Tears of Twilight
Chapter 14.
Ryo looked around as he came to a stop just before a bridge stretching over a wide lake that was at least twenty feet wide and forty feet across from where he, Sage, Flash, and White Blaze stood. His eyes quickly surveyed the area, just waiting for more Dynasty soldiers to come along and stop them. There wasn't much time though. He wasn't sure what kind of Prophecy Talpa had mentioned was really about, but he was willing to bet it wasn't going to be use for good, because Talpa just wasn't like that.
Sage stared down at the bridge, feeling just a bit uneasy. They had been walking around for two hours already, doing their best to avoid the soldiers, so they could save their strengths, but already they had fought at least three times, and they seemed to be no closer into finding Kento, Rowen, Scorpio, and Lightning, than when they first began. He looked over at Ryo who seemed to be studying the bridge, then over at Flash.
Flash was standing there quietly as if in thought. Her eyes held no emotion at the moment, and it was hard to determine exactly what she was thinking at that precise moment.
"Well, looks like we cross," Ryo said softly.
"Yeah," Sage said slowly as his violet eye gazed at the bridge.
"Listen, if this bridge starts to crumble, we have two choices," Ryo began. "One, we either swim or run like hell."
"Running like hell would be no problem," Flash said.
Ryo only nodded and stepped out onto the bridge. It seemed sturdy enough. Taking a deep breath, he slowly began to cross it, with Sage, Flash, and White Blaze walking directly behind him, each one half expecting for that bridge to suddenly become unstable.
Amazingly, the bridge actually held out for the longest time, but then suddenly White Blaze's ears twitched and he turned his head, emitting a vicious growl.
Ryo looked back over his shoulder, and saw that his tiger was turned the other way around, the hairs along his hackles and back raised, his large fangs bared, as he stood there, ready to attack.
Sage and Flash whirled around at the same time, and came face to face with a myriad of Dynasty soldiers advancing on them, weapons held out, each one running across the bridge at them.
"Swell," Ryo muttered as he readied himself.
"Well, we should have known this was going to happen"" Sage muttered.
"Ryo, Sage, go. I'll take care of them," Flash said.
They both gaped at her, shocked she would even consider them leaving her.
"You're crazy, Flash!" Ryo said.
"So I've been told a time or two," Flash said with a smirk.
"How can you possibly expect to beat them?" Sage asked in disbelief.
"Simple. Like this." And with that, Flash suddenly powered up.
Kento came to a stop suddenly, causing Rowen to slam in from behind him. The Bearer of Strata winced and staggered backward, giving his big friend an annoyed look. "Why'd you stop?"
"Because if I hadn't, we'd be walking right into that huge ditch over there," Kento replied as he pointed to an economy size hole just a few inches away from them. Rowen peered out from behind Kento and gasped.
Scorpio studied it, and began to look for another way around, so far he didn't see any. "Well, now what?" he asked.
"Looks like we turn back," Rowen said with a sigh.
"Swell," Kento muttered.
Lightning shook his head and turned around, and began to head off in another direction. The three boys stared at him for a moment, then after a quick look at one another, took off after him. The tiger led them past several temple like buildings, and as they followed along, they kept their eyes and ears peeled. For now, it seemed there were no Dynasty soldiers to worry about, and that should have given them time to relax, but when it involved being in the Dynasty, there was no time to relax. They rounded a building, stepping in between an alley way, and the moment they stepped out, they found themselves face to face with a wall of Dynasty soldiers.
"Uh oh," Scorpio said.
"Alright then!" Kento cheered. "I was hoping for a fight!"
Rowen shook his head. "Kento, you're impossible."
Kento made no reply as the soldiers suddenly attacked them. Rowen shot out several arrows from his bow, then did a side flip, kicking one soldier away from him. Kento punched and kicked his way through, before slamming his nanjinta against the neck of another soldier and causing it to smash into another. Scorpio did a round house kick against one, then took his spearstaff and sent a soldier flying over several buildings. Lightening leaped upon one, shredding, clawing, and ripping a soldier apart, before leaping to another one and doing the same thing. Slowly, the soldiers began to diminish in size, and that gave them more feelings of hope. As long as they could keep this up, their friends were as soon as rescued.
