Final Chance

Chapter 4: The Trials Part 2

Gimo had no real siblings excluding his little sister Tomi. He had always liked the idea of being the oldest sibling because he could do whatever he wanted and not have to worry about hearing any crap from someone twice his size. Of course, he still had his bouts of annoyance with the opposite sex, especially the women who protrayed themselves as Gimo's "older sisters" and treated him like he was still a pup. He tried, to no avail, to be nice, civil, and somewhat good mannered around these women, however, he eventually ended up losing his cool which usually involved him screaming and them giggling and saying that Gimo was too "high strung". All in all, he didn't mind the fox and the doe as much as he thought he would, so he let them hang around and tease him and in turn he simply acted annoyed.
He did, to his cargin, totally forgot that by leaving Storm alone to go talk to Ronwe, he left her open to bombardment and definite assult by the two busybody Anthro's.
"Ooooooooh! She's just so cute!" a voice exclaimed through Gimo's door.
He hadn't even reached his door yet to know what was going on. They had found her. They were, more than likely, making her new clothes. His lifemate within an hour would probably end up looking like....
Within an instant Gimotachi was at his door and pounded on it like a bat out of hell. His fur was bristled and his mouth twisted into a growl-like state as Foxtra, one of the female Anthro's, opened the door and smiled at him. To his annoyance, she was blocking his view of Storm.
Foxtra, out of the two of them, was the only one who had a crush on Gimo. She was slender and her fur was sleek and reddish brown. The thickness of it and the green of her eyes stood out for all to see. She was dainty and delicate, her hair flowed down like a red river and ended with white. Behind her was her tail, her pride and joy, full of fluff and life, wrapping itself around her legs in a rather cute manner. One of her ears twitched and she tilted her head, giving him one of her beautiful smiles.
"Hello Gimo." Foxtra said "Whatever can I do for you?"
She, as always, loved to flirt. With those eyes that any man could get lost into, she looked at him playfully, knowing that he wasn't in the mood to try and get around her. A twinge of jealously floated into those green depths as she moved her hips in a cute pose, firmly blocking the doorway and batting her long eyelashes at him.
"What are you women doing to Storm?" Gimo growled, trying to look around the fox but to no avail. For someone so small, she sure did have a way of making it hard to see.
"Well since her clothes were rags and we couldn't have her walking around in YOUR old clothes," she added with a bit of distaste which made Gimo raise an eyebrow "We decided to make her some clothes. We're fitting her now. Any more questions?"
"Yeah. You gonna let me in my room or what?" he snapped "I want to know if you've smothered her to death or not."
That comment got him a playful slap on the shoulder "Smother her with what? Affection? Well, we do more than you do, giving her those oversized clothes that the fashion police would have had her arrested for a long time ago and keeping her cooped up in here." before Gimo could wonder if she had taken a breath or not she continued "Why haven't you shown her around? I know Ronwe's taught you some manners...."
"First of all..." Gimo interrupted "She's not a guest, she was injured and I patched her up and she'll be going home tomorrow. Second, even if I did show her around it would be pointless. She'd get extremely lost and amazingly bored wondering around and looking at carved rock and underground tunnels. I know I did when I was a pup. Third, her clothes were fine and it's her own damned fault anyway that they're torn. No one told her to shoot bolts and crap like that at me." he crossed his arms stubbronly to show, and prove, that he was right. End of discussion.
Foxtra lifted her delicate eyebrow at him before she huffed "Quit being an ass Gimo." she said and grabbed his arm, pulling him into the room. As Gimo fought to regain his balance, he looked up as the other two females moved away from Storm so that he could, finally, get a good look at her.
And then he fell flat on his face.
Cute was the word that came to mind when Gimo saw Storm. The girls had did a very good job with the outfit with a miniskirt, a tanktop that rested above her bellybutton, and a long sleeveless jacket that was left buttoned enough to show all that they wanted to show, leaving a long split in the back to show off the back side of the outfit. The outfit was a maroon color which was normally a color that Gimo really couldn't see on her, but looked nice all the same. She had on gloves that cut off at the fingers, going up to stop at her elbow. Her boots we also high, going up almost to mid thigh. So while the outfit was short, ti didn't seem short because of the boots and the gloves. So she wasn't as sexy as Foxtra and was most definitely not as shapely as Doe but she was cute, in a stick figure-ish sort of way. He did give Storm credit though, she would be a knockout when she got older. At the moment she simply was just a teenager who needed to grow a bit.
