Finally got out of that ice coffin! I'll get Schturdark for that one later. Maybe lightning would do…
To Teefa85: Thank you so much for your review! And thank you for that story!
To Seraph-89: It's always nice to see that there is someone that likes my fanfic. Then I know that I don't suck totally! I'm always delighted to see your review!
Jordan: A new reviewer! Yaaaay! Thank you so much! I appreciate that you like it. Really! Well, I'll try to update as fast as I can next time, and I look forward hearing from you again. And thank you for the tip, I'll think about it!
WildfireDreams: Wow, thank you for your encouraging words! It feels a lot better now to continue on with the story!
A/N: Wow, four reviews! I'm beginning to blush here! Thank you all for your support!
As you all know, and probably notice, I live only by reviews. If you want this story to continue, R&R, or I'll just delete this story and do something else! And if you want to flame me, do so that I can improve from it, as I will just ignore idiotic flames! And the reason why I'm sooo late with this chapter… I'll blame it with a major Writer's block (and lacking of confidence), so any suggestions on what to happen next or what you want to see are more than welcome! And as I go university, I can't update as often as I would like too. Bear with me! (Annoying sentence, isn't it?)
Xxxx
Chapter Four
Yesterday:
The sun had travelled another hour through the blue sky as the Drifter couple closed in on the small village of Baskar Colony on their horses, after fighting off hordes of monsters along the way. Outside the house next to the entrance to the right was Harold, an elderly Baskar, carrying something that looked heavy in his arms, as he was carrying it with his back bent over. He bent down on his knees, and placed it firmly down on the ground near the house wall. As he stood back up, went back inside the house and carefully closed the door, Jet and Virginia could see the shape of a large vase, with a long crack on its side. Next to it was a pile of broken vases, caskets and pots, almost all in the same state as the lone vase.
"What the…?" Virginia said as she and Jet passed the gate, jumped down from her white coloured mare, and went over to the pile to inspect the vase further.
"A burglary." Jet concluded as his lavender eyes eyed another broken vase before him. The top had been smashed to pieces and inside, were small crumbles that looked like small meat pieces.
"How can you say that?" Virginia asked as she picked up a small piece of a vase and tried to see where it fit. Jet rolled his eyes, like it was obvious thing, before picking up another piece of a vase, where silver coloured water, or something like it, dripped down, and splashed as it hit the ground. Virginia stroke a finger over it the puddle and rubbed the substance between her thumb and her four other white dressed fingers. It felt greasy on her fingertips, to thick to be water.
"Because of this." Jet finished and let the piece fall back to the ground.
"…Is it..?" Virginia started, but didn't get the chance to finish as they heard somebody speak beside them from inside the house.
"Be careful with that one, Gallows. It might still be useful." A voice belonging to Harold spoke up behind the closed door and a noise of a vase being moved was heard.
"It's fine, Harold. I'll handle thiIIIS…!" A soft thud, followed by a loud crash was heard, and somebody yelling out in surprisement. "Where did that casket come from!?" A sigh was followed after that.
"Another good vase wasted…" A sound of dried grass being torn away from each other was followed directly after that. "…And a casket…"
"Gallows?" Virginia called out and a second later, the door slid open and Gallows' face was visible in the doorway.
"Leader?" He replied and stepped out into the sun light. In his hands were cut wounds, and he was slightly bleeding from them, and on his fingers was long strings of dried grass, as well on his left shoe. Behind him stood a confused Harold and before his feet, were the shards of a broken vase, and a casket torn in half. Virginia concluded that Gallows had gotten stuck with his left foot in it and ripped it apart to get free. He wasn't the kind of guy that got angry and started to rip things apart so easily. Around him was all chaos, with broken shelves and other broken vases, caskets and pots.
"Hey, I was just about to meet you guys in Boot Hill! And by the way, where is Clive?" He said, as he took out a cloth from his pocket and dried of his hand from blood, while turning his head right and left in search of a green haired sniper.
"We decided to come here first. We sent a letter to Clive with Roykman, he should probably arrive here tomorrow. What happened in there, Gallows?" Virginia asked while gazing behind Gallows at the mess inside the storage house. Gallows followed her gaze and then back at the two, his expression going from delighted to stern in an instant.
"I'll tell you inside my house. Granny is making dinner… and you're probably hungry." Gallows added as he heard Virginia's stomach growl and with a wide grin walked by them towards his house. Virginia cast a glance at Jet with a blush, and a hand on her stomach; he shrugged his shoulders and followed the big Baskar in his steps to the house at the far end of the village. Virginia turned around and followed them as well.
