Chapter 6: Angel’s Dance
When he had heard the crackle of
fire, Takeshi knew he should have realized something was up, but a while
without sleep had caught up to him and made him lie back down. In the end, he
regretted his decision as he looked down to the manacles that bound his hands,
and thought back to a tearful evening when he was taken away before. This was
just a part of the routine; he knew that he and Lloyd - who stood behind him -
would be taken to where the forces set up camp, and after sifting through them,
Lloyd would likely be killed. What had once been the things that’d tell people
he was from another country, would be the things that marked him for death and
as Lloyd silently trailed behind, Takeshi wonder if he could save him from that
fate. In front of their line, a woman in a black form-fitting outfit called out
orders, and to the side and back, a number of bandits stood armed. This was
definitely not their first attack, as many stood with watchful eyes, holding
their blades tight while watching for an unnecessary moves. They were careful
as they guarded the line, but hadn’t noticed that Takeshi had tested the
strength of the cuff, and although he knew he could break free, he wondered if
that would make a difference. What he needed was a distraction, one that none
of the captured men would give and as the school came into sight, he wondered
if anyone could give it. Suddenly an arrow flew down and lodged into the back
of a bandit, throwing him to the ground and calling his allies’ eyes up. In the
spotlight of the moon, a girl stood on the midnight’s stage, holding a glowing
bow in her left hand and pulling its string back with her right. She had the
high ground as she looked onto the men from a roof, and it was clear in her
green eyes, that that was all she needed.
“Let them go.” She ordered and a
man turned to the woman who led the line.
“Or what? You’ll shoot us all?”
The woman asked and the girl nodded with cold certainty.
“Bell…” One of the men murmured
to their leader who sighed and flipped a brown ponytail behind her head. With a
flick from her waist, a number of throwing knives were launched at the heroic
girl, who jumped from the roof with reckless abandon and fired an arrow the
woman’s way. Bell acrobatically flipped as the arrow zipped by, and in the moment
she threw her form she heard the sound of iron shattering.
There was a grunt as Takeshi
broke free and struck one of the men, then the sound of iron clashing as he
swung the manacle around and broke through a bandit’s blade. He tossed a
dropped key to Lloyd as the bandit fell, and as one by one the prisoners were
free, he set his eyes upon Bell who rose with a sigh. With a flick of her arms,
bladed bracers tore through the sleeves of her black wear, and with a kick of
her leg, she shot toward him and thrust her blades out. Takeshi made a swift
step to her side, and swung his leg back to trip her up, but found himself a
victim of her acrobatic flips as she threw herself in the air and landed in
front of him. Her blade came up in the moment of surprised, and blood danced
into the air as she cut shallowly into his forehead, but the wound did nothing
to hold Takeshi back, as he slammed his fist into her chest. She was dazed as
his body came back in one movement and vulnerable when his body turned around,
and delivered a roundhouse kick to her neck. The pain surged through it as his
legged pulled away, but as Takeshi prepared to punch again, she quickly used
his arm against him and balanced upon it as she delivered a swift kick to his
face. Takeshi stumbled back as Bell landed and held her neck, but the battle
didn’t seem ready to go on.
“I’ve fought many martial
artists in my time, but that style. It’s vaguely different,” She commented and
Takeshi nodded.
“It was developed by a man who
wanted to get revenge against a monster for eating his child. Being blind he
didn’t know what the monster looked like, so he developed his style to use any
of the monsters traits against it.” Takeshi elaborated and Bell smirked.
“Adorable tale boy.” She said
and Takeshi smiled.
“I’m glad you think so, it’s
based on the effectiveness of my style.” He said and knocked her smile away.
Witty banter exchange the bell
for round two was rang, and Takeshi and Bell charged toward each other and
threw their arms out. Bell flipped over Takeshi as his fist was about to
connect, and tore a wound into his back right as he began to turn around. As her blade came out, he grabbed hold of
Bell’s hand, and reeled her in with one quick move, missing a strike to her
neck. She kicked up as Takeshi’s fist crashed into her shoulder, and kicked
away from him as she wrapped her body around his arm, then as he toppled back,
a flick from the waist launched several throwing knives his way. Swift motions
guarded vital veins, but still Takeshi was subject to pain as four knives
lodged into his left arm, and Bell took that moment to move. As he endured the pain,
she swung her blade up, adding another tear to his flesh but as she pulled her
arm back, she heard a brutal crack, as Takeshi took it and pushed with extreme
force. The pain hit her like a freight train and made her let out a roar, but
that hardly brought things to an end as Takeshi’s leg swung up and came down.
Now she buckled and hit the ground as pain surged up from a broken leg, but
somehow as she lied there she smiled and stared at Takeshi with scorn.
“What are you waiting for, kill
me?!” She roared and Takeshi shook his head.
“I don’t wield a weapon that
strikes to kill; besides you’ll need to be alive for when the Court of Irra
comes.” He replied and the smirk that Bell managed to gain quickly became a
snarl.
“Don’t talk as if you won boy,
you still have my boss to beat, and even if your girlfriend managed to get away
from Arty… Well, let’s just say you’ll get to test how effective that style of
yours is against a monster.” She barked and to her words, Takeshi turned and
looked at the school.
“Then we’ll do that together.”
He heard Sakuya’s voice as he turned to see Aeriane healing her.
“Yeah, we will.” He nodded as
Aeriane casted his wounds away, and with Sakuya at his side, he headed toward
the vandalized building…
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