Valkyrie's Lament

Gate #6 - Day 4 (Part III)

Silver felt someone watching her from behind her. She turned around to see the culprit, but so far her eyes did not make contact. She let out a sigh and continued walking down the long street where a large number of stalls were set up. Blocks upon blocks of the street were blocked off by the police for this special occasion.

Only the busy life of the cat people walked back and forth enjoying the warm weather of fall. Their happy faces and excited nature joyfully called out in excitement at the festive mood in the air.

Children flocked around with their parents, lovers were out on a stroll feeding each other food, while loud yells of the store clerks called out to the passersby to buy and try out their samples. Loud music played out in the crowd, giving the people a more uplifting beat.

Even Silver felt excited walking down the festive mood that was being held today. From her understanding this was the yearly Cat Moon Festival that is held for three days, honoring the Cat Moon Goddess for the plentiful harvest of the year. It was a traditional festival, but still brought in a mix of present day.

So far, she saw no other player except for Rook and Brook. They were enjoying themselves throughout the whole time that Silver and Jasper were looking for Ronfonso. Every time the twins found something interesting, they would drag Silver towards the event to play.

Silver at times was curious about the new things that the twins saw. These were the few times in the death games that she had the time to relax and enjoy herself. Such events were not common and she knew that they were times to enjoy a bit in life. Being tense at every second of her life was more of a detrimental part to her health.

In the past, she had become sick from over worrying and becoming tense for too long. She knew from her experience that such times like these were not easy to come by and she took advantage of it. There was no rush in finding Ronfonso, she had a feeling that Ronfonso would still be alive by the end of the game.

From her guess, she got the feeling that Ronfonso was strong. He didn’t even blink an eye when the black dragon had pursued them relentlessly, but instead laid back in the van enjoying the crazy ride.

She had called Brianna and Sam to take one of the two pins that the old cat had to offer. Sam had an orb that he could trade for and she didn’t know when the old cat would disappear and leave. Finding the old Cat was simple, but trading with him was not easy without having the orb.

“Silver, is it a good idea to play around like this?” Jasper wearily glanced around in worry. His cute face was furrowed with unease, looking around for the enemy.

“Not really, but you can’t be stressed all the time. Such chances like this don't come very often. I suggest you enjoy it as much as possible.”

“Still ... .There are way too many people walking around. One of them could be the enemy.”

“True, but their whole outfit is easy to spot. Haven’t you noticed, the rabbit soldiers and the ‘it’ players tend to either stay away from them as if they are plagues or flock towards them as if they were celebrities?”

“Yes….but still.”

“I've been keeping my eyes out for any suspicious activities.”

“I see…”

Brook and Rook came over and they both slapped Jasper on his back. He stumbled forward, almost falling onto the ground.

“You need to relax and enjoy yourself.”

“Yep, too much stress will kill you.”

“Like Silver said, enjoy life when it presents itself. The game of tag will eventually present itself in due time.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s now.”

They both nodded.

Jasper sighed defeated at the two whimsical attitudes, and he gave up in countering the two. The happy attitude of Jasper these past few days had been bogged down with worry. The game was a death trap, making the motto life living on the edge a reality.

“I get it. Just don’t smack me in the back so hard.” Jasper felt the throbbing pain on his back.

Just as quickly as the twins were focused on Jasper, their eyes were delighted at the game booth that they saw. Silver was familiar with the shooting game. She followed behind and saw the giant stuffed animal toys that were present.

Not only that, Silver saw something that caught her eyes. It has a light colored Orange Crystal shard encased in a clear glass. She was surprised that the game booth had such rewards. Not only that the Orange Crystal shard was even stronger in power than a regular

“Isn’t that…a crystal shard?” Jasper saw what Silver was looking at in surprise.

“Yea, I didn’t think that they would be giving them away as prizes.” Silver walked over with the twins who were already playing the game.

“Come one come all! Try your chances of winning the grand prize.” The male cat spoke out in vigor. He was clapping his hands for everyone to come forward. “Young miss, would you like to try your hands on winning?”

Brook nodded and picked up the toy gun and looked at it. It was black in color with an orange tip at its end. The twins were firing away trying to shoot off the blocks in hand. Their aims were off as they only took down a couple of blocks.

