Author's Note-Well, I'm tired and I've still got homework. It's 12:40 A.M.
and I need to get to bed soon, so I have three things to say. 1) Thank you
for all the reviews so far. 2) I don't own Rurouni Kenshin or Animorphs. 3)
Enjoy this chapter.
~Marco~
We considered telling them about last week's highschool basketball game. No, seriously, I brought it up on the way back. . .and ended up getting fwapped over the head by Rachel. We were all a bit nervous. Nervous about how they were going to react and nervous about how they were going to handle it. My clever jokes barely seemed to lighten the seriousness of the situation, if it did at all. My ribs were still sore from Rachel's sharp elbows, by the way.
Kenshin had this jaded, far-off look in his eyes that nearly looked like Tobias's when he was still human by the time we finished telling him. I felt sorry for the guy. I really did. He thought he'd be war-free for the rest of his life. Now we come along and throw him into another war. It's something to feel guilty about.
Sanosuke on the other hand. . .the look on his face was almost comical. His eyes were bug-eyed-practically as wide as saucers-and his mouth was hanging open like it would never shut again. When we finished, he yelled, "No way! You guys have to be pulling our legs!"
"What do you think we're trying to pull?! Ax is right here in front of you!" Rachel demanded.
"Well, you know, Rachel. . .six kids don't just drop out of the sky every day and say that they brought an entire army of evil space slugs with them every day. . .it takes couple of minutes for reality to set in." I said. I looked down at my spandex. Not the best weather for wearing spandex. "And as six kids dropping out of the sky fighting evil space slugs, I still say we get some better superhero outfits. Now Rachel, the Xena outfit would look great on you. A bit of leather, a shacrome. . . Yep. You're Xena."
"Well thanks, Marco. I'll look for the outfit at the next Gap sale." Rachel said.
"There's always Party City. . ."
"And of course, you would know of the attire they have. I'm sure I've seen you there advertising as a clown." Rachel shot back.
{Score one for Rachel, zip for Marco.} Tobias laughed.
I looked up at Tobias. "Hey, Bird-Boy, you don't even wear clothes." I said.
{I don't need to. I'm a /bird/, remember?}
"Exactly." I said. I stuck out my hand to Kenshin and Sano. "Welcome to Resident Weird in the Twilight Zone. We hope you will be able to appreciate your new permanent residence. Next week: Bonfire Night." I said.
"Let's hope it's not permanent." Cassie sighed. "I want to move back to Normal Apts soon."
"Cassie, don't egg him on. It's bad for his health." Rachel sighed.
"So," Jake said, ignoring our antics of getting off task/welcoming, "you'll help us, right?"
"There is one problem." Kenshin said slowly. "I have taken a vow not to kill. That would include my enemies."
~Rachel~
"What?!" I demanded. This guy was an idiot! You kill your enemy, or they kill you. There was no way he was this famous assassin I kept hearing about. "Why not?!"
"Repentance." Kenshin said simply. "Sessha killed many in the revolution, de gozaru you. Now he is but a simple rurouni."
"Macaroni?" Marco.
{Ah, yes. Macaroni. Cheesy noodles yet high in starch.} Ax said.
Kenshin and Sanosuke just stared at him in confusion. {Ax. . .we're really going to have to cut down your TV time and your trips to the mall. . .} Tobias said.
That figured. But then, when you're the only one of your kind on the planet and you live in the wild, what else is there really to do?
"Um. . .sessha said rurouni. A wandering samurai." Kenshin said.
{If you don't kill people, then why do you carry a sword?} Tobias pressed. That was true. Why carry a weapon that kills when you don't kill at all? It's nothing but dead weight.
Kenshin however, smiled and drew his sword. In the moonlight, the blade gleamed. But something wasn't right. I slowly touched the steel where the blade was supposed to be. It was blunt.
"This is a sakabatou. The blade is on the /other/ side." Kenshin informed me. That nearly made even less sense. Why carry a sword that's useless? I mean, yeah, he could now whack people over the head with it. But he probably could have gotten a stick for much cheaper. I glanced at his skirt and noted that with the money he could get from selling a worthless sword like that, he could at least afford pants.
"But. . .that makes it completely useless. You may as well carry around a stick." I said, my tone surprised as I voiced my opinion.
