Author's Notes: Hey hey! So sorry the chapter is a whole day late! I got a new pc for Xmas, but it doesn't have all my programs installed in it yet, and I couldn't find the install disk for my website editing progrm, Dreamweaver, so I couldn't edit the chapter . Because it's I'm already so late, and I STILL can't find my install disk, I decided to update it without editing and formatting it. I'll replace it with a better copy once I find my program!
Oh, and Pluton, thank you for your email! I'd reply to you, but I lost all my stored email *bangs head on desk*. But, in case Tess hasn't told you yet, this is the chapter where Pluton makes his reappearance! Wee! He'll have a much bigger role after this ^.^
I have so much art to catch up, with both Xmas and the NumaRei no Con convention coming up! I wish I could have another vacation out to California and Las Vegas . Ah well.
Enjoy the chapter! Oh, and I hope PizzaPizza likes the extra action added to the chapter ^.^ If he's still reading this, that is…^.^;;
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Renka, Myrall, and the White Wolfs at her sides, stared across the clearing in shock at the thuggish looking bandit clan that stood before them. Their clothes were stained with dirt and blood, looking as if they'd never been washed, and their expressions were cruel and hateful, looking for a fight.
"Who are you, and what do you want? This is the band of the White Wolfs—if you have no business here, then leave quickly," she said, staring harshly at the dirty bandits.
The bandits were silent a moment, just grinning. Then, a figure stepped out into view. He was a Barbarian, and had black, shoulder-length hair and a large scar running across his face, right across his left eye.
"Hello, dear Renka and friends—miss me?" the man said, grinning.
Renka held back a gasp. "Gimahith of the Black Serpent!"
"Glad you remember me—you seemed so young at the time, but you've certainly grown up, haven't you?" he said. "And Myrall at your side, as usual? I would have thought your target was Raaj—oh, but then again, he's gone now, isn't he? I guess you won't be waiting for him for ten years, will you?"
Renka flinched. "You're here because Commander Raaj is gone now? What are you planning, Gimahith?" Renka hissed.
"Commander Raaj? That boy is no longer the commander, dear. And I know from my sources that White Wolf now has no commander. What a fine opportunity for me to come and help support my old clan. I might even become your new commander if you really begged," Gimahith chuckled.
Renka opened her mouth to respond when she heard Myrall draw his sword and step forward.
"Wait!" Renka called, holding Myrall back with her hand.
Myrall looked at her, his eyes saying he wanted to fight.
"No! We will settle this without blood-shed if we can!" she said, stepping in front of Myrall.
"Gimahith, go home! You were exiled from the White Wolf clan. You had your chance at being leader when Commander Rakruto was turned in and gave you power. But you proved to be a greedy and unreasonable commander, so Commander Raaj overthrew you. That was your one and only chance," she said sternly. She pulled the blade from her side. "But I'm sure you knew when you came here that the White Wolf would not give into you so easily. I see you have your own little clan now, which you no doubt plan to beat us with, but let me warn you that now, and even when you were still here—the Clan of the White Wolf is not to be underestimated," Renka said.
Gimahith stopped, his smile slightly faded for a moment before returning slyly.
"Well, I see you've certainly become bolder, little Renka. But I think you think too highly of your band of White Wolfs—I think, you will find, that you are not, in fact, invincible. And don't forget that your precious commander isn't here to help, for he certainly would come in useful in times like these, eh?" Gimahith smiled before swiftly drawing his sword.
At Gimahith's words, his men and the White Wolfs drew their swords and began attacking each other, Myrall leading the White Wolfs against Gimahith's bandits, with Renka close behind.
Renka, seeing Gimahith cutting down her fellow White Wolfs, ran towards him. When Gimahith fought Raaj for power over the White Wolfs long ago, Renka had many a time wished to fight Gimahith, but she had been too afraid. Now she had the chance and the courage to fight the man who had cause her and the White Wolfs so much pain.