“Are you kidding me?” Rook cried out in frustration. “Why doesn’t it hit you for crying out loud!”

“You just suck.” Brook laughed. He puffed up his chest showing to his brother that he hitted the most blocks off the pedestal.

“You barely even got any down. Why are you so proud of yourself.” Rook snorted at his brother’s arrogant display.

“As long as I took out the most blocks, then I won.”

“What are you even talking about? You didn’t even win anything.”

“Yes, I did. Can’t you see. I took down five, while you did four. Plus read the sign, I got a small plushie.”

Rook looked at the sign and fell silent at Brook’s words. The male cat gave Brook a small cat plushie.

“Wonderfully done. You’re the first player of the day to win a prize.”

Brook beamed as Rook snorted at him.

“How much does it take to win the crystal shard?” Silver spoke, catching the male cat's attention. He turned his gaze over his shoulder and saw what she was talking about.

With a brilliant smile, the male cat gave her a reply. “You have to shoot down ten sets of those blocks. You’re only allowed to use one bullet to aim at each set. If you fail, you won’t be able to win it.”

“Are you serious?” Jasper's jaws opened up into disbelief. “One bullet for each set? Is that even possible?”

“Is there a rule on which gun you can use?” Silver was examining the setup of the blocks.

“You are only allowed to use the gun that is used in this booth.”

“I see. Then I would like to start if you don’t mind.”

“Sure. Sure. Though it is….one Angel coin to play.”

Silver handed him an Angel coin. She then picked up the gun in hand and breathed in deeply. She felt a strange pull of her magical energy powering the gun and knew that the gun was eating away at her magical energy. Relaxing she aimed towards the stacks of blocks. Her focus sharpened and she fired.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Silence followed after as everyone stared with amazement. All the ten sets of blocks that were set out in a row were shot down without a single break in between.

The male cat shakily picked up the crystal in the box and brought it towards her in disbelief. “H-Here you go.” He was amazed at her ability and could not stop but stare.

“That was amazing!” Brook cheered with his hands up in the air.

“Nice~” Rook clapped his hands. “I can’t even do that. You, my friend , are truly amazing.”

“Thanks.” Silver felt embarrassed, but at the same time excited that she was able to get the crystals in hand. Delicately, she opened the glass box and took out the crystal. Compared to the red crystal shard, she could tell that the power inside the Orange crystal shard was a lot stronger than anything.

Taking a sniff at it, she could feel the sudden strong tug to eat the crystal in hand. Quickly without thinking once, she ate the Orange Crystal shard. A rush of adrenaline pushed through her body three times stronger than the deep red Crystal that she had eaten during midnight. She could feel her magical power expanding and her muscles become stronger.

She forgot how strong the Orange Crystal shard was. The jump in energy was a lot different from a Red Crystal Shard.

“So how is it?” Jasper asked with a tinge of jealousy.

“The power of it is three times stronger than a high level Red Crystal that we get every night.”

“It’s that powerful?”

“Yea. We should look around the booth for any more.”

Silver words made Jasper excited. He was enthusiastically searching around for any possible new crystals. Even the twins were scoring through the booths for any possible new crystal shards. They were all excited at the chance to gain an Orange Crystal shard. It didn’t take long before someone was able to find another booth with Orange Crystal shards.

This time it was also another gaming booth. In front of them was a throwing game where one had to perfectly throw the ball into numbered hoops. The hundred points on the top corners of the laid out board had two small one hundred buckets. A couple small orange shards were placed on display in the back.

An elderly cat lady stood in front of the booth happily calling out towards the people. Rook and Brook ran up towards the lady and slid an Angel Coin to play.

“Excuse me. What does one need to win that orange crystal shard?” Silver asked politely.

“You need to win three sets of the game with a perfect score of 1000. You’ll only have ten balls to play for each set.”

“I’m all in.” Brook excitedly stated. He picked up the ball and held it as if it was special. He threw the ball towards the left one hundred bucket. With a perfect arch, the first ball entered smoothly without a single problem.

