Alright, here's the second chapter! Also I'm very sorry for the long wait. Usually people give excuses, but I'm just going to flat out admit that, no, most of the time I wasn't busy, just very, very, lazy. Yeah. I've already slapped myself across the face for it.
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Thump, thump, thump. It seemed that her heart beat grew louder and faster by each passing second, as the alien dashed frantically through the strange forest. At first she thought it was artificial when she looked around, after being thrown into the strange place. After all, the forest was inside the building. Though as the teenager tripped over a large root in the midst of her frantic run, she realized that the plants that her face had oh so painfully come in contact with, were in fact real. And they were coming to get her.
Naida continued to dash aimlessly along a narrow path, as the roots and vines sped along the soil towards her. She had to get away. She had already figured out why she was in this strange place. "To test her abilities" was what the shadowed man had said. Was he expecting her to fight the things? How could she? Naida hated to see plants die, even if they were out to kill her.
I could fly, she thought, panting heavily. Oh, wait. The roof only goes so high and running tires me out. Naida was a fairly smart girl, mature and calm on most occasions, but in the midst of battle or any heated moment, her logic wasn't always as clear, and her decisions always had a negative affect. It made her wonder why her teammates voted her as leader.
"I guess I have no choice." Naida slid to a stop and quickly turned around, facing the now much larger herd of murderous plants, "Consider it an act of self defence. That way I won't grieve too much about it later on." Her heavy breaths became deep, as she readied herself for her upcoming attack. She steadily moved her right arm out in front of her, palm facing outwards. She waited for the demonic plants to come in good range, and then moved her hand into a tight fist. The instant her hand moved into a fist, the plants collapsed onto the ground, the water from their insides bursting out into the air and draining them from life.
It was a massive pile displayed in front of her, every single murderous plant that was chasing her now dead. Though, her muscles were still tense, and her breathing hadn't become any lighter. That was when she realized it. She really was stupid in fast paced situations. "Crap," she muttered. She had played the wrong card.
That man wanted to see what she could do. And now he has. It was plain obvious from the very start that she was being watched. After all, that's why she was thrown in this strange indoor forest, so he could test her abilities. And now that she had demonstrated a bit of her skills, she knew only much worse things could happen. Why hadn't she just broken out through one of the walls? Naida mentally slapped herself in the face. Stupid! she frowned.
Looking around at the large forest, Naida noticed that she was only a few feet away from one of the surrounding walls. Maybe there was still time to escape. Without hesitation, she brought the water from the plants that was still floating in the air by her control, down upon the large white wall in a horizontal slash, creating a large gaping hole. She took off in a sprint towards the newly formed exit, a new found energy urging her to continue on.
She was already planning her next move. She would then have to find a way to save her friends who were currently held against their will in line, waiting for their own tests.
Though her plans seemed to falter, as a figure appeared, blocking her path. She nearly tripped again in an attempt to stop without running into the figure. As she regained her balance, she took the time to get a good look at the stranger, an uneasy feeling forming in her stomach.
"Get out of the way," she grunted, noticing her new energy and determination starting to ware out.
The man smirked and said in an almost playful tone, "What was that? You're too quiet. Speak up!"
Naida glared at him sharply, impatience taking a hold of her. Screw this, she thought, eyes glowing a bright blue. I'm sick of this. I need to get out of here.
"Get out of my way," she repeated.
"Heh. Fucking make me," he grinned, gripping a large weapon strapped to his back and bringing it down in front of him.
She didn't hesitate to dash forward in an attempt to attack the man. Though this time, luck seemed to be on her side, and she managed to think of a decent strategy.
Water made it's way towards the man from all directions, closing in on him at great speed. Naida caught a good glimpse of the man's grin widening, before more water blocked her view of him, as it swarmed its target. She new what was coming. He swung his blade out, as expected, trying to block the attack in one easy blow. He succeeded, the water that once trapped him, falling down in a big splash. As expected. His grin faltered, as he realized what his opponent had done. He quickly turned around and looked down the dark hallway, seeing the young alien run at full speed and turning a corner.
