Howdy y'all, been a long weekend since school's out tomorrow cause of the amazing Oklahoma weather. So I might power on a make another chapter by tomorrow. Thank you all for the feedback, I appreciate every word of it. I hope this didn't move on too quickly, but I didn't know another way to do it, but this is a vital turning point in the story. As always please leave a review so I know if I need to fix some things. Thanks for the read! ~Wahyah
"Wrong."
"But I-"
"You said it wrong. If you say a word wrong, it can, and likely will, backfire and kill you."
Sakura groaned in irritation. Why had she even bothered to come back? She knew enough of the language to use the spells she knew, and that was enough.
"Say it again." Sasuke commanded.
Sakura turned to him with an idea and mouthed, "Sejinw"
Sasuke opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. He relaxed his features and slowly let out a silent puff of air.
He mouthed more words. Sakura almost laughed, but as she took a step forward, her legs felt like dead weight. No matter how hard to tried to move, her legs were still.
"duulo sia hoinpic" Sakura said loudly; in turn, Sasuke smirked. His spell was too strong for her to release. Taking her sigh as a sign of surrender, he released her from the binding spell.
Sakura knew it was a bad idea for him to release his ward on the Den. Ever since he did so, she would cast a spell, and Sasuke would counter it with one of his own. Although she had learned some new words in the language, she doubted that she learned as much as he had planned. Still, the question of why he was helping her was still hanging heavily in the air, and the tension was enough to choke on. He had said he wanted to know more about her, but teaching her knew fighting techniques was a strange way to find something out about someone.
Mitne chuckled over to the side of the action, and Sove flinched at the booming sound of it and shook his head, trying to dull the noise.
Almost catching Sakura off guard, Sasuke tossed her a piece of wood, carved in the rough shape of a sword.
"Spar me."
"With sticks?" Sakura was now fervently questioning his sanity, or lack of. Picking up the weapon, she shifted to face him directly.
Without warning, he was the one to initiate the spar this time, charging at inhuman speed.
Instinctively, she parried his first strike, and again when he tried the same spin move she had attempted prior. Infuriated by the mental challenges he had already put her through, she allowed that fury to fuel her attacks; she /wanted/ to hit him as hard as she possibly could, hoping inflicting at least a bruise, if not more. With every strike she took, he would block the blow and send her staggering backwards. He took it as an opportunity to strike and knocked the wooden sword from her hands, landing with a thud a few feet away from her. He aimed the tip of the sword at her throat.
Sakura wasn't ready for the spar to end yet; despite her heavy breathing, she was still fueled with enough irritation and anger to keep fighting. She swiftly attempted to swipe his feet from under him - in nearly the same instant, he leaped in the air. Sakura seized this opportunity to roll over to her sword, and quickly picked back up in time to block a heavy blow. The swords were locked in a test of strength now, and Sakura knew she wouldn't win this battle.
I hate to resort to trickery, but it's a last resort. She planned in her head.
As sasuke put more strength onto his sword, Sakura pushed against him and jumped backwards, skidding to a halt and bringing up a cloud of dirt. She kicked up the dust towards his face, and for a moment, Sakura thought her plan might have worked. Instead, he used it to his advantage, and disappeared in the cloud. Within a few more moments, he was behind her with his sword back at her neck.
Game over.
Sasuke said nothing, but his arrogance radiated off of him as he released her. "Recite the alphabet."
Facetiously, she began, "A, B, C,-"
Sasuke glared and snorted in irritation.
Sakura sighed; the guy was no fun. She quickly recited the draconic alphabet.
"Now you've learned a third of the alphabet-"
"Wait, that's only a fraction of the letters?" Sakura asked, shocked.
"If I tried to teach you everything about the language, it would a take lifetime." He began, "As I was saying, now that you've learned some new words, the words you are saying are beginning to be the true names of things, rather than just their aspects."
"So... I can control that thing if I know it's true name." Sakura deduced.
Sasuke nodded.
"So what if I learned someone's true name? Would I be able to control them?" Sakura asked.
"Yes, but almost nobody knows their true name. For that very reason, mind you."
"But you know yours." Sakura waited to see his reaction.
"All elves know their true names; their own, and /only/ their own." He said, bitterness in his voice; Sakura had apparently struck a nerve.
"How do you know your true name?" Sakura pressed on.
"You ask too many things." He snapped.
Sakura snorted in irritation again; at least she had gotten /some/ amount of information from him. Above all of the questions she could ask, though, she wanted to know how he had created this den. Before she lost the courage, she brought the topic up.
