Post by Ravendust on May 31, 2008 20:25:03 GMT -5
Troubled Past
Author’s Note: Well, took me ages to get typed up (even though it’s only the first day of the contest^^;
but here you guys go, let me know what you think. This story is Rated PG-13 due to language and violence XD… Anyway, this story is about an ordinary girl named Raven who is suddenly dragged into the past for some unknown reason. She’s got a long struggle in order to discover the truth about what is happening, and to learn more about herself.
Chapter 1: The Trouble Begins!
Raven came slowly back into consciousness, she was uncertain as to where she was or how she'd gotten there. She figured that perhaps she had made it home, but the last she recalled was the storm from the previous evening. She didn't hear the wind or rain, didn't hear the thunder crashing outside her window. She was about to slip back into sleep when she realized that she wasn't in the bed alone, that she wasn’t even in her familiar bed.
Rion moaned slightly feeling more cramped than usual in his small bed, "d**n dog...I thought I put you outside.." he grumbled rolling over to push it out of the bed still groggy, "What the...." he muttered wiping his eyes before screaming loudly and jumping from the bed, What the hell happened...that nightmare...she was in it.... he thought, backing away frantically covering himself with the sheets.
"Who are you, where am I?" Raven demanded, she had leapt out of the bed the second she heard him speaking, her heart fluttering in her chest nervously. Nothing seemed familiar around her, she felt rather frightened at the prospect of very possibly having been kidnapped.
"Who am I...WHO AM I!!! You are in my-" Rion started before getting a decent look at her, "what the hell....Rebecca?..." he muttered in a softer voice dropping the sheets and walking over to her shocked, "B-B-But...y-your d-d-dead..." he stuttered, passing out in shock.
"Rebecca?" Raven gave him an odd look as he fell before shaking her head, "I've got to call the police... Where's the phone in this place?" She muttered to herself, looking around.
Yet she found nothing, there weren't even light fixtures in the house, she would have to find a phone elsewhere she supposed and stepped outside, only to realize she wasn't in a city- she was somewhere in the woods! "Dammit, what am I going to do?!" She cursed, looking around.
Rion woke up dazed a few minutes later, "I could have sworn I saw Rebecca.." he said softly to himself rubbing his head, "I must have rolled out of the bed," he added to himself, he tugged open the front door for some fresh air.
Raven stood a few feet away from him, her gaze moving over the trees as she wondered indecisively which way to go- she'd always been one to hike through the woods, and knew the forests near her home inside and out. It made her uneasy to find that she was lost, nothing around her was familiar, and she'd certainly never seen that house before.
"It is you!" Rion shouted happily running over to her and wrapping his arms around who he thought was his wife, "I thought you were dead..." he whispered laying his head on her shoulder and closing his eyes.
"Get your hands off me you creep." Raven ground out, jerking herself free and striking him in the jaw with her fist, "I want to know where I am right now."
"Rebecca! Don't you remember me? You’re home!" Rion said rubbing his jaw slowly, "w-why did you hit me?" he asked worriedly.
"My name isn't Rebecca." Raven stated flatly, "It's Raven. And I hit you because you grabbed me. I don't know who the hell you are, I don't know and certainly do not belong in this place. Now, if you'd kindly point me in the direction of the nearest telephone, I'll be leaving."
"What do you mean you’re not Rebecca and what the hell is a telephone?" Rion asked, scratching his head, "I am so confused..."
"What are you talking about, are you insane or something? I already told you I'm not this Rebecca person. And as to your question about telephones? You've got to be kidding me... They've been around for about a hundred years! There’s no way you don’t know what one is…"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Rion replied, dazed, "There’s no such thing as a telephone, Rebecca, stop playing games with me, please?"
" You're even more insane than I though. It's 2018, there’re phones in just about every household, and even if you don’t own one yourself, you should know what it is! " She said, shaking her head in disbelief, “I’m not going to tell you again that I’m not this… Rebecca person.
“2018? What hole did you crawl out of?” Rion shook his head, “It’s 1465… You couldn’t possibly be my Rebecca, she wouldn’t torment me like this. Who are you and why do you have her face? To torture me further?” Rion was angry now.
“I give up.” Raven threw her hands up in exasperation, “Just point me to the nearest road, Mr. ‘1465’… I don’t much like these games you’re playing. I told you from the beginning that I’m not Rebecca, I’m Raven.”
