Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ Steel Shadows ❯ Chapter 2

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Steel Shadows
By Janime and Star Lin
Chapter Two
The three warriors dragged their bodies into the den of the mansion. Cale fell onto the couch, his body seeming to just give out. Rowen and Ryo dropped into the other two chairs. Mia walked out from the kitchen. "I take it by the looks on your faces that you didn't have much luck."
"A lot of leads that lead to dead ends. Well, except for the claw weapon," Rowen said.
"But," Ryo said brightening a bit, "Cale did meet a girl."
"I didn't meet her," came Cale's muffled voice from where he was face down on the couch, "I just help her out with those boys."
Rowen cracked an eye open, "Counts as meeting in my book."
Cale pushed himself up into a sitting position and gave them a halfhearted glare. "Mia, how do you put up with them?" he asked, turning to her.
"Gomen, but I'm still learning," Mia said with a grin.
Ryo eyed Rowen, "Is it me or were we just insulted?"
"I believe so."
"Ok, just wanted to know."
Mia rolled her eyes. "Now that's finished, I have some news," she said as she sat down next to Cale.
"Good news, I hope," Cale said, rubbing the slight headache away.
"Well, Kento called from the station about thirty minutes ago. He and Cye meet there and they're both taking a cab home. They should be here soon, but Kento didn't find anything in his grandfather's clan recorders. Cye did tell me that he found an entry in the Mouri clan text of a shipwreck. He'll be able to give you some more details when he gets here."
"What about Sage?" Rowen asked.
"I'm right here," Sage said from the doorway. The blond removed his jacket and hung it up on the coat rack by the door. "Mia, Dad sends a warning to you."
"A warning? What for?" Mia asked. "I paid my parking tickets."
"There was a young girl, teens he thinks, that was attacked. She wasn't the first one that it happened to, but she was one of the lucky ones to get away unhurt." Sage told them as he came over to stand beside Rowen's chair. "Dad was on duty at the station when the father came in to make a report about it. He told me to have you be extra careful, Mia." Mia nodded her thanks to him.
"Well, at least now you know that Jubilee is going to be just fine," Ryo told Cale. Sage frowned at the three teens. "Jubilee was the girl that you were talking about. Cale rescued her and her father show up. He wasn't too happy about what happened to her."
"Oi, I hope we didn't miss anything," came Kento's voice. Cye was right behind him.
"Nope, we were about to exchange notes," Rowen told them. He reached into his jacket to bring out the copies that he had made of the bugnuk that was in the museum. "We tried to get a look at it but that section of the museum was being remodel because of some new exhibits. They said that it should be back open in about two weeks, give or take a few days."
"Hmm, that fits with what I found," Cye said. He removed a small notepad. "I'm not too sure on the date of the entry but it said that part of some boat ended up washed ashore. The bodies that were found along with it were all gaijin. There was a note that footsteps were found, leading away from the site but they lost them when the person enter the forest."
Mia shook her head. "Grandfather didn't have much on the Sasaki clan. He mentioned that it seemed as if every single clan member died but he couldn't find out why and what caused it." She sighed as she noticed that Cale's head was resting in his hand. "But after what Cale told us about his nightmare, then it seems that the government of that period had tried to cover it up."
"It was," Sage said quietly. The group turned toward him but it looked like he was seeing something else. "I had an ancestor that knew what happen. He had just been appointed to the council when a lone soldier came back. The soldier told a wild tale about the Sasaki turning against the soldiers when they tortured a member to find out where the gaijin was. The soldiers killed them; most were farmers, and the others were elders, women, and children. The gaijin showed himself, killing a soldier that was going to kill a child. He was shot down and fell off the cliff, still holding the child in his arms."
He finally turned to his friends. "The soldier then told the shogun that on the way back that the Kami became angry for what they did to the clan. A spirit that they sent killed them all. That lone soldier said that the spirit had taken the form of the gaijin that they had killed and that nothing could be done to stop it. The spirit let him go to give a warning to the shogun, and then he was to kill himself or it would come to finish the job."
