Standard disclaimers apply.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They walked alone the broken stone streets. Kisa's bare feet slapped against the warm stones quietly, but Xeo's hard heeled boots made no noise. She supposed that was because he was a ninja.
"This is TsuRiyona," he had told her as soon as they entered the city. "The City of Sin."
"Why's it called - "
"You don't really need to know," Xeo had interrupted her.
"Yes I do," Kisa had protested.
"Fine, the dead walk like the living in the nightime hours here. You don't go out if you don't want to be killed and eatern."
Kisa hadn't asked anymore questions. She decided that he might be making it up, but they did pass a lot of graves alone the roadside.
They were approaching a large building set in the middle of the ancient, sprawling city. Every now and then, Xeo attempted to carry or support her in some way. Each time that he tried it, Kisa moved away from him and muttered, "No." He always backed off, but Kisa knew that the slightest stumble would have him sweeping to her aid.
They were approaching a large building set in the middle of the ancient, sprawling city. It seemed to Kisa that they had been taking a long time to get there, but that was probaby because of her injuries.
"This used to be a safe house for ancient warriors who practiced the Shadow Arts," Xeo announced as he pressed his hand to the door. A whirling noise filled the air for a brief moment and a thick stone door slid open.
"Shadow Arts?" Kisa questioned, stalling for time to think. She was staring apprehensively at the thick stone door. If she went in there was a chance that she might not get out again. Xeo might be leading her into a trap. She thought that she remembered Briar talking about the young ninja's love of decieving his enemies.
"Yeah, ninjitsu . . . . . . . partially," Xeo responded lightly. He was standing patiently by the door, waiting for her to prodeede him. He was waiting, Kisa realized, for her to get comfortable. He knew that she was scared and stalling.
"Partially?" she forced herself to ask. Xeo was reading her to well. She felt certain that he knew everything about her and was trying to trap her.
He laughed, a thick melodious sound that seemed to lighten the air around him. "Let's just say that I'm not your basic ninja," he suggested.
"Wh - "
Xeo cut off her next question before she could begin to ask it. "For your own good, please don't ask me anymore. Let's go in and find you a place to sleep." He didn't wait for her response, instead, he strolled into the dark opening in the wall and waited for her to follow inside.
Kisa sighed angrily. She needed his help. She couldn't just turn and walk away now. Besides, she should have been viewing everything as a favor. Xeo had saved her the time it would take to track him down, and now he was saving her the time of getting into his hideout.
She stepped foreword and followed him wearily.
He led her through several dark corridors.
"Why's it so dark in here?" Kisa whispered. The air felt thick and was pressing around her ominously. Her eyes, which had grown accusumed to seeing in the dark, could barely make out the outlines of the walls.
"There are sights in here that are not fit for a lady," Xeo said after a moment. "These things would make you feel ill, so I left the lights out when I came in."
"What kind of things?" Kisa whispered softly.
Xeo opened another door and escorted her through. "When you feel better I might allow you to see, but until then I request my reward."
Kisa's eyes widened in panic as he pulled off his shirt, revealing a finely toned chest with a deep tan. She started to back away in fright, but he seized her wrist lightly, holding her in place.
"Not like that," he laughed. He pointed to the bed. "You'll sleep there. I'm putting on fresh clothes. That idiot ninja managed to soil these ones with his rancorus breath."
"What?" Kisa murmrued.
"You don't like being held, ne?" Xeo asked. When she nodded he smiled cooly. "Then get in the bed now or I'll pick you up and put you there. You are injured and will get in that bed now."
Kisa slipped into the bed, lying ontop of the covers and watching him with narrow eyes. Slowly, her images of him faded away as images of Mitsu's death filled her mind. She had never killed anyone before, but strangely enough, she didn't really regret it.
She would even do it again if she needed to. If she hadn't, she would have died. It was simple. It was frightening. She was more disturbed at her lack of worry over Mitsu's death then his actual death.
Xeo's moving around the room slowly faded from her hearing. The sound of night creatures and crickets filled her ears. Her nose took in the pleasent smell of the jungle. She could partically taste the thick jungle air on her tounge.
She opened her eyes expecting to stare at the ceiling of Xeo's room. Instead, the dark shape of trees filled her vision. A burning sensation in her legs made her realize that she was running. The trees kept appearing out of nowhere. She was running really fast, possibly faster then she had ever run before.
Reaching her arm up, she pushed a thin branch out of her path. The glistening white of bone protruding from her arm met her eyes, and pain surged through it as she put pressure on it.
She heard Ryu laugh, loud and cruel. The sound sent angry fear through her body. She twisted to the side, snagging the shuriken that had just missed her neck and whipping it back at her assailent.
He laughed again, and she picked up speed. Now her lungs were burning, but that was okay. His voice was dimming. She was getting away. He couldn't keep up with her.