He acted as if he did not hear her, instead mumbling a word, and shortly after he did so, he breathed a ball of fire, the flames spreading outward from him.
"What did you say?" Sakura asked, her mind was instantly brought to his attention once more.
"ixen"
The word itself had a sense of power to it. Fire.
The most destructive element, the one with that brings most death; yet, an element that can save lives as well, and is needed for them to continue.
"By invoking ixen, you can bring a person's body to a smouldering mess, or provide warmth to an entire clan. Its strength is entirely in your hands."
"I used nixeu against a manticore, and it burned pretty damn well from just that." Sakura proudly stated.
Sasuke rolled his eyes, "Only because the beast was sickly." Sakura's pride was again smashed.
"What's with all of this anyways?" Sakura asked.
"All of what?"
"The spell traps, the sparring, learning the language... What is all of this for?" Sakura asked, demanding an answer.
"In case of a battle." Sasuke snapped, pointedly ending that question. Sove even ducked his head from the ferociousness of the quip.
Mitne narrowed her scaly eyes and Sasuke turned his head to her. "tiric coi selgtarn"
Mitne hissed and smoke rolled from her nostrils.
"We're done for the day." He said.
"But you didn't-"
"Out!"
Well, I've seen nicer. I think Mitne is pretty nice, though. Sove said as he padded alongside Sakura.
She scoffed. An arrogant twat is what he is.
"Well, if it isn't "Miss I ditch everyone to go for a walk"." The unmistakable voice of Kiba echoed from behind.
Not too far behind, Naruto was walking along, his hands behind his head as he gazed up at the ceiling of the cave nonchalantly. "If only there was a sky to look at..." He muttered, mostly to himself.
"Hey guys." Sakura greeted them with smile.
""hey guys"?" Kiba mocked. "You disappear for half the day and all you say is"Hey guys"?"
Sakura suppressed a laugh, "Oh yes, because you're so furious."
Kiba rolled his eyes. Naruto returned back to reality, looking back down from the ceiling.
"Oi, has the Bastard returned from his tantrum?" Naruto asked.
"I don't think so." Sakura answered uncertainly; honestly. She wasn't sure if it was a good idea to tell everyone where he was. The very fact that she even found his "lair" was most likely by luck, and maybe not exactly the good kind. More than likely, he had hidden it for a reason.
Sakura's mind drifted off into thought, and she stared blankly for a moment, Kiba noticed and poked her shoulder.
"You alright?" Kiba asked.
"Yeah, it's just... A lot's happened within the past few months for me. Hell, just in the past week after finding your clan. It's all happened so fast. I'm worried about what's going to happen next, and... Hell, with Malina's prediction, it makes me feel a little uneasy." Sakura admitted.
Naruto grinned; it wasn't a happy smile, but more of a knowing one, and for a moment, he didn't seem like the fool he was yesterday. "It sounds like things may be working out in your favor now, you know? Could have been worse."
Sakura smiled, "It could always be worse."
Over the next seven and a half weeks, Sakura began to enjoy Sasuke helping her learn. Not only swordsmanship, but with how to use the ancient language, as well as apply it without wasting a large amount of energy. Above all, she wasn't bored by any means.
Her friendship with Naruto and Kiba had grown closer as well. She enjoyed being around them, and Kizashi had taken kindly to Jeod, who would help him in learning how to string a bow, and lightly spar with him, Sove had grown a fair bit; at two and a half months, he stood at Sakura's knee, but his signs of growing didn't seem to slow whatsoever.
Her relationship with Sasuke however... Not much changed, it was moreso student and teacher in that respect. Indeed, within the past 2 weeks, he had become more irritable; Mitne seemed a bit unsettled as well. The past few days, however, Sakura had not seen Sasuke around very much, and when she would, he would seem as if he was sneaking in and out of places, trying to be unseen. Sparring sessions had grown shorter, and his temper grew shorter as well.
It started not to matter much to her; of course she was still worried - she cared for him on a somewhat platonic level, and those weren't his normal behavior patterns, even for a boy as antisocial as he may be - hell, as he was.
Her and Sasuke...not much changed, it was moreso student and teacher in those means. Although within the past week, he had become more irritable, and Mitne seemed a bit unsettled as well. As for the past few days, Sakura had not seen Sasuke around, and when she would, he would seem as if he was sneaking in and out places. Sparring sessions were shorter and his temper grew shorter.
