Ice: Hey everyone! It's Ice-dragon1018 and Ashleigh-Kaiba here.
Ashleigh: Hey! What's up?
Ice: Nothing too much.
Ashleigh: Ice . . . . I was talking to the readers.
Ice: Oh . . . cool!
Ashleigh: -_-
Ice: When you look at me like that, you look like you're being controlled by Marik.
Ashleigh: -_-
Ice: Ashleigh? You okay?
Ashleigh: -_-
Ice: *getting freaked out* Ashleigh?
Ashleigh: *screams* Boo!
Ice: *screams bloody murder and grabs Joey's arm*
Joey: ^_^
Ashleigh: ^_^
Ice: You just knocked ten years off of my life. . .
Ashleigh: Oops . . . sorry ^_^U
Ice: *still clutching onto Joey's arm*
Joey: ^_^U
Ashleigh: I didn't know you get scared so easily.
Ice: I don't. . .
Ashleigh: Sure . . . whatever. Anyway, we should really get on with the story.
Ice: Yeah, sure. Joey? The disclaimer?
Joey: Ice-dragon1018 and Ashleigh-Kaiba don't own anything in this fan fic except for the plot, and their characters.
Ashleigh and Ice: *battle cries* On with the story!
Joey: *sweatdrops*
~*~*~*~*~
". . ." = talking (in the story)
'. . .' = thoughts (in the story)
*. . .* = Ashli's voice over/narration throughout the story
^&&^ = change of scene
~*~*~*~*~
I was
alone; that's why I sometimes find it hard to trust people, and I never really
understood who I was. I never thought that I would need someone to rely on.*
It was a dark and stormy night out. A little girl, who appeared to be five
years old with her short lilac hair tied into two pigtails at the sides of her
head and her ocean blue eyes were wet with tears.
She rubbed her hands up and down her bare arms. It sucked to be wearing only
plain blue jeans, and a sleeveless black shirt.
She couldn't remember why she was out in the cold in the first place. The
little lilac haired girl was tired, and hungry and cold.
Staring at the rain, the small child could swear she sensed another being in
the same alley that she was in. She was getting scared, and it didn't help her
fear knowing that, even if there was someone else in the same alley as her, she
wouldn't be able to see them – it was too dark to see anything in the alley.
The lilac haired girl could barely even see her own hand if it was in front of
her face.
At the moment, the young girl laid down on the hard ground in hopes of getting
some sleep. She wasn't that scared, and besides, she was a light
sleeper. She would wake up if she heard anything in the alley.
Nearby, a figure in the shadows of the alley watched the young girl. She
watched as the young girl fainted onto the hard cement ground. The figure,
after waiting for a few moments to see if the young girl would wake up,
silently crept up to the sleeping girl and pulled her into her arms. Covering
the sleeping youngster with her cloak, the figure turned around and ran back
the way she had come.
^&&^
*I remember joining Azure, although not too clearly I was only five after all. Jurida
the leader found me in an alley. I had passed out from hunger and I can
faintly remember her face. She was a kind woman with bright green eyes and
strawberry blonde hair; Not exactly the image of a master thief, but then
neither was I.*
The little girl slowly opened her eyes, taking in the area around her. After a
moment, the petite girl began to panic. Where was she? Why was she not in the
alley where she fell asleep?
"Don't be scared young one." a sweet and gentle voice sounded throughout the
room. The little girl sat up, brushing the dark blue blankets off her small
body, and looked in the direction of the voice.
A woman, who appeared to be in her early twenties', walked slowly to the small
girl. Her short, blonde hair moved slightly as she walked over to the lilac
hair child. Her bright, green eyes appeared to be warm and gentle.
"Who – who are you?" the young girl asked, as she pulled the blankets up to
her nose. The woman smiled, and knelt down beside the cot where the girl had
been sleeping.
"My name is Jurida. I found you in an alley and brought you here to warm you
up from the cold." Jurida replied.
