Fragile Hearts (Book 1 - Complete)

Ying...

Ying opened her eyes. She was floating in a deep, tense darkness. She felt weightless, as if she couldn't feel her body at all. It was a familiar feeling, yet it felt odd to her at the same time.

She heard the familiar voice call her name, and she went toward it.

----

Talken regained consciousness and hobbled up onto his feet. As he flapped his wings he felt a sharp pain in one of them, noticing his wound from the Warlord's spear. Then he felt thankful his wing wasn't sliced off completely.

Looking around a moment, the hawk spotted Ying's lifeless body nearby. Quickly he hopped over, flapping his right wing as the left dragged beside him on the ground. He let out a soft cry as he neared his master. With his beak he tried to nudge at her lightly, trying to see if he could awaken her, but to no avail.

Bowing his head slightly, Talken began to glow with a soft light.

----

Come to me, Ying...

As Ying tried to move closer, she was suddenly blocked by her sword. It glowed lightly, as if telling her not to go further.

"Why are you stopping me..." she asked. The sword did nothing as it remained blocking her way. Ying looked past it to see a brighter light beginning to shine. There she saw an image of a familiar young man.

"Eiji...?"

As she tried to move past the sword, it moved and blocked her again. She felt frustrated, and desperate to try to head toward what she thought was Eiji's spirit.

"Master!" another voice called out. Ying paused and turned to face a new figure.

"Who are you?" she asked. The figure moved closer. At first it looked like a bird flying toward her, but suddenly the bird became a young man.

"Master...you don't know me?" he asked. The young man had spikey, silvery-gray hair and ruby eyes. He gazed at her gently though there was a piercing intensity behind them. Ying thought he looked familiar but had never seen him before.

"I don't...what do you want...leave me!" she said, feeling lost and confused, wanting to go toward the other light that beckoned her toward warmth and safety.

"Master...you must come back...please...come back and fulfill your destiny..." the young man replied.

"I can't...I am not strong enough..."

"I will help you, Master...but you must trust me...you must return me to my true form..."

"Your true form...?"

"Yes...Master Eiji did it for her...he gave her true form but she sacrificed it to save us..."

"Who's 'her'??"

"I will tell you....when you come back...." the young man said as he began to float back away from Ying.

"Wait..."

Ying reached out to him. She paused then glanced back at the light, then her sword.

"You're right...I must go back..."

Aryus felt every one of his attacks glance off the Warlord's spears and held in the pain that was building up in both of his arms from the shocking impacts. Even after the sucessive battles that the Orc Warlord had been in, he still didn't appear to be affected by fatigue that the four were currently feeling right now. Realizing the futility in the battle, Kyo turned to Samael and Sraosha, whom had just returned after being flung far away from the battlefield.

"You guys won't be any help here without the use of mana, I think it's best if you just leave." Kyo said, resigned.

"But even with our assistance, you two are still losing against him. How long can you last without us?" Sraosha said.

"Not very long, but I have the feeling that this has been a losing battle from the very beginning. You guys don't have a reason to get killed in this crossfire." Kyo replied. Sraosha and Samael both gazed at each other, a grim look in their eyes.

"Just get going!" Aryus shouted quickly over his shoulder before turning back and ducking under the Warlord's horizontal sweep with his spear. Samael sighed and hissed.

"Well, my contractor hasss just told me to leave. I will obey..." Samael said before he flew away, until he was outside of the mana interference field. Taking one last look at Aryus, he became covered in an aura of darkness and disappeared. Peering at Kyo with unreadable eyes, Sraosha turned around.

"Good luck Kyo." Sraosha said before quickly darting away from the area, and disappearing with a flash of light. With that, Kyo turned around and quickly darted in and pushed Aryus out of the way of one of the Orc Warlord's attacks, blocking it, but being pushed steadily back as he locked weapons with him. Aryus fell down on one knee, panting as he watched Kyo being forced to fend off the Warlord's unrelenting attacks.

