(A/N: I'm back! *grins* I would like to apologize for the delay. Life seems to catch up with me sometimes…Yeah…what a lame thing say, huh? :x)
I don't own anything that isn't mine. Yeah.
Ermac awoke with a start, and instantly regretted it. He slowed his breathing, finding the pain in his ribs bearable after doing so. What had happened? And more importantly, where was he? Ermac looked around what seemed to be a room, feeling like he had been there before.
"I've never seen you sleep so hard," a familiar voice said, filling the room. Ermac turned his head to where the voice came from and resisted the urge to smile.
"Kenshi, what are you…" He paused as a loud noise echoed into the room. It sounded like someone banging against a wall. "What is that?"
Kenshi smirked, something that let Ermac know that whatever it was, it wasn't good. "Let's just say I…showed some mercy."
Ermac heard the muffled sound of a woman's voice. He felt his heart stop. "You don't mean to tell us you - "
"What? You didn't kill her, so I thought if I did you'd be upset with me." Kenshi sighed as he leaned back against the wall. Ermac shook his head.
"We should have killed her when we had the chance, otherwise we…" The telekinetic warrior winced as he inhaled. His ribs were causing him far more trouble than he wanted. Kenshi stood from his sitting position and knelt down beside Ermac.
"I patched up your arm, but your ribs are another story. You're gonna have to rest for a while, and that's only after I get someone to give you a check up." Ermac gave his friend a "we-don't-think-so-look". The blind man couldn't see it of course, but he could sense it. "You know good and well that I'm right."
Ermac sighed - a small one, due to his ribs - and looked at the wall where the thumping noises were still being made. "And the woman?"
Kenshi smirked. "I'll let her go."
"What if she comes back to kill us?"
"Look," Kenshi started. "I don't think she will. I'm here, and I kicked her ass easily enough…" The blind warrior laughed. "Oh, well, I can see why you're worried if she beat you. Been slacking off?"
Ermac snorted. "No, she just…caught us off guard." The battle had been a strange one, to say the least. He hadn't had such injuries since…in a while. He looked to see his friend grinning at him. "What is it?"
"How did you get distracted?" Ermac didn't like the suggestive tone in Kenshi's voice. Not one bit.
"Kenshi, she's a demon for the Elder gods' sake."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Ermac was going to respond, but noticed something that made him uneasy. "What?" Kenshi asked as his friend grew quiet.
"She stopped making sound." Ermac said quietly. Kenshi shrugged.
"Maybe she got tired. I was wondering when she would." Ermac continued to listen, not agreeing with Kenshi's theory. It was far too quiet. Kenshi should have known that, though. Since his sight was gone, he had excellent hearing.
"Are you sure?" Ermac asked, trying to urge his friend to use his special hearing. Kenshi sighed as he stood, but said nothing. He slowed his breathing, a sign he was listening for any odd noises.
"She's still in the room, that's for sure." He said as he turned back around. "I can hear her breathing."
"She must be plotting something, then." Ermac mumbled. The woman was so exasperating. However, as exasperating as she was, she still was a threat. Ermac had no idea who she was or what her intentions were. If she had any. As far as he could tell she was insane.
"You worry far too much," Kenshi laughed as he casually headed to the door. "I'll be back in a bit. You just rest."
"We were about to leave." Ermac said quickly. He didn't want to stay and cause Kenshi any further trouble. "Really, we - " The green eyed warrior pushed himself off from the cot he was laying on, realizing too late how much of a bad idea that was. He did everything in his power not to yell out in pain. His ribs were far worse than he first thought they were.
"Yeah. You're not going anywhere until I get someone out here to check on you." Kenshi said, worry lacing his words. "Which will be soon, so don't worry."
"…Kenshi." Ermac couldn't really form a full sentence without sounding pathetic, so he settled on Kenshi's name. That was a good idea - he sounded even more pathetic.
The blind man's frown deepened. "I'll be right back."
