A/N: Hello again, I'm back with another chapter for The Seventh Blade. I must say that I was a little disoriented due to the Spurs' lost in Game Six when they could have won if they had played together and not rushed it. Anyway, thanks to those of you that reviewed. Reviews are what make my writing side tick. And, here's chapter two!
Ch.2- Nagashima
It was another dreary day in Nagashima as Christine looked through her window. But dreary was always better than a day in the brothels to her. She would rather get stuck in the gloom and rain and die of pneumonia then the brothels.
She had fled from her "job" only hours ago, barely managing to escape as her enraged father raced after her with a shotgun in hand threatening to kill her. That thought alone was what hurt her.
It wasn't that he had forced her into the business or that he thought of her as a lazy and ungrateful wench, it was the thought that the only person in the world that she loved would want to kill her. She was his daughter for god sake.
She had lost her father about thirty minutes ago and was headed towards a gun store. Even with her time consuming profession she had managed to find something to occupy her spare time. About two years ago, when she was fourteen, she had developed a fascination with guns, a fascination that had stuck with her and was the only other reason she was going to the gun store in the first place, the first reason being that she needed protection from the Heartless.
The Heartless in Nagashima were probably some of the most annoying creatures she had seen in her life. They were persistent at first, when the invasion had first started, but then, as time went on, they had grown to the environment, and adapted to human behavior. And now they usually attacked in groups, never alone.
She cursed under her breath as she saw that her leg was bleeding, probably from one of the stray pellets from her father's shotgun. At the same time she was thanking her abused mother for giving her father one too many cups of liquor, giving her the advantage while running.
She rounded the corner of the street and saw the entrance of her destination. As she walked in she spotted the cashier and walked over to the aging man.
"Can I help you miss?" he asked in a wheezy voice.
"Yes, um, I need to buy a pair of pistols and some ammo. Got any?" she asked.
"Look around you miss, we have all kinds of guns. But if you don't mind me asking, do you even have any money to buy anything?" asked the cashier.
Without saying another word, Christine pulled out her "earnings" so to speak from her prior employment. Dropping it on the counter, the cashier stared in awe.
"I need a pair of Desert Eagle MKXIX's with spare ammunition to go. And I need it fast, before that recruiting regiment leaves town."
The old man simply nodded, taking a small chunk of the money that was placed on the counter before him, and putting it into the cash register while signaling to an assistant to bring the requested weapons and ammunition.
Putting the money back into her knapsack as she waited for the weapons. Finally, the cashier's assistant came to the front of the store with the dual pistols in hand and lots of spare ammunition.
"Have a nice day miss." Said the old man as she left the store, purchases in hand.
As she exited the store she pulled out the homemade vest that had the holsters for her guns. Putting it on, she loaded her weapons and placed them into the holsters.
Now, all that she had to do was to get to the recruiting camp and she would be free from her old life. That was when she heard the screaming, loud, and terrified screaming coming from an old abandoned alleyway.
Ignoring her better judgment and the tempting call of the recruitment camp only a few blocks away, Christine shot down the alley as fast as she could, weapons at the ready.
She closed in on what looked to be some sort of fight. She expected it to be a fist fight, some stuck up men beating the crap out of each other over some senseless matter. However, when she saw the blood spatter everywhere she knew it wasn't going to be easy.
Now moving slowly, staying low so that whatever it was that was killing or rather massacring, fellow humans would not see her. She was about to enter the fray when there was another explosion, but this time it was gore filled, it was acid filled.
Looking over the scene, Christine stared open mouthed as the black haired girl slowly slid her daggers back into their respective sheaths.
"What the hell?" was all she could get out before there was a streak of black and a sharp hiss in back of her.
Spinning on the spot, Christine's weapons were up and ready as she met…nothing.
"Behind you!" shouted someone from behind her.
Before she could turn around there was a sharp CRACK! And then there was the sound and smell of an acid like substance. Now that she was facing the center of the alley, she saw that there was another girl with reddish brown hair and one hell of a whip in her hand.
Then she looked down at her feet and screamed.
Almost as quickly as she screamed, there was a hand over her mouth cutting her scream short.
"Quiet!" hissed the redhead scanning the immediate area. "Do you want more of them to find us?"
Shaking her head in complete and utter disbelief, Christine was released. She now turned her eyes away from the hulking black mass that was creating a hole in the pavement in front of her to the two women currently occupying the alley with her.
"What the hell was that thing?" she asked in a quiet whisper.
The black haired girl shook her head, "Not here, we'll tell you when we get back to camp."
