Chapter Two: An L'Cie once more, Lightning vs. Konoha!
Night had fallen over Gran Pulse, sending away the various animals that normally hunted during the day. Neji, Kakashi, and Hinata were currently asleep after making sure the young female warrior had stabilized and there weren't any enemies nearby, Sakura was keeping watch. The young woman was still asleep but her condition had improved since this morning when she was freed from the crystal statue. Sakura was determined to keep watch but was slowly falling asleep; she had been drained during the day from helping the woman heal her muscles. She leaned against the wall, nodding off as she decided to rest her eyes for a little while. She never noticed that Lightning was not asleep but merely binding her time and waiting for all of them to fall asleep.
Lightning's Mindscape…
"How can they be here? He told me I'd be safe from them it just doesn't make any sense!" she yelled, punching the wall of the sewer like wall getting small cracks. She had spent hours in her mindscape, going over what she remembered and any possible way shinobi from another world could have traveled to Pulse. "Ok I remember going to Eden, we beat Orphan, and then Vanille and Fang saved Cocoon, then the celebration and then … nothing. When I regained consciousness I'm back on Gran Pulse at the Taejin Tower but if I'm here then where's Serah and the others?" she asked out loud. "Alright judging by the fact I'm not back in Konoha they must not recognize or weren't smart enough to check my chakra signature, so now all I have to do is escape and make it back to cocoon, find Serah and the others and everything will be fine" she voiced as she headed for the exit.
Gran Pulse: Taejin's Tower
Lightning's eyes snapped open and glanced around. Her weapon was by her side, they hadn't taken it away, what a stupid mistake. Sakura was leaning against a wall that led to the elevator towards Oerba; Hinata was leaning against who she guessed was an older Neji Hyuga a few feet away from Sakura. Kakashi was on the other side of the room, near the other elevator that lead back down into the tower. It was then she noticed the monument in the center of the room, quietly getting up she made her way to it. "Serah, Hope, Snow and Sazh, they must have turned to crystal after we defeated Orphan" she thought as she looked out towards the crystal bridge that bound Cocoon and Pulse together. "Vanille and Fang are still sealed too it seems, I need to get to Oerba and get re-equipped, I'll come back for them after that" she whispered. Turning around she took in her options, both of the elevators were blocked and she really didn't want to interact with any of ninja. There was only two choices, either attempt the elevator and deal with the shinobi or…
"Time to jump"
Sliding her sword into the sheath she broke into a run, the quick footsteps waking up Neji and Hinata who saw her running towards the edge.
"HEY!" Neji shouted, waking up Kakashi and Sakura who stared wide eyed as Lightning ran towards the edge of the tower. "STOP!" Kakashi yelled as he ran after her, missing her arm as she leapt off the tower. "Is she crazy? She just leapt off a six story building!" Neji voiced as they watched the pink haired woman free fall. "After her, she knows she'll be safe if she did it on purpose" Kakashi ordered, leapt down, clinging to the wall with his chakra and began to sprint down. The others followed quickly, trying to catch up to the two. "Damn their following me" Lightning thought as she snapped her fingers. A blue energy field formed around her, controlling the flow of gravity of her body, allowing her to land safely on the ground. She broke into a run, a little sluggish since she hadn't fully recovered yet. "The Archylte Steppe is far too dangerous in my weakened condition. I'll head to Oerba and use the warp stone to get someplace safe after I grab a few things" she thought as she followed the path made by the tracks that led away from the upper elevator.
Kakashi leapt off the tower, scanning the ground to find the woman's tracks leading away towards a small mountain area. The others joined him, Hinata and Neji activating their Byakugan. "She's heading towards a small town a mile from here; she may be trying to find someone to help her" Hinata spoke. "We have to catch her, she's the only one that's knows we're here, we can't allow other to know of our presence" Kakashi voiced. Pumping chakra into their legs they took off, following Lightning's tracks.
Oerba: Village Proper…
Lightning stumbled into the village of Oerba, the Cie'th that normally dwelled here fled from her sight. She wasn't too surprised; these creatures were also once L'Cie and could sense the strength of fellow L'Cie. Even in her weakened state and alone she was more then powerful enough to destroy them in mere seconds. She could sense their chakra; her former friends were still following her and would be here shortly. Spotting the steps to Vanille and Fangs home Lightning made a run for it, dragging herself up the stairs and into the small building. Closing the door and baring it shut she slumped onto one of the beds, nearly missing Bhakti who yipped at her feet. "Good to see you too" she spoke as she petted the small robots head. Looking around she spotted something that made her smile a bit, "their still here" she voiced. Hanging on the far wall were mecha gun blades, battle guantles, bow staffs, boomarangs, and various accessories she and her friends had used during their stay on Pulse. Taking the Blaze Edge Saber out of its sheath she placed it on the wall and grabbed the Omega Weapon she had upgraded from the Lionheart, a pair of Sprint Shoes, two Speed Sash's and a Whistle Wind Scarf. She stored the Blaze Edge Saber in her inventory and equipped all the items
"I need to get out of here, the Cie'th stone is right outside but I'll have to get past the others to get there but I don't feel up to fighting" she thought when a warm feeling filled her chest. Unzipping her jacket she noticed with shock that her L'Cie crest has returned although it had reverted to its original form. "I have a new focus and I won't let my former home stand in my way" she whispered as she walked out, leaving Bhakti behind.
