The Last Animega

To Catch a Guardian

The snow crunched under Aiden's feet as he touched down onto the ground. A soft growl rumbled my throat, my teeth started to transform into fangs. Calypso stepped in front of me, creating a barrier between Aiden and I. He cocked his head to one side and stared at her, an amused smile plastered on his lips. "I never thought you'd be one to defend another. What other surprises are you going to show me?"

Calypso snarled. "How about my fist in your face? Would that be a good one?"

Aiden chuckled. "Even the peacekeeper can't control her own anger. Interesting."

I closed my eyes and tried to slow my breath. The fangs slowly shrank back and were replaced by normal human teeth. Calm, I had to stay calm. Blindly running in wasn't going to do any good for anyone. Aiden's abilities played through my mind. Fast and strong, that was all that I knew. So, if I could restrict his movement, that would be a large advantage to me. My eyes snapped open and stared him down. Moving towards any form of plant would be too obvious, plus I had to make contact with my skin. Or at least through a thin piece of clothing. Calypso moved forward to charge at Aiden, but I beat her to it.

This time my moves were a little more percise than the previous encounters. He sidesteped easily, but I wasn't going to let him get away. My wheelkick was a bit sloppy due to the heavy winter clothes, but it did it's job. Aiden doubled over in pain as my heel collided with his gut. Turning on my heel, I used the momentum to aim a punch towards his nose. There was a feeling like an eggshell breaking underneith my knuckles as the bone broke.

My shin rose up swiftly and aimed itself for his groin. A firm hand caught my leg before it could make contact. With one hand clutching his bleeding nose, Aiden used the other to toss me aside like a rag doll. There was a loud crack as I collided with the thick trunk of a tree; I wasn't sure if it had come from the tree or from one of my bones breaking. Swallowing my pain, I placed a bare hand against the wooden surface and lay on the cold winter ground. My eyes fluttered shut as I lost myself in the plant.

I could practically see its roots running through the ground and towards Aiden. The frozen soil made it a bit harder to work the root far enough, but I managed. There was a loud crumbling sound as the wood broke through the surface. The root wound itself around Aiden, trapping him.

"What the-?" He gasped as the wood contracted, holding him firm in one place. Bringing myself back into reality, I kept my hand on the tree to keep the wood hard and virtually unbreakable.

"Calypso, go get Dillon." I panted, the pain and trapping Aiden were enough to make anyone tired.

She glanced back and forth between me and him. "But-"

"He's the only one with a weapon made of Demon's blood. We need him in order to finish this."

Her ears were pressed firmly against her skull, the black hair on the twin tails was sticking strait up. "Fine." Calypso growled. Changing into a panther, she disappeared in the direction of our camp.

A cold chuckled came from the mass of twisted wood. My head snapped back in his direction fast enough to break someone's neck. "What's so funny?" I snarled.

Aidan's icy blue eyes were all I could make out in the darkness of the night. "Nothing, nothing at all." A heavy layer of amusement was thrown over his words. A twig snapped in the direction that Calypso had run. She couldn't have gotten Dillon so soon, could she? I notched an arrow, wary of every sound that escaped from somewhere in the forest.

The orange glow of a fire reached my vision. The flame was held on a crude torch. Holding it was a familiar being that I knew I would only see in my memories. "T-Thomas?" I squeaked. All blood drained from my face. My arm dipped the arrow down to the ground, my slender fingers barely held it. The torch was dropped to the ground, and died out quickly.

"Sam!" He shouted. Thomas ran towards me and scooped me up into a hug, silver eyes burning bright with relief. The bow fell my grasp as I just stood there, too shocked to even move. My arms slowly jerked themselves up to return the embrace.

"But, you're dead." I whispered.

"I can tell you that I am very alive." He replied. The sleek surface of his black winter jacked felt warm under my fingertips. My palm pressed against his back, making sure that he was actually in front of me. I even pinched myself, and I wasn't dreaming. Tears welled up in my eyes.

"You're not alive." I muttered. "This isn't real, I'm dreaming. You're dead." A small part of me was screaming to get away from him. Something was seriously wrong. But every other cell in my body urged me to believe it. Thomas was alive, he was standing right in front of me.

"Sam." He breathed. "Why can't you believe me? I'm alive, I'm right here." I couldn't see, my vision was blurred with salty tears. The cold winter air stung the trails the drops left behind.

My face burrowed itself in his shoulder, all sense left my mind. How could he be alive? I saw him die, he died right in my arms. Those thoughts were quickly drowned out by relief.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Aiden: *laughs*

Aridis: Shut up

Aiden: why should I?

Aridis: You're going to spoil stuffs!!

Aiden: am not!

Sam: what are you talking about?

Aridis: NOTHING