Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ Past Meets Future ❯ Chapter 8 ( Chapter 10 )

Rating: T

Pairings: Future selves: RyoxMia, CyexCelena, KentoxKahlan, RowenxLee, and SagexSaphrita. Past Selves: CyexCelena and RyoxMia. Kids: Touma+Sakura+Touma.

Disclaimer: I do not own a single thing of Ronin Warriors. If I did I'd be a very rich woman.

SSSSSSSSS scene change

italics telepathy

“yap yap yap” talk

`yap yap yap' thoughts

 

Past

Meets

Future

Chapter 8

 

The endless dark stretched on forever, seemingly boundless. Nothing moved within it, everything slept. Two greenish-orange orbs flashed dimly in the shadows, peering around helplessly for something. White Blaze rumbled discontentedly to himself. True, he was a tiger, and as such needed very little light to see by. Very little being the operative words. The blackness was a total, that even he was having a hard time finding his way around. His sense to smell and otherworldly mystical attributes were all he relied on for the time being. Linked as he was to the Ronins, he knew without even being near them that there was something horribly wrong. He padded through the inky darkness silently, heading to where the feeling of `wrongness' and decay was located. His keen tiger eyes easily located the seven separate glows scattered here and there all around him, luckily some were close by each other. Each of them was a different distance from his currant position, but he was only interested in the violet one. The others were still fine, if a little bruised. He could tell without even trying. It could have been a few moments later, or half an eternity before White Blaze reached his goal. In the darkness, it was impossible to tell. But that didn't matter. A silhouette outlined in amethyst luminescence was just ahead. The tiger crept forward and nosed the still figure, a soft growl of concern rose up from his throat. Celena was sprawled in an ungainly heap. Her helmet had rolled free, resting about four feet away. It glowed dimly itself, a separate beacon. Her face was ghostly pale, quite near the shade of White Blaze's fur. While that was no problem for a tiger, he was sure it was not a good sign for a human. The young girl's features were twisted in pain, and her breath came in short, sharp gasps. Her fingers clutched aimlessly at the stone floor, seeking for something only she could see. It only to White Blaze about four seconds to sniff out the source of the trouble. Buried in his friend's bicep like some kind of obnoxious thorn was the claw she'd been struck with. The skin around the puncture wound was slowly turning an ebony even darker that the shadows around them. Clotted blood seeped from the gash, dark droplets pooling inside the armor before spilling out onto the ground. Blaze pulled back in shock and disgust. The blood just smelled wrong. It was difficult to see, but the color didn't appear quite right… This was not something he could deal with himself. He needed to find the others, for Celena's sake. Narrowing huge chocolate brown eyes in a startlingly human-like expression, the tiger peered around him to discern which of the glows was closest. After a brief moment of thought, he loped off into the shadows once again.

SSSSSSSSS

 

Rowen's head was killing him. He sat forlornly on the cool stone, wondering where on earth he was, where the others could be, and how in heaven's name he was going to find them. He could barely stand; what little of the room he could see kept swimming in and out of focus. He'd been forced to remove his helmet and set it on the ground, for the metal rubbed at a particularly large goose-egg type bump on the back of his skull. A chill, wet something pressed to the back of his neck caused him to yelp in surprise and jump forward, much to the displeasure of his poor, aching head. He whirled around and made out a large, white shape with something red on its back, appearing almost like a phantom in the pale glow given off by his armor. “You okay Rowen?” the red thing asked.

“Ryo, White Blaze?” he asked, quite stunned to see his friend and the tiger, “What's wrong? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with Celena?”

The tiger's soulful brown eyes seemed to bore right into his cerulean blue ones. Rowen immediately had a premonition that something was very, very wrong. A sudden flash of insight supplied him with the answer to his question. “It's the poison, isn't it?” he asked the tiger and his friend. Ryo nodded, thought he knew Rowen couldn't see it, “Yes, Celena's very sick and he had to come find us, I just happened to be close enough to you for Blaze here to find me” Something in White Blaze's eyes affirmed what Ryo had just told him and Rowen let loose a string of profanity that should have scorched the air. “What do you want us to do?” he asked the tiger, “I don't think I can even walk, and besides, we're not the ones with the healing talent…” his voice trailed off at those saucer eyes pinned him with a critical look; a look that said quite clearly that Rowen and Ryo had more options than the tiger had. “You're right” Strata admitted to the unspoken reprimand, “we should try to find Sage, and then find Celena and Touma, and then…the others, I guess.”

White Blaze nodded in approval. Rowen tried unsuccessfully to climb to his feet, only to fall back down when his shaky knees refused to have anything to do with his weight. Ryo regarded his attempts for a moment, shook his head, and then reached down to help Rowen. “Alright, guess I can try again.” he reached over and took Ryo's hand and hauled himself to his feet, swinging one leg over the tiger's wide back behind Ryo. He paused for a moment before leaning back over to sweep his helmet up off the ground and tuck it under his arm. “So then, let's find hair-boy and get the heck out of here.” he said.

 

SSSSSSSSS

 

Sage was rudely awakened by something wet and slimy being dragged across his face. A scent he'd long ago learned to associate with `tiger breath' came with it, and he knew without a shadow of a doubt whom his assailant was. “G-get off me Blaze!” he gasped out, no mean feat considering both the smell and the sudden weight on his chest from the tiger's front paws. “He'll get off if you agree to get up.” three familiar voices said drolly.

“Rowen, Ryo, Mia?” Sage managed to crack his eyelids just wide enough to catch the site of a smear of blue, red, and yellow.

Unlike Strata, he hadn't landed on his head, and so was spared from both blurry vision and a monster of a migraine. “The same” Rowen answered, going to his knees next to their blond friend. Sage sat up groggily and frowned at him. The only way he was able to see the blue haired Ronin was due to an azure glow that seemed to be coming from his armor. “Do you guys have any idea what happened to us?” he asked to no one in particular.

Mia shook her head, “After that blast of Taru's? Not a clue. But we've got a problem.” her voice took on a sudden somber quality. “Celena's hurt, remember that poison stuff she got hit with? Well Blaze here thinks she's really sick.”

That got his attention. Sage shook away any last vestiges of unconsciousness and turned back to his friends, ice-blue eye(s) bright with resolve. “Then we have to find her, she could be in really bad shape.” he said firmly, not so much as raising an eyebrow at the fact that his friends had just claimed to be taking a tiger's opinion.

“That's what I said” the blue haired teen grinned, giving Sage a hand up. “I guess Blaze came after me, while finding Ryo on the way, since I was already awake, then he led us to you, while we bumped into Mia here, and I'll be willing to bet he could easily find Celena easily enough, and Touma too, since they both got hit by that poison.”

“And after that we can find everyone else and get out of this hole in the ground.” Halo shuddered a little involuntarily at the encroaching darkness.

