Chapter 4: Dog Days
"Finally, we've gotten passed the Biscotti army!" he said, running a hand through his black hair. His brown canine ears twitched.
"Yeah, once we pull the flag down we'll win this war," the fatter of the two said. He kept his sword in hand ready and kept looking around, observing everything around them just in case an enemy soldier decided to pull an ambush. The other nodded, his ears still twitching as he also canned the area around them.
"Any who try to sneak passed and win the war must answer to me." Both Galette soldiers turned around in unison, finding themselves face to face with a boy with no ears or a tail.
"Well, um…Who are you?" the larger of the two asked.
"It doesn't matter, get him while he's unarmed!" The thinner of the two soldiers drew his sword and lunged at the boy, weapon raised. As soon as the soldier neared him the boy stepped left, catching the soldier's arm as he swung with his sword. He used the man's momentum by pulling him downward while lifting his knee and driving it into the soldier's gut, then lowering his body so that he could leverage the man onto and over his shoulders, succesfully flipping him up and over. The man landed on his back with a thud, laying still for seconds before vanishing in a cloud of white smoke which quickly dissipated with a breeze, revealing a tiny ball of what looked to be fur with eyes and ears.
"And that would be what it looks like when you underestimate your opponent simply because he or she is not armed," said the boy as he straighted, staring out across at the second of the two soldiers. "But I suppose I could humor you for now." The boy reached up and over his shoulder, grasping at what seemed like thin air when suddenly something began to form and take shape where nothing had been a second ago. He grasped the materializing object and raised it above his head, bringing it up and then back down to hold it out in front of him. By the time his fist had reached chest height the object had materialized enough to reveal itself as a giant key.
"The name's Sato and I'll call you Fluffy." The boy moved to take a step forward and the man reacted, lunging forward at the very same time Sato did as well.
(~)
"Is he worth your time?" Yen Sid asked, his back turned so that he faced away from the dark figure that hid wthin the shadows behind him. He pulled at his greying beard, his white robes trailing on the floor beneath him. "Will you consider training him, Tutor?"
"I know that you are old, Yen Sid, you are not as spritely as you once were," said the figure in the shadows. Yen Sid snorted at the comment but remained silent. "But no, for the time being, I would not spend this time on him. I am already training another that for now I see as more worthy of my time."
Yen Sid stood and turned around to face the shadows in the corner of his chamber, the dark mist coalescing like a barrier that hid the figure within. He huffed and turned to face away again, folding his hands behind his back. "Then let him prove himself with a task, a challenge that even you could not deny his worth."
"Yen Sid…"
Yen Sid turned around again, in a flurry this time, his white robes speading around him as he whirled on his heel to face the shadow. "I am old, as old as the oldest libraries that still stand against time. I have seen the impossible and the miraculous, and even had a hand in several. I have seen things that cannot be unseen and done things that cannot be undone. But Master, in all my miserable years, this I know for certain, this you cannot deny me.
"With your guidance, Tutor, who is quite possibly even older than I, he will become even greater and stronger, perhaps even strong enough for that which only he can do. That which only you can teach him, old friend and mentor. I am an old dog and I have no tricks left to learn, but this boy, he's just a pup." Yen Sid took a step forward. "And with your will, he can grow into his fangs and his claws and perhaps even become strong enough to defeat Him—Master, if you do not, I fear we may be sending a pup to an old wolf."
The room remained silent for several moments, but Yen Sid refused to move from where he stood. With both hands at his sides he looked on, waiting for any sign that could be an answer. Several minutes more passed when the smoke suddenly seemed to explode outward before moving back toward the corner. He could have sworn he heard his old mentor heave a heavy sigh.
"You're a difficult friend to refuse," he said. Yen Sid was about to say something when the black smoke swelled outward again before retreating back into the corner. "But make no mistake, Yen Sid, I will be a very difficult judge, for I will not be easily swayed. However, if he can unlock it, then I will consider your request."
(~)
"I can't believe we won the battle!"
"Princess made a good call hiring him."
"Good job, Satoshi." A hand patted him on the back. Sato laughed nervously, though he didn't feel like celebrating much. No one strong enough had broken through the front lines so far.
