Chapter 11 Bandits for Company

"That was too easy."

"Yeah but the load was good."

"True."

A gang of five walked through the forest, just below where the Guardians were hiding.

"Who are they?" whispered Max.

"Bandits." Replied Kai, his eyes following the group. "They must have a hang out or something near by." And Kai knew very well that they did, because he knew who the five were. Merlow, Renaldo, Westcot, Atol and Marilda. Each of them powerful members from the Flaming Sharks.

Signalling for Rei and Tyson to get ready, Kai pulled out one of his swords, the blade glinting.

And that was enough to catch Marilda's attention. She halted, catching the attention of her team.

"There's someone watching us, or we're being followed." She hissed as she scanned each tree. Marilda was a feisty blonde and a powerful Glass Manipulator, a cross between Earth/Sand and Fire.

"The trees give nothing away. They will not say anything. They have great faith and belief in whoever these people are. There are six of them, that is all the trees will tell." Forest green eyes peered out from between bluey green hair as Merlow looked to the rest of his team. He was a gentle but strong fighter, using an Element that branched from the Earth Element, Nature.

"Well then, this will be fun." The Sand Manipulator twins, Renaldo and Westcot spoke together. They were completely identical, no difference having been discovered yet. Dark skin, brown hair and yellow eyes, the traits of many Sand Manipulators, another Element that branched from the Earth Element.

Atol was just an Earth Manipulator, but a powerful one at that. His fierce cobalt blue eyes flittered around the forest. He was quick to raise a wave of earth and move it over his team to protect them from the onslaught of kunai.

'So they're still in the one team. Well, time to have some fun with my old group.' Thought Kai as he pulled a scroll out of his pack. Pulling the tie with his teeth, he unrolled it into the air. Instantly, an onslaught of kunai rained down of the group below.

Rei seemed to get the idea as he pulled out one of his own scrolls. Doing the same as what Kai had, Rei watched for a second as a range of different weapons rained down. Clawing his hand, he took control of the earth that Atol had raised and managed to pull it back. The weapons hit the group but when the Guardians could see properly, they saw that not a single member had been hit; they had dodged every single weapon.

The kunai lodged into the earth with little thuds.

"There's more coming," murmured Merlow. And sure enough, it was raining weapons.

Feeling someone trying to take control over the earth he was holding up, Atol released his hold and followed the earth as it went back into the ground. Now they were easy targets.

Without having to be told, the team began dodging.

Merlin made her way in between dodging weapons, to Merlow who gave her a lift and flipped her into the air, before flipping back and dodging a set of weapons.

For a short few seconds, Merlin was above the weapons and then she was back on the ground and next to Atol.

"Well?" he demanded as he dodged a few weapons.

"There are six like the trees said –"

Atol snorted. He was close friends with Merlow but no matter what, he still found it weird that the boy communicated with plants.

"And" stressed Merlin as she glared at Atol. "Only one has definite features that show what Element they control."

"And?"

"It's a boy. Looks about 14 or 15. Amber eyes, long black hair, ears with a slight point and fangs. Also a very feminine look to him. Slender and lithe but fit. Very fit. The way he's perched on the branch, very feline like."

"A neko jin."

"Precisely. Meaning he will use the Element Earth in some sort of form."

Atol nodded. The weapons were coming to a stop and eventually they did. The five of them stood there, the twins side by side, Merlow nibbling a strand of his hair, hand against a tree trunk, and Merlin and Atol next to each other.

"Hilary?" whispered Kai as he felt behind him.

"I'm here." She grabbed his hand.

"Place your hand against mine."

Hilary did as she was told. She gasped when she felt Kai transfer some of his power into her. There was a shimmer of red as it went from his hand to hers. Hilary relished the experience as she felt the power travel up her arm and through her body.

Hearing Max and Kenny gasp next to her, she looked at them questionly.

"Look." Murmured Max as he cupped his hands. Water shimmered in his hands and as Hilary looked, she smiled and touched her face.

