Riesen glared down at Yumi with cold eyes which made her wish very much that she wasn't tied to a tree. "So, it appears that Krackel 'misplaced' you... how fortunate for me." "Who's Krackel?" Yumi asked him, trying to stall him while she tested her bonds. Unfortunately, the rope appeared too tight to escape from, at least quickly. "No one you'll need to worry about. However, since I will not be able to present Queen Wintergreen with the shard, I can at least give you over to her. A Warrior Priestess is not the worst second choice, and if I can prove to her that there is a traitor in her midst, then all the better." He took a step towards Yumi, who flinched against the tree. "Gika?" came a muffled voice. A fuzzy head popped out of the bushes and blinked at the two humans. "Kit Kat?" Yumi hadn't even seen her small friend leave the clearing, but figured that he had fled as soon as Reisen had appeared. "Get out of here! Go find the others!" "Eh?" As Riesen turned towards Kit Kat, the creature opened its mouth, proudly displaying the bright red crystal inside. "The shard!" he said in surprise, lunging for the bush just as the head disappeared from sight. Yumi winced slightly at the sound of tearing fabric and the pained yelp from Riesen. "Get back here you dratted-" Yumi heard a loud crashing sound and some rather creative swearing, followed by the sounds of pursuit, heading deeper into the forest. Then all was silent. "Hello? Is anyone there?" No one answered. Yumi sighed, and tried to find a slightly more comfortable spot on the tree trunk. >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< The Starburst Crystal Created by Ardweeden Part 16: Sweet Nothings By Yonjuuni and Lady Brick >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< "Tsugiko! Tsugiko, wake up!" Tsugiko opened her eyes, prepared to tell Yumi that five more minutes wouldn't make them late for class, when she saw Kyouji's worried face looking down at her. "It's morning, we have to get going." Tsugiko stretched, blinking a few times to get her vision into focus. "Are you feeling any better?" "I feel great," he said, unsuccessfully hiding a wince as he stood. Tsugiko considered saying something but didn't; she doubted Kyouji would wait here any longer, and besides, she herself wanted to find Yumi as quickly as possible. She only hoped that the night's short rest had been enough to refresh them for what could be one of their biggest fights yet. >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< "Damn you, get back- ACK!" Riesen stumbled as a tree branch swung out of nowhere, smashing into his stomach and knocking him back a few steps. His clothes were filthy and badly torn from chasing the small creature through the woods, and he was covered with numerous scratches and bruises. And still, a taunting "gika" echoed what seemed just beyond his reach. Finally, he heard the rustling and scampering he had been following come to a stop a short ways ahead. Creeping as quietly as he could, he made his way to a dense clump of bushes. Just through them, he could see a glimpse of fur, and the crystal's soft red glow. He gave a slight smile, then whispered a brief spell. The bushes exploded, spraying twigs and burning leaves everywhere. Riesen uncovered his eyes, and saw instead of the small cat-ferret with the crystal he sought, a large three-headed, fire-spouting, dark red Trident, much larger and wilder-looking than the ones that guarded the grounds of the Gumdrop Palace. Considering his options carefully, Riesen made a swift decision. He turned and ran like hell. The little carret walked out from behind a bush, and watched the retreating Riesen and the pursuing monster. With a self-satisfied nod, Kit Kat headed back along the twisted path from whence he had come. >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< Tsugiko followed Kyouji through the tall red grass of the wide open field. They'd been following Kyouji's vague sense of Yumi's presence for several hours now, judging from the pink sun's position, high in the sky. As much as Yumi aggravated her, she was worried. She sighed. At least I'm not the one needing to be rescued. She looked up from her thoughts to see that Kyouji was beginning to look a little wobbly. She caught up and tapped him on the shoulder. "Kyouji, we should rest for a bit. You can't keep going like this." Kyouji jumped a bit at the touch, but didn't turn. "I'm fine. We have to keep going. Don't know what that guy is doing with Yumi." He continued to stride along, if a somewhat stiff, staggering motion could be called striding. Tsugiko scowled. Why did he have to get so concerned about Yumi that he'd keep going even though he was obviously hurting? Would