Disclaimer: The Ronin Warriors (aka Yoroiden: Samurai Troopers) and all affiliated names and concepts do not belong to me. If you recognize the character, he/she is not mine. I get no monetary benefit from this. My benefit is the enjoyment of dealing with beloved characters.
"Battle Invalid"
By DragonDancer5150
Chapter 1 - "Sun" Diego
"/Rowen . . . Hey, Rowen!/"
"Hmmggf?" The mumble didn't count as Japanese. Or English, for that matter.
"/Rowen, we'll be landing soon. Wake up./"
The lid slid back on one reluctant midnight-blue eye. A haze of golden blonde emerged from the ambient sunlight as the buzzing whine of engines made its presence heard and felt. It took a moment for the fog of sleep to lift from Rowen's brain and his eyes to focus on Sage's face. His best friend was looking over his shoulder out the window, with Ryo peering around him from the aisle seat. Behind him, he heard Cye breathe in awe, "/Wow! Is that San Diego?/"
Sage grinned. "/Sure is./"
Rowen waited a moment for his eyes to completely adjust before turning to look out the window into the bright morning light. When he did, a welcome sight greeted him. He remembered a few years back when the group had flown into Los Angeles, just north of here. Having expected this city to be much the same, he was pleasantly surprised. Now he knew why all the brochures nicknamed this "America's Finest City." The smog of LA was almost non-existent here. Gleaming glass and alabaster buildings rose from the ground along a bay of sapphire blue. The shoreline of the bay was filled with enormous battleships and other sea-faring vessels, including an old-style clipper. He wondered if that was the Star of India he had read about.
"/Wow! Look at all those ships,/" Ryo marveled. "/Half the American Navy must be docked down there. Where's the Coronado Bay Bridge?/"
"/At this point, you'd have to be sitting on the other side of the plane to see it, I think./"
"/Do you think we can see Sea World from here?/" Cye asked excitedly.
"/Do you see that other big bay?/" Sage was pointing north along the coast. "/It's on the south edge. That blue-and-white needle is the Sea World Tower./"
"/All right!/"
Kento laughed. "/Hey, if we go to Sea World, we have to go to the Wild Animal Park, too!/"
"/So we can sign you in for permanent residence?/" Ryo teased.
Rowen glanced over in time to see a hand dart between the seats from behind and swat at the mass of raven-black hair. He laughed, then yawned and stretched sleepily. "/Hey, I don't know about the rest of you but if I don't move soon, they're going to have to haul me out of this seat with a forklift./"
"/Hey, it lives!/" Kento laughed, not having been aware that Rowen was awake.
"/Me, too,/" agreed Ryo, stretching in turn. "/No more straight shots. Maybe we can get our tickets changed for a stop-over in Hawaii or something on the way back./"
"/I heard there's a surfing competition there in a few weeks,/" Cye offered. "/I think it's about the time we return - /"
"/No!/" Sage laughed with a shake of his head, blonde locks bouncing. "/We'd never make it home! We'd have to yank you out of the waves in a fishing net. Besides, you didn't bring your surfboard./" He turned in his seat, looking between the backs at Cye. "/By the way, I talked to Alex. He says he has a board you can borrow and he'll take you to some of the surfing spots here./"
Rowen was buckling his seatbelt as the plane passed the airport and banked into the flight path to land from the east. "/Well, it's not Hawaii but it is California, so I guess it'll have to do, buddy./" After a moment, the plane straightened out and the ground rose toward them at an alarming rate. He glanced at Sage, who had righted himself and was braced with his hands gripping the armrests, his violet eyes closed. Rowen chuckled in spite of himself. "/Never quite get used to flying, will you?/" He remembered a similar stance when they had taken off from Tokyo ages ago.
"/It's not the flying that gets me. It's the take-off - /" Bump! "/ - and landing - /" Bump! "/ - that I don't like./"
Rowen's stomach, too, did a bit of a lurch as the back wheels, then front wheels, hit the ground. He looked along the plane's body to the wing several feet behind him. The panels along the back edge were all standing straight up, helping to slow the plane's speed.
