Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ Talpa Has A Sister ❯ Chapter 9 ( Chapter 9 )

"Talpa Has a Sister!"
By Wildfire

Chapter Nine

Kit sat leaning against the wall, with Ally sleeping in her lap. Kit gently ran her fingers through Ally's hair. She looked up as two single tears ran down her face. Ally sighed and cuddled closer to Kit. Kit looked back down at Ally and smiled.

At that moment the door burst open, waking Ally up. Kit and Ally both looked up to see Derek walk in holding a tray of food and drinks. Kit and Ally stood up and Kit held Ally close to her.

Derek smiled at their fear of him. He then looked around the room in disgust, at the fuzzy stuffed animals and the cute little bed with a little table with a toy tea set on it. In the corner was a pile of magazines, make-up, and hair stuff. He knew that none of it had EVER been touched by the two girls. He walked over to the small table and set down the tray. He then started to walk towards Kit. Kit immediately stepped in front of Ally and got in a fighting stance. He laughed.

"Really, Jungle, do you really think you could beat me! Let alone in my own home! This should be interesting," Derek laughed. Kit put her arms down and glared at him. "He he he," Derek laughed again, "Well now, that's better." Derek ran a hand down Kit's face and she jerked away. Derek smirked, then walked out of the room.

Kit watched him leave, then dropped to her knees, and started crying. Ally came up behind her and hugged her neck. Kit wrapped her arms around her.

*****

Sage woke up slowly and stretched. He crawled to the tent opening. When he opened it his eyes went wide, there was snow on the ground! "I WENT to bed and it was like a warm spring night. NOW IT'S WINTER! Okay, something is wrong here, very, very, wrong." Sage heard a moan and turned around to see Kento shivering in his sleeping bag. Sage shook his head in disbelief. "Well, at least he's not snoring! I only had to hit him five times last night to make him stop! Ha."

Sage smiled at the thought of that. Every time he had hit him, Kento would moan and roll over on his side. Sage looked back at the snow. "I better wake Ryo and tell him." Sage walked over to Ryo's tent and wondered how cold it was. With his armor he couldn't tell; he could feel the breeze on his face, but his armor kept him warm.

Sage opened the tent to see a sleeping Rowen but no Ryo. "Where is he? Damn, I'm going to kill him one of these days, I SWEAR I WILL! Might as will ask Rowen, see if knows. THAT IS IF I can WAKE him UP!" Sage rolled his eyes at his friend that could solve any math problem in a second but couldn't wake up in the morning! Sage smiled and sat down next to Rowen's sleeping body.

"Rowen, oh Rowen." Rowen didn't even move. Sage sighed. "ROWEN, WAKE UP!" He figured that woke everyone up! But not Rowen, he just turned on his side and kept on sleeping!

Kento walked up to the tent and looked in. "Having problems, Sage?" Kento asked as he sat down next to Sage.

Sage glared at Kento, then looked back at Rowen's STILL sleeping form. "Do you know how to wake him up!" Sage pointed at Rowen.

"Cye said cold water sometimes helps."

"Do you have any cold water, Ken-TO!"

"No, but we have snow," Kento said with a huge smile on his face as he looked at the snow. Sage's face want from a frown to a huge smile! He then looked at Kento and the both ran out of the tent to see Cye, Kat, Brittney, and Tina standing there.

"Hey!" Kento said as he grabbed a handful of snow.

"What's going on, we heard Sage scream Rowen's name, is everything okay?" Brittney asked.

"Fine, we're just waking him up!" Sage said as he added some more snow to his snowball. "Well, gotta go, if you hear another scream it's just Rowen waking up. Bye," Sage said as he and Kento and him went in the tent.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" was heard from miles away, and soon after there was extreme laughter!

*****

Ryo was sitting on a rock trying to mediate like Sage had taught him to, but it wasn't working very well. His mind kept wandering. He didn't get much sleep last night and it didn't help that there was snow on the ground! Ryo sighed and again tried to relax himself. He had just about got to the mediation point when he heard (what sounded like Sage) scream Rowen's name.

