Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ The New Game ❯ Chapter Five ( Chapter 5 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Chapter
Six

A little before
hand comment from the author-- Alright, I've been
getting the impression that some of this story line is a bit
confusing. Sorry to anyone who is having trouble following this.
. . I've tried to clear up most of it in this chapter. So, to
anyone who has actually dared to read this far, I salute you!





**********



<Dynasty >



**********

"ARE YOU SO INCOMPETENT. . ."
Pren asked, dangerously calm, "THAT YOU CANNOT DEFEAT FOUR
UNARMED TARGETS?"

Tighdes recognized the seething rage
beneath the awesome sound of Pren's voice. Rage, perhaps, that
was not completely caused by the four of them, but anger none the
less. Pren angry was like releasing a rabid, savage wild tiger in
a domestic human park, who was completely free to do whatever it
wanted. Except, it was worse.

The silence after the words had been said
called for an answer. Of which, Tighdes did not give. He knew
better then to call attention to himself right then.

"They were somehow prepared."
Sahlmezera hesitantly said, finally. When Pren stayed silent, she
continued, her voice growing in strength, "The Witch must
have somehow talked to them. Informed them. They could not have
called on the Powers otherwise, I know. . . And. . . and under
the agreement, we were not able to attack them further from that
point--"

"WHY DID YOU NOT KILL THEM WHEN
GIVEN THE CHANCE?" Pren roared, sending Tighdes to his
knees in agony from the explosion. His hands pressed against his
ears so tightly it almost hurt. Pren's voice was thunder
contained in the palm of a hand. When let loose, suddenly, it was
overwhelming. His head pounded from the pressure Pren had
released, and he trembled on his knees, never mind what
humiliation he might feel later at it.

Though she stumbled back, Sahlmezera was
the only one that remained standing from the blast. She was their
leader to the core, whether unwilling about it or arrogant, and
she constantly reminded them that she was never to be
underestimated. Even Orian's face was briefly twisted in pain as
he sunk to his knees.

However, Pren's gaze was trained on the
single Warlady. Sahlmezera's generous bosom heaved as she gasped
for air-- All of them felt a bit breathless-- But she stood
strong anyway, her gaze not wavering. Tighdes almost admired her,
in that respect. He wasn't so sure he could have done the same in
her position.

"EACH ONE OF YOU," Pren
continued, more softly but still powerful all the same, "HAD
THE CHANCE. YET NONE OF YOU TOOK IT."

The eyes of the three Warlords were trained
on Sahlmezera, wondering at what she would say. She, in turn,
briefly glanced back at them with a puzzled look. Tighdes thought
that knew exactly what that look was supposed to mean.

"I cannot speak for the others,"
Sahlmezera stated, her head raised proudly and her voice not
wavering, not even by an inch, "But I had the boy.
It had been but only a few seconds worth of time before he called
his power. The chance to strike was taken from me."

Brail's eyes went wide as he stared at her.
Sighing, Tighdes moved to his feet again; Pren had calmed, it
seemed. Brail would never understand Sahlmezera's courage. By
saying those words, she had dared to contradict Pren, yet she
somehow managed to sound proud and submissive at the same time.
Her words were almost amazing in the way that she had been able
to defend herself without actually arguing.

Wondering if there would be another
explosion, Tighdes shifted slightly. He thought about the cost of
failure, and what Pren would do to him. But instead of really
replying, Pren simply sat back in the Dark Throne, eyes flowing
up to study the ceiling. Or, perhaps, something beyond that.

"THE WITCH BRINGS PROBLEMS." Pren
commented, as those dangerously colorless eyes took them in
again. "HOWEVER, I WILL DEAL WITH HER WHEN THE TIME COMES.
FOR NOW, I WANT ANOTHER PLAN OF ATTACK. TIGHDES? I WANT YOU TO
SPY ON THESE CHILDREN. FIND THEIR WEAKNESSES, THEIR STRENGTHS,
EVERYTHING. UNDERSTOOD?"

