Chapter Five – The Latest Reconnaissance Mission

Chapter Five – The Latest Reconnaissance Mission

Night had settled in long ago and taken over the world, wrapping its satin black arms around her. It was in full swing, with the insects singing and the moon glowing and the wind whispering. It was Rowen's dream night, as he had remarked to himself in his jeep earlier. All the stars in the heavens grinning at him… Venus, in all her glory, winking at him…

Rowen stared out the window from his bed. He was the only Ronin left awake. For some reason he could not fall asleep tonight, and all he could think about was going to his meadow in the slumbering woods. But not now, for Dais, the creep, would probably be spinning his web in the grasses, waiting to capture the first foolish warrior to step there. Rowen decided he did not want to be that warrior, so he lay in his bed with his sheets pulled up to his chin, imagining what the scene would look like.

A summer breeze laced with the frost of the Great Mountains ruffled the white curtains. For a brief second, Rowen thought he saw a figure standing on the roof beneath Ryo's window. Impossible. The curtains fluttered again. No, someone was definitely there, looking inside, but nothing else about the figure was discernable because of the concealing pine tree that grew along side their house. Damn that tree! Rowen needed to see who or, more likely, what was lurking in the recesses of the shadows.

He scrambled out of his bed in a flurry of ivory sheets, sticking his head out the window. All he saw was her silhouette, glorious and perfect.

Mirichu…

How had she gotten on the rooftop, and, more importantly, why was she there? Her face remained hidden by the darkness, but Rowen was sure it was Mirichu by the necklace she wore. It was the silver sun pendant he had bought for her for her 16th birthday that gave her away. Magically, it was the only thing that the moonlight could illuminate from where she stood. The smiling celestial creature stared at him, and Rowen wondered if it really could see him. In the ethereal light she seemed alive and animated, as if she knew of his presence. A silver drop of liquid (a tear perhaps?) glided gently to the rooftop, shattering like a shard of tiny crystal.

Suddenly, Mirichu turned her attentions away from Ryo's window and toward him. Startled, Rowen yanked his head back in faster than he should have, and he slammed his skull into the frame of the open window. Rowen felt dizzy for but a second, and then the world went even blacker than it already was.

@~~`~~~

The next thing Rowen remembered was the sound of an alarm clock blaring in his ears. He craned his head to look to his right, and the sight of Sage's face hovering close to his greeted him. "Good morning, merry sunshine."

Rowen groaned, touching the back of his head lightly. "Or not so good. What time is it?"

"6:00 a.m. on the dot. Looks like somebody overslept."

"Oh man, I feel like I've been run over by a tractor-trailer truck. How'd I get here?" he wondered, looking at the bed then the space on the floor where he fell last night. Rowen sat up slowly, wobbling slightly from his dizziness.

"Whoa, Rowen! What the heck happened to you? Dais knock you something good, or what?"

"Or what, Sage. It was Mirichu."

"Miri hit you that hard? Whoa! I figured she was good from last night's action, but I didn't know she had this in her!"

Rowen shook his head and instantly regretted doing it. He felt intensely nauseous. "No, she didn't exactly hit me, but it was because of her that I knocked myself unconscious, apparently, and I have this huge lump on the back of my skull." He gingerly traced the welt with his finger, wincing at the electric shocks that raced through his veins.

"When did this happen?"

"Oh, probably about midnight or a little after."

"And why exactly was she here?" Sage asked a little suspiciously.

"Honestly? Um, I don't know why Miri was here. All I know was that one second I was looking at Venus, and the next she was there, standing on the roof outside, under Ryo's bedroom window. As for the reason she was there, I haven't the foggiest. I think that's only a question Ryo and Miri can answer."

"Just standing?"

"Just standing there, looking in," Rowen confirmed.

"At Ryo?"

"At Ryo."

There was a little silence, and then Sage asked, "At midnight?"

"Yes, at midnight."

The blonde glanced mystified around the room. It all seemed so suddenly foreign to him. "But wasn't he asleep? I thought Ryo was the first to hit the hay last night, and wouldn't've White Blaze noticed her presence like all the other guys in the past? It just doesn't add up. Either she's a master at reconnaissance or White Blaze is losing his touch."

"I don't believe it's either thing, Sage, and that's what's spooky. It's like Mirichu was a ghost, my god. My Awakening didn't even alert me to her life force, and as we all know, my Awakening is really growing in power. If she were alive and within that short distance, I would notice."

