Wow! Look, I get to specialize messages to people!
To Illusion988, emo-child-36, and CrimsonCrystal1230 (and anyone else who thought this) – I too love how Alice is strong and not all weak and cry-y like she is in the show! ^^
To bakugan and yugioh 4ever – Correct. ;)
To Little Disappointed Child, Crawling n the Dark, and Santa – Let's call it a late Christmas present.
To mayandrew – Another story like this? Gosh, that would be so fun! If only I was a better updater. If I ever get better, then I'll write more than one Bakugan story.
To lightXhopeXblossom – An umbrella? That would be an interesting weapon for Runo . . . I've already got one picked out unfortunately, but . . . *tucks away for later*
And just to all my readers and reviewers in general – You are all super amazing and thank you for all your kind words! I'm glad to know this is living up to expectations so far and I hope to continue that pattern. Maybe I'll get better at updating (when you wish upon a star). I'll make an effort! I promise!
I don't own Bakugan and I don't know why I need to keep saying this because it's obvious I don't. Now please enjoy Chapter 4!
Marucho had never been able to sleep on the night of a full moon. The dreamer side of him wanted to credit this to something magical and meaningful, but the scholar in him said it was simply because the moon controlled the tides, and hence controlled him because of his mysterious control over water. He laughed quietly to himself, realizing that that was magical in itself. Then realized how dull his sense of humor had become after spending all his days around the old scholars.
He pushed himself out of bed, making it behind him, before walking over to his dresser and pulling out a white button up shirt and a simple pair of pants. Marucho dressed himself and pulled on his shoes, before leaving the room and walking down the hall. It was nice to live in a beautiful place like the house of scholars. It was built like a temple, made out of marble, with a courtyard in the middle, right where Marucho was heading.
He rolled the sleeves of his shirt up to his elbows as he entered the courtyard, feeling a sort of high after walking into the moonlight. The courtyard was filled with flowers and trees, but the fountain in the middle took center stage. Marucho walked over to it and sat on the edge, leaning over the water to look at his reflection.
He had always been a late bloomer. Even at the age of thirteen, he had still looked like he was barely five, just a small person. In just a couple of years, though, he had shot up, growing to be almost six feet, and while he was basically a stick, he had filled out some. He'd cut his hair, and now it started sticking up instead of laying flat. He'd even added his own personal touch, using his healing powers to get rid of the mole on his forehead. The only thing that remained the same about his appearance was his half-moon, red rimmed glasses.
Marucho took his thoughts elsewhere, hating to care too much about his looks. He held his hand out over the surface of the water, drawing it up to him. He pulled his hand around, the water dragging like a snake over the surface behind it.
Marucho's ears perked up suddenly. There was someone else in the courtyard. He could hear them in the trees. Marucho couldn't imagine what someone would be doing in the trees, but drew the water up into a ball around his hand anyway as he went to the tree he heard the rustling from, just in case.
He stepped under the tree, looking up through the branches, but was surprised to see nothing. What the- he thought in confusion.
"MARUCHO!" Marucho jumped a foot in the air and whirled around in anger to Dan's face, him hanging upside down from the tree behind him. "Oh, scared you, didn't I?" he said with a laugh. Marucho splashed the ball of water into his face and stormed back to the fountain.
"What do you want, Dan?" he shouted after sitting back down, hiding his secret happiness to see his best friend. It was always fun when Dan snuck into the House, but at this time of night? It seemed unusual.
Marucho waited for an answer, but then realized that Dan's silence was even more unusual. He turned back around with curiosity to Dan, who had gotten down from the tree and was standing a few feet from him, a serious and slightly sad look in his eye. "Dan, what's going on?" Marucho asked slowly, feeling the entire atmosphere of there meeting change.
Dan sighed and said, "Runo's hurt. I need your help."
Marucho gave him a confused look. "We both know her mother's a fine healer. Why do you need me?"
"Her injuries aren't your everyday ones," Dan explained, sounding very worried. Marucho understood why. He knew how he felt about her. "Look, I'll explain what happened later, she just needs some serious help."
Marucho nodded. "Alright, let's go."
Point of View Change: Shun!
"So what's the deal with you and this Dan kid?" Sora asked Shun, the two of them leaning on the wall of the hallway. They were outside Alice's room, where Runo was resting in the bed. Sora and Runo's mom had done their best to help her, but they couldn't do much for such serious wounds. Now Dan had run off to who knows where while Alice watched Runo. The other thieves that followed Shun had gone back to their base. Shun and Sora were the only ones left.