This battle's hopeless... Aryus thought, a look of anxiety on his face.

The Warlord gazed at the angel. Then glanced at the demon. He laughed. "No one on this plane can hope to beat me. You all rely on Mana for your power." He threw his weight and flung Kyo away from him. He brought up his spears and took stance. "You have no idea what true power is." The ground suddenly cracked as the Warlord seemed to concentrate some type of energy that couldn't be seen. He rushed forward towards the two.

Kyo and Aryus both collapsed on the ground, no longer posessing any more energy left to continue fighting. The Warlord had never gotten tired during the entire battle, and they doubted he would get exhausted any time soon. They had barely survived Max's tsunami so that they could have a chance to end this war. Now, it was all for naught. Kyo thought about Brianna and Uriel, how he had only learned about his relationships with them only recently. He closed his eyes tightly and pressed his hand against his heart.

I'm sorry Brianna, if there was any other way...

Aryus seemed to enter some zombie-like state as the Warlord moved closer and closer to them. He on the other hand, thought about his family, and how he was meeting the same fate as them; getting killed in a battle that he had no reason to fight in. He could imagine his father's look of disappointment and his sister's look of contempt. His mother probably would just stay out of it, not wanting to get involved in some family feud. Right then, he remembered his existence as Kyo's empty Demonic shell and turned to Kyo.

"Goodbye Brother." Aryus whispered quietly, his eyes closed. Kyo quickly turned in surprise, wondering if what he heard was true, when the Warlord had finally closed in the gap between them, and prepared to finish them off.

The Warlord was about to finish the battle when an energy suddenly spiked. A huge surge of wind exploded from behind the Warlord. There was a flash.

When the dust settle, blood was flowing from the back of the Warlord's neck. He fell to his knees.

A girl with long green hair was behind him, her sword deep into his neck.

The Warlord eyed her from the corner of his vision. Then he smiled.

Kodi walked passed Kyo and Aryus, who he thought looked stunned.

As soon as Tara pulled her sword from his neck, mana began to flow throughout the area.

"For your transgressions of war against our country... I sentence you to death, lest you become a threat again." Kodi held his axe to the side. Then a huge amount of demonic energy accumulated.

Eying Tara one last time, the Warlord turned to Kodi. "Someone who can kill me without mana. I can die happily knowing there is at least one being who knows a greater understanding of things." He closed his eyes as the blood poured from the huge wound in his neck.

Suddenly bolting forward with his glowing axe, Kodi delivered the finishing blow. He sliced the Warlord diagonally. A mixture of green and red blood exploded onto Kyo, Aryus, and Kodi. Tara didn't seem to even have any kind of dirt on her.

-------------------

Leaving Rikka, Kalne walked forward. She examined the Warlord's body.

Rikka didn't know what to think about Kalne's decision. She was sure she could have ended the fight with Ying being hurt, or worse. But of all, she trusted the fox breed, and needed to know the truth.

-------------------

Kagura passed the passed out Terra, to the few men who had survived. "Keep her safe." She then turned and began searching the battlefield for survivors.

Talken opened his eyes when he felt something. The glowing aura around him disappeared as he gazed at Ying's body now starting to glow. He watched in awe a moment. The bright light converged in the large wound she had in her torso. He jumped back in surprise when Ying's body began to stir, and she slowly sat up.

Ying slowly opened her eyes. She brought her left hand up and gazed at it, flexing it slightly. It trembled slightly before she grasped at her face as she had a sudden flash of familiar memories, hunching over in pain a moment. Her torn robes slid slight off her shoulders and completely renewed body. She trembled slightly, before she heard a soft chirp. Glancing up, she saw Talken there. The hawk gazed back at her.

"It's you..." she said softly. She almost couldn't remember what had happened until she touched the necklace around her neck.

I'm....alive....

