I apologise once again for taking so long to update! Been having my board exams and don't worry I've written the next chapter for this, I just need to type it up. Huge thanks to all the people who reviewed! You all are so amazing and are my driving force. Well here's the next chapter for The Mastery and don't forget to review once you're done!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Mimi just stared at the older boy, where was his father? Why these two boys left were here to rule the tribe in his absence, weren't there more qualified people? Everyone also seemed to fear these boys, why was that? All these questions swam around her mind as se became more and more confused. The older boy was eyeing her now, almost hungrily. She shivered with disgust as his eyes roamed up and down her body before calling out loudly, "She is very pretty one, is she not?"
The watching crowd chorused, "Yes she is oh great one!"
"She would make a good slave for me, wouldn't she?" asked Sam Ichijoji.
"Yes she would your brilliantness," The crowd replied.
"No way, I'm nobody's slave! I will work for no one especially not some smelly tribe leader! I am a white from Aramarne and I do not bend down to anyone. I," she stopped suddenly, realizing that she now sounded like the epitome of a White and felt disgusted. She looked up straight into Sam's eyes, "I refuse to be your slave!"
"You refuse?" whispered Sam dangerously, his eyes watching her as the entire tent fell silent then he began to grin wickedly, "you wont be my slave? We will have to do something about that, Ling!"
The red-bearded man named Ling looked up sharply, "yes, your greatness?"
"Take her to the prisoner's tent and do not give her any food or water until she changes her mind about my offer," Sam said coldly causing Mimi to shiver involuntarily.
"Is this entire thing necessary brother? Can't we just let them go?" asked the younger brother softly, his long hair shading his eyes.
There was a sharp intake of breath from the surrounding tribe members and Mimi immediately felt afraid for the boy. "You dare contradict me, Ken? Me, your older brother, how dare you! I have half a mind to throw you in that tent with her, what has happened to you Ken? Why have you suddenly become so soft and you know that father won't be pleased," demanded Sam angrily as she glared at his younger brother until Ken was forced to avert his gaze.
Mimi felt a small stab of sympathy for Ken who once his brother looked away, gave Sam a murderous glare. Sam glanced around the tent and then snapped at the watching warriors, "What the hell are all of you staring at? Get lost and take the prisoners with you!" he gestured at Mimi and at the other unfortunate prisoner, "I think that that one's dead anyway."
"Yes O ace one," called out the man named Ling.
"Ace one? Wow you people must really be struggling with the name thing," smirked Sam, "Now get out, all of you!"
The warriors bowed hastily and hurried out carrying a very disgusted and reluctant Mimi. They picked up the unconscious man who was slumped against the matted floor. Mimi groaned as she resigned herself to her fate: she was doomed to be carried in this uncomfortable and disrespectful manner for the rest of her life, draped on the back of a very smelly tribal warrior. She peered at the dimly lit path through the hundreds of tents as the group stopped in front of a rather shabby tent that had a couple of people who were standing guard. Mimi eyed it with disgust, there was no way she was going to stay there and she still had standards.
The men shoved Mimi into a cage at one end of the tent that smelled like its previous occupants had been some very smelly chickens. The unconscious man was dumped into a slightly larger cage while a few of the other occupants half-heartedly begged for their release. A hard faced woman approached Mimi and tugged away her sword and her bow and arrows. She smiled cruelly, "Don't think that we've forgotten about your weapons, these are really nice, who made them for you?"
Mimi felt for her empty sheath that was still buckled at her waist and almost screamed with frustration, she had completely forgotten about her weapons. She could have used her weapons to take down the red-bearded man before she reached the camp. Never in her entire life had she felt so stupid, how she would expect to rescue Aramarne if she acted so stupidly and didn't think, she didn't know. She groaned as the woman raised her eyebrows and asked in a patronizing voice, "yes?"
