Where do unicorns go?

By Belldandy-sama

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Chapter five: The Forest of Silence

They landed hard on the other side with a jolt and a large bump. Trish felt herself lurch forward by the shock, but was instantly dragged back by Dante so she didn't fall off.

"Careful," he smirked.

Sleipnir trotted on a few meters, before finally coming to a stop beside an enormous tree root, which reached half way up his height and spanned quite an area. Trish slipped uneasily from the stallions back and onto the tree root, where he had obviously come to the side of so they may dismount more easily.

She staggered a little, trying to keep her balance, but her DTS was affecting her equilibrium and she fell from the root, landing in a bed of clover with a gentle crunch.

"Trish?!" Dante leaped down to join her. "Trish, are you okay?!"

"Uuuuuugghhh…" she raised her head for a few seconds, but allowed it to drop again.

"Do you feel unwell?"

She allowed Dante to help her to her feet, "Just… a little queasy… I'll be okay…"

Dante supported her shoulder and stopped her from falling over again. The forest loomed above them, shadowing them as Sleipnir had once done. The emerald foliage rustled in the wind and looking around Dante realised they were huge, the shortest one being at least seven meters tall.

But then he realised something else, "This place is….. so quiet."

He was right of course, no birds sang in the branches, no animals called through the undergrowth, even the wind was just a gentle whisper.

Sleipnir nodded, "It always is."

"So which way now?"

"That, my friend, is up to you."

Dante instantly turned to him, "What?!"

"It is here that I must leave you."

"You can't do that! I have no idea where to go!"

"Follow your instincts," Sleipnir started off in one direction, "They will lead you to where you wish to go." With this, the stallion leaped over another tree root and trotted off into the darkness of the forest.

Dante and Trish were alone.

"Oh great…" Dante rolled his eyes, "Abandon us why don't you? Just when we needed you most…" He looked at his partner, who was leaning on him for support she clearly needed. "You okay?"

"Yeah…" she groaned; "I just need to find some water that's all. It kinda cures DTS."

"Right, there must be a pond or a lake or a something in this forest," he looked around again, "Problem is… well- this forest is huge."

"What did…Sleipnir say?" She gasped back a feeling to be sick.

"Follow our instincts."

"Oh… In that case… I really have… no idea at all, sorry."

Dante went to reply, but froze suddenly in his position.

"Dante?"

"Shhhhhhhh…!" He warned, gently placing a gloved over her mouth. "I thought I… heard something."

"Huh?" She was quiet for a few seconds. "But… I didn't hear anything…"

"I guess it must just be me then." He shook his head in confusion and changed the subject, "So, in which direction shall we go?"

"Ummm…" She pointed north-east, "That one."

"Why that way?"

She gave a mild shrug, "It's as… good a place… as any, right?"

He couldn't argue with her there, "I guess."

They started their way forward, Dante doing his best to support his blonde haired companion. She staggered at first, but after what must have been about a half an hour of walking through thick undergrowth, stepping, and sometimes climbing, over sturdy tree roots and following long narrow paths through the brushwood, – which seemed to have been made by an animal of some sort, – her stepping finally began to even out and she didn't lean on him quite so heavily.

"Now we're as lost as ever!" she whined as they scrambled over yet another oversized tree root. "And I can't see whether it's day or night!"

"Quit your whining, the undergrowth's starting to thin out a little bit," her companion replied as he helped her up, "We can take a rest here if you want."

On top of a large tree root wasn't the most usual of places of stop and have a rest, but she agreed wholeheartedly. Walking through such a thick, untamed forest was hard work – even for demons, or in this case, hybrids.

"I wonder if we will see the unicorns…" she mused quietly, more to herself than to Dante.

"I think we will…" Dante replied, taking Alastor from its sheath strapped to his back and looking at it closely. "Alastor normally crackles like a spark gun when there's a demon around and as yet she's done no such thing."

"You trust Sleipnir?"

"Who wouldn't?" the man shrugged, "There's something about him, an air that's telling me to trust him. I wouldn't depend on anyone else with my life, except you maybe, but Sleipnir I trust in all honesty."

"It's not like you to talk like that."

His gaze slipped from Alastor to her, "What do you mean?"

"I'm just saying… It's not the sort of language you normally use."

"And… that also means?"

