Part 4- Broken Star

The next morning came and went with Angels staying home from school. Neither Sage or Ki would allow her to go since her sickness had not gone away and she still had a slight fever. Not that she protested much, she'd rather sleep it off at the moment than suffer through school. Plus she wanted to feel atleast somewhat better by that night. Sage had asked them to help with a small open house demonstration at his family's dojo that was attached to his house. The guys were coming since they trained there a lot and Mr. Date had expressed an interest in meeting two students of his dear friend Master John Seyia, owner and master of the SunStar dojo. Both of them served in the police force and even worked on some cases together. So Angels and Ki agreed to the request, offering to go over right after school to help set up. But since Angels was sick Sage told her not to worry about it and just come by before the open house started.

For Ki and the Ronins school couldn't have gone quick enough that day. Once the bell rang they met outside and headed for Sage's house. Ki stopped by her house to drop off her things as well as quickly change into her dojo uniform. It consisted of black semi-baggy pants and a tight black tanktop and sports bra underneath a green karate gee top only it didn't have any sleeves on it. On the back was her last name in silver letter patches and over her heart was a black circular patch with a silver star over a gold sun within it, the Symbol of SunStar. Around her waist was a black belt with three gold stripes on one end and the Koren symbol for Tae Kwon Do in gold stiching and her full name on the other end. She slipped her shoes on and cast a quick glance into Angels room to see that the other girl was still asleep but her alarm clock showed that one of the alarms was set to go off. She gave a small wave to MoonStriker when the wolf looked up from his nap at the end of Angels's bed. Ki left the house without noticing the dark clouds that seemed to start to gather in the sky. A dark presence was coming and would make it's move within just a few hours.

Angels groaned and cracked open her eyes to glare at her now blaring alarm clock. She yawned and reached out to shut it off before getting up and streching slightly. She looked around but didn't see MoonStriker in her room. As she walked to the bathroom she let her senses expand throughout the house and located MoonStriker downstairs. A short while later Angels emerged from the bathroom awake, refreshed and partcialy dressed in her dojo uniform. She picked up her dark blue top and put it on. It was exactly like Ki's, sleeveless and with the SunStar logo over her heart, but on the back her last name was in gold patches and there where two white wing patches that matched the tatto on her back. Her black belt was the same except her name was on it and she had four stripes instead of three. Angels streched her arms above her head but stopped when there was a soft 'thud' that made her look towards her open bedroom door. " MoonStriker?" she called but recived no answer. Now that's weird, she thought while slowly walking out into the hall. If he can't come he normaly barks just to let me know that he heard me.

Her feet made little noise as she padded down the emtpy hallway. The girl paused at the stairwell when a soft, haunting melody reached her ears. She recognized it as a flute but didn't understand. To her knowledge and according to her senses there was no one in the house. " MoonStriker? Ki?" No answer. It was dark in the house becase no lights were on and the light from the windows was fading as the sun got lower in the sky. Angels turned to look back towards her and Ki's rooms when something grabbed her from behind and threw her into the master bedroom which neither of them used. She cried out in surprise more than pain when her body hit the cleared floor space in the dark bedroom. Heavy footsteps of her attacker grew closer at a quick place and Angels scrambeled to get to her knees. A shadowed figure lunged in and her foot lashed out in a side kick to knock him back, she could tell from the person's build that they were male. She kicked again when he lunged for her a second time but no luck. He caught her leg and her eyes grew wide when she glimpsed his arm swinging down towards her knee in the low light. She screamed in pain as his blow over extended and dislocated her right knee. His foot landed a hard kick to her ribs, knocking her onto her side as he continued to kick and punch relentlessly. No matter how hard she tried she seemed to be one step behind her attacker.

Angels tried to clear her head that was in a haze of pain when the man suddenly stopped. Her eyes caught a glimpse of metal and she heard a cold laughter. Without thinking about the concequences she tried to summon her armor orb but bit back another cry as pain shot through her whole body. Something was blocking her armor! She couldn't summon it. The man laughed again and the blade of the knife he held arched down to open a small cut on her cheek. The female ronin lashed out with her uninjured leg but it was no use. The knife opened a deep slash and Angels screamed again as her attack once more seemed lost in a frenzy. All attempts to stop him were in vain as her pain filled body reacted to slow and her mind seemed to constantly be one step behind.

