Previously:
"Why" she (Kyra) asked.
"You have to learn how to use your wings, and you have more strength. You have to learn how to control it." Goliath answered.
"I'll help you." Brooklyn volunteered.
"I hope he doesn't get to used to her being that way." Goliath said, mainly to Elisa.
Falling
Kyra groaned and sat up, spitting some grainy gunk out of her mouth. When she rubbed her eyes to get them opened, it scratched. It didn't take a genius to know what happened, Kyra was shipwrecked on a sandy beach. She just hoped it was a populated island! She also hoped the others made it, if they'd sunk to the bottom of the sea before they awoke, they'd never make it to the surface in time to breathe...
She listened to the waves beat on the beach and followed the sound, kneeling when her bare feet were wet. She washed the sand from her hands and then from her face, being careful not to scratch her eyes again. When she was sure all the sand was off her face, she opened her eyes and checked out just where the heck she'd ended up! She kept in the back of her mind that the water was pretty warm, so it was near if not on the equator. That left her either near Africa or Asia. Or on the Caribbean, but she didn't hear steel drums so she assumed she wasn't there.
Suddenly Kyra realized that she smelled water... that was an obvious thing, but her delicate nose picked up fresh water that was very close. She must have washed up at the mouth of a river. Kyra stood up and brushed the light sand off her jeans and looked to see Fang lapping up river water just a few yards away.
"Thank god... water might mean civilization... I just hope asking for 'Gargoyles' won't get me killed..." Kyra sighed and went over to Fang, he looked dry. Obviously she'd been knocked out for a while if that mutt's thick fur was waterless. She put the chain leash on his collar and led him away from the water, forgetting her own thirst in the need to find out if her friends survived.
The vegetation in the area hinted that she was probably in the Asian area, there were sago palm trees and bamboo. Some of it looked fresh cut, a good sign of people. Either that or pandas with very sharp claws.... Kyra laughed to herself at the idea of that and followed the river inland a bit, already smelling the sharp odor of manufacturing plants. Good, there was advanced civilization, that meant high rooftops and possibly churches...
As soon as she turned a sharp bend in the river, Kyra smiled. The city wasn't too big, just large enough to hold a few hundred thousand people, but large enough that if her friends survived, they might be hiding in it, undetected. She tugged on Fang's leash and led him into the city, trying to tell from the nearby people's dialect just where she was. It sounded like a mix of Chinese, English, and faint accents of an old language. Probably the native one.
At any rate, not too many people spoke enough English that she could get much help. It didn't look like a tourist city either, which meant there would be few or no translators. Hopefully someone understood the word 'gargoyle' and wouldn't point to some stupid lawn gnome.
Kyra had spent the populated part of the night checking out a marketplace street that sold rice, fish, and live animals. She had to pull hard on Fang's leash to keep him from chasing chickens. After it got later though, everything was closed and she still hadn't found the gargoyles...
"I'm beginning to think this is hopeless... there are a few dozen churches in this city and a few other large buildings with gargoyles on them... I can't search them all in one night..." she sighed. "We'll just have to get some sleep and check the roof tops during the day for familiar statues."
Kyra led Fang into a rundown area of the city, where cops wouldn't be looking for strangers. One of the warehouses looked enough like the gang base back in Manhattan that she felt comfortable enough to go inside, it wasn't like Mikey was going to be in there waiting for her. She opened the door with a slight creak and peered in, surprisingly, it looked clean inside and there were boxes arranged as if they were chairs. There was even a mattress in a side room and she could pick out the scent of fast food wrappers and pizza boxes from somewhere in there. They were at most a week old.
"Oh boy..." Kyra sighed, stepping in carefully. She didn't hear any breathing or footsteps, so apparently she was alone, but for how long?
Ryujin pushed his dark hair out of his eyes, deciding that if it fell that far over the goggles, it was time to trim it. Oh well, it could wait until tomorrow, right now he was exhausted and just wanted to collapse on his mattress and forget it all. He opened the door and slipped his jacket off, then froze.
"There's a girl... on my bed..." he stared at the small girl curled up on the mattress and blinked a few times. Then narrowed his eyes. "And she's not human..." he was about to give her a rude awakening when a low growl sounded from behind him, rising to a snarl as he turned to face the world's shortest and fuzziest attack dog. Its legs weren't short... and neither were its teeth. "She's your mistress, huh? All right I'll leave her alone. She can sleep for now, but I want answers when she wakes up." The dog seemed to understand that and stalked around him to lay next to the raven haired girl.
An hour later, the girl stirred, groaning softly, she'd obviously had as long a night as he did. Her lashes fluttered and opened to reveal what Ryujin thought were glowing black pearls. She sat up, not noticing him at first, and shook her natural spiked bangs out of her face and smiled down at her dog, then noticed the dog was growling at something behind her.
"What is it, Fang-? Oh!" she turned and saw Ryujin, standing immediately in a split second. Ryujin's first thought was that if he'd blinked he would have thought she'd always been on her feet. His second thought was that she definitely was not human. The eyes and the speed clinched it. Her eyes seemed to flash recognition at him for a second, then angered.
"Who are you?" Ryujin demanded, at the same time and in the same tone as the girl. The dog's low rumbled growls undertoned the following silence. "Doesn't that mutt ever stop growling?"
"Only when I tell him to." the girl replied in a very thick attitude.
"Then tell him to."
"No, I'd rather not." the girl smiled slyly and crossed her arms. "Now, you gonna tell me who you are?"
"No. You gonna tell me what you are?" Ryujin returned, getting annoyed at the child's impertinence. She couldn't have been more than 16, and she looked much younger. Yet she had ancient wisdom shining in her eyes and strained patience in her actions. Any normal teenage girl would have screamed or attacked an 18 year old man she awoke to find a yard behind her and staring with eyes that said he was going to kill her.
Because he could read in her eyes that she knew he was going to fight. Which meant she would fight back immediately.
"I'm a girl. Can't you tell that?" the girl snapped, lightning flashing in the silver of her dark violet eyes. Ryujin almost swore they glowed for that instant.
"I know you're female." he replied, giving her an obvious once over. "But a female what?"
"Nunnya." the girl answered shortly, her cheeks obviously burned.
"A what?"
"I'm a nunnya, as in nunnya bizness!" the girl dropped into a perfect lunge, "You wanna know what I am? Come and find out!"
Ryujin couldn't very well decline such an invitation, he just hoped for two things, that this girl wasn't a match for him and that if she was, she wasn't evil. Evil things killed you when they won. He drew his sword to test her and watched the girl's eyes darken with slight doubt. That was a good sign. She wasn't used to fighting something with a sword, which meant she'd probably never met up with someone like him. Best to keep the sword out for an advantage, then.
Too bad the girl was a practiced actress at looking the victim to fool her opponent. There was a blur starting from her left leg and suddenly Ryujin's wrist hurt. A lot. He winced and switched the weight of the sword hilt into his other hand.
"You little--" he cursed under his breath.
"Now now, watch your language... shouldn't curse in front of ladies and children." the girl chided, grinning brightly.
"I'll ask you one more time, after that you're fodder. What the hell are you?" Ryujin asked, hefting the sword to slash her.
The bright sunlight glinted off the granite statues as the dark blond man frowned, studying them. He knew what they were, but why were they here? No living members of their kind existed in Kuching. He was pretty certain there wasn't even a living gargoyle in all of Borneo.
"Kyono... should we smash them?" the young brunette girl behind him asked.
"No, Ash... let's take them home and find out why they're here." the blond man answered, smiling cruelly.
Kyra dodged and cursed words below her breath that even Demona probably would have looked shocked at. This boy was dangerous... he had a sword larger than she was and was presently trying to carve her into Fang's dinner! The sword looked silver, so she could probably blast it out of his hands, but no sword was pure silver, it would break too easily... Until she knew exactly what that sword was, she wasn't going to let this guy know she knew magic.
And just my luck I had to run into this psycho after sunrise! Kyra thought angrily to herself. I'll never find the guys at this rate even if I get away from him.
Too bad the boy seemed to know his own magic. He was catching on that she was too fast for his sword and had sheathed it on his back with a sharp clicking sound once he'd gotten her to leap to the other side of the room. Fang stood between them, snarling for all the fuzzball was worth. Kyra would have commended the dog's efforts, if it hadn't obviously just made the guy more annoyed. He pulled some kind of ball out of practically nowhere and grinned at her. It glowed a bright red. Even Kyra knew that meant fire magic.
"Oh shi--" Kyra couldn't even finish the curse before the ball was flying for her head. Her right hand instinctively went for her amulet while the left one stretched out in an effort to block or catch the orb. Instead, a stream of electric blue energy flowed from her amulet and though her fingers, blasting the orb before it reached her and exploding it into dust.
The dark haired boy was obviously shocked. "What the hell are you? Who taught you that? Who gave you that stone?"
Kyra smirked, secretly glad that the fight was apparently over. "I'm Kyrana. I taught myself mostly and my grandmother gave me this stone. Any more questions? Or will you answer mine? Who are you, why do have such a big sword and why did you attack me?"
The boy narrowed his blue eyes and gave her a once over before replying. "My name's Ryujin. I have this sword to kill demons and I attacked you because you told me to."
"I did not!" Kyra exclaimed, putting her hands on her hips and narrowing her brightened eyes.
"You said to "come and find out" what you were... will you tell me now or shall I continue the hard way?"
Kyra shook her hair out of her eyes and smirked, "You got me there... I'll only tell you one thing, but you must swear not to use it against me or let others do so. If you do then I'll have to kill you."
"If you aren't evil it's a deal."
"I've been called a demon before, but not evil... at least not seriously." Kyra grinned, "I'm a hybrid creature... part human, part gargoyle."
"That's impossible... there are no living gargoyles here."
"Who said I came from here? I'm from New York, pal. We're just rampant with gargs there." Kyra grinned again, this time Ryujin had to laugh at her.
"Then why are you here?" he asked
"I had a... boating accident... and washed up here on the shore. I lost my friends and I've spent all night looking for them."
Ryujin gave her a once over again. Of course... that explains the torn clothes and sandstains. And why she woke up so slowly. "Who are your friends?"
"They're gargoyles."
"Hybrids?"
"No... I'm the only one... well that I know of. There's another one, but she's in a kind of permanent sleep."
"Uh-huh..." Ryujin stared at her. "Why aren't you stone?"
Kyra laughed, "I'm mostly human, I don't hibernate."
"But your friends do?"
"Yeah, and they're stuck somewhere in this city without me watching out for them and if I don't find them I'm afraid they may end up as a rock garden. I can't let that happen, they're all I have left in the world." Kyra frowned and it was obvious that her expression struck a chord in Ryujin for some reason...
"Do you need help?" he asked cautiously.
"What kind of help?"
"Well it's a bigger city than it looks, and there's stuff across the river with gargoyles on it too... if they hid there before sunrise, you'll never find them."
"You're volunteering to search there?" Kyra raised an eyebrow, "How can I trust you'll tell me when you find them? Or that you won't destroy them?"
"They're not what I hunt... they're not a threat to humans."
"You're one of the few people I've met who thinks that..." Kyra smiled and nodded. "Okay, but I'm meeting you somewhere at nightfall, got it? If you're not there I'll suspect you and you'll be in big trouble if I ever find you again."
Ryujin smirked. "Deal. We can meet umm.... in front of the Astana on the other side of the river. You can't miss it, it used to be a white raja palace."
"And how do I cross the river?" Kyra asked crossly.
"You're a gargoyle... fly across at night." Ryujin said and winked back at her on the way out.
Kyra smirked and shook her head, looking down at Fang, "I think I like this guy."