"Sessha doesn't feel comfortable without a sword." Kenshin merely replied.
Great. Why is it that every guy that could help us ended up being a pacifist? He reminded me of the Chee.
"Well, Kenshin. I hate to say this, but if you want to help, you'll have to kill if the time comes." Jake said grimly. "This isn't much different from being an assassin. You can't be seen. Being seen means being dead."
"Sessha understands." Kenshin said, his eyes clouding slightly. He shook his head to clear it. "But sessha is curious about how you've managed."
"We morph." Cassie said.
". . .How did you acquire this power?"
I smiled. Turned to Ax. "Ax, you have the blue box. You have the rest of the pieces, don't you?"
{Yes. I should have the box ready in a few days.} Ax replied.
"Good!" A voice said behind Kenshin and Sano. They both straightened, eyes wide as saucers as a girl and boy rose from the bushes behind them. "Because I hope you weren't planning on keeping this a secret from the rest of us, you two!" the girl continued.
"Yeah! And you better not have been planning to wander off again just because you thought it would be 'too dangerous'!" The boy joined in.
"Oro. . ." Kenshin said.
"I thought we told you to stay at the dojo while we checked out that light!" Sano yelled back. The boy jumped on his shoulders and started to gnaw on his head/hair.
"These friends of yours?" Jake asked.
Sano snorted. "Friends with the brat, maybe." He said as he plucked the boy off his head and tossed him aside with one hand. I stared, amazed. The boy had to have been around ten and Sano just tossed him away like a bug! "But I don't know about her." He pointed at the girl. "Who would want to be friends with the raccoon girl, I don't kno-"
"Why Sano, you good-for-nothing freeloader! You're setting a bad example for my student!" The girl yelled.
"What bad example? I figured out the raccoon part on my own!" The boy retorted.
{Um. . .question. How do we know that they're not controllers?} Tobias asked. {They could have been caught on the way here.}
"Their kis went straight from the dojo to here without stopping. Sessha sensed them." Kenshin said.
"Kis?" Jake asked.
"Warrior spirirts."
"Then why were you so surprised when they snuck up from behind?" Marco demanded.
"Their tones. . ." Kenshin whimpered. We all fell over.
Author's Note-*yawns* Please read and review. *falls asleep*
~Marco~
We considered telling them about last week's highschool basketball game. No, seriously, I brought it up on the way back. . .and ended up getting fwapped over the head by Rachel. We were all a bit nervous. Nervous about how they were going to react and nervous about how they were going to handle it. My clever jokes barely seemed to lighten the seriousness of the situation, if it did at all. My ribs were still sore from Rachel's sharp elbows, by the way.
Kenshin had this jaded, far-off look in his eyes that nearly looked like Tobias's when he was still human by the time we finished telling him. I felt sorry for the guy. I really did. He thought he'd be war-free for the rest of his life. Now we come along and throw him into another war. It's something to feel guilty about.
Sanosuke on the other hand. . .the look on his face was almost comical. His eyes were bug-eyed-practically as wide as saucers-and his mouth was hanging open like it would never shut again. When we finished, he yelled, "No way! You guys have to be pulling our legs!"
"What do you think we're trying to pull?! Ax is right here in front of you!" Rachel demanded.
"Well, you know, Rachel. . .six kids don't just drop out of the sky every day and say that they brought an entire army of evil space slugs with them every day. . .it takes couple of minutes for reality to set in." I said. I looked down at my spandex. Not the best weather for wearing spandex. "And as six kids dropping out of the sky fighting evil space slugs, I still say we get some better superhero outfits. Now Rachel, the Xena outfit would look great on you. A bit of leather, a shacrome. . . Yep. You're Xena."
"Well thanks, Marco. I'll look for the outfit at the next Gap sale." Rachel said.
"There's always Party City. . ."
"And of course, you would know of the attire they have. I'm sure I've seen you there advertising as a clown." Rachel shot back.
{Score one for Rachel, zip for Marco.} Tobias laughed.
I looked up at Tobias. "Hey, Bird-Boy, you don't even wear clothes." I said.
{I don't need to. I'm a /bird/, remember?}
"Exactly." I said. I stuck out my hand to Kenshin and Sano. "Welcome to Resident Weird in the Twilight Zone. We hope you will be able to appreciate your new permanent residence. Next week: Bonfire Night." I said.
