Digimon Fan Fiction / Ragnarok Fan Fiction ❯ Where Fate Turns ❯ Chapter 5: You're in Ruins ( Chapter 5 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

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Where Fate Turns
Chapter 5: You're in Ruins
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This is a pretty long chapter to make up for the time it took to post up. Naw, actually it just had to be this long. Time to start tying the Taito and Takouji together... */gg*

Ragnarok Online doesn't really have much of a plot, so a lot of this I have to make up. ^^

Thanks to Lady Moon, Darcy 335, Niko, Jen Minamoto, The One With Hope, KAWAIIROXY and Dark_Fox for reviewing the previous chapter! =3

Quick note: Priest is an advanced class of the Acolyte, Assassin is an advanced class of the Thief.

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~Animals, humans, what is the difference? The lessons are all the same in the end~

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A nighttime passed underground where Taichi layed in Yamato's protective arms. By now, Taichi's breathing had grown even and steady, showing that the green herbs were working well. Hawkes was dozing next to the much larger Birdie somewhere farther on the ledge, Sakura beside them. A female Mage had joined the other ledgers, but she had the courage to go out and lure monsters for them.

Yamato had closed his eyes not long after Taichi, leaning on the wall at the far corner of the ledge. When he opened his eyes after an enduring time, he found Taichi clinging casually on his sides in his sleep. This forced Yamato to continuously blush, much to Sakura's amusement.

" You guys should be fine without me, especially with you around, Yamato-kun," Sakura said, getting up from her resting spot.

Yamato blushed deeper at the compliment, but said his thanks as Sakura pulled off a small set of mechanical butterfly wings from her arrow case holder. " You're not going to stay?" the blonde asked.

" Nope, I can't stay in any dungeon too long... I lose interest quickly."

The blonde frowned a little, mystified by her philosophy. " Whatever floats your boat. All right, see you, Sakura."

She smiled, smashing her bottom lip against her top lip to imitate a Poring's face. She pressed a button on the small butterfly wings, and it expanded to huge purple wings that enveloped her. At last moment, she grabbed Birdie by the large feathers on her head, much to the falcon's disgruntlement. Completely surrounded by the wings, the wings flashed white and instantly vanished.

Yamato closed his eyes again, smiling at the thought of meeting new people for the first time in a long while. He thought of Taichi once more, wondering if they would be good partners in the end... First, he had wanted to rid of the apprentice as soon as possible, but now he was having doubts...

When Taichi awoke, he was absolutely energetic, quite more so than previously noted.

" We only have a few hundred arrows left so we'll have to resurface soon, but I guess we should use them up."

Yamato joined the brunette in sniping monsters off the ledge, not even bothering to say hello to the ledgers. Taichi greeted them happily, but he couldn't help noticing that Yamato kept to himself...

" You're mastering that Crossbow exceptionally quickly. I bet we could duo up in a dungeon..." Yamato said casually, his eyes focused in the ledging range.

Taichi stopped shooting and looked at the blonde. It seemed like Yamato was hiding something, by the way he avoided his gaze, but he had no idea what he could possibly be hiding...

Several hordes of monsters were gone in a flash with Taichi's new ease of shooting arrows. The two Archers packed their stuff, and Yamato beckoned Taichi to come over. " To save money, we'll both use one butterfly wing."

Yamato brought out a device that looked exactly like the one Sakura used. " Taichi, come closer. The wings don't spread out far."

Taichi stepped forward once. Yamato sighed, then brought an arm around Taichi. The blonde pulled the other close to him. Yamato struggled not to blush at the heat, then pressed the activation button on the butterfly. It expanded and surrounded the two boys and Hawkes (who was still asleep), and they left the island where Taichi learned lessons for the future...

****

" I saw your improvements in there, Taichi. You ARE a fast learner."

The butterfly wing had taken them all the way back to Payon.

" I thought we weren't going back here for a long time," Taichi noted.

" Hmm, I thought I bought a Prontera wing, but apparently I didn't..." The more experienced Archer pondered idly. He immediately noted that the village was covered in decorations, and he quickly turned his gaze downward.

" Is something wrong, Yamato?"

It seemed Taichi had seen Yamato's movement, but the blonde brushed it off. " Payon is having its Falconry Festival. It's not much of an interest for me..."

But Taichi had already brightened up, admiring the decorations. " Oh, I love the Falconry Festival! I bet Hawkes would be awesome in the air shows."

