"Sage are you alright, what happened when you were in Kaye's dream?" asked Mia.
"Yea I'm fine just a little drained. Kaye I'm sorry I couldn't figure out what your dreams were about. You weren't kidding when you said that they were confusing." said Sage.
"It's alright Sage, you better rest up before we go any further." replied Kaye as she hid her disappointment.
"Well Sage are you going to tell us what you saw in Kaye's dream or what?" asked Ryo. Sage glanced at Kaye, she didn't even flinch at Ryo's question. So Sage decided to tell them what happened in Kaye's dream. When he was finished, everyone was just as confused as Kaye and Sage.
"That is one heck of a dream you've been having Kaye. How come you didn't tell us about it sooner?" asked Cye.
"It didn't seem important enough at the time I guess." replied Kaye quietly.
"Not important enough, come on Kaye get real would ya." said Kento.
"Kento that's enough, we don't need a fight right now. We have to figure out where Phoenix went to, as well as what she has to do with Kaye and her dreams." said Rowen.
"It's ok Rowen, I know that Kento is as worried as the rest of you. So why don't we just get some sleep and then we can figure out what to do in the morning, alright." replied Kaye. So with that said, everyone went to sleep, well almost everyone, Kaye couldn't sleep so she decided to go and get her thoughts together. Kaye didn't have to walk very far to see that she wasn't the only one that couldn't sleep.
"Hey Sage mind if I join you?" asked Kaye as she approached him.
"Kaye, I didn't think that anyone else would be up." replied Sage.
"Did you want to be alone, I can leave if you want." said Kaye.
"No Kaye don't leave, actually I wanted to talk to you anyway." answered Sage as he motioned Kaye to join him.
"Sure Sage, let me guess, It's about my dreams that I've been having lately." stated Kaye.
"Yea it is, for some reason I can't figure out what this voice kept on saying about some type of key, as well as the golden light that I saw." replied Sage.
"Sage, I have to ask you something, if you don't want to answer it's ok. Ever since you took that dream walk in my head, have you been seeing visions since you've been back?" asked Kaye.
He waited a little while before answering Kaye's question. "Yes I've been seeing small flashes of what happened in your dreams. I'm betting that's what happened to you at the beach yesterday when you fell, right." answered Sage. Kaye's silence was her way of confirming Sage's suspicion.
"Hey Sage, I'm sure that we'll figure out what my dreams mean. If they lead to some kind of wacko bent on world domination, then we'll just kick his sorry butt all the way back to where he came from." said Kaye with a mischevious smile.
"Gatekeeper, I can't believe that you allowed Halo to dream walk into Kaye's dreams. What were you thinking?" asked Phoenix.
"I know exactly what I'm doing, it would be wise not to question my methods. Besides, Halo as well as Kaye do not understand that the dreams I've been sending her are exactly what I want them to see." replied Gatekeeper.
"Well Gatekeeper where do we go from here?" asked Phoenix.
"For now Phoenix, I think that you should go and keep an eye on our so called guests, while I get the next phase of the plan into action." replied Gatekeeper.
Phoenix nodded and faded from Gatekeeper's sight, she then reappeared not too far from their "guests" campsite. "I don't like this one bit, Gatekeeper has someting else planned. I can't seem to figure out what just yet, what's this it seems like Kaye and Halo are talking. I can't make my presence known just yet, a distraction is exactly what I need." thought Phoenix as she looked around. She saw the perfect distraction, Phoenix chanted a phrase and lept into the nearest body, and that body was Lightning's.
Lightning's eyes snapped open and glowed bright red. At the same time when Phoenix entered Lightning's body, Kaye grabbed her head and fell to the ground. Sage saw what was happening and was confused on what was going on. "Kaye what's wrong, talk to me. Hey guys get out here I could use some help, there's something wrong with Kaye." yelled Sage.
"Sage what happened?" asked Mia.
"I'm not sure, one moment we were talking and the next thing I know Kaye is falling to the ground and clutching her head." replied Sage.
"Kaye, hey Kaye what's wrong, why won't you answer us?" asked Kento.
Kaye slowly let go of her head and looked around. "Kento, what's going on, why is everyone staring at me?" asked Kaye quietly.
"Actually Kaye, we were hoping that you could tell us what's going on." replied Cye.
"Lightning, where's Lightning?" asked Kaye in alarm.
