Authors note: Yeah, um, about what happened at school... None of you know
how bad my class is with fights. One week we had 5 fights in 4 days, a
fake fight, a drug bust, and in december we had like, 6 students who
overdosed, and a lot of fights (Then we had an assembly about it, where we
were free to talk with our class reps, and say what we want... so some
genius pulls out a cigarette and passes it down the isle.) . Our class
isn't exactly the best. So when there are fights... sometimes they can get
pretty bad.
I can't stand the sight of blood, and the sight of someone being hurt. It makes me really sick. And when someone gets taken down in a fight, cracks their head open on the floor, right in front of me, (So close I can hear her head crack) and then starts twitching until five minutes later the teacher gets through the crowd and she lifts her head, is in complete shock... and there's a pool of blood spreading down the hallways and dripping out of her hair. I get pretty sick. Very sick. Blood and stuff is right up there with my hatred of spiders and insects. Can't take it.
It's different when you read about it in stories, or see it in movies. I can handle that, but when I see that kind of stuff in real life, I freak out.
Anyways, on a lighter note: I spent the entire weekend at my bestest friend Chris's house and we watched all 26 episodes of cowboy bebop on DVD, with all the extra's and listened to all the music and interviews. Do you know how long that took us!? We started at 3 pm Saturday, after a bit of video games, then watched Cowboy bebop nonstop (Hell we even ordered our pop and pizza from his room) and watched until about 3 am, went to sleep, then I got up at 7:30, he got up at 9:30, and we watched the rest of the episodes and extra's till 2 pm that day.
All and All, we were tired, lazy, and cold (But we had like, 2 blankets each... his windows are really bad and don't block the cold very well) His dog kept coming in and out, and bathroom breaks were inevitable (We paused the DVD's during these of course). So when we finished, we were beat (It's weird, you can get tired out by being lazy like that... but we did stay up fairly late and woke up early too.)
Yet we still had enough energy to be very stupid and AIM every one on our Instant messenger lists, e-mail everyone who knew about our marathon, and say one thing: WE FINALLY FINISHED. Yeah, we act pretty dumb sometimes. Lol. Then allot of the people e-mailed back asking what the hell we meant.
OK, enough blabbing on and on... here's what you've all been waiting for: (bum bum bum)
CHAPTER 18
Jessie slowly walked up to Nadia, and she watched him, her pale skin, silver hair and eyes seemed to glow every time a streak of lightning graced the black sky with it's presence. She turned away once again to look off into the darkness and spoke, just as Jessie reached the rock, "Why?"
He stopped short and continued to look up at her. Unable to answer her question.
She lowered her gaze to the ground, the wind still continued to whip her hair out behind her, "Why us.. Why now...?"
Jessie sighed, "I don't know. Hell, I still have no clue what it is that is going on exactly."
"..." She continued to look down, just as another blast of thunder roared through the air. Jessie jumped onto the rock and put a steady hand on her shoulder.
He was surprised to find her trembling.
"Jessie... my mom... and my uncle..." Nadia sobbed.
"It will be all right. My dad and the others are going to help your mom and them. I know it. Not to mention us."
She looked up at him, her expression blank. She was crying and her bangs were wrapped around her thin face.
"You and me... and Ayane, and Rion." Jessie continued, a small smile crept to his face.
Nadia was silent for a while, and she avoided his gaze. She was still trembling slightly and her skin was cold. The rain had her drenched from head to toe, and she kept wringing her fingers uncontrollably.
"Are you listening to me Nadi...?" Jessie paused, pleased with the new name he had come up with. She seemed to noticed as she shifted her shoulders. He tilted her head up to face him, "You and me. We'll go save them... We'll help your mom, and your uncle. We'll help my dad and the others. And We'll have help from all of them. We've got Ayane and Rion to watch our sorry ass's too! And we'll watch theirs!"
That comment had managed to make her shuffle and chuckle a little. She nodded slightly, as the rain continued to beat down on the two. A sudden gust of wind began to pick up, and she began to shiver even more noticeably.
"Come on, lets get you out of the cold." Jessie said warmly, his hand still on her trembling shoulder. A flash of lightning followed by a loud roar of thunder filled the air.
Nadia wrapped her arms around Jessie's shoulders and gave him a tight squeeze, completely to his surprise. She stayed that way for a few seconds, "Thanks Jess."
"Jess?" Jessie asked, a slight bit of amusement in his voice.
"If your going to call me Nadi, im going to call you Jess." Nadia answered, her face buried into his shoulder.
