Omega Wars Chronicles

Chapter 40 Episode 39: Companions

In a room of the Shard Court medical center, Gorn groans in pain as he slowly opens his eyes, only to see Raen sitting beside him with a smile on her face.
"Hey." Raen said, "Welcome back."
"Raen…?" Gorn said with a slightly surprised demeanor, "What are you doing here?"
"Huh? I came to see you, of course." Raen said while still smiling.
"Look, i even brought food." Raen said as she brings out a covered small brown plate from a sack and opens it in front of Gorn, "See! White beefed stew! Your favorite and it's still warm!"
"Raen…" Gorn said as he stares at the food.
"Oh and also i bought a grape fruit drink for you but i later discovered that Yulin must have taken it without me knowing." Raen said while nervously smiling and scratching the back of her head with her eyes closed, "I was about to go after her and pound some sense but i noticed you were slowly waking up so i decided to stay and-"
Raen halts and quickly became surprised as Gorn's turns his face away.
"How can you still be with me after all this?" Gorn asked.
"Gorn?" Raen called in confusion.
"Raen… I'm sorry." Gorn said, "I'm so sorry for everything i've done to you; for how i've treated you all those times.
You deserve better and i… Don't deserve you at all…"
Raen stared at Gorn for a while and immediately stood and moved towards the window of the room.
"Gorn…" Raen called, "Do you remember when we first met? You were always depressed because of how the others would make fun of your face."
  A flashback takes place as a saddened 8 year old Gorn was bending his head while standing in the midst of 4 Tenplar boys in a forest.
"Are you sure you are a boy?" A blonde Tenplar boy asked with a smirk, "Perhaps you are just a girl posing as a boy."
"Nah, he is totally a boy." A brown haired Tenplar boy said with a smirk, "He just has the face of a girl."
"Yeah, I'll agree." A black haired Tenplar boy said, "His parents just did him wrong by giving birth to him with this type of face."
"With this type of pretty face, your parents should just give you some girly clothes so that you'll just walk around posing like a girl!" A low cut black haired Tenplar boy said.
The boys began to laugh heavily at Gorn which made tears flow out of his eyes.
"Shut up." A feminine voice sounded.
The bullies became surprised at the sudden response which caused them to move their heads in confusion.
"Who said that?!" The brown haired Tenplar boy asked.
"There!" The blonde Tenplar boy said as he pointed at a large tree branch.
On the tree branch, a black haired Tenplar girl was laying down on it with her eyes focused on Gorn and the 4 other boys.
"R-R-R-Raen…?!" The black haired Tenplar boy said in shock.
"W-what are you doing here?!" The low cut black haired Tenplar boy asked.
"What do you mean by that?" Raen asked, "Why can't i get any peace and quiet from where i am staying?
Each time i move to one location to catch some fresh air, you guys would always appear there and spoil the mood."
Raen quickly hops down from the branch and stretched herself a bit.
"Anyway, i'm starting to find this your mockery of Gorn's face extremely annoying." Raen said, "So what if he has a girlie face? At least he has a face; such a shame the same can't be said for you."
"Are you making fun of us or are you threatening us?" The brown haired Tenplar boy asked with a glare.
"Both." Raen answered.
"Y-you honestly think you can take on the 4 of us?!" The black haired Tenplar boy asked while slightly trembling in fear.
"Hmmm, perhaps you should ask your older brother who gave him that large scar on his face." Raen said with her arms crossed.
"And you…" Raen said as she turned to the low cut black haired Tenplar boy, "Your nose has been fixed; do you still feel the sting of my headbutt?"
This question made the low cut black haired Tenplar boy to step back a bit in fear.
"I'm going to say this and i'm going to say this once." Raen said.
"Bug off, blockheads." Raen said with a scary stare as her irises glowed while slightly bending her head.
The 4 boys quickly took to their heels and left the forest. Just as Gorn tries to quietly walk away, he suddenly feels something grasping one of his shoulders which appeared to be hand of Raen who happened to gazing at Gorn with a frightening stare as her left face was covered in shade along with her left eye completely glowing.
"Not you." Raen said.
"Huh?" Gorn said while trembling and sweating profusely with a frightened smile.
"Tell me something: Why do you let them do this to you?" Raen asked with an intimidating wide-eyed stare, "Why do you stand there and let them mess up your dignity?"
"Huh?" Gorn said with a confused demeanor while trembling.
"Is 'Huh' the only thing you know how to say?!!" Raen angrily asked, causing Gorn to scream and sit on the ground out of fright.
