ShadowDancer and SunSinger
Chapter 8
Rocky Oberlin
Disclaimer: I don't own Ronin Warriors or the idea of ShadowDancer
and SunSinger. They belong to Sunrise Inc. and Mercedes Lackey
respectively.
As much as Cale missed his sister, he didn't want to see her in this drab Realm. He wished that he could see her free in the Mortal Realm without the threat of Tulpa hanging over her head and the curse that plagued them broken. Unfortunately it wasn't to be. Cale had to send his sister to the Mortal Realm just to keep Tulpa from even knowing that she was a ShadowDancer and now they had to attack that same Realm. Cale looked up as Anubis entered his home.
"Dais, "Master" Tulpa wants to see you," growled the red haired man.
"Bad day?" asked Seckmet.
"I was ordered to attack a village near the forest we kept seeing the Singers and Dancers. I moved the target into the forest and met up with all five of the Singers and Dancers. They shouldn't have too much trouble against the soldiers, but Kayura was in the throne room when I made my report. I had to admit that I lost a whole squad in front of her and listen to her insults." Anubis sat down heavily in a chair and continued. "Tulpa will save her for last, but if we keep losing our fights to the Singers and Dancers, then he may send out one of the others early."
"And we don't want that," said Dais. "We have to warn these boys somehow."
"May be you could do it when you go look for them, Dais," said Cale. "I think that Tulpa will want to send you out to do that and try to capture them."
"How will I be able to do that?" asked the one eyed man. "Tulpa will most certainly be looking over my shoulder."
"Talk while you fight one of them," shrugged Anubis. "I might suggest the SunSinger or the FireDancer. If you went after the WaterDancer you may be picking the others off your back."
"Which one is the WaterDancer?"
"The auburn haired one. He's a bit taller then the others and pale. The FireDancer protected his back when we were fighting this morning."
Dais sighed. "I'll see what I can do. I don't know what Tulpa will tell me and I don't know what the circumstances will be."
"We can only ask," said Cale. "And please tell them to give my sister a message. Tell her I love her and miss her."
"I'll do my best." Dais went to see what the "Master" wanted. Cale was right when he said that Dais was going to be sent out to try to capture the Singers and Dancers. Dais planned on getting thoroughly beaten in this fight just as Anubis did in the last one.
Sage glanced out the window in the kitchen. It was dark out and the moon that he never saw before hung in its fullest stage. "Shouldn't I be asleep right now?"
Ryo was grinning like a Cheshire cat. "Actually, I think that you won't have to worry about that much any more. Just like Mia won't have to worry about having to hide when the sun comes up."
"Are you sure about that?" asked Mia. "I don't want to stake my life on an assumption."
"It would seem logical that you could go out in the sun if Sage isn't in a coma right now," said Cye. "We've been watching him ever since we came together when the sun went down. This is the first time that I've ever seen him awake to see just the moon."
"Yeah, you should hear the stars," added Rowen. "They are really happy that a SunSinger is now able to stay with them."
"What is the Earth saying?" asked Sage.
Kento scowled. "It says that soon the prophecy will be fulfilled. And it says that another Gate is opening near here. We are going to have another visitor."
"May be we should see who it is," said Ryo. "It might be one of our "friends"."
Mia perked up at the thought. "One of my brothers? It would be nice to see them."
"I don't think that you should go with us," said Sage. "It might be one of the others."
"But-"
"He's right," said Cye. "We don't want to lose you when we are so close. You should probably stay here."
"But-"
"Let's discuss this later," said Kento. "The Earth says that he's getting closer and I don't want to move again; I like this spot."
Mia wasn't able to get another word in as they all left. But Mia spent most of her life hiding who she was and just plain hiding period. Mia was also a proud woman and learned to handle herself very well with the help of her brothers. To say that she is stubborn is an understatement. Mia wasn't going to hide behind five Singers and Dancers when she could take care of herself against anything that Tulpa threw at her and keep her secret from the overlord. Mia walked out the door after the five others and walked in the shadows to see whom their visitor was.