Mimi just glared at her and remained stubbornly silent and then she turned her attention to the floor avoiding the woman's piercing gaze. There was no way she could tell the woman who had given her the weapons but she felt like crying as her only links to the emperor were wrenched away. She felt for the map under her robes, a brief smile flitting across her face but she carefully hid it, she didn't want to alert the woman of its presence. The woman continued to stare at her until she spoke coldly, "I see that we have a silent one , I think it's time for me to leave so the next time I come back, you had better have learned some respect. You will show Prince Sam and Ken respect or you will continue to starve, is that clear?"
She accepted Mimi's sullen silence as her answer so she locked the cage with a huge rusty padlock and after shooting Mimi one last look of contempt and loathing; she stalked out of the tent. Mimi dropped her head into her hands as her shoulders shook, she had never felt so disgusted before in her entire life. Here she was, being treated like some animal and she was locked in a cage where animals belong. "Don't cry pretty girl," came a rough voice from her right.
She ignored it guessing it was another prisoner trying to hit on her. She sobbed some more as she realised that she had failed the quest the emperor had given her. She was hopeless and now there was no way she could escape this hellhole. She would either die of starvation or die as a slave to Sam, whichever fate she chose for herself. "Girl, I am talking to you so its only polite that you look at me," came the voice again.
Mimi sniffed and reluctantly looked up at the man to her right; it was the man who had been unconscious earlier. Mimi examined him closely now as she hadn't given him a second glance earlier, she had been too preoccupied about her own problems. He looked very tired and suddenly broke into a coughing fit. He continued to cough as Mimi watched helplessly from her cage wishing somehow that she could help. Se glanced around the tent very worried about the man's fate but none of the other prisoners even batted an eyelash. All of them were slumped against their cages with some of them shifting very slightly and others not moving at all.
The man continued coughing but now he had doubled over and was spitting out blood. Mimi gasped, terrified and cried shrilly, "oh my god, what's wrong with you?" Her voice was reduced to a pleading whisper, "please stop."
The man's coughs subsided as he shifted his weight onto his arms and leaned forward, panting heavily. His long, dark hair had fallen all over his face and was now sticking to his forehead. His face was shining with sweat as he suddenly wretched. Mimi muffled a scream as she tried to reach out of her cage towards him. "Stop!" called the man in his hoarse voice, "I'll be fine and don't worry about me because I think you're in more trouble than me. It'll all be over for me soon enough but this could only be the beginning of one big nightmare for you."
He got up and leaned against the bars of his cage and groaned as Mimi stared in shock and quickly whispered, "What's wrong with you? Why are you so sick?"
"I told you not too worry yourself about me," snapped the man angrily and began to cough again. Mimi opened her mouth to say something but the man held up a hand so she allowed him to finish coughing. Taking in deep breaths he continued, "Yes you were so foolish, you should have never spoken back to Sam like that. Now he will save the worst for you and he will never let you go. He is so proud and arrogant; you saw how he insists that all the tribe members call him a self-flattering name, he doesn't stand for insubordination from anyone. Everyone knows that if you are captured by a tribe then you must appear disoriented or unconscious and avoid speaking at all. Then you just might have a chance of escaping but now I highly doubt that you will. They will be so strict with you and now because Sam likes you, I tink he'll keep you here until he grows bored then he'll kill you."
He coughed softly as Mimi's eyes widened with fear but she quickly snapped back, "Well how was I supposed to know that? What about all the other prisoners, shouldn't they know what to do when captured? If so then why are they still here?"
"They are just as stupid as you so now like you they'll be stuck here for ages and just some advice, yelling at a sick man won't make you fell any better," wheezed the man.
Mimi opened her mouth to argue but thought better of it so instead she asked softly, "Will you at least tell me what's wrong with you?"
The man's hazel eyes swiveled towards her, "It's none of your concern and anyway, there's nothing you can do for me now."
Mimi just stared at him with worry but did not press the subject any further. The man glanced at her before focusing on his knees, suppressing another coughing fit. "Can you do me a favor girl?" asked the man softly.
Mimi hesitated slightly before answering though not unkindly, "What is it?"
"I was supposed to carry something very important to the heart of the Mastery but I was captured," began the man.
"You're from the Mastery!" sputtered Mimi, "there is no way I'm going to do anything for you!"
