Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Into The Void ❯ The Surprising Discovery ( Chapter 14 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

By: MellyN

Into the Void

By: Melissa Norvell

Chapter 14: The Surprising Discovery

"God, Rubio is such a jerk," Sari scoffed, irritated with Rubio's latest action.

"You can have my futon," Valentino offered his sleeping place.

"What about you?" Sari asked.

"I'm sleeping on the floor."

"There's a reason Ryouzonia-sama gave you a futon. I don't care if you're comfortable or not. Get your ass over here and share!" The spunky girl demanded.

"I'm fine."

"Don't make me drag you by that pretty black hair of yours, because I'll give you a new look. How about bald? Very hip, very cool!"

"Fine."

"That's what I thought, Mr. Valerio," the girl smirked mischievously to herself, satisfied with the fact that the male was complying with her demands.

"Just don't kiss me," Valentino climbed into the other side of the futon and covering himself with the covers.

"Um…About that….I'm really sorry," Sari looked sincere. "I don't know what got into me. You're my friend, nothing else."

"Good."

"And my hero," she smiled.

"I don't want to be," he told her, regret evident in his voice.

"Too bad…Deal with it."

"I will."

'I guess I really don't like him like that…' Sari thought to herself. 'I mean, I guess I was just sad or something that day. He's good looking but way too old for me. Way too mature too. It is kind of nice sleeping with a guy though.' She looked to the now-sleeping man and concentrating on his facial features, expression almost like that of a corpse. 'He's mechanical through and through, even in his sleep. Kind of scary…He looks dead. I can't even hear him breathing.'

"Good night, Valentino…" Sari told the sleeping man kindly before she turned around and curled into a ball, drifting off to sleep.

Sunshine filtered through the window, bathing the still-sleeping girl in its warm rays. Shifting slightly, she opened her aqua eyes to see three hands before her. Blinking in confusion, a slight panic shot through her being.

'What the crap? I don't have three hands. What did I do? Grow one in my sleep?' Her thoughts berated her as she turned her head, nearly coming nose-to-nose with Valentino, who was still asleep. "Ah!" She yelped as her sights quickly turned back to the ceiling. She looked surprised at the fact that he was so close to her.

'That's freakin' weird! How'd he get over here?' Her thoughts played twenty questions within the confines of her mind. 'That's why it was so warm over here…I thought he didn't want me to kiss him…and he was being all 'don't touch me'!'

"Hey Valentino," Sari attempted to wake the sleeping male.

The red-eyed assassin furrowed his eyebrows a little before opening his eyes slowly and looking at the girl, who was staring back at him. His black tresses were disheveled and Sari had to admit that he looked cute when he was just waking up. She almost cracked a smile before it quickly faded and she spoke.

"What the hell?"

"You were cold," Valentino stated simply, as if nothing were wrong with getting close for warmth.

"I thought you didn't want me to kiss you."

"Sorry, I…" His eyes widened a little.

"Nah," the girl dismissed. "I'm sorry. That was out of line. I don't know what's wrong with me. Thanks for being so cool about it."

"You're a nice girl, Sari…" Valentino sympathized with her. He too knew what it was like to be lonely and even though he was surrounded by people who seemed genuine and close to him, he knew that there would always be a feeling of loneliness deep within his heart and a sense of feeling out of place of completely disconnected with the group. He wondered if Sari was beginning to feel that way herself.

In a sense, Valentino kind of envied Sari for being able to be so strong in the circumstances that she was put in with everyone, not to mention the amount of mental stress that was being put on her.

"I know what you're going to say and hey, it's cool."

"Oh."

"It was just an accident. I really need my head examined for that. How old are you anyway?" The girl sat up, looking at the lounging assassin.

"Eighteen why?"

"Oh yeah, you and Ionna are twins. DUUH! That was a dumb question," the girl could feel beads of sweat running down her head, feeling a little stupid.

