The Next Generation 3

A/N: Of all the classes in high school, I despise physics most of all. I really and truly LOATH and hate it! I wish I could take a flame-thrower to the laws of Physics and to Dornkirk for inventing them! But enough of my hates and screams of fury. Time to write!



Yukari slept.

And while she slept, the sandy blonde dreamed.

They were strange dreams. They were dreams that should only be found in the head of a resident of an asylum. One had Folken dressed in plaid and singing some song called 'Oops I did it Again', whatever THAT was. Another dream was of Van and Millerna having sex. Hot sex. Hot NOISY sex. The kind of sex that could only be found in stories written by authors who have too much time on their hands. (A/N: Remind you of anyone?) And then she dreamed that she was falling.falling.falling.falling. The dream changed to a fight with a mighty sky dragon. The beast opened its mouth and breathed forth fire. Heat was everywhere, changing the scene to a cheese sandwich, slowly grilling over a campfire. The thick Asturian cheese was slowly melting, and the bread toasted to a light golden brown.

Yukari woke up. "My dreams are getting a bit out of hand." She groaned blearily, before dropping off again.

She dreamed again. But this time, it was dead serious.

Clouds. Grey clouds filled her mind. So thick that you could cut them with a spoon, they swirled and fogged through the air. Yukari could immediately tell that this was no ordinary dream.

Suddenly, the fog cleared, making Yukari gasp with astonishment. There was a room. The Slayers' common room, she immediately recognised it. There was Setto on the couch, and there was even her, snoring softly as she turned over in the hammock.

Suddenly, two black clothed figures climbed through the window. They crept slowly forward, drawing swords as they did so. Reaching the sleeping teens, they raised a blade above each of their necks and sliced their throats.

Yukari woke, suddenly, with a cold feeling. Her hand shot up, quick as lightning, and grabbed the descending wrist in a grip of steel. At the same time, she yelled "Setto! Ambush!" Then she rolled off the hammock, dragging the would-be assassin with her.

Trapping her foe's arm behind his back, Yukari hissed in his ear. "I don't appreciate being woken up in the middle of the night by armed assassins. So unless you tell me who you are, and who sent you, I am going to kill you."

The man's only answer was to swing a dagger at Yukari. She ducked and twisted his arm violently. A resounding snap echoed through the room. But the assassin didn't even peep. He just hacked off his broken arm with his free hand and pulled away.

Yukari was left hanging on to the severed limb, astonishment printed all across her face. The assassin took the opportunity and lunged, sword flashing.

Yukari barely managed to get out of the way. Dropping the dead arm, she tackled her attacker, sending both of them to the floor. Wrestling and rolling back and forth, Yukari struggled desperately to grab the sword. After a few minutes, she realised that her attacker was dead.

The hilt of his sword protruded from his stomach. The man had killed himself rather than be taken by the enemy.

Turning to see how her brother was doing, Yukari watched as Setto slammed a dagger between the ribs of his opponent, and shove the corpse off his body. Seeing his sister's look, he raised his eyebrow. "What, you concerned about me?"

Yukari shrugged. "The thought crossed my mind. Shall we see where these distinguished gentlemen came from?"

Setto nodded and pulled the hood from his corpse. The second the light hit the body, the corpse crumbled to dust.

Startled, Yukari tried hers with same result. She whistled. "Someone's gone to a good deal of trouble to keep this a secret."

Setto stepped closer to get a look at the pile of dust. "Yeah. But who?"

***

It felt good to be back on the road again.

Yukari was in high spirits as she rode off down the road to the capitol. Reaver, her big black gelding, seemed happy too. He trotted along, frisking as he went, and he occasionally chewed on a bit of clover that peaked up from the otherwise paved road.

Yukari knew that to travel in full armour was to invite robbery, but to travel unarmoured was to invite an arrow between your ribs. Therefore, she had packed away her heavy splint mail and instead wore some chain mail, bracers, and combat boots. Over top this, she wore a dark green sweater, and some brown pants. Even on a potentially dangerous mission, Yukari always kept up with fashion.

Looking back to make sure her brother was still there, Yukari's lip curled. He had on a patched leather jacket with an eternal number of pockets and equally derelict jeans.

Yukari sighed and shook her head. 'Some people just don't have a fashion sense.'

The morning went well. The weather was fine, and the pair made steady time. They should have been at the capitol in a few more hours.

But as always, there is a big difference between 'should have been', and what actually happens.

They were only a quarter of the way there when it suddenly began to rain. Yukari (cursing) and Setto kept on, pulling their cloaks over their heads. But then the wind started. Just a tiny breeze at first, it grew steadily more powerful, and soon the horses had to struggle against the wind. Yukari peered ahead,

"It's no good!" She yelled over the wind. "We'll have to take shelter!"

Once he understood, Setto nodded. "There's always the forest. The trees will break the wind!" Without waiting for a response, he urged his pied mare towards the looming trees. After peering into the storm for a moment, Yukari followed suit.