"Look at you, basking in all that praise," said a girl on his right, her voice dripping in sarcasm. Her shoulder length green hair swayed in the breeze, as well as her white and green coat and black dress. Her arms were adorned with wrist guards and on her back hung her twin daggers.
Sato sighed. "No one asked you, Éclair."
"Oh please, you take down two guys and suddenly you're the hero." She rolled her eyes at him. "The only thing you've done is assist in our first win, nothing more and nothing le—Well, nothing more." She twirled on her heel to face him, her green floppy ears bouncing. "Don't forget that."
"Yeah yeah…" Sato sighed again.
Biscotti reminded him a lot of his own home as they walked through the streets, especially his home town. Stalls lined the street on either side, each filled with various foods, objects and souvenirs that people stood in long lines to buy. A small child cried loudly near one of the stalls, pulling at his mother's dress as he pointed with a stubby finger at the fat sweet smelling pastry on display. Sato suddenly had to jump back when five or more chickens ran passed him and his companions, clucking loudly as two small barking dogs followed after. He sighed, shoving his hands into his pockets and stared off into the distance, his eyes falling onto the castle standing at the farthest part of the town's outskirts. He recalled appearing there once he had walked through the portal to find a woman waiting there for him. If it hadn't been for her pointed ears and tail wagging excitedly, he'd have thought nothing of the world he had appeared in. He introduced himself, as did she and it turned out she was a princess of the country called Biscotti. After the introductions the conversation quickly went from where Sato had come from, to where he was now, to war and being recruited. There wasn't much else to say after that, he accepted and that's how he ended up where he is now.
He didn't want to get too much into the politics of this world, but from their quick conversation and other bits he picked up along the way, it seems as though this world treated their wars to be more like games. Two opposing countries consent on a war and decide upon rules. They then face each other with weapons and fighting, only difference is that here no one dies, they simply turn into balls of fur and are picked up by whomever is assigned to gather them. Injuries are treated by a medical team that treats wounds regardless of which side the wounded is on. It's all very docile, but seems that lately the wars have taken on a slightly more aggressive tone than what is usually expected, especially when the ruling Princess of Galette, the opposing country, declares war consecutively. Apperantly it's unusual for any country to declare more than one war back to back, not giving the other country enough time to recover whether from injury, fatigue or economic loss. From what he had learned so far, the Princess of Galette and the ruler of Galette were once very close friends and then suddenly the she became very cold toward the Princess of Biscotti, even pushing for war when the other did not wish it.
Well, it certainly wasn't as simple as a quarrel between friends, but though he had accepted to help, he didn't want to delve deeper into the situation than he had to. It wasn't that he didn't care, but that he was an outsider and didn't want to interfere where he may not even be wanted, let alone needed. The Princess had asked for help in the war and that's exactly what he was doing.
"The people will expect you to win every battle for us. You do realize that, don't you?" Éclair asked, breaking the silence.
"What?" Sato blinked and then turned his head to look at her. "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention."
She rolled her eyes at him before averting her gaze. "It's like you don't even care. You're either incredibly confident or just plain arrogant."
"Hey, come on!" he snapped at her, albeit a bit too angrily. He also averted his gaze away from her. "I'm just one man, I can't be expected to do everything, nor did I ever intend to. My assistance was requested and I accepted, that is all. Knock it off with this hero crap." He huffed indignantly and clenched his fists inside his pockets. He recalled Yen Sid telling him he'd find his first companion here and the request for assissting them during their war was more or less accepted as a means to that end, find this companion. Or was he, or she, suppose to find him? I wish he had at least given me a name or some clue… The scent of sweets, breads and mead brought back memories of home flooding up to the surface, of places, events and people… Nio, hold on just a bit longer. I'll save you and Raven, everyone. Suddenly he felt something hit him hard in the right shoulder, making him stumble slightly. He turned to glare at her. "What the hell?"
"You were making a serious face. I was worried your face might crack under all that pressure," she said.
His expression softened as he rubbed at his shoulder. "I'm sorry, I just have a lot on my mind."
"It must be pretty big."
