All right, time to start typing the next chapter of Fate & Destiny! ^_^ I don't really have much to say, since there were no reviews on the last chapter because I posted this chapter at the same time as the last one! Read on!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Soul Calibur II characters.
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Fate & Destiny*~* Chapter 4 – One Step Forward *~*
Yun Sung wandered along a desolate path, in the middle of nowhere, "Well... at least there's no one to get in my way," he thought. He'd been wandering along this same path all day. There was no sign of any people... no sign of any other creatures... but most importantly, no sign of any shards of Soul Edge. Yun Sung sighed, "Man... where the hell could this sword be?"
~[---{-----|~-~|-----}---]~
Takharu had been wandering aimlessly as well; however the route she was taking was much longer than the one Yun Sung had chosen. It was Takharu's first time out of Egypt, and so she no idea where anything was, or where she was going.
~[---{-----|~-~|-----}---]~
"Yun Sung!" a familiar voice called behind him.
Yun Sung stopped walking, but didn't bother to turn around, "Mina... leave me alone."
"You want me to leave you alone? You're butting into other people's business! The Sword of Salvation is none of your concern, Yun Sung," said Mina.
"Then I'll make it my concern!" Yun Sung turned around, "Listen... Hwang didn't take notice to my challenge, so if I find the Sword of Salvation he'll take me seriously. All I have to do is succeed in what he failed."
"You think that that's why he didn't care about your challenge!?" Mina shouted, "In case you haven't noticed, the country's in turmoil! Hwang doesn't have the time to fight you now!"
"He can spare a couple minutes of his time," he commented stubbornly.
"I can't believe you..." Mina shook her head slowly, "How can you be so heartless?"
"I don't know, but it's how I am," Yun Sung said proudly.
"Is it really? Or do you just not want to admit there's more to you than being ruthless?"
Yun Sung retorted, "What do you mean?"
"I talked to Takharu," she smirked, "I've got your number. You do care – you just don't want to admit it."
"Yeah, right," Yun Sung turned away, "That was nothing. I still intend on getting the sword to show Hwang... to show everyone my powers."
"I think you want the sword more to help the country, than to battle."
"Shows what you know," he turned back to her, "I only want it to battle Hwang... nothing more."
"Well, then..." Mina began, "I'll just have to get the sword to save the country then."
"What!?" Yun Sung exclaimed, "I thought you were only here to get me to go back home!"
"You were wrong," Mina said coolly, "I want the sword, too," she held out a fragment of Soul Edge.
"Give me that shard," Yun Sung commanded.
"You can't tell me what to do," she clasped her hand around the fragment, "If anything, I should be forcing you to go home. Then again... it'll be fun to have more of a challenge on the road to Soul Edge."
"Competition is anything but fun," Yun Sung thought, "It's bad enough I have to compete with Takharu... but now Mina. And then there's also that Talim girl to worry about."
"What's the matter? Out of smart comments?" Mina teased.
"You wish!" he snapped, "I don't have time for this! I'm out of here," he turned and began walking away.
"You do realize that we're both going in the same direction, don't you?" Mina asked.
"Then stay a distance away from me," Yun Sung answered quickly.
"All right," she agreed, "I'll stay a distance ahead of you!" Mina ran ahead of Yun Sung.
"Wait!!" Yun Sung called after her, "Aw... damn. I need to catch up," he ran after her. They were in a race for Soul Edge.
~[---{-----|~-~|-----}---]~
"I should have stayed with Mina..." Takharu thought to herself, "I have no idea where I am..." Night was approaching... it was beginning to get dark.
"You look lost," a deep voice said from behind her.
Takharu stopped for moment... stopped completely... "I feel the same evil presence as when I held the shard that broke of my sword."
"Give me your piece of Soul Edge, or else I will take it from you by force."
Takharu broke free from the force that kept her from moving; she turned around and saw a knight. He held a great sword in his hands... but oddly... this sword had an eye, "What are you!?"
"I am Nightmare... the sole possessor of Soul Edge," he replied, "This is the end of your journey. Now it's time for you to choose how your journey ends," Takharu stared in fright, "You can either hand over the shard and return home... like none of this ever happened. Or... you can go against my desires, and I'll kill you!"
"I can't give the sword to him. I'll still end up dying if I do... the world will become a giant hellfire if he gains the complete Soul Edge!" Takharu suddenly felt the same rage inside of her that she had felt before she murdered her fiancé, "You kill me? That's hilarious! You're just as weak as anyone else. That sword makes no difference when you can't handle it."
Nightmare sneered at her remark, "Pathetic... you say I can't handle this sword. Look at yourself... you can't even handle the one shard. It's driving you mad."
"It's true..." Takharu recalled all the times she had been around other people since finding the shard. Her fiancé... Mina... she fought them both. But what about Yun Sung? She never even thought of fighting him...
"Your mind is too weak... just like Siegfried's. Look what I've done to him," Nightmare held his arms out, showing what he had done to the body he was controlling.
"You're not human..." Takharu observed, "You're the sword! You're controlling him!"
"Well done. You've found me out," Nightmare said, "Though it's nothing to worry about... as you'll be dead in a moment, anyway," he pointed his sword at Takharu.
"In your dreams..." she murmured, "I'm not going down without a fight!" she slashed at Nightmare.
"A sad effort," he wasn't even phased by her attacks, "My armour cannot be penetrated."
"That's what Mina said about her rod... but I proved otherwise," she smirked, "Everything has a weak point, Nightmare," she shifted to the left and slashed Nightmare's arm, "And the weaknesses of armour aren't so tough to find!"
Nightmare fell to his knees, clutching his bleeding wound, "Do you think this will stop me?" he asked, with a dark grin on his face, "You haven't seen the last of me," he slowly got to his feet, then turned and walked away.
Takharu breathed heavily, "I won... I beat the wielder of Soul Edge... but is it going to be that easy all along?" she sat on the ground, "I'm too tired to go any further tonight. I'll just rest here..." she lay down and went to sleep.
~[---{-----|~-~|-----}---]~
Yun Sung, however, was still moving forward, "Mina... can't you slow down?"
"No," she replied, "Why should I? I want to be ahead of you."
Yun Sung groaned, "Are you ever going to rest tonight?"
"We'll see," Mina smiled, "But I still have loads of energy to keep going!"
"Mina!" Yun Sung complained, "Can't you give me a break!?"
"You can stop at anytime," she insisted, "I'll just keep going."
"No way! I'm not letting you get ahead of me!"
"Then don't complain," Mina insisted.
"Fine!" Yun Sung closed his eyes, and continued walking. Ignoring any comment that Mina may have.
Mina just shook her head and laughed softly, "That kid..."
Eventually, they both gave into their tired minds, and went to sleep.
*~* End of Chapter 4 *~*
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Huzzah! That was fun to write! I'll get the next chapter posted as soon as I can... but who knows how long that'll be since I go back to school tomorrow? --.---Well, please review and let me know how you think things are coming along in my fic! ^_^