Ryo just stared for a moment. Well, it didn't sound alarmed! It sounded pissed! Ryo thought to himself. He debated wether or not to go make sure. He figured he was just trying to wake him up. Ryo sighed again, then started to relax again. No sooner had he almost got there, then there was another scream. This one sounded like shock. Ryo stared wide0eyed toward camp "What the HELL is going on over there! It's not the Dynasty, because I don't feel them! Damn! It sounds like they're killing someone." Ryo sighed again. "Probably just waking Rowen up! But now I gotta go see and make sure, {sigh} so much for relaxing!" Ryo started a light jog toward camp.

*****

Mariah woke to a scream; the first one she heard didn't sound like much, just someone yelling for some odd reason, but the second one was LOUD! When Mariah had heard that one she had jumped out of her sleeping bag so fast and was out of that tent looking around for the source of the scream.

Everyone was now out of their tents; Cye, Kat, Britt and Tina were laughing but the others all had clueless faces on. Kento, Sage and Rowen weren't there. But just as she finished thinking that, out came a laughing Sage and Kento (who were leaning on each other as a support so not to fall laughing). Rowen came out next but he didn't seem to be in quite as good mood as the other two, in fact he looked downright mad. She looked again to realize Ryo was also gone. She thought, Well, maybe he's still in his tent, but she soon realized that Sage and the other two had come out of Ryo's tent.
"SOMEONE want to tell me what is going on?" Chi Chi yelled.

Kento and Sage looked at her then at each other and laughed even harder. Cye shook his head and took a step up. "From what I got," Cye paused and looked at Sage and Kento again, and the pissed Rowen, then continued, "Sage wanted to wake up 'sleepyhead' Rowen and couldn't, then Kento comes in to help and they decide SNOW is the best thing to do! But I don't think Rowen agreed," Cye said with a smile.

Rowen glared at Cye AND at Kento and Sage, WHO had woken him up and had given him NO reason why! Rowen sighed, "Do you two want to tell me WHY you woke me up!" Rowen asked the two laughing boys.

Sage got up to tell him but one look at his sleepy and now red face (from the cold snow) sent him tumbling down with laughter again!

"That's it, I'm going back to bed!" Rowen started to turn on his heel to head back. When he stopped and looked around. "There's snow on the ground," he said, pointing down. That made Kento and Sage laugh even harder!

Cye rolled his eyes. "Rowen, you're just now realizing this! Man, you are fast in the morning!" Cye said with sarcasm in his voice.

Ryo ran in, looked around, then looked back at the two laughing boys and lifted an eyebrow. "What's with them?" Ryo asked while pointing at them with his thumb.
"Nevermind, Ryo, it's a long story," Cye told him. Ryo shrugged his shoulders; he figured he'd find out one way or another. He then turned to face Kat. "Hey, Kat, I believe we need to do some talking? We can do it out here or we can do it in private, it's up to you," Ryo told her.

Kat glared at him. "Just a second! I'll go get my 'work'; we can go in private if you wish. It might be easier on you." Kat turned and went in her tent. Ryo and Rowen both snickered.

Ryo turned to Rowen, "Easier on me?" He snickered again. Rowen just shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.

Sage looked up from laughing his eyes were now watering, because he was laughing SO hard. He then looked at Ryo. "Ryo? Hey, hey Kento look... it's RYO." Kento started laughing again. Sage smiled hugely, then put on an innocent face and turned to Rowen. "Okay, Rowen, now you can go to bed!" Sage said through laughs.

Rowen rolled his eyes; Ryo just stared, wondering what all this had to do with HIM! Just then Kat came back out with a notepad, paper, and other various items. Ryo looked at her like she was crazy.

"Well, are we going to do this or not!" Kat said in a snotty voice.

"After you," he said with a hand gesture. She walked right past him holding her things to her chest and her head up high. Ryo started walking after her, but Rowen caught his arm. Ryo gave him a questioning look. Rowen's face hardened and took on a serious look.

"Don't be to hard on her, kay?" Rowen said out of concern.

"I'll try my best! But if she starts putting on that 'bitch' attitude again," Ryo sighed, "I might lose it! And when I lose it I say things I don't mean..." Ryo sighed, "as you guys all know!" Ryo and Rowen looked at Kat, who was tapping her foot and looking angry.