"Fair enough." Jessie hugged the young pilot back, wrapping his strong arms around her gently.
"You, and me, and Ayane and Rion." Nadia whispered.
************************************
"What's your plan?" Hiro asked Cloud.
Cloud sighed, and the others all turned their gaze's to him. He closed his silver eyes and plopped down onto a free spot on one of the couches, "Ryuji?" He asked after a while, looking up at man sitting across from him.
Ryuji nodded and looked at Cloud, "Yeah?" He asked.
"Stealth." Cloud said, "What do you got?"
Ryuji was a bit confused at first, but caught on after a few seconds, "Oh! Two stealth shields, that's it. Stealth options and things like that are hard to get hold of."
"Rei?" Cloud asked, turning his gaze to Rei.
"One. And it's attached to the Cloud Runner." Rei answered, "I had another one a while back, but I traded it. Sorry."
Cloud nodded, "So that means we can have a total of 3 zoids with stealth capabilities." Cloud said after a while, "One has to be Rei's zoid." He paused, "How long will it take to get the two from your place Ryuji?"
"Not long. At top speed I bet Jemie or Tyra could be back within 2 hours or so..."
"Even in the storm?" Cloud inquired.
"Damn. I forgot about that... 3 hours then..." Ryuji answered quietly.
"Ok." Cloud became quiet again and continued to think. After a while, and much quietness between the group, he finaly spoke, "We can attach one of the shields to Tyra's zoid, and to Goji's. That way we'd have both speed and strength, and the Cloud Runner is a mix of both so..."
The group continued to stare at him, until finaly Tyra spoke up, "So...?"
"The "stealth" zoids can hide out while I go to meet Sin. The others can be in the hover cargo, and I'll take my blade ligar. LightStrike can fuse with the core..." Cloud explained, "So that if Sin pulls anything... you guy's got my back." He smiled slightly, but it was a weary smile, "And if worse comes to worse, and something goes wrong... you guy's can... well... finish me off or whatever."
"What!?" Bit jumped up, "That's all you got!?"
"What do you suppose we do!?" Cloud snapped, "I have no other ideas, now if you guy's could come up with something better, I'd be happy to hear it."
"Cloud!" Tyra almost pleaded, "You don't really..."
Hiro sighed and stood, "He's right. Think about it, we have no other choice here. I hate it just as much as any of you, and I know that I for one would prefer we do something other than that... but..." He paused, then turned to his older brother-in-law "There is one thing though, that I can't do Cloud. I would never be able to... if you.." He paused, "I don't know if I'd be able to finish you off... if Sin does get hold of you and turns you into a demi-human."
Chris just continued to listen, still barely understanding anything that was going on. He Turned his gaze back to the two present kids, 'Ayane and ...Rion was it?' he thought... 'if this plan of their parents fails...'
Just then, two soaking wet kids entered the room. They were shivering quite noticeably. The groups gaze shifted to them.
Hiro sighed and Zack said, "I'll go get some blankets, sit down you two."
The two nodded and sat next to Ayane and Rion, still shaking. It was Cloud that noticed the two of them had hid their hands in their pockets. He stood up slowly, walked over to Nadia and grabbed her wrist. Lifting her hand up he noticed that her hand was cut up and bruised, and was bleeding... but he could also tell that it looked worse than it actually was. He looked at her face and took note that she had been crying, which was to be expected.
Hiro noticed her hands as well and sighed, just as Cloud pulled her up and led her down to the infirmary. He motioned for Jessie to follow him, and was a bit surprised to see Ayane and Rion get up as well, but didn't mind. Hiro led them down the hall and into the infirmary doors, where Cloud was shuffling through a cabinet for some bandages and other first aid items.
Nadia and Jessie both sat on separate stools and Ayane and Rion went to sit on the only clear bed left.
Cloud came back from the cabinet and picked up Nadia's wrist, beginning rub some messy, stinging liquid onto the cuts. After a while he spoke, "You climbed the cliffs didn't you?"
Nadia nodded and he sighed, "You know that's really dangerous. Not to mention in this kind of weather. I know your mom and dad let you when it's clear out... but you could have really hurt yourself."
"Im sorry uncle Cloud... and dad, I was just..." Nadia began, turning to look at the floor.
"Worried." Izumi's voice drifted over to them, and they turned to look at her, she smiled and sat up in her bed, wincing a bit.
"Yeah." Nadia answered, still looking down to the floor, "Im sorry." Her father walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't be." Cloud said quietly, "It'll be ok. We've come up with a plan to save your mom and brother, and the others, and I promise to keep you safe as well. And..." He paused, as a small smile crept slowly to his face.
