Chapter 2
The Legendary Swordswoman: Knight Shade
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Pride walked out of Lex and Tai-San's room, returning to the café where everyone was waiting, except for Amber and Trudy who visiting the Eco camp for awhile.
"Anything?" Bray asked.
Pride sighed and shook his head. "She's still a bit shaken up, but she's hanging on."
"She saw death, Tarzan boy. Of course she's still a bit shaken up!" Lex sneered.
Pride frowned as he looked sympathetically at Lex. It was ok for the scoundrel of the Mallrats to be upset like this. He loved Tai-San, though they kept on having arguments and disagreements of her spending a lot more time with the mentally-disturbed Guardian than her real husband.
"I asked her about the dream she had. She said she saw the city, then it was all was destroyed by fire from the sky." Pride explained as he took a seat in between May and Salene. "There was someone talking to her. A voice with an Asian accent and gruffly adult male tone. He told her, 'The Twilight is inevitable."
The news now even disturbed Bray a bit. Tai-San was known to have visions whenever she slept or meditated. Her guidance usually could only be trusted since most visions became real.
Still though, not all dreams could be real, could they?
"All dreams can't exactly be real though, right?" Lex asked. 'It's amazing how Lex and I are able to say and think the same thing though we're two totally different people,' Bray thought.
"Fire from the sky. It does sound like sci-fi movie." Pride looked to Bray. "Maybe the Guardian's having some kind of influence on her perhaps?"
"The Guardian does work in mysterious ways. Able to manipulate people." Bray pointed out.
"Maybe she had too many herbs." Ned shrugged, standing next to Alice with his arms folded. "We know how coo-coo she is."
"You wanna repeat that?!" Lex bolted out of his chair, about to make a rush at Ned until Luke and Pride and him back.
"That's enough! I said that's enough!" Bray shouted, stepping in between Lex and Ned. Lex shrugged Pride and Luke off, still glaring at Ned who flashed the scoundrel an arrogant grin as he chewed his gum.
Just then, Ebony came walking up the stairs. She looked around at the Mallrats, noticing the scene of Bray in between a line from Lex to Ned.
"Did I miss the party already?' she smirked.
"Tai-San had one of THOSE dreams again." Bray, always the one to get down to business.
"She always dreams. Everybody has dreams, hun."
"Exactly how many people have chaotic dreams with the whole city blowing up?" Bray arched an eyebrow.
"Good point." Ebony replied and took her seat, unfortunately next to his.
"Maybe Ned's right. Maybe Tai-San's been taking too many herbs. I mean, too much could really affect your mind like drugs."
"Who asked, blue boy? In fact, what the hell is he doing here?" Lex glared at Bray. "He's not a Mallrat!"
"He risked his life to help us. That's a spirit of a Mallrat. You above all should know that, Lex."
Lex glared at Luke, then took back his seat folding his arms over his chest in a huff.
"Well, all we can do is wait then and see what happens. Maybe she'll have another vision again, or something." Bray adjourned the meeting, letting everyone to continue with they had been doing before the meeting.
Just as Bray was about to head to his room, he heard a few more footsteps walk up the staircase of the mall. A familiar voice suddenly put his soul at ease with all the weight and pressure of being Tribe Leader heavy on his shoulders. "What happened?"
Bray turned around to see Trudy and Amber walk up into the café and smiled. "Ah nothing. Just had a meeting is all." He hugged Trudy and Brady first, then embraced Amber with a tender kiss. "I missed you."
"Missed you too." she smiled back at him lovingly. "What was the meeting about?"
Bray sighed as his arms loosened around her waist with her belly starting to bulge a little. "Tai-San had a bad nightmare. She thinks it was a vision of what's to come."
"I'm not even sure if I want to know what it was." Amber frowned. "Seems even after beating the Chosen, a lot of bad things are still occurring."
"It'll get better soon. You'll see." Bray kissed her head and turned to Trudy. "So, what happened at the Ecos?"
"Nothing much. We met a good healer though." Trudy smiled.
"Oh, really? Was he cute? Be honest." Bray grinned. Amber playfully nudged him in the ribs as Trudy laughed.
