Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ The New Game ❯ Chapter Six ( Chapter 6 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Chapter
Seven< br>


**********



<Kasina>



* *********



What was wrong with those two? Seidi, as
anxious as I've ever seen her to just get home, and Tysoni, eyes
locked strait ahead, with an expression that almost made him look
like he was talking to himself. Both were as silent as stones.
Both had about the same look as stones, also. Oh, not that I
didn't try to start a conversation. Not that I didn't try many
times to start a conversation. It was just that, while both
my companions were quite happy to let me chatter on as I liked,
neither would offer more then a spare word, unless asked
directly. So we walked in silence. I was beyond regretting asking
Tysoni to come with us. If he hadn't come, then maybe Seidi
would've been more talkative. Maybe. He seemed to make her
nervous, somehow.

Me, I just wanted to get home. My sole
comfort was that there were other people on the streets.
We weren't completely alone like we had been yesterday. So, even
while we didn't talk, there were other sounds all around us. We
passed a vendor, selling fruits of some sort, and a customer was
counting out cash to pay the man. People stood outside on the
sidewalk, talking, some laughing, old friends meeting up or new
friends just met. And there wasn't that . . . Erie . . . feeling
that had been there before. No, it was just three kids walking
home from school on a somewhat busy street. So why the heck was
Seidi so silent and withdrawn, while Tysoni seemed angry, almost?
Why?

That was when a woman screamed.

We all jerked at the sound, staring at a
black-haired woman about three blocks down from us. She was
transfixed on something out on my sight, her eyes down the street
she must have come up from. She screamed again, pressing both
hands to her face and walking backwards. Suddenly she was joined
by someone else, screaming at the top of their lungs. And that
wasn't even when all Hell broke loose.

Green, armored soldiers came dashing around
the corner. They all were identical to each other--Except for the
weapons--like the day before. They ran forward, one almost
offhandedly slamming the flat of his blade against the first
screaming woman. She went down like a sack full of rocks. More
people began to scream, men yelling for explanations and just
beginning a general uproar. I think they all felt that impending
sense of dread, just then, an unexplainable sense of nearly
overwhelming fear. The green warriors ran still, some breaking
off to attack the citizens as they passed. That was
about the time all Hell really broke loose.

"Get down!" Tysoni
thundered, slamming into me and Seidi both and knocking us face
first to the ground. Then I realized what we were ducking from.
The ground . . . trembled; there wasn't really any other word for
it-- Trembled, and suddenly a great crash filled the air, so
forceful it rattled my teeth. A roar started up and kept going,
the roar growing louder and louder, and something slammed into my
back. It felt like an entire building had fallen onto me. Too
late, perhaps, I covered my head with both hands, feeling tiny,
sharp somethings hitting everywhere. Slowly, so slowly,
the roar faded away, and the sharp falling objects stopped.
Everything became so . . .silent, very abruptly. So deathly
silent.

Cautiously, I pulled my hands from over my
head and moved them in front of me. I laboriously pushed myself
up; it seemed like every muscle in my body had to strain. I
pushed myself up a ways but stopped, because something was
jutting into my back and keeping me from rising further.
Coughing, I tried to look around. There was dust everywhere. What
had . . .?

I twisted around slightly and my eyes
widened. No wonder it had felt like a building had slammed into
my back. Fallen debris was all over, dust not even beginning to
settle. The huge building that had been behind us was
now gone. Gone. Just like that. A slight blackened space was all
that was left, besides pieces of concrete--what must have been
the walls--scattered aimlessly. Some pieces were big, and some
small, but a fairly substantial piece was on me, it's jagged edge
starting on my mid-back and ending some few yards away. My legs
were trapped under the piece, but that didn't stop me-- I gritted
my teeth and then pulled myself forward. The rest of my body came
out slowly, but it did come out. I hurt all over, but nothing
felt broken; I twisted my legs around to where they were in front
of me and stopped moving, just to breathe.

Ooww. . .

I heard coughing to my right and my head
snapped over that way. My eyes widened. Tysoni was helping Seidi
try to stand up--How had they gotten so far away?--and she was
nearly doubled over in a coughing fit, but that wasn't what
started amazement--And disbelief--on my face. Covering her body
was a white and blue armor, mostly white.