" Yeah, he would..." Yamato said quietly. He started walking away from the decorated area, silently urging Taichi to follow. Taichi blinked, and followed him out of the vacant celebration area. There were little amounts of people outside the buildings; none of them paid heed to the two boys.

Yamato entered a shop, immediately asking for loads of silver arrows. " Give me your Crossbow, Taichi."

Taichi pulled out the weapon he had grown accustomed to and gave it to the blonde without another word. It seemed like he wanted to say something, but he didn't. An entrepreneur Merchant had opened his own miniship inside the supply store. These Merchants had unique vending carts that helped them sell their products while they slept. Yamato inserted a large vast of zeny voins into the Merchant's vending cart, and out popped a small card. Yamato took the card in one hand, and the Crossbow in the other.

" Critical Crossbow!" he shouted as he tapped the card on the Crossbow. The card rose out of his hands and glowed, hovering for several seconds. The Crossbow glowed as well but remained in his hand. In a small flash, the card disappeared, stopping the glowing altogether.

" What did you just do?"

Yamato handed the Crossbow back to Taichi. " I compounded a Soldier Skeleton card onto your Crossbow. It has room for two more, but this Merchant doesn't have any more. They're pretty hard to find."

Taichi seemed to be in a daze. " Card...?"

The shopowner arrived with small soap-sized packages, each labeled "1000ea silver arrow." Yamato went to the counter to examine them, saying to Taichi, " I thought you had extensive knowledge on items, cards are items, too."

" I guess I know more about the items besides cards..."

Taichi drooped his head, the kitty ears on his head sulking along. Yamato instantly felt guilty for having sounded chastising. " Don't worry about it, Taichi," he said in hopes of easing the tension, " I have a book of cards you can study if you would like." Out of his pack, he pulled out a small book and gave it to the saddened brunette.

Still sullen, Taichi put his Crossbow down, took the book and looked down at it. He opened it to the Introduction page and read it out loud, immediately spurring nostalgia from his early learning days...

" Monster cards are special objects that are used to enhance equipment. Every monster in Midgard has a card, yet chances of finding one are quite slim. Consider yourself lucky if you can find a Poring card."

Yamato purchased the packages of silver arrows. Taichi already seemed to be immersed in the book, as he started to wander about the room with his face buried in the sheets. Yamato discreetly lead him out of the shop to meet up with the luscious green trees surrounding Payon. The sun was high in the sky by then, peeping through the thousands of cracks between the roof of trees. Yamato sat down at the base of one of the more appealing trees.

Taichi subconsciously sat next to him, continuing to read on. While his voice seemed to drone on, Yamato could sense that he was gathering every bit of information with ease.

" Strategizing with cards can be slightly confusing because of the vast variety of cards, however..."

The weather was beautiful. There was a small amount of wind flowing around them, just enough to make music with the bird chirping. Hawkes stepped off of Yamato's shoulder and flew up to the trees above with some struggle (unlike smaller birds, Hawkes needed more air to fly upwards).

" Currently, one of the most effective card overall for weapons (that is not an MVP card) is the Soldier Skeleton card, for it aids the power of..."

Yamato paused from listening to Taichi's drowning and found his gaze fixed on Taichi himself. Taichi's kittyband twitched from an irritation in the wind. His pack of supplies, which he usually carried on his side, started to fall off since his neck wasn't keeping it up.

" The harder it is to obtain a card, the more powerful it is likely to be. For example, while a Wormtail card will make someone more dexterous, a Zerom card is even more..."

The blonde Archer wasn't used to having a voice constantly fill his resting time, and frankly, it was getting somewhat annoying. " Taichi, I'm sure you can learn silently? I'd like to take a nap."

Taichi read on. " Equipment can hold a certain number of cards depending on the equipment. The more powerful a weapon is, the less amount of cards it can hold."

" Taichi..."

" For example, a Gladius can hold three cards while a Damascus can hold two-"

" Taichi!"

Taichi finally snapped out of his reading trance.

" I need to sleep."

" But you were just sleeping a few hours ago!"

Yamato paused, then blinked several times, looking away. " I don't really sleep... I just try..."

Taichi peered at him, causing the blonde to turn his head away farther. " Don't worry about it," Yamato said, laying into a resting position. He watched Taichi go back to reading (silently), then closed his eyes, basking in the specks of sun rays.

Few people passed the area of trees they were at. It's feeling of desolation was what appealed to Yamato especially. Whenever he came to Payon, he would try to spend some time at this lonely spot. Nobody asked him how he was feeling, asked for any favors, bothered the hell out of him...

