Chapter 22

Takehiro

I heard Ax shout those words. The three plates that were protecting us from an evil look-alike Kaoru are the Shields of Karine. I'd never expected them to be called that.

I only found out I had this power a while ago. Back when we discovered another Yeerk Pool underground and things didn't go too well, we tried to escape, which Rachel had pulled a Dracon Beam at the underground ceiling, telling us to morph into moles. I didn't react in time and was about to be buried alive when I discovered my power. It helped me stop the cave-in before I could morph into a mole and join the others at the surface. Since then I never told anyone or showed anyone about this power.

Until now...

I turned back to Kaoru while holding the Shields of Karine. "Kaoru, are you alright?"

She didn't speak. Just stared at me. Well, I knew that would be her reaction if she saw the Shields.

She was all covered with wounds and loosing blood fast. She gripped her left arm, probably broken. Quickly, Jake came to her side, shocked to see her in this condition. I turned back to the fighter.

That fighter, who looked actually like Kaoru but different, just smiled coldly. Just like how Kaoru was back in the warehouse.

"Okay, I'm seeing double," Marco said. He rubbed his eyes, hoping he was imagining. But when he opened again, he knew he wasn't. 

[ That cannot be Kaoru, ] Ax said, his tone changing with woe. [ She isn't human. ]

"Oh. So what was your first clue then, Ax-man?" Marco uttered.

"Who are you?!" I demanded.

She just smiled. Then I realized something. The only one who was behind all this could be...

"Crayak! Come out, you monster! You did this to my kid sister, didn't you?!"

"Did?" the crafty voice that we all hated to hear spoke.

In an instant, Crayak was hovering above the fighter. Not alone. The Drode was with him.

"I was merely trying to help her," Crayak said coldly. "Until she was the one who refused my offer."

"Offer? You're trying to kill her!" I shouted.

"So overprotected you are, Takehiro of Shielded Soul," the Drode snickered.

"What if I am? She's my kid sister!"

"A brother and a sister born of the same blood," Crayak mumbled. "But sometimes, they can be enemies to each other."

"What is that suppose to mean?" I yelled.

"She has been keeping secrets from you. All of you." That voice came from the fighter. We all stared at her. "Her visions... She believed they were nothing more than dreams. So they meant nothing to her. If she had told you the vision, your friend, Cassie would still be alive."

"Shut up!" I screamed. I didn't want her to talk about my sister.

"Also, she had that vision...of your father leaving."

I went blank. She...had a vision of our dad leaving. She never told me that.

"If she had told you, you would have been able to stop him from leaving. But she didn't," she said coldly.

I lowered the shields down. For once in my life, I was shocked. The fighter wasn't lying. If Kaoru had told me about the vision, we would still have dad. But she was only five then. How could she have known?

"So the only person you should be blaming is your own sister," the fighter said.

"Shut up!" I demanded angrily. "The only person I blame the most is that idiot who called himself my father!"

"...I'm sorry..."

I turned back to her whisper. We all did. And when we did, we saw Kaoru. She was crying.

"...It's my fault Cassie died. I'm sorry I never told anyone...about the visions... I should have... I'm sorry..." she whimpered.

"But you didn't," the fighter hissed coldly with her grin. "You are nothing more than a threat to them. As always and will forever be. An unforgivable sinner."

Kaoru grounded her teeth as she cried. Jake started to look a little shocked. Marco glanced at her, not believing his ears. Ax stared at her with four worried eyes.

I looked painfully at her. She was crying so badly. 

"...I forgive you." Kaoru looked up to Jake pleadingly as he spoke those words. I was surprised when he said that. "You couldn't have known this would have happened."

"...But..." Kaoru mumbled.

"How can you say that?" the fighter barked when she heard this. "She was the one who led your friend to death. She cannot be forgivable."

"She can," Jake said. "It wasn't her fault."

He sighed and buried his face in his hands until finally he looked back at Kaoru. "I believe you, Kaoru. It wasn't your fault Cassie's gone."

I could have sworn I saw a tear on his cheek. Then Kaoru sobbed.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." she went on crying.

I turned back to the fighter. I was filling up with hatred. This all happened because of that fighter. This was all because of that sword.

"I won't forgive you," I spat at the fighter.

If you wish to protect them...

"Neither will I forgive you, Crayak..."

Then awaken us, the Shields of Karine.

"For hurting my sister..."

We shall help you...

"For saying that it's her fault..."

To shield all that you have come to protect.

"And for making her cry!"

In that moment, I felt a power waking up inside of me. The ground suddenly trembled. Not to mention the air became cold. And lighting suddenly lit up in the sky.

Then the most unexpected thing happened.

Three towers suddenly burst from the ground and swirled around like a cyclone. They each took form like dragons. Each was made of a part of nature. One was entirely made of rock. Its head formed into tresses of jagged rocks. It had two beady eyes and a lot of teeth. The second one was made of icicles in the shape of a mutated snake. Its spiked icicles flicked up and hissed loudly. The last one was a swirling column of electricity. It was like the other dragons but more fierce. They all were like any eastern dragon you would see in books, but they were somewhat like alien monsters.

And they were powerful.

I will protect everyone!

I suddenly began changing. This wasn't a morph but something different.

The string that tied my ponytail suddenly broke off and my short hair lengthened as long as two thirds of my body. It was then a metal ring materialized and clipped my hair into a ponytail again. My skin changed from a beige colour to a ghostly white shade. My ears pointed sharply like that of what you would call an elf.

