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Author: Seth

"You've got to watch your pride and your priorities, you know? Some things aren't worth risking your friendship over."

Squeeze.

Hey, you all right?

Squeeze. Twist.

C'mon, answer me.

Squuuuueeeeeze.

Pretty, pretty please with a cherry and tons of sharp, pointy things on top?

Yank.

I'm warning you...

Whack.

Senma groaned, clutching his forehead and mentally cursed the people who had built the Ginsenkei compound. You would think that being one of the original members of the organization, they would have built the doors tall enough so that he wouldn't have to duck through every one, but nooooooooo.

Tug, tug. Squeeze.

Serves you right. Now, are you ready to be reasonable?

The blind teen suppressed the urge to shoot a glare in the direction he knew Shion to be standing. The girl was nothing if not persistent...

Senma shuddered as he felt himself pass within a hairsbreadth of a wooden pillar.

Tug. Squeeze. Pull.

You're making this difficult~

Senma shook his head.

"It's not your problem." He said out loud.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Shion replied, looking honestly confused.

Poke.

Watch it, buster.

Senma frowned and shrugged his shoulders.

I'll deal with it.

Shion copied her teammates frown, almost scarily so in its exactness

Prod. Drag. Flick.

One last chance...

Senma just shook his head. He was adamant in this, and Shion wasn't going to convince him otherwise, no matter...

Gone.

The ever present touch of his companion was suddenly gone. Senma stood stock still, completely shocked. They'd had their arguments before, but Shion had never gone so far as to outright abandon him mid-walk.

Gathering his wits about him, the blind archer started to move forward ever so carefully. He wasn't going to ask for help, and he wasn't going to use Air Field; either would prove his friend right.

A slight hint of a breeze. He was outside then. Probably near the courtyard. He'd lost track of their location during the discussion. Or rather, Shion had cajoled and he'd ignored her...

Easy, easy. No walls in front of him. No pillars either.

No pillars... what did that remind-

Whump.

Senma lay exactly where he'd fallen, face first in the dirt of the courtyard. He wasn't going to give in. He wasn't going to... He wasn't... He...

"All right, all right, I'll talk about it, ok?"

Pat. Grasp. Haul.

See? Was that so hard?

Senma sighed as Shion helped him to his feet. There were worse fates he supposed. He had to admit, it was probably wiser to give in before his friend resorted to more drastic measures to 'convince' him.

Organization

Author: Seth

"Sometimes, if you're lucky, you might be able to leave the organization, but the organization never leaves you."

Hakua rose from the deck of the small boat and raised an eyebrow at the arrow quivering in the center of the small mast.

Odd; the shaft had sunk into the wooden post about two heads higher than he was tall. Whoever had loosed the flight was either a piss poor shot, or they were giving them the benefit of a warning shot, both of which seemed equally unlikely.

The smell of ozone infested the air as the mast suddenly lit up like a sun, exploding a moment later in a furious storm of splinters, accompanied by the malevolent crackle of electricity.

Ahh, well that explained it.

"Gung ho, ain't they?" Akatonbi chuckled. The legendary pirate was still calmly standing at the tiller of their small boat, unperturbed by the sudden attack.

Hakua grunted in assent. If there was one thing he had to give the Rangers, they were tenacious, no doubt about that.

The lieutenant unsheathed a dagger and deflected another arrow aimed at their small craft. The sea lit up and sizzled as another bolt of lightning followed the fresh shaft.

The ex-Lunar Corpsman could admire the zeal with which the Rangers performed their duties, but that didn't stop it from aggravating him like nothing else. The police force's devotion to the hunt meant that they almost never gave up, which in turn meant that they could hold a grudge like nobody' business. This meant that all pirates were all but forced to eliminate any ranger they came in contact with because letting even one go alive usually came back to bite them in the ass in a rather fatal fashion.

Hakua shot a questioning glance at his captain who frowned and nodded sadly.

It was a shame. The figures shooting at them from the shore looked to be little more than children, but even so, she knew what she had to do. She hadn't survived so many years of being an outlaw by leaving loose ends laying around.

Letting go of the tiller, the young woman ran to the prow of the small ship, waiting only a moment for Hakua to grab her waist before leaping into the air, an accompanying gust of wind propelling the two pirates immeasurably farther than they should have gone.

Moments after they left the tiny craft another arrow sank straight into the deck. A second later, a bolt of pure energy slammed into the boat, nearly splitting it in two and dooming the small ship to the watery grave.

"That's some power," Akatonbi whistled as she directed both of them to the shore, "It's a good thing we didn't bring the Karura or she'd be the one sinking down there."

Hakua chose not to comment, instead focusing on not losing his breakfast. A rocking ship during the middle of a storm he could handle, but Akatonbi's preferred mode of transportation was a bit too jarring for his tastes.

The pirate captain set them down on the loamy shore, not twenty feet from the two young rangers.

Right into the path of a speeding arrow as it happens.

