Disclaimers: Still don't own, despite everything I say.
Warnings: Running around in a pyramid, Dark poking mummies in tombs for no reason… more arguing, fighting, insults and… er… yeah, no progress makes them annoyed to the point of… er… insanity?
Other: A week later and they have gotten… nowhere… well, they've been traveling and fighting and arguing… but that's about it. And for some reason, they're in a pyramid-like-place… don't know why though…
000
"Thirteen years, thirteen stars. Foul separate souls destined from the start. One dreaded prophecy; waiting to come true…"
Fragment Eleven: A Week Later…
"No, you idiot," snapped Krad, "That's a mummified person. Now would you PLEASE stop disturbing the tombs like that!"
Dark, being Dark, didn't hear her; or he was ignoring her, and continued to poke at the coffin-something or other without a care in the world. That was until Satoshi hit him over the head, that was.
Spluttering, and rubbing his now sore head, the purple-haired teen glared at the vampire, who stared blankly back. "That was uncalled for, you creepy, creepy bastard!"
"…"
"Why don't you say something to me, huh!"
Shaking his head and examining the carving on the walls of the tomb, Daisuke could only sigh in resignation as Dark began another argument with the vampire. On the whole, it managed to get rid of having the trip as a bore and a half, but it also managed to get on everyone nerves quite a bit. Except for Dark himself, who seemed to enjoy the fact that he managed to find someone he could argue with without getting hurt too much. Of course, since Krad was still around, when she got annoyed, she was VERY annoyed, which was the only threat effective enough to get him to shut up.
"Who do you think is going to kill the other first?" the redhead asked casually as the blonde joined him to look at the weird scratches and signs in front of them.
"Dark is too stupid to be actually able to kill someone," she replied coolly, "So I'd have to place it with the vampire."
"Hiwatari-kun," he corrected her.
"Yeah. That one."
The two ignored the one-sided argument that was being held behind them, although there was a good chance that they would be in very big trouble for all the disturbing noise, but it wasn't their fault. Dark merely had a really, really big mouth. What were they supposed to do about that anyway?
"Found anything yet?" Satoshi asked the other two, not even giving Dark a glance to show that he knew that he was being yelled at.
Krad shrugged lightly and crouched to look at the scratches closer to the ground, "Most of this just looks like the history it was built in. Daisuke, found anything?"
"Curses? The usual stuff you'd find in a tomb with mummies," was the simple reply they got. "I guess we won't be able to find it here. We should leave before some spirit comes after us."
The vampire raised an eyebrow, "With that moron's voice bouncing along the corridors like a foghorn, I'm surprised that they haven't come just yet. Give us five seconds and we'll have them running to save their ears."
"Oh shut up!"
The blonde smirked as Daisuke laughed before getting serious again. "Hiwatari-kun's got a point, though. We should leave if we can't find anything here. There's no point."
"And don't touch anything," Krad reminded the purple-haired teen sharply. "You know how dangerous it can be. Remember the last temple we visited…?"
Dark scowled but listened to her. Grumbling under his breath, the two older teens followed the younger two, not saying much since there was nothing to talk about, and so it led to more silence than necessary.
Not that they seemed to care about it that much. Nothing had happened, they hadn't found anything at all, now what were they supposed to do?
Of course, the peace – no matter how awkward it was – couldn't last, and it was proven quite clearly when something semi-transparent something or other popped up in front of them.
Raising one eyebrow, Dark shook his head, "What are these exactly? And don't tell me we have to fight them either…" He got hit over the head by Krad, who was grinning at his whining tone of voice.
"I suppose you disturbed the spirits just too much, you know," she informed him coolly, not the least bit worried of the little fact that they were now surrounded in a small hallway that had many carvings etched in them. "Would you like to take the frontal charge then? Or will it be the vanguard?" She got a confused, blank look at this and she rolled her eyes, "We're surrounded, you idiot. One way or another, we'll have to fight them."