He didn't like shadows under the best circumstances, which this wasn't. “My thoughts exactly” Ryo said without a hint of sarcasm. He didn't like their surroundings anymore than Sage did, and he didn't like to think about the others waking up in this, alone and possibly injured in a lifeless darkness. He was especially worried about Ryudo, Reika, Touma, Leeanna, Seiji, Sakura, Shin, Sali, Shu, and Nadeshiko, as they didn't know how to use their armor and amulets, and more likely they wouldn't realize that they could use is to find each other, and heal themselves. `But their smart kids' he reminded himself resolutely as he helped Sage onto Blaze's back, and hopped up behind him. `And I shouldn't think of them as kids either, they're easily as old as the rest of us, and they've been working together as a team for most of their lives, which is more than the rest of us can say, they'll be fine.' with his conscience soothed, he concentrated on staying on the tiger and sitting up straight despite his aching head. Ryo, Mia, Sage, and Rowen clung to White Blaze's back as he lead them unerringly through the darkness towards the faint violet glow that was their only clue to Celena's location. The four warriors exchanged uneasy glances. The bond between the armors was telling them that something was very wrong with Celena. A vague feeling of nausea seemed to rise in their throats, and occasionally, they would wince in pain. The tiger screeched to a halt scarcely a half-inch from the crumpled form. The warriors immediately jumped off and knelt down near her. “How bad is it?” Rowen asked quietly.

“If you'd let me take a look, maybe I could tell you.” Sage answered shortly, but his tone was so preoccupied that Rowen didn't take any offense.

Halo drew his sword, and set it alight with a single though. He was going to need some light to work by. After a moment of searching for the wound, Sage let out a strangled cry, snagging the other teens' attention. “What is it?” Wildfire asked, feeling a lump develop in his throat.

“L-look at this..”

Ryo, Rowen, and Mia looked over their friend's shoulder, and caught sight of the horrible injury. The nail had broken off, leaving part of the poisoned spike embedded in Celena's arm. The flesh around it was nearly black, and the thick blood that oozed slowly from the cut was tinged with the same shade. “That's not a good thing, is it?” Mia gulped anxiously.

“That's putting it mildly” Sage chewed at his lower lip, trying to think.

White Blaze sniffed at the wound, a low rumbling noise emanating from somewhere deep in his chest. Then his head shot up, and he started off into the darkness. The rumble turned into a growl, and he took off in a streak of white. “HEY!” Rowen cried, lurching to his feet and half-staggering after the cat.

“Let him go, Ro” Ryo said absently, “I'll bet he's going after the other guys, now sit down and be quiet, how do you expect Sage to get anything done with you yelling like that?”

Rowen settled down for a moment, but he couldn't seem to sit still. Restless energy seemed to crackle through his body, and before he knew it, he was pacing back and forth behind the healer, patient, and the two warriors watching him. Sage ignored this, completely engrossed in the task at hand. The archer periodically cast worried glances over at his four friends. The Armor of Halo had begun to glow a bright emerald, but it didn't seem to be helping Celena's condition any. “Rowen?” a weak strain of a voice called from just beyond his field of sight. He looked over his shoulder and noticed Kento staggering into the circle of light given off by the Sword and the glow of his armor. Hardrock was leaning on one side of White Blaze, using the huge cat for support while Cye was draped over the cat's back. “Are you alright?” Strata was at his friends' sides in a heartbeat, concern written on his face.

“I'll live” Kento managed a wan smile, “I thought for sure I was on my own until Furball here showed up and led me to Cye.”

He reached down and ruffled the tiger's ears.

“How is he?” Rowen asked his eyes filled with concern.

“I don't know, he was like this when I found him.” Kento replied his voice grave.

Rowen walked over and gently pulled Cye off of the tiger's back. He could hear Cye breathing slowly but surely. “Have you tried waking him up?” he asked Kento, putting his hand over Cye's.

“Yeah, but he wouldn't even stir at all, it's like he's in a coma or something.” was the reply.

“Let's hope that's not the case” Rowen said looking down at his friend.

“Hey come on Cye wake up.” he said, gently shaking his friend.

All he received was a faint groan. Rowen looked up at Kento hopefully. “I think he's coming to, try again.” Kento encouraged.

Rowen nodded then turned back to his friend. “Come on Cye, you can pull through” he said gently.

Rowen then felt Cye's hand jerk under his own. Rowen looked at his friend and saw his eyes flutter a little. Then his eyes slowly opened, they're fiery emerald color staring into Rowen's own eyes. “Cye?” Rowen asked concern in his voice.

He blinked, “Yeah, it's me who'd you think I was Rowen?”

“Y-you can hear and see me?” Rowen asked voice rising a little.

The emerald eyes blinked again, “Yeah, why?”

Rowen explained what had happened to Cye after he had used the amulet's power to recover the other ones for the children, going into detail about they're enemy and their current situation as well. “Oh so that's what happened” Cye said thoughtfully as Rowen helped him into a sitting position, “but didn't my future self tell you that the blindness and deafness was only temporarily though?”

“Yeah, but since you never woke up during our fight on the surface I thought that it had become permanent.” Rowen explained.

“Oh”

“Hey, what's Sage doing?” Kento frowned and stepped around Rowen, looking to see what had the other three so preoccupied.

Perhaps he saw a little more than he truly wanted to, for all the blood seemed to drain right out of his face. “Wh…what's wrong with Celena?” he stammered.

“I'm guessing it's the poison Taru told us about” Rowen replied solemnly, “she said it would lead to a slow, painful death…”

“In one hour” Kento finished, a look of horror spreading over his face, “is she…did we make it in time?”

“I…” Rowen bit his lip; “I don't know Kento” he finished somewhat lamely.

The quintet stood awkwardly, not wanting to interrupt Sage at his work. It was almost as if they were afraid the slightest noise would send their friend over the brink into oblivion. White Blaze lowered himself down to the stony ground, settled his chin in his paws and waited. After what seemed to be an interminable length of time, a growl ripped its way loose from Sage's throat. He gripped his hands so tightly on the hilt of his sword that any ordinary sword would have shattered into shards of metal. His whole body seemed to reverberate and shake with contained fear, grief, and frustration. The others were shocked at the intensity of the emotions, which screamed along the link between them like an electrical shock. “Sage?” Mia touched her friend's shoulder lightly; almost afraid to hear whatever it was that had drawn such a reaction from the normally taciturn warrior. When Sage turned to face Mia, a suspicious sheen of moisture covered his eyes. “I can't help her.” the confession came out barely above a whisper, “I was too late, the poison's hold goes far too deep, I could never hope to be strong enough to bear it.” His voice caught on the last few words, as if they were struggling to get out from around the lump in his throat. “No…” Ryo shook his head in denial, “I don't believe it.”

