A/N: I do not own To Love Ru. I do, however, own the results to the Poll I have up on my page so go check it out and vote for your top three picks!
Mistletoe
After retrieving the broken down shuttle from the treetops in the morning light, the group of intrepid explorers made the best use of their time in restocking their food supply needed to accompany their extra guest, Celine. "Do you ever wonder what Momo and the others are doing back home?" Nakajima asks Rito, as they load up Zastin's ship with the supplies they needed to continue their journey. Rito looks up from counting the boxes of edible berries and perishable fruits, before rocking back onto his heels and crossing his arms over his knees. "Hear me out man," Nakajima continues, "Momo and Nana can handle themselves, sure, but what about Mikan, or even Yami?" Kuro exits the ships ramp, hoisting a child-sized Celine on his shoulders, and grimacing at the green haired boy.
"Yami is a living weapon," Kuro comments, "Not only can she take care of herself and the remaining princesses, I'm sure Nemesis and Mea will deter anyone foolish enough to repeat our mistakes." Nakajima merely looks up at the other teen and smiles slyly.
"Ah, yes, how could we forget that not only does Red Headed Mea and Neme-san consider Golden Darkness family," Nakajima starts, "They figured her boyfriend could rough it out here among the wild planets with all us guys..." Celine agrees with this sentiment, as Kuro sputters in disbelief. "Gotcha," Nakajima smiles, as he hoists up a crate Rito finished packing, and brings it into the ship, "Don't worry, we won't tell..." Just as Kuro fingers the holster, he sighs as Celine merely laughs and grips the mans shoulder to ask to get down. Rito merely watches as the gruff teen, really a young adult Rito reminds himself, softens as he deals with Celine and gets dragged around the campsite to help with the boxes.
"Try not to mess with Kuro too much, Nakajima," Rito offers the younger teen as he steps back into the open air, "The guy may look as young as us, but he's quite a bit older than the two of us and he deserves a bit more respect than you've been giving him." Nakajima sticks his tongue out at Rito as the orange haired boy delivers a playful punch at his junior. "Wait until Momo hears about you disrespecting your senior," Rito casually mentions, "She already doesn't like you stalking her; what if you teach poor Celine bad habits..." Rito gets a chuckle out of that as he packs up another box and brings it into the ship, leaving Nakajima staring and sputtering behind him, forgetting his own box in hand.
Rito approaches Kuro and takes in the scene before him. The young former assassin held his arm straight out as Celine swung from his stock still arm, three feet above the ground. Giggling, the plant girl noticed Rito's approach and let go, giving a solid thud as she hit the metal floors and ran over to greet her papa. "Mau!" She states excitedly, "Kuro fun!" The girl smiles brightly back up at the former assassin, who is blushing slightly at the girls praise. Rito smiles as well and picks the little girl up in his arms, ruffling her flower as he does so.
"Be a good girl and help me organize these boxes, okay Celine?" he asks, the plant girl nodding in return, "Good, I'm going to talk with Kuro a bit, but if you grab Nakajima, I'm sure you can get him to start helping you organize them, okay?" The girl nods enthusiastically, as Rito sets her down and she scampers out and off of the ship and towards Nakajima's last position. Rito turns to Kuro, who nods in response as if waiting for Rito to go on. "Is the ship able to get us out of here?" Rito asks the pilot, "I thought we ran out of juice landing?" Kuro nods in response, then brings up the ships power displays on the viewing monitor from the console he was nearest to.
"The shuttle made it out here unscathed, a few scratches here or there in the paint aside, this bucket of bolts could break orbit without any complications," the black haired boy states, patting the consoles and chairs, "This ship had been heavily reinforced to take on the weird properties this planet gives off, but it acts like some giant E.M.P., even the most reinforced stuff gives up after enough time." He switches the screen to a breakdown of the battery's charge, which shows it nearly full to the top. "Thankfully the power couplers are shielded enough to keep bleed off from being too high, it just took a few hours of sunlight and the reserves were refilled, while we perused the jungle looking for our smith," Kuro states, "If we stay here too much longer, though, even the battery's shielding will fail, and we will become dead in the water; stuck here with no way to contact the Lunatique." Rito nods, as Kuro goes about adjusting settings and making preparations to leave.
"I'll go figure out how Zastin is doing helping out Mau," Rito states, clapping Kuro on the shoulder, "The sword should be done cooling now, and once it is safe to transport, we can all get out of here and get in contact with everyone back home." Kuro nods as he continues to work on the ship, with Nakajima and Celine finally appearing and carrying boxes. Rito smiles to Celine and gives Nakajima a thumbs up, who nods in appreciation and continues stacking boxes with Celine's help. "Keep it up Nakajima, I'm going to talk to Zastin and Mau," Rito states, before kneeling down to talk to Celine, "And you keep helping him get the last of this in here, okay?" Mau smiles and laughs, patting Rito on the leg as she goes to follow Nakajima back outside.
