The Roads of Fate
By: Sora
*~::~*
Chapter 6: Arashi
Rose was asleep.
The young blue-eyed warrior was sitting next to her, watching the dark haired woman breathe softly as she slept. He used to do this with Shana too. He could stay up for hours and watch her sleep. But even though he was on watch he found himself watching his companion slumber instead of watching the entrance to their hiding place.
The fire had long since died down to embers that glowed softly in the pile of burnt wood and ashes. The glow from the embers created a soft light that made the skin on Rose's face seem smooth and soft. When in actuality it was smeared with dirt from their travels through the Valley of Corrupted Gravity.
It had been two days since they had left the Home of Gigantos. They were now huddled in a tiny little cave in the Barrens. And much to Dart's amazement . . .it was raining. Rain dripped endlessly from the mouth of the cave as the clouds broke and poured their droplets down upon the earth. The downpour had startled half an hour before they discovered their tiny haven and they found that five minutes into the storm they were soaked through to the skin. Ten minutes and they were chilled to the bone.
Luckily there was some dry wood in the back of the cave that they used to build a roaring fire in the center of the cave. Anything they tried to find outside would have been useless due to the fact that the rain would have soaked it. So they made due with what they found in the cave. Once inside Dart and Rose had both stripped off their armor and set it on nearby rocks to dry out.
Dart couldn't recall seeing Rose remove her armor once while they were on their quest for Shana. He could have sworn that she slept in it. And she probably did. He was surprised when she had willingly submitted to his idea of removing their armor to allow it to dry out quickly.
He shivered. Now that the fire had died down, it was beginning to get cold inside the cave. He looked over at Rose. As the dark haired woman exhaled her breath frosted in the cold air before her face. She shivered slightly in the cold. The blonde haired man got up from his position on the hard stone floor of the cave and walked to the back of their shelter. He took some more of the dry wood from the dwindling pile in a corner of the cave and carried it back to the fire, where he placed it on the dying embers.
Thunder crashed outside, causing Dart to look up quickly. The storm was getting worse outside. Lightning flashed in the distance, lighting up the dark sky outside. "Damn . . .it's getting really bad out there . . .I hope it lets up soon."
"Zieg . . ." Behind him Rose shivered again and curled closer into herself. He glanced back behind him at her.
"Hang on Rose . . .it'll get warmer in a moment." Dart kneeled down in front of the fire and gently blew on the embers, hoping the oxygen from his lungs would feed them, causing them to grow and catch the dry wood. It took him a few minutes of breathing life into the fire before he had a steady flame going. He sat back on his heels for a moment and watched it warily, not at all sure if it would die down again. Behind him Rose stirred in her sleep. He turned towards her and watched her for a moment before taking his place beside her once more.
He shivered. The fire didn't seem to help the temperature of the cave much. And his ungloved hands were beginning to go numb. Dart held them over the flames for a few moments, letting the heat of the fire sink into his hands and warm his blood once more.
As he warmed his hands in the fire he fell into a trance as he watched the flames dance before him. He didn't even notice when Rose awoke.
*~*~*
She looked out of the cave mouth at the still clouded sky and sighed. The rain hadn't let up yet. Something was wrong. She could feel it in her bones. The Barrens are not normally a place where one finds large amounts of rain in the Spring. And through the dark clouds and through the sounds of thunder and flashes of lightning she could feel a dark presence approaching them. That was what woke her up. Outside thunder rolled above them. So strong it made the ground shake. Something was definitely coming their way.
She looked over at Dart. The dark eyed woman sighed again. He had fallen into another one of his trances. She stood and walked over to where she had placed her armor a few hours before. The leather was still a bit damp and she was praying to Soa that it hadn't shrunk any. Only way to find that out was to put it back on.
And she would very willingly do so. It was cold inside the cave and she felt weak without her armor. Almost as if she had been stripped down to the skin and there was nothing to protect her from life's cruel blades anymore. Secretly she wondered if Dart felt the same when he removed his armor. But she dared not ask him. The only reason she had agreed to take it off in the first place was the fact that if she kept it on it wouldn't dry out as quickly.