Gimahith dodged Renka's attack, side-stepping quickly, but Renka was fast—she swung her sword at him again, barely missing his torso as he moved to the side. She glared at him, and he smiled at her cockily, as if he had barely been trying. She dropped her sword and pulled her two special kamas from her sides. He cocked an eyebrow at her odd choice of weapons, but he had no time to mock her before she slashed at his stomach with one. He jumped back again, this time the kama skimming his stomach, slicing just barely through his chain mail armor, nicking his stomach enough for blood to start dripping to the ground. He glared at her, his confidence obviously declining, and gripped his sword tightly as he swung at her.
Renka jumped backwards, the grass flying from where her foot uprooted it. She jumped at Gimahith, her kamas swinging, but he blocked them with his sword. Renka leaned forward, bracing her kamas against his sword, trying to push him back, but he was strong and held firm.
"You will never lead the White Wolfs, Gimahith of the Black Serpent…I will make sure of that, in place of Raaj," she said determinedly.
Gimahith stared at her, annoyance in his face. "If I cannot lead the White Wolfs, little Renka…I will destroy them!" he exclaimed, suddenly pulling a dagger from his sleeve, and, before Renka could react, jabbing it into her side.
Renka jumped back in surprise, her kamas dropping from her hands. Blood ran down her left side as she backed away from Gimahith, her arm clutching her side in pain. Gimahith followed her, his sword drawn.
"You were just too cocky, Renka of the White Wolfs. You had so much faith in the White Wolfs, but you seemed to forget about your own skill. The day I fought Raaj, I nearly killed him. Though, as you know, he slashed my face," Gimahith said, tracing his fingers down his scarred face, "and then, of course, won the battle and banished me and so forth. But he came close to dying, himself, in that battle, and I know he has scars to prove it.
"You, dear Renka, have never matched up to Raaj's skill, and yet you were so eager to fight me, you came running at me, not thinking of how our skills compared. But now—now I think you're probably reconsidering that decision. Though at this point, I'm afraid your fate's already sealed. See you in the afterlife, Renka of the White Wolfs!" Gimahith said, swinging his mighty sword down at Renka.
Renka flinched, but her eyes widened when she heard the sound of swords hitting each other. She looked up to see Myrall standing in front of her, blocking Gimahith's blow with his sword.
"Myrall!" she exclaimed.
"Renka, you idiot! Are you trying to get yourself killed, fighting this guy?"
Renka frowned and opened her mouth to speak, but Gimahith suddenly kicked Myrall in the stomach. Myrall, surprised, jumped backwards, but lost his footing trying to avoid the fallen Renka, and fell onto the ground. Gimahith swung at him, but he rolled quickly out of the way. Gimahith swung again, but before he could hit Myrall, Renka slashed him deeply in the side.
Gimahith stared at her wide-eyed as he backed away, blood flowing freely from his open wound. Myrall stood up and helped Renka to her feet, both of them watching Gimahith as he fell to his knees, his face distorted in pain.
Renka glanced about the field—all around, the White Wolfs were gaining on Gimahith's men, and it looked like the outcome was already pretty apparent. Gimahith himself was now crumbled on the ground, blood pouring from his wound.
"I told you not to…underestimate the White Wolfs…Gimahith of the Black Serpent…" Renka said, clutching her wound.
"And I told you…not to be so cocky…" Gimahith said. Before he had even finished his sentence, he sent a dagger flying at the wounded and unsuspecting Renka. Renka fell backwards when she saw it coming towards her, but it never hit her. When she opened her eyes, Myrall lay in front of her, the dagger sticking through his shoulder.
"Myrall!" Renka gasped, turning him over and examining the wound. "Myrall! Oh no, not like this! The battle can't end like this! You can't die, Myrall!" Renka exclaimed, panicked. She grabbed the dagger that was sticking through his shoulder and jerked it out, a gush of blood coming with it, drenching his tunic. He grunted in pain and grabbed Renka's hand tightly. Renka held his hand firmly, not minding how tightly he gripped her hand, or how much she wanted to jerk it away to relieve her pain.
Suddenly, she was aware of one of Gimahith's bandits behind her, about to swing at her while she was unsuspecting. Renka searched for a weapon, but there was none close enough to reach in time as he hurled his sword at her. Suddenly the bandit seemed to glow with green flames, screeching in pain, before falling to the group, unconscious. Renka looked around wide-eyed and saw the rest of the remaining of Gimahith's bandits falling to the ground, the green fire encircling them.