Since Ryujin wasn't a gargoyle and it was the middle of the afternoon, he took the bridge across the river and went up to the largest Angelican church there. He snuck through the bellringer's area and up to the roof. All of the gargoyles up there were covered in moss and such, there weren't any fresh clean statues that looked like they were carved that week, let alone that night. There were, however, a few drag lines through the soft roof covering material and the patches of moss. It looked like something heavy was dragged to an open part of the roof and then... the marks stopped suddenly. Nothing was there, and four sets of the marks all led to the same area.
"Very interesting... I wonder how many 'friends' Kyrana has..." Ryujin went back down immediately after glancing around for any large buildings nearby. There was one about three quarters of a mile south of the church, just barely visible, but because it was visible, Ryujin was willing to bet it was big.
When Ryujin got to the street he headed south, the building was big... more than large enough to do quite a number of illegal things in. Like store a few priceless stolen statues. Suddenly Ryujin's mind flashed, the windows were taped or painted black to keep sunlight out. Someone didn't like sun in their eyes.
"This gets better and better..." he smirked then went back to find Kyrana.
Kyra was having a lot of luck... all of it bad... She hadn't found a single clue about where her friends were, it was getting dark, and some jerks were being persistent about taking her someplace private to spend the night. One of them was a very handsome blond man, but it was like Micheal, a cold, evil and heartless beauty. The dark haired one had a scar on his cheek and a knife in his hand.
"Come on, cutie... we won't hurt you... much." Handsome said, flashing a smile that Micheal could only dream of.
"Unless you want us to." Scarface added with a grin that made Kyra sick to her stomach.
"I wouldn't let you creeps touch me if you were the last things on Earth!" she said and threw a hunk of trash at them from the can next to her. "And my name's not 'Cutie'!"
"I'll call you whatever I want, and you'll never forget my name when I'm done with you." Handsome said, still smiling with a dark light in his eyes. Kyra had seen a light like that in Micheal's eyes before, it was a pure lust, but this man's eyes had an odd glint when they shone... it wasn't... right. It did something to the back of her mind.
"Sorry, but I'm really bad with names." she said, stepping back and looking at the horizon. She grinned and looked Handsome right in the eyes. "But I'm excellent with timing." She let her mental guard down to allow the night to take effect.
Just then the last rays of the sun went down and Kyra's body glowed for a moment. The glow receded and she stretched to get used to her new form. As usual, her face remained the same, her teeth were a little sharper though, and her body was a little taller and it had a few new additions: a large wing span wider than she was tall and a whip-like tail.
Handsome just grinned more and looked her over, "This could be kinky..."
"Oh you just don't give up, do you?" Kyra sighed, rolling her eyes and whipping her tail lightly behind her.
"Why should I? I've been with demons before, but never a gargoyle." Handsome replied, coming up to her and grabbing her arm with inhuman strength.
"Demons?" Kyra was shocked, "Let me go!" she whipped her tail against his back, but he just grinned again.
"Fiesty little thing, aren't you?" Handsome marveled and pulled her closer. He kissed her and her head spun until she was too dizzy to tell night from day and her body fell back to human form. She felt fingers brush through her hair and a hot breath on her neck...
"I somehow doubt you have that girl's permission to be doing that, pal..." a familiar voice sliced through the dizzy darkness and Kyra opened her eyes to see Ryujin standing in the opening of the alleyway, poised with his sword to slice more than the dizzy spell she had. Handsome's mouth was poised over her neck, and somehow that seemed to keep Ryujin at bay. "Let her go, now."
"And if I don't want to? This girl's got possibilities... she could be entertaining." Handsome replied.
"God, you're sick... you're going to use her for that too? She's just a kid!" Ryujin said, his face contorted in disgust.
Just then Scarface made himself known by attacking Ryujin with the knife. Ryujin spun before Scarface had time to dodge and the poor henchman was beheaded. The odd thing was... he didn't fall down, he... vaporized! Kyra gasped and struggled against Handsome's grip. When he wouldn't release her and instead licked her neck in a way that made her feel more like food than an erotic 'plaything', Kyra groaned in disgust and kicked up into his groin, making him release her with a loud yell. She fell to the ground but got up quickly and raced behind Ryujin.
"What the heck is he?" she asked breathlessly.
"Same that his friend was." Ryujin nodded over to the pile of dust that was blowing away, keeping his sword pointed at Handsome.
"Which is?" Kyra asked, fighting off a wave of nausea. She thought a pile of rocks was bad...
"A vampire." Ryujin answered simply, glaring at Handsome as if they'd known each other for years and feuded all that time.
"You're a Michinoka, I can tell by the sword..." Handsome said, looking at Ryujin the same way. "What do you want with that kid? I didn't think your kind liked demons..."
"She's not a demon. She's human." Ryujin lied.
"Now she is... on the outside. She's tainted, Michinoka..." Handsome grinned brilliantly. "Give her to me, she's not pure human, why should she even be half? Don't you hate tainted blood? All kinds do, don't they? Humanity should be pure, like every race." The speech was reminding Kyra of the Quarrymen and she was getting sick of it.
"I don't care what else she is... she's got humanity in her and you're not destroying that." Ryujin snarled, keeping the sword trained on Handsome's chest.
"Fine, I won't change her. But you don't need her... give her to me anyway... I need her more than you do..." Kyra could tell by the tone of the man's voice that something was passing between their minds... and she didn't like it.
Ryujin stared at the man then blinked. "Like hell you need her. Go find a harlot." he said and urged Kyra with his shoulder to move back. She went only too willingly and he followed, keeping his eyes and sword focused on Handsome.
"This isn't over, Michinoka." the handsome vampire snarled and went off down the other end of the alley. Ryujin snorted and spun around, sheathing his sword on his back and grabbing Kyra's arm simultaneously. He dragged her away before more trouble could start.
Kyra pulled back on Ryujin's arm and growled below her breath, Fang would have been proud of the sound if he was there, but the mutt was sleeping on Ryujin's floor.
"What the hell was that all about?!" she demanded when he finally stopped a block later.
"What?" Ryujin asked with a perfectly innocent face. It reminded her too much of Micheal and she struck out at him. Her hand hit his face with a resounding smack that echoed.
"You know what I mean! Why did that... vampire seem to know you? And why did he call you Michinoka?" she said angrily. "You said your name was Ryujin!"
Ryujin rubbed his cheek and glared down at the furied girl. She had more spunk than most girls he'd known in his life. She was cute too, when she wasn't fuming at him and trying to take a body part off him. "God, first my hand now my head? You got a thing against guys with an intact body?"
"Only when they don't answer my questions... now talk." Kyra snarled, glaring at him with the glowing black pearls again.
"Far be it for me to deny a psychotic girl her answers..." Ryujin joked and frowned. "Michinoka's my family name. We come from a long line of slayers with a special power. That's how I knew you weren't human."
"But I'm not a vampire either, even if I look it.... Are you like... a male Buffy?"
"No, and if anyone asks me that again I'll hurt them. I know you're not a vampire, but they're not the only threat... I can also sense demons, shifters, and anything else with a strong power."
"Gargoyles don't normally have a strong power... I come from a rare lineage. And before you think I'm totally clueless about vampires... I've run into them before."
"Well that's some things we share in common then." Ryujin smiled, "Oh I almost forgot, I think I figured out where your friends are... there are four of them aren't there?"
Kyra nodded. "Three guys and a girl. Did you see them?"
"No, but I have evidence that someone took them from their roost, and I think I know where they were put."
"Then let's go!" Kyra said and pulled Ryujin along while he blinked in shock that American girls could be so odd.
"This is it?" Kyra whispered at the back of the building. It was a large, well cared for storage building.
"Yeah, ready to go in?"
"I was born ready for stuff like this... I wonder if those idiots are ready for the wake up call." she laughed and grinned at him.
He couldn't help but grin back. "Let's go..." he took her forearm and led her to a small door with only two guards. Ryujin was about to take care of them, immediately sensing that they, like Handsome, were not human.
"Wait." Kyra smiled and pulled him back behind the corner. She stood and sauntered over to the men wearing sunglasses even though the sun was down. "Hi boys... when's your lunch break?" she asked saucily.
Both of the guys looked at each other then grinned. They went up to her and she led them around the corner where Ryujin finished them off quickly before they could alert their friends inside.
"Nice... you lure boys like that often?" Ryujin joked.
"Oh, all the time... now let's get in there and kick some butt." Kyra said and grinned.
Kyra and Ryujin found a closet full of the type of clothes they'd seen the guards wearing. They were dark and the female version was... revealing to say the least. Whatever was covered was covered so tightly you knew what was there.
"God... Brook is never going to let me live this down..." Kyra grumbled, coming out from the room she'd changed in.
Ryujin tried not to laugh, he also tried not to stare at how the way Kyra's outfit wore on her. He adjusted his shirt to hide his... uneasiness. "Let's go."
Kyra nodded and slipped shades on over her unique eyes. They'd be noticed in a heartbeat. Ryujin went back outside, the vamps would sense him and they didn't need every vamp, demon, and whatnot in there attacking as soon as Kyra came in the room. She flashed him a blinding smile when he turned back to make sure she was okay and walked into the main room of the storehouse. It took all of Kyra's willpower not to run over to the electrified cages, especially the one Brooklyn was in.
The people were moving around so Kyra decided it would be safe to casually walk up to the cages. She moved smoothly to keep herself from being noticed.
Brooklyn was steaming silently about his situation and worried sick about whether or not Kyra was the girl that blond guy had been growling about. He glanced up and lost his breath for half a second at the sight of the girl walking over to him. He was sure he'd seen her before. Just, not so much of her... She smirked at him and lowered her sunglasses enough to wink at him when she got to the cage.
"Nice disguise, Kyr... didn't you find anything that fit?" he said and snorted.
"Very funny." Kyra said shortly, pushing her sunglasses back over her eyes with one finger, "I see you're fine, how are the others?"
"Unharmed... they want us to work for them." Brooklyn told her.
Kyra tried not to laugh. "Too bad they don't understand that not everyone has a price. By the way, when I give the signal, cover your eyes, okay?"
"Why?" Brooklyn asked, a little shocked.
"Just do it." she hissed and moved on when she noticed someone looking at her.
She went on, warning the other three gargoyles to cover their eyes when she gave a signal. Angela blinked at her outfit, Broadway didn't react at all and Lex would have yelled about it if she hadn't covered his mouth quickly. Kyra secretly wondered why Brooklyn hadn't yelled about it either, though the comment was pretty much expected from him, she also expected him to snarl about her being an idiot for trying such a stupid plan.
To keep suspicions down, Kyra smiled and flirted with a few of the guys that came over and kept away from the cages after she'd talked to all four of her friends. She glanced at her watch and noticed it was exactly midnight. She pulled a black cap off of her belt and slammed it on her head, covering her eyes with the bill of the cap. The sudden movement caught the attention of a familiar face who glared at her and snarled. He recognized her from earlier.
Damn, better move fast! Kyra thought just as a white orb crashed through a painted over skylight and exploded, filling the room with an intense bright light. The gargoyles had seen Kyra's signal and covered their eyes, the light faded but the vampires were still blinded. Kyra grabbed keys off of the wall and unlocked the cages quickly as Ryujin jumped down from the broken skylight.
"Move it! They won't be blinded for long!" he shouted and grabbed Kyra's arm, leading her and her friends out of the building.
"Who's your charming friend?" Brooklyn snarled in her ear as they ran down the street. "Reminds me of someone." Kyra winced, Brooklyn had seen enough of Ryujin's face to tell the boy looked a lot like Micheal. It would take a lot of convincing to make Brooklyn see that he was safe, especially after the display in the storehouse. Brooklyn didn't like guys being rough with Kyra.
