The Chasers stood in a stunned silence, but Rai broke it quickly.
"No! We can't leave Yvette with him!" he cried, angrily.
Jahara shot him a furious look, but he ignored it.
"Yvette's one of us, and we won't leave her with a Dragonoid, we wo-"
Rai's protests were cut short by Yvette's gasp of pain. Elder Fym looked at her and then at Rai, gravely.
"Her time is running short," he said, "you need to make your decision now. If you want the girl to be saved, I can do that, but she will have to stay with me. If you don't agree to these conditions, then you will not receive my help."
"We apologize, Elder Fym," Jahara said, bowing again, "we will accept your terms and your help."
"No we won't!" Sena glared at Jahara and Elder Fym.
"Maybe we should let Yvette decide," Finn said, as the other Chasers and Dragonoids exchanged glares.
The arguing stopped and the group stood, dumbfounded.
"Okay," Tori said, softly, "Yvette, what do you want to do? It's your life and your decision."
Yvette opened her eyes and looked over at Elder Fym and then at the Chasers. They stood in a tense silence, and then Yvette answered.
"I choose to stay with Elder Fym," she said, "but there's one thing I need to ask before we do anything."
"Very well," Elder Fym said.
"Why do you want me to stay with you?" Yvette asked, wincing.
Elder Fym, for the first time, looked hesitant and old.
"I've lived in my life of solitude for many years now," he said, looking at Yvette, "rarely have I seen another being, Dragonoid or Tigeroid. And my own time in this world is running out, and I must pass my teachings down to a student. I know that fate has brought you to me, and you must be that student."
Yvette nodded her head.
"I know what it's like to live alone for so long," she said, "I will stay with you and be your student."
Suddenly, another round of pain jolted through Yvette, causing her to cry out. It was even worse than what it was before.
"We must make haste, the power is growing stronger," Elder Fym said, and hurried towards a small door on the other side of the chamber. The group followed him into a small stone room; in the center was Yin-Yang symbol of the Tai Chi. The symbol glowed a faint blue when Garnia placed Yvette in the center of it.
"This will be a very delicate process," Fym said, "so everyone must stand back."
They did as he said and stood against the walls, leaving Yvette and Elder Fym in the center of the glowing symbol.
Yvette screamed at the pain twisting around inside her and the symbol glowed brighter. Elder Fym knelt down at Yvette's side and closed his eyes, concentrating. Slowly, he brought out a card from its container hidden in his robes. It glowed just like the symbol and immediately the rest of the group knew it was Hum, the still card.
Elder Fym held the card out, over Yvette's now shaking body. The glowing became an intense brightness, almost blinding. Then they heard Elder Fym through the light.
"Tai Chi Hum! Overcome Tai Chi Tun!" he exclaimed, all age and weakness gone from his voice, he sounded strong, powerful.
The small room seemed to be filled with power, the light was unbearable to look at and the Chasers and Dragonoids had to close their eyes.
The powers of Hum and Tun combated with one another. Elder Fym struggled to keep Hum's strength above Tun, but Tun had grown stronger, as if it had a mind of its own; as if it sensed that the opposite of itself was near.
Both were at a draw, the two powers and strengths pressed against each other, not giving in and not gaining any ground. Tears were streaming down Yvette's cheeks and Elder Fym began to appear older and older. The room was completely white now and filled with a high-pitched ringing sound.
Then there was a release, as quickly as it brightened, the room lost all of its light.
Finn was the first one to come back to consciousness. He sat up and looked around.
The only light came from the flickering firelight, which came from the, now blown open, door. He gazed over at the symbol and the two lying figures on top of it.
There was no way of telling whose power gave in, both figures seemed utterly lifeless. Finn stood up and, slowly, walked over to the symbol.
The figures didn't move. Finn looked over at Elder Fym, who was lying on his side, his Hum card was on the floor, a little bit beyond his hand. Yvette was lying flat on her back, unmoving.
Holding his breath, Finn knelt beside Yvette and placed his fingers on her neck, checking for a pulse. Her skin was cold, there was no heartbeat.