Tighdes blinked, but nodded, only slightly
puzzled. Orian looked over at him. Yet, Orian being him, he did
not comment.

Tighdes noticed Sahlmezera's lips tighten,
but she stayed silent as well. He knew how frustrated she might
feel as to not getting the job herself. Pren knew them all too
well, however; she must have known that he would be best for the
job when given the task.

"YOU ARE DISMISSED, MY SOLDIERS."
Pren said, as a fairly large bubble of energy grew around the
Dark Throne. Pren disappeared then, leaving them.

For a moment, Sahlmezera's gaze lingered on
the space where Pren had been. Then she twirled around-- Twirled
was the only way Tighdes could describe it, as she spun
gracefully on one foot to face them, her brazenly red hair
following her trail-- And her eyes locked onto Tighdes's.

"Have you any idea at all of their
'weaknesses', or 'strengths?" She asked him, almost
haughtily, but with that hint of honey and syrup that always made
her voice seem enticing.

Out of the corner of his eye, Tighdes saw
Orian smirk. Actually smirk! It was more emotion than Orian would
usually would show in a week.

Sahlmezera's emerald eyes shown lightening
within their depths, demanding an answer. Feeling annoyed at her
constant distrust of him, Tighdes's own eyes narrowed. "I
think I might have some idea," He allowed. His voice was
calm, sure. "For one thing, they seem to understand how to
take a chance."

Sahlmezera was already a little shaken from
Pren's announcement, no matter how she tried to hide it, and she
certainly wasn't up to his own mocking ways. The thunder in her
eyes threatened to jump out and strike at him. Yet he tried to
keep his gaze calm, not looking away.

Her lips tightened, and she spat at him,
"You had better not mess this up." And then spun again,
her footsteps clicking until she portaled away.

A "Tisk, tisk" sound turned
Tighdes's gaze away from where their leader had been. To his
surprise, it was Orian.

"Watch yourself with her." He
said, and Tighdes's eyes widened. Orian raised an eyebrow.
"She only thinks she hates you, you know. Perhaps if you
quit mocking her she might see what you truly mean."

Tighdes was so shocked at the sudden advice
that he failed to comment for a moment. His gaze swung to Brail,
inquiring.

Brail grinned, his eyes sparkling mischief.
"If you don't realize it yet, I'm sure not going to tell
you." His figure faded as he portaled away.

Tighdes was more then a little shaken from
all the events of that day. He stared at Orian for a moment,
then, when the other man remained silent, Tighdes started to
gather his thoughts in order to portal out of the immense throne
room. He spun away from his fellow Warlord without another word,
yet even as he went he felt Orian's eyes one his back, following
his every move.





**********



<Jason& gt;



**********



Usually, when I would get to school, Teren
would have some sort of remark that was either mocking, a joke,
or boasting. So, that was why when I got to school, and Teren
didn't say a thing except "Hey" I knew something was
up.

I'd known Teren for while. When he was as
silent as he was that day, I knew something was deeply troubling
him. When I tried to ask him about it, though, he just avoided my
question entirely. Which worried me even more.

However, the bell rang and then I didn't
have anytime to talk to him. Well, I could wait until lunch to
interrogate him, anyway.

However, at lunch, he was just as silent.
Then there was what really got me scared-- He didn't have much
off an appetite. Teren. Teren didn't eat that much food.


"Ok, what is wrong with
you?" I demanded finally, determined to get the information
out of him. He stared at me for a moment, probably surprised that
I was pushing the issue so far. His eyes looked . . .distant, as
though he couldn't quite focus. He shook his head slightly and
then replied,

"Jason, it's. . . nothing. Don't worry
about it."

I tilted my head at him. "What do you
mean, don't worry? Of course I'm wondering what the heck is up
with you. You've been silent all day and I think I deserve to
know what's up!"

Teren hesitated. He seemed to be deciding
what to say. Finally, he took a deep breath and said calmly,
"Something happened yesterday. Something I have to deal with
myself, all right?"

I backed down at that point. If Teren was
going to be too stubborn to talk, well, he wasn't going to talk,
and nothing I could say would change that.



