A/N: And here I am with another new chapter! Blindingly fast, right? XD I thought about withholding it for a few days, but I'm impatient. :P Be sure you read Chapter 13 first! A special thank you to TheFierceDeityMask for editing my chapter so quickly and a big thank you to all my reviewers, I hit 50 reviews last chapter! WOO HOO! That's double what I was expecting for the entire fic, so thank you all very, very much! :D Now enjoy the chapter!
The sun was already up and shining into the cave when Natalie woke the next morning. Sitting up with a yawn, the mage glanced around to greet whoever was up only to realize she was the first one to awaken. "That's odd; Lance is almost always up before me," Natalie mused as she stood up and quietly left the small cave. The mage inhaled a few deep breaths of the clean morning air and commented to no one, "Much better than that smelly factory! Now then, I guess I should wake the others." Turning back to the cave she mentally added, "And make sure Anna's feeling okay." Stepping back inside, and intending to start with Lance, Natalie was surprised to see Anna, already sitting up, looking around blearily with her green hair a horrible tangled mess.
Anna blinked up at the smiling mage and said, "'Morning, Natz. Did you sleep okay?"
Natalie nodded before sweeping a critical eye over Anna, "Now, how are you feeling? You were pretty beat up when Matt pulled you out of the rubble last night. I might have missed something since I was pretty tired when I healed you."
"So I heard from Lance," Anna commented. "I feel pretty good for looking like I was dead. My stomach is still a little tender, but I can heal that myself."
"You already talked with Lance? When'd you do that?" Natalie asked in surprise.
Anna shrugged, "I woke up last night and saw he wasn't nearby so I went outside to look for him. He was keeping watch and we talked for a little while." She smiled sheepishly, blushing slightly as she remembered their conversation, before frowning, "I apparently scared him pretty badly."
Natalie looked slightly guilty, "I forgot about the watch last night. I hope he wasn't up for too long before you woke; though, that explains why I was the first awake today." She shook her head and her expression darkened, "Lance wasn't the only one you scared, although he certainly had the most dramatic reaction."
Anna's reply was cut off by Lance stirring awake at the sound of their conversation. Pushing himself upright, the gunner ran a hand through his hair and yawned widely. Looking over at Natalie and Anna, he nodded to them before balling his blanket up and scooting back to throw it at Matt. The blanket smacked Matt in the face which caused him to bolt upright with the impacting cloth still covering his head. The swordsman flailed around for a few seconds like a demented green ghost before he lurched to his feet. The other three winced as his head collided with the low ceiling of the cave and he yelped before ducking forward and pulling the blanket off. Throwing the cloth back at a smirking Lance, Matt rubbed his head and grumbled a "good morning". The four then packed up their stuff before exiting the cave.
Anna looked around outside while reaching into the pouch that held her ocarina only to let out a cry of dismay when she found it had broken during the blast from the Praetorian. "Man! That was my favorite ocarina!" Anna pouted. The ranger sighed as she poured the broken ceramic onto the ground. Natalie frowned in sympathy as she cast a heal spell on the girl to heal the remnants of the burn on her torso. "Thanks, Natz. At least it looks like we aren't too far from the quarry in Greenwood; we must've looped back around while we were hiking through the caves and the factory. We can get some food, resupply, and I can get a new ocarina there." She looked to the other three for confirmation and set off when they nodded.
Soon, they were surrounded by trees as well as stones. They had been walking in silence for the most part when Lance asked, "What's our reception going to be when Matt, Natalie, and I waltz into the village? I mean, we did steal from them not that long ago."
Anna frowned, "I hadn't thought of that. I guess I'll just have to explain what the situation is and tell them not to try lynching you guys." She chuckled as Matt muttered a quiet 'like they could' and started walking again before continuing, "Just don't steal anything else and we should be fine."
Lance nodded as the entrance to the village came into sight. Anna was surprised to see they had actually stationed a watch, before rolling her eyes as they walked right past him and saw he was fast asleep at his post. It wasn't long before a villager recognized Anna and called out: "She's back; Anna's back!" which led to a bunch of people running up to greet her. There was a clamor of greetings and laughs before one voice rose up above all the others and asked, "Did you retrieve the Greenwood Jewel?"
The speaker was a young man named Michael, one of the only other people in the village besides Anna who knew how to fight; he was also well-liked by most of the village. Anna's shoulders stiffened ever so slightly as she looked over at him, "Not yet, I'm still working on it, but it won't be long before I get it back."
