*The cars containing the members of Shadow Eye fell off the tracks and began to roll down the hill into the forest below. When it finally reached the bottom of the hill it stopped rolling with the flames being put out from the dirt and snow. The doors of the first car flew off as cold air could be seen leaving the car. Upon further inspection, a wall of ice could be seen inside the car. The ice eventually began to crumble and out came everyone aside from Dust, Raika, Sanada, Jade, Gael, Zia, and Rika. Hibana’s third drone was also missing. Everyone stumbled out of the car. Dizzy and slightly sore from rolling down the hill*
(Amarti): *Sigh* Good thinking with the ice, Morgan. It saved our lives.
***
*Flashback*
*As the white clothed man began to shoot pyro bullets at the car, Jin got in front of Morgan and opened up his umbrella weapon to protect him from a bullet. Morgan meanwhile stabbed the floor with his wand and ice began to form all around them creating a cocoon of ice to protect them from the barrage of bullets. Before the ice completely covered the interior, Hibana sent her last drone out of the car. On top of the car the others acted quickly to avoid death. Sanada, Gael, and Jade jumped upward to latch onto the cliff rocks while Zia and Rika jumped down into the forest below for safety*
*Flashback Ends*
***
(Jin): How’d you know that ice cocoon would protect us?
(Morgan): When you’ve witnessed the Fire Grid firsthand as many times as I have you start to develop techniques to combat them. Is everyone still in one piece?
(Mumen): By the grace of Midori, I am fine.
(Nate): Nothing compared to an all-nighter before a deadline.
(Jin): All good here.
(Alita): Systems running properly. No damages.
(Amarti): I’m fine. Hibana?
(Hibana): Ugh~, I knew I should have stayed back in Brister.
(Amarti): Focus, Hibana. We need an update on the others.
(Hibana): *Gasp* Dust!
*Taking out her phone, Hibana pulled up the cameras to her drones. She could still sense them meaning they weren’t destroyed. She pulled up the drone she sent after Dust and Raika. In the feed, she could see Dust and Raika in a pile of snow groaning with Raika on top of Dust*
(Hibana): I do hope I’m not disturbing anything.
(Raika): Only in his dreams.
*Raika pulled herself up off Dust to return to her feet*
(Dust): Oh sure. Leave the guy here who tried to save you and used his body as a shield to break your fall.
(Raika): *Chuckles* Thank you.
*Raika extends her right hand out to Dust who takes it and helps him to his feet*
(Raika): What’s the situation?
(Amarti): Not good. Zia and Rika fell into the forest. Sanada, Gael, and Jade jumped off the train. The rest of us were bombarded with pyro bullets and Ryuuji was captured by the Citizens of the New Sun.
(Dust): Damn, they got us good.
(Morgan): This was obviously all a setup to capture Ryuuji. But what do they intend to do with him?
(Jin): Whatever the case, we need to go and rescue him.
(Dust): Don’t worry, that guy is strong enough to take care of himself and if they didn’t kill him that means they need him for something so he should be fine for the time being. How are the others doing?
(Hibana): My other drone has made contact with Sanada’s group. Patching them in right now.
(Jade): Hello? Is this thing on?
*Jade taps the camera of the drone before it backs away from her*
(Morgan): Don’t get so close to the camera.
(Jade): Oh, professor. You’re alive.
(Sanada): Raika! Is she-
(Raika): I’m fine, Sanada.
*Sanada and Gael take a sigh of relief*
(Morgan): Alright, here’s the situation. Ryuuji’s been captured. We need to go after them.
(Mumen): But what about Zegkirche? If the Citizens of the New Sun are this close then we must warn them.
(Nate): Mumen’s right. They have to know what’s going on and we have to look for Rika and Zia.
(Morgan): Hmm~. Mumen, are you okay with flying?
(Mumen): Yes.
(Morgan): Alita, how long would it take to fly to Zegkirche?
(Alita): By my calculations, approximately an hour west of here.
(Morgan): Okay. Mumen, we’re flying you to Zegkirche. Alita will carry you there. Jade, you, Sanada and Gael will pursue the train. You three are the fastest out of us and your tracking skills are the best. Find Ryuuji. Dust, you and Raika will bring up the rear and catch up to us as we look for Zia and Rika. We’ll stay in contact using Hibana’s drones to communicate. Our objectives are to find Ryuuji, reunite, and find shelter. There’s a good chance more Eclipses are in the area thanks to the Red Eclipse. If we don’t find shelter by nightfall we’ll be sitting ducks. Let’s move out and be careful.
(Everyone): Roger!
*Alita grabs Mumen and took off into the sky to fly toward Zegkirche while Morgan, Nate, Amarti, and Jin began to head out*
***
*In an undisclosed location Cinder wearing a long-sleeved red gi was meditating in front of a candle with a blue flame. All of a sudden the door of her chamber opens and in comes a woman with brown hair tied up in a bun, green eyes with glasses, and wearing a shrine maiden outfit that was white and red*
(Shrine maiden): Mistress Cinder. A moment of your time.
*Cinder opens her eyes and turns her head to look at the shrine maiden*
(Cinder): I believe I gave you strict instructions not to disturb me during my meditation time, Oriane.
(Oriane): Apologies, milady. But I bring you an update on our current mission.
(Cinder): Go ahead and speak.
(Oriane): Vincent and Aires were successful in capturing the Blazing Knight and will be here shortly.
(Cinder): And his condition?