“So now I’m the dishonest one?” Rion scowled, “Fine then, do you want proof of the year?”
“Yeah,” Raven snorted, “This should be good.” She crossed her arms.
“Wait here.” Rion slipped back inside, he emerged a few minutes later slacks and a white shirt, he truly looked the part of a man from the 1400’s, “Now come with me.” He started walking through the trees, he seemed to know where he was going.
"Why should I go anywhere with some strange man?" Raven asked, looking warily around at the darkened trees.
"Do you want proof or not?" Rion asked, gazing back at her, he snapped his fingers and the whole area was illuminated with a bright light.
"What the hell did you just do?" Raven gasped, taking a few startled steps backwards.
"Magic. It's nothing special really, I just like to see where I'm going..." Rion replied, "Don't tell me you've never seen it."
"No, I haven't." Raven replied, "Magic doesn't exist... its fairytale nonsense! I must be dreaming..." She immediately pinched her arm, there was no way any of this could be real.
"You can use it too... I see the same strength in you that my late wife had." Rion stated plainly with a soft smile blooming across his face as he took in her appearance in the brilliant glow of his magic, "You really look just like her..." he whispered.
Raven shook her head, "You've got to be kidding... This is the weirdest dream I've ever had..." She muttered to herself.
Rion held out his hand, "You just have to try...focus on something...then imagine what you want to happen.."
"No." Raven said, shaking her head again, "I can't... I don't want to."
Rion sighed, "You are too stubborn to be the one I loved. Now I know you’re not her for sure..." he muttered looking away, "Since you woke me up, I'm going to town. You can come if you wish."
"I'd rather just get out of here." Raven replied, "I'll be late for work... It's got to be at least 6..." She flinched and ducked as something whizzed past her head- and an explosion shook and felled a tree in front of her.
"What was that!" Rion shouted holding his hand in the direction that the blast had come from, illuminating the area further, "Dammit... Auron's minions, why are they here?"
"Who is Auron?" Raven pulled herself back up, massaging the back of her neck as she looked around.
The two of them were approached by three men, all of which had glowing energy swirling in the palms of their hands. "Raven, just run, I'll handle these fools." Rion stated walking towards them with magical energy swirling around him so densely it forced down on everyone around him.
"No way." Raven shook her head, "They look dangerous, I'm not a fool and I'm not a weak little girl. If I leave it'll be three on one."
"We've come for the girl, Rion. Get out of the way." One of them answered.
"What's so special about her? She's just crazy and can't even use magic." Rion questioned, he glanced back at Raven for a moment before raising his hands and muttering a chant under his breath, "Arcane manipulation, shadows of oblivion.."
"Don't think your petty magic will work on us! Lord Auron trained us personally." A second snorted in contempt, throwing the energy field at him.
"Auron is a pitiful worm. He craves power because he does not possess it..." Rion growled as the one that spoke out was wrapped in his shadows and crushed into nothingness.
"What the hell!? What about the field?" The third stuttered nervously.
"He wasn't strong enough to bind his powers." Their commander replied calmly, "but no matter, I can." he stated smugly, stepping forward.
"You won't be doing anything." Raven replied, giving him a swift uppercut to the jaw before bringing the heel of her foot to the joint. She heard the bone pop, and saw his jaw slide out of place before he slumped to the ground in unconsciousness. All this happened before she even put her foot back down.
"You b*tch." The third sneered angrily, throwing his own energy field at her.
She ducked it swiftly, though felt it graze her shoulder and burn through the fabric of her shirt. Raven was thrown off balance, though she quickly regained it and buried her fist in his stomach. He grunted, breath lost, and stumbled backwards, struggling to shake off the pain from her blow.
"Well met." Rion said appearing in between them as shadows wrapped around his hand forming a blade. He used it to quickly sever the man’s head, "only the commander is left." he stated turning towards him, "You can take him if you want."
"A girl, ha! She doesn't even know any magic... How could she hope to defeat me?" the man hissed as a dark burst of energy shot from his body straight to Raven.
Raven did several complex flips to both avoid being hit and to get close to him without much trouble, "Don't count on me being unable to defeat you." She said darkly, "I already broke your jaw with just two hits." After that she flipped forward and caught his head between her feet. A simple twist and she felt his neck crack before he slumped to the ground, not to get up again.
