Keitaro Return
Chapter 14
February 27th
There was a certain vivacity that filled the air in the realm of Hinata Sou. Spring was soon to arrive and it was just around the corner. Hinata's domestic pet thought so too. She flew around in the main hall way, deciding to commence her daily routine of visiting each member of the dorm.
First she found Shinobu, who was whizzing about the place in a buoyant mood. She was carrying a basket of laundry. Tama landed gracefully on Shinobu's head, then with a friendly, "Myuh!" said her hello and was on her way. Shinobu's smile couldn't be wider.
Naru was in her room studying, and as Tama noticed it would seem that Naru was doing better. Tama would notice that every now and then Naru would be found crying in her room, or studying non stop for some sort of exam. Of course Tama was only a turtle, but she could kind of deduce why Naru grieved so. Naru barely noticed Tama's entrance, as she whirled around the room then exited, heading downstairs.
Once there, almost instantly Tama was attacked by a figure that was twice her size, but was of the same origin...sort of. She flew haphazardly through the air avoiding the vicious snapping jaw of Mecha Tama Version 3, the prime creation of none other than Kaolla Su. Su grinned deviously as she held the remote control which was responsible for controlling that evil device, or rather, ingenious device.
"Me next me next!" Sara said gleefully while standing next to Su.
"Nyahahahaha!" Su laughed aloud. She then turned up the booster on her mechanical menace, making it faster than ever. Sara watched in amazement.
Tama was frantic! She performed 360 spins in the air, attempting to evade this evil cloned version of herself, it seemed hopeless, like an inexperienced pilot in a dog-fight. She flew desperately toward the kitchen.
Suddenly from around the corner came a silhouetted figure, whether friend of foe, Tama didn't know, but she instinctively took refuge behind this inconspicuous individual. As Tama was flying away from the figure, it became evidently clear who this person was, she chanted inaudible words only to herself. She then raised her katana to strike.
As Mecha Tama 3 attempted to follow, the metal menace only came into contact with a silently wielded sword, wielded only by a certain master of God's Cry school of Swordsmanship. It appeared to the human eye that Motoko did not slash at all; however, the splitting of Mecha-Tama 3 had a different story to tell.
Su and Sara both went bug eyed at the sight of Mecha Tama 3's demise. The metal Tama now lied in shambles upon the hardwood floor, smoking slightly.
"Defeated again!" Su said in a frustrated tone. Sara sweat dropped.
"I told you, you should have installed that nano repair feature!" Sara said. Su laughed nervously.
"Ah well! Back to the drawing board!" Su exclaimed.
Tama flew overhead giving a "Myuh," or a "Thank You," to Motoko, but did not approach her since, not only did this swordsman have a pet peeve against freaky creations, but also Turtles. Then all at once, Tama noticed that everyone started to gather in the living room. Mutsumi was the first to appear, or rather, stumble, that is...down a set of stairs then landing into the living room.
"Ara ara, what a trip, Oh, Tama!" Mutsumi said. Tama landed directly on her shoulder, 'speaking' to her with several "Myuh's"
"What's that? Evil Tama ? And Motoko saved you?" Mutsumi said cheerfully. Motoko slightly sweatdropped.
"I don't even want to know, how she knew that, it's impossible," Motoko thought to herself. One by one more and more members of the household appeared. Shinobu appeared from the kitchen, followed by Kitsune, and believe it or not, Naru!
"What with all the racket!" Naru demanded an explanation. Motoko let out a smile, while Su tried to explain.
"Well we were testing the new equipment for Mecha Tama 3!" Su exclaimed.
"3! 3! 3!" Sara exclaimed while jumping up and down.
"I just got done talking to Haruka, she's invited us over for tea...Anyone want to come?" Shinobu said gleefully. Kitsune smiled.
"Might not be a bad idea," Kitsune said. Naru nodded in agreement as well. Motoko also appeared to take pleasure in this idea. It seemed everyone needed a break, for a change.
"Myuh!" Tama exclaimed as she landed on Shinobu shoulder.
Haruka had prepared tea for everyone. It was a beautiful day, one in which would be a sin to stay inside. Tama was lying on the picnic table, sipping on a juice box, and basking in the warm rays of the sun.
"So how is everyone doing? Naru? How are your studies?" Haruka asked.