Three people knew that there was another person listening to their conversation. Dais stood one step from the Gate that he had used to enter the Mortal Realm. He had it firmly closed so that no one else could use it or listen to the conversation. Being the Master of Illusion, though, he knew that Mia was hiding in the shadows. From the knowing looks passed between the black haired boy and the blue haired one, he knew they also knew that Mia had followed them. It would be interesting to see how this was going to play out.
"Greetings, formidable enemies, or is it possible allies?" asked Dais.
"Depends on what you're doing here," said the blonde.
"I'm here to talk to you about what is going on in the Nether Realm and how you should use it to your advantage."
"And we should trust you because...?" asked Kento.
"Because Mia trusts me. Ask her."
"I think that we can trust him anyway," said Rowen. "The stars say that he watched over her the night after Mia and I met."
"You must be the HeavenSinger that Mia told us about," said Dais.
"She told you about us?" asked Kento. "May be I was right after all, Ryo. We can't trust her."
"Only you would make assumptions like that," growled Dais. "You are of the Earth, but you are too stubborn to even listen to what your own element is saying let alone your friends. Mia only told us that she met him while out one night. We were concerned that you might have given Mia away to Tulpa. Without her and your SunSinger, we are all doomed to an existence under Tulpa."
"Why did you come here?" asked Ryo.
"To give you a warning," answered Dais. "Tulpa is getting angry with my three friends and I. If Anubis, a green haired snake-like man, a blue haired man with a scar, or I don't come with the soldiers, then the leaders won't give you quarter. You will have to fight to defeat them. The worst one is Lady Kayura. She wishes to be Tulpa's favorite and will do anything to become it. You must be wary of her the most."
"A girl?" asked Rowen. "Tulpa has a girl leading his forces?"
"Don't underestimate Kayura," warned Dais. "She is as good as any of us. Ask Mia when you see her. I would say that you should have Mia show you what she knows. Cale taught her everything that she needed to know on defence and magic plus a few things that she didn't need to know. Mia may be the only one who could even defeat Kayura."
"We'll take what you said into consideration," said Sage. "Thank you for telling us."
Dais smirked before opening the Gate to leave. "If you underestimate Mia, then you are really underestimating Kayura. You should learn something from this lesson. I will see you again and this time be prepared to fight." Dais left quickly and quietly. He had to keep the resonance from the Gate down so he wouldn't alert "Master" Tulpa of his early trip to the Mortal Realm.
Rowen turned to the trees that Mia as hiding behind. "I think that you can come out now."
The shadows parted from the trees and Mia stepped into the light of the moon and stars. "He's right you know," she said. "You shouldn't underestimate Lady Kayura. She didn't get where she is by playing fair."
"You were here the whole time?" stormed Sage. He wasn't sure if it was just concern or the strange feeling that he had started to develop when he first saw the ShadowDancer.
Mia gave him a defiant look. "I had to hide myself in enemy territory for as long as I can remember. If Tulpa knew that I was a ShadowDancer, then I would be killed or used. Neither Cale nor any of my other brothers wanted that. They had to serve Tulpa as a debt to stay alive. We kept our eyes open while we did our own type of hiding. We can tell you about everything in the Nether Realm and how to survive it."
"So you are saying that we should treat you like an equal and not a burden or something that should be protected," finished Cye. "One thing though, you are the only known ShadowDancer. If you are caught, then everything is lost."
"I won't get caught," said Mia with a raise of her head. "I've been hiding for my whole life. I know how to keep unwanted attention from me."
"Can we discuss this at the house?" asked Rowen. "We are sort of open to attack out here."
Mia nodded at the HeavenSinger and left the group to follow her when they were ready. She called the shadows around her and disappeared from their sight as she proceeded into the woods.
"That went well," said Ryo.