Rowen made a face that meant this is going to get ugly. He swallowed hard. Then without taking his eyes off of Kat said, "TRY! Try really, REALLY hard!" He then looked at Ryo who had a look of digust smeared across his face.

"Like I said before, I'll do my best."

"HELLO! Like, are we doing this today or tomorrow!" Kat said, still tapping her foot.
"Tomorrow!" Ryo said as he walked towards her.

Kat snickered. "AFTER YOU! It seems when I go first we never leave!"

Ryo walked right past her as she had done earlier. She glared at him, then they disappeared

Rowen watched them leave, oh he wanted to go with just to make sure everything stayed under control. But it wasn't his place, and he knew that. Rowen then looked back at Kento and Sage who were still laughing but not nearly as hard now, they were more of giggles. Rowen rolled his eyes. Then a smile crossed his lips as he got an idea. He went down to one knee and made two fairly good-sized snowballs. He picked them both up and smiled bigger.

"Hey, Kento, Sage," Rowen yelled, and as soon as they both looked at him he nailed them both square in the face. That shut them up, in fact they looked like they were in shook! Sage wiped the snow from his face, as did Kento. "What's wrong? Why aren't you guys laughing anymore?" Rowen said with an innocent little voice.

Sage glared at him. "Fine, you wanna play that way!" Sage grabbed a handful of snow and chucked it at Rowen he dove out of the way just in time, but unfortunately for Chi Chi (who was right behind him) got nailed in the back of her head. Sage and Rowen completely froze. Kento started cracking up!

Chi Chi glared at him. Then got a snowball of her own. and nailed Kento (again) in the face. "HEY! I didn't throw that snowball he did, he did!" Kento said, pointing at Sage over and over again!

"He'll get his," Chi Chi said as she got another snowball ready. Rowen watched from afar at how Kento and Sage were sitting and realized if Sage were to move out of the way Kento would be hit again. Just as Rowen finished his thought a snowball went falling at Sage and as he predicted he jumped out the way and Kento was hit AGAIN.
"This is not fair!" Kento yelled and Rowen laughed. Kento shot a glare at him. "So you think this is funny!" Kento grabbed some snow and chucked it at Rowen. Rowen moved just enough for it to hit his chest plate instead of his face.

Kento got an angry face, then went down to get more snow. When he was hit in the back of his head he whirled around to see who threw it and was surprised to see Cye standing there and he had another snowball ready. Cye was looking straight at Sage, who was having a snowball fight with Chi Chi. Cye threw it hard, hitting Sage across his right cheek. Sage just stared at him and Chi Chi saw her opening! She threw the snowball as hard as she could. Sage turned around just in time to get it square in the face, HARD! Sage was totally taken aback by this that he fell back right on his butt!
"HEY! Two against one, that's not fair!" Sage desperately tried to defend himself. Kento just laughed. But before anyone could say another word Sage was AGAIN hit! This time on his left cheek.

"Oh, but Sage, my dear, all is fair in love and WAR!" Brittney said, standing there with another snowball ready to go!

Sage's eyes widened, "You have got to be kidding me!" Kento, Rowen and Cye all started laughing!

"Oh, no! Sage, you of ALL people should know I DON'T 'kid' around." With that said she threw the snowball (that she was holding) at him. Sage ducked and it only skimmed his head. Soon it was an all-out snowball fight, everybody. With the exception of Kat and Ryo, everyone was throwing them in any direction they could find.

*****

Kit sat reading a magazine while Ally played with the many toys. They had finally relaxed a little. They figured being miserable wasn't helping. She was reading a magazine called Teenage Life; she had found an article in it called "GUYS!" It fit ALL the guys perfectly! Ally was playing with a white tiger, a green tiger, a purple tiger, and a plain orange tiger. Kit smiled up at her. She was so cute.

She stared reading again. Kit sighed and thought to herself, Are they going to come for us? What is taking them so long? Is Ryo all right? Are they reunited? Is Kat okay? All these thoughts just kept running through her head. She could not get rid of them no matter how hard she tried. She looked back at Ally to see she had all the other tigers attacking the white one. Fear shot though her; these questions of doubt in Ryo and the team, were they coming from the stuff? "ALLY! What are you doing? Sweetie?"

