Chapter 4 - A Bad Feeling
The Crusade was headed towards a small town called Lelhia, located near the boarder of Asturia. Allen was on the bridge, along with Gaddess, Van, Merle and Mina. He and Gaddess were discussing their flight plan and what they would do when they arrived in Lelhia. Allen was listening to Gaddess's report, but his eyes kept drifting over to Mina. Van and Merle were pointing out the sights from a window and trying to explain to her how the ship flew. What is it about this girl, thought Allen. She captivates me. There's something more to her than she's telling us, I can feel it, but what...?
"Commander," a soldier interrupted, "we are approaching Lelhia. We will be there within ten minutes."
"Good." Allen replied. "Have the ship land on the east side of town."
The soldier left and Allen walked over to Van and the others.
"Van, we're just about there."
"Are you going to search the village?" Van asked.
"Yes, we'll find out the damage this Zaibach band did and start tracking them down. They couldn't have gone far, we should be able to find them."
"I'll come with you." Van said. Allen nodded. Mina started to follow them, but Allen stopped her.
"I'm sorry Mina, but I'm going to have to ask you to stay here with Merle."
"But...." She started.
"No, it could be dangerous. Wait here with Merle, she can show you around the ship. And when this is all over, we'll go back to Palas and go shopping in the marketplace."
"Um...sure, okay, whatever. I'll wait here." Mina replied. Mina turned around and headed back towards where Merle was waiting. Allen could tell she was disappointed, but it was better that she remained on board.
Allen, Van, and some soldiers headed into Lelhia as soon as the Crusade had landed. Allen met with the town's representative, an old man named Calus. Calus told Allen how the band came through town, basically raiding it, and doing minor damage. They just stole from the town and tried to burn down a couple of houses. They left quickly, heading for the mountains.
"It would appear that this band is nothing more than a bunch of looters and troublemakers." Allen told Gaddess. "Let the others know we're heading out immediately. We'll be heading towards the mountains."
******** ******** *****
How could he, thought Mina. He treated me as if I were a silly helpless girl. Mina was getting a tour of the ship from Merle. She was pretending to listen, but Mina's thoughts were occupied. Boy, would I like to give him a taste of Sailor Venus, she thought with an evil little giggle. Hey, I wonder if I can even transform here? The thought startled Mina. Well, I can't exactly try it with cat girl around every second of this boring tour. I guess I'll have to wait for a convenient time.
By then, Mina and Merle had made it back to the bridge.
"It looks like there's some news!" Merle said and she ran over to hear the message a soldier was bringing the others. Mina took that time to glance out a window. She could see Allen's group heading out into the woods. She spotted Allen and Van in the lead. Figures, she thought, there's no female warriors with him. But, from what I've seen, there aren't any female warriors in this place. That's dumb.
Merle came over and told Mina what was going on.
"Yeah, I can see them. They're headed towards the woods. I figured they were going after those thieves."
Merle ran over to the window.
"Oh, Lord Van, be careful!" she whined.
"I wouldn't worry Merle. Even though I'm new here and all, it sounds like a couple of rotten Zaibach soldiers shouldn't be too much trouble for them. Hey, now that the town's 'safe' and all, do you think we can go into it?"
"I guess so," Merle slowly answered. Mina could tell she was intrigued by the idea of getting off the ship as well. "As long as we stay in town and tell someone where we're going, I'm sure it's no problem at all."
There wasn't much to see in Lelhia. It was a small, farming community, nothing at all like Palas. Mina was just glad to get out. During their walk, Mina asked Merle more questions about Hitomi. Merle told her about Hitomi's powers and how she had helped them fight Zaibach. Just as Mina was about to ask what a guymellef was, a strange feeling came over her.
"Hold on Merle." Mina said as she laid a hand on Merle's shoulder.
"What is it?" Merle asked, while looking at her strangely.
"I don't know, but I'm getting this weird feeling." Mina said as she began to look around. "I've had it before, if only I could remember...." And then it hit her. The Starlight tower. It was just like that time she went to her first Sailor Scout meeting. She had passed the Starlight tower on the way there and something about it didn't feel right. It ended up that Zoicite and Kunzite (or Malachite for those who haven't read the manga) controlled the tower.