The frightened Gorn lifts his head and sees Raen glaring down at him with her arms crossed.
"You bastards are the main reason why i can't get any peace and quiet when i'm outside my parents house!" Raen said, "No matter where i go, i always see you guys making one noise or the other and it's all because you let them make fun of your looks!
Who cares if you look like a girl! You're a boy, aren't you?! What is there to be ashamed of?!
People tried to make fun of my forehead but i didn't give a fly about what they say and you need to start doing the same, you hear me?!"
"Y-y-yes, i promise!" Gorn said out of fright.
"Good, now stand up, go back there and show them that you are a boy!" Raen said.
Gorn quickly stood on his feet and began to run towards the direction the other boys took. While Gorn was running, Gorn suddenly halts and glanced back at Raen.
"What?" Raen asked.
"Oh, nothing." Gorn answered, "It's just you're not as bad as our peers say you are, and your forehead doesn't make you look ugly… It actually makes you look pretty."
Being caught off guard by Gorn's words, Raen instantly blushed and quickly turned her face away in order to hide it. 
"Fool." Raen said.
Gorn smiled with his eyes closed and resumes his running.
"Oh, my name is Gorn, by the way!" Gorn said while still running.
"I know." Raen said. 
The next day as Raen was helping a black haired Tenplar woman to spread clothes, the Tenplar woman noticed Raen's absent look despite her assistance.
"Raen… Raen!" The woman called.
"Yes, mother!" Raen said as she suddenly got herself back.
"You were thinking about something, weren't you?" Raen's mother asked with a raised eyebrow while smiling, "What was it?"
"Sorry, it was just a boy i met yesterday." Raen said, "He's so timid and because of that, he lets others push him around. So annoying.
I mean how can he just stand there and let them do that to him?"
"Well for starters, you never let anyone push you around." Raen's mother said, "A lot of your peers are even afraid of you; well you did inherit my intimidating personality.
Let's just hope that the boy you are going to be betrothed to will not end being afraid of you."
"Raen!! Diona!!!" A masculine voice sounded.
"Oh, papa is back!" Raen said with a smile.
Raen and Diona immediately left what they were doing and moved to the front of their house to see Raen's father. Getting to the front of their house, Raen became surprised as she sees Gorn ( who happened to be with a black eye) facing the ground while standing beside a tall black haired Tenplar man with a long hair and a  neat trimmed beard.
"Father… Why is 'he' here?" Raen asked as she points her finger at Gorn.
"Where are your manners, Raen?" Raen's father asked, "I was just passing by when i saw the boy being beaten up by four other boys just because they claimed he was having a mouth on him while he claimed to be standing up for himself."
"Well that went wrong." Raen said with a blank face.
"Raen, this is the boy you are betrothed to." Raen's father said with an apathetic look.
"What?!!" Raen and Gorn said with a shocked wtf face.
After remembering that time, current Raen smiled while still facing the window.
"Humph. I remember those moments." Raen said, "You were so timid; if anyone had told me that you would have this level of power you currently posses, i would assumed the person was either drunk or smoked a lot of plants."
"I'm not strong. I'm still that same weak Gorn." Gorn said.
"Wrong, you are strong." Raen said, "You just fought someone who was leagues above you. This shows you still have a long way to go.
Remember when Chief Tenya told you that you have the potential in becoming a Chief? You trained like crazy; i've never seen you so motivated before and i was so happy for you.
But in focusing on your ambition, you constantly left me all alone.It was as if nothing mattered to you anymore other than getting stronger and it hurt me… It hurt me a lot.
So i decided to become stronger so that i'll be able to fight by your side but no matter how hard i tried, i could feel you drifting further away from me.
Gorn…"
"I forgive you." Raen said as glanced back at Gorn with a smile which instantly left Gorn shocked, "I've forgiven you for how you've treated me. I'm just glad you were able to reflect on your actions and apologize for them."
"Still though, you did a lot for me." Gorn said, "You were the one that helped me grow a spine to stand up for myself but in the end i ended up treating you like garbage.
I truly don't deserve you at all. I feel as if you should punch me or something."
"Hoh? You want me to punch you?" Raen asked with a mischievous smile while slowly balling her raised hand, "I know it has been a long time since we've sparred but i must warn you: I hit hard… Very hard."
The sound of Raen's knuckles along with her mischievous grin made Gorn to slightly panic.
"You know what? Forget i said anything." Gorn said, "Yeah, i'm injured and all and you shouldn't hit an injured person… Yeah, you shouldn't!"
