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Through the rain a figure ran through the empty streets. It was a
young woman. She wore a black cloak and turned into the alley. She was
breathing hard and was running out of desperation. She didn't even dare to
look back.
At the rooftops, a shadow loomed over. The dark figure watched the
woman run through the alley silently and chased after.
The woman dashed off and ran into a dead end. She stopped and took a
quick breath. A shadow suddenly appeared above her silently. Staring hard
at her was a dark figure. She spotted the figure and, out of shock, the
woman stepped back.
The figure jumped off the rooftop while drawing out a long sword. The
figure held the sword with both hands and appeared to be ready to slice her
in half.
With fast reflexes, the woman jumped away seconds before he landed
and sliced the concrete ground. Debris flew up from the impact and the
concrete split apart into pieces. The sword, however, suffered nothing. No
dent or scratches could be seen and looked perfectly new and polished. The
sword glimmered from the dark like it gave off a grayish light.
The dark figure rose from its down position and held the sword
straight at the woman. Silently he stood there as if waiting for a sign
from the woman.
"!" the woman plead. "I don't have it! I sold it away
yesterday!"
The figure stood unmoving and still and spoke in a deep voice, "To
whom?"
"It was a young girl," she began. "She seemed very interested in the
sword and decided to buy it. She was a traveler, I-" the voice was cut off
with a quick flash of the dark character's sword. Only the sound of the
falling rain and the footsteps of walking sounded in the alley.
In a busy market, people were buying and selling. In a restaurant,
there were only two people that were eating.
"AH! This is great!" a young girl said as she grabbed a piece of
crème bread.
"Ack! Lax!" a middle-aged man exclaimed as he watched her ate the
piece of bread.
"Aw, c'mon. I just got to it first!"
"No you didn't! You took it from me!"
"Aw, stop complaining old man, here!" Lax tore a piece of the piece
of bread.
"That's so small!" The man looked at the little portion of bread and
cried, "How do you expect me to live in this kind of condition?! It's so
little that it's more like a crumb than a piece of bread!"
"Just be happy I gave you some," Lax said as she ate the rest of the
bread.
"Hey, kid! I've only known you for a day and the only reason is that
I lost to you! You could've at least been a bit generous and gave me a bit
more of the share of food, you know!" the man argued. "I'm paying for this
meal too! And look how much you ate!"
Before them were two plates and bowls. Lax's pile had 5 plates and 7
bowls while the man had 2 plates and 3 bowls.
" offered!" Lax said after estimating the cost of it all.
"And, also, I'm not a kid, I'm 15! At any case, since I feel sorry for your
predicament I'll pay one fourth of the bill."
"No thanks kid," the man said as he eased back in his chair. "I take
no pity from a kid and I doubt you even have a lot money." The man eyed Lax
slowly, "You beat me in a poker game, but I can tell that your not all what
you seem to be." The man moved his eyes at Lax's sword, "Not everyday do
you see a traveler carrying a sword that a girl like
you."
"Well, I need protection, don't I?" Lax said innocently. "I can't
travel if I don't have any weapons, now can I?"
"If you say so."
"Well, I need to go. So, see ya!" Lax got up and gathered her stuff
and started to walk away.
"Kid!" the man shouted at Lax.
"Huh?" Lax turned around to face the man.
"If you need me, just scream Jexil and I'll come running to help!"
"No thanks old man, I'm fine!" Lax turned around and walked on.
Through the crowds of people, Lax found herself almost lost among the
clusters of people. Once in a while she would get dragged into buying some
merchandises. As she got out of the market she reached the edge of the
city. A feeling nagged at her, like she was being followed the whole time.
Quickly she decided to turn at a corner to find out who was following her.
As she increased her speed she spotted a shadow looming over her in the
rooftops.
"Gotcha!" Lax muttered under her breath while reaching for her short
knife at the side of her right leg. She ducked under some shade to hid and
put her knife to her mouth as she climbed the wall.
She peered at the empty rooftops and slowly pulled herself up. She
carefully walked across the roof she was on to look for any sign of where
the shadow belonged. Suddenly, a shadow fell upon her back. Lax, feeling
the sudden loss of heat from the twin suns, quickly jumped away and turned
with her knife ready.
Lax squint hard at the person before her, but because of the suns
were behind him his face was masked by his shadow. He held a sword that
looked suspiciously similar to hers but different in design. He was well
built and poised and was waiting for her to attack. From all she could tell
he wanted something, and most likely it must be her new sword. Carefully
she dropped her baggage and drew out her new sword.
"What do you want?" Lax asked coolly at the mysterious attacker.
"Your sword," a deep voice replied calmly.
"I just got it and it cost a fortune. So I don't think I will give it
away so easily," Lax sneered and rested her sword on her right shoulder.
"Well, if you want it, you'll hafta get it from my cold, dead hands
and I don't think it would be a wise idea to try that method," Lax warned
and waited for a respond.
"We'll see about that." the figure went to his attack position and
waited for Lax to do the same.
"We'll see," Lax accepted and when to her attack position.
They both charged at the same time as their swords clashed. Lax
decided to take the offensive, but was forced to the defensive and had to
dodge or block the attacks of the mysterious attacker. All she can tell it
was a he, his age wasn't identifiable and he seemed to avoid facing the sun
so could see his face. Through the constant attacks the person used, Lax
had suffered some cuts and nicks and she was getting tired.