"Interesting. Now do you want to go to town?" Rion asked as if nothing had ever happened, though he was covered in the other man’s blood.
"Actually, I'd rather you showered." Raven said in mild disgust, keeping her gaze away from the corpses of the men.
"This is an every day thing here. What do you mean 'shower'?" Rion asked.
"Bathe." Raven replied, "Wash yourself... Blood tends to shy people away."
"Oh! I suppose that I may as well." Rion muttered slipping out of his shoes and dropping his pants, "There is a lake behind my house..." he added, walking past her and dropping the last of his blood soaked clothing.
"You could have a little more modesty you know." Raven turned her back on him in disgust, "I'd rather not see a naked man that I don't even know."
"I'm sorry. " Rion said quickly blushing and ducking behind his house, "I just keep thinking you are Rebecca for some reason...."
"Well stop, please. I am not this Rebecca person, I'm somebody entirely different." Raven replied simply, "Now go clean yourself."
"I can tell, just because you look like her... There's no way you could be here, she was so much kinder..." Rion whispered solemnly as he jumped into the lake.
"Life tends to put a wall around one's kindness." Raven muttered to herself with a slight shrug. She moved away from the corpses and sat with her back to a tree, she couldn’t look at them or she feared that she might be sick.
"Will you bring me my clothes?" Rion called from the water, only his neck and shoulders were above the surface.
"How about something clean?" Raven questioned, looking at the bloodied clothes warily, "Where do you keep your clothes?"
"Nevermind... I'll find something myself." Rion grumbled, stepping from the lake he quickly made his way into the house, "Much better. " he sighed a few minutes later walking up to her as he buttoned a white long sleeved silk shirt.
Raven shrugged and stood, "It's about time." She said, "You take longer than any woman I know to bathe and dress." She had a joking grin playing at the corners of her lips, she wasn’t as nervous or frightened as she’d been earlier.
"You would be surprised.." Rion stated simply as he walked down the road finishing the final button realizing he had messed up and sighing heavily.
Raven followed indecisively, several feet behind him with a frown now lightly placed upon her lips. I don't understand what happened... She thought to herself.
"Do you mind helping? I could never get these things right." Rion asked turning to her as he unbuttoned the shirt again.
"Jeez, how hopeless." Raven said, nimbly buttoning the shirt back up within less than a minute, "There." She said simply.
"Thanks." Rion said turning back around and heading towards town, "so where are you from?"
"New York City- though not originally." Raven replied with a shrug.
"Where?" Rion asked, "I've never heard of it..." he stopped, "Wherever it is, it's nowhere near here, I can tell you that much."
Raven sighed, "I didn't figure it was." She replied darkly, shoving her hands into her pockets in mild frustration.
"We are in Saxon territory right now, so you'd better be on guard. They are as ruthless as Auron's minions, the only difference is they are just brutes. Show them a little magic and they go screaming about sorcery." Rion chuckled dryly.
"Never heard of any of it." Raven shrugged, "Then again, I wouldn't expect to."
"You really aren't from around here, everyone knows about the Saxons!" Rion murmured as they entered the ruins of a town, "Auron..." he hissed looking around, he saw nothing but scorched buildings and rubble.
"Oh my..." Raven murmured in horror, looking around at the destruction, "Why would he do something so... so terrible?"
"I'm guessing he was looking for you..."Rion replied softly, "Anima roar...terra burial!" he spoke softly as the ground began to quake and crack, "They deserve at least a burial..."
"Wait... One question- why in the hell would this 'Auron' guy be looking for me?" Raven asked.
"I don't know." Rion replied coldly as the entire town was dragged into the ground, nothing remained but the mound of soil, "There, I guess we should head on to the next town."
"And how far exactly is the next town?" She questioned, looking around, "I certainly don't see anything nearby..."
"We should make it by noon tomorrow." Rion shrugged, yawning.
"Noon... tomorrow?" Raven shook her head in disbelief, "Dealing with how much walking exactly?"
"The whole way, why?" Rion asked confused by her reaction, "I don't have a horse,so we don't have much choice."
"That's not what I meant." Raven shook her head, "How many hours will we be walking?"
"The whole time..." Rion said plainly, "what- you can't do it?" His tone was teasing, almost condescending and it made her mad.
