Tears of Twilight
Chapter 2.
"This is going to work out perfectly, now all I have to do..." Mia said as she was staring into her laptop.
"Ah, Mia, what's going to work out perfectly?" Kaye asked as she and Kento entered the living room.
"Kaye! Ah, hi. It's good to see that you finally decided to join us." Mia replied as she quickly turned off her laptop.
"All right, what are you up to?" Kaye asked curiously as she crossed her arms.
"Me? Up to something? Come on; don't be ridiculous." Mia replied.
"Ah yea, sure, Mia, whatever you say." Kaye said as she gave her a skeptical look.
"Kaye, mind if we talk for a minute?" Cye asked as he gently tugged at her arm.
"Sure, Cye." Kaye replied in slight confusion as she followed him to the kitchen.
Cye took a quick look to make sure that no one was in earshot. "Kaye, about earlier, I...well I just want to say that I'm sorry. You didn't need me to jump down your throat like that. I know that you were just trying to help." Cye said quietly as he avoided eye contact with her.
"Cye, it's ok. I shouldn't have pressed you about your hand. So I should be the one to apologize, not you." Kaye replied as she laid her hand onto his shoulder.
Cye quickly looked up and shook his head, "No, I think that I'm the one that's suppose to be apologizing." Cye said quickly.
"Apologizing for what?" Sage asked as he entered the kitchen. Taken by surprise, Kaye and Cye quickly turned around and saw that Sage walked right into their conversation. Cye gave Kaye a quick look, as he was trying to figure out something to say.
"Nothing really, just a small mishap in the kitchen with some syrup. See I went to try and reach for some plates, and the syrup started to fall from the cabinet. Cye tried to catch it, but unfortunately it was too late, and I ended up with syrup all over my shirt. Actually come to think of it, it was kind of funny." Kaye replied as she crossed her fingers behind her back hoping that Sage would believe her story.
"Ok, I guess that it had to be one of those you had to be there kind of stories." Sage said as he started towards the stairs.
"Yea, too bad that you missed it. By the way, care to tell us why you went into the woods so early this morning?" Cye asked curiously.
Sage stopped his climb and then turned around. "I'll fill everyone in, but only after I had a good hot shower and some breakfast. Now if you would excuse me." Sage replied as he continued up the stairs.Cye took a quick look up the stairs, making sure that Sage was finally gone.
"Question." Cye said as he turned around and walked over to her.
"Yea?" Kaye replied as she leaned onto the counter.
"Why did you tell Sage that story? How come you covered up for me like that?" Cye asked curiously.
"Why not? No one has to know what really happened this morning. Besides, it's water under the bridge." Kaye replied with a mischievous grin.
"Hey, Cye, don't be stealing my fiancé!" Kento yelled into the kitchen.
"Kento, I'm hurt. You thought that I would actually do something like that." Cye replied with a look of mock annoyance as he and Kaye entered the living room.
"Oh I don't know, maybe going out with Cye would be more fun. Or maybe, going out with Rowen could be just as interesting." Kaye replied with a teasing grin.
"Hey, don't get me involved in this." Rowen said as he held up his hands.
"What about me?" Ryo asked in mock hurt.
"You wanna find out, Ryo?" Kaye asked back.
"What? Kaye?" Kento asked in shock.The shocked look on Kento's face was all that was needed to get Kaye laughing so hard that she doubled over, and then she started to finally get under control. "Kento, I could never even consider thinking about being with anyone else besides you." Kaye replied with a grin.
"Oh, yea?" Kento asked.
"Yea." Kaye replied.
"Then prove it." Kento said as he brought her into his embrace.
"Ok, but remember, you asked for it." Kaye replied as she went up to kiss him.
"Don't tell me that I missed the whole thing?" Sage asked as he entered the living room as they broke apart from their kiss.
"Afraid so, Sage. Hey, did anyone else see who moved in next door?" Rowen asked as he decided to change the conversation.
"Someone actually moved into that place?" Kaye asked curiously.
"Actually, it was three people, two guys and one girl, and by the way that they looked, you can definitely tell that they're not from around here." Kento replied.
"Kento." Mia said in disbelief.
"I mean, they're foreigners that's all." Kento replied.
"Sage, you've been pretty quiet. What's going on in that head of yours? You were going to explain why you took off like you did this morning. Right?" Kaye asked as she looked curiously over at him.