Then out of the bush in front of her sprang Mitsu. His eyes had a hollow, vaccant look in them. Blood stained the from on his uniform. He looked partially decomposed, like a zombie raised from the grave. He reached for her and she screamed.
"Got you," Ryu whispered into her hair. He grabbed the back of her neck in a strong grip. "I'll take those," he whispered, pulling a manila envelope from her hands. "Bye." And then he broke her neck.
Kisa woke up screaming. Her body was soaked in sweat and blood. Her voice felt hoarse and she realized that she had been screaming for a while. He breath came in short gasps and her eyes were wide.
She clasped her arm, looking for the broken bone.
"It was just a dream," Xeo told her softly.
Her eyes swung towards him wildly. "I - " He sprang foreword and pressed his fingers to her lips.
"Don't talk. It doesn't matter. It was just a dream . . . . . . . a personal dream." He offered her a glass of water.
Kisa excepted in, clasping it in her hands tightly and watching the beads of condensation trickle down the outside of the glass. She almost took a drink, but the thickness in her throat made her stop.
She glanced back at the bed, willing it to explain the nightmare. The white, cotten sheets were covered in blood. Her eyes widened and the glass fell from her fingers.
Xeo caught it and placed it back in her hands. "I had to clean your cuts," he told her softly. "Since you don't like being carried, I cleaned them here. You should drink this," he added.
Kisa took the water back and swallowed it all in one gulp. "Arigatou," she whispered.
He smiled and took the glass from her. "That was a forced thanks for a forced drink, but you'll feel better with some liquid in your body."
"Were my cuts that bad?" Kisa asked. The sheets seemed to have a lot of blood on them.
"Cuts? With a knief?" Xeo asked.
Kisa went numb. He knew. He knew that she was a ninja. He was probably going to kill her. She remembered the water. He had probably posioned her.
"Well, I suppose, but it was the posion that I had to get out of your system, Miss Kisa," he said after a long moment.
"Posion?" Kisa whispered.
"There was posion in that ninja sword. By touching it, you infected yourself. That's why we had to come here."
"What do you mean?" Kisa inquired in confusion.
"I wasn't going to take you to my base. I was just going to take you to a tent and guide you safely to civilization."
"And now?" Kisa asked even though she feared what his answer might be.
"Well, if you don't mind. I think it'll be safer if you stay here until the Cells sent to kill me are all accounted for. They'll try and kill you for your association with me."
'Not likely,' Kisa thought. 'I'm one of the people that was sent to kill you.'
"Anyway, I got the venom out. The dream you had . . . . . . . I suppose I should warn you that it could come true," Xeo murmured.
Kisa shifted her gaze towards him fearfully. "So that's going to happen . . . . " she whispered. She put her hand on her neck and tried to shut out the pain she had felt in her dream. The pain that she had felt when he grabbed and snapped her neck.
Xeo was shaking his head slightly. "It could happen. Right now, it's just a Shadow Image."
"Shadow image?" Kisa whispered.
"It could happen. There is a great chance that it won't happen like that either, so don't worry too much about it, okay?"
"How can I not worry?" Kisa demanded hotly. She had tears streaming down her face and she couldn't figure out how to stop them.
"What happened in the dream?" Xeo asked lightly.
Kisa fell silent. "Xeo . . . . . . . " she murmured, her voice trailing off.
He laughed. "Come on, Kisa. Just tell me what frightens you."
She looked away. "You laugh too easily," she told him. He smiled and nodded for her to continue. She knew that she couldn't tell him everything. He'd know that she was after his plans if she did.
She told him. "And then he snaps my neck," she finished.
"We'll just make sure that it doens't come true then," Xeo told her. "I'll show you how to Shift . . . . . just in case, ne?"
"Shift?" Kisa asked.
"Not like in the clearing. That was more of a transformation. What I'm talking about is to fade away from one place and reappear in another."
"That's not possible," Kisa told him. She knew that it was though. She knew it because she had seen both Briar and Ryu Shift on her first day of training.
"Silly, little ninja . . . ." Xeo murmured. "I know your secret."
Kisa went numb.
"I know all about every member of my old friend Frost's Cell. I know all about you . . . . . Ki, is it?" He pulled his sword out and swung it in a lazy arc. "I know that you're here to kill me and steal the plans back."
Kisa didn't know what to do. She stared at him in shock. Then she recovered. She refused to just sit by and be killed. She shot foreword, slamming a kick into the side of his knee.
Then she grabbed his sword from his momentarily limp fingers and held it in a defensive position.
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
Author's notes;
It's been a while, but I've been having a hard time uploading chapters. I keep getting 'This page can't be found" messages. It's getting rather fustrating. Oh well. I suppose that I can't help it.
Thank-you to everyone who reviewed and to everyone that's read my story this far.