He knew no one in this town, or at least not anymore... until he met Taichi. His past was something only he understood. No one knew of it, and he figured no one cared. Who wanted to help him anyhow...

Many minutes later, his discontented mind still kept him awake. He heard the book in Taichi's possession drop to the ground and some shuffling. " You still awake, Yamato?"

He opened his eyes and almost jumped when he saw two brown chocolate eyes right in front of him.

" Yamato... Have you ever disliked being alone in this world?"

The question caught him completely off guard, and he stared at the brunette. When he saw a faint trace of red across Taichi's cheeks, he himself flustered, but he was too fatigued to move.

" Why do you ask that?" Yamato replied, dodging the question.

Taichi continued to peer at him even though they were both blushing. " I was wondering if I was a burden to you... you didn't HAVE to take me in as an apprentice."

Yamato said nothing, but he stopped blushing and began thinking. He could have easily abandoned Taichi during his teachings, but he didn't. He remembered wanting to spend the rest of his life by himself because of his past experiences. But why had he not seemed to loathe Taichi's intrusion?

" Have you ever wanted me to go away?" Taichi asked.

The brunette was on his hands and knees, his face barely a foot away from Yamato's. His Kittyband usually reacted with his facial expressions, but at that moment it remained unchanged.

Yamato hesitated to answer. He had to admit, he probably was thinking something along those lines during the meeting in Prontera...however...

" I haven't, Taichi," he found himself saying without consent, " Although, at first I didn't want to teach because of my own values."

" Are you glad that this happened? That I'm here?"

Yamato's eyes snapped open like China plates, but he paused when he saw how serious Taichi was. He gazed into Taichi's eyes, searching. All of a sudden, he could see his own self in those eyes, the same expression of loneliness, of sadness... He understood...

He felt a great pain deep inside his chest, then tore away from their stare. " At times like this we have little time to idle away by reflecting. I need to sleep, Taichi."

He couldn't stop the further pains as he saw the dismayed expression on Taichi's face. Trying to ignore them, he turned away from the brunette and closed his eyes. What were these pains in his chest...?

After a moment's silence, Taichi spoke up again. " When was the last time you've fallen asleep?"

Lifelessly, Yamato answered, " About nine days..."

Taichi laid still in awe, wondering how the blonde could manage to have so much strength with a lack of energy rejuvenation. Taichi pondered for a while, unknown to Yamato. " I can help you get to sleep," said the Archer apprentice.

Unbelieving, Yamato mumbled. " How?"

The blonde felt a whoosh behind his back. Suddenly, he felt a great warmth around him, and he turned bright red. " Tai-"

Taichi breathed against Yamato's neck, spreading his heat all around him. " My mother used this to help us sleep when we were little... empathy runs in the family."

By "we," Yamato knew he was referring to Hikari. He was surprised that he didn't find their position uncomfortable, but instead, pleasing...

Taichi shuffled closer in, closing the gaps between them until they were like two identical spoons, stacked side by side. Yamato took a deep breath, telling himself to relax, that this was all just to help him sleep. The pains in his chest were now going crazy, a surge of feelings going through him. But what were these feelings...?

His breathing grew heavy despite his attempts to calm himself. Taichi's breath on the back of his neck was soothing him to sleep.

" That's nice..." he uttered without acknowledging it at first. He got nervous for a moment, shocked that he would say such a thing and afraid that Taichi had heard him. But Taichi made no comment or movement, so he just smiled and closed his eyes.. He could almost feel Taichi's drowsiness move into him...

' Empathy, eh...' I wonder if he knows what this feeling is...' Yamato wondered before falling into a deep slumber.

****

Munaks were unique creatures. While they were quite human-looking at first glance, the way they hovered in the air and made springy noises showed they certainly weren't so. In fact, they were considered to be of the Undead race, similar to Zombies that resided near the entrance to Payon Dungeon. Munaks were also female, dressed in traditional red clothes with a distinct hat that was a collector's item. However, since the monsters were undead, the chances of keeping the hat were near impossible, like many other monsters with such items.

For some reason, Yamato dreamt about these monsters performing some sort of chant. He knew much about these creatures, but there was a new figure among them. It was taller than the Munaks, and while it wore similiar attire, its clothes were a deep blue...

He woke up not long afterwards, his observations quickly fading into nothingness. The blonde was rarely successful at remembering his dreams, the few dreams he ever had...

