Chapter 5: The Cave
Today's the day, and I'm serious about it this time. The day I get out of this school with my friends, and save Nagi. Everything's packed up and into a backpack. I told everyone to bring one. We all are in charge of bringing something. It's two weeks after Nikaido and us had our deal. So far, as far as we know, he's kept up his part of the deal.
He chose to tell Miyake he sent us to his cousin's farm to work on as a punishment. The farm has absolutely no contact with anyone. It's not very good excuse, but it'll by us some time while searching for Nagi.
We each have something to carry in our packs. Utau and Yaya are in charge of food and water. Kukai brings tents and sleeping bags to sleep in when we take short breaks. Kairi has memorized the maps Nikaido has provided and helps Kukai carry his share. Ikuto brings weapons in case we run into trouble. I hold lots and lots of medical supplies.
Detention is over, thank goodness. Our plan is to meet in my room at midnight so we can escape. Kairi is leading the way of our expedition, but I'm the real leader. Kairi is also bringing a compass, a compact telescope, and the map with us. He also carries the papers Nikaido gave to us. He's managed to memorize all of them.
As I see the time change to eight-o clock, I turn off the lights. We need as much sleep as we can. From the moonlight, I can see Yaya staring at me intently. She's at the foot of her bed, taking her backpack out of the wooden trunk. We all agreed on can foods and I take the liberty of bringing three pots with my pack. It isn't a five-star meal, but it'll do. I don't know exactly how long our food supply will last. Ikuto's agreed to bring money for the greatest of emergencies. Let's just hope it won't be needed for a while.
"Are you nervous, Rima-chan?" Yaya asks. I sit on my bed and stare at the backpack on the ground in front of me. It's not all that heavy, for me at least. Maybe some other girl my age would complain that it is, but not me. I gulp, not believing that I'm actually doing this.
For the pass days I've been checking my wings very often, almost at every chance I get. Plummeting out of the sky isn't appealing to me. I also made sure that everyone is in perfect health before I confirmed the plan. I feel like I have a responsibility to everyone. I'm putting their lives at stake, which is completely unfair to them. Having to trick two of them makes me feel even more horrible.
So many doubts are going through me, and as each day passes, more come. The biggest one now is if Miyake catches us. I haven't thought of a plan on what will happen if we get caught. I really don't know what I would say.
"Depends," I finally answer Yaya. "Am I nervous about escaping or nervous about the mission?"
"Are you nervous about what the outcome will be?" Yaya asks. I hadn't even thought about that. I sigh, laying down on my bed and looking at the ceiling.
"The most," I say. "I still don't know what's going to happen when we come back to school with Nagi."
"Nikaido sensai can make up an excuse for us," Yaya pipes up. I ignore her.
"And that's if we can even find him and bring him back. He's with Isamu, the Vulture Queen! How are we supposed to take on the Vulture Queen!" I say.
"If you meant that than we wouldn't be doing this in the first place," Yaya says, with a serious tone in her voice. "Stop second guessing yourself Rima-chan, it's not good for your mind." Sometimes I think she spends too much time with Kairi for her own good.
"We should get some sleep," I say, not bothering to check the time. "The more we sleep now, the more we'll be ready for later." Yaya hesitantly nods and goes over to her bed. I stay in the same position.
I lay still on my bed, trying to get sleep. My eyes keep refusing to close. I turn on my side, facing the ocean. The waves calm me, and I slowly let my body become heavier. I have a strange dream.
I'm flying over the ocean. No clouds, just a clear sky with a tiny breeze; my perfect flying weather. I see an island, it's not very big or very far. Somehow, no matter how much I fly, I get no closer to the island. It's almost taunting me to fly faster, and I do. No matter what I try, the island just stays in it's place, like a sick joke. I want to stop trying to fly to the island, but something is drawing me to it. Something important.
When Yaya shakes me awake, I'm out of breath and my heart is beating at a fast rate. I clutch my chest tightly and my eyes bulge out. I'm scared they might fall out of the socket.