“That's…that's not…it's just not possible!” Kento gasped.

White Blaze raised his head, eyes locked on Celena's tortured form. A slow whine, almost like a quiet wail, hung in the air. The sudden, heavy silence was broken as Alter lashed out unconsciously. She arched her back, and an expression of unimaginable pain twisted on her face. A sound like a choked scream wormed its way past her gritted teeth. Sage held out his hand to the others, his fingers clenched around something. He swallowed hard and revealed it to them. The end of the claw Taru had stabbed into their friend lay there. The rest of it was gone. “What…where's the tip?” Rowen frowned.

“That's the problem.” Sage's voice was still hushed, “It dissolved inside her, the poison was bad enough, but I think there was something in that spike…another poison maybe, or just darkness”

“You're saying we can't do anything?!” Kento demanded tears of rage evident in his eyes, “that we're just going to sit here and let her die?! I don't believe this! She's the princess of our world for goodness sake!”

“If there was something I could do, don't you think I would have?” Sage snapped, suppressed emotion coming to the fore, “darn it all Kento I did what I could! We were just too late!”

“Are you positive there aren't any alternatives?” Rowen asked, heading off an argument.

“Unless any of you happen to have an antidote to this poison, then I think not.”

A roar split the darkness, and all six heads snapped around to see White Blaze up on his paws, the fur along his spine standing on end as he growled menacingly at something in the shadows. “What's out there?” quick as a thought, Rowen had drawn an arrow and nocked his bow, sighting along the shaft for a target he couldn't see. A soft, quiet chuckle echoed around them all. It was nothing like the shrill, high-pitched shrieking of Taru, nor was it the hissing noise of the skeleton thing Shin had defeated. This could only mean they had a new adversary on their hands. “Ah, poor little Ronins” the smooth voice sighed, “to think, you come to this world to save yourselves, only to die before your time.”

“And who the hell are you?” Kento set his tetsubo squarely before him, glaring defiantly out into the dark.

“No one of any consequence” the voice was laced with irony, “merely a humble servant of Mistress Taru.”

“The underlings are never humble” Cye muttered, as he stood next to Kento.

The chuckled sounded again, “No, perhaps we are not.”

“I think we ought to cut the pleasantries short.” Sage said icily, “We all know you're not here to chat with us”

“This is true enough” the voice sounded thoughtful, “I was sent here to kill you, but like everyone, I do enjoy my fun, as of this moment, I'm debating whether it would be more entertaining to watch you suffer as Alter dies, or to toy with you all for a while.”

Rowen shot a few arrows off in the general direction of the voice, “What are we, catnip mice?!”

“Tut tut Strata…your aim is horrendous, why don't I give you a little light to see by.”

A soft flickering glow, much like a candle or torchlight, illuminated the cavern they stood in. Though none of the Ronins knew it, it was similar in every way to the one Reika and the others had found themselves in. Standing only about a dozen feet away was a man none of them recognized. He watched them all with piercing gray eyes, while negligently tossing a dirk back and forth from his right hand to his left. The long knife glinted in the dim light, the double edged blade flickering almost as if it had life. “Now isn't this a pretty little mess you've gotten into?” the man grinned, “now you see why it's never good to get on Mistress Taru's bad side.”

He gestured toward Celena's writhing form with the tip of the dirk, “Get my point?”

“Enough talk!” Kento rushed the man, taking a swipe at him with the bladed end of his weapon.

It seemed to score, but suddenly their adversary just wasn't where they'd thought him to be. Instead, he was a few feet off to the left. “Now that was rude” he crossed his arms, “especially when I offer you a way to save your friend.”

All six of them were immediately suspicious. “Why would you want to help us?” Rowen raised an eyebrow, “I should think you'd be happy to see us falling apart.”

“Oh I am, don't get me wrong,” the brown haired man waved a hand hastily, “but the more of you there are, the more of a challenge for me.”

“You even sound like Taru” Cye didn't relax his guard at all. He didn't trust this man.

“Say that again and I'll rip your throat out.” all veneer of politeness vanished as the man snarled at Torrent, gray eyes going as hard as shards of slate. “It is under her orders that I am here, but I'll dispose of you my own way.”

He seemed to get control of himself again, “I have here with me the antidote to the poison which afflicts you friend even as we speak, I believe I an the only soul in the Dynasty who knows this formula, since I was the one who created the poison Taru uses.”

“Interesting bit of information.” Sage glanced quickly sideways at Celena. He wasn't sure he trusted this man, but time was running short, “How do we know it's even the actual antidote and not another poison?”

“Why would I waste perfectly good ingredients on poisoning a woman who's already dying?” a brown eyebrow arched in question, “that would be rather pointless I think.”

“So why not just give us this `antidote' right now?” Kento demanded to know.

“I have something I would like to ask you first.” his gray eyes went somber, “If I should demand that you leave this time frame and return to you world, leaving those who reside here, all in exchange for the antidote, would you do it?”

A puzzled glance was exchanged between the six standing Ronins. What was he getting at? It was Ryo who spoke for them all. “No” the warrior said quietly, tiger-blue eyes locked on those of his adversary, “Celena would never thank us for saving her life it we left this part of time to suffer.”

“Besides” Mia spoke up, “we made a promise to Reika to help, our word is our bond.”

The nameless man nodded a tiny smile of what could be satisfaction spreading over his face. “That is precisely what I expected you to say” from somewhere inside his sleeve, he produced a vial of bright violet liquid, “this is the antidote, whether or not you choose to use it is entirely up to you.”

With a flick of his wrist, he sent the glass flying. Cye caught it deftly, and spent a long moment studying the object in his palm. Before anyone could stop him, White Blaze had crossed over and sniffed the item cautiously, but he did not growl. Apparently the antidote was just that, and not a poison. “Who are you anyway?” Cye asked, swallowed up by curiosity.

“My name is Elian, I serve Taru.” he shrugged, “The benefits are to die for.”

Elian began to toss the knife back and forth between his hands again, “Well I'm waiting.”

“Go for it Cye.” Rowen nodded, “We don't have anything to lose.”

“Yeah, either we save Celena…or we don't.” Kento gulped.

“Right” Torrent nodded, “just keep an eye on that guy, he's not doing this to help us, he has his own agenda, I'm sure of it.”

Rowen nodded, allowing the strung arrow to go slack, but he kept it nocked anyway. Cye knelt next to Celena and pulled the other teen into a sitting position, supporting her shoulders. Alter struggled to get away, still gripped by whatever nightmare she dreamt. Cye tightened his grip and tilted the girl's head back, set the vial to her lips and let the antidote trickle down Celena's throat. She grimaced horribly, and coughed at the taste, but she stopped groaning in pain, which was something at least. “I believe there's an old saying where you come from.” Elian mused, “'No such thing as a free lunch', I think that's how it goes.”

