::Now, was that necessary to scare her like that?:: asked a deep voice.
::I didn't mean to. I thought she would laugh.:: replied a much lighter voice, this one had a
bit of a laugh in it.
::She has no idea what we are, nor what she is! You probably scared her away from the caverns
permanetly, you idiot! That means we'll have to go and find her, convince her to come back with
us so we can teach her before THEY merge and destroy the Earth and the other worlds as well!::
::I'm sorry, friend. I meant no harm in it. Besides, the other one is starting to come to his
senses as well. She's opening him up to it, even if neither of them realize it. So we might as
well go for both of them.::
The creatue with the deep voice sighed. ::It won't be easy. He has been trained once before,
and may not want to use his natural gifts to fight this enemy. After all he has fought one of
them before.::
::Be that as it may, we have to try. We need all four Titans to create the Power Ring to stop
THEM from enetering the Earth-realm and destroying it. You know the Ronin Warriors alone will
not be able to stop THEM.::
::Then lets get going. We have much work to do.::
*************************************************************************************
Crei was much more relaxed once she was back within her room, away from the statues. Had they
really moved or had she imagined it? She didn't know, but she was certain she didn't want to go
back for a few days. She just wanted to pretend she had never seen the statue move, or the cave
it was in or anything. So instead she though about the other images she had picked up from the
gryphon. They seemed to have something to do with her. The boys, the tiger, she was worried
about what the fire meant. Could they be in danger? Was she picking up something from some
person's mind? If so she should figure out what was going to happen.
So once again Crei left her room, this time raiding the kitchen and garage for camping supplies.
This time her mother was in the kitchen and asked her where she was running to in such a hurry.
"I'm going camping for a few days, if that's okay. I just need to get away from the noise."
"Okay, just be back before Monday. Your grandparents are coming over from America."
Crei nodded as she ran out the door and got on her bike, riding away from the house as quickly as
she could. It would take her the rest of the day to reach the place from her visions, since she
knew the place well. The mountains ans that particular waterfall was a favorite camping site for
her and her brothers. And that was where the people in her vision were. And perhaps there she
would find some answers.
As she had predicted, she reached the area just as the sun set. She didn't want to barge in on
the group, but she wanted to see who they were. So that meant doing what her Native American
grandparents had taught her. Camp in the trees and watch as the owls did. She had done this to
her brothers before, and with her sharp sight and hearing it was a rather useful way of finding
information.
So she hid her bike and set up her tent for when she got too tired, then went to find the group
of people. She moved from tree to tree, using the branches as a road until she found them,
camped out along the river, with the waterfall behind them. They were all sitting around a fire,
five young men her age, a younf woman a bit older, a really small boy, and a white tiger. The
tiger looked up in her direction, and she knew he knew she was there, but he just lay back down,
choosing to ignore her. Obviously he didn't think her a threat. Thankfully for her, since she
had no intentions of running.
Crei hid there fro some time, listening to their conversation, but most of it was just the normal
joking around that friends did when they were out on a vacation. Nothing interesting for her to
listen to. Until, that was, when one of the boys mentioned a dream he'd been having that was
bothering him. As she listened Crei realized it was the dream she had wandered into. She felt
her cheeks go hot as he described the girl(her). She really had to learn to control her gift.
Still, when it had happened she had been aware of it, and it had felt as if something was telling
her she HAD to go. So it wasn't her fault. And could that be part of the vision that she had
not been able to comprehend because she had shut her mind away from it? She didn't know, but she
had the feeling she should keep a close watch on this boy.
The other people in the group seemed at a loss as to what the boy's (Crei heard them call him
Cye) dream meant. They decided to talk more about it in the morning, to which they put out the
fire and went into their tents. With nothing more to watch, Crei hopped dwon from her branch
silently to return to her own tent. She turned to the path to find the tiger blocking her path.
"What do you want?" Crei hissed softly. "Get out of the way!"
To her surprise, the tiger walked up, licked her face, and went back to sleep in front of one of
the four tents next to the river. Sighing loudly Crei ran back to her own campsite without any
more trouble. She crawled into her own tent, ate a few crackers, then curled up in a ball and
fell into a deep sleep.
