Disclaimer: I don't own any of this. If you want to know more about the original content, I believe you can fine The Holy Pearl on YouTube with subtitles, and I definitely recommend watching it.
THERE IS A VERY IMPORTANT A/N AT THE END OF THIS CHAPTER. PLEASE READ IT.
Chapter 9: The Battle in the Woods
Leuwin half-led, half-dragged Kit down the path, his hand clasping hers a little too tightly.
"Faster!" Leuwin yelled, yanking her arm sharply as he sped up.
"Who's after us?" Kit panted, her lungs and legs protesting against the sudden stress. "Why are you acting like this? Why are you so afraid?" Leuwin didn't hear her; he was too busy watching the trees as they sped past them. "HEY! Answer me! What's going on?"
Suddenly, Kit crashed into Leuwin's back as he skid to a stop, his wide eyes staring at a figure that had appeared to block their path. She fell backwards, landing on the ground with a grunt.
"Give me a little warning next time, would you?" Kit complained as she sat up. She stood and brushed herself off, then noticed the person who had caused Leuwin's abrupt stop.
The man stood with his back to the two of them. He was clad in armor, complete with a horned helmet resting atop his long silver hair. Kit would have thought he was a knight, except he had no sword. The man turned around slowly, and Kit's jaw dropped a little as she looked at his face.
"He's handsome," she remarked softly to Leuwin, who hadn't moved. "Who is he?"
"He's my older brother," he answered bitterly.
"Your brother?" Kit was surprised. I thought he said he didn't have any family. Why would he lie? Oh well. "Does that mean he is half-human, too?"
"No. He is pure dragon. We're half-siblings. Same father, different mother." Leuwin's expression was furious, but Kit didn't notice. She stepped forward, a smile on her face as she waved to the newcomer.
"Hello! My name is—"
"What are you doing? Stay back!" Leuwin snapped, grabbing her arm and pulling her behind him. "He's dangerous. You have no idea how cruel he is." Leuwin turned to his brother, though his words were directed at Kit. "Human life means nothing to him. He'll kill you without a second thought."
The armored man said nothing, and his expression retained the same cold glare it had since he arrived. Leuwin positioned himself in between Alaric and Kit before addressing his brother.
"How did you find me?"
"So you are alive," he remarked coolly, ignoring the question.
"Disappointed, big brother?"
"Quite the contrary. This way, I can kill you myself."
"Hah!" Leuwin scoffed. "I'd like to see you try!"
Again, Alaric ignored him, his eyes flicking to Kit. "Who is the woman?"
"She has nothing to do with this!" Leuwin;s eyes flashed in anger. "Just let her go!"
"Is this your lover? The Dryad you couldn't protect five years ago?" Alaric sneered. "Pathetic."
Both Kit and Leuwin blanched at his assumption.
"She not my lover!"
"I'm not his—" Kit couldn't even bring herself to say the word, her face cherry red with embarrassment. "For the last time, I'm not Ailbhe!"
"Just shut up, Kit!" Leuwin snapped at her. "Stay out of this!" He turned back to his brother. "This is between you and me! I'll fight you, but you have to leave her out of this."
"You dare challenge me, half-breed?" He turned away. "I won't fight you. The spawn of a filthy human ***** is not worth my time."
"ALARIC!" Leuwin hissed. "Insult me all you want, but don't you DARE speak ill of my mother."
"Oooh, did I hit a nerve?" Alaric met Leuwin's angry glare, his expression emotionless. Kit had had enough.
"Would you two knock it off?" she griped, stepping around Leuwin to stand between them. "Aren't you two brothers? Why would you want to hurt each other? Is that what your father would want?"
Alaric glowered at her. "My father was a dragon king, a hero. His one mistake was falling prey to human emotion, and dirtying the royal line with a filthy half-breed." He turned his icy gaze to Leuwin. "Today, I fix my father's mistake."
Before Kit knew what was happening, Leuwin had launched himself through the air at his brother, and the fight was on.
Okay, VERY VERY Important Author's note time. I'm sorry for not updating in a long while, but I've had three very good reasons.
One, I've been really busy. My house flooded and I've been struggling with trying to salvage what's left of the storage room.
Two, I discovered that I am really bad at writing fight scenes, so I kept putting this chapter off.
Three, and this is really important, I rewatched the series and realized that I couldn't care less about Yao Yao and Wen Tian/ Kit and Leuwin. They got their happy ending with Kagome and InuYasha in the original anime series, and I'm not going to change that. What I do care about is Yu Die & Wu Dao/Rin & Sesshoumaru/Renette & Alaric. They deserved a happy ending, and The Holy Pearl series did not deliver. So, from this point on, I will be only posting chapters that are essential to their story. I will provide summaries of events for the other characters, but they will not be the main focus. It's probably best if you watch the Holy Pearl on YouTube (courtesy of EngSubDramas) so that you can know what's going on outside of their relationship.
That being said: In this chapter, Alaric gets the key to his father's tomb, Kit accidentally uses magic, and Balor instructs Calisto to find the shards before anyone else does.
