Welcome back! I hope you guys are enjoying summer! I have to job hunt...
Don't worry, this chapter isn't nearly as big as the last one XP, but it's very important. Most of this chapter is fun...most of it. The last bit makes all the difference though. Also, there are quite a few wine references in this chapter. You'll read about them at the end of the chapter.
Disclaimer: Jing should be very glad that I don't own him or the manga or anime series. Otherwise he'd have things a lot tougher XP. I also don't own the wines and similiar items I refer to in this chapter. I DO own this particular world, the chars in it, and the interpretation of a certain character.
Here we go!
55th Shot: Go Back to the Purest White
When Kir woke up, he was all alone.
"Ugh…man, what happened? Where is everybody?" the black avian grumbled as he rubbed his head. Right then he was in a hilly area cloaked by tall, yellow grass, with a group of trees to the north. Beside him was a shallow stream.
A flash back to the chaos of before jumped into his mind.
"Oh, that's right! Jing was fighting something and it knocked him out with a funny golden wand before everything went screwy," the dark albatross summarized to himself, suddenly taking flight and darting about. "Hope he's okay. Hey Jing, where are you? Jing! Jing!!"
"Ku?"
Kir spun around at the familiar voice.
"Oh, there you are, Jing! I -"
The dark albatross stopped short.
There was no doubt it was him. The boy before him indeed had the messy black hair sticking up everywhere, as well as the dark baggy clothes. He even wore the shockingly orange coat and a violet feline mask with an all-too-wide grin.
But this wasn't the Jing he knew. Not this little squirt.
This boy lacked both the height and the lankiness of Kir's Jing, but that was to be expected from a five-year-old. The bright tangerine coat he had on was far too big, with the sleeves hanging off his arms and the long tail of the coat dragging behind him like a ragtag prince's robe. His right arm was resting in the jacket's inner coat pocket. Over his face was a paper version of the violet cat mask, crude and poorly colored.
Kir stared at the little Jing without a word.
Oh god, don't tell me –
The paper-masked boy cocked his head slightly, as if trying to figure out what he was looking at. Then, he slowly backed up a few paces.
Suddenly he let out a childish yell and pounced forth.
Kir yelped and hastily flew upward. The child in the far-too-long blazing coat went sailing right under him, and landed in the small stream with a spectacular splash.
As the kid got back up and shook himself off like a puppy, the paper mask melted off the boy's face and fell into the water in a purple pulpy mass. When the child saw the remains of the facade float down the stream, he began to wail and throw a fit.
"Uh…" Kir began.
Then the youngster spun around, with wide dust-hued eyes that were so familiar yet unrecognizable. Those dust-hued eyes then shot the dark avian an angry glare.
"Nu doka! Lai aunirah mi lohro! Imazhou uket quanai lohro kaikai dalay!"
Then, from out of its secure resting place came his right arm, with a plastic toy gun in its grip. Crimia Rayale was written across the artificial firearm's side in big, goofy red letters. He pointed the toy gun at Kir. For some reason this bothered the black albatross, even though he knew the gun was fake.
"Crimia Rayale!"
The black albatross was doused with water.
"Ack! Hey, what's your problem?! You're the one who tried to attack me!" barked the dark avian, pointing at the boy with his wing. "And I don't need to apologize to you. You're not the real Jing anyway. So I don't care about you and your stupid fakeness anyway, you-"
The boy with dust-hued eyes stared at him blankly.
"…You don't understand a word I'm saying, do you?"
The black-haired child continued to look at him dumbly. An awkward silence settled on the boy and bird as a slight wind flowed across the grasses.
"Well…" Kir began, using one of his wings to point to himself. "I'm Kir. Kiiiiir."
The child in the oversized orange coat gave a bright smile and a quick nod. He pointed at the dark albatross.
"Kir!"
"Yep!" answered the black avian, beaming.
Then the boy with dust-hued eyes pointed to himself.
"Imazhou!"
"Huh?" Kir balked.
The black-haired child gave him an annoyed look, and pointed to himself again.
"Imazhou! Ih-mah-zow!"
Kir pointed his wing at the kid wielding the plastic water gun, with a skeptical look on his face.
"…Imazhou?"
"Kip!"
The black albatross did not lower his wing, and tried to think of any of the Chesirian he'd heard his Jing use.
"…Nu Jing?"
The child with dust-hued eyes looked at Kir, and then at his outfit. He seemed to realize something, and gave the dark avian a slightly embarrassed grin.
"Uno gio, dae Jing vahz baya. Sauno dae."
It was nonsense to Kir, except for the word Jing.
"E Jing isa teh Bandit King!"
He pointed his toy Crimia Rayale upward at the squirted at the sky. Then gravity came into play, and the water he had shot out of the plastic gun splattered all over his face. The child in the oversized orange coat whined and began to wipe off the water with the back of his right sleeve.
Kir gave the boy an odd look as something came to his mind.
Wait, his right's arm's okay? I thought Cassis said that something was wrong with it when he was younger, so he couldn't use it…but it looks fine to me…
After the boy with the dust-hued eyes had wiped all the water from his face, he walked over to the stream. He took an empty bottle, dipped the bottle into the stream, and poured the water from the bottle into his toy gun. After the mock weapon was reloaded, he spotted a nearby rabbit and aimed at it.
"Crimia Rayale!"
The jet of water missed by over a foot.
"Here, kid, let me show you how it's done," stated the dark albatross, picking up the empty bottle. He dipped it into the stream, poured the contents into his mouth, and spit out a powerful spray of water at the rabbit. The direct hit knocked the rabbit off the rock it had been resting on and out of sight, like a cardboard marker at a shooting game.