"How old did you think I was?" Valentino sat up and leveling her with his gaze.

"Twenty-five."

"Eight years older than I am," he sweat a little.

"Wow that makes you feel good about yourself. Hey, but if it counts, you don't look like you're seven or anything," Sari attempted to console him, "and you're very pretty."

"So are you," he complimented her back.

"Nah, I'm plain."

"Pretty to me."

"I'm flattered,” Sari smiled kindly. "Usually guys are calling me annoying and stupid…and big mouthed," she dead panned with a look of irritation.

"You're not loud," the red-eyed man reasoned, "you're expressive and optimistic, very opinionated."

"I should turn down the volume. I'm just causing problems. I can't help it though; I have a bad habit of saying whatever comes to my mind," the girl seemed a bit down.

"You make it seem easy," Valentino arose; the shuffling of fabric could be heard as he did so. Sari then followed suit.

"Well you make being silent look easy."

"I figured I should have gotten up, people would assume-" Valentino started, but Sari cut him off.

"They're probably going to anyway. We both know we didn't do anything so screw them," the girl waved in dismissal.

"We should see if anyone else is awake," he suggested.

"Right," the spunky girl nodded as she walked over to the door, opening it. As she did so, she felt cold, wet liquid hit her form and cascade onto the floor. She stood there, silent and in shock. After the initial shock was over, she tensed up and began to tremble in anger at the fact that she got wet so early in the morning. "Oh…I'm definitely going to kill someone. As soon as I find them without waking people up."

"No need for showers," the assassin said to himself, eyes locked onto the girl's drenched form.

"You're going to be telling me 'no need for murder' in a few minutes," the girl fumed.

"Please…No more fighting."

"Nah, just good fun. I'll take the joke this time," she forced out an awkward smile, knowing that he was right. She really wasn't in the mood for drama after the events of the night before. The assassin said nothing as she stalked off down the hall, water dripping off of her form and leaving a trail behind her.

The short-haired girl decided to walk into the kitchen to see if anyone was in there eating breakfast. Upon walking in the door way, her facial expression became bewildered as she arched an eyebrow at the awkward sight before her.

"Wha-?"

Atop of the table, covered in a blanket was Rubio. He was turned on his side with both knees bent in one direction and his face placed on the side of his arms. They acted as a pillow for the man. His silver hair cascaded all around his form, hugging his face and curve of his arms.

'What the hell? No…I'm not going to ask…Not going to ask…'

"Nugh…" Rubio groaned as he slowly opened his eyes, stirring awake.

"It's not polite to drool on the table," Sari told him.

Rubio wiped his mouth with his shirt sleeve lazily, and then looked at it when he felt nothing being removed from his face. "Hey, I'm not drooling."

"I have a problem," Sari ignored his commentary.

The silver haired man propped himself up on one elbow and looked at her. Her form was still dripping wet and the curl of her hair had looked droopy. He could tell that she'd been wet. "You swam in a lake?" He arched an eyebrow.

"No, someone played a prank on me."

"Anything I can do?" Rubio asked.

Sari couldn't help it. It left Rubio so wide open for sarcasm that it wasn't even funny.

"Erase yourself that would work."

"You're not my friend anymore," Rubio turned his face away, looking annoyed. He didn't need this so early in the morning. Why couldn't Sari go and find someone else to annoy?

The girl smiled devilishly, picking up a knife from the counter and holding it menacingly. "Don't make me throw this at you." She warned, pulling off her most serious face as Vincent walked in.

"Man that must've been passionate," he said out of the blue.

"What?" Sari's head snapped in his direction, not knowing what the hell he'd been talking about.

"You and Valentino."

"We didn't do anything," she defended.

"You're all wet."

"That's because someone put a pail of water above my door and it fell on me!" She glared in his direction, suspecting him as the culprit.

"I wonder who did that," Vincent replied innocently.

