Crynime: Encryption

Chapter 9: The Sun God and the Little Bug

Russ tugged at his dark-blue yukata, glancing at Red, who was wearing a crimson one; she was studying their current surroundings.

"Where do you think we are, Red?"

"As I said.  A medieval time of sorts--in Japan to be more precise..."

"Heh~?  I wonder if the others are here."

"Who knows?  Might as well check this place out further."

Russ nodded as he held his chin thoughtfully.

"That would be best.  Let's go then, Red."

~~

"Eh?"

"Ah."

Cry and Scott looked down at the ground that was possibly a thousand feet below them.

"CRA--!"

The two fell to the earth below.

"Cry!  Use your freaking wind powers or something!"

The brunet nodded before letting the air swirl around them.

The two abruptly stopped in midair before being slowly lowered to the grassy cliff below them.

When the two were placed on firm ground, they flopped onto their backs and breathed deeply.

Scott propped himself up onto his elbow, wiping a hand over his brow.

"...My gosh...I thought I just saw my life flash before my eyes."

Cry laughed before sitting up.

'...Life, huh?'

The brunet absently brushed his hand against his chest, eyes growing slightly distant.

A sad smile made its way to the brunet's lips.

'...Heh, it's alright.  I just need to find everyone before I go.'

"C..."

"Cr...y"

"Cry."

"Cry!"

The said brunet jumped out of his thoughts, gazing up at Scott.

"Oh!  What up, Jund?"

Scott had narrowed eyes set upon the other.

"...Are you alright?"

Cry smiled slightly at his friend's worry for him.

'He can read my mood--even with my mask...' "Yep!  I'm just a little shaken up by the little sudden fall."

Scott gazed at Cry blankly, an unknown emotion flickering through his eyes before he sighed, lolling his head back as he looked up at the blue sky above.

"...Where do you think we are?"

Cry hummed before straining his ears.

Distinct sounds of swords clanging and screeches reached his ears.

Scott seemed to have heard it too as they crawled over to the cliff edge.

"Ammy!  You need to aim a bit higher!  Jump!  Jump, Baka!"

Cry and Scott winced slightly at the squeaky voice that reached their ears.

Bark! 'I know!  Just watch my back, Issun-kun!'

Cry blinked in surprise at the calm, female voice that resounded in his head; he glanced at Scott, who seemed to have not have heard it.

'...Hello?'

'!...Who are you?'

'The name's Cry.  Who might you be?'

'...Amaterasu...'

The brunet blinked his eyes again in surprise.

'Amaterasu...can I call you Ammy-chan?'

There was a soft chuckle.

'Sure.'

Cry and Scott then spotted a dark aura that soon dispersed in a burst of light.

"Let's go check it out, Jund!"

~~

"Did you feel that?"

"Yeah..."

Russ looked in the direction of the setting sun.

"Do you think we might find the others over there?"

"Who knows?"

"Hm..."

...Those two are certainly the most sensible of the Late Night Crew...

~~

"Who the heck are you guys?!"

Cry laughed amusedly at what Scott said next.

"Heh?  A talking bug?"

"I'M NOT A BUG!"

The two looked at the bouncing green figure that was hopping on a white wolf.

"That's a pretty tame wolf there..."

Cry raised an eyebrow and glanced at Scott.

"...You don't see it, Jund?"

"See what?"

"...The red tattoos...?"

"...Where?"

"WAIT!  Hold up!  You can see Ammy's tattoos, gaki?!"

Issun jumped up and down in front of Cry's face, allowing the brunet to get a closer look at the Poncle's face; although it was still too small for Cry to see.

But yes, Cry could see it.

Those red tattoos...

...and the large flaming sword on the back of the white wolf.

'...Ammy-chan?'

The wolf perked up before padding up to Cry.

'...So you're Cry-kun...'

Amaterasu's ears twitched; her teeth were bared in a smile of sorts.

'Not only can you see me, but you can hear my voice.  Issun can't really do that; he can only understand me through my actions and expressions.'

Cry smirked under his mask before realizing that the two of them were just staring at each other in the eyes of the other two present.

"What are you two doing?"

Amaterasu simply huffed as she dipped her head towards Issun to jump on; the wandering artist hopped onto the offered seat.

Issun seemed to scrutinize them before hopping on Amaterasu's head again.

"Who are you guys?  You don't look like you're from around here!"

Cry and Scott glanced down at the clothes they were in before a thought came to them.

"...When did we start speaking Japanese?"

~~

"Hey...isn't that...?"

"It's Cry and Scott!"

Russ grinned as he quickly grabbed Red's hand.

"Let's go!"

~~

"CRY!  SCOTT!"

The two gamers immediate jerked their heads up to see a familiar brunet and redhead.

"RUSS!  RED!"

"Grooooouuuup huuuuuug~!"

Four of the Late Night Crew glomped each other, grinning, smiling and laughing.

Two more members to go.