ShadowDancer and SunSinger
Chapter 7
Rocky Oberlin
Disclaimer: Don't own the Ronin Warriors of the idea of the
ShadowDancer and SunSinger.
They say that curiosity killed the cat. Well, Sage was pretty sure he knew what the cat was feeling before it was killed. The SunSinger wanted to see the mysterious ShadowDancer that everyone had been talking about. He personally only saw glimpses of her before falling to his coma like sleep and she disappears. Now she was in their house, in their basement, and he was debating on knocking on the door to the basement to finally meet.
"You look like a man with a problem," offered a voice.
Sage turned to see Kento leaning against a door jam with his arms folded across his chest. The EarthSinger was watching the slighter young man closely.
"I was wondering if I should go down to see the ShadowDancer," shrugged Sage.
Kento snorted. "Everyone wants to see the ShadowDancer. I say let her stay down there until we can get rid of her. Tulpa already knows about us and now we are hiding something he wants even more then us." Kento shifted from his position. "May be her story is just that, a story. She may be a spy for Tulpa to see if we do have a SunSinger."
Sage was puzzled at his friend's statement. Usually Kento was open and friendly to anyone he meets. Everyone in the village loved him and he had a way with children that allowed parents to go on with their errands whenever the children of the village flocked to the EarthSinger. This suspicious manner was as strange as Ryo walking on water.
"Why don't you like her, Kento?"
"Because I don't want to loose a friend. We know the curses that you and possibly her have. If you are able to survive, then we have the battle half fought. We don't know if this ShadowDancer is even here because she is running from Tulpa."
"What about Ryo's first conversation with that Anubis guy?"
"That could have been an act. If there is a need for a ShadowDancer, why not just look for one here in the Mortal Realm? At least we can trust them, unlike the one in our basement. She came from the Nether Realm. May be she was running from something else."
"Or may be you don't want to loose a friend to a woman," added another voice. Cye stepped into the kitchen and looked at the two Singers. "Kento, you have to learn a little trust. Like she said, she may be the last ShadowDancer there is in both Realms."
"Huh, I still don't trust her. She has to earn my trust."
The WaterDancer looked at his large friend. "If that is what it takes, then fine. But, please, Kento, give her a break. If her story is true, then she barely got out of a bad situation."
Sage turned to go down the stairs to the basement. He wanted to finally meet the ShadowDancer that even his friends were fighting over.
He got down one step when a concussion from a large energy blast shook the house.
The three in the kitchen were still reeling from the aftereffects when Ryo and Rowen came rushing in. "I think that Anubis guy is showing up for a fight now," said Ryo.
"Now we see if he's telling the truth or if we are going to have a big problem," added Rowen.
The group ran out of the house to find where their "enemy" was starting his attack. Kento breathed a sigh of relief that it was far from the village, but he wondered if this wasn't just a distraction to keep them from saving the villagers. He couldn't ponder it for very long as suits of samari armor turned their attention from destroying the forest to the five young men that slid into their midst. Kento don't ask he just punched one that was too close for his liking. Ryo and Sage must have been born with swords in their hands as each and at least had one to fight with. Kento absently wondered where they had gotten them from as they had all rushed out the door without stopping.
Rowen was holding back from the group a bit. Like Ryo and Sage, he had the presence of mind to grab a weapon before he left his room. Ryo had the same idea when they met in the hall to run downstairs the collect the rest of their friends and see what was going on. Rowen pulled back his arrow, found a target, and fired. He snatched up another arrow quick and started the process again. Ryo was doing good protecting the WaterDancer's back as Cye fought with a staff claimed from a fallen soldier. Rowen checked on his other two friends and noticed that Sage had grabbed his sword before leaving the house. That was good for him as the ones with swords were harder to claim a weapon from. Rowen picked off a soldier that was coming up on the SunSinger's blind side and then started to look for Kento. The big EarthSinger seemed to be doing well for himself with just his fists. Rowen shot a few more soldiers from around his large friend just in case. So far Rowen figured that everyone was managing all right in the fight.
Sage parried a sword thrust and moved in with his own move. The soldier went down and did not get back up. But there was another waiting almost like they were in a line to fight him. Sage focused on his new adversary and tried to block out the fights of his other friends. He felt the whistle of Rowen's arrow go by him and pierce the armor of another soldier that was approaching from his back left. Sage would have to thank the HeavenSinger later for that save. Another soldier was down and two more were coming at him. Sage emptied his mind and brought to the fore the teaching of his family and Clan. They went down in a pile of scrap metal.