he be doing this if she was the one who had been taken, rather than Yumi? Of course, Yumi would probably search just as hard for Tsugiko. She sighed again. Why did Yumi always have to be the one to do the right thing? Not that she wanted to stop out for selfish reasons, she was just worried about Kyouji. Kyouji continued to walk on, leaving Tsugiko to trudge along after him, alone in her thoughts. >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< Kyouji walked along the Martian landscape, hoping he was going in Yumi's direction. He didn't have much to go on, just a vague sense of her peril. He didn't know how perilous it was, and he couldn't tell if he was getting any closer. The big swordsman... what had the Twixes called him? Krackel? Whatever his name was, he'd moved pretty fast. If he was still running with Yumi, Kyouji doubted that they could ever catch him. And he could be taking Yumi to Wintergreen at that very moment. And it was his fault for giving up the Shard of the Crystal before getting Yumi back. Was this the third failure that Wintergreen, or whatever that had been, had prophesied? He couldn't accept that, so he had to keep going until they rescued Yumi. He was only half aware of Tsugiko's protests behind him. Maybe she was right, and it was a good idea to rest, but there just wasn't time. He did hurt all over, though. Too bad this whole Knight Protector thing didn't come with some extra resistance to pain, or something. He'd just have to bear it, somehow. >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< Tsugiko saw her first. "Yumi!" she yelled, running towards her friend who was slumped against the tree. She raised her hammer, and then realized that it probably wouldn't be very effective in cutting the ropes. "Here, let me," Kyouji stepped forward, unsheathing his sword and slicing through the ropes in one smooth movement. Tsugiko caught her friend as she slumped forward. "Yumi, are you okay? Speak to me!" She gently shook the unconscious girl. Yumi's eyes slowly opened. Blinking, she looked at the other two. "Hi guys... when did you get here?" "Are you okay? Did he hurt you at all?" "Um, Riesen was here, but he ran off after Kit Kat... after that, I guess I just fell asleep." Any sweatdrops were cut off by the arrival of a fuzzy streak entering the clearing. Kit Kat skidded to a halt in front of Tsugiko, shaking his head at her with the cherry shard in his mouth. >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< Somewhere on Mars, another traveller came to a halt after many long hours of exertion. Riesen leaned up against a tree, panting heavily after finally losing the vicious Trident. His robes, formerly a brilliant red and suitable for any royal court on the planet, were now colored in shades of brown and tattered beyond recognition from spending the afternoon dashing through the forest and trying to hide from his relentless pursuer. He cursed, then tried to compose himself. It would take all of his concentration to prepare a teleportation spell, and raging at that accursed creature of the Priestesses wouldn't help him. After several more choice curses on that subject, Riesen finally calmed down and began to gather his energy for the spell. He opened his mouth to recite the words that would complete his magical act, but his work was ruined when a rustling came from the forest, causing him to jump clear off the ground and dissipate the energy. After several tense seconds of waiting to see if his antagonist had found him, he muttered darkly and prepared to cast his spell a second time. Just as Riesen was about to get started, an ear splitting roar came from within the trees behind him. He turned to see the slavering Trident burst from the woods and rush towards him. Riesen 'urk'ed in a very articulate manner, and fled for his life. >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< Lady Brick's author notes: I'm glad Yon was able to use what I had written from when I had to skip. I think my best contribution was the little candy scene separators ^_^ And I had always felt like Kit Kat needed more depth to his character, so I thought it would be fun to see more of his intelligence. Hope everyone enjoy it! Yonjuuni's notes: Wai! I'm not going to be late this time! Of course, thanks to Lady Brick's help, I only had to write about half as much as last time. I apologize for this chapter being as short as it is, despite the fact that two people were working on it. Thanks to LB, of course, for volunteering to co-write this part in the first place, and for having fun ideas involving the abuse of Riesen. ^_^ Also thanks to Ravi and Mechalink for being such good prereaders. And good luck to Nathan. Please don't skip! :P