Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ Warrior Call ❯ Passing The Light ( Chapter 10 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Ronin Warriors
Warrior Call
By Janime
(With help from my other best friend Kyanite)
Part Ten - Passing The Light
**********
"Where's the end to this thing?" asked Kento.
"Complaining isn't going make it come any quicker, Kento," answered Dayus. Kento made a face at the Warlord.
"How long have we been walking?" Casey asked.
"I don't know," said Gwen, "the battery went in my watch."
Jessie sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. She looked at Twyla. "Are you talking to me yet?" Jessie asked. Twyla said nothing. "I guess not."
"If it wasn't for you," said Twyla, "we wouldn't be in this mess."
"Well I'm sorry for being the number one item on the Nether Realm's Christmas List," said Jessie. "By the way, why didn't Michael tell us about me having a lot of power?"
"Knowing you," Twyla said, "you'd use it to your own extent. Maybe that's why he didn't tell us."
Jessie thought about what Twyla had said. Maybe she was right. Maybe Michael didn't want Jessie to use her power yet. But for crying out loud, she was twenty-two and had been Tracking for five years before the fight with Michael. Jessie could understand why Michael didn't tell her when she was sixteen, but after six years, he should have told her by now.
"What are you thinking about, sis?" asked Joana.
"That Michael should have given us a little warning about me," Jessie replied.
"Yeah," said Casey, "then maybe you wouldn't have barbecued us."
"Blame that on Sekhmet."
"What?" Sekhmet looked at Jessie.
"Well, you did say to follow my instincts," she said.
"But what about the second time, Jess?" Twyla asked.
Jessie didn't say anything.
"Blame it on Cale," said Sekhmet.
"Me?" Cale asked. "How'd I get dragged into this?"
"You told her to use the Flare if it was necessary," Sekhmet reminded him.
"Hey, he's right," said Sage, "Twyla, blame Cale."
"Shut up," Cale snapped.
"You're always causing trouble!" Hank yelled at Jessie once. I should've kept my mouth shut, she thought.
The tunnel ended and everyone stared at the wall.
"Aw, man!" whined Kento, "Now we have to walk all the way back!"
"The exercise will do you some good," Dayus muttered. Kayura hit his arm.
"You know," said Twyla glaring at Jessie, "this could've been avoided if someone could Track."
"Don't even start with that again," groaned Jessie.
"I really oughtta shoot you, Jessie," Twyla said.
Jessie held her arms out. "Go right ahead!"
"I don't want to waste the arrows."
"They're unlimited."
Twyla narrowed her eyes at Jessie.
"Not that I'm encouraging you, Twyla," said Cye, "but why don't you?"
"Because she has no aim," Jessie informed him.
The remaining seven armor bearers looked at Twyla. "You can't aim?" Kayura asked.
"Show them, Twy," Jessie taunted. "Use the Arrow Shock Wave. And kill everyone except me."
"No, I won't do that," Twyla said. "But I will use an arrow on you and stick it where the sun don't shine."
"That would hurt," said Kento.
"No thank you, Twyla," Jessie said. "Because I believe that where the sun don't shine on me is exit only."
"Things change," said Twyla.
"Hell no."
"Wait a minute," said Kayura. "Okay, Twyla, I can understand that you're mad at her for not practicing. But now is not the time to start killing each other."
Not the time to start, my butt! Twyla thought. "Who left you in charge?"
"Twyla," said Gwen.
"I'm not taking orders form her!" said Twyla, "Forget it!"
"Twyla, you're starting to act like Rowen," said Sage.
"He's right. You are," said Cye.
Twyla clamped a hand over her mouth. "Sorry, Kayura," she said, her voice muffled.
"It's all right," said Kayura.
"But, you should have more respect for Jessie, Twyla," said Dayus.
"Why?" asked Twyla.
"Whoever wears the Wildfire Armor is the leader of the Ronin Warriors," Cale said.
"Me? Leader?" Jessie asked, "Yeah right. Not me, pal. I take and obey orders." Everyone looked at her. "Let me rephrase that. I take and obey certain orders."
"I'll say," Sekhmet muttered.
White Blaze rubbed his head against Jessie's leg and she scratched the tiger's ears.
How did Ryo manage to put up with this? Jessie asked silently. No wonder his kanji is Virtue. He must have a lot of patience. She looked at Kayura. "Should we start heading back?"