(Oriane): Perfectly fine. No harm has come to him just like you ordered.
(Cinder): Excellent. What about his companions?
(Oriane): They are alive but separated. One demihuman and a droid are flying to Zegkirche. Three of them are pursuing the train and the others are in the forest trying to reunite with each other.
(Cinder): So they managed to survive Vincent’s attack. Impressive. Dispatch the citizens to dispose of them and make sure the preparations are ready for the Blazing Knight’s arrival.
(Oriane): Yes.
*As Oriane gets ready to leave she turns around*
(Oriane): Also, the mysterious demihuman that we reported before is also in the area.
(Cinder): Certainly persistent to have come after us this long. Dispose of them as well.
(Oriane): Right away.
*Oriane leaves the room and Cinder returns to her meditation excited for the arrival of Ryuuji*
***
*Back in the forest, Rika and Zia were in a tree and surveying the area. Eclipses in the form of wolves were closing in on the tree*
(Rika): Like we haven’t had enough Eclipses today.
*Rika prepares*
(Rika): I’ll take the ones on the right. You take the left.
(Zia): Actually, I have a better idea.
*Zia stands up on her branch and speaks Elfan to where the arrow she won from Sae appears. The arrow was silver and Zia threw it down toward the Eclipses where it turned into a small serpent dragon made out of light magic. It was silver and had green eyes. The speast flew toward the first Eclipse and pierced it through the chest. The speast then attacked the closest Eclipse and pierced it through the chest. The speast continued flying around piercing the Eclipses and killing them one by one. Some of the Eclipses attempted to bite or swipe at the speast but it was too fast for them. When the final Eclipse was pierced, Zia whistled and the speast returned to Zia where it transformed back into an arrow and was caught by Zia as she landed on the ground. Rika soon followed as the Eclipses began to disappear*
(Rika): Amazing. That’s a nice arrow you have there.
(Zia): I am still learning how you use it, so the arrow requires more concentration than my normal weapons. Now, let us reunite with Master Amarti.
(Rika): Wait. While I agree finding Amarti and the others is important our top priority should be to find shelter. The sun will be setting soon and I don’t think you want Amarti sleeping out in the cold.
(Zia): Good point. Amarti is way too good to be sleeping out in the cold. So what do you propose?
(Rika): On the map I was looking at on the train, it said there was an abandoned settlement to the south of this area. We find shelter, use that as our base, and then look for the others.
(Zia): Very well. Then let us hurry.
*The two ladies then began to move south in the hopes of finding the abandoned settlement*
***
*Meanwhile, Dust and Raika were walking through the forest trying to catch up to the others*
(Raika): I’m gonna get that guy who shot at us. Gonna put one right between the eyes.
(Dust): Not if I get him first. I’ll strangle him with his own dreads and stick them down his-
*Raika holds up her hand to Dust’s face to get him to stop talking*
(Raika): We’re not alone.
(Dust): Eclipses?
(Raika): No. It’s too heavy. This is a-
(Hibana): Bear!
*All of a sudden a demihuman bear with short red hair and brown eyes leaps out of the bushes. It had a muscular frame and was wearing glasses. He wore a chestnut colored coat and black pants with no shoes on. Dust, Raika, and the drone dodged the demihuman by diving out of the way. Hibana’s drone flew up into the sky to avoid getting hit. Raika and Dust noticed the flames emitting from the bear’s body and quickly got into a fighting stance. The bear soon turned around to face them with a grin on his face*
(Bear demihuman): Greetings, knights. I must apologize for my rude behavior. I got a little too excited. I am Gallus, a Citizen of the Sun. I have been sent to eliminate you.
(Dust): Sorry papa bear but Goldilocks is in another forest. You’ll have to find someone else to terrorize.
*Gallus laughs*
(Gallus): Quite the wit on this one. Unfortunately, you won’t be taking another step in this forest as long as I stand.
(Raika): Looks like he’s not giving us much of a choice, Dust.
(Dust): Yeah. Well, let’s settle this like we always do.
*Gallus prepares himself waiting for both of them to attack him head on. The air was tense as he waited with anticipation only for Dust and Raika to face each other where they both held their fist toward the other. They then pulled back*
(Raika and Dust): Fire! Earth! Water! Shoot!
*They both threw out the peace sign sideways toward each other and pulled their hands back again*
(Raika and Dust): Fire! Earth! Water! Shoot!
*They tied once again only this time it was their hands laying flat. Gallus stood there dumbfounded at what he was seeing. On the fourth try they threw up different signs. Dust held out his hand flatly while Raika held out her fist*
(Raika): Ha! Earth scatters water.
(Dust): Oh man, I wanted to fight him. Alright, make it quick, we’re in a hurry.
*Dust takes a step back and Raika walks out to face Gallus while pulling out two handguns from her back*
(Gallus): You did all this just to decide who would be fighting me first? I wouldn’t have minded fighting you both at the same time.
(Raika): Now where’s the fun in that? I’m kind of in a bad mood right now so I’m going to be taking a lot of my anger out on you. So nothing personal.
(Gallus): Likewise. It’s just business.
Author’s Note: A pretty standard chapter, but we’ll be getting some action next time. Once again it’s one of the few times we see someone get one over on Shadow Eye, but the group shows their resilience and resourcefulness. Each group has its own objective for what to do next and are planning for their counterattack. The Citizens of the New Sun are fierce, but they have no idea the war they have started. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.