Part four already! I figure it would take longer to write, but the characters are behaving fairly well and since I got so many reviews they just keep flying up! Thank you to those who did review, and in response to some, you will find out what happened to Golem's friends and Moochi and Hare's coming up here too….you'll just have to keep reading to find out what happens though!!!
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The land had become extremely hilly, and in the distance they could see mountains scraping the underbelly of the sky. The map, which Holly had gotten from Jarel before she and Genki had left, showed only one pass through them and that was where they were headed.
It had been four days since the new group of searchers had left the canyon, and all were in high spirits. Mayfleur had been `adopted' be Tiger's family, and she gave the pups rides on her back when they were too tired to run any more.
The mountains came closer and grew larger by they day, and Ojo thought he could see the valley that marked the pass up ahead. When it was in sight, Genki slowed them to a walk in case it was dangerous to travel through. The last thing they needed was one of them with a broken leg or arm.
It was a beautiful scene. With the sun setting to their left through the trees and bushes and a cliff rising above them to their right, it was truly a magnificent sight.
Tiger stopped in his tracks, and sniffed the wind apprehensively. His mate sensed what ever he did and began to sniff it herself.
"What is it, Tiger?" asked Genki.
"Something doesn't smell right…"
Ojo spotted a human on the hill to their right. "We've got company guys," he said urgently, "Up on the hill, look!"
With the sun in their eyes, they couldn't make out the face of who ever it was. But judging by the longer than waist length hair their visitor was a woman. She carried a long sword and wore a denim jacket with a tank top underneath it and jeans. Over the jacket was a broad leather belt and thick leather boots that looked rather worn covered her feet up to her knees.
A monster stepped out of the bushes to stand next to her. He looked like a Tiger breed; except for he had wings springing from his back! He flexed them, their span blocking out the sun enough that they could get a good look at them, but with the distance between the two groups it was still hard to distinguish the other.
The stranger broke the silence before the searchers could react. "You are trespassers on my land!" she called out boldly, "Just turn around and go back the way you came and I won't make trouble for you!"
"We have to go through the pass!" yelled Tiger defiantly, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end.
"The pass is blocked and no one can get through either way!" replied the woman.
Tiger growled, and saw a harness on the back of the monster beside her. "She's using that monster as a slave!" he cried angrily to the others. "Let's free him!" The most of the others yelled in agreement and soon the woman was leaping and dodging her way away from the others.
The Tiger with wings sat there, seemingly ignoring them or not aware of what was happening. Temi, Ici, and Slip, who had stayed back by Holly, went up to the Tiger and waved a paw in front of his eyes.
"Hey! He's blind!" said Temi in surprise.
"He's what?" said Genki, coming over to investigate.
"She said blind you nitwit," said the woman in an annoyed voice as she landed beside the Tiger out of nowhere. "Now if you're done gawking at my friend…"
"Lilianne?" asked Genki as he got a good look at her face. The strange woman did a double take and let her jaw drop in amazement.
"Genki Sakura," she said in disbelief. "You rascal…"
"You're…you're alive!" yelled Genki as he swept her up into a hug. She kissed him soundly on the cheek and hugged him like she'd never let go. Holly felt a rising of jealousy in the back of her mind, but fought it angrily thinking that there was no reason that she should be.
"Since when have I been dead?" asked the lady.
"You've been gone for over nine years!"
"It hasn't been nine years back home, has it?"
"Yes. I'm 21 now, and you can't be more than 24 or 25."
"That's what's so different about you."
"Probably," laughed Genki.
"Um, kid?" said Tiger slightly irritated. "Mind telling us who your friend is so we can find a place to stay for the night."
"Oh, sorry about that," said Genki sheepishly, "This is my cousin, Lilianne Sakura, and as I'm sure you've guessed I haven't seen her for nine years!"
"It's very nice to meet you all," said Lilianne, bowing low. "You all can introduce yourselves later, it's getting dark and I insist you come stay with me for the night." The tiger came up beside her and cleared his throat noisily. Lilianne chuckled slightly and added, "This is Zephyr, my partner and friend."
"Why is he wearing a harness?" asked Tiger suspiciously.
"So I can ride on his back and guide him," replied Lilianne. "He, as you know, is blind and does require assistance now and than. But come, you must be hungry and the food will be ready when we get back."
"Get back where?" asked Genki.