It was subarmor. I was sure of it. What was
more, Tysoni had one too, except red in spots where Seidi's was
blue.

<Don't act so surprised.> The
Voice, that strange, somehow friendly voice that had saved my
life before, spoke as if it were no big deal. <You have
one as well, you know.>

With a start I stared down at myself, to
find that it was true; white and green subarmor covered my own
body, though I didn't remember calling it. I was pretty sure that
I hadn't had time to call on it, actually.

Did you do that? I asked, not even
surprised--or scared--that The Voice was back.

<In a way, yes.> Then there
was silence.

"Kasina?" Seidi asked, a note of
astonishment in her tone. I whipped my head up and hurriedly
stood, dusting myself off. Both she and Tysoni were staring at me
with wonder. I couldn't stop staring at them, either--There were
others like me? Or did everyone in the world have an armor?

<Of course not.> The Voice
chided gently. <There are only five.>

There are only five, I began to
ask, still staring at Tysoni and Seidi, And we just happen
to be three of us, together?

Tysoni cleared his throat, then, taking a
step toward me. Seidi followed suit almost numbly, watching me
with worried eyes.

"Are you alright?" She asked,
before anything else could be said.

I nodded, then turned to Tysoni. "How.
. .?" I asked, or started to ask, though I wasn't so sure
what question I was asking.

Tysoni shook his head, in any case. "I
don't know. Believe me, I wish that I did, but I don't. Um, what
are you? Your armor, I mean."

I opened my mouth, then closed it. Then I
opened it again. "I'm . . . Halo, I'm pretty sure. Yeah.
Halo." Usually I wasn't so speechless. Then again, usually I
didn't get attacked by green armored freaks, then have a building
fall on top of me. Then get up to find that the only living
people near you is your best friend and a guy you barely know. .
. That everyone else might have . . . might have . . .

Tysoni nodded slowly, as if everything was
making perfect sense. He half turned to Seidi. "And you're
Torrent."

Seidi winced, for some strange reason, then
said, "Yes." She paused, and her eyes narrowed
ever-so-slightly. Not angry, just as if she was trying to figure
something out. "And you're Wildfire?"

"Yeah." And then they both nodded
at each other as if everything was to be expected! What was going
on? What was. . .? I wondered at the calm I felt, that inhuman
cool as my head turned to check the area around me. The dust was
almost like a heavy fog, blanketing everything in grey, making it
hard for the eye to make out far away detail. There was no sign
of life, but that didn't mean. . . I was so calm, but there was a
ball of something fairly uncomfortable writhing and twisting
inside me.

Tysoni must have caught onto my worry.
"It's alright. They're gone, all of them-- the people, the
soldiers, everyone. It's like we've been abandoned."

Seidi shook her head, a miserable
expression on her face. "No. It's like we're the only ones
who lived through this." She met my eyes, and I could see
fear in hers. Perhaps she didn't get that coolness that I seemed
to feel. "I don't think anyone else lived through
that." Her hushed tone made the words all that more
horrifying.

"You mean. . .?" I began, eyes
widening, not able to finish. The thought, that horrible thought
that all those people had just--

"I think our powers saved us,
somehow," Tysoni said, gently. Helpfully. "Like they
softened the hit." I nodded in response, lost in my
thoughts. The question was, how? There were no bodies,
no blood. Like all those people had just. . . disappeared.

This was unreal. How can we be so calm
about this, as if it happened every day? How could we talk so
normally? What was going on? People had died here. All
three of us were standing around in subarmors. Some sort
of freaky power that had, apparently, picked us out, we wore as
subarmor, a way to fight. Something had attacked us again,
and now, we were standing lost and abandoned in. . .

The darkness. A trickle of fear
pushed it's way through my conscious, weaving through the mask of
calm. The darkness . . .

Again.



**********



<Jaso n>



**********

So we were walking home again, the two of
us. And Teren was as silent as a stone. So completely unlike him.
I was worried about him, but what nagged me was that he wouldn't
talk about it. Period. Absolutely no conversation at all. And all
I had to keep me busy were my own guesses on what could possibly
be bothering my friend.

