Gareki spun around to face the oncoming enemy, the intimacy of the previous moment long forgotten. His head turned slightly to the side—still keeping the enemies in front of him within eyesight—as the sounds of rustling leaves became louder around them. Varuga slowly crept out of the woods surrounding them, cornering them on the icy lake.
Gareki slowly reached for the gun that was hidden in his pocket. He could feel Yogi tense behind him, ready to spring into action at a moment's notice.
"Looks like we'll have to finish this later then," came a soft voice from behind Gareki. He simply nodded in response, not even sure if the blond could see him or not.
The Varuga seemed to quickly lose interest in the intense staring contest that had initiated between the two Circus fighters and them and suddenly leapt at the pair. Gareki could sense that Yogi had already taken off into the air, but since he wasn't too comfortable with flying yet, he decided to fight from the ground.
He dodged the first Varuga that had leapt at him but lost his balance, quickly remembering that he was on ice and wearing now very uncomfortable ice skates. He stumbled upright, leaping over an incoming Varuga and shooting another. He grinned as he watched the monster explode when the bullet impacted it. Now he could finally fight as a real Circus fighter instead of relying on Yogi or other Circus members.
Focusing back on his task, he continued to fire bullets at the Varuga as he made his way across the ice, intent on getting his normal shoes so that he could fight better. Most of the monsters had taken an interest in the flying Circus member and were focusing their attention on him, allowing Gareki to stumble onto the snowbank and quickly kick off his skates. He looked down as he slipped on his normal running shoes, not even bothering with the laces.
"Gareki!" Yogi yelled and said teen paused, looking around to see what had made the blond yell. His eyes widened in surprise as a shadow came over him and he quickly raised his arm to aim at the figure: however, before he could aim properly, the monster's teeth clamped down on his raised arm, eliciting a cry of pain from the teen.
Gareki felt his body yanked upwards by his injured arm, causing a searing hot pain to run through the limb and the quick movement making his head spin. His feet left the ground and he kicked wildly, trying to prevent himself from being dragged further back into the woods away from the Circus ship.
His gun was in the hand that belonged to the injured arm and with the way the Varuga was shaking him around in the air he wasn't able to grab it with the other hand. Deciding that he had no other choice, he pressed his hand against the black beast and released the familiar feeling of energy, allowing it to surround the Varuga.
Gareki yelped in surprise when he was suddenly falling through the air, landing in a tumble on the semi-soft snow. A hiss of pain escaped his lips when his injured arm impacted the cold ground.
Gareki quickly pushed himself up from the ground with his good arm, sensing that he was not alone. He grabbed the gun from his bad hand and raised it to the new Varuga that was standing across from him.
Before Gareki could fire, there was a sudden explosion from the direction of the lake. The energy levels in the air seemed to rise drastically, making his skin feel tingly. The Varuga took advantage of the distraction and raced toward the teen. Gareki quickly fired, but the bullet missed due to his momentary hesitation.
Gareki blinked in surprise when there was nothing in front of him. He glanced around, but there were only bare trees and snow around him. The quiet atmosphere was broken by the crunching of snow as he took a tentative step forward. A tingling in the back of his mind told him that danger was approaching from the left and he raised his arm in defense. As soon as he raised his arm, a dense mass slammed into him and threw him to the side.
Using the momentum from the impact, Gareki rolled out of the landing so that he was kneeling on the ground. He shot at the monster but the beast once again evaded the attack using it's inhuman speed. Really not wanting to get bit again, Gareki jumped up and flew upwards, narrowly avoiding the teeth that had clamped down where he had previously been standing.
The Varuga didn't miss a beat and quickly flew after the Circus fighter. Gareki continued flying the direction of the lake, worry about the explosion that had happened earlier near the lake subconsciously guiding him.
