Galeon opened his eyes slightly and tried to look around, he was wrapped tightly in a sleeping bag and was laying beside a brightly buring fire. He tried to sit up but couldn't because of a weight on his chest. He looked around to see Genki sleeping sitting up between Hare and Mocchi who were leaning against him and behind them was Suezo. He looked up to see Cujo and Tiger sitting watching the fire behind him and Golem sitting asleep, Daina was back and sitting between the lupines and the golem.
Galeon stretched his neck and looked down to realize that weight on his chest was Holly who had fell asleep while kneeling beside him. He blushed wondering why she would've cared that much about him. He pulled his arms out of the sleeping bag and sat up looking down at her letting her head, arms, and uppers body rest in his lap.
He looked back at Cujo he was now watching him and simply nodded. "How long have I been out?" Galeon said as he looked back down at the young girl asleep in his arms.
"Nearly three days." Cujo replied.
Galeon looked around "Where are we?"
"A pretty good ways away from that valley. We stopped not three hours ago, everyone was tired."
Tiger got up and walked over looking at Holly and Galeon. "We were attacked during your, rest let us say, but it wasn't bad."
Galeon nodded "Good." He looked around the camp site and spotted something that made him a little angry, a few meters away where the gulley they were sitting in had washed out a tree stood on the edge with roots sticking out of the ground and running the length of the three foot drop to the ground, behind the roots laid Antares on his knees sitting motionless, his whole shell was snow white, even over his eyes, with hints of red where the plates joined.
"Why are we near him?..."
Tiger shook his head. "Genki wanted to come find him, he was worried, but we can't wake him."
Cujo sighed. "He's gonna wake up soon enough, and I'm leaving when he does."
"Ditto to that." Daina chimed in.
"That boy has to learn the meaning of 'no'."
Genki nodded forward nearly falling over before waking up to stop himself. "Galeon? You're awake-"
"Shh!" Galeon hissed at him as he put a finger to his lips and then pointed down at Holly.
Genki smiled and then stood up laughing lightly causing the three monsters that were leaning against him to fall into a heap still asleep.
Galeon's face turned red as he looked back over at Antares. "Why did we have to go find him?!"
"He looked sick when he left..." Genki said. "We need to help him..."
"He doesn't need help! He's molting!"
"Molting?..." Genki said as he scratched his head.
Galeon looked down as Holly stirred and stretched her arms as she looked into the fire. She then sat up and looked at him and blushed brightly. "Oh, I-I'm sorry..."
Galeon returned the blush. "I-It's okay..."
She smiled and looked down his body. "Y-You um, feeling better..." She said as she quickly looked down at her lap.
Galeon nodded. "Yeah, much..." He then realized that he only had his boxer shorts on and blushed brighter as he grabbed the sleeping bag pulling it around his waist.
Genki looked over at the tree roots in front of Antares as the monster stirred and slid out from under them.
Cujo and Daina both jumped to their feet. "I'm out of here." Cujo said as he turned to run. Galeon and Daina both looked around the group. "Everyone be quiet, he can't see right now, don't let him know we're here." Galeon said as he climbed to his feet holding the sleeping bag around himself.
Genki didn't register the words and started towards Antares. "Hey-"
Daina leapt forward and grabbed the boy holding him down muffling his mouth. "Don't say anything, we have to get out of here now." She said as quietly as possible.
Daina looked up to see Mocchi a few feet from Antares and leapt forward grabbing the small monster and tossing him into Genki leaving them in a pile on the ground.
Antares couldn't see, or even hear very well at that point. He stood in a cleared off spot for a second breathing heavily and then reached up grabbing his head as he let out a spine chilling screech. He shook his body violently and let out another screech as the plates of armor fell off. He picked off the remaing ones leaving only the one on his head and around his waist. He quickly pulled off the waist plate and reached up tearing at the back of the plate that fitted over his arrow shaped head. He soon found the spot and pulled it off to reveal the last of a now bright red shell.
Genki leapt to his feet and ran over to Antares standing in front of him. "Cool! You got a new shell!" He yelled as he stared at the monster in awe.