"It couldn't be..." Mina whispered as she looked towards the woods. The feeling was strongest in that direction.
"It couldn't be what Mina?" Merle asked anxiously.
"I have to go there." Mina said as she started to run towards the woods.
"WHAT! Stop Mina! What was that feeling?" Merle yelled as she ran beside Mina.
"It's a bad thing Merle." Mina yelled back. "There is something evil in the forest and I don't think its Zaibach soldiers."
"Oh no, Lord Van!" Merle cried.
"Merle, quickly run back to the ship and get help."
"No, I'm coming with you. If Lord Van's in danger, we have to warn him." Merle said as they both continued to run.
"Fine." Mina puffed. Drat, she thought, I can't transform with her around. Mina could feel the bad vibes getting stronger as she and Merle entered the woods. Mina kept running in their direction. The landscape was getting more difficult to navigate as they got further in to the woods. Small, rocky hills were everywhere, and trees were all around. Merle didn't have any troubles. Her cat half aloud her to jump and climb easily. Mina was doing fine though. She was able to jump around as well, because of her scout half. Mina caught a glance of Merle's very puzzled face.
I better hurry, but I hope for everybody's sake that this hunch of mine is wrong, thought Mina. But deep down Mina knew trouble was ahead. She ran faster.
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"The trail leads into that cave up there." Gaddess whispered to Allen as he pointed it out from their hiding spot in the bush. Allen gave the signal for the men to split up and surround the cave. He and Van were in the group heading straight for the opening. They waited by the cave mouth until Allen got the signal whistle that the others were in position. Allen signaled again and they slowly went in. Allen had to be careful this wasn't a trap or anything. He wasn't about to rush right in. Allen was nervous. He couldn't hear anything except a steady dripping noise. He looked over at Van and could see that he too had noticed the eerie silence.
Van and Allen soon reached a large chamber in the cave and found what they were looking for, but not exactly.
"Allen, I think they're all dead!" Van exclaimed. Sure enough, they had found the band of Zaibach soldier they were looking for, except they were scattered around the cave floor. Allen and Van approached the first soldier who was lying on the floor with his stomach down. Allen cautiously poked him with his foot. Nothing happened. Allen leaned down and rolled him over. Allen quickly jumped back as he saw the soldier's face.
"Oh my god!" He exclaimed. The soldier's face was blue and it looked as though something had sucked the life right out of him.
"You don't think it's some sort of disease?" Van asked looking a little pale.
"No," Allen answered as he recovered. "There are signs of a struggle. Look, you can see some of them with their swords out and their belongings are scattered everywhere."
"But who or what would attack these guys?" Van asked, "and what happened to them?"
"I can answer that." I female voice said.
Everyone turned around to see Mina and Merle standing in the cave entrance, breathing hard.
"Mina! Merle! What are you doing here?" Van asked.
"You know what happened?" Allen asked, looking very confused. How did they find us? Allen thought and how does she know what happened.
"I've seen this before, on Earth." Mina said as she walked towards them. "Their energy was stolen from their bodies, but I've never seen it this extreme before." Mina bent down and studied the body they were looking at. She stood up and faced them again. "We have to be careful. There's some type of monster out there that's doing this and it's close by, I can feel it. Be on your guard and yell if you see anything at all, even something out of the ordinary."
Allen couldn't believe it. Mina was practically taking over command.
"What do you mean you can feel it? Van asked. "Did you have a vision?"
"No..." Mina answered. It was obvious that she was struggling with what she was going to say next. "I can't really explain it, but I've just got this feeling. Something's making my skin crawl and it's a familiar feeling, a bad feeling, that I've had before."
"So, you've encountered creatures that can do this on Earth?" Van asked.
"Yes...." Mina said. She was getting uncomfortable. They were asking too many questions. "But the important thing is to get out of here as soon as possible!" She finished. The others agreed.
Everyone had started to file out of the cave when a piercing, animal-like scream broke the silence. Mina twirled to see something big jumping straight at her....
NOTE: Dun Dun DUN! What will happen? I promise the next chapter is going to rock! Let me know what you think! I'm probably getting my Sailor Moon manga and anime confused, so please bear with me!