"Rima-chan?" Yaya asks. Her eyes and face both show great worry. "Are you alright?" I slowly sit up, slightly shaking. That dream, it felt so real. It was only a dream though. Nothing in a dream actually happens in real life.
"Just a bad dream," I say, giving her a vague answer. "What time is it?"
"Eleven-forty. We should get leaving now," she says. "Are you sure your okay?" I nod.
"Take my bag and your's to the roof. I'll be there in a moment. I just have to check over something," I say. Yaya doesn't look convinced. "I promise, I'll be down in a few minutes." She gives me a skeptical look. Even as she's leaving with our bags, she is skeptical about my decision.
As soon as I'm alone, I go to the bathroom to splash cold water on my face. It relieves me of my slight shivers and calms me down a lot. I do this two more times and I have my composure back. Taking a few steps back, I look over what I wear.
White button up shirt, blazer, weather jacket, jeans, and sneakers. My thick hair is in a big ponytail and I re-check the time on my watch. I'm ready. I take one last look at my room. It isn't a heartbreaking separation, I've only spent a month here. The question is, will I ever be able to see it again.
The corridors at Angel and Evil Academy are...large. When they're crowded, the corridors look as if the mob of students will never cease to keep coming. When they're empty, it's loud enough to hear a pin drop. In the day, they look as if you are in a mansion. Only today I've seen the corridors at night.
It's as if the morning mansion of a school has sped up time and become an abandoned cavernous hallway. The only light comes from the Moon through the tall glass windows, but other than that, it is almost complete darkness. I can almost hear the people watching on their TV screens "Don't go down the hallway!" because a ghost or another horrifying creature awaits for the oblivious character. This isn't a movie though. It's called real life and there aren't any ghosts or creatures waiting for me as I walk down the corridors of Angel and Evil Academy, trying to get to the roof.
As I go up a staircase, fumbling multiple times in the pitch black, I do come face to face with a creature of my own. A white note on the floor. From the corner of my eye, I see a shadow moving. Whipping around, I see the door to the staircase clatter close.
My heart rate speeds up, but I try to look as calm as possible. The figure could still be here for all I know, watching me, seeing what my next move is. I pick up the note, trying to keep my shaking hand as still as possible.
The card has the same two black lines and leaf. The words now read "I'll Be Watching And Helping." I get slight shivers. Shoving the note into my pocket, where I've kept the other notes. I keep making my way to the roof.
The person is watching and helping. Now I know they are not trying to hurt me. It has to be someone who knows about the mission. Nikaido wouldn't, he has to stay here. During the Code Red, Amu was with me. That leaves Yaya, Utau, Kukai, and Ikuto. One of them is the mysterious person, who has been helping me.
Why won't the person just directly help me? Why the secrecy? I'll have the answers to these questions soon. Whoever it is, other than me, will be late to be on the roof. I took the staircase quickest to the roof. I need to hurry to catch the person red handed.
I brake out into a run, knowing the person isn't watching me. I try to keep quiet, but as I get closer to the door to the roof, I am anything except subtle. I burst through the doors of the roof. Everyone jumps at the sound of me. I see Nikaido, Yaya, Utau, and Ikuto. No Kukai. So it's him, huh? I keep myself from not smirking.
"Hello, sorry I'm late," I say, trying to keep the panting out of my voice. My breathing slowly turns back to normal. "Where's Kukai?" I feel a hand on my shoulder. Turning quickly, I meet face to face with the missing auburn haired boy.
"Sorry, I had to do something," he says, panting. He sounds like he just ran here. He probably did. I'm about to frame him for the notes, when Nikaido clears his throat.
"Hurry please. We have two minutes until midnight," he says. "I only managed to get the protection barrier off for midnight exactly. Miyake put them up after Tsukiyomi-san and Mashiro-san went out for a fly. I will tell you this once, so listen to my words very carefully."
"I have been helping Sanjou-san find Isamu's Mountain. Just follow to map and you should be fine. If you come face with any Vulture, get out of there. Isamu's Vulture minions will be searching for you. They know you are looking for Fujisaki-kun. Be very careful." He gives us one last nod. "Good luck to you all, and bring Fujisaki-kun home."