Storm, on the other hand, felt that the outfit was a bit too girlish. She never wore skirts so wearing a mini skirt of all things was very disturbing to her. The boots somewhat helped, but she wasn't used to wearing boots for girls so she felt a little awkward and knew she would more than likely fall on her butt if she tried to walk to fast. They had also taken the time to braid her hair back so one large fat braid hung down her back almost past her bottom. She crossed her arms around her exposed stomach when Gimo looked at her and she turned away from him, but not before he saw her blush.
Now what the hell....?
Doe, who was very estatic about finally being able to dress up a human girl, turned the unwilling Storm towards Gimo. When Gimo finally stood up and looked at Storm she blushed even more and turned her head away from him, pulling her arms tighter around her midriff. Now totally confused about her behavior he turned to Doe. He always decided that the best way to deal with confusing girls was to just ignore them.
Doe was like Foxtra in height but not in build. She was way more curvy and more femimine, if that were possible, than Foxtra. Her deep brown eyes were slightly slanted and large, making her look much like the doe's she was named after. Unlike Foxtra, she enjoyed comfortable, conserative clothes as opposed to short shorts and tanktops that showed way too much. She was older than Gimo and did see him as sort of a younger brother. Out of all of the females, Gimo could honestly say that he liked Doe the most. Perhaps moreso than he should allow.
"Hello Gimo," Doe began "Do you like the outfit we made for her? I wanted to go with something a little...less revealing, but Foxtra won the coin toss." she sighed and Gimo held back to urge to pat her shoulder. Instead he turned his attentions back to Storm who was trying to ignore him still. He mentally shrugged it off.
"Short stuff," he said to Storm "How you feelin?"
With a slow turn of her head, Storm looked at him with annoyance "I'm not short." she snapped
"I'm taller than you so that makes you short. How are you feeling?" he asked again
"Fine." Storm snapped and turned her head away in a huff. Apperantely she wasn't in a very good mood. He figured if he had been tackled down by two females and forced to try on clothes that he normally wouldn't wear he wouldn't like it too much either. Instead of being sympathetic, however, he slinked over to her, putting his arms around her shoulders.
"Awwwwww....." Gimo began "C'mon Stormie, don't be like that. I was just kidding about the short stuff joke."
Gimo winced as a sharp pain went through his stomach. He wisely moved away from Storm and noticed the elbow moving back to where it had been previously before she had used it to impale him. He had been joking about the comment, and even about him touching her. He was trying to get her in better spirits, especially since he'd have to deal with the fact that she was his lifemate.
Lifemate.
He suddenly turned to Doe, wondering if maybe somehow the Fates were wrong or maybe he was feeling something like bad gas or something. How could Storm be his lifemate when Doe...
"I personally think Storm is cute." Doe said and smiled "Don't you Gimo?"
The Anthro wolf looked down at his feet which had suddnely became very interesting "Yeah." he said, not wanting to look at Doe. He knew that she didn't care for him the way he did for her, but all the same, he wished that it had been her and not Storm who was his lifemate. He didn't know this girl, he didn't really like her, and she was Human for crying out loud. And let's not get to the fact that she's just a kid who is all arms and legs.
"Cute..."
He noticed that Storm looked at him before she looked away quickly. He could sense unease in her and tension was visable on her person, and for a moment, he felt a small pang in his heart. He hated that feeling, but since it quickly went away, he never voiced her actions. Instead he looked at Foxtra and Doe with a look that clearly said "Out. Now."
Giving Storm a sympathetic look, she turned to Gimo and smiled softly, making Gimo once again wonder why Fate had it in for him. So what Doe was older by like, 3 years? So what if she was engaged to someone else? So what if she was in love with another person, HE wanted to be HER lifemate damnit, and it just wasn't fair!
"Hey, Gimotachi? Where's the bathroom? I forgot to ask them before they left."