The group couldn't believe the tale that Sage had told them. "And the soldier?" Cale asked in a whisper.
"Slit his own throat as soon as he spoke the last word," Sage spoke.
Silence hung in the air as it settled into the rest.
Rowen frowned; something didn't seem to click with it. "Sage, if Cale had been the child that the gaijin had tried to save, how come Cale is still alive?" Heads shot up to look at the blue hair archer. "And if Cale is the child that survived then wouldn't the gaijin have survived as well?"
"It seems that when the puzzle is fixed we find another one waiting to be done next," Sage spoke to no one in particular.
Cale's head was killing him. It felt like someone was taking a hammer and was trying to crack his head open from the inside. It was just too much to deal with at that moment. He stood up and left the den; the Ronins sensing the mood that he was in let him go without a word.
"With every answer bring more questions," Cye said quietly.
**********
Anyone that would glance at the man would think that he was sound asleep. Only those that knew him would know why the snore seemed to sound like a growl or the fact that the muscles jumped beneath the skin.
Logan turned his head, his arm coming up to cover his closed eyes. His lips moved, forming a name that was breathed out into the still night.
"Amako..."
**********
He paced outside the house, pausing to listen the sounds coming from the other side of the bamboo door. He wore a brown kimono with twin tigers on the sleeves, and a black sash around his waist. The house was too quiet, fear rising up to tie itself around his lungs. "It has been too long," he said to the other beside him.
"Patience. She will be fine, and so will-" the man was saying but the door was pushed open to reveal a older woman in the doorway.
"You may enter," she said, smiling at him warmly. "They are both tired but she insisted on seeing you." The woman moved so that he could enter.
His eyes didn't take long to find her on the mat. She was pale and her dark hair soaked in sweat. She turn to reveal blue eyes, her right hand holding a bundle of cloth to her chest, while her left reached up to him. He was beside her, brushing the damp hair from her face and placing a kiss on her forehead.
"You had me worried," he said, holding the hand to his chest.
Her eyes brighten as she gave a tired laugh. "He liked where he was. I had to do much to get him to obey and be born into this world." Still laughing, she pulled back a bit of the cloth to reveal a small form.
He stared at the baby that she held in wonder. The little one had dark hair, still wet from his birth. The baby sucked on his thumb as he reached out to touch his face. Eyes open to reveal the same blue as the woman that held him. Just as he touch the baby's face, they and everything in the room disappeared and he was left in a dark nothingness.
********
"NO!" Logan yelled, sitting straight up in bed. Footsteps from the other room caused him to blink as he tried to gather what had happened. But the dream fled into the darkest part of his mind as if the light that Storm had let into the room drove it away.
"Logan," she quickly went to his side, "are you all right?"
He stared off into space as if he didn't hear her. "The baby…" Logan whispered.
"Baby?" Storm looked at him and touched his arm. "Logan, did you have a child?"
"I… I don't remember…" Tears fell as Logan dropped his gaze to the blanket.
Storm reached out and held him. They had become rather close during the last few months, their relationship as teammates going to friends, and Storm couldn't help wondering if it would go beyond that.
"Thanks, Storm," Logan moved away from her and wiped his face.
"I'm here if you ever need to talk," she smiled. "Try to get some more sleep, Logan."
He nodded and settled back on the bed. Storm waited until he started snoring a little and went back to her room. Jubilee was still asleep, amazingly not disturbed of her slumber from Logan's scream. After her event from today, it was no wonder why she had slept through.
Storm sat at the table and pulled a communicator the size of a laptop out of her travel bag. There was a ten-hour time difference between Tokyo and New York. Storm looked at the clock. It was almost three in the morning, which meant that it would be almost five in the afternoon at the mansion. Flipping it on, she typed in the access code and a few minutes later, Gambit appeared on the screen.
"Stormy!" the charging Cajun said. "Now don't you be tellin' me that ol' Wolverine be a hop already, chere."
