General Art Wig-Or-Log

[Random Person]

I never really bothered to look at this before, but now I am REALLY happy that I did. I would willingly sacrifice my science homework to read it. And that's saying something!

I don't know what else to say. I AM LOVING THIS!!!!! WIG-OR-LOG WILL GO FAR!!!!

By the way, when the characters mention the place is Wig, is it just a shortened version of Wig-Or-Log? Or are there two separate places, Wig and Log? Will they travel to Log? I suppose I will just have to read on and see!:clap::yes::clap::yes::clap::yes::clap:

Finally somebody asks this. I've been waiting like forever for someone to ask about the name. Wig-Or-Log is the same place as Wig. But because it's such a weird phrase to say, the characters shorten it down to Wig.
I guarantee everyone has been thinking, "Why in the Wig would he call the world Wig-Or-Log?" The entire phrase comes from the African words "Ewig" (Forever) and "Oorlog" (War). Get it?

P.S. If you want to be a part of the world of Wig, I need as many names as I can for side characters. Just sign up in the sign up forum.

P.S.S If you stop doing your science homework, I will stop writing it.

 

[kokirion]

Ewig and oorlog or not african words, they are Dutch

Ewig comes from the dutch word eeuwig

oorlog is the dutch word for war

 

[Vanessa28]

Hahahaha fellow countrymate you are right but ewig can also be south-african where they too talk dutch but of course completely different than our nederlands. And of course South-Africa once belonged to our country so the language is still dutch

 

[kokirion]

Baas means leader in Dutch/african, was that why you choosed that name?

 

[Random Person]

Baas means leader in Dutch/african, was that why you choosed that name?

Indeed it is. I try not to Randomly name things inside stories. Watching movies like Star Wars and Star Trek where everything has some kind of secret meaning will do that to you. Of course not everything comes from another language but even the names that seem to not mean anything took some thought as to the roles.

Once again, this chapter's title is not settling with me. If anyone has thoughts of a better one blah blah blah, you know the rest.
​

Chapter 25 : Assessment
​

Mod checked the pulse of his friend Nar. Tears were forming in his eyes. He couldn’t be dead. He just couldn’t be. Mod had known Nar too long. Nar taught him the best fighting strategies. Nar introduced him to the friendliest people. Nar had been with Mod since Mod had first gotten out of the Center. To think that he was dead after all this time.

Mod felt the skin on Nar. He was getting colder. Already, the grass he laid on was warmer than he. Perhaps the only hear coming from him was the bloody wound in his stomach.

Mod punched his fist hard in the ground. Why did this happen? Nar was so much better than the girl he was fighting. He shouldn’t have died like that. Mod shouldn’t have had to finish his job. Nar should have done it himself.

He wanted to stay there a sulk. To cry his eyes out.

No, that’s not what Nar would want. He was a fun person but he still got his job done. He would want Mod to do the same. And so, sucking in his sorrow Mod went to do what all the other Oranges were doing.

Getting off the grass, he hurried toward the river where the Commander was to give his report.

The Commander was a tall dressed formally with a white dress shirt, pair of nice black pants and shoes to match. His skin was a nice mix of white and tan which was due to his age as well as the time he had spent outside. He wore eyeglasses and was examining many sheets of paper in his hand. He was a man who displayed age and great wisdom upon himself.

"Commander Cham."

The man turned upon hearing his name.

"We lost Nar sir."
Upon hearing that, the Commander shuffled through the papers in his hand. He then took the wooden object that was on right his ear and used it as a writing utensil. After jotting something down, he place the wood back on his ear.
"That’s five so far." He looked up and away from Mod.
"We brought 20 people here, plus the five Vanessa brought and we’ve only lost five. Overall that’s pretty good."

Mod began to clench his fist. Pretty good? How could he say that? He tried to convince himself that that was the kind of man Cham was. He only wanted results and he often got them. It’s why he was the Commander. Because he understood the cost of war. Still that didn’t stop Mod’s fist from getting tighter and tighter.

Cham did not noticed Mod’s feelings at all. If he had, he probably wouldn’t have cared. He had a job to do and he was going to get it done despite the feelings of others. The years of Leading in the war taught him to be an old fashion man of etiquette and proper activity. With that thought always in mind, he was one who couldn’t stand those who didn’t do things properly or presented themselves in a proper manner.

"Hey Koroko, check it out. Cham‘s here."
Speaking of such, here came Atsuma.

Atsuma Koroko and Sheina came down one of the many long ramps that extended from the Blue ship to the opposite side of the shore. They were all happy in there own sense, seeing how the mission had been a success. Cham was annoyed by the sight of Atsuma. He had worked with Vanessa’s team before and they rarely saw any point he attempted to make, be it about war or otherwise.

Immediately when the group of fighters reached where he was standing, Cham addressed what he felt was the most important issue at the moment.

"Mister Atsuma, I am to be called Commander Cham. Is it really so hard to show a little respect?"

Atsuma smirked. It was time to have a little fun.

"Hey man, my fault. I always forget that."