"Huh?" Gimo looked around the room. Storm was standing, still in her new 'outfit', looking very uncomfortable...and fidegty. He once again did a run around of the room, they had left while he had been thinking. Well hell, that wasn't very nice. Besides, they didn't even say goodbye.
Clearing his throat loudly at the oddness of the room, he pointed to the far wall "Over there. You takin a bath?" he asked
"I'm going to pee. That a problem?"
"Ye gods no." Gimo grunted "Better in a toilet than the floor, get going."

********

This was NOT the adventure Nemo was hoping for.
Second day. Sephiros was in a pissy mood and worse, Terri was as close to one as she could get. He knew Sephy-kin was blaming him for this right now, like always. And he was wondering why his brother suddenly had to act all sweet on Terri? Not like he was JEALOUS or anything.it's just disgusting..of course, that wasn't counting that the second test had snuck up on them out of nowhere. Walking for three hours, him and Sephiros glaring at each other out the corner of their eyes  and watching Terri's back as she led with the compass. Then a weird light from out of nowhere blinds them a sec, and suddenly there in this odd room that seems to stretch on forever.
The only thing worse would be if he was hungry.
Nemo focused on the main problem at hand, trying to figure it out. Terri looked like she was doing the same, Sephiros just smirked. It was hard to tell if their was a floor since all Nemo saw was countless trap spears, scythes and even flame breathing statues of Red's race in the center among the endless traps. Someone had way to much time on their hands. Terri seemed unaffected as usual, which Nemo found odd.
"Some test. The Switch is right there." Sephiros hopped out into the 'space' like he didn't even see anything.
"Wait!"
Sephiros came back quick enough, yelling as he danced around trying to put out the fire at the seat of his pants. Terri watched expressionless as Nemo rolled.
"That was not very smart." she said and turned her attention towards Nemo. "And laughing will not help either."
"Yeah." Nemo tried to stop snickering. "But didn't you see all of that?"
"See what?" Sephiros grumbled "I only see the switch. The lever kind."
Terri blinked. "What switch?"
"You don't see all that either?" Nemo asked, somewhat startled
"I only see a checkerboard like surface. Some of the tiles are a different color, and seem like triggers. It is separated into three sections that float independently. What do you see Nemo?"
"Trap city." Nemo commented. "Spears and all kinds of stuff. The type of trap changes as well."
"You're both crazy." Seph muttered.
"Your singed ass says other wise."
"Bite me!"
"What did you say?!"
Terri ignored them, picking up a rock and tossing it out over the 'empty space.' it bounced across the tiles she saw.
"Curious." she said. "Do you see the rock?"
They stopped and looked. There it was, floating in space.
Nemo blinked. Stared at it a moment in thought.
"Don't strain yourself!"
"Shut up, Sephykins!" Nemo looked at the rock, muttered to himself in thought as Terri and Sephiros looked on. Picked up another rock and bounced it
toward a trap and watched it get sliced in half.
"Seph. You're going to have run for it."
Sephiros raised an WTF kinda eyebrow. Nemo glared back.
"If I'm right, you're going to have to trust us to guide you while you hit the switch."
Sephiros looked him in the eye for a long moment. Several questions and answers went back and forth silently as it does between siblings. Terri watched
silently, as always.
Then Sephiros nodded to Terri and stepped to the edge. "I'm going to haunt your ass if this don't work Neron."
Nemo smirked. Terri simply turned and faced the field.
Seph tensed to run. "I'm ready."
"Forward." Terri barked.
Seph ran forward, Nemo seeing a scythe swing toward him.
"Roll left!"
"Left!"
"Jump!"
"Right then left!"
"Duck!"
"Does it look like I have a joystick hanging out my ass?!! NO!!!" Sephiros turned and yelled...Stepping on one of the colored tiles.
Only Terri saw the surface separate into it's individual tiles and the colored ones flip over, Sephiros turning and barely grasp it's edge as they flipped back into place and barely launched himself upwards to land safely as the tiles slammed together with tremendous force. Hearing that massive clang of metal against metal told him better than seeing how close he came to getting cut in half.