"Yea, ok I've been having those dreams again." Sage replied as he leaned back into the chair.
"How long have you been having them?" Ryo asked in concern.
"For a while now, I didn't want to tell anyone until I was sure that everything has calmed down." Sage replied as he crossed his arms.
"Calmed down? What did he mean by that? Oh, I see." Kaye thought as she realized what he was talking about.
"Sage, what do you remember about these dreams?" Rowen asked as he glanced over to him.
"Actually that's the weird part, I don't remember much." Sage replied.
"Why don't you tell us what you do remember?" Kaye asked, as she was very interested in this, because Sage never forgot what any of his dreams were about.
"All right, I'll tell what I can." Sage replied as he closed his eyes and tried to remember his dream. "I see a battle, but it's hard to tell who's all there. The sun is blocked out, but I'm not sure how. Small pebbles of fire are falling. There's someone floating in the sky. I also see three I think people, it's hard to tell for sure, surrounded in some kind of fog or something. I, I can't see any more." Sage explained as he opened his eyes and held his head in his hands.
"You weren't kidding, that was definitely one weird dream. No wonder you didn't want to tell us about it. But, Sage, you still shouldn't have kept this from us." Kaye said as she handed him some aspirin and a glass of water.
Sage looked up and gave a grateful smile to her as he took them. "Thanks." Sage replied as he leaned back into the chair.
"Sure, no problem." Kaye replied as she smiled back.
"So now what? Do you think what Sage saw could possibly be a new threat, or just some kind of crazy dream?" Mia asked as she looked around at them.
"I don't know, but there is one way to find out." Kaye replied.
"Kaye, no! You're not going to do that! Not after everything you just went through, no strike that, still going through. So forget it!" Kento said sternly.
"But, Kento, we have to know if what Sage saw is real." Kaye replied.
"Kaye, Kento's right. I don't want you to risk it, if it's real or not, we'll figure it out sooner or later." Sage said as he glanced over at her.
Kaye nodded her head. Sage was right, they would figure it out. With a hidden sigh she turned away from them and headed for the refrigerator. She got out the jug of milk and poured herself a glass of it.
Cye turned away and headed out of the room, but as Kaye watched him, she couldn't still help wondering what on earth was bothering him. She didn't know what to do to have him tell her, and it pained her to see him like this. But perhaps he just needed time alone. After all, there were times when she didn't want anyone bothering her. All the fighting they had experienced during the past few months was taking a toll on them. It just seemed they didn't have time for much anything else. Ryo was constantly practicing outside or in the dojo under the house, Mia was always searching for new data to see if any new enemies would come, Sage was having his dreams, Rowen was more quieter and hardly seemed to read as much as he used to, Kento had cut down on his eating, and was seen working out with Ryo sometimes, or with her, and Cye.. Cye… Kaye sighed again. This time Sage had caught it.
"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked.
"Yeah," Kaye replied. "I just need to relax that's all."
Sage nodded as he watched Kaye leave the kitchen. He frowned deeply. He shook his head. Was it just him, or was everyone acting weird?
Kaye sat down on the swinging bench just outside on the front porch, sipping her milk, and swinging her feet back and forth. It was such a warm, beautiful day out, she thought it would be nice to take a nap out here. She closed her eyes when she heard something across the street. Opening her eyes, she saw the brown haired girl coming out the front door. Curious, she watched the girl. Who was she and where had she come from?
Flash yawned a bit as she stared up at the sky. She didn't know how long she had been sleeping, but it must have been for a while now. Scorpio and Thunder were still asleep, and would probably keep sleeping until dinner time. She stretched her arms, then her back, and yawned. Feeling somewhat better, she stood up again. Suddenly she got a strong feeling that someone was watching her. Tilting her head, she looked across the street.
Kaye stared, a bit surprised. Okay, the girl had sensed her staring.. Then again why was she surprised? A lot of people could sense being watched. It was a natural ability. At least she believed it so. She wondered what this girl was like though. Was she evil, good, ordinary, or not ordinary? She decided to see. She gave a friendly smile to her. Immediately the girl smiled back just as friendly like, before turning away and going back into the house.
Kaye continued drinking her milk. At least she knew the girl was friendly.. She paused for a moment. Should she have gone over and introduced herself? No, it was best to wait until the girl was settled. She finished her milk at last, and stood up, and headed into the house, letting the screen door swing shut behind her as she did.
