gcordova@ccr.dsi.uanl.mx
Well, this is part three, and it's longer than part
two (which was longer than part one...notice a trend? I don't).
I tried to cache al th spilling erors, may bee won or anodder
excaped mie nowtis, emale mee, ok? :) (and also fermentation
faults)
All Comments and Criticism are well received. Ja ne!
As usual. The interesting characters, known as
Belldandy chan, Keiichi san, Skuld chan, Megumi chan and Urd
sama (me picking favorites? naaa.. :) are creations of that
nasty fellow Kosuke Fujishima, who came to take away all our
free time with his devious stories.
ENJOY!
Pd: Text between brackets [..] are comments outside
the story (by me, or my evil twin brother, or my editors);
encased in <<...>> means it's a thought, and surrounded by
stars *Como esto* means it's in some foreign language (yeah,
I copied it, you know who you are).
=================================================================
[...continued from part 2...]
Suddenly, the certainty of it hit him with the force
of a freight train, it was undeniable, the feelings were
here, somebody was trying to kill him, but it wasn't him
they were killing...
<<A soulmate? This soon??>>
German started running down the sidewalk trying to
attune his senses to the feelings he was getting. He wasn't
paying attention to where he was going, only the slight
variations he felt were important, steadily guiding him to a
certain temple.
The kitten, forgotten by all, began calling
painfully, waiting for someone to pay her some attention.
Skuld slowly opened her eyes only to shut them
quickly again, emitting a slight gasp. <<What a headache...
anybody get the trucks plates?>> she thought. She started
to notice that something was definitely amiss, and the first
sign was a little kitten crying it's soul out in front of
her face. Then she remembers, she was supposed to be
walking home with Urd...
"URD!!"
She got up quickly, a little unsteady at first but
regaining her balance quickly. At first she didn't notice
anything, and then she looked up. Urd was almost unconscious
from the lack of air, Marrller had her hanging from the
neck, saying something about revenge.
"Oh, look Urd. Your little sister is up already. Too
bad she's no match for me, huh?
Skuld quickly realized the situation was getting uglier
by the second, so she ran towards the temple entrance, calling
for her older sister, "Belldandy!!"
So, where were we?" Marrller asked Urd. She didn't get
an answer though, Urd just hung her head sideways, her face
starting to turn a little blue. "C'mon Urd, you were much tougher
than this. Maybe I should just get this over with...."
German was running all-out now, feeling with each
passing second how Urd's resistance was going down; when Urd
fainted, his mind, which was now tuned to hers, started
shutting down also; feeling himself starting to faint, he
stopped and pulled a knife from his pack and pierced his
left hand, which promptly woke him up.
"YAARRGGHH!" *pant* *pant*
"C'mon, hang on just a little more..." he murmured
and started running again. When he turned a right at the
next corner he found out exactly what was going on.
"What is is Skuld?" Belldandy asked. She heard
Skuld's cries and came out immediately. Skuld came running
to her, panting from the exertion and quite panicked.
Keiichi hurried and came closer also, alarmed at Skuld's
state.
"Where's Urd?" he asked, and Belldandy noticed also
that Urd wasn't with Skuld.
"What happened Skuld?" he suddenly sounded very
concerned; the goddesses never ran around screaming each
other's names like this, something very serious must have
happened. His instinct took over, the need to protect
Belldandy, his face took on a grim aspect, not knowing what
to expect but suspecting something *bad*.
Skuld took a moment to regain her breath and started
explaining between sobs what she'd seen:
"It's Marrller!! She knocked me out or something!!
She has Urd! She's going to kill her!! We have to help her,
I didn't know what to do so I came to get you" and then she
turned around and the three started moving quickly towards
the gate, "we have to do something! Urd can't fight her
anymore so Marrller's getting revenge or something like that!
Hurry! Hurry!" she said and started running towards the
gate.
"Well Urd, seeing that you didn't enjoy my little
visit, I think it's time for me to finish this and say
'ta-ta for now', ne?". She shifted Urd to her left hand and
made a fist with her right, the fist started glowing...
German saw two girls, one unconscious hanging from
the neck, being slowly chocked by the other one; it was
obvious who was his soulmate, and she didn't have much time
left. He was close enough to listen through the soul link
to what was being said: <<...seeing that you didn't enjoy...>>
<<Demon>> he sensed, it was the strongest impression
he received from his unconscious soulmate, a Demon was
trying to kill her.
