Dragon Rings

Chapter 8: Hana (Unedited)

We all froze as the guy pressed his knife on the side of Red's neck. Oh shit. Oh SHIT. Red was my best friend. This wasn't happening. "Give me all the money or red head gets it." He sneered. Anger rose up in me, but there was no point in screaming at him. He held a knife to my best friend's throat. His buddy was near the door, blocking the way.

Star walked calmly to the little box where we kept the money and silently unlocked it. Joell nudged Sammi, and she climbed unto the counter. Star walked over with a paper bag full of the cash, her eyes narrow. The robber was so enthralled with the sight of so much money, he didn't see her fist connect with his eye. He reeled back, and at the same time Sammi leaped of her perch with aerobatic grace, which we rarely ever saw. She was out the door before the robbers buddy could react.

Red had fallen down, and I raced to grab her. A thin cut was dripping with blood. Grabbing the first aid kit, I wiped it clean and applied a bandage. She was seething, and muttering something under her breath, probably profanities, but one quick look from me and she sat back. To much movement and she could worsen the cut.

I looked back up at the fight. Star had gotten some good punches in, but this guy was much bigger. And had a knife. Small slices covered her face and a relatively large gash was on her arm. The guy at the door, finally realizing he failed his job, and come over and helped knock Star onto the ground. Still, it took both of them to hold her down. Take that you ugly bastards. Oh, how I longed to get a few punches in myself, but my place was here helping Red and making sure she wouldn't do something stupid. With Sammi getting the cops and Red out of commission, Star was on her own. Joell had herded the older man into the office, making sure he wasn't caught in the crossfire. Speaking of the office... Where the hell is Lunima?

Then, the lights went out. One of the guys, the knife guy, from the sound of his muffled cries, was wrenched up off of Star. The lights flicked back on, revealing Joell at the light switch and Lunima holding onto the guy with a knife. A gun was in her hand, and a click showed it was ready to fire.

"Let go of her." She growled. Her hood was pulled back to show her mutilating scar, and combined with a gun in her hand and Star, who was still punching the crap out of the guys, my friends could quite pull off terrifying. And boring freaking me, sitting here as First Aid. Ugg. The buddy dropped Star, who couldn't resist taking a punch, and bolted. Stupid. You're making yourself bleed more. Honestly, some people just don't know when to give up. I grabbed her and hastily cleaned the blood off and bandaged her up. She hopefully wouldn't need stitches. But if she does, I feel sorry for the people who have to put them in her. I felt a devilish grin pop up just thinking of it.

Meanwhile, the guy who Lunima held, whipped around and tried to knife her. She stepped back, just out of his reach. It slid harmlessly by her, and she raised the gun. The guy sneered at her. "You wouldn't actually shoot me. You're not a killer." With a blink, she pointed it at his knee and shot. He went white as blood splattered into the room and he fell. Lunima knelt, pulling his arms back and tying them, then did the same to his legs. Once he was properly tied down, she took his knife and set it aside.

I hate to admit it, but that was kind of badass. Unfortunately for me, I wasn't trained to fight. No, my parents decided to put me in first aid classes. Fucking first aid. It was incredibly dull. But it did get me this job. Actually, it got everyone our jobs. Sammi was practically an acrobat, Star and Red could throw some good punches, Joell had that trusting factor about her that made you want to listen to her. Lunima could, and would, do anything, and I knew first aid. The Wolf hired us for emergencies and worst case scenarios. Talk about paranoid.

The whole fight lasted about four minutes, and finally the cops and paramedics arrived. They had caught the other guy when he tried to run, and they took the knife-guy away in an ambulance. Some paramedics checked Red and Star out (She didn't need stitches after all, fortunately for the medics) and a few cops talked to Joell. They wouldnt talk to Red, Lunima, or me due to some trouble a year or so back (it involved some chemical explosions in the local pool and a ton of red dye - it was amazing, and Star was pissed for months because we didn't include her). Ms. Lupine arrived, followed by my parents and Star's older sister, who took care of her. Red's mom was probably out of town, so my parents liked to dote on her. Same with Sammi, though her mom was probably passed out somewhere.