Just as there seemed to be no end or any help in sight a feirce growl came from behind the man. He screamed as the wofl pounced and dug his teeth into the man's arm. He cursed and grabbed MoonStriker by the back of the neck before hurling him into the wall with an incrediable amount of strength. Angels screamed MoonStriker's name as the wolf's form fell to the floor limp, and unmoving. The man laughed again and kicked Angels in the head, catching her off guard and trowing her onto her stomach. Distantly she heard the phone ring and a familiar voice on the answering machine. She tried calling the name that came to her both physicaly and mentaly but neither voice seemed to work. She was alone. Her attacker on the other hand seemed less than pleased and cursed again. He growled and slashed at the girl's back again and again, slowly carving out a singal word. The hilt of the knife hit Angels on the temple of her forehead, knocking her unconsious. With that done the man smiled maliciously and disappeared into the shadows.

Ki figited and looked at the clock on the wall. Angels was late. She couldn't shake the feeling that something was WRONG. Finally she tried calling through the links of their armors only to find no answer and something seemed to be blocking the connection. Now she knew something was wrong. She sprang to her feet and ran over to Sage. " I'm worried about Angels. Can I barrow your phone real quick?"

" Sure," he replied before leading her into the dojo's office. Ki picked up the phone and dialed the number of the house. After five rings the answering machine picked up. She called Angels name but still the other girl didn't pick up the phone until the line cut off. She hung up and looked at Sage with worry deep within her eyes. " Something's wrong," she told him, " I'm gonna go home and see what's up."

Sage moved aside as Ki ran out of the office. He too felt uneasy and after a moment of debate followed the girl. He called to Ryo, whome was nearby and the only Ronin not currently occupied. The two left at a run and caught up with Ki as she ran down the sidewalk. None of them were prepared for what they were about to come across.

As they neared the house Ki immediately saw that the front door was wide open. She slowed down and moved to go in but a hand quickly squeazed her arm and jerked her to a stop. She looked back at Sage and Ryo.

" Let us go in first," Sage told the girl. There was a strong sense of darkness and evil still hanging in and around the house. Something was definatly wrong. He looked and Ryo and the two nodded before carefuly enertering the house on full guard. Once inside Ki turned on the lights to the front hallyway and stairway.

" Angels!? MoonStriker!?" The three's shouts went unanswered. Ki bolted towards the stairs, followed immediately by Sage and Ryo. Once up there she looked towards her and Angels's room before the down the oppisite direction. The doorway only a few feet down at the end of the hallway was wide open. Within the faint light Ki caught a glimpse of dark brown and blue streaked hair. She ran to the doorway of the master bedroom and reached inside to turn on the lights with Sage and Ryo right behind her. Upon seeing the sight Ki screamed in surprise and horror. All three of them stood in shook of the sceen before them.

Blood was everywhere and in the middle of it was the beaten and bloodied Angels. Sage and Ryo pushed past Ki and immediately knelt down next to the unconsious girl. Sage's gaze snapped up and looked at the still frozen Ki. " Call 911," he ordered. That snapped her out of her daze and she ran down the hall and into her bedroom. Sage quickly returned his gaze to Angels, checking to see that she was breathing and had a pulse. Ryo looked around and spotted MoonStriker unconsious against the wall. Before he could go and check to see the wolf's condition he heard Sage gasp and looked to see what had made him do so. What he saw made his breath catch in his throat.

On Angels's back the word 'Ronin' was carved by small slashes.

Sage took a deep breath to try and ease the anger and surprise both welling up inside of him. He carefuly placed his hands on the girl's back and let his healing powers go to work. Ryo's soft protest went ignored as he healed the cuts on the girl's back as best as he could without calling his armor. A soft green light glowed under his hand for a few moments. The lighter cuts on Angels's back healed quickly but Sage stopped when he heard footsteps coming towards them. The word was gone and only a few random looking cuts remained behind. Angels's shirt and pants had been torn in a few places so 'Ronin' wasn't clearly cut into the back of her bloodsoaked shirt. It was obvious that who ever she'd tried to fight back against had surprised and overpowered her.