Akatonbi twisted her hand and the shaft came to an abrupt stop, spinning weightlessly in the air. A quick flick of her wrist sent the arrow flying back towards the young boys just in time for it to meet a crackling bolt of lighting halfway between the two groups.

"That's a powerful tag team you've got there." The red eyed woman nodded appreciatively. "It's a shame you won't ever improve it; it'd be interesting to see how far it could go. Sorry, we've got nothing against either of you," Akatonbi twisted her wrist and a malevolent wind howled up around her, "but it's you or us. You know how it is."

Both the Rangers gulped, but the blond one fit another steel headed arrow into his bow, the other holding the curved metal of his bow in front of him in; steeling themselves for the coming storm.

The coming storm which never came.

Akatonbi looked questioningly at the hand holding her wrist, and then the lieutenant the hand was connected to.

Hakua was staring at the smaller of the two Rangers with an intensity she'd not seen from him for a very long time. Slowly, the ex-Kurohyou member reached up and tugged at his helmet in what was unmistakably a salute.

Akatonbi blinked and looked from Hakua to the young Ranger who was still quivering right up to his red faux-hawk. "Oh you have got to be shitting me," the legendary pirate breathed.

The lieutenant slowly shook his head.

The pirate captain started laughing, much to the consternation of the two confused Rangers. "Haha-HA! That is brilliant, that is absolutely brilliant! What are the odds?!" Grinning, the young woman grasped Hakua's hand, "Well, it looks like it's your lucky day kiddies. But just this once, m'kay? We won't let you go if we run into you again."

Still laughing, Akatonbi launched both herself and her lieutenant – who had hastily grabbed onto her waist – as far into the sky as she could, leaving behind two completely bewildered Rangers.

Believe

Author: Seth

"Let those who have never suffered say what they want, true belief is eternal."

"Where do you think you're going?"

Tel stopped mid-pace, gently placing his foot back to the ground.

"I have some unfinished business to take care of. But you already know that, don't you?" He replied, refusing to turn around.

"You shouldn't go." Yuu admonished, though his words had no strength behind them. "You won't stop regretting. Not this time. Not the next. Not ever."

Tellyth trembled. "I don't want to hear that crap from you of all people. You know how this works. Why are you even trying when you know that all it will do is hurt us both?"

"I have enough to regret already." The redheaded shinigami answered quietly. "I don't need any more."

"… Does it really never leave you? Not ever?" Tel asked hesitantly and at length.

"No."

Finally, the ex-Ginsenkei soldier turned to meet the dull gaze of the death god. "And is it worth it?"

"I don't know." Yuu shook his head slowly.

Tellyth stood there, watching the other young boy, enveloped in his voluminous black robe. As he regarded the shinigami, he couldn't help but feel as if he'd never seen an older, more tired person, save for maybe one.

"But you never stop, even though you don't know." The trap expert looked down at his feet.

"Because I don't know." Yuu replied, turning on his heel and started walking away.

"So we have to hope?" Tellyth asked, slightly desperately. "Again, and again, and again because… we believe?"

Yuu let out a hollow laugh. "What else do we have?"

Tel stood in the same spot long after the steps of his companion had faded away, staring into space. Idly, he fingered his robe, tumbling the conversation over and over in his mind.

It was an odd feeling, having all the choice in the world, and absolutely no choice at all. In that context, he could understand his fellow's actions, if only faintly. It was something he had to do, not because it would accomplish anything, but because it was something he had to do.

Tel chuckled lowly. No difference, yet all the difference in the world. He was getting philosophical; fancy that.

Turning, he continued to walk the path he'd originally been walking. He had a reunion to go to.

"Because we believe… that it'll be worth it, huh?" He murmured quietly to himself as he let his existence bleed out of the pattern. "Forever."

Looking Back

Author: Seth

"Even though we always came so close to killing each other, I still think we couldn't have made a better choice."

She'd always known that this day would come. She'd worried about it constantly since they had separated; he to learn how to fight in hopes that he might one day save those who had fallen prey to trade that had torn their lives apart, and she to repay a life debt owed twice over.

And now here she was, facing her own family, knowing that she'd never forgive herself if he died.

As an arrow tore into the main mast, and jagged streams of pure energy followed ripping the sails to tatters, she smiled ever so slightly.

Maybe she needn't have worried. He'd grown up.

Retry

Author: Seth

"Do you honestly believe anybody's an addict because they want to be?"

Some wondered why he was bitter.

The first time had been like a shard of ice, driven straight into his heart. He'd been so close... So he tried again.

Once he had been asked whether being a cold bastard came naturally to him.

It wouldn't hurt so much if she didn't always smile that kind, sad smile.... If only he'd been a little faster, just a little faster... So he tried again.

 He'd simply smiled and told them that he wished it did.

A hundred times later the only difference is that he knows that he'll always be too slow, that he will never make it. Still he tries again.

 Practice makes perfect right?