Magnus: Sorry for making you wait so long, but I had a lot to do and wasn't able to write. Any way, here it is, enjoy, and remember, Read and Review!
Disclaimer: We don't own anything, names of the tamers are alias, anything else is coincidence
Chapter 22
Before the War
"A warrior's sword is not a part of his body, but a reflection of his soul, for it will carry his or her will, faith and courage, my sword is not a physical one, but the knowledge and wisdom that I put into action" –Mark Hunter-
It was almost midnight when Felix walked up to Mark's door, he was troubled, and already feeling like a traitor. It was his duty as a Ranger to stop people like Mark, for they were dangerous, and his actions weren't holy, but, as a fellow tamer, and pokegirl lover, he couldn't disagree with this course of action.
'But I have no choice, I don't want to even make a choice!' Felix thought, half in regret, half in relief. His plan was simple, to leave on good graces, to say good bye, and to bring back the full force of the Rangers. Should Mark result victorious, they'll clean up the mess, and arrest Mark, should Mark fall, they'll clean up the mess, and arrest the Beoulves. It was a win-win situation, but it made him feel horrible nonetheless
'Well, no turning back now' Felix added as he reached the door. He wondered what would he be interrupting, would he be interrupting the taming of the new Damehan? Felix caressed his neck after that thought, but knocked in the door anyway
The door opened slightly after a few seconds, although it wasn't Mark who answered... but Yuki
"What brings you here at this hour of the night?" Yuki asked, in a voice that sounded rather demanding, somehow Felix liked it more than the monotone voice...
"I need to speak with Mark... it's rather important" Felix replied, trying to sound serious and yet respectful
"Hum... I don't think he is int the mood to attend you... Can you return in the morning? Preferable after we are done with the town" Yuki replied, sounding a little meek and girlie, almost earning a soft smile from the Ranger
"I'm sorry, Yuki, but I really need to speak with him now, please tell him that this is a matter of utmost importance
"Chances of that affirmation being true are 0.0000001% close to be accurate. Bringing Mark here at this moment will most likely result on your imminent demise, either by his hand, or by Maria's blade. Do you still want to proceed?" Yuki replied once more, in a monotone voice that made Felix blood run cold... yet he had to... proceed
"Yes... please. I'll wait here" Felix answered, and Yuki only gave a slight nod, and then banished inside the room. Felix waited for about a full minute, when the door finally opened, revealing a rather tired Mark
"What brings you here, Felix? Can't you see I was trying to rest before the battle?" Mark greeted in a very strange way, drained, yet ready
"Well... I'm here because I have to tell you something very important... I have to say good bye" Felix began his speech, not sure where he was trying to get...
Meanwhile...
Illidan was troubled, he wanted to strangle one of his new two pokegirls, for she was te reason things went out of control recently, although he thought that the change from Slicer to Damean was a good trade of
"Well, it's time to have a word with these girls" Illidan muttered, and by 'word' he actually meant a world of pain, at least for one of them. The first he called out was the werewolf, who stood tall and proud, sill on her battle form, but against everything Illidan expected from her, she wasn't growling...
