Of Assassins, Samurai, and Magic
A/N: And the next chapter is up! I've tried to keep everyone as close as possible to their characters in the anime though I'm sure there will be a few OOC moments. Comments and reviews are much appreciated.
For those of you who left unsigned reviews, see my replies below:
kris-tim – Thanks for the review! I'm glad you're enjoying the story. ^^ I read all of my reader's reviews and always try my best to reply back to them. :) I agree with you, when Fate and Nanoha are together, they're just so cute together. ^^ Here's the next chapter for you. I think I'll have some people squealing at how it ends. lol.
3 – Thanks for your comment. :) One of the things I'm a stickler about is posting regularly. At some point, I do hope to post for this story on a weekly basis, but currently I just have too many things going on at the moment for that to happen. I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter. I too get emotional at times with the characters, even if I'm just proof reading my own stories. Lol! Anyhow, the next chapter is here! I think you'll like this one. Hehe. Thanks again.
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: The characters and the worlds I write in do not belong to me. The stories that I write are intended for entertainment purposes. I do not make any money from them.
*** ~ Chapter 20: Flash of Lightning ~ ***
Midnight. Middle District.
A blur of black and blue zipped across the rooftops. The full moon was high in the sky, highlighting the fast moving form as they leapt from building rooftop to building rooftop, continuing their patrol along the outer edges of the middle district. The night had been quiet so far, but the blur knew things wouldn't always be this easy.
A scream.
The black and blue clad assassin skidded to a halt, head snapping towards the direction of the scream. Green eyes narrowed. Another scream sounded soon afterwards, the assassin springing into action, immediately darting over to the source of the disturbance. Six rooftops later, the darkly clad assassin found what they were looking for.
Down below was an alleyway which ended in a dead end. There a young couple cowered against the back wall, a group of three sloppily dressed thieves slowly approaching them from the front brandishing knives.
"Gives us your money and your woman, and we'll be on our way," said one of the thieves. The man, dressed in brown garments with frayed edges licked his lips lecherously. He wore a sleeveless top with matching pants, scoffed leather boots and a dirty white rag tying up his greasy black hair.
Green eyes rolled.
"S-stay back you thugs!" the cowering man of the couple said. While he made a feeble attempt to shield his girlfriend behind him with his body, he shook worse than a leaf tumbling in the wind.
The thieves laughed. "S-s-s-stay back!" one of them mocked the man. "D-d-don't hurt us!" They laughed again.
THUD!
The thieves' eyes went wide.
"You heard the man. Back. Off."
The black and blue assassin now stood in front of the cowering couple, the lead thief now lying face down in the dirt at the assassin's feet. The lead thief's companions gawked at the assassin, their slow minds still trying to process what had just happened. The assassin smirked.
"You two, get out of here." The assassin glanced back over their shoulder at the couple. "And don't be out by yourselves this late at night again."
"T-t-t-thank you!"
The couple ran for their very lives, vowing to never again be caught outside so late at night. The remaining two thieves snapped out of their stupor, both of them turning towards the escaping couple.
A roar.
One of the two thieves went flying to the sound of a startled yelp. The man flipped head over heels in the air, landing hard on the ground on his face moments later. The second of the thieves now lay limply in the dirt almost ten feet away. The third and last conscious thief turned back to the assassin, jaw slack.
"Didn't I tell you? Back off." The black and blue assassin retracted their outstretched armored fist and settled into a wide stance. Fists were held up in front of them, boxing style.
Getting his wits about him, the final thief charged the assassin with a guttural growl. A split second before his blade sliced into the assassin's neck, the assassin dodged a step to the left bringing up their right knee. The air was literally knocked out of the thief's lungs as the assassin's knee connected with his stomach. Stumbling backwards a few steps, the thief barely had enough time to register movement before a metal clad fist connected with his cheek, sending him crashing into the closest wall with a sickening crack. His body slithered to the ground soundlessly before falling still.
The assassin grimaced. "Maybe I put too much strength into that one…" The assassin sighed staring at the thief.
A blast of white sent the assassin crashing to the ground a second later, despite the assassin dodging to the side. An invisible force had clipped them in them shoulder with the strength of a charging bull. Their whole body felt as if it was on fire. Luckily for the assassin, they had dodged the main part of the attack out of pure reflex. Had they been caught in the full blast, they would have been dead. The assassin struggled to right themselves, despite their blurred vision and pounding head.
"You piece of trash!" said a voice behind them.
The assassin managed to get to their hands and knees, swaying unsteadily as they turned to look back. The first thief was on his feet again, a pulsing blue magatama jewel in his shaking, outstretched hand.
"I don't know what rock you crawled out from under, but you're going to pay for that!"
Another explosion of white.