"Yvette?" Finn asked, softly.
"Yvette?" Tori crawled quietly over to where Finn was, "she's okay, right? I mean…it worked, didn't it?"
Finn didn't answer; he kept staring at his fingertips, willing a pulse to come. Rai, Sena and Donha revived and joined them. Sena checked Yvette's wrist for a pulse and gently placed the hand back on the floor and burst into tears.
"We were...too late," she sobbed into her hands.
"No, we couldn't have been!" Rai exclaimed, "Elder Fym said he could help us, he had the Hum card and everything!"
"The Tun card was too powerful."
The Chasers looked at Elder Fym as he slowly sat up.
"I thought I could overcome it," he said, softly, "but it had converged larger than any Tai Chi I had ever seen before."
Tori began to cry and Donha put both his arms around him and Sena, tears were falling down his own cheeks. Rai tried to fight back his own tears, and Finn was still looking at his fingertips.
Jahara and Garnia stood at a respectful distance, staring at the ground.
"This isn't right," Rai mumbled, "this can't be right! You promised you would help her, Elder Fym!"
Elder Fym stood and looked away.
"You failed her!" Rai yelled, tears streaking his face, "and now she's gone! You…you…"
The symbol beneath began to glow. The group's eyes widened as they backed away.
"This isn't fair!" Rai cried, anguish was in his voice. A bright aura appeared around him, it flickered like a furious flame. He yelled out in grief and anger.
The symbol's glow began to intensify again, but it was a more gentle kind of glow than before. It cradled Yvette's lifeless body in a warm embrace.
Suddenly the glow vanished and Rai collapsed to his knees, breathing hard. Yvette's eyes flickered open as she took in a deep breath.
"Yvette!" Tori cried out, laughing, attacking her with a tight hug.
"I can't believe it!" Sena exclaimed, joining Tori.
Yvette gasped as all the Tigeroids grabbed her in a group hug; the only one who stood back was Finn, his face unreadable.
"What happened?" Yvette asked, as she was finally released from the giant bear hug.
"The Hum card couldn't overpower the Tun symbol!" Rai said, "When the light cleared out you had…well…"
"You were dead," Finn said, quietly.
Yvette lifted her eyebrows and puffed out her cheeks, "that's not good."
"Yeah, well, then Rai did something," Tori exclaimed, happily, "we're not sure what, but it saved you!"
"What do you mean?" Yvette asked, "I thought death's kind of a done deal. What'd you do, Rai?"
Rai furrowed his eyebrows, "I'm not really sure…It happens when I get mad or upset. I get this power inside me and sometimes it gets me out of messes and fixes things. And I guess it worked today."
The group fell into a reflective silence.
"Well," Yvette said, "thank you, Rai."
Rai blushed and looked away.
"So," Jahara stepped forward, "was the power destroyed, or is it still in you, Yvette?"
The Chasers exchanged frightened glances and looked at Yvette.
"I don't know," she said, "can someone give me something I can move?"
Donha stepped forward and gave Yvette one of his candy bars. She set it on the floor in front of her and concentrated hard, trying to move it with the Tun power. It didn't move and Yvette looked over at Elder Fym.
"What happened?" she asked, "was the power really destroyed?"
Elder Fym shook his head, "I really don't know anything, Yvette. Not after what's happened today."
Suddenly the symbol began to glow again.
"What now?" Sena said, backing away.
Everyone else did the same and they watched.
In the center of the symbol a small rectangle appeared. As they closed in, the Chasers could see that it was the Tun card.
"What the heck!" Tori exclaimed as Yvette picked up the card.
"Impossible!" Garnia exclaimed, coming forward with Jahara and Elder Fym.
Yvette examined the card's picture and symbol, smiling, the rest of the group came up and looked at it with her.
"Amazing," Donha murmured.
"Well," Yvette said, "I guess the power and I survived after all."
"How do you feel?" Sena asked, looking at Yvette.
"I feel...different," she replied, "I feel like a part of me is gone, but...that's okay. It didn't really belong in me in the first place."
Sena nodded and smiled, for the first time, things seemed to be going okay.