It had seemed that the others had momentarily had forgotten about the new people across the street. Ryo and Kento were having a hand wrestling match at the coffee table, with Rowen and Sage watching them intensely. Both Ronins were straining with all their might, the veins in their hands seeming to pop almost out of place, their muscles tight with tension. Cheers were coming from either Strata or Halo, either encouraging Ryo or Kento.
Cye was sitting in the reclining chair, his eyes riveted on the television, watching the news. Every once in a while, he would glance toward the two boys, but it seemed as if he wasn't into what they were doing. Within a few moments, Kento had slammed Ryo's hand down on the table, and then jumped up, throwing his arms in the air with a triumphant grin on his face.
"Yeah! Hardrock wins! Whoohoo! No one can beat me!"
Ryo was rubbing his hand and shaking it. "Ow," he said.. "Dang, Kento. You could've gone easy on me."
"And let you win? Don't think so."
Ryo pouted a bit, but then his eyes brightened suddenly as he gave Kento a look that meant trouble. And knowing Ryo it was either good, or it wasn't. "I want a rematch, Kento.. But this time out in the yard."
All of them stared at him. Cye turned his eyes away from the television set. Usually Ryo never asked for a rematch. Was something on his mind or something? Or was he just really sore about losing to Kento? It was hard to saying at the moment, especially since the bearer of Wildfire wore a smirk upon his face. What was Ryo up to?
Kento let his own smirk appear on his face as he nodded his head. "Okay, man. I accept your challenge!"
"This I have to see," Kaye said. The others agreed and one by one they followed the two out into the front yard. Each of them stood facing each other as everyone else sat or stood on the porch.
Ryo stared at Kento as he got into his attack/defense mode. He had no other thoughts going through his mind at the moment, except for what he was about to do. This was how he kept himself prepared for any fight, be it, real, practice, or even a pretend fight.
Kento stood before him, that funny smirk still on his face. Did Ryo really think he could win against him? Ha! That was funny. There was no way he could! Not against the strongest Ronin Warrior.
Suddenly Kento attacked Ryo, knocking him down to the ground. Ryo propelled his feet upward and kicked him off him, then flipped up onto his feet. He leapt into the air and tackled the bigger warrior, but Kento stepped backward, and somehow got behind Ryo, wrapping one arm around Ryo's neck, but gently, and the other around his torso. He threw Ryo away from him.
Ryo wasn't about to give up though. He came back, somersaulting backwards until he landed behind Kento, and did a round house kick to Kento's backside. Kento went sliding forward.
He came to a stop and jumped to his feet, and quickly turned around, just in time to catch Ryo coming at him again. He stepped backward, allowing Ryo to lose his balance and fall flat on his face.
"Problems, Ryo?" Kento teased with a huge grin on his face.
Ryo said nothing, but leapt quickly to his feet and suddenly began to attack more. He was still calm and focused, but he was surprised though. Kento had gotten better. Before his temper would get in his way and he would lose his focus on what he was doing. But not this time. Still Wildfire wasn't about to give up.
The others continued to watch though, with Sage and Rowen still cheering. Kaye was cheering right on for Kento, and Mia for Ryo. Cye was still extremely quiet as if he was against this, or as if he had something else on his mind. It was actually hard to tell what was on his mind.
Across the street, the three new neighbors had stepped outside. Their eyes drifted across the street, watching Ryo and Kento as they fought. At first Scorpio thought it was a real fight, but after noticing that none of the others were too concerned, he didn't say anything. He had actually forgotten that a lot of people practiced martial arts in Japan, and that was what it seemed like they were doing.
Flash seemed very interested in what they were doing, and she was quite impressed. "Wow, I wonder if they're both black belts. They look as if they'd be tough to beat, or at least one heck of a challenge."
Thunder nodded, a small smile on his face. He was halfway between being annoyed, and half way intrigued by the fight. He glanced irritably at his guards. 'Why can't I ever get a break?' he wondered with a hidden sigh.
The three continued to watch Ryo and Kento. The fighting was getting more and more intense, as neither seemed ready to give up. After an hour, Ryo finally had Kento pinned down, and Kento could barely move.
"Okay, okay, I give, Ryo.. You win," Kento said wearily.
Ryo watched him, suspicious. He knew Kento. Should he let him up, or no? After thinking about this, he finally decided on his decision. He let go of Kento, but he kept an eye on him in case he tried anything.
Kento stood up, dusting himself off. "Man, Ryo.. I never knew you could be so violent like that," he said.
