Massive thank you to all reviwers! Viki boom, Dakota Ishtar, BakuraLOLZ99, Shadowclanwarrior and Queen of Fire.
To Queen of Fire: I do like to add some humour to my stories. :P But the initial aim isn't for it to be funny. ;)
To Shadowclanwarrior: I'm glad you read all of it and that you like it! :)
To BakuraLOLZ99: Haha, I don't plan on having that happen. :P But I have always been interested to see how Bakura would act if he had a daughter. :P
Chapter 11
Kahlaya woke a few hours later, alone. She sat up and looked around. He wasn't there. Frowning, she stood up and stretched, then brushed through her tangled, bed head hair. There was a pair of sandals next to her cloak. They were her size perfectly and were the kind with straps that went partially up her calves. Smiling, Kahlaya put them on, happy to have something on her feet. She threw her cloak on and put the hood up, then left the room.
It was almost evening and the hallway was dark. Kahlaya could easily smell Bakura's scent. There was an older one from when they had first arrived, and then there was a fresher trail leading down the stairs. She followed the trail to the room downstairs.
There were still people seated at booths and tables, each had their faces hidden. Kahlaya used her nose to follow Bakura's scent through the tables to a booth at the back corner. He was sitting there with Kosey and Sanura, both with dark cloaks. Kahlaya sat down next to Bakura, across from Kosey and Sanura.
She looked over at Sanura, who had her head down and seemed to be just staring at the floor. Her aura made Kahlaya shiver, so she looked away, to Bakura.
"Are we staying much longer?" she asked quietly.
He shook his head. "As soon as Dakarai and Tarik get here, we're leaving."
Just then, someone else came in. He looked small and, after looking around the room and spotting them, walked over to where they sat. Kahlaya immediately knew it was Dakarai, from his scent. He grabbed a chair and pulled it over to the table, sitting down.
"Any sign of Tarik?" Bakura asked him.
Dakarai shook his head.
Bakura sighed in exasperation. "I really wish he would actually show up early sometimes."
Kahlaya looked over at Kosey, who had a strange aura about him. He seemed worried or... scared. Kahlaya didn't know what that was about. There seemed to be something bothering him. When he saw that she was looking at him, Kosey scowled and composed his features, making them stone cold and indifferent. He couldn't hide his aura though, and that feeling of worry was still there.
She was going to ask him about it when the door burst open and someone ran inside, slamming it shut behind him. All eyes turned to the cloaked man as his head swept around the room, plainly in a hurry. His head came in their direction and then he hurried over. Obviously, Tarik had arrived.
He came over to their booth and leaned over the table. His face was full of excitement and adrenalin.
"They're coming," he whispered, partially laughing.
Bakura growled. "What did you do?"
He shrugged. "Oh, nothing," he said, laughing.
Dakarai and Kosey stood up suddenly and Bakura turned toward the booth exit, which Kahlaya was blocking.
"We need to leave," he said urgently. "Now."
Kahlaya jumped out of the booth, followed swiftly by Bakura. Kosey took Sanura's wrist and pulled her out of her seat. Bakura ran through the room, heading for the stairs. As they were going past, the bartender yelled at them.
"Hey, what's going on?"
Bakura didn't look at him as he said: "If you value your life, I suggest you leave."
He gave them a blank expression, which suddenly turned to fear and then ran for a back door.
Bakura led them up the stairs. As they were passing Kahlaya's room she remembered.
"Wait!" Bakura stopped and looked at her. "I need to get my things!"
Tarik snorted impatiently and Bakura sighed deeply. "Hurry."
Nodding, Kahlaya ran into the room and quickly gathered up her things. It didn't take her long to grab her clothes, some of the soaps and the hair brush. She was soon back in the hallway and they were moving again. There were stairs at the other end of the hallway that led out into the street. They hurried down them and outside. It was sunset and the streets were dim. Bakura led them down a side alley and Kahlaya was glad to see four of their horses there.
Bakura made an annoyed sound and looked at Tarik. "Where's your horse?"
