*sorry this took so long for me to finish. I actually have about five chapters for this story all written down on paper but now I have to type them and the teachers have been giving us sooo much homework for this two week test coming up so I've been swamped. Anyway I hope you enjoy and I'll try to be quicker with the next chapter ^.^*

Chapter 6 Touched

When she awoke in the morning she couldn't find the girl anywhere.

'She must have come in late and been up already,' Hikaru though as she rose and got dressed. She went downstairs and met Fuu and Ferio in the dining room; they were oddly silent.

"G'morning," Hikaru mumbled, and Fuu smiled.

"Good morning."

"Where's Umi?" she rubbed her eyes and grinned at the food already on the table.

"She's not with you?" Fuu's eyes darted.

"No I though she was with you."

"But…but…but she was in your room!" Ferio protested.

"She never showed up. I fell asleep, and I just figured that she had come down to breakfast after coming in late. She can take care of herself," Hikaru muttered and looked back to her food eating as quickly as she could.

"You talking about that blue haired girl?" the man that served them asked, "Real pretty but quiet?"

Fuu nodded, "Yes. Have you seen her?"

"Sure have, last night. Some guy took her up to his room. Had a hold of her wrist. We were gonna go after him but there was some kind of shield around his room. Some kind of magic, evil he is."

"Umi!" all three jumped up.

"What room is he in?!" Hikaru demanded, and the man gave them the room before they darted up the steps.

§§§~~~

"Now I understand my destiny Umi," he whispered kissing her forehead. She cried out in her sleep, sweating, and he shook her awake, "Umi, Umi wake up."

She turned and moaned crying out, "No! Stop! Don't hurt him! DAD!"

"Wake up!"

She jumped up and looked around her as her memory of the night before came back, slowly she smiled, "Hi."

"Good morning," he smiled back.

Just at that moment Hikaru, Fuu and Ferio burst through the door.

"Umi!" they screamed.

"Get away from her," Hikaru growled and summoned her sword.

He stepped up and drew his sword, "Magic Knight of Fire we meet at last."

"Hikaru stop!" Umi screamed and stood between the two.

"Umi what is this about?" Fuu stepped forward, sword in hand.

"The Magic Knight of Wind as well, then you must be the Prince of Cephiro," he smiled slightly, "Glad to meet you."

"He's on our side," Umi told them, and they gasped.

"What?!"

"Both of you put your swords back, Ferio you too and then maybe we'll explain this civilly," she snapped, and they obeyed. Hikaru scowled at her the whole time.

He looked from one girl to the other and realization dawned on him, this was the one Umi couldn't get along with.

"I guess I'll start from the beginning then," he sighed.

"Does anyone mind if I go and get breakfast? I've already heard this," Umi directed the question toward the man, and he nodded.

"Go ahead I will not begin training without you."

"Arigato," she turned and shut the door, and he watched her leave wistfully.

Fuu looked at him curiously but never said a word, "Begin from the beginning," she instructed instead, and he nodded and began to tell them everything he had told Umi.

§§§~~~

She walked downstairs and ordered breakfast placing a silver coin Ferio had given her on the table.

"Miss! Glad to see you're in good health. We were right scared for you last night when you vanished with that man. He did you no harm yes?" the server asked smiling at her merrily.

Umi smiled back and shook her head, 'Even if he did,' she thought to herself, 'These people wouldn't want to know or wouldn't care. They're in too much trouble to worry about a foreign girl now. That makes me worry. When people turn against each other for their own well being they forget everything that makes us different from animals. They begin to go to war with one another and then it'll happen again, to this place.'

When she was finished and had talked to enough people to learn what she could she climbed the steps once more and when she reached the top she heard the clang of swords. She summoned her own sword and charged into the room. She brought the sword down on Hikaru but stopped when she saw the girl completely, "Gomen," she muttered.

"It's okay," Hikaru was panting, and he was replacing his sword in his sheath.

