A/n: Hiya all Naomi Hunter again, re-did chapter nine, better with more Br/n Nya ha ha. Have nothing to say, cept R&R PLEASE and that this fic is getting really good! Aki rocks!

Disc: Don't own sh----stuff. Sorry Aki. U_U Erm, I own Nakuru and Aki owns Nathan and Various other

Stuff you don't recognize. Nya ha ha . Mata ne minna-chan R&R damn you!

A Warrior's Path: Chapter Nine: Dreams.

(Naomi POV)

Leon's been pretty upset since Samantha got knocked out during the battle. All he does is sit by her door or bedside all depressed. Can't you tell he's got a crush on her? He didn't deny it either when I teased him about it this morning, either. I think he feels guilty that she's hurt, though, and he's neglecting the fact he's injured now too. *sigh* Guys, always trying to be brave and sweet, doesn't it get just a little pathetic? I mean, don't get me wrong, we're all worried for her, but Leon, Leon's got it BAD.

I rubbed my eyes, not wanting to fall asleep, even though I really needed a good sleep. But, when you're stuck sleeping on a lumpy couch, you tend to hesitate. I glared at my white cat, clear green eyes closed, asleep on a posh violet pillow.

~*Spoiled brat.*~ I told her in my head, the way I can talk to her, and most animals for a matter of fact. Yeah, it's weird, but then, so am I; weirder than you'll ever know. Morgana cracked open an eye and gave

me a cold green-eyed glare back, then returned to her 15th nap of the day. (Ah, to be a cat.)

I stood up and stretched my shoulders, letting out a yawn. I grabbed my toothbrush out of my bag and walked to the bathroom, my bare feel making soft slappish noises on the cool floor. It was pretty quiet since Leena was asleep. (Thank the Goddess!) I flicked on the light and began to brush my teeth.

While I brushed, I thought of home, or rather the Fluegel compound. I was pretty bored here, killing time. I mean I know I have Brad here and all, but when you have Leena point and laugh every time you're within an arms length of one another, it limits what you can do. ((a/n: HENTAIS!!I don't mean smutty stuffs! I mean like talk, socialize et cetera, err, okay, some smut perhaps. *grins innocently and blushes*)) I spit out the toothpaste and washed the brush, then headed back to the couch, stopping at Brad's door which was open.

"Night Koibito-chan!" I whispered as he looked up from the sketchpad. ((A/n: Gomen ne minna-san, I just see Brad as the artistic type. ^_^))

"You going to bed already?" He asked, getting up, as I glanced at the glowing red numbers on his alarm clock. (11:30)

"Yeah, nothing else to do." I said as I noticed him blush slightly in the dim light with a cute grin. "Hentai." I said softly as he smiled again.

"Oh well, what can I tell ya?" He said wrapping his arms around my waist and giving me a kiss.

"Mm…G'nite." I told him as he gave me another tiny kiss.

"I'll walk you to the couch." He said letting go, and stretching out his fingers.

We sat on the couch talking as we did almost every night, until I got really tired. Doc walked in from the kitchen and laughed.

"C'mon you two, break it up, we have a battle tomorrow morning and I need you to sub in Naomi, with both Sam and Leon out. I can't have you two falling asleep on me out there!" he said as we both smiled and Brad stood.

"'Night you two." He said as we echoed him, still smiling. I liked Doctor Tauros. He might be insane, but Leena was lucky to have such a caring father-- I envied her. Doc moved on and went into his room. Brad moved over me, still on the couch. I lay back laughing as he pulled the blanket over me. Brad could be fun like that; he was one of those guys with that strange, old, sense of chivalry, like opening doors and a jacket over a puddle. He'd tuck me in every night and give me a tiny kiss on the forehead and tell me 'Sweet Dreams'. but, this time, he didn't. He hesitated and looked down at me.

"I love you." he said for the first time, as I nodded.