"Actually, yes. He was definitely cute. He's got looks and a good mind, Bray. He actually knows what he's doing. His name's Michael." Trudy admitted.
"I asked him to join us here in the City. We could use some good hands like his." Amber thought about what she just said. "Oh, that didn't come out right."
"Yeah, two babies here." Trudy smirked.
"Two?" Bray looked confused. Trudy rolled her eyes and pointed to Amber's stomach. "Oh! Yeah, two! Got another little one on the way." Bray smiled down at Brady. "You here that, Sweety? You're gonna have a cousin soon."
"Kassin." Brady shouted excitedly with her arms raised in the air to Bray. Bray picked her up and held her against his side. "So, where is this Michael?"
Bray noticed that neither Amber and Trudy had answered him, and that's what worried him the most. Whenever someone doesn't answer right away, that always meant that it was never good.
Bray looked to see Amber and Trudy, both looking at each other as if they were unsure of how to proceed.
"I'll tell him." Trudy reassured Amber. Amber nodded and took Brady from Bray. "Hey, munchkin. How 'bout you help Aunt Amber pack."
"Me help! Me help!" Brady sang as Amber carried her away.
"What's wrong?" Bray asked concerned.
"Well, a few hours ago before Amber and I left, Michael was suppose to come with us but then, Hawk, you remember him right?"
Bray nodded.
"Well, Hawk and a few others brought in a girl they found unconscious in the woods."
"Somebody we know?" Bray asked worried, the thought of Patsy and Danni coming to mind.
"Bray….you remember Jade?" Trudy asked.
Bray nodded. "Of course I do. She was the singer. A really fantastic singer If I might add."
(A/N: Read Demon Dog Hunter Tiger)
"Well, you remember her twin? Crystal? She sang at Jade's and Tiger's wedding."
"Trudy, what's Jade have to do with this?" Bray demanded, starting to get a little impatient with all these questions.
"It's Crystal, Jade's sister. When we last saw Jade and Tiger, Tiger had explained to us that Crystal died. She gave her life to save us."
Bray's eyes went wide in both shock and confusion when the next words left Trudy's lips. "It's Crystal. We found her. She's alive, Bray."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Michael looked down at Crystal's resting figure. "Feeling any better?"
Crystal smirked lightly. "I just found out I'm back from the dead."
Michael frowned. "Yeah, sorry about that. Stupid question."
"I didn't mean to sound harsh." Crystal smiled apologetically. "I just mean….god, I don't even know what I'm saying anymore."
"Don't worry about it. Just rest up." Michael smiled as he sat on his stool next to the bed. The opera singer turned over to him. "How long have you been watching me?"
"Since Amber and Trudy left." Michael replied, rubbing the tiredness from his eyes.
"You don't have to stay if you want." Crystal optioned.
"No, that's fine. No worries there. Besides, it's my job to help people. I'm a healer."
"So I've heard." Crystal smiled. "I…don't really have anything to give you. Except, well, this." Crystal held up the crystal around her neck. "What ever it is."
"Don't worry about it. I don't expect any payment from saving lives." Michael shook his head. "Whenever you're ready though, we can go back to the City."
Crystal fell silent. The City. She remembered being there once. Remembered going there for Jade's wedding, and singing for her and her groom who was none other than Demon Dog Hunter Tiger.
"Michael?"
"Yes?" the healer looked down at his patient at the moment.
"Do you…..do you have anybody that you miss? With all your heart?" Crystal asked. Michael was taken back by the so sudden question. In fact, he never really thought about it before. But when the opera singer asked him, one thought came to mind. Or rather, a memory of someone.
"Besides my parents, there was one special girl that I miss." Michael admitted as he leaned back.
"….Was she….beautiful?" Crystal asked.
Michael smiled. "Oh yeah. She definitely was. She was an angel, but always had this mysterious aura about her. It was like she was afraid to become attached to someone, but when I first talked to her it was like, well I'm not sure how to explain it. We became friends fast. It was when my mother transferred to New Zealand for a project for a few months."
"I see. So, you're not from around here?"