“So what's the catch?” Ryo inquired.

Elian just smiled enigmatically, “We all know I didn't come here to help you, why don't we get down to business?”

No one had a chance to reply; he stopped toying with the dirk, and a sphere of flame the size of a basketball appeared over the palm of his free hand. Without so much as a change of expression, he hurled it at Rowen. The blue haired archer had his bow up in a flash, letting loose an arrow that slammed straight into the fireball. He'd hoped to either negate the flames with his own power of to deflect it, neither worked. All Rowen could do was shield himself with his bow and hope that would be enough. The sphere crashed into his chest, throwing him backwards to the floor. He skidded about five feet before coming to a stop. He sat up with a dazed groan. A quick inspection of his forearm gauntlets revealed that the metal was scorched a little. His bow remained unmarked though. Chuckling in amusement, Elian threw yet another fireball. Rowen attempted to scramble out of range but the ball only increased in size, roaring on him like a miniscule sun. “SUPER WAVE SMASHER!!” Cye threw his sure kill directly into the path of the oncoming inferno, some of the water sprang away and hit Elian square in the chest knocking him backward. A deafening hiss screamed through the air, and a cloud of steam as thick as pea soup rose up as flames were extinguished. It spread throughout the chamber like fog, rendering visibility down to none. “Damn, where is he!?!” Kento searched aimlessly around him, eyes seeking any movement.

“Behind you Hardrock!” Elian phased into view just a few inches behind Kento, striking downward with his dirk at the Ronin's back.

But years of constant practice had granted Kento speed most people would never have guessed at, given his bulk. He spun around, metal staff snapping upwards to ward off the blow. “Let me guess, you have x-ray vision too.” he grunted, wondering how the gray eyed man had managed to locate him in the mist.

“No fool, the noise you were making drew me to you.” Elian laughed shortly, stepping to the right and kicking Kento's legs out from under him.

He winced slightly at the pain that came from slamming his foot into solid metal, and even limped a little as he stepped back to deliver the final blow. He raised his dirk over his head in a two handed grip, a wicked grin stretching his lips. A flicker of gold flashed overhead, and Elian dropped his weapon, clutching at his hands. A golden arrow had pierced his left hand, and sharp head emerging from his palm. “If you could follow sound,” Rowen smirked from somewhere in the fog, “then you should have known we could as well.”

“Hey Ro, I thought you were out for the count there” Kento grinned at Strata as Ryo helped him up.

The warrior shrugged.

“Didn't you know? Smurfs bounce back!” Rowen chuckled, but kept his eyes locked on Elian.

Their opponent shook brown bangs from his face and pushed himself off the floor, literally. He floated upward about four feet, ripping Rowen's arrow from his hand with a sickening sound. He made a beckoning motion with his uninjured hand, and his long knife zoomed off the floor, hilt thudding home into a sheath at Elian's belt. “I hope you enjoyed that laugh.” he growled, “It was your last.” He flicked a hand at the three Ronins facing him. Glowing strands of gossamer thread sprouted from the ground, like a malevolent weed. They coiled around Kento, Rowen, and Ryo's ankles, around their legs and holding them tight. “Hey what the…” Kento gaped at the threads, struggling to break free. The glow intensified and he froze.

“I…I can't move!” Rowen gasped, struggling to make his lips shape the words. Elian smiled coldly, tilting his head to one side to regard his captives. Their futile efforts to escape seemed to amuse him. “That's been done before!” Mia's voice made Elian jump visibly before one of her sais, and Sage's sword ripped through both sides of the floating man's tunic, “you just stole Dais' and Rajura's trick”

“Mia, Sage! Get out of here before he…” Rowen tried to warn his friend, exerting all his power in an attempt to reach his bow.

A harsh bark of laughter tore form Elian's throat as he summoned two more threads to ensnare Mia and Sage as well. “You both are just as dense as your friends Stars, Halo.” he snickered, clutching his wounded side in an effort to staunch the flow of blood, “I give you credit for scoring a hit on me though, you, Strata, Halo, and Torrent move very quietly.”

“Gee…thanks” Mia replied dryly.

“You're quite welcome.”

The brown haired man brought both his hands before him lacing his fingers together. The thread's glow intensified sending volts of power through them. The trapped quartet cried out in pain; it felt as if they were being electrified. “Having fun yet?” Elian laughed, increasing the energy flow, zapping them with erg after erg of pure power. With a resounding roar, White Blaze launched himself out of the now thinning steam, slamming his tremendous weight into Elian's back, sending both man and tiger crashing to the floor. The Dynasty warrior rolled free of the slashing claws and snapping teeth, but not unscathed. A long gash on his shoulder seeped crimson blood into the fabric of his clothing. His right hand fell to his waist, and the dirk in its sheath. He pulled the long knife free and brandished it menacingly. “No wonder Taru was so adamant about skinning you for a rug” he snarled.

“SUPER WAVE SMASHER!!”

No fanfare or comment accompanied the shout of Cye's sure kill. The rush of light-blue and silver energy impacted Elian square in the back. “Good boy Blaze” Torrent congratulated his furry accomplice. The tiger purred loudly in response.

“Nice timing Cye.” Ryo grinned, cutting the cords from around his, and Rowen's shins.

Without Elian concentrating on holding the paralysis spell, they were free to move as they pleased. Sage used his sword to cut both himself and Mia from the cords. Kento ripped himself loose and shook off the tattered remnants. He shuddered a little; that attack reminded him too much of previous battles with both Dais and Rajura. Mia had been right about the similarity in the attacks. “What kept you?” Kento asked, “we were about to find out what toast feels like.”

“I wasn't sure where you all were” Cye admitted, “and I didn't want to leave Celena alone helpless, she wasn't anywhere near waking up when I heard you five screaming.”

“But she was doing better, I take it?” Ryo inquired hopefully.

“Much, whatever the deal is with this guy, he definitely gave us an antidote.”

Elian pushed himself up off the ground, groaning with the effort. Two hundred pounds of muscle, bone, and sinew had left him bruised and rather achy. But a small smile of satisfaction flickered on his lips. “Very nicely done” he croaked, once again levitating himself upward, now out of reach, “I would have expected nothing less of the fabled Ronin Warriors.”

“What's that supposed to mean?” Rowen frowned.

“It means you passed this little test of your skills with the highest marks.” Elian made a small gesture with his right hand, “You've won the right to live a little longer, and now I know what you are capable of.”

He bowed mockingly at Cye, “You and I have a score to settle, I'll deal with you later.”

With that, the air around him blurred and shimmered, and he faded out of view. For a moment, silence reigned. Everyone was slightly stunned by the battle's abrupt ending. White Blaze growled and bared his fangs at the empty spot their opponent had occupied. “Well Cye, looks like you just made yourself another enemy” Kento remarked sarcastically.

