Hooray for more updates! I'm enjoying writing this section and hope for some more updates soon. If the evil homework does not interfere, that is.
John: Ikari, joining up with them? Heh. That would be pretty entertaining… but…
Darkstar71: I'm glad you are enjoying this! It's always nice to have new readers. So, did they make it? Well, you'll see…
Captain Obvious: Hooray! More obviousness! And thanks for the compliment.
Demon Fan: Hm? What does his deck have to do with this? And how, pray tell, do you think Daine and Ark would live?
Chapter 11: Separations
Ikari was on the verge of wanting to smash his head into a wall to see if his theory was true. He was pretty sure it was; that wall could not have hurt his head as much as going through all of this pointless questioning was. They had asked him about any details he knew on the group, which were basically none. And the annoying thing was they would keep repeating their questions-Ikari was sure they had asked him at least five times if Varen was equipped or not with a weapon. And that wasn't counting how many times they had asked what kind of weapon it was. The sixth or so time they asked, Ikari stated that he carried a chainsaw, instead of katars like he had said the other five times. The sad thing was that they wrote this down as though they thought he was telling the truth.
This is so damn stupid… I swear I'm going to kill you Varen…
Then the two soldiers entered the room again. The first one spoke. "Well, we feel as though we have gotten enough information from you. You may leave now…"
Yes!
"…but be aware that you may be contacted another time for more questioning."
…Go to hell.
"Do you understand?"
"It's crystal clear."
"Good. Then please proceed out."
Ikari walked out, and began running the second he was out of the building.
Just you wait Varen… you're going to get it for this!
-----
At first, all Daine could feel was pain. His whole body was sore, and he just wanted to fall back into unconsciousness, to be free from the agony he was experiencing…
Wait… what happened? How did I get here? Where… the cliff! We were fighting… that's right! We fell off!
He sat up swiftly, and instantly regretted it. His headache almost overwhelmed him, but he resisted the urge to lie back down.
How am I still alive? Forget that… where's Ark? Is he… well, if I lived, he could too, right?
Daine grabbed onto a nearby tree and used it as a support while he stood up slowly. Then he looked around the area.
He instantly caught sight of what he had been searching for, but the scene made him stare in amazement. Ark was lying on the ground nearby where Daine had been, but the area where they had landed had cratered in. It was not very deep, but the ground was still marred by the impact. The branches on the trees above the area had been ripped off the trees, landing around the area. Just thinking about how it had felt to go crashing through the trees made Daine wince. He was glad he had lost consciousness before actually hitting the ground.
Daine let go of the tree, and was able to stand on his own. He walked carefully over to where Ark lay, kneeling down beside him.
"Ark? Can you hear me?"
"So you are finally awake," he whispered, eyes still closed.
"I have no idea how we lived through that… heck, I'm not even injured really. Just sore all over. Kind of hard to walk, but I'll manage. What about you?"
"I cannot move," was his soft reply.
"What?"
"Every bone in my body feels as though it has been shattered. It will be impossible for me to move."
"Do you need help? I can try and bind your arms or legs if they're broken or something…"
"It is not necessary."
"But if I can help…"
"Do not try to. I would prefer to be left alone when it comes to healing."
"Well… if you insist…" Daine said doubtfully. "But what should we do now? We have to get back to the others somehow…" He looked up the cliff. "Ugh. It is not going to be fun trying to get back up that thing in our condition."
"Then leave me here, and go find them."
"Are you insane?! What if someone found you? They could easily capture or kill you in your condition!"
"And you are better off?"
Daine reached over to his sword sheath and winced. "That's right… I lost my sword in the fall… and you lost your pistols. As for our Duel Disks..." Daine looked over at his, which was currently folded up. Daine could recall once seeing an older model of the Duel Disk that could not fold up, but this one could. In its current state, all it looked like was a rather large bracelet. When the option to open it was chosen, it would instantly unfold. It was possible to take out the deck without opening the entire Duel Disk, but normally the deck was inside the holder for it as well, which covered the entire thing. "Well, at least it isn't broken. Geez, this must be made out of some really sturdy stuff... what about yours?"
He looked over at Ark's arm, and was again shocked to see that it wasn't even dented.