"But they look like ghosts!"
"Spirits, duh."
"Don't pretend to be all high and mighty with me!"
"Who said I was?"
"Argh!"
Satoshi plugged his ears and looked up at the ceiling, wishing that it would collapse on the two bickering teens, "They sound like a stupid couple who can't agree on where to go."
Poking With, who had been sitting on his head, Daisuke could only shrug off-hand as he watched the floating, shapeless beings, waiting to see if they would make the first move. They just seemed to float there, not making any sort of sound, almost like they weren't actually there; which could make the matter more confusing. He just couldn't place where he might have seen them before. Or heard them, he just couldn't remember.
"They just might be an illusion," he muttered to himself, "With? Can you tell me anything on the matter?"
"Kyu! Kyu kyu kyu!" was the obvious reply.
The redhead blinked, "Okay…"
Whether he actually understood the bunny-demon, one could question, but it didn't matter in the end, did it? With had been with the Niwa family since whenever, and that was enough to say that this danger couldn't be anymore dangerous than the actual tomb collapsing on top of them.
"Can't you find a way to shut them up?" Satoshi half-groaned as he edged closer to the smaller boy, in an attempt to get away from Krad and Dark; who were STILL arguing, despite the situation.
"Well, we could always just abandon them, but that wouldn't be going with the prophecy, right?"
"… Suppose not. What are they?"
"I think they're half-beings, or something close to that assumption. I mean, they're hovering between both worldly planes at the moment. I suggest we run before they manage to get to this world and try to attack."
"Hn."
It was actually a lot easier than they would have thought; dragging the two older teen with them as they bolted down the hallways as they tried to get out of there.
But as fate would have it, they managed to get lost.
This time, Krad was the first to brook a complaint as she sat on the cold ground and pouted, "Lost. Do you know that we may never be found in here? I was definitely NOT planning to die young, you know!"
"Wow," Dark commented, "This is the first time I've actually seen Krad so… feminine…"
She didn't waste time to knee him in the stomach, "What was that!"
They were in a small-ish room, with only the one hallway place from which they came from; and where the spirits were now wandering around. So that was obviously out of the picture. Unlike the other walls, there were no carvings at all, and a shaft of moonlight was all that indicated that it was still sometime late at night.
Satoshi looked up at the gaping hole high above their heads, "Five hours 'til dawn." He muttered, more to himself than others.
Turning to face the vampire, Dark stared at him with what little light there was, attempting to read the expression on his face; "Out of curiosity, if you walk around in the sunlight, do you melt or something?"
A half-growl was the only reply he received before Satoshi tried to leap at him, only to have Daisuke pull him back. And although the vampire was strong enough to break away from the boy's grip, he didn't.
Of course, Dark was hit over the head with Krad's sheath.
"We have to think of a way to get out of here," Daisuke said, trying to remain calm in case someone else tried to tear the throat out of another, "By the sounds of that-" he indicated the new sounds of walls being broken down and smashed to oblivion, "-we now have to deal with an army of monsters and the place has a pretty good chance of collapsing during that."
Thinking it over, Krad nodded, frowning, "And the biggest problem is that we're lost. I knew we should have done something to keep a trail. Anyway, are these spirit things connected to that whole mummy curse or something?"
"I'm assuming so," he shrugged lightly, "but I can't really say. Maybe someone on the other side thought it would be fun to send them here."
"Or they want us out of the way," added Dark, rubbing his head at the same time. "Now this is the time I wish we could just sprout wings and fly away." He choked when Krad first hit him really hard and then hugged him around the neck.
"You moron! That's the answer! I can't believe I forgot all about it!" she half-yelled; being one not to squeal. "We'll just fly out of this monster-spirit-ridden place!"
"Er… did I miss something?" Dark managed to squeeze out before he ran out of air yet again.
"We can fly! What the hell do you think we have wings for!"
"Oh… yeah…"
"Argh!"
