"Talpa Has a Sister!"
By Wildfire
Chapter Ten
Ryo sat in his subarmor leaning against a tree. He hadn't told the guys about the white panther; he thought that they might thing he was insane. Just then Kento burst through the bushes with Rowen right on his tail, Kento turned around and threw a kick at Rowen, who easily dodged it. Rowen jumped into the air and went behind Kento, and used his momentum to push Kento down. Ryo watched in amusement as the two boys sparred; Kento was trying to use his strength on Rowen, but Rowen had sped on his side. Kento flipped up and got into a fighting stance.
"Don't you give up yet?" Rowen asked, but Ryo could tell he enjoying beating Kento into a pulp. But Ryo also knew that Kento would catch Rowen and when he did, Rowen would be sorry.
"Me, give up? Huh, that'll be the day!" Kento smirked, then charged. Rowen dodged it, but Kento was ready this time; he turned just as Rowen came down, then swiped his feet from under him. Then he brought his fist down and stopped just inches from his face. Rowen was dumbfounded for a moment. Kento stayed in his position; all was quiet for a couple of seconds. Then Ryo started cracking up. They both looked at him.
"That was great!" Ryo got out through his laughs. Kento looked at Rowen and they both smiled. Kento stood up and helped Rowen up. Then they walked towards Ryo. Ryo's eyebrow went up. "Oh, is that how it's going to be? Two against one?" Ryo stood up.
"What's the matter, Ryo? Don't think you're up to it?" Rowen asked, still walking towards him with Kento walking right behind him.
"Oh, no, I know I can beat you two; I was just going to give you the chance to turn back," Ryo said.
Kento and Rowen looked at each other, then they cracked their knuckles and ran towards him. Ryo jumped back just as Rowen made it there. Ryo jumped into the trees; once Ryo got to the top he looked around. But then he saw it, the white panther that had saved his life. But before he got a good look at it, he was knocked down by a blur of orange. He landed on the ground with a thump, and Kento landed right on top of him. Ryo could hear Rowen laughing his head off. Ryo looked at Kento, who was smiling.
"Yeah, yeah, get off!" Ryo yelled at Kento. Kento smiled even bigger but got off; he then pulled Ryo up. Once Ryo was up he jumped into the trees again, leaving a very puzzled Kento and Rowen.
Ryo got to the top of the tree and again looked around, but this time he saw no white panther.
"Hey, Ryo! What ARE you doing?" Rowen yelled up to him.
Ryo took one last look around, then jumped down. "Nothing, just thought I saw something."
"Ryo, the last time you thought you saw something, I nearly killed you! What did you see?" Rowen asked.
"It was nothing, at least nothing dangerous," Ryo finished.
"Are you sure?" Kento asked again.
"Yes, I'm very sure, Kento. Don't worry about it, okay?" Ryo said again, trying to enforce it.
"Okay," Rowen and Kento both said.
"Good." Ryo started to walk away but then turned around. "Ya know, I would've beat ya, IF I hadn't been distracted." Ryo again started to walk away but with a huge smile on his face. Kento and Rowen again looked at each other, then started after Ryo.
Ryo laughed and started running, but then the sun was covered by a dark cloud. They all stopped running. They stood totally silent, just listening, and waiting. Thunder started sounding, then came lightning. Then a drop of rain fell, and where it touched the snow melted and under that the grass died.
"It's POISON!" Ryo yelled, and they ran for cover. They found shelter in a cave nearby. And it wasn't long after that the poison rain started coming down extremely hard.
"Looks like we'll be here for a while," Kento said, sitting down.
"This is very bad!" Rowen said, looking out of the cave.
"Damn! I just hope the others found shelter," Ryo said, shaking his head. Rowen looked at Kento, then went and sat down beside him.
"What's the matter, Ronins? Don't like MY rain?" Alex came out of the bushes holding his hands out, then licked his hand. "Mmmm, it's good; why don't you come out here and try it?" Alex laughed.
"That's okay, I think we'll just stay in here, if that's okay with you," Ryo told him.
"Really? Well, it's not okay." Alex pulled out a sword.
Ryo realized what was about to happen, then turned to Sage and Kento. "PUT YOUR ARMOR ON NOW!" Ryo yelled at them. "ARMOR OF WILDFIRE!"
"ARMOR OF THE STRATA!"
"ARMOR OF THE HARDROCK!" Just as they got on their helmets, Alex slashed down the cave and the three Ronins were left in the poison rain.
"Ha, those armors of yours won't help you for long, this rain will eat right through them!" Alex laughed loudly; Ryo gritted his teeth, he knew this would have to be fast so they could find shelter again.
"Go! Leave me, I'll take him!" Ryo yelled at them.
"Ryo, there's no way..." Rowen started.
"GO! That's an order! Find some shelter! I'll find you later!" Ryo stared at them; Kento looked at Rowen, but they stood their ground. Ryo's face hardened. "When you became Ronin Warriors you took an oath that said you'd listen and obey my orders unless I was not myself! NOW GO!" Ryo screamed. Kento gritted his teeth but turned to leave; Rowen followed and they ran off.