"Holy cow… if they can survive a fall like that without a scratch, I wonder if it's even possible to destroy them," Daine said in wonder. "They ought to use whatever material they're made out of for armor…" Daine shook his head, and got back on track. "At least I can duel, if necessary. And I can fight if I have to, even though I'm not very good at fist fights." He shrugged. "Well, even if you were in perfect health, I wouldn't be able to travel very far anyway. The only thing we can do is wait to recover. But this area is too open… we have to get under cover. I'm going to check out the area-I'll be back in a few minutes."
"Very well."
Daine walked towards the cliff, ignoring the pain that coursed through him every time he moved. He didn't like the idea of leaving Ark alone for very long when he was so defenseless, and he tried to quicken his pace. As he walked, he took the time to finally look at the sky. The sun was just starting to set, which was another reason to hurry-if he took too long, they would have to try to find their way through the forest at night time, which was not an option he liked.
Luckily, the cliff was only a few minutes away from their current location-if Daine had been able to run, he was sure he could have gotten to it in under a minute. He quickly looked around the cliff, and found something better than he had expected. It was a small area of the cliff with an overhang of some kind. Although it was not a very large place to hide under, it was big enough to protect the two of them if it began to rain or something similar. It was also more out of the way, so they were not as likely to be discovered by anyone passing by.
Daine went back over to where Ark lay. "I found an area to stay in. It's not perfect, but it's certainly better than being here."
"How far away?"
"Just a few minutes. Do you think you can make it?"
"I can't even rise," Ark stated.
"You can lean on me for support. I wouldn't be asking this of you, but this is a really bad area to be in right now. We don't have any choice; we have to move."
"True… I will follow your lead."
"Alright." Daine kneeled down. "Ready?"
"No-it is impossible to prepare for agony such as this. Continue."
Trying to work as quickly as he could, Daine took Ark's right arm and put it over his shoulders, and wrapped his left arm around Ark's back, pulling him upright. Although he made no sound, Daine could see from his expression that even that simple action was pure torture for him.
"Hang in there… it won't be too far from here."
Like Daine had expected, it took them longer to get there than it had for him to go alone, but he was surprised with how much quicker it was than he had guessed it would be. Ark forced himself to walk as fast as possible, if it could be called walking-more like staggering. Daine was impressed that he could make himself to go this long without collapsing, or even making a sound-he was completely silent the entire time, even when his red eyes became glazed over from the pain he was going through.
At last they reached the location. Daine carefully knelt down again, laying Ark down on the ground close to the rock wall. He closed his eyes once more, trying to take slow, deep breathes.
"Are you going to be ok?" Daine asked.
After a few seconds of silence, he responded. "After some time, yes. I just need to rest for a while."
"Are you sure you don't need any help with any wounds you might have?"
"They are fine. As I said, I prefer to not have any assistance with healing."
"If you're positive…" Daine sighed. "Try to get some rest. I'll keep watch."
When getting no response, he turned to see that Ark was already unconscious.
Wish I could do the same, but someone has to stay awake. And that's out of the question for him, so I have to. Joy to the world.
Daine sat down under the overhang as well, and took out his deck. After quickly going through it, he confirmed that he still had all of his cards, and put it back into the deck holder. So we're basically stranded until we both heal enough to try to catch up with the others. All we have is our decks, which aren't going to be of much help to us when trying to survive out here. The only time they could assist us is if we are attacked by someone, and even then the attacker might not be in the mood to decide the outcome with a duel. And by the time we manage to recover, the group will be long gone, since they probably think we're dead. Just great. But I can't blame them-I'm amazed that we lived through that. How is it possible, anyway? I suppose the trees could have slowed down our fall, but not enough to keep us alive. So what happened? I guess I'll never know… but I'm thankful that we are still alive.
He then had another thought, and opened another much smaller area in his Duel Disk. This was mainly used for keeping a coin or die in, in case they were needed to determine who went first or something similar. But in his, Daine had stored something else-his mother's ring. He was relieved to see that it was unharmed, and closed the area again.