"Kaye take it easy Lightning is over there, see he's just fine." replied Ryo as he motioned over to where Lightning was standing.
In response to Ryo's motion, Lightning started to walk over to the others, but in mid-travel he pounced right in front of Kaye's path getting ready to strike. "Something isn't right, that's not Lightning." replied Kaye not taking her eyes off of Ligtning's.
"Kaye what are you talking about, of course that's Lightning." said Mia.
"Yes and no on that Mia, you see that's Lightning's body but it's not his mind." replied Kaye.
"Kaye what are you talking about?" asked Rowen.
"I think I know what happened. Someone went into Lightning's head and that somehow made a psychic attack to my mind since the two of us are linked. I know who it is too." replied Kaye.
"Who is it Kaye, who entered into Lightning's head?" asked Sage.
"The only one that has enough power to do so, why don't you come on out Phoenix. Leave Lightning alone and face me, or are you too much of a coward to do so." challanged Kaye.
Lightning stopped in his tracks and with what Kaye said made Phoenix mad enough to leave the tiger's mind and materialize in front of Kaye. Lightning wasn't able to stand any longer, so he fell to the ground unconscious. "Lightning, Phoenix if he's hurt in anyway possible I'll personally make sure that you won't live to see another day, I promise you." threatened Kaye angrily.
"Well, there is no need for threats Kaye, I assure you that your tiger is just fine, he's just a little weak from me being in his mind. I just thought with his mental abilities he would be able to withstand my powers. I guess that your tiger could use some more training time. Well it looks like my presence here is no longer wanted. I better take my leave, but before I do, Kaye just a little reminder you and your friends don't have what it takes to defeat me or the Gatekeeper. Keep that in mind if you and your friends still decide to come after us, bye for now." said Phoenix as she disappeared.
Kaye ran over to where Lightning was laying on the ground. She noticed that he began to move around. 'Lightning, don't move everything is going to be alright.' said Kaye.
'What happened here Kaye, what's going on?' asked Lightning. Kaye explained everything to Lightning from the time that Sage got back from dream walking up to now.
"Let's figure out what we are going to do in the morning. I for one am tired and wouldn't mind getting a decent night's sleep." said Kaye.
It didn't take long for everyone to go back to sleep. The rest of the night was uneventful, or at least that's what everyone thought. "Kento of Hardrock, listen to me you are the only one that can bring back the key." said a voice.
Kento was stirring in his sleep. "Who are you, what do you mean that I'm the only one that can bring back the key? Answer me! Why won't you tell me who you are, Ancient is it you?" yelled Kento.
"Yes Kento of Hardrock it's me, the sun is rising I have to go. Remember what I told you." replied the Ancient as he vanished with the rising sun. Kento quickly shot up from his dream waking Cye.
"Hey Kento are you alright?" asked Cye.
"Yea Cye I'm just fine." replied Kento. In that instant Kento's kanji on his chain glowed silver, while Kaye's kanji on her chain glowed orange.
"Ok now that was wierd, I think that I better talk with Kaye about what just happened." thought Kento.
"Hey earth to Kento, are you ready for breakfast?" asked Cye.
"Huh, ah yea Cye I'm coming just give me a few minutes ok." replied Kento. Cye shrugged his shoulders and left to join the others near the campfire.
"Morning Cye, I'm surprised that Kento didn't come bursting out here when you told him that breakfast was ready." said Ryo.
"Yea so am I Ryo, well speaking of whom, it's about time that you joined us Kento." said Cye.
"Yea, yea, yea hey has anyone seen Kaye I wanted to talk with her about something?" asked Kento.
"Kaye said that she was going to get some water, don't worry though Kento I'm sure that she'll be back soon." replied Mia.
On the way back to camp, Kaye was trying to figure out the conversation between her and Sage had before Phoenix jumped into Lightning's body. "What is this key that the Gatekeeper keeps mentioning? Also I'm positive now that the golden light that Sage saw in my dream was the Ancient Gate. Then if it was, why couldn't he see it clearly? Unless, if the entity that is locked inside didn't want him to see the gate. That seems like the only reasonable answer that makes sense. Oh man, I didn't realize that I've been gone for so long. I better get back or the others, especially Kento will send out a search party." thought Kaye as she approached the campsite.
"Kaye, what took you so long? We were beginning to wonder if you took the scenic route while coming back from the lake." said Rowen.