"I'm from America." Michael replied then continued on about the special girl, "I remember everything about her. In fact, a lot of things remind me of her. The midnight reminds me of her hair. With the stars in the sky, it reminds me of that one time she actually dressed up for dance at our school." he smiled, remembering how breathtaking she looked with sparkling glitter in her hair and on her skin. "The hills of Eagle Mountain remind me of the color of her eyes. And the snow in the mountains, it reminds me of her skin."
Michael felt something warm stride down his cheek. He brushed his tear away with his thumb and sighed sadly.
"What happened to her?" Crystal asked as she looked over to Michael.
"…..She left before the Virus happened. I'm not sure where though." Michael looked down at his hands. "You know the sad thing about it?"
"Hmm?" Crystal stared at him curiously.
"I think…I'm not sure, but I think I was in love. I mean, I wasn't exactly good with girls. But there was something about her that just….just blew me away. I mean every time I looked at her, I'd get butterflies in my stomach. I just never got the chance to see how far it would go." the healer concluded.
Crystal didn't press on any further. She really didn't need too. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring it up."
"No, it's fine. Really. I guess I needed to talk about it anyways." Michael reassured her.
Crystal then got up and stood up from the bed. Michael bolted up as well, his arms out to help her in case she started to feel dizzy. Surprisingly, she was perfectly fine.
"I'm ready to go back to the City." she looked to Michael.
The healer was very impressed by her state. "Are you sure?"
"Couldn't be anymore positive." she smiled, then walked up to him. "And Michael? Thank you."
She lightly kissed his lips, then started walking backwards out of the hut. "I'll meet you outside."
Michael watched her, surprised. Then touched his lips. 'Well, that was a nice reward,' he thought with a smile before gathering his stuff and leaving the hut behind.
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WHACK!!
Patsy fell down after the former Praetorian backhanded her. "What did I tell you about talking back at me?!"
Patsy pressed her hand against her red cheek, feeling the hotness beginning to sting. She winced in pain when feeling the Praetorian grab a fistful of her hair and pull her back up to her feet.
"ANSWER ME!! WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT TALKING BACK AT ME?!!"
"I-I'm sorry!" Patsy whimpered, forcing herself not to cry. Crying would only make it worse.
The Praetorian growled. "Damn little slag! You're good for nothing!" he shoved her back down. "I don't got a problem carrying that damn bag!"
Patsy said nothing as she stood back up and hung her head in shame.
"Now, pick that bag up, or else it's another beating!"
Patsy walked over and tried to lift up the huge bag that was heavy with a lot of valuable items and weapons. She forced it up with all her might, and when she was finally able to lift it, she dropped it again. The sound of mechanical devices breaking rushed through her ears, and her mind became alert. Her 'master.' wasn't going to like this.
"Damn it, brat! Can't you do a damn thing right?!" The Praetorian forcefully turned Patsy and slapped her again, and again, the impact making her fall back down.
It had been like these a few days ago when word of the Chosen's defeat came to the mines. The prisoners all started to revolt, taking out the guards. One of them though had snatched Patsy and made her his slave. His slave for almost everything.
It was here that the Praetorian noticed her well-flat stomach as her gray tank top was pushed up a bit. She had a nice body on her for a 13-year-old. The Praetorian licked his lips as he kneeled down on top of her. "Shh. Hush now." he cooed to the whimpering girl. "No reason to be afraid. In fact, I'll forgive you."
"You will?" Patsy's eyes went wide.
"Yes. Only, you have to do something for me." the Praetorian grinned as he started rubbing his hand against her trembling stomach. "So soft."
Patsy's body began to tremble even more when realizing what her 'master' had in mind. "N-no, please…I'm only 13..."
The Praetorian slapped her. "What the hell did I just say?! Keep your mouth shut and don't move, or I swear I'll bash your skull open and kill you right here!"
The Praetorian grabbed the collar of Patsy's tank top and was about to rip it open, until he noticed from the corner of his eye that somebody was watching.
Leaning against a nearby tree stood a woman with shoulder-length dark hair, pale skin, and her green eyes hidden by the bangs on the sides of her head and the wide-brim of the black cowboy hat shielding her head. Cloaking her body was a black leather long coat that came down to her ankles, and underneath a form-fitting black leather jumpsuit with black combat boots with straps on the outsider sides instead of laces in the front.