Rito follows as well, then turns and heads towards the tree and into the tunnels below. As he travels down, he finds the familiar sight of Zastin polishing his armor, among a bunch of other weapons and materials. "Ah, Rito-dono, I am glad to see you coming down here, Mau was looking for you," Zastin states, finishing up the polish on his breastplate, and pointing further down to his workshop, "I believe he was finishing up the design just now..." Rito nods and walks further into the workshop of the plantasian smith. Zastin finishes up the polish on his breast plate and tosses the rag into a pile, when he stops to adjust his hair a bit and admire the reflection of his silver eyes in the mirror. Smiling, Zastin replaces his armor and begins to make his final preparations.
Knocking on the massive door to the master smiths inner sanctuary, Rito waits patiently for the mans wooden joints to adjust. He had been alive for a very long time after all, he wasn't a spring tree anymore, but rather an ancient redwood, towering and tall in his old age. With another knock the door creaks open, and Rito expects Mau to answer, only for the door to continue swinging open and reveal a darkened room. As Rito slowly, hesitantly, walks into the room, he sees Mau sitting in a chair facing away from him. Propped up against the left side of the massive chair, Rito sees the gleaming blade even in the dim light from the hallway, the Ninth Blade. The black spine was dark as pitch, while the blade itself shone blood red along with its gems, a fear inspiring weapon compared to the broken blade he had seen last night. As he picked up the blade, he felt the thrum of the blade as it cut through the air.
"Wow, Mau, you did wonderful work on this!" Rito states, smiling as he places the forged sword into a scabbard he had been given this morning by Kuro, "Did you stay up all night fixing this?" As he looks toward the massive plantasian, he walks a little bit forward to try and get a response from the elder man. Instead of a face full of life, Rito notices his eyes are closed, and his face is pale, which prompts him to try and feel if he had a pulse. Despite being a plant, the man had been exactly like Celine once, though he could sadly no longer feel the thrum of chlorophyll and other vital fluids flowing beneath his weathered and dried skin, thick as bark and as dense as it as well. He also notices the area around his chest was withered and dead looking, though the rest of him looked as healthy as always. "I can't believe that this is natural, but no one besides Zastin has been in here," Rito starts, until he notices something on the floor, "What are you..." He leans down to the floor and brings out his new cutlass, lighting it in dark light by channeling energy through it. The low light wasn't very bright, but the shards of dust and rock were instantly lit up as they soaked in the unnatural light. The remnants of some kind of orb were on the floor, split in two big pieces, and the broken edges from crashing onto the floor from wherever it had been in Mau's hands.
Rito brings his sword closer to the broken pieces, when it suddenly begins to grow tendrils of darkness that grow outwards from the gem in the hilt and grab for the shards. Before he could even react, a hundred small shards were swallowed into the sword, and the red gem began to shine a little bit brighter. He watches as a dim glow begins to burn within the hilt of the blade, before fading to its normal color. A little concerned that not only did a friend die in this room, but Adam may have ate whatever was left of him, Rito Yuuki quickly decided to make the decision to move on and tell his friends the truth once they broke orbit and made their way to the Lunatique. Moving toward the door, Rito takes a look back and dispels the darkness from his sword, the unnatural light no longer lighting up the room like some black light. The shadows seem just a little bit darker,a little bit more lifeless and uninviting. Closing the door behind him, Rito has no regrets besides not saying good bye soon enough.
Back onboard the shuttle, the mood shifted with Rito's return, as if a pallor had fallen over the room. It was like the others had recognized Rito's own sullen and forlorn attitude, underneath the cheery mask he had tried to put on for the others. Zastin doesn't say anything, neither does Nakajima or Celine, but Kuro walks up and places a hand on his shoulder. "Did something happen?" he leans in to ask in barely a whisper, "Was Mau..." Rito lets a look of sorrow cross his features, and the gentle hand on his shoulder tightens just a bit. "He was a good man, but he was old Rito, we knew this," he says to offer a little bit of comfort, "If he sacrificed his life to fix your sword, then prepare yourself to use it, to live up to the legacy it deserves to be known for." Rito nods, and puts a happier, if not a little bit sorrowful, smile back onto his face. Zastin then walks up to him and puts a hand on his shoulder as well. Rito smiles and takes all this in stride, but the events of the day have just finally caught up with him, and he tells everyone he is going to nap in the rear hold.
