Shun

I had sent out Mason and Thatch to find Tristan again and tell him my offer on our one on one fight. I knew that if I got Tristan out of the way, that his Clan would break apart and wouldn't be much of a threat to us then. I just hoped the Tristan didn't kill those two. They were vital to our Clan. I waited outside for them to return. I had made sure I was clear on my rules for my offer; no Clan goes into battle until one of us can no longer fight, the fight takes place in the woods outside of the city limits, and it had to be one on one with no outer interference.

But there wouldn't be anything from stopping Tristan from doing any of that. It wasn't like we'd have a referee out there with us. Alice walked out from and the tenement building and stood next to me. "Shun, I know you're getting tired of me asking this, but are you sure you want to do this? What if Tristan wins? Your Clan needs you to continue leading them through this."

I looked up into the sky and saw an airplane flying lower than it should have been, but I saw why it was like it was. There were storm clouds where he should have been flying, and from the looks of them, they were going to bring in a bad storm. I felt the hairs on the nape of my neck prickle at the feeling of the oncoming storm. I sighed and told Alice, "I'm sure that this is what I have to do. And if Tristan does win, then we're in big trouble. But I want you to promise me that if I don't beat him, that you'll get as far away from this place as possible. Cause I don't know what he'll do to humans when he finishes off my Clan. Get Dan and the others out of here too."

I thought back to what Kiba had told me earlier. It kept gnawing at me that I should bring her with me, but my instincts told me otherwise. Part of me was arguing that Kiba is never wrong and I should listen to him, but the part of me that cared for Alice was telling me no and that he was wrong. The air was growing more ominous every second. It only added to the sense of something bad coming our way.

The wind was stronger now too, and easily bent the thin trees that were planted in the and around the sidewalk. Alice was quiet after I had told her to get out of the city if I did lose. I turned and saw she was gliding her foot along the concrete and making tiny rocks skip a few inches. I instantly felt bad. I must of sounded so negative to her. Like I had no faith in myself and the others like I did earlier.

It was true though. When I thought we still had fifty Clan members, I was sure we had a chance. But after hearing how half of them had been brutally killed, I wasn't so optimistic. Anyone could of looked at the statistics of each Clan and told you Tristan's stood a higher chance of kicking our asses. I was just about to say something to Alice, when I heard Mason and Thatch's wings approaching us. Tristan spared them. That's good. They landed in front of me and Alice, and didn't have a scratch on them. Another good sign.

I asked, "What did he say? Did he agree?" Thatch, who was panting from the flight back, walked into the tenement building behind me and closed the door. Mason didn't seem as worn out as Thatch when he said, "Tristan agreed and said he wants the fight to take place at daybreak. They won't make it to the city till after the fight starts since they're camping out near the fight area." That only gave me a few hours to prep myself physically and mentally for what was ahead of me, but at least I knew that they wouldn't be in the city for a while.

I nodded my head and told Mason, "Ok. Thank you for going out of your way to ask Tristan that. I know you were putting your life on the line by doing so." Mason bowed slightly and walked through the same door as Thatch. I felt a delicate hand touch the back of my arm and turned to see Alice looking at me once more. I tried to give her a reassuring smile to let her know that everything was going to be ok. But Alice was smart enough to see through that without even trying.

"How about we go back inside before the rain hits?" She nodded her head and went through the door first. Apparently Mason and Thatch had told everyone else about Tristan accepting my offer. With all of the somber faces, it felt like I was being sent on a death mission. I probably was, but I had to try and keep my Clan safe. No matter the costs and risks. Alice was near the back of the room talking with Ebony. Alice finished what she was saying to her, and walked in my direction.

I didn't have to be a rocket science to know that they were saying something about me, but I was sure I was the talk of most of the people in the room. She held my gaze and said, "I'm not going to try and stop you from doing this. I've learned that you can be pretty stubborn." I smiled, and she did as well. I held her chin in my thumb and index finger and said, "Kind of like how you can be stubborn?" She playfully hit me in my arm, and for a moment it was like nothing was happening.

That no crazed Fallen and his army were coming to slaughter us all. Like I wasn't possibly going to my death bed by fighting Tristan. And mostly, like this would be the last time I ever saw any of the people in this room. None of that was running through my mind at the few seconds that the two of us were smiling. But it hurt me inside to know that we were only smiling to cover up all of the reality that was setting in. I whispered into her ear, "Go and grab a jacket and meet me on the roof. Kay?"

She nodded her head and I stopped next to Mason and told him, "I'm going to sneak out and make my way to where Tristan and I are going to fight, because I don't want the others to know. Tell them in about ten minutes. That should be plenty of time for me to be gone." Mason nodded his head and walked off into another room. I only wanted one good-bye, and it was going to be with Alice. Not the rest of the Clan. That would take too long.

I made my way upstairs and into the storage room, where I climbed up the ladder and waited on the roof for Alice. The wind was faster now, and carried a deathly chill. Good thing I told her to get that jacket. I stared off into the distance where the forest was at. I was looking right at where I would have the fight of my life, and not too far off from there was Tristan's camp. I tired to see if they may of made a fire or something to escape the cold. Alice finally made her way through to hatch in the roof.

She was wearing a jacket that I think belonged to Blakely, but I never kept up with whose clothing was whose. She asked me, "So, what did you want to talk to me about?" We both knew what this was about, so that made it a bit easier. "I'm about to go on and make my way to where Tristan and I are going to fight and didn't want the others to know. Last thing I want to do is face twenty something good-byes when this one is hard enough as it is." The wind blew her hair around and made it look like fire. "Just promise me one thing, Shun. You'll try and come back here." I smiled. "Promise." I placed my lips to hers before I took off into the clouded sky.

