Me: (yawns) I'm so sleepy...(opens her mail box) o0 Wait a sec...(checks the mailbox) No avalanche of doom?
CS: Your reviewers decided to cut you some slack.
Me: Thanks guys! To the reviewers!
Silvery Kitsune: Happy Fourteenth b'day! You guys are so young and innocent...(Thinks about when she turns seventeen) And yes, Gary/Ash is a cute coupling, isn't it? I should get off my ass and finish that fic.
Little Leila: I actually think it is a gift shop. Maybe when I head back to Singapore, I can check. Happy birthday! My present to you! (cowers) and I won't hurt asa-chan, promise!
Skittles the Sugar Fairy: You're definitely in, I'm not excluding anyone. But ,you'll come later (probably the next chappie) though, I'm not sure...Nice long review you've given me. Arigatou!
Lunare Valhart: I got it. (snickers) though I can't get over the 'Nemo' bit you've done. I feel really sympathetic towards him now. Even if I sing the B-I-N-G-O song...
Ms. Hobgoblin: Good for you! But I haven't seen you around much...been busy?
QueenPhoenix: Ummm...thanks? (slightly put off by hysteric laughter)
RuLezOfKilliNg: (holds her million trophies) Just where am I supposed to put these?!
Nessi: I hate school. I'm sorry I couldn't e-mail you, but I've put your part here. See if you can find it!
Imigo: (grins) Every author is a Chosen, so yes, there is a lot. There will be more and more every chapter, so don't think this is the end!
Alarivana Ciaernu: You'll have one! f you want one, I'll give you one! I aim to please!
Morgana Magi: You're here. You and Nessi. See...
White Dog: Trevor? Who's Trevor? (lost) Didn't get your e-mail, gomen!
Aquenze: You do that!
A/N: Because of 's cracking down on the script format, I'm going to stick to measly author notes. (glares at ) Honestly, the weird rules they have these days...
Author Adventure
By Timberwolf220
Chapter Five
Obstacle
"What's wrong with you?"
I pushed the hair off my face. It was nearly twelve and I hadn't moved from the balcony. Most of the others had already fallen asleep.
"Well?"
I turned to face Spike, his eyes glinting slightly. I frowned at him, "Shouldn't you be asleep?"
"I was thinking the same about you," He snapped.
I shook my head, "I can't sleep." I lied. I was actually rather sleepy, but I've been wracking my brains no-stop on figuring out who Konane was. I came up with nothing but empty hands.
Plus, if I fell asleep, those weird dreams might decide to gang up on me.
"Why not?" He asked.
I wanted to growl at him. Why now was he turning inquisitive?
"Oh, why do you care?" I muttered.
"Because I do," He said.
That stopped me for a moment. I looked into his sky-blue eyes and I...
I was worried.
"Alright," I finally admitted defeat, "I'll go to sleep. Happy?"
He relaxed, "Yeah." He smiled and whatever I saw in his eyes had vanished.
But...
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"This is what happens when you don't sleep early," Angevar said, glaring at me.
I huffed, "What are you, my grandmother?"
"Nope," And she grinned, "Your best friend."
"Somehow I can't make out the difference," Leila said sarcastically.
Angevar scowled at her, "Killjoy."
"Blonde."
"Hey!"
I laughed. Rumi just smirked at the both of them and nudged Aquenze's arm.
"Oh, look," Rumi said in a sugary voice, "They're bonding."
Angevar and Leila looked horrified and glared at Rumi who at the moment burst into hysterics.
"HENTAI!" Angevar and Leila decided to team up and kill Rumi with Kendo sticks.
God knows where they got those from.
Arnar, on the other hand was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed in Kai style. It made me wonder. He was so...quiet...
"Arnar?"
He opened one eye (What is he, Kai-look alike?) and asked, "Yeah?"
Now it was my turn to feel embarrassed, "Uh, nothing!"
I blushed. Next time I interrupt someone's private leaning session, think first.
"So, now what?" Tanuki asked, levitating the plants.
Rumi scratched her chin, "I guess, we could try to track down those thieves."
"Hey guys!"