// Los Heroes del Silencio \\
\\ "Iberia Sumergida" //
<<I don't think so, you low-level bitch...>> he
thought, and his anger started mounting higher and higher;
the remaining distance was some fifty meters, so he started
running full-speed, preparing his attack. <<Gotta make this
quick, I'm definitely not at my best>>.
In five or six seconds he was at a very good
distance and the demon hadn't noticed yet so he struck out
with all he had; the general plan was to overwhelm her as
quickly as possible and dispatch her before she noticed that
he wasn't at his highest. The plan was simple. Let loose a
curtain of intense psychic white noise, don't let her
concentrate; second, strike as hard and as fast as possible;
third, banish her. The third part was the weakest link of
the attack, if he couldn't banish her then she was going to
be majorly pissed, and right now was a very bad moment for
an all-out battle with a demoness.
He twirled his staff in his right hand and threw it
towards the floating demoness and when it completed about
two thirds of it's flight towards her head he let loose
the white noise.
Skuld, Belldandy and Keiichi were running towards
the gate when they felt it; it was like hearing an intense
noise at *very* high volume, Belldandy and Skuld could
actually see the effect, it was like a thick white haze had
suddenly appeared, confusing both the mind and the senses;
for Keiichi it was like "thinking underwater", his thoughts
were confused, he couldn't follow them from start to finish,
and his vision swam before him; he held on to Belldandy to
steady himself.
"What the..." Skuld began.
"Are you doing this Skuld?" Belldandy asked.
"No, I thought it was you!" Skuld responded.
"Then, if isn't you two who is it!?" Keiichi
questioned, throughly confused by now. And they got even more
confused when a staff flew by just outside the gate in front
of them and running just behind it some guy.
Time seemed to move at a snail's pace. Belldandy,
Skuld and Keiichi arrived at the gate, not knowing what to
expect. They saw the receding figure running towards a
floating Marrller. The staff flew in an upwards curving
trajectory aiming for the demon.
Marrller suddenly felt her thoughts go momentarily
blank and then saw the white haze confusing her. She looked
behind her and barely managed to see a blazing white figure
running straight at her when she felt an intense pain right
under her chin. Marrller almost blacked out from the pain and
the confusion; she let go of Urd to try and collect herself,
raising her shields at the same time.
Urd fell through the air, barely alive. German saw
her falling and ran towards her, barely arriving in time to
catch her. <<By the Gods she's light>> he marveled. He
turned his attention to the demoness who was currently
floating above him and concentrated his mind power for a
single powerful blow.
Belldandy, Keiichi and Skuld started running towards
them when they saw Urd fall, but then Belldandy and Skuld
saw the white haze receding and concentrating into this
fellow's head, the concentration of psychic energy was each
moment higher. The two Goddesses suddenly stopped cold.
"Wait Keiichi!" Belldandy exclaimed and covered his ears,
Skuld turned away from the stranger and covered her own also.
Marrller turned towards German and prepared her
attack to destroy this impudent mortal, German made a motion
similar to a headbutt, Marrller felt intense pain inside her
head destroying whatever thoughts were going through her mind,
and then she heard an inhumanly powerful voice commanding
her >>BEGONE<<. Unable to resist such a command she
immediately vanished.
It took all of Belldandy's strength to resist the
psychic command, but it left her exhausted. She opened her
eyes and looked at Keiichi, who seemed somewhat frazzled;
since she seemed somewhat unsteady he put his arm around
her shoulders, supporting her. Skuld took her hands off
her ears and went to them.
"Are you alright Belldandy?" Keiichi asked
anxiously.
"Yes, I'm just very tired; that command was quite
powerful. I wonder who Urd's benefactor is."
They heard some unsteady footsteps and they turned
to see the stranger carrying Urd, walking towards them. He
looked bad, he was very pale, and seemed excessively
fatigued; he was bleeding through his nose and his eyes were
bloodshot.
"Might you have some place I can lay her down?" he
asked in a low voice.
"Yes!" Skuld answered, "let me help you with her."
she said and motioned German to let her carry Urd.
"Thank you, but I prefer to carry her" he answered
with a very tired smile on his face. "Please, lead the way."
"Follow me" Skuld said, and walked inside the gate
towards the temple. German slowly followed her, and Keiichi
almost carrying Belldandy came after him.
German walked up the stair and into the house,
taking great care not to jostle Urd. They arrived at the
girls room and German carefully lay Urd on her futon. He
felt her pulse, it was a little weak but she'd be OK.
<<Thanks the Gods>>. Keiichi placed Belldandy in her own
futon next to Urd's, she'd already gone into her dormant
state.