"Yeah, we might as well," Kayura said.
They turned around to leave and tensed. White Blaze moved in front of Jessie, as if to protect her and growled.
"Not again," Joana said.
"This attack thing is getting kinda old," said Casey. "Why don't they try something new inste-AAAAAAAAH!!!"
The others joined Casey's scream as the floor disappeared under their feet and they fell into a dark room.
"You and your big mouth, Casey," said Twyla. "I hope you're happy."
"This isn't exactly what I had in mind," Casey said.
"What did you expect?" asked Sage.
"Can somebody, please, get whoever or whatever it is off my back?" Jessie asked. She sounded like she was having trouble breathing.
"As soon as we get some light," said Dayus. "Kayura. Kayura?" She didn't respond. Dayus ran his hands along the ground and he felt the Ancient's Staff. Continuing, he felt a hand, an arm, a shoulder, and then his beloved wife's face. "She's knocked out," he said. "Okay, roll call. Sekhmet?"
"Semi-conscious," came the painful reply.
"I'll take that as a yes. Cale?" asked Dayus. No response, "Cale?"
"Hold on," Jessie said. She reached out with her left hand, patting the ground, and felt another left hand with a tri-claw. "He's out too."
"How do you know?" Sekhmet asked.
"Because he's the only one with an always ready tri-claw; and he's on top of me," Jessie said, "I'm on my stomach, Cale's back is to mine, and if I'm vertical, he's horizontal. Twyla, shut up."
But Twyla started to laugh despite Jessie's order.
"All right," said Dayus, "Twyla, Sage, Casey, you're awake. Cye?"
"I am, but Joana's not," Cye said.
"Same with Kento, unfortunately," said Gwen.
Kento's out, thought Dayus, I consider that fortunate. "That's everyone then," he said.
"Wait," said Jessie, "White Blaze?" She felt a rough, wet tongue go across her cheek and heard a slight purr. Jessie sighed, "Now that's everyone, Dayus."
"Too bad that the one that can see in the dark is unconscious," said Sekhmet, "and Sage can't call his Armor."
Don't remind me, thought Sage.
They were literally blind as bats in that room. And if they didn't get out of there soon, the Nether Soldiers would find them.
Sage reached out blindly and felt someone's hand.
"Who's touching my hand?" Casey asked nervously.
"Relax, it's me," Sage said. "Give me your other hand."
"Why?"
"Just do it, Casey, and don't argue with me."
Casey managed to find Sage's other hand in the darkness and their fingers interlocked.
"What are you doing?" Casey asked.
"Let's just say I'm going to make you the center of the spotlight," said Sage.
Jessie caught on. "Sage, no! Don't you dare!"
"It's the only way to guarantee we'll get out of this mess," Sage closed his eyes, "Wisdom."
The room was suddenly filled with light and everyone could briefly see their current situation. The light faded and darkness settled over them.
"Jessie," said Sage, "it's okay. We'll be all right."
"No, Sage!" Jessie yelled.
A faint green glow told everyone that he had vanished.
"Damn it!" Jessie cursed. The one guy I wanted to see naked and I don't!
"What happened?" Casey asked.
"Casey," said Twyla, "You like the color green don't you?"
"Yeah, what does that have to do… he didn't."
"He did," said Cye.
"Is he out of his mind?!"
"Try 'was,' Casey," Sekhmet said. "Sage isn't here anymore."
"I'm wearing Halo?" Casey asked still not believing any of it.
"Yep," said Jessie, "and it's amazing how you realized it a lot faster than Twyla."
"Hey, I was unconscious, no thanks to you!" Twyla snapped.
"Shut up!" Dayus shouted. "Casey, see if you can make the sword glow."
"How?" Casey asked. As if in answer, the Halo Sword started to glow and lit up the whole room. Casey stood and looked at the sword, "What is this thing, a light-saber?"
"Call it whatever you want," Twyla said. She stood up and walked over to Jessie and Cale.
"Heal Kayura first, Twy," Jessie said.
"Why?" Twyla asked.
"Because, she's another Healer and we need her conscious anyway. My ribcage can wait."
Twyla sighed and rolled her eyes. She walked over to Dayus and Kayura, and placed her hand on Kayura's head.
"Don't laugh," said Twyla, "By the power invested in me, I heal thee."