Better take it seriously.
He ran, jumped and dodged as he was told, dodging each trap and making each jump safely and getting closer to the switch on the third platform..and the rules changed.
The traps and spears vanished into their resting places. The flame throwers, however, shook and rose to their feet to stalk around Sephiros with Nemo swearing.
How the hell can I guide him to fight those things?!!
Sephiros felt the sudden heat, frowning as he drew his sword and looked blindly. "Nemo!"
"Working on it!" They spat flame at him, Instinct barely saving his ass as he ducked and rolled.
Terri's yell stopping him before he hit a colored tile. A claw raking his back deep and causing him to bellow, the creature sidestepping his slash rushing circles around him. Nemo's shouts when to block or dodge attack barely keeping him alive.
"Screw this!" Sephiros yelled. "Terri! Where's the nearest trigger tile?!"
"Five steps behind you to the left! But why...?"
Sephiros answered by making a dash for it. Barely blocking/dodging the attacks and triggering it in time as the first pounced and fell into the depths below as
the tiles spread as Sephiros ducked.
The second remained on a tile and exhaled another fiery burst, Sephiros leaping at it as he shielded his eyes and drop kicked the creature thrown into the
lever and triggering it as it shattered.
All three suddenly finding themselves standing back on the path, but deeper into the caves. There was a shimmering behind them as some kind of portal closed behind them.
They all looked at each other.
"Call me stupid, but that was a test of what?" Sephiros asked, confused
Terri shrugged as if it was obvious. "A test of spirit. Faith in each other. You should study more when we get out of here."
Sephiros blinked chibi-like at Nemo as she started down the path again with compass. "Did Terri just zing me?"
Nemo chuckled and followed, Sephiros growling and following.
"Answer me!"
"Don't wanna strain myself thinking more."
 "Grrrrrr..."
*Boys.* Terri thought.
******

I think I am beginning to understand the words of that white haired stranger. Despite their harsh words to each other and the fact that they are sometimes clouded by jealousy, Nemo and Sephiros still care deeply and trust each other, even with their lives. From a logical standing, if they truly hated each other Nemo would have taken advantage of the situation...Perhaps boys can teach girls something after all...I shall have to do further observations.

******

Dark....so dark. So hot. Can't breathe...
Gimo opened his eyes and looked around. His room was pretty dark but with his vision it wasn't very hard to see everything in the room. There was a very small light coming from the bathroom, but other than that he couldn't really see anything wrong with the room. He did notice that Storm wasn't in the room, so Gimo concluded that Storm must be still in the bathroom. Gimo used his senses to try and determine what time it was and to realize that Storm had been in the bathroom for....five HOURS?!
What the hell is she doing in there? Gimo thought and got out of bed, liking the feel of the cold floor against his feet. Fully standing, he turned his head towards the bathroom, and took a step forward.
A deep growl escaped his throat before he even realized it. His fur stood straight on end, making him puff out as he hunched his shoulders and narrowed his eyes. There was a dark presence in the room, so dark that Gimo fully realized that he had reacted on instinct, instead of on his own will. His claws snapped out, and he felt himself bearing his teeth as he glared at the bathroom door. He forced his ears to prick up and listen to what was going on. He heard a slight squishing noise emitting from the room, and he became a bit more curious.
But the feeling of pure evil would not go away.
Slowly, but surely, Gimo allowed his foot to move one at a time towards the door. A million thoughts were going through his head, was Storm alright? Was she the evil that he felt? Were humans trouble after all?
It's so hot...it hurts. Someone help me....
Gimo stopped in his tracks. He had heard that, it somewhat sounded like Storm, but he wasn't sure. "Storm?" he called out slowly, not wanting to go near the door, but at the same time those "lifemate" instincts telling him to protect what was his. "Short stuff you okay?" he asked
Help...I'm burning all over! It hurts...so much...help me, help me please!
Now that was Storm, Gimo knew it. Ignoring the evil emitting from the bathroom Gimo opened the door, wincing as his hand burned from the doorknob. It was hot as hell!