The black avian looked at the child and smirked.
"Kir Royale."
The boy laughed.
"Kip! Kip! Kir Rayale!"
Kir smirked, and squirted more water into the black-haired kid's face.
"Aaah! Nu doka!"
"IMAZHOU!"
The boy in the oversized orange jacket spun around.
A boy the same age as him stood on one of the lesser hills nearby. He had slightly long chocolate hair and a wooden sword that he rested on one shoulder.
"Baya lai bela auig quanai tekatocka zohza," growled the boy. "O lai en bela keke."
The gray-eyed boy smirked, and took out a small, gilded watch. He swung it playfully back and forth on its golden chain.
"Jing uigar teh tekatocka kynaio Jing uin ta, Baiyu," the little thief answered, watching the timepiece rock from side to side. "E kero isa quinu Imazhou? Jing isa Jing."
"Baiyu isa ulebah lai, koki!" boy with the wooden sword snapped. "Iede de lai isa Imazhou e lai aulele yi."
"Nu Imazhou! Dae Jing!"
"Imazhou!"
"Jing!"
"Imazhou!"
"Jing!"
Kir stared at the scene. This looked familiar…wasn't there someone…
The dark avian took a double take of the other kid at the top of the hill.
Yeah, it's that other Chesirian guy we saw at Bacc, only he's a little kid. He called Jing Imazhou back there too. But wait, Jing said…
"Crimia Rayale!"
A surprised and angry yelp came from the little Baiyu as the black-haired boy squirted him right in the face. Without a moment's wait the child with dust-hued eyes grabbed Kir and dashed off, with the black albatross half-tugged, half-dragged as they fled the scene. The damp Chesirian boy was tailing close behind.
IIIIIII
"Heh, who would've thought the Bandit King used to live here?"
Razekar and Falcon ambled through the quaint village of White Zinfandel. There was nothing particularly special about it, besides the odd obsession over white. White houses primitively yet effectively made, white clothes, white doormats with obvious grime. It was such a contrast, with the entire wild world surrounding the little town. At the center of White Zinfandel was a large elaborate carousel, painted in the palest of colored hues.
Since they were in Cheshiria, or at least a simulated Cheshiria, most people spoke Chesirian. Razekar neither spoke or understood a word of it. Falcon, being part Chesirian, could understand it well enough, but couldn't speak it very well since his old home had given him little time to practice it. He'd been working on it since he had been living at Pharos's palace, but he was still far from fluent in it. Therefore, properly communicating with the locals was proving more than a little difficult.
"Where do you think Jing is?" the fair-haired fighter asked Razekar. "The real one, I mean."
"Well…" the young man with golden-orange hair began, looking up to the flawless sky. "I doubt he'd hide himself in any old tree. He's too good for that. So, he's probably inside something that was especially important to him. After all, you were in that burning tree whose flames you used to…"
He noticed Falcon studying the ground with false concentration.
"Hey, it's okay, buddy. You had a rough life then. I would've burned those trees to cinders myself," the lanky thief assured, patting the blue-eyed boy on the back.
"I know, it's just…" Falcon began. "I don't regret burning the trees. That did everyone a favor. But…not everything there was plants, you know that. I never even thought about it until after…"
"Well, if those were truly righteous flames, I'm sure no innocents were touched by them," Razekar assured solemnly.
Falcon gave him a long stare.
"I can't believe you said that with a straight face," the blonde stated, smirking.
"I know. Me neither."
Both of them quietly chuckled.
"Heeeeey! Falcon! Raze! Up here!"
The pair of companions, as well as quite a few curious villagers, watched as a white-haired youth glided down from the sky, hanging from the long legs of a white stork. An orange puppy dog was slung across his shoulders like a living neck-warmer.
"Dal! Where've ya been?" asked Falcon cheerfully, as the emerald-eyed boy landed on the ground safely. The short youngster paid a quick chirp to the stork as it flew off.
"Well, I woke up on top of that thing," answered the red-clad boy, pointing to an odd black-and-white object in the distance. "And I've been catching rides on all kinds of animals trying to figure out where everyone else ended up."
"I see," Razekar replied, studying the odd construction on the side of the mountain neighboring White Zinfandel. It looked like some kind of giant, curving, wall, painted with two rows of alternating black-and-white squares. It almost looked like a checkered smile. "What's it supposed to be, anyway?"
"It's the dam for this village."
The trio of travelers turned to see a tanned-skin woman in her late twenties standing behind them, a serene smile on her face. She had long black hair that went halfway down her back, and warm gray eyes. Her clothes were a simple, white with faint embroidery on the edges. Despite all the dust, they looked perfectly clean. Rolly jumped from Dalios's shoulders and dashed over to the young woman despite his protests.
Dalios and Falcon patiently waited for Razekar to make a move, and yet he never did. If anything, he seemed to be feeling slightly awkward. The lanky thief gave the two boys a look that questioned why they were so calm. They gave him a confused stare back.
"Does this village really need so much water?" asked Dalios. "Miss…um…"
"Azalera. Geneva Azalera," the Chesirian woman introduced herself, giving them a nod. Rolly sniffed at her ankles.
"…Hey, you speak the common tongue!" Falcon suddenly realized.
Razekar rolled his eyes.
"Yes, I learned it a while back, while I was still traveling," responded Miss Azalera, petting the Corgi mix. "And the dam was built long before White Zinfandel was. Who made it and why, like many things of this age, has been forgotten. But we can still use it, so it's not a complete loss."
"So that's it," replied Razekar, taking another look at the dam.
