AN: So… how's everyone doing? What rests here before you is the product of two viruses, three rewrites and half an hour's extra work of procrastination. Chapter 2 is finally up. Today's influence is a cup of coffee and a song by Neon Trees.
Dedication is the usual, my awesome amiga Shadowrosedragon, who's OC I have carefully borrowed and is in no way mine. Her personality will get more accurate, I promise. Sorry this took so long, Emily-chan!
Disclaimers stand a thus: This is Yu-Gi-Oh. For Pete Wentz's sake I own absolutely nothing of this anime. If I did, I wouldn't be writing FANfiction. And I don't own the OC you'll meet either.
Here we are again,
I feel the chemicals kicking in.
Its getting heavy and I want run and hide,
I want to run and hide.
… Oh oh what are you waiting for?
I bid thee adieu for now. Enjoy!
And so, they set off.
The instant Sparrow had given Lyn the address she snatched the key from his hand, yelled "What are you waiting for?" and took off running. That was just how she worked. 'Standing' did not register well in her brain, and when it came down to how she lived her life, it wasn't a concept.
The sun glowed in large streaks and poured over the two companions darting their way up the street. The world lay bathed in harsh light, the city practically glowing with it.
Lyn lead the procession, kicking up dirt with shoes that flapped in the wind. Strands of messy hair filled her face, but she knew the city better than the back of her hand. The only things she actually had to look out for were people, but that shouldn't have been too much of a challenge for her.
It really shouldn't have. But it was.
She screamed when she ran into the fruit vendor's cart.
She tripped over a pebble, landed face-first into the apples, and sent a parade of watermelons rolling down the hill. The cart splintered under impact and the pieces joined hunks of tile on the sidewalk. Several heads turned.
"Hey!" the vendor roared from behind a mass of bald, bright red, and quivering flesh, spit flying everywhere. He looked more like a conniving butcher than an innocent seller of fruits. "That's my produce you just ran into, miss!"
Lyn jumped up and pulled an apple from the cart. She laughed and bit into the crisp fruit. "And it sure tastes good, mister," she chortled with a full mouth. Juice dribbled down her chin.
Then she threw the apple behind her and continued running.
On the inside, Sparrow grinned to himself. On the outside, he leapt over pieces of smashed provisions, bumping into bystanders and stuttering apologies. The whole time he struggled to keep up with the girl who currently had enough energy to beat grown men in a marathon. It was a miracle he made it to the house in one piece.
The first thing he did, before helping Lyn put the key into the lock, was slump against the chipped lavender door and wipe beads of sweat form his forehead.
"Lyn," he gasped.
"Hmm?" She was trying to figure out where the key went into the intricate security system. The circular lock, a foot wide and two inches deep, presented as a severe challenge because it had no less than ten keyholes. The key could have fit into any one of them and still not worked. Lyn's brows furrowed, her mouth hardened into a thin line, and she slammed her fist against the door.
"Never. Do. That. Again. We could have been arrested for Dueling's Sake!" He sighed, and shook his head. "You're never going to get anywhere like that." He took the key from her hand and shoved it in the lock in the upper right-hand corner. He turned it clockwise. Lyn pressed her ear to the door and nodded as it clicked, listening to the gears whir and the cogs turn and hum.
She pulled her head away. "So where'd you get this key, anyway?"
"Well I-"
"What the heck do you think you're doing?"
An unknown, rough voice interrupted his explanation.
Sparrow spun around only to come face to face with a girl. Purple hair hung in mismatched spikes down her back and equally purple bangs drooped down into thin, raised eyebrows. Her eyes glowed with a hazel fire so monstrous all the water in the world couldn't quench it. A thin t-shirt, black and splattered with roses, and a short, equally black skirt completed most of her apparel. Black boots ended just below her knees. She stood a head taller than him, looming over him. He spied the tattoo of a crimson rose on her cheek, saturated petals dripping the color of blood.
He tried to say something, but ultimately couldn't.
"Hey!" she cried, waving her arms about in the air. "I said what the heck do you think you're friggin' doing?"