Alex laughed. "That was a stupid thing to do, Wildfire! You know as well as I do that you can't beat me and still have time to find shelter! You just killed yourself. Why?" Alex asked.
"I won't put my team in this kind of danger, if I can help it!"
"But did they not also know when they joined the Ronin Warriors that it would be 'dangerous'?" Alex tilted his head to one side.
"Yes, but I'll try my best as a friend and a leader to keep them alive so they can destroy you once and for ALL!" Ryo told him, then jumped up and brought down his sword. Alex jumped back just seconds before Ryo hit. Ryo jumped up again and charged; Alex dodged all of his attacks. But Alex never attacked Ryo, he simply dodged, like he really didn't care. Ryo knew he was just stalling, though. Waiting for the rain to burn through his armor. But there was nothing Ryo could do except try to beat him.
Ryo then stopped dead in his tracks and grabbed his shoulder. Alex started laughing. "So it's made it through; it burns, doesn't it?" Ryo went down to one knee and gritted his teeth as it continued to burn all over his body. He tried hard not to scream; he didn't want to give that Dynasty freak the pleasure of it. He slammed his eyes shut; he tried to focus on something else, anything else, but he couldn't. He could hear Alex laughing; Ryo made himself get up. He gripped his swords and started stumbling over to Alex.
"Well, you are stronger than I thought," Alex laughed. "Are you still going to try to fight me?"
"I... shall... fight... you... tell... the... day... I... DIE!" Ryo got out through gasps.
"Which isn't that far away. Is it?" Alex pushed him down. "No one to save you, for anyone who's out here shall be facing the same fate you are. FOR I AM THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN STAND IN THIS RAIN!" Alex started laughing again.
"Wrong!" Alex whirled around to see Derek standing there. "Master Trots won't be happy to hear you're trying to kill him." Derek pointed to Ryo, who was shaking on the ground. "I suggest you report back to the castle right now and I won't tell Master Trots about this." Derek smiled; Alex sighed and glared, but disappeared. Derek smiled, turned to Ryo and waved goodbye, then said, "So long," then disappeared.
Ryo felt like his body was burning up, something he thought he'd never have to feel with his armor. He tried to get up but his body wouldn't allow it. He just laid there. "So, this is how it's going to end, huh? Well, I never thought it would end like this..." But before Ryo could think about anything else he heard a roar; Ryo already knew it wasn't White Blaze, the roar was higher-pitched than White Blaze's was, and it also wasn't as loud as White Blaze's was either.
Before he could think of anything else, the white panther appeared. Ryo stared at it; the rain just went around it like it was in a bubble. The panther or lion came and stood over him; the bubble that surrounded the panther also went around him. Ryo breathed a sigh of relief when the pain stopped. He looked at the panther; from the view he was at he could now tell it was a female. Ryo started to doze off but before he did he whispered, "Thank you"' to the panther, then blacked out. The panther looked down at him as his armor went down to his subarmor.
*****
Kento and Rowen paced in a cave; both of them kept looking out into that rain. Kento punched the cave wall. "WHAT WERE WE THINKING? HOW COULD WE HAVE LEFT HIM!" Kento again punched the wall.
"That... that jerk didn't give as a choice. You know we took an 'oath'." Rowen turned around again. "DAMN! If he does survive I'll KILL him myself!" Rowen paced some more.
"Well, you stop pacing! You are driving me crazy!" Kento yelled. Rowen looked at him but then sat down. Rowen then put his head in his hands.
"AHhh," Rowen said as he pounded the ground. He then turned to Kento, who was watching him. "You think he found shelter?" Rowen asked.
"I hope so." Kento didn't even look at Rowen, he just stared at the rain, and how everything outside was either dead or dying. "So, you think the others found shelter?"
Rowen continued to look at the rain as well. "Don't know, I was kinda hoping it didn't hit them." Rowen turned to Kento "Do you think the rain went that far over?"
Kento turned to Rowen. "I guess that depends on what Alex wanted to do. I hope he just wanted to get us, and didn't go near the guys, I really hope." Kento turned back towards the rain. His eyes widened, as did Rowen's, as the rain started slowing down until it completely stopped. Both of them ran out of the cave, and towards where they left Ryo.
*****
Ryo woke feeling something wet against his face; he opened his eyes to see the white panther in front of him. Ryo pushed the cat away, as he did with White Blaze, but it came right back. Ryo stared at it. "What do you want?" he asked the cat. The panther nudged at him, trying to get him to sit up. Ryo slowly sat up; he was about to fall back down but the panther put her nose on his chest and pushed him up, so he was sitting on his knees. The panther then put one of its paws on Ryo's knee, then lifted itself up so she was above his head.
Ryo's eyes got big. "What is she doing?" The panther lowered her head so she looked like she was going to bite him, but then gently took something out of his hair. The panther lowered herself back down and dropped a stick on the ground. Ryo looked at the stick, then at the panther; he was totally puzzled.