"Midterms are coming up, so, it's a tough time," Naru said with a sigh.
"Ditto for me!" Mutsumi said. Of course it didn't seem that the issue of mid-terms affected her at all. This wasn't surprising, considering, Mutsumi of all people, had an abundance of hidden knowledge. Whether her care free, clumsy ignorant behavior was something intentional, or unintentional, it was unknown.
"School is going great for me," Shinobu said taking a sip of tea. Su and Sarah agreed as well.
"Everything appears to be in order," Motoko said. Haruka smiled, then turned to Kitsune.
"Eh? You know me! Never a dull moment, just looking forward to April," Kitsune said laughing.
Dead silence.
Everyone knew what April meant; April was the deadline for their beloved male friend to return to Japan after so much time. Everyone knew this, except for...
Tama was smart enough to understand, and knew the word, "Keitaro" more than anyone. He had been the talk of the household.
Tama couldn't quite understand where Keitaro had gone. To her, Keitaro was more than just a "master," or the owner of the Hinata Apartments. Tama always would be around Keitaro, and Keitaro would always acknowledge her.
Now it seemed, that around the household, only two people paid attention to her, Shinobu, and Mutsumi. But before, Tama would spend almost every minute of everyday with Keitaro, almost as if he was her constant companion.
Tama was indeed your above average turtle, but even a domestic pet had their limitations in terms of understanding humans. Keitaro had been gone for a long time now, and she couldn't understand why. Tama was without a doubt, crestfallen by these turn of events, and at times wondered if Keitaro would ever come back.
"What do you think Keitaro is doing right now?" Shinobu said softly, breaking the silence. Everyone looked up, as if they were almost shocked that Shinobu had been the first to speak up. Haruka actually laughed.
"That idiot Seta has probably gotten him in to some sort of trouble," Haruka said, she looked as if she was fighting off previous memories. Memories perhaps, of the past adventures she once had with the happy-go-lucky archeologist.
"I bet he hooked himself up! I mean a male can only get so patient before they..." Kitsune said at random, of course this statement drew much attention. Naru struck first.
"What the hell are you blabbering about; Keitaro doesn't have the skill let alone the ability to pick up anyone for that matter," Naru put it. This was, Kitsune's opening.
"One could say the same about you as well Naru," Kitsune said smirking, this obviously pissed Naru off, she went on ranting and raving, to her devious fox friend.
"Urashima might also be enjoying the scenery considering it is his first time to America," Motoko said with her eyes closed.
"You think they have delicious bananas in America?" Su said leading off topic. Sarah kept on topic though.
"I agreed with Haruka, Papa and the dork might be up to no good, excavating or not," Sara said.
"Oh my! You mean excavating as in, Kei-kun and Seta are lying in caves all day completely drunk?" Mutsumi said with glee. A little pop up cloud appeared above Mutsumi's head, it appeared to be her thoughts on Keitaro and Seta.
Keitaro and Seta were lying on the ground in some random cave.
"That was your 15th beer, your not bad part-timer!" Seta said, looking obviously wasted.
"Your not bad yourself, Seeeetttaaaaaa," Keitaro stammered.
Motoko quickly impaled the imaged projection of the drunken duo. Everyone seemed to sweat drop at Mutsumi's comment.
"Where the hell did you get that idea?" Kitsune exclaimed, Naru's legs were wrapped around the backside of Kitsune, while bashing her on the head. Everyone shared a laugh or two, merely from the talk of Keitaro.
Tama shared a high pitched "Myuh!" as she circled overhead. With the excited look on everyone's faces, there was no doubt in Tama's mind, Keitaro would return...
Eventually.
February 27th
Flight 522
Flying Over Lake Havasu City, Arizona.
10:25 A.M
The plane bound for Arizona seemed to be filled with nothing more than your common travelers. Whether it was a business trip, vacation, or simply visiting relatives, everyone here seemed to have a significant purpose for a trip to Arizona. For a particular group of people, the reason and purpose, was an adventure, and a hunt.
The group of Archeologists set in the very back of the plane, speaking every now and then but other than that it was quiet. Keitaro was eager to get to Window Rock, which happened to be where the plane's destination was. Eric instructed that there were various cave's northwest of Window Rock, relatively close to Black Mesa, it was an excavation that would take roughly 2-3 days.