German was kneeling next to Urd, quietly looking at
her face. He had stopped bleeding from his nose so there
weren't any unsightly red dots everywhere. He pushed an
errant strand of hair off her forehead, smoothing it gently.
He had a dreamy look on his tired face. Skuld seemed worried
about her sisters and was checking on Belldandy for a while,
and then Urd, and then Belldandy again.
"Are you OK?" Keiichi looked at the stranger, he had
a funny look on his face. "You seem tired."
"She'd so beautiful..." he said in a soft voice, and
then felt a velvety wave of darkness engulf his thoughts.
Keiichi heard the strange murmur something and
promptly keel over. Luckily he was expecting something like
this, so he was ready to catch him. "Skuld, help me with
this guy will you?"
"What are you going to do with him?"
"I'm going to take him to the guests' room. Grab his
feet."
Between both of them they carried the stranger to
the guests' room and put him on the futon. After that they
went outside to check if anything was amiss, they found a
mewling kitten, a staff and a backpack. Assuming the staff
and backpack were property of Urd's benefactor, they left
them in his room. The kitten they took to Urd, where it
promptly started licking Urd's fingers and purring.
"So, what now?" asked Skuld.
"I don't know. We have to wait for Belldandy to wake
up, so she can check on Urd and this guy. You look kind of
tired, why don't you get some sleep? I don't feel too hot
neither, I'm just about ready to take a nap at least."
"Yes, I do feel like a nap. See ya." and she walked
toward her room.
Keiichi heard the door sliding open and then shut.
He checked the front door and closed it. After that he went
to his room and quickly fell sleep on his futon.
// Enya \\
\\ "Lothlorien" //
"Wake up..."
<<Where am I?>>
"Wake up..."
Urd slowly became aware of her surroundings. She
could feel the sun's light on her skin making her feel warm
and drowsy; a spring breeze was softly blowing around her
loaded with the scents of nature, rustling the grass; birds
could be heard singing in some tree not too far away,
their songs joyous and free; and the voice...
"Urd, wake up..."
It was filled with a strange longing, with great
warmth and caring. She felt where she was laying and it
wasn't her futon, it wasn't *a* futon at all, she could
feel the grass under her, and her head raised on something
softer and warmer; her heart missed a beat, she'd never
found herself in such a situation, it was so... so...
Romantic. It was something she'd contrive for others, not
the other way around.
She took a slow deep breath, savoring the aromas in
the air, and opened her eyes. At first she didn't see
anything because of the glare of the sun on her face; she
blinked a few times to clear her eyes and ended up staring
at a pair of dark brown eyes which were staring at her own
green ones. She knew then that she lay on the grass and her
head was on this young man's lap. Urd look at the young man,
his face seemed weathered like he had traveled long and far,
his eyes were friendly, loving even; his hair was pulled
back behind his head; with his left hand he toyed absently
with a lock of her hair.
"Hello sleepy head." he said softly. He seemed
thoughtful for a moment; "Do you know you have the most
stunningly beautiful green eyes?"
Urd slowly sat up; she was in a small meadow on a
hillside; nearby, close to the hill's base, a small river
wound it's way sparkling in the bright sun; downriver, not
too far away is a small forest; birds swoop around in the
air giving chase to their elected nest mates.
There's a movement beside her; she turns around and
sees he's already standing offering her his hand; he is a
little bit taller that she is, wearing some kind of loose
robe cinched at the waist with a length of rope, his hair is
light brown and pulled in a braid that goes down his back;
he has a staff strapped on hanging from behind; she holds
on to his hand and gets pulled up to her feet and unexpectedly
into an embrace; he pulls Urd into his arms and hold her there
for a moment, looking into her eyes, his face an inch or two
from hers.
They stayed that way for seemingly an eternity,
neither one moving; Urd was acutely aware of his scent, of
the heat emanating from his body, of his heartbeat that pounded
against her breast; his breath that mingled with hers; of
the sparkle in his eyes; the fullness of his lips... Urd
blushed deeply.
"Come" he said in a soft voice after a moment, and
slowly letting go of her body he took her hand and started
walking uphill. She followed him, not knowing what else to do.
Her heart pounded in her chest, she'd never felt the need to
have somebody kiss her like a moment ago.
<<Who is this guy?>> she thought bewildered. "Who
are you? Where are we going?" she asked.
"It's a long story" he responded; he slowed down a
little and walked beside her; "I'll tell you everything when
we get home, OK?"