We turned to see Silver waving a newspaper.
"Since when did you learn to read?" Spike said innocently.
Silver decided it was time to inflict pain on her brother.
"OW!" Spike said rubbing his forehead, "You know every time you do that, I lose some brain cells!"
"What brain cells?" Silver said sweetly.
"So, what were you trying to show us?" I said hastily before the next World War started.
Silver scowled at her brother before turning to me, all serious, "Take a look at this headline."
We peered at it;
Strange Artifact Stolen!
This newly discovered artifact from Japan has been stolen form the Singaporean Museum. The police have been unavailable for comment. This...
"Is that what I think it is?!" Leila said incredously.
Arnar took a look and whistled, "We're in trouble."
"But...how did it get here?" Rumi questioned.
I peered at the picture, but there was no denying it.
It was Black Dranzer.
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It was her...and someone else...
I knew them....I know them well...
Their eyes...
The Gold Dagger moved.
A scream.
Body.
Body.
I blinked and shook my head. It was bad enough when they came in my dreams, but when they haunted my very waking thought, it was unbearable.
I noticed that both Angevar and Arashi kept throwing me these side-long looks that told that either Leila or Spike blabbed on me. That made me feel irritated. I could bloody well take care of myself, you know!
Black Dranzer. How did it get here into the real world? I thought Tasara would prevent all items of the portals to be blocked.
Unless someone brought it here...
The same person who's been setting us up every step of the way.
When I get my hands on that bloody idiot...
It's not going to be pretty, that I can guarantee.
"We're here!"
The museum.
Arashi scowled, "So, why are we here?"
Tanuki rolled her eyes, "To discover when Aliens landed," She said, heavily sarcastic.
"Really?" Aquenze blinked, "I didn't know we had aliens. Call the MIB!"
We sweatdropped.
Rumi interrupted, "We're here to see if we can find clues about the theft and Bl—the artifact." She hastily added.
We didn't want anyone to know that we knew just exactly what that artifact was.
Or, more precisely, what it can do.
"Ah, are you young ladies here from the Daily Tribune?" A guy came up to us.
I was about to reply otherwise when Angevar butted in and said, "That's us!" She said brightly, ignoring my death-glare.
"Young ladies?" Spike said, now giving the guy a death glare.
A smile appeared on his lips, "I apologize."
"You're forgiven," Rumi said gently.
He smiled again.
Have I mentioned how bishounen this guy is? No?
He's about 6 feet at the most, with this odd flaky black hair that seemed to stick out everywhere. He had copper-ish skin and bright amber eyes.
Can we all say, 'hot?'
I could hear Rumi, Aquenze, Angevar, Silver, and Leila (Leila! How could you?) give very audible sighs.
I ignored them and asked him, "Can we ask about the B-the artifact?" I said, quickly covering up my blunder.
He gave me this odd look. I tried to look as neutral as possible. Arashi gave this guy a searching look.
"Sure," He said, shrugging, "I see no harm in it."
I relaxed, "Thanks."
He grinned, causing Angevar to melt again, "It's my pleasure. By the way, my name's Ethos. But, everyone here calls me E [1]."
"E?" Rumi questioned.
"With a name like Ethos, you need a cool nickname," He said, winking at Rumi. Rumi blushed.
Leila waved her hand, "Care to show us the way?"
He smiled and walked off, with us at his heels. The guys were only a few steps behind us, scowling heavily at Ethos.
A cup of jealously, anyone?
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Museums are very, very big. So don't think I'm going to enlighten you guys with a long description. I may be jobless, but I'm not that jobless.
Leila whistled, "This is..."
"Big? Huge? The same size as a dinosaur?" Spike added, his eyes wide with awe, "God, I saw cruise ships that are smaller that this place!"
I didn't really care (Because this was my second visit here. There are only so many times you can visit a museum) and also, I was more worried about Black Dranzer. We know what kind of power it has. We just didn't want to encounter it.
Ethos took us to the room where Black Dranzer was being kept. It was a mess. There were scorch marks all over the walls and the carpets had been ripped savagely.
Ouch.
"This is where it was," Ethos said, pointing.
