Retaw- I am REALLY sorry it took so long for me to update this time
peoples! But I DO have a good reason this time around!
Caitlin- *scoff* I'm sure...
Retaw- *glare* I DO! See my computer has been down for like, FOREVER, and so I couldn't write a thing! It was really annoying, so if it's any consolation, I was just as perturbed as you all were when Sunday came and went. Maybe more REVIEWS would help? *batts eyes*
Caitlin- Don't count on it.
Retaw- ...-__-... OH YES! One more thing that has nothing to do with the story!
~~NOTHING TO DO WITH THE STORY MOMENT: ~~
~ OK, so, I've just gotten into this new anime called 'Kare Kano' or 'His and His Circumstances' in English. IT IS THE BEST THING! I love it so much! In fact, I'm listening to a few of the background music songs right now. I highly recommend it to all! ....except for one thing.
The ending...it stinks.
It really, really, really, REALLY stinks! It was horrible! The ending of the anime series was SOOOOO agrivating! It just ended! So take head. If you take my recommendation and watch Kare Kano (available on DVD and Manga) be ready for a really bad ending. That is all. ~
RETAW- Ok, so I'm just going to get on with the story now! Hopefully, this will come out as well as I see it in my head...
WARNING: Graphic violence ahead, this is why it's PG-13 peoples! Sorry!
~** BRYAC **~
"Well, I'm going to get something to eat." Yoko announced with a little wave, "I'll be back later!"
I nodded, letting my eyes graze around the room, "I'm going to go find Notis. Try not to do anything stupid."
Of course, the comment was directed to my 'new friends'. I didn't know what they would do without someone to help them, though frankly, I didn't really care. I had come here for one reason and one reason only, and that was to find the information I needed. I pushed my way through the crowd of people, and finally, I found Notis.
Notis was a strange man. He had large hands and feet, a long, narrow face toped with straggly blond hair and abnormally huge brown eyes. He stood alone near the wall, and watched me blankly as I approached him. It had been a long time since I had seen him, almost nine years I think, and I could tell he recognized me enough to know he'd seen me, but not enough to know why. I only remembered him for his lamp-like eyes that stared right into you. He never missed a beat, which was one of the reasons Cavamick had elected him top spy.
I stood next to him for a while, waiting for him to say something. He only stared me down at first, but then, he smiled.
"Bryac." He said, still slightly unsure.
I looked to him, "I was hoping you'd have news for me."
At this, Notis' smile turned into a huge, toothy grin. "So it is you. I was wondering when I'd see you again, but when five years past I assumed you dead."
I chuckled dryly, "You underestimate me, Notis. I'm not so easily killed."
"I should have known." Notis said, "Forgive me."
I chose to ignore the hint of sarcasm in his tone, and continued, "I was hoping you could tell me our current position."
Notis blinked, "That's a very broad subject, Bryac."
"Listen, are we still one step ahead of Yukio or not?"
Notis hesitated for a moment, looked to the floor, and said, "I'm afraid this is beyond sugar coating, so I'm just going to tell you like it is."
Though he created the illusion of being ready to tell, he was still holding something back. Whatever he needed to tell me, was obviously something I would not like to hear. He fidgeted, and sighed and then closed his eyes.
"A group of our men were killed today."
I felt my head jerk to stare at him. Whatever I was expecting, it wasn't that. Notis nodded, as if my reaction was exactly what he was expecting.
"How many?"
Notis looked to the ceiling this time, and paused while he tried to remember, "There were six of them. Three days ago we found the weapons of five who were killed. One seems to be missing, but we can't know for sure. Some people think he was killed with the others, other's don't."
"Who was killed?" I demanded.
Again, Notis sighed, "The ones that left were Cavamick, Shintel, Julian, Meiko, and Darren. There is no way of knowing who died and who disappeared."
My mind began to race as I tried to process what Notis had told me. Five of our men had been killed. There were only thirty or forty in our group, and with five gone our chances of overtaking Yukio lowered even more. He was gaining allies and we were losing them! And if what he said was true, I had already lost maybe two of my finest warriors. My strongest swordsmen.
My best friends.
"That's not the worst of it." Notis continued, breaking my train of thought, "We've gone from being a step ahead to a step behind."
This was almost too much, "What!"
"Yukio has found the information he needs, gained the allies he needs, and in fact, has pin-pointed your location and is scheduled to come here tonight."
For the first time in almost a decade, I panicked. "But how!?"
Notis shrugged, like it was of no difference to him, "We don't know, but it seems that there is a leak in our group."
I froze, "A leak?"
Before Notis could respond, there was an ear splitting scream. I looked up from my own thoughts to be met with a horrifying sight. Hundreds of warriors flooded into the building, and created complete chaos among the people inside. Tables were overturned, people in the way were slaughtered, they just kept spreading more and more fear with their actions. Instantly, I felt a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach and began to scan the crowd for Thina, Yoko, Caitlin, Ryou and Yugi. I spun around, wildly searching for my companions but finding no one. As if it had been rehearsed, there then came a voice from behind me.
"It is almost over now."
My eyes were met with the glassy ones that could only belong to our oracle, Thina. She looked strangely worried, even for a situation like this. I was about to say something when she grabbed me by the front of my shirt and pulled me close to her. Her grip was unbreakable, and her eyes were starting to bulge making her look almost deranged.
"The end is coming." She said in a low voice, pulling me close enough that I was almost nose to nose with her, "You must listen to me! It is the beginning of the end! You will soon die! She will betray us and abandon all of us!"
She was becoming more and more hysterical, and I didn't know how to respond. Thina never acted like this. She was always calm and in control, never showing any emotions. But this, this was completely unlike her. What had she fortold that could do this to her?