Nadia looked up at him and he finished his sentence, "Your mother and me... we used to climb up there when we were younger... and when we were worried or upset about something... so im not angry with you, and I don't think your dad is either."
Hiro shook his head, "No."
"Why would you be... she's just worried 'bout her mom that's all, and you of course Cloud." Leon's voice was heard, and they took note that he had finally woken up.
"Glad to have ya back," Cloud said, as he continued to wrap the bandages around Nadia's hands.
"Actually..." Brad's voice was next, "We're all back..."
"We've just been listening to your nice conversation." Lavender added, and Leena could be heard chuckling slightly.
"That's a relief... Hiro said, as Rion jumped off the bed and dashed quickly over to his mother. He hugged her gently and kissed her cheek, a smile plastered on his face, "Me and dad were scared..." He said.
"It'll take allot more than that to get rid of me kid." Leena said as she slowly lifted her hands up to give her son a gentle hug.
After Cloud had managed to bandage both the teenagers hands he led them back to the main room, where Zack was waiting with the blankets. They bundled up and sat on the couch, while Ryuji, Goji, Hiro, Rei, Doc and Chris helped move the now conscious injured adults to the room, carefully leading them down the halls and clearing the couches for them.
Cloud explained his plan, and left out none of the details. Jemie chose to go and get the stealth shields from Ryuji's, and was back within 3 hours, just as he had predicted. They prepared themselves, all agreeing that the injured would stay at the base and rest.
Chris objected when Doc suggested that he and the children stay as well.
"No." Chris stated, "It is my duty as the ZBC commander to aid all of Zi and it's people, and keep them safe. I am willing to risk my life for that. Zeke as well. And as for the kids... I think they have their own minds made." He turned his gaze to them, and Nadia nodded, and stood, the blankets still draped about her shoulders.
"We're going to." Nadia commented.
Jessie nodded and stood as well, "We're not going to just sit here... we want to help, and we will."
Ayane and Rion agreed, "If they're going to fight, so are we."
Cloud nodded, as the smallest grin guided his lips, "I understand... but it's up to your father Nadia."
Nadia turned to her father with pleading eyes.
And after a while, he finally nodded in agreement.
******************************
'Oh shit.' Shiro thought. The demi-human eyed the group fiercely, her cold, olive green eyes showing complete and utter hatred towards them.
"What the hell do you think your doing." Gabrielle asked, her voice ringing with venom.
It was Kristen that spoke. Her voice was both brave, and scared at the same time, "Sin ordered us to take them and separate them from the other two. We're to take them to a secure room on the second level."
"What!?" Gabrielle shrieked, she seemed angered, "Sin promised that brat would be the only one who would be pampered."
Shiro and the others wondered what she had meant by that, and listened intently.
"He did not say why..." Will added, "He just gave us our orders."
Gabrielle continued to stare angrily at them. She reached up and put one of her clawed hands up to Hikari's face and dug the nail into her cheek slightly, drawing only a bit of blood, "Your lucky Sin won't let me kill you..." She whispered threateningly.
"Sin ordered you not to touch them!" Will protested as Hikari winced. The demon laughed.
"Shut the hell up." Gabrielle hissed, and Shiro jerked his head angrily at her. She laughed at him as well, "Well, well, your a feisty one aren't you. Do you know what we're going to do with you kid?"
Shiro just continued to stare daggers at her, "Well, we're going to offer you as a trade to get hold of my dear nephew, Cloud. You know, he's a demi- human just like me... The Ryuu."
Shiro cursed... and Gabrielle Grinned deviously, "Then, when Cloud shows up to save you, he's going to take him and I'll be free to kill you all!"
She laughed again and Shiro finally got fed up. He spit at her angrily.
"How dare you!" She reached her claws back and slashed forward, swiping fiercely at the unprepared teenager. He cursed and reached his shackled hands up to cover his face, feeling warm, crimson red blood seep out of the freshly made gashes down his face.
"Sin ordered you not to touch them!" Kristen yelled hotly, and Hikari jumped to Shiro's kneeling side, just like both Will and Kristen wanted to, but couldn't due to the fact that they had to keep their act up.
She turned to face the two "guards, "Now get the hell out of my way."
Will and Kristen both winced, but it was unnoticed under their disguises. The demon walked past them, her eyes still piercing as daggers.
"We have to hurry." Shiro said after a while, making sure no one else was in hearing range. He was still on his knees, and he had his face buried in his hands. Blood had begun to seep through his fingers.
