S E C O N D A R C : S K I P! [ Opening: Kibou no Uta by Flow] (up above)
I picked this song because it represents the feel of my story so well.
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Chapter 21: Sole's Condition Worsens! Through the Kurai Forest!
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"Captain Lionhart, Sir!"
Leon leans against a pillar, smoking a cigarette he has received from Yata. He exhales the sweet smoke and turns towards the voice.
"Give me the bad news first."
The young Strike member salutes and looks at Yata before continuing.
"It seems that the two prisoners have escaped, Sir."
Leon unintentionally bites the tip of his smoke off between his canines, tobacco landing on his tongue in a bitter powder. He coughs it out, spluttering because of the nauseating taste.
"Dammit. And the good news?"
"The King of this place has died."
Yata hands his superior another lit smoke with a slight grin.
"That's not exactly good news."
He taps the cigarette against the pillar, letting the ash fall to the floor. Suddenly two royal guards dash into the room, out of breath.
"Are you people from Strike?"
Yata nods slowly, pushing his glasses to the bridge of his nose.
"There is a Caravala in the city!"
Leon exchanges a careless look with Yata, blowing more smoke out.
"So?"
"What do you mean 'so?' Isn't your duty to save humanity from those monsters!"
Leon laughs lightly under his breath.
"How can I save humanity from themselves?"
The two guards beg the three Strike members to do something.
"Sir, we should at least see what kind of threat we're up against."
Leon sighs and takes a final puff on his smoke before tossing it to the floor and stomping it with his heel. Without a word, he walks out the door with Yata right behind him. It doesn't take long to know where the supposed Caravala is. The sound of people screaming and people shoving against one another explode from the back of the crowd, slowly causing more panic. Leon heads through the people who begin clearing a path when they see who he is. People begin to whisper about him, some even smiling in relief. Leon rolls his eyes.
"Damn humans."
He cuts through two men roughly, knocking into a woman. She jumps back silently as Leon glares at her from under the brim of his hat. The screams get louder as they approach and a loud, obnoxious voice echoes in concern.
"Sole! What's wrong with him, exile?"
Leon cuts between some screaming women and sees the first flash of violet hair. He smiles and pushes through the crowd that grows more thick with chaos as he goes.
"Move it!"
Yata gets separated from his superior, getting knocked down from a wave of people. Leon pushes people left and right losing track of the direction of the voices.
"Dammit! Move, you bastards!"
Leon shoves a man to the right of him and sees a clearing. He runs to it and sees the sight that is causing the panic. The violet haired girl and the man who was with her are hovering over the silver haired boy he had encountered earlier. His jacket is torn at the sleeves and his arm is transforming and convulsing wildly.
"Do something, exile!"
"I don't know what the hell to do!"
Leon is about to run and apprehend them when he hears the sound of hooves rapidly pounding across the road towards him. A family is driving their carriage towards the gate, running down people in their way. A little boy is standing right in the middle of their course. Leon looks from the criminals to the boy and groans. He reaches the boy a second before the cart comes crashing down the street. Leon lands with him clutched to his chest in an alleyway. He sits up and rubs the sore spot on his back from landing.
"Look, kid you're safe."
The boy continues to cry and wraps his tiny arms around Leon's waist.
"Mommy!"
"I'm not your mom, kid. Let go."
He doesn't listen and no matter how much he shakes, the boy won't release him. Leon finally gives up with a sigh and pats the kid on the head.
"Aww how touching."
Leon stands up at the sound of the taunting, familiar voice. He glances around, in violent jerking movements. His eyes dashing around the alley. With a swish of fabric, his eyes dash up towards the building's roof. The familiar, mocking grin he remembers from his past stares back at him. Leon clutches the boy behind him, backing up slightly.
"You."
Above the Strike leader stands a man who appears a bit younger than him with violet hair tied back into a loose ponytail. Two wolf-like creatures flank his sides, growling down at Leon and preparing to pounce.
"How mean, Leon! You can't even say my name?"
Leon grits his teeth and goes to remove his glove before remembering that the little boy is still shaking and sobbing behind him. The man above him laughs, crouching down and putting his elbows onto his knees, hair swishing behind him like a purple wave.
"Come on, Leon. I dare you."
Leon grabs the boy and flees as quickly as he can.
"This isn't over...Korrin!"
The man doubles over in laughter, patting his two companions roughly before standing up and heading back towards the gate to the kingdom.
"You're right, old friend. It's far from over."
Then he disappears into the breeze.
๑۞๑
"Ryuga get him into the carriage now!"
"I can't with him thrashing like this! Who knows what his arm will do when it touches us, bounty hunter."
Karvella glances around as people scramble away, trying to catch sight of the carriage. She hoists up her small companion, getting violently smacked in the back as she does, and takes off towards the direct opposite way in which they came. Somehow they'd have to come across the gate or a fence. Without a word of protest, Ryuga follows after her.
"Take a left now!"
She follows his direction fluidly. Sole's arm convulses violently again, smacking Karvella across the face. She groans but doesn't stop running even as the blood begins trickling down her face.
