Author's Note : I really wasn't going to continue this. It was
supposed to just be a one-shot stepping stone in the confuzzling Timeline
of the Harem, but I had an idea for a little (make that long) 'epilogue'
that just wouldn't leave me alone. *sigh* As if I didn't have enough things
to write *smirks*
Epilogue : Two weeks after
"Get back into that bed!"
Lashana Inferno groaned as she slowly sat back down on the bed, raising her gaze to glare at her Bonded as he moved to stand in front of her, his arms folded over his chest. "Black, I love you, but if you don't let me leave this room, I may hurt you."
Not phased in the least, he grunted and effortlessly pushed her backwards so that she was sitting in the middle of the bed. "I fear you not. Besides, you're still Healing. Beast said you're supposed to take it easy."
"Yes, 'take it easy' not ' stay confined to bed until you're stark raving mad'! It's been two weeks Black! I'm well enough to at least walk around the Palace!" She knew this was a lost cause. She'd been having this fight with most of the Harem for the past three days, and she was getting nowhere. She had never been one that liked to be overly coddled and treated as if she was a delicate waif in need of constant supervision, and while she hadn't minded the treatment the first few days, the past week had been hell. Not only had she been banned from leaving her room, but she'd been cut off from her coffee, and Beast had even gone as far as to attach some sort of device disguised as a bracelet that prevented her from doing any spells!
"I know this is getting on your nerves Bonded," Blackwargreymon murmured as she growled under her breath and crossed her arms over her chest, the nails of her right hand lightly digging into the cast she had on her left arm. "But you were almost killed! And you're still Healing. The scan Beast did on you yesterday proved it, love. Your ribs still aren't completely knitted yet and there's still another two and a half weeks to go before you can get that cast off." When she didn't say anything, he sighed and sat next to her, purring at her soothingly as he nuzzled at her cheek. "Alright, this weekend, I'll kidnap you from here and we'll go back to that lake we camped at last summer. Okay?"
She glanced at him warily. "You promise?"
"Mmhm."
Quirking an eyebrow at what she picked up through the Bond, she lowered her arms and nodded slightly. "Deal."
"Great. Here's the TV remote. You want lunch?"
"I'm not hungry."
"Alright. I'll be back in a bit, okay? I just have to go feed your terrors...er I mean dragons."
She waited until he had left the room before snarling and pitching the remote at the TV. That bastard! He lied! He bloody outright lied! Now thoroughly annoyed, she threw the blankets aside and stomped over to the closet, fully intending to get dressed and take her own damn self to that lake...
"Lashana? What are you doing?"
Crap. "Hi Kang."
The draconian blinked at the flat tone of her voice. "Feeling better I see. Care to answer my question?"
"Looking for clean clothes," she muttered, reaching for a clean set of shorts instead of the jeans she had originally been going for. If I can't sneak out I'll have to settle for a shower. Even if I do have to tie a garbage bag around my arm.
"So your headache's mostly gone?"
She sighed. "Yes, Kang. Beast declared that my concussion had fully healed yesterday. Didn't you get the memo?"
"No. Now, sit."
Blinking, she turned to look at him as he closed the door behind himself, his tail weaving agitatedly as he pointed to the bed. "What?"
"I said, sit down."
Startled by the very real anger in his voice, she slowly moved over and perched on the corner of the bed, watching him warily as he glared at her for a long moment. What's got his tail in a knot? Oh no... I know what this is... "Kang, do not even try to start ranting at me. I'm not in the mood for this."
"Too bad. You're going to listen whether you like it or not."
She gritted her teeth and closed her eyes, fighting to keep her temper under control as he began his obviously long and well thought out speech about how she had been completely insane to get into a fight she hadn't been ready for, before and after she had awoken in the lab. His voice got louder and louder the longer he spoke, and she grumbled as she shifted so that she was sitting lotus style on the bed, her right elbow resting on her knee as she sunk her cheek into her palm. Well, and here I thought I was actually going to have a headache free day, she mused, watching Kang as he paced from one side of the room to the other, working himself into a tail-lashing, wing-flapping fury.
He was halfway through his planned out yelling when he happened to glance at her, checking to see if she was listening. What he got instead was a shocking look of bright golden eyes staring at him coldly. Uh...
"Kang?"
"Yes?"
"Get. Out."
~*~
"I'm telling you! Keeping her cooped up is a really bad idea!" Nightcrawler said as he munched on his popcorn, hanging upside down from the kitchen light as he looked from Wolverine to Blackwargreymon. "You know she's gonna snap soon."
"Especially if tha darlin' finds out ya lied ta her," Wolverine grumbled, eyeing the Digimon warily.
"It was the only thing I could think of! Besides, Beast said so himself that she has to take it easy. One hit, and those cracked ribs are going to break all over again."
