Part IV
Ryo slowly got out of bed, his body ached and he felt light headed. He had to get up, he
knew his dreams were trying to tell him something. Growing up, he was taught by his
grandmother to always listen to dreams and find out what they meant. Usually, Ryo didn't pay
any attention to what went on in his subconscious when he was asleep, this time though, he had a
really strong feeling that something was happening. No matter how much he wanted to ignore it,
he couldn't, he would blame himself for the rest of his life if something did happen and he
could've prevented it. It was a strange thought to the person who had killed others before.
Leaning heavily on the wall, he painfully made his way to the door and took a hold of it. Just as
he was about to open it, it opened by itself, causing Ryo to fall forward.
"Ryo!" Shin gasped as he grabbed a hold of the ninja.
Putting his hands on Shin's shoulders, Ryo straightened himself up. "We have to go."
"What?"
"I know this is going to sound really weird, but we have to go to a temple. I had this
dream that something really big was going to happen and I don't think it's any good."
"The temple?" Shin took in a sharp breath, remembering that the temple was where his
sister was at. Staring into Ryo's tiger blue eyes, he found that he actually believed the ninja. And
with his older sister at stake, he couldn't take any chances. "I'll go down and see what's going on
over there. You get back to bed and relax."
"No," Ryo shook his head stubbornly. "I'm going with you. Please, Shin, please."
Shin would've preferred if Ryo stayed at the house, he still needed rest, however he
found himself unable to say no to him. Anyway, it would probably be safer if he took Ryo with
him, with Shin gone, anyone could basically waltz into the house. "Let's get going."
"Thanks, Shin, for believing me," Ryo smiled softly at the older man.
They walked hastily through the dense forest, Ryo had an arm around Shin's shoulders,
using him for support and relied on Shin's knowledge of the forest to get them there. Even
though it was night, Shin moved through the woodland as if it were a bright and sunny day,
knowing the trails like the back of his hand. Ryo didn't know that Shin was hardly even thinking
about the forest he was guiding them through, his thoughts were about the dark haired ninja right
next to him. Ryo, took the silence the wrong way though, wondering if the kind man who saved
him was actually digusted with him.
"Shin, do you regret saving me?"
"No, why would you say that?" Shin was shocked by the question that was asked.
"Because, I'm a Sanada ninja, I've killed people before for money, just like my father
before me and his father before him." The young ninja suddenly felt a wave of guilt, as if he was
just comprehending that he took the lives of innocent people.
"I can't blame you for what you are. I think my sister, Nausti, put it in the best words a
few years ago. She told me that we all take different paths in life, sometimes we don't exactly
take the best paths there are. We just have to learn from mistakes and take what we think is the
best way. I know I have to correct my own path."
"You?" Ryo raised an eyebrow. "What could you have done wrong? You told me your
sister left until you cleaned up your act, but I can't imagine you doing something that bad."
Shin snickered, "You don't know me very well. I'm a thief, they call me the Torrent."
"I've heard about you! No has ever caught you before. We've gotten job offers to catch
you, but my grandfather isn't that stupid, he knows that it'd be a blue moon before anyone could
get you. You seem too kind to be a thief, though."
"And you seem too gentle to be a Sanada ninja."
"I guess people aren't always the way they appear. Shin, do you think there's still time
for me to change my path?"
Shin smiled sincerely at Ryo, "Yes, there's plenty of time."
Seiji felt that something was wrong. The space next to him in bed was empty, when
Touma should've been there. Getting out of bed, he noticed that Touma's staff and his clothes
were missing, something was diffently not right.
//SEIJI! Please . . . help me . . .//
The blond was startled by the sudden voice in his head, he had never heard it before in
his life. Getting dressed and snatching his sword, he ran out of the room, knowing that Touma
had to be in some kind of danger. Going out into the hallway, he only had to go a few steps
before he spotted Touma on the ground, evidently in pain and a shadowy figure standing over
him. Without another thought, he made a dash towards the figure. The person was caught off
guard when they saw Seiji charging them, but they were able to move out of the in time, their
robe getting sliced by the blond's sword.
"Touma, are you all right?" Seiji knelt down next to Touma.