"That bitch! She fucking tricked me!" he yelled, running after her.
Naida knew that she was almost at her limit. She couldn't run for much longer. Her energy was quickly fading, and soon she would collapse from exhaustion. She never was too good at running. How can I save my friends, when I barely have the energy to save myself? She could hear him closing in on her. I have to save myself first. I need to find an exit. I'll come back prepared.
Water formed from the air, as she turned another corner. It pierced a nearby wall, creating an opening. She ran through the large hole and took a quick glance at where she was. Another hallway. She sped down this one too, until deciding to create yet another hole. Jumping through it, she slid to a stop in front of her make shift exit. She knew the man wasn't far away, so she needed a way to slow him down. The water that she used from the air to create her exits lifted itself once more, moving around the scattered wall chunks and picking them up, sealing the exit.
She continued to run with much effort, until something caught her attention. As she had gone further into the long hallway, the walls began to change from a dark cement to cold rock, revealing her location. So I'm in some sort of cave? Then I must be closer to the exit! At least I hope so... She burst through a rock wall in hopes of finding light, but only more rock came into view. "This place is a maze," she breathed, clutching at her stomach in pain from the large cramp that had formed. Before she even realized it, she had slumped onto the ground and was now leaning against a rocky wall. "I don't understand the layout of this place at all," she sighed, eyes shutting on their own.
"No!" she jumped up from where she sat and clutched her head. "What the hell am I doing? I can't rest! That guy is still chasing me! He's-" her eyes grew wide while she moved her hands away from her ears, "...gone?" No sound other then her heavy breathing could be heard. "Did I lose him?" She glanced back at the hallway. Nothing. Nothing was there, nothing was close to her in any direction. At least that was what the feeling in the pit of her gut told her. She stood up and continued on slowly to regain a bit of energy. Though she looked relaxed, she was on full guard.
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Despite their current situation, Nerita couldn't be anymore scared at the blonde who stood beside her in the damp room. Yes, Stella was known as a quick-tempered girl, but who would have ever known that she could be pissed off to the point where she scared her friends even more than what they were currently dealing with? Even though they were in a cave, Nerita was positive that a huge lightening storm was taking place outside.
Stella, in all her pride and glory, had seemed to turn down the one thing she valued most in life. Her 3 hour process of beauty. Instead of trying to keep up with her hard efforts at remaining the most beautiful as can be, she ended up slouched against the wall, long blond hair losing its shine and hanging dreadfully in front of her face, barely hiding the dark and twisted scowl that glared at the strangers a few meters away.
"Stella...?" Nerita said quietly, fear clearly in her tone.
"Shut it," Stella said in a wicked voice. The more Nerita talked, the more pissed off Stella got. She needed to focus on ways to vent out her anger, and she already had the perfect target.
"Nerita," Bonnie whispered to the blue haired girl, "Stella's in a state of anger which needs to be treated delicately. If she doesn't vent out her anger properly, she'll end up killing herself." She then looked at the people that stood in front of them, her red eyes glinting from the dim light bulb in the centre of the room. "Do you understand what's going to happen?" she reverted her eyes back to Nerita.
Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "But how? Nerita can't attack them 'cause we're inside," she said, sending a worried glance to the strangely calm Stella.
A faint smile tugged at Bonnie's lips, "Don't worry, she's solving that problem right now."
A blonde man with feminine features whispered to a much taller and blue skinned man, "When I saw her in the hall, I thought she was pretty cute, but now she's just creeping me out with that glare, un."
The tall man grunted in response, glaring back at the girl for a moment with his small fish-like eyes.
"Hey, I wonder if Hidan caught that girl yet, hmm," the blonde said in a louder tone, hoping to receive an answer from their leader.