She made her way own the stairs, just in time to see the Konoha shinobi enter the village.
Konoha Shinobi…
As they ran down the path they noticed the creatures around here were avoiding them on the path, they almost seemed afraid of something. Not stopping to worry they reached the entrance to the village. It was completely barren, nothing but rust, rubble and twisted metal. They entered the main village to see the pink haired warrior walking down the stairs of a building, a different sword in her hand and a annoyed look on her face.
"I'm afraid we can't allow you to tell others about us being here, come quietly and we promise not to harm you" Kakashi voiced.
"You won't take me back. I won't let you Konoha scum" Lightning spoke as she walked forward.
"Take you back?" Sakura voiced.
"Odin" Lightning muttered as a strange crystal flew out of her chest into her hand. Throwing it high into the air she leaped after it, slashing through it with her sword. In a flash a huge white and black armored figure appeared, wielding a massive shield and bladed lance. It held up an arm, grabbed Lightning's and flipped her so she landed in front of it.
"Cut me a path!"
Lightning ordered as Odin leapt at the shinobi, swinging its huge lance, nearly taking off Kakashi's head as he ducked to avoid it. "Lightning Blade!" he yelled as he charged, his arm glowing with electricity as he thrust at the armored warrior.
Ullr's Shield" Lightning voiced.
Odin shifted to defense; its shield raised and deflected Kakashi's attack, it barely doing any damage to the giant. Kakashi grunted as he was shoved away by the shield and sent flying into a nearby building.
"Eight Trigrams: Sky Palm!" Neji shouted as he launched a blast of chakra at Odin but it was once again deflected by Odin's shield.
"Attack Crushing Blow" Lightning spoke.
Odin shifted to attack. He leapt at Neji, swinging its massive lance, catching Neji in the shoulder and sent him flying. "Neji-Nissan!" Hinata screamed as she watched her cousin get struck.
"Skyward Swing" Lightning whispered.
Odin rushed Neji who was lying on the ground and swung upwards launching him high into the air. Neji grimaced but went wide eyed when Lightning appeared in front of him, a glare on her face.
"Let's end it!" she voiced as she began slashing, over and over again cutting his arms. Gashes covered his chest while bullet holes appeared on his legs. It finally ended when Lightning back flipped, kicked Neji in the back of the head and sent him flying into the ground head first. "Army of One" she voiced as she landed safely on Odin's shoulder.
"Neji!" Hinata screamed as she ran to her cousin's side and began to heal his wounds. Lightning narrow her eyes at seeing Hinata had the ability to heal now, she really didn't want to hurt the girl, she had been one of the few ones nice t her back then but it might be needed in order to get away. She prepared to order Odin to attack and barley managed to see Sakura flying at her with a crazed look on her face.
"I'll make you pay for this CHA!" she shouted and stuck with her fist at the pink haired L'Cie.
"Quickly Ullr's Shield!" Lightning shouted.
Odin raised its shield but Lightning was surprised when Sakura's fist slammed into the shield and sent Odin flying a couple feet away. Lightning lost her balance and fell off Odin's shoulder, Sakura grabbed her arm and used her impressive strength to launch Lightning at the nearby water tower. Twisting in mid air Lightning snapped her fingers, the blue energy field appeared again as she landed safely on the tower. Sakura went wide eyed at seeing Lightning standing sideways on the tower. "You can use chakra?" she gasped out. "I'm not telling you anything" Lightning replied as she launched off the tower, slamming a fist into Sakura's gut as she flew past, she then flipped and fire two shots, both landing in Sakura's right arm.
Lightning landed, looking at Odin who was slowing getting back to his feet, his shield dented from the impressive punch.
"Damn, Odin can't stick around much longer unless I switch to Gestalt Mode but I don't want to reveal too much to them"
Kakashi was pulling himself out of the building, Hinata had finished healing Neji and Sakura was beginning to heal the wound in her arm. "No choice, we do this together" she whispered as Odin glowed. Its formed shifted, turning into a giant white armored horse, Lightning grabbed the blade lance, broke it in two and leaped onto its back. "Let's ride!"
The Konoha shinobi couldn't believe what they were seeing. This summoning was so different then anything they had ever seen, even Master Jiraiya's summons weren't on par with this woman's, they had greatly underestimated her.
"Wrath of Odin, it's over!"
She screamed as she leaped off the horse, the twin swords in her hands glowing red with power.
"Zantetsuken!"
She yelled as she twirled around and around, the energy of the blades lashing out, striking all four shinobi and sending them crashing to the ground with various wounds. While Sakura, Neji and Kakashi slammed further into the village, Hinata landed next to the Cie'th warp stone. Lightning landed, snapped the blades back together and handed it back the horse. "Until next time" she voiced as Odin vanished. Taking note that everyone was down Lightning rushed to the warp stone, she was about to activate it when Hinata's hand grabbed her leg.
"Why?" she whispered, barley holding on to consciousness. Kneeling down Lightning snapped her fingers again.
"Paradigm Shift: Medic" Lightning whispered.
Her hand glowed white, she muttered "Cura" under her breath. A large amount of Hinata's wounds healed instantly. As Hinata passed out she could barely heard Lightning speak.
"I'm so sorry Hinata but I can never go back"
She leaning Hinata against the wall next to the Cie'th stone and activated it, warping away, leaving the injured Konoha ninja's to recover from their defeat at the hands of the pink haired L'Cie.