Ally looked up, "Nuttin', just playing."

"Why are all the other tigers attacking the white one?"

"Oh, the white one is White Blaze, and they aren't attacking it, they're hugging him, or pouncing him. You wanna know why? Because it's his birthday and they threw a surprise party for him!" Ally giggled.

Kit sighed in relief. "Oh, really, is that so?"

"Yeah, you wanna know what else? Ryo set it all up! Because Ryo and him are BEST friends. And he loves him. Did you know that they've been friends since they were little kids! Kinda like us, right, Kit?"

"Yeah, just like us!" Kit smiled at her. Ally giggled and continued playing.

*****

Daller sat in the Dynasty version of a dojo. He watched as Alex and Ryan sparred. Daller was very pissed; THIS Derek just comes and takes control. Master Trots hadn't even called him to see her! And he doubted very much that either Alex nor Ryan had been called down. It pissed him off so much that this pretty boy could just come in and take control. Daller doubted that he even knew what he was dealing with! The Ronins weren't common enemies, they were powerful, and they're powerful on their own, but now they have the 'nature girls' and the 'cousins' too; it was too much, of course they were going to fail at first! But they could WIN! They could he knew they could!

He looked back up at the sparring as Alex finish Ryan off by giving him an upper cut. Daller stood up and approached the two. "Okay, you two, if want our places back we have to work harder, get stronger, and we have to study the Ronins, so we know their weakness and their strengths!"

Alex wiped some sweat off of his brow. "How? How can we find out their weakness?"

"Well, we'll start with the obvious, Wildfire is strong in fire, weak in water and cold, and so on; after that we'll study the scrolls that were left from their war with Talpa,"

Daller said, then slammed his fist into the wall. "WE WILL GET OUR PLACES BACK!"

Ryan stood up. "I'll gather the information first, I'm the fastest reader. I can get the information fast and get to the training."

Alex looked at Daller and Ryan. "This won't be easy, if we want to match that pretty boy Derek we'll have to work hard!" The other two nodded.

*****

Cye stood over the fire, cooking as fast as he could. He could hear yell and shouts of anger coming from Rowen and Sage. He heard grunts come from Kento as he tried to get away.

"CYE! Hurry up! We can't hold him forEVER!" Sage yelled at him.

"I'm cooking as fast as I can! Just hold him back a little longer!"

"We are, but he hasn't eaten in almost four hours! He's freakin' out on us!" Rowen yelled with his voice a little strained.

Tina looked at the scene in front of them. She turned to Brittney. "Do you think they do this a lot?"

"Well, they look like they're used to it! Ahh, well, I hope they don't do this a lot. I mean, if I'm going to be Sage's girl." She paused and sighed. "I am going to need SOME peace and quiet." Both girls looked at each other, then at the boys in front of them; they sighed and hung their heads.

Chi Chi came jogging up she looked at the three boys in front of her, raised her eyebrow and shook her head. She then turned to Brittney and Tina. "Hey, did Kat or Ryo tell either of you when they'd be back?" Chi Chi asked.

"Ahh, well, all Kat told me was that SHE would be back by lunch, at the latest," Brittney informed her.

"Okay, thanks." Chi Chi looked at the boys one more time then walked away.
"Lunch's READY!" Cye yell, then heard Sage and Rowen scream as Kento ran right through them. Cye didn't think a train going full speed could stop Kento when he was hungry. Soon everyone sat down; they got their plates. Cye was about to serve everyone when he realized Kento was already on his second plate of food and about to start on his third, but Cye stopped him.

"WAIT!" Cye said, holding his hands back. Kento glared but stopped eating for a while or at least until everyone got first helpings.

"Hey, guys," Ryo said; walking up a couple paces behind him was Kat, who was watching the ground.

"Hey, Ryo! You have got to try this food, man, it is so GOOD!" Kento yelled.
"I'll have to take your word on that one," Ryo said, pointing at him.

"Oh, come on, try it!" Kento yelled back.

"I would, but you just ate the last of it," Ryo pointed out to him. Kento froze and did a cheesy smile. Ryo shook his head. "That's okay, Kento, I'm not really all that hungry."
Rowen looked at Kat. "Hey, Kat!" That startled Kat out of her trance, she looked at him. Rowen sighed, then continued, "If you are hungry, you can have the rest of mine, I'm finished." Rowen offered it to her.

