Itching to know who the stranger is? Read on and find out in Part 5 of
Zephyr's Wind!
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Lili and the stranger man thrust and parried with their swords across the clearing, both giving their all and being quite skilled with their blade. "Did you know she could fight like that?" Holly asked Genki softly.
"No," Genki whispered back. "I knew she could fight with her fists, she did it often enough back in our world when skating. But I've never seen her use a blade before in my life."
The stranger suddenly flicked Lilianne's sword form her hand. She rubbed in painfully before grabbing her sais and backing up quickly.
"I see you've learned a new trick," she growled, making sure he hadn't drawn any blood.
"Yes," replied the man, "And I didn't almost slice of your finger this time as well." Before Lili could reply, he charged at her blade first and the battle began once more.
Lili was able to disarm him of his sword after awhile, and he pulled out a whip from his side. "You've got a new one!" said Lili in surprise.
"Well, since you sliced the old one to bits."
Oh, that's right," said Lili sweetly. "I did, didn't I? Looks like I'll have to do it again too." Pulling a few discs from her pouch, she let them fly at the whip and it was soon lying in pieces on the ground. "Oops," said Lili mockingly as the stranger growled on anger at her.
"I just bought that a week a go!" yelled the man as he ran at her with his dagger.
"It was just a bit of rawhide!" Lili yelled in return.
"A bit of rawhide???" yelled the man even louder. "I'll make you into rawhide and see how much it takes to make a new whip, that sound good to you?"
He was able to knock all her weapons away, and she didn't seem to have the heart to throw any discs at him. He advanced slowly upon her as she backed herself into a corner.
Holly, who had been holding Genki back since the man had threatened to turn his cousin into a whip, suddenly lost her grip and Genki ran at the man with his dirk drawn and yelling 'bloody murder.'
The stranger turned his attention from Lili and prepared to meet Genki with his dagger. Lili swore under her breath at her cousin and tackled Genki away from the man, saving him from being cut to ribbons by the man.
"Don't you dare," said Lili as she stopped the stranger from charging Genki.
"But he attacked me!" argued the man.
"In my defense," replied Lili, knocking his hood off with a flick of her hand, revealing a cascade of silver hair and a familiar face.
"Allen?" asked Holly as she helped Genki to his feet. She had gone running after him, but he had been to fast for her.
"Miss Holly!" replied Allen in surprise. Peering into Genki's face closely, he said, "What do you know, the Phoenix boy has returned."
"Whoa!" said Lili, holding up her hands. "How do you know these two?"
"We met awhile back when he was here for the first time. How do you know them?"
"Genki happens to be my cousin, the one that I told you about a couple of times. I just met Holly recently, but we're all on another journey."
"Hang on," said Genki, shaking his head, "How do you two know each other?"
"Allen's been a friend of mine for the past few years," replied Lili, "His father makes my weapons and he's the one who brings me those monsters that are need a home and such."
"But why were you fighting?" asked Holly.
"We always do that to keep ourselves fresh," explained Allen.
"Yeah, what good is a sword if you can't use it properly?" reasoned Lili, picking up hers and putting it in its sheath. "Normally Allen'll just attack me, but with you all around he probably didn't want to risk someone else getting involved."
"That round went faster than others," said Allen calculatingly. "Usually you don't shred my whip and you use."
"It's getting late," interrupted Lili, shooting Allen a 'look.' "We'd best get back to the rest." They picked up all their weapons and put them in their respective places. Allen left his whip lying there since it was pretty much useless, but Lili picked up the pieces in case they came in handy later on.
She whistled to Zephyr and he flew over to them, her bag secured to his back and his next to it. "You're going to travel with us for a while, aren't you?" Lili asked Allen.
"Of course," replied Allen, "My family isn't expecting me to return for at least another two to three months so I've got some time to burn."
"Great," said Genki, shaking Allen's hand, "Welcome to the team."
"Sure thing, kid," replied Allen, grinning pleasantly.
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Allen sat with Holly and Genki by the fire, listening to them tell about their new quest as Lili sat with Zephyr by the spring, talking quietly. Allen's brow was heavy with concern when he had heard the whole tale.
"And Lili's taking you to a Ranch she heard of up north, is she?" he asked at last.
"Yeah," replied Genki, "Why?"
"Do you remember Hare?" asked Allen, changing the subject abruptly.