**********



<Tysoni>
< br>

**********



I had to find Seidi. Of course, if what had
happened to me yesterday had happened to her also, there was the
small problem she might not still be alive. I was hoping with
everything I was that she had lived, though. For some reason, I
felt some responsibility for what had happened to her. She was
one that I had to find. I was sure of it; not so sure of why
I was sure, but I was sure all the same.

See? My thoughts were even beginning to
confuse myself.

When I got to school, the very first thing
I did was look around for her. At first, when my search proved to
be unsuccessful, I started to get worried. I absolutely had to
talk to her.

The campus was big. That's what I kept
telling myself. The campus was simply too big for me to find her
right away, that was all. So I shouldn't have worried if I didn't
find her. But I did. And there wasn't anything I could do about
that.

Just then the bell rang for first class. I
froze, barely stopping a curse. Should I keep looking till second
bell? No, the kids were going in already and it would look pretty
suspicious if I hung back. Not to mention that this was only my
second day at school and I wanted to make a good impression.
That's when I remembered something-- Seidi was in my first
class. Of course! How could I have been so stupid? Here I
was, running around like crazy trying to find her, when all I had
to do was wait for my first class. If she was there, everything
would be ok. If she wasn't . . .

Forcing that worrying thought out of my
head I determinedly walked through the doors, walking quickly to
find my class. She just had to be there. She simply had to be.

I got to the classroom and paused, hand
still on the doorknob. What if she wasn't in there? What would I
do then? What if--

"Um, excuse me?" A female voice
said, just to my left. I swung my head to look at her, confused.
Intense violet eyes stared back, accompanied by a perfect face
framed with long blonde hair. Oh. Kasina. Well, I hadn't really
expected it to be Seidi anyway. I would almost call Kasina
beautiful, but I had seen beautiful. Kasina was just pretty.
Pretty in a different way, also. Not so exotic-

She cleared her throat and nodded
meaningfully towards the door. I very suddenly caught on. Oh. She
needed to get by, didn't she? And I was in the way of the door .
. .

Hoping I didn't blush too badly, I
immediately turned the knob and then walked inside, pointedly not
looking at Kasina as I did so. I almost forgot about my mission
for a moment, until I passed her chair. Seidi's empty chair.
Shoot. No, shit. Now what?

The teacher came in close behind us, quicky
shooing us to our desks, so I didn't have much time to think. I
quickly went to the same seat as last time and pulled out my
books, distracted. I was too deep in thought. I managed to
accidently catch Kasina's eye. I know she saw something in my
face because she smiled reassuringly at me and winked. I looked
away and shook my head. No, she probably thought I was still
embarrassed over the door incident. I was, but it wasn't foremost
in my mind.

Seidi could not be dead. I worried about
it, of course, but from somewhere deep inside of me came a strong
reassurance that she simply could not be. But then what? She
seemed like a nice, organized girl-- Not one who would be late
for school. So what had happened to her?

The second bell rang. Our teacher
immediately got to work, telling us to open our books to this or
that page, pull out paper and a pencil for notes, yadda yadda. My
eyes were on the door. I vaguely listened to the teacher's
instructions. Out of the corner of my eye I caught Kasina
watching the door with a worried frown as well. Strange. Her
pencil eraser was against her lower lip; she wasn't chewing on
it, just tapping with it in a definitely nervous attitude.
Strange.

"Mr. Sanada, Ms. Date, is there
something more interesting over there that you'd like to discuss
with the class?"

Both of our head jerked towards the teacher
with identical guilty looks. We both muttered, staring at our
desks, 'No, Sensei Sew,' amidst the few giggles from fellow
classmates. The teacher tilted his head in an irritated
expression.

"No? Good. Then I'm sure you both were
listening to every word I had to say. In fact, Ms. Date, since
you're doing so well in math, why don't you tell me how to solve
this problem on the board?" He turned and pointed to the
blackboard. I stared at the problem. It looked like a mess of
letters and symbols. That was a math problem? As in,
numbers?

