Time
By Quiet Chaos
Chapter Six
A/N: Been a while, hasn't it? Thought I'd forgotten all of you, didn't you? Heh heh. Well, my only request for this chapter is that you read through it before moving on to my fanart link. Hope you all had some happy holidays!
The devastation loomed all around them as they charged headlong into the heart of the city, calling on their armors as the horde of silver soldiers converged on them. In seconds they were surrounded.
Overhead the gray-green sky rumbled restlessly as the sounds of metal screeching across metal, sword crossing sword, and the hollow thuds of empty armor suits crashing to the ground echoed throughout the city. But for every soldier slain, five more rushed out of the gate to replace it.
"We need a plan!" Sage yelled as he sliced a demon cleanly in half. They were fighting only to survive, and it was only killing them as the soldiers ceaselessly pushed on in greater numbers. "We're not getting anywhere this way!"
"Destroy the gate!" Rowen called from over head as he fired off several arrows at dynasty archers barraging them from toppled roofs. "That's our best shot!"
The monstrous gate was rooted deeper in the heart of the city. They struggled to push their way into striking range, hoping that their efforts would turn the tide. Thinking strategically, Strata flew higher into the air and showered golden arrows into the masses of silver in an attempt to clear a path towards the red gateway.
Sage and Cye bolted through the thin clearing, sending mental thanks to the archer. From the sky, the dark blue Ronin surveyed the revolting destruction surrounding the gate before he was brought back down by an unavoidable onslaught of dynasty arrows. The three warriors once again stood back to back in the silver sea.
"What do we do now?" Cye panted as the soldiers circled them, taunting the range of his yari. Already his armor bore numerous scratches and dents from where Dynasty weapons snuck through his defenses. "For every one we cut down, more come in to replace it."
"Damn it," Sage hissed, stabbing a soldier that'd ventured too close. He risked a glance at the gate. It was so close, but still too far. "Rowen, Cye, let's combine our attacks!" Torrent and Strata peeked out from under their helmets at their companion questionably, shifting nervously as the circle of soldiers moved in.
"What about the people?" When the blonde didn't answer, Cye turned on him, glaring angrily at the green warrior's back. "If we unleash our attacks here, we could wipe out half the city!"
"Cye, we have no choice." Gold arrows whizzed by the slighter boy's head into a group of soldiers that'd tried for the boy's exposed back. "Half the city's gone already, and if we don't do anything now, we'll be killed and the whole world will end up this way!" Rowen sternly rebuked.
Cye dropped his shoulders in defeat. There was no other alternative.
Sage brought down his no-dachi in a wide arch, slicing several soldiers in half and knocking the armor suits into the nearest demons. He emotionlessly faced Cye's imploring gaze. "Focus, Cye. If we do this right, the damage to the city will be minimized while the gateway and the soldiers are destroyed." He gave the smaller boy an encouraging smile and quick nod before moving into his attack stance. Cye and Rowen turned toward the gate and focused their energies together.
Their armors began to glow and hum harmoniously as their energies increased and merged. The demons unfortunate to be closest to the warriors were instantly incinerated by the gathering power.
They took aim.
The inner gateway suddenly lit up in a flood of golden energy. It quickly spilled out into the city; dynasty soldiers exploded at its touch, spewing their smoky innards into the light-swamped air. The Ronins stood dumbfounded as the familiar power engulfed them, easing their sores.
As the light faded, they saw that the demons in the path of the light were dead, and only a few remained nervously glaring at the five figures emerging from the gate.
xxxxx
The orb zigzagged across the cityscape, searching for the power calling to it. He followed from a distance, watching closely as it meandered across the darkened sky. But without the power of the moonlight supporting it, the crystal began to fall, and he had no choice but to jump in to catch it.
He stood at the edge of the city now, just as he had been at the beginning of the night. He clutched the orb tightly in his silver gauntlet, listening to the echoes of the battle emanating from beyond the crippled skyscrapers. The Ronins had arrived and began fighting sometime during his hunt for the wretched orb. If he had lips, they would've been curled into a satisfied sneer.
But that imagined pleasurable smile quickly turned sour as a golden blast of light exploded in the distance by the gate. He snarled. So, they've come. He'd have to hurry now.
Silently he summoned a handful of the surviving soldiers to him and commanded the others to distract the warriors. With that in order, he returned his attention to the crystal and his cover of clouds. He needed the orb powered. He loosened his grip on the sky, allowing only a peephole of moonlight to shine directly onto the sphere.
It glimmered in his palm, showing its distress at his proximity again, but he held it firmly this time, ignoring its meek flickering protests.
"The sooner you take me to the one you're destined to be with, the sooner this will be over. Now lead me to that one you were so eager to find a moment ago." He pinched the orb between two fingers and held it before him. It surrendered to his command and pointed him to the park where three creatures lay.
xxxxx
Kento paced the dark room again. Since his friends had left for the battle he'd done nothing except count the steps between the closed door and the window. He paused by the window, huffing in frustration. He didn't like being left out of the fight, but he knew that Sage had a point.
He watched Ryo's calm rhythmic breathing and sighed heavily as he felt the fringes of sleep deprivation begin to drag him under. A soft knock at the door startled him out of the trance. "Who's there?"
"It's me," Mia said as he opened the door. She squinted at Kento through the darkness. "Kento, what's going on? Why are you in Sage and Rowen's room?"
"Just a while ago we got a rude awakening by a blast of Dynasty power," he whispered as he closed the door behind her, suspiciously eyeing the hall behind her. "Cye, Rowen, and Sage went off to investigate, and I got guard duty." He gestured towards the sleeping Ryo, but Mia didn't see it in the darkness.