"Yep, haven't heard from him in months, though," replied Holly.
"Well, I know where he is and I can take you to him," said Allen. "It's only a few hours walk from here and I just visited him today. I always do before visiting Lili and that's where I was headed before bumping into you guys."
"Then we can go see him tomorrow?" asked Genki.
"Sure, lemme go check with Lili and see what she thinks, though," he said quickly. He got up and walked over to Lili and Zephyr, sat down resolutely, and broke rudely into their conversation. "They don't know any of it, do they?" he asked heatedly, frowning as he did.
"What they don't know can't hurt them," Lili replied stonily, knowing what was coming next. Zephyr left, not wanting to be around when the words began to fly.
"Lili, you are the most stubbornly insane person I know!" Allen ranted quietly. "Your cousin and friends deserve to know the truth, Lili. All of it. You're leading them into a death trap, because they don't know stuff that could save their lives."
"They'll be in more danger if they know," Lili replied coldly.
"You are lying to them."
"I haven't told them anything that's false."
"Telling them a half-truth is as good as lying."
"It depends on how you look at it, Allen."
"And if I tell them?" he asked, eyes flashing angrily.
"You won't, because I said so," replied Lili, drawing her dagger menacingly.
"Fine," replied Allen coldly, "I won't tell them, but neither will I speak to you until you do." He got up and walked off through the trees, wanting to get his temper under control before he talked with the others.
Lili sighed in frustration and got up to go talk to Holly and Genki about visiting this old friend of theirs. She looked up and saw Zephyr playing with the Tiger twins as their parents watched in the background. She smiled, and composed herself before joining the group once more.
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Temi tried to distract Zephyr once more as her brother balanced himself on the branch above his head. Zephyr moved the twig in him mouth out of the way when the young pup sprang at it and went tumbling again across the ground.
"How can you tell I'm coming?" asked Ici as he rubbed his rump tenderly.
"I have a radar of sorts. It's kind of hard to explain, but it's like an invisible eye in the simplest of terms," replied Zephyr.
"Aw, darn," replied Ici dejectedly.
"How'd you get your wings?" asked Temi decidedly.
"Yeah," put in her brother, "And how'd you lose your eye sight?"
Zephyr yawned and replied, "It's a long story, and maybe I'll tell you some other night when you will be able to understand a little better."
"Time for be, you two scoundrels," said Storm as she came up beside them.
"Aw, ma," yawned Temi, "Do we have to?"
"Yeah, I'm not sleepy," added Ici as he rubbed a paw over his eyes.
Mayfleur, who was already half asleep beside Tiger, let the pups snuggle into her arms as Storm lay protectively on the other side.
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"Mayfleur finally has found a family," commented Ojo as he sat beside Golem.
"She deserves one," Golem replied slowly, "She has been through a lot and needs the love they can give her."
"Aye," replied Ojo sadly, "But we may be losing her when we find the others and return back home."
"They will understand if she stays with the pack," said Golem sensibly. "And she'll never forget the friends she has there."
"Still, it just won't be the same without her." Ojo looked up at the stars and not for the first time wished this quest had never happened at all.
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The next day, Allen told them about what Hare had been up to since they had last seen him. "Hare went back to his old village," explained Allen. "It's hidden in the tree tops and scores of other hares types live there. He's there leader right now, since the old one died. And I think he has a girlfriend, a Kung Fu Hare named Grace.
"The only sign that the village is even there is an old oak tree that is higher than any of the others around it. On it's carved the word 'Haresville' and from there you just go straight up until you see the houses in the branches."
"How much longer until we get there?" asked Holly.
"It's just over this next."
"KRACKABOOM!!!!" Zephyr took off into the sky, Lili on his back. "There's and army of Colorpandoras attacking some hare's in a tree!" she yelled, "We've got to go help them!"
Allen was right behind her as they raced to the village, him calling for Hare at the top of his lungs. "Allen!" yelled Hare as he took out another Colorpandora. "Am I glad to see you!"
"I brought some reinforcements," yelled Allen, "Recognize them?"
"Holly! Genki! Tiger! Golem!" yelled Hare at his old friends as they began to battle, "You just made me one happy hare!"
"Anything for a friend!" yelled Genki as he helped one of the village hares types to safety.
Lili spotted their leader, a Colorpandora/Jell/Dragon tri-breed that looked very unusual.
