SR: Good grief! After a month and a half I have finally managed to update. Hopefully it was worth the wait though; it's my first of many fights in the story. Also, Johnny and Robert will both be taking parts in this chapter though I'm not sure if I got their characters right. Mrr, by the way it's summer vacation so I'll update a lot more

"M'lord your hardly in proper condition to be leaving the infirmary! I must insist that you return to your bed at once!" Tundra, who happened to be the main healer in the castle, trailed behind Kai who was simply ignoring her protests at him leaving her care so soon. "Prince Kai, you suffered some horrifying injuries yesterday. You are not in a fit condition to be moving around.

"Listen healer, I've got important matters to attend to and they can not be done from a bed. Now get back to your infirmary and leave me alone!" Kai growled. The minute he had set a foot out of the sick bay she had told him to get back in bed and frankly it was starting to tire him.

Tundra gave an angry hiss, which she quickly checked into a sigh. Best not to try his patience. Even though he was injured he could probably still severely hurt her. Turning on her heel she began marching back to her designated area her long green hair flying behind her.

The minute she'd turned the corner Kai let out a quick sigh of relief. Who'd that busy body think she was anyways? Telling him that he wasn't in good enough condition to walk around. A small smirk tugged at his lips. If whatever Kano had been reading last night had been accurate then he'd probably end up fighting as well.

Looking around at his surroundings the young noble realized that he had nearly arrived to his destination. That destination being his room. Reaching for the door handle he stopped abruptly and pressed his ear to the door. Voices, three or four of them at that! The only person who should be in his chambers was Rei and Kai highly doubted that Rei could speak with four different voices. The Prince's eyes narrowed dangerously and he threw the door open so hard that it was a wonder that it didn't smash clear through the wall.

"Who the hells in here?!" He demanded and then felt rather foolish when he noticed that besides Rei there was no one in the room. 'Funny,' He though 'I could've sworn that I heard other voices. Maybe the healer was right; I shouldn't be up yet. I'm hearing things...' It would likely have been left at that if it hadn't been for the guilty look on Rei's face.

"Eh, hello? Back so soon?" Rei inquired, wincing at the tone of guilt in his voice. Kai peered at him and then frowned.

"Yeah, was I interrupting something? You seem a little nervous..." Kai was now fair certain that the voices could not be written off to his imagination Rei was hiding something and it was his job to find out what.

"No!" Once again Rei cursed his own voice for betraying him. It was a fine time for him to forget all the things he learned while being a thief and whatnot. Taking a deep breath he forced a smirk onto his face, something that Kai couldn't stand with him.

Flashing Rei a murderous look Kai went about his business. He wasn't to worried over whatever it was Rei had been doing. Pausing slightly, he cast a quick glance to the window to make sure it was still locked. Seeing that the little gold hook was still in its place he began scouring the room for his scarf. He rather favored the long garment and wanted to put it back on as soon as possible.

"Tch, did you see where they put my clothes Rei?" Damn those healers! How come they needed him to wear white clothes while they were treating him anyways? What was wrong with his normal clothes?

"Um...in your wardrobe?" Rei guessed.

"That would seem rather likely..." Cursing his own stupidity he walked over to the massive piece of furniture and swung it's doors open. Apart from his wardrobe Kai also had a trunk in which he kept clothes which rested at the foot of his bed. Oddly enough, he also had a closet but that was kept for things he didn't want lying around his room such as weapons, some childhood toys, presents he didn't like and so on and so forth.

Removing his upper half from the inside of the wardrobe he cursed loudly several times. Where the hell were his clothes. Naturally he had other things he could wear but if he was going out to fight then he wanted what he was most comfortable in.

"Maybe they're in the trunk..." Crossing over to the aforementioned object he reached down for the lid and probably jumped and cleared a good four feet when Rei yelled.

"NO! They're not in there." Rei bounced up and tried to get over to Kai but the chain around his ankle prevented him from getting farther then a few feet.

"Well they're not in the wardrobe either now are they?" Scowling darkly at Rei, Kai threw open the trunk lid.

"Oh God..." Biting his lower lip in apprehension Rei watched as Kai swung open the trunk lid.