"Have you been going to English lessons?"

He uttered a deep sigh and a gentle smile inched its way across his face, "Actually, no."

Trish went to reply but stopped in alarm when Dante suddenly jumped up, startled by something, brandishing Alastor dangerously in both hands. "What is it?"

"I heard that noise again."

"What noise…?"

"Shhhh…" he hissed seriously, "Can't you hear it?"

She could, it was like a low, savage growl. It brought a chill shooting up her spine and she shivered. "What do you think it is?"

"I don't know… some sort of native animal, I guess…" He leaped down from the tree root, the Alastor still gripped in his hands. "I think it's coming from over there…"

"Be careful…"

"I'll be fine."

He inched nearer, closing on the thick undergrowth, ready with Alastor, waiting for the creature that could pounce at any moment. Closer… closer still… He could hear the creature, whatever it was, snarling savagely. He was ready, Alastor was ready and the beast didn't stand a chance.

He turned suddenly as he heard a loud scream from behind him, "TRISH?!"

Someone, something, had pounced on her and was holding her down. She shrieked and thrashed wildly under it, but was unable to throw it off. It was a black panther, just a normal black panther. There seemed to be nothing demonic about it at all. But its strength, no ordinary black panther could hold Trish down like that.

Gripping the Alastor hard, Dante started at top speed towards her, to force the creature away. Another panther jumped at him and he ducked, so it flew over him and crashed into a tree trunk not so far off. But it recovered quickly and instantly leaped at him again, claws extended, fangs dripping with lust for murder.

He swung at it with Alastor and, with a crackle of electricity and a howl that pierced the air like a bullet, the creature flew back, twitching in a pool of its own blood.

They weren't easy.

Once, twice and again, more panthers leaped at him from the undergrowth, from the branches of trees and he tried frantically to fight them off – to get to Trish.

Trish had been caught when she least expected it and had no time to reach for Sparda before she found herself pinned down by one these creatures, trying to turn her face away from its glaring eyes and snapping jaws. But she could feel its hot, stale breath on his neck, feel its whiskers gently tickling her skin and she managed to pull one her hands free, slamming it against the throat of the panther, trying desperately to push it away. But to no avail, it was too strong and she felt like its enormous weight was crushing her fragile limbs. And the pain… the pain was unbearable.

Then she remembered- her magical abilities. Summoning up all the power in her weakening body, she hit her free hand against the forehead of the beast and channelled five-hundred volts of electricity from her veins to its skull. In howled in pain, a long, strident howl that couldn't possibly begin to describe the pure agony it was going through. Five hundred volts was enough to kill a second class demon, and it was certainly enough to kill a panther.

It crashed back onto the ground, where it laid smoking, cooked from the inside out. The smell was sickening, and Trish felt her stomach lurch as she tore her eyes away, unable to look at the heap of roasting flesh any longer.

She withdrew Sparda quickly as another panther leaped at her from behind, slicing it across the neck with the heavy blade, amputating its head from its body as easily as it were butter.

She was gaining in confidence now and cast a brief look over to where her moon-haired companion was hacking and slashing away at the beasts, which there seemed to be no end to. There was a roar as he engulfed one in flames before quickly turning and tearing a hole in the chest of another unfortunate beast with Alastor.

But she realised looking away, even only briefly, was a mistake she shouldn't have made as she felt herself pinned down yet again by a different beast. Sparda went flying from her hands and got wedged in the dirt only a few meters away from her. Again she summoned her electrical abilities and went to give the beast a shock to remember her by, until she felt the panther club her cleanly around the head with its paw, knocking her out cold.

Dante continued to battle them away, driving Alastor into the hearts of them, not wincing even when the blood splattered his face. But he could only watch and battle helplessly as Trish was gently lifted onto the back of a panther by two others and they scampered off into the forest, taking Trish with them.

One by one, the panthers started to pull back and follow their companions, leaving Dante standing in a battlefield of blood, death and defeat. The ache of his limbs could not compete with the ache of his heart.

Trish had been taken right in front of him and what could he do? Nothing!

"Dammit!" He cursed, pulling the Sparda with ease from its resting place in the hard dirt ground.

Why did they want Trish? Why hadn't they tried to kill her?

So many questions, not enough answers.

But they'd taken Trish.

His Trish.

