Prolog:
"I don't think so Rowen." Cye sighed and snatched the keys from his rather inebriated friend.
"Give those back!" Rowen made an off balance lunge for Cye, who easily avoided it, slipping the car keys in his pocket and reaching out to steady Rowen.
"Rowen, why don't you just go to bed." Cye shook his head. "Sleep it off."
"Don't tell me what to do." Rowen scowled at him.
"Rowen, stop it." It was late, Cye was tired, and he really didn't want to deal with this.
"You can't tell me what to do. You're not in charge." Rowen folded his arms across his chest, swaying a little. "You're too much of a wimp to be in charge."
Cye flinched a little, but brushed it off. Rowen was a crabby drunk. They all knew that. "Rowen it's late. I'm going to bed, and you're not going anywhere." Cye turned and started to walk away.
"Go head, little wimpy wussy Cye." Rowen taunted. "Go to bed. Not like you ever make any difference to us anyway."
Cye froze on the first step of the staircase, swallowing hard and clenching his hands into tight fist. He tried to make himself take the next step, to just walk away, but he couldn't.
"After all," Rowen grumbled sullenly, making sure it was loud enough for Cye to hear. "it's always your fault when we get in trouble."
Cye spun and in two strides had crossed over to Rowen and grabbed him up by the front of the shirt. "You take that back!" He growled.
"No," Rowen's intelligence tended to decrease in proportion to how many beers he had had and tonight was no exception.
"Take it back! It's not true!" Cye pushed him hard and he stumbled back, knocking a lamp off its stand.
"Don't push me!" Rowen regained his footing and took an off balance swing at Cye. "It's not my fault you're so useless."
"Shut up!" Cye, being neither drunk nor blind, had no trouble evading Rowen's fist and sending his own across Rowen's face.
Rowen landed hard on his rear, his hand going up to his mouth where blood dripped down his chin from his now split lip. "You hit me." He said as if he didn't quiet believe it. He stared blankly at the blood on his hand when he pulled it away from his lip.
Cye scowled at him, fist clenched tight and shaking a little.
"You hit me!" Rowen repeated angrily.
Jumping up he lunged at Cye, taking them both down to the ground in a tangle of limbs. They struggled on the ground for a minuet before Cye was lifted bodily away from Rowen, a strong hand slapping down the fist that tried to hit him.
"What's going on?" Kento demanded, pushing Rowen back down when he tried to take another swing at Cye. "Rowen stop it!"
Sage appeared out of no where grabbing Rowen and pinning him down. Cye had stopped struggling as soon as he felt Kento grab him. There wasn't much point after that.
"He hit me!" Rowen struggled against Sage to sit up.
Sage raised an eyebrow and looked up to where Kento was still holding onto Cye.
"What happened here?" Ryo asked sleepily, hurrying down the stairs.
"He hit me." Rowen resumed his sullen manor, Sage finally letting him sit up, but keeping a tight grip on the back of his shirt.
Ryo looked at Cye in surprise. Cye looked at the ground angrily then up at Ryo.
"Next time you let him get drunk, you make sure he doesn't kill himself." Shrugging Kento off, Cye dug the keys out of his pocket and threw them angrily at Ryo, then stormed up the stairs.
Storm
Cye broke the surface of the stormy sea with a gasp. It was the third time he had wiped out and this time he had smashed his arm on the reef and been dragged across it before the wave had let him go. Cye could feel bruised ribs and the salt water stinging in the gashes and cuts along his right side. When he pulled himself up onto his surfboard his right arm protested the use. Cye ignored it and paddled out past the breakers to float on the swells.
The storm continued in force, pouring down rain and fueling the huge waves. Cye rode the storm swells lying on his stomach, his arms and legs hanging limply over the edge of his board. He didn't usually surf storm waves. It was dangerous, even for him. Wipe outs happened hard and fast, with no time to armor up or protect himself, but sometimes it was the only way to stop himself from going crazy. He had to focus on what he was doing and nothing else, and sometimes that was all he wanted.
He closed his eyes letting his mind drift. That was a bad idea. His mind went right to what he had been trying not to think about. It went right to his four friends. They were all angry with him for various reasons, or maybe the same reason; he wasn't exactly sure. If it had just been the four of them mad at him he wouldn't have been worried, but they were angry at each other too, and all their fighting seemed to center around him. That was the real reason he had left this morning. He figured if he wasn't there, then they would work things out between each other on their own. He sighed and hid his face in his good arm, leaving his injured one to drip blood into the restless water.
"Rowen just stop it." Kento glared at the sulking warrior. "You had it coming. You should have known Cye wasn't just going to let you walk out."
"It was none of his business." Rowen growled and stuck his nose back in his book.
"Bull shit." Kento snapped the book away from him. "If it was me I would have pounded you into the ground for being suck an idiot."
"Well, it wasn't you, was it?" Sage pulled the book away from Kento and tossed it on the coffee table.
"I don't see why you're so mad at him." Ryo looked at Sage irritably. This little argument had gotten way out of hand. He wished Cye had stuck around. He was more irritated at him for leaving then what had happened last night. "And by the way, what wasn't Cye going to let him get away with?"
"None of your business." Rowen snapped and stormed out of the room, a sudden flash of lightening outside the window marking his leaving.
Kento threw a pillow at him as he left, then stomped out of the room. Sage was quiet for a moment, watching the storm outside.
"Sage what exactly happened?" Ryo asked again.
"I don't know. Kento had already broken them apart by the time I got there." Sage shrugged and walked away.
Ryo groaned and sunk down on the couch. Why did things always have to get so complicated with them? Ryo had already been asleep when it had happened. All he had figured out was that Rowen had gotten drunk and he and Cye had gotten into a fistfight. He had only caught the end of it, in time to see Kento and Sage break it up. Rowen had ended up with a split lip and a black eye. Cye probably hadn't gotten off without a scratch either, but if he was hurt he wasn't showing it.
As far as Ryo could tell, Sage was mad at Cye for fighting with Rowen, mad at Kento for interfering, and mad at Rowen for being drunk, maybe. Kento was mad at Sage for siding with Rowen and Rowen for starting the fight, which Rowen said he didn't do. He was mad at Cye for disappearing this morning. Ryo was mad at all of them for making his life and theirs so complicated.
Something broke in the kitchen followed by yells. With a sigh Ryo pushed himself off the couch to go see what had happened this time.
The sensation of water closing over his head jerked Cye back to alertness. He gasped and choked on water, kicking himself upward. He broke the surface coughing. The swells had gotten bigger and the storm had gotten worse. Cye latched onto his surfboard leaning on it to keep his head above water. He must have fallen asleep and one of the swells had dumped him. He had trouble getting back on his board. His arm didn't want to take his weight at all.
Cye straddled his board, looking at the damage done to his arm for the first time. His wet suit was sleeveless, so he didn't have any trouble seeing the injury. There were still chunks of coral stuck in his arm, along with plenty of smaller cuts and scratches, and a bruise that went from his shoulder to his elbow.
"Brilliant." Cye muttered. He couldn't take care of this here. Here being out on the waves, or even on the beach. He would have to go back.
Cye caught a wave in, reaching the shore without trouble. He sat himself along the cliff backing the beach and pulled the larger chunks of coral out of his arm, starting it bleeding again. He gave the blood no more thought then he gave the cold rain, instead picking up his board and heading back home.
