Within the black vastness of between, in which two certain Beasts had earlier appeared…
Salamulyon was, to put it gently, ROYALLY PISSED.
At the moment, the armored lizard was being pinned down by Amphilyon, squirming and struggling to get at the snowy-winged Gryphon that stood beyond his reach.
Unicolyon shifted nervously on the sidelines, then started and backed away as sheer power exploded from within the Dweller; Amphilyon emitting a tortured double roar of pain as Salamulyon's own
//flame? no this isn't flame it's too different too potent pure agony to touch//
roared up from the golden body – not the warmth that the Dweller usually coveted, of which Amphilyon was one of the patrons…but it's own glittering coldfire that surrounded the lithe form in a corona of arctic light. Amphilyon was thrown away from him instantly, landing in a crumpled tatter of wings and scales with a moan of pain.
Griffolyon emitted a single panicked screech before the enraged Bitbeast was upon him, bronze claws tightening unmercifully and cutting off his air, sapphire sparks searing at the feathers of his throat.
"HOW DARE YOU SEND MY KNIGHT INTO SUCH DANGER!"
"I…did what was necessary!" choked the other, beating his wings in a reflexive, futile attempt to escape the other's powerful grip. "Do you…think I would…be so selfish to sacrifice your knight without need?"
Salamulyon's grip loosened slightly. "Then why…"
"To rescue the four from their prison – and the Tiger, and the Phoenix…it is my own knight's mission, to repay a debt. Yours chose to come, of his own free will."
The claws tightened once more. "AFTER you gave him those…memories!"
Unicolyon slammed into his side, knocking the two of them apart and standing between them, crimson eyes filled with rage. "Salamulyon! Think with your head, not your ire! Griffolyon convinced your Knight of the Flame to join his own for a reason! Have you not felt the
//wrongness pure wrongness//
that has appeared lately? The two of them go into danger as we speak, but it is a danger they can face together! Alone-"
"My own knight would not stand a chance." The Gryphon's voice was defeated. "There is something building there, something that grows too powerful to be faced by any one challenger, even the Dragon or the Phoenix…or myself. And I could not chance sending Amphilyon's own."
Unicolyon bowed her head. "My master…cannot properly travel, and needs him still." Beside her, Amphilyon nodded with a baleful glare.
The blue fire flickered and died, Salamulyon satisfied with the answer.
//We can only wait now…and hope…and help, as best as we can…//
The Firedweller answered Griffolyon's wayward thought with one of his own.
//I will protect my knight…//
~-~-~-~-~-
Oliver:
(ORIBI-CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN! *glomp-hug* ^_____________________________________________________^
All: O.o;
Oliver: Air…need…to…breathe…ack…
Maroku: *sigh* The joys of an author on a sugar rush… She's worse than Max!)
Everything's happening so quickly…
It's not like it stops there. A few minutes after Robert has dragged my shellshocked teammate out, Enrique and I are still staring flabbergastedly (and, I admit, stupidly) at the door when it next opens, to admit…non, not them. It's Piddlesworth.
"Sirs…"
----------
"They're WHAT?"
"Packing to leave, Master Enrique! They'll be off to Russia in an hour!"
"Are they NUTS?!"
I'm not that surprised, but… "Why can't the two of us go with them? Or at least Enrique?"
"Master Robert has expressedly forbidden it, I'm afraid," Piddlesworth replies, looking worried. "Master Oliver is not to exert himself, by Doctor Montana's orders, and Master Enrique, you are to stay with him while the two of them are gone."
I mutter rebellion, an angry flush rising in my cheeks. But, might as well make the best of it…
"Enrique, could you go and try talking some sense into Robert?"
He looks at me skeptically.
"I managed for five months alone, Enrique," I say reproachfully. "I'll be fine for the next hour."
I need to think…and I can't do that when you're near me…I never can.
He leaves, albeit reluctantly. Piddlesworth hesitates, and I shoo him out.