Ryo smirked at him as he brushed his hair out of his eyes. "I never knew you could be so calm during a practice."
"Thanks, I'll take that as a compliment," Kento grinned at him.
Ryo smiled back.
"Well, that was interesting," Rowen said as he stood up. Sage nodded in agreement as they began to go back into the house. Cye was the first one in, and Kaye and Kento were the last ones in. As the two headed inside, Kaye looked at Kento. "Hey, you okay?"
Kento nodded. "Yeah, it's not the first time I've lost to Ryo."
"Really?" Kaye said.
"Yep. Man, I'm starving. I really need some food!"
Kaye laughed a bit. Since when wasn't Kento hungry? But that was one of the things she loved about him. Even though he ate a lot, he wasn't afraid to tell someone if he was hungry, no matter how often that was. Together they went inside the house, where Kento immediately headed to the kitchen.
Kaye noticed that Cye was slouched on the recliner, looking quite depressed. She bit her lip, frowning deeply. "Cye?" she called.
There was no answer from him, and she tried again. Still he didn't answer her. Okay, what was wrong now? She looked toward Ryo who was frowning at Cye. "Ryo, what's up with Cye?"
Ryo shook his head, staring at the Ronin of Torrent. "No idea. He won't talk to me either. Cye?"
Cye only let out a small sigh, but kept his mouth closed. It was as if he refused to talk. What was wrong?
Back across the street, Thunder was going through his boxes and putting his stuff away. Flash had already put hers away, and was now looking in the cupboards to cook them something to eat. True there were servants there, Thunder had given them the day off to rest up, and Flash had said she'd cook. The smell of hamburgers wafted through the air. She wasn't as a good as a cook as their fellow Warrior T-boz, but she could still cook a delicious meal. Something she had learned to do for herself and her younger half brother and half sister, AKA the demon twins as she liked to call them sometimes, whenever her father and her stepmother went out on one of her father's business trips.
Scorpio had just finished putting the last of his clothes away into his dresser, then stood up, and left the room. He walked down the hall, and came to Thunder's room. "Hey."
Thunder smiled at him. "Got everything put away?"
"Yes, though it looks like you're still stuck with it."
Thunder sighed. "Yeah, my mother wanted to make sure I had enough clothes."
Scorpio laughed. "I can see that."
Thunder took another outfit and soon folded into the second top drawer, and closed it shut. He let out of a relieved sigh, glad to be done. "There. Now I can maybe get some other things done."
"Flash is cooking supper downstairs," Scorpio informed him.
"I know," Thunder said with a nod. "I actually can't wait to eat. I feel as if I'm starving, and that's unusual for me."
"Well, everyone gets like that," the smaller boy said as they left Thunder's room. They walked down the hall, took a turn onto a much wider hall, and finally came to a set of wide stairs that went down straight half way down, then split off into two different sections, but each going down onto an another landing, before descending down further with a bit of a circle near the end. The two walked down them, side by side. Why the steps were like this, they didn't have much of a clue. Perhaps the people who had lived here before had a large family, plus it did provide space for many people to ascend or descend the stairs at the same time.
When they reached bottom, Flash called them into the kitchen. She had several plates out, three for her and them, and the rest for the guards and servants. Everyone sat down to eat, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere, seven adults, and three teenagers.
Flash had eaten ¼ of her cheeseburger when she looked at her friends. "Hey, let's go exploring in the city! It would be great to get out for a while, and to see the sights."
"Yeah, that would be cool," Scorpio nodded with agreement. "I heard they have excellent lakes and oceans here."
"I wouldn't mind seeing the sights myself," Thunder said. "Just as long as no girls flirt with me."
Flash and Scorpio nodded in agreement. One of the guards spoke up to him though.
"Your majesty, we will accompany…."
"No," Thunder said immediately. "I want to do this alone," Karlos."
"But your…" Karlos began."
Thunder looked directly at him. "Karlos, I know you mean well, and I know my parents mean well, but I need my space. I'm a Warrior, I've been trained to fight, I know military action as well. Flash and Scorpio know how to fight too. I'll be fine. Besides wouldn't you want your space after a while?"
Karlos frowned and sat back, glancing at the other guard. Finally he just nodded with a reluctant sigh.
"So that settles it," Flash said. "We leave after we finish supper."
Thunder and Scorpio nodded their heads as they all went back to eating their meal.
