"So you're saying that they defeated the majority of you, when you had both
the element of surprise, AND the high ground?"

"Yes ma'am." The soldier bowed. "However, we do have something devised for
their eventual exit. They will not leave the area alive."

"That would work..." Clorets paused in thought. The captain had broken down
the whole scene to her, and it did seem they indeed had had the Crystal
Warriors. Then for whatever odd reason, they had turned and withdrawn from
the scene. She didn't bother to ask just why; her temper was already at a
dangerous level. "But I've had enough of these games. They've already
crossed my path once, they'll not get a second chance to get away."

She turned to her table of maps and plans. "Kid, you are to move your men
to the mouth of that forest, and they are not to move. Mobilize the Bottle
Pops, and have them targeted on my command. It's time we silenced this
Crystal Warrior menace."

"Ma'am? Those are--"

"I know, and we can spare the ammunition. In fact, we might be able to use
this as a trump card for our siege. Now move it."

The soldier, looking paler than before, snapped to attention and departed.
Clorets sighed at the complications. Likely the brats had found the crystal
shard they were after. And with Twizzler's involvement, things had gone
sour from jump one. So now it was time to clean this mess up and see that
she came out on top, as it should be.

She looked at the massive cannon's silhouette in the high light of the sun,
and smiled. It was definitely going to go her way, or else.


>o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o<

The Starburst Crystal
By Ardweden

Legend 27 - Sugar Rush
By Kenji Murasaki

>o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o<


The temple was less treacherous when one didn't have to move so swiftly,
Tsugiko thought. Of course they still had to move swiftly, since they now
knew that they had been discovered by Wintergreen's forces. Her only real
consolation was that even with the stones tearing at her as she passed,
there was only so much of her short skirt the temple could bite at. On
impulse, she turned to the lanky, aqua-haired boy next to her, finding him
not staring at Yumi for once, and scowled.

Said person, Winis, blushed and focused back to the paths ahead of him. "If
we keep going this way, we'll arrive at the entranceway."

"Don't we want to avoid that?" Yumi asked. "The soldiers might be right at
the door waiting for us."

Kyouji nodded, bringing up the rear of the group. "That's a good point.
Isn't there another way out of here that won't be so obvious?"

"Blazes if I know." Winis shrugged. "Never really stepped in here before;
otherwise I wouldn't be getting marked this badly." He emphasized his point
by stumbling and almost falling. He steadied himself without losing much
speed.

"Well, maybe we could search and see. We might have the--" Kit Kat wove
through Kyouji's legs, and he did stumble and fall. The others turned and
helped the embarrassed boy back to his feat. "We might have to make an
exit then. Do you think you can do that, Yumi?"

"I guess." The girl shrugged. "Wouldn't that attract their attention
though?"

"Maybe a distraction would help." Winis looked at them, and then at the
guard who had been running with them. The man snapped to attention as
Winis's gaze passed over him.

"Do you need something of me, sir?"

Winis smiled. "Yeah. Run ahead and inform the troops that those brats are
making their way out of the wall and heading south. If no one is at the
entrance, then make sure that the General gets the message personally."

"Sir!" And the soldier turned and ran. Winis nodded to his companions.

"I guess we'll start with another path here, then." Yumi said with a look
of concentration. She aimed her wand, and the wall caved in to the blast.
She hurried through, and the others followed.


>o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o<


The stagnant air of the temple gave way to the fresh forest scent.
Daylight came down in rays through the web of leaves, painting spots of
light upon the forest floor. Kyouji stepped through the makeshift exit of
the temple and coughed on temple dust.

Yumi looked sheepish. "I'm sorry, I didn't know that last wall was so
fragile and dusty."

The others waved away the clouds of ancient dust, and Tsugiko shrugged. "It
really isn't a big worry. The guards aren't here, and there's plenty of
light left in the day to make it as far away from them as possible."

Winis looked from the group to the skies above. "Maybe. Luck seems to be
running on our side so far..."

Kyouji ejected the last of the dust from his lungs. "We'd better get moving
guys. There's no real telling just how far away they are right now." Winis
scowled at him, and Kyouji shook his head. "What you've done so far has
worked, but even you should have a range to your magic, right?"

The aqua-haired boy reluctantly nodded. "You've gotta point there. If we
keep in this direction, we should avoid the majority of their forces, and
sneak by the rest with the cover of night."

They all began their march through the thick oaks and pines around them.
The lights were beginning to fade, attesting to how long they had been
within the temple. The sounds of the nocturnal began to fill the forest,
making them pick up their pace. It was the familiar snap of the unnatural,
however, that made them halt.

"I'm not the only one who heard that, right?" Kyouji asked, hand on his
scabbard.

"The ghost again?" Yumi looked around for traces of another person, but
found nothing.

"That has to be an old wives' tale." Winis said half-heartedly.

