Silver Skulls Chapter 4: A New Title
Two warriors walked together in the cold winter morning, both having finished their jobs. One was tallish with short cut blond hair, the other lanky and almost thin in comparison. Both were men. They were discussing the recent promotion to "Skull" and the taller man spoke, "Well William, what do you make of it?" The tall man asked his companion,
"I don't know what to make of it to be honest…" William, the slightly shorter of the two said seriously, "Do you think it's because we…" he let his sentence hang in the air as they sensed the other two of the "Skulls" arrive. Nikolai and Hunk were both now wearing black amour like William and Albert, their swords the only thing that made them the same as their female half-yoma counterparts. Albert was still the Number 1, but now he was able to sort out minor disputes among his fellow warriors; as well as the other men of course. He was also responsible for enforcing the rules of the Organization, something he didn't particularly care for as Rimuto seemed to be turning strange for lack of better words in Albert's mind. It also didn't help that just three weeks before he and the other Skulls had heard that the Organization were possibly the cause of the yoma outbreak in the first place. Albert sighed and answered William's unspoken question, "I believe so," and Hunk looked at them, clearly knowing full well what they were talking about.
"So now vhat are ve going to do?" Nikolai asked seriously, "I have enough on my plate vithout the Organization trying to replace me you know,"
"As far as we know," Albert said through his teeth, "This…promotion is more or less a bribe to keep the female warriors from finding out what we already know about the Organization," Albert looked at Hunk, "Hunk, how much do you know about their latest project?"
"Simple," Hunk said through the mask he always wore, "They're looking at a lesser "eyes" to stay at Sutafu and control their more troublesome warriors,"
William and Nikolai both looked between Albert and Hunk,
"Vhat for I thought Hunk vas enough to keep them in check?" Nikolai asked calmly,
"So did I," William muttered to himself,
"The new "eyes" is a supplementary warrior only," Hunk said darkly, and the four went quiet. Clearly Hunk didn't like the idea that there was a woman that would have the same power as him, or rather a woman that would get in the way.
Meanwhile in Sutafu there was talk among the men about how to obtain a warrior that would be able to keep an eye on the newly created Silver Skulls and on other more troublesome warriors such as Roxanne. Dae was suggesting a couple of methods but none seemed to work. Eventually it was Orsay that piped up an idea, "How about we look for girls who are naturally sensitive to what is going on around them, like Hunk,"
"Orsay, you are a genius," Rimuto said boredly, although he was secretly pleased with what he was hearing. This girl that Orsay suggested would be the ideal solider for them, "I think it is well worth looking into, if such a girl could be found."
Meanwhile some several thousand swords away, a group of female warriors were quietly tracking down a target. This particular group consisted of Roxanne of Love and Hate as well as Luciela, Rafaela and Elibeth. Roxanne knew the area they were in was notorious for awakened beings. She had warned the others to remain calm and to follow her lead as she was the most skilled of the hunters among that group of warriors as well as the strongest. She didn't expect them to be fighting an awakened being that was just that bit too strong for them. Oh, she was strong enough, but the younger ones weren't. Roxanne and Elibeth both took the brunt of the damage together all while protecting Luciela and Rafaela. The damage that the pair took was enough to kill them, but not before they significantly increased Luciela's and Rafaela's chance to survive.
The two arrived at Sutafu, battered and bruised from their ordeal that was about to get that bit worse. Upon hearing that it was the sisters' fault that Roxanne had died Albert had his blade inches from their throats. He was furious that a warrior he'd cared about was dead. Of course they were lucky that Albert was called in by Rimuto. Luciela sunk to her knees and Rafaela stood poised and calm, despite the fear that she felt on the inside.
Weeks passed since Roxanne's death. Albert was walking alongside William and both were quiet. William seemed to know that Albert didn't want to talk about his reaction about the news of Roxanne's death. Still William couldn't help but wonder what made Albert so upset in the first place.