"Look, it's the traitors," he screeched when he spotted Lili and Zephyr. Holly, who was helping others who were hurt get out of the fight, was the only one who heard it and looked up quizzically before Lili silenced it's tongue forever with a few well placed discs.
The tri-breed was a Lost Disk before it hit the ground, shattering into a million pieces on contact. Lili spat on it in disgust and jumped back into the fray, sending a few others to similar fates as their leader before they fled.
Cheers went up from the group as a few well-aimed blasts from Tiger and Storm took the rest out, leaving no survivors.
A groan to Lili's right reminded the group that they had not gone unscathed, and the hurt were quickly tended to. She went over to the Kung Fu Hare who had made the sound and was sitting on a branch motionless. She saw a spear sticking out of its side and immediately jumped into action.
"Allen!" yelled Lili over her shoulder, "Get that rabbit guy over here quick! One of his people is hurt pretty bad!" She gently removed the spear and had placed a cloth from her bag on the wound when Hare came bounding over.
"Oh, no, Grace!" he cried, picking her up and carrying her his tree house.
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Several hours had passed, and Lili and Holly and long since done their best to tend to Grace's wound, but none of it seemed to help. The rest helped repair and clean up what ever they could to help the poor village and it's inhabitants. Golem stayed with Ojo on the ground, him being too large to go up in the trees and the eyeball not being fond of heights.
Hare sat by a fire as night fell, head in between his paws as he stared into the flames of the fire. Grace was next door, out cold, pale and feverish. They still couldn't tell if she was going to make it or not, and it weighed heavily on the small monster's mind.
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Lili and Zephyr were conferring quietly in a tree when Allen landed beside them. "You have to help that Grace," he whispered defiantly.
"What do think we're planning to do?" retorted Lili, "And weren't you not speaking to me anymore?"
"How do you plan to do that without telling the others your secret?" asked Allen smartly, ignoring her last comment.
"Watch and learn, amateur," smirked Lili. Turning serious, she added, "And if you interfere."
"I won't." growled Allen, leaping off into the night.
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Everyone had long sine fallen asleep in the large room when Lili and Zephyr finally rejoined the group. Everyone, that is, except Holly. She watched form her corner, Slip blocking her face from view, as the two slipped into Grace's room. She waited for them to com out, and it seemed like an eternity before they did.
When she did see them emerge, Lili looked pale and tired in the flickering firelight. Zephyr let her ride on his back and they went to a branch near by where Holly watched them fall asleep.
'What is your secret, Lilianne." she thought to herself as she drifted off to sleep.
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Hare woke up first in the morning, and forced his wearied legs to stagger over into Grace's room so he could check on her. His eyes snapped open and he instantly became alert as he noticed her bed was empty. Rushing into the main room, he began to yell, "Grace! Grace! Grace! Where are you, Grace???"
A familiar set of paws clamped themselves over his mouth and he whirled around to meet a set of emerald eyes that sparkled happily. Holly, Genki and Allen had managed to get up and were stumbling over to Hare to see what the problem was.
"I'm healed, Hare," said Grace softly, "I don't know how, but I'm healed!"
"Hare! Why were you yelling?" asked Genki as he managed to get around all the sleeping forms on the floor.
"Grace wasn't in her bed when I went to check on her, so I started to yell her name," explained Hare, "But look, her wound's gone!" Hare was right. Where the deep cut had been was now a yellow scar and it looked to be completely sealed.
"But that's impossible," said Genki as Holly came up beside him.
"Apparently not," replied Allen as he joined their group, watching Hare dance Grace crazily around the room. "Wouldn't you agree, Miss Holly?"
"I guess I'd have to," she replied softly, lost in thought.
Grace finally got Hare to put her down and turned her attention to the Searchers. "Who are these people?" she asked, not being sure why they were there.
"Some of these are friends that I traveled with before, and the rest are friends that are on a journey with them now," explained Hare breathlessly.
"You mean the Searchers of the Phoenix? What are you doing here?"
"We came to ask Hare to join us on our new journey," replied Holly honestly, "His quick plans got us out of more than one scrape."
"Are you going to go?" Grace asked Hare.
"I don't know, Grace," replied Hare, shrugging, "I haven't had anytime to think about it."
"You should go," said Grace decidedly.
"What???" Hare looked at her in disbelief.
