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The Gem of Peace (Yep & Ryoka Sulfinare)

Souta zipped up the bag and held it in one hand. It seemed like he didn't really like the knapsack style and preferred to hold it himself rather than wear it on his back. It's not like it was heavy anyways, though. It only held the gem and he was more than built to carry such a thing.

He watched as she pushed the table aside along with the rug to open up a trap door leading underground. Souta took a few steps closer to it examining down it. It was semi dark, and since it used a ladder despite his unwillingness to wear the sack, he had to at least for how to climb down. Souta slumped the sack over back with one arm and after she went down some, the boy crawled down on the floor, and moved his body half way in. He held the ladder with one hand as his other arm reached over to the open hatch of the trapdoor, where he would grab the side, and pull it over, lowering himself until the hatch closed and hid the opening at least somewhat. If somebody did come into the house looking for them, maybe a closed hatch would buy a few minutes of time compared to that of an open hatch.

Unlike Jasmine, Souta didn't jump off, rather he climbed down until his feet touched the ground. He pulled the sac off his arm, holding it like a normal bag as he followed her down the tunnel at her side, since it was easy to guess where they were going in a linear tunnel.

Souta listened to her tell the story of the tunnel, although he didn't seem to react to her words much although he was listening, until she mentioned the bits of frost he was leaving behind him. At that, Souta glanced back before looking back towards her again. "I can't really help that. The energy surrounds me which means the temperature bordered around my body is ice cold. Each step I take is ice cold and normal temperatures coming into quick contact, so it leaves either a small patch of ice, or a puddle of cold water. It takes a short while for the energy to settle down unless my emotions are far from being calm." He explained, paused for a moment, before continuing. "It wouldn't be a problem, but I had to use my energy to avoid a rape situation only moments before the gem fell into my hands. I'm kind of regretting it now, even if it meant I would have had to suffer for a few minutes, it would have made this a lot easier." He was pretty explicit about what it was, although he didn't really go into details. "It would seem this gem is pretty important to the Death Force, so if it is even to just annoy them I'm not going to let them have it. Besides, it fell into my hands, so it's rightfully my gem now, although I'm not sure what I am going to do with it."
 
Jasmine listened to Souta's explanation on why he was conjuring ice. She frowned when she heard him say he had avoided a rape situation, but she refrained from saying anything until he finished. Taking note of how he confirmed her suspicions that he didn't know about the prophecy, she returned her attention to the earlier topic, the frown still on her face.

"I'm sorry such a thing happened to you," she said sincerely. Her lavender eyes, which had an orange tint thanks to the flame in the lantern she held up, showed the genuineness of her words, too. "I do hope you are all right." She would have stopped to hug the boy, but, as much as she wanted to, it was best if they kept moving.

"So, then you don't know about the prophecy? That gem--" She abruptly went silent. Her steps faltered for a brief moment as she listened. Then she heard it. Voices coming back from the way they had come, but they weren't loud enough for her to hear their words. And by the sounds of it, they hadn't came down the ladder yet. "They were a lot quicker than I thought," she muttered, and then, keeping her voice quiet: "Let's hope they don't have a light source. It won't stop them, but it should slow them down." She picked up her pace. "Fighting here wouldn't be a good idea. This tunnel could easily collapse with just enough ruckus."
 
Souta listened to her sympathy, although he only blinked slowly at her, almost as if it was a casual thing for him. It wasn't, but perhaps he really didn't care that much for what happened. "It's fine. I dealt with it by myself. I may be small but I'm not as helpless as I look. The soldier learned that the hard way."

As for about the prophecy, he didn't speak when she cut herself off. Rather, his steps stopped for a moment too. He thought for a moment until she mentioned a light source. A light bulb seemed to have went inside the teenager's head as his body suddenly to become more alert. He spoke but still kept his voice quiet.

"Whether they have a light source or not, why don't I just block the tunnel off with my ice? The only way they would be able to get through it is using fire, and even that would take a while for it to all melt away." He suggested.
 
Jasmine had listened to the boy's explanation on how he was fine. Based on his facial expressions, that did seem to be the case, so she took his word for it, although she didn't comment on the matter any more.

Jasmine stopped and turned back around to look at Souta when he suggested a way to block their pursuers. A smile spread across her face. "That would work. Anything to hold them back." Further up the tunnel, she heard a Soldier curse about how he couldn't see anything. Then, almost right afterward, she heard another comment on seeing a light down at the end. Worry swept across her face. They couldn't have been close enough to where it would help them too well--the soldiers would still have to be careful about tripping on things protruding from the ground--but it would be enough to direct the Soldiers towards them. "I hope you can make one quickly," Jasmine said.
 
Souta listened to her and a small smile appeared on his face when her own smile came. When he heard the soldiers, he looked down the tunnel before glancing back towards Jasmine. "Oh, I can, trust me I can. But I'll have to put the gem down for a moment." He would say.

Putting the bag to the side, the frost that was emitting around Souta seemed to have become a bit more intense since his energy was becoming active again. The boy's icy blue eyes seemed to become even more cold somehow in their stare, the color in them seemed to intensify. Souta soon took half a step back with his right leg, raised his right arm. The icicles on his knuckles soon formed on both of his hands. Souta then stepped forward with the leg and swung his fist down to the ground as he punched it stabbing the icicles into the ground which seemed formed a sheet of ice that traveled outwards before suddenly spiking upwards forming a spiky wall the covered the entirety of the area it was in. There was no way to walk around it or over it. The spikes weren't the sharpest in the world, but walking directly into it was sure to cause injury, touching the tips could cause bleeding, and the entire wall was rather jagged. The wall was about 3 feet thick.

Panting just a little bit, Souta stood himself over and picked up the bag with his right hand as he looked over towards Jasmine, he didn't say anything but it was almost as if the look he gave with his eyes (Which died down to their normal hue and look) was almost a questioning look asking how he did.
 
Jasmine listened to the boy, and while she trusted his words, she still couldn't help but to feel nervous about the approaching Soldiers. She glanced down the tunnel, where, in the darkness, she could just make out three figures who were walking at a normal pace. She then looked at Souta, watching him, and then the ice that extended from where he punched the ground.

She had to say, she was both surprised and impressed at the wall the teen managed to conjure. If it wasn't for the soft warmth the fire in the lantern provided, she might have been able to feel some of the cold radiating off the ice wall. Jasmine looked from it to the boy, a wide smile on her face. "Great, that should keep them back. Now let's go." She turned and began to walk. She knew she still needed to tell Souta about the Gem and the prophecy, but she wanted to wait and get away from the vicinity first.

Roughly ten minutes must have passed before they reached the end, which looked exactly like the other end; a small table sat next to a ladder. "And we're here," Jasmine announced as she stepped over to the table long enough to set the lantern down. "Let's go back above ground, shall we?" She climbed the ladder and pushed the trap door open, which led out into a small clearing in the forest. Jasmine pulled herself up and crouched next to the hole as she waited for Souta. Once he was out, she closed the door, which was covered by grass, and stood. "It's great to see sunlight again, isn't it?" A small, soft smile donned her features as she looked around. Birds tweeted in nearby places. There were bound to be a few hostile creatures in here, but nothing that they shouldn't be able to handle.

"Anyways," she began as she looked at Souta, "back to what I was going to tell you before those Soldiers interrupted us." She sat down under a nearby tree with a fat trunk and leaned her back against it. "I hope you don't mind if we sit for a little bit. I think you need to hear this before you do anything else." Once Souta also sat down, she would begin her story. "Well, that Gem you have fell from the sky, which is pretty weird, right? That's because it's no ordinary gem. You see, twenty years ago, there was a prophecy that someone told. It talked about a gem falling from the sky, which would be used by the person it chose to wipe out the Death Force and return peace to Kior. So that gem is tied to the prophecy. It chose you, Souta. You are the Chosen." She gave him a small, warm smile, but, in the back of her mind, she wondered how the teen would take this news. This was a tall order, especially for someone of his age.
 