Kento suddenly decided to turn it up a notch. He summoned his surekill and sent at least twenty soldiers into oblivion. Rowen decided to do the same, seeing as they had no choice. Thirty soldiers were sent flying backward. And Scorpio called his also. The moment he had cried, "Water Torrent Power!" a huge tidal wave suddenly appeared from no where and swept the rest of the soldiers away in a flood. When it all cleared, they saw there were no more soldiers to contend with, and immediately took off running after Lightning.
Ryo and Sage continued to stare in shock at Flash. Ryo suddenly felt ten times stronger than he ever had before, even without his Inferno Armor, and Sage felt so hot, he was ready to jump into the water below the bridge. All he could do though was back off some as he wiped the sweat off his forehead.
Flash continued to watch the soldiers advance closer to them. She waited for a little bit more as they all stepped onto the bridge. Then, suddenly, with a jerk of her head, they began to explode into flames one by one.
Ryo decided to help out anyway, as more and more were approaching. He summoned his surekill and destroyed at least forty of them, as Sage called his own, and destroyed another twenty. White Blaze jumped into the fray as well, ripping and tearing apart with his claws and fangs. The soldiers were lessening in number, and so far they weren't sure whether that was a good sign or not. There was always a chance that more could gather and attack. So they had to be very careful at this point. At last all the soldiers were gone, and the bridge was empty. Flash let her power down, and returned to normal.
"Let's go!" Ryo said and immediately took off across the bridge, with Flash, Sage, and White Blaze running along behind him.
After walking for a good thirty minutes, Rowen came to a stop to rest and stared up at the sky. It was getting darker by the hour, and he knew they would soon have to find a place to rest for the night and to regain their strength. He knew Kento would want to keep on moving, but if they overworked themselves, they would be of no help to their friends. A strange sound suddenly caught his and Scorpio's attention, and both looked at Kento with wide eyes.
"Okay, so I'm hungry," Kento said with a roll of his eyes.
"Now that you mentioned it, so am I," Scorpio said.
"Not sure what there'd be to eat around here," Rowen said dryly.
"Probably nothing good," Kento muttered.
No one said anything. As of now they had four problems. One, they were getting tired, two, they were still separated from their friends, three, they were worried about Kaye, Cye, and Thunder, and four, they were hungry. But still they weren't about to give up just like that. They would keep going until all of them were back together.
Inside the room, Kaye, Cye, and Thunder were all resting. They weren't really asleep, just mostly talking quietly. Kaye had told Thunder about her life, and Cye did too, and in turn Thunder told about his life. It seemed there was a deeper understanding between them, that it made them momentarily forget about their current situation.
"So she punched you?" Cye asked Thunder in disbelief after Thunder had just told them about a time when he had to wake up a fellow Warrior named Shades.
Thunder nodded. "Yeah, and I'm telling you, her punches are like having a boulder slammed against you. She actually broke my jaw."
"And I thought Rowen was bad," Kaye mumbled as she shook her head.
"Rowen doesn't like being woken either?" Thunder asked.
Cye shook his head as he stood up from his bed. "No, in fact he's quite the dick when someone wakes him up. Except he's never attacked any of us. Only threatened."
"I see," Thunder mused.
Kaye let out a sigh, causing them to both look at her.
"Kaye?"
"I'm okay," she answered when she noticed their concern. "I guess I'm just stressed out over everything that happened today."
"That makes two of us," Thunder muttered as he remembered the pain he had endured.
"Three," Cye said. "I still can't believe they're forcing us to go through with this. It's not fair! Damn it! What the hell did our mom see in Talpa anyway?"
"I don't know," Kaye said as she shook her head. "Couldn't have been good though."
Their attention was interrupted when the locked door unlocked and opened up. Dais stood in the doorway as three soldiers each brought a plate of food in. "Meal time," he said carelessly.
"Oh goody," Thunder said sarcastically, "and I was just sitting here thinking how good it would be if you suddenly came with our meals."
Dais stared at Thunder coldly. "I can always take yours back," he threatened.
