My deepest apologies for not updating for so long. Things have gotten very hectic and I haven't been getting much time to write lately. Anyway, here's a brand spankin new chapter. I decided to post a poll on my bio of what you think Zola should be in this story. So vote!
Rikaru looked out towards the horizon and was deep in thought. It felt like Nene betrayed him by attacking his village. It was no secret to the leader of Gran Kingdom where the black werewolf lived and he assured Nene that the village wouldn't pose a threat to him. Then again, now that he thought about it, knowing how strong werewolves are he highly doubted Nene believed him. Rikaru growled and clenched his fist. He was such a fool to think Nene would leave a village of werewolves alone.
"Um Rikaru?" the black werewolf turned his head and looked at Shu.
"What is it Shu?"
"Are you okay? You've been really quiet since the attack on your village." Rikaru sighed and ruffled Shu's hair.
"Don't worry about me Shu. I'm just wondering how Nene managed to find my village through the sandstorms." Of course that was a lie and the more he did it, the stronger this small feeling of guilt grew. He didn't like lying to the boy and now he was starting to definitely started to stray from his mission. Whether that was a good or bad thing was currently unknown to him.
"We'll definitely make Nene pay for this Rikaru." Shu said and Rikaru faked a small smile before looking off towards the horizon again. He didn't feel like talking anymore as he tried to sort out his feelings that he wasn't supposed to feel around them. Nene almost destroyed his village, the young shadow wielders were growing on him rapidly, and he was still confused about Zola in regards to what his king told him. It's a wonder that his mind wasn't overloaded trying to sort this all out.
"Uh guys, we have a problem." Kluke said and everyone's attention was on her.
"What is it?" Zola asked.
"We're running out of fuel and there's no place nearby to refuel the ship."
"Then we have no choice but to continue on foot." Kluke landed the ship in a forest and they started walking. Rikaru sniffed the air and he stopped.
"What's wrong maro?" Marumaro asked.
"I smell three humans headed this way very fast." Rikaru's werewolf ears appeared. "They're riding on something with huge wings."
"Might be Logi's goon squad." Jiro said. They dodged a purple beam and Gilliam appeared with his team.
"Ah these three again." Rikaru said with a slightly bored tone.
"Alright, the primary mission is to retrieve the Extra Seven from Logi's battleship. Marumaro, Rikaru and I will stay behind to handle these three while the rest of you go on ahead." Zola said and the others nodded. They ran off leaving Zola, Marumaro and Rikaru behind.
"Any particular reason why you want me to stay here?" Rikaru asked. "Besides the fact that my shadow can slow them down?"
"Were you hoping there was another reason?" Zola asked raising an eyebrow in amusement.
"No!" Rikaru said quickly with a slight blush on his face and Zola smirked. "Let's just get this over with."
"Yeah let's show 'em maro." Marumaro said and they summoned their shadows.
"Winter Wolf, we don't have time to mess around with them so let's hurry and get these three out the way." Rikaru said.
"Sir yes sir." Winter Wolf cracked his knuckles. Rikaru noticed the medallions on Gilliam and his team and narrowed his eyes.
"We'd like to end this as soon as possible so if you don't mind..." Gilliam trailed off and his team activated their medallions. A red aura started surrounding them and their power started increasing. Electricity crackled like several whips and the aura went from red to blue. "Time for some payback."
"Not good maro." Marumaro said as Gilliam, Todd and Bishop moved closer together.
"Wind Scream!" They shouted and they formed a large tornado.
"Run!" Zola shouted and Rikaru grabbed Marumaro. He wrapped an arm around Zola's waist and they both looked at the black werewolf.
"Excuse me." Rikaru said and his eyes transformed. He swiftly started running away and leaping through the trees using his werewolf speed and Zola and Marumaro held onto him tightly. The tornado the ground and caused a large explosion. When the smoke cleared, both Marumaro and Zola were still holding onto Rikaru and they were on a large branch in a tree. Rikaru was trying hard to ignore the fact that he could feel Zola's body against his. He jumped down from the tree and put the two down.
"Thanks." Marumaro said and Rikaru nodded. He couldn't speak because of his embarrasment and Winter Wolf snickered.
"Aw man they dodged it." Todd said.
"Well I was hoping they would. I wanted to enjoy this a bit longer." Bishop said.
"Feather Storm!" Gilliam shouted and sharp feathers rained down towards Zola the others.
"Crystal Ice Shield!" Winter Wolf put up an ice shield and the feathers, along with two purple beams, hit the shield. Cracks appeared on the shield and Rikaru cursed.