Silence for the longest time. Complete and total silence.
A thin, simple smile barely upturned the edges of chapped lips. He chuckled softly, peering down at the sidewalk. He muttered something low and incomprehensible, something the girl standing in front of him did not catch.
"I didn't hear you," she snarled.
Sparrow raised his eyes to meet hers, a small flame beginning to spread behind his. "CODE THREE!" he bellowed.
Lyn flung the door open so that it slammed against the wall, disappearing into the rooms before she could be stopped. The other girl started running, but Sparrow dove in front of her, continually blocking the way into her house. The girl ran straight for Sparrow, and shoved him. He flew off his feet and skidded across the hardwood floor. He bumped into a dresser with a very harsh thud and jumped up almost instantly afterwards. The world began to spin under his feet. Dots swarmed in front of his face, but he chased them away by thinking hard about his surroundings.
The floor was unstained, and until now, unscratched. The dresser he had hit lay pressed against the wall. A mirror with a wooden frame hung above it. A cot shoved into the corner was the only other furniture in the large expanse of room. On his left, there were several doors and open passageways, showing that the house really was more than it seemed. To his right, there was an open space where a door should have been, and in that room he spied a sink, an oven, and a fridge.
All the free wall space not covered in rough sketches of anime-style characters and landscapes was covered in wallpaper that was filled with roses and long, thorny stems.
Man this girl likes roses, he noted.
In the distance, he heard the rush of water and distinctly caught the scent of flowers. A pool and a garden, probably.
The girl closed the door, faced her opponent, and in an act of madness, growled in imitation of a wolf. "You're not going to escape."
"Lyn!" he called to his companion. "The card we're looking for is in the blue case on top of the fridge!"
Suddenly, the girl with the violet hair appeared right in front of him. He should have known she was coming. He should have recognized it. He should have made a move to stop her. Words that he wanted to say were blurring on his tongue, lost before he could utter them. The dots returned, sounds slowed. Life began to blur at the edges.
The concussion that he just received from his collision had not only slowed his reflexes, but it was going to knock him out as well.
That's when the realization hit him, both literally and figuratively.
We need to get out of here right now was the thought that he had formulated just as the girl punched him.
He hit the dresser again, this time with his back. With a weakened sigh, he sank to the ground, unconscious.
"I'm going to kill you both!" the victor practically roared. "Or my name isn't Shadowia Umaheki!"
Mere feet, but miles away, Lyn's fingers closed around the case. The plastic emanated with warmth. It must have been something the possessor touched constantly. She launched herself away from the ebony refrigerator.
She looked just in time to see her friend fall to the ground and her enemy turn to face her. She peered around the kitchen, dazed by the black and white tile that made up the floor. A few feet in front of her, she spied a small backscratcher. Unable to locate another weapon, she quickly picked it up. It, too, was covered in roses, the prongs at the end made to look like thorns.
Oh, she thought. How lovely. Not only 'm I gonna get caught, but when the police find my body, the thing they'll pry from my fingers won't be something cool like a knife or a frying pan. I'll die holding a stolen card and backscratcher.
Shadowia spun sideways, flinging herself towards the thief.
"Your next," she muttered soothingly, a comforting whisper that only made Lyn's palms sweat and her eyes widen.
She needed to scram, and fast.
"I'd love to see you try!" She jumped over Shadowia, grasped her down-for-the-count cohort by the collar, and whirled towards the door. Shadowia chased after her, coiled and ready to spring. Lyn grasped the knob and prepared to turn it…
…When the door burst open by itself.
She gasped, stumbling backwards. Sparrow slipped from her grasp to the ground.
Shadowia smirked at the figure in the doorway and gave a soft nod. She calmly walked forward, anger hidden for just a second.
Lyn's head moved from side-to-side, searching for another exit and finding none. Shadowia was behind her, Sparrow to her side, and the dark figure in front of her.
Shadowia extended a hand to the person in front of her. "Well, it's about time. I thought you'd never show up."