Damn it! Sorry for the wait guys, major writers block has been happening to me lately. And I hate it! Sigh. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this!

Silica continued to stare at her mysterious new partner. The older player was currently digging into a salad, not speaking. Silica bit her lip. Whoever he was, he was certainly a strange fellow. The young girl took a look out the window, and blushed when she saw a couple walking past. She turned her head away, and took another glance at the cloaked beast tamer. Kage noticed the girl's staring, and he sighed, putting his fork down.

"May I help you?" He hissed sarcastically. Silica blinked, and blushed slightly. Wow, he could really be scary when he wants to. Even when he comically has an imp perched on his head. Silica looked away.

"Why are you helping me?" She asked. Kage raised an eyebrow, and sighed. He began to rub his temples with his fingers.

"I need the money, alright?" He told her. "I'm part of a guild, and our leader sent us all out to raise some extra money. We're going to meet back in three days, which means that I have to finish this job quick. Got it, princess?" Silica nodded, and glanced down. Then her eyes hardened, and she stared at Kage.

"I think there's another reason," she said. Kage looked at her in surprise, and the young girl continued. "You act like you're heartless, but you're obviously not if you took time to save me!" Kage continued to stare at Silica, the look of shock never leaving his face. Silica smirked, and leaned back, crossing her arms. Kage finally recovered, and narrowed his eyes.

"Now you listen here, princess," he growled, leaning in close. "I don't know what is going on in that inflated-"

"Well, well, look who made it out of the forest alive." A voice inturupted. The two turned, and saw a woman with red hair staring down at them. Kage narrowed his eyes as he remembered the discription of the woman he was looking for. Silica's eyes widened, and she began to stutter.

"R-Rosalina?" She asked, clearly showing some fear. Rosalina smirked, and playfully hugged her spear.

"I was so worried when you didn't come back," she said sacastically. Then her eyes shifted around, and her red lips formed a sneer. "Oh, and where's your little pet lizard?" She chuckled, and leaned in. "Did you scare it off?" Silica looked down, tears just starting to form.

"Pina was killed saving me," she murmured. Then she glanced back up at her former party leader. "But we're going to get her back, alright!" Rosalina chuckled again.

"So that means you're going to the Field of Memories, eh?" She inquired. Then she glanced at Kage, and rolled her eyes. "Oh God, she seduced another player." She smirked. "Tell me, what reward is she giving you to help her? A lapdance, perhaps?" Silica was about to protest, but was interupted by Kage chuckling. The two women glanced at him in confusion. Rosalina narrowed her eyes. "And what the hell is so funny?" She hissed.

Kage glanced up, smirking. "Oh, nothing," he said. "I just find it funny that the slut with the fake tits and the enter sign between her legs is accusing a thirteen year old of seducing a player." He chuckled. "Now doesn't that sound crazy?" Rosalina felt her face grow hot, and she clenched her teeth. She then scoffed, and began to walk away.

"Whatever," she scoffed. "See you next time, Silica."

After she had left, Silica turned her attention to Kage. "Thank you," she said. Kage raised an eyebrow.

"For what?"

Silica smiled. "For defending me," she tilted her head in a rather cute manner. "See? You're a nice person after all." Kage stared blankly at the girl, and scoffed.

"Whatever."

...

The two had teleported to the Field of Memories, and were now standing in the middle of the garden. Silica smiled, and leaned down, sniffing one of the flowers. She giggled, and stood up. She turned to Kage, who had his signature hardened expression on his face. Silica sighed, and turned her attention back to the flowers. Then she paused, noticing something. She glanced up, and her face immediately went red. Couples. Everywhere. Silica immediately backed up, only to bump into Kage. The mercenary grabbed her arms, stopping her from falling over. Silica blushed, and glanced at her party member. He was staring at her, no visible expression on his face.

Silica backed away, and turned to the path. "I guess we should be going, huh?" She asked. Kage nodded, and the two walked down the path. As time went on, Silica kept on glancing at Kage. Just who was he? He seemed to be a loner, so why was he in a guild? All these questions ran through Silica's young mind, and she did not notice that Kage had stopped. She continued walking, but the mercenary extended his hand, stopping her. She turned her attention to him, confused.

"Po senses something." He told her. The two unsheathed their daggers, and waited. Then suddenly, a huge plant monster erupted from the ground behind them, and grabbed Silica with its vines. The young girl began to scream, and she wildly waved her dagger around. Kage sighed. "Calm down," he hissed. "It's a weak monster." Silica, however, didn't seem to hear him.

"Help me, Kage!" She shrieked. She felt her skirt begin to move, and she desperately tried to keep it up. "Don't look, but HELP!" KAge covered his eyes, and chuckled.

"That's going to be harder than it sounds, princess." He told her. Then he sighed, and uncovered his eyes to help. But right then Silica decided to kill the creature herself. She expertly freed herself from its vines, and began to repeatingly stab it. She landed gracefully as it exploded into pixelated crystal. She turned to Kage, blushing heavily.

"Did you see anything?" She squeaked. Kage just smirked, and approached the younger player. He playfully patted her head.

"Pink looks good on you, princess," he teased. Silica began to blush even more, and she awkwardly began to follow him.

