Chapter 5: Phantom of Pain
Yukari opened her eyes later that day to see Rowen in a chair next to her bed. He was asleep, or atleast looked it to her. She turned on her side, curling into a ball in the warm bed. She breathed in the smell of the detergent they used here and finally got up. She was in a huge shirt. Her brothers, she realized, recognizing the scent of his cologne. She pulled on her shorts quickly, before Rowen could wake and slipped out of the room, tiptoeing downstairs. It was late and everyone she suspected was in bed. Then she realized she had not met one member of Koji Manor that she just happened to trip upon then. Literally. She rolled, squinting in the dim light from the bug zapper on the porch. A White tiger pounced her and she fell on her back, the weight of it's paws grinding her shoulders into the ground. She whimpered, not wanting to scream to enrage the beast farther.
"Huh? White blaze! Down!" The rusty haired boy on the couch had been sleeping, but somehow, out of some stroke of luck had woken. The tiger obeyed and Yukari scambled backwards, hitting the back of a chair.
"You okay? Did he hurt you?" She looked up meeting Cye's gaze and nodded, trying to calm her breathing.
"No...I'm fine..." She shrank from him as he reached to help her up. She doesn't trust me, he realized.
"Yukari, I'm not going to hurt you..."
She found herself wanting to trust him, wanting to confide in him why she didn't trust many people, but just looked at his hand like a frightened animal that had been hurt way too many times. "What are you afraid of Yukari...that you won't trust me...?" He sat down infront of her.
She looked away but blinked when he took both of her hands in his, closing his eyes. She looked back at him, trying to jerk her hands away, but with no luck. His forehead glowed blue for a few moments before she saw the flash of the symbol for Trust there.
"It happened along time ago..." She found herself muttering. Not forced to, but felt like she had to tell the story.
"We've got time..." He murmured, still holding her hands, eyes closed as if searching in her for something.
"I was little, my mother me...my father dead...mother never came back...I was alone for along time...then I started dreaming of a man with his eyes hidden from me. I was walking and fell...it wasn't a rock, it was a chain. It grabbed me, pinning me...then I saw who it was...He called himself Hiten..." At this, Cye's eyes opened. Hiten. She'd said the warlords name. Her eyes were closed now, remembering.
"What happened?" He pushed her memories alittle, searching until he found the memory she was seeing. He winced at what he saw and let her hands go as he opened his eyes. She was about to cry, but stood and ran out of the house into the back yard, heading into the woods and just running until her lungs burnt and her legs hurt from running without stretching. She sat down and tensed her muscles, feeling phantom pains rip through her arms as the memory of a bow with a straight scythe cut her in her mind. She shook, holding back tears. This was why she tried to block memories. They brought her such vivid pain to remember them.
It took a few minutes but the pain slowly left her with a raw feeling inside of her stomach. Almost like she was completely empty of all feeling, only numbness, if it could be felt.
"Yukari...It is time now..."
She looked up to see the monk from her dreams. He looked at her sternly. "Are you ready to learn the fate that awaits you?"
She nodded and the staff chimmed, showering light all over the clearing. What it showed her she knew no one would beleive her about if she mentioned it. It was cold out, but she felt the temperature drop around her. When her eyes cleared from the light of the staff she opened them slowly. She was surrounded in armor that was too heavy for her to stand it. She sank to her knees, feeling the weight of something more than just the mass of the armor, but the spirit in it and the weight of the ages. She took a few sharp breathes, the armor was hurting her, she knew it. A feeling went through her like a whisper and she heard words that she couldn't understand, but rememered. "Kaze no koe..."
"Do you feel the power possessed in the armor, Yukari?" The Ancient asked her, voice stern.
"Yes..." She said softly against the ground.
"You can not control that power without help...training is the only way to learn..."
"I'm not a fighter though...I can't..."
"You will learn..."
She felt the pain hit her again and the armor powered down to subarmor.
"In learning you will teach...and in teaching you will learn...remember that..."
It powered down completely into a small marble like orb of a deep blue color.
