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: So far we've made it to Amatsu and Yuuki's fight is just about over. I don't feel like picking out a theme song for this so let's go with TeMPlatonic, from (if I remember right) the dic_fild area. I tried to make this as simple as possible and keep it as in-character for everyone as I was able to, but dangit it's hard writing other people's characters without them. -_-

RoChronicles

Chapter Thirty-One: An Explanation
Everyone turned their attention towards Shujiri, doubt or confusion etched out onto each face.

"What?" Dmitri mumbled, pushing himself up to his feet slowly. Jackel re-holstered his guns and helped steady the uneasy man.

Shujiri gave a brief look to the others, then turned his attention back to Yuuki and Zira. "Void...He remembers it."

He took a brave step forward, testing the waters. When he wasn't attacked, and indeed the rurouni had yet to even raise his head again, he smiled briefly and strode the rest of the way over to Zira. Kneeling down beside him, he gingerly took the blonde's right hand and checked his wrist. Once he was done there he put an arm around his waist and pulled him forward to check the injured wing.

Once finished, he frowned and called back over his shoulder, "Lady Lana, if ye would, c'mere please. He's gonna need help with mending his wing, but after the shock from the pain of that is soothed, I think he can take care of the rest himself."

Lana's bright eyes warily watched the monster as she drew near. "What does he remember, exactly?" she asked in a soft voice. "Why did he just stop attacking so suddenly?"

When the woman was supporting his silent friend's weight against her chest to begin work on his wing, Shujiri stood and moved over to stand, diagonally, across from Yuuki. "Ye don't have to stay bowed down like that." he said gently. "I'm sure he doesn't care if ye stand back up. Right, Zee?"

With that, Yuuki glanced up, surprised, at him. He followed his gaze across to Zira, where he saw the blonde man watching him closely. The look in his eyes was slightly calculating, as if he were trying to work out a puzzle visually. The fear from before had completely vanished.

Tentatively, Yuuki tilted his head a bit to the side. "Master?"

Zira blinked and shook his head to clear away the fog of memories. When he looked back to Yuuki again, he gave a soft smile.

Yuuki returned the smile and was on his feet in a moment, as graceful as he had been when attacking. Just as quickly, he was by the man's side, kneeling once again. "Master, can you stand?"

Jeliel shook his head, his brows furrowed. "Okay, so wait. Someone explain this to me again. What happened just now?"

Jackel scratched the back of his head uncertainly, a look of confusion that matched Jeliel's on his face. "I ain't sure m'self, truth be told."

Shujiri turned to the group again while Lana finished with Zira's wing. "I think we can safely say the fight is over now. I don't think we'll find the people we're looking for here now; we should find a place to crash for the night and then ask around in the morning. I'll explain things better once we get to Gheb and Falcone's place." Again he looked back to Lana. "Can they be moved now?"

She nodded, smiling. "It should be safe now. Even Zira's all ready to go; he'll just have to stay off his wings for a while."

Nodding in approval at the news, Shujiri moved over to Alex and carefully hoisted him up. He was about to reach down and take Falcone as well, but Ghebriel placed a hand over his to stop him and quietly shook his head. He gave the Creator a warm, understanding smile and backed away.

When Ghebriel had the redhead in his arms, the Assassin went back to where they had come from. Yelling up to Tyr, he called, "Go with the Miyabi Doll back the way we came; we'll meet you back in town."

Tyr yipped his agreement and the two monsters took off.

Shujiri made his way back to the others and, looking to Lana and Zira, said, "Portal, please?"

Lana smiled brightly and clapped her hands together. "Warp Portal - to Amatsu!"

Everyone stepped into the portal that appeared on the floor before the Priestess, and the familiar feeling of having the world sucked out from under them and then shoved back at them all at once took over.

When the friends looked around again, they were in the center of the beautiful oriental town.

"Welcome back." the Kafra girl smiled and said, bowing. "I believe someone was waiting for you."

From behind her, out stepped Sarta. His pet was at his heels gazing around silently and he held Tyr in his arms.

"I think this thing is yours." Sarta snorted in amusement as it immediately began struggling for freedom upon seeing its master. "You-" he stopped, eyes wide as he spotted Yuuki. "What is that thing?"

Shujiri glanced back to the rurouni, then shrugged. "Zira's new pet...Sort of. It's a very long story. But...I have a question."

"Yeah?"

"Do you remember back at the shrine, that you mentioned your 'fruit cocktail pal' who sells stuff?"

Sarta's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Yeah?"

"Wouldn't happen to go by the name of Rine,would he?"

Almost instantly, Sarta's eyes hardened. Shujiri watched the man's strong, proud, but relatively relaxed stance transform into the pose of someone trying to guard a secret - something or someone that wasn't meant to be stumbled upon, but had been. The long-haired Assassin practically dropped Tyr to the ground to cross his arms, trying to appear nonchalant.

"What would it matter what his name is? I've never seen you around before; he wouldn't know you."