Thanks for reading,
Kissa-chan
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They walked alone the broken stone streets. Kisa's bare feet slapped against the warm stones quietly, but Xeo's hard heeled boots made no noise. She supposed that was because he was a ninja.
"This is TsuRiyona," he had told her as soon as they entered the city. "The City of Sin."
"Why's it called - "
"You don't really need to know," Xeo had interrupted her.
"Yes I do," Kisa had protested.
"Fine, the dead walk like the living in the nightime hours here. You don't go out if you don't want to be killed and eatern."
Kisa hadn't asked anymore questions. She decided that he might be making it up, but they did pass a lot of graves alone the roadside.
They were approaching a large building set in the middle of the ancient, sprawling city. Every now and then, Xeo attempted to carry or support her in some way. Each time that he tried it, Kisa moved away from him and muttered, "No." He always backed off, but Kisa knew that the slightest stumble would have him sweeping to her aid.
They were approaching a large building set in the middle of the ancient, sprawling city. It seemed to Kisa that they had been taking a long time to get there, but that was probaby because of her injuries.
"This used to be a safe house for ancient warriors who practiced the Shadow Arts," Xeo announced as he pressed his hand to the door. A whirling noise filled the air for a brief moment and a thick stone door slid open.
"Shadow Arts?" Kisa questioned, stalling for time to think. She was staring apprehensively at the thick stone door. If she went in there was a chance that she might not get out again. Xeo might be leading her into a trap. She thought that she remembered Briar talking about the young ninja's love of decieving his enemies.
"Yeah, ninjitsu . . . . . . . partially," Xeo responded lightly. He was standing patiently by the door, waiting for her to prodeede him. He was waiting, Kisa realized, for her to get comfortable. He knew that she was scared and stalling.
"Partially?" she forced herself to ask. Xeo was reading her to well. She felt certain that he knew everything about her and was trying to trap her.
He laughed, a thick melodious sound that seemed to lighten the air around him. "Let's just say that I'm not your basic ninja," he suggested.
"Wh - "
Xeo cut off her next question before she could begin to ask it. "For your own good, please don't ask me anymore. Let's go in and find you a place to sleep." He didn't wait for her response, instead, he strolled into the dark opening in the wall and waited for her to follow inside.
Kisa sighed angrily. She needed his help. She couldn't just turn and walk away now. Besides, she should have been viewing everything as a favor. Xeo had saved her the time it would take to track him down, and now he was saving her the time of getting into his hideout.
She stepped foreword and followed him wearily.
He led her through several dark corridors.
"Why's it so dark in here?" Kisa whispered. The air felt thick and was pressing around her ominously. Her eyes, which had grown accusumed to seeing in the dark, could barely make out the outlines of the walls.
"There are sights in here that are not fit for a lady," Xeo said after a moment. "These things would make you feel ill, so I left the lights out when I came in."
"What kind of things?" Kisa whispered softly.
Xeo opened another door and escorted her through. "When you feel better I might allow you to see, but until then I request my reward."
Kisa's eyes widened in panic as he pulled off his shirt, revealing a finely toned chest with a deep tan. She started to back away in fright, but he seized her wrist lightly, holding her in place.
"Not like that," he laughed. He pointed to the bed. "You'll sleep there. I'm putting on fresh clothes. That idiot ninja managed to soil these ones with his rancorus breath."
"What?" Kisa murmrued.
"You don't like being held, ne?" Xeo asked. When she nodded he smiled cooly. "Then get in the bed now or I'll pick you up and put you there. You are injured and will get in that bed now."
Kisa slipped into the bed, lying ontop of the covers and watching him with narrow eyes. Slowly, her images of him faded away as images of Mitsu's death filled her mind. She had never killed anyone before, but strangely enough, she didn't really regret it.
She would even do it again if she needed to. If she hadn't, she would have died. It was simple. It was frightening. She was more disturbed at her lack of worry over Mitsu's death then his actual death.
Xeo's moving around the room slowly faded from her hearing. The sound of night creatures and crickets filled her ears. Her nose took in the pleasent smell of the jungle. She could partically taste the thick jungle air on her tounge.
She opened her eyes expecting to stare at the ceiling of Xeo's room. Instead, the dark shape of trees filled her vision. A burning sensation in her legs made her realize that she was running. The trees kept appearing out of nowhere. She was running really fast, possibly faster then she had ever run before.
Reaching her arm up, she pushed a thin branch out of her path. The glistening white of bone protruding from her arm met her eyes, and pain surged through it as she put pressure on it.
She heard Ryu laugh, loud and cruel. The sound sent angry fear through her body. She twisted to the side, snagging the shuriken that had just missed her neck and whipping it back at her assailent.
He laughed again, and she picked up speed. Now her lungs were burning, but that was okay. His voice was dimming. She was getting away. He couldn't keep up with her.