Cham nodded to show his acceptance of Atsuma’s apology.

Atsuma continued his statement. "So what’s the damage Cham? How‘d we make out."

Sheina winced in her position. Had that been Baas, she would have scolded him for his constant joking. She practiced constantly on maintaining proper behavior, but this conversation was of people of a higher level than herself, so she stayed quiet.

Cham did not hear the word "commander" and grew annoyed. He decided this time to ignore it. Straightening the glasses on his face, he began to examine the papers in his hand.

"The damage is appropriate. Very few dead on our side while all the Blues were taken care of. As far as equipment goes, Blue weapons aren’t really much better than ours. If anything they’re worse, but we can still use them."

Cham then looked up from his paper toward the large docked ship.

"I have to hand it to Commander Vanessa, as always, her plan was near perfect. I can’t recall the last time Orange captured an enemy ship. Never the less a Blue’s ship."

Cham then stopped his gazing to glare at Atsuma.
"Although I can recall a time where we were SUPPOSE to capture a ship."

Atsuma chuckled. He knew what Cham was referring to. Then he stopped to ask a serious question.
"Why are you here Cham? I’m sure the Commander of Orange’s second base has more important roles to be playing than overseeing a simple territory attack."

Again not hearing the word "Commander" brought uneasiness to Cham, but he was not hesitant to answer.
"When the message got to me that Commander Vanessa would be here, I didn’t think it would be polite for both our bases to go on a mission together and have only one Commander show up. What was the purpose that she insisted on coming out here anyway?"

"Baas was the purpose." Atsuma said.

"Base? Is she tired of it? I guess she just craves being out on the field like in her good old days.."

Koroko did not understand.
"What are you talking about?"

Cham saw a need to let out his wisdom.
"When someone who is used to being on the field for so long, even though they belong behind the scenes, they may get a type of "home sick" feeling that will lead them to..."

"What’s with the suit?" Atsuma interrupted. "I know you like to dress proper, but in a battle too?"

Cham took a deep breath. He should be used to Atsuma’s rudeness by now, but it was still getting to him.

"A Commander does not have to be in the fight unless it’s necessary. As a Commander, I must presume an appearance that shows my authority, even on the battle field."

"I guess that explains why you don’t carry your sword." Atsuma said laughing. "Vee would definately disagree with you."

"Yes, well, as clever as we both are, great minds don't always think alike."

Cham looked around in a confused manner, his left hand straightening his glasses. " By the way, where is... Ah Miss Pandora."

Atsuma Koroko and Sheina turned to see Pandora walking toward the group. Her outfit was dripping wet from her chest down since she had had to cross the river.

Atsuma laughed at that loudly to show how funny he thought it was.

Normally, Pandora would go into a fit about Atsuma’s laughing, but she knew Cham preferred an environment filled with etiquette. That allowed her to ignore Atsuma’s behavior and focus on Cham.

"Commander Cham, how nice to see you again. I trust everything is going fine in your life." She said with a pleasant and polite smile.

This brought a little joy to Sheina whom had had to take Atsuma's jokes without saying anything.

"Splendid," the Commander answered smiling back to Pandora. He was much happier now that she was there. Pandora always displayed proper etiquette in front of Cham, despite what her fellow teammates tended to do. "And with the capture of this ship, it’s even better. I do wish we could sail it though. No one can build a ship like the Blue country. Unfortunately that would ruin Commander Vanessa’s plan of an ambush. By the way, where is Commander Vanessa?"

"I’m afraid I don’t know." Pandora replied staying polite. "When I saw that all the Oranges were coming closer towards the ship, I knew the battle was over and assumed she would be heading over here to discuss the details with you."

"She’s probably with Baas." Atsuma said to Pandora.

"Why would she go all the way back to the base?" Cham asked.

Everyone was confused at the random statement Cham had made. Then, realizing the misconception, Atsuma began to explain.

"Oh, Cham, I see what’s happening. When we say "Baas" we aren’t talking about Orange base, we’re talking about..."

"ATSUMA!"

Everyone turned around. On the opposite side of the river, Baas was running toward the Blue ship waving his left arm and shouting. While his shield and sword were on his back, he had something tucked under his right arm.

"I don't recognize that young man. Yet he's wearing an orange band. Is he one of yours? What is he doing?" Cham said all at once.

"Yelling my name out like an idiot." Atsuma said annoyed. "I told him not to do that."

Baas was running at full speed. He had to get to Atsuma. He was on a mission. He had to tell everyone what he had deduced. It was vital. To him it was the most important thing in his life at the mome...
"WHOA!" He said halting to a stop.

He had completely forgotten about the river. Normally he didn’t mind getting wet, but with an all white costume it would be quite embarrassing emerging from the river. Baas looked around quickly. He had to get across the river so he could relay his message and he had to do it now. What could he use?

The ropes on the ship! Perfect. He ran to the ship where he had climbed up before and began to construct his plan.