I walked up to it carefully. The case had shattered, leaving nothing but the base.
And I saw something that struck me as familiar.
It was torn. A piece of green cloth with a snake.
And two initials.
I clutched it in my hand and got up.
"Thanks a lot Ethos!" I said brightly, "We better get going!"
Ethos gave me a blank look, "So soon?"
"Yeah," With that, I sent glares to everyone, "Let's move!"
They scrambled away. Ethos grinned and gave me his hand, "Come back any time."
I blinked and took his hand, "Thanks." The handshake was warm. It reminded me of his handshake. No point thinking about it. He's gone now.
A lump grew in my throat as I gently tugged my hand away.
"Bye," I said and I walked out.
His handshake...
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"What did you find out?" Spike asked urgently.
I said nothing holding up the piece of cloth in the air, the sunlight glinting at the coloured threads.
Rumi gasped and pulled the cloth away, "Is that...?"
Angevar's gaze hardened, "So, he's here." She slammed her fist against the palm of her hand, "That's cool. We'll just kill him."
I shook my head, "You won't need to. Silver, have you finished that web search on abandoned warehouses?"
"Yup," Silver said, shutting her laptop, "There's one at Orchard Road."
"Great," I said, taking the cloth from Rumi's hand.
Just great...
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Have you ever had an idol? I have one. One author that had inspired me to write and be what I am today.
I owe a lot to her. And she knows it.
"This is the place," Silver said.
Of course it was. It looked every bit like the haunted house or bad guy lair.
Trust these guys to have a sense of humour.
Angevar pushed the door open. The place was coming apart at the seams. Pillars were dislodged and dust was pouring from one of the openings in the roof.
This place could fall on our heads and we would never know what hit us.
"I sense something," Arnar said behind me.
"Me too," Tanuki said, her eyes glinting.
Rumi and Leila just looked puzzled.
"Well, look at this," A drawling voice said.
I tensed and so did everybody else behind me.
"Come out!" I yelled, "...Sonbre."
A jade cloaked figure walked out. There was a tear on his shoulder.
"How did you know?" He demanded (can you imagine Sonbre asking for something?)
I narrowed my eyes, "None of your business."
Leila brought her knives, "We followed your scent," She said sweetly, "You need to take a bath Sombra."
He scowled at us and waved his hand at us, "Well, I'm not interested in you guys this time. I'll kill you later." He proceeded to walk into the shadows until Spike said, "Where's Black Dranzer?"
We turned to Spike with dot eyes.
Sonbre glared at Spike and muttered, "None of your business teme [2]."
Spike flinched.
"Sonbre!" I snarled, "Where's Lunare? I know she's here!"
Rumi transformed her hand into a nifty chain saw, "Or else we'll saw off that snake skin of yours." She threatened.
Something in Sonbre's gaze seemed to tighten.
"Look you author-freaks," He said hissing, "Everything was fine until you guys butted into our affairs."
"Your affairs are our affairs [3]," Angevar said softly, "You've been protecting Black Dranzer, haven't you?"
We turned to Angevar with dot eyes this time.
Honestly, you think you know a person and yet...
They say something so completely out of the blue...
And you don't know what to think anymore.
I turned my eyes at him, "Is that what you've been doing?"
He grumbled something about 'darn muses' and 'killer authors'.
"Well?" I said dangerously quiet.
"...Yes..."
"Where's Lunare?"
"Right here."
Out of the shadows, stepped out the three girls from yesterday. One called Konane, also known as Lunare Valhart. The other two....
Leila gasped, "Asa-chan?!"
Asa-chan looked sheepish, "Um, hey Leila."
I looked at Leila and sweatdropped.
Asa-chan was as good as dead at this point.
And the other one...
"Nanashi-san!" Silver said, glomping her.
We conviently decided to sweatdrop.
Nanashi and Asa-chan.
What were the odds of that?!
I put my katana away, "Okay...anyone care to explain what the hell is going on? And I thought you were in Japan, asa-chan."
Asa-chan still had the sheepish grin on her face and she kept avoiding Leila's eyes, "Welll...um, I met these guys in Japan and we ran into some..."
