Thankss to the following:
ChIbINeKoChWaN- Lol yeah. She's 8 and her name is baby xD. The boys couldn't come up with anything else.
PaperbackxWriter- Thanks a lot! :) Glad ya liked it.
Neeky-Chan - Her name is baby lol. I know its kinda weird haha. But I like it for some weird reason. :)
Sorry for the incredibly long update. Anyways, enjoy the story! :)
"Ced!" Eru yelled, but it was already too late. Ced had already ran off into the fiery distance. "Argh! That idiot."
"Eru... What do we do?" Baby asked, frightened.
Eru sighed, this was going to be a hell of a day. "Stay put. Ced will be fine. He's strong." he ordered, as he sprinted off in the opposite direction.
"Come on, baby. Lets go inside." ushered the old man, unaware of the girl's reluctance.
Baby quietly stared at the two boys as they slowly disappeared into the distance. An uneasy feeling was welling up inside her, until she couldn't take it anymore. Without another moment's hesitation, she ran.
"No! Come back!" the old man cried out running after her, but his old bones couldn't hope to keep up. He stood worryingly as another one of his children had disappeared in the forest.
Ced had finally reached the edge of the forest by the port, where the pirate ship rocked back and forth. He had watched as the group of about one hundred pirates cruelly murdered his people. He had watched the forest that was being burnt down with each passing second. Dying screams and shouts were increasing with each passing second. 'They are going to annihilate everything.' he frowned at the thought. Negotiating was definitely out of the question. There was only one thing he could do: fight against them. And without a second thought, he climbed into the unguarded pirate ship to act on his plan.
Ced was pleased. Fourteen pyramid stacked barrels of oil and gunpowder were wrapped with a piece of rope. A long piece of string covered with oil hung on the top of the pyramid to serve as the fuse. All he had to do was light the match to get rid of the pirates. He smirked at his ingenuity. Now, he had to find a way to set the barrels in a discreet area, and lead the pirates over there. And he had a good feeling how to do it. Ced wasn't as bright as Eru, but even he could tell the pirates had only one goal in mind: to kill everyone here. 'Time to go fishing.' he smirked quietly to himself.
Even with his small build, he managed to carry the barrels nearby to a mass of bushes without alerting any pirates. The bushes were so dense, that they couldn't be spotted even if you tried looking for it. And if all else failed, he would at least be able to sink the pirate ship. The fuse was a long piece of oil soaked rope that encircled the barrel. Ced gulped, as he neared the most important part of his plan.
"Oi!" he yelled flailing his hands in the air. Confident that he had their attention, he sprinted off into the wilderness, heading towards the safest area he could think of: the bordering wall.
"Git 'im!" yelled a random pirate who was decapitating a young girl. A small group of pirates began to chase after the boy.
"Looosers!" Ced gloated as he ran away from the increasing mob, ducking under branches and hopping over bushes along the way. He quietly laughed at the disappearing mob tripping along the bushes. It was easy to keep a perfect distance from them so that they were far away from him, yet still stayed within eyesight. Although they tried many times to shoot him, the dense forest gave him a nice advantage to this dangerous Hide-and-Seek game. He headed nearer and nearer towards the grand bordering wall, where the trees thinned out. When he had reached a bare, grassy field, he was about to swirl around and ignite the bomb, but something caught his eye. He stared horrifically at the outline in the distance. "What the —." impulsively, he ran towards it, dismissing the fact that the pirates were trailing him.
Eru sprinted through the dense trees tripping recklessly over branches along the way to the giant wall which separated the areas. The mass of trees lessened as he made his was through the forest. Soon, he was surrounded by an almost bare, grassy field with the exception of a couple of bushes. The wall stood inches away from him, when he stopped to catch his breath. It seemed the wall was never ending, for he couldn't find its boundary wherever he looked: right, left, or upwards. Hesitantly, he walked towards the tall wooden, front entrance. 'This is it.' He banged his fists hard, hoping that the sound echoed through to the other side.
Several moments and bloodied fist bangs later, a mob of marines flooded out a secret, side gate entrance following their comm The marines all looked the same, except for the leader who had a white cloak draped on his shoulders with the word justice etched on the back. He was a burly man with long, curly hair, and a wicked glare that aimed straight towards Eru. "And what do you want, little boy?" he asked, unamused.
"Pirates have invaded." Eru answered.
"And?"
Eru glared at the idiotic response. "And... Isn't it your responsibility to protect us?"
"We protect civilians. It isn't within my jurisdiction to protect criminals." he snottily replied, scratching the back of his head.
Eru stood still for a moment, baffled. "People are dying!"
"Let me tell you this, boy." the man walked over towards the boy, towering over him by at least one foot. "We. Don't. Care. For. Trash."
"Let me tell you this, marine." he mimicked the man's voice, and stood on his toes to intimidate the older man. "They. Will. Attack. You. Next."
The marine roared loudly as if he was mocking the boy, and his face cracked open in a devilish smirk. "They. Won't. Attack. Us."