"What do you mean?" asked Cye.
"I mean that we managed to underestimate four possible allies and Kento might have angered them. Then we managed to annoy the one who can help us when we go into the Nether Realm. Like I said, that went well."
"Does anyone else catch that note of sarcasm in his voice?" asked Kento with little humor.
"Oh, I caught it and I agree," said Rowen. "Remember, we were there when Mia came through the Gate for the last time. She was frightened, but she moved with a trained efficiency."
"Or we are listening to our elements who knew the ShadowDancers for a lot longer then we have been around," said Ryo. "Your elements haven't been around ShadowDancers as much so they can't tell you what we know. Just because Rowen and I know about ShadowDancers it doesn't mean we have don't know the person who happens to be a ShadowDancer."
Ryo and Rowen started for the house after Mia. The three left looked at each other and Cye shook his head. "The Priest and the Scholar have spoken. We better give Mia a chance before they do something we will regret for a long time."
"What could they do to us?" asked Kento.
"Well, we could have cold dinners or unrecognizable pieces of carbon," offered Cye.
"And Rowen knows what we are like so he could just tell Mia what to have the shadows show us in the night," said Sage. "I think that they are right and we should give them a chance."
"Could have told you that earlier," muttered Cye. "I was saying that you should have trusted Mia more Kento. Now we just have to trust that she knows how to handle herself."
In the distance there were four smiles. One was on a woman's face as the shadows told her of the discussion between the five Clan members she was now rooming with and their decision. The other two were on the faces of the FireDancer and the HeavenSinger as the stars told their Singer of the final moments left to their three friends. Hope swelled a little more for the sake of humanity and their own survival.
The fourth smile was on a shadowed face of Tulpa's opposite. He was relieved that the ShadowDancer had been accepted into the group and was surprised at how quickly the SunSinger had sought her out.
"May be there is more to the breaking of the curse then the two finally coming together."
There was no answer to the statement, but the shadows knew. They just didn't want to give up this secret to anyone yet.
Chapter 8
Rocky Oberlin
Disclaimer: I don't own Ronin Warriors or the idea of ShadowDancer
and SunSinger. They belong to Sunrise Inc. and Mercedes Lackey
respectively.
As much as Cale missed his sister, he didn't want to see her in this drab Realm. He wished that he could see her free in the Mortal Realm without the threat of Tulpa hanging over her head and the curse that plagued them broken. Unfortunately it wasn't to be. Cale had to send his sister to the Mortal Realm just to keep Tulpa from even knowing that she was a ShadowDancer and now they had to attack that same Realm. Cale looked up as Anubis entered his home.
"Dais, "Master" Tulpa wants to see you," growled the red haired man.
"Bad day?" asked Seckmet.
"I was ordered to attack a village near the forest we kept seeing the Singers and Dancers. I moved the target into the forest and met up with all five of the Singers and Dancers. They shouldn't have too much trouble against the soldiers, but Kayura was in the throne room when I made my report. I had to admit that I lost a whole squad in front of her and listen to her insults." Anubis sat down heavily in a chair and continued. "Tulpa will save her for last, but if we keep losing our fights to the Singers and Dancers, then he may send out one of the others early."
"And we don't want that," said Dais. "We have to warn these boys somehow."
"May be you could do it when you go look for them, Dais," said Cale. "I think that Tulpa will want to send you out to do that and try to capture them."
"How will I be able to do that?" asked the one eyed man. "Tulpa will most certainly be looking over my shoulder."
"Talk while you fight one of them," shrugged Anubis. "I might suggest the SunSinger or the FireDancer. If you went after the WaterDancer you may be picking the others off your back."
"Which one is the WaterDancer?"
"The auburn haired one. He's a bit taller then the others and pale. The FireDancer protected his back when we were fighting this morning."
Dais sighed. "I'll see what I can do. I don't know what Tulpa will tell me and I don't know what the circumstances will be."
