Chapter 10
Feud
Jin
jumped back and formed another wind attack as Shin recovered from his
last one. They had been fighting for a few minuets now with no
progress it seemed as though they were almost equally matched.
Shin
flew back and gathered a great amount of wind in his hands. "Here
is something for you Jin, Blue Gale!" he yelled as the tornado tore
at Jin.
Jin had to quickly form a spout of wind of the same
strength so he could deflect it. Jin shot off his spiral of wind and
it collided with Shin's creating a huge tornado in the center of
the ring. The audience had to hold on tightly as the wind ravaged the
arena.
Kixston and Kaneda stood bracing the others so nothing
would happen to them.
"Your still holding up over there right
Kixston?" Kaneda yelled over the roar of the wind.
"Just
fine, you are to i am guessing."
Kaneda nodded. "I don't
think that i have ever felt something that strong before. And the
tension is amplifying their power. This could end up messy."
Kixston nodded "Messy indeed, These guys had better let up
before we loose our power!"
Kaneda laughed. "Now what would
the fun in that be?"
Kixston let out a low growl. "He needs to
learn how to be serious."
Back in the ring Jin and Shin had
started to exchange blows again. Shin was on the offensive and Jin
was blocking a majority of his attack with sharp blocks. Jin pulled
back his fist and hitting Shin in his stomach and sending him flying.
"Nice punch, i see that you have gotten a bit stronger.."
Shin smirked "Sadly that is not strong enough." Shin summoned
another whirlwind in his hands then slid his wrists into the center
and broke the whirlwind in half. The whirlwinds climbed up his arms
to his shoulders, then down his chest and legs. "this is my wind
armor, if you punch me you are liable to be thrown across this ring,
and your wind attacks are useless against it." Shin laughed a
little bit. "You are done for."
That will be difficult to
handle. Jin thought. How can I combat that? I need an attack that can
break through that wind armor and hit him. But how can i do
that?
"Think fast Jin!" Shin yelled charging. He punched Jin
but he dodged the main part of the attack but it still grazed his
shoulder sending him flying.
Jin smashed into the wall on the
side of the arena. He stayed there for a second then he pulled
himself out of the wall. "Shin, you will have to better than that
to kill me." Jin muttered floating back into the ring.
"I am
sorry brother, i shall kill you next time." Shin cackled.
Jin
took an offensive stance and wind surrounded his body. He formed his
own wind armor and then charged forward meeting Shin mid air with a
kick. This time he wasn't thrown back, and their armors of wind
fought out a battle with in a battle each time either one landed a
punch or a kick.
Shin threw a axe kick and Jin blocked using a
high block then countered with knife hand. Shin stopped Jin's
attack and flipped him over his shoulder. Jin re-cooperated himself
then threw a barrage of punches, all of which Shin blocked.
All
of his body is covered in that armor as long as he has that i can't
harm him with my attacks, all i can do is waste my energy. Jin
thought. Wait, his head, it is an open target he doesn't have the
shield around that. If i can land a strong enough attack it will
disrupt his concentration and the wind armor will disperse.
"You
shouldn't think while fighting." Shin sneered knocking Jin back
with a powerful kick.
Jin balanced him self out and charged his
brother. They started to exchange blows again, this time Jin was
swift to block all attacks made by Shin. He was rotating his arm
almost in an instant from a high block to a low block, and back up
again. His movement flowed smoothly, unlike Shin's which were jerky
and un-fluid. As Shin threw a punch to Jin's stomach, Jin swung his
elbow up and knocked Shin in the jaw with all his might. Then in the
split second while Shin was phased Jin formed a powerful wind attack
in his palms and shot it at Shin. It hit Shin in the forehead and
plowed him into the ground where the force of the wind dug a pit into
the ring. Shin's armor fell, as Jin thought it would and he landed
beside the pit. "I am sorry that it had to come to this Shin."
Jin muttered looking into the dusty pit. He formed another attack.
"But it had to eventually."
Before Jin could even put the
finishing touches on his attack a tornado shot out from the pit and
hit Jin catching him in the cyclone of wind. He was soon smashed into
the ceiling, then the power of the tornado held him up there crushing
him. "Sorry to disappoint you, but you won't be finishing me off
brother!" Shin yelled climbing out of the pit. In one of his hands
was the tail end of the tornado and in the other was the startings of
another. "Now, die!" Shin shot the second tornado into the first
and they melded to make an immense force that started to tear away at
the ceiling around Jin.
Pain tore through Jin's body as the
tornado tried to rip apart his body, large cuts formed across his
skin and his blood was sucked into the vicious cyclone.
