Author's Notes

Hiya! I finally finished this chapter like I was planning on doing but was delayed for about 3 months *cries a little*. Okay! I finished this baby up and I was bored for a while with the current chain of events, and just to prove it I'm having Will share some feelings, do some reflecting, and have some self-realization! BLEH! But whatever, it was going to happen sometime and he needed to see that he was a jerk very badly, or else I would have had him killed and the story would have ended there and Shinma would have been destroyed because I can't stand writing a jerkish, self-centered, air head, almost main character, anymore. –twitch twitch- And if he had stayed the way he was, he was going to die a very, very, VERY gruesome and painful death, I would have made sure of it. –more twitching and a malicious laugh- Um, yeah, I am okay! 0_o Anyway, disclaimer time: I do not own any of things in here that might seem familiar to any of you who have seen or read miscellaneous anime or manga series including names, techniques, moves, or words, etc. Okey dokey, here you go! (finally)

**Characters 'thoughts', flashbacks, and dreams

Chapter 5: Respect for a Kill

'Why the heck is he persisting on following me? I could have sworn that he would stop at the town boundary out of fear of running into one of the beasts out here.' The thought passed briefly through her mind but soon progressed to other more important things. 'That reminds me, where in the world are Sirus and Lithe? I haven't seen them since I passed out at the edge of the forest.' Almost as soon as she finished the thought, she heard the sound of wing beats and looked up to see Sirus and Lithe flying above her as she ran. 'Well speak of the devils, leave it to them to make a perfect entrance time.' She thought with a smile, still running. 'I can't hear Will running behind me anymore, maybe he finally stopped and turned back? Nah, more likely that I lost him, after all, he's not used to running through the thick undergrowth, where as I am.'

'Darn it! I lost her, how am I ever going to say how sorry I am to her now? It's hopeless, I'll never find her, the Valley is huge and she probably knows it better than any living person. But I have to find her; I need to say I'm sorry, heck! I'll even get down on my hands and knees and beg for her forgiveness. I can't believe I was so blind to how much I've changed since she left! I guess I felt so lost and alone after she left that I started to, I don't know, just throw myself into the field work and any other work I could find and try to keep my mind busy so I wouldn't think about her. I even stopped drawing for a time, but then, something changed and I started seeing Serenity, at least parts of her in other girls, I missed her that much. It all just went down hill from that point I guess. When I first saw Serenity lying there on the ground at the edge of the clearing, all battered and bruised like that, the only thought that went through my head was, "She reminds me of Serenity" which is the same thing that always went through my head with any other girl I met. And then when she was running away from the house and towards me, just like with any other girl, I thought, "She looks so much like how I picture Serenity would look if she were running towards me, calling my name and hugging me." Ugh! I was so caught up on the moment and just thinking that she would be like any other girl and, as Serri put it, swoon over me, god I really am a jerk now that I really think about it, Serenity was right, about everything. Now I really have to find her!' He was still stumbling though the undergrowth in the direction that Serenity had gone as he was thinking about this. Then he heard a sound to his left, he stopped and his head snapped towards the sound. "Hello? Serenity? Is that you?" 'Holy crap! I just realized something! I'm alone, I'm probably well outside the town boundary, I'm unarmed, and there are creatures out here that would call me a snack. Man am I screwed. Serri-san, if you're out there and you can here me, please come here!' he though this with all his might and just hoped for the best. He waited, frozen still, to see if the sound came again, but it didn't, so he thanked Lady Luck and started to walk on. As soon as he took one step, there was a weird growling noise and an ugly little dog-like creature that came up half way up his thigh with brown, hairless, skin, three eyes, an enormous, gaping, fang-filled mouth, short stumpy legs, and a tail that looked like a cobra lunged at him out of the undergrowth, snarling. "Skrit!'"he cried in terror.

........

"Screech!!!"

"Huh? What is it Lithe?!" Serenity stopped running immediately and looked around to try and find what had made Lithe cry out.

"Screech!!!" Lithe cried out again and turned and started flying back the way Serenity had come, followed closely by Sirus.

