Rogue

By: Steven Dally Jr.

Chapter Three

"I don't get why we need to walk this long?" Shelly had complained for the hundredth time.

Keikoku rolled his eyes in not only disgust but sheer annoyance. "I told you that we can't get there any other way! Why don't you listen to me?"

"Sorry, I just noticed that I have blisters on parts of my feet that I didn't know existed!" Shelly continued to complain.

"Well I'm sorry that the trip couldn't be cozier for you!" Keikoku continued to lay on the sarcasm, and pretty thick as well. "Why did you decide to follow me anyways? You know I told you it would be dangerous!"

Shelly still didn't want to let Keikoku into all the facts so decided to lie to him. "Well I felt you needed some more security. You seemed like if I wasn't with you that you wouldn't have been able to beat those two Bounty Hunters."

Keikoku decided to stay silent for this one. If it wasn't for her in the reality of it all than he wouldn't have needed to face those bounty hunters. But Keikoku figured it best if he just ignored her and went on like he didn't hear argument. Keikoku was on his way out the door when this "silly" little girl figured that she just needed to be with him.

Flash Back…

"Oh let me come with you! I want to travel as well!" Shelly pleaded and begged Keikoku.

"But why?"

"That doesn't matter does it?" Shelly asked him pointing at him. "Why are you traveling?"

"You already know this! Stupid girl, why do you feel it necessary to follow me after me saving you?"

Shelly didn't want to admit that she was talking with her grandmother earlier. Her grandmother pleaded with her to leave that old crusty house and continue with Keikoku to find her own adventure…

Back to the Present…

"Well I'll do whatever it takes; just give me a chance at this. I want to travel and I won't so you down I swear!" Shelly asked.

"Fine, then stop your constant whining! It's getting really annoying." Keikoku looked over the hill that they were just crossing over. "Looks like we are here anyway." Keikoku smiled as he looked down at the city below.

Keikoku slowly walked Shelly down to town, being careful of the people that watched them walk on into town. Keikoku was here on business, he was still on the run and he knew that he needed as much help as possible.

"Well what are we doing here?" asked Shelly yet again, as if she ignored Keikoku the first hundred times.

"I told you, I'm here to meet a friend! Why don't you go shop a bit while I talk in this bar with them?" Keikoku offered up to just get the girl off of his back long enough to think in his head.

"Fine, I will." Shelly finally ran off.

Keikoku breathed a sigh of relief as he started his way into the local pub that was before him. Keikoku pushed his way through the double doors and looked around. He looked up at the corner where a young girl his age was bashing in the skull of a couple of creeps. Keikoku smiled and chuckled to himself before walking up to the counter.

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size!" said the young, short girl with long blonde hair and bluish/grey eyes. She grabbed the crook by the back of the head. "You shouldn't try and steal from a young girl, it isn't really nice!" and with that slammed the crooks head into the counter.

Another crook though was trying to sneak up on this girl and Keikoku figured to step in to help at this point. Keikoku grabbed the crook and slammed him into the counter the same way and fashion that the girl did it. "That isn't very nice to sneak up on people."

The girl looked over to the crook and up to the voice that matched the person she thought she heard she smiled. "Well, well, if it isn't Keikoku, what brings you hear?" she offered out her hand. "Take a seat right here."

"Thank you Brittney."

Brittney Hisame was a young girl that was one of the few that was still left of the dark past that was Keikoku's. Brittney was one of the closet friends that Keikoku had, and he wouldn't admit it but he had a terrible crush on this very cute but very feisty girl.

"So what the hell do you want?" Brittney asked with a slight anger behind her voice. "Are you going to tell me what you want me to do? Stop dicking around and just spit it out."

Keikoku chuckled to himself. "Well, first of all calm down. Next I'll say that the only thing is that I want to ask you a favor."

Brittney rolled her eyes. "No surprise there."

Keikoku pointed his finger at her. "This one is different." This seemed to strike her interest. "I was wondering if you wanted to get out of this shit hole or not?"

Brittney raised one eyebrow. "I'm listening, continue you please."

Well as Keikoku drew up his plan with the beautiful Brittney, Shelly was doing just what Keikoku had asked her to do. Shelly was looking from one shop to another, buying a few things from here and there and then shortly moving on. Shelly was pooped by the end of it all. Shelly knew that she had to sit down and have a drink of coffee or something of that nature. So Shelly looked for the nearest coffee shop and sat down waiting for the coffee that she had just ordered when she heard something strange.

"So you think he might be here?" asked a man that seemed to be 6'3" that was directly behind Shelly. "Do you, or is it just a guess?"

Another equal man of size and nature was also sitting with the man that sat behind Shelly and replied "Keikoku could be anywhere. We will have to be patient; he will show his head eventually."