"I don't want to talk about it," Shun said roughly, crossing his arms.
"Really? Because I'm heading out if you want to be like that," Sora said playfully. "Although I'm sure you'd like that, huh?"
"Sora, what are you talking about? You know I want you around," Shun told her, looking over at her.
"But you'd also like to be alone with the cute girl with orange hair," Sora said with a wink.
Shun had never been one to deal with drama like this, although it was nice to be around Sora when they could teach each other like this, instead of always having to be serious around the others. He simply smiled over at her instead of responding with words. She smiled back. "Okay, I'll keep those kids back at the base under control. See you when you get home." She pushed herself off the wall and headed down the hallway towards the window. Once a thief, always a thief, I suppose, Shun thought as she slipped out the window, of course preferring to take the roofs home instead of the street.
Shun opened the door and walked into the room, seeing Runo laying unconscious in the bed and Alice sitting in a chair next to her, tenderly holding her hand. It's so strange, Shun thought to himself, this instant bond we all feel when we first meet.
Alice looked up at him now and smiled, saying, "Hey."
Shun once again leaned against the nearest wall and smiled back. "Hey," he responded. "How's she doing?"
Her smiled disappeared to be replaced by a look of worry. "Well, good news, she doesn't seem to be doing any worse. Bad news, she's not doing any better."
The room was quiet for a moment, the guilt filling Shun forcing his mouth to remain shut. It was his fault that Runo was hurt, of course. He hadn't even recognized her. They hadn't seen each other since they were little kids, and she was so much older now. When they were young, it had always been Shun, Dan, and her hanging out together, but even then he hadn't known she could control light like she could.
"You feel pretty bad about Runo, huh?"Alice asked suddenly.
Shun looked up to her, surprised that she could read his feelings so easily. "Yes," he admitted after a minute of silence. "I-I didn't mean to hurt her like that. I just . . . wasn't thinking." It was true. When Shun blasted Runo into that window, he hadn't been thinking. He had just been fighting without considering the consequences.
"Don't worry. I don't know if it means much, but I know that you're not a bad guy. You wouldn't try to hurt someone who meant you no harm like this," Alice told him, looking back down at Runo. This surprised Shun, and he looked back down at his feet as his cheeks grew hot from how flustered her kindness made him. He knew he didn't deserve it.
Shun wanted to say more, but the door suddenly burst open and Dan rushed in, puling a tall, blonde boy behind him who was muttering angerly about how it wasn't necessary to drag him.
Alice looked up and decidedly said, "Marucho."
"Yep!" Dan replied.
Marucho looked at Alice, obviously feeling the same connection, and asked, "Do I know you?"
"No," Shun, Dan, and Alice all said at once.
"Okay," Marucho said, obviously confused. His eyes fell to Runo, still unconscious. Marucho walked over and kneeled down next to Alice, pulling the blanket off of Runo to look at her wounds. He raised his eyebrows, his sign of shock, at how torn up her arms seemed. He realized suddenly that there was too much blood on the sheets to just be her arms. Marucho gently rolled her over and his eyes grew wide as he saw how cut up and bloody her back was.
"What happened?" Marucho asked putting emphasis on each word.
"She fell through a window," Alice responded.
"Fell?" Dan cut in.
Marucho looked over at Alice. "Uh . . ."
"Alice."
"Alice. Could you go get me a bowl of water? You can probably get one in the kitchen," Marucho told her. She nodded and walked passed Dan and Shun and out of the room.
Instantly the room grew quiet and a tense feeling filled the air. Marucho noticed this immediately and looked up to see Dan and Shun glaring at each other.
"Oh my god," Marucho groaned. "Are you Shun?" he asked boy with the long black hair. He had heard all the stories from Dan, although he had never actually met Shun, but still knew enough that having them in the same room was about as dangerous as having two starving jungle cats together. "Am I going to have to build a wall between you two?"
Shun pushed himself off the wall and walked out of the room, quietly saying, "I'll just wait in the hallway," feeling like he owed Dan. He closed the door on his way out.
"So when did Shun get here?" Marucho asked. "And Alice is . . . ?"
