.Twisted Ways.
Cye Mouri sits at the head of a huge mahogany stained table with eight wooden chairs of the same color surrounding it. A medium sized book is spread out before him, its dull pages reflecting black ink scribbled across it underneath the dining room lights. He flicks the right side surface of it with the lower end of his pen. Boredom seems to consume him no matter what he does. Even writing wasn't helping at the moment.
"Ay'm going to bloody kill this thing," his British lilted voice grumbles with the opposite of his pacifistic ways. He stabs the notebook. "The whole entire class does not need to know what Ay' want to do afterwards."
"Hey, buddy, what's up?" cheerfully calls Kento, swooping around the right side of the table. He brings a cola can up to his lips and takes a huge gulp, patting his muscular belly afterwards. "Teach gave you some homework, huh?"
Cye turns his delicate navy irises up onto Kento which right now reflect the stressed and murderous glare that the majority of seniors nearing the end of their high school career develops. "Oh, you could say that again, Kento," he replies with a strained voice clearly warning his friend that with one more wrong move, he was going to be impaled with his pen. "The dreaded woman decided that just because we'll be out in two weeks automatically means that we get piles beyond piles of work to do. Any other questions, mate?"
"Erm--" Kento only grins and backs away, his free hand waving. "Oh no, that's okay. I think there's something good on TV. Yeah--" He quickly turns and flees the dining room, swerving into the living room, nearly adjacent except for a wall in between.
The springs groan as Kento plops onto the floral patterned couch. He snatches the remote control from a circular end table and clicks on the broad television. Images of a cartoon show up--a foolish black cat chasing a tiny yellow bird that always seems to get away--before he flips through the channels. And suddenly he lands on the news, flipping back to it when he passes it.
"H-Hey guys!" he calls out loudly. "You gotta check this out!" He leans forward on the couch, examining the place that once used to be a bridge. His jaw nearly hit's the ground with his shock.
"What is it?" demands Sage, slipping in right behind Cye. He turns his impassive lilac irises onto the screen and his emotionless features twisting into an unmistakable mask of worry.
"Oh my!" breathes Cye and slowly sits down next to Kento. "Is that where Ay' think it is?"
Kento nods wordlessly, transfixed by the flashing images of crumbled concrete, twisted steel, and streaks of burn marks plastered to large pieces. The shot then moves toward the bottom of the gully and halts on a tangled mess of a once beautiful classic car.
"Ryo! Get in here!" snaps Sage until he sees the wreckage. His actions usually void of feeling, completely contradict its usual manner as he grasps a crimson plush chair beside him and sinks down in its softness. "That's Rowen's car!"
"What is it?" yawns Ryo, emerging into the room following a rhythm of thumps down the stairs. He begins to slide his scarlet shift over his wild mane of tangle obsidian hair when he pauses, staring, too, at the T.V. "Oh Christ! That's Rowen's car!"
"Oh my God!" breathes Kento, inching even closer. "Hey guys! Look!"
The signs of the Warlords were everywhere from coating the pavement with acid burns and signs of burnt patches along the rock. Even the metal contorted and spread on the ground seems to be marked with signs of their enemy.
"Warlords!" exclaims Cye airily. "But--Why?"
'--was found just recently at the bottom of the gully," drones on the voice of the newscaster, standing on the left side of the bridge toward the city. "No eye witnesses were found at the scene and at the moment no one has come forth to testify. Luckily no one was found in the vehicle at the time but a search is going on through the forest to find any survivors. The chief of police doubt that there are any survivors--"
"So if that means there wasn't anyone found--" adds Kento.
"That means--"
"What about Bekah?" interjects Sage smoothly. "I just got a call from her a couple of minutes ago. She did say that Rowen never came back to get here and I was just on my way--"
Cye glances up at him with his brow arched over his curious shimmering eyes. He leans against the curved armrest of the couch toward Sage, inspecting him as though his comment were a filthy lie. "If you were speaking to her and she mention that Rowen didn't pick her up, mate, wouldn't you then expect something to happen to him? After all, it does sound rather fishy."
Sage glowers at Cye with his usual icy calm. His golden tresses sway around his pale countenance and a heavy sigh departs from him. "She said that sometimes he heads off to his school. When he does that, he becomes so caught up in his work, he'll either forget or fall asleep. She figured something like that happened. I did ask her, Cye. I wondered myself."
A look of apology floods the young Britain's face as he sinks back into the sofa. He watches the news, more to avoid Sage's cold glare more then anything else. His cheeks blush scarlet and his lips clutch tightly. Finally, after a moment of silence, he adds, "Sorry, Sage, Ay' honestly didn't mean anything by it. Ay've just--"
"I know," interrupts Sage composed. "Don't worry about it, Cye. But, I now I have to find another way to pick Bekah up since the normal route has been destroyed." His impassive look switches over toward Ryo and he nods at the door, his long legs propelling him forth in a graceful sweep. "You can come with me, Ryo. I suppose we'll have to warn Mia too."
"Right," the obsidian haired man nods curtly and follows Sage out the door. He glances back at the others to add, "You two stay here just incase Rowen comes back."
"Sure Ryo."
"Anything you say, pal."
..
The rain had ceased to plummet the earth early in the morning, leaving a hazy mist to crawl over the forest floor. Rivulets from the previous downfall still squirms its way toward bubbling creeks, singing beneath the dense fog and reflecting off of dripping branches. The only place that does not seem effected by the storm is a tiny round clearing, still hidden by sprawling canopies. A warm fire crackles within its middle and a figure within silver sits beside it, holding a wooden bowl, where else another figure rests on the ground, covered in a warm olive cloak.
Kamaree glances over at Rowen, the back of his head the only part of him visible to her. She sighs and scans along an invisible sideways gash on his crown, healed over by her earlier in the morning. He would wake up with a thundering headache, that is for sure.
"Brave soul," she mutters to herself and leans forward, switching her attention to a small obsidian glass pot dangling precariously over the fire. She had to chuckle, for the mortal wasn't going to exactly find the cooking pot--hanging by only a delicate set of twigs--exact fun. She gently stretches out her right hand and wraps her bare fingers around the glass spoon and stirs the sweet contents. The twigs tremble beneath the movement but do not give way.
"W-What happened?' stutters a weak male voice and the lump beneath the cloak, the one named Rowen, slowly struggles to get up. He only moans, though, and manages to prop himself. A hand automatically snakes back toward the back of his head and rubs his scalp.
"Have some breakfast, Rowen of Strata, and you will feel far better," urges Kamaree, spooning the fruit mixture into a spare bowl. She tops it off with a warm biscuit and digs a fork into it.