"Bryac!"
Yugi ran over to me, out of breath and very pale. He tripped a little on his way over, but nothing could stop him from getting over to our little area near the wall. Ryou came right after him, looking just as disheveled and horrified.
"Bryac!" Yugi called, having to yell over the screams, "I can't find Yoko! And I just saw someone kidnapping Caitlin!"
There was a crash, as the table nearest to us fell onto the floor letting the glasses on top of it fall and shatter on the ground right where Notis should have been. But he was gone. I cursed loudly and searched my mind for some clever way out of this mess, but there was none. The only 'brilliant plan' I had was to get out of here as quickly as possible. Hoping Thina, Yugi, and Ryou would catch on, I made a dash for the only exit in the building, and everyone followed me as close as they could. Seeing the exit, I let out a breath of relief as we neared the doorway, and flung the door open as soon as I was at touching distance. The small group piled out into the moonlight and we slammed the door behind us shut. I started to take off again, knowing that we needed to get distance between Yukio's men and ourselves, but because I was so engaged in thought, I didn't see the man in front of us and ran straight into him. He grabbed me hard around the neck and started to lift me into the air.
"Well well," He sneered, "Look what I have here..."
I gasped for air and reached for my sword.
But it wasn't necessary.
The next thing I heard was a high pitched shriek, and I was dropped onto the ground. The man fell to the ground and clutched his leg, rocking in agony as blood seeped into the grass from where his foot used to be. The man let himself lay in the grass, and his whole body began to twitch and writhe. I spun around to face a very shocked and disturbed Ryou, knuckles white from gripping his dagger so hard. Judging by the look on his face, I was sure he was about to vomit. But instead, he turned to me and smiled lightly.
"I'm sorry, should I have left him to you?" He said playfully, sheathing his dagger even though he still looked stunned at what he did voluntarily.
"You fool..."
All eyes turned to the man, who laid still on the grass. His eyes were shut, and his body cold and limp, but I was sure it was him who had spoken. Cautiously, I walked to the man and stood over him, watching for any signs of life. He didn't move a muscle, or even seem to breathe, but I knew something was wrong.
"Is he dead?" Yugi whispered.
I didn't answer. I leaned over a little further to get a better look, but there was nothing. I gently took my own sword out, and slowly started to lower it down onto the man's face with no real intention to kill him more then Ryou had. He didn't budge. But to shake off my feelings of dread, I decided to kill him for sure anyway. Just to be sure. I raised the sword over my head and hurled it down at the man.
Then, something happened.
Immediately, the man's eyes flew open and he hit the side of the sword hard enough to fling it out from my hands and onto the ground. The man sneered, revealing his true nature and pulling himself up again.
"But he was dead!" Yugi cried, backing up as the man wheezed.
"Fool!" The man hissed, "Do not perceive me as only an ordinary human!"
The man smirked, his eyes yellowing and pupils morphing into a slit. His legs fused together into a royal blue and black tail, and his teeth into fangs though the rest of his body stayed the same. The foot still laid in the grass, not attached to anything and not having any evidence that it had ever been attached to anything. Except, of course, a small section of the end of the tail that had been chopped off. Besides that, the man looked completely unharmed, though two times larger and nine hundred times deadlier.
"A man snake." I said quietly.
The snake smirked again, raising up onto it's tail, "That's right, human."
"So then Yukio has gained your alliance as well?" I said louder.
The snake clapped his hands and pretended to be impressed, "Why, Right again!"
I tried to keep my frustration hidden as I continued, "What do you think you are going to earn from this?"
The snake seemed surprised by the question, but quickly said, "Power of course. Yukio promised our kind half of the realm if we can just capture you little humans."
I laughed, "And you believe him? Why would he just hand over the land to you? What's stopping him from taking us, and leaving you with nothing?"
The snake hissed and glared down at us, "He wouldn't dare."
"Ah, but he might." I proceeded, "How can you trust him?"
In one swift movement, the snake was in front of me, with a snarl on his face that is only seen before you die. His tongue poked out through his teeth as he stared at me, contemplating what I had just said. Maybe he found some sense in what I had said, but didn't want to believe it. Or maybe he was thinking of an interesting way to kill me. Either way, I kept a straight face on as he stared.
"You might be right, human." He hissed, "But if I cannot trust his word, then how in seven hells am I supposed to trust yours?"
I knew that Caitlin and Yoko could be in grave danger, but I couldn't just run off with the snake human in the way. And there wasn't going to be any hope of persuading him, so I was left only with manipulating him. Slowly, I looked to my sword still laying on the ground. If I could only just reach it, then I could kill the beast and we'd be home free. But it was too far away. There was no way I could reach it without being noticed.
Unless...
"What about this." I told the snake, "How about we play a little game of trust. That way, you can tell if I'm worth listening to."
The snake snorted, "I have no time for silly games. Besides, what could you possibly do that would make me trust you?"
I reached a hand into my pocket, and pulled out a red stone, and a purple stone. I shook them in my fist for a while, and the snake man watched curiously. I then dropped them on the ground like dice, and smiled a little as they fell perfectly into place on the ground in the shape of a Ying Yang.
"I promise you," I said, "That these rocks will always land that same way, no matter how you drop them."
The snake's eyebrow raised, "What is the point of this?"
"I want you to throw the rocks. If they land that way, like I say they will, then I will win this game and you let us go."
"However," The snake interrupted, "If they land any other way than that, I will win and take all of you without a fight. Agreed?"