There has
to be something that i can do, some way that i can defeat him. I have
to beat Shin, or i will end up dead. And that doesn't sound to
appealing to me. Jin thought. I have to do something quickly, before
i am torn limb from limb.
With much struggle and agony Jin brought
his hands together and attempted to form a counter attack.
If i
shoot it right down the center of his tornado I am liable to hit him,
that is if i can aim it well enough while i am spinning around like
this. Jin thought.
Jin felt a slicing pain in his back, he
glanced over to see a large piece of rebar hanging out of the
ceiling. Jin gathered his attack and then once he passed the rebar
grabbed onto it with one hand holding his attack with the other. He
then flung it straight down the middle of Shin's tornado, right
into Shin's palms.
Shin let out a loud yell when the attack hit
his hand and the tornado suddenly dispersed. "You! How could you!"
Shin yelled holding his hands up. There were large pieces of concrete
shoved deep into his palms.
Jin held onto the rebar tightly for a
moment before he drifted down to his brother's side. "You were
willing to kill me, why should you expect me not to defend myself?"
Jin asked in a soft tone. "This was your destiny brother, it was
given to you when you killed them."
Shin let out a low growl
and started to form another attack lunging at Jin.
Jin just
kicked his brother in the shoulder and he fell back onto the ground.
"Don't make this harder than it is.." Jin pleaded. "Please
back out of this fight and leave."
"the only way that i am
leaving is when one of us is dead!" He yelled sweeping Jin's feet
out from under him. Shin then got onto his feet and tore the chunk of
cement out of his palms and let the blood drip to the ground for a
moment. "You know that hurt, badly...and you will pay for that
pain." Shin formed a tornado and used it to pull a large block of
cement out of the arena then he slammed in onto Jin before he could
even flinch.
A large gust of wind tore up through the cement
block but before Jin could rise Shin smashed another chunk of cement
on top of that and he did so several more times until there was a
large pile on top of Jin. "Try to escape that brother." He
cackled.
There was no movement or reply from the rubble.
"That
was easy, maybe I should have done that earlier." Shin laughed.
In
the crowd, Kaneda, Kixston and the others stood in complete awe of
the situation.
"He killed his own brother..." Kaneda
muttered.
"Serves the kid right for jumping in over his head."
Kixston muttered.
Kaneda got a sudden angry look on his face and
he pulled Kixston up by his shirt. "How can you say something like
that! It is your own damned fault that he died! If you didn't owe
Cronic we wouldn't be in this mess!" he yelled.
A large gust
of wind focused their attention back on the ring.
The cement
chunks that were on top of Jin were busted into ity bity pieces and
Jin stood battered and bloody in the midst of it all. He summoned up
a even stronger wind force and launched the pieces of cement at Shin.
The shards pierced Shin's skin on contact and he let out a blood
curdling yell. Jin just stood there un-phased while he kept his
attack going. his eyes weren't the normal color they were a deep
glowing red and there was a mark that looked like a tattoo forming on
his cheek.
Shin quit yelling and quit moving and his limp body
was thrown into a wall and then Jin used his power to bring it back
into the ring then slam it into the wall again.
"JIN STOP!"
Ichigo yelled. "HE IS DEAD! YOU MUST STOP!"
Everyone else
started to yell at Jin along with Ichigo telling him to stop.
In
the back of his mind Jin himself was yelling for someone to stop him.
Then in a loud steady rhythm Shuvanis's voice called out to Jin.
You must stop Jin! you have to cease your actions before even
worse repercussions happen. You must get a hold of yourself, get
control of your body! Shuvanis yelled.
As if he were fading out
of a dream Jin stopped all attacks on Shin and looked around the room
bewildered. Everyone on his team looked at him in total shock, there
was even a slight glimpse of fear in their eyes. Jin quickly looked
away and his eyes rested on the battered body of Shin, with that Jin
fell to his knees. It was a combination of the pain and the sudden
guilt that plagued him. "I...almost lost it...i almost did it
again..." he stammered. "How, could i let it go so far...how
could i endanger all my friends..."
Kixston jumped up into the
ring and pulled up Jin. "Are you all right Kid?"
Jin nodded
and forced a smile. " I will...be just fine with some rest."
Kixston nodded and took him out into the crowd as the announcer
stepped up.
"So who will be next to fight?" He yelled.
Kixston sat Jin in the pit outside the ring. "Rest up kid, that
looked rough..."
Jin just nodded his head and closed his eyes
for a second.