"Okay so I can use this rope to climb up like I did before and then... no that will take too long. There’s got to be a faster way. Wait. The tension in this rope... If I do that, then this... then... yeah it’ll work!"

Baas quickly exchanged the cape in his hand with the sword on his back. Grabbing on tightly to the rope in which he had used to climb up , he took his sword and quickly sliced through where it had been tied down.

The ground had been used as a anchor to hold the rope in place. When it was cut from the ground, the weight on the opposite end and the tension in the rope caused it to snapped back towards the ship. Holding on tight, Baas came up with the rope toward the deck. Prepared for the trip he landed on the deck on the ship with a thump in a couple of seconds.

"Atsuma!" He yelled once more.

Immediately after landing, he found his way to the nearest ramp and ran down toward the rest of the group, ignoring all by standing Oranges who happen to be nearby.

Baas came to a halt right in front of Atsuma. He wanted to relay his message but he was out of breath from his venture. He bent over with his hands on his knees to regain some energy. Baas then noticed Cham standing next to the group.

Atsuma was now extremely curious as to what Baas had to say. What was so important that he ran all the way from the forest and pulled himself up onto the ship like that.

Baas lifted his right hand up and pointed it at the sky to indicate he was about to speak. He began to stand up straight.

Everyone was curious now. What was the big news he had to share?

There was a moment of silence. And then, Baas spoke.

"Who are you?" He said pointing to Cham. The rest of the group almost fell over. Atsuma couldn’t believe it. Baas had completely lost his focus so quickly due to his curiosity.

Cham, seeing the color of Baas’ band, was happy to answer his question.

"Well how do you do? They say my name is Cham young man. In the second base of Orange I hold the position of..."

"What with the suit?" Baas said in the exact same way Atsuma had.

Atsuma almost burst out laughing when he heard the question. Only he could appreciate how truly hilarious the situation was.

Suddenly, Baas remembered why he had run all that long way.
"Atsuma!" He yelled without warning scarring everyone in the group. "Something’s happened to Vanessa! I think she’s been captured!" Baas then got out and unrolled the cape he found in the forest and placed it on the ground.

"See, doesn’t this look like she’s been in some kind of fight?"

Everyone stared at the cape. There was no doubt in their mind that it belonged to Vanessa and it indeed had signs that there had been a struggle.

"Baas." Sheina said sternly. "If this is some kind of joke..."

"I know what you’re thinking." Baas said "But I wouldn't joke about something like this.
...
Well maybe I would, but I'm not. I found the cape like this in the forest. I was chasing a grey band when they suddenly disap..."

"Whoa whoa, a grey band?" Pandora said. "Why was a grey band anywhere near here?"

"I don’t know. I tried to follow them, but they just suddenly disappeared. And right where I lost them I found this cape."

"Well let’s go find them and find out!" Koroko snarled. "A little alone time with us should get them to spill their guts. For their sake, the better hope they didn't take Vee."

"Hold on Koroko." Cham said in authority. "We can’t just go attacking random grey bands. The rules of Wig forbid us to do any harm to Greys. The best thing to do is to head back to the second base and discuss it. Atsuma, I want the rest of you to come also and.... Atsuma?"

The Commander looked around, but Atsuma was gone.

"There he is!" Pandora pointed. Atsuma had darted across the river and was running on the opposite side of the field. There was an intense look in his eyes. He wasn’t going to lose Vanessa. No one on his team would ever be lost. Not again.

"Atsuma wait!" Baas said hurrying after him. "You don’t know where I found the cape!"
Suddenly he stopped again. The river was in his way yet again.

"I know." He thought to himself. "I can slide down the ropes of the ship using my sword as a handel." He then darted back to the Blue ship to go execute his plan.

The rest who were left standing simply stared at the two leaving. Then, being a Leader, Cham’s instincts of analysis kicked in.

"I can’t believe there’s someone so..."

"Cunning?" Koroko tried.

"Reckless!" Cham finished. "What he did with that rope was shear genius. But he’s also foolhardy to be screaming in a field and to suddenly run off. I can see a lot of Atsuma in him. Almost like he suddenly obtained a younger brother. Who exactly was that foolhardy boy?"

Sheina put her hand on her head in embarrassment. "That was Baas."

Chapter 25 End
​

 

[Master Kokiri 9]

Nice chapter man. I see a lot of similarities between Atsuma and Baas. I've got a feeling that Atsuma is Baas's dad, but I really don't know why. I guess I wouldn't be totally shocked if that ended up being true. Also, I've decided to make a cliffhanger to entertain people and because I like writing them.

What will happen to Vanessa? Who captured her in the first place? And why in Wig would a Grey band go around kidnapping people?! Find out next time on Wig-or-Log!

Honestly, it's an entertaining chapter. Some funny stuff happened and there were a couple jokes concerning Baas's name. I still keep forgetting to pronounce it as "Base" and not "Baas". I'm making a concious effort though. Not much plot progression, but it was entertaining enough.

Oh, and the following was GOLD.

"That was Baas."

 

[Diablo]

Good chapter. Why do I get the feeling that Diablo captured Vanessa?