"Actually, that's a long story, too; he does, but it's from another life. He-"

Sarta's katars were at Shujiri's neck in an instant. His eyes flashed dangerously, and his tone was hushed and warning. "You need to just forget what you think you knew, stop digging around, and stay away from us from now on. You got it?"

Shujiri arched a brow at the sudden defensive attitude. He'd never seen anyone get so worked up over asking about the colourful Mastersmith before; he was curious as to what made the friendly man suddenly become so guarded about him.

After the initial shock of the sudden change in atmosphere wore off, Zira's scythe made its way up to Sarta's throat and rested its blade there slightly. "I hope you don't mean to threaten us." the blonde said simply.

Shaking his head, Shujiri lowered both weapons and put in, "What did ye mean by 'stop digging around'? We have to find him; lives - thousands of them - are at stake."

"He gave up his life for the assistance he got; that's all you need to know. Whoever he was and who he is now isn't any of your business; you'll just bring up things he's better off not moping around about, and I'm not about to just let you do that."

Sarta's pet timidly raised her hand and dropped it gently onto her master's shoulder. He turned to her and she gave him a worried look.

"Let's go." Sarta said shortly. Taking her hand, he shouted, "To Gonryun!"

Before Shujiri could ask anything further, the two were gone. He sighed and turned to Ghebriel. "Would ye mind leading us to your place?"

Pharin, who had been silent up to now, asked wearily, "Shouldn't we go after him? He knows our fairy."

The group leader shook his head. "No; we won't get any answers out of him and we still need to find out about the two that we came here looking for in the first place."

"Come on, then." sighed Ghebriel softly. "We can stay at the house Falcone and I shared for the night and sort things out. It's getting late."

The friends set off after him, Pharin occasionally calling out directions around obstacles when the lilac-blue-clad 'Chemist seemed wobbly from his still-recovering vision. Ultimately he was forced to give his partner to Jackel and let Sahari help him navigate.

It wasn't long before they arrived and Ghebriel opened the door, holding it open for the others to go in. Along the way, Alex and Falcone had woken up and were both anxiously waiting to hear what had happened.

Once the Biochemist was inside, he closed the door behind him and made off to sit by the Professor dutifully.

Shujiri started. "Ye all want the details, aye?"

Everyone nodded.

"To put it simply, it's like this. On Void, Zira and I went to the shrine here a few times by ourselves to find things we needed to make a powerful dagger for me. During one of our trips, Yuuki attacked us. We barely made it out with our lives, but we were badly hurt. One of our mutual friends took us to a healing facility where we were nursed back to health, but we knew that the shrine was a popular spot for tourists to visit. We knew we had to go back and find out more about the...no offense," he looked at Yuuki sheepishly at this, "Monster."

Yuuki simply nodded his understanding, and Shujiri continued.

"This time, we went for information. We wanted to find out more about the monster and why it felt so compelled to attack us unprovoked. But he was fast, strong, and his senses were sharp - sharper than mine. He found us and attacked again. We realized fighting back wouldn't work, so we focused on just trying to escape; we had to stay safe and watch for a moment when we could put our guard down enough to run for the door, warp, or Teleport."

With these words, Yuuki bowed his head in silence. The others thought it odd, all but for Shujiri and Zira, but Shujiri continued on.

"Zira used every buff in his arsenal and kept throwing Kyrie Eleison over us every few seconds, but every time Yuuki attacked us, he was so powerful that it went through the barriers like a hot knife through butter. I tried to buy us some time - I wove in through the blows and tried to throw him off with Sonic Blow, but he nearly got me. So, I Back Slid until I was almost back to Zira..and a Shinobi tripped me. I caught my balance, but there was just enough of a stagger for him to have a clean shot at me. The next thing I know, he was almost right on top of me and I thought I was going to be killed. I thought, I did the same mistake from my first life, and now it was going to get me killed again."

"What happened?" Alex inquired.

"Zira happened." Shujiri smiled at this. He looked to his side at the Priest and clapped a hand on his left shoulder, then said, "I was alone in my first life; I didn't have anyone to watch my back or care about me, but suddenly, in this life, I did. Zira dove to me, grabbed me, and threw me behind him. He was so concerned for my life that he was offering his."

Now it was the monster's turn to speak. Everyone's attention was on him, and he now held his head up high and proudly. His dark eyes were focused solely on the effeminate male as he spoke up. "A brave, selfless act for the sake of another. An honourable thing to do. The wonder and kindness of it broke through the haze my mind had been under and reminded me of why I had been summoned to protect the shrine - reminded me that not all visitors wished it harm. I vowed my loyalty to him as a way to thank him for freeing me of that darkness."

At the mentions of haze and darkness, Tyr and Pharin glanced to Shujiri, who was suddenly much more somber than before, and the two book worms had their notebooks out within mere moments.

"What's this about a haze?" Falcone inquired first.

Yuuki blinked, his eyes moving to Shujiri and Zira, who also seemed intrigued. "Ah..gomennasai. I have never spoken of it, have I?"

Shujiri and Zira shook their heads.