All the noise in the room was drowned out and out
of the silence came the light sound of a flute. Jin recognized it as
his flute, he looked around and he was back in the forest beside the
river. He saw the figure floating in the river and he put his flute
in his pocket running to the bank. He saw Driretlan and then pulled
her out of the water. When he realized that she was alive he forced
all the water that was trapped in her lungs out, then sat beside her
catching his breath. "She will be fine." he smiled pulling out
his flute and losing himself in the music again only to be awoken, in
a sense, by the roaring of the crowd as Kaneda stepped into the ring.
Lunus awoke in a dark cavern, he sat up and rubbed
his head. He then reached down for his weapon and found it to be
missing. "What the.." he muttered.
"Are you looking for
this?" a raspy feminine voice asked coldly tapping his sword which
lay in her lap.
Lunus looked up and gazed at the woman gasping a
little bit, but covering it up well. "You, how did you live?" he
snapped.
"I didn't i was revived, but by whom it is not of
your concern." She snapped back. "But this piece of information
is, i am going to get revenge on you for killing me."
Lunus
narrowed his eyes. "I killed you to protect my little sister." he
growled. "You shouldn't have been able to inherit the power
anyway, Mitara! You were nothing but scum."
"That is only
what you think my naive half brother, I was the rightful holder of
the ability to unlock Shuvanis Panch, not that brat Driretlan. She
should have been the one to die!" Mitara yelled standing up and
stomping her foot. "She doesn't deserve them, I should have
killed that whore you two called a mother when i had the chance."
"You mean like you did to your mother, just so there wasn't a
chance that another female child would be born? Father wouldn't
have allowed that to happen a second time. He knew that you had done
it the first time after you started to act funny when Kaneda took us
to the gravesite to pay respects. You wouldn't have had the chance
to kill my mother, father and Kaneda both would have stopped you and
you know it." Lunus growled jumping to his feet.
"hn. Father
was a fool so was Kaneda, they didn't understand my master plan
neither do you. But the one who revived me does and he will help me
achieve my goal of becoming the most powerful being on the planet!"
"That isn't possible, Driretlan has the powers now and you
can't do the transferal ceremony." he chuckled
"Oh i can't,
well i have news for you. I can do it with my master's help, we can
get her blood then seal her away. And there is nothing that you can
do about it! Father and the whore are dead, and Kaneda doesn't even
know that i or Driretlan exist thanks to that memory charm that i put
on him!" she cackled
"He knows that i exist though, if you
can recall your charm wouldn't get rid of his memories of me. And
if i went to him about it he would help me." Lunus smirked "You
won't succeed. So give me my sword and let me end this now!"
Mitara shook her head and glared at him. "You will learn about
threatening me." her hands glowed with power and she formed a ball
of energy. "DIE!"
Lunus easily dodged by hiding behind a rock.
How can she do that, i thought that she lost all her powers when
father transferred them. Lunus thought.
"Easy Lunus my master
gave me some new powers. And unlike yours i can easily use them with
out having a weapon in hand." She cackled forming another ball of
energy.
Lunus smirked and jumped out from behind the rock.
"Sword!" he yelled, suddenly the sword that lay by Mitara's
side was in his hand. "But i still have my old powers." he
smirked. "Now what do you have to say?"
"This should be
interesting." Mitara muttered charging forward.
Lunus met her
attack with his sword, when her attack started to push him back he
sent some power surging up through the sword which threw back her
attack. "You may have new powers but they are weak compared my
demon powers." he said coldly. "Now leave and tell your master to
give up his plan before i mangle your body to where it is of no use
to him."
Mitara let out a low growl, "Never!" she charged
him again with another more large scale attack.
Lunus formed his
silver flame attack around his sword and charged meeting her attack.
At first there was a slight power struggle then Lunus' attack
knocked her back into a wall kicking up dust. When the dust finally
settled Mitara could be seen, she was bloody and battered. "Do you
wish to continue?" he asked.
Mitara hissed. "This will end
soon brother, once i kill Driretlan and steal her powers i will kill
you!" she yelled disappearing.
Lunus let out a long sigh and
sheathed his sword. "I must hurry to save Driretlan, otherwise
Mitara and her master might get there first. And then the whole world
will be endangered." Lunus shook his head. "Then all that father
and Kaneda went through will be in vain." he then turned and walked
out of the cavern and into the daylight. "I just hope that i can
find her in time."
Kaneda pulled his sword out of
the thick rock of the ring. "That was a nice dodge, but i am afraid
that you won't be able to keep it up." he said. "I have to
finish this match so i can finish the chapter that i was working on."
The guy that he was fighting laughed and took a back stance. "You
talk to much." he muttered lunging forward.
Kaneda simply
grabbed the guy before he could attack and threw him over his
shoulder. "Too slow." he smirked turning around.