Rowen turns toward her wide eyed, examining every trace from her 1st stage Kamaree uniform to the long platinum hair fluttering charmingly from the faint breeze. He accepts the bowl hesitantly and stares down at it gingerly. "Who are you an' why does my head hurt like Ah've been smacked by a tireh iron?"
She winces as she remembers the vicious tear to his flesh, never noticing it the night before. She was more concerned about his staying alive through the entire ordeal that she neglected to check for any wounds he might of received. Which in return was great, except for the fact that when she woke up, he was paler then snow and barely breathing. "Well," she sighs as she tries to explain. "I am Kamaree and you, my friend, were bashed against the head by a piece of falling asphalt."
"Kamaree?" he breathes and swirls the mixture of his breakfast around in the bowl. He stares at it, trying to piece together the mixture.
"Eat, my dear boy, and then I will tell you all that you need to know and that you desire."
Rowen carefully and gradually lifts the fork toward his lips with a meager amount of the fruit paste--appearing a bit like a mixed yogurt--and tastes a small portion of it. He waits, chewing the scanty amount, sampling each morsel of it. He then swallows and waits, seeing if it will hurt him anyway. After a few seconds, his stomach growling for me, he digs in, engulfing his meal as though he had nothing to eat in several weeks.
Kamaree chuckles softly and fills up a smooth wooden mug with warm, blackberry tea sweetened by a minuscule amount of honey--of course donated by local bees. She hands the vessel over to him right as he finishes and he snatches it out of her hands and drains it. The tea dribbles down his chin though he doesn't notice, only aware enough to thrust the bowl back into her hands in demanding of more food. Readily she fills the container up to the brim with the berry and biscuit breakfast, handing it back to him right as he finishes with his tea.
"Careful," she cautions peacefully. "If you eat and drink too quickly, it won't be your head that is the only thing hurting. I'm also sorry to say that I can't heal upset stomachs caused by engulfing food like a wolf as freely as I can other tribulations."
He ignores her, it seems, and gobbles this bowl up until it is about a quarter full. Then he slows, breathing heavily, and stares at it. He grabs the mug, already refilled by the mysterious woman, and follows the meal with a few gulps. Wiping his mouth off on the back of his arm, he glances at Kamaree still bowed by the fire.
"Who are you?"
She straightens at his question and yet still stares into the dying fire. She leisurely lowers the lids over her eyes before opening them once more. A serene smile curves upon her manila lips. "You know who I am," she replies nonchalantly. "You just can't remember right now. But you will. I know you were knocked severely on that skull of yours, but I'm assured that your brain cells are still in working order."
"Great. So Ah know you only Ah cahn't remembeh you. Ah think you're crazy, woman," he snorts and takes another sip of his drink.
Kamaree shrugs lightly and rises to dissemble the kettle and its stand. She lifts the obsidian glass pot from over the fire without as much as wincing. "It's not the worst I've been called to be honest. But you'll remember, like I said. It will come back in a snap and you won't believe that your forgot the first time, Rowen Hashiba," she remarks passively right as she lowers the glass pot a few yards away next to a narrow stream.
Rowen smirks and rises obliviously to help her, gathering the bowls and the mugs. "And another thing: how do you know my name? You knew Ryo's too, didn't you? Wait--how did I know that?" He stops right behind her, frowning at his discovery.
"Or else it'll come back slowly," she adds while taking the containers, interjecting a "thank you" while doing so. She spreads them out in even four quarter positions, appearing like a four point star. She stands back and then ambles toward the edge of the water, kneeling beside it. She reaches her cupped hands forward underneath the cool liquid and lifts it. She brings it to her lips and drinks in deeply. She then stands and glances down at the food covered bowls and pot for an instant.
"Aren't you gonna clean that?" inquires Rowen, staring at the back of her head.
"Nah. It'd be disrespectful. C'mon, Rowen, we need to go. Your friends will be worried about you, I suppose. Mind traveling by back? It'll be faster then if we both just walk."
"Wha?" he begins to ask, but before he can, a startling white lean horse appears where once Kamaree stood. The equine twists toward him and slowly rambles up to him. She nudges his shoulder with a grin reflecting in her azure painted eyes. He reaches out a hand to stroke her head, breathlessly commenting, "So Ah wasn' dreamin' last night? You can change into animals? Like this Horse?"
"Unicorn and Horse mix, actually," the Unicorn-Human corrects. She sidesteps away from him about a yard and lowers the front of her body low. "I figure the Horse, though not as calm, will have more endurance. The Unicorn is stronger though--"
Rowen frowns and watches her, unable to move from his position. "Unicorns aren't real."
"In fact, they are quite real as well as all the beings from legends and lore. There are so many out there hidden from mortals, that it's not a wonder no one believes anymore. Now, are we going or are you just going to stand there and gawk at me, looking for a horn you won't be able to see until you actually believe?" the last portion snapped along with the long whip-like tail, sprouting such long and fine filament from it that it seemed she had a Horse tail instead.
He stumbles forward and awkwardly slides onto her back. He grabs her around the neck and clutches his legs as tightly as he can around her barrel. He watches the ground, his brilliant cerulean eyes staring as it passes quickly beneath him. After what seems like an hour, he becomes courageous enough to sit up straight on her, hands wrapped tightly in her mane cautiously.
"Now, you wanted to know how I knew your name," she begins out of no where. "I know many things about you, Strata, and your friends. I know you were born in 2000 A.D., thus you are of twenty years old--still a child in most eyes. You're interested in some forms of history as well as astronomy, which I can foresee you doing well in. You're attending a certain college, which I cannot remember the name. You used to own a silver 2000 Grand Prix that you got because it was made on your birthday and because it was cheap, though you had absolutely no idea how to repair it,. You could have asked Sage Date and he, believe it or not, would be thrilled to look at it for you. He has more secrets surrounding him then the entire species of Dragons. Now, you're also dating a Rebekah and have been for the past three months. You hardly even talked to her while she was helping you during the raid from the Dynasty, though I can't blame you. Now, any other questions? Don't ask me the incantation to call upon your armor and if you demand your sure kill, I am sure to kill you," Kamaree explains while she strolls within a medium pace through out the forest. Her vibrant platinum hooves seen to barely touch the surface and it doesn't even leave a mark trailing behind her. Her narrow, slightly concaved skull bobs at every other beat.
Rowen soaks up her information, surprised to be even hearing her attempts at explaining. He stares down at her rolling withers. He blinks a couple of times, the only movement he has besides the rocking of his body to her swaying walk. "H-How do you know all of this?"
"Well," she starts once more, "I've been with you all since you first got your powers, believe it or not, I've been watching and helping you. It had to be kept a secret, naturally. You five already had enough to cope with much-less me suddenly exposing myself. That and it's forbidden by the Maree law." She glances back at him with her left eye, scanning him from his mid chest down, searching him incase he was becoming somnolent upon her. "The Maree law is very strict, unfortunately, and I have committed treason as is. But it's worth it, I believe. You all need to know that I've been around for so long. It's unfair to keep you in the dark."