"This sunset shall be your last," the person spoke again and with
both hands gripping his sword he arced forward with his sword. Lax tried to
block, but from the immense force of his sword, her arms gave way to the
pressure.
"ARGH!" Lax grunted as she gritted her teeth from the sharp pain
shooting through her arms. Suddenly, the pressure of the mysterious
attacker's sword was gone and Lax saw a person fighting off her attacker.
Lax stared hard at her defender and cried in shock. "Jexil!"
Jexil exchanged some swings with Lax's attacker and through his
gritted teeth he was able to say, "I knew you needed some protection
because of that fancy sword of yours!" Then he changed his friendly voice
and became cold. "Go! Run as far as you can get! This boy is mine!" Then
laughing crazily at his sparing partner, he said, "Decirikar, I've been
waiting for you! Now go Miss Lax! Go!"
Lax grabbed her baggage and climbed down from the rooftops
reluctantly. She ran for a distance and decided to go back to see if Jexil
was okay, but a great cry of pain sounded in the air from the direction
where she was running from. It echoed back and forth from the buildings as
the sick feeling consumed Lax.
"No. It can't be." Lax fell to her knees. "It can't be!"
She got up instantly and head back. Refusing to have caused an
innocent man, that she had just met, to die, she rushed on. Flashes of her
father and mother in flames hunted in her vision. As she ran the sick
feeling felt stronger and stronger. At last, when she reached her
destination, she carefully climbed up the roof and looked for any sign of
Decirikar.
"All clear." Lax assured herself and climb herself up. Scanning the
rooftops a body appeared to be lying on the ground. Lax tried to calm her
mixed emotions. Slowly, she approached the body. "No."
The face covered with a crimson color of blood and many cuts showed
up over his shirt with dozens of bloodstains. Jexil was smiling through his
bloody and dead face. The content shown on his face gave him an unnatural
appearance and as Lax stared upon him, guilt and anger bubbled within. She
stayed with him watching the sun disappear from the distant horizon.
After the sunset she left Jexil's body on the rooftop and cautiously
left the city. She was careful not to be followed and made sure not to
catch anyone's attention. She hid her sword by wrapping it in some cloth
and carried it on her back.
Once away from the city, she was once again alone on the road.
Silently she walked on without rest, and guilt fell upon her.
"Another death caused by me." Lax stopped by a tree and
decided to rest from the night's walk out and setup camp. "Wonder if that
Decirikar is looking for me...?" She stared at her new sword. "What's so
special 'bout you?" The sword glimmered in the moonlight, giving itself a
bluish glow.
Through tired and wary eyes, Lax watched the moon as she fell asleep
as her campfire signaled anyone that was in sight.
Dim sunlight reached Lax's eyes as she awoken from her sleep. From
the corner of her eye, she saw a dark figure kindling the fire and
immediately jumped to her feet and reached for her sword.
"Who are you?!" Lax asked in surprised. Instinctively she took a step
backwards. The unsuspected company looked up from the fire. He was about
her age, but a bit older. He wore a cloak and beside him laid a large
sword. It, too, looked similar to her's.
Out of curiosity, Lax decided to approach the mysterious person, but
with a firm grip on her sword. Suddenly the person spoke. "I'm not after
your sword, if that's what you're perhaps you should be more
a fire open and untended."
"What's your name?"
"My name's Rain," he answered as he looked away from the fire to her.
"I was just passing by."
Lax looked at him to decide if she should trust him. He was well
built and strong for all she knew. He had blond hair and bluish-grayish
eyes and didn't seem like a person who would talk a lot.
"I guess I don't have any problems with that." Lax answered when she
decided he wasn't going to hurt her. Relaxing her grip on her sword she sat
down across from him with the campfire between them. "I was just
I-" Lax hesitated and continued, "can I see your sword?"
Rain shrugged and held his sword with one hand for a moment, "It's
heavy, so be careful." Then he handed his sword over to Lax. Once he let go
of the sword, Lax almost lost balance with the sword from the shift of the
weight.
"Whoa!" Lax exclaimed as she tried to balance the weight of the
sword.
When Lax was able to examine it, she saw similar markings and
designs. Along with them were some writing imprinted on the steel, but the
language was unknown to her. To compare her sword with his, she drew out
her sword and placed it right above his. Same markings appeared but in a
different order that made her suspect that the sword was like the pieces of
a puzzle.
".Rain?" Lax pondered. "Do you know anything about these swords?"
Rain was silent for a moment and spoke. "They're 's all
I know."
"Guardians?" Lax asked as her interest peaked. "Of what?"
"." Rain was silent and stared at the fire. "Of this-"
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Writer: I just wanted to stop right ask you of what you thought about it. I would appreciate some feedbacks and tell me what I might improve on. =^.^=
Chibi Cloud: Just let them read it and decide. Don't ask for too much thought about it. I wanna know what the swords are guardians of. Maybe you should've put the characters in a kind of predicament or something.
Writer: do you know?! I just felt like stopping here! I didn't ask for your opinion! .
Chibi Cloud: I'm just commenting.