YE: Hey sorry for the wait, this chapter was a bit longer even though it's no excuse. To answer Shiroi Hikari's question: Is Nanashi Tsuara's brother? It's definitely an idea, but I'm not going to ruin the surprise. I'm surprised I hadn't been asked that sooner. They come from an original work of mine, which I've mentioned a few times, and I use them everywhere. Kurai is Tsuara's future self after her lover dies and she changes. As you probably guessed, Nanashi was her lover. Depending on the fic and my mood their relationship changes. BTW Zalia is the one who kills Nanashi. Speaking of which, I think Tsuara and Kurai are out chasing her. Nanashi's hiding from them.
Zalia comes in screaming-
YE: Looks like I found them.
Zalia: Hide me! -Runs behind YE-
YE: No way! I'm not getting in between you and them. -Points at Tsuara and Kurai who are fuming in anger holding huge mallets-
Tsuara: Caught like a deer in headlights. -Grins like a mad man-
Kurai: There's no escape.
Zalia: HELP ME! -Starts running in circles the two crazy females after her-
"You need to learn how to use them." Koji stated. Tsuara pulled out an arrow and shot it almost so fast they couldn't see it. Koji was scared witless when it whizzed past his ears cutting a few strands of hair.
"We're assassins doll face. I think we'd know how to use them." Lori said twirling her staff. They looked at the two dumbfounded.
"Where's your male friend?" Gatti asked.
"He'll be here tomorrow." Tsuara said leaving out that Lori would be gone.
"I could tell you what they'll pick. He'll pick a long bow, arrows and brass knuckles. Rea will pick daggers and axe. Karei will pick a sling shot and a flail." Lori said.
"Nanashi will pick scimitars over the knuckles. Rea will pick a Scythe and Karei will have the axe, not a flail." Tsuara said. Lori looked at her.
"It's a bet." Lori agreed shaking her hand. Gatti and Koji looked at the two with blank faces. They had NO idea how to react, so they didn't.
"Who are Rea and Karei?" Gatti asked.
"They're our team members and the other two new dragon slayers." Lori explained.
"Hold on. YOU guys are assassins?" Koji asked, the fact just registering. They looked at him.
"Yeah. We're called the Kage. We're very well known where we come from and very proficient at it. We were separated when we got here." Lori said.
"How'd you get separated?" Gatti asked.
"We're not entirely sure our selves. Apparently we all had tickets on different vessels." Lori said sardonically.
Tsuara shot her a look and Lori just shrugged.
"We should get back to training." Koji said and they left the weapon room.
Karei's POV
This place is absolutely awesome. It's so old like. It's like I went back in time to the time of dragons and knights in shinning armor. Except earth is hanging in the sky.
I don't know how these people would react if I told them I was from there so I haven't said anything about it. I've always avoided where I'm from.
The food is so unique and different. It's sooooooooooooooooooooo good. I could easily stay here for the rest of my life.
But I miss my friends. My arguments with Lori, the distant gaze of Nanashi, Tsuara's demands, Rea's quiet observations and sometimes mean comments. I always liked sacking through Rea's clothes. She's got some cool stuff.
I'm heading to the country of Austuria with King Van of Fanelia. The trip itself will take a few days. We're stopping by a fortress on the border for check up and stuff like that. The leader of the place is Allen-something-or-other.
I hope I find them soon
General POV Later
Karei, Merle and Van stepped out of the ship followed by a few others. They were greeted by a blond haired man with blue eyes, and another with blue hair and brown eyes.(A/N: I have no idea what Gaddes's eye color is)
"King Van." The blond greeted with a slight bow.
"Allen. These are my companions Merle and Karei. This is Allen and Gaddes." Van said introducing them.
"My ladies. It is a pleasure to have you here." Allen welcomed bowing deeper.
"Allen…" Van continued to speak but Karei tuned him out. She looked around as they made their way into the fort. Something in the fortress seemed off…
A shadow user. Maybe, just maybe…
"Van?" Karei asked interrupting whatever what was being said. They turned to her. "May I look around?" she asked. Van looked at Allen who nodded.
"If you get lost my men will help you." Allen said.