Then she looked over at the sword in her right hand. Suddenly she felt something, and she looked in the distance and saw Tara an Kodi take down the Warlord. She was confused at first, until she remembered her battle with the Warlord.

Now I understand...

Kyo and Aryus were both wide-eyed as they saw the two new arrivals defeat the Warlord in such a quick amount of time. Kyo withdraw a bit when blood suddenly got spilled all over his clothes.

"Gah, curses." Kyo said, beginning to sound like his old carefree self. He scowled, wiping off some of the blood that had gotten in his face. Aryus was still stunned by how quickly the Warlord had been defeated. When he fought Rikka, Chaltor, Ying, Kyo, Aryus, Sraosha, and Samael, the Warlord hadn't even been tired at any point in those battles. Yet, he was defeated so quickly by the two new warriors.

Kyo at that moment turned to the left and saw a seemingly dead body suddenly sit up and move. He rubbed his eyes to make sure that he wasn't imagining anything. Sure enough, Ying had somehow been brought back from the dead. He nudged Aryus, causing him to receive a scowl at first, but he was just as shocked as Kyo was, if not more, at Ying's revival from the dead.

"Man, the surprises just keep getting crazier and crazier." Kyo said exhaling and rubbing his head. He tried standing up, but his legs wouldn't respond; now he realized exactly how much of his heart he put into the past few battles. Laughing, he stayed in his sitting position. Aryus almost stood up, but then, his legs suddenly wobbled and he fell on his side. The sight made Kyo almost burst out laughing hysterically, but he remembered how Aryus had called him his brother. Suddenly curious, Kyo decided to inquire about it.

"You called me your brother earlier, what was that about?" Kyo asked.

"It's...not something that you could believe easily..." Aryus replied, casting his eyes downward.

"Ha, with all that's happened, do you really think there's anything unusual that I haven't seen yet?" Kyo asked grinning.

Aryus sighed, but decided that he had the right to know. "Do you remember how you were transformed from a Demon to an Angel?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, your soul was taken out of your body, and a new vessel was constructed around it, causing you to transform into an Angel. But the shell of your old body was left behind and gained a conscious. Me." Aryus said slowly and quietly. Kyo didn't say anything. His mouth and eyes were wide open, and this would have to be the biggest shock to him out of the surprises that unveiled themselves during the battle.

Kalne stood up as Rikka finally caught up. "He's neither Orc or Human." Kalne was commenting on the Warlord. "He had passed some sort of barrier, and thus became what we knew."

"What does that mean?" Rikka held her side in a surge of pain.

"I don't know." Then Kalne looked at Tara. "She's the more interesting one."

-----------------

Tara sheathed her sword and walked towards the bridge. Then suddenly her personality seemed to shift back to that of her age. She smiled brightly.

-----------------

Kagura found Ran, and began to work on his wounds.

-----------------

Kodi turned to Aryus and Kyo. "I failed my duty." He sighed. "I did nothing but kill something that had been given a death blow." He looked at his hands. "I'm not that strong." He then walked towards the bridge.

Several hours ago....

Alex didn't know what to do. But he then decided to seal away his emotions for now. He looked ahead to see that Marion's group had stopped.

"What's going on?" He asked Kana.

"Walking to the capital would take over 3 days. It seems we've come across rare magic powered machine. It can get us to the capital in less then two hours."

The few that heard her were shocked a bit. They almost couldn't believe the speed that it would have to go at.

------------------

"Thank you for your service. Would you take us all to the capital?"

"It's what I was ordered to do, Madam. Feel free to take your time. There's enough room for everyone to fit." The driver replied.

Marion smiled, then ordered her men to take a break before boarding. then she walked over to the misfits of the group.

------------------

"Prince Lotell was it?" Marion said abruptly.

Alex looked at the woman. She reminded him of strong generals. "Yes."

"Why are you following my group?"

"Because I want to try and stop the invasion caused by my country."

"What makes you think you can stop it?"