Shelly grew more interested as she continued to listen in and eavesdrop on the entire conversation. "Well you heard what he did Enkou didn't you? I heard he practically wasted him with out even trying. I wonder if he is going to be worth the fight or not?"

Shelly continued to listen in until she heard the dark one say. "Well I heard that there is a new girl with him. She is suppose to be very pretty, but no harm to us." He started off "I heard that she has brown hair and only about Keikoku's age." Shelly heard a pause in his voice and then heard him say "Kind of like the on sitting next to us."

Shelly didn't want to turn around but she knew that she had to see which one that he was talking about. She looked over her shoulder to see the dark figures standing up and the one that was looking at her, the one that noticed her long before she knew who they were had dark eyes. Evil eyes that she had only once seen Keikoku possess and that was when he went crazy with power only a couple of days before. But these eyes were different, they weren't just blood thirsty, they were cunning as well like a tigers stalking its prey. Shelly didn't think twice she got up and started to run down the street knowing that the two men would soon be following her…

Keikoku and Brittney had started to come out of the bar, talking for many hours and forgetting all about Shelly. Keikoku was feeling tired but triumphant for finally getting everything off of his chest to Brittney.

"Well I'm glad you decided to join. We need all the help we can get."

Brittney smacked Keikoku in the stomach. "Hey what are friends for? I couldn't just leave you hanging could I?"

Suddenly Keikoku had remembered that he had a friend still wandering around the town and he had to find her. "I forgot!" slapping his head "I still have someone you need to meet! Now where did she go?"

Keikoku noticed along with Brittney that everyone was in a panic around them. Everyone was running away from something, but what could it be? Suddenly there was a blast in the middle of the city and it shook not only the town but Keikoku and Brittney to the core.

"Jesus, what was that?" Keikoku wondered aloud.

Keikoku looked down the street to see a familiar face running right at him. Keikoku also noticed the two strangers that followed her; Keikoku noticed the two and felt a strange zap of fear come over him.

"Oh God…" Keikoku managed to get out before running after.

"What is it Keikoku?" Brittney asked while following close behind him. "What's wrong?"

Keikoku looked back "Listen up; those two are a couple of bounty hunters." Keikoku pointed to the two following Shelly. Then he pointed to Shelly "That is the one that is following me around!"

Brittney rolled her eyes. "Of course it is! What do you want me to do?"

Keikoku thought as they neared the three of them. "I just want you to grab her and run for the North edge of town!"

Brittney listened but didn't seem to understand. "But what about you stupid? I'm not leaving you behind!" Brittney let be known.

"I'm not staying for long!" explained Keikoku. "I can't take these two on and I know it, I just want to slow them down long enough for us to run for it." Keikoku looked back to see if Brittney understood now, she shook her head.

Both went their separate ways, Brittney to the screaming young brunette and Keikoku to the big scary thugs. Brittney scooped up Shelly telling her that she was "one of Keikoku's friends, hang on!" and was off. Now it was Keikoku's part and he readied himself. The two bounty hunters took notice and stopped before Keikoku.

"Well, well, look who it is? I can't believe you came out to save that stupid girl!" yelled the stranger on the right.

But Keikoku knew better, these were no strangers to him. The one on the right was known as Tsurugi, a master of water style or others ways known as Shark style. He could make water out of the very air around himself. The other one, the dark one, he was Yokoshima. He was a master of Earth/Fire, much like Keikoku but he had many more years of experience at it. Keikoku knew these two because of the fabled tales he was told as a kid about them. The tales of how the captured the greatest bad guys with ease and kept these streets clean. But Keikoku knew that he couldn't ask his heroes to collaborate on old times. He had to run, and fast and he knew what he should do.

"I figured you harder to catch than that?" replied Yokoshima as he stepped forward to claim his prize. "Why you weren't that hard at all, I don't see why you gave Enkou such trouble?"

"Because I'm such a stubborn ass!" replied Keikoku back. "I can't stay and fight though, I would love too, but I have some business to finish up still! So if you don't mind?"

Tsurugi smiled and sniffed in his direction. "What makes you think you can just get away, we have you caught."

Keikoku snickered. "Not really." He held his hands up and summoned up his Reikon or soul energy and got ready to do his attack. "Phoenix Style: blinding aura!" and with that emitted a blinding light from his hands and took off.

Tsurugi started to take off but hesitated when Yokoshima yelled at him. "Wait! We will let him go for now. I don't feel like chasing him and you didn't even watch him leave, you were about to follow one of his cleaver clones you twit." Tsurugi felt defeated as he started to walk back to Yokoshima. "Don't worry, don't look so depressed. He can't hide forever and we will eventually drag him back into the open and next time, we will kill him and drag his carcass back to the boss and collect our reward."

Tsurugi smiled. "Of course we will."

With that they disappeared into the crowd…

To be Continued…