The pain in Touma's mind went away, the person's hold on him was released when Seiji
came. Resting his hand on Seiji's shoulder, he smiled and nodded. Getting back up on his feet,
Touma glared at the person in front of him. He stepped in front of his love, though Seiji was
stronger than he was, his skills as a swordsman would not help them now. It was Touma's turn to
protect him, this was his fight and he wouldn't allow Seiji to get hurt. Glancing at the blond, he
made a quick sign to his love to stay back.
//Who are you?// Touma asked again.
"I am Ikari, a Sanada ninja," the person answered.
"What do you want with Touma?" Seiji wanted to know.
"I have orders to take him, but he's being stubborn about it," Ikari smirked.
"Touma, let me take care of her," but all Seiji got back was another sign for him to stay
back.
"Touma knows that you couldn't do anything to me," she remarked. "You can't fight
magic with ordanary fighting skills."
"The Sanada ninja clan doesn't believe in any type of magic, how can you be apart of
their clan?" challenged Seiji.
"I'm adopted, they never knew a thing about this. Enough stalling. I suggest that you
come with me, Touma, your powers are nothing against mine."
Keeping a good grip on his staff, Touma continued to glare at her. There was no way he
was going anywhere with her without a good fight.
"Have it your way," she sneered. The temple began to shake as Ikari began summoning
her full powers to her. The occupants of the temple all came rushing out to see what was
happening, they were all stunned to see that a fight was about to begin there of all places.
"Wait! Stop!" a monk shouted, getting in between Ikari and Touma. "If you must fight,
do it outside, this is a sacred place, there is to be not fighting in here."
//There's too many people in here, it's me you want, let's go outside.// Touma said
mentally to Ikari.
//All right, I owe these monks, outside it is.// Ikari went towards the nearest exist, her
feet inches off the ground, Touma followed her, his feet were inches off the ground as well. Once
they were in the pasture behind the temple, Ikari finished summoning her full powers. //It's going
to be hard to hurt such a pretty face.//
//I know it is, but at least I don't have that problem.//
Without warning, Ikari threw her first attack. Touma narrowed his eyes, he was very
aware of the ice shards coming at him, but he was relieved. Ikari's element was ice, it wasn't that
tough of an element to beat. Stretching one arm out in front of him, he moved his hand so that it
was vertical instead of horizontal with the rest of his arm. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on
his power and a dark blue shield surrounded him, blocking the attack.
Seiji ran outside, he had to see if Touma was all right. He came out in time to see a dark
blue bubble surround Touma and dangerous looking shards of ice shattered harmlessly on
impact. This was amazing for the blond to see, he had no idea that Touma could do things like
this. Staying a good distance away, Seiji watched the fight in awe. Shu and Nausti came outside
and stood next to Seiji, they really couldn't believe what they were seeing.
"Is there any way to help Touma-san?" Nausti asked.
Shu shook his head, "Unless we knew any magic, there's nothing we can do. All we can
do is pray that he wins."
"Of course he'll win," Seiji snapped. "Touma-chan always comes through."
Ikari used the same attack again, this time it was stronger than the first, but again, it
shattered harmlessly against the shield. Knowing that simple shards of ice weren't going to do
the trick, she took out her katana and charged him. Touma just barely made it in time to block the
blow with his staff. He found himself on the defensive as she used every ounce of her skills as a
ninja. Gritting his teeth, he wished that his shield could protect him from physical attacks instead
of only magic, to able to do that, he'd have to summon his full powers.
"ICE STRIKE!"
Touma's eye widened and he jumped out of the way. He looked nervously at the spot he
was standing on, it was now totally covered in ice. This girl had more talent than he thought
origionally. If he was going to beat her, he'd have to use everything he had. Jumping back to a
safer distance, Touma put his staff on the ground in front of him and went to his knees.
"Giving up already?" Ikari smiled wickedly.
"What're you doing, love?" Seiji whispered, he wished he knew what was going on.
Touma couldn't give up, he was too stubborn to do anything like that.
Reaching into his pocket, Touma withdrew a small, reed flute and brought it to his lips.
He played a soft, sweet meoldy and the stars above looked like they were beginning to shine
brighter. //I call upon Tenku, protector of firmament, keeper of the stars, guardian of space. I ask
for your power, I ask for your help. I beg of you, do not forsake me now.// When he completed
the song and put the reed flute away, he knew that the stars had responded to him, giving him
some power, but he feared that Tenku might choose to ignore him.
