The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Twenty-Five: Startling Discovery

(Sage)

While I was on my way to the bush to answer nature's call, I started thinking. Something about Cara just a few moments before had puzzled me. I had been very quiet- something all Ronins are good at- and yet she knew it was me AND that I had moved. But how? She didn't even turn around. Her senses couldn't have been THAT good, even after four hundred years of fine tuning them.

Unless. . .

My mind began working. I had a few options going through my head. Some were a little unbelievable, even for all the magic and destiny I'd been faced with, but some worked. I finally decided on the one I found most plausible and believable.

And, for that matter, most likely.

Once I was done and back in the tent, I waited until I was sure Cara was asleep. "Sam?" I asked in a hushed whisper. She was curled up, her back to me. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

Sam, who was just getting to sleep, sat up and looked at me. "What?" she hissed. Yeah, she was definitely grumpy. Actually, she was kind of cute when she was grumpy. I don't know, maybe I'm just used to seeing grumpy women- I have an older sister and a younger sister, after all. I've gotten chased out of their rooms and screamed at before. Part of being a brother.

"I think I figured out something important," I said. "It's about Cara. If I'm right, it could make a huge difference in the outcome of this whole wild goose chase."

This caught Sam's attention. "You have my full attention, if you think it'll bust us out without getting someone hurt," she said. She crossed her legs and looked at me expectantly. "Spill it."

"Well," I said, "did you notice how Cara didn't turn around when she told me to get back inside?"

"Yeah, so?" said Sam.

"And did you notice how she noticed it was me?" I said.

Sam shrugged.

"Sam, how did she KNOW it was me that was moving and not you?" I asked.

"Lucky guess?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "I don't know, what does it matter?"

"Just hear me out," I said. "I think Trulpa's going to rotate the guarding shift to Cale tomorrow night. Hopefully we don't find the jewel tomorrow, because if I'm right, we might be able to get Cara to join us."

Now Sam's eyes widened. "Are you nuts?!"

"No, just trust me on this one. It might work. . ."

~

As I'd hoped, we didn't find the Jewel. Trulpa was mad and couldn't punish me (I love it when that happens) and put Cale on guard duty. I waited a while and then proceeded, just as before, to the entrance to the tent.

Cale didn't move or make any instance he knew what was going on. It wasn't until I was sticking my head out of the tent and asking him to go use the little boy's bush before he noticed me leaving. "Make it quick, Halo," he snapped. I could tell Cale was mad, but I'd forgive him later since I knew that he was brainwashed.

When I got back, Sam was wide eyed. But she didn't ask me what we both knew she was going to ask until we heard Cale snoring rather loudly outside of the tent. "How'd you know that they'd act so differently?" asked Sam. "It took Scar Boy FOREVER to notice you!"

I nodded. "Actually, it's pretty simple. Cara's blind."

My partner in arms looked at me skeptically. "Blind?"

I nodded. "Blind. Once, when I was a kid, there was a blind kid at my school for a while. He came about a third of the way into the year, so he was a new kid. The principal had these special speakers come in to tell us all about blind people and stuff like that so we would know how to communicate with him and how the class would be different. One of the things we learned was that blind people have incredibly increased senses since they don't have vision. Mother Nature has to kick in since humans are by nature a visual species- when you don't have vision, everything else gets bumped up by a LOT."

"But how could she tell it was you? I get the hearing part but-"

"Cara's over four hundred years old. Aging or not, her hearing must be absolutely incredible. It's had a ton of time to develop, especially where we think she's blind. She could probably hear a spider spin its web a mile away. So if it's good enough, she can tell the difference between you shifting around and me shifting around since we're different sizes, weights, and shapes. Plus we're wearing different fabrics of clothing," I explained. This was true. While we both wore jeans, they were different styles. Sam's were tighter than mine, except from her knees down, which was bell bottoms. Mine were baggy carpenter pants. My shirt was cotton T-shirt (usually over my shoulder since it got SCORCHING HOT) and Sam was wearing a spandex tank top, probably part of a swim suit. "To someone with an untrained ear, if they heard, they'd have to ask which one of us it was. Cara heard my T-shirt rustling along with my jeans so she knew it wasn't you."

"Wow," said Sam. "You're smart. But are you sure?"

"Pretty darn sure," I said. "Cale has basically the same armor she has. If it was armor related then he would have done the same thing, and I know Cale isn't blind. He calls me Blondie Brat all the time. Cara just calls me Halo."

"Think it explains her goggles?" asked Sam.

I shrugged. "Probably some sort of a motion detector like that guy on Star Trek has- you know, so she has SOME vision, but not enough to tell the difference between a beach ball and a tennis racket. Sides, probably more magic based."

Sam sighed. "How does that help us? So what if she can't see us, she doesn't need to if her senses are that good."

"But no matter how good your others senses are, every blind man wishes to see. Every deaf man wishes to hear. Every mute man wishes to speak. Every man in a wheelchair wants to walk. Even if her element is the darkness, she probably hates us because we control something she has absolutely no hold on: light," I said.

"So you're saying if we make her see she might leave Trulpa?" said Sam.

"Maybe not LEAVE Trulpa, but we might be able to make a deal with her at least," I said. "IF we're lucky, but we've got one slight problem."

"What's that?"

I sighed heavily. "Cara's symbol is Obedience."

"The Warladies have virtues?" asked Sam.

"Yes. Vanessa has Piety, Daria has Serenity although that makes NO sense, and Anubra has Loyalty," I said. "Obedience and Loyalty are the hardest of the virtues to break from. Anubis' virtue was Loyalty, so he was supposed to be loyal to Talpa no matter what, until the Ancient told him yeah, he's loyal as a small puppy, but he gets to choose his master. So he left Talpa and plead loyalty to the Ancient."

"He had to fight a force as strong as part of his armor?" said Sam, bewildered. Then, she lowered her head and looked disgusted with herself. "Now I feel bad for deserting him like that."

"Well, he did lie to you, but he had to. The whole Law of Dependency. Kento had to deal with that head on, too," I said. "Part of the duty of the Ronin Warriors, if they unite with the Senshi, is to protect the Senshi in tough situations. Chivalry, basically. But it took everything he had to not cast some sort of a calming spell over her."

"So that's the crazy voice Keisha heard. And we were ready to give her a catscan," said Sam, laughing slightly. "Guess I owe her an apology when we get back. She's not crazy like I originally thought after all."

I almost laughed. "That's beside the point. What we need to figure out is whether or not we can use Cara as an ally."

"Right, so let's get to work," said Sam.