Arc The Lad Fan Fiction / Arc The Lad Fan Fiction ❯ Road in the Darc ❯ Lantern's Sway ( Chapter 1 )

Notes: Okay... I came up with another idea for the story... I can't tell you quite yet, I'm still planning... but a bit of what I have planned will come out in this chapter... I also decided that this is a total Darc angst... and I swear, Imma turn him into such a cutie! ^^; (YAOI!!!!!)

Chapter Rating: Pg-13

Rantings: (things in bold will have been ranted about here. Otherwise, you won't expect bold print in this story.)

1. Dark....ham... The Ham of Darkness! >3 2. Do you know what a pain in the ass it is to write Dilzweld?... over...and over... and over again. 3. That too... Tatjana >_<

The sun didn't filter over the mountain as it had just minutes before. Rather, it seemed that daylight had sunken into darkness in the spasis of seconds. The mountain's great height reflected a large shadow over the cities that lay nestled in it's midst, ignorant of the dependence they had on it despite the constant threat of an eruption. Such an eruption, though it hadn't been enough to flood over into the villages below, had occurred just the night before.

The village of Sulfas had been taken over by another country's forces, the Dilzweld Army, for awhile by the time Kharg and his group gotten there in search of the Fire Stone, one of the five elemental Stones that held great power. Over all, they had learned about the Dilzweld and gotten a step closer to defeating them by attaching a canon to their airship, the Big Owl.

The airship wasn't theirs originally, it had belonged to a girl named Lilia, who had been on the run from the Dilzweld since she held the Light Stone. However, they had lost contact with her after a crash landing near Cathena in Asheeda Forest. Not long ago, actually, they had seen her in the hands of General Darkham 1, and a negotiation had started, and failed miserably.

Having lost both Lilia and the Fire Stone, all of them were left alone in an erupting volcano with an ungrateful Dilzweld Scientist, Tatjana, as the Dilzweld 2 ships flew off. Getting their asses saved was quite easy after that. And at first, Tatjana 3 had been locked up in the basement of some pub with rebels practically poking her with a stick before she had agreed to go along with Kharg, swearing her allegience to him.

After that, the blond scientist insisted that they head back up to Mount Sulfas to try and recover a remote, to see where they were heading. And so, here they were, trekking back into the recent battlegrounds, now smoking and deserted. As they crossed the metal landscape where towers with cannons were once situated, they surveyed the still smoking craters that had been shot at them before.

"Brr!" Maru squeeled, rubbing his bare shoulders as he walked along after the rest of the group. "You'd think a volcano would be warmer."

"It's warmer inside, stupid." Paulette muttered, rolling her eyes as she sweeped a hand through her bangs. Kharg and Ganz exchanged looks at the antics of the two, and the younger boy could hardly contain the smile that crossed his face. At times, Paulette actually seemed younger than him, and as she tried to proove her maturity to the `King of the Forest', she was actually trampleing all over the name.

The boy puffed his cheeks out childishly, dropping his hands to clench infront of him, "I'm not cold, I'm not cold..." he whispered under his breath, moving by Tatjana without a glance. The scientist blinked, but kept her cool composure, pushing open an iron door, a gentle and dim red light rushing over their faces. Stepping inside, Kharg squinted as he looked about for the remote she had noted. The look on Paulette's face clearly said that she doubted that one even existed.

"We'll have to go to the second level." Tatjana murmured, pointing to a lever to their right. "Nuh-uh!" Maru whined, stamping one foot on the iron ground. "I'm not going back into that volcano, no sirree!"

The scientist scowled, glaring at the boy, before she pulled the lever. A light behind Maru flashed red, making him squeel in surprise to hide behind Kharg, whom looked as wary as the others. This level of technology was obviously a bit new to him, having lived in a feudal village for a long time. Paulette looked just as unsure, but Ganz just led the way, with Tatjana, to what was revealed to be an elevator.

"Come on..." Kharg urged, both to himself and to his other two companions. Maru, eager to show his lack of fright (despite the earlier show) `bravely' hopped onto the elevator, followed by Paulette then a reluctant Kharg. The elevator jolted, then moved gradually downwards. Once they reached the bottom, Tatjana stormed off, straight to what looked to be one of those machines that were in the earlier road blocks.

She pointed to a small remote with a faintly growing red light. "The batteries are almost out, so we'll have to salvage what this thing can give us." The blonde woman picked the remote up and gave it to Kharg, who studied it with a lifted eyebrow, before clicking it on. Static charged through the speakers, and the whole group crowded around the warrior, intent on listening to what was revealed.