"Dammit, just die already!" Gareki yelled as he glanced over his shoulder and narrowly evaded the Varuga's claw that swiped through the air where he had previously been. This Varuga seemed to have battle experience considering it was so hard to kill, but Gareki didn't even know if Varugas were intelligent so it was hard to tell.
"Where the hell is it?" Gareki muttered to himself. He was sure that he had been flying in the direction of the lake but the body of water was nowhere to be seen. The surrounding trees all looked the same, so there was no way of even proving that he was heading in the right direction. Gareki gritted his teeth in frustration.
"This is getting—ah!" A sudden force from above struck his upper back and knocked him out of the air. Unprepared for the landing, Gareki tumbled through the snow until he came to a rest on his stomach, the cold biting into his exposed face and hands.
Gareki coughed as he lifted himself from the ground, spitting out the snow that had gotten into his mouth in his fall. As he glanced up, the teen's eyes widened in surprise when in front of him stood not trees, but a tall, old looking mansion.
The young Circus fighter could sense the Varuga lingering around the edges of his senses, not quite close enough where it could attack immediately but close enough to pose a danger. Curious as to why it suddenly backed off but not wanting to take the chance of confronting it again, he ran inside the slightly parted doors of the mansion.
The doors creaked loudly as Gareki pulled them further open and slipped inside. The building was dark, only lit by the natural light that came from the large windows that lined the outside walls. A light layer of dust rested on the furniture showing the mansion's lack of occupation.
"Why would there be such a nicely built mansion in the middle of nowhere?" Gareki quietly questioned to nobody in particular. He ran his hand along the dusty table in the entrance hall as he walked by, leaving a trail in his wake.
Gareki winced as his arm throbbed in pain. Now that the adrenaline was starting the wear off, the pain in his arm was getting more and more intense. Gareki lifted the torn sleeve of his coat to reveal a bruised and bloody arm. He tried to tighten his hand into a fist but his grip was weak.
"That's just great," Gareki said. He ripped a strip of fabric from his undershirt and wrapped it as tight as he could around the injured limb to stop the blood loss from the bite. He tightened his hand into a fist a couple more times to try to regain some strength unsuccessfully.
A sudden cold draft coming from an open door in the hall caught his attention. Out of curiosity the teen ventured over to it and pulled it open, revealing a dark staircase that led downward.
Gareki kept the gun in his hand ready as he descended the staircase, using the light from his cell phone to guide the way. The sounds of his feet shuffling on the stairs echoed off the walls with each step. The air continued to get colder the lower he went, but besides that, nothing else changed even when he reached the bottom.
The hall extended to the left and right in long dark tunnels, but a soft rattling sound led him to the left. He walked through the musty hallway until he reached the end. In front of him stood a single closed, metal door. After testing the handle, and realizing that it wasn't locked, the teen pushed the door open.
The room inside was rather large, but it was difficult to make anything out with the little light that was coming from his cell phone's screen. The rattling sound seemed to be coming from inside the room and Gareki squinted through the darkness trying to make out what was making the sound.
The room remaind still so Gareki stepped inside. As he got closer to the walls, he could see old toys and dolls resting on shelves around the room. The room didn't quite look like a children's room, it was more like an antique storage space.
"What is this—huh?" Gareki stopped walking and looked down when his foot kicked something small and metal across the floor. Shining the light from his phone in the direction of the object, a small metal cube came into view.
Gareki walked up to the strange object and picked it up. It was no bigger than his palm and a soft rattling sound was emitting from inside the metal cube. A light vibration coming from the box caused the object to shake slightly in his hold.
"What is this thing?" Gareki attempted to remove the perfectly fit lid, but his fingers wouldn't grip the metal well and it would not budge. Gareki shrugged and gave up, shoving the cube in his pocket to worry about later.
Gareki walked out of the room and was about to go back up the stairs when he noticed a small light at the other end of the hallway. The light looked like it came from outside, and since that would be the fastest way out of this creepy place, he decided to see what was at the end.