When Cye got home the house was quiet. Apparently everyone had retreated to their own corners for the moment. That was fine with him for now. It meant he could take a shower and take care of his arm without causing more trouble. Cye left his surfboard in the garage and slipped upstairs, pausing at he and Kento's room to grab a change of cloths. Luckily Kento wasn't there.
On closer examination Cye decided his arm could have used stitches, but the angle was too awkward for him to do it himself, and he certainly didn't want to bother Sage with it. He knew the healer would take care of it if he asked, but he didn't want to irritate him any more then he already was. So Cye picked the remaining shards out of his arm and wrapped it tight. His ribs weren't bad, a little scratched and very bruised, and his leg had gotten some nasty bruises on it too, but they were hardly worth mentioning.
As Cye got out of the shower he heard yelling coming from downstairs.
"You always take his side!" Rowen yelled from the bottom of the stairs.
"You shouldn't have drunk so much!" Kento shouted back.
Cye flinched and ducked into his room. He looked out the window at the storm. The tree that grew outside their window hit against the glass in the wind. Cye heard someone coming upstairs, and instead of risking another fight he climbed out the window and up the tree to the roof. He curled against the chimney and let the rain soak him.
Sage sat on the front steps, watching the storm. Rowen said the rain would stay through tomorrow night at least, although the actual storm should be over by tomorrow morning. He tended to be right about things like that. The young warrior sighed and rested his chin on his hands.
He really did wish he knew what had happened. Rowen was a little fuzzy on that particular subject, having been rather drunk at the time. Cye on the other hand had not been drunk and shouldn't have let it escalate to a fistfight. Kento said Rowen had wanted to take the car out and Cye wouldn't let him, and things had gotten ugly from there, but how things got ugly with Cye around was beyond him. Cye was usually the one who stopped fights, not the one who made them worse. Sage heard the screen door shut and the sound of footsteps on the porch behind him.
"Do you think the storm will let up anytime soon?" Ryo stood behind him looking out into the rain.
"Rowen says not until tomorrow morning." Sage shrugged and scooted over on his step, making room for him.
Ryo sat down next to him. "It'll be dark soon."
"Cye is back." Sage answered the question before Ryo could ask it. "His surf board is in the garage, but he's hiding somewhere."
"He went surfing!" Ryo's mouth dropped open. "In this weather!"
"So?" Sage shrugged. "He's the Warrior of Torrent. A little rain is hardly going to bother him."
"Well maybe not the rain, but it would only take one bad wipe out, hitting his head once when he's out by himself and that would be it." Ryo scowled.
"Ryo, he isn't..." Sage didn't really want to think about this right now.
"He doesn't breath water Sage." Ryo started to stand up.
"Most people don't." Sage let his eyes fall with a sigh.
"What's going on out here?" Kento asked as he stepped out on the porch, licking unidentified crumbs from his fingers. "Is the rain finally letting up?"
"Did you know Cye was out surfing today?" Ryo asked agitatedly.
"Damn it." Kento growled. "I'm going to pound him myself when he gets back."
"That's great." Rowen brushed by them to stand in the rain where the wind could reach him. "While we're here fighting he's out having a good time."
"Surfing storm waves isn't really fun. It's more like stupid." Kento scowled at him.
"Whatever." Rowen waved his hand sending a cold damp wind to swirl around Kento.
Cye watched the watery sunset from his perch on the ridge of the roof. He could just see the horizon of the ocean from the roof of the house. He could sense the clouds above him, heavy with rain and stretching out to fill the sky. This storm would be here for a while. Cye pulled his knees up and rested his chin on them. He closed his eyes for a minuet, then opened them and had to do a double take at what he saw.
On the horizon were two storm demons. They strode towards land, their giant steps covering miles at a time. Cye sat frozen for a moment watching them. They took the shape of armed samurai with swords hung at their sides and mask covering their faces. They walked side by side, neither enemy nor ally. They would bring the heart of the storm with them and leave destruction in their wake. Cye tore his eyes away from the sight. He should tell the others. The demons might never come ashore, but if they did they would be in for a nasty storm.
Cye used the tree to spring down to the ground where the others were gathered on the back porch. He had seen them come out, but from where he was sitting it looked like they had started fighting again almost right away, so he had decided it was better if he didn't join them. He landed softly on the ground next to the porch steps making Ryo and Rowen jump.
"There are storm demons on the horizon." He said just loud enough to be heard over the wind and rain.
"Storm demons?" Sage cocked his head to the side thoughtfully, not wanting to show how relieved he was to actually see Cye, particularly seeming to be uninjured.
"What are those?" Rowen asked.
"They're just what they sound like. They're storm demons." Sage stood up and dusted his pants off. "Can you see them from the roof?"
Cye nodded. Sage swung up the tree followed closely by Rowen.
"You went surfing." Kento pointed an accusing finger at him.
Cye just nodded again, eyes down cast.
"Wow cool!" They heard Rowen yell from the roof. "You guys have to see this!"
Kento hesitated for a moment then climbed up the tree. "I'll pound you later." He tossed over his shoulder.
Ryo looked Cye up and down carefully, checking for injuries and trying to decide whether he wanted to yell at him or not. Cye's cloths hid any injuries and if he was hurt, he wasn't showing it. Before he could say anything the others yelled for him from the roof.
"You coming up?" Ryo asked quietly, pausing at the base of the tree.
"No. I'm going to go inside." Cye shook his head.
Ryo studied him for a moment before climbing the tree. "Stay here tonight."
Cye nodded, and for a moment he stood out in the rain. As soft spoken as Ryo had been that had been an order. With a small sniff born more out of cold then anything else, the young warrior walked inside, leaving the others to watch the storm demons.
The only noise was the howl of the wind and the pounding of the rain. The occupants of the house were all silent. They had retreated to their rooms with no desire to talk to each other. Sage silently brushed out verses of calligraphy at his desk, while Rowen sprawled sullenly on his bed reading. Ryo had dropped into an uneasy sleep with Whiteblaze lounging along side his bed. Kento had fallen asleep reading comic books. Cye was lying on his back, injured arm resting on his stomach and eyes wide open.
The tense silence was replaced by stillness eventually and Cye knew that even Rowen must have finally gone to sleep. The storm continued to rage outside, and the tree scratched against the window in time with the wind. Cye shifted uncomfortably, finally rolling onto his good side and turning his back on the window. His arm hurt more now then it had when he had done it.
He guessed he deserved it. Rowen barely remembered the fight, the only thing that seemed to stick in his mind was that Cye had hit him, and Kento and Sage had both come in too late to hear what started it, although they were both smart enough to know it hadn't been taking the keys from Rowen. Cye shifted his arm again, wincing. He hadn't been drunk. He hadn't had any excuse, but Rowen had had no right to say what he had either, although it was doubtful he would even remembered saying it. Cye pulled his pillow over his head and closed his eyes tight. It hadn't been worth all the trouble it was causing.
The first storm demon reached them around midnight. The wall of wind it sent pounding against the house rattled the glass in its panes and howled fiercely around the corners. All five warriors were jerked from their uneasy sleep.
"Storm demon is here." Sage murmured quietly.
"I don't see it." Rowen peered out the window, straining to see through the inky blackness. A sudden burst of lightening showed him nothing.
"They're the type of things you can only see from far away." Sage turned on the lamp next to his bed.
Suddenly from down the hall they heard to sound of braking glass. They both jumped up and ran out to see what had happened. Ryo was already at Kento and Cye's door.
"You two alright?" Ryo flipped on the light.