Seizing the opportunity, I turned around as if to look at the group behind me for their opinion. I looked hard at Yugi, so he knew I was trying to tell him something, and then glanced to the sword sitting a little ways away from us. He was confused at first, but I had no time to explain, and decided not to push my luck. I turned back around and faced the snake.
"We agree."
It was all Yugi now, I could only hope.
"Good." The snake said with a grin, "I'm always up to a good gamble. It's a shame this won't last long, though..."
"Don't be so sure." I corrected him, picking up the stones again and handing them over to the snake.
The man snake grinned again, fangs sticking out from his mouth as he held the stones in his palm. He shook them around for a moment, and just when he was about to throw them onto the ground-
"Just a minute!"
He stopped, and looked up at me angrily, "What is it?"
I tapped my chin thoughtfully, "You know, because you aren't entirely human, the dice won't work for you."
"What do you mean?"
"They will only half work." I explained, "Because you are only half human, you see. If you want to make up for it and play this game fairly, you will need to hold the rocks on top of each other before you throw and say the following words---"
"I don't have time for this!" The snake snapped.
"Ah ah ah," I said, shaking a finger, "A game is a game. Now, I need you to say 'Oh mighty rocks of the sky, help me win the game of mine, for I am only half a man, and no one like me could win against...him.'"
The snake looked at me skeptically, "Was that supposed to rhyme?"
I innocently cocked my head to the side like I wasn't sure, and the snake man sighed heavily.
"Oh mighty roc---"
"One more thing."
The snake hissed loudly and practically shouted, "What is it now!?"
"Your eyes." I said, covering my own, "You cannot watch the rocks or it will jinx your chances. Now, I don't care much if you do it or not, personally, because it wouldn't help me in the bit."
"FINE!" He said, tightly squeezing the rocks to keep his anger from rising. He closed his eyes, and raised the rocks over his head in preparation to throw them. He took a deep breath and began chanting.
"Oh mighty rocks of the sky, help me win this game of mine, for--"
"Slower." I instructed.
The snake's whole body shook as he started again slower, but through clenched teeth. I heard the footsteps behind me, and glanced to the side enough to see Yugi in my prefrial vision. He didn't make much of a sound as he dashed over to the sword laying in the grass, and watched for my signal.
"---and no one like me could win against him."
I nodded as the time came, and Yugi threw the sword over to me. I caught it as the rocks hit the ground and fell into the Ying Yang position like they should. The snake beast watched in shock as he first saw the rocks fall, and then saw the sword clutched in my hand. I smirked, and held the sword up higher so it caught the light of the moon and seemed to sparkle.
"B-b-but---how?" The snake cried, horrified. "What magic is this!?"
"Magnets, idiot." I answered bluntly, "Guess I'm not so trustworthy after all."
The snake had no time to react as the sword came falling down on him and cut into his skull. He screamed out in pure agony as the blood issued from the wound like a mortal fountain. Gushing forth into the air and running down his forehead. He fell to the ground when I let go of my sword, knowing it was the only thing keeping him up.
Then, there was complete silence.
Yugi took a step forward first, and did his best to say something, but couldn't come up with the words. Ryou had gone paler then he had been before, and Thina was slowly and gently shaking her head. I took a long breath, heart still beating from the last attack. Then I walked over and yanked the sword free from his skull. The body disintegrated instantly, but the blood still laid glistening on the grass.
"What do we do now?" Ryou said uneasily.
I looked to him calmly, "Let's go find the others."
~** CAITLIN **~
"How are you feeling, girl?"
I ignored him, turning my head the other way to look at the empty seat next to me. My feet were bound, I was completely unarmed, and they had locked me into the carriage after all. I didn't know anything about what they planned to do with me, which made me very uneasy. Yukio sat across from me, arms crossed in front of him and dagger handy.
"It's been almost four hours now," He continued, "and you haven't spoken a single word."
Again, I ignored him. I was completely determined not to tell him anything that he could use against me, and refused to say a word. Yukio was growing impatient. I had learned that about him in the short period of time. He was an impatient man, ruthless and a liar. He never grew 'attached' to any living soul, and therefore, he had no problem making sacrifices. Suddenly, I heard a slam against the side of the carriage.
"Speak, girl, speak!" Yukio demanded, "I have long sense forgotten the sound of your voice, now tell me what you are thinking!"
His right hand was on the dagger, while his left still hung in the air where he had slammed his fist against the wall of the carriage. I didn't like that position he was in, so I hastily came up with some things to say that he couldn't use to his own advantage.
"I am thinking," I said quietly, "That I should have never left my home."
This didn't seem like the answer Yukio wanted, and he clenched his fist angrily. I was about to try and come up with something new to say, when my eyes caught the glint of something shoved into the seat next to me. Curiously, I slid my hand down into the crevasse and pulled out what looked like a small shard of a mirror.
I ran my fingers down the surface and asked, "What is this?"
I got no answer. Instead, I was slapped so hard across the cheek that I dropped the mirror and fell against the back of my seat. Yukio's eyes were ablaze as he snatched the mirror back and glared at me.
"Your wandering eye will be the death of you." He warned.
I touched my cheek lightly to stop the stinging, and then returned to staring at the empty seat next to me. Everything was silent, except for the sound of horses hooves and the footsteps of Yukio's men from outside. Suddenly, I felt the carriage slow to a halt, and Yukio rose to his feet with a sickening smile.
"It seems we have reached our destination." He said, "Get out girl. It is time for our little plan to take effect."
~** BRYAC **~
I sliced the branches in front of us as Thina, Yugi, Ryou and I ran through the thick forest. Sharply cut branches and thorny bushes cut at my skin, but I didn't care. Ryou was right behind me, able to run faster than the others most likely because he was light and had long legs. Thina came up after, and Yugi last. It was starting to worry me that we hadn't come up with Yoko or Caitlin yet, after all the searching we had done.
