jrzgrl02: Don't you just love me? I love writing fan fics, especially RW. I'll be interested to see if any of your hypothesis were close. You'll be finding out below Sawyer's direct connection to Toyama. As always, I will keep up the suspense. Peace and girl power!
CHAPTER TWO
That night, Sawyer had a restless sleep.
/…/
"You guys can do anything!"
Laughter. Cheers around.
/…/
Sawyer rolled over and gripped his bedcovers tightly. Sweat started to drip down his forehead with his eyes tightly screwed shut.
/…/
"You're the greatest!"
Smile. Hug.
"Thanks. You're pretty awesome, too."
/…/
The young man started mumbling incoherently and shaking. A large figure woke up from his usual place on the other side of the house.
/…/
"Can I talk to you about something?"
"Can it wait? I'm a little tired right now."
Small smile. "Sure. It can wait. I'm not going anywhere."
/…/
The figure moved through the house quietly. Then it stopped in the open doorway of Sawyer's room. It was sad to see Sawyer experiencing such distress.
/…/
Two lifeless bodies lay on the ground. His heart clenched in pain and his eyes watered. How could this have happened?
"No!"
/…/
Sawyer gasped as pain wracked his body and mind. His companion grew worried and crossed the room to lick him on the face. He nudged the man's hand, trying to coax him awake.
/…/
He was standing in the woods with his head down. He had already cried out all the tears he could. He still couldn't believe they were gone. It was all his fault. The heartache spread to his entire body.
S-sn-snap. He lifted his head and turned around to face one of his friends. However, as he stood facing the blonde, he couldn't help but feel that something was off. Sage's smile sent shivers down his back.
"They're dead. Don't take it so hard."
His jaw threatened to drop to the ground. What. in. the. Hell?! The expression on his face spurred the light haired ronin to continue.
"They died for a reason," he said in a calm voice.
He narrowed his eyes in confusion and mild disgust.
"We're supposed to protect innocents, Sage. They died because the warlords distracted us and struck when our backs were turned," he growled angrily.
Sage shrugged his shoulders uncaring.
"Or made it was destined to happen?"
The fellow ronin was getting a weird vibe from the warrior of light. It reminded him of the warlords and it was starting to creep him out.
"What are you talking about?" he said in a serious voice, all humor and anger gone from his voice.
"After we defeated Talpa, you were unconscious for a few days. During that time, the warlords found us and met with us. They made an offer we couldn't refuse; the gift of immortality."
He shook his head in disbelief. "You took the deal."
Sage let out a loud laugh that sent shivers down his sore back.
"That we did, but we had to get rid of those two before we could reveal who we had now become."
That was all it took to unleash his anger. He summoned his armor in the blink of an
eye. He drew his weapon and aimed it at his former ally who had already summoned his own armor as well.
"You can barely stand, ronin. What makes you think you can hold your own against me?" mocked Sage.
Truth be told, the young man knew he probably didn't stand a chance, especially if the others were nearby. His vision was already somewhat blurry. His only chance lay in the assistance of White Blaze who he hope was nearby as well. Sage kept his nodachi in its sheath.
"Join us and become a warlord. You can be immortal. You will live forever," reasoned Sage.
Shake of the head.
"I do that and their blood will be on my hands. I can't allow that."
Sage unsheathed his nodachi and held it out in attack mode.
"Then die where you stand, mortal."
The fight was the hardest he had ever had. Sage was a little weak from his armor being used to call the Inferno, but that didn't seem to slow him down in battle. The battle went south real quick. He was breathing hard and his armor was cracked in several places. Sage shook his head with an evil laugh.
"Give it up. It's over," he said.
The young ronin moved to launch his sure kill, but Sage was quicker and his blast of light smacked into his body hard. The armor ripped away suddenly, leaving him clad in his normal clothes, and he collapsed to his knees in an unspeakable amount of pain. Sage lifted up his sword to deal the killing blow when White Blaze, appearing out of nowhere, lunged at him and knocked him to the ground.
He knew in order to escape he was going to need to leap over the river behind him and escape through the woods. His body felt like it was on fire, but he had to try. He climbed to his feet and ran towards the river, jumping when he met the water. He was above the middle of the river when searing pain struck up his spinal cord and he fell down into the water.
He could barely keep his head above the water as the river pulled him down stream. Pain shot through his entire body while the water pulled him under. The cold water was starting to seep into his skin and he could feel his oxygen starting to cut off. He was too weak to keep his head above the water and was unable to return to the surface.
Then his body started to warm up as if a heating blanket had been placed around him. He felt the heat bubble from within as well. Finally, he allowed his body and subconscious to succumb to the darkness.