"I think so." Kento said.
A branch of the tree had broken and crashed through the window landing on Cye's bed and sending glass scattering across the room. Cye was sitting on the floor next to the foot of Kento's bed and Kento was knelling beside him, hand on his shoulder.
"Don't move." Sage instructed. "There's too much glass." He left to go get his shoes.
Rowen stayed at the doorway while Ryo also went to find his shoes. Kento reached under his bed and pulled out a pair of old tennis shoes, and Cye, ignoring what Sage had told him to do, crept forward and grabbed the sandals from under his bed. Rain and wind poured through the open window, soaking everything within its reach. Cye dumped the glass out of his sandals and dusted them off with his hand before slipping them on. Glass chimed as he stood up and it fell from his cloths and hair.
"Put your shoes on Rowen." Sage pushed a pair of sneakers into Rowen's hands.
"Should we try to board this up?" Ryo asked.
"With what?" Kento picked slivers of glass out of his nightshirt.
"I don't know." Ryo shrugged.
"There's plywood in the garage." Cye said as he bent down to get some of his books away from the soaking ran.
"Come on Rowen." Ryo snagged his arm as he walked by. "Time to make yourself useful."
"I am useful." Rowen protested. "Make Cye get it. It was his idea." His protest faded as they headed downstairs.
"How bad did you two get cut up?" Sage turned Kento's head so he could see a scratch across his cheek.
"Not bad, at least not me." Kento shrugged. "Cye was the one near the window."
Sage turned to look at the young warrior. He was standing near the window looking out at the storm, his right arm held against him.
"You hurt your arm?" Sage walked over to him putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Huh?" Cye looked at him blankly for a minuet, his thoughts obviously elsewhere, then he blinked and focused on Sage. "I just knocked it when I rolled out of the way." That was true enough, and he knew he was probably bleeding again because of it. "No big deal."
Sage accepted the answer with a nod whether he believed it or not. "Both of you change your cloths. That way you wont have to worry about pieces of glass still stuck in them. We'll take care of the window."
For once Cye was glad the upstairs bathroom was so small. He sat out in the hall and waited for Kento to finish changing. His arm was bleeding again, and he didn't want to explain it to anyone right now. Kento had spent a good hour yelling at him for going out surfing by himself in the bad weather. He closed his eyes and thought about the waves that must be breaking on the beach right now. He'd like to be out there, maybe not to surf, but just to be near the water. He snorted to himself. The storm was making him restless.
"Why don't you get off your butt and help?" Rowen scowled at him as he walked past helping Ryo carry a large piece of plywood.
"Shut up Rowen." Ryo sighed and jerked on his end pulling Rowen with him into the room.
"It's all yours." Kento came out of the bathroom.
"Thanks." Cye pushed himself up and slid past Kento shutting the door behind him.
Just as Cye was coming out of the bathroom he heard glass breaking downstairs. The storm demon seemed to have doubled its efforts to make up for the temporary lull. The other Ronins came out of the room to look down stairs over the railing. They heard another window shatter, followed closely by a third somewhere upstairs.
"That's it." Ryo sighed. "Everyone get blankets and pillows. We're sleeping in the basement."
"Great." Rowen scowled at him. "That way if the house collapses it will fall on top of us."
"Better then falling out from under us." Kento rolled his eyes as he started pulling blankets and pillows out of the linen closet.
Cye went back into their room to look for the lantern that was some where in their closet. Chances were they would loose power eventually. The young warrior scowled when he started to reach for it with his right arm, sending pain shooting through it. As far as he knew his arm was still bleeding, and it was a little swollen, but he had expected that considering how bruised it was. He snapped the battery powered lantern off the shelf with his other hand and grabbed the flashlight from under his bed.
"Where are the batteries?" Rowen demanded as if it were his fault Rowen didn't know where they were.
"I think there's some in the junk draw in the kitchen." Cye answered quietly.
Rowen stocked away with out another word. Cye stood still for a moment, then stuffed the flashlight in the front pocket of his sweatshirt and picked up the lantern.
"I've already got pillows and blankets for both of us." Kento stopped Cye when he started to get more out of the closet.
"Thanks." Cye headed downstairs, slipping his free hand in his pocket.
One of the first things they had done when they had moved in was change the basement into a training room. The floor had tatami mats on it, so it wasn't bad for sleeping on, which they did on occasion, sometimes intentionally and sometimes not.
It didn't take long for Ryo and Sage to start sparring. It didn't matter that it was almost one o'clock in the morning. With the storm raging not just outside, but seeping inside the house through broken windows, there wasn't much chance of the two of them getting to sleep any time soon. Cye on the other hand was tired. He curled in a corner and wrapped a blanket around his shoulders, turning his back on the rest of the room. Whiteblaze sprawled next to Kento watching the two sparring warriors and pretending he wasn't.
Suddenly the lights flickered and went out. Everything froze for a moment as they waited to see if the lights would come back. When they didn't Kento flicked on the flashlight he had been holding. Sage found the lantern and turned it on.
"Time for a little low light training." He grinned wickedly at Ryo.
"No thanks. I've been pounded on enough for this week." Rowen shot a glare at Cye's back.
"I'll referee." Kento offered.
"How about you Cye?" Ryo asked, knowing Cye usually liked this type of training.
"No thank you." Cye declined politely without an explanation.
Cye kept his back to them for a while, listening to Ryo and Sage spar and Kento give not so helpful hints. He knew Rowen was dividing his attention between sulking and glaring at his back. Finally he couldn't stand it anymore and he sat up and turned to look at Rowen. Rowen, of course, pretended he hadn't been paying any attention to him. Cye sat watching him for a moment, unconsciously hugging his aching arm to him. He just didn't know what to say to him. He had already said he was sorry. He pushed himself up and walked over to sit against the wall next to Rowen. Standing made him feel a little dizzy, and he decided he better have Sage look at his arm, but it could wait until tomorrow. Rowen made it a point to keep his eyes facing straight ahead.
"I'm sorry about last night." Cye said quietly.
"You said that already." Rowen pulled his knees up to his chest and rested his chin on them.
"There's not much else I can say." Cye shrugged.
"I know why you took the keys, but I don't see why you had to hit me." Rowen sulked.
Cye chewed on the corner of his lip thoughtfully for a moment. "I just lost my temper and I shouldn't have. I'm sorry."
"I guess I shouldn't have drunk so much." Rowen offered. He was tired of fighting, even if he didn't want to admit it.
Cye just nodded. For a while the two of them sat in silence watching the sparring. Ryo traded out with Kento, who promptly found himself paid back for all his irritating little comments by an intimate introduction to the ground. Rowen snickered and Cye smiled.
"What did I say that made you so mad?" Rowen asked suddenly.
"You..." Cye started, then thought better of it. A part of him wanted to ask Rowen if he had really meant it, but mostly, he just wanted the fighting to stop. He didn't like having any of them angry with him.
"It doesn't matter." Cye looked away, trying to settle his arm more comfortably in his lap.
"It did to you." Rowen studied him suspiciously.
Cye hesitated, then shook his head. "Let's just forget the whole thing, please?"
Rowen was quiet for a moment. "No."
"Rowen..."
"You are probably the hardest person in the world to piss off, and I want to know what I did." He rubbed his chin ruefully. "That way I wont do it again.
"You just..." Cye frowned. "you just said something kind of mean."
Rowen thought about trying to drag it out of Cye, but the other Ronin looked like he really didn't want to tell him. "It must have been pretty bad to get you so angry. I'm sorry."