"And what makes you say that?" Eru spouted, breaking their little word game.
"You think this is all just a coincidence, boy?" he questioned haughtily. "That the pirates are attacking the Outlawed Area, without even noticing the other two areas?"
Eru stared at the man, perplexed. "W-what?"
He roared with laughter. "You Outlaws are dumber than I thought!"
"Tell me, already!" he glared, filled with impatience.
"Then here's a riddle." he paused shortly for dramatic effect. "What happens to a place that constantly lets people in, but never lets people out? Eh?"
"Overpop-" Eru's eyes widened with horror. "They...wouldn't."
"Guagahgahga!" he sickly roared. "Seems like you get it, boy! There's too much scum in this area, and they keep coming in. Worst of all, they're giving birth to more scum! So what do you think is the government's solution to that problem?" he asked as he bent down and whispered slowly into the boy's ear to make sure he soaked up each and every word he said. "To. Kill. Everyone. With. Pirates."
The boy stood in silence, unable to take it in. "N-no way...You're lying!" he screamed. "YOU'RE LYING." Eru's arms were shaking violently, trying to control his anger to no avail.
"What reason would I have to lie to you, boy?" he still smiled, with that triumphant expression on his face.
"F-f. You're all crazy!" he exclaimed, shaking in terror.
"Pirates get money. We get rid of trash. It's a win-win situation, eh? he chuckled. "Oh. Except for..." he stared down at the boy. "You."
A mix of emotions surged through Eru: anger, resentment, hate, fear, and disappointment. He was disgusted at marines. "What kind of twisted sense of justice is this?" he yelled. "You're all heartless! You deceiving bastards!"
The man was infuriated with each word the boy spit out of his mouth. "Men. Kill the brat." he ordered and walked away swiftly. The marines readied their guns, and began to take aim at the boy.
Without another thought, Eru's adrenaline kicked in, and he rushed towards the marines hastily. "Well, FUCK YOU ALL!" he screamed. He had lost it, and he punched his bloodied fists at the nearest marine. Swiftly closing in on the mob of around thirty marines, he disarmed and brutally knocked out the nearest ones. In response, they quickly switched to swords, thus beginning the close distanced fight. Eru sent swift, powerful strikes towards the assaulting mob. The boy hoped over and ducked below his attackers gracefully, and punched his attackers fiercely. A marine attacked the boy from his left, hoping to catch him off guard. The boy grasped the sword with his right hand, and twisted his body landing a roundhouse kick. Grabbing the fallen sword, he roughly hurled it at another. Taking notice of the boy's poor fighting stance, a marine quickly stabbed the boy in his shoulders, rendering his left arm useless. This did not stop him though, as he angrily jabbed that marine in the throat. He was too quick for their slow movements. By the time he had finished the last marine, his whole body was a bloodied mess from both parties' blood.
'And then there was one.' he stared at the cloaked leader that was headed through the side entrance. Eru lunged for the man, only to be stopped by the sound of a bullet, that pierced the back his wounded shoulder blade. "Ackkk!" he cried, taking one glance to the wounded marine that had dared to stop him. Clasping his shoulder blade with his left hand, he wound back his right, and tried to attack the commander again. This time, the man had been aware of his presence, and stopped him easily with one arm.
"You are much too weak." he stared as he pulled the boy up with one arm, leaving him dangling from the ground. "Don't believe a puny runt like you could hope to defeat me; a rear admiral." he gloated. In response, the boy spit on him, square in the face. Enraged, he pulled out a gun and shot the boy five times at point blank; missing all vital areas purposely. "Die a miserable death." he left and headed back towards the village.
"Ack." Eru dropped to his knees into the blood soaked grass, clutching the area he had been shot. The bullet hadn't hit his vital areas, but he had already lost too much blood from the previous marines. He was breathing slow and hard, and his vision was blurring from extreme blood loss. In such a short span of time, a mix of emotions overcame the boy. At first it was anger:. Then it was sadness — leaving this world full of regrets. And finally, it was acceptance — of his cruel reality. "So. This is where I die." he laughed at himself, as he lay in silence for the last moments of his life, facing the blue sky sadly. 'Sorry Ced, I can't go out to sea with you. Sorry baby, you'll probably be sad. Old man...heh, I'll probably see you soon.' He closed his slowly, drifting off peacefully to await his death.
There was lots of shaking. It was like an earthquake. Not to mention the squeaky voice that kept getting louder and louder with each passing second. A flood of pain rushed in, forcing him to snap his eyes open with the last of his energy.
Baby had seen it all from the bushes. Not only that, but she had heard it all. And, she was mortified. Everything about it was wrong. She had never seen Eru so angry. Her whole body was shivering in fear from head to toe, wishing it was just a bad dream. She pinched herself. She closed her eyes and opened them repeatedly; it didn't work. This was real.
