Disclaimer: Not mine rights reserved to Hajime Kanzaka
Part 9'Today is going to be a long one.' Zelgadiss thought to himself as he looked at Gourry then Lina. He sighed as he put his hand over the little flame. It made a hiss and a puff of smoke came out from under his hand. A very long day.
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"Miss Lina! Can't we take a break? I'm tired and so is Kaori. What happened wasn't our fault. Don't punish us as well." Amelia called out as she and Kaori were falling behind, very behind. Lina, instead of hitting anybody else or blowing up an inn, vented her frustrations on walking real fast, power walk type, only that if everyone tried to walk along beside her she walk faster and leave them behind her to basically eat her dust.
"Yeah Lina… I'm tired too. Can't we stop?" Gourry asked as he wiped the sweat off his forehead. Zelgadiss just walked to keep up not really complaining as he like to walk fast to get where he wanted to.
"Not until it is break time besides we haven't even got very far from the village we stayed at. No, not until we've made good distance." Everyone groaned but Zelgadiss as they tried to keep up.
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Everyone sat down with a grateful sigh as Lina had finally let them rest up a bit. She didn't want to admit it but her feet too hurt from walking so fast and stomping most of the way. She sat down as Gourry excused himself and went into the woods. Then out of nowhere Kaori also said she had to go. Lina eyed her as she went a different direction away from where Gourry entered but she had a feeling…
"Miss Lina?" Lina lifted her head to look at Amelia.
"What?" Amelia held out a canteen and she heaved a sigh. "Alright let's go besides I'm hungry too. Let's get some food while we're at it." Lina smile as she forgot about Kaori for the moment and went off with Amelia.
Zelgadiss sighed as he was left alone.
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They walked side by side till they found a river.
"Jeez, this was way back here huh?" Lina commented as she got down on her knees and took off her gloves so she could splash the cool water on her face. "Ah. That feels great. Here." She reached out her hand and Amelia gave her the canteens that she gathered to her. Lina grabbed two and Amelia went to work on filling the other three. After Lina was done she lean down to the water and got herself a drink before she sat up and gasped loud.
"Ah that tastes great! And now for the food!" She set off on making a makeshift fishing pole. She pulled out a few strands of her hair and tied it on the end of the stick then dug in her cloak and pulled out a hook. She grinned as she chanted her spell to get her fish.
"Here fishy, fishy, fishy," She sang softly as she was just finishing the touches to her now fishing rod. Amelia smile as she shook her head.
"You sing to the fishes?" She asked as she now was leaning against a tree waiting for Lina to now catch them food. The shade felt nice. Lina glared at her quickly before she turned her attention to a jumping fish that had hopped out of the water with a big splash Lina threw her line out to where the fish just jump from.
"You also do know that fishes don't stay in one spot, right." Once again Lina glared at her with a finger over her lips and loudly said, "SHH!" Amelia backed up and nodded as Lina started to sing again.
"Here fishy, fishy, fishy…" She tugged a bit and then she cried out as the line got heavy and she pulled. The fish came flying out of the water and flopped on the ground next to Amelia. "Well…! Don't just stare at it! Take it off and tie it down or something!" Amelia looked squeamish but grabbed the fish and yanked the hook out. The fish flopped about as Amelia looked for anything to hold it down. Lina sighed as she re-cast her line then dig into one of her cloak pockets and threw rope at her.
"There's a hook at the end stick it and keep it there." She then turned her attention back to catching her fish.
"Here fishy, fishy, fishy…" She repeated again. Amelia stared at her back as she stuck the rope in the fish and thought about the resent advents that have happened so far. Kaori coming with the group to help her to her mother's, Lina being angry all the time she was close to Kaori, Gourry being a jelly-fish head. Amelia sighed as she wondered when either of them was going to say what they really want…
After Lina had caught about three dozen she and Amelia casted a raywing spell to carry the fish back to their campsite. Zelgadiss was leaning in a strange angle as he slept while they where gone when they entered and Lina and Amelia began to laugh. Zelgadiss sat up straight and he coughed as he glared at them. Lina looked around as she let her spell drop the fish right next to the fire.
"Hey. Where's Gourry?" She turned to look at Zelgadiss who shrugged. She noticed that Kaori wasn't back as well. She gritted her teeth as she had the urge to find either of them but she calmed herself down. Maybe it was just a coincidence that they probably had to go number two at the same time. She got to work on cutting and spicing the fish as Amelia helped her too, Zelgadiss just did it because he was bored.
About an hour into cooking the fish as Lina had set up the second batch around the fire to cook. Amelia also looked out into the woods.
