Hello, reader, I hope you're enjoying Yin Yang so far :D I wanted to let everyone know that chapters will be coming slower from now on. School is starting soon and that means I won't have as much time to write anymore, so expect chapters to come every SECOND week.
Sorry for the inconvenience.
Let me make it up to you with a virtual cookie.
*gives you cookie of virtualness*
"Oh sweet land!" Elsword fell on his knees the instant we hit land. "I'll never take you for granted again!"
"I have never been so happy to sit down." Raven was the next to collapse. He laid on the ground sighing in relief.
I place the Shard back into its pouch, I gave myself a pat on the back for the successful trip," I'm glad we all made it back in one piece." I muttered.
I jumped up screaming the instant a fist came colliding into my back, my legs nearly caved in at the sudden impact. Snapping my head back I glare at Chung," what was that for?" I stammered; placing my hand on my beating heart.
"Look at you! You're more shaken up than half of us!" Chung points out with a raised voice. "I bet you were unsure of that plan of yours."
His made my made all eyes turn to me, I bowed my head to hide from the quizzical stares.
"I wasn't unsure"--I lift my head to meet his eyes--"I was just a bit sleepy from last night." I lied praying he won't pry any further.
"That sound believable." He said with sarcasm.
"Don't be so harsh on her," Aisha piped in. "I bet you would be doubtful if you were in her shoes."
"Whatever," Chung crossed his arms tightly together. "I guess she did a pretty good job. After all, no one died during the trip here."
"W-well I probably wouldn't have done it if you hadn't given me the support." I whispered in tone only Chung could hear; he tensed in response. "I-I was glad to hear someone trusted me."
"The altitude made my head loopy." Chung defended, with a bruising punch to the shoulder. "Don't take that personally, freak."
I grind my teeth together at his response. My hands instinctively formed themselves into fists, readying to launch at Chung.
"Please break this nonsense up." Eve popped in between us. "You two can resume this bickering later tonight"--she pushed us apart like the Red Sea--"right now we need to explore the island."
Eve glanced between Chung and I sternly. I could see her hand twitch, preparing to smack us across the face if we object.
"Fine," Chung muttered through clenched teeth.
"Good--"Eve wrapped an arm around me--"let us get going."
I didn't get a chance to say another word before Eve pushed me away from Chung. I took a quick glance back and stuck my tongue out at him; he scrunched his face up in response.
We began walking further into the island without another word or thought. The further we went the more disappointed I grew.
When I heard Altera was the home to Nasods I was expecting to see cities filled with flying cars, hovering buildings, and robotic citizens. Instead the island is covered in fields of dry grass, with a few trees sprouting from the green carpet, and mountains sitting in the horizon; waiting for the sun to set in its rocky terrain.
My interest in the island didn't return until rusted metal parts started appearing. At first there were only bolts and gears laying around; due to the grass they were a bit of a tripping hazard, but soon we began stumbling across rusted Nasod arms, Nasod heads, and even pieces of old buildings.
These metal scraps grew more frequent as we proceeded further in. The serene island for wildlife soon turned into a graveyard of debris, with past ghosts lurking through the forgotten community.
The team staggered behind Eve. It felt wrong for us to proceed before her, she deserves to see the state of Altera more than any of us.
I wonder what Altera was like in the past, I thought to myself. Was it filled with wildlife? Or was it taken over by buildings?
"Everyone, stop." Eve ordered abruptly in a hushed voice.
Everyone froze at the command, Eve quietly gestured us to the rusted remains of a large Nasod. We didn't utter a single word as we hurried to our hiding spot. Eve motioned us to keep quiet once we were all safely hidden from view.
"What's happening?" I asked in a whisper.
"I heard Nasod drillers." Eve replied. She gingerly poked her head out to examine the area. "There's a lot of them."
A cool breeze brushed by. From a distance I could hear the sounds of drills digging into the rocky ground.
"Can't you talk to them?" Aisha asked; wrapping her arms around her knees. "You're the Queen after all."
"I know that." Eve snapped, she nibbled on her fingernails. "I-I just don't know if they will acknowledge me as their Queen."
"Of course they'll acknowledge you." Elsword piped in, scooting himself closer to the Queen. "You're their long lost Queen. I bet they'll be thrilled to see you." He gave her a pat on the back.
Eve pushed his hand away," it's not that easy." She said vaguely.
"What do you--"
Before Elsword could finish Eve walked out from our cover. Elsword quickly grabbed her by the wrist before she could go any further,"where are you going?"