"Unexpected company," Sonbre drawled, his jaded eyes writhing.
"Sonbre!" Lunare barked, turning the mutant sullenly silent.
Lunare turned her eyes at me and I resisted the urge to twitch.
"Do you know who the 'Nikanoru' are?" Lunare asked.
I shook my head and she visibly relaxed.
"Thank the stars..." She said, pushing her black bangs, "The Nikanoru are..."
"Right here, thank you," A sarcastic voice called out, "Rude people aren't you? Talking behind other people's backs..."
We spun around to see three people step out. Female.
I brought out my katana. They seemed...intimidating...
Spike let his eyes flash as his mace appeared and everyone brought out their weapons. Lunare and the others seemed...tense.
Two of them seemed to step back as a girl with dark hair with purple highlights came in front. I heard Arashi make a strangled gasp and Angevar clutched the hilt of her sword tightly.
"I haven't seen you guys before," Her eyes roamed over us, "But I think I know you all...Leila, Angevar, Timberwolf, Arashi, Rumi-chan, Tanuki, Aquenze, White Dog, Arnar."
"What about me?" Silver said sulking.
"And we shouldn't forget," She said, completely ignoring Silver, "Lunare Valhart, Asa-chan, Nanashi and Sonbre."
"At least she didn't call me Som-bra," Sonbre muttered.
I gritted my teeth, "Good. Now introduce yourself, if you would be so kind."
She gave me a highly disconcerting grin that seemed to say 'I-know-what's-going-on-and-you-don't-so-bad-luck-for-you', "We are the Nikanoru as Lunare called us."
Nikanoru. 'Children of Death' [4]
This was not going the best way it could.
Spike's eyes flashed and he hurled a dark vapor over the Nikanoru. The black mist covered the girl's smirk as they disappeared.
"That's a Freeze Fog," Spike said, "So, we come up with a strategy or we're toast for breakfast tomorrow."
I turned to Lunare, "Who are they?"
Lunare gave me a bittersweet smile that seemed to destroy my insides, "They're Chosen."
Leila gasped, "But-but...no Chosen would have done this!"
Angevar cast an anxious look at the fog, "Actually, I actually am with LV on this one. They feed off the portal's power. They are Chosen," She said so flatly that Leila opened and closed her mouth.
Asa-chan gave her a sympathetic look, "They've been chasing us ever since we stole Black Dranzer from the museum."
"Which we will be taking back soon," A smug voice interrupted.
We watched the fog seemingly evaporate. Spike hid a grimace and almost fell to his feet.
"Kuso...[5]" He swore.
"Why do you want Black Dranzer?" I demanded, "And who do you work for?"
"Why the Hell should I listen to you?!" She snarled, her eyes glinting.
"The same reason we're still talking to you," Sonbre said in a dull tone.
The next split second, Sonbre was on the ground, nursing an aching back and the leader's eyes was flashing dangerously.
"Don't try your luck," She snarled at him.
Arashi hurled a bolt of lightning causing them to scatter.
"Move!" She screamed as one of them came out of nowhere and attacked her with a sword.
The leader tsked and pulled out a gun.
We froze.
"Stupid Chosen," She muttered.
And fired.
CS: You're ending it there?!
Me: Cripes CS, it's like 11 pages!!!
CS: Still!!
Me: I wasn't expecting it to be so long...
CS: That's no excuse?
Me: What are you, my muse?
CS: (gives her a pointed look)
Me: Oh yeah.
CS: Reviewers receive—
Me: Ummm...Gene Starwind dolls?
CS: Who's Gene Starwind?
Me: He's the hero in Outlaw Star.
CS: Why is he the reviewer's gift?
Me: Because I couldn't think of anything else?
CS: That's a good reason, I guess.
[1] I actually knew a guy called E! He let us watch videos in his van. He's cool.
[2] Teme: Bastard
[3] 'My world is your world' Integra told this to Alucard. Thought it was a cool saying.
[4] Nikanoru is taken from Breath of Fire 2. Not mine, not yours, not Angy's, capish?
[5] Kuso: Damn