"Actually, I am calling because of Logan," Storm said, "but it's not because of his attitude. It's what happened today with Jubilee."
"Jubilee?" Gambit became alarmed. "What's wrong with her?"
"She's fine, Remy," Storm assured him. "But I would like to talk with the Professor."
"Chere, you gonna be tellin' everyone here 'bout what went on."
True to his word, Gambit called everyone in the mansion to the war room and Storm told them about Jubilee's traumatic experience.
"But she's all right," said Hank.
Storm nodded. "Yes, she got away with only a few scratches. The police have been notified and they said that this wasn't the first time it's happened. The same gang accosted several other girls and some were missing for a couple weeks. When they were found they weren't harmed in any way except for a little malnutrition."
Professor Xavier remained quiet for some time. "What about Logan?" he finally asked.
"If I had called a few minutes earlier, you would have heard him screaming," Storm replied. "He was very disturbed from his dream - all he said about it was 'the baby'."
"Baby?" Jean blinked.
"Why would Logan mention a baby?" asked Scott.
"I don't know, but he was very upset." Storm paused for a moment. "Rogue, you've absorbed Logan's powers before and his memories, do you know anything about a child?"
"All ah know is what he knew the last time ah touched him," the Mississippi girl answered, "and that was a long time ago. Whatever going on inside his head now, ah haven't a clue."
Storm slowly let out her breath. "Professor, I know that what I'm about to ask is a bit much," she said, "but is it possible for a repressed memory to be absorbed like a regular memory?"
"I've never come across that before," Xavier answered. "I would have to use Cerebro to know definitely, and have your permission, Rogue. This is strictly up to you."
Rogue turned away. She inhaled deeply and let it out. "I'll do it," she said, turning to Storm. "Logan's done a lot for me and ah owe him big time. If helping him remember his past can be called repayment, I'm in."
"Thank you, Rogue," Storm smiled. "I know that Logan will appreciate this."
"Just as long as he don't go around thinking that I'm looking for some blackmail material."
Everyone started laughing. "Be careful, Storm," Xavier told her. "If you need extra help, just call for us."
"I will, Professor," Storm nodded and ended the transmition. 'Some vacation this turned out to be,' she thought and returned to her bed.
**********
Cale stared at the ceiling. It was late and he was pretty sure that he was the only one in the house still awake. He didn't want to sleep because he knew he would dream about his mother.
Sighing, Cale looked across the room at Ryo; the Ronin leader was sound asleep and White Blaze was resting at the foot of the bed.
Cale got to his feet and quietly left the room. He went downstairs into the kitchen. Opening the refrigerator, he took out the milk and placed it on the table. Then he took a small pot from the cabinet, placed it on the stove, and turned it on low. Mia and Cye had taught him how to use most of the appliances.
After a few minutes, he turned the stove off and took a clean mug out of the dishwasher, then poured the warm milk into it. Cale put everything in its proper place and went to sit at the dining room table. He smiled, remembering his mother had given him warm milk to make him feel better. And it still worked.
"Chocolate chip cookies will work great with that."
Cale looked up and saw Ryo standing in the doorway. "I'm not in the mood for cookies," said Cale. "I thought you were asleep."
"I was," Ryo walked over and sat down near him. "Then I woke up and saw that you had disappeared."
"Can't sleep, I keep seeing my mother."
"What did she look like?"
"She was very beautiful. I have her eyes." Cale looked down at the milk and smiled. "She used to give me warm milk when I wasn't feeling well. It really did help. It's actually comforting in a way, now. Is that strange?"
"No, it isn't," Ryo smiled. "I try to do some things my mother did. It felt like it kept me close to her. I see my mother sometimes in my dreams, too. Sometimes I can't help thinking that she wants me to do something for her. Maybe your mother is trying to tell you to find out what happened."
"I can only hope, Ryo."
"We'll help you find out what happened."