“Not bad, but watch me.” Rook snickered as he held up the ball. He too gracefully threw the ball and landed into the top left one hundred point bucket.

“The first one to win all sets wins!”

“Your on~”

The two brother’s threw the balls quickly and efficiently. The first and second set of the game was a perfect score. It didn’t take long before Rook was the first one to fail.

“Damn it!” Rook stamped his feet in anger. “I was so close just five more! Ugh!”

“Hahahahaha. You fail. Now watch me.” Brook threw the ball towards the left and it went in perfectly. “I’m amazing~” He was doing a little dance to his success.

“Shut up and hurry up and put the rest in the bucket.”

“Pft. You’re just jealous.”

“Whatever, just hurry it up.” Rook was finished with the game. He moved away for Jasper to play next.

“6th one! Hell yes!”

“Quit dancing. You got four more.”

Brook picked up the ball and kissed it.

“That is so gross. Do you know how many people have touched that?”

“Doesn’t matter, this is my good luck ritual.” Brook threw the ball and it once again landed perfectly in the one hundred bucket on the right.

“Yes!”

“Ah, come on. Hurry it up!”

“7th one! 8th one! 9th one!” Brook’s voice was rising up in excitement every time he perfectly threw the ball. Rook was also getting excited with his brother.

“One more!” Rook was gripping the table excitedly.

Sliver couldn’t help but give a small smile at the brother’s excitement. She too was playing the game on the side and already gotten through the second set. The game was difficult to control the throw into the bucket, but it was not impossible.

Carefully but patiently aiming, Silver threw with a flick of her wrist. The thought of getting another Orange crystal without fighting was a lot easier. She wished that they were more games like this, but she knew that this was not always possible. All she could do was use this advantage now and gather as many Orange Crystal shards as possible.

“10th one! No! Augh!” The cry of failure rang out of Brook’s mouth as he slumped onto the table in defeat. “Why!” He slammed his fist on the table, causing a small shake.

“You don’t need to be so distraught. You can try again.”

“I know, but there's only two.”

“Winner!” The twins turned towards the shout from the lady. Jasper had won the first Orange crystal shard without even sweating once. The cat lady gave him the crystal shard as he eagerly took it into his grasp. He didn’t take long for him to eat the orange shard.

“No fair…” Brook whined.

“Quit complaining , we got one more.”

“Winner!” The elderly cat lady called out again, startling the two. This time they looked towards the right and saw Silver completely dominating the game.

“What!”

“Noooooo!” They both fell onto their knees in defeat.

“Here you go.” The elderly lady gave her the crystal.

Silver took the crystal happily and ate it. The rush of energy was quick and strong. “Well then, let’s go look for more.”

The defeated twins perked up once again when they heard Silver’s words.

“Yep. Yep You're right. There should be more.”

“You're a smart brother. Why were we so distraught.”

The twins laughed out loud as if nothing happened.

Jasper and Silver stared at the two handsome twins with a funny look and sighed.

“I don’t know about you, but they are seriously happy-go-lucky.”

“It’s refreshing.”

“I don’t know. They're just too tiring.” Jasper was exhausted just by looking at them.

“Are you getting tired? That’s quite surprising. I thought both of you guys are two of a kind.”

“What? No way. I’m not an idiot like those two.”

“Hey! Who are you calling an idiot!” Rook turned around with a sharp gaze in his eyes.

“Yea, that’s rude. Shorty needs to understand that it hurts.”

“If that hurts then quit calling me short!” Jasper growled at their words.

“Fine, though you are short. It’s just natural to say that.”

“Yea, who wouldn’t think such thoughts? Look at you. You’re a kid.”

“I’m not!” Jasper's hands crackled with electricity. The loud sound brought both the twins and the surrounding people’s attention. He shot a small bolt towards the two electrocuting them.

Both of them suddenly froze from the shock. They toppled over as their muscles locked up temporarily.

Jasper walked over towards them and crossed his arms. “Don’t call me short.” He grumbled.

“Okay…” Both of them were twitching.

“Good.” Jasper turned around, leaving them both on the ground.

Silver felt a bit unease at Jasper’s ability. His electric shock was deadly, but she had guessed that he dialed it down to the point where it would send out a painful current of electric energy that would travel throughout the whole body temporarily immobilizing their muscles.

