Dragon Wars 2
By: Malika
Niccole
sat perched on the edge of the table; she stretched her legs out in mid air,
fully enjoying her “lunch” outside. The table
rolled underneath her. She glancing back
along it curiously and got a nod from Marcus who had settled down not too far
down on the bench. She nodded back a
small smirk gracing her face. His
friend, who she vaguely recalled as Lenny, hesitantly lifted a hand in a small
wave. Niccole’s smirk turned into a
smile as she acknowledged him. Marcus
punched his arm reaching across the table to do so, but Niccole turned around
before she could see Lenny’s response.
She
took a bite from her candy bar, a Butterfinger, and chewed with gusto. Glancing
around casually she noticed the five boys settled in the corner left of Pedro’s
table and behind Melanie’s gab group.
Another glance noted the boy’s uneasiness. Niccole shrugged and looked on; their unease
was none of her business. Beside her
Erica sat with a huff and an imperious wave for her friends to do the same. Kelly sat down almost daintily giving Marcus
and Lenny nervous glances. Marcus grinned
cheerfully at her causing Kelly to blanch and turn away in response. Marcus shrugged to Niccole’s questioning
look. Matt ignored this exchange and
instead sprawled on top of the table next to Niccole.
“I
hate school!”
Niccole
rolled her eyes in exasperation. “Same
sob story as yesterday. Tell me a new
one.”
Matt
glared up at her, his dissatisfied expression comical in nature.
Niccole
ruffled his hair in response to his glare.
Matt relaxed underneath her hand and flexed his back. Niccole shifted her fingers continuously
through the silky dark brown hair. Matt
closed his eyes with a purr, leaning into the touch.
Erica
snorted, “You sound like a cat.”
Matt
rolled over onto one elbow and glanced at Erica wryly. “Do I look like a cat to you?”
Erica
pointed her fork at him and smirked. “I
never said that. I said, ‘You sound like
a cat.’ Nothing about looking like a
cat.”
“Touché.”
Matt
peeked open an eyes and shared an amused glance with Niccole. She shrugged again. It was only coincidence that Erica made the
connection. There was no way that she
could possibly know that average looking Matt was really a shape-shifter, a
cougar in fact.
Niccole
shrugged the suspicion that formed to quickly to be reasoned with and continued
on listening to her friend’s laughter.
Normally she would have joined in, but she was too distracted
today. What had happened two weeks ago
had been too weird for her and she had yet to see what Diagon and Akira thought
about the fight that had happened on the docks.
Niccole also made a mental note to mention the presence of the five boys
at her school, a fact that had been bothering her all morning.
Niccole
was so concerned about the actions of what happened; she had made a point in
asking the Liberty Squad to look into it.
The Liberty Squad was known for their abilities in finding out
information. Diagon might be angry with
her choice of using them because of their misfit nature, but Niccole shrugged
it off lightly. Just because they were a
little different and didn’t always go by the rules, didn’t mean that they were
not worth their weights in gold when it came to finding out information. She hadn’t heard anything from the group yet,
but she didn’t expect to this soon in the game.
Maybe in a few days they’d have the information that she wanted so bad,
but then again, that information maybe a few days too late.
There
was only a few more hours left of school, and then she would be free to run
over to the warehouse where the Clan was based.
Briefing Diagon and Akira would be her first priority. Sometimes the two of them could see things
that she couldn’t. This was fine with
her. Akira, an elder sorcerer, and
Diagon, a half-breed demon, were her bound.
Bound were always to be trusted, no matter what. One would die for another without any
conscious thought into the matter. That
was just the way it happened.
Rising
from her musings she caught Matt’s concerned glance in her direction. She flicked her small hunt medallion in
response. The shifter’s eyes darkened
and he cocked his head. Niccole shook
her head to his offer. Matt had enough
to deal with and didn’t need her problems, or the problems of her Clan on
him. He was still struggling to find a
free pack to belong to after his grievance with his old pack forced him to move
to
Yet
another question remained that was bothering her. Even if she did find out what was going on
two weeks ago, what would she do about it?
She couldn’t have the people she ran into fighting it out in her
city. That certainly wasn’t
allowed. Civilians could get hurt, or
even worse, start a manhunt into things she would rather not have them snooping
around. If the public found out about
the hunt and what made noises in the dark, it would cause a nation wide panic,
the likes of which the Spanish Inquisition was built upon. Nope, she couldn’t have that.
But
at the same time, should she help the young men that she encountered? Technically it wasn’t her fight. Both groups were foreign to her city and had
no stake in it. Did that mean she
shouldn’t help a side that obviously needed and maybe even deserved it? Not even including the help of the hunt, she
could do so much for them. Niccole knew
this city and the surrounding areas like a well worn book. This also might get the two groups out of her
city more quickly and quietly.
At
the same time it might cause a backlash from their enemies, mainly whoever was
the leader of the man she faced last night.
Niccole wasn’t stupid. She didn’t
need anymore enemies than she already had.
Her plate was full when it came to that.