A gorgeous jewel incrusted hairpiece held up her brown hair, her face covered in the finest make up. Her eyes were a dark blue and her skin paler. Looking down, her smile grew as she saw the gorgeous pink kimono she was now wearing.

Kai pulled his hand away. "Get your Tessen and Neko-te." He turned away from the group below and summoned a flame to his hand. Letting the fire grow, the flames formed into a parasol. The fire disappeared ad Kai gripped the handle tightly. The black handle was engraved and the top of it was pink. He handed the parasol to Hilary then lifted her bridal style.

"Wait here." Kai ordered quietly. Holding Hilary tightly, he jumped to the next tree, and the next, and soon Max and Kenny couldn't see the pair any more.

"Kai where are we going?"

"I'm taking you up ahead. I want you to follow the path and when you come to the bandits, just play innocent. If they ask you where you're going, tell them you are going to visit a relative in the village named after the Great Protector." Kai jumped down from the branch he was on and landed quietly on the path.

Putting Hilary down he told her one more thing before leaving. "Remember your weapons, don't let them know that you have weapons, use them like everyday objects, fan yourself, whatever. We will be up in the trees so don't worry. If they start giving you trouble then use your weapons. The Neko-te have been dipped in poison. Also, hold the parasol above your head and spin it. There are poison darts hidden underneath."

Hilary watched Kai go off and when she was sure that he was far enough away from her, she began walking down the path.

"Ok just act natural. They wont suspect you. They wont suspect you. They wont- oh god." She could see them and they were just around the corner. Taking a deep breath, she kept going, stopping when she stood in front of them.

The bandits turned and stared at Hilary.

She blushed. "Oh u-um hi. Sorry to interrupt your training…"

"We were just finishing up Ma'am." Stated Merlow, his eyes flickering up into the trees.

"That's a beautiful hairpiece." Complimented Merlin as she sent a friendly smile in Hilary's direction.

"What's a pretty thing like you doing around here?" asked the twins.

'Crap! What am I doing here? Oh right.' "I'm visiting a Great Protector in the village named after the Relative. I-I mean –"

"Its ok, we understand." The twins smiled and Hilary smiled back.

"Is that Hilary?! No way!" hissed Tyson as he rubbed his eyes in disbelief. Rei hushed him.

"They're toying with her." Murmured Kai. His grip tightened on the branch he was holding onto.

"Oh you don't want to go there though!" exclaimed Atol. "Apparently they've been having problems with bandits and thieves and all."

"That's horrible!" Hilary put her hand to her mouth. 'Gosh I'm good at this.' "I should probably turn back." She turned around. "Oh but… my cousin… he's expecting me." She turned around again. "Oh…"

"We would be happy to escort you." Said Merlow as he came over and bowed.

"Why thank you kind sir, but I wouldn't want to be any trouble."

"No, not at all!" Merlin smiled to assure her as the rest of the bandits made their way over to Hilary.

Merlow straightened up and stalked over to his team. "What are you doing?" he hissed. "You know Kav doesn't like us attacking those who do not deserve it."

Atol just brushed him away. "Here I'll carry your bag." He offered to Hilary as he took it from her hand.
"O-oh thank you." She pulled out her fan and began fanning herself.

"They wouldn't dare. I have made it very clear to everyone that I do not like anyone attacking just anybody they meet on the road. And they had no orders to attack the village. The village has helped the Sharks. What is going on?"

"Kai?"

"Never mind what I say. Grab your weapons, Hilary is going to need our help."

They began walking, Atol in front, Merlin and Merlow next to Hilary and then the twins coming up behind.

Suddenly the twins grabbed Hilary. She screamed and clutched onto the parasol and fan. Kicking backwards, she smirked when she felt one of the twins release their hold. Using her Neko-te, she slashed at the other twin and he too let go.

Merlin, Merlow and Atol got their weapons out and got ready to attack.