"Well, I don't see any reason to stay anymore," Rai said, "let's go home."
"Wait," Yvette said, "I made a promise. I'm staying with Elder Fym."
The Chasers' smiles disappeared, and looked confused.
"But, Yvette," Rai said, "you don't have any obligation to stay with him anymore! He didn't save you like he promised."
"He's right, Yvette," Elder Fym said, looking away.
Yvette shook her head and walked over to him, "no, I want to receive your teachings, and I don't think it's right for anyone to live utterly alone. Not when I can make that difference."
Tori's lower lip trembled, "but Yvette, we just lost you then got you back, and now we're losing you again!"
Yvette smiled, "it'll be okay, Tori. I promise I will see you again one day, this is just something I feel like I need to do."
Tori nodded and wiped away his tears.
The group walked outside of Elder Fym's secret fortress. Jahara, Garnia and Elder Fym stood at a distance as Yvette and the Chasers said their final goodbyes.
Yvette hugged Donha, "I'll miss you so much, Donha, no one can make spaghetti like you can! You're such a great friend."
Donha blushed and smiled, "I hope I can make it again for you sometime, Yvette."
Yvette gave Sena a hug, "thank you so much for everything, Sena. I'll never forget how well you took care of me, you're like a sister to me."
"I wish you would come with us, Yvette," Sena said, sniffling, "I'm going to miss you so much."
Yvette smiled and walked over to Tori and Rai, gathering them into a big hug.
"You two are crazy, but sweet," she said, backing up to look at them, "Tori, I'm so proud of you, I know you're going to grow up to be something great. And Rai, I owe you my life, you have a power in you that will make all wrongs right, I'm sure of it."
Then Yvette looked over at Finn, who had isolated himself as usual, looking at the distant mountains.
She walked over and put a hand on his shoulder, "you got a lot of bumps and bruises because of me, friend."
Finn shrugged and looked over at Yvette, his eyes unreadable and cold, as usual.
"Finn, to be honest, I don't know what goes through your mind," she said, "but I do know that you care. I can't thank you enough for everything you've done for me, you're a hero."
Something flashed in Finn's eyes that Yvette couldn't really describe, in the end she wondered if she had even saw it in the first place.
Suddenly Yvette, quick as lightning, while no one was looking, gave Finn a kiss on the cheek and walked back to the group. Finn's eyes widened and his pale face gave off a faint blush. Only the mountains could see him give a small smile.
"I've called the ship to come over and pick us up," Jahara said, putting away her contact device.
Rai glared at her, "why didn't you just have the ship drop us off here in the first place?"
Jahara glared back at him, "well I didn't know Elder Fym would even still be here, you little brat! Just be glad I don't have to bag your head again."
The Dragonoid airship landed in the crevice of the mountains in front of the entrance of Elder Fym's fortress.
Jahara and Garnia quickly boarded and the Chasers stood in front of Elder Fym and Yvette.
"And you're sure you want to do this?" Sena asked, look suspiciously at Elder Fym.
Yvette smiled and nodded, "don't worry, Sena, I have a good feeling about this."
Tori rushed in the give Yvette another hug and the rest of the Chasers joined him, even Finn.
"We're going to miss you so much," Donha said.
"I'm going to miss you, too," Yvette said, feeling tears well up in her eyes.
Finally the hug ended and Yvette gave the Chasers one final look.
"Well, you guys better head out before those silly Dragonoids leave you behind," she said, giving a crooked smile.
The Chasers smiled and reluctantly walked away from Yvette and Elder Fym.
As they boarded the ship, each of the Chasers looked behind them and gave Yvette and extra wave as the hatched closed and they disappeared. The ship slowly took off and Yvette continued to wave, she waved until the ship turned into a speck in the sky and only stopped when it disappeared entirely.
She turned around to face her new teacher.
"So," she said, "what exactly were you wanting to teach me?"
Elder Fym smiled for the first time, recalling his first lesson with his teacher many years ago, "I'll begin with my favorite story, the story of how the Tai Chi came to be."
