Setsuna and Konoka began making minor preparations for their trip to a neighboring town; while Negi and Kotaro had only been gone a few days, the group had to be in a constant flux: when two were gone, another two set off the day the first was scheduled to return. Unfortunately, the two were running behind schedule; there was a certain ermine that needed a beating for sleeping in Konoka's underwear.
As the two finished packing their things, they quickly said their farewells and came up with the allotted time for their return.
"Judging by the distance, it should only take us three days, round trip," Setsuna pointed out, "If we're not back by then, contact us via telepathy."
"Alright, take care out there, the road's dangerous," Yue affirmed, "If you don't think that they'll lend any supplies, don't wait for nightfall to take them, Negi and Kotaro may have had better luck. We'll contact you if the plan changes."
Setsuna and Konoka were led to the edge of the campsite by Yue, Nodoka, Haruna, and Chamo; Setsuna couldn't help by eye Chisame curiously as they passed her, sitting on a log, fiddling with her cell phone. Setsuna mentally shook her head; the girl just couldn't live without her electronics.
Konoka and Setsuna had begun their journey to the next town when Chamo made a joke that Setsuna just couldn't ignore: "Now try not to enjoy yourselves too much!"
The ermine quickly found himself on the defensive against a half bird, half human, half red-beet Shenmei School warrior that was kicking him around like a soccer ball. It wasn't long before the group realized that most of the medical supplies they had gotten lately were being used on the ermine.
After several minutes of furious kicking and a few chunked rocks later, the group was once again bidding their farewells, but as Konoka and Setsuna made their way out of the campsite, they heard the voices of Negi and Kotaro ushering them to stop. The two paused and turned around, only to see the entire group waving their hands, ushering them to return.
"So you say the elder wants us all to come?" Setsuna heard Nodoka ask the two when she arrived back at the camp site.
"Yes, but there is one condition…" Negi stated as he looked at Setsuna, "You have to hide your wings. We've told the elder about both you and Kotaro, and he's more than happy to welcome us, but because you're part bird, you're going to have to hide your wings."
Setsuna shrugged and quickly complied.
"I'm not too happy to do this, you know…" she replied as her wings vanished, "But if there's a haven for us all, then we've got to take it."
Negi smiled at Setsuna; she'd finally come to terms with her heritage and not only had she accepted it, but she wholeheartedly showed it. She was no longer afraid of what anyone thought of her.
"It's only a day and a half's trip away from here at full speed, but being that we've got Chisame and Haruna with us it'll probably take the full two."
"It's fine, I can just draw something that'll fly us there," Haruna stated nonchalantly as she called forth her artifact.
"Not this time Haruna," Negi was quick to intervene, "Knowing you, it'll be something big and flashy, and right now we need stealth. We're taking it on foot."
Haruna got a sickly look in her eyes and Chisame wasn't much better. The two had never even camped before, much less hiked for two days over hills and through forests. This was turning into a hell for them.
The group gathered their things quickly, and soon all that was left standing were the makeshift adirondacks. Negi and Yue quickly set fire to them, and the group was on their way.
"Why did you guys burn those?" Haruna was quick to ask.
"Leave no trace. If an enemy comes and sees that there was a settlement there, they might come looking for us, but if it's been burned: one, they can't use it themselves and two, they may think that another of theirs had already been there and eliminated the occupants," Kotaro replied.
Haruna looked down at the ground for a few moments; the realization had finally really hit her: there were people out there that wanted to kill them.
"So, Negi, how long till we get to use that time watch again and get home?" she beckoned, hoping to change the subject.
There was an unusual quiet for a moment, and Negi finally answered, "About six months."
At these words, only Kotaro was unaffected, but Haruna and Chisame stopped cold.
"What do you mean six months?!" Chisame nearly screamed.
In almost and instant, Kotaro was on her with his hand covering her mouth.
"Quiet," he whispered.
His hand was forcefully removed and Chisame started laying into him.
"Don't you ever cover my mouth again you mutt!" Chisame yelled in her pit of rage.