Souta would have indeed followed her when she began walking again. After the ten or so minutes had passed, Souta's eyes fixed to the table as it came into view. He gave a nod to her when she suggested to go above ground. Letting her go first, Souta once again swung the bag around his shoulder and behind his back as he took the ladder after she gone up it some. He pulled himself out and set the bag down on the ground. He didn't stand up from where he was as he watched her go to the tree. There, she began the process of explaining the prophecy to him. Souta would have removed his bag from his shoulder and set it in front of him as he looked up her as she explained.

The teen's expression stayed mellow the entire explanation. It would seem he was rather used to hiding his emotions and keeping them under control. Perhaps this was because as he had said, his energy would go out of control if his emotions were too unstable. During the time he listened, the grass near him was turning white and slowly freezing, most of the area around him in a short radius was covered in layers of frost. Eventually, Souta spoke.


"That seems kind of ridiculous that a random prophecy was somehow forged out of nowhere and came true. Who predicted this thing would happen? Further more, who was the random God or Goddess in the heaven's who decided to get rid of the Death Force and would expect a 13-year-old-boy to be the one to do it? Further more, how would owning a sparkling rock possibly be used as a weapon to do so?"

Souta blink slowly pausing a moment to take a breath in before continuing. "I don't expect you to know the answer to those questions, of course. It just seems to me that the people have lost so much hope, they made up their own pathetic prophecy in false hope. There's a million other people the gem could have chose who are better candidates to wiping out the Death Force than I am."
 
Jasmine was rather surprised to see how calm Souta seemed to be, but then she noticed something. She looked down around him to see the frost that was forming and remembered what she said about how being unable to control his emotions caused his energy to go out of control. She was about to frown at this, but she kept from doing so.

When the teen spoke, she looked at him, the frown that she originally didn't want to show now surfacing. She looked down at the ground, remaining quiet for a short moment after he finished. "You're right, I don't have those details. My parents told me the prophecy. If there were any more details, they were either lost over these twenty years or my parents just didn't know them. The only thing I can answer is about the God or Goddess. I don't know about the other countries, or the elves or natives in Wild Tree, but Kior follows Analiel as their only Goddess--their only deity period, so it would've had to have been her." She looked up at him. "But think about it. The prophecy has to be true. There's no way someone could have thrown the gem up that high, right? I saw it myself. It was all the way up there." She gave him an apologetic look. "I know this must be hard for you to handle, but you won't be alone. There'll be people who will want to help you." She smiled genuinely. "Like me."
 
Souta shrugged at her when she asked how the gem was up that high. "Magic, itself, is something that can't really be explained. We know how it works in some ways but there are also a lot of things that we still don't know about it at the same time. If magic can be fully explained then I am sure there should be a logical explanation for the gem. As for my theory that it's ridiculous... why wait 20 years? The people had to suffer that long? If it's the Goddess's doing like people believe, then why doesn't she just get directly involved? If it's against some sort of rule, then wouldn't sending the gem still be against the rule of helping us?"

Souta crossed his arms over his chest as he still sat looking at her. "There's too much that's nonsense compared to making actual sense for me to believe in this prophecy completely. The only magic power I've seen this green gem have was the power to levitate in front of me for a few seconds until I took a hold of it. Other than that, it's done nothing than look pretty and it hasn't done anything amazing since I've touched other than being a burden on my back a couple times from its weight despite its size. Still, I acknowledge that the Death Force wants it, and I've only had hold of it not even more than an hour, so who am I to judge the power of this gem yet compared to the Death Force? ...Although I personally believe it may be out of fear. People fear what they don't understand, and try to eliminate what they fear. The Death Force doesn't know what the gem does, so they want to be better safe than sorry."

The boy closed his eyes, took in a deep breath and exhaled it. He uncrossed his arms from his chest and rested them in his lap. It seemed like he was trying to relax his energy for a bit, which within the 15 seconds of his eyes closed and him breathing deeply and slowly, the amount of frost seemed to have died down quite a fair bit, but not entirely. If they were moving quickly, and constantly, he most likely wouldn't leave much of a trace behind as far as leaving frost around the area would go. Souta opened his eyes again as he looked at Jasmine. "Well, it doesn't really matter what opinion each of us have about the entire situation on how it came to be. For now, we're still being chased and that's a fact, we should keep on moving until we are safe, and when we do, then we can figure out what to do with this thing. No doubt the news about the gem flying is going to travel across the ears of the Death Force across this entire continent quicker than a forest fire can engulf the forest it's in."
 
Jasmine lowered her gaze to the ground as she listened to Souta's retort. Maybe it could have been some ruse someone pulled by using some spell that could send the Gem up to the sky that high, but...no, she couldn't believe it. Something in her heart told her that that wasn't the case. Or maybe it was just the pitiful hope that had built up over the years as she waited for the prophecy to come true. Souta had a few good points, none of which she could argue against because she didn't have the knowledge to do so. Still, she wanted to believe in the prophecy. Jasmine looked back up at Souta. "I don't have the answers to any of that, but maybe someone does...I...don't know." It sounded pretty stupid, now that she said it. As far as she was concerned, the prophet was the only one who could have the answers, and Malphas had killed him as soon as he heard about the prophecy.

She sighed, her gaze returning to the ground as she tried to think of something to say that could maybe spark the boy's hope in the gem. Nothing came to mind, which only depressed her more. When Souta spoke, suggesting that they leave, she looked over at him, offering a small smile. "Yeah, you're right." She stood before turning in the southeastern direction. "There's a cave not far from here. It's pretty secluded, but it might be better if we move far from here. We may have blocked their route down there, but it probably won't take long for them to figure out where we're at. Still, it might be better to stay here in the forest. The desert is too open, and if any of the Death Force mobilizes from Sandeska, I'm not sure how well we'd be able to fight them off when it's just us. And I'm not sure if it's a good idea to be going to a town like Port Coral. Unless you have any other suggestions, I guess we'll just keep in the forest but head farther south." Even though she tried to keep a light-hearted tone like she had had up until now, it probably wouldn't have been hard to tell it was false, especially by looking her in the eye. And regardless of what Souta may have to say about their next course of action, she would begin walking.
 
Souta listened to her, although didn't say anything until they got up and started walking again. "A cave would be a bad spot to hide in. If we get found out then we will have no where to run to. We will be cornered. Let's stay outside." He would say. When she began to start walking, Souta picked up the bag and began carrying it with him again in his hand, rather than strapped on his back. As they walked, Souta would continue to talk after she finished.

"There's no reason to fight unless we have to. I'm sure you know just as much as I, or anyone else who has encountered a fight with the Death Force and lived, that when you kill one, two more takes that soldier's place. It'd be best to just escape unless we have no choice." Souta's pupils in his eyes rolled to the side and down as he glanced at the bag for a moment. "Besides, this thing is going to very much handicap me as far as fighting goes if we're caught in the open..." He muttered, before his pupils traveled back up to look back at Jasmine. "I hope someone else comes along and will want to carry this thing on their back. I need to be not burdened to even have a chance at fighting properly."
 
What Souta said about the Death Force was right. The Soldiers weren't terribly strong--especially compared to their Generals--but they were overwhelming in numbers. Jasmine was confident in her skills with her bow, but it wouldn't be enough to fend off a large number of Soldiers, and even though she did have a short sword, she preferred not to use it, not to mention she wasn't very adept with it. She would most likely have trouble with even one Soldier in a close quarters fight.