"We can only ask," said Cale. "And please tell them to give my sister a message. Tell her I love her and miss her."
"I'll do my best." Dais went to see what the "Master" wanted. Cale was right when he said that Dais was going to be sent out to try to capture the Singers and Dancers. Dais planned on getting thoroughly beaten in this fight just as Anubis did in the last one.
Sage glanced out the window in the kitchen. It was dark out and the moon that he never saw before hung in its fullest stage. "Shouldn't I be asleep right now?"
Ryo was grinning like a Cheshire cat. "Actually, I think that you won't have to worry about that much any more. Just like Mia won't have to worry about having to hide when the sun comes up."
"Are you sure about that?" asked Mia. "I don't want to stake my life on an assumption."
"It would seem logical that you could go out in the sun if Sage isn't in a coma right now," said Cye. "We've been watching him ever since we came together when the sun went down. This is the first time that I've ever seen him awake to see just the moon."
"Yeah, you should hear the stars," added Rowen. "They are really happy that a SunSinger is now able to stay with them."
"What is the Earth saying?" asked Sage.
Kento scowled. "It says that soon the prophecy will be fulfilled. And it says that another Gate is opening near here. We are going to have another visitor."
"May be we should see who it is," said Ryo. "It might be one of our "friends"."
Mia perked up at the thought. "One of my brothers? It would be nice to see them."
"I don't think that you should go with us," said Sage. "It might be one of the others."
"But-"
"He's right," said Cye. "We don't want to lose you when we are so close. You should probably stay here."
"But-"
"Let's discuss this later," said Kento. "The Earth says that he's getting closer and I don't want to move again; I like this spot."
Mia wasn't able to get another word in as they all left. But Mia spent most of her life hiding who she was and just plain hiding period. Mia was also a proud woman and learned to handle herself very well with the help of her brothers. To say that she is stubborn is an understatement. Mia wasn't going to hide behind five Singers and Dancers when she could take care of herself against anything that Tulpa threw at her and keep her secret from the overlord. Mia walked out the door after the five others and walked in the shadows to see whom their visitor was.
Three people knew that there was another person listening to their conversation. Dais stood one step from the Gate that he had used to enter the Mortal Realm. He had it firmly closed so that no one else could use it or listen to the conversation. Being the Master of Illusion, though, he knew that Mia was hiding in the shadows. From the knowing looks passed between the black haired boy and the blue haired one, he knew they also knew that Mia had followed them. It would be interesting to see how this was going to play out.
"Greetings, formidable enemies, or is it possible allies?" asked Dais.
"Depends on what you're doing here," said the blonde.
"I'm here to talk to you about what is going on in the Nether Realm and how you should use it to your advantage."
"And we should trust you because...?" asked Kento.
"Because Mia trusts me. Ask her."
"I think that we can trust him anyway," said Rowen. "The stars say that he watched over her the night after Mia and I met."
"You must be the HeavenSinger that Mia told us about," said Dais.
"She told you about us?" asked Kento. "May be I was right after all, Ryo. We can't trust her."
"Only you would make assumptions like that," growled Dais. "You are of the Earth, but you are too stubborn to even listen to what your own element is saying let alone your friends. Mia only told us that she met him while out one night. We were concerned that you might have given Mia away to Tulpa. Without her and your SunSinger, we are all doomed to an existence under Tulpa."
"Why did you come here?" asked Ryo.
"To give you a warning," answered Dais. "Tulpa is getting angry with my three friends and I. If Anubis, a green haired snake-like man, a blue haired man with a scar, or I don't come with the soldiers, then the leaders won't give you quarter. You will have to fight to defeat them. The worst one is Lady Kayura. She wishes to be Tulpa's favorite and will do anything to become it. You must be wary of her the most."
"A girl?" asked Rowen. "Tulpa has a girl leading his forces?"
