CHAPTER 4: Bad Dogs And Bad Guys
Mannen skidded to a hault not far from the house, hands making tight fists. He was sick of running! He was a Leafe Knight, NOT a babysitter! And part of the oathes they took were to protect and help each other. "Hey, Hajime, you go ahead with Shin and Yayoi. Get 'em down to the beach or somethin', okay?"
Hajime's eyes narrowed, but he nodded anyway. Just like Mannen knew he would. "Okay, 'cept Yayoi went back inside!"
"Huh! I thought you two were watchin' her! Man, Feryn's gonna kill us!"
"I don't want to go back there," Shin whimpered, clutching his hands in front of himself.
Mannen looked back at the house. Well, he was going back in anyway, wasn't he? And rescuing girls was something all the knights did in the movies. "Okay, you two go down to the beach and summon Hayate and Kei. I'm goin' back in to help Feryn and Yayoi!"
"Be careful, Mannen! That dog looked like it had rabies or somethin', " Hajime cautioned.
Waving his hand airily, Mannen said, "What's a crazed Pound Puppy to the Knight of Ice? I'll just freeze him up and that'll be that!"
Hajime nodded and ran with Shin further into the darkness.
Mannen went back through the kitchen door as quietly as he could, staying close to the shadows. He could hear thunder shaking the house, knocking pictures off the wall, which meant Feryn was using his leafe. A burst of bluish lightening from the front doors illuminated Yayoi getting closer to the fight. As well as the big scary dog that had a hold of Feryn's arm. There was another burst of lightening as Feryn attacked the dog-thing, flinging it from him.
"Feryn?" Yayoi asked.
"YAYOI!" Mannen ran to try and grab her but Feryn beat him to it, pulling her against his chest and sending them both through the window. The dog whipped around, spiked tail flicking behind it angrily. No, it was gonna attack them! Mannen ran into the foyer, heart pounding and mind racing about what to do. Now that he was hear...what did he do? Okay, Hayate always said to analyze the situation before running in...oh, too late for that. Okay, next step, choose either defensive or offensive. Um...Offensive! Yeah! Okay...so how did he do that? Hey, that was a great plan...
"Hey, ugly mutt! Turn around!" Mannen smiled, pleased with his plan of distracting the dog.
Until it turned glowing red eyes on him, snarling. It's long white teeth were glistening with a mixture of blood and drool. Slowly, it turned around, nails clicking on the wood floors. Uh-oh...Suddenly his plan wasn't so great anymore. The dog barked fiercely and made a run for him.
Mannen swallowed heavily and flew into the air, barely missing the snapping jaws. He turned around and fired ice darts at it. Only to discover it had disappeared. "What the hell?" He stayed where he was, looking around. It couln't have vanished...could it? Maybe it wasn't really a dog. Maybe it was something else...
"MANNEN! Move a droit!"
"Huh?" What the hell did ah-dwoah mean?
Feryn was motioning frantically with his one good arm. "This way, this way! Move, Mannen!"
"Oh, left! Wait, who's left, yours or mine?" Mannen never found out. All he had was a thin snarl and a drop of drool on his shoulder to warn him. He looked up...
And the freaky dog was on the ceiling, staring right down at him!
"Aw, crap," he yelled as the thing released it's claws from the ceiling, twisting midair to land on him, teeth wide and ready to rip him to pieces.
"Goh, NOOO! Don't do it, Goh!"
Goh turned with a small smile. The flames were surrounding him, eating at his skin, turning it black and peeling. The smell of burning flesh filled the air, seeming to cling to her nose and throat. It was all she could do not to vomit. "Hey, someone has to play the hero. And it's obvious YOU'RE not gonna do it!"
Wait...this wasn't how it had happened...was it? No, Goh didn't say those awful words. Or did he?
Himeno...Himeno, wake up, please!
Goh screamed, back arching in agony as the flames engulfed him.
