A/N: Here's chapter four! Hope you like it. ^^

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater.

Soul knelt down and prodded the thing with a stick, "What the hell is that supposed to be?" he asked.

"That is an arm." Stephanie said. Liz peered at the arm from behind Kid, eyeing it as if it were something poisonous. "How can that be an arm? It's so… scary."

Indeed it was odd. The arm was thin but muscular. Instead of a hand on the end, it had two long claws that were wickedly sharp and it was covered with six long spikes. There were long plates of metallic plates covering the arm, like armor.

"How'd this get here?" Make asked.

"A couple days ago, before you kids arrived, there was an attack on the village. There weren't very many that time like there usually was and we were able to fend them off. Enrique even inflicted some damage on one. This must be the arm of the pre-keishin he hurt."

The arm gave a sudden jump, withering on the ground and Liz let out a loud shriek. Patty burst out into loud laughter as she watched Liz cower behind a tree three feet away. "Ewwww! That's so freaky! Keep it away from me." Everyone rolled their eyes.

"So what's this mean?" Tsubaki asked.

"Is it close by?" Black*Star shouted before Stephanie opened her mouth. He got into a fighting position and looked around excitedly.

"No." said Stephanie curtly. She was getting slightly annoyed with the blue haired assassin. "It just means they've been through here."

"So… what now?" asked Soul. He looked around as if he expected something to jump out at them all though he knew the only thing that could probably hurt them at the moment was most likely far away.

"Hmm…" Kid knelt down next to the arm and began searching the ground around it, "Ah," he said, "see right here?" Stephanie knelt down and took a look at what he was pointing at.

"Tracks." She stated.

"They lead this way." Tsubaki said, observing some more near a patch of ferns. Maka walked over and took a look. She noticed something dark near the tracks and took a closer look. 'What is that…'

"Blood. There's some blood over here." Maka said. She crinkled her nose in disgust.

Beside her Soul came to look over her shoulder, "There sure is a lot of it." he commented.

"There's more over here." Kid called out a little farther up ahead. "It seemed to have been headed in this direction." Stephanie nodded her head in thought while she looked around at what they all found. Finally she smiled and put her hands on her hips, "Well. Let's get going then. We'll head on farther down the path and keep our eyes open for anything else."

Everyone nodded and they all began walking away in the direction their target was had been going.

They were all quiet while they walked but then Maka decided to break the silence. She looked over at Stephanie, "So Stephanie," she began.

"Hmm?"

"I was wondering. How did you and Enrique meet?" Stephanie smiled as she thought about how she and her husband met.

"We meet at shibusen actually." She scratched the back of her neck before continuing, "One day we were assigned as partners on a mission. From the very beginning he went about showing off. He was always trying to impress me and he made it painfully clear that he had a thing for me. Then we got around to fighting our target. It proved to be a bit more difficult than we expected. At one point I became overwhelmed and the pre-keishin was just about to finish me off when Enrique jumped right in front of me, taking the blow. He nearly died that day and after that I just had to give him a chance." Stephanie gave a small laugh and a dreamy looked crossed her face. "I fell for him after the first date and three years after we graduated, he proposed."

She grew quiet as she began to sift through her memories.

"How sweet." Liz stated. It became quiet again except for the occasional exclamation from Black*Star and giggles from Patty.

A few minutes later Kid spoke up, "Does anyone hear water?"

"It's probably the river. It might be close by somewhere." Stephanie said. They continued walking until they broke through some ferns and came out onto a small cliff.

"Dead end." Soul stated.

"Hmm… everyone look around and see if you find anything." Stephanie instructed. Everyone did as told and fanned out. Tsubaki, Liz, and Patty began looking around the edges of the forest while Black*Star, Soul, Kid, and Stephanie began walking down the sides of the cliff. Maka walked closer to the ledge and carefully leaned over to take a look below.

At the bottom the river continued, becoming slightly more narrowed. The water rushed by in quick rapids with jagged rocks protruding from the water. On the other side, the forest continued and Maka could see a couple birds flying around the tops of some trees farther away.