Sticking her fan back in her belt/sash, Hilary held the parasol above her head and did as Kai had directed.

Poison darts rained down on the bandits and with a cry, the Guardians, save Kai, jumped down from their hiding places, charging at the bandits.

"Oh this is just great!" growled Merlin. The skin on her palm began to ripple and from the centre, a long, clear, glass sword emerged. Grabbing the handle, Merlin swung her sword and ran to meet the Guardians.

Bringing her sword down, it met with Max's Sai with a clang.

"It didn't shatter!" Max exclaimed incredulously.

Merlin smirked and pulled her sword away, then struck again.

The twins grabbed each other by the wrist. Sand swirled around their feet ad climbed up their legs. It lifted them off their feet and into the sky. Both of them raising their outer arms, the twins sent two blasts of sand in Tyson's direction.

"Uh crud." Muttered Tyson. Extending his Bo, he grabbed the middle and twirled it, the tornado forming. As the sand got nearer, Tyson held the Bo in the direction of the sand, using the tornado like a barrier. The sand was blown away and in the other direction. The twins dived down from where they were, unlinking hands and hurtling towards Tyson. Tyson stopped the tornado and grabbed one end of the Bo. Swinging it like a baseball bat, he hit one twin full force, sending him flying into the other.

Just as they were about to hit the ground, two thick green vines wrapped around their waists and drew them in towards Merlow. The vines themselves were coming from under Merlow's sleeves.

When the twins were safely on the ground, they muttered their thanks and ran off to fight Tyson again.

Merlow let the vines wrap around his arms and around his hands, fulling covering all of his skin. Where Merlow's knuckles should have been, thick, brown thorns stuck out like claws.

Merlow turned on Hilary, advancing slowly. Picking up speed, his slashed at her, just getting a few loose hairs as Hilary quickly dodged.

More vines emerged from under Merlow's sleeves and they moved towards Hilary. They grabbed each arm and pulled at her, not letting her get away.

Hilary screamed as she struggled against his grip and tried to get free.

Merlow raised an eyebrow when Kenny brought his Naginata down and cut the vines. The vines around Hilary fell off loosely and withered on the ground.

"That wasn't very nice." Whispered Merlow. "That hurt."

"They're just vines!" exclaimed Hilary.

"Yes but they're a part of me. And now you've made me mad!"

Atol looked at his team before his eyes flickered to Rei who was fighting next to Tyson.

"Ah so there's our little Earth Manipulator." Atol bent down and dug his fingers into the ground. Making sure he had a good grip, he then pulled up, ripping the ground from where it was. The ground pulled up in a path towards Rei. The ground flipped up and sent Rei into the air.

Rei looked down in surprise. His eyes trailed to Atol, who was releasing the earth. Rei narrowed his eyes and landed smoothly. Making his way to Atol, he ducked as a jet stream of water came past and hit Merlins glass shield.

"Sorry!" cried Max.

Rei kept moving to Atol. When they were a few metres apart, Atol made a set of hand and arm movements and then dug his heel into the ground. Large boulders rose from the ground in front of him and when he pushed one arm forward, the boulders flew to Rei.

Rei stamped one foot and then the other. With a simple, brisk, bend of his arms, two large slabs of earth raised right in front of him and acted as a shield as the boulders smashed into them.

With a flick of Rei's wrist, one of the slabs skidded forward and Atol narrowly dodged it. As he dodged, he had risen a ball of earth and sent it towards Rei, half of the neko jin showing and making an easy target.

Rei quickly turned and the rock skimmed past him.

Max sent another jet stream of water at Merlin, who had abandoned her sword and shield. Holding out her hand, Merlin stared at the water. Glass encased the water, stopping it seconds before it made contact.

Max looked on with wide eyes as the attack he had sent, now trapped inside glass, fell to the ground. The glass smashed and the water was quickly soaked up.