"That answers a lot," he remarks tensely. "So, if I'll get a straight answer, why don't you know my--erm---incantation or my sure kill? It can't be that hard. I mean the--eh--incantation is--"
"Don't, Strata!" she interrupts him, shaking her long skull and ruffling the shimmering mane sloping over the median of her nape. She stretches out underneath of him, enough that her smooth ivory teeth graze upon her curved chest.
"Why not?" demands Rowen, clutching her tightly as she stretches, sure that he'll slide of at any moment.
The Unicorn-Human sighs softly and skirts a gigantic bush of thorns--her tail snapping toward her right as the delicate strands become tangled in the mess. She pauses and reaches back with the tip of her long spiraled horn and taps the jagged branches--releasing the captured filament easily. "Why?" she beings to answer as she continues forward. "It's rumored by the Maree council that he or she who is directly linked willingly with the Ronins, if he or she is to say their incantations then that person will develop the specific Ronin's power and become one with him. Meaning bodies and powers are combined."
Rowen remains silent in the few moments it takes him to piece her answer together. Then, with a snorting laugh, he bursts, 'You gotta be kiddin' me."
"I assure you if I was then I would be laughing right a long with you. But I'm not thus the truth I tell you. But then, as I have mentioned, it is nothing but theory--one I prefer not tempting," is clarified right as she stumbles upon the edge of the wood.
A broad lake glittering under the afternoon sun spreads out before them with a giant house nestling yards from its edge. A oval looking white vehicle vanishes toward the front of it, its glass glinting wildly. There at the moment, the Kamaree remains still, watching the scene gingerly. Her crescent lobes perk forward, listening to each little sound even at that distance.
"Apparently a couple of your friends are home along with your girlfriend. Sage Date of the Halo and Ryo Sanada of the Wildfire, I presume are the two males. Your dear girl I only know as Bekah--" she pauses and sneezes, thrusting her head toward her hooves. "And she stinks of unkempt wolves. How disgusting!"
Rowen remains silent, watching at the far distance, his eyes squinted just to see what she relays to him. Even at her outburst he doesn't speak, soaking up the information she gave previous to this. He doesn't fully remember, but bits and pieces flood his mind of previous events and that over all keeps his mouth shut.
"Well. Shall we be off?" she mumbles and twists toward her left, trotting along the edge of the lake and remaining hidden within the woods. She watches both the earth and the distant house--leaping elegantly over a fallen log to Rowen's yelp and noticing at the same time the discussion held within the structure. A curse is muttered under her voice and she picks up speed, sliding into a smooth canter.
"Ahh! What's up with the speed, Kamaree?" demands Rowen, clutching her neck once more. He nearly cuts off her breath without realizing it, unable to his with face buried within her thick mane.
"Maybe," she gasps, "if you left me breath, I can tell you!"
He loosens up on her and mutters, 'Sorry."
"That's better. Now if you sit up and lean back, squeeze as much as you can with your thighs, not your knees, and hold on as tight as possible into my mane, you'll be fine." She leaps over another crumbling log, dashing with feathered hooves over the leave strewn topography. "Now, to answer you, your friends are having a fit trying to find you. They are exceptionally worried and they are going to be irrational enough to--" she grunts as she slides over a moist bed of leaves covering thick mud, yet she instantly regains her footing and treks on, "--challenge the Dark Warlords."
"We've beat them befohre, so it's not like we cahn't do it again, rihgt?" argues Rowen in between breaths. He winces as his leg muscles begin to strain from the pressure applied for only God knows how long.
A chuckle escapes from the Unicorn-Human's throat and with a leap across a wide creek, she slows her pace down while nearing the Ronin's home. "You're over your heads with this battle, Strata. It's not going to be as easy as you think--"
"Yah, an' the last battle was a thrill."
"You know, if the Ronins didn't need you, I'd buck you off right in the middle of the lake and pray that a Zulagin would eat you slooowly. But anyway, since Zulagins are only native to--erm--the Amazon, I doubt there'd be any in this particular lake."
Rowen blinks and gawks at her bobbing skull with confusion, unaware that her fast walk made it far more comfortable to sit on her back. Sub armor probably would have helped a lot in this department too. "What in the Hell is a Zulagin?"
"Yowr mothah," she retorts in his same Bronx influence. "But, anyway, there are more forces dealing with this round then ever before, so you'll just have to trust--"
Immediately she halts, nearly throwing poor Rowen into a tree. He yanks onto her mane and stares at her while she prances beneath him- her hind swaying toward her left and her long plumed tail snaking vigorously. Her head bounces and shakes, nearly whacking him in the nose, but her mane manages to slash him across the face, stinging horribly.
"What's wrong?" he growls and yanks her rocking tresses into a more non-lethal weapon.
"I smell a tiger," is her automatic response. Her forelegs seem to spring from the ground right as she twists toward the right--her left side nearly colliding with the nearest tree. She pauses, alert, and watches the house now in perfect view, right behind it in fact, though still hidden within the woods. Her entirety trembles and quivers, jumping to each sound she hears.
"Yeah. Ryo has a tigeh, you should know that, rihgt? So whadda 'fraid of?" he sighs with frustration, nearly ready to slam his heels into her sides.
"Once," she whispers, "you are attacked, dragged down and eaten alive by a tiger who has no respect for any Unicorn alive or Maree, for that matter, you'll understand. Unicorns are -not- prey beings. They don't have the same chemicals that counteract death like a prey animal does." But with her own sigh, she marches on with more of a lookout then ever, leaving Rowen to think in silence.
Finally, both Unicorn-Human and Ronin Warrior slide out from under the shade of the trees and waltz into the glowing sun. The Unicorn carefully treads up toward the middle of the yard, scrutinizing each little portion of it--testing the air of both scent and sound. Yet she only hears the rambles within the structure and the mumblings of the mortal upon her back.
Rowen, once she halts, slides off her back and stumbles up toward her head, rubbing his thighs. Pain reflects on his face and a groan surfaces at each tiny movement. "Thanks fowr the ride, Kamaree. It'll be an experiences Ah'll neveh forget. In fact," he grunts as he pulls his jeans from personal places chafed, "Ah'll be sure never to ride a howrse for the rest of my life!"
Kamaree laughs, louder then expected, and the vibrating call echoes through the yard and entering, obliviously, into the house. She reverses imperceptibly with her tail flicking carelessly against her hock. "It has been fun, I must admit, Strata. It's not often that I get to carry such excellent company back home. It's also an excellent adventure--"
A feminine voice shrieking, "Rowen!! Oh God, Rowen!! There you are! I've been so worried!" cuts Kamaree off. The young woman known as Rowen's girlfriend, Rebekah, comes streaking down and clamps herself around the tall boy, barely noticing the white equine beside him.