"As in all night as well?" Raven frowned, "I'm not supposed to walk more than six or seven hours in a day." She shrugged and left it at that, no point in trying to explain something that was way too advanced for Rion to understand.
"Why can't you walk more than that? Besides, it's only eight hours from here, it's almost dawn anyway By evening we should get there." Rion stated yawning.
"Why does it matter to you why I can't do something?" Raven replied simply with a shrug, "It's complex..."
"Complex...you think I'm too stupid to understand it when you can't comprehend a basic spell? I think you are just too scared of me to say, you still think I took you or something." Rion growled as he continued ahead.
"It's not that I think you're too stupid as... a little less evolved." Raven replied, "In my own terms it's quite simple, just like in your terms, using magic is easy." She scowled.
"Well just say it then, it can't be worse than your ramblings about a 'telephone' or 'New York'." Rion hissed.
Raven rolled her eyes, "I've an acute muscular degenerative disease in my left leg that will immobilize me in just a few short years, happy?"
"What?” Rion cocked his head to the side, he was frustrated that he really didn’t understand.
"Never mind," Raven shook her head, exasperated, she’d known that he wouldn’t understand anyway.
“Tell me in… real words.” Rion prodded, his tone was stubborn.
“Those are real words.” Raven replied, “I’ll make it simple though, “The muscles in my leg are slowly rotting. I’ll lose the use of my leg in just a few years, is that easier for you to understand?”
"So you won't be able to walk in a few years? That's not that hard to understand, it might even be fixable with magic." Rion said smiling.
“I don't know if I'd trust magic to try and heal me..." Raven replied, “And you’re still not quite getting it.”
"What’s not to get? Your muscles are wearing away, right? And besides, it’s not like it’ll hurt you to try to heal it with magic… If there’s nothing that’ll help you where you come from, maybe magic is what you need to try."
"Guess you're not as primitive as I thought, though you're not quite right." Raven replied with a simple shrug, "It's not so much that they're wearing away as they are rotting. I used to have to wear a leg brace when I was a kid- it was really bad then..." Do to something that happened...
"Brace...like a splint?" Rion asked, "what happened? Splints are for when you break something, or is that different where you come from too?"
"Something like that." Raven replied, "The brace was to keep my leg from buckling..."
"Ah...I think I sort of get it now, I suppose. " Rion said, he was getting a bit of a headache and wasn’t interested in continuing the conversation.
"Good." Raven replied quite simply, "Any more questions that you might have?"
"Yeah, but they can wait." Rion said smiling.
"Indeed... I suppose that they can." Raven said.
Rion smiled more, "Yeah, we can take a break whenever you need to."
"As I said, I can go for roughly 6 or 7 hours without stopping." Raven replied, "Then I'll need at least a two or three hour break..."
"To minimize the time, I think we should walk for no more than four hours, then break for half an hour. What do you think?" Rion asked, his smile still hadn’t faded.
"That's fine." Raven responded with a slight shrug, his constant smile was really creeping her out, "I don't mind."
"Then it's set. Lets get going for now." Rion said turning back to walk again.
"Fine." Raven replied, turning and following him.
Rion walked for a while before seeing a small bush with berries on it, "Breakfast..." he exclaimed happily, running over to the bush, "they’re blueberries, do you want any?"
"I'm not hungry." Raven shook her head, "Go ahead and eat."
Rion shrugged as he began plucking berries, quickly piling them into a small pouch he carried with him, "Alright, lets go," he said standing and walking again.
"Okay." Raven replied, beginning to follow him once more.
Rion began popping berries in his mouth as they walked, "You sure you don't want any?" he asked turning to her smiling with his mouth stuffed with the berries.
"No, thanks." Raven replied, shaking her head in disgust, "Even if I were hungry... asking me with the juices running down your mouth would take away anyone's appetite."
Rion laughed making more of the berry juice drip down his face, "I suppose that would be right." His words were gargled badly by the food.
"Swallow before you try and talk again." Raven pleaded with him, he had no manners at all.
Rion laughed more reaching up to cover his mouth, "I haven't had to worry about manners in years." he muttered after swallowing the mouthful of berries, "I've been alone most of the time so it never crossed my mind."
"Being alone isn't much of an excuse." Raven scolded, "But so long as you start showing manners again I won't complain."