Noticing that he was still in Taichi's grip, he attempted to turn so that he was out of it, but only succeeded in waking up the brunette. He grumbled as he aroused, taking one of the arms that was previously around Yamato to rub his eyes. Without opening his eyes, he put his arms back around Yamato, much to the other's surprise.

" Taichi? I'm awake now..." he said in the still air.

" Hmm?" Taichi opened his eyes quite suddenly, as if his sleepy mood had a sudden errand to execute. " Hello, Yamato."

Yamato raised himself out of Taichi's hold and stood up, brushing the debri off his clothes. Much to his surprise, Taichi had made a sound that seemed an awful like whining when he did that...

But when he looked down at the brunette, the apprentice simply rolled over on his back and put his arms behind his head.

" Do you feel better, Yamato?" he said, smiling.

The other blushed, an answer failing him as he looked at Taichi. Hawkes flew down from the limb above them and began to preen himself. This snapped Yamato out of his mini-trance, and he replied, " Yes. Shall we proceed to Payon Dungeon now?"

They walked over to the caves nearby. The sun was in the afternoon phase at the moment, and the area was filled with people visiting for the Falconry Festival. Yamato tried to hurry past them, but Taichi lagged behind...

" What's that little sparrow doing here?" one of the Hunters loitering against the cave wall noted. " Hey, blondie, who are you? I don't remember seeing you around here..."

He was a tall, green-haired man with short hair that frilled out at his sides. There were several other Hunters with him, and all of their falcons were full-sized and fierce-looking.

" I don't come here often," Yamato answered calmly. He attempted to walk past them, but one of the Hunters and his falcon deliberately blocked his way, a smirk on their expression. Yamato's expression didn't change, much to the taller man's dismay.

" Don't you know that the Falconry Festival is in town? Why isn't your falcon in it?" the green-haired one continued. Yamato remained silent, patiently waiting for the Hunters to stop blocking their way. Taichi just watched, confused.

" Oh, wait, I know you..." another Hunter chimed. " You're the natural Hunter who got kicked out because you weren't actually a Hunter! Haha, and you STILL aren't!"

Finally, Yamato's expression changed to one of a growl, and his falcon seemed to do the same. He didn't want to be reminded...

" Yamato, you were in the Falconry Festival?" Taichi said innocently.

" I don't want to discuss it. Let's go," Yamato snarled, shoving past the Hunter, who backed out in surprise. The Hunter's falcon cowered in a similar way. Taichi followed along, unsure of what was happening, but not wanting to disobey Yamato.

They walked in silence for several minutes, ignoring the parties of people slaughtering zombies and bats. When Yamato came across a large over-easy egg carrying a frying pan, he snapped like a dragon. He Double Strafed it with the fury of the Vagabond Wolf, and his falcon seemed to catch the same blaze. The egg made a strange chirping itself as it dissipated into nothingness.

" Yamato... are you all right?" Taichi asked, awing at the amount of power Yamato just displayed.

" Yeah," he answered gruffly, power-walking the path through the cave. He didn't want Taichi to know about that shameful part of his past... at least not yet. He flinced slightly at that... since when did he consider telling Taichi more than he needed to know? Why would he want to confide such information for Taichi? What was he expecting from Taichi? He was confusing himself...

" We're going to beat up Munaks."

" Okay..."

" Munaks are one of the many creatures that have turned aggressive recently," Yamato informed, scanning their area in the deep cave. " Usually, they're kind and playful, but..."

At that moment, one Munak popped up almost out of nowhere, alarming the two Archers. However, with brilliant instincts, they both brought it down using several silver arrows. Taichi let out a relieved breath, then glanced at Yamato. The blonde's approving look sent such a radiating smile to him...

They continued on their somewhat random path, keeping a keen eye for other Munaks. Surprisingly, there was no one else in this area of the cave, which was starting to worry Yamato. Why weren't there any control parties here? In fact, there weren't many Munaks around at all... Hawkes seemed to sense something as well, as he kept turning his head, his piercing gaze wandering everywhere. Normally, the falcon was rather lazy when it came to staying alert...

" Taichi, be careful. Something isn't right here..." Yamato warned.

" Hm? The area's just sort of empty, so what?" Taichi replied, trotting around, " Maybe the Munak went out to lunch."

" I doubt that would happen..." Yamato said, seriousness developing further.

" Oh, lighten up, Yamato. I'm doing great with my training, aren't I? You said it yourself earlier in Bibilan."

" Yes, but you shouldn't get cocky about it."

" What about you, Mr. I-can-take-down-the-Vagabond-Wolf-twice-as-fast-as-I-can?"

