Me: Sorry for the delay, I had to get a new typing program on my computer since WordPad stopped working. Then I lost my Internet access at home since the USB cord on my mom's router stopped working, so she's using the Ethernet cord we had.
Lloyd: Wow, your friend was right. You really are the prime example of Murphy's Law. All that, burning skin off your foot, getting a—
Me: *Covers Lloyd's mouth* Shh... They don't need to know about any of the other stuff!
Kratos: ...
Lloyd and Me: What?
Kratos: ... Appreintice owns nothing.
Me: Oh, and if I have any readers for DaD here, that will be delayed until I'm ungrounded so that I can get together with twin again.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOo
The velvet sky went completely blank as the last star of the night disappeared. The small beads of dew on the grass sparkled by the faint remainder of moonlight. In the east horizon, a gentle red tinted the sky, finally announcing that dawn was near.
Inside the household shared by a mother and son, a medium sized dog paced by the entrance to the house, releasing booming barks from deep in his chest. "Anjin, tell Syl to shut up. It's too early and no one's even out there." Selean grumbled, rolling over onto her stomach and placing her pillow over her head, the one she brought the previous evening to spend the night with her best friend.
"Syl, calm down. There's nothing out there. Come in here and lay down." Anjin ordered groggily. Seconds later, the big dog was on Anjin's bed, whining softly in his master's ear. "Do you need to go outside?" Anjin asked, slightly irritated.
In response, Syl nosed Anjin out of his bed before jumping down and licking his face. Despite how he felt seconds earlier, Anjin giggled, grabbing the animal's neck to pull himself up. "All right, come on." Anjin said, leading Syl out of the room.
Selean rolled back onto her back, placing her pillow underneath her head and blissfully closing her eyes. She heard the door slide open, then Syl's deep barks as he thumped outside. "S...Selean..." Anjin called shakily.
"What?" Selean asked, opening her eyes again.
"Put your gauntlets on and grab your Kamas. Go wake Momma and tell her to get her sword, quickly. Then bring her outside." Anjin commanded.
"Huh? Why?" Selean asked, confused. "It's so early!" In normal circumstances, it would not have bothered the girl to wake up a little earlier than normal like this. However, the downpour from yesterday returned a while after she had come over for the night, keeping the duo up into the early hours of the morning as Anjin comforted Selean throughout the storm's duration.
"Just do it!" Anjin yelled.
"All right, if you wanna tr—" The slam of the door told Selean Anjin was already out of hearing range. Sighing, Selean rubbed her sleep filled eyes, stretching before she got out of bed. She changed quickly before grabbing her gauntlets and Kamas, then headed to Haato's room.
"Haato, wake up." Selean said, shaking the woman's shoulder. Haato's eyes opened, blinking a few times before she sat up and faced Selean.
"Is something wrong, dear?" Haato asked the child, trying to gather her wits about her.
"Anjin told me to wake you up and tell you to get your sword. I don't know what he wanted exactly, but he sounded like it was important. It's probably just early morning training though." Selean explained, sighing. There were times her best friend could be so strange and demanding.
"Oh. Well, give me just a second Selean. I'll be right there." Haato, never the mother bear to deny her cub, said, getting off her bed. She slipped on a pair of shorts underneath her nightgown before removing it. She found and pulled the one piece modified kimono she usually wore when fighting over her head and tied her sword sheath to the obi.
When the girls walked outside, they spotted the whole village gathered near the north end and quickly joined them. Looking over the crowd, Haato gasped, gripping the hilt of her sword. "What's going on?" Selean asked, jumping in an attempt to see over the rest of the villagers.
"Desians." Haato spat.
"Desians?" Selean asked, pausing momentarily. "What are those?"
"Quiet inferior beings! Listen up!" A rough soprano voice boomed, silencing all the whispering villagers. "We know that this village has been harboring two of our prisoners for the past eight years! Lloyd and Selean, come forward!"
Selean pushed her way through the crowd, her only thought being how rudely they addressed the village. She broke through the front of the crowd, heading toward the people in strange armor as requested before getting jerked back. "Don't, you fool. Those are bad people." Kitoushi hissed in her ear.
"What's wrong with them?" Selean asked.
"Silence!" The leader commanded. "In addition to evading us, these two are also pressed with the crime of thievery! They've stolen the Exspheres from an important project! Hand the criminals over or we'll kill you pathetic worms one by one!"
"Go to hell, bitch. You're out of your mind if you think we'd sacrifice each other!" Kitoushi growled.
