Chapter 2
Written by Peeping Shadow Monkey
"Hehe, I'm beginning to fear that my messages aren't finding their way to you at all, kiddo . . ." The girl paused and smiled, a gentle tugging at the corners of her mouth. "Don't worry, though. It doesn't bother me – our lives are so different. I understand that you don't have much room for anything but business work and the like." Another pause, this time her eyes found the ground interesting. "So, I think it's best to let go. I've been clinging to this lost memory of you for so long, and it's time to set it free. 'Memories are nice, but that's all they are' as my mother used to say, huh?" Her lips twitched slightly, and she fought back the urge to show any sign of the oncoming tears. "So goodbye, kiddo. Always remember that I love you."
With a heavy sigh, the girl clicked the sphere off and sat cradling it in her hands, eyes softening with tears threatening to fall.
"Noli! Noli? Where'd you go?" Meva's eyes scanned the sparkling darkness until he spotted a figure hunched on a boulder, silhouetted by the luminescence of the forest, seemingly unaffected by the ghost of his voice echoing through the stillness.
The shoulder of the shadow wracked in violent shudders, and sobs muffled by dense foliage floated to him on the slight breeze. "Noli, if you want to eat, now's your chance."
Casual conversation, of course. Always.
Meva's ears detected a slight rustling sound as Noli stood, probably the knapsack she always had slung across her shoulder. Crunching footsteps, and suddenly the girl was there, lowering herself to a seated position next to him.
"What were you doing over there?" Noli's eyes turned to glare at him, her usually warm and joyful eyes now icy and distant. Whoops, wrong question. Definitely the wrong question.
Meva should have known better. The two friends had developed an unspoken treaty between them during the short time they'd known one another. This specifically forbade prying into each other's business. A person's business was theirs to deal with, and if they wished to share, fine. If not, it was best to leave it be. This convenient little truce ensured both of them would continue along their journey with a few less battle scars. But honestly, Meva couldn't have helped himself. Sometimes curiosity easily overrules respect.
"Saying goodbye."
The bluntness of her statement left him confused and just a tad uncomfortable. Goodbye? To whom? And why?
Noli then stood again swiftly, yanking her khaki knapsack over her shoulder and digging through it. When her hand reappeared, an orange sphere was resting on the palm, a soft, warm glow illuminating the darkness surrounding it. Without another word, the slender girl moved towards the lake, a breeze, light and fresh, caressing her face and sweeping her hair from her shoulders.
Noli stopped at the edge of the dark water and, after placing a light kiss on the sphere's surface, hurled it into the waiting darkness. A heavy, almost comical plopping sound shattered the forest's silence. The orange glow seemed to float listlessly just below the surface of the water before being swallowed by the inky blackness of the lake. Ripples radiated from where the water was disturbed, spreading across the surface in ever-growing circles.
Noli only stared blankly into the dark. Meva waited patiently.
*~~*~~*
Baralai couldn't see. There was nothing but darkness, and he was enveloped in it, tangled in a substance he couldn't escape. He tried to cry out, to yell for his friends, but no sound came out. His mouth was so dry that it could have easily been mistaken for the Bikanel Desert. Maybe.
Sound penetrated his darkness. Echoing, distant, but still there. A voice. No, wait, several voices. Two of them sounded familiar, but in the darkness, the voices were distorted, coming to him in bits and pieces.
"No, don't! Leave him alone!" Baralai flinched as the voice reached his ears loud and clear. Familiar. Nooj. "Please, no more!" The desperation in his friend's voice triggered a shudder that ran laps down his spine.
Someone was in trouble, but who?
Fear clutching at his heart, Baralai wrenched free of the darkness ensnaring him. With an almost painful gasp, his eyes flew open and were met with the sight of Nooj. The white-haired man attempted a smile, but it died when his eyes found Gippal, bruised and broken, lying motionless on the cold stone floor. A man, features nearly indiscernible in the gloom, loomed over his broken friend, and in his hand was a whip, the end dripping black.
So that was why Nooj sounded so desperate. The older man rarely ever lost his cool - it would take something big to scare it out of him.
Panic this time took a firm hold on his heart. "No, leave Gippal alone!"
Baralai's own voice sounded strange to him. Blood roared in his ears as he fought to push himself up, to help his friend, but his muscles screamed in protest and agony. With a painful wrenching, Baralai collapsed heavily back onto the dungeon floor.
A laugh almost as evil and insane as Shuyin's escaped from the man's mouth, bounced off of the damp walls and connected with Baralai's ears, making him flinch. "Yous guys ain't no fun." With a snicker, he reached down and grabbed Gippal by the back of the neck, hoisting him into the air with a grunt. Blood from his many wounds dripped in small rivers down his bare back.
"Please . . ." Tears were beginning to form in Baralai's eyes.