"Do we know where we're going?" Yugi shouted, "I mean, are we going in the opposite direction and don't even know it?"
"We don't have time for that, Yugi!" I snapped, pushing my way through the brush, "Yukio could have killed them now for all we know!"
I cut my way through a large group of tree vines and saw something that made me feel we still had hope. There in front of me, was what looked like a road. It wasn't done well, which lead me to believe it was made in a hurry, and there were human footprints in the dirt along with four tire tracks.
"We must be close..." I murmured, scanning the area quickly.
"Bryac, look!" Ryou said, pointing up ahead.
There was something in the road. Something small and crouched over like it was looking for something. It was the middle of the night, so I couldn't make out what it was easily. But when it looked up, I felt a wave of relief.
"Yoko!" I shouted, running over to the girl.
She looked up at me and smiled, "Oh Bryac! I'm so glad I found you I was so worried!"
"There isn't any time for that." I told her, "Do you know anything about these tracks?"
She nodded, face covered in dirt and hair full of leaves, "Yes. Yukio came this way with his men, and Caitlin is with them."
I cursed and took off running down the road, Yoko cried out to me but I couldn't understand what she was saying. I just knew that if Yukio had his way, she'd be dead by morning if she wasn't already. I glanced behind me to see Ryou and Yugi were running with me as well, but Thina stayed with Yoko. I looked ahead.
There was the faint light of a campfire not far from where we were. I stopped, and waited for Yugi and Ryou to catch up.
"What's wrong?" Yugi asked, skidding to a halt next to me, "Why did you stop."
I wordlessly pointed to the campfire glow, and whispered, "You can come with me, but don't make a sound. I'm going to check it out."
Ryou and Yugi nodded solemnly, and we all crept over to the light. It turned out to be a campfire alright, washing the area around it in pure golden light. But strangely, there wasn't anyone there. I walked over to the fire and kicked a stone in. Why would someone leave their fire on if they had left? I looked around the area even more closely, suddenly getting the uncanny feeling that
I was being watched.
"Over here!" Yugi called, waving us over.
He was a little ways further from the fire, and when I ran to him, saw that he was standing next to what looked like a small door carved into an oak tree. He felt around the surface, clearly looking for some sort of a catch to get it open.
"It won't open." Yugi told us, "But it just doesn't make sense that someone would carve this here for no reason."
"With a knob and everything..." Ryou trailed off, squinting at the tree.
I thought about it for a moment, but nothing added up to me. I turned and looked around a last time before looking to the two boys.
"Ryou," I said, "Cut through the door with your dagger."
Ryou blinked, but nodded and pulled out the Dagger of Kusdai. He closed his eyes in concentration, and then in one swift movement, carved exactly around the door in the oak. He then smiled, and showed off a slight bit by simply touching the door, and having it fall down inside the tree. It was true,
The tree was hollow.
In fact, not only hollow. There were tiny stairs the coiled down into the dark underground. Yugi took is upon himself, and carefully, started to walk down the stairs into the darkness. He did it almost effortlessly, which Ryou and I both believe, is because he has such small feet. Because I quickly found out, coming right after him, that it wasn't as easy for me to climb down stairs as tiny and steep as those.
"You don't have to worry." Yugi said from below, "It's alright."
"...Something about this seems....odd..." I said.
I didn't have much time to think about this, though, because shortly after I said that something big and heavy landed on me and knocked my down onto the ground. And what's more, because those stairs were so steep, I and what was on top of me ended up sliding down the remainder of the hard wooden stairs face first, and landing hard on a wooden floor.
"Are you guys alright?"
I looked up at Yugi, who had come down the stairs successfully with no bumps and/or bruises. I pushed whatever was on top of me off, and glared down at what had turned out to be:
Ryou.
He blushed and pulled himself off the ground guiltily muttering, "They weren't as stable as they looked..."
I opened my mouth to yell at him, when I heard a small sound from a little further in the tree. In fact, once you got down the small stairs this place was unusually spacious. There were tree roots coming from the ceiling, and only a small bit of wood on the floor that I had landed on. But it was almost completely black. Except for the subtle glow coming from Ryou and Yugi's items that helped them see where they were going.
"Is there someone else down here?" Yugi whispered.
"I don't know." Ryou answered, starting to go down one of the many tunnels.
I heard the sound again, sort of a muffled grumbling. What first came into my mind was a Griffin that might have lived in the tunnels. But what I saw, definitely wasn't a Griffin.
"Caitlin?" Yugi said.
Caitlin looked up at us, curled up against a dirt wall with ropes tied around her legs, arms, and one in her mouth to keep her from calling out for help. Her pupils dilated at the sight of us and she started to shake her head wildly. Ryou knelt over and cut through the ties around her legs, and I started to untie the one in her mouth. She pulled away from me when Ryou cut her arms free, and she yanked the gag out by herself glaring angrily at me.
"IDIOT!" She shrieked, "It's a trap you moron!"
The words barely left her mouth when I was grabbed from behind. My arm was twisted painfully behind me, and I felt someone roughly start searching me for any belongings that might be worth anything to them. That's when they found the sword. I couldn't see their faces, but fought back to the best of my abilities and unfortunately, caused one man behind me to loose their temper. He shouted something inaudible to the others around me, I then felt a hard blow on the back of my head and my vision faded to black.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Retaw- Yes. Things are definitely starting to fall apart. But come on, their luck couldn't last forever. And also, I noticed that for some reason, a lot of people black out in my story at the end of a chapter. *shrug* Go figure.