"I was never too proper to begin with, at least since I moved away from home. They were too stuck up- my family practically owns the town we are going to." Rion said sighing, "I'm just going to hide out a bit when we get there so that I'm not noticed. I hated life there."
Raven frowned slightly, but shrugged, "Having a stuck up family happens sometimes." She said, "There's nothing anybody can do about it."
"Not stuck up... that’s an understatement for those pretentious fools." Rion grumbled, "They did everything they could to make me miserable."
"It's not like you live with them anymore... They can't control or hurt you any more than you allow them too." Raven replied.
"You would be surprised how far they would go to try. They went as far as to have connections with Auron." Rion sighed popping another berry into his mouth.
"People like that shouldn't be allowed to have so much power." Raven shook her head.
"It's always the people with power that are like that. No one respects their own authority anymore, they get a little power and think that they are above the laws." Rion replied, "Even with magic, like Auron- he rose in strength because of his magical prowess."
"I know they always are." Raven replied flatly, "Innocence is often tainted by power."
"And that's precisely the reason I left. I may have strength, and even power in this world with them, but I refuse to let myself be corrupted by them." Rion said, "what about you, do you have any family?"
"I have some." Raven shrugged in discomfort, "Nobody particularly worth discussing."
"Ok then..." Rion muttered in a softer voice feeling like she still didn't trust him, "how's your leg, do you need to rest?"
"It's fine, just mildly tired," Raven replied, "Can still walk for a little while longer."
"We've been walking now for at least a few hours, the town is only a little bit away now, we can afford a nice break." Rion said, sighing slightly from exhaustion.
"Has it really been so long?" Raven said in mild surprise, but the twinge of pain in her leg told her that she had indeed been walking for quite a while.
"Yeah, odd isn't it? Neither of us really noticed the time passing. I only noticed because of where the sun is and the shadows are falling." Rion said chuckling slightly before halting noticing she was babying her leg slightly, "are you sure you don't need to rest?" he asked again.
"Well... I'm about at my limit." Raven admitted, her gaze slipping to the ground as she walked.
"Lets rest for a while then, only about an hour or so left before we get there anyway, so we're ahead of schedule." Rion said softly finding himself a shaded tree to sit under.
Raven slipped up into another tree easily, she always liked sitting up higher when she was tired, it helped somehow. She leaned against the trunk of the tree, her eyes closed tiredly.
"Here you need to eat." Rion said tossing her the pouch of berries, "take your fill, there are plenty more bushes around. I planted them here when I was young because I got lost out here a lot, this way I always had food."
"I'm not hungry." Raven replied, catching the pouch and simply holding it. "I said that a short while ago."
"You don't want to eat anything prepared in the town, trust me, eat while you can." Rion said closing his eyes, "most places drug the food and people tend to disappear. It's a real hell hole there now."
"Tell me, why are we going to such a horrid place then?" Raven asked.
"Information… I'm still respected there because of my family name. I'm going to find out why Auron is sending his elite after you." Rion said glancing up towards her.
Raven shrugged, "You think it'll be that easy to get information?" She asked.
"Easy enough for me..." Rion sighed, "It's the only way we are going to find out why Auron wants you, he may even know how you got here."
"How would he know something like that?" Raven asked, "Hell, I don't even know how I got here..."
"How did he know where to send his minions looking for you? They came directly to my house for a reason. I think Auron knows a lot about you, because his soldiers that he sent may have been weak- but they were no common foot soldiers. They could use fairly powerful magic." Rion stated.
Raven shrugged, "They weren't much trouble." She said, "I mean, I don't have magic, and sure showed them a thing or two. What would really be fantastic is getting home." She frowned, "Hopefully I didn't get fired again..."
"A child with a little magic could have beaten them, that's nothing special. But he will send more and more until we find out why or he finally captures you.." Rion stated sternly, "So don't get too cocky. I'm not going to force you to stay with me but it would be wise until you get used to the area."
"I wasn't getting cocky." Raven replied tersely, "I was merely stating that they were easily beaten for having such 'powerful' magic."
"It was wild and untamed. They had a knack for it, but had no skill. I really would like to see you try and take me on..." Rion challenged to prove his point.
"Look who's getting cocky now." Raven glared down from her perch in the tree, "You want to challenge me? Fine. We'll fight, I've got no problem with that."