Tarik shrugged, still laughing. Bakura gave him a murderous glare. "Take mine, you fool. I'll ride with Kahlaya."
Bakura untied Kanika's reins and jumped onto her back. He looked at Kahlaya who gave him an uncertain expression.
"Get on," he ordered. He held out his hand and she gratefully took it. He helped pull her onto Kanika's back and Kahlaya laid her clothes across her lap, between her and Bakura so that they wouldn't fall off.
Bakura kicked at Kanika's ribs and they started down the streets. Kahlaya threw her arms around Bakura's waist and held on tightly. They were only trotting, but Kahlaya was still nervous about falling off.
"What exactly did Tarik do?" she asked Bakura.
"I don't know what he did, but he alerted the soldiers' attention." Just as he finished talking, a duo of soldiers on horseback came around the corner in front of them.
"Oh great." Bakura muttered and he veered Kanika down a side street.
One of the soldiers pointed down the street toward them and then they both kicked at their horses, coming at the group.
Bakura ushered Kanika and they broke into a gallop. Kahlaya held onto him more tightly as they sped up, twisting and turning down streets. Kosey, Tarik and Dakarai stayed right behind them as they ran. Kahlaya risked a glance behind her and saw that three other soldiers had joined in on the chase. Now they had five of them to get off their tails.
People jumped out of their way as they ran passed, making sure not to get hit. Another guard appeared in front of them and Bakura had to take a sharp turn, which almost sent Kahlaya flying off the horse. They continued running at full speed and Kahlaya soon saw the exit. She smiled in relief as they headed for the opening. There were two guards standing next to the exit and, when they saw the oncoming riders, pointed their spears in a manner that would make it impossible to get out without getting stabbed.
Teeth clenched, Kahlaya raised a hand toward the guards. A sphere of her purple and blue aura formed in her palm and she sent it flying at one of the soldiers. It hit him square in the chest and he tumbled backwards off his horse. Kahlaya made another ball and knocked the other guard off as well. She was surprised at her aim, but wasn't complaining.
They shot through the exit and out into the open desert. The soldiers were still close behind them. Dakarai, Kosey and Tarik galloped up to run next to them instead of behind them. Kanika was getting tired; Kahlaya could feel her energy draining. Putting both of her hands together and just hanging onto the horse with her legs, Kahlaya created a large sphere between her hands and shot it back at the soldiers. It was a blind shot and hit the ground in front of them, but two of the horses startled at the explosion and reared, dumping off their riders.
Kahlaya made another sphere and flung it at them, this time somewhat knowing where she wanted it to go. The sphere collided with its target and they lost another pursuer. Keeping up her aura assault, they soon had no more people chasing them. The group continued running until the city was far behind them; finally they slowed to a walk.
Kahlaya was panting heavily, as were the horses, and her head pounded from her amount of energy use. She was practically laying on Bakura's back as they walked.
"Well, wasn't that something?" Kosey remarked, looking at Kahlaya.
Kahlaya wanted to shrug, but couldn't find the strength to.
Dakarai noticed how weary she was. "Are you alright?"
She nodded slowly, her eyes closing. "Fine."
The sun had fallen below the horizon and the stars were beginning to twinkle in the sky. Bright moonlight covered the land. Night had come quickly.
Tarik snorted and trotted ahead, angry that Kahlaya had had to save them. Bakura sped up Kanika and trotted beside Tarik.
"Why are you such an idiot?" Bakura demanded.
Kahlaya kept her face pointed away from Tarik and listened intently to their conversation. She could feel Bakura's hot anger in his aura.
"Why are you so soft?" Tarik replied hotly.
"I'm not soft. But I don't go off to get a bunch of soldiers to chase after me just to see if I can outrun them."
"Not soft?" Tarik laughed. "You've got that wolf on your mind all the time. It's obvious! You've changed completely since she got here."
"What the hell does that mean?"
"You know what I mean, Bakura. You actually care about her. I'd go so far as to say you're in love. Love is for wimps. Emotions are for wimps. And you have just become King of the Wimps."
"Say one more thing like that and I'll kill you."
Tarik laughed again. "I'm not scared of you, Love King."