"Fine then." The man tossed Gippal's limp body to the ground, a dull heavy thud echoing about the room as it hit. "Better catch your breath, ladies. I'll be back." With that, he threw open the cell door, seemed to skip out, and slammed the door back into place.
"Gippal . . ." Baralai's body was so sore. He could hardly reach out to touch his friend, who still lay prone just inches from him. "Please be alright . . ."
*~~*~~*
"Meva, this doesn't look good." Noli stood just off to his right rubbing the skin left bare by her low-slung grey shorts, fingers gingerly tracing over the indigo, six-pointed star tattooed there. It was kind of like a twitch with her, he'd noticed; she did that when she was scared or nervous. But never when she was angry. Noli would sooner draw her revolver and shoot you in the face than waste time doing that.
Meva inhaled deeply, massaging his eyes with one hand. The caravan, or what was left of it, lay crippled in the middle of the path on which they walked, looking dark and forbidding in the forest's glow. Bodies lay scattered about everywhere, all clad in Bevelle's standard issue armor. All of their rifles had been drawn, but now lay in the slack hands of their owners. Blood stained the dirt around them black. There had been a massacre here.
"You're right, we should get out of here," he whispered, kneeling by one of the bodies. He was young, no older than the age of twenty. Meva noticed a ring adorning the third finger on his hand and looked away, tears clouded his eyes. "See if there's anything we can use. Be quick. We need to leave this place."
Noli nodded, her pale face bobbing in the dimness. She scampered over to the edge of a wagon and hopped up, her feet scraping dully against the wood. In a second she had disappeared, searching swiftly for anything important. Meva got to his feet, glancing from one body to the next. They had heavy firepower . . . What could have happened here?
The man suddenly felt an offending presence surround him, and spun to meet nothing at all, his shaggy blond hair swinging into his eyes. The aura was a dark one, that Meva knew immediately. "Noli, now! We need to –"
Meva's voice was cut off suddenly. Noli, who had hopped out of the shattered wagon, gasped in horror and ran to him. With a grunt, she flipped his body over from where it had fallen and sat cradling him, searching around her frantically.
"Foolish little girl . . ." The voice came from nowhere and everywhere at the same time and this terrified Noli. If she didn't know where it was coming from, she had no chance of fighting whoever or whatever it was.
A sharp crack sounded behind her and she spun, yanking Meva's body with hers. All she saw was a looming shadow and then nothing.
"You'll both be perfect . . ."
Written by Peeping Shadow Monkey
"Hehe, I'm beginning to fear that my messages aren't finding their way to you at all, kiddo . . ." The girl paused and smiled, a gentle tugging at the corners of her mouth. "Don't worry, though. It doesn't bother me – our lives are so different. I understand that you don't have much room for anything but business work and the like." Another pause, this time her eyes found the ground interesting. "So, I think it's best to let go. I've been clinging to this lost memory of you for so long, and it's time to set it free. 'Memories are nice, but that's all they are' as my mother used to say, huh?" Her lips twitched slightly, and she fought back the urge to show any sign of the oncoming tears. "So goodbye, kiddo. Always remember that I love you."
With a heavy sigh, the girl clicked the sphere off and sat cradling it in her hands, eyes softening with tears threatening to fall.
"Noli! Noli? Where'd you go?" Meva's eyes scanned the sparkling darkness until he spotted a figure hunched on a boulder, silhouetted by the luminescence of the forest, seemingly unaffected by the ghost of his voice echoing through the stillness.
The shoulder of the shadow wracked in violent shudders, and sobs muffled by dense foliage floated to him on the slight breeze. "Noli, if you want to eat, now's your chance."
Casual conversation, of course. Always.
Meva's ears detected a slight rustling sound as Noli stood, probably the knapsack she always had slung across her shoulder. Crunching footsteps, and suddenly the girl was there, lowering herself to a seated position next to him.
"What were you doing over there?" Noli's eyes turned to glare at him, her usually warm and joyful eyes now icy and distant. Whoops, wrong question. Definitely the wrong question.
Meva should have known better. The two friends had developed an unspoken treaty between them during the short time they'd known one another. This specifically forbade prying into each other's business. A person's business was theirs to deal with, and if they wished to share, fine. If not, it was best to leave it be. This convenient little truce ensured both of them would continue along their journey with a few less battle scars. But honestly, Meva couldn't have helped himself. Sometimes curiosity easily overrules respect.
"Saying goodbye."
The bluntness of her statement left him confused and just a tad uncomfortable. Goodbye? To whom? And why?
Noli then stood again swiftly, yanking her khaki knapsack over her shoulder and digging through it. When her hand reappeared, an orange sphere was resting on the palm, a soft, warm glow illuminating the darkness surrounding it. Without another word, the slender girl moved towards the lake, a breeze, light and fresh, caressing her face and sweeping her hair from her shoulders.
