beaufortninja-I haven't gotten any reviews yet but I haven't gotten any flames either so I guess it kinda balances itself out. Anyway here's chapter 2 and whoever gives positive reviews gets 100 cool points!
Dark Schneider-Hey! When do I get to be in the story!?
beaufortninja-You had your chance! Now get outta here! Scram! And don't let me catch your sorry ass around here again!
Dark Schneider-Booooo. . .
beaufortninja-Oh yeah. I wen't there. Anyway, reviews!!
Still don't anything except my OC.
Bastard!! Alternate Reality Chapter 2
A furious knock on James' door startled him from his peaceful slumber. He grumpily threw his clothes on and answered the door.
A servant girl nervously sputtered, "L-Lord James, Miss Yoko has been kidnapped. Your presence is requested in the throne room."
He rushed past her and dashed to the throne room. James thought he had sensed Gara last night but he had brushed it off as his imagination. 'Foolish,' he mentally chastised himself. He got to the throne room where everyone was already gathered.
Sheila noticed him and ran up saying frantically, "James! Yoko's been kidnapped by Ninja Master Gara!"
James sighed, "And you want me to go get her?"
Geo stepped forward, "Please Lord James, as her father I beg you to rescue her," he pleaded.
"Well it just so happens that I know the location of the ninja fortress," relented James.
"So you'll go?" asked Sheila hopefully.
"Yes," James groaned.
"Great! I'll go with you," she said back. There was a moment of silence in the chamber.
"Come again?"
"I would like to go as well. Yoko is my friend," she answered, twiddling her fingers nervously.
"Princess I really don't want to baby-sit," James said in an exasperated tone.
She looked insulted for a moment before responding, "I beg your pardon but the knights of Meta-Rikana are more than capable of protecting me should the need arise," she retorted, much to the joy of the knights in the room.
"If you say so," he dismissed as he marched to the door.
"Hey wait for me please!" Sheila called after him as her guards immediately began tailing the two.
'The king didn't even stop her? Jeez!' thought James in irritation as he walked at a brisk pace to the stables.
It took nearly half a day of hard riding to reach the ninja fortress in the ruins of one of the great cities of the Ancients. The captain of Meta-Rikana's knights, Bon Jovina, had taken command of the four other knights sent to protect Sheila, who had taken it upon herself to wear a suit of armor. She gasped for air as they came to a stop on a cliff overlooking the fortress.
"Why push yourself so hard princess?" James asked as he came to stand next to her.
She immediately straightened, "I won't be left behind. What is this? The ninja base?" she asked, purposely changing the topic.
James let it slide. "Sort of. It's Grave Valley. Gara's fortress is right there," he said, pointing to the tallest structure, the ruined skeleton of a skyscraper.
Yoko struggled against the rusty chains that bound her in the shallow pit inside the ninja fortress. The feisty redhead continued to tug at the chains despite the futility.
"You are a stubborn girl, aren't you?" Gara asked in a half mocking tone while he pet a baby dragon that was perched on his shoulder.
"Tell me about the man who killed Kebidabu and I'll set you free."
"Give it up Gara!" she exclaimed, "I'm not telling you anything!"
The ninja master looked at her with a half smile, "Why are you defending a vampire little girl? Is it for love? I think it is. You got a little crush on him, huh?"
"What! Now your talking nonsense." Yoko shouted in embarrassment. 'Wait. How does he know that he's a vampire?'
"Ah hah," said Gara, knowing that he had stricken a nerve.
"Gara! You're jumping to conclusions!" she said, trying to defend herself.
He continued to laugh, "How endearing. You might think you know him girl," he said casually as he knelt down on the ledge in front of her. "But you don't. You don't know his past. James is the personification of violence," he said off handedly.
Yoko listened on, her interest finally peaked.
"Guess," he said, "how many men do you think he's killed?"
"Um, fifty?" asked Yoko who was quickly feeling more and more intimidated.
Gara laughed out loud once again, "Come now girl, probably like fourteen or fifteen thousand! He is after all over two hundred years old."
Yoko was dumbstruck. "What! Two hundred!" she shouted in bewilderment.
"I don't understand," complained one of Sheila's knights, "Are you sure this is it Lord James? I don't see any ninja guarding it."
James folded his arms across his chest and said in a sly voice, "Well I suppose I could have taken a wrong turn some where."