Rose carefully took her leather overcoat and slipped it on over her sleeveless black shirt. So far so good. It still fit normally. She buttoned that up and then snapped her metal breastplate on over that. She looked over herself. Everything seemed to fit properly. She nodded to herself and went over to join Dart, who was seemingly in a trance, staring into the flames of the fire.
As she sat down next to him to warm herself by the fire, she realized exactly how cold it had gotten since they had entered the cave. Even sitting next to the fire her breath frosted in front of her face. She shivered. Something was wrong. It wasn't supposed to be this cold.
Startled out of his trance by the sudden feeling of someone sitting down next to him, Dart glanced to the side to see Rose, shivering ever so slightly from the combination of the cold air and her still damp armor. He turned blue eyes towards her. "Cold?"
She glanced at him. "Something's wrong." She whispered as she turned her gaze back on the fire's flames. "The Barrens never get this cold. I think . . . " She trailed off for a moment. " I think something's coming." She turned her cold black gaze towards him. "I can feel it. And it feels dark."
He looked at her, a slightly confused look on his face. "Dark?"
"…..Evil."
"Oh."
They remained silent for a few moments more. When Rose spoke again her voice was lowered to a whisper. "I suggest you put your armor back on. You might need it."
Blue eyes turned to her for a moment. "Uh . . .ok." He nodded and stood, walking over to the place where he had set down his armor, boot heels clicking on the cold stone floor.
The dark eyed woman listened for a moment before turning her thoughts inwards. Trying to piece together everything. There was the feel of magic in the air. So something with tremendous magical power had to be messing with the normal weather patterns. Because it was naturally Spring outside. Which meant that the Barrens would have a few green plants but only a few and perhaps one or two centimeters of rain. But certainly not the flood that was taking place outside. A flood that was growing fiercer with each passing moment. The being that was behind the abnormal weather had to be getting closer.
After a few moments Dart returned fully armored and sat down next to her, close enough for his hip to touch hers. A thought occurred to her but she quickly brushed it away. Ridiculous. Why would he do that? He loves Shana. It's cold in here and we both need the extra warmth…
Lightning flashed just outside and the air sizzled. A second later thunder rumbled and the ground shook, knocking tiny pebbles from the ceiling. Dart glanced around the cave warily. Rose stood and brought out the Dragon Buster. Its blade creating a light that even the fire could never hope to match.
Lightning flashed again. This time striking the cave entrance, causing half of it to collapse. Dart stood. He glanced at Rose.
Thunder roared over head and Rose was forced to shout, "Dart!! Draw your weapon!! We have to leave this cave before it collapses!!"
Even though the sound of the thunder had drowned out most of what she had said Dart understood her meaning perfectly. He quickly drew the Claymore from its scabbard belted to his hip and ran out of the cave into the fierce storm outside.
He quickly found he regretted that action.
The moment he stepped from the cave he was almost hit by another bolt of lightning. Startled, he jumped back, heartbeat pounding in his ears. He glanced up, already soaked through to the skin, and through all the rain and howling wind he could just barely make out. . . something . . moving through the clouds.
Rose appeared beside him in a matter of seconds, rain water running down her face. That same rain water caused her hair to become flattened to her head. And just like him, her armor and clothes were soaked through.
She brushed a wet strand of hair from her eyes. She glanced up at the sky for a moment. "We should try to take cover!! Before it spots us!!"
"Rose . . ?" Dart said, eyes fixated on the turbulent sky above them. " I think it's a bit too late for that . . ."
The dark haired woman quickly looked up at the sky and immediately let fly a string of curses in three different languages that made even Dart blanch. The monster had spotted them. And it was coming towards them. At a very high speed.