Again Cye was standing in a clearing, surrounded by trees. There was no mist this time, only
and unending veil of rain. All was still and silent, and once again Cye found himself unable to
move or walk. He felt something around him, both a coldness and a warmth, but he couldn't find
where it was coming from, nor why it was around him.
In her sleep Crei tossed and turned, trying to fight the comand to enter the person's dream. But
the more she pulled, the more the force pulled back, and she found herself falling through a dark
icy tunnel, coming out the other end in Cye's mind.
The girl appeared once again, standing on the other edge of the clearing, sword in one hand, the
feather in the other. Again she floated across the clearing, stopping right in front of Cye.
She held the feather up, the expression in her eyes more scared than mournful this time. Again
she brushed the feather across Cye's face, and everything went dark.
Cye woke up, sweat pouring down his face and back. He could hear the sounds of a light rain
falling, and could see lightening flash across the sky from inside the tent. He thought he heard
thunder, but couldn't be sure if it was just kento's snoring. He didn't want to go outside,
despite the feeling in his mind that told him he should. He tried to ignore that voice, but it
just kept getting louder and louder until he got up and stepped outside.
Almost immediately the rain fell harder, and he could definitely hear the roar of thunder over
everything else. Lightening lit the sky for brief seconds, giving everything a frightening wild
look. WhiteBlaze had taken shelet within Ryo's tent, so no one saw Cye walking into the woods,
as if in a trance.
******************************************************************************************
::You do realize that if I keep this up, the trees may catch fire:: said the tenor voice.
::I know. That's what we want, but not yet:: replied the deeper voice.
::Now why are we doing this again?:: the first voice asked.
::So their powers emerge. This was how ours came, by the elements errupting from the earth
itself. And she had a vision of how theirs was going to happen, so we are making it happen::
::Oh::
::Now! He is in the clearing!::
A bolt of well-directed lighting shot from the clouds, hitting an old tree, making it catch fire!
It quickly spread to the other trees, encirling the boy, trapping him in the clearing! He tried
to get out, but the wall of flames rose too high, pushing him back towards the center. Cye had
no chance of escaping.
******************************************************************************************
Crei woke up in a panic, feeling like she had to get up and run, NOW! She didn't stop to put her
shoes on or to grab her coat, she just ran into the woods, ignoring the rain. She didn't know
where exactly she was going until she saw the smoke billowing from above the trees. Knowing the
ground was too muddy for her to run fast enough to reach the fire in time Crei jumped into the
first low branch she found and began to run through the trees, following the smoke.
She looked down for a second to see that she wasn't the only one concerned about the fire. The
white tiger and the other four boys were runnign below her, oblivious that she was even there.
But now the boys looked different. They were wearing strnge armor unlike any she had seen before
But there was no time to think about that. She realized that Cye was trapped within the fire,
and that she had to get there to stop the fire.
Following every instinct in her body, Crei pushed herself to run faster, breaking ahead of the
boys! She soon got close enough that she had to leave the trees and run on the ground. No doubt
from the roaring of the tiger behind her, they had been taken aback by her sudden appearance.
but she didn't care about that at the moment. She was now faced with a great wall of fire that
was consuming the trees in a circle, moving closer and closer together. She could sense that
some one was inside the flames and she knew that it was Cye.
Taking a deep breath and calming herself as well as she could, Crei ran into the flames! Or more
like something pushed her in. But the fire didn't burn her! It was as if they weren't even real
or anything! But it was quite clear that they were real for Cye, who was now also wearing armor,
and was trying to keep the fire back by shooting water at it! Crei ran over him and pulled his
arm down.
"Stop Cye!" Crei shouted. "You'll make the fire worse! Let me handle it!"
"Who are you? How did you know my name?" Cye demanded, bewildered.
"Trust me. Get rid of your armor! Do it now!"