But I'm worried about the others. I have no idea why-they can't be in as bad of a position as us, right? But what about that cloaked guy? Who was he anyway? He said he had to kill the marked one… he wanted to kill me... He looked at his right hand, with the glove still covering the pentagram. But why? How could he even know about this? And he hit me with some kind of energy blast… Ark too, for that matter. Where did it come from though? I don't think he had a weapon-if he did, I did not see it. I hope the others fared alright against him…
Well, there's nothing to gain from worrying. Our first goal is to recover, and then we can decide on what to do.
He looked over at the now black skies, and the stars and moon that were showing. It's strange. Back home, you could never see the stars unless you left the town itself. That's one reason I often went out, to just look at the stars. And the moon, when it was visible. But now I can just look up whenever I want to and they're there. I guess that's at least one advantage to traveling through all of this wilderness.
Then he leaned against the rock wall again. Still, this is going to be a long night…
-----
The rest of the group had not even given much thought to the idea of sleeping. With the conflict this afternoon, it had come to their attention that the soldiers could quite possibly catch up to them any minute now. Due to that, they were trying to get a lead over them while still possible. So they traveled throughout the night, stopping to rest a few times, but otherwise not halting. Luckily, they encountered no one else.
Throughout this whole time, there was hardly any conversation. The only person talking was Ryei, who said when they could stop and to continue going. Ryei had kind of taken the place of Daine as 'group leader'. While they had never actually referred to Daine as the leader of the group, he had made most of the final decisions based off of what the rest of the group said and his own view on the matter. So although he had not meant to be a leader, he had taken the role of one. It only made sense that Ryei should lead for now-he knew the area, and made smart choices as well. But Ryei was not really comfortable with the idea of staying in that position. He preferred to give advice to others who could make use of it, and to try to help as best as he could. But he was used to working alone, so he was still not used to trying to direct others. So while he did not mind leading the group for now, he was hoping someone else could try to direct them when they left the areas he was familiar with. If nobody volunteered… well, that bridge would be crossed when they came to it.
Something that Hope noticed was that while all of them were somewhat weary, Karen seemed much more tired than any of the others. She was keeping up with them fine, but she still seemed exhausted. However, Hope saw that she wasn't the only one who had noticed. Yamato seemed to be staying closer to her than usual, as though waiting for something to happen. He knew Karen much better than she did anyway, so she pushed the concern out of her mind.
It was starting to get light as dawn finally came. At around this time, Gaignun said to Hope, I am going to hunt. I will catch up shortly.
Go ahead.
"Where is he going?" Zari asked as Gaignun ran off.
"To hunt." Hope realized that this was the first thing anyone except for Ryei had said since they had left the area where they had fought.
At around that time, Ryei looked over at the cliff edge, then the woods once more. "Alright. This is where we go into the forest. I should be able to navigate it now without the cliff edge as a guideline."
They wordlessly walked into forest, although most of them felt a little bit of relief to finally be away from the cliff edge. As it became morning, they went deeper into the woods.
Then Hope suddenly heard Gaignun. Hope! There are people, and they are coming towards you!
At that moment, Yamato unsheathed his sword. "Someone's out there."
A few seconds of silence passed as the others took out their weapons instantly and they waited. Then several military men-at least twenty-leapt out, surrounding the group swiftly in a wide circle.
"I'm getting really sick of seeing these morons," Varen muttered. "Can't we have some new enemies that aren't military men for once?"
Then a black cloaked figure stepped out from the trees as well. Although the person's features were covered, they could tell it was a man when he spoke.
"So, it appears you are the ones we were searching for."
Hope. I am outside of the ring of soldiers, behind the foliage. Should I attack?
Not yet. Be ready. When I say to, do it.
I hear and obey.
"Another one of you? Haven't you gotten what you wanted?" Ryei growled.
"What? You have already met up with one of us?"
"Yeah, some guy called Stephen," Hope said in a loathing tone.
"Stephen, eh? One of our lower members, but one of us nonetheless… but he would not attack you unless you were indeed the ones we needed to go after. So, which one of you is the marked one?"
"What is with all this marked one nonsense?" Varen complained. "I really don't like being left in the dark, thank you very much."
"So you are unaware? Do any of you know about the marked one?"
"Three of us…" Karen said sadly, yet tiredly.
"You might as well leave now," Hope snarled. "Daine is dead. If that was your mission, you succeeded. Just leave us alone!"