After that realization, she tried to scrape the last of her courage to head over to her blood soaked brother. "T-this c-can't be happening." she sobbed out loud, as she crawled slowly towards her brother. He was drenched in blood from head to toe and his breathing was barely audible. "Eru?" she whispered, hoping he would get up and smile. Hoping he would pick her up, and tell her he was alright. "ERU!" she screamed, her body shaking uncontrollably. "Nnh.. NOOO" she agonized "PLEASE don't leave. Please. P-lease live. P-ppleeeasee. Eruu!" she shook him hard, trying to wake up him.
The boy's eyes snapped open, confused. "Baby." he groaned out smiling.
"Eru!" she gazed at him in tears. "Are you going to die? Please tell me you wont! You'll be alright, right?"
"Baby." he breathed. "Hide an-."
"I know! I heard everything the marine said!" she interrupted, face contorted to a look of disgust. "We'll get out of here. I'll find Ced and grandpa and you'll be Ok. We just..." he voice trailed off and she stared at the bloodied figure. At his silence, she sobbed harder, unable to control her tears as she buried her head in his arms. "N-n-noo, you can't leave! What about your dream? What about Ced? What about the Old man? What about ME!" she stared at the ground trying to hold back her tears.
"Promise me two things." he finally said.
"What? Anything Eru!" she lifted her head up.
"Promise... No matter what. Be happy."
"Ok. I promise. I promise!" she sobbed harder and grabbed his pinky, and wrapped hers around his. "See? Pinky promise."
Eru smiled warmly at her. "One more thing. If you can, take me to the ocean. Just once, I want to go there." he slowly closed his eyes, with a small smile etched on to his face.
"N-noo! Don't go! Don't leave!" she buried her head into his arms and cried.
Ced sprinted towards the two familiar forms, escaping out of pirates' sight. "HEY GU-." he cut his yell off and stared in horror at the figure lying on the bloodstained ground. No..." he couldn't believe his eyes. Why was Eru here? And Baby? "E-eru?" he looked at the lifeless body before him, lost for words. Baby was a mess, with her tears falling endlessly on Eru.
Baby lifted her tear covered face. "C-c-ed." she barely managed out. "F-fix him. Fix Eru!"
"Baby..." he stared at the bloodied figure, holding in his tears. 'Why? Why now?' he screamed in his mind as tears started forming in his eyes. "C-Calm down. I-it's okay." he tried to comfort her, but he was barely managing to calm himself. A flurry of emotions had overcome him, but whether it was despair, fear, or anger, he didn't know why he was shaking uncontrollably. It was like his mind had shattered into a thousand little pieces. "AHGHHH!" he screamed loudly, clutching his head as tears dropped one by one on the bloodstained field. "WHY? Why?"
Little did they know, there was a problem; an endless mob of pirates were quickly approaching them, storming their way out of the dense forest. The pirates were alerted by Ced's screams, and had quickly rushed to the scene. "OI! Give up and die already!" a pirate shouted at them from meters away.
"Baby?" Ced asked, fully recovered and aware of the situation they were in. But even though Ced had finally recovered a bit, Baby hadn't. And that was going to be a problem. "Baby! Snap out of it!" he screamed. "We have to go! I'm scared, and I'm not losing you, too!" he picked her up, but she still clung on to Eru.
"Baby!" he begged, to no effect. She wouldn't budge.
"I-I don't want to leave him!" she cried. "B-r-r-ing him with us!" she asked between sobs. "T-the old man. He can fix him. He fixes me all the time."
"Baby..." Ced started. "Don't be stubborn. Come on!"
"E-eru would listen to me!" she cried. "HE wo-wouldn't leave you if you died!"
"Baby!" he stuggled. "We don't have ti-" he chocked, coughing up blood. A bullet had pierced him from behind. Before he had time to react, several more bullets flew through their direction, penetrating his unguarded back. The whole time, Baby stared, horrified and helpless. Just when she was about to scream, Ced fell down, fully covering the little girl's body, hand clasped tightly over her mouth.
What seemed like an eternity later, a pirate walked towards them, relieved that he had finally killed the boy. "Gyagaggag. Brat is finally dead." he confirmed, looking at the bloodied boy. "That's the last of 'em." he roared, followed by numerous cries and shouts. The pirates rejoiced as they headed back towards their ship, celebrating their fortune.
All Baby could see was red. Lots and lots of red blinding her vision. Not to mention the hand that prevented her from screaming her heart out. She tried to yell, but all she could manage was a muffled noise. Long after the pirates had gone, the hand had loosened its grip. She forced herself out from under the body, only to confirm her brother's fate.
Baby was speechless. She didn't have any more energy to scream, nor cry. Her eyes had gone puffy from all the crying, and her face was a filthy mess. The flower tiara had long fallen off, leaving clumps of leaves in her messy, black hair. Worst of all, her dress had been dyed in splotches of blood. She was a mess. "Nnh.." she tried to scream, but nothing would come out. All she could do was stare horrifically at the body, until her exhaustion had finally taken over, forcing her to black out.