"What are you doing?" Ikari growled. Taking advantage of the situation, she prepared
another attack. Running up to him, she leapt into the air and raised her katana to strike him down.
Touma sat there, his eyes closed as though he was unaware of what was going on.
"Why isn't he doing anything?!" Shu clenched his fists and Nausti buried her face in his
shoulder.
"TOUMA!" Seiji yelled in horror as Touma did nothing to defend himself. The blond
almost went over there to help him, but Ikari's scream stopped him.
When Ikari was coming in for her attack, a shield rose up and sent her back about ten
feet. "Impossible, it was a physical attack, there was no way you could've used a shield on that."
"Touma might have not been able to, but I can." A deep voice came from the still
kneeling boy. His eyes snapped open, they weren't their usual stormy blue, they were now a
midnight blue.
"Touma?" Seiji was shocked to hear Touma speak, though it was not his own. He was
sure that the voice he heard in the bedroom was Touma's voice and this was not it.
"Who the hell are you?" the ninja demanded.
"I am Tenku." He got to his feet and stared at the girl.
"Whoever you are, I will still complete my job. You have not yet seen the extent of my
strength." She got back into a fighting stance, concentrating hard on her element, ice soon
covered the blade of her katana. Using every trick she knew, she went after him, lashing out at
the boy. It infuriated her when he dodged each attack with very little effort, he didn't even break
a sweat. "Stay still!" Ikari swung her blade again, this time he didn't try to avoid it. Another
shield came up, protecting him. Taking a few steps back, Ikari snapped, "If you think I'm the
least bit impressed, I'm not. Touma, do you really think Tenku will help you any? I will show my
you true strength. I'd like to see you block this attack with a shield."
"Show me your strength," Tenku challenged.
"FREEZING DRAGON!" A huge dragon rose up into the air, its roar shook the earth and
watchers were all too scared to make a sound.
Tenku looked annoyed, "This is the power you were bragging about? Don't mock me."
The dragon then took a nose-dive, going straight for Touma's body. Its giant jaws opened
and rows of sharp teeth were visible. Tenku looked at it with no expression on his face. In his
hand appeared a gold bow and in the other a matching arrow. Quickly notching the arrow into the
bow, he took careful aim and let the arrow fly. It embedded itself right between the eyes of the
dragon, causing the over grown lizard to stop in its tracks. Cracks began to emerge and the ice
dragon was dismembered.
"Your ice lizard is nothing compared to the heavens," Tenku's voice was flat and void of
emotion. Another arrow came to him and he notched it into the bow. "SHIN KU HA!"
Even with her remarkable speed, Ikari didn't have a chance to move out of the way.
"Shit! What the hell is that?!" Shin stared into the sky in disbelief. There was a gigantic
dragon in the sky and it started moving towards the ground.
Ryo's mouth hung open, he was just as bewildered as Shin was. Then it stopped and
shattered into billions of pieces. "Whatever it was, it's gone now. Shin, we have to hurry!"
Half dragging the still injured Ryo through the forest, he came to a stop as they entered
the pasture. There was a young boy standing there, a gold bow in his hands and girl laying on the
ground, he wasn't even sure if she was still alive. Off in the distance there was some people
standing there, watching and as shocked as he was. He felt Ryo let go of him and took a few
steps forward before running towards the girl. The ninja half knelt, half collasped next to her,
tears running down his face.
"Ikari, please wake up, Ikari," he begged, blood was coming out of the corner of her
mouth and an arrow was embedded in her stomach. He carefully took out the arrow from her
body, tore off a piece of his shirt and wrapped around the wound, the crimson fluid slicking his
hands as he desperately tried to stop the bleeding. Shin crouched down next to him, checking her
pulse, he could feel a one, not too faint, yet not as strong as it could be. "Sh-Shin, we have to get
her help, we have to get help. I-I can't let her die, she's a sister to me."
"She won't die," a stern voice said.
Ryo glowered at him, "You! You did this to her!"
The boy showed no indication that he heard Ryo. "I weakened my attack so it wouldn't
kill her. She's more powerful than you give her credit."
"Who are you?" asked Shin, he was holding Ryo so the ninja wouldn't try to attack this
guy.
"I am Tenku, the body is Touma."
"What the fuck?" Ryo had no clue what this guy was talking about, all he wanted to do
was to slam his fist into his face.