Upon hearing Souta saying something about someone else carrying the Gem, she looked over at him. "I can carry it for now," she said, offering another small smile. "I'll be sticking with my bow, so it won't restrict my movement any. And even in close quarters I don't see it doing too much." She wouldn't be making any wild movements if she fought with her sword. She had yet to see Souta fight so she didn't know how much of a hindrance it would be for him, but she was sure it would be nothing for her compared to him. If he would agree to this, she would take it from him. Otherwise, she would just leave him to keep it. Regardless of which, she would continue walking.

Several minutes would pass, most of which was spent in silence. Normally she would have said quite a bit, but after their talk about the prophecy, she wasn't in good enough spirits to. Besides, given the fact that the Death Force were probably looking for them at this very moment, it was best to stay quiet. They were less likely to find them that way--if any of them were even in the forest yet.

But it looked like someone or something had found them. Jasmine caught sounds of movement. She couldn't pick out what it could be from, but she remained alert. It could have been just a deer, but she was doubtful, and it was best to be at least somewhat prepared, should whatever or whoever was nearby be hostile. Lavender eyes darted from one spot of their surroundings to another. "You hear something, don't you?" she whispered to Souta without looking at him. "I'm not hearing things?"
 
Souta would have continued to walk, until Jasmine offered to take the bag off of him. "Yes, please..." The boy would have said with relief. It seemed like the bag -really- hindered his combat style. Without hesitation, Souta would have held up the bag for her to take. When she took it, Souta seemed to be quite a bit more happier not to hold the bag, but he continued walking nonetheless.

Walking in silence for a few minutes gave Souta's energy more than enough time to settle down completely, and soon there was no trace that he was but a normal boy other than perhaps the fact that his shirt didn't do the best job of hiding the muscular physique the 13-year old had that was more than a normal boy his age. Even with the sound of both of them walking though, he too heard the sound of movement, Souta kept on walking. When Jasmine spoke, Souta shot her a not angry, but sharp glance, as if to tell her to keep quiet and to keep on moving. He didn't want her to alert that, if there were pursuers, that she had tipped them off knowing that they had heard of their presence.

It was too late though. Souta heard movement coming from his right from a bush only a few feet away. He had to admit, he did not expect anyone to have come that close. Souta was taken by surprise, but not completely when a person came rushing at him. Souta only had enough time to take a step back. Before Souta even had time to make contact with the first man, a second man emerged from the same bush. This caught Souta by even more surprise, but nonetheless, he ducked under the man's attack, whom was attacking unarmed, and threw a fist to the man's chest. It seemed to wind the man a bit enough for Souta to then grab the man and push him aside out of the way to meet the next man, except soon a third man was there with him as well, catching Souta even more off guard. Both attacked together and even though Souta found himself quite skilled and strong, there was only so much he could do when pitted in a surprise attack 3 against 1. Still, Souta managed to dodge out of the way some from the two who attempted to grab him, quickly ducking to his right side and going around so he was behind both bandits. He was about to attack when he felt a painful jolt from his back. He barked out in pain as he was thrown forwards, then as he was thrown forwards, he felt a knee jab into his gut. Souta's mouth opened in pain but no sound came out as he was thrown onto his back against the ground.

As he crashed to the ground, despite his pain, Souta immediately attempted to get up, but he soon found his hands and legs unable to move as he tugged and pulled at them. Two bandits had his feet, one of them was the one Souta had punched in the chest, Souta must have not hit him hard enough to put him down in one punch. The other one as Souta looked up was the third bandit. Souta gasped for breath due to the wind taken out of him from the blow from his stomach, but the teen was not going to give up even 3 against 1. Souta pulled and tugged with all of his might, and even with 3 holding him, it seemed like they were having trouble keeping a hold of him still.


"H-Hey, boss!" The one holding his arms down said. "This brats really hard to hold!"


"Quit squirming you little runt!" A fourth one demanded. To Souta's surprise, the voice was female. And assuming she was the boss, the woman soon towered over Souta pinned to the ground. The boy's eyes widened when he saw a punch incoming for his gut. Instinctively he sucked in his breath and tightened his muscles as much as he could, but it didn't stop the loud grunt of pain from exerting his lip and his breath rushing out of his mouth when it had connected. Souta had no time to recover for the second punch, or the third punch, or even the fourth blow to his stomach after that. Souta exerted weaker grunts with each blow. It was almost as if all of his energy had been sapped in just a few seconds. The lively resistance he was putting up turned to him struggling to gasp for breath and softly groaning in pain.

The boss shook her hand. "Jeez that boy has a hard stomach... let's see what you got under there huh?"

Even if he wasn't restrained, he was too weak to resist or protest, the boss bandit grabbed the end of Souta's white shirt, and pulled it up roughly up to Souta's neck, although she had to give a few tugs to pull it up since the boy was laying his back on the ground. His shirt pulled up, revealed the 6-pack the teen had, which was rising and falling rapidly due to his ragged breathing, as well as sculpted and toned pecs on his chest. The boss let out a low laugh at the sight. Almost as if unable to resist, her hand began roaming his body, gently going against his stomach muscles and rubbing against his six pack for a time before eventually working her way up to his chest, grazing over the nipples several times. Since the start of her beginning to touch him, Souta began getting a little more lively with his struggling (more lively aside from the fact he hadn't been struggling at all since he took 4 punches to the stomach) but even still he was too winded to do more other than light shuffling and rolling his head around. Despite his pain, it didn't take long with all the contact his chest was having for the boy's nipples to harden.

"What a great body he has... He's either cautious or is just waiting to impress someone for some fun." She said, as her hands began pinching Souta's right nipple, causing the teen to softly groan... although the groan was mixed with pain more so than the pleasure, it also caused him to squirm a bit in reaction. As if finding the experience pleasurable seeing him squirm, she soon did it to his left nipple, harder. Souta moaned out in response and squirmed again.

Preoccupied with the teen, Jasmine of course wasn't left alone to just watch Souta who was helpless to resist the grazing he was receiving.
Rewinding the clock back a bit, by the time Souta had been jumped from bandits from his side, she would have had 5 bandits launch out from bushes from her side, coming out in a similar pattern like Souta's enemies did, coming out quickly one at a time. Even if her bow had been ready, there was no way she could have shot all 5 quick enough before they reached her, so she would have to improvise a little bit. And also, unlike Souta's bandits, these 5 had their weapons armed with a short sword, dagger, and 3 scimitars. After all, Souta was a boy who was unarmed, they didn't need to use deadly force to restrain him. And apparently from what the boss was doing having fun with him, it didn't look like she wanted to harm the teen lethally. Or maybe she was going to slowly beat him down, but his body happened to seduce her stopping him from any more pain. Either way, Souta wasn't pleased this kind of thing was happening to him twice on the same day. But much like Souta's start of his troubles, the bandits would attempt to to get a hold on Jasmine and pin her, but they wouldn't be afraid to harm her with a slash here and there in order to achieve that goal, even if she showed the smallest bit of resistance.
 
Jasmine immediately reacted when she heard the rustling in the bushes by turning in that direction and reaching for her bow, but before she could actually wield her weapon of choice, she saw the five bandits rushing toward her not far from where she stood. She quickly made a different decision and unsheathed her short sword just in time to block the powerful slash attempted at her by a scimitar-wielding man. As soon as the two blades clashed, she stumbled backward but regained her footing before anything more could happen. When the bandit with the dagger came charging in, she sidestepped their attack and stabbed them in the side before knocking her foot into one of their legs to knock them to the ground.