See, when Teren wanted to be stubborn, it
simply was not possible to change his mind. So I didn't bother
with trying to ask him about . . . whatever it was . . . again.
He had very flatly stated that he wasn't willing to talk about
it. He was tense, also, his every step somehow stiff. As if he
was waiting for something. But what was that something? No sense
in believing that he'd ever actually tell me.

"So, what are you doing this
weekend?" I asked, mostly to break the uncomfortable
silence.

He shrugged, uneasy still. "Nothing
much." And resumed his stony attitude.

I opened my mouth to tell him to get over
it--I mean, if he wasn't going to talk, that was fine, but he
didn't have to sulk like that-- I opened my mouth, and had my
words drowned out as a roar suddenly filled the area.

Both our head jerked up in the sudden wind,
and Teren's mouth suddenly moved, even though the words were
swallowed up. The wind--more like a gale, actually-- whipped my
hair everywhere, and I stumbled back a few paces.

Teren's hand clamped onto my arm, dragging
me away with a strength I didn't know he possessed. The roar was
more of a wail, now, ripping away all other sound and thought
alike. For a moment, Teren's grip loosened.

Then something slammed into me from behind,
and my already blurred vision went dark.



**********



<Seidi>


**********



"I started having these dreams since I
was a kid," Tysoni said conversationally, his armored
footsteps crunching on dirt and gravel as they walked. I walked
right by his side, Kasina trailing a bit behind, eyes on the
ground. I wasn't so sure what was going through my head just
then, I was only vaguely aware of being numb with shock.

"I didn't know where they came
from--" He continued, "Still don't, actually. Anyway,
at first it was just this huge cavern of fire, or something, and
I was in the center of it all, just trapped. Then, later on, a
voice started coming in, saying I had to find somebody. Or a few
somebodies. You two are part of what I had to find."

"A part?" I asked, looking up.
"What do you mean? Who else?"

"So far, we have Torrent, Halo, and
Wildfire." He glanced down suddenly, half-biting his lip.
"There are others. . . but I don't know who they are."
He glanced at me as if to ask if I was following this. I only
nodded numbly. "I have no idea of where they might be or
even if they exist. Or even how many there are. But. . . you two
were found. I can only hope. . ." His voice trailed off as
his head raised, a strange look coming into his eyes.

"There are five of us." Kasina
mumbled, head still down. Both Tysoni's and my gazes snapped to
the blond-haired girl, surprised.

Kasina only shrugged uncomfortably under
our scrutinizing stares. "Don't ask. But it is true,
alright?" Tysoni hesitated before nodding, and after a
moment I followed suit. Didn't mean that I wasn't going to ask
her about it later, though.

What to do? We had been walking for almost
ten strait minutes, and everything seemed abandoned. There was no
sign of life anywhere, and that strange, thick fog that
surrounded us-- and blocked anything more then 30 feet away from
view-- gave off the impression that we were only going in
circles.

"So what now?" Kasina asked
quietly. I snuck a glance back at her and she gave me a small,
wary smile, but a smile, none the less.

Tysoni shrugged in response. "Dunno. I
guess we just keep moving. . . and see what's up ahead."

Finding the strength to ask the question
that was on all of our minds just then, I said, "What if
we're attacked?"

That had been the first thing that had been
discussed among the three of us, actually. It turned out that
every one of us had been attacked already, by a different enemy.
I had no idea who 'Orian' or 'Sahlmezera' were, but both names
brought on a chill in me. I had given my account of being
attacked reluctantly, having to drag each word out. I still
hadn't completely gotten over somehow being hung out in black
chains like some freaked-out ornament.

Tysoni hesitated before answering my
question. "We deal with it as best we can. Obviously, they
aren't gonna kill us yet, or else they would have already."

"Are you sure?" Kasina asked with
a raised eyebrow. "Maybe they're just trying to bait us, to
draw us deeper into danger." Tysoni lips tightened in
response and he said nothing.