No matter what way she looked at it, these two groups were going to
cause her a lot of trouble. Maybe Diagon
and Akira would have something to say into the matter, but in the long run it
was Niccole who had to decide what to do.
Niccole
sighed. Life was never simple.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
“Life
sucks.” Rowen scowled at the group to
their right. The boys at that table were
delighting in throwing things at them and generally making their lives
miserable. The harassment didn’t even
start, or seem to end, at lunch. All
morning, the small group of guys were finding little ways to “welcome” the new
kids to school.
“Relax,
‘Ro,” Sage attempted to soothe his friend, “it’ll get better.”
Rowen
scowled at his best friend. “I don’t
want it to get better. I want it to be better. If I didn’t know better, I would think these
guys hated blue hair!”
“You’re
exaggerating.”
“No,
I don’t think so.” Rowen scowled once
more at the group to their right, before scanning the students. What he was looking for, he didn’t
know. He only knew that he felt a
familiar tingle of a presence. But who
was he feeling? From the slightly
pinched look on Sage’s face, Rowen knew that he was feeling it too, only
greater because of his empathy.
Rowen
supposed it didn’t matter at the moment.
Whoever was knocking on their supernatural senses, they didn’t seem to
be threatening them at the moment. Rowen
had no thoughts that the person might be friendly. It was his experience that few supernatural
beings were ever friendly. Sage seemed
to be coming to the same conclusion and with an elegant shrug of a shoulder the
mysterious presence was dismissed to be examined more thoroughly at a later
time.
Ryo
noticed the slight exchange between two of the more sensitive group
members. He had no doubts that Sai felt
whatever they felt too, but the water warrior was more prone to leave the
inklings to the other two, unless of course, he felt they were missing
something. Ryo and Kento, however, left
the more supernatural talents of their armor abilities completely to the
others.
As
the unofficial leader of the five, Ryo knew extensively about divide of
command. The others were able to
function without his questionings. If
they felt that there was something urgent to be shared with the group, they
did. That was the way they functioned.
And
with the territory of leader also came the responsibility to know what the
others were thinking about. The question
on all of their minds was obvious. Why
were they there? What possibility was
there that there were more armors still out in the world. Although, to be fair, Kayura suggested that
maybe there were no more armors and that Sage was just feeling an attraction to
a possible ally. A very powerful,
possible ally. Nevertheless, the whole
trip was worthwhile with the presence of the Dynasty. It was a surprise to see the Dynasty working
again.
Ryo
wondered, though. The Dynasty was
risking a lot to expose themselves to the Ronin. They had to be after something quite
desperately to justify such an action.
That alone was reason enough to stay in this city. Even if the natives were irritable in their
actions towards them.
Ryo
sighed again as Sai and Kento began arguing.
He just wished his companions were easier to deal with than the
Dynasty. If the two of them just admit
their feelings towards one another, they wouldn’t be arguing half the
time. But that was too much to hope
for. He would rather think of what
happened the night before, and how he was going to explain to the warlords,
Kayura, and Mia that they needed help from a girl to win against one of Talpa’s
goons.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
With
the final ring, the school bell fell silent for the weekend, a sensation that
caused mass excitement in the halls of the high school. Students jostled each other in the desperate
need to leave a place of “learning.”
Niccole was one of the few that were taking her time. The lack of sleep was catching up her, so
much so that she was revising her afternoon plans to getting the warehouse,
sleep, and then briefing her two bound.
If she was lucky, one of them would still be sleeping off the night’s
ventures and be a welcome warm pillow for her sleep.
Niccole
emptied her books half heartedly into the sickly green locker that she was
assigned. She debated taking home some
of the books for homework, but wasn’t delusional enough to think that she would
get to it. Weekends for her always ended
up to clan business, fighting, training, and if she was lucky, a little family
time. If she was lucky, that is.
With
her bag pleasantly empty for the moment, Niccole slammed her locker shut with
the same satisfaction that all High School students have. She turned away quickly, unknowingly hitting
someone with her shoulder. They both
stumbled a bit with collective noises of surprise. Niccole steadied herself fairly quickly and
began to apologize.
“I’m
sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.” The
familiar masculine voice washed over her causing Niccole to pause in
alarm. It was just her luck that she had
to run into one of the boys.
The
blue haired guy smiled crookedly at her and offered her his hand. Niccole took it, half in shock.
“My
name’s Rowen, but my friends call me ‘Ro.”
Niccole
blinked at the introduction. She cleared
her throat. “My name’s Niccole. Sorry I ran into you like that. I’m not really with it right now.”
“Oh?” Rowen questioned with a friendly quirk of an
eyebrow.
Niccole
felt herself responding to his easy going manner. She smiled at him. “Yeah, didn’t get much sleep last night. Going home to take a well deserved nap.”
Rowen
smiled wider at her and Niccole felt very much surprised that she confided
anything at all to him. Noting her
reactions for later, she attempted to excuse herself politely only to be
interrupted by Rowen.
