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Wind howled through the cave. Voices in the distance whispered.
Hiroshi's shadow trailed him through the crates and barrels stacked beside the wall.
I've got to find Gobu and fast. I don't have time to waste.
Damn… what if he isn't even here? What then?
He crept forward; his hand trailed along the side of each barrel to keep himself steady.
A sharp smell reached Hiroshi's nose.
What is this? Booze?
After pausing, he looked at one of the barrels which had some sort of fruit symbol carved in.
It almost looks like a grape symbol. The world has its own kind of booze, huh?
Hiroshi turned and continued to move quietly.
The sound of a guard snoring got louder and louder.
He peeked through a gap between the barrels from the shadows.
The man lay hunched over at a small wooden table, a small candle lit the surroundings. A bubble from his nose shrank and expanded as he snored.
Oi oi, that's something straight out of a light novel!
Never mind that, he's sleeping on some sort of notebook. I should take a peek.
He shifted his body through a gap between the crates and stuck out his head, looking both ways. It was clear.
The vampire emerged from behind the sleeping guard. Hiroshi leaned over.
The guard's hands were folded over the notebook, his head resting on one of them.
Slow and steady…
Hiroshi clasped the top of the book with his fingers and began to slowly apply pressure, pulling it from beneath the guard's arms. It slowly became free.
“Huh?” the guard blurted out, shifting slowly as his eyes partially opened.
Hiroshi froze, his arms stiff like a statue.
Please go back to sleep, please go back to sleep.
The guard made a grunting sound as his eyes closed back.
The notebook finally came free after carefully prying it from the under of the guard's arms.
That was a close call. Let's check it out.
The notebook flipped open. The sound of footsteps reached Hiroshi's ears. Someone was approaching.
Quick…
Hiroshi flipped through a couple of pages, the text completely alien to him.
Figures…
What's this?
He turned a page and revealed a list. It looked like names, each scribble name on its own line.
A list? I've passed a few cages, but no one was inside. Could this be a list of people? Prisoners?
The footsteps were dangerously close now. Two hooded men came around the corner, torches in hand.
Noticing the guard sleeping in the chair, they smacked his kettle helmet hard, a loud plonk. The guard suddenly shot awake, rubbing the side of his head, groggy.
“Tiuq gnipeels no eht job!“ One of them barked out.
“Uh… Yrros.“
“Fi Varek sdnif tuo, er'uoy enod rof.” He stared down at him for a moment in silence.
He nodded, reluctantly then looked down. The patrol grumbled in dissatisfaction and walked on.
The now-awake guard looked down at the notebook, which was in front of him, tilted sideways.
“Huh?”
Hiroshi quietly moved on through the shadows.
As he moved deeper into the cave, the passage widened. Large, empty cages became more frequent, the barrels and boxes never seemed to end on either side.
Two guards stood on the other side of the wall, one of them leaned against a cage, casting a shadow behind himself. The other in front, facing him.
“Ssob dias ll'eh eb back yltrohs, tog emos srettam ot ekat care fo.” His voice croaked.
“Ho, eht report?”
“Haey…”
“Hcus rewop… xis fo su enog yltnatsni…”
He shivered, rubbing his arms.
“Peek ruoy daeh coo-”
As Hiroshi crept forward, his foot bumped into something, the hooded guard jumped and turned.
“Tahw saw taht?” his voice trembled a little.
The other grabbed his shoulder and gestured towards where the sound came from.
Reluctantly, he approached slowly.
Shit, he's coming.
Hiroshi backed up carefully, looking around desperately. The guard cautiously approached the crates where Hiroshi was.
Wait a second…
His eyes caught the leaning guard's shadow flicked behind him through the cage. There was a small space between the cage and wall.
Please don't land in the cage! Shadowstep!
The torch flared as he quickly thrust it toward the shadow behind the crates. Black mist gently settled onto the cold stone floor. The guard's face was washed with relief.
The guard began to turn back.
Hiroshi appeared between the wall and the cage, quickly taking a few steps forward, pressing his body up against the crate.
The guard began to walk back to his colleague, still rubbing his arms.
“S'tahw gnorw? Deracs fo ghosts?” the leaning one laughed.
“…”
“Gnihtemos sleef ffo… ekil s'enoemos ereh htiw su…”
The voices began to fade as Hiroshi crept forward.
I'm in the clear for now… still no signs of Gobu
After a short while, the crates and cages came to an end. A singular iron door stood before Hiroshi, two torches in their braziers on either side.