"Aw, is someone bitter 'cause her daddy was killed? I'll reunite you with him if you miss him that much." The leader mocked.
Kitoushi's blue eyes widened as she whispered, "w...what..."
"What's wrong Kip?" Selean asked, still oblivious to the dire situation.
The leader removed her helmet, running her fingers through her short purple locks. "I'm hurt. You don't remember me? Maybe this will ring a bell." In less than a second, the leader's appearance changed entirely.
Instead of short purple hair, she now had waist length blue hair, and instead of green eyes, they were now aqua. Instead of her armor, she had a black rashgaurd that cut off just below her solar plexus and a pair of loose, knee length shorts. "Now do you remember me, dearie?"
"You son of a bitch! I'll kill you!" Kitoushi yelled, lunging forward. Tiga and the masked ninja closest to him each grabbed one of her arms, restraining her.
"Now now, is that any way to act?" The leader asked.
"Like I care Henka! I'm gonna send you to the pits of hell! Then my parents can finally rest easy!" Kitoushi spat, struggling against the people holding her back.
"Calm down," Tiga commanded. "This is exactly what they want for you to do— lose control."
"Parents? Is that permission for me to kill your little mommy too?" Before anyone could say anything, Henka made a forwarding motion to the soldiers behind her. They shoved a woman forward, and Henka grabbed the woman's ankle length, messy blonde hair, placing a dagger at her throat.
Immediately, Kitoushi ceased her struggles, staring blankly at the older woman. Tiga and the villager released her. "What, don't you recognize your own mommy?" Henka asked.
"Please... don't hurt her." Kitoushi choked out, tears welling up in her eyes.
"What, you don't wanna have some fun?" Henka asked, pressing the dagger hard enough into the woman's throat to draw blood. "Oh well. She's a failed host body the Exspheres won't even bind to. I think I'll be nice and just give the rat back." Henka shoved the woman forward, who stumbled several feet before collapsing in the space between the villagers and the Desians.
One of the men rushed forward and picked her up, running back toward the village. "Where were we?" Henka continued. "Ah, yes. I returned a prisoner to you. Now turn over Lloyd and Selean, and no one has to get hurt."
"No." The people in the front turned to look at Anjin. "T hey're my friends! You can't take them away from here!" He yelled, his face fierce as he tightened his grip on his weapon.
Henka chuckled. "Is the brave little boy gonna try to protect the fugitives? Fine then." She appeared to move without actually making any motion. The next second, Anjin's bo staff landed with a clatter next to Selean as he appeared in front of Henka, her dagger now pressed to his throat. "You can be the first to die. Unless...they've changed their minds?"
A moment later, Selean walked away from Sheena and Kitoushi, her fear clearly displayed on her face. "I'll come with you..." Selean mumbled, dropping her Kamas. "Just don't hurt my best friend."
"Good girl. Lloyd, any time now." Henka said, smiling at Lloyd's shock as he watched his sister walk away from the villagers. Once Selean was within a yard of Henka, she broke into a run, dropping and sliding between Henka's legs and springing back up on the other side of the woman.
"Fireball!" She cried, releasing three flaming spheres from her outstretched hands. They struck Henka's back, dropping the wicked woman to her knees.
Selean grabbed Anjin's hand as he was knocked forward, running as fast as she could back to the people of Mizuho. Henka looked up and saw Lloyd, Sheena, and Kitoushi smirking. "Atta girl." Sheena said, ruffling Selean's hair. The younger girl beamed at her mentor.
"I tried being nice..." Henka grunted, "but apparently that's not gonna work. It looks like you people want war, so I'll give it to you! Attack at will! Kill everyone except for the brats with the Exspheres!" The Desians drew their weapons before charging forward.
"Kitoushi, create a safe house. We'll need you in a secure location to heal the wounded. Lloyd, Selean, you go too. It's you two they're after, so we need to keep you hidden." Tiga commanded.
"No, I'm gonna fight too." Lloyd said. "It's my fault they're here."
"Yeah, me too!" Selean exclaimed.
"Absolutely not!" Tiga and Kitoushi yelled.
"They could be helpful though. Didn't you hear the lady? She said not to kill them, so they could help protect the villagers." Sheena reasoned. "Just like everyone else here, I'll die before I let them take them."
"Fine." Tiga said after a moment. "Kitoushi, get going. Everyone else, get ready. We must protect our home!"
"Anjin, Sheena, be careful. If you're in trouble, come get us." Lloyd said.
"All right, you too." Sheena responded before they parted ways.