Before anyone could reply to his statement, thunder boomed loudly in the air, reaching in through the cave for all ears to hear. After a moment, their attention went back to their leader, waiting patiently for his reply. What they didn't expect, though, was to hear a faint giggle in the background where the girls stood. Heads quickly turned to look at the giggling girl.
An odd look dominated her blue eyes, followed by a sinister smirk. The thunder roared at each word she said, "Boom boom pow." Then, as if on cue, a large crackle of lightening pierced the cave ceiling, zapping the floor a mere meters away from the Akatsuki members.
"Heh, heh..." Stella laughed darkly at the shocked group.
Nerita tensed at the sudden bolt of lightening, fear creeping up to her face. She turned around as a firm hand grasped her shoulder.
"Everything will be fine," Bonnie reassured. They both knew what was going to happen to their friend. After all, they had been training and working together for almost two years. As long as they got out of her way, the situation wouldn't become harmful to them, that is unless of course, their kidnappers had something special up their sleeves.
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Finally, after several damaged walls, Naida had found the exit. Well, created an exit to be precise. As she staggered about and gasped for air from all the exhaustion, she took note that she was still in the forest.
"Seriously," she breathed, "that girl managed to send us to what seems like another dimension. That doesn't seem too bad when you compare being in a forest to being surrounded by thick ice and snow," she regained the majority of her balance, slowly walking around the large cave to get a better view, "but once you add in some random creepy men into that forest...Alaska pales in comparison."
She looked up at the large cave, and her eyes widened when she began to notice just how big it really was. From where she stood near a line of tall trees and shrubs, the cave was just on the end of a mountain, its large peaks reaching up almost to the clouds.
"So...I was in a mountain?" she raised a dark eyebrow in confusion. "Then that means that the area that I was in that didn't look like a cave was built inside the mountain. It must all connect somehow."
Her blue, pupil-less eyes continued to scan the area in front of her, before her attention was quickly brought to a spot just barely out of her sight from where she stood on the ground. It was the bright, jagged streak of lightening that crackled and zapped the rocks above that caught her attention. Naida squinted to protect her eyes from the sun, as she looked up at the blue sky. It was a cloudless, bright, sunny day. But for some reason, there was lightening frequently lashing out at one spot in the mountain, thunder adding to the mixture of loud sounds.
"Stella..." she said softly. She sincerely hoped that the deadly bolts of light were being controlled by the snobby teenager, instead of it being an enemy's attack. If Stella was using her powers, then it must of been a sign of her fighting the strange men. Either that, or she was currently being tested, just like Naida had been.
Naida sighed in slight frustration. She wasn't sure of what to do. She desperately wanted to fly up to the top of the mountain and help her friends, but she was greatly deprived of energy. If she fought in her current state, then more problems could occur. She shifted her weight to her left leg, fighting the urge to sit down and rest, and looked around the surrounding area, while she silently weighed out her options. Rest and regain her strength, but risk having her friends injured or worse, or fight alongside them right away, and risk becoming too weak and useless to help.
"Crap," she gritted her teeth. "I can't decide. And I'm running out of time to make a choice."
Almost immediately after she finished speaking, the top of the mountain where the lightening was, burst into large chunks of rock, falling and tumbling on the side of the mountain, until they crashed loudly into the ground, creating small craters. Naida jumped back in shock, painfully bumping into a nearby tree. She grunted at the impact, before shrugging it off and looking up at the loud commotion. A shriek reached her ears, soon followed by a frightening sight. First, it looked like Nerita was flying out of the large gap in the mountain, but a sick feeling that lurched in Naida's stomach told her otherwise. Nerita couldn't fly, and the distance between the top of the mountain and the ground was deadly.