A lazer blast blowing up a trash can directly in front of them made the group stop in their tracks. "I think they missed you." Ryujin said and frowned, turning slowly. Kyra spun like a whirlwind, she knew who was back there.
"Well, well, I had a feeling I'd run into you two again..." Handsome Kyono said, keeping the lazer gun trained on them.
"Since when does your kind need a gun?" Ryujin snarled.
"Since your kind cheats with magic." the blond vampire snarled right back and fired at Kyra's feet, making her jump back and shriek.
"That was so uncalled for!" she growled at him. She'd have changed then, but the way her new clothes fit on her, the transformation would leave her less than appropriately covered.
"That outfit suits you... I can think of lots of ways to take it off." Kyono said and smirked.
"Over my dead body, leech." Ryujin snarled and launched a fire orb at the vampire. Kyono fired the lazer and the orb exploded a few feet away from him. "Bastard." Ryujin cursed and drew his sword. "Kyrana, get your friends out of here."
"No way, he'll blast you to kingdom come!" Kyra yelled as Brooklyn pulled her back.
"Come on, Kyr, it's obvious this guy knows what he's doing." Brooklyn said and picked her up when she refused to move. She kicked and squirmed, making it all the harder for Brooklyn to make sure he didn't accidentally touch bare skin or someplace she'd smack him for. Suddenly she vanished in his arms after a particulary annoyed-sounding shriek. "What the--?" He looked back and saw her behind Ryujin.
"He saved my life from this creep, Brook, I won't let him fight alone."
"You're just a liability, you'll get yourself killed." Ryujin told her over his shoulder.
"I've faced worse scum than this and I'm still here. Let me help..." she said calmly. Brooklyn fumed back at the other end of the street with the others.
Ryujin sighed and nodded. "It's your neck."
"Nice analogy, did you have to say that?" Kyra asked and walked around beside him.
"Yeah well, if I'd said any other body part that the guy wants on you I'd get smacked or worse." Ryujin said and smirked.
Kyono narrowed his eyes and glared at the mismatched pair. The slayer would be bad enough, but that girl had a strong aura and she'd teleported quickly and efficiently. From the look on her friend's face it was the first time she'd done it too, which meant her power was still growing... Maybe it was time to retreat.
"You're not going anywhere, buddy." Kyra snarled and blasted at his feet with her magic.
While the vampire was distracted, Ryujin moved quickly and slashed at him. Too bad Kyono saw it just in time and blocked with the gun. The sword slashed through the weapon, making it explode in a fireball that sent Ryujin back into Kyra and both of them into a wall. Ryujin yelled from the sudden blinding light and Kyra screamed from the double impact. Kyono grinned and ran out of sight before the gargoyles could chase him. They wouldn't leave the girl anyway.
Kyra groaned and opened her eyes, Ryujin was over her, looking a bit worried. She tried to sit up but winced as her body screamed in pain. She screamed with it and fell back unconcious again. Ryujin sat her up carefully to check her wounds. Her back was bruised from the wall, but it wasn't too bad... Her front was a different story. The clips to hold his sword had cut up her chest and the backplate had probably broken a rib or two. The top of her outfit was nearly torn off, it wouldn't be safe to have her walking around in it. If she could even walk. He lowered her back down and took off his armor, then his shirt, earning him a snort from the red gargoyle.
"You got a problem?" Ryujin asked, looking up at the gargoyle and hiking an eyebrow.
"Not at all. You'd just better put that shirt back on before she wakes up again."
Ryujin shook his head and slipped the shirt over Kyra's head. He picked her up and offered her to the red gargoyle. "Take care of her."
It was the gargoyle's turn to hike an eyebrow. "You're not coming?"
Ryujin shook his head again, this time strongly, "I have to catch that jerk and stop him and his goons. Tell her goodbye for me when she wakes up."
The three gargoyles behind the red one looked at each other. The female sighed and frowned. Ryujin turned away and froze in his tracks when he heard Kyra groan again. "Damn." he sighed.
"Don't tell me you weren't even going to say goodbye after everything that happened..." she asked weakly.
"I figured it would be best that way... Go home, Kyrana... it's not safe for you and your friends here." Ryujin told her emotionlessly without even turning around. He walked off without a glance back.
Broadway and Lexington found a big enough boat to carry them all back to Avalon. Brooklyn put Kyra down in it and told her to stay still in case she was hurt worse than it looked. She didn't even snort at him and say her usual retort of "it takes more than that to get rid of me."
Angela pushed off the boat and jumped in, looking down at Kyra and frowning. "Why did you let him walk off like that?"
"Like I could go running up to him and say 'wait, don't leave'." Kyra sighed.
Angela knew there were three words missing from that. "Does he know?"
"Know what?" Kyra asked, blinking.
"That you love him." Angela said with utter conviction. Brooklyn didn't even look at them, but the other two gaped in shock. "Did you tell him?"
Kyra grimaced and looked away, "I didn't exactly have the time to, I just realized it myself a few moments ago."
"Why didn't you say it when he started to walk away?" Angela asked.
"He wouldn't have said it back." Kyra answered, looking at the shrinking coastline.
Brooklyn sighed and growled to himself then looked down at Kyra. "Only one way to find out." he told her and pushed the oar sharply, the boat started to turn around.
"What are you doing, Brook?" Kyra asked in shock.
"I know you, you were a pain to live with when Chris died, I don't need to live with you moping over this." Brooklyn told her. But he didn't say it with his usual joking manner, his voice was hollow.
Angela touched his shoulder and whispered so only he could hear it, "You're quite a hero, Brooklyn."
"Yeah, well... she thinks I'm a brother anyway..." he said just as quietly and kept rowing the boat to the shoreline.
Ryujin was starting to think maybe he shouldn't have let Kyra leave without taking her to a hospital... And his conscience was giving him the third degree about not saying goodbye to her face. But if he'd turned and seen the tears he knew were there, he would have told her to stay, and then it would have ended up as the past all over again... He cursed himself for his stupidity, and for that damned pain in his chest he knew had nothing to do with the blown up gun. Sure the girl was pretty, but she looked way too young for him... He respected her courage and strength, but he didn't love her.
The tell tale scrape of a foot pushing off was the only warning he got and he was so wrapped up in telling himself that he didn't care about the girl, that he didn't react to the sound in time and found himself pinned by the vampire he'd been stalking.
"Where's the girl to save your butt now, Michinoka?" Kyono sneered. Before Ryujin could push the creature off of him and slice the idiot in two, Kyono cried out in pain and a single arrow shot into the ground next to them.
"Right here." a familiar voice said with audible anger. Ryujin blinked and looked to see Kyra standing a meter away with a decorated bow in her hand and a big grin on her face. She had healed and gained a bit of strength, oddly.
"You didn't leave?" he asked, hiking an eyebrow.
"No, I left. But I came back." she told him, lowering the bow.
"I can handle this." Ryujin said between his teeth, kicking the injured vampire off.
"Maybe I was worried." Kyra told him and frowned. "I care about people."
"That's going to get you killed." Ryujin told her and as if to prove his point, five male vampires came around the corner behind her.
"Take her out of here." Kyono ordered his henchmen, holding his arm.
Unfortunately, Kyra had experience with a group of men attacking her and knew just how to get rid of them. She dropped the bow and ducked, delivering low kicks until they were all on the ground from her kicks or their own fists. Ryujin had to admit he was impressed, maybe she was okay on her own after all... That didn't mean he wasn't going to get her out of the city though.
Kyra lunged back on one leg and readied herself to leap at Kyono. "Get out of here before you're next." she snarled.
"I'm not afraid of you, you're a child." Kyono lied. He didn't know that Kyra could tell a lie easily.
"You lie terribly. You're quaking... and I know why..." Kyra smirked and touched her amulet. It gave off a warm silver glow that surrounded her and transformed her. Ryujin blinked. He knew what she was, she'd told him... but it was still a shock to see her that way. Especially since she wasn't wearing his shirt, it was too bloodsoaked from her wounds and its scent would have heightened the vampires' adrenaline. The outfit she was left with was barely accommodating for her new body parts without falling off.
Kyono smirked, "I thought it was you, no one else would have that kind of... aura."
"I'll 'aura' you, pal. I know what you want, and you're not getting it, especially over someone's dead body!" Kyra growled, baring her sharper teeth. "You want trouble? Come get it."
Ryujin smirked at her then, "You say that to everyone, or what?"
"Call it a habit." Kyra said, keeping her heavy lidded glare set on the vampire.
Kyono moved then, it had been so long since Kyra had dealt with Kenny that she'd forgotten how quick a vampire could be. If she'd blinked, she would have missed him dashing behind her. He'd picked up a shard of broken glass and was holding it to her throat, keeping his other arm wrapped around her waist. "A child of magick and of wing... probably not enough human blood to even whet my appitite." he snarled in her ear. "But plenty to spill..."
Some part of Kyra's mind winced at the monotonousness of being held with something sharp pressed to her neck. Kyono was just a blond, immortal Micheal, so she'd deal with him the same way. She managed to look Ryujin in the eye, keeping her mind locked on one thing only, stay there... One sudden movement would end her life for sure... but there was always a ploy that could be used in any situation like this.
"Why spill my blood?" she asked Kyono in a soft voice. "At least that blood." she knew a vampire could pick up thoughts and she projected over anything else exactly what blood she'd meant. She was pure in all meanings, after all... She rubbed his leg with her tail to help him get the point.
She could feel Kyono's grip on the blade of glass shift just a bit and cringed at his laugh. "So the cornered beast gives in instead of fighting? That's a new one."
"I'm just full of surprises..." Kyra said and kept her eyes on Ryujin, sending a message through them that she kept out of her tone and her thoughts. The tone and thoughts were working, the hand holding the glass dropped, dragging the point of the blade suggestively over her front. Then Kyono tightened his grip around her waist and took off with her before Ryujin could react.
Kyra hoped her tricks for Micheal would work on a vampire... after all, if he'd probed deep enough to see what she was really up to...
She was flung mercilessly onto a less than comfortable object that barely resembled a bed. She pushed herself up and glared at Kyono. "Just because I look like an animal does not mean you're going to treat me like one." she snarled and phased back into human form.
"Make up your mind what you want to be, cutie, I get impatient quickly." Kyono told her and started to remove his shirt.
Kyra saw her opportunity then, her eyes flashed and her then up raised hand echoed the flash, sending a blast that threw him into the wall with a yell. She launched herself off the 'bed' and raced for the door. Kyono recovered and grabbed her around the waist just as she touched the doorknob.
"Not so fast, trickster." he snarled in her ear. She judged his position with her street smarts in less than a second and reacted.
"I believe you have me confused with my friend." she told him and kicked back with her heel into his shin, following it by spinning and slamming the palm of her hand against the bottom his chin. He staggered back and she wrenched the door open, leaping through it and shutting it behind her.
Run, her mind screamed even while her feet moved. The building was probably full of vampires... funny that she'd realized that just as she rounded the corner that kept the main door out of her sight. Because the doorway was blocked by just about all of them. Any of them that weren't there were probably guarding the other doors.
Kyra cursed and realized there was only one way out. She took a few steps back and glanced up at the rafter beams, then gathered herself and jumped straight up. Even as a human, she had her gargoyle strength as long as the sun was down. The leap was no problem, her hands locked into a death grip on the first beam they touched. She swung her legs up and pulled herself up to the top of the rafter beam, then took a deep breath and hoped to god her body wouldn't pick then to realize she was afraid of heights. Too bad another transformation might make her outfit fall off, she could seriously use her wings.
Kyono stormed out of the room and glared up at her. She cast a desparate look around and saw the broken skylight... her only chance. Unfortunately, there were no beams under it. She was going to have to leap a seven foot slope... and catch broken glass. Kyono jumped up and swung himself onto the rafters, just a few yards away from her. Kyra cursed and spun on her heel, nimbly making her way to the skylight.
