Chapter 21: A New Adventure

Sari

"OMG! This stuff is awesome! I haven't eaten like this for like, like, like, 3 days!" I gasped, stuffing bananas and bread into my mouth, chewing without tasting the food.

"It's only been 1 day, Sari." Ayumu chucked, slowly chewing a strawberry. "We found Hemu and Muri yesterday a long with Ryuu, remember? That was the night when Ryuu told his story." I nodded and Muri burst out, "Hey, for our adventure, we should look for Ryuu's parents!"

"Good idea!" I shouted, giving Muri a high-five.

"No, no." Ryuu said, shaking his head. "That is too much to ask!"

"No way!" Hemu responded, spitting out bread pieces and fruit chunks as he spoke. "I'm so ready for adventure!" He said as a partially chewed banana and bread found its way onto Ryuu's face."

Ayumu and I laughed, while Ryuu wiped it off his face, smiling. "Okay, if you say so, he said, smiling."

Chapter 20: Food Department Crisis!

Ryuu You may not know what's going on, so I'll catch you up. Me, Hemu, and Muri are stealing food from the the department store near by. We discovered the little town this morning, and were hungry soo... yeah. Just don't think too badly of us, okay?
"Shhhhh," I whispered, creeping along the trees. "Food department... food department... ah! There it is!" "Shhhhh!" Muri scolded. "We have to focus on quiet, remember?"
"Oh yeah, I forgot." I responded, back to whispering mode again. Hemu giggled and shook his head, looking down. We followed his gaze to see an old man looking up into the trees, confused.
"Oh for the love of all that's holy!" Muri whispered, glaring down at the man. He tugged at me and Hemu's sleeves, "We'd better get going!"
"Wait! Brother, we could use him." Hemu smiled, looking down at the man, who was now walking away.
"Use him? What for? What use would an old geezer like that be to us?" Muri whispered.
"We can't just run into a store like this!" Hemu motioned to his dirty clothes and ashen face.
"He has a point." I whispered. Muri just nodded.
"We could be the grandfather of Ryuu, 'cos he looks young enough to be my grandchild." Hemu smiled, looking over me.
"Catch him then!" I whispered, pushing them out of the trees. I watched Hemu and Muri as they had a talk with the old guy. While Muri gave the old man his most innocent smile, Hemu worked a beaded neacklace out of the man's pocket. They thanked the old man, Hemu tucking the necklace in the folds of his clothing, slipping into an alley with Muri as the old man walked away.
I had only witness them do this twice, but I now knew a lot about their rules and their special power. Hemu and Muri had to be together while talking to the person. They had to have one of the person's belongings, something he touched recently. I saw a faint golden glow come from the alleyway as an old man staggered out. I stepped from the trees onto the sidewalk, waving at the old man. He winked back and walked slowly to my side, his back hunched, a slight frown plastered upon his face.
"I can see what mom was complaining about when she kept saying 'Sit up! Straighten your back!' like a crazy old woman." Hemuri grumbled, leaning on his walking cane. "Anyways, let's just get the food."

~|*_*|~

"Will you be paying with credit? Or cash?" the cash register lady smiled sweetly at me, ignoring Hemuri completely.
"Ummmm..... grandpa?" I nudged Hemuri nervously, "Are we using credit card? Or cash?"
"Oh! Ummm....." Hemuri jumped, rummaging through his bag.
"Oh brother." I muttered, shaking my head. Working with inexperienced little kids was hard.
"Is there something wrong?" A sweet voice entered my head. I looked up to see the cash register lady staring at me dreamily, her arms stretched towards me.
"Uh, no." I stammered back. "Is there something wrong with you?" Woah! Why did I say that? I was about to say sorry when Hemuri slapped the lady across the face. "Grandpa!" I cried, gasping. What had gotten into him? The shoppers in line behind us quieted, surprised by the old man's sudden outburst, gasping at the scene. The cash register lady snapped out of her daze, glaring at Hemuri.
"Please do not ever stare at my, uhhh.... grandson like that. I will not have him flirting with the likes of you. Keep in mind you do not have time for boyfriends on a busy shopping day like this. By the way, I will pay with cash." Hemuri handed the cash register lady a $50 bill and he grabbed our bags and walked out the door. "Toodle-oo!" He called back to me. "Oh, and grandson, please collect my change."
"Well, grandpa calls!" I chuckled nervously grabbing the coins from the lady and rushing out the door after Hemuri.

Chapter 19: Everyone Has A Good Side, You Just Have to Find It

Ryuu

I sat there. Staring into the flames of our fire. The fire we worked sooooooo hard on. Sari, Muri, Hemu, and Ayumu lay in the grass, asleep. Or so I thought. Sari sat up and stared at me quietly. It was only when I looked from the flames to scan around when I noticed her staring. "Gah!" I jumped a little. Ayumu stirred in her sleep. She muttered "mommy" then turned over. Sari followed my gaze and for I second I thought I saw a tear drip down her cheek, but the next time I looked, it was gone. "So," I whispered, clearing my throat, "You guys are sisters?"

"Yeah." She said quietly. She glanced at Ayumu for a split second, then looked back up at me. "Haven't known her for long..."

Well that was a relief. I sighed. I expected her to say something along the lines of: "First of

all, we're not guys. So this was going good."It's okay if you don't want to tell me," I said, grinning.