Again, Kotaro's hand clasped over her mouth, but this time, there was a rustling that followed her silence.
"Damn!" Kotaro yelled in response to the noise, "Haruna, draw something pretty!"
The group bolted forward, Kotaro carrying both Chisame and Haruna over his shoulders.
Chisame was red in the face from anger, but looking back, her protests turned quickly from anger, to fear. She was now screaming at him to move faster. The beasts that were chasing the group were huge, one covered from head to toe with leaves, looking like it was born from the forest itself, and one that had huge leafy wings and a beak. Its entire body looked like it was made from the wood of trees, but it bent and flexed as well as skin…it looked as if it were a tree turned dragon.
"What the hell are those?!" the flustered girl couldn't help but scream.
"Hyrens!" the dog-demon quickly replied, "There's no use fighting them, their manifestations of the forest itself. When magical forests feel they have dangerous intruders, the release a part of themselves. That is what a Hyren is. It's pointless to kill them…they just re-manifest."
"How in the world are we supposed to beat that?!"
"We don't. We get through the forest; they can't leave it."
"In the mean-time," Haruna commented, having finished her drawings, "We give them something to play with! Flying swordsmen numbers one and two!"
With a flash of light, two massive swordsmen erupted from her drawing pad and stood to take on the two Hyrens. Compared to the Hyren, the swordsmen looked like midgets. The one with wings towered at least ten feet over their heads, and the other wasn't much shorter than the first. Haruna was correct though, the beasts had to pause for a few seconds to destroy the golems…but it was long enough for them to lose sight of the group.
"They're gone…" Chisame whispered.
"Don't get your hopes up," Kotaro corrected, "They can't see us but they know exactly where we're at. Remember that the Hyrens aren't just beasts, they're the forest itself."
"So that means…" Haruna began, but was quickly cut off when Kotaro jolted to the left to avoid an incoming attack. Chisame's face made a horrified expression when she saw a three foot long claw lift up from where they had been only a moment before.
With one fell swoop, it looked as though the beast would eliminate the three, but as quickly as it appeared, the beast was gone, and the entire group stood only feet outside the forest gasping for air.
"I think we made it in record time!" Asuna commented.
"Yeah, I'm beat," Chamo added without the slightest hint of exhaustion in his voice.
Asuna gave him a dry look and he quickly took shelter in Negi's cloak. Negi glanced back into his hood to see a shivering ermine and couldn't help but let out a laugh.
"You two've trained him quite well!" Negi smiled as he exchanged glances with Setsuna and Asuna.
The entire group shared in the laugh then…that is, everybody but Chamo and Chisame, who was looking at the forest like it was Satan itself.
"You did that to me on purpose…" she commented to the forest. Within the next second there was a shrill piercing cry that obviously came from the larger of the two Hyrens. Chisame jumped back and fell to the ground in shock.
"Yes, definitely on purpose…"
The rest of the trip went smoothly enough. The majority of it was spent reminiscing with Haruna, but Chisame didn't seem too keen to join in on the conversation. It was really obvious that she didn't want to be there.
"You could always use that artifact of yours, you know," Kotaro offered, "I'll carry your body if you want to use it."
"And have 'you' carry me? No thanks…" she was quick to reply.
"You offer to carry her and not me?" a familiar voice commented with a false sense of sadness.
"Yue, she's just doesn't seem to keen to be here right now, I thought that maybe…"
Yue turned away from Kotaro and was silent for a few moments, and didn't respond to Kotaro's calls of her name.
"Would you like for me to carry you?" Kotaro finally asked.
Yue spent the rest of the trip on Kotaro's back.
They arrived at the entrance to the town only a few hours later; an entire day ahead of schedule. Kotaro set Yue down and Negi set Nodoka down. He had been the unfortunate recipient of Yue's technique, copied and improved by Nodoka. Setsuna had offered to carry Konoka as well, but she said that it was fine and she could make the trip on her own. Setsuna sulked for several minutes after that.
