Alecie flew for what seemed like many miles as she followed Athena. The sky continued to get darker, and Alecie's wings started to fade.
"Are we almost there?" Alecie called out. "My wings are starting to fade." Athena turned her cat like head and saw that the teen cloudrunner, was starting to lose altitude.
"Yes, just fly as long as you can." Athena instructed as they flew fast across the sky. Alecie looked down at the passing houses, cities, and fields.
'The earth is truly beautiful, but nothing compared to Skybax City.' She thought with pride.
"There is our destination." Athena voiced, drawing Alecie's attention to a house that was in the middle of a forest. It was just in time too as the moon came out, and Alecie's white wings that had been slowly fading, disappeared all together. Luckily, Alecie had foreseen the sudden disappearance of her wings and was near the ground. She landed lightly on her feet, bending her knees to take in impact.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Rowen, Sage, and Ryo, who were outside waiting for the girls return, looked up in surprise at their view of the intruder on the porch. They jumped up and instantly ran over to where the girl was.
"Hey! Are you alright?" Ryo asked the girl as she looked up at him. Alecie stared up at the three young men in surprise. She wasn't really sure what to expect when she had heard about the Ronin Warriors, but three very attractive guys, was defiantly a surprise. A very pleasant surprise. She suddenly realized she was staring as she shakily stood up. It was always hard to stand after the loss of her wings.
"Yes, I'm fine." She said, dusting herself off. "Thank you."
Rowen took a hard look at the girl. She was pretty, very pretty, with shoulder length brown hair and sky blue eyes.
'Ryo was right,' he thought as he stared at her. 'I'll be minding my own business then next thing I know, I'll find myself staring into a pair of the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen.'
"You sure gave us a surprise." Sage said looking her over. "All of a sudden landing in our front yard like that." Alecie nodded.
"Who are you?" Rowen asked. Alecie turned her head to look at him as she blushed.
"I'm sorry, where are my manners. I am Alecie. Alecie Lynnette Ryder, but everyone calls me Lecie." She said as she extended her hand.
"I'm Rowen," Rowen spoke up shaking her hand. "And this is Sage and Ryo." Alecie bowed to each in turn as she covertly scanned the skies for Athena.
'Are these them?' she wondered as she looked at them. 'They really don't look like warriors. Oh, I wish Athena was here. She would know. Where did she go anyway?'
Ryo, Sage, and Rowen exchanged glances, unsure with what to do with Alecie.
"Would you like to come inside?" Ryo offered finally. Alecie turned her attention back to the black haired man and smiled.
"Yes, I would appreciate that." She answered as she took a step forward. But with the still recent loss of her wings, her weight was off which caused her to stumble. Ryo reached out and caught her as she held onto him by the neck. This happened right about the time as Sakura, Mia, and Alanna got back. Sakura took one look at the scene as a flash of jealousy went through her mind, but she pushed it away as soon as it appeared. It was Ryo after all; she didn't have anything to be jealous about. Sakura walked calmly up to the group, followed by a now quiet Mia and Alanna.
"Hello Ryo." She said as Ryo looked up at his wife. He gave a weak smile, noting the position he was in, and wondered what it must look like to Sakura. After all, here he was holding a strange girl, and she had her arm around his neck for support.
"Hey, Sakura. I see you are back from the city." He said.
"Yes, I am. Who is your friend?" she asked. Ryo quickly situated Alecie away from him, after making sure she could stand.
"Um, Sakura this is Alecie. Alecie this is my wife, Sakura." He said as he went to stand next to her, putting his arm around her waist.
"Pleased to make your acquaintance." Alecie said politely as she looked at the now bigger group and quickly assessed them. Ryo was obviously married to Sakura, and judging by the way Alanna was standing next to Sage, he was all but taken as well. She shrugged inwardly, it didn't really matter anyway. If she told her father she was dating an earthwalker, he would be livid. But she couldn't help but wonder if the one called Rowen was taken as well.
"Well, let's go inside, and you can tell us where you came from." Sakura said kindly. Alecie gave a small nod of gratefulness to Sakura. She was glad that she hadn't made an enemy right off the bat, especially if these men turned out to be the Ronins that she sought. The group turned and made their way inside, all wondering about the mysterious girl that had appeared from the sky.