"And you think that trapping her in a room is going to help? Bub, ya know as well as I do what happens when ya try to cage her. No matter how much ya sweet talk her, she's gonna get her own way."
"Ja. And we all know how dangerous 'Shana's temper is!"
Black rumbled softly and looked down at the dragons that were eating last night's leftovers of steak, feeling Akhor shift his position on his shoulder as he opened a can of salmon. "Maybe..." The sound of a low growl caught his attention, and he smirked as he glanced over his shoulder at a grumbling Kang. "Rant didn't go as well as you'd hoped?"
"She threw me out," the draconian rumbled as he grabbed a soda from the fridge and popped it open with a talon.
Wolverine chuckled and took another swig of his beer. "Told ya. Ya should've done tha rant before she was well enough ta yell back."
"She didn't yell." At the curious looks he got, Kang sighed and leaned back against the main counter. "Remember that time when she found out that Zelgadis had switched her coffee to decaf? It was like that."
Nightcrawler exchanged wary looks with the other two males, then glanced at the draconian. "Good thing Beast put that bracelet on her."
"Yeah. Else I'd be down in the infirmary looking for a quick remedy for burns," Kang smirked, blinking when Wolverine shot to his feet. "What?"
"I got a bad feelin' 'bout this! C'mon!"
::Hey!:: Akhor yelled as Black dropped him onto the counter and bolted after the others. ::You could have at least opened the can first!::
"You don't think she took off right?" Black growled to Wolverine as they ran for his bedroom. The look the Canuck shot him was more than enough to pass along the realisation that is was exactly what the feral thought. Oh gods, and she doesn't know that Tvashtar's been busy fending off those damned Challengers all week either! And what's worse is that the two draconids are off with Rryslan today! Dammit! "Lashana!"
Nightcrawler bamfed ahead and grabbed the doorknob, eyes widening as he turned to look at the arriving trio. "It's locked!"
"Oh hell," Blackwargreymon muttered as he skidded to a stop, then knocked. "Lashana? Hun? C'mon, open the door!"
Rolling his eyes, Wolverine shoved the Digimon aside and simply sliced the door open with his adamantium claws, kicking the remains aside as he stalked into the room and looked around, paling when he saw that the balcony doors were wide open, and that Lashana was nowhere to be seen. "Uh oh."
Panic rising in him, Black shoved the bathroom door open, letting steam from the shower escape into the room as he stared at the little smiley face that was drawn on the mirror. Dammit, Lashana!
"She's gotta be outside!" Kang yelped as he ran through the room and leapt off the balcony, wings spreading wide to catch the wind as he soared over the backyard. "She can't have gotten far!"
Indeed she hasn't, Lashana mused as she watched the guys bolt from the room, obviously intending to track her down. I'd have thought that at least Wolverine would have caught a clue. But hey, who am I to judge? Hehe. Smirking, she silently stepped out of the closet and tugged her tank top into place. The idea of quickly getting showered and dressed before the guys could catch on had been child's play, and she chuckled at the notion that they hadn't even remembered that she couldn't weave any spells in order to get off the balcony in the first place.
Grinning, she took one last look at herself in the mirror, admiring her black jeans and boots along with the dark green, brown and tan army patterned tank top she was wearing, the gold letters of 'Attitude, deal with it!' blazed across the front of it. "Well!" she murmured to her reflection as she grabbed a brown hair clip and pinned her hair up into a loose pony tail, her eyes slowly fading from gold to dark blue as her good mood returned. "Now all I have to do is sneak out of the Palace and make it to the forest. Ah, this'll be fun."
Smothering another chuckle, she silently walked out into the hallway and glanced around before sprinting for the stairs, her Elven hearing easily picking up the sounds of frantic yelling from the floors below as Wolverine and Nightcrawler spread the news that she had escaped. The moment she reached the edge of the stairs, she pressed herself against a wall, listening for signs that anyone was nearby before daring to peek around the corner, frowning when she saw Kenshin heading up to her floor. Crud. Okay, gotta hide... Aha!
Moving quickly, she ran over to a bedroom and ducked inside, grinning when she saw that it was empty. Good thing! I'd have trouble convincing Malcho to let me go. A grin spread over her lips as she dove down behind one of the numerous plants that filled the quetzacoatl's room, listening as almost unperceivable footsteps approached the room, the well-oiled door hinges making barely a sound as it was cracked open. She didn't even dare to breathe as Kenshin looked into the room, his gaze covering every inch of space before he frowned and ducked out again, closing the door behind him. Phew.
"Amigo, I sincerely doubt that she'd even think to take refuge in there."
Oh crap!!
"Wolverine suggested that she may have backtracked into the Palace. It makes sense to check all the rooms, doesn't it?" Kenshin's voice floated through the door. "Besides, this is Lashana-dono we are speaking of."
"...verdadero. True, amigo. Did you check behind the ferns? Oh, nevermind, I'll take a look myself. I need to get something anyway."