Her voice was warm and gentle, just like everything else about her.
The girl was silent for a moment, before Jurida smiled and asked, "Do you have
a name?"
Ocean blue eyes met green ones as she replied, "Hai. . .yes, my name is Ashli."
"Well, Ashli, it's nice to meet you. You must be hungry. How does some nice,
warm bread sound to you?" Ashli, the young girl, nodded with a smile on her
face.
"I'll be right back then. Why don't you lay down and try to warm up a little
more?" Jurida suggested, before leaving the room. A few minutes later, she
brought a few slices of bread back and handed them to Ashli. She watched as
Ashli gobbled up the bread slices. When Ashli was done, Jurida smiled at the
girl she rescued from the rain.
"Ashli, do you have anywhere to stay?" Jurida asked softly, already guessing
at the answer.
"No. . ."
"Do you know why you were out in the cold?" Jurida questioned, in a
soft, quiet voice. She rested her head in the palm of her left hand, which was
propped up on the cot where Ashli had been resting.
Ashli shook her head sadly. "I don't know why I was out there. I also don't
remember where I was before going into that dark place."
Jurida sighed. Ashli was just like all the other people who were in Azure, the
band of thieves that she ran. Almost every thieve in Azure had come off the
streets, looking for refuge.
"Ashli, listen, I know your mommy and daddy would probably say that you should
never go anywhere with a stranger, right?"
Ashli nodded. "That's what mommy and daddy always used to say."
Jurida lifted her head off of her hand a little. "Used to?" she asked in a
confused tone.
Ashli nodded. "Yeah. I don't know what happened to them. One day, they just
disappeared."
"Oh. . ." Jurida replied, before trailing off to think. "Ashli, would you
like to stay with me? I would be able to take care of you until we found your
mommy and daddy."
Ashli transferred her gaze from the young, pretty woman in front of her to the
blanket that was on her lap. She bit her lip. After a few moments of
thinking, Ashli agreed, launching herself at the woman and giving Jurida a
hug. Jurida was startled at the action, but hesitantly gave Ashli a hug back.
Jurida had to promise herself not to get too attached to the young girl. If
she did, and something to the lilac-haired girl, Jurida would never forgive herself.
^&&^
*Azure used to be a band of thieves who found an ancient relic that allowed
them to bestow special powers into people. To be a thief of Azure, you need
the ability to henshin or transform. Only once you have mastered henshin and
special attacks that you will gain from it, can you be a master thief.
Jurida enrolled me into a local school where I was about to meet the first
person I would ever truly say that I relied on; I'll talk about him later.
I stayed with Jurida and the
rest of Azure, who became like a family to me, until Jurida was killed by
another mysterious thief who I believe, was Sartura, a dangerous man who was
more like a bounty hunter than a thief.*
"Run Ashli," Jurida cried, grabbing the now fifteen-year old Ashli's hand and
running down a gloomy, and very smelly, alley. Sartura, a very mysterious
thief who was more like a bounty hunter, was after Jurida. Jurida was the leader
of Azure, and was rumoured to be have a powerful item. Even though Ashli had
grown up and lived with Jurida for ten years, she had no knowledge of Jurida
having any said item.
Jurida and Ashli took a sharp corner, but suddenly Jurida stopped running,
causing Ashli to crash into Jurida, knocking both of them to the ground.
Jurida grit her teeth and slowly stood up. Ashli slowly copied Jurida's
actions and gasped at what she saw. Standing in front of the two females was
two of Sartura's cronies. They had been hired by Sartura to help steal this all-powerful
item that Jurida supposedly held.
Jurida pushed Ashli behind her, and glared at the two men that stood in front
of her. They grinned, as Jurida and Ashli walked backwards. Ashli was a
little scared for Jurida's safety, and Jurida was really scared for
Ashli's safety. She would die before letting anything happen to Ashli.
"So, are you ready to give in?" a harsh voice asked, coming from behind Ashli
and Jurida. Jurida and Ashli gasped and turned around.
