AN: Not an expert on old English, so expect to see some errors. …I'll try to stop using the old English now- it's bothering me, and I think it's bothering you as well.

-(-)-

Chapter 7- Icy Wrath

Mirkwood Forest
June 1

Early Morning

Jeremie lay on his back on the lush grass in the valley under the stars, gazing at them with interest as they twinkled and shone brightly in the dark, vast sky. A cool wind blew now and then, cooling him down as the warm Spring continued to roll by. The sound of a river flowing behind him, nearly hidden with the growth of the forest, echoed its watery song towards him. Jeremie smiled and closed his eyes, taking in the orchestra of the sounds of nature, breathing deeply the clean and crisp air. His thoughts drifted over to how peaceful the forest seemed, compared to the hustle and bustle of being in the town. When Jeremie opened his eyes to gaze at the stars, he instead found two emerald eyes, framed by light pink hair, softly glowing in the moonlight. Her eyes shone with curiosity and a slight amusement that Jeremie could not help but notice.

"Can I show you something?" she asked gently, straightening up.

"Sure… may I ask what is it?" Jeremie replied, getting up onto his feet.

Aelita gave no reply, but lead him into the forest, the sound of the river growing louder with every step they took. She led him past the dark and intimidating trees to a place where the trees lessened, and the opened sky was lit up with the moonlight. Jeremie followed the moonlight's rays to the river, and saw with astonishment that it was really a large waterfall, the water cascading and tumbling down to the rocks below. Jeremie smiled, and continued watching the waterfall as it continued to feed the river below it.

"'Tis a lovely sight, Aelita" he murmured, sitting down by the riverside and letting his bare feet touch the water.
"'Tis not all... I found how to do this one day…" Aelita replied back, drawing Watercress out of its sheath, the blade softly glowing a blue hue, much like what it was named after.

Aelita dipped the blade's tip into the water, and Jeremie watched, perplexed, about what he was supposed to be seeing. Aelita then drew the blade up slowly the water coming up from the river to continue making contact with the blade. Jeremie watched, amazed, as Aelita pulled the blade up, the water following it. Aelita then held the blade still in the air, the water quivering in a small ball it had made, before she moved the blade across the air, the water moving along with it. Soon, however, some of the water stayed in place to make some wording. Jeremie's hand soon went to his own blade, he too pulled it out, the blade softly glowing red.

Without warning, the water soon turned into a spiral, the spiral growing larger and thinner, beautifully reflecting the moonlight in ways one could never have imagined. A similar spiral of flame came out from Jeremie's blade, and both spirals encircled around each other, like a spiral staircase of some sort. Both of them watched in amazement, but then both the fire and water created a ring around both of them, but it didn't harm them. Aelita slid her hands into Jeremie's hands, and both of them blushed at her sudden gesture of love.

"Methinks that the fire and water think we're a perfect match, being complete opposites, and all"
"Methinks so too… It's a beau-" Jeremie was cut off by Aelita giving a small peck to his cheek, immediately blushing afterward. "But… but… m'lady doth shines brighter than the moon at its peak."
"Aww…. That's so sweet, Jeremie" Aelita said, smiling serenely as both the elements encircling them slowly faded away into their respective blades.

Jeremie grinned, but could not say anything for the time being, the most he could get out was random babbles and incomprehensible language. Aelita nodded, and left Jeremie to his own devices, slowly retreating into the dark of the forest, the last thing Jeremie seeing before he lay down to sleep was her hair as the soft glow slowly recessed into the darkness as well. When Aelita came back a few moments later, she found him deeply asleep, curled up for warmth. Aelita slowly took off the cloak she was wearing, and put it on Jeremie. It was good that both Odd and Ulrich were gone and that Yumi was asleep, otherwise they would have laughed at the romanticism both Jeremie and Aelita showed. Jeremie smiled without knowing it, and his hand slowly took hold of the cloak, lightly clutching it with his hand. Aelita nodded, and proceeded to scale a tall tree on the outskirts of the forest, closely watching for any signs of a disturbance or of people approaching, fighting off the lull of sleep to keep her occupied in the moments where there was no activity in the area.

Morning

Aelita's ears picked up the sound of a horse returning from the West. Instantly, her hand flew to her bow, and she notched an arrow, glaring at the place where the sound was coming from. She could not risk anything, even if it was a trader, or a passerby. Anyone was a suspect, as there were forces on the lookout for them. Two figures on a horse soon emerged, and Aelita, recognizing their faces even with the hoods of their cloaks on, lowered her bow, and watched as both Ulrich and Odd returned from town. Both Odd and Ulrich entered into the forest moments later, still warily looking about to see if they had been followed.

"How did your mission go?" Aelita called from the treetop.