SUNC!
Caitlin- *scoff* I'm sure...
Retaw- *glare* I DO! See my computer has been down for like, FOREVER, and so I couldn't write a thing! It was really annoying, so if it's any consolation, I was just as perturbed as you all were when Sunday came and went. Maybe more REVIEWS would help? *batts eyes*
Caitlin- Don't count on it.
Retaw- ...-__-... OH YES! One more thing that has nothing to do with the story!
~~NOTHING TO DO WITH THE STORY MOMENT: ~~
~ OK, so, I've just gotten into this new anime called 'Kare Kano' or 'His and His Circumstances' in English. IT IS THE BEST THING! I love it so much! In fact, I'm listening to a few of the background music songs right now. I highly recommend it to all! ....except for one thing.
The ending...it stinks.
It really, really, really, REALLY stinks! It was horrible! The ending of the anime series was SOOOOO agrivating! It just ended! So take head. If you take my recommendation and watch Kare Kano (available on DVD and Manga) be ready for a really bad ending. That is all. ~
RETAW- Ok, so I'm just going to get on with the story now! Hopefully, this will come out as well as I see it in my head...
WARNING: Graphic violence ahead, this is why it's PG-13 peoples! Sorry!
~** BRYAC **~
"Well, I'm going to get something to eat." Yoko announced with a little wave, "I'll be back later!"
I nodded, letting my eyes graze around the room, "I'm going to go find Notis. Try not to do anything stupid."
Of course, the comment was directed to my 'new friends'. I didn't know what they would do without someone to help them, though frankly, I didn't really care. I had come here for one reason and one reason only, and that was to find the information I needed. I pushed my way through the crowd of people, and finally, I found Notis.
Notis was a strange man. He had large hands and feet, a long, narrow face toped with straggly blond hair and abnormally huge brown eyes. He stood alone near the wall, and watched me blankly as I approached him. It had been a long time since I had seen him, almost nine years I think, and I could tell he recognized me enough to know he'd seen me, but not enough to know why. I only remembered him for his lamp-like eyes that stared right into you. He never missed a beat, which was one of the reasons Cavamick had elected him top spy.
I stood next to him for a while, waiting for him to say something. He only stared me down at first, but then, he smiled.
"Bryac." He said, still slightly unsure.
I looked to him, "I was hoping you'd have news for me."
At this, Notis' smile turned into a huge, toothy grin. "So it is you. I was wondering when I'd see you again, but when five years past I assumed you dead."
I chuckled dryly, "You underestimate me, Notis. I'm not so easily killed."
"I should have known." Notis said, "Forgive me."
I chose to ignore the hint of sarcasm in his tone, and continued, "I was hoping you could tell me our current position."
Notis blinked, "That's a very broad subject, Bryac."
"Listen, are we still one step ahead of Yukio or not?"
Notis hesitated for a moment, looked to the floor, and said, "I'm afraid this is beyond sugar coating, so I'm just going to tell you like it is."
Though he created the illusion of being ready to tell, he was still holding something back. Whatever he needed to tell me, was obviously something I would not like to hear. He fidgeted, and sighed and then closed his eyes.
"A group of our men were killed today."
I felt my head jerk to stare at him. Whatever I was expecting, it wasn't that. Notis nodded, as if my reaction was exactly what he was expecting.
"How many?"
Notis looked to the ceiling this time, and paused while he tried to remember, "There were six of them. Three days ago we found the weapons of five who were killed. One seems to be missing, but we can't know for sure. Some people think he was killed with the others, other's don't."
"Who was killed?" I demanded.
Again, Notis sighed, "The ones that left were Cavamick, Shintel, Julian, Meiko, and Darren. There is no way of knowing who died and who disappeared."
My mind began to race as I tried to process what Notis had told me. Five of our men had been killed. There were only thirty or forty in our group, and with five gone our chances of overtaking Yukio lowered even more. He was gaining allies and we were losing them! And if what he said was true, I had already lost maybe two of my finest warriors. My strongest swordsmen.
My best friends.
"That's not the worst of it." Notis continued, breaking my train of thought, "We've gone from being a step ahead to a step behind."
This was almost too much, "What!"
"Yukio has found the information he needs, gained the allies he needs, and in fact, has pin-pointed your location and is scheduled to come here tonight."
For the first time in almost a decade, I panicked. "But how!?"
Notis shrugged, like it was of no difference to him, "We don't know, but it seems that there is a leak in our group."
I froze, "A leak?"
Before Notis could respond, there was an ear splitting scream. I looked up from my own thoughts to be met with a horrifying sight. Hundreds of warriors flooded into the building, and created complete chaos among the people inside. Tables were overturned, people in the way were slaughtered, they just kept spreading more and more fear with their actions. Instantly, I felt a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach and began to scan the crowd for Thina, Yoko, Caitlin, Ryou and Yugi. I spun around, wildly searching for my companions but finding no one. As if it had been rehearsed, there then came a voice from behind me.
"It is almost over now."
My eyes were met with the glassy ones that could only belong to our oracle, Thina. She looked strangely worried, even for a situation like this. I was about to say something when she grabbed me by the front of my shirt and pulled me close to her. Her grip was unbreakable, and her eyes were starting to bulge making her look almost deranged.
"The end is coming." She said in a low voice, pulling me close enough that I was almost nose to nose with her, "You must listen to me! It is the beginning of the end! You will soon die! She will betray us and abandon all of us!"
She was becoming more and more hysterical, and I didn't know how to respond. Thina never acted like this. She was always calm and in control, never showing any emotions. But this, this was completely unlike her. What had she fortold that could do this to her?