As she proceeded in choking her friend so that his face was becoming a deep purple shade and Daisuke blinked, completely and utterly lost while Satoshi kept an eye out in case monsters decided to walk down the hallway/corridor. Eventually, the redhead thought it better to actually ask something rather than them just sitting there; it wasn't like they were doing anything useful anyway.
"So what did you mean by flying?" he said casually, looking up at the chimney-like opening, "I mean, I suppose Hiwatari-kun could if he wanted to… but the rest of us…" He didn't need to finish the sentence, so he allowed it to hang.
"Well," began Krad, one arm around Dark's neck to keep him in a headlock, "Due to the fact that we're not HUMANS, exactly, makes it more understandable. Dark here and I have wings – meaning we can fly. Simple, no?"
Daisuke inclined his head, "Like angels?"
"Yeah, something of that sort, but that's not the point. It's a branch of magic that only the 'royal' blood seems to possess, but I'm sure we can carry you," the blonde shrugged lightly and looked up, "I think it's wide enough to let us fly freely. Keep your fingers crossed."
Satoshi joined them, wiping his glasses from unseen specks of dust, "I suggest we move now."
"Why?"
"I have a strong suspicion that we'll be having company soon."
"Oh."
It was then that Krad noticed that someone was tapping on her arm and she looked down, only to see Dark, "What?"
"…"
Bending down, it didn't take long for Daisuke to tell her what was wrong, "I really think you should let go; it looks like he's going to suffocate and die on us soon."
The blonde smirked evilly at this, "Is that true? Well, maybe I'll wait until he dies first and then we'll escape and allow the monsters this carcass."
"Krad-san…"
"I'm joking, I'm joking," with that, she let go and the purple-haired boy staggered away from her, rubbing his neck and glaring. She ignored it – as always – and flexed her arms, as if getting ready for something (like swimming, or running… yeah, that stuff) and it didn't take long for white wings to materialize practically out of nowhere in her back.
She flapped them experimentally and nodded.
"So how many people do we have to carry?" she asked cheerfully, "Because if Hiwatari wants to fly up by himself, then Dark can take Daisuke."
Satoshi shrugged at this, which meant that he agreed with what she said, and Daisuke nodded, peering over his shoulder. Dark was still scowling, but didn't argue.
Krad couldn't help but offer a smirk; being the only girl in the team did have their advantages, didn't they?
000
Ten minutes later found the group outside of the giant pyramid look-alike and all in one piece; which was the priority of the search. What they didn't want to meet, though, was a band of the monsters patrolling outside, so that meant that they had had to fight through that.
And that was how the redhead spent the rest of his night as he scolded Dark for rushing into stupid fights as he bandaged the older teen's bloody arm.
It had been a week since they had accidentally run into each other that one not-so-sunny-morning-because-it-was-dawn day and since the seer Towa had thrown them out of the room, telling them to find some part of a Star that was supposed to exist. The problem with that was that they had no idea on where to go, who to ask, and even if they actually got along.
As it turned out, Dark got along with Daisuke, yet hated Satoshi's guts for no reason; Daisuke found himself in the middle of a three-way fight yet got along fine with everyone; Satoshi never said anything unless necessary; and Krad seemed to get along with the redhead well enough and didn't care about the vampire to any degree that Dark had.
So they all went along the same way yet different ways mentally, and they were fine with that, although Daisuke was the one who had to work out their next traveling plan as to where to go. Being the only one to know his geography – of sorts – they had gone from one place to another; yet had no luck in finding what they wanted.
Not that they actually knew what they were looking for, so that wasn't any help to them at all.
And so began the arguing and fighting from day one…
Bouncing on ahead, Daisuke held a one-sided conversation with both Satoshi and With, as they were the ones ahead. Naturally, the vampire had his hood over his head and didn't react at his name or anything close to it, but the redhead didn't seem to care the least.
Dark and Krad trailed behind, bewildered.