Rito walks into the back of the shuttle, having decided to find a spot on one of the back bunks to sleep off the ride back to the Lunatique. He needed to process his feelings and his thoughts, about Mau and his death. The elder plant Plantasian had given up everything to fix his sword, and Rito just couldn't believe he had died after being filled with such life the night before. He couldn't understand it, but then again he had used what was left of ohis power to help Celine save Adam, perhaps he just didn't have enough left to survive the forging process and go on. Putting his hands to his face he holds back the hot tears that threaten to pour out from within, and begins to focus on the matters at hand, namely making sure that he could do what was necessary for Lala. Rito sets the Ninth Sword against the edge of his bed, leaving it in its scabbard, while taking Adam and placing him above his pillow. Muting the lighting Rito closes the door, walking to the bed and slipping under the covers in the darkened room.
As he falls into a deep grief filled slumber, Rito doesn't stir until the morning, not even when his room begins to glow. From its place above his head, the terrible un-light begins to shine from the cutlass' gem. Blackened tendrils seem to pulse outwards from the gems core, crawling outwardly and expanding as if being released from some impossibly compact compartment. Slithering down the headrest and onto the bed, curling and thrashing their way onto the pillow, the tendrils of abyss crawl upwards. The soothing snoring of Rito's lungs during his bodies circadian rhythm was like a signal flare seceding his location to the seething, wriggling mass of un-light, as it searched for sounds and sensations. Crawling, creeping onto Rito's skin, the ebon tendrils drew slack upon contact with the porous epidermis of its singular hosts sensitive cellular extremities.
Satisfied with his word play, Adam quickly directed the tendrils of dark matter back into his uncle's sleeping form, hoping to capitalize on the REM sleep cycle to warn his partner of the horrible truth. Rito had been in grave danger, and he didn't even know it was sitting on the other side of the flimsy door. It didn't exactly help that Adam had been too weak to warn Celine during the transfer with little more than feelings as a medium, and the very lack of energy from Rito without any touch through their symbiotic link, endangered both himself and Rito without regulation of the latter's explosive energy buildup in his cells. He had barely managed to blindly feel the scraps of Tao energy left in the broken husk of Mau's nacreous heart that kept him alive, a very dangerous gamble he could have died from if it hadn't paid off. Now, after a bit of feeding, he hoped to warn Rito of the very threat they had thought dead...
Earlier that Morning
The gentle, wooden giant hammered away at the softened metals forged in the heat of a star. He had become weathered by age, even underground, as his stiff muscles creaked and groaned under his own weight, while underneath his thick hide he rotted away. It had been so long since he had felt that blade run him through, the literal hole it left behind a constant reminder of how close to death he was, day by day. Age had given him some protective growth as his hair had grown long and thick, vines and moss mending the hole in his heart, thick and arduous as muscle, yet never enough to stand up to that blade or any other weapon if someone chose to truly fight him. The weakest part of his body, the biggest vulnerability he had while protecting the one thing he had come to treasure in life, left within a fragile shell he had been blessed with in his watch. It was a protection of sorts, encasing the fragile remnant of his torn heart, given new life by the pearl of wisdom he had given up so long ago.
As he heaved the cold hammer which shaped the hot metal, the clashing metals struck him in a burst of steam, blowing back the tangled vines and mossy hair to reveal the massive hole long hidden beneath them. Toned abs of flesh turned wooden and thick with age, smooth skin blending into whirling rings and whirls of bark, until it came to the blackened, charred crack that ran from just below his left clavicle, to a jagged end above his obliques. Held together by tendrils of plant matter and muscles, a glowing white sphere was held within the cavity by sheer will. And it was flaking away as each shaping hit took place, reverberating through the wooden body of its shaper. Flecks of iridescent pearl, golden, white, purple, brown, flaked away with each hit as colors were formed and lost. The crack in the pearl-like vessel was growing with each hit, as was Mau's determination. Hair tied back and sweating pouring down him from the heat that would surely kill him, if his heart could hold out long enough. He had a goal, a vision in mind, to fix his Master's greatest mistake and bring him the praise, the knowledge, that this weapon would no longer be the instrument of blood it had become stained with. With one final, echoing crack, the hammer fell to the ground within the forge, as its last flames flickered out. In one deft motion the blade was plunged once more into its final coating of dark matter, and left to cool in and color the blade once more.