Ryujin stood dumbfounded, either Kyra was the craziest girl, or the bravest girl he'd ever seen... She'd just let a vampire take her off to god knew where... alone. His eyes narrowed. No, he knew too... and he was going to have to make sure the past didn't repeat itself.
Kyra screamed in pain when the glass cut into her hands, but she didn't let go. She gritted her teeth and pulled herself up, ignoring the sound of tearing leather as the outfit caught on the edges of the skylight. Kyra rolled away and stopped on her back, breathing hard from pain and exhaustion.
"Oh god, what the hell was I thinking?" she whispered finally, running a hand through her hair, forgetting the cuts until her hair sliced into them. She growled and winced, then regretted forgetting her satchel at the boat, she could have used the first aid kit in it, and her crucifix collar wouldn't have hurted either. "I am not going to live through this..." she realized just as Kyono jumped through the hole in the skylight, landing perfectly on his feet.
Kyra sighed and laid there, her hands hurt too much to push up onto her feet and she was too exhausted to run again. She needed a few minutes to heal even the minor wounds, it wouldn't be enough time. For a moment the only sound was her breathing, more proof that if she got up she'd just collapse again. She'd survived being beaten within a millimeter of her life before, but she'd never felt so defeated as she did now. She barely even winced when Kyono came over and kicked her ribs. She knew a few of them had to have broken or at least cracked. Probably the ones that had been healing.
"Did you really think you could escape?" he snarled, obviously furious.
Her rebellious silence was the only thing he got for an answer. He kicked her again, harder. This time she gasped in pain and rolled over, holding her broken ribs. He knelt behind her and grabbed her hair near the roots, making her shriek and her eyes wettened with unshed tears of pure physical pain. She'd known she was going to die young since she was twelve years old and stood bravely in front of Micheal, demanding to be in the gang, but she would have given anything to at least hear a friendly voice before she died. As Kyono's fangs lowered to her neck, she whispered. "Not yet..."
Suddenly, Kyono's grip was gone and her very alive, if not in pain, body hit the ground and her air rushed out as she winced and growled. Her hands stung from the dirt on the roof grinding into the wounds, but she still pushed herself up enough to see what was going on. Kyono's arm was bleeding badly, what was left of it, and he was lunged like a wild animal, ready to spring at the form that threatened him. The form was holding a very large sword...
"Ryujin...?" Kyra whispered weakly and frowned.
Ryujin turned slightly to wink at her then faced Kyono again. "I told you you couldn't have her." he growled.
"Why did you even bother following her? She's worthless..." Kyono snarled. "Weak, injured, and young, and to a predator, that means she's mine."
Ryujin narrowed his eyes. "She's worth more than you, scum."
"That remains to be seen." Kyono said lowly and lunged suddenly at Ryujin. Ryujin's first instinct was to slash at the atacker, but Kyono was counting on that, he'd fought countless slayers with swords who'd done the same thing. He'd been lucky enough to escape with scars then. He moved just barely in time, ducking under the sword's movement as it sliced into his shoulder. He brought his fist up with him to meet Ryujin's side. Ryujin doubled over with a groan and dropped the sword to aim a punch at Kyono in return, it hit but the vampire was so furious he ignored the pain and elbowed Ryujin's back with all his fury. The force through his armor sent Ryujin to the ground and he yelled out as he hit on his shoulder.
The sound made Kyra's eyes open and her lips pull back in a snarl. Ryujin was hurt. It didn't matter how badly, it was because he was defending her. It didn't matter if he was able to get up again, it mattered that he'd been sent to the ground. She pushed herself up onto wobbly legs and glared at Kyono. "You're going to pay for that, pal. With interest for this." she held her ribs.
"Am I really?" Kyono sneered, kicking Ryujin. The kick wasn't hard, as if the slayer really wasn't worth the effort, besides there was armor there, but he knew it would piss Kyra off enough to make her attack. It worked. She made a clumsy lunge at him due to her pain and he dodged easily, grabbing what clothing she had and flinging her towards the edge of the roof with a kick to the small of her back for added momentum.
Kyra tried to stop, but her body was too weak to understand her commands and she skidded right off the edge with a shriek that made Ryujin's head hurt. Even the vampire winced at it, there was obviously a bit of power behind it, forced by her fear. Ryujin growled and grabbed his sword off the ground.
"Enough stalling." he jumped up and made a perfect slash across Kyono's neck, killing the jerk quickly. Then he dropped the sword again and raced to where Kyra had fallen. Ten slender fingers were hanging onto the edge of the roof and he almost laughed at seeing them. The twilight colored eyes that glared up behind the mass of black hair weren't laughing.
"I see nothing funny with this predicament!" she told him and he smirked, grabbing her wrists and hauling her up, noticing her wince and the blood on his own hands from the action.
"You're hurt."
"You're not." Kyra realized. He wasn't even bruised or limping.
"I'm a good actor. He was too good of a fighter and I needed him to leave an open spot, but I didn't know you were going to do such a stupid thing. Are you all right?"
"It's not bad. I've had worse cuts." Kyra said truthfully, examining the bits of dirt and tiny shards of glass she'd just noticed were trapped in her cuts. She began to pull the larger bits of glass out.
"You were laying there like you were half dead." he said firmly, examining the cuts himself. "These wounds are filthy. You're going to get sick."
"I was tired from running and stress." Kyra told him honestly, "I've lost more blood than this and been on my feet in a few days." She neglected to mention it was against doctor's orders.
"Still, your hands need medical help. Is your blood type human?"
"Yes, I have it on my birth certificate." Kyra said as if it was an obvious thing and grinned.
"Good, then we can take you to a hospital without questions." Ryujin told her and started to drag her off.
"Wait a minute! No hospitals! I hate doctors. They always stick needles in you. And they lie and say it won't hurt." Kyra said. The thing that made Ryujin laugh was that she looked absolutely serious through the whole thing, like a child with her 'the world's against me' pout and all. "What's so funny?"
"How old are you?" he asked.
"About seventeen, why?" Kyra answered.
"You're kidding..."
"No. That's on my birth certificate too."
Ryujin suddenly realized he was still holding her hands and let them go. "I thought you were younger."
"How young?" Kyra asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Twelve?"
Kyra gave him an absolute evil eye and glanced down at the all to obvious, due to her 'shirt', physical proof that she was older than that. "Yeah, I really look twelve."
"Well, I mean... your face... and you're well... small and..." Ryujin faltered, suddenly realizing that this girl was seriously offended. "I'm sorry... really." he told her finally, he even bowed a little. "Gomen nasai, sumi masen..."
"You speak Japanese?" Kyra asked, wide eyed.
"Yeah, well I do come from Japan." Ryujin told her.
Kyra smiled. "I thought so. And yeah, I forgive you. Just never call me a kid or little or anything like that again, got it?"
Ryujin laughed and smirked, "Got it." Suddenly Kyra's legs faltered under her and she fell against him with a gasp.
Ryujin looked down at Kyra and frowned, "Are you okay?" he held her in an embrace before he could think.
"I'm fine... I think." She smiled softly and kissed him even softer.
Ryujin blinked when she pulled back and looked down at her oddly. "Kyra... I.... Look, you're pretty and smart, and brave if not absolutely crazy, but... I just don't need this right now..."
Kyra blinked and looked down, "I understand, I'm sorry... I didn't mean to, you know... look easy or anything." Kyra glanced back to the approaching gargoyles.
Ryujin smirked. "I somehow doubt you're easy. Just emotional." He helped her stand on her own feet again.
"Can't you at least come with us?" Kyra asked, her eyes shone like a child's. "We could use your help. And there are vampires in New York."
Ryujin looked back at the gargoyles. The red one crossed his arms and glowered as if to say 'break her heart anymore and I'll rip out yours'. He smirked and shook his head lightly at the protective gesture, "Is there room for me on the boat?"
Kyra grinned and hugged him tightly. He held her back lightly and somehow felt her long hair, revelling in how soft it could be with the blood marring it. "I'll make room if I have to." she said, not letting go of him. He had the feeling if she had her say in it she'd stay in his arms all day.
"Actually," Lexington interrupted, earning him a death glare from Kyra when she finally let go and looked at him. "I have an idea..."
The telephone on Xanatos' desk rang just once before he picked it up, it was midday and Owen was taking care of Alex's afternoon "schooling".
"Yes?"
"Xanatos?" a familiar female voice said on the other line.
"Kyra?" Xanatos almost dropped the phone. "Where are you guys?"
"Would you believe Kuching, Borneo?"
"With what Goliath and Detective Maza told me about the last Avalon "vacation", yes I would..."
Kyra laughed, "Can you get us home by umm... tonight? The others are getting sick of being sent all over the place except home."
"Sure thing, kid. You'll be home by bedtime."
"Xanatos..."
"What?"
"It's three a.m. here." Kyra said straight voiced.
"Oh. Well I'll have you back by midnight here. Any messages for the clan and Elisa?"
"Yeah say hi and tell Goliath that Angie misses him a lot. Oh and I'd prepare them to meet a new friend..." Kyra told him, glancing over at Ryujin wistfully with a smirk.
If I recieve any "Why didn't you let them fall in love" notes about this chapter... I'll forward them to the creator of Ryujin because it was his idea to make Ryujin hold back. If I get any "Why is there romance in this story" notes I'll simply have to send an EXTREMELY long email about Brooklyn and Broadway and Angela, and Xanatos and Fox, and Goliath and Elisa :P Get the picture? Can't have adventure without the adventures of the heart
Before reading this story, please read the unrelated background story for Ryujin.
"Why" she (Kyra) asked.
"You have to learn how to use your wings, and you have more strength. You have to learn how to control it." Goliath answered.
"I'll help you." Brooklyn volunteered.
"I hope he doesn't get to used to her being that way." Goliath said, mainly to Elisa.
"I thought Micheal at least liked Kyra." Goliath replied.
"Liked? Wrong "L" word." Kyra remarked angrily. She didn't
like talking about Micheal's physical attraction of her.
"I guess as long as she's not in human form, she's not
as pretty to him." Elisa assumed.
"Then he never really liked her." Lexington replied.
"So, Xanatos has joined Goliath's cause." Demona scowled,
"Then I guess I'll have to destroy him with Kyra and Brooklyn when they
come."
"No, don't lay one claw on Kyra, Demona. You know fully
well that she's mine." Micheal told her.
"I'll never let another person touch my heart again, I can't deal with this kind of pain." Kyra growled and threw the wad of paper in a trash can...
Kenny watched Kyra walk calmly down the cobblestone
road with his evil eyes. His pupils were all that showed in his eyes, the
green color that had once been there was gone for the night. His brown
hair was stylishly mussed.
Kyra had catlike agility and was able to see perfectly
in the darkest places. Her gargoyle form could be hidden, but not eliminated.
Her ever present defiant glare shone in her eyes, the moonbeams reflected
in their bright silver color. Every move she made betrayed her true self,
but she didn't care, it warded off trouble-makers. She strolled down the
road a little way farther, then heard a noise and stopped abruptly, spinning
around towards the source of the sound. She shielded herself and Nip prepared
to attack the fierce half human/half animal creature that lunged for Kyra,
but everything happened too quickly.
Kyra felt a sharp prick in her neck and thrust her
legs up to knock the creature off of her, but before she knew it, she was
unconscious on the ground. A small bit of blood dripped from the puncture
wounds in her neck.
Nip stayed with her mistress until she regained
consciousness. Kyra's neck ached terribly, and the few seconds before she
had been bitten were wiped from memory by the venom that now silently moved
through her bloodstream. Nip had something in her mouth, gripped tightly
between her sharp pointed teeth. Kyra took it; it was a piece of a shirt.
