A Challenger

Omega woke up with a start. He found himself in the same field, completely alone. "Guess it wasn't a dream," he said. He reached for his weapon. "Everything's intact," he said, drawing the spear and swinging it. As he swung, a strange feeling overcame him.

The feeling passed, leaving him with an empty head. "Whoa," he said, stumbling. "What was that?" He decided, after a short while, not to pay the matter any more mind. "I've got to get back." He looked up into the sky, but it was heavily overcast. "Let's just go this way then," he decided, meandering off in a single direction.

After a few hours of walking, he spotted something a few miles ahead. "Hey, that's Kerning!" He smiled when he saw it. "Thank the gods." A lone tree stood to his left, bare of any signs of life. A strange thought crossed his mind, and he drew his spear.

He ran towards the tree, and when in range, he swung hard. He waited for the invigorating noise of metal hitting wood. But it never came. He looked down at his spear, which was at the end of its swing, as he expected it to be. He looked up at the tree, which was still intact - a fact he met with stunned silence. Walking up to the tree, he ran a hand across it. "It's real," he said. He stepped back, ready to swing again. He attacked the tree, but rather than hitting the tree, the spear passed through it, as if it were only air. "What?" he cried out in alarm. "What's happening?" He swung again and again, trying to mutilate the tree, but the spear had no effect on it.

Omega dropped to his knees. "This is impossible!"

Kai dropped to her knees. "This is impossible!" She glared at Resda, finally showing her frustration over walking around in the dense parts of the forest. "How did you get us lost?

"We're not lost," Resda said, "this is a shortcut!"

"Let me navigate," Kai suggested. "I've been here a lot longer than you have!"

"This from the mage who falls down a tree," Resda said, under his breath.

Kai heard him, and slapped him across the face. "How dare you even say that?" She bit her lip, and turned around, away from him. "You already know what happened..."

"Right," Resda sighed, "that was out of line. I'm sorry." Kai turned to face him again, this time a little smile on her face. Resda rubbed the back of his head. "I'm just a little frustrated too. But I know where we're going." Resda brushed back a few branches, then decided against moving in that direction and turned left instead.

Kai watched him, sighing. "You really don't know what you're doing, huh?"

"Well your complaining isn't helping either..."

"Ugh! I can't believe that Helena would pick someone as stubborn as you!" Kai growled.

"Well, I can't believe that you-" Resda cut his argument short. He turned around, trying to discover where a sudden noise had come from. "Hear that?"

Kai was scanning the trees as well, weapon drawn. "Yeah. Where's it coming from?"

Another rustle high in the trees put them on their guard. "There it is," Resda said, retrieving a bolt from his quiver and loading it. He aimed where the noise came from.

"Gotcha," a voice said from behind them. The two turned around again, only to face a thief. He wore black and silver armor and a cold expression on his face. A red whip was in his ungloved right hand. He snapped it in the air. "Crossbowman! Step away from her!"

Resda didn't move. "What for?"

"We have a score to settle," he replied.

Kai shook her head when Resda turned to her. "I don't know what he's talking about!"

"Don't play dumb with me," he warned. "You attacked a bandit earlier today. I'm here to get revenge."

Kai's jaw dropped. "He attacked me!"

"I don't care what excuses you have!" He cracked the whip again, as close to her face as he could without hitting her. She fell backwards. "You damn witch woman."

Resda stepped forward. "Look here," he said, "I'm going to give you one chance to leave. If you don't, you'll be forcing my hand."

"What concern is this to you, crossbowman?" he said.

"I was there," he replied. "Even if your response wasn't filled with prejudice," Resda added bitingly, "I know what happened."

"What are you doing?" Kai whispered.

"Protecting you," Resda replied, before turning back to face the bandit. "Will you yield?"

"Never!" the bandit yelled, cracking his whip. Resda jumped back.

Nocking two bolts, he fired them with authority. "I'm out of your range," he said. "But you're in mine!"