The craft taxied to the backside of the airport, pulling up alongside an access tunnel which shifted to place its end against the plane's body. It reminded Rowen of a lamprey latching onto a fish and shook the image out of his head with a tired chuckle. The seatbelt lights went out and the pilot's voice came over the intercom, announcing that passengers could begin collecting their belongings and disembarking and thanking everyone for choosing this airline for their travels. Still rubbing sleep from his eyes, he leaned forward and pulled his backpack from under the seat in front of him, then slowly filed down the aisle and out into the tunnel with the other passengers. Halfway down the corridor, a chill filled him and a tingling hit the hollow of his right hip. At the same instant, Sage stopped, frozen as though listening. Rowen plunged his hand into the pocket of his jeans, to his yoroi crystal. It was abnormally cold and almost vibrating. His fingers closed around it but he did not pull it out. As suddenly as it hit, the sensation passed. He looked to Ryo to see if he felt it, too, but they had blocked the passageway and people were beginning to push past them in irritation. Now pressed against the opposite wall, Ryo frowned and shook his head. Here and now was not the place to discuss it. Just then, Kento and Cye caught up, who had fallen behind in the press of people to get off the plane. When the five were together again, they emerged from the tunnel, scanning the crowds for a familiar face, the incident forgotten for the moment.
"/Hey, Sage,/" Cye asked, "/wasn't your cousin going to meet us here at the terminal?/"
Sage grinned at him and commented in a low voice, "Since we're now in the US, we should probably start getting used to speaking in English." He laughed at the look on Cye's face. "We don't want to be taken for tourists who can't even speak the language, right?"
"All right, then, smart aleck," Cye laughed, switching to English himself, his inflection lightly stressed with a British accent, "So where's your cousin?"
Sage turned and swept the expanse of people and ticket booths. "I wonder if they don't let people up to the terminals anymore if they're not flying. It's been a while now so I don't know if they've let up at all, but I remember Jag telling me about all the new security regulations that the Americans enacted right after those attacks back in September of 2001."
A somber silence momentarily fell over the group. Of course they had heard of the terrorist attacks on the American cities nearly two years before. The incident had shocked the entire world. Truly, no one was unaffected by it. The five friends had participated in a candlelight vigil in honor of those who had died that day and had done what little they could in support of relief efforts for the survivors. Sage's father and grandfather took donations of clothes and dry food goods from students at their dojo and Kento's family sent a monetary donation from their restaurant. Cye's mother and sister gave ceramic pieces to a charity auction that raised money for the American Red Cross.
Sage remembered the days of worry as his father tried to reach family back in the States. The attacks had occurred on the east coast. Uncle Dale lived about halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego on the west coast. Even though they were nowhere near the attacks, both Californian cities were considered prime targets and possibly the next to be hit - LA because of Hollywood, the heart of everything the terrorists found hateful and sinful about Americans, and San Diego because of its prominent military population, being the home of the largest naval base the Americans possessed. It had been four days before the phone lines in America had cleared up enough for Sage's father to get through and ensure that his brother and family were safe. Jag had sent an email the day it happened but somehow it had never made it to Sage's computer.
Ryo shook himself. "Come on, guys. She's probably down at the luggage area."
"That way," Cye pointed, spotting the signs first.
The group hiked through the building past a number of terminals for various airline names, stopping briefly at a men's room along the way when Kento got antsy. They found the escalators and rode down to the ground floor, where several carousels hummed along U-shaped tracks from the back wall, displaying all manner of luggage and parcels for the claiming. They located the carousel with their flight number displayed in the digital sign overhead.
Sage hung back. "You guys go watch for our suitcases. I'm going to see if I can find Jag." He no sooner turned around than he spotted a hand waving from the crowd on the other side of a shoulder-high wall separating the luggage claims area from the general walk-through along the front of the building. A face framed in violent deep-red tresses peered at him over the partition. Crowds of people separated them. He took a breath, starting to shout, then thought better. She'd never hear him over the din. Before he could begin to make his way across to her, she began gesturing.
Rowen spotted the girl from where he stood at the edge of the carousel. He watched in curious interest as she pantomimed at Sage, then startled when Sage began gesturing back. They held a silent conversation across the throng of people, then Sage turned and made his way to them as she retreated from the building. Rowen looked at him in amazement. "Since when did you know sign language?"
"Dude, what was that all about?" Kento queried at the same time.