Antares stood staring at the boy for a second. Genki looked back at the rest of the group, Galeon, Daina, and Cujo all had slightly scared looks on their faces. He then looked back at Antares who was looking at the rest of the group. "What's wrong?..." Genki asked as he stepped towards the monster.
Antares suddenly yelled out and reared up on his hind legs kicking Genki to the ground hard as he screeched. Galeon leapt from the sleeping bag as Anatares was about to trample the boy and caught him trying to push him back.
"I knew he couldn't be trusted!" Hare yelled as he leapt towards the monster "Dragon Kick!"
He slammed into Antares knocking him back just to be kicked to the ground as Antares held out his hand with the palm facing Hare "Energy Shot!" Antares yelled as a white ball of energy shot from his hand hitting Hare sending him flying.
Tiger leapt up above the monster looking down on him. "Torpedo attack!" Two balls of lightning bolted from his horns hitting the monster causing him to back down a little and cower slightly as smoke rolled off his shell, but he quickly recovered and countered with Energy Shot again.
Genki was on his feet by then. "Antares stop, please!"
Antares reared up once more to trample the boy as Galeon leapt in and grabbed Antares pushing him back again who countered by turning and kicking with his powerful hind legs. Galeon was sent flying as Antares leapt up out of the gulley they were in and galoped off through the woods.
Hare jumped up and grabbed Galeon by the throat holding him up. "What was that?!"
Galeon grunted and looked at him. "What do you mean?!"
"I mean turning him on us!" Hare said.
"Yeah, I knew we couldn't trust them." Suezo added.
Galeon knocked Hare back and kicked him sending him to the ground. "I didn't turn him against you, you're the idiots that decided to go find an Antares while it was molting!"
"Molting or not he's still dangerous!"
"If you knew anything you would know that Arrowheads and Antares alike take their molting time as a time to be alone, it hurts like hell when they molt and they would love to have something to kick around to draw from the pain, try not to let that be you. On top of that they feel very vulnerable and are, they would want to get rid of anything that could threaten them before it does." Daina said as she sat down by the fire again.
"You call that vulnerable?!" Suezo said as he dropped himself on the opposite side of the fire from Daina.
"Will he be back?..." Genki said as he climbed to his feet and brushed himself off.
"Yes, he'll be back soon enough." Galeon said as he grabbed his clean jumpsuit out of his backpack.
"He won't come back if he knows what's good for him." Hare said as he crossed his arms and laughed.
"Oh and why's that?..." Cujo said.
"Because, if he did I'd kick his butt!" Hare said as he laughed again. "I was going easy on him, I only used half my strength."
Tiger laughed. "Think about it Hare, he was at a fraction of his normal power and he knocked you away like a fly."
"'Er, uh..." Hare dropped down to the ground. "Exactly how strong is Antares at full power?..."
"Strong enough that even Galeon's scared of him." Cujo chimed in.
Galeon glared at the Terror Dog as he zipped his jumpsuit up. "And you aren't?"
"Did I ever say I wasn't?" Cujo replied.
"So the guy that took on a horde of Dinos is a scared of one little Centaur?..." Suezo added.
Galeon scowled at him. "The Dinos are much weaker than Antares, if you manage to get Antares truly angry at you he's going to kill you."
"So you haven't made him mad?"
"Oh no, I said he would kill you." Galeon turned his head to the side and tilted it back a little pointing to a scar that ran almost from his jaw down to under his clothes. "That scar runs from my jaw to my waist, and he did that in one swipe, through my armor."
Suezo looked a little shocked. "Ouch..." he mumbled as he shifted a pebble around the ground in a circle with his tail.
Galeon climbed up out of the gulley and sat down leaning back against the tree Antares had been resting under. He sighed and thought back over the last few moments, he wondered if he should keep going with them, they had already caused some pretty bad trouble to what he had wanted to happen.
He looked up quickly as Holly stood with her hand on the tree looking down at him. "Mind if I-I sit here?..."
Galeon shook his head as he looked forward again.
Holly sighed and sat down leaning back against the tree, her arm touching his lightly.
Galeon blushed lightly at the touch. He could feel it through his chain mael, his whole body felt like it heated up.
