Chapter 43: Isle of The Skye Pt. 7

Cloud widened his eyes, dodging the large wave of fire as sweat poured off his chin. 'That can't be... Am I afraid?' He thought as Hunter flashed forward, slapping him straight across the face faster than The Arcadian could react, sending him flying to the side.

"That's for that slap earlier..." Hunter said in an echoey voice, his eyes glowing brighter as his wings rose, balls of fire gathering all around them.

"Beam," Hunter said as all 13 gathered balls of fire shot out a straight stream of white-hot flame straight at Cloud.

"Crap!" Cloud yelled as he dodged the blast by jumping to the side, his arms moving back and forth in an attempt to block the flames.

Hunter swung his hand forward, sending another stream of flame straight through Cloud's body, sending him flying backward.

Cloud tumbled once before flipping and landing on his feet, the searing in his stomach a clear sign he had been hit. "Alright, I can commend a legitimate hit... I'll go ahead and get serious..."

Theriault gritted his teeth, rising to his feet slowly as his entire body felt weak.

"I've seen that look before, people usually look at my dad like that before they die... You're gonna lose..." Hunter said as he started to charge toward Cloud, his flame forming a sword above his head.

Theriault took a deep breath, focusing his mind as he looked at Hunter.

"What is that?" Shen Yi said, appearing at his side fully recovered with her sword in hand, looking at the two Arcadians in front of Theriault.

"The Yellow one... I shall kill him," Scathach said, appearing to the other side of Theriault.

"Be my guest... I wanted to see what this blue-haired freak is like anyway," Theriault said, smiling as Scathach immediately burst forward, her dagger whistling as she stabbed down on the yellow-haired Arcadian, ripping through its chest.

Scathach landed on the ground, her dagger still lodged in the Arcadian's chest. "He's dead..." She said, a look of disappointment on her face as the yellow-haired Arcadian slumped in her arms.

"Huh..." Theriault said, smiling a bit as he looked at the other Arcadian, ready to fight, as well as Shen Yi, who raised her sword at a high ready, looking at the enemy with enraged eyes.

Seeing the blue-haired Arcadian's expression as he looked at Scathach however, Theriault felt something was off.

"Hey Scathach watch out!" He yelled suddenly as the dead Arcadian's body shook and turned into lightning, the bolts surging into Scathach's body, causing her to groaned, the force sending her flying back as the yellow haired Arcadian reappeared in his same spot.

"Such a simple move, but quite effective... My Lightning clone," It said, rushing toward Theriault with lightning cackling around its body.

*Sching!*

Scathach looked at the Arcadian with her hair singed at the ends, a slight blush on her cheeks after the volts of lightning that had been sent through her body.

"Huh... tougher than I thought," The Arcadian said, sheathing its claws and grabbing Scathach by the collar, jumping forward and slamming her against the wall. A smile began creeping onto the Arcadian's mouth.

"No time for fun!" Scathach said as she slammed her elbow into the Arcadian's nose, sending him flying backwards, falling onto his back. She quickly jumped off the wall, slamming down on the Arcadian, breaking some bones as she stabbed her dagger where the heart would be.

"We don't have hearts..." It said, still smiling as it took a handful of Scathach's hair.

"I... Know," She said, slicing the dagger up, completely seperating the Arcadian's arm from its body as she let her own smile shine through her usual stoic expression.

Theriault watched the two fight, his eyes narrowing as he looked at the blue haired Arcadian. "Are you just going to stand there? Or should we get started?" He asked, cracking his knuckles as Shen Yi readied herself.

"Nah, I don't feel like fighting right now, I'm only here as support... Theriault correct?" The Arcadian said, its eyes shining as it talked.

"Yeah... And you are?" Theriault said, looking at the Arcadian in front of him.

"My name is Sky Trotter, just call me sky though. I am the 2nd lieutenant of the north army, and I've heard tons about you," Sky said, holding out his hand and putting on a smile.

Theriault eyed the hand suspiciously before he took the hand. "It's not a pleasure to meet you Sky," Theriault said as Shen Yi was beginning to get impatient.

