Rowen pulled his jacket closer to himself as the wind blew again

Rowen pulled his jacket closer to himself as the wind blew again.

"Man it's cold," he said to Cye.

"It feels more like winter instead of autumn," Cye replied. The boys continued their walk back to the house.

"The sooner we get back, the better. I'm, freezing," Rowen muttered. Suddenly, Rowen tripped and fell face first into a puddle. Rowen lifted his head, his face and hair sopping wet. Cye tried very hard not to laugh, but a small one managed to escape. Rowen pulled himself and glared at him.

"Clumsy, aren't we?" Cye kidded. Rowen grunted.

"No. I tripped on that," he said, pointing to a big lump on the ground. They looked at it.

"Someone's sleeping in that," Cye said. Sure enough, a girl with jet-black hair was sound asleep. A strand of her hair fell on her face. Curled up in a ball next to her was a black cat, also asleep. But, the two did wake something up, for sure. In a second, they heard a screech and red-tailed hawk was in the air, above the girl and cat.

"Uh-oh," Rowen said. It screeched again and dived for Cye. He ducked, the bird grazing the top of his head. It screeched yet again. Then, the girl stirred.

"Ruby, what is it?" she mumbled. It dived at Cye again, this time, he had to drop to the ground.

"What is wrong with that bird?" Rowen asked, ducking as it dove at him.

"Ruby, shut up and go to sleep," the girl muttered.

"I think it thinks we're going to hurt that girl," Cye said. After one more screeched, the girl sat up and rubbed her eyes, then coughed.

"Ruby, come here girl," she muttered, not bothering to open her eyes. The bird ignored her and dived at Cye. It screeched. The girl opened her eyes and they went wide. She coughed, jumped up, coughed again and then comanded, "Ruby! Stop it!" The bird stopped and flew to the girl's shoulder.

"Is that your bird?" Rowen asked. "It's gone crazy!" the girl glared.

"She was protecting me. She thought you were going to hurt," the girl snapped. Then, she coughed again, very hard and her body shook weakly as she did.

"Are you alright?" Cye asked. The girl coughed.

"I'm ::cough, cough:: fine. Just leave em alone. ::cough::" the girl said, harshley. The two boys exchanged worried looks. The girl was deathly pale and everytime she coughed, her body shook.

"Look, you're really sick, let us..."

"Go away! I don't need your help! I'm fine!" the girl snapped. then, she began to cough, very hard. her whole body shook, and then her legs gave way. She sank slowly to the ground. Rowen ran to her and caught her. The girl covered her mouth and coughed. When she pulled her hand away, Rowen saw blood. he placed a hand on her forehead.

"Fine my butt. You're burning up and coughing blood. You're in terrible condition. You're coming with us," Rowen ordered. The girl shook her head.

"No, I can't," she said. The cat walked up to her, and sat in her lap. It hissed at rowen. He backed off.

"Look, all we want to do is help you, that's all," Cye said. But she shook her head.

"i can't. I must...I must...find them...find them all..."she barely whispered. Then, she fainted. rowen felt her fore-head again. He looked at Cye, worried.

"She really needs a doctor. She's burning up," he said. He gently picked her up. The girl was barely conscience and tried to pull away, but was too weak. "Cye, grab her stuff. We'll take her with us. There's a spare bed she can use." Cye nodded and picked up the two bags and sleeping bag. He grunted at the weight of the stuff.

"What was she carrying, her house?" he muttered. The cat walked right next to Rowen, watching him, making sure he wasn't going to hurt the girl. The hawk flew above them, gliding in the night air.

* * *

Ryo and Kento were playing a video game, while Sage sat on the couch, watching the two argue about who won the race. He simply smiled and returned to the book he was reading. It was Friday evening and everyone was tired. He had finished teaching another class at his grandfather's dojo only a few hours ago and was looking forward to the weekend. he looked out the window and saw that it had began to rain. Nothing much, just a light druzzle. he looked back at his book, and kento and Ryo were still arguing when they heard the door open and slam. They looked up to see a wet damp rowen and slightly wet Cye. In Rowen's arms was a girl, unconscience. Cye was carrying two bags and sleeping bag. Then, a black cat entered and saw that it had a white star on it's chest. In the background, a bird was screeching to be let in.