"What are your names?" asked the black-haired lady.
"Well, I'm Dalios," the white-haired youth began. "The blonde guy's Falcon, and the tall guy's Razekar. And the dog bothering you is Rolly."
"It's a pleasure to meet you all," answered the gray-eyed woman, picking the orange mutt up. "And don't worry, your Rolly isn't bothering me at all."
"Pleasure's ours too. And we could use more dog lovers in the world anyway," answered Razekar. "Anyway, you wouldn't have happened to have seen a blonde girl, a silver-haired princess, a black albatross, or a boy with a way-too-bright orange coat around, would you? We got separated from them a little while ago."
"No, I don't believe so. Though it sounds like you have a Bandit King in your mist," responded Miss Azalera, looking slightly amused. "Is his name Tanqueray Jing, by any chance?"
"Tanqueray?" asked Falcon, cocking his head slightly.
"Oh, don't worry about it. Just an old tale around here," she answered. "Why don't I help look for your friends? I've got my own little Bandit King to find, after all."
Falcon and Dalios gave each other looks. Razekar didn't seem the least surprised.
"You know," the red-clad boy whispered. "She does kinda look like that face in that crystal necklace he carries with him everywhere…"
IIIIIII
"I TOLD you this was the wrong way!"
"Oh, and suddenly YOU'RE the expert on Cheshiria, huh?"
Stir and Cassis glared at each other as they wandered in a woody part of the hills. There was plenty of light slipping through the wide slits in the canopy, but there was far too much foliage for either girl to retain their sense of direction.
"Well, at least I've looked at maps of Cheshiria before," Cassis countered, beating back limbs with her bat. "I know what the major parts of it are."
"Allright then, girl scout, which part of Cheshiria are we in now?" Stir quizzed, slashing vines out of the way.
"Well…"
"I thought so."
Both of them halted at the sound of leaves rustling. They crouched down silently.
From out of a nearby bush shot out a small Chesirian boy with chocolate-colored hair, dashing right in the front of the girls. They gave him a curious look as he ran off.
"Wow, people actually live out here?" Cassis remarked. "I was beginning to think we were the only ones."
"If we were the only ones here, we wouldn't-"
"Kir Rayale!"
Both girls got a squirt to the face.
"AAH!"
"HEY!"
Then the scarred blonde and the silver-eyed princess found themselves staring at a miniature Jing, who eyed them back with equal surprise.
"…You're joking, right?" Cassis asked.
Then Cassis happened to look down at his right arm, and burst out laughing. Giving the bat-wielder an odd glance, Stir too took a glance at the boy's upper limb. She could see why Cassis was laughing.
One dirt-covered black albatross was strapped to that right arm, secured in place by tied ropes and tightened buckles. On one side of the boy's right arm was fastened a half-empty bottle of water, which had a straw pointing out of the cap. The tail end of the straw was at the edge of Kir's beak. Apparently this was the power source of the "Kir Rayale" and its ever-so-deadly squirts of water.
Kir noticed the slightly drenched girls eyeing him, spit out the remaining water in his mouth, and gave them a sheepish smile.
"…Would you believe me if I said that I let him do this to me of my own free will?"
Cassis smirked.
"Actually, yes I would."
The young Jing gave Kir a curious gaze and pointed to the girls in front of them.
"Dokushoi?"
"Oh yeah, this is Cassis, and this is Stir," the muddy avian explained, pointing his wing first to the blue-eyed blonde, and then to the platinum-haired princess.
The boy with dust-hued eyes pointed to Stir using his right hand, jerking Kir along.
"Stir."
"Yep!"
Then Kir found himself suddenly being jerked to the right as the black-haired child quickly pointed to the other girl.
"Cah…su!"
"No, it's Cah-sus," corrected the black albatross.
"Cah-su!"
"Cah-SUS!"
"Cah-SU!"
"Don't bother, Kir," the blue-eyed girl interrupted, looking amused. "He's not gonna get it for another five years."
She leaned down to Jing's level.
"E lai nuia teh ci, ika Bandit King, vahz?"
The boy in the oversized orange coat began jumping up and down excitedly at the realization that he could understand this girl. Kir didn't enjoy the bouncing so much.
"Kip Kip!"
Stir gave Cassis an odd look.
"You can speak Chesirian?" she asked.
"Sure. I had to communicate with him somehow when he first showed up," the blue-eyed blonde replied, briefly turning around to look at the platinum-haired princess. The boy with dust-hued eyes looked at Stir too.
"Kanaka lai bai?"
Cassis turned back to the little Jing.
"Cassis bai Amarcord," the bat-wielder answered cheerfully. "E Stir isa syripterra de Grundia de Geelas."
The black-haired boy took another good look at Stir and grew excited.
"Olero, Cassu?"
Kir, who was starting to get a headache from all the child's excited waving around, understood nothing besides syripterra, which meant princess. It was one of the few words he remembered, and that was probably because he'd used it to harass Jing with after they left Zaza for the first time.
Stir looked somewhat sulky at being left out. The other boy who had dashed past them earlier walked over to her, apparently coming back to see why the boy in the oversized orange coat wasn't chasing him anymore.
"Vayu!" he greeted cheerfully.
"Um…hey."
"Kip!" the blue-eyed girl continued in the background, smiling. "Isa syripterra, nonu ala isah vespi de Grundia de Geelas. Ala isa bella ta Tarzan, telero de geelas."
"Kippi!"
Now Kir was confused. What did Tarzan have to do with the heir of Zaza?
The small Bandit King ran over to Stir and gave her a playful bow. As he did so, everything in his jacket pockets spilled out onto the ground. He let out a yelp and quickly began to stuff some fallen candy back into his coat.
