Kuro Suzaku is owned by Kuro herself
Kariudo Shikaku is owned by Kariudo-kun herself
Ian Valentine is owned by Who's Asking.
I own Kiako (That's ME!), Mana, Malice and Miu. When a new paragraph starts these little thingies will appear ʓʓʓ and if those thingies don't show up I'm sorry -.-; And I'm sorry if there are spelling errors.
Mana and memories: Italic
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A/N: Ok people! Quick review of guardians/important characters and what anime/game they're from!!
Tales of Series: Jade, Luke, Tear, Guy, Anise, Natalia, Asch, Leon, Mieu
Black Cat: Train, Sven, Eve, Lin Shao Li, Kyoko, Charden, The apostles of the stars...??
Fire Emblem: Oscar, Soren, Kein
Star Ocean: Cliff, Fayt, Albel, maybe other characters
Final Fantasy: Vincent, Nero, Weiss, Rest of the Tsviets, Hojo, Baralai, Gippal, lots of other characters...
Anime: Kakashi (Naruto) 7 Samurai (Samurai 7), Hakkai (Saiyuki), Lavi (D. Gray-Man), Krowley (D. Gray-Man), Hitsugaya (Bleach)
Original: Kiako, Kurosuzaku, Kariudo, Kelvis, Zero, Vale, Ian, Miu o.o;;
A/N: Whoa, that's alot!! n.n;; Don't worry, they'll be missing for a while later. Yes! ToA People will be added!!
On with the story!!
ʓʓʓ
When we arrived at the REAL campsite, it was already dark and the moon shone high above us. Lavi managed tip us forward so we could just land on our feet instead of crashing head first into the ground again.
"Whew, it was a long trip, but we made it." Lavi smiled scratching his hair. I nodded and looked towards a fire that was surrounded by a bunch that stuck out like sore thumbs.
I smiled, and pulled at Lavi's sleeve.
"Come on! Some of the guardians you didn't meet yet! You have to meet Kuro-sama's guardians!" I said happily dragging him.
"Whoa easy easy!" Lavi laughed as Jade and Kuro-sama followed behind us. When we got closer to the fire, I could clearly see all of the guardians huddles around it discussing things. I saw Heihachi spot us and he stood up smiling.
"Kiako-chan!" he waved. The rest of the guardians looked up taking notice of our presence.
"Hey guy-"
"KIAKOOOOOO!!!" I was bowled over into the sand by something big and purple and I gasped for air as Vale smothered me into the sand with his death hug, "I MISSED YOU!! MY DEAR LITTLE LOVE! I WEPT FOR YOU! I AWAITED YOUR RETURN!! I WILL LOVE YOU TO NO END!! I WILL-"
"Shut up, you're annoying." Kuro said using the spikey ball end of her staff to slap Vale aside.
"YOU VILE WOMAN!! MY BEAUTIFUL, ULTRA- GORGEOUS HEAD IS BLEEDING!!!" Vale cried as blood spurted from his new head wound and ran down his face.
"My, he reminds me of Dist!!" Jade remarked.
"Please, don't remind me..." Kuro-sama groaned. I slowly got to my feet and shook sand off my clothes.
Have I mentioned already that I hate sand??
"It's good to see you're all ok." Kariudo said.
"Yes, we were almost afraid that you've been either taken by the akuma or the fiends." Train said then made a face, "I've got sand in my mouth..."
"That's you're fault! You were stupid enough to try and drink non-existing milk from a non-existing puddle!!" Sven shouted accusingly.
"It's called an Oasis!! And what about you're hallucination of seeing a club sandwich?" Train shouted back, "Answer THAT old man! Don't deny it! THE SAND IS STUCK IN YOUR BEARD!!!"
We all looked at Eve, who had her hands bandaged into mittens.
"I thought a cactus was an icecream..." she said quietly.
"I DON'T HAVE A FREAKING BEARD!!" As the two swabbled, Shao Li meerly smiled and glanced at Kuro-sama.
"So, where to?" he asked. Kuro shrugged.
