"Yeah…If it wasn't for Will making that fold. We'd probably all be dead."
Two figures stood on a hill overlooking the city of Heatherfield. The sun was rising behind the city and its glass skyscrapers reflected the light as though the windows themselves were stars. The male had to block his eyes from the powerful light as the girl looked over the city with a robotic gaze.
"So, this is where the Guardians ran off to." The man said with a slight whistle. He had been to Earth many times over the millennia; however, it was always the more modern cities that stunned him. His bright green eyes took in most of the spectacle and then turned to the girl.
That man looked to be in his early twenties, though his appearance belittled his age. Phobos tried to find a way to match him, and not even the great infinity of Candracar could possibly get close to his age. The girl next to him was unfortunately not that old, but her unique ability to switch which part of time she was in was what drew him to her. A lost silver flower in the abyss of space time was too hard for him to pass up.
"Guardian's insufficient." Her voice came out robotic as her red eyes continued to scan the surroundings. She could only find the three guardians. Three out of five were not important anymore. "There are only three located…scanning…scanning."
"That's odd," He said to himself while cupping his chin. A gentle breeze had kicked up and caused his white clothes flutter behind him. He knew that she would not respond if she was scanning so he waited.
"Source of magical energy confirmed. Three beings detected. Heart detected. Commencing attack protocol." The silver haired woman lifted an arm and a strong piece of metal armor formed around it. A long steel blade extended from the armor. She tried to rush forward, but was blocked by the man.
"Now, now," He spoke calmly and coldly. His eyes turned back on the city with a villainous chill. "We can't just go destroying Hearts, Blaz. Though it is your nature. We should wait until you can halve your other half."
"Understood, unit will remain on standby." The girl closed her eyes and her body seemed to relax. Her eyes then popped open and showed a kind of childish innocence. She jumped forward like a young child and smiled widely. "Then can we go get some ice cream, Chaos."
"Why of course, Grimoire." Chaos laughed and snapped his fingers. The two were then wearing clothes more suitable to Earth and the time period. Then the girl began to drag him down the hill and into town.
Hay Lin flew through the rain, her entire body soaked as she tried to get away. Behind her were both Tensa and Azure. It was what was behind them that worried the little Air Guardian. Three giant millipedes, that were more like busses than insects, crashed through the soaked underbrush behind them. It wouldn't be so bad if Hay Lin's right arm was working enough. She could have just flown circles around them, but with the appendage in a sling she could only afford basic maneuvers. She also had the added weight of the sword that Azure strapped to her waist to contend with now too.
"What the hell did you do Tensa?" She could hear Azure scream as they ran. Like Hay Lin he was soaked and his white hair dropped over his eyes.
"Why do you always assume it's my fault?" Tensa rebutted. "Besides, it's raining. You know I don't like the rain."
"I know." Azure sighed. He was helping Hay Lin get her right arm working in their hiding spot once the rain had started, but then the three monsters behind them decided to show up. The three then had to book it, despite the dissatisfaction of Tensa.
"I don't think now is the best time to be arguing." Hay Lin stopped and hovered. She then looked behind her. Maybe if they climbed the large rock out cropping that she saw. "There's a dead end coming up."
"Then we need a plan." Azure yelled as the two boys ran in front. Hay Lin yelped and zoomed forward. The three insects though gave no evidence of tiring.
"I've got one." Tensa grinned and stopped running. He clutched the hilt of his sword tightly and spun on his planted foot. Blue energy wrapped around his blade, and as he brought it down a powerful shockwave of energy flew forward and cleaved into the ground as it surged.
"Well that didn't work genius." Azure screamed while he watched the bus sized monsters go around the blast. He had too stopped to catch his breath. Running over this kind of terrain at full sprint wasn't the best. He could tell that they were tiring, and now they stopped. There was no way their legs would start at that speed again, and the insects were coming.
"At least I tried." Tensa was also tired. The tip of his black blade pointed more towards the ground than towards the insects.
"I could try to carry you." Hay Lin piped up. She hovered slightly above and behind the two warriors.
"Your arm is in no condition for that." Azure said as he pulled his blade forward. "Even with all that work we did."
"I noticed your right hand twitched a lot last night." Azure said. He sat across from Hay Lin in the group's current base camp. They were within the roots of one of the large trees that grew within the forest. Compared to Earth standards the tree itself was the size of a skyscraper, and it looked to still be growing.
"Yeah, so." Hay Lin commented. Outside the patter of rain echoed throughout the dense wood. It was the reason that they hadn't left yet. Tensa wouldn't move from his spot because of the water falling in the sky.
"It isn't broken, is it?" Azure asked though it sounded more like a statement.