"Bryac!"
Yugi ran over to me, out of breath and very pale. He tripped a little on his way over, but nothing could stop him from getting over to our little area near the wall. Ryou came right after him, looking just as disheveled and horrified.
"Bryac!" Yugi called, having to yell over the screams, "I can't find Yoko! And I just saw someone kidnapping Caitlin!"
There was a crash, as the table nearest to us fell onto the floor letting the glasses on top of it fall and shatter on the ground right where Notis should have been. But he was gone. I cursed loudly and searched my mind for some clever way out of this mess, but there was none. The only 'brilliant plan' I had was to get out of here as quickly as possible. Hoping Thina, Yugi, and Ryou would catch on, I made a dash for the only exit in the building, and everyone followed me as close as they could. Seeing the exit, I let out a breath of relief as we neared the doorway, and flung the door open as soon as I was at touching distance. The small group piled out into the moonlight and we slammed the door behind us shut. I started to take off again, knowing that we needed to get distance between Yukio's men and ourselves, but because I was so engaged in thought, I didn't see the man in front of us and ran straight into him. He grabbed me hard around the neck and started to lift me into the air.
"Well well," He sneered, "Look what I have here..."
I gasped for air and reached for my sword.
But it wasn't necessary.
The next thing I heard was a high pitched shriek, and I was dropped onto the ground. The man fell to the ground and clutched his leg, rocking in agony as blood seeped into the grass from where his foot used to be. The man let himself lay in the grass, and his whole body began to twitch and writhe. I spun around to face a very shocked and disturbed Ryou, knuckles white from gripping his dagger so hard. Judging by the look on his face, I was sure he was about to vomit. But instead, he turned to me and smiled lightly.
"I'm sorry, should I have left him to you?" He said playfully, sheathing his dagger even though he still looked stunned at what he did voluntarily.
"You fool..."
All eyes turned to the man, who laid still on the grass. His eyes were shut, and his body cold and limp, but I was sure it was him who had spoken. Cautiously, I walked to the man and stood over him, watching for any signs of life. He didn't move a muscle, or even seem to breathe, but I knew something was wrong.
"Is he dead?" Yugi whispered.
I didn't answer. I leaned over a little further to get a better look, but there was nothing. I gently took my own sword out, and slowly started to lower it down onto the man's face with no real intention to kill him more then Ryou had. He didn't budge. But to shake off my feelings of dread, I decided to kill him for sure anyway. Just to be sure. I raised the sword over my head and hurled it down at the man.
Then, something happened.
Immediately, the man's eyes flew open and he hit the side of the sword hard enough to fling it out from my hands and onto the ground. The man sneered, revealing his true nature and pulling himself up again.
"But he was dead!" Yugi cried, backing up as the man wheezed.
"Fool!" The man hissed, "Do not perceive me as only an ordinary human!"
The man smirked, his eyes yellowing and pupils morphing into a slit. His legs fused together into a royal blue and black tail, and his teeth into fangs though the rest of his body stayed the same. The foot still laid in the grass, not attached to anything and not having any evidence that it had ever been attached to anything. Except, of course, a small section of the end of the tail that had been chopped off. Besides that, the man looked completely unharmed, though two times larger and nine hundred times deadlier.
"A man snake." I said quietly.
The snake smirked again, raising up onto it's tail, "That's right, human."
"So then Yukio has gained your alliance as well?" I said louder.
The snake clapped his hands and pretended to be impressed, "Why, Right again!"
I tried to keep my frustration hidden as I continued, "What do you think you are going to earn from this?"
The snake seemed surprised by the question, but quickly said, "Power of course. Yukio promised our kind half of the realm if we can just capture you little humans."
I laughed, "And you believe him? Why would he just hand over the land to you? What's stopping him from taking us, and leaving you with nothing?"
The snake hissed and glared down at us, "He wouldn't dare."
"Ah, but he might." I proceeded, "How can you trust him?"
In one swift movement, the snake was in front of me, with a snarl on his face that is only seen before you die. His tongue poked out through his teeth as he stared at me, contemplating what I had just said. Maybe he found some sense in what I had said, but didn't want to believe it. Or maybe he was thinking of an interesting way to kill me. Either way, I kept a straight face on as he stared.
"You might be right, human." He hissed, "But if I cannot trust his word, then how in seven hells am I supposed to trust yours?"
I knew that Caitlin and Yoko could be in grave danger, but I couldn't just run off with the snake human in the way. And there wasn't going to be any hope of persuading him, so I was left only with manipulating him. Slowly, I looked to my sword still laying on the ground. If I could only just reach it, then I could kill the beast and we'd be home free. But it was too far away. There was no way I could reach it without being noticed.
Unless...
"What about this." I told the snake, "How about we play a little game of trust. That way, you can tell if I'm worth listening to."
The snake snorted, "I have no time for silly games. Besides, what could you possibly do that would make me trust you?"
I reached a hand into my pocket, and pulled out a red stone, and a purple stone. I shook them in my fist for a while, and the snake man watched curiously. I then dropped them on the ground like dice, and smiled a little as they fell perfectly into place on the ground in the shape of a Ying Yang.
"I promise you," I said, "That these rocks will always land that same way, no matter how you drop them."
The snake's eyebrow raised, "What is the point of this?"
"I want you to throw the rocks. If they land that way, like I say they will, then I will win this game and you let us go."
"However," The snake interrupted, "If they land any other way than that, I will win and take all of you without a fight. Agreed?"
Seizing the opportunity, I turned around as if to look at the group behind me for their opinion. I looked hard at Yugi, so he knew I was trying to tell him something, and then glanced to the sword sitting a little ways away from us. He was confused at first, but I had no time to explain, and decided not to push my luck. I turned back around and faced the snake.