The giggles were a bit louder and more wide
spread this time as Kasina looked at the board with a horrified
expression. She glanced at me for a second, eyes wide. I shook my
head slowly. She bit her lip and turned back to the front.

"Um . . . Well . . ." She began,
but before she could think of an excuse, the door opened.

Seidi walked in, a backpack slung over her
shoulder. She stopped just inside of the door, a slow flush
crawling up in her cheeks as she realized every eye in the class
was on her. She locked her eyes on the ground and walked to
Sensei Sew, handing him a small piece of paper and mumbling
something. He nodded slowly and started to answer, but stopped.
Someone had said something-- Very rudely-- near the back of the
classroom. Sensei Sew immediately sought out the offender.

"What was that?" He demanded of a
smaller boy, with short wild hair and a pale face. The boy shrunk
back a little bit. The teacher sighed.

"Alright, alright class. Ms. Mouri,
please take your seat and open your book to page. . ."

But I had stopped listening at that point.
My eyes were on the small, shy girl with deep brown hair. Well,
finally.



**********



<Kas ina>



**********



Well, what was I supposed to do, just tell
Seidi everything? The way I saw it, there was no point. Sure, she
was my friend, but there was no way in Hell she'd believe me. I
didn't even believe me, and I'd been there!

So that was why, after we had sat down at
our regular table to eat, I kept my mouth shut. There was too
many things going through my mind, and in any case, my friends
talked enough for me. I tried to lose myself in the irrelevant
talk and gossip as I sometimes did, but just couldn't seem to. My
mind was in too much of a turmoil. So I kept silent and distant,
trying to collect my thoughts.

Seidi seemed withdrawn too, I noticed. She
usually was-- I mean, the girl barely ever joined in on our
conversations, in fact, sometimes I wondered what it was that
kept her sitting with me-- but she seemed more so today, for some
reason. I couldn't tell why. At one point, I caught her eye and
she looked away quickly, too quickly. It just wasn't like her. I
wondered what was up.

Then there was that new kid, Tysoni's,
weird behavior. Yesterday he had seemed pretty nice, a cute,
smart kid. Then, today, his whole personality had changed. He had
seemed worried, too distracted-- Like he was looking for
something. Then there was that maturity in his eyes that didn't
belong. Tysoni was some strange kid. There was just something
about him. . .

"Kasina, what is up?"
Deirdre demanded. I glanced at her in response. "You're so
quiet."

I shrugged my shoulders uncomfortably.
"I don't know. I'm just tired. Didn't get much sleep last
night, I guess."

It seemed like the excuse worked and they
all went back to talking. I added a small comment now and then to
keep them happy, but my heart just wasn't in it. At least the
school day was almost over.



**********



<Seidi>


**********



What was I supposed to do? I couldn't tell
anybody. It was my problem.

I hadn't meant to be late to school. Well,
who ever does? I had slept in late. Hadn't meant to do that
either. I had just been so tired. . . So unbelievably tired.
Maybe it was a draw-back of that armor thing. It wouldn't
surprise me.

God, why me?

No answer. I hadn't really expected one.

Then there was that weird look Tysoni had
given me when I'd walked in. That was probably around the time I
had remembered what had happened the day before-- what had
happened when we touched hands. I had seen fire. And I was
willing to bet that he had seen water. Wildfire. Torrent.

Was it possible he was another like me?
Could I be that lucky? The day before my life is threatened, the
one guy in the world who might be able to help me transfers to my
school? No way. That wasn't luck, and not coincidence either.
Someone or something had deliberately placed him here. If
he was someone who could help me. If. I wondered if that voice
knew anything about it. It probably did, in some way . . . I
only I could talk to it again.

Anyway, I was in my last class with about 5
minutes left in the school day. Nearly every kid was practically
vibrating with impatience to get going. The history teacher had
happened to pick an especially boring topic to lecture us on--
Even I was beginning to feel a little light-headed. It
seemed like every second lasted an hour over the sound of the
teacher's never-ceasing voice. . . It wasn't really his fault
that he happened to drone a lot. Of course, this was a teacher
who could take the most interesting subject and still make kids
fall asleep.

