Monday, February 27, 2006

The Latest Installment ^^
Chapter 3: What’s That Smell?


The clouds that day were beautiful. I was moving them around, making shapes and people. I soon got bored, and started soaring through the clouds.

She looked down at the ground while on her walk through the forest and gasped. “A footprint? But that means…”

She hurried up to a stone building with strange silver markings on it.

‘Is that Shinji?’ I thought. ‘I hope she’s okay. She looks kinda panicked.’

I dove down to the entrance and peeked my head around the door. My eyes widened as I watched Shinji pull a white sheet off a body, a hole in the ceiling casting scattered rays of sunshine on him.

I gasped softly and began to back away. She heard me.

“Who’s there?!” she called.

I poked my head around the corner again. “It’s just me, Shinj.”

Her eyes widened. “I-it’s not what it looks like… I can explain.”

I nodded. “I’m sure you wouldn’t keep his body like this unless you had a reason…”

She sighed and looked back at his golden locks. “I have you keep his body safe so he can be brought back… If any harm comes to it, he won’t be back.

I hugged her comfortingly. “He’ll be back, Shinj.”

“I know…” she whispered. “He has to…”

She pulled the sheet back over her lover’s lifeless form, tears in her eyes.

I did a small prayer motion with my left hand and bowed deeply. Shinjite muttered something in Atlantien, and then turned to me.

“Come on,” she said with a forced smile and lead me out.

Once we got to the door, she bit her finger, drawing blood, and traced the Kanji for protection on the door. The symbol glowed and the door slid shut. “Come on, I’ll race you,” she said with a smile.

I grinned as we said in unison, “Ready… Set… Go!” and took off towards the house through the woods. She was there just a second later, watching for me off the porch. I ran up, dazed with a black eye and a bloody nose. I’d run into a tree on my way.

Her eyes went wide. “Taren!”

I started laughing. “I ran into a tree, Shinji.” A cool wave came over my face as she healed it. “Thanks,” I said, giggling.

“No problem,” she said with a smile. “Hey, isn’t it about time for your training today?”

I blinked. “Yeah, it is. Where’s Sekai?”

“Oi! Sekai!” Shinjite called out suddenly.

He swung down from off the roof and hung upside down directly in front of Shinji, face-to-face. “Yes, Princess?”

She squeaked and stepped back. “Sekai! You scared the hell out of me!”

He dropped down, laughing, and hugged her. “I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean to scare you.”

I giggled and rolled my eyes. ‘He cares for her so much, and she’s so oblivious,’ I thought.

“It’s time for Taren’s training, Sekai-sama,” Shinji said as she poked him in the stomach.

“Where’ll it be this time?” I asked. “The woods, or above the lake again?”

“Your choice,” he said.

“Hmmm. Well, the lake would help me get control of my elemental advantage, but the woods would peak my senses.”

“The woods,” we all said in unison, and then Shinji and I broke into a fit of giggles.

Sekai disappeared, and I said to Shinji with a giggle, “Stay out of trouble, y’hear?”

She giggled and nodded, and I took off into the woods.

This was no ordinary training. I was in the pitch-black woods, no way to see, training with Sekai. He is my second teacher, Kaji Da training me physically, mentally, and emotionally for battle, and Sekai training me in all the same ways, but for a much different reason.

To become Shinjite’s guardian.

How could I not? I owe her my life. She’s done so many things for me, and all so selflessly. She’s helped me, saved me, been a mother and sister figure, and, even though she didn’t know it was them, dealt with my crazy relatives.

But the fight with my family was far from over.

Sekai and I had begun fighting. Kick, punch, zap, dodge, swoosh. It was nearly an even match; he’d been training me every day for about two and a half years. I knew that he was holding back, though.

Back at the house, Shinji was sitting on the porch talking to Shinri.

“Maybe I can teach you to cook, nichan,” Shinji said with a loving smile.

“Can I take a rain check? I need to go to Earth realm.”

“Why do you need to go to Earth realm?”

“Oh, I just need to burn down someone’s house. No big.”

“Shinri!” Shinjite scolded. “You know Earths can’t put out fires!”

“They have four houses!”

“Who is it?”

He mumbled an answer.

“Oh, well, that’s easy. Just flood it.”

He grinned and disappeared in a burst of flame.

She kept hearing this strange sound, like the air was ripping.

Suddenly, three metal spikes shot at her, two lodging in the post next to her, one going right through her stomach.

Her eyes widened and her hands automatically went to the spike.

Sekai stopped and turned to the house. “Taren. Home. Now.”

I nodded and shot off to the house. He’d already arrived and was trying to help her.

“Oh, Gods, Shinji! What happened?!” I cried.

“Nnngh,” she groaned after trying to talk and failing.

I glanced at Sekai, who was having a hard time letting me handle it. I grabbed the spike in her stomach, counted to three, and pulled it out.

Her eyes went wide as silver liquid started gushing out of the rather large hole.

She seemed too weak to heal herself, so I started to heal her.

“N-no, stop,” she gasped out, wincing. “Y-your l-lightning…”

I stopped, not even aware I was using my lightning, and let her slowly heal herself.

“I’m sorry, Shinj. I didn’t even-” I began.

“No… It’s okay. I’ll be fine, really.”

“Did you see who did this?” Sekai asked, finally having lost his willpower to let me handle it.

She shook her head.

My eyes went wide. “Oh, my Gods.” I gasped out. “What in the HELL is that smell?!”

They blinked and sniffed. “What smell?”

I began to cough and choke on the air that surrounded me as my face turned purple.

They both stared at me in confusion. “Taren, are you okay?” Shinji said.

I slumped down to the earth and passed out.

Less than five seconds later, Shinji and Sekai smelled it, too.

“Oh, shit, what IS that?!” Shinji said with teary eyes.

“Smells like… sleeping gas…” Sekai said.

“Oh, shit,” they said together before passing out.

A tall man with straight ebony hair that flipped out at the ends, right above his pierced ears, wearing a flowing black, vinyl trench coat with black clothes on underneath and a small gas mask covering his mouth walked out with three henchmen, a male metal, a female ice, and a male fire.

“Gita, take the hybrid back to the emerald room.” he said, motioning to the ice. “Jakunti, take the metal to the diamond room,” he ordered the metal henchman. “Cyto, follow them.”

The three of them took the two of us, leaving the leader with Shinji.

“Oh, he said. “You will be mine in due time. I won’t let him have you, Princess.”

He ran a finger down her cheek and she slowly opened her eyes. She screamed. He tied her in a magically-enforced, unbreakable rope before she knew what was going on, and raised an eyebrow at her. “Now, now, Princess.”

“DON’T call me that. Who are you? Let me go!”

“There will be time for talk later, Princess. Now we must leave,” he said and quickly knocked her out again, picking her up, their faces dangerously close, and disappeared off to the sapphire room in the castle.

End Ch3.


I'll be on a lot more in the evenings, mom's on nightshift. ^^ Byyye.
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