"Get off the cliff!!" Rose shouted as she shoved Dart towards the edge. She kept glancing back at the monster. Now that it was closer they could see it clearly. It was huge. Easily as big or bigger than the Divine dragon. It was hard to get a good look at it before when it had camouflaged itself with the clouds, but now that they could see it they realized exactly what they were up against. As both warriors looked on in horror as the giant reptile flew towards them both minds quickly came to the realization that they would have to transform into the legendary Dragoons if they were to even have a chance of beating the beast.
Once they were safely hidden within a crevice in the rock face, out of the monster's view, Rose spoke, her voice barely a whisper. "You realize what we have to do right?" She indicated her Dragoon Spirit.
He nodded, having come to the same conclusion earlier. "Yeah. I know." Lightning flashed above them in the clouds. Dart glanced up at them.
"Alright. After the monster makes another pass…we transform. Got it?"
Dart nodded.
~*~*~
Lightning flashed outside, 'causing Lisa to stop fussing over her older sister and look out the window, startled.
"The storm's getting worse. Perhaps we should move into the main part of the castle instead of staying up here in the tower. It might be safer sister….Sister?" Lisa looked towards her older sister for a response, only to find that she was out of bed and heading towards the window. "Sister! What are you doing?! The healer said to stay in bed!" Lisa worriedly flocked to her sister's side and placed a delicate hand on her arm. "Please Emille…go back to bed. You're still too weak."
The older woman sighed and hung her head. "Alright. I will. But Lisa?" She asked placing a hand over her sister's.
"Yes?"
"Can you go get Albert for me please? I'd like to speak with him."
"Yes. Of course I can." She smiled. "Now…" She started, as she gently led her sister back to her bed. " You go back to bed and I'll go get Albert for you."
Emille smiled slightly and slowly lowered herself back into bed. As she lay down Lisa pulled the covers over her and smiled. "Now rest...I'll be right back with Albert."
"Thank you Sister…," she replied weakly, closing her eyes and blocking out the dim lights in the room. A few moments later she heard her sister's slippered feet run out the door and into the rain. Inwardly Emille sighed. Being crippled with the child she was carrying was hindering her independence and her ability to rule her country. She hated having to call Albert away from Serido so he could rule in her absence while she recovered. She was such a burden to him. Even if he never said so aloud she knew that he worried about his country, and he probably longed to get back to his castle so he could go back to work. Besides, Fletz was her capital she should rightfully rule over it. She had a responsibility to her people, she couldn't just-
"Emille?"
The young queen slowly opened her eyes and smiled when she spotted Albert standing in her doorway. She took one look at her husband and laughed lightly.
He was soaked. His sandy-blonde hair was dripping water into his vision, causing him to periodically blink it from his golden eyes. He had been in such a hurry to get to her he must have forgotten to put something on over his clothes, for they were soaked through and dripping rainwater onto her floor, making her carpet soggy.
He tilted his head to the side, causing a strand of rain soaked hair to fall into his eyes. Albert absentmindedly brushed it away with a gloved hand as he walked across her room and headed towards Emille's bedside.
"Is something wrong Emille? Lisa said you had asked to see me." He stood by her bedside and looked down at her, his expression kind and his eyes tinged with worry.
"I didn't take you away from anything did I?"
"No. Nothing important. Now, " the young king said, taking a seat on his wife's bedside. " You never answered my question Love. Is there anything wrong?" His eyes had a worried look to them as he gently placed a chilled hand over Emille's warm one.
"No, Albert. Nothing is wrong…at least, not with our child." She smiled at the relieved expression on his face. "But…this storm. It's bothering me. And it's bothering Lisa too. She says that an evil presence is on its way towards us. But I have no way of telling if it's true. I wanted to ask you if you felt the same thing Lisa is feeling." She looked up at him, her face serious, as he gazed out the window.
"I'm….I'm not sure. I don't have the sense that Rose had. So I can't really tell. But this storm certainly does seem unnatural doesn't it?" He looked back at his wife. The blonde headed young woman nodded.
"Indeed it does. It clouds are so dark. I don't remember a storm as fierce as this one either. And it's been going on for days. But I can't for the life of me guess as to what's causing it." She glanced out the window just as another flash of lightning lit up the dark afternoon skies.