"I am going to try and confront the Nasods." She said, and tried to pull herself free from Elsword's grip. "I cannot allow you guys to be seen, Nasods are not very welcoming of humans."
"We can't just let you go alone," Aisha said--using the Nasod's debris to help herself up. "What if they attack you?"
"They won't," Eve responded almost instantly. "I-I'm their Queen."
"We still need to come along with you." Elsword pushed on. "For your safety, we need to come along with you."
Eve turned her head away from Elsword, her fingers played with a strand of silver hair.
"I can't lose a team mate," Elsword whimpered--Eve's shoulders tensed in response. "I won't let it happen--I can't let it happen."
"I understand," Eve whispered, she knelt down and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "The team may come along but you must not be seen."
"Deal." Elsword glanced back with a victorious smile.
"Follow behind me, and keep quiet." Eve ordered, she poked her head out once more to examine the area. "When I give you the signal stay low and keep quiet."
One by one we followed her out from out hiding spot, and tip toed behind Eve. The drilling grew louder with each careful step, our movements became more slow as a response.
"Stop here," Eve whispered; holding out her hand to stop us. "Lay in the grass and stay. I'm going to confront them now."
"Be careful." Elsword spoke in a hushed voice.
Eve sent us a thumbs up before proceeding further on her own. We gingerly got to our stomachs. The grass hummed softly with each motion.
"What will we do about Yang?" Aisha asked. "Ancient Phorus aren't exactly small."
I glanced back to see Aisha's point. While the rest of us are safely covered by the grass, Yang is still exposed to any nearby enemies. There's no way we can hide an Ancient Phoru here.
"We'll just have to pray that there are no Nasods here," I said; readjusting myself on the ground. "Just stay quiet and listen."
Another cool breeze brushed by. The grass swayed its slender body, dancing and singing along with the wind.
"Fellow Nasods." I could hear Eve speaking loudly. The sounds of drilling stopped. "If you do not remember I am Eve, Queen of the Nasods."
My ears rung with anticipation for the Nasods' response.
"Our Queen?" One of the Nasods responded. "We do not have a Queen."
"I think we do." Another joined in. "Remember? The little Queen of the Nasods."
"Y-yes, it is me." Eve stammered. "I have returned to Altera."
I strained my ears to pick up on any more sounds. I sprung onto my feet the moment Eve started screaming. Our team hurried up and charged at Eve's direction. I quickly mounted Yang and ran after everyone.
"Eve!" Raven cried out; drawing his sword out. He came to an abrupt stop once the Nasods came into sight.
The group of Nasods stood closely together, there appears to be twenty in total. Each had drills for hands, one was lunged forward with its drill grinding into the Altera ground. Eve was pushed back from the group, barely kept up by her drones, her face frozen with horror.
"So many Nasods." Elsword muttered to himself, he cautiously brought his hands back to grab his swords. "We've never seen so many Nasods in one place."
Eve cleared her voice loudly, catching the Nasods' attention," why did you attack?" She asked; readjusting her footing. "Why did you attack your own Queen?" She trembled.
The Nasod drilling the ground pulled its arm out, it pointed its rusted weapon at Eve.
"Queen?" It sneered. "We do not serve the Queen--especially a Queen who has brought humans on the island!"
The remaining Nasods turned their attention to us, we positioned ourselves for an attack. The Nasods took a step closer, holding up their drills like a prized trophy.
"Take these humans and get off the island, traitor!" The Nasod roared. The group of Nasods cheered in response, we readied ourselves as the group came charging at us.
"Yang, charge!" On my command Yang sprinted at the group, growling as the Nasods activated their weapons.
I hopped off of Yang's back, positioning myself at the first half of the group I launched the attack," Suppression!" I slammed my spear on the ground, causing the Nasods around me fall. "Shadow Press!" I encircled myself with a dark energy, the dark power cutting through the Nasods like tissue paper.
"Sword Fall!" Elsword's attack stabbed through the incoming Nasods. With both swords tightly grasped in his hands Elsword proceeds to slash through the machines, taking each one down with ease.
"Magic Missile!" A ball of energy launches at the Nasods, hovering around them like an obnoxious bee.
Chung charged at the group head on, easily running over the enemies.
"Call your Nasods off!" I could hear Eve begging. At the corner of my eye I could see her backing away from a lone Nasod"Please, I do not wish to hurt you Nasods."