"What kind of spell is that?" Dayus asked. Kayura groaned.
"It may not sound like much," said Twyla, "but it works. Doesn't it, Spidey?"
Dayus just looked at her then helped Kayura sit up.
"I'm all right," said Kayura. She looked around the room and saw Casey. "Oh no!"
"Oh yeah," said Jessie.
"I'm amazed that you're still breathing," Sekhmet said, as he walked over to Jessie and Cale. "Twyla, why don't you take care of Kento and Joana."
She did as he suggested. Dayus walked over to Sekhmet and helped him move Cale off of Jessie.
"Thank you," said Jessie, taking a deep breath. "I can breathe. Somebody tell him to either get lighter Armor or go on a diet."
Twyla healed Joana and Kento and they sat up.
"I've changed my mind about bungee-jumping," said Kento. "Who has the flashlight?"
"How about sword-light?" said Casey.
"Ah! Casey!" Joana cried.
"Well, I do like green," Casey said. "Only I prefer clothes rather than Armor."
At least your helmet looks somewhat normal, thought Twyla. She walked over to Cale and healed him.
"Should I ask what happened?" Cale asked opening his eyes.
"See for yourself," Sekhmet said, helping him sit up.
Cale saw Casey and pointed at her.
"Yep," said Dayus.
"Casey, you have my deepest sympathy," Cale said.
"Okay, everybody's awake," said Twyla. "Let's go."
"Aren't you going to heal Jessie?" Dayus asked.
"Why? She's fine."
"Twyla," said Gwen, "Cale landed on top of her. Armor or not, that had to hurt and she's gotta be in a little pain."
Cale looked at Jessie. "I did?"
"Yes, but don't worry about it," Jessie said. "Just try to lose a few pounds."
"Fine," sighed Twyla and she healed Jessie. "Pity. I was hoping that I could have you suffer for a while."
"You can't have everything," Jessie said.
Maybe I can, thought Twyla. She looked at Sekhmet. "Can I borrow one of your swords?"
"What for?" he asked.
"Oh, nothing much," said Twyla sweetly, "I'm just going to poison Jessie, that's all."
"What?!" Jessie shouted.
"Have you lost your mind?" Cale asked.
"Oh, don't worry," Twyla said, "I won't kill her. I'm just gonna let her creep near to the edge of death and heal her slowly. I doubt that I could heal you completely, Jessie, so Kayura will have to take care of the rest."
"I may not have to," said Kayura. "Because Strata might have, shall we say, boosted your healing power."
"You know," said Jessie, "she's right. Your healing spells never made me feel this good. I'm ready to do the tri-athalon."
"The healthier you are, the longer you'll suffer," Twyla said. "Sekhmet, one sword, please?"
"I don't think so," Sekhmet said.
"Oh, please? I'm only going to cut her finger a little, that's all."
"No."
"Pretty please?" begged Twyla. "Just one little prick."
"And you're acting like one now," Jessie said.
Twyla glared at her and then a wicked smile crossed her face. "All right, forget the poison. I'll just Twang."
Joana gave a high-pitched squeak and Casey backed away.
"Twyla," said Gwen, the fear noticeable in her eyes. "Don't you think you're overreacting just a little?"
"No, I think it's proper," Twyla looked at Jessie. "Now which one was it on you? The gold, the red, the mahogany… Oh! The maroon!"
"Get back you witch!" Jessie hissed, holding her arms in the form of a cross. "Anybody got any salt?! Cye! Oh no, wait, you can't call your Armor."
"What's 'Twang'?" Kayura asked.
"You don't want to know," Casey said.
"It's a little…talent that Twyla can do," said Jessie. "Let's say there's different colored strands inside your head, and each of them has an effect on a certain part of your body. Some are good, some are bad."
"And I take it that the maroon is a bad one for you," said Cale.
"I can't move my legs if that one is touched."
"The lime-green counteracts it," Twyla smiled.
"Yeah, but it took you forty-five minutes to find it!" Jessie snapped. "And the last time you did any Twanging, you had Joana speaking Italian for two hours!"
"Two hours, ten minutes," said Joana, "and an hour and a half of Spanish after that."
"Oh, that was a fun weekend," Gwen mumbled.
"No Twanging," Jessie ordered, "because if you try, I will definitely skewer you."
"How will you be able to?" Twyla asked with a grin. "If you're twitching and slobbering over yourself while lying on the ground."