The guy
picked himself up and went for another attack. "You can't win!"
he yelled.
Kaneda simply stepped to the side and tripped the guy
smirking a bit as he fell into his comrades.
"Get out there and
get him Geira!" One of his team mates yelled throwing Geira back
into the ring.
Geira let out a low growl. "no one embarrasses
me.." he muttered "I will show you..." he lunged forward
towards Kaneda, before he launched an attack he created a double of
himself. He then launched a double attack on Kaneda.
Kaneda
blocked the small fury of punches then he knocked away both Geiras
with his sword.
Both Geiras pulled themselves up and took a back
stance. "It seems as though we will have to make a few more of us,
this one is crafty."
"I'm not crafty, i am just not
stupid.." Kaneda muttered.
I had best just take care of them
before they get any bright ideas. He thought.
Kaneda pulled his
sword up close to his side and locked his hands on the handle,
putting his elbows in a tight position. He charged forward in almost
a blur he was moving so fast. He stabbed right through the copied
Geira and the body simply disappeared. "what the..." Kaneda tried
to pull his sword back but it was stuck. There was a loud cracking
noise and a trail of electricity appeared linking Geira with Kaneda's
sword.
"Clever isn't it, my double is just a disguise for an
attack." he cackled.
Kaneda sighed. "Well it isn't' that
clever, you just gave away your only trump card. Now you have nothing
else to use against me." Kaneda pulled back on his sword and it
jerked Geira forward about half a step, then he bounced back like
rubber.
"You didn't think that i would give away my only ace
in the start of the battle did you?" he laughed.
"i was
hoping." Kaneda muttered, "oh well i guess that i will just have
to try a bit harder." he took a few steps back pulling on his
sword, just as Geira started to lurch forward some, Kaneda jumped
back and let go of his sword letting it fly towards Geira as the link
pulled back like a rubber band.
Geira wasn't expecting the
attack and he managed to jump so the sword wouldn't stab him
through the stomach, but the sword caught him in the leg, and the
weight pulled him back down to the ring. he tried to stand back up,
but he could only get on one knee because the heavy sword's tip was
deep in his calf. "You..." he muttered glaring at Kaneda.
Kaneda shrugged. "Well you didn't want to do it the easy
way." he muttered. "but if you give up now you won't have to
endure any more pain."
Geira laughed at his proposal. "I
would rather die than surrender to some scum like you."
"So
judgmental." Kaneda muttered shaking his head. He made his way over
to the handle of his sword and ripped it out of Geira. He rose his
sword up, "Sorry but you wanted it." he brought the sword down
but before it could make contact with Geira a electric field stopped
it. The field shrunk into something that resembled a stave.
"I
am not going to die that easily." Geira growled.
"I have
heard that one many times before." Kaneda said in an irritated
tone.
Geira pulled himself up and managed to shove Kaneda back.
He then threw his spear at Kaneda while creating another.
Kaneda
blocked the attacks with his sword easily. Geira kept creating and
throwing the spears at Kaneda who deflected them with ease.
This
guys' strategy is weak. Kaneda thought. I am going to have to show
him real strategy.
Kaneda launched himself forward and landed
about twenty feet in front of Geira. He quickly scraped the shape of
a five point star with a slash through it into the ring.
"this
isn't art class!" Geira yelled jumping forward.
Kaneda sighed
and shook his head. "Maybe it should be." he muttered. As Geira
crossed over the symbol on the floor Kaneda yelled "Ignite!" and
a fountain of flames shot up and engulfed Geira then swirled around
and out in a killer display. Kaneda smirked as he watched the reddish
orange flames circle out like they were a living creature of some
sort. After a minuet Kaneda tapped his sword on the ground and the
flames died down, leaving Geira laying on the symbol which was now
charred into the ground. Kaneda walked towards the half concious
Geira. "You should pay more attention to what your opponent is
doing, that was a fire incantation that i was carving into the ground
it means that when i signal it will ignite and engulf whomever is
nearest."
Geira looked up at him and glared before passing out.
Kaneda just shook his head and walked over to his team mates and
jumped out of the ring. "That was interesting hu?" he chuckled
leaning against the ring. He reached behind his chest armor and
pulled out his book.
"Don't you ever just think or
something!" Kixston snapped.
"That is why i have it."
Kaneda muttered
"It helps you think?" Sharon asked.
Kaneda
shook his head and sighed. "You misunderstood. I have it so i don't
think too much."
"That is stupid." Kixston sneered.