"When I woke up on this world, my right arm was badly dislocated." Azure looked over Hay Lin. He pulled himself up so he wasn't slouching as much.
"Then move it." He said calm and simple.
"I…I've tried." Hay Lin looked at the ground. She couldn't get the arm to move like her left. Sure, she could twitch the fingers a bit, but the arm just wouldn't move.
"Then try harder." Azure said in his usual calm. "You get nothing out of it if you give up. You can move the fingers, so move the arm."
Hay Lin just nodded and took a deep breath. Slowly, her right hand came to life and twitched. She could feel the fingertips moving. She closed her eyes, giving all concentration to forming a gun with her hand and pointing it at Azure. Then her fingers lit up in her mind. They were moving, though slowly and rough, into the shape she wanted.
Azure watched Hay Lin with calm eyes. Her hand twitched and then, slowly and mechanically, formed the shape of a gun, with the index finger and thumb extended and the other four curled. With the same mechanical motion the wrist moved. She was trying to point at him. But the wrist couldn't make the angle with the sling on and quickly the shoulder rotated the arm and the finger pointed at Azure. His eyes widened a little as he reflexively dodge a small water gun's blast from hitting him in the face.
"There I did it." Hay Lin sighed and smiled. The arm limply relaxed back in its sling. "Something wrong?"
"Just a small leak." Azure scratched the back of his head. He figured Hay Lin was so focused on moving her arm that she let some of her powers slip. Hay Lin just smiled before they heard rustling and saw the absent Tensa sprint out of the roots. Not far behind him, the millipedes burst forth and thus their run began.
Hay Lin just watched. Those insects would rip the two warriors in front of her apart. She had to do something. But she had already tried her powers. Those things were far too aerodynamic for her wind to make them back off. She clenched her fists and noted that her right arm moved better in the rain. So she closed her eyes. The screech of the bugs echoed and she heard Azure and Tensa's screams as they began to fight.
Hay Lin wasn't focusing on them though and soon all her attention went to her right arm. A tingle, shivered through her body. Like powers activating, but the tingle didn't feel like her power over air. It felt different somehow than her normal powers. She felt the arm forcefully pull itself from its sling. She raised it above her head and the sound of rain stopped. Not only the sound though, the feeling of rain touching her skin was gone.
What Hay Lin couldn't see had left the boy's in awe. The rain drops in the immediate area around them had just stopped falling, they were floating there. As if held up buy some magical force. They turned to look at Hay Lin, while keeping the screeching bugs in their sights. The small girl had raised her right arm above her head. Finally, she brought the arm down. The rain turned long and thing right over the insects and hardened into large long ice needles before dropping onto the field. The shells protected the insects from the needles piercing them, but the ice also formed around their legs and the needles stuck in between those legs causing the millipedes to be pinned to the ground.
"Way to go Hay Lin." Tensa yelled in triumph. Hay Lin just slowly opened her eyes to the spectacle. The bugs would probably break free soon, but the two warriors were right on that. Then a pain shot through her right eye, and her vision became quickly unfocused. She dropped from the sky without seeing Tensa and Azure defeat the insects.
"That was easy thanks to the ice, Hay Lin!" Azure screamed once he realized that the guardian had fallen. Both he and Tensa quickly ran to her aid, and both gave a sigh of relief to see that she was breathing, though her right arm was once again limply at her side.
"Very interesting." A voice echoed from a nearby tree. Azure and Tensa then glared daggers at the intruder. He seemed to meld out of the tree, and was clapping. His hair was short and crisply cut. "I take it she's a friend of yours weapon spirits."
"Yeah, and you are?" Tensa asked pointing his blade toward the intruder. He would have preferred to get out of the rain, but since he was already covered in it he didn't care. Azure lifted Hay Lin off the ground and stood behind him. The two were more on edge that they didn't sense the man's presence more than the fact that he was there.
"A simple Dryad," the man laughed and shrugged. He then noted that Hay Lin had started to stir from her position on Azure's back. Her eyes looked into his dark brown ones. He just grinned and then started to laugh. "Oh, and one of Lord Gilgamesh's Seven Generals. Maybe I should mention that."
"You work for Gilgamesh," Tensa gulped a bit. He looked to Azure, his eyes saying it would be better to try to run than to stay here.
"Yes, but I am only here to observe, and I have some good news for my lord. A Guardian of Infinity that controls more than one element." The man laughed as he bowed and slowly backed back into the tree. "Yes, it is very interesting indeed."
And he was gone. Tensa and Azure both looked to each other and at the sleeping girl on Azure's back. Then they nodded and in silence marched onward to the capitol. Both of them not knowing what else was in store, but both having a lot of questions for Hay Lin.
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