"Your friends need you, and are asking for you help, Hare," she said prudently. "And as their friend you should go with them and help in any way you can."
"Who'll be in charge while I'm gone?"
"Me."
"You!!!"
"What? Pa always said I'd lead this group well, and I would be the leader if you hadn't come and killed that Joker fella a few years back."
"Are you just trying to get rid of me?" Hare asked suspiciously.
"Hare, be reasonable," said Grace aggravated. "If I wanted to get rid of you I'd of done it a long time ago."
"Ok, if you're sure you can handle this."
"We'll be fine, Hare."
Hare grinned boyishly and ran into his room. In the corner was his old stick with a pouch at the end, which he packed quickly. "I'm ready!" yelled Hare as he bounded out the door towards his friends.
"That's good," said Genki, "'Cuz Tiger's waiting for us and he just threatened to come up here and drag us down if we don't get moving."
"I'll help him," said Lili as she walked in the door, "We're wasting valuable time, let's go!" Everyone followed her lead and quickly got down the tree the fasted way they could. Grace watched Lili and Zephyr for a moment and couldn't shake the feeling that she had seen them some where.
"Bye, Grace!" yelled Hare when he reached the bottom, waving up at his love.
"See ya soon, honey," she yelled back as the group began to walk away. Hare waved one last time at his village before running to catch up with the rest.
"Keeping the group up already, Hare?" called Tiger from beside Storm.
"You bet, Tiger!" said Hare, being in too good of a mood to let the dog- monster get to him.
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Grace watched as the group disappeared into the distance, "Good luck, Hare," she said to the wind. She could still see that peculiar flying Tiger and his Master in the distance.
"Have you ever seen an angel before?" she asked the small Leaf Hare beside her.
"No, ma says they aren't real," the young one replied regally.
"I think I just saw one," said Grace mysteriously, "But she reminded me more of a demon. Come on and I'll tell you about the strange dream I had last night over breakfast."
The pair walked into the kitchen chattering away as the Searchers traveled farther and farther away, getting deeper into their quest which would reveal more than they could ever know.
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Ohhh! What's Lili's secret, and what surprises lie ahead?? Well, I can't tell you until I get five more reviews as of the time I post this, to tell your friends to review, and you'll get to read the next chapter. Ta ta!
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Lili and the stranger man thrust and parried with their swords across the clearing, both giving their all and being quite skilled with their blade. "Did you know she could fight like that?" Holly asked Genki softly.
"No," Genki whispered back. "I knew she could fight with her fists, she did it often enough back in our world when skating. But I've never seen her use a blade before in my life."
The stranger suddenly flicked Lilianne's sword form her hand. She rubbed in painfully before grabbing her sais and backing up quickly.
"I see you've learned a new trick," she growled, making sure he hadn't drawn any blood.
"Yes," replied the man, "And I didn't almost slice of your finger this time as well." Before Lili could reply, he charged at her blade first and the battle began once more.
Lili was able to disarm him of his sword after awhile, and he pulled out a whip from his side. "You've got a new one!" said Lili in surprise.
"Well, since you sliced the old one to bits."
Oh, that's right," said Lili sweetly. "I did, didn't I? Looks like I'll have to do it again too." Pulling a few discs from her pouch, she let them fly at the whip and it was soon lying in pieces on the ground. "Oops," said Lili mockingly as the stranger growled on anger at her.
"I just bought that a week a go!" yelled the man as he ran at her with his dagger.
"It was just a bit of rawhide!" Lili yelled in return.
"A bit of rawhide???" yelled the man even louder. "I'll make you into rawhide and see how much it takes to make a new whip, that sound good to you?"
He was able to knock all her weapons away, and she didn't seem to have the heart to throw any discs at him. He advanced slowly upon her as she backed herself into a corner.
Holly, who had been holding Genki back since the man had threatened to turn his cousin into a whip, suddenly lost her grip and Genki ran at the man with his dirk drawn and yelling 'bloody murder.'
The stranger turned his attention from Lili and prepared to meet Genki with his dagger. Lili swore under her breath at her cousin and tackled Genki away from the man, saving him from being cut to ribbons by the man.
"Don't you dare," said Lili as she stopped the stranger from charging Genki.
"But he attacked me!" argued the man.
"In my defense," replied Lili, knocking his hood off with a flick of her hand, revealing a cascade of silver hair and a familiar face.