"Thank you, Nikaido. Best wishes on your end on the mission as well," I say. We shake hands before each of us grab our respective packs and fly off.
The night is cool with only a hint of a breeze. My wings feel free after being cooped up for so long. I can fly forever. I start to spiral upwards, the nice updrafts making my ponytail whip around. I feel a hand tug on my ankle and look down to see Ikuto.
"Might want to calm down Mashiro. You won't want to attract attention, we're still in school grounds," he says.
"Not for long," Utau says, flying up next to us. She points a finger to the big brick walls. I check my watch, midnight.
"Let's move, we don't have enough time before that barrier comes back up," I say. We start to fly faster toward the gates. I count down the seconds we have left, and they do not look good. Gritting my teeth, I urge my team to fly faster.
We make it through just as the shield goes back up. No turning back. We keep flying for a few minutes before I say to land. We land in a field surrounded by trees. I notice how we are all a little hyped-up about our short trip. We aren't that far from the school, but it is no longer in line-of-sight. I sit on a rock.
"Kairi, where do we go from here?" I ask. He instinctively points to my left.
"That way, due North. Get ready, it's going to get really cold where we're going," he warns. I look to see the rest of my team geared up as well. Everyone wearing pants, appropriate footwear, and big jackets. Yaya even decided to wear gloves and Ikuto wears a snow hat. The clothing might weigh us down a little, but it's better to be safe than sorry.
"Let's go then, double check to make sure we have everything," I say. Within a minute, we are already off the ground and into the night.
A lot of things go through my mind when I fly. So that's why Kairi is leading the way. I start to get anxious. Isamu is the Queen of the Vultures. She probably has a whole fleet of Vultures after us. The feeling of doubt starts to take hold of me again. I blink and look to the side.
Kukai and Utau are holding each other's hands while they fly through the sky. They look so in love. I wonder if they've even said those words, yet. Then I remember why I'm looking for Isamu in the first place; Nagihiko – my one true love.
The scenery changes from forrest to rocky mountain ranges. I gulp as I look down. It's a very long fall with rocky spires at the bottom. It gives me shivers just thinking about falling down there. The mountains on either side of us that close us in. They're black and raggedy and scream danger for any flier. Above, the towers of rocks are so high, I think they touch the clouds.
"Mashiro! It looks like it's about to rain!" Ikuto shouts, flying closer towards me. I look up and see very dark clouds covering the sky. I feel something small plop on my wing. "It doesn't look like a light drizzle, either." I nod.
Angels of all kind aren't allowed to fly in the rain. The rain soaks and is absorbed by our wings and makes them heavy. It interferes with flying, very difficult to fly through and can cause fatal damage. It also causes the feathers to molt and fall apart. Feathers are the keys to wings. Without feathers, you aren't able to fly.
"We have to land!" I command. Everyone starts flying in closer together as I feel more drops of rain fall on my wings. "Try to find somewhere where we can hide from the rain." My first thought is to look for shielded ground with lots of overhead cover. However, flying over rocky terrains has almost no ground and nowhere to land. Panic starts to rise as I feel more drops of water fall on me.
"Rima! Over here, we found a cave!" Utau shouts, tugging on my arm. I blink at her, before letting her guide me to a cave in the mountainside. Within a few minutes, we're all huddled in a cave as the rain starts to come down heavy.
"It's a good thing Kukai senpai found this cave in time. We wouldn't have been able to survive in that storm," Kairi remarks. Yeah, lucky Kukai saved us. "I'll Be Watching And Helping".
"Let's make camp," I say. The cave is tall enough for all of us and deep enough for the sleeping bags to fit inside. We all start to unpack our supplies. While Kukai and Ikuto set up the sleeping bags, Yaya and Amu try to build a fire, and Utau set up food supplies. I sit next to Kairi in the far back of the cave where he's looking at the map and the compass in his hands.
"What's our locations?" I ask, looking over his shoulder.
