The Hunt and the Hunted
Chick-a-tee-in-ur-face
Disclaimer: I do not own SM
AN: Hey! I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I am sorry for the lateness of this chapter; It was my first year at uni and I was busy with social and academic engagements. Anyways, I hope you like this chapter.
Chapter Seven
The smells of human ashes smothered her, making her feel sick. She covered her nose as she made her way through the thick debris of burnt houses. The air was thick with smoke. She could hear the distant sounds of grief, feel a mother's pain as she clutched to her child shielding her from the flames which surrounded them both. Screams pealed the air almost as thickly as the smoke. A group of men had disbanded running past her, not seeing her. She walked towards the top, always following the trail and saw an old man glowing. They locked eyes and in that instant she heard him speak.
"Child, you have been chosen to preserve your race…and heal mine. Falter in your path and you will fail. You must always be aware of whom you are and trust should only be given where trust is deserved. Remember your mother."
Then before her eyes, he disintegrated. His ashes forming a silver band before splitting into three shades and disappearing into the unknown. Behind her she heard a scream. "Mother." She turned around fast.
She was no longer amidst the burning village. She stood in a clearing near the forest. She saw a woman running away from the beast that followed her, fear in her eyes. And a little girl wept in the tree she was hiding. She ran towards the figure who was her mother but the beast had already pounced on her. Her pale face turned to her, her forest green eyes imploring her. Her lips moved, "Remember Lita and know that I love you." Then she was gone.
"No!" She screamed falling to the ground. The beast saw her then and charged at her. "Noooo!"
Lita sat up, her breathing heavy. Perspiration raced down her forehead. "Nooo!" Her cheeks were wet. "Mum."
"Remember Lita…and know that I love you."
Lita silently wept for the memory of her mother. Guilt washed over her all over again. Her stupidity had gotten her mother killed. Had left her an orphan to rely on a stranger. A stranger who none the less had saved her life and raised her to be who she was. She could be nothing but grateful to Artemis but it was nothing like having a mother to nurture her and comfort her as she grew into a woman with womanly needs.
Lita wiped her eyes and got up quietly. Her two companions were still sleeping. She shook her head. They had ceaselessly followed her and would not turn back. She would have tried harder to shake them off but she had a mission to fulfil and she couldn't waste time trying to lose a couple of hunters. She sighed, her mind wandering back to her dream. She recalled the old man saying something.
"Remember my mother. Why would he say something like that? Remember my mother." Then she remembered her own mother telling her to remember…remember what?
Lita returned to her makeshift pallet and sank down into its warmth, the chill of the night seeping into her skin. A flash of silver brought her attention to something beside Mina. A ring! Then she remembered something her mother had told her when she was still a very young girl. She must have been five at the time.
flashback
Lita was sitting in the warmth of her mother's arms in front of the fireplace. The light playing tricks on her eyes making a cosy setting for their little house. The firelight also reflected from the surface of the ring her mother wore. It was a beautiful ring and she wanted to hold it, mesmerised by its magnificence.
"Mummy can I wear your ring?" She asked in her adorable way, her eyes wide and pleading.
Her mother laughed, smiling into her daughters face and holding her tight against her chest. She held the ring in front of her. "This is a very special ring Lita."
"Really? Does it have magic?"
Amused her mother said, "Yes. This ring like two other has magic. A long time ago Lita, my great grandfather found a beautiful silver ring, in his shop one day. He thought maybe someone had lost it. And he waited a long time for someone to come and claim it. But no one did. So you know what he did? He melted the ring and made three separate beautiful rings, one for each of his daughters. And when his daughters were married he set a stone in the ring and gave it to them as a present. A diamond for his eldest, a ruby for his second and an emerald for his youngest."
"But what about the magic?"
"The magic Lita is love. Each ring has blessed his daughters and their descendents with a love match. And one day you will have this ring and all its magic."
End of flashback
My ring! But I had lost it. Lita frowned. Why was it important for me to find that ring? A distant howl filtered the air that sent shivers down Lita's spine. She covered herself with her cloak and fell promptly to sleep while the ring played over at the back of her mind.