"Go ahead," Thunder taunted. "But your metal headed master might not be happy with that. He needs me to be at my best for his obsessed plan."
Dais sighed and muttered something under his breath. The soldiers placed the food on the desk, then left, and the Warlord quickly followed, locking the door shut behind him.
Kaye and Cye looked over at Thunder in shock. He shrugged apologetically. "Sorry, about that. Sometimes I get cranky when I'm locked up."
They nodded in understanding, and each took a place, and slowly began to eat. When they had finished, they left their empty plates on the desk. Cye, feeling exhausted then laid down on his bed and closed his eyes, letting himself slowly fall to sleep. Kaye kept awake though, watching over him, and missing Kento more and more. She curled up onto her side, and let her tears overtake her.
Thunder watched her with a frown, wanting to comfort her, but he wasn't sure how to, and that made him feel all the more guilty. Instead, all he could do was watch over as she cried herself to sleep, whispering, "I'm sorry," before he, too, fell asleep.
Two hours later, Thunder suddenly awoke, shooting straight up out of bed, screaming in terror with a pale and sweaty face, and his body shaking heavily. The scream had echoed out through the entire castle, and startled both Kaye and Cye from a sound sleep, as they looked at him in horror.
"Thunder?!" Kaye shouted as she rushed from the bed and over to him. "Thunder, what's wrong?!"
Thunder made no reply as he sat there, shaking like a leaf. And Cye and Kaye cast each other a concerned look. What had happened? Finally, after a few minutes, Thunder slowly calmed down, long enough to talk to them.
"Are you okay?" Cye asked in concerned.
"N.. no" Thunder moaned as he buried his face into his hands. When he composed himself again, he began to tell them of his horrible dream. "When I was little, about eight years old, a scientist kidnapped me. He ran experiments on me, using ten inch needles at several times, and analyzing my DNA and blood cells, as well as trying to determine where I got my powers. He kept locked up for about a month or so.. And ever since then, I've had nightmares now and then, because of him!" He buried his face into his hands again, and just let himself cry, leaving Cye and Kaye to frown with pity at him.
Chapter 14.
Ryo looked around as he came to a stop just before a bridge stretching over a wide lake that was at least twenty feet wide and forty feet across from where he, Sage, Flash, and White Blaze stood. His eyes quickly surveyed the area, just waiting for more Dynasty soldiers to come along and stop them. There wasn't much time though. He wasn't sure what kind of Prophecy Talpa had mentioned was really about, but he was willing to bet it wasn't going to be use for good, because Talpa just wasn't like that.
Sage stared down at the bridge, feeling just a bit uneasy. They had been walking around for two hours already, doing their best to avoid the soldiers, so they could save their strengths, but already they had fought at least three times, and they seemed to be no closer into finding Kento, Rowen, Scorpio, and Lightning, than when they first began. He looked over at Ryo who seemed to be studying the bridge, then over at Flash.
Flash was standing there quietly as if in thought. Her eyes held no emotion at the moment, and it was hard to determine exactly what she was thinking at that precise moment.
"Well, looks like we cross," Ryo said softly.
"Yeah," Sage said slowly as his violet eye gazed at the bridge.
"Listen, if this bridge starts to crumble, we have two choices," Ryo began. "One, we either swim or run like hell."
"Running like hell would be no problem," Flash said.
Ryo only nodded and stepped out onto the bridge. It seemed sturdy enough. Taking a deep breath, he slowly began to cross it, with Sage, Flash, and White Blaze walking directly behind him, each one half expecting for that bridge to suddenly become unstable.
Amazingly, the bridge actually held out for the longest time, but then suddenly White Blaze's ears twitched and he turned his head, emitting a vicious growl.
Ryo looked back over his shoulder, and saw that his tiger was turned the other way around, the hairs along his hackles and back raised, his large fangs bared, as he stood there, ready to attack.
Sage and Flash whirled around at the same time, and came face to face with a myriad of Dynasty soldiers advancing on them, weapons held out, each one running across the bridge at them.
"Swell," Ryo muttered as he readied himself.
"Well, we should have known this was going to happen"" Sage muttered.