A door… It's slightly open…
Hiroshi checked back once more, no one was there.
It's clear.
Hiroshi stepped out and walked to the door, peeking.
A fancy table and chair stood in a corner, large amounts of paperwork, half stacked neatly and the other half scattered all over. A dagger pierced one of the papers, with a large bag of coins sitting beside it, spilled over.
Something shuffled in a corner out of view, metal clinked together.
Hiroshi pressed his hand against the cold iron door, and it croaked open. Hiroshi peeked further inside.
Gobu stood there, with a chain attached to his foot.
Hiroshi's eyes widened. He sprang into the room, holding the cage bars and looked down at Gobu.
“Gobu! You're okay!”
“Boss!” Gobu jumped forward, also holding the bars. He stared up at Hiroshi.
The bottom of his ear was ripped, like something had cut it.
“You. Came. Back.” his voice shivered.
“Mhmm. Hold tight, Gobu, I'll get you out of here,” he ordered.
His face tensed and his teeth clenched as he tried to pry open the bars with his bare hands. Not a single dent.
Damn it, it's not budging. Maybe there's a key somewhere nearby?
He shifted towards the table, shuffling through the paperwork, knocking over the neatly stacked pile of papers to the side. Some of them fell to the ground.
DAMN IT! Where is it?
Gobu stared at Hiroshi with hopeful eyes as he searched for the key.
He quickly moved around to the front of the table, searching the drawers. Empty.
Sounds of footsteps began to come into hearing.
Someone's approaching? Tch, I've got to hide.
Hiroshi's eyes darted around, noticing a massive chest which was open.
I hope that'll do…
He ducked behind it.
The figure stepped through.
He stopped and glanced at Gobu, who was holding the bars before turning away to face the table.
A slight smile broke through on his face. He spun his dagger and sheathed it. The handle bore a skull-shaped pommel. He was clearly different than the rest of the crooks.
“Why don't you… come out, creature,” his voice rasped. It was gentle, calm.
A larger scabbard was at his side, with another fancy hilt.
The man looked upwards, slowly taking in a long breath of air through his nose. He stopped.
“I can smell you,” he stated, calmly.
Hiroshi's face went pale. A bead of sweat formed on his forehead.
Who the hell is this guy? He’s different from the rest. This is bad news. I need to find a way to free Gobu and get out.
The man slowly walked over to the table where his paperwork lay. His eyes locked onto the disturbed documents that were stacked neatly.
Hiroshi held his breath. The bead of sweat made its way down Hiroshi's cheek to his chin.
The man put his hands on the table and leaned forward slightly, letting out a sigh.
Hiroshi's head twitched slightly, the bead of sweat fell.
It hit the floor.
The man's head instantly snapped toward where Hiroshi was hiding.
FADING PRESENCE!
Hiroshi leaped above the chest and began to sprint towards the door.
The man turned with a grin and took a few quick steps forward, his longsword rasping from sheath and immediately swung.
Now's my chance!
Hiroshi slipped forward and snatched the keys from the man's hip. He hurried through the keys at the cage lock.
The sword pierced Hiroshi's phantom image at the door, the location turning to fog as it kept running out.
The man's expression instantly changed at what he had just witnessed, frozen at the door.
A metal rattling sound caught his ears.
“Huh?” he turned.
The cage door creaked open.
The man turned to face Hiroshi, who was crouching down staring back at him, teeth gritted, his two fangs visible and Gobu on his shoulder.
“Not a chance!” the man raised his sword.
He's closing in!
Hiroshi tossed Gobu between the man's legs, sliding for the first part then tumbling out of the door.
SHADOWSTEP!
Hiroshi turned into dark mist, which settled slowly to the floor.
The man's expression shifted to surprised once more.
Hiroshi appeared in his shadow and ran, snatching Gobu into his arm. Blood gushed out of his nose. He hadn’t fed in a while.
The man turned around watching Hiroshi and the goblin escape.
Calmly sheathing his sword, he cracked a half-smile and began to walk forward.
“Interesting.”
Hiroshi grabbed a nearby torch on the wall as he ran and tossed it down near one of the barrels with the strange fruit symbol.
Gobu and the vampire disappeared into the shadows and moments later, a large explosion erupted, shaking everything.
That's probably not enough to deal with that… thing, but I've got to escape now. Everyone must have heard that.
Moments earlier.
Two guards at the entrance of the cave stiffened up, holding their spears straight. A man approached them.
“Is everything in order?” he spoke, calmly.