It was verging on dusk when they reached the gate and the group was quickly stopped by the border guard.
"It's rather late to be traveling without a caravan," the guard muttered to them, "What is your business here?"
"We've come to request asylum, might we speak to your eldest, he is expecting us," Negi replied with a bow.
"I'm afraid not, no one is to enter the gates at night, per the instructions of our governor."
"We must speak to him," Kotaro piped up, taking his place a pace away from Negi.
"Tryval?!" the guard stammered, "Yes of course! This way!"
The guard abandoned his post to lead the group inside the town, leaving the other three guards standing at the gate.
"I hate having to do it like this…" Kotaro whispered to Negi.
"I agree, but it was well played on your part. This way not only did we get inside, but we're being led to the elder's home as well."
Within a few minutes, the group was standing outside the elder's home and being ushered inside. Once there, the guard took his leave and returned to the gate.
"What was that about?" Nodoka was forced to ask.
"Apparently…" Kotaro began, apparently ashamed of his tactics, "I look just like the elder's son…who passed away around two weeks ago."
Yue looked at Kotaro in bewilderment and then quickly turned to gaze to the ground with a melancholy expression.
"Everybody's lost so much…" Yue began, but Kotaro quickly wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.
"You're right, we've all lost so much…" he agreed, pulling back for a moment and touching his forehead to hers, "But at the same time…I've gained something I wouldn't give up for the world."
Yue smiled and tear brimmed in her eyes. She pulled onto Kotaro and held him tight until the group was greeted by a woman in dark garb.
"The master will see you now…" she formally stated, bowing low.
She ushered the group up the stairs until they reached a set of large wooden doors with brass handles. The group walked inside the room to see an old man resembling Konoka's grandfather stroking his beard.
"I'm glad to see you've made it back safely!" the elder greeted enthusiastically.
"We thank you for your hospitality, sir," Nodoka, Yue, and Konoka replied in unison while bowing.
"Oh my, such lovely young ladies, and so formal! I can tell you've been practicing that, but it wasn't for meeting me, was it?"
The group briefly remembered their time at the academy and smiled, "No, we were at an institution once where bowing was required," Konoka answered sweetly.
"Ah, I see your group is well stocked, gentlemen. One…two…three…four wizards? Four warriors? But she just doesn't look like she belongs…" the elder commented while looking the group over. It was obvious that he had been talking about Chisame.
"She's our central intelligence operative," Negi replied with a smile.
"Oh?" the elder replied, "And a well informed young lady she looks as well."
The elder glanced around the room at the group once more, taking in every detail that he could.
"Oh, there's the other…" he commented looking at the ermine that had just crawled out from Negi's hood, "But if I recall correctly, didn't you say you only had two biracials?"
Negi and the others glanced at each other quickly and then back to the elder.
"We do only have two biracials," Setsuna responded, "Kotaro and myself."
The elder looked Setsuna in her eyes, "Hopefully," he began standing and taking his place in front of her, "one day there will be a place where people like you and the other two in your group can walk around freely and not hide yourselves. I'm ashamed that you cannot do that here. I apologize."
Setsuna simply bowed, but the thought had coursed through her mind twice now: 'Other Two?'
The elder walked up to Yue and stood in front of her for a moment.
"You're a biracial from the dog tribe?" the elder asked.
"Wha…no! I'm entirely human!" she responded quickly, but the elder noticed an uneasy glance from Kotaro.
He looked at Kotaro and then back to Yue, "I sense a presence similar to Kotaro in you…" the elder commented, studying her, "Wait. He isn't…perhaps…your lover is he?"
Yue went bright red.
"I'll take that as a yes…" the elder confirmed. "If you're entirely human as you say you are, then I'm afraid that only means on other thing."
Yue stared at him waiting for the answer.
"You're pregnant."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Author Notes:
Ha! My first cliffhanger! It feels good, cause I've actually got the rest of this part written down, but you don't get to see it until tomorrow night! MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Yeah…so you only have to wait a day, big deal…could be worse, right?