  Seeing how Gorn was reacting, Raen suddenly giggled with her hand covering her mouth.
"Gorn, i'm not going to hit you." Raen said, "I was just joking. I guess some of Yulin's attitude has rubbed off on me. But there is something i do want you to do."
Raen walks towards Gorn and sits back on her chair.
"I want you to promise me that you'll never leave my side again." Raen said, "That no matter what, we'll never be apart like we were before."
"I promise." Gorn said with a smile.
"Thank you." Raen said with a smile.
"Hey, come closer, there is something i want to do." Gorn said.
Raen draws her head closer to Gorn and with a gentle stroke from Gorn, a crown of golden glowing flowers appears on Raen's head.
"So beautiful." Gorn said.
Raen sights her reflection on a glass table which left her astonished at her beauty with the flowers; after momentarily staring at her reflection, Raen gaped at Gorn with a smiled and pecked his forehead.
"Thank you, Gorn." Raen said.
Back at the Keigra street, Killer bee and Sting were walking and discussing with each other while laughing.
"Oh is that what happened?" Killer bee asked.
"Yeah!" Sting replied, "Obaru was all like 'I'm Obaru and i'm amazing!' and Cloud was 'You've said that over a thousand time now'"
Killer bee giggled at Sting's funny face and Sting grinned with his eyes closed.
"You truly are a good friend." Killer bee said, "Cloud is lucky to have you."
"I'm just glad to have him as a friend, too." Sting said, "We tend to drive each other crazy and do a lot of dumb things (which i'm mostly responsible for) but yeah, he's pretty cool to hang out with."
"I wonder though, how will he fare in the tournament?" Killer bee asked, "You know, when his turn would reach in the semi finals, how will he cope? I mean there are a lot of strong contestants there and i'm not sure if he is going to make it, especially with someone like Karma.
Once she sets her sight on someone, she'll stop at  nothing until she has demolished the person. She has done that a lot with many people and the way she looks at Cloud… If she has her eyes set on him…."
"Odd, i thought she had her eyes set on me." Sting said.
"Huh?" Killer bee said with a puzzled demeanor.
"She's the main reason why i'm even in the tournament to begin with." Sting said.
"That would explain why you are putting in so much effort unlike before." Killer bee said with an astonished demeanor, "Wow, i guess so many people want to get their hands on Karma."
"I can't wait to face Karma." Sting said with a smile while having his arms placed at the back of his head, "What's going to happen will crush that massive ego of hers that she'll hate me for a long time."
"And i don't want to imagine what you are planning but this tournament is unpredictable." Killer bee said, "Anyone could face anyone, just like i faced Karma."
"Don't worry. I've planned perfectly for each person i'm going to fight." Sting said.
"Including Cloud?" Killer bee asked.
Sting suddenly paused which made Killer bee understand the meaning behind Sting's actions.
"You didn't plan for him." Killer bee said.
"No i didn't." Sting said with a saddened demeanor, "I mean how can i plan for him? He's my best friend. 
  If the both of us should cross paths in the tournament…. I just don't want to ruin his dreams of becoming a pilgrim."
"Sting, i understand." Killer bee said while smiling as she placed her hand on his shoulder, "Even i too wouldn't plan against my close friend but knowing Cloud, even after this tournament, you two will still be best of friends, right?"
"Right!" Sting replied while smiling.
  During this moment, Killer bee and Sting spots Xorian and Jagami walking together as Jagami laughs at Xorian using his nose to play with chopsticks.
"Wow. These two seem to have gotten pretty close after their fight." Sting said.
"I think they've started developing feelings for each other." Killer bee said.
"Just like you with Cloud?" Sting asked with a raised eyebrow while smiling.
"Yeah… Wait what?!" Killer bee asked in shock.
"Come on, it's obvious." Sting said.
"No, i don't have any feelings for him! He's just my friend!" Killer bee said while blushing.
"Uh huh. Keep telling yourself that." Sting said as he resumes walking, "The second half is going to start soon. Come on, let's go!"
As Sting was walking away, Killer bee momentarily stared at Sting and smiled.
"Wait for me!" Killer bee said as she goes after Sting.
  Moments later at the Shard Court, the crowd gave a massive roar as multiple fireworks were shot into the sky.
"Welcome back, everyone, to the second half of the pilgrim tournament!!" A feminine voice sounded, "Now let the contest begin!!!"
The crowd gave off another massive cheer in response to the feminine voice that was sounding in the arena.