(After a long hiatus from the fan fic, mostly because Angela came to visit for almost 2 weeks, here is the next chapter! I will definitely stay on task from now on, and I will make my own deadlines so that I do not fall behind! I will make it so that the next submission must be here in a week and a half from today! No more long waits! I am committed to this story! I hope you enjoy ^^. No new characters were introduced this time.)
Ch. 5 - Surfaced Answers
“You will be drawn into this war whether you desire to or not…” Zyph’s words that he gave back at that tranquil lake resonated in Yoshiken’s head as he froze, having no time to react as the koopa had already pulled the trigger. His name was Jan, and he had been hired by Zerroda to kill off this group of proclaimed rebels. Time, emotions, contemplations, thoughts, words; all of these things seemed to stand still as they faced death at such an unstoppable degree. A second passed, and Yoshiken, Andrew, Latie, and Anjil all continued to stand.
An awkward pause permeated the area, until Jan broke the silence. “What!? What is wrong with my gun!? Why is it not firing!?”
Zyph, still hidden behind some crates near an alleyway by the inn, had his hand stretched out towards Jan, and kept his mind focused. “Yes…it worked. Who knows how long I can keep it jammed though. My powers should have the stamina to last for a while…but…what if I have to do more?”
Andrew lifted his sword, and was about to strike Jan, when Jan quickly pulled out a pistol, aiming it straight at him. “Don’t be so hasty, mate. I never come to a battle unprepared.”
A familiar voice sounded from behind Jan, “I am sorry to say, but you just did.”
Jan turned around slowly, for he wore thick, protective armor that diluted his agility and momentum greatly. Sho-Hoshi stood directly in front of a very large amount of people, all armed with various weapons. Jan, as well as the other’s, could easily tell that this was the town militia.
Jan swore under his breath, turned back, and directed his voice to the inside of the inn. “Ziarre! It looks like we have to retreat! You’re on your own now!”
Sho-Hoshi raised his staff into the air. “Press forward! Don’t let a single one escape, and do not harm any innocents, such as those four by the entrance.” Many people charged towards the inn with close combat weaponry, while magic users, crossbowman, and other ranged fighters followed from a distance. The streets were empty, because the townsfolk locked themselves into their own homes. They knew from the moment they saw the militia that there was a threat to the village.
Jan glared at Yoshiken and the rest of the group, “looks like you get to live to see another day. Don’t get too comfortable though, because I will finish the job I started.” Jan immediately vanished in a small flash, and appeared again on the side of the road a few buildings southward, near another entrance to the town.
Anjil spoke a few seconds after Jan’s sudden and immediate transportation. “Hmm, he must have the power to somewhat manipulate space and time, to the point to where he can travel a short distance dimensionally. Now that I think about it, we sure have been seeing a lot of people that have powers dealing with the aspect of dimension…” Anjil’s voice was almost drowned out by the militia running past them, and into the inn.
Jan began to retreat, but relying on attempts to sprint away would be futile, because of his heavy armor. Instead, Jan had special boots that created a blue aura under them. This aura was produced by psionics, and it allowed Jan to move in the same manner as if he were on skates, smoothly gliding his feet in a similar motion. His acceleration increased, which also gave him greater speed and velocity. Those who chased him down found that it was useless, and quickly abandoned their ambitions to do so.
The clashing of weapons could now be heard, and by the shouts and bellows coming from inside the inn, it became apparent that the pirates were attempting an escape through the back.
“Well, it seems that everything is under control, “ replied Yoshiken. He saw Sho-Hoshi standing by a squad of long-range fighters. Yoshiken smiled, and quickly walked over to where he stood. “Sho-Hoshi! Thank you for coming-“
“Leave this village at once! Your presence has caused us enough trouble! Please do not endanger these people any longer!” snarled Sho-Hoshi.
Yoshiken was caught off-guard, and taken back by the unexpected bold statement. He couldn’t figure out anything to say at first. “I…I am sorry…I never meant to bring harm to anyone.”
Sho-Hoshi’s voice calmed, “whether you foresaw such an event or not, the result is the same. You being here brings a risk to the safety of the village. It is obvious that you are being hunted by someone. You must go immediately. I understand that you may need supplies, and so I gathered what I could.” Sho-Hoshi motioned to a large traveler’s pack that was strapped to his back.