"Shiro!" Kristen jumped to his side and pulled his hands away, trying to get a good look at his face, he pulled away at first, but both Hikari and Will had knelt to his side, and he turned to face them.
"Oh Shiro..." Kristen almost choked. He had five, long, deep gashes down his face from his forehead to his lips, and blood as seeping down them.
"Im ok." Shiro said , "We have to hurry, lets go..." He stood up and Hikari took off her jacket and pushed it up against his cuts. He winced painfully but accepted it, and wiped his face.
They walked down the hall and finally found the elevator. They got in, and Shiro sat in the corner, while Will checked out the control panel.
"It says we're on the 1st level." Will said, "You want me to take us to level 2?"
"Yeah." Shiro said... "We're gonna find Koh first. Sorry Will, I know you wanna find your mom..."
"Don't worry about it." Will said, though hesitantly, "My mom is strong enough to take care of herself,"
"Are you ok Shiro!?" Hikari asked, as Shiro buried his face in the jacket again.
"Im fine." He answered, just as the elevator started to move. Within about a minute it had reached the second level, and the door opened, and the four teenagers continued to explore.
****************************
"Welcome... both of you." Sin said, as the two women, Ori and Naomi, were forced into his private chambers. Four guards held onto them, one on each arm, and they had shackles on their wrists.
"Im sure you already know who I am..." He continued, the shadows hiding everything but his soft outline, "It's a pleasure to meet both of you."
"What are you going to do with us?!" Naomi demanded.
"Im going to use you to get the Ryuu." Sin answered, as he slid a chesspeice across the board on his desk.
"Why do you want Rain and Cloud so much!?" Orihime inquired quietly.
"Oh, I don't want Rain anymore... I already have her... You see, I need all three demi-humans."
"What...!?" Naomi cursed... she didn't know he had gotten hold of Rain.
"Oh, and I have already started the process of reverting Rain into the Tenshi." Sin added.
"You evil basterd!" Naomi yelled, "What the hell do you have against us!? Why are you doing this!?"
Sin stood up suddenly from his chair, and there was a slight hint of venom in his voice, "Evil!? How dare you. You have no idea what evil is.... you... Im..." he stopped and calmed himself, "Your going to watch. And when the time comes, you will see what evil really is."
"What?!" Ori and Naomi asked at the same time, confused.
"Because I have most of the original sync experiment data, and all of what Luke used before, it takes me very little time to create a demi-human. Not that I want to. I just want the three original ones. And it takes even less time to turn them back to what they truly are." Sin said, his voice was a bit angry, "You will see. I'll show you." He began to walk towards them and pulled his cloak over his face, hiding it. He motioned towards the guards to lead the two struggling women down the halls after him.
He led them strait into the core room, and down a flight of hidden stairs. What they saw shocked them....
~~~~~~End of chapter 18~~~~~~~
Authors note: Hope you like it. im stuck baby-sitting Gabrielle and two of her friends right now... and im not getting paid. (Damn it!)
Deathzealot: Lain is really good. Confusing as hell, but good.
Cloud Light-Feather: Thanks for reviewing, it means a lot to me!
Oh, has any one else been totally absorbed by .Hack//sign? I love that anime... So cool, wish that could happen to me (Get stuck in a game... not all that other bad crap that happens to poor Sukasa [is that how you spell it @_@].) I absolutely love the music in that show, especially "the world" and "Key of the twilight."
I told my sis what's going to happen in the end of this story, and she said that both those songs (After listening to them) somehow reminded her of the ending (I told here what was going to happen a long time ago, and she just heard the songs 2 days ago, and she was like "Those remind me of the end of your zoids story!".) I don't see how... because... never mind, im not going to spoil anything.
Guess what everyone! Today was a half day... and I have a four day weekend. So I don't have to put up with the freakin stupid people at my school!
I typed the first authors note 2 days ago, and since then, we've had 3 school fights... why don't people ever learn? Two people have already gotten seriously hurt at my school because of school fights, a third now has scars on his face from two girls trying to scratch his eyes out. It's terrible.
Not to mention we were on lockdown two weeks ago because an all out brawl almost started in the cafeteria. We had 3 cops in there, all the lunch aids, and we had to keep in our seats. We couldn't even stand. Then, all day we had 3 dogs patrolling the halls with the cops.
The brawl was going to be "preps" vs. "Thugs" And things are starting to get heated up between the two groups once again because of all the fights lately. The preps heavily outnumber the thugs... but the thugs are tougher. It'll be a nasty brawl if it ever happens and doesn't get interrupted by the cops again. Im definitely staying out of it, but if I had to take sides, it would be with the thugs. Believe it or not, they're nicer than half the preps.
