Clues
Elizabeth Knight
Chapter 20
Kyle knocked on the front door and watched RepSarah pull her hood down further on her face. He smiled slightly, but the front door opening drew his attention back to it. Bulma opened the door wide to permit the two natives. Vegeta was coming down the stairs toward them. He stopped next to RepSarah and looked down at her curiously. Grabbing a hand full of material he pulled the hood back and smiled.
"What a pleasant surprise to see you again, Sarah. If I had known who Kyle was going to bring along I'd have invited Goten to join our little party." he smirked.
"My help is never without cost, Vegeta, but obviously you don't need it." Sarah turned to exit the house, but only got a few feet.
"What's it going to cost me Sarah? I do have to find my daughter."
RepSarah turned slowly to look back at Vegeta. "I thought so. Remember Vegeta, a favor given is a favor owed."
Bulma stepped forward. "I'll show you to her room. It's up here."
Kyle took RepSarah's arm and followed Bulma up the stairs. He pushed the door open further and guided RepSarah in first. "What a mess. What happened? Did she fight him? Why didn't anyone come to help her?"
"My daughter was in a rage that evening. She's responsible for the mess." Bulma answered her.
RepSarah lifted an eyebrow as she pieced together a few shreds of a picture. Glancing at Kyle, she remarked, "Obviously." Kyle shook his head at her and took picture from her. "If your looking for clues, Kyle, I'll have to look at everything."
He dropped the shreds and moved back to let her examine the room. She pieced together all the pictures looking at them critically. She'd gone through most of them before she stopped at one that had been shoved under the bed. "Kyle. Come here." He approached her and looked down at the canvas she held. "I would say this was who we were looking for, wouldn't you."
There was a robed figure in the middle of the canvas surrounded in darkness. The face was slightly obscured, but recognizable.
"Some expert, Kyle. She's found a rather bad picture of you!" Vegeta scoffed from behind them.
Kyle watched RepSarah roll her eyes then look back down at the picture. "Although it appears to be Kyle in this picture, I'd say what we have here is a case of mistaken identity."
"Meaning?" Vegeta prompted.
"Meaning I don't think this is really Kyle. I think Bra saw someone or met someone and thought it was Kyle. I think she never saw his face and painted Kyle's on it mistakenly. Kyle doesn't own a crimson cape and neither does he own any of these." she pointed a finger at the obscured rose on the road at his feet.
Both men leaned over her shoulder and looked down at the flower. She held up the jar with the dried flower in it and smiled slightly as Kyle growled down at the picture, claws bared.
"I'd say she went with him without so much as a scream because she thought it was Kyle coming back for her." RepSarah told them.
He was gorgeous! Long golden hair spilled over his muscular shoulders and those exceedingly dark brown eyes glitter a breath away. He had the face of an angel. Perhaps a slightly unusual angel, but an angel never the less. His face had the most unusual bone structure she'd ever seen. He had large tilted Hershey brown eyes and a shorter snout. The top half of his face resembled a mask in it's unique shape, with it's rounded muzzle that swooped into the bottom of his cheek bones. He had a smaller upturned nose, and his lips were full. They naturally made a smirk that made him look rather mysterious. Bra raised an eyebrow but couldn't seem to take her eyes off of that exotic face.
"What's wrong, Bra? Did you have something else in mind. Perhaps I was supposed to exceedingly hideous." he suggested. Bra opened her mouth, and then shut it again. He gave a shrug and let his cloak flutter to the floor behind him, then pulled the leather gloves from his hands. Bra's eyes locked onto the hairy very humanly hands. He had thick fingernails, but not claws. His hands were as large as Kyle's paws, but more human. "Mmm. Interesting isn't it?" he ask, looking down at his hands as he dropped the gloves. "You're wondering how I can so clearly be a native and yet possess such disgustingly human features. Long story."
"You're half human." It wasn't a question but a statement.
"Noticed that did you. How very perceptive of you."
"You surprised me. Why do you say disgustingly human? I'm half human."
"Yes unfortunately, but your half saiyan as well. A very powerful race. A very commanding race."
"You've yet to tell me what you want from me."