Standing up, she saw a gnome standing at the edge of the field, his hands glowing green, sparkling lights flashing around him, encircling his body.
Renka paused, wide-eyed. "…Pluton?!" she exclaimed.
Pluton smiled at her, though his voice was slightly pained. "I see I'm a bit late, hmm?" he said.
She blinked, "what are you doing here?"
"I was passing through when I heard what sounded like a battle. Interested, I decided to come see what it was about, and when I saw you about to be run through by that filthy looking bandit, I decided to lend my powers to your side," he said.
"Oh yes…you're a wizard! Oh, if only we had had your powers at the beginning of this battle," she said grimly, looking down at Myrall, who was on the verge of unconsciousness. "Well, for the help you have given us, I am very grateful. I don't really have anything to reward you with except for pelts right now—is that alright?" Renka asked.
Pluton smiled, "I need no reward, though I thank you for your generous offer."
Renka smiled, "Well then, since night is already upon us, would you like to stay in our camp tonight? I guarantee it's more safe then sleeping defenseless in this dangerous forest, no matter how powerful you are," she asked.
Pluton paused. "Well, since it is already night, I suppose I will accept your generous offer," he said, smiling.
Renka sat beside Myrall's mat, watching his unconscious body, her brows furrowed. She heard someone at the entrance of the tent and looked up to see Pluton walk into the tent.
"Pluton?" Renka said.
Pluton smiled, "how's your hot-headed friend doing?"
"Hmm, he's getting better now that he's bandaged up. At least there's no fear of him dying. I was really afraid he would die at that time…seeing so much blood pouring from his wound…Myrall's such an idiot, jumping in front of that dagger like that," Renka said, a pained look on her face.
Pluton cocked an eyebrow at her. "It may have been foolish, but he did it to save your life," he said.
"Yeah…I know," she said solemnly. After a pause, she shook her head as if to clear her thoughts, and looked at Pluton, smiling weakly. "So, what business brings you this direction, Wizard?" she asked.
"Nothing in particular, this time. I am but wandering about, lending my powers to others in need occasionally," Pluton said.
"…Others in need? Do we qualify?" Renka asked, hopefully.
Pluton chuckled. "It depends on what you want me to do! I'm sorry, but I don't plan to join any clan of bandits, no matter how in need they are of a powerful wizard," Pluton smiled.
Renka sighed. "Well, we never needed help when Commander Raaj was here. When he was here, everything was going fine. Like today, when others of the White Wolfs' enemies hear we are without a leader, slowly, many more will come about to attack us and try to claim our clan. It's inevitable. And without a strong leader, we may not be able to defeat them all. How horrible it would be if, when Commander Raaj was let out of prison, he returned to find the White Wolfs taken over by some other clan," Renka said, sighing painfully.
Pluton watched her, "then all you need is for you to get your commander back, and you'll be satisfied?" he asked.
Renka looked up at him curiously. "Yes…if Raaj came back, that would solve all our problems. I would be happy again," Renka said. "But there's no way to get him back. He's in jail, serving his sentence."
"Just because he's in jail, doesn't mean you can't get him back," Pluton said.
"What are you implying?" Renka asked.
"You don't think like a bandit much, do you, Renka of the White Wolfs?" Pluton asked, smiling.
Renka paused. "You mean, break him out?" she asked curiously. She shook her head. "It's impossible. The entrance of the jail is heavily protected, and there's no other way in. Even if you did get in, the jail cells themselves are protected with magic," Renka said.
"You're right—getting your commander out wouldn't be easy. That's why we'd need a plan first," Pluton smiled.
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Blue the Echidna: Waah! Finally, I've been wondering what happened to ya. The last time you wrote was like in september I think. Anyway I'm glad you're back and writing again. =)
Amai's Reply: Yaaay! I'm so glad you noticed I was still alive ^.^ I hope I can get back on track now! And I know, it's been forever since I updated like a good little girl *sob* Thanks for sticking with Arelle!