"It's ASL - American Sign Language. It's actually a different language than the deaf in Japan use - and no, I don't know that one. One of Jag's sisters was deaf. I haven't practiced it in years, though Satsuki and I used to use it all the time. Didn't think I'd remember so much."
"So what were you talking - or, ah, signing - about?" Cye wanted to know.
"Uncle Dale rented a van for her to use while we're here since her car won't carry so many people." He grinned. "None of us have licenses to drive in the States so she's offered to play chauffeur. She's going to go get it and meet us outside in the passenger pickup area."
It took a few more minutes for the baggage from their flight to finally make it onto the carousel and several more before their own pieces began to make an appearance. "Must have buried our stuff back in some hidden corner," Kento had grumbled after they began to wonder if their belongings had even made it onto the correct plane. At last, the group gathered backpacks and suitcases and headed for the front doors.
The first thing to hit them was the heat. A humid breeze swept through the mobs crowding the sidewalk. Even the sun was much brighter than they were accustomed to. Blinking in its brilliance, Rowen spotted Sage's cousin lounging against the side of a white van parked along the curb to their left. The doors were already open. She saw them at the same time and waved them over. They were sweating by the time they reached her. Sage dropped his suitcase as she threw her arms around him. "Sage! God, it's good to see you again."
To the surprise of the others, he embraced her in return, catching and lifting the shorter girl off her feet. "You, too. You dyed your hair – ?" He fingered the lock of rich red curls hanging over one shoulder.
"Yeah. You like?"
Sage pretended to think about it. "Hm, I don't know." She rolled her eyes at him and he laughed. "It looks great on you, Jag." He turned to his friends. "You guys remember Jag from . . . our LA trip a few years ago?"
Ryo grinned at her. "I remember a girl with brownish hair."
Jag made a face. "I was as blonde as Sage when I was a kid but it darkened as I got older until it was something the color of dirty dishwater. I finally got tired of it and started dying it about a year ago. You're Ryo, right?" She held out a hand, which he took with a nod.
"Sanada Ryo."
"Name's Fuan Rei Shuu. It's Chinese. In school, they call me Kento."
"I'm Mouri Shin. My friends call me Cye."
She shook hands with both of them before turning to Rowen. Sharp, emerald green eyes met his midnight blue. "And do you prefer Rowen or Touma?"
He bowed with a grin. "My father named me Hashiba Touma . . . but I prefer Rowen."
Jag nodded. "Sage writes a lot about you. It's good to meet you all again. Welcome to sunny San Diego."
"Whoa! Hey, look at this, guys!" Kento was staring through the vehicle. "What kind of van has sliding doors on both sides?"
"Ford Windstar," Jag laughed. "Yeah, that tripped me out at first, too, but Dad thought that would be the best bet for transporting so many people. So, shall we?"
Ryo was looking at the trunk space. "Is everything going to fit?" he wondered.
Jag have him mischievous grin. "Watch me."
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" . . . Oh, and then there was a friend of mine came out to visit recently - Sage, you remember Claire who moved to Indiana to take that teaching job? She and her husband Matthew drove out to visit friends and family a few months ago. Claire, Lynn - another friend of mine - and I got together for dinner and she was telling us, once again, how bad Matt is with directions."
The group had settled into the van and were now on the Interstate 5 heading north for home. Sage reclined in the shotgun passenger seat, with Ryo and Cye directly behind them. Rowen was fast asleep again between Kento and the pile of backpacks on the rear bench seat, with all the luggage successfully fitted into the trunk space behind them like giant, leather Tetris blocks.
From Sage's groan, Ryo guessed that Matt was known for his sense of direction – or lack thereof. "How badly lost did he manage to get them?" he queried.
"Actually, he didn't – or hadn't yet. Claire didn't say. No, what happened was that Matt was telling Claire he was surprised at how much of San Marcos he remembered." Half-turning, Jag commented for Ryo and Cye's sake, "San Marcos is one of the cities I told you is squashed along the 78 freeway in North County. Oceanside, Vista, San Marcos, Escondido." She made chopping motions with her hand, indicating the positions of the cities to each other. "Damn near impossible to tell where one ends and the other begins – "
"Vista," Cye commented, recognizing the name. "That's where we're going, right?"
"Are we stopping somewhere along the way for food?" Kento called from the back.
"No!" the other three chorused. Rowen did not even stir at the noise.