"Are we not going to fight? We need to kill him!" She yelled. Sure she wasn't ready to fight someone like Cloud yet, but surely she was strong enought to beat a normal Arcadian now... Right?

Her mind was full of doubts. What if she wasn't strong enough? What if she died?

"That's a good question. Sky, what do you think?" Theriault said, turning to Sky.

"Oh, I don't know... Maybe we should fight, it'll be fun to see how much stronger you twoare than the last Keymaster I killed..."

Sky said this all cheerfully, making Shen Yi tense up as Theriault smirked just slightly.

"Hilarioius, but Shen Yi is enough to beat you..." He said, noting the small change in Sky's expression as Shen Yi looked at him in shock.

"Seriously?" She asked, not really believing Theriault's words.

"I trained you myself, you won't lose to this... No name," With that Theriault turned his back, smiling as he heard the slight shift of the ground, meaning Sky had lunged forward.

Anyone could try and act calm in situations. You could try to act humble, or carefree, but if you trully weren't, it could easily be brought out, as Theriault had done.

"How dare you!" Sky yelled, claws outstretched toward Theriault's back.

*Whoosh*

Sky blinked as he saw his hand fall to the ground, his blood gushing from the stump. It didn't register that Shen Yi had cut off his hand, not until she stepped back a little, preparing for her next strike.

"Just as I said..." Theriault said, smiling as Shen Yi lunged at the Arcadian. "Just a no name."

Sky Blocked Shen Yi's attacked, clenching his jaw as the pain from his cut off hand registered in his mind.

"You're dead!" Sky yelled, jumping at Shen Yi with his claws out.

Shen Yi blocked Sky's claws, her sword coming up, slicing through Sky's chest, causing him to fall back, gasping for air.

"W-What! She's just a human!" Sky yelled, his voice shaky as Theriault smiled even more.

Shen Yi on the other hand, was focused, looking for every open oppurtunity to attack Sky, then finally...

Shen Yi lunged forward, slicing Past the Arcadian as he tried to grab her, missing by an inch and sinking his own claws into his thigh.

"Let me guess," Theriault said as the two went back and forth, Shen Yi earning a cut to the face. "You're part of the 3rd generation of Arcadians, the bastards who've been hibernating since Saberhagen decided to lock you guys out of your paradise..."

Sky didn't answer, but it was clear with the way he was fighting that it was true.

"That makes you very new to this form, I'm sure your pure ability is powerful, but technique wise..." Shen Yi whacked the claws out of the way, spinning inward and slashing her sword across Sky's chest once again, kicking him in the face after another spin and sending him flying into the concrete walls.

"You're terribly lacking..." Theriault finished. He seemed calm on the outside, but he was ready to jump in at any time. Shen Yi was too hesitant on her attacks, and she still hadn't gotten used to the idea of killing yet. Though with the Arcadian she seemed to be able to look past it, she still wasn't going for the killspots Theriault had taught her.

Sky got up, his face battered a bit from the collision with the wall. "Haha... I see, you're right, why should I listen to that bitch Kira's lessons on techniques? I'm infinitely older than her, I have power!" Sky yelled, laughing maniacally as his body began to change.

'Really? He's doing that... Where are they learning this?' Theriault thought as Sky began to look more reptilian.

"Haha... 15% of our orginal power unsealed, I look much more beautiful this way!" He roared, his partial Arcadian form looking anything but Beautiful as he rushed Shen Yi, his speed, power, wit, and confidence had been tripled, and she could feel that his attack was going to kill her.

But it never came, the fatal blow she was expecting never touched her.

"Hah... The things I do for you people," Theriault said, looking at the large fist in his chest as Sky's eyes sparkled.

"Hah! I knew you didn't believe in the girl! No way a normal human was on par with me!" He yelled sinking his arm deeper and tearing through Theriault's back as the gray eyed boy just sighed.

"That wasn't it... Without this form she would have killed you, but she hasn't learned enough about fighting yet to be able to change up her style on demand... Doesn't matter though, you're still gonna die."

With this Theriault sliced off Sky's arm, kicking the Arcadian away from him quickly.

"Ey Yi Yi..." Theriault said smiling, shocking Shen Yi. "You did good."