"Allen?" asked Holly as she helped Genki to his feet. She had gone running after him, but he had been to fast for her.
"Miss Holly!" replied Allen in surprise. Peering into Genki's face closely, he said, "What do you know, the Phoenix boy has returned."
"Whoa!" said Lili, holding up her hands. "How do you know these two?"
"We met awhile back when he was here for the first time. How do you know them?"
"Genki happens to be my cousin, the one that I told you about a couple of times. I just met Holly recently, but we're all on another journey."
"Hang on," said Genki, shaking his head, "How do you two know each other?"
"Allen's been a friend of mine for the past few years," replied Lili, "His father makes my weapons and he's the one who brings me those monsters that are need a home and such."
"But why were you fighting?" asked Holly.
"We always do that to keep ourselves fresh," explained Allen.
"Yeah, what good is a sword if you can't use it properly?" reasoned Lili, picking up hers and putting it in its sheath. "Normally Allen'll just attack me, but with you all around he probably didn't want to risk someone else getting involved."
"That round went faster than others," said Allen calculatingly. "Usually you don't shred my whip and you use."
"It's getting late," interrupted Lili, shooting Allen a 'look.' "We'd best get back to the rest." They picked up all their weapons and put them in their respective places. Allen left his whip lying there since it was pretty much useless, but Lili picked up the pieces in case they came in handy later on.
She whistled to Zephyr and he flew over to them, her bag secured to his back and his next to it. "You're going to travel with us for a while, aren't you?" Lili asked Allen.
"Of course," replied Allen, "My family isn't expecting me to return for at least another two to three months so I've got some time to burn."
"Great," said Genki, shaking Allen's hand, "Welcome to the team."
"Sure thing, kid," replied Allen, grinning pleasantly.
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Allen sat with Holly and Genki by the fire, listening to them tell about their new quest as Lili sat with Zephyr by the spring, talking quietly. Allen's brow was heavy with concern when he had heard the whole tale.
"And Lili's taking you to a Ranch she heard of up north, is she?" he asked at last.
"Yeah," replied Genki, "Why?"
"Do you remember Hare?" asked Allen, changing the subject abruptly.
"Yep, haven't heard from him in months, though," replied Holly.
"Well, I know where he is and I can take you to him," said Allen. "It's only a few hours walk from here and I just visited him today. I always do before visiting Lili and that's where I was headed before bumping into you guys."
"Then we can go see him tomorrow?" asked Genki.
"Sure, lemme go check with Lili and see what she thinks, though," he said quickly. He got up and walked over to Lili and Zephyr, sat down resolutely, and broke rudely into their conversation. "They don't know any of it, do they?" he asked heatedly, frowning as he did.
"What they don't know can't hurt them," Lili replied stonily, knowing what was coming next. Zephyr left, not wanting to be around when the words began to fly.
"Lili, you are the most stubbornly insane person I know!" Allen ranted quietly. "Your cousin and friends deserve to know the truth, Lili. All of it. You're leading them into a death trap, because they don't know stuff that could save their lives."
"They'll be in more danger if they know," Lili replied coldly.
"You are lying to them."
"I haven't told them anything that's false."
"Telling them a half-truth is as good as lying."
"It depends on how you look at it, Allen."
"And if I tell them?" he asked, eyes flashing angrily.
"You won't, because I said so," replied Lili, drawing her dagger menacingly.
"Fine," replied Allen coldly, "I won't tell them, but neither will I speak to you until you do." He got up and walked off through the trees, wanting to get his temper under control before he talked with the others.
Lili sighed in frustration and got up to go talk to Holly and Genki about visiting this old friend of theirs. She looked up and saw Zephyr playing with the Tiger twins as their parents watched in the background. She smiled, and composed herself before joining the group once more.
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Temi tried to distract Zephyr once more as her brother balanced himself on the branch above his head. Zephyr moved the twig in him mouth out of the way when the young pup sprang at it and went tumbling again across the ground.
"How can you tell I'm coming?" asked Ici as he rubbed his rump tenderly.
"I have a radar of sorts. It's kind of hard to explain, but it's like an invisible eye in the simplest of terms," replied Zephyr.
"Aw, darn," replied Ici dejectedly.
"How'd you get your wings?" asked Temi decidedly.
"Yeah," put in her brother, "And how'd you lose your eye sight?"
