Chapter 4
Tigermoon sighed peacefully as she looked around the place she had landed in. She had been aiming to go back to the Dynasty, but she had somehow ended up on the side of a mountain. It didn't look like any of the mountains she had ever seen before.
The Ancient's staff was piercing cold in her hands as she settled down with it, examining it curiously. Getting lost in its enticing energy patterns distracted her mind from everything that was going on. "In the course of a few hours, I get evicted from the Netherworld, chased by some warrior lady, attacked by her boyfriend, surrounded, cruelly left to die on a chandelier, and then Kayura and the Warlords have to come back. Fate is out to get me," she rambled aloud, scowling angrily.
In her heart she knew that the Warlords couldn't be blamed for everything they had done -- especially Kayura, who had never had the chance to use her own free will until the Ronins and Anubis freed her. Still, Tigermoon could feel nothing but fear towards them, and all that were like them -- including those new people she had just met.
Shrugging away from these thoughts, she stared deeply into the staff. "I order you to act normal." Someone said something in a foreign language behind her. Tigermoon whirled around, gripping the staff so hard that she thought her fingers would freeze. "Aaah! -- What?"
A family of people with brightly colored backpacks were standing there. The one that had spoken before started jabbering away in the same language.
"Uh... I don't speak... whatever language that's suppposed to be. Do you speak Japanese?" Tigermoon asked.
More jabbering, slower this time, as if the person thought he was talking to a very stupid sheep.
"You want me to do what to your hamster?" Tigermoon started backing away. "Um... I'm going to go away now."
She tried again to space shift to the Netherworld. At least she spoke the language there. But it didn't work; it was like she ran full-speed into a wall and bounced off in a direction that she didn't really want to go in. This time, she ended up in some kind of stone hall. Ancient rocks formed the walls, and the flagstones under her feet were worn smooth. The strange room was lit with an eerie glow, a weird kind of energy that seemed to make the air alive.
---------------------------------
Kaye appeared on a mountaintop, Kayura beside her. "I thought you said it was here," Kaye stated, turning to look at the shorter woman. Kayura growled. "It was!" she insisted.
Kaye gave her a slightly mistrustful look. "Right."
"Sprechen sie Deutsch?" A backpacker approached them.
"No, I don't speak German," Kaye replied in perfect German. "I'm sorry."The backpacker blinked and backed away.
Turning back to Kayura, she announced, "Move, please. You're standing in the middle of some tracks."
Kayura stared. "Uh, all right," she replied, stepping away. She lowered her head and concentrated. "That's strange."
"What is?" Kaye wondered. She knelt on the trail, examining the tracks.
"I can't sense my staff. It's like it completely vanished." Kayura clenched her fists. "That little brat. I've never trusted her."
"You know this Tigermoon?" Kaye asked, looking up briefly from the trail.
"Not very well. What do you see there, oh Master of Woodcraft?"
"That somebody about her size came here from nowhere, sat down, spun around, backed up, and vanished again." Kaye got to her feet with a confident smile.
"Ah."
----------------------------
Dais looked up angrily as Kento paced past him for the thousandth time. "For crying out loud, Hardrock. Wearing holes in the carpet doesn't do any good."
The Ronins and Warlords had come to an uneasy truce in Mia's living room. However, the tension was almost physical.
Kento glared at Dais, but kept his anger in check. "Lazing around on an armchair doesn't do any good either."
"I like this chair," Dais growled, hugging a pillow protectively.
"I'll have you know that's MY special chair."
"All right, boys, break it up," Mia called commandingly from the kitchen. "Dais, sit on the couch. Kento, quit pacing. Ryo, get your tiger out of here, he's eating all the curry!"
"But Mia! Kaye's out there and we're just sitting around, doing nothing."
"We're arguing," Cale pointed out. "Technically, arguing is doing some--" Sekhmet reached over, grabbed a pillow, and whacked him with it.
Ryo got up. "I'll take White Blaze for a walk," he announced. "It's getting too crowded in here. White Blaze, here boy!"
The tiger appeared from the kitchen, licking his chops and smelling strongly of curry. Ryo couldn't wait to get out of the house. He kept a tight rein on his temper, but having to hang out with his old enemies was just too much. It would have been better if Kayura and Kaye were there, but the two women had gone tracking, claiming that the others would just slow them up.