Cye was thankful that Ryo came to protect his back. The WaterDancer wasn't as used to fighting as the others were and to have someone skilled making sure that he came away in one piece relieved some of the worries on his mind. Cye felt foolish for running out to a fight without a weapon and had to snag one from a soldier he miraculously fell. The wooden weapon helped him keep off any soldiers that thought that he was an easy target; of course, having Ryo keeping the rest away from his back helped too. Block the chain and push the end into the stomach of the soldier. It went down and didn't get back up. Cye was surprised considering that he didn't hit it that hard. Cye looked up to see the red haired warrior, Anubis, smiling a fleeting second before turning to his own job. Cye thought, 'May be they can be trusted after all."
Ryo brought one of his katanas down on the soldier as he blocked with the other. He was glad that he got to his friend before the whole horde of enemy soldiers did. Ryo may not like water, but he did like the little WaterDancer and Dancers should probably stick together. Ryo's next bunch of opponents was harder to beat; time to up the ante a little. Ryo brought his power of fire down to the twin swords in his hands. He swept at the soldiers and left scorch marks across the armor plating. The soldiers didn't seem to like the hot swords and started to fall back. Ryo wasn't going to move from his place though, that would leave the smaller Dancer open to attack even if Rowen were shooting from the trees. They would have to come to him.
Cye felt the heat from Ryo's swords as they pushed back the soldiers in back of him. Ryo was probably on the right track, so Cye started to use a bit more fluid movements mimicking the tide of the large bodies of water. It seemed to work as it pushed more of the soldiers back from him. This trick caught the attention of Anubis who gave a grin to the auburn haired young man. Yes, they were going to make it through this battle.
The soldiers fell before the five different members of the Clans, leaving just the top warrior alone. Anubis nodded to himself; this was as it should be. He didn't need to help the young Singers and Dancers, as he feared that he would, they had performed well on their own. "Very good, young ones. You did excellent in your first battle for your Realm. Next time we will see if you can keep it up." Anubis disappeared through a conjured Gate to report his sound defeat to the young men.
"That was weird," said Cye. "He didn't even fight us at the end."
"I also noticed that he helped you once, Cye," added Rowen. "May be he is trustworthy."
"Or he was just testing us," said Kento.
"Are you still on that kick?" asked Cye. "He could have attacked me at any moment while Ryo was busy, but he didn't. That should count for something."
"He is right, Kento," said Sage. "But we shouldn't put too much trust in them. They will have to fight us a some point and that one already knows how we fight."
"So we be careful not to show our real power until we go against Tulpa," said Ryo. "They have to make their reports to their "Master" and to the other warriors with them. If they do fight with us in the end, then they will know how we fight and what to watch for."
"And if we fight with them?" asked Kento.
"Then we know their habits as well," said Sage. "Did you notice what he was fighting with Cye?"
The WaterDancer lowered his head as he thought. "It was a kusari gama. He would send it into the fight to tie up the soldiers when he felt like fighting. I think he was trying to be as inconspicuous as possible."
"Wouldn't you if someone was watching over your shoulder as you planned treason?" asked Rowen. "If he was trying to help, it would have to be underhanded to keep Tulpa from discovering that you were actually helping your enemy."
"So we wait for the next warrior to come out and test us," said Sage.
"And may be they will try to get a hold of us again to plan how to stop Tulpa," added Ryo.
No one disputed his remark as they walked back to their home.
Anubis knelt before his "Master" as he was threatened and rebuked for his loss. Kayura stood off to the side smirking at the fallen warrior. Anubis wanted to growl at her, but she was fast rising in Tulpa's favor and the losses he and his friends were going to receive was going to put her even higher.
"You lost a whole squad of warriors to five BOYS!" thundered Tulpa.
'Yes, and I will do it again to rid the Nether Realm of you,' thought Anubis.
"You are supposed to be my elite. You should have been able to bring that area under my control so we could bring more of my warriors across to take that Realm."
'Time to continue my act.'