Cale sighed. "I appreciate all the help you're giving me," he said, "but I don't think that sitting here in the middle of the night is going to get us any farther than where we are."
"You're right," said Ryo. "We'll pick it up in the morning."
Cale nodded and followed Ryo back to his room. "White Blaze, move," Ryo commanded the tiger on his bed.
Cale was already on his bed and looked on in amusement. "I think he looks rather content to be where he is."
"I am not sleeping on the floor," Ryo looked over his shoulder, "and there is no way I'm sleeping with you."
"I don't think so, either," Cale looked at his bed. "Beside, I believe that these beds can't handle two people."
Ryo turned back to White Blaze to hide the smile forming on his face. "White Blaze." The large feline finally, but slowly, climbed off Ryo's bed and strutted out the door. Ryo shook the blanket. "Cat hair," he grumbled.
Good boy, White Blaze, Cale grinned and settled back to sleep.
**********
The sun raised over the white mansion much to the disturbance of a certain ex-warlord of Darkness. He groaned as he blinked his eyes open to the sunlight coming in. Even with the cup of warm milk that he had, it didn't help him get much sleep that night. Pushing himself up into a sitting position, he saw that Ryo was still asleep. He smiled, glad that someone had been able to sleep, and pulled out a white t-shirt and another pair of blue jeans.
I'll have to see about getting some more clothes if I'll be staying here for the month, he thought.
Cale stepped into the bathroom, his mind still filled with the images of his mother's death. If Ryo was right and his mother was trying to tell him something, then what was it? Why repeat the dream of her and the gaijin?
This isn't helping any, Cale thought. I need another clue to what I'm suppose to be searching for.
A shower and a change of clothes later, he was walking into the kitchen. Cye was already there, fixing breakfast and trying to keep Kento away from the food. Sage was at the table, glancing over the paper, and ignoring the fact that Cale was in the room. The radio was on, playing an American song.
"Morning, Cale." Cye said looking up from the pancake that he was frying. He turned back in time to see Kento aiming to snatch a pancake from the plate that was on the counter.
"OW!" Kento yelled as Cye brought a wooden spoon down on his hand. "Man, Cye, you're worse then my mom."
"How many times do I have to tell you that we wait for the others?" Cye told him, pointing with the spoon toward the table.
"But Rowen won't be up till noon and Ryo is still in bed." Kento said, as he took a seat at the table.
"Ryo is already up." Sage said. "He's with Mia right now. Since the only clue that we have is that bugnuk type weapon, Mia hopes that she can use her grandfather's influence to get us a look at it." He lifted his cup of coffee up but paused in the movement. He sat the cup back down. "Better fix a cup for Rowen. He should be down any minute."
True to his word, Rowen dragged himself through the kitchen door, Mia and Ryo right behind him. He took the cup from Cye and kind of fell into the chair.
"Did you get a chance to talk to the museum's director?" Rowen asked.
"Yes," Mia told them. She accepted the plate from Cye. "I told the director that I had sent the three of you over because you were doing a report for me."
"Um, Mia we're on summer break." Kento told her.
"I told him that they were taking a special summer college course, Kento." She pulled out a piece of paper. "He said that he'll get the weapon and have it in his office. The room number is on the paper."
"When do we have to be there?" Rowen asked, taking the paper from her.
"He set up the appointment for three hours from now," she told him.
"We could leave in an hour," Cye said. "I need to pick up a few items at the store."
"Well, I do need to get some more clothes," Cale said, looking down at his outfit.
"How this?" Mia asked. "We take a trip into town. Cale, Rowen, and Ryo will head off for the museum. Hopefully they'll turn up something for the Sasaki clan with that."
"I saw that there is a new movie playing down at the theater." Cye was saying.
Cale ignore them as he thought over the dream that he had. He couldn't make out the face of the gaijin in the dream. There had to have been something in the dream that was important, he was sure of it. 'It's as plain as the nose on my face…'
**********
His blue eyes widen as the head of the arrow came out of the gaijin's chest in slow motion. Blood flew outward; some of it painting the child's checks red. He was so close to it that the child was sure that if he leaned in a tiny bit his nose would touch it. The child watched as the skin began to knit together as the gaijin ran. He heard someone shouting at them, then the gaijin speaking, and he gasped, tightening his hold on the man as they both began to fall.
