Ken
awake.
Ken said nothing as blackness overcame him. He then went completely limp in Kakeru's arms.
"Ken... KEN!" she screamed, fearing the worst. Kakeru's eyes went
blurry as the tears washed over them. She wiped them away as she saw Tara slam another one of her blasts at the beast. The Drocun roared and took a swipe at Tara. Tara spun around in a circle and thrust her arms out taking a battle stance in the middle of the air.
"Aaaaaahhhhh!" Tara screamed as she flew right at the Drocun.
"SHIELD OF FIRE!!!" she yelled as she hit the Drocun in the head.
The Drocun was unfazed as the fire sizzled out on his hard scales. Kakeru dragged Ken over to the other side of the tree out of harm's way and jumped up the tree with ease. She grabbed a large vine from the tree and leaped into the air.
"Mmmmaaaahhh!" she yelled as she shot through the air. Just as
she was about to hit the ground, wings ripped out of her shoulders. They were huge with white tips changing in color from orange to dark
red as they got closer to her back. Kakeru soared with the vine wrapped
around her hand tightly. She whipped around and rapped the vine around the Drocun's neck. The Drocun reached up uncovering his soft underbelly.
"TARA, NOW!!!" Kakeru yelled.
Tara closed her eyes and formed the biggest energy ball she could
make without using too much of her power at once. Her hands lifted above her head and she slammed them down aiming for the Drocun's stomach.
"TAKE THIS, YOU BASTARD!" Tara yelled as the blast collided with the Drocun's belly.
The Drocun screeched another high pitched roar in agony. The
Drocun forced his hands down but Kakeru's hand had the vine in it and it
flung Kakeru forward.
"Waaaaaah!" Kakeru yelled as she flew past Tara.
"KAKERU!" Tara yelled "YOU HAVE WINGS! USE THEM!"
Kakeru flapped her wings and regained her composure in the air. The Drocun took the time that Tara was distracted to attack. He slammed Tara down with his huge hand. She hit the ground hard, the blow knocking the wind out of her. Tara couldn't move even though she saw the hand come down on top of her. Tara was being held to the ground with her hands pinned to her sides, preventing any helpful spells.
"NO!" Kakeru screamed as she flew back to the fight scene. Kakeru
flew straight at the Drocun's face and whipped the Drocun in the eye with
her tail. The Drocun smacked her away with his free hand. The force of the blow knocked Kakeru to the ground. The Drocun was preparing to blow Tara away with one of his blue fireballs. Tara closed her eyes as if that would stop the attack. Tara could hear Kakeru in the back ground yelling.
This is it. I'm going to die, Tara thought to herself as she felt a wave
of fear and pain go through her. But what Tara felt next was not pain but the hand lifting off of her. Tara opened her eyes and looked at the Drocun as she frantically scooted backwards. She stopped as she saw the Drocun lift into the air.
"What the hell!" she said out loud. "Drocuns can't fly!" Then she heard someone saying something. It was a phrase over and over. Tara listened closer.
"Earth, earth hear my plea. Destroy the evil, set them free."
Tara looked around trying to locate the voice. She spotted a man about 20 years old or so in a long, dark red cloak, with armor on his shoulders, chest, and shins. He had short brown hair and blue eyes that
sparkled.
Tara watched him move his hands in a sideways motion with a thrust. Then Tara watched as the Drocun was flung into the side of the mountain. Tara now noticed that there were thin vines all around the Drocun and they were holding him in the air. The Drocun smashed into the rocks and fell to the ground dead.
The man took in a deep breath as he made his way over to Tara. Daisuke had joined up with Kakeru and they were now both staring at this
man that had saved them.
Tara said nothing but looked at the man as she stood. She glanced at
Daisuke and Kakeru, checking on them, then looked back at the man. He smiled as he came to stand in front of her.
"I would say that you're Tara." Tara looked at him closer.
"Do... I know you?"
He chuckled. "No," he said, extending his hand. "My name is Alan. It's a pleasure to meet you, Tara."
Tara looked at his hand hesitating, but when she looked into his eyes
she knew he was not someone to fear. She took his hand and shook it but the moment their skin touched she felt a surge of energy go through her. Her eyes widened as she saw flashes of Alan's past. She gasped. She wanted to pull away but something told her not to. When the flashes stopped, she drew her hand away fast.