Michael scoffed, "It's already been two weeks since you left." He turned to the other members of the village, who were now frowning, "Figures a girl playing at hero wouldn't manage to get our village's sacred treasure back." He sneered as he looked past Anna to the other three, "And she keeps company with the thieves who stole it, too."
The gathered crowd, following Michael's lead, began to start yelling out accusations: "I bet she's how they got in!" "This is what happens when you send a girl to do a man's job." "Yeah, it shouldn't take this long to get back one thing, no matter what it is!" "We should kill them so they won't get in our way when we go to retrieve the Jewel!"
Natalie, Matt, and Lance were shocked at how quickly the people of Greenwood had turned on Anna. Lance made a move to step forward, but halted when Anna held an arm out and shook her head with her back still turned to them. The ranger waited until the yelling died down before she spoke in a quiet and cold voice that carried over the crowd, "You're all like starving, wild animals turning on a weak member to save yourselves; never mind that your logic is full of holes." Her green eyes were glittering with a cold fury as they swept over the now-silent crowd, "If I was behind the theft of the Jewel, I would never have come back here, nor would I have sent the goods stolen from the store back." Locking eyes with Michael, Anna's voice became even colder and she addressed the next part to him specifically. "I was the one who chose to leave to retrieve the Jewel one, because it was the right thing to do, and two, because I'm the best ranger in the village. Gender has nothing to do with that and no one-including you- was volunteering." Taking in the entire crowd once more she raised her voice slightly, "I know for a fact that almost none of you have ever gone beyond the Guardian's range of protection, so you have no idea how long travel takes, or what is out there trying to kill you. Tracking and retrieval takes time, even more so when you refuse to do anything." Anna gestured behind her at the other three members of her party, "Yes, these three stole from the store, but they had nothing to do with the theft of the Greenwood Jewel. I have already returned the stolen goods and they are now helping me find who did take the Jewel so that I can get it back." A magic wind picked up, swirling around Anna and rustling her clothing and hair as she finished, "They are my friends, and if any of you try to hurt one of them, I promise you: it will be the last mistake you ever make."
The crowd was dead silent as they parted to let Anna through. The other three exchanged concerned glances before hurrying to catch up to the silent girl. The ranger paused as she passed Michael, "I know you caused this scene because you're jealous. If you want to be the best then get out there and train." Michael shivered and backed away at her frosty tone. Anna led them through the village to her house and unlocked the door. Anna stepped aside to allow the other three in before following behind them and closing the door. The ranger stood there silently, back turned, as her friends watched her.
Natalie stepped forward and asked hesitantly, "Anna..? Are you going to be okay?"
Anna finally turned around and gave a half-hearted smile, "I'll be okay. Sorry about that, guys. I didn't think he would accuse me in front of the whole village like that."
"Is all of Greenwood that sexist?" Lance asked.
"Never mind that, is all of Greenwood usually this mean to you?" Matt wondered.
Anna shook her head, "No and no; well, at least not all of them. I think it was some kind of mob-mentality coupled with the fact that they all know the legend of the Greenwood Jewel and the fact that it's been gone for so long and I haven't gotten it back yet is making them scared." She shrugged, "Some of them are like that all the time. There isn't any rule saying 'only guys can learn how to fight', but the fact that I'm the best here, rankles the few that have any combat skills; all of whom are guys. Michael specifically hates the fact that I'm better than him." She sighed, "They'll probably be over it by the time I leave and will be cheering us on."
Natalie frowned, "Talk about fair-weather fans."
Anna waved away the topic, "Anyway, let's stock up and rest today, and we can head out to Lankyroot Jungle tomorrow; it's the quickest way to Goldenbrick Resort." She smiled then, "Now, how about we go get some food? I don't know about you guys, but I'm starving!" She wasn't, but she needed something else to focus on.
Matt cheered and Natalie smiled. Lance studied Anna's face for a few seconds, seeing the lingering hurt in her eyes before nodding. Next destination decided, Anna tossed her gear on the bed, opened a drawer to grab her back-up magic instrument, a wooden flute, stuffed it in her Adventure Pouch, and led the way back outside. Locking her house behind her, Anna turned left and led them to the outdoor eatery. The scent of bacon and eggs cooking filled the air and Matt ran ahead to the counter to order. The other three got in line behind him and paid for some food before sitting down at one of the long wooden tables. Not much later two waitresses came out and laid their food out and Matt immediately began devouring everything in front of him.