Yoshiken slightly nodded in agreement, and turned to Andrew and Latie. “I am very grateful to you both for helping us out of that mess back at the inn. Please forgive me for putting you and Latie in such a dangerous situation. If there is anything I can do to repay you, please ask now, because it seems that I will be leaving soon with Anjil.”
Andrew glanced over to Latie, who smiled at him, non-verbally confirming to him whatever he was pondering. Andrew directed his face back at Yoshiken. “Actually, there is something you could do for us. You see, you are obviously key to why we came here in the first place, and you seem to be in need of some protection. What I am getting at is…could we travel with you?”
Yoshiken cast out a sigh. “With us? We do not even know where we are headed ourselves.”
“Not yet, anyways.” Protruded a voice behind the group.
Everyone turned to face a yoshi that looked familiar, at least to a few in the group.
“Zyph!” replied Anjil, giving a short wave with her left hand.
Zyph smiled, “greetings Anjil, and to you as well Yoshiken. I am glad to see both are unharmed.”
Yoshiken remained silent, as Anjil continued to speak. “Yes, we are absolutely fine. It was you who stopped that koopa's gun wasn’t it?”
“Actually, yes, it-“
A heated shout broke out of Yoshiken’s mouth as he grabbed the top of Zyph’s vest, and clenched it in his grip as he yanked Zyph closer. “This is all your fault! If you would have just told us everything in the beginning, then none of this would have happened! So many lives were put at risk because you held back information! I don’t know what kind of game you are trying to play here, but I don’t see the fun in any of it! You better start talking, now!”
Zyph looked at Yoshiken with no change in expression, and said nothing.
“I said, speak!” Yoshiken’s free hand formed into a fist. He swung it forward, and connected it with the side of Zyph’s face. Yoshiken had let go of his grip right as he attacked Zyph, causing Zyph to fall to the ground forcefully.
Anjil grabbed Yoshiken’s arm, “Yoshiken, please! Stop this! What has gotten into you!?”
Zyph rose up, almost as if nothing had harmed or even attacked him. He brushed the dirt from off his clothing. Zyph apparently had some transparent protective aura around him that helped in keeping him unharmed, at least that is what the onlookers assumed. “I should have expected as much out of you Yoshiken. I had almost forgotten about that temper of yours. However, there is a reason that I had only told you of a small bit of information regarding your duties. If I had told you of everything that was happening and everything that was expected of you before you had experienced the dangers and the amount of responsibility that hangs on your shoulders, you might have rejected my words, and possibly even disbelieve them. You had to experience what you did today before you could know of the complete truth.”
Yoshiken’s anger continued, “there is hardly any sense in that statement! I don’t understand what almost being killed has to do with your secrets!”
Zyph crossed his arms. “I guess that I have no other choice but to finally enlighten you.” His eyes scanned the whole group, and then focused back on Yoshiken. “As was said before, there is an organized force attempting to overrun this world, most likely for the reason of destroying it in the end. The leader of this organization is a mystery, but we know that whoever he may be, his objective has caused numberless lives to be lost, planets destroyed, and dimensions altered. I have no doubt in my mind that those who attacked you today was just a few of his pawns.”
Andrew was cautious about Zyph, and was curious at what knowledge was presented. Yoshiken and Anjil had met Zyph before they came to the village, but Andrew and Latie were not with them at that time. Andrew had never met Zyph before this, and so he questioned his motives. “Wait, it is obvious that you all know each other, but we have never met. How did you come across such information? Obviously, you are not a simple traveler. What is your purpose here?”
Zyph paused for a second. “I should be asking you the same question. I am glad to see some more assistance, but I can’t help but think of why you are helping. What is your intention, and what do you plan to get out of this?”
“Well, if you must know, we have a duty as dimens-“
Sho-Hoshi cut Andrew off out of impatience, “please, do not change the subject. I am sure that we all desire to know what information you have to bring, Zyph.”
Zyph stayed silent for a moment, as he continued to give a questionable stare at Andrew. Something was odd about this man, but he sensed no malice in him at all. He was sure that Andrew and Latie felt the same way. Zyph concluded that he would have to keep a close watch on Andrew. “Very well, I will continue. This force that I spoke about earlier seems to be concentrating all their efforts on this planet. That is because this planet is a ‘key’ world…the most significant of the key worlds.”