Tyson looked from one twin to the other, left to right. In perfect sync, the twins made a set of hand signs. Their images shimmered and the next thing Tyson knew, twins surrounded him.

Holding the Bo above his head, he brought it down swiftly. A gush of air was pushed forward and it sliced through one of the twins. As the twin was hit, he vanished and grains of sand fell to the ground in a heap.

"They're clones!" exclaimed Tyson. One by one the twins came at him and one by one, Tyson got rid of them, and one by one, they turned into sand.

Soon, there were no more clones. Tyson looked left and right but not up or down, and that was his mistake. Emerging from the ground, Renaldo came up and punched Tyson in the jaw, sending him flying backwards.

Tyson lay there looking up at the sky. A shadow blocked out the light and Tyson swore as he saw Westcot falling towards him, arm outstretched and fist ready.

Taking a deep breath, Tyson blew. Westcot was blown away, literally, by Tyson's breath. (Due to the force or the stench, we'll never know. lol.)

Kenny stood back, watching Hilary and Merlow.

Merlow had been taunting Hilary, and she had gotten mad, and now she was on a rampage.

Hilary swung again, and again Merlow dodged.

Growling in frustration, Hilary fanned out the Tessen and swung again. This time when Merlow jumped back, the Tessen's sharp frame cut his shirt.

Hilary's hands flew to her mouth and Kenny stared in fascination.

"That's… amazing," breathed Kenny.

"Amazing? That's disgusting!!" shrieked Hilary.

Merlow stood there with his shirt hanging open and chest, if that's what you could call it, in full view.

Where his heart was sat a purple bellflower from the plant known as deadly nightshade. The thick veins leading to it pulsed. Thick lumps under the skin led from the flower to each shoulder. The lumps squirmed and at the shoulders, thick green vines broke through the skin. Merlow hadn't been kidding when he had said that the vines were a part of him.

The flower's petals darkened, as did Merlow's eyes. The vines receded back into his skin and the lumps disappeared. Raising one hand, he threw it down. Hilary and Kenny listened intently as they heard a tree trunk crack. They both cried out when one of the trees to their left came crashing down.

Another tree fell, and another. Everyone stopped.

Kai looked on as a fourth tree came crashing down. Then a fifth and a sixth.

'He keeps going like this, there'll be no trees left.' Thought Kai. He gripped the branch next to him tightly as he heard another tree fall, this time closer. 'Crap, he's going around.'

And sure enough, Merlow was. Another tree fell, narrowly missing Tyson and the twins.

"Merlow! Stop!" Atol shouted over all the noise. He protected his eyes from all the dust that was raised when another tree fell.

Hearing a crack that sounded too close to be good, Kai sighed, irritated when he felt the tree he was on begin to fall. "Here we go then."

Max froze when he saw another tree start falling. 'Wasn't that the one Kai was in?'

And sure enough, as the tree fell, a figure jumped out of it and into the air.

Kai faced the sky and waited until he heard the sound of the tree hitting the ground before he turned over. He landed quietly.

Max let out the breath he had been holding and smiled.

Holding onto his sword, Kai walked forward, eyes scanning the area. No one seemed to have really noticed that he had shown up. They were too busy trying to calm Merlow down, and dodge falling trees at the same time. Good.

Creeping up behind the twins, Kai was quick to knock one of them out. Seeing his brother fall, the other twin turned only to be knocked out as well.

'Three to go. Oh, no, two. Atol just knocked Merlow out.' Kai advanced on Atol and delivered a sharp jolt to a pressure point on the back of his neck. Atol crumpled.

Kai walked over to Merlin but she saw him before he could make a move.

"Hey! Your one of u-" Kai knocked her out before she could say anymore.

He smiled, his brown eyes dancing. Pulling off his mask he exclaimed, "well! That was fun!"

They walked through the damaged gates and stopped. They stood in silence as they took in the scene.

"Well looks like they had some fun too." Commented Kai as he stretched and flicked a strand of black hair off his face.