Anyways, thanks for reading. Please review.
I can't stand the sight of blood, and the sight of someone being hurt. It makes me really sick. And when someone gets taken down in a fight, cracks their head open on the floor, right in front of me, (So close I can hear her head crack) and then starts twitching until five minutes later the teacher gets through the crowd and she lifts her head, is in complete shock... and there's a pool of blood spreading down the hallways and dripping out of her hair. I get pretty sick. Very sick. Blood and stuff is right up there with my hatred of spiders and insects. Can't take it.
It's different when you read about it in stories, or see it in movies. I can handle that, but when I see that kind of stuff in real life, I freak out.
Anyways, on a lighter note: I spent the entire weekend at my bestest friend Chris's house and we watched all 26 episodes of cowboy bebop on DVD, with all the extra's and listened to all the music and interviews. Do you know how long that took us!? We started at 3 pm Saturday, after a bit of video games, then watched Cowboy bebop nonstop (Hell we even ordered our pop and pizza from his room) and watched until about 3 am, went to sleep, then I got up at 7:30, he got up at 9:30, and we watched the rest of the episodes and extra's till 2 pm that day.
All and All, we were tired, lazy, and cold (But we had like, 2 blankets each... his windows are really bad and don't block the cold very well) His dog kept coming in and out, and bathroom breaks were inevitable (We paused the DVD's during these of course). So when we finished, we were beat (It's weird, you can get tired out by being lazy like that... but we did stay up fairly late and woke up early too.)
Yet we still had enough energy to be very stupid and AIM every one on our Instant messenger lists, e-mail everyone who knew about our marathon, and say one thing: WE FINALLY FINISHED. Yeah, we act pretty dumb sometimes. Lol. Then allot of the people e-mailed back asking what the hell we meant.
OK, enough blabbing on and on... here's what you've all been waiting for: (bum bum bum)
CHAPTER 18
Jessie slowly walked up to Nadia, and she watched him, her pale skin, silver hair and eyes seemed to glow every time a streak of lightning graced the black sky with it's presence. She turned away once again to look off into the darkness and spoke, just as Jessie reached the rock, "Why?"
He stopped short and continued to look up at her. Unable to answer her question.
She lowered her gaze to the ground, the wind still continued to whip her hair out behind her, "Why us.. Why now...?"
Jessie sighed, "I don't know. Hell, I still have no clue what it is that is going on exactly."
"..." She continued to look down, just as another blast of thunder roared through the air. Jessie jumped onto the rock and put a steady hand on her shoulder.
He was surprised to find her trembling.
"Jessie... my mom... and my uncle..." Nadia sobbed.
"It will be all right. My dad and the others are going to help your mom and them. I know it. Not to mention us."
She looked up at him, her expression blank. She was crying and her bangs were wrapped around her thin face.
"You and me... and Ayane, and Rion." Jessie continued, a small smile crept to his face.
Nadia was silent for a while, and she avoided his gaze. She was still trembling slightly and her skin was cold. The rain had her drenched from head to toe, and she kept wringing her fingers uncontrollably.
"Are you listening to me Nadi...?" Jessie paused, pleased with the new name he had come up with. She seemed to noticed as she shifted her shoulders. He tilted her head up to face him, "You and me. We'll go save them... We'll help your mom, and your uncle. We'll help my dad and the others. And We'll have help from all of them. We've got Ayane and Rion to watch our sorry ass's too! And we'll watch theirs!"
That comment had managed to make her shuffle and chuckle a little. She nodded slightly, as the rain continued to beat down on the two. A sudden gust of wind began to pick up, and she began to shiver even more noticeably.
"Come on, lets get you out of the cold." Jessie said warmly, his hand still on her trembling shoulder. A flash of lightning followed by a loud roar of thunder filled the air.
Nadia wrapped her arms around Jessie's shoulders and gave him a tight squeeze, completely to his surprise. She stayed that way for a few seconds, "Thanks Jess."
"Jess?" Jessie asked, a slight bit of amusement in his voice.
"If your going to call me Nadi, im going to call you Jess." Nadia answered, her face buried into his shoulder.
"Fair enough." Jessie hugged the young pilot back, wrapping his strong arms around her gently.
"You, and me, and Ayane and Rion." Nadia whispered.
************************************
"What's your plan?" Hiro asked Cloud.