"Thank you." She said curtly and walked the way they had just come. Merle and Van blinked. Karei was being curt?
Rea's POV
I was lying in my room studying the ceiling. A slight disturbance in the air caused me to go to the windows. Looking out I saw a ship landing and people come out.
I could make out Allen's long blond locks and Gaddes's blue hair. I saw the male and two females approach Allen and Gaddes. I laid back down and ignored them. they weren't my concern.
The shadows seemed active…
Karei's POV
As soon as I was out of sight of any one I slipped into the shadows and started running. The shadows were adamant to not give away the position of the other shadow user so I searched blindly.
I was running through one room and recognized a few voices. Turning I saw Allen, Gaddes, Merle and Van.
SMACK!-
"OWW!" I yelled falling out of the shadows. The four turned to look at me in surprise. I turned to start yelling at the person who ran into me but froze when I saw whom it was. She was staring at me.
"REA!" I yelled glomping her.
"Karei!" she said indignantly trying to pry me off.
"I can't believe I found you!" I yelled squeezing all the tighter. I couldn't begin to explain my happiness.
"Get off of me! If you left your glomping post at home it's not my fault." Rea scolded pushing me away.
"I'm telling Tsuara as soon as we find her." I whined.
"You heard them the other night?" Rea asked.
"They were Loud! I got goose bumps. I think Tsuara did some thing and it involves the whole group." I said shivering.
"YOU got goose bumps?" Rea asked surprised and startled.
Someone cleared their throat. We turned to the four we had previously ignored.
"You found one of your friends." Van stated there was some thing in his eyes that I didn't recognize.
"Hmph." I agreed nodding emphatically with a big goofy smile on my face.
"This is Rea. Rea this is King Van and Merle." I introduced.
"Pleasure." Rea said dryly.
"It is nice to finally meet one of Karei's friends. She talks almost non-stop about you four." Van said. Rea inclined her head. She looked at me with a raised eyebrow.
'King?' her shadow asked. I shrugged.
'I didn't choose who found me.' My shadow whispered back. The looks on they're faces said they knew more was being said then what it looked like. Except for Allen.
I don't think I liked the way he looked at us.
General POV
Rea moved silently down the hall. It was good to have one of her friends back. The knowledge that some one was there to get her back was strangely comforting.
She found it especially interesting considering her past and all. But she knew that Karei wouldn't betray her.
That's what was special about their group. Though they didn't know exactly what the others had been through they each new it was bad and group empathized with each other. That empathy enabled them to work well together and trust each other implicitly.
The sound of approaching footsteps woke her from her musing. When the man turned the corner she resisted the urge to growl.
He was the last person she wanted to see now... actually she never wanted to see him again.
He spotted her and smirked. He sauntered up to her eyeing her lechurously.
"What do you want?" she snapped angrily. She did sooooo not want to deal with this.
He didn't reply and just backed her into the wall as she slowly crept backwards.
"We're alone now no need to pretend." he whispered huskily. She shoved him away forcefully. He looked at her confused.
"I'm not pretending you stuck up asshole. I truly despise you with all my being. So leave me alone before I do something drastic." she growled angrily.
How ever the stupid fuck just couldn't take a hint. Once again he tried to approach her with a sexy smirk.
Try being the operative word here. He tried to smirk sexily. He tried to approach her.
She had quickly decided that enough was enough. After a week of having to put up with this ass she was fresh out of patience. She grabbed the torch from the wall and set fire to his hair.
He stopped short for a second, suprised, but then ran off down the hall screaming like the flaming faggot/idiot he was. She couldn't help but let out an evil chuckle.
"It's nice to see a female stand up to him." Van said. She turned towards him and shrugged.
"He was beginning to wear on my nerves." she said and he let out a pleasant laugh. "Besides I'm not the only one who stood up to him. Karei probably has and if you ask the men about a dirty mouthed barmaid they'll tell you all about Lori." she added.
He nodded. "Yes, but that was the first time I'd seen it first hand." he said.
Karei came around the corner from the opposite direction in which Allen had run off in. She was mumbling to her self and crushing something in a bowl.
"Stupid shit hit on you too?" Rea asked.
"Yessss." Karei hissed never looking up from the bowl.
