Chapter 11: Team Ruri?

"It's a miracle." I sigh, my heart still racing with adrenaline. I unbuckle myself from my seat and help Haine do the same. 

"Ruri! Haine!" Lucy exclaims, bursting into the cockpit. "Are you two alright?!"

"I'm fine." I say then look over at Haine. "But this idiot forgot how to use a seatbelt..."

"I'm fine, too." Haine grunts, an obvious lie. Lucy walks over to him and examines his arm hanging at his side.

"You dislocated your shoulder." Lucy said motheringly. "And Ruri, your head is bleeding!"

"Really?" I ask, touching my forehead. I bring my hand back bloody and grimace. I'd be feeling THAT once the adrenaline rush was gone... "Well...I'll be fine. Worry about Haine." I step back into the cabin, and in a breath. The sides have almost been completely ripped off!

"Ruri!" Axel calls, stepping over to me. His eyes widen at my bloody forehead and I assure him I'm alright. Lexa sat in the back seat, gently holding her ankle and trying to keep back tears.

"She'll be fine." Axel says, noticing the look of worry on my face. "Her ankle got caught and...turned...a little..." I nod, sending a sympathetic look towards Lexa.

"I thought you took out all the emergency landing padding." I say, staring at the little yellow raft holding up the remains of our pitiful plane. 

"All the broken ones." Axel explains with a nervous grin. By the look on his face it was obvious if the raft had not helped us stop and padded our impact, we'd be  sleeping with the fishies right now. I shivered and pushed that thought away. 

"Okay..." Lucy said, walking into the cabin, Haine following behind. Lucy had popped his arm back into place, but it was obvious he was in immense pain still. "Let's get to shore first."

Slowly, we ease ourselves off the raft and into the chilly, murky water of the lake. Axel supporting Lexa and Lucy supporting Haine. As we paddle our way to shore, I wipe away some of the blood from my face, gingerly examining my forehead with touch.

"We made it." I sigh, crawling onto land on my hands and knees. My clothes and hair stick to my body, every small gust of wind chilling me to the very core. Though the sun hangs high in the sky, it does little good with clouds blocking the light and heat. Slowly, I bring my head up from the ground and immediately stop cold.

A young man with dark brown hair in dirty clothes stands, holding a gun to my forehead. Three other men appear and point their guns at Lucy, Haine, Axel, and Lexa. Slowly, I sit and hold my hands above my head.

"P...please." I say slowly. "Don't shoot. Let's...let's just work this out, okay?"

The man's eyes narrow in confusion and he turns to say something to one of his commrades who shakes his head.

"They...they don't speak English." Lucy sighs, all hope leaving her lips through that sentence. Axel and Lexa begin to beg desperately for their lives. Haine stares down the man pointing a gun to his head without so much as blinking. Swallowing hard, I open my mouth to speak.

"Um..." I begin, the four gunmen turning to me. "Entschuldigen Sie! S...sprechen sie Deutsch?" I pray, hoping I'd said that right.

"Woher kommst du?" The one holding his gun to me spits. He says something else too quickly for me to even comprehend.

"I-Ich bin Auslander und Ich spreche nicht gut Deutsch." I say desperately, scraping the barrel of my mind to remember ANY German that would help me communicate. "Bitte...sprechen Sie Englisch? Ich verstehe nur ein bisschen Deutsch...Bitte....bitte..."

"That's enough." Someone says with a beautifully rich accent as they walk into view. A tall man with short and spikey blonde hair looks down at me, an air of authority that made the four gunmen immediately stiffen. "Your German is terrible." He motions for the men to put down their guns.

I sigh, so filled with relief I want to cry.

"Who are you?" The man asks, squatting down so we were at eye level. He had a muscular build and, just like the gunmen, appeared to be somewhere in his early twenties. A long coat rested on his shoulders and a jagged dark scar ran down the side of his jaw. His eyes, a piercing and unnatural shade of crimson. For a moment I'm so mesmarized by his hard stare I can hardly speak.

"W...we crashed..." I say stupidly and swallow. "I-I mean! My name is Ruri! We came here to find a group of rebels!"

"Ruri!" Lucy cries after I realize what I'd just done.

"A group of rebels?" He repeats, his eyes widening. Suddenly he bursts out laughing and pulls me into a headlock. "So you wanna join the rebelion, eh?" He playfully runs his nuckles across the top of my head and I cry out in shock and pain.

Everyone just stares, unsure of what to make out of the situation. Finally, I squeeze my way out of his headlock and rub my burning scalp.

"You're alright, kid." He grins and barks out orders to the four gunmen. Turning back to me he stands up and offers a hand down to me. "Well, you've come to the right place." Hesitantly, I take his hand and he pulls me to my feet.

"My name is Leon." He says. "I'm the leader here. You shouldn't be saying things so bluntly, Miss. You'd be dead if I was one of those people that follow that nutjob, Zaroff. So, how did you find out about our location?"

"Shenbad." Lucy says, walking up to Leon. Leon's stare suddenly turns menacing and Lucy backs away slightly. 

"I didn't ask you, did I?" Leon growls darkly, steel dripping from his tone. "I asked the Miss." Suddenly he turns back to me, any trace of danger gone.

"Shenbad, you say?" He grins. "I haven't seen that moron in forever! How's he been?"

"Dead." Haine says and I can't help flinching. Again, Leon glares hard at Haine who sends back a glare just as deadly. Leon turns to me and frowns.

"I see..." He said quietly and pats me on the head sympathetically. "...Well, we can't stay out here long. Those monsters will be crawling out from the shadows soon. Come."

Quietly, I look back at Haine, Lucy, Axel, and Lexa, all behind me. Suddenly, for the first time in my life, it seemed I'd become the most useful person...

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