Chapter 2.
"This is going to work out perfectly, now all I have to do..." Mia said as she was staring into her laptop.
"Ah, Mia, what's going to work out perfectly?" Kaye asked as she and Kento entered the living room.
"Kaye! Ah, hi. It's good to see that you finally decided to join us." Mia replied as she quickly turned off her laptop.
"All right, what are you up to?" Kaye asked curiously as she crossed her arms.
"Me? Up to something? Come on; don't be ridiculous." Mia replied.
"Ah yea, sure, Mia, whatever you say." Kaye said as she gave her a skeptical look.
"Kaye, mind if we talk for a minute?" Cye asked as he gently tugged at her arm.
"Sure, Cye." Kaye replied in slight confusion as she followed him to the kitchen.
Cye took a quick look to make sure that no one was in earshot. "Kaye, about earlier, I...well I just want to say that I'm sorry. You didn't need me to jump down your throat like that. I know that you were just trying to help." Cye said quietly as he avoided eye contact with her.
"Cye, it's ok. I shouldn't have pressed you about your hand. So I should be the one to apologize, not you." Kaye replied as she laid her hand onto his shoulder.
Cye quickly looked up and shook his head, "No, I think that I'm the one that's suppose to be apologizing." Cye said quickly.
"Apologizing for what?" Sage asked as he entered the kitchen. Taken by surprise, Kaye and Cye quickly turned around and saw that Sage walked right into their conversation. Cye gave Kaye a quick look, as he was trying to figure out something to say.
"Nothing really, just a small mishap in the kitchen with some syrup. See I went to try and reach for some plates, and the syrup started to fall from the cabinet. Cye tried to catch it, but unfortunately it was too late, and I ended up with syrup all over my shirt. Actually come to think of it, it was kind of funny." Kaye replied as she crossed her fingers behind her back hoping that Sage would believe her story.
"Ok, I guess that it had to be one of those you had to be there kind of stories." Sage said as he started towards the stairs.
"Yea, too bad that you missed it. By the way, care to tell us why you went into the woods so early this morning?" Cye asked curiously.
Sage stopped his climb and then turned around. "I'll fill everyone in, but only after I had a good hot shower and some breakfast. Now if you would excuse me." Sage replied as he continued up the stairs.Cye took a quick look up the stairs, making sure that Sage was finally gone.
"Question." Cye said as he turned around and walked over to her.
"Yea?" Kaye replied as she leaned onto the counter.
"Why did you tell Sage that story? How come you covered up for me like that?" Cye asked curiously.
"Why not? No one has to know what really happened this morning. Besides, it's water under the bridge." Kaye replied with a mischievous grin.
"Hey, Cye, don't be stealing my fiancé!" Kento yelled into the kitchen.
"Kento, I'm hurt. You thought that I would actually do something like that." Cye replied with a look of mock annoyance as he and Kaye entered the living room.
"Oh I don't know, maybe going out with Cye would be more fun. Or maybe, going out with Rowen could be just as interesting." Kaye replied with a teasing grin.
"Hey, don't get me involved in this." Rowen said as he held up his hands.
"What about me?" Ryo asked in mock hurt.
"You wanna find out, Ryo?" Kaye asked back.
"What? Kaye?" Kento asked in shock.The shocked look on Kento's face was all that was needed to get Kaye laughing so hard that she doubled over, and then she started to finally get under control. "Kento, I could never even consider thinking about being with anyone else besides you." Kaye replied with a grin.
"Oh, yea?" Kento asked.
"Yea." Kaye replied.
"Then prove it." Kento said as he brought her into his embrace.
"Ok, but remember, you asked for it." Kaye replied as she went up to kiss him.
"Don't tell me that I missed the whole thing?" Sage asked as he entered the living room as they broke apart from their kiss.
"Afraid so, Sage. Hey, did anyone else see who moved in next door?" Rowen asked as he decided to change the conversation.
"Someone actually moved into that place?" Kaye asked curiously.
"Actually, it was three people, two guys and one girl, and by the way that they looked, you can definitely tell that they're not from around here." Kento replied.
"Kento." Mia said in disbelief.
"I mean, they're foreigners that's all." Kento replied.
"Sage, you've been pretty quiet. What's going on in that head of yours? You were going to explain why you took off like you did this morning. Right?" Kaye asked as she looked curiously over at him.
"Yea, ok I've been having those dreams again." Sage replied as he leaned back into the chair.