"I was summoned by the shrine's builders to protect it from harm. Those who would damage or steal from it were to be dealt with, and those who were of pure hearts were permitted to venture to its center. At first, all was well; I performed my tasks as I had been instructed and the numbers of those who would disobey the rules were few. But...After a time, I began to feel as if my mind were in a fog as I did my job. I became angry over any small infraction of the rules, resented those who came to intrude on the place I had begun to call my home - began to seek out a reason to dispatch of anyone who went there."

Tyr's eyes met Shujiri's and their earlier conversation about Garm and the Knight of the Windstorm flashed through their minds.

"Finally, I began to hear a dark voice telling me to do..things. It told me to kill everyone who entered, or seek revenge on those who had bound me by honour to spend all of my days within that shrine - said that they dared to command a being so powerful as me to do their bidding. It was like a little voice; an evil whisper in the back of your mind. One that only grows stronger with the passage of time, until it is all that you are capable of comprehending. I felt compelled to act upon its orders. The same was true of my situation until today; I had forgotten all that I had learned of my master and his friends until today, when seeing him brought forth those memories and repelled the darkness once again. And again, I owe my freedom and loyalties to him."

Falcone raked his eyes over the notes he had just taken and compared them with his findings from other such instances. After a moment, he said softly, "This points to some very distressing possibilities."

Shujiri nodded, and stretched. "I think we should call it a night, though...We've all had a very stressful time these past few days, and we should try to rest up a bit before we continue with this beast of a topic." He glanced to Sahari, who was close to falling asleep as she leaned against Dmitri. "Any disagreement?"

Jackel yawned and then said, "Ain't gonna hear no complaints outta me. Jest one question: whut 'bout them two we came here fer? Ain't their trail gonna git cold?"

"We'll just have to ask around town if anyone's seen Xabel and Chrnos tomorrow."

"Ah..." Yuuki broke through, smiling. "I believe I know who you seek."

"Ye do?"

"Hai. The day before you arrived to the shrine, a loud noise drew me to the place where two humans had just fallen through the cave and crashed to the floor. I studied them for a few moments to size up their intentions, and after a time, the smaller, blonde man, a Clown, said something to his friend - something about me."

"Must have been one of those visions the king told us about." Alex mumbled.

"Then he started attacking the other man suddenly, using his instrument as a weapon. He seemed to think himself an Assassin."

"Yep." Jackel confirmed. "One'a them visions."

"Just before I began my attack, he collapsed. When he got back up and his companion questioned him, he didn't remember anything. Then, as they realized they could not defeat me, the one with the Peco Peco grabbed him as they ran and pulled him up onto it with him. They said something about the old abbey on the nameless island as they ran out."

"Then we're going to the abbey?" Lana inquired.

"We can't!" Zira exclaimed, jolting Sahari out of her sleep and startling Tyr "Not there - never there!"

"Why not?" asked Jeliel.

Shujiri stared at the flushed Priest for a moment and then burst into laughter. "Ye still don't fit your place!" he cackled.

Zira huffed, puffing up in indignation. "I can't help it if I'm afraid of something!"

"Aw, heck," Jackel laughed, slapping him on the back, "We all got somethin' we're 'fraid of!"

"No, no!" Shujiri insisted, his laughter becoming harder and louder. "Not- not like this!"

"What fer?"

Zira glared darkly. "Don't you dare."

Pharin tweeted. "If you mean storms, even I knew that one already."

Again, Shujiri shook his head. "He's terrified of Zombies!"

Everyone was silent for a moment.

"He's...afraid of Zombies." Sahari repeated.

"And he's a...Priest." confirmed Jeliel.

"...And Heal will kill them." Lana added.

"...And as a Priest, he can use Heal." Dmitri concluded.

More silence, save for Shujiri's snickering.

Yuuki, though he had the grace to look a bit ashamed for it, was the first to join the Assassin Cross in his renewed laughter, Then, one by one, the others began to join in.

Zira crossed his arms over his chest, glaring daggers at the male Assassin Cross. "Even knowing that you still used it against me once!"

Shujiri fell over, his laughter becoming almost too much to handle. Finally, he sat back up and wiped a tear from his eye. "Ye still haven't forgotten or forgiven me for that, eh?" He laughed again, patting Zira on the shoulder gently. "It was all in good fun; the disguise ring was a new toy and ye know I love to tease ye!"

Aggravated, Zira practically growled. "You dressed up like a Zombie and chased me around one of the fields in Veins that way for ten minutes!"

"I can't help it if ye forgot you could Teleport!"

Snorting, Zira jumped up and stormed over to the bedding that, although the house had been deserted, had still been sitting there waiting for use. "Screw all of you!" he huffed, blushing darker as the telling of the tale only served to raise the volume of everyone's laughter. "I'm going to bed!"

Still laughing, the others made their way to the beds as well.

Through the night, Shujiri tossed restlessly and occasionally glanced to his two formerly-injured companions, his mind still on what Yuuki had revealed to them, and Ghebriel clung tightly to the Scholar. Eventually Shujiri calmed his mind enough to fall join the others in slumber. They would need to sleep well tonight, after all; tomorrow, their trip would begin again.
To Be Continued..