As Georgia closed the letter, tears formed in her eyes, and she shook her head. "This is horrible," she whispered, just loud enough for everyone to hear. The other 5 looked to each other, then back to their companion (and sister, in Aleksey and Kenji's case), to see her heading towards the door, obviously to leave. Kaitlyn trotted up to her silver haired friend, with a concerned look on her face.
"What's horrible, Georgia? I mean, we could probably beat this Janice easily. Well, I think." she said, smiling, making Georgia shake her head and look up to Kaitlyn, and stop abruptly.
"No, I mean, all we set out to do is find my parents and your Dad, but... but suddenly we're all fighting so many people and monsters and such! And I don't know if I'll be able to handle any of this, I mean, I'm a complete wimp!" she shouted, then burst out of the doors, and Kaitlyn looked back to the others, with a slightly worried look. They stood there for a bit, then followed her out the door, and saw her sitting on her horse, looking down at it's mane.
When they got there, she sighed, and motioned in another direction. "Let's just go somewhere near here, because I'm sure we're a-all really needing a rest to think about if we should continue..." she said, turning her horse around, and they set off towards the south.
As they rode, Kenji suddenly piped up, "You know, near here is that village I told you about, that my old friend lives at now, Baskar. Maybe we could stay there." he said, and Georgia nodded. Kenji began telling directions, and soon, they had arrived there at Baskar Village.
They all walked in, and as they did, they suddenly heard, "Kenji, is that you!?" from the right. Kenji turned that way, and smiled wide. A girl about the same age as he and Aleksey was running their way; she had long blonde hair back in a braid, blue eyes, and was in some type of tribal dress that none of the 6 had seen before. She was smiling wide as she skidded to a stop, and stared Kenji up and down. "Wow! You're look great, Kenji!" she exclaimed, making Kenji slightly shrug, and look down.
"Thanks," he said, looking back up, and examining her, then smiled, embracing the girl. "You great yourself!" he said, pulling away, and looked back to the others, still smiling wide. He looked up to Georgia, and motioned to the girl. "Georgia, this is Oriole Rhymeless, Oriole, this is my sister, Georgia Enduro." he introduced them, and they nodded their heads at each other.
Oriole looked around them, blinked, then looked to Kenji, smiling sweetly. "Hey Kenji, why did you and your friends come here? The last time I heard from you, you were still living in Pualani's Abode with Aleksey in the old inn." she said, and Kenji nodded, as Oriole led them towards her house.
"Yeah, we do, but then today we met our sister, Georgia, and we finally left that old place." Kenji answered, and Oriole nodded, noting the fact that Kenji's sister was reading this note, a sort of melancholy look on her face.
"I see." she answered, and then turned her attention back to Kenji, who sighed and stared at Oriole's house. "So... have you found your parents yet?" she asked, and Kenji looked down, shaking his head. Oriole bit her lip, and sighed, patting Kenji's back. Suddenly they heard a quiet sob noise, and turned back around, to see Georgia walking quickly away from the group towards the north. Oriole and Kenji looked to each other, then the 6 headed into Oriole's home.
* + * = **
Georgia sat next to on of the old Basker homes, her legs bent up, and her arms hugged around her knees. She was staring off into space, thinking about what her life would have been like if it had turned out differently. She sighed a shaky sigh, rubbing her eyes. She was so caught up in thinking about all that had happened since she became a Drifter, that she didn't notice the person who had just quietly walked up.
She didn't even notice when the person slid down next to her, also to sit in the slightly damp grass. They sat there in silence for a few minutes, until Georgia acknowledged the person, because she heard a male voice say, "Why did you leave?" she recognized that voice, and was shocked when she heard those words come out of his mouth.
She jerked her head around, to see Anthony sitting there beside her, staring forward with a blank expression. She sniffed, then looked in the same direction he was looking, and then leaned her head back against the building. "It's because... well, I've started this quest, just to find my parents, then I found out about Kaitlyn's father and wanted to find him also. All I wanted was to just find them and go back to my hometown, and that's it, I didn't want this whole threatening letters, fights, well I know there would be some fights with a few monsters like balloons and such, but... but now, we have someone wanting to kill us! It's so frustrating!" she said, burying her head in her arms on top of her legs.
Anthony just sat there, that same expressionless look on his face. They sat there in basic silence, except for Georgia's occasional quiet sobs, for about 5 minutes, until Anthony looked over to his female teammate, with a slightly different expression on his face; it was hard to fathom exactly what it was, but it looked like a mix between confusion and understanding. (A/n: that didn't really make sense, but oh well.)