The walk seemed to take longer than it should have. Kage sighed. Maybe it was the awkward silence. Maybe it was because Silica knew he had scene her panties. Kage sighed again. Hopefully, he could catch Rosalina and get this over with. But then Silica's voice brought him out of his thoughts. He turned to her. "What?" He asked. Silica looked away.

"I said, what's the real reason you decided to help me?" She asked nervously. Kage turned his attention back to the path in front of him.

"I already told you," he said. "I need the money." Silica glared at him.

"That's not true and you know it." She stated. Kage stopped, and threw up the hood of his lavender cloak.

"If I tell you, will you shut up?" He asked. Silica nodded, and the mercenary sighed.

"It's because you remind me of a girl I knew back when i was little." He told her. "Her name was Aoi, and she became my best friend."

"Why does this story sound like it's going to get sad?" She wondered. Kage bit his lip.

"Because it is," he answered. "We became friends because I helped her when she was getting bullied by two kids at school." He paused. "That was when we were ten. Four years later, those guys came back." Silica could here the sadness in his voice, and she noticed a single tear leak out of his eye. "They raped her, princess." Silica gasped, and Kage continued. "She was traumatized by the event, and less than a month later she hung herself. And I couldn't do anything to stop her." He looked away. "I guess that's why I act like a total asshole. Why I act heartless. Because I'm afraid that if I get to close to anyone, then they'll just die without warning. The only person who I'm close to is my sister, and that's because she helped me recover from Aoi's death." He sighed, and continued to walk down the path. "The flower is just ahead of us." He said. Then Po flew off his master's shoulder, and flew towards the flower.

Silica just continued to stare at her partner, tears leaking out. Silently, she ran towards him, and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. Kage's eyes widened, and he sighed. He slowly hugged the younger girl back. The two stood there for a minute, before pulling away. Po came flying back, the flower clutched in his paws. He dropped the flower in Silica's hands, who smiled. Kage sighed. "There are a lot of strong monsters here," he told her. "Let's wait until we get back to town to revive Pina." Silica nodded, but right then Po began to growl softly.

Kage narrowed his eyes, and he turned to the trees. "Who's there?" He hissed dangerously. It was all silent for a moment, but then Rosalina stepped out of the trees, smirking.

"My,my," she said. "You and your pet have quite the detection skills." She glanced at Silica, and smiled. "And it appears you've managed to find the flower." She narrowed her eyes. "Now hand it over." She demanded. Then more players stepped out of the trees, all weilding dangerous looking weapons. Kage glanced at the players, and slowly pushed Silica away.

"Stay behind me," he whispered. Then he stood up straight. "Well, this is going to be easier than I thought. You just came to me instead." Rosalina quirked an eyebrow.

"And just what are you talking about?" She asked. Kage narrowed his eyes.

"You're the woman I was sent to capture," he growled, pointing a finger at the woman. "Rosalina, leader of the orange guild Titan's hand." The smirk returned to Rosalina's lips as Kage continued. "Do you and your boys recall a guild called Silver Flags? You slaughtered the entire guild, leaving only the leader alive." Rosalina smiled, and nodded.

"Oh, yes, the fools with no money." She chuckled.

"The leader went from town to town, begging for someone to avenge his guild," Kage said. His eyes narrowed. "Do you have any idea how much pain he felt inside him?" Rosalina scoffed.

"So what?" She asked. "There's no proof that those we kill die in the real world." She sighed, and grinned evily. "And now I must ask you to please hand over the flower. Or else we'll have to kill you." Silica backed up, but Kage simply pulled out his dagger. Po began to snarl. Then one of the guild member's narrowed his eyes at Kage, only for them to widen.

"Black clothing, purple hood, oh my God!" He hissed. He turned to Rosalina. "Rosalina, this guy is a mercenary. He's part of the Doom Patrol!" Everyone's eyes widened. 'No way." Silica thought. Rosalina narrowed her eyes.

"Kill him!"

All the guild members lunged at Kage. The mercenary leaped into the battle. He kicked one of the baddies in the face, and punched another in the face. Soon he was ducking and weaving through the bad guys, successfully knocking them all out. After they were all defeated, Kage turned his attention to Rosalina, whose eyes widened. "You can't kill me!" She said, panicing. "If you do, you'll turn orange. And then you-" In an instant, the blade of a dagger was barely pressed against her throat. She glanced to her side, and saw Kage scowling at her.

"I'm a mercenary, understand?" He growled. "Being orange doesn't mean shit to me." He smirked. "Now, let's get you and your pals in a proper jail cell, alright?"

...

Kage and Silica were now back in the hotel room. Silica turned her attention to Kage. "But Rosalina was green," she said. "How is she the leader of an orange guild?" Kage sighed.

"It's a simple system, princess," he told her. "Green players lure in others, and the orange players ambush them." Silica nodded. Kage smiled gently. "Now, lets revive Pina, shall we?" Silica nodded again, and brought out Pina's heart. She laid it gently on the table, and then brought out the flower.

She let a single drop from the flower touch the blue feather, and it began to glow. 'Just wait until you come back, Pina,' she thought. 'Then I can tell you about the wild adventure I had.' She glanced at Kage, who was smiling. 'And about the time I had my own big brother.'

Woohoo! I'm back, baby! Anyway, I don't know when I'll update this next, considering the facts that I still need to update a lot of other stories and that school is starting soon. :(

Anyway, don't forget to review! And remember, stay wykkyd!