" Oh my god," Ki cried," MoonStriker!" She rushed to the wolf's form laying against the wall near the door. MoonStriker whined as he started to come around. Ki gave a small sigh of relief, at least one of the two seemed to be okay.

" Ryo, go out front and wait for the ambulance." Ryo nodded, through reluctnant to go, and got up to follow Sage's command. Ki looked at Sage when he told her to go get a couple of towels and immediately did so. If we don't stop some of her bleeding she'll die of bloodloss. He checked her pulse again and grew more worried as it kept getting fainter. When Ki returned with two towels he took one and pressed it against as many cuts on Angels's back and side as he could. He instructed Ki to do the same with the girl's left leg after taking notice that her right knee looked badly hurt. Ki nodded and again did as she was told. They heard sirens in the distance and prayed that the EMTs would hurry up. While they waited however Ki carefuly called upon her armor's power and the magic of her blood to heal the deeper cuts Angels had sustained. It was only a little but it stopped much of Angels's bloodloss. But the problem was Ki could only heal the cuts to the point of not needing stiches without Sage noticing something. She stopped her healing power just as Ryo's shouts could be heard from the front door. Ki and Sage moved back as EMTs rushed in and took over. The three stood back as two men and one woman feverishly worked to save Angels's life. Ki knelt down and hid her face in MoonStriker's fur, unable to bear seeing her best friend and companion in this state.

How could this have happened? Ki kept asking herself over and over again. Tears fell from her eyes and she looked up when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Sage looked at her with concern in his eyes but said nothing. More footsetps could be heard as Mr. Date and another police man came running. Mr. Date had been called at the dojo when his dispatch unit had recived the emergency call. He took one look at the sceen and turned his attention to the three teenagers and one wolf standing off to the side. He ushered them out into the hall and downstairs into the living room so the EMTs could work. The other three Ronins were already there and another policeman was outside keeping the gathering crowd back.  Mr. Date started asking Ki, Sage and Ryo what happened and they told them their story, pausing only when the EMTs brought Angels down the stairs and outside to the ambluance on a strecher. MoonStriker whined and started to follow but Ki kept him back by grabbing the collar around his neck. There was nothing they could do at the moment to help Angels except pray.

An hour later only the two cops, Sage, Ryo, and Mr. Date were the only visitors in the house. Ki just sat on the couch with her hands clapsed infront her her chin as she rested her elbows on her knees. She answered their questions as best to her knowledge. Her eyes were deeply worried and concern but they also held a slightly haunted look. There was now way she could understand just how this happened. If she were in that much danger Ki knew Angels would have at least called her subarmor. The whole thing made her body trembel in fear and exsaughtion. Despite what the other two thought she had sceen the word slashed onto Angels's back. DarkSide had found them. She was foolish to think that this peaceful life would last.

The sound of the door opening and closeing snapped her out of her thoughts. All of those present looked up to see an middle-aged man walk into the room. His short hair and small beard were already white even though he was just under the age of 50. John Seyia, master of the SunStar dojo, was still in his own dojo uniform which was completely black but his shirt had sleeves and he had nothing underneath it like the two girls. Mr. Date walked forward and shook hands with the man.

" John hello," he said in as cheerful a voice as he could make right now, " I wish it was under better conditions."

" Same here," Mr. Seyia replied in a somber voice.

" Master Seyia," came a soft voice. He looked down at Ki whom was looking up at him. " How is she?" she asked in the same small voice.

The man sighed and sat down in one of the empty arm chairs. " She's stable but still unconsious," he told them. " They said it was because of a small blow to her head so she should wake up pretty soon. Besides a whole lot of cuts and bruises, none of which are really major, she has a couple of broken or cracked ribs and her right knee was dislocated from a hard blow aimed to do just that." Ki flinched and a couple of the others grimanced. " It just proves even more that this attacker had his work cut out for him. Baised on what I've seen of the police report already MoonStriker tried to interfear but was knocked away. Your voice on the answering machine probrobly scared this person off." Mr. Date nodded, that's what he had suspected as well.