"What, it's a twig? You've got some too," Ryo said, taking a stick out of the panther's fur. The panther looked at the twig, sniffed it, then snorted. She then turned back to the one that was in his hair; she growled, then stomped on it. As soon as it broke a dark cloud rose from it. Ryo's eyes went big. "What was that?" Ryo asked the panther, then laughed to himself. "Now I'm talking to a cat, that I don't even know what it is. Tell me, are you a lion or a panther?" Ryo laughed, then patted the cat on its head. The cat stood up and scratched, she then shook her whole body, ruffling her fur. She looked back at Ryo one last time before she ran off. Ryo watched her run off.
"Ryo! Ryo!" Rowen yelled, with his bow and arrow out.
"Ryo! Oh man, please be alive! Ryo!" Kento yelled out.
Ryo weakly yelled out, "Over here!" Kento and Rowen both ran over to him.
"How did you live through that rain?" Kento asked.
"I got some help," Ryo said, looking at where the panther had run off to. He had decided it was a panther, just for the fact that he hated lions.
"By who?" Rowen asked as he stepped closer to Ryo and kneeled down. "Can you stand?"
"I think so." Ryo started to stand up, but his legs buckled and he started to fall, but Kento caught him and picked him up. Ryo tried to push out of his arms.
"Don't give me that, Ryo, I'm pissed enough at you. DON'T PUSH I! You can't walk and I'm not going to wait three hours for you to feel up to it," Kento said and started to walk. Ryo stopped struggling. Ryo sighed, then relaxed as Kento started a light trot towards camp with Rowen coming right up beside him. Ryo soon found himself dozing off, until he finally just fell asleep in Kento's arms.
About ten minutes later, Kento and Rowen stopped, and looked around. It had snow on the ground, and for the most part everything was still alive. "Well, I guess that means the others are still okay," Rowen said, looking around.
"Yeah, thank goodness." Kento shifted Ryo's weight around a little.
Rowen looked at him. "You want me to take him for a while?" Rowen asked him.
Kento raised an eyebrow. "Please, I'm the warrior of strength! I'm fine," Kento told him. "Come on, the others must be worried by now."
Rowen nodded. "Yeah." They both started off again, oblivious to the pair of panther eyes watching them from afar. The panther's eyes stayed on Ryo the whole time. As soon as Rowen and Kento started moving again, the panther jumped down from the tree's. She sniffed a little, then walked in the opposite direction.
*****
"Okay, where are they? I think we should go look for them!" Sage told Cye. "You girls stay here in case they come back."
"No, there are more girls here than guys; you guys stay here, we'll go look for them. And Sage, if they do show up, tell Rowen to shoot an arrow up and we'll come back," Kat told them. Sage was about to argue but Kat held up a hand. "We're leaving, let's go." The other girls followed Kat as they left.
Sage looked at White Blaze sleeping. What's wrong with that tiger, it's like he doesn't even care about Ryo anymore! First Yesterday when Rowen almost killed him! Then White Blaze didn't even follow Ryo when he ran off. They've always been the closest of friends, what changed? Sage frowned at his thoughts. He then looked at Cye. "Looks as if we aren't in charge anymore. What happened?" Sage asked, and Cye shrugged his shoulders.
Sage and Cye started talking about various things. A couple minutes later they heard the patting of feet coming closer; they both stood up, and waited for whatever it was to get there. Soon Rowen emerged, followed by Kento holding a sleeping Ryo.
"What happened, is he all right?" Cye yelled at them.
"Hey, calm down, buddy, he's fine, just tired. He had a hard day," Kento told him.
"Here, I'll put him in our tent," Rowen said as he took Ryo from Kento and walked over to their tent.
"What happened?" Sage asked.
"Huh! Alex is back and even more powerful. I don't even want to see Daller and Ryan."
"That bad; what he do?" Sage asked.
"Let's just say Sekhmet isn't the only poison warlord," Kento said, leaning against a tree.
"Great! The new warlords are getting the same powers as the old ones! I just can't wait to see who has the same power as Dais, that'll be lot's of fun," Cye said, looking up, remembering the fights they had with the warlords. He grimaced just as Rowen came out of the tent.
Sage looked at Rowen. "Oh, Rowen, I almost forgot! Shoot an arrow up in the air so the girls know to come back."
Rowen nodded his head; he pulled an arrow out, strung it, and shot it straight up into the air. He fired two more arrows into the air.
"So, Ryo's okay, right? What happened?" Sage asked.
"Ryo's a jerk," Kento said simply. Cye and Sage looked at him with confusion in their eyes.
"Why?" Sage asked.
Rowen stepped up. "Why? Why? Okay, think about this, if you will. You're sparring, then some warlord comes up and tells you if you stay in this rain he made that you'll die, but he ruined your shelter. The only chance you have is to beat him and then find shelter again. BUT THEN your leader and best friend tells you to run AWAY and let him handle it! And you knows there's no chance if he tries to do it by himself, but he throws in your face that you have to obey him, with the oath we took when we became Ronins, and you have to leave him. Knowing he'll die," Rowen said, glaring at the ground.
