Chapter 2 Ryo leaves

Cye couldn't believe that everyone had decided to go on a picnic in the middle of winter, but here they all were in a park near Mia's house having a picnic. He looked around to see what everyone was doing and wasn't surprised at what he saw. Rowen was sitting under one of the trees reading some huge book. Kento was trying to get Yulie to play a game of soccer with him. Sage was meditating and Mia was trying to get Kento to stop playing and help her unload the jeep, which left only Ryo to find.

"Hey have any of you seen Ryo?"

"No and who cares!" was Kento's reply

Cye knew that no one else was going to voice another opinion. Over the last few months Ryo had been pulling away from the group, spending more and more time by himself. At first everyone had worried about him but as he began snapping at anyone who asked if he was ok or even tried to talk to him, everyone stopped asking and attempted to avoid him as much as possible. Cye got up to look for Ryo since it seemed that no one else was going to.

"Ryo! Where are you!" Cye had wandered pretty far down one of the nearby hiking trails and had yet to see Ryo. He was beginning to get worried. "Ryo!" As he came around the next bend in the trail he caught a flash of red out of the corner of his eye and there sat Ryo. "Oh God! Ryo don't move."

Ryo was standing on a frozen lake, but the ice wasn't very thick. There were holes all over the place, in one a lone duck was trying to catch a fish. As Cye edged closer to Ryo he saw the same glazed look on his face that had become almost permanent and he realized that Ryo was mumbling constantly. He could just barely make out what he was saying.

"Swim, Hungry, Food, Swim, Food, Hungry" Ryo just kept repeating the words over and over and began to walk farther onto the ice.

"RYO NO!" Cye ran towards Ryo and reached out to grab him, but to his surprise Ryo screamed and punched Cye and then pushed him into the water. Cye easily swam back to the surface and pulled himself up on to the bank. Then was almost hit by the duck flying towards him. When he had recovered from the shock of the duck and the dip in the cold water, he looked to see where Ryo was. Ryo was back on the bank and was laughing as hard as he could at Cye.

"Don't you know its not the right time of the year to be swimming in the lake and then the duck…"Ryo trailed off. He was no longer laughing. The looks that Cye were sending him, full of anger and contempt caused him to stop. "What's wrong Cye?"

"YOU, you're what's wrong! What if it had been someone else that had come out there to get you? If it had been anyone but me that water would have Killed them! YOU DIDN"T EVEN LOOK, RYO! You could have killed someone and now you just sit there laughing. I can't believe you. First you pull away from us all and now this. Maybe you should just go back to where ever the hell you came from and leave us all alone."

"What do you mean Cye? You and the guys don't want me here anymore?"

"Yes that is exactly what I am saying! So just leave! I was the only one left that was willing to come and look for you when you disappeared and you throw me in the lake for my effort. Well just get lost! The guys won't miss you and neither will I!"

Cye turned and started walking away. Under normal circumstances he might have felt bad saying what he did, but he was soaking wet, cold, and felt totally justified in telling Ryo what everyone thought.

"Cye wait. I am …"

"Ryo don't even bother coming back. Just leave."

"Fine if everyone wants their leader to leave then I will!"

Cye didn't even look back when he heard Ryo running in the opposite direction from the picnic and the rest of the guys.

Ryo's POV

The headache was back again and this time worse than ever before. He could barely hear Cye talking to him but he knew Cye was angry with him. Cye's anger had become like a searing flame in his mind burning everything it touched. Then the anger turned to hate and all Ryo could feel was Cye's anger and hatred. He was having problems finding his own feelings they were so jumbled up and lost inside of Cye's. He only caught bits and pieces of what Cye was saying. He knew that Cye wanted him to leave and that the rest of the guys supported the idea. He didn't know how he knew he just knew. Suddenly he could hear what Cye was saying and it seemed too loud like it was echoing inside his head. Then he realized that he was hearing it inside his head and that what he was hearing in his head was a couple of words ahead of Cye's lips. It was like he was hearing Cye's thoughts.

"Cye wait. I am…"

"Ryo don't bother coming back just leave."

Something inside Ryo snapped. He wasn't sure what it was but he knew that he had to get away and get away fast. He had to be going crazy. He was hearing thoughts and now Cye was telling him to leave. No it wasn't just Cye. He could feel through the bond with the other Ronin Warriors and echo of the same things Cye had said. He was truly unwanted here. They wanted him to leave.

"Fine if everyone wants their leader to leave then I will!"

Ryo turned and ran. He didn't know where he was going, but he had to get away from all these feelings and thoughts that didn't belong to him. Over the last few months it became increasingly hard for him to be anywhere near his friends. Some times when they were close to him the headache would become so painful that he just wanted them to go away. It had caused him to hurt their feelings on many occasions but he couldn't really remember what it was he had said or to who. Everything that had happened the last few months had blurred together to the point that he couldn't separate reality from his dreams. The headaches had gotten worse. He thought maybe he had talked to Sage or tried to but it could have been a dream.

Ryo was loosing his grip on reality. There were just too many voices in his head saying too many different things. The only thought that came through was that he had to go home. He would be safe from the voices at home. Memories of his childhood surfaced, his mother dieing, having to leave the mountains and move to the city with his father, and then a long period of black space where he didn't remember anything. He thought briefly of the blank space but something told him he didn't want to remember