Resting against her shoulder was a double-edged sword with a black handle and a silver cross-guard and pummel, sheathed in a black scabbard.
Even though it seemed a bit impossible to tell, you could see that the dark figure was indeed a woman because of the way her body was curved.
"Hey! Get lost! I'm busy here!" the Praetorian shouted.
The young woman didn't budge at first, then slowly she stood back up, buckling the sword to her side underneath her leather coat.
The Praetorian huffed and looked back down at the fearful Patsy who had her eyes tightly shut as tears started to skid down her face.
He proceeded to lean down and lick her cheek with her tears, but then growled in pain when feeling someone grab him by his hair and throw him back away from the whimpering girl.
With an angry grunt, the Praetorian quickly struggled up to his feet, grabbing his hunting knife from his boot as he turned to the one who interrupted his torturing of the young girl. It was the woman clad in black.
"You seem to think so highly of yourself just for striking and trying to rape a young minor." the girl scowled.
"That brat?! She belongs to me! I'll do whatever I want with her! As for you, you witch! I'll cut that pretty little face of yours for sticking your nose into business that doesn't concern you!" the Praetorian grinned, switching the hunting knife from hand to hand.
"Shut up and fight." the dark female hissed, not bothering to reach for her sword.
The Praetorian was not one to give anybody a chance for a fair fight and lunged himself at the dark woman with his knife pointed straight out like an arrow. What came next though could hardly be imagined by most of the males of the Tribeworld, for when soon as he was just an inch away the female adversary had caught the Praetorian by his wrist then used his momentum for leverage to toss him right over her shoulder. He impacted on his backside hard to the ground with a sickening thud that anyone around could hear. Not a bone-crushing thud, but it still sounded pretty bad.
The Praetorian groaned in pain clutched the back of his throbbing head. Then, realization hit him when he realized there was only air in his other hand. The hunting knife was missing, for a moment at least until felt something sharp thrust all the way down his free hand. The Praetorian screamed in agony with his hunting knife pinning him by his hand to the ground.
The dark woman silenced him with her hand smashed against his mouth. "Shut up and listen now."
The Praetorian tried to control his himself, to fight off the pain before this girl did anymore damage to him.
"Tonight, you lose a hand for striking a girl and touching her wrongly. The next time I ever hear that you've done anything similar to this, I take out the other hand along with your arms. Understand?"
The Praetorian nodded his head with tears streaking down his face.
The dark woman got back up and walked over the pinned Praetorian to the whimpering girl huddled up by a tree.
She stopped a good distance from the whimpering girl, and just stared at her for a moment. Her green eyes held a mixture of coldness, and yet of sympathy for the child.
Slowly, Patsy looked up to her savior. Her arms wrapped around her knees. She didn't say anything, only sniffled back the fearful tears. She was afraid that this woman would do something worse to her. Even though she looked beautiful, she looked also very scary and dangerous.
Then, two words made Patsy's heart jump more than anything else could do. Two words from the lips of her savior.
"Go home." the warrioress spoke before she started to turn away.
Patsy's eyes went wide in horror when seeing the dark woman leave. The Praetorian still struggled with the hunting knife nailing him down through his hand, but if he was to get himself free….!
Patsy raced up towards her savior. The dark woman felt someone coming after her and quickly spun around with her hand on the pummel of her sword. Her defenses lowered when she saw the young Mallrat running towards her with open arms. Open arms that wrapped tightly around her waist as Patsy buried her head into the girl's side. "Please don't leave me! Please!" she pleaded hysterically.
The woman was about to pull her off and tell her to go home again or else she would let her stay here with the Praetorian, but for some unknown reason she couldn't. The girl had to be no more than 12 or 13, and she just couldn't be so harsh to the girl.
The dark woman sighed and put an arm around the girl's shoulders. "I'll take you home then. Do you have a home?" she asked in a more gentler tone.
Patsy nodded. "T-the mall. Phoenix Mall. In the city." she sobbed.
The dark clad woman nodded. "To the city then." she said and walked off with young Patsy clinging to her side.