"I do too…" Sari glared harder, hoping he would get the hint that he was the suspected one. Vincent glanced around the room, as if he didn't know who she was talking to. Then it hit him.

"You mean-" He began to ask, pointing to himself in question, but his words were too slow for Sari's punches as she tackled him, beginning to beat him to a pulp.

"I knew it was you! Always ready to say something!" Sari yelled in anger, sitting on his back and taking two fists full of hair and yanking on them as Vincent screamed in pain beneath her cruel grasp.

"Ow! Ow! I didn't do anything! I swear!" He pleaded.

"That's what they all say!" The irritated girl replied. "Guilty until proven innocent!"

"I thought it was the other way around!" His hair was yanked yet again, causing him to yelp.

Rubio was watching him from his position on the table as he felt beads of sweat run down his forehead, looking quite annoyed with their kitchen rumble. "I can't get any sleep around here." He muttered.

"Well, did you do anything with Valentino?" Vincent looked over his shoulder at Sari.

"No, why would I?"

A puppy-eyed expression crossed his face as he clasped his hands together in fan girlish glee. "He's your hero," he teased, batting his eyelashes over dramatically.

"Oh god…Go somewhere."

"Hmmmm…" Vincent looked shifty-eyed as he looked over to the doorway with a grin on his face as Valentino emerged. "So, how'd it go?" He asked with a smirk.

"How'd what go?" Valentino was slightly confused yet knowing exactly where this was going.

"Your sleep…with Sari?"

"We slept."

"And that's all," Sari added.

"Why are you sleeping on the table, Rubio?" The bounty hunter turned to the silver-haired man.

"Because you were sleeping on my futon and yours," Rubio grumbled as the brown haired man sweat dropped.

"Oh, that was the extra futon I found…Sorry…"

"I would have given you mine, but Sari slept with me," Valentino replied.

The man then looked from Rubio to Valentino as thoughts crossed his mind and a small smile began to creep onto his features.

"Don't even say it," Rubio warned.

Vincent smiled a large, cheesy grin.

"Shut up," he further warned.

"Oh, you wanted him to sleep with you," Vincent said as a slight blush crept upon the assassin's cheeks.

"That doesn't make any sense!" Sari butted in. "Why would you want to sleep with someone who tried to kill you?"

"He's blushing," the bounty hunter, teased and pointed to the blushing man. "He loves you Rubio," Vincent joked, and then was smacked by Rubio.

"I don't love him," he protested, narrowing his eyes.

"Same here," Valentino replied.

"I'm not gay."

"Well, I'm not agreeing with you on that," Sari replied.

"Thanks…" Rubio dead panned.

"Uh-huh."

Valentino cleared his throat.

"Ah…" Vincent sighed as Ionna walked into the room, looking at all of them suspiciously.

"Okay, you guys are too quiet for your own good. What's wrong?" She looked all of them over.

"Ask Sari," Vincent smiled.

"I didn't do anything," the wet girl denied all allegations.

Rubio was sitting on the table, his legs crossed and arms folded over his chest as he glared with a peeved expression at the bounty hunter and spunky girl. Ionna noticed that the green-clad man looked especially happy for some reason and decided to question him on it.

"What are you so damned happy about?" She asked.

"I slept with Agata," he replied.

"Bet you didn't do anything," Sari shot. Like Vincent was ever that lucky. Agata would never have been so desperate as to have sex with that guy.

"Nope, but it feels so nice."

"Oh god!" Sari wailed as Yaritza walked into the room, sleep clinging to her as she yawned. She still looked half awake. Green eyes glanced around the room to see everyone with odd expressions. Ionna was standing there, looking slightly peeved, Vincent had a huge smile plastered to his face, Sari was wet and Rubio was sitting on the table looking irritated at something.

"Good morning," the ninja told them. "Why do you guys look like that? Did you guys get into a fight?"

Ionna sighed, and looked a little sad.

"Ahhh…" Was all Vincent could manage.

