The Unwitting Guardian Ch. 04A

It was an immense room, currently occupied by a huge jungle. Trees sprouted up over 100 feet, and the paths on the ground were crowded with roots and vines from the plants on either sides. Ryna whistled, impressed, as he pulled out his Personal Unit to see what his assigned task was.

The Personal Unit, revealed that his task was simply to go to various spots in the maze and mark that he had been there. Easy enough, Ryna thought, jumping. His foot found purchase on the trunk of a nearby tree, propelling him up and away. He flew off of several more trunks before he flew over the canopy. He put his arm above him and–employing a Diuwel racial ability–grabbed the air. It held him up, and he surveyed the maze. He spotted his first objective–400 yards to the right of his location, under a large glass box protruding from the wall.

Ryna unclasped his hand, and stood on the air underneath him. He sprinted toward the objective, gradually descending. He was within 15 feet objective when a bullet flew past, grazing his cheek. Ryna spiraled away, and landed on the glass of the observation box. He jumped down the remaining 10 feet to the ground, and waited behind the row of bushes surrounding the objective, which he saw was a big target. A man emerged across the clearing, dressed entirely in black.

"I just hate it when I kill my targets before they realize I've seen them. I prefer to play with them a little more, it is just more fun that way. You may as well come out now," The man said pointing the barrel of a rifle toward the bush on the right of Ryna.

Ryna rolled to the right just before the man switched his aim and shot the bush Ryna had been behind not moments before. Again and again, Ryna rolled just before the man shot where he had been.

Growing desperate, Ryna threw a rock across the clearing. The man followed it, giving Ryna the time he needed to charge out from the bush. The man tried to bring the barrel of his rifle back down on Ryna, but he spun around the blow. Midspin, he drew one of the twin swords and brought it down in a wide slash across the man's body. The man reacted too late, allowing the sword to slice through his clavicle and into his lungs, then heart. He dropped, dead before he hit the ground. Ryna withdrew the sword from the dead man, then wiped the blood off of it. He approached the target in the center of the clearing, then carved his name into it. Just to be certain, he snapped a photo of it with his Personal Unit.

"Whoo! First one down, no sweat," Ryna said to himself sarcastically. The second objective was located in the very center of the jungle-maze. He repeated his ascent to the ceiling, then attempted to spot his next objective. He spotted a suspicious-looking dip in the canopy several hundred yards away.

Before he could take even a single step towards the clearing, two green bolts whizzed past his leg from behind him. Immediately he was 20 meters away, and facing the threat. A small craft with wings located behind a standing cockpit, and deadly laser cannons underneath the cockpit. The windows of the cockpit were tinted black, so Ryna couldn't see the occupant.

The craft sped toward him, firing several more blasts along the way. Ryna easily sidestepped the blasts and the vehicle, and sprinted after it. As it was turning around for another pass, he latched onto the wing and pulled. Hard. The flimsy wing separated from flying machine easily, and it spiralled into the ground, where it landed with a dull thud.

"Well, that was rather anticlimacti–" Ryna said as the machine exploded on the jungle floor, "Nevermind..." He finished the short trip to the clearing–and second objective–easily. After carving his name into it–and noting the lack of other names–he took to the sky above the labyrinth for a final time, and found what he thought was the third objective. Racing toward it, he saw the signs of several fights along the paths on the ground. They all stopped about 20 meters from the wall, right at the edge of clearing. At this point, Ryna was a little tired of being shot at, so he descended to the canopy level, at the edge of the clearing.

Immediately, he saw the reason for both the clearing and the fighting. Guarding the exit was a huge mech, toting 2 machine guns for arms, and missile-launchers for shoulders. Ryna stared dumbfounded. "Now how the fuck am I supposed to get past that?! I seriously get the feeling that Gramps doesn't want somebody to pass this goddamn test."

Ryna's thoughts were interrupted by a rock that hit his foot. He scanned the underbrush for its source when he spotted two idiotic-looking men lying near the edge of the clearing, waving at him. "Writer, I swear to god, if those are supposed to be my friends for this series, I will kick your ass," he thought as one of the men stood up, revealing himself to the mech, to make sure Ryna had seen him. Ryna practically flew down to the ground, grabbing the man's head and shoving it down just as a large bullet whizzed through the space the man had just occupied.

"Thanks buddy! I owe ya one, now how are we gonna get past them there mech?" the man asked, looking through a bush at the mach.

"First off, I am not your 'buddy'. Second off, I have no clue as to how you two will get past it. Third off, I will not save your ass again if you continue to put your head in the way of that thing's bullets. Got it?" Ryna asked, staring very sternly at the idiot in front of him.

"Uh, yeah, sure. I'm Smokes, a Brur, by the way," Smokes said, extending his hand. Ryna shook it grudgingly.

"I'm Ryna, a Diuwel. Wait a minute, if you are a Brur, why aren't you gone? You could easily outrun the targeting lasers on that mech," Ryna asked, bewildered.

