Twin Sword

After spending the week with Toshio, the Element Warriors decided to move on with their quest.

"That's for stopping by," said Toshio as the girls made their way towards the door. As Odin put her hand on the door knob, Toshio said, "Oh wait. I have something for the four of you."

The girls watched as Toshio retrieved four folded kimonos from behind his weaving machine. The one he handed to Sonny was white with red fire patterns near the bottom of it an on the sleeves. The obi sash Toshio made for it was also red. The one handed to Rose was red with a brown rose petal pattern and a brown obi sash. Aki's kimono was blue with a white obi sash and bubble patterns. The kimono Toshio made for Odin was yellow with a light green wind pattern and a light green obi sash.

"Toshio, they're beautiful," exclaimed Rose.

"Odin stood where she was, observing the yellow fabric she was holding. Noticing, Toshio said, "I would have made it brown, but I ran out. Sorry Odin."

"No," replied Odin. "It's perfectly fine. Actually I love it."

"Aw, brown it shut down," said Aki. Odin blushed and tucked her folded kimono into her bag.

"Perhaps next time I should make you a brand new wardrobe of yellow," said Toshio.

Dropping the matter, Odin headed for the door and waited for her sisters. They put their treasured kimonos in their packs, thanked Toshio one more time, and left.

As they were traveling, Sonny said, "I wonder why Toshio went through the trouble of making us our own kimonos."

"They're wonderful gifts. Besides, to you want to go back and return it to Toshio?" asked Odin.

With the strap of her pack in her hand, Sonny pulled it to her chest and hugged tight. "No, I'm good." Odin smirked as they continued on in their journey.

When dusk arrived, the Element Warriors stopped to make camp. As they laid down to go to sleep, Sonny remained standing. "Maybe one of us should stay up to keep watch," said the Fire Warrior.

"What for? We've never had a lookout before," exclaimed Aki.

"Well, it's not a bad idea. You can stay up and keep watch if you want, Sonny," said Odin.

Shrugging her shoulders, Aki put her forearms under her head. "You're just staying up to prank me for what I said before, aren't you?" asked the water girl.

"What?" asked Sonny.

"When Rose woke up from sleeping in the other morning. I told her if you were the one sleeping in that I'd prank you," answered Aki.

Sonny shook her head in disbelief. "Whatever."

Within no time, the three girls were asleep while Sonny watched over them. Tonight was different from any other night, but Sonny didn't exactly know why. She could sense something; the Fire Warrior could feel it in the pit of her stomach.

She heard a twig snap and quickly looked in the direction of the sound. Defensively, Sonny formed fire around her hands. Calmly, she walked away from the campfire. After reaching a certain point, she stopped and looked around. When she saw nothing, Sonny huffed and let the fire around her hands disappear. She turned to return the campfire but stopped abruptly. She heard a branch snap from above, so the Fire Warrior quickly looked up.

The next course of events was a blur to Sonny. She fell to the ground under a large mass. The Fire Warrior gathered that it was a person after she felt multiple jabs in her side. Quickly trying to fight back, Sonny formed fire around her right hand. She lashed out, but the figure on top of her caught her wrist and pinned her arm down. The person used his knee to pin Sonny's right arm down. The strength in her limb weakening, the flames slowly died away.

In the darkness, Sonny heard a familiar voice. "This is for everything you've done to me, Fire Warrior.

From the little light the campfire provided her, she could see the man draw back his fist. Seconds before the knuckles collided with her face, the arm stopped abruptly. Looking to her left, sonny saw another figure. His arm was stretched out, preventing her enemy's attack.

"Get off of her," ordered Sonny's rescuer. Even without light, the Fire Warrior knew hatred was in Daisuke's eyes. He glared at the intruder. "Mind our own business. This is between me and her."

The hero decided not to argue. Daisuke's refusal was his sign to take action. He let go of Daisuke's arm and withdrew his sword. Sonny gasped as she saw the steel reflect the light from the campfire. Daisuke quickly got to his feet to defend himself against his opponent. Refusing to let the mystery man fight for her, Sonny kicked Daisuke's knee. He fell onto his back, and the Fire Warrior brought her heel down upon his chest like a bolt of lightning.