"I apologize, Master. The boys who fought back knew how to fight and to cover themselves. The archer stayed away from the battle and took out any of the soldiers who tried to get the boys from behind. Two of the ones fighting even covered each others back as they fought."
"What of the power I felt in that battle? I know that I felt power of the Dancers coming from there."
Anubis shook his head. How was he to lie about this one? "There could have been a Dancer from one of the Clans there, but I wasn't sure. I couldn't tell if there was any power being used, let alone where it was coming from." He hoped that set Tulpa off from the topic.
"It could be that Anubis is weak and shouldn't be fighting for your cause, Master Tulpa," said Lady Kayura. Anubis cringed at how oily her statement was. He would rather be with Seckmet who looked like a snake then to be in her presence as she talked like one. "May be you should send a more powerful warrior instead of this lackey."
Tulpa seemed to consider her statement as Anubis fumed over her taunt. It would be a good day when people such as her would be out of a job currying favor with a monster like Tulpa.
"I will give one other Warlords a chance. If they can't defeat these five boys, then I will send someone who can." Tulpa turned to the smirking woman. "I will send you as a last resort. I don't want them to know about you unless they are as powerful as Anubis said."
Anubis was satisfied that Tulpa's statement had wiped the smirk off of Lady Kayura's face, but bristled at the innuendo that he was weak. The only weakness he had was working for a monster and his bootlicking lackeys.
"You are dismissed, Anubis. Send Dais to me when you see him."
Anubis bowed to his "Master". "As you wish, Master Tulpa." Anubis' retreat wasn't hasty, but it was quick. He had to get to the others before Tulpa ordered them to fight the five Singers and Dancers.
'Here we are, contemplating that cat again.'
Sage was in the same place as before, but it was getting close to evening. The battle had taken most of the day and then they had to care for the injuries sustained in the battle. Kento was now with Cye getting supplies from the village and giving them warning of the coming attacks. Hopefully the village can evacuate or find a way of defending themselves when Tulpa did attack. Rowen was up in his room reading one of his great tomes and Sage wasn't sure of where Ryo was, probably meditating in front of the fire to see what will happen next.
Sage stepped down one step. Was this a good idea? Should he be courting possible death by facing the ShadowDancer in their basement?
He took another step. How did he know that it would be death? For all Sage knew, he would go into his sleep again with a slim possibility of waking again.
He paused at the next step down and frowned. Kento would be saying "I told you so" if that did happen. But what about Ryo; it was like he was hoping for the two meet. Was there something he knew that no one else did? Sage took the step down.
He was getting closer to the ShadowDancer's room and time was getting closer to twilight. Should he be doing this right now? May be he should wait for morning when he had more time.
Sage shook his head. Then it would be a possibility of the others loosing them both. If he did go through with this and fell into his sleep then at least they still had the ShadowDancer. Ryo could always find another SunSinger to fulfill the prophecy that he had been told about.
Sage took the last steps down and faced the door to the ShadowDancer's room. It was now or never. He knocked on her door.
Mia was startled at the knock. She knew that the HeavenSinger and the FireDancer may come down, but she wasn't sure about the others. The EarthSinger didn't like her; she smiled ruefully. He thought that she was here to kill the SunSinger or betray them all to Tulpa.
There was another knock at her door. 'Guess I should go see who it is and what they want,' thought the woman. She went to the door and opened it up.
Outside the window was open to allow the fading sunlight into the kitchen. The way it was situated the window was across from the basement door and allowed the light to shine down the stairs so that anyone could see where they were going. Incidentally, it also shined into the room that Mia was staying in. But in her room there was complete black, like night. These two forces met at the door just as Mia and Sage faced each other.
The Heavens sang and the Fire in the hearths and volcanoes danced. Rowen shot up from his position on his stomach, dropping his book on the floor. He listened to the news his Element sang to him then he ran down the stairs. Ryo had been meditating in front of the fire in the living room, but when it started to dance he left his subconscious to see what the flames had to show him. He left his place to meet Rowen at the foot of the stairs and ran into the kitchen. They met Cye and Kento at the top of the basement stairs. Ryo was the first one to go down to see the picture that greeted them.
It was as the Fire had told him. Standing in the doorway of the room Mia was hiding in was Sage and Mia. They were locked in an embrace as the shadows flitted over Sage and the fading sunlight shined on Mia. The prophecy had been started.