The Nasod ignored her, continuing to inch closer and closer to the Queen. Eve's drones stood protectively in front of her, knowing they cannot reason with the Nasod.
"Seven Burst!" Raven launched seven fireballs out of his Nasod arm. Eve gasped at the attack, her eyes widening in horror. The Nasod's body thrashed violently in the fire before falling limp on the ground.
Snapping her head at Raven she screams," what did you do that for?!" Her fingers curled like a withered plant.
Raven lowered his arm," you can't reason with it." He replied, not looking Eve in the eyes. "If I hadn't destroyed it you would've gotten severely hurt."
Eve's eyes reddened at his statement, she quickly wiped her eyes dry before anyone else could notice," I can reason with them." She added with a monotone expression. "I am their Queen, they must listen to me."
Ara, pay attention!
Eun took over before I could react, we quickly stepped aside barely avoiding the charging Nasod. Eun thrust our spear deep into the Nasod's head, the Nasod stopped responding almost instantly.
"Your team mates have destroyed the majority of the group." Eun pointed to the field of fallen Nasods. "You are lucky this was a small group."
'Thanks, Eun.'
You must pay attention to the battle, one day this bad habit of yours will get you into deep trouble.
Regaining control I hurry to regroup with the others. Everyone was sweating and trying to catch their breaths.
Eve turned away the moment we were all gathered," I apologize for the Nasods' rude actions." She spoke in a barely audible tone.
"It wasn't your fault." I said, in hopes of cheering her up.
"It is my fault!" Eve snapped--her outburst made me jump back. "As their Queen I should've taken action to stop them."
"Eve--"
She shook her head, pinching the bridge of her nose with a sigh,"once again I apologize for their actions."
"It's fine, Eve." Elsword spoke up with a toothy grin. "I bet those Nasods are just part of the dumb generation that doesn't know of you."
I expected Eve to slap Elsword for calling Nasods dumb, but she didn't respond violently this time. Instead she nodded and kept quiet. No one uttered a single word, no one knew what to say to comfort her.
I could hear a scrap of metal falling somewhere.
"H-hey let's get back to exploring!" Aisha suggested, her eyes searched for someone to agree with her. "I-I bet there's much more to see on this island!"
"G-good idea," I piped in, Aisha mouthed a quick thank you at me." I bet we can find some pretty awesome things up ahead!"
My face heated with embarrassment at the lack of response. Maybe I should've stayed quiet and let someone else pipe in.
Aisha tightly linked arms with me," awesome things?" She whispered into my ear. "Is that the best you've got?"
"I'm not good at cheering people up," I mutter with a frown. "At least I'm trying though."
"At least you tried," Aisha sighed---letting my arm go. "Come on, guys. We can't just stand here all day, we've got to do something."
"There's a lot to take in, but we need to keep moving." I stammered. "Nothing will be solved if we sit around like logs."
"You guys are right." Elsword finally spoke up---he put his swords away. "Eve, I know it's hard for you to be attacked by those Nasods"---he hesitantly step toward her---"but if they attack again we'll need to fight back. Especially if they have the El Shard in their hands."
"I know that," she cried; wrapping her arms around herself. "Can't you see I can't attack them? I thought those Nasods were destroyed; can't you see it's hard for me to even lay a finger on them?"
I wanted to give Eve a big hug, to tell her we'll be here for her; to show her she doesn't have to go through this alone, but I knew she would not like that. Eve wouldn't appreciate it if I showed everyone her weakness---although we all know it by now.
"Come on, let's just go." Chung grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the team.
"What are you doing?" I growled; pulling my arm free from his grip. I could see Yang running to catch up with us at the corner of my eye.
"The tension back there is toxic." He replied. "We should start looking for a safe place to sleep before the sun goes down."
I raised my brow," and why do I have to come along with you?"
"I need a dog like you to sniff out some food." His remark angered Eun, it took me a great amount of effort to keep Eun calm.
"You look constipated." Chung said; punching me on my bruised shoulder. "There's a bush over there if you need to--"
"Shut it!" I cut him off, using the last of my strength to keep Eun under control. "Can you give me a break? Eun is literally inches away from attacking you."
Chung chuckled," I'm surprised that fox hasn't attacked me yet."
I can't wait to get my fangs on you.
My body shuttered at the surge of energy rushing through me, threatening to take over. I could faintly feel the nine tails growing from behind.
"Tell me about it." I muttered, stepping away from Chung. "At least you aren't the one trying to hold Eun back from murdering you. You have no idea how difficult it is to keep Eun still."