The Legendary Swordswoman: Knight Shade
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Pride walked out of Lex and Tai-San's room, returning to the café where everyone was waiting, except for Amber and Trudy who visiting the Eco camp for awhile.
"Anything?" Bray asked.
Pride sighed and shook his head. "She's still a bit shaken up, but she's hanging on."
"She saw death, Tarzan boy. Of course she's still a bit shaken up!" Lex sneered.
Pride frowned as he looked sympathetically at Lex. It was ok for the scoundrel of the Mallrats to be upset like this. He loved Tai-San, though they kept on having arguments and disagreements of her spending a lot more time with the mentally-disturbed Guardian than her real husband.
"I asked her about the dream she had. She said she saw the city, then it was all was destroyed by fire from the sky." Pride explained as he took a seat in between May and Salene. "There was someone talking to her. A voice with an Asian accent and gruffly adult male tone. He told her, 'The Twilight is inevitable."
The news now even disturbed Bray a bit. Tai-San was known to have visions whenever she slept or meditated. Her guidance usually could only be trusted since most visions became real.
Still though, not all dreams could be real, could they?
"All dreams can't exactly be real though, right?" Lex asked. 'It's amazing how Lex and I are able to say and think the same thing though we're two totally different people,' Bray thought.
"Fire from the sky. It does sound like sci-fi movie." Pride looked to Bray. "Maybe the Guardian's having some kind of influence on her perhaps?"
"The Guardian does work in mysterious ways. Able to manipulate people." Bray pointed out.
"Maybe she had too many herbs." Ned shrugged, standing next to Alice with his arms folded. "We know how coo-coo she is."
"You wanna repeat that?!" Lex bolted out of his chair, about to make a rush at Ned until Luke and Pride and him back.
"That's enough! I said that's enough!" Bray shouted, stepping in between Lex and Ned. Lex shrugged Pride and Luke off, still glaring at Ned who flashed the scoundrel an arrogant grin as he chewed his gum.
Just then, Ebony came walking up the stairs. She looked around at the Mallrats, noticing the scene of Bray in between a line from Lex to Ned.
"Did I miss the party already?' she smirked.
"Tai-San had one of THOSE dreams again." Bray, always the one to get down to business.
"She always dreams. Everybody has dreams, hun."
"Exactly how many people have chaotic dreams with the whole city blowing up?" Bray arched an eyebrow.
"Good point." Ebony replied and took her seat, unfortunately next to his.
"Maybe Ned's right. Maybe Tai-San's been taking too many herbs. I mean, too much could really affect your mind like drugs."
"Who asked, blue boy? In fact, what the hell is he doing here?" Lex glared at Bray. "He's not a Mallrat!"
"He risked his life to help us. That's a spirit of a Mallrat. You above all should know that, Lex."
Lex glared at Luke, then took back his seat folding his arms over his chest in a huff.
"Well, all we can do is wait then and see what happens. Maybe she'll have another vision again, or something." Bray adjourned the meeting, letting everyone to continue with they had been doing before the meeting.
Just as Bray was about to head to his room, he heard a few more footsteps walk up the staircase of the mall. A familiar voice suddenly put his soul at ease with all the weight and pressure of being Tribe Leader heavy on his shoulders. "What happened?"
Bray turned around to see Trudy and Amber walk up into the café and smiled. "Ah nothing. Just had a meeting is all." He hugged Trudy and Brady first, then embraced Amber with a tender kiss. "I missed you."
"Missed you too." she smiled back at him lovingly. "What was the meeting about?"
Bray sighed as his arms loosened around her waist with her belly starting to bulge a little. "Tai-San had a bad nightmare. She thinks it was a vision of what's to come."
"I'm not even sure if I want to know what it was." Amber frowned. "Seems even after beating the Chosen, a lot of bad things are still occurring."
"It'll get better soon. You'll see." Bray kissed her head and turned to Trudy. "So, what happened at the Ecos?"
"Nothing much. We met a good healer though." Trudy smiled.
"Oh, really? Was he cute? Be honest." Bray grinned. Amber playfully nudged him in the ribs as Trudy laughed.
