Notes: Summary: (because I can't seem to figure out which section to put in the tiny space outside) The Seishun Alliance was destroyed years ago when ancient forces long thought laid to rest were awakened once more. The old protectors and leaders were banished and the world dropped into the dark age of the Empire. But when the outlawed rise, where can the world turn? With great powers awakening in a new generation comes another chance and the dawn of another age in time. Now it is up to them to change the world—but everyone seems to be on a different quest, none of which seem to match. (Eventual romance)
Chapter 3Jumping lightly onto a pile of crates stacked outside an alley mouth, Fuji cast a quick glance back at his pursuers before dropping over the other side and racing between two women carrying large baskets of apples. He hadn't expected them to be this fast! And he was certain by now that at least one of them had powers of some kind or another as well. One of the Elite maybe? It was hard to tell and he wasn't feeling particularly inclined to wait for the two to catch up and find out.
Skidding around a corner, he glanced back over his shoulder. No one there. Scanning the other streets that intersected at that particular area, he ducked abruptly as a flash of light flew through the air where his head had been. The attack exploded amidst the stack of barrels behind him and his eyes snapped open as said wall crumbled. Barrels bounded down towards him, bouncing against each other and rolling across the dusty ground.
Flinging up one hand instinctively, he summoned a shield around himself. The barrels hit the faintly blue barrier, sending ripples of azure light through its surface, and hit the ground to go rolling away. He let the shield drop as soon as the last barrel was safely out of the way turned, heading for the thickest crowd he could find at short notice.
By now his pursuers were far too close for comfort. He had to try to lose them or he really might be making his last journey—this time to prison or worse.
Reaching up, he touched the pendent through the fabric of his shirt to make sure it was still there. If it worked, then it would have all been worth it.
oooooooooo
"Where did he go?" Oishi panted, glancing about frantically, just managing to jump out of the way of a charging barrel. But another decided it would be a wonderful idea to swerve suddenly so that he tripped over it, nearly falling flat on his face in the dust. Luckily, he managed to catch himself before that happened and he earned himself a broken nose.
"There," Tezuka sprinted for the corner of the tanner's store where he could see the very tip of a deep blue cloak whipping around the corner.
Sliding around the corner after the telltale piece of cloth, the two of them found themselves heading through the outskirts of the city. Before them stood the tall, imposing wall of trees that marked the forest fringe. And there, almost to the first of the trees, was a running figure with honey colored hair and a blue cloak that flapped in the wind as he ran.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Ryoma's head jerked around abruptly as he froze in mid step, green gold eyes staring down the city street. The wind that had kicked up a moment ago stirred through his night black hair and tugged at his cloak as he stood there, unmoving.
"Ryoma?" Momo paused and glanced down at his friend in surprise. "What's the matter? Do you see something?"
He turned to follow the direction of the other youth's gaze but all he could see was the same mass of people as before, hurrying around the same street, doing all the same things they had been doing earlier. Nothing looked out of place to him…
"There's someone there…" Ryoma murmured, more to himself than to his companions, "someone using magic…"
"Another sorcerer?" Inui asked, adjusting his glasses and eyeing the bustling street.
"I'm not sure, but it seems possible."
"Then why are we still standing here?" Momo said excitedly. "This could be one of the people we're supposed to be looking for!"
Ryoma rolled his eyes in exasperation, "You idiot. I already said that I am unable to tell if it is a sorcerer or not. And if it isn't we could be walking right into the hands of the Elite!"
"We should go take a look," Inui mused, staring off in the direction Ryoma had been looking.
"I don't like the feel of this," Momo muttered as he trailed after his two departing companions, hefting his traveling pack a little higher on his shoulder. He should really ask Ryoma to put his in one of those dimensional pocket thingies too.
A few minutes later found the three travelers standing in a lane where chaos had apparently taken a stroll under the evening sun. There were barrels rolling around over the ground and happily bowling over people and merchandise stands alike. Somebody had dropped several baskets of apples—though the spilled fruit barely managed to rival the distressed shopkeepers in number.