"What?! What is it?! What's wrong?!" Serenity asked in frustration, shaking her head. Lithe came down and landed on her outstretched wrist and immediately began making a string of odd moves, gestures, and sounds. "Hang on Lithe! Slow down! Now, try again." Serenity said, putting her hand up to stop Lithe's frantic message. "Okay, okay, ok- what?! Oh no!! Darn that Will!!" she said through gritted teeth and made a quick, sharp turn back towards town causing Lithe to be thrown off her arm and have to catch herself and fly back up above the trees, Sirus had already kept going and Serenity was shooting back through the forest lightening fast.

........

"Gurrrrn!" The Skrit growled at Will who was cowering and frozen in terror.

'What do I do?! What do I do?! I'm going to die and be eaten! No! I'm not! I have to stay cool; maybe I can get away from it some how? Wait! Wait! Serenity said something about killing them, or at least incapacitating them while we were talking earlier, before we got into that fight. If I could just remember what it was that she said! Oh! I remember! She said that you just have to watch them, dodge their stinger, grab it, jab them in the eye with it, and then watch again. Phew! I can do this! I'll show her what this pretty boy can do.' He stopped cowering and stood up strait, the dropping into a ready stance, staring the Skrit in the eye with a determined look. The Skrit stopped and looked startled for a moment but soon recovered and attacked with its stinger. "Whoa!" 'Fooey! These things are pretty fast, man, dodging and getting their stinger is easier said then done! Wow do I really feel sorry for Serenity having to do this every day and against a group at that. I guess if I had to do this every day for about ten years the I'd be a lot like how Serenity is now.' He dodged again, this time it was a little easier because he was paying serious attention now and concentrating on watching the its eyes. He had realized very quickly while watching it that just before it attacked, its eyes would move ever so slightly towards where it was going to strike. "Argh!" He cried out and stumbled a little when he was just a little too late and the Skrit had gotten him. It squealed in triumph at this and just sort of stood there for a moment and seemed to watch him begin to writhe in pain from the poison and fall to the ground, a satisfied grin on its pudgy face. 'Oh heck this hurts! Wow, all this pain from just one sting? Serenity was covered in little pinhole dots; the pain must have been absolutely excruciating for her and then the other injuries, dear lord.' " Rrgh! I'm not giving up now you little heathen! I'll take you down!" He hissed at it through his teeth, getting to his feet. This seemed to make the Skrit angry and it screeched and lunged at him this time with claws extended and teeth bared and snapping viciously. It landed on him and pushed him it the ground, clawing and biting at his arms and face. 'And this is where she must have gotten the other injuries, I have two choices now: one, pass out, bleed to death, die, and be eaten, or two, fight and live.......I think that I'll go with two, unless my body takes number one.' He thought grimly just then he saw it, the chance he was looking for previously. Without thinking twice he punched the thing right in the mouth and jammed his fist down its throat. It choked and sputtered and he threw it off his hand then he got up quickly and jumped on it, causing it to exhale forcefully. He wrestled with it, all the while the tail stinging him repeatedly. He dug his elbow into its side and then grabbed its tail and yanked it up and shoved it into its eye and held it there. The Skrit screamed out in agony and began to writhe with an incredible amount of force, but he held on and wrestled with it some more until it finally stopped and fell limp. 'I did it! Hah! Beat that Serri! This village boy can take what the Skrit gave and give it right back!' he thought in triumph, getting up. It was then that the pain from the stings he had gotten while wrestling it hit him. "Agh!" he cried out and fell to his knees.

"Will?! Will where are you?!" He heard a voice coming from in front of him and he just managed to see someone emerge from the undergrowth before he passed out. "Will!!! Oh my god! Will! Are you okay? Please say something!" Serenity ran over and was kneeling beside him, beginning to cry and gently shaking him, then feeling for a pulse. It was then that she saw the dead Skrit with its tail still lodged in its second eye. "Willy, I can't believe it but you did it, you killed your first Skrit." She half whispered in his ear. "Heh, you did better then I did against my first Skrit, even if you're a lot bigger and stronger than I was but I had a weapon, you didn't have anything. And to remember what I said earlier about how to kill one, maybe, was amazing enough. I'm so proud of you." She said with a smile; then she got up and went over to the dead Skrit. Taking out one of her knives, she cut along its side and got some of the blood on it, then, taking it back over to where Will lay, unconscious, she pressed the blood-covered knife into one of the gashes on his arm. " I'm sorry, this gonna hurt even more Will but it'll be over soon, I promise."

