Kiyoshi: It's a miracle. We're back. Already.
FCL64: Oh, shut up. Anyway…I had to go back and watch YYH: Poltergeist Report again just for this chapter. I don't watch the anime much, mind you, so that I would watch that movie TWICE (both times for this story, btw) is quite out of the ordinary.
Kiyoshi: What are you even talking about?
FCL64: …Not sure. We have partial ownership of Ayaka and Kyo this chapter. I think that's everyone. :) ONWARD!
1527 A.D.
Kurama POV
As the sun sinks towards the horizon, Ayaka grows more and more quiet. She worries about us when we go on a raid alone. I am not quite sure why. We've been doing this for so long. Nothing has ever happened. Well, nothing with a significant impact. The oddest thing about it is that she doesn't resent us for leaving her alone so much as she worries we won't come back.
"So, it should take about half an hour," I say. "Probably less. We've scouted the place so many times. We know every last line of defense they have."
Kuronue rolls his eyes. "Since we know so much about it, why do we need to discuss it? In a few hours we go in, we grab it, we get out. Piece of cake."
"Heh," I answer. "You are far too relaxed."
"Perhaps you are too on edge," he counters easily.
I smile. "Perhaps." Then a spitting noise over the fire indicates that our meal is ready. The three of us each take a piece and begin eating.
"Be careful when you go," Ayaka warns, only picking at her food.
"Aren't we always?" Kuronue asks innocently. Innocently. I snort. That is one of the biggest contradictions I've ever heard.
"Sometimes I wonder," she mutters. "Kurama, would you care to tell us what's so funny?"
"Just laughing at how innocent Kuronue sounded when he asked you that. And how much innocent does not go with his personality."
For a moment Ayaka tries to hold onto her worry, but then she joins in with me and Kuronue, laughing at the ridiculousness of the idea that any of us could be innocent.
Kuronue and I stand. Ayaka frowns and says again, "Be careful."
I nod. "Yes, Ayaka. Always. We do not take unnecessary risks."
"Meaning you do take risks," she mutters.
Kuronue laughs, and I smile in agreement. "We'll be back in two hours," I tell her. Then Kuronue and I run to our next target.
As the castle looms nearer, our footsteps grow quieter, but our pace does not decrease. The moment we reach the castle doors, our backs are pressed up against the wall. After several minutes of watching, we have established what the timing of the guards is, circling the top of the walls.
Kuronue glances at me. I nod. We both rush at the door, and Kuronue watches as I work my magic on the lock. Within seconds it clicks open. Swinging it open as little as possible, we slip inside.
Immediately, as planned, Kuronue flits to the top of the walls and incapacitates each of the guards. As he does this, I am at the door to the actual building, where he meets me just as they open quietly onto a grand entrance hall.
"Some have far too much money for my liking," I murmur.
"We'll just have to relieve them of some of it, then, won't we?" Kuronue mutters back, a laughing tone to his voice.
"Let's."
We quickly slip past all the guards, all the locked doors and up to the vault. As I work the seal, spinning dials and breaking enchantments, Kuronue hops from one foot to another, as usual unable to stand still in the thrill of the raid. The vault unseals with a hissing noise, and the two of us make our way in.
It only takes seconds for my hands to fall on our desired prize: a golden tablet, engraved with powerful spells and incantations, a relic of the past that still holds great, perhaps even immeasurable, value.
As we slip back down the stairs, a young girl sees us coming, and we are moving too fast to hide ourselves before we are seen. Then she screams, loud and bloodcurdling, a shriek I hope I never have to hear again. "Damn it," I curse. "How is it we always manage to get in without a soul aware of our presence, but on the way out we still have a mob of fools after our heads?"
"That's what makes it fun," he answers as we pick up our pace, sprinting for the doors.
It's only moments before I hear the thunderous sound of palace residents chasing us. I glance back. "Torch and spear crowd today, Kuronue," I mutter.
"How rural."
"We are way out here in the backwoods," I laugh. We pause a moment. I show him the tablet, he grins, and we continue on our way, the sound of our pursuers licking at our heels. There is nothing like the thrill of such a chase. But it's only fun when you are the one being chased.
After a few moments, just as we are beginning to outpace them enough that there is no chance they will catch up, there is the quietest of chinks. Kuronue changes direction almost instantaneously. "Don't! Kuronue!" I call, perhaps louder than I should as he runs back in the direction from which we came.
"I need it!" he shouts back at me. The pendant. Dear gods. That's what that sound was. The chain of that accursed piece of jewelry has broken. I turn to follow him.
Then, just as he scoops the pendant up off the ground, there is the sound of spears slicing through the air. As he turns back to me, as he starts to run—no! A hollow shoot of bamboo sharpened to a point at one end pierces through his lower leg and into the ground, holding him in place. I freeze in horror. How could a raid so simple have gone so horribly, horribly wrong? "Kuronue!" I shout as more and more bamboo falls to the ground, piercing every part of his body.
How could fools whose vault was so easy to break into possibly set such an ingenious trap? The hollow nature of the bamboo encourages the blood to flow outward, encourages a quicker death. I run to him. Just as I get to him, his blue eyes wide with pain, he shouts, "Forget about me, Kurama!" I ignore him. In his eyes there is also fear, but I can see he fears for my life, not his own. "Go! Run!"
His eyes flash to the shadows behind me, and I instinctively look back. There is a man in the shadows, watching, waiting for me to abandon him. Dark, dark, dark pink hair. Dark, dark, dark purple eyes. Wait—where is the light that allows me to see this? The residents of the palace! As they draw nearer, their torches flicker brighter. What do I do? Kuronue! I rush to his side, ignoring his plea, dropping the golden tablet on the ground. "I can save you!" I shout.
"No!" he shoves my hands away violently. "It's too late for me, Kurama! I cannot let my best friend die as well. Take this, and do not, under any circumstances let anyone else get it!" He shoves the locket into my palm and shouts, "Now run, Kurama!"
"No!" I begin pulling out the bamboo. Kuronue's blood continues flowing. "Some bandages, some herbs…I can fix you up! Ayaka—she knows some healing, not a lot but enough to help! We can fix you, Kuronue!"
"No!" he snaps at me. "Get away from here, Kurama! There is nothing more you can do, and you know it!" He stops to gasp for a breath then continues on violently, "I am dying because I couldn't let that pendant fall into the hands of someone who cannot be trusted. I trust you, Kurama! If you die, there is no one but Ayaka, and she would not know where to find it! Do you want my death…my death to be for nothing, Kurama?" His voice is fading.
"No!" I shout. "You cannot leave me, Kuronue! You are my best friend, my raiding partner! What am I to do without your help?"
"Protect…it…and run," he murmurs, chest heaving. I glance over my shoulder once more. The man in black with purple eyes is still waiting, still watching, still menacing. The torches draw nearer.
"I will not let your death be in vain, Kuronue," I swear, grasping his hand one last time. "I will protect your pendant with my life."
As his chest heaves a few final times, I flee the torches and the man with purple eyes. He is the one who set the trap…bounty hunter. He is waiting for me to leave so that he can collect Kuronue's body.
Damn it! Kuronue!
omnomnom
Well...that's just downright depressing. Ah well. Here are the review repsponse(s).
animegrlsteph: And I don't know what comes next... Are you enjoying the fact with how much I'm updating today?