"Shouldn't we be trying to find a way out of here?" Casey asked.
As long as there's another way out than up, Jessie thought looking around the room. She touched the wall and ran her hand along it, hoping to find a crack or weak spot.
"What are you doing?" asked Sekhmet.
"I'm looking for the back door," Jessie replied, "Since the elevator is out of service."
"Track," said Twyla. "Oh wait, silly me. You haven't been practicing."
"Shove it, Twyla."
"Will you two knock it off?" said Dayus. "Can you use the Staff, Kayura?" He looked at his wife, who was deep in thought. "Kayura?"
"Hmm? Oh, sorry," she apologized. "I was just thinking."
"About what?"
"Well, Casey was awake when Sage gave her the Halo Armor," Kayura said, "but Twyla was unconscious when Rowen gave her Strata."
"No thanks to someone, who shall remain nameless," Twyla grumbled.
"I said I was sorry!" Jessie snapped.
"The only question is," Kayura looked at Jessie, "was Jessie awake when Ryo gave her Wildfire."
Jessie turned her face from the wall and looked at her. "I told you, the last thing I remember was Ryo saying, 'Virtue.' And then White Blaze woke me up. That's all."
"That's just it," said Kayura. "Twyla was unconscious, due to an accident," she gave both girls a warning look, "Casey was awake during the whole thing. We just have to find out if you were."
"Kayura," sighed Jessie. "If I could remember, I would tell you. But do I remember? No, I don't."
…Let them…
Jessie inhaled sharply, put her hands on her head, and staggered backwards. Cale grabbed her arm, fearing that she might fall. "Are you all right?" he asked.
"Not really," Jessie answered. "Ow, that hurts."
"What's the matter?" asked Joana.
"My head's pounding," said Jessie, "Has been since Twyla got the Strata Armor, only it wasn't as constant as it is now. That's why I didn't say anything."
"Maybe it's Anubis trying to contact you," Sekhmet said hopefully.
Jessie looked at him. "Believe me, this is not an Anubis headache."
Kayura walked over to Jessie. Placing her hands on Jessie's head, she whispered a chant, then removed her hands. "Did that help at all?" Kayura asked.
"No," Jessie shook her head. "Try it again later. I think that it would be better if we got out of here first."
"Okay, but you rest," Kayura said. She looked at Cale and he nodded.
"Come on," said Cale as he led Jessie over to a rock and she sat down. Cale stood next to her as the others started to look for a way out.
"I hate this," Jessie whispered, taking off her helmet.
"Something bothering you?" Cale asked.
Jessie looked up at him. "I feel like I'm a burden to everyone. I don't remember what happened when Ryo gave me Wildfire, I almost killed everybody, Twyla twice, I can't Track because I'm an idiot for not practicing-"
"Hey," Cale took of his helmet and crouched next to her. "We all make mistakes. Look at me. You've heard about my darker days," he gestured to her Armor, "and you might see them."
"Yours? Not yet. But I have seen some of them with the other Warlords, and I have only one word."
"What's that?"
"Ouch."
Cale laughed softly. Jessie took his helmet and held it next to hers, comparing them.
They're different, she thought, and yet they are the same.
"Hey, over here," Casey said.
Jessie gave Cale his helmet as she stood up and they walked over to the others.
"What is it?" Twyla asked.
"There's a crack in the wall," said Casey.
Kayura examined the spot Casey was pointing to. She made the Staff disappear and summoned the homing sickle. Her faceplate closed.
"You know how to use that?" Cye asked.
"I've been practicing," said Kayura, "Get back."
Everyone moved away as she started to swing the spiked end. Jessie put the helmet back on and the faceplate closed. Cale also put on his helmet and looked at Jessie.
"I feel safer," she whispered.
Cale nodded. "I know what you mean."
Kayura threw the spiked end at the crack and it sunk deep into its mark.
Oh, that's impressive, Twyla thought, then wondered where the sarcastic remark had come from.
Kayura pulled the chain tight. It started to glow and blew a garage door-sized hole in the wall, leading to another tunnel.
"That's one way to make an exit," said Kento.
Kayura made the sickle disappear. "Let's go."
As they walked down the tunnel Kayura occasionally looked at Jessie. Her faceplate was open and Kayura could see the pain in Jessie's eyes.
"Okay, everybody," said Kayura, "let's rest for a while."