"You'll see…"
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Holly skated along side Genki as they went under an arc of stone that marked the entrance of the valley. Trees spread out before them, huts of monsters dotted among them with fires between them. Pots of food could be smelled across the small settlement and Holly's stomach began to protest the lack of food in it.
"How did all these monsters get here?" asked Genki as he looked at the multitude of them.
"A friend of mine brings me mistreated, unwanted or needy monsters and we raise them here among their own kind. There is at least a sub-breed of every known monster here, and they all follow me," replied Lilianne.
"Is the pass really blocked on the other side?" asked Mayfleur timidly.
"Yes, it is," replied Lilianne sadly, "But there's another way to get across."
A Gontar (Baku/Hare) greeted them warmly as they neared a large cave. "You are back, Lili," he said expansively. "And you have guests with you."
"Apparently my cousin decided to drop in to say hi," she replied, shrugging as she did.
The Gontar's eyes perked with interest. "Cousin? The one who was here before? Then it is a great honor to have you here, young man." He turned to the others and bowed low. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Theopholis, but you may call me Theo. Who do have the pleasure of meeting?"
"Genki Sakura, at your service."
"Holly Ticashi, good sir."
"Tiger of the Winds."
"Tigress of the Storm."
"Tempest Winds."
"Icewolf."
"Mayfleur, sir."
"My names Ojo."
"Just call me Slip!"
"Golem, protector of the ruins."
"It is very nice to meet you all," said Theo warmly, "But you must excuse me for awhile." Bowing quickly to Lilianne, he left the cave and headed out to where a few others like him were seated around a table eating dinner.
"Soups on!" called a Pong Pong (Jill/Pixie) from inside the cave.
"Come in and eat," said Lilianne cheerfully, "You all are welcome here as long as you like."
"That is very generous of you," said Holly politely, bowing low, "Is there anything we can do to help?"
"Nope, just go sit at the table in the cave and me and Pong can handle it. Just go and rest for awhile, you all must be exhausted!"
While those tow were serving bowls of stew to the wearied travelers, Genki told everyone of Lili and He's history together.
"Lili was eight or nine when I was born, and both of us were the only child in our families. Our fathers were brothers, and we ended up spending a lot of tine together since the parents were always going out and leaving us at home for a few hours on the weekends.
"It was her who gave me my first pair of blades at age five, and she obviously taught me how to use them well. She went semi-pro skating when she was 14, and taught me everything she ever learned to help me succeed as well.
"We also had similar interests in video games and it was her who got me hooked on Monster Rancher. She has this amazing ability to retain huge amounts of info on monsters and their attacks and who trains them and who can easily beat them, it gained her a lot of respect the way she could pull entire paragraphs from these booklets on monsters with in a heartbeat!
"When she disappeared, she left some pretty big shoes to fill back in my world. I was thought to be her shadow when she was around, and it hit me pretty hard when she left." He said the last sentence loud enough for her to hear in the back.
"I didn't leave you!" defended Lili from the back; "I didn't come here by choice, like you did that first time!" By now everyone had their stew and the pot was in the middle for second when they'd want it. "Dig in, everyone!" said Lili, grabbing a spoon herself.
"So, tell me how you got here," said Genki between gulps of beef stew.
"Well, you remember how I was all packed to go on that cross-country trip on blades? Dad forbid me to go for something I didn't do and I went up to my room extremely angry. Mom had left a package I had gotten in there and I opened it because there was nothing else to do. Inside was the new Monster Rancher 5000 X game and I decided to play it to pass the time.
"It fit in my play station 2 and began to turn on as a normal game should. It showed a road with a large monster ranch in the distance and a Janne walking toward it still a ways away. That was all I had time to notice before the screen turned blue and sucked me, my blades, and my backpack with just the one handle packed for my trip through it.
"Next thing I remember is staring at the sky on the road with the ranch in the distance and the Janne walking towards me. Thanks to your previous stories, I was able to gather my wits and make friends with the Janne when she reached me. I got a job at the ranch for awhile and through a series of events…"
`Of unfortunate events,' added Zephyr in her mind.
"I ended up here," finished Lili, giving Zephyr and dirty look.
"Mind telling me those events?" asked Genki.
"Maybe later," said Lilianne carelessly, "I want to know about your quest and I'm sure your friends are sick of hearing my voice by this point."
