LP Chapter 23


Going Back

 

     "Argh."

     "Yu're lost."

     "No I'm not, you be quiet unless you know better than me!!"

     "Well I'd deefinitely know better if you hadn't knocked me out on a horse's bottom! Get into your thick skull, 'd'ya? I'm injured goods! Ship me carefully!"

     Kuchiha kicked a tree trunk. The tree collapsed in a pile of swirling splinters, and Merl sucked in his breath. "Injured goods. Right. What kinda injured goods yaps at my back like an uppity mockingbird!?" [well mockingbirds don't exist in this world, but who cares.]

     She couldn't deny that he was right, though. When she heard a branch explode in the side of the forest, she had immediately gone to check if it was because of an arrow or because of the storm. It turned out to be Runo's footstep, but by the time she realized this he was long gone. So she turned around and headed back towards the road, but no matter where she went she somehow always ended up in front of the exploded tree again. Violet followed her; and now they were wandering aimlessly through the trees. How many times had this happened? Twice now; the first was because of a rabbit. It probably would have happened more times in the past if she'd only had somewhere to get lost going to. [was that...too confusing...?]

     "Well, if ya don't mind me askin', but where're ya goin'?" Merl stared apprehensively at the black sky.

     "So now you're playing polite, aren't'you." She kicked another tree, but this time it didn't fall. "If you keep going straight you'll get somewhere, right?"

     "You aren't goin' straight."

     "And how do you know that!?"

     "It's intuition! Even a Sheemah c'n tell! Y'know, moss on th'trees an' everythin'!?"

     "Then how come you aren't giving any directions!? Tell me where straight is, we'll go straight!!"

     "No, no, see here li'l girl--" "I'm not a little girl." "--There's a deeference between knowin' what's straight an' knowin' what's not straight."

     "So you're just a crazy old Navi who pretends to know stuff he doesn't even have a clue about. There's no moss on these trees!!!" She slammed her foot against another tree trunk. It met an even worse demise than the first. "You're worse than the horse!! At least she doesn't yell at me when she doesn't know where to go!!"

     "No, see, this here beauty knows where she goin', I know that. Work with Sheemahs long 'nough, you c'n near here a horse's thoughts. She likes her master too much, there. Wants ta go back."

     "Oh." Kuchiha whipped around and grabbed Violet's reigns [Jay rides her bare-backed, but he puts a cloth thing on her instead of a saddle]. "Why didn't you say so earlier!? We're going back, girl, and you're leading us!!"

     "Ya kiddin'!!?" It was a miracle the Navi could yell so loud with an arrow sticking out of him. "I'm dyin', ya hear!? Ya'd leave yur ol' friend to die and go back to the guys who did this ta me!?"

     "I will if you keep that up! At any rate it's better than wandering around like this, right!!?" Kuchiha plopped down on a low tree branch. "Speaking of which, weren't'you their comrade? Why'd they shoot you?"

     "Navi policy. I'd be useless anyways, and they pro'bly guessed I leaked info. Anythin' as bad as that might's well get shot." It was unsettling how naturally he said it. ["hey, what happened to mister chicken-in-the-freezer?" "a miracle." "and it was instead replaced by a weird accent. riiight." truth is, i forgot, and i'm too lazy to stick it back in.]

     "Useless? Man, you sound a lot like someone else I know."

     "Who?"

     "Jay." It was a half-truth.

     "Woah, that guy there!? The Blue Rider!? But he's, y'know, the Blue Rider! Even a chicken'd know that's worth something!" [come to think of it, there aren't chickens in this world, either...]

     "...Exactly."

     "Huh."

     "Alright! We're going back!"

     "Huuuuhhhh!!?"

     Kuchiha leaped to her feet and beckoned towards Violet while Merl released a long string of Southern. Regardless of the fact that he probably couldn't hear her, she puzzled over the situation out loud. "Ruru's footstep's been bothering me. Something must've made him charge away and back to Kake and the others, top speed too."