Lashana snarled under her breath as she heard the door open again and held absolutely still, watching the large form of Malcho as he silently slithered into the room, his tongue flicking out to taste the air for scents a few times before he gasped and looked right at her. Shimatta!
"Amigo, she's he--!" The last of his call got unceremoniously cut off as she tackled him, and he blinked when he suddenly found himself muzzled, the Elf holding his snout shut in an improvised choke-hold while she perched on the nape of his neck, right where he couldn't reach her.
"Malcho, you may be a hundred times my size, but even you aren't going to keep me from getting out of here," she growled softly, gently tightening her hold on him when he tried to knock her off so he could get his wings around her. Her left arm ached with the effort of pinning his head to the floor, and she shifted her hold so that her right arm took most of the strain.
"Mi amiga," he muttered out of the corner of his mouth, his words slightly garbled since he couldn't move his jaw, but still understandable. I'd throw her off if I wasn't afraid of aggravating her injuries.... "We are doing this for your own good."
"I'd smack you if you weren't my favourite," she told him, seeing him blink up at her in surprise before she glanced back at the partially open door. I can't keep him still much longer, my arm is killing me. That leaves a mad dash down the stairs... Granted, since Malcho's reflexes are ten times better then a cobras, I'll be lucky if I even make it to the door...
The moment he felt her weight shift, Malcho knew what she was planning, and he grunted slightly as he twisted and used his tail to slam the door shut at the exact same instant that she threw herself off of him. Now free, he reared up out of her reach and rose his wings to rub at his aching muzzle, flexing his jaw a little before looking down at her where she stood inches away from the door. "Now, muchacha, it isn't as if we're being cruel. We just want you to get better."
She snarled under her breath as he coiled himself around her in a wide perimeter, effectively blocking her way to the door as he rested his tail against it. Her gaze darted around the room once before she rose her gaze to meet his, seeing him flinch as she did so. "Malcho, I love you dearly, but if you think that I am going to meekly trudge back to my room, you have a whole other thing coming."
He blinked at her for a moment before he pushed his shock aside, hissing softly as he lowered his head close to her. "Amiga, you cannot weave spells and I doubt you have even recovered your full strength. Forgive me, but I don't fear idle threats."
"I'll give you that. I'm only at half-strength right now." She paused and gave him a fanged grin. "But I'm still me. Catch!"
"Ooof!" He hit the wall hard, his wings automatically rising to grab the large potted plant she had launched at him before it fell to the floor and shattered, and by the time he had managed to regain full use of his senses, she was gone. "....dammit."
~*~
Okay, you know you're not up to par when you can barely manage to throw a fifteen pound potted tree at someone.... Lashana grit her teeth and hopped up to sit sideways on the banister, sliding down it in time to avoid Kenshin's frantic attempts to grab her good arm. And now I damn well blew my cover! The entire Harem's gonna be after me now!
Indeed, the moment she landed in the Main Hall, she was forced to dodge Zelgadis and Duncan as they tried to tackle her, leaving them to slam onto the floor as she danced out of the way of Mewtwo's similar tackle before bolting for the doors. The sound of powerful wingbeats caught her attention, and she swerved at the last possible moment, dropping to the floor as Malcho swooped over her and then scrambling to her feet, changing course to head for the livingroom. If I can make it to the den, I can climb out the window!
"FREEZE ARROW!"
"Ack!" She yelped as her foot hit the newly formed patch of ice, her momentum and sheer surprise causing her to fall backwards, landing heavily on her back. Spots danced in her vision as her head hit the floor, and she groaned softly as she shakily rolled onto her knees, her casted arm clutching at her ribs while her good hand carefully probed the growing bump on her head.
~Lashana!~ Mewtwo frowned and ran over to her, gathering her in his arms as he levitated a few inches off the floor, just enough to not have to worry about slipping. ~Are you alright?~
"Zelgadis! You idiot! Are you trying to kill her!?" Malcho yelled, hissing at the chimera angrily as he moved so that he was between the shaman and his amiga.
Zel rolled his eyes. "What? I stopped her didn't I?"
"I swear, gringo, if I find out that that fall injured her more than she already is, I will gladly risk breaking a fang in an attempt to inject you with a very large amount of my venom!"
"Malcho! Duck!"
Hearing the Elf's voice, he automatically obeyed the order, dropping flat to the ground seconds before a very large shelf still containing many books flew over him and slammed into the chimera, sending him sprawling across the Main Hall. "Carumba. Even at half-strength--oof!" The last was caused by being used as a crashmat for a catatonic Mewtwo, who had been stupid enough to try to read the Elf's thoughts, giving her the perfect opening to take him out of the picture with a few useful mental images.
"She's getting away!" Duncan cried, vaulting over Malcho's back as he ran after the woman, yelping when he too hit the ice, his arms cartwheeling in the air as he tried to keep upright while skidding across the patch before hitting carpet again. "Phew."