"If
i think too much i become lost in my self, the ifs and whys. They
just seem to consume me, there is to many gaps in my past that i
cannot explain, memory gaps persay. I just don't like to think
about it, i get to caught up in it. It is kinda depressing thinking
about the things that you cannot remember, and why." he muttered.
Kixston nodded, he knew how that could be, to be caught up in
your own mind is a terrifying thing to happen. "Well i guess that i
will fight next." he muttered.
Sharon laughed and pointed to
the other side of the ring. "No you won't there isn't anyone
left. Looks like they ran away."
There was a loud swooshing
noise and a tall female with long purple and silver hair in a loose
white fighting outfit suddenly appeared in front of the group.
"Excuse me i take that to offence little girl. I am still here."
Sharon jumped a little then crossed her arms. "I am not a
little girl thank you."
"Well you look it. Then again looks
are deceiving eh?" the woman cackled in a cold voice. "I would
fight you, but i have gotten a better offer from people of much more
skill than you. All i have to do to join the winning team is kill the
rest of my team, simple, no?"
"Your sick." Ichigo said.
"Sick, no. Just smart, they were pathetic anyway, if they lost
to such beings as you. Hm and i only got the chance to see two of you
fight. Sad that i can tell how pathetic you all are from just the
performances of them hu?" she sneered. "Well it was nice..."
she stopped for a second to scoff at them. "I am looking forward to
seeing you all torn limb from limb." she added before she
disappeared.
"Talk about a bitch." Kixston sighed. "She is
worse than Dri...then again..."
"Quit while you are ahead."
Kaneda muttered
"I am guessing that we win then." Ichigo
smirked.
"Yes we should have won." Mitzuki said. "Unless
there is someone else who wants to fight us while we are down
here."
"I think that we have all had enough fighting for one
day." Jin smiled pulling himself to his feet. "I say that we all
go get a drink and rest some."
Kixston nodded. "that sounds
good, we'll do so after i have a chat with the ref."
Well
that is one fight down, we still have some more to go, but i think
that the toughest is out of the way. For me at least, well unless i
am drained of power tomorrow. But i think that we would fair fine
even with out my help. Jin thought. I am glad that we are closer to
our goal, we are sure to get that weapon and secure that we all will
be safe from the unleashed power of the Shuvanis Panch for at least a
while longer. We still need to gather the other weapons though..
"Hey
something up kid?" Kixston asked as he walked by. "We are out of
here, we officially have one match down, so lets get going."
Jin
nodded and smiled and slowly walked after them.
Driretlan
let out a low growl while she followed Darius up a forested hillside
carrying a large bag on her back. "and what the hell is this
supposed to do for me!"
"This is to build up your stamina."
he smirked looking over his shoulder at her.
"More like your
stamina. First you beat me up then you dragg me up some hill, oh yea
this is doing a lot for me." she growled.
"You should look at
the bigger picture, what do you usually do after a hard fight." he
asked.
"Hmm, let me think. You know i think that i REST like
normal people do. I don't know what you do, you probably do some
freaky ceremony with your little monk friends." she muttered.
"Oh
yes that is exactly what i do." he sighed rolling his eyes. "You
are pathetic you know that right?"
"I didn't but thanks for
the tip." she muttered heaving the heavy bag on her back up while
jumping over a stump. "what is in this stupid bag anyway?" she
added.
Darius smirked slyly "You will find out when we reach
the top, but it is helping you gain strength."
"Oh i am sure
of that." she muttered. "you and your freaky little training
routines, you are like a screwed up version of Kixston. If that is
possible."
Darius sighed. "Maybe we should step this up a
notch, apparently you are not worn out enough if you can still talk
that much." Darius took off up the hill taking it in leaps in
bounds, once he got off to a start his speed kept increasing until he
was going so fast that all you saw was a blur.
"Great, now i
have to keep up with him, while i have this on my back. My lucky
day." Driretlan muttered running up the hill after him. She had a
hard time maneuvering since she had a large amount of weight on her
back. She trailed far behind Darius but she still kept an eye on him,
and the longer that she ran the easier the pack became to carry. Well
that is how it seemed anyway. As she neared the top of the hill she
saw the reddish glow of the sun poking through the trees and dancing
across the ground.
There was a loud snapping noise behind her and
before she could slow enough to turn someone kicked her hard and she
was sent flying through the trees and rolling into the clearing atop
of the hill.
"You should have been able to avoid that."
Darius sneered walking into the clearing.
"Oh, i am sorry. It
might have been the extra three hundred pounds on my back weighing my
down a little!" She yelled pulling the bag off her back and
hopping up. "And what the hell is in that!" she yelled pointing
at the bag.
"Large stones with energy draining sutras attached."