"We agree."
It was all Yugi now, I could only hope.
"Good." The snake said with a grin, "I'm always up to a good gamble. It's a shame this won't last long, though..."
"Don't be so sure." I corrected him, picking up the stones again and handing them over to the snake.
The man snake grinned again, fangs sticking out from his mouth as he held the stones in his palm. He shook them around for a moment, and just when he was about to throw them onto the ground-
"Just a minute!"
He stopped, and looked up at me angrily, "What is it?"
I tapped my chin thoughtfully, "You know, because you aren't entirely human, the dice won't work for you."
"What do you mean?"
"They will only half work." I explained, "Because you are only half human, you see. If you want to make up for it and play this game fairly, you will need to hold the rocks on top of each other before you throw and say the following words---"
"I don't have time for this!" The snake snapped.
"Ah ah ah," I said, shaking a finger, "A game is a game. Now, I need you to say 'Oh mighty rocks of the sky, help me win the game of mine, for I am only half a man, and no one like me could win against...him.'"
The snake looked at me skeptically, "Was that supposed to rhyme?"
I innocently cocked my head to the side like I wasn't sure, and the snake man sighed heavily.
"Oh mighty roc---"
"One more thing."
The snake hissed loudly and practically shouted, "What is it now!?"
"Your eyes." I said, covering my own, "You cannot watch the rocks or it will jinx your chances. Now, I don't care much if you do it or not, personally, because it wouldn't help me in the bit."
"FINE!" He said, tightly squeezing the rocks to keep his anger from rising. He closed his eyes, and raised the rocks over his head in preparation to throw them. He took a deep breath and began chanting.
"Oh mighty rocks of the sky, help me win this game of mine, for--"
"Slower." I instructed.
The snake's whole body shook as he started again slower, but through clenched teeth. I heard the footsteps behind me, and glanced to the side enough to see Yugi in my prefrial vision. He didn't make much of a sound as he dashed over to the sword laying in the grass, and watched for my signal.
"---and no one like me could win against him."
I nodded as the time came, and Yugi threw the sword over to me. I caught it as the rocks hit the ground and fell into the Ying Yang position like they should. The snake beast watched in shock as he first saw the rocks fall, and then saw the sword clutched in my hand. I smirked, and held the sword up higher so it caught the light of the moon and seemed to sparkle.
"B-b-but---how?" The snake cried, horrified. "What magic is this!?"
"Magnets, idiot." I answered bluntly, "Guess I'm not so trustworthy after all."
The snake had no time to react as the sword came falling down on him and cut into his skull. He screamed out in pure agony as the blood issued from the wound like a mortal fountain. Gushing forth into the air and running down his forehead. He fell to the ground when I let go of my sword, knowing it was the only thing keeping him up.
Then, there was complete silence.
Yugi took a step forward first, and did his best to say something, but couldn't come up with the words. Ryou had gone paler then he had been before, and Thina was slowly and gently shaking her head. I took a long breath, heart still beating from the last attack. Then I walked over and yanked the sword free from his skull. The body disintegrated instantly, but the blood still laid glistening on the grass.
"What do we do now?" Ryou said uneasily.
I looked to him calmly, "Let's go find the others."
~** CAITLIN **~
"How are you feeling, girl?"
I ignored him, turning my head the other way to look at the empty seat next to me. My feet were bound, I was completely unarmed, and they had locked me into the carriage after all. I didn't know anything about what they planned to do with me, which made me very uneasy. Yukio sat across from me, arms crossed in front of him and dagger handy.
"It's been almost four hours now," He continued, "and you haven't spoken a single word."
Again, I ignored him. I was completely determined not to tell him anything that he could use against me, and refused to say a word. Yukio was growing impatient. I had learned that about him in the short period of time. He was an impatient man, ruthless and a liar. He never grew 'attached' to any living soul, and therefore, he had no problem making sacrifices. Suddenly, I heard a slam against the side of the carriage.
"Speak, girl, speak!" Yukio demanded, "I have long sense forgotten the sound of your voice, now tell me what you are thinking!"
His right hand was on the dagger, while his left still hung in the air where he had slammed his fist against the wall of the carriage. I didn't like that position he was in, so I hastily came up with some things to say that he couldn't use to his own advantage.
"I am thinking," I said quietly, "That I should have never left my home."
This didn't seem like the answer Yukio wanted, and he clenched his fist angrily. I was about to try and come up with something new to say, when my eyes caught the glint of something shoved into the seat next to me. Curiously, I slid my hand down into the crevasse and pulled out what looked like a small shard of a mirror.
I ran my fingers down the surface and asked, "What is this?"
I got no answer. Instead, I was slapped so hard across the cheek that I dropped the mirror and fell against the back of my seat. Yukio's eyes were ablaze as he snatched the mirror back and glared at me.
"Your wandering eye will be the death of you." He warned.
I touched my cheek lightly to stop the stinging, and then returned to staring at the empty seat next to me. Everything was silent, except for the sound of horses hooves and the footsteps of Yukio's men from outside. Suddenly, I felt the carriage slow to a halt, and Yukio rose to his feet with a sickening smile.
"It seems we have reached our destination." He said, "Get out girl. It is time for our little plan to take effect."
~** BRYAC **~
I sliced the branches in front of us as Thina, Yugi, Ryou and I ran through the thick forest. Sharply cut branches and thorny bushes cut at my skin, but I didn't care. Ryou was right behind me, able to run faster than the others most likely because he was light and had long legs. Thina came up after, and Yugi last. It was starting to worry me that we hadn't come up with Yoko or Caitlin yet, after all the searching we had done.
