Shadow within the Darkness
(Epilogue)
By: Little Ucchan
You have to tell her…
The words echoed in his mind, giving him strength with every single syllable. Yume was right. He had to tell Laura. No matter what the final outcome was, whether if she forgave him or not, Ryo at least had to tell her that he was sorry.
Right, Ryo nodded to himself, picking up the cordless phone in his room a few minutes after Yume had left. I have to tell her.
[An hour later…]
Now this was interesting.
Tap tap tap tap pause…
The leader of the Ronin warriors… unable to dial a phone number.
Tap tap tap tap pause…
How sad.
Okay, Ryo stopped his pacing long enough to draw in breath and bring up his courage. Just screw it and get it over with already!!
With a nod, he turned on the phone.
Beep.
Here goes.
Dial tone. Pause…
…Beep. Maybe not.
And with that, he continued his pacing around his room. Tap tap tap tap tap…
White Blaze slung one of his paws over his eyes, emitting air from his lungs to produce a sigh. The repetitive sounds echoing through his master's quarters had tried his patience one too many times. The tiger wasn't bothered at the boy's first attempt. The second… still nothing. The third… he was vaguely interested. The tenth time… okay, Ryo was pushing it. But after sixteen attempts at trying to dial ONE phone number, White Blaze declared that he had had enough.
The tiger peaked his head around the corner of the bedpost from where he laid at the bottom of Ryo's bed, catching a glimpse of the boy as he turned to continue his pacing on the other side of the bed. Tap tap tap…
White Blaze rolled his eyes. He understood why his master was nervous to make the phone call. But after so many attempts, not to mention failures, he'd thought that Ryo would have given up already. Or at the very least stop pacing for a full minute! He'll wear a creak into the woodwork at the rate he was going!
Strange, but amusing beings humans were.
After what seemed like Ryo's eighth round of pacing since he had hung up the phone, White Blaze got up on all fours and crouched low at the corner of the bed. Once Ryo's legs came in his line of vision, the feline lunged forward, sweeping his body right under the boy and bringing his master crashing down onto the floor with a loud and ungraceful THUD. With accompanying swear words, of course.
"WHITE BLAZE!!!"
The tiger snickered smugly to himself, the agitation he felt slowing drifting away to oblivion. Damn that felt good.
"Ahem."
White Blaze turned around to meet his master's gaze, the boy glaring at him with a half-annoyed half-tired expression. "What, may I ask, was that for?"
Picking up the cordless phone in his mouth, White Blaze dropped it on the boy's stomach, looking at Ryo pointedly. He sighed, sitting up and taking the phone in his hands. "You're right. I'll do it."
Although he said it firmly, he was still hesitant, taking a good long minute before he actually dialed the seven digits into the telephone.
Ring…
Ryo was drumming his fingers nervously against the wood floor, the incessant beat continuing until White Blaze abruptly clamped his paw over the boy's hand, silencing the irritating noise.
He grinned sheepishly. "Gomen."
Ring…
The tiger watched as his master was looking around his room distractedly. He groaned inwardly at the boy's uneasiness.
Ring…
Click!
White Blaze roared, thoroughly agitated that Ryo had hung up the phone after the third ring!
"It's not that easy!" he protested.
The tiger growled a response.
"Well let's see you try!!" Ryo shot back.
Promptly accepting the challenge, While Blaze snatched the cordless out of his master's hands, leaping onto the bed and setting the device on the soft mattress.
Ryo crossed his arms, a smirk on his face. "Alright Blaze. Go ahead. Call her."
The tiger snorted, turning back to the odd contraption of man that sat before him. Sniffing at it, he tilted his head to the side in obvious bewilderment. Ryo watched on with growing amusement. He's never going to figure that out. No way in hell.
Never doubt a 1000-year-old guardian spirit. Even if he is in the form of a tiger.
***
"WHITE BLAZE!! GIVE THAT BACK!!"
Sanada-san glanced in the direction of his grandson's room for a moment. Honestly, he was happy that Ryo had returned back to his old self again, although he didn't know exactly how the boy had managed to snap himself out of it. But right now, the old man sort of wished that the energetic teen had remained mellow for a bit longer, just to enjoy a mild sense of quietness for a moment longer.
Fat chance that was.
He shook his head, straightening out his newspaper when he heard a scuffle break out in the room. Youngsters nowadays.
Sanada-san winced when the door suddenly crashed shut, the force creating a slight echoing vibration in the house.
"Got you now!!" he heard his grandson cry and then… CRASH!!
"RYO!!!"
"Sorry!!!" came the distant apology.
The old man only sighed. Why do I even bother?
***
"White Blaze!!! Give it to me!!"
SWIPE!