Keitaro looked to his left, scanning over the group once more. To his left there was Eric, who was sitting next to Seta as well. Eric seemed to be reading some kind of book, upon further inspection the book was called, "The Hunt for Red October." It seemed to Keitaro that Eric always had a new book in his hand every time he saw him. Seta seemed to be preoccupied with himself, he had earphones on, and it appeared he was enjoying his music, whatever it was. He passed a smile to his part-timer.
Further back to the left was the Williams family. David sat in the middle between his wife Aleshia, and his son Alex. David appeared to have his eyes closed, whether he was sleeping or not, it was unknown. His wife Aleshia appeared to be writing something down, from the looks of it, it looked like some sort of documentation. Alex was playing on some strange device, this strange device was producing noises and random beeps. David quickly poked his son in the side.
"Turn that thing down, there are people trying to catch some sleep," Eric said in a deep intimidating voice. Keitaro let out a silent smile, as Alex was forced to comply.
"Aye mate! Ya Girlfriend's been gone quite a while she has!" said a familiar accent. Keitaro peered behind him, on the left was Jake, he let out a grin at Keitaro. The Australian sat next to Jake, Robert showed a huge grin.
"Don't say that!" Keitaro stammered, clearly embarrassed with Robert's comment. Robert let out a laugh.
"Ha mate, just foolin with yas" Robert said. Keitaro looked to his right, the seat was still empty, Erynn had disappeared, Keitaro wasn't quite sure where she had gone off to. Keitaro rose from his seat quietly, for he needed to use the bathroom.
Keitaro proceeded to the back of the plane, where there were various bathrooms for use. Unfortunately for Keitaro, he had not been paying attention as to which bathroom he was walking toward. There was the male bathroom and there was the...yeah, you guessed it.
As Keitaro opened the door leading to the bathroom, he definitely got a big surprise when he found Erynn inside, uh, tending to her business. Keitaro's jaw dropped, as well as his ability to put thoughts into proper wording.
"Eh...ah...um...ugh..." Keitaro stammered. He watched in fear as Erynn rose from the toilet (now decent), walking up to Keitaro, very nonchalantly, barely expressing anger.
"You realize that as soon as we land, I'm going to kill you..." Erynn said with an evil smile. Keitaro's mind shuddered at these words, he knew that his punishment was inevitable. But at the very least, maybe she would show some shred of dignity and get it over with quickly?
Keitaro was suddenly grabbed by the neck, and dragged back to his seat by Erynn, who had a wide smile plastered on her face.
"Well well, Keitaro, back so soon?" Jake said as the sight of Erynn and Keitaro. Keitaro cringed, but Erynn had the liberty to inform the group of Keitaro invasion of privacy.
"This little twerp walked in on me again, you have to worst luck Keitaro," Erynn said still smiling; while dragging Keitaro. Keitaro looked absolutely terrified. Everyone in the group laughed, knowing full well that Keitaro would definitely get hammered sooner or later.
"We have a little over an hour before we reach Window Rock, any last bit of sleep is probably wise," David said sounding solemn. It soon got quiet, and pretty soon, everyone in the group had fallen asleep, well almost everybody.
Erynn snuggled her head against Keitaro shoulder. Keitaro nor Erynn seemed to say anything about the night of the their kiss. Keitaro seemed to be doing better, his mind was still slightly troubled by the whole ordeal, make no mistake of that. Erynn on the other hand, was just enjoying what was left of Keitaro, the question was however, could she let him go?
Keitaro gently wrapped his arm around Erynn, embracing her slightly.
12:00 P.M
Window Rock Arizona
The crew met up at the front gates of the airport, the rest of the trip would be by jeep. It was about another hour drive to get to the caves. The area was near Black Mesa, which Arizona has some pretty harsh weather during the summer. Seta was glad it wasn't summer, otherwise 110 degree weather or worse would be the primary problem. The air seemed to stay at a constant 70 degrees, it was a nice day, thank goodness for that.
Robert, Jake, and David all helped load up the equipment, they couldn't help but laugh as they heard certain screams coming from behind them.
"NO HELP ME!" Keitaro screamed, with Erynn close on his tail.
"Come back here you perverted fiend!" Erynn shouted at him.
"Never a dull moment aye mate?" Robert said. David and Jake couldn't say anything else, those two were definitely lively for being just friends.