"Actually, yes. He was definitely cute. He's got looks and a good mind, Bray. He actually knows what he's doing. His name's Michael." Trudy admitted.
"I asked him to join us here in the City. We could use some good hands like his." Amber thought about what she just said. "Oh, that didn't come out right."
"Yeah, two babies here." Trudy smirked.
"Two?" Bray looked confused. Trudy rolled her eyes and pointed to Amber's stomach. "Oh! Yeah, two! Got another little one on the way." Bray smiled down at Brady. "You here that, Sweety? You're gonna have a cousin soon."
"Kassin." Brady shouted excitedly with her arms raised in the air to Bray. Bray picked her up and held her against his side. "So, where is this Michael?"
Bray noticed that neither Amber and Trudy had answered him, and that's what worried him the most. Whenever someone doesn't answer right away, that always meant that it was never good.
Bray looked to see Amber and Trudy, both looking at each other as if they were unsure of how to proceed.
"I'll tell him." Trudy reassured Amber. Amber nodded and took Brady from Bray. "Hey, munchkin. How 'bout you help Aunt Amber pack."
"Me help! Me help!" Brady sang as Amber carried her away.
"What's wrong?" Bray asked concerned.
"Well, a few hours ago before Amber and I left, Michael was suppose to come with us but then, Hawk, you remember him right?"
Bray nodded.
"Well, Hawk and a few others brought in a girl they found unconscious in the woods."
"Somebody we know?" Bray asked worried, the thought of Patsy and Danni coming to mind.
"Bray….you remember Jade?" Trudy asked.
Bray nodded. "Of course I do. She was the singer. A really fantastic singer If I might add."
(A/N: Read Demon Dog Hunter Tiger)
"Well, you remember her twin? Crystal? She sang at Jade's and Tiger's wedding."
"Trudy, what's Jade have to do with this?" Bray demanded, starting to get a little impatient with all these questions.
"It's Crystal, Jade's sister. When we last saw Jade and Tiger, Tiger had explained to us that Crystal died. She gave her life to save us."
Bray's eyes went wide in both shock and confusion when the next words left Trudy's lips. "It's Crystal. We found her. She's alive, Bray."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Michael looked down at Crystal's resting figure. "Feeling any better?"
Crystal smirked lightly. "I just found out I'm back from the dead."
Michael frowned. "Yeah, sorry about that. Stupid question."
"I didn't mean to sound harsh." Crystal smiled apologetically. "I just mean….god, I don't even know what I'm saying anymore."
"Don't worry about it. Just rest up." Michael smiled as he sat on his stool next to the bed. The opera singer turned over to him. "How long have you been watching me?"
"Since Amber and Trudy left." Michael replied, rubbing the tiredness from his eyes.
"You don't have to stay if you want." Crystal optioned.
"No, that's fine. No worries there. Besides, it's my job to help people. I'm a healer."
"So I've heard." Crystal smiled. "I…don't really have anything to give you. Except, well, this." Crystal held up the crystal around her neck. "What ever it is."
"Don't worry about it. I don't expect any payment from saving lives." Michael shook his head. "Whenever you're ready though, we can go back to the City."
Crystal fell silent. The City. She remembered being there once. Remembered going there for Jade's wedding, and singing for her and her groom who was none other than Demon Dog Hunter Tiger.
"Michael?"
"Yes?" the healer looked down at his patient at the moment.
"Do you…..do you have anybody that you miss? With all your heart?" Crystal asked. Michael was taken back by the so sudden question. In fact, he never really thought about it before. But when the opera singer asked him, one thought came to mind. Or rather, a memory of someone.
"Besides my parents, there was one special girl that I miss." Michael admitted as he leaned back.
"….Was she….beautiful?" Crystal asked.
Michael smiled. "Oh yeah. She definitely was. She was an angel, but always had this mysterious aura about her. It was like she was afraid to become attached to someone, but when I first talked to her it was like, well I'm not sure how to explain it. We became friends fast. It was when my mother transferred to New Zealand for a project for a few months."
"I see. So, you're not from around here?"