They glared at each other, but Yamato didn't retort. He cursed, then continued through the dungeon's path. Why was he teaching someone who got on his nerves so often? He never had to deal with such people before. The worst part was that it pained him to have such a relationship with Taichi...

Another Munak attacked them, going after Yamato. He maneuvered through her attacks until an arrow blew past his neck and into the Munak's chest. Even as the Munak fell over, Yamato turned around and gave Taichi a disappointed look.

" Don't try that again, Taichi. It was only luck that made the arrow hit the Munak and not me," he murmured.

Taichi placed his Crossbow behind his arrow pack, showing that he was through with battling. " Well, I guess I'm just not fit to help you if you won't trust me."

" That's right." Yamato turned around immediately after saying that, not wanting to find out Taichi's reaction to his coldness.

He growled in frustration. He couldn't figure out what these feelings inside him were, and it certainly wasn't helping him at night. Taichi's empathy definitely helped him sleep previously -- in fact, it worked like a charm, but there was still something amiss...

Was it just him, or was there a strange yellow light flickering in the distance? He changed direction to investigate it, making Taichi tag along. Yamato knew his way around the dungeon, after all.

Just as the light seemed to be closer, it bursted into nothing, like a tiny flame being blown out. The two boys were now in a large, open area, with a couple abandoned wooden buildings near the cave walls.

" Taichi, did you see that flame?"

" Flame? What flame?"

" The yellow flame in the direction we were walking towards."

" No, I saw a yellow FOX, though."

Yamato stopped breathing for a second. It couldn't be... " ...How many tails did it have?"

Innocently, Taichi answered, " I don't know, but it certainly didn't look like just one. Is something wrong, Yamato?"

Yamato stared into Taichi's general direction. " Taichi... look carefully."

A hollow echoeing filled the cave, not quite eerie, but still intimidating. From the corridors, something was materializing... Materializing... houses?

Houses, like the two along the walls, formed to block the dungeon pathways, locking the two boys in.

" What you saw wasn't a normal fox; it was a Nine Tail," Yamato informed in a deathly droning voice. He prepared an arrow, and was about to indicate Taichi to do the same, when-

Hawkes gave a screech, flapping off of Yamato's shoulder. A flash of red filled Yamato's view... several flaps of Taichi's clothing flew off to reveal the hindered skin underneath. Taichi clutched above the waist where he was hit, holding back a yelp with shaking teeth. He had little time to idle on the pain before he sensed a breeze coming towards him...

The brunette jumped back just in time to dodge whatever was aiming for him. The breeze was visible this blow, and that too materialized. It was... an Assassin. Taichi didn't even have time to have a reaction to the revelation; he leaped back again to dodge another slash.

' Another Assassin's after Taichi?' Yamato thought in the sidelines. Taichi was doing a pretty fancy job dodging the Assassin, however. In fact, it was quite impressive... but he couldn't waste such a moment. He lifted his Arbalest, aiming for the Assassin as he continued to attack Taichi.

By now, Taichi had a clear view of the Assassin as he dodged. He wore a brown bandana with a skull head patched on the front, and he had a long, dark ponytail. His skin tight clothes were covered in strange bandage-like material, and the material at the neck extended to cover his mouth, hiding his expression. His weapon looked like something between a dagger and a sword, but it flew as quickly as a knife. Behind him, Taichi saw that one of the newly materialized houses would become a dead end...

When he reached that dead end, the Assassin paused to aim a strike across Taichi's middle. Somehow, with little thought, Taichi jumped high to dodge the blow, and the blade got caught into the tough wooden material of the house. Taichi used his feet to push off the blade and wall, then was about to kick off the Assassin...

Yamato kept his aim steady, waiting for an open spot to shoot the Assassin from the side.

The Assassin swiftly brought out his other arm, revealing a small shield with a large spike on it. Unfortunately for him, Taichi was way above the spike, which resulted in him landing cleanly on its side. Once again, he used leverage, and jumped onto the roof. The Assassin was hardly fazed by the large impact, and watched Taichi take shelter on the roof.

Yamato saw his opportunity. As the Assassin jumped onto the blade carved into the wall, the blonde launched an arrow, hoping to end the ordeal. The Assassin began to leap onto the roof, when the arrow hit him right on the side, opposite to the one Taichi was injured in. The Assassin winced, holding back any verbal response like Taichi did. He landed cleanly on the roof, then quickly pulled the arrow out of him. The bandages covering his body protected him...