I watched the clock. 4 minutes 30 seconds
to go. The second hand was paretically moving through molasses. 4
minutes, 25 seconds.

I had to admit that at least my mind was
off of. . . certain other things. My full attention was on the
little red hand, so I didn't focus on much else. 4 minutes, 15
seconds. Maybe I was saving those thoughts for the walk home. 4
minutes, 5 seconds. I suddenly remembered that I hadn't talked to
Kasina at all about yesterday-- Not even about the part where we
had gotten separated. She had to remember that. The only thing
she had mentioned was something about getting punished because of
coming home late. Her parents were very strict about
that sort of thing. Well, actually, they were very strict over
just about everything. But it still didn't make sense
that she hadn't wanted to talk about it. Why hadn't she brought
yesterday up? Did something happen to her, too? No. I was
definatly trying to keep my mind away from those throughts. All I
had to do was stop thinking about it . . .

2 minutes and 30 seconds. Sheesh, time sure
didn't fly when you were paying attention to it. I
sighed and tuned the teacher back in for a moment. I had to
absorb a little of what he was saying if I wanted to get
a good grade on my homework. It was hard, though, with every
teenager's eye on the door, many with one foot planted in that
direction and hands on the corner of their desks as if to get a
push start. I think the teacher even began to realize that nobody
was listening to him at that point.

"Class," He said in that low,
drawn-out voice, "I know it's almost time to leave,
but-"

Too late. The bell rang. Suddenly
everything was a mess of bodies and loud sounds as everyone dived
for the door at once. The teacher vainly tried to shout homework
directions over the racket, but for once, I wasn't listening to
closely. My chair was in the front row and second
closest to the door, so I got out before a lot of others. This
was one day that I just wanted to get home.

I stepped quickly, hoping to get to the
front of the building before most of the crowds. No luck there.
My last class happened to be pretty far back from the entrance,
so once I finally did manage to get to the front, Kasina was
there already.

Without a word between the two of
us,--besides a slight 'hey' from Kasina and an answering smile
from me--we started on our way. That wasn't too unusual, though.
We went without talking sometimes, usually when Kasina had failed
a test. Or she was concentrating on some guy. Or if one of us had
something huge on our minds. Or all of it at once.

We had started across the grass--The kids
really weren't supposed to go over it, but everybody used it as a
shortcut anyway-- when Kasina suddenly stopped and half turned,
raising one eyebrow.

"Hey, Seidi, look-- It's Tysoni."


Sure enough, there was that new kid,
standing on the steps and looking for all the world like a puppy
who'd lost it's owner. I shrugged my shoulders.

"Yeah, so what?" I asked, a
little impatient to be going.

Kasina didn't answer and started walking
back the way we had come.

"Kasina!" I protested, spinning
around and trying to catch up with her, "What are you
doing?"

She gave me a little half smile, her
"I-have-something-up-my-sleeve" look. "I'm gonna
ask him if he wants to walk me home."

I groaned. Of all the days! "Why? It's
not like you haven't got three dozen other admirers,
anyway."

She smirked at me. "Yeah, I know, but
I gotta keep in practice."

We had reached the steps by then. At that
point, I gave up and leaned against the rail, shaking my head. It
wasn't that I was offended; Kasina had done stuff like this
before-- I was usually lucky if I could get her to walk home without
her fanclub-- it was just that I didn't want it to be that
guy. I knew he would ask me about the other day, and I knew
that I didn't want to be reminded of anything that had happened
the day before. I was developing a theory that if I just forgot
about everything-- The armor, the power, all of it-- then it
would eventually go away. I wanted it to go away. I wanted it all
to be a dream, and Tysoni was a powerful reminder that all of it
just might not be.