Watching Matt swallow three sunny-side-up eggs at once Anna asked, "How the heck do you do that without choking?"
"Food could never hurt me!" Matt exclaimed around a mouthful of bacon. Having finished his plate, he began eyeing everyone else's food. Lance and Natalie caught his longing stares and slid their plates further away; Anna, who was not actually all that hungry, shoved her remaining food over to the pouting swordsman with a grin and a roll of her eyes. "Yes, more bacon!" Matt shouted and began shoveling her food in his mouth too.
Anna leaned on elbow on the table and silently watched with a smile as Natalie smacked Matt's hand away from her plate. She laughed when Matt tried the same thing on Lance only to hastily retreat as the gunner raised one eyebrow, pulled a hand-bomb out and set it on the table within easy reach. A sudden call caused the ranger to twist around. The other three looked up as well when a young teenager with light-green hair slid onto the bench next to Anna.
"Hey, long time no see!" Anna greeted with a smile. Turning to her three friends she introduced the new girl, "This is my younger sister, Sarah." The other three nodded hello to her. "So, what's new since I left?" Anna asked turning back.
"Eh, nothing much; I dumped my boyfriend. He was too weak to protect me. He couldn't even kill a Slime," Sarah said.
Anna sighed, "You could learn how to use a bow. You don't need some guy to protect you." Her exasperated tone told her three friends that this was a frequent comment.
The remark had clearly gone in one ear and out the other as Sarah turned to Matt, "You look strong. Will you be my boyfriend?"
Matt flushed a bright red as Lance choked with laughter. Natalie spat out the orange juice she had been drinking and glowered at the young girl. Anna buried her face in her hands in mortification and muttered something about 'being completely unrelated to this person'. Oblivious to the scene, Sarah just watched Matt's face as he glance around wildly with burning cheeks.
"Er, don't you think I'm a little, I dunno, old for you? You look like you're only thirteen." Matt said, doing his best to ignore the rising anger from Natalie on one side and Lance's snickering from the other. His heart sank as the girl just shook her head. "I'm already… seeing someone…?" He tried, glancing nervously at Natalie, who was glowering at Sarah and looked about three seconds from incinerating her.
Anna finally took pity on the flustered swordsman, "Sarah, stop harassing my friends and go find something useful to do."
"Okay!" her sister chirped cheerfully before bouncing off.
"Sweet Godcat, what a nightmare," Anna sighed as she watched her annoying younger sister leave. Turning back to the other three she apologized for the awkward interruption. Lance was still laughing at Matt, who was doing his best to disappear inside his furry armor. Natalie looked shocked and slightly hurt as she stared at Matt. "You okay, Natz?" Anna asked in concern.
Matt looked up and around in concern, but Natalie jumped up and waved both hands in front of her face, "I-I'm fine, nothing wrong here! Now, how about we go get some supplies?" Not waiting for a reply the mage walked over to the counter of the outdoor food court and bought some dried foods to take with them.
Anna blinked after the mage in confusion before realization dawned on her face. Grinning, she turned Matt who was watching Natalie. "Looks like Natz has got a crush," she said in a sing-song tone.
Matt finally turned his gaze to Anna in confusion, "Lance is the one who uses Crush."
Lance snorted as he stood up, "Not what she meant, idiot. Let's stop by the store and sell some of the stuff we've looted."
Winking at the still-confused swordsman, Anna stood up as well and joined Natalie where she was waiting by the food entrance. Lance pocketed the bomb he had set out and followed them. Matt stuffed the last muffin sitting on the table in his mouth before he ran to catch up to them. Natalie refused to look at Matt when he joined them, choosing instead to stare sadly at the ground. Anna frowned at the sad mage before leading the way to the store. Once outside the hollowed trunk that was the item shop, Anna turned to the others, "He's probably still mad at you guys, so don't say anything super rude." She gave Lance a pointed glance, to which the gunner merely rolled his eyes and nodded. The archer opened the door and they heard a small bell tinkle to announce their entry.
The middle aged store owner looked up with a smile at their entrance, before spotting Matt at which point his smile morphed into a scowl. "Back to steal more stuff?" He groused, eyeing the three former thieves warily.