Holly sat looking down at the ground infront of her. She looked up at Galeon who was sitting quietly, he looked stern and cold. She sighed and looked at him again.
Galeon wanted to say something but out of all things, he didn't have the courage to.
Holly looked down at her lap and sighed. *I've got to say something...but what?...I just wish...I wish...I wish that he'd put his arm around me...I feel cold...but why do I feel like this?...Am I, lonely?...* She shook her head lightly as she looked at the ground infront of her knees. *No...I've got lots of friends...Genki, Hare, Tiger, Suezo, Mocchi...*
Holly looked over at Galeon, he was still sitting quietly. Galeon glanced over at her as a small smirk crossed his face.
Holly blushed slightly and quickly averted her glance.
Holly looked up at the sound of light chuckling to see Galeon leaning back against the tree with his eyes closed, smiling.
"What's so funny?..." She asked as she leaned back against the tree.
Galeon glanced over at her. "Oh, I don't know..."
Holly leaned closer. "I can always give you something to laugh about..."
Galeon blushed crimson. "'Er, um, uh, I-..." he felt his heart jump into his throat choking his words out.
Holly slid her hand up to his side causing him to blush even more. She suddenly ran her fingers up his side causing him to shiver.
Galeon choked up again.
Holly smiled. "What'd you think I was gonna do?..."
Galeon blushed even brighter as he looked down at his lap. "I-I don't know..."
Holly giggled and looked up at the sky. The two suddenly became solemn. "Galeon?..."
"Hmm?"
"Do you ever think about...death?"
Galeon nodded. "Occasionaly...especially since I've been fighting Mu."
"How long do you think you'll live?"
Galeon shrugged. "I expect atleast until I'm twenty, so I've got another five years."
Holly sighed and looked down at her lap. "I, for one, hope you don't die before then, or anywhere near then."
Galeon looked at her a little shocked. She was sitting looking back at him with a hurt look on her face.
He looked back into the darkness of the evening forest. Galeon sat thinking for a second until he sighed and began. "Why do you care?...No one else does...Including myself. If I died tomorrow Antares, Daina, and Cujo would bury me, they'd go on looking for the Time Stone and kill Mu and then take the stone back to Colt..."
Holly's face contorted slightly into a sad, depressed look as tears welled up in her eyes. "Galeon please don't die...please...please..." She said between sobs as she leaned against him.
Galeon felt his heart drop, he felt just like he did when he saw her leaning over him crying before. He had always been cold hearted and tough, but for some reason now he felt like he was going to cry himself at that point he wished he would've died instead of woken up.
He looked down at the brunette girl that he had liked ever since he had met, the one that was now leaning against him crying because she didn't want him to die.
Galeon put his finger under Holly's chin liften her gaze up to meet his. "Shh...don't cry...I'm not going anywhere anytime soon." He smiled slightly as he whispered to her.
Holly nodded slightly as she locked her gaze onto his, not wanting to break it. She reached up and wiped the tears from her cheeks and eyes with the sleeve of her shirt.
Holly shifted how she was seated slightly and rose up towards Galeon slowly.
Galeon was slowly bending over towards her, he didn't know why, it just felt like he was supposed to do it.
Their faces were only inches apart, Galeon stared into the beautiful brown eyes of the girl before him. He thought about what was going to happen if they kept this up and quickly looked to the side.
Holly moved back a little as she did a sudden chill washed over her causing her to shiver. She looked up at Galeon who was looking back at her. She looked back down at the ground and sighed to herself
Galeon looked up to a shadow blocking the moon from their view.
"Hey guys, whatcha doing?" Genki said as he stopped and stood looking down at them.
The two teens both looked up at the boy. "Just talking..." they said simutenously
"You gonna come eat?..." Genki said as he scratched his head.
Holly looked up at the sky, the moon was fairly high. "Oh my...it's late isn't?...And I haven't even started-"
Genki smiled. "Don't worry, you don't have to cook dinner, Daina did."
Holly looked at Galeon. "She did?..."
Galeon smiled nervously. "Yeah...her and Antares kind of know how to cook..."
"Oh...You taught them?"
Galeon laughed lightly "Um...no...Colt did...she taught them alot of things..."