Ryo slammed the door behind him and bolted down the steps. White Blaze galloped on ahead, sniffing the grass and attacking bugs. Just like an oversized housecat. Suddenly, the tiger dashed to other side of the house, and came back with a soccer ball held in his mouth.
"Good boy. You want to play fetch?" Ryo took the wet ball and gave it a powerful kick. White Blaze ran to the other end of the field and caught it in the air. Then he came running back, powerful paws thudding loudly against the ground.
Ryo held out his arms for the ball, but the tiger ran right past him and dropped it at someone else's feet.
Cale smiled as he took the ball from the tiger. "Thanks. Um, here you go, Wildfire." He tossed it back over.
Ryo stood still, not even trying to catch it. "What are you doing out here?"
"I got bored," Cale shrugged, "And the others won't let me say anything. They think I'm a loose cannon. So I came out here."
Ryo wanted to say, "You are a loose cannon." Instead, he picked up the ball and kicked it with all his might. White Blaze took off after it.
"How's the Dynasty?" he asked, for conversation's sake.
"Weird. When Kayura gets back, she'll tell you about it."
Ryo kicked the ball again. "I can hardly wait."
----------------------------------
Tigermoon stared around her, green eyes huge. Goosebumps rose all down her arms. "What--? Where?"
"There you are," a voice said coolly. "I was wondering when you'd get here."
"Who?" Tigermoon spun in a circle, but saw nobody. Clumsily, she held the staff protectively in front of her, the rings jangling like windchimes. "What is this place?"
"You brought the staff?"
"What do you want?" Tigermoon shouted. Her voice echoed off the walls and seemed to intensify with the energy field. "Do you want... do you want... do you want...."
"The staff, obviously."
She blinked. "This--? This staff?"
"You have a hard time understanding things, don't you," the voice said flatly. "Yes, that staff."
Tigermoon's intuition sounded a warning and she lashed out behind her with the Ancient's staff. The golden rings clashed wildly as it connected with something that she couldn't see. Abruptly, her surroundings dissolved. A blinding light seared across her mind and she screamed out.
Tigermoon sighed peacefully as she looked around the place she had landed in. She had been aiming to go back to the Dynasty, but she had somehow ended up on the side of a mountain. It didn't look like any of the mountains she had ever seen before.
The Ancient's staff was piercing cold in her hands as she settled down with it, examining it curiously. Getting lost in its enticing energy patterns distracted her mind from everything that was going on. "In the course of a few hours, I get evicted from the Netherworld, chased by some warrior lady, attacked by her boyfriend, surrounded, cruelly left to die on a chandelier, and then Kayura and the Warlords have to come back. Fate is out to get me," she rambled aloud, scowling angrily.
In her heart she knew that the Warlords couldn't be blamed for everything they had done -- especially Kayura, who had never had the chance to use her own free will until the Ronins and Anubis freed her. Still, Tigermoon could feel nothing but fear towards them, and all that were like them -- including those new people she had just met.
Shrugging away from these thoughts, she stared deeply into the staff. "I order you to act normal." Someone said something in a foreign language behind her. Tigermoon whirled around, gripping the staff so hard that she thought her fingers would freeze. "Aaah! -- What?"
A family of people with brightly colored backpacks were standing there. The one that had spoken before started jabbering away in the same language.
"Uh... I don't speak... whatever language that's suppposed to be. Do you speak Japanese?" Tigermoon asked.
More jabbering, slower this time, as if the person thought he was talking to a very stupid sheep.
"You want me to do what to your hamster?" Tigermoon started backing away. "Um... I'm going to go away now."
She tried again to space shift to the Netherworld. At least she spoke the language there. But it didn't work; it was like she ran full-speed into a wall and bounced off in a direction that she didn't really want to go in. This time, she ended up in some kind of stone hall. Ancient rocks formed the walls, and the flagstones under her feet were worn smooth. The strange room was lit with an eerie glow, a weird kind of energy that seemed to make the air alive.
---------------------------------
Kaye appeared on a mountaintop, Kayura beside her. "I thought you said it was here," Kaye stated, turning to look at the shorter woman. Kayura growled. "It was!" she insisted.