“And a pretty damn powerful one at that.” Sage mused, then shook himself out of his reverie, “Shouldn't we get back to Celena?”

“Right.” Cye nodded and headed back in the direction he'd come from.

The others exchanged a glace and a shrug before following him. Now that the vision impairing steam had cleared away, it was easy to see Celena's fallen form not far away. She appeared to be napping, no longer on the edge of life and death. “Fine time to catch a couple of Zs.” Ryo grinned.

“You think we could wake her up now?” Mia asked.

White Blaze moved forward, solving the problem by dragging his tongue over Celena's face, sliming her liberally. Alter coughed harshly, cracking an eye open to glare wearily at the tiger. Blaze purred again, grinning smugly. “That was disgusting.” Celena coughed, trying to breath in air that didn't smell and taste like tiger. Her six friends cracked up, laughing out of relief and at the situation. “I don't see what's so funny” Celena muttered, sitting up and dragging the back of her hand over her face, attempting to wipe away the kitty drool. White Blaze nudged his head into his friend's back, helping her up. “Nothing, never mind.” Cye grabbed Celena's hand, pulling her to her feet, “How do you feel?”

“Like I was hit by a tractor trailer, why do you ask?” Ocean eyes blinked in puzzlement.

“You had a close call there Celena.” Kento confessed, “We didn't think you were going to make it, in fact, you almost didn't.”

“WHAT?!” Celena yelped.

“Take a look at this.” Mia grabbed Celena's wrist, pulling her arm around so Alter was confronted with the breach in her armor.

The fact that her skin was still tinged slightly black drove the point home. “The poison?” she asked, voice shaking only slightly.

“Right.” Rowen nodded, “It looked even worse than that when we found you.”

“So how did you fix it?” Celena frowned, “did Sage…?”

“No” Halo shook his head, “I'm no where near that powerful Cel, believe me, your hour's limit was almost up when we found you.”

“Then how…?”

“We kind of got an antidote Lena.” Cye admitted, “To be truthful, our newest enemy gave it to us.”

“WHAT?!”

“We don't understand it either!” Torrent attempted to calm his girlfriend, “but the antidote was real enough, it worked, obviously, but we had a rather nasty encounter with what this Elian person was capable of doing.”

“Elian huh?” Celena managed a grin, “Is that why most of you look a little singed?”

“Well yeah,” Rowen coughed, “but we did get rid of him, didn't we?”

The blue haired archer paused for a moment to consider something, “Though he did say it was only a test, he seemed pretty powerful, I'd bet anything he could have given us a run for our money it he hadn't underestimated us.”

“I agree.” Cye said grimly, “We were just lucky that he didn't sense my coming up behind him.”

“And that you, me, Sage, and Mia got a couple of licks in first, before you hit him again!” Rowen reminded him.

“That too.”

“Um, guys?” Celena broke in, “as much as I hate to interrupt you little conversation, can I ask you something? Where is everyone else?!”

“You mean the children?” Ryo asked, fidgeting a little, “we're not exactly sure.”

“The way we figure it, Taru split us up so we'd be easier to deal with.” Rowen said thoughtfully, “So she sicked Elian on us…”

“But who did she send after them?” Sage quirked an eyebrow.

“That's what worries me.” Celena frowned, “We have to find them, they're too inexperienced with the armors and amulets, they could be in danger!!”

“Touma was hurt pretty badly as well.” Kento reminded them, “Not as badly as you, Cel, but that didn't seem to make much difference to Taru, did it?”

“No, not at all” Mia shook her head, “we'd better move it, I feel like a sitting duck out here.”

“Looks to me like that's our only way out.” Cye pointed a finger to a wall not far from them.

Again, without knowing it, they were heading straight into the same trap the other Ronins had. “We'd better armor down” Kento thought out loud, “we could move quicker that way, and there wouldn't be as much of a power reading to track.”

“Good point” Ryo agreed, banishing his armor; the other followed suit, and the delicate fragrance of sakura blossoms masked the scent of scorched stone.

“Celena, I think you better ride Blaze for a while.” Cye said sternly, “You're not completely recovered yet, and the less chances we have to take, the better.”

Alter made a face, but didn't argue with him. Her knees felt like Jell-O, so she knew protesting was futile. Trying to ignore the way her head was spinning; she slid onto the tiger's wide back, getting a firm grip in the thick fur of the neck ruff. “Let's move `em out troops!” Kento grinned irrepressibly, leading the way into the darkness of the tunnel opening.

 

SSSSSSSSS

 

Reika growled softly under her breath as she stubbed her toe for the umpteenth time. She figured she was somewhere in the middle of the group of teens since each of her hands were clasped by someone else's on either side of her. “Are you alright Rei?” she heard Shin murmur quietly from just behind her. She smiled reassuringly in the dark, knowing he'd al least feel it through the link they shared, though not see it. “Course…I'm just kind of…” Reika didn't finish her statement. A yawn split her jaw, and she stumbled again during the momentarily loss of balance.

“Tired?” Sali's amused tone rumbled back to her as she regained her footing; the whole line had stopped for her to do so.

“Yes that.” Stars shook ebony locks out of her eyes, though the movement was rather redundant; what was she going to be seeing in the thick velvet shadows?

“How long have we been here anyway?” Touma's voice came from farther behind than Shin's had.

“Here in the tunnels or here in the Dynasty?” Leeanna asked sensibly.

“Here in the Dynasty.” Touma specified, the inflection of his tone was making it clear that he was frowning thoughtfully, “It seems as though it's been forever”

“We have no way of knowing how long we were unconscious in that chamber.” Seiji spoke up, “It was apparently less than an hour, but there's really no guarantee”

“I'd say it's probably about dinner time back home” Sakura said thoughtfully.

As if on cue, at least five stomachs rumbled audibly. There was a silent moment, and then peals of laughter rang off the stone ceiling of the tunnel. “I think we can agree with that.” Nadeshiko grinned into the shadows.

“Man…I wonder what's for dinner?” Ryudo mused quietly.

“Can we please not talk about it?” Reika begged, “you'll only make things worse!”

“Sorry” her brother replied sheepishly.

“Ooh, Shin, Sali, do you guys remember last New Year when your dad and Shu and Nadeshiko's mom spent all day in the kitchen with all those helpers and everybody in the palace spent the next three days eating?” Touma groaned.

“ENOUGH!!!” Reika snapped, feeling her stomach protest at knowing there would be no such sustenance that night.