"Yeah, it is," he said, shoving his hands back into his pockets again.
Éclair folded her hands behind her head as several kids ran out in front of them and then were gone, screaming and laughing about some candy they had wanted to buy. "She must be important."
Sato looked at her with a bit of surprise before looking away, his smile iight and yet somewhat sad at the same time. "Yeah, they are."
"Well, whatever it is, don't let it eat you up." She lowered her arms and swatted at his shoulder playfully, giving him an angry look. "You should be grateful too, I don't give advice to just anyone." She propped both hands on her hips and began to walk away. "Go try out the baths and relax. I'm going to get some training in before dinner." With a wave of her hand over her shoulder at him, she was gone.
"Yeah, thanks…" he said under his breath. He said his goodbyes to the others that had been walking with them and found somewhere a bit more quieter to think. He leaned agains the walls of one of the shops that had set up stalls on the street, sighing deeply. "This is probably the worst time to become homesick. Come on, get it together." He rubbed his face with both hands, Éclair's words echoing in his mind. It made him wince slightly at just how much she reminded him of Nio. If she had a bit more fire to her he'd swear they were twins, or at the very least siblings. He pushed those thoughts aside when he realized they only made him feel homesick even more. "I just…don't know what to do."
You have to find your companion and find the lock. Your blade will be the key that closes this world to the Heartless. If you fail, this world will—
"I know!" he shouted through gritted teeth. A few people walking passed him turned to stare, wondering what he had been shouting about. He pushed off the walls and began walking toward the castle. "Listen, I appreciate that you're only trying to help, but you really need to stop invading my thoughts uninvited, or giving advice without being solicited."
(~)
He couldn't tell exactly how long he had been in the bath, but he estimated it must have been at least over an hour. As soon as he had entered the castle two guards followed him a few paces behind. He had gone directly to the bath house and it was only a while later that he realized those same soldiers were still standing outside the entrance to the baths, either guarding or blocking anyone from entering. He figured it must be the latter since no one had bothered him since he had entered, after all, this was the castle's male public bath.
He turned around to face away from the entrance and slid further into the water, letting the heat wash away any thought or ache that would violate him. He stayed for at least another half hour before finally stepping out of the baths and into his clothes. Hair still wet, he let the two soldiers escort him out of the castle and he disappeared into the crowds, going wherever his feet lead him. He had barely been outside for more than a few minutes when a large cube like projection appeared in the sky, the face of a young woman with pink hair staring down at them from above.
"Tomorrow, we will have another war," she said, he voice booming from the speakers.
Suddenly people began whispering amongst themselves while others shouted out, but what annoyed him the most were the people within his immediate vicinity who turned to him while shouting praise. "Yeah, Satoshi will win this!" shouted a man and others cheered with him. "Satoshi won the last war all by himself!" shouted another and more cheers followed.
With a heavy sigh, he turned and quickly took his leave of the crowd, walking along the walls of the store fronts behind the stalls that lined the streets, hidden away from the main crowd still cheering on the street itself between the stalls. He found a bench against a store's stone wall and sat down, glad to find a spot where he could sit in relative peace and quiet. It wasn't that he wasn't grateful for their unconditional trust and confidence in him, but rather that he didn't do it by himself and he didn't win it alone. As much as he enjoyed the attention he got when he did something cool, he didn't like the false praise. Well, it's not like it was entirely false, he did have a hand in winning their war, but he had no intention of sticking around to win all their wars either. He folded his hands behind his head and let it fall back against the wall behind him.
"Does it bother you?" a deep, male voice asked beside him.
Sato opened his eyes and looked up to his left, mildly surprised by the man's size and how he had successfully snuck up on him. The man was tall, at least six feet and had thick arms and legs, his arm muscles flexing as he lit his tobacco pipe, the dark and richly scented smoke curled above the pipe's bowl. It was then that he realized the man also had stark white hair, a long beard and mustache. The man looked down at him from where he leaned agains the wall beside Sato, his right leg crossed in front of the other. "Do I look that old?" he asked, as though reading his mind.