I knew that it wasn't fair. We were
bombarding Tysoni with questions, questions that he probably knew
the answer to no better then we did. And we simply fell behind
his decisions, forced him to take the lead, as if he had more
experience. There was an. . . aura. . . about him, though, that
made you just want to look up to him no matter what. He was
leading because neither I nor Kasina could have, or at least,
that was what I wanted to believe. But maybe he lead simply
because that was what he was-- A born leader.

An ice-cold chill suddenly blew past me, a
freezing breeze that I felt even through the subarmor. I tensed
and froze, eyes going wide. Every hair on my body seemed to
suddenly stand on end as if by static electricity, a tingle
flowing over my skin just behind the cold.

I knew that feeling. That was what I had
felt the day before, when we had been attacked.

"Seidi!" Tysoni said as he
grabbed my arm, apparently speaking for the second time. The
pressure on my forearm brought me out of my reverie. I hadn't
realized that I'd stopped walking. . .

"Seidi, what's wrong?" Kasina
asked, worried, her hand coming up to rest on my shoulder.

"I . . ." I swallowed and took a
deep breath. "I felt something." Tysoni looked into my
gaze, uncomprehending. "I mean. . . like a chill. I've felt
it before, I think." The next words were the hardest to get
out. "I think it acts like a warning."

Tysoni's eyes went blank suddenly, as if
looking inside. I could have sworn his lips moved, almost as if
he was talking to someone. I blinked, and saw Kasina looking at
him strangely as well. Abruptly he snapped out of it, letting go
of my arm and taking a step back at once.

"Yeah," he muttered slightly,
"Yeah. A warning. We've got to--"

Whatever he was going to say was cut off as
three spears came hurtling toward us out of the fog, each one
perfectly aimed for our hearts.



**********



<Teren>



**********



I bit back a curse as a dozen green-armored
soldiers moved forward. I stood protectively in front of Jason;
he was sprawled out behind me, a trickle of blood flowing out
from underneath his head. One of those green freaks had hit him
with a staff before I could stop it. Now, they were coming for
me, lime-green gems for eyes watching me.

I was in my subarmor. Hardrock, that lady
had called it. I had no idea how it had gotten there, nor did I
care, because it was making the soldiers hesitate, it was making
them stop from just diving strait for me and my best friend. I
could feel the armor's power residing within me, a lapping pool
of earth that was begging to be used. There was this overwhelming
urge to do something with it, but I had no idea what.
And this time, there were no female voices in my head to help me
out.

Experimentally, one soldier moved ahead of
the others, throwing out it's staff in a wide arch that would
take off my head if it connected.

I reacted.

My fist shot out and blocked it, while my
other hand grabbed the green wood just behind the metal of the
blade. I jerked, and the staff came to me easily, at the same
time the soldier was pulled forward and flew over-head, slamming
upside-down against the wall behind me. All had taken less effort
then it took me to open the refrigerator door.

Well. Now I had a weapon.

The others moved forward then, even more
cautiously then before. Two exchanged glances, then two spears
came flying at me; one for my head, the other for my heart.

Again, something inside me reacted.

I swung the staff in front of me as I
stepped out of the way of one attack, blocking the other with the
stolen weapon. Metal met wood. Metal was deflected by wood. No.
The staff was my weapon. It was my defense.
Instincts--I could only call them that-- that seemed to come
strait from the armor flowed through me, powering me, as if I was
some sort of samurai strait from a fairy tale. The armor knew
what it was doing, even if I didn't.

I spun the staff and expertly jabbed it
forward. The blade bit into armor and sliced through it, a slash
that went diagonal from left waist to right shoulder. The soldier
fell, but instead of blood leaking out, smoke hissed through the
hole, leaving behind an armored shell. I stared at it for a
moment, but only for a moment, as the other soldiers quickly
became alive again.

Metal clanged against metal as I forced
back one green-clad tin can. Another came at me by my shoulder; I
twisted the staff around in mid-stroke and gripped it firmly,
held backwards. . . the charging soldier impaled itself on the
blade, then slid off with a sigh. More green smoke escaped from
the fallen soldier.