"Why did you do that? What is the point in draining my energy!"
she yelled.
"It only drains about twenty percent of your
energy. Making you dig deeper and tap other energies with out even
knowing it. Training you to build up strength." Darius said
satisfied with himself.
"That is the most retarded thing i have
ever heard. Putting sutras on rocks, you have really lost it." she
muttered sitting down.
"well you had best not complain about
the sutras on the rocks because soon enough you will get your own
little set that you will get to wear everywhere." Darius
smirked
"You asshole." she muttered "What makes you think
that i will wear them?"
"Because you have no choice, that is
why. And you won't be able to remove them only i will."
Driretlan let out a low growl and jumped up spinning around to
face him. "So what is next oh gracious master! Restraints!" she
yelled
Darius put his hand on his chin. "You know i never
thought of that." he smirked. "Thanks for the idea."
Driretlan
let out a long sigh. "I am going to sit down and shut up now."
she plopped down onto the ground and watched the sun sink beyond the
horizon.
I hope that the others are having a better time than i
am. I am stuck in hell with a wanna be Kixston. Driretlan thought.
She felt a soft unnatural breeze that seemed to murmur. 'Don't
get so discouraged, i will be back soon. I'll make sure that
everything is okay, I swear it. '
Driretlan brought her knees to
her chest and muttered. "Lunus...Still you haunt me.."
Azrath
walked into Johnny's throne room and knelt before his throne.
"Do
you bring news on Hotaru's progress?" He asked leaning forward a
bit.
"Yes i do master, She has progressed beyond the first
round, she is set to match a team of fighters from the black desert
next round. I believe that she will easily over take them." Azrath
reported
Johnny nodded. "Indeed, maybe all of this will teach
her to not disobey me." he sighed. "Are the fire demon and her
half vampire companions competing?"
Azrath shook his head. "The
demon Driretlan has not been spotted in that area. Spies say that she
still is on the island, but all her companions are in the competition
in the desert outside Aviris."
Johnny let out a long sigh. "No
matter, i will just have to kill her after those others. Once Mitara
has her power, Driretlan is of no use to me. She will just get in my
way along with her friends."
Azrath nodded. "Will you be
waiting until after you have the weapon sire?"
Johnny smirked.
"That is something for me to know and for you to find out. It will
be done either way, even if i have to take them out one by one. I
could even indulge myself with it a bit. I haven't used hardly any
of my more entertaining powers lately."
Azrath got a spark in
his eye and jumped a little bit. "Do you intend to use the hellfire
spell on them master? I think that it would be quite entertaining to
watch them squirm while it takes effect."
"I will consider it
Azrath. There are many ways that i can torment them with out even
having to lay a finger on them. I find mind games quite intriguing."
he smirked rising from his throne. "I am going to see if Mitara has
made any progress."
A shadowed figure came into the room.
"There is no need master. I am here." Mitara said stepping out of
the shadows.
"Good, did you kill Lunus?" Johnny asked taking
his seat once more.
"No, he is alive. He took my by surprise."
She mumbled walking in front of the throne kneeling and putting her
head down in shame. "I am sorry master, next time i will not fail."
Johnny let out a low growl. "Do you know how disastrous it
would be if he finds Driretlan! Even more so now that he knows you
have risen! this could ruin everything!"
"I will kill him next
time master i swear it to you." Mitara siad looking up.
Johnny
let out a long sigh rubbing his forehead. "You had best, otherwise
there will be sever consequences." he stared her dead in the eyes
for a moment "Now get to it. I don't want them reunited, he will
be harder to kill with her around."
Mitara nodded. "Yes
master, I will do that." she then slinked out of the room.
Johnny
looked to Azrath. "I want you to follow her and make sure that the
job gets done. I don't' want a huge mess to clean up."
Azrath
nodded. "Yes master." he bowed and disappeared in a pillar of
fire.
"This is going to get out of hand, I can feel it."
Johnny muttered. "I think that it is time i recruited a new field
agent to take Lunus' place." He slowly rose from his throne and
stretched out his wings. He quickly disappeared only leaving behind a
small pillar of smoke.
Jin sat on the roof of the
small hut where his team was staying playing a low melody on his
flute, it seemed to weave through the night air creating an air of
peacefulness.
Kixston sat on the ground at the base of the
building with his arms crossed and his eyes closed listening to the
melody and humming along with it. He leaned his head against the
building and let out a long sigh. Wind rustled through his hair and
dust blew up them into a small whirlwind. "You know Jin, you... are
something else. Don't get to much of a big head over it though."
Jin smiled and pulled the flute away from his lips. "I
am...nothing special. I just am trying to protect the people that I
care about." he smiled looking up at the cloud specked night sky.