He staggered for a few seconds, trying to recover. His wounds weren't serious but they stung, nevertheless they would heal in time. But Trish…

He started to tear in the direction where the panthers had headed; he sprinted, jumped and stumbled his way through undergrowth, trees and grassy pathways. He didn't stop to think to cut his way through, his mind was too fixed on Trish, in diligent in calling her names countless times, hoping… praying… that from somewhere in the darkness she might reply.

But there was nothing.

Nothing more than him tearing through the trees on the panthers tail, but as their thundering steps faded away, he knew that there was no way of catching up with them, he knew that they were probably at their destined location by now, that he had lost.

His sprint died into a steady jog and then into a slow trudge. He had no idea where he was or how he was going to get out. He hadn't given up yet, no way, but still… how was he supposed to find her in this forest? It was the thickest, most immense and most dangerous forest in existence. The exact thought of that gave him no reassurance. He was quickly getting tired, his body demanded rest but his mind screamed at him to go on, to find Trish.

Eventually, by sheer luck it seemed, he stumbled on a large clearing and he slumped down on the ground to rest, his limbs aching, his chest pounding and his breathing sickeningly intense. He gripped Sparda in one hand and Alastor was firmly attached to his back.

After a few minutes of trying to regain his breath, he looked around at his surroundings. The ground was lined in a thick mist and the smell could only really be described as musty.

He wasn't quite sure was it was at first, it loomed above him, casting a shadow over the misty ground and making the whole clearing seem as murky as ever. Still breathing hard from where he had been running a few minutes before, he picked himself and went to inspect it more closely.

It was a tree, nothing more, nothing less, or so he thought at first. But it was huge, the other trees were large enough certainly, but this one took it to the limits. It must have been at least forty meters high. Its branches were completely bare and the bark was a dusty dark grey. The whole thing looked dead.

Right at the base of the truck there was a large opening, about the size of an opening on a large cave. Grey strands of ivy hug loosely around the entrance, but at closer examination, he realised they were petrified. The whole tree was petrified.

Hesitantly he stepped into the entrance, gripping Sparda so tightly his hand nearly went numb. A sickening feeling dripped into his stomach, he had no idea where he was, or how he managed to stumble across it, but he didn't like the feel of the place at all.

Tentatively he started to walk forward, not knowing what drew him to it, or why he had any feeling that Trish could be in here at all. There was just that tiny glimmer of hope.

But his dreams were instantly shattered as he heard the familiar growl from in front of him and a flash of eyes that gleamed quickly before something lunged at him. He was full of both horror and relief when he realised it was another panther. The glimmer of hope suddenly didn't seem so minute after all and he quickly disposed of it with a flash of Sparda's blade.

Suddenly he broke into a panicked run and charged headlong into the cave, hacking and slashing at any panther that dared leap into his path – and there were a lot of them.

Then he saw her, lying senseless at the back of the cave.

"Trish!" With a sudden burst of effort, he forced himself to run faster, to get to her, to take out of this godforsaken hellhole. Not that he knew why she was taken there in the first place. But he was about to find out.

Another panther, three times the size of the others, leaped down from a rocky ledge and landed in front of him with a heavy crash that made some rubble fall from the ceiling. He was in the main chamber now, and the little light that descended into the place was from the entrance.

The panther's eyes glowed red and his hissed savagely; then it struck Dante that this creature wasn't a panther at all, it was a Shadow Cat, one of the demons he had encountered on Mallet Island.

And he was equally unhappy to see it as it was to see him.

After a few more seconds staring, the Shadow lunged viciously for him and, although he easily dodged, the Shadow still managed to club him sharply with one of his makeshift paws on the stomach, stunning him for a few brief seconds. Those few seconds were all it needed and before Dante could gather his wits once more, it was on top of him, pinning him down on his chest, digging his sharp claws into his soft flesh.

Just like what had happened to Trish.

He forced his arm away from its pin and hurled Sparda towards it with all his strength. It rendered useless as the Shadow calmly split and allowed it to pass before promptly joining again.

Dante could feel its hot breath on the skin of his neck; maybe it was time to join Trish.

Then suddenly, a thunder of hooves could be heard from the entrance and two creatures that couldn't have more perfect timing burst, in full gallop, into the chamber. Two creatures that he would never have been so thankful to see in his life.