The others stream out from the house after her, Ryo, Cye, Kento, Sage, Mia, and the twelve year old Ully. Yet, unlike Bekah, they halt as soon as they see the pure alabaster creature standing startled in the back yard.
"Oh my God," breathes Cye, mystified. "Where'd she come from?" While the others remain frozen where they are, the Brit eases his way up toward her curiously. Never before has he seen any creature look like her before. Never.
The others soon begin to follow Cye, also intrigued by her. Yet Sage is the only one to remain where he is, watching her and staring as though he knew her. His lavender eyes narrow and he inspects each little detail of her.
"I know who you are," he exhales quietly. "We've met before, haven't we?"
A white figure beside him catches his attention and he glances down at White Blaze. His left hand comes to rest upon the tiger's broad skull, stroking the fine integument underneath of it. "Odd, isn't she?" White Blaze only focuses his sienna eyes upon the human and growls.
Kamaree shies from the gathering crowd, craning her cranium toward the terra beneath her. The crystalline horn aims toward the closest one, happening to be Cye. Her diamond-like hooves slide against the emerald turf. She squeals loudly right as the human places his hand delicately upon her muzzle. She seems to relax slightly, flicking her lobes in his direction.
"Aren't you a pretty horse," comforts Cye tenderly, of course unable to see her horn and thus getting himself into trouble.
'A horse!?' bellows Kamaree mentally, filling with arrogant pride of the Unicorn race. 'A mere horse!? I think not child! No horse alive will ever conform to a Unicorn!' She swings her head toward the boy, nearly knocking him over, as she suddenly sprints off toward the forest.
In a flash, White Blaze bounds in front of her and halts. He growls, crouched forward and waits for her to slide to a stop. His lips peel back to reveal his fangs and a snarl echoes from his throat. His burgundy eyes burn with his promise and his passion.
Yet the Unicorn-Human, in fear and shock, slides against the moist ground barely a foot from him. Her muscles tense within her hind quarters and she lifts her front portions form the earth--pawing the air viciously. A scream is forced from her , seeming to gleam under the sun as does she. She lands and strikes the earth fiercely, this time leaving deep gashes in it.
'What do you want from me, tiger!? Have I already not aided one of your kind only to be struck from behind to bleed to death on the ground? Do you know what immortal laws are broken when a mortal kills one such as a Unicorn?' she declares mentally.
'First off, I want you to calm down,' growls White Blaze with the same communication. 'Second of off, that was not me who attacked you. White Fang--yes, White Fang, I do know him--told me of your attack. I apologize for it. No tiger in his or her right mind would attack a Maree. She, on the other hand, must have been beyond desperate.'
'Desperate? Desperate!? She broke the scared laws! She could have eaten me if she needed it, but for the Matara sake, at least of allowed me into a prey animal form! Do you know how much pain it is to suffer? What it is like to be fully aware and feel each fang sink deeper into flesh? Any Maree over the 3rd Stage can tell you well enough!'
'Relax, Kamaree,' demands the tiger calmly, almost sounding exactly like Sage. 'You are over reacting. I can understand your sense of fear and your memories. No, a Unicorn is not meant to be eaten and she did wrong by eating you in this stage. The previous two would not result in the same pain. She did not understand that. After all, she was raised without the wisdom.'
She screeches and rears once more, her visage waving like a snaking. Her teeth, sharper then a horse's, lashes out toward the tiger when she lands--oblivious to the frightened stares upon her. The whip-like tail lashes against her barrel and hocks wildly. 'You speak of me to relax when you are still in pouncing position and your teeth bared as though ready to sink into my neck!? Only a fool would speak of peace and act against it!'
White Blaze swiftly lowers himself upon his haunches and his long tail wrapping around his front paws. Carefully his lips fold over his fangs and he relaxes all signs of aggression. He watches her softly though sagely. 'Please, Kamaree, the instinct of the horse you mixed with the Unicorn is beginning to take over your instincts. I don't fully comprehend why you would do such a thing, for the Unicorn is over all a better transporter.'
With a gentle sigh, what thickness appears upon the Unicorn-Human seems to vanish, leaving a slender and lithe creature of nearly 15 hands at the withers. Her head narrows further and concaves like an Arabian's--though with a delicate structure and more refined then any horse. Shimmering orbs widen and color fully to a brilliant sapphire as her tail grows longer to the point that it must curl up or else drag over the ground. Feathers, though already covering the lower portion of her hooves, seem to sprout from her shoulder and haunches downward. Amazingly, though, to even non-believers, her horn reveals itself like spiraling crystal, shimmering and leading down to a silver star nestled beneath it.
'This you prefer?' inquires Kamaree calmly. 'If I added horse to the mixture then the horse would become invisible to those who do not believe.' She pauses and swerves her cranium back, set upon an unnaturally long and curving nape, and glances back at the mortals. 'As you see, they see what I am now and they cannot comprehend what they are viewing. Many un-normal things have they witnessed and they cannot believe that anything of my sort would exist.' She switches her attention upon the tiger below her, all traces of the anxiety vanished. 'Now I ask why you decided to cease my trek into the forest and away from these children? What personal gain could there be with me staying here?'
White Blaze watches her for a few moments of silence as he words together his string of thoughts. 'Simply,' he starts after he has concluded what it is he wants to say, 'that perhaps it would be easier if you refreshed their memories at the same time instead of this plan of visiting each one by one? You can also admit to what you came out into the open for and warn them of the upcoming danger.'
'I have thought of it,' she agrees. 'Alas, I also want to see how each are in their own environments without one another. I desired to test them for how pure their hearts truly are. Already they have sacrificed much during the battle with the Dynasty. I wish to see what has happened to them since that time. Understand?'
'Indeed I do. Sage of the Halo already knows who you are though, clearly. Your scent still lingers on his armor like a sweetened perfume. Rowen of the Strata is piecing together who you are, though in the unfortunate circumstances, you did not have a chance to witness him in his natural way. The others, now that they have seen you, will be more cautious. Already, if you glance back at them and see for yourself, believe you are an enemy. It is best that you switch their train of thought.'
The Maree slowly circles around the tiger and he mirrors her movement to where she is facing the Ronins and he is toward the wood. To his puzzlement, she lays down before him calmly, adding, 'I agree.'
With a silent chuckle the tiger leans forward and nuzzles the cheek of a human woman sitting before him. She reaches a bare hand upward and strokes his soft fur tenderly, looking him over with quiet azure eyes.