"Um..." he was going to try to comfort her, but he had never in his life been around someone who needed comforting, especially a lady who needed comforting. He didn't know how to comfort anyone who was crying, and this felt really awkward to him. She looked up at him, deep into his blue orbs. They both paused, sitting there, staring into each other's eyes.
Suddenly, Anthony shook his head, and realized that Georgia was now smiling. That was weird. All they had done was stare into each other's eyes, and now, Georgia seemed to be recovered from her melancholy attitude. He couldn't help but smile.
As soon as he did, though, Georgia let out a, "Ha!" and smirked. "I won the bet! I made you smile again!" she giggled, back to her normal giggly self. Anthony blinked, and tried to scowl, like usual, but it always was a ineffective try. It made him look like as if he would laugh. Georgia held out her hand, now just a slight bit more serious than before. "Now, hmm, how about you give me 50 Gella for winning the bet?" she asked, and then Anthony succeeded in scowling.
"Why should I give you anything? It was a stupid bet anyway." he said, standing up, soon followed by Georgia, who was smirking at him.
"Anthony, you know you're not so good at trying to get out of paying for something you made a bet on and lost, don't you?" she chuckled, making a motion with her held out hand for Anthony to hand her the money. He grumbled a few times, then brought the Gella out of his pocket and placed it in the silver haired maiden's hand. Once she had placed it safely into her pocket, Anthony turned around and began heading back towards Oriole's house.
Georgia noticed this, and ran to catch up with him, smiling the whole while. She sighed happily, and looked up at the starry sky. "Isn't it lovely out tonight?" she asked, and Anthony looked at her strangely, then up to the sky. Georgia stopped in her tracks, and Anthony did likewise.
"I guess." he retorted, with a shrug, then looked down and began heading towards Oriole's house once again. He didn't notice the fact that Georgia didn't follow him, but she continued to stand there, staring at the sky.
As he was about to walked into the old home, he heard a single gunshot. He jumped, and looked around, not seeing anything. Until he heard gasp-like noise come from the direction that Georgia had been in. Quickly, without thinking, he ran in the direction that she was in. He gasped when he saw her just beginning to fall backwards.
He ran forward, just in time to catch her before she fell onto the hard ground. But then he noticed a bloodstained area on a spot on her jacket sleeve, and a gash on her side. She looked like she was about to pass out, as she looked up at him, and squinted. "A... Anthony...?" she asked, just before she passed out, going completely limp in his arms. He looked around, a deeper scowl then he'd had since he was born, he was sure.
He picked her up, which wasn't the easiest of tasks, and began walking back towards the Rhymeless residence. Before he could get there, though, a shot was heard, right next to him. He slightly jumped, looking around.
He quickly rushed to the house, after not finding any clue of who it was, and knocked on the door. There was another gunshot, and Kaitlyn opened the door. When she did she gasped, looking at Georgia with a terrified looked. She looked up to Anthony, who was breathing hard, and looked purely terrified.
"K-Kaitlyn, t-take... her... and h-have her bandaged... up... then come out and... help me... get rid of whoever... got her..." he panted, trying to catch his breath. Kaitlyn nodded quickly, and took Georgia from Anthony's arms. She turned, and rushed back into the home quickly, as Anthony ran back out into the street.
He glanced around, still trying to catch his breath, and his eyes squinted. "Whoever you are, don't be such a baby and show yourself!" he shouted out, and heard someone rushing past him. He turned that way, his scowl deepening. "Come on out and fight like a man!!"
"Oh, but I can't do that, for I'm not a man." he heard a female's voice echo from behind him, and he spun around. The first thing he saw was the glimmer of a blade, then he saw nothing. "Oh, you poor thing, can't see well in the dark?" he heard the voice again, except this time it was thick with a poison, and sent a bad feeling throughout his body.
"Come on, what are you, some kind of... hit-woman or something?! Not going to give your victims a fair chance against you!?" he shouted again, and heard a horrible laugh, but this time it seemed as if the voice was moving in a circle.
"Oh, no, you've got it all wrong. I'm just a simple Drifter, out to get revenge of the sweetest kind." she spat, more menacingly than before. He was beginning to get slightly nervous, because each time she spoke, she was in a new position.
"What do you want with us!?" he inquired, glancing around nervously. He then saw the blade flash again, and something clicked. By the sound of her footsteps, and by the glimmer of the blade, he could find her, and get her with his wire fist. If he timed it just right. He smirked, getting his arm ready, listening to where the woman was walking.