"You're the spirit of the firmament. Nausti used to tell me stories about you and other
spirits. How can this boy, Touma, summon you? It's not possible for a human to do that, or so I
thought," said Shin.
Tenku didn't answer, he bent over a took a small sample of Ikari's blood on one of his
fingers. Inspecting it closely, he shook his head and wiped his hand on the grass. "Now I know
where she got her powers, she's the child of Kayura."
"You know Ikari's mother?" asked Ryo, still angry at Tenku.
"Shin!" Nausti ran up to her little brother. "Shin, what're you doing here?"
Letting go of Ryo, Shin hugged his sister tightly, which was a big mistake, for Ryo
lunged at Tenku. Before the ninja could touch the other boy, he was jerked back by a tall blond.
"Don't you dare lay a finger on him," the blond growled.
"Let go of me," hissed Ryo.
"Excuse me," a monk walked up to them, "I think that maybe we should talk get this girl
inside and, um, keep her away from Touma-kun and then we can talk."
In the darkest chamber of the castle, a figure sat on the throne, chuckling wickedly.
"Well, well, well, things have taken an interesting turn, I must say. I always knew my favorite pet
could summon Tenku. I'll have the most fun with him once I get him back. And don't worry, my
dear Yami, your little blond will be given to you in one piece, I just want to use him to toy with
my pet first. Anyway, have you heard from Naaza?"
"He's still hunting down the Torrent, the boy is late in his last payment," Yami replied.
"Naaza will return once he has taken care of the Torrent, Lady Kayura."
"Good, I want a big, happy reunion when I get my pet back."
What the fuck was that!? What was I smoking when I wrote this? Anyway, let's get on with the
usual questions, shall we? Is Ryo going to try to kill Touma since he/Tenku hurt Ikari? Will the
ninja be able to get past the blond to do that? Why does Shu want to talk? Doesn't he usually
want to beat up people first? What does Kayura have in plans for Touma and Seiji? When will
Shin and Ryo get it on? When will Shu and Nausti get it on? Can't you so totally tell the sexual
tension between them all, even though it's not that obvious?! Find out in Part V and many other
parts in "The Paths We Take".
Ryo slowly got out of bed, his body ached and he felt light headed. He had to get up, he
knew his dreams were trying to tell him something. Growing up, he was taught by his
grandmother to always listen to dreams and find out what they meant. Usually, Ryo didn't pay
any attention to what went on in his subconscious when he was asleep, this time though, he had a
really strong feeling that something was happening. No matter how much he wanted to ignore it,
he couldn't, he would blame himself for the rest of his life if something did happen and he
could've prevented it. It was a strange thought to the person who had killed others before.
Leaning heavily on the wall, he painfully made his way to the door and took a hold of it. Just as
he was about to open it, it opened by itself, causing Ryo to fall forward.
"Ryo!" Shin gasped as he grabbed a hold of the ninja.
Putting his hands on Shin's shoulders, Ryo straightened himself up. "We have to go."
"What?"
"I know this is going to sound really weird, but we have to go to a temple. I had this
dream that something really big was going to happen and I don't think it's any good."
"The temple?" Shin took in a sharp breath, remembering that the temple was where his
sister was at. Staring into Ryo's tiger blue eyes, he found that he actually believed the ninja. And
with his older sister at stake, he couldn't take any chances. "I'll go down and see what's going on
over there. You get back to bed and relax."
"No," Ryo shook his head stubbornly. "I'm going with you. Please, Shin, please."
Shin would've preferred if Ryo stayed at the house, he still needed rest, however he
found himself unable to say no to him. Anyway, it would probably be safer if he took Ryo with
him, with Shin gone, anyone could basically waltz into the house. "Let's get going."
"Thanks, Shin, for believing me," Ryo smiled softly at the older man.
They walked hastily through the dense forest, Ryo had an arm around Shin's shoulders,
using him for support and relied on Shin's knowledge of the forest to get them there. Even
though it was night, Shin moved through the woodland as if it were a bright and sunny day,
knowing the trails like the back of his hand. Ryo didn't know that Shin was hardly even thinking
about the forest he was guiding them through, his thoughts were about the dark haired ninja right
next to him. Ryo, took the silence the wrong way though, wondering if the kind man who saved
him was actually digusted with him.