"Hmm…" Emille watched her husband as he stared out her bedroom window, lost in his own thoughts. I should be able to help him somehow…the only problem is, I'm not sure how I can do it. But I know there is a way. But I have this feeling that he wants to find out for himself if there is a threat to our country. And if there is.. then he'll want to destroy it…oh how I wish there was some way I could…
"Albert?"
"Huh? Yes Emille?" He tore his gaze away from the window to look at her.
"I think I'm well enough that I can resume my duties."
His eyes widened. "But Emille! You mustn't!" The hand he had placed over hers grasped her delicate hand in a painfully tight grip, but he was so filled with worry for her and her child that he didn't even notice it.
"I'll be fine." She stated simply, ignoring her hand. "I'm well enough to do it. And it'd give you time to check out that storm. Oh don't look so surprised Albert. I know you better than anyone and I know you want to see what is driving that storm." Emille slowly sat up and looked her husband straight in the eyes.
"But what happens if-" His worried grip on her hand was slowly beginning to relax.
"It won't." The blonde headed woman said firmly. "I won't allow a repeat of last time. Let me take your place. Just for today. It is my capital and my country. I need to be the one that they see on the throne. The people need to see that even in my current state I can be a strong and capable leader. Please Albert…"
"But…"
"Please…and I can promise you I'll get lots of rest afterward. You have my word."
After a moment he sighed. "Alright. But if there is any problems what-so-ever you'll cancel all of the meetings for today. And when I say all I mean ALL. Alright Love? The people won't mind if you take part of the day off to rest. They'll understand."
"Alright. I promise."
"Good." He smiled as he slowly leaned towards her and planted an affectionate kiss on her forehead. She smiled up at him, happy that for once he let her have her way.
~*~*~
"Dart!! To your right!!!"
Rain was pouring all around him and he just barely dodged the Dragon snake's tail as it flew past his head. He had no idea how Rose had spotted it's tail coming at him through all the rain but he was grateful she had. The rain was making it difficult to see, and the snake-like dragon was using the rain and the clouds to its advantage. Weaving in and out of the thick clouds and blending into the rain as it poured all around them.
They had transformed a short while ago after the dragon had made a second pass over their rain-soaked heads. But the one thing they failed to notice before attempting to fight the dragon was that it was a double-elemental. Rose had said those were a rare breed but stronger than the single-elementals. This one was of Ice and Lightning. It had metallic gray-blue scales and sported electric charges jumping from wing-tip to wing-tip on each of it's four wings.
If only I had the Red-eye Dragoon Spirit again..this thing would be a piece of cake…
Ahead of him Rose was struggling with the dragon's tail. That appendage was becoming a problem. It kept using it's tail to fend them off, away from its Core.
With a half-formed plan in his mind Dart gathered up energy and flew at top-speed towards the Dragon, who, just as Rose was struggling with it, was struggling with Rose. She was putting up a hard fight, dodging it's tail then flying towards it and attacking, but flying away again before it could run her through with the tip of it's tail. Her tactics were frustrating the dragon 'causing it to become reckless in it's pursuit of the Dragoon of Darkness.
Dart stopped a few meters from the fight and stood by, sword at the ready, waiting for a chance to attack.
Come on stupid…make a mistake. Blue eyes carefully watched every movement of the Dragon, waiting for an opening.
He spotted one two seconds later as the dragon swung its tail around to hit Rose from behind. He charged towards it, wind and ice cold rain stinging his face, and intercepted the tail a split second before it connected with the dark haired woman's skull. The beast roared in frustration and turned on Dart, snapping at him with fangs the length of his arm. The blonde headed man jumped back to avoid the blades and raced past its jaw, just as it closed it's mouth. He soared over its head and flew down it's back, aiming for it's tail.
The monster was too shocked at first to do anything other than blink. Once it realized what Dart was aiming to do it swiftly took action and tried to bring it's overly flexible tail around to stab him. But by that time it was too late. The Divine Dragoon was already there, sword ready.