"I love you too." He gave me a kiss on the lips, lasting longer than usual. ((hey hey, what's usual? *grins evilly* sorry.)) Brad was also very shy with displays of affection. He gave me a small smile that held sadness in it as he pushed back my hair.

"I really do." He told me as I nodded again, then he got up and retired to his room. I smiled to myself happily, and curled up under the blanket, falling fast asleep.

A woman with long pallid hair and sunglasses, hiding clear, bright crimson eyes, walked down the hallway of the Sight Building, wearing a tight-fitting black coat. Her boots made eerie, hollow clopping noises in the empty hall, until shots rang out , sounding a small explosion.

"What the hell was that?!" The Kerodayvanian Resident officer exclaimed, pushing the glasses on top of her head, breaking into a run. She turned the corner and saw the end of the corridor in flames with debris everywhere. An older woman cried out from the rubble. She ran over and tried to help her, but she was trapped under a large block of concrete, burned and bleeding badly.

"T-The…Fury….is loose." she choked out, hand grasping the black fabric of the jacket.

"The Fury!? The Berserk Fury did this!? Who's piloting it!?" The pale haired woman exclaimed shocked.

The Berserk Fury was an experimental organoid machine project on Kerodayvania, /What's it doing on Earth!?/ she wondered to herself.

"It…will destroy…all." she gasped again, slumping down further, dead.

"Shit! I have to stop it! Who could be piloting it!?" she said putting the woman down, unbuttoning the coat, placing it atop the woman's dead body, leaving her in a pair of very torn up jeans, cut off at the knee and black tank top with a red star on the front. She turned the other way and ran to the hangar. The ashen haired woman entered and surveyed the Earthen mechanical animal-like creatures; they were far less advanced than anything Kerodayvania could produce but with her skills, she could hopefully pull it off. She spied a 'Dinosaur' type with a long range rifle. She took a deep breath and climbed into the cockpit, booting up the system. When the system was up, she took off into the hallway of flames, prying into the room where it all began. She looked around, smoke clouded the laboratory, and the flames obscured much of her vision. The walls held outlines of scientists and equipment. It looked like a picture right out of a textbook from Hiroshima. The silver Zoid's tail disappeared into a freshly blasted hole as the Kerodayvanian Officer cursed and stealthily followed it. As it stopped she went into the long-range combat mode, carefully taking aim on the Fury. It shook slightly as it was hit three times, then spun to face the woman's Zoid. The Fury powered up and aimed a blast at her, and she cursed barely dodging it. Gritting her teeth she charged at it, as it put up it's shield, tossing her away.

"Who are you!? Why are you doing this!?" She demanded harshly over the comm. link as a dark haired man a bit older than her with a scar on his cheek appeared.

"To rule the world of course! Once I get rid of this lowly planet and the few remaining Kerodayvanians! I'll be the smartest, strongest, and the most eligible to take over the coming world of Zi!" He said laughing evilly.
"Ca-Cameron!!??! What!? What do you mean remaining Kerodayvanians!?" she choked out, eyes wide as he interrupted, clucking his tongue against the roof of his mouth.

"Nakuru….foolish, foolish girl. I've destroyed the Planet of Kerodayvania as I will, Earth, along with you and the other officers. There's no way that you can stop me, your pathetic Terran Gunsniper is in no way a match for the amazing Kerodayvanian Berserk Fury!--"

"H-how could you. You destroyed Kerodayvania?!" she repeated, shocked beyond belief, the fact still not sinking in, that he could do such a thing. "You speak so highly of your home planet, which you just destroyed." she spat out as he smiled with malevolence.

"True, true, but I'm doing what I have to, to achieve my destiny, to rule everything. And I'll destroy Earth now, as well. Once I set off the instability in the Sight Building, it's curtains for everyone. The earthlings, their civilizations, all of Kerodayvania's Resident Officers, your dear Nathan, and you as well, unless of course you'd prefer to join me now and be saved by the Berserk Fury. Think of it, you and me, together we can rule everything with all the power imaginable! What do you say?" He offered with emphasis.