Harold watched as Gallows led the two Drifters away and sighed.
"I don't know how he manages to skip work all the time…" He said, as he picked up a pot and carried it outside.
Xx
Virginia was feeling better in an instant as she he felt the green vegetable soup pour down her throat and soothed her hunger. Jet had already finished his portion and was listening as Gallows told them about his previous run in with the demon that called himself Zed the almighty, with Halle sitting by his right side and watched her grandson, and his brother Shane on the left and listening carefully.
"…And after the earthquake, he mentions something about others being here and simply vanished before I could do him in. We are currently empting the storage, so that we can fix the shelves. Wish I could set him on doing that." Gallows finished, with an angry expression. Virginia took another sip of the soup in her cup formed clad and put it down in front of her.
"We too had an encounter with those scum." Jet added and cast a glance at Virginia. When he noticed that she was looking his way too, he quickly turned his eyes back to the Baskar. Gallows eyes grew wider in an instant
"What!? Was Zed there too!?" Gallows exclaimed so suddenly that Jet and Virginia almost fell backwards at the force.
"No, it wasn't him." And then Virginia retold her and Jet's encounter with Belselk for the three Baskars. When she finished, Halle sat in deep thoughts and Shane looked concerned.
"So, it appears that he wasn't wrong after all. Demons are once again threatening the life on Filgaia." Halle said aloud.
"How come that we didn't noticed them until they appeared in front of our eyes? The guardians must have known about them." Virginia asked the elder Baskar, as she pulled out her golden, light medium Flash hit, and cast it a glance that almost begged the medium to start telling what the guardians knew. Halle shook her head.
"I don't understand that either. What I can say from what I've heard and seen, it seems that these demons could be from another time, possibly the past as they seem confused at the fact that we use ARMs in this time, and that they called their planet Filgaia. However, they will soon take advantage of the situation and they must be stopped before that." Halle replied.
"So we're off on demon hunting then!" Gallows said and clapped a fist in his palm, and almost looked like that he was about to jump up and leave right at that momkent.
"We need to find out who they are, what they're after, and how they got here first. Because going in other towns to acquire information is suicide! I'm still not done making memories over this planet, so I won't turn myself over to the Ark of Destiny Order just yet." Jet mumbled, and kept Gallows in place with a stare from his lavender eyes.
"So, any idea where to look for them then? Or any information on them?" Gallows asked the silver haired Drifter. Jet didn't answer. Virginia, who had sat quiet for a while, suddenly snapped up her head and looked over the group.
"Clive might know who they are. He's studying the history of Filgaia and if anyone knows, it should be him!" She added delighted.
"You're right! It is good to have an archaeologist in the team sometimes!" Gallows agreed and nodded. Then her head sunk back down and she stared on her hands.
"Hopefully he's alright. I wonder if the demons have visited Humphrey's Peak as well?" She continued.
"Don't worry about him. He's the most experienced Drifter among the four of us! He knows how to take care of himself!" Gallows encouraged and Virginia sat silent, and then nodded in reply.
"…Yeah, you're right. No use sitting here with our heads hung low. We'll stay here tonight and then head to Midland station tomorrow and meet up with him." Gallows and Jet nodded in agreement.
"We're going to need disguises, though." Gallows said. Shane turned to his brother.
"You could use the old clothing from our father, when he travelled around Filgaia that time. They should fit." He added and rose up. "I can fetch them, if you want too."
"Great idea! Do you need disguises too, you two?" Gallows asked as he turned to the Drifter couple.
"It's not necessary. We already have good disguises. Besides, they are looking for three men and one woman. In our disguises, no one will ever recognize us!" Virginia replied, and she once again turned to Jet, she hardly fought to hold back a laughter which bubbled up inside her chest when she saw Jet's face going tomato red. She couldn't hold back a smirk though.
"Not again. Why can't just Gallows go? We can wait outside of the station. That would look less conspicuous" Jet grunted as he tried to avoid himself from erasing that smirk on Virginia's face with his bare hands.
"Oh no, you don't! He is our comrade and we should all meet him together!" She said and laid a hand on Jet's shoulder. Gallows cast them a confused look as Jet grunted something, rose up and exit the house through the door. Shane looked confused after the leaving Drifter.
"Well… I'll go after the clothes." He said and exit the house as well.