"Hm?" Sari looked to Ionna, noticing her saddened expression as questioned reeled through her mind. She wondered if Ionna had a crush on Vincent. She'd been acting particularly angry and hurt when he praised Agata and didn't seem to notice her.

Agata walked into the room. "We've got word that Ibuki's troops are moving back to the village where I first met Sari and Rubio."

"Oh, we can see how they rebuilt it. Maybe I can find my parents," the spunky girl perked up at the news. She'd been feeling homesick off and on and still held some hope that her parents would be seen again. She was beginning to get hyped up about seeing her home again.

"Your parents?" Yaritza looked to the now happy Sari in question.

"Well to put it in short," Ionna began a long explanation of all of the events taking place from the moment she joined up until the ninja joined, to catch her up on things. "And that's it really." She finished her explanation.

"Sorry about asking so much, but I just joined."

"It's alright."

Rubio said nothing in response, but looked as if he were thinking about something.

"You've been quiet all day, Rubio. What's eating at you?" Vincent asked.

Rubio didn't give him an answer.

"Uh…Okay…I guess you don't feel like talking about it."

The man still had no response, he looked miserable with grief.

"Rubio…Hello?"

"Are you alright?" Yaritza was concerned for his state of mind and physical body.

"Yeah, can you hear us?"

"Don't talk to me," he warned, his tone steel and cold, lacking any emotion. He soon felt a hand on his shoulder.

It was Valentino.

"We've got to check the mountain before we leave," Ionna changed the subject. She knew that Rubio was angry and didn't want another repeat of the night before to happen. Getting off the current subject would be her best bet, no matter how cold it seemed to do.

"I'll go with you,” Ryouzonia spoke up from a few feet behind her.

Valentino looked at the silent silver-haired man as Yaritza talked about moving out. He didn't know what was irking Rubio, but he figured it was best left unsaid. Although he couldn't shake the familiar feelings that plagued him with looks like those.

Especially those given by Rubio.

XI.

At the top of the mountain, everyone looked around at the once-home of the terrorists. It was now abandon and empty. Everyone stood in silence for a few moments, Rubio had been silent from the beginning.

"It looks completely destroyed," Sari glanced at the old, condemned looking canon.

"They most likely won't be back," Ryouzonia knew that the base was now no use to them.

"I feel like there's someone watching me," Valentino felt a bit strange and even a little paranoid though none of those feelings were able to get past his seemingly emotionless exterior. Sari looked behind him, seeing a tall, bald figure looming a few feet away.

"There is," the girl pointed to Zidane who looked slightly annoyed.

"Not like that," the assassin sighed in exasperation as two figures, dressed in blue uniforms stepped out from a nearby doorway.

It was Udo and Loreli.

The two ex-terrorists laid sights upon the group. Udo sighed in exasperation. He'd been through a lot and he really didn't feel like putting up with anything else at the moment. It was bad enough that they nearly froze to death and now this.

"Not them again…I'm not strong enough to beat them," Udo told his girlfriend.

"Maybe we won't have to," Loreli replied.

"What?" The white-haired man glanced to his mate in question.

"Let's join them," she settled, pointing to the bald man. "Zidane is with them. So is Rubio and Valentino."

"Okay, what have we got to lose?" Udo waved at the group. "Hey, Zidane-sama!"

"Hm?" The bald man turned his head to the two.

"Zidane-sama! Over here!" Udo yelled.

"Hey!" Loreli called out.

"Well, what do you know?" Zidane smirked. "We have some survivors."

"Let's make them our prisoners," Yaritza gave a demented smile.

"You're such a dork," Sari dead panned.

"Better than you, loud mouth," the ninja replied.

"LOUD MOUTH!?!"

"Proves my point," the ninja smiled victoriously as the two came running up to the group. The sound of crunching snow could be heard as they made their way over to them. Udo and Loreli stopped a few inches short of everyone. Sari got a good look at his face and her features turned to those of anger.