As he opened the door he felt as if his body had been engulfed in flames. He let go of the door and stepped back, covering his face with his arms as he fought the torrent of flames and wind. He called out Storm's name and tried his best to open his eyes. The flames licked at his body, burning him with a firceness that he didn't know fire could have.
So hot....I'm burning all over! It's hurting me!
Grinding his teeth, Gimo forced himself into the bathroom, crying out as his feet hissed out steam from the hotness of the floor. Moving his massive arms, he used the wind to push a small path through the fire so he could at least see what was going on, if only for a second. When he was able to open his eyes he was totally stunned. There was no fire, the bathroom was just as it always was, toilet, bath, shower, and sink. He had never tried to decorate the bathroom, mainly because it was just a room to clean oneself, and nothing more. He looked around and noticed that he still didn't have a clear view of the bathroom as the door was blocking the full view of the bathtub. He heard that squishing noise that he noticed at the beginning and he once again felt a growl escape his throat. That evil feeling hit him full force and he pushed the door open to see just what that noise was. As the door slowly creaked to reveal the noise his fur began to stand on end and his ears slammed against the back of his head.
It's hurting me.
Gimo stood, his eyes widening slowly at the scene before him. His fur flattened but his ears stayed flat behind him, his mouth dropped slightly ajar and his entire body went totally slack. He tried to say something, anything to describe his feelings at the moment.
"By...by the Gods...." was all he could mutter as he watched the two people on the floor.
Demons was all he could call them. They had no real figure, they were a large mass of purple of blue. They were kneeling, or Gimo thought anyways, and were using some sort of limbs to pull flesh, or an organ, Gimo couldn't tell, into an orfice of some sort. With their backs towards him, he couldn't really decipher what they were doing besides eating. That wasn't what had bothered Gimo. It was the fact that they were feeding off of a body which laid spread eagle on his bathroom floor. He squinted, because he couldn't tell who it was with the creatures in the way, but he could tell from just the feet that it was a human. He moved an inch closer, silently, trying to see what it was. As he moved closer he realized that the "squishing" noise had been coming from them eating, and he noticed a large amount of blood on the floor. Another step. He could see a bit better now, but the creatures were still in the way. He could tell that they had cut open a large amount of the chest cavity and were eating, what Gimo assumed, either the heart or lungs. They were now covered in blood and simply munching away, pretending as if Gimo wasn't even in the room. With that he took another step forward, knowing that this time, he'd get a good view of the face.
Gimo's heart stopped.
It was Storm. The creatures had killed her, ripped open her chest and were eating her heart.
Gimo took five steps back, paling under his fur at the sight. They were eating his lifemate.
Suddenly, the creatures stopped eating. He saw them incline their heads slowly towards Gimo and stand. Gimo took five more steps back until he was completely out of the bathroom. They turned to him, and Gimo got a good look at their faces. They had no eyes, no noses, just a mouth which was nothing but a long mass of skinny straight teeth with a small sharp point at the ends. They began to shift, and their limbs that were supposed to be arms grew hands, with many fingers, all of which had sharp talons at the ends of them. Their "feet" also grew into talons and they grinned at him, or at least he thought they grinned at him. Either way it was very, very disturbing.
"Mother'sssssss...." they wheezed, although Gimo couldn't see their mouths moving. "She isssssss for Mother...."
They crouched and leaped at him, and the last thing Gimo saw was massive teeth reaching to tear his head apart.
With a roar, Gimo lunged forward in his bed, sweat pouring from him, his chest heaving rapidly as he tried to access the situation. He looked around the room frantically, looking for anything, the tiniest thing out of order. The room was just he remembered it from when he had woke up before. No burn marks, the light to the bathroom was off, it was totally dark in his room. No evil, no demons, nothing. The room was totally silent. It took a full five minutes for Gimo's heart to stop slamming against his chest before he realized that it had been a dream. He relaxed, slumping forward in his bed, slowing his breathing down and placing his hands onto the bed to brace himself. He shook his head to try and get the mental images of those creatures out of his head, but they still somewhat lingered within the back of his mind. He put his hand over his face, and tried to take deep breaths. Chanting "it's gonna be okay" was also helping.
It...hurts.