They sat down and leaned against the walls. Twyla, Casey, Gwen, Kento, Cye, and Joana, faced Sekhmet, Cale, Dayus, Kayura, Jessie, and White Blaze. The Armored ones took their helmets off.
"Are you okay, sis?" Joana asked.
Jessie nodded. "I'll be all right, don't worry." White Blaze looked at Jessie and she scratched his ears.
"Well, Jessie," Kayura said, kneeling next to her and placed her hands on Jessie's head. "Let's try it again."
"All right," Jessie sighed and closed her eyes.
Kayura chanted again, but, as the others noticed, it was different and longer than the other one. Kayura removed her hands. "Better?"
"Yeah," Jessie nodded, then hissed painfully and put her hand on her forehead. "I take it back. I spoke too soon."
"That's weird," said Dayus, "Kayura's healing spells can take care of anything and everything."
"I guess we better say 'almost anything and everything'," Kayura said. She reached out for Jessie again.
"Don't even waste your power," Jessie held her arm up, "I'll say it now - this is not an ordinary headache."
"Neither were the ones you had when Anubis was here in the Mortal Realm," Cale said.
"Didn't I tell Sekhmet earlier that this is not an Anubis headache?" Jessie asked, annoyed, "Besides, I don't get headaches from him anymore. Kayura took care of that, remember?" She sighed, closed her eyes and leaned back against the wall. White Blaze rested his head in her lap and gave a mournful groan.
Ryo, Jessie thought, where are you, big brother? She started to drift off to sleep.
"Michael!" Twyla shouted, bringing Jessie back to full consciousness.
"What?" asked Cye.
"Michael can help us," said Twyla standing up. "We can go into the Stream and go to the Caverns and ask Michael to help us."
Kayura rose to her feet. "Are you sure he can help us get out of this place?"
"Not just getting out of here," said Joana, now standing with Cye next to her. "But he can help us find Ryo, Rowen, and Sage too."
"He's rather powerful if he can do that," Sekhmet said.
"Yeah," said Casey, "but he didn't have enough power to predict Jessie's right punch."
"Sometimes I can't help but wonder if Michael let me hit him on purpose," Jessie muttered.
"I doubt that, Jessie," Gwen said. Jessie shrugged and everyone else stood up.
"So, what do we have to do?" asked Cale.
"We'll go," said Twyla, "and talk to Michael first. We'll tell him about what's going on and we'll ask if it's okay for you to come."
"Sounds fair to me," Kento said.
"Let's go," said Casey.
"Have fun," Jessie said still sitting on the floor.
"What?" asked Gwen.
"You're not coming?" Joana asked.
"Nope," Jessie replied, "I have two reasons."
"Please, enlighten us," Twyla said.
Jessie stood up and walked over to her. "Number two - my head is pounding, so I doubt that I'll be able to focus enough to go into the Stream. Number one - Michael has a lot of explaining to do and I'm not talking to him unless he tells us what's going on."
"Jessie, that's the way he is," Twyla said, "I'm not crazy about him being so secretive either. But we don't have much of a choice. We have to accept it. We need his help. I want to find Rowen, Sage, and Ryo and get out of here before anything else happens."
"So do I. But this," Jessie pointed to her Armor, "when I started drawing the Armor pictures after I came out of my coma, Michael was acting weirder that he usually was. That's what the four of you told me. And even during my coma, you said that his actions were a bit off. He knew."
"All right," sighed Twyla, "I'll admit, maybe he did know. But we need his help."
Jessie closed her eyes, crossed her arms and turned her head. "I'm not going."
"Grow up!" her four friends shouted.
"He really must have pissed her off," Dayus whispered to Kayura. She nodded in agreement.
"Sis, please," Joana begged, "Don't you want to find Ryo and the others?"
Jessie opened her eyes and for a moment they saw a flicker deep within them.
"Well," said Casey, "Are you coming or not?"
Jessie closed her eyes again.
"Fine," Gwen sighed, "the four of us will go."
"You do that," Jessie looked at her. "And when you see Michael, tell him I said that he can kiss my-"
Cale quickly put his hand over Jessie's mouth, preventing her form finishing her message.
"For Ryo's sake," said Cale, "be nice."
"Oh, my God. Cye," Kento ducked behind his best friend, "he used the 'n' word."