Alex thought about it. "I don't know, but I want to try."

"The two nations have been at war for over a thousand years, are you saying you'll try?"

"I don't know." He looked away.

Marion grinned and walked away.

Kara watched the conversation, then looked at the sky.

While Kana and Yuki had gone into a conversation about machine magic.

Brianna immediately walked onto the mechanism and sat in the corner, wondering how the others back in the battlefield may be doing. She doubted that the Warlord was the only powerful person in the Orc forces, but there was still the other generals that had fended off the Orcs before they had arrived. She just didn't know what to think, both sides were evenly matched. The anxiety and worry that was building up inside of her started building up in her chest, causing a dull aching pain. She shut her eyes and tried to push all her emotions aside. Then, she sat up again, and started pacing around the machine. She knew that there was nothing she could do to help everyone that decided to stay back, so she was doing the only thing that she could do; pace.

Uriel watched Brianna for a moment as she paced around the machine, battling the internal panic that she had been keeping inside of her. He couldn't blame her; when someone you love is in such an evenly matched battle where anything was possible, it wasn't a strange thing to panic. He was even beginning to feel anxious, having his connection with Kyo broken only a moment ago. He sighed and pulled off his mask, pressing his hand against his hair. It was an unnerving thing to know that your son was off fighting for his life, and you were unable to help him. Brianna and Uriel both remained silent, wondering how well their comrades were faring against the Orcs.

Kara boarded.

Alex was looking down, when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "You gonna mope around?" He looked up to see Yuki's red eyes watching him.

"I don't know."

"Every journey has problems. It's overcoming those problems that free us from doubts. If you come, I'll tell you of my journey with the hero."

Alex knew general terms of what the hero had gone through to save the world. But it was from the Kingdom's perspective. So he got interested. "Deal."

Yuki led Alex, and they boarded the machine.

------------------

Kana turned to Marion. "What are your real plans about the prince?"

"If you were under my command I would tell you. But seeing as you remain a civilian, I have no obligation to tell you." Marion walked passed Kana and boarded.

"Hmph." Kana eventually boarded after her.

--------------------

Sarice went over to Mai. "Need help boarding?"

-------------------

The air suddenly became thin, as the machine collected the mana from the air. It was preparing to leave.

"You helped save me, my friend..." Ying said as she pulled Talken up to her with her left arm. She held him close then closed her eyes a moment to transfer some of her mana into him to help heal his wounds. Talken began to flap his wings slightly, feeling renewed and better than before. Ying opened her eyes and smiled. Then she stood up on her feet. She gently lifted Talken into the air and he flapped his wings and began flying again. She watched him a moment as she looked to where the others were, especially Kyo and Aryus who had seen her rise from the dead.

She felt her long hair brush against her bare back and shoulders as she stood silently.

There must be a reason why I've managed to live so long...

----

Mai and Kyuu stopped walking when Alex did. She also wondered what was going on when they all stopped. When she heard about the machine, she was shocked as well. She never knew that there would be such technology, and it scared and excited her at the same time.

Mai remained quiet as Marion approached and talked to Alex. She glanced at Kana and Yuki who were talking about the machine.

"Kyuu...we must prepare ourselves for the journey ahead..." Mai said. Kyuu glanced at her, and nodded his head. Mai looked at Shin.

Please hang on...Shin...

She looked up at Sarice, breaking from her thoughts.

"I don't think Kyuu will be able to fit if he remained like this...let's see" Mai said. She moved over to pull Shin off of Kyuu's back and gently set him down. Then she clasped her hands together and made a few gestures to make Kyuu return to his normal, small size. Then she moved back beside Shin.

"Could you help me with him?" Mai asked, glancing at Sarice. With the older girl's help they both carried Shin into the machine. Mai looked around nervously a moment before setting Shin down and she sat next to him. Then she thought of Ying.

Master Ying...I'm so scared...