“A key world?” inquired Anjil.
Zyph continued, “a key world is a planet that has a special energy within it, that helps to keep the order between dimensional flow. Imagine dimensional flow as a system of trade routes, with each dimension being a different route. Now think of each village and outpost that a route travels through as differing planets. Now sometimes, multiple trade routes will connect at one town, and that town will help to sustain all the various routes that connect to it. This is what would symbolize a ‘key’ world, or one that helps to sustain multiple dimensions. Now, contemplate for a moment if every single trade route connected at a single city, all being supported by such a place.”
Andrew replied, “There would be no other city of greater importance and priority. It would be the central point for everything.”
“Exactly. This represents the world we are in now. This world is the most significant ‘key’ world because it helps to sustain ALL dimensions. If anything happened to this world, it would affect the order of every other dimension. This must be why this tyrannical force is focused on obtaining control of the powers of this planet. They could, in a sense, have control over the flow of dimensional continuums.”
Yoshiken had calmed down sufficiently at this point, but there was still some irritability that lingered. “So what does this all have to do with us? Why are we being hunted?”
Zyph expressed a small grin. “You still don’t know why you were on that hill, do you? It is time that I refresh your memory. You see, it all started about half a year ago. That is when this evil force went on the offensive. You and Anjil had been enlisted to stop such a force. I still don’t understand why you were chosen though…I mean no offense when I say that you aren’t the greatest fighter I have seen. I had joined your small force at one point, and we faced this force in a battle directly on that hill that you had awoken on prior to coming to this village.”
“A battle!?” shouted Anjil.
“Yes, a battle. We had come into one of the central leaders of this force. It was a man by the name of Jath. We caught him off guard, and in the fray, you had approached him Yoshiken, with Anjil closely behind you. I don’t know what happened, but there was a strange, large explosion, and when it cleared, everyone had vanished, except for you and Anjil. I had been watching from afar, concealing myself so that I could make a surprise attack if anyone returned. You, of course, know the rest.”
Yoshiken looked completely baffled. “So are you saying that we have been fighting for 6 months, and that there was an intense battle on that hill, and that we barely escaped alive!? That is almost impossible to believe!”
Andrew took the chance to reply in a firm manner. “Nevertheless, it is the truth. I received the same report of a battle on that hill of otherworldly forces. That is what led me here. This yoshi is correct.”
Zyph’s suspicion of Andrew and Latie continued to grow. Andrew was not absent from feeling cautious about Zyph as well. They had both decided in their own minds to keep a close watch on the other. Zyph’s suspicion grew from the appearance that Andrew had, which did not match this part of the land, and his sudden urge to help Yoshiken. Andrew’s suspicion grew from the vast knowledge that Zyph had, and the way he presented it.
Yoshiken was still confused as to why everything was coming together as it was, but he decided not to fight it anymore. He just hoped that everything would end quickly, and that he could get back to just relaxing on a hammock that he always had up, outside of his own home, in-between two oak trees outside his house. He didn’t even know where home was to be found though.
He turned to Sho-Hoshi, “I guess that I will be off then. Thank you for the supplies, and for letting us rest in the inn. I am sorry again for the trouble I caused the village. I will take that pack and leave immediately.”
Sho-Hoshi smirked, “you seem to have forgotten what I said to you before we came to the village. I will be traveling with you, since the threat to this village is focused on you. I will carry the supplies, to make sure that they are rationed properly. Remember, I am not a member of this group, but simply an observer. You will fight your own battles, and I will fight mine.”
Zyph didn’t leave any room for a pause. “I will also be traveling with you, but it may just be temporary. I have many investigations to do on the matter, but my main purpose is to make sure that you accomplish your responsibilities in defeating this force.”
“Don’t forget about us!” replied Andrew and Latie in unison.
Andrew continued. “We took this case head on, and so you are stuck with us until the end, my friend.”
Yoshiken turned towards the horizon, and stared off into the cloudless sky. There was no cloud or object blocking the sunlight from hitting everything in its path. It was warm and inviting.
Yoshiken inhaled deeply, and let out a large breath. “Well, I guess we are a team, so it is time that we recognize ourselves as such! There is no doubt that more enemies will return to look for us, so we need to leave immediately. We will be traveling through minor trails in the nearby forest. If no one has anymore questions, then let’s move it!”
Probably your best chapter thus far!