"Quaoku?! Quanai maimai!"
…Which apparently belonged to Baiyu.
"Nu, maimai baya!" announced the mini Bandit King, hastily wadding his pockets with the rest of the candy. "Baiyu wonu yi, Jing uzil yi! Maimai!"
"Nu, maimai!"
"Maimai!" the black-haired boy shouted, bonking Baiyu's head with his right hand and, consequently, part of Kir's beak. The black albatross didn't appreciate it any more than the chocolate-haired Chesirian did.
"OW! Nu doka!" the blue-eyed child barked back, whapping the little Jing's head with his wooden sword in retaliation.
"OW! Quanai nu doka iviva!"
"Stop it, you two," growled Stir, making her way over to the squabbling children.
As she did so, she tripped over a stray vine and crashed into the two boys. The three of them ended up sliding all the way down the hill and landed in a large pit full of leaves. Stir soon resurfaced and started spitting bits of leaf, while the two Chesirian boys popped up and began to argue once more. There was a faint moaning under the leaves that was assumed to be Kir's.
"Hey, are you guys all-" Cassis began to call before she slipped on some of dead leaves and ended up tumbling down the hill herself, landing right on top of Stir and taking them both under the leaves. When they rose from the shriveled foliage, picking twigs out of their hair, the child duo began to laugh. After giving the boys annoyed looks, the blue-eyed blonde and silver-eyed princess began to laugh as well.
"Looks like you guys are having fun."
The quartet in the leaves looked up to see a white-haired boy peering down over them, seeming amused. He eyed the young Jing with mild surprise.
"Wow, we went a long way back, didn't we?"
"Yep," answered Cassis, a playful smirk on her face.
The two Chesirian boys gave the blonde blank stares.
"Dokushoi?" they both asked.
"Domo, Cassis ulele hu," answered the girl in baseball clothes. "Osa Dalios."
"Dahl-ee-oh-su?" both boys parroted awkwardly.
If Dalios noticed the mispronunciation, he didn't show it.
The little Jing waved at the white-haired youth.
"Dae Bandit King Jing, quanai dokusho Baiyu, e quanai Stir, syripterra de Grundia de Geelas e isa bella ta Tarzan.
The short youngster cocked his head slightly.
"Olero?"
"Kip kip!
"Okay…" the emerald-eyed boy replied, turning to the woods behind him. "Hey, I found them!"
Then from out of the brush came Razekar, pushing a branch out of his face as he stepped into the broad clearing surrounding the leaf pit.
"Which them do you mean, Dal?"
"Dae uzet aliali!" the short youngster shouted back.
Razekar stared at him blankly, and then gave the red-clad child a somewhat annoyed look.
"In my language, Dal."
"I said it in your language!"
"No you didn't."
"I did too!"
"No you didn't," Cassis countered. "You said it in Chesirian."
Dalios grumbled under his breath.
"He's been going back and forth between languages ever since we met up with him. He can't tell the difference between languages, so it doesn't matter to him which one he uses. Unfortunately, it doesn't go both ways," explained the lanky thief. "So, who've we got here…?"
Then from a different area of trees stumbled out Falcon, who was uneasily slinking around all the silent foliage like he expected it to attack him.
"Ah, there you are," greeted Razekar, as he gave him a quick salute for no apparent reason. Baiyu cautiously poked at Razekar's ankle with his wooden sword.
"Who'd you find?" asked the fair-haired fighter, eyeing the grass swaying at his feet.
"Oh, the princess, Miss Cassis, a little guy who likes to jab me with a stick, and a Bandit King that shrunk in the wash," the young man with golden-orange hair answered, taking the chocolate-haired Chesirian's toy weapon and watching him flail and whine for it as he held it just above the child's head. Little Jing began to laugh, and little Baiyu yelled at both him and Razekar while he still strained for his wooden sword.
Stir was watching the struggle with amusement when she felt someone tapping on her shoulder. She turned to see Dalios kneeling down next to her.
"Hey Stir, I got a quick question."
"What is it?"
"Well…" the emerald-eyed boy began, smirking. "May I ask when you became the princess of gorillas in the Land of Gorillas and got betrothed to Tarzan?"
Stir gave him a long, long stare.
"Hey, that's what the little Jing told me. Got any idea where that came from?"
The dark-clad warrior's silver eyes rolled over to a certain bat-wielding blonde nearby, who was now tossing leaves at the child in the oversized orange coat.
"…Yes, I believe I do."
"I take it that you've found him, considering all the noise."
The group turned their gazes in the direction of the voice.
Stepping with ease out of the wild growth came Geneva Azalera, her long black hair completely free of twigs and leaves. Even her white dress was spotless.
"Mama!" cried out little Jing, scrambling out of the leaf pit and over to the lady with warm gray eyes.
Stir and Cassis straightened up immediately.
"Zah mai Imazhou," she cooed in her native tongue, ruffling his messy black hair. "Das Imazhou ausa vasa?"
Then she noticed the bedraggled avian strapped sloppily to his right arm.
"Oh dear."
Nearby Razekar was fighting hard to control his laughter, and was losing the battle.
"Kanu Imazhou uvet osa?" the boy with dust-hued eyes asked eagerly, lifting his right arm up higher so she could see him better.
"No, you can't keep him,"Miss Azalera replied, sighing and shaking her head.
Though he didn't understand the words, little Imazhou knew what the head-shaking meant.
"Nonu Mama-"
"Nu, Imazhou," she answered firmly, untying the beat-up albatross.