“Well,
I’ll let you go then. Have a good nap,
Niccole.”
“Thanks,
Rowen.”
“’Ro.” He corrected her.
Niccole
blinked. “We’re friends already then?”
Rowen
just grinned. “I hope we can be.”
Niccole
was puzzled at that response, but said nothing.
She only smiled at the grinning boy and nodded her head.
“See you Monday, then, Niccole.”
“See you Monday,” Niccole paused, “’Ro.”
Niccole walked away in the direction of the parking lot. Her brief conversation confused her slightly. Not many made an effort to say hi to her, half the school populace didn’t care for her. While she had friends, not many of them knew what she really did. They were really just acquaintances. Rowen didn’t feel like an acquaintance. He was different, but he was one of the people making her nights so difficult. Resolving to think about it later, Niccole unlocked her car and left the school.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
“What
was that all about?”
Rowen
jumped at Kento’s smirking voice. He
turned around rolling his eyes.
“Nothing,
just being nice.” He retorted. “But I forgot; you don’t know how to do
that.” The last jibe was cheerful
banter. Kento just snorted in response.
“Didn’t
look like ‘just being nice.’ It looked a
lot like you were being nice.”
Rowen scowled at his friend.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The
warehouse that was the base of operations for the
Because
of the closeness of the water, they couldn’t dig underneath the building for
the space and privacy the clan desperately needed. This was solved a few decades ago with a
spell that produced a dimensional pocket of space that was aligned directly
underneath the warehouse. The pocket
wasn’t physically under the warehouse, but it suited the purpose of the clan
quite nicely. If there ever was a
problem with the location of the clan’s base of operation, it would only take a
few magic users to reconnect the pocket space to another physical space.
To
Niccole, the clan was her second home.
Here she was accepted for what she was, a half-breed. To most of the supernatural, half-breeds are
the scum of the Earth. To the hunt, they
were the basis of their livelihood. But
even in the hunt, it was a shock that she had become leader of the
Her
tweaked Civic purred smoothly into one of the car ports of the warehouse. The door was closed behind her as she drove
slowly to a free spot and parked. She
yawned as she opened her door and walked to the elevator shaft that led down
into the less than physical hideaway of the Clan.
She
wasn’t surprised to see Terry inside the elevator waiting for her. The Shadow always seemed to know when she was
there and made an effort to great her in his own mostly silent way. He was the leader of the Merlin Squad,
Akira’s pet project. When the squad was
formed shortly after the beginning of her leadership of the Clan, Niccole had
been one of the main advocators that Terry be the leader of the magic based
squad. She never regretted that
decision. Terry was one of the best
leaders preferring to lead by example.
He
nodded to her and offered silently to take her bag. Niccole shook her head wearily in response. It was barely a nuisance in its lightness. Terry accepted it without a blink, before
pushing the button that led to the living quarters and not the ones leading to
the training or administrative floors.
Niccole cocked an eyebrow at his choice, but didn’t comment. Terry seemed to know what she wanted before
she did sometimes. It often bothered
some of the older members of the Clan that a Shadow had been accepted into
their midsts, but their irritation got quiet as time went on and he only
contributed to the Clan’s welfare.
The
elevator stopped at the right floor for her living quarters and opened up. Niccole left the elevator and smiled at the
Shadow that remained in the elevator shaft.
“As
always, it is a pleasure to talk to you, Terry.” Niccole nodded to him.
The
Shadow smirked as the elevator closed.
He was probably returning to his squad to make sure they weren’t getting
into any trouble. Many of them were
young, but unusually powerful. His
steady nature calmed a lot of the hyper active ones down. Niccole was privately hoping his goal today was
to calm Gage down. The young mage was
the biggest prankster in the group, and at the moment, Niccole didn’t feel like
dealing with his odd sense of humor.
She
yawned again as she padded softly down to her large suite near the end of the
hall. It was nice, but mostly unlived in
seeing how she spent most of her down time with Akira and Diagon or at home
with her family. Niccole opened the
suite and dumped her bag on the chair next to the door. The rooms were clean, evidence that one of
dependents of the clan took it upon themselves to look after her suite when she
was gone. She made another mental note
to find out who took the effort and thank them.
Niccole unhurriedly undressed and redressed into comfortable black tank and black, low slung, sleep pants. Her school clothes were subjectively thrown towards her hamper with most of them not even close to making it. Niccole didn’t really care at the moment she just wanted sleep. She padded by her large bed, eyed it for a second, before discarding it for the door on the farthest right of her set of rooms.
Niccole opened the door into darkness and yawned again making her way through the rooms without much trouble. Without so much as bumping a stray shoe, she made it to the bedroom. Only one body remained in bed, but that was good enough for now. Niccole crawled into bed and curled up into a slumbering body. Niccole half noted that it was Diagon before falling asleep. Diagon curled up right back, hugging her into an embrace. Niccole didn’t even notice the movement. She was already asleep.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
It was about time that I finished the second part of this revision. I’m not even going to hope that the next part will be out soon. But you never know…
Malika