I rushed the Sands member on his weaker side and crouched into a stance to prepare for a swing. He was slow to react, giving me the perfect opportunity to make my next move. I swung my blade in a horizontal arc aimed at his right shoulder and twisted my body which added power to the swing. He parried –which I predicted– and I countered by spinning my body into a powerful roundhouse ax kick into his spine. My attack was successful and he crashed to the ground with a loud thud. Before he could get up I rushed over and crushed his hand underneath my foot, forcing him to release his dagger. I kicked the weapon out of his reach, but not too far so someone in the crowd could get it. I pressed a foot on his back so he couldn’t get up and watched his thin frame struggle to move.
“You’re under arrest,” I smirked as pulled a pair of handcuffs from my belt.
“And your precious little freak is gone” he spat, and chuckled.
I glanced to the spot where I had last seen Vars but he wasn’t there. I kneeled and grabbed a chunk of his hair and pulled him by the back of the head.
“Where is he?”
I scanned the area, hoping to find him, but the only thing that caught my attention were the two figures standing staggered across from each other, bloodied and bruised.
Master.
I had been so caught up in my own battle, I didn’t have time to focus on my Master's. He stood hunched over, gripping a broken right shoulder which was the source of the blood dripping onto the floor beneath him. His previously kept hair was a mess and the hat that used to cover it was in a puddle of blood.
It can’t be.
I looked at his opponent, Argo Durra, hoping his condition was worse. He was covered in cuts up and down his arm, bloodying his tattoos beyond recognition. The cuts on his face had blood dripping into a bloody smile.
My master, who I believed was one of the best fighters, was now injured in a state I never could have imagined. As much as I wanted to help him I couldn’t. I had to find Vars. I scanned the crowd once more, for any hint that I might be able to see him and his captors, but the crowd was too dense.
I need a vantage point, maybe I could spot him from somewhere high up. But what do I do about this Sands member?
I looked towards the elevator where one of the guards was stationed. His partner was helping keep people at bay making sure nobody came any closer. I spotted a railing near the elevator, next to a large pipe that went up to the ceiling. I dragged the man over to it and switched one of his handcuffs to the railing. He looked like he was planning to get free but a simple glare at him backed down any attempt of trying anything.
“Don’t even think about it.”
I looked up to the ceiling where the pipe ended. I sighed and the crowd began to cheer and gasp again, signaling that my Master was fighting once more.
Come on Terra, focus.
I felt the temperature of the large pipe. It was warm, but not hot enough that it would burn holding onto it. I began to climb one hand, and one foot at a time, grabbing onto any part that I could put my fingers on. As I got higher, my field of view became better. The crowd was bigger than I thought and extended a few ways down. I looked for the strange blue hair that Kaden had but I had no luck finding him,
I tried to remember one of the captor's faces, one having a dark reddish-brown hair color, and a dingy brown jacket, but the other was unclear.
I saw four figures moving in the opposite direction of me.
Maybe that's them.
My suspicion was right as one of them turned around for a moment, and it was the man with the reddish-brown hair. I climbed down a few feet and leaped off of the pipe and started my chase. The crowd grew in a panic when I got closer to the edge of it. I flashed one of my blades in case anyone thought of trying to stop me.
Before I went into the crowd, the elevator door chimed, signaling that someone had just stopped on this floor. Four Corzon guards walked out with weapons drawn which meant that backup had finally arrived.
I sighed with relief and gripped the hilt of my blade and the crowd backed up at the arrival of more guards. I glared at them and they split off to the sides to make way for me to continue.
I glanced back towards my Master who was still fighting Argo Durra, both of them bloodied and exhausted, but determined to win.
Have faith, Terra.
I rushed into the crowd with every fiber of my being telling me to stop and stay but I continued deeper into the mass of people. I had to find Vars before those thugs did something to him. I made my way through the crowd that started to spread out when they saw me with my weapon. After a minute of bobbing and weaving, passed startled screams, I could see the back of the head of the reddish-brown-haired man just up ahead.
Found them.
As I got closer, I noticed a familiar figure from earlier tailing behind them. It was the same thin frame, with a dark black poncho, their hood still on their head. The one that was following us before.
Most likely their scout.
I was about ten feet behind them, and I could see Vars being dragged off of his feet, squirming around as he tried to free himself. Then suddenly they all came to a stop. Four guards stood in front of them, weapons drawn, and ready to engage.
The hooded figure stopped just in front of me and seemed to have noticed me as well, and they tried to make a break for it. I grabbed their shoulder but to my surprise, they spun around and kicked me in the stomach sending me backward, skidding a few feet across the floor. In that brief exchange, their hood revealed their face, one that had ash-blond hair flowing in front of a pair of ocean blue eyes.
“Your Highness?”
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