"Ah… I see…" The man fell silent for a few seconds before going on. "As nice as it would be to not have to concern myself with any of you, I have special orders that cannot be ignored. I am afraid you will have to come with us."
"You may have us outnumbered, but that doesn't mean you can beat us!" Varen declared.
"You can't defeat us by just having many common soldiers," Zarek stated. "We have already fought enough of them to know how to combat them."
"True. That's why we will not be fighting you," the man said.
That was when a light grey mist began wrapping itself around them.
"What the heck is going on?!" Varen exclaimed, stepping back slightly.
"It's strange… my weariness… is now overwhelming…" Karen murmured before collapsing.
"What happened to her?" Zari asked.
"She's right… I feel… kind of tired…" Valor managed to say before he too fell.
"What the…" Before Varen could finish, he too was out cold. Yamato, Ryei, Zari, and Zarek didn't even have a chance to say anything before they were overtaken too.
Hope! What is happening?!
Gaignun… run… I can't… Then he saw Hope collapse too.
Gaignun bared his teeth in a silent snarl. I do not stand a chance at trying to fight off all of these soldiers. But if I leave, then they might be killed instantly…
He stayed where he was, watching as another black cloaked figure came from the opposite side of the ring of soldiers.
"Well done," the man said.
"Thanks," the second figure laughed. Gaignun could tell from the voice alone that it was a woman. "So what do we do with them now?"
"We'll take them back with us, of course," the man stated. "But I need to examine them now, so that they do not manage to escape later."
"Yes, of course. I will head back now to tell the Commander that you are coming. What should I report?"
The man had knelt down beside Karen, putting his right hand to her forehead. "She seems to be the weakest when it comes to this…" Then his hand began to glow white. Karen did not even stir as he stayed in that position.
Then the man got up, laying her back down. "Say that the marked one and a companion of his are dead, due to Stephen. The others we have captured."
"Can do. See you soon." Then she walked off. Gaignun made a mental note of which direction.
It seems like they are not planning on killing them. If so, there is a chance that I might be able to find some form of help. I am not sure what, but I must try. With that decided, Gaignun walked slowly away from the area with the soldiers before going into a full run, heading back for the slope. He did not know of many areas on top of the cliff, so he knew that he had a better chance of finding people on the lower area.
The black-cloaked man was doing the same thing to every group member as he had done to Karen. He would place his glowing hand on their forehead, and when he had gotten what he wanted, he wrote down something on a notepad he had. Coincidentally, Hope happened to be the last one he went to. He concentrated for a few minutes, before abruptly rising, turning to the soldier that was second in command.
"Around this area, there is a black wolf. Assign some soldiers to find and kill that wolf. I don't care how; just make sure it is dead."
"Yes sir!" The second in command then went over to five of his men, talking with them for a few seconds. Then the five men left.
"It's done," he reported to the cloaked figure.
"Good. We can leave this place now. We'll be taking all of them with us. There are some… special requirements to what is needed for each one. I will take care of it personally."
"I understand, sir."
"Then let us go."
-----
It was around that time that Ark came to. Daine had been just watching the sun rise for a few minutes, and when he turned to see how his companion was doing, he saw the man eying him.
"Are you doing ok?" Daine asked.
"I feel somewhat recovered. I would say I can probably travel in two days."
"Two days?!" Daine said in disbelief. "But you could barely walk yesterday!"
"True. I will not be fully healed by then, but I will be able to go at a moderate pace. It is better that we try to catch up with the others as soon as possible, if we are to remain with them."
"Yeah, you're right… but it won't do us any good if you kill yourself while trying to travel," Daine pointed out.
"Then we will see."
"Yeah."
"You need rest as well. I can act as the sentry for a while."
"You sure?"
"There is no point in me being recovered if you are not."
"Then I won't argue. Thanks." Daine leaned against the wall again, instantly falling sleep there.
-----
Gaignun, on the other hand, had not paused to rest at all, even when he had finally made it to the bottom of the slope. Running nonstop was exhausting even for him, and he was on the point of wanting to collapse by the time he had arrived, but he continued forward anyway. There would be plenty of time for relaxing once Hope and her companions were safe.