"Shall we begin?"
Cye Mouri sits at the head of a huge mahogany stained table with eight wooden chairs of the same color surrounding it. A medium sized book is spread out before him, its dull pages reflecting black ink scribbled across it underneath the dining room lights. He flicks the right side surface of it with the lower end of his pen. Boredom seems to consume him no matter what he does. Even writing wasn't helping at the moment.
"Ay'm going to bloody kill this thing," his British lilted voice grumbles with the opposite of his pacifistic ways. He stabs the notebook. "The whole entire class does not need to know what Ay' want to do afterwards."
"Hey, buddy, what's up?" cheerfully calls Kento, swooping around the right side of the table. He brings a cola can up to his lips and takes a huge gulp, patting his muscular belly afterwards. "Teach gave you some homework, huh?"
Cye turns his delicate navy irises up onto Kento which right now reflect the stressed and murderous glare that the majority of seniors nearing the end of their high school career develops. "Oh, you could say that again, Kento," he replies with a strained voice clearly warning his friend that with one more wrong move, he was going to be impaled with his pen. "The dreaded woman decided that just because we'll be out in two weeks automatically means that we get piles beyond piles of work to do. Any other questions, mate?"
"Erm--" Kento only grins and backs away, his free hand waving. "Oh no, that's okay. I think there's something good on TV. Yeah--" He quickly turns and flees the dining room, swerving into the living room, nearly adjacent except for a wall in between.
The springs groan as Kento plops onto the floral patterned couch. He snatches the remote control from a circular end table and clicks on the broad television. Images of a cartoon show up--a foolish black cat chasing a tiny yellow bird that always seems to get away--before he flips through the channels. And suddenly he lands on the news, flipping back to it when he passes it.
"H-Hey guys!" he calls out loudly. "You gotta check this out!" He leans forward on the couch, examining the place that once used to be a bridge. His jaw nearly hit's the ground with his shock.
"What is it?" demands Sage, slipping in right behind Cye. He turns his impassive lilac irises onto the screen and his emotionless features twisting into an unmistakable mask of worry.
"Oh my!" breathes Cye and slowly sits down next to Kento. "Is that where Ay' think it is?"
Kento nods wordlessly, transfixed by the flashing images of crumbled concrete, twisted steel, and streaks of burn marks plastered to large pieces. The shot then moves toward the bottom of the gully and halts on a tangled mess of a once beautiful classic car.
"Ryo! Get in here!" snaps Sage until he sees the wreckage. His actions usually void of feeling, completely contradict its usual manner as he grasps a crimson plush chair beside him and sinks down in its softness. "That's Rowen's car!"
"What is it?" yawns Ryo, emerging into the room following a rhythm of thumps down the stairs. He begins to slide his scarlet shift over his wild mane of tangle obsidian hair when he pauses, staring, too, at the T.V. "Oh Christ! That's Rowen's car!"
"Oh my God!" breathes Kento, inching even closer. "Hey guys! Look!"
The signs of the Warlords were everywhere from coating the pavement with acid burns and signs of burnt patches along the rock. Even the metal contorted and spread on the ground seems to be marked with signs of their enemy.
"Warlords!" exclaims Cye airily. "But--Why?"
'--was found just recently at the bottom of the gully," drones on the voice of the newscaster, standing on the left side of the bridge toward the city. "No eye witnesses were found at the scene and at the moment no one has come forth to testify. Luckily no one was found in the vehicle at the time but a search is going on through the forest to find any survivors. The chief of police doubt that there are any survivors--"
"So if that means there wasn't anyone found--" adds Kento.
"That means--"
"What about Bekah?" interjects Sage smoothly. "I just got a call from her a couple of minutes ago. She did say that Rowen never came back to get here and I was just on my way--"
Cye glances up at him with his brow arched over his curious shimmering eyes. He leans against the curved armrest of the couch toward Sage, inspecting him as though his comment were a filthy lie. "If you were speaking to her and she mention that Rowen didn't pick her up, mate, wouldn't you then expect something to happen to him? After all, it does sound rather fishy."
Sage glowers at Cye with his usual icy calm. His golden tresses sway around his pale countenance and a heavy sigh departs from him. "She said that sometimes he heads off to his school. When he does that, he becomes so caught up in his work, he'll either forget or fall asleep. She figured something like that happened. I did ask her, Cye. I wondered myself."
A look of apology floods the young Britain's face as he sinks back into the sofa. He watches the news, more to avoid Sage's cold glare more then anything else. His cheeks blush scarlet and his lips clutch tightly. Finally, after a moment of silence, he adds, "Sorry, Sage, Ay' honestly didn't mean anything by it. Ay've just--"
"I know," interrupts Sage composed. "Don't worry about it, Cye. But, I now I have to find another way to pick Bekah up since the normal route has been destroyed." His impassive look switches over toward Ryo and he nods at the door, his long legs propelling him forth in a graceful sweep. "You can come with me, Ryo. I suppose we'll have to warn Mia too."
"Right," the obsidian haired man nods curtly and follows Sage out the door. He glances back at the others to add, "You two stay here just incase Rowen comes back."
"Sure Ryo."
"Anything you say, pal."
..
The rain had ceased to plummet the earth early in the morning, leaving a hazy mist to crawl over the forest floor. Rivulets from the previous downfall still squirms its way toward bubbling creeks, singing beneath the dense fog and reflecting off of dripping branches. The only place that does not seem effected by the storm is a tiny round clearing, still hidden by sprawling canopies. A warm fire crackles within its middle and a figure within silver sits beside it, holding a wooden bowl, where else another figure rests on the ground, covered in a warm olive cloak.
Kamaree glances over at Rowen, the back of his head the only part of him visible to her. She sighs and scans along an invisible sideways gash on his crown, healed over by her earlier in the morning. He would wake up with a thundering headache, that is for sure.
"Brave soul," she mutters to herself and leans forward, switching her attention to a small obsidian glass pot dangling precariously over the fire. She had to chuckle, for the mortal wasn't going to exactly find the cooking pot--hanging by only a delicate set of twigs--exact fun. She gently stretches out her right hand and wraps her bare fingers around the glass spoon and stirs the sweet contents. The twigs tremble beneath the movement but do not give way.
"W-What happened?' stutters a weak male voice and the lump beneath the cloak, the one named Rowen, slowly struggles to get up. He only moans, though, and manages to prop himself. A hand automatically snakes back toward the back of his head and rubs his scalp.
"Have some breakfast, Rowen of Strata, and you will feel far better," urges Kamaree, spooning the fruit mixture into a spare bowl. She tops it off with a warm biscuit and digs a fork into it.