Rea didn't know wether to be scared or amused. If he put her in this type of mood he was in for it biiiiiiiiig time. She just hoped Karei wouldn't invovle the whole fortress.
For you see, Karei has a rather active imagination and was very intelligent despite all appearances. She could be very nasty when she wanted to be.
Rea had only seen Karei in this mood once before and she had nearly blown up an entire city. She also heard about the only other two times Karei had been in this mood from the ever informative Lori.
'God I hope I live to see the sun rise' was her thought as she watched the slightly crazy girl disappear around another corner.
General POV Later
Every one sat at dinner having conversations in their own little groups. Somewhat unsurprisingly Allen had not shown up. Rea and Karei were currently trying out do the other by telling embarrassing stories.
"…and than she told Nanashi that she didn't have any fries." Karei finished. Every one listening in on their conversation burst out laughing. Well all except for Rea who had turned a bright red.
"Well how about that time when you were trying to hit on that blond guy half dressed. You remember the guy Lori had brought back." Rea stated.
"I was drunk! And half asleep! Since when did a bucket of water wake me up?" Karei demanded.
"I bet you were fully awake when Tsuara caught you trying on her stuff and she chased you into the neighbors house naked." Rea said.
"So they were all girls." Karei defended.
"I bet not one of them was straight." Rea said.
"What about the time you walked in on Lori in the shower with the dude from Kazunori?" Karei asked smugly.
"Nanashi was…" Rea stopped suddenly and her eyes sharpened. Karei stood up from her half seated position, knocking the chair over and looked out the window.
"They got awfully excited and quiet." Karei said. Rea nodded and her eyes seemed to search for something.
"They aren't replying. Something's up." Rea agreed.
"Should we go look?" Karei asked.
"No. Think. When are they quiet? When won't they respond to even OUR questions? Who is the only one who can control them that way?" Rea said.
"Hotoshia." Karei breathed and Rea nodded.
"I suppose she'd say something if we were in any danger." Karei said after a minute and resumed her seat, after picking it up. Rea and Karei turned to their meals without another word.
"What are you guys talking about?" Merle asked and was blatantly ignored. The others went back their own meals tense at the sudden change.
Tsuara's POV
The week had gone by relatively fast. The Melef's were easier to use than I had expected. I had learned how to pilot it in one sitting. It was mostly your own body movements and thought commands.
Lori was a bit slower and Nanashi was able to do it on his own. I did it on my own with a few pointers from Nanashi to make it easier.
I had been right about his weapons and Lori had been a bit sour. Especially after he agreed with me as to what Karei and Rea would pick.
I was a ground fighter to night. Lori was out and Nanashi was in a Melef.
The shadows were active here, which meant there was a shadow user in the vicinity. I told them to shush and not say anything. If some one could challenge my control over the shadows they deserved to know we were here.
If it was Karei and or Rea they would recognize my control and be on guard to flee or fight at the slightest warning. If they didn't and died it was they're fault and weren't as good as I had thought them to be and needed replacing.
I stood completely still. The other ground fighters were shuffling nervously. Our target was Allen Chezar. If he died the rest would fall apart.
Ground fighters were more likely to die than those in Melef's. So I figured Dilandau had put me here in hopes of me dying so that he could gain control over at least Nanashi. But I had taken an oath to obey "orders". My pledge was made to Dilandau so if he 'accidentally' died I wouldn't be held down any more. If the shadows were, to say, mad at him, for some reason I don't imagine he'd be living much longer.
General POV
Rea and Karei were on their way out of the dinning hall when the first explosion hit. They steadied them selves on the nearest object. They glanced at each other before nodding and running from the hall before anyone had the chance to realize they were under attack.
Outside Tsuara moved along with all the other ground troops to the fortress. As soon as fight broke out Tsuara was gone to the shadows and in the fortress in a flash.
The shadows were wild.
They protected Zaibach soldiers and confused the men under Allen's orders, courtesy of Tsuara herself. She searched for the target picking up bits of information here and there from the shadows.
She raced down a hallway where you could turn left or continue. Tsuara would have gone straight had it not been for the sword descending on a Zaibach soldier.