Cye did as she asked, although he looked doubtful. Crei herself didn't really know what she was
doing, she just closed her eyes and reached out to touch the flames that were now very close to
them. The fire stopped suddenly, staying where it was now circled around them. The fire didn't
hurt her, nor would it hurt Cye as long as she was there. Suddenly, without warning, the fire
drew up around Crei, flowing into her body and vanishing from sight! She stood where she was,
shocked. Everything was dark, and only the rain and lightning made any sound. She couldn't see
anyone save for Cye and herself, everything else was completely dark!
Then, from out of the darkness emerged two creatures, on a giant wolf, the other a cat-creature
with two scale-covered wings. Both looked just like the statues she had seen in the cave! The
two beasts stopped in front of Crei and Cye, watching them with cold eyes. Crei shrunk back next
to Cye, trembling sightly. Cye, on the other hand, stepped foreward, ready to fight!
"What are you and what do you want?" He demanded.
"We want not to harm you, but to help you," said the cat creature. "I am Leos, Titan of Light."
"And I am Mikkel, Titan of Earth," said the wolf. "You two are very special. Both of you are
like us, Titans. Crei has shown her skill just now, by abosorbing the fire. She is the Titan of
Fire. And you, Cye, are the Titan of Water. And we need you to help us protect the earth."
"Why? Protect it from what?" Cye asked.
"You know one of the creatures, Talpa. The other is called Kuhndai, who is a Dreyan, a very
powerful demon. They are merging to become one beast, and without all four Titans, the earth and
all other worlds will be destroyed."
"Hey, I'm all up for it and everything," crei stated, "but I am just a kid! I'm 16 for crying
out loud! I don't know how to fight demons or stuff like that! I am HUMAN!"
"So are we," Leos said. "We have just taken our Titan form so as to tell you about this. And as
for the fighting bit, we will teach you how to use your powers."
"Well, I might as well," Crei sighed. "I'm going crazy anyway."
Mikkel turned to Cye. "And what about you, Ronin Warrior? Will you put down your armor for the
time being to train with us? You may have fought Talpa before, but this will be nothing like
your previous battles."
"Why not just let my friend and I handle it? The armors are strong, and we can beat Talpa, and
whatever new creature is with him."
Leos shook his head. He knew this was going to be hard. He gave Mikkel a quick glance, and saw
the wolf nod. Leos walked up to cye and placed one huge paw on the boy's head, and instantly
Cye was in Leos's mind! He saw many images of destruction, and over it all loomed a giant black
shadow that looked like a mix between a human, a cat and a bull! When Leos pulled his paw away
Cye looked very pale.
"That is why we need the Titans. That was our people that Kuhndai destroyed and scattered to the
Four Winds. Leos and I learned that we were Titans not long after we became old enough to speak,
and our powers grew since that time. We learned how to find the other two Titans and that gift
lead us to you. Yes, we will need the Ronin Warriors, but you must also act as a Titan to save
this world and the others. We need your help Cye. Please."
"Now it was Cye's turn to sigh. "If that's what happened before from just one demon, I don't see
what choice I have to do otherwise."
"Good. Now, follow us. Leos will take care of your friends. They wont remember a fire or any
of this. And I'm sure he'll think of a way to explain your sudden depature. Right Leos?"
"Yes, Mikkel," Leos grinned, taking off into the darkness. Then Mikkel turned back to Crei and
Cye. He smiled, all of his teeth glowing white in the darkness.
"Now, lesson one begins now. You'll have to take on your Titan forms to reach the Temple."
"And how do we do that?" Crei asked.
"Simple. Just clear your minds, and let your magic do the rest."
"Sound easy," Cye said, closing his eyes. Crei did the same.
Both felt a rush of hot energy flowing over them, and while their instincts tried to tell them
to fight it, they ignored them and let the energy change them. A minute later when they opened
their eyes, neither of them was human. Crei was a large bird, not unlike an eagle, save for her
very long tail. She was a fire red color, and her eyes were the deepest sapphire blue. Cye, to
Crei's surprise, looked just like the gryphon she had seen! Everything looked just like the
statue, even the gold feather on his tail. Cye seemed surprised by this form, and looked at
Mikkel with wide eyes.
"It takes some time to get used to, believe me. For now, we must get going. Leos will meet us
at the Temple."
