Disclaimer: I do not own Jyu-Oh-Sei or it's characters!
The walk was awkwardly quiet. Chen didn't fully trust the young woman behind her but she didn't feel as if she would be a threat to her life. Something just didn't feel right. Knowing how to know if it was a fleeting worry or a rightful concern would come in due time. Thinking Thor could sense anything strange easily made her feel better in the terms of having this worry terminated one way or another.
However, Thor had let his judgments be faltered because of a woman once before, Karim. Beautiful as she was, she lead him into danger because he could not see the problems with his blind so called love for her. Chen didn't think it was love, but a lust that seemed like love to the young leader who was hardly even fifteen. Ever since, she had never seen him take an interest. When she would ask as to why he didn't want to have any lineage, he would simply shrug and glance off into the distance. Thinking about the women, Tiz and Karim, no less. His adopted daughter Tiz was smart and eager to always learn more but she wasn't his by birth right. Never had he ever taken part in the Month of Joining that was still a tradition after all these years. It confused her but left it alone, she was in no condition to offer.
"This Thor," Sarah started to ask curiously, "Is he really everything everyone says he is?"
Chen smirked. Obviously she had never met him and was curious. With the Month of Joining coming soon, she wondered if he would accept her if she would ask but kept that thought to herself. "Depends. He is a man after all but he has given us more than we could ever ask of him."
Sarah didn't respond to that, how could she… But thinking about the time that had passed since their little walk, she realized they must be close. Her heart beat started to race and she quickened her pace, almost passing Chen who had to slightly limp yet. That was when she saw the fortress, stone walls built into the cliff side. Stopping to look at Clarisa, she smiled and said with relief, "Well, we're here."
Sarah had only known Clarisa for not even a week and already she felt the need to consider her a friend. It was dangerous, even if Clarisa was just a girl… a normal girl. Friends meant secrets, secrets that couldn't be told…
"Well," Chen started stopping and swinging her free hand towards the fortress, "We're here. We should go to Thor so he can judge if you'll be handy to have around or not. We can't afford dead weight." Cold and to the point but that was how Chen was. Only Third managed to melt her heart, Yuki only scratched the surface. But both men were dead now. Difficult as it was, she managed to remain loyal and stay by Thor's side and help him in any way possible in Third and Tiz's place as an advisor along with Rada.
Pleased to be able to meet Thor sooner rather than later, Sarah just nodded and waited for Clarisa to walk beside her. After all this time of searching for this place, she was here with a girl that she knew nothing about and being led by a woman who knew the Beast King. But they could never know her secret, and being so close to the muses made her nervous. The forest was both her friend and her enemy and more so than anyone else there.
Walking into the fortress, that was guarded by two burly men with guns, she began to see the wonder of a thriving community. More thriving than the rest of the world, at least but nothing like the images in her head. Images of towering buildings and the noises of cars passing by with the people going about their business… things that she couldn't remember seeing but yet they were there. The place was full of hallways that seemed to have some sort of purpose but she couldn't concentrate to remember anything about them. The interior was only bright because of the sun shining through the windows of the outer wall. However, going deeper into the fortress, it became darker and small bulbs lit up the rest. Never had Sarah or Clarisa seen such things on Chimera… Sarah remembered them though from somewhere in the back of her mind.
People looked at them as they walked by and even smiled and waved at Chen. She was well respected and that was about all Sarah knew about her. Trying not to look guarded, Sarah took a deep breath and smiled at Clarisa when she glanced up. Clarisa followed suit and they both seemed to benefit from it. Curious eyes looked at Sarah, but most were almost envious from the few women and something else from the men. Knowing her body was desirable to men; Sarah often ignored them and never took part in the Month of Joining for one reason or another. There would come at time when she would not have an excuse… worrying about that time because of its ever beckoning call, she thought that she would be ready sooner than this, eighteen years old and still without a man. Girls by the age of sixteen took part to preserve the species if they asked a man. Shaking her head from these thoughts she stopped as Chen neared a doorway and stopped, turning to face the two females.
"You seem oddly at ease in a place full of people willing to fight for a meal," Chen commented as she raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "It's not my business how you survived before now but if we see any trouble…" She sighed let her arms down to her sides as she put her hand on the handle. "We will not hesitate to take you out. We can't afford to."
Simply nodding, the girls, especially Clarisa grew nervous. She was young after all and such threats of kicking them out to survive on their own in the night time would scare anyone. Sarah only hoped Thor would see that she was valuable and had a heart to keep Clarisa as well. If he was anything like they said he was then she had no doubt Clarisa would have a life if nothing else. For some odd reason, that gave Sarah a sense of peace.
The door seemed to open too slowly to a room that was just big enough to have a large table with six chairs surrounding it and have people able to walk past each other with ease. The table lit up but was quickly turned off and lights on the walls began to shimmer. Sarah looked around for the 'Silver Hawk' but found three men. One with glasses and a bandana, another with dirty blonde hair and pale skin and the third strikingly handsome with dark hair and tan skin with gray blue eyes. Tall and lean, his appearance made her blush and she forgot about the other men in the room. His eyes met hers for an immeasurable amount of time, seconds to hours.
When Chen opened the door, Thor had finished talking about the future hunt for food for the nights. He was almost relieved for a breather but what he didn't expect was company with Chen. A young girl who had seen better days and then a strikingly beautiful woman… even more beautiful than Karim… met his gaze. Even in the indoor light, he could tell that she was lean and yet curvaceous in all the right places, her clothes modest and yet all too tempting. However, he had to say something to not seem like an idiot.
"Chen," he said breaking eye contact, "I see you were out and about today."
"Thor, this is Sarah and Clarisa," she said politely gesturing to each girl respectively, "They wish to stay for the nights to come. I told them that if they could make themselves worthy then they would earn their keep."
"Well," said the man in the bandana, "the women here are getting scarce due to last year's little… issue." Shrugging, he seemed to have struck a point in everyone, leaving Sarah and Clarisa in the dark. Women were rare here. Before the incident five years ago they were twenty percent and now… a mere ten percent.
"I know but we have enough mouths to feed without dead weight but they did make it through the muses without a scratch… well almost," Chen added frustratedly looking at Clarisa who still needed a good wash.
Sarah decided she needed to speak up but then the man with dirty blonde hair smirked and stood up from his chair. "Well let's see her fighting skills. Those blades aren't made for amateurs… they're made for close combat," he said obviously aiming his comment to Sarah. The tips of her blades were easy to see behind their back for they almost rested straight out as to not hit her back as she ran.
"I earned them," Sarah said standing up straight, she wanted to show she wasn't afraid of a challenge. "Fighting is a necessity and if it's what I need to prove myself here then so be it."
Thor opened his mouth to say that it wasn't necessary when Zagi spoke up with his signature smirk. "Alright then. Chen, get your best fighting girl. We're going to have ourselves a little fight."
Author's Note: Okay so I couldn't wait for a review but I was on a role and an idea hit me and I wanted to get it down before I forgot or it passed me by. Please Review!