Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction / Monster Rancher Fan Fiction ❯ Monsters Rule ❯ Hello, Stranger ( Chapter 3 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Again, thanks for the reviews! "Her name is Lia," said Kohaku.
Bakura looked up from the potato. "Lia who?"
Kohaku indicated the young Unico, who was quite calmly playing with some of the coins. "Her. 'S short for Julia."
He returned to the potato, trying to pretend it was steak (Kohaku had informed him that the meat had been finished off a while ago). "Oh. Her. Well, I certainly don't have any objection."
"And how did you know I had her disk?"
Bakura smiled. "Persistent, yes? I'll tell you if you promise not to tell anyone else."
"Tell me first. Then I'll promise."
Bakura showed him the stone.

Centaur was apparently able to suspend his disbelief to outrageous levels, as he took their explanation of why they had arrived again-not to mention the sight of Yugi's hair- quite calmly. He proceeded to invite them for lunch.
"Sorry, but we can't wait," Genki told him. "Holly's stone could be a hundred miles off by now!"

"Now," said Bakura, "promise. You said you would after I told you."
Kohaku duly did so, though it seemed like a struggle. As he did, the Ring glowed and he took a step backward. "Don't worry, it's an extra precaution. Just in case you don't realize just how valuable a promise is. Now, I suppose I'll be on my way."
Diamant had finished her share of the food; Bakura climbed on and they began to rise. "Oh," he yelled down, "and you had better find a better place to take her. I wish you luck in your ventures."
Once high enough in the air, he checked the stone, focusing to create the dark arrow once again. Again, it pointed to the mountains. All right, frozen bodies don't just up and walk off, so I can count on it staying there until I get to it. In the meantime, I'm not going to look for more of those disks. The last thing I need is a squadron of weak baby monsters trailing me about.
Besides, I don't need a pretty pendant. I have the Ring.
He flung it downward, then whispered to Diamant, who shot forward.

Kohaku sighed as he watched Diamant and Bakura take their leave. They were right- he couldn't exactly have a baby looking on while he gave Grey Wolf what he had coming, could he? Not with so many other Cabalos that she could mistake for him… It would have to be put off again.
The green stone landed before him; he looked up to see Diamant gone. A parting gift, he supposed. He would have called out thanks, but it would only call attention to them and Bakura couldn't possibly hear, anyway.
He looked at her again; she looked right back with a solemn expression. If she weren't so small he would've thought her older than he knew she was. Not like the original Julia, who always seemed to find something to smile about. Then again, even she would be hard put to smile given the current situation.
Julia… wait a second. Kohaku grimaced briefly at the thought of playing the supplicant, but Centaur had always liked children. They used to climb all over him; those who were able, anyway.
Besides, you could depend on Centaur to stick by his code.
"Lia?"
She looked at him. "Yes, what is it?"
"Climb on."
It took a while before she understood what she meant, and then she nodded and got on. He picked up the stone between his teeth, and they were on their way southward.

Somehow Centaur had convinced them to stay a little longer, long enough for some food (from where it came they had no clue) and for Genki to give a semi-coherent explanation of Yugi and Mahaad's origins, not to mention the reason for their hurry.
"But if not just anyone can use the stone, and you already know which way to go," Centaur asked, "then you don't need to worry about it, correct?"
Holly looked away. "I know, but…"

Hikaru couldn't see when he opened his eyes; the blackened section of the forest might as well have been the sky, it was so blurred together. It hurt to move or try to move even the slightest; he couldn't move his legs at all. It hurt whether he moved or not. He held on out of instinct, knowing it served no purpose.
It was over and he knew it. Soon he would be another nameless Lost Disk, kicked aside by impatient successors, a reminder of the fate of the unlucky and the weak.
The question was: had he been weak, or had he been unlucky?
He barely heard Grey Wolf's words the first time, and he certainly didn't understand them; not until his commander raised his voice to a near-shout did Hikaru realize what he must mean. He spoke then, best as he could, described the human and the dragon best as he could, told him the name of the renegade Cabalos, mentioned the baby Unico. When he felt everything useful had been said, he stopped trying to turn his neck to look up at where Grey Wolf must be.
He felt no additional pain; if anything it went away. If he could speak, he would have thanked Grey Wolf for making it stop.