Cye blinked in surprise and turned to look at Rowen. An apology was very probably the last thing he has expected. "It's alright Rowen." He said almost automatically.
"Really?" He looked almost hopeful.
"Really." Cye nodded.
"Good." Rowen leaned back against the wall, snickering a little as Kento pinned Sage to the mat. It was always nice to know Sage wasn't perfect.
Next to him Cye gave a small sigh of relief and leaned back. He was glad things were settled. He was so tired, and maybe now he could sleep. He let his eye's drift shut, listening to the rain and wind that howled above the house.
"Cye, are you...?" Rowen started, but didn't get a chance to finish.
Another wall of wind slammed into the house making it creak ominously. All the warriors jumped and the sparring match stopped.
"Second storm demon." Cye said quietly.
Debris hammered against the small high windows of the basement and the door rattled as wind found its way through broken windows to slam against it.
"That's going to be one heck of a mess to pick up tomorrow." Kento grumbled.
"Do you think both storm demons are here?" Ryo asked.
"Sounds like it." Sage nodded.
"Sounds like they're fighting right on top of us." Rowen jumped up to look out the small windows curiously. He had to climb onto a pile of mats to see out.
"You wont be able to see them." Sage yawned, finally starting to feel calm enough to sleep. He had seen Rowen and Cye talking, and since they hadn't tried to kill each other, he figured things were better.
"I can't see anything at all." Rowen jumped down, disappointed.
The house moaned in protest of the powerful winds and the weight of the rain. Ryo leaned back against Whiteblaze looking up at the ceiling.
"Think it will hold?" He asked.
"I hope so." Kento sat down, grabbing a blanket to wrap around his shoulders.
"Feels like the worst of the storm is about to hit us." Rowen sat down next to Cye again, looking up at the creaking ceiling.
"All we can do is sit it out. This should be the safest place." Sage picked up his own blanket and sat down with them.
"Let's turn the lights out and tell ghost stories." Kento grinned impishly.
Ryo groaned and flopped back against Whiteblaze. Sage scowled and proceeded to tell Kento exactly what he thought of telling ghost stories at roughly three o'clock in the morning.
"Hey Cye, are you ok?" Rowen finally finished his question. "You're kind of pale."
"`m ok." Cye let his head rest on Rowen's shoulder. "I'm just tired."
"You don't look ok." Rowen frowned at him. "You look like your arm is bugging you." He had noticed him favoring it earlier, but he hadn't said anything. "What'd you do to it?"
"I banged it up surfing." Cye mumbled sleepily.
"Did you have Sage look at it?" Rowen pressed a hand against Cye's forehead, not liking how warm he felt.
"No. Don't bother him. I'll ask him tomorrow." Cye started to shrug, but the motion hurt his arm.
"I think he better look at it now." Rowen said softly.
"Sage."
Something about the way Rowen said his name made him brake off mid-sentence and turn to look at him. Cye was leaning against his shoulder and Rowen was watching him worriedly.
"Sage I think you better look at Cye's arm." Rowen looked up at him.
"What happened?" Sage came over and knelt down next to them.
"Wiped out surfing." Cye sat up a little so Sage could reach his arm better. Now that he knew there was no point in making a fuss over it.
"And?" Sage prompted as he helped Cye ease his sweatshirt off.
"And I hit it." Cye hissed in pain as Sage pulled his sweatshirt over his arm.
"Damn it Cye," Kento growled at him when he saw the blood stained bandage. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"Didn't want to bother you." Cye looked down.
Sage mumbled something irritably under his breath as he unwrapped Cye's arm. "What did you hit it on?"
"The reef. I think I got all the pieces out." Cye closed his eyes and leaned against Rowen again. Sage's hands were always gentle when he was tending injuries, but right now even gentle hurt.
"One of you go get the first aid kit." Sage didn't bother to look up at Ryo or Kento, but he heard Ryo run to get it. It only made sense to keep one in the training room. "Did you hurt anything else?"
"Bruised my ribs a little." Cye flinched as Sage unwound the last layer of bandages. Rowen slipped his arm around his shoulders, pulling him a little closer.
Sage held up his hand, an orb of light appearing in it. It drifted away from him to hang near Cye's arm while the healer examined the injury. Sage studied it for a minuet, then reached up and pressed his hand against Cye's forehead. He was definitely running a fever.
"Well?" Ryo handed him the first aid kit.
"It's infected." Sage prodded one of the deeper gashes carefully, and Cye bit his lip hard to keep from crying out. "Stop that." Sage looked up at him. "You've lost too much blood already. Biting through your lip wont help."
"It hurts." Cye said softly.
"I know. If you had let me take care of it twelve, thirteen hours ago when it happened it wouldn't hurt so much." Sage pointed out, though not too harshly. He poured disinfectant onto a piece of gauze and used it to clean away the dried blood. Cye hide his face against Rowen's shoulder and closed his eyes tight.
"Just relax Cye." Sage said soothingly. He pressed his hands against the injury and Cye felt coolness spread through the hot skin.
Rowen looked up at Sage in alarm when he felt Cye go limp against him.
"He's just asleep." Sage assured him, pulling his hands away from Cye's arm. "He needs it." He wrapped Cye's arm in clean bandages. "I took care of the infection, but he should wear a sling for a couple days. If he doesn't, beat him up."
"Can we beat him up anyway?" Ryo handed blankets and pillows over to Rowen. He hated it when one of them scared him like that.
"Given the rate our armor heals us at," Sage smirked as he cleaned the blood from his hands. "in three or four day he should be up to it."
Kento helped Rowen lay Cye down and tuck a blanket around him. Ryo and Sage picked up the rest of their scattered blankets and the five of them laid down close to each other to sleep. Outside the storm continued, but the storm demons had moved on.
"What a mess." Kento groaned as he surveyed the chaos of the living room.
"Mia's going to flip." Ryo shook his head, picking through up turned
furniture and debris blown in through the broken windows.
"Why? It wasn't our fault." Rowen held up a dripping pillow disdainfully, then dropped it. "For once."
"It's still raining. There's no point in trying to dry all this out until we do something to stop the rain from coming in." Sage helped Kento right the couch.
"The rain isn't going to let up for a while, maybe a couple days." Cye stood in front of the window, right arm secured in a sling.
"The we better get the windows boarded up." Ryo sighed and headed to the garage.
"You think there's enough plywood?" Kento trailed after him.
"With our luck, I doubt it." Ryo grumbled. Whiteblaze shot past him heading outside. "Whiteblaze stay out of the mud!" He ran after the tiger, trying to stop him before he could find a convenient mud puddle to wade through.
"What are the chances they'll both need a bath before he catches him?" Sage grinned as he headed to the garage to help Kento take stock of their plywood, knowing Ryo wouldn't be back for a while.
"Better then the chances of us having enough plywood." Rowen called after him. He walked over to stand next to Cye who was still at the window.
"Are we in for anymore storms?" He asked. Even though he could sense the rain heavy clouds, he couldn't tell what they were doing.
Rowen closed his eyes letting the damp breeze tell him where it had come from. "Not any time soon." He smiled and looped an arm around Cye's shoulders.
"Good." Cye nodded. There was a crash from the garage followed by yelling. "Come on. We better go make sure they don't kill each other."
"Oh they wont kill each other. If we were going to kill each other we would have done it a long time ago." Rowen said confidently as he followed Cye out to help the others.