**********
"Cale. Cale!" came a voice.
Cale blinked his eyes open and stared up at the faces above him. He ran a hand down his face. "What happen?"
"That's what we would like to know," Rowen said.
"Yeah," Sage said, "you were staring off into space, then you gasped, and fell out of your chair."
Cale sat up and slowly rose to his feet. Rowen held out his hands just in case he would fall again. "I'm all right," Cale said. "It's nothing."
"Uh, Cale," Ryo said, "when you fall out of the chair to the floor and don't respond for ten minutes, I wouldn't say that it's nothing."
"Don't worry about it. I'm fine. Can we go to the museum, please?" Cale quickly left the room before anyone else could protest.
**********
Thankfully, there weren't many people at the museum. On the second floor, Cale, Ryo, and Rowen sat patiently in Tsukiyono's office, as the museum director went to get the bugnuk from the back room. Unfortunately, Cale wasn't as patient as the two Ronins; he was constantly moving in his chair.
"Cale, would you please stop moving?" Ryo hissed. "You're driving me crazy."
"I'm sorry," he apologized.
"We understand you're anxious to see the bugnuk," Rowen said, "but if you don't sit still, I'll glue your pants to the chair."
Cale looked at him and saw the warning look in Rowen's eyes. "Gomen, okay, gomen." Cale sat with his back straight and gripped the armrests.
Tsukiyono entered the office, pushing a cart with a square object on top, covered with a tarp. "All right, gentlemen," he said, moving it in front of his desk before the three boys. "I present to you the only bugnuk preserved in such a fine state." Tsukiyono removed the tarp, revealing a plexiglass square-shaped box. Inside was a pair of worn leather gauntlets. On one of the gauntlets, the metal from the claws showed through the time-eaten material.
"It's roughly four hundred, fifty years old," Tsukiyono was telling them, "quite possible older. They were found in what remained of the Sasaki clan village, upon a grave."
"You wouldn't know exactly who's grave, would you?" Cale asked.
"Unfortunately, no," said Tsukiyono. "Though many believe it might have been a woman's."
"What exactly happened to the Sasaki?" asked Ryo.
"They were killed. During that time period, many of the predominant families agreed with the shogun but the smaller clans, like Sasaki, disagreed with the shogun. The Sasaki embraced change - as long as the traditions were remembered and practiced, they didn't see any problems about foreigners."
Rowen looked at the bugnuk and said, "It said on the library computer that a gaijin had owned this."
"Very true," Tsukiyono nodded. "He was the sole survivor of a shipwreck from a terrible storm, or so the legends say. The others on the ship had drowned and he was the only that lived. The soldiers arrived and saw all the deceased washed upon the shore. Then they saw footprints in the sand and they knew that there was a survivor, but the gaijin had disappeared into the forest."
Just like Cye had found in his family records, Cale thought. "So what happened to the gaijin?" he asked.
"He was found by the Sasaki clan. One of the families took him in and it's said he learned from the man that let him stay with his family." Tsukiyono started to laugh. "It's not that surprising that he did, after all, the gaijin-"
The phone on the desk rang and Tsukiyono answered it. "Yes? No, no, the paintings are to go into the west wing, and the statues go in the east wing." He sighed. "Listen, we only have a couple weeks to fix up this place… All right, I'll be there in a few minutes." Tsukiyono hung up the phone and looked at the trio. "I believe I can trust you not to take such a valuable object."
"On our honor," said Ryo, "we won't leave your office until you return."
"And we won't touch anything, either," Rowen said.
"Very good," Tsukiyono left the office.
"Nice guy," Rowen said quietly.
"A little stiff if you ask me," Ryo said. "What do you think, Cale?"