"Hurry! We need to work fast. We only have one more day before the feasting." A strong voice bellowed out orders to everyone in the room who was working as hard as they could to make silver bullets. Preparing for an unknown war with the Wolffiends.
Bent over their separate work benches, both men and women worked hard together in perfect harmony, their pile of bullets building with every hour that passed. A tall man stood over them, watching, making sure no mistakes were made. Their lives depended on it. His eyes wandered to the two empty work benches and his brows furrowed together. They had been gone a few days now. Where could they be? He worried that they were hurt. Injured, or even killed.
"Darien," A voice called him out of his thoughts. He turned around to see who had spoken. It was Andrew. A tall man who was the opposite of himself. Where Andrew was compared to the light with his green eyes and blonde hair, he had been compared to the dark with his dark raven hair and blue eyes. Mina's half brother looked concerned.
"My sister has not yet returned. I'm beginning to worry."
"I'm sure they are fine Andrew. They are both well trained and can look after themselves." He paused for a second, hesitating to say what they both might fear. "And even if they were attacked…at least one of them would have made it back alive."
He let the sentence hang in the air between them for a while, not wanting to think which one of them would lose a sister and which one will have his sister safe in his arms. He didn't dare think about it. He had almost lost his sister once. To lose her again with the knowledge that their mother's sacrifice had been for naught would surely destroy him. He looked at his friend and did not envy him his fortune for he too had lost his mother to scarlet fever. But he at least had gained a new mother and a sister.
"Are you ready?" Darien asked, changing the subject. "Tomorrow night, we continue our hunt."
Andrew nodded, determination set in his jaws. "And unlike our forefathers, we will succeed and eliminate them all."
"The Queen is mine." Darien said with finality that Andrew could not refute this.
"Nothing." Rae sounded a little disappointed. They had made it to the heart of Crystal Mountain safely and had found nothing. She looked at Lita suspiciously, "Why are we here?"
Lita said nothing, ignoring her question to study her surroundings. She didn't want to admit it but the huntress was right. There was nothing for her to find here. The trail had abruptly ended, and they had come to a small clearing. One side was a steep cliff side and the other was a straight fall to the bottom. She looked out and could make out the little village where she had first met Mina. And Nathan. She followed the little trail she had used so many times and could make an outline of the little farm house she shared with Artemis.
"Aargh! I can't believe we wasted so much time to get up here…only to find nothing!"
"Shh Rae! You didn't have to come you know. You had many opportunities to turn back."
"And what? Face my brother telling him that I had abandoned my partner. No thank you, I would rather die than face him when someone disobeys his orders."
"Grow a back bone. You can't follow him around like a puppy all the time."
"Like you can talk."
"What's that suppose to mean? Andrew does not lead me around by the ring through my nose, I am not some kind of scared puppy…"
"I can see your mouth moving Mina, but I can't hear a thing you're saying."
Mina glared at Rae, her patience with her was growing weary. Every time she had thought that she might grow up a little but it was always the same. She looked away from her and stared across the view through blurred eyes. Then her blue eyes widened.
"Look!" She pointed towards the view.
Both Lita and Rae looked but could see nothing. "What are we looking at?"
"That…you have to blur your vision then look." She sounded excited.
Lita stepped back, blurring her vision, she stared out across the vastness of the land. There were three villages near each other, all sharing the same vast forest. And the dirt trail used to get from one village to another, all semi-linked together. Through blurred vision, the trails looked like rings. Three rings linked. And at the point where each ring touched was Lita's little farm house. Dead in the centre. What made it more exciting was that each village had a dominant colour. Through blurred vision, the South village had a reddish tint, the North-West village had a greenish tint and the North-East had a ghostly glow.
Three rings. Made from one. The silver ring of the Wolfdietrich.
"Of course." Lita exclaimed. She turned and hurriedly packed her few belongings. The other two huntresses, who knew there was significance to what they saw, didn't quite understand what was going on. "The rings! How could I have been so stupid! It was right in front of my eyes this whole time."
"What does it mean Lita?" Mina asked stepping forward.
"Only the ring of the wolfdietrich can wield them to its command." Lita said simply.