Bon Jovina was the first to sound off as he reached for his sword, "Why you treacherous little-"
He was cut off by Sheila, " Bon Jovina, don't waste your time fighting him, we've got more important problems," she said with an impressive air of command as she marched past the two of them and headed down the slope. A moment later her surprised scream echoed across the valley. In a flash James and the knights were racing down the slope where apparently she had slipped and caught her armor on some debris.
"Princess . . ." sighed James as he helped her get free.
"W-what?" she managed to squeeze out through the embarrassment.
"You're slowing us down, would you loose the sword and armor?"
Again, Bon Jovina was the first to jump to her defense. The aged knight shouted in anger, "Silence! You would dare ask the princess to disarm herself and risk injury?"
James pushed him back a few feet before responding, "I can protect her just fine."
Sheila looked thoughtful for a moment before saying, "I guess I really am slowing you down."
"A lot. We could have already been back to the city by now," the vampire said with finality.
"Just give me a moment," she began undoing the straps that secured the armor plates, which left her wearing little else than the scandalously short purple under dress.
The knights did their best to avert their eyes but James found it almost irresistible to take a few peeks. She tried to pull it down and cover herself better but failed.
Her face was beet red and she avoided James's eyes, "Do you find this more practical?"
James, as well as the rest of the knights were speechless. 'Such long shapely legs, maybe I should take her up on that offer. Wait! This is no time for such thoughts.' The group moved on in silence to the ninja fortress at James' behest.
'James is two hundred years old? But he looks so young and handsome . . .' thought Yoko.
Gara simply chuckled at her forlorn expression, "All his comrades usually end up dead anyway on some wild adventure of his. Except of course the woman who is most important to him."
Yoko gasped, 'James's woman? His lover?'
Gara stood and began pacing around the circular pit, "Why would you defend a monster like him? Why defend a man who would abandon the woman who carried his child? Think girl; tell me how to seal him away! Your father surely taught you such spells!"
'What! His child?' Yoko didn't even need to think twice, "No!"
Gara was momentarily silent as he studied her determination. "I see. Then you leave me no choice," he gave the signal to one of his ninja who rushed off.
Now she was worried.
"What now? What are you going to do Gara!?"
It was then that she noticed a green gel like substance seeping through the cracks in the wall of the pit. It oozed out onto the floor and slowly but surely crept in her direction.
"It's slime!" Gara proclaimed in triumph, "It'll dissolve your clothes slowly before my eyes!" The slime closed in and began crawling up her legs, soaking her thin sleeping clothes.
"Stop this! Stop this at once!" she ordered but Gara showed no signs of calling the slime off. "James! Save me!" her call reverberated throughout the ninja fortress.
"Did you guys hear that?" asked James.
"Yes! It sounded like Yoko!" Sheila piped in.
"We must hurry! But how to get in?" asked Bon Jovina as the group hurried to take cover. James' eyes glowed with a beautiful blue iridescence as he used his Detect Life abilities to see if there were any enemies nearby. Strangely, the bottom floors were nearly uninhabited . . .except for one little thing.
"Well they have a Minotoar," he said flatly.
"WHAT!?" the knights shouted in unison.
"How in the hell are we going to get past it!?" Bon Jovina asked, visibly shaken.
"We're not going past it. We're going through it," answered James as he emerged from their hiding place and marched to the front door of the fortress, much to the chagrin of his companions.
"Fiery Power Blast of the Damned!" he shouted as energy blasted out from his palm, incinerating the door almost instantly.
After the dust cleared the knights grudgingly led Sheila into the forbidding entrance hall which was totally barren. "Here it comes!" James warned, snatching the princess out of the path of a gigantic axe that lashed out from the shadows and crashed into the ground where she had been standing a split second before. The knights banded together to distract the monster as it lumbered out of the darkness.
It was a true beast that towered over them. Its huge muscles easily wielded the massive weapon, twice as long as a man and covered in the blood stains of the monster's previous victims. The Minotoar's visage was equally horrifying. It had the head of a bull with blood red eyes and fearsome, jagged teeth like that of a shark. It easily swept aside the knights and tossed a huge boulder at James and Sheila. There was no time to evade or cast a spell and his current barrier was nowhere near strong enough to deflect such an attack. He did the only thing he could. Quickly, he wrapped Sheila in a protective embrace and turned around, back facing the incoming boulder. The impact rattled his teeth around in his head and knocked them back several meters, yet still he remained on his feet. "Told you I'd protect you," he said through gritted teeth, as he fought back the throbbing pain. Before she could respond he wheeled around just as the monster was readying for another strike.