Then, as Gaignun went further into the forest, he caught a faint scent of two humans. Even from this far away, he could tell whose it was immediately.
Could it be…? He sniffed deeply, and there was no mistaking it. Daine and Ark somehow managed to survive after all. That is very fortunate-if anyone has a chance of understanding me, then it will be them.
Gaignun was still a bit hesitant to go to Daine of all people for help though. His scent of old blood was beyond revolting, and Gaignun still could not bring himself to trust Daine. Ark too was strange to him-his scent was very bizarre indeed. But Gaignun did not feel a deep mistrusting for him like he did Daine.
I should not be doing this. The reason I have lived this long is because I listen to my instincts-what good will it do to ignore them now? However, I am unable to help Hope and the rest of the group by myself. As much as I loathe it, I must ask them for assistance. Hope seems to trust Daine… maybe she sees something in him that I don't. Maybe she can know him better because she has experienced pain, like him. Or maybe the fact that she can understand him is what blinds her.
He cocked his right ear, hearing something. When he realized it was the rasp of metal, of a sword leaving its sheath, he leapt ahead instantly, barely avoiding an attack from a military man that had leapt out suddenly.
Gaignun growled as he looked around, realizing there were five. He had been so distracted by his thoughts that he had not even noticed their stench. He quickly considered his options. Normally, he could have killed at least a few of them before they could even get the chance to try attacking him again, but he was very weary, and being outnumbered put him at a disadvantage. He had also been taken by surprise, and could see that there was no way he could gain the advantage at this point. So with a snarl, he ran into the woods, following Daine and Ark's scent as the soldiers pursued him.
-----
Something caused Daine to awaken. When he opened his eyes, he was still shaking. He reached up and discovered his forehead was covered with cold sweat.
Again? Why can't I ever remember these dreams I am having?
"Are you alright?"
He turned to see Ark was looking over at him from his position on the ground. He had still apparently not been able to force himself to move around.
"Yeah… did you wake me up or something?"
"You seemed to be panicking."
"Thanks then. I don't really remember what I was dreaming about, but whatever it is, it's been plaguing me for a while." Daine started to stand up, but ducked back quickly before slamming his head into the rock above. He stepped out from under the overhang, looking at the sun's position. "So, it's about noon…"
Then he heard something, and stepped back towards the overhang, but did not go under it. "I think someone's approaching," he said softly.
"…As do I."
Then a figure suddenly leapt out of the bushes, running over to Daine, stopping in front of him while panting heavily.
Daine was shocked to see who it was. "Gaignun?! What are you doing here?"
He did not have a chance to continue wondering about that though, as the five soldiers came out of the dense trees. The lead soldier examined Daine warily. "You! You were supposed to be dead!"
"Seems like I'm good at defying fate," Daine stated.
Another soldier noticed Gaignun, who was standing next to Daine. "Sir! The wolf!"
"Yes, I know," the leader snapped. He was preoccupied by something else he saw though-Ark. "Wait… the boss said that two of you had fallen. Did both of you survive?!"
"So what if we did?" Daine said.
"What should we do, sir?" another soldier inquired.
"…The boss doesn't know these two are alive. As long as we kill them, they will not need to know of this inconvenience. We only need to bring the wolf's head with us, and make sure these two aren't alive to interfere."
Gaignun growled fiercely at them as Daine braced himself. "Just try it!"
"You are in no condition to fight," the leader pointed out. "Your friend doesn't seem like he is about to be much of a help, and that wolf isn't going to be much of a help. You also happen to be unarmed."
"It doesn't mean I'm going down without a fight," Daine snarled.
"There isn't much you can do to resist," one of the soldiers commented as he stepped forward, sword drawn.
"What's going on here?"
Everyone turned to see that two men had come out of the forest. The older of the two, who looked to be in his late forties or early fifties, was built heavily, and wore deep blue chest armor with a cape of the same color, black pants, and brown, worn old boots. His hair was black, with streaks of grey in it, and he had grey eyes. On his back, a broadsword was strapped that looked to be about the same size as Yamato's.