 

[Random Person]

I still keep forgetting to pronounce it as "Base" and not "Baas". I'm making a concious effort though.

I had to do this too when I first made this story. I thought a chapter where people get confused about it would help everyone else see the difference too. After I finally got it down, every time I tried to type the normal word "base" I wound up typing "Baas" instead and had to go back and fix it several times.

 

[TheSkywardSword]

Apart from the Vanessa bit, that last chapter was FUNNY.

Am currently loving this story.

That's all I can say. Period. Full stop. Whatever you want to call it.

:clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:

PS. Why can't I procrastinate my science homework for the sake of Wig-or-Log?

 

[figthersword]

Wow i was so amaze and i almost laugh on my real name and character "COMMANDER CHAM" what a nice role i have done. i hope in the next chapter i'm included in the story.

 

[Random Person]

PS. Why can't I procrastinate my science homework for the sake of Wig-or-Log?

Because education is important in today's society and we must all remember that it takes precedence before enjoyable situations for if we zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Oh man, put myself to sleep again. Baasically I don't want to be responsible for anyone missing out on their education. I'd rather see someone go off and get a college degree than finish reading my story.

 

[Vanessa28]

Random Person you know are officially my most favorite writer on here. I love your story so much you made me return only to comment on your page. And believe me this never happened anywhere before. Anopther great chapter and I love the baas part how he hated to become wet. You make Baas look silly but also a character we all look up to. Continue to write my dear friend. Even though I left I still wanna read this story. You are awesome!

 

[Magatha]

Awesome story RP!:clap: I love all the action and humor!!!

 

[Random Person]

Chapter 26: The Decisions
​

Atsuma pushed through the bushes that were in his way. It wasn’t the first time he had done it and it wouldn’t be the last. His outfit was dripping wet, but he didn’t care. In his mouth his teeth were grinding. His eyes were focused, determined, more so than usual. He had a mission. Whatever trouble Vanessa was in, he knew he’d get her out of it.

After traveling through the woods for almost a full minute, his brain began to take control over his anger. He suddenly realized that he had no idea where to go. He didn’t remember which tree Vanessa had been in. Closing his eyes, he began to contemplate his situation.

"Okay," He thought to himself "Calm down Ats. If you’re going to save Vee, you have to think clearly. Now then, who would want Vee? She’s the Commander of the first base of Orange, so that means pretty much anyone who isn’t an Orange or Discrete. But Vee’s no pushover. She may not be as good with weapons as she is with a bow, but there’s no way she would have been easily captured by one person. Were there mutiple people waiting for her? Was it an ambush or did they just happen to see her? And even if they did, how would they recognize her? There’s no symbol on a band for a Commander. Do they not know who she is?"

Atsuma shook his head. He was worrying about unnecessary details. The enemies intentions could wait. The point was to find where they went.

Atsuma mind was silent for a moment as he tried to come up with something.

"I have no leads!" He thought "If I knew where she was, I could do some kind of tracking, but I don’t know where she was!"

"AAGH!" He screamed punching his fist into a nearby tree.

"Hey!" Came a voice. Atsuma turned around to see Baas pushing his way toward him.
"What did that tree ever do to you?"

"What do you want kid?" Atsuma said angrily.

Baas looked at Atsuma confused.
"What do you mean what do I want? My Commander is missing and I want to find her. Isn’t that what you want too?"

Atsuma didn’t have time for this.
"If you want to look for her fine, but don’t bother me. I’m trying to think and I don’t need your aggravation. I need to find where they took Vee"

Baas was taken aback. Why was Atsuma so angry at him?
"Hey, I have..."

"I don’t care kid."

"But Atsuma I..."

"Leave me alone."

"Atsuma."

"WHAT DID I SAY! GO AWAY!"
His shouts took more energy out of him than the trip through the woods. He began to breath hard out of anger.

Baas was stunned. Atsuma always kept his cool. Could it be...
He took a glance at Atsuma hands. There was no bow in them. They were only clenched.
No, this wasn’t due to his memories. He was really angry. Baas had dealt with anger before. Atsuma was much older than he. That meant he wasn’t going to listen to Baas as long as he was in this state. And he would probably remain in this state until he found what he was looking for.

Baas then let out a smirk. It was quick smirk though. Maybe he couldn’t talk his way through anger, but there were other methods.

"Hey!" He said to Atsuma fiercely. He then took his sword from his back and placed it in his left hand. "I don’t let just anybody yell at me like that!"

Atsuma looked at Baas angrily. "Kid, trust me, you don’t want to..."

*SHING*

Baas swung his sword suddenly toward Atsuma’s head. Atsuma ducked to have the sword bounce off a tree.

Taking the shield off his back and putting it on his shoulder, Baas had determination in his eyes.

"Actually Atsuma, I think I do."

Atsuma gritted his teeth. Baas was a distraction he didn’t need right now. Whoever had Vanessa was getting away. But there wasn’t a way he could ignore Baas. So he took his sword from his hip.

