Chapter 12 Realization and surprise
When Sage opened his eyes he saw that he was standing on a glowing red path. It was easily seen in the darkness that surrounded him. He looked around to see if he could see the others. It didn't take him long to find them. They were slowly moving towards him from separate paths. He could tell by their faces that none of them knew where they were.
Sage had his suspicions though. When he had been brought here, he was sure that he felt Ryo surrounding him. He suspected that they might all somehow have been pulled into Ryo's mind.
"Sage have you seen Ryo? We're all here except for him." Asked Cye
"I haven't seen him either." Sage didn't want to tell them what he suspected. He wasn't sure how they would react. Besides it wasn't like he could explain to them how Ryo had managed to get them here. He couldn't even explain it himself.
"I think what we should be worrying about is, where are we?" Rowen always cut right to the point. Right now Sage almost hated him for this quality. He knew that Kento would now start asking questions and then they would ask him. He refused to tell them what he thought, until he had further proof.
"Sage…did you…ah…know that you're…glowing?" Whatever Sage was expecting from Kento this wasn't it. Everyone turned to look at Sage with curious eyes. Sage looked down at himself as well. He gasped in surprise. He was in fact glowing a faint shade of green. When he looked up he could almost see halos of color surrounding the other ronins.
"All of you are glowing slightly too." Everyone looked down and by their surprised looks Sage knew that they could see the glow as well.
"This is weird." Stated an amazed Kento
"What do we do now?" asked Cye
Everyone looked to Sage to answer. Somehow he had become temporary leader in Ryo's absence. He wasn't sure how it had happened because usually Rowen took that position. He sighed. How was he supposed to know what to do? Maybe they should all just stay here and see what happens before trying to venture onto the glowing red path.
Follow the path. There are things that you must see.
Sage jerked his head around trying to find the location of the voice. It was the same voice he had heard telling them that they should look in the package. He still didn't know who the voice belonged too, but it seemed familiar in a way.
"I think we should follow the path." Sage was surprised to hear Kento answering Cye's question. It was just like before. When Sage had heard the voice saying that the package was important everyone had suddenly thought that the package was important. It just didn't make since.
No one voiced a separate opinion so they all set off down the glowing path. They hadn't gone far, when Sage's suspicion was proved to be true. Ahead of them, there was Ryo but it wasn't the Ryo they knew. It was Ryo as a three year old.
"That's Ryo isn't it?" Rowen looked at everyone to see if anyone disagreed. No one did. "But that can't be. How can he be a toddler again?" Rowen looked at Sage as if he should know something about what was going on. He knew he was going to have to say something now.
"Wait Kento don't!" Sage turned to see what Cye was yelling about. Kento was reaching toward the little version of Ryo. Then there was a flash of light.
They were no longer on the glowing path, but in a valley surrounded by mountains. In front of them the three-year-old Ryo was playing happily with a butterfly. He was chasing after it with his hands outstretched, making small baby noises. Sage laughed as he watched the boy play. He could hear the other Ronins laughing as well.
Suddenly the boy stopped playing and looked up towards one of the mountain paths. They could feel the fear radiating off Ryo in waves. Sage made a move to comfort him but discovered that he couldn't move. Two older children came down off the path.
Ryo froze. They could feel his confusion as to what to do. A part of him wanted to run, while another wanted to stay and fight. The little boy just couldn't sort himself out enough to know what he wanted to do, so he just stood there.
"Well if it isn't the elder's new favorite." Sneered a red headed young boy
"Come on Will, leave the kid alone. He's only a baby." Pleaded a black haired girl.
"No! If he is supposed to be so important and powerful, then he should be able to take anything I can dish out." Will slowly moved towards Ryo. The black haired girl ran back towards the trail. They could tell that she was going to go and get help, but they knew that no help would come in time for the little Ryo.
They all moved as one when they saw the boy raise a fist to hit Ryo, but once again they couldn't move. Ryo fell backwards to avoid getting punched. Will looked at him and seemed to change his mind about something. They all were relieved when they saw Will turn away from him. They thought it was over but Will turned around and killed the butterfly that Ryo had been playing with.
They could feel the little boy's heart breaking with his first experience of death. They could feel his pain. That was when they realized that by killing the butterfly, Will had done something far worse to Ryo than if he had hit him. Ryo had connected himself to the butterfly and when the butterfly died, Ryo had felt it. They all wished now more than ever that they could move. They couldn't stand to see the baby Ryo crying.
