Chapter 7: Storm of The Gods
For those of you who are wondering, this story takes place through November-December-January. Right now, it's the around early-mid December
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The next few weeks passed by without incident. The unearthing of the temple continued and Ishizu continued to feverishly study the scrolls, searching for answers, but found none, save for the prophecy found by Katrina. There had been no new discoveries during the unearthing of Anubis's temple, nor was there any sort of clue as to the location of Seth's tomb.
The interaction between Katrina and Seto Kaiba boiled down to a simmer as well. The two had a peculiar relationship with each other, one that always somehow manages to turn into a battle of wits; there weren't harmful barbs exchanged between the two of them, it was just their viewpoints were so different, they always seemed to end up debating them. She always ran hot and was brash, while he was cold and calculating. It was entertaining to watch them argue; many people have said, including Marik, have said that they argued like a married couple. They just never said it to their faces without fearing the consequences.
Of course Kaiba would never admit it, but he actually enjoyed the war of wits with Katrina, she was the first person to fascinate him, truly fascinate him, in a long time. He wanted to take her apart, layer by layer, to see what made her the way she was.
Katrina, however, developed a different set of feelings for him. She was attracted to him, his very presence drew her to him. She was actually getting a crush on him. But it wasn't a simple school girl crush exactly, she felt drawn to him, like a moth to a flame, and she couldn't stop herself from being burned.
Not as if she wanted too.
The dig site laid below her as she worked on a sketch that showed both the temple and the surrounding scenery. The temple was unusual in the fact that it laid in such close proximity to the Valley of the Kings, the resting place of numerous Pharaohs. Dr. Knighton had brought forth the theory that the temple was seen as a symbolic protector of the valley; Anubis was seen as a guide to the afterlife and a guardian god, so it would be natural for a temple dedicated to him so close to his domain. Ishizu was inclined to agree.
Katrina's brow furrowed in concentration as she furiously sketched away. The temple complex was actually wedged between to walls of rock, as if it were a fortress protecting the souls of the Pharaohs from the chaotic outside world. The sun beat down as she continued to draw, unaware that someone was watching her.
A shadow passed over her drawing, blackening the page. "What the-" She turned to find Seto Kaiba standing next to her, watching her draw. "You know, there is a thing called privacy, or announcing your presence could have been nice."
"I didn't realize I need an invitation to be up here," he retorted.
"Fine, I have benevolently granted you permission to be up here," she joked. "What are you doing up here anyways? I figured you would be in your BatCave, working at your computer."
"I went out to get some fresh air. The tent is very stuffy. Maybe you should spray it sometime."
"I should? You were just in there. Why didn't you do it then?"
"Because I'm out here now."
"Whatever." she turned back to her sketch.
"You're doing a layout of the temple and the outlying structures."
"Obviously. It's unusual since it's so close to the Valley. I thought that by drawing the area around it, we could get a better view why."
" I thought Dr. Knighton had a theory."
"That's more of a spiritual theory. I'm looking for the more practical reason why. Many things that can be viewed as religious in our eyes could have been just a practical thing, like Stonehenge."
"But practicality and religion were often fused during times like these."
"But studies have shown that Stonehenge was nothing more than a giant clock."
"It was also seen as an important religious site as well."
Katrina went back to her drawing, refusing to admit that Seto was right, this round. "So, some fresh air huh?"
"That's what I said."
"Then go to someplace like Tahiti. The edge of the Sahara desert doesn't exactly seem like a place to get fresh air."
As she said that, she felt the hairs on her neck stand on end and she heard a roar in the distance, in a westward direction. She looked back and saw a brown cloud barreling towards the two.
"Sandstorm!" she shouted, adrenaline pumping through her system now. She looked back down at the dig site. There was no way that she or Kaiba would be able to get back in time; it had taken Katrina nearly forty minutes to get where she was, due to the fact that the region was rocky and unstable. And by then it would have been forty minutes too late.
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Marik had spotted the sandstorm barreling towards them, the dark cloud of sand looking like one of the Great Plagues. "Sandstorm!" He shouted as loud as he could, getting their attention. The people at the site quickly reacted, getting out of the open as soon as possible and into some stable structure, like one of the more permanent buildings they had set at the beginning of the expedition.
"Wait!" Dr. Knighton yelled. "Katrina's out there! She was doing some sketches and-" he could no longer say any more, his voice was choked due to fear.
"Kaiba's probably out there too" Ishizu said, she had elected to work out side today and she noticed Seto walking towards where Katrina was.