"Oh my God! You're.... you're that force I felt!"
Kakeru and Daisuke's ears perked up trying to hear what was going on
as best they could.
Alan nodded. "I could feel you and I was drawn to you, so... I came."
Tara searched for answers but none came to mind.
"Why... why me? Why was I so special?"
He looked her in the eyes. "To tell you the truth... um... I... um... never mind," he said glancing to the side.
Tara already felt close to this person as though they had met before. And not just met before, but had had some sort of past together. She looked deeply into his eyes and was lost for a moment but something made her look at Kakeru and Daisuke again as though there was something wrong, but they were fine. She turned back to Alan and then did a double take on Kakeru. Tara looked around, worried.
"KAKERU! WHERE'S KEN?"
Kakeru jumped up.
"Oh, no I forgot! He passed out after using the shield spell. I tried to wake him but he wouldn't!" Kakeru bounded off to the tree where she had
left Ken with Tara, Daisuke, and Alan close behind.
Kakeru grabbed Ken's hand and shook him a bit. Ken did nothing.
"Ken...." Kakeru looked to Tara with a worried expression.
Tara walked up to Ken on the ground and knelt down touching his
face.
"Kenny?" Still nothing. Tara looked to Kakeru who now had tears in her eyes. Her wings shrunk into her back and her ears were down. Her lower lip trembled.
"Aw, honey, its not that bad," Tara said with a smile. She brought Kakeru into a hug. "He just used up all of his power while using the spell. That spell can take a lot out of a person. Most people can't even pull that off without at least 3 levels higher than he is!"
Kakeru sniffed. "Well, is he going to be OK then?" she asked rather like a child.
Tara hugged her even closer. "He's going to be just fine. He just has to wake up, which should be soon. Don't you worry about a thing, OK?" Kakeru lay down beside Ken and put her head on his chest.
"OK, if you say so." She hugged Ken close and closed her eyes.
Daisuke lay down beside Ken as well, and watched over the two.
Tara looked to Alan and gestured for him to follow. He did so.
They walked to the fire and sat down.
"Alan... I know you, don't I?" Tara asked bluntly. Alan adjusted his seat and let his long red cloak fall to the ground. He looked at her with those eyes. Tara looked down in thought.
"I...know your soul somehow." She looked up. "It's an old soul... Like mine." She looked deeper into his eyes. "And there's something that your not telling me... isn't there?"
Alan smiled. "There always was nothing I could keep from you."
Tara looked confused.
"Um... what?" She raised an eyebrow. Alan sat up straight.
"All right," he said waving his hands in the air. "This is going to sound kinda', well, weird but you have to hear me out."
Tara looked intrigued and leaned forward.
"112 years ago we were together in a life. We were inseparable as
children and then as time went on we became... lovers." He took her
hand. "Our love, friendship, and devotion to each other was so strong that we became bonded... Do you know what that is?"
Tara shook her head slowly, a little uneasy.
"It's when two people are so close that they can share their life energy." He began again. "That means you can feel the other person's
joy, love, life, thoughts, and even pain." Tara was finding this hard to take, as if she was starting to remember something. Tara nodded, gesturing for him to continue.
"One night when we were asleep there was a terrible fire in the nearby village. We went to help the people... I went into a house... but... it
fell over with me inside." Alan winced. "I could her you screaming outside as I took my last breath, knowing you were taking one of yours. Before this had happened, that very same night we had made a pact that we wouldn't forget each other and in the next life we would find each other and bond once more." Alan looked down at the ground as if he was drained.
Tara stood up. "And...and what if I don't believe you? What would you say to that...?"
Alan looked up. "I'd say that you are lying to yourself... and that deep down inside you know that its true." Tara took a step away. She turned to face him.
"Its a dream... A dream that I..."
Alan looked hopeful.
"I have it once every so often." She held back tears.
"I'm outside and there are flames all around... some.... someone is
inside a hut dying... and I'm in s-so much pain." Tara hugged herself and shrank into her cloak. "It was only a dream... or what I thought was one..."
Alan got up and wrapped his arms around her. Tara didn't say any thing, just letting him hold her.