Noli stopped at the edge of the dark water and, after placing a light kiss on the sphere's surface, hurled it into the waiting darkness. A heavy, almost comical plopping sound shattered the forest's silence. The orange glow seemed to float listlessly just below the surface of the water before being swallowed by the inky blackness of the lake. Ripples radiated from where the water was disturbed, spreading across the surface in ever-growing circles.
Noli only stared blankly into the dark. Meva waited patiently.
*~~*~~*
Baralai couldn't see. There was nothing but darkness, and he was enveloped in it, tangled in a substance he couldn't escape. He tried to cry out, to yell for his friends, but no sound came out. His mouth was so dry that it could have easily been mistaken for the Bikanel Desert. Maybe.
Sound penetrated his darkness. Echoing, distant, but still there. A voice. No, wait, several voices. Two of them sounded familiar, but in the darkness, the voices were distorted, coming to him in bits and pieces.
"No, don't! Leave him alone!" Baralai flinched as the voice reached his ears loud and clear. Familiar. Nooj. "Please, no more!" The desperation in his friend's voice triggered a shudder that ran laps down his spine.
Someone was in trouble, but who?
Fear clutching at his heart, Baralai wrenched free of the darkness ensnaring him. With an almost painful gasp, his eyes flew open and were met with the sight of Nooj. The white-haired man attempted a smile, but it died when his eyes found Gippal, bruised and broken, lying motionless on the cold stone floor. A man, features nearly indiscernible in the gloom, loomed over his broken friend, and in his hand was a whip, the end dripping black.
So that was why Nooj sounded so desperate. The older man rarely ever lost his cool - it would take something big to scare it out of him.
Panic this time took a firm hold on his heart. "No, leave Gippal alone!"
Baralai's own voice sounded strange to him. Blood roared in his ears as he fought to push himself up, to help his friend, but his muscles screamed in protest and agony. With a painful wrenching, Baralai collapsed heavily back onto the dungeon floor.
A laugh almost as evil and insane as Shuyin's escaped from the man's mouth, bounced off of the damp walls and connected with Baralai's ears, making him flinch. "Yous guys ain't no fun." With a snicker, he reached down and grabbed Gippal by the back of the neck, hoisting him into the air with a grunt. Blood from his many wounds dripped in small rivers down his bare back.
"Please . . ." Tears were beginning to form in Baralai's eyes.
"Fine then." The man tossed Gippal's limp body to the ground, a dull heavy thud echoing about the room as it hit. "Better catch your breath, ladies. I'll be back." With that, he threw open the cell door, seemed to skip out, and slammed the door back into place.
"Gippal . . ." Baralai's body was so sore. He could hardly reach out to touch his friend, who still lay prone just inches from him. "Please be alright . . ."
*~~*~~*
"Meva, this doesn't look good." Noli stood just off to his right rubbing the skin left bare by her low-slung grey shorts, fingers gingerly tracing over the indigo, six-pointed star tattooed there. It was kind of like a twitch with her, he'd noticed; she did that when she was scared or nervous. But never when she was angry. Noli would sooner draw her revolver and shoot you in the face than waste time doing that.
Meva inhaled deeply, massaging his eyes with one hand. The caravan, or what was left of it, lay crippled in the middle of the path on which they walked, looking dark and forbidding in the forest's glow. Bodies lay scattered about everywhere, all clad in Bevelle's standard issue armor. All of their rifles had been drawn, but now lay in the slack hands of their owners. Blood stained the dirt around them black. There had been a massacre here.
"You're right, we should get out of here," he whispered, kneeling by one of the bodies. He was young, no older than the age of twenty. Meva noticed a ring adorning the third finger on his hand and looked away, tears clouded his eyes. "See if there's anything we can use. Be quick. We need to leave this place."
Noli nodded, her pale face bobbing in the dimness. She scampered over to the edge of a wagon and hopped up, her feet scraping dully against the wood. In a second she had disappeared, searching swiftly for anything important. Meva got to his feet, glancing from one body to the next. They had heavy firepower . . . What could have happened here?
The man suddenly felt an offending presence surround him, and spun to meet nothing at all, his shaggy blond hair swinging into his eyes. The aura was a dark one, that Meva knew immediately. "Noli, now! We need to –"
Meva's voice was cut off suddenly. Noli, who had hopped out of the shattered wagon, gasped in horror and ran to him. With a grunt, she flipped his body over from where it had fallen and sat cradling him, searching around her frantically.
"Foolish little girl . . ." The voice came from nowhere and everywhere at the same time and this terrified Noli. If she didn't know where it was coming from, she had no chance of fighting whoever or whatever it was.
A sharp crack sounded behind her and she spun, yanking Meva's body with hers. All she saw was a looming shadow and then nothing.
"You'll both be perfect . . ."