"I'm from America." Michael replied then continued on about the special girl, "I remember everything about her. In fact, a lot of things remind me of her. The midnight reminds me of her hair. With the stars in the sky, it reminds me of that one time she actually dressed up for dance at our school." he smiled, remembering how breathtaking she looked with sparkling glitter in her hair and on her skin. "The hills of Eagle Mountain remind me of the color of her eyes. And the snow in the mountains, it reminds me of her skin."
Michael felt something warm stride down his cheek. He brushed his tear away with his thumb and sighed sadly.
"What happened to her?" Crystal asked as she looked over to Michael.
"…..She left before the Virus happened. I'm not sure where though." Michael looked down at his hands. "You know the sad thing about it?"
"Hmm?" Crystal stared at him curiously.
"I think…I'm not sure, but I think I was in love. I mean, I wasn't exactly good with girls. But there was something about her that just….just blew me away. I mean every time I looked at her, I'd get butterflies in my stomach. I just never got the chance to see how far it would go." the healer concluded.
Crystal didn't press on any further. She really didn't need too. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring it up."
"No, it's fine. Really. I guess I needed to talk about it anyways." Michael reassured her.
Crystal then got up and stood up from the bed. Michael bolted up as well, his arms out to help her in case she started to feel dizzy. Surprisingly, she was perfectly fine.
"I'm ready to go back to the City." she looked to Michael.
The healer was very impressed by her state. "Are you sure?"
"Couldn't be anymore positive." she smiled, then walked up to him. "And Michael? Thank you."
She lightly kissed his lips, then started walking backwards out of the hut. "I'll meet you outside."
Michael watched her, surprised. Then touched his lips. 'Well, that was a nice reward,' he thought with a smile before gathering his stuff and leaving the hut behind.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
WHACK!!
Patsy fell down after the former Praetorian backhanded her. "What did I tell you about talking back at me?!"
Patsy pressed her hand against her red cheek, feeling the hotness beginning to sting. She winced in pain when feeling the Praetorian grab a fistful of her hair and pull her back up to her feet.
"ANSWER ME!! WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT TALKING BACK AT ME?!!"
"I-I'm sorry!" Patsy whimpered, forcing herself not to cry. Crying would only make it worse.
The Praetorian growled. "Damn little slag! You're good for nothing!" he shoved her back down. "I don't got a problem carrying that damn bag!"
Patsy said nothing as she stood back up and hung her head in shame.
"Now, pick that bag up, or else it's another beating!"
Patsy walked over and tried to lift up the huge bag that was heavy with a lot of valuable items and weapons. She forced it up with all her might, and when she was finally able to lift it, she dropped it again. The sound of mechanical devices breaking rushed through her ears, and her mind became alert. Her 'master.' wasn't going to like this.
"Damn it, brat! Can't you do a damn thing right?!" The Praetorian forcefully turned Patsy and slapped her again, and again, the impact making her fall back down.
It had been like these a few days ago when word of the Chosen's defeat came to the mines. The prisoners all started to revolt, taking out the guards. One of them though had snatched Patsy and made her his slave. His slave for almost everything.
It was here that the Praetorian noticed her well-flat stomach as her gray tank top was pushed up a bit. She had a nice body on her for a 13-year-old. The Praetorian licked his lips as he kneeled down on top of her. "Shh. Hush now." he cooed to the whimpering girl. "No reason to be afraid. In fact, I'll forgive you."
"You will?" Patsy's eyes went wide.
"Yes. Only, you have to do something for me." the Praetorian grinned as he started rubbing his hand against her trembling stomach. "So soft."
Patsy's body began to tremble even more when realizing what her 'master' had in mind. "N-no, please…I'm only 13..."
The Praetorian slapped her. "What the hell did I just say?! Keep your mouth shut and don't move, or I swear I'll bash your skull open and kill you right here!"
The Praetorian grabbed the collar of Patsy's tank top and was about to rip it open, until he noticed from the corner of his eye that somebody was watching.
Leaning against a nearby tree stood a woman with shoulder-length dark hair, pale skin, and her green eyes hidden by the bangs on the sides of her head and the wide-brim of the black cowboy hat shielding her head. Cloaking her body was a black leather long coat that came down to her ankles, and underneath a form-fitting black leather jumpsuit with black combat boots with straps on the outsider sides instead of laces in the front.