"So... You want to tag along? Or do you prefer to walk away?" Illidan asked without any kind of sign of fear or intimidation, and the Lupina decided to talk and show what was on her mind
"You are strong, you may be worthy, besides, my pack was killed when I was captured, just allow me to have my revenge on the bastards that destroyed my family, and I'll pla nice with you" The Lupina replied, and then began to change into a more human shape, the girl had pale skin, red eyes, silvery wild hair, and the traits of a wolf girl, with the wold ears and tail, the scar on her eye didn't go away, but her forehead showed a new trait, a birthmark in the shape of a half moon... although she lacked any clothes besides some kind of cloth bracers and ankle guards
"Tag a long with me and you can eat the hearts of all who is related to the one who brought you such disgrace. Do you have a name of your own?" Illidan proposed, and while he found her hot, he decided to not to show his appreciation of her body just yet
"Deal. And I don't have a name, also I'll bite your balls off if you keep calling me bitch like that other bastard did" The Lupina warned, and Illidan gave a light chuckle, he already liked this girl. Suddenly he gave a step forward, and his finger began to trace the birthmark on her forehead
"Then your name will be Luna. You shall shine in battle like your namesake, and by the battle prowess you have shown lately, I know I can count on you to battle by my side" Illidan finally said, making the newly named Luna blush a deep shade of red, she never before had been shown any praise for her skill, this was new to her, and she liked it
"Well, let's call out this other girl, she still have a lot to answer for" Illidan stated, postponing any taming for the time begin, earning a small pout from the Lupina. The Neo-Iczel came out, her air of arrogance quickly filling the room
"Hn." Was the Neo-Iczel's only expression, thing that truly infuriated Illidan
"I was only going to lash at you for being so reckless and troublesome on the battlefield. But now, after seeing AND sensing you, I have no choice but to beat some sense on you. Prepare yourself, for I, Illidan Von Hellscream, will never show any mercy!" Illidan stated, while changing into his true form, and readying his greatsword. The Neo-Iczel almost chuckled, for she was sure no one was capable of challenge her, the next to be Sword Goddess
"Lowly human, I, Kushina Uzumaki, will stop at nothing, I'll become the next Sword Goddess, and you'll be only another bloody step on my way, believe it!" Kushina, the Neo-Iczel, presented herself, taking for granted her victory...
No sooner she said that, she had to block an inhumanly powerful strike as Illidan seemingly Teleported while attacking, she looked shocked, although she quickly hide it
"hn, so you got some speed... so what?" Kushina said, trying to sound as stoic as possible
Illidan merely grinned as he tried to push her back, but she jumped back from him gaining some space before she tried to do the same as he did in seemingly appearing near his side trying to slash him, but he blocked her strike before pushing her back and going to the offensive.
That started their dance of Death as they exchange blows with each other each trying to gain an advantage over the other, but there was no opening to be exploited for their stance is fully guarded, and the clang of metal could be heard from far away from the strength of their attacks.
Luna on the side lines looked incredibly impressed at Illidan as a Human manages to stand up to a Neo-Iczel of ALL things.
Meanwhile...
At the gates of the pokecenter, Mark and Felix parted ways. Felix went toward the forest line, his mind being flooded by thoughts of a battle to come, where he and Mark will be on opposite bands, he couldn't decide if to feel betrayed, of if he was the one betraying. Mark felt pity for the Ranger, pity because if he comes back as an enemy, he will kill him, and if he decides to not become an enemy, the other Ranger will probably kill him, Anima or not. Mark pushed those thoughts aside, and then went toward the weaponsmith shop that was across the street, Felix gave hima a gift, a gift of friendship he said, probably to track him, but Mark knew exactly what to do with it
"What can I do for you, mister?" The owner of the weaponsmith shop asked, he was clearly nervous, he had two Romanticides, and he didn't want they taken away from him, for he had seen raids on homes that had nothing to fear
"I need your to use your forge, and I'll compensate you greatly for it" Mark replied, with a seriousness that turned the nervousness of the shop's owner into unnatural fear
"W-What for?" The poor man asked, fearing even more as Mark's pokegirls began to flank him, showing zealous faces
"I need to make a sword" Mark answered, showing the golden chain
Back with Illidan...
They jumped back as they carefully looked at the other, Kushina seemingly lost SOME of her arrogance, while it was still there... there was a hint of a calculative look in her eyes
"hn...seems you managed to survive up until now, Human... but I doubt you will have much more time." Kushina stated on her usual arrogant voice
"I doubt that... Tomato girl." Illidan replied with a rater sadistic grin
"WHAT. DID. YOU. JUST. CALL. ME?" An angry vein seemed to pop in her forehead as her face turned from arrogant into an utterly pissed off look in her face as she slowly with gritted teeth
"What you heard... Tomato-girl." Illidan replied, while grinning even more. Kushina seemed to shake in rage... even though her face didn't look like a Tomato right now... the insult of her childhood days still get the better of her
"THAT'S IT! YOU PATHETIC HUMAN, I AM GOING TO MAKE YOU SCREAM IN AGONY BEFORE I REDUCE YOU TO BLOODY RIBBONS!" Kushina screamed in pure rage, and then she lunged at him, slashing wildly without any grace like before... just pure power and no hint of style.