Bakura's body racked with laughter. His head flung back and he laughed like crazy. The smirk left Tarik's face and he looked at Bakura like he was insane.
Bakura finally stopped laughing and looked at Tarik. "Now I remember why I didn't kill you back then. You're bold. A little too bold. And much too quick to jump to conclusions. I won't kill you. But I won't jump in to save you if anyone else attempts the task."
Kahlaya smiled at his words. He knew she was listening and he knew that she hated Tarik. Perfect.
When they made it to the top of the sand dune overlooking the temple, it was passed midnight. Kahlaya had dozed in and out of sleep while they rode, leaning against Bakura for support. The group halted and Kahlaya was jerked awake from the stop. Peering around Bakura, she saw that there was company at the hideout.
Four people stood outside the entrance and multiple riders were patrolling the area. There had to be more inside.
"Dark Destroyers," Dakarai murmured, fear in his voice.
Bakura twisted around to look at Kahlaya. She met his gaze evenly.
"Can you use your aura?"
Kahlaya debated the amount of energy she had left and decided that she needed to at least try to help. She nodded, face set in determination.
Kahlaya calculated the distance between her and the Destroyers. "But I can't reach that far."
"That's fine. We'll get in closer."
"We should take out the patrols first," Kosey said, looking down at the temple, eyes narrowed.
Bakura nodded. "We can get rid of them while Kahlaya gets in closer to take out the entrance guards." He looked at Tarik. "Don't try anything stupid."
Tarik growled and looked away.
"There are four riders. Each one of us can rush at them and take them down and Kahlaya can run in and blast the entrance guards. Then we'll all go in and handle that."
Everyone nodded and then they split off in different directions to position themselves across from the riders. Kahlaya stayed with Bakura.
Without looking at her, he said: "After we get down there, you'll need to get off the horse as fast as you can and attack the guards."
"Okay," she answered.
Bakura walked Kanika farther to the left so that they were directly across from one of the patrollers. His gaze swept around the desert, checking to see the positions of the others. Kahlaya was surprised that, despite the darkness of the night, she could see perfectly. She decided that it was her wolf eyes. The other three were distanced around the sand dunes, waiting in shadows.
When Bakura saw their positions, he suddenly kicked Kanika's ribs and they shot down the dune, toward the rider. He turned to them in surprise and raised his sword. Kahlaya shot a sphere at him and he toppled off his horse, yelling in shock. The horse ran off into the desert. Kanika skidded to a halt and Kahlaya jumped off.
"I could have handled that," Bakura said gruffly.
Kahlaya smiled. "Yeah, but my way was faster."
"You don't need to waste energy."
Kahlaya had felt her decrease in energy, but she was high on adrenaline and didn't care. She wasn't going to run out any time soon.
"I'm fine." Kahlaya slunk into the shadows and swiftly made it to the entrance. The guards must have been deaf if they hadn't heard the yell, but, apparently, they were considering that they were still standing there. Raising her hand, Kahlaya fired off four spheres of aura in quick succession, each one colliding with its target.
The four guards were hit squarely and they all crumpled to the ground from the force of the aura. Smiling, Kahlaya ran to the exit. The men were still alive, only unconscious. Kahlaya wasn't really planning on killing anyone unless absolutely necessary.
She stood by the entrance, waiting for Bakura and the other thieves to show up. She didn't need to wait long before they rode over and dismounted.
"How many are inside?" Bakura asked.
She looked at him, puzzled. "How should I know?"
"You said your aura can let you see things beyond your eyes. Tell me how many are inside."
Okpara had told her that she could focus her aura and use it to scout ahead to farther locations, seeing everything in a sort of colourful haze. Closing her eyes, Kahlaya tried to push her aura out, to show her the hallways and rooms of the temple. She didn't see anything, just the darkness of her eyelids.
'Focus,' she told herself. She pushed her aura through her mind showing her the path. There was a bright flash in her mind's eye, and then she saw everything, even though her eyes remained closed. She was still facing Bakura and she could see him, but he was a vibrant blue. The others were also the colour of their respective auras. The sands had become a faded blue hue as well as the rest of the things around her. Everything was outlined with the same light blue. She turned to the temple and looked down the hallway. Kahlaya found that she could push her aura out and go down the hallways, like she herself was walking and looking at all of it, but everything was just a faded outline.