The Crusade was headed towards a small town called Lelhia, located near the boarder of Asturia. Allen was on the bridge, along with Gaddess, Van, Merle and Mina. He and Gaddess were discussing their flight plan and what they would do when they arrived in Lelhia. Allen was listening to Gaddess's report, but his eyes kept drifting over to Mina. Van and Merle were pointing out the sights from a window and trying to explain to her how the ship flew. What is it about this girl, thought Allen. She captivates me. There's something more to her than she's telling us, I can feel it, but what...?
"Commander," a soldier interrupted, "we are approaching Lelhia. We will be there within ten minutes."
"Good." Allen replied. "Have the ship land on the east side of town."
The soldier left and Allen walked over to Van and the others.
"Van, we're just about there."
"Are you going to search the village?" Van asked.
"Yes, we'll find out the damage this Zaibach band did and start tracking them down. They couldn't have gone far, we should be able to find them."
"I'll come with you." Van said. Allen nodded. Mina started to follow them, but Allen stopped her.
"I'm sorry Mina, but I'm going to have to ask you to stay here with Merle."
"But...." She started.
"No, it could be dangerous. Wait here with Merle, she can show you around the ship. And when this is all over, we'll go back to Palas and go shopping in the marketplace."
"Um...sure, okay, whatever. I'll wait here." Mina replied. Mina turned around and headed back towards where Merle was waiting. Allen could tell she was disappointed, but it was better that she remained on board.
Allen, Van, and some soldiers headed into Lelhia as soon as the Crusade had landed. Allen met with the town's representative, an old man named Calus. Calus told Allen how the band came through town, basically raiding it, and doing minor damage. They just stole from the town and tried to burn down a couple of houses. They left quickly, heading for the mountains.
"It would appear that this band is nothing more than a bunch of looters and troublemakers." Allen told Gaddess. "Let the others know we're heading out immediately. We'll be heading towards the mountains."
******** ******** *****
How could he, thought Mina. He treated me as if I were a silly helpless girl. Mina was getting a tour of the ship from Merle. She was pretending to listen, but Mina's thoughts were occupied. Boy, would I like to give him a taste of Sailor Venus, she thought with an evil little giggle. Hey, I wonder if I can even transform here? The thought startled Mina. Well, I can't exactly try it with cat girl around every second of this boring tour. I guess I'll have to wait for a convenient time.
By then, Mina and Merle had made it back to the bridge.
"It looks like there's some news!" Merle said and she ran over to hear the message a soldier was bringing the others. Mina took that time to glance out a window. She could see Allen's group heading out into the woods. She spotted Allen and Van in the lead. Figures, she thought, there's no female warriors with him. But, from what I've seen, there aren't any female warriors in this place. That's dumb.
Merle came over and told Mina what was going on.
"Yeah, I can see them. They're headed towards the woods. I figured they were going after those thieves."
Merle ran over to the window.
"Oh, Lord Van, be careful!" she whined.
"I wouldn't worry Merle. Even though I'm new here and all, it sounds like a couple of rotten Zaibach soldiers shouldn't be too much trouble for them. Hey, now that the town's 'safe' and all, do you think we can go into it?"
"I guess so," Merle slowly answered. Mina could tell she was intrigued by the idea of getting off the ship as well. "As long as we stay in town and tell someone where we're going, I'm sure it's no problem at all."
There wasn't much to see in Lelhia. It was a small, farming community, nothing at all like Palas. Mina was just glad to get out. During their walk, Mina asked Merle more questions about Hitomi. Merle told her about Hitomi's powers and how she had helped them fight Zaibach. Just as Mina was about to ask what a guymellef was, a strange feeling came over her.
"Hold on Merle." Mina said as she laid a hand on Merle's shoulder.
"What is it?" Merle asked, while looking at her strangely.
"I don't know, but I'm getting this weird feeling." Mina said as she began to look around. "I've had it before, if only I could remember...." And then it hit her. The Starlight tower. It was just like that time she went to her first Sailor Scout meeting. She had passed the Starlight tower on the way there and something about it didn't feel right. It ended up that Zoicite and Kunzite (or Malachite for those who haven't read the manga) controlled the tower.
