Elvengirl: I'm back everyone. Been awhile huh? Lots of stuff's been happening. Here's a brief update:
-My trip to China was great. I've decided I'mgonna make a movie there, sometime.
-Sadly,Rurouni Kenshin is coming to an end in the manga. Two more volumes, Twenty-seven and Twenty-eight. My friends are going to suffer, because Twenty-eight comes out in July, and they'll have to wait. I'm going to be mobbed,either at theanime convention whereI'm going to get it (I'm cosplaying as either Kadaj from Advent Children, or Sasori from Naruto) or when I get back to school. On that note, Nobuhiro Watsuki's other manga, Busou Renkin, is going to be appearing on our shores soon. It deals with alchemy, and might be worth a look.
-Gundam FE's recieved an update. Feel free to take a look.
-Since summer is almost upon us, and I'm gaining more time, updates should be more regular. I also plan to finish a bunch of unwanted fics this summer as well. Other goals include drawing a Naruto doujinshi based on a drabble I wrote. I don't know how well that'll go, with my lack of artistic talent. With regards to this fic, I'm almost at chapter thirty, have reached volume ten of the manga and I don't intend to stop. I've already filled one notebook and have started on the next.
-I am running out of characters. Since I don't have a gamecube (and highly doubt I'll get one. I'd only play about 2 games on it) I can't delve into the resource presented by Path of Radience. Therefore, really minor characters aren't going to get an FE character now. Either way, I don't own any of the characters. They're all owned by Nintendo.
That's about it. Enjoy this chapter.
Cast:
Mishima Eiji: Ross
Karel froze. Images of that night, when he and Shinomori Jaffar had fought at Kanryu mansion flashed through his mind.
"Shinomori...Jaffar..." Karel turned slowly.
"You know them?" Leila grinned, jumping up, "Are they alive? Are they well? Tell me!"
Karel was silent. Clearly those men had meant something to her. Could he tell her, of their fate?
"Hey! Say something!" Leila yelled to Karel, who walked about ten feet in front of her. He hadn't said anything about Jaffar and the others since that night. What was he hiding?
Karel, on the other hand, was growing more and more irritated with Leila. Her constant nattering was getting old, and he was recieving more attention than wanted. Granted, they were mainly looks of concern than fear, but even so, the attention wasn't needed.
"Where's Jaffar-sama? What about Nergal? Hawkeye? Denning? Wallace? Are they alright? Tell me...You scar-faced, law-breaking, red-dressed...girly-man!"
"This one has a name!" Karel snapped, " Himura Karel. Please be so kind as to use it."
"If I call you by your name, will you tell me about them?"
"No. This is an entirely different matter."
"Stop kidding me!" Leila leapt into the air.
"Oro?" Karel winced as her foot rammed into his cheek. Leila was about to say something, but Karel had already walked off, rubbing his injured cheek. Leila glared at him. Himura Karel, the first solid lead she'd had to Shinomori Jaffar-sama and the rest of the Oniwabanshu. She would not give up. She, Makimachi Leila, swore to follow him to the ends of the earth until she got what she wanted.
Karel sighed. It had only been about three days since he had left Odawara. And she was still following him. He let out another sigh, wondering what to do. He couldn't just tell her about the Oniwabanshu, and Jaffar's vow to kill him. But, she would find out eventually, so what was preventing him? Was it the fact that she would keep following him until she found Jaffar? With Leila in tow, it would be difficult if Kishuna's men attacked. There was no other choice. Makimachi Leila had to be lost.
Karel stopped. Leial starred at him in confusion. Karel took off into the bushes.
"Hey!" Leila yelled, "Does that guy really think he can escape me? Jaffar-sama would be proud to have me as a kunoichi for I'm especially proud of my speed..." Leila soon realised that she was talking to no one. Karel was long gone. Angered, Leila took off after him. She wasn't about to let her only lead escape.
'She's persistant,' Karel thought, glancing backward. Leila was gaining on him, though her body was covered in scratches from the trees. 'It appears I have no choice.
'He's definetly not ordinary...being so fast. Has he fought Jaffar-sama before?' Leila stopped suddenly. Karel glared at her from the other side of a large gorge.
"We're done...playing "it"" he said, slowly turning away.
'There's no way he could've jumped that,' Leila thought as she watched Karel's retreating figure. 'But...I can't let him get away...I can't jump that though...'
"Katsensatu Tobi Kunai!" A hail of Leila's daggers went sailing through the air towards Karel, who sent them all down the gorge with a swing of his sword.
"Give up and go home. I've no idea how you came to meet Jaffar, but staying with the Oniwabanshu will only put you in danger. Jaffar must've seen this and left you in Kyoto. Harden your heart and forget them...for your own happiness." Karel turned again to leave. "Sorry."
