Golden Sun: The Hunted
Written by Mikaa

Chapter 8 - I Heard That

A/N - Wow. I half expected a linch mob after I threw that filler chapter together. Nice that people are actually willing to put up with bits and pieces of Igori's past as this moves on. Speaking of which, I do find it amusing that so many people were glad that Feihzi was in the story. And not the least bit shocked when everyone assumed that Mia healed Igori.

Yes, I just said "assumed." Do I imply that someone else healed him? Draw your own conclusions, but don't expect much.

So, without further blabbing from the world's biggest idiot, MIKAA DOES NOT OWN NINTENDO, CAMELOT, GOLDEN SUN, OR THE KNOWLEGE OF WHAT KIND OF RPG CAMELOT IS RUMORED TO BE WORKING ON FOR THE REVOLUTION...

So, to Chapter 8 of the Hunted, "I Heard That."

"C'mon, Felix, what did you expect?"

Well, at least he didn't wake up from yet another bizzare dream.

Igori rose from where he lay, noting (with disgust) that he had been left on the couch in the lower levels of Kalay. If these people ever thought about security as much as they did talking to each other, then maybe he would not be able to get up and roam freely.

But what fun would that be?

Rising, Igori checked himself over, stunned that he really was healed up. Gone were his sagging skin, warped cheeks, blistered hands. His muscles felt brand new, his bones not aching as he sat up and rose to move to the stairs. Just the fact that he was healed was puzzling enough; someone had, somehow, in some way, managed to completely outclass every healer in Tolbibi.

Which meant that either someone was not qualified, or there was a plot against him. Or just some sick joke. Maybe Vigral was in on it...

"He's not that bad; he's a soldier! What else was he supposed to do?"

Igori swung around, arms arrayed defensively as he looked for the speaker. The voice was Zial, no, Feihzi (assuming he understood right), yet no one was around. To that point, no one was down here with him. Well, except some small purple rat, but that didn't count.

Moving towards the stairs, Igori wondered why he heard the voice. With no one around, he should not have heard a soul. Heck, as much talent he had (such as it was) in mind-reading, he still couldn't hear THAT well.

"If he was so bad, why did he help me?"

Now Igori was positively confused. Apparently, he was in the middle of a conversation, but why was he hearing only one voice? This certainly was not like any link he had heard, no, wait. There was one, a trick he used to use with his mother before he left: supposedly, when two people linked their minds, anything they said, verbally or vocally, could be communicated between the two.

So, if this was the case, how was he able to do that? It was not like he and Feihzi had... Wait. Damn, what had she done? Had she linked his mind so deliberately, or was it a bi-product? And did it work both ways? He chuckled darkly; Nice trick, he thought to himself.

"You can hear me?"

Igori's eyes went wide, almost as wide as the look on Feihzi he suddenly saw with the latest message. So, it did work, and she had not realized it. Great. So what did he do now? Stay put, play tiddly-winks with the rat, and just wait for either Isaac and crew to get him or for the General to hunt him down. Or did he go up, face them, and determine if they wished to slay him or ally with him.

Given those choices, choice number two sounded MUCH, MUCH better.

"Hello?"

Igori moved up the stairs, trying to ignore the mental nudging of her inquiry. Whatever or however she had formed the link, it obviously was not potent enough to read each other's thoughts, but stable enough to carry silent messages.

"I hear you," a pause as he spoke softly, deciding to confirm his suspicions, "Glad you are OK, Feizhi."

What he heard after that was more like a soft yelp than anything, as though she was positively stunned that he knew that name. Which meant that it WAS her name, and now he had scared her. Great.

"I am not armed," he mumbled under his breath, hoping that she would not reveal his presence. "I just want to talk. Try to stall until I get there."

He heard nothing, but he felt a slight nudge, as though she acknowleged it. Whether or not this was genuine or not, he did not know, nor did he really care. Didn't he? Why did he care if she trusted him?

He rose up the stairs, suprised at the lack of guards yet again. This time, though, there was no servant to spring security on him, and, oddly, no guards at the end of the hall. There was some chatter coming from the wall to Igori's side, and he was not suprised to hear several familiar voices from within.

Sighing, he braced himself. (I'm coming to the door, Feihzi. I am not armed, I don't wish to fight) he thought to himself, pleased when he heard the voice through the wall as he heard it in his head: "Igori wants to talk."

What happened next was not what Igori (or Feihzi, from the mental screaming in his head) wanted: someone threw the door open, and Igori was barely able to shroud himself as Isaac and Felix turned the corner, their swords in hand and looking for him.

He tried to tune out Feihzi's pleas and the soft voice of Mia, both pleading the Venusians to disarm. Igori knew that if he dropped the cloak now, they would pounce him, probably trying to secure him before talking. Knowing that he wound not be able to keep the shroud up long enough to wait them out, he thought off a message to Feihzi: (I don't want to fight, I want to talk: warn them off!)

He heard Feihzi shout to them, and Igori nearly broke his shroud at the sight of her rounding the corner, only to be stunned as Jenna held her back. Apparently, this would not end well. With no choice, Igori fired another message to Feihzi:

(Tell them to disarm, or I will have to defend myself)

He watched her try to tell them, and was far from shocked when they choose to ignore her. Apparently, that illusion test had them just a bit worried about him. Just as he would, if their roles were reversed, he thought.

"You're not helping."

Igori blinked, Feihzi's reply catching him off guard. It was not much of a reflex, but it was enough to drop his shroud, and Igori barely had time to throw himself to the opposite wall to avoid Isaac's attempt to push him to the ground. Hands on the ground, Igori poured his energies into the ground, forcing the floor to give way, sending him flying to the cellar - again. (Just once I would LOVE to end up somewhere else!)

He never heard if Feihzi heard him or not, instead leaping off of the hulk of flooring as it fell, landing a short distance away. Not suprisingly, Isaac and Felix lept down after him. But to their dismay, Igori was already in motion. Before Isaac or Felix knew where he was, Igori had shot a surge of his psynergy at them, sending them sprawling. As they fell, he gripped their blades, throwing them across the room, nearly hitting Jenna and Feihzi as they came down the stairs.

Igori did not have the opportunity to check on the women; Felix and Isaac were rising, and Igori did not have many options now. Sure, he could wear them down, but even having been healed as much as he had, there was no way he was going to be able to outlast two Venusians AND a Martian. Venus Adepts, Jupitarians (with a notable exception), Mercurians, he could handle. But Martians... Igori had bested one Martian in his life, and THAT had been a miracle.

Igori braced himself for their attacks as a voice cut through the cellar. Not Feihzi's voice, no, everyone else seemed to hear it. And upon focusing on the words, Igori did as well, and felt all the blood drain from his face:

"Well, I was wondering what had happened to you, Igori. Decide to take a detour?"

Igori slowly turned around, staring at the two figures not ten feet behind him. The shorter of the two, a woman with purple hair, stood closer to the second figure. That person was cloaked in traveler's robes, but that face was indistinguishable:

The General.

End of Chapter 8

Yeeeah. I hate having cliffie's thrown at me, and I can't say that I am thrilled with doing this to the readers, especially since I'm updating once or twice every two weeks. But hey, at least the plot is moving along! Maybe a filler or two in the near future (or more background for Igori, take it as you will), but for now, I hope this chapter makes people sit up and think a bit.

And yes, thar be reason in them there menal links. That idea was an old one, but once I had the notion of "Zial" and Igori being mentally linked, I could not resist...

Anywho, hope you liked this chapter. Even if you hated it, please review so that I may know if anyone cares and/or likes this chap/story!

Mikaa, Lord of the DS Propaganda