Ripping free the bindings in his hair, the wilting flowers dried by the heat tumbled free, as wet vines and soaked hair evaporated their contents in the heat of the dying star. "Amazing, isn't it?" Mau states to his uninvited guest, "A brown dwarf was needed just to contain the fires stoked within it, the heat of which any mortal man would whither and burn like a wilted flower." Amber eyes stared out from the darkness of the shut off halls, morning light just barely giving the hint that the planets sun was rising from the south. Though he could not see the man in the dimness of the room, he could feel the look of a predator gazing at him like some sort of morsel. "Well, are you going to come out, or not?" he yells toward the hidden monster, "If you don't get me first, the work I just did damn well will!" He pulled his swaying hair away from his chest cavity, revealing the once bright and beautiful pearl, dimming and cracking, a large fleck falling from it to reveal the beating, bloody jewel inside. A burning energy within the heart, the Taoist energy flowing through the pearl to replace the long dead organ he had lost to the bloody demon.
As he stared into the darkness, his eyes beginning to fail him, Mau found the morning light filtering into the depths of his workshop. Perhaps the heat of the forge had finally burned a skylight into the roof, after centuries of forging items. Amber eyes became Silver, as ice cold and reflective as the dead eyes Mau had faced once before, long ago. "So, you come to finish the job, eh monster?" Mau states, as he raises a hand for the weapon he had crafted, "You'll find after all these years, I've... gotten...be-" Suddenly the room began to spin wildly around him, and Mau barely had the time to look down to watch his failing heart give out. His mouth felt dry, and he couldn't tell if he or the monster was laughing as he slumped down against the wall, the light in his eyes dimming and draining of life. "Don't t-think they'll give it u-up so eas-ily m-monster," Mau warns, "T-they won't be t-tricked by y-your lies..." The monster merely grew wit the shadows in Mau's failing eyes, a trick of the light perhaps, or the devil in the dark growing stronger, he would never-
He watched the old man last look of defiance on his face, as his heart finally gave out in a burst of light; like a dying ember being snuffed out by the wind. The nacreous heart split in two, finally giving out from the strain of keeping that man alive, and shattering further as the now gray orb rolled to the floor just a little in front of the dead plant. Seeing he was no longer going to gain any amusement from a corpse, his priorities changed to the dying forge, the silver eyes gazing upon the blackened metal sword. It had been so important to him once, but it was too early. He couldn't let them find out just yet, after all he needed transportation off this hostile rock. Grabbing for the sword in the pool dark matter he gripped the handle to lift it out of the noxious material, only to be burned as a result of his actions,which caused him to drop the sword and splash the contents of the barrel onto himself. Looking down at the darkening stain growing on his shiny, silver armor, he knew it just wouldn't do, though other matters became more pressing. Taking off the armor he went to pull the sword out properly this time, before getting to work on the polishing job to make it shine like the void between stars. Then he would clean his chest plate afterwards.
Rito opened his eyes to the dim light and sounds of a dying star drive. The cold dread he felt in the back of his mind seemed to be unsettling, hinting at something just at the fringes of his sleepy consciousness. Suddenly there was a knock at the door, and Rito quickly felt for the familiar hilt, only to find the unfamiliar, new blade instead. Glancing down, he reminds himself the cutlass in his hand was the sword he had been looking for and quickly prepares himself for whatever was on the other side of the door. As he held the sword in an uncomfortable form it was not meant for, he moves to open the door to his room. As it slides open, Rito finds himself staring face to face with the silver breastplate of Zastin's armor. Relaxing at the silver haired warriors presence, Rito put on an easy smile. "Something up, Zastin?" he asks the older man, "Did something come up?" The warrior merely smiles and steps to the side of the door, motioning for Rito to follow.
"Nothing of the sort, Rito-dono, I was asked by Kuro to wake you up," he replies, as Rito grabs a shirt and quickly follows Zastin out into the main body of the shuttle, "It appears the Lunatique is drawing close, and they wanted to make sure you were up and about." Zastin stops for a moment to glance over Rito's side, into the room they just left. Rito almost asks him if there was something wrong, but the loyal bodyguard merely leans in to whisper to Rito. "Do you think it is wise to leave that...blade there?" he asks Rito, "Anyone could just walk in and... steal it,after all, you aren't linked too it anymore, Rito-dono." Rito quirks a brow and smiles at Zastin, then taking a glance back at the now shut door, before returning his attention to the guard.
