ShadowDancer and SunSinger
Chapter 14
Rocky Oberlin

Disclaimer: I really don't own the rights to the Ronin Warriors or the idea of ShadowDancer and SunSinger. If we're nice, then may be the rest of the Ronin Warrior episodes will come out and Mercedes Lackey will write a story about ShadowDancer and SunSinger.

Lady Kayura was on pins and needles. She grinned as she thought about the loss of the four warriors of Tulpa. Ever since they left for their mission on finding the ShadowDancer and SunSinger, they hadn't come back or even contacted their Master. She knew that she was going to be promoted soon. She could feel it.

"Lady Kayura, come to the throne room," thundered Tulpa's voice from nowhere.

The twisted HeavenSinger shivered with delight. Now she was going to be promoted, as she should have been when the four idiot warriors lost the ShadowDancer. She hurried down the dark corridors to receive her reward for being faithful to her Master; she was finally going to get command of the armies.

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

"What do you think is going on in the Nether Realm?" asked Seckmet absently. He was playing with a local snake that he found in one of his early morning wanderings.

"Tulpa is probably decided which of the flunkies is going to lead the armies now," said Anubis not looking up from the book he was reading.

"That is a scary thought," said Dais. "I don't know if any of them could lead a party of ants to a picnic."

"Lady Kayura could," said Cale.

"That is if Tulpa even gives it to her," said Anubis. "He's been putting off letting her be in charge for a long time."

"Any idea why?" asked Seckmet. "You seem to know the skinny on the rumors and gossip."

"That's because I look younger then you and easier to corrupt," shot back Anubis.

"Point for his side," muttered Dais. Cale only nodded as he listened to the red head.

"From what I heard, he wants to use her as a last resort. He managed to corrupt her so much she finds pleasure in killing." Anubis shuttered at the thought of enjoying the kill of anything. "She would slaughter everything, even her own troops just to get her goal. Tulpa wouldn't be able to keep up with her demands on troops if she managed to kill battalions a day."

"So she'll be passed up again," said Cale.

"I would so like to be a fly on the wall to see her reaction to that," said Seckmet.

"No you wouldn't," said Dais. "You'd become a target for her anger later."

"More rumors?" asked Seckmet.

The white haired illusionist shook his head. "No. I had to get her one day after a disappointment. She was throwing everything she could get her hands on. The rooms she was in were totally trashed."

"What caused that tantrum?" asked Anubis.

"Not being able to use Mia as a punching bag," said Dais. "She had requested being able to "spar" with Mia everyday. She wanted to toughen her up."

Cale looked up. "I remember that. I watched her earlier with a bunch of troops she had been practicing with. They were almost destroyed to a man when she was done. I exercised my right as a commander to deny it. Fortunately Tulpa agreed with me."

"That is an interesting insight to the Nether Realm," said a new voice.

The four warriors turned to see the FireDancer leaning in the doorway of their small house. He waited for them to give him permission to come in before entering. He seated himself at the table Cale was sitting at and nodded to the other three in the room.

"What brings you out here, FireDancer?" asked Anubis, putting down his book. "I thought that you guys were going to wait for a couple of weeks before coming over to talk about getting into the Nether Realm."

"We were, but Mia got a message today from one of the Nether Realm shadows."

"Really," said Dais. "I didn't get anything."

"It said that it had to get back quickly because they wanted to keep an eye on what was going on. Mia said that she would give you the message." The FireDancer paused here to rub his eyes tiredly.

"So what is the message," asked Seckmet.

"The shadow said that Lady Kayura was given command of the armies of Tulpa," said Ryo.

"WHAT?!" came from four mouths of four very startled warriors. "How did that happen?" continued Dais.

Ryo shrugged. "It didn't say. All it said was that she was massing the army and getting ready to cross the Gate to invade the Mortal Realm. We are going to have to leave sooner then expected."

"That is an understatement," said Dais. "She will lay waste to everything from the Gate to where she's stopped. And then there is the army to deal with. The ones she doesn't kill will be as ruthless as she is and would enjoy pillaging and burning."

Ryo pulled a face. "That doesn't sound good. I better get you back to our house. We need to talk about moving up the plans now." He stood up from his seat to leave. "Come on."

The five warriors left the small house for the house the six Singers and Dancers lived in. Every one of the four Nether Realm warriors was edgy over the news about Lady Kayura's new promotion.

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

Sage found Mia in the front room looking out the large window. She was pensive and frowning about something. He had to find out what was bothering his love.

"What's the matter Mia?" asked Sage.

"It's the idea of Kayura being promoted to the head of Tulpa's army," said the ShadowDancer.

Sage pulled the woman close to him and hugged her close. He laid his cheek on the top of her head, trying to give her some small measure of comfort. "Why? What scares you so bad? The last fight with her wasn't nice looking, but what could she do that scares you so much?"

"My friend was a sweet person once," answered Mia. "She and I played together until Tulpa decided to start training her. He wanted to train me, but Cale said he would do that. Tulpa thought he had complete control over my brothers, so he went along with the idea. When I next saw my friend, she was different; she was more ruthless and willing to do anything to get her way. It had to be her way when we started to fight and then she would beat me up when we first started sparring. Cale put his foot down and said that a ShadowMaster didn't get treated like that. He kept Kayura away from me after that. I only saw her once in a while when everyone was summoned to Tulpa's throne room."

Sage didn't say anything. He knew that Mia had to hide her true powers, but the thought of her being used as an outlet for someone's pent up rage made his blood boil. He was willing to go to the Nether realm just so he could challenge this Lady Kayura to a duel to the death. And she would be the one who didn't make it out of the duel alive. He would see to it.