"Well…we managed to rouse some of the villagers secretly to battle without our identities being wholly revealed to Xavier's forces. Some were very reluctant to go to war though… They will meet us in Digitropolis in a few days!" Ulrich called back, after finding where her location was in the treetops. "We also have news for squire Jeremie, although he may not like it at all."

"Well, it's good that it's mostly good news, then. Prepare for combat. We're going to Digitropolis with the cover of night."

"You got it, Princess" Odd replied, unfazed by the prospect of battling.

"Right, so we best pack up the camp" Ulrich said, immediately running into the camp to get some food.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Odd said, running after Ulrich to try to beat him to it.

Aelita chuckled, and leaned against the tree, closing her eyes and trying to go to sleep, as her watch over the camp was over, and the others could resume watching in her place for the next several hours. However, her attempts were thwarted by the sounds of Ulrich and Odd fighting each other over a piece of what they deemed to be the best out of all the other pieces of food in the bag. Sighing, she opened her eyes, and found a branch that was a little taller than half her height. She carefully bent it several times and tested its suppleness, finding it satisfactory to meet her standards. She then started shaving away at the bark with her blade, and gradually started making it into a bow. As she worked, the fighting between the two hungry warriors lessened, and they shared it, carefully watching the other to make sure that he didn't stead their portion. When she was finished, she tried finding something to act as the stringy item between the ends of the bow, but failed to find something. Giving up, she decided to make arrows and weapons for the group by after picking out some branches on the tree.

Odd climbed up the tree Aelita was in, and growled at Ulrich as he approached, clutching his prized morsel of food protectively. Ulrich walked by, sighing and commenting that Odd was way too paranoid. Odd watched Ulrich until he was sure it was safe, and climbed up to the top of the tree, eating the rest of the bread item before fully scaling the tree. Odd picked up the freshly carved bow and turned it over, looking at it from all angles before fiddling around in his pockets, and pulling some strong out to tie at the ends of the bow.

"Cute bow Princess… can I have it?" he asked, playing around with it.

"Sure" Aelita responded, shrugging and giving him one of the arrows in her quiver. "I was going to make bows for the group, but I don't have string to tie the ends… so I'm just making arrows and spears"

"Well… I got a piece of string…" Odd said, showing her the bow with the string on it.

"Well, is it flexible enough?" she questioned, looking at the string he held in his gloved hands.

Odd pulled back the string and tightened it, then letting it go. The bow string sang softly like a swallow, and the note filled the air, satisfying both of them. Odd took her arrow and notched the bow, testing out both components of the weapon before relieving the bow of its tension by firing the arrow dead on a tree nearby, piercing the trunk with its sharp point. Odd leaned back onto the tree, soaking in the moment with his pride of doing well. It was fortunate, actually, that he had found that piece of string. It was quite easy to sneak that token from the smiths, as they were too busy making fun of him, as they still had thought he was still wiping tables for a living. It was a good piece of string, weather and water resistant and quite flexible too- perfect for a bow- whenever he would get one.

"You seem to be a natural." Aelita commented.

"Well sure! I'm Odd the Great! I can do anything!"
"Sure, Odd, but you're going to have to make your own arrows, the ones in the quiver are mine."
"Awww…." Odd groaned, thinking of the difficult task for him.

"It's not that hard. Come on, I'll show you."

Late Afternoon

Lord Xavier's Castle

"Your Lordship, we have searched high and low throughout the land, and we have not found a trace of the target and her companions." A small and withered man nervously proclaimed to Lord Xavier, flinching as he gave a growl. "But, but sire! One of our spies spotted one of her companions going throughout the main village and talking to people in a secret manner! This could be fatal for you!"

"Indeed it could. These acquaintances of hers are becoming quite a bother to my purposes. Search through Lyokonis again- she can't go far without her ties to her parents!"

"But sire! We have searched all of Lyokonis- your forces are practically everywhere! She would have been spotted quickly!"
"Then go through all the neighboring lands-burn every village to force them out of- wait… no… We have bait right here- use them, but make sure our little surprise is put in place."
"Yes, your lordship" the man affirmed before unsteadily rising to his feet and leaving towards the prison cells.

He went through winding corridors and long chambers before he met a large iron door, guarded by several patrolling knights in armor with gigantic axes, honed and sharpened to give it a more threatening look. They guards stopped once they spotted the servant, and scrutinized his identity with cold, calculating eyes. With a nod, they stepped aside to let him pass, the giant iron door emitting a loud creak as it receded into the walls. The man quickly walked though the prison chamber, determined not to look at the looks of hatred sent his way by the common prisoners. The man finally came to a stop at the corridor, and nearly breathed a sigh of relief that he had reached the door so quickly.