'.........."Will? Hello? Wiiilll? Wake up!"..........Ugh! My head, what happened to me? Oh! Wait, I remember, I was chasing Serri through the forest and I was attacked by a Skrit and................I won? Wait, that doesn't make sense. How could I have won? It's a Skrit! Lots of more experienced village men have fought them and either died or been seriously wounded.......... I guess that's it then, there is no way I could have won and now I'm dead. This sucks.........'

"He's been out for almost an hour and he hasn't even stirred yet. His wounds are all healed and he seems to be just sleeping but if I'm right he's probably a little delusional from either the pain or the Skrit blood, maybe both. After all, this is his first experience with its healing properties and I know that the first time I had it; I was half out with a killer headache and double vision for almost half a day. Then again, he did just slay a Skrit single-handedly without any weapon at all." Serenity murmured to herself as she sat, leaning against a tree while watching Will, asleep on the ground, by her feet. "Maybe I should try and wake him up again, it's been about 10 minutes since my last try...." she sighed, looked at him, and then nudged him with her foot. "Will! Come on! Get up! I think you've had enough time to rest up and recuperate." She nudged him again.

'So since I'm dead, now what? Do I just stay here? More importantly, where is here? It doesn't look like anywhere a dead person would want to go and it certainly doesn't feel like one either. It's dark, cool, hard, smells earthy, and it feels like someone is kicking me in the side........... Definitely not somewhere I want to spend the rest of my eternity........."Will, this is the last time I'm asking nicely, wake up!".........And then there's that really annoying voice that keeps coming back again and again and again. It almost sounds like Serri's voice, but I don't want to listen to her in that tone for more than a few minutes, heaven forbid eternity!'

"He has got to be the heaviest sleeper that I've ever seen! We could be attacked by a pack of screaming Sevlows and he wouldn't wake up! Those things could wake a mountain golem from its sleep and mountain golems are only supposed to wake up every 50 or so years! Yeesh!"

'Ugh, I think I have a headache which doesn't make sense but then again, nothing has made sense so far. Maybe I'm not dead after all........"That's it! William Jay Millin! If you do not get up right now, you will sorely regret it! Literally!'........and again with the voice, it sounds louder and closer now though"

"Have it your way then!" she growled, getting up. "This is gonna hurt, I'll make sure of it." Then she kicked him hard in the side. "GET UP!!!!"

"UGH!!!! Uhhhh......... What in the world was that for?!?!?" he yelled rolling over to frown at her. "Hey, wait a minute, what am I doing here? I thought I was dead." His face was confused and questioning.

"That was for not getting up the first 7 or 8 times I tried to wake you up. And sorry to ruin your party but you aren't dead and you probably couldn't be farther from death at the moment." Serenity was standing over him with her arms crossed and a _________ look on her face.

"Huh? Then you mean that I actually did beat the Skrit?" he said, his voice becoming excited.

"Yepp, it's dead as a doornail. Don't believe me then look over there." she said pointing a few feet behind him. He turned over and saw the Skrit lying there where it had fallen after their fight.

"Wow, I can't believe it, I actually killed a Skrit. I'm in shock." he said just staring at it.

"So am I, the village boy can actually do something worthwhile besides strut his stuff for the girls and act like an over confident jerk." Serenity smirked.

"Hey, what did I tell you about calling me b......." he trailed off as he tried to get up. "Uhhhhh........my head. Are you sure that you just kicked my in the side because it feels like you smacked me upside the head with a tree trunk." he moaned, holding his head.

"Feels like the worst hangover of your life doesn't it?" she sat back down beside him with an amused look on her face and gave a short laugh.

"No, this is a lot worse than a hangover and I know what a hangover feels like. This is something completely different and much more unpleasant." he was up on one elbow holding his head with his other hand.

"Well that's Skrit blood's healing capabilities for you. They definitely give a new meaning to the phrase 'everything comes with a price'. Ha! Ha!" she smiled over at him and punched him lightly in the arm. "But you're tough since you could take out a Skrit so shake it off, you'll get over it."