Crouching down, Ryoma examined one of the glossy, red fruits. Staring at it intently, he frowned slightly, then stood up and walked over to one of the shopkeepers who looked less hysterical.
"Excuse me," he stepped in front of the man to get his attention, "what happened here?"
The shopkeeper jumped like a startled rabbit and stared at the sorcerer, eyeing his travel stained clothes suspiciously.
"Who're you?" he demanded aggressively, eyes narrowed to near slits as he edged in front of his store as though to protect it. "What do you want? You're not from around here! Are you with one of those people, because if you are, I'll have you know that—"
Momo scowled, stepping in from where he had been standing behind his friend, "Jeez, why are you being so rude? He just wanted to know what happened here!"
"It's none of your business!" the man snarled angrily. "If you aren't one of those hooligans then you can just clear out! Unless you'd like to pay for all the stuff they ruined!"
"We should move," Inui said calmly as he appeared beside Ryoma. "I am positive that we will be severely delayed if we continue this conversation."
The young sorcerer sighed in exasperation. Stupid Momoshiro. Why did he always have to be so rash? It wasn't as though the shopkeeper had actually insulted them—yet. The man was just one of the many foolish beings who couldn't care less about what was going on around them as long as their own lives ran smoothly and according to plan. Little deviations always set those types of people off.
"You didn't answer our question yet!" Momo was spluttering. "After all that you could at least—"
But the shopkeeper had had enough. Reaching down, he snatched one of the trampled fruits off of the dusty ground and hurled it at the tall youth's face.
Purple eyes widening, Momo ducked then yanked the man up by the collar, "What was that f—"
"Freeze!" a loud, commanding voice cut through the commotion as a squad of uniformed guard pushed their way through the milling crowds. "You are under arrest for disturbing the peace and violent actions!"
oooooooooo
"You can't be serious!" the young warrior shouted through the bars at the guards retreating backs. But they ignored him. Sighing, he slumped to the ground and stared dejectedly at his companions. "Can you believe this? I mean, we didn't even do anything!"
"I did warn you about the extended conversation," Inui pointed out, sounding cool and collected as ever as his thick, square glasses glinted.
"But—"
"You were being an idiot," Ryoma snapped, glaring through the shadows that permeated their little jail cell at his companion. The torchlight spilling through the bars from the hall beyond reflected in odd, dancing patterns in his green gold gaze. "Grabbing the front of someone's shirt like that in the middle of such a mess was bound to be taken as an act of violence after a brawl. You should have thought before acting."
"But he was being rude to you!"
"Yes, to me," Ryoma rolled his eyes, "not you. So you should have let me deal with it."
"Jeez, ungrateful people," the taller youth sighed, "I was just trying to lend a hand."
"Don't you mean voice?"
"Whatever. What are we supposed to do now anyway?"
"We have a few options there," Inui replied, adjusting his glasses. "One, we could stay here and serve our time—"
"No way am I staying here that long for doing nothing!"
"—Or two, we can leave. Which, of course, is somewhat more difficult than option number one, seeing as the guards are most unlikely to let us waltz out of here without a fuss."
"Do tell," Ryoma snorted, standing up and dusting off his cloak. "There's no way I'm going to sit around here after we just managed to find a lead."
"As expected. Now, Echizen, I trust you know how to cast a sleep spell?"
Ryoma nodded.
"Good."
The Observer stood up and peered through the bars of their cell. Glancing down the right side of the hall, he noted the faint glimmer of blue light on the stone floor at the bottom of the stairwell that led back up to ground level. There were several guards stationed periodically all the way to said stairwell, as well as down in the other direction—though judging by the different degrees of alertness he would guess that that very staircase was the only way out.
Returning to sit back down in his original seat, he adjusted his glasses, "We will wait until the sun sets then."
"Until the sun sets?" Momo repeated dubiously. "How are you going to know when the sun sets when we don't have a window?"
The Observer grinned, "I have my ways. Now, I suggest you both get some rest. Something tells me we aren't going to be given much of a chance to sleep tonight."