The snapping occurred again, in walking pace, becoming louder. "It's
getting closer." Tsugiko murmured.

Yumi edged closer to Kyouji, looking slightly pale. "We can deal with
something like that, right?"

The crackling suddenly stopped. The Crystal Warriors and their guide
scanned the area, finding nothing visible.

"Okay," Kyouji drew his blade, still looking around. "We need to make our
way out of here. Winis, go ahead and lead."

The boy made to move again when the carret began to back away from its spot
near him, hissing and arching its multicolored coat of fur.

"Kit Kat?" Yumi asked tensely. 

"He's not running away," Tsugiko noted. "So what's wrong with the fuzz
ball?"

"It didn't have that reaction to me before..." Winis watched the carret
dart back and into a shroud, and suddenly cursed and spun. He was lifted by
an invisible force, and began clawing at his neck.

"Winis!" Yumi shouted. She looked around madly for what was holding him up.

"Yumi, blast at the thing!" Tsugiko hefted her hammer.

"I might hit Winis!" Yumi watched on as the young man was tossed bodily
into a tree. He slid down and lay still. Then the forest image in front of
her... 'shifted', and in its place was a two meter monstrosity. Ugly
discolored scales, more scab-like in some areas, decorated its entire body.
Its lizard-like head and wide, pupil-less eyes stared at the young blonde
Warrior Priestess with a hard intent. She screamed and let loose a
burst of energy at the beast, and paled when it did nothing but pass
through the creature, smacking the tree behind it off its foundations.

Kyouji threw poppies in the general area where it had disappeared. "We
have to find that thing! It could attack us again!"

The creature reappeared by Tsugiko, grabbing her by the leg. She let loose
a startled screech, and smacked it with her hammer. It connected with a
meaty sound, and the creature hissed and backed away from her.

"Insolent whelp...!" it hissed.

"It... talks?" Tsugiko whispered.

"You are upon my hunting grounds, human. Leave, or I will take great
pleasure in ripping your body apart and displaying your remains as a
trophy."

"Is... that supposed to scare us?" Tsugiko bit back in bravado.

"Take it as you will, but know it's a promise, not a threat." The thing
licked at its lips with a long, black, forked tongue. It smiled at her,
displaying rows of sharp teeth.

"Leave us alone, or we will destroy you," Kyouji warned.

"Impossible. You are the hunted. These woods belong to us," it hissed.

"Us?" Yumi asked. "I don't see..."

The forest around them shimmered, and there were more. Many more. Yumi
huddled against Kyouji, who tensed.

"Shall you continue?" it asked.

Kyouji growled, and then slumped to the ground, unconscious. Yumi stared in
horror as another appeared from behind him, flicking its tongue in the air.

"Guru, our hunt is complete," it said.

"Gather that one at the tree, and silence those two as well. We will make
haste back to our domain," the original one snapped.

Tsugiko growled and made to swing at the ring leader, and made contact with
another that had appeared in front of her. The lizard-like being doubled
over, and she readied another blow, only to be taken down by another from
behind.

Yumi screamed out to her companion, and began running toward her. The last
thing she saw was Kyouji's face as she landed next to him, then everything
went to darkness...


>o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o<


"Lady Clorets! Lady Twizzler!"

The two turned to look at a guard who had entered the tent.

"Do you have word of something new from the forest?" Clorets asked.

"One of our guards returned from the temple, ma'am. He explained that the
Crystal Warriors and an ally helping them were the cause of the battle at
the temple to turning as it did. He's still being interrogated."

"Fine then. Any other word from the men?"

"Men?" Twizzler asked. "Did you set something else up for your little
siege?"

Clorets shot her a look. "You'll find out soon, won't you?"

"They sent an investigative party to the temple, and found a newly-made
hole on a western wall. They also found one of the Warriors within the
forest ma'am. He was unconscious."

"What?!" Both women exclaimed. Twizzler was the first to regain composure.
"Someone hurt my Kyouji?"

"No ma'am." The soldier responded, looking rather fearful. "He was reported
found like that."

Clorets put a hand to her chin. "This changes things. Is he quartered?"

The soldier nodded. "Awaiting questioning and torture, ma'am."

"What about those others?"

"No real sign of them ma'am. There were signs of a skirmish, but no others
were around that area."

"Inform the men that I want those girls found, dead if possible. You are
dismissed." Clorets turned to her mirror, missing Twizzler's mixed face.

"I want to question him."

"Of course, after I'm through with him," Clorets cooed.

Twizzler walked to the woman and hugged her closely, tracing her
breastplate. "C'mon Clorets... I have what I want now, and that gets me out
of your hair. All you really have left are those annoying girls, and I know
you can get them easily. At this point there's no real way Wintergreen
won't be happy with you anyway."

"Continue your love affairs somewhere else, Twizzler, I've more important
things to do." The woman grumped.

"Please? I'll leave the rest to you afterward, I swear." She looked at the
other woman with pleading eyes.