"Right! Then left!"
Two more sharp turns and she sees the gate ahead, and their carriage.
"Stop right there."
The voice from in front of them is soft but sharp. Karvella freezes as a tall, graying haired man adorned in a brown vest and various weapon holders, stops in their path. She breathes heavily, clutching the thrashing Sole to her chest.
"Don't try to stop us or we'll kill you," she says defensively.
The man smiles kindly and walks towards them at a steady pace. He reaches Karvella and walks past her, patting her head.
"Don't speak to your elders like that, young lady."
Then with a hearty chuckle, he passes by Ryuga and pats his shoulder. He glances into the younger man's glare and grins.
"Interesting," he chuckles, "You folks have a nice day."
Then with a cheery whistle he trots up the path. Karvella watches his back until he's out of sight.
"What a strange old guy."
She turns to Ryuga and glares.
"You seriously don't know who that is?"
He shakes his head slowly.
"Is he some important figure or something? I mean living in Haine was just like living under a rock so give me a break."
"That was Ken Yokozawa. He's one of the most dangerous Strike members in any of the divisions."
Ryuga jumps back a bit.
"Wait then why didn't he try to stop us?"
Karvella shrugs and snaps out of her daze.
"Lets get out of here!"
And they continue to run.
๑۞๑
"They're gone," Yata says, lighting another cigarette for his superior's return, "How do three people disappear so easily?"
The door shimmied open and Leon came in with an even more annoyed look than usual. Yata hands him the smoke and sighs.
"Central will think we're a joke if we say we lost two little kids and an exile."
Leon slams his fist onto the counter, sucking in the sweet smoke.
"One kid, an exile and a monster."
"You sure that kid was a Caravala, though?"
Leon shakes his head.
"I'm talking about the girl."
Yata looks at his supervisor, absentmindedly drumming the sides of his glasses with his forefinger.
"I saw him. I saw Korrin."
Yata gasps in surprise, staring at Leon with disbelief.
"What? Here? Why?"
Leon stares down at the table, not knowing how to answer the questions himself. Just as Yata is about to pry more, the door swings open and a familiar face slips into the room, mumbling and humming to himself.
"Oh you're here, Yokozawa!"
"Took your sweet time, didn't you?"
The older man plucks Leon on the forehead, causing him to recoil in pain.
"What the hell was that for, old man?"
"You need to learn to respect your elders, young man."
Leon stands up, butting foreheads with Yokozawa. The older man doesn't move a muscle.
"Flick me again and you'll lose that finger."
Yokozawa drops the straight face and chuckles heartedly, slapping his knee. Leon sighs and sits back into the King's old throne.
"Little Leon thinks he's grown old enough to forget his manners, huh?"
Yata snickers as Yokozawa laughs even harder. Leon leans back, his face turning red and slams his fists onto the table angrily.
"This is no time to laugh!"
Everyone in the room tenses and smiles turn into serious expressions.
"Now that I have all of your attention," he says glancing at the faces of his companions, "I would like to discuss with you, our next step. Still our first priority is finding Korrin , but secondly now is finding those two prisoners and taking the young boy into custody so we can see just what the hell he is."
"Prisoners?"
Yata explains to Yokozawa the current situation and he nods.
"I just saw the feistiest little girl when I was coming in, she was strong too, hoisting up another kid," he nods assuredly.
Leon stares at Yokozawa, laying the side of his face into his hand.
"Did this little girl happen to have violet hair?"
Yokozawa takes a moment to think and then nods.
"Very pretty, long violet hair. It reminded me of blackberry juice. Alira and I used to pick blackberries back in my home country and make the sweetest jam."
He smiles sentimentally, losing concentration for a moment.
"Why?"
Leon cannot even muster up enough strength to reveal the identities of the prisoners through his anger so Yata explains again.
"My bad!"
He laughs rambunctiously, making everyone in the room sigh.
"Did you at least touch them so you can use your ability? Please tell me you did at least that."
"Oh yeah! I patted the little girl's head and her male companion's arm."
Leon bolts up in his chair.
"Show me now!"
"Okay, okay! Stop yelling or you'll give this old man a heart attack."
Yokozawa closes his eyes and places his hands flat on the table. The face of the violet haired girl and the exile pop up.
"The girl has many abilities mainly limited to swords but she can do a lot more than she has. I believe the potential is locked up because of her youth. The man on the other hand is easy to read but there's so much ability, you may even compare him to a God yet he's a mortal. Some of his powers include teleportation and clairvoyance but does not even compare to the potential locked away."
"What about the Caravala boy?"
Yokozawa removes his hands and shakes his head.
"I couldn't tell you. If I would have reached for him, I think I would be lacking a hand."
"That's fine. I don't believe that boy has much controlled power anyway," Yata says.
"Isn't that even scarier? Who knows what will happen when he loses control."
The room becomes silent as the men contemplate the situation. Suddenly the younger Strike member glances around and mumbles:
"Has anyone seen Jain or Commander Kahn?"
Leon rolls his eyes.
"Don't even get me started with that insolent woman. She's as useful as a dead donkey."