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
It was dark under the forest canopy—dark and cool with the slightest taint of moisture in the air. All that could be heard was the occasional chirps and clear, sweet songs from distant birds, which combined with the gentle rusting of leaves to create a soothing melody only ever heard in nature.
But the young man racing with light footsteps over the forest's thick carpet of foliage had no time to listen as he jumped over a fallen log—nearly slipping on the moss covered ground beyond—only to dive deeper into the trees. He could hear the sound of his pursuers getting closer every second, and he thought grimly to himself that he had, apparently, underestimated their speed. He just hoped it wouldn't be a fatal mistake—it couldn't be. He wouldn't let it.
Skidding around a large, moss-covered boulder, he increased his pace. He had spotted what looked like a set of hoof prints where the ground was a little muddy, and immediately headed in the other direction. The last thing he wanted to do was lead the enemy to his unsuspecting friend. It was his battle after all, not Eiji's.
It was then that the trees took it upon themselves to stop so abruptly that it was a shock to the system akin to plunging into ice water. They simply ended, and blue eyes widened at the sudden—rather unwelcome—image of a cliff edge.
Digging his heels into the soft, grassy earth, Fuji skidded to a stop just before he went over the edge of the ravine along with the clumps of dirt and grass his actions had dislodged. They bounced merrily away into the empty air to plummet past sheer, rocky walls, all the way down to where the sound of rushing water could be heard roaring and white with power.
Not good, he mused, scrambling to his feet and spinning around to meet his pursuers. It looked like he would have to fight them now.
Closing his eyes again, he couldn't help but grin. Boy would they be getting a surprise.
Raising his right hand to trace a glimmering circle of light in the air, he waited.
There was the sound of fast footsteps—a flash of movement.
They were coming from the side of the clearing.
Turning quickly, Fuji sliced a hand through his circle of light. Said circle flashed a brilliant white as the area near the trees towards his left exploded. Brids shot out of the treetops, screeching their protests ad the trees themselves shook violently and a billow of dust flooded the air and a few more chunks broke off of the cliff edge.
But out of the dust cloud streaked a bolt of white-gold lightning. Startled, Fuji held up his hands, catching the attack with his own powers and diverting it so that it crashed into the opposite side of the ravine. A loud roar echoed through the forest as a massive section of rock crumbled, pouring down into the river below in a waterfall of dust and stone.
Then a sudden gust of wind whirled the dust away to reveal a tall figure with dark, windswept hair and hard eyes. He was standing several paces down the ravine lip from Fuji, surrounded by a shimmering dome of distorted air. The circle of what had once been grassy meadow outside of his shield was nothing but charred earth, but the man himself had remained untouched.
Behind him, Fuji could see the anxious looking healer from before, but all of his attention was focused on the man with the fierce, brown eyes.
So he's not one of the Elite after all, he thought with some surprise as he reached for his powers.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Dark blue eyes shot wide open as the distant sound of an explosion rang through the forest.
"Nyah, that can't be good!" Eiji pulled back on Finiko's reins and urged her to turn around, clucking to Triad as he did so. Then he leaned forward and announced the command to run, his eyes fixed on that distant flash of light.
That has to be Fuji! He thought frantically, hands clutched tightly around the reins. His friend must have been caught!
He had to get there to help!
He wasn't going to let his only real friend get imprisoned by the Elite. Not in a million years!
Why can't they just leave us alone? Eiji thought fiercely as he leaned lower over his horse's neck to avoid getting whacked in the face by the inconsiderate branches.
Up ahead, he could see the trees parting to reveal a small clearing on the edge of a cliff—a clearing where two people stood.
"Fuji!" he shouted as he pulled Finiko to a halt, throwing out a hand to stop Triad as well. Jumping out of the saddle, he was about to run out into the clearing when blue and white light clashed and yet another explosion rocked the earth.
He caught a glimpse of startled blue eyes—just as the entire chunk of the cliff's edge beneath the two combatants shattered.
TBCA.N. Well, I can't think of anything in particular I need to mention this time, just that more of the characters will be showing up next chapter. So, what did you think? Feel free to ask questions.