The cloth was black, her favorite color, but not in that respect.
"Kyra has a short temper." Brooklyn explained.
"Even shorter than Goliath's some days." Angela
added and smiled.
"Kyra told me about the vampire encounter." Gabriel
said, changing the subject, "That must have really scared you."
"Scared her more." Angela answered. "She loves being
mortal, it puts risk and challenge in her life. I think she's got a good
idea, being immortal would be boring." Angela paused as Fang whined, he
had woken up a little bit after Kyra went to sleep and wondered where she
was.
"Kyra still reads vampire novels, but she keeps
a silver cross handy and never goes out alone when she has to go near Kenny's
lair." Lexington added.
"You mean the Vamp is still in your city?" Princess
Katharine asked.
"Well, there's no need to kill him. As long as he
doesn't bother Kyra, she can't bother him." Angela answered.
"He's learned his lesson, Kenny's not going to try
to get Kyra's blood again." Brooklyn replied.
"Her neck still hurts every once in a while, I keep
worrying that Kenny's going to find a way to get her." Angela added.
"Why do you worry so much?" Gabriel asked. "She's
fine, her blood's so full of garlic Kenny couldn't get near her even if
she let him. And that cure make people immune, does it not?"
"She's my friend Gabriel." Angela answered. "I'm
sure right now everyone at home's worried about her, she's fragile, easy
to kill, even if she won't admit it."
"Let's go!" Kyra agreed, "I want off this cliff!"
"What's the matter, afraid of heights?" Gabriel
asked.
"No, falling from them!" Kyra joked.
Falling
The mists parted again as the sun shone brightly,
turning the water into liquid sapphires touched with gold. Kyra smiled
and turned her face up to feel the sea spray and the warm sunlight on her
face. Fang slept soundly, curled up next to Brooklyn's tail.
"Waiting for your chew toy to wake up, huh, mutt?"
Kyra said to the ball of damp fur and smiled. "I wish the guys and Angie
were awake to see how beautiful the water looks. Then again, it is
getting a little monotonous." Kyra sighed to herself and waited for the
shoreline to appear but the only thing on the horizon was... "Water, water,
more
water... and... Oh my god!"
Instead of a shoreline, there were dark clouds threatening
one heck of a storm, and they were headed right into it...
And just my luck, at least an hour to sunset!!
Kyra gulped and grabbed an oar to try and steer through the storm as lightning
began to crash down.
Kyra groaned and sat up, spitting some grainy gunk out of her mouth. When she rubbed her eyes to get them opened, it scratched. It didn't take a genius to know what happened, Kyra was shipwrecked on a sandy beach. She just hoped it was a populated island! She also hoped the others made it, if they'd sunk to the bottom of the sea before they awoke, they'd never make it to the surface in time to breathe...
She listened to the waves beat on the beach and followed the sound, kneeling when her bare feet were wet. She washed the sand from her hands and then from her face, being careful not to scratch her eyes again. When she was sure all the sand was off her face, she opened her eyes and checked out just where the heck she'd ended up! She kept in the back of her mind that the water was pretty warm, so it was near if not on the equator. That left her either near Africa or Asia. Or on the Caribbean, but she didn't hear steel drums so she assumed she wasn't there.
Suddenly Kyra realized that she smelled water... that was an obvious thing, but her delicate nose picked up fresh water that was very close. She must have washed up at the mouth of a river. Kyra stood up and brushed the light sand off her jeans and looked to see Fang lapping up river water just a few yards away.
"Thank god... water might mean civilization... I just hope asking for 'Gargoyles' won't get me killed..." Kyra sighed and went over to Fang, he looked dry. Obviously she'd been knocked out for a while if that mutt's thick fur was waterless. She put the chain leash on his collar and led him away from the water, forgetting her own thirst in the need to find out if her friends survived.
The vegetation in the area hinted that she was probably in the Asian area, there were sago palm trees and bamboo. Some of it looked fresh cut, a good sign of people. Either that or pandas with very sharp claws.... Kyra laughed to herself at the idea of that and followed the river inland a bit, already smelling the sharp odor of manufacturing plants. Good, there was advanced civilization, that meant high rooftops and possibly churches...
As soon as she turned a sharp bend in the river, Kyra smiled. The city wasn't too big, just large enough to hold a few hundred thousand people, but large enough that if her friends survived, they might be hiding in it, undetected. She tugged on Fang's leash and led him into the city, trying to tell from the nearby people's dialect just where she was. It sounded like a mix of Chinese, English, and faint accents of an old language. Probably the native one.
At any rate, not too many people spoke enough English that she could get much help. It didn't look like a tourist city either, which meant there would be few or no translators. Hopefully someone understood the word 'gargoyle' and wouldn't point to some stupid lawn gnome.
Kyra had spent the populated part of the night checking out a marketplace street that sold rice, fish, and live animals. She had to pull hard on Fang's leash to keep him from chasing chickens. After it got later though, everything was closed and she still hadn't found the gargoyles...
"I'm beginning to think this is hopeless... there are a few dozen churches in this city and a few other large buildings with gargoyles on them... I can't search them all in one night..." she sighed. "We'll just have to get some sleep and check the roof tops during the day for familiar statues."
Kyra led Fang into a rundown area of the city, where cops wouldn't be looking for strangers. One of the warehouses looked enough like the gang base back in Manhattan that she felt comfortable enough to go inside, it wasn't like Mikey was going to be in there waiting for her. She opened the door with a slight creak and peered in, surprisingly, it looked clean inside and there were boxes arranged as if they were chairs. There was even a mattress in a side room and she could pick out the scent of fast food wrappers and pizza boxes from somewhere in there. They were at most a week old.
"Oh boy..." Kyra sighed, stepping in carefully. She didn't hear any breathing or footsteps, so apparently she was alone, but for how long?
Ryujin pushed his dark hair out of his eyes, deciding that if it fell that far over the goggles, it was time to trim it. Oh well, it could wait until tomorrow, right now he was exhausted and just wanted to collapse on his mattress and forget it all. He opened the door and slipped his jacket off, then froze.
"There's a girl... on my bed..." he stared at the small girl curled up on the mattress and blinked a few times. Then narrowed his eyes. "And she's not human..." he was about to give her a rude awakening when a low growl sounded from behind him, rising to a snarl as he turned to face the world's shortest and fuzziest attack dog. Its legs weren't short... and neither were its teeth. "She's your mistress, huh? All right I'll leave her alone. She can sleep for now, but I want answers when she wakes up." The dog seemed to understand that and stalked around him to lay next to the raven haired girl.
An hour later, the girl stirred, groaning softly, she'd obviously had as long a night as he did. Her lashes fluttered and opened to reveal what Ryujin thought were glowing black pearls. She sat up, not noticing him at first, and shook her natural spiked bangs out of her face and smiled down at her dog, then noticed the dog was growling at something behind her.
"What is it, Fang-? Oh!" she turned and saw Ryujin, standing immediately in a split second. Ryujin's first thought was that if he'd blinked he would have thought she'd always been on her feet. His second thought was that she definitely was not human. The eyes and the speed clinched it. Her eyes seemed to flash recognition at him for a second, then angered.
"Who are you?" Ryujin demanded, at the same time and in the same tone as the girl. The dog's low rumbled growls undertoned the following silence. "Doesn't that mutt ever stop growling?"
"Only when I tell him to." the girl replied in a very thick attitude.
"Then tell him to."
"No, I'd rather not." the girl smiled slyly and crossed her arms. "Now, you gonna tell me who you are?"
"No. You gonna tell me what you are?" Ryujin returned, getting annoyed at the child's impertinence. She couldn't have been more than 16, and she looked much younger. Yet she had ancient wisdom shining in her eyes and strained patience in her actions. Any normal teenage girl would have screamed or attacked an 18 year old man she awoke to find a yard behind her and staring with eyes that said he was going to kill her.
Because he could read in her eyes that she knew he was going to fight. Which meant she would fight back immediately.
"I'm a girl. Can't you tell that?" the girl snapped, lightning flashing in the silver of her dark violet eyes. Ryujin almost swore they glowed for that instant.
"I know you're female." he replied, giving her an obvious once over. "But a female what?"
"Nunnya." the girl answered shortly, her cheeks obviously burned.
"A what?"
"I'm a nunnya, as in nunnya bizness!" the girl dropped into a perfect lunge, "You wanna know what I am? Come and find out!"
Ryujin couldn't very well decline such an invitation, he just hoped for two things, that this girl wasn't a match for him and that if she was, she wasn't evil. Evil things killed you when they won. He drew his sword to test her and watched the girl's eyes darken with slight doubt. That was a good sign. She wasn't used to fighting something with a sword, which meant she'd probably never met up with someone like him. Best to keep the sword out for an advantage, then.
Too bad the girl was a practiced actress at looking the victim to fool her opponent. There was a blur starting from her left leg and suddenly Ryujin's wrist hurt. A lot. He winced and switched the weight of the sword hilt into his other hand.
"You little--" he cursed under his breath.
"Now now, watch your language... shouldn't curse in front of ladies and children." the girl chided, grinning brightly.
"I'll ask you one more time, after that you're fodder. What the hell are you?" Ryujin asked, hefting the sword to slash her.
The bright sunlight glinted off the granite statues as the dark blond man frowned, studying them. He knew what they were, but why were they here? No living members of their kind existed in Kuching. He was pretty certain there wasn't even a living gargoyle in all of Borneo.
"Kyono... should we smash them?" the young brunette girl behind him asked.
"No, Ash... let's take them home and find out why they're here." the blond man answered, smiling cruelly.
Kyra dodged and cursed words below her breath that even Demona probably would have looked shocked at. This boy was dangerous... he had a sword larger than she was and was presently trying to carve her into Fang's dinner! The sword looked silver, so she could probably blast it out of his hands, but no sword was pure silver, it would break too easily... Until she knew exactly what that sword was, she wasn't going to let this guy know she knew magic.
And just my luck I had to run into this psycho after sunrise! Kyra thought angrily to herself. I'll never find the guys at this rate even if I get away from him.
Too bad the boy seemed to know his own magic. He was catching on that she was too fast for his sword and had sheathed it on his back with a sharp clicking sound once he'd gotten her to leap to the other side of the room. Fang stood between them, snarling for all the fuzzball was worth. Kyra would have commended the dog's efforts, if it hadn't obviously just made the guy more annoyed. He pulled some kind of ball out of practically nowhere and grinned at her. It glowed a bright red. Even Kyra knew that meant fire magic.
"Oh shi--" Kyra couldn't even finish the curse before the ball was flying for her head. Her right hand instinctively went for her amulet while the left one stretched out in an effort to block or catch the orb. Instead, a stream of electric blue energy flowed from her amulet and though her fingers, blasting the orb before it reached her and exploding it into dust.
The dark haired boy was obviously shocked. "What the hell are you? Who taught you that? Who gave you that stone?"
Kyra smirked, secretly glad that the fight was apparently over. "I'm Kyrana. I taught myself mostly and my grandmother gave me this stone. Any more questions? Or will you answer mine? Who are you, why do have such a big sword and why did you attack me?"
The boy narrowed his blue eyes and gave her a once over before replying. "My name's Ryujin. I have this sword to kill demons and I attacked you because you told me to."
"I did not!" Kyra exclaimed, putting her hands on her hips and narrowing her brightened eyes.
"You said to "come and find out" what you were... will you tell me now or shall I continue the hard way?"
Kyra shook her hair out of her eyes and smirked, "You got me there... I'll only tell you one thing, but you must swear not to use it against me or let others do so. If you do then I'll have to kill you."
"If you aren't evil it's a deal."