Suddenly they felt something change inside Ryo. It was as if his pain over the loss of the butterfly had caused a door to open. They watched as a white light enveloped his body and dirt and wind began to swirl around him. Sage watched closely as Ryo reached out towards the butterfly and touched it gently with his fingers. The butterfly began to move again. They were amazed at what the little boy was doing but they were also worried. Sage could feel the huge amount of energy the boy was pouring out of himself and into the butterfly. Sage heard one of the Ronins gasp as the butterfly flew out of Ryo's hand. Then just as if the door had been closed, the light disappeared and Ryo collapsed to the ground.
The scene was growing dim, as adults began swarming around the young Ryo. Everyone opened their eyes to find that they were back on the glowing path.
"What was that!" yelled a confused Kento
"I think that was a memory of Ryo. But how can that be possible?"
Sage found himself answering Rowen without much thought. "I think that somehow we got pulled into Ryo's head and these are his memories." Everyone looked at him like he was nuts. Sage felt his face turning red but he refused to back down.
"How is that possible? We couldn't be inside his head. We wouldn't fit." Kento was trying to break the tension by being funny but no one was laughing.
"I think that Ryo has become some sort of telepath and maybe an empath. When I tried to reach his mind earlier to see if he was ok, all I found were walls blocking me. I thought it was strange because only people with my gifts can create barriers as strong as the ones in Ryo's mind." Sage was talking faster as things began to click in his mind. " He doesn't have full control of his ability yet. It must have just started developing over the last few months. That must be why he was zoning out when he was around us and why he kept pushing us away." Sage looked up at the Ronins and looked each in the eye before saying what he knew had happened. "We were hurting him. He didn't understand what was happening to him and we…we were hurting him by our very presence." Sage had never felt so close to crying in front of his friends before in his life. When he looked up, he saw that the others were looking the same as he felt.
It was not all your fault Ronins. I too played a part in what happened to Ryo.
Everyone looked around startled. They had heard that voice inside their heads. Everyone knew that it was possible for that to happen because of the bond that they all shared. Occasionally a person's thoughts would seep through but usually it was just emotions and even then it had to be an extreme situation for it to happen. This voice though was different. None of them knew whom it belonged to or how it had gotten in their heads.
"Who ever that was show yourselves!" yelled Kento
"Oh yeah Kento like that's really going to work." Replied Rowen
I am over here.
They could see now who the voice belonged to. To say the Ronins were surprised would be an understatement. They had turned expecting to see maybe a minion of Talpa or at least a person, what they saw caught them totally by surprise.
Whiteblaze was slowly coming along the path behind them. He was glowing like they were, only brighter. The whole area seemed to be reacting to his presence. The road was glowing a brighter red and the darkness was receding some. For a few minutes everyone just stood and stared. They were too astonished to voice any opinions or thoughts. It was Sage who finally broke the silence.
"How did we get here?" Everyone could hear laughter in response to Sage's question.
Of all the questions you could have asked that is your first one. I was expecting something like Wow Whiteblaze you can talk, or maybe something along the lines of are we loosing or minds. Whiteblaze stopped talking because he found Sage's question so funny that he couldn't stop laughing before starting to talk to them again on a more serious note. Ryo brought you here by accident. He didn't want any of you finding out a secret of his so he reacted in the same way a cornered animal does: without conscious thought.
"He did this because he didn't want us finding out he was abused? Why? I mean its not like we would abandon him…" Rowen trailed off. He realized that was exactly what they had done. They had abandoned him twice. Ryo had no reason to trust them anymore.
It wasn't exactly your fault when you forced Ryo to leave the first time. I played a part in that.
The Ronins stared at Whiteblaze like he had grown horns or something. How could he have played a part in their actions when they didn't even know that he could talk like this until a few minutes ago. Whiteblaze feeling their confusion continued.
I exaggerated your feelings. I took what all of you were feeling in small amounts and magnified it. All of you did have some animosity towards Ryo but it wasn't to the degree that I forced it to be at. I needed Ryo to leave and go back home.
"You mean that you made us want Ryo leave, JUST SO HE COULD GO BACK TO HIS ABUSIVE PARENTS?" Sage was yelling at Whiteblaze. The others were glaring angrily at him.
I didn't know that they were abusive. Ryo has already forgiven me for what I have done. He understood my reasons and he wasn't angry because he was forced to leave by his friends.
Everyone could feel their anger slipping away. If Ryo had managed to forgive Whiteblaze for what he had done then they at least could try too. They owed that much to Ryo.
We have to find Ryo now. He is some where in this place. He is the only way that any of you will be able to get back to your own bodies.
"You mean the real Ryo is in here? How are we supposed to find him? This place is huge." Said Cye
We have to follow this trail. It should eventually lead to Ryo. I only ask that you don't touch anymore of the memory Ryos. Ryo has some painful memories that he doesn't want to relive because one of us accidentally triggered it. Whiteblaze glared at Kento while he was saying this.