"Shin, do you regret saving me?"
"No, why would you say that?" Shin was shocked by the question that was asked.
"Because, I'm a Sanada ninja, I've killed people before for money, just like my father
before me and his father before him." The young ninja suddenly felt a wave of guilt, as if he was
just comprehending that he took the lives of innocent people.
"I can't blame you for what you are. I think my sister, Nausti, put it in the best words a
few years ago. She told me that we all take different paths in life, sometimes we don't exactly
take the best paths there are. We just have to learn from mistakes and take what we think is the
best way. I know I have to correct my own path."
"You?" Ryo raised an eyebrow. "What could you have done wrong? You told me your
sister left until you cleaned up your act, but I can't imagine you doing something that bad."
Shin snickered, "You don't know me very well. I'm a thief, they call me the Torrent."
"I've heard about you! No has ever caught you before. We've gotten job offers to catch
you, but my grandfather isn't that stupid, he knows that it'd be a blue moon before anyone could
get you. You seem too kind to be a thief, though."
"And you seem too gentle to be a Sanada ninja."
"I guess people aren't always the way they appear. Shin, do you think there's still time
for me to change my path?"
Shin smiled sincerely at Ryo, "Yes, there's plenty of time."
Seiji felt that something was wrong. The space next to him in bed was empty, when
Touma should've been there. Getting out of bed, he noticed that Touma's staff and his clothes
were missing, something was diffently not right.
//SEIJI! Please . . . help me . . .//
The blond was startled by the sudden voice in his head, he had never heard it before in
his life. Getting dressed and snatching his sword, he ran out of the room, knowing that Touma
had to be in some kind of danger. Going out into the hallway, he only had to go a few steps
before he spotted Touma on the ground, evidently in pain and a shadowy figure standing over
him. Without another thought, he made a dash towards the figure. The person was caught off
guard when they saw Seiji charging them, but they were able to move out of the in time, their
robe getting sliced by the blond's sword.
"Touma, are you all right?" Seiji knelt down next to Touma.
The pain in Touma's mind went away, the person's hold on him was released when Seiji
came. Resting his hand on Seiji's shoulder, he smiled and nodded. Getting back up on his feet,
Touma glared at the person in front of him. He stepped in front of his love, though Seiji was
stronger than he was, his skills as a swordsman would not help them now. It was Touma's turn to
protect him, this was his fight and he wouldn't allow Seiji to get hurt. Glancing at the blond, he
made a quick sign to his love to stay back.
//Who are you?// Touma asked again.
"I am Ikari, a Sanada ninja," the person answered.
"What do you want with Touma?" Seiji wanted to know.
"I have orders to take him, but he's being stubborn about it," Ikari smirked.
"Touma, let me take care of her," but all Seiji got back was another sign for him to stay
back.
"Touma knows that you couldn't do anything to me," she remarked. "You can't fight
magic with ordanary fighting skills."
"The Sanada ninja clan doesn't believe in any type of magic, how can you be apart of
their clan?" challenged Seiji.
"I'm adopted, they never knew a thing about this. Enough stalling. I suggest that you
come with me, Touma, your powers are nothing against mine."
Keeping a good grip on his staff, Touma continued to glare at her. There was no way he
was going anywhere with her without a good fight.
"Have it your way," she sneered. The temple began to shake as Ikari began summoning
her full powers to her. The occupants of the temple all came rushing out to see what was
happening, they were all stunned to see that a fight was about to begin there of all places.
"Wait! Stop!" a monk shouted, getting in between Ikari and Touma. "If you must fight,
do it outside, this is a sacred place, there is to be not fighting in here."
//There's too many people in here, it's me you want, let's go outside.// Touma said
mentally to Ikari.
//All right, I owe these monks, outside it is.// Ikari went towards the nearest exist, her
feet inches off the ground, Touma followed her, his feet were inches off the ground as well. Once
they were in the pasture behind the temple, Ikari finished summoning her full powers. //It's going
to be hard to hurt such a pretty face.//
//I know it is, but at least I don't have that problem.//
Without warning, Ikari threw her first attack. Touma narrowed his eyes, he was very
aware of the ice shards coming at him, but he was relieved. Ikari's element was ice, it wasn't that
tough of an element to beat. Stretching one arm out in front of him, he moved his hand so that it
was vertical instead of horizontal with the rest of his arm. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on
his power and a dark blue shield surrounded him, blocking the attack.
