Rated: PG-13
Language: English
Categories: Humour/Adventure
Title: RoChronicles
Summary: Life was good for Zira, Shujiri, Swift, and Eos where they lived in the division of Rune Midgard known as Void. Then one day, a dark cloud fell over the land and everything they knew fell apart. Will they ever be able to pick up the pieces? More importantly, can they remember who they were along the way?
Author's Note: Finally, we get to Yuuki! 8D It only took me forever! I'm so, incredibly, ecstatically proud of this and the last two chapters that you just don't even know. /sob Alright, two quick notes before we get to the theme and then launch into the series. I had some questions about who Sarta is; he's my online brother's Assassin Cross from DelusionRO and DivinationRO. Also, there's the matter of Spiral Pierce. /... I know it's supposed to be a spear move, but that's what Yuuki primarily used on VoidRO and so that's what he's using on here. As for alternating between calling him 'samurai' and 'rurouni,' his actual mob name was Rurouni Yuuki but the mob information section on the server's site listed his alternate name as 'Samurai,' as it was seen on ScytheRO. So I went with both. XD And I have yet to find proof that Yuuki was a girl in any of the sprites I've seen of it, or the screenshots, or the 'tarded self-references it made whenever I fed it as my pet. SO! We'll make it into a boy here. Sorry to those who disagree with the proposition that Yuuki was a girl. /heart NOW! For the theme song, we're still in Amatsu but it might be pushing it to go with that song again, so we'll go with the remixed version which can be found on youtube and is called "Hybridism: Out of Curiosity."

RoChronicles

Chapter Thirty: Rurouni Yuuki
"What the Hel is that thing?" cried Sahari, stepping back a few inches as best she could without standing again.

"Yuuki!" Pharin tweeted, hopping excitedly on the distraught Ghebriel's shoulder. "It's me! Relax! You remember us, right?"

Shujiri shushed the homunculus, his eyes remaining trained on the monster. "None of the other monsters have so far, so why should he? We need to treat him like an enemy for our own sakes."

"We can't warp them out yet." Zira warned as he nodded to Falcone and Alex. "They're far too unstable; we need some time to work on them first. Do you think you can do that?"

Shujiri looked down to his fallen friends. Both were pale and had lost a lot of blood. They needed attention, undivided, immediately or their chances of survival were slim to none.

However, the longer they stayed near this monster, the lower the rest of their chances of survival all became. He was far stronger than any of them and much faster; two of them were already in critical condition and down for the count. If they stayed, who's to say the others wouldn't slowly (or not-so-slowly, maybe,) be picked off as well?

The needs of the few versus the needs of the many...

Steeling his reserve, Shujiri nodded to Zira. "You and Lana get to work on them; we'll buy you two some time, but knowing him, it won't be much." With this, he turned to face the others. "We have to keep him as far away from them as possible so they can work their magic. Don't let him get too close to any of you. Distance will be your friend for this, so that means Jackel, Dmitri, and Jeliel, you three are up. Sahari, you stick as close to me as possible and do as I do." Turning to look down at Ghebriel, his gaze softened. In the face of the uncomfortable feeling of reversed familiarity with the sight of the Creator seeming so blank and disconnected with the rest of the world as he held Falcone, he sighed. "Pharin, if he comes close enough to them or Gheb, distract 'im."

Pharin tweeted in confirmation.

"Good bird."

Across from them, Yuuki raised his gaze as most of the group stood, his gaze never once leaving them. "Are you through saying your goodbyes, humans?"

Lana's eyes darted up to glance at Yuuki before she turned her attention quickly back to Alex. He sounded cruel; he had, after all, just badly injured two innocent people for no reason.

"Welp," Jackel said as he stretched, "No sense puttin' off the big fight."

Jeliel cast a look down to Zira and Lana, silently noting their distance from the monster. He had to be careful to cast his spells a safe distance away from them or he could do them more harm than good at this point. Especially when it came to their two injured companions.