"Ryo, Sage, go. I'll take care of them," Flash said.
They both gaped at her, shocked she would even consider them leaving her.
"You're crazy, Flash!" Ryo said.
"So I've been told a time or two," Flash said with a smirk.
"How can you possibly expect to beat them?" Sage asked in disbelief.
"Simple. Like this." And with that, Flash suddenly powered up.
Kento came to a stop suddenly, causing Rowen to slam in from behind him. The Bearer of Strata winced and staggered backward, giving his big friend an annoyed look. "Why'd you stop?"
"Because if I hadn't, we'd be walking right into that huge ditch over there," Kento replied as he pointed to an economy size hole just a few inches away from them. Rowen peered out from behind Kento and gasped.
Scorpio studied it, and began to look for another way around, so far he didn't see any. "Well, now what?" he asked.
"Looks like we turn back," Rowen said with a sigh.
"Swell," Kento muttered.
Lightning shook his head and turned around, and began to head off in another direction. The three boys stared at him for a moment, then after a quick look at one another, took off after him. The tiger led them past several temple like buildings, and as they followed along, they kept their eyes and ears peeled. For now, it seemed there were no Dynasty soldiers to worry about, and that should have given them time to relax, but when it involved being in the Dynasty, there was no time to relax. They rounded a building, stepping in between an alley way, and the moment they stepped out, they found themselves face to face with a wall of Dynasty soldiers.
"Uh oh," Scorpio said.
"Alright then!" Kento cheered. "I was hoping for a fight!"
Rowen shook his head. "Kento, you're impossible."
Kento made no reply as the soldiers suddenly attacked them. Rowen shot out several arrows from his bow, then did a side flip, kicking one soldier away from him. Kento punched and kicked his way through, before slamming his nanjinta against the neck of another soldier and causing it to smash into another. Scorpio did a round house kick against one, then took his spearstaff and sent a soldier flying over several buildings. Lightening leaped upon one, shredding, clawing, and ripping a soldier apart, before leaping to another one and doing the same thing. Slowly, the soldiers began to diminish in size, and that gave them more feelings of hope. As long as they could keep this up, their friends were as soon as rescued.
Kento suddenly decided to turn it up a notch. He summoned his surekill and sent at least twenty soldiers into oblivion. Rowen decided to do the same, seeing as they had no choice. Thirty soldiers were sent flying backward. And Scorpio called his also. The moment he had cried, "Water Torrent Power!" a huge tidal wave suddenly appeared from no where and swept the rest of the soldiers away in a flood. When it all cleared, they saw there were no more soldiers to contend with, and immediately took off running after Lightning.
Ryo and Sage continued to stare in shock at Flash. Ryo suddenly felt ten times stronger than he ever had before, even without his Inferno Armor, and Sage felt so hot, he was ready to jump into the water below the bridge. All he could do though was back off some as he wiped the sweat off his forehead.
Flash continued to watch the soldiers advance closer to them. She waited for a little bit more as they all stepped onto the bridge. Then, suddenly, with a jerk of her head, they began to explode into flames one by one.
Ryo decided to help out anyway, as more and more were approaching. He summoned his surekill and destroyed at least forty of them, as Sage called his own, and destroyed another twenty. White Blaze jumped into the fray as well, ripping and tearing apart with his claws and fangs. The soldiers were lessening in number, and so far they weren't sure whether that was a good sign or not. There was always a chance that more could gather and attack. So they had to be very careful at this point. At last all the soldiers were gone, and the bridge was empty. Flash let her power down, and returned to normal.
"Let's go!" Ryo said and immediately took off across the bridge, with Flash, Sage, and White Blaze running along behind him.
After walking for a good thirty minutes, Rowen came to a stop to rest and stared up at the sky. It was getting darker by the hour, and he knew they would soon have to find a place to rest for the night and to regain their strength. He knew Kento would want to keep on moving, but if they overworked themselves, they would be of no help to their friends. A strange sound suddenly caught his and Scorpio's attention, and both looked at Kento with wide eyes.
"Okay, so I'm hungry," Kento said with a roll of his eyes.
"Now that you mentioned it, so am I," Scorpio said.