Nakuru hung her head, shoulders shaking in rage. /This is all my fault…/ she thought as he waited for her reply. Choking back tears, her head shot up violently, as she screamed at him.

"BASTARD! I told you once, and I told you a thousand times, I'll tell you again now! NEVER!!! I will never lower myself to your level!"

"Fine." Cameron replied, turning his head slightly. "Then prepare for your annihilation!" He yelled charging the particle cannon.

"You think you can play God!? Well, I won't let you!!!" She screamed unloading rounds and rounds of ammo upon the Berserk Fury, which was barely thrown back by the barrage, and continued charging the cannon.

/I've failed….the destruction of the entire Kerodayvanian race as well as Earth's is going to be my fault./ she thought bitterly, tears spilling and drowning the fiery red of her eyes, flowing down her pale cheeks as a bluish-black blur tackled the Berserk Fury. The Command Fox let out a howl as it charged again.

"STRIKE LASER CLAW!!!" The pilot yelled, slightly damaging the Berserk Fury. Cameron cursed as he ran circles around the Fury, firing several times, while using his speed to physically attack. The Command Fox stopped in front of the Gunsniper and shot a jamming flare at the silver Zoid. The Command Fox turned it's head to the Gunsniper a comm. link popping up. A young man her age, with neck length dark brown hair with longer pieces in front , tucked behind his ears, intense blue-silver eyes staring at her was shown on the screen. /Nathan…/ She thought sadly looking down at the silver band on her ring finger she was twisting nervously between her thumb and pointer as he spoke.

"We have to get out of here, now, follow me!" He said as she viewed her surroundings with the heat sensors , running after him. They ran in the Zoids through the halls as she tried to talk to him.

"Nathan! Listen to me!" She yelled as he stopped short. "Cameron's going to destroy Earth! He already has Kerodayvania! We have to--"

"I KNOW!" He shouted interrupting and startling her as he stopped and clamed down a bit. "There's nothing we can do about it! We can't defeat the Fury, it's too powerful! The best thing to do now is to get the hell out of here! Now let's go!"

"But, everyone will--" She started as he yelled again.

"I KNOW! If we can make it to the river, we may just be saved! Nakuru, Samantha, she's there now. I have to protect her!" He said sounding sadder, "Nakuru, please don't make me choose." Nakuru wiped her eyes, swallowing her emotions, all a mix of sorrow, fear along with anger and nodded.

"Okay, Nathan, lets go." He nodded in response and they began to run again. They exited the building and kept running down the road to the river. She could sense the energy rising in the Sight Building and they were still too far from the river.

"Nate…we're not going to make it…." she said to him over the comm. Link. As the Command Fox stopped short.

"Nakuru stop!" he said , opening the cockpit. "Get in! That piece of shit's too slow!"

"Ah…..okay." she said jumping out of the borrowed Gunsniper and crawled into the Command Fox's cockpit, sitting in the small seat behind the pilot, Nate beginning to run again before she'd put on the restraints. Nakuru gritted her teeth against the G-force, she wasn't too good with such high speeds yet but now wasn't the time to complain. Another small explosion sounded as Nate put on more speed.

"We're not gonna-- make it!" she choked out, "we have to- to find shelter!" Nathan tensed and let out a frustrated sigh.

"As much as I hate to admit it, you're right, there's a cave of some sorts over there, I explored it with Sam a while ago." He sped up and swung around to the entrance. He popped open the cockpit and half-dragged her out and into the cave. They ran to a small crystal blue shallow lake, leading her carefully around it to a the edge in the far back and sat.

Nakuru looked at Nate's face in profile, staring at the water intently, fiddling with his necklace.

"I'm sure she'll be okay, Nate." she said as he sighed.

"Yeah, I just hope she can get along without me…"

"Don't think like that!" She exclaimed shaking her head violently then looking him in the eyes, holding out her outstretched pinkie finger to him. "Promise me."