"Wha-What's that suppose to mean?" Rae said impatiently.
Mina stared hard at Lita. "The curse Rae. The pure rings of the Wolfdietrich were symbols of a ring lord's circle of power and everlasting fame."
"And only the bearer of the ring of the Wolfdietrich can wield the Wolffiends to its command." Lita finished.
"If you had studied their history you would have known that." Mina said disapprovingly. She turned her attention towards Lita, "But we always thought that it was a myth. No one ever found the ring."
"That's because the ring has taken on a different form." Lita explained. "My mother was telling me the story when I was a little girl; I had no idea the significance behind those words then."
"So you know where the ring is?"
"I had one."
The girls looked confused. "I don't understand. There is only one ring."
Lita shook her head. "No, the ring was found and melted into three rings. My mother owned one. And there are two more out there somewhere. I have to go back and find them."
Then it dawned on Mina. She swivelled around and stared hard at the scenery ahead of her. Three rings, semi-linked. That was it! The three girls hurriedly retraced their steps down the mountain path.
"How did your mother get one of the rings?" Mina asked.
"It was passed down to her by her own mother, and her mother before her. She told me my great grandfather found a silver ring in his shop and melted it into three rings for each of his daughters. My mothers' grandmother was the youngest of the three."
"So you have to find the descendents of the other two daughters, and get the ring."
"What I don't get," Rae chirped in, "Is why you are so interested in the ring?"
Lita stopped dead in her track. "I have a mission to complete. That is all you have to know."
"Why don't you let us help you?" Mina asked sincerely. "Surely that would be better than carrying this burden all on your own."
Lita shrugged of the hand that Mina offered. "The burden is my own. I will do this if only for my mother." She snapped.
"Let's keep moving." Rae said, shivering a little. "I don't like it here."
They hadn't even taken two steps when Lita heard the faint whiz pass her head and stick itself to the tree of the side of the trail.
"Watch out!" Lita warned. Both huntresses crouched. Out of the thick forest a group of five burly men came out.
"Well well, what do we have here?" One of them said.
"Looks like we have ourselves some entertainment."
"Take em boys." The other one said smirking.
Lita instinctively crouched, Artemis' words repeated in her mind. When the first attack came she was ready. She turned and kicked her attacker's feet from under him. She turned in time for the second to move out of his blow giving him a high kick to the back of his head. He fell forward hitting the tree with such force that he fell unconscious. The first attacker by this time had regained himself and had grabbed her from behind. She struggled for a while, his arms squeezing her tightly.
Rae immediately went into attack mode as soon as she saw her attacker come forward. She had made a semi-turn and brought her fists in quick succession across his face then a quick hard blow to his chest. He stumbled backwards a stunned expression on his face. She had made him angry. Rae smiled. Her smile soon turned into a frown when she saw him brandish a knife and started coming forward fast. She tried to move out of the way but wasn't fast enough. She screamed and clutched her arm where he had cut her.
Mina, as soon as she saw one man come for her took her gun out which was kicked out of her hand. She took her stance and started defending herself. She saw an opening in his attack and started to attack accurately hitting him under his neck which made him stumble back. She was just about to throw a side kick to the head when she heard Rae cry out. She turned in time to see Rae clutching her arm. The man she was being attacked by was wielding a knife. She saw Lita was struggling in a hold from another man and was caught off guard when her own attacker gave her a hard blow across the face and fell forward.
"You stupid wench." She heard him say angrily. She turned around and watched in fear as he brandished a knife while pinning her down with his body. She quickly turned as much as she could but not far enough to miss the blade. She screamed as she felt the sharp edge slide into her shoulder.
Lita who had managed to get her footing right flipped the man over her shoulders and hit him heard across his head, then felt for a pulse. He was still alive but unconscious. Then she heard Rae cry out and turned to see her arm was bleeding. She looked around in time to see Mina's attacker on top of her digging his knife into her shoulder and she heard her scream. She scrambled up to help them but the big man, she supposed was their leader, had come up from behind her.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Lita narrowed her eyes. "You can make it easier for yourself and move out of the way. Or in seventeen seconds I will have you on your back and probably dead."