No answer.
"Not again," groaned Rowen.
**********
"Can I try it on?"
The gaijin smiled. "They're a little big for you," he said, but he put the one for the right arm on the child. "Close your fingers," the gaijin instructed, "and feel that little switch in the palm?"
"Hai."
"Move it, and keep your hand closed."
The child pushed the switch and the three claws popped out so quickly he jumped.
"It'll get you the first few times," the gaijin laughed.
**********
"Snap out of it!"
"Ow!" Cale yelped. "Ryo! That's my ear!"
"Stop zoning out on us so I won't have to yell in it."
"Zoning out?"
"Let's say you went into a little trance again," Rowen cleared for him.
"Gomen," Cale murmured.
Ryo sighed and looked at Cale. "How about you tell us what happened when you fell out of the chair at home, and what you saw just now," Ryo said. "Just to kill time until Tsukiyono comes back."
Cale nodded.
**********
"This place is cool," Jubilee said, looking around the museum.
"You don't see artifacts like this at home," Storm agreed.
Logan smiled a little and nodded. True to the words of the clerk at the reception desk, the museum was amazing. The three X-Men walked up the stairs to the second floor and past the section that was blocked off for remodeling, and Logan caught three scents - the two boys he met at the library and the other was the one who saved Jubilee.
"Hey, Jubilation," he said, turning to her but the young girl was gone. "Where'd she go?"
"She said she had to go to the bathroom," Storm answered.
"Why didn't you go with her?"
"Logan, she's almost like you. She took off before I could say anything. And after the way we've been watching her - practically like hawks - can you blame her for going alone for at least five minutes?"
"Nah, I can't say that I do," Logan said and grinned. "I just wanted to tell her that her boyfriend is here."
Storm's eyes grew big. "The one that helped her?"
"And the two I met inside the library when I found her," Logan answered. "But they're that way." He pointed down the closed wing. "I'll tell her when she comes back he's here."
**********
Jubilee didn't have to go, she just wanted a little space from Storm and Logan. Although she loved them dearly, they were beginning to get on her nerves.
"Excuse me," a slim man walked past her and into an office. "Sorry about that, gentlemen," he said to whoever was waiting inside. "I hope that this has answered some questions for you."
"Oh, I believe it has."
Jubilee blinked at the voice. That sounded like Cale, she thought. She waited a few moments and sure enough, Cale walked out of the office with Ryo and Rowen. "Hey, guys!"
"Jubilee," Cale smiled and walked up to her. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine," she returned the smile.
Ryo and Rowen looked at each other as the two continued to chat.
{He must have very good karma,} Rowen sent.
{Indeed he does,} Ryo agreed. "I hate to interrupt," he said, "but we have to get going."
Cale looked at Jubilee. "We have to go meet a few other people," he said. "Maybe I can meet your parents some other time."
"I hope so," Jubilee smiled and quickly gave him a hug. "See ya!" and she left around the corner.
"Earth to Cale." Rowen waved his hand in front of the Warlord's face.
"You can breathe now," Ryo laughed.
"She hugged me…" Cale whispered.
"And if your face was any redder," said Ryo, "you'd blend with my Armor."
The Ronins dragged Cale out of the museum.
**********
"Guess who I saw?" Jubilee said happily as she rejoined Storm and Logan.
"Cale and the other two from the library," said Logan. "I caught their scents."
"You're no fun."
"Where are they?" Storm asked.
"They had to leave," Jubilee said, "to meet their friends.
"Too bad," Logan said. "You know, this is the second time he's in the same place as I am and we miss each other. It's weird, isn't it?"
"Third time is always a charmer, Logan," Storm said.
**********
"He's probably trying to figure out why you can't touch the exhibits," Sage muttered.
Mia looked at him. "Will you please stop talking about Cale when he's not here?"
"I'm beginning to agree with her," said Cye. "Your behavior towards him is rather upsetting."
"And how would you act if Sekhmet was staying with us?" Sage asked.