Anna stepped forward and set a few gemstones from the fight with the Crystal Golem on the counter, "No they aren't. In fact, here are a few gems we'd like to give you to apologize for that." Seeing Matt open his mouth the object, Anna made a discreet slicing motion with her hand that was hidden by the counter. Matt shut his mouth again.
The owner of the store's face softened as he pocketed the gems and he grunted, "Fine, all forgiven; just don't do it again." Smiling, he rubbed his hands together and looked at the four standing in front of him. "Now, what can I do for you?"
Anna smiled back, "We've got some stuff we'd like to sell you." She motioned for Lance to pull out whatever he wanted to sell. The gunner set a bunch of miscellaneous loot on the counter ranging from more gems to weird carved chunks of black rock to horns and pelts of slain animals. As the storeowner looked over the items and tallied up the total, Anna turned to Natalie, "What do you say we go to the target range? I want to try new magic shots, and I can teach you about those wards?" At the mage's nod, Anna glanced over at Matt and Lance who were browsing the weaponry, "We'll be at the training field past my house. Buy anything you think we'll need and then come find us, okay?" Lance waved a hand at them and the two girls left.
The ranger and the mage stopped by Anna's house to snag her bow, before Anna led the way to a bunch of targets lined up at one end of a long clearing. Showing Natalie the basics to setting wards, the ranger left her to practice and stood at the opposite end of the field from the targets and knocked an arrow on her Sky Feather's string. Pulling back the arrow, Anna channeled ice magic into the arrow and felt the shaft freeze before she let it fly towards the target. The girl grinned as she watched the arrow slam home near the center, before ice spread over the target. "It worked! Ice arrows will definitely be useful on lots of different enemies." She practiced with her Spark Arrow some more before she launched one that had a bubble of water around the head of the arrow. Grinning at the success of creating new attacks, Anna turned to see how Natalie was faring with wards, only to frown when she saw the girl just listlessly sitting there. Walking over to sit next to the mage Anna quietly asked, "Thinking about Matt's mystery crush?"
Natalie stiffened, "Of course not. Matt can like whoever he wants." Anna merely raised one eyebrow in disbelief at the defensive outburst. "I'm serious! He's free to like anyone," she sighed before adding quietly, "Even if it isn't me. Who knows, maybe he'll go out with Sarah?" The mage scowled as Anna burst out laughing, "What's so funny?"
Anna stifled her laughter, "Nothing, nothing; it's just pretty obvious he was not interested in my sister at all." The ranger shivered suddenly, "Thankfully. That would have been way too creepy if he had liked her." Glancing sideways at Natalie, Anna added nonchalantly, "Plus he was kept looking at you during the whole exchange." She smiled at Natalie's hopeful expression, "Now, have you managed any wards yet? I see a couple here that might work."
The next few hours were spent discussing the best ranges to place wards as well as more efficient ways of channeling magic through weaponry. Summoning was discussed when NoLegs showed up out of nowhere and Anna practiced with that for a while. The sun was setting when Lance and Matt finally showed up at the field. NoLegs bounced over to greet them. Matt patted the cat's head while Lance glared at the cat until NoLegs backed off. Anna and Natalie joined the two guys at the edge of the field.
"About time, that took forever!" Natalie complained.
Matt shrugged, "We were booking a couple of rooms at the inn for us three; Anna's house doesn't have enough room for all of us. We'll meet you at your place tomorrow morning, okay Anna?"
Anna nodded, "Sounds good to me. See you three in the morning." She waved as her friends walked off, leaving her alone in the field before she finally let the hurt she had kept bottled up all day out. A frown twisted her lips as she sat down against a tree and looked up between the branches as the first few stars appeared in the evening sky. The sight blurred as tears formed in her eyes and ran down her cheeks. The depressed girl drew her legs up to her chest and rested her head on her knees. Her shoulders shook with silent sobs. An unknown amount of time had passed when Anna's head snapped up at the sound of a twig snapping in the bushes nearby. The ranger wiped her eyes and cheeks on her shoulders before standing up, bow in hand. Her reddened eyes narrowed as Michael stepped out of the bushes a wooden bow with a few leaves attached was in his hand. "What do you want?" Anna hissed.
Michael said nothing, but snapped his fingers and four shaggy brown cats armed with small swords and studded wooden shields came out of the shrubs behind him and flanked the archer. Anna nervously shifted and brought her Sky Feather up and nocked an arrow as two of the cats moved forward. The cats stopped advancing. Michael let out an evil chuckle and finally answered her question, "I'm making sure you won't get in my way." He lifted his bow, drew back an arrow, and fired all in one smooth motion. Anna swayed to the side and the arrow sliced past her face, nicking her cheek, and slammed into the trunk of the tree behind her.