Jag laughed. She had already been warned of her guest's bottomless pit of a stomach. "Don't worry. I've got plenty of stuff waiting for us at home." In the rearview mirror, she saw Kento shrug, disappointed. He reached across Rowen, grabbed his backpack, and pulled his portable CD player and a bag of snacks. "Anyway, so Matt and Claire are at a stoplight when he makes the comment that he knows exactly where he is and can navigate anywhere in San Marcos. Now, by the way, the car is facing so that the afternoon sun is coming in the driver's side window. She challenges him by asking which way north is. He thinks about it a moment, looks around, then points directly out the side window."
Sage and Cye started laughing. Ryo wondered if he heard her right, still shaky on some of his English. "Uh, didn't you just say the sun was shining in through his window?"
"Yeah," Cye chortled. "He was pointing west."
"Claire rolled her eyes and told him, 'Yes, Matt, the sun always sets in the north'. I can just imagine the look on his face!"
"Yeah, that sounds like Claire," Sage grinned.
Cye turned and gazed out over the ocean as Sage and Jag continued catching up on old times. He startled at a nudge in the back of his mind.
-Hey, Cye?-
Pointedly not looking at Ryo in case Jag glanced at them in the rear-view mirror, he thought back, -What's up?-
-Did you or Kento feel anything when we got off the plane?-
-I thought maybe I sensed something for a moment there. It was such a brief instant, I figured maybe I'd imagined it. Kento may have felt something, too, though. I didn't get a chance to ask him. You?-
-Yeah. Sage stopped the same time I did and I saw Rowen reach for his armor orb.-
-What do you suppose it could mean?-
Ryo hesitated before answering, a heavy sigh evident in his mental voice. -I don't know, Cye. I don't know.-
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Jag turned off the little two-lane road into her driveway and a house back in the trees came into view. Sage grinned at the sight. He had not been here in far too long. Some things never change, he thought, taking in the two-story house with its green paint and brown trim, the white roll-up doors of the three-car garage, the rose hedge bordering the yard.
"Your bushes are still there," Jag commented softly, indicating the sage bushes concealing the front patio. The comment earned her a chuckle from her cousin. She had always teased him that they were "his" bushes ever since her mother had planted them years ago. "Linda doesn't like the smell of sage but I won't let her take out the bushes."
"Doesn't like the smell of sage, huh?" Ryo leaned forward and clapped Sage on the shoulder. "And she's letting YOU into the house?" Sage just rolled his eyes.
Jag was laughing. "Hey, someone wake up Sleeping Beauty." She thumbed over her shoulder at Rowen as she parked next to a red Chevy Corsica. The side doors slid open almost before she was stopped and Cye, Ryo and Kento sprang out, eager to stretch their legs. Jag caught Sage's arm before he climbed out. "Hey, Sage. Your friend, Rowen - didn't you tell me once that he's got low blood pressure or something? Makes it so he sleeps a lot and it's hard to get going in the morning?"
Sage twisted in the seat and looked back just in time for Rowen's rude awakening. Kento had reached in from behind and knuckled the back of his head as Cye and Ryo were pulling out their luggage. Jag heard him mutter, "Itai!" as he rubbed his head, throwing a look of annoyance over his shoulder. Ryo and Cye pretended not to know what had happened. Sage chuckled. "It doesn't help that he stays up reading until two or three in the morning."
"Is he going to be okay with the jet lag and all?"
"Yeah, he'll be fine."
"I wonder if they're any herbs that could help with that? Help me remember to check my references before I start dinner later."
Sage teased, "Always the worried mother hen, taking care of everyone."
"Hey, someone has to," she grinned.
She reached the porch ahead of the guys and unlocked the door, stepping aside to let them in. Ryo was the first and hesitated as a big, fluffy black cat just under his feet took one yellow-eyed look at him and fled. "What the – ?"
"Oh, sorry. We have several cats. That was Fuzzy. He always meets me at the door, just like a dog, but you weren't me and I think he didn't know what to make of that."
The entryway opened into a spacious living room of dark-wood furniture that dominated the whole front half of the house. An orange tabby cat with long, thick fur lounged on a huge television in the corner. "That's Cheetos," Jag remarked as Cye approached the creature.
Cye laughed. "Cheetos? Is that a nickname for something?"