"Isn't it obvious? Did you think I was perhaps in love with your beauty, Bra?"
"Not particularly, No. What's so obvious?"
"Power, Bra. You have a great deal of it."
"And?"
"And obviously I want to know how to obtain it."
Bra looked down into the water. How was she going to get out of this one? There was no way she knew of to obtain the powers of a saiyan. Why couldn't he ask for something she could give him? At least something reasonable.
"Bra." he called quietly from her side. She turned to look up at him slightly dazed. She opened her mouth to speak, but he reached out to place a finger in front of her. Her eyes locked onto the humanly digit not a millimeter in front of her lips. So close he was almost touching her, but not. Her eyes snapped back up to him as she watched him reach down to pick up the cloak and gloves at his feet. He tugged the gloves back on and turned to her. Bending down, he brought his face right in front of her own. Bra stared into the hypnotically dark eyes in front of her. "Later. Enjoy your bath."
"Calm down Kyle! Your anger isn't going to help us find Bra any faster." RepSarah informed him.
"First I'm going to kill him for taking her, then I'm going to kill her for going with him." Kyle's fury was unmeasurable. It ate at him that she'd mistaken someone else for him so easily. It hurt more to think of the endless possibilities of what might be happening.
"Perhaps if you hadn't have upset her so much she would have been able to concentrate on the differences. If you want to point fingers start with yourself. Now get it under control so that you'll be of some use to me. I'm going to need your help."
"Where do we start? Do you have any idea who it is?"
"It doesn't help us any to know who it is, Kyle. No one can identify him. For all we know he could be you."
"Who is it?" he ask more firmly this time.
"They call him the Rebel Phantom around here. He works directly under White Fang with no one else. He's a loner, and he's extremely good at his job. He's also a mystic."
"I thought there were no more mystics."
"Few and far between, but there are still a few."
"How do we find him?"
"With this." she said, holding up a few petals.
"The flower?" he ask, taking the petals from her open palm.
"Mmmm. They're new. Left the night he took her. Each time he's come he left a flower. This one was destroyed somehow, but it isn't the same one from the glass container." RepSarah handed the glass jar to him.
"How does that help us?" he ask rather confused.
"It's like a calling card. A rare calling card. You can't just find this flower anywhere. It's extremely poisonous if ingested in anyway." she informed him.
"That's it? That's all you can come up with?" he ask in frustration.
"Find the flower. They're rather picky in their living conditions. I'd say he has a rather extensive collection of them."
"You're telling me I have to go in search of a picky flower?" Kyle demanded.
RepSarah threw back her head and laughed. "Don't get pushy with me dear boy. I can be far more dangerous than any Phantom, regardless of his pretty toys. This flower should be relatively easy to find. I'm actually surprised he made it so easy for us to find him. They like partial to shady light, and they like moist surroundings. Caves come to mind, but which direction do we start looking in first?"
The darkness was only penetrated by the single candle burning low on a wooden table. The hooded figure moved in slowly to take a seat in the only chair available. His eyes were full of cold curiosity and suspicion. They searched the darkness as he waited for his companion to join him. Something wasn't quite right here.
"I see you beat me here this evening. Is the job done?" White Fang walked across the room to come to stand in front of the hooded figure.
"It's done. You wanted the saiyan gone, she's gone." the cold voice was slightly threatening and quite promising.
"Why isn't she dead yet?" the ware wolf demanded with a snarl.
"I'll dispose of her at my convenience. You have nothing to worry about, White Fang."
"Of corse not, my friend. Forgive my impacients. Have a friendly drink with me." The hooded figure looked down into the dark red liquid. He brought the glass up to his lips and emptied the cup as a slow rumbling laugh began to bubble forth from the obsessed ware wolf. "Ironic isn't it, that you should be destroyed by your own symbol of beauty. I hear those flowers of yours are quite deadly if ingested."
The dark eyes glared up at White Fang as he passed, but the figure didn't move. "I will kill you for this. You know that don't you?"
White Fang laughed again. "My dear Erik. You'll be lucky if you live another five minutes much less live long enough to find and kill me. There was enough in that small glass to have wiped out five of your kind."
"Never the less, I will kill you."