"Well, Master Thief Shun out there decided the inn was his next target. And Alice . . ." Dan began, but stopped, realizing for the first time that he knew absolutely nothing about her. She was a completely stranger.
She walked back in the room at that moment and the conversation ceased. Alice smiled at Marucho and set the bowl of water next to him, saying, "Here you go!"
Even if she was a stranger, Marucho couldn't help smiling back at her. There was just something about this Alice that just made you like her. "Thanks, Alice," he said. "Now there's something else I need you to do for me."
"What?" Alice asked.
"I need the two of you to wait in the hallway while I heal Runo so I can focus," Marucho said. "Alice, that means it's your job to not let Dan and Shun kill each other."
Alice smiled again and said, "Will do."
They left the room as Marucho took the bandages off Runo's back, glad it was her bare back he was seeing and not her front so Dan wouldn't punch him out later. He held his hand out over the bowl of water and pulled it up, letting it flow from his hand to Runo's back, healing being a special power water gave him. He took a deep breath and let his energy run through him to her to do what he could to help her.
Point of View Change: Runo!
Runo cracked her eyes open, trying to remember what had just happened. Shun, she thought. Shun had been in their inn, and they had fought. Where was he now? Runo pushed herself up on her elbows in the bed and looked around the room, recognizing one of the rooms of the inn.
"Morning, sunshine," Marucho said, realizing she was up. He was sitting on a chair next to her bed, smiling at her.
"Marucho? When did you get here? Where's Dan? And, Shun . . ." Runo asked him.
"Dan came to get me to heal you," Marucho told her. The memory of crashing through the window shot back to Runo, and slowly it dawned on her that while she could feel pain and was sore, she felt relatively okay for a person who had flown through glass, obviously because of Marucho.
"Thanks," Runo told him, smiling.
Marucho smiled back and continued, "Dan and Shun are out in the hallway. Alice is doing her best to be a barrier between them."
"Alice?" A faint memory of a girl holding her was in Runo's mind. She realized it was the same girl she had met earlier, and that she must be Alice.
At that moment, there was a knock at the door and Dan's voice filtered though. "Marucho? We heard talking. Is Runo awake?"
"Yeah!" Marucho called back. "You guys can come in."
The door opened and the three walked in, Alice and Dan walking over to see Runo while Shun stood in the doorway, realizing she would of course be angry with him.
"Runo, how are you feeling?" Alice asked her, kneeling down next to her bed.
"Pretty good, thanks to Marucho," Runo said with a smile.
"Glad to hear," Dan added in.
"If everyone's okay here," Shun muttered quietly, "I suppose I'll head back to my home." He pushed himself off the wall and walked to the door, but Dan blocked his way, drawing out his sword again.
"You really think you're just going to walk out of here?" Dan shouted. "After all that?"
Shun starred at him for a moment and said simply, "Yeah." Dan let out a low growl of frustration and lunged his sword at Shun. Shun stepped back, but a beam of darkness wrapped around his sword and jerked it out of his hand, delivering the sword to Alice.
Marucho let out a small laugh. "You control darkness?" He thought about how sweet she seemed. "That's a bit of a misplaced power."
"Guys, I told you already. We're all suppose to be working together," Alice pleaded with the boys.
"Alice, he broke into my home, tried to steal from us, and hurt me and my parents!" Runo spoke up from the bed. "If nothing else, we at least need to turn him into the authorities."
Marucho ignored Runo's comment, focusing more on Alice. "What do you mean we're suppose to be working together? Alice, what do you know about us?"
"Is this really the time for that?" Dan shouted at Marucho.
"Look, I know I'm not wanted here," Shun said, his voice softer than it had been. "Dan, let me go. I promise none of you will ever have to see me again."
"Shun," Alice said softly. "Please stay. We need you here."
Before either boy could make any more protests, Marucho held up his hands with an annoyed look on his face. "Guys, I know you are both equally thickheaded, but would it be too much to listen to Alice for just a moment?"
"Here, Alice, sit down," Runo told her, patting the end of the bed. "We'll listen, right Dan?" she said, shooting him a look.
Dan let out a huffy sigh and slouched against the wall. Shun leaned up against the one across from him as Alice gathered her thoughts, thinking of what to say.
"Let's start with where you came from," Marucho offered.
Alice nodded. "I came from the a small village at the base of the Hynun mountains."