'Foolish girl, her rage is blinding her.' Illidan thought while easily evading any and all attacks, though Illidan started to lose his smirk as her strikes began to drastically increase in speed, soon he was forced to start blocking them, he could feel the amount of power... while not enough to make him really tremble, they still were dangerous.
In the waponsmith shop...
Reina, Maria and Jewel were watching in muted awe, their tamer and their sister, Yuki, were working on that golden chain, hammering it with not only great strength, but with the magnetic skills of the Maggieton, and a supernaturally intense fire
"The strength of the wielder, to make it part of his body..." Mark muttered, while hammering the supposedly indestructible chain... which was becoming now molten metal
With each hammer, the entire room trembled, resonating with a strange mixture of energies, first destruction, then creation, breaking and reshaping
"Then the impurities shall be removed, to reflect the will of the warrior, for the blade is the embodiment of the warrior's will..." Yuki muttered, while using her powers to the extreme, extracting anything remote to impurities, and strengthening the already durable ancient and spiritual steel
Anything that had any trace of metal was vibrating, even the blood on the veins of all the present pokegirls, even what little of metal on the rocks, ground and whatnot. Yuki was ready to exhaust herself on this task, for she felt that she was the one who failed when Maria died, and so she felt that she should make sure to never fail again, never again. Besides, helping on the making of her Mark's ultimate sword was an honor that she would not pass around
"And with a present of blood, the relationship between the warrior and the sword won't be like master and servant, neither commander and soldier, but of will and flesh" Mark said while cutting his hand, and allowing some of his blood to fall on the white hot molten metal, and Yuki could easily feel how the metal and DNA from Mark's blood entered the molecular structure of the metal that will form the blade, it was supernatural
Reina reached for Luciendar's hilt, taking a feel of it, she knew that her sword was made in another dimension, and that it was of a greater quality, it even had some of Mark's blood on it... But this sword was way too different, much more combative. Maria reached for Kilgorin's hilt, she knew that her sword was made by a skilled Romaticide, and that it had been infused with Mark's blood too, but this was out of her league
"And now, the shape will be given with the will of the warrior, with the hammer of it's wielder and with the faith of his people. Come forth, HARBINGER OF WAR!" Yuki exclaimed on zealous devotion, using her full magnetic power to aid Mark in the shaping of the sword. It only took a few hits with the hammer, and in the end, the sword was ready.
Jewel watched with total admiration, she was able to feel the resonance, the inanimate metal becoming alive, and by gaining a new shape, it became part of her tamer, her lover... And a new desire to become stronger overcame her, the desire to be the strongest, because if she becomes the strongest, nothing will hurt her, and by not being hurt, Mark will never be hurt again, not for her fault
"And now, Elexorien, Sword of War, from this day on, you and I will be one" Mark said while holding the sword, the golden blade was double edged, engravings were adorning the flat part near the hilt, such hilt was exquisite, engraved too, and to add some of a personal touch, the pommel was made of a black stone. Reina and Maria felt their swords resonating, as if bowing to the new born sword, and they felt the need to follow suit...
Back with Illidan...
After blocking another row of 7 fast strikes, Illidan noticed something that made his eyes go wide, forcing him to jump away from her to gain some space, he looked at his sword... the sword that was with him all these years... it was horrifically cracked.
'What the hell is her weapon made off to be able crack MY BLADE of all things like this?'Illidan was shocked, for this sword of his was supposed to withstand the most powerful of the strikes... he did not have much time to think more about this, as Kushina lunged at again screaming in rage, he was forced to Black that one, and he glanced worriedly at his most trusted weapon as the crack increase in size.
'I need to end this fast lest I los-' Illidan thought hurriedly, but he was forced yet to block another strike and another and another as it started to push him back. Illidan was gritting his teeth in annoyance before he froze as she strikes again... this time... it utterly destroyed his sword before then landed a hit on him, making a horrible gash on his chest. Illidan froze as he stared at his hand... the one that held the remains of his blade. Kushina seemed to snap out of her rage when she saw him like this... her arrogance had returned, allowing herself a smirk
"hn... what's wrong, Human? Is that all?" Kushina mocked, the sword of her father lived up to his legend and she couldn't help but to feel even more prideful, after this she used her Katana to smack away the hilt of the broken blade from his hand, before she pointed the tip of her Katana on his throat
"Since I am feeling generous right now... human, any last words?" Kushina asked now, arrogant and prideful, Luna felt compelled to intervene, to give her new master a chance to keep fighting back the bitch... but then the room suddenly turned to several degrees colder, as if an Ice Empress was there... and felt much much darker.
