Heart of the Cards
******
Chapter Four:
"Will! Blaine? Kennie!?" I shouted. I had earned myself throbbing vocal chords, aching feet, and a strong tension in my neck, like someone was watching me.
All in all, I was VERY irritated.
The sun had finally set, blanketing the world with twilight going on darkness. I'd stumbled and fallen over myself five times in the last ten minutes, due to the uneven and bumpy roads, and knocked over two trashcans. Ivy, however, seemed to have a kind of repellant to clumsiness, and could be seen gliding along next to me, white skin practically glowing in the darkness. Yes, I envied her sometimes.
It had been a long time now, and I knew I should call all of our parents, so that they wouldn't worry. Come to think of it, I should have called the police first of all, because this was now officially a missing person case.
"Ebon, I don't know how they could have gotten this far! Will, yes, I believe he could be miles away by now. But I'd like to think that Blaine is more considerate!" Ivy huffed, mumbling half to me, and half to herself.
"Mmmph!" I exclaimed, smacking into a wall that I was convinced had jumped out in front of me. Pulling away from it, I answered with, "Yeah, tell me about it."
"Hmm..."
"NO! Ivy, you are NOT going to pull the 'Let's split up and meet back here in fifteen minutes' thing on me! We'll be even worse off then."
"Ok, ok! My goodness Ebon, it was just a thought..."
To tell the truth, I was still pretty irritated about what Will had said. I knew that he was under a lot of pressure, but what he said in that outburst was still uncalled for.
I stopped and sighed, leaning up against a wall and taking off my black boots. Tossing the burden behind a pile of boxes in an alley, I memorized the barely visible street sign so I could come back to get them later.
I stood up and turned around to face Ivy, saying, "Ok, let's try--"
I blinked a few times, shook my head out, and let my mouth fall open slightly. I really hoped that I was just going crazy...
But Ivy was gone. Totally and completely evaporated, as if she were never there.
"Aaargh!" I shouted in frustration, pounding my fist into the side of the brick wall. Pain shot up my wrist, and I regretted that action very, very much.
Holding my smarting arm and standing up, I murmured curse words under my breath in all languages I knew and glanced around both corners to make sure she hadn't just walked a few yards away to scout. Nothing. Unless Ivy could run down the street until I couldn't see her at all in a matter of twenty seconds, she'd vanished weirdly too.
Standing up, now in a black mood, I shouted, "IVY! BLAINE! WILL!"
Of course, I got no answer.
Sitting down to think of where they could have gone, I instinctively yanked out my dueling deck. If I were Will, I would be a rampaging Red Eyes Black Dragon in the streets, trying to find Kennie by any means, such as threatening people and trying to upturn buildings. You know, the traditional.
Come to think of it, Red Eyes had been his favorite card.
HAD been?! I was talking about him like he was...
Grumbling, I continued narrowing down the possibilities. Blaine, he would be trying to be brave, like his brother, but lacking the black and red rage of Will. He'd probably either be looking for Kennie, or his elder brother, timidly asking people if they'd seen a boy about so tall in his polite little voice.
Celtic Guardian. I'd always pictured that card as an honorable and spiritual sort of elven warrior. It figured that it would be his favorite card.
I got up and dusted off my jeans absently. There was really only one thing to do...
Squinting through the twilight, I searched for a payphone. Finding no immediate answer to my wishes, I dug in my pocket, looking for a cell phone or... anything, really.
Lint, a piece of string, and a dime. OK, that was fine. Now if only I could find a quarter...
Leaning over and wandering around like a hunchback, I felt pretty stupid looking around for a quarter in the middle of the night, in the middle of the sidewalk.
So, naturally, I didn't know there was someone in front of me until I smashed into them.
"Ugh!" I exclaimed, whipping my head up and backing off.
"... Why don't you watch where you're going?" A cold voice sounded from the figure I'd head butted. In spite of the fact that I'd knocked them pretty hard in the stomach, I may as well have just ran head on into a brick wall, for all they seemed to care.
"... Sorry." I stated, straightening up. "What are you doing out so late?"
"The same could be asked of you."
I frowned, dislike immediately forming. This person was obviously challenging me in some way, unknown for the moment.
They turned uncaringly, and shrugged. "... You just might end up like your friends if you aren't careful."
It took me a while to process that sentence. Did that person just say...?
"What the... What are you talking about?!" I demanded, grabbing the unusually hard shoulder and spinning the figure around to face me.
Gold light from the street lamp above poured onto their features, revealing a face that I recognized as being female. I scowled, I repeated my question.
"What are you talking about... if you did anything to them..."
A laugh escaped her throat, not harsh, just amused. And hinted with ice. "Oh, they're fine. I just didn't realize you wanted to join them so badly."
I gritted my teeth and snapped, "Quit playing around! Tell me where they are, and after that you'd better believe I'm turning you in to the police!"
"Hmm." The police suddenly seemed meek and lame. I wondered if that had even fazed this strangest of strangers.
She pulled a card out of her pocket, and even in the poor light, I had little trouble recognizing it as a Duel Monsters card. If she thought I was in the mood to Duel, she was sadly mistaken.
"Hey you, what's the big idea?" I said, no longer confident. There was a prickling sensation on my neck, and I had a bad feeling of something that was coming next.
"You want to join them...?" She asked again. "If you don't answer me, I'll pick a choice for you."
"... Shut up." I growled, taking out my own deck. If fighting her was the only way to get some decent answers, that was fine by me.
She chuckled when she saw my move, and shook her head. "I don't think so."
Before I knew what was going on, she flipped the card toward me, and all went black.