A spear came, aimed for my head, and I
knocked it away with my forearm while at the same time kicking
out with my leg. My foot connected with a crunch, a dent suddenly
appearing there, and the green warriors flew backwards into one
of it's comrades. A tearing was heard and I blinked as a spear
head appeared in it's chest. Apparently it had fallen onto it's
fellow soldier's blade. . .



**********



<Tysoni>



**********



Once again, I moved almost unconsciously,
ramming into the two girls and sending us all for the ground. The
spear heads flew on, unconcerned as they landed with a solid
THUNK into a wall of cement, somehow left standing in the fallen
debris. They landed and sunk through all the way to the end of
the blade.

I shuddered. Those things would have
just gone through us and kept moving . . .

<Yes, they would have,> the
voice informed me. <That is not normal steel.>

You got that right.

"Wildfire." My head came up with
a jerk, and I quickly scrambled off Seidi and Kasina and stood.
Then I helped them up. Seidi's eyes were wide with barely
suppressed fear; from that expression I was surprised that she
wasn't trembling. Kasina simply looked around, studying the
surroundings for the voice. She might have been scared, but
determination held her strong, by the set of her jaw. Neither
said a single word.

"Halo." Kasina jerked, her mask
of calmness cracking in two before she could breathe again.

And then, "Torrent." Seidi bit
her lip just under hard enough to draw blood. Her eyes
shook, but suddenly, she seemed to stand straighter, taller, her
chin lifting, even as she obviously was working to repress the
fear and could it be. . . sadness? The act was only broken by the
way her arms wrapped around herself.

"It's okay," I began, then
stopped. No, it wasn't okay. How was this "okay?" And
Seidi had shaken her head anyway.

"It's Tighdes," She mumbled, her
arms tightening around her slim form. "I know it. I know
that voice."

Kasina opened her mouth, but whatever she
was going to say was lost as the menacing voice from the shadows
spoke again.

"Very perceptive, Torrent," It
said. He said.

<Very perceptive,>
the voice in my mind murmured appreciatively. <She caught
on even though he had taken pains to keep his identity secret. Very
perceptive.>

I barely listened because Tighdes was
speaking again, and this time his voice seemed . . . closer.

"Well. I suppose I might as well come
out?" But it wasn't really a question.

"Our right!" Kasina hissed, even
as her head swung that way. I followed her gaze. Sure enough, a
man was walking toward us. He might as well have been strolling
through the park, by the leisure of his walk, yet at the same
time. . . He moved with a grace that was dazzling, and somehow,
just somehow, he looked like he could have that bow on his side
up and aimed, with an arrow nocked and ready to let fly before
you could blink, and be loosening a third by the time you thought
to dodge. A very dangerous man, and I didn't have any questions
about whether or not we'd win a fight with him.

If we didn't get out of there now, we
were dead. Simple as that.

**********



<Teren>


**********





Kay. Five down, seven to go. Just
wonderful. This whole thing is just nuts!

But, hey, whatever was helping me fight was
working, so I sure didn't knock it. The staff spun in my hands
once more, and I thrust with it, grimacing as it sliced off a
green-armored head. But again, there was no blood, not even a
body. Just. . . smoke.

The others were moving faster now, growing
more frantic as I slowly and methodically worked to cut down
their numbers. The remaining six all dived at me at once, and my
mind went blank. At the last possible moment I twisted out of the
way, the force of my dodge sending me flying to the pavement and
rolling.

I pushed myself up, slowly, head ringing. I
winced at a pain in my side-- One of the spears had gotten
through after all. I could feel the jagged slash running vertical
from just below my rib cage to my waist, even if I couldn't seem
to see it under the armor. Where the bleeding gash should have
been, there was only a faint line of light in the subarmor.

That didn't mean that it didn't hurt,
though.

The green, smoke-filled soldiers just
turned and came for me again, never mind that one of their
buddies was down from the head-to-head clash. I pushed myself to
my feet with a groan, one hand going instinctively to my side. I knew
that there should have been blood, but. . .

Blocking an in coming spear with my
wrist--I had lost the other weapon in the fall-- I told myself
that I just didn't want to know. Whatever weird quirks this armor
might have. . . well, it had kept me alive so far.