She wasn't able to reach him in time to stop the blow. She slipped from the shadows and stood in front of the man who had just slain the soldier. He was tall with short hot pink hair singed at the edges and blue eyed. From pictures and other information she knew this to be Allen despite his altered apperance.
Behind him was a male with raven hair, a cat girl, Rea and Karei. "Found you." Tsuara whispered, grinning maniacally.
She found all that she had been searching for really. She drew her sword for the first time that night and severed his head. He fell limply to the ground. She stood up straight from the half crouch she had been in and turned to the group.
The raven-haired male pulled out his sword and took a defensive position in front of them. Tsuara snorted
"Stand down, you fool." She told him.
"Don't hurt him." Karei warned nervously glancing at Rea.
"Who are you to be giving ME orders?" Tsuara demanded.
"He's important." Rea defended.
"I've killed the president of the United States. I don't care if he's god." Tsuara sneered.
"You are SO non religious you make Satan look like a saint." Mocked a new but familiar female voice.
"I try." Tsuara agreed.
"Where's Nanashi?" Karei asked.
"Outside in a Melef. You two are gonna have a ball with those things." Lori said.
"You know them?" Van asked. They never got to answer his question as an object came flying from one end of the hall to hit him in the head causing him to fall unconscious. (A/N: Opps….TSUARA!) Rea caught him before he could fall.
A whimper caused them to turn their attention to the cat girl.
"What should we do with her? I'd hate to leave her here all by herself and I don't like killing innocent's unless I have to." Lori said.
"She's coming with us." Karei proclaimed proudly. Merle looked less afraid. Tsuara raised an eyebrow at her.
"Come on! She my friend!" Karei whined hanging on to Tsuara's sleeve pleadingly.
"What ever." Tsuara said taking Van and throwing him on her shoulder.
Merle sensing no danger and seeking comfort latched onto Karei's arm. Karei looked down sadly at the dead leech with a sigh. Rea raised and eyebrow in question.
Karei shook her head. "I had such plans for that one. Unmatched plans. They were such good ideas. The pink hair was only the beginning. Guess I'll have to wait for the next one to piss me off." Karei explained morosely.
Lori let out a loud laugh and Rea and Nanashi chuckled.
"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll find someone else equally deserving of your revenge." Rea said. Karei beamed up at her.
"Of course I will!" she agreed.
Tsuara nodded to the others and they left the fortress, via shadows.
la la la la la
"Those things were HUGE!" Karei exclaimed.
"Shut up." Tsuara commanded. She had been babbling non-stop since she had seen them.
"Hai." Karei responded dejectedly.
They walked down one hallway and stopped. Dilandau looked over the group. At first he assumed Tsuara had regained all of her friends than realized there were seven. Two too many.
"I thought none of Allen's lackeys were to be take prisoner." He said after a moment.
"Rea and Karei are the other two from my group. Karei insisted we take her friends. They did not work under Allen, Dilandau-sama." Tsuara explained.
Rea and Karei's mouths almost hit the floor in shock. Never had they heard Tsuara explain her actions to ANY one. Nanashi and Lori, however, had gotten some what use to it, as Tsuara was a common Target for Dilandau. He raised an appraising brow.
"Fine. You hold all responsibility over them. Make sure they don't get in any ones way." He ordered.
"Yes Dilandau-sama." Tsuara agreed contemptuously.
"I expect them to be ready for training tomorrow." Dilandau said and walked off.
"Training?" Rea asked.
"Notice the uniforms? The Kage are now officially part of the dragon slayers." Lori said grinning as she watch the surprise form on their faces.
"That was all the noise the shadows were making about a week ago." Nanashi commented.
"Who are the dragon slayers?" Karei asked.
"They are an elite team of warriors. There are 18 at this time if you include the leader, Dilandau-sama. Put on the sama part." Lori warned.
"She got the exercise of her life when she forgot." Tsuara said smirking.
"He is excellent at gauging ones stamina and ability. He could be a formidable opponent." Nanashi said.
"I'll take these two to my room. You two get Rea and Karei ready for tomorrow." Tsuara ordered.
They nodded and headed down one corridor. Tsuara started down the hall again, Merle edging closer for comfort against the "strangers" they passed. When Tsuara entered her room she placed Van on the bed than sat at the desk. Merle jumped on the bed and sat by Van.