Kixston chuckled. "You sound righteous, just don't set your
heart on totally saving your friends, you can't do it all the
time." Kixston let out a small sigh. "You will be crushed when
you fail. Trust me i would know." he slowly rose to his feet and
started to walk off towards the desert.
"Where are you going?"
Jin asked.
"To find a piece of my self." He muttered waving
at Jin. "Maybe you will understand someday kid."
"Allright,
just watch yourself out there Kixston." Jin said sighing.
"Hey,
don't worry about me, there is nothing that anyone here could do to
me that hasn't already been tried." He laughed. "They wouldn't
stand a chance." Kixston walked out into pale moon light sands of
the desert night.
"He is too sad for his own good." Jin
sighed as he lifted his flute to his lips again. Soon the low melody
again weaved through the night air, giving the area a false sense of
peace. He played for several minuets almost losing himself in the
melody, then he just pulled the flute away from his lips and held it
between his fingers looking out into the night.
Ichigo walked out
of the building and looked up at Jin smiling a bit. "You look
better, already, that is good. Oh, and dinner is ready you should
come in and eat something."
Jin nodded. "I will be inside in
a minuet." he smiled putting his flute in his pocket.
"Okay,
where is Kixston? I thought that he was out here with you."
"He
was, but he wanted to go get some air. He said for us not to worry
that he would be back." Jin smiled sliding off the roof. "Besides,
I think that he can take care of himself." He started to limp
inside.
Ichigo sighed. "Your right Jin." she muttered walking
behind him into the hut.
I just can't help but worry about him
sometimes, he likes to isolate himself a lot and he always seems
kinda down. Maybe I'll slip out after dinner and look for him.
Ichigo thought.
"About time you got in here Jin, all the food
is going to be gone before you can eat any." Mitzuki teased handing
him a bowl.
Jin smiled. "I am glad that I came in then." He
took the bowl and sat down in the corner.
Ichigo got a small bowl
of food and ate while everyone else was busy talking. Then once she
was done she slipped out into the night and into the desert.
The
night air was cooler than she thought that it would be with the heavy
breeze that was blowing, but she shrugged it off and followed
Kixston's footprints.
Well at least he will be easy to find if
his footprints don't blow away. Ichigo thought.
The wind made a
low hissing noise as it ripped across the sand picking up to higher
speeds. Soon the sand was blinding Ichigo and she was regretting that
she even came looking for Kixston.
Ahead she could see figures
walking at her, but the wall of wind blown sand made it impossible to
know who they were. "Hello!" she yelled.
The figures didn't
respond they just kept walking towards her steadily increasing their
speed.
Ichigo stopped walking. "Maybe they can help me out."
she muttered as she dug her shoes into the sand a little, she felt
like the wind was going to topple her over so she had to make sure
that she had a semi sturdy base incase the wind speeds spiked while
she was waiting.
When Ichigo could clearly make out what the
figures looked like they were about five feet away. It was a group of
horrid looking men, with long, nappy hair and crooked jagged teeth.
Their eyes had a light red glow to them and when they saw Ichigo they
made a low hissing noise.
"I don't think that this was the
best of ideas now." She murmured reaching for her weapon. She
slowly drew the shuriken off her back waiting to see if the men made
any sort of move for an attack..
They began to circle around her
like starving wolves around a large elk. One of them jumped towards
Ichigo, but got stabbed in the shoulder with the shuriken. It hissed
and tried to pull out the weapon, but Ichigo was too quick, she
yanked it out and went into a defensive position.
I am starting
tho think that this wasn't the best Idea that i have ever had, oh
well these things aren't the hardest things that i have ever had to
fight, so i should be fine. She thought as she slowly turned around
so that she could keep all three of the creatures in her sight at
once.
Every once in a while one would take a step forward as if
to challenge Ichigo, but they would always back off when she rose her
weapon. Soon they started to murmur and look amongst each other as if
they were communicating, finally one of the creatures stopped dead in
it's tracks and it's misshapen eyes met Ichigo's. "You might
as well give up, you will succumb to us." it hissed. Then as if in
a move of desperation all three of the men charged at once.
Ichigo
batted off the two and the last one latched onto her shoulder taking
a huge bite out of it. She swung her shuriken around and slammed on
of the points into the creature's face. While she was preoccupied
the two other creatures decided to attack her. They charged at her
and almost landed their attacks when someone grabbed Ichigo and
pulled her away from her attackers.
When she was sat down in the
sand she looked up to see Kixston. "You know that it isn't safe
out here right?" he said
Ichigo nodded. "I had to find you
though."
