About a week after our confrontation with Shin, the three of us were healed enough to travel back down the mountain. My strength had returned mostly, and I felt different. Stronger, I suppose. My movements were more fluid, natural. My senses were keener. And my skills sharper. But as much as my physical strength had returned, I was still mentally drained. As soon as we left the core of the volcano and stepped into the blizzard outside, Touya's burns began to heal more efficiently. As we slowly made our way down, I contemplated what Risho's punishment would be. Deciding I didn't give a damn, I fell back on the snow. Smiling slightly up at the gray sky, I felt the snow lightly fall on my face, almost like Jin's feather light kisses... I glanced behind me slightly as Jin crouched down and leaned forward, his face nearly touching mine. "Tired?"
"Yeah." I closed my eyes, to emphasis my point.
I heard the snow crunch slightly as Jin kneeled, and then I was suddenly in the air. Eyes snapping open, I glanced at Jin, who was holding me in his warm, strong arms. I moved slightly closer to his bare chest. He grinned. Touya rolled his eyes.
"Wha' Touya? Ya wanna carry her?" Jin grinned.
Touya turned bright pink but kept his face expressionless. So... even after all the mating sessions the three of us had done while we were healing, he was still... prudish. Jin laughed and walked over to him, I glanced at Jin, he winked. I promptly groaned at the cheery expression on his face. Before I could say anything, he dropped me into the shorter Shinobi's arms.
"DAMMIT JIN!" I yelped as I closed my eyes tightly, expecting my backside to be reacquainted with the ground, the hard way. But I felt Touya's more slender arms catch me. I slowly opened my eyes. Touya glanced at me, his look clearly asking are you all right? Seeing my small, but affirmative nod, he glared up at Jin.
"And the point of that was...?" Touya asked, his voice thick with nerves.
Jin merely grinned and intertwined his fingers behind his head. "To get ya ta carry Rekka."
Looking extremely pleased with himself, he began to walk back towards the village. I moved as to get back on my feet, but Touya didn't let go. His grip, if anything, tightened slightly. I glanced up at him and his pure, blue eyes held mine. I relaxed and he easily ran after Jin with me in his arms.
Gama nervously looked back up the mountain, wishing the others would be back already. Risho and Bakken were getting even more intoxicated every day and were doing things in the motel room he'd rather not think about. He felt a slight draft as the door opened. Jin came in, followed by Touya, who was carrying Rekka. She appeared to be asleep. Gama got up and closed the door behind them, but before doing so, he quickly checked that Bakken and Risho were not in the vicinity. As he turned around, he saw Touya gently shake Rekka awake. Good. He needed to tell them now, before Risho came back. Bakken could be taken care of, if he did stumble in. Because chances were he'd be too drunk to realize what they were saying.
"Risho has entered us in the Dark Tournament."
Rekka's sleep-clouded eyes instantly cleared. "WHAT?" She stared at him.
Gama nodded. "He entered himself, Bakken, Touya, Jin and myself. You are not on the list."
"Go figure. He'll probably send someone after me while you guys are at the Tournament to get rid of me." Rekka sighed. "Vile, conniving, back-stabbing son of a bitch."
Jin's eyes darkened dangerously. His face turned to a scowl. Gama took a step back. Jin was generally easy going, but when you got him furious, and he meant really furious, it would be better if you were thousands of miles away. No one got away with threatening anyone he cared for.
"Tha' bastard."
Touya kept his face carefully expressionless, but the temperature in the room dropped about twenty degrees. And cold energy radiated off of him.
Gama shivered slightly. Rekka slowly leaned against the wall. "When is it?" She asked calmly, though her shaking indicated she was anything but.
"Two months." Was Gama's quick reply.
"Team Toguro will be there, won't they..." The Master of Make-up knew this was more of a statement than a question. So he did not reply. "And I suppose he won't be bringing a substitute then." He did not reply again. The answer was obvious. She sighed and closed her eyes.
A few minutes later, Risho and Bakken burst into the room. Rekka, who had thankfully fallen asleep, did not see what the rest of the guys saw. Touya fainted, Jin flat-out screamed and Gama fell back, in shock.