She looked at Tsuara intently.
"Who are you really?" she asked.
"Hotoshia of the shadows." Tsuara answered.
Merle nodded than turned to Van. It was quiet in the room. After a little while he stirred before sitting bolt up.
"Van-sama!" Merle squealed and hugged his arm. He seemed to calm down as he took in his surroundings.
"Where am I?" he asked.
"The Vione, floating fortress of Zaibach. Karei would not let us leave with out you." Tsuara said off handedly.
She stared hard at him intently and he stared back. He seemed a bit discontented as she scrutinized him. "I see now. You are interested in Rea." Tsuara said suddenly and he looked shocked.
"I'll give you one warning, than I will kill you. DON'T hurt her." She said slowly.
He nodded slightly still donning a slightly surprised look. She took a book off the table and started reading it. The room was silent. Suddenly the doors burst open and an agitated Lori entered. Tsuara smirked not looking at her.
"You cheated!" Lori claimed.
"How?" Tsuara asked. Lori floundered.
"You… You asked Them." Lori said suddenly looking proud of herself.
"Complete as my control is information such as that is to personal for me to even think of asking." Tsuara said effectively defeating Lori's argument.
"Who are you talking about when you refer to Them?" Van asked genuinely curious.
"Them." Tsuara said, gesturing to the room.
"I don't see anyone." Merle said looking around.
"Every where light is there is darkness. The light is more but the dark is deeper. One to control them, others to follow. The Kage are forever theirs." Nanashi said in a deep ominous voice. Merle and Van shuddered involuntary. A silence followed.
"I like it better when Tsuara says it. It leaves more of an impression and sounds cooler. When I first met her and she said that…" she squealed and shuddered.
"Who gave her sugar?" Rea asked.
"It's after lights out." Said a deep masculine voice from the door.
"Sorry Folken-san. Our newest recruitments arrived and I was getting them ready. I accept all responsibility." Tsuara said in a tone clear of even mockery. Folken looked around the room and his eyes fell upon a shocked Van and Merle. His eyes widened slightly.
"Brother." Van whispered so gently only Merle and one particularly good set of ears picked out. Tsuara stood abruptly.
"You have use of my room to night." She announced and left the room, followed by the rest of the former Kage. They walked in silence before stopping in front of Lori's room. She searched their faces for a moment than nodded.
"Lori you'll bunk with Nanashi tonight and you two will stay in Lori's room." Tsuara ordered motioning to Karei and Rea.
"What about you?" Karei asked concerned.
"I'll be back by morning." Tsuara said and left in the shadows. They watched her leave sadly.
"I think she still doesn't trust us." Lori said the sadness almost over whelming her voice. They went they're separate ways heads and hearts heavy from sadness and need of sleep.
Elsewhere
A shadow slipped into the library door. It moved swiftly between the selves and came to a halt. A hand reached out and pulled book from a shelf. A wall slid open. (A/n: how original.) It slipped into the newly exposed room and the wall closed behind it. It took a small box from a table near the wall and a book from the small shelves near the window. The shadow seemed to grin before leaving. (A/N: I was gonna leave it here but I decided to continue because it's been awhile.)
Next Morning…
"Lori wake up." Tsuara growled shaking her.
"I'll wake her up. You go get something to eat." Nanashi offered.
"I'll be in the training area." She said and left.
She paused on the other side of the door when she heard him sigh. Than she continued to her destination.
She started training even though no one would be there for about another hour. She had no 'real' opponent to restrict her movements to their level. There fore she could move with out fear of accidental death. She moved at a blinding speed with all the grace and strength of a cat.
People started wandering in. Soon all the dragon slayers, Van and Merle were in there watching her. The only person missing was their leader. They were all amazed. Even the former members of the Kage. It was rare when Tsuara practiced in front of an audience. She had NEVER had to use her skills on a mission. Besides a gun was easier.
The shadows seemed to swirl around her and follow her movements. Looking really close (A/N: which no one did) you could see the shadows act as type of an opponent.
One strike glanced of another sword.