The End
"I don't think so Rowen." Cye sighed and snatched the keys from his rather inebriated friend.
"Give those back!" Rowen made an off balance lunge for Cye, who easily avoided it, slipping the car keys in his pocket and reaching out to steady Rowen.
"Rowen, why don't you just go to bed." Cye shook his head. "Sleep it off."
"Don't tell me what to do." Rowen scowled at him.
"Rowen, stop it." It was late, Cye was tired, and he really didn't want to deal with this.
"You can't tell me what to do. You're not in charge." Rowen folded his arms across his chest, swaying a little. "You're too much of a wimp to be in charge."
Cye flinched a little, but brushed it off. Rowen was a crabby drunk. They all knew that. "Rowen it's late. I'm going to bed, and you're not going anywhere." Cye turned and started to walk away.
"Go head, little wimpy wussy Cye." Rowen taunted. "Go to bed. Not like you ever make any difference to us anyway."
Cye froze on the first step of the staircase, swallowing hard and clenching his hands into tight fist. He tried to make himself take the next step, to just walk away, but he couldn't.
"After all," Rowen grumbled sullenly, making sure it was loud enough for Cye to hear. "it's always your fault when we get in trouble."
Cye spun and in two strides had crossed over to Rowen and grabbed him up by the front of the shirt. "You take that back!" He growled.
"No," Rowen's intelligence tended to decrease in proportion to how many beers he had had and tonight was no exception.
"Take it back! It's not true!" Cye pushed him hard and he stumbled back, knocking a lamp off its stand.
"Don't push me!" Rowen regained his footing and took an off balance swing at Cye. "It's not my fault you're so useless."
"Shut up!" Cye, being neither drunk nor blind, had no trouble evading Rowen's fist and sending his own across Rowen's face.
Rowen landed hard on his rear, his hand going up to his mouth where blood dripped down his chin from his now split lip. "You hit me." He said as if he didn't quiet believe it. He stared blankly at the blood on his hand when he pulled it away from his lip.
Cye scowled at him, fist clenched tight and shaking a little.
"You hit me!" Rowen repeated angrily.
Jumping up he lunged at Cye, taking them both down to the ground in a tangle of limbs. They struggled on the ground for a minuet before Cye was lifted bodily away from Rowen, a strong hand slapping down the fist that tried to hit him.
"What's going on?" Kento demanded, pushing Rowen back down when he tried to take another swing at Cye. "Rowen stop it!"
Sage appeared out of no where grabbing Rowen and pinning him down. Cye had stopped struggling as soon as he felt Kento grab him. There wasn't much point after that.
"He hit me!" Rowen struggled against Sage to sit up.
Sage raised an eyebrow and looked up to where Kento was still holding onto Cye.
"What happened here?" Ryo asked sleepily, hurrying down the stairs.
"He hit me." Rowen resumed his sullen manor, Sage finally letting him sit up, but keeping a tight grip on the back of his shirt.
Ryo looked at Cye in surprise. Cye looked at the ground angrily then up at Ryo.
"Next time you let him get drunk, you make sure he doesn't kill himself." Shrugging Kento off, Cye dug the keys out of his pocket and threw them angrily at Ryo, then stormed up the stairs.
Storm
Cye broke the surface of the stormy sea with a gasp. It was the third time he had wiped out and this time he had smashed his arm on the reef and been dragged across it before the wave had let him go. Cye could feel bruised ribs and the salt water stinging in the gashes and cuts along his right side. When he pulled himself up onto his surfboard his right arm protested the use. Cye ignored it and paddled out past the breakers to float on the swells.
The storm continued in force, pouring down rain and fueling the huge waves. Cye rode the storm swells lying on his stomach, his arms and legs hanging limply over the edge of his board. He didn't usually surf storm waves. It was dangerous, even for him. Wipe outs happened hard and fast, with no time to armor up or protect himself, but sometimes it was the only way to stop himself from going crazy. He had to focus on what he was doing and nothing else, and sometimes that was all he wanted.
He closed his eyes letting his mind drift. That was a bad idea. His mind went right to what he had been trying not to think about. It went right to his four friends. They were all angry with him for various reasons, or maybe the same reason; he wasn't exactly sure. If it had just been the four of them mad at him he wouldn't have been worried, but they were angry at each other too, and all their fighting seemed to center around him. That was the real reason he had left this morning. He figured if he wasn't there, then they would work things out between each other on their own. He sighed and hid his face in his good arm, leaving his injured one to drip blood into the restless water.
"Rowen just stop it." Kento glared at the sulking warrior. "You had it coming. You should have known Cye wasn't just going to let you walk out."
"It was none of his business." Rowen growled and stuck his nose back in his book.
"Bull shit." Kento snapped the book away from him. "If it was me I would have pounded you into the ground for being suck an idiot."
"Well, it wasn't you, was it?" Sage pulled the book away from Kento and tossed it on the coffee table.
"I don't see why you're so mad at him." Ryo looked at Sage irritably. This little argument had gotten way out of hand. He wished Cye had stuck around. He was more irritated at him for leaving then what had happened last night. "And by the way, what wasn't Cye going to let him get away with?"
"None of your business." Rowen snapped and stormed out of the room, a sudden flash of lightening outside the window marking his leaving.
Kento threw a pillow at him as he left, then stomped out of the room. Sage was quiet for a moment, watching the storm outside.
"Sage what exactly happened?" Ryo asked again.
"I don't know. Kento had already broken them apart by the time I got there." Sage shrugged and walked away.
Ryo groaned and sunk down on the couch. Why did things always have to get so complicated with them? Ryo had already been asleep when it had happened. All he had figured out was that Rowen had gotten drunk and he and Cye had gotten into a fistfight. He had only caught the end of it, in time to see Kento and Sage break it up. Rowen had ended up with a split lip and a black eye. Cye probably hadn't gotten off without a scratch either, but if he was hurt he wasn't showing it.
As far as Ryo could tell, Sage was mad at Cye for fighting with Rowen, mad at Kento for interfering, and mad at Rowen for being drunk, maybe. Kento was mad at Sage for siding with Rowen and Rowen for starting the fight, which Rowen said he didn't do. He was mad at Cye for disappearing this morning. Ryo was mad at all of them for making his life and theirs so complicated.
Something broke in the kitchen followed by yells. With a sigh Ryo pushed himself off the couch to go see what had happened this time.
The sensation of water closing over his head jerked Cye back to alertness. He gasped and choked on water, kicking himself upward. He broke the surface coughing. The swells had gotten bigger and the storm had gotten worse. Cye latched onto his surfboard leaning on it to keep his head above water. He must have fallen asleep and one of the swells had dumped him. He had trouble getting back on his board. His arm didn't want to take his weight at all.
Cye straddled his board, looking at the damage done to his arm for the first time. His wet suit was sleeveless, so he didn't have any trouble seeing the injury. There were still chunks of coral stuck in his arm, along with plenty of smaller cuts and scratches, and a bruise that went from his shoulder to his elbow.
"Brilliant." Cye muttered. He couldn't take care of this here. Here being out on the waves, or even on the beach. He would have to go back.
Cye caught a wave in, reaching the shore without trouble. He sat himself along the cliff backing the beach and pulled the larger chunks of coral out of his arm, starting it bleeding again. He gave the blood no more thought then he gave the cold rain, instead picking up his board and heading back home.