"Congratulate yourself later! We have to stop her before she gets outside! Quickly amigo! She has a large head-start over us!" Malcho told the Immortal as he slithered past him, leaving the semi-conscious Mewtwo behind.
~*~
"Large head start? Tsk tsk. How little he knows," Lashana chuckled to herself as she calmly watched the duo rush past her before running out of the Game Room and heading for the den. That fall had hurt, but thankfully nothing had gotten any worse because of it.
She reached the den moments later, pausing only long enough to make sure it was empty before ducking inside and closing the door behind her. Now the only hurdle that remained was getting to the forest. Once there, the Guys would never be able to catch her. No one could catch an Elf once they were in a forest. Well... maybe Malcho or Wolverine could. They're almost as 'at home' in the forests as I am.... She spared a disgusted glance at the bracelet that was on her right wrist, baring her fangs in a silent snarl as she examined the one tiny thing that was responsible for the current sealing of her powers. Once she was hidden, she'd have to find a way to get that off.
"Did anyone check the den?"
Oops! Time ta go! Smirking at the muffled conversation between Kenshin and Nightcrawler, she quickly shoved the window open and dived through it, landing in a controlled roll before hopping to her feet and taking a look around.
"There she is!"
"Aw hell," she muttered as Kang bolted towards her. Mustering her strength, she spun and sprinted for the safety of the forest, very aware of the pursuit behind her as she pushed herself to her current limits.
Thinking that she'd be forced to go around the pool, both Beast and Wolverine stood on either side of it, crouched like linebackers as they watched her run towards them. Shows what they knew.
Grinning, Lashana dug her boots deeper into the lawn and sped up, seeing Wolverine's eyes widen in sudden enlightenment as she hit the edge of the pool at a full run and simply vaulted over the entire thing. "Didn't you people know that track and field is second nature to us Elves?" she laughed breathlessly as she landed on the other side without breaking stride, hearing Kang's yelp as he failed to stop in time and fell into the pool.
"Lashana! Get back here!" Blackwargreymon roared as he tried to catch up with her, snarling under his breath when she gave him the one finger salute and threw herself into the forest, climbing into a large maple tree seconds later. "Dammit."
"Aw, hell. We'll never catch her now," Kang growled as he pulled himself out of the pool and flicked water from his wings. "Alright, someone go find Telca and Malcho, the only way we're gonna catch her now is with stealth and dementia."
~*~
"Wait. Let me get this straight," Telca sighed, reaching up to pinch the bridge of her nose. "You lot somehow managed to get outmanoeuvred by a semi-crippled Elf that's had her magicks neutered, and now you can't find her because she's in a tree? Are you people lacking a vital brain cell or something?!"
"But this is Lashana we're talking about!" Kang protested, wincing when Telca glared at him.
"Yeees. And currently, she's not even at half-power, she's got the magickal ability of a rock, and she's hampered by that cast. She's got bright white hair, for Goddess' sake! How hard can it be to find her?!"
"Sore wa himitsu desu!"
"Shut up, you. We don't need you right now," she growled, sending a glare in Xellos' direction before returning her attention to the guys around her. "Alright, look. Why don't you just loose her three dragons into the forest, let them find her, then use Mewtwo to home in on them?"
Duncan sighed. "Because Mewtwo tried to take a look at her thoughts earlier and he still hasn't recovered from whatever she sent at him."
"And the dragons hardly listen to anyone except him and Lashana," Blackwargreymon added morosely, stealing a glance at the forest's edge. "I don't get this. She said she was going to stay put..."
"Was that after ya lied ta her, bub?" Wolverine muttered, folding his arms over his chest as he looked at the Digimon. "Cuz ya know that y'all'er Bonded, and that tha darlin' can read that Link better than ya ever could."
"Wait," Malcho turned to look at Blackie and scowled. "You lied to her?"
Confronted with the glares from all around, the Digimon winced and perfected his ability of avoiding everyone's gazes. "I was only trying to keep her from leaving her room..."
"Oh, and of course we can see how well that worked!" Telca grumbled sourly. "What did you tell her?"
"That... I'd bring her to the lake this weekend if she stayed in bed and rested like she was supposed to."
Now highly annoyed, Malcho hissed lowly and slithered past the group. "I shall try to track her down. Though whether she wishes to return with me if I find her is up to her."
"I highly suggest that you try to convince her to return," Beast murmured. "If anything, she would be safer here."
Kang blinked and turned to look at the blue furred mutant curiously. "Safer?"
"Um, yeah. See, Tvashtar's been taking care of those stupid Challengers for her while she was laid up," Telca explained. "They've been showing up at least once a day to get a crack at the weakened Chaos Knight."
Eyes widening, Blackwargreymon looked from a solemn Telca to a near panicked Kang. "We have to find her. Now!"
