They had arrived at the site of disturbance and there had indeed been combat. The earth was scorched in places as were the trees, some even bore impact markings. The most notable feature being the crater near the edge of the clearing and the smaller one, three feet away, which overlapped it. No doubt, the work of whomever had defeated the Bugrom. Of course they knew, by now, who one of them was.
It was the other one they were worried about. If Makoto was right, that person could be in danger. Big time. Which is why it was so important that they find them. Unfortunately, they'd had a signifigant headstart, almost a full twenty four hours; compounded by Ryoga's innate ability to cover insane distances in a short amount of time.
The group had split up to cover more ground, agreeing to meet back at the site in one hour. Shayla had gone with Makoto. For all his intellect, he had virtually no combative ability. He couldn't risk accessing her core again and Ura wouldn't offer much protection either. Meaning that, if he ran into her, Shayla would be his only real line of defense. And that was what worried him.
Shayla had guts. She had power. And she had a whole lot of heart. A little too much in fact, which is what made for the problem. She was protective of him. And nothing he or anyone else said was going to change that... including Kalia.
Afura, of course had taken to the sky. It was the most effective use of her abilities as a wind priestess, enabling her to cover more ground. She could also alert the others if she found anything. But she hoped that they didn't. Afura was no coward, but she wasn't stupid either. The last thing she wanted was a second encounter with the tiny terror. But her duties as a wind priestess took precedence. And, as anyone knew, Afura took her duties seriously.
Londs' group concentrated their search around the area of the site itself. To his chagrin, despite his position as guard captain, he'd seen little action as of late. Part of him worried he'd come to depend on the others too much. He didn't know if standard combat tactics would be effective against a Doll, but he was determined to find out.
Time had expired. Makoto and Shayla found Londs waiting when they returned. Upon seeing them, he posed a simple question: "Anything?" to which Shayla replied, "Uh-uh." Makoto sighed, though it was hard to tell if he was disappointed or relieved.
"What about Affy? Any news?" Shayla asked when she noticed she hadn't returned. Londs shook his head solemnly, leaning against his spear. Shayla gazed up the sky. Though she tried not to show it, it was obvious she was worried about her. Don't do anything stupid! she admonished her friend.
She felt a hand on her shoulder just then and wasn't surprised to find it was Makoto, who smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, Shayla. Afura'll be okay. I just know it." Though it wasn't intended, the contact made her blush and quickly avert her eyes. "Yeah, yeah." she told him, trying in earnest to be nonchalant about it. Brushing his hand aside for good measure.
"Oh please. Shayla'd sooner die than admit she's worried about me." they heard the wind priestess say from above. She landed in front of them, prim and poised, with a hand on her hip. "But as you can see, I'm fine."
Shayla turned red and scowled. "Only thing I was worried about is that you'd embarrass yourself or somethin'." Afura wasn't fooled, but was content to say nothing. She closed her eyes and smiled as she breezed past her, which proved far more effective than any verbal reply.
Before either Makoto or Londs could ask, she added, "I couldn't spot them. However, I did see something interesting up ahead." That piqued their interest.
"Such as?" questioned Londs.
"Yeah, c'mon!"
"There's an area of forest about two miles from here. All of it dead."
"No way." Makoto breathed.
"Anyway, I figure it's worth a look." Afura told them.
That was good enough for them. Everyone quickly reboarded the glider, Londs took the helm again. "You lead." he said. Afura levitated and took flight with the others behind her.
___________________________________________________________________
same time, roughly one hour before...
Ryoga was in a state of panic. Everything was fine, with the girl sleeping soundly, when he'd left. He had returned and found she was missing and everything dead. The thing of it was, he'd only been gone about half an hour. If that.
What happened?!
No way it'd been a fire. He'd have noticed something like that. Besides, the area of the decay was too neat, too confined. The spread had been limited to just their campsite and the immeadiate area around it. In fact, it looked to him, like the life had been sucked right out of everything. But how was that possible?
Better yet, where was the girl? Had she fled to avoid whatever had happened? Or had she become a victim of it? Ryoga shuddered at the thought of it, especially since he was supposed to be watching her. It didn't matter that he didn't know who she was. Until she recovered, it was his moral obligation to protect her, as a martial artist should. If something really had happened to that girl, he'd never forgive himself.
Ryoga grabbed his pack (which had somehow survived unscathed) and his umbrella. He didn't know where to look, or even where to start, but anything beat standing around doing nothing. He had to go. Now.
Good one, Hibiki. he chided himself. You get an injured girl and you leave her behind for a hotspring! What was I thinking?
Ryoga knew he needed to be calm, to keep a cool head. As he looked, he called out from time to time in hopes she would hear him, but got no answer in return. Minutes passed, still nothing. Then an hour. No sign of her. It never occurred to him that his charge had flown away.
The forest surrounded him on all sides, providing him with endless possiblities and no clues. Ryoga paused as, for the first time in his life, he truely knew what it was to be lost....
___________________________________________________________________
The craft sped towards its destination. Afura had been right, the area of the decay was visible from a mile off. From the air, it looked like a small circular patch of dried forest. Far too neat to be caused naturally. As they neared the area, something caught Makoto's eye. Or make that, someone. "There!" he cried, pointing off to the right of the glider.
"What? Ya see something?" Shayla asked him.
"Yeah! Down there, over to the right!"
Afura redirected her gaze. Sure enough, she saw them too. Whoever it was, was moving fast to say they were on foot. "Keep going!" she called to the others, "I'll go check it out!"
"Afura wait!" Makoto called out to her, but she was already gone.
"Londs, wait! We have to go back for her!"
Shayla grabbed Makoto roughly by the collar. "Shayla?!"
"Listen up! Afura knows how to take care of herself!"
"But Shayla..."
"Weren't you the one who said she'd be fine?" she shot back, staring intently into his eyes. Her grip lessened considerably and her tone softened. "She'll be alright. Trust me."
Makoto finally relented and gave a light nod. The matter decided, Shayla turned to Londs and gave to go ahead. He maintained their heading, trusting in Afura all the while, praying for her safety....
See other episodes by NyteFlite
(Posted Sat, 29 Sep 2007 09:31)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.