Yuuki didn't give them a chance to strike first; he rushed forward with his sword, slashing it down at the person closest to him. Shujiri quickly shoved the sword-wielder back as he blocked the strike with his katars. His strength was backed by Sahari's, and once Yuuki was a safe distance away again, they jumped back together.

A smirk appeared on the human-esque monster's face at this. "Worthy opponents, to be sure, but you shall still taste my blade!"

"Meteor Assault!"

"Soul Breaker!"

"Thunder Storm!"

"Bull's Eye!"

"Double Strafing!"

The first attack missed, the second and third landed perfectly, and the last two missed. Yuuki was faster than Shujiri remembered...

"This ain't workin' so good, boy!" Jackel called to the male Assassin. "He's too fast! I cain't hit 'im!"

Glancing up for a moment, Zira frowned. For some reason he had reservations about attacking the creature himself. However, if they didn't do something, everyone would just be in more danger than necessary. With a sigh, the blonde male cast a quick set of Increase Agility over everyone and used Decrease Agility on the rurouni, then went back to work on Falcone again.

"Great conditions we have to work under." Lana sighed, only half-joking. She finished with the last of the main dangers Alex faced and moved to help her fellow healer.

"That's what you sign up for with these guys." Zira replied dryly.

"Double- crap! I'm out of arrows!" Dmitri shouted to Shujiri.

"Then switch to your saved spell! If you've gotta get in close, Jackel and Jeliel will keep you covered!" Shujiri shouted back, dodging a swipe of Yuuki's sword.

Seeing an opening, Sahari Cloaked herself and snuck up behind the rurouni, grinning to herself when Yuuki seemed to lose track of her. Great! she thought, Guess that means you're no demon then...

She quickly shifted from Cloaked to Hiding, preparing to use one of her favourite attacks on him. "Grimtooth!"

As soon as the first sound had left her lips, however, Yuuki spun in place so his dark eyes were trained on the place she stood. He may not have been able to see her, but his senses were honed and sharp and that allowed him to pick up on the softest of sounds she made. The spikes from her skill lurched up from the ground and passed by him as he quickly began winding his way around them towards her. One after the other he dodged them, his speed assisting him in narrowly avoiding injury within mere millimeters of each spike's uprising.

Frantic to stop his advances, Dmitri used his agility and the boost Zira had given him and bolted forward until he was step for step beside him. He silently thanked whoever of the gods was listening for his increasing understanding of his occupation.

Yuuki's eyes zeroed in on him within an instant and he jumped out of the way of another spike, turned, and swung his sword at the horned Stalker. "Spiral Pierce!"

Green eyes narrowed calculatingly as Sahari screamed at the sudden change of focus. He leaned forward just enough to where the incoming attack would miss his torso and hit his arm instead. When the blade pierced his shoulder and spun he bit back the scream of agony that tried to come out. Instead, he focused on waiting the pain out and, as soon as the sword was withdrawn, he staggered back a few paces, his good hand clutching the gushing wound.

Dmitri saw Lana preparing to cast Heal over him and quickly did what he had set out to sacrifice a limb for. "Preserve!"

Yuuki landed a distance away and flicked the fresh blood off of his blade. As Lana Healed the man across from him, he smirked. "Clever boy, you are..." he whispered softly, his eyes narrowed in evaluation.

He didn't have time to come to an overall conclusion. Jeliel's voice shouted, "Now, Jackel! He got what he went in for!"

Jackel shot off a round of Piercing Shot at the monster and the High Wizard cast Storm Gust immediately after.

Shujiri swept in and yanked Sahari out of the line of fire before throwing in a few Soul Breakers of his own.

Chuckling, Dmitri flexed his newly healed arm and drew one of the daggers from their sheaths along his arms. He glanced to the Assassin Cross for the go-ahead and, upon receiving it, zipped his way in towards the monster. He was surprised to get in so close before his opponent realized his closeness and was forced to leap away, but he just followed it step for step until he felt he was close enough again. Thrusting the dagger out, he shouted, "Payback's a bitch, ain't it? Spiral Pierce!"