William sat by the river bank staring at the star filled sky. He was thinking about Annette again and how much he missed her and his daughter Sherry. William didn't know how to deal with the pain within his heart, nor did he even know what to do about it. Of all the men, he was the only one that actually had a wife and child. Albert never married nor did he express any interest in women in general that William knew of. Hunk and Nikolai were more interested in showing each other up in what he could do to the other and William was the odd man out. He held his head in his hands and for not the first time since becoming a half-yoma warrior William Birkin felt alone. Even though his female comrades were asleep not far from him; not one knowing his past, although they'd certainly guessed a good percentage of it without really digging too deeply into it. He was amazed at how easy it was for them to figure out that he'd lost his wife and child, even though they didn't know why he'd lost Annette and Sherry. He supposed he should have been grateful. They were after all only trying to support him, but he felt like it wasn't what he needed. There were other things to worry about and Number 15 was one of those things. She was a nice enough kid, but a little sick in the head. Of that Birkin was certain; why else would shivers run down his spine whenever she was involved? He saw one of them rise, and she simply sat alongside him. She was the Number 10, Vivian; the anti-warrior. Rimuto had decided that Vivian should be out and about like the other warriors since Risa (the unofficial Number 10) was enough to keep the men safe. As well as a young trainee, Lana; Birkin belatedly realised. Three was over kill obviously. Little did Birkin know that she wasn't his enemy like he thought, but she would become a friend to him in ways that he didn't expect. He would discover what it was to have a friend of a different kind, a friend like Albert. But a friend that knew his losses far more keenly.
They came to a river and William decided to have a swim. Albert sat lazily on the bank, lost in thought as William enjoyed the cooling water. After half an hour Albert joined William and the pair chatted casually while treading water. Albert felt a little better but he was still upset about Roxanne's death. Heck, he'd even threatened to kill Luciela and Rafaela if he saw them again, and that really kept them as far away as possible for him. He felt guilty, perhaps he shouldn't have cared that much, but William was the only friend that Albert had, surely he would be able to explain what Albert couldn't. Of course talk didn't steer that way and Albert had no intention of saying anything. They climbed up the bank afterwards and pulled on their amour. It didn't matter if they were drenched in water as travelling would have them dry in no time. Albert and William parted ways; they had jobs to attend to. Albert had warriors that he had to see, William had to help Dae make new ones. Hunk and Nikolai were tasked with finding potential warriors as well as several of the men in black, the handlers of various warriors. These duties were supposed to keep the Skulls "busy" and Albert supposed they did to an extent, but they were only recent and mostly due to requests of the Skulls themselves rather than Rimuto's insistence…no it would be a bit of both Albert realised and sighed, god damn it I wish I hadn't have said anything! He could sense the pair of warriors that he had to talk with and carefully arrived.
Months passed like a blur to Hunk. He constantly kept an ear out for word that new "eyes" were created and for the most part he was afraid. He knew he shouldn't be, but he was. As a man he was at risk of awakening and yet…here he was unawakened and face as hidden as ever. The men speaking among themselves as yet again, not a single girl had the skill that they were looking for. The men had been in meeting for hours and not a single result. He should have been relieved but he wasn't. He wasn't relieved at all. If there was one thing that he'd learned it was that warriors could be replaced. They were expendable to the Organization, as he and the other men had found out the hard way. Rimuto had done what he could to keep them all happy, but there was so much that he could do. Hunk knew that and as much as he hated Rimuto, he couldn't find a good reason for the man to be killed, although he would sometime in the future.
It would take five years after Roxanne's death to bring out Hunk's worst fears. He, Albert, Nikolai and William had all been resting casually in the main area for the warriors when Orsay and Dae arrived with two girls. It was the smallest that caught the Skulls' eyes. Not only was she quite small, but she had an aura about her that screamed yoma, and yet there was no yoki. The other girl was pushing the height limit; she was as tall as Orsay and looked set to really outgrow him. The children were both varying ages and Albert felt that the smaller of the two, the child with dark blond hair would need protection. It was then that he saw her pale blue eyes regard him. She was pretty for a kid, Albert decided, thick eyelashes that really gave her the child look, or was it her hair that barely come down to her shoulders? Albert and Hunk both observed the older girl. She was far too shapely to be a girl surely, body more akin to a woman. Nikolai smirked and said, "Vell at least there's one that's good looking to join the ranks," in his thick Russian accent, William rolled his eyes and said,
"So, you won't get any luck with her, because she'll end up being with someone else," All meant to annoy Nikolai just a little and to get Hunk to bite as well. And yet it wasn't normally William, perhaps it was his yoki that made him want to do what he just did. He was quite pleased when Hunk bit though…too bad Albert didn't put his two cents in.
"Shut up; both of you! Our job has nothing to do with these girls!" Hunk growled, more concerned about how the small girl seemed to respond to Orsay pushing her forward even though he hadn't even moved an inch. It seemed that Orsay had the girl that Rimuto wanted. Hunk looked at her and she didn't meet his eyes…at least not the same as how she'd met Albert's. Hunk noticed that the two were ushered onwards and he somehow knew trouble was to be had.