ShadowDancer and SunSinger
Chapter 9
Rocky Oberlin

Disclaimer: I don't own the Ronin Warriors or the idea of the
ShadowDancer and SunSinger. They belong to Sunrise and Mercedes
Lackey respectively.

Dais knelt before his "Master" and waited for his instructions. "You will attack those pitiful Singers and Dancers," growled Tulpa. "Take Lady Kayura with you. She will help you defeat these pests."
This startled Dais. "Master Tulpa? Shouldn't we wait until a better time before letting anyone know about the Lady? She could help us at a later time."
"No," thundered Tulpa. "She will go with you on this errand. I want those Singers and Dancers killed."
"Yes, Master Tulpa," bowed Dais. Internally he ground his teeth and wished there was some way he could tell his possible allies that they were going to face the Lady Kayura sooner then expected. May be Cale could get a hold of his sister through the shadows. This was the only hope that Dais could harbor in the dark filled corridors of Tulpa's castle.

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"Did he ask about Mia?" asked Cale as Dais came back to get ready for his assignment.
"No, but he's sending Kayura with me when I leave," snarled Dais. He threw his helmet on the table next to him as he sat down on the chair to face his long time friend. "Can you get a message to Mia about this?"
Cale shrugged. "I don't know. I can try, but I don't know if the shadows can cross from one Realm into another. It might be impossible."
"Try. Those boys don't quite trust Mia yet and will have a harder time defeating Kayura. They need any advantage they can get."
"I'll do my best, but try to help them yourself too. We have to stop Tulpa."
"Of course." Dais left his home to meet with his troops and the woman who allowed herself to be swallowed by the darkness. He prayed to gods he had given up a long time ago that the six Singers and Dancers would be able to stand against this bunch of troops. They were the only hope of two Realms.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Cale sat in his darkened room and started his elementary shadow weaving. He was a Shadow Master, but he would never be able to do what his sister could. The shadows came to his call and waited patiently for his direction. He stood before them with a puzzle on his mind. 'How to do this,' Cale wondered. 'How would I turn shadows into messengers?'
"The best way is to ask, master."
One shadow seemed to drift closer to the Shadow Master. It seemed to know more about what was on Cale's mind then the others. Shadows didn't show age, but Cale always thought that some were older then others. This one seemed to act the oldest of the group.
"What is your bidding, master?"
It's now or never. Cale had to go through with this and hope that the shadows could contact Mia.
"I need you to take a message to the ShadowDancer. Tell her that Dais will be accompanied by Lady Kayura on his attack on the Mortal Realm."
"Where is the ShadowDancer?"
Cale inwardly winced; the answer could make or break the little hope the four warriors had.
"The ShadowDancer is in the Mortal Realm."
"It will be difficult, master," pondered the shadow. "Crossing will be hard."
"Will a Gate help?"
"No, master. We could be lost in-between."
"I see. Please, do what you can. The ShadowDancer has to know about this before Dais leaves with his soldiers."
"It shall be done, master, or we shall tell you otherwise."
Cale's room lightened as the shadows departed from him. It was all the hope he had. Like his friend, Cale took comfort in praying to gods he had long forgotten and hoped they hadn't forgotten him.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

~Can this be done?~
~It has to. We will lose the only ShadowDancer if they lose.~
~But how are we to cross the borders of the Nether Realm and the Mortal Realm?~
~By slipping through the cracks like we always do.~