"You have improved but both of you have much to learn. Swords are for nights around the fire though, daylight is for magic, but that must wait as well. We have to be leaving; we can't linger here. They'll be on us by nightfall; it's not safe."

"Wait," Fuu stopped him from turning from the room then, "What's your name?"

He glanced at Umi, "Just call me Yukito"

"What an odd man," Hikaru mumbled as they all walked outside and began to tack up their horses.

"Help!" Hikaru shouted, and they all spun, ready to summon their swords. When they saw that she was fine Umi glared.

"You had us scared to death! What are you screaming help for?!"

"I don't know how to do this," Hikaru was holding a bridle in her hands, and the horse was stomping a foot in agitation.

Umi and Fuu laughed and went over to help her leaving Ferio with Yukito

Ferio's eyes narrowed as he looked him over.

"You don't trust me I know," his voice made Ferio jump, "But you're going to have to for the protection of the Magic Knights, for the protection of the Wind Knight."

Ferio looked startled, and he laughed, "I-I-I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure you don't Prince, sure you don't," he chuckled to himself as the two girls walked back over and finished tacking their own mounts. The girls were riding smaller mares, Hikaru's being the shortest and golden orange colored, lighter than any chestnut Umi or Fuu had ever seen. Fuu's was a deep brown almost black with a small white spot on her head. Umi's was the tallest of the mares and was a normal colored chestnut with four white socks. Ferio was riding a young high-strung gelding light gray in color with a fiery temper. Yukito's horse was pure white with only a small bluish spot on its haunches. Umi was surprised to see that it was a stallion. She wondered how he could have trained an animal like that to stay calm around females, but he did it well enough and with a few switches on the hindquarters the mares quieted as well.

They took off at a hard gallop; Umi pushed her mare forward so Yukito's stallion, and it were wither to wither, "We can't keep them at this pace for long. Why are we going this fast anyway?"

"There are monsters following us, more than we can fight. Running until we reach the city is our only chance at survived."

"But they'll collapse of exhaustion before, and we'll be sure to die then," Umi cried trying to hide the far in her voice, but her body trembled, and it wasn't just the strides of the horse.

"Do you trust me?" his dark eyes were locked on her light ones.

"Hai," she nodded, "With all my life though I don't know why."

He smiled, "Then trust we'll get out of this."

She nodded and reached down to pet her horse gently, "I'll call you Spring Breeze."

"That's a beautiful name for a beautiful horse but not nearly as beautiful as its rider."

Umi blushed, "Stop it," she muttered.

"Is it illegal to speak the truth nowadays?"

Umi's eyes darkened, "In some places."

They were silent the rest of the trip.

"There, ahead, Aquacity," he pointed, and their breath caught. Ahead was a once magnificent city with tall, sleek buildings that looked as if they were carved from one single stone and sanded down so they were perfectly aerodynamic. The pale gray stones looked almost blue, and Umi saw flaking paint on the buildings as they neared. The closer they got the more anger grew in their hearts. What had once been a beautiful city was now crumbling, and most of the people, Yukito told them, had fled.

Umi's heart began to ache when she looked at all the destruction around her, "This can't be right," she shook her head.

'Why does this hurt so bad?'

She dismounted and led the horse behind her. Her head shot toward the sea, "What's that?"

Yukito smiled at her, "Tell me what you hear Umi."

"A cry in the distance, deep and sad. He…"

'How did I know it was a he? Or that it's sad?'

"He's calling my name on the ocean breeze."

He smiled grimly, "Go to him Umi."

Umi mounted, "Keep your spell strong for me."

'Where is this coming from? Spell? How did I know he was using magic?'

"For you I will go to the ends of the earth if I must," he answered, "Be careful."

She nodded and kicked the horse into a steady gallop.

Fuu and Hikaru mounted, but he opened a hand, and the horses were stuck, rearing with their eyes rolling, "No."

"What?" they both screamed tugging desperately at the reins trying to calm the animals. Hikaru was on the verge of hitting the ground when he let go of the spell.