I lever myself off the bed with some effort (Merde, what happened? Lying in bed for a day makes me so much weaker than before…come on, Polanski, just a few steps more…thank goodness the bathroom is only a few feet away!)
Listing to one side and favoring my ribs, I curse my injuries. Two of my teammates leaving without me, and Enrique held back because of it…
-acceptance-heal fast, then-
Merci, Unicolyon.
----------
Hot water sluices over my body, momentarily washing away pain with the dirt and blood accumulated through travel and injury and self-neglect.
…I forgot how much I missed feeling clean.
Stepping out of the shower into the steam-filled bathroom and wrapping a towel around my waist, I pause momentarily as the muffled roar of Robert's jet resounds somewhere above me. Is Enrique on that jet?
In a minute, I get my answer as I push the door open (carefully, good Lord, in case one of the maids is in there. Mmmnope. He's no maid.)
"Enrique? Can I get some clothes? I'm afraid mine are going to have to go in the wash…"
What an understatement. The red shirt is bloodstained and torn, the pants ripped almost beyond repair. As for my prized goggles, beret and redingote…well. They were in my bag with everything else, when it got taken from me.
He gapes at me for a moment and I blush, very aware of the room's cold air on my bare skin. Then he turns away quickly, digging through a cabinet.
I move back into the bathroom, realizing that the clothes Enrique has given me are his own – a clean white sweater and blue jeans still a tad too long and loose for me. I'm in no mood to make a fuss, pulling them on one-handed and wincing as I stretch various bruises.
…Ouch.
I regard myself in the mirror with a slight frown. As far as I can tell, everyone else on my old team looks and acts much the same – all of them a little taller, Johnny's hair a little wilder, Robert's frown a tad more pronounced.
Am I the only one then, who has changed? Not only on the outside, but mentally as well?
…No, my thoughts aren't making sense at all!
"You all right?"
"I'm fine…"
He smiles, an odd mix of warmth, understanding and mild hurt in the expression, before motioning me back into the bedroom. "Medico Montana should be here soon, if I heard her right. That arm of yours doesn't look too good…can I help with your hair?"
----------
She scanned the form slowly with cat-slitted gold eyes, moving her finger to the blanks which waited to be filled. Her three 'teammates' sat in front of here, eyes wary.
She gave a mental sigh. What was a team? How did their captor expect them to work as such? It was not in their nature – they did not know each other. They hunted alone.
Until now…
She turned her eyes back to the task at hand.
OFFICIAL BBA TEAM REGISTRATION
Team Sponsor?
She hissed in mild disgust as she signed 'Balkov Abbey.'
Name of team?
The Saille – the Sa'eru – the Spirits. Well, no one would understand what it meant, would they?
Number of team members?
Four.
Gender of team members?
Three females, one male.
A poor balance…
Names of team members?
She turned her gaze to the other three in question, then. "We cannot use the names that have been taken from us, the names we were known as, either. We cannot simply be the Min'ural, the Kinda'ral, the Kairanal, the Saal, even though that is what we are." She met their startled gazes with a neutral face. "Choose your new names."
"Doufyn Rii."
She blinked in surprise – the name was well chosen, indeed. The silver-haired girl watched each stroke of the pen as her new identity was forged, expression blank.
The Kinda'ral spoke next, wine-violet eyes angry. "Rehana Surinai."
She had to smile at the symbolism of it. But how would anyone catch the message? No one on this world spoke Dvoreko'on – it was a lost language to humans, the one they spoke.
But there was always a slim hope…
She pushed the thought away.
"Derrin Arbitanth."
The Minu'ral. She sometimes wondered why she still endured him, his dangerous presence, his wry comments, his frightening, flat gray eyes. "Well-chosen. All of your names are well chosen."
He grinned humorlessly. "Is yours, saal?"
She bared her teeth and signed her own fate with quick angry strokes. "Call me that no longer. I am…Maroku Himeguchi."
Inwardly, she wept. What was the point of it all, in the end?
The last one. Bitbeasts?