Sage sighed and pursed his lips in a frown. "He did that? So how'd he survive?"
"Don't know, he said he got help, but that's all he said," Kento told them, tossing a rock into the air.
Everyone was silent for a moment, then a thought crossed Cye's mind. "You think it was Kayura?" Cye asked with his right eyebrow lifted a little.
"I dunno, maybe, I thought about that myself, but I don't think so. It was just the way he said it." Kento shook his head. "I don't think it was Kayura, OR the Warlords."
Cye looked at Kento. "Then who?" Cye asked.
"I dunno," Kento said, shrugging his shoulders, "how should I know?"
"WAIT!" Rowen turned to Kento. "Kento, do you remember when we were sparring with Ryo and he went into the trees?" Rowen waited for Kento to nod. When he did, he continued, "Well, wasn't he looking at something up there?"
"HEY! You're right, and then he was in a hurry to get back up there. I wonder what it was." Kento looked up at the sky.
Sage looked at Cye; he stepped closer to him and whispered, "Do you know what they're talking about?" Cye shook his head.
"It's something that happened earlier," Kento said, shaking his hands around.
Rowen looked at the tent that Ryo was in. "I wonder what happened after we left," Rowen said to no one in particular.
*****
Daller, Alex, and Ryan sat in a room that was completely dark except for a few candles spread across the room. Daller threw a sword across the room. He then turned to Alex. "You lost! How could you lose!"
"I didn't lose, Daller," Alex said calmly while using a dagger as a toothpick.
"Yeah? And how do you figure that one?!" Daller yelled. Ryan started at his two fighting comrades; he leaned back and relaxed.
"What you and they don't know is, that rain that poured on them does more than burn them." Ryan sat up and Daller moved closer; Alex continued. "You see, once the rain started to burn Wildfire's skin, he became trapped. He is now my personal dummy."
"How do you figure? Does that mean you can make him join our side?" Ryan asked.
"No, not yet, anyway, he is still too strong. But later, once I wear him down a little... probably," Alex told them.
"Well, what good does that do for us NOW?" Daller asked, throwing his arms into the air.
"I shall show you! Ryan, would you please go down and start a fight with the Ronins?" Ryan nodded then disappeared.
Alex walked over to one of the walls in the room; he motioned Daller to follow. Daller rolled his eyes but followed nonetheless. Alex threw this powder on the wall, and the wall became black and dark, then it flashed! Daller turned his head away from the light. Alex smiled, then cleared his throat to get Daller's attention. Daller turned back around, he looked at the wall and was surprised to see the Ronins' camp! The Ronins were all talking to themselves, but they didn't look happy!
"What's going on?" Daller asked Alex.
"Hell if I know! Derek chased me out of there before I could do anymore damage." Alex glared at the wall/Ronin camp. Daller looked at Alex, then started watching the scene in front of him.
"Where's Ryan? He should have been there by now."
Alex shrugged his shoulders. "You know, Ryan never goes anywhere too fast." Alex and Daller both did a fake laugh, then continued watching.
*****
"Where are the girls? Shouldn't they be here by now?" Kento said, trying to change the subject. He was getting a little tired of talking about how Ryo made them leave, they had gone over it like ten times.
"How should we know, Kento?" Sage asked him, then continued, "But what were Ryo's exact words when he told you guys to leave?"
"Well, he said..."
"COME ON, WE'VE BEEN OVER THIS LIKE A THOUSAND TIMES!" Kento yelled, throwing a rock a Sage's foot. "Are you that stupid you can't get it the first five times!" Sage glared at Kento, and started to move towards him.
"Come on, guys, we aren't here to fight amongst ourselves. We ARE here to fight and destory the Dynasty! Remember?" Cye said, getting in between the two.
"Torrent's right, you are here to fight us, are you not?" Ryan said, jumping down from a tree.
"Why, hello, Ryan, how are you?" Rowen said, a little relieved he'd showed up. It broke the fight up.
"Peachy! Where's your leader? Or did he try to go out on his own again? WE all know how that works. I do hope he did?" Ryan laughed.
Kento gritted his teeth together. "SORRY, Ryan, but he didn't! We're a team!" Kento said through clamped teeth.
"Oh, yes, I can tell! Especially when you boys last fought with Alex. Right!" Ryan laughed, then walked a little closer to them. "Don't you love it? The way your leader leaves you, can't depend on you?" Ryan laughed even harder.
"HA HA HA," came a bleak laugh; they turned around to see Ryo standing there. "That is so funny," Ryo said with no emotion.
"Yah, Wildfire, so nice of you to join us," Ryan said with a huge smile on his face.
"Yeah, I bet!" Ryo stumbed to a tree; Rowen went to help him but Ryo held his hand out, stopping him.
"You see! He won't even let you help him keep his balance! It's to laugh!" Ryan snickered.
"It's to laugh? What kind of saying is THAT!" Ryo curled his upper lip, then smiled. "Oh! And, Ryan, what is the reason you came down here? Just to fight? OR is it because Alex thinks he has power over me?" Ryo smiled as Ryan's eyes got as big as a bugs.
