THE MISSING EMPEROR ~ The Elemental Seven Book I

CHAPTER VII: A NEW ALLY

"Now tell me what you have done to her!" River asked, his voice so powerful it resonated through the river water. "Done... Nothing!" the stranger said wincing because of pain. The stranger stood facing River. "I told her to escape from the ninjas and go back to the French territory to... aargh..." he curled "...return the amulet. I'm with her on this mission." The stranger stood pointing his sword again to River. "And who might you be? Pretending to be a friend to attack her?" he asked River. That hit a nerve. It was River who, at one point, doubted Myoku to be an enemy pretending to be a friend. Now, he is being thought of Myoku's enemy pretending to be her friend. "I'm one of the lords of the frozen lands and a friend of hers," he said. "I was worried about her so I contacted her as soon as possible." River said, willing all the grass that he stabbed on the stranger to wither. "And found her like this. I'm not actually here so my control and power is limited. I did the best I could to reach her but this is the best I can do. I cannot heal her. And it's more difficult to see her this way with each passing moment." he said. "Is that so? Well then, I better get her to the nearest infirmary," the stranger said sheathing his sword. "The way I see it, she's not that badly injured. However, she's getting weaker by the minute as she's losing so much blood. I'll have her contact you as soon as she gets well." The stranger carried Myoku in his arms. "So, if I may pass with your permission, Lord of the Frozen Lands?" he said with total sarcasm. River's expression tightened. "You fool! She will never make it to an infirmary like this. She's pale enough as it is!" he said. He closed his eye. "Water Element: Sea Escape!" River willed the water to rise and envelop both Myoku and the stranger. The stranger was astonished. "The hell? What on earth?... I mean water... I mean... whatever!" he said.

The water lift and transported them inside what seemed to be a water bubble. The guy felt nauseous as both of them moved fast that he can't see anything but water surrounding them. He closed his eyes and held Myoku tightly, careful not to drop her. When the bubble stop, he opened his eyes. Lo and behold, he found them in a bay a few kilometers from Lascaux. As soon as they reached the bay, River worked on healing Myoku's wounds with the water's energy. Some of the water turned to blood replacing what Myoku had lost. "Thank goodness the water is healing the wound." River said. The stranger looked at Myoku's wounds amazed. He obviously had not seen anything like this before. River conjured three small red pearls from the air. "You took all my power to get her here safely since you refused to let her go," he said breathing heavily and looking rather pale. "Well, I'm sorry about protecting her," the stranger said with absolute sarcasm. On the other hand, Myoku's breathing started to normalize. "Myoku?" the stranger tried waking her up. River swallowed one of the pearls and put one in Myoku's mouth using a hand made up of water. "This should stabilize her energy levels and help resupply more blood in her body." River said. "You should have one, too. Here, take this pearl. Eat it. It should replace your strength since you've been through a battle." The young man took the pearl and swallowed it. "Thanks." He looked back at Myoku. "She's... she's... getting better, too. Her color is getting back to normal," the stranger said. "Now I better tend to your wounds too. Sorry about the grass." River said. 

"Candy..." Myoku moaned. The pearl melted in her mouth. She slowly opened her eyes. "Soujiro?" she said. The stranger smiled at her. She turned her head toward the river and saw River. "Huh? River!" she ran toward River to hug him, only to find out he's all water. She got soaked and stumbled on the ground, almost falling on the lake. "There goes the girl." Soujiro, the stranger, laughed. "Sorry, Myoku. At this point, all I am is water. It took the last bit of my strength to keep this image alive. I couldn't get you to Lascaux but I got you to the nearest bay," he said. "My powers work best in waters untainted by man, you see." River continued on healing Soujiro's wounds. "Oh. I see." Myoku blushed. 

"Thank you, uhm... did she say your name is River?" Soujiro asked. 

"Yep. And yours is Soujiro, right?" River asked.