"This is his journey," he said looking wistfully to the distance where the Water Knight had just disappeared, "And hers alone."

§§§~~~

She strained her aching muscles to push forward in the saddle. She could feel the familiar strains and aches beginning to form in her thighs and lower legs. But more than anything her head ached. She didn't know where she was going or why. She just knew she was following that voice.

Night was coming in when she realized she was standing on the shoreline. She looked out over the sea to the retreating sun and sighed listening hard to the wind.

"Umi, daughter of the dark come to me, embrace me as your one true lover."

Umi's eyes widened, this wasn't the same voice she had heard before, "Who are you?! What do you want from me?!"

"Though your complexion is light you don't fool me; you have much hate and darkness behind your mask. You and I would be beautiful if only you would embrace the dark."

"Who are you?!" Umi screamed into the coming night.

The shape of a man materialized in the dark. He was tall with unreadable green eyes and was wearing black pants with a bright white shirt all covered by a cloak as black as the night that seemed to swallow him.

"W-W-Who are you?! What are you?!" Umi shrieked summoning her sword.  

"Please," he held her hand with his, "Please don't."

Her sword went limp in her hands as he caressed her lips with his. When they broke away he whispered to her;

"It's a little bit funny this feeling inside."

She shuddered though the night was not yet cold.

A howling in the distance made him curse, but he spoke once more before he vanished in the dark, "We will meet again."

"I look forward to that meeting and your blood," Umi whispered realizing for the first time she had dismounted. She was already getting reacquainted with fighting and running; her body was relearning the old habits and reflexes. She sighed wishing that weren't true as she remounted remembering her mission only when she heard the voice once more.

"Umi, Knight of Water, find me, free me and I am yours to control."

§§§~~~

He jumped up from his studies; his eyes were unnaturally perturbed breaking the calm seas that normally ran in his deep ocean blue eyes; eyes that you could drown in, eyes that some had drown in.

"What's wrong Guru?"

"The Water Knight has met the enemy; he has touched her, placed his mark on her. She may be lost to us now," he said quietly.

"Guru are you sure this is true?" the Princess Emeraude spoke up.

He smiled weakly down at her, "It is true unless someone knows to get her to me before it is too late. I hope for all of us that Ferio knows to bring her to me."

'Umi…'

§§§~~~

His head shot up, "Your companion has been marked by the Dark One," Yukito told them looking toward the sea; his expression completely unreadable though his hands hook slightly and his whole being seemed to flare up. Whether in fury or worry or both they could not tell.

"What do you mean by that?" Fuu asked looking around her nervously.

"I mean that the Dark One has corrupted her, touched her so that she will be easily manipulated, easily taken to the other side," he said quietly fastening saddle bags, "I shouldn't have let her go; she's too vulnerable now."

"Where are you going?" Hikaru demanded when he mounted.

"She needs to be taken to the Master Mage; he's the only one with strong enough magic to fix this. Prince," he turned the horse, so he could look at Ferio, "Ride hard to the palace. Wait for us there, follow the road and don't take any shortcuts. Go around the Forest of Silence and never look behind you. Stop not even to rest," here he muttered words that they couldn't understand, "Your horses will stay strong for you."

Ferio nodded and began to reattach saddlebags as he urged without words for the girls to do the same.

"Princess Bless," he kicked the horse into a hard gallop and was gone.

"Princess Bless," Ferio murmured to the back of the fading horse.

*So? There are a few things I have to put here. My new character is mysterious so far ne? Well all will be revealed! Later. My friend gave me the name so if it's from another anime I have no clue and if the character doesn't match up or something don't give me weird looks because I really only am into Sailor Moon and Rayearth so it could be from something else *shrugs* and the quote, "It's a little bit funny this feeling inside," is not mine. I stole it from Moulin Rouge from the creepy duke guy who ripped it off of someone else that I don't know. Another friend ordered me to put something from that movie in here because she loves it so I did. Wow I'm probably boring so ja ne!*