"Guess we found the old bird just in time, huh?" Razekar stated, still looking highly amused.
Suddenly there was a loud rumble of thunder, which caused the lanky thief to jump. He looked up to what he could see of the stormy sky above.
"Not a thunderstorm…" he moaned.
"Huh? But it was clear a few minutes ago," stated Cassis, who had pulled herself out of the pit and was now helping Baiyu climb up.
"This is Cheshiria we're talking about," replied Dalios, looking up at the darkening sky with mild annoyance. "It can be scorching hot one minute and snowing the next."
"We better hurry back," responded Imazhou's mother, picking up her child. "You can stay at my house."
"Thank you," replied the girls, slightly too formally.
"Well, I'd love to join you fellas, but I think I better stay away for a bit," Razekar stated, acting more fidgety by the minute as the sky growled louder.
"Why?" asked the bat-wielding blonde, starting to smirk slightly. "You're not scared of thunder are you?"
"Well…" the young man with golden-orange hair began. "…Let's just say that there are disadvantages to being a master of electricity at times…"
Suddenly a thunderbolt plummeted from above, nearly striking Razekar. Soon this lightning strike was soon followed by another, and then another, and then another, as the lanky thief hastily danced about trying to avoid being hit.
"As you can see, the bolts just love me, so it's just a tad bit dangerous to hang around me at the moment," Razekar explained in-between deafening thunder crashes. "So I'll just skedaddle for now, okay?"
"Are you sure you'll be allright?" Miss Azalera asked, watching with uneasiness while Imazhou watched with amazement and laughter.
"Yeah, it happens all the time. See ya later!"
So Razekar fled down another path, lighting bolts snapping at his every step.
56th Shot: The Legend of the Bandit King
"You are one brave lady, Miss Azalera," commented Cassis, as she watched the boy with dust-hued eyes romp about the small house, chasing after Kir. Stir was sitting nearly, eyeing the young child quietly. She could hear the rain drumming on the roof heavily. Dalios was in another room, examining it while munching on an apple. Falcon was taking a nap somewhere, as the silver-eyed girl guessed by the snoring she heard. Rolly was curled up at the Chesirian lady's feet. Razekar, she presumed, was still being chased by lightning bolts outside.
"Well, I suppose it takes a certain amount of willpower to raise a child," stated the woman with long black hair, as she caught the little rascal and put him on her lap to give Kir a breather. "And patience."
Imazhou looked up at his mother with unrestrained curiosity as he heard her speak in words he didn't understand. When all his attempts to understand the strange sounds were thwarted, he began to wail loudly and squirm.
"Mamaaaa!"
"Gio kukuya?"
But the boy was calmed by the familiar tongue and beamed back at her while any further struggle.
"He must be a real handful with all the things he runs off with," replied Stir, watching as the Chesirian child stared at her and cocked his head slightly.
The lady with warm gray eyes sighed.
"I'll have to break him of that soon," she responded. "Right now he's just been playing along with the legend, but I can't have him making a habit out of it."
"Ku?" asked the black-haired boy, looking up to his mother.
"The legend?" both girls asked.
"Ku?" questioned the boy with dust-hued eyes, now looking at Cassis and Stir.
"The legend of the Bandit King, of course."
"Ku?"
"Oh yeah, Jing the Bandit King is supposed to be a Chesirian legend, isn't it?" asked Cassis.
Little Imazhou, not being able to understand anything that the guests or his mother were saying, began to wail and flail once more. This time his mother put him down, and he happily dashed over to Kir and began making funny faces at the black avian. The dark albatross began making funny faces back, so soon it escalated into a fierce competition of funny-face-making between boy and bird.
"Yes, it's one of the older Chesirian tales," the lady with long black hair continued. "The children have always loved it."
"Can he steal the stars out of the sky?" the blue-eyed blond asked, smirking slightly.
"Yes, that's one of his abilities," the Chesirian with warm gray eyes stated. "But there's much more to it than that."
"Like what?" asked Stir.
"Well, his full name is Tanqueray Jing. Imazhou can't pronounce Tanqueray yet, though, so he just uses Jing," Miss Azalera began. "But also the Bandit King is known to be a shapeshifter. He can take on the form of an orange cat whenever he wishes. Some even say he's always been a cat, who simply had a human guise for its convenience. It's an old debate."
Just then the little Jing scampered on by, triumphantly holding a red bandana in the air while a bare-necked Kir chased after him.
"It's said that when he becomes a human, his bright orange fur becomes his long orange coat," the Chesirian woman continued. "As long as he has that coat with him, he can change forms at will."
"…So that's why he's always wearing that stupid thing," Cassis muttered to herself.
"Hmm?"
"Oh nothing. Just reminded me of something. Go on."
Miss Azalera nodded in return.
"Of course, his human form is powerful as well. It's said that even though he appears to be a child, his right hand contains a great power. He can cut through anything when unrestrained, and fire energy blasts when the energy is channeled into a gun called Crimia Rayale, or Crime Royale. When it was not in use, however, he rests it in his coat pocket to both save energy and to appear to be a cripple to enemies."
Cassis seemed annoyed but unsurprised at this information. Stir, meanwhile, watched as the boy with dust-hued eyes was trying to introduce a very reluctant Kir to the family cat.
So it's all just a-
"But although the Bandit King's human form has the strongest fighting power, it is his cat form that is considered the most dangerous. The cat is colder, focusing solely on the target at hand, and its grace lets it hypnotize and manipulate other beings to its favor. And, looking no more supernatural than any other cat, it can slip into the shadows without a trace."
Stir was quiet.
"But why does the Bandit King steal?" asked Cassis.