Unexpectedly, a suit of armor materialized over my body. It was like a karate uniform, only the shirt was long like a coat. Its style was bizarre and made of cloth yet unbreakable metal. I felt strong-plated boots materialize around my feet and gauntlets that looked like durable appeared around my hands. A black stripe was suddenly drawn on the left cheek of my face. A small pad-shaped square appeared on my right cheek. To complete my transformation, a thin circular headgear locked around my head.

The swirling cyclone soon stopped and everything was calm. I held back the Shields of Karine. I felt the power in them.

I glared up to the fighter, Crayak and the Drode.

I was ready to fight.

"W-W-What?" I heard Marco utter shockingly and fall on his rear.

I knew they were all staring at me from behind, shocked. I was even surprised this armor just came to me. What was more surprising was that I knew what to do next.

Then I heard Erek shout from behind me. "It's impossible! He's has the Jauria Knight Armor?!"

Was that what the armor was called? Maybe. But I didn't have time for his lecturing. I had to fight.

"No!" Crayak shouted, probably shocked to see the dragons eyeing him. "You... You were not supposed to exist!"

The dragons were the Guardians of the three Shields of Karine. Or so that's what 'they' told me. Each had a name. They told me they each came from a different planet.

The dragon made of electricity was called Juretoji. The ice dragon said it was called Plutium, And the last one, the earth dragon, its name was Saturain.

"Is that so? Funny, I don't remember being non-existent, do you, Plutium?" Juretoji asked in a harsh voice.

"No," Plutium said in a womanly voice. "I believe we were sleeping instead."

"We have awakened as the same as the other Guardians of Karine have," Saturain spoke like a leader. "It has been long since we were called by our pervious master. Now..."

Saturain gazed down at me. I remembered seeing his expression before back in the cave-in, that time when my powers 'woke' up.

"What shall you do?" Saturain asked.

I glared at the fighter. "I'll fight."

"You wish to protect an outsider? How pathetic is that?" she laughed.

"You're the only one who's pathetic!" I yelled.

"Then say goodbye." The fighter suddenly dashed towards me, drawing the sword up high. She charged in incredible speed, pointing the sword at me. I held up the shields and as expected, it blocked the attack.

She changed her stance and continuously attacked like a wild animal. But the shields stayed strong, unbreakable as I took steps backwards. This went on for a while. Then I charged, pushing her away with the shields. I drove her down to the ground with the massive strength of the shields. They were more powerful in both offense and defense!

I drew back, ready for the next move. Weakly she got to her feet, but she was still smiling slyly. I had to be cautious.

Instantly, she levitated and dashed towards me, seizing the sword. Quickly, I gathered up the power and this time, the dragons came to me.

They encircled in front of me, creating a shield. It hardened like rock and ice and was electrified by the voltage of Juertoji's jolts. Like a gunshot, the power fired from the shield and spurted at the fighter, spearing her side.

She fell on her knees in pain. Her side was scorched. It was then that the three Guardians were gone but I knew they were not gone forever.

Then her gaze turned away. I followed it.

To my friends far away from us.

No.

To my sister who sat there with wide eyes.

"No matter," the fighter suddenly spoke. "She won't be protected for any longer."

I knew the truth. But it was then I was easily distracted by her threat. She suddenly disappeared. I had thought she was after my sister but then she reappeared in front of me and punched me, aiming at my stomach. The power of her punch was so intense, it drove me across the battlefield. I came into contact to a building, feeling the concrete breaking behind my back. I fell down on my knees. I was expecting all my bones shattered but only I suffered a rib.

I watched her turn away and dashed towards my friends. Her speed has increased suddenly.

There was no way the Animorphs could possibly stop her! They didn't have the power to fight against her.

Out of the blues, Kaoru quickly got to her feet and ran a few meters away from the others before anyone could stop her. She held up her good arm, like she was defending. I saw tears still blurring her eyes and her teeth grounding.

"It's me you want!" she yelled. "SO COME AND GET ME!!!"

I froze in fear. She was going to sacrifice her life for the Animorphs. I quickly got to my feet and took a leap into the air. I was suddenly levitating. Like I had wings on my boots. I didn't stop to think why. I soared fast like a goshawk. Faster than the fighter. I flew past the fighter and I stretched out my arms. I grabbed Kaoru in my arms.

I felt the sword slash my back. I fell, bringing Kaoru with me. I saw my own blood dripping everywhere. We skidded across the ground, my back hitting the floor. It hurt so badly.

I managed to get up and look down at my sister. She moaned as she held her broken arm but stared up at me with worried eyes.

"Kaoru, are you alright?" I shouted.

Before she could answer that, her eyes suddenly went wide. I had wondered why.

First I felt sudden pain coming from my back and out of my chest. I looked down where I found a cold blade through me.

And before I knew it, I was dead.

*****

John and Tigerlily-2250 – Well, here's the next chapter you've been waiting for! Hope you liked it. Thanks for reviewing!

Gilluin – Looks like we have something in common. We have never read the Andalite Chronicles and can't find it in every single library. And of course not, history won't repeat itself like Elfangor and Loren. The future will look bright for Ax and Kaoru. Depends of the situations that's gonna happen for these two. For eg, Ryo-Mew-Ki has a major crush on Ax and will do ANYTHING to get him. Which will anger Kaoru and she might likely to strangle her. :P Thanks for the lovely review!