The other one looked to be younger, probably in his late teens if not early twenties. He wore a black sleeveless shirt and black pants. He had on purple fingerless gloves with black stripes that went up to his elbows, and socks to match. The socks were somewhat odd though-they covered the arch area of his foot, but not the heel or toes. He also wore black sandals. He had short black, spiky hair, and brown eyes. He also had a black headband on that had a metal section in the center. The headband's straps came down on his left side, to his shoulder, and on the metal part was a yin-yang symbol. Across his back were two katanas, strapped on in an X shaped pattern.
Daine examined the two of them warily while the soldier that had been coming for him stepped away from Daine, towards the new arrivals. "Who the hell are you?"
"We could ask the same of you," the younger one answered in a light-hearted tone. Daine could tell that he was the one who had spoken first by his voice. The other man just looked on at the scene, seemingly bored with the proceedings.
"You are in no position to be the questioners here," the soldier stated, bringing up his sword once more.
"Wait! What do you think you're doing?!" another soldier exclaimed.
"We can't have any eye witnesses!" the first one declared, lunging at the younger man.
The man didn't even see what had caused his death as the man drew his two katanas, slicing through him easily. In fact, none of them really managed to see it-all they were able to see was the soldier trying to attack, and a split second later his corpse was on the ground, the young man holding his two katana.
"Anyone want to answer my queries now?" he asked.
The other soldiers stepped back, except for the leader. "You are an excellent swordsman, but do you honestly think you can defeat all of us?"
The older man now seemed somewhat annoyed. He drew his sword, and before they could respond, he leapt forward, slicing apart the other three soldiers with no effort.
"Yes," he said coldly as he held up his bloody broadsword once more.
The leader looked at his men's bodies, then back at the man. "So I have no chance when it comes back. But I notice that you have a Duel Disk. If you are indeed a duelist, then let us settle this through a game. The loser shall die."
Daine had not even noticed that they had Duel Disks until that was pointed out. But as he watched, the man wiped his broadsword on one of the soldier's uniforms calmly, sheathed it, and activated his Duel Disk.
"Very well. I do not expect it to take long, when it comes to an idiot like you."
"Say what?" the leader snarled.
While they were distracted, Daine knelt down next to Gaignun. He could see that the wolf did not seem to be injured-just tired.
"What do you suggest that we do?" Ark said softly.
"We'll watch. We know that the soldiers wanted to kill us, but these new guys don't seem mad at us. Maybe they won't be concerned with us."
As he finished speaking, he noticed the other man was coming over to them. Daine rose again, standing in front of Gaignun and Ark. "Are you against us as well?"
"When we came in here, we were neutral," the man stated. "But Cyres can't stand it when people look and act like idiots. And those soldiers were certainly falling in that category. Oh, Cyres is my companion over there. I'm known as Getsu."
"So you won't try to kill us suddenly? Nice to know that we aren't being chased by everyone in the area. I'm Daine. This is Ark, and the wolf's name is Gaignun."
"A wolf… well, I've seen stranger," Getsu shrugged. "You both seem to be having some difficulties."
"Injuries that will heal," Ark responded.
"And you are being chased… why?"
"For being wanted criminals, or something like that," Daine sighed. "We don't even know why we should be hunted down for what we did anyway. Apparently, we helped some 'dangerous criminals', but we don't see how they are even criminals anyway. So the military and anyone who wants a reward pretty much is after us." Although they had been having trouble recently, Daine couldn't help but trust that this duo didn't mean them any harm, like Getsu had said.
"I see. Well, be comforted that we have no interest in anything like that," Getsu said, staring at Daine. After a few seconds, Daine felt somewhat uncomfortable under his gaze, but did not turn away.
Hm… there is indeed something unique about him, Getsu thought. But he isn't what we've been searching for. Even I can tell that. The only question is… what is he?
After a few more moments, he turned to watch the duel as it began, much to Daine's relief. He too looked over there as Gaignun went under the overhang to lie down beside Ark, watching as well.
The leader had not been listening to their conversation. "So, what is your name? I'm known as Kendall."
"I do not even see a point to giving my name to one as moronic as you."
"Your high and mighty attitude is really starting to tick me off. We'll see how well you fare!"
Cyres ignored his complaints, taking out a card. In a few seconds, a humanoid monster appeared on his field. He had on silver armor with green lines that formed designs. He also had a darker green cape over his armor. His long blonde hair went down beyond his shoulders, and he had a neat mustache of the same shade. His calculating eyes were blue, and he had a gold circlet with a red jewel in the center on his forehead.