She was unable to clamp her hands over her ears, because that would mean releasing her grip on the others; getting lost was not something she wanted to do. From up at the head of the string of teens, Seiji shook his head and attempted to ignore the bantering from behind him. He thought he saw something up ahead, but it could just be a trick of the darkness. Thoughtfully narrowing ice-blue eyes, Halo attempted to peer though the pitch black. Was it his imagination or was there a… “Light!” Seiji yelped, “I see a light!”

“Whaa?” the arguing cut off sharply, and blonde teen was aware of nine bodies crowding close behind him, searching for a glimpse of the promised glow.

“I don't see…” Shin began to say, but then stopped, and took a closer look, “Seiji I think you're right!”

Up ahead, impossibly far away it seemed, was a sphere of light. From this distance it seemed a mere pinprick of illumination, even tinier than the stars at night.

“I take it we head that way?” Leeanna said dryly.

“I don't think we have any other choice.” Touma frowned at his sister, “As far as I've been able to tell, there aren't any branch offs of this main tunnel, I've been dragging by free hand along the wall as we went, so I can guarantee you there's nothing of the right hand wall anyway”

“I've been doing the same with the left.” Seiji nodded, “I think the path curves a little, but this is the only way.”

“I still think it's a trap.” Shu rumbled discontentedly.

“Probably.” Reika sighed, “But we've already decided we don't have any choice.”

“Guys…do you…hear something?” Shin asked, tightening his grip on Reika's hand.

“I think you've been in the dark too long Shinnie” Sali scoffed at her brother.

“No…he's right!” Shu said sharply, “just listen!”

The echoing sound of pounding footsteps drifted down the tunnel to their ears. With the way the noise bounced around, it was impossible to tell how many sets of feet were heading their way. “Whatever happens don't let go of each other.” Seiji hissed. The thundering stopped just as suddenly as it had begun, leaving ten very anxious warriors wondering what had just happened. An earsplitting roar clove through the darkness, and something sprang through the air. Sali gasped aloud as she felt something large fly directly by her face, on past her, and right into… Reika shrieked in shock as something huge and heavy bore her to the ground, ripping her from the grasp of her friends. She threw her arms up immediately, one hand going to shield her face, the other flung out to grapple with the creature. “ARMOR OF WILDFIRE, DAO JIN!!” Ryudo shouted, summoning his armor the moment he heard his sister's cry. The black haired warrior drew out his swords, never minding the fact that he couldn't see the target. “Rei!” Shin shouted, groping around in the darkness for her. To his surprise (and probably everyone else's as well) a muffled giggle sounded back through the shadows. “I…its okay guys!” Stars laughed, “you can…hehehe…armor down now Ryudo.”

“What's going on?!” Nadeshiko demanded, “what was that?!”

“White Blaze.” Reika grappled for a moment with the overgrown tabby that had knocked her over in his exuberance.

The tiger licked her face energetically, emitting a purr that sounded more like a growl. “Wait!” Sakura grinned suddenly, “If he's here, then Ryo and the others must be nearby, probably in the tunnels as well!!”

“Yeah, that means Celena survived the poison too!” Touma added.

“I hope.” Reika murmured, her words lost as White Blaze butted his head into her chest and purred louder.

She rubbed behind where she assumed his ears to be, at the same time attempting to struggle out form under his bulk, “Can you take us to the others Blaze, do you know where they are??” The weight pressing down on her body vanished as the tiger moved off the girl and past Sali, Ryudo, and Sakura up to where Seiji stood at the front of the line of Ronins. Halo jumped in surprise as the end of White Blaze's tail flicked over his face. Slightly mystified, the blonde warrior grasped the black and white tip carefully in his sub-armored hand. “I think he's going to show us the way” he said back over his shoulder to the others. Reika had gotten back to her feet and groped carefully around in the darkness until she found Shin and Sali again. White Blaze tugged against the grip on his tail and rumbled. “I think he's getting a little impatient” Seiji hinted.

“Well by all means, let's not keep the tiger waiting.” Touma snorted, as the group shuffled carefully forward.

 

SSSSSSSSS

 

More than a few heels were trod on along the way, as they headed towards the distant will of the wisp glow that was an impossible distance away. “Hey!!! Look! There's a light up ahead!” Cye's voice rang through the corridor, snapping his companions from their semi-asleep state. When there had been no immediate attacks from any unseen enemy, the Ronins had more or less let their guard down. They were bone tired, not to mention sore, from being blasted with various magic, dropped down long falls, and fried by odd electric webbing. Each young man and woman had just headed in the general direction down the tunnel had pointed them in, one arm outstretched to keep from hitting any walls. When Sage had announced that the Sword of Halo was unable to provide any illumination, they were left alone in the dark with their own thoughts. No one seemed to be in the mood for idle conversation. “What, are you sure about that?!” Kento rubbed at his eyes and looked up ahead.

“I'd be willing to bet just about anything that's where White Blaze took off to.” Rowen concluded.

A few minutes before (how long exactly, they didn't know, since time was impossible to determine in this place) the tiger had begun to make rumbling noises, jolting a half-asleep Celena back to wakefulness. Something had prompted her to dismount, and she slid off the animal's back to stand on shaking knees. White Blaze had shot off into the dark like an arrow loosed from a bow. The thunder of his pounding paws was the only sign of his departure. “He's making a habit out of that.” Sage murmured, shifting his grip on Celena's shoulders. He and Mia were supporting the still weakened Alter between them. Considering the pitch-black, this had lead to treading on each other's feet several times. All discomforts were forgotten, however, at the flicker of hope the light gave them all. No one had enough energy left to run, so the best anyone could manage was a kind of quick shuffle. Even the added boost the Ronins received from their sub-armor wasn't enough to get them back up to par. Time dragged on intermittently, and lo-and-behold, the glow grew steadily nearer. And suddenly, they were right atop it. The floor a mere couple of feet ahead was actually visible. It seemed the light was constrained to the space under whatever the source was. They could dimly see each other though, which was a definite improvement. Ryo stuck his arm into the light, and when nothing odd happened to him, he stepped fully into it. Shielding his eyes with his forearm, he turned his gaze upward to try and get a glimpse of the origin. A long, slow whistle emanated from his pursed lips, and he beckoned the others forward with his free hand, “Take a look at that, will ya?” One by one, being careful not to look directly at the almost unbearably bright light, the seven teens looked upward to see what had astounded Ryo so. High above them, hanging seemingly unsuspended in midair, was a sphere of white light so intense that it was like staring at the heart of the sun. Even Sage had to look away as his eyes began to water over. “What is that?” Kento asked, knuckling at his eyelids.

“I'd say a bulb with mega wattage.” Celena replied, “Except I get the feeling that's not the answer we're looking for.”

“It's giving off a powerful aura though” Ryo mused, “if I didn't know better, I'd say it's made of pure energy.”

Rowen shrugged, “That's entirely possible, we don't know what kind of technology of magic is available in this period of time, we're still very much in the dark about the culture of this place.”

