To Teefa85: I would love too see it! Please do! And thank you for your review!
To Alhazad2003: Thank you for your kind words. I haven't decided when yet, but Alhazad will definitely show up soon enough. What would the Quarter Knights be without him?
To Serap-89: Thank you, I appreciate that you like it! Do you have any suggestions on how to make people review? Should I threaten them a bit? (Tries to summon Moor Gault at them, gets instead all crispy and sooty)
A/N: Darn Guardian! (A burning, huge bird laughing!) Why you…!
Well, while I try and make FRIENDS with a certain fire Guardian, please go ahead and read chapter three! Come here birdie…
xxxx
Chapter Three
"Daddy, will it come back?" Kaitlyn asked as Clive tucked her to bed that night. She was still pale in her face and Clive guessed she was talking about the earthquake earlier in the day.
"I will not let anything happen to you, Kaitlyn." Clive answered truthfully. But the girl didn't seem convinced.
"But what if it comes back when I'm sleeping?" Kaitlyn asked again nervously, still refusing to go to sleep. Clive put his hands on her small shoulders.
"I doubt it will. If you promise me to go to sleep now, I'll teach you how to ride tomorrow on Hasufel. How does that sound?" Clive asked. Kaitlyn nodded, looking a little bit happier.
"Promise?" She asked. Clive nodded back.
"I promise."
xx
The next morning, Clive saddled the dark brown horse and led him to the house, where Kaitlyn was waiting for them. He picked her up and placed her on the saddle, and the horse whinnied lowly. "Take a firm hold on these." Clive instructed as he gave her the reins, showing her how to hold them, and slowly began to lead the horse around. Kaitlyn giggled, clapping the horse on its neck. Catherine came out through the door and watched her husband lead the horse round and round. It had been a while since she had seen her little daughter this happy. She watched them for a while, before she went back inside to prepare breakfast. As the horse walked around, Clive instructed on how to steer the horse and make it going. Once she seemed to get the hang of it, Clive let go of the horse and it stopped. Kaitlyn drove her heels into the horse's sides and it slowly began to walk again, with Clive walking beside and holding Kaitlyn's hand in case Hasufel did a sudden move which would throw Kaitlyn off. She laughed and giggled so loudly that it woke up most of the villagers, which stare out through the window to see who was causing the noise. Clive waved at them with a smile. After a while she stopped, and Clive helped her down from the horse. She was walking shakily, her legs were wide across but her face shone with happiness.
"Did you see me, Daddy? I did it! I was riding!" Clive picked her up.
"Yes, I saw you, and I am so proud of you." Clive said and Kaitlyn gave him a hard hug, before he put her down. Catherine called them in for breakfast, and Clive went in, holding his daughter in his left hand.
A dark figure watched them from above on a high hill, mumbling something before vanishing without a sound.
xx
"When will you be going to Little Rock, honey?" Catherine asked her husband as they sat around the table with Kaitlyn sitting between them, eating and listening at the same time. Clive turned to his wife.
"I was thinking about later this day. I might need to disguise myself, as I can't quite trust the people in Little Rock not to turn me in to the Ark. I will return later this day if everything goes according to plan." Clive said, while adjusting his glasses and smiling. Catherine smiled back. Noises were heard outside, as the villager began to come out from their houses to attend to their daily chores, and filling the village with life.
"Is Clive Winslett here!?" Somebody suddenly called out. Clive, Catherine and Kaitlyn became tense, as they thought it was a Drifter which was hunting for Clive. Catherine immediately jumped up, rushed to the windows and covered them with the drapes so Clive couldn't be visible from the outside.
Clive hid in a corner, thinking on how to get out unnoticed. They heard somebody, Datson, talk to the stranger and he sat course for the house in a haste. Catherine made a move with her hand at Clive which told him to keep quiet. She opened the door slightly when the stranger knocked on the door.
"Who's there?" She asked.
"It's Roykman, Miss Winslett. I have urgent news for Clive. Is he here?" Roykman asked. She seemed unwilling to let him in at first.
"It is okay, Catherine. We can trust him." Clive said as he stepped out from the corner. She nodded and opened the door to allow Roykman in.
"You're okay! Thank goodness that I made it in time!" Roykman said, looking like he had been running quite a distance, as he panted and sweat running down his head, while turning to Clive.
"Is there something wrong?" Clive asked, adjusting his glasses. Catherine offered Roykman a seat, which he gladly accepted. Clive sat down in front of him with Catherine sitting down to his left side, with Kaitlyn in her lap and Roykman started to tell them the incident at Boot Hill.
"Oh my goodness!" Catherine gasped as Roykman finished the story.
"Aunt Virginia, uncle Jet…" Kaitlyn whispered.
