~Shadows from the Past~
Chapter 4
Author's Note: Sorry this took so long. I've been incredibly busy recenty, and I found writing about a gun v sword fight really difficult lol It took me several tries, but I hope it is still good - tell me what you think!
Gripping onto Ulrick's cloak, Fay glanced fearfully at the man called Xigbar brandishing his gun at them. His sharp, hawk-like features were fixed into a challenging grin. Cutting across his cheek was a large, ugly scar that almost mirrored Ulrick's on his other cheek. Fay wondered about the significance of it, if there were any.
"I told you before," Ulrick said. "I'm not going anywhere."
He reached into his coat and brought out his sword - the larger one that he only had for real battles. Practice was done with a smaller, more modest one. Fay started, wondering if he had come prepared, which just worried her more, but sensibly let go of Ulrick and stepped back. Xigbar's eye, flickering over to her just briefly, darkened as if trying to remember a long-forgotten face. It spooked her.
Nonetheless, he looked at Ulrick again and laughed.
"What are you using that puny sword for? Where's your k-?"
"Enough, Xigbar!" Ulrick lept forward and started the battle.
Xigbar immediately disappeared into his own black-hole - it looked different to the one Fay had seen before - and he appeared again behind Ulrick. Firing a few shots, they barely missed, clipping Ulrick's cloak. Fay sucked in a nervous breath. What she found strange were the bullets. They weren't normal ones - they looked like large, purple crystals and wherever they landed, they lingered for a moment. Ulrick spun round, dodging the other, unique bullets that quickly followed. He ran forward but once again, Xigbar disappeared before he could reach him, warping to a safe distance. This time, he was upside-down and he shot several, fast bullets. Fay watched him, transfixed, as he walked upside-down in mid-air. She wondered how he could do it - to defy gravity like he did.
Suddenly, he stopped shooting and started doing something to his guns.
"Reloading", he said.
As he did, Ulrick saw an opportunity. Aiming his sword, he dashed forward with a speed no one would have known he had, aiming right at Xigbar's chest. Seeing this, Xigbar's eye widened. He dodged sideways at the last moment, but Fay thought she saw the sword nick his arm just slightly. Warping away, Xigbar landed lightly on the ground at a small distance. He had a dark look on his face, then inspected his arm. Part of his cloak was cut open and Fay could see a little bit of blood. Xigbar gave two short, sharp laughs.
"Oopsie daisy. Another scar?" He looked up at Ulrick. "I keep forgetting that I shouldn't mess with old coots like you."
Ulrick's back was to Fay, so she couldn't see his face. He said nothing. Xigbar grinned again and raised a gun. Ulrick braced himself, setting his sword in a defensive position
"Maybe I should stop going easy on you."
He disappeared. Ulrick searched for where he would appear again. However, nothing happened. Fay looked around nervously.
A small dark portal appeared suddenly and a hand with a gun came out of it.
"Ulrick, watch out!" Fay cried.
The gun fired. Ulrick spun round. Fay covered her mouth and gasped but, just as she thought they hit, the bullets bounced off in the opposite direction. Ulrick had blocked with his sword where the bullets would have hit his chest. The gun retreated and quickly appeared elsewhere. Ulrick suspected this and blocked again. Xigbar didn't give up. He repeatedly appeared and disappeared, shooting at Ulrick in all directions. Ulrick could do nothing but block.
Fay began to panic. She needed to help him. She needed to be his second pair of eyes. Pulling out her sword, Fay lept forward to watch his back. She had quick reflexes, so was confident in deflecting any shots to relieve the stress for Ulrick.
"No!" he barked, getting in front of her in fear that a stray bullet would hit her.
The firing stopped for a moment and Xigbar finally made an appearance. He loomed above them, shooting unexpectedly. Ulrick shoved Faylenne while moving back himself and the strange, purple bullet lodged itself into the ground where they once stood. Xigbar stood upside down again, giving Fay a long, hard look. She returned it with a glare. Ulrick immediately put himself between them. He pushed Faylenne away and swung his sword up. Xigbar saw this, brought his gun forward and connected with the sword. Ulrick looked suprisingly furious, which Xigbar also noticed.
"What's wrong, Ulrick? I thought this fight was about us. Or", his voice grew interested, "is it about the girl? What are you not telling me, huh?"
Fay looked at Ulrick. What did Xigbar mean? She became concerned, and suspicious, when Ulrick scowled. He wrenched his sword away, nearly making Xigbar lose a hold of his gun, who then warped away to save himself from another swing. He landed back on his feet, shooting Ulrick again without a pause.