The assassin rolled to the right in time, just narrowly missing the second beam of magic. Even so, the magical essence left in its wake made the assassin's skin tingle with pin pricks. The assassin groaned, staggering to their feet despite the feeling of nausea slowly clawing its way up their throat. Their shoulder burned and their limbs felt like lead. But as much as the assassin wanted to lie down to let the worst of this pass, they could not. That would mean certain death. So instead, they held their head in one hand and lowered themselves into a wide but shaky stance.
"That all ya got?" The assassin's words came out slurred.
"Why you little-"
THWOP!
The blue magatama jewel clattered to the ground with a loud chime before it stopped glowing and fell silent. Green eyes blinked in confusion. Then the assassin's gaze landed on the arrow protruding from the thief's hand, the one originally holding the Spirit Seed in the first place. It took the thief a whole three seconds before he screamed, finally realizing his hand was impaled with a shaft of wood. The assassin flinched at the sound, the scream reverberating in their ears making their throbbing head worse.
A whoosh of air.
The thief dropped to the ground with an arrow in his shoulder.
Soon after, a blur of white and red dropped from the roof nearest to the newly fallen thief. Walking over to the impaled man, a white and red clad assassin stooped down and ripped the arrows from the man's body. Wiping them off on the thief's clothing, the new assassin put their arrows back in the quiver strapped to their back. In their hand was an intricately craved ivory bow.
"T-Tea?"
Blue eyes darted over to the assassin in black and blue before widening. "S-Subaru?" Teana would recognize that Taijutsu stance anywhere. "What are you doing here?"
"So it is you…" Subaru said slumping to her knees and falling forward.
"Subaru!" Teana dashed over to Subaru, catching her friend before she face planted on the ground. "Kami-sama! What did you do to yourself!"
Subaru's head lolled against Teana's shoulder. "I was jus' trying... ta help this couple from those guys..." Subaru murmured. "And then this white light…" She weakly grasped Teana's garb.
Teana looked down at her pocket, the place she had shoved the thief's magatama jewel before rushing over to Subaru. Her eyes went wide. "He shot you!"
Subaru chuckled, her glazing eyes landing on the Teana's bound red forearms. "I'll be okay..." she said, her voice growing softer. "Jus' need a nap and I'll be fine..."
"No! No! No Subaru! No napping right now! We need to get you someplace safe first!" Teana inwardly cursed. She slung the half conscious assassin's arm around her shoulders, snaking her free arm around Subaru's waist. With a mighty heave, she dragged Subaru to her feet. With her bow safely slung on her back, she proceeded to drag a stumbling half conscious Subaru away from the scene of the previous battle.
"What are ya doin' out here Teeeeaaaaa? Ya should be sleepin.'" Subaru giggled, leaning into Teana causing her to stumble at the sudden increase in weight.
"Baka!" Teana grunted. "That's something I should be asking you! Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Subaru's words were slurring, a very bad sign.
Subaru's head fell forward, the brawler remaining surprisingly quiet. Teana started to panic. "Subaru? Oye! Subaru!" She shook Subaru.
"Nanoha…" Subaru murmured.
"Eh?" Teana stopped walking. She peered down at her friend.
"Nanoha was cryin' earlier," Subaru said. Green eyes held fresh tears. "I didn't want... ta see Nanoha cry again..." Subaru's voice was but a whisper now. "The samurai can't watch over everywhere all the time. So I came ta help them."
Teana frowned. "Baka," she said but the word held no malice. That was the same reason she was out here as well. To make sure no one else would have to go through what Nanoha did. But thinking about it now, what could she or Subaru do against Spirit Seeds? Had Teana thoroughly thought things through, she would have realized how foolish this idea was. But she had to do something. And she knew Subaru felt the same way. Both of them couldn't sit idle while people continued to get hurt. They started to walk forward again.
"Did ya kill 'im?"
"Huh?"
Green eyes looked up into blue. "That guy back there," Subaru clarified. "Did ya kill 'im?"
Teana shook her head. "My arrows are tipped with Chloro Root paste. He's just sleeping."
"Ah…" was all Subaru said. Her head lolled forward again.
"Well isn't this an interesting sight."
Teana froze, going absolutely rigid at the sound of this new voice. A flash of metal caught her eye, her gaze going upwards to the closest building rooftop. There she found a blue clad assassin brandishing a large boomerang shaped weapon. On their back was the assassin's clan insignia. It was a white circle with a navy blue border. Inside the circle had the symbol 'VII'.
"I came looking for a Spirit Seed and here I find… you two…" The blue clad assassin tilted her head to the side, regarding the pair before her, curiously. "Something about you two feels… unlike any other assassin I've run into so far tonight. Why is that?"
Teana gritted her teeth, slowly lowering Subaru to sit on the ground next to her. She failed to notice the soft chime from her hidden orange magatama keychain under her white garb. The midnight blue magatama pendant which hung hidden around Subaru's neck also chimed softly.
"Tea?" Subaru gazed dazedly up at her friend.
"Just stay put Subaru. And don't dare do anything stupid, alright?" Teana drew her bow from her back, pulling back an arrow taut against its string.