With that said, all three of them vanished into the darkness.
::I didn't mean to. I thought she would laugh.:: replied a much lighter voice, this one had a
bit of a laugh in it.
::She has no idea what we are, nor what she is! You probably scared her away from the caverns
permanetly, you idiot! That means we'll have to go and find her, convince her to come back with
us so we can teach her before THEY merge and destroy the Earth and the other worlds as well!::
::I'm sorry, friend. I meant no harm in it. Besides, the other one is starting to come to his
senses as well. She's opening him up to it, even if neither of them realize it. So we might as
well go for both of them.::
The creatue with the deep voice sighed. ::It won't be easy. He has been trained once before,
and may not want to use his natural gifts to fight this enemy. After all he has fought one of
them before.::
::Be that as it may, we have to try. We need all four Titans to create the Power Ring to stop
THEM from enetering the Earth-realm and destroying it. You know the Ronin Warriors alone will
not be able to stop THEM.::
::Then lets get going. We have much work to do.::
*************************************************************************************
Crei was much more relaxed once she was back within her room, away from the statues. Had they
really moved or had she imagined it? She didn't know, but she was certain she didn't want to go
back for a few days. She just wanted to pretend she had never seen the statue move, or the cave
it was in or anything. So instead she though about the other images she had picked up from the
gryphon. They seemed to have something to do with her. The boys, the tiger, she was worried
about what the fire meant. Could they be in danger? Was she picking up something from some
person's mind? If so she should figure out what was going to happen.
So once again Crei left her room, this time raiding the kitchen and garage for camping supplies.
This time her mother was in the kitchen and asked her where she was running to in such a hurry.
"I'm going camping for a few days, if that's okay. I just need to get away from the noise."
"Okay, just be back before Monday. Your grandparents are coming over from America."
Crei nodded as she ran out the door and got on her bike, riding away from the house as quickly as
she could. It would take her the rest of the day to reach the place from her visions, since she
knew the place well. The mountains ans that particular waterfall was a favorite camping site for
her and her brothers. And that was where the people in her vision were. And perhaps there she
would find some answers.
As she had predicted, she reached the area just as the sun set. She didn't want to barge in on
the group, but she wanted to see who they were. So that meant doing what her Native American
grandparents had taught her. Camp in the trees and watch as the owls did. She had done this to
her brothers before, and with her sharp sight and hearing it was a rather useful way of finding
information.
So she hid her bike and set up her tent for when she got too tired, then went to find the group
of people. She moved from tree to tree, using the branches as a road until she found them,
camped out along the river, with the waterfall behind them. They were all sitting around a fire,
five young men her age, a younf woman a bit older, a really small boy, and a white tiger. The
tiger looked up in her direction, and she knew he knew she was there, but he just lay back down,
choosing to ignore her. Obviously he didn't think her a threat. Thankfully for her, since she
had no intentions of running.
Crei hid there fro some time, listening to their conversation, but most of it was just the normal
joking around that friends did when they were out on a vacation. Nothing interesting for her to
listen to. Until, that was, when one of the boys mentioned a dream he'd been having that was
bothering him. As she listened Crei realized it was the dream she had wandered into. She felt
her cheeks go hot as he described the girl(her). She really had to learn to control her gift.
Still, when it had happened she had been aware of it, and it had felt as if something was telling
her she HAD to go. So it wasn't her fault. And could that be part of the vision that she had
not been able to comprehend because she had shut her mind away from it? She didn't know, but she
had the feeling she should keep a close watch on this boy.
The other people in the group seemed at a loss as to what the boy's (Crei heard them call him
Cye) dream meant. They decided to talk more about it in the morning, to which they put out the
fire and went into their tents. With nothing more to watch, Crei hopped dwon from her branch
silently to return to her own tent. She turned to the path to find the tiger blocking her path.
"What do you want?" Crei hissed softly. "Get out of the way!"
To her surprise, the tiger walked up, licked her face, and went back to sleep in front of one of
the four tents next to the river. Sighing loudly Crei ran back to her own campsite without any
more trouble. She crawled into her own tent, ate a few crackers, then curled up in a ball and
fell into a deep sleep.