Urd kept quiet; she didn't know where *here* was,
but she felt at ease, safe, protected, cared for. She knew
it was this man's doing, but she didn't know him. Her head
was full of questions. She noticed he hadn't let go of her
hand, but didn't make any motion to extract it from his, it
felt like it should be there.
They kept walking up the meadow, which is a large
clearing in a forest. Close to the treeline there's a small
log cabin, a lazy grey curl of smoke climbing it's way up
from the chimney. They didn't speak a word while they
walked; they just enjoyed the scenery, the sounds of
nature, the pure air, the birdsongs, the sunshine... the
company.
They arrived at the cabin; it is a quaint little
thing, small but beautifully rustic, adorned with ivy
growing along it's walls, a garden surrounding it; the
young man took a flower from the garden, a small shiny
white-pink flower and smelled it, turn towards Urd and
carefully placed it in her hair. He opened the door for
her to enter.
Urd looked inside, it's warm, comfortable, it
seemed... home. There isn't any other way to describe it,
everything one could possible need to feel at ease, to
satisfy every hunger of the body, the mind or the soul,
was there.
"It's beautiful...do you live here?"
"Sometimes, whenever I have time to come here."
They entered the cabin and he closed the door. On
the fire is a kettle making noises like it's contents
are boiling.
"Please sit wherever you like, I'll go fetch some
tea, would you like some?"
"Yes" she answered. She plucked the flower from her
hair and examined it: a small round thing, very light pastel
pink colored, almost white, and with a beautiful perfume;
she twirled it in her fingers for a moment and placed it in
her hair again, imagining how she'd look with it there and
liking what she saw.
Urd turned to the young man and watched him take two
cups from the cupboard, fill them with boiling water from
the kettle and put some tea leaves in them; he seemed
mature, much more than his apparent age, and she felt
attracted to him, a lot. That moment in the meadow when he'd
embraced her had been intense, and she knew that he'd felt
the same way. Urd hoped that everything would turn out
alright.
"Here you go" he said, handing her a steaming cup.
The air was filled with the delicious aroma of freshly made
tea. He placed a chair close to her and sat facing Urd.
"Where do you want me to begin?"
"First, who are you?"
"My name is German, and you are Urd, right?"
"Where are my sisters?"
"Are they a little girl, about 13, black hair, and
a young lady a little younger than you with light brown
hair?"
"Yes"
"They're fine, don't worry."
"Then, where are we?"
He was deep in thought for a moment, like wondering
how he should tell her something. Then, a decision made, he
started speaking. "OK, let me explain to you a few things.
First of all..." The scene slowly fades to black...
Some hours later; it's almost dusk, the room is much
darker, and the firelight casts shadows all around the
cabin. German is just about finishing his tale to Urd, who
has a skeptic look in her face.
"... And you expect me to believe this?" Urd asked;
"it sounds a bit... unbelievable, to say the least."
"I know, believe me, I know; but I couldn't deceive
you even if I tried, you're a part of me just like I'm a
part of you." German paused for a moment gathering his
thoughts; Urd looked at him expectantly; after a moment he
drew in a deep breath and sighed. "I can't say anything else
really, all that I've told you is true." He stood up and
stretched, closing his eyes. Urd looked at him; his story
aside, he was gorgeous. His weathered features gave him the
rugged look of a true traveler; his bronze skin seemed to
ripple shadows cast by the fire. He looked down at her and
offered his hand.
"Want to go outside and look at the sunset? It's
truly beautiful, I'm sure you'll like it." There was a
sparkle to his eyes; she just couldn't resist him.
"Yes, I'd love to. But that doesn't mean I
automatically believe you, OK?"
German smiled and pulled her up, "It's OK; I know
it's a really hard believe, I won't feel bad if you don't.
C'mon, it's almost sunset." and he started walking towards
the door.
// Annie Lenox \\
\\ "Whiter Shade of Pale" //
Outside, the walked a little uphill; near the top
there was a pile of boulders and what seemed natural stairs
to the top of it. When they arrived, German pointed to a
pair of indentations which seemed like a pair of seats; they
stayed there for a few hours, just talking of themselves,
liking the closeness and the warmth of their company;
enjoying the sound of their voices.
The sun was gone and the moon up above when they
walked down to the cabin again; the night was alive with the
sounds of insects and the rustle of the wind through the
grass and the leaves and quite bright, since there were no
clouds and the moon was full.