"Tough words for a little lady. But I tell you, in sixteen seconds your friends will be dead. OR you can all live but come with us willingly." He gave her his little smile of victory. "It's your choice."
To emphasize his point, the man pinning Mina down pushed his knife in a little further. Mina's scream of pain echoed across the steep valley of Crystal Mountain.
Nathan sat, half in the shadows of the Jade Inn. In his hand he twirled the little ring that belonged to Lita. Everyday that passes brought him closer to his bond partner, and further from her. He frowned. She had just disappeared. He tried waiting for her at the little eden but she didn't come. You fool Nephlite! Now she's afraid of you. He turned the ring over one last time before silently slipping it back in his pocket.
"Nephlite." Nathan didn't move from his seat, nor did he look up to greet his visitor. "I'm going to kill myself from madness. How long must we stay here for?"
"Only until the New Moon Zoicite. You know the rules for our survival."
"Must we stay here and…and be around them. I can't stand this anymore. They're disgusting. Only the other day Sapphire was boasting about how many mortals he can kill in the week of the feasting."
"Which by the way, starts tomorrow night."
"And Jadeite. He is becoming more like them. I saw him the other night with that girl."
Nathan slammed his hand down on the table. "We do what we must Zoicite to survive. We all know our place. Do you know yours?"
Zoicite's green eyes widened then she lowered them. "I'm sorry Nephlite. Forgive my impertinence. My tongue ran away with me. I just wish there was another way."
"So do I. Believe me, so do I."
"But Artemis…he found a way didn't he. I heard some stories, that he bonded with a mortal…I'm sure…"
"Enough! Artemis was a traitor. You will no longer mention him nor will you listen to any of these so called stories circulating. Do we understand each other?"
"Crystal." And with that Zoicite left Nephlite to his thoughts. Artemis. He had defied the rules of survival, breaking his engagement to bond his life with a mortal. He was deemed a traitor by his own brother, their king, and that made him an enemy to all Wolfdietrichs and Wolffiends. Nathan thought about Lita. Could he lose everything he ever knew for a lifetime next to her? Could he choose the path that Artemis walked? He needed to find her.
The sky was beginning to darken and Lita was still trying to figure out a way out of the mess they had gotten themselves into. She couldn't risk anything that would put the lives of the other two in danger and Mina could barely walk as it was. Their five captors were leading them close to the third village. She scowled. She didn't have the time to lose playing these little games. The feasting started tomorrow and she was no where near finding those rings. They were now resting in a little clearing she assumed was their temporary camp. There was already a ring where a fire once burned.
"We rest here for the night." Their leader said. "Tomorrow we take you into Silicon Village." Rae gasped. "Tie em up."
Two of the men grabbed the girls and tied them all together, their backs against a huge tree. Their hands and feet tied together in front of them. Mina groaned as they pulled the ropes tightly. The men smirked then turned back to the warmth of the fire that was blazing in the middle of the clearing. When no one seemed to pay attention to any of them, Lita turned to Rae.
"Pssst. What's Silicon Village?" she asked.
Rae trembled. "It's the Village that protects the entrance to Silicon Valley. For generations girls are kidnapped and presented to their chief as tributes. But before they are presented, they are taken into the Village and trained to entertain…to…" Rae gulped, "to pleasure, and to please. No one has ever escaped."
Lita was thinking, "Then how do you know about this place?"
She was met with silence. Then Rae continued in a subdued voice. "I had been kidnapped. I must have been eight at the time, it's seems so long ago now."
"So how did you scape?"
"She didn't. Before the sun went down, her mother had made a deal with the chief."
"We were to trade places. The chief might have thought I was too young to serve any purpose and agreed…as long as my mother didn't try to escape. I was free. But I had been into the village so I saw and heard everything."
Lita nodded. And now they were three more kidnapped girls to be presented to their chief as tributes…for what? She tried to move but the rope had been firmly tied around them. She had no leverage to try and loosen them. They were going into Silicon Village tomorrow. And Rae, what poor fate had led her through this path twice?
AN: So…I hope this will suffice. I will try to keep my chapters going. R&R please!!!! Thank you.