Val glanced back at Nephlyte who stood speaking with one of the other commanders. He wished the man would stop hedging and do something. They had been sitting here for two days watching as the youma tore through field after field. Nephlyte had explained that they couldn't go out and fight the youma till they knew it's weakness. It was infuriating.
He began to walk along the small path and stared at the clouds of dust that had risen up into the air blocking out some of the sun. He hated waiting. He hated this plotting. Rowan and Malachite had chided him for his impatience but to his mind allowing this creature to continue it's destruction was a complete folly. By now the creature must have noticed them and therefore they had lost the advantage of surprise. How much more would they lose before Nephlyte decided to do something? He kicked at a rock in frustration.
The prickling of nerves along his spine was all the warning he got before something struck him and caused his muscles to tighten. His mind panicked as he realized he couldn't move or make a sound. Something cold and sharp bit into his temple and he closed his eyes against the pain. He heard hissing words that he could not make sense of and felt his body being lifted up and shivered as a blast of wind struck his body.
He had known that the job of a general was dangerous but he had thought that he would last at least a little bit longer then a few months. He felt his body drop and winced as he landed on his arm and new pain was added to that in his head. He could now hear many other creatures milling about hissing in their own language and he willed his eyes to open but they ignored his pleas and he was left in darkness completely aware of his surroundings but unable to do anything about it.
*********************
Jedite watched Endymion pace about the room like a caged animal and sighed. There was still no word on what was happening out in the field and the prince was still sulking about his visit to the moon kingdom being cut short. He glanced to his right and traded exasperated looks with Zoisite. The young general was trying his best to look inconspicuous. If Endymion discovered that his father had ordered the two remaining generals to keep an eye on him he would be furious. Jedite knew that once Endymion found out that he had kept his knowledge of the order from him he would be in for an earful. He was glad he wasn't one of the generals who had to follow discretely and hope no one noticed enough to question.
Zoisite was pretending to take part in a conversation with two older ladies who were under the impression that he was a woman and they were busy trying to get the general interested in their grandsons. When he had gotten within earshot of the conversation Jedite had almost burst out laughing but the searing glance Zoisite had given him had told him that would not have been very constructive to his existence.
Endymion was hotheaded enough to try to run out and meet up with Val and Nephlyte to battle the forces of evil and that was what they were trying to avoid. The prince meant well but he never thought of how his actions would effect others before he acted. That was the prince's biggest flaw and no matter how much he tried to teach Endymion a little caution the prince stubbornly held onto his image of the story book prince who always got his happy ending. Between this latest spark of rebellions and that moon princess Jedite and the generals had their work cut out for them.
There was a scrambling on feet on stone that caused everyone to turn in surprise and watch as a dusty messenger came flying through the gates. He seemed oblivious to their stares and kept his speed as he pushed past people on his way into the palace. Zoisite managed to slip away from the mothering hens who were momentarily distracted and he hurried their way.
"Something tells me we should go see what news he brings." Jedite said as the general made his way towards them.
"Yes," Zoisite agreed as they turned towards one of the lesser used hallways that lead to a back door entrance to the throne room, "especially since he was one of Nephlyte's messengers." Jedite knew better then to ask how he knew. A general always seemed to know when something involved the others. They emerged from the hidden door and lurked in the shadows as the messenger began his tale.
"The rebellion was defiantly started by a youma and we are having trouble putting it down. General Nephlyte is attempting to surround the youma's marauding troops in hopes of keeping them from doing anymore damage while we eradicate them."
Zoisite closed his eyes and breathed in deeply to calm that panic he felt surge up. He quietly prayed that everything would work out alright. A nasty thought occurred to him as he stood there listening to the rest of the message. He was going to have to tell Naru. She was not going to be happy about this. A hand on his should steadied the blond general and absently Zoisite leaned back into the comforting figure before he realized what he was doing. Zoisite blushed furiously and cursed his pale complexion as he quickly righted himself and hoped Malachite wouldn't have noticed his actions.
Malachite noticed but chose to ignore his student's actions. Surly Zoisite had not meant them as a familiar movement. He had probably just leaned back out of habit. As far as he knew Zoisite allowed only his parents to be in physical contact with him and even then it was sparingly. He felt heat rising to his cheeks as he imagined embracing the smaller form and comforting him. Zoisite was feminine enough to attract his attention, and the golden hair and distinct laugh that sent shivers down his spine. . . stop it! He cursed himself for his foolish ideas. Zoisite was a man for the gods' sake. He would never be interested in another man, at least he didn't think so.
The messenger had stood and exited and Malachite noticed the king's beckoning gesture. Straightening his shoulders and shoving the disturbing thoughts consisting of Zoisite and him out he clicked into `general mode' and prepared to discuss this new turn of events.
********************
"How are things progressing?" The king asked as he stared into the floating globe.
Nephlyte shook his head and absently played with a strand of hair. "Not well."
"What happened?"
"A youma. And not one of the lesser ones either."
Malachite frowned at this news. "Damn. I had hoped they were getting weaker, not stronger."
"So was I."
The king muttered something under his breath as he shifted positions. "How long until you can rectify this situation?" He asked. Nephlyte bowed his head and looked up at them through his bangs. "How soon can you get here?"
Malachite fought back the urge to curse. "That bad?"