His first stop was Waldo-his cell was located the farthest from him. The servant pulled out a set of keys and began unlocking the iron door that served as a battier. He quickly braced to what might happen when the door had fully unlocked. Although both Waldo and his wife were not given food or drink for days, it was a possibility that they still had an animal strength, pushed on by instinct and the hatred that was coursing in their veins against Lord Xavier. What troubled him was that there were no chains restraining him at the moment, as a clumsy servant forgot to put it on him. What he saw instead of a king weakened by the lack of nutrients, he saw him practically flying out of the cell and attacking him. The servant shouted in surprise, and tried to block King Waldo's attacks, but was unable to until the guards rushed in and restrained him by holding him against the wall.

The servant panted, still exhausted from the encounter with Waldo, and unlocked Antea's cell door once they had reached it, but they saw nothing inside but the gray bricks that made up the cell and the chains haphazardly lying on the floor. One of the guards cautiously went in through the entrance, axe at the ready, but encountered nothing as he stepped through the doorway. However, just as he was starting to get relaxed around for his settings, Antea, who had somehow broken the links of the chains on her wrists and ankles, leapt out of her hiding place near the doorway, and pounced on the guard from behind with a primal yell, both of them hitting the ground a short while later. The guard rolled over from his prone position, and tried to get up, but Antea knocked him down again with a half-tackle and started hitting him with powerful punches. Waldo, suddenly inspired by this fighting spirit, gave the guards who were holding them some trouble. He knew that Xavier must have wanted them alive now, otherwise the soldiers would have hacked him into pieces already.

It was only over when more reinforcements came, who had heard the large amount of noise coming down from their side of the corridor, snapping chains and locks onto the royal pair to restrain them. They lead a still fighting Antea out, her fists covered with a red liquid that was from the soldier she ambushed, and dragged both her and her husband to the core chamber. Antea had stopped fighting only when she was exhausted of her strength she reserved while she was starved, but she, as well as Waldo, still sent death glares at the soldiers. The soldiers returned looks that were supposed to be neutral, but their eyes told that they were secretly afraid of them. Both Waldo and Antea did not know what was happening, but their instincts kept telling them to struggle, to survive by all means necessary, even if it meant playing along with Xavier's game for a while.

Mirkwood Forest

The small group scaled the waterfall, their weapons slung onto their backs over their respective cloaks, in order to protect them from the waterfall's downward rush. They would have gone around the waterfall, had it not been for the black shapes Ulrich had pointed out that looked eerily similar to their pursuers a few days ago. Odd had pointed out that there was no other way than going up the waterfall, and the group agreed after Jeremie found a place in the waterfall in which they could climb easier. Some of them had difficulties coming up, and needed the assistance of the others in order for all of them to finally climb to the top of the waterfall. All five of them sat on the banks, and admired the view they had for miles and miles, before settling down to quickly eat their midday meal.

They had to move fast throughout Lyokonis, there were more and more of these black-cloaked figures roaming around now, and they had to get to the neighboring country, Digitropolis, before any of the figures or Lord Xavier knew that they were coming for a battle. They would have gone into the other neighboring countries, had it not been Jeremie, who had stated that Xavier's influence had spread far and wide, unfortunately, and there were a number of scouts and spies that might have infiltrated the neighboring towns. In the towns and villages where they were not part of your homeland, you did not know who to trust, not even the villagers and the townspeople that seemed friendly and acted kindly towards you. In those places, you could only survive by having a healthy dose of skepticism around you, and silently question everything and everyone in the town as you observe your surroundings.

Aelita called Jeremie over, and both of them discussed things, while flitting their eyes back at the rest of the group, as if fearing that they would pick up on their conversation. The band of warriors soon packed up and began walking along the waterfall, nervously looking at the fast flow of the water beside their feet. Jeremie, who had gone over Lyokonis on performing deeds for his mentor knight, and thus knew most of Lyokonis by heart. However, after hearing that Xavier had executed most of Lyokonis's cavalry in his fear, including his mentor, it made him feel angry. His mentor knight did not treat him thaobadly, he treated him decently almost, although he did get a little intoxicated after having too much ale. Putting what his mentor had taught him to work; he now proudly displayed his talents and ability to figure out where in Lyokonis they were. Jeremie lead them confidently through the growth on the outskirts of the forest, but stopped when he saw that they had to go across the waterfall to proceed to Digitropolis. Jeremie took a step back in hesitation, bumping into the group behind him, who wondered why he had stopped before seeing what the problem was. This river divided Lyokonis into half, and it wasn't a gentle flowing river, not even if it was far away from the waterfall area.

Gulping at the lack of their fortune, they tried to have a safe voyage across by tossing a vine across the river to secure against a sturdy tree branch or rock. After multiple failures, they managed to secure the vine, and they warily proceeded, going on one side of the vine for balance and support while crossing. One by one, the warriors filed across on the left side of the vine, struggling against the waterfall's pull on the water. First Odd, then Ulrich and then Yumi made it across, and were now resting on the riverbank to catch their breath. However, while Jeremie was going across, the vine, being stressed to its limit, snapped in two areas- the place near his hand and at the place they had first secured the vine to- Jeremie getting swept away in the fast current.