"It's you."

"And it's you, but that's not important," Udo replied, as if she didn't matter to him. This caused Sari to look offended. How dare he just shove her aside as if she were unimportant?

"Not important!?" She exclaimed.

"If you don't shut up, you'll cause another avalanche," Udo said calmly and a bit arrogantly.

"What do you want anyway, porcupine boy?"

"We were betrayed by Ibuki-sama and we saw that Zidane was with you, which it's good to see you alive, by the way. We were wondering if we could team up with you," Udo asked.

"Well, I'll ask you the same question that I asked Zidane here," Agata stated. "Why should I? How can I trust you? And what value do you have to the team?"

"Why should you?" The white-haired man repeated her question as if falsely thinking about an answer. "I don't really know," he shrugged. "Probably because we have information regarding Ibuki-sama. We aren't the most faithful generals…or at least I'm not, but Loreli was. We're trying to achieve a dream. We're a lot like Zidane. We didn't want these jobs. We were abducted from our villages and forced to work as generals. We were raised on this kind of life, tortured, experimented on, poisoned…But we want to be free."

"It's true," Zidane backed Udo up. "He tried to run away five times. Get punished once and tortured the rest. He's been in the establishment since he was twelve."

"Twelve?" Sari questioned. "You mean like little kid?"

"No, he means with a zero behind it," Yaritza replied sarcastically. "Of course he means little kid."

"Loreli was eight," Zidane noted.

"How can you trust me? Well you can't," Udo informed. "You can trust Loreli. She doesn't lie. What value do we have? I'm a master at weaponry and the trajectory of objects. I'm intelligent and can figure out complicated problems based on uncertainty. Call me an architect of sorts. I can make a weapon well-suited for the specifications of the individual wielding it and can point out high and low points on it."

"I don't understand a word he's saying," Vincent looked utterly confused.

"Too technical for me," Sari wore the same clueless expression.

"I'm highly intelligent and can provide you with an unlimited supply of information. I'm great at cracking codes and decoding sequences. I'm strong, highly trained in the ninja arts and I'm a good fighter all around."

"You act like this is a job interview," Zidane took a puff off of his cigarette. "They're okay to join. I took them under my wing. If they act up I can just punch them in the face."

"I wouldn't have a face left, Zidane-sama," Udo said with a nervous smile. He knew the scar-faced man all too well and he was definitely a person no one wanted to anger.

"Ouch…" Loreli cringed at the thought of it.

"Why not?" Agata sighed, giving in to their demands. "We can't get any more complicated. Come on."

"Where is this village anyway?" Ionna asked.

"What village?" Udo answered her question with a question.

"Some village Agata found Sari and Rubio in."

"It's nice to see people here I know," Udo looked at Valentino.

"Good to have you aboard."

Udo smiled at the man.

"You're smiling?" Loreli was shocked. It had been such a long time since the man had smiled. She couldn't begin to remember the last time she'd seen a real smile from him.

"Hey, I haven't seen you smile since you were twelve," Zidane looked over to the spiky haired man. "What's the occasion?"

"It feels good to be free," his comrade replied. "I've infiltrated the army, now I just need to take out the elite guards."

"You'll never truly be free," Valentino said as Udo's smile quickly turned into a frown.

"Why do you always have to ruin it?" He asked in dead pan.

"Look what you did," Zidane joked. "You turned his smile upside down."

"I'm a caged bird whose wings have been broken to the point of disfigurement." Sullen eyes looked to the cold now in regret. "But I'm not about to give up on the thought of flight."

Loreli smiled kindly at him as they began to walk.

"So, why is a military officer, some former cons, a ninja from the Tamara Clan, a village girl and a head hunter looking for Ibuki-sama?" Udo found, finding the group a little unorthodox.

"Payback," Zidane answered.

Valentino and Rubio fell silent.

"He's wanted," Agata noted.

"He killed my parents," Sari informed Udo as his frown deepened.