"I've been called a demon before, but not evil... at least not seriously." Kyra grinned, "I'm a hybrid creature... part human, part gargoyle."
"That's impossible... there are no living gargoyles here."
"Who said I came from here? I'm from New York, pal. We're just rampant with gargs there." Kyra grinned again, this time Ryujin had to laugh at her.
"Then why are you here?" he asked
"I had a... boating accident... and washed up here on the shore. I lost my friends and I've spent all night looking for them."
Ryujin gave her a once over again. Of course... that explains the torn clothes and sandstains. And why she woke up so slowly. "Who are your friends?"
"They're gargoyles."
"Hybrids?"
"No... I'm the only one... well that I know of. There's another one, but she's in a kind of permanent sleep."
"Uh-huh..." Ryujin stared at her. "Why aren't you stone?"
Kyra laughed, "I'm mostly human, I don't hibernate."
"But your friends do?"
"Yeah, and they're stuck somewhere in this city without me watching out for them and if I don't find them I'm afraid they may end up as a rock garden. I can't let that happen, they're all I have left in the world." Kyra frowned and it was obvious that her expression struck a chord in Ryujin for some reason...
"Do you need help?" he asked cautiously.
"What kind of help?"
"Well it's a bigger city than it looks, and there's stuff across the river with gargoyles on it too... if they hid there before sunrise, you'll never find them."
"You're volunteering to search there?" Kyra raised an eyebrow, "How can I trust you'll tell me when you find them? Or that you won't destroy them?"
"They're not what I hunt... they're not a threat to humans."
"You're one of the few people I've met who thinks that..." Kyra smiled and nodded. "Okay, but I'm meeting you somewhere at nightfall, got it? If you're not there I'll suspect you and you'll be in big trouble if I ever find you again."
Ryujin smirked. "Deal. We can meet umm.... in front of the Astana on the other side of the river. You can't miss it, it used to be a white raja palace."
"And how do I cross the river?" Kyra asked crossly.
"You're a gargoyle... fly across at night." Ryujin said and winked back at her on the way out.
Kyra smirked and shook her head, looking down at Fang, "I think I like this guy."
Since Ryujin wasn't a gargoyle and it was the middle of the afternoon, he took the bridge across the river and went up to the largest Angelican church there. He snuck through the bellringer's area and up to the roof. All of the gargoyles up there were covered in moss and such, there weren't any fresh clean statues that looked like they were carved that week, let alone that night. There were, however, a few drag lines through the soft roof covering material and the patches of moss. It looked like something heavy was dragged to an open part of the roof and then... the marks stopped suddenly. Nothing was there, and four sets of the marks all led to the same area.
"Very interesting... I wonder how many 'friends' Kyrana has..." Ryujin went back down immediately after glancing around for any large buildings nearby. There was one about three quarters of a mile south of the church, just barely visible, but because it was visible, Ryujin was willing to bet it was big.
When Ryujin got to the street he headed south, the building was big... more than large enough to do quite a number of illegal things in. Like store a few priceless stolen statues. Suddenly Ryujin's mind flashed, the windows were taped or painted black to keep sunlight out. Someone didn't like sun in their eyes.
"This gets better and better..." he smirked then went back to find Kyrana.
Kyra was having a lot of luck... all of it bad... She hadn't found a single clue about where her friends were, it was getting dark, and some jerks were being persistent about taking her someplace private to spend the night. One of them was a very handsome blond man, but it was like Micheal, a cold, evil and heartless beauty. The dark haired one had a scar on his cheek and a knife in his hand.
"Come on, cutie... we won't hurt you... much." Handsome said, flashing a smile that Micheal could only dream of.
"Unless you want us to." Scarface added with a grin that made Kyra sick to her stomach.
"I wouldn't let you creeps touch me if you were the last things on Earth!" she said and threw a hunk of trash at them from the can next to her. "And my name's not 'Cutie'!"
"I'll call you whatever I want, and you'll never forget my name when I'm done with you." Handsome said, still smiling with a dark light in his eyes. Kyra had seen a light like that in Micheal's eyes before, it was a pure lust, but this man's eyes had an odd glint when they shone... it wasn't... right. It did something to the back of her mind.
"Sorry, but I'm really bad with names." she said, stepping back and looking at the horizon. She grinned and looked Handsome right in the eyes. "But I'm excellent with timing." She let her mental guard down to allow the night to take effect.
Just then the last rays of the sun went down and Kyra's body glowed for a moment. The glow receded and she stretched to get used to her new form. As usual, her face remained the same, her teeth were a little sharper though, and her body was a little taller and it had a few new additions: a large wing span wider than she was tall and a whip-like tail.
Handsome just grinned more and looked her over, "This could be kinky..."
"Oh you just don't give up, do you?" Kyra sighed, rolling her eyes and whipping her tail lightly behind her.
"Why should I? I've been with demons before, but never a gargoyle." Handsome replied, coming up to her and grabbing her arm with inhuman strength.
"Demons?" Kyra was shocked, "Let me go!" she whipped her tail against his back, but he just grinned again.
"Fiesty little thing, aren't you?" Handsome marveled and pulled her closer. He kissed her and her head spun until she was too dizzy to tell night from day and her body fell back to human form. She felt fingers brush through her hair and a hot breath on her neck...
"I somehow doubt you have that girl's permission to be doing that, pal..." a familiar voice sliced through the dizzy darkness and Kyra opened her eyes to see Ryujin standing in the opening of the alleyway, poised with his sword to slice more than the dizzy spell she had. Handsome's mouth was poised over her neck, and somehow that seemed to keep Ryujin at bay. "Let her go, now."
"And if I don't want to? This girl's got possibilities... she could be entertaining." Handsome replied.
"God, you're sick... you're going to use her for that too? She's just a kid!" Ryujin said, his face contorted in disgust.
Just then Scarface made himself known by attacking Ryujin with the knife. Ryujin spun before Scarface had time to dodge and the poor henchman was beheaded. The odd thing was... he didn't fall down, he... vaporized! Kyra gasped and struggled against Handsome's grip. When he wouldn't release her and instead licked her neck in a way that made her feel more like food than an erotic 'plaything', Kyra groaned in disgust and kicked up into his groin, making him release her with a loud yell. She fell to the ground but got up quickly and raced behind Ryujin.
"What the heck is he?" she asked breathlessly.
"Same that his friend was." Ryujin nodded over to the pile of dust that was blowing away, keeping his sword pointed at Handsome.
"Which is?" Kyra asked, fighting off a wave of nausea. She thought a pile of rocks was bad...
"A vampire." Ryujin answered simply, glaring at Handsome as if they'd known each other for years and feuded all that time.
"You're a Michinoka, I can tell by the sword..." Handsome said, looking at Ryujin the same way. "What do you want with that kid? I didn't think your kind liked demons..."
"She's not a demon. She's human." Ryujin lied.
"Now she is... on the outside. She's tainted, Michinoka..." Handsome grinned brilliantly. "Give her to me, she's not pure human, why should she even be half? Don't you hate tainted blood? All kinds do, don't they? Humanity should be pure, like every race." The speech was reminding Kyra of the Quarrymen and she was getting sick of it.
"I don't care what else she is... she's got humanity in her and you're not destroying that." Ryujin snarled, keeping the sword trained on Handsome's chest.
"Fine, I won't change her. But you don't need her... give her to me anyway... I need her more than you do..." Kyra could tell by the tone of the man's voice that something was passing between their minds... and she didn't like it.
Ryujin stared at the man then blinked. "Like hell you need her. Go find a harlot." he said and urged Kyra with his shoulder to move back. She went only too willingly and he followed, keeping his eyes and sword focused on Handsome.
"This isn't over, Michinoka." the handsome vampire snarled and went off down the other end of the alley. Ryujin snorted and spun around, sheathing his sword on his back and grabbing Kyra's arm simultaneously. He dragged her away before more trouble could start.
Kyra pulled back on Ryujin's arm and growled below her breath, Fang would have been proud of the sound if he was there, but the mutt was sleeping on Ryujin's floor.
"What the hell was that all about?!" she demanded when he finally stopped a block later.
"What?" Ryujin asked with a perfectly innocent face. It reminded her too much of Micheal and she struck out at him. Her hand hit his face with a resounding smack that echoed.
"You know what I mean! Why did that... vampire seem to know you? And why did he call you Michinoka?" she said angrily. "You said your name was Ryujin!"
Ryujin rubbed his cheek and glared down at the furied girl. She had more spunk than most girls he'd known in his life. She was cute too, when she wasn't fuming at him and trying to take a body part off him. "God, first my hand now my head? You got a thing against guys with an intact body?"
"Only when they don't answer my questions... now talk." Kyra snarled, glaring at him with the glowing black pearls again.
"Far be it for me to deny a psychotic girl her answers..." Ryujin joked and frowned. "Michinoka's my family name. We come from a long line of slayers with a special power. That's how I knew you weren't human."
"But I'm not a vampire either, even if I look it.... Are you like... a male Buffy?"
"No, and if anyone asks me that again I'll hurt them. I know you're not a vampire, but they're not the only threat... I can also sense demons, shifters, and anything else with a strong power."
"Gargoyles don't normally have a strong power... I come from a rare lineage. And before you think I'm totally clueless about vampires... I've run into them before."
"Well that's some things we share in common then." Ryujin smiled, "Oh I almost forgot, I think I figured out where your friends are... there are four of them aren't there?"
Kyra nodded. "Three guys and a girl. Did you see them?"
"No, but I have evidence that someone took them from their roost, and I think I know where they were put."
"Then let's go!" Kyra said and pulled Ryujin along while he blinked in shock that American girls could be so odd.
"This is it?" Kyra whispered at the back of the building. It was a large, well cared for storage building.
"Yeah, ready to go in?"
"I was born ready for stuff like this... I wonder if those idiots are ready for the wake up call." she laughed and grinned at him.
He couldn't help but grin back. "Let's go..." he took her forearm and led her to a small door with only two guards. Ryujin was about to take care of them, immediately sensing that they, like Handsome, were not human.
"Wait." Kyra smiled and pulled him back behind the corner. She stood and sauntered over to the men wearing sunglasses even though the sun was down. "Hi boys... when's your lunch break?" she asked saucily.
Both of the guys looked at each other then grinned. They went up to her and she led them around the corner where Ryujin finished them off quickly before they could alert their friends inside.
"Nice... you lure boys like that often?" Ryujin joked.
"Oh, all the time... now let's get in there and kick some butt." Kyra said and grinned.
Kyra and Ryujin found a closet full of the type of clothes they'd seen the guards wearing. They were dark and the female version was... revealing to say the least. Whatever was covered was covered so tightly you knew what was there.
"God... Brook is never going to let me live this down..." Kyra grumbled, coming out from the room she'd changed in.
Ryujin tried not to laugh, he also tried not to stare at how the way Kyra's outfit wore on her. He adjusted his shirt to hide his... uneasiness. "Let's go."
Kyra nodded and slipped shades on over her unique eyes. They'd be noticed in a heartbeat. Ryujin went back outside, the vamps would sense him and they didn't need every vamp, demon, and whatnot in there attacking as soon as Kyra came in the room. She flashed him a blinding smile when he turned back to make sure she was okay and walked into the main room of the storehouse. It took all of Kyra's willpower not to run over to the electrified cages, especially the one Brooklyn was in.
The people were moving around so Kyra decided it would be safe to casually walk up to the cages. She moved smoothly to keep herself from being noticed.
Brooklyn was steaming silently about his situation and worried sick about whether or not Kyra was the girl that blond guy had been growling about. He glanced up and lost his breath for half a second at the sight of the girl walking over to him. He was sure he'd seen her before. Just, not so much of her... She smirked at him and lowered her sunglasses enough to wink at him when she got to the cage.