"Rowen, what's going on?" Ryo asked, standing up. Rowen looked at him, his eyes worried.

"cye and I found this girl asleep along the edge of the woods. She's running a fever and is starting to cough blood. She's in need of a docotr, and quick," rowen said. Sage made a dash for the phone while the other's followed Rowen to the spare room. He gently laid the girl on the white sheets. Kento left the room and returned with a blanket which Rowne placed on top of her. She coughed, but weakly. Her face was deathly white and looked extremely tired. The black cat jumped up and curled up next to her, trying to warm her up. Cye placed her bags down. Sage returned a few minutes llater.

"A doctor is on his way. Here's a thermometer," he said, handing it to Rowen. Rowen gently placed it into the girl's mouth. before doing it though, he looked at the cat. Expecting it to hiss and try to bite it. But, it just stared at him with sad eyes. Afetr a minute, he took the thermometer out. His eyes widened.

"One hundred and three. Man, she's sick! Someone get me a wet cloth," he said. Ryo left and returned with one. Rowen placed it on the girl's forehead. She began to breath heavily. The five watched her in silence. The cat got up and rubbed it's face against her's, meowing sadly. Its bright yellow eyes filled with worry. A few minutes, the docotr came. He was an old man, in his sixties. His grey hair was short and he had a small mustache. He wore glasses over his soft brown eyes.

"She's really bad," rowen siad. "Her temperature is one hundred and three and stared to cough up some blood." The man nodded.

"Alright then. If you would all please leave, I would like to look at my patient," he said, kindly. They all left. the cat stayed with her, surling up at her side.

"Rowen, you said that you found her on the side of the forest?" Ryo asked. Cye and Rowen nodded.

"She had that cat and a bird with her," Cye said. Then, they heard the bird. "it really wants to get in here, but I'm afraid it'll try to hurt us. And, White Blaze will try to eat it." White Blaze looked up at from behind the couch.

"Ya, we were talking about you," Ryo kidded. White Blaze just laid his head back onto his paws and slept on.

"Also, she started mumbling about finding something. It was strange. I got a strange feeling from her," Rowen added.

"What do you mean?" Sage asked his friend.

"I mean her energy force. It was strange. She has this strange force surrounding her, bizarre," he explained. They stared.

"Okay, this is strange," Kento commented. They stood in there in silence for a few minutes. Then, they heard a door open and the doctor return.

He held his hand up before they could say anything. "She'll be alright. She has a bad cold, a scratchy throat and high fever. Aslong as she stays in bed, drinks a lot of liquids and stays warm, she'll be fine. You might want to put away her things. She may be here for a little while," he added. When Sage offered to pay him, he refused. "This one is on me. Just make sure you take good care of her. I would recomend that you do give her this type of medicine. here is the pescription for it," handing a white peice of paper to sage. "Good night," and with a tilt of his hat, he left. The five went into the room where the girl was asleep. The cat was siting on the girl's chest, trying to keep her warm.

"Well, I guess the docs right. She will be here for a few days," Cye said and went over to her stuff. He began to unpack it. Inside was aa pair of pants, a shirt and sweatshirt, a couple of books, a stuffed tiger doll (White Blaze eyed it when he came in) a pair of glasses and pipe, a cloak and dress, a very large leather book, CD player and CDs and hair brush.

"Man, she borugh a lot of stuff," Kento muttered. "What the heck is this?" he asked, picking up the red leather book. At once, the cat jumped at kento and hissed. He dropped the book and backed away. The cat stood on top of it and bared it's teeth at them, hissing. "Woah, what's it's problem?" It continued to bare it's teeth, but stopped hissing. As Cye and Ryo began to place the girl's stuff drawers, Cye noticed something. Wrapped up in the girl's shirt was a dagger. He stared, amazed at it.

"Guys, take a look at this!' he sai,d holding it in the air. On the handle was a pale blue gem on it. Cye unsheathed it and found the blade to be six inches long.