Nerita was falling fast, and in less than a few seconds, she would meet a most gruesome fate on the ground below. Naida bent her knees forward and launched herself off of the ground, zipping through the air in a split second. Her mind was made up. A feeling of guilt mixed in with the sickness that she felt in her gut. She felt selfish, just standing there thinking about her own needs, when her friends were in danger. As her pale arms stretched out to grab the falling girl, one of the many thoughts that flashed through her mind was that she would help her friends to the very end, even if she was exhausted and had barely any energy left. Nerita yelped from feeling the sudden strain on her arms, as she dangled in the air, while her friend held tightly onto her wrists.
"I got you," Naida breathed a sigh of relief, shaking off the dizziness she felt from panicking and the result of flying at such high speed. She lowered her friend to the ground, Nerita's legs barely maintaining balance, as the alien let go of her.
"My heart..." Nerita clutched her chest, "it feels like it's been ripped out of my chest." She looked up at her alien friend, fear still in her eyes, but a smile on her lips nonetheless. "Thanks, Naida. If it weren't for you, I would've-"
A loud crackle of lightening struck the mountain, followed by a high-pitched female voice shouting, "HA! TAKE THAT, YOU OVERLY FEMININE BOY WITH A REALLY NICE HAIRCUT!"
Nerita looked up in the direction of the yelling, the fear in her turquoise eyes fading. Naida sighed in annoyance. She knew all too well who that voice belonged to. Almost as if to prove she was right, Stella jumped out of the giant opening and hovered in mid air with what appeared to be yellow static-y clouds around her shoes.
A large, white bird flew out of the opening, facing the angry teenager. Naida squinted her eyes at the bird, barely making out what looked to be a person with long, blond hair, sitting atop of the animal. "Ha! You missed!" exclaimed the person, in a male voice.
Naida frowned and clutched her head, as the two continued to bicker. She was not going to let them give her a headache. She glanced over her shoulder at her curly haired friend, "Bonnie's still in there, isn't she?"
Nerita nodded, "Yeah, and there's four other men in there too. Before I was flung out of the room, Bonnie and I were fighting that shark guy. I don't know why, but there was a man in there who told the others to stay where they were."
"Dammit," the alien cursed, glaring up at the mountain. "Here's the plan," she began, Nerita listening intently. "Although that guy up there is fighting Stella, I seriously doubt he'll let us pass if we try to go into the mountain. So, I'll fly you up there and distract him with an attack, while you make a jump for the entrance. Think you can handle that?"
Nerita gulped, clenching her fists, "Yes. You know I can."
Naida smiled, "Good. Make sure Bonnie's okay, and help her out as much as you can. I'll be there ASAP." Naida wrapped her left arm around her friend's waist and dashed off into the sky, heading straight for the blonde man.
He turned slightly, only having a glimpse of a blue light zipping through the air, before it was too late. With a growl, Naida punched the man in the gut, sending him flying off of his bird. Stella yelled in shock, but she ignored it, and instead took that as her chance to heave Nerita at the entrance. Nerita gripped onto the edge of the opening and climbed up, turning to catch a quick glimpse of the alien flying down to pummel the man some more.
"Bonnie!" Nerita called out, stepping over the rubble to make her way to her friend. The purple haired girl glanced at Nerita, before dodging a swing from the giant sword that the shark man held.
"Oh, look who's back," grinned the man, showing his sharp teeth.
Nerita glared and tightened her grip on her staff, dashing forward. She aimed a high kick at his throat, cursing when he dodged with ease. Bonnie took that as her chance to sneak up behind him, and slashed away at his flesh with her sword. He yelled in pain, blood dripping down his back. But that didn't stop him. He turned around and hit the girl with his sword, sending her crashing into the wall.
"Bonnie!" Nerita called once more at her wounded friend. She jumped up in the air and sent a flying kick in the direction of the tall man, her foot colliding with his jaw. He grunted, staggering back a bit. With all the strength she could muster, Bonnie grabbed her sword and slashed at his legs from where she crouched, the blood from her wounds running down her outstretched arm.
