*Disclaimer: I do NOT own Love Live!

"I've never seen a bow like this before…" Honoka commented.

She was looking at the bow in Maki's hands as they walked. She's only ever used a traditional bow before at the castle for sports, but she knew enough about the weapon to know that Umi's was far from normal.

"Well, it is a very specially made bow," Umi explained. "If I was in better condition, I could show it off to you."

"Don't worry, Hanayo should be able to help that easily," Kotori said.

Her leg injury was not as bad as Umi's, so she didn't need support to walk. Although it still hurt a lot for her to walk, so the four of them had to balance between walking at a comfortable pace for them but still try to hurry to rejoin the others.

"How are you two doing?" Maki asked.

"Alright," Kotori answered. "It still hurts a lot but it's bearable now."

"I still can't really feel my leg," Umi said. "But otherwise I'm fine."

"Maybe we should rest for a bit?" Maki suggested.

Kotori shook her head. "It's better if we meet with the others as soon as possible. Besides, we're close to the road again."

"Is it… getting hotter to anyone else?" Honoka asked.

"Now that you mention it, it is a lot warmer than a few minutes ago," Umi said.

"I think I found out why," Maki said, pointing ahead.

They broke free from the tree line and looked ahead. They were now able to see the road, as well as a wall of fire that separated them from it.

"D-did that attack really do this?" Honoka asked.

"No… This fire isn't natural. It's a type of barrier spell," Maki said.

"Barrier, huh? Can you do something about it?" Kotori asked.

"It can't hurt to try."

Maki pulled out her scroll and walked up to the wall of fire. The scroll started glowing as she began channeling her magic. She lifted her hand, surrounding it with magic, and placed her hand against the fire. At first nothing happened, but after a few seconds, a wave shot out from the barrier, knocking Maki down.

Honoka rushed over to Maki. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, don't worry," Maki said, sitting herself up. "I don't know if we can do anything about that barrier though."

"No way…"

Slowly, Honoka started walking toward the barrier. Her face was almost expressionless, like she was just being drawn to it out of her own control.

"Honoka, what are you doing?" Kotori called.

"There has to be some way…." Honoka said.

"Honoka get back, it's dangerous!" Maki cried out.

Honoka stopped right in front of the barrier. Like Maki, she brought her hand up, placing it against the fire. The others were expecting the barrier to fight back immediately, but it didn't. Instead, Honoka's hand began glowing, white lights flaring out as if it were fire itself. Three seconds, five seconds, Honoka still didn't move.

Then something happened that surprised everyone, even Honoka. The princess's whole body started glowing, and the fire barrier started reacting. It flared up, the top rising higher. Then in the next moment, the fire just disappeared. The heat that had accompanied the fire disappeared as well, the air returning to its normal temperature.

"How did…" Umi began, unable to form a thought.

"How did you do that?" Kotori finished the question they were all thinking.

"I… I don't know," Honoka responded slowly, staring at her hand without moving.

"That was incredible," Maki said, wonder evident in her voice.

Maki had gotten up from where she was knocked down, and joined Honoka where she stood. Without a word she grabbed the princess's outstretched hand. Honoka tensed up, a little surprised by the redhead's sudden appearance.

"How much magic do you have?" Maki asked, not looking away from the hand.

"I'm not sure…"

"Well, at the very least you have more than the average person, because you were giving off a strong magic aura."

"Is that not common?" Kotori asked.

Maki shook her head. "Most people don't give off an aura at all while using magic. It's a sign of a strong mage when another mage can feel that aura. Were you able to feel it?"

"Well, I did feel something different than usual when Honoka's hand touched the barrier," Umi said.

Maki raised an eyebrow. "That's extremely rare. For a non-magic user to feel it at all…" she faced Honoka again. "You must have an incredible amount of magic at your disposal."

"If you say so…" Honoka wasn't sure how else to respond. Instead, she started looking around. "Where is… anyone?"

She was expecting to see some trace of the convoy, either a vehicle or person that happened to survive. But there was nothing, only the resulting holes and black spots from the mortar strike. Otherwise, the road was totally empty.

"There's not a trace of anyone at all…"

"Maybe they went looking for a city?" Umi suggested.

"Can't be, there isn't a city near enough to walk to from here," Kotori said.

"Maybe they ran deeper into the forest?" Maki thought. "Either way, we should think about finding the others first."

"I hope we find them soon… I haven't ever been separated from Maria-chan for this long…" Honoka said, her expression matching her discomfort.

"I wouldn't worry too much," Maki said reassuringly. "They can take care of themselves, and I'm sure-"

A loud shriek, very familiar to them, interrupted Maki. They looked around in the sky. At first Umi wondered why, but she soon found out when she looked up herself. She saw a dragon with a rider flying directly toward them, closing the distance fast.