~*~
This is the life. Lashana sighed happily as she reclined on a large branch, her right arm behind her head while her bulky cast lay in her lap. The warm breeze rustled the leaves all around her, playing with the tips of her hair as bright sunlight filtered down through the forest's canopy. I so needed this... This is the best therapy anyone could ever have. The sound of songbirds all around her made her smile, and she took a moment to gingerly stretch before looking down at the ground far below. Now all I have to do is get this bedamned bracelet off.
Drugged on the first actual chance of freedom in over two weeks, she got to her feet and backflipped off the branch, reaching out with her good arm to grasp another branch halfway down to slow her fall, hanging there for a moment before letting go and dropping down to land in a crouch amidst the ferns. Okay... my ribs didn't like that. Oh well, too bad for them!
Giddy, she took a quick look around before breaking out into a full run, effortlessly weaving around trees and bushes as she dashed through the forest, barely managing to quell the urge to laugh in elation as she hopped over a rotted tree stump and dodged around a large boulder, heading even deeper into the forest.
~*~
"Alright. Here's the plan. You lot just go wander through the forest, maybe you'll actually get lucky and find her," Telca said as she used an elastic to tie her hair into a ponytail. "If nothing else, you can make enough noise to make her edgy so that she makes a mistake and gives Malcho and Wolvie an opportunity to catch her. I'll try to get ahold of Tvashtar and Kadrith. They're out with that bastard Rryslan, but 'Rith's been telling me that he always knows when I need him around."
"Which is not very often," Remy boasted, possessively wrapping an arm around his sorceress' waist and pulling her close until she was nestled against him. "Right, chere?"
She chuckled and lightly kissed him. "Down boy."
"So wait, exactly how are you going to get Kadrith's attention?" Kang frowned, deciding that he'd better distract her from Remy before the PDA's got worse.
"Oh it's easy!" she grinned, pulling away from Remy and turning to face in the direction of the Mall that was a good twenty minute drive away, stifling the sudden urge to cackle as she took a deep breath.
"Oh gods no!" Duncan cried, frantically clamping his hands over his ears.
"KADRITH!!!! GET YOUR ARSE OVER HERE NOW!!!!"
Wincing in pain, Blackwargreymon slowly lowered his hands from his head and turned to level a rather violent glare at Kang. "Next time you ask a stupid question like that, I'm going to hog tie you and give you to Xellos."
~*~
"Agh!"
Tvashtar rumbled and turned to shoot a worried look at his brother as the bronze-hued draconid doubled over and clutched at his head. "Are you alright?"
"Ooooh... not if you count the fact that my Avatar just broke the mental sound barrier...."
Blinking, Rryslan glanced from one son to the other. "Exactly how insane are those two, anyway?"
"Trust me," Tvashtar muttered, thinking back to the mall fiasco of the month before. "You're better off not knowing. C'mon, 'Rith, let's go see what they did now."
Still dazed, Kadrith let his brother support him as they headed into a golden portal. "Ugh... if this is because she wants me to clean out her cat's litter box again I think I may kill something."
~*~
WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!
"Argh! Break off you stupid piece of bad fashion!" Snarling, Lashana brought the rock down on the bracelet again, the urge to twitch growing even stronger when the fact that whatever the bracelet was made out of was obviously strong enough to prevent her from merely pulverizing it apart. "Dammit! What is this thing made out of? Adamantium?!"
Now rather irritated, she pitched the majorly chipped rock over her right shoulder and sat down on the ground to fume, sending angry glances down at the bracelet every few seconds as she tried to think of a way to get it off of her. Lovely. So now this thing is waterproof, bashing proof, it's got no lock for me to pick, no mini computer for me to fry... She sent another glare down at the thing in question and growled. Dammit, I've been tagged.
A sigh left her as she threw herself backwards, lying down in the middle of the large batch of ferns and watching as the surrounding greenery slowly folded back over her, completely hiding her from view. Well, I'm out of the Palace, away from the Guys, and finally on my own. The bracelet is a pain, but I doubt I'll really need to do any spells today. So basically, Plan A is still in effect : get to the lake. Or a lake. Kang told me about a river that was a few miles away once. That it ended in a large waterfall that led to a large pond. I think I'll go there.
She was mere moments from getting to her feet when the sound of a twig snapping nearby caught her attention, and she automatically froze in place, barely daring to breathe as she listened to the forest around her. Another footstep caught her attention, and she ever so carefully rolled onto her stomach, using her Elven abilities to their fullest as she crawled towards a nearby tree.
"I know yer around here somewhere darlin'," Wolverine growled as he took another deep breath of the air, instinctively shifting through them to isolate her scent. "C'mon, it's dangerous fer ya ta be out here."