Blood ran from the stinging cut on Anna's face as she lobbed a series of arrows up so that they came down as a deadly hail on her foes. Three of the cats died in the Arrow Rain; the last one's tail was cut, but it did not die. Michael skillfully dodged all the arrows as they fell and fired another arrow at Anna, "That was your best? How pathetic," the man taunted.
Ducking to the side Anna dodged the arrow, thinking rapidly, "I don't want to kill him, but I might not have a choice." Suddenly, a wave of dizziness swept over the ranger and she staggered back against the tree. "W-what the..?" Anna mumbled as the world spun. She blinked trying to focus on the sight of Michael striding towards her with a malicious grin.
"How do you like my bow's poison enchantment, Anna?" the man asked, stopping right in front of the girl.
Anna slid down the trunk of the tree, her thoughts muzzy, "Poison? I-I need help." Anna discreetly summoned up as much mana as she could and summoned NoLegs behind the tree she was slumped against. Praying that the cat would go find Lance and the others, Anna tried to keep her eyes open and Michael talking, "Poison… huh? Not... not bad… but you… won't get away with this… you know…" Anna panted, vision going black as she lost the battle for consciousness.
Michael snorted at her last words sneering at the unaware ranger, "I'm not afraid of you or your 'friends'. If anything, they should be afraid of me and of my friend." He sighed in false regret, "Too bad you won't be around to meet Her. Goodbye, Anna." He raised his bow once more, ready to finish the job when footsteps pounded through the trees and Matt lunged out into the clearing, sword in hand followed closely by Lance and Natalie; NoLegs was held in the mage's arms.
Lance's and Natalie's eyes widened upon the sight of Anna collapsed against the tree with Michael standing over her, bow in hand. Matt's blue eyes flashed and he unleashed a Quick Slash on Anna's attacker. Michael deflected the attack with his bow and swept Matt's legs out from under him causing the swordsman to fall on his back with a grunt. The murderer made to run away, but a weighted net from Lance pinned him to the ground. Lance stormed forward to interrogate Michael, red eyes promising suffering, while Natalie ran over to check on Anna. Matt stood up rubbing his back. A flash of brown suddenly raced across the clearing and the remaining cat stabbed Michael in the throat causing blood to gush out. Lance sliced the traitorous cat in half and turned a cold eye on the dying Michael. Nothing was said as the man's eyes glazed over into the glassy-eyed stare of death.
The gunner turned to where Natalie was healing Anna. "Is she going to be okay?" he asked eyeing Anna with concern.
Natalie nodded, "There's no wound besides the cut on her cheek, but she's been poisoned." Lance inhaled sharply and Natalie hurried to reassure him, "It'll be fine, I'm cleansing it now."
Matt frowned at the carnage in the clearing, "What the heck happened? Why was Anna even out here this late?"
Natalie finished healing Anna and stood up with a shake of her head, "I don't know. Anna should be waking up soon so we can ask her." Even as she spoke, Anna groaned and sat up, shaking her head.
Looking around at her friends, Anna's eyes filled with tears of relief and she let out a shuddering laugh, "Thanks for coming so quickly, guys."
Lance knelt next to her, looking her over, "No problem, are you okay?" Anna nodded and he breathed a silent sigh of relief.
"What happened, Anna?" Matt asked.
Anna related everything from her breakdown after they had left earlier up to when she passed out due to the poison. Lance wrapped an arm around her and looked up at Natalie and Matt. "How are we going to explain this to the village? They already don't trust us."
"Just don't touch anything," Anna said. "The village priestess, Lana, has the ability to read recent happenings, but if you guys' mana gets mixed in it that can throw the reading off."
Natalie sighed, "Best go get her now before anyone comes across the mess."
The party nodded and Lance help Anna stand up, securing an arm around her waist when she swayed. The four set off following Anna's direction the priestess' house.
A/N: Bad things seem to be happening to Anna a lot recently. I'll need to fix that. *evil laughter*
Anyway, this chapter mutated far beyond what I originally had planned for this point, but I loved the idea of a traitor to humanity attacking the party (just Anna, in this case) so much that I had to add it. All-in-all I'm rather pleased with this entire chappie. :3 Let me know what you all think and I'll see you next time!