Chapter 7
Rocky Oberlin
Disclaimer: Don't own the Ronin Warriors of the idea of the
ShadowDancer and SunSinger.
They say that curiosity killed the cat. Well, Sage was pretty sure he knew what the cat was feeling before it was killed. The SunSinger wanted to see the mysterious ShadowDancer that everyone had been talking about. He personally only saw glimpses of her before falling to his coma like sleep and she disappears. Now she was in their house, in their basement, and he was debating on knocking on the door to the basement to finally meet.
"You look like a man with a problem," offered a voice.
Sage turned to see Kento leaning against a door jam with his arms folded across his chest. The EarthSinger was watching the slighter young man closely.
"I was wondering if I should go down to see the ShadowDancer," shrugged Sage.
Kento snorted. "Everyone wants to see the ShadowDancer. I say let her stay down there until we can get rid of her. Tulpa already knows about us and now we are hiding something he wants even more then us." Kento shifted from his position. "May be her story is just that, a story. She may be a spy for Tulpa to see if we do have a SunSinger."
Sage was puzzled at his friend's statement. Usually Kento was open and friendly to anyone he meets. Everyone in the village loved him and he had a way with children that allowed parents to go on with their errands whenever the children of the village flocked to the EarthSinger. This suspicious manner was as strange as Ryo walking on water.
"Why don't you like her, Kento?"
"Because I don't want to loose a friend. We know the curses that you and possibly her have. If you are able to survive, then we have the battle half fought. We don't know if this ShadowDancer is even here because she is running from Tulpa."
"What about Ryo's first conversation with that Anubis guy?"
"That could have been an act. If there is a need for a ShadowDancer, why not just look for one here in the Mortal Realm? At least we can trust them, unlike the one in our basement. She came from the Nether Realm. May be she was running from something else."
"Or may be you don't want to loose a friend to a woman," added another voice. Cye stepped into the kitchen and looked at the two Singers. "Kento, you have to learn a little trust. Like she said, she may be the last ShadowDancer there is in both Realms."
"Huh, I still don't trust her. She has to earn my trust."
The WaterDancer looked at his large friend. "If that is what it takes, then fine. But, please, Kento, give her a break. If her story is true, then she barely got out of a bad situation."
Sage turned to go down the stairs to the basement. He wanted to finally meet the ShadowDancer that even his friends were fighting over.
He got down one step when a concussion from a large energy blast shook the house.
The three in the kitchen were still reeling from the aftereffects when Ryo and Rowen came rushing in. "I think that Anubis guy is showing up for a fight now," said Ryo.
"Now we see if he's telling the truth or if we are going to have a big problem," added Rowen.
The group ran out of the house to find where their "enemy" was starting his attack. Kento breathed a sigh of relief that it was far from the village, but he wondered if this wasn't just a distraction to keep them from saving the villagers. He couldn't ponder it for very long as suits of samari armor turned their attention from destroying the forest to the five young men that slid into their midst. Kento don't ask he just punched one that was too close for his liking. Ryo and Sage must have been born with swords in their hands as each and at least had one to fight with. Kento absently wondered where they had gotten them from as they had all rushed out the door without stopping.
Rowen was holding back from the group a bit. Like Ryo and Sage, he had the presence of mind to grab a weapon before he left his room. Ryo had the same idea when they met in the hall to run downstairs the collect the rest of their friends and see what was going on. Rowen pulled back his arrow, found a target, and fired. He snatched up another arrow quick and started the process again. Ryo was doing good protecting the WaterDancer's back as Cye fought with a staff claimed from a fallen soldier. Rowen checked on his other two friends and noticed that Sage had grabbed his sword before leaving the house. That was good for him as the ones with swords were harder to claim a weapon from. Rowen picked off a soldier that was coming up on the SunSinger's blind side and then started to look for Kento. The big EarthSinger seemed to be doing well for himself with just his fists. Rowen shot a few more soldiers from around his large friend just in case. So far Rowen figured that everyone was managing all right in the fight.
Sage parried a sword thrust and moved in with his own move. The soldier went down and did not get back up. But there was another waiting almost like they were in a line to fight him. Sage focused on his new adversary and tried to block out the fights of his other friends. He felt the whistle of Rowen's arrow go by him and pierce the armor of another soldier that was approaching from his back left. Sage would have to thank the HeavenSinger later for that save. Another soldier was down and two more were coming at him. Sage emptied his mind and brought to the fore the teaching of his family and Clan. They went down in a pile of scrap metal.