"Now go, use the armor how your heart tells you...Ronin of Divine Wind..." With that, he willed himself away. She sat up in the grass. The sun was rising behind the mountains. Cye had not come after her. That or he couldn't find her. She headed back, putting the marble in her shorts pocket. She couldn't tell Rowen. He would freak. She smiled, imaging how he'd take the idea of an evil Dynasty trying to take over the world. What the Ancient neglected to show her was the faces of the Ronin Warriors and the Warlords. She had no idea as she walked to the house. Cye met her as she came out of the woods.
"You okay?" He asked running to her.
"Mm hmm...I had to go for a run..." Was all she said.
"To run yourself to a stand still until the pain left?"
She said nothing as she headed inside and to her room.
Later that day she walked downstairs and slipped her shoes on. Ryo looked up from the couch. His chin resting on the back and his feet pulled under him.
"Where are you going?" He asked curiously.
"For a walk..." She stood after tying them. She had changed into a a pair a shorts that had the symbol for a girls volleyball team logo on one leg. The Tigers. She wore a loose, black shirt with the same logo on the sleeve and on the back.
"I think I'll go with you...I need some exercise..."
"No. I want to be byself to think..."
Ryo studied her from his seat then shrugged. She left, heading for the lake. On the way she realized she had no idea how to train. The only thing she knew was archery and volleyball from gym class. She sighed. "Great...I should have asked the Ancient for help..."
"I can help you..."
Yukari looked in the direction of the voice. It was soft, angelic. The boy standing a few paces behind her smiled. He looked about her age, 14. She'd be 15 in 3 weeks, she thought.
He bowed slightly. He was in full armor she realized, but without a helmet. His was white with a pair of angel like wings made of seperate metal feathers. His whole presence was soothing.
"I am Azreal..." His hair was short and spiked. The color of sunlight. A perfect blonde and his eyes were full of life. An unresistable blue color she couldn't tear her gaze from. "I'm here to help you train..." He extended his hand to her. If she had not been afraid to, she would have.
Yukari opened her eyes later that day to see Rowen in a chair next to her bed. He was asleep, or atleast looked it to her. She turned on her side, curling into a ball in the warm bed. She breathed in the smell of the detergent they used here and finally got up. She was in a huge shirt. Her brothers, she realized, recognizing the scent of his cologne. She pulled on her shorts quickly, before Rowen could wake and slipped out of the room, tiptoeing downstairs. It was late and everyone she suspected was in bed. Then she realized she had not met one member of Koji Manor that she just happened to trip upon then. Literally. She rolled, squinting in the dim light from the bug zapper on the porch. A White tiger pounced her and she fell on her back, the weight of it's paws grinding her shoulders into the ground. She whimpered, not wanting to scream to enrage the beast farther.
"Huh? White blaze! Down!" The rusty haired boy on the couch had been sleeping, but somehow, out of some stroke of luck had woken. The tiger obeyed and Yukari scambled backwards, hitting the back of a chair.
"You okay? Did he hurt you?" She looked up meeting Cye's gaze and nodded, trying to calm her breathing.
"No...I'm fine..." She shrank from him as he reached to help her up. She doesn't trust me, he realized.
"Yukari, I'm not going to hurt you..."
She found herself wanting to trust him, wanting to confide in him why she didn't trust many people, but just looked at his hand like a frightened animal that had been hurt way too many times. "What are you afraid of Yukari...that you won't trust me...?" He sat down infront of her.
She looked away but blinked when he took both of her hands in his, closing his eyes. She looked back at him, trying to jerk her hands away, but with no luck. His forehead glowed blue for a few moments before she saw the flash of the symbol for Trust there.
"It happened along time ago..." She found herself muttering. Not forced to, but felt like she had to tell the story.
"We've got time..." He murmured, still holding her hands, eyes closed as if searching in her for something.