"NONONONONO! GOOOOH!" She turned away from the rushing fire, feeling the heat lick at her arms.
HIMENO! WAKE UP!
Himeno gasped, eyes flying open. She was...on the floor. And still at Tempest. "Did you see him?" She stood up quickly, which was a mistake, she realized, when her head swam and she fell back into Hayate's arms again. He held her to him, not letting her move away.
"See who?" Hayate demanded. A quick nod and Kei and Blaise were suddenly on alert, scanning the staring faces for anything unusual.
"Goh! I saw him, right over there! He didn't die, Hayate!"
Hayate just stared at her, face completey void of any emotion except concern for her. "Himeno...There's no way he could have survived. We all saw it happen."
Himeno blinked, her mind tumbling in a whirlwind of conflicting thoughts and emotions. But...she could have sworn...No, Hayate was right. Goh was dead. She'd been there, she'd seen it. And he hadn't said that at all. She had to focus, there was something important..."OH! We have to go back to the house, something's wrong!"
Mawata pulled out her cell phone, frowning as she saw the number that just rang in. And the three knights, as well as Sete, all turned in the same direction as if listening to something. "It's Hajime," Kei said softly.
"Come on!" Hayate cleared a path through the on-lookers, pushing for the door of the club. Once outside, they found a nice empty alley between buildings and flew back to the house, Blaise holding onto Mawata and Hayate holding on to Himeno.
It didn't take long for them to see something was seriously wrong. Sete spotted Yayoi running around on the ground, tripping anf falling over objects she should have been able to see clearly. "I've got her, you guys go ahead," she called, swerving lower to the ground to save a frightened Yayoi.
"Oi, that's Hajime's work, or I'm a pretty girl," Blaise called. He was refering to the spiraling column of water rising from down on the beach. "Comin', poppets!" He and Mawata disappeared into the shadows for the beach. Which left Kei, Hayate and Himeno to deal with what was just outside the front door.
"Is that a...a dog?" Himeno asked. It was the scariest dog she'd ever seen, that was for sure! She could see the flaming red eyes even from up here.
"It's a hellhound, a creature from the Mountains of Shadow," Kei answered. "It shouldn't be capable of crossing over into this world, though!"
"We'll figure that out later. Right now, stopping that thing is our priority," Hayate shouted back. He turned sharply, preparing for a quick landing.
As soon as they hit the ground, Hayate practically shoved Himeno into Kei's arms. "It has to be Kei. The hellhounds are creatures of shadow. You need the leafe of Light to destroy it!"
Himeno nodded and took Kei's hand. The familiar feeling of preting with one of the knights came over her. Kei always made her skin feel warm, like the sun was shining from inside her. Everything had a faint golden glow to it, except for the shadows. Those became deeper and darker, as if she could see the different layers of dark light. She turned to the hellhound, eyes narrowed. Like this, she could see it wasn't really a dog at all. It was heavily condensed shadows, forced into a dog's shape. It was nothing but air. So how was it able to inflict damage?
"It's very real, Himeno, don't let it fool you," Kei said in her head. "Hellhounds have one weak spot, and that's inside it's mouth where the shadows open for it to swallow leafe. You need to hit it directly in the mouth for it to be destroyed."
"Okay, got it. Um...how am I supposed to get it's mouth open?" she asked.
She had her answer when several deep slashes of wind went racing by her, followed closely by Hayate himself. The hellhound dove for him, jaws snapping closed just short of his foot. Hayate snatched something off the ground and flew a short distance with it. It took Himeno a second to recognize the blood soaked figure as Feryn's. Oh, no!
"Stay focused," Kei snapped. "I sure as hell don't want to end up like that! Look, Hayate's already given you four openings, and you've missed all of them."
Himeno fought back to guilty feeling of letting Kei down like that and watched Hayate's moves with all her attention. He dove in, attacked, then was quick to get out of range of the claws and teeth gnashing and slashing at him. Anotehr figure came to join him, vines of flowers weaving around it. Blaise! Blaise dodged, rolled and twisted faster than even Hayate, flinging strong vines as he went, strapping the hellhound to the ground. But for each vine he threw, the hellhound snapped two. It was an impressive, but losing battle.