Urd was holding on to German's arm and leaning on his
shoulder, wondering why she felt so... complete, at ease
with this stranger, <<because that's what he is, I never saw
him before today. No wonder Belldandy stays with Keiichi>>
she thought with a smile.
German looked at her smiling and smiled himself,
"Why are you smiling?"
"Oh, nothing much... It feels good to be here, to
share this with you"
"I feel the same way, I'm glad you liked it here.
You know, you can come as often as you like."
"Thankyou" she said.
At the cabin German pulled open another door and
pulled out a bedroll. "You can take the bed, I'll sleep in
this, OK?"
"If you insist" she responded. "I'm not shy you
know" she added a moment later.
German smiled at her, "I know. But we've just met, I
don't know if..." suddenly he couldn't find any words to
continue; Urd was walking towards him with a look in her
emerald green eyes that said all that needed to be said. When
she was in front of him she held his face gently in her
hands and kissed him deeply.
"I don't mind all that much" Urd told him in a deep
silken voice; "I'd rather sleep warm and snug by the fire
with you than in the bed, alone. What do you prefer?" she
asked with a mischievous smile.
He simply embraced her tightly, kissing her. "I
don't think I need to answer that."
[Scene fades to black]
They days were long and full of sunshine and
happiness for Urd and German; they swam in the icy waters
down in the river, they walked hand in hand through the
forest talking about themselves, about the people they knew,
of what they liked; it was like a dream come true. Nobody
came to bother them. It was... Perfect.
// Enya \\
\\ "Evacuee" //
A few days later Urd and German were sitting in the
meadow below the treeline, looking at the horizon, just
keeping together, enjoying the silence. It was midmorning,
very sunny but not hot. They were both wearing robes made of
that loose homespun German had on the first day.
They heard a voice seemingly coming from far away,
a soft and beautiful voice.
<<Urd, are you OK?>> said the voice.
"Somebody's calling for you Urd," German stated;
"You're going to leave soon." There was a sadness in his
eyes, a sadness that spoke volumes of his pain at her
leaving.
<<Urd...>> the beautiful voice insisted softly;
"And if I don't want to leave?"
German smiled, "There's not much you can do, and
remember what started all your troubles?"
Urd seemed downcast; she got to her feet and German
followed suite; she hugged him tightly and he responded in
kind, both reveling in the sudden closeness they had in each
other; Urd felt complete with him, nothing was missing, she
didn't want to go away.
<<Oneesan...>>
"You have to go now." German looked into her eyes;
"Worry not, we'll be reunited soon again."
"I sure hope so. If you don't reappear I'm going to
hunt you down, you hear me?" Urd responded with mock anger
in her voice, but there was a definite note of sadness in
it also.
German took his right hand and made a loose fist; he
concentrated for a moment and light, soft and white, started
to pour out from it; when he opened his hand there was a
light-pink flower in his palm.
"This" he said, as he twined the flower in Urd's
hair, "is my gift to you so you'll remember me, don't
take it off." he places his hand over hers, and taking
her gently in his arms he kissed her tenderly.
"I promise I'll see you soon, OK?"
Urd's eyes fluttered open. She felt herself going
faint and looking at her hands and arms she saw herself
becoming transparent, "I'm leaving, aren't I?"
"Yes, I'm sorry you can't stay any more." he
sniffed, and a tear rolled down his right cheek. "I promise
Urd I'm going to meet you someday, you hear?"
"I'll be waiting for you. Hurry up German." she
responded; she was becoming fainter with each passing
second; at the last moment she blew him a kiss, and then
disappeared.
Urd's eyes slowly fluttered open. "Where am I?" she
asked but her voice came out as a hoarse croak. She dimly
remembered a forest, somebody talking with her softly, a
beautiful cabin... a kiss... but her memory was failing
quickly, she was forgetting.
Urd had a nasty bruise on her neck, and it hurt like
all hells. "What happened?", she touched her throat
gingerly, wincing at the pain. Then she remembered, her
eyes opened wide, "Marrller!!"
"Wait, don't speak yet."
Belldandy was sitting next to Urd's futon; she
placed her hand on her older sister's bruises and
concentrated, whispering a few words; Urd felt a warm
feeling go through her, radiating from Belldandy's hands.
In a moment her pain was gone, healed.
"How do you feel now?" Belldandy asked.
Urd felt her throat, there was no pain left.
"Thankyou Belldandy, thankyou for saving me." her voice
came out as deeply harmonious as ever.
Belldandy looked at her curiously. "You mean you
don't know the young man who saved you?"
