There Will Be Shadow

Man to heck, I've been so busy! Sorry for taking forever with this, but I've been so busy with school, it's unreal. Like, one week, I had a practical exam every day! Plus, I've had coursework to do and crud like that. So, here is Chapter 11 of There Will Be Shadow. Enjoy, and review!

(Random note: I left the opening monologue ambiguous on purpose, as usually I make it obvious who speaks even though it is first person. I'll let you, my readers, decide who it best fits; Samus, Kaiel or maybe even both.)

The Paths of Two

Why do some people have to be so...stubborn for? You save their life, and they throw it back in your face and walk away. It makes you wish you never helped them in the first place. Then you wish you'd never set eyes on them. You tell yourself you are far better off without them; that things are better this way and, consequently, how they were before. You've made it on your own this far; why do you need someone now? Things are no different than they were before, are they? You've never cared in the past, so why care now?

I realise now how inaccurate that thought was and still is. I have cared, I've always cared, or I wouldn't be doing this now, would I? Seeking answers, redemption, truth...all these things. But above all, justice. Justice for myself, for this city, for others...

Ah, guilt. Good old guilt setting in. I look back the way I came, and I imagine maybe both of us are doing the same thing. Then again, I doubt that. There's no time for that. I have to keep moving, keep moving with my gun drawn to my chest. Keep on fighting, surviving, seeking truths in the cloud of corruption and lies.

A noise. I whirl, my weapon trained on the threat, finger hovering over the trigger, poised to pull it at a moment's notice. I suddenly realise how vulnerable I am out here on my own.

In short, I should not have come alone.

Glowing eyes, colder than death...

Shit.

Kaiel watched as the owner of the glowing eyes moved from the shadows, but he didn't lower his weapon. Although his expression was completely devoid of emotion, in the back of his mind, the street veteran was still angry from his earlier argument with Samus.

"What the hell do you want?" he half spat; half growled at the newcomer.

"To atone for my wrongdoings, Drakosbane." The steady voice that replied was unmistakeably Meta Knight's.

"Tell me another lie, why don't you!" Kaiel roared, his beard flicking around like a flame. "How do I know you won't just attack me while my back is turned?"

Surprisingly, a laugh emerged from underneath Meta Knight's mask. "Street lore states that the Drakosbane can see into the souls of other warriors. If you believe my soul to still be tainted, then gaze upon it and search for whatever proof thou does desire." The knight's words contained a challenge.

Kaiel lowered the Executioner slightly and concentrated on Meta Knight. His mechanical eye glowed intensely as he channelled the whole of his power and vision through it. The dark world fizzled out to nothing; the only thing he could see were the weak, silvery auras the buildings and the ground gave off, and the intense blue white aura Meta Knight's soul was emanating. He scanned every part of it, leaving no stone unturned, as it were. To his surprise, and to be entirely truthful probably to his annoyance as well, Kaiel could find no trace of the darkness he saw when fighting Meta Knight before. Not even the minutest sign of any darkness tainting the smasher's soul. He forced himself to put away his weapon, but left it looser than usual in its holster just in case he needed to make a quick draw for whatever reason. He turned his back to the knight.

"Tell me, Meta Knight," he began quietly, his voice barely a whisper, but still with an undercurrent of anger, "why did you follow me?"

"The Lady Aran..."

"She is more than capable of holding her own. If you are that worried, go and follow her yourself. But if you think I'm going to chase her down and beg for forgiveness, then you can think again!"

Meta Knight shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other and back again, thinking carefully about how to reply. "You've changed, Drakosbane."

Kaiel looked over one shoulder at Meta Knight, smiling ever so slightly. "Heh. Haven't we all?"

"What do you plan to do now?"

"Probably what I've always done. Maybe find an old friend of mine, assuming he's still alive. What does it matter to you?"

"Because if I'm sticking around with you Drakosbane, I need to know where we are going, don't I?" Meta Knight reasoned.

Kaiel whirled around to face the knight fully. "Who says I want you around?"

"Two pairs of eyes are better than one, wouldn't you agree?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"To find your friend. And if said pair of other eyes can take to the sky, then all the better!"

Kaiel's smile broadened. "Now you are talking, Meta. You know of Lucifer?"

"Lucifer?" Meta Knight gave Kaiel a questioning gaze.

"You might better know him as Lucario. We have known each other a long time."

"Ah. Of course I know him. He has a place on the other side of the city, near the river I think. We used to train there before matches in the Brawl tournament. I could take you there." Meta Knight's cape turned into a pair of bat-like wings.

"Lead on." Kaiel nodded, before watching Meta Knight wheel effortlessly into the pitch black, moonless sky. With the knight's piercing yellow eyes as a guide, the street veteran followed at a nail biting pace, and soon, both warriors had disappeared into the dark.

"Ugh, that stubborn son of a bitch!"

Samus had been ranting out loud to herself ever since she deemed herself far enough from Kaiel. There were a few comments directed to herself, about how she had been stupid enough to go with Kaiel in the first place, but most her outbursts were directed at the aforementioned street veteran himself.

"Why do some people just have to be so stubborn?" She shouted to the darkness. "Just why?"

'Pfft, you were just as stubborn as him, you know.'

"Don't you start, mind..." Samus scolded her thoughts. "Great, now I'm talking to myself..."

'Remember that he saved your life...' Her mind continued at her.

"That was just out of common kindness." The Bounty Hunter reasoned. "There was nothing meant by it."

'Then why did you return the favour then? Why did you save his life?'

Samus stopped striding. She had no idea where she was, but didn't care particularly. Why had she saved Kaiel's life? She knew a simple 'because I owed him one' didn't cut it. Why did he save her life...wait, what? Samus frowned at her confused thoughts, trying to make sense of them.

'See, that confused you, didn't it?' Her mind was jeering triumphantly at her now.

"Oh, shut up." She snapped at no-one in particular, staring out at the darkness ahead of her.

To her surprise, the city's river flowed silently before and below her, like black ink on paper. Leaning on a railing that stopped people falling into the river, Samus let her thoughts drift aimlessly.

But still...why did we save each other...? Samus looked back the way she came with an ever saddening gaze. My answer to that is one I must discover. As for his answer...I may never know now...

A subtle change in the water's movement disturbed Samus from her thoughts and she whirled around, eyes trained on the river. She scanned for a moment, but found nothing. Did I just imagine that...? As she was about to turn again, she heard a more audible ripple, and once more, her vision roamed the river's surface. Her sapphire eyes narrowed in concentration as she raised her Paralyzer, whose crackling muzzle followed where her gaze went.

Then she saw it. Two glowing orbs in the ink. Samus froze as both parties' eyes locked.

A piercing scream. An explosion of water. A triumphant roar loud enough for all to hear.

When the water fell again, there were no traces of their encounter except the waning ripples on the river's surface. Samus and that whose glowing eyes she had seen were gone.

Gone like they had never existed in the first place.