In an enraged voice, Jurida answered, "Never. I don't have anything you want.
So leave us be!"
Sartura grinned sadistically, and pulled a knife out of his pocket. "So you
want to do this the hard way?"
Now Ashli was scared. Jurida switched positions with Ashli. In a low
voice, she whispered to Ashli, "Look, no matter what happens to me, I want you
to run. Run away, and don't look back."
"But Jurida –"
"No buts. Do it Ashli." Jurida ordered. Ashli gasped; Jurida never
called her by her full name unless she was serious. "Save yourself."
Ashli didn't have a chance to reply because Jurida suddenly launched herself
forward and started beating Sartura, who dropped the knife. Sartura's two
cronies grabbed Ashli by the arms.
The fight drew on for a few minutes. Ashli struggled with the two men before
kicking one of them in the leg, spinning around and punching the other man in
the face, causing him to let go of her arm. If it was two things she learned
living on the streets with Jurida, it was fighting and stealing.
During the fight between Sartura and Jurida, Jurida was winning. She punched
and kicked Sartura, and whenever Sartura launched and kick or punch, Jurida
would expertly block it. She was winning the fight until Sartura suddenly
grabbed the knife in his left hand, and slammed Jurida into the wall by the
neck with his right hand. She raised up both her hands and tried to loosen
Sartura's grip, by digging her fingernails into his skin, but to no avail.
"Look here little girl," Sartura called, addressing Ashli, who was lying on
the ground, panting from the effort it had taken to fight off two much larger
men, not to mention being sick for the past week.
"What?" Ashli snapped, sitting up.
Jurida slowly turned her head towards Ashli. Her eyes were full of sadness,
and she appeared to be saying something.
"I'm. . .sorry. . .Ash." Jurida groaned, before Sartura plunged the knife deep
into her stomach, twisted it and ripped it from the body. He let go of Jurida
and she slumped to the ground.
"NO!" Ashli screamed, staying where she was. Her best friend, who was like a
mother to her, was dieing every second she wasted not getting revenge on this
bastard. She clenched her fists and stood up. "You bastard!"
The angry lilac-haired teenager who was seeing nothing but red right now,
launched herself at Sartura (who dropped the knife in shock) and started
punching, and kicking, and doing everything she could to cause pain to the one
who killed her surrogate mother.
Ashli had been taught a few simple jazz dance moves that Jurida had promised
would come in use when she really needed it. Ashli aimed her 'basketball kick'
(A/n: it's when you step forward with your left foot, kick your right foot in
the air, land on your right foot while your left foot is kicked into the air.
It looks cool, but it's sorta complicated to explain.) and hit Sartura in the
middle of the face. He stumbled backwards, and Ashli did a front flip. She
flipped her body so her feet were in the air, and her hands on the ground. She
quickly picked up the knife, and flipped back over onto her feet. She landed
so close to Sartura, he was shocked. Ashli shoved the knife into his stomach
just like he had done to Jurida, twisted it and ripped it out. Sartura's mouth
opened, and he started to choke. Clutching his stomach, he stumbled backwards
and fell to the ground.
~*~*~*~*~
Ice: I think that turned out pretty well for the first chapter.
Ashleigh: Yeah. Awesome!
Ice: ^_^
Ashleigh: ^_^
Seto: Stop with the damn smiling already!
Ice: Why are you here?
Seto: I was forced to come here by her! *points to Ashleigh*
Ashleigh: ^_^
Ice: ^_^ YAY! It's STT!
Seto: STT?
Ice and Ashleigh: Seto Torture Time! ^_^
Seto: *gulps nervously and runs away*
Ashleigh: HEY! Get back here! *runs after Seto*
Ice: ^_^U Well, Ashleigh is currently chasing after Seto. . .I wish I
had some popcorn. . .
Seto: *far away* Hands off my turtle!
Ice: *sweatdrops* Please review and tell us what you thought!