"Fun? They destroyed the place." Rei said quietly.

Houses and building were in pieces, had collapsed, or were scorched. The scent of smoke lingered in the air and left the sky a musky colour.

"Mm… no, no not really." Kai walked ahead, the Guardians following.

"I wonder how many people were killed." Whispered Hilary.

"None." The group looked up when Kai stopped. "This is just a cover. The real village is underneath." He walked over to a fountain and stepped into it. The water was dark and dirty due to all the ashes.

"What? Want a bath Kai?" Tyson asked sarcastically.

"No… but you sure need one Fatso." Was the reply. Kai walked to the centrepiece of the fountain. Wiping away some ashes, he smirked. "Found it." He proclaimed.

"Found what?" asked Rei as he too stepped in and stood next to Kai.

"The key." Kai pulled out a dagger and started dislodging one of the stone tiles. It fell into his hand and Kai put it, and the dagger, down. Reaching into the gap that was left behind, Kai pulled out a small disc that had the symbols of the four Elements engraved into it. Kai replaced the tile. He then hopped back out the fountain and Rei followed.

Around the rim of the fountain, were women. Dancing women that had been engraved into the stone. They wore robes that flowed around them, and around their necks, pendants that had the symbols of the four Elements engraved in them.

"Find the woman that has a pendant that doesn't have the four symbols engraved on it." Instructed Kai.

So the Guardians complied. It wasn't too long before Max's triumphant cry of "found it!" rang through the air.

The group stood behind him. "There!" he said as he pointed to the lady. Sure enough, her pendant was hollow and blank.

Crouching down, Kai slipped the disc into place then stood back. The disk sunk in and spun once. With a gurgling sound, the water in the fountain drained away until it was empty.

A panel at the bottom of the fountain slid open revealing a set of stairs. Kai hopped back in the fountain and walked over to the stairs.

The others joined him and peered down.

"We're not seriously going down there, are we? It stinks!" muttered Tyson.

"Good, you'll fit right in then." Replied Kai as he started walking down.

Once they were all through, the panel above their heads slid shut, enveloping them in darkness.

Kai held his index finger out, the tip of it instantly flaring up and giving the group light. Kai allowed the flame to grow brighter and bigger until he held it in his palm.

"Lets go."

Moving in single file, the group began the slow descent to the bottom.

Hilary sighed as she tripped again. Tyson crashed into her.

"Oi, will you keep going!" he demanded.

"Well so-rry!" snapped Hilary. "But this darn Kimono keeps getting in the way!"

"You've still got that on?"

"What? Did you expect me to run around naked?!"

"Hilary give me your hand again." Ordered Kai as he stopped. Hilary did as she was told. This time the feeling was different; she could feel the power leaving her. As it travelled from her hand to Kai's, instead of a red gleam, there was a dull grey.

Pulling his hand away Kai kept walking. Hilary looked down at herself and smiled. "Much better. Hey Kai, why was there a different colour?"

"You have no or little magical energy, and the energy that you possess is not Elemental or Manipulative, hence the dull grey."

"Does the colour red mean anything? Like does it mean you're really powerful, more powerful than the pig behind me?"

"Hey!" protested Tyson, but Hilary ignored him.

"Kai? Well does it?" she asked.

"Hn."

The stairs eventually turned to flat ground, which sloped down. It soon levelled out and after a bit more walking; the Guardians came to a large iron door. On the wall next to it was a large groove, which Kai placed his hand in. The groove was made of iron and the metal wrapped around Kai's hand. It stayed like that for a while before the iron receded and Kai pulled his hand back.

With a tired groan, the door opened and a wave of fresh air hit the group. They stepped through the door and everyone, save Kai, stared in awe.

"What is this place?" breathed Max as he turned to look around.

"The village named after the Great Protector."

i'm really quite happy with this chapter... and i'd be really gald to know what others thought!

bye!

kavbj