"Just listen!" coughed the man impatiently, "It is of great importance that you destroy it in the river next to the heart of the mastery, do you understand?"
Mimi's lip curled, "You want me to destroy it? Why in the world would you want me to do that?"
"Wow, you really are annoying! Just please don't ask any questions, I want my last few hours on earth to be as peaceful as possible. I'm asking you to do this for me please because it's of such great importance. I'm going to die tonight and there is nothing anyone can do about it. That dimwitted tribe is bound to find my package on my body and I can't let them find out what it is. They would probably worship it or hopefully they might discard it as junk and throw it away but those two princes are bright enough to figure out what it is sooner or later. Even if it was thrown away someone else might find it and it can only be destroyed in one place. No on should use it so whatever you do, do not lose it!" whispered the man throatily.
"I thought there was absolutely no way I could escape so how am I supposed to destroy this package of yours?" asked Mimi rolling her eyes.
"Yes you probably couldn't escape now because of your stupidity," snorted the man as Mimi glared at him, "but on the slight chance that you do please destroy it. If you never escape then just keep it safe and let nobody have it please, just please do this for me. Hide it forever and never let anyone know you have it, but if you can then try to destroy it."
"What is it exactly?" asked Mimi.
"You ask too many questions," replied the man playfully but started coughing again, also emitting painful retching sounds. He calmed down as the panic in Mimi grew before speaking, "Just promise me one tin please just never look at it, never open the package please. Just promise me this."
Mimi's eyes widened as she bit down hundreds of questions, knowing that they irritated the man. She hesitated to answer but the pathetic sight of the man leaning against his cage door, occasionally letting out feeble coughs made her answer slip quickly through her lips, "Yes I promise."
A small smile graced his face as he took a deep breath and replied softly, "Thank you so much pretty girl, you have no idea how much you have done for me already and how much this means to me. I trust you pretty girl, I don't know why but there is something about you that just makes me believe that you won't let me down."
"Mimi," said Mimi softly.
"What was that?" asked the man.
"My name is Mimi Tachikawa," she said more clearly.
"Very well Mimi, my name is Jarsha," smiled the man.
"No sire's name," asked Mimi curiously.
A sad look phased over his face as he answered quietly, "no."
Mimi decided not to ask him about that so she hastily asked, "Where's the package?"
Jarsha sighed and then pulled a small object out of his torn shirt. It was wrapped in a stained red cloth and was about the size of a chicken egg. He reached out of his cage and Mimi did the same, he passed the small object to her. Mimi leaned back into her enclosure and rolled the package around in her palm, wrinkling her nose, "This is it? Can you even call this a package? After your entire speech this is a bit of an anticlimax, I expected something, well something more."
"Don't be fooled by its size, it has more power than most things on this earth," snarled Jarsha.
"This tiny thing has power?" asked Mimi pretending to be astonished as she fiddled with its wrapping. She caught a hint of a brilliant emerald green as the wrapping parted slightly. Her eyes grew as round as dinner plates as she felt an overwhelming desire to rip open the pathetic packaging that covered the object that was right in her very palm. She had so much power in her hand if she just took hold of the tiny but very powerful object then she could rule the world. Before she could do anything however Jarsha quickly cried seeing her hungry look, "Don't! Do not look at it or open it, you promised!"
Mimi snapped out of her revere and dropped the object on her cage floor wit a small clatter. His cries caused another violent coughing fit that had Jarsha's entire body shaking with spasms. Is eyes widened as his pupils contracted, he bent foreword with his hands gripping his stomach as his shoulders heaved. He vomited out more blood until he collapsed on his cage floor. Mimi's hands were covering her mouth to muffle her screams as she felt the corners of her eyes prick with tears. She couldn't bring herself to look away from Jarsha as his body twitched with his shoulders and knees banging against the cage door. His body and clothes were drenched with cold sweat with his hair plastered to his forehead. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," whispered Mimi as tears rolled down her face, "Please wake up, please."
Jarsha stirred lightly and whispered, "Its okay pretty girl, no harm done."