There was no mistaking the enormous, eight-legged physique of Sleipnir as he charged into the chamber with his silver mane whipping behind him as his speed passed thirty miles per hour. But the other, the other was different.

Dante strained his eyes to look at the panther was distracted by their battle calls and Sleipnir's rear of anger.

Then, he realised.

It was a unicorn – tall, strong, proud and beautiful, with a finely arched neck and back and deep blue eyes, lined with dark lashed increasing its already unbelievable beauty. Long trails of soft mane fell over its sturdy withers and down to its knees. Its fantastic coat of the softest pure white fur covered its entire body like a milk blanket and a curtain of silken mane fell partly over its eyes. Its long sleek tail started off as the beginning of a lions' tail, before halfway falling to the ground in a curtain of silken streams. Its strong cloven silver hooves hit angrily against the hard stone floor and its long legs were muscular from running miles and miles over grassy valleys and undiscovered forests. It stood proudly with its back arched in a way that suggested it would fight for its honour, and take honour in a fight.

In a word, it was incredible.

But the single, most fantastic thing of all was a single, spiralling silver horn in the middle of its forehead. Exceptionally beautiful, but unfortunately a great attraction of the ugly selfishness that was human greed.

Dante could only stare, spellbound. Even though they had travelled so far, he never honestly thought he would see one. And it seemed hideously ironic that Sleipnir would appear only a night after unicorns had been the subject of conversation.

He snapped out of his dream as the Shadow Cat instantly left him and made, narrow-mindedly, for the two horse-types instead. He took his chance and got shakily to his feet, thanking his luck that all the panthers were now diving for the two fighting companions, and falling like flies as they were crushed by Sleipnir or disappearing in a crack and a flash of light as the unicorn used some kind of magic. Tearing over to Trish, he fell to his knees beside her and gently lifted her head from the ground, pulling her up so she rested in his arms. "Trish…"

There was no response; whatever the panthers had done to her, there was no way she was going to wake up soon.

"Trish," he tried again, a little louder this time, but not so loud as to grab the attention of any nearby panthers.

Again, no response, not a flicker of an eyelash, not a stir, not a whine. Nothing.

He looked up just as a panther leaped onto the unicorns back and started clawing at it crazily. The unicorn uttered a cry and reared up in hopes that it would fall. It didn't however and the unicorn was forced to use another method. It cantered for a few meters before suddenly rolling onto the ground, crushing its body against the hard rock.

Dante winced as he heard the crack of the panthers bones against the floor and it lay unmoving as the unicorn picked itself up and charged frantically at the Shadow Cat, which Sleipnir was currently trying to deal with.

One by one, limping panthers crawled from the chamber, some of them suddenly falling outside the cave or in its entrance.

Sleipnir neighed something at his companion and the unicorn responded by drawing back and cantering to the back of the cave without hesitation.

Of course Dante had no idea what he had just said, he didn't understand horse speak, but it was obvious they were working out some battle plan. The panthers were no longer a threat anymore, most of them had fled, those who were brave enough, or stupid enough, to stay and fight were either dying or laying in a pool of their own blood, their lives long since over.

The unicorn charged at the Shadow again and slowly, but surely, the two horse-types drove it back, out of the cave and into the misted clearing. It was becoming weak now and all its attempts to spike them were cast of as pathetic as the two companions dodged them easily.

Dante followed close behind them, Trish's limp form cradled in his arms. He held her close to his chest, as if it would magically revive her. He felt too weak, too wretched to fight, slumping back down on the ground again as he watched the two enemies battle it out.

Finally the unicorn delivered the Shadow one last blow by slamming into it with its body before it ultimately disappeared with a howl and an explosion of inky splashes.

It was over.

After a few minutes of recovering, the two horse-types looked over at where Dante sat, still with Trish cradled in his arms. The unicorn gave a snort and walked over to them, gracefully. Dante cowered as it approached, he normally afraid of nothing, yet he didn't cower in fear, but respect.

"Humans…" when it spoke, it spoke with dignity and in pretty much the same way Sleipnir did, its lips not moving and with a pride that was almost arrogant. Yet Dante could tell from his voice that it was obviously male. "You brought humans to help us Sleipnir? Why, they can barely look after themselves."