"Nice disguise, Kyr... didn't you find anything that fit?" he said and snorted.
"Very funny." Kyra said shortly, pushing her sunglasses back over her eyes with one finger, "I see you're fine, how are the others?"
"Unharmed... they want us to work for them." Brooklyn told her.
Kyra tried not to laugh. "Too bad they don't understand that not everyone has a price. By the way, when I give the signal, cover your eyes, okay?"
"Why?" Brooklyn asked, a little shocked.
"Just do it." she hissed and moved on when she noticed someone looking at her.
She went on, warning the other three gargoyles to cover their eyes when she gave a signal. Angela blinked at her outfit, Broadway didn't react at all and Lex would have yelled about it if she hadn't covered his mouth quickly. Kyra secretly wondered why Brooklyn hadn't yelled about it either, though the comment was pretty much expected from him, she also expected him to snarl about her being an idiot for trying such a stupid plan.
To keep suspicions down, Kyra smiled and flirted with a few of the guys that came over and kept away from the cages after she'd talked to all four of her friends. She glanced at her watch and noticed it was exactly midnight. She pulled a black cap off of her belt and slammed it on her head, covering her eyes with the bill of the cap. The sudden movement caught the attention of a familiar face who glared at her and snarled. He recognized her from earlier.
Damn, better move fast! Kyra thought just as a white orb crashed through a painted over skylight and exploded, filling the room with an intense bright light. The gargoyles had seen Kyra's signal and covered their eyes, the light faded but the vampires were still blinded. Kyra grabbed keys off of the wall and unlocked the cages quickly as Ryujin jumped down from the broken skylight.
"Move it! They won't be blinded for long!" he shouted and grabbed Kyra's arm, leading her and her friends out of the building.
"Who's your charming friend?" Brooklyn snarled in her ear as they ran down the street. "Reminds me of someone." Kyra winced, Brooklyn had seen enough of Ryujin's face to tell the boy looked a lot like Micheal. It would take a lot of convincing to make Brooklyn see that he was safe, especially after the display in the storehouse. Brooklyn didn't like guys being rough with Kyra.
A lazer blast blowing up a trash can directly in front of them made the group stop in their tracks. "I think they missed you." Ryujin said and frowned, turning slowly. Kyra spun like a whirlwind, she knew who was back there.
"Well, well, I had a feeling I'd run into you two again..." Handsome Kyono said, keeping the lazer gun trained on them.
"Since when does your kind need a gun?" Ryujin snarled.
"Since your kind cheats with magic." the blond vampire snarled right back and fired at Kyra's feet, making her jump back and shriek.
"That was so uncalled for!" she growled at him. She'd have changed then, but the way her new clothes fit on her, the transformation would leave her less than appropriately covered.
"That outfit suits you... I can think of lots of ways to take it off." Kyono said and smirked.
"Over my dead body, leech." Ryujin snarled and launched a fire orb at the vampire. Kyono fired the lazer and the orb exploded a few feet away from him. "Bastard." Ryujin cursed and drew his sword. "Kyrana, get your friends out of here."
"No way, he'll blast you to kingdom come!" Kyra yelled as Brooklyn pulled her back.
"Come on, Kyr, it's obvious this guy knows what he's doing." Brooklyn said and picked her up when she refused to move. She kicked and squirmed, making it all the harder for Brooklyn to make sure he didn't accidentally touch bare skin or someplace she'd smack him for. Suddenly she vanished in his arms after a particulary annoyed-sounding shriek. "What the--?" He looked back and saw her behind Ryujin.
"He saved my life from this creep, Brook, I won't let him fight alone."
"You're just a liability, you'll get yourself killed." Ryujin told her over his shoulder.
"I've faced worse scum than this and I'm still here. Let me help..." she said calmly. Brooklyn fumed back at the other end of the street with the others.
Ryujin sighed and nodded. "It's your neck."
"Nice analogy, did you have to say that?" Kyra asked and walked around beside him.
"Yeah well, if I'd said any other body part that the guy wants on you I'd get smacked or worse." Ryujin said and smirked.
Kyono narrowed his eyes and glared at the mismatched pair. The slayer would be bad enough, but that girl had a strong aura and she'd teleported quickly and efficiently. From the look on her friend's face it was the first time she'd done it too, which meant her power was still growing... Maybe it was time to retreat.
"You're not going anywhere, buddy." Kyra snarled and blasted at his feet with her magic.
While the vampire was distracted, Ryujin moved quickly and slashed at him. Too bad Kyono saw it just in time and blocked with the gun. The sword slashed through the weapon, making it explode in a fireball that sent Ryujin back into Kyra and both of them into a wall. Ryujin yelled from the sudden blinding light and Kyra screamed from the double impact. Kyono grinned and ran out of sight before the gargoyles could chase him. They wouldn't leave the girl anyway.
Kyra groaned and opened her eyes, Ryujin was over her, looking a bit worried. She tried to sit up but winced as her body screamed in pain. She screamed with it and fell back unconcious again. Ryujin sat her up carefully to check her wounds. Her back was bruised from the wall, but it wasn't too bad... Her front was a different story. The clips to hold his sword had cut up her chest and the backplate had probably broken a rib or two. The top of her outfit was nearly torn off, it wouldn't be safe to have her walking around in it. If she could even walk. He lowered her back down and took off his armor, then his shirt, earning him a snort from the red gargoyle.
"You got a problem?" Ryujin asked, looking up at the gargoyle and hiking an eyebrow.
"Not at all. You'd just better put that shirt back on before she wakes up again."
Ryujin shook his head and slipped the shirt over Kyra's head. He picked her up and offered her to the red gargoyle. "Take care of her."
It was the gargoyle's turn to hike an eyebrow. "You're not coming?"
Ryujin shook his head again, this time strongly, "I have to catch that jerk and stop him and his goons. Tell her goodbye for me when she wakes up."
The three gargoyles behind the red one looked at each other. The female sighed and frowned. Ryujin turned away and froze in his tracks when he heard Kyra groan again. "Damn." he sighed.
"Don't tell me you weren't even going to say goodbye after everything that happened..." she asked weakly.
"I figured it would be best that way... Go home, Kyrana... it's not safe for you and your friends here." Ryujin told her emotionlessly without even turning around. He walked off without a glance back.
Broadway and Lexington found a big enough boat to carry them all back to Avalon. Brooklyn put Kyra down in it and told her to stay still in case she was hurt worse than it looked. She didn't even snort at him and say her usual retort of "it takes more than that to get rid of me."
Angela pushed off the boat and jumped in, looking down at Kyra and frowning. "Why did you let him walk off like that?"
"Like I could go running up to him and say 'wait, don't leave'." Kyra sighed.
Angela knew there were three words missing from that. "Does he know?"
"Know what?" Kyra asked, blinking.
"That you love him." Angela said with utter conviction. Brooklyn didn't even look at them, but the other two gaped in shock. "Did you tell him?"
Kyra grimaced and looked away, "I didn't exactly have the time to, I just realized it myself a few moments ago."
"Why didn't you say it when he started to walk away?" Angela asked.
"He wouldn't have said it back." Kyra answered, looking at the shrinking coastline.
Brooklyn sighed and growled to himself then looked down at Kyra. "Only one way to find out." he told her and pushed the oar sharply, the boat started to turn around.
"What are you doing, Brook?" Kyra asked in shock.
"I know you, you were a pain to live with when Chris died, I don't need to live with you moping over this." Brooklyn told her. But he didn't say it with his usual joking manner, his voice was hollow.
Angela touched his shoulder and whispered so only he could hear it, "You're quite a hero, Brooklyn."
"Yeah, well... she thinks I'm a brother anyway..." he said just as quietly and kept rowing the boat to the shoreline.
Ryujin was starting to think maybe he shouldn't have let Kyra leave without taking her to a hospital... And his conscience was giving him the third degree about not saying goodbye to her face. But if he'd turned and seen the tears he knew were there, he would have told her to stay, and then it would have ended up as the past all over again... He cursed himself for his stupidity, and for that damned pain in his chest he knew had nothing to do with the blown up gun. Sure the girl was pretty, but she looked way too young for him... He respected her courage and strength, but he didn't love her.
The tell tale scrape of a foot pushing off was the only warning he got and he was so wrapped up in telling himself that he didn't care about the girl, that he didn't react to the sound in time and found himself pinned by the vampire he'd been stalking.
"Where's the girl to save your butt now, Michinoka?" Kyono sneered. Before Ryujin could push the creature off of him and slice the idiot in two, Kyono cried out in pain and a single arrow shot into the ground next to them.
"Right here." a familiar voice said with audible anger. Ryujin blinked and looked to see Kyra standing a meter away with a decorated bow in her hand and a big grin on her face. She had healed and gained a bit of strength, oddly.
"You didn't leave?" he asked, hiking an eyebrow.
"No, I left. But I came back." she told him, lowering the bow.
"I can handle this." Ryujin said between his teeth, kicking the injured vampire off.
"Maybe I was worried." Kyra told him and frowned. "I care about people."
"That's going to get you killed." Ryujin told her and as if to prove his point, five male vampires came around the corner behind her.
"Take her out of here." Kyono ordered his henchmen, holding his arm.
Unfortunately, Kyra had experience with a group of men attacking her and knew just how to get rid of them. She dropped the bow and ducked, delivering low kicks until they were all on the ground from her kicks or their own fists. Ryujin had to admit he was impressed, maybe she was okay on her own after all... That didn't mean he wasn't going to get her out of the city though.
Kyra lunged back on one leg and readied herself to leap at Kyono. "Get out of here before you're next." she snarled.
"I'm not afraid of you, you're a child." Kyono lied. He didn't know that Kyra could tell a lie easily.
"You lie terribly. You're quaking... and I know why..." Kyra smirked and touched her amulet. It gave off a warm silver glow that surrounded her and transformed her. Ryujin blinked. He knew what she was, she'd told him... but it was still a shock to see her that way. Especially since she wasn't wearing his shirt, it was too bloodsoaked from her wounds and its scent would have heightened the vampires' adrenaline. The outfit she was left with was barely accommodating for her new body parts without falling off.
Kyono smirked, "I thought it was you, no one else would have that kind of... aura."
"I'll 'aura' you, pal. I know what you want, and you're not getting it, especially over someone's dead body!" Kyra growled, baring her sharper teeth. "You want trouble? Come get it."
Ryujin smirked at her then, "You say that to everyone, or what?"
"Call it a habit." Kyra said, keeping her heavy lidded glare set on the vampire.
Kyono moved then, it had been so long since Kyra had dealt with Kenny that she'd forgotten how quick a vampire could be. If she'd blinked, she would have missed him dashing behind her. He'd picked up a shard of broken glass and was holding it to her throat, keeping his other arm wrapped around her waist. "A child of magick and of wing... probably not enough human blood to even whet my appitite." he snarled in her ear. "But plenty to spill..."
Some part of Kyra's mind winced at the monotonousness of being held with something sharp pressed to her neck. Kyono was just a blond, immortal Micheal, so she'd deal with him the same way. She managed to look Ryujin in the eye, keeping her mind locked on one thing only, stay there... One sudden movement would end her life for sure... but there was always a ploy that could be used in any situation like this.
"Why spill my blood?" she asked Kyono in a soft voice. "At least that blood." she knew a vampire could pick up thoughts and she projected over anything else exactly what blood she'd meant. She was pure in all meanings, after all... She rubbed his leg with her tail to help him get the point.
She could feel Kyono's grip on the blade of glass shift just a bit and cringed at his laugh. "So the cornered beast gives in instead of fighting? That's a new one."