"Sorry everybody I didn't mean to make you worry, I just lost track of time. Besides, I didn't think that anyone would be up this early anyway." replied Kaye as she approached the others.
"Kaye I have to talk with you about something, alone." whispered Kento.
"Sure thing Kento what's up?" asked Kaye as she and Kento walked from the others.
"What I need to talk with you about might seem kind of well, weird." said Kento.
"What do you mean Kento? Just tell me, in the type of life that we lead, nothing at this point will surprise me any more." encouraged Kaye.
"Alright, last night I had a visit from the Ancient in my dreams. He said that I'm the only one that can bring back the key. I don't even know what key he's talking about. Then he disappeared and my kanji on the chain that you gave me for some reason glowed silver." explained Kento.
There was a short awkward silence between the two warriors, until Kaye decided to break it. "Kento, I'm not sure what to say. You weren't kidding about saying that your dream was weird. But I do trust what you saw in your dreams about the Ancient. He wouldn't just drop in for a social visit, the only way that the Ancient would appear, would be if something major was going on. To let you in on something Kento, your chain wasn't the only one that glowed. My kanji chain that you gave me glowed orange." replied Kaye.
"Ok then what the heck are we suppose to do now?" asked Kento.
"I'm guessing Kento that you didn't tell anyone about what just happened, right." said Kaye. The silence that followed Kaye's statement was all of the confirmation that she needed. Kaye knew that somehow she had to reasure Kento that everything will be alright. So she took Kento's hands into hers and brought them to her heart.
Kento looked into Kaye's eyes and knew that everything would workout. Kaye's and Kento's hands fell apart and they both walked back to where the others were waiting for them. "Hey is everything ok you two?" asked Cye.
Kaye and Kento looked at each other and smiled. "Yea Cye everything is just fine." answered Kaye as she focused her attention to Cye.
"I believe that it's time to bring our guests to me." thought Gatekeeper.
"Hey what's that, whatever it is, it's coming really fast. Everyone take cover!" yelled Ryo.
"Ah Ryo I have news for ya, there is no cover to take." Sage yelled back.
A bright golden light started to speed its way towards the Ronins, Kaye, Mia and the two tigers engulfing them from the place that they stood. When the light faded there was no trace of anyone being there. No footprints, no camping gear nothing.
"Yea I'm fine just a little drained. Kaye I'm sorry I couldn't figure out what your dreams were about. You weren't kidding when you said that they were confusing." said Sage.
"It's alright Sage, you better rest up before we go any further." replied Kaye as she hid her disappointment.
"Well Sage are you going to tell us what you saw in Kaye's dream or what?" asked Ryo. Sage glanced at Kaye, she didn't even flinch at Ryo's question. So Sage decided to tell them what happened in Kaye's dream. When he was finished, everyone was just as confused as Kaye and Sage.
"That is one heck of a dream you've been having Kaye. How come you didn't tell us about it sooner?" asked Cye.
"It didn't seem important enough at the time I guess." replied Kaye quietly.
"Not important enough, come on Kaye get real would ya." said Kento.
"Kento that's enough, we don't need a fight right now. We have to figure out where Phoenix went to, as well as what she has to do with Kaye and her dreams." said Rowen.
"It's ok Rowen, I know that Kento is as worried as the rest of you. So why don't we just get some sleep and then we can figure out what to do in the morning, alright." replied Kaye. So with that said, everyone went to sleep, well almost everyone, Kaye couldn't sleep so she decided to go and get her thoughts together. Kaye didn't have to walk very far to see that she wasn't the only one that couldn't sleep.
"Hey Sage mind if I join you?" asked Kaye as she approached him.
"Kaye, I didn't think that anyone else would be up." replied Sage.
"Did you want to be alone, I can leave if you want." said Kaye.
"No Kaye don't leave, actually I wanted to talk to you anyway." answered Sage as he motioned Kaye to join him.
"Sure Sage, let me guess, It's about my dreams that I've been having lately." stated Kaye.
"Yea it is, for some reason I can't figure out what this voice kept on saying about some type of key, as well as the golden light that I saw." replied Sage.
"Sage, I have to ask you something, if you don't want to answer it's ok. Ever since you took that dream walk in my head, have you been seeing visions since you've been back?" asked Kaye.
He waited a little while before answering Kaye's question. "Yes I've been seeing small flashes of what happened in your dreams. I'm betting that's what happened to you at the beach yesterday when you fell, right." answered Sage. Kaye's silence was her way of confirming Sage's suspicion.