"All right. I'm going to check on the girl. She probably heard the commotion and might be confused." She paused at the door and looked around. "Where's White Blaze?"
Kento spun around and scoured the moonlit room. "White Blaze? I don't remember him being here." Seeing no sign of the big cat, he scratched the back of his head in frustration. "Aw, well, he probably went out for a stretch or to get some grub."
"You're probably right," Mia smiled. "I'll be right back." She slid out into the hallway.
Kento leaned against the door and sighed. A rush of footsteps outside brought him back to reality. He quickly opened the door to see Mia standing in the hall with all the lights on. "What's going on?"
"Kento, she's gone!" Mia exclaimed. "That girl and all her belongings are gone!"
xxxxx
Kurari absently stroked the black tiger's fur. The beast gazed at the girl. Her eyes had closed sometime ago and had fallen into a light, cold sleep. He nuzzled her gently, breathing in her soft scent. He sighed sadly. Already the darkness was growing and he had arrived. The tiger growled deeply in his throat at the new arrival, waking the girl at his side.
Kurari groggily glanced around her, shivering away the icicles of sleep. She cautiously watched the newcomer.
He stood a fair distance from her, but she could still make out the details of his form; his immense figure was loosely wrapped in a ragged cloak that, when the wind billowed around him, revealed his full form. He wore silver armor too small for his looming height; at every joint an ethereal, undulating fog rippled between the stretched plates of armor. A clawed gauntlet pulled back the hood, revealing a gold-spiked helmet with a matching golden mask. Gleaming empty white eyes peered out behind the shadows of the faceplate.
He gazed emotionlessly between the black tiger, Kurari, and Kurata's corpse before striding closer to the living pair.
The tiger stood, snarling quietly and baring his teeth. Kurari pushed herself up, ignoring the protests of her frozen joints. Instinctively she pulled out her broken sword and stepped into a defensive stance. He stopped several yards away and raised his fist.
"Who are you?" she hissed through clenched teeth. He didn't answer. She shifted in the growing silence as she sized up the potential opponent. Half the blade on her sword had broken off in the last battle, and she still hadn't fully recovered from the blood loss. She grit her teeth as she measured the cold night's drain on her energy supply.
Ignoring her, he slowly opened his fist, revealing a clear orb that gently pulsated in his palm. A thin beam of light emanated from its center and pointed directly at her. When nothing else happened, he raised the crystal higher so that it covered one of his empty eyes; the light intensified and blinded her.
She couldn't see the symbol of light that formed on her brow, but could feel a wave of soothing energy emanate from it. The cold aches that had frozen her muscles quickly faded and were replaced with refreshed and enhanced stores of energy. Her nervousness dissipated at the light's touch, leaving her calm and focused.
"At last." His voice was deep, beastly, and rumbling with power that brought her back to the present. He glared at the orb and clenched it in his fist, locking away the light. "All this time, it's been her," he paused, noting the tiger's pose. "I should've known." He moved closer; his elongated legs easily covered half the remaining distance between them in two strides. "It doesn't matter now."
"What's going on?" Kurari widened her stance, bracing herself for any attack while considering the options of escape. She glanced at the tiger and only received a huff of acknowledgment.
"Greetings…" he purred to the tiger and stopped just out of striking distance. He then gave the slightest of nods to the beast. To her surprise, the tiger stopped growling long enough to return the salutation with a shallow bow. The peace passed quickly. The gold mask tilted and the white eyes squinted in a sarcastic move as he raised his empty fist. "…And goodbye."
In the next moment everything burned in crimson light.
A/N: Well, there's chapter six for you! I am now one chapter ahead of where I was with the older version. Haha! I will get this story done, eventually! Ahahahahaha! Ahem. The traditional shout outs first, then fan art link:
TeahLeafs: You've got the plot points pinned down perfectly! Though, I will do a tiny spoiler and plainly say that there is no Talpa…Well…Wait a minute…There is, but it really isn't…I'm not helping, am I? He did pop up in the dream sequence. Oh well. Alas, I have no deviant art site and have no plans on ever getting one from them. Hopefully I'll have my own, "professional" one up a ready to go before I graduate.
Naikia: I have you hooked and holding onto the cliffs! Don't worry, I'll send some rope down in the next few chapters!
MorganRay: War of the Worlds…Huh, I didn't think about that parallel before. Oh well. I blame the collective unconsciousness for that, but hey, what can you do? Thanks for the review.
Aw, only three reviews for chapter five? I hope I didn't scare people off with the clichéd notion of new warriors and super new armors. SMALL SPOILER WARNING: I am only creating three new armors and they will wrap up the armors' history and world nice and neatly (I hope). So come on back and send in reviews! I'd love to hear from you!
All right, reviewers, here's the goodie you've been waiting for: click on my name, Quiet Chaos, to reach my fan-fiction account info, and then click on the homepage link.
That's the bit of fan art that I scribbled down with regular pencil and pen but colored in Photoshop. Download it, save it, enjoy it, but don't link to it because it's a cruddy little quick site that will have the artwork removed on:
January 8th, 2006
While I don't own the rights to the characters, I do have copyright over the image design. So here's my humble artwork usage request:
Use it for personal enjoyment.
If you want to post it to your fan-site or deviant art site, or any site, please give me (Quiet Chaos) credit for its creation and link it to my fan fiction story.
Other notes to mention: I'm sadly not accepting commissions for artwork because I'm swamped with college work. However! I have decided that for every fifteen reviews I receive for my story, I will post a piece of fan art or fic art following the same rules and styles of the fan art posted with this story. In other news, updates will occur on the 1st and 17th of each month.
So that's it. I do apologize for the shortness of the chapter and its lateness, but holiday cheer lulled me into laziness. On schedule for January!