"Same reason as Agata," Vincent added.

Yaritza shrugged, "I got pulled in."

"Trying to save the innocent," Ryouzonia informed.

"I was hired by a former friend of his to kill him," Ionna told him.

"I see. You're a strange bunch."

Green eyes stared at the white-haired man. For a while now, Yaritza somehow found his form nostalgic and had been trying to place where she'd seen him before. Up until this point, she'd said nothing to him. She didn't want to ask and be wrong, but the question had been constantly tugging at her and she could no longer hold it in.

"You look familiar," she stated, gazing at him.

"So do you," he looked back at her.

"White hair, blue eyes, pale complexion…" Yaritza thought aloud.

"The Tamara Clan…I believe my village was once by their land," Udo stated.

"Really? We used to have a pact of peace with another clan, but their village was destroyed fourteen years ago," Ryouzonia informed.

"That would make you twelve, eh Udo?" Zidane threw out that information, piecing things together in his head.

"Yes," the other looked as if he were contemplating something deep within the confines of his mind.

"White cheek markings," Yaritza said aloud. "Hey, did you used to be a ninja?"

"Yes."

"What rank?"

"Elite."

"Elite!"! At age twelve!?!" The girl burst out, stunned that he proclaimed to pass even the masters of the arts at such a young age. It almost seemed impossible to accomplish such a feat and few had. Those ninja were considered prodigies.

"Yes."

"You do know that Elite ninja are normally 17-18 years of age?" She wondered if he might have been confused over the ranking system and was mistaking his previous rank for another.

"Yes."

"That's seven years away…That's amazing."

Agata looked to the man, a sharp blue eye examining him and keen ears taking in the information he divulged to the group. 'Maybe he can be useful…At least I know he's not lying.'

"That's impressive," Ionna was in awe.

"I was an elite at fifteen, he' got three years on even me," Zidane noted.

"Fifteen!?!" Yaritza busted out once more. It seemed that everyone had been better then she was at the moment. The red head was beginning to feel very small compared to everyone else. "Man, I must suck or something. I'm an Elite and I'm sixteen. I barely passed my exam."

"I passed the exam with no errors," Udo stated.

"Wow, you've got to be a genius!" The red-head was once again floored with awe at this man's prowess.

"I'm not that great," the white-haired man dismissed the subject, as if he cared nothing about it and just wanted to avoid the subject altogether.

"Did you know the answer to question number seven?" She asked out of curiously. It was the one question that evaded her on the test the most.

"Simple trajectory," Udo educated and began to explain the problem in great detail all the way up to how he got the separate answers that he came up with. Yaritza listened; her eyes shone with wonder and admiration as she listened to him explain it. It all seemed too easy from his viewpoint. The female ninja wished that she was capable of being that smart.

She knew there were ninja out there who were superior in intelligence but this was the first time she'd ever met one.

They truly were amazing.

Sari didn't see how the question was worth answering. All that she gathered was the question of if one ninja threw something and hit ninjas at different points which would move faster, their bodies or the weapon.

"Why don't you let the ninja who got hit worry about it?" She caused the two's attention to be turned to her.

"This is the knowledge you need to pass the Elite Exam," Udo explained. "The first is general knowledge. Second, gathering information and third retrieving objects to complete a mission based on past required skill."

It all seemed like too much work to the green-blue haired girl.

"This is why I'm not a ninja," she wagered.

"No joke," Vincent agreed. "I'm not smart enough."

"Remember, you said that not me," Sari noted with a sly smile.

Vincent then looked annoyed. "Hey!"

'I need to watch Udo…' Agata thought to herself, feeling intimidated by his intelligence and found him to be quite a threat. 'He's even smarter than me. An intelligent member like that could be a threat. He and Zidane are a lethal pair…I'm going to watch them.'

"How old are you?" She saw that Udo appeared quite young.

"Twenty-six."

"You're young," the woman noted.