"You again…" Anger was clear in Maki's voice.

Maki was already starting a spell. The ring around her flared red, fire gathering in front of her. With a wave of her arm, the gathering fire shot forward. The dragon had to abandon its attack to avoid the fire, pulling up and flying over the four of them which caused a violent wind underneath. Umi used her arms to keep herself upright, while Kotori dropped low to keep herself stable. Honoka managed to throw a simple barrier around her and Maki just in time to block the wind.

They looked as the dragon flew higher into the sky, noticing that the rider was missing. Instinctively, Honoka drew her rapier and spun around. She just barely managed to catch the tip of a spear with her rapier, stopping the spear from striking her head. Though, with the differences between the two weapons, as well as her physical strength, Honoka had trouble keeping the spear away. Slowly, the dragon rider forced the spear closer and closer to Honoka.

Just as the spear tip was by Honoka, a hissing sound could be heard. The rider jumped backwards, just barely avoiding a pair of arrows that flew between Honoka and where the rider just stood. Everyone looked over to Umi, who had somehow managed to reach her bow where Maki dropped it. She found a comfortable position for her to use the bow, and already had another pair of arrows knocked on the string and aimed at the rider.

"Honoka, Maki, watch out!" Kotori called behind them.

Maki spun around and froze at what she saw. A wolf had appeared suddenly and was charging straight for them. Honoka turned away from the rider and saw the wolf behind them as well. With her free arm she grabbed onto Maki and dove forward, dodging them out of the way of the wolf.

Though, a loud tearing sound filled the air, followed by something hitting the ground.

"M-my scroll!" Maki cried out.

Honoka turned around and saw part of Maki's scroll laying torn on the ground by their feet, the other end in the wolf's mouth. The wolf tossed the piece aside and got ready for another attack.

"Oh, now you've done it."

Honoka was quickly back on her feet, rapier ready and already casting a spell as the wolf started forward again. Light orbs appeared in front of Honoka, changing their forms into swords. With a subtle flick of the rapier she turned the spell loose, the light swords darting forward.

As quick as Honoka had been, the wolf was just a little bit more. It jumped to the right, barely avoiding one of the swords, before continuing toward Honoka. Once it was close enough, it leapt forward. Knowing Maki was still behind her, Honoka decided not to dodge out of the way again. Instead, she stepped forward. As the wolf came down upon her, she lowered herself slightly, avoiding its attempt at biting her. In response, Honoka drove the rapier handle into the wolf's stomach. Finishing her swinging motion, she knocked the wolf away.

Meanwhile, the rider turned her attention to Umi. She tried stepping toward the archer, but Umi already started firing arrows, making the girl have to sidestep to dodge. But as she was dodging, she was still slowly closing the distance to Umi. She soon got within range with her spear and tried attacking Umi. Kotori appeared out of nowhere, lunging forward and deflecting the spear with her sword just in time.

Keeping focused, Umi rattled off more arrows. Kotori had enough awareness to keep her head ducked while the arrows flew over her head. In her prone position, she marveled at the bluenette's speed and accuracy. She was releasing another arrow at almost the same speed as she saw Nico shoot with a single pistol. She probably would've been landing every arrow on target, but the dragon rider's movements were noteworthy as well, just barely avoiding getting hit.

The wolf landed on its feet near the side of the road and looked around, spotting the dragon rider. Their eyes met, a silent message passing between them. Then the wolf was back to action. But rather than running toward Honoka and Maki again, it ran to the right toward the back of one unsuspecting archer.

"Umi!"

Honoka was the one who cried out. She knew there was no spell she could cast in time to protect the bluenette, and Maki had no way of using magic with her scroll destroyed. They could only look in terror as the wolf closed in.

Though, Umi had a trick of her own. She placed both her hands in the middle of the bow handle, tightened her grip, and pulled her bow apart. As the two ends came apart, their forms changed, now taking the shape of two swords. Using her good leg, Umi turned herself to the wolf. She positioned one of the blades just in time, as the wolf bit down on metal rather than her flesh. With her other hand, she swept the other sword around. The wolf reacted in time, jumping back to avoid the blade.

Honoka had no real time to admire what just happened. The dragon rider had switched back to her, and the princess once again had to fight with her rapier against that spear.

Maki's mind had been fairly blank for a while now. She wasn't sure what to do. She couldn't use her magic without some kind of channeling item. And with her scroll destroyed and no backup weapon, Maki could only sit there and watch her friends fight off the sudden attack.

"Even the girl we just met is helping out," she said to herself.

Since she wasn't paying attention, Maki was a bit surprised as Honoka was knocked down ahead of her. As Honoka hit the ground, the fan that had been in her pocket was knocked out, landing on the ground for Maki to see.