"How long have you been having them?" Ryo asked in concern.
"For a while now, I didn't want to tell anyone until I was sure that everything has calmed down." Sage replied as he crossed his arms.
"Calmed down? What did he mean by that? Oh, I see." Kaye thought as she realized what he was talking about.
"Sage, what do you remember about these dreams?" Rowen asked as he glanced over to him.
"Actually that's the weird part, I don't remember much." Sage replied.
"Why don't you tell us what you do remember?" Kaye asked, as she was very interested in this, because Sage never forgot what any of his dreams were about.
"All right, I'll tell what I can." Sage replied as he closed his eyes and tried to remember his dream. "I see a battle, but it's hard to tell who's all there. The sun is blocked out, but I'm not sure how. Small pebbles of fire are falling. There's someone floating in the sky. I also see three I think people, it's hard to tell for sure, surrounded in some kind of fog or something. I, I can't see any more." Sage explained as he opened his eyes and held his head in his hands.
"You weren't kidding, that was definitely one weird dream. No wonder you didn't want to tell us about it. But, Sage, you still shouldn't have kept this from us." Kaye said as she handed him some aspirin and a glass of water.
Sage looked up and gave a grateful smile to her as he took them. "Thanks." Sage replied as he leaned back into the chair.
"Sure, no problem." Kaye replied as she smiled back.
"So now what? Do you think what Sage saw could possibly be a new threat, or just some kind of crazy dream?" Mia asked as she looked around at them.
"I don't know, but there is one way to find out." Kaye replied.
"Kaye, no! You're not going to do that! Not after everything you just went through, no strike that, still going through. So forget it!" Kento said sternly.
"But, Kento, we have to know if what Sage saw is real." Kaye replied.
"Kaye, Kento's right. I don't want you to risk it, if it's real or not, we'll figure it out sooner or later." Sage said as he glanced over at her.
Kaye nodded her head. Sage was right, they would figure it out. With a hidden sigh she turned away from them and headed for the refrigerator. She got out the jug of milk and poured herself a glass of it.
Cye turned away and headed out of the room, but as Kaye watched him, she couldn't still help wondering what on earth was bothering him. She didn't know what to do to have him tell her, and it pained her to see him like this. But perhaps he just needed time alone. After all, there were times when she didn't want anyone bothering her. All the fighting they had experienced during the past few months was taking a toll on them. It just seemed they didn't have time for much anything else. Ryo was constantly practicing outside or in the dojo under the house, Mia was always searching for new data to see if any new enemies would come, Sage was having his dreams, Rowen was more quieter and hardly seemed to read as much as he used to, Kento had cut down on his eating, and was seen working out with Ryo sometimes, or with her, and Cye.. Cye… Kaye sighed again. This time Sage had caught it.
"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked.
"Yeah," Kaye replied. "I just need to relax that's all."
Sage nodded as he watched Kaye leave the kitchen. He frowned deeply. He shook his head. Was it just him, or was everyone acting weird?
Kaye sat down on the swinging bench just outside on the front porch, sipping her milk, and swinging her feet back and forth. It was such a warm, beautiful day out, she thought it would be nice to take a nap out here. She closed her eyes when she heard something across the street. Opening her eyes, she saw the brown haired girl coming out the front door. Curious, she watched the girl. Who was she and where had she come from?
Flash yawned a bit as she stared up at the sky. She didn't know how long she had been sleeping, but it must have been for a while now. Scorpio and Thunder were still asleep, and would probably keep sleeping until dinner time. She stretched her arms, then her back, and yawned. Feeling somewhat better, she stood up again. Suddenly she got a strong feeling that someone was watching her. Tilting her head, she looked across the street.
Kaye stared, a bit surprised. Okay, the girl had sensed her staring.. Then again why was she surprised? A lot of people could sense being watched. It was a natural ability. At least she believed it so. She wondered what this girl was like though. Was she evil, good, ordinary, or not ordinary? She decided to see. She gave a friendly smile to her. Immediately the girl smiled back just as friendly like, before turning away and going back into the house.
Kaye continued drinking her milk. At least she knew the girl was friendly.. She paused for a moment. Should she have gone over and introduced herself? No, it was best to wait until the girl was settled. She finished her milk at last, and stood up, and headed into the house, letting the screen door swing shut behind her as she did.
