Chapter 5 Dreams and weakness

Rowen had just sat down at the table with everyone else. He almost wished he were still asleep, almost being the key word. To sleep meant he would have to have the same nightmare that had been repeating itself over and over since about a week after Ryo left. He was getting tired of them.

"Hey have any of you been having nightmares, lately?" Rowen said it like it was no big deal just a conversation topic. There was a long pause before anyone answered.

"Yeah I have." answered Kento. Affirmations came from everyone at the table.

"In my nightmare, I'm a little boy, but it's not me. It's someone else. It's kind of like playing the role of someone I don't know. Do you know what I mean?" Rowen looked around the table, everyone understood. "The boy throws his arms up to block something and he screams…" Rowen trailed off.

"Yeah and then it's the same boy but this time he is older and it's the same way Rowen said being inside the boys head. It's almost the same thing that happened when he was younger but this time he doesn't throw his arms up or scream. He just stands there." Finished Kento

"But sometimes the older boy is somewhere real dark and keeps trying to build walls in his head to block a mouse." Added Cye "It makes no sense. I don't think it means anything."

"But we're all having the same dream. It has to mean something…"

Ryo POV

He wasn't sure how long exactly he had been in the house. He knew it had to have been a while, some of the bruises on his arms were starting to heal or at least the first layer of them was. It was something he remembered from when he was younger. He had gotten better at controlling this new power that he had some how acquired. He had taught himself to block the mouse and had been experimenting with the thoughts and feelings of the mouse. He felt confident that he would be able to block the thoughts of his friends if they became too overwhelming.

Mouse? Food I have Food Share?

It was hard to communicate with the mouse. Its brain worked more on pictures than words and Ryo hadn't figured out exactly how to talk to it, but he could sometimes get his point across.

Food Hungry Human safe unsafe has food

Ryo smiled as the mouse came close to him. It stopped and looked at him and then moved around to his back to eat the little piece of bread Ryo had in his hands. Now that Ryo had his mind back he wasn't sure that his body was going to be able to do anything. His hands had been tied the entire time he had been home and he hadn't been allowed to eat much. He knew when he came he had lost a lot of weight. He couldn't remember how often he had eaten when he was with the Ronins. He had given up trying to make sense of anything from those last few months with them. He remembered punching Cye and throwing him into the water but that was only vaguely and it seemed like it wasn't him that did it.

After his first week here his mother had grown tired of keeping him to herself. She told his dad. After that he was left alone during the days and then at night when his dad got home the beatings would start again. Ryo was ashamed of himself. He was supposed to be the leader of the Ronins, the bearer of the Inferno Armor and the warrior who defeated Talpa, but he didn't have his armor orb with him and he had been without enough food for so long, he wasn't even sure that if he had it he would be able to use it. He had become so weak he couldn't even use his ability over fire without the aid of his orb. He could barely stand and walking for long distances was out of the question. He wasn't sure if he ever managed to get out of the house how far he would be able to get before he collapsed.

When his father got home, Ryo would drag himself upstairs where he was expected to take the punishment for anything that went wrong during the day. He didn't even have the strength anymore to try and defend himself. Even if his hands were untied he wasn't sure if he could bring them up to block a blow. He was just so tired.