"No, it's easier to just get it out." Sari returned the smile. "She met me, actually..."

I listened as she told me the whole story. It was quite a bit like mine, in the way she had lost her parents. But she still had her sister, I thought, glancing at Ayumu. I started to get jealous, but I caught a hold of myself. Just a sister. I thought. JUST a sister! As Sari finished her story, I took a deep sigh. "Look's like you've had a harsh time too." I said, trying to get a conversation going.

"Yeah, I guess..." Sari trailed off, looking away sheepishly.

"Y'know, you are kinda beautiful." I whispered. Now where in the world did that come from?

I thought.

Sari looked up at me, incredulous. "What?"

"No, no," I murmmered, "Nothing at all..."

Sari smirked and said, "Su-re."

Chapter 18: Jubilee

Ayumu

They stared each other down like nothing else mattered. Tension rolled off so clearly it was like being hit with waves at the beach, one after the other. No one dared to move. At first it seemed like the world had stopped and wouldn't turn ever again. All that could be heard were the creatures of the night. I took a swift glance around. Hemu looked stunned, Ryuu looked hurt. I was confused by his expression until he spoke. And the world started to rotate again.

"Stop it." Ryuu said looking straight at Sari and Muri, who turned to look at him. Ryuu's voice was soft, but firm. Sari and Muri forgot their fight instantly. Question marks took the place of the tension and everyone loosened up as Ryuu sighed. "It's just-I-you have everything!" Ryuu spluttered.

"What do you mean?" Hemu jumped in, surprised. "We're poor, we each lost at least one parent..." I winced as Hemu counted off his fingers, looking up at the sky.

"But-you have each other." Ryuu whispered. "I-I had all of that."

"Had?" I repeated quietly.

Ryuu nodded. "It was paradise. My family was rich. My mother and father played with me. Even my sister sometimes."

Silence settled in, and Ryuu stared at us and we stared back, coaxing him to continue on.

Ryuu took a deep breath, then sighed. "Then they broke in." his voice cracked a little as we listened intently. "They took everything. My sister was hiding at the time, but she rushed out when she heard my screams. I was 8 at the time, still growing. Jubilee was my sister's name, and she screamed at the officers, telling them to leave me alone. She begged them to take her instead." Ryuu shook his head. "The officers wouldn't listen to her, they said they wanted me specifically. My parents were already in the captors' truck. Jubilee was holding on to the officer's shirt, pulling him closer to her, away from the truck. She kept saying how she had so much more to offer, that I should be let free. The officer looked her stern in the eye, and she knew that he would never give in. 'At least let me touch him one last time.' Jubilee whispered. The officer swung me over, in front of Jubilee, still holding my wrist tight. Jubilee stroked my cheek, she had tears in her eyes. And for a split second, the officer holding me loosed his grip the slightest bit..." Ryuu wiped his eyes.

"You don't have to tell us, if you don't want to." I whispered.

"No, it's okay," Ryuu quipped, suddenly turning cheerful, "It's better to let it out anyway."

"Well then," I said, "Go on."

Ryuu continued. "Jubilee took her chance to snag me and run. We thought we go away, but they caught up. I heard them. Heard them yelling: 'Kill the girl! Catch the boy, get him alive, y'hear? ALIVE!!!' Jubilee was soon surrounded, and one officer stabbed her in the back with his dagger. Her special blue skirt turned purple as blood flowed down her back. She still held me as she fell to the ground. She look at me, and for the first time, she looked tired and stressed. 'Remember me brother, I love you.' Were her last words as her eyes went blank and her arms, no longer caressing my face, went limp. 'Jubilee?' I remember saying, 'Wake up Jubilee!' I shook her shoulders, but she was gone, dead. The officers carried me away as I shouted like a madman, fighting them weakly. 'STOP! SHE'S MY SISTER! JUBILEE! YOU PROMISED! YOU SAID WE WOULD ALL LIVE TOGETHER FOREVER! JUBILEEEE!!!' I cried out, reaching for my sister's dead body. 'Jubilee' was my last word as I cried myself to sleep." Ryuu had tears flowing down his face, but he was smiling slightly. All of us were stunned. Silence fell like a blanket over us as everybody absorbed Ryuu's past.

It was Sari who broke the silence. "I guess we are lucky..." She trailed off, her eyes glistening with tears.

Ryuu simply nodded, turning away, whispering her name in the wind.

"Jubilee."

Argument

Sari

I lay down in the grass, and closed my eyes."So," I said loud and clear, so everyone could hear me, "What's the plan?"

"What plan?" Muri responded.

"Y'know," I said, opening my eyes, "THE plan. Do we go back home, or what?"

"Oh!" Muri said, "THAT plan. Well," He paused. "I was thinking of adventuring..." Muri trailed off.

I sat up. "Are you out of your mind!?" I shouted. By now, everyone was staring at us, startled.

"Oh!" Muri yelled back, standing up to face me, "And you have a better plan?" He sneered at the word better.

And then we were face to face, staring each other down. "Yeah." I gritted my teeth, "I know I do."

"And how are you supposed get home? By taxi? Train? Car?"

"Well, I-" I stuttered, not knowing what to say. He had a point. How was I supposed to get home. No, how were we supposed to go back?

"Ha!" Muri barked, holding his head back, his chest puffed out with pride.

I just stood there, staring at him. Surprised at how much the laughter hurt.