“Be that as it may,” Cye pointed out, “I'd really rather not think about the notion that the Dynasty had that much energy to throw away on lights.”

“Kind of daunting though, isn't it?” Rowen smirked humorlessly.

Sage paced the outer boundaries of the ring of light, leaving Mia supporting Celena. On two sides of them were the stone walls that had enclosed them during their entire journey through the tunnels. Just behind them was the way they'd come, and straight ahead the path faded off into more blackness. Obviously the only choice was to continue forward, but it wasn't an option Sage relished much. He froze in midstride, and cocked his head to one side, listening for something. Gradually, the others became aware of the blonde's listening stance, and strained their own ears as well, wondering what had caught his attention. “Footsteps.” Cye breathed in a hushed tone, “A lot of them.” It was difficult to determine how many pairs of feet were making the noise, given the way the sound bounced off the walls, and absolutely impossible to tell whether or not those same feet belonged to anything even remotely human. Rowen sighed wearily, and raised his arms over his head to summon forth Strata. Mia turned and leaned Celena against the wall, so that the stone was to the still weak leader's back. Celena growled inwardly at her inability to help, sliding down the wall to sit on the stone floor ground. Brief flashed of multi-colored light filled the tunnel as her friends summoned their armors. Was it her imagination, or had she heard a faint cry of surprise from farther down, lost in the darkness? Someone, or something, had seen the sudden flare and had been alarmed by it. Oddly enough, she felt a strange pull, as though something familiar was drawing steadily closer…

“Guys hold on a second!” she cried, drawing their attention, “don't fire yet!”

“Celena?” Kento frowned, “what's wrong?”

“Just don't!” she insisted, “Trust me! There's…something not quite right.”

“If we get fried over this…” Rowen said slowly.

“Just trust me.” Celena pleaded again.

Ryo, Rowen, Sage, Cye, Kento, and Mia studied her face intently for a moment, before nodding shortly. “Alright, we'll try it your way” Sage agreed, “but if something goes wrong…” He left the sentence dangling in the air.

“Then we probably won't be around to yell at her about it.” Ryo finished with a ghost of a smile.

“Oh that's very optimistic” Mia snorted.

They all fell silent as the footsteps increased in volume. A faint sound, like a mere whisper of a spoken word, drifted over the still air. Was it the product of overactive imaginations and tension, or was there truly a faint note of anxiety in that tone? Then a disembodied arm pushed through the darkness beyond the circle, as if pulling back a heavy velvet curtain. “GAH!!” all seven Ronins jumped in shock, weapons appearing in their hands as if by magic. The arm pushed farther past the boundary between light and dark, and was quickly followed by a shoulder, upper torso, and a very familiar face. “Well,” Seiji said quite calmly, amusement flickering in his eyes, “you're rather jumpy.”. There was a moment of stunned silence before laughter erupted from back in the shadows, and nine more figures appeared, stepping into the bright glow thrown off by the energy sphere. Just behind Seiji came Leeanna, followed by Ryudo, then Sali, who pulled Reika through, then came Shin, then Shu, then Nadeshiko, who tugged Sakura through drawing her into visibility, then Touma materialized behind her, and finally White Blaze appeared out of nowhere, padding over to sit next to Celena with an air of smug triumph. “I told you so.” Celena grinned weakly, breaking the nearly palpable atmosphere of shock.

“Hey Celena” Touma smirked, “you don't look half bad…for a dead girl.”

“I could say the same about you.” Alter chuckled, giving Touma a close look.

Aside from being slightly pale, and obviously short of breath, he actually appeared to be in good health. Rowen was also checking to make sure Touma was alright. Though he also noticed that both Touma and Sakura were holding hands. Rowen looked over at Sage, who apparently had noticed it too. Both Sakura and Touma seemed to notice them looking, since their hands suddenly separated. Sakura turning her head with a slight blush on her face, Touma just put his hands behind his back and suddenly became very interested in the wall. Then the group erupted in a sudden burst of conversation. Explanations of what had happened since their separation were hastily thrown back and forth, becoming garbled and utterly confused in the telling, until it became almost impossible to distinguish what had actually happened. “TIME OUT!!!!” Rowen cried above the clamor, making a little `T' sign with his hands, “whoa, let's try this one at a time here.” Relative quiet fell again, though there were a few embarrassed coughs and sheepish grins. “That's right, now, Seiji what the heck happened to you guys?” The blonde youth began at the beginning, explaining how they'd come to only to struggle to find each other, and then encounter Taru. His recount of the close call with the spike-filled crevice drew a few raised eyebrows and a long, low whistle from Kento. “The odd thing is, that she just left when she could have finished us off.” Halo frowned, utterly puzzled, “if Taru had stayed around just a few more moments, she could have seen our demise.”

“Not that we're complaining or anything.” Reika said, her lips twisting into a wry smile.

“Oh of course not.” Seiji agreed, “but you have to admit it's strange.”

“I think the same thing could be said about our encounter with Elian.” Cye mused.

“Who?” the future generation of Ronins stared at them, eyes blank.

“Well Taru didn't come after us, the way she seems to have told you she would have.” Cye explained, “She sent an underling instead.”

“A very powerful underling” Ryo grumbled.

Rowen rubbed his chest at the memory of the fireball. They went on explaining their battle with Taru's henchman. The complete telling eventually included narratives from Ryo, Rowen, Sage, and Kento, since each warrior had separate views of the battle, having entered it at different times. Mia, Cye, and Celena had nothing to add; Celena frowned pensively and rubbed behind White Blazes ears, while Mia and Cye stood next to her. Leeanna growled and kicked at the ground, “Well, that's just what we need, another powerful maniac.”

“He said he was just feeling us out, testing us.” Sage said, “He probably could have killed at least one of us in the mist, before any of the others could have helped.”

“And he didn't have to give us the antidote to the poison either.” Rowen reminded them, “I wonder what game this guy's playing?”

Shin shook his head mutely, “This isn't making any sense…it's almost as it they want us alive…”

“You don't think they want to get the Armors, do you?” Shu inquired.

Rowen snorted, “I don't think so, from what we've seen and heard, Taru had nothing but contempt for Talpa, Arago, or any other enemy that we've faced, I'd say she'd rather die that follow in their footsteps.”

“I don't think she could handle the combined power of the SEVENTEEN Ronin armors that we have now” Celena put in, joining in the brain-storm session, “she seems to be immensely powerful…but I think that kind of energy would be too hard to control.”

Seiji nodded, “I honestly think she'd just rather get us out of the way, she didn't seem to need the armor at all.”

“Unless…” Sali trailed off, lost in thought.

Sixteen pairs of human eyes and one set of inhuman ones, settled on her for a moment. The expression on her face changed from a preoccupied frown to one of pure horror, “Oh…oh NO!!”