I grabbed the spear after the second jab,
twisting and yanking it in the same fashion that I had with the
very first time. The soldier went flying, stubbornly hanging onto
its weapon all the way. It slammed head first into a building and
went still, the metal helmet suddenly flattened to half its size.
I shuddered to think about what that would have done to a human
head.

The rest kept coming. It was as if they
didn't care that their partners had gone down, as if they
couldn't see the fact that I had already dealt with more then
half their number. They simply kept blindly moving forward, bent
on a task they could not accomplish.

Then again, the wound in my side was
weakening me. I kicked one of them in the chest, sending it back
a few steps, but the kick wasn't as forceful as before. I grit my
teeth at the flares of pain it caused, too. Another swung it's
spear, but I grabbed the thing out of midair, fighting back. But
a weakness in the automatic-reactions was becoming very apparent
to me.

Every time a soldier attacked on my left
side, the armor would react by using my left side. And
every time that happened, it would cause more pain, making me
pause and breathe as I forced the feeling down. Sometimes, the
first reaction the armor gave me was not the best thing to
actually do. And unless I learned how to control it, fast, I
could very well kill myself from aggravating the wound too much.

Yeah. Life is wonderful.

I managed to keep fighting until only two
were left, but already my vision was blurring and I was just
focusing on standing up. I remembered, vaguely, the day before
when my wound had magically healed itself and nearly disappeared.
Not so today. I wasn't so sure I could defeat these two soldiers
before they killed me. The pain--And the loss of blood; though
there didn't seem to be any red-- was making me stumble.

Wishing that the voice was there, as
annoying as it was, I began to take on what I figured was a
fighting stance, and faced the last two soldiers . . .

. . . Watched as a strange light suddenly
swept through the area, as well as a strange sound that I
couldn't even begin to recognize--. . . a bell. . .?-- filled the
air, like a stereo on full blast, yet it didn't hurt my ears at
all . . .

. . . And blinked as both the Tin Cans
seemed to freeze in their tracks, weapons dropping from unmoving
fingers. Then they both simply toppled over.

Finally, <Hello,> A strange
voice in my head spoke up. . .



**********



<Kasina>



**********



"What do you want?" I demanded of
the man, the strange, dangerously graceful man.

He only shook his head in response.
"You have no idea what your armors are, do you?" His
eyes narrowed and his hand traveled to his bow, casually plucking
it from it's holder on his side. "Look at you. Subarmor. You
three untrained children use not even a tenth of
the power that was given, freely, to you!" A bow appeared in
his hand, but he only knocked it, then pointed his bow toward the
ground. Leisurely. He had plenty of time until he had to get
around to killing us, and he knew it.

Tysoni was between Seidi and me, a mere
step ahead of the both of us. Barely enough to be referred to as
'in front.' Yet neither Seidi nor myself would take the smallest
step in front of him unless he told us to. It was something
almost instinct in me, a reaction that was ingrained so deep that
I barely noticed it. But there was no question over who lead us.

"You didn't kill us before," the
red-and-white-clad high schooler said simply. Tysoni almost
seemed at ease, as well-- Perhaps unconsciously copying the older
man's attitude.

"True." Tighdes stopped his walk,
not fifteen feet in front of us, and stayed there, studying our
faces. "But the rules have changed. I could kill you,"
He gestured with the bow, "Anytime I feel like it." A
cruel smile flashed across those lips. "Try to dodge an
arrow the way you dodged those spears." Then he raised the
bow, pointing it at Seidi. "The small one, first?" he
asked, yet again, it wasn't a question.

Tysoni moved faster then the man could
react. I half-expected him to dive in front of my best friend--
for a moment, his gaze had landed on her, looking agonizingly
torn-- and apparently Tighdes did as well.

But he didn't.

Tysoni dove forward, so quickly,
before either of us could realize his intent and stop him; he
dove forward, and smack into Tighdes. A cry from Seidi
accompanied the crash that resounded when both armor bearers hit
cement.

I took a step forward without thinking, and
saw Seidi mirror my movement.