Rowen turns toward her wide eyed, examining every trace from her 1st stage Kamaree uniform to the long platinum hair fluttering charmingly from the faint breeze. He accepts the bowl hesitantly and stares down at it gingerly. "Who are you an' why does my head hurt like Ah've been smacked by a tireh iron?"
She winces as she remembers the vicious tear to his flesh, never noticing it the night before. She was more concerned about his staying alive through the entire ordeal that she neglected to check for any wounds he might of received. Which in return was great, except for the fact that when she woke up, he was paler then snow and barely breathing. "Well," she sighs as she tries to explain. "I am Kamaree and you, my friend, were bashed against the head by a piece of falling asphalt."
"Kamaree?" he breathes and swirls the mixture of his breakfast around in the bowl. He stares at it, trying to piece together the mixture.
"Eat, my dear boy, and then I will tell you all that you need to know and that you desire."
Rowen carefully and gradually lifts the fork toward his lips with a meager amount of the fruit paste--appearing a bit like a mixed yogurt--and tastes a small portion of it. He waits, chewing the scanty amount, sampling each morsel of it. He then swallows and waits, seeing if it will hurt him anyway. After a few seconds, his stomach growling for me, he digs in, engulfing his meal as though he had nothing to eat in several weeks.
Kamaree chuckles softly and fills up a smooth wooden mug with warm, blackberry tea sweetened by a minuscule amount of honey--of course donated by local bees. She hands the vessel over to him right as he finishes and he snatches it out of her hands and drains it. The tea dribbles down his chin though he doesn't notice, only aware enough to thrust the bowl back into her hands in demanding of more food. Readily she fills the container up to the brim with the berry and biscuit breakfast, handing it back to him right as he finishes with his tea.
"Careful," she cautions peacefully. "If you eat and drink too quickly, it won't be your head that is the only thing hurting. I'm also sorry to say that I can't heal upset stomachs caused by engulfing food like a wolf as freely as I can other tribulations."
He ignores her, it seems, and gobbles this bowl up until it is about a quarter full. Then he slows, breathing heavily, and stares at it. He grabs the mug, already refilled by the mysterious woman, and follows the meal with a few gulps. Wiping his mouth off on the back of his arm, he glances at Kamaree still bowed by the fire.
"Who are you?"
She straightens at his question and yet still stares into the dying fire. She leisurely lowers the lids over her eyes before opening them once more. A serene smile curves upon her manila lips. "You know who I am," she replies nonchalantly. "You just can't remember right now. But you will. I know you were knocked severely on that skull of yours, but I'm assured that your brain cells are still in working order."
"Great. So Ah know you only Ah cahn't remembeh you. Ah think you're crazy, woman," he snorts and takes another sip of his drink.
Kamaree shrugs lightly and rises to dissemble the kettle and its stand. She lifts the obsidian glass pot from over the fire without as much as wincing. "It's not the worst I've been called to be honest. But you'll remember, like I said. It will come back in a snap and you won't believe that your forgot the first time, Rowen Hashiba," she remarks passively right as she lowers the glass pot a few yards away next to a narrow stream.
Rowen smirks and rises obliviously to help her, gathering the bowls and the mugs. "And another thing: how do you know my name? You knew Ryo's too, didn't you? Wait--how did I know that?" He stops right behind her, frowning at his discovery.
"Or else it'll come back slowly," she adds while taking the containers, interjecting a "thank you" while doing so. She spreads them out in even four quarter positions, appearing like a four point star. She stands back and then ambles toward the edge of the water, kneeling beside it. She reaches her cupped hands forward underneath the cool liquid and lifts it. She brings it to her lips and drinks in deeply. She then stands and glances down at the food covered bowls and pot for an instant.
"Aren't you gonna clean that?" inquires Rowen, staring at the back of her head.
"Nah. It'd be disrespectful. C'mon, Rowen, we need to go. Your friends will be worried about you, I suppose. Mind traveling by back? It'll be faster then if we both just walk."
"Wha?" he begins to ask, but before he can, a startling white lean horse appears where once Kamaree stood. The equine twists toward him and slowly rambles up to him. She nudges his shoulder with a grin reflecting in her azure painted eyes. He reaches out a hand to stroke her head, breathlessly commenting, "So Ah wasn' dreamin' last night? You can change into animals? Like this Horse?"
"Unicorn and Horse mix, actually," the Unicorn-Human corrects. She sidesteps away from him about a yard and lowers the front of her body low. "I figure the Horse, though not as calm, will have more endurance. The Unicorn is stronger though--"
Rowen frowns and watches her, unable to move from his position. "Unicorns aren't real."
"In fact, they are quite real as well as all the beings from legends and lore. There are so many out there hidden from mortals, that it's not a wonder no one believes anymore. Now, are we going or are you just going to stand there and gawk at me, looking for a horn you won't be able to see until you actually believe?" the last portion snapped along with the long whip-like tail, sprouting such long and fine filament from it that it seemed she had a Horse tail instead.
He stumbles forward and awkwardly slides onto her back. He grabs her around the neck and clutches his legs as tightly as he can around her barrel. He watches the ground, his brilliant cerulean eyes staring as it passes quickly beneath him. After what seems like an hour, he becomes courageous enough to sit up straight on her, hands wrapped tightly in her mane cautiously.
"Now, you wanted to know how I knew your name," she begins out of no where. "I know many things about you, Strata, and your friends. I know you were born in 2000 A.D., thus you are of twenty years old--still a child in most eyes. You're interested in some forms of history as well as astronomy, which I can foresee you doing well in. You're attending a certain college, which I cannot remember the name. You used to own a silver 2000 Grand Prix that you got because it was made on your birthday and because it was cheap, though you had absolutely no idea how to repair it,. You could have asked Sage Date and he, believe it or not, would be thrilled to look at it for you. He has more secrets surrounding him then the entire species of Dragons. Now, you're also dating a Rebekah and have been for the past three months. You hardly even talked to her while she was helping you during the raid from the Dynasty, though I can't blame you. Now, any other questions? Don't ask me the incantation to call upon your armor and if you demand your sure kill, I am sure to kill you," Kamaree explains while she strolls within a medium pace through out the forest. Her vibrant platinum hooves seen to barely touch the surface and it doesn't even leave a mark trailing behind her. Her narrow, slightly concaved skull bobs at every other beat.
Rowen soaks up her information, surprised to be even hearing her attempts at explaining. He stares down at her rolling withers. He blinks a couple of times, the only movement he has besides the rocking of his body to her swaying walk. "H-How do you know all of this?"
"Well," she starts once more, "I've been with you all since you first got your powers, believe it or not, I've been watching and helping you. It had to be kept a secret, naturally. You five already had enough to cope with much-less me suddenly exposing myself. That and it's forbidden by the Maree law." She glances back at him with her left eye, scanning him from his mid chest down, searching him incase he was becoming somnolent upon her. "The Maree law is very strict, unfortunately, and I have committed treason as is. But it's worth it, I believe. You all need to know that I've been around for so long. It's unfair to keep you in the dark."