"Hey guys!" called Black*Star. Maka looked up and saw him waving to get attention, "I think I've found something!" He pointed to something dark on the ground and Stephanie walked closer to get a look. She nodded her head and cupped her hands over her mouth, "We got more blood trails! Let's start heading this way!"

Maka quickly stood up and turned around, but as she took a step forward, the ground beneath her suddenly gave way. She yelped in surprise as the ledge crumbled and she began to fall. She immediately shot out her hand and caught onto the edge of the cliff.

"MAKA!" Soul yelled. He dashed after Maka at top speed as her fingers began to slip on the loose dirt. Her heart raced rapidly in her chest and she cried out for help as Soul lunged forward and reached out to grab her hand. But he was too late.

Maka lost her grip and she fell, her hand grazing Soul's fingertips. "MAKA!"

Everything began to move in slow motion as Maka watched the water come closer and closer. There were shouts of surprise up above and the next moment, she felt a pair of arms encircle her waist. Peeking up she saw short black hair with three white stripes. Kid had jumped over the edge of the cliff and was now moving himself under her.

Then they both hit the water and were submerged beneath the surface. They stayed floating there for a moment before the current swept them away. Kid locked his arms around Maka as the water jerked them around.

Suddenly they hit a rock and Maka's head smacked painfully against it. She felt dizzy and stars were popping in front of her eyes as everything began to get fuzzy.

Kid felt a panic as Maka went limp in his arms and he tried his best to steer around all the rocks.

Suddenly they river widened again and Kid and Maka were shot into a calmer flow of water. Quickly readjusting his grip, Kid swam to the riverbank. When his feet touched ground he fixed Maka in his arms and walked out of the water carrying her bridal style.

Once a safe distance away from the river, he set her down on the ground and collapsed with exhaustion next to her. Breathing heavily he looked up at the sky.

"MAKA! MAKA!" Soul cried out in panic as he ran along the edge of the cliff. Behind him he could hear everyone following and yelling after him.

Soul panicked as he watched Kid and Maka get thrown up against a rock. They continued getting farther and farther away, the current carrying them faster than his legs was carrying him. Finally he couldn't see them anymore and all he could do was follow along the river. That is, until the cliff suddenly turned sharply and intercepted his path.

He skidded to a halt and nearly fell over the edge himself. Everyone caught up and looked anxiously down the river. "Do you see them?" Liz asked.

"No." said Stephanie.

"How far up do these rapids lead?" Tsubaki asked.

"I don't know. It could be a couple kilometers. Or more. Or less. All's I know is that they must have gone very far away by now."

Soul clenched a fist and he screwed his eyes shut, "Dammit!" He fell to his knees and hit the ground in frustration.

"We gotta go look for them," he said. Stephanie looked up at the horizon and shook her head. "We can't do it now. It's getting dark out and it won't do any good to go out at night. We need to do it tomorrow when the sun is out."

"NO! We gotta go NOW!" Soul yelled.

"Soul. We can't. It's too dangerous at night. We'll most likely get lost and then we really won't be any help. Plus we have to stay with the village in case it's attacked again. I know you're worried and I am too but I think we'll be much more help if we do it during the day." Stephanie put a hand on Soul's shoulder and looked at him sternly.

Soul gritted his teeth but remained silent as the others watched. Stephanie's logic made sense and everyone knew it. It would be pointless to go searching right at that moment.

Slowly, Soul got up on his feet, "Fine." Stephanie gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder and stood up again.

"Come on."

Everyone shuffled quietly through the forest as they made their way back to the village. Soul was at the very back and looked down at his feet while they walked. 'Maka. Please be okay. Please.' He looked up and stared at the dense vegetation around him as worry swirled around in his mind. 'Don't worry Maka,' he thought with a deep determination. 'Just hang on for the night. We're going to look for you tomorrow. We're going to find you. Just stay where you are and wait.'

They sky grew dark as they reached the village.

A/N: Plz review. ^^

Also, I will not be updating during the summer due to the fact that I will be traveling and will not have access to a computer. I will start updating again sometime in August.