Seiji ran outside, he had to see if Touma was all right. He came out in time to see a dark
blue bubble surround Touma and dangerous looking shards of ice shattered harmlessly on
impact. This was amazing for the blond to see, he had no idea that Touma could do things like
this. Staying a good distance away, Seiji watched the fight in awe. Shu and Nausti came outside
and stood next to Seiji, they really couldn't believe what they were seeing.
"Is there any way to help Touma-san?" Nausti asked.
Shu shook his head, "Unless we knew any magic, there's nothing we can do. All we can
do is pray that he wins."
"Of course he'll win," Seiji snapped. "Touma-chan always comes through."
Ikari used the same attack again, this time it was stronger than the first, but again, it
shattered harmlessly against the shield. Knowing that simple shards of ice weren't going to do
the trick, she took out her katana and charged him. Touma just barely made it in time to block the
blow with his staff. He found himself on the defensive as she used every ounce of her skills as a
ninja. Gritting his teeth, he wished that his shield could protect him from physical attacks instead
of only magic, to able to do that, he'd have to summon his full powers.
"ICE STRIKE!"
Touma's eye widened and he jumped out of the way. He looked nervously at the spot he
was standing on, it was now totally covered in ice. This girl had more talent than he thought
origionally. If he was going to beat her, he'd have to use everything he had. Jumping back to a
safer distance, Touma put his staff on the ground in front of him and went to his knees.
"Giving up already?" Ikari smiled wickedly.
"What're you doing, love?" Seiji whispered, he wished he knew what was going on.
Touma couldn't give up, he was too stubborn to do anything like that.
Reaching into his pocket, Touma withdrew a small, reed flute and brought it to his lips.
He played a soft, sweet meoldy and the stars above looked like they were beginning to shine
brighter. //I call upon Tenku, protector of firmament, keeper of the stars, guardian of space. I ask
for your power, I ask for your help. I beg of you, do not forsake me now.// When he completed
the song and put the reed flute away, he knew that the stars had responded to him, giving him
some power, but he feared that Tenku might choose to ignore him.
"What are you doing?" Ikari growled. Taking advantage of the situation, she prepared
another attack. Running up to him, she leapt into the air and raised her katana to strike him down.
Touma sat there, his eyes closed as though he was unaware of what was going on.
"Why isn't he doing anything?!" Shu clenched his fists and Nausti buried her face in his
shoulder.
"TOUMA!" Seiji yelled in horror as Touma did nothing to defend himself. The blond
almost went over there to help him, but Ikari's scream stopped him.
When Ikari was coming in for her attack, a shield rose up and sent her back about ten
feet. "Impossible, it was a physical attack, there was no way you could've used a shield on that."
"Touma might have not been able to, but I can." A deep voice came from the still
kneeling boy. His eyes snapped open, they weren't their usual stormy blue, they were now a
midnight blue.
"Touma?" Seiji was shocked to hear Touma speak, though it was not his own. He was
sure that the voice he heard in the bedroom was Touma's voice and this was not it.
"Who the hell are you?" the ninja demanded.
"I am Tenku." He got to his feet and stared at the girl.
"Whoever you are, I will still complete my job. You have not yet seen the extent of my
strength." She got back into a fighting stance, concentrating hard on her element, ice soon
covered the blade of her katana. Using every trick she knew, she went after him, lashing out at
the boy. It infuriated her when he dodged each attack with very little effort, he didn't even break
a sweat. "Stay still!" Ikari swung her blade again, this time he didn't try to avoid it. Another
shield came up, protecting him. Taking a few steps back, Ikari snapped, "If you think I'm the
least bit impressed, I'm not. Touma, do you really think Tenku will help you any? I will show my
you true strength. I'd like to see you block this attack with a shield."
"Show me your strength," Tenku challenged.
"FREEZING DRAGON!" A huge dragon rose up into the air, its roar shook the earth and
watchers were all too scared to make a sound.
Tenku looked annoyed, "This is the power you were bragging about? Don't mock me."
The dragon then took a nose-dive, going straight for Touma's body. Its giant jaws opened
and rows of sharp teeth were visible. Tenku looked at it with no expression on his face. In his
hand appeared a gold bow and in the other a matching arrow. Quickly notching the arrow into the
bow, he took careful aim and let the arrow fly. It embedded itself right between the eyes of the
dragon, causing the over grown lizard to stop in its tracks. Cracks began to emerge and the ice
dragon was dismembered.
