Zazie woke up late that day. Yawning, she opened her window, looking out on the streets of San Miguel.
"Hm. Cloudy..." she grumbled as she pulled on her clothes. She splashed some water on her face to wake herself up.
With a groan she remembered that today she was to meet with the old hag for more "seer training".
Hot air buffeted her as she walked out her door onto the streets. It was far too hot today; it wasn't the heat of summer... This heat was oppressive, feverish even. The denizens of San Miguel were suffering from the heat, most sitting on their porches; trying in vain to find a cool spot in the blazinginferno this overcast day had become.
The old hag's house was small, a veritable shack, adorned only with a large wooden sunflower above the front door. Zazie pushed open the screen door with a sigh.
"Sunflower Lady! I kin only stay fer a bit 'cause I have stuff ter do, so we best make this a quick visit, mmmkay?"
She stopped in the doorway, sensing something was wrong. The house was dark, not a candle was lit. But even that couldn't cover up the fact that the house looked like a hurricane had swept through it.
A hand reached out of the darkness and grabbed Zazie roughly by the shirt, dragging her into the shadows as well.
Fetid breath whispered into her ear, "Zazie, when I let go of you, you must run out the back door and run to Ringo's house. Tell him...
"Tell him his son has returned with Death on his heels!"
The hag pushed Zazie away and screamed at her to run, handing her a staff of black wood with a hooked silver head as she did.
Zazie decided this was not a good time to start asking questions of the hag, so she decided to play along with her. As she headed toward the back door though, she heard the snap of the front door being pulled off its hinges and turned to see the hag staring at the doorframe and yelling.
Turning around to look back at the back door was a bigger surprise though. For before her stood a bok, its mental gears turning, thinking of what to do with this unexpected target.
Zazie had never seen an Undead before, and even now it seemed unreal. The bok stood about four and a half feet tall, with green skin, no teeth, and wearing what looked like a brown pillowcase with sleeves and a purple symbol painted on the front.
Adrenaline pumping in her blood now, Zazie decided to let animal instinct take over, telling her to club this little bastard to death. She raised the staff she'd been given by the hag with her left arm and brought it down on the bok's head with all her might.
The bok's body seemed to shatter, and Zazie's arm bones followed in suit.
She screamed in anguish as her left arm fell limply to her side and the staff clattered to the ground. She heard the spell the hag was casting behind her, though, and knew that time was short.
She quickly grabbed the staff with her right hand and dashed out the doorway, being cut by other boks on their way in. She ran down the street as fast as she could, seeing the boks surrounding the shack of the hag.
Cut, bleeding, and running, she heard the hag's last words.
"ARE YOU READY?"
Ringo heard the explosion from his house.
What in the hell was that? He wondered, his eyes growing wide as the ground shook below him.
He had been plowing some dirt on the outskirts of town in hopes of making a place to plant food. His hat was pulled low over his red eyes and white skin as he looked southward, toward the blast.
He got his answer soon enough though, when he saw the Sunflower Lady's apprentice running towards his home, her left arm dragging, her right hand clutched around a familiar staff.
It was only when she got close to him that he saw the cuts on her face and body and the fear in her eyes.
He gripped her shoulders when she got to him, "Zazie! What is it? What happened?"
She looked at him as though she didn't recognize him.
"Ringo's son has returned with-" she began to say.
Another explosion rocked the earth, this one much closer.
Ringo had heard enough though. He reached into his trenchcoat and pulled out the Gun del Sol and began running, switching in a new frame as he did.
He stuck the Guardian and Stalker frames in the holsters on his belt and snapped the Phalanx frame into place on the gun. He clipped on the Stun grenades to the bottom of the Solar Gun and knew that he was going to have a tough time on this overcast day.
His yellow scarf seemed to glow as he ran into the hub of town. The Sunflower Lady had bought them a lot of time, destroying a good fifty boks and alerting Ringo of the Undead presence quickly. The power of her blast had leveled all the houses around hers though, and the Undead were already regrouping fast.
He twisted his hat to cover his eyes, gathered his trenchcoat around him, and aimed a stun grenade at the nearest crowd of zombies.
He had to make these shots count.
Zazie suddenly felt very alone in this world as she stood out in the middle of a dirt field. The hag was certainly not a friend, but she was someone that Zazie could bring her problems to for wisdom and fairness.
And now Ringo had run off to fight, leaving her standing here in this field, doing nothing, helping no one, just standing there.
What are you doing? she screamed at herself, Do something! Anything!
But all she could do was stand there, staring with dead eyes towards the city where the screams of the dying and those not fortunate enough to die resounded off of the burning buildings.
Then she heard the old hag in her mind, What'er you doin' girl? This isn't a time for feelin' sorry fer yerself! Even when it rains a sunflower holds its head up high! The staff... The staff is the salvation of this town! Harness the power! You must control... power... staff... salvation...
Zazie woke to find herself still in the dirt field. It was nearing nighttime, and the city was still in flames.
Her brows constricted as she listened to the sounds coming from the mall. A black shadow grew there, in the center of town, where the sounds of battle still came from.
She looked to the staff in her right hand. It seemed ordinary enough and yet... she had killed a bok in a single blow with it, and broken her arm doing it.
She stared at it, remembering her dream with the hag. The power, she exercised her mind over it, give me the power!
The staff began to shine dimly. Her hope soared. It began to illuminate the house nearby, Ringo's house. A shadow passed into the house, pausing only a second to look at the glowing figure in the field. It kept moving though, and soon the shadow slipped out, holding its mission gently, pleased to be finished doing the Queen's bidding.
Zazie observed none of this. She was far too absorbed in controlling the staff, channeling the power.
The staff was a blazing torch of light now, chasing away the shadows at the center of town.
The light reached a crescendo, a scream of pain erupted from the mall, dark laughter filled the air, and voices that sounded suspiciously like Ringo and the hag's rang out in unison.
"TAIYOH!"
Zazie opened her eyes; all was white.
She closed her eyes... And all went black.
Writer's Note in the house.
Yeah. I'm going to be skipping around in time like this occasionally. You should be able to pick up what time it is from the characters being mentioned.
During Sabata's time, it's going to be Sabata (duh), Zazie, Django, and perhaps even Otenko.
During Ringo's time, it's going to be Ringo (duh), Mani, Smith, and perhaps even Otenko again.
I've been havin craploads of fun with this fic and I'm thankful for everybody who's been reviewing and stuff and I think all of your questions will be answered fully in the next chapter.