"I see." His short answer caught my attention. It's not often he replies back with a simple 'I see'.
I glanced up at him, his weary blue eyes staring blankly ahead of us. I couldn't help but feel worried, the obnoxious Chung I know is loud, sarcastic, and scornful. Right now he is everything but loud, I wonder what's bothering him. It's not like him to get lost in thought.
Child, as much as I'd like to bite into this kid's throat--
'He has a name y'know.'
Eun ignores my comment, I sense something is nearby.
I drew my attention to the surrounding area, straining all my senses to pick up any signs of danger. I stopped in my tracks at the smell of blood. Chung seemed to notice my sudden change in behaviour. He glanced back at me with curiosity.
"I can smell blood." I told him, my eyes darted around the grass filled grounds.
"Are you sure it's not just another Nasod?" He asks.
I shrug," I'll go check just in case."
Sprinting into the open field I hurriedly study the area, trying to find the source. I dart around the field desperately looking for signs of life, like a lion searching for its next meal.
My eyes stopped at the small white fur ball laying in the swaying grass. It may just be an injured animal but after meeting the lizardmen I'm not taking any chances.
I quickly glide to the fallen creature, upon arriving my suspicions were proved correct. Laying in the grass was a small furry creature, it wore a green cap with a flash light attached, a matching green vest, and an old backpack with books spilled from the opened bag. I cringed at the sight of the creature's cut leg, blood oozed from the open wound.
My hands grew cold at the puddle of blood sinking into the dirt. The wound itself may not kill the creature, but the loss of blood will. If it continues to bleed there's no doubt the creature will die.
I gently shake the creature," excuse me." I spoke softly. "Are you okay?"
The creature began stirring, I scoot myself back a little as it began awakening. Almost instantly the tiny creature began crying out in pain, its small fingers grasping tightly onto the grass.
"Hold on tight, my friends have bandages!" Before I could get up and call for help the tiny creature spoke up.
"W-who are you?" It asked in a hoarse whisper, it could barely keep its eyes open to look at me. "How did you get on the island?"
"I-I'm Ara, I'm part of a Red Knight party." I answered vaguely. "We're here to get an important object back."
The creature's tired eyes sparked with interest," Red Knight party?" He quoted. "What's that?"
I was a bit taken aback from the creature's question," Red Knights are people who fight to protect others." I explained in a rush. "We fight all sorts of villains and demons."
"That's...cool." The creature began drifting to sleep. At this point I began to panic.
"Little guy, don't sleep!" I gently nudged his cheek. He could barely respond to me, his eye lids daring to shut themselves.
Hesitantly I bit into the sleeve of the robe Buch gave me, ripping off a strand of its sleeve---I hope Buch won't mind me ruining such a beautiful robe.
"Stay awake! Don't go to sleep!" I stammered; shakily wrapping the piece of clothing around the creature's bleeding leg. "You haven't told me your name yet." I added; hoping a small conversation will help the creature stay awake.
"Name?" He muttered. "I'm Amos, my big sister is Agatha."
"I'm going to pick you up now." I informed Amos, he bobbed his head up and down. "So tell me"---I gingerly picked Amos up---"what's your sister like?"
"She's nice," Amos snuggled closer to me the instant I took off into a sprint. "She doesn't like it when I go off by myself to read." Amos' eye lids drooped lower.
I stopped myself, my eyes darting around the foreign surroundings. I could feel my legs weakening at the empty field.
I take a deep breath in, trying to keep myself calm. Nothing good will happen if I panic now.
"Ara, do you think sis will be mad at me?"
"She won't be mad." I said, quickly glancing down to smile at him. "She might be a bit upset, but that's because she's worried about you."
"Really?" Amos' voice grew weaker. "I...really...hope...she'll..."
Amos started drifting off, this caused me to worry even more," don't sleep!" I urged him. "You can't sleep! Your sister is waiting for you to come home, you can't just leave her alone!"
"Sis? Is...she...here?"
"Y-yeah." In the distance I could see my team running toward us---Aisha could be seen hopping onto her staff. "She's coming right now to see you! So stay awake!"
Amos didn't respond, I glanced down to see his little head slumping into my arms. I bit back my tears. I can't have this little guy dying on me. He still has a whole future ahead of him and a family who is waiting for him to return.
"Eun!" I cried out.
I could feel Eun's power running through me, my nine tails swayed wildly behind me. Using all the strength Eun and I had I glide back to my team, with Amos tightly cradled in my arms.