Then out of the bush in front of her sprang Mitsu. His eyes had a hollow, vaccant look in them. Blood stained the from on his uniform. He looked partially decomposed, like a zombie raised from the grave. He reached for her and she screamed.
"Got you," Ryu whispered into her hair. He grabbed the back of her neck in a strong grip. "I'll take those," he whispered, pulling a manila envelope from her hands. "Bye." And then he broke her neck.
Kisa woke up screaming. Her body was soaked in sweat and blood. Her voice felt hoarse and she realized that she had been screaming for a while. He breath came in short gasps and her eyes were wide.
She clasped her arm, looking for the broken bone.
"It was just a dream," Xeo told her softly.
Her eyes swung towards him wildly. "I - " He sprang foreword and pressed his fingers to her lips.
"Don't talk. It doesn't matter. It was just a dream . . . . . . . a personal dream." He offered her a glass of water.
Kisa excepted in, clasping it in her hands tightly and watching the beads of condensation trickle down the outside of the glass. She almost took a drink, but the thickness in her throat made her stop.
She glanced back at the bed, willing it to explain the nightmare. The white, cotten sheets were covered in blood. Her eyes widened and the glass fell from her fingers.
Xeo caught it and placed it back in her hands. "I had to clean your cuts," he told her softly. "Since you don't like being carried, I cleaned them here. You should drink this," he added.
Kisa took the water back and swallowed it all in one gulp. "Arigatou," she whispered.
He smiled and took the glass from her. "That was a forced thanks for a forced drink, but you'll feel better with some liquid in your body."
"Were my cuts that bad?" Kisa asked. The sheets seemed to have a lot of blood on them.
"Cuts? With a knief?" Xeo asked.
Kisa went numb. He knew. He knew that she was a ninja. He was probably going to kill her. She remembered the water. He had probably posioned her.
"Well, I suppose, but it was the posion that I had to get out of your system, Miss Kisa," he said after a long moment.
"Posion?" Kisa whispered.
"There was posion in that ninja sword. By touching it, you infected yourself. That's why we had to come here."
"What do you mean?" Kisa inquired in confusion.
"I wasn't going to take you to my base. I was just going to take you to a tent and guide you safely to civilization."
"And now?" Kisa asked even though she feared what his answer might be.
"Well, if you don't mind. I think it'll be safer if you stay here until the Cells sent to kill me are all accounted for. They'll try and kill you for your association with me."
'Not likely,' Kisa thought. 'I'm one of the people that was sent to kill you.'
"Anyway, I got the venom out. The dream you had . . . . . . . I suppose I should warn you that it could come true," Xeo murmured.
Kisa shifted her gaze towards him fearfully. "So that's going to happen . . . . " she whispered. She put her hand on her neck and tried to shut out the pain she had felt in her dream. The pain that she had felt when he grabbed and snapped her neck.
Xeo was shaking his head slightly. "It could happen. Right now, it's just a Shadow Image."
"Shadow image?" Kisa whispered.
"It could happen. There is a great chance that it won't happen like that either, so don't worry too much about it, okay?"
"How can I not worry?" Kisa demanded hotly. She had tears streaming down her face and she couldn't figure out how to stop them.
"What happened in the dream?" Xeo asked lightly.
Kisa fell silent. "Xeo . . . . . . . " she murmured, her voice trailing off.
He laughed. "Come on, Kisa. Just tell me what frightens you."
She looked away. "You laugh too easily," she told him. He smiled and nodded for her to continue. She knew that she couldn't tell him everything. He'd know that she was after his plans if she did.
She told him. "And then he snaps my neck," she finished.
"We'll just make sure that it doens't come true then," Xeo told her. "I'll show you how to Shift . . . . . just in case, ne?"
"Shift?" Kisa asked.
"Not like in the clearing. That was more of a transformation. What I'm talking about is to fade away from one place and reappear in another."
"That's not possible," Kisa told him. She knew that it was though. She knew it because she had seen both Briar and Ryu Shift on her first day of training.
"Silly, little ninja . . . ." Xeo murmured. "I know your secret."
Kisa went numb.
"I know all about every member of my old friend Frost's Cell. I know all about you . . . . . Ki, is it?" He pulled his sword out and swung it in a lazy arc. "I know that you're here to kill me and steal the plans back."
Kisa didn't know what to do. She stared at him in shock. Then she recovered. She refused to just sit by and be killed. She shot foreword, slamming a kick into the side of his knee.
Then she grabbed his sword from his momentarily limp fingers and held it in a defensive position.
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
Author's notes;
It's been a while, but I've been having a hard time uploading chapters. I keep getting 'This page can't be found" messages. It's getting rather fustrating. Oh well. I suppose that I can't help it.
Thank-you to everyone who reviewed and to everyone that's read my story this far.
Thanks for reading,
Kissa-chan