     "Wait, wait, hold yur horses!! I'm comin'!?"

     "Got that right. I couldn't leave my dear old friend to die, now could I?" She smirked, and Merl whimpered audibly. "We're going back to help out Jay!!!"

 

     The sun would soon set. It was hard to tell with the black clouds and pouring rain blanketing the sky, but that was what Jay's eyes saw.

     "Askielsa, Souiryuu." Hello, Dragon of the Skies.

     "Askielsa, Marrlemshal." Hello, Dances with Wolves. [gee, i wonder which movie that came from]

     Marrlemshal nodded his head and slid down the slope. "We'll be taking the Minister to the place you requested, along with the purple-haired child. Come."

     "Why did you tell those two to leave?"

     "They would interfere with your plans. Their eyes are very strong willed, and if something they dislike was to occur, they might betray you. The child may serve as a witness."

     "Jay?"

     "Uh--yes?" Jay helped Kucabara to his feet.

     "What did you say?"

     "What did--when--just now?"

     "...Aw, so much for learning history, I can't even talk to my neighbors and my own li'l brother." He laughed and ruffled his silver-blue hair. "You know I'd forgive you for everything but hurting yourself, right?"

     "Wha..." Jay pulled away and frantically sought for something to say. "I-I'm not..."

     "Will you leave Angel City?"

     Jay prayed that his hair would cover his eyes. "I'm not leaving. I'm going back home."

     "I can read your face like a book on fire, Jay; you were always worse at lying than the little white lamb."

     "Lamb..."

     "If you want to go, then go, but--ah, here it is." Kucabara pulled a small black device out of his pocket. "Lucky I kept it on me; I got you a souvenier from Strawberry Town up in the North. I was thinking you could put it on with your glasses [jay's glasses that change his eye color from red to black are actually made from light-projections from this little black hook-thing that kind of nestles in the back of your ear. better than sunglasses, huh? cuz you can't knock contacts off with an arrow, i had to be a little weird...], but it works just fine without. Sort of like a Sparkey. You're smart enough to figure it out."

     "...Th...thank you, but I'm not leaving yet..."

     "Keep it on you, anyways."

     "Dragon of the Skies, are you prepared?"

     "Y-yeah...I mean, lien..."

     "You'll keep your word?"

     "Yes."

     "Very well."

     The wind sang from behind him.

 

     If only the storm wasn't so loud; the splashing footsteps were being drowned in the gales. Runo ducked a clawing branch and leaped to the next tree, listening for the group of Souths. The arrow was bothering him; it had come so fast that the wind only hissed after it was sunken in the mud. That he and Kuchiha were forced to leave was also a bad sign, and Jay's bargain and the Navi's silence were impossible to ignore. It wouldn't hurt to keep a close watch.

     The dull thunder on the ground ahead was several Murals away and leading to a pocket in the small hills. Behind him, though, were more footsteps, closer and clumsier than the Navi. Runo slid into the center of a tree by the side of the road and crouched silently, waiting.

     "I'll go ahead; come when I give the signal." The footsteps stopped except for one, which grew louder and clearer every moment. Runo prepared to slip into the shadows. "You--wait! I come in peace!" An old-looking man trotted up the road towards Runo. "All I want is information, but if you try anything, I have--"

     "2 horsemen and a servant behind you." The word "information" had reminded Runo of Kake's whip fee, and he suddenly felt irritable. The man choked on his words. "What do you want?"

     "Have you seen a boy with black hair in a ponytail riding a horse?"

     "I was just going back to find him. It would be in your best interests to turn around and leave Jay to--"

     "You are familiar with Jay!? What has that blasted child done!?"

     "...Who the heck are you?"

     "You have no right to be asking me that in such a manner!" The old man [he's actually only in his 40's...] flushed in anger, then took a breath and seemed to calm down. "However, since I already know your face, I shall tell you. I am Jay's supervisor, Miley Vlademier, the Vice-Minister of Angel City."

 

Table of Contents

Chapter 22

Chapter 24[argh this arc's too long]