Oh yeah right. And you've sworn off beer and stogies. Unimpressed, she took a quick glance to locate him, then hopped to her feet and vaulted into the tree, grabbing a low branch to haul herself up into the safety of it's branches. "No way, Wolvie. I'm not buying that crock."
"'Shana, this ain't no crock! It's bloody dangerous right now!" he called, frantically searching the tree tops for her. "Darlin', I ain't jokin'!"
"Neither am I!" she yelled as she climbed higher, then leapt into another tree. "I'm not going back so that I can get locked into that room again! I'm not some delicate waif in need of constant coddling! I haven't even seen real sunlight in two weeks! Two weeks!"
"Look, I know yer pissed about Blackie, but this isn't about him! Darlin' ya got Challengers comin' after ya! They've been comin' fer ya every day since ya got hurt! 'Shtar was takin' care o' them for ya, but he's gone off with that bastard today! This ain't a trick, girl! Now get down here!"
Challengers. Here? Now? She frowned and glanced at her cast, then at the bracelet. It was a moment longer before she peered down at Wolverine and sighed. "Going back with you would only mean that I'd get confined to bed again. I'd rather chance meeting a Challenger than go back to that, Logan. I'm sorry."
His eyes widened at the soft admission, and he spun to stare up at her for a moment before she simply vanished, melding in with the leaves as if she had been a chameleon. Well, shit.
~*~
"Did you have to yell so loud?" Kadrith growled as he and the other two draconids walked over to a waiting Telca and Remy. "You gave me a headache big enough to kill a small child!"
"Yeah, well, I needed to get your attention pronto." At their looks of confusion, she sighed and folded her arms over her chest. "Lashana snuck out and now she's off somewhere in the forest."
"She what?!" Tvashtar would have gone white if his skin colour allowed it. "But she's hurt! There's still Challengers around here! She could get killed!"
"Well, duh. That's why I called you. Look, most of the Harem that didn't get knocked out in trying to stop her from leaving the Palace is out looking for her. Including Wolvie and Malcho, and they're the best trackers we have. So while they look for her, you lot are gonna come with me to take out whatever I've been sensing."
"Sensing?" Rryslan cocked his head, as if listening to something none of them could hear. "There's Mazoku out there."
"Is that so?" Xellos smiled slightly and opened his eyes, fixing Telca with his amethyst gaze. "Well then, looks like I'll be needed after all, eh, Telca-chan?"
"Somethin' dat sickens us all."
"Yare yare, you're so cruel to me, Remy-kun! I like it!"
"Ugh," Telca grimaced and took a few steps back from the leering Trickster. "My sword for pervert repellent."
~*~
How much ground can the muchacha cover in such a short period of time?! Malcho hissed softly under his breath and tested the air again, frowning at the hour old trail he was following. Given a choice, he'd have much prefered tracking her from the air, but when one was hunting a cunning, demented Elf, one took every precaution possible. Knowing her, he wouldn't have been too overly surprised if she had doubled back on her trail a few times to confuse them. Even if she was staying to the trees, she knew she still left a trail for anyone with a decent sense of smell to follow. I wonder if Wolverine has had any luck. Granted, knowing him, he may have caught her by now... Que? What's this? Two of her scent trails?
A new scent caught his attention then, and his eyes widened as a fresh trail belonging to a Mazoku assaulted his senses, his surprise quickly fading to be replaced by anger. It tracked her... but... it looks like it followed the wrong trail, as if the chica knew it was following her and purposefully led it astray! With this new tidbit of information in mind, he slithered forward with considerably more speed, moving silently through the forest as he headed for the fresh scent that a slight breeze had just brought him, leading him into a slight clearing of ferns... and a frustrated feral.
"Que? Wolverine? What are you doing here? Did you find the muchacha?"
"She's gone again," the Canuck growled, waving a hand to the trees in disgust. "Used some fowl-smelling plant ta break up the trails. I can't tell where she went. And she's being thicker than Blackie! There's no way we're gonna be able ta convince her ta come back. We're gonna have ta trap her."
"Ach, that will only make things worse, amigo," he muttered as he turned towards the tree Wolverine had gestured to, recoiling in disgust at the stench that hit him. "She remembered."
"Remembered what?"
"A long time ago, back when we first met, I used a plant that smelled akin to this one to force her out of unconsciousness. You should know, we told the story to the Harem only a few weeks ago."
"Yeah yeah, I remember. But this ain't helpin' us find tha darlin!"
"True. Though I have something more suited to your...'skills' in mind, amigo." At the ferals' curious look, he sighed and balled up his right wing, feathers forming to imitate a fisted hand with a single pointing digit as he gestured back the way he had come. "Before I caught your scent, I discovered the stench of a Mazoku nearby. And not that of our annoying pervert, either. It was following Lashana's trail, just as we are."
"Damn. Then she has no clue tha she's bein' hunted." The sound of metal grating on metal was heard throughout the forest as Wolverine extended both sets of adamantium claws. "Ya track her down. I'll go keep ugly busy."