"I know... I know how it feels... to be alone." He hugged her even closer and whispered into her ear. "Well, no more..."
~~~
Kakeru awoke to someone stroking her long furry ear. Her eyes
fluttered open and she looked up to see a very tired looking Ken.
"Ken..." she said with a sleepy smile. "You... OK? You scared me real bad."
Ken smiled a weak smile. "I'll be all right, Ru... How about you?: he
asked as he closed his eyes sleepily.
"I'm fine besides some minor bumps and bruises." She hugged Ken
closely and looked into his pale face. "Why Ken? Why did you do the
shield spell if you knew it could have hurt you?"
Ken opened his eyes and gazed into her big green ones. "Because, Kakeru, that Drocun would have killed you... and not having you there by my side would hurt me more then any spell could.... I love you, Kakeru. You are my best friend."
Kakeru's eyes started to fill with tears. "Ken... I... don't..."
Ken weakly wiped a tear that slid down the left side of Kakeru's cheek. Kakeru leaned forward ever so slightly and kissed Ken on the nose but when she started to move away Ken wearily lifted his hand and placed
it on Kakeru's cheek. He pulled her in and kissed her on the lips softly. She kissed back enjoying the moment. Kakeru pulled away. She looked deep into Ken's indigo eyes.
"I love you too, Kenny, and thank you for saving my life... I kinda' like it!"
Ken smiled as much as his weakness would let him as Kakeru rested
her head on his chest once more.
~~~
"That's so romantic!" Kakeru said spinning around with her hands in
the air. "I hope I find someone like that!" she said, flashing a quick smile at
Ken resting on the ground.
Tara smiled at Kakeru, happy that she was OK.
"So that's what those dreams were about! Remember Ken? We tried to figure them out, but we never could!"
Ken nodded, smiling at Kakeru's enthusiasm.
"Hmmm, " Alan began, "I think finding you was my biggest reason to set off on this quest, but I can't help thinking there is something else...something we all need to do."
Ken tried his best to sit up. Kakeru could see that he was having trouble so she wrapped her long tail around him and pulled him up to a sitting position. Daisuke pushed a log up to Ken's back so he had something to lean on. He took a deep breath and looked to Alan.
"You said we all have to do something? What?"
Alan shook his head. "I don't know, Ken. All I know is someone needs our help." Alan turned around and pointed. "That way, in that direction, someone needs help... and I intend to help them."
"That's the way we were going." Kakeru spoke up now, sitting on the
ground. She nuzzled her way under Ken's arm.
"Yeah, we were going that way," Tara spoke up. "I wanted to go that
way because I felt... compelled to."
"Yeah, and she wanted to go alone but Kakeru and I weren't going to
stand for that!" Ken said with a smile.
"Don't forget about Daisuke!" Kakeru added.
"Oh yeah, I wouldn't," Ken added, "plus when was the last time I gave up an adventure no matter how big or small?"
Tara shook her head with a smile. "Unless the adventure has something to do with flying... Hey, Kenny?"
Ken rolled his eyes. "Oh, shut up!"
Kakeru giggled from the spot under his cape and arm.
"You too!" he said putting his hand in her orange-red hair. She nuzzled her head on his side and Ken closed his eyes and smiled.
"So," Tara said addressing everyone, "we'll head off tomorrow, then."
"Why tomorrow?" Ken asked.
"Because you're in no shape to be going anywhere right now! And don't be stubborn because I know you feel like crap!"
Ken huffed. "Stupid spell!" he mumbled.
~~~
The next morning Ken was the first to awaken. He was feeling much better than before but not completely back to his old self. He looked around him and tried to get up but he didn't want to wake up Kakeru who was lying on his stomach. He lightly moved her off of him and sat up properly. He stretched and yawned, turning his head to look at something behind him that caught his eye. Expecting it to be a rock or something, he only half glanced at it, but then he did a double-take on the thing, making sure that what he just thought he saw was in fact his imagination. But to his surprise, he wasn't seeing things! He gasped quietly as he took a look at the Drocun that stood just a few meters away.