"How long can you keep the shield up?" Zola asked.
"About...eight minutes if they keep this up nonstop." Rikaru said and as he gave Winter Wolf more power, the shield regenerated. "Whatever you plan to do I recommend you do it quick."
"Do you have a plan Zola?" Saber Tiger asked and Zola looked at Gilliam's medallion.
"I just might" Zola said and she turned to them. "We're going to stall them."
"Stall them?" Marumaro looked at Zola and Rikaru nodded in agreement with Zola's plan.
"If that medallion keeps forcing them to use more power than they're trained to to, their bodies won't be able to handle the stress. They'll run out of power faster than before and they'll be considerably weakened." Rikaru explained and Marumaro understood.
"But that doesn't mean we can't speed up the process." Zola said with a smirk.
"I'm starting to like you more and more Zola." Winter Wolf said and they dodged another wave of feathers.
"Arctic Breath!" Winter Wolf shot a large stream of frost but the bird shadows dodged it.
"Ray Stinger!"
"Feather Storm!" The attacks collided and it resulted in a large explosion.
"How long will it take maro?" Marumaro asked.
"Who knows. The time it'll take for their power to run out may vary." Rikaru said shrugging.
"Well until then, you guys wanna try an aerial battle?" Zola asked.
"Um...ok." Saber Tiger said in confusion and Zola told them the plan.
"Is there a wide range attack that you know Rikaru?" Zola asked.
"Well it's not an attack but it is wide ranged." Rikaru said. "It'll lower their speed and accuracy but it all depends on if they're fast enough to get away in time."
"At this point we'll take any possible chance we can get." Rikaru nodded and they dodged a blast of purple beams and feathers.
"You and Marumaro need to get away as well. It affects everyone in range except the user." Zola and Marumaro and they took off. Rikaru took a deep breath and Winter Wolf did the same as Gilliam and his team flew towards Rikaru in an attempt to chase after Zola and Marumaro.
"Now! Storm Field!" Winter Wolf's pupils disappeared and he exploded into a strong blast of snow and wind. It violently whipped around Rikaru and Gilliam's team and grew bigger. They were caught in a dome shaped snow storm and after about six minutes, the snow storm disappeared. Icicles appeared on the bird shadows and Gilliam's team were shivering. Winter Wolf reappeared and was breathing heavily. Bishop was seperated from the others and Marumaro and Saber Tiger leaped towards him. Saber Tiger's claws slashed Bishop's shadow and he fell to his death after his shadow disappeared.
"One down." Zola said and she looked to see Winter Wolf and Rikaru still breathing a little heavily. "Got enough energy to use against the other two?"
"We'll manage somehow." Rikaru said and Zola nodded. "The 'Storm Field' attack definitely slowed them down but I don't have a good reading on their speed to tell how much."
"They took out Bishop." Todd said shocked.
"Damn them." Gilliam said and the medallions started glowing purple. Gilliam and Todd winced in pain. "What the hell's going on?"
"It's about time." Zola said.
"Sure is maro." Marumaro said. Gilliam's communicator rang and he looked shocked.
"We're withdrawing?" Gilliam asked angry. He glared at Zola before he and Todd started flying away but not as fast as before.
"Don't know how much time before their speed returns to normal." Rikaru said.
"This is crap! We should take them out here and now!" Todd shouted and he turned around. After two minutes of flying, Winter Wolf appeared with Rikaru standing on his shoulder.
"Peek-a-boo." Rikaru said folding his arms and grinning. Todd glared at him.
"I've got you now!" Todd shouted.
"Hate to break it to you but that's my line. Hornet Assassin!" Killer Bat's attack hit Todd's shadow and he also fell to his death after his shadow disappeared. Rikaru landed on the ground and their shadows disappeared.
"Are we done maro?" Marumaro asked.
"Seems like it." Zola said. "Let's meet up with the others and press on."
"Sheesh I feel overworked." Rikaru said slightly leaning against a tree.
"Is that your laziness talking?" Zola asked smirking and Rikaru shot up straight from the tree.
"Well excuse me Zola but forgive me if I haven't exactly had a prolonged battle like this in a few years." Rikaru said. "Plus I used more power than I intended."
"Whatever you say wolf boy." Zola said amused. "Anyway, let's find the others."
I was originally gonna make this chapter, two chapters in one but I have this poll I want people to vote in. I like having my readers participate in the future of my story plus I value my readers' input. So vote and the next chapter will come out in about two-three days. I'm also looking for a beta reader since my ass of a laptop has no spell check and I don't have much time to proof read right now. Read, Review and Vote!