Cye was thankful that Ryo came to protect his back. The WaterDancer wasn't as used to fighting as the others were and to have someone skilled making sure that he came away in one piece relieved some of the worries on his mind. Cye felt foolish for running out to a fight without a weapon and had to snag one from a soldier he miraculously fell. The wooden weapon helped him keep off any soldiers that thought that he was an easy target; of course, having Ryo keeping the rest away from his back helped too. Block the chain and push the end into the stomach of the soldier. It went down and didn't get back up. Cye was surprised considering that he didn't hit it that hard. Cye looked up to see the red haired warrior, Anubis, smiling a fleeting second before turning to his own job. Cye thought, 'May be they can be trusted after all."
Ryo brought one of his katanas down on the soldier as he blocked with the other. He was glad that he got to his friend before the whole horde of enemy soldiers did. Ryo may not like water, but he did like the little WaterDancer and Dancers should probably stick together. Ryo's next bunch of opponents was harder to beat; time to up the ante a little. Ryo brought his power of fire down to the twin swords in his hands. He swept at the soldiers and left scorch marks across the armor plating. The soldiers didn't seem to like the hot swords and started to fall back. Ryo wasn't going to move from his place though, that would leave the smaller Dancer open to attack even if Rowen were shooting from the trees. They would have to come to him.
Cye felt the heat from Ryo's swords as they pushed back the soldiers in back of him. Ryo was probably on the right track, so Cye started to use a bit more fluid movements mimicking the tide of the large bodies of water. It seemed to work as it pushed more of the soldiers back from him. This trick caught the attention of Anubis who gave a grin to the auburn haired young man. Yes, they were going to make it through this battle.
The soldiers fell before the five different members of the Clans, leaving just the top warrior alone. Anubis nodded to himself; this was as it should be. He didn't need to help the young Singers and Dancers, as he feared that he would, they had performed well on their own. "Very good, young ones. You did excellent in your first battle for your Realm. Next time we will see if you can keep it up." Anubis disappeared through a conjured Gate to report his sound defeat to the young men.
"That was weird," said Cye. "He didn't even fight us at the end."
"I also noticed that he helped you once, Cye," added Rowen. "May be he is trustworthy."
"Or he was just testing us," said Kento.
"Are you still on that kick?" asked Cye. "He could have attacked me at any moment while Ryo was busy, but he didn't. That should count for something."
"He is right, Kento," said Sage. "But we shouldn't put too much trust in them. They will have to fight us a some point and that one already knows how we fight."
"So we be careful not to show our real power until we go against Tulpa," said Ryo. "They have to make their reports to their "Master" and to the other warriors with them. If they do fight with us in the end, then they will know how we fight and what to watch for."
"And if we fight with them?" asked Kento.
"Then we know their habits as well," said Sage. "Did you notice what he was fighting with Cye?"
The WaterDancer lowered his head as he thought. "It was a kusari gama. He would send it into the fight to tie up the soldiers when he felt like fighting. I think he was trying to be as inconspicuous as possible."
"Wouldn't you if someone was watching over your shoulder as you planned treason?" asked Rowen. "If he was trying to help, it would have to be underhanded to keep Tulpa from discovering that you were actually helping your enemy."
"So we wait for the next warrior to come out and test us," said Sage.
"And may be they will try to get a hold of us again to plan how to stop Tulpa," added Ryo.
No one disputed his remark as they walked back to their home.
Anubis knelt before his "Master" as he was threatened and rebuked for his loss. Kayura stood off to the side smirking at the fallen warrior. Anubis wanted to growl at her, but she was fast rising in Tulpa's favor and the losses he and his friends were going to receive was going to put her even higher.
"You lost a whole squad of warriors to five BOYS!" thundered Tulpa.
'Yes, and I will do it again to rid the Nether Realm of you,' thought Anubis.
"You are supposed to be my elite. You should have been able to bring that area under my control so we could bring more of my warriors across to take that Realm."
'Time to continue my act.'