"Okay Baas." He said with anger in his eyes. "Don’t say I didn’t warn you."

"Don’t worry." Baas said with the same stare. "I won’t have to."

Atsuma stopped for a split second. This fight seemed… familiar. He didn’t have time to think it through though. Baas rushed toward him with a horizontal slice from his right. Atsuma deflected it. Baas tried again bringing his sword up for a diagonal slice from his lower left. Again Atsuma deflected it with ease. Several more attacks ended the same way. Baas attacking, Atsuma deflecting. Finally, Baas stopped attacking and jumped back. Normally when one does this, their opponent also takes some time to rest, but Atsuma saw his chance. When Baas had landed, Atsuma jumped forward. Baas did not see the attack coming and wasn’t fast enough to do anything about it.

*POW*

Atsuma jumped up and kneed Baas in the chin. Baas landed with a thud up against a tree. His eyes closed upon the impact.

"And stay down." Atsuma said. He turned to leave Baas there.


Suddenly, Baas’ shield came flying through the air like a frisbee. It hit a tree to Atsuma’s right, ricocheted to fly just in front of Atsuma’s face and ricocheted off the tree on Atsuma’s left.

Shocked and angry, Atsuma turned around to see Baas still on the ground. His right arm extended. In one move, he had thrown and caught his shield.

"Where do you think you’re going?" he said smiling. "I’m just getting started."

"Baas, you can’t win."

"That’s what you want me to think." Baas said slowly standing. "But I know the truth. You just don’t want to fight me." He stopped for a second to catch his breath before continuing "And here I thought the great Atsuma of Orange would be able to handle a simple kid."

There it was again. That familiar feeling Atsuma had. But he was too angry to care about feelings. He rushed in toward Baas. Baas jumped back dodging the curved sword. Using the trees to his advantage, Baas quickly jumped around them. This kept Atsuma from using his speed to catch up to Baas. Atsuma saw the weakness though. Before he could jump around a tree, Baas had to glance back to see where he was going. After the fifth tree, Atsuma swung his swung his sword in a horizontal fashion. Baas began to jump back and dodge, and then he glanced over his shoulder. Atsuma took his chance. Rather than finishing his swing, he shifted his movement to move toward the opposite side that Baas was looking at. When Baas finished glancing, he did not immediately see Atsuma. In the confusion his body did not know what to do next. That allowed Atsuma to kick Baas in the side. Hard.

"AGH!" Baas shouted as he fell to the side. Atsuma wasn’t playing around. He knew the best spot to hit people if he wanted them to stay down from pain. He didn’t want to kill Baas, but he did want him to stay down. Baas was so annoying. He didn’t know what Atsuma was going through.

Baas grabbed his side in pain. He looked up at Atsuma who was a couple of feet away. Pushing through the pain he had, Baas stood to his feet.

Atsuma put his sword back on his side. He could see he wouldn’t need it anymore.
"Yield." He said seriously.

"Make me." Baas responded back with a smirk.

The comment alone made Atsuma angry but the smirk made him burn with fury.

*Punch*

He let Baas have it straight in the stomach.

That made it so Baas couldn’t defend himself anymore. He was too winded and disoriented. He tried to aim his body so it would fall in a certain spot.

"Yield." Atsuma said with his hand in Baas’ stomach.

"No." Baas said grinning.

*Punch*

This time, the fist came to Baas’ face.

He backed up. Keep coming Atsuma. Just a little more.

"Kid, do you think I like doing this?! I don’t have time for you and your jokes! Now yield!"

"Why don’t you?" Baas said still smirking.

*Punch* The fist came to Baas chest. Winded once again, Baas fell on his back onto the floor in a flat part of the forest.

"Yield Baas! This isn’t a joke! I need to go search for clues to find Vee! Now if you don’t yield I’m going to..."

"I give up." Baas said quickly.

Atsuma was stunned. "What?"

"What are you deaf?" Baas said smiling and hurting. "I said I give up."

Atsuma didn’t know what to feel. Anger? Relief? Those and more emotions came at him at once.

"What in the Wig is wrong with you!? You held me up all this time and just give up?"

Baas leaned up against a tree, his hand grabbing at his side. "Yeah, well, I was planning on giving up from the get go."

Atsuma now knew what to feel.
Anger.

"What do you mean you were planning to give up!?"

"I mean I knew I couldn’t beat you. Not yet. Don’t worry though, that day will come."

"Baas!" Atsuma was now on the verge of shouting. "You choose now to test out your fighting skill!? We have to hurry up and find Vee!"

"I know." Baas said raising his voice. "That’s why I wanted to take you here. This is where I found the cape."

Atsuma took a look around. Again he felt stunned.

"You mean that’s what this was about!"

"Yeah" Baas responded as if the answer were obvious. "You wouldn’t listen because you were too angry. So I figured, why not make you come here, and test my fighting skills. With my constant moving around I could get you to fight your way here. That‘s also why I threw the shield to ricochet in front of your face. You were going the wrong way."

