Chapter 1
"Into the air, over the valleys, under the stars, above a river, a pond, a road, flew Cecy. Invisible as new spring winds, fresh as the breath of clover rising from twilight fields, she flew."
― Ray Bradbury –
"I'm really worried," The village chief said, his eyes looking down in weariness. "We have always known it would come to this but, this is the first time they have done something, you know?"
Tsuna remembered what the man said that morning. He looked into the distance to where the chief said is the ruins. It was a castle in its youthful days, but when the wars started it was abandoned and left at the mercy of time and elements.
"They have never kidnapped children before, only cattle and sheep. We let them in order not to anger them."
Hayato stood beside Tsuna, a unlit cigarette in his mouth. "Is that it, Jyuudaime?"
Tsuna just nodded an affirmation. "Is everything ready, Hayato?"
"Yes, baseball freak is having Kojirou scout the area with Mukurowl helping him out," Hayato reported. "The others are already on standby in their positions."
Tsuna took out his mittens and lit his ring. Sky flames came to life on his forehead and hands, transforming the mittens into his X-Gloves, version Vongola Gear. He called out to his partner and Natsu came out from his other ring, standing on his shoulders. Tsuna could hear a purr beside him and saw Hayato with his Vongola Gear on and Uri by his feet.
"Please save those children." The village chief begged him. Around him, parents and families held their hand together in prayer, crying for help and for their children.
Tsuna spoke to them with a steadfast determination. "Don't worry, I'll get back your children and banish those witches messing with this village."
"Let's go, Hayato." Tsuna turned to his right-hand man. "We've got to save those children before they do something to them."
Just then an explosion occurred in the ruins. Tsuna and Hayato could see a few witches flying out, chanting some spell and creating a barrier around it. Before they could complete the spell, a flurry of spiked balls was hurled towards them. It brought down some but there are still a few witches flying around.
"It seems to have started," Tsuna commented nonchalantly. "You go on ahead of me, Hayato. I've got somewhere I need to be."
Tsuna didn't wait for any response and disappeared into the forest. Hayato just watched his boss before running towards the ruins.
Takeshi and Ryohei rushed inside with their Vongola Gear on after the explosion happened. Takeshi called back Kojirou, who was weakened by the attack of one of the witches inside. He went after Ryohei and hid behind one of the walls of the ruins.
"Find them, don't let them near the circle!" A male witch ordered. The others who remained on the ground dispersed and searched for the intruders.
Ryohei punched one of them who was near their hiding area. This alerted the others who immediately rushed to where they are.
"Halitus Ignis!" A female witch chanted while pointed her staff in their general direction. A stream of fire raced at them, sending Takeshi and Ryohei scrambling to the side.
"Hah, that's some big firepower. Right, Senpai?" Takeshi commented.
"That weak flame could not beat my little brother in a fire battle, to the extreme!" Ryohei bragged. He raised his fist and charged at another enemy on his right. "TELL US WHERE YOU'RE HIDING THE KIDS TO THE EXTREME!"
His fist collided with the man's jaw, sending him flying to his back and leaving him unconscious.
Takeshi rubbed his head. "Ah, he fell asleep. You should have held back a little there, Ryohei-senpai."
"What are you talking about, Takeshi?" Ryohei yelled, hitting both of his fists together. "A real man never holds back his punch, to the extreme!"
"Ahahaha, I figured you would say that," Takeshi said. He turned to the woman who sent that attack towards them and raised his sword. "I don't really want to hit a woman, you know? Why don't we just drop our weapons and return the kids to the village?"
"Humph. You don't seem to understand your situation, boy. Give up? Why don't you give your petty lives for our god, huh!" She sent another wave of fire towards him.
Takeshi took a calming breath and sliced through the fire with his rain-coated sword. "I guess I don't have a choice."
"Shigure Soen Ryu, 1st Offensive Form. Shajiku Ame."
She was down after a second, Takeshi watched her laying form while muttering under his breath. "Don't worry, I used the blunt end of my sword."
"Cantabo, cantare, vesta cantare cantinum
O mors ex Dei."
Three witches banded together and chanted. A deafening sound echoed throughout the whole ruins. Takeshi and Ryohei had to cover their ears for them not to go deaf. Ryohei slowly made his way towards the group and lighted his flames.
"TAKE THIS TO THE EXTREEEEEEMMEE!" Ryohei yelled at the top of his voice. "MAXIMUM CANNON."
Ryohei blew the three away and stopped their spell. Takeshi walked towards him with a smile. "You know, you could have just defeated them with your voice."
"What do you mean, Takeshi?" Ryohei said in a loud voice, making Takeshi cringe from the volume.
"That's what I mean, Senpai," Takeshi said. But Ryohei didn't hear as he started heading inside and defeating more enemies.
