Chapter Text
“Where are we going, Big Guy? What’s the plan today?” Ginta inquired eagerly as the group followed behind Alan. Unfortunately, the man didn’t respond.
“Hey, how are you going to make us stronger? Are we going to train?”
Again, nothing.
“Hey, why are you ignoring me…?” Ginta’s voice became noticeably wearier as his enthusiasm began to subside. The four continued to follow behind the man but watched inquisitively as they noticed his slowing pace.
“What’s the matter?” Jack cocked his head to the side as he tried to read Alan, but he gulped as the latter shot a threatening hand out behind him while frozen in place.
“Quiet,” Alan growled as he shot them all a look, ensuring they were silent and still. They looked at him nervously as he began to scan the area, and the hair on the back of his neck stood on end.
“Ed?” Snow yipped in nervous anticipation — and was promptly hushed.
“I can sense someone nearby… But I’m not sure how close they are,” he grumbled as he continued to scan the forest around them with intent. As he heard some rustling in the leaves and thicket to their left, he backed up slowly to stand guard in front of the group.
“Show yourself!” he barked angrily as he stood up straight, folding his arms over his chest as he saw something begin to stir from the shadows.
“I guess you found me,” came a female’s mocking voice as the figure that emitted it followed. The group watched anxiously as a tall, slender woman emerged from the shadows—accompanied by a frightfully large canine. A wolf, to be exact, that looked to be more fantastical than real.
“What do you want?” Alan growled as he furrowed his eyebrows. The wolf began to snarl in response, and Alan stiffened his posture as he looked down the bridge of his nose at it.
“Oh, come now, Moro,” the woman snickered in an almost loving manner as she gave the canine a scratch behind the ears, to which the beast seemed to calm a bit. Alan remained unmoved, but he was certainly surprised that the creature didn’t fall apart at her touch given its ragdoll-like appearance—its fur was matted and blood-stained in some areas, but its body was clearly sewn and stitched together like some macabre puppet quilt.
“You’re not from around here, are you?” the woman inquired.
“Answer the question, woman,” Alan hissed.
“Doesn’t seem too friendly, does he?” the woman giggled as she glanced back down to the wolf, and it huffed back in response.
“You don’t know who that is, do you?” came a voice, but the group stared in horror as they realized it came from the wolf’s moving jowls. The beast could talk…!
“Should I? He looks familiar,” the woman pondered as she held a finger to her mouth, her other hand supporting her upright elbow. She began to circle the group like a taunting predator, but Alan stood his ground as he watched her every move. There was something about her that made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end, almost as if weak electricity were flowing through him.
“That’s Alan, Shikyo. Alan from the Cross Guard; second in command to Danna,” the wolf continued as she scanned the group; Babbo merely growled at the woman, but the other three looked at her with a bit of fright in their eyes.
“Oh, I won’t hurt you,” she almost cackled as she stopped behind them, and she threw her hip out to the side to rest her hands on her waist in a sassy, yet provocative pose. “Well, I guess that name sounds familiar.”
“Ed…?” Snow whimpered quietly as she looked to him for protection, her hands held up nervously to her mouth. He shot her a soft, compassionate look to reassure her, but Shikyo snickered as she watched their interaction play out.
“It’s Shikyo,” the woman smirked as she crossed her arms over her chest, mocking Alan just a bit. “My name is Shikyo.”
“What are you doing here, Shikyo?” Alan growled as he spat her name back at her, but her expression dropped and she shook her head as she began again to circle them.
“I told you, I’m not here to hurt you,” she clicked her tongue as she threw her hands up to the height of her shoulders in despair, making her way back towards her wolf familiar. “I’ve never seen any of you here before, and I normally inhabit the forests of MÄR.”
“I’ve never heard of you,” Alan smirked wildly as he glared into the woman’s soul.
“No matter,” Shikyo shrugged, unfazed. “You’re the one who called me out, anyway.”
“You were stalking us,” the man grunted as he raised an eyebrow.
“Not stalking; scanning,” Shikyo winked at him as she bent down to continue scratching the wolf’s mane, and Alan couldn’t help but cast a glance at her exposed cleavage as she did so—he swallowed hard after realizing what he had done. “Moro’s getting hungry, and I was hoping you were a group of unsuspecting Chess Pieces.”
“So, she’s a good guy…!” Ginta exclaimed in a hushed manner as he went to push past Alan.
“Ginta, no!”
“So, you’re against the Chess Pieces, too?”
Shikyo watched as a spiky-haired, blond kid emerged from behind Alan, his eyes bright and sparkling.
“I guess you could say that,” she chuckled. “I’m not exactly a good guy, either.”
“Wha—…?” Ginta cut himself off as he cocked his head to the side to inspect the woman, but he yelped as he felt a fierce pain in his wrist.
“Ginta, get behind me,” Alan growled deep in his throat as he yanked at the boy’s wrist. “You have no idea what we’re dealing with.”
“No idea, indeed, it seems,” Shikyo chuckled again, a bit more playfully this time, and Alan watched as her eyes widened for a split second.
“Ngh!” he growled in a restrained panic as he felt the magical power in the area shift. When he had first begun to sense a magic presence around them, it was faint and weak—but there was enough power there to be sensed. But now, Alan began to fear for all their safety as he felt the power level nearly quadruple.
“Did I scare ‘ya?” the woman cackled wildly as she watched the man clench his teeth. “Moro can suppress our magical power quite a bit, but I let him release it.”
“Be on your way, and we’ll be on ours,” Alan growled as he took a more defensive stance.
“Well, you’ve entertained me for the afternoon,” Shikyo smiled as she straightened back up to her feet. “And there’s no sense in having Moro eat someone who’s not with or for the Chess Pieces.” At this the gang shuddered in unison, and Moro slumped to the ground wearily.
“I know, I know,” Shikyo clicked her tongue as she looked at the creature, her lips pursed. “We’ll let you be. But if you find any Chess Pieces, give a holler… Will ya?” she continued as she began to turn back towards the forest, but she gave Alan a wink as she finished her sentence. She whistled for the wolf and motioned for him to follow, and he growled and grunted lowly as he reluctantly got to his feet to follow her back into the shadows.
“What was that about?” Jack blinked a few times, utterly confused by the events that had just transpired.
“Maybe we should follow her, Ed,” Ginta yipped as he again tried to walk past Alan, but the man threw his arm out in front of him in an inhibiting way.
“She’s dangerous,” Alan grunted as he watched the forest the woman and her canine companion had walked through begin to settle. “And I have no idea who she is.”
“You seem a bit shaken,” Ginta snickered as he looked up at Alan’s expression, closing an eye and wiping at his nose mockingly with a single finger as he did so.
“You have so much to learn,” the man growled, but his voice had undertones of amusement. “Come on; let’s keep moving.”