Leila turned and walked back a few paces. Karel was sure that this whole chase was over.
"Quit lecturing me! What do you know? You say to forget, but I'm searching because I can't!" Leila began to sprint towards the gorge. She was going to jump. Karel opened his mouth, about to yell something in protest. "How does forgetting the person I love lead to happiness?"
Leila jumped. She began to fall halfway across. Karel leapt, catching her and springing up towards the ledge.
'This guy's good...I think he did fight Jaffar-sama. But it's okay because Jaffar-sama would never lose to anyone. He's alive...along with the rest of the Oniwabanshu.'
"So, you've finally woken up."
"Huh..." Leila blinked and sat up slowly, "Did I pass out?"
"Indeed, you did," Karel nodded.
"Then why didn't you wake me up?"
Karel said nothing, and got up.
"This one may be attacked at any point in the journey, so this one will not subject you to that. Those stunts have got to stop. Keep at a distance and act like a stranger. I doubt I can talk you out of this, can I?"
"Nope. I will see Jaffar-sama no matter what."
Four days have passed since Karel left Kamiya Dojo for Kyoto. He should have passed the halfway point by now, but...
"Hey Himura! It's almost lunchtime. Let's stop to eat!" Leila yelled. Karel walked onward, ignoring Leila's comment.
"Stop ignoring me!" She yelled, throwing a kunai knife at Karel's head.
"Oro!" Karel exclaimed with a wince.
"Why are we in this stupid forest anyway?"
"Because, its actually alot shorter than trying to find the main road, that it is. Though, if we don't rest as often, we'll make it to the road by evening. Why don't you eat as you walk?"
"Good idea." Leila pulled out some hardtack and took a bite of the circular food.
"This one would've brought bento, had he been thinking." Karel muttered, secretly coveting Leila's hardtack.
"I was, and you can't have any," Leila teased.
"Duly noted," Karel nodded, though the taunt had only increased his hunger.
"Maybe I'll let you have some if you tell me about Jaffar-sama and the others."
"That's quite alright..."
Meanwhile...
Birds squaked nosily as the tree they were roosting in was knocked down. Ignoring the sqawks, Hector viciously knocked down another tree.
"This is wrong," He yelled, slamming his fist into another tree in frustration. "This is just destruction. Not training." He sat down and sighed. He'd never properly trained before. Only brawled. With another breath, he dove into his bag and pulled out a magnet.
"So...north is thataway...and Kyoto's west...so...Kyoto here I come!"
Tossing the magnet over his shoulder, Hector began to journey south.
As Hector gets in even more lost...
In Tokyo...
The patient gazed up nervously at the pile of chemicals on his head, and even more nervously at he lit match coming towards it.
Absently, Limstella lit the pile. The patient began to panic, as did Doctor Lowen. Limstella sighed, ignoring the scene. She hoped that Ephidel was alright, Karel to, for that matter. Kishuna's men were bad enough, but now Shinomori Jaffar was in the mix. That just made things worse.
Limstella's worries grew greater...
...as...
"Guy, are you alright?" asked Lyn, concerned for her student. Guy shook his kead, looking up from the bucket.
"Pretty frickin' far from okay...who knew ships rocked so much. How the hell can you be fine?"
"I'm somewhat seasick, but I'm not going to let that stop. I won't whine anymore, not after those two days of sulking."
Guy smiled. The old Lyn was back. The ship lurched. So did Guy's stomach. When would the damn boat land? Lyn patted Guy's back. Even if her student couldn't be strong, she could. She had to be.
Lyn gets her feet under her, while Guy does quite the opposite.
"Nergal-san taught me martial arts," Leila boasted, "There's no one better than him 'cept for Jaffar-sama..." She galnced at Karel, who walked several feet in front of her. He was walking slower than yesterday, which was odd. Leila knew that Karel could move through this terrain easily, could lose her at any given moment. Why was he going out of his way to be so nice?
"Isn't it easier for you to walk?" Karel said, as if he had read her mind. Leila smiled, realising he had been making a path for her. He was just like Jaffar-sama. Always caring for his comrades but never betraying his emotions. Leila thought back on all her memories of him, realising that she had never seen Jaffar smile. 'One day, I'll draw out that smile hidden inside of him,' she thought, warmly.
"Hey Himura!" Leila ran up to Karel, handing him some hardtack, "I've changed my mind. You must be hungry."
"Thank you Leila-dono..." he stared at it suspiciously. "This isn't spiked with truth serum, is it?"
"What do you think?" Leila snapped. Karel smiled, then tensed. The scent of blood was in the air. Karel fought to stay in control. "He" could not come out here.