Kasina went on up to talk with Tysoni. . .
and a few other boys, while she was at it. Before I could blink
she had half a dozen guys collected around her, all wanting to
walk her home. To my surprise, she actually ignored most of
them-- and talked strait to Tysoni. He seemed uninterested until
he saw me. I froze when his eyes caught mine. Then, not wanting
to seem like an idiot, I flashed my teeth at him and gave a
small, jerky wave. Which probably made me out to look even more
the idiot. Suddenly he was all too willing to go with Kasina.
Then, with a small triumphant smile and a flicker of her
eyelashes that broke every one of those male hearts, Kasina
strutted back down the steps to me, Tysoni in tow. At that point
I had so many questions to ask, and none of which I could ask in
front of Tysoni. So, with me on one side, Tysoni on the other and
Kasina right in the middle, we finally started to make our way
home.

Kasina made the most talk, of course.
Mostly to Tysoni. He answered politely but didn't really make any
inquiries of his own. I remained silent.

"Oh, you live in that house by the
lake?" Kasina said at one point, surprise in her tone.
"I didn't know anyone lived there!"

"Oh, the property belongs to my
mother," Tysoni answered, unabashed. "Actually, we used
to live there-- up until I was about five. We just moved back
in."

I suddenly grew interested. "You were
five?" I asked, my first words since a simple 'hello'. It
wasn't much of a coincedence, him being five at the time he moved
and me being five when my mom had died, but it was something.
"Why'd you leave?"

Sanada Tysoni looked down, as if
embarassed. "My father . . . disappeared . . . near
there." From what I could see of his eyes, they seemed
harder, with a determination not to let his own words touch him.
"We tried to just go on with our lives, but everything just
reminded us of him. So one day my mother just packed up, took me
and my sister and left." He fell silent.

". . . Oh." I muttered, not sure
what else to say. I had plenty that I wanted to say, I just
couldn't seem to fit the words to my mouth. Had his father died?
Or had he walked out on them? I didn't want to seem rude, so I
didn't voice my inquiries, yet I thought about them all the same.
I even considered telling him about my own mother's death, from
when I had been five years old. But then I figured that silence
was better just then. We all stayed quiet for a while after that.


"Why did you guys move back?"
Kasina asked finally, breaking the silence. "I mean, if you
want to tell us."

Tysoni shrugged uncomfortably. "It
isn't a big deal, really. What happened, happened a long time
ago. We moved back because the lease on our old house had run
out. The house was my mother's property originally, and she had
just never gotten around to selling it." He cut off as if he
was about to say more, but didn't.

I had been surprised that he hadn't asked
me that question yet. He had stayed pretty clear of the
whole topic, actually. So maybe he had even forgotten about it.
Or maybe he didn't want me to think he was crazy. I wouldn't have
thought he was, of course-- Because I knew that if anyone was
crazy, it had to be me. After all, I had been the one that--

No! My own mind stopped that last
thought from going further. I refuse to think about that now.



**********



<Tysoni>



* *********



So there I was, walking within three feet
of her, and I couldn't even speak up about what had been
bothering me for so long. I wasn't sure what was stopping me,
really. Maybe it was Kasina's presence. Maybe it was that I still
had doubts. Maybe it was just that I didn't want to deal with the
guilt of bring her into this. Or maybe it was something else
entirely.

Why? I asked silently, the only
outside sound being that of our three footsteps and the
occasional conversation of a passerby.

<All of the above, of course.>


I was so startled that I froze in mid step,
one foot poised above the other. I certainly hadn't expected an
answer.

"Tysoni?" Kasina asked, raising
one eyebrow.

It took extreme willpower to keep my head
held high and to continue walking as if nothing had happened.
"Sorry. Just. . ." I scrambled through my brain,
"Remembered something."

"Oh." She said, looking at me as
if to tell me to continue, or maybe that she thought I was
stupid, but she was too polite to ask. When I didn't answer, she
sighed and went back to looking strait ahead.

Hello? I asked in my head. Hello?
Are you really there? It had been lucky that she'd asked me
to come with her. Lucky that Seidi happened to be there as well.
It was lucky, also, that none of the other guys had decided to go
with us as well. Lucky. Yeah, right. I wasn't even about to think
about what had put us three in this position, if it wasn't luck.