Yata clears his throat loudly and motions behind his superior. Leon turns his head slowly to see the hips of Jain Minx, fastened with a brown belt to hold up her pants.
"A dead donkey, huh?"
Everyone can tell by her red face and pulsating forehead veins that she's beyond pissed. Nobody even moves to help Leon as she brings the club down onto the top of his head with an angry grunt.
"You're going to be a dead jackass in a second! You hear me you piece of shit?"
Yata raises a finger to attempt to stop her but realizes that it will be in vain and he may even get himself clubbed to death as well. Leon breaks free from the clobbering and crawls towards Yata, who in turn takes off his glasses, pretending like he cannot see what's going on in front of him.
"Yata, you ass! I know you can see!"
She clubs him once again, before standing up straight and taking the throne for herself, kicking her feet up and mumbling curses. Leon stands up and reaches for his glove.
"You know what?"
Jain brushes her hair out of her face, glares at Leon and spits:
"What, punk?"
In a blink of an eye Leon is on his knees with his hands folded neatly in his lap.
"Nothing, ma'am."
Yokozawa laughs and pats her on the shoulder.
"Jain as feisty as always. Keeping the boys in line. Atta girl!"
She scoffs and switches her feet's position so that they are crossed.
"Someone has to do it. Azre has been on her mission for almost a year now so there isn't anyone else who can keep these idiots in line but me."
Yokozawa laughs again, almost crumpling to the floor, earning a glare from Leon. Jain motions for the other men to have a seat which they do, Yata refusing to sit in a chair until Leon has. Once everyone was seated, she places a paper from her bosom onto the table.
"Commander Kahn has returned back to headquarters for now."
Everyone looks surprised for a moment and then confused.
"But why? I thought he had something to tell us all."
She plants her feet firmly on the floor, leaning forward onto her elbows. She gives the men an all knowing look before sighing.
"That's why i'm here. I ran into him on my way into this Kingdom. He told me to inform you of the current situation and your new missions."
Leon grunts, crossing his arms across his chest.
"We already have our orders."
"Well now you have new orders."
They stare intensely at one another before Leon huffs and goes back to listening and puffing on his smoke.
"The commander has let me reveal to this group only a piece of vital information that no one besides him, me, Azre and the Head know."
Leon slams his hands down in protest.
"Why the hell don't I know? I'm over you in rank."
"Because you were too childish to handle such information at the time."
He pouts, sitting back once again. Yata pats his arm reassuringly. The room is silent for a good minute before Jain looks around at the group of men, inhaling deeply.
"The Caravalian King is on the verge," she says sharply, "of dying."
๑۞๑
Floating. Why am I floating? I feel the cool breeze rush through my hair but I cannot see anything.
"Sole!"
Who's calling my name? I try to speak, to move, to do anything but I cannot. Everything is blank. I feel nothing but emptiness and then that voice from before comes again. In the darkness a pale figure stands, a featureless blob of light in the center of the dark. It shakes the form of its head back and forth slowly.
"I didn't even use a third of my power on you and you're like this? How pathetic. You better get stronger or you'll be nothing but a nuisance to your expendable companions."
"They are my friends!"
I know that it's staring at me even thought it doesn't appear to have any eyes. It laughs, that taunting laugh once again and turns away from me.
"We'll see. When a human needs to save their own skin, friendship becomes nothing more than a word. I'll see you soon, Sole. Maybe when that time comes, I can be your...friend?"
Before I have time to say anything, the light disappears and the presence is gone. The darkness engulfs me and the loneliness sets in.
๑۞๑
"Sole!"
Karvella screams his name again, slapping the young boy's face. She has his Caravala arm pinned beneath her body as the carriage barrels down the path through the woods.
"Where the hell is the nearest apothecary, bounty hunter?"
"I don't know! Use your damn sight to find one!"
"It's impossible to see that far! The next town has to be at least 6 miles up the path!"
Karvella groans in frustration, using her anger to focus on holding Sole's arm down. She watches as the trees fly and grow thicker as they ride deeper into the forest. Ryuga snaps the horse's reins not even bothering to use his sight.
"Does this goddamn forest ever end? All I see are trees!"
One of the wheels hits a boulder, sending it rolling off into the forest and the rest of the cart hurdling down the path at breakneck speed towards a group of trees. Karvella grabs Sole, Ryuga grabs the bag and they dive off as the horses take a sharp turn, sending the cart crashing into a thicket of trees, bursting into pieces. They land roughly on the forest floor, Ryuga landing with the bag cradled in his arms and on his back while Karvella stands proudly on her feet.
"How the hell did you catch yourself?" He groans, sitting up.
"Instinct."
Ryuga rolls his eyes and tries to stand up carefully.
"You okay, exile?"
"I think I might have fractured something in my leg. Shit it hurts."
He props himself up against a tree and tries to put pressure onto his left leg, wincing in pain.
"Yeah might have even broke something."
A snap from a few twigs on the floor breaks out behind them and Karvella spins around, knowing that if it's an enemy they are trapped.
"Stop right there!"
They both freeze.