The redhead looked up from Honoka, seeing the dragon rider closing in. Suddenly, Maki darted forward. She picked up the fan, flicking it open as she positioned it by her waist on the opposite side. Praying for something good to happen, Maki whipped it across her body.

A violent gust of wind shot forward in response, somehow avoiding Honoka, but catching the dragon rider mid-step and throwing her backwards. The rider adjusted herself in midair to land on her feet, but further back from the duo than she started.

Maki could only stay still on her knees, surprised. For one, she hadn't expected to find anything to replace her scroll as a channeling item so quickly and easily. For another, she's used that wind spell a number of times, but she never could get it to reach this kind of power before.

An idea popped up in Maki's head. She felt in her pocket for the fan that she was given. She pulled it out and flicked it open as she stood up. She began casting a simple fire spell, one of the first she had learned. She released the spell, the fireballs flaring out forward.

Just like the wind spell, the fire came out significantly stronger than Maki ever casted it before. Maki aimed it pretty high, but Honoka still had to lower herself to the ground to avoid the flames.

When Maki casted the spell, she had waved her right arm. As the fireballs flew, Maki spun to her left, a green spell circle glowing around her as she turned. She waved her left arm as she finished. She hoped it would cast the earth spell she had in mind, which it did. A rock wall formed around every side of the dragon rider except for her front, prevent her from moving. Without a way to dodge, she could only sit there and take the hit. The fireball crashed into the rider with a loud crash.

Once the fire spell cleared away, it revealed a very cracked, but still standing rock wall. The dragon rider was sitting at its base, her armor cracked in several places. The wolf, who was starting to get an edge over the injured duo, back away from Kotori and Umi in favor of running toward the dragon rider. It started prodding the girl with its nose, and Maki could have sworn it had a concerned look. But she had other things to worry about.

"Are you okay?" she asked, hurrying to where Honoka was slowly getting up.

"I think so," the princess responded. "That was amazing, Maki."

"I'm just glad that it even worked."

Honoka looked over at the downed rider. "It did more than just work."

"Even I'm surprised, I didn't use much more magic than the spell required."

"Maybe the fans enhanced your magic?"

"That seems very likely. Anyway, come on."

The two of them hurried over to the dragon rider, their weapons still drawn and ready. The wolf turned as they were within a few steps, that hostile look on its face again.

"Stop."

Honoka, Maki, and the wolf all looked at the rider with surprise.

"There's no need to fight anymore. They got us."

The wolf let out what seemed like a disagreeing whine, but complied all the same. Giving up its aggressive stance, it walked back to the dragon rider and lied down to her side. The rider began gently stroking its head, a smile visible on her face as that part of her face wasn't obstructed by her helmet. Maintaining that smile, she looked back up to Honoka and Maki, surprising them once again by removing her helmet.

Long purple hair fell free from the helmet, and a pair of turquoise eyes accompanied the smile she kept wearing.

Hey guys, nobodD here!

Alrighty time for my usual rambling.

First off, remember the fans that Honoka and Maki received on the boat? Yeah, it wasn't random. I totally love the idea of fans as a magic item. While I was showing some pics to my friend of OC's with fans, he gave me the idea of using that in this story. Luckily for me, I quickly found a way to make it possible. As far as the story points go, Maki's "attraction" to the fans last chapter was because she find a greater magic connection with them than her scroll, which is why her spells were stronger. I just realized I had no character to explain this in story, so I'm explaining here X3

I should touch on this while I'm still thinking about it. Honoka is able to both use combat spells as well as her rapier. Therefore, she's able to either be ranged or close-quarters. And now as you saw, Umi's able to use her weapon in a similar way, also making her a flexible fighter (once her leg is all healed up). There are 10 members, that's 4 dedicated ranged characters, 4 dedicated melee, and 2 that can go between (in terms of an rpg party), because I like balancing stuff X3.

Which perfectly leads into Umi, and specifically her weapon. The way her bow works is a mixed idea of two characters in the "Tales of" game series, which is Raven from Tales of Vesperia, and Hubert from Tales of Graces. Raven uses a bow that he can transform into a kind of melee weapon with a certain skill. Hubert has two gunblades that he also likes putting together into a kind of sword-staff (or is it the other way around? X3). I just simply put the two ideas together.

Am I getting better with my fight scenes? haha

Please, please tell me it's obvious who the dragon rider is now. Well, whether or not you can tell who it is by now, I'll go more into detail explaining her next chapter anyway. Oh my goodness I am excited for revealing that to you guys. I'm so excited X3. Let's just hope that means I'll write really fast and update for you guys quickly.

Well, see you next time!