"Hey Sage, I'm sure that we'll figure out what my dreams mean. If they lead to some kind of wacko bent on world domination, then we'll just kick his sorry butt all the way back to where he came from." said Kaye with a mischevious smile.
"Gatekeeper, I can't believe that you allowed Halo to dream walk into Kaye's dreams. What were you thinking?" asked Phoenix.
"I know exactly what I'm doing, it would be wise not to question my methods. Besides, Halo as well as Kaye do not understand that the dreams I've been sending her are exactly what I want them to see." replied Gatekeeper.
"Well Gatekeeper where do we go from here?" asked Phoenix.
"For now Phoenix, I think that you should go and keep an eye on our so called guests, while I get the next phase of the plan into action." replied Gatekeeper.
Phoenix nodded and faded from Gatekeeper's sight, she then reappeared not too far from their "guests" campsite. "I don't like this one bit, Gatekeeper has someting else planned. I can't seem to figure out what just yet, what's this it seems like Kaye and Halo are talking. I can't make my presence known just yet, a distraction is exactly what I need." thought Phoenix as she looked around. She saw the perfect distraction, Phoenix chanted a phrase and lept into the nearest body, and that body was Lightning's.
Lightning's eyes snapped open and glowed bright red. At the same time when Phoenix entered Lightning's body, Kaye grabbed her head and fell to the ground. Sage saw what was happening and was confused on what was going on. "Kaye what's wrong, talk to me. Hey guys get out here I could use some help, there's something wrong with Kaye." yelled Sage.
"Sage what happened?" asked Mia.
"I'm not sure, one moment we were talking and the next thing I know Kaye is falling to the ground and clutching her head." replied Sage.
"Kaye, hey Kaye what's wrong, why won't you answer us?" asked Kento.
Kaye slowly let go of her head and looked around. "Kento, what's going on, why is everyone staring at me?" asked Kaye quietly.
"Actually Kaye, we were hoping that you could tell us what's going on." replied Cye.
"Lightning, where's Lightning?" asked Kaye in alarm.
"Kaye take it easy Lightning is over there, see he's just fine." replied Ryo as he motioned over to where Lightning was standing.
In response to Ryo's motion, Lightning started to walk over to the others, but in mid-travel he pounced right in front of Kaye's path getting ready to strike. "Something isn't right, that's not Lightning." replied Kaye not taking her eyes off of Ligtning's.
"Kaye what are you talking about, of course that's Lightning." said Mia.
"Yes and no on that Mia, you see that's Lightning's body but it's not his mind." replied Kaye.
"Kaye what are you talking about?" asked Rowen.
"I think I know what happened. Someone went into Lightning's head and that somehow made a psychic attack to my mind since the two of us are linked. I know who it is too." replied Kaye.
"Who is it Kaye, who entered into Lightning's head?" asked Sage.
"The only one that has enough power to do so, why don't you come on out Phoenix. Leave Lightning alone and face me, or are you too much of a coward to do so." challanged Kaye.
Lightning stopped in his tracks and with what Kaye said made Phoenix mad enough to leave the tiger's mind and materialize in front of Kaye. Lightning wasn't able to stand any longer, so he fell to the ground unconscious. "Lightning, Phoenix if he's hurt in anyway possible I'll personally make sure that you won't live to see another day, I promise you." threatened Kaye angrily.
"Well, there is no need for threats Kaye, I assure you that your tiger is just fine, he's just a little weak from me being in his mind. I just thought with his mental abilities he would be able to withstand my powers. I guess that your tiger could use some more training time. Well it looks like my presence here is no longer wanted. I better take my leave, but before I do, Kaye just a little reminder you and your friends don't have what it takes to defeat me or the Gatekeeper. Keep that in mind if you and your friends still decide to come after us, bye for now." said Phoenix as she disappeared.
Kaye ran over to where Lightning was laying on the ground. She noticed that he began to move around. 'Lightning, don't move everything is going to be alright.' said Kaye.
'What happened here Kaye, what's going on?' asked Lightning. Kaye explained everything to Lightning from the time that Sage got back from dream walking up to now.
"Let's figure out what we are going to do in the morning. I for one am tired and wouldn't mind getting a decent night's sleep." said Kaye.