"It's not what I want with you, it's what I want with your little girlfriend Enduro." the woman spat, and he finally realized who this must be. It must be that Janice Cascade that had threatened them earlier that evening. His eyes narrowed, and he got into position. She was almost in front of him...
Then suddenly, what she called Georgia sunk in, and he shook his head, his eyes wide. "What!? She's a dumb bimbo, not my girlfriend!" he yelled out, but only got a sinister laugh as an answer.
"Oh, Bernadette, you amaze me with your amazing lying inabilities." she chuckled, and Anthony scowled deeper than he thought was possible. She took one step further, right into Anthony's aiming range. He shot out his wire fist, hitting her straight on, and as he pulled it back, it also pulled her forward onto her knees. Finally he could see her, so he would have an easier time with this battle.
"And I'm amazed at your amazing loving inabilities." he spat at her, walking up closer. Once he could see her fully, he noticed that she was about the same height as Georgia. She had long light blue hair, that was held back in a simple ponytail, with strands of bangs hanging in her face. She was dressed in extremely short jean shorts, a black long-sleeved t-shirt under a white leather jacket, and a bayonet at her side.
"Oh, you've got it all wrong." she looked up with a smirk, bringing her hand around to her side, towards her bayonet. As she stood, Anthony slowly back away, his eyes narrowed. When she was finally up on her feet, she grabbed her bayonet with one hand, put one foot back, and one foot forward; it looked like she was ready to fight. "It is not I that has the loving inabilities. I loved my brother, and Enduro's parents killed him. Now, her and all her friends, including you, Bernadette, are going to face me, Janice Cascade, and I doubt you'll make it out alive."
He sneered at her, and just as he shot out his fist again, he heard a door slam, and a bunch of footsteps coming his way. His fist hit Janice, then snapped back, but left her standing this time, smirking at him. "Oh, you poor, poor baby, did you expect your silly little bionic arm would hurt me and you'd win? Sadly, Honey, you seem to not have given me much damage." she laughed, aiming her bayonet directly at him. "Say, 'bye-bye!'" she shouted as she pulled the trigger. Anthony stood there as a green light came at him, consumed him, then Janice ran forward and stabbed him with the bayonet. He clutched his stomach in pain, but as quickly as it came, the pain went away.
He looked up, straight to the others, and saw that Kenji had just healed him. He looked at the younger boy strangely, and Kenji shrugged, walking up beside Anthony, to get ready to fight against Janice. He looked over to Anthony, who still was obviously confused about how the younger boy had just healed him, and then held something out for Anthony to see. "Oriole gave mediums to our whole team, when she heard that we will be out in the wasteland for a while. She told us that mediums have some power of the Guardians in them called arcana, and this one, the one I used to heal you, is Schturdark's medium." he stated, then handed a medium to Anthony, who just stared at it strangely. "That is Celsidue's medium, now quit staring, and invoke it, so we can fight!"
Kaitlyn aimed her Gungnir HAG35, took aim at Janice, and shot, hitting her straight on, knocking her down momentarily, but she got back up quickly. Janice seemed ticked, so she aimed her bayonet high, shot, doing a Multiblast and getting all of the team members. She smirked, but it soon faded when she saw Meira get a rather large ARM out from her skirt, and aim it at her. Meira shot a round of ammunition from the large ARM, knocking Janice backwards, but only for a sec.
When Kenji pulled out his ARM, Anthony couldn't help but stare at the ARM's odd look. It was one that he'd never seen before in his life. It was black and red, and shaped really strange. "What kind of an ARM is that?" he asked Kenji, as he shot Janice. Once he had shot her, he looked up to Anthony, then back down to his ARM.
"It's called Airget-lahm B/V2." he stated, and Anthony nodded his head. He looked towards Janice, and squinted his eyes. He ran towards her, kicked her around a few times, then ran back, and did the Wire Fist. Janice was by now getting a little tired, and it was obvious.
"That's it!!" she shouted, walking towards Anthony. She brought her bayonet back, then hit him up, and shot him while he was in the air, then he fell to the ground with a hard thump.
Kaitlyn looked at Anthony, who was lying face down on the ground, unconscience. She gasped, and quickly used her medium's power to revive him. Sure, she hated his guts, but she couldn't let him die, because he was their teammate and Georgia liked him. Janice looked Kaitlyn with a sinister glare, then suddenly, she turned around and ran into the darkness.