"You let your body take this damage just to bring me here? That’s so stupid."

"Yeah well, someone told me not to let my limitations hold me back. And someone else told me to listen to that person. I figured if we're ever going to find her again, I might as well listen to both of those people."

Baas stood up to his feet. He quickly grabbed his side. His body was in pain again. "By the way." He said in pain "Remind me not to listen to those two EVER again. Ow."

Atsuma stared at Baas. And then he... chuckled. The chuckle soon turned into a loud laugh.

"What?" Baas asked. "Was my joke that funny?"

"No" Atsuma said, not being able to contain his laughter.
"To think that such a complex plan came from such a simple person."

"Hey!" Baas said with a smiled. "I resent that."

He then put his right hand on Baas’ left shoulder.
"Seriously though, thanks Baas. You‘re right. I was too angry and didn‘t listen. I'd apologize for the beat down but something tells me you wanted that."

Baas smiled. He loved receiving praise.

"Well I am the expert on angry people. My old pal Vatti always seemed to be angry at me in the Center, plus I’ve dealt with Sheina who can get angry at the simplest..."

"Uh Baas." Atsuma said. "I don’t care."

Baas stopped. Then he started laughing.

"Now then," Baas said getting serious. "What can you make out here?"

Atsuma looked around the area. "Well, I wanted to examine it to see if there were any clues as to what happened to Vee."

"Do you see anything?"

Atsuma stared at the environment closely. Noting every detail that seemed out of place. After about a full minute of examining, he came to a conclusion.

"Nothing." He said solemnly.

"Nothing?" Baas repeated.

"Nothing." Atsuma confirmed. "There’s nothing here. Vee wasn’t captured here. My guess is, someone, perhaps Vee herself, dropped the cape here while the party was moving. But there’s no sign of struggle. It’s weird there’s not even signs of footprints other than yours, mine, and maybe one other person."

"That must have been the grey band I saw." Baas said. "But Atsuma, that doesn’t make sense. Miss Vanessa shot that arrow that saved my from the Blue sailor. And then she disappeared. One person alone couldn’t carry her that far that fast."

"Your right Baas. It must have been multiple people."

"But, you said there were no signs of footprints, yet they had to have passed through here."

"If this is where you found the cape then they passed through here alright, but they weren’t moving on the ground."

"But, how else..."

The answer came to both the Leaders at once.

"The trees." The said simultaneously.

"Whoever took Miss Vanessa must’ve been moving through the trees when they dropped the cape." Baas concluded

"And there’s only one person who we’ve met that can do that easily." Atsuma agreed.

"I hope your not accusing me." A dark voice said.

The two turned to see the figure who had snuck up on them. It was Diablo. He stood on a single branch in a low tree with his arms crossed.

Atsuma and Baas both pulled out their weapons.

"Well well well. Speak of the devil." Atsuma said smirking. "Mind telling us what you did with our friend."

Diablo looked at Atsuma. "You honestly think I would take your Commander and then come back? We give you guys way to much credit."

"Whose we?" Atsuma demanded. "What country are you with?"

"If you come with me, I shall answer all your question."

"Stop with the bribing." Atsuma continued. "We’re not going with some mysterious stranger. So just release Vanessa already."

Diablo was quiet for a moment. Then he spoke with a chuckle. "I see you’re a little hard on hearing. As I implied, I don’t have your Commander."

Diablo then jumped down to the Leader‘s level. "But I can tell you that..."

He couldn’t finish his statement. Baas and Atsuma had the same idea to attack Diablo. Now that he was on their level, they both saw an opportunity. Atsuma went high. Baas went low.

The two met each other at where Diablo had been standing. They both turned around confused and startled. Diablo was now standing where they had been. Their swords had completely missed him.

"Did you see that Atsuma?" Baas asked astounded.

"Indeed I did Baas." Atsuma responded as astounded as Baas. "The question is, how did he do that?"

"Well, he jumped through the small gap between our swords."

"I know WHAT he did Baas. I want to know how he did it. A move like that can be done if planned, but we rushed him. No one can do stuff like that in an instant."

"Excuse me, but I do believe I was talking." Diablo interjected. "Now as I was saying, you two want to find your Commander correct?"

Baas and Atsuma looked at each other. They understood. Even if this guy was a threat, there wasn’t much they could do to him at the moment. They both relaxed their muscles.

"Yes" Atsuma said. "If you’re telling the truth and you don’t have her, will you help us get her?"

"No." Diablo said simply.

"What if we helped you on this mission?" Baas asked earnestly, "Then could you help us? Tell us where she is? Who kidnapped her?"

"You misunderstand the situation you’re in Baas."

"Well then can you stop acting so mysterious and explain it to us." Atsuma asked getting irritated.

"It is simple. Vanessa is as good as dead."

"I refuse to accept that!" Atsuma said immediately.