"I'm quite sure no one is going to take it, Zastin," Rito assures the ever vigilant guard, "I think Kuro likes his weapon too much, and between you and me, Nakajima isn't really a sword kinda guy." The look of unease doesn't leave the silver haired guardians face, but the shadow of doubt is quickly replaced by a neutral mask. "I'll tell you what," Rito says, sighing just a little, "When we get back, I'll let you take the blade off the ship, since its wrapped up tight right now." The perk in his face isn't missed by Rito, by he shakes off the unease once more, and scratches it off as just a very cautious friend wanting to make sure he was safe. At that Zastin motions for Rito to go on, and the orange haired teen allowed himself to take point. As he walked into the main control room, Rito noticed Nakajima playing with Celine and the Dedial, while Kuro was busy manning the controls. Rito notices through the front viewing port, among the backdrop of a sea of stars, the Lunatique was shining brilliantly like a beacon of hope.
"Looks like the AI took care of itself," Kuro states, "I'll be glad to be back on solid ground and have capable weaponry, even with that annoying pest aboard." Rito smiled as he could only nod in response.
"Hey, I resent that!" Nakajima shouting from his place in the back, "I'm not that much of an annoyance!" Kuro only smirked from his seat and swiveled back to face the others.
"I wasn't talking about you kid," Kuro states, smiling as he turns back around, "That annoying AI, as endearing as it is to her adorable owner, grates on my nerves every time I'm around it." Rito chuckles at that, as he watches Zastn move over to the empty co-pilots seat and sitting down.
"How close are we to the ship?" Rito asks, as the ship grows bigger on the viewing port, "I want to get to Deviluke as soon as possible, maybe get King Gid's backing on freeing Lala from Lacospo." Kuro nods, as he and Zastin both turn to the keyboards and begin inputting information.
"It looks like we just made it within contact range, about five or ten minutes before we get everything aligned and transferred inside," Kuro states, "Then we can make the short jump to Zastin's ship, and we'll be to Deviluke within the next couple of hours." Rito nods and looks over to Nakajima and Celine.
"You hear that Celine, we get to find Lala soon!" Rito states to the little girl, who cheers in response, Nakajima laughing as well. Rito smiles as he looks over to Zastin, who seems busy at his console typing away at the screen. "What's the matter Zastin, shouldn't you be more excited about rescuing Lala?" he asks the bodyguard, "Is something the matter-" In a flash of blue light, Rito finds himself disoriented and shifting through the scattering fields of a transporter. Where ever it is he arrives, it is dark and cold, and his body suddenly finds itself hitting the floor in a heap of limbs and pain.
Groaning, Rito looks around as lighting suddenly turns on around him, illuminating the bridge of the Lunatique. As he hears the collective groans around him, Rito takes a notice that Kuro, Nakajima, and Celine are all nearby in a heap, with Adam skewered through a half-broken wooden crate, leaking red juice he had first mistaken for blood. The rest of the supplies they had gathered on the planet had been transported to the bridge of some ship, along with the rest of the crew, and Rito slowly realized only one of them was missing. "R-Rito-dono?" the ships AI spoke allowed, as it finally hummed to life out of its suspension cycle, "W-what are you d-doing back?" The vocal tic was familiar, and it only took a second for Rito to realize that they had been transported onto the familiar bridge of the Lunatique. "Incoming t-transmizzion!" the AI drones on, as the scary faced static screen was replaced with something more familiar to them all.
"I'm sorry we had to part ways like this, Rito-dono," the silver haired captain of the royal guard announced, "But I'm afraid you would only get in my way, if I allowed you to reach your other ship." His smile grows as he talks, and Rito finds the creeping sensation has spread to the back of his neck, as a sense of dread and unease crosses the whole bridge. "I'm afraid while Adam has joined you onboard, your other weapon will remain here, with me," Zastin states, "I'm quite sure it will become useful to me in the coming future, once I prepare myself, of course." The guard merely smiles as Rito stares back at him, a hint of rage crossing his features.
"Zastin, what has gotten into you, you know how dangerous that blade is in the wrong hands," Rito states, "We need that sword to help us get Lala back, you know that I need it for Adam, its the only way I can face down Lacospo and win Lala back!" The silver haired knight's grin becomes wider and wider as Rito talks, until he breaks out into a fit of laughter, crazed as it was and alien to the stoic knight personality.
"I'm afraid, Rito-dono, that you aren't even worth licking my boot, let alone marrying the future queen of Deviluke," Zastin states, "My host has always known it, you've always acknowledged it yourself Rito; only that stupid girl has had faith in you, and that hateful usurper has only ever tolerated you." Rito chokes on any words that could have come from his mouth, as the pit in his stomach drops further, and the shocking cold reality splashes at him in the face. Rito finally notices the robins-blue eyes of their faithful companion had grown ice cold and steely, literally becoming silvery and reflective as the armor he wore. It seemed Bladix, the former Creed Diskenth, had found a host in his own descendant after all.