"I was little, my mother me...my father dead...mother never came back...I was alone for along time...then I started dreaming of a man with his eyes hidden from me. I was walking and fell...it wasn't a rock, it was a chain. It grabbed me, pinning me...then I saw who it was...He called himself Hiten..." At this, Cye's eyes opened. Hiten. She'd said the warlords name. Her eyes were closed now, remembering.
"What happened?" He pushed her memories alittle, searching until he found the memory she was seeing. He winced at what he saw and let her hands go as he opened his eyes. She was about to cry, but stood and ran out of the house into the back yard, heading into the woods and just running until her lungs burnt and her legs hurt from running without stretching. She sat down and tensed her muscles, feeling phantom pains rip through her arms as the memory of a bow with a straight scythe cut her in her mind. She shook, holding back tears. This was why she tried to block memories. They brought her such vivid pain to remember them.
It took a few minutes but the pain slowly left her with a raw feeling inside of her stomach. Almost like she was completely empty of all feeling, only numbness, if it could be felt.
"Yukari...It is time now..."
She looked up to see the monk from her dreams. He looked at her sternly. "Are you ready to learn the fate that awaits you?"
She nodded and the staff chimmed, showering light all over the clearing. What it showed her she knew no one would beleive her about if she mentioned it. It was cold out, but she felt the temperature drop around her. When her eyes cleared from the light of the staff she opened them slowly. She was surrounded in armor that was too heavy for her to stand it. She sank to her knees, feeling the weight of something more than just the mass of the armor, but the spirit in it and the weight of the ages. She took a few sharp breathes, the armor was hurting her, she knew it. A feeling went through her like a whisper and she heard words that she couldn't understand, but rememered. "Kaze no koe..."
"Do you feel the power possessed in the armor, Yukari?" The Ancient asked her, voice stern.
"Yes..." She said softly against the ground.
"You can not control that power without help...training is the only way to learn..."
"I'm not a fighter though...I can't..."
"You will learn..."
She felt the pain hit her again and the armor powered down to subarmor.
"In learning you will teach...and in teaching you will learn...remember that..."
It powered down completely into a small marble like orb of a deep blue color.
"Now go, use the armor how your heart tells you...Ronin of Divine Wind..." With that, he willed himself away. She sat up in the grass. The sun was rising behind the mountains. Cye had not come after her. That or he couldn't find her. She headed back, putting the marble in her shorts pocket. She couldn't tell Rowen. He would freak. She smiled, imaging how he'd take the idea of an evil Dynasty trying to take over the world. What the Ancient neglected to show her was the faces of the Ronin Warriors and the Warlords. She had no idea as she walked to the house. Cye met her as she came out of the woods.
"You okay?" He asked running to her.
"Mm hmm...I had to go for a run..." Was all she said.
"To run yourself to a stand still until the pain left?"
She said nothing as she headed inside and to her room.
Later that day she walked downstairs and slipped her shoes on. Ryo looked up from the couch. His chin resting on the back and his feet pulled under him.
"Where are you going?" He asked curiously.
"For a walk..." She stood after tying them. She had changed into a a pair a shorts that had the symbol for a girls volleyball team logo on one leg. The Tigers. She wore a loose, black shirt with the same logo on the sleeve and on the back.
"I think I'll go with you...I need some exercise..."
"No. I want to be byself to think..."
Ryo studied her from his seat then shrugged. She left, heading for the lake. On the way she realized she had no idea how to train. The only thing she knew was archery and volleyball from gym class. She sighed. "Great...I should have asked the Ancient for help..."
"I can help you..."
Yukari looked in the direction of the voice. It was soft, angelic. The boy standing a few paces behind her smiled. He looked about her age, 14. She'd be 15 in 3 weeks, she thought.
He bowed slightly. He was in full armor she realized, but without a helmet. His was white with a pair of angel like wings made of seperate metal feathers. His whole presence was soothing.
"I am Azreal..." His hair was short and spiked. The color of sunlight. A perfect blonde and his eyes were full of life. An unresistable blue color she couldn't tear her gaze from. "I'm here to help you train..." He extended his hand to her. If she had not been afraid to, she would have.