"Listen and listen closely Leaders. You have three choices you can make. Choice number one; go back to your lives and forget about Vanessa. Fight in this endless war for your country. If you do this, you two will probably win many battles and become very successful. This is the choice of happiness. To be honest, if I were in your position knowing what’s ahead of you, I would be very tempted to choose this option. If you don’t choose this, there will be plenty of times where you will wish you had. Choice number two; come with me. Help me fulfill my mission. If you do, I will explain everything to you and more. Your eyes will be opened beyond what you believed possible. What I have to show you will change your lives forever. This is the choice of responsibility. This is the choice I urge you to take."

"I’ll bet it is." Baas said sarcastically.

"Choice number three." Diablo continued. "Go on some foolish mission to save your beloved Commander. If you do this, death awaits you and anyone who goes with you. This is the choice of foolishness."

Baas and Atsuma looked at each other in silence. It was as though they were speaking to each other mentally. They both smirked at the same time.

"I wonder who named these choices." Baas said first. "They sound very biased."

"I know," Atsuma said catching Baas’ point "They make it seem like the third choice is the worst one, when it’s obviously the right choice to make."

"You can’t be serious?" Diablo flared. "Did you hear what I said?"

"Oh I heard. Way to fluff up the other two choices by the way. But even if things go exactly as you say, I’m not leaving Vee to die." Atsuma said angrily.

"She’ll die no matter what choice you make." Diablo snapped back.

"Then there’s no reason not to try and rescue her." Baas smiled.

"You think you're so clever, but you fail to think at how you will accomplish this." Diablo insisted "You have no leads."

"Actually, Baas did say he saw a grey band." Atsuma grinned. "We can always use that."

"You would go interrogate grey bands? As I recall, it’s against the rules of Wig to attack them."

"Hey they started it." Atsuma said keeping his grin.

"Are you sure about that Atsuma? Can you really say you will do that so easily?" Diablo voice grew more sinister. "Are you willing to risk that after what happened the last time you broke a major rule of Wig?"

Atsuma eyes widened. His grip on his sword tightened. He marched up to Diablo and grabbed his collar with his free hand.
"What do you know about that?"
His eyes were now bloodthirsty. He knew what Diablo was referring to.

"More than you do." Diablo said. "Now put me down. The only reason you were able to grab me in the first place is because I let you. Don‘t make the presumption that you‘re actually faster than me."

Baas was standing ready. If a fight should happen, he would immediately be able to help Atsuma. To his surprise, Atsuma let down Diablo and walked backwards toward Baas.

"This won‘t be like that time. I‘m not being selfish like then."

"If you could see it from my side." Diablo said keeping his sinister voice. "That last sentence wouldn‘t have come out of your mouth."

Baas and Atsuma began to leave. They turned to see Diablo drop down blocking their path.

"Do you think this is a joke? Or some kind of game?"

Baas looked behind him amazed. "How... did... you..."

"I don’t think you fully understand what will happen if you choose this choice. There are dark secrets that this choice leads to. You will not like what you find. You will hate yourself for choosing it. But that will happen when it is too late to change your mind. Even if you don‘t come with me, the first choice is better than this."

"This is the only choice that get’s us even close to Vanessa." Atsuma said serious. "Since you say you didn’t take her, I choose for now to believe you.
However..."

Atsuma got really close to Diablo. It turned out Atsuma was actually a lot taller than him which made his action seem more intimidating.
"If I find out it was you who took Vee, if you get in our way, or if you mess with any of my other teammates, I won’t hesitate to kill you."

"Oh really." Diablo said getting closer. Though they could not be seen, his eyes were fixed on Atsuma. "You and what army?"

Atsuma smirked. "Oh I don‘t need an army. Just a little punk."

Atsuma quickly took his sword and sliced in front of him. Diablo jumped back away from the sword at astounding speed. Suddenly, Baas charged in from Diablo’s side with a kick. While the two had been talking, Atsuma signaled Baas to move forward a little and prepare to attack. Diablo was surprise, his eyes had been fixed on Atsuma and he had not noticed Baas‘ movements. He took the kick to the side but was able to land on his feet. Before his feet touched ground though, he lost all friction in them and slipped on something. Baas had also found time to throw his shield in the spot he believed Diablo would jumped to. Diablo fell on his back kicking Baas shield in the air making it soar. Baas caught the shield with his right hand as it came toward him. Grasping it hard, he stopped the spin and momentum.

The two walked up slowly to the now grounded Diablo.
"That’s a warning." Atsuma said sternly.

The two then left the dark figure without another word.

When he was sure Diablo could no longer be seen, Baas let out a sigh.

"Oh man! That is one scary dude."

"You’re telling me." Atsuma said. "If I hadn’t gotten close to distract him, I don’t think we could beat someone like that. I've never seen speed or timing like that. Nice job with the shield by the way."

"Thanks." Baas said smiling.

After a couple of seconds of silence, Baas decided to ask what was on his mind.

"Atsuma, what did he mean by the last time you broke the rules of Wig?"

Atsuma stopped in his tracks. He looked down with a sad face.

"Does it have to do with Arty?" Baas asked.

"What?!" Atsuma said shocked.