"Huh? I thought you saved me. What happened? Who
fought off Marrller?"
"I'll tell you the whole story in the living room. I
bet you're hungry, you've slept for two complete days, you
wouldn't wake up when I tried to wake you before."
"I was..." and she forgot what she was going to say.
"How strange. I think I was having a dream, I can't
remember what it was about though."
A cold empty feeling rushed through her making her
shiver. Something beautiful found and then lost again. She
could almost remember what it was, but then it would just
scurry away not letting itself be discovered.
"Well I'd think it was a nice dream" Belldandy
answered with a cute smile, "you were smiling most of the
time."
"I was?"
"Yes. Too bad you can't remember it though."
Belldandy looked truly downcast at the idea. "Let's get you
something to eat, OK?" She got up and walked out the door.
"I feel famished. Lets go."
Urd reached up to push her hair back and feels something
tangled in it; slowly extracting it she sees it, "How beautiful;
did put this in my hair Belldandy?" Urd asked.
"No, what is it?"
"Oh, never mind...." she trailed softly.
"What?" Belldandy came back and looked through the door,
Urd was sitting in her futon looking at something cupped in her
hands.
"What is it Urd?"
"Look" Urd showed her a tiny flower, pastel pink,
almost white, with a most beautiful perfume. "I wonder where
this came from; it seems familiar, but I can't put my finger on
it..." Urd finished.
"It's beautiful" Belldandy said; "What are you going
to do with it?"
"Oh, I don't know" and she slowly twined in her hair.
"How does it look?"
"Very nice" Belldandy said with a smile. "Let's go
have breakfast, OK?"
"Yes, lets go."
Keiichi, Megumi and Skuld were in the living room
sitting by the table waiting for Belldandy and Urd. When
they appeared through the door Urd was received with an
assortment of smiled.
Skuld ran up to Urd and hugged her tightly, "I'm so
glad you're fine, neesan. I was really worried for you."
Urd felt a lump in her throat, "Thankyou Skuld, I'm
fine now." Urd slowly unwound Skuld's arms and made her way
to the table. She sat down between Belldandy and Skuld, who
kept an eye on her.
"How do you feel Urd?" Keiichi asked and took a bite
of rice.
"I feel fine, thanks; although very hungry"
Everybody smiled at this and started making
smalltalk while they had lunch. Urd ate ravenously, not
eating anything does that to you. Everybody looked at her
once in a while, wondering what was different about her.
"Urd, what's that in your hair?" asked Megumi.
"Oh, this?" she replied, taking the flower from her
hair; "I don't know where it came from, I woke up with it in
my hair" she hands it to Megumi who cups it in her hands,
looking at it, "isn't it beautiful?" Urd asks with a smile.
Keiichi crowds next to Megumi to get a better look
at the flower. After a moment Megumi hands it back to Urd,
who inserts it into a button hole in her blouse.
After a while everybody finished lunch; Keiichi
helped Belldandy pick everything up, Megumi left to do some
homework; Skuld, convinced now that Urd was OK left for her
room, there were some interesting AI routines she was
working on.
Keiichi and Belldandy returned from the kitchen, Urd
was still sitting at the table, staring strangely at the
flower.
"What are you looking at?" asked Belldandy; she sat
next to Urd and Keiichi sat next to to Belldandy.
"I don't know, I feel like I've seen this flower
before, and it means something, but it's like the dream, I
can't remember..." she answered. After a moment she snapped
back to reality; "So, will you tell me what happened?"
"Well, it went something like this..."
Belldandy and Keiichi explained to Urd what
happened, starting at the arrival of Skuld, the stranger
using strange powers to save her from Marrller; Belldandy
explained the part about the psi-noise haze and the mind
blast since Keiichi really couldn't explain it. They
recanted the fight, how this fellow seemed to know how to
get rid of her, seemed to know pretty well what to do and
how to do it.
"It was a pretty quick fight. To me it seemed like
he just wanted to get rid of Marrller to get to you more than
anything" Keiichi added.
Urd perked up at Keiichi's commentary, Belldandy
gave him a questioning look.
"How do you know that?" Belldandy asked.
"Well, you were almost unconscious after the
psi-blast, remember? He came to us carrying Urd in his arms
looking so bad I could swear he was asleep on his feet;
Skuld offered to help him carry you" he said looking at
Urd, "but he seemed very protective of you; he carried
you all the way to your futon. After that, while I lay
Belldandy on her own futon he just looked at you, he had a
look on his face, if you don't mind me saying this Urd, I
could almost swear he knew you from somewhere, either that
or he was in love with you, he had that kind of look."