That gringo needs anger management training, badly... Malcho thought to himself as he watched Wolverine barrell into the bushes, the sunlight that flowed through the canopy above glinting off the sets of very deadly claws the Canuck sported. Still, at least this way, I can find and try to coerce mi amiga to listen to me without any interruptions.... I hope.
~*~
"You, are such a moron," Kang growled as he kicked his way through a bush, throwing a glare back over his shoulder at the Digimon. "You damn well know that she can sense that Bond better than you can! Did you think she wouldn't be able to tell?"
"I didn't know what else to do, okay?! I didn't want to risk her getting hurt again... and now she's out here somewhere, where I can't protect her unless I find her... and she's running from me."
"She's running from all of us," the draconian reminded him. "We pushed her too far."
"Look who's talking. You worked on that rant for days!"
Kang snarled lowly and shot a look at Black, tail lashing violently. "I never said I wasn't to blame! I know damn well that I didn't do anything to help her! And I saw the signs that she was feeling trapped just like you did!"
Blackwargreymon rumbled softly and rubbed at the back of his neck. "Sorry."
"Hmpft. You're not the only one who cares about her, you know. It's about time you realise that." Ignoring the Digimon for the moment, Kang rose his gaze to the trees above and scowled. Obviously, Black's stupid lie at least gave her an idea of what she wanted. Though there's no way she'd be able to get to the lake we camp at, not on foot. So where does that leave?
"It would have to be somewhere near water," Black murmured as he walked past the draconian, aware of the surprised look the other male shot him, knowing what he had been thinking about just by his expression. "She's always drawn to the places where forest meets water."
"There aren't many places nearly like that.... Unless... yes! I did tell her!" At the Digimon's baffled look, he grinned and ran past him. "Get moving! There's a river about three hours east of here that ends in a waterfall. It's completely hidden from the air by the forest. I told her about it last week when I snuck in to see her!"
"Oh." Forced to follow or be left behind, Black quickly broke into a full run and headed after the draconian, eyes widening when his mind processed that last part of Kang's little explanation. "Hey! You did what?! You bastard, you keep your hands off my Bonded!"
Kang rolled his eyes and ran faster. "You are such a moron."
~*~
"Xellos! Touch me again and worry about Lashana or no, I will personally drop-kick you into the nearest Care Bears universe I can find! Understand?!"
"Ack! Hai, Telca-san!"
Rryslan rolled his eyes, then leaned a little closer to Tvashtar. "Is she always like this?"
"Hey! I heard that!" Telca growled, glaring at Rryslan angrily. "Don't you think that just because Lashana's gone easy on you that the rest of us have accepted you with open arms! You damn near killed her, and if you give me even the slightest reason to, I will take much pleasure in beating you to death, resurrecting you, and throwing you to the Harem so they can beat you to death again!"
Paling slightly, the ex-Chaos Priest shivered and looked at Kadrith. "She's the Avatar of Gaia?!"
"Yup."
"Oh dear lords..."
"We should go after Lashana," Tvashtar announced suddenly, turning to look at Telca when she started to protest. "I know you want me to go with you to hunt down the other Mazoku, but she's my Avatar, and my sister. Besides, we don't know that she's not in trouble."
"I'm pretty sure that Black would let it be known if he sensed that the Elf was in danger," Kadrith mused, envisioning the entire forest up in flames from numerous Terra Destroyers as the Digimon blasted obstacles out of his way to get to his Bonded.
"Gods, the explosions alone would be a sight to see," Telca agreed with a smirk. "But yeah, you have a point. Get goin'. Maybe you can convince the baka to get her arse back to the Palace."
"Fat chance," Remy chuckled. "De Elf be more stubborn dan you, chere."
"I resent that."
~*~
Ahh, this is the life! Lashana grinned to herself as she reclined on a branch overlooking the pond of water at the base of a small waterfall. The mist laden breeze tickled the back of her throat as she breathed the scent of moss and damp earth, almost making her sneeze as she shifted to get a little more comfortable, giddy at being able to relax here.
She knew she had the entire Harem after her at the moment, and while she was inwardly grimacing at the lectures she knew she'd have to listen to when this was over, she couldn't help but think that it would be worth it in the long run. That's if I survive Telca. And Kang. And Malcho... If I survive period.
"Amiga!"
The yell almost made her jump out of her skin, and she frantically reached out to balance herself against the tree trunk as she peered out of the leaves around her, blinking down at the Quetzacoatl that was just slithering into view. Crud. Figuring that the damp air was making it a bit more difficult for him to track her scent, she silently rose to her feet and hopped to another branch, keeping her casted arm close to herself to avoid whacking it on any branches.
"There she is!"