******
{A/N: Hardly any editing at all!!! YESSS, I've gotten past the icky bad writing, and it's smooth sailing from here on out. Thank you, thank you :D}
******
Chapter Four:
"Will! Blaine? Kennie!?" I shouted. I had earned myself throbbing vocal chords, aching feet, and a strong tension in my neck, like someone was watching me.
All in all, I was VERY irritated.
The sun had finally set, blanketing the world with twilight going on darkness. I'd stumbled and fallen over myself five times in the last ten minutes, due to the uneven and bumpy roads, and knocked over two trashcans. Ivy, however, seemed to have a kind of repellant to clumsiness, and could be seen gliding along next to me, white skin practically glowing in the darkness. Yes, I envied her sometimes.
It had been a long time now, and I knew I should call all of our parents, so that they wouldn't worry. Come to think of it, I should have called the police first of all, because this was now officially a missing person case.
"Ebon, I don't know how they could have gotten this far! Will, yes, I believe he could be miles away by now. But I'd like to think that Blaine is more considerate!" Ivy huffed, mumbling half to me, and half to herself.
"Mmmph!" I exclaimed, smacking into a wall that I was convinced had jumped out in front of me. Pulling away from it, I answered with, "Yeah, tell me about it."
"Hmm..."
"NO! Ivy, you are NOT going to pull the 'Let's split up and meet back here in fifteen minutes' thing on me! We'll be even worse off then."
"Ok, ok! My goodness Ebon, it was just a thought..."
To tell the truth, I was still pretty irritated about what Will had said. I knew that he was under a lot of pressure, but what he said in that outburst was still uncalled for.
I stopped and sighed, leaning up against a wall and taking off my black boots. Tossing the burden behind a pile of boxes in an alley, I memorized the barely visible street sign so I could come back to get them later.
I stood up and turned around to face Ivy, saying, "Ok, let's try--"
I blinked a few times, shook my head out, and let my mouth fall open slightly. I really hoped that I was just going crazy...
But Ivy was gone. Totally and completely evaporated, as if she were never there.
"Aaargh!" I shouted in frustration, pounding my fist into the side of the brick wall. Pain shot up my wrist, and I regretted that action very, very much.
Holding my smarting arm and standing up, I murmured curse words under my breath in all languages I knew and glanced around both corners to make sure she hadn't just walked a few yards away to scout. Nothing. Unless Ivy could run down the street until I couldn't see her at all in a matter of twenty seconds, she'd vanished weirdly too.
Standing up, now in a black mood, I shouted, "IVY! BLAINE! WILL!"
Of course, I got no answer.
Sitting down to think of where they could have gone, I instinctively yanked out my dueling deck. If I were Will, I would be a rampaging Red Eyes Black Dragon in the streets, trying to find Kennie by any means, such as threatening people and trying to upturn buildings. You know, the traditional.
Come to think of it, Red Eyes had been his favorite card.
HAD been?! I was talking about him like he was...
Grumbling, I continued narrowing down the possibilities. Blaine, he would be trying to be brave, like his brother, but lacking the black and red rage of Will. He'd probably either be looking for Kennie, or his elder brother, timidly asking people if they'd seen a boy about so tall in his polite little voice.
Celtic Guardian. I'd always pictured that card as an honorable and spiritual sort of elven warrior. It figured that it would be his favorite card.
I got up and dusted off my jeans absently. There was really only one thing to do...
Squinting through the twilight, I searched for a payphone. Finding no immediate answer to my wishes, I dug in my pocket, looking for a cell phone or... anything, really.
Lint, a piece of string, and a dime. OK, that was fine. Now if only I could find a quarter...
Leaning over and wandering around like a hunchback, I felt pretty stupid looking around for a quarter in the middle of the night, in the middle of the sidewalk.
So, naturally, I didn't know there was someone in front of me until I smashed into them.
"Ugh!" I exclaimed, whipping my head up and backing off.
"... Why don't you watch where you're going?" A cold voice sounded from the figure I'd head butted. In spite of the fact that I'd knocked them pretty hard in the stomach, I may as well have just ran head on into a brick wall, for all they seemed to care.
"... Sorry." I stated, straightening up. "What are you doing out so late?"
"The same could be asked of you."
I frowned, dislike immediately forming. This person was obviously challenging me in some way, unknown for the moment.
They turned uncaringly, and shrugged. "... You just might end up like your friends if you aren't careful."
It took me a while to process that sentence. Did that person just say...?
"What the... What are you talking about?!" I demanded, grabbing the unusually hard shoulder and spinning the figure around to face me.
Gold light from the street lamp above poured onto their features, revealing a face that I recognized as being female. I scowled, I repeated my question.
"What are you talking about... if you did anything to them..."
A laugh escaped her throat, not harsh, just amused. And hinted with ice. "Oh, they're fine. I just didn't realize you wanted to join them so badly."
I gritted my teeth and snapped, "Quit playing around! Tell me where they are, and after that you'd better believe I'm turning you in to the police!"
"Hmm." The police suddenly seemed meek and lame. I wondered if that had even fazed this strangest of strangers.
She pulled a card out of her pocket, and even in the poor light, I had little trouble recognizing it as a Duel Monsters card. If she thought I was in the mood to Duel, she was sadly mistaken.
"Hey you, what's the big idea?" I said, no longer confident. There was a prickling sensation on my neck, and I had a bad feeling of something that was coming next.
"You want to join them...?" She asked again. "If you don't answer me, I'll pick a choice for you."
"... Shut up." I growled, taking out my own deck. If fighting her was the only way to get some decent answers, that was fine by me.
She chuckled when she saw my move, and shook her head. "I don't think so."
Before I knew what was going on, she flipped the card toward me, and all went black.
******
{A/N: Hardly any editing at all!!! YESSS, I've gotten past the icky bad writing, and it's smooth sailing from here on out. Thank you, thank you :D}