It started to not matter much to her, of course she was still worried, she cared for him on a somewhat of a friendship level, and these aren't normal behavior patterns, even for a boy as antisocial as Sasuke may be.
"So... Are there more?" Sakura began, hesitantly.
"More what?" Sasuke snapped, sounding as if he were chewing his words as he spoke. He was occupied sharpening his blade with ferocity.
"More elves like you."
He stopped halfway with the stone, sitting there with an expression not even Sakura could decipher. He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it once more. Sakura sat in patience awaiting his answer, and after a few more moments, he answered. "No."
He stood up and sheathed his blade, "Go."
Sakura did as she was instructed and left. It was a losing battle to press any further considering that he was as stubborn as an ass, and most of the time, acted as one. As well, with the way he responded, she was not sure she wanted to know the answer.
It was not until later that evening as she ate with the clan, Naruto joining as well, that Sakura felt a sense of impending doom. She held her breath as she felt like everything had slowed down: Naruto laughing at a joke Kiba had told, Hana glaring at the two for being rambunctious, and Malina sitting with a blank expression on her face.
Malina's eyes were shifting as if she were looking at an entirely different scene then what was present; then, her eyes met Sakura's. The moment the yellow clashed with emerald, Malina jolted.
"The gates!" She cried out, and everyone looked up at her with shock and fear. "They're here."
"Who's here?" Erwen, the apprentice blacksmith looked up with childish ignorance.
"The soldiers, likely." Kiba figured.
Shortly after uttering it out loud, a loud boom echoed throughout the city. The clan quickly ran outside to see for themselves what was going on.
Citizens were rushing hurriedly towards the cave exits, dotting the walls in various places. The clan took notice as well and prepared to do the same. Sakura instead took off in the direction of the boom with Sove quickly trailing her, ignoring the yells from the clan.
Is this a good idea? Sove asked with worry in his voice.
What's the point of learning all these new words and not using them? Sakura answered back.
This feels foolish... Sove snorted.
As they ran onto the scene, it was not what Sakura had expected to see.
Archers draped in mail armor rattled as they moved forward into the city. Other soldiers strutted in on horseback looking arrogantly across the city as they dragged trolls behind their steeds on oversized leashes. The trolls followed obediently, as if knowing there would be reward if they do as they are told. The metal collars were bulky and their hands were cuffed.
Another boom echoed on the other side, and the same happened not too far away. The district were being overrun with people fleeing, and corpses were already littering the ground. Sakura felt uneasy, and even Sove padded to the side, expecting to take off.
The men on horses are in the middle along with the trolls; if what I'm thinking is correct and works, it could cause some chaos amongst their ranks. Sakura looked down at Sove.
He pinned his ears back and put his tail between his legs, What exactly are you thinking?
Sakura said nothing, raising her finger and muttering strings of words from the ancient language, preparing to cast something over the officers.
As she was speaking them, a cloaked man appeared at the back of the unit as they fully entered the city.
And she paused to think about the situation. The city should have been prepared for something like this, considering they knew the empire was trying to find it's whereabouts recently... The situation seemed odd; only then did she realize what danger she had possibly put herself and Sove into.
Distracted by her thoughts, Sakura had not been paying attention to her surroundings as a soldier appeared from behind.
Reflex took over and she unsheathed her sword quickly, spinning to face him. Her sword pierced the soldier in the weaker, lower part of the shoulder guard. He yowled in pain as blood started to leak from the wound, and faced her with newfound fury. As he raised his war hammer above his head, he stopped, frozen almost, as his eyes rolled to the back of his head, and fell.
Unsure what had happened, Sakura had no time to think or even react as a mind numbing screech echoed through her mind. Sove slumped to the ground, and Sakura's vision turned red and black. She fell to the ground on her knees holding onto her head, darkness soon coming over her..
...She remembered seeing bright flashes...
...She remembered hearing screams...
...She remembered being picked up by someone or something...
...She remembered seeing a grey sky for the first time in two months...
"Wake up." An unfamiliar voice said.
Sakura mumbled incoherently, starting to fall out of consciousness once more.
"I'll throw you in the lake over here if you don't wake up. Try me." The voice warned once more.
Sakura opened her eyes, still feeling the effects of what happened.
"Good, nice to see you're awake." The voice said again.
Sakura paused and slowly turned her head to see a man with the bottom half of his face covered with a blue cloth, a bandage covering his left eye. His hair was white as snow and was spiked in a single direction.
She felt for her sword, and the man chuckled.