"What? Anyone could have done it. I mean I was just curious." Everyone started walking on the trail leaving Kento to catch up, still trying to convince them that it wasn't really his fault.
Ryo POV
Ryo sat huddled a little ways off the glowing red path. He didn't know what to do. His powers had reacted by themselves when he realized that the Ronins were going to find out, and they had brought him here. He knew that he was somewhere inside his own mind, buried beyond reach from the outside world. He didn't want to leave. He wasn't sure he could face them if they knew, their pity, their sympathetic looks, and their loss of faith in his strength. He just couldn't take that. He sat with his arms wrapped protectively around his knees and his body was shaking. Distantly he could tell that he was dangerously cold, but it seemed so far away. He didn't want to leave this place. He was safe here. No one would find him.
Ryo closed his eyes. His body continued to shake.
Ronins POV
"I think I see him!" yelled Rowen
"I think that might be another memory Rowen." Replied Sage
They had passed Ryo during many different stages of his life. Some of the memories were happy while others were obviously unhappy memories. They had seen one that Sage assumed had to be the death of Ryo's mother. They saw Ryo standing next to the body of a young woman. His eyes so full of pain and suffering that they sped up in attempt to get away from those all to expressive eyes. They saw at one point, Ryo covered in what appeared to be black soot with an empty hollow look in his eyes. This was the Ryo that they were beginning to recognize.
When they had first met Ryo, he was easily scared and avoided touch at all costs. His eyes were dull and empty. They had taken him under their wing when he had fist shown up. It was strange to think about. When they first met Ryo they felt an overwhelming urge to protect him, to bring him out of the shell that he had created around himself, and now he was their leader. He was protecting them.
We're getting closer. I can feel him now.
As the Ronins came around a bend in the trail they saw Ryo. They knew that it was the real Ryo because this image of Ryo was different. It was glowing a dull and lifeless gray. Everyone stopped walking. They didn't know what to do or say now that they had found Ryo. Only Whiteblaze continued walking.
Ryo, you can't stay here. Your body is dying outside of this place and no one is there to help you.
Ryo didn't respond. He didn't even acknowledge Whiteblaze's presence.
You brought them all here. If you die now without getting them back to their own bodies they will die too.
The Ronins took this statement as a hint to head towards Ryo. As they approached, Ryo looked up at them, his eyes showing a dull pain at what they had done. Kento, Sage, and Rowen looked down at their feet. They couldn't stand to face Ryo right now, not after what they had done. Cye was the only one who was able to look directly at Ryo.
"I am sorry for what I did to you when we were at the lake. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. I owe you a huge debt of gratitude for saving my life today." Said Cye
Ryo slowly raised his head to look at the bandage over Cye's head. Cye understood what Ryo was trying to ask.
"Its not a big deal, only a slight concussion. I'll live." Ryo nodded and slowly laid his head back down on his knees.
Sage came forward now and with him the remaining Ronins. They crowded around Sage trying to draw on his courage because at that moment neither Ronin could stand to even think about what they had done to Ryo.
"Ryo I'm….We're sorry. We didn't know what was going on at the time. All we could see was that you had attacked Cye at the lake and now it appeared you were doing it again. We reacted without thinking and for that we are sorry." Kento and Rowen nodded their heads in agreement and then, realizing that with his head down Ryo couldn't see them nodding, mumbled their own apologies.
Ryo wasn't sure what he felt or if he felt anything at all. His whole body felt numb and it was getting harder for him to focus on what was going on around him. He could feel himself slipping.
"Ryo please don't do this. We don't want to live with the guilt of your death on our hands. Please Ryo." Rowen was pleading with their leader. They could all feel Ryo fading and were trying to get him to fight again.
"We know about what happened to you when you were nine. Your doctor sent us the tape. Ryo we already know. We accept it. It's not going to affect how we feel towards you. Lets just forget about everything that has happened and start over. OK?" Cye was pleading as well.
Ryo could feel something reaching for him. It was warm and full of love. Ryo smiled blankly as his eyes began to close. The light and warmth reminded him of home.
"Home?"
Everyone leaned in closer trying to hear what Ryo was saying. They were waiting to see if he was going to say anything else to them or if that was going to be the last words they heard from their leader.
"Yeah Ryo, we'll all go home and then you'll feel better. Everything will go back to the way it was before. Come on Ryo lets go home." Said Kento. When his little sister had run a high fever the year before she had become delirious and had said she wanted to go home. When he had comforted her in this way she had calmed down. Kento hoped that maybe the same would work for Ryo. He moved forwards and reached down like he was going to pick up Ryo.
Ryo allowed the reaching warmth and light to envelope him. He collapsed silently into Kento's waiting arms.