"That answer depends on the person's view of the Bandit King," Miss Azalera stated. "Some say that he searches for ones dear to him, stealing to build a paradise for them to live in once he finds them all. Others say it's much simpler than that: he wants to steal, so he does so."
She turned to her son, who was playing with the cat while Kir watched from a safe distance.
"Imazhou believes in the paradise theory, of course, that he existed to help steal others away from dark fates."
"And what do you think, Miss Azalera?" asked Stir. "What was Tanqueray Jing's true motive?"
The mother looked up to her ceiling.
"Well, I've always thought…" she began. "That the boy and the cat shouldn't be considered the same."
Then the black-haired child ran over to the window and let out a happy cry.
"Mama! Ermiso! Ermiso!"
"It's snowing?" echoed Cassis, also dashing over to the window.
Imazhou began to dash outside, stopped only briefly by his mother, who slipped on his orange coat on him. She followed her laughing child outside the warm house.
Stir and Cassis followed as well.
IIIIII
"Whew! Finally…"
Razekar was catching his breath high up on the mountain near White Zinfandel. It was amazing how infatuated those lightning bolts were with him. Now it was starting to snow peacefully, which the lanky thief didn't mind one bit after the thunderstorm fiasco. Still, it was getting cold now, so Razekar decided it was time to go back to the village.
But before he began to leave, he noticed the black-and-white dam close by. Since this dam was the only real monument around as far as he could tell, he decided to take a closer look. Perhaps a Bandit King was hiding inside it?
It was easy covering the little distance between him and the dam. Upon arriving, he saw just how imposing it was, towering far higher than building he knew of, maybe even the palace walls he lived in. It had been a while since it had received a fresh coat of paint, revealing a dull gray behind the stark black and white, but it stood stiff and proud nonetheless.
"Guess you don't get many visitors, huh?" the lanky thief remarked, giving the cold surface a couple of pats. "Must be lonely up here."
"Why are you addressing a chunk of concrete like it can hear you?"
Razekar snapped his head in the direction of a young woman about his age, with deep brown eyes and curly black hair that went down just past her shoulders. She stood not a few feet away, dressed in a plain buttoned shirt with a black vest and black dress pants. Her white-gloved hands casually fiddled with a pair of glasses. A metal device rested on her wrist.
"Well, what's a pretty little lady like you doing up in these woods all by herself?" the young man with golden-orange hair replied, leaning against the dam casually. "You certainly don't look like one of the locals. For one, I can understand what you're saying."
"You don't fit in much yourself," the curly-haired woman remarked. "You didn't even bother trying to blend in, did you Raze?"
The lanky thief blinked.
"How'd you know my name?"
"You certainly a forgetful one, aren't you?" she commented, giving him a cool stare. "Well, I'm sure you'll be made to remember soon enough."
"And is that a threat, my lady?" Razekar asked.
"No, just a fact," she replied coolly, walking forward a bit. "But really, aren't facts concealed against your will more dangerous than anything else? After all, you never know when they'll break loose to stab you in the back at the worst moment."
She touched his face. He froze.
"Fool," she spoke, withdrawing her hand. "You shouldn't be so trusting."
She turned around and began to walk away.
"Oh yes, places like this will take full advantage of your stupidity. I would recommend moving soon."
"Hmm?" Razekar responded, before a great gale of wind blew across him. He had to close his eyes and pull his cap down to avoid getting any snow-turned-to-rain into his sight. By the time he opened his eyes again, the woman with black hair was gone.
"My lady?" he called out.
Suddenly a lightning bolt from above crashed down, and struck Razekar with its power. He let out a loud yell and stumbled to the side, trying to regain his senses.
"Uuugh…That was a cheap shot, you know…"
Then he sensed another thunderbolt plummeting his way, without mercy. The lanky thief did the only thing he could think of doing: he leapt out of the way, landing somewhat dizzily nearby.
The divine electricity stabbed the great dam, leaving a large charred hole in the concrete. From this wound bled water, lots of water, shooting out forcefully. Under this force more and more of the dam gave way, freeing more and more raging water. Cracks spread throughout the mighty wall like venomous snakes.
"…Crap…I…It's gonna…" Razekar muttered.
He broke into a run toward the village of White Zinfandel.
IIIIIII
"Uh…why are we doing this again?"
"We're watching for raiders, bunny boy."
Falcon and Cassis were at the edge of the village in the rainfall, which was now beginning to die away to a drizzle. Both of them were bundled up in white winter clothes they had borrowed from Miss Azalera, though now they didn't need the extra warmth. Stir and Dalios were on guard on the other side of town in case the attack took place that way. Cassis proudly stood with her trusty bat resting on her shoulder, while Falcon sat on a nearby rock looking sleepy. He never quite woke up from his earlier nap.
"Jing…Imazhou, whatever…told me that when he was real young he and his mother got separated in a raid on his village," she explained, scanning the horizon with diligence. "I have a feeling that this memory world is set real close to that time. I doubt this Leonidas would just let him live happy memories. So we're gonna meet up with these raiders ourselves and take them out before they wreck the village."
"But Raze told me that when you tried to change things in my memory world, it just happened anyway," the fair-haired fighter pointed out, unable to stifle a yawn. "So isn't it kinda pointless to try to stop the raiders?"
"I know that!" the scarred blonde growled. "But they might have the key to finding out where the real Jing is. As much as this place tells me about Jing…Imazhou…we still don't know where he's been hidden. Though it'll feel real good beating up some of those bastards too…you know what I mean?"
She turned back to find Falcon fast asleep on the rock.