As the tail came towards him he charged and sliced through scale, muscle and bone. Deep red blood spurted from the stump, mixing with the rain falling heavily from the sky and turning it red. Then through the sounds of thunder came a high pitched scream. It was unlike anything Dart has heard before and it made him cringe as his ears were assaulted with the noise. It felt like he was paralyzed. He couldn't move from his spot in the sky, and he reflexively put his hands over his ears to block out the noise.
He glanced below him at Rose. She was flying straight at the sky serpent, a look of determination on her pale rain-slicked face. As he watched her she held out the Dragonbuster before her. It's blade glowing fiercely through the rain as she flew straight at it's metallic silver core.
~*~*~
She was almost there…just a few more meters and she'd be able to end this beast's life. She forced herself to ignore the freezing cold rain as it hit her face and the wind that chilled her to the bone. The lightning flashing above her head and the giant earth-shaking peals of thunder. She blocked out the dragon's ear-shattering high pitched scream of pain as it's severed tail fell to the earth. All of her attention, all of her concentration was centered on the silver core before her and the sword in her hand.
Apparently….so was the dragon.
One moment the core was a dull silver and the next it was glowing bright blue. Rose stopped her charge towards the core just in time to be hit with a magical attack. One that only a double elemental could have pulled off.
Giant spears of ice covered in electric energy flew from the dragons core straight at her. Reflexively she dodged and weaved in the air, missing most of them and destroying the few that almost hit her with the Dragonbuster. Except for one.
A sharp pain in her shoulder and the sudden flow of a warm, thick liquid from her arm told her she had gotten injured. She cried out in pain and clutched her shoulder, accidentally driving the spear of ice deeper into her flesh. Through the pain she barely managed to keep a hold on the Dragonbuster, it's weight growing heavier by the second. She couldn't move. Her entire arm felt like it was on fire and she could feel the blood slowly soak through her sleeve.
Her vision started to gray and through the sound of wind and blood pounding in her ears she heard Dart call out her name.
He sounds so worried about me…
Then she noticed something else. The dragon was flying towards her. She blinked, then gasped as it started to open it's jaws. It meant to eat her!
Rose tried to hold up the Dragonbuster to slice the roof of it's mouth but her arm wouldn't cooperate with her. It hurt to much to move it so instead, at the last possible second she dodged. The dragon soared past her and didn't even look back.
She heard Dart call her name again.
Now why in the hell is he calling my name…?
As Rose began to turn around something heavy hit the back of her head. Then everything went black.
~*~*~
"Rose!!!" The blonde headed man watched helplessly as Rose's Dragoon armor faded and her body fell to the ground.
He wasn't going to let her die.
So he did the only thing he could do. He ignored the fleeing dragon and dove after Rose's unconscious body.
He wasn't going to give up on her. He knew he could save her. He just had to try harder.
He gathered energy for one last burst of speed and plummeted after her, wind whipping past his face. The ground was getting nearer and he was still so afar away from her. He couldn't let her die! He wouldn't! He refused to have her blood on his hands!
Just when he thought all hope was lost her body came within his reach and quickly reached out his arms and grabbed her waist, spreading the wings on his armor and rising higher right before they both hit the ground. As he ascended he gently resituated her in his arms so he was carrying her. In the back of his mind he came to the quick conclusion that he liked the feeling of having her in his arms.
She was light. Even with her armor. But her face was pained and her shoulder was bleeding badly. They were without any Healing potions for they had used them all up in the Valley of Corrupted Gravity. He had no way to heal her injury so he gently set her just inside a cave, out of the rain and went after the dragon. He was not going to let it get away!
He flew after it, getting its attention by taking swipes at its wings. It screamed in frustration and reached its head around to bite him in half but he dodged and flew towards its face, startling it. As it sat there in the sky the blonde headed man took the opportunity to go for one of its eyes. With a downward swing of his sword he sliced open its eye, and another high-pitched scream tore through the air, as more blood gushed from the open wound.
He just barely avoided cringing.