In the main room, there were ten men, all just walking around. Farther down the hallways, there were a couple of other people walking around. No one was in any rooms, just outside. They seemed to be relying on their numbers and not worrying about surprise by hiding.
Kahlaya opened her eyes and everything returned to normal.
"There are a dozen."
"Same as last time," Kosey remarked. "We have less and we barely escaped during our last fight."
"Yeah, but, last time, I wasn't here in my human form," Kahlaya pointed out.
Tarik snorted. "Like we need your help."
Kahlaya's eyes narrowed. "From where I'm standing, you do."
"Would you both shut up," Bakura growled, earning a scowl from Kahlaya. "Where are they?"
"There are ten in the main room and two walking around the hallways."
He debated what to do, several possibilities running through his mind. What was the best possible way to eliminate the intruders? They were greatly outnumbered and so Bakura had to come up with a plan that would result in not having the others or himself killed. Or maybe they could just storm the place, fight them and hope to come out on top.
Finally making a decision, he said: "Dakarai and Kosey will go around back and take out the two in the hallways by going through the window. After they do that, the rest of us will go in at their signal and we attack them from both sides." He looked at Kahlaya. "I'd rather you not fight. If any of them escape, they'll just run back to their little hideout and tell Odji that a Divine Guardian is also here."
"Then they'd send a whole battalion," Dakarai said in his quiet voice.
"What am I supposed to do, then?" Kahlaya asked, somewhat aggravated that she couldn't help in the fight.
He considered for a second. "Just stay out here with Sanura. If anyone does try to run, make sure they don't get far. If we do need you, I'll call for you."
Kahlaya nodded and folded her arms. She supposed that it was better than nothing. Bakura's eyes travelled to Kosey and Dakarai and they both split off, each going one way around the temple, their swords in hand. She was glad that Bakura hadn't gone instead of Kosey or Dakarai. Being just near Tarik gave her mixed emotions of nervousness and rage, but, with him there, she felt better.
They all stood there. Tarik and Bakura had their swords out and were ready to run in at Kosey's signal. Sanura stood farther behind, just staring at the ground with a blank expression. Kahlaya stood next to Bakura, hoping that he would be alright. She didn't doubt his fighting skills, she just didn't underestimate the enemy's numbers.
After waiting not too long, there was a loud yell from inside. Bakura and Tarik both came to life at the sound and ran into the temple, swords raised. There was more yelling inside and Kahlaya could distinctly hear the sound of steel hitting steel.
Closing her eyes, Kahlaya focused her aura. A path illuminated in front of her, showing her the inside of the temple in its aura-outline. She could see the different aura's of all the people fighting. Already, there were several bodies strewn across the floor. Kahlaya sighed when she saw that none were the thieves of this hideout. It was easy to find Bakura's aura. It radiated different emotions. Kahlaya hadn't realized how many emotions he portrayed.
There was anger obviously, as well as loyalty, sadness and... compassion. She could almost call it love. Kahlaya couldn't help but smile at him. He wouldn't be able to hide his emotions from her.
Her mind focused away from his aura and back to reality, to the battle. Bakura was holding his own against three opponents. He seemed undamaged so far, which relieved Kahlaya. She just hoped he'd be able to stay that way.
Expertly, Bakura dodged every slash his opponents made and struck out with his own blade. Soon, there were only two opponents left. Out of the corner of her vision, Kahlaya saw someone bolt. Two someones, actually. A duo of the Dark Destroyers were running for the exit.
Opening her eyes, Kahlaya moved to the middle of the entranceway and saw them coming, full charge. When they saw her, they didn't slow down, but kept going, looking somewhat annoyed.
"Out of the way, girl!" one yelled.
"Unless you want us to make you get out of the way!" the other added.
Kahlaya smirked. Yeah, right. Raising a hand, she fired off two aura forces and they flew backward, farther into the entrance hall. Making sure no one would escape was easy.