"I've never heard anyone think of Miri as spooky – maybe a little crazy and definitely beautiful, but not spooky by any means. And as for your Awakening not detecting her, maybe you just didn't have it turned on or however your thing works."

"No, Sage, it's always on. And that's not what I mean by saying spooky. I mean that the situation was just plain strange. What was so important about seeing Ryo at twelve o'clock that she couldn't wait until the next time she saw him to tell him?"

"Maybe it's…"

Rowen narrowed his eyes, trying to conceal the evident fire blazing within their turquoise depths. "What? Love, is that what you were going to say? Well, wipe it from your mind because that's not what it is."

"It's possible. Didn't you see those two last night at the fight? It was like they were dating or married or something."

Rowen's eyes flared as though they were Ryo's swords. "Try the or something. I didn't see anything that could denote love between the two of them – nothing that remotely resembled it. Besides, love is an intense force within life itself. With my Awakening power I should have been able to detect her love, but I felt nothing. It's like she was dead, and that's the most terrifying thought I can think."

"Then don't think it!" Sage shouted, now angry at the way Rowen was taking their conversation. "Come on now, Rowen. You know as well as I do that Mirichu is a living, breathing person just like you and me. For heavens sake, I held her hand last night all the way out of the cave!"

"And she cried on my shoulder yesterday morning – real tears. The point I'm trying to make is that you don't need to be dead to be dead inside."

"Stop talking like that. It scares me as few things do."

"How do you think I feel, Sage? Every time I touch Mirichu I expect this burst of heat from the fire of the life inside her, but instead I feel nothing. And when I say nothing, I mean zilch, zip, nada, nichts. There's no cold, no warmth, no anything! How can this be, I wonder any time I'm near her, but I receive no answers."

"Have you tried the Ancient One? He may have the answers you're looking for."

Rowen turned to stare out the window, at the spot where he noticed Mirichu's silhouette last night. He could still see the moonlight glinting off the liquid silver pendant on her necklace, glimmering upon the splotch of water on the ground. "I sure hope so, buddy, I sure hope so."

@~~`~~~

The breakfast table was again cluttered with many dishes, but this time there was no Mia to clean them up. She refused to come out of her room until Ryo had left the kitchen. Of course Ryo, being the stubborn warrior that he was, wasn't going to let some woman intimidate him. He joined Cye and Kento at the table and enjoyed his cold cereal (since Mia wasn't there to make a hot breakfast).

It was silent until Rowen and Sage entered the room; soon after the others seemed to come alive with a bit of shock. "What?" Kento gasped, putting his hand to his chest. "Rowen's home? Shouldn't he be out in his little meadow, making out with Mirichu?" Ryo growled a warning to the Ronin in orange, but he pretended not to notice.

"Kento!" Rowen shouted unnecessarily loudly. "That's not what we do there!"

"Then what do you do?" he persisted, smiling wickedly.

"If you want to live to finish Sage's breakfast," Ryo started, "you'll shut-up now!"

"Noted!" Kento cried, aware of how close Ryo was to strangling him with his bare hands. "Shutting-up!" Immediately, the warrior returned to his food and ignored the others so as not to aggravate them, especially Ryo. He turned his attentions to Cye for a fleeting second. "Why is Ryo ready to kill me this morning? Is his armor too tight or something?"

"For crying out loud, Kento! Can't you tell he's ready to shred you to pieces because you're insinuating that something is going on between Rowen and Mirichu other than strictly friendship?!"

"But why does he care what those two do in their spare time?"

Sage slapped himself on the forehead. "Don't make me hit you! You can't possibly be that blind."

Cye looked sadly at the blonde. "You'd be surprised, you'd be surprised."

Meanwhile, Ryo had turned an envious eye toward Rowen, but he quickly forced those hurtful feelings back when he saw the thoughtful expression on his friend's face. "What's the matter, Rowen?"

"Ah, nothing," he lied bluntly. "Do you happen to know where I can find the Ancient now?"

Ryo shook his head, his black hair swishing softly around him. "Haven't seen him since last night, after we told him how the battle went. Why?"

"No reason. Did you see anyone outside your window at about midnight, or did White Blaze?"

"No, my eyes closed as soon as my head hit the pillow. It was the soundest sleep I ever had. I believe the question is did you see someone?"