When Cye got home the house was quiet. Apparently everyone had retreated to their own corners for the moment. That was fine with him for now. It meant he could take a shower and take care of his arm without causing more trouble. Cye left his surfboard in the garage and slipped upstairs, pausing at he and Kento's room to grab a change of cloths. Luckily Kento wasn't there.
On closer examination Cye decided his arm could have used stitches, but the angle was too awkward for him to do it himself, and he certainly didn't want to bother Sage with it. He knew the healer would take care of it if he asked, but he didn't want to irritate him any more then he already was. So Cye picked the remaining shards out of his arm and wrapped it tight. His ribs weren't bad, a little scratched and very bruised, and his leg had gotten some nasty bruises on it too, but they were hardly worth mentioning.
As Cye got out of the shower he heard yelling coming from downstairs.
"You always take his side!" Rowen yelled from the bottom of the stairs.
"You shouldn't have drunk so much!" Kento shouted back.
Cye flinched and ducked into his room. He looked out the window at the storm. The tree that grew outside their window hit against the glass in the wind. Cye heard someone coming upstairs, and instead of risking another fight he climbed out the window and up the tree to the roof. He curled against the chimney and let the rain soak him.
Sage sat on the front steps, watching the storm. Rowen said the rain would stay through tomorrow night at least, although the actual storm should be over by tomorrow morning. He tended to be right about things like that. The young warrior sighed and rested his chin on his hands.
He really did wish he knew what had happened. Rowen was a little fuzzy on that particular subject, having been rather drunk at the time. Cye on the other hand had not been drunk and shouldn't have let it escalate to a fistfight. Kento said Rowen had wanted to take the car out and Cye wouldn't let him, and things had gotten ugly from there, but how things got ugly with Cye around was beyond him. Cye was usually the one who stopped fights, not the one who made them worse. Sage heard the screen door shut and the sound of footsteps on the porch behind him.
"Do you think the storm will let up anytime soon?" Ryo stood behind him looking out into the rain.
"Rowen says not until tomorrow morning." Sage shrugged and scooted over on his step, making room for him.
Ryo sat down next to him. "It'll be dark soon."
"Cye is back." Sage answered the question before Ryo could ask it. "His surf board is in the garage, but he's hiding somewhere."
"He went surfing!" Ryo's mouth dropped open. "In this weather!"
"So?" Sage shrugged. "He's the Warrior of Torrent. A little rain is hardly going to bother him."
"Well maybe not the rain, but it would only take one bad wipe out, hitting his head once when he's out by himself and that would be it." Ryo scowled.
"Ryo, he isn't..." Sage didn't really want to think about this right now.
"He doesn't breath water Sage." Ryo started to stand up.
"Most people don't." Sage let his eyes fall with a sigh.
"What's going on out here?" Kento asked as he stepped out on the porch, licking unidentified crumbs from his fingers. "Is the rain finally letting up?"
"Did you know Cye was out surfing today?" Ryo asked agitatedly.
"Damn it." Kento growled. "I'm going to pound him myself when he gets back."
"That's great." Rowen brushed by them to stand in the rain where the wind could reach him. "While we're here fighting he's out having a good time."
"Surfing storm waves isn't really fun. It's more like stupid." Kento scowled at him.
"Whatever." Rowen waved his hand sending a cold damp wind to swirl around Kento.
Cye watched the watery sunset from his perch on the ridge of the roof. He could just see the horizon of the ocean from the roof of the house. He could sense the clouds above him, heavy with rain and stretching out to fill the sky. This storm would be here for a while. Cye pulled his knees up and rested his chin on them. He closed his eyes for a minuet, then opened them and had to do a double take at what he saw.
On the horizon were two storm demons. They strode towards land, their giant steps covering miles at a time. Cye sat frozen for a moment watching them. They took the shape of armed samurai with swords hung at their sides and mask covering their faces. They walked side by side, neither enemy nor ally. They would bring the heart of the storm with them and leave destruction in their wake. Cye tore his eyes away from the sight. He should tell the others. The demons might never come ashore, but if they did they would be in for a nasty storm.
Cye used the tree to spring down to the ground where the others were gathered on the back porch. He had seen them come out, but from where he was sitting it looked like they had started fighting again almost right away, so he had decided it was better if he didn't join them. He landed softly on the ground next to the porch steps making Ryo and Rowen jump.
"There are storm demons on the horizon." He said just loud enough to be heard over the wind and rain.
"Storm demons?" Sage cocked his head to the side thoughtfully, not wanting to show how relieved he was to actually see Cye, particularly seeming to be uninjured.
"What are those?" Rowen asked.
"They're just what they sound like. They're storm demons." Sage stood up and dusted his pants off. "Can you see them from the roof?"
Cye nodded. Sage swung up the tree followed closely by Rowen.
"You went surfing." Kento pointed an accusing finger at him.
Cye just nodded again, eyes down cast.
"Wow cool!" They heard Rowen yell from the roof. "You guys have to see this!"
Kento hesitated for a moment then climbed up the tree. "I'll pound you later." He tossed over his shoulder.
Ryo looked Cye up and down carefully, checking for injuries and trying to decide whether he wanted to yell at him or not. Cye's cloths hid any injuries and if he was hurt, he wasn't showing it. Before he could say anything the others yelled for him from the roof.
"You coming up?" Ryo asked quietly, pausing at the base of the tree.
"No. I'm going to go inside." Cye shook his head.
Ryo studied him for a moment before climbing the tree. "Stay here tonight."
Cye nodded, and for a moment he stood out in the rain. As soft spoken as Ryo had been that had been an order. With a small sniff born more out of cold then anything else, the young warrior walked inside, leaving the others to watch the storm demons.
The only noise was the howl of the wind and the pounding of the rain. The occupants of the house were all silent. They had retreated to their rooms with no desire to talk to each other. Sage silently brushed out verses of calligraphy at his desk, while Rowen sprawled sullenly on his bed reading. Ryo had dropped into an uneasy sleep with Whiteblaze lounging along side his bed. Kento had fallen asleep reading comic books. Cye was lying on his back, injured arm resting on his stomach and eyes wide open.
The tense silence was replaced by stillness eventually and Cye knew that even Rowen must have finally gone to sleep. The storm continued to rage outside, and the tree scratched against the window in time with the wind. Cye shifted uncomfortably, finally rolling onto his good side and turning his back on the window. His arm hurt more now then it had when he had done it.
He guessed he deserved it. Rowen barely remembered the fight, the only thing that seemed to stick in his mind was that Cye had hit him, and Kento and Sage had both come in too late to hear what started it, although they were both smart enough to know it hadn't been taking the keys from Rowen. Cye shifted his arm again, wincing. He hadn't been drunk. He hadn't had any excuse, but Rowen had had no right to say what he had either, although it was doubtful he would even remembered saying it. Cye pulled his pillow over his head and closed his eyes tight. It hadn't been worth all the trouble it was causing.
The first storm demon reached them around midnight. The wall of wind it sent pounding against the house rattled the glass in its panes and howled fiercely around the corners. All five warriors were jerked from their uneasy sleep.
"Storm demon is here." Sage murmured quietly.
"I don't see it." Rowen peered out the window, straining to see through the inky blackness. A sudden burst of lightening showed him nothing.
"They're the type of things you can only see from far away." Sage turned on the lamp next to his bed.
Suddenly from down the hall they heard to sound of braking glass. They both jumped up and ran out to see what had happened. Ryo was already at Kento and Cye's door.
"You two alright?" Ryo flipped on the light.