Sato shook his head no and averted his gaze just when the sound of cheering finally died down at the request of the Princess of Biscotti who had waited for the opportunity to continue her announcement. "Of course, with our guest Knight, Mr. Satoshi, we have won the previous war, but we may have been lucky that not as many of their generals were fighting. However, I fear that Prince Gaul himself will be participating in this next war…" Again, more people began speaking amongst themselves, some of the conversations making their way to Satoshi's ears as he listened to the concern and dismay the people felt.
"Is he really that strong?" Satoshi asked as he folded his arms across his chest, turning his face to look up at the man beside him.
"Very, one could say he is the second strongest warrior in Galette, second only to Princess – Her Majesty Leo." The man puffed at his pipe and exhaled clouds of dark smoke. "Without our strongest knight, we might not stand a chance –"
"And what am I? Chopped liver?"
The old man chuckled and looked down at him, pulling the pipe out of his mouth while exhaling plumes of smoke from his nose. "You think you can take him on? Why, you're hardly bigger than a bean sprout."
Sato stood up and faced the man. "I took on their army in the last war, didn't I?"
"Well yeah, sure, but you didn't do it by yourself." The man stuck his pipe back into his mouth and inhaled deeply before exhaling. "You really think you can take him on?" he said with his pipe between his teeth.
Sato reached up and over his shoulder, pulled at what seemed like nothing but air until something began materializing in his grasp. By the time he had brought his fist out in front of him, his keyblade had completely materialized. The man watched on in silence, his expression not even changing.
"Watch me."
The man cocked an eyebrow before sticking a thumb into his pipe, crushing whatever he had burning before flipping it over and banging it lightly against the wall, the contents spilling out onto the ground. He grasped the pipe in his fist and shoved it into his pockets along with both of his hands before pushing off the wall. "I'll tell you what. If you can defeat Prince Gaul, I'll donate all of my wares for the next five wars."
Sato tossed the keyblade into the air and watched it vanish. "Then I suggest you get started, because you're also going to be eating those words for the next five wars."
The old man broke out into a laugh as Sato began walking away, shouting out to him that he liked his spirit and would be waiting for news of his victory. Sato waved goodbye over his shoulder as he disappeared into the crowd, making his way back to the palace.
(~_~)
"We don't need to rely on him!" Éclair shouted, gesturing a finger at Sato who stood leaning against a wall to her left, his eyes closed. "We can do this on our own."
"Can we really?" another old man asked, only this one looked much older than the one he had met earlier today. This man's hair and beard were much longer than the other, his canine ears limp against his head of hair. He closed his eyes before continuing. "If Prince Gaul truly intends on participating in tomorrow's war, we will need every hand, sword and able warrior that we can muster."
"We don't need a hero!" she shouted again, slamming her fist onto the table. "He's an outsider and a waste of space, he'll only be a burden to us—"
His eyes shot open and narrowed at her. "Of all the things to say, you had to say that. For someone who only just arrived in your world, I have to admit I didn't do too badly winning your last war. I wasn't even being—"
"Don't you dare insult us by saying you weren't being serious, you impudent tailless freak!" she snapped back, glaring at him.
"Fine, I won't say it then. But I will take this Gaul on, whether you like it or not, the decision isn't yours. So why don't you go wag your tail up someone else's tree?" Sato shot back.
"We don't need you here, in fact I don't recall the Princess ever asking our opinion on whether or not we needed your help to begin with. So why don't you go back to wherever it is you came from and stay there!"
"I can't leave until I find this world's Keyhole and lock it. So until I find it, you're stuck with me. I suggest you learn to deal with it."
"Both of you, stop!" By now the two of them were almost nose to nose which caused the pink haired girl, the Princess, to become concerned and stand up. "Please, let us discuss things camly."
Satoshi averted his gaze. "I'm sorry, Princess Millhi. Excuse me," he said before turning on his heel and storming out of the war room.
A man in silver armor sighed and turned to look at Éclair. "Must you drive people into corners like that? If Gaul really is participating we will need—"
Éclair cut him off midsentence. "If he is, then I'll take him on alone—"
This time it was her turn to be cut off by the knight. "Enough!" He slammed his hand onto the table, the sound reverberating in the war room. "You will fight with him side by side." He looked at her firmly, not blinking as he held her gaze.