Yuuki's eyes grew wider so slightly that it took a very trained eye to notice the surprise he displayed, but rather than allow the attack to land, he quickly ducked beneath the man's arm and slammed the hilt of his sword into the Stalker's abdomen. The force behind the blow winded the light-green-haired man, and the strength behind the push of it flung him back a good ten feet until he was on his backside skipping to a stop near Jackel and Jeliel.

Aggravated, Shujiri cursed to himself as he ran to check on his comrade. "Keep going! Don't let him get that close to any of you again!" he commanded.

They followed his orders and Sahari started in with a few rounds of Soul Breaker as Lana and Zira finally stood. They tugged Shujiri aside and Lana said, "We have good news and we have bad news."

Shujiri asked, "What's the bad news?"

"We still can't move them for a few minutes while their bodies adjust to the healing we did. And...I don't think we could force Ghebriel to move right now if we put wheels on his feet and tried to shove him away."

"Then what's the good news?"

Zira rolled his eyes and swatted the killer's head gently. "You're pregnant." he groaned. "What do you think it is, dummy - Falcone and Alex are going to be fine. We just can't get out of here yet, like she said."

"So we're stuck here fightin' that thing for-"

"-At least another five, maybe ten minutes. We-"

"Magnum Break!"

The trio were shoved apart with the force of the blow; Shujiri skidded to a stop close to Jeliel, Lana was sent tumbling into Ghebriel, and Zira fell back a few yards away into the corner of the shrine. The impact, at such an unusual angle, cracked one of the delicate bones in his left wing as he tried to soften the landing with his hands. The right wrist sprained, and he dropped to the ground, winded, with a choked whimper of pain.

Automatically Yuuki's hard eyes darted towards the sound and he turned himself to face the one who had just become the new easiest lone target. He kicked himself off towards the injured Priest, sword drawn and ready to attack.

Panic rose in everyone's minds as they took in what had just happened. Sahari and Shujiri weren't close enough to close the distance in the rapidly dwindling time they had to do so, and Dmitri still only had his daggers and sword to rely on for now. Besides that, he was still thrown from the unexpected blow. Even with his speed he couldn't cover that distance in time. Jackel's view had been obscured by the sudden explosion of movement, but now that he could see again, Yuuki was moving too fast for even him to hit. Jeliel's spells couldn't cast from so far away and still hit the intended target; even if they could, he knew Yuuki would just be out of the way before it could damage him. Lana was helpless to do anything but watch in horror, and as her impact with Ghebriel had cracked his head into the floor and temporarily stunned him, he and Alex and Falcone would be of no use to help.

None of them had any choice but to watch in what seemed like slow motion as Rurouni Yuuki advanced those last few paces. He extended his sword, his aim directly at the blonde's throat.

Knowing he had no time to Teleport away and that his damaged wings wouldn't allow him to fly out of reach, Zira squeezed his eyes shut and, ignoring the cinch of pain in his wrist, clasped his hands together for a very brief prayer. Guess this is it...

Moments passed. Then minutes. Then a few minutes.

Nothing happened.

Confused, the blue-eyed man slowly opened his eyes. When he did, he was met with the sight of Yuuki's sharp sword's point barely an inch away from his neck. He carefully sucked in a deep breath, mindful of the razor-sharp steel still dangerously close to his skin. Ever so slowly he raked his eyes up the sword's length, taking in every detail along the way, until they locked onto the samurai's wide, startled black orbs.

"Wh-" Zira began nervously. "What just-"

Then, in a flash, Yuuki did something that surprised everyone. He dropped to the ground, bowing on one knee, and thrust the point of his sword into the wooden floor. He bowed his head between his arms. Eyes closed, he said only one thing: "My deepest apologies, Master!"

That's when it suddenly hit Shujiri that he knew what had happened. "He remembers..."
To Be Continued..