"Don't underestimate Kayura," warned Dais. "She is as good as any of us. Ask Mia when you see her. I would say that you should have Mia show you what she knows. Cale taught her everything that she needed to know on defence and magic plus a few things that she didn't need to know. Mia may be the only one who could even defeat Kayura."
"We'll take what you said into consideration," said Sage. "Thank you for telling us."
Dais smirked before opening the Gate to leave. "If you underestimate Mia, then you are really underestimating Kayura. You should learn something from this lesson. I will see you again and this time be prepared to fight." Dais left quickly and quietly. He had to keep the resonance from the Gate down so he wouldn't alert "Master" Tulpa of his early trip to the Mortal Realm.
Rowen turned to the trees that Mia as hiding behind. "I think that you can come out now."
The shadows parted from the trees and Mia stepped into the light of the moon and stars. "He's right you know," she said. "You shouldn't underestimate Lady Kayura. She didn't get where she is by playing fair."
"You were here the whole time?" stormed Sage. He wasn't sure if it was just concern or the strange feeling that he had started to develop when he first saw the ShadowDancer.
Mia gave him a defiant look. "I had to hide myself in enemy territory for as long as I can remember. If Tulpa knew that I was a ShadowDancer, then I would be killed or used. Neither Cale nor any of my other brothers wanted that. They had to serve Tulpa as a debt to stay alive. We kept our eyes open while we did our own type of hiding. We can tell you about everything in the Nether Realm and how to survive it."
"So you are saying that we should treat you like an equal and not a burden or something that should be protected," finished Cye. "One thing though, you are the only known ShadowDancer. If you are caught, then everything is lost."
"I won't get caught," said Mia with a raise of her head. "I've been hiding for my whole life. I know how to keep unwanted attention from me."
"Can we discuss this at the house?" asked Rowen. "We are sort of open to attack out here."
Mia nodded at the HeavenSinger and left the group to follow her when they were ready. She called the shadows around her and disappeared from their sight as she proceeded into the woods.
"That went well," said Ryo.
"What do you mean?" asked Cye.
"I mean that we managed to underestimate four possible allies and Kento might have angered them. Then we managed to annoy the one who can help us when we go into the Nether Realm. Like I said, that went well."
"Does anyone else catch that note of sarcasm in his voice?" asked Kento with little humor.
"Oh, I caught it and I agree," said Rowen. "Remember, we were there when Mia came through the Gate for the last time. She was frightened, but she moved with a trained efficiency."
"Or we are listening to our elements who knew the ShadowDancers for a lot longer then we have been around," said Ryo. "Your elements haven't been around ShadowDancers as much so they can't tell you what we know. Just because Rowen and I know about ShadowDancers it doesn't mean we have don't know the person who happens to be a ShadowDancer."
Ryo and Rowen started for the house after Mia. The three left looked at each other and Cye shook his head. "The Priest and the Scholar have spoken. We better give Mia a chance before they do something we will regret for a long time."
"What could they do to us?" asked Kento.
"Well, we could have cold dinners or unrecognizable pieces of carbon," offered Cye.
"And Rowen knows what we are like so he could just tell Mia what to have the shadows show us in the night," said Sage. "I think that they are right and we should give them a chance."
"Could have told you that earlier," muttered Cye. "I was saying that you should have trusted Mia more Kento. Now we just have to trust that she knows how to handle herself."
In the distance there were four smiles. One was on a woman's face as the shadows told her of the discussion between the five Clan members she was now rooming with and their decision. The other two were on the faces of the FireDancer and the HeavenSinger as the stars told their Singer of the final moments left to their three friends. Hope swelled a little more for the sake of humanity and their own survival.
The fourth smile was on a shadowed face of Tulpa's opposite. He was relieved that the ShadowDancer had been accepted into the group and was surprised at how quickly the SunSinger had sought her out.
"May be there is more to the breaking of the curse then the two finally coming together."
There was no answer to the statement, but the shadows knew. They just didn't want to give up this secret to anyone yet.