"Kuru…" he sighed with a tiny smile.

"NATE!! " she insisted shaking her pinkie at him, as he smiled wider and wrapped his pinkie around hers. ((ahem that's called "finger-cutting" in Japan ^^ and Pinkie-swearing in America ^^ it's a big thing kids do (In Japan) or so I've heard/read. ))

"Okay, okay, promised." he said back as she curled up in his lap and he put his arms around her. He kissed her forehead as she sighed.

"The Berserk Fury will destroy all, won't it, there's no use lying." He held her tighter and kissed her again.

"We'll be okay, I promise----" he started but an explosion went off and everything began to shake violently and parts of rocks began to fall on them.--------------

I sat up quickly, inhaling sharply. Uhn….that damn dream again! I'd probably never admit it, but that dream scares me shitless, every time I have it, and believe me, it's a lot. It scares me because I don't know what it means, could it be some clue to my past, of which I have very little recollection of. I don't know, but what I do know is, I haven't told anyone about the dream, not even Brad, who knew a lot of my troubles. Morgana meowed sincerely, jumping into my lap, nuzzling my hands.

~*The dream again, deary?~* she asked as I nodded, too tired to teleflash in response. ~*Well, you've only been having that dream for how long? Deary, you should do something*~

~*I have! I've consulted the tarot, done divinations, used guidance spells, it's hopeless!~* I sighed.

~*Maybe you're just a bad witch?*~ Morgana tried to joke, but went to correct herself after seeing my hurt look. ~*Of course you're quite talented! If you weren't you wouldn't be able to understand me, those two dogs or any other natural spirit, except for the occasional 'meow', 'woof' and whatnot, so fret not Dearest.*~

~*Maybe you're right, but I hate not knowing!~* I said hanging my head as I heard sleepy footsteps and munching sounds. I turned my head to see Bit grinning and shoving his hand back into the cookie jar. Leena's Cookie jar.

"Who stole the cookies from the cookie jar? Who me? Not me, couldn't be! Then who? Anyone else Leena can and will murder." He chorused, laughing softly and I laughed too, shaking off the dream. He looked over and smiled.

"What are you doing up?" I gathered, for he spoke with a mouthful of cookies.

"Nightmare, as always, plus insomnia." I said picking up my blanket and pillows, rubbing my shoulder, stiff from the few hours of sleep I'd gotten on the lumpy couch. "G'nite Bit, happy and safe snacking."

"Night Naomi-san." He said, his hand retrieving another cookie. "Have fun with brad." he teased as I involuntarily blushed.

"Goddess! I'm surrounded by perverts!" I hissed padding to Brad's room. I knocked lightly and he told me to come in.

"How'd you know it was me?" I asked as he sat up and grinned.

"Well, first, who else would it be at…" he glances at the glowing red numbers on the alarm clock, "2:45 am and Leena couldn't be that quiet, Bit doesn't knock, Leon's with Sam, Sam's still unconscious, Jaime knocks panicky since he can't sit still, and the little green men on the moons can hear Doc snoring." He laughed, pulling back the blankets and making room for me. I sat down and slid my bare feet under the covers.

"Mr. Observant, I see." I smiled and he snuggled up closer to me.

"So what are you doing up anyway?" He asked stroking my hair.

"Nightmare."

"Hmm…I had one too, more sad and strange than scary though." He admitted. "Want to tell me? You don't have to."

"It's nothing really, I barely remember it." I lied as he nodded to my shoulder.

"Okay, but remember, you can tell me anything."

"I know." I told him as he sat up and shut off the light and wrapped his arms around my waist, head on my shoulders. "G'nite Koibito."

"Night, Aishiteru."

~*~

Haha Done! Arm itchy!! Well tell me whatcha think Aki, I'm going to keep typing, work on the last bit I have to add to 11 and then type up 13. Whee-hee-hee! ~Naonao