The Drocun was obviously hurt badly but even when hurt Drocuns are
deadly. Ken slowly got in front of the still sleeping Kakeru and tried to reach for his sword which was just out of reach, not once taking his eyes off the Drocun. Ken didn't know if the Drocun would be smart enough to understand this, but he tried none-the-less. He looked the Drocun right in the eyes and talked through his mind. Ken had learned to do this when he was just 11 years old and somehow it never seemed to work on people, just on animals.
GO AWAY! GET OUT OF HERE! OR I AND MY FRIENDS WILL BE FORCED TO KILL YOU!
The Drocun obviously didn't understand what Ken had said to him.
Ken could see this clearly as the Drocun took a swat at his own head, thinking the voice was someone talking into his ear. Ken started to panic and the Drocun could feel the fear that was coming off of him. Drocuns get excited when there's fear in the air, just as sharks do with blood in the water.
The Drocun reached down taking Ken by surprise. Ken lunged for his sword without making a sound but just as he was about to grab it, he was picked up by his arm. Knowing there was nothing else he could do, he screamed.
"TARA! TARA! HELP!" His words, however, were stifled from the sickening pain in his arm as he heard a distinctive crunch!
"AAAAHHHH!" he screamed as the pain became unbearable. Tara sat up straight, confused.
"SHIT! Alan help me!" she yelled as she jumped into the air. Alan did the same and they both formed huge energy blasts and threw them as hard as they could, being careful not to hit Ken.
Kakeru ran back and out of the way and stood next to a panicking
Daisuke.
"KEN!" Kakeru yelled feeling useless.
Alan landed back on the ground and dug his feet into the dirt. With a grunt of concentration, vines whipped up and out of the ground wrapping the Drocun from head to toe. The Drocun still hadn't let go of Ken.
"Let me go!" Ken yelled obviously in a large amount of pain.
As soon as the Drocun could no longer move he was bombarded with
more of Tara's strongest energy blasts. The Drocun finally dropped Ken and Alan hastily caught him before he had a chance to hit the ground. Tara turned around and yelled at Kakeru.
"Quickly! Let's go before he can break free!"
Alan was already in the air with Ken in his arms. Kakeru nodded and grabbing the bags that were left, stuck Ken's sword in her belt, her wings ripping out of her back once more. With one giant swoop, she lifted into the air with Daisuke right behind her.
Kakeru flew as fast as she could and managed to catch up with Alan.
"ALAN!" she yelled over the wind. "Is Ken OK?" She got her answer when Ken gave a stifled cry of pain.
Where the hell did that Drocun come from! I could have sworn he
was dead! Tara thought as she flew. She avoided some feathers that were
flying her way off of Kakeru's wings.
"Bastard!" she said out loud now. "Poor Ken!"
They flew for about 10 minutes looking for a good spot to land with food and water in mind.
"We're almost there," Alan stated. "Just a little further. I promise."
Ken sucked in a ragged gasp and nodded. He then went back to
forcing himself not to cry out. He didn't want to worry Kakeru any more than she already was.
Kakeru dive-bombed into the trees. She was moving very fast as she
flew through the thick underbrush. She spotted a creek and flew straight
up and out of the trees. She hit her head on a few branches and cursed in her native tongue. She looked up and called Tara and Alan down.
Alan stopped and flew down to where Kakeru was, with Tara soon
following. Alan lightly landed on his feet with Daisuke, Tara, and Kakeru landing next to him. Alan placed Ken on the ground. Ken winced as his arm was bumped.
"Ken? You all right?"
Ken forced a pain-filled smile onto his face.
"I..." He sucked in a breath. "I hate flying," he said, trying to get everyone to ease up. Tara laughed sympathetically. Kakeru tilted her head back ever so slightly and let her wings slowly sink back into her shoulders depositing a few feathers here and there on the ground. She knelt down and grabbed Ken's good hand.
"Ken," she whispered under her breath as she held his hand to his face.
"OK," Tara stated as she looked at Ken's arm. "Good news is that I can fix it..." Ken cracked one eye open to look at Tara.
"Go on! What's the bad news?"
"Well, the bad news is, its going to hurt... bad!" Ken bit his lip.
"Fine. What ever. Just...just get it over with!" Tara looked up to Alan.
"Alan, I need your help! This is a hard spell, and I can do it. It just
needs another person for some reason. It always has."
Without a word Alan came and sat beside Tara.