Cloud sighed, and the others all turned their gaze's to him. He closed his silver eyes and plopped down onto a free spot on one of the couches, "Ryuji?" He asked after a while, looking up at man sitting across from him.
Ryuji nodded and looked at Cloud, "Yeah?" He asked.
"Stealth." Cloud said, "What do you got?"
Ryuji was a bit confused at first, but caught on after a few seconds, "Oh! Two stealth shields, that's it. Stealth options and things like that are hard to get hold of."
"Rei?" Cloud asked, turning his gaze to Rei.
"One. And it's attached to the Cloud Runner." Rei answered, "I had another one a while back, but I traded it. Sorry."
Cloud nodded, "So that means we can have a total of 3 zoids with stealth capabilities." Cloud said after a while, "One has to be Rei's zoid." He paused, "How long will it take to get the two from your place Ryuji?"
"Not long. At top speed I bet Jemie or Tyra could be back within 2 hours or so..."
"Even in the storm?" Cloud inquired.
"Damn. I forgot about that... 3 hours then..." Ryuji answered quietly.
"Ok." Cloud became quiet again and continued to think. After a while, and much quietness between the group, he finaly spoke, "We can attach one of the shields to Tyra's zoid, and to Goji's. That way we'd have both speed and strength, and the Cloud Runner is a mix of both so..."
The group continued to stare at him, until finaly Tyra spoke up, "So...?"
"The "stealth" zoids can hide out while I go to meet Sin. The others can be in the hover cargo, and I'll take my blade ligar. LightStrike can fuse with the core..." Cloud explained, "So that if Sin pulls anything... you guy's got my back." He smiled slightly, but it was a weary smile, "And if worse comes to worse, and something goes wrong... you guy's can... well... finish me off or whatever."
"What!?" Bit jumped up, "That's all you got!?"
"What do you suppose we do!?" Cloud snapped, "I have no other ideas, now if you guy's could come up with something better, I'd be happy to hear it."
"Cloud!" Tyra almost pleaded, "You don't really..."
Hiro sighed and stood, "He's right. Think about it, we have no other choice here. I hate it just as much as any of you, and I know that I for one would prefer we do something other than that... but..." He paused, then turned to his older brother-in-law "There is one thing though, that I can't do Cloud. I would never be able to... if you.." He paused, "I don't know if I'd be able to finish you off... if Sin does get hold of you and turns you into a demi-human."
Chris just continued to listen, still barely understanding anything that was going on. He Turned his gaze back to the two present kids, 'Ayane and ...Rion was it?' he thought... 'if this plan of their parents fails...'
Just then, two soaking wet kids entered the room. They were shivering quite noticeably. The groups gaze shifted to them.
Hiro sighed and Zack said, "I'll go get some blankets, sit down you two."
The two nodded and sat next to Ayane and Rion, still shaking. It was Cloud that noticed the two of them had hid their hands in their pockets. He stood up slowly, walked over to Nadia and grabbed her wrist. Lifting her hand up he noticed that her hand was cut up and bruised, and was bleeding... but he could also tell that it looked worse than it actually was. He looked at her face and took note that she had been crying, which was to be expected.
Hiro noticed her hands as well and sighed, just as Cloud pulled her up and led her down to the infirmary. He motioned for Jessie to follow him, and was a bit surprised to see Ayane and Rion get up as well, but didn't mind. Hiro led them down the hall and into the infirmary doors, where Cloud was shuffling through a cabinet for some bandages and other first aid items.
Nadia and Jessie both sat on separate stools and Ayane and Rion went to sit on the only clear bed left.
Cloud came back from the cabinet and picked up Nadia's wrist, beginning rub some messy, stinging liquid onto the cuts. After a while he spoke, "You climbed the cliffs didn't you?"
Nadia nodded and he sighed, "You know that's really dangerous. Not to mention in this kind of weather. I know your mom and dad let you when it's clear out... but you could have really hurt yourself."
"Im sorry uncle Cloud... and dad, I was just..." Nadia began, turning to look at the floor.
"Worried." Izumi's voice drifted over to them, and they turned to look at her, she smiled and sat up in her bed, wincing a bit.
"Yeah." Nadia answered, still looking down to the floor, "Im sorry." Her father walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't be." Cloud said quietly, "It'll be ok. We've come up with a plan to save your mom and brother, and the others, and I promise to keep you safe as well. And..." He paused, as a small smile crept slowly to his face.
Nadia looked up at him and he finished his sentence, "Your mother and me... we used to climb up there when we were younger... and when we were worried or upset about something... so im not angry with you, and I don't think your dad is either."