"I apologize, Master. The boys who fought back knew how to fight and to cover themselves. The archer stayed away from the battle and took out any of the soldiers who tried to get the boys from behind. Two of the ones fighting even covered each others back as they fought."
"What of the power I felt in that battle? I know that I felt power of the Dancers coming from there."
Anubis shook his head. How was he to lie about this one? "There could have been a Dancer from one of the Clans there, but I wasn't sure. I couldn't tell if there was any power being used, let alone where it was coming from." He hoped that set Tulpa off from the topic.
"It could be that Anubis is weak and shouldn't be fighting for your cause, Master Tulpa," said Lady Kayura. Anubis cringed at how oily her statement was. He would rather be with Seckmet who looked like a snake then to be in her presence as she talked like one. "May be you should send a more powerful warrior instead of this lackey."
Tulpa seemed to consider her statement as Anubis fumed over her taunt. It would be a good day when people such as her would be out of a job currying favor with a monster like Tulpa.
"I will give one other Warlords a chance. If they can't defeat these five boys, then I will send someone who can." Tulpa turned to the smirking woman. "I will send you as a last resort. I don't want them to know about you unless they are as powerful as Anubis said."
Anubis was satisfied that Tulpa's statement had wiped the smirk off of Lady Kayura's face, but bristled at the innuendo that he was weak. The only weakness he had was working for a monster and his bootlicking lackeys.
"You are dismissed, Anubis. Send Dais to me when you see him."
Anubis bowed to his "Master". "As you wish, Master Tulpa." Anubis' retreat wasn't hasty, but it was quick. He had to get to the others before Tulpa ordered them to fight the five Singers and Dancers.
'Here we are, contemplating that cat again.'
Sage was in the same place as before, but it was getting close to evening. The battle had taken most of the day and then they had to care for the injuries sustained in the battle. Kento was now with Cye getting supplies from the village and giving them warning of the coming attacks. Hopefully the village can evacuate or find a way of defending themselves when Tulpa did attack. Rowen was up in his room reading one of his great tomes and Sage wasn't sure of where Ryo was, probably meditating in front of the fire to see what will happen next.
Sage stepped down one step. Was this a good idea? Should he be courting possible death by facing the ShadowDancer in their basement?
He took another step. How did he know that it would be death? For all Sage knew, he would go into his sleep again with a slim possibility of waking again.
He paused at the next step down and frowned. Kento would be saying "I told you so" if that did happen. But what about Ryo; it was like he was hoping for the two meet. Was there something he knew that no one else did? Sage took the step down.
He was getting closer to the ShadowDancer's room and time was getting closer to twilight. Should he be doing this right now? May be he should wait for morning when he had more time.
Sage shook his head. Then it would be a possibility of the others loosing them both. If he did go through with this and fell into his sleep then at least they still had the ShadowDancer. Ryo could always find another SunSinger to fulfill the prophecy that he had been told about.
Sage took the last steps down and faced the door to the ShadowDancer's room. It was now or never. He knocked on her door.
Mia was startled at the knock. She knew that the HeavenSinger and the FireDancer may come down, but she wasn't sure about the others. The EarthSinger didn't like her; she smiled ruefully. He thought that she was here to kill the SunSinger or betray them all to Tulpa.
There was another knock at her door. 'Guess I should go see who it is and what they want,' thought the woman. She went to the door and opened it up.
Outside the window was open to allow the fading sunlight into the kitchen. The way it was situated the window was across from the basement door and allowed the light to shine down the stairs so that anyone could see where they were going. Incidentally, it also shined into the room that Mia was staying in. But in her room there was complete black, like night. These two forces met at the door just as Mia and Sage faced each other.
The Heavens sang and the Fire in the hearths and volcanoes danced. Rowen shot up from his position on his stomach, dropping his book on the floor. He listened to the news his Element sang to him then he ran down the stairs. Ryo had been meditating in front of the fire in the living room, but when it started to dance he left his subconscious to see what the flames had to show him. He left his place to meet Rowen at the foot of the stairs and ran into the kitchen. They met Cye and Kento at the top of the basement stairs. Ryo was the first one to go down to see the picture that greeted them.
It was as the Fire had told him. Standing in the doorway of the room Mia was hiding in was Sage and Mia. They were locked in an embrace as the shadows flitted over Sage and the fading sunlight shined on Mia. The prophecy had been started.