Erynn finally caught up to Keitaro, delivering a kick to his face. Keitaro went flying through the air, and miraculously landed in his seat in the jeep, just as the crew was about to get ready to leave. Keitaro's eyes swirled in disorientation.
"Hmm, I think the poor lad is dead..." David said observing Keitaro's limp body. David poked him and laughed.
"Nah, part-timer goes through this all the time," Seta said with a laugh. Jake, Robert, and Eric all huddled together.
"I think the girl is too high strung to be Keitaro's girlfriend...Robert?" Jake whispered.
"Agreed I say, but maybe Keitaro ain't mindin the torture?" Robert whispered.
"Don't worry men, Erynn has always been this way, even before she met Keitaro, a little on the aggressive side, but a good heart she has" Eric said whispering as well. The three men then shook their heads in agreement.
"HELLO! I'm right here you know!" Erynn said shaking her fist at the three devious men. She was obviously standing two feet away from the huddled individuals.
"Let's get going!" David said aloud.
The caves in the area were a lot bigger than Keitaro had expected, they were so big that they would have to travel through the caves just to get into the burial grounds. Which meant for the most part, the first hour or so of this trip would involve spelunking. Which Keitaro had no problem with. He adjusted his light headset, attached to his helmet so that he could see ahead of him.
The caves were cold alright, these caverns led slightly underground, which was different from the typical cave.
The formation of the archeological group went as followed. In the front was Eric, leading the way for everyone. If anyone knew these caverns well, it was Eric. Next was David, which it was rare for David to participate in such events, but David never turns down an adventure or two. Next was Robert, who couldn't help but let out a laugh or two, for it was obvious he was experiencing déjà vu all over again. Seta was 4th in line.
Keitaro was 5th in line. His surprise was apparent, and everyone knew it. He glanced around the cave in wonder. It was quiet in this cave; it was as if the whole world was silenced. He found it hard to observe his surroundings, while looking in front of him. The terrain of this cave was perilous at times. With the ground being cold and wet, one slip from a high elevation, could prove fatal.
In 6th formation believe it or not was none other than the sweet, tough as nails, daughter of the Jones family. Despite the fact that Aleshia, Jake, and Alex had all stayed behind, this did not discourage Erynn in the least bit. She ventured forth with some trouble. Every now and then there was pit holes filled with cold murky water, or small crevices that needed to be watched out for and promptly stepped over.
"Say Erynn, you didn't have to come with us you know?" Keitaro said while adjusting his helmet. Erynn couldn't say much in her defense.
"Is it a crime to get out and do something different for a change?" Erynn smirked. Keitaro let out a laugh.
"I dunno, this just doesn't seem like your style," Keitaro said with a laugh.
"Maybe I just want to spend some time with..." Erynn was about to say, but stopped, she said no more. Keitaro of course was oblivious.
"Huh? Spend time with whom?" Keitaro asked. Erynn was visibly blushing. However, the cave was too dark for anyone to see. Seta let out a laugh.
After about a half an hour, the group reached a narrow pathway, it was about 5 feet in width. The scary thing about it was that they would have to cross this pathway, with their backs against the cavern wall, and inch their way to the other side. Five feet wide, after that there was a huge chasm, that led straight down, and no one knew where it led.
"Be very careful, we have to cross this point, whatever you do, don't look down!" Eric said warning his group. Each member began his cautious treading across the narrow passage. David began first, now changing the formation. He made it halfway across, before Eric proceeded. By the time David reach solid ground on the other side, Eric was halfway through, then Robert proceeded, then Seta. Next it was Keitaro's turn. At this time both Eric and David made it safely across, with Robert about to reach solid ground as well.
Keitaro made it halfway across, he looked down. The chasm leading down was dark; there was no sign of where it went. Keitaro noticed Erynn cautiously took her time, following Keitaro. Keitaro took one step forward, and then he heard a female scream. He looked back in fear...Erynn had slipped...
Keitaro jolted forward as quickly as instinct would allow him, he grabbed Erynn's hand, grasped it, then used the other hand to quickly grasp onto a jagged stone slab. Both he and Erynn were now hanging there, and below them, was the chasm of darkness.
"ERYNN!" Eric screamed.
"Damn!" Seta exclaimed. Everyone was in a state of panic.