"Bullets of light! Strike my enemies! Iron Lightning Anthem!" James recited as a dozen magical arrows emerged from his hands and pierced the Minotaur, killing it instantly. "See? No big deal. Get up!" he ordered the knights who had the wind knocked out of them, "Are you Knights of Meta-Rikana or not?"
"He's right," agreed Bon Jovina as he got to his feet, "We failed to do our duty. It will not happen again!"
James shrugged, "No it won't. Because you're going to wait here."
"What!" Bon Jovina protested.
"Look, we'll probably have to make a quick escape, so you need to keep this route open," James explained, leaving out the part about how they only got in the way.
The older knight thought about it and nodded as it made sense. "Very well. Protect the princess with your life!"
The knights took up ambush positions around the door while James and Sheila hurried to the ladder that led to the upper levels. James looked to see how far up the ladder went. It went a hell of a long way.
"Sheila, I don't think you can make that," he said as she gauged the distance herself and paled almost instantly. "Get on," he ordered as he knelt down.
"W-what? B-but-" she stuttered, her face blushing a little.
"Come on! I'm in a hurry," he shouted impatiently while throwing her across his shoulders. She struggled a bit and protested at first but as soon as he began ascending the ladder she quieted down.
The ascent was long and James began to tire about halfway up. It had been a while since he had fed and it was seriously affecting his strength. He also noticed Sheila's constant panting and occasional moan. He looked to see what was wrong and saw that her private area was rubbing on his cloaked shoulder.
"Uhhh . . . could you quit moving around?" he asked, trying to fight back the overwhelming urge to burst out laughing. His sense of humor was kind of twisted.
"Y-yes. I'll try," she gasped.
James hurried to the top before Sheila had an orgasm on his cloak. "What the hell!?" he exclaimed as a Beheader stalked out from the shadows.
"P-please . . .just p-put me down," Sheila said in-between breaths.
Before he could reply the Beheader launched an energy blast that James quickly countered with a force shield. Beheaders were nasty creatures. They were essentially a giant, walking, magically powered eyeball demon with tentacles. Sheila looked on in fear as she held on to James for all she was worth. Judging by it's magical aura, James figured it would take a higher level spell than usual to kill it. While he was deciding which spell to use, the beheader lashed out with one of it's tentacles.
"Shit!" James cursed as he tossed Sheila to safety.
The tentacle ripped into his shoulder, tearing his shirt and flesh with ease. The pain was minimal due to his training but the blood loss was something that he could ill afford. Each drop of blood lost only served to make the thirst that much more unbearable. He tried to slow the bleeding by placing his hand over the grievous wound.
"James!" cried Sheila in alarm from the alcove where he had thrown her. She then took it upon herself to hurl rocks at the creature. It was a futile attempt on her part but he appreciated her efforts.
"Sodom!" James shouted as he launched a dozen magical slashes through the air that cut through the beheader's shield like butter. In a split second the monster was reduced to a bloody mess.
"Did I come in handy?" Sheila asked, jumping down from her safe spot.
"Oh sure. Plenty," replied James with a smirk.
"Oh my!" she said worriedly as she examined the still regenerating wound on his arm, "That was bad." She watched as it finished healing. "However, I am a bit more relieved," she said, arms behind her back and a small smile gracing her lips, "You are worried about Yoko aren't you? Tee hee!" she giggled like a little girl. "But since you were embarrassed, you covered it up by acting tough, right?" He stared at her for a few seconds. She simply played with her hair, smiling cutely.
He grabbed her and threw her over his shoulders.
"Oh!" she said in surprise as she struggled a bit.
"Keep saying stuff like that and I'll really embarrass you!" James shouted jokingly as he nipped her thigh a few times despite her protests.
"S-stop! You mustn't!" she managed to get out in-between pants.
James laughed out loud. It was something he rarely did. "Relax, it's just a strange way of saying thanks."
Sheila did her best to maintain her self-control but all her royal training was failing her. It seemed like her body was going crazy under James' administrations. She could still feel his warm breath on her thigh. Her heart was beating like crazy and her body seemed to tremble on its own accord. 'My body is no longer marriage material, not with so much done to me!" she thought, finally getting her body under control. "But this is for the greater good" Sheila had been staring at James during her little introspective moment.
He soon noticed and responded with, "Why are you staring at me like that? Starting to like what you see?"
She knocked him solidly on the head.
"Ow," groaned James, rubbing the growing lump on his head.
"You will take responsibility for this! Do you understand?" she asked, annoyed as they continued through the fortress.