Illidan's bangs was shadowing his eyes... so she could not see his shocked eyes becoming something else... something... darker... inhuman... sinister... devilish... becoming dull... and emotionless... so much that the Dead would look like an emotional Nuclear bomb, and when he raised his head a little just enough that one of his eyes looked at her, she froze as a Primal Terror begun to emerge from within her.
That was all what Illidan needed as with lightening speed, that she could not even register what happened, he used a technique that he used one palm to hit a side from the blade while the other to his the other side causing the Katana to be thrown from her hand upward spiraling, after this he delivered a monstrously inhumanly powerful punch to just below her breast, follow by another four punches, making her rise to the air a bit, before finishing with a spinning kick, sending her flying through the walls and out to the Forest, and through some other trees.
Illidan was not finished yet, as Kushina's spiraling Katana was three meters from hitting the ground... he seemed to disappear into thin air, followed by the blade before it could hit the ground... leaving a shocked as hell Luna.
Kushina crashed into one thick tree that managed to not break, she painfully slided to the ground, but just before reaching the ground she felt both her hands being held above her head and an increasing pressure on her chest... and a seriously sharp edge on her throat. She opened her eyes and saw the conditions she was at, Illidan was holding both of her hands above her head to prevent her from using anything, while he was pressing his knee on her chest as he put a painfully hard pressure on it, while her OWN Katana was being pressed to her throat.
The look on his eyes was scaring the soul out of her body, as she never saw someone with such a hellish and cold look at the same time... he was like a cold hearted Demon from the last circle of hell, and his Aura seemed to prove it.
"... sorry..." Kushina managed to mutter, but the cold and evil eyes didn't leave, he was slowly adding pressure to the blade at her throat... until a sudden sound interrupted them
CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP
Illidan turned around without letting go of the Neo-Iczel, just to find Zetsumi clapping at him, with a look on his eyes that said that he was rather pleased with the events
"Nice! It's good to see that the bear finally showed the claws and fangs. I'm impressed" Zetsumi said in a rather casual way, as if seeing something stronger than a Neo-Iczel wasn't new to him
"Do you want something, Zetsumi?" Illidan asked, rather curious, his real looks usually scares the crap out of veteran tamers and Rangers, this was rather new
"Nothing of importance, just that Mark seems to be in the mood to forge swords at this late hour, you may want to see if he can repair your broken sword" Zetsumi replied, still feeling all his implants vibrating from all the hammering that Mark was doing
"The sword is part of the warrior's soul, it's more than forged steel, if anything, I shall give it a warrior's burial" Illidan replied, but Zetsumi was fast to continue
"He brought back a dead pokegirl... stronger than when she left. Maybe he can bring back swords too?" Zetsumi asked, and then Illidan released the Neo-Iczel, who was too much injuried to and ashamed to run away
"I'll deal with you later" Illidan said to Kushina, while returning her to her pokeball
A moment later...
"I see, that blade was really precious to you" Mark said after hearing about Illidan's fight, and how he lost his blade
"Yeah... a swordsman's sword is an extension of his body, this one is even more so... it has been made solely for me... and me only... I designed every single detail in it, I collected every single mineral and part in it, it has been my partner in battle for years. And for that, it deserves a warriors burial" Illidan replied, while slightly touching some of the fragments
"Very well, I present you too choices, either I can restore your blade to it's former glory, or..." Mark began, leaving something out
"Or?" Illidan asked, rising an eyebrow
"Or I can make a new sword, a better one, an embodiment of your essence" Mark said in a somber way, peaking Illidan's interest way too much
"What's the catch?" Illidan finally asked, and Mark couldn't help but to smile in a very disturbing way
"I'll need to use your blood" Mark finally said, and if not for the strange vibration on the fragments of his sword, he could have opted for not doing anything
"Very well, what is to be done?"
Magnus: I hope you've liked it, I'll try to update soon, see ya in next chapter