Mimi frowned at that, she didn't say anything but let out a soft sigh of relief though the tears continued to run down her cheeks. She spoke softly, "I'm so sorry I looked, I swear I will never look, I'm so sorry but I don't know what came over me!"
Jarsha smiled slowly but it looked as if it took a lot of effort just to move those muscles, his eyes lightly twinkling as he said soothingly, "It is really okay, I trust you."
"No it's not okay, you don't even know me!" wept Mimi.
"Pretty girl, Mimi just listen I may not know you but I just know I can trust you and that you wont let me down. I just need you to be brave and destroy what I asked you to please? Do you remember what I asked you to do?" asked Jarsha slowly.
"Yes, do not let anyone get this package and try to destroy it at all costs but I must never look at it. The only place it can be destroyed is the river next to the heart of the Mastery," said Mimi quickly as she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.
"Glad to see you were listening," smiled Jarsha.
Mimi smiled back though she was still sniffling, the fact that this could be Jarsha's last moments of life was tearing her up inside. She couldn't believe that she had just met the man; he has already had such a profound effect on her life. The fact that he felt that Mimi could be trusted even though he had never met her before made Mimi smile. The smile quickly disappeared as her face clouded with worry about Jarsha. Jarsha who was studying her face intently caught the shift in her mood immediately so he stuck his hand out of his cage, reaching towards Mimi. He smiled at her encouragingly so she took his cold hand that looked very pale and almost skeletal.
"If I don't live much longer pretty girl, this will be goodbye. I am very glad to have met you, even if it is at the end of my life. You made my last moments beautiful, I just wish we could have met earlier but meeting you at the very end is better that nothing. You are truly special even if you haven't realised it yet. You have so much power in you to change the world with your heart and your sincerity. I know you will do great things so good luck with whatever path lays ahead of you and take special care of that package for me." He finished softly with a sad edge to his voice, squeezing Mimi's hand lightly.
"I won't let you down Jarsha; I hope you find eternal happiness, because you deserve it. I didn't know you before this day so I don't what misdeeds you have performed but I know you are a good person because you have made such a positive impact in my life and shown me so much kindness," whispered Mimi, a fresh batch of tears running down her face.
The remainder of the night was filled with the spine-tingling sound of almost inhuman sounds of retching. Blood splattered the floor of Jarsha's cage as his stomach went in with an unknown force pushing against him, forcing up whatever contents occupied his stomach. Jarsha's gasps for breath became increasingly desperate as salty tears spilled from his eyes. Mimi couldn't even bring herself to imagine the pain and suffering he was going through and found herself feeling increasingly nauseous. She continued to grip his hand giving him reassuring squeezes every now and then but did not exchange anymore words with him. She was scared that anything could tip him to his death; she prayed that he would survive the night. Jarsha however was right to believe that tonight would his last. He died as his coughing ceased and his hand turned to ice and fell limply from her hand.
"Jarsha?" whispered Mimi devastatingly but no answer came, Tears flowed freely down her face as she cried loudly not caring if anyone heard and this was how Ken Ichijouji found her.
"Quiet!" he whispered harshly trying to control Mimi as her howls were reduced to hiccups. Once he managed to minimize Mimi's volume he stuck up four fingers and began waving them about asking hurriedly, "how many fingers am I holding up?"
Mimi hiccupped and blinked at him in surprise, "how exactly does this matter?"
"Just answer the question," hissed Ken harshly.
"Four," replied Mimi stupidly.
"You're not guessing are you?" asked Ken dubiously.
Mimi shook her head angrily, "what are you doing here?"
"What does it look like I'm doing?" asked Ken sarcastically beginning to regret his decision to rescue her, she seemed annoying and would probably mess things up. "I'm here to rescue you," said Ken jangling a set of keys nervously.
Mimi just blinked again, "Um why were you asking me how many fingers you were holding up?"
"Most of the prisoners are usually drugged, I needed to see whether you were disoriented at all," replied Ken not looking up but shifting through the set of keys.
"Oh so that why they look so sleepy all the time," mused Mimi, Ken just rolled his eyes still sorting through the keys.
"But why are rescuing me?" demanded Mimi.