"Do we know where we're going?" Yugi shouted, "I mean, are we going in the opposite direction and don't even know it?"
"We don't have time for that, Yugi!" I snapped, pushing my way through the brush, "Yukio could have killed them now for all we know!"
I cut my way through a large group of tree vines and saw something that made me feel we still had hope. There in front of me, was what looked like a road. It wasn't done well, which lead me to believe it was made in a hurry, and there were human footprints in the dirt along with four tire tracks.
"We must be close..." I murmured, scanning the area quickly.
"Bryac, look!" Ryou said, pointing up ahead.
There was something in the road. Something small and crouched over like it was looking for something. It was the middle of the night, so I couldn't make out what it was easily. But when it looked up, I felt a wave of relief.
"Yoko!" I shouted, running over to the girl.
She looked up at me and smiled, "Oh Bryac! I'm so glad I found you I was so worried!"
"There isn't any time for that." I told her, "Do you know anything about these tracks?"
She nodded, face covered in dirt and hair full of leaves, "Yes. Yukio came this way with his men, and Caitlin is with them."
I cursed and took off running down the road, Yoko cried out to me but I couldn't understand what she was saying. I just knew that if Yukio had his way, she'd be dead by morning if she wasn't already. I glanced behind me to see Ryou and Yugi were running with me as well, but Thina stayed with Yoko. I looked ahead.
There was the faint light of a campfire not far from where we were. I stopped, and waited for Yugi and Ryou to catch up.
"What's wrong?" Yugi asked, skidding to a halt next to me, "Why did you stop."
I wordlessly pointed to the campfire glow, and whispered, "You can come with me, but don't make a sound. I'm going to check it out."
Ryou and Yugi nodded solemnly, and we all crept over to the light. It turned out to be a campfire alright, washing the area around it in pure golden light. But strangely, there wasn't anyone there. I walked over to the fire and kicked a stone in. Why would someone leave their fire on if they had left? I looked around the area even more closely, suddenly getting the uncanny feeling that
I was being watched.
"Over here!" Yugi called, waving us over.
He was a little ways further from the fire, and when I ran to him, saw that he was standing next to what looked like a small door carved into an oak tree. He felt around the surface, clearly looking for some sort of a catch to get it open.
"It won't open." Yugi told us, "But it just doesn't make sense that someone would carve this here for no reason."
"With a knob and everything..." Ryou trailed off, squinting at the tree.
I thought about it for a moment, but nothing added up to me. I turned and looked around a last time before looking to the two boys.
"Ryou," I said, "Cut through the door with your dagger."
Ryou blinked, but nodded and pulled out the Dagger of Kusdai. He closed his eyes in concentration, and then in one swift movement, carved exactly around the door in the oak. He then smiled, and showed off a slight bit by simply touching the door, and having it fall down inside the tree. It was true,
The tree was hollow.
In fact, not only hollow. There were tiny stairs the coiled down into the dark underground. Yugi took is upon himself, and carefully, started to walk down the stairs into the darkness. He did it almost effortlessly, which Ryou and I both believe, is because he has such small feet. Because I quickly found out, coming right after him, that it wasn't as easy for me to climb down stairs as tiny and steep as those.
"You don't have to worry." Yugi said from below, "It's alright."
"...Something about this seems....odd..." I said.
I didn't have much time to think about this, though, because shortly after I said that something big and heavy landed on me and knocked my down onto the ground. And what's more, because those stairs were so steep, I and what was on top of me ended up sliding down the remainder of the hard wooden stairs face first, and landing hard on a wooden floor.
"Are you guys alright?"
I looked up at Yugi, who had come down the stairs successfully with no bumps and/or bruises. I pushed whatever was on top of me off, and glared down at what had turned out to be:
Ryou.
He blushed and pulled himself off the ground guiltily muttering, "They weren't as stable as they looked..."
I opened my mouth to yell at him, when I heard a small sound from a little further in the tree. In fact, once you got down the small stairs this place was unusually spacious. There were tree roots coming from the ceiling, and only a small bit of wood on the floor that I had landed on. But it was almost completely black. Except for the subtle glow coming from Ryou and Yugi's items that helped them see where they were going.
"Is there someone else down here?" Yugi whispered.
"I don't know." Ryou answered, starting to go down one of the many tunnels.
I heard the sound again, sort of a muffled grumbling. What first came into my mind was a Griffin that might have lived in the tunnels. But what I saw, definitely wasn't a Griffin.
"Caitlin?" Yugi said.
Caitlin looked up at us, curled up against a dirt wall with ropes tied around her legs, arms, and one in her mouth to keep her from calling out for help. Her pupils dilated at the sight of us and she started to shake her head wildly. Ryou knelt over and cut through the ties around her legs, and I started to untie the one in her mouth. She pulled away from me when Ryou cut her arms free, and she yanked the gag out by herself glaring angrily at me.
"IDIOT!" She shrieked, "It's a trap you moron!"
The words barely left her mouth when I was grabbed from behind. My arm was twisted painfully behind me, and I felt someone roughly start searching me for any belongings that might be worth anything to them. That's when they found the sword. I couldn't see their faces, but fought back to the best of my abilities and unfortunately, caused one man behind me to loose their temper. He shouted something inaudible to the others around me, I then felt a hard blow on the back of my head and my vision faded to black.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Retaw- Yes. Things are definitely starting to fall apart. But come on, their luck couldn't last forever. And also, I noticed that for some reason, a lot of people black out in my story at the end of a chapter. *shrug* Go figure.
SUNC!