"I mean you no harm; in fact, you and your pal there should thank me for casting that spell and saving you both." He said with his right eye lazily gazing upon them.
"Where am I?" Sakura demanded.
"Ah, good question." He said as he stood up, but offered no explanation.
As Sakura stood up as well, she noticed that she was outside in a forest untouched by snow. Sove was sleeping beside the firepit, and two horses were tied to the bark of trees.
"I'm going to ask one more time, old man. Where am I and who are you?" Sakura raised her voice again, feeling a bit more defensive.
"Actually you never asked who I was. Tsk, a shame young ones don't respect their elders as they should - and I'm not even that old. But, if you must know, you may call me Kakashi. And without me, you would've died back there." He explained finally.
"What happened though?" Sakura asked, intent on piecing together what was actually caused all of this.
"Sasuke betrayed us." Kakashi said, quietly.
"Sasuke?" Sakura scoffed.
Kakashi nodded, continuing despite Sakura's doubt, "He revealed our location to their army; within a few hours time, the soldiers came through the gates, destroyed the entire city, and slaughtered every man, woman, and child they saw. They said it was orders by the King for treason."
Sakura's heart skipped a beat, "Everyone?"
"Some clans got out, but as of their whereabouts, or even if they're safe, I do not know."
"So why save me?"
"Why not?"
This game of questions was aggravating Sakura. "Of all the people, you saved me. Why?"
"Naruto told me to find a girl with pink hair and a black dog. Wasn't too difficult, especially since you were drawing unneeded attention to yourself. Foolish." His voice grew stern. "Foolish that you almost got yourself killed when you shouldn't have left on your own. What you were thinking, I haven't a clue."
Sakura growled at being scolded by someone who had practically kidnapped her, who was saying /she/ was foolish. "Where are Naruto and Kiba?"
"No idea."
"Then where I am to go?" Sakura asked, worry creeping into her voice.
"You're to come with me. Naruto was my foster child, and he has told me about you. Interesting enough that you know magic... In any case, when you ran off, Naruto came and found me, told me to come find you - and here we are." He explained.
Sakura was skeptical, his story seeming a little empty, but what more did she have to go on?
"Where is my sword?" Sakura asked, a little bit quieter now.
"Over in the bag, on the white horse." Kakashi pointed.
Sakura was still weary, and wasn't sure if his story could be trusted, but she realized that, if he had wanted to kill her, or do anything to her, he would've done it. The fact that she didn't awaken tied up told her she wasn't being held captive.
But what if that's the trick? Sakura asked herself as she found her sword. The horse whinnied and dug the dirt with its hoof. I could just get on the horse now and run off.
"How did you get me out here?" Sakura asked him, not turning her head away from the horse.
"Put you on the saddle - Nightingale wouldn't let you fall." Kakashi explained nonchalantly.
Sakura looked up at the horse. It didn't help that she was rather short; If she was anything other than human, dwarf would be a possibility. She sighed, deciding that she would trust him. If he was an enemy, Sove would've done something by now.
She was distracted by her thoughts again. Things had actually been going well. And yet again, another place she would've thought of as home was destroyed; her mentor was a traitor, and now there was a possibility her brother was missing. But that was the worse case scenario; the clan might've gotten him, and saw him through the chaos.
Sove began to stir and woke up. He stood up, stretched, and let out a big yawn as he did so. Shaking his fur he looked around the area. Oh good, you're awake. He wagged his tail.
How long have I been out? Sakura asked, alarmed.
A couple of days, actually. I was beginning to worry about you. Sove sat down, staring at her as he did.
Kakashi clapped his hands together, "Break time's over, let's get back on the move."
"Wait, where are we going?" Sakura asked.
"To a safer place." Kakashi dead-panned.
"So that's all you're going to tell me?" Sakura bit out, slightly frustrated.
"Well, our next stop is Resingarde; we'll need supplies, and I need some information."
"Information on what?"
"Why Sasuke up and left."
"There's no way he would do that willingly, and Mitne wouldn't let him anyhow." Sakura said, adamantly.
"Don't get confused, Sakura; Mitne is bonded to Sasuke, and where he goes, she goes. She has some influence, but without each other, they'll likely die. I had a feeling something like this was going to happen, I just... Didn't do anything to stop him." His voice paused towards the end, the sound of guilt and regret creeping in.
Sakura looked down at Sove and he gave a slight whimper. "Well... Let's get going then."
Sejinw - Silence duulo sia hoinpic - Release my legs