Static still slid through for what seemed to be minutes, and soon the group scattered, while Kharg reclined against the elevator, keeping the dusty remote to his ear. It wasn't until much later that he heard it.

It sounded like the Dilzweld soldiers that they had fought, but a man's voice flit loudly across the line, filling the small space with his frightened young voice, causing Kharg's companions to look up in alarm. "Alert! Alert! Prisoners have escaped!"

Kharg winced and covered his ear, holding the radio a few feet away from it. The next voice that flitted across made the whole group glare angrily at the mechanical object. It was Darkham himself. "Nafia too? Damn... where was the last stop?"

"Other than the stop when we picked that lady up, we did a quick stop to Aldrow again to see if that Argewalt was still alive..."

"And it wasn't."

"Right."

"Well... they could've gotten away in Aldrow, the Orcon probably captured Lilia again somehow... we must go, then."

-pzzt-

Kharg glared at the radio as the red light faded to black, and he slammed it angrily into the ground, making it crackle before dying. Tatjana looked wary, but sighed, taking apart the mechanical object with skilled fingers, tucking away some of the trinkets inside. Paulette watched her carefully, but then turned to watch Kharg, whom had made a beeline for the elevator again.

"H-hey, Kharg, did they say what I thought they said?" Maru questioned, following warily, afraid of getting hit at a time like this. Kharg just nodde grimly. "They have Mother..."

"No, they HAD her... and besides, they said she got away, so she must be safe." Paulette pointed out, frowning slightly. Kharg just looked calmly at her. It was obvious that he knew what she did: that if Nafia and Lilia got off at Aldrow then the Orcons had them, and if they hadn't been careful, even in her native country, Nafia could be caught by Drakyr.

"Well, we have to go look, at least." He muttered, eyes moving towards Tatjana "But first... we need to lead them away from Ragnoth."

--

He was laying in the grass near his father's grave, speaking softly under his breath as he retold his day- or however long it had been since his last visit. He could even swear he felt the wind toying with the few bits of hair that fell from behind his horns. At times, it was uncomfortable to lay down with them, but soon he had found a way to do it quite easily. The tips on them, although not dull, were not sharp enough to get stuck in anything.

His last few days had been spent either running around for Geedo, capturing small monsters for the piggy frog Deimos to feed on, or he was laying in the dungeon beneath her hut. Just the day before, the angry woman had taken her dagger to his chest, angry that the Quorups had raised the price on her precious Phoenix Blood once again.

He guessed that that was one of her pleasures in having a slave. Many times, when she didn't have anything to do, she would loan him out to an Orc or a local human (the horror of that in itself) for either hard labor or...

His voice stopped from his ranting, ruby eyes opening to turn and look at his father's grave. It was hastily made, simple rocks piled atop eachother with a larger rock at the top. There was no recognition of who he was. The only person who knew was Darc. The young half Deimos pushed himself up clumsily, still wounded, before he padded to the grave, kneeling before it with somber eyes. "Father, I'm sorry." He muttered before he pushed himself up, turning to go... that was when he saw them...

Although it had been a nightmare, Darc's eyes opened slowly, barely moving despite the terror that seemed to drive in spikes down his spine. But first came the sleepiness that he had to brush away. That in itself was odd for him. A nightmare was enough to force anyone fully awake, but since he, Darc, hadn't been up at the door by now, he guessed that something was wrong.

He tried to remember what had happened, but his head was aching too much. Groaning, he finally summoned up the energy needed to push himself up, only to curl back in on himself as the wound in his belly proclaimed its existance with an angry throb. His eyebrows furrowed in anger just for a second before he let out an irritated sigh, pushing himself up slowly until he was sitting at the edge of the bed.

He took a hesitant step towards the door, but he was too woozy, and ended up plunking back down onto the bed, embarassed by his weakness. Again, he pulled himself up, holding tightly to the bed post before he focused his blood red orbs intently on the doorframe. After a bit of self motivation, Darc stood up shakily, ignoring the urge to just send the whole idea to hell and wait till Nafia or Lilia came.

With that ignored thought, the semi Deimos launched himself at the door, not making more than a dull thump as he clutched to it, teeth clenched in anger. Damn, look at what he was reduced to. But he was going to get out of this room if his life depended on it. The wound on his stomach had started bleeding slightly, the bandage wrapped tightly around his middle absorbing the liquid so that drops of it appeared on the front.