The door slid closed. "Launching." The driver said. He placed his hands on some type of control, and the vehicle began to rise, then floated a few feet above the ground. He pushed a lever forward slowly, and with it, the vehicle began moving forward. It was gaining speed.

From out the windows, the landscaped was zooming passed. "ETA is about 1 hour and 56 minutes." It was the last thing the driver said as he concentrated on the controls.

------------

Alex was watching out the window in awe. He had only experienced such fast travel, when he was aboard an airship.

I must be dreaming...

Emerald eyes revealed themselves to the cerulean sky above. A young teenage girl with lavender hair lay in a flowery field. She gazed up at the sky listlessly for a while, before she sat up. A soft breeze flowed over the grasses and flowers around her.

Who am I... she wondered a moment. She suddenly had a memory.

Alyse... came the memory of a soothing, female voice calling her name.

That is my name...? the girl thought. Then she saw a small, silver flute sitting in her lap. She had forgotten it was there. She picked it up and looked at it a moment, her fingers gently sliding over it. Then she brought it to her lips and began to play a tune. The moment she played those first few notes, she remembered everything again. Playing the flute was effortless, and she began to think of the wind around her. More wind began to gather and it began to take form.

Alyse looked up at the wind spirit. It looked lithe and feminine. It seemed to be waiting for her to give it a command to do something. Alyse began to play another light tune and the wind spirit began to twirl and dance around slowly. Getting up on her feet, Alyse began walking along, and the wind spirit followed, moving around her now and again. Alyse stopped playing as she gazed out into the distance. She could almost just barely hear the terrifying sound of the machine that destroyed her home. Anger began to build up in her.

Alyse continued walking for a while until she came across a canyon, of which a bridge that had connected the two sides had been destroyed.

Moving her flute up to her lips again, she began to play a stronger tune and the wind spirit grew larger. It gathered behind Alyse and around her feet and began to lift her up into the air. Slowly it carried her across the canyon. Her feet touched the ground gently as the wind spirit moved away from her. Then she continued her journey.

I must destroy that machine...to save this world...

"Nothing to worry about...we'll be just fine, Kyuu..." Mai said as she held Kyuu in her arms. Kyuu looked up at her and chirped, trying to comfort her. He could already tell she was a lot more nervous than he was. In fact, he wasn't really that nervous at all and he wasn't sure why Mai was but he just tried his best.

After the machine had started moving, Mai glanced at Alex who was looking out the window. She didn't want to see how fast they were moving since she thought it might make her dizzy, so she closed her eyes.

I'll be just fine...

Brianna wasn't used to such fast travelling in any form of machine; she preferred flying or taking a boat. She tried her best to not get sick while inside the machine. Coupled with her worries about the others, she was beginning to pale a bit before Uriel suddenly pressed his hand against her shoulder.

"How long are you going to keep worrying?" Uriel asked, maintaining perfect balance despite the speed of the machine.

"What else am I supposed to do?" Brianna replied back, sighing.

"Believe in him, you know that Kyo wouldn't want you to be so miserable. I also doubt that he would let himself die knowing that we were here waiting for him."

"I guess..." Brianna finally answered after a while. Slowly, she began to feel less pressured, and focused on watching the colorful scenes outside pass as they continued toward their destination.

A beam shot across the sky, then swept to the right. Taking down several kingdom airships.

"Dam that thing." Karse slammed his fist down. Karse was a tall man, with reddish hair. His eyes fierce. "How did we not know they had this thing?" He asked aloud, knowing he wouldn't get a response.

----------------

Tyson felt the airship rock hard. He had finally made up his mind. His sword sliced through the bars of his cell. He started walking.

----------------

After about and hour and a half, the driver called out. "We're here."

In front of them stretched a great city, of technology, surrounded by farmland.

"Behold, the fortress city of Talrotha." Marion stated.

The vehicle began it's final approach.