By Wildfire
Chapter Ten
Ryo sat in his subarmor leaning against a tree. He hadn't told the guys about the white panther; he thought that they might thing he was insane. Just then Kento burst through the bushes with Rowen right on his tail, Kento turned around and threw a kick at Rowen, who easily dodged it. Rowen jumped into the air and went behind Kento, and used his momentum to push Kento down. Ryo watched in amusement as the two boys sparred; Kento was trying to use his strength on Rowen, but Rowen had sped on his side. Kento flipped up and got into a fighting stance.
"Don't you give up yet?" Rowen asked, but Ryo could tell he enjoying beating Kento into a pulp. But Ryo also knew that Kento would catch Rowen and when he did, Rowen would be sorry.
"Me, give up? Huh, that'll be the day!" Kento smirked, then charged. Rowen dodged it, but Kento was ready this time; he turned just as Rowen came down, then swiped his feet from under him. Then he brought his fist down and stopped just inches from his face. Rowen was dumbfounded for a moment. Kento stayed in his position; all was quiet for a couple of seconds. Then Ryo started cracking up. They both looked at him.
"That was great!" Ryo got out through his laughs. Kento looked at Rowen and they both smiled. Kento stood up and helped Rowen up. Then they walked towards Ryo. Ryo's eyebrow went up. "Oh, is that how it's going to be? Two against one?" Ryo stood up.
"What's the matter, Ryo? Don't think you're up to it?" Rowen asked, still walking towards him with Kento walking right behind him.
"Oh, no, I know I can beat you two; I was just going to give you the chance to turn back," Ryo said.
Kento and Rowen looked at each other, then they cracked their knuckles and ran towards him. Ryo jumped back just as Rowen made it there. Ryo jumped into the trees; once Ryo got to the top he looked around. But then he saw it, the white panther that had saved his life. But before he got a good look at it, he was knocked down by a blur of orange. He landed on the ground with a thump, and Kento landed right on top of him. Ryo could hear Rowen laughing his head off. Ryo looked at Kento, who was smiling.
"Yeah, yeah, get off!" Ryo yelled at Kento. Kento smiled even bigger but got off; he then pulled Ryo up. Once Ryo was up he jumped into the trees again, leaving a very puzzled Kento and Rowen.
Ryo got to the top of the tree and again looked around, but this time he saw no white panther.
"Hey, Ryo! What ARE you doing?" Rowen yelled up to him.
Ryo took one last look around, then jumped down. "Nothing, just thought I saw something."
"Ryo, the last time you thought you saw something, I nearly killed you! What did you see?" Rowen asked.
"It was nothing, at least nothing dangerous," Ryo finished.
"Are you sure?" Kento asked again.
"Yes, I'm very sure, Kento. Don't worry about it, okay?" Ryo said again, trying to enforce it.
"Okay," Rowen and Kento both said.
"Good." Ryo started to walk away but then turned around. "Ya know, I would've beat ya, IF I hadn't been distracted." Ryo again started to walk away but with a huge smile on his face. Kento and Rowen again looked at each other, then started after Ryo.
Ryo laughed and started running, but then the sun was covered by a dark cloud. They all stopped running. They stood totally silent, just listening, and waiting. Thunder started sounding, then came lightning. Then a drop of rain fell, and where it touched the snow melted and under that the grass died.
"It's POISON!" Ryo yelled, and they ran for cover. They found shelter in a cave nearby. And it wasn't long after that the poison rain started coming down extremely hard.
"Looks like we'll be here for a while," Kento said, sitting down.
"This is very bad!" Rowen said, looking out of the cave.
"Damn! I just hope the others found shelter," Ryo said, shaking his head. Rowen looked at Kento, then went and sat down beside him.
"What's the matter, Ronins? Don't like MY rain?" Alex came out of the bushes holding his hands out, then licked his hand. "Mmmm, it's good; why don't you come out here and try it?" Alex laughed.
"That's okay, I think we'll just stay in here, if that's okay with you," Ryo told him.
"Really? Well, it's not okay." Alex pulled out a sword.
Ryo realized what was about to happen, then turned to Sage and Kento. "PUT YOUR ARMOR ON NOW!" Ryo yelled at them. "ARMOR OF WILDFIRE!"
"ARMOR OF THE STRATA!"
"ARMOR OF THE HARDROCK!" Just as they got on their helmets, Alex slashed down the cave and the three Ronins were left in the poison rain.
"Ha, those armors of yours won't help you for long, this rain will eat right through them!" Alex laughed loudly; Ryo gritted his teeth, he knew this would have to be fast so they could find shelter again.
"Go! Leave me, I'll take him!" Ryo yelled at them.
"Ryo, there's no way..." Rowen started.
"GO! That's an order! Find some shelter! I'll find you later!" Ryo stared at them; Kento looked at Rowen, but they stood their ground. Ryo's face hardened. "When you became Ronin Warriors you took an oath that said you'd listen and obey my orders unless I was not myself! NOW GO!" Ryo screamed. Kento gritted his teeth but turned to leave; Rowen followed and they ran off.