"This place is very dangerous for their kind," Sleipnir tried to defend them as he trotted over; "It weakens their capabilities."

The unicorn was silent for a few moments before demanding down on Dante harshly, "Up, human. Let me take a lot at you."

Although he would normally answer back to this, Dante quickly, but gently, placed Trish down on the ground and stepped over her, laying the Sparda close to her and standing a few meters away to do what the unicorn requested.

The unicorn began to circle him with interest and he stood tall, though warily watching him as he continued to circle.

"Tall, well equipped, not to robust…" the unicorn mumbled, more to himself than to anyone else, "And silver hair too. On a human? How unusual. Devil hunter are you?"

"Yes."

"Speak up, human!"

"Yes."

"I see…" the unicorn stared long and hard into his eyes before stamping one cloven hoof down on the ground in disgust. "He's no ordinary human. What are you?"

The unicorns gaze fell to Sparda that lay, in all its glory by Trish, the fighting not seeming to have affected it at all. "No…" he looked quickly over to Sleipnir, "Not the son of Sparda?"

Sleipnir nodded.

"Well…" the unicorn back up a little, "My apologies, but you are a little… different… to what I expected." He looked over to where Trish lay, but her peaceful appearance was a deception. "She's poisoned."

Sleipnir nodded on agreement.

"What?" Dante looked surprised, "How?"

"Those panthers were poisonous," he explained. "If she is not cured, she will surely die."

"Can't a unicorn counteract poison?"

The unicorn gave a grunt and pawed at the ground with his hoof impatiently.

"Tarynn please…" Sleipnir spoke with a snort, "She is one of your guardians, you cannot afford to let her die."

The unicorn hesitated, but then put his head down gently, carefully, touching his horn to her throat.

There was a few seconds of uneasy silence, but after what seemed like forever Trish finally stirred in Dante's arms and she slowly opened her eyes. "Dante…?"

She looked around her and sat up suddenly. Dante gripped her carefully but her eyes were fixed on something else. "Oh… my god…"

Tarynn looked back down at her, mirroring her gaze. She was silent, simply unable to trust the sight that stood in front of her. She shook her head, unbelieving, "I don't…. I mean… is this for real?"

"As real as you're gonna get Trish." Dante answered cheerfully, though he only spoke in such a tone as he was sceptical himself.

She gazed into the unicorns eyes for a few moments longer, before outstretching her hand. She had to see, she had to see if it was real for herself.

At first Tarynn just stared, then, as a result of a nudge from Sleipnir, he slowly, gently pushed his soft muzzle into her hand. She drew back, unable to believe it, then placed her hand on its face. His fur was soft, silky, perfect in every way. But the sheer feeling of be able to touch a unicorn… it was incredible…

Tarynn quickly withdrew and looked over at where the dead panthers scattered the area in pools of foul-smelling blood. It was sickening. The whole area was sickening.

"I think we should head back…" he said, with a snort of disgust through his large nostrils. "This place offends my senses."

With this he turned, flicking his lionish tail behind him and started off in steady strides from where he first emerged.

"Wait!"

Tarynn turned at Sleipnir's call.

"The human. She needs help getting back."

Tarynn watched as Dante lifted Trish, with trouble, onto Sleipnir's back. She gripped his mane tightly and sighed.

Dante looked up at her, "You okay?"

"Still a little groggy," she replied, "But I'll survive."

Dante smiled at her weak attempt of sarcasm.

"You're lucky Tarynn was here," Sleipnir said sternly, "Neo-Panther poison is not the nicest thing to be affected by. You would be dead by now. If you were not half demon I do not think we could have saved you at all."

Trish gripped his mane tighter and closed her eyes; she didn't want to think about it. Dante slid his hand over hers and patted it comfortingly. Their eyes met and he smiled compassionately, thanking whatever gods or goddesses were out there that she was still alive, that there was still a chance for them…

Slowly they started to pace their way out of the clearing and away, finally, from the nemesis.

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End of chapter five

I'm sorry this took so long everybody! I hate writing action scene's so they take me aaaaaaages. Well I hoped you enjoyed it and for everyone who's reading this purely for the unicorns, there are more on the way.

Now like I ask you every time, please leave a review and for all those reading this for the Trish/Dante romance, the next chapter is definitely for you! ^-~

Good hunting.

Belle