(6/29/04) And here's another chapter for you... ::Stumble::
Sabata sat on the cold floor of the dungeon with an entire view of Istrakan. He watched as the castled ascended higher into the sky as construction continued. He groaned, unable to move, as the door slid open to his next meal. He glared at the skeleton in disgust as it placed the poorly prepared "food" next to him. As the skeleton left, he winced at the loud banging of the door being slammed and locked. He threw himself at the food in hunger, coughing at the bland taste of the dry bread. After he finished the small piece of bread, he grasped for his cup of water and drank enough to satisfy his throat. The rest of the liquid was used to clean out the wounds he had received when Cesei, as he would say to another, went completely nuts on him. Sabata picked up the piece of raw meat in disgust and threw it against the wall, wincing at the sickening splat it made.
"Hey, hey, hey! Don't throw your meal at my shadows!"
Sabata raised an eyebrow as the rising sun illuminated the area. He saw the blood splatter from the meat and then a boy next to it, pouting. His hair was black with streaks of blue. Over the bridge of his nose was the white mark of a Vampire Hunter. His outfit was a very dark purple, the material bound by black ribbons from his elbows and knees. A small red scarf was wrapped around his neck. The boy wore a scowl and scampered to the darkest spot of the cell.
"Who the hell are you and why are you here of all places?" Sabata demanded, folding his arms slightly.
"I could ask to the same thing," The boy replied icily. "But since you asked first, I'll be the first to answer. I'm Sketch and my master wanted me to investigate this place. That scary lady who's nearly as pale as you caught me and put me in a cell. And you?" Sabata sighed.
"My name is Sabata. I have no idea why I'm here. I was just watching the sun set and then these skeletons took me here. And that scary lady? She's my..."
Normally, Django refused to admit he was lost because after an hour or less, he usually found his way again. But this time was different. Django was lost.
"Are you giving up now, Solar Boy?" Otenko asked, popping out in front of Django.
"I'm lost, Otenko-sama! I'm going to be stuck here forever!"
"You know, this is like Delusion Forest. You can get lost easily."
"I can feel it, but... This time... There's no sun up to help me. And the 'sun' here is being blocked out by the 'moon'!"
Otenko and Django both glanced up at the sky. The total eclipse blocked out all of the light coming from the 'sun'.
"But Django, look!" Otenko cried. "There is still the light from the stars to guide you! Get up, Solar Boy! Get up!" Django sighed in defeat and followed his master's orders.
"See Otenko-sama, there's nothing... Oh... But Otenko-sama, what can I do if my shadow disappears into another shadow?"
Otenko looked up into the sky, as did Django.
"Can you see that dipper looking thing, Django?"
"Uh... Otenko-sama?"
"Yes?"
"What's a dipper?"
The sunflower groaned in frustration. This was the boy who saved the world with his brother?
"I'm sorry, Otenko-sama, I was never good at Astronomy. That was Ally's strong point. If only Ally were here..."
"Django, don't give up right now. Hold you arm out at forty-five degrees. Can you see that bright star that you're pointing at? That's Polaris, the Northern Star. When you follow Polaris, you are going north, when you go away from it, you are going south. Get it, Solar Boy?"
Django nodded, but then realization struck him.
"Otenko-sama, where AM I supposed to go?" he asked. Otenko, for once, remained quiet. Before Otenko could answer with an "I don't know", Django turned around to someone's giggling. Behind him was a girl with deep brown hair. Her outfit was simple, a short blue dress with a pair of boots. Her arms and legs were scaly and Django could see a pair of dragon wings on her back.
"Hi there!" The girl greeted. "I'm Kidenkou!"
"But wasn't Kidenkou... older?" Django pondered out loud.
"I see you've met my inner child." Again, Django spun around to be face to face with Kidenkou. "There you are, little me!" Kidenkou picked up her younger self and hoisted her onto her shoulders.
"This boy is funny!" The Young Kidenkou giggled. "He's so silly!"
"Now, now, little me," Kidenkou said sternly. "This is the Solar Boy. He's the only one who can defeat the Centaur that's terrorizing our village."
"But he's so silly!" Young Kidenkou scowled.
"You see, Django, the Centaur's field has the power to split a person away from their immaturity. But with that goes their knowledge of their most important secret. Mine was... What was it again?"
"The directions to the village!"
"Yes, thank you. Now, little me please tell them to Django. The fate of the others depend on him!"
Young Kidenkou seemed to understand.
"Well, the village is always south. Whenever you go any other direction, you end up back here. Go south until you see a big plant with four points. Make it grow and a leaf will grow on one of the points to point you to another point and to another and to another and finally to the village!"
"Come on Django! Go away from Polaris to reach the first point!" Otenko exclaimed. With those directions in mind, the sunflower assumed spirit form again and entered Django's mind. As he stumbled on South, Django took out his Gun Del Sol and replaced the Sol Lens with the Earth. If he needed anything to grow, Earth was probably the best in this world.
"Why doesn't your younger self have the tattoos on her face?" Django asked curiously. Kidenkou sighed as she followed the boy.
"The tattoos are a mark of acceptance into the role of Seiryuu. Every past Seiryuu had the same tatoos printed on their face. I was meant to be one, but the previous one hadn't died until recently. Also, if you want to know about the wings, my village clan has dragon wings. When one accepts the role of Seiryuu, they lose their wings. Instead, they can become a dragon."
Django remained silent as he began to spray the last plant.