"So… why are we walking in the same direction as them?" asked the purple-haired teen, "I mean… we could always just walk off in another direction and would never have to see them again…"
"And most likely get mauled by a couple of monsters," the blonde replied coldly, giving him a glare to shut him up, "I think that this is probably the safest we'll get, and there's no chance we'll get lost."
Blinking, Dark shook his head and waved an arm around at the scenery. Then he pointed a finger at his friend, "We're in the middle of nowhere! Fields, planes and all that other random crap that we've never paid any attention to and now we're following those two and it's all okay with you!"
"And monsters," she added helpfully, "Now just shut up and keep walking."
"Don't tell me when to shut up--!"
Fuming to himself, Dark promptly ran into a large tree trunk and slid down to the grassy ground with a dull thud. He groaned, but Krad strode right past him and caught up with the other two.
Being who he was, Daisuke beamed and then looked confused, "Hey, I was just talking about which town we may reach before dusk and… where's your friend?"
"Him? Oh… he thought he would take a nap for a while and then catch up to us in the next five weeks," she replied lightly.
"You mean he ran into that tree? How could anyone miss it?"
"He did."
"… Hey, where'd Hiwatari-kun go?"
"Kyu! Kyu kyu kyu!"
"Er…"
"Kyukyukyukyukyu--!"
"I think that means he's hungry."
"Uh… what exactly IS that thing?"
Satoshi had decided to make a detour in case of wandering monsters he could prey upon, only to come across that jerk whatever his name was… the guy with the purple-hair and seemed to like arguing with him during the few hours they had met.
Lying face-first in the dirt right next to the tall, tall tree, Dark wasn't even moving and the vampire kicked him lightly.
There was no response.
As much as he would have liked to leave the boy there for who knew how long, waking him up seemed to be the smart thing to do, so he did what he could; and that was by kicking him again.
Daisuke and Krad were interrupted out of their 'what is With' conversation as Dark woke up and began throwing insults and other verbal barbs at the vampire, who had somehow rejoined them before they had known what was going on.
"Let's go." He muttered.
No one decided to question him, seeing that Dark was angry and fast approaching.
The next week was mostly getting to know each other and getting used to one another's company, as well as learning how to deal with wandering around all the time, and still being unable to find the star fragment they were supposed to find.
Again, no clues led to nothing for their search.
Some few meters away from the pyramid, the group sat around and said nothing to get rid of the gloomy silence that hung around them. Satoshi had wandered off – being it night and all – and the others were getting ready to go to sleep, if that was even possible with monsters prowling around.
Poking the small fire with a stick, Krad stared into the dancing flames and pondered about what was bound to happen in the end. Despite the fact that they still argued a lot and fought for no reason, she had to admit that being around Dark was a lot better then being trapped at home, and that was saying a lot. It was a questioning subject for her, to say the least, and there seemed to be no easy way to approach the topic.
Then again, Dark WAS already asleep and snoring close by, and the redhead on the opposite side of the flames seemed to have drifted off as well. So, left in the meandering of whatever she could call her mind and feelings, the blonde gave the fire another vicious little poke.
A week wasn't that long, though, was it? Really, they had many places to go and see, and although they had a job to do, it was actually quite fun to hang around the other three; even if they were a bit odd in their own degree.
And although Dark and Satoshi might not have noticed it, they actually did seem to get along fine… as long as they weren't trying to tear each other's throats out and the like. Even though the vampire obviously seemed to get along better with Daisuke anyway.
Oh, the confusing way the mind works…
It seemed to be a peaceful enough night, and the sky was just so… clear and full of stars. The moon was just there, but only as a thin strip of white. Thoughts about her home and Dark's floated back on their own accord.
How worried would they be now?
Shrugging it off as a non-existent issue in her life, Krad caught sight of Satoshi returning and took that as the sign that she could go to sleep. Not that she needed someone's permission for it before, but it was safer to have someone watching.
000
"Now let's all run around in circles and hope that we find that freaking thing soon otherwise the world is doomed!"