By the time that had happened, two of them closed in, one of them going so far as to tackle her to the ground. Before she had a chance to retaliate with her sword, the man on top of her grabbed the wrist of the hand that held the weapon, swinging it from side to side until the blade was finally flung from her grasp. Jasmine mentally cursed at this as she started flailing about out of an attempt to free herself. "Stop squirmin'!" the man on top of her demanded. Jasmine grunted in pain from the punch that was delivered to the side of her face. "Bitch!"

As she tasted blood in her mouth, she looked at the bandit who was pinning her down through narrowed eyes. She didn't move any more, knowing that her efforts would be futile. She would need to think of something else. But what? The man on top of her successfully had her pinned, making it difficult to perform any maneuvers that could free her, not to mention two of his buddies were standing right next to them. If she did manage to get free, one of them would most likely subdue her before she had a chance to stand, and she had no way to take them out. As for the other two, they were not far off, one attending to the wound she had given to the other.

Jasmine glanced at what was happening off to the side. Souta didn't appear to be in any immediate danger, but what their boss was doing to him was wrong. She desperately wanted to help the teen, but she had to take care of her own problem first.

"Say, let's see what this bitch has got in her bag," said a bandit who was holding a scimitar.

"I was wantin' to have some fun with her," the bandit on top of her said, pressing his pelvis against hers, "but I guess we can. C'mon, bitch, up."

The bandit moved off of her just enough so her waist was free, but his knees were planted on her thighs, making it impossible to break them free. She tried to fight, but the man was too strong and forced her back off the ground by pulling her up by her wrists. One of the bandits next to them pulled the bag from her back just enough to cut the straps. With the bag now in their possession, the bandit keeping Jasmine pinned slammed her back onto the ground, returning to the position he had been in before.

"Hey, boss, look at this gem we found!" said the bandit who was holding the knapsack, the gem held up high enough to show it to his superior. "Bet we could get a lotta gold for this."
 
Souta continued to squirm as the boss continued to pinch, pull, tug and twist on his nipple, causing him to groan out in pain. Thankfully for him, it only lasted a handful of seconds. Unfortunately, she clearly wasn't just going to stop there. She didn't even seemed to be bothered with Jasmine's condition, rather, she was pretty confident five of her man could take on an archer who wasn't prepared, and her guess had been absolutely correct.

"Get his shirt off." The boss demanded. Almost instantly, Souta felt his left arm tugged up off the ground, and another hand grabbing at the end of his uplifted shirt. He grunted as the cloth was being tugged and pulled to get over his head. He did his best to delay the inevitable of his shirt being pulled off, but it eventually was pulled over his head, along with his sleeve being pulled off from his left arm. Before he even had a chance to do anything, his arm was grabbed and slammed back down over his head. His face winced at the force. With his shirt only on him via one mere arm, it was easy for it be slipped off, Souta didn't even make an attempt this time to struggle out. If there was a window of opportunity before, he had missed it. Soon the shirt was free, and his arm was slammed back down to the ground above his head like his other arm. In this position two light, short patches of dark brown hair could be seen on his armpits one each, showing how far he had matured for his age The woman soon went down on the ground, half leaning over Souta sideways. Her face lowered down to his chest as her tongue started lapping across his chest. Souta grit his teeth and craned his head back, keeping his mouth shut to bite back any sounds that would encourage her to do more. Despite his struggles to silence himself, a tent began forming against his shorts, his member pressing against the fabric of it.

Soon, her tongue traveled over his right nipple. Souta shivered as his eyes squeezed shut and his head pressed against the ground. His muscles tensed in defiance, but soon her lips enveloped the flesh of his rock hard nipple, and after a couple seconds, Souta's mouth opened as he let out a "Uhn...!" in pleasure despite his anger towards the action. So badly he would have released his energy out, but he couldn't like this. He was too angry to do so, too distracted, and even if he could have, he highly doubted he could freeze all four of these people in the position he was in at once without getting attacked in the process before they all did successfully freeze. He had to admit, as much as he despised this, he, at least, was in no immediate danger, as of now... The only thing he could do, was just delay her and hope that by some miracle, an opportunity would prevent itself. But despite his resistance, the groans were still escaping out of his mouth due to the pleasure he was receiving on his chest.


And then it abruptly stopped. Souta panted as his eyes slowly cracked open and he lifted his head. His eyes soon widened when he saw the bandit holding up the gem and the boss staring at it. He tried to move, but when his arm didn't do as he ordered, he realized he was still restrained, and mentally cursed there was nothing he could do while she was distracted at this time. The boss's gaze slowly drifted back towards Souta. A sly smirk was on his face, as the teen stared angrily at her. Her hand slowly wandered down to the elastic of his shorts, as her finger tips went underneath it. She paused for a moment.

"No underwear, huh?"

Souta only stared at her angrily. She continued after waiting a moment, and seeing Souta not going to respond, pulled the band of his shorts up and outwards from his lower stomach, up and over his six-inched erection, and placing the band just past his package, where she grabbed at the right leg of his short's leg, and tugged down the blue fabric the rest of the way down to his ankles. Souta shivered feeling the air making contact with his member and sac. It didn't feel right to him. But what felt worse was when her fingers began grazing over everything, even the light bit of hair that had grown on his package. Then something even worse, when that grazing hands of hers suddenly moved, and wrapped around his nutsac, and squeezed.

Souta's mouth shot open as he let out a loud groan of pain, his eyes squeezed shut and he threw his head back against the ground, taking in a deeper breath, and letting out a, quieter, but still loud, moan of pain afterwards. His back arched in response. Once again Souta grit his teeth together in attempt to silence himself.


"Where did you get this gem, boy?"


Souta still kept his teeth clenched together and thus his mouth shut. He didn't answer. After a moment, his body shivered and he yelled out weakly in pain as she began squeezing harder. That six inch erection he had was beginning to wilt down. His body was now emitting sweat from all the stress he was going through.


"I gave you a question, boy. I want an answer."

"Uuugh... I... I stole... it..."

"From who?"

"From... ghh... a merchant... I stole... it from him... I'm... poor..." Souta lied. "So I... needed... the... money..."

"You a virgin, boy?"

"Y-Yes..."

"Ever shot before?"

"What...?"

"Shot. Have you shot before?"

"I have -- no idea... what... you're talking... about..."

"Really?"

"Yes...!"

"You're not hesitating much, so I suppose you're telling the truth."


A few seconds later, she finally released his testicles, and Souta breathed a sigh of relief as his head and muscles fell limp as he panted vigorously. He forced his eyes open and his head up to look back to her again.

"Take that gem back to the hideout. I want to finish up here first." She would have ordered without even looking at the bandit. Her eyes were fixed on Souta, her hand came up, brushing against his wilting erection that soon twitched in response and his hips buckled. Soon her hand coiled around his member, and began rubbing the foreskin back and forth slowly and gently. Even with his resistance, Souta couldn't stop himself from groaning softly in pleasure, as he struggled to keep his head up and not fall back due to the enjoyment. The boss moved her face close to Souta's.


"I like you, but I don't like that girl so much, but since she's your friend, I'll strike you a deal. Instead of killing you both, I will let you both live, if I get to finish up with you. As soon as you shoot, I'll let you and your friend here free. Does that sound good? But you better not just let it happen to make it quicker, I'll know if you're not trying. I've seen those muscles of yours flexing in and out when you try to ignore it. I want you to keep doing that."