The three fell in silence as the scurried towards the nearest shelter. Wherever the two were, they could only hope that they had someplace to go to shelter from it.
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She glanced over at Seto, who was staring at the monstrosity racing towards him. His eyes were wide and his face looked pale with fright. Katrina cursed under her breath. She had heard horror stories about how sandstorms could rip the skin and flesh from a human body. If exposed too long, one could die out in the middle of a sandstorm, and dying in a sandstorm was not on her 'to do' list. She peered around, trying to find some semblance of shelter that could shield the two of them. The two were on top of the cliffs, so there wasn't much, but she did manage to find a group of rocks that could shield the two of them from the worst of it.
She grasped Kaiba's wrist. "Hang on to my hand," she demanded. "There's a group of rocks over there that we can use as shelter until the storm passes. Don't let go whatever you do. Once it hits, I won't be able to see you and if you let go, well I'd rather not find the results."
Kaiba nodded and held on as he and Katrina ran to the pile of rocks. They were about two thirds of the way there when the sandstorm hit, the wind nearly knocking Katrina over. The gritty sand bit at her exposed parts of her body, each grain of sand a stinging blow. She could taste it, smell it, feel it in her eyes as it swirled around her. The wind was keening loudly, making it impossible to hear anything else, not even her own thoughts, but she had to keep going, the pile of rocks was their only hop of survival.
She managed to feel her way there, her mind's eye remembering where it was. She huddled down next to it, Seto Kaiba close to her. The sand still blew around them, not going in anysort of direction, seeming to change at random. She then had another idea.
"Take off your coat Kaiba!" she shouted before her words were whipped away by the wind. She prayed that he heard her, or at least had the same idea. Thankfully he did, taking off the long white coat and wrapping it around the two of them, Kaiba pulling her close so that she would get the benefits of the protection as well.
Seto Kaiba was petrified. Never in his life did he expect himself to be in the middle of a sandstorm. He heard the horror stories about them. He was thankful that Katrina reacted so quickly and got them to somewhat of a safe place. When he saw it coming, he froze, like a rabbit seeing a hawk. But she was afraid as well. He heard her whimper fearfully and cling to him; he could feel her rapid heartbeat against his skin. Much to his own surprise, he pulled her even closer, her head on his chest, shielded by his coat. He could feel her warmth on his skin and the smoothness of it. Wait, why was he even thinking of that right now. He was in the middle of a freaking sandstorm for goodness sakes!
It felt like an eternity out in the sandstorm, the wind still at a fever pitch, sand still swirling around them. After nearly two hours, the storm finally abated, the sky returning to it's bright blue color.
Katrina was still shaking as she stood up, her knees weak and unwilling to cooperate. Kaiba was more sturdy and he helped her steady herself. "Are you alright?" he asked her.
"Yeah, I think so," Katrina answered, a tremor in her voice. She looked down at her hands and groaned in disgust. Even though they were mostly sheltered, her exposed parts of her body, like her hands and legs, were rubbed raw and bleeding in some places. The sand had really done a number on her.
"Can you walk?"
"Probably," she took a couple of steps and it appeared that she could walk normally, though her stomach felt like it was about ready to do a somersault. "Let's not do that again, shall we?" she joked feebly, trying to make light of the experience. She had a feeling that she would have nightmares about it for a while.
"Yes, let's," Kaiba helped her down the cliff face, even though Katrina kept protesting that she was alright.
Unbeknownst to them, however, something was unearthed during the storm. A door in a cliff, looking ancient, seen for the first time in nearly five thousand years. About a half hour after Katrina and Kaiba left the scene, two people appeared, studying the door.
"It seems that this was no ordinary storm," a man said. He was tall and slender, with dark brown hair and golden-green eyes. "It appears to have been orchestrated. Could it have been our goddess? This is her domain after all."
The other person, a woman with golden brown hair and eyes the same hue as her friend's, shook her head. "I doubt it. It seems that someone else was behind it. Besides, our goddess was charged with hiding it from the world, not exposing it. Some one is manipulating the pieces on the game board. A war of the gods is imminent, and whoever wins, we mortal always loses." She made a gesture towards her friend. "Come, we must tell the others and prepare ourselves." The two were gone within moments, any trace of them gone, blown away by the hot breath of their goddess.
Ooh, some new characters are in play. This is getting more and more fun by the second! Soo, can you guess the goddess mentioned in the chapter. If you can guess it correctly, you get a cookie! SO go on, try guessing, what harm will it do you?
Hint: she is considered the goddess of the desert and the winds that are associated with it. Her followers in the chapter also look like