Kixston rolled his eyes, "Whatever." he muttered
turning around. He ran back over to the two creatures and grabbed
each one by the throats. He squeezed tighter and tighter until his
nails broke through their skin. Kixston bashed the two creatures
heads together and there was a loud crack heard. He dropped the
bodies to the ground and drew his sword. "Take this gangrel scum."
he muttered stabbing the sword through one of their hearts. It glowed
that dull gray color as the remaining energy in the Grangel's body
was transferred to his. He did this one by one to all three of the
creature's, with Ichigo sitting by in pure shock of what was
happening.
"What...what was that?" she stammered.
"that
is something that curbs my hunger and keeps me alive." He muttered
walking over to her and pulling her off of the sand. "Now get back
to the others."
Ichigo shook her head. "You shouldn't be out
here alone either." She protested
"It is obvious that i can
handle myself better than you can yourself. Besides, my alone time is
the only thing that keeps me from killing you all." he said
shrugging. "I am just not a people person, so why don't you head
back."
Ichigo shook her head. "I will not."
Kixston let
out a long sigh. "I hate people who are hard headed." he picked
up Ichigo and threw her over his shoulder, then headed back towards
the huts. "You will find that it is much easier to listen to me
than to not to."
Ichigo let out a low growl and punched him on
the back. "You are a jerk."
"I will take that as a
compliment, so did the kid let you just walk out of there with out
asking any questions?"
"No, I just took it upon myself to come
out here and find you to cheer you up." She smiled
"I don't
need cheering." he muttered.
I need for something to go right
for once, that and i want to be the hell off this continent and back
on my island. Kixston thought.
Lunus sat beside a
small fire roasting a fish on the end of his sword. He let out a long
sigh and brushed his bangs out of his face with his other hand. His
green eyes reflected the firelight making it seem alive. The flames
jumped up as he willed them mentally, he smirked at this, for he
hadn't done it in a long time.
One thing that Lunus truly
enjoyed to do was manipulate things with his powers, the only things
he could manage to manipulate were fire and teleporting objects, but
he still found it amusing. He pulled his fish out of the flames and
allowed it to cool for a moment before he even brought his lips close
to it. He watched the steam rise from it as he held it in front of
him, he blew at it lightly causing it to drift off into the damp
night. He sunk his teeth into the fish and it burned his tongue but
he ignored it and proceeded eating it pulling out the occasional
bone.
This isn't right, I shouldn't be sitting here eating my
food like there is nothing better for me to be doing. Lunus thought.
But i can't let myself starve to death, i know she can take care of
herself for a period of time at least. I need to come up with some
plan better than wandering towards the monastery.
He pulled his
food away from his mouth and slid the fish off of his sword tossing
it into the fire. "Look what you have done now, you made yourself
lose your appitite. You think way too damn much Lunus. You are going
to drive yourself insane, you can't always protect her." he
muttered as he watched the flames consume what was his dinner. "I
am too family oriented."
He stared deeply into the flames and
he could see the faces of his parents smiling back at him, he
remembered the long speech that he was given at the ceremony, where
Mitara's powers were transferred to Driretlan, that his father had
given him about taking care of her. He was her soul guardian, the one
who was supposed to watch over her and ensure that everything went
according to plan when she came of age.
But the plan didn't
work dad, I failed both you and mom. I came too late to save you, you
both died there in front of her and there was nothing either of us
could do but run. Forgive me.
Lunus slumped down and looked into
the fire, he could see the scenes of his parents death reflected in
the flames. The sweat on his hands felt thick like their blood did on
that day, he remembered his mother's screams well, they had etched
into his brain from the first seconds that they escaped from her
throat. The sounds of the forest slowly began to transform into the
scream that often haunted his dreams and Lunus recoiled into a tight
sitting position with his arms across his chest. His breath quickened
as he was sucked deeper and deeper into the memory and the whirlwind
of emotions that came with it.
Everything quickly built up to be
too much for him to handle and he picked up his sword and slammed it
into the large tree that stood behind him. It made a loud cracking
noise as it fell towards him, he moved to the side and allowed it to
fall on top of the fire, snuffing it out. He clenched his sword and
caught his breath. He shook all thoughts related to the memory and
sat next to the fallen tree leaning on it some.
"I should
rest...there are things that need to be done in the morning." he
muttered mentally cursing at himself for letting his thoughts and
memories control him. Lunus laid down and pulled his cloak up using
it as a pillow. There was a small patch where the night sky could be
seen through the tangle of leaves. He quickly lost himself in the
vastness of the night and then drifted off into a thoughtless sleep
still holding his sword in his right hand.