"Are Virginia and Jet safe?" Clive asked worried.
"Yes, they managed to drive the demon away. And by the way, Virginia asked me to deliver you this letter." Roykman stretched his hand over the table, in it lay a letter. Clive took it and started reading it. The further he got, the more the concerned look on his face deepened.
"Honey, what does it say?" Catherine asked. Clive looked on her.
"It appears that the demon in Boot Hill isn't the only one on the loose. I must go to Baskar Colony." Clive replied. Catherine grasped his hi left hand.
"Be careful, honey." She whispered and Clive gave her a kiss on her chin, and Kaitlyn a warm hug.
"I will write to you as fast as I can, under my father's name." He said, stood up and went to the bedroom, pulling out an old chest from underneath his side of the bed, and packed down some cloths into a bag.
xx
A few minutes later, Clive was standing on the bridge outside the village, throwing up his bags on Hasufel's back in high pace. As soon as he had everything on the horse, he mounted his horse and turned to the wasteland. He turned back his head, and saw Catherine and Kaitlyn standing in the centre of the village, waving him off. He waved back.
"Kaitlyn, you be a good girl and help Mommy in my absence." He called out.
"I will Daddy. Please come back soon!" She replied and waved more frenetic. As he turned back his head, he noticed the flowers that used to grow close to the bridge. They were dead.
(That is strange. I can recall that they were alive when I came back here two days ago.) Clive wondered, suddenly feeling that he was being watched. He turned his head to the closest sand hill, seeing a dark person stare down at him. Clive blinked. He was gone.
(Hm?? Must have been my mind playing tricks on me.) Clive thought, pushed his horse into gallop and disappeared out into the wasteland in a cloud of dust.
xx
Clive couldn't turn his thoughts away from the flowers back in Humphrey's Peak. Hasufel had slow down into walking and Clive took the chance to wonder about the meaning behind the flowers' death.
(What could have caused the flowers to die so suddenly? Could it have been that storm two days ago? However there were no signs of damage on them, as expected in a lightning strike. The earthquake perhaps? It is a possibility…)
He didn't have the time to think anymore as Hasufel neighed, and got up in his hind legs. Clive, not given to react, fell of the horse backwards and landed on the ground with his back first. He became paralyzed at the impact and his glasses fell off, giving him a blurry vision. He saw something dark lean over him, and he moved his hand out on his side, his fingers touched the bows of his glasses. He grasped it and put it back on his face, seeing someone with a black helmet stare down at him. He wore a golden coloured armour plate around his torso; his pants were white with something red at the knees. On his back hung a long boomerang and a long katana rested in his hand. The chill the mediums emitted told Clive that this was not a human, but a demon.
"I am delighted to see that you decided to come out alone, Dream Chaser." The demon said in a dark tone, pointing his katana at Clive's chest. "Stand up." Clive stood up slowly, putting the rifle's end in the ground to remain standing. He knew he couldn't fight the demon in his current state and tried to think of a way to stall the demon, just long enough for him to regain his mobility.
"Somebody that halts a stranger in the wasteland usually presents themselves, before threatening them." Clive replied, slowly getting the feeling in his legs back. The demon seemed to think.
"If a name is that important to you, I will tell you. My name is Boomerang, a demon." Boomerang answered. Clive remembered the description of the demon Virginia and Jet had written down in the letter, this demon didn't fit in it. This was another demon. "Now that you know, hand over Luceid's medium." The demon demanded, holding out a hand at Clive. Clive looked confused at the demon.
"How do you know about the medium, and what does a demon want with one of the Guardian Lords? As I can recall it, you are enemies." He asked. The demon seemed to smirk under the helmet, but Clive wasn't sure.
"I have visited Hell for years, with no Luceid by my side. For years I have searched for her, only to hear her voice in the wind. For years have I suffered, not able to share my pain with her. When I was awoken to life by that gate, I swore that I would find her, no matter in what world I was or what state she was in. I can feel her presence on you, faint but it is there. I learned from a human that the Guardians in this world are trapped in what you humans call 'mediums', and so must Luceid be, with you as the carrier. Hand it over to me, human." With the numbness in his body gone, Clive picked up his rifle and pointed it on the assassin.
"I don't know what you want with the Guardian Lord of Desire. What I do know is that I cannot allow the mediums to fall in the hands of demons." He replied. Boomerang shrugged his shoulders, swinging his katana once in the air.
"The only chance you have to defeat me, Dream Chaser, is if you can overcome my desire for the perfect battle. Only then will I find you worthy of Luceid's protection, and let you pass. If you fail, you shall fall by my blade. Do you agree on my terms?" Boomerang asked.
"Very well, I agree on your terms." Clive replied, after giving it a thought.