"Not sure what there'd be to eat around here," Rowen said dryly.
"Probably nothing good," Kento muttered.
No one said anything. As of now they had four problems. One, they were getting tired, two, they were still separated from their friends, three, they were worried about Kaye, Cye, and Thunder, and four, they were hungry. But still they weren't about to give up just like that. They would keep going until all of them were back together.
Inside the room, Kaye, Cye, and Thunder were all resting. They weren't really asleep, just mostly talking quietly. Kaye had told Thunder about her life, and Cye did too, and in turn Thunder told about his life. It seemed there was a deeper understanding between them, that it made them momentarily forget about their current situation.
"So she punched you?" Cye asked Thunder in disbelief after Thunder had just told them about a time when he had to wake up a fellow Warrior named Shades.
Thunder nodded. "Yeah, and I'm telling you, her punches are like having a boulder slammed against you. She actually broke my jaw."
"And I thought Rowen was bad," Kaye mumbled as she shook her head.
"Rowen doesn't like being woken either?" Thunder asked.
Cye shook his head as he stood up from his bed. "No, in fact he's quite the dick when someone wakes him up. Except he's never attacked any of us. Only threatened."
"I see," Thunder mused.
Kaye let out a sigh, causing them to both look at her.
"Kaye?"
"I'm okay," she answered when she noticed their concern. "I guess I'm just stressed out over everything that happened today."
"That makes two of us," Thunder muttered as he remembered the pain he had endured.
"Three," Cye said. "I still can't believe they're forcing us to go through with this. It's not fair! Damn it! What the hell did our mom see in Talpa anyway?"
"I don't know," Kaye said as she shook her head. "Couldn't have been good though."
Their attention was interrupted when the locked door unlocked and opened up. Dais stood in the doorway as three soldiers each brought a plate of food in. "Meal time," he said carelessly.
"Oh goody," Thunder said sarcastically, "and I was just sitting here thinking how good it would be if you suddenly came with our meals."
Dais stared at Thunder coldly. "I can always take yours back," he threatened.
"Go ahead," Thunder taunted. "But your metal headed master might not be happy with that. He needs me to be at my best for his obsessed plan."
Dais sighed and muttered something under his breath. The soldiers placed the food on the desk, then left, and the Warlord quickly followed, locking the door shut behind him.
Kaye and Cye looked over at Thunder in shock. He shrugged apologetically. "Sorry, about that. Sometimes I get cranky when I'm locked up."
They nodded in understanding, and each took a place, and slowly began to eat. When they had finished, they left their empty plates on the desk. Cye, feeling exhausted then laid down on his bed and closed his eyes, letting himself slowly fall to sleep. Kaye kept awake though, watching over him, and missing Kento more and more. She curled up onto her side, and let her tears overtake her.
Thunder watched her with a frown, wanting to comfort her, but he wasn't sure how to, and that made him feel all the more guilty. Instead, all he could do was watch over as she cried herself to sleep, whispering, "I'm sorry," before he, too, fell asleep.
Two hours later, Thunder suddenly awoke, shooting straight up out of bed, screaming in terror with a pale and sweaty face, and his body shaking heavily. The scream had echoed out through the entire castle, and startled both Kaye and Cye from a sound sleep, as they looked at him in horror.
"Thunder?!" Kaye shouted as she rushed from the bed and over to him. "Thunder, what's wrong?!"
Thunder made no reply as he sat there, shaking like a leaf. And Cye and Kaye cast each other a concerned look. What had happened? Finally, after a few minutes, Thunder slowly calmed down, long enough to talk to them.
"Are you okay?" Cye asked in concerned.
"N.. no" Thunder moaned as he buried his face into his hands. When he composed himself again, he began to tell them of his horrible dream. "When I was little, about eight years old, a scientist kidnapped me. He ran experiments on me, using ten inch needles at several times, and analyzing my DNA and blood cells, as well as trying to determine where I got my powers. He kept locked up for about a month or so.. And ever since then, I've had nightmares now and then, because of him!" He buried his face into his hands again, and just let himself cry, leaving Cye and Kaye to frown with pity at him.