"That answers a lot," he remarks tensely. "So, if I'll get a straight answer, why don't you know my--erm---incantation or my sure kill? It can't be that hard. I mean the--eh--incantation is--"
"Don't, Strata!" she interrupts him, shaking her long skull and ruffling the shimmering mane sloping over the median of her nape. She stretches out underneath of him, enough that her smooth ivory teeth graze upon her curved chest.
"Why not?" demands Rowen, clutching her tightly as she stretches, sure that he'll slide of at any moment.
The Unicorn-Human sighs softly and skirts a gigantic bush of thorns--her tail snapping toward her right as the delicate strands become tangled in the mess. She pauses and reaches back with the tip of her long spiraled horn and taps the jagged branches--releasing the captured filament easily. "Why?" she beings to answer as she continues forward. "It's rumored by the Maree council that he or she who is directly linked willingly with the Ronins, if he or she is to say their incantations then that person will develop the specific Ronin's power and become one with him. Meaning bodies and powers are combined."
Rowen remains silent in the few moments it takes him to piece her answer together. Then, with a snorting laugh, he bursts, 'You gotta be kiddin' me."
"I assure you if I was then I would be laughing right a long with you. But I'm not thus the truth I tell you. But then, as I have mentioned, it is nothing but theory--one I prefer not tempting," is clarified right as she stumbles upon the edge of the wood.
A broad lake glittering under the afternoon sun spreads out before them with a giant house nestling yards from its edge. A oval looking white vehicle vanishes toward the front of it, its glass glinting wildly. There at the moment, the Kamaree remains still, watching the scene gingerly. Her crescent lobes perk forward, listening to each little sound even at that distance.
"Apparently a couple of your friends are home along with your girlfriend. Sage Date of the Halo and Ryo Sanada of the Wildfire, I presume are the two males. Your dear girl I only know as Bekah--" she pauses and sneezes, thrusting her head toward her hooves. "And she stinks of unkempt wolves. How disgusting!"
Rowen remains silent, watching at the far distance, his eyes squinted just to see what she relays to him. Even at her outburst he doesn't speak, soaking up the information she gave previous to this. He doesn't fully remember, but bits and pieces flood his mind of previous events and that over all keeps his mouth shut.
"Well. Shall we be off?" she mumbles and twists toward her left, trotting along the edge of the lake and remaining hidden within the woods. She watches both the earth and the distant house--leaping elegantly over a fallen log to Rowen's yelp and noticing at the same time the discussion held within the structure. A curse is muttered under her voice and she picks up speed, sliding into a smooth canter.
"Ahh! What's up with the speed, Kamaree?" demands Rowen, clutching her neck once more. He nearly cuts off her breath without realizing it, unable to his with face buried within her thick mane.
"Maybe," she gasps, "if you left me breath, I can tell you!"
He loosens up on her and mutters, 'Sorry."
"That's better. Now if you sit up and lean back, squeeze as much as you can with your thighs, not your knees, and hold on as tight as possible into my mane, you'll be fine." She leaps over another crumbling log, dashing with feathered hooves over the leave strewn topography. "Now, to answer you, your friends are having a fit trying to find you. They are exceptionally worried and they are going to be irrational enough to--" she grunts as she slides over a moist bed of leaves covering thick mud, yet she instantly regains her footing and treks on, "--challenge the Dark Warlords."
"We've beat them befohre, so it's not like we cahn't do it again, rihgt?" argues Rowen in between breaths. He winces as his leg muscles begin to strain from the pressure applied for only God knows how long.
A chuckle escapes from the Unicorn-Human's throat and with a leap across a wide creek, she slows her pace down while nearing the Ronin's home. "You're over your heads with this battle, Strata. It's not going to be as easy as you think--"
"Yah, an' the last battle was a thrill."
"You know, if the Ronins didn't need you, I'd buck you off right in the middle of the lake and pray that a Zulagin would eat you slooowly. But anyway, since Zulagins are only native to--erm--the Amazon, I doubt there'd be any in this particular lake."
Rowen blinks and gawks at her bobbing skull with confusion, unaware that her fast walk made it far more comfortable to sit on her back. Sub armor probably would have helped a lot in this department too. "What in the Hell is a Zulagin?"
"Yowr mothah," she retorts in his same Bronx influence. "But, anyway, there are more forces dealing with this round then ever before, so you'll just have to trust--"
Immediately she halts, nearly throwing poor Rowen into a tree. He yanks onto her mane and stares at her while she prances beneath him- her hind swaying toward her left and her long plumed tail snaking vigorously. Her head bounces and shakes, nearly whacking him in the nose, but her mane manages to slash him across the face, stinging horribly.
"What's wrong?" he growls and yanks her rocking tresses into a more non-lethal weapon.
"I smell a tiger," is her automatic response. Her forelegs seem to spring from the ground right as she twists toward the right--her left side nearly colliding with the nearest tree. She pauses, alert, and watches the house now in perfect view, right behind it in fact, though still hidden within the woods. Her entirety trembles and quivers, jumping to each sound she hears.
"Yeah. Ryo has a tigeh, you should know that, rihgt? So whadda 'fraid of?" he sighs with frustration, nearly ready to slam his heels into her sides.
"Once," she whispers, "you are attacked, dragged down and eaten alive by a tiger who has no respect for any Unicorn alive or Maree, for that matter, you'll understand. Unicorns are -not- prey beings. They don't have the same chemicals that counteract death like a prey animal does." But with her own sigh, she marches on with more of a lookout then ever, leaving Rowen to think in silence.
Finally, both Unicorn-Human and Ronin Warrior slide out from under the shade of the trees and waltz into the glowing sun. The Unicorn carefully treads up toward the middle of the yard, scrutinizing each little portion of it--testing the air of both scent and sound. Yet she only hears the rambles within the structure and the mumblings of the mortal upon her back.
Rowen, once she halts, slides off her back and stumbles up toward her head, rubbing his thighs. Pain reflects on his face and a groan surfaces at each tiny movement. "Thanks fowr the ride, Kamaree. It'll be an experiences Ah'll neveh forget. In fact," he grunts as he pulls his jeans from personal places chafed, "Ah'll be sure never to ride a howrse for the rest of my life!"
Kamaree laughs, louder then expected, and the vibrating call echoes through the yard and entering, obliviously, into the house. She reverses imperceptibly with her tail flicking carelessly against her hock. "It has been fun, I must admit, Strata. It's not often that I get to carry such excellent company back home. It's also an excellent adventure--"
A feminine voice shrieking, "Rowen!! Oh God, Rowen!! There you are! I've been so worried!" cuts Kamaree off. The young woman known as Rowen's girlfriend, Rebekah, comes streaking down and clamps herself around the tall boy, barely noticing the white equine beside him.