"They sure have been gone a long time, huh?" Amelia thought aloud as she was now munching on her third fish. Zelgadiss just sipped on his tea and grabbed another fish. Lina glared at the trees as they hid anything from prying eyes.
"Yeah… Long time…" She said as she grabbed another one her self and started to eat trying to ignore the fact that Gourry could be with Kaori and they could be… She shook her head and she glared at the fire.
"Miss Lina? Are you all right?" Amelia asked quietly as she knew what was bothering her. Lina gave Amelia a fake smile.
"Yeah I'm good. Just damn bugs are flying around me and are annoying the hell out of me." She made a movement with her hand around her face. "See?" She laughed weakly but she knew they could tell she was lying. She sighed. "Ok I'm freakin worried something happened to the both of them. I mean we know Gourry wouldn't do anything like this so something's up." She stood up and Amelia followed her lead.
Lina smiled at her and Zelgadiss just sipped his tea. "I guess I'll stay here just in case you guys pass each other." Lina and Amelia nodded.
"Alright, Amelia you go look for Gourry and I'll go look for Kaori." Amelia looked at her confused.
"Don't you want to find him yourself?" Lina glared at the ground as she remembered what Gourry said with Zelgadiss.
"You find him." She didn't say anything else as she headed off to where Lina saw Kaori entered in. Amelia looked at her back sadly then looked to Zelgadiss.
"Do you think something happened between those two?" Zelgadiss shook his head.
"Anything could have happened but maybe… Feh… As always she never stays to listen to the whole story." Amelia gave him a confused look as he remembered that he and Gourry were discussing a topic about her. He smiled. 'She looks so cute when she looks like that… Wait, the hell I'm saying!!' He coughed.
"Gourry and I were talking last night and well I mention some hints to him that Lina was very interested in him. He laughed and made a joke which really sounded like he didn't want anything to do with her and I think she had listen in on that moment and ran off before hearing the rest."
Amelia gasped then clutched her fist together. "Oh poor Miss Lina! But she won't fret for I will find Gourry and then we'll unite them at last!"
"Umm… we?" Zelgadiss gave her a look.
"Oh don't worry Mister Zelgadiss. I shall do the hard parts all you have to do is help me get them together!" Zelgadiss coughed.
"Umm… aren't you supposed to be looking for him right now?" Amelia blinked as she remembered what she was supposed to be doing. She jumped off the log she posed on and laughed then ran off to find Gourry. Zelgadiss sighed then grabbed another fish.
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Lina quickened her pace as she really thought what could be happening with those two they could be… could be… She shook her head rough then she picked up her pace.
"Hey Kaori! Kaori where the heck are you?!" She yelled as she tried to sound like she was really worried. She looked up to the sky. It was almost night time but still enough light to see her hand in front of her and what else in front of her too. Lina sighed as it looked like they were staying in the woods for the night. "OI! Kaori!"
Damn it, did she really want to let Gourry go like this without even putting up a fight for him just because he said he didn't want anything to do with her? She didn't want to let him go but he had to know before he left her for… for… She growled under her breath as she to look around. 'Damn it all.' She knew she wouldn't have gone far. Suddenly she heard rustling behind her. She sighed as she finally found her. "Where the heck were you? We started to get—" She cut herself off as she faced a Wolfman. He growled at her as he swung his sword down at her. She had enough time to flip out of the way only to have him come back with another swing towards her lower torso.
"Shit!" She called out as she ducked and rolled sideways to dodge it. 'What the hell are they doing around here?!' She thought as she pulled her short blade out of its sheath and blocked a swing.
She blocked another swing as the Wolfman came about and swung down with all its might. She was knocked back as the blow hit her hard and her dagger flew from her hands. 'Shit!' She tried to scramble out of the way. 'I can't cast a spell! He keeps on attacking me!' She wasn't so lucky the next time the Wolfman swung down. He cut her right down her thigh as she jump to get out of the way. She cried out as she rolled on the ground. She tried to get up only to see the blade coming down…
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Amelia walked though the thick trees as she held her light spell high. "Mister Gourry! Are you still out here?" She called out. She heard a noise ahead then a war-like cry. She raced ahead to see Gourry fighting off about a dozen beastmen who were keeping Gourry on his feet. The beastmen didn't look much only standing 6 or 7 feet tall, really creepy looking too Amelia noted. One had a head of a rabbit as the others looked scarier then what most beastmen looked.
(Zosuru: Think of some kind of scary beast you don't like and add a human body to it… yek! lol)
Gourry swung his sword at the rabbit head one and missed as it jumped out of the way.