"... Fine. Do what you will, but I want to hear nothing else about it
after the fact, understand?"

"Of course." She beamed. "You'll never regret it!"

"I'd better not." Clorets turned away and folded her arms. "My real
question is what happened to them that left him unconscious? And where are
the others?"

The red-head shrugged, causing her to jiggle. "Ghost, maybe?"


>o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o<


"Where... am I?"

Tsugiko awoke, and found herself in a strange looking cell. In front of her
were solid bars, and across from that sat Yumi, rubbing her head in
another cell. Several things were missing from her, chiefly her clothing.
She was decked out in a dirty rag, and a collar on her neck. All of her
things, from her bracelets to her wand, were gone.

Tsugiko looked down at herself, and confirmed the same. "Wonderful."

"Tsugiko-chan?" Yumi looked at her friend. "You're awake! Thank goodness!"

"Where are we?" the girl asked groggily.

"Our captors brought us here," Yumi answered. "They took Winis somewhere
else, but I didn't get to see where. They also didn't have Kyouji with
them." The girl pulled her arms to her knees. "I'm worried about him,
Tsugiko. I didn't see him with them, and who knows what they've done with
him."

"He's fine Yumi-chan." Tsugiko blocked off the dark pit within herself
telling her otherwise. "He's the Knight Protector, remember? I'm sure he's
okay."

That seemed to ease the girl somewhat. "But where is this place? And who
were those... things?"

"Those were Ranchers," answered another voice. Tsugiko and Yumi looked
across at the cell next to them. A woman sat there in the same cloth. "They
hunt in stealth, and claim those who would interfere with them. They're
slaves to them, or trophies to be hung up." The woman said grimly.

"... I didn't realize such people existed on Mars," Yumi whispered.

"So we're in the middle of a slave market? Great..." Tsugiko felt like
swearing. This was completely unexpected from what she had seen of the
planet itself so far. To think that something like slavery existed here
seemed to feel... wrong. Horribly so. They'd have to find their way out
of here, and soon.

"We'll have to find Kyouji and Winis, and get out of here, Yumi." She spoke
up. "This isn't a good place to be in, and we really can't afford to become
sidetracked."

"That's going to be a problem, Tsugiko-chan," Yumi said sadly. "These
collars prevent magic." The girl pulled at the simple, thick band around
her neck. "And without my wand, I'm useless."

Tsugiko blinked, and fingered her own collar. She allowed herself to feel
the despair that followed. They were severely limited now in what they
could do, and they had to do something about this situation quickly. To
remain here longer than necessary was sitting where they were possibly
the most vulnerable. "Yumi, did they take the shards too?"

"Everything," the girl replied. She looked more and more saddened. "I can't
think of a way out of here to get them, and I don't know where Kit Kat is
either."

Tsukigo tried to smile at the girl. "Just hang tough, Yumi. We'll get a way
out of here. I promise."


>o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o<


He didn't know where he was, nor how long he had been out. The sun was no
longer visible in the thin crack that he could see from within the tent.
The night had full control over the lands below it, and that played more
fear across his heart. He'd seen neither hide nor hair of the girls, or
Winis since he awoke, and it was beginning to eat at him. His sword was no
longer at his side so he assumed capture had occurred. Perfect.

There had to be a way out of here and to the others. If only he could get a
guess at what those creatures were. They looked so reptilian, but were
intelligent, and dangerously cunning. He didn't want to dwell on how easily
he had fallen to them, instead favoring to what kind of revenge he could
inflict to them once he escaped from his prison.

A swishing of the tent curtain caught his attention. He frowned, and tried
to think of something to do to better his situation. His eyes widened upon
recognition. The dress was stunning, and accented and complimented her in
every way imaginable. But for him to be trapped and staring at her opened
pits within his stomach.

"Twizzler? What's going on?" The shocked boy asked.

Twizzler sat across from the shackled boy. "Hello Kyouji. It's time we had
a talk, don't you think?"


>o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o<

Authors Notes:

The Ranchers could be mercs. They could be a headhunter tribe. They could
be well hidden away if they were only thought of as ghost. I won't have
say on that issue for a while though. ^_^

The Bottle Pops didn't get used, but then I thought of them before I got
the great idea to get them all captured. I will say they're not to sneeze
at, but they ain't nukes. :p

And finally, Twizzler in a hot seat, and Kyouji completely confused. I
think that switches the pace of things. How 'bout you?

*Kenji does a victory dance* This one came after a great deal of
personal time consumption, but came it did. Many thanks to Ard-chan for
the extension, and great cookies and cream to Nicolas for responding to the
call for prereaders, and providing great ways to show that I REALLY need
to work on my sentence error habits. ^^;;

Anyways, next batter up. I'm going to have myself a cider and another go
at Lufia. Back to the Hack it is.

K. Murasaki 
-10/16/01