Rowen slowly woke from his sleep, groaning with the new morning light that shone in his face as he rolled over. He opened his eyes to the forest floor, charred and black. He sat up slowly, gazing about himself. The barren forest was black and charred from the fire, parts of it still smoking slightly.
"I see you are awake. That is good." A quiet voice sounded from behind him.
Rowen jumped in surprise and whipped around to see Electra, the girl who had rescued him in the earthquake so many weeks ago, sitting on a nearby rock, staring at him thoughtfully. Rowen shrugged under her hawk-like gaze and slowly stood, turning completely to face her.
"What happened? Where did you come from?" He spoke quickly, coming to stand near her.
She smiled at him and rose. "Nothing of consequence, you are fine. Right now, we must go help Crystal. She has your friend Cye, who is injured. Let us go." And with that, she walked off into the burned forest.
Rowen, confused and a little anxious, hesitated only a moment before following.
"Who is Crystal? And what do you mean, 'she has Cye'? He's hurt? How do you know?" Rowen asked, coming up beside her as they marched through the forest.
Electra smiled and glanced at him a moment before answering. "You ask a lot of questions."
Rowen scowled. Was she teasing him?
"If I don't ask questions, how else am I to learn?" He asked innocently.
She didn't answer him, just grinned and kept walking. Rowen didn't know where Cye was, but apparently, Electra did. He had no choice but to follow.
They walked in silence for a half an hour before reaching the river, they came to the bank and Electra began to walk downstream at a quick pace. Rowen nearly had to run to keep up.
"We are close." Electra mumbled, her golden eyes scanning the river and the forest nearby. She paused, raising her face in the wind, apparently smelling the air. Rowen stared, completely confused.
Suddenly, she smiled grimly and broke into a run, dashing quickly down the bank, Rowen following behind. Then, as they turned a bend in the river, Rowen saw them.
A woman, blue clothing and hair shimmering in the sunlight, knelt on a large rock, cradling Cye's head on her lap and singing softly. She looked up sharply as she heard them approach, but smiled.
Rowen and Electra ran to her side, Rowen kneeling by Cye. His face was flushed and pale, a thin sheen of sweat glistening off his forehead. Rowen moved down to examine the bloody bandage wrapped around his leg and Cye moaned softly as Rowen removed the wrappings, grimacing at the festering wound.
"His wounds are infected. We must get him to Rachel." Crystal said, looking up at Electra. She nodded and bent by Cye, but Rowen jumped in front of him.
"Oh, no you don't. Don't you touch him. You're not going to hurt him, I won't let you." Rowen moved into a defensive stance in front of Cye's body.
Electra blinked and glanced at Crystal who was staring at Rowen as if he had gone mad.
"I will not harm him, but he needs help. Let me take him to Rachel, she can help him." Electra spoke softly.
Rowen stared at her a moment before answering. "I want to know who you are. Why should I trust Cye to a complete stranger? Besides, my friend Sage can heal him."
"I will tell you who I am later. Your friend Sage is with Rachel right now, let me take Cye to them. You will come also, as will Crystal. Please, you must trust me." Electra said, staring at Rowen.
Rowen considered her words, then glanced back a Cye. His eyes flitted back and forth with fever beneath his eyelids, and he groaned in his sleep. Rowen sighed and moved aside. He watched Electra carefully as she gently lifted Cye in her arms and began to walk with him towards the campsite, Crystal following in her wake. Rowen followed closely, never taking his eyes from the woman carrying Cye in her arms.
Kento opened his eyes and saw another set of eyes, deep green, staring down at him. He screamed.
"Shhh! You will wake them!" Jade hissed.
Kento sat up and scooted away from her. She was human again, or, at least she only had two legs now. He stared at her a moment, before glancing around at his surroundings. He sat on the forest floor by the RV, Jade kneeling nearby. He looked to his left to see Ryo, still out like a light, laying on the ground, Rikka sitting nearby and watching him. Across the clearing, Rachel still sat with Sage cradled in her arms, but now she was gently wiping away the soot and dirt from his face with a cloth.
"What is going on?" Kento asked, eyeing Jade.
Suddenly, Sage awoke with a shout and scuttled out of Rachel's arms. His shout brought Ryo awake and he leapt to his feet in alarm. The three women stared calmly at the alarmed warriors, looking slightly amused at their alarm.
Ryo opened his mouth to say something, probably rude, when there was a disturbance in the forest nearby. Everyone turned and stared as Electra came crashing through the forest with Cye in her arms, Rowen and another woman following closely behind. Complete silence rang loudly through the clearing as Electra carried Cye into the clearing and gently laid him on the ground. The four Ronins leapt to Cye's side, glaring at the woman.
"What happened?" Ryo asked angrily. His anger stemmed both from his confusion at the situation and his concern about Cye.
Rowen quickly explained what had happened and Sage nodded, moving to place a hand to Cye's fevered temple. Kento and Ryo eyed the women suspiciously as Sage's green aura surrounded himself and then Cye. Soon, Cye's eyes fluttered open and the Ronin's breathed a sigh of relief.
"What's going on?" He moaned as Rowen gently helped him sit up.
Ryo turned and stared at the five women standing patiently in the clearing nearby.
"That's what I'd like to know."
Rikka, sighed and turned to the other girls, who had massed themselves at her side. "Ladies, I believe that it is time to tell the Ronin Warriors about The Mother Tempest."