No one had noticed Dilandau enter, except Tsuara who didn't let it show. She didn't pause in the dance as she moved away and allowed Dilandau to enter.
She was silent as the shadows and swift as a river. Her dance looked to hold all the determination of the universe. Unlike the night just about a week ago they were evenly matched.
Dilandau's dance was like fire where hers was water. His speed matched her, as did his prowess.
The dance stopped.
His sword was posed at her neck and she held a dagger at his back. If it wasn't for the weapons and the hardness in their eyes they might look like hugging lovers.
They were fire and shadow. Bright and dark. Open and hidden. They were a slightly messed up ying-yang. She drew back not taking her eyes from Dilandau and tossed the dagger to Viole who blinked.
He checked a sheath at his waist and found it empty.
"When…?" he asked bewildered.
"She took it right after Dilandau entered." Lori informed him.
"How?" was his second intelligent question.
"We're assassins. She wouldn't be very good if she couldn't slip things like that." Rea stated.
"You guys are assassins?" Van asked. Lori rolled her eyes while Nanashi chuckled.
"Were." Tsuara corrected.
"With you're skills you maybe required to perform assassinations." Folken said from the door. Once again the only one to notice had been Tsuara.
"True but it's no longer our profession." Nanashi said turning to him.
"They were upset. Something happened last night" Rea said suddenly.
"I did." Tsuara said smirking slightly. The four former member's of the Kage 'ahhed'.
"I'd like to borrow Tsuara-san." Folken said. Dilandau grunted as yes and watched her leave.
"What are you looking at? Start training!" He snarled at the group who had been looking at him. They scurried to do so after giving a short 'yes sir.'
Later…
If Tsuara were any one else she'd be grumbling. She had to bunk with another dragon slayer cause her room had been given to Van and Merle.
What made it worse was that there was only one person who wasn't already sharing a room. Two guesses who.
She no longer had her personal space AND she couldn't leave at night if something needed her attention. Like the little adjustments she had been giving her guymelef.
If it had been any of the other dragon slayers she wouldn't have cared half as much because they slept like rocks. He was a light sleeper; as she had found out when she had shared a room with him, before she got her own. A door opened as she passed it and Miguel came into view.
"Ah! Tsuara-sama! I was just gonna come looking for you. I need your help with some thing." He said inviting her in.
It was rather amusing to her that they had started tacking sama on her name. She entered the room and stood by his dresser. Something caught her eyes and she picked it up. Miguel turned to her when he heard her gasp. He saw her admiring his necklace.
"You like it? I got for my ninth birthday from a friend." He said looking at it fondly. It was dragon carved out of pure emerald with small ruby eyes. She put it down and turned to him. She raised an eyebrow. He cleared his throat and blushed. She looked at him warily. "Which outfit?"
Tsuara POV
Apparently Miguel liked one of her former team members. She hoped it wasn't Rea or Lori.
Rea and Van's mutual attraction was apparent to every one except each other.
Lori's feelings were so well hidden Tsuara her self almost doubted its existence at times. Lori had had time to adjust her self, as her attraction to Nanashi was gradual. It also helped that she had knew him before hand.
Nanashi's attraction to Lori was also well hidden. It was clear as day to Tsuara though. They were very similar and she understood his mind. His ways of showing his affection is so subtle only people like him or herself could see it, so Lori remained blind to his affection.
If it was Karei she could live with it. Karei had no known object of affection. She held confidence that if Karei were to return his affection they would not hurt each other and would protect the other. She did not want the people important to her hurt. She knew if this was to happen Karei would take care of her brother.
YE: Oh lovely cliffhanger! As you can see I figured out the pairings and you remember a few chapters ago when Kurai told you that I had no plot? Well guess what? SHE'S WORNG! MWUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! -chants- I finally got a plot! -starts dancing-
Tsuara: -tied to a chair looking degraded and scared- What's gonna happen next!
Kurai: hits Tsuara on the head with acast ironpan- Shut up.
YE: Huh? What happened to Zalia?
Kurai: -grins maliciously-
YE: -shudders- Never mind. I don't want to know.
Tsuara: Can I go now? I didn't mean to hit Van with the bowling ball! It was Zalia's fault for deflecting it.
YE & Kurai: NO!