"It couldn't be..." Mina whispered as she looked towards the woods. The feeling was strongest in that direction.
"It couldn't be what Mina?" Merle asked anxiously.
"I have to go there." Mina said as she started to run towards the woods.
"WHAT! Stop Mina! What was that feeling?" Merle yelled as she ran beside Mina.
"It's a bad thing Merle." Mina yelled back. "There is something evil in the forest and I don't think its Zaibach soldiers."
"Oh no, Lord Van!" Merle cried.
"Merle, quickly run back to the ship and get help."
"No, I'm coming with you. If Lord Van's in danger, we have to warn him." Merle said as they both continued to run.
"Fine." Mina puffed. Drat, she thought, I can't transform with her around. Mina could feel the bad vibes getting stronger as she and Merle entered the woods. Mina kept running in their direction. The landscape was getting more difficult to navigate as they got further in to the woods. Small, rocky hills were everywhere, and trees were all around. Merle didn't have any troubles. Her cat half aloud her to jump and climb easily. Mina was doing fine though. She was able to jump around as well, because of her scout half. Mina caught a glance of Merle's very puzzled face.
I better hurry, but I hope for everybody's sake that this hunch of mine is wrong, thought Mina. But deep down Mina knew trouble was ahead. She ran faster.
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"The trail leads into that cave up there." Gaddess whispered to Allen as he pointed it out from their hiding spot in the bush. Allen gave the signal for the men to split up and surround the cave. He and Van were in the group heading straight for the opening. They waited by the cave mouth until Allen got the signal whistle that the others were in position. Allen signaled again and they slowly went in. Allen had to be careful this wasn't a trap or anything. He wasn't about to rush right in. Allen was nervous. He couldn't hear anything except a steady dripping noise. He looked over at Van and could see that he too had noticed the eerie silence.
Van and Allen soon reached a large chamber in the cave and found what they were looking for, but not exactly.
"Allen, I think they're all dead!" Van exclaimed. Sure enough, they had found the band of Zaibach soldier they were looking for, except they were scattered around the cave floor. Allen and Van approached the first soldier who was lying on the floor with his stomach down. Allen cautiously poked him with his foot. Nothing happened. Allen leaned down and rolled him over. Allen quickly jumped back as he saw the soldier's face.
"Oh my god!" He exclaimed. The soldier's face was blue and it looked as though something had sucked the life right out of him.
"You don't think it's some sort of disease?" Van asked looking a little pale.
"No," Allen answered as he recovered. "There are signs of a struggle. Look, you can see some of them with their swords out and their belongings are scattered everywhere."
"But who or what would attack these guys?" Van asked, "and what happened to them?"
"I can answer that." I female voice said.
Everyone turned around to see Mina and Merle standing in the cave entrance, breathing hard.
"Mina! Merle! What are you doing here?" Van asked.
"You know what happened?" Allen asked, looking very confused. How did they find us? Allen thought and how does she know what happened.
"I've seen this before, on Earth." Mina said as she walked towards them. "Their energy was stolen from their bodies, but I've never seen it this extreme before." Mina bent down and studied the body they were looking at. She stood up and faced them again. "We have to be careful. There's some type of monster out there that's doing this and it's close by, I can feel it. Be on your guard and yell if you see anything at all, even something out of the ordinary."
Allen couldn't believe it. Mina was practically taking over command.
"What do you mean you can feel it? Van asked. "Did you have a vision?"
"No..." Mina answered. It was obvious that she was struggling with what she was going to say next. "I can't really explain it, but I've just got this feeling. Something's making my skin crawl and it's a familiar feeling, a bad feeling, that I've had before."
"So, you've encountered creatures that can do this on Earth?" Van asked.
"Yes...." Mina said. She was getting uncomfortable. They were asking too many questions. "But the important thing is to get out of here as soon as possible!" She finished. The others agreed.
Everyone had started to file out of the cave when a piercing, animal-like scream broke the silence. Mina twirled to see something big jumping straight at her....
NOTE: Dun Dun DUN! What will happen? I promise the next chapter is going to rock! Let me know what you think! I'm probably getting my Sailor Moon manga and anime confused, so please bear with me!