Project Nodachi

i feel like running

*Max's POV*

On the beach at The Forest of Dreams, under the beautiful sky.

I stared at the man in awe as he commanded the dozens of soldiers into precise submission. Chandler was fixed boredly on the dramatic presentation, he didn't seem impressed but his body was tense as if preparing for the worst. I tried to look strong, but on the inside I felt as if I could be killed at any moment.

"Remain diligent while the captain speaks!" Yelled one of the soldiers in the front. He was wearing a slightly different color suit than the others, his differences continued with a large green general-like hat sitting neatly on his head. He was old, older than this captain guy. His features were hard and chiseled, wrapped in a visibly graying, scruffy beard.

The captain turned slowly around toward us finally, and made his way to where we were awkwardly standing.

"Zeke-sensei." Chandler greeted, holding a reluctant saluted stance as he approached.

Zeke walked up to me, ignoring Chandler and bent down in front of me, bringing his face to mine. His blade made contact with the ground behind him with a loud thud, spawning a wave of sand that roared toward the soldiers causing them to move aside quickly before stepping back into formation. He studied my face for a while, before he finally spoke. His voice was deep and cold, I could tell there was something off about him.

"Where are the others?" He said. I couldn't pinpoint who he was speaking to, he never looked away from me but he projected his voice in a way that didn't seem meant for me. I decided to stay quiet, I had already somehow attracted too much attention from him.

"They got away. Torodami Nodachi is dangerous, and she's teamed up with Hitoki Zero." Chandler paused for a second. "Misa was taken down."

"I know she's dangerous. So why didn't you capture her" Zeke said semi-angrily.

"Misa ran into her and-"

"Silence." Zeke said suddenly. "I won't accept an excuse."

He reached back and grabbed the blade of his sword with his fingertips. A small, sharp shard broke off cleanly into them. He brought it close to my face, only passing over it closely at first before making slight contact with my cheek.
"More importantly." Zeke continued. "Where's that metal-haired bastard?!"

My heart rate spiked instantly. There's only one person on this planet who fits a description as odd as this one. The reality of the situation set in. I knew he was prepared to torture me, but there was just no way I could give up Pakuyo-san. He pressed the shard deeper into my cheek, causing me to wince leaving a visible, dripping cut.

"C-captain-" Chandler tried, reaching out to Zeke's shoulder.

Before he could finish Zeke's muscular arm shot out, and his pitch black chain moved like a bullet through the air and wrapped around Chandler's throat firmly. Chandler's eyes widened and his hand shot up, grasping the chain trying to pry it desperately from his neck. Zeke removed his sword from his hip and planted it firmly into the ground behind him. It sank deeply into the sand like some type of huge animal, locking Chandler in place. He looked back over at me. I struggled to pull my hands apart that were still trapped in the lousy green cuffs. I thought about running but the soldiers were blocking the path into the forest and if I made it into the ocean I'd be shot and left for some scuba team to find.

"What do you think The Kings will do when they see this Chandler?" Zeke spoke up. "Lock me up, punish me, hurt me?" He let out a small chuckle. " We were told not to harm this one, no?"

Chandler didn't respond, he was still struggling to breathe with the chain wrapped around his neck. He dropped to his knees coughing, causing Zeke to loosen his grip on it finally. I thought hard about what Zeke said. The Kings? Did he mean the Three Kings of the government? I had heard of them, hell everybody has, but there was no way they were the ones after me. An abnormally loud ringing sound erupted over the beach, joining Chandler's coughing on the list of terrible sounds.