"Jeremie!" They yelled at once, terrified at the sight.

Without a second thought, Aelita dove in after him, in fear of losing the boy who had stolen her heart, yelling his name and swimming with the current to his location. The others tried to dive in after her, but Aelita stopped them by shouting at them to not come after her. Jeremie, his head barely above the water, spat out the river water constantly, gasping for breath as he floundered about in the current, hardly able to swim. His blade was weighing him down, and Jeremie could not dislodge the leather strap that held the blade's sheath to his back. Aelita swam to him, and held him in her arm, reassuring him so that he would not struggle and waste his energy anymore.

Grunting with the effort and struggling with the current's pull and the added weight, she managed to pull her blade out to stick it into the river's rocky ground. However, she had lessened her hold in the process, and Jeremie was slipping away, a look of pure horror etched across his face. Aelita, feeling him beginning to slip through her arm, eventually starting to be pulled away from her as she tried to save him, had an expression of pure anger on her face, which was caused by the thought that she would lose him forever if she did not do something at the moment. With a roar, a blue aura in the shape of a fire slowly encased her being, and she let out a roar.

"No!" she shouted, slamming her blade's tip into the ground, the blade also glowing with the same blue fire also.

Her intent was to have a secure footing to reach out to him, but instead, a white substance flowed through the water, and the water started slowing down. The white stuff also reached Jeremie, and he too, started slowing down also before he was secured in one spot. Aelita looked in surprise as the blade emitted ice that came from nowhere, and momentarily stopped the river flow. Normally, ice on a river would flow down without stopping, but since Aelita had embedded her blade into the ground deeply, the bottom of the river was frozen also. Jeremie slammed his arm down on the area around him, and freed himself from the ice's cold grip. Aelita pulled him up all the way after she removed her blade from the ice, the aura around her and he blade disappearing as they waited to catch their breath for a moment on the ice.

A loud crunching sound broke the momentary peace, and pieces of smaller ice began to dislodge from the mass of ice, as the river started to break the ice with the waterfall's pull. Panicking now, both Jeremie and Aelita slid on the ice to the opposite side, large cracks forming behind them as more ice began to drift downwards to be destroyed by the rocks on the bottom of the waterfall. Jeremie and Aelita ran to the side where the warriors intended to go just as the ice fully crumbled behind them. Jeremie's breathing was ragged, and he was shivering all over. The rest of the group rushed over once they had spotted them on the bank, and they lent both of them dryer cloaks, which they gratefully took as they continued on, shaking the water off of them as they continued on, Jeremie sneezing at intervals.

"Boy Jeremie, did you have us worried!" Odd piped up.

"Yeah, Jer, we thought we were doomed to have Odd declare himself as the leader if you were gone." Ulrich added.

"Hmph." Odd stated, glaring invisible daggers at Ulrich.

"Well Princess, were you gutsy today" Yumi stated nonchalantly.

"… and this is why I don't wear long dresses outside. They're too troublesome." Aelita affirmed.

All five of the warriors continued down to the path to Digitropolis before they saw something that made them stop. It was the dark-hooded warriors, and they were tacking signs all over the place, a poor but still recognizable illustration of both the King and Queen. Under the illustrations was a caption that made all five look at each other. All of them shared the same worried look, but only Aelita and Jeremie held something else- an expression of somber understanding of what is happening. Aelita began to go forward to the dark-hooded warriors, Jeremie watching her go sadly, as she had told him what to do should this happen, while the others tried to stop her.

"I'm sorry, guys" Aelita whispered before turning around to face them.

She gave no further explanation, and without warning, she gave three quick jabs to Ulrich Odd and Yumi's pressure points. All three of them slowly fell unconscious, both Aelita and Jeremie lowering them to the ground so that they would not get hurt. Aelita gave a sad look to Jeremie and the unconscious three, before stepping out of the clearing to meet with the black-cloaked warriors as Jeremie looked on with a depressed expression, not interfering with her mission, as it was on her strict orders that he didn't interfere. Aelita didn't turn around or look back, in order not to give the other warriors' position away. And Jeremie almost yelled in rage at Xavier as he saw his love willingly go with the dark warriors to protect them from capture so that there will still be a hope for the future.

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The little Jerlita scene in the river? Well… think of both the fire and water encircling each other like DNA strands (without the bars in between them), then forming like a chain. I was probably thinking of the DNA parts each complimenting each other, and the magnetic polarities of magnetic items, as well as the yin-yang thing for fire and water. Cliffhanger! Hanging from a cliff! …and that's why it's called cliffhanger!