Grey Wolf kept up the flow of electricity until Hikaru began to glow red, and then turned away, averting his eyes from the transformation. It wasn't fair. Granted, nothing was fair, but this was especially unfair. Some kind of monster he had never heard of, wiping out an entire unit with one blast… according to Hikaru it had been technically been two, but…
He growled so low it was near-inaudible, and moved on.
He knew Mu would not like this.

They had been on the road for a while before Lia spoke. "What should I call you?"
He put down the stone. "Kohaku."
She contemplated this for a moment. "What does the stone do?"
Kohaku opened his mouth to reply- and immediately had a coughing fit so severe not an understandable word could come out. After a while it subsided, and he stood there for a moment, taking deep breaths.
"Are you all right?"
"I'm fine. It-" More coughing ensued. "It's a secret, all right?" Obviously he was going to have to keep the promise. Don't tell anyone, and that meant everyone.
Lia settled for this explanation, Kohaku picked up the stone, and they continued.

"Well," said Genki, "we'd better get going if we ever want to find the Phoenix."
Goodbyes were said, and they began out on the road. Mocchi screamed. "A baddie!" Genki squinted down the road. Indeed, there was a Cabalos running toward them… and what was that on its back?
Tiger turned to him. "I'll take care of it." Before Genki could reply, he was off.
The Cabalos evidently saw his approach and dodged off the road, yelling something at what Genki could now identify as a very small Unico. Said Unico spread her wings and leapt off, flying over Tiger's head. Tiger paid no heed to her, going straight for the Cabalos.
The Cabalos evidently saw him coming and jumped. Tiger turned and fired a Torpedo; he twisted in midair and fired his own in response. They dodged in opposite directions; the Torpedoes did nothing but burn some patches of innocent grass.
The Unico, in the meantime, had nearly reached them, and right then she began to shout. "Centaur! Centaur! Come out! Please!"
Yugi blinked. "I don't understand. Why would one of Mu's monsters have a little kid along?"
Genki contemplated that for a moment, during which he took another look at the Cabalos, then ran forward, yelling. "Tiger! STOP! It's not a baddie!"
"How do you know?" Tiger yelled back, not looking at Genki.
"Look at him! Do you see a symbol anywhere? Do you?"
Tiger took a look, as well as a step backward. The Cabalos locked eyes with him. "In case you hadn't noticed, Tiger of the Wind, you're the one who attacked me."
Centaur came through the gate, spear held high, then stopped. "Kohaku. It's been a while." Kohaku nodded curtly in response. Tiger let out a yell.
"The Magic Stone!"
Holly gasped. "What?"
"He dropped it! See?"
Tiger indicated the stone, lying in the grass. Holly ran over and picked it up, then turned to Kohaku. "Thank you for bringing back my stone. Where did you find it?"
"It fell from the sky," he deadpanned.
Holly laughed. "No, really!"
Kohaku began to cough.

Grey Wolf had gathered all the available Cabalos and looked them over. "Katsuya and Murasaki," he said at last. "Go to Mount Cairos as quickly as possible and deliver this message to Mu-"

Bakura grabbed another bag of potatoes and hurried out to confront some unhappy purple things that reminded him of the tulip bulbs Ryou had planted once. Only these talked, and were far more annoying than tulip bulbs could ever be.
"Diamant," he yelled, "destroy these purple weeds for me, would you?"
Moments later there were five lost disks in a crater, and the others were backing off. Bakura whistled, and Diamant flew down; he jumped on, and Diamant fried some more of them who had attempted to attack before taking off once more.
Bakura grinned as he sorted through the stuff in midair, waving at the angry monsters below. He tossed a piece of meat to Diamant, who snapped it up. This would certainly be enough to get them to the mountains, and probably back again, especially since they had cleared the forests.

"There has to be some way to circumvent it," said Mahaad, as if by saying this he would all of a sudden think of that way.
Kohaku had more or less recovered from his last fit. Yugi knelt beside him. "What exactly did you do?"
Kohaku looked up at him. "I promised not to tell anyone about it."
Holly snapped her fingers. "That's it! Centaur, do you have anything for writing?" Parchment and ink were quickly produced. "Kohaku, could you write it down?"
He did so; it was a tedious process, as his claws were not exactly ideal for this purpose.
S-A-I-D T-O C-A-L-L H-I-M B-A-K-U-R-A.
Yugi gasped. "Bakura!"
Tiger growled. "I knew it."

Bakura looked at the mountains. They seemed a bit closer. "All right then, we're going down and starting up again tonight." Diamant complied, and he went to sleep very quickly.