Rowen looked down at the soggy cereal in Ryo's bowl. The tiny O's bubbled as they absorbed the milk into themselves. The swirling of the white liquid and the circular motions of the O's hypnotized him. "I don't know. I swear I saw… someone, but I can't be sure. They were outside your window, looking in."

"So now you're saying it was a 'they,' not a 'him.'"

"Actually…" He didn't know how to answer. Rowen was caught in his own trap. He thought briefly that he could sneak by with some confusing words, and Ryo wouldn't take notice, but that wasn't the case. "It wasn't a 'they' or a 'him.'"

"So what was it? An 'it?'" Wildfire grinned, an excitement for another battle glowing in his eyes.

"No, the someone was a she, not an it, and her name is Mirichu."

Ryo's jaw dropped in disbelief. Mirichu had come to his window? Why? He seriously believed that she didn't really like him, but he had always hoped that he was wrong. Could it be true that she had some feelings for him after all? "You're sure it was Miri? I mean, you were probably pretty drunk with sleep; you could have been seeing things."

"Oh no," Strata replied almost morosely, "it was she, I'm positive. But what I don't know is why she was here, so I figured you might know. And if not you, then the Ancient would, but I can't seem to find him anywhere to ask."

"Sorry, buddy, I can't help you. Did you ask all the others?"

"Not yet. I don't really want to talk about this now, at least until I know what's going on, so I prefer if you didn't say anything to anyone but Sage and me."

Ryo extended his hand. "It's a done deal. And, Rowen, when you find the Ancient, tell him I need to speak with him as well."

"Oh really," the blue warrior said. "About what?"

Glancing around the table at the other Ronins, Wildfire whispered, "I'll tell you later. Don't forget to mention it to the Ancient."

"I won't," Rowen reassured, heading outside to the patio.

@~~`~~~

The wind blew strongly over the mountains and up the valley walls, just like any other day. But this day was different; this day was a day of destruction. The warrior could tell. Things were simply aching to be destroyed: the singing Ginkou trees, the rushing mountain streams, the crowing onyx ravens. It seemed as though all the life force had been drained from these things. Nothing wanted to survive to see another day under the ruthless sun and the oppressing Dynasty.

But one strong-willed creature remained in the valley, near the chilly lake. Rowen could feel the strength of this being screaming through him overtop all the other mourning beings. It just had to be the Ancient.

Rowen raced down the stairs, his legs pumping furiously, and then across the endless fields to the familiar grove of green trees. It was preternaturally quiet in the shade, save the lapping of the minute waves of the lake. The stillness sent his heart quickening as he sensed someone sneaking up from behind him. A rustle of a fallen leaf. The warrior spun lightning fast, his subarmor snapping on in the blur he had become.

Nothing was there. Not even the leaf Rowen had known he had heard could be found, just strained rays of golden light piercing the canopy. "Hello? Ancient One, are you here?"

The wind called him again. "Rowen… Leave this place… Come fly away with me…" So bizarre. How could air talk to him like that? But, as he recalled what the Ancient One had said to him about his Awakening, Rowen realized that everything could talk to him now. Blessing or curse? He had yet to decide, and he was not looking forward to it.

Suddenly, on one of those mountain gusts, the Ronin Warrior felt the presence of someone very near, though he could not pinpoint the sex of the person or where he or she was standing. "Hello?" he called out hesitantly, his voice trembling a little, but he didn't know why. "Who's there?" Rowen thought for a second it might be the Ancient One, but when no one answered his thought metamorphisized into something brand new.

Rowen spun wildly in a circle, his keen eyes scanning the perimeter of the scene. Nothing but the sight of swaying trees greeted him. The shadows swirled and the light shifted. It was like he was in a jungle worlds away from his home in Toyama. Leaves grated against each other, the sound of natural maracas above him, a sound he did not know.

There was a tap on his shoulder. "Boo!" the silhouette behind him laughed. Rowen jumped about ten feet into the air, literally, landing on a gnarly branch and dangling precariously there.

"Jesus, Mirichu! You scared the Christ out of me! That was not funny," he scolded, climbing down from the tree.

"You were expecting someone else?" she asked innocently, her eyes smirking with delight.

"Actually, yes. I was hoping to find the Ancient One down here. I don't suppose you've seen him?" All the while, as he asked the question, he wondered whose life force he had felt here in the valley. It couldn't have been Mirichu's because she was almost nothing in that area, as he had noticed previously.