Again Cye was standing in a clearing, surrounded by trees. There was no mist this time, only
and unending veil of rain. All was still and silent, and once again Cye found himself unable to
move or walk. He felt something around him, both a coldness and a warmth, but he couldn't find
where it was coming from, nor why it was around him.
In her sleep Crei tossed and turned, trying to fight the comand to enter the person's dream. But
the more she pulled, the more the force pulled back, and she found herself falling through a dark
icy tunnel, coming out the other end in Cye's mind.
The girl appeared once again, standing on the other edge of the clearing, sword in one hand, the
feather in the other. Again she floated across the clearing, stopping right in front of Cye.
She held the feather up, the expression in her eyes more scared than mournful this time. Again
she brushed the feather across Cye's face, and everything went dark.
Cye woke up, sweat pouring down his face and back. He could hear the sounds of a light rain
falling, and could see lightening flash across the sky from inside the tent. He thought he heard
thunder, but couldn't be sure if it was just kento's snoring. He didn't want to go outside,
despite the feeling in his mind that told him he should. He tried to ignore that voice, but it
just kept getting louder and louder until he got up and stepped outside.
Almost immediately the rain fell harder, and he could definitely hear the roar of thunder over
everything else. Lightening lit the sky for brief seconds, giving everything a frightening wild
look. WhiteBlaze had taken shelet within Ryo's tent, so no one saw Cye walking into the woods,
as if in a trance.
******************************************************************************************
::You do realize that if I keep this up, the trees may catch fire:: said the tenor voice.
::I know. That's what we want, but not yet:: replied the deeper voice.
::Now why are we doing this again?:: the first voice asked.
::So their powers emerge. This was how ours came, by the elements errupting from the earth
itself. And she had a vision of how theirs was going to happen, so we are making it happen::
::Oh::
::Now! He is in the clearing!::
A bolt of well-directed lighting shot from the clouds, hitting an old tree, making it catch fire!
It quickly spread to the other trees, encirling the boy, trapping him in the clearing! He tried
to get out, but the wall of flames rose too high, pushing him back towards the center. Cye had
no chance of escaping.
******************************************************************************************
Crei woke up in a panic, feeling like she had to get up and run, NOW! She didn't stop to put her
shoes on or to grab her coat, she just ran into the woods, ignoring the rain. She didn't know
where exactly she was going until she saw the smoke billowing from above the trees. Knowing the
ground was too muddy for her to run fast enough to reach the fire in time Crei jumped into the
first low branch she found and began to run through the trees, following the smoke.
She looked down for a second to see that she wasn't the only one concerned about the fire. The
white tiger and the other four boys were runnign below her, oblivious that she was even there.
But now the boys looked different. They were wearing strnge armor unlike any she had seen before
But there was no time to think about that. She realized that Cye was trapped within the fire,
and that she had to get there to stop the fire.
Following every instinct in her body, Crei pushed herself to run faster, breaking ahead of the
boys! She soon got close enough that she had to leave the trees and run on the ground. No doubt
from the roaring of the tiger behind her, they had been taken aback by her sudden appearance.
but she didn't care about that at the moment. She was now faced with a great wall of fire that
was consuming the trees in a circle, moving closer and closer together. She could sense that
some one was inside the flames and she knew that it was Cye.
Taking a deep breath and calming herself as well as she could, Crei ran into the flames! Or more
like something pushed her in. But the fire didn't burn her! It was as if they weren't even real
or anything! But it was quite clear that they were real for Cye, who was now also wearing armor,
and was trying to keep the fire back by shooting water at it! Crei ran over him and pulled his
arm down.
"Stop Cye!" Crei shouted. "You'll make the fire worse! Let me handle it!"
"Who are you? How did you know my name?" Cye demanded, bewildered.
"Trust me. Get rid of your armor! Do it now!"