"You tell her, Holly," said Genki sweetly, "I always forget something…"
"You mean you're too lazy," muttered Tiger under his breath. Mayfleur and the twins giggled at this, but quieted down when Holly asked them to.
She went through the tale for the 10th time, going from the time Genki had returned up until the present that was relevant to the story. Genki watched his cousin closely as the story was told, a `sixth sense' of sorts telling him that it just wasn't curiosity that made her want to hear it. Lili didn't really show that many emotions very often, but if you knew her well enough you could read her signs and Genki could tell something was bothering her.
"You will come and help us, right?" said Genki when Holly was finished.
"I …don't know…Genki," replied Lilianne slowly. "I'll have to think about it and decide in the morning." Zephyr cleared his throat loudly once more. "And discuss it with Z," she added, scratching him behind the ears.
"Certainly," said Genki, nodding on agreement.
Turning to the rest, Lilianne said, "Pong will show you to the room where you and sleep, and you can rest there until you go to bed. Zephyr and I have to make sure everything is secure for the night, so we'll see you all in the morning."
Everyone watched as Zephyr spread his wings and they took off through the night skies.
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`I have to stay here and take care of everyone in my valley!' insisted Lili in Zephyr's mind. They were having another telepathic argument and Lili was rapidly losing.
`You must help Genki defeat our old master,' countered Zephyr. `He doesn't know what he is facing.'
`If I go, you'd come to,' reasoned Lili, `What if you were hurt? I love you like son, Zephyr, and I don't want to lose you.'
`I'm not going anywhere, mom,' teased Zephyr gently, `Every child must grow up to confront his greatest fears. It is time for us to face mine, and we can do it together.'
`What if I' m not ready to face mine…'
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Holly woke up the next morning, the sun just rising and everyone else still asleep. She looked up to see Lili and Zephyr sleeping on the ledge above them. She was just thinking how cute they looked when Lilianne opened her eyes and winked at her. Holly blinked in surprise and followed her out into the eating room when Lili had put on her jacket.
"Did you sleep well?" asked Lili when they were out of earshot of the others.
"Very well. Those mats in there were as soft as a cloud," replied Holly.
"Excellent. Then you'd be up to helping me with breakfast?"
"It's the least I can do after letting us invade your home like this."
Lili chuckled softly. "It's no trouble at all. We enjoy having visitors here and we don't get them very often."
"It might help if you didn't chase them off…"
"No one can know of this place," said Lili stubbornly. "There are other monsters here like Zephyr, and if some greedy human were to hear of it…I don't want to think of what would happen to this place."
Holly nodded understandingly. "How did Zephyr get his wings?" she asked after a minute.
Lili hesitated for a minute, frowning as she did. "That is something I can't tell you right now, for your own safety," she replied slowly. "You`ll just have to trust me on that one."
"Why wouldn't I?" asked Holly. "I trust Genki, and he obviously trust you, so I do too."
"Thanks," said Lili gratefully, smiling slightly. She quickly rolled up the sleeves of her jacket and led the way to the kitchen of her cave, Holly in tow behind her.
"Why don't you just take your jacket off?" suggested Holly as Lili struggled to keep her sleeves out of the eggs she was soon scrambling.
"No, that'll take to long," said Lili, "I'll manage fine with it on."
Holly shrugged and went back to frying the bacon in the pan in front of her, deciding to leave her alone. The smells and sounds of food soon had the others out of bed and in the kitchen, grabbing plates and eating like they hadn't for months.
"Mmhomsnarfgobblemuchgulpmm." The food disappeared quickly as all table manners were forgotten and everyone just shoved the food down their throats as fast as they could. Golem had long left their company to go eat with the other Golem's in the valley and was sampling their rocks that they ate for breakfast.
"So, what's your decision, cousin?" asked Genki when he could eat no more.
"I'm not sure Genki…" she said, glancing at Zephyr.
"Why not? We could always use the extra person."
"Who will protect my valley?"
"There are those who are perfectly capable of doing that for you," said Zephyr from his spot on the floor.
"Please, Lili," pleaded Genki. "I just spent the last nine years of my life thinking you were dead, come with us and it'll be like old times."
"Besides the talking monsters and cheeky dogs," muttered Lili sarcastically.
"Lili, be serious about this."
Lilianne sighed and sat there for a minute, closing her eyes as she thought about it. After awhile she leaned forward and replied, "Me and Zephyr will come, but only because you're family, Genki."