"That's quite a ways to travel. Did you come here by yourself?" Marucho asked her.
She nodded. Dan thought back to the way she fought. The fact that she could travel that far on her own didn't surprise him.
"I was sent here by my grandfather," Alice continued. "He's a researcher. He believes that this connection and these powers we share must mean something. He wanted me to find you all and bring you back with me to our home."
There was silence for a moment after that. "I-I understand that it would be a lot to ask of all of you, to leave your homes, but . . . I don't know, do you all really think this happened by accident?"
"I've always wondered that," Marucho said quietly. "I mean, there isn't anyway to explain them." He studied Alice for a moment. Her eyes looked over at him suddenly and they held each others gaze. "I'll go with you."
"Marucho!" Dan interrupted suddenly. "You'd go just like that?"
"What do I really have here, Dan?" Marucho asked him with serious eyes. "I've always wanted to see more of this world. This is my chance."
"I'll go too," Runo said, laying her hand on Alice's and smiling at her. "I feel the same way as you, Marucho," she added, turning and smiling at him as well. "I don't want to pass this up."
Marucho and Runo turned and looked at Dan expectantly. He groaned, but on the inside, he was happy as he said, "Fine, I'll come too." They had all always felt a painful restlessness in this city.
"Shun?" Alice looked up at him.
He didn't look back at her. He was quiet for a long time before he said, "No, Alice. I'm not going with you."
"Shun-" Marucho started, but Dan cut him off.
"Oh, let him go! If he doesn't want to come, we don't need him."
Shun pushed himself off the wall and walked for the door. Alice pulled herself off the bed and put her hand on his shoulder.
"Please, Shun. We all have to be in this together," she said softly, a sadness in her voice.
"I'm sorry," he said simply before shrugging her hand off his shoulder and walking through the door closing it behind him. Alice's face fell as she just starred at the closed door.
"Alice-" Runo started gently.
"No, it's fine," Alice said quickly, turning around. "We have to find someone else, anyway, a person named Julie."
"The princess?" Runo asked.
"I suppose . . . "Alice said, although she didn't know. If she was the princess, it would be much harder to find her and talk with her.
"Julie can control rock," Marucho said. "It makes sense that we need to find her next."
"How do you know that?" Dan asked his friend.
Marucho shrugged. "We talk a lot. She knows about my powers as well. It can be hard to find some your own age in the palace. We've been friends since we were kids."
"Could you get us in the palace to talk to her?" Alice asked him.
Marucho shook his head. "I haven't seen her in a couple of weeks, actually. With her wedding to Prince Klaus coming up, she's been pretty busy."
"Wedding?" Dan asked. "She's only, like, sixteen."
"Dan, don't you pay attention?" Runo asked. "She's in an arranged engagement to the prince from the Hynun country, where Alice is from, actually."
"Well, there is a ball being held for them tomorrow night, the night before the wedding. If we want even a chance of taking her with us, we're going to have to talk to her then," Marucho told them.
"A ball?" Runo asked. "Ugh, that's such a hassle. We'll have to get all dress up and act fancy . . ."
"I see you can barely contain your enthusiasm," Marucho said with an eye roll, "But it's the only time we have. It might be more of a physical fight actually . . ." This statement was met with blank stares. "Look, I don't know if Julie is thrilled about an arranged marriage, so convincing her to come with us won't be hard. However, getting her out of the castle . . ."
"So basically we're kidnapping her?" Dan asked shortly.
"In her father's eyes, yes, but she won't exactly be resistant."
"We should probably get some rest then," Alice said. Runo studied her eyes. It was clear she wasn't with them in that room.
"Here, Alice, I'll take you to another room," Runo told her, pushing herself out of the bed. Marucho stood with her, putting his arms out to steady his patient. "I'm fine," she assured him. Still, Alice held out her arm the way a gentleman would for Runo so she could lean on her. Runo looked reluctant for a moment, but hooked her arm under Alice's and leaned slightly.
The girls walked down the hall, Runo checking for empty rooms until they came to an empty one closer to the window at the end of the hall.
"Can you walk back alone?" Alice asked Runo as she opened the door.
"Yup," Runo said with a nod and a grin. "You just let me or my parents know if you need something, alright?"