" Who are you?" Taichi yelled, trying to intimidate. " Why are you after me? What did I do?"

Instead of answering, the Assassin only pulled out two shorter daggers from under his cloak, throwing his shield aside. He lunged for Taichi once more.

' Idiot,' Yamato thought, ' Don't bother with the questions until you fall the opponent.' He noted to teach Taichi this later... that is, if there WAS a later. But he had to note that the Assassin was focused on Taichi, and only Taichi... Why Taichi?

And then, he wondered, why did Yamato even bother? Maybe Taichi really did need to be killed. He knew there was something much more to him, but was it for the good, or would it lead to utter destruction? And did Yamato want to find out? He just wanted to find out more about Taichi, not just his purpose...

Taichi lost his balance in the process of dodging the Assassin's attacks. He was forced to jump off the building, back into the trapped ring. The Assassin swiftly followed, moving faster than usual without the heavy weight of his shield.

" Taichi!" Yamato yelled, finally retaining some value of strategy, " Don't just run around! Retaliate!"

Taichi tried to reach back for his crossbow, but couldn't find any space between that and dodging the Assassin's blows.

" Hawkes! Please!" Yamato cried for his falcon at his side, who had been staring at the scene the entire time. Yamato winced slightly, knowing that at times, his falcon didn't have the nerve to help them...

But Hawkes looked back at Yamato, and without another word, he set off at high speed at the Assassin. He pecked at the Assassin's head, giving Taichi some time to take out his crossbow. He pulled an arrow out and shot it at the distracted Assassin. The arrow went straight into the other side of where the first arrow had hit him.

This time, the Assassin cried out while Hawkes continued to attack him. The two Archers thought they were finally getting an edge to the assailant, when...The Assassin started to glow green.

Hawkes suddenly gave out a cry as he was thrown back from the green substance. He kept his leverage, however, and flew back over to Yamato. The Assassin stood up as the green became heavier, pulling the second arrow out of his side. His eyes gave no way to what he was feeling, but it seemed that he was quite nonchalant.

" Who are you?" Taichi yelled once more, keeping his bow ready for another shot.

" We prefer not to tell you."

The voice came from the roof of the house behind them. Another person appeared on the roof, covered in large black and red robes.

" But if you insist... I'm the Priest of the gods, Kouichi, and that fellow in green is the Assassin of the gods, Kouji. It doesn't matter, however... you'll be dead after we present you to our masters. You, boy." He gave an intense stare at Taichi.

Abruptly, the Priest raised a hand and covered himself in the same green substance Kouji was surrounded in. At that moment, Yamato shot an arrow he had silently prepared during his introduction. The arrow disintegrated into nothing as it hit the green covering. Yamato cursed as he watched his attack become useless.

" Leave Taichi alone!"

Taichi stared at the blonde in surprise. " Yamato..."

Realization struck the apprentice as he stared at the experienced Archer and his falcon, shaking in fear. " You have to get out of here, Yamato. They only want me."

' Why can't they just leave Taichi alone...? I can't let them have him,' Yamato found himself thinking. He didn't even try holding back the implications behind his thoughts anymore... he was too focused for that.

" I can't do that, Taichi. I can't just leave you."

Taichi stared at him, unable to breathe.

The Priest cocked his head leisurely at the conversation, then smiled pleasantly. " Knock 'em down, Kouji."

He cast several spells in one huge bulk on Kouji, whose growing power seemed quite visible...

Taichi gritted his teeth, seeing that the Assassin was staring at him, then tried to prepare for the blow. It was pointless to watch his own suffering...

He waited... but nothing came. He lowered the arms covering his face, and met up with something least expected...

Yamato slumped onto him, his Arbalest bow long abandoned on the ground. A cry of a falcon echoed through the cave, and a single feather could be seen in the air as Hawkes escaped the scene. Taichi instinctly took hold of the Archer, his eyes boggling at the sight. Yamato was barely conscious.

" Yamato..." he uttered, his mouth opening and closing even after he had said it. " Why did you..."

The blonde stared into the Taichi's eyes, suffering clear in his stance. A trail of blood suddenly began to run out of the corner of his lips as he frowned in despair. " You..." he said softly, weakly grabbing onto Taichi for support, " You tell me..."

And at that moment... Yamato was telling the truth. He became a heavy weight on Taichi as he lost the ability to sustain himself.

****

Hm, must be me, or people like to become unconscious in this fic. o.o;

I swear to the gods that the evilness will be explained later!!! XD

Splash
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