Boomerang swung his katana upwards and down. Clive blocked it with his Gungnir HAG35, before pulling it back and drove the butt into the demon's abdomen. Boomerang lost his breath, Clive took the chance and pulled the ARM upwards, making the butt hit beneath the chin and forcing the demon backwards. Boomerang regained his senses, pulled out his boomerang, and threw it at the Drifter. Clive ducked and as he turned back, he didn't see Boomerang before him.
He sensed somebody behind him and swirled around.
The katana came flying in a vertical slash and Clive jumped away, as the katana cut through the lower part of Clive's coat. As he landed, Clive took aim, and fired. Boomerang easily dodged and came at Clive again, his katana pointed forward. He saw Clive pick up something from his pocket and threw it at him. Boomerang saw something that looked like a white gem, before it touched his armour and exploded; several light spears appeared from the sky and pierced the demon's body, weakening him. Boomerang gave out a shout as he felt cold, silver blood streaming down his body from the wounds.
Clive had taken the chance to carefully take aim, and fired. A bullet flew through the air, pierced the armour that protected his torso and dug itself into the demon's chest. It slightly changed its course through his body and missed his heart with a short distance. Boomerang knelt down, panting and gasping for air, with Clive a little way from him, breathing fast but steadily.
"I believe have proven my worth. I would appreciate it if you leave the Guardian Lord of Desire and me alone, like you promised." Clive said. Boomerang breathing became deeper and normal, as he stood up, and turned at Clive's direction.
"You have indeed proven yourself to be more than an ordinary human. Although there is one thing you need to learn about the demon race." Boomerang said, as he dried off the blood from his shot wound. It was a hole where Clive's bullet had pierced through the armour, but no wound beneath. Clive almost jumped backwards.
(He possesses the ability of regeneration!?) Clive thought. Boomerang smirked.
"I didn't believe the humans of this world were able to handle ARMs. However, as long as I my desire for the perfect battle stay strong, I will not fall." Boomerang said, took out his boomerang and threw it at Clive, who put the ARM before him for protection
The boomerang hit the ARM with a stronger force than Clive had anticipated, it threw the ARM from Clive's hands and forced him down on the ground on his back. As Clive was about to get up, Boomerang appeared above him, and forced his katana down at Clive.
Clive rolled to the side, feeling the blade piercing its way through his left shoulder, and forcing him back on his back.
"Aahh!" Clive exclaimed, as he was pinned to the ground. Boomerang pulled up his katana, and raised it above his head, to end the Drifter's life. Clive mustered the last ounce of strength he had left, and swung his leg at Boomerang's, making the demon loose his balance and fall. Clive heard Boomerang hit the ground and rolled over to his side, with his wounded shoulder up. He slowly rose up, his right hand covering his left shoulders, while he gasped in pain. He noticed a shadow covering his and before he could turn around and face his attacker, something hit him in back head, and he passed out, falling back on the ground. Boomerang pulled back his katana, its butt red of Clive's blood.
"Never let your guard down in the presence of a demon." Boomerang said lowly, as he turned Clive on his back. He bent down, with the katana laying on Clive's throat. "I have waited long for this moment. Finally, you and I are together again, Luceid." Boomerang murmured, stretching down his hand for Clive's sleeveless, yellow vest where he could feel the presence of the guardian wolf. He suddenly stopped, hesitating.
He looked up, seeing a faint figure of a wolf stare at him with its yellow eyes. Its tail pointed straight out, not wiggling with happiness. But it didn't raise its hair up, as it would in anger. It just examined the demon before it.
"…Luceid, why won't you come?" Boomerang asked the wolf, as it bent down its head and seemed to give out a silent whimper, only heard inside Boomerang's head. "You don't remember me? Is that why" Boomerang continued, while Luceid stared the demon in its eyes, and raised its head in a silent howl. Boomerang sat silent for a moment, while listening to the Guardian's voice. Then, he nodded.
"Very well, Luceid. I will make you remember. I will show you the true meaning of desire and become worthy of the trust we once shared." He whispered as the wolf slowly thinned out and vanished, and then turned back his attention to the Drifter laying unconscious beside him. His eyes tightened
"I must do it, by facing this man in battle once again. I can't let him become food for the monsters." He said, laid an arm around Clive's waist and stood up, with Clive hanging in his grasp. He crossed his other arm over his chest and he vanished, taking Clive along with him.
xxxx
Oh oohh, cliff-hanger. And I finally made friend with the hot Guardian (Although I had to threat him to send Schturdark at him, though.) Herm. I am sorry for taking so long, but I have been busy, with Christmas shopping and all. Anyway, please R&R or I will trap you in eternal ice!
A/N: Oh no. Schturdark, noo… (Got trapped in ice).
…Darn it. Not again…