"That's okay, Rowen, I'm not really hungry. I think I'll just go to bed," Kat said in a very quite voice. Kat walked to her tent and went in.

"Okay, well, Rowen if you aren't going to finish..."

"Go ahead, Kento." Rowen sighed, "Ryo can I talk to you?"

Ryo's eyes went a little wide then went back to normal. "I'd rather not," Ryo confessed
"Okay, Ryo, let's talk RIGHT now. That's a command, not a request," Rowen said, standing up. Sage's eyebrow went up at Rowen's words. Everyone remained quiet.

Ryo looked at him, then mumbled, "And here I thought I gave the orders," then turned to leave, Rowen glared at him. Rowen didn't know what had happened but he knew Ryo said something he shouldn't have. And he was pissed about it!

Ryo sighed again then started walking towards the woods, then he saw something flicker. He looked more closely.

"YO, RYO, TALK NOW!" Rowen yelled, startling Ryo out of his trance. Rowen was getting really pissed for no reason; it was like he just had this sudden anger for Ryo, for really no reason at all.

"Yeah, sure, sorry." Ryo started to follow Rowen again but then he saw the flicker again, his head jerked around.

"Ryo, what is it?" Sage asked, seeing his expression. Ryo stared for a few more seconds, then figured he was just seeing things.

"Nuthin', nothing at all!" Ryo shook it off.

Rowen glared, he figured he was just stalling; whatever happened out there Ryo didn't want to share. Or at least that's what he thinks. "Good, I'm glad there's nothing out there, can we go now?"

"Yeah, sure..."

"Hold up," Sage said, bringing his hands up. "Guys, we ARE in the Dynasty, if you guys forgot; Ryo, if you saw something we need to know!" They all looked at Ryo; Rowen just looked irritated.

"Ahhh, it was probably just the sun playing a trick on me with the snow," he said, shaking his head.

"WHAT-WAS-IT?!" Rowen practically yelled.

"It was a flicker, all right?" Ryo's face also showed irritation.

"Great, you're seeing flickers! Our leader is seeing flickers, we're in great hands now!" Rowen yelled, throwing his hands up in the air.

"ROWEN, cool it, what has crawled up your ass and died!" Kento yelled, trying to defend his leader and friend.

Rowen glared at him. "So, Ryo, you can't talk on your own; oh, wait, that can't be true cause you sure said something to Kat," he said, pointing to her tent.

"Look, Rowen, I didn't say anything bad to Kat, I pointed out her flaws, and the good points! All right?" Ryo said, looking at him with a questioning look.

*****

Derek sat by Trots watching the Ronins fight, or more like Strata and Wildfire fight and the others try to clam it down. Earlier he had had a spirit make a potion that would temporarily make Strata get extremely mad at Wildfire for no reason. They had to wait for the right time to give it to him so it didn't look like the Dynasty was behind it. But unfortunately Wildfire had noticed the flicker that sent the potion into Strata's mind. But luckily Strata blew it off as a stunt to make it so he wouldn't have to talk to him.

Truth be told, Wildfire was very kind to Forest; he could have been a lot meaner. But just for fun, they made Forest tired so she would look sad and upset.

*****

Rowen had just started yelling at Ryo about nothing; Sage couldn't believe his ears. What had Ryo done that was so bad?

"You know what, Ryo, Kat was right, you don't belong as our leader!" Rowen yelled.
"Rowen, what DID I do that made you so mad? I talked to Kat, I wasn't cruel or rude or whatever you want to call it!"

"BS, YOU PROBABLY CHASED HER AWAY JUST LIKE YOU CHASED YOUR PARENTS AWAY!" Rowen yelled; Ryo just froze, Rowen had just told him that he had not only caused it but made them do it! Ryo couldn't even talk, he was completely speechless.

Kento, on the other hand, was not! "YOU TAKE THAT BACK!" Kento screamed! "HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY CALL YOURSELF HIS FRIEND!"