Rion smiled standing slowly, "Don't worry, I won't dish out anything you can't handle. I'm just proving a point is all."
"Just what kind of a point are you trying to prove?" Raven asked, sighing as she slid down from the tree.
"How affective a little magic can be. Pick an affinity I'll stick to only the one you say." Rion stated stretching out and yawning loudly.
"Eh? What do you mean pick an affinity? Hell if I know what you can do." Raven said flatly.
"Just throw out something, you'd be surprised the variety I can use." Rion replied popping his spine.
Raven shook her head, "Use what you like." She said, "I don't care."
"Very well, I'll use lightning." Rion stated smiling.
"That's fine." Raven replied with a simple shrug, "Ready when you are."
"Just so you know, I'll be holding back." Rion stated as a bright light began crackling around his hands as he raised them.
Raven frowned, "Don't." She said, "I don't much like when others say such things. 'I'll be holding back'." She shook her head, "Don't take me for a weakling just because I don't use magic."
"I never said you were weak. I'm holding back because this is only a demonstration and there is no need to risk one of us getting hurt." Rion stated kneeling and placing each hand on the ground as an energy serge pulsated all around him paralyzing anything it hit.
Raven slowly circled him, oblivious to the energy pulsating through the ground, and unaffected by it, "Well, are you ready or what?"
Rion smiled, "I use this to hunt." he whispered touching his hands together still on the ground crossing the current and causing large bolts of lightning to shoot up from the ground.
Raven dodged them swiftly, approaching him in such a smooth manner that it was almost as if she were dancing, "To hunt for what? Rocks?" She chuckled in amusement.
"What ever my net catches." Rion said standing as the bolts wrapped around her, begging to form a cage.
"I don't think so." Raven replied, leaping backwards just in time to avoid being trapped.
"You do know you’re supposed to be coming after me as well, don’t you?" Rion questioned as the lightning vanished and his hand began to glow and crackle again.
"I know." Raven replied, moving quickly towards him, weaving back and forth- thus making herself a difficult target.
"That won't work..." Rion muttered clapping his hands together and pulling them apart as a nearly invisible field formed around him bubbling out so she couldn't get in.
"What happened to sticking with lightning?" She quirked an eyebrow as she slowed her pace and began circling him again, looking for weaknesses.
"It's an energy field formed from the static particles in the air." Rion said smiling, "I haven't broken my promise."
"Okay then, I see." Raven nodded, "If you think a little bit of lightning is gonna stop me, you're sadly mistaken." She casually removed her shoes from her feet, she slipped them up onto her hands just as casually and moved forward. She lashed out and made solid contact with his chest, and glided backwards gracefully, slipping her feet back into her shoes as she moved.
Rion grunted and fell to the ground, he looked up at her in surprise, “What was that?” He demanded, “For someone who insists that they don’t use magic that seemed pretty magic-like…”
“The rubber in my shoes protected me from the .” Raven shrugged, “They’re pretty useful, and comfortable too.”
“Rubber shoes?” Rion blinked in confusion.
“Never mind…” Raven sighed.
"You are a strong one, maybe I shouldn't hold back after all. I do know your weakness though, and you know nothing of mine." Rion said smirking darkly.
"My weakness? What makes you think that you know anything about any sort of weaknesses?" Raven said, keeping a wary eye on him.
"You’re straining, your leg is getting weaker." Rion stated, "Do you mind if I change elements?"
"I'm fine. Why do you want to change elements?" Raven questioned, "Not getting the results you sought? Go ahead and switch."
"I'm changing elements because I don't want to injure you seriously. I will be using water from here on." Rion said, holding his hands together as the air grew frigidly cold and large ice crystals began forming around him.
"That's a stupid reason." Raven replied, "You haven't injured me yet, I don't see why you would now."
"It's a lot easier for me to injure you with lightning than this." Rion replied closing his eyes as the ice chunks melted into floating orbs of water spinning around him slowly.
"Jeez... What's the point of this little excursion anyway?" Raven questioned.
"Mainly boredom now, but I want to test myself against you as well- and see how well you can handle against a powerful magic user." Rion stated shrugging slightly not sure which fit the situation more anymore.
Raven simply shook her head, not sure how to answer. Instead she began to move again, circling him, and waiting. She was falling easily back into the habits of her martial arts classes. Rion opened his eyes as the water shot out in all directions lashing away like small blades.