"Hey, Hayate, I think this calls for somethin' a bit stronger," Blaise shouted.
Hayate couldn't respond, he was too busy throwing everything he had at the dog, trying to hit it or make it's jaws open wide enough for Himeno to have a clear shot.
"Himeno, get ready for it," Kei warned.
Himeno felt Kei pulling on a great deal of leafe, storing it inside her for her to use. She waited, watching anxiously as the hellhound snarled, growled and lashed it's tail at the knights.
There was a loud grumbling noise, and Himeno followed it, watching as the earth shifted and moved in a giant wave that slammed into the hellhound, throwing it into the air. What...where did that come from?
"Himeno, now!"
Himeno turned back and shot the light bolts directly into the hellhound's gaping mouth. It howled louder before the light expanded inside it, pushing at it's sides. It exploded outward, the body fading into the shadows until only the eyes remained. They faded last, leaving a blazing imprint in the night. She landed and unpreted with Kei, running over to Feryn's unmoving body. "Feryn! Feryn, say something!" She fell to her knees, taking his blood covered hand in her own. Please, not another one...
Feryn's blue eyes opened weakly and he managed a rather pervy smile. "Ma cherie, I do not think my fiancee will like you groping me in such a way."
Scowling, she threw his hand down. "You creep!"
"Himeno! Oh, thank goodness, you're alright!" Sete was helping Yayoi walk back up. Yayoi's glasses were missing somewhere in the ruin of the front window. And Himeno was very glad her friend couldn't see the condition Feryn was in. She hugged her while Sete made a face and went over to Feryn.
"Lordy, you're really trying to make me earn my keep around here, aren't you?" she said dryly, eyes surveying the injuries. She shook her head, pushing her long hair back. "I don't even know where to start!"
Feryn held up his mangled arm. Himeno gasped when she saw the deep bite marks circling it. "Perhaps here," he suggested.
"Yeah, but your face...If the blood dries up before I can heal it, you're going to be scarred." Everyone knew how incredibly vain Feryn could be.
"What? Is Feryn hurt?" Yayoi gasped. She could see we enough to make out his shape on the ground and went to him. Her fingers touched his lips very gently and he stifled the pained hiss when she touched the enormous gash on his upper lip, the one that curved through that perfect mouth and up over his nose. "Oh my...Feryn!" She didn't need to see it to know the stickiness on her fingers was blood.
Feryn managed another smile. "You will not be so willing to touch me afterward, Yayoi. I am afraid my arm is more important at this time than my face."
Yayoi began to cry, and Himeno was a little startled. Crying because Feryn was going to have a scarred face? She never knew yayoi would..."I don't CARE! You got hurt saving me, and that's the most beautiful thing in the world to me!"
Utter relief flooded his face, little trickles of tears coming from his eyes to mix with the drying blood on his face. Sete fixed his arm and was working on what she could of his face. And judging from how incredibly sad she looked, there wasn't much for her to do. Sighing, she sat back, the green light fading. "I did what I could. The rest of this is going to have to heal naturally. I'm sorry."
Yayoi took her hand as she stood to leave. "Thank you. You did enough."
Sete smiled awkwardly and looked away. "Yeah, well, I better go see if I'm needed elsewhere."
Kei hesitated a second before following her with some excuse of 'her needing my help'. Mawata came back up the beach carrying Shin. Hajime was holding her hand tightly. Which left...
"Where's Mannen?" Himeno asked.
"Inside," Feryn said, this time not checking the little pained sound as Yayoi helped him to his feet. "The hellhound was going to attack him. I managed to stem the attack and push him to safety. Where he is now, I cannot say."
Himeno ran toward the house, stepping through the broken front door. Mannen...if he was hurt...No, stop thinking like that!