Jasper was a living breathing walking lightning rod. He was a natural human taser. He had shocked her out of her bed once and she knew that he would do it again. The thought made her uncomfortable and she reminded herself to be on a good side with Jasper. Now she knew that calling him short or small was a taboo that she herself would not say anymore.

He was getting more and more ruthless when it came to the word that Silver felt a slight shudder. She knew that he had an inferiority complex based on his height, but she didn’t know he would resort to such a method. Instead, she made it a solid dedication to not call him short or small ever again.

“Silver.” Jasper called out in an irked voice.

“Yes?” Silver froze up.

“Let’s go to the next game.”

Silver shook her head and she followed behind him a bit afraid. Even though she had gone through life and death battles, the thought of being electrocuted was not on the top of the priority list.

They continued through the booths and scored through to find any other game booths on hand. So far they went through three more. Jasper got two, Brook and Rook each got one, and Silver won two as well.

Time flew by and the sun was setting, bringing the lantern lights on. A beautiful peaceful scene that one would not see often was played out before them. The soft wind moves the lantern up and down, bringing in a gentle hum.

The night life was brimming with life. Large numbers of cats were outside more than in the morning or the afternoon. Bustling crowds of people made Silver feel a bit more conscious of her surroundings. She knew that staying here any longer would become more difficult.

“I see another game booth!” Brook excitedly pointed. He ran forward towards the colorful booth. “I see another crystal!”

Rook came over and saw what Brook was excited about. On the shelf were five orange crystals laid out perfectly in a row.

Silver and Jasper followed after and saw what they were looking at. The next game was a simple dart throwing game. Small freebies were shot out in the air by a machine. Each person was in a small archery-like booth, where people were divided up in their own area.

“There are five crystals. We each get one and the fifth one is up for grabs.” Brook spoke out.

“Why would we go with that rule?” Jasper scoffed at his idea. “This is a game. Whoever wins gets the most.”

“Brat, I’m trying to be fair.” Brook growled.

“There is no fairness in this type of game. You’re just afraid that you will lose.”

“Want to bet?”

“Sure. What do you want to bet?”

“A single crystal.”

“What if you don’t even get one. You already ate all yours.”

“I’ll eventually get you one.”

“You do realize that one orange crystal equates to three high level red crystals.”

“I know.”

“Okay then. Let’s see who can get the most.”

“You're on.”

Each one of them sip an Angel Coin towards the male cat. Then darts were handed towards each person.

“Excuse me, what’s the rule to get one of those crystals?” Jasper asked.

The male cat spoke, “You must hit the Frisbee with the red dot on it. Every single dart must hit each red dotted Frisbee.”

Jasper nodded. Silver also took up the game beside them as the four of them had their hands ready to throw the darts.

With a thwap, the multiple Frisbee flew outwards. In total five non colored Frisbee flew in different directions with one high speed Frisbee with a red dot flying across the field for each person.

Silver gripped her dart, and threw with precision. She was not going to lose this game and get another crystal for herself. Her dart landed perfectly on the Frisbee, connecting without a single fault. The Frisbee fell onto the ground cluttered. It didn’t take long when the second burst of Frisbee went flying.

Another dart flew and attached itself onto the red dotted Frisbee as it clattered onto the grassy floor. Silver easily threw her darts without missing once. The others did the same as they all won a single orange crystal without too much difficulty.

“Boo yah!” Brook pumped his hand in the air.

“This is too easy.” Rook smirked.

Jasper greedily took the orange crystal in hand while the others did the same. They all ate the crystal with a giant smile on their face.

“So we have one more game. Bet still standing?”

“Definitely.” Jasper smirked.

The four once again slid a single Angel coin to play once again.

“Ring! Ring!” Silver’s prepaid phone rang out loud, startling Silver. Her aim made her falter, missing the red dotted Frisbee. She frowned at her loss and picked up the phone. “Yes?”

“Silver, you need to get out of there now!” Brianna called out towards her in panic. The phone suddenly went dead as she felt the ground rumble.

“What the hell?!” Silver called out in alarm.