"As if I know." she said taking a seat beside Hao as Jade took the seat next to her, "Reeve still needs to tell us what's going on."
"It appears he has made contact with Bevelle, and is getting reinforcements from New Yevon along with the Youth League and the Machine faction." Hakkai said and handed out cups of tea. I thanked him and sighed.
"So, everyone ok?" I asked.
"Charden and Kyoko actually, had decided to go on their own way no da." Chichiri said turning himself into a chibi and taking a seat on my head.
"Why do you ask?" Kakashi rose his eyebrows. I explained to them about the Akuma and tomatoes in the desert, "That is troublesome..."
"So now we can't trust any of the WRO members? Yeesh... What a hassle..." Zero said and stood up, "Well, I'm sick of this place and everyone in it." He turned to leave.
"Where're you going?" I asked.
"Showers. Wanna take one with me? We could always have some fun while we're at it." Zero grunted as an approaching Cliff punched him in the head and sent him grumbling to the showers.
"Hey." he greeted and took a seat beside me, "How's it goin'?" I shrugged as the other gave their replies.
"So, what've you guys been up to?" I asked, "I've missed quite a bit since I was gone." Man, I feel so..serious... It's creepy... But the thing is, I just don't, feel that light hearted anymore...
"Reeve said that Deepground are housing a few akuma and hollows. Fiends aren't an exception either along with the Nobuseri." Cliff said and had a grave look on his face, "Tomorrow, Is when we're going to the middle of the desert."
"Middle of the desert? What're we doing there?"
Cliff shuffled about a bit and rested his chin on his folded hands and propped his arms on his knees.
"War."
We were all silent, some of us whispering to neighbors. I quickly seached for Heihachi's hand and took hold of it, feeling myself shake.
"Well, if we are to be at war tomorrow, then we'd best get prepared." Oscar said standing up, "The members were kind enough to supply me with a chocobo to replace my horse. The poor thing wandered off while we were in the desert..."
"I'll go with him." Kein said as the rest of the guardians nodded and split off to their own directions. The only ones remaining were Jade, Kuro, Kariudo, Kel, Cliff, Heihachi, Lavi and me. I felt a cold feeling creeping into my stomach.
War? Now? Against all those badguys? Since there's akuma, we have no chance. We only have Lavi and Krowley as exorcists. Not to mention the Tsviets... And not even half of us can fight hollows! We can't even hit them let alone see them...
I slowly staggered to my feet and started to walk away.
"Kiako? Where're ya goin'?" Lavi asked.
"Nowhere, I just need to clear my head." I said with a smile and quickly jogged away.
ʓʓʓ
I felt absolutely sick to my stomach. I went around behind a few of the tents that were set up and leaned against one of the lone bits of ruin that poked out from the sand and leaned against it.
War...? I'm only 15, how can I go fight a war? I... I just can't...
I felt tears rolling down my face and fell to my knees.
War?
The word repeated itself in my head as I covered my mouth and started to cough and wrech as I choked on my own tears. That meant... People would die. People I knew and recognized. Not only that...
I'd have to learn to kill people...
I wreched dryly again sobbing and coughed. I felt something warm on my back and glanced behind me seeing Kakashi rubbing my back in small circles.
"It's ok, just calm down." he said softly. Slowly, my breathing evened out and I swallowed a bit while sniffling, "There, that's better." I sniffed as he helped me up to my feet and pet my head.
"Sensei..."
"You're worried about the war aren't you?" Kakashi asked. I nodded, "Don't worry, I'll try to protect as many people as I can, and I'll protect you so you won't have to kill anyone, and so no one will kill you." His eye turned into happy archs as I looked up at him. I stuffed my face into his vest and hugged him.
"Thanks... Sensei..."
"Hey hey, there, don't cry." Kakashi said petting my ears and tilting my face up to looked at him, "Dry those tears, you don't want the others to see them do you?" I shook my head wiping my eyes with my sleeves. I smiled up at him and he smiled back giving me a light push back towards camp.
When we got back, Kakashi lightly nudged me as Hei-san approached us.