She bristled, for whoever received this would not know the truth of it – not only were their names unknown, their names were false.
Everything about this 'team' was false.
She wrote them down, anyway, then scanned the completed form.
OFFICIAL BBA TEAM REGISTRATION
Team Sponsor? Balkov Abbey
Name of Team? The Saille
Number of Team Members? Four
Names of Team Members/
Gender of Team Members/
Bitbeasts?
1. Doufyn Rii
F
Eqyr
2. Rehana Surinai
F
Sabyr
3. Derrin Arbitanth
M
Caeldyr
4. Maroku Himeguchi
F
Fangyr
It was done.
~-~-~-~-~-
merde – shit ^^;
merci – thank you
redingote – look for it on Google. It DOES look like that coat Oliver always wears.
Dvoreko'on – MY language…yes, a few friends of mine use it as well. Not just my muses. All the OCs names are at least partly in Dvoreko'on, so I may as well explain them – the explanations don't fit into the fic, but this is how Maroku understood them. You'll get the meaning later.
Doufyn Rii – Do'u fin means, literally, 'double lightning,' and another variant, du'han, means 'grace.' 'Rii' can be used as a plea for help, or as a protest.
Rehana Surinai – Re'ha = hurricane, Na – fury. Surinai means 'stolen.'
Derrin Arbitanth – Derrin = dewin = mirror. Easy one there ^_^ Arbitanth means 'revenge.'
Maroku Himeguchi – Maro is forest. Ku, or kuu, is 'daughter,' while Hi'me-guchi means 'uprising to retake what was lost.' Something like that.
I'm getting too technical here ^^; Suffice to say they all decided to keep special meaning to their names. Stupid captor them didn't get the language and let it pass =P
A/N: I FINISHED! But the chapter makes no sense _
(Maroku: Took you long enough.
Enrique: She had writer's block, didn't she?
Oliver: Nah. She got embarrassed writing the shower scene.
Jiaan: Why? It was so short and pointless!
Oliver: *blush*
Jorntil: I wonder why she's getting all agitated.
Johnny: Duh. The plot's running away from her.
Maroku: That a bad thing?
Robert: Yes.
Maroku: WHY OH WHY did you name another OC after me? Everyone's gonna be so confused!)
Be honored. This took too bloody long to write, even though it's only 5 pages not counting author's note. Aaaand I'm going to have writers block for the next week, looks like :[
No fanart today, either. The scanner broke. GAH!
Hikari no Yami – Well, I don't THINK you're supposed to post the same thing in multiple genres, but…me likeys the ficcy!
Mistress of Anime - You're not the only one. Thanks for the comment on my pics ^_^
Anime the Fallen Angel – They never gave him his official name in the show, did they? How annoying…but, Polanski was the first I saw in ff.net and so is the one I use. It doesn't sound all that bad…and I'm about as confused as you are. Damn my rabid plotbunnies – they got outta their cage again!
Klyukaizer – YAY! You won't die again! *hug*
Shinikami Dragon – A'ight, I'll get off my lazy arse and update…dunno if this chapter's much of a help, though!
Fyredra – Oliver's father is a bastard, despite the fact I didn't originally plan to write him that way, I now want to boot him into next week-
(Maroku: Y'all killed him. And you tortured him in the Character Closet. Ain't that enough?
Oliver: *shakes head*
Maroku: Damn, didn't know you were a sadist, Polanski.)
*ahem* WHAT JOHNNY/ENRIQUE? *checks your fics and cries when she doesn't see any, then cries again upon reading 'Fire and Rain'* NOOOO!!! Where's the Johnny/Enrique????
(Johnny and Enrique: WHAT THE F--?!)
Well…there we go ^_^ Hopefully I can get the next chapter out before I leave for Bangkok to visit my sis :)
I may as well say it. If a matter of chapter/s this fic will become the first Johnny/Tala and Robert/Bryan ^_^ Interesting, no?
Ja matta ne 'till I either update this or my other fics!