In the midst of all the fighting, several meters away stood three men. The one that was referred to as 'Leader', smirked, enjoying the battle in front of him. He found it oddly entertaining how two girls who appeared to have no special abilities other than martial arts, were winning a fight against the powerful water-user.
"Do you see now?" Itachi said, looking over to the orange haired man. "They posses no chakra."
Leader continued to observe the fight, before saying, "And you're sure that you discovered no chakra binding seals on them?"
"Yes," replied the Uchiha.
"How's that possible?" questioned the hunched over figure in a gruff voice.
"We have yet to discover the answer to that, Sasori," Leader said. He opened his mouth to speak again, but a thundering explosion interrupted him, causing the ground and walls to shake, rocks falling off of the dark ceiling. "It seems Deidara has finally thought it necessary to use explosives."
"I thought he would refrain from doing that for a little while longer, seeing as though he's only fighting one opponent. He really is a reckless fool," Itachi muttered. "Which reminds me. Where did that pale girl with the water abilities go?"
"She escaped," stated the leader.
The shock that Itachi felt, wasn't evident on his face, until the alien female burst through the rock walls, her bright, glowing, blue eyes, standing out on her angry face. Her long, black her was a mess, and dirt was smeared onto her clothes. A few cuts and scratches covered her flesh, the red wounds blending in oddly with her pale complexion. Her fists were clenched tight, and a dark glare was etched on her face. She was pissed.
More explosions went off outside, but the girl payed no attention to them, and instead advanced towards the tall shark man. He looked down at her with a toothy grin, holding a flailing Nerita by the neck in his hand, the other holding the hilt of his Samehada. He knew that the angry teenager was going to attack him, so he felt prepared to dodge any water that she would throw at him. Instead, what he didn't expect was for her to charge at him, her right fist slamming into his stomach. His eyes widened and Nerita fell out of his grip, as he was knocked back several meters, crashing into the next room.
Nerita curled up on the floor, holding her neck gently, as she coughed hoarsely. Naida rushed over to her helpless friend, realizing that she had no way of healing her.
"I'll...be fine..." Nerita coughed, looking up at Naida. "Bonnie...she's unconscious...too much blood loss."
Naida's eyes grew wide at what her friend said. She scanned the room until she found Bonnie slouched over by a dented wall and ran over to her. Finding that the source of blood was coming from the wound on Bonnie's back, Naida moved her forward and pressed her hand onto the wound, trying to hold back the bleeding.
A sigh was heard from across the room, causing Naida to look up to find the source of the noise.
"Enough," a familiar, deep voice reached her ears. "I've seen enough. Itachi."
"Yes," answered the man that stood beside him in the shadows.
"Use your Sharingan on the two girls, and attend to the other's wounds."
"Yes, Leader-sama," Itachi began to walk over to the confused girl.
"Sasori, go and call in Deidara. Make sure he brings in the girl too," Leader commanded, eyes focused on Naida's wide, blue eyes.
"Yes, Leader-sama," the man named Sasori said, walking over to the gaping hole in the wall.
Itachi bent down in front of Nerita, whose coughing had subsided. She looked up at him with wide, startled eyes, before they gently closed, and her body went limp. Naida looked on in shock at the scene before her, confusion and fear beginning to show on her face as she watched the black haired man walk up to her.
"What...What the hell did you just do to Nerita, you bastard?" she glared.
She could see a small smirk form on his lips, as he bent down to eye level with her. "Don't worry," he said, and Naida began to feel light-headed, his next words sounding like mumbles to her, "it's only temporary."
Black blotches started to appear in her vision, before she closed her eyelids. Dammit. Not again, she thought, passing out.
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Ah! It's finally done! Yes! I hope you all liked it! The next chapter will be out soon, I just have to update the next chapters to my Legend of Zelda and World of Warcraft fanfictions first. Please review, fav, alert, etc. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this story so far!