Dragons of the Elements: Defiance

Chapter Two

Chapter 2: Death and Deceit

It was nearly dark by the time Yoko had crossed town, and made it to the place his friends called home, the place the girl he liked stayed. Te sun had begun its descent in the sky. He ran up the few steps leading up to the door, and kept going, bashing the door in, as most people who lived here did. He looked around, expecting to see his friends, but not a face was seen. This could mean only one thing, the "fine people" who ran this "pristine establishment" were drunk and angry, again.

Yoko decided to avoid the drunks, and find Rosana. He snuck around the halls, silent as a cat, something only a professional thief could even contemplate learning. He crept silently until he found her room. He knocked three times, paused, knocked two times, paused, and knocked three times again.

The door swung open and Yoko found himself bing embraced by Rosana, hearing a squeal of delight from her. "Yoko! You're back!" she said, softly but full of emotion. "We have so much to talk about!"

"Like what?" Yoko said with a smile.

"Come in and talk, don't be shy," Rosana said, blushing a bit.

She dragged Yoko into the room and pushed him playfully on the bed, before she plumped down beside him. Yoko smiled as her blonde hair bounced as she bobbed up and down on the bed, speaking in a rush about events that happened while he was gone.

"And Jimmy broke his arm falling down the steps. Mister got angry and wouldn't take him to the healers, and let him suffer at home."

"Wait, Mister got angry for THAT?" Yoko interrupted. He had to remind himself that Mister was the name all the orphans had given the male owner, for he never once said his name, fearful the orphans would come for him while asleep. He was probably correct, Yoko thought with a chuckle.

"Yeah, so Jimmy is in his room, in pain. I feel so bad for him." Rosana whimpered.

"Hey, Rosana?" Yoko said boldly, in a serious tone.

"Yes, Yoko?" said Rosana, mimicking Yoko's tone.

"Do you-" Yoko began, but was cut short as Mister and Misses, Mister's wife, banged into the room in a heated argument.

"How dare you? Who do you think you are?" Misses yelled.

Yoko winced as a smacking sound rang out, and Rosana buried her head in Yoko's ready arms.

Yoko heard, between Rosana's sobs, the words "Make it stop! Make them go away!"

He jumped up and leapt into action. He tackled Mister to the ground, ducking in time to avoid a kick to the back from misses, and then popped back up and pushed Misses to the ground.

Mister stood up, and instead of going after Yoko, he sauntered over and smacked Rosana on the cheek. Yoko was raging with emotions; anger, hatred, and distaste filled him. Yoko had only one thought: Kill the pigs who treated these kids like dragon dung.

A bright blue light bathed the room, blinding Mister and enticing Misses. Before it could be stopped, an arrow stuck into mister's chest, passing through, and exiting his back. The arrow passed through his heart. Mister collapsed.

Before Yoko knew what he was doing, he turned to Misses, who was standing near the wall of the room. He pulled an arrow from a sling that appeared on his shoulder when the bow appeared. He mocked an arrow, and gave Misses a deathly glare. An arrow flew and pierced her shoulder, passing through and catching the wall behind her. Another arrow pinned her other shoulder to the wall. She struggled to move. She lunged forward, but the arrows only grew tighter in her shoulders and she screamed out in pain.

"You stupid kid. How dare you do this to me! For all I've done for you! All I've given up for you!" she screamed at Yoko.

Yoko, amazingly enough, remained perfectly calm. His bow remained trained in his hands, pointing at the throat of the woman. Rosana, on the other hand, was panicking.

Waving her arms extravagantly, she yelled "Yoko! What just happened? We hafta go! Yoko listen! Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!"

Damian ran inside the room, yelling as loud as the others. "What the crud is going on in here!" he demanded as he walked in. He stopped when he saw Rosana in tears. He paused and looked around the room. The body, the bow, the quiver, the woman pinned to the wall. Damian stood in the doorway awkwardly for a moment.

Reality soon kicked in, and Damian ran to his room. Yoko pulled back on the string where his arrow was notched, steadying the aim at the woman's throat. He flexed his wrist, readying for the shot. He released his fingers. The arrow flew, whizzing in the air like a dart. It got caught in the wall, directly next to the woman's neck.

Yoko leaned in, and she spat at him. "Listen, woman. You have done absolutely nothing for me or my friends. The only thing keeping you alive is the other orphans who live here, who need you in order to survive."

"I'll kill you kid! Run while you still can! I'll kill you! I swear on the great Akira herself!" the woman howled.

"Oh don't worry. I'm leaving," Yoko sneered.

Damian ran back into the room with some bags. "We gotta go! I packed for you Yoko, all of three things you have here. Rosana, here's a bag." Damian said as he tossed Yoko a nearly empty bag, and Rosana an empty one.

"Thanks, D. Rosana, pack," Yoko said calmly, as if he was avoiding emotions. Rosana threw the contents of her room into her bag, and turned to Yoko.

"Yoko, I'm scared," she said. Her eyes lost their usual luster and instead radiated a fearsome loneliness.

Yoko grasped her hand. "I've got you. You'll be with me. I'll keep you safe."

"Hey lovebirds let's GO!" yelled Damian from the doorway. Yoko blushed and ran through the doorway, still holding Rosana's hand. Rosana's heavy bag dragged along the floor, and she nearly tripped a few times.

Damian burst out of the house into darkness; the moon was covered, by clouds, allowing for a perfect escape. "Where are we going?" he whispered to Yoko.

"I'm scared," Rosana said again.

Yoko squeezed Rosana's hand. "The lake," he said, determined he was going to the right place. The water there was beckoning to him, calling him there, and he knew it.

They set off into the night, silent as ninja's, plotting their escape as they went.

*******

Yoko didn't know it, but the woman he shot with the arrows soon died; The amount of water in her veins was enough to satisfy a thirsty horse. Healers say the high concentration of water came into her body through her wound; The wound where Yoko's arrow had been.