"Says you, I feel like someone's playing drums on my head." He groaned again, lying back down. "And what is with you? Last time I talked to you, you were beating me up in a rage and then running off into the forest saying to forget your name and face." He said in an accusatory tone frowning at her.

"You beat a Skrit, I guess you've earned a little bit of my respect." She said rather nonchalantly, shrugging and looking at the sky. "But mind you, it can be lost far easier than it is gained so don't go be a jerk after this." looking back down at him with a warning look on her face.

"Oh I'll be sure not to do that, I like it better when you're not trying to dislocate my arms or send me to a clinic with some broken bones, a black eye, and some broken teeth. That is definitely not anywhere near the top of my 'To-do' list." He said jokingly but assuring as well. He rubbed his head a little and then shot bolt upright. "Oh no!!" he cried smacking his hand into his forehead.

"What?! What is it?!" Serenity said, standing immediately and scanning their surroundings for any signs of danger.

"Mom! I completely forgot about her! She's probably having a panic attack by now with how long we've been gone." He struggled to his feet and began to walk in a random direction but staggered and fell against a tree.

"Woah there tough guy, not so fast, you're forgetting two things." She said, walking over to him and putting his arm around her neck to help support him.

"And what might they be?" he asked, still trying to stand and walk but failing miserably.

"Well, one: you can't even stand up straight, let alone walk and two: you have no idea which way to go. Oh, and one more thing, I highly doubt that Darla is panicking over my absence. Yours on the other hand.......well, lets just hope she has a strong heart and some common sense."

"Hm, I guess you're right on all three things but what do you mean 'common sense'?" he looked at her with a puzzled expression.

"I mean that I hope she has enough sense not to try and come into the forest after you." she said and began to turn to their left and drag him along beside her.

"Oh, yeah, right, that wouldn't be a very good thing if she came in and was attacked. So lets hurry and get back before she reaches the breaking point of her common sense restraints." He began to attempt to walk along with Serenity and try to go fast, it was better than his last attempt but still not very good.

"I agree but why don't you let me do the heavy lifting so we can get there faster so stop for a second." She came to a stop from their slow pace and pulled him up and onto her back. "There we go, that'll be much faster now." And she took off at a brisk walk.

"Woah! What in the world Serri? How can you just pick me up and walk off like you're not even carrying anything?" he asked, very startled and amazed while holding on tightly so he wouldn't fall off.

"I already explained this to you Will, I've lived in these wild parts for most of my life. I've had to do a lot of things that you would never even think about doing, like building a shelter, making weapons, or even climbing across giant pits for example. If you do those things enough, you're gonna build up a lot of skills as well as strength, speed, and stamina so lets just say that compared to a few of the things I've had to carry, you don't weigh anything." she said laughing and quickening her pace just to prove it.

"Wow, I sure am glad that I've lived in the village my whole life. I don't think I could sleep light enough that if I was attacked in my sleep I could be awake enough to defend myself." he said thankfully and in amazement.

"I didn't do that part alone, I had help from Lithe and Sirus." She weaved around a tangled mass of roots and dodged a low hanging branch.

"Oh, ok. Which reminds me, where are they? I haven't seen them since one of them led me to where you were lying just inside the town boundaries." They dodged another low branch.

"Oh they're around, they were with me earlier and led me to where you were. They're birds of prey, they live by their own rules and do as they please, if they want to go away for a while then they do. They come back eventually though." She said casually.

"But I thought that they were your pets.........so shouldn't they stay with you?" he asked and then ducked his head to miss a vine.

"No, they're my companions, not my pets." She said rather annoyed and forcefully.

"Pets. Companions. Same thing." He said shrugging and ducked once again to miss another vine that he was sure Serenity had purposely ignored.

"There is a big difference in my book. Pets are creatures that people keep for their own purposes and usually keep them with them most of the time or have them help with their work. Companions travel with a person of their own free will and may come and go as they please and are not forced to stay by a master's side." She began to slow down to a brisk walk again. "We're almost there, I think that you can get down now." and she let him slide off her back.

"How do you know?" he staggered a little but managed to stay up strait and take a few steps forward.

"I can smell and hear the village from here. So we've got about another hundred yards and we should pop out towards the southern side but still in the boundaries and can take the road into the village and back to your mom's house." Holding his arm firmly, she helped him keep walking slowly but becoming faster.