It had seemed that the others had momentarily had forgotten about the new people across the street. Ryo and Kento were having a hand wrestling match at the coffee table, with Rowen and Sage watching them intensely. Both Ronins were straining with all their might, the veins in their hands seeming to pop almost out of place, their muscles tight with tension. Cheers were coming from either Strata or Halo, either encouraging Ryo or Kento.
Cye was sitting in the reclining chair, his eyes riveted on the television, watching the news. Every once in a while, he would glance toward the two boys, but it seemed as if he wasn't into what they were doing. Within a few moments, Kento had slammed Ryo's hand down on the table, and then jumped up, throwing his arms in the air with a triumphant grin on his face.
"Yeah! Hardrock wins! Whoohoo! No one can beat me!"
Ryo was rubbing his hand and shaking it. "Ow," he said.. "Dang, Kento. You could've gone easy on me."
"And let you win? Don't think so."
Ryo pouted a bit, but then his eyes brightened suddenly as he gave Kento a look that meant trouble. And knowing Ryo it was either good, or it wasn't. "I want a rematch, Kento.. But this time out in the yard."
All of them stared at him. Cye turned his eyes away from the television set. Usually Ryo never asked for a rematch. Was something on his mind or something? Or was he just really sore about losing to Kento? It was hard to saying at the moment, especially since the bearer of Wildfire wore a smirk upon his face. What was Ryo up to?
Kento let his own smirk appear on his face as he nodded his head. "Okay, man. I accept your challenge!"
"This I have to see," Kaye said. The others agreed and one by one they followed the two out into the front yard. Each of them stood facing each other as everyone else sat or stood on the porch.
Ryo stared at Kento as he got into his attack/defense mode. He had no other thoughts going through his mind at the moment, except for what he was about to do. This was how he kept himself prepared for any fight, be it, real, practice, or even a pretend fight.
Kento stood before him, that funny smirk still on his face. Did Ryo really think he could win against him? Ha! That was funny. There was no way he could! Not against the strongest Ronin Warrior.
Suddenly Kento attacked Ryo, knocking him down to the ground. Ryo propelled his feet upward and kicked him off him, then flipped up onto his feet. He leapt into the air and tackled the bigger warrior, but Kento stepped backward, and somehow got behind Ryo, wrapping one arm around Ryo's neck, but gently, and the other around his torso. He threw Ryo away from him.
Ryo wasn't about to give up though. He came back, somersaulting backwards until he landed behind Kento, and did a round house kick to Kento's backside. Kento went sliding forward.
He came to a stop and jumped to his feet, and quickly turned around, just in time to catch Ryo coming at him again. He stepped backward, allowing Ryo to lose his balance and fall flat on his face.
"Problems, Ryo?" Kento teased with a huge grin on his face.
Ryo said nothing, but leapt quickly to his feet and suddenly began to attack more. He was still calm and focused, but he was surprised though. Kento had gotten better. Before his temper would get in his way and he would lose his focus on what he was doing. But not this time. Still Wildfire wasn't about to give up.
The others continued to watch though, with Sage and Rowen still cheering. Kaye was cheering right on for Kento, and Mia for Ryo. Cye was still extremely quiet as if he was against this, or as if he had something else on his mind. It was actually hard to tell what was on his mind.
Across the street, the three new neighbors had stepped outside. Their eyes drifted across the street, watching Ryo and Kento as they fought. At first Scorpio thought it was a real fight, but after noticing that none of the others were too concerned, he didn't say anything. He had actually forgotten that a lot of people practiced martial arts in Japan, and that was what it seemed like they were doing.
Flash seemed very interested in what they were doing, and she was quite impressed. "Wow, I wonder if they're both black belts. They look as if they'd be tough to beat, or at least one heck of a challenge."
Thunder nodded, a small smile on his face. He was halfway between being annoyed, and half way intrigued by the fight. He glanced irritably at his guards. 'Why can't I ever get a break?' he wondered with a hidden sigh.
The three continued to watch Ryo and Kento. The fighting was getting more and more intense, as neither seemed ready to give up. After an hour, Ryo finally had Kento pinned down, and Kento could barely move.
"Okay, okay, I give, Ryo.. You win," Kento said wearily.
Ryo watched him, suspicious. He knew Kento. Should he let him up, or no? After thinking about this, he finally decided on his decision. He let go of Kento, but he kept an eye on him in case he tried anything.
Kento stood up, dusting himself off. "Man, Ryo.. I never knew you could be so violent like that," he said.