"Your ice lizard is nothing compared to the heavens," Tenku's voice was flat and void of
emotion. Another arrow came to him and he notched it into the bow. "SHIN KU HA!"
Even with her remarkable speed, Ikari didn't have a chance to move out of the way.
"Shit! What the hell is that?!" Shin stared into the sky in disbelief. There was a gigantic
dragon in the sky and it started moving towards the ground.
Ryo's mouth hung open, he was just as bewildered as Shin was. Then it stopped and
shattered into billions of pieces. "Whatever it was, it's gone now. Shin, we have to hurry!"
Half dragging the still injured Ryo through the forest, he came to a stop as they entered
the pasture. There was a young boy standing there, a gold bow in his hands and girl laying on the
ground, he wasn't even sure if she was still alive. Off in the distance there was some people
standing there, watching and as shocked as he was. He felt Ryo let go of him and took a few
steps forward before running towards the girl. The ninja half knelt, half collasped next to her,
tears running down his face.
"Ikari, please wake up, Ikari," he begged, blood was coming out of the corner of her
mouth and an arrow was embedded in her stomach. He carefully took out the arrow from her
body, tore off a piece of his shirt and wrapped around the wound, the crimson fluid slicking his
hands as he desperately tried to stop the bleeding. Shin crouched down next to him, checking her
pulse, he could feel a one, not too faint, yet not as strong as it could be. "Sh-Shin, we have to get
her help, we have to get help. I-I can't let her die, she's a sister to me."
"She won't die," a stern voice said.
Ryo glowered at him, "You! You did this to her!"
The boy showed no indication that he heard Ryo. "I weakened my attack so it wouldn't
kill her. She's more powerful than you give her credit."
"Who are you?" asked Shin, he was holding Ryo so the ninja wouldn't try to attack this
guy.
"I am Tenku, the body is Touma."
"What the fuck?" Ryo had no clue what this guy was talking about, all he wanted to do
was to slam his fist into his face.
"You're the spirit of the firmament. Nausti used to tell me stories about you and other
spirits. How can this boy, Touma, summon you? It's not possible for a human to do that, or so I
thought," said Shin.
Tenku didn't answer, he bent over a took a small sample of Ikari's blood on one of his
fingers. Inspecting it closely, he shook his head and wiped his hand on the grass. "Now I know
where she got her powers, she's the child of Kayura."
"You know Ikari's mother?" asked Ryo, still angry at Tenku.
"Shin!" Nausti ran up to her little brother. "Shin, what're you doing here?"
Letting go of Ryo, Shin hugged his sister tightly, which was a big mistake, for Ryo
lunged at Tenku. Before the ninja could touch the other boy, he was jerked back by a tall blond.
"Don't you dare lay a finger on him," the blond growled.
"Let go of me," hissed Ryo.
"Excuse me," a monk walked up to them, "I think that maybe we should talk get this girl
inside and, um, keep her away from Touma-kun and then we can talk."
In the darkest chamber of the castle, a figure sat on the throne, chuckling wickedly.
"Well, well, well, things have taken an interesting turn, I must say. I always knew my favorite pet
could summon Tenku. I'll have the most fun with him once I get him back. And don't worry, my
dear Yami, your little blond will be given to you in one piece, I just want to use him to toy with
my pet first. Anyway, have you heard from Naaza?"
"He's still hunting down the Torrent, the boy is late in his last payment," Yami replied.
"Naaza will return once he has taken care of the Torrent, Lady Kayura."
"Good, I want a big, happy reunion when I get my pet back."
What the fuck was that!? What was I smoking when I wrote this? Anyway, let's get on with the
usual questions, shall we? Is Ryo going to try to kill Touma since he/Tenku hurt Ikari? Will the
ninja be able to get past the blond to do that? Why does Shu want to talk? Doesn't he usually
want to beat up people first? What does Kayura have in plans for Touma and Seiji? When will
Shin and Ryo get it on? When will Shu and Nausti get it on? Can't you so totally tell the sexual
tension between them all, even though it's not that obvious?! Find out in Part V and many other
parts in "The Paths We Take".