Alice

How long had he been gone now? Ten? Twenty minutes? It felt like hours to me, and every second I was expecting him to come back even though I knew that the fight wouldn't take place until daybreak. It was antagonizing though. I didn't care that the cold wind was nipping at my face, I was glued to that roof. I felt like I could stay there until I knew the results of who survived what was to come.

I tried squinting my eyes to see if I could make out Shun's figure against the dark night, but it was pointless. He was too far away for my eyes to pick up if anything. The feel of his lips on mine was fading away with time, and I wanted it to stay. At least if he did die, I'd have something to remember how he felt. The streets below the roof started to wake up as early commuters started on their way to work.

They didn't even know what kind of fascinated race was in this building that they believed to be abandoned. I started to wonder, how many people actually believed in angels. I was sure the ones who did, all had the same idea like I had; white robs with white wings and golden halos and glowing auras surrounding their being. That was the stereotyped version when really there were so many different types in different shapes and colors.

Maybe there were some that fit the basic image, and I had yet to learn about them. Perhaps if there were some like that, they were royalty or something like that. I really doubted they were fighters like Shun and the rest of his Clan. I walked to the edge of the roof and sat down next to the little two foot wall, and laid my head down on the cold brick. The surface was rough on the soft skin on the inside of my arm, but as long as I didn't move much it didn't bother me.

I wondered if the others downstairs had discovered that Shun had vanished. I was sure they had. Over beyond the horizon of the city, I saw a faint light illuminating the sky and storm clouds. The sun was rising, and soon the fight would take place.

The very fight that would determine if Shun and his Clan were lost forever, or if they lived. I heard a voice from behind me say, "And now the real test starts. Let the game begin." I turned and saw Kiba standing bedside me and smiling slyly in the direction of the forest. He said again in a hushed voice, "Yes, my pawns. Let the game begin."

Shun

The forest was flat and easy to navigate through at early dawn. The rising sun lit up the dark gray rain clouds, and a fog hung low in the trees. I could have been highly vulnerable to anything in the woods looking for me. The dampness in the air clung to my skin and unfolded wings. If I tried to fly, it would be useless since we angels didn't fare well when our wings were wet.

Just like anything with wings. Sticks cracked under my feet whenever I stepped down. I looked around for the clearing that my fight would take place in. I tried to remember what Mason had said the area looked like; a large cleared area of about twenty feet in diameter and covered with grass and had trees and rocks surrounding it. I didn't realize it at first, but I was standing right in the area. When I noticed the rocks, and looked around the rest of my surrounding. The fog had left a fine mist on the grass, and all you could see were the trees that outlined the clearing. A figure started in my direction.

It held an arrogant walk and the closer it got to me I saw large wings. Then the eyes appeared. Glowing blood red with super fine slits down the pupil. So animal like that you might of well kept him locked in a cage. I saw him clearly when he was in my field of vision in the fog. His short brown hair was spiked, and my eyes found the black handle of a sword behind his back. "Hello, Shun." I hated the hubris in his voice so much, that I could of jumped him just for that instead of all the trouble he has caused my Clan. I growled out my words, "Hello, Tristan." As he circled me, I never took my eyes from him.

Rule one: Never turn your back on your enemy: Successful. He said, "Long time no see, huh? I'm surprised you recognized me. You on the other hand, haven't changed a bit if I do say so myself." I glared at him, feeling my anger and hatred boil in me. I didn't blame his Clan for harming mine. I blamed him. Everything was fine till he came along and turned into a power hungry monster that wouldn't stop at nothing until he reached his ultimate goal. Whatever that was.

"Why are you doing this? What's you're motive, Tristan?" Rule two: Know thy enemy: Successful. He threw his head back and laughed. It bounced off the trees, rocks, and fog and echoed into the far distance. He stopped circling me and said, "Isn't it obvious? We're spitting right in the face of the Realm by doing this. By showing the true power we have. And once we're done with you and gather more Fallens, we're breaking through the barrier and taking over the Realm and rule it like we should. And make them pay for what they did to us."

He was mad. It was such a ludicrous plan. There was no way it would work. I told him, "It's impossible to break the barrier. Even you don't have the power to get through it. You'll only be shot back down to Earth." His eyes flashed at me, and a sly grin slapped on his face again. "I've got weapons that can hurt us on Earth. What makes you think I don't have a way to cross the barrier rule as well?"

The clouds above us started to roar with thunder and were swirling with the wind. The wind picked up and I heard a tree crash down in the distance. I firmly planted my feet on the ground, and cold rain started to pelt down on me and Tristan. There were loud screams coming from the city, and I turned in the direction. Tristan was laughing manically now.

I hissed at him, "What have you done?" His spiked hair was sticking to his face just as mine was, and rain beaded from one of the locks. The ground underneath us had already turned muddy. "Looks like my Clan has found yours." My eyes widened with shock. I yelled at him, "We had an agreement that they wouldn't fight till one of us was dead you bastard!"

I turned back in the direction of the screams, and every instinct I had was telling me to go to them. I felt something slice in to my back and I fell into the muddy ground. Rule one: Never turn your back on thy enemy: Failed. Rule two: Know thy enemy: Failed. Rule three: Don't become distracted around thy enemy: Failed.

i think this chapter turned out pretty good. i honestly the fight will be my favorite part to write. ^^ yay! im feeling better! -throws party- there won't be an upload tomorrow for i have a band clinic and won't get back to the school till late late late. so wish me luck on my auditions. ^^ well, read, review, and other things! ~Copperpelt~