Blaise and Hayate turned sharply, ready for another attack. They both relaxed the minute they saw it was her. "Bloody hell, woman! Ye gave me a damn heart attack, you did," Blaise said, clutching his chest dramatically.
"Sorry, but Mannen's supposed to be in here," she explained. She looked around the area for some sign the Knight of Ice was still alive.
"I'm here. Is it safe?" Mannen crawled out from behind one of the air hockey tables. His eyes were wide and there were flecks of red in his white hair. Blood.
"It's gone," Hayate said. "Are you hurt?"
Mannen shook his head, lips set in a thin line. He was still in shock. "Feryn, did he..."
"He's alive. Sete's taking care of him. Now, explain to me what you were doing inside the house and not with Shin and Hajime?" Hayate crossed his arms over his chest, fixing a stern glare on Mannen's downturned head.
"I...I'm a knight, too," Mannen said fiercely, meeting Hayate's glare with one of his own.
Hayate blinked, caught off guard by the statement. "You're the Knight of Ice. What's that got to do with-,"
"You act like I'm a babysitter!" Mannen shouted. "Another knight was in trouble! I took an oath, too, y'know! Protect the others! That's what I was tryin' to do!" He was breathing hard, hands fisted and stance challenging.
Hayate wasn't at all intimidated by this little display. "And why do you think I keep having you watch Hajime and Shin? They're younger than you, less experienced. Protecting the others means watching out for the weaker ones. It's a huge responsibility, one that I thought you were ready for. Maybe I was wrong."
Mannen blinked, eyes going from boiling anger to surprise in a matter of seconds. "I never thought about it like that."
"The next time you feel like complaining about your duties, think a bit about why I assigned it to you." Hayate stalked off into the night angrily.
Himeno went over the Mannen when the young knight looked ready to cry. She hugged him, frowning when she realized he was now tall enough to hug comfortably. Mannen had gotten a lot taller since she'd first met him! "I didn't mean to make him mad, Himeno," he mumbled.
Another set of arms came around them, followed by the Blaise's voice. "He's not mad at you, Mannen. He's mad about Ol' Nasty we just sent back to hell. Nothin' personal, mate." He let them go and walked back outside. Hayate was issuing orders left and right.
Sighing, Himeno let Mannen go, smiling at him. "It's okay. He'll be back to normal once we get this all sorted out."
Scowling in Hayate's general direction, he said, "Yeah, great."
"MANNEN! Out here, NOW!"
"I'm comin', I'm comin'," Mannen grumbled, trudging out of the house with Himeno right behind him.
Two lone figures stood down the beach, watching as the White Pretear and her knights started repairing the damage. Both had very pale skin and long hair down to their waists, pulled back in loose braids. Their faces were the same, as were their black clothing (more uniform than actual clothing). But one had golden hair and golden eyes and the other had silver hair and silver eyes. That was the only difference between them.
The one with golden hair sighed, resting his hand on a long curved sword at his hip. "Well, Ginshima, it appears our Queen's pet failed."
Ginshima, the one with silver hair, snorted, a little quirk of lips suggesting a smile. "Was there ever a doubt, Kinshima?"
Kinshima also answered with a faint smile. "No, not really. But there's no telling her that."
"Quite true."
Both were silent for a long time, simply watching. Ginshima was the one to break the silence this time. "At least this Hayate will be a challenge to us."
"But the one called Blaise...he is supposed to be the Knight of Flowers?" Kinshima questioned.
"Your point, brother?"
"Why did he use an earth leafe in the attack?"
Both turned to look at each other thoughtfully, staring into the other's eyes as if reading minds. "The Queen should hear of this. Perhaps we have underestimated this Knight of Flowers," Ginshima said.
"Mm..possibly," Kinshima replied. He waved his hand, and where it moved, a great rip seemed to tear itself into the very air. The two brothers stepped through this rip and back into the Mountains of Shadow, sealing their exit behind them.