"I'm just full of surprises..." Kyra said and kept her eyes on Ryujin, sending a message through them that she kept out of her tone and her thoughts. The tone and thoughts were working, the hand holding the glass dropped, dragging the point of the blade suggestively over her front. Then Kyono tightened his grip around her waist and took off with her before Ryujin could react.
Kyra hoped her tricks for Micheal would work on a vampire... after all, if he'd probed deep enough to see what she was really up to...
She was flung mercilessly onto a less than comfortable object that barely resembled a bed. She pushed herself up and glared at Kyono. "Just because I look like an animal does not mean you're going to treat me like one." she snarled and phased back into human form.
"Make up your mind what you want to be, cutie, I get impatient quickly." Kyono told her and started to remove his shirt.
Kyra saw her opportunity then, her eyes flashed and her then up raised hand echoed the flash, sending a blast that threw him into the wall with a yell. She launched herself off the 'bed' and raced for the door. Kyono recovered and grabbed her around the waist just as she touched the doorknob.
"Not so fast, trickster." he snarled in her ear. She judged his position with her street smarts in less than a second and reacted.
"I believe you have me confused with my friend." she told him and kicked back with her heel into his shin, following it by spinning and slamming the palm of her hand against the bottom his chin. He staggered back and she wrenched the door open, leaping through it and shutting it behind her.
Run, her mind screamed even while her feet moved. The building was probably full of vampires... funny that she'd realized that just as she rounded the corner that kept the main door out of her sight. Because the doorway was blocked by just about all of them. Any of them that weren't there were probably guarding the other doors.
Kyra cursed and realized there was only one way out. She took a few steps back and glanced up at the rafter beams, then gathered herself and jumped straight up. Even as a human, she had her gargoyle strength as long as the sun was down. The leap was no problem, her hands locked into a death grip on the first beam they touched. She swung her legs up and pulled herself up to the top of the rafter beam, then took a deep breath and hoped to god her body wouldn't pick then to realize she was afraid of heights. Too bad another transformation might make her outfit fall off, she could seriously use her wings.
Kyono stormed out of the room and glared up at her. She cast a desparate look around and saw the broken skylight... her only chance. Unfortunately, there were no beams under it. She was going to have to leap a seven foot slope... and catch broken glass. Kyono jumped up and swung himself onto the rafters, just a few yards away from her. Kyra cursed and spun on her heel, nimbly making her way to the skylight.
Ryujin stood dumbfounded, either Kyra was the craziest girl, or the bravest girl he'd ever seen... She'd just let a vampire take her off to god knew where... alone. His eyes narrowed. No, he knew too... and he was going to have to make sure the past didn't repeat itself.
Kyra screamed in pain when the glass cut into her hands, but she didn't let go. She gritted her teeth and pulled herself up, ignoring the sound of tearing leather as the outfit caught on the edges of the skylight. Kyra rolled away and stopped on her back, breathing hard from pain and exhaustion.
"Oh god, what the hell was I thinking?" she whispered finally, running a hand through her hair, forgetting the cuts until her hair sliced into them. She growled and winced, then regretted forgetting her satchel at the boat, she could have used the first aid kit in it, and her crucifix collar wouldn't have hurted either. "I am not going to live through this..." she realized just as Kyono jumped through the hole in the skylight, landing perfectly on his feet.
Kyra sighed and laid there, her hands hurt too much to push up onto her feet and she was too exhausted to run again. She needed a few minutes to heal even the minor wounds, it wouldn't be enough time. For a moment the only sound was her breathing, more proof that if she got up she'd just collapse again. She'd survived being beaten within a millimeter of her life before, but she'd never felt so defeated as she did now. She barely even winced when Kyono came over and kicked her ribs. She knew a few of them had to have broken or at least cracked. Probably the ones that had been healing.
"Did you really think you could escape?" he snarled, obviously furious.
Her rebellious silence was the only thing he got for an answer. He kicked her again, harder. This time she gasped in pain and rolled over, holding her broken ribs. He knelt behind her and grabbed her hair near the roots, making her shriek and her eyes wettened with unshed tears of pure physical pain. She'd known she was going to die young since she was twelve years old and stood bravely in front of Micheal, demanding to be in the gang, but she would have given anything to at least hear a friendly voice before she died. As Kyono's fangs lowered to her neck, she whispered. "Not yet..."
Suddenly, Kyono's grip was gone and her very alive, if not in pain, body hit the ground and her air rushed out as she winced and growled. Her hands stung from the dirt on the roof grinding into the wounds, but she still pushed herself up enough to see what was going on. Kyono's arm was bleeding badly, what was left of it, and he was lunged like a wild animal, ready to spring at the form that threatened him. The form was holding a very large sword...
"Ryujin...?" Kyra whispered weakly and frowned.
Ryujin turned slightly to wink at her then faced Kyono again. "I told you you couldn't have her." he growled.
"Why did you even bother following her? She's worthless..." Kyono snarled. "Weak, injured, and young, and to a predator, that means she's mine."
Ryujin narrowed his eyes. "She's worth more than you, scum."
"That remains to be seen." Kyono said lowly and lunged suddenly at Ryujin. Ryujin's first instinct was to slash at the atacker, but Kyono was counting on that, he'd fought countless slayers with swords who'd done the same thing. He'd been lucky enough to escape with scars then. He moved just barely in time, ducking under the sword's movement as it sliced into his shoulder. He brought his fist up with him to meet Ryujin's side. Ryujin doubled over with a groan and dropped the sword to aim a punch at Kyono in return, it hit but the vampire was so furious he ignored the pain and elbowed Ryujin's back with all his fury. The force through his armor sent Ryujin to the ground and he yelled out as he hit on his shoulder.
The sound made Kyra's eyes open and her lips pull back in a snarl. Ryujin was hurt. It didn't matter how badly, it was because he was defending her. It didn't matter if he was able to get up again, it mattered that he'd been sent to the ground. She pushed herself up onto wobbly legs and glared at Kyono. "You're going to pay for that, pal. With interest for this." she held her ribs.
"Am I really?" Kyono sneered, kicking Ryujin. The kick wasn't hard, as if the slayer really wasn't worth the effort, besides there was armor there, but he knew it would piss Kyra off enough to make her attack. It worked. She made a clumsy lunge at him due to her pain and he dodged easily, grabbing what clothing she had and flinging her towards the edge of the roof with a kick to the small of her back for added momentum.
Kyra tried to stop, but her body was too weak to understand her commands and she skidded right off the edge with a shriek that made Ryujin's head hurt. Even the vampire winced at it, there was obviously a bit of power behind it, forced by her fear. Ryujin growled and grabbed his sword off the ground.
"Enough stalling." he jumped up and made a perfect slash across Kyono's neck, killing the jerk quickly. Then he dropped the sword again and raced to where Kyra had fallen. Ten slender fingers were hanging onto the edge of the roof and he almost laughed at seeing them. The twilight colored eyes that glared up behind the mass of black hair weren't laughing.
"I see nothing funny with this predicament!" she told him and he smirked, grabbing her wrists and hauling her up, noticing her wince and the blood on his own hands from the action.
"You're hurt."
"You're not." Kyra realized. He wasn't even bruised or limping.
"I'm a good actor. He was too good of a fighter and I needed him to leave an open spot, but I didn't know you were going to do such a stupid thing. Are you all right?"
"It's not bad. I've had worse cuts." Kyra said truthfully, examining the bits of dirt and tiny shards of glass she'd just noticed were trapped in her cuts. She began to pull the larger bits of glass out.
"You were laying there like you were half dead." he said firmly, examining the cuts himself. "These wounds are filthy. You're going to get sick."
"I was tired from running and stress." Kyra told him honestly, "I've lost more blood than this and been on my feet in a few days." She neglected to mention it was against doctor's orders.
"Still, your hands need medical help. Is your blood type human?"
"Yes, I have it on my birth certificate." Kyra said as if it was an obvious thing and grinned.
"Good, then we can take you to a hospital without questions." Ryujin told her and started to drag her off.
"Wait a minute! No hospitals! I hate doctors. They always stick needles in you. And they lie and say it won't hurt." Kyra said. The thing that made Ryujin laugh was that she looked absolutely serious through the whole thing, like a child with her 'the world's against me' pout and all. "What's so funny?"
"How old are you?" he asked.
"About seventeen, why?" Kyra answered.
"You're kidding..."
"No. That's on my birth certificate too."
Ryujin suddenly realized he was still holding her hands and let them go. "I thought you were younger."
"How young?" Kyra asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Twelve?"
Kyra gave him an absolute evil eye and glanced down at the all to obvious, due to her 'shirt', physical proof that she was older than that. "Yeah, I really look twelve."
"Well, I mean... your face... and you're well... small and..." Ryujin faltered, suddenly realizing that this girl was seriously offended. "I'm sorry... really." he told her finally, he even bowed a little. "Gomen nasai, sumi masen..."
"You speak Japanese?" Kyra asked, wide eyed.
"Yeah, well I do come from Japan." Ryujin told her.
Kyra smiled. "I thought so. And yeah, I forgive you. Just never call me a kid or little or anything like that again, got it?"
Ryujin laughed and smirked, "Got it." Suddenly Kyra's legs faltered under her and she fell against him with a gasp.
Ryujin looked down at Kyra and frowned, "Are you okay?" he held her in an embrace before he could think.
"I'm fine... I think." She smiled softly and kissed him even softer.
Ryujin blinked when she pulled back and looked down at her oddly. "Kyra... I.... Look, you're pretty and smart, and brave if not absolutely crazy, but... I just don't need this right now..."
Kyra blinked and looked down, "I understand, I'm sorry... I didn't mean to, you know... look easy or anything." Kyra glanced back to the approaching gargoyles.
Ryujin smirked. "I somehow doubt you're easy. Just emotional." He helped her stand on her own feet again.
"Can't you at least come with us?" Kyra asked, her eyes shone like a child's. "We could use your help. And there are vampires in New York."
Ryujin looked back at the gargoyles. The red one crossed his arms and glowered as if to say 'break her heart anymore and I'll rip out yours'. He smirked and shook his head lightly at the protective gesture, "Is there room for me on the boat?"
Kyra grinned and hugged him tightly. He held her back lightly and somehow felt her long hair, revelling in how soft it could be with the blood marring it. "I'll make room if I have to." she said, not letting go of him. He had the feeling if she had her say in it she'd stay in his arms all day.
"Actually," Lexington interrupted, earning him a death glare from Kyra when she finally let go and looked at him. "I have an idea..."
The telephone on Xanatos' desk rang just once before he picked it up, it was midday and Owen was taking care of Alex's afternoon "schooling".
"Yes?"
"Xanatos?" a familiar female voice said on the other line.
"Kyra?" Xanatos almost dropped the phone. "Where are you guys?"
"Would you believe Kuching, Borneo?"
"With what Goliath and Detective Maza told me about the last Avalon "vacation", yes I would..."
Kyra laughed, "Can you get us home by umm... tonight? The others are getting sick of being sent all over the place except home."
"Sure thing, kid. You'll be home by bedtime."
"Xanatos..."
"What?"
"It's three a.m. here." Kyra said straight voiced.
"Oh. Well I'll have you back by midnight here. Any messages for the clan and Elisa?"
"Yeah say hi and tell Goliath that Angie misses him a lot. Oh and I'd prepare them to meet a new friend..." Kyra told him, glancing over at Ryujin wistfully with a smirk.
If I recieve any "Why didn't you let them fall in love" notes about this chapter... I'll forward them to the creator of Ryujin because it was his idea to make Ryujin hold back. If I get any "Why is there romance in this story" notes I'll simply have to send an EXTREMELY long email about Brooklyn and Broadway and Angela, and Xanatos and Fox, and Goliath and Elisa :P Get the picture? Can't have adventure without the adventures of the heart
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