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Lady Kayura noticed that a previously dark hallway wasn't as dark as it was an hour before. She noted it absently and figured that Cale or Mia was playing with the shadows again. She curled her lip at the thought of a warrior finding entertainment in the manipulation of shadows and further disgust at the thought of the warrior's sister. She would have to ask Master Tulpa to do something with them when she was in his favor. May be she could convince him of letting her use Cale's sister for torture practice in front of the five Singers and Dancers.
As she left the hallway another shadow left as well. It would do well to warn the ShadowDancer of Tulpa's puppet. Only the ShadowDancer can bring out the power locked in the shadows themselves. It was that power the shadows hoped to help bring down the dark overlord of the Nether Realm. A second shadow left the hall as well. The Shadow Master should be told of the treachery so close to him.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Mia didn't trust the light as much as the SunSinger trusted the darkness. May be it was all the conditioning that the light would destroy her if she stepped into it that held her back. But, oh how she enjoyed the sunrise with him and the FireDancer. Now she stayed in the dimmer parts of the kitchen while the WaterDancer near by only made her more nervous. She knew that the EarthSinger didn't trust her and having Dais come with a warning of an attack didn't promote feelings of trust in the large Singer.
"So what did you do in the Nether Realm?" asked Cye awkwardly. He didn't know how to handle having another person that wasn't one of his friends in the kitchen with him while he worked. This had to be something that he was going to have to get used to.
Mia shrugged. "Not much. I made breakfast for my brothers and then slept the day through. I couldn't even go into the Nether Realm's light for fear of being destroyed or discovered. I always went out at night. Cale let me go through the Gates to see what the Mortal Realm is like, but I never got to see it in the daytime like Anubis, Dais, or Seckmet."
"What about that time we found you next to Sage?"
At the mention of the SunSinger, Mia felt her stomach do a slight twist. Was she falling for the blond SunSinger? It was a possibility and she wondered how to proceed. Was her feelings even returned?
"I had miscalculated the time of day in the Mortal Realm," she said absently. "I had to stay in the forest until the sun was down enough for me to leave it."
Cye is a Healer; he could feel some of the emotions another person he was healing could feel as he worked. He also could read tones and body language like any of the other Singers and Dancers. It became a self-defense for people who liked to use their powers for something other then the benefit of the area and world as a whole. So when Cye heard the absent tone in Mia's voice, he looked up. She was staring into space with a confused and slightly love struck look on her face. Going back through the conversation, Cye came to the point when she started to sound distracted and looked back further to see what was the cause. He didn't think the question about her whereabouts was the cause of said look, but the mention of his friend might be. Time to test the theory.
"What about your second run in with Sage. When Ryo and I found him, he seemed a little shell shocked after meeting with you."
Mia blushed at the remembered encounter. "It was a mistake on both our parts," she said quickly. "He thought I was someone else and I took him for a danger. That was how he came to chase me that night."
"He also said that he tackled you to the ground. It took us a few tries to get him back on track after he started to think about your eyes." Cye chuckled, as Mia blushed even redder. His theory was right; Mia did like Sage. Now to convince the stubborn SunSinger that he returned the feelings. May be he should leave that to Ryo and Rowen; those two seem to know how to deal with the two opposite powers better then Cye did. All he had to do was let the priest and the scholar know about his findings. He would just help on the sidelines and try to get Kento to start trusting her a little more.
Cye was going to ask another question when the kitchen went darker as shadows flooded the room and went directly to Mia. If he didn't trust the small ShadowDancer as much as he did, Cye would have thought that she was trying to do something to help Tulpa gain control of the five Singers and Dancers in the house.
"What do you mean that Lady Kayura is on her way here!" Mia was off her seat and looking ready to fight with what little she knew. The green-eyed girl watched the shadows shift painfully in the alien Realm as they delivered their message. Another shadow slipped in and added what if found out to the already frightening message. "Thank you for the warning. Give my thanks to my brother as well." The shadows took a grateful leave of the ShadowDancer to return to their native Realm.
Mia looked at one of her hosts. "Dais had Cale send me a message. When he attacks, Lady Kayura will be with him. We may have been found out."
Cye reacted on the instinct of a hunted man. "We better tell the others and get ready for them to appear. Do you know if Dais will help any?"
Mia spread her hands. "I'm not sure. He may have to play along with Lady Kayura to keep her from knowing that he and my other brothers are planning treason."
"Come on. We better get the others. We have a battle to get ready for."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"What do you know about this Lady Kayura?" asked Sage.
Mia looked at the whole group. "She is utterly ruthless. She enjoys the battle and underhanded tricks. If she can't win by strength, then she will use less honorable techniques that can and does kill others. If it wasn't for my brothers, then she would have been Tulpa's favorite of his warriors."
"How can we fight her?" asked Ryo.
"Never let your guard down. She will use anything, even acting like she was too injured to fight. She likes to play on your pity for her to get close to you, and then she will strike. I've watched my brothers fight with her once in a while. Lady Kayura pulled several less then honorable tactics on them in the course of the years she started to be the hardened warrior she was and they more often then not started to refuse to practice with her. It took an order from Tulpa himself for any of them to fight her. Always after they would come back and complain of the underhanded deeds she pulled."
"So we are facing someone with no honor and little conscience," said Rowen. "She could pull anything and we could fall for it."
"Let me fight her," said Mia.
A "no" resounded around the room, but Mia sat patiently through the rounds of protests before stating her case. "I know what she is like and I know the whiles she can and will use. Remember, I grew up in a hostile land, so Cale taught me how to defend myself. I also know how to use my power for things other then hiding. She will chew you up and spit you out. If you have to, watch my fight with her and you will see what I mean about Lady Kayura being a ruthless fighter."
Each one of the Singers and Dancers in the room wanted to protest Mia even going out to fight, but some saw the circumstances as it lay. Others didn't want to trust her to fight on their side, but claim that it was an elaborate plan to get their hands on Sage. Sage didn't want to see Mia fight for reasons other then Kento's and was trying to figure out why he felt sickened at the thought of Mia even fighting.