CHAPTER THREE: one miss and they deceive you.

Fine, I caved. But its only because I love writing this story.

“Well? What are you waiting for Touzoku? FINISH HER!” Akuhei bellowed at him. Much to Ren’ai’s dismay he brought the other arm up and held the sword with both hands over his head.

He was back. How had she done that? It made no difference now. He heard Akuhei bellow something at him and brought his arm up to hold the sword.

Then he plunged it straight down…


Ren’ai held her breath and closed her eyes tight ready for the stab. She heard his sword piece something. She felt nothing. Not even numbness. She slowly opened her eyes to see she was not harmed in the least. Touzoku had not stabbed her. Instead, he had driven the sword right into the ground an inch beside her. The others around them were in shock. He still held the handle of the sword and a shadow from his bangs hid his face. Ren’ai was speechless. ‘He had the perfect chance. Why didn’t he do it?’

Meanwhile Akuhei was fuming. ‘He had her cornered! It was the perfect time! Why the hell didn’t he do it?’ he thought. The other boys slowly backed away from the enraged man, “TOUZOKU! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING BOY? KILL HER NOW!” he shouted at the top of his lungs. Touzoku calmly pulled the sword out of the ground and stood upright. He held the sword in one hand and lifted it high in the air once more. Ren’ai cringed; she thought he was actually going to kill her now. But as to why he had held back in the first place was beyond her. What meaning could it possibly be to him?

“GET ON WITH IT TOUZOKU!” Akuhei yelled. Touzoku just stood there with the sword held high. He looked over at the sword, and then down to the helpless girl in front of him. Then, he dropped the sword, letting it fall to the earth with a dull thud. Ren’ai loosened her muscles. ‘What is he doing?’ she wondered.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Akuhei was extremely angry now. The fire was imminent in his throat as if he were going to breathe it any second. Touzoku simply looked down over his shoulder to the ground. “I Cant.” He said calmly. “WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CANT? ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS DRIVE THAT DAMNED SWORD THROUGH HER HEART!” Akuhei yelled. “NOW DO IT!” the boy shook his head. “I cant.” Akuhei was even angrier. “IS THAT ALL YOU CAN SAY BOY? DON’T TELL ME YOU CANT KILL HER!”
“Fine. I wont kill her.” Touzoku had no fear of this man. He used to, but he had grown to know that he didn’t need the least bit of respect to earn his trust. “YOU WILL OBEY YOUR COMMANDING OFFICER BOY! I COMMAND YOU TO KILL THAT DEMON OF A GIRL RIGHT NOW!” It was only a matter of time before Akuhei tried to kill them both himself.

Touzoku simply looked at him. He then turned his back toward Ren’ai and started walking away, picking up his sword and its hilt near by as he did. “What have you done you idiot?” Ren’ai said under her breath. You never turned your back on a man like Akuhei. He would try and kill you for sure. Touzoku did not seem to care. He continued walking. The other boys couldn’t believe their eyes. They had always known Touzoku to be Akuhei’s “Right-hand man” or in other words, the last person to ever disobey him, at least to his face. They watched him walk away with awe on their faces. They all knew too well what was to become of him. Touzoku knew what he was doing, even though it seemed nothing like it. But as Akuhei himself had said before, “Touzoku, you are a good soldier and a noble fighter, but you’re not stupid, ignorant, but not stupid.” Ren’ai only hoped he was right. Akuhei was certainly no man to fool around with.

It was then that Ren’ai became aware of the fact that she was still leaning against the base of the tree. ‘Do I dare move?’ she thought. She shook her head lightly, ‘what are you saying? What can he possibly do to you now? You’re not the helpless little girl you used to be. Besides, if you ran now he would never catch you.’ Another voice in her said sounded. ‘He might catch Touzoku.’ She thought sulkily. ‘So? What does he matter? Its not like you have something in common worth the trouble.’ The voice said. ‘I suppose.’ Ren’ai thought. She gave a quick glance around the clearing to see all eyes on Touzoku. This was her chance. She soundlessly slipped around the side of the tree and began to climb up the trunk. Before long she was in the lower branches, which were still very high, and had a good view of the earth beneath her. She was about to make her escape when she remembered her Shikai Blade. It was the only good weapon she had besides her bow and arrows, which she did not have on her person at that moment. It had been thrown to the opposite side of the clearing near another tree. Ren’ai slipped through the branches while keeping a small eye on the lower scene. When she got to the other side she spotted her blade not too far beneath her. She sneaked back down onto the ground long enough to grab her blade and flee back up into the branches inconspicuously.

With one last look back down at Touzoku, she turned and started heading back home. Something inside her told her she should have stayed back, but it was to late to turn around. A few minutes later however, she had her mind changed for her when she heard a loud yell. She had been traveling up in the forest canopy. She turned around to see a flock of Redib Crows scattering from the trees and off into the distance. She could only assume what had happened as she started back to the clearing.

When she got there she gasped. The once pleasant clearing was scattered with the bodies of the army boys and neither Akuhei nor Touzoku were in sight. She transformed her blade back into a scythe and slid it through a tie behind her back. Leaping down from the trees she walked over to the body of the boy she recalled as being named Hitsu. Ren’ai knelt down and placed the tips of her fingers lightly on the back of his neck. She was trying to sense some sort of life energy. A spark of blue sent a numb stream of shock through her arm. He was still alive, but only by so much; he would be all right. Ren’ai found herself checking the energies of the other boys. As it turned out they were all fine. She then went around the clearing, scanning for any hints of what had just happened. There was a salty scent in the air that she picked up quickly. She immediately filed it as blood. A hunter such as herself knew the scent all too well, having used its traits to find an easy kill. Using the scent she found a streak of red blood on one of the rocks. She slid her finger along the mark and raised the little she got to her nose. The scent was twice as salty as before and very familiar. But she hadn’t smelled it enough before to match it with where it came from. She then picked up another scent in the air. It smelled like some sort of magic, but she didn’t know what kind. She gave another whiff and was able to tell that whatever magic it was, it was being used in great vain.

She listened intently to the silent air figuring that with how fresh the blood was, the victim could not have gotten far…and neither could’ve its attacker. She listened for a few more minutes before one of her ears folded backwards at a strange sound. Ren’ai turned her head to listen with both ears. She heard the sound again, only this time it was more decipherable. It sounded like a gust smashing two things together, like rock. But what in this forest could make such a sound? Ren’ai thought it reminded her of Lelub horns colliding with a stone or a tree. “Lelubs don’t congregate this far in the summer. They are always in the east. Not the north.” Ren’ai stated confused. “Then what could it be?” She then heard a cry of anguish that strongly resembled that of a man. Then her sense caught up with her. “Duh! Akuhei and Touzoku were missing when I got here, and were probably on the brink of a fight when I left. The blood on the rock as to belong to one of them. But, then why would it be familiar? I would recognize Akuhei’s a lot better, but Touzoku hadn’t bled the entire time I was around.” It was a very strange thing, but not something she could think too hard on now. She followed the sounds of smashing and was lead to the base of a natural rock quarry. She stayed well hidden in the shadows and watched as Akuhei and Touzoku fought.

The smashing sound she had heard had indeed been coming from a Lelub, much to her amazement. Akuhei must have summoned it to kill Touzoku for him. ‘What a coward.’ She thought. She watched as Akuhei commanded that the Lelub charge Touzoku countless times, all of which Touzoku dodged. She had just met him, but she was rooting for Touzoku mostly because he was fighting against her deceitful father. But she couldn’t help but wonder…could there have been some other reason?




Heh. You tell me.
sorry this one was shorter. i wanted to save the rest for the next chapter.