“What!?” Sakura demanded, “what is it?”

Sali slammed the heel of her hand against her forehead, obviously angry at herself, “From all the stories we've heard from our fathers and mothers, we can at least figure that having only eleven of the armors is worthless if one doesn't have all fifteen right, so we have almost two sets of identical ones right here, but as for the other five…”

Ryo's eyes flow wide open, “Oh god…we left the Warlords, and Kayura back with the others.”

“Our older selves, Anubis, Katrina, Caran, Ralon, and …oh no…” Rowen clenched his hands into helpless fists.

“The littles” Shin finished, blinking back a sudden hot rush of tears, his voice dropped to a mere whisper, “Sonya…”

“It's pure speculation right now” Cye said gently, “we don't know that those were Taru's intentions.”

“But you know we have to be ready for the worst possible scenario!” Kento insisted.

“We can't afford to let it distract us either.” Touma said quietly, his sister nodded.

All gazes swung to the two warriors. They were studying the ground intently, unruly bangs shadowing their eyes. “How can you two say that?!” Reika demanded, “Tannin and Kina are back there, their lives could be in danger while we're stuck down here!!”

“We know that!!” Leeanna snapped irritably, her head jerking up as she glared coldly at her friend, “but we're also smart enough to know that panicking about what may or may not happen will get us nowhere, right now out most pressing matter is finding a way out of these tunnels, them we can come us with a way to deal with Taru and anything she can throw at us!!”

For a moment, Reika studied her friend, and was surprised to find something totally unknown and different in her sapphire eyes. Leeanna had always been the wildcard, more happy-go-lucky, take-it-as-it-comes type than the rest of them. She'd have expected sarcastic retorts out of her, not chill logic. A shudder ran up her spine as she realized that she had faced down her brother's almost certain death, and it had changed her. In many ways she was stronger now. “Leeanna's right.” Shin's soft voice broke the awkward quiet, “we don't have time to worry.”

He cleared his throat, effectively banishing the remnants of the tension. He turned to the older Ronins questioningly, “I don't suppose there was a way out where you were?”

Sage shot his a puzzled look, “No, this tunnel was the only entrance we saw, we assumed that the way out was down this way.”

“Noooo” Nadeshiko drawled, shaking her head, “we were hoping that the escape was from your side!”

“Darn” Celena growled, “we're stuck in a loop!”

“There has to be an exit somewhere” Mia insisted, “why would Taru let us live, just to chase us around in a maze?”

“It's not a maze.” Ryudo corrected her, “They're straight tunnels, they just curve a little, there aren't any branch offs.”

“It still doesn't make sense” Mia folded her arms over her chest and frowned. “You're right it doesn't” Seiji sighed. Celena groaned and leaned her forehead against White Blaze's broad, furred shoulder. The tiger shifted almost imperceptibly, his head tilting back to stare intently at the ceiling. An inaudible growl rumbled around inside his chest. Celena heard more that felt the noise, and pulled away from her striped friend, following the cat's gaze upwards. “HOLY!!” she shouted, staggering to her feet with her back against the wall.

“Huh?”

Cut off from their debate, all her friends turned and stared at her, noticing that she was gazing upwards. One by one, each Ronin looked up, and gasped in surprise. The large glowing sphere was slowly lowering towards the ground, its light spilling even further down both sides of the tunnel. Up close, it was perhaps about the size of a large beach ball, but its glow was too intensely bright to look upon. The group of teens threw up their arms to shield their eyes as it reached head level. Very lightly, the sphere touched down upon the stone floor, its rays of light now shot upward, creating interesting shadow effects on their faces, as if someone had placed a flashlight under their chins. The light flickered, making the nearby shadows dance and weave, giving them body, life, and soul. It almost seemed to spin entities out of the darkness; creatures that bordered just on this side of reality… And then the glow dimmed down to a light bearable for human eyes. Cautiously, one by one, the warriors lowered their arms, and exchanged wary glances. Kento shrugged fatalistically, and stepped forward. He nudged the ball with his foot, but it didn't budge. Instead it slowly sank right through the stone, drawing no few wide-eyed stares from the onlookers. The floor started to glow, like a candle placed behind smoky quartz. Cye reached out an arm to pull his friend back to safety…and then the whole illuminated portion of the floor exploded in a flurry of stone shards. A multitude of shouts went up from the group as they instinctively fell back, covering their faces yet again. Sakura felt herself pulled against someone's chest, and she kept her eyes squeezed shut as a tiny stone shard whizzed over her head. A few moments later, it was over, leaving only a ringing in her ears and an echo bouncing off down the tunnel on either side of them. She looked up and saw Shu breathing heavily, eyes wide as he stared at the hole in the ground where the glow had been. He seemed to realize that she was watching him, and released his hold on her shoulders, a concerned look in his eyes. Sakura forced a shaky smile and patted her cousin's cheek reassuringly. All checked exposed skin of their faces for any wounds. Surprisingly, there had been none. “Everyone alright?” Celena asked, her eyes flickering from one person to another, waiting until the object in her gaze nodded in assent before moving onto the next. Everyone looked slightly shaken, but unhurt. Seiji sneezed once the dust settled, and a nervous laugh rang on the air for a moment. “Helllooo…” Rowen's voice came form over by the hole in the ground. He'd walked over to it and was now intently examining the opening, “well this is interesting.” The others crowded around him, and did a double take. Stretching down an unknown distance was a staircase, spiraling out of view into yet more shadows. “Well it that isn't an open invitation, then I don't know what is!” Shin exclaimed, “I think we ought to accept it, it would be rude not to.”

“Agreed.” Sage nodded, grinned infectiously.

Before anyone could make a move to descend, White Blaze slipped past their legs and padded silently down the stone steps. “That cat is earning his kitty chow.” Kento muttered, drawing a nervous giggle from Sali, who was standing next to him. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt a hand tighten around hers, and turned to see Celena's eyes. She smiled at her, and she was slightly surprised to find herself smiling back. “Need some help down the stairs old girl?” she teased as Rowen and Shu both disappeared down the steeply sloping hole. “That's not funny Sae.” she muttered, embarrassed beyond belief at her own weakness.

“I know, I'm sorry.” she replied quietly, taking the steps one at a time, testing them for any slippery patches of moss or dampness.

Behind them, Shin and Cye's voices sounded oddly flat in the silence. The echoes were even weirder down here. Strung out in a long line, the seventeen warriors and one cat, descended into the shaft, squishing down their fear and anxiety with the knowledge that their defenseless loved ones could be in danger, and that the world hinged upon the progress they made.

 

TBC...

 

Author's Note: Hope you liked your third present now click on that little next button to get the fourth present. Oh and R and R please. Thank you. Ja ne.