----------------

Alex had been to many cities in the kingdom, but none ever this ambitious. He wondered at the sheer about of work that had to be done to make all of it. And the design of the buildings were beyond what he could imagine.

"That's the architecture more advanced societies tend to use." Kara said to him flatly.

Alex turned to Kara, and again wondered who she was willing to go to the dark lands to find.

-----------------

Back, to the lights, and everything I hated. Kana said to herself.

---------------

Sarice was much like Alex upon seeing the city. Her awe could be clearly seen.

While Yuki only glanced briefly. She had been to such places 2 thousand years ago. But it seems all these years still hadn't changed the whole much. Countries still fought with each other over mundane things such as borders.

Uriel looked outside and watched as the city drew closer and closer. Oddly enough, he had never been assigned here during his life as an Archangel, and this was his first time being in Talrotha. He was quite impressed at the design of the city, and wondered how long it could've taken to build a place like this from scratch. Brianna also hadn't been here before; she was always with Kyo's coven during their demon days, and they tended to avoid such highly advanced cities. The mechanism began slowing down, so she got ready to leave.

"We're finally here..." She said quietly to herself.

"Mai..."

Mai looked up in surprise when she heard a voice call her. She glanced to her side at Shin, who still seemed to be out cold. She could have sworn it was him saying her name. Staring at him a moment, she reached over and poked his cheek, then frowned slightly. She looked up when she heard the driver say that they had reached their destination. Taking her attention away from Shin a moment, she gathered some courage to look out the window at the amazing city.

"Whoa..."

Kyuu perked up from his nap when the vehicle they were in was about to land. He moved up in front of Mai to peek out the window as well, his nose sniffing and twitching as he also took in the sight.

"Look at that, Kyuu...isn't that amazing?" Mai asked. Kyuu chirped.

Shin groaned, then stirred slightly. Mai looked over at him, then went to kneel beside him to check on him. She glanced down at where his wound was and saw that for the most part he had healed, though still not completely.

"Shin..." she called softly.

-------

It is done, my son. Go, and find your mother...

Shin watched his father fade away one last time. The whole time he had been coming to terms with himself, his memories, and his father.

You must protect the ones you love, Shin...

"But how can I...."

Shin looked up when he heard a different voice calling him.

--------

"Shin..." Mai called again.

Shin opened his eyes slowly. Mai's face suddenly came into view. He had a sudden flashback of a familiar girl, then it went away again.

"You...." he mumbled.

"Shin...you're awake...I'm so glad..." Mai said as she smiled, slight tears of joy forming in her eyes.

Shin didn't respond, as he still felt a little dazed. When he tried to move he still felt the pain from his internal injuries.

"Don't move...you're still badly hurt" Mai said.

When everyone started to get off the vehicle, Mai asked for Sarice's help with Shin again. The half demon remained quiet as he thought about his father's words and everything his mind conjured up while he was unconscious.

Mai's eyes went wide when she saw the city. It was unlike anything she had ever seen before.

"Wow...it's even more amazing seeing it like this" Mai added as she looked around at everything.

Shin opened his eyes slightly again to glance at the city briefly.

Will I find her....here?

Marion stepped off the vehicle and walked over to the attendant, said something, then he ran off.

-------

After everyone had got off the vehicle, a sudden rush of soldiers surrounded Alex, Sarice, Mai, Shin, Yuki, Kara, Uriel, Brianna and Kana. They leveled a few different types of guns at them.

Kana barked out. "What is the meaning of this?"

"We are at war. Unknowns such as you people cannot be trusted. I thank you for co-operating thus far. Now do as told and follow these men to the prison." Marion unsheathed her sword and was ready in case they resisted.

-------------

"Sir, Marion had returned to the city, she says she has the Prince of the kingdom with her."

Yondaime turned to the messenger. "Prince? What would he be doing here?" He asked himself. "What was Marion ordered?"

"She plans on taking them all to the central prison."