The bandit cracked his whip twice. Four pieces of splintered wood fell to the ground. "You wish it was that simple."

"How did you do that?" Resda said, amazed.

"I've had practice," he replied vaguely. Suddenly, he lunged forward, cracking his whip. Resda's crossbow flew several feet away, and he ran to grab it.

"My turn!" Kai said. "I don't need protecting." She prepared a spell. Suddenly, the bandit reached again, this time hitting her staff. Although she managed to maintain her grip, her focus was gone, as was the energy she used to try to cast the spell. "Damn you!" she said, teleporting out of his reach. She prepared another spell. "Fire Arrow!" she cast, sending a projectile streaking towards him. "There's no deflecting that!" she jeered.

"Please," he said. With his whip, he launched a clod of dirt into the air. The arrow fizzled out, smothered. "All your magic does is hit the closest target. It isn't that hard to stop you."

Resda returned to the battle. "You can't dodge forever! And we can stay out of range of your whip!"

The bandit responded by throwing a shuriken to his face.

Resda ducked the shuriken. "What the hell?" Only now did Resda see his enemy's trick. His opponent held steel throwing stars in his left hand, and "threw" them by tossing them in the air and striking them with his whip.

The bandit laughed. "Impressed? You should be. I, Akio, am one of the greatest bandit assassins in Victoria! My special technique is unbeatable!" He tossed two shuriken in the air, and charged up his energy. "Double Stab!" Striking both at once, Akio sent the shuriken hurtling towards Kai.

Kai teleported away. "It won't stay unbeatable for long!" she said. "Magic Claw!" The energy blades flew towards him, but he launched a piece of bark from one of the nearby trees to intercept it.

Resda and Kai continued their attack. But Akio's unique defense kept them on their toes. Resda's bolts were splintered easily, and Kai's spells were much easier to intercept because of their slower speed. Eventually, Akio was the only one doing any attacking.

Resda joined Kai on one side of him. "We need a plan," Kai said.

"No, I'll take care of it," Resda said. He turned and ran straight at Akio. "Power Knockback!"

But Akio was quicker. Another quick crack of the whip caused Resda to trip, the cord wrapped around his ankle. "Idiot. I've seen stupid moves in my lifetime, but you, sir, take the grand prize." With a mighty tug, Akio sent Resda flying into the air. "You can't beat me!" he yelled. He cracked his whip again, and pulled Resda down, smashing him into the floor. "My fighting technique is perfect!" Akio turned, as Resda lay on the floor.

"Resda!" Kai said, getting no response. "You bastard! What did I do to you?"

"I'm not fighting for myself, but for the bandit you attacked!" Akio yelled. "Actions like the ones you've taken don't go unanswered... not with us." He cracked the whip again. "And now that your bodyguard is out of the way, I can get to work on you properly!"

Beads of sweat rolled down Kai's face as she tensed up, ready to respond to Akio's attack. What am I gonna do? she thought. I have to protect myself... and Resda! she suddenly realized. We have a job to do! I'll protect us no matter what! Suddenly, a bright light emanated from her staff. Akio saw only a flash of yellow, then bright white before he was completely blinded.

"Damn you!" Akio stumbled forward, spots still in front of his eyes.

"Now! Fire Arrow!" she chanted, attacking Akio while he was off guard. The arrow exploded, sending him into a tree. Kai quickly teleported to where Resda was laying. "Resda, get up! He'll be attacking again in no time!"

Resda cursed as he got up. "I can't beat him!" he said.

"Neither can I," Kai said. "But what about us?"

Resda took the hint. "Okay. I'm done playing leader. What's our plan?"

Kai whispered into his ear. When she finished, the pair smiled. "On three. One... two..."

"Three." Twilight used his blade to cut a sprig of herbs from a larger plant. "That should be enough... to help Manji..." In a fit of rage, Twilight plunged his blade into a nearby tree. "You witch... you're gonna pay." He pulled it out, leaving two deep gashes in the wood. "I just hope that Akio won't do too much to her before sending her to me..."