Before Emrac could voice a reply, Kenshi was gone. The telekinetic warrior felt a sudden uneasiness in himself and did his best to make himself comfortable. Which was no easy feat, by the way. "Dammit…"
There was a calm quietness that followed Kenshi's departure, something Ermac was grateful for. Maybe he could sleep. How that would help his condition he had no clue. Rest was helpful, he knew, but it never did much for him. Maybe others were aided to recovery with sleep but not him. He was always anxious. That might have had something to do with the fact that he had a hundred souls in his body, too…
Just as he shut his eyes, however, he heard footsteps. He knew it wasn't Kenshi, so that meant one thing.
The crazy woman was loose.
Ermac instantly went on full alert. There was no way he could defend himself from anything at that moment. Especially a delusional she-demon who wanted to kill him for some reason. Ermac waited breathlessly as the footsteps grew closer.
A white clad figure stood in the doorway. "Ermac," it called in a feminine voice. Ermac felt his body tense, causing his sides to scream in protest. When he didn't answer, the figure stepped into the room. "Look, I - "
"Why can't you just leave?" He asked, trying to sound as calm as he could. Why was he so…scared? She wasn't a big threat, but his condition left him helpless. He could say that he'd never been in such a position.
The woman sighed. "I just wanted to ask you something." She almost sounded apologetic, Ermac noticed. Was she sorry for what she'd done? Why would a crazy person be sorry?
"What?" He growled. The situation was starting to grate on his nerves more than frighten him. The woman - Ashrah, was it? - shifted on her feet, nervously.
"…Why do you say 'we' and 'us'? Can't you say I?" The question was totally unexpected. Ermac had been asked that question before, more than once, actually, but it caught him off guard.
"We are composed of souls - more than one," he emphasized the more than one part, knowing that his explanation could get confusing for the crazy demon. "So we are more than one person in one body."
"But," she started, ignoring the obvious jab at her intelligence. "You can't say I? Not at all?"
Why did that matter? Ermac sighed, anger taking over. "Why do you want to know?" Ashrah shrugged, looking almost humble.
"I just…thought it was odd is all."
"You call us odd?" He started, feeling his chest start to burn. Why couldn't she just leave? It was as simple as walking. Literally.
"I'm sorry, Ermac." She spat out, clearly aggravated. "I realize now that when I fought you before you weren't what you are today."
Ermac was silent, his anger dying away. What was he supposed to say to that? Sure, the woman had tried to kill him, but she sounded so sincere he couldn't find the anger that had just been with him.
"I'll leave now," she said quietly, turning to the door. Ermac was fine with that. He didn't want to see her ever again…
Then Kenshi came back and ruined it all. He seemed to come out of nowhere, grabbed Ashrah by one of her arms and pushed her back into the room. "Alright, here's how this is going to go." He paused, tightening his grip on the woman's arm. "Since I can't find anyone to help my friend here, since I don't know of anyone who can, and since you're the one who caused his injuries anyway, you're going to make sure he's nursed back to his full health.'
Ashrah began to decline when Ermac's voice loudly made itself present.
"No, that's not necessary," there was a desperation in Ermac's voice. "Really."
But Kenshi wasn't listening. He shoved Ashrah, meaning he wanted her agreement. "You don't really have a choice in the matter, you know." He paused, flashing a grin. "You said you were sorry, right? There are no hard feelings anymore."
Except for Ermac's. But that didn't matter. He was just there to be tortured, apparently.
Ashrah sighed, looking down at Ermac. "…Alright."
Ermac wanted to kill something at that moment. To be more exact, Kenshi. He wanted to kill Kenshi.
(So, the plot "thickens" if that's what you want to call it. I dunno. I hope you enjoyed it. This story isn't as serious as my other one, so don't expect anything….well, serious. Ha ha. Ok. If there are any typos, I am sorry. If there are any other mistakes, they're probably meant to be there. Kenshi is out of character, I know. Tell me if it's annoying you, and I'll see what I can do about it. O.o I hope to see you next chapter! Thanks for reading.)