Her eyes, however, shot open at the command. "But we don't need his assistance…" she pleaded.
"I think it's a wonderful idea, Éclair. You and Satoshi shall hold the front line," the Princess announced, clapping her hands joyfully. "If we win this war, I'll put on a performance."
"Fine, I'll do it…" she said, pouting like a child who had just lost an argument with an adult.
(~)
"Those two are amusing together, don't you agree?" Yen Sid told the other hidden in the shadows.
"He has a short fuse and loses his temper rather quick. I'm deducting points."
"Humph." Yen Sid returned his attention back to the mirror they both watched. "So hard to impress."
(~)
"Welcome to today's war!" a red haired woman announced into the microphone. "Today's match is a special one. Whichever side loses their General first loses the war."
"Sounds like Chess, Lidia. When the King falls, it's game over!" said the other announcer. They both appeared on a cube like monitors that floated up in the sky above.
"That's right, Mork. In today's war, we have Rolan Martinozzi who will be General for Biscotti and Prince Gaul Galette des Rois who will be General for Galette."
Sato ignored the groans, sighs and complaints amongst those who surrounded him. He reached up and over, pulling out his keyblade from that invisible sheathe and held it out in front of himself. "Gaul's in this fight, so I hope he's everything everyone says he is. Or I'll be very disappointed."
"Do you really think you can take on the Prince by yourself?" Éclair asked beside him, shooting him a glare before averting her gaze as she drew her daggers. "We're working together, not that it was my decision either. But that means—"
"It means I'm going after Gaul."
"Ugh, you ignorant fool." She adjusted her grip on her blade so she could form a fist and punch him in the shoulder, making him stumble sideways. He shot her a glare but was met with another glare. "He always has the Genoise with him. In other words, his Imperial Guards. They're not only strong, quick and nimble, but they also attack randomly, together."
He shrugged and propped his keyblade up onto his shoulder. "I'll take them out first. I highly doubt they're stronger than Nio, so it shouldn't be a problem," he said as a loud buzzing sound signaled the start of the war. "How about a bet?"
"What?" she asked, looking at him as if he had just grown a second head.
"Whoever gets the most points wins half of the other's winnings." It's not like money earned here means anything. I can't use it anywhere else but here and I won't be here long enough to spend it.
"Are you stupid?" she asked but he turned around and began walking away. "Wait—Hey!" Sato kept walking and ignoring her. "Fine!" she shouted after him, after which he waved at her over his shoulder before breaking onto a run. "Don't say I didn't warn you."
(~)
It wasn't that he was some sort of exceptional fighter or some fantastic hero, or that he was poorly at fighting either. Fighting was something he was good at, with is fists or with a sword, which was what filled most of his days back home when he wasn't in class. He wasn't book smart like Raven or Nio, but he was street smart about fighting. The soldiers didn't last long against him, each of them turning into that ball of fur whenever he attacked or slapped them on the back. It wasn't that they couldn't fight either, but maybe all the years of fighting wars where no one got truly hurt, where no one died, had made them complacent. They didn't really fight because their lives and the lives of those they were professing to protect weren't really on the line.
It pissed him off, it made him angry. While they treated war like a game here, a real war where people died, got hurt, where entire worlds vanished waged on out there beyond their own world. He didn't blame them, he knew it wasn't their fault, but what really pissed him off the most was that while they played here, true danger could be coming for them if he didn't find that Keyhole in time to lock this world out from the outside. If he wasn't fast enough, he wondered how long this world would last against a real enemy that would kill everything in its path without prejudice.
He charged on, breaking through each line of the opponent's defense and doing away with them. He fought them off with relative ease, his body light as he whirled and swung at his opponents, parrying each attack and turning them into balls of fur. He stepped back to catch his breath when he heard a familiar twang, jumping back in a reflexive motion, narrowly missing the arrow that struck the ground where he had stood. He looked up just in time to jump back, again narrowly missing a dagger as it struck the ground, then another and another, until he had stepped back at least 30 paces with a row of daggers following him. Finally they began to catch up to him when several sliced the air mere centimetres from his flesh, slicing holes into the fabric of his clothing.