"I think so." Kento said.
A branch of the tree had broken and crashed through the window landing on Cye's bed and sending glass scattering across the room. Cye was sitting on the floor next to the foot of Kento's bed and Kento was knelling beside him, hand on his shoulder.
"Don't move." Sage instructed. "There's too much glass." He left to go get his shoes.
Rowen stayed at the doorway while Ryo also went to find his shoes. Kento reached under his bed and pulled out a pair of old tennis shoes, and Cye, ignoring what Sage had told him to do, crept forward and grabbed the sandals from under his bed. Rain and wind poured through the open window, soaking everything within its reach. Cye dumped the glass out of his sandals and dusted them off with his hand before slipping them on. Glass chimed as he stood up and it fell from his cloths and hair.
"Put your shoes on Rowen." Sage pushed a pair of sneakers into Rowen's hands.
"Should we try to board this up?" Ryo asked.
"With what?" Kento picked slivers of glass out of his nightshirt.
"I don't know." Ryo shrugged.
"There's plywood in the garage." Cye said as he bent down to get some of his books away from the soaking ran.
"Come on Rowen." Ryo snagged his arm as he walked by. "Time to make yourself useful."
"I am useful." Rowen protested. "Make Cye get it. It was his idea." His protest faded as they headed downstairs.
"How bad did you two get cut up?" Sage turned Kento's head so he could see a scratch across his cheek.
"Not bad, at least not me." Kento shrugged. "Cye was the one near the window."
Sage turned to look at the young warrior. He was standing near the window looking out at the storm, his right arm held against him.
"You hurt your arm?" Sage walked over to him putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Huh?" Cye looked at him blankly for a minuet, his thoughts obviously elsewhere, then he blinked and focused on Sage. "I just knocked it when I rolled out of the way." That was true enough, and he knew he was probably bleeding again because of it. "No big deal."
Sage accepted the answer with a nod whether he believed it or not. "Both of you change your cloths. That way you wont have to worry about pieces of glass still stuck in them. We'll take care of the window."
For once Cye was glad the upstairs bathroom was so small. He sat out in the hall and waited for Kento to finish changing. His arm was bleeding again, and he didn't want to explain it to anyone right now. Kento had spent a good hour yelling at him for going out surfing by himself in the bad weather. He closed his eyes and thought about the waves that must be breaking on the beach right now. He'd like to be out there, maybe not to surf, but just to be near the water. He snorted to himself. The storm was making him restless.
"Why don't you get off your butt and help?" Rowen scowled at him as he walked past helping Ryo carry a large piece of plywood.
"Shut up Rowen." Ryo sighed and jerked on his end pulling Rowen with him into the room.
"It's all yours." Kento came out of the bathroom.
"Thanks." Cye pushed himself up and slid past Kento shutting the door behind him.
Just as Cye was coming out of the bathroom he heard glass breaking downstairs. The storm demon seemed to have doubled its efforts to make up for the temporary lull. The other Ronins came out of the room to look down stairs over the railing. They heard another window shatter, followed closely by a third somewhere upstairs.
"That's it." Ryo sighed. "Everyone get blankets and pillows. We're sleeping in the basement."
"Great." Rowen scowled at him. "That way if the house collapses it will fall on top of us."
"Better then falling out from under us." Kento rolled his eyes as he started pulling blankets and pillows out of the linen closet.
Cye went back into their room to look for the lantern that was some where in their closet. Chances were they would loose power eventually. The young warrior scowled when he started to reach for it with his right arm, sending pain shooting through it. As far as he knew his arm was still bleeding, and it was a little swollen, but he had expected that considering how bruised it was. He snapped the battery powered lantern off the shelf with his other hand and grabbed the flashlight from under his bed.
"Where are the batteries?" Rowen demanded as if it were his fault Rowen didn't know where they were.
"I think there's some in the junk draw in the kitchen." Cye answered quietly.
Rowen stocked away with out another word. Cye stood still for a moment, then stuffed the flashlight in the front pocket of his sweatshirt and picked up the lantern.
"I've already got pillows and blankets for both of us." Kento stopped Cye when he started to get more out of the closet.
"Thanks." Cye headed downstairs, slipping his free hand in his pocket.
One of the first things they had done when they had moved in was change the basement into a training room. The floor had tatami mats on it, so it wasn't bad for sleeping on, which they did on occasion, sometimes intentionally and sometimes not.
It didn't take long for Ryo and Sage to start sparring. It didn't matter that it was almost one o'clock in the morning. With the storm raging not just outside, but seeping inside the house through broken windows, there wasn't much chance of the two of them getting to sleep any time soon. Cye on the other hand was tired. He curled in a corner and wrapped a blanket around his shoulders, turning his back on the rest of the room. Whiteblaze sprawled next to Kento watching the two sparring warriors and pretending he wasn't.
Suddenly the lights flickered and went out. Everything froze for a moment as they waited to see if the lights would come back. When they didn't Kento flicked on the flashlight he had been holding. Sage found the lantern and turned it on.
"Time for a little low light training." He grinned wickedly at Ryo.
"No thanks. I've been pounded on enough for this week." Rowen shot a glare at Cye's back.
"I'll referee." Kento offered.
"How about you Cye?" Ryo asked, knowing Cye usually liked this type of training.
"No thank you." Cye declined politely without an explanation.
Cye kept his back to them for a while, listening to Ryo and Sage spar and Kento give not so helpful hints. He knew Rowen was dividing his attention between sulking and glaring at his back. Finally he couldn't stand it anymore and he sat up and turned to look at Rowen. Rowen, of course, pretended he hadn't been paying any attention to him. Cye sat watching him for a moment, unconsciously hugging his aching arm to him. He just didn't know what to say to him. He had already said he was sorry. He pushed himself up and walked over to sit against the wall next to Rowen. Standing made him feel a little dizzy, and he decided he better have Sage look at his arm, but it could wait until tomorrow. Rowen made it a point to keep his eyes facing straight ahead.
"I'm sorry about last night." Cye said quietly.
"You said that already." Rowen pulled his knees up to his chest and rested his chin on them.
"There's not much else I can say." Cye shrugged.
"I know why you took the keys, but I don't see why you had to hit me." Rowen sulked.
Cye chewed on the corner of his lip thoughtfully for a moment. "I just lost my temper and I shouldn't have. I'm sorry."
"I guess I shouldn't have drunk so much." Rowen offered. He was tired of fighting, even if he didn't want to admit it.
Cye just nodded. For a while the two of them sat in silence watching the sparring. Ryo traded out with Kento, who promptly found himself paid back for all his irritating little comments by an intimate introduction to the ground. Rowen snickered and Cye smiled.
"What did I say that made you so mad?" Rowen asked suddenly.
"You..." Cye started, then thought better of it. A part of him wanted to ask Rowen if he had really meant it, but mostly, he just wanted the fighting to stop. He didn't like having any of them angry with him.
"It doesn't matter." Cye looked away, trying to settle his arm more comfortably in his lap.
"It did to you." Rowen studied him suspiciously.
Cye hesitated, then shook his head. "Let's just forget the whole thing, please?"
Rowen was quiet for a moment. "No."
"Rowen..."
"You are probably the hardest person in the world to piss off, and I want to know what I did." He rubbed his chin ruefully. "That way I wont do it again.
"You just..." Cye frowned. "you just said something kind of mean."
Rowen thought about trying to drag it out of Cye, but the other Ronin looked like he really didn't want to tell him. "It must have been pretty bad to get you so angry. I'm sorry."