But when he glanced down he noticed something. Its core was unguarded. Here was his chance. He gathered power and dived downwards toward the core. The seven wings on his Dragoon armor began to glow and he could feel the magical energy gathering at the tips of the seven translucent wings.
He reached the core, aimed and fired. The Divine Dragon Cannon hit the dragon's core, shattering it and blasting a hole through the seemingly impervious scales on its body. With one last strangled cry the beast fell from the sky and hit the ground, causing the Earth to rumble and shake in its wake.
Dart hovered in the air for a few moments breathing heavily. His body felt completely drained of energy and the Divine armor was becoming overly heavy. Blue eyes stayed focused on the dragon. It appeared dead. Its core had been shattered and its body was completely lifeless.
The blue eyed man watched it for a moment more before turning away from the site and heading back to the cave where he had placed Rose.
When he reached her she was slowly coming to. He rushed to her side, armor fading as he did so. Dart kneeled beside her. "Rose! Are you alright..?"
She looked at him, clutching her shoulder. "What…" She stopped and groaned as a wave of pain hit her as she tried to sit up. "What do you think…?"
Dart gently put his hands on her shoulders and forced her to lay back down. "I think you need to lay down."
She looked at him, her eyes half-glazed with pain.
He glanced at her shoulder. "That wound is pretty bad…you shouldn't try to move. I could run to Fueno and get some Healing potions…but that would take too long…"
Rose opened her mouth, struggling with the words she wanted to say. It was hard to talk through all the pain. "Dart…" she whispered.
"Hmm? What is it?" As he looked down at her he noticed her eyes seemed slightly alarmed. "It something wrong?" He asked her, concerned. She tried to move, then he realized that she wasn't looking at him. She was looking past him.. Outside….
"Behind…" She whispered, her voice tight with pain.
"Huh?" Quickly Dart looked over his shoulder and out of the cave entrance. Coming towards them was the dragon. Slowly, ever so slowly moving towards them, digging its claws into the earth and dragging its paralyzed body behind it. It wasn't moving very fast, but it certainly did seem angry. "What the Hell?! I thought it died!!"
Its remaining eye was glowing a fierce blue and with each movement the feeling of magical energy in the air increased. It was gathering power for something. Some kind of final attack.
Dart looked around wildly for a way to escape but the only way he could see was out…and that meant going closer to the Dragon. He knew he didn't have enough strength left to fight it without being in dragoon form. They were both stuck.
Slowly the beast opened its mouth, inside at the back of its throat was a glowing ball of energy. The beginnings of a powerful spell. Dart's mind seemed as if it was frozen he couldn't seem to find a way out. He didn't want to head towards the dragon. He looked into the cave. The back of it was only ten feet away. That wasn't enough to save them. But he wasn't going to let himself and Rose die. There had to be another way!
Suddenly the air in the cave became hot and the ground started to rumble. Dart glanced back at the dragon to find to his horror that the spell had grown bigger. As he sat there in the cave, horrified, the dragon released it's attack. Dart closed his eyes and quickly covered Rose's body with his own, being mindful of the spear protruding from the older woman's shoulder.
He could feel the heat at his back increase as the spell neared the cave entrance. Dart tightly squeezed his eyes shut, waiting to be hit with the blast.
"Rose Barrier!!"
Dart recognized that voice. He quickly looked up to see Albert, fully clad in Dragoon armor, hovering just outside the cave entrance, javelin held out before him as he formed a magical shield around the cave. The spell hit the barrier, causing Albert to be pushed back a little as he struggled to maintain his spell against the onslaught of double-elemental magic. The ground began to shake violently as the king struggled to keep those inside the cave protected from the dragon's spell. Bits of the cave ceiling broke free and fell to the cave floor, creating a haze of dust within the cave.
A few seconds after the vibrations in the floor had stopped and the dust had settled a figure slowly descended into the mouth of the cave.
"Dart…I didn't expect to find you here." The king said as he landed gracefully, dragoon armor fading and his normal clothes returning. "Are you alright?"