Zephyr yawned and replied, "It's a long story, and maybe I'll tell you some other night when you will be able to understand a little better."
"Time for be, you two scoundrels," said Storm as she came up beside them.
"Aw, ma," yawned Temi, "Do we have to?"
"Yeah, I'm not sleepy," added Ici as he rubbed a paw over his eyes.
Mayfleur, who was already half asleep beside Tiger, let the pups snuggle into her arms as Storm lay protectively on the other side.
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"Mayfleur finally has found a family," commented Ojo as he sat beside Golem.
"She deserves one," Golem replied slowly, "She has been through a lot and needs the love they can give her."
"Aye," replied Ojo sadly, "But we may be losing her when we find the others and return back home."
"They will understand if she stays with the pack," said Golem sensibly. "And she'll never forget the friends she has there."
"Still, it just won't be the same without her." Ojo looked up at the stars and not for the first time wished this quest had never happened at all.
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The next day, Allen told them about what Hare had been up to since they had last seen him. "Hare went back to his old village," explained Allen. "It's hidden in the tree tops and scores of other hares types live there. He's there leader right now, since the old one died. And I think he has a girlfriend, a Kung Fu Hare named Grace.
"The only sign that the village is even there is an old oak tree that is higher than any of the others around it. On it's carved the word 'Haresville' and from there you just go straight up until you see the houses in the branches."
"How much longer until we get there?" asked Holly.
"It's just over this next."
"KRACKABOOM!!!!" Zephyr took off into the sky, Lili on his back. "There's and army of Colorpandoras attacking some hare's in a tree!" she yelled, "We've got to go help them!"
Allen was right behind her as they raced to the village, him calling for Hare at the top of his lungs. "Allen!" yelled Hare as he took out another Colorpandora. "Am I glad to see you!"
"I brought some reinforcements," yelled Allen, "Recognize them?"
"Holly! Genki! Tiger! Golem!" yelled Hare at his old friends as they began to battle, "You just made me one happy hare!"
"Anything for a friend!" yelled Genki as he helped one of the village hares types to safety.
Lili spotted their leader, a Colorpandora/Jell/Dragon tri-breed that looked very unusual.
"Look, it's the traitors," he screeched when he spotted Lili and Zephyr. Holly, who was helping others who were hurt get out of the fight, was the only one who heard it and looked up quizzically before Lili silenced it's tongue forever with a few well placed discs.
The tri-breed was a Lost Disk before it hit the ground, shattering into a million pieces on contact. Lili spat on it in disgust and jumped back into the fray, sending a few others to similar fates as their leader before they fled.
Cheers went up from the group as a few well-aimed blasts from Tiger and Storm took the rest out, leaving no survivors.
A groan to Lili's right reminded the group that they had not gone unscathed, and the hurt were quickly tended to. She went over to the Kung Fu Hare who had made the sound and was sitting on a branch motionless. She saw a spear sticking out of its side and immediately jumped into action.
"Allen!" yelled Lili over her shoulder, "Get that rabbit guy over here quick! One of his people is hurt pretty bad!" She gently removed the spear and had placed a cloth from her bag on the wound when Hare came bounding over.
"Oh, no, Grace!" he cried, picking her up and carrying her his tree house.
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Several hours had passed, and Lili and Holly and long since done their best to tend to Grace's wound, but none of it seemed to help. The rest helped repair and clean up what ever they could to help the poor village and it's inhabitants. Golem stayed with Ojo on the ground, him being too large to go up in the trees and the eyeball not being fond of heights.
Hare sat by a fire as night fell, head in between his paws as he stared into the flames of the fire. Grace was next door, out cold, pale and feverish. They still couldn't tell if she was going to make it or not, and it weighed heavily on the small monster's mind.
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Lili and Zephyr were conferring quietly in a tree when Allen landed beside them. "You have to help that Grace," he whispered defiantly.
"What do think we're planning to do?" retorted Lili, "And weren't you not speaking to me anymore?"
"How do you plan to do that without telling the others your secret?" asked Allen smartly, ignoring her last comment.
"Watch and learn, amateur," smirked Lili. Turning serious, she added, "And if you interfere."
"I won't." growled Allen, leaping off into the night.
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Everyone had long sine fallen asleep in the large room when Lili and Zephyr finally rejoined the group. Everyone, that is, except Holly. She watched form her corner, Slip blocking her face from view, as the two slipped into Grace's room. She waited for them to com out, and it seemed like an eternity before they did.