Alex laughed. "That was a stupid thing to do, Wildfire! You know as well as I do that you can't beat me and still have time to find shelter! You just killed yourself. Why?" Alex asked.
"I won't put my team in this kind of danger, if I can help it!"
"But did they not also know when they joined the Ronin Warriors that it would be 'dangerous'?" Alex tilted his head to one side.
"Yes, but I'll try my best as a friend and a leader to keep them alive so they can destroy you once and for ALL!" Ryo told him, then jumped up and brought down his sword. Alex jumped back just seconds before Ryo hit. Ryo jumped up again and charged; Alex dodged all of his attacks. But Alex never attacked Ryo, he simply dodged, like he really didn't care. Ryo knew he was just stalling, though. Waiting for the rain to burn through his armor. But there was nothing Ryo could do except try to beat him.
Ryo then stopped dead in his tracks and grabbed his shoulder. Alex started laughing. "So it's made it through; it burns, doesn't it?" Ryo went down to one knee and gritted his teeth as it continued to burn all over his body. He tried hard not to scream; he didn't want to give that Dynasty freak the pleasure of it. He slammed his eyes shut; he tried to focus on something else, anything else, but he couldn't. He could hear Alex laughing; Ryo made himself get up. He gripped his swords and started stumbling over to Alex.
"Well, you are stronger than I thought," Alex laughed. "Are you still going to try to fight me?"
"I... shall... fight... you... tell... the... day... I... DIE!" Ryo got out through gasps.
"Which isn't that far away. Is it?" Alex pushed him down. "No one to save you, for anyone who's out here shall be facing the same fate you are. FOR I AM THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN STAND IN THIS RAIN!" Alex started laughing again.
"Wrong!" Alex whirled around to see Derek standing there. "Master Trots won't be happy to hear you're trying to kill him." Derek pointed to Ryo, who was shaking on the ground. "I suggest you report back to the castle right now and I won't tell Master Trots about this." Derek smiled; Alex sighed and glared, but disappeared. Derek smiled, turned to Ryo and waved goodbye, then said, "So long," then disappeared.
Ryo felt like his body was burning up, something he thought he'd never have to feel with his armor. He tried to get up but his body wouldn't allow it. He just laid there. "So, this is how it's going to end, huh? Well, I never thought it would end like this..." But before Ryo could think about anything else he heard a roar; Ryo already knew it wasn't White Blaze, the roar was higher-pitched than White Blaze's was, and it also wasn't as loud as White Blaze's was either.
Before he could think of anything else, the white panther appeared. Ryo stared at it; the rain just went around it like it was in a bubble. The panther or lion came and stood over him; the bubble that surrounded the panther also went around him. Ryo breathed a sigh of relief when the pain stopped. He looked at the panther; from the view he was at he could now tell it was a female. Ryo started to doze off but before he did he whispered, "Thank you"' to the panther, then blacked out. The panther looked down at him as his armor went down to his subarmor.
*****
Kento and Rowen paced in a cave; both of them kept looking out into that rain. Kento punched the cave wall. "WHAT WERE WE THINKING? HOW COULD WE HAVE LEFT HIM!" Kento again punched the wall.
"That... that jerk didn't give as a choice. You know we took an 'oath'." Rowen turned around again. "DAMN! If he does survive I'll KILL him myself!" Rowen paced some more.
"Well, you stop pacing! You are driving me crazy!" Kento yelled. Rowen looked at him but then sat down. Rowen then put his head in his hands.
"AHhh," Rowen said as he pounded the ground. He then turned to Kento, who was watching him. "You think he found shelter?" Rowen asked.
"I hope so." Kento didn't even look at Rowen, he just stared at the rain, and how everything outside was either dead or dying. "So, you think the others found shelter?"
Rowen continued to look at the rain as well. "Don't know, I was kinda hoping it didn't hit them." Rowen turned to Kento "Do you think the rain went that far over?"
Kento turned to Rowen. "I guess that depends on what Alex wanted to do. I hope he just wanted to get us, and didn't go near the guys, I really hope." Kento turned back towards the rain. His eyes widened, as did Rowen's, as the rain started slowing down until it completely stopped. Both of them ran out of the cave, and towards where they left Ryo.
*****
Ryo woke feeling something wet against his face; he opened his eyes to see the white panther in front of him. Ryo pushed the cat away, as he did with White Blaze, but it came right back. Ryo stared at it. "What do you want?" he asked the cat. The panther nudged at him, trying to get him to sit up. Ryo slowly sat up; he was about to fall back down but the panther put her nose on his chest and pushed him up, so he was sitting on his knees. The panther then put one of its paws on Ryo's knee, then lifted itself up so she was above his head.
Ryo's eyes got big. "What is she doing?" The panther lowered her head so she looked like she was going to bite him, but then gently took something out of his hair. The panther lowered herself back down and dropped a stick on the ground. Ryo looked at the stick, then at the panther; he was totally puzzled.