"Hold on mate, I'm comin!" Robert said. Keitaro hung there, supporting his own weight, and Erynn's. He let out several deep breaths, he could admit that he was scared. Robert hastily made his way toward the duo in peril.
"Kei...kei.eitaro..." Erynn whimpered, almost as if she was crying.
"...ugh...I'm not letting you go, don't worry," Keitaro said in a low tone. Robert saw Keitaro's facial expression, he was struggling. Both Eric and Seta were frantic, pleading for Keitaro to hang on, and for Erynn to do the same.
The jagged slag of rock was wet, and Keitaro's grip was slipping. This was not good.
By this time Robert had reached the duo in peril. He lied prone.
Keitaro mustered all the strength he could, he lifted Erynn with one hand and quickly gave her over to Robert. Robert quickly grabbed Erynn by the wrist.
As Robert grasped Erynn. Keitaro's grip on the rock was gone. He let out a scream of denial, and fell into the chasm of darkness, his scream echoed throughout the entire cavern. David's eyes widened. Robert attempted to grab Keitaro, but it was to no avail. Seta eyes looked fearful.
"NO!" Erynn screamed. This time Seta was looking over the edge in utter shock.
"Part-timer!" Seta exclaimed.
All Keitaro saw was darkness. Falling...
1 hour later.
All that could be heard was the sound of running water. Plus there was that musty smell that was all too familiar to him. He lie there enveloped in darkness. Slowly his sensations came back to him. The first thing he noticed was that the area he was in was completely dark. He turned his head to the left, there seemed to be a source of light, it was quite a distance.
Keitaro looked down to examine himself. He cringed as he pushed himself up, his face was now out of the mud. He looked around, the area was dark, but his pupils had dilated, and now he could barely see. Half of his body was emerged in water, the other half on dry land, the water was slightly cold. He feared for the worst, as he began to slowly move his entire body.
After a few seconds, Keitaro was relieved to find that no bones were broken; it was a miracle that he didn't die, or rather suffer a serious injury. Of course, with all the beating back home, I guess he couldn't be TOO surprised.
He quickly found that his light head set was dead. He quickly took off his backpack, and reached for the batteries. After a second or two, Keitaro replaced the dead batteries, and was able to see where he was.
He had no idea how far down he fell from that chasm, but one thing was for certain, he was separated from the main group. Luckily for Keitaro, Seta had taught him some tips on survival. However with the amount of food Keitaro was carrying, he could only survive for one day.
Suddenly he heard a voice; it was coming from straight in front of him. Whoever's voice it was, the person was of foreign language, one that was not familiar to Keitaro. Keitaro could see a small glimpse of light, it was heading his way.
For some reason, Keitaro took cover behind a rock; the rock was large enough to conceal him. A man approached the small reservoir where Keitaro's body once was. Keitaro slowly peered behind the rock, it was a man, and he was carrying something in his hands...
A machine gun?
The man smirked slightly to himself, and walked off in the opposite direction. Keitaro's eyes widened in fear.
What the hell is going on!
Keitaro silently followed the man, he left his backpack behind, and turned off his head-set light. He stalked the man about thirty feet behind him. The man walked down a huge straight-away in the cavern, then turned to the left. Keitaro followed.
The man stopped every now and then, almost as if he sensed something, Keitaro would stop too, taking cover every now and then. It was suicidal to fight a man with an SMG. The man continued, this time turning to the right, it appeared as if he entered a small area within the cave.
Keitaro cautiously approached the corner and peered out, within the small little area, was the man with the machine gun, as well as three other males, and one female. They all had guns, but that wasn't the most disturbing of all the factors.
Keitaro saw five individuals sitting on the ground, their arms tied behind their backs. The four men with guns, and that one female laughed at their newly acquired captives.
Those captives were Seta, Eric, Robert, David, and...Erynn...
Keitaro ran back down the path, heading back to the reservoir in fear.
To be continued...
Authors Note: 5:00 A.M on a Saturday morning. Hey folks, how's it going? College is still sucking me dry, and if they think they can prevent me from getting my chapters out, well so be it, this is war! I know I know, I'm late getting this chapter out. But so many things have happened. Half of which I don't even want to go into detail about. Thanks again for the reviews, and thank you Dimitri for still being with me after all this time. That's all for now, later everyone. Contact me if you need to.