James just stared at her. Eventually she took the hint that he had no idea what she was talking about.
"Humph!" said Sheila as she pouted.
"What a whack job . . ." muttered James.
'I've never met anyone so insufferably arrogant and pompous! The nerve to treat a princess with such utter disrespect!' she thought in irritation. 'But . . . he spoke such kind and gentle words last night . . . He really does care doesn't he? He's saved my life twice today. He's the first to ever touch me and make me feel this way . . .' she trailed off, a slight blush creeping up her face.
They came to a stop in front of a large set of doors.
"This is where you'll be getting off. Just try to stay out of the way," James ordered as he studied her face to see if she would listen.
"I'll be fine! Now let me down!" shouted the young princess as her feet met the ground.
She breathed a sigh of relief at being able to move around on her own. She glared at him a little longer before dropping back behind him. James stepped up to the doors.
"It's been wizard locked," he said as he raised his hand and chanted, "Blonde Obsession, Open To My Mace!" The door cracked open soundlessly. James then sighed somewhat loudly.
"That seemed to take a lot out of you," Sheila commented worriedly.
"Yeah," he replied rubbing his eyes, "I lost a lot of blood earlier and I haven't fed in a couple weeks."
"Fed?" she asked, not quite getting the meaning.
"Blood," answered James as he proceeded into the large empty room.
"Oh," Sheila muttered to herself as she trailed after him. She quickly noticed his fatigue. She hadn't seen it before but his shoulders sagged and every once in a while his feet would drag.
"From here on out we'll have to ration the use of spells," the vampire said as he looked around the room, "I'll only have enough strength for two or three big spells when we go up against Gara."
"Oh my," gasped Sheila. 'I had no idea magic took this much out of a person. He really is putting his life on the line for us.'
He looked back at her, "So you've got to try and look after yourself for the time being. Understand?"
With determination etched into her features she said, "I'll do it!"
Sheila glanced around as they walked through the center of the room. A glimmer off to the side caught her eye. She cautiously made her way over to the object. Initial fear turned into relief as she saw that it was a sword imbedded in the stone floor.
"Oh! How perfect! There's a sword lying right here," she shouted triumphantly as she grasped the hilt and pulled it free.
"What?! No!" screamed James as he raced to her side.
Just as he arrived the sword hummed to life while an eerie red glow emanated from it. The blade literally jumped from her hands and slashed the air wildly. She cried out in fear and surprise as she felt the razor edge whisk by her face. James reached a hand out to get the blade under control. The sword spun around in their hands, leaving a deep gash in his side. He tossed the now motionless sword to the ground as he put a hand over his wound.
"That was an obvious trap! You've got to stay alert princess," he said through clenched teeth as he struggled to keep from yelling at her.
"You're hurt!" Sheila said with worry and guilt as she tried to get a look at how bad it was.
He was breathing heavily, "The blade was poisoned," he gasped as he fell to his knees.
Sheila caught him before he fell face first to the floor. "James, are you all right!?" she asked hysterically. "I'm so sorry! Because of me. This is all my fault!"
His breathing was shallow and his body shook slightly as if from severe cold. "Sheila . . ." he began but couldn't finish the rest.
"Y-yes?! Tell me what to do, whatever it might be," she said, tears forming in her eyes, "Please! I'll do anything! What should I do?"
James used what little strength he had to tear the hole in his shirt bigger and say, "Suck it out."
Her heart fluttered as she looked at the bloody cut about halfway between his underarm and hip.
"What?" she asked, scarlet tingeing her face.
"Hurry!" he croaked out, "Suck the poison out."
"S-suck?" 'Whaaat? W-with my mouth? I couldn't' Sheila gazed down at the dying vampire. If he went untreated that is what he would be for sure, wouldn't he? 'It.. . It is my fault! I must do. . . whatever is necessary. Have to hurry. . . the poison.' Her face flushed as she leaned down and placed her tender lips over the wound.
The salty taste of blood filled her senses as she slurped out the poison until her mouth was full. She spat it out and continued. After awhile James' breathing evened out and his trembling ceased.
'My vampire wizard. Please don't die!' Her face blushed even further as she contemplated what she had just thought. So wrapped up was she in her own thoughts that she didn't even notice James stir.
"I guess we're both bloodsuckers now, huh?" he asked groggily.
Before Sheila could reply the chamber began to shake and a blinding light came forth from the poisoned sword. Out of the flash came forth a fiery being whom James recognized instantly, "Efreet!"