"Well, no, it's . . . Oh, don't tell me you don't know what Cheetos are." Jag ducked into the kitchen and re-emerged a moment later. She dumped the remaining contents of a snack bag into a bowl and set the bowl on the coffee table. Cye nodded, recognizing the American snack. Jag snatched up a fat piece and held it to the cat. The vibrant oranges and yellows nearly matched. She tousled the fur on the cat's head affectionately. "Tell me he doesn't look like a big, fat cheese puff. Here, lemme get some napkins. These things'll turn your fingers orange." She started for the kitchen again. "Don't feed any to him, though - or Fuzzy. If you see Fuzz, he'll probably beg. I swear he's a dog in cat's clothes. We don't give our fur kids anything that doesn't say cat food or dog food on it."
Ryo laughed at that. "Fur kids?"
"Yeah. Hey, they're part of the family, right?"
"How many animals do you have?" Rowen wanted to know.
Jag thought for a moment, ticking off the list on her fingers. "Six cats, two dogs, three aquariums of fish, a snake, and a tarantula."
Kento whistled. "Got your own little zoo, don't you?"
"Don't the cats try to eat the fish?" Cye worried.
"Or the dogs chase the cats?" Ryo added.
"Not if the animals are brought up with one another or introduced properly. There are should's and should not's when dealing with any kind of animal. Oh! Speaking of which, no one go into the back yard or open the sliding door until I can introduce you properly to Tamarack and Celine. They're part wolf so they're really territorial and protective. Sage, that goes for you, too. It's been a few years since you were here last. I don't know how long their memory is."
Sage nodded. He remembered the huge wolf-dogs of which his uncle was so fond. "I remember they like to wrestle, too, so consider yourselves warned." He laughed at the look on Cye's face. Cye had never really been around dogs. The last big dog he had met knocked the slight young man on his backside without a second thought and had him pinned until he was rescued.
"Sage, you want to show the guys around the house while I make up some lunch?"
"Ooh! Did I hear food? Jag, I'll help!" Kento offered, full of excitement.
"Oh, no, you don't!" Ryo and Cye both intercepted him.
Jag wagged a finger under his nose, grinning. "Sage has already warned me about you. The kitchen is off-limits or else I introduce you to the dogs first - covered in their favorite gravy!"
"Whoa, tough room!" Kento commented with a grin as Jag disappeared into the kitchen.
Rowen had wandered over to one of the shelf units, displaying various curios and pictures. "Hey, Sage?" Sage crossed to him, followed by the others, Kento finishing off the bowl of Cheetos. Rowen pointed at what appeared to be a family portrait - a man who looked a lot like Sage's father, a woman, and three teenaged girls, two in identical dresses. The outfits were not the only things identical about them. Sage stared for a long moment before Rowen broke into his thoughts. "Jag's family?"
"Yeah. That's Uncle Dale and his first wife, Dianna. The older girl is Lindsey - she got married a few months ago. She and her husband live over in San Marcos. I . . . I don't which one's which but the twins are Janice and Janelle. They used to go by Nanny and Ellie when we were kids. Ellie went deaf after getting meningitis when she was three. Nanny got it, too, but she escaped the hearing loss."
"Janice?" Cye asked.
Sage nodded. "Jag. It's her initials. Janice Abigail Griffin. A couple of friends in high school started calling her that and she really liked it." He paused a long moment. "That picture was taken just a few weeks before Ellie and Aunt Dianna died."
Most people would have missed any emotion in Sage's voice or demeanor, but the four knew him better than that. "They meant a lot to you, didn't they?" Rowen asked softly.
" . . . yes." They stood in silence for a moment, then Sage pointed to a picture on another shelf. "That one was taken just this past Christmas. It's Uncle Dale with Aunt Linda, Jag, and Linda's son, Alex. They've been married for about three years now."
"They look like they're Hispanic."
Sage nodded. "Linda grew up in Mexico City before immigrating - legally - into the States with her parents. Alex is born and raised American."
"Wow, poor Jag," Kento commented in a low voice. "Lost her mom and her sister at the same time?"
Sage nodded. "Drunk driver. That was five years ago. I wish I could have been here for her but . . . we were all otherwise occupied that summer." The statement hung in the air. That summer was a time they would never forget. The nightmares alone were several months in fading: nightmares of endless ranks of heavily-armored soldiers, four powerful adversaries, a grinning red mask over flowing white hair, and five colorful samurai-style armors that drew their powers from the very elements.