Zephyr got up and put his head on her lap, and she hugged him tightly, hopping she'd never have to let go. When she did, Genki was looking at her with concern. She smiled reassuringly, and asked for the others to go get supplies with Zephyr while she, Holly, and Genki went to get something form her rooms.
"What is it you wanted to show us?" Genki asked curiously.
"Nothing at all. I want to give you something and I want Holly to understand why I'm giving it to you."
"Why must I understand?"
"You are a gentle person by nature," said Lili knowingly. "And I know you and Genki are pretty close." They entered a room with a bed in one corner and some hooks with clothes on one wall. The wall across from the hooks was covered with weaponry for all types of humans and monsters. "I want you to understand that I'm giving him these to increase his chance of survival, not to make him a killer," said Lili as she handed Genki a dirk, dagger and belt from the wall.
Holly nodded as Genki strapped it around his waist and secured the blades to it. "I understand," she said, "I carry a dagger to protect my friends." She showed it to Lili, who whistled in appreciation.
"That's a nice dagger," she said, giving it back to Holly. "But I carry more metal than the two of you combined." They watched as she pulled a set of sais from the wall and stuck them in her boots, and a pouch of disc darts went on her belt. A dagger was secured beside the pouch, and two mini-darts were hidden in her belt clip. She slung a sword over her shoulder and placed a packed book bag with only one strap that went across her chest on her back.
"Are you sure you can carry all that?" asked Genki in surprise.
"I'm a bit stronger than that last time I saw you," said Lili, smiling slyly. She headed back out the door, grabbing a pair of old roller blades as she did. "You two coming?" she called over he shoulder. Both glanced at the other before following her back to the rest.
Tiger was talking with Theo when they got out there, and seemed to be disagreeing about something. "You're not going with them, Lady Lilianne, are you?" asked Theo when he spotted her.
"I am more needed with my cousin than here, Theo," she said resolutely. "You'll be fine until I return."
"But milady…" Lilianne shot him a look that silenced him, knowing that it would be futile to argue with her.
"Tell the others I'll be traveling for awhile and will return before too long," she instructed Theo, handing him a key, "Take good care of them while I am gone." Leaning over so only he could hear her, she added, "And complete the project, even if I don't return before it is done, you know how to."
Theo nodded sadly, and said, "Yes, ma'am."
"Don't look so glum, old fellow," said Lili sternly. "I'll hopefully be back before you can even miss me."
"Of course," replied Theo, forcing a smile. Lili hugged him gently before grabbing some torches and lighting them. She passed them among the group, and soon they were under ground in some tunnels that lead to the other side.
Everyone was fairly tense, and relaxed only when a light could be seen on the other side. Golem breathed a sigh of relief when they were once back out in the open. "Golem not like the dark," he rumbled quietly, "Especially in a tunnel."
Some of the others nodded in agreement or added their own comments before following Lili and Zephyr to where ever they were headed next.
"You are sure that there was a ranch somewhere up this way?" asked Tiger for the 20th time.
"Positive." Lili struggled to not blow up at the dog-like monster as they walked along.
"Ok."
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It had been four days since they had left the Valley for a ranch Lili had heard about. It was about late afternoon when the forest around them suddenly got really quite for no apparent reason. Lili motioned for them to stop, and listened for a minute.
"There's a camping spot up ahead," she said to the group, "Go ahead with out us, and I'll meet up with you there later. She looked up in the trees, and spotted what she had been looking for.
Genki looked up to see a strange man standing on a branch, looking at Lili. The man winked, and took off to their right. Lili followed, not checking to make sure everyone had gone up ahead.
Holly, who had seen the man too, motioned for Genki to come with her, and together they followed Lilianne through the trees. Peering through some bushes, they saw Zephyr on a ledge above another clearing with a cliff on one side. Lili was below him, sword out and warming up with it in rapid twirls and twists. A man finally walked out of the shadows, face covered with a hood and clothed entirely in a dark blue suit.
"There you are," said Lili in a business like manner. "I see you're still hiding behind that mask, too."
"Shall we get to it now that you are free of that traveling circus?" asked the man.
"We shall, and you'll regret saying that about me friends," replied Lili coldly, "On guard!"
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A bit of a cliffie, eh? Who's the strange man? And what business are they talking about? How will it end? Review and you shall receive these answers and more in the next part of Zephyr's Wind!!!!
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