I recognize that monster-Freed! Daine realized. So Cyres uses a Warrior deck as well?
"What?"
"Undefeated General-General Freed," Cyres stated. "Pick your Deck Master."
"Oh, right… I choose Magnet Valkyrion!"
The creature that emerged was completely metal. Its legs, body, and arms were silver. It had pink wings, and its head was yellow. All over its body were small, gold circles that said either N or S. If it had any eyes, then they were not visible, since its face was covered with a visor. It also carried a sharp sword.
Cyres: 8000
Kendall: 8000
"I go first," Kendall announced. Not even giving Cyres a chance to protest against his decision, he said, "I play one monster in defense mode and two cards down. That's all for me."
"I will activate Freed's Deck Master ability. By skipping my draw phase, I can search my deck for a level four or lower Warrior Sub-Type and add it to my hand." He shuffled his deck quickly. "Then I activate Cyclone on the card to your left."
"My Destruction Ring is destroyed…"
"Then I summon Dark Hero: Zombire. (2100/500) Zombire attacks your face down monster."
"My Magnet Warrior Alpha is destroyed. (1400/1700)"
"Hmph… so you are using a Magnet Warrior deck. Not a very strong theme though, is it?"
"You'll be forced to eat those words when I'm done with you!"
"…At least I will not forget why I want to kill you; every time you speak, you remind me. My Zombire's attack goes down by 200 for every monster it successfully destroys. (1900/500) I lay one card down and end my turn."
"Hah! Perfect! I too will activate my Deck Master's ability. By paying 500 Life Points, I am allowed to revive my Magnet Warrior Alpha!"
Cyres: 8000
Kendall: 7500
"And then I sacrifice Alpha, and the two monsters in my hand-Magnet Warrior Beta (1700/1600) and Magnet Warrior Gamma (1500/1800) to special summon Magnet Valkyrion! (3500/3850) He attacks Zombire!"
"I activate Attack Nullification to block your monster's attack, and cause your battle phase to end."
"No big deal," Kendall shrugged. "I end my turn."
"I skip my draw phase once more, to get this monster. And now I summon it-my Initiate Troops. (1000/1000)"
"What good will those weaklings do you?" Kendall sneered.
"I will activate their effect. By sacrificing them, I can destroy one monster on the field, and I choose your Magnet Valkyrion."
"What?! Damn!" Kendall swore.
"It's a pity that Zombire is not allowed to attack directly. So I will end my turn after laying down two cards."
"Hah! I have you now! I activate Cry of the Living Dead, to bring back my Valkyrion in attack mode! Now my Valkyrion will attack Zombire!"
"I will activate my trap, Magic Cylinder. Your attack is negated, and you lose Life Points equal to the amount of your monster's attack."
Cyres: 8000
Kendall: 4000
"Ugh. I lay one monster in defense mode, and end my turn at that."
"Then I will play my own Cry of the Living Dead. I special summon Initiate Troops, and sacrifice them to destroy your Valkyrion."
"…Damn it all."
"Then I summon Goblin Strike Team. (2300/0)"
Yep… I was right. This is definitely a Warrior deck, Daine confirmed.
"Zombire attacks your defense monster."
"My Magnet Warrior Beta… (1700/1600)"
"Zombire's attack decreases again. (1700/500) Then I have Goblin Strike Team attack you directly. They are forced to switch to defense mode after attacking though. I end my turn after that."
Cyres: 8000
Kendall: 1700
"You haven't won yet! I play the equip card Early Burial, allowing me to bring back Valkyrion from my Cemetery at the cost of 800 Life Points!"
Cyres: 8000
Kendall: 900
"Now you can't possibly do anything to stop him with those blasted Initiate Troops," Kendall growled. "I will have him attack Goblin Strike Team, since Zombire can't hope to help in any way whatsoever. Then I end my turn. So what are you going to do without your precious Initiate Troops?"
Cyres looked at his drawn card, and smirked. "I activate Warrior's Return. This allows me to add one Warrior Sub-Type from my Cemetery to my hand. I choose Initiate Troops. Then I summon Troop Commander. (1200/400) When he is successfully summoned, his effect activates. It allows me to special summon one level four or lower monster from my hand to the field, and I will do so with Initiate Troops."