"Mountains, Death Mountains to be exact. I should've known better than to lead you guys through this route," Kairi says. I look at the map.
"But this is the fastest route to our destination," I say, tracing the line that leads to the big red "X". "Where is that exactly?"
"I'm not so sure. Nikaido-sensai gave me this map and just told me to follow these directions," Kairi explains. "By the maps calculations, it's somewhere near a body of water and a river."
"A body of water? You don't know which one?" He shakes his head.
"It's just a blue mark, no name with it," he says. I sigh, we'll have to go on Nikaido's word. I just hope he labeled this map right.
"How long do you think the rain will be?" I ask. Just as I say that, thunder crunches in the sky and lighting flash in the sky outside. Yaya jumps and almost crushes the fire that she and Amu made.
"Judging by the thunder and lighting, it's hard to tell. It can go on for a few hours, to days," he admits. My eyes widen. "I'm sure it'll let up soon though."
"Hey, you two! Food's ready!" Utau calls over. Kairi and I pack up everything and leave it in the corner before going over to where the others are huddled around the fire. Utau hands us each a bowl of cooked rice and meat with some vegetables. We thank for our food before we start eating. We each sit in a ring around the fire around our sleeping bags.
"Does anyone know how long the rain is going to stay?" Yaya asks.
"A day or two, maybe more," Amu answers, not missing a beat. "Controlling wind lets me also predict the weather patterns. This storm is staying for a while. The thunder and lighting is what throws me off." I look over at Kairi.
"Can you do that?" I whisper while the others continue talking.
"Only some do that. Very rare wind elemental controllers can tell the weather. It's something very useful to us," he whispers back. It gives me a little composure that we have an allay with me. We turn back to the main conversation going on.
"I'm only saying, will any of us ever resort to flying in the rain if we have to?" Utau asks.
"It's suicide," Kukai points out. "Only few have flown through rains and survived. Rare occasions with snow."
"I don't think it'll snow. It's still Autumn," Amu says.
"Who knows? The weather can bring us anything. Maybe tomorrow morning it'll be hailing," Ikuto says. I don't want to think about hail, let alone flying through it. No one comments Ikuto's response and we continue eating, switching from topic to topic. I notice how it never drifts around the weather or the future. When we finish, Kukai and Kairi clean the dishes using rain water.
As pre-caution, I put out a container to carry the rainwater, outside. It's like a bucket with a closing lid. The bucket sits on the ledge just outside the cave. We make watch time's in partners. First watch is Kairi and Utau, second is Ikuto and Yaya, third is Kukai and Amu, and I get fourth watch by myself.
"No, you are not going by yourself," Kukai immediately says as soon as I say the watch times. "I'll double my shift."
"No, you need your sleep, too. I'll be fine on my own," I say. Kukai doesn't look comfortable about me being alone on watch-duty.
"At least switch watches with me so that you are with Amu," he persuades. "I'll take the lone shift." Kukai is like my big brother. We're very close as friends, almost siblings. I know him well enough to know when the conversation is over (which is now).
When Yaya shook me awake for my shift with Amu, I was already up and ready. I didn't get much sleep during my part. The rain kept me awake most of the time. Amu and I kept watch on either side of the entrance. Even though I stayed awake the whole time during my sleep time, I yawned a lot during my watch. Amu would sneak glances at me, but we keep quiet.
"You know he only wanted to switch shifts because he cares about you, right?" she suddenly asks towards the end of the shift. This is after I go outside to retrieve the full bucket and empty them into our water containers. A little splash of water is left at the bottom and I leave it outside again to catch more water.
"Huh?" My voice is hoarse and raspy from not speaking for a long time.
"Kukai. He really is there for you. He didn't want you to get hurt by yourself," Amu says. "He really is your angel guardian."
Amu, you have no idea.
Hi! Thanks again for the reviews! I would like more though, because you guys are basically why I wrote the sequel in the first place and I want your opinion on how you think I'm writing it. If you don't like how I'm doing something, tell me and I'll make it better. Please don't be a flamer though, if you have any complaints of suggestions about my writing be polite about it.
R&R
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