"Alright," Alice answered with a smile of her own. She watched as Runo wobbled back down to her room, feeling oddly happy. She walked into the room, stripped off her dress, and crawled beneath the sheets, still smiling in the dark. Alice was unused to such kindness. These people were being so nice to her, it almost made her feel bad about lieing to them.
Point of View Change: Shun! (Again!)
Shun sat on another roof, cross legged with his head on his hands. It was all too much to taken in. It had started out a simple robbery, routine for him. But then running into Dan and Runo, and then meeting this girl . . . So much change was happening too fast. A turmoil lump had formed in his stomach. He had an aching feeling that he had done the wrong thing by walking away. He wasn't even sure so much it was because of Dan, but maybe because he was just . . . scared.
"Hey," Sora said softly as she walked across the roof to him. She took a seat and rubbed his his back for a moment. "Bad night?"
Shun was quiet for a moment before he said, "Alice wants me to leave with her."
"Eloping already? You just met the girl," Sora teased him.
Shun tried to smile, but he couldn't. "She wants to take me because of my powers, along with Dan, Runo, and a boy named Marucho."
"Huh," Sora murmured. Shun couldn't tell what she was thinking. "So what are you going to do?"
"I told her no," Shun answered her.
"Why?" Sora asked. "There's a lot more out there than this city."
"What about you guys?"
Sora was quiet for a moment. "I would miss you a lot Shun, but as long as you promise to come back. I could handle the kids," she said with a playful elbow to his shoulder.
"I promised my mother that I would be a phantom thief," Shun reminded her.
"Hmmmmm, yeah," Sora said lightly, "but Shun, you're mother was an adventurer. She'd want you-"
Shun's hand went to Sora's shoulder as he whispered quickly, "Someone else is on the roof." Shun drew one of his swords and Sora took the other, having come to the roof without hers. They spun around quickly as they came to their feet, but were knocked back down immediately as bolts of darkness slammed against them. Both were back on their feet in seconds, Shun thinking for a moment that Alice was attacking them, but he looked to find it wasn't her. Another man was standing there in a dark cloak. His hair stood straight up on his head, a yellow blond, with a large, strange mask that covered his eyes.
Shun and Sora ran at their attacker, each taking him from one side. Dark shields projected from either hand, blocking their blows.
"Sora, get down!" Shun shouted. He blasted the man with wind as Sora dropped to her stomach. The man flew in the air, regaining control and turned it into a flip, landing on the edge of the roof at the other side of Sora. She flipped back to her feet, holding her sword at arms length, the point touching the man's kneck. A confident smirk spread across his lips.
"That was excellent work with your gift, Shun," he said. Shun looked at him curiously, Sora glancing back at Shun.
"Who are you?" Shun asked him, an edge to his voice.
"My name," the man began, "is Masquerade. I've seen the work you're done, Shun, and I must say, I'm impressed. You have certainly mastered the wind, haven't you?"
"What do you want?" Shun shot at him.
"I've come to you seeking an alliance," Masquerade said in his same confident tone. Sora pressed the sword tighter into his kneck. "Perhaps if you asked your . . . lady friend to stand aside, we could speak properly?"
Shun walked up to her, but gave no instruction to remove the sword. "I have no interest in an alliance with you," Shun said simply. "We'll let you leave in peace, but do not come back."
"Are you sure about that, Shun?" Masquerade asked him. "I am quite powerful myself, as you have seen. We could really be quite a team." He was quiet for one moment, before continuing, "Now wouldn't your mother be proud of you? Imagine the chaos you could stir in this city if we worked together."
Shun was quiet then. Sora's elbow jabbed him lightly in the ribs, a clear sign not to listen. Shun tried brushing it off. He reached up and gently pulled the sword down from his kneck. Masquerade smiled.
"I'm glad you'll consider my offer Shun," he told him. He held on his hand. "We'll make a great team."
Shun was hesitant still, and he could feel Sora bristling next to him, but slowly, he took Masquerade's hand and shook it.
Wow that felt like a lot of talking . . . probably because it was a lot of talking. Well, I'm sorry for the lack of action, but I promise it will pick up plenty in the next couple of chapters. And I'm sorry if this one was a little dry, but next we have a ball! Oh, a ball. I feel like a seventh grader again. So, this will be enjoyable for you seventh graders and hopefully for you non-seventh graders as well. Next chapter, we will see our first look at Princess Julie (fitting, no?), and a few other familiar faces. Thank you all for reading! You all rock!