"Have fun." he whispered before walking ahead and greeting Hei-san as he left.
"Hey, you ok?" Heihachi asked. I quickly nodded with a smile feeling my eyes well up again. Dammit whenever people ask if I'm ok when I'm not, it just makes me feel like crying even more. He sighed and rubbed his hand against my face, "You're such a poor liar."
"Eh?"
"The fur on your cheeks are all damp, you've been crying."
"Oh that! Heh, just got a bit stressed out about the idea of the war." I said and hugged Hei-san, "I'm ok now." Heihachi sighed again hugging me back and snuggling into me.
"Yare yare, you make me worry about you too much..." he said giving me a small peck on the cheek. I chuckled and took hold of his hand.
"So, shall we get back to camp?" I asked. Hei nodded and we started to walk back. A few of the others were busy preparing items and gathering weapons to use. The biggest group was Kel and Lavi's sparring between hammer and spear. Kuro Hao, Leon and Jade were discussing... well, stuff. Most of the conversation being Jade pissing Leon off with smart remarks.
Hei-san and I looked at eachother and laughed.
"A... Ano..."
"Hm?" I looked to see Krowley fiddling with his suit nervously. The white chunk of hair that was usually sticking straight up into the air like a spike was hanging in front of his face. For a moment, he looked less demonic.
"Miss, if you, or any of your friends are hit with bullets from Akuma, I may not be able to reach them in time to save you." he said, "So please, forgive me if I can't."
"No worries Krowley, we guardians, are suppose to be prepared to die for our summoner. but please if you will..." Heihachi pulled his pilot cap off and bowed down on his knees, "Please, don't let any of the summoners die." Krowley looked surprised for a moment then nodded with a smile.
"I give you my word."
"Miss Kiako." A WRO member approached us and saluted, "Commander Reeve would like to speak to you."
ʓʓʓ
I entered the tent where Reeve and a few of the other commanders there. (After asking for many many directions...)
"Oh, hey! It's the kitty girl!" Gippal greeted. Baralai and Nooj smiled.
"Hey guys." I waved, "So, what do you need to talk to me about?" There was rustling behind me and Kuro walked in with Kariudo.
"Oh, you got called too huh?" Kuro said.
"Since you three are the summoners here, we were just thinking..." Reeve started.
"We thought it'd be best if you three avoided the war as much as possible." Komui said, "We have enough troops here to--"
"What? But there's akuma, and hollows!!" I started to protest, "Last I checked we only have Lavi and Krowley as exorcists, and Hitsugaya and Matsumoto as Shinigami! And out of all of us only Kuro, Kariudo and I can see them!!"
"Yes, it is a losing battle..." Nooj said adjusting his glasses.
"So that's why we're moving to the Calm lands." Baralai said, "If we can get the battle there, not only will we have an advantage of being able to walk properly, we can also call reinforcements from Bevelle."
"What about Balamb?" we all turned around to see Kel standing at the door, "Sorry, didn't mean to intrude, but wouldn't calling Balamb work too?"
"Balamb? But we have no connection to Balamb." Reeve said, "How could we..."
Kel stepped aside and a dark haired man stepped in. Kuro, Karudo, and my own eyes drifted down the man's many belts to see a gunblade strapped to it.
"Name's Leon." he said, "Kel called us telling us about what's happening."
"Uh, we already have a Leon, so can we just call you Squall?" I asked. Reeve hurried around the table to Squall.
"Then, will you...?"
"I've already ordered some SeeDs to come. They'll be here by tomorrow morning." Squall said, "And, I guess I'll take back my name..." The others looked at us and the three of us looked at eachother.
"Well guys, should we leave?" I asked.
"Since we're planning to lure them to the Calm Lands, it's a chance for you three to send the Magus sister." Baralai said, "Take some of your guardians as well."
The three of us huddled together.
"What if they need us though? It's not like there's alot of healers in this camp." I said, "I mean like, I'm the only one with the strongest white magic!!"