Lloyd ran forward and twist kicked a Desian's hand whose attention was elsewhere, sending the whip flying as his hand cracked. The Desian turned to face him only to receive a horizontal slash to the stomach, leaving a large gash. The soldier fell to the ground, clutching his stomach.
Out of the corner of his eye, Lloyd saw a whip coming at him and slashed it in half right before it struck. "Demon Fang!" Lloyd yelled, swinging his sword and sending a small shock wave at the Desian, who jumped over it.
Lloyd leapt forward, bringing both swords down. The Desian caught one, but the other struck his torso. Dropping his whip reflexively as his flesh was sliced open, the soldier threw a punch at Lloyd, who parried and countered with a punch of his own to the wound on the Desian's torso, spurting blood from the wound.
Two sword wielding Desians charged at Lloyd from each side. Lloyd watched each, then jumped above them once they were too close to stop, landing as they sliced each other's throats.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Anjin slipped behind a tree, concealing his presence. He removed the dagger his mother had given him from his belt, using his leather hair tie to attach it to the end of his Bo Staff. Afterwards, he climbed up the tree and out onto a lower branch.
Crouching, he waited for one of the soldiers to pass underneath, then jumped and assaulted the Desian with the bladed end of his staff. Anjin snuck up on another Desian after the first fell and used the non-bladed end to strike a few of the man's pressure points, just as he had been taught, paralyzing him.
When he spotted a few of the Desian mages, he soundlessly ran up behind them. Anjin grabbed his staff below the daggered end with both hands, swinging the weapon with all his strength. The blunt trauma to the backs of the mages' heads dropped them to the ground, unconscious.
A group of Desian that witnessed what all Anjin had done quickly surrounded him and closed in. He switched his grip to the other end of the staff and spun the bladed end of the weapon around, slitting the throats of his attackers.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Sheena approached a group of Desians busy fighting some of the other villagers and, carefully as to not alert them to her presence, placed one of her cards on their backs. She leapt away right before the cards exploded. "Thanks Sheena." The soldiers' previous opponents said.
Sheena only nodded as another Desian approached her. She ducked beneath his sword slash and smacked him upside the head with her cards before finishing him off with a Pyre Seal. As Sheena turned around, she was lifted off her feet by an Air Blade.
Sheena flipped in midair and landed on her feet, ignoring the small cuts now on her body as she summoned Corrine. The small fox-like creature 'poofed' above the mage and fell onto her head with enough force to knock her out. "Let's go Corrine!" Sheena cried, setting off to take out the rest of the mages.
"Okay!" Corrine chirped, following Sheena.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Selean turned the Kama in her right hand upside down so that the wooden shaft of it ran along her forearm with the blade still sticking outwards. She sidestepped the female Desian's spear thrust and jumped onto her back, swinging her elbow as hard as she could. Once Selean felt the body start to fall, she jumped off.
She heard a Desian sneaking up behind her and swung her arm around, catching the spear master in the gut. The scantily clad soldier clutched her stomach as she fell. One of the bowmen hiding in a tree nearby raised his crossbow, carefully taking aim at the auburn haired girl. When he was ready to release the arrow, he fell from the tree unconscious.
"Watch your back sis!" Lloyd yelled as he jumped out of the tree.
"I will!" She chirped in response before Lloyd disappeared. Spotting a couple Desians to her right, unaware of her presence, Selean released a few fireballs. She gasped as the Desians dodged them before looking her way.
"You really think we didn't know you were there, little girl?" The taller of the two Desians asked.
"Yeah, we're not as unaware as you." The other added. "We ain't here to die. We've kept our eyes on the prize." His gaze fell to the Exsphere on the back of Selean's right hand. The girl noticed, covering it with her other hand as she took a nervous step back.
"Shut up." Selean growled.
"Ooh, the little worm's got a bark. I'm so scared." The first remarked sarcastically.
"Hey, she'd make great leverage for that brother of hers, don't you think?" The second asked.
"Yeah, he seems to care for her. Foolish inferior beings. But think of the promotion we'll get for catching them!" The first exclaimed.
"I'm still here, you know, and I'm not about to let you touch me or my brother!" Selean yelled, raising her Kamas in front of her. She ran at the larger Desian, a sword wielder, and feigned an attack. He raised his sword to block. Quickly, she slipped around behind him to bury one of her Kamas in his back, but received a kick that sent her flying instead.
"We've seen how you fight, you fool. And we're not as weak as the others." The second, a whip master, sneered.