"What, it's a twig? You've got some too," Ryo said, taking a stick out of the panther's fur. The panther looked at the twig, sniffed it, then snorted. She then turned back to the one that was in his hair; she growled, then stomped on it. As soon as it broke a dark cloud rose from it. Ryo's eyes went big. "What was that?" Ryo asked the panther, then laughed to himself. "Now I'm talking to a cat, that I don't even know what it is. Tell me, are you a lion or a panther?" Ryo laughed, then patted the cat on its head. The cat stood up and scratched, she then shook her whole body, ruffling her fur. She looked back at Ryo one last time before she ran off. Ryo watched her run off.
"Ryo! Ryo!" Rowen yelled, with his bow and arrow out.
"Ryo! Oh man, please be alive! Ryo!" Kento yelled out.
Ryo weakly yelled out, "Over here!" Kento and Rowen both ran over to him.
"How did you live through that rain?" Kento asked.
"I got some help," Ryo said, looking at where the panther had run off to. He had decided it was a panther, just for the fact that he hated lions.
"By who?" Rowen asked as he stepped closer to Ryo and kneeled down. "Can you stand?"
"I think so." Ryo started to stand up, but his legs buckled and he started to fall, but Kento caught him and picked him up. Ryo tried to push out of his arms.
"Don't give me that, Ryo, I'm pissed enough at you. DON'T PUSH I! You can't walk and I'm not going to wait three hours for you to feel up to it," Kento said and started to walk. Ryo stopped struggling. Ryo sighed, then relaxed as Kento started a light trot towards camp with Rowen coming right up beside him. Ryo soon found himself dozing off, until he finally just fell asleep in Kento's arms.
About ten minutes later, Kento and Rowen stopped, and looked around. It had snow on the ground, and for the most part everything was still alive. "Well, I guess that means the others are still okay," Rowen said, looking around.
"Yeah, thank goodness." Kento shifted Ryo's weight around a little.
Rowen looked at him. "You want me to take him for a while?" Rowen asked him.
Kento raised an eyebrow. "Please, I'm the warrior of strength! I'm fine," Kento told him. "Come on, the others must be worried by now."
Rowen nodded. "Yeah." They both started off again, oblivious to the pair of panther eyes watching them from afar. The panther's eyes stayed on Ryo the whole time. As soon as Rowen and Kento started moving again, the panther jumped down from the tree's. She sniffed a little, then walked in the opposite direction.
*****
"Okay, where are they? I think we should go look for them!" Sage told Cye. "You girls stay here in case they come back."
"No, there are more girls here than guys; you guys stay here, we'll go look for them. And Sage, if they do show up, tell Rowen to shoot an arrow up and we'll come back," Kat told them. Sage was about to argue but Kat held up a hand. "We're leaving, let's go." The other girls followed Kat as they left.
Sage looked at White Blaze sleeping. What's wrong with that tiger, it's like he doesn't even care about Ryo anymore! First Yesterday when Rowen almost killed him! Then White Blaze didn't even follow Ryo when he ran off. They've always been the closest of friends, what changed? Sage frowned at his thoughts. He then looked at Cye. "Looks as if we aren't in charge anymore. What happened?" Sage asked, and Cye shrugged his shoulders.
Sage and Cye started talking about various things. A couple minutes later they heard the patting of feet coming closer; they both stood up, and waited for whatever it was to get there. Soon Rowen emerged, followed by Kento holding a sleeping Ryo.
"What happened, is he all right?" Cye yelled at them.
"Hey, calm down, buddy, he's fine, just tired. He had a hard day," Kento told him.
"Here, I'll put him in our tent," Rowen said as he took Ryo from Kento and walked over to their tent.
"What happened?" Sage asked.
"Huh! Alex is back and even more powerful. I don't even want to see Daller and Ryan."
"That bad; what he do?" Sage asked.
"Let's just say Sekhmet isn't the only poison warlord," Kento said, leaning against a tree.
"Great! The new warlords are getting the same powers as the old ones! I just can't wait to see who has the same power as Dais, that'll be lot's of fun," Cye said, looking up, remembering the fights they had with the warlords. He grimaced just as Rowen came out of the tent.
Sage looked at Rowen. "Oh, Rowen, I almost forgot! Shoot an arrow up in the air so the girls know to come back."
Rowen nodded his head; he pulled an arrow out, strung it, and shot it straight up into the air. He fired two more arrows into the air.
"So, Ryo's okay, right? What happened?" Sage asked.
"Ryo's a jerk," Kento said simply. Cye and Sage looked at him with confusion in their eyes.
"Why?" Sage asked.
Rowen stepped up. "Why? Why? Okay, think about this, if you will. You're sparring, then some warlord comes up and tells you if you stay in this rain he made that you'll die, but he ruined your shelter. The only chance you have is to beat him and then find shelter again. BUT THEN your leader and best friend tells you to run AWAY and let him handle it! And you knows there's no chance if he tries to do it by himself, but he throws in your face that you have to obey him, with the oath we took when we became Ronins, and you have to leave him. Knowing he'll die," Rowen said, glaring at the ground.