"When you defeat this immortal, Tsuki will move away from Taiyou."
"You mean the moon from the sun?"
"Yes... In the Spirit World, we prefer to use their actual names."
Django nodded as if he understood and stared at the path the final plant was pointing to. The three silently headed on to the village.
"Solar Boy, look out!"
Before he knew it, Kidenkou pushed the boy to the ground. He watched in horror as the so-called "dragon" was drained of her energy by constricting vines. Both Kidenkou and the Young Kidenkou fell to the ground unconscious. The vines unraveled and shot back into the ground, shaking the earth.
"Who's there?!" He demanded, scanning the area. The faint sound of hooves clacking on the floor grew louder and louder as the image of a man and a horse grew sharper. The man and horse turned out to be a cross between the two. His hair was long and brown, tangled in all the places it grew. He carried some sort of bow accompanied by a quiver of vine arrows.
"Finally, the Blue Dragon is down..." he stated, ignoring Django's existance. "To finish the job..." He reached for an arrow from the large quiver, but his hand was struck by a jolt of Wind energy. The centaur glared at his assailant: Django.
"I'm not going to let you kill Kidenkou-san!" Django declared.
"Oh? And you're going to stop the great Centaur? What's you're name, boy?"
"My name is Django. I am the son of Ringo, the heir to the Gun Del Sol. I am the Solar Boy from the Mortal Realm! And why do you have such a corny name for your species?"
"I...! Uh... That's not the point! The point is, I'm going to destroy the both of you!"
Vines erupted from the floor as Django leapt out of the way. He quickly grabbed Kidenkou as he went making sure the girl was not to be harmed. However, her weight was too great for him, forcing him to roll her away from danger. Centaur laughed at the boy's actions as more vines shot out from the ground. In Django's conscience, Otenko began to nag the Solar Boy.
'Django! What are you doing?!' the sunflower screamed.
'I have to keep her safe!' Django replied in thoughts.
'Find a way to wake her up!'
'I need to replenish her energy to wake her up... ...That's it!'
Django switched his gun's lens over to Earth and began spraying Kidenkou, pushing her around as he ran. Centaur's laughter rose at this, believing that the boy had simply decided to attack her. His laughter soon ceased as a deafening roar was heard over the Spirit World. Kidenkou took her dragon form, carrying her younger self as well as Django on her back. Centaur grabbed a vine arrow from its quiver and fired it at the blue dragon. The arrow simply bounced off of the dragon's hide. Django peeked out and fired Cloud energy shots at Centaur, giving him great damage. After this was repeated several times, Centaur admitted defeat.
"I give up!" He hollered up. "You are a worthy opponent, Solar Boy! The necromancer Cesei revived me to test your skills! Now that I have, I am content to return to my normal deathly state!"
Being true to his words, Centaur began to shrivel up, turning into bones, which soon collapsed into a pile of dust. Kidenkou landed and allowed Django and her younger self to get off before transforming back.
"Well done, Django!" She exclaimed. "Now that Centaur is gone, I can finally unite with my inner child." The tanned girl gave a smile as the smaller one vanished.
"Kidenkou-san, I have one question." Django said shyly.
"Yes, Solar Boy?"
"During the fight, how come you were so heavy?"
Kidenkou laughed at this.
"Django, if you asked another girl this, she'd smack up upside the head. But I can understand what you're saying to me. Dear, mass does not disappear unless it is taken out. When I transform, it will either expand out or pack itself in."
Django let out a long "oh" and watched as the moon slightly moved away from the sun.
"The villagers will return shortly. Django, I shall take you to the Forgotten Mountains for your next task."
The dragon girl transformed into the blue dragon once again and held her head down for Django to climb on. The boy watched the scenery became smaller and smaller as they ascended higher and higher into the air. He felt the wind in his face, relaxing a bit as he was that more closer to fighting a necromancer.
Lita watched in confusion as a cloaked girl approached the Solar Tree. She gripped a fallen branch from the tree tightly.
"Who are you and what do you want?!" She demanded. The girl lifted up her brown hat a bit, barley moving her poncho around. Her purple eyes eerily glowed in the darkness of the night.
"I'm looking the Solar Boy Django... He something like the man in the hat, only without the hat and trench coat... and probably in different clothing."
She held up an old photo for Lita to see. To the earthly maiden's surprise, two of the figures oddly resembled Sabata and Django and to the side of a woman was Otenko.
"Who... Who are you?!"
"That information must be kept secret for Squirt's surprise... Now tell me where he went!"
"He... He's in the Spirit World to train with Kidenkou. But you'll never find him!"
"Of course I won't find him with Kidenkou. She probably had him finish a task for her and has probably taken him to the Forgotten Mountains... I was heading there myself but I came back to San Miguel for a few things. Thank you for this information."
Lita was surprised by what this cloaked girl knew about Django's task. She was more surprised to find that the girl had mysteriously vanished. Falling to her knees, she began to pray for Django's safety.
"Please... Django-sama... Please be safe..."
My poor dividers ;.; So yeaah... There's a little bit of education in there, but don't think of it as education; think of it as "extra information that might come handy later on." There might be a few fragment sentences in here, but blame Microsoft Word. The character "Sketch the Lunar Ninja" is my "adopted online son", Sketch. The girl at the end, you'll read more about her later. Cesei won't appear in a while... So... CRITIQUE ME! (10/17/04)
And it does take another fic to help me get over the writer's block of another.