Selean jumped back to her feet, brushing her bangs off her face before charging back at the soldiers. She let go of her Kamas, the wrist straps preventing the weapons from falling, and raised both open hands toward the Desians. "Fireball!" She cried.
The spell hit their targets, but didn't even seem to faze them. "What are you trying to do, make us laugh to death? You're weak! Let us show you how it's done." The sword wielder said. He swung the blunt edge of his sword at Selean's head.
She ducked and attempted to slash at his leg, but couldn't reach. The solider brought his sword back up for another swing, and Selean responded by throwing her weight at him, attempting to take the solider off his feet.
The Desian stumbled a bit before throwing his knee at Selean. She posted with her Kamas, creating a deep gash in his leg. "Dammit!" The solider cried, delivering an uppercut with the hilt of his sword to Selean's abdomen. She doubled over, coughing up blood.
The Desian swung his sword at her and she clumsily leapt back. Selean felt something wrap around her ankle— the whip master's whip— before her feet were pulled out from beneath her. The air was forced from her lungs as her back slammed on the ground. Her heart pounded rapidly in her chest as the Desians approached her, fear overrunning her small body.
She crossed her Kamas above her and closed her eyes once she saw the first Desian raise his sword above his head. She had no chance of dodging. But when the impact never came, she opened her eyes and saw the back of her best friend.
The Desians were completely still, shock evident on their visible features.
Selean gasped in horror as she saw the blood pooling in the dirt beneath Anjin. "Anjin! Why? ...You're hurt!" Selean cried.
"I told you... I... would always... protect you..." Anjin gasped as the two halves of his severed bo staff slipped out of his loose grip and fell to the ground.
Selean's eyes widened as a younger childhood memory played in the back of her mind. She was only four, and Anjin was five. While they were playing in the woods, they had found some bandits and heard their plan to raid Mizuho. Anjin said that he wanted to get rid of them so that his mom wouldn't get hurt.
Selean, who basically had no real fighting skills, was a little afraid to face the armed. After Anjin promised her that he would always protect her if she was in trouble, they excitedly jumped into the clearing. The bandits didn't expect them to attack them, they just ignored them. Even when the children tried fighting them, they were ignored and merely pushed off by the bandits, who had enough of a conscious to not want the blood of children. Corrine arrived shortly, having been sent to notify the kids of lunch, and immediately warped back to Sheena to report the bandits and lead them back to them.
The only thing that had really happened during ensuing short struggle was that Anjin had taken a stray arrow for Selean, but it only hit his arm. Once they got back to the village, they told everyone about their heroic adventure as Kitoushi took care of Anjin's injury.
Selean's attention was brought back to the present when the sword wielder sliced her head with his sword, leaving a gash on the upper right side of her face. She heaved her feet upward, burying them in his stomach and sending him back. Selean jumped to her feet in time to catch her swaying friend, gently setting Anjin down. She then faced the soldiers, growling and glaring. "You'll pay for this!" Selean yelled, a bit surprised by the pure hatred that laced her voice. Her right hand became warm, spreading an unfamiliar strength through her body.
Her body lunged forward with a speed that surprised her, driving the blade of her Kama into the sword wielder's chest as she collided with him. Her weapon stayed sheathed in the man as she threw herself at the whip master with the same unexpected speed, providing him with the same treatment as his comrade. She pulled her Kamas out of their chests with shaky arms once she was sure they were dead and slipped the straps around her wrist. "Anjin, are you okay?" Selean asked worriedly, crouching beside him.
"Yeah... just be careful." Anjin replied, smiling.
"Can you move? We gotta get you to Kip." Selean said, looking away. The gash oozing blood from her best friend's chest made her stomach turn. Anjin tried sitting up before yelling in pain and falling back down. Selean paled, trying to think. "I got it! This may hurt, but I gotta get you up." Anjin nodded, and Selean carefully grabbed him under his arms, pulling him to his feet.
She kept her hands on him to hold him steady as she circled around in from of him and turned around. "Put your arms around my neck and hold on." Selean instructed.
"But... I'm bigger... than you." Anjin pointed out. Selean held up her right hand, showing her Exsphere to Anjin.
"This thing gives me strength. Trust me Anjin, I can do it." Selean pleaded. She felt Anjin's arms circle around her neck, so she reached back and grabbed his legs, supporting the full brunt of his weight. He was heavier than she thought, but Selean didn't care.
As she began walking, she felt Anjin rest his forehead on her shoulder. His blood progressively soaked through her clothing, warming her back. She increased her pace as much as she could without jarring Anjin, ignoring the pain in her stomach. Selean flinched as she heard the brush beside her rustle, but sighed when she saw a familiar face.
