(Outdated) The King of Elements

Attack at the Marketplace

"Hey, Dre, check it out," Megumi said, turning towards the area that the boy was pointing at. For a second, Dre hoped she had seen him, hoped that he weren't just going crazy. Fearing the worst, he looked down the street.

A large wave of Amians ran frantically towards them, stepping out of the way of Dre and Megumi, screaming as if they were witnessing the end of the world. Among the shouting, deep in the distance, Dre heard what sounded like a blaring, gurgling roar.

As the crowd dispersed, an Edge Walker was slowly walking towards them. Its long, inky arms dragged across the concrete sidewalk, leaving four deep impressions from in the cement. Dre began to follow the crowd, but Megumi grabbed his arm. "Dude, look," she stated, squinting down the street. "What's an Edge Walker doing in the city?"

"I'm currently asking myself that same question about us!" he exclaimed, trying to break free from her grasp.

"Dude, would you chill? You're the one with a sword. Kill it."

"Excuse me? Do I look like some college student in a horror movie?"

"With that hair? Yeah." She ignored Dre glaring at her. "Why are you so scared anyways? We killed a few of them in the forest. What's one more?"

"A death waiting to happen."

"Would you stop being a little girl and kill it?"

Panicked, Dre turned back down the street. The Edge Walker crept closer, its eyes peering through Dre with its hollowed and glowing green eyes. Its jagged mouth was screwed up into a sharp smile, almost similar to the boy in the dark cloak. Green slime dripped from its mouth, as if it was salivating, hungering for Dre's flesh. He shook his head. "Nope. I'm being a little girl today," he said before turning around and attempting to run with the crowd. He didn't get far, with Megumi clamped to his arm.

"At least give me the sword so I can kill-"

Dre felt her yank at his arm before a rough hand covered his mouth and pulled him into a dark alleyway. He thrashed about, kicking his feet in the air and throwing his elbows behind him, hoping to make some sort of contact. The hand grew tighter around his mouth as he felt an arm wrap around the base of his neck. "Boy, if you don't calm down," he heard Loyalty say behind him. "Sakura, think you can keep her quiet?"

Hearing his brother's voice eased him. He looked over to where Megumi was dragged off and saw Sakura struggling to keep Megumi under control. Her short legs kicked wildly in the air as she yelled under her hand. "I'll try. Megumi, it's me. Can you please calm down?" Sakura said. Megumi's thrashing ceased, but she looked angry as she was lowered onto her feet.

"Looks like they were serious about the invasion." Sakura said, looking out of the corner of the alleyway in the direction the Edge Walker lingered. "Was this the only Edge Walker that was reported?"

"Donno. Ichi didn't really specify on how many of them were spotted. We should be cautious going back out there."

I hope he washed his hand, Dre thought to himself before licking the palm of Loyalty's hand, making him let go in disgust. "What's going on out there?" he asked before Loyalty had a chance to retort.

"Something that you ain't a part of," Loyalty said, wiping Dre's saliva off of his hand. "What are ya'll doing out here anyway? Classes should be going on."

"Megumi said that she had to get another bottle of nectar, since she drank hers before she went to one of her physical classes."

Sakura looked puzzled at Dre before asking Megumi, "I thought I told you all to buy enough for both of your classes." Megumi shouted objections under Sakura's hand, looking up in her direction. "If I let you go, do you promise to speak silently?" Megumi rolled her eyes before nodding her head. She let her go.

"I did, but I was curious at how it tasted, and couldn't stop drinking it after I took a sip. Besides, I let Dre have the rest."

"Well, yeah, but only because I didn't get one." He thought for a second before realizing that no one bought him any. "Hang on, why didn't any of you buy me one?"

"Nevermind that now," Loyalty said, unsheathing two curved swords. He snapped them both together by their handles. "Once we go out and attack that thing, you two go back to the school."

"What?!" Megumi whispered in outrage. "Why do we have to go back to the school? We've already killed one of them before, what makes this time different?"

"This time it's a Journeyman-level mission. Since you two are still Apprentices, you aren't able to attend our mission." Sakura said, materializing two fang-shaped daggers.

"Yeah, and if you try to force your way into a Journeyman-level mission, you'll get expelled," Loyalty added.

Megumi looked irate, but she lowered her head in defeat. Dre couldn't help but feel bad for her; it was obvious that she wanted to fight it. He exhaled, knowing he'd hate trying to persuade Loyalty into letting them stay. "But since we're already here, can't we just-"

"Go, before I murk your ass!" Loyalty interjected.

Yeah, I should've seen that coming. He readied himself to run. Megumi stood beside him, her cheeks puffed out in anger.

"On three, I'll go out and distract it, while you two run," Sakura said. Both Dre and Megumi nodded. "One. Two."

Two more distant, gurgling cries stopped her count. She stopped and looked at Loyalty, her eyes widened. "Three!" Loyalty bellowed as he sprinted toward the oncoming Edge Walkers.

"Go! Now!" Sakura called out as she hesitantly started towards the battleground, obviously caught off-guard by Loyalty's decision to attack.

Dre nodded as he grabbed Megumi's hand and pulled her away from the fray. They both looked back to see three large, inky bodies slithering towards the two warriors. Megumi tried to jerk her hand out of Dre's grasp, but he still held tight. "No. We'd do more harm than good if we try to fight with them," he said, taking one last look at the imminent battle before running off in the opposite direction.