"Himura...did you hear that?" Leila asked, glancing around.
"Step away as quietly as you can, Leila-dono..."
"So you weren't kidding when you said you were being followed."
Karel didn't answer, but bolted into the woods. In order to not involve Leila, he would have to strike first.
"Hey! I can help!" Leila called after him, "I'm Oniwabanshu you know!"
Karel ignored her, and ran into a clearing. Leila followed him, about to pull out her kunai. She stopped. There was no one in the clearing except for her, Karel, and a young man slumped against a tree. His body was covered in blood and lacerations. In his arms was a small boy, not older than Guy, Karel reckoned.
"Is...is he dead?"
"Not yet. Do you have any last words? As a witness, please allow this one to do what he can."
"Please...sa..ve...my village. Save..them...from...Kis..huna..."
The clearing fell silent.
The village is not far from Numatsu on the East Sea Road. Only twenty people, half farmland, half forst. It is called Shingetsu...New Moon. It was a typical village, until two years ago.
Karel stared down at the village. It was dusk. Normally, there would be smoke rising from the huts and mothers calling their children home for dinner. No sounds rose from the village. This was a grim mission, placed in his hands. His thoughts wandered back to the promise he had made just moments ago...
"Hey...you okay?" Leila asked, as the boy began to awaken.
"Where's my brother?" The boy yelled, his eyes snapping open. Karel looked away. Leila looked down.
"When we found him he was..."
Finally, the boy's gaze fell on a mound of dirt, with an old, broken katana stuck up as a gravemarker. The boy began to shudder, tears at once coming to his eyes.
"Curse them!" he cried, punching the ground.
"Can you tell us what's going on?" Karel asked, placing a comferting hand on the boy's shoulder.
"And what would a complete stranger do about it?"
"This one does not know, but he goes to confront Kishuna."
The boy had relented. Kishuna had taken over the village two years ago, killing the police officer in charge. When another came, he was killed as well. After awhile, the officers had just stopped coming, while Kishuna's henchmen arrived in droves. Shingetsu Village was abandoned by the government. It was no longer marked upon the map. The boy's brother had tried to get his family, but had been stopped by a man known as Senkaku.
"I have to go back! I have to rescue my parents!" The boy protested. He ran over to the grave. "Brother, lend me your strength."
"In his place, this one lends you his strength. Leila-dono, please look after the boy."
"But..."
"This one goes to the village alone."
The village was like a ghost town. Karel wandered through the silent streets, glancing at the run-down houses. Not a soul was to be seen.
Silently, Leila and the boy watched from behind a tree. Even though Karel had insisted that Leila not come with him, she was not the type to sit idely by.
According to the boy's information, Kishuna came to the village ever half year for a week. Senkaku controlled it the rest of the year. Kishuna was at the village now.
"With Senkaku off entertaining Kishuna, I could get Mom and Dad out," the boy muttered, "Hey Lady, won't we lose him if he gets to far ahead?"
"Stupid...Himura's not normal. He'd catch onto us," Leila hissed, emphising her point by boxing the boy on the ears. She looked up. Karel had stopped in front of something. Two bodies hung limply, covered in lacerations. Pools of blood had formed beneath. 'This must be the work of Senkaku,' Karel thought, again fighting for control of his senses. He could feel the rage building within him, the rage of his other self.
"Mom! Dad!" The boy, overcome with emotion, broke free of the Leila's grasp and began to run towards the bodies. The boy's exclamation was like an alarm. Soon, thirty soldiers blocked Karel's path. Leila dragged the boy back to their not-so-hidden hiding place.
"Foriegners are not allowed here," said their leader, pointing his lance at Karel's back.
"Why were these people killed?" Karel asked, calmly.
"They plotted escape, so they were killed and strung up there."
"As examples, then."
"Kishuna-sama took this village from the government. He and Senkaku-sama hold life and death here! Prepare yourself!"
"As should you!" Karel turned to face them, with a death glare. The leader crashed into several soldiers, unconcious. "There are no more warnings, that there are not. This time, every one of you goes down!"
In a state of panic, Leila tried to snap the boy out of his mournful state. So absorbed was she in the task, that she didn't notice the foot-soldier sneaking up behind her.
"Intruders must..."
Leila froze. This was it. No time to react.
"Die-"
The sharp blade of a katana punctured the soldier's skull. Leila gasped as the body was thrown away effortlessly, and stared in awe at its weilder.
"What's he doing here?" Saitou Ephidel muttered, his gold eyes flashing with annoyance. "I'd have thought he'd be in Kyoto by now."
Next time: Out of the Shadows.