"Not just any word," Cye whispered. "He used 'nice'."
Kento grinned. "Cale has used a forbidden word in Warlord language."
The remaining two Ronins little conversation went unnoticed to the rest of the group.
Jessie narrowed her eyes at Cale. She sighed and mumbled something.
"What was that?" Cale asked removing his hand.
"All right," said Jessie. "For Ryo's sake, I promise to be nice." She cleared her throat and looked at her friends. "Tell Michael that I said, 'Hi'."
"We will," smiled Casey. The four girls sat in a circle.
"Jessie, don't you think you're acting just a little immature?" Sekhmet asked quietly.
She looked at him. "When you meet Michael, you'll understand."
"Okay, we're going," Twyla said.
The four girls closed their eyes and felt the sensation of slowly falling backwards into water. Mentally, they opened their eyes.
"Casey, Twyla, why did you two change your outfits?" asked Gwen.
"I didn't," Twyla said.
"Me neither," said Casey.
They were wearing dresses that, in a way, resembled medieval style dress with a Victorian-fantasy twist.
"Why?" Jessie asked, "What are you wearing?"
"Gwen and I are wearing our usual outfits," said Joana, "but Casey's wearing a yellow Victorian-like dress. It's low cut-"
"Any lower, she'd be falling out," Twyla said.
Casey glared at her. "And if yours was any higher, it'd cover your head."
Twyla pulled on the high neck. "This has to be revenge for burning that one turtle-neck three years ago."
"Casey," said Jessie, "Is your dress off the shoulders with sleeves that end at the elbow and white ruffles that end about mid-forearm, and there's a wavy pattern in the front, going down then around the bottom of your skirt to the back?"
"Yeah, it does," Casey said.
"Twyla, is your dress lavender with white pearl buttons going down the front, a wide belt, long sleeves with slits in them, and dark, leaf-like designs on your skirt and sleeves?"
"How are you doing that?" asked Twyla.
The dresses they were wearing in my dream, Jessie thought, then said, "Lucky guess."
"Jessie," said Kayura, "why do I get the feeling that you have some explaining to do?"
The young American woman shifted uncomfortably under the other six's gaze.
"You're not in the Stream are you, sis?" asked Joana.
"Do you see me in there with you?"
"I don't know, Jessie," said Gwen. "Your mental body had a habit of wondering off. And now that you've admitted that you haven't been practicing-"
"Tracking," snapped Jessie, "I haven't been practicing Tracking. I still meditate."
"Then meditate and get in here with us, so we can talk to Michael," Casey said.
"Not with this headache."
"You're gonna use that for an excuse now?"
Anything so I don't have to see him, Jessie thought.
"I hate to interrupt," said Kayura, "but I believe that all of us want to find our missing comrades and leave this place. So if you girls don't mind moving along."
Casey mumbled something about being called a girl as she, Joana, Gwen, and Twyla walked in the Stream to the Caverns.
"And here we are," said Twyla, "At the majestic Cav- huh?"
"What in the world?" Gwen asked.
"That wasn't here the last time we came," Joana said
"When did Michael get these?" asked Casey.
Outside the Stream, the other seven members were confused.
"What's the matter," Cale asked.
"Michael had doors installed," said Casey.
"Doors?" Jessie asked.
"Yeah," said Twyla. She tried pushing them open, "Solid too. Can't open them. Looks like Michael locked us out."
"No," said Jessie, "as weird as Michael gets, that's not like him." Maybe I should have gone in with them, she thought. Something is very wrong. Michael would never just lock them out. Me, he would, but I'm a different story at the moment. "Is there anything on the door or something that looks like it shouldn't be there?"
They looked around.
"I don't know," said Gwen, "I don't see… wait a minute. Look at the top. Do you see that?"
Twyla, Joana, and Casey looked up. Near the top of the doors there was a small plate, about five inches in length and width.
"What do you see?" Kayura asked.
"There's a small plate near the top of the doors," Joana said, "It has a picture on it, too."
"What does it look like?" asked Kayura.
"It looks like a face," said Casey. "But the eyes, mouth, and ears look like they're covered by bands."
"That's three of the senses," Cye said, "Odd."
"Can't hear, can't see, can't talk," said Kento.
"And that's us with Michael," Gwen sighed.