To make matters worse, two portals took form and the two people from before walked through - the blue-haired man and the younger one with the mullet, Demyx. Xigbar grinned triumphantly and continued to shoot, slowly walking round Ulrick in a circle. All three black figures now surrounded Ulrick, who growled in frustration. He couldn't deal with three people at once, Fay knew. Not when he had to concentrate on blocking Xigbar's bullets. Fay's blood ran cold when the man with the strikingly blue hair produced a giant of a sword. It was so strange, she began to wonder if it even was a sword. It's rounded end had huge spikes that made Fay's eyes widen. He looked menacing - and he was heading straight for Ulrick. Now Fay knew she really needed to help. Yet how could she, when there was someone with that kind of weapon? It would crush her. It will crush Ulrick!
The man raised his weapon, ready to strike. Ulrick was defenseless against it. Fay nearly cried out. Then, Ulrick gave a signal, one Fay didn't recognise. Someone ran into the scene. When Fay saw the long, blonde hair, she finally understood. Skye had been watching, waiting for a signal if she was ever needed. Fearlessly, she intercepted the blue-haired man. She hit his mighty sword aside with her strong arm-shield, but it was hardly fazed. His sword was too heavy.
Fay grew annoyed as she watched them now, fighting. Ulrick never let her help. She hated sitting in the sidelines doing nothing when she had the ability to fight just as well as Ulrick or Skye. Yet she couldn't disobey her mentor, not now, so she watched quietly as the four figures fought. Demyx stood back, looking just as worried and uncertain as herself.
Xigbar and Ulrick continued their fight. Xigbar zipped about in his unique black-hole of his, firing several bullets in different directions in an attempt to get through Ulrick's defence. However, Ulrick unfailingly blocked his shots, taking his chance to get near whenever Xigbar had to reload. Skye on the other hand looked horribly outmatched against the strange man with the weapon as tall as himself. His strikes were so powerful that Skye had to compensate her defending techniques - she could do no more than redirect his blows to the ground. A full-on block would probably send her flying. Whenever she did redirect his strikes, he was left open for Skye to attack, which just seemed to make him more irritated and ferocious with his attacks. When he got too fierce, Skye nimbly dodged aside, the heavy sword crashing down were Skye was seconds before.
Fay wasn't sure what to do. It didn't feel right for her to just sit back, but she had never really been in, or seen, real combat before. She had only done practice sessions with Ulrick all these years. Thinking of Ulrick, she turned to watch him anxiously. She could see the tired strains on his face and just grew even more anxious. He caught her watching for a moment.
"Get out of here", he ordered. "It's not safe."
He saw the defiant flare in her eyes.
"Now!"
"But Ulrick-!" She faltered when she saw his anger.
"I'm not in the mood to argue!"
She backed away, shaking her head. She couldn't leave now, not able to know or see what would happen to them. What if they didn't come back?
Meanwhile, the man Skye was fighting whipped his head around in Demyx's direction.
"Are you just going to stand there, or will you do something?" he asked.
The chillingly calm menace in his voice sounded scarier than if he had shouted it. The young man shook in fear.
"Uhh..." he quavered, looking at the four fighters nervously. Unsure of what else to do, he used the only thing he could control - water.
To the four that were fighting, a huge wall of water was what they least expected. Unfortunately for Demyx, he didn't aim very well. Instead of Ulrick and Skye, he hit his comrades, and the force of the water unceremoniously flung both black-cloaked men backwards. Ulrick and Skye stopped where they were, momentarily stunned. Fay's mouth hung open. Poor Demyx had a look on his face of complete horror. For a short time, no one moved, too caught up in the unexpectedness of it all. Ulrick was the first to snap out of it and motioned to both Skye and Fay. "Lets go!"
They took their chance and retreated, Ulrick having to drag Faylenne away from the scene in front of them. They were gone before the two shocked figures on the ground could even register it.
As soon as it had happened, Demyx knew he would be in big trouble. When the two figures sat up, he backed away, terrified. Xigbar just sat there, looking bemused and still a little surprised. However, the other got up slowly, soaked through completely. His boots squelched noisily and water dripped off every part of his cloak and off his bright blue hair, half of which was plastered to his face.
"Demyx..." His voice was so low and snarled it would send chills down the toughest man's spine. "What...was...that?"
Demyx knew he was definitely in big trouble.
Author's Note: Please leave a review! Constructive critisism is important to me, so I appreciate it =)
(And I hope you like the ending! XD)
Kingdom Hearts and their characters (C) Square Enix
Faylenne, Ulrick, Skye, Esper City etc etc (C) me