"Can't you just be happy with the fact that I'm rescuing you?" sighed Ken heavily. Mimi glared at him until Ken sighed again unhappily adopting a slightly pained look on his face. "I'm helping you because if I don't then my conscience will never be at rest. My brother is evil, controlling and a narcissist; if I don't save you from him then I'm condemning you to your death. Some time ago I was just like him and I wanted power, I would do almost anything to get it but everything I did was so horrible and evil. I was so ambitious but at such a terrible price, I killed so many people and because of my hunger for power, I lost my best friend." A tear rolled down his face but he continued, "I have stood by the atrocious deeds that Sam has performed but no more! My brother was always better at me at everything but what I'm about to do will hit him hard. I have to do something good fast or I'm scared I'll be lost in the darkness forever so stop asking questions and let me do this."
Mimi pursed her lips unhappily but allowed Ken to open the heavy padlock that kept her in her cage. He wrenched the cage door open and tugged Mimi out of her cage. Her limbs screamed with pain as she had been cramped up in a tiny space and had been unable to stretch. She stumbled out, gripping Ken's forearms to steady her. She dusted out her robes and batted her matted hair out of her eyes. She turned to snatch Jarsha's package off the bottom of the cage, stuffing it up the sleeves of her robes before knotting the sleeve to prevent it from falling out. Ken didn't notice anything but roughly shoved her out of the tent. He grabbed her wrist with an iron like grip and placed a finger to his lips to signal her to be silent.
They remained outside the tent in the cold night air, Mimi shivered, and it was freezing. The stars twinkled coldly in the inky black sky as other worldly watches, providing neither the warmth nor comfort that Mimi desperately needed. They stood completely still for the next few minutes trembling because of the cold and out of fear until the sound of heavy boots crunching on the dry plain grass met their ears. After the sound came and then faded they moved silently tip-toeing through and behind tents. Mimi flinched slightly as heart beat against her chest; it was so loud that she was sure that the whole camp could hear it. A sentry stomped by near the weapon tent causing them to duck behind a water barrel; Ken still had not relaxed his grip on her wrist. He dragged her into the tent and began rustling around the numerous weapons, finally pulling out Mimi's gifts from the emperor.
He handed them to Mimi, not saying a single word to her and not even allowing her to express some amount of gratitude. He grabbed Mimi's wrist once again causing Mimi to wince painfully. He didn't even allow her to adjust the weapons to her body; she was left carrying them awkwardly under one arm, constantly hitching them up to stop them from falling. She stumbled over the grass and small rocks, which popped up at random under her feet.
Ken just continued on relentlessly, not slowing his pace or allowing Mimi to catch her breath. Finally after that long walk Ken pulled Mimi into a large tent with lavish decorations. Beautiful drapes hung everywhere circling a carved bed, a wardrobe took up one corner and another side contained a shelf with scrolls, brilliantly tinted jewels and carefully sculpted bottles. An ornately decorated tent stood at the foot of the bed, seeing all this made Mimi feel a pang of sadness, her old room in Aramarne was grander than this.
Mimi's weapons tumbled to the ground as she sank to her knees out of pure exhaustion. Ken didn't spare her glance but instead began to rummage through the wardrobe, pulling clothes out. Mimi crawled to her feet and in a completely spontaneous action, pounced on the bed causing Ken to shoot her a withering look. He proffered a handful of clothes to her, "Here take these and put them on after washing some of that filth off your body."
Mimi took the clothes gratefully while Ken took a basin from under the bed and lifted a blue bottle of the shelf. He poured water gently into the basin as Mimi watched, slightly mesmerized by his graceful actions. Mimi leapt off the bed and began to splash water on her face and rub the grime off her arms and legs with a cloth that Ken gave her. She smiled at Ken gratefully but began to clear her throat lightly, informing him that he should turn around so she could change.
He nodded and turned to face the entrance of the tent. Mimi paused to admire his slim neck and pale complexion and once again marveled at how he had managed to keep his skin this colour when he lived in a place like this. His long beautiful blue hair rested beneath his chin looking perfectly straight and silky, Mimi immediately felt envious of it.