Hear nothing, see nothing, and say nothing, Jessie thought. Why would Michael use that on himself? Wait a minute… Her eyes widened. He wouldn't and didn't. Somebody else did. A feeling of dread went through her. "Get out of there," she said urgently to her friends.
"Why? What's going on?" Casey asked.
"Jessie, we have to talk to Michael," Twyla said, "We-"
"Twyla, I know," Jessie interrupted her. "But please, I'm begging you, get out of the Stream."
In the Stream, the four girls looked at each other. Jessie was serious. Her voice was enough to tell them that something was wrong.
"All right," said Gwen, "We're leaving."
They closed their mental eyes. But, when they opened their eyes, their situation had not changed.
"Houston, we have a problem," Joana said.
"What?" Jessie asked, fear spreading through her.
"Uh, we can't get back," said Casey.
"That's impossible," Jessie whispered.
"Okay," said Twyla, "I'm scared."
"That makes all of us," Gwen said.
"So you're stuck?" Kento asked.
"'Fraid so."
"Did this ever happen before?" Kayura asked.
Jessie shook her head. "No, sometimes when we went into the Stream before going to bed and our physical bodies fell asleep, our mental-selves would come out of the Stream on their own."
"You mean automatically?" asked Cye.
"You could say that," said Jessie. "Actually my mental body was running on automatic for a long time. I did have some control, but I sometimes did the opposite of what I wanted to do."
"Ninety-nine percent of the time," Twyla said.
Jessie's eyes narrowed. "I'm still grateful for you helping me. Now what do we have to do to get you back?"
"I could use the Staff," Kayura suggested. "Since Twyla and Casey are wearing Strata and Halo, I can bring them out of the Stream-"
"What about us?" Gwen and Joana asked together.
Kayura thought for a moment. "Maybe if they hold onto you they'll bring you back as well."
"Sounds good to me," said Gwen. "Go for it."
"Wait, listen," Twyla said, "Hear that?"
"Are you guys making any noise?" Joana asked.
"Who?" asked Cale. "Us?"
"No," said Casey, sarcastically, "We're asking the missing trio. Who do you think? Of course you!"
"Casey, will you relax?" asked Gwen.
"What do you hear?" Sekhmet asked.
"A really, very deep hum," said Twyla. "And hearing your voice, Sekhmet, just shot down my theory."
"You thought it was me?" he asked.
"Yeah," said Joana, "it would've made sense and relieved some anxiety here."
"And now someone's playing a flute," Casey said. "At a very, high pitched, sour note."
Outside the Stream, the seven faces paled.
No way, Jessie thought, it couldn't be. She looked at the Warlords and the fear in their eyes told Jessie that they were thinking the same thing.
"What's that?" Joana asked nervously as several pale figures flew towards them.
By wearing Strata and Halo, Twyla and Casey immediately knew what they were.
"Nether Spirits!" Twyla shouted.
The ghostly apparitions circled around the four girls and they screamed.
"NO!" Jessie shouted. She ran to them and grabbed Gwen and Joana's arms. Pain shot through her body and darkness claimed her.

Okay, Jan, I'm finally done. This is my message to you and your loyal fans. I would like to say a few things. 1: I'm sorry I didn't type this for you sooner Jan and fans. But it's 12:00 AM and my fingers are cramped. 2: Thank you for being so patient. Especially you, Jan. But, one last thing. 3: Thank you fans, for being very patient for part 10 to come out. It's really my fault that it took so long. And Jan, if you want me to type for you again, just tell me and I'll do it. Just so long as it's not during the school year. Ciao, babes!!
From: Ky.
6/14/1999
Domo arigato, watashi no tomodachi, Kyanite! [Translation: Thank you very much, my friend, Kyanite!] I owe you and Squeaky big time. And I'm still sorry for not mentioning that you helped me with Part 9. And you're still speaking to me. May the Ancients bless you.
Another domo arigato to the RW/YST fans who have been patiently waiting for Warrior Call Part 10 to be posted. Don't worry, I'm working on Part 11 right now. It'll be done soon. (If I had a dollar every time I said that…)
Be sure to thank Kyanite. Here's her addy: LdyForest@hotmail.com. If she didn't volunteer to type this for me, I don't think that it would have been done this soon. C-ya in Part 11!
~Janime
P.S. I still don't have a new computer yet…

12/27/2000
Kyanite's e-mail address has changed. She no longer uses AOL. And my computer is a monster machine.