"Let's hope it's not permanent." Cassie sighed. "I want to move back to Normal Apts soon."
"Cassie, don't egg him on. It's bad for his health." Rachel sighed.
"So," Jake said, ignoring our antics of getting off task/welcoming, "you'll help us, right?"
"There is one problem." Kenshin said slowly. "I have taken a vow not to kill. That would include my enemies."
~Rachel~
"What?!" I demanded. This guy was an idiot! You kill your enemy, or they kill you. There was no way he was this famous assassin I kept hearing about. "Why not?!"
"Repentance." Kenshin said simply. "Sessha killed many in the revolution, de gozaru you. Now he is but a simple rurouni."
"Macaroni?" Marco.
{Ah, yes. Macaroni. Cheesy noodles yet high in starch.} Ax said.
Kenshin and Sanosuke just stared at him in confusion. {Ax. . .we're really going to have to cut down your TV time and your trips to the mall. . .} Tobias said.
That figured. But then, when you're the only one of your kind on the planet and you live in the wild, what else is there really to do?
"Um. . .sessha said rurouni. A wandering samurai." Kenshin said.
{If you don't kill people, then why do you carry a sword?} Tobias pressed. That was true. Why carry a weapon that kills when you don't kill at all? It's nothing but dead weight.
Kenshin however, smiled and drew his sword. In the moonlight, the blade gleamed. But something wasn't right. I slowly touched the steel where the blade was supposed to be. It was blunt.
"This is a sakabatou. The blade is on the /other/ side." Kenshin informed me. That nearly made even less sense. Why carry a sword that's useless? I mean, yeah, he could now whack people over the head with it. But he probably could have gotten a stick for much cheaper. I glanced at his skirt and noted that with the money he could get from selling a worthless sword like that, he could at least afford pants.
"But. . .that makes it completely useless. You may as well carry around a stick." I said, my tone surprised as I voiced my opinion.
"Sessha doesn't feel comfortable without a sword." Kenshin merely replied.
Great. Why is it that every guy that could help us ended up being a pacifist? He reminded me of the Chee.
"Well, Kenshin. I hate to say this, but if you want to help, you'll have to kill if the time comes." Jake said grimly. "This isn't much different from being an assassin. You can't be seen. Being seen means being dead."
"Sessha understands." Kenshin said, his eyes clouding slightly. He shook his head to clear it. "But sessha is curious about how you've managed."
"We morph." Cassie said.
". . .How did you acquire this power?"
I smiled. Turned to Ax. "Ax, you have the blue box. You have the rest of the pieces, don't you?"
{Yes. I should have the box ready in a few days.} Ax replied.
"Good!" A voice said behind Kenshin and Sano. They both straightened, eyes wide as saucers as a girl and boy rose from the bushes behind them. "Because I hope you weren't planning on keeping this a secret from the rest of us, you two!" the girl continued.
"Yeah! And you better not have been planning to wander off again just because you thought it would be 'too dangerous'!" The boy joined in.
"Oro. . ." Kenshin said.
"I thought we told you to stay at the dojo while we checked out that light!" Sano yelled back. The boy jumped on his shoulders and started to gnaw on his head/hair.
"These friends of yours?" Jake asked.
Sano snorted. "Friends with the brat, maybe." He said as he plucked the boy off his head and tossed him aside with one hand. I stared, amazed. The boy had to have been around ten and Sano just tossed him away like a bug! "But I don't know about her." He pointed at the girl. "Who would want to be friends with the raccoon girl, I don't kno-"
"Why Sano, you good-for-nothing freeloader! You're setting a bad example for my student!" The girl yelled.
"What bad example? I figured out the raccoon part on my own!" The boy retorted.
{Um. . .question. How do we know that they're not controllers?} Tobias asked. {They could have been caught on the way here.}
"Their kis went straight from the dojo to here without stopping. Sessha sensed them." Kenshin said.
"Kis?" Jake asked.
"Warrior spirirts."
"Then why were you so surprised when they snuck up from behind?" Marco demanded.
"Their tones. . ." Kenshin whimpered. We all fell over.
Author's Note-*yawns* Please read and review. *falls asleep*