"…Damn. You. To. Hell."
"I sacrifice them, destroying your Valkyrion once more. Then Troop Commander finishes you."
Cyres: 8000
Kendall: 0
Kendall stepped backwards , shaking. "But… but…"
"Rules are rules," Cyres said coldly, drawing his sword and slashing Kendall in the chest. He fell, dead before he hit the ground.
Daine forced himself to watch the man die. He had still not grown used to these bloody deaths, although he had not let it show in the past few days.
After Cyres had cleaned and put away his sword again, he walked over to them, eyeing Daine.
"Nice job," Getsu commented.
Cyres looked at Daine for a few more seconds before turning back to Getsu, lowering his voice to a whisper. "I knew he was not the one we wanted. But he still feels strange."
"I noticed," Getsu nodded. "I can't tell why though. Have you ever felt anything like it?"
"No. All I know is that this dark energy is very strong."
Daine was not able to hear them, so he just waited politely for them to finish talking. But Gaignun could make out their words easily. So they too notice that something is wrong with Daine. Good-I am not alone in my thoughts.
"So what should we do?" Getsu whispered.
"…Nothing at the moment. We have to continue with our mission. Perhaps we can look into this more if we have time later."
"Sounds good to me." Getsu turned to Daine, raising his voice. "Well, it's been fun meeting you, and I'm glad we could help, but we have to get going. We're in the middle of trying to accomplish something. Will you be alright out here?"
"Yes," Daine nodded. "I'm sure Gaignun can chase off anyone else that comes once he has rested for a bit."
"Then we have to leave. We'll probably meet again sometime," Getsu said. "So until then, farewell."
"Same to you," Daine replied.
Cyres eyed him one last time before they left the area, going through the trees.
Now I face the problem of trying to figure out a way to communicate with them, Gaignun realized, looking at Daine and Ark. But I have an idea that might work… He pawed Daine's leg.
Daine turned to Gaignun. "Why are you here anyway? Not like I'm ungrateful-it's great to see you here. But where are the others? You know, Hope and the rest of the group? Wait, why am I even talking to you?" he said in exasperation. "I must be too used to seeing Hope speak to you. It isn't like you can understand me, is it?"
But Daine was amazed by what happened next. Gaignun, staring up at him, nodded.
"What the… wait. No way. Can you actually tell what I'm saying?"
Gaignun nodded again.
"Impossible…" Daine breathed.
"I would say it is very possible after some things that have occurred in the past few days," Ark stated. "Hope certainly acted as though Gaignun was intelligent. Now we know why."
"So you are smart enough to know how to communicate!" Daine realized.
Gaignun nodded once more.
"Ok… so where are the others? No, never mind… I need to stick with yes or no questions. Are the others safe at the moment?"
Gaignun shook his head.
"No? What happened to them? Er… wait. Let me see… ok. They're alive, right?"
A nod.
"Good. But that means… are they captured?"
Another nod confirmed his suspicions.
"Do you know where?"
Once more, a nod.
"Good. So is that why you came down here? To try to find help for them?"
Gaignun nodded once more.
"Did you know we were alive? Does anyone else in the group know?"
He shook his head.
"Well, at least the enemy will have no way of knowing it either then. We can find and save the others hopefully before they do discover that we lived." Daine sighed. "I'm worried… do you think we can make it in time to help them before the enemy does anything?"
"We can only hope so," Ark said softly.
Daine looked up at the overhang above them. "But we can't even do anything until we recover… and by then, it might be too late…"
Gaignun stood and walked over to the front of the overhang, lying down in front of it.
"Are you offering to keep watch?" Daine inquired.
Gaignun nodded.
"Thanks. That helps a lot," Daine said gratefully. "I'm exhausted, and I know Ark needs rest too."
"When we wake, we can decide what to do based on our health," Ark stated.
"Yeah… Gaignun, if I'm not up by dusk, wake me. You need rest too."
Gaignun gave him an unreadable look, but nodded before turning back to the outside.
In mere seconds, both were once again asleep as Gaignun watched the forest keenly.
To be continued…