/…/
Sawyer's eyes snapped open and he jerked awake. Dripping with sweat, he sat up gasping for breath and his body shaking violently. It had been quite a spell since he had experienced nightmares and so many in a single night. He was startled when he felt something wet touch the back of his hand.
Sawyer looked down to see the familiar dark grey and white canine. He raised a shaky hand (the one that had been licked) to softly scratch the dog behind the ears.
"You scared me there for a minute," Sawyer said, leaning down to lay his forehead on top of the dog's head.
"Thanks, Silver."
The Alaskan Malamute stayed absolutely still. He felt Sawyer take a shaky breath but didn't so much as let out a whine. After a few moments of dead silence, Sawyer sat up and reached over to his bed stand to slide his glasses onto his face. His alarm clock read as 3:08am.
With a groan, he threw off the covers and abandoned his bed. Silver happily followed him into the kitchen where he retrieved a glass from a cabinet and filled it with water. He took a few small sips before dumping the rest down the sink. Silver whined pitifully while placing himself near the back kitchen door that led to outside.
Sawyer chuckled. "Wanna go for a jog, boy?"
Silver barked as if answering in the affirmative. Sawyer told the canine to give him a minute. Instead of putting a shirt on, Sawyer simply changed out of his pajama pants and into a pair of black workout pants. He pulled his socks and running sneakers on, making sure to tie the laces tight. Silver was still waiting by the door but he was now standing and his tail was wagging.
The time on the microwave read as 3:32 as he disappeared out the door with Silver. Sawyer didn't even bother with warming up. He just took right off into the forest down a familiar dirt path with Silver right beside him. An Alaskan Malamute required a lot of exercise, but so did Sawyer to keep in shape so they made a good pair.
The pair jogged through the forest, by the lake, and back around to the cabin. By the time they arrived back at the kitchen door, the sun had begun to rise. As they entered the front door, they could detect sounds coming from the kitchen. Silver immediately went on the offensive and crouched low to the ground.
Sawyer slowly followed him, allowing the canine to dart around the corner into the kitchen first. He was relieved to hear the dog let out a happy, puppy-like bark. He stepped around the corner and leaned on the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest.
Silver sat straight up on his haunches, begging to no end to the person who stood frying bacon. The person was a woman of small stature. She stood at 5'2" with long, pale blonde hair and wore an oversized, loose pullover and jeans. She smiled down at Silver and shook a finger at him.
"Nooo. No. No bacon for you, mister," she told him.
Silver let out a series of whines while lowering his head with his paw over his muzzle. Sawyer let out a quiet chuckle as the woman caved in and gave him a warm piece of bacon off a plate. Silver took it over to his food bowl where he dropped it and started munching it down.
"You're a softie," Sawyer told her.
A pair of unique gray-blue eyes glanced up at him as the owner stood up from her crouched position. She laughed and shrugged her shoulders.
"What can I say? I'm an animal person. If you want to go cool down with a shower, I'll have breakfast done in a little bit," she replied.
"Okay," he murmured before leaving the kitchen.
Sawyer trudged back through the house to his private bathroom. He grabbed a clean pair of jeans and underwear before closing the bathroom door behind him. He turned on the shower and hopped in after stripping out of his workout clothes. Sawyer almost immediately jumped back out.
The water was horribly frigid. Through the beads of ice, Sawyer reached through the water to change the water to its opposite. Now it was scalding hot which suited him just fine. Grabbing up a bar of soap, Sawyer let out a series of groans and sighs as he washed away the stink. He washed his hair with shampoo but not conditioner since he had run out yesterday.
When he was done, Sawyer just stood under the spout for a few minutes, letting the hot water drops cascade down his body. Finally, he turned off the water and climbed out. He toweled off, got dressed and left the bathroom. On his way out, he had grabbed up his brush and was attempting to brush the knots out as he walked back to the kitchen.
When he entered the kitchen, the young woman was placing her plate in the sink and turning back around to face him. He gritted his teeth silently as his brush caught a large tangle. The blonde giggled and held out her hand. Sawyer plopped down into a seat at the kitchen table and placed the brush down beside him.
The blonde woman brought him over a plate of food and he picked up his fork to begin eating. Silver was lying under the table with his back half underneath Sawyer's chair.
"Thank you, Kalen[1]," Sawyer murmured.
"You're welcome, Sawyer," she replied.
She picked up his brush and stepped up behind him. Having been used to her doing this before, Sawyer wasn't startled or bothered when Kalen started brushing his hair. He chewed silently on a piece of bacon while she calmly pulled the tangles apart.
"I like your hair this way. It's nice and short," Kalen pointed out.
Sawyer put down his fork and wiped his mouth.
"Kalen?"
"I like the frosted highlights, too."