"Are you and Harold finished in the storage?" Halle asked and gave her grandson a suspicious stare. Gallows scratched his back head.
"Well…" He started.
"Me and Jet can help you, as thanks for the dinner." She said and Gallows gave her a relieved smile. Virginia went out first and Gallows followed closely behind her.
"What was the matter with Jet?" Gallows dumbfounded asked his leader as they set course for the storage, with Jet already leaning against the wall at the said house, and gave Virginia a stare. She giggled.
"You'll see…" She whispered and giggled again.
Xx
The next day:
Virginia sat on the large, grey rock in the centre of the city, watching as the sky went from burning orange, to eventually let a golden, shining ball rise up over the mountain tops and dress them in a bright light. She remembered seeing a dawn like this before.
That time, she had watched it from the veranda before her house in Boot Hill and early morning, at the age of five. Beside her stood a tall man dressed in a brown cape and a huge, round hat. A man everybody else in Boot Hill called Werner Maxwell, and she on the other hand called Daddy. She could almost see his face turn to her, and bursting out into a big smile and she could almost hear him say what he said then:
Xx
"Look at that Virginia. As yesterday is reborn in a glorious light, so shall Filgaia too, someday. And hopefully, we'll both live to it happen someday …"
His face grew brighter.
"You know, watching the sunrise like this, makes me feel reborn myself somehow. And that I have the strength to do anything I set my heart on, just like the sun that rises over the high mountaintops. Do you feel it too, Virginia?"
The little Virginia nodded frenetic.
"I do, Daddy…" She answered.
Xx
Virginia sighed and closed her eyes.
(You are up there and watching this too with Mommy. Aren't you Daddy?) She thought. She heard footsteps behind her and as she turned her head back, she saw a silver haired Drifter approach her.
"What are you doing up so early? Clive won't arrive until later this morning." The lavender eyed boy asked. Virginia tilted her head, before turning back and continued to watch the large light ball grow and cover more of the night's darkness in light.
"I know. But I couldn't sleep, so I snuck out to watch the sunrise." She said. Jet came up and sat down beside her, not looking the least impressed.
"It's just another sunrise, just like the one from yesterday. What's so special about that?" Jet asked. Virginia sighed amused.
"To you it may not be something special, but to me it is. I once watched a sunrise like this with Daddy. He said that every time he watched a sunrise like this one, he felt reborn somehow and always found a new strength to carry on. And I understand why. Watching the sun like this… makes you remember how fragile life is and how important it is to protect the life on Filgaia, which is fighting so hard to survive, just like the sun fights to make it over the mountaintops everyday, just to make us feel better."
Jet listened carefully while watching the mountain top closest to them start to shine up. He tried to see what she saw, but he didn't feel any different from watching the sun come up. He felt Virginia stare at him. He turned his head. Her blue eyes was indeed watching him.
"Do you feel it?" She asked. He turned back his head and stared forward, out on the empty wasteland before them.
"Nothing." Was his reply. Virginia shook her head. She hadn't expected him too, yet a small glimpse of hope had been there.
"Hey guys! Breakfast!" Gallows suddenly called out, as he stood in the doorway and waved at them to come. An hour had passed since Virginia stepped outside the house and now the village was coming to life, as people came out of their houses and started to do their daily chores. Jet and Virginia rose up at the same time and turned to Gallows' home.
"Hopefully, he stayed away from the cooking this time. My stomach is still sore from the breakfast he made three days ago." Jet grunted and Virginia burst out in laughter as she followed him inside the house.
Xx
Around that same time, far away from there, a certain Drifter woke up from his unconsciousness, with a severe headache tormenting his mind and a throbbing feeling in his left arm. He tried to move. His body was paralyzed.
(Unnnhhh… Where am I…) the thought ran through his mind as the heard unfamiliar voices approach him.
Xxxx
Let's just stop there. I think I'll torture you with Clive's fate a little bit longer. And why I wrote yesterday and the next day in this chapter, it's because I eyed the last chapter in this fanfic and discovered that I jumped a day in Clive's part! So I figured that I needed to jump back and forth to cover up this group. Sorry for any possible confusion! "Clapped hands over my head." Sorry!
"Yesterday" is when Virginia and Jet arrived to Baskar Colony and "the next day" is when Clive leaves Humphrey's Peak for those who got to confused.
Like/hate it? R&R and tell me! In the meantime, it's payback time on a certain Guardian…