Urd cast him a sharp look, "Now look here, I haven't
done anything of that kind here."
Keiichi continued, "I didn't say you have. It's
really weird, I've never seen the guy, he's not even
Japanese. Well, anyway, let me finish. When he was looking
at you he moved a lock of hair off your face, mumbled
something I couldn't quite get and then just keeled over.
I think it was the exhaustion."
"After that, I asked Skuld to help me carry him to
the guests room, we put him on the futon, closed the house
and we all went to sleep a while." he finished.
Urd was digesting all this info slowly. <<Who was
this guy, and why did he just come out of nowhere to save
me>> "So, where is this guy?"
"He's still in the guests room, he was still
unconscious when I checked on him this morning" Belldandy
responded.
After thinking for a moment, Urd slowly stood up,
"I'm going to check on him, wanna come?"
Urd, Belldandy and Keiichi walked to the guests
room; Urd was deep in thought wondering who this fellow was,
wondering at the motivation he would have to fight off
Marrller to save her; Keiichi and Belldandy walked together
arm in arm, not saying anything.
When Urd opened the room the first thing that caught
her attention was the staff; she couldn't make out much
detail, but it looked impressive. A backpack was on the
ground next to it, seemed kind of dirty. On the futon lay
it's current occupant, a tallish guy with light brown skin,
dark hair done in a rough braid pulled over a shoulder; when
she turned around to let Belldandy and Keiichi through the
door Urd saw at the edge of her vision a soft blue nimbus
surrounding the body, but when she turned to look at the
blue field again it wasn't there.
Urd knelt on one side of the guest's futon,
Belldandy and Keiichi on the other. Urd had a troubled look
on her face, she really didn't know what to expect from
this. Keiichi and Belldandy watched her with a certain level
of expectation, probably he'd be some long lost friend she'd
never mentioned or something like that.
Urd examined his face, something tugged at her
memory but she couldn't quite pin it down, <<I think I've
seen him before..>> she thought, and a warm sensation flowed
through her, she felt her face warm, she was blushing;
<<What's the matter with me? I feel like a schoolgirl...>>
Keiichi and Belldandy saw her reaction, "Do you know
him?" Keiichi asked.
"No, but... I feel like I've seen him before." she
responded while twiddling the flower in her blouse.
German's face didn't seem serene, it looked like he
couldn't let down his guard even while sleeping. His brow
was furrowed, seemingly concentrated on sleeping. Urd felt a
strange stirring in her breast; on impulse, she reached out
to feel his forehead
"Wait!" Belldandy exclaimed alarmed, and then say
amazed as Urd not only placed her hand on German's face, but
he relaxed visibly, sighing and letting the tension leave
his body.
Urd smiled quietly; "He trusts you." Belldandy said.
Keiichi had an "I told you so" look on his face.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Urd asked, not
taking her sight off German <<He *is* kinda cute... make
that a hunk>>
"While you were unconscious I tried to heal him, but
he didn't accept it."
"He ... countered it?" Urd looked up at Belldandy.
"No, it was like..." Belldandy trailed, searching
for the right words; "it was like he shielded his body
against external effects, the spell didn't backfire, I
didn't get a backlash, rather it just didn't hold on him."
Keiichi smiled, "It was rather funny, Belldandy
throwing a ball of light at him and it just bounced off,
and then trying to cast it on you."
"You 'tried' to heal me?" Urd asked incredulously,
"why only 'tried'?"
"It wasn't funny" Belldandy told Keiichi with a
disapproving look.
"Gomen nasai" Keiichi apologized contritely.
"I was rather surprised; and the strangest part
was" and here Belldandy looked at Urd, "that while you
were unconscious I couldn't heal you either, you wore
the same shield as him"
"I..? Me? But, I can't cast any spells!" Urd
exclaimed.
"I know. You weren't generating the shield, *he*
was. He was protecting you while you slept. Now Urd, if you
know him, I'd appreciate it if you told us. This guy isn't
your normal witch/warlock/mage/priest/whatever, that shield
spell is quite strong, I couldn't dispel it. Second, he
seems to trust you, look..."
Belldandy produced a small sphere of light, similar
to the one she used with Urd a while ago, and let it drop on
German's chest; it was slowly absorbed, and German's face
became more serene, his breathing slow and calmed.
"See? When you touched him he lowered his shield.
Something strange is going on Oneechan."