"Why would a firl like this one be carrying around a blade like this/" he asked. The cat was about to jump at Cye, when it stopped. Instead, it stared at the gem, and then rubbed against his legs. They all stared and White Blaze began to growl. The cat returned his threat with a very loud his. The girl began to stir. She slowly opened her eyes and tried to sit up, but Ryo walked over to her and gently pushed her back down.

"Stay, you're sick," he said kindly.

"Please, tell me where Midnight and Ruby are," she barely whispered. Hearing it's name, the cat jumped onto the girl's bed and walked to her. The girl smiled. "Hello there Midnight," she said. then, she looked back at the boys. "But, where is Ruby?"

"Who is Ruby?" Kento asked, but Rowen interrupted him.

"The bird!" and he quickley left the rom. In minutes, the bird flew in and landed next to the girl as well.

"Hey there girl! How are you?" she asked, gently stroking the underside of the beak. It chirped and closed its eyes, enjoying the rub. The girl gave a small laugh, and then coughed.

"You should rest some more," Rowen said gently. She looked at them, then spotted the book on the ground and the dagger in Cye' ahnd. her eyes widened. She sat up.

"Give me that!" she demanded. Cye stared. "Give it here!" She held out her hand. "And the book!"

"Why the heck do you carry around this anyway?" Cye asked.

"Just give it to me!" She said, fustrated. Cye shook his head.

"Tell us." The girl looked really pissed off now.

"It belonged to my father! Now give it!" she shouted. Midnight jumped and grabbed hte knife from Cye in her mouth. she walked back over to the girl and placed it into her hand. The girl held it close to her, sighing with relief. Then, coughed. Ruby fluttered over to the book, picked it up with it's claws and brought it over. The girl held the two possesions tightly, whispering something to herself.

"Attitude problem," Kento mumbled. Then, she looked up. her face changed. It was no longer angry, but filled with sorrow.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you like. I truly am," she coughed again. Ryo tried to lay her back down, but she just gently pushed him away. "This is one of the few things I have left of my father. And my mother. My father passed away when I was twelve and my mother died two weeks ago. I just felt scared about loosing this," she said, holding the dagger up. "It keeps me safe."

"What's your name?" Sage asked.

"My name is Karisa Sendra," she said quietly. "This is my pet bird, Ruby and this one here is Midnight. She belonged to my mother." Then,she spotted the tiger. She picked Ruby up and placed her on ehr shoulder. Ryo laughed.

"Don't worry. White Blaze won't eat her, I promise. By the way, I'm Ryo. The one who was holding your blade was Cye, the one who said you had an attitude problem was Kento, the guys next to him is Sage and next to him is Rowen. You might want to thank Rowen. he was the one who found you and brought you here." Karisa looked Rowen.

"Thank you very much. I owe you," she said, bowing her head. Rowen shook his head.

"Don't mention it," he said. Then, Karisa smiled.

"You better get some rest now," Sage said, turning to leave. The others followed. As soon as Cye shut the door behind him, Midnight spoke.

"I believe we can trust those five," she said. Karisa leaned against her pillow.

"What do you mean?" she questioned. Midnight sat dwon next to her.

"I mean this. When I was about attack the boy named Cye, I saw something. The gem on your father's blade flashed brightly. they didn't see it happen, but I did."

"What's your point?" Karisa asked. Midnight sighed.

"My point is that the gem was telling that we can trust them. The Star of Pisces shows if a person is trustworthy or not. And if someone is telling the truth," the cat explained. Karisa closed her eyes.

"I guess so. Anyway, about those gems. We're doing fine, right? I mean we now have three out of the eleven," Karisa stated. Midnight nodded. When the first left their home, they had the Star of Aries and Pisces. On their journey, they came across the Star of Taurus. They found it in a jewel store. Karisa had to use her gift of magic to trick the sales person to give it to her. Nether of the two didn't like the idea of using magic to get what they wanted, but it was necesary, for the price was too big.

"Yes, but we shouldn't be too relaxed. Maaya is still on our case," Midnight reminded her.

"I know," Karisa sighed. Then, she turned onto her side. Ruby settled herself on the head board of the bed and Midnight truned in a spot three times at the foot of the bed, curled up and the three fell into deep slumber.