Yvette felt a bright, new hope fill inside of her as she followed Elder Fym into her new home.
The Dragonoids proved to be trustworthy as they flew the Chasers back into more familiar ground, they didn't even force them to stay in the brig as they flew. It seemed like the predicament with Yvette changed them a little bit for the good.
But once they dropped the group off and left, the Chasers were soon found by less merciful and very angry Tigeroids.
They soon found themselves standing in front of the three elders and General Aidan.
"I can't believe you would disobey direct orders from your commanding officers!" Elder Pyron yelled at the Chasers, "do you have any idea how foolish you children were?! Trusting Dragonoids enough to climb into their ship and fly off to some place that we had no way of getting to in case you were to get into trouble! Do you have any idea how worried we were about you!?"
"Now, Pyron..." Elder Komorka started.
"No, Komorka!" Pyron exclaimed, "these young ones seem to have forgotten everything they learned about Dragonoids. Let me reteach them. Those Dragonoids could have easily overcome you, taken your Tai Chi cards and then enslaved you or worse!"
The room was very quiet, then Tori sqeaked out a response, "but they didn't."
Sena could feel the sweat begin to pour down the back of her neck as she stole a quick glance at her dad.
Pyron rubbed his forehead with his hand as Elder Sid smiled and looked at Tori, "is that so, Tori? But where is Yvette?"
"She chose to stay," Tori said, "there was something that she wanted to do."
"You haven't told us anything about what happened to you or Yvette," Elder Komorka said, "where is she?"
The Chasers exchanged glances and Sena answered, "Komorka, we've decided to not disclose any other information besides the fact that Yvette's okay and that maybe the Dragonoids aren't exactly what they appeared to be."
"What?" Pyron looked at the Chasers, "Dragonoids are exactly what they appear to be, cold and heartless, it was luck that saved your hides! Ug...my head..."
"Okay, Elder Pyron," General Aidan said, stepping in, "I think we all need a break, especially now that the issue with Yvette is resolved and everyone is back safe."
"Yes, yes," Pyron said, "go now, we will discuss the terms of your punishment later."
"Punishment! What?" Rai exclaimed angrily.
"Rai, don't push it..." Sena whispered.
"Don't push it?" Rai whispered back, "what are we getting punished for? We saved Yvette! So what if we might've side stepped a few orders? I'd do it again!"
"Rai, you all made your decision to disobey the three Elders and me," General Aidan, "and even though it may have been the only way to save Yvette you also have the accept the consequences of your actions. Because you could have gotten into a worse situation with those Dragonoids."
Rai bit his lip and glared at the floor.
"But we will worry about this later," Aidan said, "all of you must be tired. Go get something to eat and go straight to your rooms."
The Chasers quickly left the Elders' meeting room and went to the cafeteria.
"Well...that was interesting," Tori said, as he ate his supper.
"I imagined it would be a lot worse," Sena said thoughtfully, "I was even sure they were going to make us spend the night in the command center's prison."
Donha shuttered, "I'm glad they didn't, I think we were more lucky getting away with a light scolding from them than getting away from the Dragonoids safely."
"I still can't believe they're punishing us for doing something they wouldn't have the guts to do," Rai muttered, glowering into his plate.
Finn shrugged, "they're only doing this because they care."
Rai, still not looking so convinced, dug into his food.
Eventually, after the Chasers reflected over everything that had happened to them over the past 24 hours, they left to go to their bedrooms.
"So do you think we really will see Yvette again?" Tori asked.
Sena looked ahead thoughtfully, "yeah, I think so, for some strange reason I think I actually trust Elder Fym a little bit."
"I wonder what kinds of things she's learning right now," Donha said.
"I hope she'll tell us when she comes back," Rai said.
The Chasers finally made it to their rooms and quickly fell asleep, the only one who was still awake for a while was Finn. He sat on his bed thinking about what Yvette had said to him before he left, and about all that he had been through after she'd first slammed him into a tree.
"I'm not sure what my future holds for me, Yvette," he said softly in the silence of his room, "but I will be sure of one thing, I will see you again."
The End