"Let me go, dammit!" I screeched at the ugly boy across from me. He grinned and smacked me with the stick he held again. I cringed back against the wall and glared at him, hate emanating from my eyes and fists clenched. "I bet you are nothing with out that damned stick! Ha! Looks like someone SLAPPED YOU with an UGLY stick!!!!" I muttered...actually, now that you think about it, it was loud enough for him to hear, so it is not considered muttering. Anywho, it was enough for him to deliver another sharp smack that ultimately shut me up.
It had been a month or so since I had last seen the guys. I had looked a bit different then. My hair was still growing out to its original length and it had not quite turned its real red color. I was now almost all the way transformed to my original self. I studied the wretched boy in front of me. He seemed familiar, but then again, I had not yet regained my full memory so I might be mistaken. He reminded me of my ex-boyfriend back in Anahuac. Ugly, repulsive, rude, stupid. Yep...ex-boyfriend all right! He had a horrid color of green hair that fell in wavy wisps just below his ear and swept back a little from what looked like times that he probably tucked the locks behind his ear. His head seemed way too big for his body, and his facial features were atrocious. His eyes were huge and snake-like, and he looked like he had scales! They were very faint, but you could see them. He was sporting a dark-green and maroon (and a few other colors) Gi.
"What are you staring at, lovely beauty? Certainly not me!" he growled, jabbing me with the blunt end of the stick. I gasped for breath and scowled at him. "Bring her to me." came the booming voice that I remembered from my first day a month or so ago. He was the head who took the beautiful orchard away and left me in lava. I shut my eyes and began shaking. The ugly boy took the chain that held my shackles and led me to a big room with beautiful tapestries everywhere. I marveled for only a moment before returning my attention to what was to come. The head appeared before us. "That is all, Sekhmet. You may return to your quarters." It said to the ugly boy. I watched as he bowed and disappeared. I blinked a few times, staring at the head. I saw energy waves being emitted from it, and I blacked out.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Ryo stared out the window of the room at the stars and wondered to himself. He missed the brunette girl. She had been gone for over a month now. It was his fault. These thoughts plagued his mind for a long while. She had shown up at his house looking very confused. She spoke no Japanese, so he had to have a translator come in and translate what they said to each other. She said that she had been transported here somehow and that she really did not know where 'here' was. He watched her expressions thoughtfully as she explained everything to the translator, a handsome blond boy with a wisp of hair always covering one eye. He translated it to Ryo carefully. Ryo nodded and said "thank you" and bid the blonde farewell. The brunette watched the handsome boy move fluidly around with admiration.
(just in case you don't get it, this is a change in views...)
"My name is Amber." I blurted. He glanced at me with surprise and tilted his head to the side in confusion. I stood, pointing to myself. "Amber" I said slowly and then pointed to him with a questioning look. A spark of recognition went off and he chuckled. "Ryo." he said, pointing to himself. I sighed, thinking how hard it will be to learn all of this until I will be able to get home. "Ryo" I said, grinning. "A...Amber" he struggled with the foreign word. I grinned, nodding. I walked to the window and looked out. *How am I going to get home?* I thought, staring out at the beautiful scene. I felt a presence behind me and I turned, seeing Ryo watching me. He waved for me to follow him. He led me to a room that had some women's clothes. I started to reach for a large size when he stopped me, chuckling. He pointed at me and at the clothes, shaking his head. I cocked my head to the side and looked in a mirror nearby. I was a toothpick!!! I jumped, startled that that was me in the mirror. I looked down and put my hands around my waist. I could put my hands around it and touch fingers! I glanced at Ryo, embarrassed that I was making such a big deal. I pointed to myself and then spread my hands out wider to how big I use to be. He grinned and nodded, handing me a beautiful GI to wear. I stepped behind the changing foldout and put it on. I emerged sparkling in the beautiful clothes. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped. I chuckled and ducked behind the foldout. He appeared suddenly over me, startling me and making me fall to the floor. I rubbed my head, blushing. He smiled, leaned over and hoisted me up. I stared up into his beautiful blue eyes and grinned. He did the same. We stayed like that for what seemed like forever. I finally lay my head down against his chest. He gasped and flinched, a little startled at the boldness of the move and put his arms hesitantly around me. I grinned. *This is so cool!!!* I thought. I moved my head up to look at him again and he moved his face down and kissed me. I smiled and tears welled up and I returned it. He finally moved back, eyes wide with surprise, and whispered a strain of affectionate-sounding words. I had only known him for maybe 2 hours. I looked at the floor, embarrassed. He flushed and hurried to find some shoes and such. *Why was this all so strangely familiar?*
"Ryooooooooooooo!" I heard a woman shout. I quickly darted my head in the direction of the door. A woman who looked a bit like Ryo was staring at me, obviously very confused and angry to see me here. She moved forward, pointing at what I had on and saying a strain of angry-sounding words. I moved away slowly and was about to run when Ryo put his hands on my shoulders. He smiled down at me and went and led the woman, probably his mother, out of the room. I heard them talk for a while and she came back in, smiling and bowing. I grinned back at her and attempted a shaky bow. She led me to an empty room and motioned for me to go in. I walked to a dresser and searched for some pajamas. I found some and put them on and went to sleep... Well....I woke up in these shackles with no memory of how I got from the comfortable bed to this cold chamber with shackles on. And then all of what I mentioned at the beginning happened. What on earth am I going to see when I wake up this time?