The blonde headed man nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine but…"
"But..? Who's that?" He tried to see past Dart's shoulder and gasped as he moved aside, revealing Rose's pain-stricken form.
"Rose?!"
"Albert! She's injured. Do you have any Healing Potions with you?" Oh please let him have some…
"Yeah. Here. Catch." Said Albert as he removed a Healing Potion from a pouch tied at his waist and tossed it to Dart.
The blue-eyed man caught it with ease and uncorked it with his teeth. He gently put the potion to Rose's lips and ignored the look she gave him as he slowly poured the contents into her mouth.
As she swallowed the wound on her shoulder slowly began to heal as muscle and flesh knit itself back together. As her flesh healed the spear of ice in her shoulder began to melt. Soon there wasn't anything left of it except for a puddle of water on the floor of the cave.
Slowly she sat up, gently massaging her shoulder with her hand. "Thanks Albert."
"But Rose…how can you be alive…?" With a little bit of an annoyed expression Rose noticed the King was getting tears in his eyes. " We all saw you die in the explosion…" He said softly around the lump forming in his throat.
"Long Story. I'll tell you later."
"But-" Albert objected.
"I'll tell it to you later. Once we reach the palace." The look in her dark eyes told him not to argue.
He nodded. Albert knew full well that Rose would keep her word but his curiosity was screaming at him to ask again. How could she be alive?! How was it possible that she had survived that explosion. They all saw her sacrifice herself, along with Dart's father, Zieg, in order to kill Melbu Frahma…
Rose swiftly got to her feet. "Lets get going."
"Um.. alright. Sure. Albert?" Dart looked at him.
He nodded his affirmative and headed out into the open. As they walked down the path leading to Fletz Albert tried to make conversation, since no one was talking.
"What brings you two way out here? Is Shana with you?"
"No. Shana decided not to come." Said Dart.
Albert blinked and looked from one of them to the other. "Oh."
"Yeah…"
"So what brings both of you way out here?" Said the king, tilting his head to the side slightly.
Dart started to answer but Rose interrupted. " We'll answer any questions you may have once we reach the palace."
"But Rose-"
Dark eyes glanced at Dart, with a gaze cold enough to freeze anything in its tracks, and the blue eyed man quickly snapped his mouth shut as a cold shiver ran up his spine.
Albert glanced at him and whispered in his ear. "What's with her? Is it just me or is she colder than normal…?"
All Dart could do was shrug.
Silence went on for a few more moments with the only sound being their boots on the sodden earth before the conversation between Dart and Albert started up again, both young men catching up with one another. Rose walked up ahead ignoring the two younger men, becoming lost in her thoughts.
Up above in the sky the clouds were departing, allowing the sun to shine through for the first time in days.
*~::~*
A/N: Ok, yes. I admit it. The ending sentence is somewhat cheesy. I apologize for getting this out so late. As you can tell I suck at action sequences and it took me forever to figure out how I wanted the fight to go. But Albert has finally made an appearance ^_^. And BTW: you can expect to hear of Shana but she won't really make much of an appearance until the end. Also, I tried to make this chapter as long as possible, I hope those of you who wanted a longer chapter got what you wanted. But anyways, tell me what you think k? I'd appreciate it. Thanks.
09.03.03
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A/N NOTE: I'm terribly sorry but as some of you may have noticed it's been a LONG time since I've updated this fanfic. I am trying my best to get the next chapter up, but I keep getting stuck. So please bear with me. It might take me a while before I can update again. For those of you that were confused as to how Rose survived, the next chapter will explain that. Again I'm trying my best to get it done as quickly as possible. However…like all humans…I have a tendency to get distracted. I have dumbly started about 15 other projects that I really would like to finish first, seeing as how most of them are one-shot fanfics anyway. I'm very sorry about this. Please forgive me. ^ ^' I'm trying my best…. The next chapter is almost done, but if you would like it as soon as possible it'll probably only end up being about 5 pages or so…^ ^'
*bows* I'm very VERY sorry..