Cye did as she asked, although he looked doubtful. Crei herself didn't really know what she was
doing, she just closed her eyes and reached out to touch the flames that were now very close to
them. The fire stopped suddenly, staying where it was now circled around them. The fire didn't
hurt her, nor would it hurt Cye as long as she was there. Suddenly, without warning, the fire
drew up around Crei, flowing into her body and vanishing from sight! She stood where she was,
shocked. Everything was dark, and only the rain and lightning made any sound. She couldn't see
anyone save for Cye and herself, everything else was completely dark!
Then, from out of the darkness emerged two creatures, on a giant wolf, the other a cat-creature
with two scale-covered wings. Both looked just like the statues she had seen in the cave! The
two beasts stopped in front of Crei and Cye, watching them with cold eyes. Crei shrunk back next
to Cye, trembling sightly. Cye, on the other hand, stepped foreward, ready to fight!
"What are you and what do you want?" He demanded.
"We want not to harm you, but to help you," said the cat creature. "I am Leos, Titan of Light."
"And I am Mikkel, Titan of Earth," said the wolf. "You two are very special. Both of you are
like us, Titans. Crei has shown her skill just now, by abosorbing the fire. She is the Titan of
Fire. And you, Cye, are the Titan of Water. And we need you to help us protect the earth."
"Why? Protect it from what?" Cye asked.
"You know one of the creatures, Talpa. The other is called Kuhndai, who is a Dreyan, a very
powerful demon. They are merging to become one beast, and without all four Titans, the earth and
all other worlds will be destroyed."
"Hey, I'm all up for it and everything," crei stated, "but I am just a kid! I'm 16 for crying
out loud! I don't know how to fight demons or stuff like that! I am HUMAN!"
"So are we," Leos said. "We have just taken our Titan form so as to tell you about this. And as
for the fighting bit, we will teach you how to use your powers."
"Well, I might as well," Crei sighed. "I'm going crazy anyway."
Mikkel turned to Cye. "And what about you, Ronin Warrior? Will you put down your armor for the
time being to train with us? You may have fought Talpa before, but this will be nothing like
your previous battles."
"Why not just let my friend and I handle it? The armors are strong, and we can beat Talpa, and
whatever new creature is with him."
Leos shook his head. He knew this was going to be hard. He gave Mikkel a quick glance, and saw
the wolf nod. Leos walked up to cye and placed one huge paw on the boy's head, and instantly
Cye was in Leos's mind! He saw many images of destruction, and over it all loomed a giant black
shadow that looked like a mix between a human, a cat and a bull! When Leos pulled his paw away
Cye looked very pale.
"That is why we need the Titans. That was our people that Kuhndai destroyed and scattered to the
Four Winds. Leos and I learned that we were Titans not long after we became old enough to speak,
and our powers grew since that time. We learned how to find the other two Titans and that gift
lead us to you. Yes, we will need the Ronin Warriors, but you must also act as a Titan to save
this world and the others. We need your help Cye. Please."
"Now it was Cye's turn to sigh. "If that's what happened before from just one demon, I don't see
what choice I have to do otherwise."
"Good. Now, follow us. Leos will take care of your friends. They wont remember a fire or any
of this. And I'm sure he'll think of a way to explain your sudden depature. Right Leos?"
"Yes, Mikkel," Leos grinned, taking off into the darkness. Then Mikkel turned back to Crei and
Cye. He smiled, all of his teeth glowing white in the darkness.
"Now, lesson one begins now. You'll have to take on your Titan forms to reach the Temple."
"And how do we do that?" Crei asked.
"Simple. Just clear your minds, and let your magic do the rest."
"Sound easy," Cye said, closing his eyes. Crei did the same.
Both felt a rush of hot energy flowing over them, and while their instincts tried to tell them
to fight it, they ignored them and let the energy change them. A minute later when they opened
their eyes, neither of them was human. Crei was a large bird, not unlike an eagle, save for her
very long tail. She was a fire red color, and her eyes were the deepest sapphire blue. Cye, to
Crei's surprise, looked just like the gryphon she had seen! Everything looked just like the
statue, even the gold feather on his tail. Cye seemed surprised by this form, and looked at
Mikkel with wide eyes.
"It takes some time to get used to, believe me. For now, we must get going. Leos will meet us
at the Temple."
With that said, all three of them vanished into the darkness.