"How do y-" he began to ask but she cut him off midsentence.

"I already told you about 3 or 4 times how, so stop asking because I'm gonna stop answering." She said impatiently, letting go of his arm and walking ahead of him.

"Oh, right, sorry, I forgot again." he said apologetically, rubbing the back of his head and smiling slightly.

"I know, don't you always. Now stop being sorry and hurry up. For your sake, you should be out of here before that dead Skrit's posse finds him and goes on a war crusade for revenge." She looked behind them and then sped up a bit.

"Huh? But how would they know it was me and not some other animal? And what do you mean 'his posse'? I know they travel in small groups but you talk like he has a following or something." He quickened his pace to keep up with her and looked behind him too.

"Because they know each and every person's scent in every village in their territory. They are probably one of the most cunning and unpleasant creatures that this world could throw at a person. As a matter of fact he does have somewhat of a 'following', he is the group leader of the Skrit population in this particular territory." She stopped for a second, looked behind them and then cursed softly to herself. " And they have just found his corpse so we had best make haste." As soon as she had said that, they heard a horrible screeching sound from behind them.

"Each and every one's scent? But how is that possible? And what do you mean the 'leader'? If he was the leader then shouldn't he be tougher than the rest?" he asked all these questions while running after Serenity with a mixture of mild confusion and fear on his face.

"Yes, each and every one's scent but don't ask me why, I don't speak Skrit enough to ask one and I really don't care enough to want to know how. I mean leader as in he gives the orders and leads the largest group of elites and no, he doesn't have to be the strongest or the best anything, he just has to have the support of the majority of the others. Humans aren't the only ones in this world with enough brains to think logically and efficiently. When it comes to some areas of thinking, Skrits have humans beat by a mile and a half." she called over her shoulder and then looked back once more and pulled back to run behind him.

"Wait, you speak Skrit? What, wait, never mind, I won't ask. I had no idea that the Skrit population was organized to that point or that they were that intelligent." he said over his shoulder and almost tripped on a protruding root but caught himself and kept going, weaving between trees and bushes.

"It is and this is a perfect example of why you should never make them mad and especially not furious, which is what they are right now. Because their specialty is coordinated torture and efficient execution and they're almost on us so go faster!" she pushed him to go faster as the sound of shredding leaves and vicious growls came into hearing.

"I'm going as fast as I can!" he cried back to her. "Can't you just fight them? You said yourself that you take out groups of them on a daily basis."

"I could but I can't fight like I usually do and protect you at the same time since you're their target." she said very forcefully. The sound was getting louder and louder, she looked back and saw a flash of a Skrit's shape in the bush.

"I see an opening, we're almost there!" he cried, picking up his pace as the terrain became a little less wild.

"Good! NOW DIVE!!" she shouted and shoved him with all her might out into the opening and into the road with her following close behind him. She shot up and quickly dragged him farther away from the forest edge.

"We made it!" he cried in between gasps and fell back onto the ground, smiling to himself.

"SCREECH!!!!"

He shot upright and watched in horror as about a dozen or so Skrits burst out of the forest. "Oh no!! I thought you said that we were safe?!" he yelled pointing at the Skrits and looking at Serenity crouching beside him.

"We are safe." she said calmly just looking at the ravenous band of snarling Skrits and smiling. Just then there was a deep and ominous rumbling sound from under the ground. It grew as the Skrits began to slowly come towards them.

"ARE YOU INSANE?!?! HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?!?! THEY'RE COMING RIGHT TOWARDS US!!!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, looking at her in horrified disbelief.

"Just watch." She replied back and pointed toward the ground at the Skrit's feet as the ground began to shake with the growing rumble. Just as the Skrits were about to attack, the ground burst open and thousands of roots shot up, seizing the group of unsuspecting Skrits. As Will sat and watched in shock, the roots began crushing their screeching, writhing bodies and when they had been crushed into a bloody, gruesome mass, the roots dragged the entire scene and remnants of the group of enraged Skrits back down into the earth where they had came.

Okay! This chapter is really long and kinda messy at the end but oh well, that's how it is. So I'm finally finished and I'm starting on the next one, I'll try to finish it in good time but I don't know, it's a good thing I'm on a roll :D So thanks for reading and please R&R see ya next time :D