Kaye gave her a slightly mistrustful look. "Right."
"Sprechen sie Deutsch?" A backpacker approached them.
"No, I don't speak German," Kaye replied in perfect German. "I'm sorry."The backpacker blinked and backed away.
Turning back to Kayura, she announced, "Move, please. You're standing in the middle of some tracks."
Kayura stared. "Uh, all right," she replied, stepping away. She lowered her head and concentrated. "That's strange."
"What is?" Kaye wondered. She knelt on the trail, examining the tracks.
"I can't sense my staff. It's like it completely vanished." Kayura clenched her fists. "That little brat. I've never trusted her."
"You know this Tigermoon?" Kaye asked, looking up briefly from the trail.
"Not very well. What do you see there, oh Master of Woodcraft?"
"That somebody about her size came here from nowhere, sat down, spun around, backed up, and vanished again." Kaye got to her feet with a confident smile.
"Ah."
----------------------------
Dais looked up angrily as Kento paced past him for the thousandth time. "For crying out loud, Hardrock. Wearing holes in the carpet doesn't do any good."
The Ronins and Warlords had come to an uneasy truce in Mia's living room. However, the tension was almost physical.
Kento glared at Dais, but kept his anger in check. "Lazing around on an armchair doesn't do any good either."
"I like this chair," Dais growled, hugging a pillow protectively.
"I'll have you know that's MY special chair."
"All right, boys, break it up," Mia called commandingly from the kitchen. "Dais, sit on the couch. Kento, quit pacing. Ryo, get your tiger out of here, he's eating all the curry!"
"But Mia! Kaye's out there and we're just sitting around, doing nothing."
"We're arguing," Cale pointed out. "Technically, arguing is doing some--" Sekhmet reached over, grabbed a pillow, and whacked him with it.
Ryo got up. "I'll take White Blaze for a walk," he announced. "It's getting too crowded in here. White Blaze, here boy!"
The tiger appeared from the kitchen, licking his chops and smelling strongly of curry. Ryo couldn't wait to get out of the house. He kept a tight rein on his temper, but having to hang out with his old enemies was just too much. It would have been better if Kayura and Kaye were there, but the two women had gone tracking, claiming that the others would just slow them up.
Ryo slammed the door behind him and bolted down the steps. White Blaze galloped on ahead, sniffing the grass and attacking bugs. Just like an oversized housecat. Suddenly, the tiger dashed to other side of the house, and came back with a soccer ball held in his mouth.
"Good boy. You want to play fetch?" Ryo took the wet ball and gave it a powerful kick. White Blaze ran to the other end of the field and caught it in the air. Then he came running back, powerful paws thudding loudly against the ground.
Ryo held out his arms for the ball, but the tiger ran right past him and dropped it at someone else's feet.
Cale smiled as he took the ball from the tiger. "Thanks. Um, here you go, Wildfire." He tossed it back over.
Ryo stood still, not even trying to catch it. "What are you doing out here?"
"I got bored," Cale shrugged, "And the others won't let me say anything. They think I'm a loose cannon. So I came out here."
Ryo wanted to say, "You are a loose cannon." Instead, he picked up the ball and kicked it with all his might. White Blaze took off after it.
"How's the Dynasty?" he asked, for conversation's sake.
"Weird. When Kayura gets back, she'll tell you about it."
Ryo kicked the ball again. "I can hardly wait."
----------------------------------
Tigermoon stared around her, green eyes huge. Goosebumps rose all down her arms. "What--? Where?"
"There you are," a voice said coolly. "I was wondering when you'd get here."
"Who?" Tigermoon spun in a circle, but saw nobody. Clumsily, she held the staff protectively in front of her, the rings jangling like windchimes. "What is this place?"
"You brought the staff?"
"What do you want?" Tigermoon shouted. Her voice echoed off the walls and seemed to intensify with the energy field. "Do you want... do you want... do you want...."
"The staff, obviously."
She blinked. "This--? This staff?"
"You have a hard time understanding things, don't you," the voice said flatly. "Yes, that staff."
Tigermoon's intuition sounded a warning and she lashed out behind her with the Ancient's staff. The golden rings clashed wildly as it connected with something that she couldn't see. Abruptly, her surroundings dissolved. A blinding light seared across her mind and she screamed out.