"That is true, but then again now that I think about it, wouldn't it be better if we three went on ahead to send the Magus sisters?" Kariudo asked.
"Perhaps I could help you in this dilema." Jade said looming above our heads in the huddle.
"WHAA!!!" the three of us split up at the sudden appearance of Jade, "Jade!! When the HELL did you get in here?!?"
"Colonal Jade? You mean to say YOU'RE Jade the Necromancer?" Reeve asked. Jade shrugged.
"Yes I am, although I must say that reaction from everyone is starting to bore me." he replied, "While I'm in here, I do say it's wise for the summoners to go into hiding, or finish what business they have."
"But--!"
"Logically, if you summoners no longer existed, no one would send the Aeons I've read about in the reports. It's the same as Exorcists for Akuma and Shinigami for Hollows." Jade said, "If you do you're job properly, we'll do ours." The three of us looked at eachother and after a moment, nodded.
"Ok."
We trotted out of the tent and I stuck my hands into my pockets sighing. We were to leave tomorrow morning before the first battleon was deployed. Kariudo, Kuro and I all glanced at one another and and gave them a dull smile.
"Well, guess we better tell our guardians too huh?" I said.
"Yeah. Where do we meet tomorrow?" Kariudo asked.
"Just follow me, only god knows where Kiako will lead us." Kuro snickered. I chuckled and rubbed behind my head.
"Well, I'm gonna get some sleep before we go, and say good bye to everyone." I said. They nodded, all of us thinking the same thing.
That this goodbye, could be our last time seeing some of our guardians...
ʓʓᦩ
"So... That's what's going to happen..." Cliff said as the others were by the fire. Chichiri was fiddling with his prayer beads and Ian was gnawing on his thumbnail.
"Yeah, Baralai said it'd probably be better." I said, "The others agreed too."
"At least the SeeDs will back us up." Kakashi said, "Reinforcements are good, although a good old fashioned ANBU team would've helped..." I stared at my guardians. Chichiri, Heihachi, Kakashi, Cliff, Kel, Zero, Ian and Vale. I rummaged through my beat up backpack and pulled out my camera.
10 was all the read on the counter.
"Everyone, get together in a group now, Hei-san, go and grab the others please?" I asked.
"What for?" Zero asked.
"We, might not all see eachother again, so I just want to make sure that no one is forgotten, although I wish Charden and Kyoko were still here..." I said, "So, we're taking a group picture!!"
When Heihachi had rallied everyone, I took photo's of our groups. Kuro's guardians, Diablos and Jade included, Kariudo's guardians, and mine. Then, I got a WRO member to call everyone important to come. Although, Reeve was reluctant, he joined in with the other commanders anyways. We got the excorcists to join in too, and surprisingly, I was able to persuade even Nero to join in on the picture. Miu joined in too, hey I hate the girl yes but I ain't THAT heartless.
After the pictures, and the procrastination from some of the others, I crept into an empty tent and sat on the corner of the bed breathing in a sigh and running my hands through my hair. I suddenly felt something grab my shoulders and pulled me down.
"Kiako-CHAN!" Heihachi laughed tackling me down.
"KYAAH!! Hei-san!!" I protested, but laughed along no less. Heihachi chuckled and hugged me.
"So, you're leaving first thing tomorrow morning?" he asked. I nodded sighing and snuggled up to him, "Do you get to take any guardians with you?"
"We haven't really decided yet, the others do need the soldiers..." I said. Hei-san agreed and nuzzled my forhead.
"Well, if you're going to leave, at least let me stay with you, just tonight." he asked.
"Nothing perverted now..." I said and he chuckled pulling off his cap, gloves and vest.
"No worries, just, let me hold you for the night ok? I might not get another chance." he said. I curled up in his arms against his chest and breathed his scent in.
"Hei-san, no matter what, don't die..." I said quietly. Heihachi gave my ears a light scratch.
"You too..."
Authors notes: Exams are killing me... The end... Sorry this wasn't better, I'm kinda pressed on time... sorry n.n;; Hope you enjoyed this!! Sorry for too much dialogue...