"I sincerely don't know Belldandy." Urd responded.
"Well, I don't think it'll take him much to wake up
now that he's accepted the healing spell." with that she got
up, Keiichi following her.
"If you don't mind, I'd like to wait here."
Belldandy looked at her, and then at Keiichi. He
just shrugged; "OK, but call us when he wakes up, OK?"
"OK"
In the kitchen Belldandy and Keiichi are finishing
up with the dishes, placing everything where it's supposed
to go. It didn't take them much to leave the kitchen
gleaming.
"Well, that did it" said Keiichi while he wiped his
hands on a rag.
"Yes, it does look much better now" Belldandy
responded. She leaned towards Keiichi and gave him a peck on
the cheek.
"That's for helping me clean up" and then quickly
gave him another kiss, this one slower and on the lips, "And
this is because I love you". She turned around and walked
out the kitchen, looked back over her shoulder and winked,
giving him a smile full of mischief.
Keiichi sighed. <<Why can't we live alone here?>> he
asked himself, for about the thousandth time. After hanging
the rag to dry he went to his room.
Urd was twirling the flower in her hands. *Something*
about it made her feel warm inside, but that isn't a feeling
she's accustomed to feel. Frankly, she was feeling quite
miserable.
<<So, what's a girl to do?>> she sighed, a long,
drawn, deep sigh. After a moment, looking at German, she
started talking to herself without noticing.
"Well, you certainly aren't one of the guys from
upstairs, they never took me seriously although now that I've
thought about it it's nothing but my fault."
She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. She
was silent for a moment, and then felt someone looking at
her. Urd turned around to look into a small pair of green
eyes that stared at her from the door. "Here Mii-chan, c'mere
little girl."
The little kitten bounded towards her mistress,
purring contentedly. "How long have you been there, ne?" Of
course, Mii-chan didn't respond; not that Urd would have
understood her without her powers. The warm little bundle
just purred more and burrowed into Urd's arms.
She sat down and wrapped her arms around her knees,
closing her eyes. "So," the brown-skinned beauty whispered,
"just who are you?" After waiting a while she returned to her
own room.
Keiichi and Belldandy are sitting outside, enjoying
the warm weather, talking quietly. They were sitting quite
close, enjoying their company.
Belldandy leaned on his shoulder, closing her eyes,
feeling happy. She turn to his face to say something and saw
his brown eyes examining her fixedly. He had a tiny smiley on
his lips and a warm, caring look in his eyes; she felt her
heart melting with that look. She moved slowly closer to him,
feeling her heart thumping in her chest. She eyes fluttered;
she felt Keiichi's lips brush her own, when they heard a
distinct growling behind them.
"Um, excuse me..."
=================================================================
Evacuee
Enya
Shepherd Moons
Each time on my leaving home
I run back to my mothers arms,
one last hold and then it's over.
Watching me, you know I cry,
you wave a kiss to say goodbye,
Feel the sky fall down upon me!
All I am,
a child with promises
All I have are miles full of promises of home.
If only I could stay with you,
may train moves on, you're gone from view,
Now I must wait until it's over.
All I am,
a child with promises
All I have are miles full of promises of home.
Days will pass, your words to me,
it seems so long; eternity,
but I must wait until it's over.
=================================================================
If there's a composer that can truly bring a tear to
my eyes it's Enya. Her music has just got to be the most
beautiful I've ever hear, it's... unnatural, maybe a God (or
Goddess?) given gift.
I got a little stuck here, so this is the final state
for chapter 3, and 4 will be posted until I return from
Christmas break, which will be about mid-January. I *hope* to
keep writing during the icy and windy desert winter back
home, unless some beers and friends sidetrack me :)
I have some ideas for a Ranma fanfic, I hope I can
crystallize them by January, if not I'll post them to the list
so anybody else can have them.
If you check out my web page you'll find the song
"Iberia Sumergida" there. Since I had to save space it isn't
a very high quality sample, besides, I caught it off the
radio. It's a very good song by some Spanish group called
"Los Heroes del Silencio" (The Heroes of the Silence). Check
it out, and if you like it well, email me, maybe I'll put up
other Spanish rock songs, some of which I've already thought
of, some by Caifanes, a pretty popular Mexican group.
Now, I know I might be flamed for placing copyrighted
material up on the net, but lets be realistic, I'm actually
doing them some unpaid propaganda! Anyway, if you feel like
flaming me, "Go ahead, Open it!" (So Sayeth Lord Stimpson J. Cat).
-RangerElf