"I'm NOT! This 'JERK' doesn't deserve any friends, not after he killed his own parents!" As soon as these words left Rowen's mouth, then Kento punched him square across the face. And Ryo ran, he just ran; he knew if he stayed there he would end up doing more than just punching him across the face.

*****

Derek sighed; now it was his turn to finally get ride of that 'WILDFIRE' once and for all. He got up, bowed to Trots, then made up some stupid reason why he had to leave. Just as he was about to leave the room, he said a tiny spell that would make Trots see Wildfire just fine even though he was about to die! Then he would come back, get rid of Trots, and claim the throne and his future wife. Then and only then would he get rid of the other Ronins and the annoying girls; he figured he'd keep Forest and Flower alive for his soon-to-be wife.

He smiled evilly, then left the room. He would head to the dojo first to pick up some weapons, then grab a sandwich so when he appeared to Wildfire, he would look relaxed, and calm. It always helped the mood. He snickered to himself, thinking how he would kill that bastard!

*****

Ryo just ran, he couldn't do anything but run! His mind raced like a mad cow; all that went through it, though, was 'why'? Why would he do this to him? Why would he say those things? Did he really mean it? Why was he so mad? Is what he said true? But mostly just WHY!

He didn't know how long he had ran when he finally just fall to the ground from the running, and from the tears that flowed down his cheeks freely. He gasped for breath as he sobbed; Ryo didn't like crying but it was something he sometimes did. But this was different! Every other time things seemed too hopeless to continue he had his friends to turn to, but now! Ryo hit the ground with his fits. Ryo felt helpless, which was something he didn't feel often.

"Hello, Wildfire," Derek laughed and took a bite of the sandwich he had grabbed.
"Derek?" Ryo just stared.

Derek laughed again, then threw the sandwich over his shoulder. "Well, did you honestly think we were just going to let you run off like that without us watching?"

That's when it hit Ryo. "YOU! You put a spell on Rowen, didn't you?" Ryo stood up and looked at him, then wondered how he could have been so dumb to think that Rowen would say that of his own will.

Derek laughed, "Wow, you figured it out. Too bad you did it too late! For now you are out here alone, tired and with positively no help! I wish you luck!" With that said, Derek charged at him. Ryo had no time to react, he didn't have any time to even dodge the attack, let alone put on his full armor. Derek knocked him aside like a ragdoll.

Ryo slowly pulled himself up. He could hear Derek laughing, this pissed Ryo off. Not only had he played a cheap trick on him with Rowen, but then he comes to him when he's upset! AND THEN LAUGHS AT HIM! Ha, no, this was not going to work, not at all!

Ryo jumped up, got in a fighting stance, then put his armor on. "ARMOR OF THE WILDFIRE, DAO CHI!" Ryo's eyes had fire swirling in them. "You are going down," he said, pointing to Derek with his swords.

Derek laughed again, "Bring it on; you know it's a shame, really, that Strata well never be able to say he's sorry?"

"Yeah, and what's that supposed to mean?" Ryo said, getting in a more fighting stance. Ready for whatever he was going to pull.

"Well, the spell will wear out in about five more minutes. But by the time they find you, you'll be dead!" Derek lunged at him, but this time Ryo was ready. Ryo jumped up and slammed the hilt of one of his twin katanas into his back. Derek landed on his stomach as Ryo landed on both feet with ease, still watching Derek's every movement.

Derek growled, then jumped up and immediately charged Ryo again. Ryo again jumped out of the way Ryo grabbed a tree branch and pulled himself up, jumping up into the trees. Derek immediately followed, jumping from branch to branch, looking for Wildfire. He finally stopped, then just looked around, searching for something, any kind of signs of Wildfire, a hint of red, a branch moving, ANYTHING! But there was nothing.

But then he heard a snap of a branch below. AND THERE WAS WILDFIRE! He was on the ground running towards camp. He was already almost out of sight!

Derek growled, THIS was not what he thought he would do! He was supposed to stay there and fight, not run back to camp! HE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE ALWAYS READY TO FIGHT, HE WASN'T SUPPOSE TO ANALYZE THINGS LIKE HALO and STRATA DID, OR EVEN LIKE TORRENT! Derek jumped down to the ground and started running after Wildfire; if he got back to camp his whole plan would be ruined!