Inside the shelter of the forest, the noise dropped to a dull roar in the background. A very soaked set of twins tied their horses to a tree, and sat down to eat something.

Setto poked half-heartedly at dried meat and cheese. "I wish I'd thought to bring something other then trail rations. I hate this stuff."

Chewing on the aforementioned rations, Yukari couldn't answer. When her mouth cleared, she grimaced. "Even if I wanted to argue, I couldn't. They could at least give this stuff some taste! This is so thick it could choke a horse!"

The morning did not pass well. And the afternoon passed even worse. Setto tried to play a game Hitomi had taught them called 'I spy'. But he soon gave up when Yukari gruffly told him that the only things to spy were trees. So instead, he set himself against a tree and rested.

'I wonder how mom and dad are doing?' Setto thought to himself. 'Probably happy that they're going on a trip. You've got to keep busy. Maybe Van'll have something to do when we get there?' The thought cheered him up. 'I hope his guards have got better at poker. Last time I cleaned them out! Okay, so I lost it all to Yukari a hand later. But I still won!' His mind was about to change tracks when he sat up suddenly. Yukari saw this and she stopped polishing her sword.

"What's up?"

"We're about to have visitors". Listening intently, Setto elaborated. "Whoever they are, they haven't learned much stealth. Their weapons are jingling like mad, and one of them keeps sneezing."

"I don't suppose they're Fanelians come to greet us?" Yukari asked without much hope. Setto shook his head, and his sister stood up. "Maybe this won't be as boring as I thought." Her eye gleamed and her lips grinned. Setto sighed. His sister enjoyed this way too much.

The twins stood side by side, awaiting the unknown men. They didn't bother trying to hide their presence. The men knew they were there, or they wouldn't be heading straight for them.

The sounds of marching and armour jangling were suddenly punctuated by the rasp of swords being drawn. Yukari's smile grew wider.

Then a dozen men stepped into the clearing. They had swords in their hands, and looked ready for battle. The soldiers looked like they knew what they were doing. Yukari just shrugged. There was no point in killing amateurs.

The men halted when they caught sight of the twins. One stepped forward, stopping right in front of Yukari. He was an arrogant bastard, a smirk on his face and a swagger in his step. He clearly thought the fight was over already. The idiot didn't even have his sword drawn!

Mr. Arrogant eyed the two teens for a moment. Then he turned to his men. "These are them boys! Pack 'em up and move 'em out!" Turning back to Yukari while the others surrounded them, he smirked even more, if that was possible. "Sorry girlie, but you're being taken in for questioning. If you resist then you both get roughed up. Come in peacefully and I'll see if I can make things more comfortable for you." His eyes traced her outline, clearly shown by her tight fitting garments. "I've got a soft spot for beautiful women. If you're lucky I might, I just might, keep you. You look like you'd last a fair while." Laughing, he reached out and squeezed Yukari's breast.

Yukari's hand shot up and grabbed his hand. Mr. Arrogant gasped in surprise and pain. Leaning forward, Yukari said, "How does a colossal prick like you manage to sound so magnanimous?" Then with one smooth motion, she crushed his hand. The scream jolted the others into action. Yukari ran the bastard through and tossed him away before lunging, howling a battle cry, at the others.

Five of the soldiers ran to stop Yukari's inevitable rampage. Concentrating, she thrust out a hand. Three of the charging men were suddenly hurled twenty feet away. The two remaining fighters slowed as they glimpsed this power. Then Yukari was on them. Grinning psychotically, she thrust and slashed at the men with wild abandon. As she pulled a series of manoeuvres on one, the other came at her from behind. Thrusting out a foot, Yukari tripped the fighter, just as she slashed open her first opponent's ribcage. Clutching his body, the man fell to the ground and died.

By now, the other three soldiers had picked themselves up and were ready for revenge. One had a crossbow. He managed to fire a bolt before the others closed in. Smiling in disdain, Yukari concentrated again, blocking the attack with a field of force. Then, she flipped over the heads of the sword wielders and landed right beside Mr. Crossbow. He gaped in terror, right before she kicked him in the jaw, breaking his neck.

Yukari then whirled, blocking a sword slash. Swords were locked for an instant. But Yukari was stronger than most men. Shoving the man onto his back, Yukari followed him up, ramming her blade through his heart. He was reminded of pinning up butterflies in his youth in such a manner before he blacked out.

Yukari then faced the one fighter still standing. The man gulped in fear, clearly not enthusiastic about taking on such a skilled and ruthless fighter. He stumbled back a few steps. Yukari grinned and he fled.

Meanwhile, the other six fighters had gone after Setto. Backing him slowly against a tree, they surrounded him. Setto grinned. "Is all this fighting really necessary?" He threw up his arms in a peaceful sort of way. "Can't we just settle this over a few hands of poker?"

None of the men looked inclined to be peaceful. Setto shrugged, surreptitiously lighting something. "Oh well. Goodbye!" He threw something amidst them and jumped. The something blew up.