Souta mentally scoffed at the 'deal'. He clearly didn't have a choice. If he said no, she'd do what she wanted to do with him anyways, and then just kill them after, or at least Jasmine, and she'd probably capture him to have more fun with... not that he most likely couldn't break out if an opportunity arose. But he didn't want to put Jasmine in danger. She had, after all risked her neck already to save his. Souta's took a glance at Jasmine. Her situation wasn't much better than his, except she probably would be violated by more than one person. The decision to him was clear. As much as he didn't want it, he had to swallow his pride for Jasmine's safety. Once they were out of this mess, then they could try to think of a way to get the gem back. These bandits didn't seem to know how important it was. It was better to let it fall into their hands than the Death Force's, at least. The bandits, too, wouldn't let the Death Force get a hold of it.

"...Fine, I'll do what you wa--uhhn...." Before he could even finish his sentence, she began giving him his hand-job far more vigorously. His head fell back weak against the ground as his head rolled as he groaned audibly in response to the pleasure. His hips buckled again and she smirked at him. He felt something creeping up inside of his body, he didn't know exactly what it was, but he began tensing his muscles in resistance like she had demanded that he had to do. He didn't know why, but he spread out his legs a little bit more, the fabric off his shorts somewhat digging into his skin, as his six pack tightened and his bicep and pec muscles enlarged. He didn't know what was coming exactly, but his body seemed to instinctively know.
 
Jasmine had glanced nervously at the bandit who was holding the gem before looking at their leader, who regarded the man by only looking at him. For a fleeting moment her hopes rose enough to where she thought the leader didn't care, but then she realized that wouldn't make much sense. They were bandits, after all, and something like that would be far too valuable for them to not take. And just as she thought, the leader didn't ignore it. She questioned Souta, and Jasmine lightly clenched her teeth from hearing the teen's groans of pain. She really hated this. She wanted to help him. And she felt worse when she heard the leader command the bandit to take the gem to their hideout. Not only was Souta getting molested but the gem was being taken from them. She had to do something.

"Right," said the bandit who was holding the Gem. He started walking off.

Jasmine looked at the man on top of her, suddenly getting an idea on how she could free herself. She didn't bother to think it through, but just acted; she threw her head up with all the strength she could put into it, crashing it into the bandit's nose. She could hear the satisfactory crunch, followed by the grunt of pain from the man, who relinquished her wrists to clutch his nose. Taking this as an opportunity to free herself, Jasmine sat up while using both hands to shove the man off of her. She immediately started to stand, but before she could, the one bandit who had been standing next to them delivered a swift kick to her side, knocking her back down onto the ground. As he took a step toward her, she decided to retaliate with a kick of her own, aimed right for his balls. The man didn't react in time, and he almost instantly fell to the ground in a world of pain.

Once again she tried to stand, this time succeeding. The bandit who had been tending to the comrade who she had attacked with her short sword was going right for her. She saw him begin to swing his scimitar, so she reacted by stepping to the side, but it turned out to be a feint. The bandit used his free hand to punch her in the gut. Jasmine's mouth opened as the wind was knocked out of her, and she collapsed onto her knees. She didn't remain in that position for long, though, as the bandit forced her to stand by yanking on her hair. She was about to try to attack, but before she could, she felt cool metal against her neck, just enough to keep from breaking the skin. Her eyes widened slightly. "You move, and I slit your fuckin' throat," the bandit threatened.

Jasmine didn't answer, but instead glared at him as she struggled a little to get her breathing right again. "That bitch!" cursed the bandit with the broken nose. She saw him standing up. His hands were away from his face now, showing the mess of blood that was all over his lower extremities. "Maybe you should make it up to him." Jasmine looked at the bandit who held the scimitar to her neck, seeing the smirk on his face. "I won't--" she stopped when the bandit yanked harshly on her hair, causing her face to contort tightly into a grimace. "You don't have a choice here, bitch!" the bandit hissed. He started to go around her to position himself behind her, the blade only leaving her neck long enough for him to do so. With the weapon back in place, she heard him demand, "Get on your knees."

She wanted to resist, but she knew it wasn't worth losing her life over. Sighing inwardly, Jasmine did as she was told, causing the bandit behind her to lower to the ground, too. "Too late for that!" yelled the broken-nosed bandit. "I'm gonna smash that bitches face in!"

"Let's at least have some fun with her first."

The bandit growled in anger as if he was going to refuse, but then his expressions softened. "Fine." He stepped toward the two, his groin area level with Jasmine's face. He undid his pants, sliding them down enough to expose his package. His flaccid dick hung down at about four inches.

Jasmine felt the blade leave her neck, but it was still close enough to where the bandit could easily deliver the fatal slash. "Better get working, bitch," said the bandit behind her. "And no funny business, unless you want to die." She glared at the man towering above her, really hating how this was playing out, but she didn't have much of a choice. She didn't want to die. Giving in, she brought her lips forward, parting them just enough to take in the man standing in front of her.
 
Souta continued to emit groans and youthful grunts of ecstasy, the teen's body slowly squirming around in pleasure despite his body muscles tightened everywhere in resistance, and his head rolling around. He was like a fish out of water as he struggled to deny the pleasure, but it was too great for him. Soon, her face neared his member that was now seeping out pre-cum, her tongue reached out and began licking the underside of his shaft up to his head. Souta couldn't stop the loud gasps and moans from escaping his mouth as his toes curled inside his leather boots, and his gloved hands, still restrained, tightened into fists. Sweat was emitting from his pores as the waves of pleasure was emitting through his body.

It was really only hearing the sounds of Jasmine's struggling that was keeping him at bay. If it wasn't for him being horrified and sick at what was happening to her, he knew he would have lost this struggle several minutes ago. By the time threats were being said about what would happen to her, Souta moaned out her name in worry, this caused the female boss to slow gradually to a stop and look behind her. Souta took the time to make his muscles lax, as he panted with his eyes squeezed shut, but his member twitching, ready for more despite is dismay.

"Boys, I can't have you kill her or severely hurt her." The boss warned them. "Or I will break you -- if not worse. You boys are five on one. If you can't keep a disarmed woman down, then you don't deserve it. Do I make myself clear?"

She didn't even wait for a response -- she had made her demand and she expected it to be followed through. She wasn't going to let her men ruin this moment.

Souta had managed to lift his head, barely, to watch with his eyes cracked open. The boss's hands rubbed up Souta's chest again, lightly pinching his left erect nipple as he let out a breathy moan in reaction and his head craned back weakly. Then her hand moved to his left armpit, grabbing the tuft of dark brown hair that was there and tugging on it a little, making the teen groan in pain as she spoke.

"I love it when boys start becoming men, you know. Today is when you're going to grow up, aren't you excited?"

Souta didn't respond other than his head falling back down to the ground as her hand went from his armpit back to pumping his shaft again, her licking the head and the precum that was dripping from it. Souta began squirming again, his member becoming more rigid and he began to slowly but surely arching his back as his groans increased further in volume. It didn't take long for his muscles to tense right back again in resistance. Her head pulled away as she spoke to the teen in a dangerous voice.

"You better hold it in boy because I'm not ready for you to yet..." She warned.

Souta groaned more in a "are you serious?" tone rather than that of a pleasurable one. "I... gh... I can't... hold... it..." he moaned out.

"You better boy, or it will cost you and your friend."

"Uhn... But... I... can't..... mmmh..."

"Then it's going to suck to be your friend in a moment, won't it?" She said in a sly voice.

Souta could only weakly moan and gasp in response as she went back to licking the underside of his shaft a few times before retreating back again, as her other hand went down to fondling his nuts which were tightening up to the base. Souta's head whipped around as he groaned a few times. His back arching more. He knew there was no way he'd last until even the next 30 seconds.

"Ja...Jasmine...." he groaned out loud weakly to her. "I... ngh... I'm... sorry... I just..... can't....... unnh.... uunngh...!"