Getting herself up into a kneeling position, Sonny looked down at Daisuke as he groaned in pain. "Didn't I teach you your lesson the last time?"

"Shove it where the sun doesn't shine, Fire Warrior," replied Daisuke. Out of anger, Sonny slapped him across the cheek. "What is your problem? May I remind you that you're the one who tried to capture us? We're trying to free people. You're certainly not helping," said Sonny.

After he didn't say anything in return, Sonny stood up straight. "Get out. I don't ever want to see you again."

"He'll just come back to cause trouble. We should kill him," said the unknown man. He was leaning against a tree when Sonny faced him. With her anger evident in her voice, Sonny said, "We're not going to do anything."

Recognizing his chance, Daisuke got to his feet and ran off into the night. Looking in the direction in which Daisuke fled, the man said, "You shouldn't have let him go. He would have killed you if I hadn't intervened."

"I don't want your advice, nor did I ask for your help," snapped Sonny. After looking at her sisters to see if they were still sleeping, she began to pace. Stopping suddenly, the fire girl looked at the man again. "Who are you anyway?"

Calmly observing the three girls sleeping around the fire, the man replied, "That's for me to know, and you to find out."

"Don't play games with me," said Sonny, irritated.

Looking at her with his elegant blue eyes, he said, "What does it matter to you? You don't want my advice and didn't ask for my help, remember?"

Her temper was blazing. "Knock it off. I want an answer."

He gave her a once over and said, "Apologize."

"What? I'm not apologizing for anything."

"Then you don't need to know who I am," replied the man mockingly.

"Aagh," exclaimed Sonny in frustration. "Fine. Be stubborn for all I care."

"Fine," said the man. He lifted himself away from the tree and turned to walk away. With his back towards her, sonny got a good look at the sheath he kept his sword in. It was identical to her with the exception that his was red.

"Wait," called out Sonny. He stopped and turned around. He waited for her to say something. Feeling his blue gaze on her, the Fire Warrior felt her knees go weak. She shifted her weight to her other hip to gather herself together. Gritting her teeth, Sonny finally said, "I'm sorry."

As the man stepped closer to her, he said, "Well, that's better."

Clearly irritated, Sonny said, "So are you going to tell me your name now?"

"No."

"I can't believe this. You made me apologize for nothing," exclaimed Sonny.

The man ran his fingers through his well-kept black hair. "Well, if it's that important to you," said the man sarcastically, "you can call me White Swordsman." A smile spread across his lips. It quickly receded when Sonny asked, "Where did you get that sword?"

He turned and began to walk away.

"Hey," said Sonny. "I asked you a question." She ran after him, and when she put her hand on his shoulder, he immediately shrugged it off. "It's none of your concern," replied the White Swordsman.

"Yes it is. That sword belongs t a dead man," argued Sonny.

The White Swordsman stopped abruptly and turned to face her just as quickly. His blue eyes were blazing with anger. "Don't talk about him like that. You didn't even know him for that matter."

"Of course I didn't know him. Why would I want to know a person who killed innocent people?" yelled Sonny.

"He didn't kill innocent people. They were working for Lord Oromashi. They were handling his affairs."

"Do you really think they had a choice? Face it, he just killed people that were doing what they needed to do to stay alive," argued Sonny.

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, I don't. Well let's stop and analyze the situation shall we. If those people were running Lord Oromashi's affairs, why hasn't anything changed in the way that this country is being ruled?"

"My father wouldn't lie to me," said the White Swordsman.

Sonny was stunned.

"I saw those soldiers kill my father with my very own eyes."

"You're living in denial," replied Sonny.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," exclaimed Sonny. "He lied to you because he didn't want you to think any less f him."

Breaking their eye contact, the White Swordsman looked turned away from her. "Helping you was a waste of my time." He started to walk away again.

"Fine. Good riddance," yelled Sonny. She turned and walked towards the campfire. Once she reached it, the Fire Warrior laid down in the circle of girls around the fire. "Humph. Who needs that guy anyway?" Closing her eyes, she couldn't stop thinking about the White Swordsman, especially his blue eyes. The anger and pain he expressed through them.

Aagh! Why am I thinking about that jerk? thought Sonny. She stared at the source of light and watched the flames until they suddenly vanished.