"Oh, dear God no....damned voice..." Gimo muttered and slowly lifted his head up, removing his hand as he did so. He squinted a bit, as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. Maybe Ronwe was right, maybe he did need glasses. He noticed the outline of a figure, not very tall, not very shapely but not totally underdeveloped either. The figure had no clothes on that he could see, and it seemed to be extending its arm out to him. He noticed that the figure was female and had long blonde hair. Soon he was able to widen his eyes as his sharp eyes adjusted to the darkness. He focused on Storm, the figure in front of him, clearly as if it were day.
I will never say that she's underdeveloped again... he thought to himself At least, not say it honestly. "Storm?" he asked out loud "What the hell are you doing? Go put some clothes...."
"It....hurts." she said softly, her normally bright eyes a dull blue as she started at Gimo blankly "Help me...it hurts so much..."
Concern swept through him as he looked at her sullen figure. Something screamed in the back of his head that there was wrongness in the room, something deadly. He went to get out of bed before he looked at Storm again and noticed that there was a small red line coming down her face. Was it a tear? He continued to look on, noticing that little red lines were beginning to form all over her body in a strange way. He saw her slowly lift up her arm towards him, the lines becoming bright within the darkness of the room. Her hand mid raised, her fingers splayed out as if to touch him, but couldn't reach the distance. Gimo, now very worried as well as a bit freaked out, went to move towards her. Before he was even able to take a step he noticed that small drips of crimson began to drip from the lines on her body. It was then that he realized that the crimson was her blood, and it was then that he realized that somehow, she got marks all over her body. He saw light come into Storm's eyes for just an instant before the cuts on her body became a bright red and blood sprayed everywhere for a matter of seconds before she fell backwards, her long golden hair falling behind her.
"GIMO!"
Quick to react Gimo leaped out of bed and within three movements had the girl in his arms, ignoring the alarming amount of blood that was starting to seep from those tiny cuts on her body. He didn't know if that had been her talking in his head or not, but with her losing so much blood, he'd have to cast something on her. He wasn't much for healing, and he only had one healing materia on him, which wasn't fully mastered. Slowly he laid Storm, now unconsious, onto the floor and grabbed one of his blankets, laying it out on the floor and then lifting Storm up carefully, minding the marks, and laying her onto the blanket, covering most of her body with the large and heavy material. Quickly he got up and began to tear apart his room for the healing materia. Because his room was somewhat messy and he wasn't careful with materia that he rarely used, it was quite difficult to find it with most of his possessions scattered all over his room.
"Mom always told me: 'Gimo, you need to keep your room straightened! If you don't one day you're going to need something real important and you won't be able to find it because your room always looks like a tornado hit it!" and did I listen to Mom? Nooooooo. Damn, damn, damn, where in the hell is that stupid materia at anyways?!" he grumbled, muttering other colorful words following his statement. He eventually found the materia hidden within one of his clothing drawers and pulled the tiny thing out and into his hand, rushing over towards Storm (which was another two steps), and knelt down, letting the now bright blue materia float over her head. With a small chant he released the endless energy of the materia onto Storm's body, watching as she was enveloped within a light green haze of magic, flowing into her injuries to try and heal them. He looked at the cuts on her face and noticed that the blood had thinned a bit, but was still flowing. Once the magic had faded he moved the blanket a bit off of her body to see what the cure had done.
And that cure had done nothing but slow down the blood flow.
Her body was still covered with nothing but cuts and Gimo could have sworn that there hadn't been as many cuts as there were now. Okay then, two decisions, either panic and go into hysterics or think of a very, very good plan. At the moment, option one seemed to be a really good idea. He sucked in a breath to let out a howl when his door bursted open and in came various Anthros, Ronwe in front of them, his hand still on the doorknob. All of them had looks of shock/alarm on their faces and upon looking at the scene, Gimo kneeling down to a ko'ed Storm who was very much naked, they all turned an accusing eye toward Gimo, excluding Ronwe who's attention had suddenly focused on Storm.
Gimo, seeing what was about to happen, raised his hands away from Storm, to reveal them being very bloody. He looked at his hands quickly before pulling them behind his back, giving everyone a toothy grin.