Ryo knew Derek was probably on his tail by now, but he had to keep running, the closer he got to camp the better his odds were. Normally he would have stayed and fought, like he had to prove that he was the best. But over the time he had spent with the guys he had LEARNED that you don't always have to be the best. He just really hoped that by the time he got there that the spell that was on Rowen was gone! Otherwise he might have two people trying to kill him.

*****

Kento had to be dragged away from Rowen as he pounded into him; Sage and Cye held him back. Kat had come out of the tent and was watching the whole thing. Cye turned to all of the girls. "Maybe you girls better go for a walk or something." The girls all nodded then left; they started jogging, then started laughing and running. White Blaze followed them.

Cye then put all his strength into holding Kento back form Rowen; Rowen stood up and wiped some blood from his lip. "HOW? HOW CAN... HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY SAY THOSE THINGS TO HIM!" Kento yelled, trying to pull away from Sage and Cye.

Cye turned to Sage. "I'm almost willing to let him go," Cye said, then glared at Rowen.

Rowen was about to say something when HE saw a flicker, then it disappeared; as soon as the flicker was gone, Rowen's head started pounding! He went down to one knee and held his head in both hands. He slammed his eyes shut, and moaned in pain, it felt like his head was about to explode! Rowen felt hands go around him, he tried to bring his head up. But it hurt too much, he tried to block the pain out. He could hear what sounded like Sage but it was muffled. He forced his eyes open, it was all blurry; he shut them again then opened them, trying to clear them.

"Rowen, can you hear me?" Sage asked again. His voice was full of concern. Rowen made no response. He just held his head and moaned in pain. Sage looked at Kento and Cye, they were both just staring.

"What happened?" Kento asked. Sage shrugged his shoulders.

"If I have my guess I'd say it's Trots," Cye told him.

Kento looked at Rowen. Something then crossed his mind. "Hey, what if it was Trots that made Rowen say those things?"

Sage and Cye stared at Kento. Sage looked at Rowen, then Sage's head shot up. "Wait! If Trots planned this out that would mean Ryo's..." Everyone went silent.

"We got to find him!" Cye said, looking at the way Ryo had run.

*****

Ryo figured he was almost halfway there, he had no idea he had run this far away from camp before. He knew Derek was getting closer, he could now hear his feet patting against the ground. Ryo wasn't sure if he could make it back to camp before Derek caught up with him, but he sure had to try.

Derek ran behind Wildfire, he was almost caught up to him. Then he could finally get rid of him once and for all. He could clearly see Wildfire. That chicken can't fight for himself! Derek thought to himself. Derek also knew Ryo would never make it back to camp in time. Derek smiled as he jumped and pounced on Wildfire. They rolled a couple feet then stopped. Derek immediately started punching him, wherever he could find a weak point in the armor. Ryo's face was his main target.

Ryo desperately tried to get his face mask down to protect his face but the punches were too close together, and he couldn't get it down. Ryo felt himself starting to black out, he tried desperately to stay awake. Ryo knew if he fell asleep he would die, as did Derek!

Derek jumped up, got out his sword, and prepared to slam it into Wildfire. Just as he was about to plunge it into him, something white pounced on him. Ryo slowly got he figured he see White Blaze standing there, but when he looked up, it wasn't White Blaze. Ryo stared at this white thing; it was the size of a lion or of a panther, the only problem was that it was pure WHITE! No spots no stripes, no nothing! In fact, it looked a lot like a panther or lion, because it had the same ears and nose, and tail of a panther or lion; he wondered what it was, how it was white. The white 'cat' then jumped into the trees, and was soon out of sight.

Ryo put his attention back to Derek who was on the ground cursing. Ryo took his chance to get away. He jumped up and started running back to camp. Ryo was surprised when Derek didn't follow, but he kept on running just in case.

Ryo reached camp soon, then collapsed as soon as he saw the guys Sage and Kento ran to his side. Cye stayed with Rowen whose headache had gone down but was still there.

"I'm all right, Sage," Ryo told Sage, who was looking over the bruises on his face. "How's Rowen?"

"He's okay," Kento told him. "But Ryo, it wasn't him that said..."

"I know!" Ryo said. "I know."