"I haven't left cuz' that guy behind me has a bullet stuck in his leg, and he can't move so well," Smokes said, pointing to the man behind him.

"I'm... Raas Arian... a Quali. I, uh, sorta... got hit... trying to go... between his... legs... not such... a great idea... in retrospect," Raas gritted through clenched teeth. At closer inspection, Ryna noticed that Raas had already had first aid applied to the spot his thigh had been hit. "This guy looks like he might actually be pretty intelligent," Ryna thought.

"Alright, here is the plan. Smokes, you are going to take Raas to the door, while I distract the huge-ass mech that will be trying to kill us all. Any questions?" Ryna said, arms crossed and smiling.

"Just one... Are you CRAZY?!" Raas exclaimed, his palm on his face (like a facepalm).

"Shh, not so loud! The mech could have sound-detection systems! And yes, it is quite possible I am slightly crazy, that's why I'm still here with you two. See ya later fellas," Ryna said, shooting into the clearing. Almost immediately the mech turned and began firing at him. Managing to keep just ahead of the mech's line of fire, he slowly worked the mech away from the doorway, and toward the jungle.

At some point, he saw Smokes make a run for the door carrying Raas. They had made it within 10 feet before the mech stopped firing on Rya and swivelled to face its new targets. "Shit!!" he thought. He sprinted straight at the mech, drawing a sword. He closed the gap quickly, making the mech swing its bulky arm out at him. "Perfect, dumbass!" he thought as he leapt up and over the mech's arm. During his descent, he lodged the sword he had drawn into the machine gun trained on his...acquaintances, milliseconds before it shot the first round. The bullet hit the sword lodged in the barrel and exploded, sending Ryna flying away. He hit the ground several meters away, dazed. He slowly worked his way to his feet, and toward the mech. Drawing the other sword, he rammed it into the mech's CPU.

"I am just not having a good day..." he remarked, pulling out both of the swords he had lodged into the machine. He made his way to the doorway, where he was surprised to find that Smokes hadn't gone through it yet.

"You waitin' on a written invitation, Smokes?" Ryna asked sarcastically. He pushed the only button on the doorway, causing it to slide open and reveal a room filled with girls.

"No bu–Holy shit bro, that room is filled with girls!!" Smokes exclaimed, his jaw a couple inches off the ground.

"No way, really?! I didn't notice." Ryna responded, rolling his eyes. Raas chuckled slightly, but Smokes ignored him, concentrating on the girls now shifting awkwardly under his stare. Ryna simply grabbed Raas, and took off through the room, looking for a school official. He spotted two standing near the door on the other side of the room.

Ryna soon discovered that pushing through a crowd of girls with an injured man on your shoulder was easier said than done. Especially if you are two very attractive guys. He eventually had to resort to jumping up and walking over through the air.

"This guy needs medical attention, please see to it that he receives it soon," Ryna told the two staff members once he got close enough. He set Raas down on an open table, and started down the hallway.

"Hey dude, be careful! I heard there were two really rich chicks fighting over something down there in the waiting room. Got pretty nasty supposedly," one of the staff members called down to Ryna.

"Thanks man, I'll keep that in mind. See ya," Ryna called back, wondering who the two girls were. He entered the waiting room after a short trip down a loooong hallway. He saw Sensara straight away, standing a little ways away, looking at a monitor with her back to him. He snuck up on her, waiting until he was standing right behind her before he covered her eyes.

"Ah! Who are you?! Stop it," she said, startled. Ryna released her quickly, not wanting to upset her. She turned and immediately recognized him, "Oh, it's you! I thought for a second that you were some random pervert."

"No way, I'm your pervert!" Ryna exclaimed, laughing. He wrapped his arms around her waist.

"It isn't funny! I'm supposed to be mad at you!" Sensara said, her cheeks flushed. She pushed herself out of his arms.

"Wait a minute, I thought we got past the whole 'surprise' problem??" Ryna asked, looking genuinely confused.

"We did, but now we have a new problem," Sensara said, dragging him across the room. they stopped near the opposite wall. Sensara pointed forward, "That... is our new problem Ryna," Sensara said, looking very upset. He followed her line of sight, and saw the back of Laura's head.

"Hey Laura! I didn't know you were here, come here for a second!" Ryna exclaimed, making the blonde jump a little bit due to surprise. She turned around looking very happy, but her enthusiasm faded almost immediately after she saw Sensara.

"Why hello Ryna. I didn't know you kept such... trashy... company," Laura said, making a point to avoid the hateful glare Sensara was giving her.

"What are you talking about, this is my girlfriend Sensara. Sensara, this is my friend Laura! I think you two will get along really well," Ryna declared, oblivious to the obvious disdain the girls held for each other.

"I'm sure. Well congratulations on passing your test, Ryna, but I really must get going. If you ever get bored of that boring old hag, you come and tell me, okay?" Laura said, turning and leaving.

"Well, that was odd, she seemed much more sociable before..." Ryna muttered to himself perplexedly.

"Ryna, we are leaving NOW!" Sensara exclaimed dragging him to the exit.