Nothing was said as Sage led the others up the stairs to the rooms they would occupy for the next few weeks. Sage would be sharing Alex's room. Kento and Cye had the office, and Ryo and Rowen would be in the guest room. They found beds already set up for each of them. They settled their belongings and made their way back down the stairs as Jag called, "Lunch is ready." Rowen was nearly knocked off his feet as Kento flew past him and into the dining room. An instant later, they heard Jag admonish him, "Don't you touch anything until the others get here!"
Ryo cupped a hand to his ear. "Did I just hear Nasuti talking?" Laughter responded.
They found the table set for six with cold-cut sandwiches and a large salad. "I figured we should have something cool for now while you guys are acclimating to our lovely California heat," Jag commented, setting out glasses and a pitcher of ice water. The guys sat down gratefully to their first decent meal in many hours.
"Where's Alex?" Sage queried.
"He had a run this week but he should be back - " She glanced at the clock above the hutch. " - any time now. In fact . . . timing in life is everything." She grinned at them as they heard the front door open. "Hey, Alex! Always know when there's food on the table, don'cha?"
A tall, young man walked into the dining room just then. He was dark-skinned, with shoulder-length black hair and a goatee. His tank top and shorts revealed a well-developed body. He grinned at the guys, picking out his stepsister's cousin. Sage stood to accept the hand proffered to him. "Hey, Sage! Good to see you again."
"You, too, Alex." Sage introduced the rest of the gang and offered him his seat.
"Naw, don't worry about it. I can stand. Been sitting for too long today already."
Ryo looked at him. "You're a truck driver, right? I think I remember Sage telling me once."
"Yeah. I drive for a company in Escondido called Wickline Bedding. I ran up to Sacramento Tuesday night, then had a backhaul into Phoenix, Arizona. I'd have been back sooner but - " He shrugged. "As it is, I've had to do some creative log-booking."
"Well, have some lunch," Jag insisted before anyone could ask what he meant, "or do you need a shower first?"
"I think our guests will have a much better opinion of me if I get the desert skank off me first. Besides, I've already eaten but thanks."
Alex showered and changed while the rest finished lunch. Jag went into the kitchen to clean up, giving Cye a big grin when he offered to help. Alex came downstairs bouncing a basketball. "I hear one of you's been on a basketball team," he commented. "Care for some one-on-one?"
Rowen grinned at him, remembering that he'd seen a hoop mounted over the garage door. "That would be me, though Cye and Sage play pretty well, too." He stepped up to Alex, then gave him a wry smile. "You know, there's a reason the Japanese teams rarely win against the Americans." Rowen knew he was the tallest among the five, if not by much. He was, at the least, average height for his nationality. He barely came to Alex's nose.
Alex grinned at him. "Yeah, but if you know what you're doing, size doesn't matter."
"Easy for you to say!" Rowen laughed.
"Hey, if you don't mind," Ryo suggested, "how about three-on-three?" He turned at a thought to Sage. "Does Jag play?"
"No, she doesn't," Jag remarked with a grin from the kitchen door. Ryo did not miss the odd look Sage gave her. "Don't worry. I'll finish up here. You guys go play. You, too, Cye. Thanks but go on. Skat!" She playfully chased him out with a hand towel.
The other four stared. "That has to be the first time Cye has ever been run out of a kitchen!" Kento breathed in mock awe.
"Hey, whoa, Alex! Before you guys start, you need to move the cars!"
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That night, Sage sat on his bed in Alex's room, thinking over the day. Jag had stayed indoors while they played. After bringing out another pitcher of ice water for the gang, she disappeared for a few hours. Sage finally went looking for her and had found her napping in her bedroom upstairs. When asked if Jag was ill, Alex would only say that the heat got to her sometimes and she would be okay. Sage remembered Janelle as a quiet, non-physical person but Janice had never been known to pass up a chance to prove that she could "keep up with the boys." She loved basketball, volleyball, and swimming. Cye had asked if she'd be joining the group at the beach tomorrow and she laughed, saying that she did not even own a swimsuit. She had never been body-shy before. Granted, Sage had to allow that she had put on some weight over the past several years, but he did not agree that she would look like "a hippo in a tutu."