"Show yourself!" he shouted as he stepped back once more. He stopped and stood still when he realized the knives no longer fell. Two figures stepped out from behind a tree while one jumped down from above, landing on one knee in front of the other two before standing straight, facing him. Her long hair was tied back with a red ribbon in a low ponytail that hung against her back. Two black feline ears poked out from her head of black hair and her tail of the same color swished to and fro behind her. Her uniform consisted of a black coat with short, red rimmed sleeves and gloves of the same color which stopped just above her elbows. She wore a red belt around her waist that held her short sword in its sheathe, which she drew and held up in front of her, the belt hung over a black skirt which stopped just above her black, thigh high stockings. From behind her approached the other two figures to have ermerged from the trees, joining the girl in black. The one on her left was the tallest of the three, her long rabbit ears which stood straight up not counting toward her actual height. Her long, blond hair fell down to her midsection, two flowers, one on each side, poked out from her blond hair. Her uniform coat was black and green, her belt and skirt also being green. She too wore thigh high stockings which vanished beneath her knee high skirt. Sato noted she was the one who had shot the arrow moments earlier, her bow and arrow pointed directly at him. The one on the right of the girl with the dagger was only slightly taller than her, but seemed to be the strongest of the three physically wise. She held a giant battle axe propped up onto her shoulder as though it weighed nothing at all. Her hair was dual toned, the front bangs and sideburns were short and blond while the rest of her long hair was a dark brown, which was held in a braid that fell against her back. Her feline ears and tail were fuzzy and also dual tone like her hair, blond and brown, though her tail was actually striped in a spiral manner. Her uniform coat also followed this color scheme by being black and yellow, with a yellow belt around her waist and a yellow short skirt. Just like the other two, she wore thigh high stockings.
"We are Génoise. I am Noir Vinocacao," said the girl in the middle.
"Jaune Clafouti is the name, beating up heroes is my game," said the girl with the axe.
"And I am Vert Far Breton." She pulled back at her bow and released it, the arrow flying straight at Sato which he knocked aside with his keyblade.
The girl Noir gestured with both hands and suddenly her dagger became several daggers, all of which she threw at him with a motion of each hand in his direction. He didn't bother knocking those aside like he did the arrow but simply stepped back each time one struck the ground instead. He had nearly been too focused on the knives when the flash of yellow caught his attention just in time to see the girl with the axe come down at him from above. He managed to backflip just in time before she cleaved him in half, landing his backflip on one hand and flipping over onto his feet, sliding back several paces into a tree. He ducked just in time to miss the arrow that impaled the tree, three knives following after in a downward motion as it followed him in that direction. He had almost crouched as far as he could go when Jaune swung at him horizontally, forcing him to jump upward. Once she had completed her motion and the trunk began to fall behind him, he placed both feet on the falling trunk and pushed himself off and over her, throwing himself at Vert. Having pushed off the tree, he reached with his left hand and placed it on Vert's shoulder, using his two legs to twist his body while he felt the tip of her arrow between his eyes. With a single motion, his body whirled around and he landed behind her, the girl wincing in pain from his palm twisting on her shoulder as he landed on both feet behind her. With a hard slap on the shoved her forward and watched as she vanished into a cloud of smoke, turning into a ball of fur with tiny rabbit's ears.
He moved his head to the right just ever so slightly, not even blinking as the knife grazed his cheek and caused blood to trickle down his face. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to kill me."
"SPECIAL ENEMY UNIT DEFEATED! Satoshi gets double the points," announced the female announcer.
He didn't pay much attention to the annoucement and was barely aware of it while he ducked and rolled to the side to avoid the axe again. He used the rolling motion to twist his body as he stood up and swing his keyblade in her direction, letting it go and watching it strike her dead on chest. A cloud of smoke appeared again and left only a ball of fur. The blade also disappeared into thin air.