"Very well. I will talk with this prince when he arrives there. One more thing, send a medic to help them, I don't care who they heal, whether it a prisoner our one of our soldiers. My authority overwrites Marion. She cannot argue."

"Yes sir." With that he was off to do as ordered.

Yondaime turned and looked upon the battle. "I'm missing something." he said to himself.

---------------

Yuki, Kana, and Sarice all looked defiantly at the surrounding soldiers. They also hovered over their weapons.

Kara was silent, she just watched and seemed indifferent about the situation.

Alex didn't know what to do. He had never considered such an outcome. But he didn't want anyone to get hurt. To any that would listen to him in the group. "We have to gain their trust." With that Alex placed his gun blade on the ground, then kicked it over. He then kneeled.

Kana didn't technically have a weapon, so she just kneeled reluctantly. "Taken prison by my own people. Hmph."

Kara slid her cross away and did what Alex had done. though she still seemed indifferent.

Yuki felt her head throb, and she placed her hand on her head. She suddenly remembered the mysterious angel from the battlefield. Sliding her katana out she, then kneeling, she said two words softly, "Demon seed." She felt the pain go away. Though she didn't know if it'd return.

Sarice had been tired of following orders. Though she had been tired in general. Reluctantly she did as the others did.

Both of them surprised by the sudden turn of events and looking at the varius firearms being pointed at them, they watched as Alex and the others dropped their weapons. Brianna understood that it would be useless to keep her chakrams, as they were deep within dangerous territory. She unbuckled the chakrams from her side, and laid them on the ground, keeping her eyes on the barrel of the guns pointed at them. Uriel simply raised his hands, indicating he had no weapons with him. Longinus was still with Kyo.

The sudden appearance of the soldiers surprised Mai as well. She looked at them nervously, confused and feeling somewhat betrayed, though she began to think something like this would happen. She was still holding Shin, his arm slung around her shoulders as she tried to keep him up as he leaned on her for support.

Kyuu's fur bristled up as he let out a low growl and took stance in front of Mai and glaring at the soldiers, but he made no impulsive moves.

"What's going on?" Mai asked, but heard what the soldier said about them being unknown and being forced to cooperate.

Shin shifted his gaze to the soldiers, more particularly the one who answered Kana's question. His eyes still half closed, in such a way that it seemed like they were but he could still see partially.

What a joke... he thought. He figured he could take down all those soldiers even with the condition he was in, but noticing how Alex and the others had already given up their weapons and decided to go peaceably, he decided to wait. He glanced slightly at Mai.

I can't do anything while she's next to me anyway...

Mai gave up her weapons, then watched as one of the soldiers took Shin's sword as well. Shin held back a growl in his throat as he watched his sword being taken away. He despised anyone who touched his weapon, and he moved slightly but let out another soft groan of pain. Mai glanced at him then looked at Marion.

"If we're going to a prison...at least bring us to a healer first. My friend here is injured...please..." Mai begged. She said nothing more as the soldiers began to lead them into the city.

Marion grinned. "No." She said simply to Mai. She waved her hand, and soldiers began to lead them out one by one, until only Mai and Shin were left.

Just as Marion was about to order them separated, a medic arrived with two soldiers and a nurse. "Yondaime has ordered me to heal the prisoners. I already looked at the others briefly, but it seems only this one needs my help."

Marion clenched her fist. "Fine. But the girl is still going with the others."

"Very well." The medic replied.

A nurse and a soldier walked over to Mai and carefully transferred him. They placed Shin onto a movable cart, and wheeled him out. The medic and other soldier following after them.

Marion looked at Mai, "take her."

With that, the last two soldiers in the room, led Mai out.

Marion looked at the weapons that were put against the wall for now. She thought some of them were odd, then regained herself. She took a deep breath and headed towards headquarters.

--------------

Yuki was led down a a series of halls, and she lost count. But she had lost track of the others. To her it seemed like they had been separated on purpose. She examined the two soldiers behind her.