"Hey you! Listen when I talk to you!" Cassis snapped, throwing her bat at him. It hit him right on the head.
"OW! Kuhu quanai?! Kuhu quanai?!" Falcon shouted, whipping his head back and forth.
"Over here, sleeping beauty," the blue-eyed girl growled, hands on her hips.
He stared at her blankly, head cocked slightly to the side.
"Ku? Kuhu lai aumest?"
"Huh?" Cassis answered dumbly, before glaring at him. "Whaddaya mean 'What'd I say?' ?! You understand English perfectly well and you know it! You even speak it better than-"
She paused.
"Wait a minute," the scarred blonde began. "Since when do you speak fluent Chesirian?"
He stared back.
"Kuhu lai aumest?"
Cassis was quiet.
…I didn't hit him that hard, did I?
"Cassis! Falcon!"
Both of them turned to see Razekar rushing down the mountain, rushing down at a seemingly inhuman speed.
"Kero quanai?" Falcon asked Cassis, looking curious "Oso nu ista de suhu."
"…That's Razekar, don't you remember?" Cassis answered anxiously, before realizing that she needed to translate. "Quanai Razekar, nu aumem? E nu oso nu- Hey, whaddaya mean 'one of us'?! Falcon, you do know that you're not from here right? Kanaka lai bai, Falcon?"
"Falcon bai White Zinfandel!"
Cassis was silent.
Oh crap, I did hit him that hard.
The scarred blonde noticed Razekar arriving and stopping to catch his breath.
"Razekar, uh, you…need to know something…I can explain…"
"Get everyone out of here! NOW!" Razekar barked.
"Huh?"
"Ku?"
"What's going-" Cassis began.
"There's a damn flood coming! It's heading right for the village!"
"A flood? What are you-"
Then the great roaring began.
IIIIII
"…What is that?"
"What's what?" asked Stir, as she and Dalios lingered near the entrance of White Zinfandel. They too were watching for the raiders that were supposed to come. The silver-eyed princess paid quick glimpses to the black-haired child that rode the colorful carousel filled with eternally happy animals. The boy was riding a red-and-yellow lion while Kir was mounted on an orange-and-blue donkey next to him. The black-haired mother was watching nearby, just outside her house, while Rolly licked at her heels and whined. They had considered telling the villagers about the upcoming attack, but no one in this village had the means to fight back, and causing a great panic about raiders would've only hindered their search for the true Jing. After all, all these people were figments, falsehoods, fakes.
"All I hear is the carousel music," the platinum-haired girl said. "What's it sound like?"
"It's like a roaring…" Dalios described, his had cupped to his ear. "Not animal roaring, though…not raider roaring either…wordless roaring…"
As Stir closed her eyes and listened, she began to hear it too. A ravenous roaring, a mindless roaring, a soulless roaring.
"It's coming from the back of town," the dark-clad warrior stated, narrowing her silver eyes and making her way past the frolicking carousel. The boy with dust-hued eyes gave her a curious look as she passed by.
She had taken no more than a few steps from the carousel when she saw the others dashing towards her.
"What's going on?!" demanded Stir.
"Get…to higher ground…immediately…" Razekar panted. "The dam broke."
"It what?!" the silver-eyed princess exclaimed. "How did it break?!"
Razekar didn't seem so eager to answer that question.
The other people in town began to notice the roar now too. It grew louder and louder, until it began to drown the music of carousel so even Kir and the boy with dust-hued eyes had to hear it. Miss Azalera hurried over and picked up her child.
"Mama?"
They could see it coming now, the immense deluge of sickly brown water tumbling rapidly down the mountain and toward the village. The villagers began to run, to scream.
"To the hills!" shouted Miss Azalera, clutching tightly to her bewildered son as she ran. "If we can get to the hills-"
But the judgment of the village came swiftly. The houses were crushed, the carousel was snapped, the people were washed away, all in one massive slithering motion. It was almost anti-climatic, how simply it consumed it all greedlessly. It bellowed all the while, a vicious animal freed from its cage, a fluid beast restrained by man no more.
That vast wall of brown water, charging forth like a crazed wildebeest, was the last thing anyone saw for a long while.
57th Shot: The Breaking of the White
Cassis found herself on a torn piece of roof, staring up at the darkened sky. The clouds were long gone, leaving only the stars. With a groan she pushed herself up into a standing position and rubbed her head. Then, slowly, she took in the scene around her.
The drowned ground had been stripped of nearly all plant covering, leaving nothing but naked brown muck. Twisted tree-trunks and branches were scattered everywhere, torn apart and stained with mud. In the remains of the tainted liquid floated tortured debris of what used to be huts, clothing, life. Not even the wind dared to break the silence.
My god…there isn't…anything…
Then she heard sobbing not far off, a child's tears. She knew who was crying even before she recognized the voice.
Oh Jing…there never were raiders…were there?
The scarred blonde willed herself to stand up and start walking in the direction of the weeping, even though she had a clenched feeling in her gut that she already knew what was waiting for her.
Cassis couldn't tell if it took too much time to get there, or not enough. All she knew is that when she finally arrived, regardless of the flow of the minutes or the hours, in a moment all fears became real.
The black-haired boy was there, trying to shake his mother awake, his gray eyes partly red and his oversized orange coat soiled and torn. She was lying on her belly, her wet black hair slopped over her head. He called her name over and over, as if she was just being especially stubborn about getting up, but the cracks spreading through his voice showed that not even he believed in his own lie. Young Baiyu was nearby, trying to calm him down while shaking with shock and fear himself.
Cassis tried to call to both of them, but the words remained buried deep within her chest.