"Looks like it's just the two of us now, Noir." He straightened and had to step back several paces again, though this time he was unable to miss the knives as they cut his arms and legs. Warm blood trickled down his skin as his hand twitched, the blade reappearing in his grasp. "Seriously, could you stop doing that. It's like you're not even trying to kill me anymore, you're just cutting me up. Do I look like a pig roast to you?" She raised both hands again, each with a fresh supply of knives. "Where the hell do you keep all of those knives? Wait…" Sato winced as several mental images floated up to the surface of his mind. "I actually would rather not know."
He could have sworn she blushed right before throwing more knives at him, making him step back again and again until she finally stopped. They both stood still facing one another, each with their weapon aimed at the other and waiting for the other to make the first move. She blinked and he threw his keyblade, but it seemed she heard him move because she also reacted by throwing her knives. The two weapons collided and he thought his blade would have been heavy enough to knock the knives to the side but realized how wrong he had been too late as he watched both the knives and his blade fall to the sides, each never having reached their intended target.
She stood still and watched him silently. A breeze blew passed them and the sound of something hissing made their way to his ears. He turned to see what it was but only found the grass moving in odd patterns toward his opponent. Toward Noir.
"Noir, MOVE!" Her eyes widen only slightly and though he knew she thought he was going to attack her, he moved toward her anyway. She motioned to replenish her knives just as he reached her, putting himself between her and whatever leapt up from the grass and attached itself onto his shoulder, its teeth digging down and tearing through his skin. With his other arm he managed to shover her away and turn to face whatever had attached itself to his shoulder, but his vision become blurry and he could barely make out the black serpent as he pulled it off, crying out in pain when the teeth nearly tore off part of his shoulder before he tossed whatever had attacked him away. His chest began to feel heavy as he also began to lose feeling in his arms and legs, the numbness quickly spreading and he fell to his knees, clutching his injured left arm.
"Why would you save me? We're enemies."
"Not really…" His words barely left his lips when darkness overtook him and he lost consciousness.
(~)
"Saving the life of an enemy…" said the voice hidden within the shadows. "He reminds me of Dino in fact."
Yen Sid turned around to face the shadows, his robes whirling around him from the motion. "And?" he asked, almost too impatiently.
"Listen, I'm not the right man for this, I cannot tutor him." She mist like shadows coalesced.
"But surely you could teach him something. There's still so much for him—"
"I never said I wouldn't teach him, Yen Sid. I know how much this means to you, so I will train with him. I cannot do more, old friend, it will simply have to be enough."
Yen Sid turned around to face the mirror again, watching the images on the surface play out. "That serpent, it was meant for the girl. They'll need to get the antidote for him." Yen Sid began pulling at his long, white beard. "For Sliver to have sent an emissary, hmmm…"
"And here I thought that his companion would be someone much—"
"He has not chosen his companion yet!" Yen Sid said.
"Whomever it may be, once it has been done, send them to my world. There I will have need of them. A war is brewing and it will require two Guardians."
"I will teach him the manner in which to open portals after which he will be the one to decide the path in which they take. I will inform him of your need and send him on his way."
"Then also tell him that I can be of assitance," the voice said before Yen Sid nodded and flicked his wrist. The shadows completely vanished from the chamber.
"Still in your own ways," he said, chuckling.
He faced the mirror once more and watched as a new accouncement was made to the world where Sato was currently exploring.
"The war is on hold! I repeat, the war is on hold!" Spoke one of the announcers. "We have reports of a man being down due to a snake. Medics have been dispatched and are just now reporting that the snake is poisonous. I repeat, the snake is poisonous and has been spotted in the general vicinity. The war is canceled for the time being."
Yen Sid watched as the cat girl's, Noir if he recalled correctly, expression from stoic to concern.
"Things will get interesting indeed," he said, stroking his beard.
(~)
This boy, he saved me from that serpent, but why? I didn't even notice it either until it was too late and even though I thought he was going to attack me, even though I was prepared to attack back, he still lunged himself at me and saved my life at the risk of his own.
But why? When I said we were enemies he said "not fully". Did he mean to say more?
Even though we are on opposite sides, I must show my gratitude for having risked his own life to save mine. I wonder if His Highness will allow me to search for the All-Cure herb for his sake…
