The Storm of The Tribes

Chapter 4: The Chikyu

One Week Later...

The Home of The Chikyu has seen brighter days. The ground is scorched, with ash littered all over it. Skeletons and rusty armor are scattered across the place. There is a gaping hole in the ground, which possibly leads somewhere.

Akio is on a carriage, with a horseman and all. They stop once they see the scorched ground. "Are you sure this is the place?" Akio asks. "What the heck would you be paying me for if I wasn't sure?" The horseman replies. "Fair enough." Akio utters. Akio clambers off the cart, and starts walking towards the gaping hole. He walks past all the clutter, and stares into the hole. He sees light, deep into it. He tries to peek further, and his foot slips, and he starts tumbling through the tunnel. He collects himself, and slides on his back. Sooner or later, he reaches the light.

Akio looks around, and sees an entire city underground. It was complete with tall, small, and wide buildings, contained by a rugged metal gate with stone walls. The city was lit with flaming spires all around. In the center of the city was an arena. People were going about their routines, and talking to each other. Akio starts to walk up to the gate.

"Outsider! Hold!" Someone yells. Akio stops, and puts his hand on the hilt of his sword. An archer steps onto the stone wall. She is wearing light armor, and a quiver. She isn't wearing a helmet, however. On her armor, is a silver seal. "What's your business here!?" The archer asks Akio. "I've come to enter The Tournament." Akio tells her. "Well... There's this little thing called an entry fee. Pay up." The Archer tells him.

"Who's gonna make me? You!?" Akio exclaims, laughing. The Archer takes an arrow from her quiver. "Last chance." She says. "I'm not scared of you! You're tiny!" Akio says. The Archer fires an arrow at Akio. He catches it with his left hand. Akio looks back at her, and she has her leg raised forward. Akio tilts his head in confusion. The Archer throws her leg back, and a pillar of earth rises from the wall, and hits Akio in the lower back. The Archer then raises her hand, and Akio's feet are wrapped in sand. The sand then hardens. The Archer jumps down from the wall, with her feet treading down the side.

"Okay... That was weird." Akio tells himself. The Archer then moves more sand, and it wraps around Akio's wrists, holding his arms back. "Let's see what you've got..." The archer says. She reaches into his waist pouch. Akio clenches his hand, and something starts forming in it. The Archer doesn't notice. "Hey. You missed something." Akio says. The Archer looks up from his pouch, and sees the ball of water in Akio's hand. He blasts The Archer into the wall. "Let. Me. Through." Akio sternly inquires. The Archer firmly inhales and exhales. "Fine." The Archer tells him. She then unlocks the gate. Akio walks in, and starts to examine the place. He sees that there are horsemen with a symbol of flame on their horse's saddle patrolling the place.

"Oh... Crap." Akio says to himself.