She saw the others coming, all of them sopping wet and soaked in sludge. Kir was draped over Stir's shoulder in a daze as the platinum-haired princess walked forth with dread in her eyes. Dalios was trying to quiet a frantic Falcon as the fair-haired fighter spoke in rapid and confused Chesirian, while Rolly was bouncing just ahead of them and barking loudly. Razekar nearly tripped over the corgi mutt in his dazed state, the young man with golden-orange hair looking unusually pale as he stumbled over the shards of White Zinfandel.
Each one froze as they saw the sight for themselves.
"What…she's…she's…" Kir stammered. "Me and Jing were looking for her all this time…but why were we looking for her when he knew she's…"
"Ever heard of denial, old bird?" Razekar asked humorlessly. "It can do funny things to your head, like making you think something never happened, or something else happened instead. Look at him, he's denying it even now."
Kir turned to where the boy with dust-hued eyes was screeching at Baiyu as the other youngster tried to pull him away from his mother.
Nearby, Rolly was barking incessantly as Dalios snapped at the orange pup hlaf in human tongue and half in dog barks. Falcon was staring at white-haired youth strangely.
"Yes, I know that! Arrrf! Arf of course she smells arr roo roo! Why…Wait, what are you…do you mean…whiiine?"
"…Does that yappity dog of yours know something we don't?" growled Cassis lowly, glaring at the noisy corgi mix. "Otherwise my bat's gonna knock that mutt into Zaza."
"…He might…" Dalios replied somberly. "Go on Rolly."
Rolly trotted past the group and over to the kids and the body, nose to the ground. It paid little attention to either of the children, instead stopping at sniffing at the mother's arm. Then he gave the corpse a quick bite, just enough to pierce the skin. The gray-eyed child wailed fiercely and knocked the corgi mutt back with his arm, yelling at it in furious Chesirian.
Where Rolly had bitten the corpse, droplets of vivid multicolor liquid began to bleed out.
The others made no sound.
"…No wonder we couldn't find him," Razekar stated, a cheerless smirk on his face. "Wanted to go back to the womb, did he? Guess I couldn't blame him. This is going to make things a bit messy, though…"
From the metallic band on the lanky thief's arm shot forth his laser blade.
"Okay, anyone who doesn't want to see this better leave now," he stated flatly. "Don't think there's gonna be too much gore since it's mostly that rainbow stuff, but if you don't wanna see, I understand. At least get the two kids out of here."
Kir flew off Stir's shoulder and went behind a large fragment of the shattered dam. Dalios and Rolly escorted Falcon away from the scene, who was still speaking in increasingly scared Chesirian. After a flailing and screaming fit, Cassis managed to take the child in the stained orange coat into her arms and carry him off, with the other Chesirian child following after her and asking her questions she wasn't answering. Stir stayed at the same spot.
The young man with golden-orange hair walked over to the boy, and paid a quick glance to the platinum-haired girl behind him.
"You sure about this, princess?"
"I am."
Razekar knelt down before the body.
"Allright then."
One clean slit, and the colors inverted as the world froze.
The remains of the body dissolved into the pool of brilliant hues that spilled forth, leaving only an unconscious Bandit King behind. Razekar stood up, watching the colors sizzle off his electric arm blade and become pitch black smoke, and stepped back.
"Jing!" called out the silver-eyed princess, running over to him and shaking him a little. With a faint moan the boy in the blazing coat came to and sat up, holding his head. He noticed Stir kneeling down next to him.
"Oh, hello there princess," he greeted nonchalantly, smiling a little. "Did I fall asleep again? I really must stop doing that in this place. So where-"
But then his smile slipped away and all the casual chatter died in his throat as he saw where he was. His terrified gray eyes took in the shattered surroundings that he knew all too well, and he brought his knees to his chest and began to shake.
"Jing…Jing, it's okay," Stir whispered, placing a hand on his quivering shoulder. "It's over now. It's over."
The only reply she got was a high-pitched whine as he placed on head on his knees and kept on trembling. Stir's eyebrows creased worriedly.
"Jing…"
Cracks slithered all over the landscape, spreading at a quickening rate, until everything broke into splinters and began to fall away. Through the gaps came the colors, swallowing the fragments, until there was no more world to consume. With nothing to stand on, everyone found themselves pummeling down far, far into the vibrant essence until all their senses gave way.
First, to the wine references:
White Zinfandel - a wine that is soft, sweet, easy and delicious. Sounds like the kind of place that people would like to live in, espeically to relax and play.
Tanqueray - a brand name, it's said that this company produces a superior gin. So "Tanqueray Jing" is like a more perfect or legendary Bandit King.
Geneva - from the word "Genever", from which the word of "Gin" is derived. Since "Jing" is derived from "Gin", it seems appropriate enough to name his mother after the source of Jing's name.
As a side note, I made the mother very calm for three reasons: it fit the overall flow of the story the best, the episode in the anime about Elixir and the Por Vora hint that Elixer may be much like his mother, and Elixir is very calm and gentle, and you need someone very patient to deal with a little five-year-old brat like Jing XP. If we talking about the actual series, however, I wouldn't be surprised if my interpretation of Jing's mother is off.
Updates will probably be slow for a while, as I must work on draft for them and adjust previously typed areas. That said, the next chapter might come fairly quickly. Or it might not. It depends on how much things must be rewritten.
NEXT CHAPTER: Everyone is invited to a grand party! They even get free clothes, whether they want them or not. Still, it could be a fine time to set hearts afire, if said hearts are still in one piece. And those with guilt on their conscience could be especially vulnerable...
Cya!