"You're from the regiment?" Christine asked, all thoughts of the Thing forgotten.
Both of the women nodded.
"Great, I want to sign up, I wanna join!"
The redhead laughed at this, "Okay, okay, no need to get excited. C'mon let's get the hell out of here. I hate small spaces."
On the way to the camp, introductions were made and small laughs exchanged as the girls revealed their reasons for joining the war.
As they entered the camp, all was quiet. Miako, as the redhead was now known as, tensed. This wasn't how things were supposed to be apparently.
"Quiet. Don't draw your weapons, but be ready." There were nods of confirmation at this.
They walked towards what Christine could only guess was the current mess hall. Swinging doors. This was just great. If nobody knew they were here, they damn would now.
"Why is it," Christine whispered, "That whenever I need to sneak around, there are bloody swinging doors! They're the worst things you can have when you're trying to be stealthy!"
True to Christine's words, when Dess opened the doors there was a loud, long squeak of the hinges. This resulted in an eerie silence following the second squeak of the hinges as the door swung closed.
"Oh god!" gasped Miako as her hand flew to her mouth.
Christine and Dess, who had both turned to stare angrily at the squeaking door for making so much noise, turned their attention to Miako.
"What is it Mimi?" asked Dess.
All she got was Miako pointing her finger directly in front of her. She turned, as did Christine, and both of them had to hold back the instinct to scream in panic.
The scene that befell them was that of a horrific nightmare, something they never thought that they would see in their lifetimes, even with the Heartless. However, it appeared that the Heartless' new allies were going to make life a living hell.
Strewn about on the tables and thrown against walls, the bodies of their fellow regiment members lay. Each one of them…dead.
"Why? When? How?" Miako whispered in terror.
Dess looked at her friend. It was the first time, in their short friendship, that she had shown fear. She had always been something of a role model for Dess. Miako was the never give up, never surrender, don't take shit from anybody kind of girl. Dess guessed it was because she had been in the regiment longer and had gotten to know more of them than she had.
"It…couldn't have been the Heartless." Christine muttered.
"Why not?" Miako hissed, with a hint of venom in her voice.
"Because, ever since I've known of their existence and heard about the deaths they've caused, never once, has it been this gruesome. It's not their style."
Looking over the slaughter before them, Dess couldn't help but agree. She walked over to one of the bodies and saw, ever so faint, a sign of life. He was breathing!
"You guys, he's…this one's breathing! He's alive!" she shouted, all caution forgotten while she picked up the near dead body of…she looked at his dog tags, General Almasly.
"Y-y-y-…." Stuttered the general, trying to say something.
"No," Miako said, coming over to the general's other side, "Don't talk General, you're gonna live. Hang on."
"N-n-no," he breathed, "L-l-leave, n-now…o-order." With that he went into a fit of violent contortions. His chest kept moving forward, almost like it was trying to explode. And to Dess' horror filled surprise, it did just that.
The general's chest blew forward, spewing blood and flesh every which way. Miako screamed. Christine screamed. Dess only looked on in horror as what appeared to be a lizard, crawled out of the now dead general.
It was flesh colored, and had a long, thin, frame. When it turned eyes on Dess, it hissed at her showing rows of razor sharp, and almost human teeth. The tail end of the lizard now free of the general's chest cavity, it quickly shot away in the direction of the door.
"GET IT! KILL IT! NOW!" shouted Miako, finally regaining her senses.
In an instant, Christine had her guns drawn and opened fire on the reptile. It took all of two seconds for her to kill it. The lifeless, body of the lizard slumped to the floor.
"It's one of the Alien things. It's a…a newborn." Dess said.
"You mean…that's how they reproduce?" Christine asked in disgust, "By using humans as hosts?"
"No," Miako interrupted, "Not just us. They use basically any animal as a host, as long as they produce more."
"But how do the newborns get planted into the host?" Christine asked again.
"I don't know. But I sure as hell don't want to be here to find out." With that, Miako left the mess hall headed towards the exit. "From now on ladies, we're on our own."
Christine and Dess followed immediately. They knew where they had to go, it had been the regiments plan anyway. They had to get to Traverse Town.
Following behind the other two, all Dess could think about was a silver haired youth. 'Kythe,' she thought, 'Where are you?'
A/N: Well, there's chapter two. You like? Anyway, I thought I could speed the story up a bit and fill in any blank spots any of you might have. Please excuse my obsession of alleyways, but the cities of Nagashima and Hirosaki are very, um…cramped. Anyway, thanks to all of those who reviewed and please continue to do so.