"ARGH!" Clutching his chest in fear of a cardiac arrest Kai tumbled backwards for several steps until he came to an ungraceful landing an his back-end. "God damn it! Tyson, what the hell are you doing in there?"

Slowly but surely Tyson crawled out of the large trunk. "Eh, hey there Kai. Already back in fighting condition?" Giving a sheepish smile, which wilted under Kai's icy glare he pointed quickly to the closet but didn't say a word. Stomping over to the closet Kai once again threw a pair of doors open and he once again nearly died of cardiac arrest.

"Max! Out! Now! Move!" The blond haired boy shot out of the closet, past Kai and pretty much-dived behind Tyson.

"We are in so much trouble!" He whispered to Tyson. And he was right!

"I want an explanation and I want it now!" Kai hissed, he was so close to losing his temper that he was willing for a second round with Kano.

"It's my fault! I was really shaken up by yesterday's episode and when Max and Tyson walked in this morning to fix up your room I asked them to stay and talk to me." The words poured out of Rei's mouth so fast that Kai had to ask him to repeat it again. All the while Max and Tyson nodded in agreement. Kai on the other hand wasn't sure what to believe. They had been talking sure enough but for his two friends to try and hide that fact meant that it was most likely not just your everyday chat.

"Tyson...why do you have your sword with you?" Now this, this was an odd sight and it also confirmed the fact that Tyson and Max weren't quite being honest with him. For Tyson, and Max Kai noted as he saw the wooden staff, to walk around armed was not a common occurrence. Neither did it often and only too their weapons when they planned on leaving the castle grounds for a quick walk.

"We were planning on going for a walk today after we tidied your room up a bit." Came Tyson's confident response.

Shaking his head Kai grabbed his two friends by their arms and proceeded to throw them out of the room. "I'll finish this later. Right now, I need to change into some decent clothes...you wouldn't happen to know where they are would you?"

"In the trunk, they're a little wrinkled from when I sat on them, sorry about that." Not waiting for Kai's response Tyson grabbed Max and made for the hills. "See ya later Kai."

"Tyson! You sat on my clothes!? My good clothes?!" Kais' hollers of rage were either unheard or unheeded by Tyson for he made no response and kept up his breakneck run.

Following Tyson and Max...

"C'mon Maxie we've got to get going on Kano's going to get there before us." Tyson went over to his companion and helped him with saddling his horse. "We've got to help Rei and maybe if we get to his brother then he can help."

"I don't know about this Tyson, we're crossing the paths of both Kai and Kano. If anyone finds out about this we'll be hanged faster then you can say-"

"Prince Robert and Johnny?!" Tyson questioned.

"Well, that's not exactly what I was going to say but it's the same idea I guess."

"No Maxie, it's Robert and Johnny, over there with Kano." Pointing over to the trio who were huddled in a group a distance away. Gritting his teeth Tyson half-threw Max up onto his horse. "We're going and we're going now. If Kano's got those two coming along for the ride then we better move and fast." Vaulting up onto his horse Tyson clicked the reins and took off with Max in close pusuit.

Kano, Robert and Johnny

"Well I'm fair glad you two decided to come and pay a visit. I'm going after a group of outlaws today and I could use your help in catching them." Kano said to his two friends. Both were from a distant land and had probably taken a good month to cross the lands from their homes to here. As usual, both had impeccable timing with their arrival. Then again, Robert had impeccable everything...

"Kano, those two soldiers just left the stables so we should probably get on the move." Johnny gestured to the stables and indeed, Tyson and Maxie had left.

"Right let's go." Kano said and began to cross the terrain to the stables.

Back to Kai and Rei

"Where you going anyways Kai?" Rei asked as Kai pulled his shirt over his head. The Prince gave Rei a haughty glance and did not deign him with a response. Better that Rei knew nothing about what was going on. The neko- jinn however, would not drop the matter

"For a walk? A ride on one of the horses? Just around the castle?"

"Will you just shut up! Where I go and why is none of your business or concern." Fastening his sword belt across his chest and around his back he aimed a random kick at Rei and was rewarded with loud curses from the half- cat. "Now, I'll be back later and if Tyson and Max come around don't you talk to them." That said Kai ran out of the room and made for the stables using every short cut he knew to do it faster then usual.

