Hello readers! Chapter seven of All For One is about to begin. I hope you're all as excited as I am!! I feel like a glow worm. I'm in the play Bye Bye Birdie, and I'm getting so many compliments on my performance.
Anyhow, on to the important stuff...the story. Twists and turns lead the girls into ever growing danger in the deadly labyrinth of Scorpio, leader of the Shadow Seeker Warriors. Read and review pretty please with sugar and cherries on top.
Forewarning. Due to homework, updates will be a bit slow. I will do my honest best to try and not be too slow.
Faux had no idea how long she and Sakura had been running. Sometimes they changed to walk to conserve energy, but they never stopped moving. Taking turns or going straight. It didn't matter. They trekked onward, sometimes having to backtrack, moving as swiftly as they could. At a right, Faux's stomach began to roll. She stopped walking and focused on the wall to her right. Watching carefully she saw the magic ripple and sway. A slight hum began to pick up in the air.
"What is it?" Sakura asked. She looked about her, trying to see what Faux saw. Or felt. "Is it a monster?"
"Yes," Faux responded softly.
"Where is it?"
"Ahead." When Sakura looked at her slightly puzzled, Faux responded, "There are always warning signs. You have to know how to look for them." The warrior gave her spear a good swing. "But I don't know what it is. We'll have to wait and see. Let's move."
It wasn't long before the sway in the magic got stronger. The swirls on the walls were no longer a steady glow. They shimmered, the colors twisting in on themselves, flickering in what could have been anticipation. After all, it had been centuries since they had seen any blood. A little ways ahead, they heard the scrape of something against stone. Both girls froze in their tracks. Scrape, scrape, scrape. The sound dragged and carried down the corridor. Sakura's breath caught in her throat and her heart began to thud loudly against her chest. Why couldn't they see it? She could hear it, but where was it? Panic. She hadn't felt such panic in a long time. Not since the desperate situation with her first encounter with Orochimaru during the Chunin exams. And she was even more defenseless than she had been back then. She couldn't use her jutsu. Sakura racked her brain as she thought for a weapon. Could she use her chakra to send strength to her punches like Tsunade had taught her?
Meanwhile Faux searched her memory of all the research she had ever done on the maze and what lurked inside it. Her hands began to sweat on her spear. Like Sakura she could hear the bone chilling scraping of something moving against the stone, but she couldn't see it. She steadied her breathing. She could not afford to panic or lose her head in any other way. A sudden awareness came into her mind. The scraping had stopped.
Faux gasped as cold realization settled.
Sakura heard her soft swear and turned to her alarmed. "Get back Sakura! It's a Mirror Stalker!!" Faux's voice ringed in the air. Sakura watched as the other girl reacted immediately. She swung her spear in a tight circle, then thrust it forward. There was a horrific squall and Sakura's eyes grew wide as she saw the tip of the blade disappear halfway into thin air.
The air in front of them collapsed. It rippled out and a beast of their worst nightmares solidified. Crouched in front of them was a black cat of some sorts. It was much larger than the average house cat. More about the size of a small T-Rex. The scraping had come from huge wings tipped with a single claw like a bat that were now curled tight against its back. Blood dripped into hellish eyes, narrowed now in wrathful pain. Large ears similar to those of a lynx twitched in irritation. Lips curved back into a snarl to reveal teeth that could break the spine of an elephant. Canine curved down to below it's lower jaw, sharp and ready to spill the life blood of any who crossed its path. Large paws ended in hooked claws and a feathered tail whipped back and forth. It was covered in a thick pelt black as the night sky.
Painfully calm looking, Faux pulled her spear from its head. "How is it still alive?" Sakura asked. The Stalker did not move, but merely growled at them.
"Its pelt is dreadfully thick, and so are its muscles. This thing will not be easy to kill. Ready yourself Sakura, the paralysis is about to wear off." Faux backed up a few steps and took a stronger fighting stance. Sakura followed her lead, taking out some of her knives. She swallowed.
"Any weaknesses?"
"One. Its throat."
With a scream of pure rage the Mirror Stalker's body rippled and condensed, vanishing before her eyes.
Phoenix spat, letting loose a stream of profanities. Her arm was cut open and bleeding, while Temari gasped and panted beside her. In front of them loomed a demonic creature. It appeared to be a giant cobra, hood fully extended, poisonous fangs bared as it hissed at them. Its color was silver, and red tribal markings decorated the inside of its hood. However, it's similarities ended with it being covered in feathers instead of scales, the wings that protruded from its sides, and the barbs at the end of its tail.