While the fighting was happening at the ruins entrance, Chrome and Lambo entered through the back, opposite of where the action is. It was a slow way in as Chrome had to make sure Lambo doesn't wander off or doesn't make any noise. As she grabbed the cow child for the nth time and shushed him, Chrome sighed to herself. It is important they make sure not to be discovered as their mission is to find the missing children while the others distract the witches to themselves.
"Lambo," Chrome called out softly. "let's be quiet in finding the children, alright? You don't want to sabotage the mission, do you?"
Lambo jumped out of her grasp and promised in a hushed voice. "Lambo-sama will be quiet. Lambo-sama will make sure that he finds the children, too."
Chrome smiled at his determination. She has always known that Lambo wants to prove other people wrong of him being the Boss's Lightning Guardian. She has seen him study hard in the library during free hours and train with the others during training. He always works hard despite him fooling around as how other people have seen him. Chrome admires his determination. It was like the determination her Boss shows whenever he needs to save people. But that same determination also shows when Boss kills those witches. It is something Chrome doesn't like as it had changed him ever since. It is a change all the Guardians don't like.
"Chrome-nee," Lambo called out softly. "What's in there?"
Lambo is pointing at a wooden door barred shut with many locks and seals. They both walked towards it cautiously, afraid of triggering some sort of trap the witches might have placed around the area. As soon as they were in front of the door, no traps were triggered and only the crying sounds of children entered their ears. Chrome widened her eyes in shock as she placed a hand on the door. She could feel the village children inside the room, unable to come out.
Chrome studied the seals decorating the door. It is some sort of imprisonment spells from the runes that glittered around the various circles being made. She and Lambo could take out the locks just fine, but it is those circles she is worried about. While she can undo these spells easily, it might alert the witch who put these seals that his circles were being undone.
'If I don't take that risk, those children won't be saved.' Chrome thought.
She looked down to Lambo and said quietly. "Please take guard, Lambo. I will try to break these spells off and we can take the children out."
Lambo stood up in mock salute. "Aye yay, sir."
He ran a few distances from the door and summoned his animal, Gyuudon. He sat at his top and petted the bull in the head. "Let's watch out for enemies, Gyuudon. Though they won't be able to defeat the great Lambo-sama."
Chrome turned back to the seals and began undoing the spells. She used her trident to try and erase the runes while letting her mist flames alter its magic flow. It is something the Vongola have discovered about mist flames. Using their illusions to deceive the magical flow, the illusionist can change the course of the magic by letting it run backward or stopping it entirely by cutting off the path of flow. As soon as she felt the flow of magic, she burned them with her mist flames, rendering the circles useless. She brought down the lock and opened the door slowly.
As light filtered in through the open door, the children looked up to see Chrome standing in the doorway. They backed away instantly, afraid that she is going to kill them. Chrome put away her trident and kneeled to them.
"Don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you." Chrome said, raising her hands to show she is not armed. "I came here from Vongola."
At the word Vongola, the children's fears were replaced with admiration.
"V-Vongola, that group that hunts witches r-right?" A girl asked with a quivering voice.
"Yes, that is the one." Chrome answered. She saw some boys boasting about their knowledge in Vongola and how they will join when they grow up. Chrome smiled, glad that they are still fine and alive. She stood up and gestured for them to follow.
"Come, we don't have much time. My comrades are keeping them busy right now."
The children followed her quietly. Chrome saw Lambo looking back at them. She called out to the child who came trotting down from Gyuudon's head. The children became wary of the bull but were looking curiously at Lambo who was listening intently to what Chrome is saying.
"Lambo, I want you to move ahead of us. Check the area for enemies and make sure the way is clear." Chrome commanded.
Lambo again saluted. "I got it! Leave it to me and Gyuudon."
He ran off to his bull and they both disappeared on the way they came. A boy went up to Chrome and asked, "Is he from Vongola, too?"
Chrome smiled at the boy and answered, "Yes, he is. He is one of the youngest people who became a member of Vongola."
The boy was in awe, and so were the other children. "Can I join Vongola, too?"
Chrom petted the boy's head. "Yes, you can. All you need is the determination to protect the ones you love and the bravery to face those witches."
The boy smiled widely and ran to his friends, talking about joining Vongola once this whole fiasco was over. Chrome waited for a few minutes before she followed with the children in tow. When they reached the entrance, she let the children run first before she exited the ruins. As soon as she was out, she stopped short when the children didn't move. There was no sign of Lambo or his animal, only a witch who stood furiously in front of the group.
A/N: Hi guys, thanks for the like and follow. You can comment on what you think of the story, I would really appreciate it since its one of my first works ever. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter, I keep redoing it 'cause I'm having a hard time writing the fighting scenes. (x_x) I'm so sorry if the scenes are bad (T_T)