Raven watched warily, keeping a few trees in between them now as a precaution. Rion smirked, "The trees won't shield you." he said, waving his hand as several spouts of water burst from the ground under her, "should I keep it liquid, or use solids as well?"
"Do as you wish." Raven leapt backwards to avoid being hit by the water, she felt like she was in a video game of some sort now.
Rion smiled as the spouts froze solid as well as the blades that whirled around the area, "I think you’re good enough to handle yourself without me, we will go through the town separately then."
"Separately? Fine." Raven shrugged and stood upright once more, her hands buried in her pockets nonchalantly.
"Just carry this and use it if you get into any trouble." Rion stated tossing her a small pouch full of different herbs and other minerals, "it's a flash bomb, not that dangerous, but a good distraction. Use force and throw it onto the ground. It will spark slightly as warning and then explode."
Raven nodded as she caught it and slipped it into her pocket, "Okay," she said.
"The town is just over that ridge behind you." Rion stated as he walked past and to the top of the hill sighing, "the same hell hole I left, unfortunately...."
"Don't plan to stay long, do you?" Raven asked, looking over at him.
"Of course not, I only plan on staying long enough to get some information about Auron." Rion said stiffly.
"Okay. So, do we have a meeting time and or place for when we finish up?" Raven said with an agreeable nod.
"The tavern on the edge of town, that's where I'll be." Rion said as a serious look enveloped his soft features.
"Tavern?" Raven nodded, "Fine. Let's get going then, shall we?"
"I'll meet you there..." Rion whispered, disappearing almost immediately.
"Later then." Raven replied, and slowly made her way down into the town. She gritted her teeth, each step was growing rather painful, but she didn't show it outwardly as she was soon lost amidst a bustling crowd.
She dug her hands into her pockets, not really knowing what to do, and instead settled to simply wandering the streets, in hopes of overhearing something interesting.
Raven slowed her pace when she caught sight of a group of men conversing in swift whispers amongst themselves. "-but Auron wants her." She had come in on the conversation mid-sentence and had no idea what was going on, she slipped out of sight, still listening.
"What's so special about the girl?"
"Auron wouldn't say. But he's willing to pay a hefty price for her capture."
"Really? How much?"
"30 Rupies."
"Wow! Think of what we could do with that kind of money."
Raven turned and began walking away as casually as she could. "Hey- isn't that that girl!?" Raven froze for a moment and looked over her shoulder- they were staring right at her. She turned back around and took off at a run, her heart thudding in her chest as they gave chase.
"Hello Siad..." Rion called appearing behind the bar counter as he wrapped shadows around the man’s feet to keep him from fleeing, "I need some information..." he whispered darkly.
"R-R-Rion, w-what are you d-doing here?" Siad asked nervously, "I-I thought you left y-years ago."
"Let's cut to the chase- what's Auron after?" Rion asked.
"I don't know." Siad spluttered.
"Don't lie to me Siad." Rion hissed as the shadows crept up stopping at his neck, "I'm not in the mood. Three of his men came straight for the woman I was with, why?"
"She came from the future, you supposedly brought her here."
"Wh-what? I did no such thing!" Rion hissed squeezing Siad with his shadows.
"I-it's the truth, he's after you as well- because even he doesn't possess that power." Siad gargled.
"Thank you for your help." Rion grumbled as the shadows disappeared and he placed his hand on his forehead, "mental art, mind erase." he whispered as Siad's memories of what he told him and even seeing him vanished from his mind, I brought her here? This is unbelievable, but Auron must have leaked this on purpose. It's got to be a trap. he thought bursting through the door and back into the streets.
Rion paced the tavern where he was supposed to meet Raven, waiting for her to show up. He then noticed two of Auron’s soldiers, d**n, it was a trap. There were six in the bar before I left they must be following me waiting for me to lead them to her. I will do just that, but what he doesn't know, is that I’ll be leading them into a trap of my own.
"Dammit, she's got some on her tail too." Rion muttered under his breath dashing towards Raven while muttering a chant under his breath, "Auron had this better planned then I thought…” He panted.
Raven caught sight of Rion and picked up her pace slightly as she moved. She was tired, and at the moment running was all she could bring herself to do. Rion took hold of her shoulders, "Enhance!" he exclaimed as his speed was nearly tripled by his spell, he dashed away from their followers.