Hiro shook his head, "No."
"Why would you be... she's just worried 'bout her mom that's all, and you of course Cloud." Leon's voice was heard, and they took note that he had finally woken up.
"Glad to have ya back," Cloud said, as he continued to wrap the bandages around Nadia's hands.
"Actually..." Brad's voice was next, "We're all back..."
"We've just been listening to your nice conversation." Lavender added, and Leena could be heard chuckling slightly.
"That's a relief... Hiro said, as Rion jumped off the bed and dashed quickly over to his mother. He hugged her gently and kissed her cheek, a smile plastered on his face, "Me and dad were scared..." He said.
"It'll take allot more than that to get rid of me kid." Leena said as she slowly lifted her hands up to give her son a gentle hug.
After Cloud had managed to bandage both the teenagers hands he led them back to the main room, where Zack was waiting with the blankets. They bundled up and sat on the couch, while Ryuji, Goji, Hiro, Rei, Doc and Chris helped move the now conscious injured adults to the room, carefully leading them down the halls and clearing the couches for them.
Cloud explained his plan, and left out none of the details. Jemie chose to go and get the stealth shields from Ryuji's, and was back within 3 hours, just as he had predicted. They prepared themselves, all agreeing that the injured would stay at the base and rest.
Chris objected when Doc suggested that he and the children stay as well.
"No." Chris stated, "It is my duty as the ZBC commander to aid all of Zi and it's people, and keep them safe. I am willing to risk my life for that. Zeke as well. And as for the kids... I think they have their own minds made." He turned his gaze to them, and Nadia nodded, and stood, the blankets still draped about her shoulders.
"We're going to." Nadia commented.
Jessie nodded and stood as well, "We're not going to just sit here... we want to help, and we will."
Ayane and Rion agreed, "If they're going to fight, so are we."
Cloud nodded, as the smallest grin guided his lips, "I understand... but it's up to your father Nadia."
Nadia turned to her father with pleading eyes.
And after a while, he finally nodded in agreement.
******************************
'Oh shit.' Shiro thought. The demi-human eyed the group fiercely, her cold, olive green eyes showing complete and utter hatred towards them.
"What the hell do you think your doing." Gabrielle asked, her voice ringing with venom.
It was Kristen that spoke. Her voice was both brave, and scared at the same time, "Sin ordered us to take them and separate them from the other two. We're to take them to a secure room on the second level."
"What!?" Gabrielle shrieked, she seemed angered, "Sin promised that brat would be the only one who would be pampered."
Shiro and the others wondered what she had meant by that, and listened intently.
"He did not say why..." Will added, "He just gave us our orders."
Gabrielle continued to stare angrily at them. She reached up and put one of her clawed hands up to Hikari's face and dug the nail into her cheek slightly, drawing only a bit of blood, "Your lucky Sin won't let me kill you..." She whispered threateningly.
"Sin ordered you not to touch them!" Will protested as Hikari winced. The demon laughed.
"Shut the hell up." Gabrielle hissed, and Shiro jerked his head angrily at her. She laughed at him as well, "Well, well, your a feisty one aren't you. Do you know what we're going to do with you kid?"
Shiro just continued to stare daggers at her, "Well, we're going to offer you as a trade to get hold of my dear nephew, Cloud. You know, he's a demi- human just like me... The Ryuu."
Shiro cursed... and Gabrielle Grinned deviously, "Then, when Cloud shows up to save you, he's going to take him and I'll be free to kill you all!"
She laughed again and Shiro finally got fed up. He spit at her angrily.
"How dare you!" She reached her claws back and slashed forward, swiping fiercely at the unprepared teenager. He cursed and reached his shackled hands up to cover his face, feeling warm, crimson red blood seep out of the freshly made gashes down his face.
"Sin ordered you not to touch them!" Kristen yelled hotly, and Hikari jumped to Shiro's kneeling side, just like both Will and Kristen wanted to, but couldn't due to the fact that they had to keep their act up.
She turned to face the two "guards, "Now get the hell out of my way."
Will and Kristen both winced, but it was unnoticed under their disguises. The demon walked past them, her eyes still piercing as daggers.
"We have to hurry." Shiro said after a while, making sure no one else was in hearing range. He was still on his knees, and he had his face buried in his hands. Blood had begun to seep through his fingers.
"Shiro!" Kristen jumped to his side and pulled his hands away, trying to get a good look at his face, he pulled away at first, but both Hikari and Will had knelt to his side, and he turned to face them.
