Ryo had almost given up hope; there was no possible way for him to get out of the shackle that held him prisoner to the wall. He leaned his head back against the wall and sighed hopelessly. 'I'll never get out of here.' He thought to himself. Then he straightened up. No he had to, or that jerk was going to get Sakura and that definitely wasn't going to happen in this lifetime. Not while he was still alive. Ryo gazed around the room to look for something to help him escape. He eyes swept past the floor to the table and back again. Then he saw it. A tiny glimmer of silver, it was a safety pin. Ryo had just enough length of chain to reach it. He opened it and quickly set about trying to pick the lock.
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Everyone else, back at the house, was glad to see that, who they thought was Ryo, was safe and sound. Sakura wasn't willing to leave his side for a minute. The group lounged around in the living room for a while before going to sleep. Sakura and the girls went to get ready for bed first. Everyone else gradually made their way to their own rooms. The girls had just laid down and gotten comfortable when they heard a slight scratching on the door. Confused Sakura got up and answered the door. Outside was a sad looking White Blaze.
"White Blaze? What are you doing out here?" she asked looking down the hall where Ryo's room was. "You always sleep with Ryo, and he always leaves the door open a crack to let you in and out." Sure enough, the door was closed. Sakura moved out of the way to let the tiger in.
"You can sleep with us tonight." She said. "Kero, move over and let White Blaze on the bed." Kero did as he was told and White Blaze jumped up next to him. After Sakura had gotten back into bed the white tiger laid his head across her leg with sad growl. Sakura sat up and pet the tiger on the head.
"Awww, poor guy. I'm sure Ryo didn't mean to lock you out." She consoled.
"Ryo locked White Blaze out?" Mia asked incredulous.
"But White Blaze always sleeps with Ryo." Alanna added. Sakura shrugged her shoulders.
"Apparently not always." Sakura said.
"I'm sure Ryo just forgot or something and he'll apologize to you tomorrow, White Blaze." Alanna said consolingly to the depressed tiger. The other two girls nodded their agreement as thy drifted off to sleep.
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Ryo worked tirelessly throughout the night to unlock the shackle. He had almost given up when he heard the click and felt the cold metal fall off his wrist. Ryo stared happily at his free wrist as he rubbed it to get the circulation back. Now he had to find a way to get off this floating castle. He opened the door to his room that imprisoned him and quietly slipped out into the hallway. He looked both ways and ran down the corridor. He stopped when he got to the hall lined with tapestries. Even though he was in a hurry, he stopped for a second to look at the story they told. He wanted to stay there longer, but he heard footsteps down the hall. Panicking he hurriedly hid behind a half open door until the footsteps fading in the distance. Ryo cautiously stuck his head out and looked to make sure that no one was around. He made his way toward the dragon stables. Seriyu had told him that if he wanted any chance of getting off this floating castle, then he would have to ride a dragon down. He wasn't really sure how that was going to happen, but first he just needed to get there. He made it uneventfully to the dragon stables and peeked inside. There were five dragons all sitting calmly in the specially made stalls.
'Now to find a way to get one out without anyone noticing.' Ryo thought.
"Hey!" a voice called behind him. Ryo froze. 'Oh no! I've been caught!' he thought as ideas of how to get out of this racked his brain.
The man who had called out to him approached. "Oh, Lord Seriyu, I didn't know that was you." The man said bowing low. Ryo blinked in surprise then shrugged.
"Would you like me to saddle a mount for you sir?" the servant asked. Ryo nodded his head, not trusting himself to speak. The servant did as he was bade and a few minutes later Ryo was soaring gracefully off the castle grounds. Ryo looked back and smiled. Now to find Sakura.