"Kalen?"
"And I know you have no reason to wear them, but you look very good in glasses," Kalen said, gently tapping the side of his glasses.
Sawyer's hand shot out to catch her by the wrist. She froze.
"Kalen," he said in a serious tone, turning his head to glance over his shoulder at her.
In his peripheral field of vision, Sawyer could see something brewing in Kalen's eyes. It wasn't a sight he was pleased to see. She looked a tad unease and he knew it was something serious.
"Tell me," he pleaded.
Kalen twisted her hand, wanting it released, and Sawyer released it immediately. She reached her hand up to his cheek to stroke it softly.
"Finish eating and I'll tell you," she promised.
"Okay."
Sawyer turned back to his breakfast and waited silently as Kalen put the brush down. He felt her hands come up to comb through his hair in a soothing manner. This was a warning sign before she began to speak.
"It's been a few years now." Snort. "The anniversary of that day came around last month. We had no reason to suspect anything was wrong. You were right. About the clouds. The storm clouds do mean something, but not what you think. So long ago, they served as a warning that Talpa was coming. This time, they've arrived a bit late."
Sawyer finished his breakfast and pushed his plate away. He felt Kalen lean forward as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and lay her head on his left shoulder.
"The seal keeping them within the Nether Realm has been broken. The dark warlords have returned," she whispered.
Sawyer's body immediately tensed up, his hands curling into fists on the table. Kalen instantly tightened her hold on him and whispered soothing words in another language in his ear. He breathed deeply as he thought of the repercussions.
The dark warlords have returned. That meant trouble not only for him, but for Kalen's people and the mortals as well.
Sensing his human's distress, Silver crawled out from under the table and laid his head down in Sawyer's lap. Sawyer's hands immediately latched onto Silver's fur but he made sure to keep his grip loose.
"The seal was broken early yesterday morning. We had no way of knowing this would happen. We had no reason to believe the seal wouldn't hold. The Ancient One sacrificed his remaining soul force to seal the gates, allowing only us Ancients to travel between the realms through our own means."
Sawyer tensed up again at the mention of the once great man. He had helped them through everything, even using his soul force to remain on the mortal plane to guide them. A single tear slid down his cheek. He hadn't thought of the wise leader in a long time. It hurt to think of how they had all let the Ancient One down.
Even me, Sawyer thought bitterly.
"How is everyone? How big is the threat?" Sawyer whispered.
"It's safe to assume the threat is pretty severe."
Sawyer choked out a small chuckle. The blonde Ancient then emitted a sigh.
"They've resurfaced and we're not sure where they actually are. None of our scouts have spotted them since Griffin discovered the broken seal. We leveled the house Mia," Sawyer tensed again "lived in when the seal was placed so there's nowhere for them to go. As for the Ancients, we're all okay. We have three locations in Toyama and the hidden city in the Nether Realm. Their likelihood of finding us isn't very high."
Sawyer processed all the information as Kalen fed it to him. It sounded as though the Ancient people were safe yet he could hear the strain in Kalen's voice.
She's still worried about discovery, Sawyer thought. As she should be.
"Do they know…" "…about you?"
Sawyer had been afraid to ask. He didn't know what the warlords knew and what they didn't. For all he knew, they could know exactly where he lived. He waited on baited breath for Kalen's answer.
"No. As far as the warlords know, Ryo Sanada died a hundred and seven years ago shortly before they were sealed away by the Ancient One and the Council," Kalen whispered.
Silver picked up his head when he felt Sawyer release the grip on his fur. The brunette turned his head, causing Kalen to bring her head to the side so they locked eyes.
"That's because he is dead," Sawyer stated in a clear, strong voice.
That was his past. He planned to keep it good and buried.
Kalen flashed him a small smile. "I know, Sawyer."
Sawyer returned the smile. He patted Kalen's arm which was her clue to release her hold on him. He pushed his chair back from the kitchen table and stood. Kalen watched the thousands of thoughts filtering through Sawyer's fiery-colored gaze.
"I'm coming back with you," he declared.
Kalen's eyes widened in surprise.
"Sawyer, no. You can't."
He took a step forward to place his hands firmly on Kalen's shoulders. He momentarily ignored Silver who was dancing back and forth on his paws nervously.
"I won't let the Ancients do this alone. I won't let you do this alone," Sawyer whispered.
Kalen shook her head with a solemn look on her face.
And what if they should discover who you were? Who you are, Kalen thought.
She didn't have the strength to voice her thoughts. Yet, as Sawyer drew her into a warm hug, she knew he shared her thoughts. It was only a matter of time until somebody voiced those thoughts.
END OF CHAPTER TWO?
[1] – pronounced KAY-lin
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