"What's going on?" Raven asked, breathing heavily, "Why are there so many?"
"They want you and me badly, apparently you were brought from the future-by me, but that can't be right." Rion said, landing on a rooftop and releasing his hold on her, "We are going to have to combine our efforts to take on a force this large. There are at least twelve this time."
"You were the one?" Raven shook her head in confusion as she looked around, "Twelve..." She murmured, Can I hold out that long?
"You look too drained to fight. I'll handle it." Rion sighed walking to the edge of the roof, "lightning blitz," he muttered as powerful bolts of electricity began raining down onto Auron's soldiers.
"You think you can handle them all by yourself?" Raven questioned.
"I just killed three." Rion stated as a bright light appeared around him blocking off their attacks.
"Be... careful." Raven replied slowly.
"Alright.." Rion replied smiling softly as he walked over the ledge disappearing within the light, "hello boys," he called from within the group lashing out with powerful shadow pulses, "four more down." he said to himself, forming blades on each of his hands.
Raven was attacked on the roof by two more, and it was by mere chance that she managed to knock the first to his death over the edge of the roof.
Rion snapped his fingers as the second was struck by a bolt of lightning, "You okay-" he asked, doubling over as one struck his side with a blade while he was distracted.
"I'm fine, worry about yourself!" Raven called in worry.
"I'm fine..." Rion growled throwing the man off and holding his wound, "secret art...divine justice. "
"You're not fine. " Raven frowned.
Rion collapsed in pain and Raven swiftly climbed down from the roof. She attacked the remaining men with her bare hands, managing, at long last, to defeat them. “Come on.” She grunted, tugging Rion up and limping out of town before more of Auron’s men could find them.
She eased him down once they’d gotten far enough away, “How are you doing?”
“Fine.” Rion winced, “Bastards ripped my shirt…” He removed the sleeves and quickly ripped them into strips before wrapping them around his wound, “There…” He sighed, “How are you?”
“Holding up,” Raven shrugged, "Find out anything interesting?"
"Well, other than what I told you- there's a bounty on both of us. Thirty Rupies for you, and ten for me." Rion grumbled, "we're going to have trouble. Lots of it with bounties that high…"
"Rupies... I'm guessing are the currency here?" Raven muttered, shaking her head.
"Yes....this is a rupie." Rion replied pulling out a roughly carved gold coin and handing it to her.
"Hmm... definitely different from my own currency." Raven said as she examined it.
"That one coin can get two weeks worth of food, plus other luxuries you might need." Rion said.
"Really? Just this little thing?" Raven looked at it in awe, "And that's just one? Wow..."
"It is solid gold." Rion said, "It may even be worth more, it's just that my parents put high taxes on everything here."
"I see." Raven nodded, handing the piece back to him.
Rion shook his head, enclosing it in her palm, "I'm guessing by your reaction that you don't have any of our currency, keep it. You may have need for it."
Raven shook her head, "I couldn't keep something of such value." She said.
"Please, I have over a dozen stashed at my house, it's not a problem." Rion said chuckling slightly, "I brought Five with me just in case we needed it."
Raven frowned, "Still..." She said, shaking her head.
"Just take it." Rion said firmly.
Raven sighed and slipped it into her pocket, "Fine..."
Rion turned back smiling, "Good, now we need to pick out a place to stay for the night."
"Place to stay?" Raven shook her head, "Hell if I know..."
"I would just stay in the forest, but I don't think you'll make it there." Rion stated.
"Why do you say that?" Raven frowned at him.
“You can barely walk now.” Rion said, “You’ve gone beyond whatever limits you’ve got.”
Raven shrugged, "I'd rather not stay in a city where I'm known to be wanted thank you very much." She said, "Do you think it wise to stay anywhere near here?"
"Probably not, because Auron most likely won't send foot soldiers again..." Rion grumbled, "He'll probably send his personal guard now, who is at least as strong as I am."
"Makes sense I suppose." Raven nodded slowly, "We should get away from here as quickly as possible. He knows where you live and he knows where we are now..."
"Yeah I suppose, let’s get going, it’s getting dark.” Rion sighed and led her further into the trees.
So, there you have it, chapter 1!^^ Wow! 19 whole pages, can you believe it? My hands are killing me! Anyway, just let me know what you think, more will be revealed in future chapters!!!