UGH. Did NOT need ta see that! I'll have nightmares for months! I still get the shivers from th' memory of seein' them naked... Argh... And tha' was a week ago! Touya isn't any better off. He has nightmares as well. Th' only good side ta all o' this is that Rekka is sharin' the futon wit' me an' Touya. Poor Gama, on th' other hand... Heh. He is proba'ly scarred fo' life. Ah well...
"Jin...?" My ears perked up as I snapped out of my thoughts an' I glanced at Touya.
"Can't sleep?" I asked him.
"How can I with that image in my head?" He asked, shudderin'.
I looked at Rekka as she moaned softly. Touya did as well, for she slept between us. Her sleep was disturbed, as if she could sense what we had to live through every night.
"She hasn't been sleeping well, either." Touya remarked quietly, gently brushin' a strand o' hair from her face.
"Agreed, so I'd say." I moved slightly closer to her, Touya followed my lead, for heat gave her some comfort, as we had found out while on the mountain. I shrugged. "Well, g'night, Touya." He nodded slightly an' settled back down on the futon. Lightly kissin' her forehead, I snuggled close to her. I was goin' to take any perks I could from this situation.
I watched them leave. The two months had flown by. Nothing had really happened, just training. Oh, and one or two excursions with Jin and Touya that turned into... I think you can guess what. And a week previously, Risho gave us the news about the Tournament. None of us were really surprised, though we acted otherwise. We had quickly packed and left. After our good byes, I watched them go. As they walked away, Touya turned and smiled slightly. Jin smiled and waved, laughing. I leaned agains the snow-covered boulder. Gama gave a slight nod. I waved back slightly as well. After they were out of sight, I turned South and ran. The journey that had taken the entire sect a few days to travel, I did in twelve hours. I could run for hours endlessly, and fast. I could cover a hundred miles in about fifteen minutes, depending on my physical condition and mood. I passed from the North in a few hours and was back in my homeland. I ran along the fertile ground, trees and green life sprouted from the ground, healthy and very much alive. I ran past the den of the wolf demons that lived in this area and were caretakers along with Vern, before he died. They considered me a 'pack-mate' of sorts. Knowing they'd be at the river at this time, I headed toward it. As much as I didn't want to talk to them at this time, I knew I had to at least tell them I was back, I had left with only a short notice.
"Rekka." I turned and came face to face with one of the hunters.
"Luki." I returned the greeting, and against all wolf-code formalities, hugged him. He returned it fully.
He pulled away slightly and gave me a long, hard stare, then burst out laughing and gave me another hug. "It's good to have you back, pack-sister."
"It is good to be back. I don't know for how long, but..." I let my sentence trail off. He nodded, then grinned, his canines over biting his lip.
"Come! The pups will be happy to see you." He shifted to wolf form and ran towards the pack, I followed. I smiled as I ran. That idiot. I knew that was his way of saying that he was happy to have me back here, even if only a short time.
"Rekka, follow me slowly, and keep your flames enclosed. Wolves do not care much for fire."
I had nodded and followed Vern into the forest. Easily running along, we came to a decent sized river. I could hear a waterfall a few hundred yards away, but the water in the wider, pool-like area we were at, was smooth and very slow moving.
"Vern." We both turned around and came face-to-face with a pack of wolf demons.
"Spke." Vern and the chief wolf, Spke, began to talk. I glanced about nervously, though I looked fairly calm.
"RAARH!" I glanced up just as one of the smaller, younger wolves tackled me in the water.
When I surfaced, I dunked the wolf under and started a full-fledged water fight. When we crawled back to the bank, the wolf that pushed me in grinned, his leaf-green eyes shining with laughter. He appeared to be about my age, eleven summers.
"I'm Luki, you are a good fighter."
I smiled at the compliment. "Rekka. You're not that bad, either." His grin widened.
I smiled at the memory. We'd been friends ever since. Spke had at one point wanted me to live with the pack, Vern and I were sorely tempted, but once you start Shinobi training, you cannot stop. Deserters are killed by their own master or former sect. So I continued and became Fire Master. Luki fell back beside me so we ran along, side by side. I glanced up at the clear, azure sky. I felt a throb in my heart, ruining the sense of peace. I sighed. The carefree Wind Master would've loved flying through the canyon... And Touya would have enjoyed meditating beneath the waterfall... I will just have to show them when they come back. But it is nice to be home.