"Erim, what are you doing out here? It's dangerous." Selean asked.
"I thought this would be a safe place to hide. What happened to him?" Erim inquired.
"He took a blow for me. I gotta go find Kip. You should come with me. It'll be safe there." Selean said.
"I told those damn soldiers not to kill you two." Erim muttered.
"What?" Selean asked, confused.
"Did I say that loud enough for you to hear?" Erim asked. Selean nodded slowly. "Then I guess there's no point in keeping up this charade." Erim's appearance changed, her long red hair now short purple and her red tinted eyes green.
She also wore armor instead of her red tank top and miniskirt. Selean gasped, slowly backing away. "But... why?" She asked.
"Ever heard 'keep your friends close and your enemies closer?' I was merely getting to know my enemy." Henka stated. The honey-laced voice of Erim was gone, replaced by the rougher soprano tone from earlier. "But now, I need you to come with me dear. And don't make this harder than it needs to be."
"N...no!" Selean stuttered, continuing backwards. Henka sighed as her appearance changed again to a small blue dragon. "What... what are you?" Selean asked, trembling.
"I'm what you humans call a Hala. Now, say goodnight." Selean turned around to run, but Henka's tail struck the side of her head before she could get anywhere. She fell, Anjin landing on top of her. 'Crap, what am I gonna do now?' She thought as her last bit of consciousness left her.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Several hours later
The first thing Selean was aware of was she no longer had extra weight on her. "Anjin!" She yelled, snapping her eyes open and quickly sitting up. Feeling dizzy, she gripped her head and felt cloth with her fingertips.
She jumped as she felt several pairs of arms wrap around her. "You're okay!" One of the people said, sighing in relief.
Letting go of her head, Selean took in all the people around her. "Where's Anjin?" Selean asked. "He got hurt 'cause of me."
"I'm right here." Selean looked to her left and took in Anjin. His turquoise top had been replaced by heavy bandaging. "And I'm okay. How are you feeling?" Anjin asked.
Selean look down, frowning. "My head hurts." She groaned, clutching it again. "The Desians! A—"
"Don't worry. They're gone." Sheena said, smiling reassuringly.
"You're lucky Anjin's so good at earth magic sis. If he hadn't buried you two, that dragon probably would have taken you guys." Lloyd said before Sheena slapped him. "Ow! What was that for?" She just gave him a look, and Lloyd quickly understood what she meant.
"Selean, Anjin, you need rest. Lloyd and Sheena, go find an area to use for shelter." Kitoushi said from her perch at the edge of the make shift bed.
"I'm okay though Kip!"
"Me too!"
"Wait, why do Lloyd and Sheena gotta find shelter?" Selean asked, fear gripping her stomach. There was only one obvious answer...
"...The village was burned down." Kitoushi reluctantly told them. "But don't worry about that now. Get some rest, both of you."
"But I'm alright!" Anjin protested.
"Your wounds aren't life threatening, but they're nothing to scoff at, and I don't have the mana to heal you guys right now."
As the kids continued to protest and attempted to get up, Kitoushi drew on the very last of her reserves to cast her sleeping spell, sending both kids into a peaceful slumber. "Haato, would you watch them?" Kitoushi asked. Her face had grown a little pale, but the healer knew her own limits well enough. So long as she avoided casting any more spells until she recovered, her essentially depleted reserves would not endanger her health past fatigue. "I'm going to help Lloyd and Sheena." Haato nodded as she wrapped her hand around her son's, stroking the back of it with her thumb.
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Me: Whew, there you have it.
Lloyd: Why are you still up? Don't you have work in the morning?
Me: Yeah, point?
Kratos: ...
Lloyd: ...
Me: Hmm... *smooths down Lloyd's hair* Aww...you're two of a kind!
Lloyd: *spikes hair back* Shouldn't you get some sleep?
Me: No, why?
Lloyd: *goes to bed*
Me: Wimp! Sleep isn't necessary that much! *is sugar high* Wait a minute! It's morning dumb ass!
Kratos: Review.
Me: Oh, and go to my profile page and click on my deviantart page. I have a pic of Selean, Kitoushi, Anjin, and Haato. I also hope to do the different ages of everyone else sometime.
Next chapter: Aftermath
Edited: 8-1-11 Changes made to improve the quality of life and consistency of the story. Erim/Henka is now identified as a Hala instead of just a shapeshifter, as the description of the creature fit my original depiction of her nearly perfectly. Grammar changes made as well.