"Elmekia Lance!" Amelia shouted and vaporized the bunny-head man. Gourry looked over at her only to get nicked with one of the beastmen's sword. He dodged in time to only get his shirt cut at the waist then slashed at him. The thing died with a pitiful cry as the others ganged up on Gourry. One beastman walked over to Amelia grinning like a mad man only to get hit with a spell as soon as he was close enough.
"Fireball!" The thing yelled, as it was chard up as fast as it walked up to her. She then looked over to Gourry who now had only five beastmen left which he took four down with just two swings then he was left with one beastman. It looked around at all the bodies before putting his tail between his legs, literally, then running off.
"Oh no you don't!" Gourry yelled as he quickly picked up a sword off the ground and flung it hard at the beastman. A yelp and 'thump' was all he had to hear as he wiped his blade off on one of the clothing's near him. He sighed as he walked up to Amelia.
"Thanks Amelia." He said as he sheathed his sword and leaned against the tree next to her.
"Are you hurt Mister Gourry?!" She looked around his body but didn't see any. He waved a hand at her and laughed breathlessly.
"N-no… just catching m-my breath." He took another few deep breaths then smiled at her. "So I guess it's been awhile since I had come in here. You came looking for me?" Amelia nodded she was about to say that her, Zel, and Lina were worried but decided to change it a bit.
"Oh no it was Lina who was really worried about you." Well she really wasn't telling a lie and she really wanted to see them happy. "So we went to find you two…" She trailed off.
Gourry looked at her. "Two? There are two of me? Wow… where is he?" He started to look around only to look at her again. Amelia put her face in the palm of her hand with a sweatdrop rolling down her brow.
"No. Not two of you but the two of you meaning you and Kaori. Lina didn't know if something was going on but now she doesn't have to—" She covered her mouth with her hand. 'Oh no. I spoke too much.' She thought as she turned to look at Gourry's reaction. He was just smiling that stupid grin he always does.
"So where's Lina? She ain't with you?" Amelia smiled at him weakly not knowing how to tell him that Lina had wanted her to look for him instead of her.
"No she's waiting for you back at the camp along with Miss Kaori and Mister Zelgadiss." Gourry nodded smiling as he walked ahead of her.
"Let's go then." Amelia walked with him as they headed for camp.
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Lina watched as the blade fall meant to kill in one blow. She closed her eyes ready to feel immense pain but it didn't come. She heard a loud 'clank' and then a grunt. She opened her eyes a bit then gasped out loud.
"K-Kaori?!" She grinned at Lina then looked back at the Wolfman and kicked him in the shins hard. He backed up as he grabbed his leg and hobbled for a bit giving Lina enough time to chant her spell.
"Source of all power, Light which burns beyond crimson, let thy power gather in my hand! FIREBALL!" The Wolfman only had a moment before he was burn to ashes. Lina heaved a sigh and she looked at Kaori. She felt bad for all the times she was rough on her but she hell as ever don't regret it.
"T-thanks." Lina whispered and Kaori smiled at her.
"It's ok. Now let's take a look at your wound…" Lina blinked as she nearly forgot about her injury. The pain was immense as she tried to sit up and take a look at it. The wound came from the right side mid-thigh down to her knee and looked deep. She cursed as she again wished she had taken the time to study healing spells better. Kaori shook her head as she inspected it.
"Not good and I can't heal either." Lina grunted as she'd figure she would say that. She stood up. "I'll go get Amelia. She heals right?" Lina nodded as she cast healing on herself. At least she can slow the flow of blood.
"Yeah and try to hurry. This crap hurts like hell…" Lina smiled at her and Kaori nodded as she ran off back towards the camp. 'She ain't bad… but I still don't like her…" Lina laid her head on the ground as she tried her best to concentrate on healing what she could till Amelia came.
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Amelia and Gourry crawled their way out of the woods and walked right towards to Zelgadiss. He looked up only to see Gourry fly right past him and yelled, "FOOD!" He looked at him weird and Amelia smiled and explained everything to him.
"Hmm… that is a problem. Oh well, you got them all, right Gourry?" He looked at the blonde swordsman as he nodded his head way too fast then went back to munching on the fish. He sighed then glared at the other side of the woods. Rustling was heard before Kaori stepped out and smiled.
"Oh hey guys. What's wrong?" Zelgadiss glared at her.
"Where's Lina?"
"Lina?" She asked as she looked around. "I thought she was with you guys."
"She went to look for you and sent Amelia to look for Gourry because she thought something was wrong."