She turned to the pile of clothes that she had kept at her feet and began to pull off her robe and put on the bottle green trousers and billowy black shirt. She carefully tucked the map and Jarsha's package up her sleeve and then knotted it. Mimi hugged the clothes to herself, she immediately felt refreshed. "You can turn around now," Mimi called to Ken.
He swooped round to face her and began to speak hurriedly, "Okay, here's the plan, the sentries always go to get ready for breakfast at dawn-break for exactly five minutes. Five minutes later, new sentries take up the job so even one slip up and we'll be dead. I'll lead you to a small hill outside the camp and an eagle will pick you up from there and take you as far away from here as possible. It's your job to make sure that you don't get caught again because I will not help you then."
"You're not coming with me?" asked Mimi slowly.
"No," replied Ken, "I'll have done my bit so there's no need to accompany you any further."
"What if they suspect you of helping me?" asked Mimi in a small voice, worried that he would get into trouble because of her.
Ken smirked as if amused by her concern, "they wouldn't dare," he announced with confidence, "What have I ever done to merit that kind of suspicion?"
Mimi just threw her arms around him tearfully causing him to stumble back in shock. His face turned a violent shade of scarlet as his eyes widened. "Thank you for all your help Ken," she breathed into his shoulder.
Ken just snorted attempting to look indifferent and then pulled away. He peeked out of the tent flap and then turned back to Mimi, his eyes serious, "We have to leave in two minutes so be ready."
Mimi gave him a soft smile before reaching for her weapons and belting her sword around her waist. She strapped her quiver around her chest and pulled her bow around her. Ken pushed his head out of the tent and into the cool morning air again. The sentries were still out there, which caused Ken to pace around the tent irritably. He glanced out once again only to see the sentries gone and then whipped his head around to meet Mimi's curious eyes "Come on!"
They bolted from the tent, Mimi slower than Ken; she wasn't accustomed to the weight that her weapons gave her. They dashed past a series of tents before Ken abruptly skidded to a halt before her. She smashed into him and let out a tiny scream, in front of them was the same woman who had taken Mimi's weapons from her. Her cruel eyes were narrowed as she glanced between Ken and Mimi. A triumphant smile flashed past her face, her eyes gleaming, "The prisoners are escaping!"
She barely finished the sentence when Ken sliced her through her middle. Her eyes widened with shock as her upper torso fell to the ground limply. Mimi stared at her with abstract horror; she couldn't force her legs to move. Her brain was screaming instructions at her but her limbs seemed numb, they weren't moving. Ken grabbed her forearm and pulled her forward as men poured out of surrounding tents. The face of the butchered woman continued to flicker in front of her eyes and she felt nauseous. She glanced at Ken and could immediately tell that things were definitely not going according to plan.
Her mind blankly registered how Ken's sword was glinting red in the morning sun, small droplets of blood showering off the blade. The tribe warriors were yelling behind them brandishing a wide variety of weapons from axes to others she had never seen before. Their voices became a dull rush around her and time seemed to slow down as Ken lifted his sword high into the air and brought it down onto the shoulder of a charging warrior. He turned to her and was saying something to her with a frantic look on his face but she couldn't discern what he was saying, the blood pounding in her ears and her heart beats were drowning out all the other noises.
They were being diverged upon with warriors closing in from all directions. A swoop of hopelessness rushed in her chest, they were trapped and now they would surely die. No No NO!
Mimi screamed to herself, she had to rescue Taichi, her parents, Hikari, the emperor's words echoed in her head, You are Aramarne's only hope, you must save us. Mimi tugged her sword out of its sheath and rammed its hilt into a face of a warrior, his nose broke and blood spurted everywhere. Every noise and action became very clear to her but she had no idea what to do. This was her first battle and no matter how easy Ken made it look, gracefully parrying and stabbing, it was very hard.