"Don't worry, I won't let anyone near you again," he whispered in her hair. "No one will hurt you again."

Mia turned in his embrace to put her arms around his waist. She buried her face in his chest while tears ran down from her eyes to be soaked up in his shirt. He ran his hand down her hair and rubbed circles on her back. He didn't know what to do with Mia as she quietly cried in his arms over her less than perfect childhood.

"I'm sorry," sniffed Mia as she raised her head from Sage's chest.

"It's all right. I'm glad that you trust me enough to cry on my shoulder." Sage looked down at the ShadowDancer and smiled softly at her. She returned it with a watery one of her own.

Cye stepped into the room just then and said, "We have company. Your brothers are here to talk about getting back into the Nether Realm, Mia."

Mia nodded and started to wipe away the last of her tears. She started to the other room when she was satisfied that she didn't look too much like a wreck and Sage let her go from his arms, but didn't let go of her hand. Mia looked back at the SunSinger who gave her another smile and started to walk with her to see the rest of their friends. Now was a time to get down to business.

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

Cye was worried about the feelings of grief coming from the room Mia was in. He watched as Sage went into the room to see if she wanted to join them when her brothers came over to talk and didn't come back for a while. Then Cye started to pick up on the feelings of anger and protectiveness joining with the sadness already coming from the room.

"She must be thinking about her past," he said quietly.

The gathered men gave him a questioning look. "Why do you say that?" asked Rowen.

"Because of the emotions I've been picking up since Sage walked into that room. I think that we should find out what's hurting her so much that Sage is ready to make a Challenge."

Kento growled as five new figures joined them from the back door. "Nice to see you too, EarthSinger," said Cale as he peeked in on his sister. "She must have told the SunSinger about her childhood with Kayura. That is the only thing that would make her break down in tears." He turned and walked away from the doorway to join the other Singers and Dancers at the table. His friends joined them too after making sure that Mia was alright.

"Should we ask them to join us?" asked Rowen.

Cye shook his head. "Let them have some time alone. Sage is finally opening up to let someone in and so is Mia. We need to leave them alone for a bit."

"So what are we going to do about this Lady Kayura?" asked Kento. "If she makes Mia cry and put worried looks on four hardened warriors, then she must be bad."

"You have no idea," said Anubis. "She is willing to do anything to make herself look good in Tulpa's eyes."

Cale looked at the WaterDancer. "You know what is being felt by everyone, right?" he asked.

Cye nodded. "It came with the healing gift."

"Then I wouldn't get too close to the fighting unless you can block."

"Don't worry, just because I'm small doesn't mean that I can't fight on my own. You guys should know that."

Cale bowed his head. "You are right. I apologize for doubting you."

"When can we get started on our planning?" asked Dais.

"When Sage and Mia are ready to join us," said Cye. "And they aren't ready yet."

"Let us know when they are," asked Ryo. "We need to get the started quickly. From what they told me about Lady Kayura, our window of opportunity is getting smaller." Cye nodded.

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

It was fifteen minutes before he asked Mia and Sage to join them in the kitchen. Rowen wasn't sure what was going on with Mia and Sage, but he knew that since Mia showed up, Sage started to be a little more open. Personally he was glad that Sage found someone at all considering he didn't go out much.

He moved his attention from his thoughts to the task at hand when Cye, Sage, and Mia joined them at the kitchen table. He noticed his blonde friend and the auburn haired Dancer holding hands when they entered the room. He ducked his head to hide the smirk and noticed the laughter in Ryo's eyes. They were pleased that the SunSinger and the ShadowDancer were getting along in their relationship.

"So, according to everyone who lived in the Nether Realm, this Lady Kayura is bad news," started Kento. "How are we going to get around her to Tulpa if she is so ruthless and is able to take on battalions of soldiers herself?"

"By separating her from her troops," said Dais. "She can fight on her own, but if she has backup, then she won't put herself in danger. She will throw every man under her against an enemy to win. If she's alone, then she will have to use her own abilities."

"But we saw what happened after she fought Mia," said Cye. "Mia barely won and was cut up from head to knee. How is separating her from her troops going to help us?"

"If we separate her from the troops, then we can dispatch them quicker," said Anubis.

"She doesn't bring a second to lead if she is someplace else, she's too jealous of her power," continued Cale. "They will have only the orders that she gave them and their own ruthlessness. That will help the ones who have to fight against them."

"And Lady Kayura?" asked Sage.

"Leave her to me," said Rowen. "She's one of mine. I know the powers that she tries to call and I know more then she does. You have a person to protect and a tyrant to kill."

Sage was going to argue with Rowen over the right to challenge Lady Kayura, but Cye added his two cents. "I agree with Rowen. You have something else to do, Sage. If you go against this Lady Kayura, then you won't be able to help Mia later against Tulpa. Let him fight her and you stay with Mia."

"Lady Kayura is a means to an end. Tulpa is what really needs to be defeated," added Ryo. "Our best bet would be for you to stay away from her and continue with our original mission."

Sage knew that he was out voted and out maneuvered. He could see the Nether Realm warriors were agreeing with Cye, Ryo, and Rowen. Kento looked like he was going to agree. Sage didn't even want to look at Mia at the moment because he would feel guilty over letting his tight-reined emotions get the best of him so he would do something that could get one or more of the people in the room killed. "Alright, I agree."

"Good," said Cale. "When do we leave?"