"I just need you to focus some of your energy right in front of Ken's
arm, OK?"
Alan nodded as he began to do what Tara had asked of him.
"Ken, can you hold your arm still please?"
"Yes, but...but what are you... Why... Is it going to hurt really bad?" Ken asked with fear written clearly all over his face.
Tara reached her hand out and stroked his hair.
"Its just going to be a little pressure, but with your arm broken like it is, that little bit of pressure is going to kill," she said bluntly. Ken swallowed hard.
"Oh... OK, do it then." He looked to Kakeru for support. Kakeru smiled and stroked the hand she still held.
Tara closed her eyes and thought about the spell she was about to perform.
"Cast of light..." she started, "heal this wound..." She waved her
hands over Ken's arm. "Take flight!" She continued to say this over and
over. "Cast of light, heal this wound and take flight!"
A green light appeared and seemed to wrap itself around Ken's arm.
Ken shut his eyes in pain. Kakeru looked to her arm. It felt weird, like there was some sort of pressure on it as well. The feeling increased as Ken squeezed on her hand. She looked at her arm and then back to Ken's. Holy, I'm feeling this... but why? Kakeru thought as the pressure fast became pain.
Ken and Kakeru were feeling tingling all over their bodies and Ken for
some reason knew that it wasn't from the spell on his arm. Ken looked at Kakeru with half cast eyes and was worried about her as soon as he saw the pain in her face as well. She was hunched over and she was holding her arm close to her chest. She looked up and straight into Ken's eyes. All of a sudden they were in a forest, much different from the one they were just in.
Ken looked down at his arm. My arm! It…it doesn't hurt anymore! he thought. He could feel his hand in someone's and without even looking he knew it was Kakeru's.
She looked around and then at Ken. Where are we? she asked, but somehow without moving her lips.
I don't know, but how am I able to hear you? he asked looking around as well.
I don't know, but... Oh my God! I know this place! Ken, look! This is where we first met!
1 Ken looked at the little tree he planted when he was just a little boy. It was the same somehow. Ken and Kakeru gasped as they saw a little boy come out of the woods and sit down at the tree and start to cry.
"That's...that's me..." Ken said in a whisper.
A few minutes later a small child came bounding up running on her hands and feet to the crying boy. She had tears in her big green eyes.
"Don't cry," she said to the boy as he looked up. "You make me sad! Why, why are you crying?" she asked as she put a hand on his shoulder.
"I-I-I miss my Mommy!" he said, wiping some tears away trying to look at the girl in front of him.
She had big ears, way too big for her small face, and a long tail that was flicking from side to side.
"Your Mommy? Why, what happened?" she asked still flicking her tail.
"Sh-she died last year and ever since I've been all alone! Nobody likes
me!"
"I like you!" she said with happy a smile showing off her sharp teeth.
"You... you do?" he asked, sniffing and wiping some more tears out of
his eyes.
"Yeah! You're nice!" She sat up like a cat.
"You just met me! How do you know if I'm nice or not?" he asked as the last of his tears fell.
"I don't know! I just know!" She tilted her head. "Wanna' be my friend?" she asked. The boy smiled wide and nodded his head.
"OK! Good! Now I have two friends!" she said happily.
"Who is your other friend?" he asked.
"Daisuke! He's over there! Wanna' meet him? He would wanna' be your friend too!"
"What's your name?" the boy asked.
"My name is Kakeru! And what's your name?"
"Ken," he stated.
"HI, Ken!" she said as they walked over the hill to meet Daisuke.
Ken and Kakeru watched themselves as they walked away. Then they both felt the pain in their arms return.
Ken woke up in the same spot he was in before. His arm didn't hurt as
much. He looked over to where for some reason he knew Kakeru would be. He turned and, sure enough, there she was. Kakeru turned to him at the same time. They were still holding hands and Kakeru gave his a little squeeze.
"Hey, Ken?" she asked in a tired voice.
"Yeah."
"Wanna' be my friend?"
Ken just smiled as he had done so many years back and slowly nodded his head.
Well, that's it for chp 1! You like? Well, then give me a good review and I will know! Thx for reading and don't forget to moumantai! And I will say it again if you liked this story then go read my others! OK, well, bye!