Finally, he was through the door, lifting his head to check for anyone. The room was empty, yet the smell of tea brewing in the mini kitchen across the room made his head spin, as if the thought of the herbal stew was a trigger for a delayed reaction of pain, which lanced across his middle once more. Ignoring it, he pushed himself from the wall, slowly this time as he had no plans to escape from here at the time.

Holding one hand on the wall for support, Darc steadily to the tabletop in the middle, looking around for his armor and sword. No where. Had the women hidden it? But why? Seething, the half Deimos turned once more to move back to the bedroom in an attempt to get away from the stench. No such luck, there was a loud knock at the door.

--

Lilia hummed softly to herself as she plucked a daisy from the path, smiling widely at it. The girl had been disguised with a good hair makeover by some woman in the village and some of the many veils from Lady Nafia, and although her nerves were on the edge from worry at getting Darc and Nafia in trouble again, she was in a happy mood. Nafia had gotten her other son back, and although he didn't seem to keen before to associate with her. Nafia did seem hurt, but she looked as if she had expected it. The girl remembered Darc telling her about how his father died, but nothing else about it.

Pushing herself up, she worriedly looked down at the dress she wore, afraid that she had dirtied it. In her years of travel, she always kept herself clean somehow, and now she artistically dusted the dirt away until not a speckle or ruffle was left. Bending over, she retrieved a basket full of flowers, before she turned back towards the village.

Lady Nafia had been busy tending to Darc's injury. The woman had thought that it was poisoned or something. A worried look crossed Lilia's face. Nafia had said she would go to Scrappe Plateau to grab something. What that was... Lilia didn't know.

Meanwhile, Lilia had been unable to help with tending the half deimos boy's wounds, and after Nafia was finished she was sent for some flowers to liven up the room a bit. Smiling at her choices, she took a step foreward, ready to step on into the village when she heard a deep voice talking to another group. Panic swept over her pride almost instantly, and she quickly dove behind a bush, her once clean gown and veils now sullied with dusty dirt.

The flower basket fell next to her, the yellow colored petals fraying at the impact, some of them falling off altogether. Intent on not being caught, Lilia pressed her back against the tree, gathering the veils to her so as none of them protruded into view. The deep toned voice continued, but was joined by a vaguely familiar one, one she hadn't heard in a long time. They sounded desperate, but they were still to far for the words to be deciphered. Just seconds later, she heard their footsteps. It was a group, but not anywhere close to an invasion. Relief cascaded over her, and she dared to peek from beyond the tree as the last of the group thumped past...

A girl with a braid and a large shoulder plate on one arm. Paulette. "Kharg!" Lilia shouted, but the girl had rounded a bend, and obviously hadn't heard her. Scooping up the basket, the veiled girl ran as quickly as possible to follow, the panic returning once more.

Not for herself, but for Darc.

--

Kharg huffed loudly as he stumbled into the village from the gate next to his house, resting his gloved hands upon his knees. He had run non stop from the moment Big Owl landed, and obviously so had the rest of his group. Tatjana, unused to the running, was beet red in the face, gasping and hardly gaining any air. Ganz was unperturbed by the run, as he hadn't lost any breath whatsoever.

Kharg didn't bother to wait for Maru and Paulette, instead he pushed himself up again, and moved to the door, still lightly panting. The warrior reached to open the door only to find it...locked.

This worried the boy, as his mother never locked the door... Confused, he made his hand into a fist and knocked harshly upon the wooden frame. When no one came to the door, he knocked again.

An angry growl came from the otherside, which sent a chill up his spine. Definately not his mother... then who... and as the door opened, he unsheathed his sword and held it towards the throat of the trespasser.

And indeed, it was a trespasser, but of a totally unexpected sort. It was a Deimos, or it looked like one anyway. It had blue scaled on certain parts of his body, like his left side, part of the stomach, his left cheek, and some of his right arm. His left arm was like a Drakyr, so Kharg automatically ranked the enemy as a Drakyr. Horns forked from the slightly spiked black-brown hair, not long and pointed, but dull and slightly curled. Overall, the enemy didn't look too dangerous since he was weaponless (other than his claws), along with the wound on his stomach.

"A Deimos!" Paulette gasped, trying to catch her own breath even as she took her hook from where she kept it, twirling it warningly at the creature. The dislike, no, hatred she held for any Deimos was great, worse than Kharg's, but only because she had a good reason. Being orphaned by the species was a good excuse, alright. Maru had his bow out, Tatjana had somehow gotten her gun, and Ganz was ready to swing his axe around to decapitate the Deimos.