Rose coloured eyes narrowed at the assassin in white. "And what do you plan to do with that?" The blue clad assassin raised an eyebrow.
Teana narrowed her eyes at the assassin. "Here, let me show you!"
Teana's arrow whistled through the air, straight at the assassin in blue. In a flash of movement, the wooden shaft shattered into hair-like splinters. Teana's eyes widened as the blue clad assassin twirled her boomerang in front of her like a scimitar.
"The strength and aim of your shot is commendable," the blue assassin said.
Teana flinched when the assassin in blue suddenly appeared right in front of her.
"But I am far above your level."
Teana went flying backwards into the air, the blunt side of the boomerang smacking her hard in the ribs. She crashed to the ground hard on her back, black spots blotting her vision as she wheezed.
"Tea!"
CLANK!
The blue assassin was caught off guard by Subaru's strength laced jab. For someone seemingly incapacitated, the girl sure hit hard. The blue clad assassin skidded backwards on her heels a few feet, her boomerang held up defensively in front of her. Subaru stood protectively in front of Teana, fists raised. Her stance swayed a bit, but Subaru's green eyes held a fury unlike any the blue assassin had ever seen.
Subaru charged the assassin in blue, a feral growl escaping her lips as her right gauntlet clad fist shot forward with an incredible speed. The blue assassin brought up her boomerang just in time to block the shot again, but was thrown off balance by the blow which left a dent in her weapon. But before Subaru could land another punch, metal connected with her chin, the boomerang clipping her in the face, sending her reeling backwards head first.
"SUBARU!"
Teana watched in horror as Subaru not only defended her, but ended up taking a blow for her too. Subaru hit the ground with an audible thud and lay still. She groaned.
"Kisama!"
The blue assassin ducked to the right, just narrowly missing an arrow aimed for her head. The arrowhead grazed her cheek however, drawing a fine line of blood, much to the blue assassin's shock. She had not expected the assassin in white to recover so quickly. Nor did she expect the arrow to fly at her with such speed or force. The fact that she saw it at all was a miracle.
Rising quickly to her feet, the blue clad assassin stumbled a few steps to maintain her upright position. Dizziness suddenly gripped her, bewildering her. She had yet to tap into her inherent abilities, so it was impossible for her to feel this drained already. What was the cause of this? The blue assassin shook her head, but that did little to clear it. A soft thwopcaught her ear and she just barely dodged to the side to avoid another arrow. She staggered in her stance, the dizziness getting worse as her vision started to swim.
"You'll pay for that!" Teana was on her feet now, protectively standing in front of the fallen Subaru. She shot her arrows in rapid fire at the assassin in blue. Much to her frustration, the assassin dodged them all despite the Chloro Root paste slowing down the assassin's movements ever so slightly.
Things had dragged on longer than the blue assassin had anticipated. She had underestimated these assassin wannabes, an error which she would correct right now. Dodging the latest volley of arrows, the blue assassin let loose her boomerang with precision accuracy. Teana barely dodged her bladed weapon by a hair's breadth, falling back on her romp in the process. Her boomerang quickly returned to her, the blue assassin wasting no time whipping it at Teana again.
The archer barely brought up her bow in time to deflect the bladed boomerang away. But her bow could not withstand the force of the blow, snapping into two with the bladed boomerang clipping her in the shoulder. Teana cried out, clutching at her shoulder as a burning pain ripped through the joint, red oozing from between her fingers.
The blue assassin smirked, bringing the blade weapon up to her lips the moment it returned to her, licking off the blood at the tip where it had pierced Teana's shoulder. The haze in her mind was finally receding. The blue assassin was no longer under the throws of dizziness.
"You put up a good fight," the blue clad assassin said. "Better than most. But this is the end. I shall remember you both."
The blue assassin flung her arm forward, her boomerang rocketing into the air like a bullet towards Teana and Subaru. Teana twisted and dove for Subaru behind her, covering her with as much of her body as she could.
"Sonic Move!"
CLANK!
Teana jolted when the bladed boomerang clattered to the ground mere feet away from her face. She dared a glance back at the blue clad assassin. Her eyes went wide when she found her gaze blocked by the back of another assassin, this one dressed in black with arms and shins bound in red. On their back was their clan insignia, a bolt of lightning. But what really held Teana's attention was the weapon this new assassin held. A wicked looking onyx scythe with a blade made purely of lightning…
A/N: I made up Chloro Root paste, based on Chloroform which is known to put people to sleep by inhaling the vapors.
For those of you unfamiliar with the non-English words, I have translated them below.
Kami = God
Baka = Idiot
Kisama = You (usually used to show the speaker's extreme hostility / outrage towards the addressee)
For an explanation of Japanese honorifics (eg. [name]-sama), please check out: http:/en[dot]wikipedia[dot]org/wiki/Japanese_honorifics