The others stream out from the house after her, Ryo, Cye, Kento, Sage, Mia, and the twelve year old Ully. Yet, unlike Bekah, they halt as soon as they see the pure alabaster creature standing startled in the back yard.
"Oh my God," breathes Cye, mystified. "Where'd she come from?" While the others remain frozen where they are, the Brit eases his way up toward her curiously. Never before has he seen any creature look like her before. Never.
The others soon begin to follow Cye, also intrigued by her. Yet Sage is the only one to remain where he is, watching her and staring as though he knew her. His lavender eyes narrow and he inspects each little detail of her.
"I know who you are," he exhales quietly. "We've met before, haven't we?"
A white figure beside him catches his attention and he glances down at White Blaze. His left hand comes to rest upon the tiger's broad skull, stroking the fine integument underneath of it. "Odd, isn't she?" White Blaze only focuses his sienna eyes upon the human and growls.
Kamaree shies from the gathering crowd, craning her cranium toward the terra beneath her. The crystalline horn aims toward the closest one, happening to be Cye. Her diamond-like hooves slide against the emerald turf. She squeals loudly right as the human places his hand delicately upon her muzzle. She seems to relax slightly, flicking her lobes in his direction.
"Aren't you a pretty horse," comforts Cye tenderly, of course unable to see her horn and thus getting himself into trouble.
'A horse!?' bellows Kamaree mentally, filling with arrogant pride of the Unicorn race. 'A mere horse!? I think not child! No horse alive will ever conform to a Unicorn!' She swings her head toward the boy, nearly knocking him over, as she suddenly sprints off toward the forest.
In a flash, White Blaze bounds in front of her and halts. He growls, crouched forward and waits for her to slide to a stop. His lips peel back to reveal his fangs and a snarl echoes from his throat. His burgundy eyes burn with his promise and his passion.
Yet the Unicorn-Human, in fear and shock, slides against the moist ground barely a foot from him. Her muscles tense within her hind quarters and she lifts her front portions form the earth--pawing the air viciously. A scream is forced from her , seeming to gleam under the sun as does she. She lands and strikes the earth fiercely, this time leaving deep gashes in it.
'What do you want from me, tiger!? Have I already not aided one of your kind only to be struck from behind to bleed to death on the ground? Do you know what immortal laws are broken when a mortal kills one such as a Unicorn?' she declares mentally.
'First off, I want you to calm down,' growls White Blaze with the same communication. 'Second of off, that was not me who attacked you. White Fang--yes, White Fang, I do know him--told me of your attack. I apologize for it. No tiger in his or her right mind would attack a Maree. She, on the other hand, must have been beyond desperate.'
'Desperate? Desperate!? She broke the scared laws! She could have eaten me if she needed it, but for the Matara sake, at least of allowed me into a prey animal form! Do you know how much pain it is to suffer? What it is like to be fully aware and feel each fang sink deeper into flesh? Any Maree over the 3rd Stage can tell you well enough!'
'Relax, Kamaree,' demands the tiger calmly, almost sounding exactly like Sage. 'You are over reacting. I can understand your sense of fear and your memories. No, a Unicorn is not meant to be eaten and she did wrong by eating you in this stage. The previous two would not result in the same pain. She did not understand that. After all, she was raised without the wisdom.'
She screeches and rears once more, her visage waving like a snaking. Her teeth, sharper then a horse's, lashes out toward the tiger when she lands--oblivious to the frightened stares upon her. The whip-like tail lashes against her barrel and hocks wildly. 'You speak of me to relax when you are still in pouncing position and your teeth bared as though ready to sink into my neck!? Only a fool would speak of peace and act against it!'
White Blaze swiftly lowers himself upon his haunches and his long tail wrapping around his front paws. Carefully his lips fold over his fangs and he relaxes all signs of aggression. He watches her softly though sagely. 'Please, Kamaree, the instinct of the horse you mixed with the Unicorn is beginning to take over your instincts. I don't fully comprehend why you would do such a thing, for the Unicorn is over all a better transporter.'
With a gentle sigh, what thickness appears upon the Unicorn-Human seems to vanish, leaving a slender and lithe creature of nearly 15 hands at the withers. Her head narrows further and concaves like an Arabian's--though with a delicate structure and more refined then any horse. Shimmering orbs widen and color fully to a brilliant sapphire as her tail grows longer to the point that it must curl up or else drag over the ground. Feathers, though already covering the lower portion of her hooves, seem to sprout from her shoulder and haunches downward. Amazingly, though, to even non-believers, her horn reveals itself like spiraling crystal, shimmering and leading down to a silver star nestled beneath it.
'This you prefer?' inquires Kamaree calmly. 'If I added horse to the mixture then the horse would become invisible to those who do not believe.' She pauses and swerves her cranium back, set upon an unnaturally long and curving nape, and glances back at the mortals. 'As you see, they see what I am now and they cannot comprehend what they are viewing. Many un-normal things have they witnessed and they cannot believe that anything of my sort would exist.' She switches her attention upon the tiger below her, all traces of the anxiety vanished. 'Now I ask why you decided to cease my trek into the forest and away from these children? What personal gain could there be with me staying here?'
White Blaze watches her for a few moments of silence as he words together his string of thoughts. 'Simply,' he starts after he has concluded what it is he wants to say, 'that perhaps it would be easier if you refreshed their memories at the same time instead of this plan of visiting each one by one? You can also admit to what you came out into the open for and warn them of the upcoming danger.'
'I have thought of it,' she agrees. 'Alas, I also want to see how each are in their own environments without one another. I desired to test them for how pure their hearts truly are. Already they have sacrificed much during the battle with the Dynasty. I wish to see what has happened to them since that time. Understand?'
'Indeed I do. Sage of the Halo already knows who you are though, clearly. Your scent still lingers on his armor like a sweetened perfume. Rowen of the Strata is piecing together who you are, though in the unfortunate circumstances, you did not have a chance to witness him in his natural way. The others, now that they have seen you, will be more cautious. Already, if you glance back at them and see for yourself, believe you are an enemy. It is best that you switch their train of thought.'
The Maree slowly circles around the tiger and he mirrors her movement to where she is facing the Ronins and he is toward the wood. To his puzzlement, she lays down before him calmly, adding, 'I agree.'
With a silent chuckle the tiger leans forward and nuzzles the cheek of a human woman sitting before him. She reaches a bare hand upward and strokes his soft fur tenderly, looking him over with quiet azure eyes.
"Shall we begin?"