With that last grunt, he couldn't resist anymore as his cream was finally forced to shoot. He pushed his pelvis out forward as his back remained arced as his muscles tensed more then ever -- as if trying to cover up his mistake of shooting out one shot; he could stop the rest. He could only resist the second spasm for a few seconds before letting out another exhausted grunt before his body collapsed back onto the floor again. He felt he had failed now and just gave up as he moaned weakly as his milk shot up on his stomach and sometimes on his chest. His tense muscles finally went lax as he heard the female bandit laugh. Still, she was pumping his shaft as it continued to emit the, in his mindset, disgusting and corrupted sperm of his and soiling it onto his own body. Souta lay limp with an exhausted sigh as his spurts eventually dwindled to just dribbling.

"My, my. That must have been quite a build up and your first time. Did you enjoy that boy, hmm?"

Souta only just glared at her.

"No, I know you liked it. You were so loud it was music to my ears. Unfortunately, you didn't hold in long enough until it was finished, so your friend will have to pay in your stead. I wouldn't like to see a handsome little man like you hurt, after all."

Souta clenched his teeth angrily as his hands balled up into fists. It was only then he had realized he was still wearing his gloves despite his shorts pulled down to his ankles and his shirt having been pried off. It was only that incentive that he already decided on probably a fatal plan. But even if he could get her, it would be worth it.

The boss's hands wandered pack to Souta's right pec, beginning to pinch the nipple. Souta desperately squirmed to get away, but she got hold of it, twisted it and pulled, and the boy moaned out in pain.

"What do you say boy? We go again and your friend won't be harm-- GAHHH!!"

All the other bandits holding Souta had similar reactions, as she pulled her hand away from Souta and stepped back, and the other soldiers released the teen all at once. The sperm on Souta's stomach and chest nearly had instantly hardened, and his right arm came up and scrapped it off quickly; not even leaving a smudge of evidence he had just squirted himself, as it just came off and landed in the dirt rock solid hard. Souta then moved his arms up instantly, holding both of them out in front of him while still being on his back, aiming at her, as the icicles formed on the knuckles of his gloves, and then all six together shot out.

Two of them hit the boss bandit right in the throat, as she let out gurgles, clutching the ice that had pierced her neck. The other four stray shots traveled behind her, towards Jasmine's area. Two of the icicles would hit the man she was being forced to give a blowjob right in the upper leg, and hip -- most likely not killing him since they were not lethal shots, but getting a blow job would be the least of his worries. The fifth shot would have went to the man behind her; only grazing around his shoulder area; maybe drawing blood but the icicle would continue on through. And the sixth shot, unless a bandit was in positioned to be in the path that was even further behind the man, would have miss entirely, until it had hit a tree or anything else in the way.

The boss collapsed to the ground, dead within only seconds. It was the first person Souta had killed in his life. He panted, both in exhaustion about what had just happened, and being in shock. Such rage had just went through him, he couldn't even control himself.

The angry yelling of the bandits around him brought him to reality, and before he realized it, a foot stomped down on his throat. He choked out helplessly, breathlessly gasping out as his arms grasped at the leg and ankle of the bandit crushing his throat. He had expended and released so much energy just in anger, he hardly had any left to concentrate properly in a panicked state such as this. How could one concentrate when they were laying naked, with 4 angry bandits around them, in a state of anger shock and confusion, being suffocated and having their throat crushed? Certainly not this 13-year-old teen.

"You fucking brat!!!" One bandit shouted, before he felt a blow to his stomach -- probably stomped on. Souta breathlessly grunted out, any little precious air he had in him, escaping his lips. Already his face was turning an unhealthy shade of blue and he felt weak.

"You like killing people by the throat kid? I'll show YOU what it's like to die like that you piece of shit!"

Souta only weakly cried out in pain helplessly as more pressure was applied to his throat. The rest of the bandits gathering around him, as they began beating on him, kicking, punching, stomping -- whatever that would seemingly help to make Souta die faster or make his last moments far more miserable.

He needed help, now.
 
Jasmine continued servicing the man against her will, absolutely disgusted at how he was growing hard in her mouth. "That's it, bitch," said the bandit behind her. He occasionally controlled her movements by pushing against the back of her head and pulling on her hair, making sure she kept her lips around his comrade's cock. Jasmine heard their leader's words. "We won't," the bandit behind her replied. Then, whispered in Jasmine's ear, "Unless you try something, bitch."

The archer continued what she was doing, inadvertently listening to what was going on next to her. She had heard what the bandit leader said would happen if Souta climaxed too soon, and she became worried. She didn't want to die, and it wasn't even for something fair. Why should she be killed for something the teen would have very little control over? Jasmine would have protested if it wasn't for her mouth being full. And, of course, just their luck, Souta couldn't keep from achieving orgasm long enough for the leader's liking. When the leader told Souta that she was going to kill her, Jasmine forced her mouth off the bandit's dick and looked at the woman with slightly widened eyes. "N-no--"

The bandit in front of her shoved himself back in her mouth. "Shut up!" Jasmine's gag reflexes were set off from how far down he shoved his dick, and the two bandits quietly laughed. She tried to fight to get the thing out of her mouth, but to no avail. Both men kept her firmly in place. Her heart was racing now, but soon it calmed when she heard the leader speak again.

And then she screamed.

Jasmine looked over from the corners of her eyes, seeing that all of the bandits who had been touching Souta had let go. It took her a second to understand what was going on, and, fortunately for her, the two bandits that kept her captive were also distracted by the events going on right near them. It was not long after that when the two of them were hit. Jasmine heard the bandit towering over her grunt in pain from the icicle that impaled his upper leg. He pulled away from her enough for her mouth to be finally rid of him. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to get free. The bandit behind her forced her to stand, holding the scimitar to her neck. "We'll kill both of you, bitch!" the bandit hissed.

Jasmine half-ignored him. "Souta!" she shouted, now worried for the teen's life. A bandit had him pinned by the throat, and others closed in on him, beating him. And she couldn't do anything except watch.

Or so she thought.

Suddenly, she felt the bandit's grip on her grow laxed. The blade fell from her neck. She would have looked to see why this was if it wasn't for the fact that she was too preoccupied with what was going on with Souta. She was about to step forward, but then she stopped when the wind around Souta's immediate vicinity picked up, the gust strong enough to blow the group of bandits away from the teen. They skidded along the ground or crashed into trees.

"Storm!"

Multiple arcs of electricity came from somewhere behind Jasmine, startling her. Each bolt had superb accuracy, striking all the bandits that had been carried by that strong wind. Their screams filled the air as every muscle in their bodies spasmed. When the electricity stopped, those bandits fell limp.

The only bandits that were left were the three near Jasmine. Two of them were wounded. The bandit who had his balls kicked was back up and charging ahead of the other two to where the lightning came. Jasmine spun around, seeing the bald man with strange markings on his head. When the bandit reached him, he swung his sword, and the man sidestepped it before thrusting his palm at his chest. As soon as contact was made, an explosion was created. The bandit cried out in pain as he was sent flying backward, crashing into his two remaining comrades. The bald man aimed his left hand at the pile of bandits, and, without uttering a word, conjured a dust of ice that seemed like a very contained blizzard. Within moments the men were frozen.


Rewinding a bit, Souta would have heard rushed footsteps after that electricity struck those bandits, and by the sounds of it, the person was coming right for him. The fifteen-year-old guy slowed when he reached Souta's side. "Are you okay?" he asked, genuine concern in his voice. His dark brown hair was really short, as if it had been growing from a buzz cut. His forehead had black markings just like the man Jasmine had seen. Also like that man, the teen wore monk robes. Unlike the man, though, the teen's robes were navy blue instead of a dark red.

