From: Save Address Block Sender Date: Mon, 6 Jul 1998 18:08:09 EDT Subject: care for a dip? Dark, always so very dark. No matter the place, no matter the time of day, times like these were always dark. The second those things had came up from the water, the sky already seemed to dim, and when Shinji went down, it had gone black. Everything just seems to go black when things go horribly wrong. Such is it. Yet, despite the darkness, there must always be that single flicker of hope. And it it only human nature to cling to that hope no matter what. They were all silent, watching the water. Teri had nearly jumped when those things were thrown from the water and landed not three feet from her. She was reminded of an episode of Slayers she had seen back... back... Teri clenched her fists. This was not the time to be remembering a funny anime-- there were ugly fish men rotting by her feet!!!!! She wrinkled her nose and tried not to gag at the smell.. The darkness receeded slightly then, although it still hung there in the air. The water stopped churning. The silence grew. Shinji got out of the water and crawled back onto the grassy shore. The darkness just seemed to vanish. But it just seemed to. "Shinji!!" she cried out in suprise, breaking away from the group to help her companion. Stana moved forward to assist Teri. The unicorn had begun to say something but then stopped. Condenscendingly, he sheathed his sword before slowly making his way to where the two were knelt next to Shinji. "How--we thought you had drowned--," Teri blurted before she could think better of it. "Teri!" Stana scolded. At once Teri had pulled her hand to her mouth. "I--I'm sorry! I didn't mean-" "Heh, Forget about it," Shinji was able to say. Stana had been scanning for any visible wounds, but other than a few slash marks on his pants and chest plate, there were no wounds. Not even where the pants had been ripped to expose the flesh... "Um, Shinji, what happened down there?" she asked, peering uneasily at the open slashes on his pants. He looked her in the eye, then looked over to the two stiff monsters on the ground. He shrugged. "They were in my way," he said simply. Clip grumbled silently, but said nothing, he didn't like it. And somewhere, deep inside, neither did Shinji. Teri's concern faded from her eyes and she mumbled something about arrogant boys who'd played with too many G.I.Joe's as a kid. Stana backed away slowly, stiff and not a little scared. She bumped into Clip who was still behind her. She looked up into eyes that were not scornful for once, but neither were they friendly. "Clip I am really not ok with this." she said softly. Then bit her tongue and waited for the barrage of anti mortal sentiment from the Unicorn. For a moment he seemed ready to give it, but a puzzled expression clouded his face for a moment. He seemed to have forgotten for a moment what he was going to say. he gave and almost shrug. "I like this not as well." he admitted, finally. "Perhaps in the future I should go with the mortal on his scouting forays. It appears our roads do indeed intertwine." "Only if you are up to it." she insisted, and then stopped, realizing she had just put her foot very firmly in her mouth. Clip tossed his head and stepped away, superiority firmly inset. "What do mortals know of the affairs of Unicorns?" Stana was about to snap a reply when she noticed Teri coming toward them. Shinji was standing, seemingly absorbed, over the bodies of the two monsters. Teri looked once over her shoulder, and once warily at Clip before joining them. Leaning forward, she whispered, "Is it just me, or was that a little bit... strange?" Clip watched her, and Teri fought the resist to return his stare. She was feeling little from him but a puzzlement, and anger at his own puzzlement. She wasn't sure what he was puzzled about, though. Biting her lip, she continued looking at Stana. Stana touched her back pocket, and her bible in reassurance, "I thought you and he were..." Teri blinked. "Yeah... i mean, I guess. I haven't known him THAT long-- no, ok, I DO trust him, but... this is still a little weird. Why?" Stana shook her head, and Teri felt a waft of intense uneasiness that left her slightly dizzy. She looked back towards Shinji, who was now staring into the woods. The air around her felt heated, dark. She.. couldn't think. She put her fingers to her head, wincing. "Teri--?" she heard Stana say, but couldn't think past the heat-- the sleepy heat-- There were arms trying to hold her up before she realized she was falling-- "Clip! don't just stand there you uncaring arrogant--" Then the darkness was gone in a flash of light, the heat dispelled, the air too bright and white... Teri closed her eyes and buried her face against-- As her forehead touched his chest, both Teri and Clip drew a sharp breath. The Jiy ripped through the leather bag and shot through the air to where they rested, spinning by her shoulders. Clip stared silently at the top of her head, somewhat in reserved distaste. Teri remained still, her eyes closed, her head blessedly clear and pure... awed at what was coursing through her body. Such force, so white and silver and kind, enveloped her as Clip held her up. Her eyes watered from it-- the joy, the cool and the soothing. She was stunned, but slowly became aware of her surroundings, besides the strong corded arms around her... "I'm trying to see if she's alright!" Shinji said angrily, his slashed pant legs flapping in the light breeze. Stana just watched Clip with searching eyes. "I said she's fine," Clip said cooly. Too cooly. Shinji's eyes narrowed and he looked about to reply when movement drew his attention. He sighed, and his eye twitched. "More company?" * * * Below the waves, unseen by those above, but completely visible to those below, the most dire of insults had just taken place. The two Reavers had dragged the land-walker beneath the waves, just as they were supposed to. He was to be the nights banquet, yet that would prove to be a missassumption. From the murky depths, yet more Reavers had been watching the attack, smiling with sick satisfaction, that is, until IT had happened. I had said that they had a perfect view, yet this was not the case, not when IT happened, anyway. The two Reavers were successfully pulling the human into the water, trying more to drown him than anything else. Wouldn't want to damage the meal, now would they? Apparently, this meal would not be so simple to attain. The water had suddenly become violent, hundreds of imposible air bubbles appearing from no where to turn the lake into a veritable boiling pot, yet without the heat. The Reaver pack had grown aggitated by the mysterious phenomenon, and only a few of them had seen what they could of what had happened. The bubbles had caused the silt and mud on the lake bed to rise up into the water, turning into a very effective smoke screen. Yet even without their vision, the Reavers had HEARD. They heard the ripping of the humans pantleg as one of the attackers clawed it to shreds, and for a moment they had smelt the sweet aroma of human blood in the water. But only for a moment, because the next second the sounds had been replaced by the hideous screams of the attackers, and the cold, heartless roar from their assailant. Then they had heard their two companions thrown out of the water and onto the wretched earth, then all at once the bubbling had stopped, but the clouds of silt had given the human plenty of time to escape. Thats what the Reavers heard, and that's what prompted them to proceed to the surface and avenge their dead. Of course, Reavers are not necessarily brave, and they had left the water, as much as they hated to do that, because they were worried that whatever had killed their kin was still down there, waiting to slay them all. Not one of them had thought of the possibility that the human could have done that. Humans were weak. Of course, we never said that Reavers were intelligent, now did we?