"Jag, when are you going to tell them?" Sage heard a soft voice – Alex's – down the hall.
"What? That I'm crazy? I'm not," came the flat reply. Sage moved closer to the door. He hated eavesdropping. Still –
"How long do you think you can hide from them?" Alex hesitated, then admitted, "Sage was asking about you earlier."
"What did you tell him?"
"That the heat affects you."
"Well, it's true."
"Well, yes, but - "
"But nothing. Alex, there's nothing wrong. No doctor can pin it - not that anyone even cares to try."
"Jag - "
"Look, don't start. Please? ¡Pero si alguien esta´ despierto, nos podrian escuchar, Alejandro!"
Sage startled. What language was that? Jag knows Spanish?
"No one's listening," Alex guaranteed her. "I'm sure they're all zonked out by now. If the jet lag hasn't dropped them, the basketball would have."
"I don't know. I understand Rowen's quite the night owl and I can pretty much assure you Sage is still up."
"Well, how about I go check?" Sage backpedaled silently to his bed, pretending to look for something in his backpack. Alex appeared at the door. He met Sage's eyes, registering alarm for only an instant, then called softly over his shoulder. "Nope. Sound asleep."
Sage heard Jag sigh wearily. "All right. You win. G'night."
"Later, champ." Alex closed the door and turned to Sage with a small grin. "Have you met your other roommates yet?" He indicated two tanks, one on a bookcase and one on the desk. He motioned Sage to approach. "This one is Ebony. She's a black king snake. She's getting ready to shed so it's not a good idea to handle her. She's bitey right now. She can't see with the scales over her eyes. Give her about a week. And this is Juliana. It's Spanish for 'soft-haired.' She's an immature Mexican Redknee tarantula. She's very docile. Do you mind spiders? Guess I should have asked before we bunked you in here."
"'Hoo-lee-AH-nah'?" Sage repeated the name with uncertainty. She was beautiful and, no, he did not mind, but that was not what was bothering him just then. He turned from the terrarium and met Alex's eye. "What were you and Jag talking about? Is something wrong with her?"
Alex let out a breath. Sage knew Alex had hoped he would take the hint and not ask. He could not ignore what he had heard, though. Alex hesitated a long moment, staring at the tarantula, then looked back up at Sage. "What really happened in LA?" he asked softly. "Tell me that and I'll break my promise to your sister."
Sage ran a hand through his hair. "Touché ," he admitted. "She probably doesn't want me and the guys worrying about her. She's not in danger or anything, is she?"
"No, no, nothing life-threatening, just . . . annoying. She's fine."
Sage knew Alex did not fully believe that himself - he had heard the concern in Alex's voice - but agreed to let it go at that. For now. "All right, then. Good night, Alex."
"Good night."
Author's Notes: Please be sure to check my bio page for any updates, etc. Thanks!
August 6, 2003 - Hey! You made it to the end! Congrats! Yeah, give me some time. There really is a storyline but I'm also going to let the guys have some fun. Ever wonder what it would be like to take them to Disneyland? I'm discovering that right now. ^_- Jag's comment in Spanish translates as - "But if someone's awake, they will be listening, Alexander." (No, I actually don't speak Spanish, at least not fluently. A friend of mine speaks it, though. He translated the comment for me.) By the way, for reasons of my own, which I may or may not explain later (^_^) I have added ten years to the events in the Ronins' timeline. For instance, the TV series was set in 1988 but in my "reality" those events took place in 1998. This is set in July 2003, so the guys are 19 and 20 years old (they'd be 29 and 30 otherwise!).
Oh, one other thing - I have alluded more than a few times to the "events in LA." For those who don't know, I'm talking about Gaiden. The "hospital stay" part of things refers to two other fics on this website - "Angel Dust" by Minuit and "Orpheus" by Icewyche. If you have not read them, you need to read them in that order. And DO be sure to read them! They are both fabulous! The premise of both is that the last scene on the bridge did not happen, or at least Sage would not have participated. The fact is that after everything Sage had been through, he would not just walk out of the warehouse and everything was fine. He'd been tortured and pumped full of drugs. There would have been consequences. Both fic's use the Samurai Trooper names. I highly recommend these two stories (as well as several others)!