Sage sighed and pursed his lips in a frown. "He did that? So how'd he survive?"
"Don't know, he said he got help, but that's all he said," Kento told them, tossing a rock into the air.
Everyone was silent for a moment, then a thought crossed Cye's mind. "You think it was Kayura?" Cye asked with his right eyebrow lifted a little.
"I dunno, maybe, I thought about that myself, but I don't think so. It was just the way he said it." Kento shook his head. "I don't think it was Kayura, OR the Warlords."
Cye looked at Kento. "Then who?" Cye asked.
"I dunno," Kento said, shrugging his shoulders, "how should I know?"
"WAIT!" Rowen turned to Kento. "Kento, do you remember when we were sparring with Ryo and he went into the trees?" Rowen waited for Kento to nod. When he did, he continued, "Well, wasn't he looking at something up there?"
"HEY! You're right, and then he was in a hurry to get back up there. I wonder what it was." Kento looked up at the sky.
Sage looked at Cye; he stepped closer to him and whispered, "Do you know what they're talking about?" Cye shook his head.
"It's something that happened earlier," Kento said, shaking his hands around.
Rowen looked at the tent that Ryo was in. "I wonder what happened after we left," Rowen said to no one in particular.
*****
Daller, Alex, and Ryan sat in a room that was completely dark except for a few candles spread across the room. Daller threw a sword across the room. He then turned to Alex. "You lost! How could you lose!"
"I didn't lose, Daller," Alex said calmly while using a dagger as a toothpick.
"Yeah? And how do you figure that one?!" Daller yelled. Ryan started at his two fighting comrades; he leaned back and relaxed.
"What you and they don't know is, that rain that poured on them does more than burn them." Ryan sat up and Daller moved closer; Alex continued. "You see, once the rain started to burn Wildfire's skin, he became trapped. He is now my personal dummy."
"How do you figure? Does that mean you can make him join our side?" Ryan asked.
"No, not yet, anyway, he is still too strong. But later, once I wear him down a little... probably," Alex told them.
"Well, what good does that do for us NOW?" Daller asked, throwing his arms into the air.
"I shall show you! Ryan, would you please go down and start a fight with the Ronins?" Ryan nodded then disappeared.
Alex walked over to one of the walls in the room; he motioned Daller to follow. Daller rolled his eyes but followed nonetheless. Alex threw this powder on the wall, and the wall became black and dark, then it flashed! Daller turned his head away from the light. Alex smiled, then cleared his throat to get Daller's attention. Daller turned back around, he looked at the wall and was surprised to see the Ronins' camp! The Ronins were all talking to themselves, but they didn't look happy!
"What's going on?" Daller asked Alex.
"Hell if I know! Derek chased me out of there before I could do anymore damage." Alex glared at the wall/Ronin camp. Daller looked at Alex, then started watching the scene in front of him.
"Where's Ryan? He should have been there by now."
Alex shrugged his shoulders. "You know, Ryan never goes anywhere too fast." Alex and Daller both did a fake laugh, then continued watching.
*****
"Where are the girls? Shouldn't they be here by now?" Kento said, trying to change the subject. He was getting a little tired of talking about how Ryo made them leave, they had gone over it like ten times.
"How should we know, Kento?" Sage asked him, then continued, "But what were Ryo's exact words when he told you guys to leave?"
"Well, he said..."
"COME ON, WE'VE BEEN OVER THIS LIKE A THOUSAND TIMES!" Kento yelled, throwing a rock a Sage's foot. "Are you that stupid you can't get it the first five times!" Sage glared at Kento, and started to move towards him.
"Come on, guys, we aren't here to fight amongst ourselves. We ARE here to fight and destory the Dynasty! Remember?" Cye said, getting in between the two.
"Torrent's right, you are here to fight us, are you not?" Ryan said, jumping down from a tree.
"Why, hello, Ryan, how are you?" Rowen said, a little relieved he'd showed up. It broke the fight up.
"Peachy! Where's your leader? Or did he try to go out on his own again? WE all know how that works. I do hope he did?" Ryan laughed.
Kento gritted his teeth together. "SORRY, Ryan, but he didn't! We're a team!" Kento said through clamped teeth.
"Oh, yes, I can tell! Especially when you boys last fought with Alex. Right!" Ryan laughed, then walked a little closer to them. "Don't you love it? The way your leader leaves you, can't depend on you?" Ryan laughed even harder.
"HA HA HA," came a bleak laugh; they turned around to see Ryo standing there. "That is so funny," Ryo said with no emotion.
"Yah, Wildfire, so nice of you to join us," Ryan said with a huge smile on his face.
"Yeah, I bet!" Ryo stumbed to a tree; Rowen went to help him but Ryo held his hand out, stopping him.
"You see! He won't even let you help him keep his balance! It's to laugh!" Ryan snickered.
"It's to laugh? What kind of saying is THAT!" Ryo curled his upper lip, then smiled. "Oh! And, Ryan, what is the reason you came down here? Just to fight? OR is it because Alex thinks he has power over me?" Ryo smiled as Ryan's eyes got as big as a bugs.