"Don't do this to me again!!"
SWOOSH!
"Damn it!! WHITE BLAZE!!"
The tiger jumped out of Ryo's reach, still holding the prized phone in his jaws; the one that Ryo was so desperately trying to get back. Apparently, White Blaze had discovered the wonders of pressing the redial button and got an instant reaction from his master when the familiar phone number had dialed automatically. Now the tiger was playing keep-away with his master.
Dodging again, White Blaze landed gracefully on top of the boy's bed. Ryo huffed, placing his hands on his hips. "That's it."
In an instant, Ryo dove forward, preparing to tackle his animal companion down to the floor. But the feline leaped up, allowing his master to pass by harmlessly before falling back onto the bed. He smiled a tiger's grin, looking back to where Ryo landed after sliding across his bed sheets and falling over on the opposite side of the room. He chuckled silently, obviously pleased with himself.
It's just too bad that he decided to celebrate early.
White Blaze roared in surprise, the phone being jarred loose from his mouth when Ryo suddenly yanked the covers out from under the unsuspecting tiger, sending the feline crashing onto the wood floor.
Looking up at the ceiling, kinda dazed, White Blaze suddenly saw his master's head appear over the side of the bed, grinning triumphantly with the phone in his hands. "Nyah!" Ryo stuck out his tongue at his unfortunate companion. "I win!" He was definitely feeling a lot better compared to a few hours ago.
"Hello?"
Spoke too soon.
Ryo froze, the room falling deathly still as he recognized the female voice on the other line. Oh no…
"Hello?" he heard Laura say again. "Is anyone there?"
White Blaze got up hurriedly, forcefully nudging Ryo in the elbow to get him to speak. To say something. Anything at all!
Ryo blinked, looking at White Blaze, and then at the phone in his hand. He slowly raised it to his ear, breathing softly as to not make a sound.
The silence remained, heavy and thick. The only thing that he heard was the rapid beating of his own heart, pulsating at his temples, the blood rush through his veins making him shake all over. Panic rose in his chest so fast that he found he couldn't formulate words, remaining mute on the other end of the line. And then…
***
Click!
Laura blinked twice, remaining on the phone for a moment longer until she was certain that the unknown person on the other end had actually hung up. How strange… She was sure that she heard wild shouts from the other end coming from a man. And the voice… it sounded a bit familiar to her, although the cry was so short and muffled that she couldn't really identify it clearly. I wonder who it was…
"Oneesan!"
She placed the phone back on its hook, turning to see Sammy with her tiny hands on her hips, trying to look as menacing as possible. "What is it, Sammy?"
The girl scowled as best as she could. "You're suppose ta sleep. You're still sick!!"
Laura sighed when her sister reminded her of that little fact. Because of all the energy she used in the battles with the Ronins the other day, not to mention that she needed to erect that shield at the last minute and also work at healing the injuries she had gained regardless, the ninja evidently wasn't able to fend off a flu virus due to lack of strength. How embarrassing, she sulked, feeling lousy all over. The mighty Lady Sierra, demon hunter extraordinaire, has fallen to a microscopic bug. I'll never live this down.
"Oneesan…"
With another sigh, she marched straight to bed, Sammy pushing her from behind to make sure that her older sister actually got to her room. If it didn't irritate her throat, Laura would have laughed as how her sibling was acting. At least she knew that she could count on the youngster in situations like this.
Too bad she couldn't say the same about her senses at the moment. If only she were better, Laura would have noticed the demonic presence hovering outside her apartment window.
A dark set of metallic-like eyes scarred with hints of gold glared through the thin glass, watching its prey like a hawk in mid hunt, just waiting for the perfect moment to make its kill. She's weak. In her current condition, she'd be an easy target.
His victory was close at hand…
Barely on the tip of his tongue.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
O_O ^____________^ SAGE PLUSHIE!!! ::takes the cute little thing from Panthera and hugs it. ^-^ I'll save the Ryo plushie till next chapter, since this is sorta short (but it IS an epilogue so what'd you expect?) ::Cuddles Sage plushie:: ^-^ Me happy.
Okay. Back to something a 'bit' more serious. ^^;; Yes, BAD place to end. It's like one of my cliffhangers. But the introduction to Unforeseen Circumstance is probably just as short as this (maybe a bit longer) so expect that a bit sooner. You won't have to wait as long compared to how I take on my other chapters. But not as soon as this epilogue came out (since I DID mention that I wrote ¾ of this before the last chapter), ^^;; I just had a bit of a whim.
WHOOO HOO!! ::throws a party::: I'M DONE WITH SHADOW!!!!! I'M DONE BABY!!!!!!!!!!!! ^.^ YEAH!!!