~~~Episode TwentyTwo~~~
A scream echoed through the dark forest. Haku and Sakura whipped around, Sakura's eyes widening faintly.
"What was that??" she asked. Haku paused for a moment, then it clicked.
"Yuri! Come on!" he yelled, running off without waiting to see if Sakura was following. He narrowed his eyes, trying to run faster.
Zeph and Kiyoshi stood still. Kiyoshi stepped forward a little, tensing.
"Who was that?" Zeph asked. Kiyoshi turned to him,
"I dont know...it wasn't familiar..."
"If it wasn't familiar, than it must've been Yuri! Oh man, I hope shes alright!"
"Come on, lets go see. Hiroko was partnered with her, so lets go!"
Kiyoshi said.
Yuri was pinned against the tree, held by her throat several feet up the trunk by the winged heartless. It came at her face with its jaws, and Yuri closed her eyes. A yell came from above as Hiroko fell from the tree, coming down right on top of the heartless with her katana and stabbing it directly in the head. It yowled in agony, flapping its wings as it fell to the ground, releasing Yuri from it's grip. The heartless toppled over, disintegrating and fading. Hiroko ran to Yuri's side, helping her to her feet,
"You alright? What was that thing?!"
she asked. Yuri coughed and nodded,
"I'm fine, but I cant explain things yet."
she said. The other heartless were coming in, their yellow eyes glaring. Three of the strange flyers shot up into the air, then came down, claws extended. Hiroko held her katana, its blade gleaming in the moonlight.
"Firaga!" Yuri yelled, blasting the flyers with flames. Hiroko ran forward, attacking the flying heartless as they fell to the ground. The shadows streaked across the ground, heading towards them as more flyers appeared. Yuri thrusted her hands forward,
"Thundaga!"
Lightning came bolting down, striking the shadows as they rose, but the flyers nimbly dodged the attack, heading straight towards Yuri. Suddenly, needles came flickering in and out of sight, stabbing into the flyer's wings and causing them to shriek in pain. Then, a very familiar figure leapt in front of her, slashing back the shadows. Yuri smiled,
"Haku!" she said. Haku turned,
"Yeesh! How come whenever you go by yourself you get attacked!"
Haku said. Sakura came up, stepping up and glaring at the heartless.
"You ok Hiroko?"
she asked. Hiroko turned, nodding.
"Just fine, but theres still more of these things, heads up!"
The four looked to the sky as more of the flyers came, their fangs and claws flashing as they descended. Without warning, a blast of water came slamming into two of the flyers as Kiyoshi came onto the scene. Zeph ran forward, thrusting his hand outward. The blast of water turned to ice from Zeph's touch, and the flyers fell to the ground, frozen solid.
"Alright! Its a party now!" Sakura said, throwing more needles out as shadows emerged from the ground. A fight erupted, weapons flashing and elements being thrown back and forth. Soon, it was over though, as the heartless had either retreated or vanished. Sakura stood straight, rubbing her arm slightly from where she had been clawed.
"Is that it?" she asked, trying to hide her exhaustion. Haku nodded, he and Hiroko sheathing their katana. Zeph sighed, sitting on a large root.
"Wow, that was crazy." he said. Hiroko turned, her gaze on Haku, Zeph, and Yuri.
"What were those things?" she asked. Yuri and Zeph looked back at Haku, obviously not knowing whether to tell Hiroko the truth. Haku turned, facing the girl.
"Heartless. I think those flying things were NightSceamers though...thats a rare species."
"Heartless? What a lame name." Sakura said, not believing Haku. Haku narrowed his eyes,
"You wanted to know and I told you. They're called heartless, and they devour the hearts of the living. But these ones waited quite a while before attacking, so someone is controlling them."
"Great, another bad guy. I thought this place was bad-guy free." Zeph said. Sakura put her hands on her hips,
"Bad guy free? Are you kidding me? This is a vampire slayer school, so who do you think the bad guy is?"
Zeph paused, then tensed.
"What!? A vampire?" he asked, stunned. Kiyoshi and Sakura shook their heads slightly, and Yuri smiled.
"You two seriously weren't listening to a thing Akina said...." she said. Hiroko stepped forward,
"The vampires might be controlling these things. We need to find Yoshi and Yumi and get out of here. Akina will understand if we had to cut the lesson."
Haku nodded,
"Alright, lets go get them then."
"We have to let them know we aren't trying to steal their scrolls though, otherwise they'll attack us on site." Kiyoshi said. Hiroko nodded,
"Yeah, I'll talk first. Ok, lets go. Stay together, and keep and eye out for anything."
she said. With that, she turned and walked away. Sakura, Yuri, and Kiyoshi followed without a second thought, but Yuri turned to see Haku and Zeph still standing.
"What are you doing? Come on!" she said. Haku crossed his arms,
"Man, I'm not liking this whole girls leading thing. I mean you two would've been toast if Zeph and I hadn't shown up. Its clear that you girls need us to help."
Yuri twitched, narrowing her eyes.
"We would've been fine! And I dont remember calling you to come help!" she snapped before turning and following the others. Haku blinked,
"Wow, shes kind of moody. Wonder if shes upset?"
he asked. Zeph shrugged,
"I dont know, but lets hurry and catch up."
The two ran after the girls, a dark figure watching from the shadows.
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