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A Lost Boy
"I still don't understand why you want to come with me,
of all people, Karen..." Tron eyed the sand-colored Aisha suspiciously.
"I know what you are thinking, Tron Bonne. You
see, I don't believe you are the one that murdered my great-grandfather. I believe
that it was someone else, because there is no proof that you assassinated him.
My grandfather is probably just trying to blame it on you." Tron sighed in relief.
The last thing she wanted was her assassin's daughter spying on her or something.
She glanced at the forest. Many years ago she had barely escaped with her life
from that place. She had made a new enemy and lost a few friends. Her eye had
a needle-shaped scar over it that always reminded her of that encounter. She
remembered staring into the face of her foe before his claws of destruction
tore her to shreds. The only way she had made it out of the forest alive was
because of a sacrifice her best friend had made. She exchanged Tron's life for
her own...
She remembered the hatred in that monster's
eyes and the stench from his hot breath as he breathed in depression and breathed
out anger. She remembered his knotted fur and his long, deadly teeth. She remembered
his cursing as he was about to thrust his claws into her throat. But she also
remembered the tears he had cried just a while before. She remembered the sadness
in his eyes and the loneliness in his voice. She remembered the hatred that
he gathered when he was mocked and hurt. It was that very hatred changed their
fruitful forest into a barren wasteland known for it's dark legends and evil
myths. And it was that very hatred that had destroyed her friends. She was the
only one that survived. She was glad that she was alive with a few scars and
a broken heart instead of being lifeless with a hole in her chest. But she still
longed for the thing she lost that day...
She never took her eyes off the ground as they
entered the forest. She remembered all of their names still. She recited them
in her mind as she remembered her faces. Konami. Yoru. Milayou. Jenny. She went
on and on, naming every fallen friend she knew. She even named some she didn't
like. Then again she never really got to know them. Some parts of the forest
still lay unchanged by that beast's hatred. Tron couldn't take her mind off
of that day. She stared at the ground as she walked until everything became
misty. Her eyes welled up with tears as she thought about that day. Oh how she
longed for the thing she lost that day. The thing she'd never be able to get
back. Her friends...
"Tron! Look out!!"
A voice pulled her back into reality, and she
spun around just in time to block an incoming sword attack. The steel hit her
iron-plated gauntlet, a few drops of blood splattering onto the sword when it
cut through the light armor. Tron glared at her foe, her cold emerald eyes met
with the eyes of a cold heart. "Not you again..." she growled at her attacker.
Karen gasped as she saw the cloaked figure. She had seen those eyes before...
but it couldn't be, could it? She inched closer
to the two, who were glaring each other down. The cloaked assassin backflipped
away from Tron, landing in a fighting stance with two emerald-studded katanas
wielded. Both of them stayed silent, neither one making a move.
Tron stared at him for a moment, then shook
her head. "Tsk tsk tsk... nice try, Garo, but you'll have to do better than
that," she taunted. Tron glanced at her left hand. It was badly hurt and it
had been stinging badly. Tron sneered. "I suppose you've come to try and
kill me?" she said in a fake accent. "It's hard to be unpopular, but hey, I
can't help but brag when I have a fifty million Neopoint bounty on my wings,"
she bragged, "Even so, these gauntlets cost me plenty. You'll pay for ruining
them, y'know." She smirked as she unsheathed two long scimitars. Karen almost
fainted at the sound of her brother's name. She wanted to believe it was Garo,
but she wanted to be absolutely sure. The cloaked figure growled.
"Why is Kat with you?" he snarled. Karen stared
at him. It really was Garo! Only Garo called her by the name Kat. She was about
to speak, but Tron's laughter cut her off.
"It won't matter once you're dead, sweetie,"
Garo growled and held his swords in a fighting position. Hesitating for only
a second, he raced towards her with both swords out, ready to attack. Tron stood
with a smirk on her face.
He's falling into a trap... Bunny thought
to herself. Suddenly a shadow appeared in front of Garo, and his feet froze.
The shadow held it's arms out like a barrier. It's eyes glowed red, and slowly
it turned to sand and disappeared.
"Garo..." he turned and stared at Karen, his
cloak falling back. Karen put her arms down as the shadow disappeared.
Karen controls the sand spirits? Bunny
thought to herself. She sat silently, watching the battle. Tears fell from Karen's
eyes as she stared at her long lost brother. Tron quickly figured out what was
going on and sheathed her scimitars. Karen ran to her brother and hugged him
tightly, crying into his shoulder.
"Kat... I'm sorry," he whispered to her. Bunny
and Tron exchanged glances, but neither of them said a word. Tron glanced around
the forest. Something was wrong. Her cold emerald eyes scanned every scrub and
nook of the forest. That's odd, she thought, I can hear it but I don't
see it... Her eyes fell back onto Garo & Karen. They shot wide open as she
saw a shadow behind them, but it was larger than the Desert Spirits that Karen
could summon. It's eyes glowed red with hatred. A loud thumping sound was heard
through the forest as the shadow crept closer.
"You guys... uh... you guys... LOOK OUT!!"
Tron screeched, raising her left arm towards the creature. With a flick of her
wrist, a fireball flew from her hands and towards the shadow. The shadow stopped
for a minute, then opened it's wide mouth. Dirty yellow teeth shone as the fireball
was sucked into the shadow's mouth and swallowed up. With that, it continued
stomping towards them. Tron stepped back and glared at it. "What kind of thing
can swallow my fireballs? Oh no..." Her eyes shot wide again as the shadow revealed
a monster she didn't want to see.
Garo spun around, about to unsheathe his katanas,
but it was too late. The creature grabbed him by the face and held him into
the air, threatening to sink it's long, deadly claws into his skull should he
try something stupid. Karen screamed and fell on her backside as she stared
up at the evil giant.
"Balthazar!!" Tron screamed at the beast. Balthazar
easily towered over the entire group. Garo struggled to get out of his grasp,
but eventually fell limp into Balthazar's claws.
"Garoooo!" Karen cried out, unsheathing a clamour
from her cloak. "Let him go now, you fiend!!" She held the sword out threateningly,
ready to strike at any time.
"You don't want your precious Garo to get hurt,
do you?" Balthazar growled. Karen glared at him,
tears flowing from her eyes in a steady stream. Slowly the sword slipped from
her paws and hit the ground.
Karen fell to her knees and onto the ground.
"Don't... hurt him... please..." she begged, not even trying to stop crying.
Balthazar laughed evilly. "Don't worry, I won't
hurt him, that much... scrawny little thing won't even make a good snack! Gwa
ha ha ha!" He turned and started walking into the shadows.
"BALTHAZAR!" a voice cried from behind him.
He turned and sneered. Tron stood with her scimitars drawn.
"You coward... how dare you just come and take
him away! He hasn't even fought me yet! I challenge you to a dual!" she shrieked
loudly, placing herself in a front balance fighting stance.
Balthazar gasped, glaring straight at her. "You
survived? After all that?" he laughed loudly at Tron. Even though she stood
at a tall six-foot-one, Balthazar made her look like a flea. Tron's eyes burned
with anger as Balthazar started to walk away. "If you want your precious Garo
back... you'll have to find me, first," he laughed again and ran into the forest.
Balthazar's body was bulky and heavy, but his legs were incredibly strong. They
all stood in silence as the huge wolf disappeared into the forest.
"Why would he want GARO?" Tron asked angrily.
Karen stood up, staring at the ground. "He's
after the Jade Scarab."
To be continued...
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