All in all, Kharg expected the creature to look frightened, or surprised, and he was granted with a small worried scowl to cross the thing's face. Kharg found himself being stared down, but he quickly took advantage of the obvious weakness, and moved his sword to point at the bloodstain on the bandage. The Deimos hissed, wincing but keeping his ground.

"What are you doing, human, attacking me like this." The creature eyed their weapons with calculating ruby eyes. Kharg frowned, but kept on the offensive. "Get out of my house, Deimos!"

At first, the creature was silent, as was everyone else, but then Tatjana seemed to snap out of a daze, moving up infront of Kharg to point her gun right against the wound. "I remember you, you were in Asheeda Forest!"

Kharg stared at the scientist, shocked as much as the Deimos. It was then that Maru seemed to deem it worthy to lighten the mood with a not-very-funny joke. "Hey, you guys look alike when you do that."

Kharg turned to glare at the boy, but the Deimos looked thoughtful, before he smirked, raising an eyebrow at the group before him. "As I thought, I knew you'd be hanging around with weak humans."

Now confusion was unanimous in the whole group, and for a second all of them were on the offensive. Kharg was ready to stab the creature when he heard a strange gasping voice behind him. "Kharg, don't hurt Darc, please!" The boy turned and stared as a girl in thick veils pushed her way through to stand infront of this `Darc', her eyes spread wide. Darc looked annoyed, but the girl didn't seem to notice.

"Who are you?" Tatjana ordered, and the girl turned and gasped, motioning as if she would run away, only to stop when remembering the task at hand. "I-it's me, Kharg, Lilia!" She pushed a few veils from her face, and Kharg stared at her before he smiled, only staying tense because of the Deimos behind her. "Lilia! I heard you and.. you and mother escaped."

Darc took this time to push himself into the conversation, a smug look on his face as if he knew something Kharg didn't. "Oh yes, `mother' escaped." The Deimos snorted, before turning to limp back into the house. Lilia turned, worried, before she shot an uncharacteristic glare at Kharg. "Did you hurt Darc? He was recovering, you know!"

Kharg let out an irritated groan, and threw his hands in the air, ignoring the looks he gained from his allies as they reluctantly sheathed their weapons. "I don't get it, Lilia, why are you helping that... that Deimos!"

"That's no Deimos, Kharg." Tatjana said wisely, smirking through the doorway as the Deimos tensed, turning an annoyed look over his shoulder. "That's a Deimos halfbreed."

"I've had enough of your yippering mouth, human!" the Deimos turned quickly to Tatjana, really looking ready to rip her throat out, but he stopped, leaning on a wall for support, his breath short. Lilia gasped and moved inside, helping the reluctant deimos inside. "Please come in, guys, but don't attack Darc!" Lilia ordered, seeming protective.

Inside, Darc was sat down on the bed on the platform across the room, where he angrily fisted his human-like hand into a fist, glaring at Kharg in particular. The boy ignored him, sitting down at one of the chairs as he turned to Lilia. "First things first, where's mother?"

"I'm right here, dear." Came a voice from the door. Everyone turned, and Kharg's lips twisted into a smile as the woman moved into the room, a small bundle held in her arms. The boy moved to rise, but Nafia looked disapprovingly at not only Kharg, but Darc too. The semi deimos, in turn, looked away angrily. "Everyone but Kharg, Darc, and Lilia... please leave my house, please. I heard that the inn has some good drinks lately."

Reluctantly, the rest of the group left, leaving the three teenagers alone with the middle aged woman. Nafia moved to the table top, dropping the bundle onto it. Three dead Suskle Squirrels sat there, and Kharg confusedly looked up at her. "It's a meal for Darc, dear." The woman explained, smiling. The boy seemed to have had enough.

"Mother, just tell me, why is this ... Half Deimos here! And why are you and Lilia helping him?! Gah, I'm so confused." Kharg groaned, rubbing his temples.

Silence drifted through the room then, and Kharg easily sensed it. Lilia and Nafia both looked pained, eyeing eachother uncomfortably. Confused, the dirty blonde turned towards the boy he had just met, still looking hesitant but angry. "Just tell me, what is going on?"

--

Okay... ^^; this isn't taking shape like I'd hoped, but still... next chapter is prolly gonna be up soon