"Get away!" Tysoni shouted,
before Tighdes pushed up with both hands and sent Tysoni flying
off him. He hit the wall of a nearby building and fell to the
ground, going still. The action, it seemed, had taken no more
effort from the dark-armored man then flicking a fly away.

My eyes burned as I turned back to the
evil. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Seidi, acting like she
would run over to Tysoni no matter what would happen. My hand
shot out and grabbed her, stopping her before she could move. She
turned angry eyes at me, opening her mouth, but I cut her off.

"No! Seidi." It took every ounce
of will I had to say the next words. "I want you to go. Like
he said. Run. Maybe. . ." I didn't give detail. One of us
would live from this, and it probably wasn't me. Besides, I had
more talent in the fighting area then she did.

"Yes. . " Tighdes got out,
pushing himself up from the pavement with a cough. Hmm. Maybe
Tysoni's mad attack had hurt him more then we had thought. . .
"Yes. Run. I can always find you later. . " He broke
off in another cough.

Seidi only looked at me. "No."
Her other hand came up to clasp my arm, much the same as I had
grabbed her. "I'm with you, whether we die or live." I
could see fear in her eyes, but more then that, there was
something stronger. . . fondness? No. Friendship. A friendship
that was deeper and stronger then I had expected. My eyes stung
again, but happier tears did it.

"Fine, then." Tighdes stood up,
his menacing armor clanking. "Die all at once, idiots! Like
your friend will!" His bow rose again . . .

And a sudden ringing noise made him pause,
the blind fury in his eye fading slightly. A light filled the
area, growing brighter, larger, stronger. . .

With a howl of pure frustration, Tighdes
stepped back, flinging both arms in front of his eyes, as if the
light hurt him. It seemed brighter then the sun, somehow, yet. .
. I could see fine, and it didn't hurt my eyes at all. All it
seemed to do to me was strengthen that rock-solid calm.

I glanced at Seidi again. Her eyes were
filled with a kind of wonder, snapping every which way to see
where the light was coming from.

Then, a figure emerged from behind a
building, carrying a golden staff that seemed taller then the
figure itself was. Rings moved on their own at the top of it, the
source of the ringing sound. Yet. . . despite the fact that the
staff, the golden, strangely familiar staff had to be
the source of the brightness, the light seemed no more powerful
around the object then anywhere else. A physical impossibility,
of course, but still.

"Tighdes." The figure spoke up, a
female voice. Now that I looked closer, actually, I could see
that the figure was, in fact, female. I frowned. That voice. . .
I couldn't place it, but I knew that I had heard it before. A
sneaking suspicion nagged at me in the back of my mind, but I
couldn't place it even then.

"You can't!" Tighdes yelled, arms
still protectively in front of his eyes. Blinking, I considered, is
it possibly that this light hurts evil in some way?

"I can," She stated, serenity
unruffled. "I simply cannot train them. And what of you,
Tighdes? Attacking them when you were only to watch! I send you
back, for Pren to deal with."

"N-!" Tighdes began, but then he
just. . . disappeared, not there in the instant between a blink.

The light slowly faded away, until simple
daylight remained. The unnatural fog had even been banished!

The mysterious woman turned to us, and
smiled. Her clothing was as strange as she was, an almost ancient
style that didn't fit at all with the modern buildings.

"Come." Very simply stated, yet
no argument was allowed. "Follow me, and I will answer your
questions."

"Wait!" Seidi called, urgency in
her tone. "What about Tysoni?"

The women looked at him then, lying still
and unconscious-- hopefully, anyway-- on the far sidewalk.

"Bring him."

Seidi and I exchanged glances, hers looking
more then worried. I opened my mouth to ask how we were supposed
to do that, when the Lady turned away from us. A large, circular
light appeared to her left abruptly, and it was bizarre, the way
it twisted and turned in the center, like a giant swirl,
perfectly contained. Without a word, she turned and walked
through it. Strait into the center.

Seidi's eyes just about popped out of her
head, and after a moment, I remembered to close my mouth. I
sighed then, resigning myself to never understanding and made my
way over to our fallen hero, Tysoni.