Miri frowned, a pretty contortion of her already stunning face. "No, 'fraid not. I came down here myself to take a swim in the lake, but then I saw you, and I decided to surprise you."

"Thanks."

"No problem." Miri traced a finger along the trunk of the tree behind her. "So, how come you didn't use your little Awakening-thingy on me? You probably could have found me with it, right? Isn't that how it works, like a little homing radar or something?"

"Not exactly," he grinned at her naivete. "I haven't quite honed my skills like that yet, but I'm trying.

"So, you haven't seen the Ancient One then?"

"Like I said, no.

How'd you sleep last night?" she asked, a bit of anxiousness sounding in her voice. Her lips pursed, and her eyes darkened from their emerald shade to almost black.

Rowen looked squarely at her, deciding how to answer her. She knew that he had seen her last night, so she was nervous. Should he question Miri about it though? Obviously, she hadn't wanted him to know of her late night presence, otherwise she wouldn't be so jittery about it. "Fine." Well, that would have to suffice it for now. Another lie between them to add like a brick into the wall.

"I guess so since you didn't even wake up for the sunrise today. And just how is that? Weren't you the one who told me that ever since you found that meadow you've gone for every single sunrise there, no exceptions."

He shrugged, trying to be nonchalant about it. "Things change."

Mirichu perused the area about her, the lush green trees, the whimpering lake, and the sighing mountains. These were things that did not change, or at least, they had yet to do so. Why could they not be like these objects? Why did they have to be different? "I guess so…" she murmured thoughtfully.

The warrior stared down at her slim figure, his eyes soft with sadness as well. Rowen saw how troubled her soul was; hell, he felt her pain through his Awakening. It was so powerful, it overcame the life forces of all the things around them. Instantly, Rowen's hand drifted down like a feather and rested itself on her shoulder. "What is it?"

"Nothing a day in the lake can't fix. Wanna join me for a swim?" She broke free of his grasp and hid her melancholy as quickly as she could.

"I think I better not. There is something very important I have to discuss with the Ancient."

Miri pooh-poohed his idea. "It can wait a half hour! Come on!" she urged youthfully, shedding her clothes like a skin and bounding into the cool valley water.

"For heaven's sake, Miri! I…" But the second he saw her slender form glimmer in the light of the morning sun, Rowen almost dove head first into the water. Mirichu's face was wet with drops of the molten glass and they only served to illuminate her smile. Her spirit and capriciousness made the staunch warrior want to throw away all of his inhibitions and just immerse himself in the glistening pool with the gorgeous woman. How could her life force be so dim, yet her spirit and soul be so brilliant? Rowen grinned at Mirichu as she gave him the you-better-listen-to-me eye. "I can't," he squeaked out practically painfully, "I have to talk to the Ancient now."

"It can't wait 30 minutes?" she pouted miserably, and once again Rowen almost faltered and agreed to come in with her.

"No, it can't. Maybe some other time, I hope."

"In your dreams. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

"Oh please." He rolled his eyes. "With your accessibility, I can get you in the water or wherever else I want you to be, for that matter, whenever I want."

"Are you calling me easy?" Miri shouted, her mouth agape in shock at her best friend's comment.

"Um, no?" Rowen chuckled, his eyes widening in alarm as Mirichu sprinted out of the glassy pool and ran straight for his throat with her long, pointed nails driving for the tender, exposed flesh. He raced up the nearest tree, aware that she couldn't climb it in her bathing suit.

"I swear to Heaven above, Rowen Hashiba, that I will hang you from the branch you stand on!" The dripping wet woman swore angrily, curse after curse, at the bottom of the tree for a good five minutes before she gave up and returned to the warmth of the water.

"I love you, too, Miri, darling!" the Ronin chorused, swinging out of the tree and leaving his companion behind to finish her swim. He still had the task in front of him of finding the Ancient One.

Concentrate, he told himself. Find his life force. Single it out like the Ancient taught you to do. Rowen closed his eyes and squeezed them tight until a palette of colored dots sparkled radiantly behind their lids. He searched within himself for the Calling, the specific cry of the life inside everything. Using his abilities, Rowen narrowed down the list of possible places he could be by listening for the distinct jingle inside the old man in the reed hat, like the jingle of his magic staff. He heard it suddenly. It sounded like a thousand church bells in his head. It hurt like hell, but now he knew where he could find the Ancient.