There was a shuffling sound behind her and Kahlaya spun around to see two of the entrance guards running toward some unmanned horses. Cursing silently, Kahlaya threw some spheres of aura at them, but couldn't hit her targets. They zigzagged across the sand, making sure to throw off her aim. They quickly jumped onto the horses and began running. Kahlaya growled and launched more aura at them, but they were moving too quickly, they couldn't be hit. Turning around, Kahlaya ran into the temple, jumping over the unmoving bodies of the two runners.
The main room was dimly lit, but the fighting was almost over. Dark Destroyers lay scattered all over the floor. Bakura cut down another as she lifted her gaze to the still fighting men and Dakarai skillfully defeated the last one with a swipe of his sword. From the way he fought, Kahlaya hoped that she never had to fight against him.
Bakura drew out of his fighting posture and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. Panting, he turned and saw Kahlaya. She did a half-smile and he walked toward her, frowning. She looked at the ground as he approached. She really didn't want to tell him that some of them got away.
"There are two unconscious in the hallway and two more outside," she stated, pointing toward the entrance as she did.
He stopped and looked down the hallway. "Didn't want to kill them yourself?"
She shrugged, still not looking at him.
He frowned more deeply and his eyebrows creased. "Weren't there four guards at the entrance?"
She nodded slowly and looked up. His eyes had narrowed and he looked somewhat panicked with traces of disappointment.
"I tried to stop them," she explained. "I was distracted when the two in the hall came running. When I turned around, they were gone. They were running fast, and dodging my attacks. As soon as they reached the horses, they were gone."
Bakura's eyes closed and he took a deep breath, when he opened them, he smiled weakly. "You tried." Was all he said.
Kahlaya frowned. She had expected anger or... or... something. That was the last response she would have expected from Bakura, King of Thieves.
Dakarai and the others were busy dragging bodies around to notice Bakura's soft reaction.
"Not quite what I was expecting," she confessed.
He sighed. "I know."
Wrapping her arms around him, she hugged him closely, her face pressed against his collar bone. He hugged her, too, but only for a few seconds before letting his arms drop. She did as well and stepped back.
"I'm sorry," she murmured quietly.
He laughed slightly. "You say that too much."
She smiled and then remembered Sanura.
"We should probably get Sanura to her room, don't you think? She's probably still just standing outside."
And she was. Sanura was still in the same place she had been when Kahlaya had left her, still staring at the ground. She was taken back to her room and the door was locked tightly.
Kahlaya then found herself in her own room, lying on her back on her bed. It was late at night, or early in the morning, and the sun would soon rise. Kahlaya didn't know if she could sleep. She was a jumble of nerves from the fight and also from the knowing that Odji would soon know her whereabouts. He probably wouldn't know that she was a Divine Guardian, they hadn't seen her mark, but they would know that she was someone powerful and they'd pass on the message to Odji. He'd send an army.
She sighed and rolled onto her side, facing into the room. Bakura had calmed his reaction for her sake, but she knew he was probably angry and quite worried. Then there was the fact of Kosey. He had seemed beyond worried when they had been in the city. Kahlaya wished she knew what was bothering him.
Looking into her dark room, Kahlaya noticed her new clothing lying over the back of her chair. She rolled out of bed, onto her feet, and walked over to the clothing. She didn't know when someone had brought them in, but she was glad they had. Putting a hand in her pocket, Kahlaya realized that she had stuffed the stolen brush and soaps into it. Taking them out, she set them on the table and changed into the cream coloured nightgown. It fit her perfectly and she crawled back into bed, pulling the covers over herself.
There was so much to worry about, Kahlaya would be surprised if she could close her eyes at all, let alone sleep. However, the drowsiness of her body and mind were too much to contend with. Sleep would find her and when it did, it would bring a dark nightmare.
I don't really have anything to say today... :P
Review!
-WhiteTiger
Oh! I would like to point out that, yes, I changed my name and the name of this story for... reasons. :P Let's just say I didn't want someone to find it. Haha. :P