By the time he reached the door, the hallway was bright enough where he didn't need his cell phone light anymore. He slipped his cell phone back into his pocket and stepped outside the door. He had to shield his eyes from the intense light. The white snow did not make the light any easier for his eyes to adjust to.
When his eyes adjusted he noticed that he was once again standing outside in the bare forest. He looked around to get an idea of where he came out and he saw a slight glistening of a lake in the distance.
"There it is!" Gareki said as he took off running in the lake's direction. He sprinted until he reached the edge of the lake and then slowed to a stop.
Gareki panted as he looked around for the blond Circus fighter, but the lake was still and silent. A tingling in the back of his mind told him that he was forgetting something, but Gareki ignored it in favor of looking for his missing friend.
"Yogi?" Gareki shouted hoping he would get a response. He walked along the lake's edge looking for any signs of life. The snow was all upturned and scratches covered the lake's surface but neither human nor Varuga could be found.
Wait...wasn't there a Varuga...shit! Gareki turned around just as the tingling of warning returned strongly, telling him that there was something dangerous behind him. Gareki's eyes widened as he faced the threat, and a Varuga's claw was inches from his face. There was no time to defend himself...he was going to...
Just as the claw touched his cheek, it was suddenly yanked to the side, leaving a long scratch across his cheek in it's place. The Varuga was forcefully pulled to the side by what looked like a long thorny vine. Gareki's eyes followed the familiar long, rope like vine and found the it's owner: Yogi.
"Yogi..." Gareki said as he watched Yogi violently tear the Varuga apart. The thorns continued rip the Varuga to pieces until there was practically nothing left.
Yogi slowly turned to Gareki once the Varuga was nothing but a bloody mess. Gareki gulped as the older man approached. The look in the man's eyes was anything but friendly, they looked more crazed.
Another thing that stood out strange about the Circus fighter was that the patch on his cheek was missing and his hair looked...white? Gareki knew for a fact that he had blond hair earlier that day, so why did it suddenly look bleach white?
"I wonder why I protected you," Yogi said as he approached a stunned Gareki. "Are you important to me, or are you just someone for me to play with?" Now within touching distance, Yogi reached out suddenly and roughly grabbed Gareki's chin, tilting his head up and pulling him closer. "You are quite attractive. So tell me, which are you?"
"Yogi!" Gareki gasped. "What's wrong with you?" He reached up and slapped Yogi's hand away but was unprepared for when Yogi instantly reacted to his movements. The next thing Gareki knew, there was a strong pain in his gut and the wind was knocked out of him.
With his strength suddenly disappearing along with his air, he was unable to keep himself standing and dropped unceremoniously to the ground. Gareki groaned, one hand went to his stomach where the pain was radiating and the other attempted to push himself off the ground. Before he could get very far in his attempt, a hand grabbed a fist full of his hair and pulled him into a kneeling position.
"Ugh!" Gareki reached up with his free hand and grabbed the arm that was holding him up, trying to relieve some of the tension on his hair.
"Yogi, stop," Gareki protested through gritted teeth, eyes watering a bit from the tight grip Yogi had on him.
"Let me play with you a bit," Yogi said as he leaned in close, an almost gentle smile on his face. Yogi's strange mood swings were starting to weird Gareki out and he was quickly running out of patience. Since Yogi seemed interested in watching Gareki's face he tightened his good hand into a fist by his side.
"Yogi, you are seriously pissing me off!" Gareki swung his fist as fast as he could and punched the man across the face. Yogi's head jerked to the side from the impact and he paused.
"Gareki?" Yogi tentatively asked. Gareki waited, unsure if he should reach out to him or not. Yogi slowly turned to look at him, his eyes weary and unsure, but familiar.
"Gareki? I'm glad...you're alright..." Yogi suddenly collapsed. Gareki quickly reached out and caught him, his body protesting from the movement.
Gareki sighed, well at least it was finally over.