Kang?! Eyes widening at the sight of the draconian and her Digimon barrelling into view, she pressed herself back against the tree and looked around for a moment, trying to figure out a route of escape. The sound of someone trying to climb up to her spurred her onwards, and she grit her fangs together as she climbed higher, perching on some branches that she knew no Harem male could possibly climb up to without destroying the entire tree. Granted, with my luck, Kang brought his axe...
"Lashana! Come down!"
"No way!" She called back, glaring down at the Digimon as he stared up at her worriedly and switching her thoughts to the bond. {You lied to me! Outright lied! Did you think I wouldn't be able to tell!?}
Blackwargreymon winced at the emotional hurt that accompanied the mental accusation. {N-no! I...} He sighed and shook his head, lowering his gaze from her. {I almost lost you again. You were hurting and I wasn't there to help you. I can't help you anymore. You're more powerful than I am now, and so are the Challengers that come after you. I can't do anything except pick up the pieces after every fight.... I just.... I just don't want to see you in pain, my Bonded.}
The whispered admission echoed through her, and Lashana sighed softly as she mentally reached out to caress his thoughts with her own. {You're stronger than you realise, Blackwargreymon....} She trailed off as the sound of creaking tree limbs caught her attention, and blinked as she glanced around herself, a cold sense of dread settling in the pit of her stomach as she turned and stared right into the face of a demon Mazoku. "Oh shi--"
"Bonzai!!"
A screech of surprise escaped her as Telca dropped out of a hastily formed portal and tackled her, and Lashana instinctively shuddered at the mischievous glint in her best-friend's eyes as they fell out of the tree and into a another waiting portal. "Are you insane?!"
"Hello? Pot? This is the kettle returning your call." Telca smirked as she directed the portal to dump the Elf into a waiting Tvashtar's arms while she landed at the edge of the pond, dimly aware that Blackie, Kang and Malcho were now swarming the Guardian to try to all greet and berate the Elf at the same time. "You all have fun. I'm gonna kill me a demon."
Kadrith paled a little as he watched her transform, noting the flecks of silver that appeared in her deep purple eyes as she called on the Gaia power. "M'lady! It's a Chaos Challenger! You can't--"
Chuckling, Telca glanced at him out of the corner of her right eye and smirked. "Watch me."
Rryslan shuddered at the tone of her voice. "Do we have to?"
~*~
"Well. That was interesting in a totally inappropriate and psychologically scarring kind of way," Kang commented nearly an hour later once everyone had reconvened to the Palace. The battle between Telca and the high-level demon Mazoku had been... unique. The sight of Telca's 'fighting style' had not only cowered Rryslan, but it had made the rest of the male audience seriously fear for their 'male qualities'. Lashana, of course, had thought it simply hilarious, so much so that the sound of her berserker cackles had managed to frighten Rryslan to a level of panic that only a newbie to the Harem could achieve. Now that had been a funny sight.
As it was, most of the Harem was gathered in the Game Room, either laughing at the still shocked look on Rryslan's face or congratulating Telca on another battle won by insane methods. Kang had actually managed to steal Lashana from Blackie, and was currently sitting on one of the couches with her nestled against his side, firmly wrapped up in his left wing. He and the Digimon had come to a sort of understanding. Blackie understood that he wasn't the only one who cared for the Elf, and Kang understood that if the Digimon ever caught him being anything but a best-friend to her, Blackie'd kill him. Not that Kang was stupid enough to let anyone know of his true feelings for the Elf.
Lashana, meanwhile, was trying her best not to maim most of the Harem as they berated her for being so foolish. Instead, she was taking great joy in siccing her three dragons on whomever tried to rant at her, a job that the trio fully enjoyed, especially when it was Malcho they were attacking. Korin loved chewing on feathers.
"Well!" Telca grinned, leaning back into Remy's arms where she sat next to him on the second couch. "I'd say that Elfy's demonstrated a level of stubbornness unheard of in her bloodline before."
"My mother would be proud," Lashana retorted with a smirk as Akhor sent a wave of cheerful flashes of blues and greens into her mind before he landed on her right shoulder and curled himself around the back of her neck.
"She'd probably also smack you for being so utterly stupid," Rryslan muttered from where he was leaning against the wall.
Wolverine chuckled and gestured to the large draconid with his lit stogie. "Ya never met her mum, bub. Ya shouldn't talk. Tha darlin's mother's more nuts than tha Elf is."
"I'll be sure to pass that on to her, Wolvie," Black announced as he walked into the room, carrying a mug of coffee that he brought over to his Bonded before he sat down next to her, keeping her nestled between himself and Kang.
Tvashtar took the opportunity to stalk over to the couch and glare down at his Avatar, tail lashing behind himself. "I'll have you know that if you ever do something so ridiculously stupid again, I'll... I'll... I don't know what I'll do, but it'll involve Xellos and super glue, understand?!"
Lashana, having been living with Telca and the Harem for over a year,
merely rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him. "I fear you not."