<Of course I am. Don't be an
idiot.>

I thought that was uncalled for. Where
were you? Stupid question to ask, maybe, but it had been the
first thing to pop up.

There was a small pause of silence. Then,
<It wouldn't mean anything to you. I'm communicating with you
now to warn you.>

Warn me?! Heaven knew what that
could mean! I didn't want to be warned of anything! All I
wanted was one walk home where nothing supernatural happened! Warn
me about what?!

<No need to yell.> The
little voice complained, with a hint of annoyance. <I have
saved your life, after all.>

With some effort, I managed to calm down. Warn
me about what? I asked more calmly. My eyes were locked on
the sidewalk ahead of me.

<Thank you. Now, was that so->


Just tell me! I inturupted, the
thought exploding inside my mind before I could stop it.

There was a startled pause, then what I
could have sworn to be grumbling. <You're going to be
attacked.>

Oh, great. I thought
sarcastically. Thanks for the warning. I mean, it really
helps.

<It should,> The voice
muttered defensively, <Maybe this time you'll be a little
more prepared.>

I'm not so sure what happened just then.
Something inside me just snapped. Look, I muttered, my
thought growing more an more powerful by the word, I don't
want to be prepared. I don't want to have to be warned. I don't
want this power. I don't want any of it! Most of all, I WANT YOU
TO LEAVE ME ALONE!

"Tysoni?" Came Seidi's quiet
voice. The sudden change from mind-talk to real speech surprised
me for a moment. I looked up, catching her worried gaze.
"Something wrong?"

"No." I muttered quickly, placing
my angry gaze back on the road in front of me.
"Nothing."

I could still feel her watching me
worriedly. Silence from my mind. I began to think that maybe I
had actually scared it off. I felt a small pang of guilt at that;
I hadn't meant to yell at it, after all. And I did still have
questions, despite everything.

Then all my nice, probable reasoning went
flying out the window as I heard words in my mind once again.

<Are you ready to listen, now?> Came
the words, a strange hesitance to them.

I didn't answer it right away. My thoughts
were jumbled. An attack? Where? When? How? And most importantly,
why? Why me?

<Please.> That startled me.
I didn't think that the forceful voice even knew how to beg. <Please.
You have to listen to me. You'll die. All of you. Please.>


Just like that, she had found my weak spot.
My own death, I could handle. Well. . . maybe not as if it were
no big deal, but you get the point. I could handle ignoring this
little insane voice for the rest of my life, no matter how long
it might turn out to be. But at the thought of my own
stubbornness hurting others. . .

All right. I gave up. What could
it hurt to just listen? You've got my attention.

The voice certainly didn't try to beat
around the bush, at least. <Very soon you will be
attacked, much like yesterday. You know how to call on Wildfire
now, and you are going to need it. All of you. Also, know that a
lot of truths will be revealed unto you that have been hidden
thus far.>

Are you trying to make me even more
confused? I demanded, that irrational anger building up
again. Are you trying to talk in riddles or something?

<Anything clearer is forbidden,> It
stated simply.

Forbidden? By who? Another annoying
voice? I might have been being unfair. I didn't care. Right
then, I was striking out at anything and everything.

<Actually. . .> The voice
began, amusement in the tone, <That's a very close
guess.>

Great. Well, there wasn't really
much else to say to that, now was there?






**********



Auth or's Notes: Okay,
I continually make a point to give comments at the end of the
chapters. Don't you all just love cliffhangers? *Grins*
It's an author's way of playing around, I think. And yes, I know
I said that it'd take a while to get chapter six out, but. . . I
don't suppose that too many of you are disapointed. *Winks*

I really hope that everyone is liking this
so far. I've been stuck at that point up there--Yeah, right up
there, the end of the chapter-- for a while now and I figured
that I might as well send out what I have. So now I have nothing
to go on with . . . *Sighs* Oh, yeah, almost forgot. Feel free to
review! *Winks* you people ought to know me well enough by now to
know that I always say that. :)