After a long talk with the police about injuring people (Both Star and Lunima got marks on their records) and a thorough check for all of us by my mom, they decided we didn't have to go to school and could spend the day relaxing. So of course we ended up at Star's place. Her sis, Tiana, had put beanbags and bookshelves everywhere, not to mention the fridge and pantry was full all the time. After making some coffee, I curled up on a beanbag and watched as Joell and Sammi plopped down on the sofa, Red and Star took separate bags, and Lunima perched on the edge of a counter.

Sammi was already talking about the Mideveal dance again. "I'm going probably wear that teal dress. The one with the white sash." She said, but Joell scoffed. "Samuel Azure. You will not wear that old thing again. I will take you to the mall this weekend. Get you something pink." Red snickered and even Star cracked a grin. Joell refused to let any of us wear something she didn't approve of. Even Lunima was subject to her rants. I got a ten minute lecture on how green looked better on me than red. Something about my darkish blond hair and green eyes.

I sighed and looked out a window. The day was unusually cool for June, and gusts of wing blew through the trees. Clouds covered the sky. No doubt rain was on its way. Though I do adore rain, no one else did. Not even Star, who was part fish. Seriously. The girl won more swimming medals than the cherry bombs under Red's bed. Which was about twenty.

"What do you think, Hana?" Wha? Oh fuck. I was so deep in thoughts that I didn't catch what Sammi had asked about. "Oh, yes. I suppose so." Sammi grinned and laughed. "Great! So Star and Red, by popular demand, you have to go to." That didn't sound good. I looked at Red. The fuck did I just agree to? Thankfully, our almost telepathic best friend bond pulled through.

"I don't think we should have to wear dresses. If we go, can we wear, you know, those old fashioned tunics?" Joell smirked. "You only want to wear that so you can feel like Link." "Guilty." Star grinned. "So, unless you're going to stuff me and Red in dresses, we're wearing tunics." And damn, I'm stuck in a dress. Of course, Sammi looked so god damn happy that saying I didn't want to wear a dress would just be cruel. Sammi did that to people. Ugg. What bull. "Whatever." Joelle sighed. "But I'm dragging you guys to the mall to find some dresses." Before Star or Red could argue, the front door opened.

A tall, handsome guy walked in, Tiana right behind him. He had a Greek god look about him, a lean muscle and crap. Star waved. "Oh, guys. This is Chandler. He moved in with us." That's right. Star mentioned Tiana got a boyfriend. He was probably twenty or so, like Tiana. He smiled at us. "Hey." Joell yawned. "Hey Chandler. I'm Joellani, but everyone calls me Joell. This is Red, Sammi and Hana." She introduced us in turn, then pointed to Lunima. "That's my sis, Lunima..." Lunima had headphones in, and was no doubt blasting music. And her hoodie was pulled off her face.

As if sensing us staring, her head jerked up, and she caught sight of Chandler. Her scarred side was turned away from us, but Chandler could see it. Well, damn. Good first impression, Lunima. She seemed surprised, and simply stared at him. Then she leaped off the counter and snatched her bag up, running out. Classic Lunima.

Chandler seemed just as surprised, but he was probably just shocked that Lunima's face looked like some had painted a huge black ribbon across her face. He recovered rather quickly, and turned to us again. "Um, what happened to her... Uh..." He trailed off, but it was pretty obvious what he was talking about. Joell cleared her throat, looking at her hands. "Um, it was a... Robbery attempt. She got caught in the cross-fire, ya know?" She shrugged and looked up at him, flashing a smile. "Er, I should go. Check on her, ya know?" She hastily stood and followed Lunima out. Not so classic Joell. What's up with her? Then I sighed to myself. Sammi would talk to her later and find out. It wasn't my place to ask.

Chandler watched her leave, then turned to us. "Sorry guys. I didn't mean to startle them..." Star just rolled her eyes. "Don't worry about it. That's just how they are. You get used to it."