“Y-yes, Lord Varek!”
Varek's eyes shifted to the other guard, who tensed up even more.
“H-h-however, I saw something strange earlier… s-s-something was in the air… t-then disappeared… Lord Varek…”
He barely managed to get out the sentence.
“Interesting,” he croaked out.
“Do not let anything in or out of the cave, understood?”
“YES, LORD VAREK!” both answered at the top of their lungs.
Varek took a few steps forward past them and stopped.
“If anything… does get out. You know what that means. Right?” he spoke softly.
“Y-Y-YES, LORD VAREK!” they answered synchronized again.
His figure disappeared into the cave as he leisurely walked in.
Guards ahead of Hiroshi shouted, pointing their spears towards the moving shadow.
Tch, you're in the way!
Whilst running, Hiroshi snatched a metal bowl into his hands.
With precision he blasted it into one of the guard's faces, which caused him to stumble and go off balance.
Hiroshi jumped into the air, drop kicking the dazed guard, landing on top of him.
I'm almost there! I can see the light!
He continued dashing towards the exit, Gobu's face skin peeled back from the speed.
The two guards from the front trembled, seeing red glowing eyes get closer.
They shouted out while closing their eyes, spears trembling side to side.
It's the guards from earlier… what are they doing?
Hiroshi ran past them as they weren't looking. The cliff’s shade had swallowed the camp.
The shade still hadn't reached the tree line; a long sea of sunrays covered half the distance.
One of the guards peeked his eyes open to see if it was still there. Nothing.
“W-w-w-where is it?!” he walked backwards and bumped into his friend, who jumped at the contact.
“I don't know you buffoon! Get off me!” he pushed him off and began looking around.
Hiroshi leaped atop the camp buildings, from rooftop to rooftop until he cleared the wall. Guards on the other side at the gate began to shout.
He ran forward towards the light with the energy he had left.
There's no other option… I must take the risk.
Gobu looked toward the sunlight covering the grass ahead and knew what was going to happen. He shifted on top of Hiroshi's head, covering it.
Smart Gobu, nice! This is still going to hurt.
Hiroshi dashed into the sunlight, the sun instantly beginning to cook his arms and legs that were exposed through the ripped clothes he had on.
“Aaggghhh!” he gritted his teeth as he was burned.
As he reached the tree line’s shade, he collapsed, rolling a few times until he came to a stop. Smoke softly emitted from his burnt skin. His chest rose and fell quickly.
That was too close for my liking…
He stared at the sky, the tree tops converging towards the center.
“Gobu. Free. Again.” Gobu said, voice shaking.
“Thank. You. Boss,” a tear formed at the corner of his eyes
Hiroshi turned his head and smiled.
“I'm glad you're okay, Gobu,” he smiled back.
Just after Hiroshi's escape.
Varek appeared behind the two frightened guards at the lip of the cave entrance.
“Damien. Grokul,” he announced.
The two guards jumped up at the sound of their names. They turned slowly.
“Bb-b-b-b-boss Varek!” one of them said.
“Where is… it?” he croaked out, softly.
“W-w-well, you see… I-it was there… t-then it wasn't…” he nervously mumbled out.
Varek walked to the one barely able to speak and got close.
“U-u-uuh, w-we were s-s—”
A squelching sound escaped as Varek drove his dagger into the Grokul's throat.
He began to cough, as he tried to breathe, blood running down his throat to his chest.
“Shhhhh.” Varek whispered.
“It's okay now,” his expression was emotionless, with a half-smile.
The other guard took a few steps back, until his back was against the wall.
Varek's blade pulled out of Grokul's throat, and he turned to face Damien.
“W-wait boss…” he stuttered…
Varek walked towards him leisurely.
“N…nooooooo!!“
In the distance, Hiroshi turned his head, barely picking up what seemed to be a shout, or someone's voice.
What was that?
He turned to face Gobu.
“Let's—”
Hiroshi froze.
The ground began to tremble beneath them. Trees snapped in half as if they were branches as it approached, getting closer. The sound wasn’t from a single animal.
Something's coming!
Gobu had completely frozen.
Birds burst from the treetops in flocks. The forest falling silent around Hiroshi.
My body… it's not responding… It's like that time…
It can't be!
A shadow grew larger and larger behind the tree in front of him and Gobu until it was there.
Claws wrapped around the tree and snapped it in half. Hiroshi's eyes followed the falling tree.
It stood there before him for a moment…
Simply staring at Hiroshi, ignoring Gobu.
Then, it let out a roar.