Ryo smirked at him as he brushed his hair out of his eyes. "I never knew you could be so calm during a practice."
"Thanks, I'll take that as a compliment," Kento grinned at him.
Ryo smiled back.
"Well, that was interesting," Rowen said as he stood up. Sage nodded in agreement as they began to go back into the house. Cye was the first one in, and Kaye and Kento were the last ones in. As the two headed inside, Kaye looked at Kento. "Hey, you okay?"
Kento nodded. "Yeah, it's not the first time I've lost to Ryo."
"Really?" Kaye said.
"Yep. Man, I'm starving. I really need some food!"
Kaye laughed a bit. Since when wasn't Kento hungry? But that was one of the things she loved about him. Even though he ate a lot, he wasn't afraid to tell someone if he was hungry, no matter how often that was. Together they went inside the house, where Kento immediately headed to the kitchen.
Kaye noticed that Cye was slouched on the recliner, looking quite depressed. She bit her lip, frowning deeply. "Cye?" she called.
There was no answer from him, and she tried again. Still he didn't answer her. Okay, what was wrong now? She looked toward Ryo who was frowning at Cye. "Ryo, what's up with Cye?"
Ryo shook his head, staring at the Ronin of Torrent. "No idea. He won't talk to me either. Cye?"
Cye only let out a small sigh, but kept his mouth closed. It was as if he refused to talk. What was wrong?
Back across the street, Thunder was going through his boxes and putting his stuff away. Flash had already put hers away, and was now looking in the cupboards to cook them something to eat. True there were servants there, Thunder had given them the day off to rest up, and Flash had said she'd cook. The smell of hamburgers wafted through the air. She wasn't as a good as a cook as their fellow Warrior T-boz, but she could still cook a delicious meal. Something she had learned to do for herself and her younger half brother and half sister, AKA the demon twins as she liked to call them sometimes, whenever her father and her stepmother went out on one of her father's business trips.
Scorpio had just finished putting the last of his clothes away into his dresser, then stood up, and left the room. He walked down the hall, and came to Thunder's room. "Hey."
Thunder smiled at him. "Got everything put away?"
"Yes, though it looks like you're still stuck with it."
Thunder sighed. "Yeah, my mother wanted to make sure I had enough clothes."
Scorpio laughed. "I can see that."
Thunder took another outfit and soon folded into the second top drawer, and closed it shut. He let out of a relieved sigh, glad to be done. "There. Now I can maybe get some other things done."
"Flash is cooking supper downstairs," Scorpio informed him.
"I know," Thunder said with a nod. "I actually can't wait to eat. I feel as if I'm starving, and that's unusual for me."
"Well, everyone gets like that," the smaller boy said as they left Thunder's room. They walked down the hall, took a turn onto a much wider hall, and finally came to a set of wide stairs that went down straight half way down, then split off into two different sections, but each going down onto an another landing, before descending down further with a bit of a circle near the end. The two walked down them, side by side. Why the steps were like this, they didn't have much of a clue. Perhaps the people who had lived here before had a large family, plus it did provide space for many people to ascend or descend the stairs at the same time.
When they reached bottom, Flash called them into the kitchen. She had several plates out, three for her and them, and the rest for the guards and servants. Everyone sat down to eat, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere, seven adults, and three teenagers.
Flash had eaten ¼ of her cheeseburger when she looked at her friends. "Hey, let's go exploring in the city! It would be great to get out for a while, and to see the sights."
"Yeah, that would be cool," Scorpio nodded with agreement. "I heard they have excellent lakes and oceans here."
"I wouldn't mind seeing the sights myself," Thunder said. "Just as long as no girls flirt with me."
Flash and Scorpio nodded in agreement. One of the guards spoke up to him though.
"Your majesty, we will accompany…."
"No," Thunder said immediately. "I want to do this alone," Karlos."
"But your…" Karlos began."
Thunder looked directly at him. "Karlos, I know you mean well, and I know my parents mean well, but I need my space. I'm a Warrior, I've been trained to fight, I know military action as well. Flash and Scorpio know how to fight too. I'll be fine. Besides wouldn't you want your space after a while?"
Karlos frowned and sat back, glancing at the other guard. Finally he just nodded with a reluctant sigh.
"So that settles it," Flash said. "We leave after we finish supper."
Thunder and Scorpio nodded their heads as they all went back to eating their meal.