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Up here, bucket-head!" I heard someone shout. I tried opening my eyes, but nothing happened. "Whoa, check out ugly." I heard a softer voice shout. Pain shot up my body as someone jerked me around a bit. My eyes shot open and I screamed. There were gasps coming from the people around me. I saw five guys in different colored sub-armors. One had an orange armor and short, grayish-blue hair. Another had blue hair and a dark-blue armor. Another with reddish-brown hair and a light-blue armor was just standing up and one near him with blond hair sweeping over one eye and green armor was also. The last one was behind them all, visibly injured. He had black hair and a red armor. He reminded me of Ryo, the dark-haired boy who had taken me in before I ended up in shackles. Maybe it is him! He was quite muscular and this boy has the same color complexion and such. I opened my mouth to shout to him, but before I could say anything I had been hurled into the air. In an instant, I was imbedded in the side of a building. Pain seared through my body and, yet again, I blacked out.
"Ryo!" I heard someone say sharply. I tried to breathe, but it didn't work. I opened an eye wearily and stared at the boy I kissed a month or so before. He now had me in a chokehold against the wall, glaring at me. He muttered a strain of words and was about to punch me when I whispered his name. He faltered a bit and loosened his hold on my neck. "Please don't hurt me! I am the girl you helped a month ago!" I blurted quickly. His eyes widened as he recognized that I was speaking English. I shuddered a bit, coughing, trying to catch my breath. He sniffed in my direction and stormed off. The blond moved up and spoke to me in English. He put my head against his and a jolt came from his into mine. I hopped back a bit, startled. He spoke to me in Japanese, and I understood it! I tried to say something, but I was a bit unsuccessful. I could only understand it, but didn't know how to speak it yet. I could only speak what he had just spoken to me. I looked to Ryo, who was still fuming. He glared back at me and muttered a strain of insults, one of which was strange. "Spawn of Talpa?" I repeated questioningly. He nodded and spat it at me again. "Who is Talpa?" I asked. He looked at me angrily and told me who. "The head?" I muttered, eyes widening. He stood and stormed up to me, slamming me against the wall by the throat once more. "No Ryo! Please don't! Can you not remember me?!?!" I shouted, trying to pull his hands away. "Where should I remember you from?" he spat. "You took me in and gave me clothes." I said, gasping for breath. "And you kissed me," I whispered. His face slowly changed to a look of surprise and then to sympathy. "You look very different, Amber." he said. "I still have more changing to do, I think." I whispered. He smiled, lowering his head and picking up one of my hands, kissing it gently. "I am sorry." he said softly. I blushed. He introduced me to the other warriors. The boy with the orange armor was named Kento. The one with light blue was Cye, dark blue was Rowen, and green was Sage. "Kento's Japanese name is Shuu, Cye's is Shin, Rowen's is Touma and Sage's is Seiji. Mine doesn't change." he explained to me. I nodded and grinned and shook each one's hand, greeting each of them. Just then the ground began to shake violently. I moved toward the guys and so did two other people. They introduced themselves as Mia and Yuli. Mia was a young woman around my age, maybe a little older. Yuli was a young boy around eight or nine years old. We huddled together, shaking from fright. The guys held their stance around us. When the shaking stopped, Ryo knelt down and opened his arms. I gratefully fell into them. He comforted me for a while. Sage and Rowen, who had gone up to see what was going on, came running back down the stairs. They said that people were trying to fire at the Castle. They were not having much luck. Sage hushed us and listened intensely to the air around him. I also heard something.
...Thunk...Thunk...Thunk...Thunk...Crash!!!
We shivered and huddled closer. A pair of glowing eyes appeared in the dark and attacked us. A chunk of the ground above me fell and knocked me out. A series of dark images and much pain occurred. When I awoke for real, I was in a clearing. I stood shakily and walked in a direction. I felt a strong urge to walk in that direction. I came upon a house. I collapsed against the door and used my last energy to knock. Everything went black again.