"Oh Shiro..." Kristen almost choked. He had five, long, deep gashes down his face from his forehead to his lips, and blood as seeping down them.
"Im ok." Shiro said , "We have to hurry, lets go..." He stood up and Hikari took off her jacket and pushed it up against his cuts. He winced painfully but accepted it, and wiped his face.
They walked down the hall and finally found the elevator. They got in, and Shiro sat in the corner, while Will checked out the control panel.
"It says we're on the 1st level." Will said, "You want me to take us to level 2?"
"Yeah." Shiro said... "We're gonna find Koh first. Sorry Will, I know you wanna find your mom..."
"Don't worry about it." Will said, though hesitantly, "My mom is strong enough to take care of herself,"
"Are you ok Shiro!?" Hikari asked, as Shiro buried his face in the jacket again.
"Im fine." He answered, just as the elevator started to move. Within about a minute it had reached the second level, and the door opened, and the four teenagers continued to explore.
****************************
"Welcome... both of you." Sin said, as the two women, Ori and Naomi, were forced into his private chambers. Four guards held onto them, one on each arm, and they had shackles on their wrists.
"Im sure you already know who I am..." He continued, the shadows hiding everything but his soft outline, "It's a pleasure to meet both of you."
"What are you going to do with us?!" Naomi demanded.
"Im going to use you to get the Ryuu." Sin answered, as he slid a chesspeice across the board on his desk.
"Why do you want Rain and Cloud so much!?" Orihime inquired quietly.
"Oh, I don't want Rain anymore... I already have her... You see, I need all three demi-humans."
"What...!?" Naomi cursed... she didn't know he had gotten hold of Rain.
"Oh, and I have already started the process of reverting Rain into the Tenshi." Sin added.
"You evil basterd!" Naomi yelled, "What the hell do you have against us!? Why are you doing this!?"
Sin stood up suddenly from his chair, and there was a slight hint of venom in his voice, "Evil!? How dare you. You have no idea what evil is.... you... Im..." he stopped and calmed himself, "Your going to watch. And when the time comes, you will see what evil really is."
"What?!" Ori and Naomi asked at the same time, confused.
"Because I have most of the original sync experiment data, and all of what Luke used before, it takes me very little time to create a demi-human. Not that I want to. I just want the three original ones. And it takes even less time to turn them back to what they truly are." Sin said, his voice was a bit angry, "You will see. I'll show you." He began to walk towards them and pulled his cloak over his face, hiding it. He motioned towards the guards to lead the two struggling women down the halls after him.
He led them strait into the core room, and down a flight of hidden stairs. What they saw shocked them....
~~~~~~End of chapter 18~~~~~~~
Authors note: Hope you like it. im stuck baby-sitting Gabrielle and two of her friends right now... and im not getting paid. (Damn it!)
Deathzealot: Lain is really good. Confusing as hell, but good.
Cloud Light-Feather: Thanks for reviewing, it means a lot to me!
Oh, has any one else been totally absorbed by .Hack//sign? I love that anime... So cool, wish that could happen to me (Get stuck in a game... not all that other bad crap that happens to poor Sukasa [is that how you spell it @_@].) I absolutely love the music in that show, especially "the world" and "Key of the twilight."
I told my sis what's going to happen in the end of this story, and she said that both those songs (After listening to them) somehow reminded her of the ending (I told here what was going to happen a long time ago, and she just heard the songs 2 days ago, and she was like "Those remind me of the end of your zoids story!".) I don't see how... because... never mind, im not going to spoil anything.
Guess what everyone! Today was a half day... and I have a four day weekend. So I don't have to put up with the freakin stupid people at my school!
I typed the first authors note 2 days ago, and since then, we've had 3 school fights... why don't people ever learn? Two people have already gotten seriously hurt at my school because of school fights, a third now has scars on his face from two girls trying to scratch his eyes out. It's terrible.
Not to mention we were on lockdown two weeks ago because an all out brawl almost started in the cafeteria. We had 3 cops in there, all the lunch aids, and we had to keep in our seats. We couldn't even stand. Then, all day we had 3 dogs patrolling the halls with the cops.
The brawl was going to be "preps" vs. "Thugs" And things are starting to get heated up between the two groups once again because of all the fights lately. The preps heavily outnumber the thugs... but the thugs are tougher. It'll be a nasty brawl if it ever happens and doesn't get interrupted by the cops again. Im definitely staying out of it, but if I had to take sides, it would be with the thugs. Believe it or not, they're nicer than half the preps.
Anyways, thanks for reading. Please review.