Arriving at the stables Kai quickly noted several horses were missing. This was not a public stable and only the Royal Family, high ranked soldiers and special guests were permitted to use the horses from here. 'Odd,' he thought 'Who's using all the horses?' Not stopping to answer his own question he mounted a horse and took off not aware that he was following in the footsteps of others who just recently done the same thing.

Tala, Ozuma and Set

Tala was breathing heavy, he and Set were fighting but neither had yet to land a proper blow. Set was using a well-crafted knife and Tala favored his sword in this particular fight.

"Okay, Captain, what's this all about?" Set pronounced the word Captain as if it left a bad taste in his mouth.

"You lied to me Set! Your no prince, you're an outlaw." Tala shouted and he could feel his temper rising quickly. Set narrowed his eyes in blatant anger.

"Fine, what if I am. It's not like you're going to tell anybody." He smirked and sheathed his knife "In fact, you're going straight back to camp and you'll be lucky if we don't tie you to the tree again."

"And how, oh great Set, do you plan on making that work?" Tala retorted. No sooner had the words left his mouth then did he feel a weight hit his back causing him to tumble forward. Just as he was getting up he once again felt a weight on his back causing him to fall flat on his stomach. Ozuma had arrived.

"Hey Captain, how are you this fine morning?" He teased and tugged on several strands of Tala's hair.

Preparing to launch into a verbal tirade at Ozuma he was cut off by Set's knife under his chin. When'd he unsheathe that thing again? "Now Tala, will you be returning your lazy ass back to camp or would you rather I kill you here and now?"

"Ha! You're not going to kill anyone Set!" Alas and alack fate had it in for Set because here came Mariah. Not having been given the proper time to react he never had the chance to dodge her punch, which caught him square in the stomach.

Tala reached up and yanked a slightly shocked Ozuma off his back. "I'm gonna kill you! Righting himself and winging his sword Tala went after Ozuma and managed to get a good tear in his side before the stunned boy regained his senses in which he promptly dove into Mariah, knocking her down in the process.

Mariah jumped back up glaring firely and jumped to Tala's side while Ozuma scrambled over to that of Set's. The outlaw leader whispered something to Ozuma before they both took off in the opposite direction with Tala and Mariah hard on their heels.

Elsewhere

Kai squinted into the distance, right on the boundaries of the forest there seemed to be some sort of commotion. Getting closer Kai realized that it was Tyson, Max, Kano, Robert and Johnny. 'What the hell?' He thought. What were they doing out there. Then the answer struck him, Kano had been the one to read the note and had said the previous night that he was coming, Tyson had also been in the room and apparently not been asleep, talk about small miracles. As for Johnny and Robert, they were friends of Kano and had probably tagged along for the ride. The booming voice of his brother threw his attention back to the verbal conflict

"I would suggest you two soldiers head straight back for the castle, that's an order!" He snarled.

"As if! We've got just as much right to be here as you do." Tyson retorted

"Are all your soldiers insubordinate as these two or are they just special." Johnny sneered.

Now that he was only around twenty feet away Kai could plainly see that everyone, except Johnny, had their weapons out and in offensive positions. Johnny's battle-axe was still firmly strapped to his horse.

"Oh lovely, my brothers here as well!" Kano threw his arms up in the air in a mock form of joy "Tell me Kai, why are you here?"

"It has something to do with your late night visitor Kano." He replied a small smirk playing across his lips. Maxi's eyes went wide.

"Late night visitor?" He narrowed his eyes coyly, which was something rather odd from the cheerful blond. "Was she pretty?" Kano sputtered and changed several different shades of red. Things probably would have gotten a good deal more physical right there if crashing from the woods had not caught everyone's attention.

Out came Set, Ozuma, Tala and Mariah.

SR: Mwahaha, sorry about the cliffhanger but if you review I promise that I'll have the next chapter up by tomorrow. If you don't review? I just might put you in my story. Particularly between Tala and Set when there ready to have a go at it. One more thing, I need a beta-reader so...Puts up a 'Beta-Reader wanted.' Sign.