"What are you doing?" Seidi
asked, her tone strangely. . . suspicious. I knelt down in front
of him, not answering as I felt his neck for a pulse. I breathed
again when I found one. Good. Alive, just knocked out.

"I'm bringing him," I replied,
grabbing him under his shoulders and lifting a bit. Seidi was
there quicker then I could blink, it seemed, and I held back a
smile.

"I'll help." She stated more then
offered, once more way out of character. Oh, it could have been
the stress of the day, but I knew better.

Between the two of us, we managed to lug
him over to the portal, me muttering under my breath about the
Lady being not being nice enough to form it closer. Then again,
she had saved all of our lives, so my temperament wasn't all that
heated.

Mostly I just felt relieved.

I took a deep breath once we reached the .
. . portal?. . . Or whatever, and set my shoulders. I
walked through it, and into the unknown.



**********



<Teren>



**********



What the heck--?! I demanded of
the all-too-familiar voice, pent up anger and frustration lashing
out before I could stop it.

<Nice to talk to you, as well.> The
Voice replied almost cheerfully, completely ignoring my anger. <Listen.
I need to speak with you, face to face.>

That's a wonderful idea, I
muttered sarcastically in my head, and walking over to check on
my unconscious friend as I did so. I managed to tear my arms away
from my wounded side. Your intellect simply amazes me.

<Be nice,> The Voice chided
me. I grunted, though she probably couldn't hear that. In any
case, she continued.

<You must meet the others like
you.> That brought me up short, hands stopping in their
act to shake awake Jason.

Others. . .? I demanded. There
are others, and you never said. . .?!

<I am telling you now.> So
simple, so calmly, as if she hadn't just announced something that
shook me to the core.

No. I told myself. No. I'm
just hallucinating . . . This is all in my head. Any time now,
I'll just wake up, and it'll ALL be a dream--

<No, it won't.> Again, so
simply said, yet. . . regretfully. Guiltily. <Everything I
tell you, will tell you, is as true as you or me are. I am going
to give you a. . . doorway. . . that I want you to come through.
Alright?>

Can you help my friend? I asked.
He wasn't waking up, no matter how hard shook him. And I didn't
dare take him to a doctor. I mean, what was I supposed to say to
them in excuse? "Um, yeah, we got ambushed by these
dudes in ancient green armor, one of them hit my friend over the
head with a spear, and I don't know if he has a concussion or
what. Huh? The freaks in green armor? Oh, don't worry about it. I
used this 'subarmor' thingy that was given to me by a voice in my
head to fight them off, so they're gone now."

. . . Right.

There was a brief hesitation before the
voice answered me. <Hai. I can.>

Then I'll come wherever you want me to
come.

No answer, and then something sprung up
right beside me, startling me. I jerked and fell down, biting
back an oath as I stared at the twisting, bright. . . doorway.

I was perfectly oval, about as wide as any
normal doorway and only about 6 feet tall. Staring at it
suspiciously for a moment, I wondered if this thing was trap. Had
this voice-thingy saved me just to get to me herself, or. . .
what? No, I knew. She would've just let me be killed
yesterday, or even today. She's worked to hard to keep me alive,
for some strange reason. Still, I felt distrustful.

Telling myself that I was simply mad, or
having a very bad, very long dream I lunged my friend
up, trying to drag him to the swirling "doorway." When
I got close enough, I experimentally stuck out a hand and pushed
through the center of the swirl.

No more resistance then if there had been
air.

I hoisted my friend up again and slowly
stepped through.





**********

Author Notes:
I'm dedicating this chapter to my very good online friend,
Purple. ^_^ Thanks for giving me a great idea for later on in the
story. . .

THIS IS THE LONGEST CHAPTER
OUT SO FAR! ^_______^ Yeah!

Readers: *Blink*

Er, yeah. . . *Sheepish grin*
That's just me. And, yeah, I know a lot of other people have
longer chapters in their stories, but I don't care. My
moment. So there. ^_~

Kay. Next chapter, the Lady
tries to answer most of our young Ronin's questions. Right out of
trouble and into confusion. . .

See ya there. Ja!

----S.S