Resting against her shoulder was a double-edged sword with a black handle and a silver cross-guard and pummel, sheathed in a black scabbard.
Even though it seemed a bit impossible to tell, you could see that the dark figure was indeed a woman because of the way her body was curved.
"Hey! Get lost! I'm busy here!" the Praetorian shouted.
The young woman didn't budge at first, then slowly she stood back up, buckling the sword to her side underneath her leather coat.
The Praetorian huffed and looked back down at the fearful Patsy who had her eyes tightly shut as tears started to skid down her face.
He proceeded to lean down and lick her cheek with her tears, but then growled in pain when feeling someone grab him by his hair and throw him back away from the whimpering girl.
With an angry grunt, the Praetorian quickly struggled up to his feet, grabbing his hunting knife from his boot as he turned to the one who interrupted his torturing of the young girl. It was the woman clad in black.
"You seem to think so highly of yourself just for striking and trying to rape a young minor." the girl scowled.
"That brat?! She belongs to me! I'll do whatever I want with her! As for you, you witch! I'll cut that pretty little face of yours for sticking your nose into business that doesn't concern you!" the Praetorian grinned, switching the hunting knife from hand to hand.
"Shut up and fight." the dark female hissed, not bothering to reach for her sword.
The Praetorian was not one to give anybody a chance for a fair fight and lunged himself at the dark woman with his knife pointed straight out like an arrow. What came next though could hardly be imagined by most of the males of the Tribeworld, for when soon as he was just an inch away the female adversary had caught the Praetorian by his wrist then used his momentum for leverage to toss him right over her shoulder. He impacted on his backside hard to the ground with a sickening thud that anyone around could hear. Not a bone-crushing thud, but it still sounded pretty bad.
The Praetorian groaned in pain clutched the back of his throbbing head. Then, realization hit him when he realized there was only air in his other hand. The hunting knife was missing, for a moment at least until felt something sharp thrust all the way down his free hand. The Praetorian screamed in agony with his hunting knife pinning him by his hand to the ground.
The dark woman silenced him with her hand smashed against his mouth. "Shut up and listen now."
The Praetorian tried to control his himself, to fight off the pain before this girl did anymore damage to him.
"Tonight, you lose a hand for striking a girl and touching her wrongly. The next time I ever hear that you've done anything similar to this, I take out the other hand along with your arms. Understand?"
The Praetorian nodded his head with tears streaking down his face.
The dark woman got back up and walked over the pinned Praetorian to the whimpering girl huddled up by a tree.
She stopped a good distance from the whimpering girl, and just stared at her for a moment. Her green eyes held a mixture of coldness, and yet of sympathy for the child.
Slowly, Patsy looked up to her savior. Her arms wrapped around her knees. She didn't say anything, only sniffled back the fearful tears. She was afraid that this woman would do something worse to her. Even though she looked beautiful, she looked also very scary and dangerous.
Then, two words made Patsy's heart jump more than anything else could do. Two words from the lips of her savior.
"Go home." the warrioress spoke before she started to turn away.
Patsy's eyes went wide in horror when seeing the dark woman leave. The Praetorian still struggled with the hunting knife nailing him down through his hand, but if he was to get himself free….!
Patsy raced up towards her savior. The dark woman felt someone coming after her and quickly spun around with her hand on the pummel of her sword. Her defenses lowered when she saw the young Mallrat running towards her with open arms. Open arms that wrapped tightly around her waist as Patsy buried her head into the girl's side. "Please don't leave me! Please!" she pleaded hysterically.
The woman was about to pull her off and tell her to go home again or else she would let her stay here with the Praetorian, but for some unknown reason she couldn't. The girl had to be no more than 12 or 13, and she just couldn't be so harsh to the girl.
The dark woman sighed and put an arm around the girl's shoulders. "I'll take you home then. Do you have a home?" she asked in a more gentler tone.
Patsy nodded. "T-the mall. Phoenix Mall. In the city." she sobbed.
The dark clad woman nodded. "To the city then." she said and walked off with young Patsy clinging to her side.
