Shadows of the Light

As the guys got home that night they realized that Mia was sound asleep and she did not even wake up when Rowen had to swerve to avoid a fox on the road. They pulled up to the mansion and Ryo carried Mia up to her room and laid her on the bed and noticed that her sub armor had dissappeared almost as soon as she was in her bed. "Sleep well Mia, and rest well Spirit of the Ninja, for tomorrow we train after school to help you in your battles." Ryo pulled light covers over Mia and stepped quietly out of the room closing the door behind him. He found the guys all waiting for him out there having watched him put her to bed they wanted to know what they were to do then.

"Well guys. I think that we had best doctor our wounds and go to bed. Barring any attacks from those shadows we are going to be training, and unless I miss my guess Mia and that spirit are going to be really hard task masters in this training as we do not have a lot of time to train and get what we need to learn ingrained." Ryo walked past the guys and went down stairs to the first aid kit and took it into the kitchen to treat the myriad of scratches and nicks he took from the shuriken that the shadows threw.

The rest of the guys came down the stairs and either started treating their own wounds or started helping treat the wounds that the others could not reach. It was a quiet and reflective time for all of them as they all ached from the battle. They had been some pretty nasty battles with Talpa's soldiers but none of them had ever really come away from a battle with this many strapes and cuts and bruises. They were going to be a sore lot tomorrow and they still had school and training to survive.

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As the school day had worn on the guys found that it was easier and easier to move the less they thought about their injuries and just went through the motions. Gym class really made things easy for them as they finally had a chance to streach out the stiff and really tight muscles that had cropped up overnight from sleeping.

Mia had slept through her alarm and Rowen was sent into her room to wake her up as the guys figured that a heavy sleeper like Ro would know how to wake her up with out getting killed. Mia got them to school and then continued to the college for her days classes.

The day passed uneventfully and all parties involved were relieved. Mia was starting to remember some of her battles in her new armor and White Blaze was finally given free roam of the college campus and it was found that he usually stayed up in the trees that would support him and would just watch Mia through the windows of the classrooms. As the classes began to get used to the tiger being there the other students began to relish the idea that they were the only college with a white tiger running lose on the campus and that the tiger had indeed been true to Mia's word and not harmed any one.

Anubis would be found either walking around the town in his civilian garb or meditating in the woods or by the lake on Mia's estate. He was always keeping an eye on the dark forces and had figured that he would be able to better judge when another attack would come if he could monitor the various energy levels and was training himself to constantly monitor those levels even when he was not exactly aware of it.

The guys got out of school and Mia picked them up and took them back to the estate and they all changed into their sub armor. Mia's sub armor had a unique twist to it though. Even though she had the armor that looked like the ronins sub armor she also had the Ninja coverings that went over it and that muffled the sounds that she made. she managed to will away the head covering so that the guys could see her clearly and understand her as when she had the head covering on she fell under the ninja code of silence.

Looking around she set off in a random direction into the woods and the guys and Anubis followed her. Even though he no longer had his armor he figured that he would benifit from the training in the ninja ways. As they moved deeper into the woods Cye noticed that Mia was no longer in front of them. The heard a laugh surround them and knew that it was Mia. "Todays training, Find me and defeat me. It should not be hard. You have all the skills, now you have to relearn to use them."

The guys looked at each other and shrugged, when they looked at Anubis they found him in a dark grey ninja outfit. They were all surprised when he looked up at them. "What, you all do not honestly think I was going to come to this practice unprepared for a duel of wits and skills?" He looked around almost aimlessly and then struck off in a different direction from the guys and smiled to himself. ~Mia/Silver Raven, you have a lot to learn yet from your mentor. Maybe I can yet use this to my advantage.~ As he looked around and stayed alert he noticed that his vision was starting to cloud a bit. He refocused and noted that there was a rather large dust cloud for the middle of a wooded area. "Come out Mia/Silver Raven. I know that you are here and I will defeat you."