One was a tall man, with rough features. While the other was average. They seemed normal enough. Just doing orders I suppose. Yuki thought.

Soon they got to some sort of dolly. For as soon as the door closed behind them, they began moving. First straight, then left, down, right, and so on.

Eventually they got off. Yuki saw the care in this place had been less. Really starting to look like a prison now.

They started walking past prison cells. Most were empty, but the odd one held a single person.

Yuki was glad they didn't bind her hands. The journey had taken over an hour. She was sure her hands would have been rubbed raw.

They walked down another flight of stairs, and passed a few more cells. Yuki saw the comrades that got taken before her already in their own cells. She waved to them with a tilt of her head. They did the same.

Yuki was put into the cell just before another staircase. Kana was in the cell next to her, while she didn't know the silhouette in the cell opposite of her.

Quietly, she began the waiting process.

Mai stared in shock a moment at Marion's response. Then she saw the medic appear and explain things to Marion.

After watching the others being taken away, Mai was afraid of what might happen to herself and Shin. As the soldiers drew near, she backed up slightly but she really couldn't do anything since she gave up her weapons and was completely surrounded.

Kyuu, who had somehow gone unnoticed through the whole thing, decided to hide in the sack tied at Mai's side. He stayed still to make sure no one would spot him as they separated Mai from Shin and started to lead her away. Mai panicked slightly as she watched the medics take Shin away on the cart until she could no longer see him.

Shin...I'll come back for you... she thought quietly. Then she was led away.

--

Shin was barely aware of what was going on during the whole time, but he knew that he and Mai had been separated as he felt himself lifted onto the cart and then being brought elsewhere. Things were silent for a while and he could sense the medic examining him.

"You...shouldn't have done that..." he finally mumbled in a weak, low tone. He opened his eyes very slightly and glanced at the medic.

"You should have let her stay with me..." Shin added again. Whether or not he scared the medics or not he was telling the truth. Though he wouldn't say it, now that Mai was gone he could attack at any moment but he decided to wait until later to regain more of his wits and energy and figure out what was going on.

---

Mai felt nervous as she was lead through the prison. She knew what a prison was and had an idea of what it looked like, but she had never been in one before, let alone one so big like the one she was in now. It was a while to travel, but the soldiers finally put her into a cell like the others. She looked around a moment, then eventually moved to sit in the corner. She brought her knees up to her chest and huddled over a moment, still upset about being separated from Shin. She was worried about his condition and began to think that the medics might hurt him rather than heal him.

Kyuu popped his head out from Mai's pouch then looked up at her, chirping softly. Mai sat up a bit and brought Kyuu into her lap.

"Oh Kyuu...what do we do now...I'm so scared...and then Shin...what if they do something to him..." Mai said softly. Kyuu chirped again.

"You're right...I have to be strong, just like Master Ying said. I have to trust these people a little...for now. I mean...why would they hurt Shin if they said they were going to heal him?" Mai said. Kyuu nodded in response.

Mai sighed. She knew it was going to be a long wait.

After a short travel they five of them ended up in a medical room. With various tools and magic items along the walls. The medic started speaking. "Subject recently had some type of spear go straight through his chest, and lots of mental fatigue. Subject is being restrained for everyone's safety."

As he said that the two soldiers lightly strapped Shin's limbs down, then suddenly the table seemed to increase in gravity slightly.

The nurse's hands began glowing as she pouring healing magic into Shin's wound.

As the would was healing, the medic used his tools to make sure everything was healing properly.

-----------------

After the surgery Shin was placed on a bed in a locked room. Though there was a window, and two guards outside the door.

There was a short conversation with a third man and the door opened. A man entered the room. He had long black hair, and dark eyes. Black gloves and weird clothing. He seemed friendly enough.

He sat down on a chair beside Shin's bed, but far enough away, that he couldn't be reached quickly. He put his black sword on his lap, and waited for Shin to awake.