Her arms burned as they struggled to lift her sword, she slapped its flat blade onto the head of another soldier and he landed on the ground with a thump. Ken charged to her and neatly stuck his sword into the stomach of a soldier behind her. He had some sort of horrible beauty in battle and it terrified Mimi. No matter how accomplished he was in the art of swordsmanship, there were just too many enemies. "Run!" screamed Ken he sidestepped an attack and turned his eyes to her, "Run!" He shoved a warrior back onto a bunch of his comrades, they stumbled back and Ken took this opportunity to grasp Mimi's hand and pull her forward. He continued to neatly stick his sword into various persons followed by Mimi whose sword was no better than a club in her hands.
A tall man suddenly appeared at her side and she opened her mouth to scream but was cut off by his axe whistling past her ear. She tried to move her sword but she was too slow, he mercilessly struck her side. Red flashed in front of her eyes and she could dimly make out Ken hacking the man's chest. Tears were beginning to form and her head felt light and weak. Something warm was drenching her side with pain pulsing from it; she tried not to look at it. Ken was in front of her fighting off two men and yelling at her. Mimi shook her head and clutching her side began to clumsily move her legs, wincing at every step. Ken was right behind her but the warriors were gaining. Suddenly a huge shaped blanketed the sky above her, she opened her mouth in shock and watched as the brown, feathered creature swooped past her and circled around. She watched as Ken reached up and grabbed onto giant bird and was lifted into the air. She tried to shout but her throat felt like someone had just rubbed it with sand paper.
Tears filled her eyes and panic rose in her throat, they were going to leave her here, she stopped running, she might as well give up now. Suddenly the giant eagle landed in front of her flapping its enormous wings and causing the loose sand to lift off the ground and hurtle towards her face. The rough sand stung her tender cheeks and she squeezed her eyes shut. She could hear the warriors behind her yelling in anger as their vision was impaired by the sudden rush of sand.
She felt a hand grab hers and yank her away from the warriors. She was being hoisted on the eagle and the sudden landing on its back caused her vision to swim in a river of black dots. She swayed heavily as she felt Ken get on behind her and wrap his arms securely around her waist. She managed to croak out, "I thought you weren't coming with me."
"I don't have much of choice anymore do I?" he snarled into her ear. He raised his voice, "Come on Swift Wings, let's go!"
The eagle let out a monstrous cry and flapped its wings, which were straining under the weight of two passengers. Hundreds of arrows flew out of the camp causing the eagle to spiral upwards, narrowly missing the arrows. One streaked past and ripped through Mimi's sleeve. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. The package flew out into the air as Mimi's eyes widened. She grappled for it as it slipped through her fingers and plummeted to the ground, "No!" she screamed as she attempted to dive after it but ken held on tightly holding her torn sleeves tightly to prevent the map to slip out also.
An inhuman cry pierced the sky and tore Mimi out of her revere; the eagle had been struck by on of the arrows. She could hear Ken muttering, "Keep going, keep going," to the eagle.
Mimi just stared blankly ahead with an indescribable feeling writhing in her stomach. She had failed; she had failed Jarsha, who knew what would happen now? Tears poured down her cheeks as she began to choke and gasp frantically for air, she couldn't breath. She couldn't even frame a single sentence as her entire body racked with sobs.
The eagle suddenly swerved to the right, he couldn't hold on much longer, his wings were already pumping frantically to keep them in the air. Luckily they were out of range so no more arrows followed them. They eagle continued flying until he unexpectedly dived to the ground, its talons skimming the grass. Exhaustion finally overtook it causing it to bowl over and topple to the ground.
Mimi landed heavily on Ken, feeling a white hot burst of pain causing her to clench her eyes shut. She could feel Ken's rhythmic breathing under her as her side throbbed so badly that her teeth hurt. She heard Ken grunt as she painfully rolled onto her back. She stared up at the orange and pink streaked sky. Ken's face suddenly interrupted her view, he was asking her something but she couldn't understand him. She turned away from his concerned face and felt her eyes close. She could hear Ken talking to the eagle and then heard a loud flap cutting through the air, the eagle had taken off.
She opened her eyes and saw Ken at her side and he was now ripping the bottom of his trousers to make a pile of fabric. She blinked and felt hot tears run down her face, burning her sun burnt cheeks. She could feel Ken gently tending to her side, his soft fingers fumbling with the bottom of her shirt. "Just sleep," he was whispering, she couldn't help but to comply.