"You tried to eat her!" Foxtra exclaimed, breaking through the small crowd and moving in towards Gimo "I can't believe you tried to eat your own lifemate?! I knew you didn't like her but trying to eat her? And why is she naked Gimo?!" she hissed, her hands on her hips and demanding an explaination.
The wolf visably paled "Eat her?! Why the hell would I want to eat a human?!" Gimo demanded "I swear to all that's Holy that I wasn't trying to eat anything! She just kinda started bleeding and stuff and...hey, how do I know that this isn't another dream?" Gimo stood and walked over to Foxtra, towering over her slim frame "How do I know you're not one of those demon things."
A quick slap to the head cleared all those thoughts out the way, and very quickly.
"WHO'S A DEMON?!" Foxtra demanded and glared at a Chibi-Gimo as he wobbled around rubbing his sore head.
Returning to normal size, Gimo continued to rub his head "Ow...Sorry." his attentions turned back to Storm" Look, I tried to do that healing thing but it didn't even do anything besides slow down the blood flow. She was just standing there and then she started bleeding, I don't know what the hell happened myself. I don't know what I should do." he was about to go into full panic attack once again before he felt a reassuring hand on his shoulder. When Gimo looked up, he almost completely lost his mind. It was Ronwe's hand that was on his shoulder, but his face was anything but calm and collected. He looked dangerous and menancing and downright scary. Before Gimo could question it, the look was gone, almost as if it had never been there. Ronwe's face was now hard and cold, like it was when he was angry or in deep thought about something dangerous. He looked Gimo straight in the eyes before he spoke.
"Take Storm out of here. Take her to her father. She can't stay here any longer." Gimo would have asked why, but he already knew. If Ronwe wanted someone gone, it was because they were a potential threat to the clan, and potential threats were removed. Peacefully, but removed nonetheless. If Ronwe was that serious about it, then Gimo wouldn't even try to argue.
He finished wrapping Storm up in the blanket before he stood up, grabbing Storm's Buster Sword and strapping it to his back. While the others looked at him in confusion, he lightly picked up the small girl in his arms and looked back at Ronwe.
"She's my lifemate. Will I be able to return?"
"Gimo, there is an evil surrounding her. Until you can remove that from her, it would be best if you returned without her. You may return anytime you like, she, however, cannot. It is for the good of the clan. I'm very sorry."
And he was. Gimo knew not to take Ronwe's word lightly. If he said that it was for the good of the clan, than it was. Gimo had also felt the presence, he knew that Ronwe wasn't lying but still...he didn't think he could abandon his lifemate, even if he didn't want to be bonded with her. He shifted, getting a better hold on Storm and hoped that the blanket would be good enough to keep the blood from seeping out. He looked at his fellow people, friends, Doe, and smiled.
"Be back in a couple of days. Tell Tomi she can stay in my room till I get back." and with that he walked past the small crowd, which gladly spread apart for him, and walked out of his home, not once looking back.
******

Dyne cleared his throat and adjusted his traveling backpack as he neared Nibelhiem. He had been travelling for days, hoping that his father wouldn't find out that he skipped a week of school again to investigate the mystery behind the now abandoned, monsters and all, Shinra Mansion. He had heard the stories and the mysteries behind the strange estate from the local kids and wanted to check it out, and also his new weapon. It had taken him three days and many beatings from the local monsters for him to finally get to the hometown of Cloud and Tifa Strife and he was very tired. As he looked around the slightly expanded city he decided that before he did anything, he'd first rest up at the INN and go investigate the case of the Shinra Mansion the next day. He briefly wondered how Lucrecia was doing, and whether or not she had heard about the mystery as well. Shrugging the thought off, he headed towards the INN, which was always open, and hoped that he could not only get a place to stay, but maybe even some information about what he was looking for.

End of Chapter 4

Author's Note: This bad boy was actually ten pages long. I think that it'll be shorter on FF.net but I hope everyone likes it. Next chapter ends the trials, and I have something in store for you. I'd also like to introduce Jazon, who will be another writer in this lovely story. gives him a big hug I hope everyone likes this new installment, even though it mostly focused on Gimo and Storm. ^_^;;;