Baas quickly put his hands to his mouth. He wasn’t suppose to say anything about Arttior.
"Sorry." He said quickly. He then began mumbling to himself "Stupid. Miss Vanessa told you not to say anything and you did. Man you’re an idiot."

"Baas." Atsuma interjected. "Calm down. It’s okay. After what happened with the bow, it’s no surprise Vee told you. Actually no, that incident doesn’t have to do with Arty." His voice grew a little lower. "Atleast, it shouldn’t have."

Baas stayed quiet. He was ready to here the tale Atsuma was playing in his mind.

"Maybe I’ll tell you some other time." Atsuma said with a smile. "Right now, we have to get back to the others and prepare. I ran off in such a fuss when we could have making a plan. Cham must be mad at me."

Atsuma let out an evil laugh when he thought of that.

The two reached the edge of the forest. They looked down the field to see they were quite some distance from the ship. They began to walk toward it in the open grass.

"So, Vee told you about Arty."

Baas grew nervous. Did he say the wrong thing?

"What did you think of her?" Atsuma asked smirking.

Baas was confused, he thought Atsuma would break down.
"I... think you have great taste." He said being honest.

"Really? Koroko thought I was crazy when I first told him I liked her. He said she was too show offy."

"Well can you blame her? She was one of the best. She made it all the way to your team, and she’s was good at mocking you while fighting."

"That’s what I told Koroko. There aren’t many people out there like her." He then analyzed Baas "Well, there may be one person like her. When we were fighting, you were using her style of mocking, weren‘t you."

"Yeah, miss Vanessa told me what she said when you two first met. You aren’t exactly easy to get agitated in a fight, so I figured I’d learn from the master at getting you agitated."

"She certainly deserved that title."

After chuckling, Atsuma began to speak again.
"It feels good to talk about her again. People try not to because they’re always scared I’ll break down like I do when I hold a Sturkfur."

"Why don’t you?" Baas asked "I thought any memory of her reminded you of... the incident."

"That’s what everyone doesn’t get. It’s not any memory of her. When I hold a Sturkfur, my body remembers everything about that day and takes the rest of me with it. It’s like it takes a trip through time that I can’t control. But as long as I stay away from a Sturkfur, I‘m good."

"Oh. So, you don’t mind talking about her?"

"Are you kidding me! She's my wife kid. I love everything about her, including her memories."

"Oh good, cause I wanted to know if you could show me her fighting style. She used the same weapon as me and she sounded awesome."

"No way."

"Why not?"

"You’re too weird to be using my wife’s style."

"I’m not weird."

"Kid, you were just mumbling to yourself. AGAIN I might add. You should really stop that. It’s kind of creepy."

The two Leaders laughed. It wasn’t Atsuma’s best joke, but then again they never were. Plus, with Baas sense of humor, they didn’t have to be. He’d laugh at the worst joke.


As Baas and Atsuma made their way back to the Blue ship, Diablo had never lost track of them. Even now he watched them, his body hidden by the trees.

"If you’re trying to sneak up on me, you’re not going to."

Once again, the female who had been talking to him before appeared behind Diablo. He did not turn to look at her.

"Looks like you failed again." She said with a smile.

"I think it has something to do with you over looking me." He responded back.

"No, it’s because your people skills stink. You can’t explain anything without scaring someone. You’d make the worst dad ever."

"Once again, I don’t find your jokes funny."

"When do you ever?" After she was done smiling, the female moved closer to Diablo. "They’re getting better." She said with a smile. "It’s hard to believe the mighty Diablo got his butt handed to him by two people. It makes sense seeing Baas was one of those people, but still he’s just a kid."

"Baas is much more interesting than we thought. He’s developing faster than even the Discretes could’ve predicted."

"You’re overanalyzing it, like you do everything. He’s a great fighter, just like his parents."

"No, it’s something else. I think there’s something rare about him."

"Well, he is a..."

"I mean even rare for what he is. When he fought me, he completely forgot about the pain he received from Atsuma. And now, he feels so good, it’s like he never even fought. If he had to, he could fight much longer. Also, how he reacts during a fight is much too brilliant for someone his age. His aim and timing are perfect. He shouldn‘t be able to fight this well. Not yet, anyways."

"Well, all the more reason we need him then. I told you that you should’ve just captured him."

"The choice is his. Just as it was mine. Just as it was yours. Just like it was everyone we know. Nobody can make it for him, and the same for Atsuma. And they both chose wrong."

The female put her arm around Diablo’s neck in a friendly like manner.

"Should we call this a failure then? Report back with the news of your utter disgrace?"

Diablo released himself from the woman’s grip.
"You can do what you want. I already told you, and everyone else back home, I’m seeing this one through to end. No matter what that means."

The woman smirked and nodded. She then disappeared into the forest.

"Besides." Diablo said once she was gone. His eyes never left the two on the field. "They still have a little more time to change their minds."

Chapter 26 End
​

 

[figthersword]

The chapter was so interesting, it's just like "father and son" or should i say "Atsuma and Baas". :p