When she did see them emerge, Lili looked pale and tired in the flickering firelight. Zephyr let her ride on his back and they went to a branch near by where Holly watched them fall asleep.
'What is your secret, Lilianne." she thought to herself as she drifted off to sleep.
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Hare woke up first in the morning, and forced his wearied legs to stagger over into Grace's room so he could check on her. His eyes snapped open and he instantly became alert as he noticed her bed was empty. Rushing into the main room, he began to yell, "Grace! Grace! Grace! Where are you, Grace???"
A familiar set of paws clamped themselves over his mouth and he whirled around to meet a set of emerald eyes that sparkled happily. Holly, Genki and Allen had managed to get up and were stumbling over to Hare to see what the problem was.
"I'm healed, Hare," said Grace softly, "I don't know how, but I'm healed!"
"Hare! Why were you yelling?" asked Genki as he managed to get around all the sleeping forms on the floor.
"Grace wasn't in her bed when I went to check on her, so I started to yell her name," explained Hare, "But look, her wound's gone!" Hare was right. Where the deep cut had been was now a yellow scar and it looked to be completely sealed.
"But that's impossible," said Genki as Holly came up beside him.
"Apparently not," replied Allen as he joined their group, watching Hare dance Grace crazily around the room. "Wouldn't you agree, Miss Holly?"
"I guess I'd have to," she replied softly, lost in thought.
Grace finally got Hare to put her down and turned her attention to the Searchers. "Who are these people?" she asked, not being sure why they were there.
"Some of these are friends that I traveled with before, and the rest are friends that are on a journey with them now," explained Hare breathlessly.
"You mean the Searchers of the Phoenix? What are you doing here?"
"We came to ask Hare to join us on our new journey," replied Holly honestly, "His quick plans got us out of more than one scrape."
"Are you going to go?" Grace asked Hare.
"I don't know, Grace," replied Hare, shrugging, "I haven't had anytime to think about it."
"You should go," said Grace decidedly.
"What???" Hare looked at her in disbelief.
"Your friends need you, and are asking for you help, Hare," she said prudently. "And as their friend you should go with them and help in any way you can."
"Who'll be in charge while I'm gone?"
"Me."
"You!!!"
"What? Pa always said I'd lead this group well, and I would be the leader if you hadn't come and killed that Joker fella a few years back."
"Are you just trying to get rid of me?" Hare asked suspiciously.
"Hare, be reasonable," said Grace aggravated. "If I wanted to get rid of you I'd of done it a long time ago."
"Ok, if you're sure you can handle this."
"We'll be fine, Hare."
Hare grinned boyishly and ran into his room. In the corner was his old stick with a pouch at the end, which he packed quickly. "I'm ready!" yelled Hare as he bounded out the door towards his friends.
"That's good," said Genki, "'Cuz Tiger's waiting for us and he just threatened to come up here and drag us down if we don't get moving."
"I'll help him," said Lili as she walked in the door, "We're wasting valuable time, let's go!" Everyone followed her lead and quickly got down the tree the fasted way they could. Grace watched Lili and Zephyr for a moment and couldn't shake the feeling that she had seen them some where.
"Bye, Grace!" yelled Hare when he reached the bottom, waving up at his love.
"See ya soon, honey," she yelled back as the group began to walk away. Hare waved one last time at his village before running to catch up with the rest.
"Keeping the group up already, Hare?" called Tiger from beside Storm.
"You bet, Tiger!" said Hare, being in too good of a mood to let the dog- monster get to him.
*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*
Grace watched as the group disappeared into the distance, "Good luck, Hare," she said to the wind. She could still see that peculiar flying Tiger and his Master in the distance.
"Have you ever seen an angel before?" she asked the small Leaf Hare beside her.
"No, ma says they aren't real," the young one replied regally.
"I think I just saw one," said Grace mysteriously, "But she reminded me more of a demon. Come on and I'll tell you about the strange dream I had last night over breakfast."
The pair walked into the kitchen chattering away as the Searchers traveled farther and farther away, getting deeper into their quest which would reveal more than they could ever know.
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Ohhh! What's Lili's secret, and what surprises lie ahead?? Well, I can't tell you until I get five more reviews as of the time I post this, to tell your friends to review, and you'll get to read the next chapter. Ta ta!