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The guys decided to pair up and Ryo called that he would go on his own to try to find Mia. "Ryo, if you meet her she is going to kick your but man." Kento grinned knowing that the guys all knew that Ryo was one of the best in the group and better able to take care for himself when he did not have to worry about defending any one else. "She may or she may not. You saw how Anubis just took off and I thought I heard his voice not that long ago so I think that he thinks that he has already found her."

"Thinks he found her? Ryo have you lost your marbles. Anubis has centuries of training on us. I would think that he would know how to find a ninja. Even one that is a half ghost like Mia/Silver Raven Especially since he is rather over qualified in the ghost part." Rowen nodded to Kento as the big ronin made his point. The others looked surprised that Kento thought this out as far as he had. Usually he was the one that wanted to charge into battle and leave the thinking to the others. Not always the best plan but they all knew that he was far from stupid. Especially when he was in his element.

Ryo walked off in one direction after thinking for a little bit and left the others to pair off. He had heard Mia's last comment about their skills and decided to test the theory that he had about his armor. As soon as he got out of the clearing that the guys were in he sat down and drew his swords. Crossing them on the ground in front of him he smiled to himself and closed his eyes to concentrate on the blades.

Kento and Rowen walked off into a different direction of the forest smiling slightly. They too also had some theories that they wanted to test out. Soon Rowen turned to make sure that Kento was behind him and almost tripped over a root as he discovered that the ronin of Hardrock was no longer behind him. ~Damn, when the hell did he learn to move so quietly.~ Rowen then returned his focus to the task ahead of him on finding the Shadow warrior.

Sage and Cye were the last two in the clearing and held a severely muted conference through their armors limited telepathic gifts. When they finally decided on a plan of action they too split up to move in separate directions. As Sage moved like the light through the trees he noted that some of the other sounds were missing as well, like the wind in the trees. As he continued to move he found that it was getting harder and harder to breath yet easier for him to move. As he moved to the trees he called out in his mind. ~Alright Mia. You are here now what is your challenge.~

Hiding in the shadows of the trees directly above Sage was Mia and she heard him. Smiling to herself she knew that this would be an easy task for the ronin of light to accomplish if he remembered what the Ancient taught him about his armor. She talked back to him. ~Sage of the Halo, Warrior of light. I challenge you to single combat. The catch is the air that is in the field that I have created is not being replenished and there is no sound for you to hear. You must defeat me by making me give up or out last me in the airless void.~

~Basically you are challenging me to combat first one up for air loses right?~ Sage received confirmation to the simplification of the challenge and he smiled as his face mask snapped down over his face helping him to conserve what little oxegen there was in the field. As he drew his no datchi he felt two shuriken strike his wirst and pin it to the tree behind him.he looked at the direction that the stars came from trying to find their owner and used his Armor to help him to feel her out. This was easy as the Armor brightened slowly takeing away all of the shadows in the area.

Mia just giggled to herself. This was a bright kid but he needed to work on his skills. ~There are more to shadows than the light and the dark. They are the shadows of your mind as well.~ Sage was confused at the cryptic message and ducked as he felt two more shuriken coming at him. He looked around and extended his senses to their farthest point. Suddenly he reached above him and grabbed the air. But there was no air to grab as he pulled one very surprised ninja down to the ground. ~I see you have learned that there are other senses Halo. Now to battle.~ and Mia pulled one of her many blades out. It was a Wakashaki Blade. Short yet if she managed to get inside of Sages defences it could do a lot of damage. She started on the defence and studied Sage with a new perception that only the spirit of the armor could have done. As their blades met the clang was not heard anywhere else in the forest thanks to Mia's field. Suddenly she dissappeared from under the No datchi and reappeared behind him with the blade at his throat.

Not being one to give up so easily Sage turned his blade point first to the ground and stabbed it into the earth. Mia's comment about the mental shadows still turning over in his mind as he automatically took Mia's arm and flipped her over his shoulder. The movements were getting harder as even the reduced oxygen started to run out. ~Man I better get her beat fast or I am going to be in trouble.~

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