" Are there any leads as to who did this?" Ryo asked. Mr. Seyia sighed and shook his head as did Mr. Date.

" None so far. The neighbors say they didn't see anyone besides you guys anywhere near the house," Mr. Date told them.

" Ki," Mr. Seiya paused until the girl looked at him before continuing, " if you want I can take you to the hospital." Ki nodded and got up to go get some things from upstairs. Master Seyia turned his gaze to Ryo and Sage, " I thank you for sticking around but you might want to head home. It's getting pretty late." The two boys said their goodbyes and started to leave when Ki returned with a small backpack in her hand.

" What about MoonStriker?" Ki asked Master Seyia. The wolf was obviously worried but the man had to shake his head. Pets weren't allowed in the hospital.

" I think we can do something about that," Mr. Date commented while looking at the wolf. He turned his gaze to the girl. " If he will behave he can stay with us tonight and Sage will bring him by the hospital tomorrow."

Ki nodded, wondering just how Mr. Date would manage that but her mind was to occupied on other things to peruse the curiosity. She looked down at the wolf, her eyes intense and serious. " Behave. Go with Mr. Date and Sage tonight and they'll take you to see Angels tomorrow okay?" Again to many people's surprise the wolf seemed to understand and even nodded in reply. Ki thanked Mr. Date and Sage as they left with MoonStriker following behind them. Ki and Master Seyia left soon after they and the two remaining cops left, making sure to lock the front door behind them.

Sage listened to the sounds of the house as his family rose the next morning. The Ronin of Halo sat at the kitchen table lost in his own thoughts. Not only the nightmare from before but also the urgent feeling that something terrible was about to happen had plagued his sleep. Sage's thoughts focused mainly on the events of the past few weeks, specifically those of last night. There was a noticeable bond between the two girls known as Angels and Ki, different and deeper than that of friendship. It was almost like their shared the same bond the Ronins did but that was impossible. Sage and the others bonds had been formed in a tight locked battle against evil and mystical armors. But Sage could not overlook the fact that whoever had attacked Angels had slashed the word ' Ronin' into her back.

Upon thinking about the girl named Angels Sage cast a glance down at the wolf lying at his feet. MoonStriker had been good on his promise to behave but it was obvious the wolf's thoughts were elsewhere rather than on making trouble. If Sage didn't know any better he would say that the wolf was as worried, if not more, than he was. But what's to say that he wasn't? WhiteBlaze acted like a human at times so why was it so hard for Sage to believe that this wolf might have the same kind of intelligence? Angels had said that MoonStriker had been with her since she could remember and Ryo had said the same about WhiteBlaze. Plus Sage knew for a fact that the wolf got little, if any, sleep last night.

As if sensing eyes on him MoonStriker lifted his head and looked up at Sage. The boy smiled and scratched the wolf behind the ears. The wolf's gaze moved to the kitchen doorway as, one by one, the rest of the Date family entered.

Mr. Date said a quick hello and gave a quick kiss to his wife before grabbing a piece of toast. He was already in his police uniform and explained that he wanted to see if anything new had popped up about last night's events. When his father asked Sage if he remembered how to get MoonStriker into the hospital he nodded. It was a simple and easy plan. " Are the other boys going to meet you here?"

Again Sage nodded. " Yes," he said while getting up to follow Mr. Date as he headed for the front door. " We figured we'd meet here and then head over to the hospital. Cye said he would drive us there."

" Good. I have a feeling that those two girls will need every bit of support they can get," the man said with a sad tone in his voice. He'd come to know both girls as nice young ladies. His friend John almost thought of the two girls as his own children and last night Mr. Date had felt the same kind of feeling. They were good friends of his own son and the other Ronins, whom might as well have been Sage's brothers. " Take care."

" You too." With that said Mr. Date left the house and got into his car. Mrs. Date came by and gave her son a kiss before she too left. She was a doctor at the same hospital Angels had been taken too. She too was eager to get to work and see how her son's friend was doing. Once both of his parents' cars had disappeared down the street Sage went into the dojo connected to their house to wait for the others. MoonStriker trotted along right behind him.