Gourry waved. "Hey I was fighting monsters." Zelgadiss sighed and nodded at him for his reason as to why he was gone.
"I didn't see Lina. I got lost after I had fallen down a small hill and didn't know which way to go back. I heard noises back in there but I came back here in a hurry. Didn't know if it was a monster or not." Zelgadiss and Amelia exchanged glances. If monsters had attacked Gourry they could have gone after Lina as well.
"I can show you where I heard the noises." Zelgadiss nodded at her taking her invitation.
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Lina panted, her wounds wouldn't be healed with her healing powers alone and she was just draining herself as she kept on trying to stop the bleeding. She looked at the sky as her vision began to blur. 'Damn… where is Amelia…?' She then thought about Kaori. How she said she would be as quick as possible but still nobody was here. She gritted her teeth. 'She's trying to do me in! No… Gourry, Amelia, even Zel would know if she was lying to them or not. Zel knows I wanted to be back at camp so he would know if something was wrong… right…?'
She lay there helpless as she tried to slow her breathing and not trying to think that she was going to die of blood lost here out in the middle of nowhere. She felt herself dose off once or twice only to shake or rather move her head side to side to wake her self. She gritted her teeth when almost 20 minutes had pass by and still nobody came. She growled. She wouldn't let herself die here not now, not ever. She took off her shoulder guards and unfastened her cloak. She come back later to get her guards but right now her life was at stake as she struggled with ripping her cloak apart. A glimmer of light caught her eyes and she look at it. She eyed the dagger and made her way painfully over to it.
Once she grasped it she took off a large chunk of her cloak and wrapped it around her leg as tight as she could get it. She grabbed the tree at the base of its trunk and hoisted herself up. She panted from the work she had done already and she wasn't close to begin her walk back to camp…
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Zelgadiss followed behind Kaori as Amelia walked behind him. Amelia thought it was strange that Lina hadn't come back or tried to even find Kaori like she said she would. She knew Lina didn't like her but to abandon her with monsters out and all? Well she probably didn't think there were any monsters over here but still… She prayed that Lina wasn't hurt or something worse.
"Why didn't Gourry come along as well?" Kaori asked as she lifted a branch and walked under it.
Zelgadiss glared at her back. "Isn't it obvious? He's making sure she doesn't return to camp and think we left her. Or if anything else happened to her he'd know what to do." Zelgadiss said as he made it sound like it was her fault if she didn't return. Kaori frowned as she had them walking behind her.
'This isn't going as I planned… If Lina does get out of the forest and tells what I did I won't have them in my hands anymore.'
'Oh? Did you think that you did from the beginning?' Kaori stopped in her tracks.
"What? What is it Miss Kaori?" Kaori looked at them and smiled shyly.
"Oh I saw a lizard. I-I hate slimy things." She then continued as she angrily spoke back to the person she didn't want a conversation with.
'Xellos…' She hissed on the edge of her mind to him. 'What brings you to my thoughts?' She asked with sarcasms deep in her thoughts. She heard him chuckle and she gritted her teeth.
'Oh you know why I'm here. I do believe you're messing with my stuff and I don't like anybody messing with my stuff.' She could feel him smiling at her.
'I didn't see your name on them. Besides, I'm only interested in the human Gourry. Why are you butting in now?'
She felt Xellos loom over her astral body. 'Cause you have messed with the wrong person to get something you want. And I personally don't like how you made her feel now. I mean I do enjoy her pain and all but I'm the only one who can do that. You'll be welcomed by the big party…' She then couldn't sense him anymore. She cursed under her breath, as she couldn't feel his presence anymore.
'What are you planning, Xellos?' She thought with a slight shiver.
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Gourry chewed on another fish as he waited for his friends to come back. He wanted to go but Zel had said that it would be better if he just wait here for Lina just in case. He sighed as he looked out into the woods. He had a bad feeling about all of this. Xellos appeared in front of him all of a sudden and he didn't even flinch. He smiled up at the mysteries priest.
"Hey there Xellos! How've ya been?" Xellos shook his head as the blond man never changed.
"Well I've come in bad new related actually." He watched the swordsman but didn't really expect a reaction. He decided to add flavor. "It's bad new about Lina…" This caused him to jump up and grabbed him by the shoulders. His anger flowed freely from him and Xellos smiled in delight before continuing. He pointed his staff one direction and Gourry looked at it to the woods.
"You better hurry. She's not doing too well on her own." He then disappeared from Gourry's grasp. He stared at his hands for only a moment before he took off in the direction Xellos pointed out.