Above the Heavens
by Indigo Hedgehog

Chapter 3- Watching

~*~*~*~*~

"...So we figured that we might be able to find something interesting here."

Sirius leaned back against a smooth rock, letting Ryu's story sink in. "Ah... I guess you could say you've found something, then."

"Not much so far," Katt muttered. "So far, there's been the ruins appearing for a couple of seconds, and the portal. And then you in the other world."

"What about the crystal, and the inscriptions Ryu and I found?" Nina asked.

"Oh yeah... those things. Okay, add those to the small list..." The four had set up camp at the waterfall Nina and Ryu had explored earlier- Katt had called Sirius into their world, and, after introductions were made and explanations given, they had discovered that the sky was starting to darken.

"Don't look so glum, Katt. There's still a chance that we'll find something really big... right?"

Katt looked across the fire at Ryu. "Well... I suppose. I guess what's happened today is a start, then..."

~*~*~*~*~

In the other world, a lone, cloaked figure was sitting at a bar, sipping a mug of beer. It was in a small town called Kirkmoine, whose soot-streaked rooftops and rickety two-story houses looked gloomy enough in the rare occurence of clear blue daylight. However, in the almost constant red-orange glow of the sky, a feeling of despair hung about.

"Hey, you. Another beer," the figured called, pushing his first mug aside. "I'm dehydrating over here."

"Yeah, yeah... hold your horses there, bud." A few short moments passed while the bartender filled up another mug, and slid it across the counter. "Never seen you around here before. You new here?"

"You could say that..." The cloaked man drained half the mug, then pulled his hood lower over his face. "I'm what they call a wanderer. No real destination at the moment." The bartender didn't ask anymore questions after that. Something about this guy made it seem difficult to strike up a conversation. The cloaked man gulped down the rest of his beer and set the empty mug on the counter. Then he dug into his pocket, and slapped a few crisp notes on the counter. "Thirty sine, right?" Without waiting for an answer, he got up and left.

Once outside, he looked around the village, then to the sky. He scanned as far as he could, and found it empty, save for thin, pinkish blue clouds drifting over a sun red as a cooked lobster. Am I in the wrong place? I thought someone sighted it here... He frowned, then smiled. Sirius... you are wise to try and hide from me, but it's still futile. I'll find you... wherever you are.

~*~*~*~*~

Sirius's eyes flew open, and he saw part of the starry night sky, as well as the tall mountain towering high above him, the waterfall rushing down. There was an odd feeling in the pit of his stomach, and the hair on the back of his neck stood up. Around him, Nina, Katt, and Ryu slept soundly in their sleeping bags- in Nina's case, on the sleeping bag, as her wings wouldn't entirely fit inside of it.

Sirius then sat up, scratching his head, his heart thudding wildly in his chest. What the heck just happened to me? It feels like something's out there... watching us. As far as he knew, on his island, there were very few animals- mainly birds and insects- but he had no idea what might be lurking around in this world. "H...hello?" He half-whispered, not wanting to wake up the others. "Hello?" He half-expected to hear an answer in some form, but didn't.

"Sirius?"

"Ah!" Sirius looked to his right. It was only Nina. "Oh... what is it?"

"What are you doing up? It's not even morning yet..." She stifled a yawn, rubbing her sleep-clouded eyes.

"I guess... the day's events are keeping me up is all. Don't worry." Sirius looked away, hoping the worry didn't show on his face.

Nina nodded. "Oh...all right. Goodnight, then."

"Goodnight, Miss Nina."

~*~*~*~*~

"This place is too quiet... too dull." A forkful of chicken disappeared into the mouth of a girl around sixteen or seventeen. "I wonder what they do for fun here?" Another forkful of chicken, followed by a few quick gulps of sake. "Ah well..." She quickly finished her meal and leaned back in her chair, burping quietly. Then she looked over to the owner of the small restaurant she was in, and smiled. "Thank you for the food, sir! That was delicious!"

After paying, she walked out, a bit of a spring in her step as she headed for the exit of the town. She passed a faded, rickety sign that read "Welcome to Kirkmoine," and was knocked over when a man in a long, dark blue cloak brushed past her.

"Hey!" She called, but he didn't even stop. Nor did he apologize. "Excuse me, sir, but you just- sir! Sir? Can you hear me?" She was sure he could, but he still acted as though she didn't exist. She frowned and crossed her arms, staring after him. "That was mean! The least he could do is apologize!" She wanted to chase after him, stop him, maybe ask him to be more careful next time, but something stopped her. She wasn't sure why, but she didn't think she should bother making that man irate.

She sighed and turned, heading off in the opposite direction and hoping she wouldn't cross paths with that man again.

~*~*~*~*~

"Oh, my. It looks like rain." These six everyday words seemed to fell the spirits of the quartet. Nina looked back up at the sky. "Do you think it's safe to be so high up?"

"Probably, long as there's not any lightning." Ryu also looked to the thick mass of charcoal clouds, spreading out above them. "But it kinda looks like me might have a bit of a-" A low rumble interrupted his words.

"...thunderstorm," Sirius finished. "That might not be good."

"You're damn right it won't be good," Katt growled. "I'm gonna probably get soaked now... I wish we'd packed a tent or something."

"Don't worry, Katt. A little water isn't going to kill you."

"Easy for you to say, scalybutt," Katt snapped, glaring at Ryu. "You know how much of a pain it is to wait for fur to dry?!"

"It's no worse than having wet feathers," Nina commented. "Ryu's right, you know. It's just water." A loud, ominous thunderclap punctuated her sentence. "Oh, dear. It looks like we could get rain any second now."

"Wait... we haven't explored to other side of the island yet," Ryu pointed out. "Maybe there's some shelter there. And maybe some other interesting stuff, to," He added, looking at Katt.

She brightened at the prospect. "Now THAT sounds a lot better! Okay, let's hurry before the rain starts up."

"Right."

~*~*~*~*~

To be continued...

uthor's notes: I have a tendency to end chapters at weird parts. Ah well... I hope you enjoyed this part as well! Who was that strange man in Kirkmoine? How is he connected with Sirius? Will the pussy get wet (Oh ho ho) or find shelter on the island? And what about that girl who was also in Kirkmoine? What's with her? Read on to find out!