"What the heck is this thing?" Temari asked, using her fan to block another swing from the creature's tail. It took all of her strength to ward off the blow.
"If I remember Faux's research, and she did it often with our help, this damn thing is a Hell Wing." Phoenix regarded the Wing with irritation. "Its weak spots are its eyes, and the red heart shaped tattoo on its neck. It may look like an easy mark, but Hell Wings are incredibly agile, and it will keep those spots protected. The feathers on their wings are as hard as diamonds, and they use those for shields."
"Ha, sounds like a challenge. What about your arm?" Temari asked, readying herself.
"The only poison that thing carries is in its fangs, and it hit me with a barb. I'll be fine. Now, let's kill it."
Hissing and spitting, the Hell Wing whipped forward, wings braced for shields and fangs bared for the attack.
"I hate this place, I hate this place!" Hinata shouted as she booked it down the corridor. Beside her Aura met her pace evenly, if not slightly faster. A few arrows were missing from her aresonal. Behind them, panting and running close on their heels, was some sort of mutated wolf. It had the body shape of a deer. Stag antlers protruded from its head, close to ears quivering with the hunt. It was a deep ocean blue, flashes of aqua green flashing across its lovely hide. Just like the raging sea. Eyes black as the abyss shimmered in demonic delight. And it was big, very big. Almost as big as the Mirror Stalker.
"I have to say I agree with you," Aura gasped. But she couldn't help but laugh inside at the fact that the wolf thing was pushing them further into the labyrinth, instead of out of it. Then again, that might not be a good thing. Faux had told her a long time ago that the further you got in Scorpio's sick sense of training, the worse the monsters got. What on earth was that nutcase thinking, putting these things in here! she thought.
"We can't run forever," Hinata said. Both girls were quickly tiring. "We need to think of something."
Saying nothing, Aura turned on the heel of her foot, whipping her bow up and notching an arrow, all at the same time. Without breaking stride, she loosed the arrow, not even taking time to aim as she skid backward with the force of her stop. With a fearsome howl the wolf tripped over its own feet. It crashed onto the ground, rolling and tumbling forward. Aura jumped over it while Hinata back-flipped away.
"What??" Hinata panted. Dust cleared, she looked closely at the monster. Three of Aura's deadly arrows protruded from the center of its head. The arrows were buried firmly into its flesh. Dug through bone straight to the creature's brain. Even as she watched the life force left the eyes of the beast. Swallowing Hinata stared at the three arrows. She had not seen Aura fire those extra two.
"Surprise," Aura whispered. She had remembered what other info Faux had told her. Death Hunters, these mutated wolves, almost always got carried away with the hunt. They lost focus and became interested in only the chase and the final kill. Because this fiend had not seen a form of prey other than a fellow monster for hundreds of years, it had gotten way over the line. So surprising it had been an easy task.
"We need to move on. Whatever we face next will most definately be tougher. Stay close." As if nothing had happened, Aura started forward. Hinata glanced at her, then the Hunter, and finally followed the other girl.
Sakura fought for her breath as she watched Faux pull her spear free of the Mirror Stalker's neck, blood spurting out onto the floor. The girl's blue eyes were cold, harsh, those of a killer. It was obvious she had done this sort of thing before. Both girls had blood staining their clothes, and had several shallow wounds.
"Let's move on. The longer we stay here, the longer it takes us to reach the end." Faux's harsh cut through the silence that had replaced the battle sounds. Sakura nodded, and the two continued on, guard already up.
Phoenix put her knives back into their places, not even bothering to wipe off the blue blood that coated them. She herself was blotted with the stuff, and saw no point. They would be stained again later anyways. Beside her Temari looked as if she might faint. The Hell Wing's eyes had been gouged out, and blood poured from the gashing wound that Phoenix had made in its throat.
"I'm sick of looking at it. Let's go," Phoenix said brutally. Without another word she started foward, Temari following with one last look at the Hell Wing.
End of Chapter Seven. I was going to continue, but then realized it would be longer than the others, and I didn't want to bore anybody. Hope this chapter was satisfying.
The play is over! I'm kind of grateful, as I got sick and I sounded like a dying raptor when I was saying my lines.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed the new enstallment. Next chapter will take us back to Titan and the boys. In it, Titan explains to them the history of the Star Lands, so you get to meet the rest of the Twelve Rulers, which is basically all of them. And, it will reveal the Mystery Man!!! Whoooo!!! Please review!