Three of the fighters managed to get out of the blast. One immediately went down, groaning, six of Setto's daggers in his ribs. The ninja just smiled.

Bellowing with fury, the remaining two attackers charged, swords drawn and swinging.

Jumping back some more, Setto swung a bolo at them before drawing his own sword.

The bolo entangled one target, leaving only the other to go after Setto. The young man jumped and dodged, making a difficult target, while striking blows of his own. One caught his enemy just below the eye, causing instant blood.

The man did not like this. Screaming in fury, he struck fast and hard. He nearly hit Setto who managed to block. The man struck again and again. Setto blocked every time, a bored expression on his face. Suddenly, as the man struck again, Setto blocked with a peculiar twist. The other's sword went flying, and his head went flying after it before he fully comprehended what had happened.

The fight was over, noises suddenly crashing back to life. The cracking of branches as the one man ran away. The groans of the man Yukari had tripped. The cursing of the man Setto had bolo'ed. The sound of Yukari's quiet laughing.

"Gosh," she said, "that was fun. Too bad it's over so soon." She stretched. "Shall we see to our friends?"

Setto nodded. "He seems in fairly good condition." He chucked a thumb at the struggling, swearing guard.

Yukari smiled. Strolling over to the prisoner with a casual twist of the hips, she looked into his eyes. He stooped swearing long enough to glare death at her.

"Hey there soldier boy." Yukari purred. Setto rolled his eyes. She enjoyed this way too much. "Don't you know that it's impolite to swear in front of a lady?"

"Fuck you bitch!" The man spat. Setto had to hand it to this guy. He was brave. Dumb, but brave.

Yukari just shrugged slightly. "You wouldn't be wanting little old me to pick up words like that, now would you?" She giggled. "Now, why would big strong men like you, want to hurt little old me?" She reached up and stroked his face.

The man bit at her finger. "Go find someone else's bed to slip into! I don't go in for that kind of stuff. Especially with something you'd find in a dragon's pile of leavings!" He looked Yukari up and down, and snorted.

Setto closed his eyes. He didn't want to see this.

Yukari's eyes went from seductive to furious. Her caressing hand balled into a fist and punched him in the face, knocking backwards onto the ground. Leaping forward, she ground a boot into his nuts. She jumped onto him, drew a dagger and held it to his throat. "Now listen to me you sexless BASTARD." She growled. "I tried to be nice, but you didn't want that. Now tell me what I want to know or I'll cut your throat an inch at a time."

The man spat out some blood. "You seem upset. Why? Does the thought of losing a gorgeous guy like me piss you off?"

"Oh please!" Yukari snarled. "A courtesan would have to be blind to go for you!"

"Good thing you're not one. Otherwise my chances with you would be pretty slim!"

"You don't know when to quit, do you? Alright then stud boy, lets see what you make of this." Yukari reached down and ripped open the guy's pants.

The guy merely looked mildly surprised. "Wow. It didn't take much to get my pants down, did it?"

Yukari snorted. "You flatter yourself. I've seen bigger dicks on mice! But." She placed her dagger half an inch above the member in question. "If you want any dick at all, then you tell me what I want to know. Do we understand each other?"

The guy suddenly stopped smiling and turned white. "You're bluffing."

Yukari smiled viciously. "Am I?" She made a small cut at the base of his genitalia. "Give up?"

"Alright! Alright!" He yelled. "I give! I'll tell you anything you want to know!"

"That's a good pet." Yukari purred. Reaching up, she stroked his face again.

Setto smiled. "You enjoy this way too much, you know."

She shrugged airily. "I don't see what my amusement has to do with you. Now check on the other."

Muttering obscenities, Setto walked over to the guy Yukari had tripped. One look and he winced.

The poor bastard had straddled a log when he fell.

Dragging him by the fire, Setto checked his wounds. A couple slashes, a bruise on the leg, the crushed groin, .hello! "Hey sis! Check this out!"

Yukari looked up from where she'd been teasing the prisoner with a scowl. "What? Can't you see I'm having fun here?"

"This is more important than your fun!"

"What could be more important than my fun?"

"This" Setto lifted a badge.

Made of silver, it bore the double star insignia of the Dragonslayers' greatest opposition in the mercenary world. "These guys," Setto said quietly, "Were Mystics."

Yukari gasped. She whirled upon her captive who was starting to look nervous. "What are you Mystics doing in Fanelia? This is OUR turf! You know that! Talk, or you'll be working for a church before tomorrow!"

"Calm down. I'll tell you."

"You'd better." Yukari's eyes gleamed. "Unless you want me to have some fun?"

Setto sighed and smacked his forehead. "You enjoy this WAY too much!"

"Shut up!"



A/N: What are the Mystics doing here? Why is Yukari so pissed at their presence? When will they ever get to Van? Find out next time.on Escaflowne! And don't forget: an author works much better with reviews!