When she awoke, the sun was pretty high in the sky. Ken was rummaging through a pack he had brought with him to give her when they got to the hill, before noticing that she was awake. Mimi groaned as she felt stiff all over and her side was still burning painfully making her eyes water. She struggled to sit up and felt Ken by her side helping her with a hand on her back. He pressed a water bottle to her lips saying quietly, "Here drink this."
She took a small sip and began to sputter as the cool liquid touched her parched throat. "You know," began Ken in the same quiet voice as Mimi continued to sip the water, "I'm really surprised they haven't come looking for us yet. It isn't in their nature or should I say my nature to let anyone escape. I expected this place to be crawling with them, the sun blocked out with eagles hunting for us. We shouldn't let our guard down though, Sam is smart and manipulative, believe me, he always has a plan. Can you walk?"
Mimi hesitated slightly and then nodded, she felt more scared after she heard Ken speak. Ken sighed, "I'll carry you for a bit but then you'll need to walk, we must hurry, we've wasted enough time here. By nightfall this place with all probability be teaming with eagle warriors searching for us. Where are you going to go now? I don't think I'll ever be able to go back so I'll come with you and decide what to do."
Mimi immediately felt guilty, she hadn't meant for Ken to get exiled from his tribe. He managed to swallow her guilt before croaking out, "The Mastery, I have a map."
Ken's eyes widened, "The Mastery? I can't let you go there! I know you're from Aramarne so I'll take you back there."
Mimi scowled and shook her head angrily, "You can't take me to a place that doesn't exist anymore. Aramarne has been destroyed by the Mastery and my family and friends have been taken as slaves. I have to go meet up with them." She decided to leave out the part about trying to bring down the Mastery and avenge her people because she knew that Ken would definitely keep her from going there is she told him that.
"No I can't let you go there, they will kill you or you will have to suffer with your family," he said, shaking his head stubbornly. "I'll take you somewhere else; we can go to the coast. Leave your family, only death and suffering will be found at the Mastery."
"They are my family!" replied Mimi furiously, "I can't leave them! I have to be with them, I don't care about how much suffering will be brought to me. I don't care, I can't abandon them!"
Ken looked angry and he seemed be having some internal battle before he managed to utter in a low voice, "Fine, I'll not question you any further. Let's go."
Mimi glanced at him in surprise, "You still want to come with me?"
"I don't have anywhere to go anyway. Plus with all the trouble you manage to get yourself into, it seems like you'll need my help." Mimi gave him a smile of utter gratefulness; she really did owe Ken her life. He helped Mimi put the pack on her shoulder without damaging her bow and quiver. He then kneeled down so Mimi could ride on his back. For a rather small boy, he had a surprising amount of strength as he lifted her up. While he was referring to Mimi's map, Mimi's thoughts wandered to Jarsha and the lost package. She gulped down the guilt and panic, what kind of horror and danger had she unwittingly unleashed on the world? She felt Ken move so she glanced up at the nearing mountains, which was the barrier between them and the Mastery. Ken walked at a calming pace so Mimi relaxed against his shoulder and together they began to traverse the plains to the Mastery.
Sam Ichijouji stepped towards a red package caked with mud and bent down to pick it up. He grinned before softly whispering to himself, "Well what do we have here?"
He stroked the package and gently tugged a bit of the cloth away to reveal a glint of green before whispering silkily, "yes, something very important."
He tucked the package into his pocket before turning to the red bearded man, Ling and spoke in a cold commanding tone, "There's no need to pursue them Ling, we have what they need. My brother shall pay deeply for his treachery; there is lot of work that needs to be done."
Sam ignored the bewildered look that Ling gave him and strolled back to his tent, yes things were really looking up for the tribe of the eagle.
A/N: Here it is and I am so sorry for taking this long but please don't hold a grudge and not review! Sora will enter in the next the next chapter and a bit more about Koushiro will be revealed so don't forget to keep reading and reviewing! :D