It didn't take long for everyone to go back to sleep. The rest of the night was uneventful, or at least that's what everyone thought. "Kento of Hardrock, listen to me you are the only one that can bring back the key." said a voice.
Kento was stirring in his sleep. "Who are you, what do you mean that I'm the only one that can bring back the key? Answer me! Why won't you tell me who you are, Ancient is it you?" yelled Kento.
"Yes Kento of Hardrock it's me, the sun is rising I have to go. Remember what I told you." replied the Ancient as he vanished with the rising sun. Kento quickly shot up from his dream waking Cye.
"Hey Kento are you alright?" asked Cye.
"Yea Cye I'm just fine." replied Kento. In that instant Kento's kanji on his chain glowed silver, while Kaye's kanji on her chain glowed orange.
"Ok now that was wierd, I think that I better talk with Kaye about what just happened." thought Kento.
"Hey earth to Kento, are you ready for breakfast?" asked Cye.
"Huh, ah yea Cye I'm coming just give me a few minutes ok." replied Kento. Cye shrugged his shoulders and left to join the others near the campfire.
"Morning Cye, I'm surprised that Kento didn't come bursting out here when you told him that breakfast was ready." said Ryo.
"Yea so am I Ryo, well speaking of whom, it's about time that you joined us Kento." said Cye.
"Yea, yea, yea hey has anyone seen Kaye I wanted to talk with her about something?" asked Kento.
"Kaye said that she was going to get some water, don't worry though Kento I'm sure that she'll be back soon." replied Mia.
On the way back to camp, Kaye was trying to figure out the conversation between her and Sage had before Phoenix jumped into Lightning's body. "What is this key that the Gatekeeper keeps mentioning? Also I'm positive now that the golden light that Sage saw in my dream was the Ancient Gate. Then if it was, why couldn't he see it clearly? Unless, if the entity that is locked inside didn't want him to see the gate. That seems like the only reasonable answer that makes sense. Oh man, I didn't realize that I've been gone for so long. I better get back or the others, especially Kento will send out a search party." thought Kaye as she approached the campsite.
"Kaye, what took you so long? We were beginning to wonder if you took the scenic route while coming back from the lake." said Rowen.
"Sorry everybody I didn't mean to make you worry, I just lost track of time. Besides, I didn't think that anyone would be up this early anyway." replied Kaye as she approached the others.
"Kaye I have to talk with you about something, alone." whispered Kento.
"Sure thing Kento what's up?" asked Kaye as she and Kento walked from the others.
"What I need to talk with you about might seem kind of well, weird." said Kento.
"What do you mean Kento? Just tell me, in the type of life that we lead, nothing at this point will surprise me any more." encouraged Kaye.
"Alright, last night I had a visit from the Ancient in my dreams. He said that I'm the only one that can bring back the key. I don't even know what key he's talking about. Then he disappeared and my kanji on the chain that you gave me for some reason glowed silver." explained Kento.
There was a short awkward silence between the two warriors, until Kaye decided to break it. "Kento, I'm not sure what to say. You weren't kidding about saying that your dream was weird. But I do trust what you saw in your dreams about the Ancient. He wouldn't just drop in for a social visit, the only way that the Ancient would appear, would be if something major was going on. To let you in on something Kento, your chain wasn't the only one that glowed. My kanji chain that you gave me glowed orange." replied Kaye.
"Ok then what the heck are we suppose to do now?" asked Kento.
"I'm guessing Kento that you didn't tell anyone about what just happened, right." said Kaye. The silence that followed Kaye's statement was all of the confirmation that she needed. Kaye knew that somehow she had to reasure Kento that everything will be alright. So she took Kento's hands into hers and brought them to her heart.
Kento looked into Kaye's eyes and knew that everything would workout. Kaye's and Kento's hands fell apart and they both walked back to where the others were waiting for them. "Hey is everything ok you two?" asked Cye.
Kaye and Kento looked at each other and smiled. "Yea Cye everything is just fine." answered Kaye as she focused her attention to Cye.
"I believe that it's time to bring our guests to me." thought Gatekeeper.
"Hey what's that, whatever it is, it's coming really fast. Everyone take cover!" yelled Ryo.
"Ah Ryo I have news for ya, there is no cover to take." Sage yelled back.
A bright golden light started to speed its way towards the Ronins, Kaye, Mia and the two tigers engulfing them from the place that they stood. When the light faded there was no trace of anyone being there. No footprints, no camping gear nothing.