"… That has to be the stupidest thing I've heard from you since this morning; and you just woke up."
"Does that mean he broke a world record?"
"Sadly, that's a yes."
Dark glared at both Satoshi and Krad, who didn't do a thing but hold a light conversation which involved insulting said hyperactive person, which Daisuke fixed something for them to eat.
Clouds were beginning to gather in the sky as the redhead looked up to read what sort of weather they were going to have to plough through, and then shook his head. Not being the white fluffy normal clouds, it was obvious that they would have to go through a bit of rain now, although it was… whatever time of the season it was.
And the team weren't helping matters any further, as Dark joined him and sulked, which seemed to emit very depressing sort of waves.
Fate seemed to have a strange way of pushing a bunch of people together, and they all weren't even human. Hell, whatever Dark and Krad were in reality, they weren't saying, Satoshi was a vampire, which made the redhead the only mortal. Well, he wasn't complaining much, and as long as they didn't all kill each other in the end…
He didn't even want to think about that.
"Aw… Daisuke," Krad said in a mock-whiny tone, "Dark won't be nice and talk to us anymore…" All she got from that was a death-written glare and she smirked, "Why is he always so mean? All the girls loved him back at home…"
"Did they suffer brain damage before that?" Satoshi asked blankly, hood over head to keep out of the sun.
One could almost see the vein in Dark's head pop, "DAMMIT! THE NEXT PERSON WHO INSULTS ME GETS TO VISIT MY FIST!"
"Try not to overexert yourself," sighed Daisuke, pulling the older teen back down before he tripped into the flames, "And unless you want to walk in the rain, I suggest we eat while moving and get to the closest town possible soon." Although his tone was light, it was obvious that he was brooking no arguments, and no one was about to argue either.
As they walked to whatever destination, there was absolutely nothing to see and nothing really to do. Krad had given up on provoking Dark into another fight for the time being, Satoshi was just being himself, Dark seemed happy enough now that he'd eaten and they were moving, and Daisuke was praying that he wouldn't have to walk around in the rain. It did some very strange things to his already spiky hair, and he didn't want to have to deal with it already.
Clutching the cloak around her more tightly as a harsh breeze swept past them, Krad shivered, "Where is the next town anyway?"
"Not too far, I hope," the redhead replied, taking in his surroundings as he went, "Because it looks like I long and heavy storm I don't want to have to witness now--"
He was cut short as another sound reached their ears; something heavy, like wings of some sort, and they sounded just a bit too close to comfort. A sound that had no real identification and they stopped walking, trying to work out what it was and where it had come from.
The unexpected attack hit them from above.
000
If anyone is wondering, the big black things were mentioned in the first few chapters… then they disappeared, and then… they're back. XD Think of those huge flying dragon-looking things (in my opinion) from the Lord of the Rings. Big… and flying… yeah. And they can't find one piece of star! What does it look like? They have no idea!
And, for some reason or another, a word from our sponsors… I mean, characters (I'm poor. I need money. Can you give me some? Gets poked in the head Dang…).
"If this story doesn't get completed in the next few hours, you're head will be on a pike." (Yes, it's random, but whatever. XD) Two more chapters? Three at the most, I suppose. Who knows. But we're getting there!
Reviews:
neko-nya: Dark's very happy the way he is… except for lack of siblings so he's had no one to argue with for a long, long time… XD Try not to hurt people too badly otherwise… well… who knows.
Hakudoshi-chan: Thanks :)
kyo's little koneko: Heh, thanks. Dark has it rough… for some reason, I'm not sure why. And Dai and Sato just… clicked. I suppose.
Koway Oceshia: Well, he either gave it away or Krad stole it from him 'cause he couldn't use it XD Daisuke's the peacemaker at the moment… always will be, I suppose. And if they killed each other, they wouldn't be able to fulfill the prophecy, would they? Unless it involved a massacre somewhere… XD