"That bad."
"I want both you and that boy," the king ignored Zoisite's icy glare, "down there as soon as you can, got it?"
The elder general bowed slightly and started from the room. He was stopped, however, by Nephlyte's final pronouncement.
"We've got one more small problem. . ."
***********
Val forced his body to hang limply giving the illusion that he was still unconscious. Surely by now Nephlyte would have noticed his disappearance and sent out a search team for him. That idea did nothing to comfort him, however. He was fairly sure he was no longer on Earth. This place had a feeling of wrongness about it and nothing seemed familiar to him. His medallion was reacting weirdly and he could feel the heat it was releasing through the thick material of his uniform jacket.
A youma walked towards him and he pressed his eyes closed hoping it would ignore him and be on it's way. The steps faded away down the corridor and he sighed in relief. he didn't know how much longer he would have to keep this up but he knew that he had to buy as much time as he could for Nephlyte to try to find him.
His wrists were chafed and dried blood ran down his arms. His feet barely touched the ground and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't get blood to flow to his finger tips. His head still throbbed and there were a variety of bruises running up and down the length of his body. He was past hurting and was now entering the realm of numbness. He just wanted to close his eyes and sleep. He never wanted to be a general. He never wanted to be anything more then a servant who would eventually retire with enough money to live out the rest of his life in comfort. Why was he the one who had been chosen?
A grating laugh surprised him out of his illusion of sleep and he stared up at a hauntingly fiery woman. He tried to scuttle back but found his escape to no avail. Bringing her staff close to his face the woman glared down at him and frowned.
"This is not the one I want." She shrieked as she flung something into the mass of youma that crowded around her.
One of the creatures fluttered up into the darkness and perched nearby her arm. "This is one of them, though."
The woman sighed before blasting the creature to dust. "There are more then one, you idiots. And this is not the one that I want! Now get down there and fix the problem!"
***************
"And this was the last place anyone saw the boy?"
"Yes. I can't imagine where he could have wandered off to." The auburn haired man said as he stared off into the distance.
"Hey!"
"Well, he obviously isn't dead, which means he has to be around here somewhere." Malachite reasoned as he followed Nephlyte's gaze.
"Hey, guys!"
"But why wouldn't he have returned? He couldn't have been captured by the youma, it didn't escape."
"Excuse me!"
Shaking his silvery head, Malachite sat down heavily. "If only we had a clue as to where he could have gone." He muttered.
"Hello! I'm not screaming for my own health over here!"
"What is that brat complaining about now?" Malachite hissed as he glared into the sunlight.
"Oh, was he calling?" Nephlyte asked as he glanced up, "I think he wants us to come over there."
"Well, we're a little busy. If he wants something, he can come over here and tell us." The other general snapped.
In the distance Zoisite's golden frame floated a few feet off the ground as the smaller man fought to keep his anger in check. If those egotistical morons thought that they were too important to come and see what he had found then fine, he'd take care of this problem himself! Muttering under his breath, Zoisite increased his altitude and stared down at ring of distraction below him. All the bodies and destroyed buildings lay sprawling outwards, indicating that the blast that had destroyed them had originated just below him.
Sniffing, Zoisite propped his chin on his open hand and tried to figure out what could have originated such a blast. The ground was scorched but not racked, so nothing had exploded underground. There was a tell tale star burst pattern, but no debris that should not have been there. So what caused all this?
The feeling of air being forced from his lungs and the sickening lurch of plunging to the ground caused the blond man to cry out before loosing consciousness.
*********************
"Uh, Malachite?"
"What is it, Nephlyte?"
"When was the last time you saw Zoi?"
"When he was busy trying to get our attention, why?"
"I was afraid of that."
"Great, now we're missing another one. If you disappear on me too, Nephlyte, I'm going to be severely aggravated."
"Don't worry, I'm not planning on going anywhere."
"Good. Now let's see if we can figure out what kind of trouble that child is getting into now."
"Aren't you being a little hard on him?"
"Hard? Just wait until we figure out where those two wandered off to, then you'll see me be hard with them."
*****************
"Get your grubby, disgusting, slimy, and completely course hands off my beautiful hair! Nobody messes with my hair! It's off limits, do you hear me? So don't touch it!"
The youma yelped and reared back as a sharp slap was delivered to it's face. Flapping it's wings furiously, the creature growled deeply and reared back on the irate general before it. The half lion, half whatever lurched forward and tried to slash at the smaller form beneath it.
Zoisite easily dodged the clumsy jaws and was prepared to slash the creature with his sword when suddenly he felt something tighten on the back of his head and yank. It was his turn to shriek as the creature used it's claws to pull him back by the hair. Reaching around, he yanked the band out of his hair and smiled evilly as the creatures claws slipped through the silky strands and it lost it's hold.
The creature turned as if to run but suddenly struck out with it's tail. Red hot pain flashed down Zoisite's back and he gasped and foolishly lost his grip on his ice blade. A second and then a third strike racked across his back and he finally fell to the ground. His head struck a broken piece of pavement and he felt bile rise up in his throat. A weight on his upper arms alerted him to the creature that now towered over his form and he closed his eyes, no longer able to concentrate hard enough to allow himself to escape. Something pierced the back of his neck and all was darkness.