Forest green eyes held a tiny inkling of caring as the guy offered his hand to help Souta up.
 
Souta felt his consciousness slipping from him as breathless groans and grunts of agony were slipping through his lips, but only getting quieter and weaker with every blow he took and second that past. In only a couple of seconds, Souta was pretty bruised up and his grip on the man's leg that was crushing his throat had slid off slowly, not even having the energy to attempt to pry them off.

It was fortunate he didn't suffer any longer when the men were blown off. Instinctively, Souta took a much needed desperate gasp for air, and life seemed to have shocked back into his body as he panted and his arms that had went limp with effort went back to clutch his throat as he began coughing. Rolling himself over onto his stomach, face practically in the forest dirt as he sucked in precious air, but coughing along the way.

He was too concentrated on trying to recover his breath and massage his nearly crushed neck to notice the footsteps, or really, what was going on around him. He had only just regained his sense of surroundings when there was another teen just arriving to him. Souta propped his torso off the ground as he still breathed heavily, and other hand still rubbing his throat as he looked at the other male weakly, examining the hand, and then his gaze looked away.

"...You... don't want to touch me right now..." Souta sighed in a depressed manner and closed his eyes. He didn't care if he was laying naked on the forest floor in front of the other male. It didn't matter anymore to him. The scar going along his right thigh was clearly visible. Souta's eyes opened only part way as he gazed at the ground. Blades of grass in at least 4 inches in radius had been frozen solid, and further along it was gradually frosted up. Light mist was emitting from Souta, due to the drastic change in temperature around him. If he took the boy's hand, he would be in a rather surprising and unpleasant shock.

Souta didn't even bother pulling up his shorts that were still around his ankles. Instead, he looked around him, first glancing at the bald man, and then looking towards Jasmine, a sad look wore on his face and eyes. Perhaps he was guilty he couldn't hold himself in, despite it being nothing he could do. He knew that deep inside, in fact, he probably held on well for as long as he did, but he felt he could have stopped it somehow and rescued her. And as down as his feelings, was as low as he hung his head to gaze back at the ground once again.

If that wasn't bad enough, they had already lost the gem. And they hadn't owned it for more than half an hour.
 
The teen quirked a brow, not understanding what the younger male meant. "What...?" he trailed off then, noticing the mist that was emitting from him. "Oh." His forest green eyes wandered over the male's torso, examining his injuries. He had seen that his pants were pulled down to his ankles earlier, and while he had only seen the start of the beating, he understood what must have gone on before that. Knowing that was enough to make his blood want to boil, but he let the emotions go. He couldn't let them consume him. It wasn't safe.

During his examination, he had kept his gaze above the waist, so he didn't notice the scar. "Y-you're okay?" he asked again, bringing his gaze back up to look the teen in the eye. It was a stupid question to ask, wasn't it? Just looking at him made it clear that he must not have been okay. Getting raped by all those men, and then taking a beating afterward. Yeah, and he had seen his facial expressions, too. Sure, he must have been okay, after all of that. But he felt the need to say something, and that was what came out.

Now that the threat of bandits was gone, Jasmine stood for a moment, looking at her savior. Then she remembered about Souta and looked over her shoulder at him, seeing the teen that was over there with him. The two newcomers were clearly together. She looked back at the man before her. "I don't know who you are, but thank you for helping us. We were in a load of trouble there." She offered a smile, and saw the one that the man gave in return as he gave a slow, single nod.

"You're welcome," he said.

Jasmine would have talked, but she was more concerned about Souta. She turned around and stepped over to where the two teens were. When she reached them, she stood there for a moment, first giving the unknown teen a smile in acknowledgement, then examining Souta. "Yikes, you took quite the beating there, didn't you?" She gave a faint smile, but there was a frown hidden beneath it. She lowered herself into a crouch. "This is turning out to be some adventure, isn't it? We just got on the road and we already hit quite a bump." A moment later, the smile faded. She leaned forward, lightly wrapping her arms around Souta in an apologetic hug. "I'm sorry I couldn't help you."

She would have lingered for a moment before pulling away, looking over Souta again. "You aren't too badly hurt, are you? No broken bones, right?" She hoped not. Unless either of these two strangers knew healing arts, or had a potion, there was no way they would be able to tend to Souta's injuries.
 
Souta had just continued to stare at the ground with his eyes closed, until the male asked if he was okay. Souta opened his eyes, and didn't lift his head, but the pupils of his eyes turned to stare at the teen in a glare. "......No...." Souta managed to say in a broken up voice. Really, his eyes gave the message of something like: "Do you really THINK I'm okay after that?!", but perhaps it could have been mistaken for something else. After the glance and the response, his gaze depressingly dropped back down to the ground.

His gaze didn't rise back up to meet Jasmine when she had come over and began talking to him at first. That was until she had lowered herself into a crouch, then only his eyes went to look up at her but he still refused to look up from the ground. He was still reminiscing about the incident and playing it over and his mind.

He was suddenly brought out when she had pulled him into a hug, his eyes widening in surprise, mostly for the fact he couldn't believe she was hugging him despite how cold his body must have felt to touch, although it would only be contact with skin to skin that would really feel really unpleasant, and contact with him through clothes that were thick enough would be noticeable but not uncomfortable. Souta didn't raise his arms or anything to embrace her back in the hug. The teen was simply motionless other than the fact he slowly closed his eyes as water began streaming from his face, but slowed as it was quickly freezing against the contact on his skin.

When Jasmine pulled away, his tears would have frozen up in place, and his gaze was still looking down at the ground. He took a few seconds to respond to his question, trying to keep his voice steady but it was clearly broken and he croaked the answer out.

"...I... don't think so.... but it hurts to try and move my muscles..."

Souta then slowly moved himself up onto his knees, his gloved hands gripping the waist band of his shorts as he slowly began pulling them up. He didn't feel any embarrassment that she or the other two had been staring at him while he was naked the entire time; it was hard to after what had just happened. Souta took in a silent deep breath in attempt to compose himself. When he spoke again, his voice was a bit more structured and easier to understand instead of it being a weak croak.

"I.... I suppose... I was bound to lose the war sometime... Shit like that happening to me at least once a week. At least when it was the Death Force, it was usually only one, maybe two... and I could slink away from them by pretending I'm helpless and getting them when they least expect it. But... but that just now..." Souta had never been gang mauled like that before. It was also the first time it wasn't just him in the equation -- it had been Jasmine too; so he couldn't have made any hasty moves.

Souta slowly pushed himself up to his feet, and would have walked ahead of him, behind Jasmine. His frozen aura, which had been calming gradually over time had picked back up again and was full of hateful energy. He wandered over to where the boss bandit was, who had died looking face up. An angry scowl crossed Souta's face, as he raised his right boot. Soon long, sharp spikes of ice seemingly grew out of the bottom of his leather boot, and with every effort his could force his leg to bring in his bruised and beaten state, Souta had stomped his foot down on the boss's face. There was a sickening crunch! as the icicles on his feet sunk in, and the boot itself would have crushed her nose. Along with all the icicles stabbing into her face; when Souta had lifted his foot, blood dripping profusely from the icicles which soon seemingly melted away; leaving the boot itself not have a stain on it. The boss's face was completely dismembered and unrecognizable. With the same foot, Souta let out a grunt of effort as he kicked the corpse in the side, which sent it rolling away into a few bushes and out of sight.

Souta panted slightly in rage as he clenched his teeth. Oh there was so much he would pay just to have her alive for a few moments so he could inflict pain on her, but the only thing he could do was insult her spirit by maiming her corpse. It wasn't satisfying enough. It wasn't an even trade for what he had to go through.
 