"Oh..."
Holly looked back down at her lap as her face darkened. Something had dawned on her.
"Hey guys, I'm still here!" Genki yelled as he waved his arms.
The two looked up at the boy. "What?..." they both said at the same time.
"Are you gonna come eat dinner or not?"
Holly nodded quietly and got to her feet looking down at Galeon quickly before going back into the light of the camp fire. Followed closely by Genki.
Galeon sat for a moment looking at the sky and then got up and slid down into the gulley and went over and sat down near the fire.
Holly sat looking down at the bowl of stew she was holding in her lap as she thought back to what Galeon had said earlier. She knew she was being paranoid, yet, she knew it was possible, Colt and Galeon could have been together.
"Something wrong, Holly?" Genki questioned as he sat down beside her.
Holly glanced over at the boy and then back at her lap. "N-No..."
"Aw, come on Holly, you can tell us, we're your friends."
"N-No Genki...it's nothing...really..."
"Aw, come on Holly-"
"Genki, she said she there's nothing wrong, leave her alone."
Genki looked up at Galeon who was sitting across from them.
"Okay...sorry..." Genki turned and faced away from the fire.
Holly looked at Galeon and blushed lightly when she saw he was looking back at her.
Daina sat down beside Galeon and looked at him for a minute. Galeon finally turned and looked at her. "What?..."
"Are you going to give them it or not?..."
Galeon growled "I told you not to read my thougths..."
Daina giggled "Oh, but you have such interesting thoughts." She looked at Holly and smiled causing Galeon to blush.
"So, are you going to give them the Manastones?"
Galeon sighed "I guess so..."
Genki came over to him. "What?..."
Galeon sighed as he held up a small brown pouch. "If I'm going to be helping you I might as well help as much as possible, there are seven stones that I got from that Magic, these are the Manastones I was talking about, they'll give you access to alot of power, and it'll make it alot easier to fight." He poured the bag into his hand and looked across at Holly who was sitting watching him. "I want each of you to have one." He said as he held them out for Genki to take.
Genki took the Manastones looking at them sitting in the palm of his hand.
"Just keep them somewhere on your body, they should turn blue after a few minutes." Galeon said as he shifted his sitting position.
Genki sat down with the stones and some old vines and after a few minutes produced the set of stones in a necklace hanging from the small vines. He tossed one to each monster who put it around their neck.
After a few minutes Tiger looked down as his began to glow blue, nearly as bright as his fur.
Mocchi and Golem both saw the same thing.
Genki saw his stone turn blue, Holly did also.
"Hey, what's wrong with this thing?!" Suezo yelled as he looked at his. "It turned yellow!"
Cujo laughed slyly. "It shows you have cowardice in your heart."
"I'll show you cowardice!" Suezo said as he picked up a rock with his tongue and flung it at Cujo.
Cujo leapt over the rock and onto the other monster pinning him growling.
"Quit it you two...you act like you were just unlocked." Daina said as she looked up from the fire.
"Hey! Mine turned green!" Hare yelled as he threw the stone on the ground. "Something weird is going on here..."
"It means greed, Hare." Galeon ran his fingers along the shoulder plate of his armor sitting beside him. "Your heart isn't pure."
"Oh, and like your's is Mr. Darkness!"
Galeon looked up at the jack rabbit. "Let me rephrase that, the brightness of the glow and black wisps in the stone determine the purity of your heart, the color shows the mind set."
Hare sat down once more grumbling to himself.
"I don't feel any different..." Tiger looked down at the stone hanging from his neck.
"You won't...but you'll be able to tell the difference in a fight. You'll be moving alot quicker and will have alot more power now."
Holly sighed as she set running her fingers over the stone as she thought back to earlier. *He kept mentioning Colt...I guess...she was the one for him...*
The night quietly deepened as sleep set in on the Rebels, the group beded down and the morning came quietly.
Chapter 3 now up, Chapter 4, on it's way (Title easily subject to change). This chapter is now in it's full version, and I'm working on Chapter 4 now...and yes, I know what you're saying, Oh my God Storm's writing romance!...well, so what? I'll admit I do enjoy it... 'till next time, cya.-LtStorm