Chapter 9: Reflections of Cye

"There you go Shin," Kayla said with a big smile on her face as she set Shin's lunch on the ground. "it's the very best salmon the fish mart had to offer. I hope you like it!"

At last! Food, I just hope it tastes as good as it smells! Cye thought eagerly to himself as he playfully attacked his food and prepared to eat it. However, just as he started to take the very first bite, he noticed that the fish was staring back at him. Its glazed eyes were staring at him like he'd done something wrong as the smell suddenly turned sour. Suddenly Cye didn't feel so good…

"That's funny Kayla," Clara observed quietly as she watched the kitten throwing his guts up in a secluded part of the park.

"What's funny?" Kayla asked with a puzzled expression on her face.

"I don't think your furry little friend likes his food!" Clara giggled as she pointed to the red haired little kitten who was slowly walking towards them with a funny wobble that only made them laugh harder. "But don't feel bad Kayla, Cye did the same thing when he ate seafood that was staring back at him."

"Aw poor baby!" Kayla cooed softly as she picked Shin up and gently cradled him in her arms. "Oh, look Clara he's asleep. Maybe we could go swimming while he enjoys his nap."

"Sure! I know just the place," Clara said cheerfully as she grabbed Kayla's wrist. "Let's go swimming!"

"Wow this is a nice place!" Kayla said as she admired the white sandy beaches of the water park then gazed at the towering water slides and enormous wave pool that seemed to call her to them. "I can see why you like this place better than the beach."

"Yeah well New York only has one good beach, and most of the time it's too polluted to really enjoy it that much." Clara said sadly as she gazed at the horizon and watched the seagulls lazily flying off in the distance. "So we started a fundraiser when we moved here and before we knew it, the city officials were asking us where we wanted to put it."

"Ok, Shin's sound asleep," Kayla said with a smile as she nodded toward the kitten, who was curled up on top of her blanket and purring loud enough for the entire world to hear. "let's go catch some waves!"

As the two girls dove headfirst into the wives, neither of them noticed what was going on back at the beach where a white haired little boy with dog ears was furiously chasing a boy wearing a pair of black swimming trunks, a black tank top, a purple towel wrapped around his waist, sandals, and a smile as he chased a girl in a red and white bikini. "Darn it Miroku come back here! How many times have I told you not to chase Kagome! She's my girlfriend!"

"No way Inuyasha! I saw her first!" the little boy squealed in delight as they ran past Shin, sending him flying through the air as he landed in the wave pool with a splash.

No one noticed as the kitten sank rapidly to the bottom of the deep end, despite his best efforts to try to swim to the surface. I can't swim with all this fur! I'm gonna' drown and no one will know! Cye thought in panic as he opened his mouth to cry for help, forgetting that he was in the water, and only swallowed a mouthful of water. Is this the end? Is this how I die? No, I can't give up! For Kayla's sake, I won't give up! Please somebody hear my cry…trust… his kanji symbol lit up briefly before darkness consumed him.

"Shin wake up!" Kayla cried as she tried desperately to revive the waterlogged kitten. "Clara what do we do?"

"Here, let me see him." Clara said calmly as she sat next to Shin and gently began pressing on his chest, hoping he would cough the water out on his own. "Crap! It's not working…" she muttered under her breath as she bent down to begin mouth - to – mouth, then something happened. As soon as their lips met, Clara felt herself falling into darkness.

"Where am I?" she asked weakly as she tried to feel her way around in the dark, then suddenly she saw a flash of light blue run by her. "Cye is that you? Wait don't leave me here!"

Slowly the figure turned, but when she saw his face she realized that something was terribly wrong, "The Chosen One must die." Cye said as he raised his yari to eye level and prepared to release his sure-kill.

"I don't understand Cye… What's wrong?" Clara asked as she reached out to her brother, only to have an arrow pin her to wall of the dark cavern.

"The Phoenix Warrior of Hope must die." Rowen said as he slowly approached her with a solemn expression on his face.

"Phoenix Warrior?"

"For the sake of the future you must be destroyed." Slowly Clara looked up to see Ryo pointing his katana directly at her throat.

"You can't be serious…" she whispered quietly as another figure approached, holding his tetsubo in a defensive position.

"I'm afraid not…" Kento said without emotion as he stood with his tetsubo at the ready.

"This is for real, Clara. And you must be destroyed." Sage said as he stood over her with his no - dachi raised and ready to strike.

"But I'm your friend!" she cried passionately as the warriors vanished and she fell to her hands and knees sobbing, "WHY!"

"Clara wake up!"

"Wait…no. Please…please don't kill me." Clara murmured softly as she felt a warm tongue gently lick her forehead. Suddenly her eyes snapped open and she at up as she realized where she was, "What? What happened?"

"You passed out." Kayla said softly.

"I dreamed the guys were trying to kill me…they said 'For the sake of the future, the Phoenix Warrior of Hope must be destroyed'…" she said quietly as the tears silently ran down her face.

"MEOW!" Clara looked up to see Shin sitting in front of her with his head cocked to the side.

"You…trying to revive you started all this." Clara said softly as she gazed at the kitten for a moment as she tried to figure things out. "Who are you?"

The kitten made no response, but went over to the sand and began drawing something. When he was finished drawing, he sat down in front of his drawing and meowed loudly. As soon as she saw what the symbol was, Kayla dropped down to her knees and scooped the little kitten up in he arms.

"Oh Cye, it's you!" she cried joyfully as the little red-haired kitten kept licking her face. "But what happened to you? How did this happen?"

"Sometimes the answers aren't always clear," Clara said with a warm smile as she reached down and gently put a hand on Kayla's shoulder. "come on maybe Sage can help."

I hope so, Cye thought as he found himself being carried home. or I may be a cat forever!