The teen had taken a step back in reaction to the glare. Hurt showed on his face for a moment, but he understood the reasons behind this look, so he shrugged off the potential offensiveness of it. "Right," he replied quietly, a small frown on his face.

Jasmine had been surprised by how cold Souta was. She had forgotten about his magic's effect and had acted purely on impulse when she hugged him. Souta probably would have been able to notice her surprise, too, by the way she sort of pulled back upon initial contact. However, she had still continued with the hug for a couple moments, certain that he probably needed it after what he had been through. And, in a way, she did, too.

When she finally pulled away, she noticed the frozen tears, and she was tempted to cry herself. She wasn't so bothered by what had happened to her. Yes, she was violated, and she could have potentially lost her life, a situation she wasn't so used to encountering except for the few times she ran into a hostile creature, but she had the resilience to get over it within time. The violation could have turned out a lot worse for her, and, ultimately, she was still alive. She would be okay. No, what did bother her was how she was unable to protect Souta. When she set out with him, she was basically making the vow that she would protect him. They had just had their first encounter with trouble together, and what happened? She failed. She was easily restrained and forced to let Souta be subjected to what the leader did to him. And this surely was nothing like what they would face later on down the road, if Souta did learn to accept his role as the Chosen.

Despite the temptation, she didn't cry. Instead, she offered him a smile, which wasn't as strong because of the emotions that she was currently experiencing.

"Is that all?" she asked when Souta had answered her question, the cheeriness in her voice a bit forced. "You'll make a smooth recovery in no time." At least, physically he would. Mentally and emotionally? She wasn't so sure, but she hoped so, for his sake.

She went quiet when Souta explained how he experienced similar scenarios, primarily with the Death Force, on a weekly basis, at the very least. Jasmine could feel his pain, and she wanted to say something comforting, but nothing came to mind. What could she say? "You'll be fine"? That wasn't very consoling. All she could do was stay quiet.

The other two had remained quiet so far, but the teen was visibly affected by this tidbit of information. Although his face remained mostly neutral, anger could be seen in his eyes. His fingers rolled into tight fists, and when he noticed the small flames that began to appear on his right hand, he knew he had to calm down. He closed his eyes, taking two deep breaths. When his mind cleared of the thoughts that fueled his anger, he reopened his eyes, and just in time to see the younger teen do something.

There were mixed reactions among the small party. Jasmine's heart ached from Souta's actions, primarily because she understood he was in pain. This was his way of releasing those emotions, so she had nothing to say about it. Still, she did quietly mutter his name in concern when he had finished. The man, who had worn a small, good-natured smile up until this point, frowned infinitesimally. While perhaps understandable, he didn't quite agree with the boy's actions. As for the teen, he silently agreed to what he saw. He probably would have done the same thing, or at least a few years ago. Maybe not now, since it conflicted with what he was taught, but sometimes his emotions still managed to get the better of him and affect his actions.

After a moment's silence had passed over the scene, Jasmine looked at the two strangers. She offered them a smile. "Thanks again for helping us. I really appreciate it."

Both of them looked at her. The man gave her that good-natured smile of his. In a way, it was calming to her. "Again, you are welcome."

"Yeah, we were glad to help," the teen chimed in with a smile of his own, one that showed youthful energy. He had been looking at Jasmine when he started speaking, but he had glanced at Souta toward the end.

"Were you two going to Meadowton?" the man asked. "We can escort both of you there, if so. Or to wherever it is you two are going."

"Well..." she began, remembering the Gem. While she thought these two could be trusted, it was a bad idea to give out information about the Gem carelessly. She chose her words carefully. "Those bandits stole something from us. We need to get it back. But..."

She trailed off and looked at Souta, a frown growing on her lips. While it was absolutely crucial they got the Gem back, she was more worried about him. And after seeing what had happened, she felt hesitant to drag him into doing something else, especially given the state of mind he must be in.
 
Souta's breathing eventually calmed down some, but it was still clear, ragged breathing. His aura wasn't letting up at all. Sure it was fluctuating here and there, but it was still constantly strong, and anywhere he walked where there was grass, was quickly being frosted or frozen in some cases in only a matter of seconds.

He had, after a moment or two, glanced back towards the group, but not at any of them. Rather, he spotted where his shirt had been thrown off to, and began walking towards it. He bent down and picked it off from the ground, but he didn't even put it on. Instead, he kept walking, and after he was some distance away, he slowly sat himself down, his back facing the party as he leaned himself sideways against a tree trunk, and just sat... staring off ahead of him. He wouldn't respond to his name being called out, even if it was Jasmine.

Too many nightmarish memories were flooding his head. He released the grip of his shirt, and after a couple of minutes, his head would have bowed down, gripping the sides of his head with both of his gloved hands, his body quivering a bit at the memories flooding back that he wish he could forget. They were the reason he was acting the way he had been in the first place. It didn't matter how hard he was trying right now -- he couldn't shut the memories out. And over time, his aura was slowly, but surely, even growing larger and stronger. He was releasing so much energy at this point just to keep his anger down from doing something absolutely nuts, that at the rate he was expending it, he would knock himself unconscious in the next half an hour or so.
 
All three watched the teen. Jasmine had clear concern in her eyes. The amount of energy Souta was consuming was clear--more so for the two males, who were able to sense it.

"He needs to calm down," said the bald man calmly. "At this rate, he'll render himself unconscious."

"Right," Jasmine said. She walked toward the teen. "Souta--" she abruptly stopped before she could get too close. The air around him was too cold, and with the kind of attire she was wearing, it was too much for her to handle. "Look, hon, I know this hurts, but you can move past this. Time heals all wounds." Of course, she was thinking that what was bothering him so much was what had just happened. Nothing in the past. "And nothing like this will ever happen to you again. I'll make sure of it." She offered a smile, even if he wouldn't look at her. She knew these words probably weren't the most comforting thing for him, but she was at a loss of how else to try to put his mind at ease. She wanted to help, but wasn't quite sure how.

"I am sorry, I don't want to force us to get moving, but we really ought to leave this area," said the man. "With the exception of those I shocked, these bandits can still attack once they come to. It'd be best to be away from here before that can happen."

Jasmine looked from the man to Souta. "We really should, Souta," she said, and then added quietly enough so the other two wouldn't be able to hear: "We still might have the Death Force on our trail. I know it'll be rough, but we really should go before we can get any more trouble. Then you can rest as much as you need."
 
Souta didn't appear to even be listening to Jasmine, but when she said time healed wounds, his teeth gritted. And by the time she said it wouldn't happen again... Souta snapped. The energy around him blasted out in a pulse. The distance short, but the pulse could still be felt. Anything that was in a 5 foot radius around him became frozen solid, except around the perimeter where it became heavily frosted.

"Jasmine, I'm sorry -- but just shut up. You have no clue about my past. This isn't the first time this has happened to me, it isn't even the tenth time, and I am more then certain no care-giving piece of shit 'god' of any sort is going to have any mercy to make it stop now. Giving me that shitty gem is just going to attract even more attention towards me!"

Souta stood up now in his calm, quiet but very visible rage, as he pulled the shirt over his head and it soon covered the muscular -- but perhaps frail body that he had. Souta soon began to just walk away. Perhaps he was expecting Jasmine, and the other two to follow -- or maybe he didn't and just didn't care. Where he was walking towards though, was where the bandit with the gem had gone. Unfortunately, where he walked left a, very, obvious trail of ice cold existence around him. Leaving frost, or in some cases, frozen vegetation around him.
 
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