The Torrent Ronin just looked at him. "Sekhmet and I are different stories - we have our own problems and we've dealt with them."
"But he's not here, is he?"
"What difference does it make if he's here or not?" Kento asked. "I still have my beef with Dayus, but I'm not plotting his demise like you have with Cale's."
Sage was about to say something when the missing three arrived.
"So what did you find out?" Mia asked.
As they compared notes, Cale and Sage walked off a bit, just out of earshot. Ever since Tsukiyono mentioned about the predominant families agreeing with the shogun about foreigners, Cale was beginning to believe that Sage knew more than what he had told.
"What is it?" Sage asked.
Cale looked at him. "You don't trust me, do you?"
"Should I?"
"Nope, and you don't have to help, either."
"I know."
"Then why do you?"
"Doesn't hurt," Sage responded.
Cale wasn't buying it. "You're hiding something about my clan," he said, "aren't you. Tell me, I have a right to know."
Sage remained quiet. After some time he spoke, "The shogun had declared if any gaijin reached Japanese soil, they were to be executed immediately. However, the Sasaki were more open-minded. When word that a gaijin had been living with the Sasaki reached the council, they sent soldiers from a predominant family to eliminate the gaijin and make an example of the Sasaki to warn other clans what would become of them if they helped a gaijin. The family and the future generations swore that no one from the Sasaki bloodline would live."
"It was your family," said Cale, "that killed mine." Sage nodded. Cale took a deep breath, feeling surprised that he was able to push back the rage and the desire to rip Sage's heart out through his chest after what he just told him. "Are you going to kill me?" Cale finally asked.
"No," answered Sage. "If you and I ever fight, and it's most likely we will, I don't want you to think it's because of a vow that was made over four hundred years ago. That's long since passed - it's over with. Our fight will be from what happened between you and me, not from something my ancestors did." He sighed. "My mother is an American. Back then she would have been considered a gaijin, but times have changed."
"True, many things have changed over the centuries," Cale said, "but apparently the dress code hasn't." He could tell by the look on Halo's face that he'd hit a sore spot.
"And what was that suppose to mean, Cale?" Sage asked.
"Well," Cale said, taking in the clothing that Sage was wearing, "it seems that the Date clan still think that they are, as Cye calls it, the fashion-plate of the world."
"Are you saying that my clan doesn't know how to be warriors?" Sage asked again, lightning flashing his violet eyes.
"You're the Warrior of Wisdom, you figure it out." Cale told him. Sage lashed out at the other warrior. Cale ducked the fist and aimed an upper cut to Sage's chin.
Cye turn from Mia and the others when he heard Sage's and Cale's voices beginning to rise. "GUYS!" Cye yelled, rushing over to try to stop the fight that had started. "Beating each other senseless isn't going to help us out on this!" Cye wrap an arm around Sage's waist along with Rowen. Kento and Ryo were also holding Cale back.
"What has gotten into you two?" Mia asked as she stepped between them.
"Well, I got tired of him being so high and mighty," Cale said, trying to shake Kento and Ryo off of him.
"You're the one that started this!" Sage said, freeing an arm away from Rowen. "Even though I'm still trying to help you!"
Cale shook himself free of the Ryo. "Fine. So I started something that has been brewing since out last fight. I still don't understand why you're so willing to help." He finally managed to get Kento off of him. He turned from the group. "I'm gone. Don't wait for me." Cale walked out of the park.
"Cale!" Cye called, releasing his hold on Sage. He started after him but Ryo put a hand on his shoulder.
"Give him a chance to cool down," he said. He then turned to Sage, who looked like he had eaten something foul. "Care to tell us what started that."
Sage, the fire in his blood calming down, realized what he had said and done. He also noticed that Ryo wasn't asking but demanding to know what had happened. He sat down heavily on the part bench. "My big mouth and stupid pride," he said, pushing the golden fall of hair out of his face. Sage then looked at them and told them the whole version that was in the Date Clan's records.