"Yes, and Loreli is twenty-two."

"You're impressive. I'm thirty-two and I don't have that type of knowledge."

"I'm thirty-two," Zidane noting that they were the same age.

"I feel dumb just looking at you guys," the spunky girl felt non-existent among the group.

"Yeah," Vincent agreed.

"You're dumb anyway, retard," the girl insulted, crossing her arms and glaring at him as if he had no right to talk. Sari wasn't about to be compared to him.

"That's mean," Loreli told her.

"No, he actually is a retard," Sari stated as if it were matter-a-factly. Then she turned to Udo. "I can see why you beat me in one hit. You were stunning…Literally."

"You were hit at a non-lethal angle. You're lucky. It usually shreds its victims," the ex-con smiled in a hollow and haunting manner at the girl. It literally sent chills up her spine.

"You're disturbed," her voice was nervous in tone. Sari felt very uneasy around him. He plain creeped her out.

"Hell, I could have told you that," the scar-faced man replied.

"It's a beautiful, yet haunting feeling to be covered in the flesh and internal organs of your enemy," Udo continued.

"That's sick," the girl shuddered in disgust at the very thought of internal organs.

"Blood tastes good."

"Okay psycho, you freak me out. You are a deranged man who needs something better then counseling." The disturbed girl replied, inching away from the spiky-haired man. Suddenly, she felt a sharp sting at her cheek and a trickle of fluid ran down it. She'd been cut with a kunai knife.

"Ah!" She winced at the pain as the smell of cologne was strong on her nose and flesh touched her own. Strong arms wrapped around her, hugging her and restricting her movement as she could see him out of the corner of her eye. She then felt a moist tongue run up her cheek, lapping up the blood gratefully.

Her eyes widened and the girl looked absolutely horrified. Paranoia ran through her being as she had no choice but to stay there until he was finished and pulled away slowly. His movements were sensual and that alone creeped her out almost as much as the thought of him licking her blood.

'We've got a real nut case on our hands…Not good!' Her mind freaked out.

"Young blood is often the best," Udo taunted, licking his lips and seeming quite teasing.

The girl said nothing, still wearing a traumatized look on her face.

'He's out of his mind!' Vincent thought to himself then decided to speak. "He's cold-blooded?"

"Just like you, Udo-kun," Loreli smiled, knowing all of the man's tricks and finding it normal for his demeanor. If there was anything that she was used to, it was the fact that Udo could be quite the sadist.

Sari looked at her as if she had done some serious drugs. 'And she thinks its NORMAL!? What the fuck is WRONG with these people!?'

"Wait," Vincent put a finger to his lips, contemplating his last phrase, "cold-blooded means you have to depend on body metabolism to function."

"Udo has to depend on body metabolism to be cold-blooded," Yaritza told him. "Mine doesn't work right." She stated her own poor physical state.

The spiky-haired man licked his knife, cleaning the blood off slowly and savoring the sweet metallic taste.

"Well," the red-head put her hands on her hips, looking straight at the deranged man.”Don't just stand there radiating blood lust…We've got to get to that village."

Udo agreed as the group headed down a lone street going back the way they came and headed towards the abandon village where Rubio and Sari first met and started out their journeys.

The place where all of this began.

The origin of events.

Sari kept occasionally glancing at Udo, thoughts littering her mind of events that happened just a few minutes ago as she pondered to herself. 'What a weirdo! He moved so fast that I didn't even see him, just felt a small gust and his tongue on my cheek…ugh…' Sari shuddered at the mere thought of the feeling. 'He lapped up my blood like a leech…'

Udo couldn't help but keep his eyes on the still-disturbed girl. He was just playing around with her and found her reactions quite humorous. Making her squirm in torture sounded delightful and a wicked smile crossed his face. 'I really freaked her out. Interesting bunch, it'll be nice to work with these people. Especially the unsuspecting ones like her…That should be fun.'

To Be Continued…