Cye blinked in surprise and turned to look at Rowen. An apology was very probably the last thing he has expected. "It's alright Rowen." He said almost automatically.
"Really?" He looked almost hopeful.
"Really." Cye nodded.
"Good." Rowen leaned back against the wall, snickering a little as Kento pinned Sage to the mat. It was always nice to know Sage wasn't perfect.
Next to him Cye gave a small sigh of relief and leaned back. He was glad things were settled. He was so tired, and maybe now he could sleep. He let his eye's drift shut, listening to the rain and wind that howled above the house.
"Cye, are you...?" Rowen started, but didn't get a chance to finish.
Another wall of wind slammed into the house making it creak ominously. All the warriors jumped and the sparring match stopped.
"Second storm demon." Cye said quietly.
Debris hammered against the small high windows of the basement and the door rattled as wind found its way through broken windows to slam against it.
"That's going to be one heck of a mess to pick up tomorrow." Kento grumbled.
"Do you think both storm demons are here?" Ryo asked.
"Sounds like it." Sage nodded.
"Sounds like they're fighting right on top of us." Rowen jumped up to look out the small windows curiously. He had to climb onto a pile of mats to see out.
"You wont be able to see them." Sage yawned, finally starting to feel calm enough to sleep. He had seen Rowen and Cye talking, and since they hadn't tried to kill each other, he figured things were better.
"I can't see anything at all." Rowen jumped down, disappointed.
The house moaned in protest of the powerful winds and the weight of the rain. Ryo leaned back against Whiteblaze looking up at the ceiling.
"Think it will hold?" He asked.
"I hope so." Kento sat down, grabbing a blanket to wrap around his shoulders.
"Feels like the worst of the storm is about to hit us." Rowen sat down next to Cye again, looking up at the creaking ceiling.
"All we can do is sit it out. This should be the safest place." Sage picked up his own blanket and sat down with them.
"Let's turn the lights out and tell ghost stories." Kento grinned impishly.
Ryo groaned and flopped back against Whiteblaze. Sage scowled and proceeded to tell Kento exactly what he thought of telling ghost stories at roughly three o'clock in the morning.
"Hey Cye, are you ok?" Rowen finally finished his question. "You're kind of pale."
"`m ok." Cye let his head rest on Rowen's shoulder. "I'm just tired."
"You don't look ok." Rowen frowned at him. "You look like your arm is bugging you." He had noticed him favoring it earlier, but he hadn't said anything. "What'd you do to it?"
"I banged it up surfing." Cye mumbled sleepily.
"Did you have Sage look at it?" Rowen pressed a hand against Cye's forehead, not liking how warm he felt.
"No. Don't bother him. I'll ask him tomorrow." Cye started to shrug, but the motion hurt his arm.
"I think he better look at it now." Rowen said softly.
"Sage."
Something about the way Rowen said his name made him brake off mid-sentence and turn to look at him. Cye was leaning against his shoulder and Rowen was watching him worriedly.
"Sage I think you better look at Cye's arm." Rowen looked up at him.
"What happened?" Sage came over and knelt down next to them.
"Wiped out surfing." Cye sat up a little so Sage could reach his arm better. Now that he knew there was no point in making a fuss over it.
"And?" Sage prompted as he helped Cye ease his sweatshirt off.
"And I hit it." Cye hissed in pain as Sage pulled his sweatshirt over his arm.
"Damn it Cye," Kento growled at him when he saw the blood stained bandage. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"Didn't want to bother you." Cye looked down.
Sage mumbled something irritably under his breath as he unwrapped Cye's arm. "What did you hit it on?"
"The reef. I think I got all the pieces out." Cye closed his eyes and leaned against Rowen again. Sage's hands were always gentle when he was tending injuries, but right now even gentle hurt.
"One of you go get the first aid kit." Sage didn't bother to look up at Ryo or Kento, but he heard Ryo run to get it. It only made sense to keep one in the training room. "Did you hurt anything else?"
"Bruised my ribs a little." Cye flinched as Sage unwound the last layer of bandages. Rowen slipped his arm around his shoulders, pulling him a little closer.
Sage held up his hand, an orb of light appearing in it. It drifted away from him to hang near Cye's arm while the healer examined the injury. Sage studied it for a minuet, then reached up and pressed his hand against Cye's forehead. He was definitely running a fever.
"Well?" Ryo handed him the first aid kit.
"It's infected." Sage prodded one of the deeper gashes carefully, and Cye bit his lip hard to keep from crying out. "Stop that." Sage looked up at him. "You've lost too much blood already. Biting through your lip wont help."
"It hurts." Cye said softly.
"I know. If you had let me take care of it twelve, thirteen hours ago when it happened it wouldn't hurt so much." Sage pointed out, though not too harshly. He poured disinfectant onto a piece of gauze and used it to clean away the dried blood. Cye hide his face against Rowen's shoulder and closed his eyes tight.
"Just relax Cye." Sage said soothingly. He pressed his hands against the injury and Cye felt coolness spread through the hot skin.
Rowen looked up at Sage in alarm when he felt Cye go limp against him.
"He's just asleep." Sage assured him, pulling his hands away from Cye's arm. "He needs it." He wrapped Cye's arm in clean bandages. "I took care of the infection, but he should wear a sling for a couple days. If he doesn't, beat him up."
"Can we beat him up anyway?" Ryo handed blankets and pillows over to Rowen. He hated it when one of them scared him like that.
"Given the rate our armor heals us at," Sage smirked as he cleaned the blood from his hands. "in three or four day he should be up to it."
Kento helped Rowen lay Cye down and tuck a blanket around him. Ryo and Sage picked up the rest of their scattered blankets and the five of them laid down close to each other to sleep. Outside the storm continued, but the storm demons had moved on.
"What a mess." Kento groaned as he surveyed the chaos of the living room.
"Mia's going to flip." Ryo shook his head, picking through up turned
furniture and debris blown in through the broken windows.
"Why? It wasn't our fault." Rowen held up a dripping pillow disdainfully, then dropped it. "For once."
"It's still raining. There's no point in trying to dry all this out until we do something to stop the rain from coming in." Sage helped Kento right the couch.
"The rain isn't going to let up for a while, maybe a couple days." Cye stood in front of the window, right arm secured in a sling.
"The we better get the windows boarded up." Ryo sighed and headed to the garage.
"You think there's enough plywood?" Kento trailed after him.
"With our luck, I doubt it." Ryo grumbled. Whiteblaze shot past him heading outside. "Whiteblaze stay out of the mud!" He ran after the tiger, trying to stop him before he could find a convenient mud puddle to wade through.
"What are the chances they'll both need a bath before he catches him?" Sage grinned as he headed to the garage to help Kento take stock of their plywood, knowing Ryo wouldn't be back for a while.
"Better then the chances of us having enough plywood." Rowen called after him. He walked over to stand next to Cye who was still at the window.
"Are we in for anymore storms?" He asked. Even though he could sense the rain heavy clouds, he couldn't tell what they were doing.
Rowen closed his eyes letting the damp breeze tell him where it had come from. "Not any time soon." He smiled and looped an arm around Cye's shoulders.
"Good." Cye nodded. There was a crash from the garage followed by yelling. "Come on. We better go make sure they don't kill each other."
"Oh they wont kill each other. If we were going to kill each other we would have done it a long time ago." Rowen said confidently as he followed Cye out to help the others.
The End