Time
By Quiet Chaos
Chapter Two
A/N: Yay! It's the revised chapter two! Same rules apply as stated in Chapter One. Without further ado, I give you the continuation!
Mia pulled her robe tighter around her body as she stepped into the thinning night, her slippers slapping against the cold hard ground. She stood beside the Siberian on the edge of the mansion's pools of light and shivered against the wind that rattled the naked trees.
White Blaze turned his head at the sound of her sigh; he returned the unspoken concern with a soft growl. Mia looked into his deep brown, intelligent eyes and stroked the soft silken fur.
"They'll be all right."
He turned away to the quiet forest, standing slowly; he looked to the ground, contemplating what to do. It was then that Mia noticed the tiger's wounds and gasped. "You'd better not go after them." After giving the big cat a meaningful look, she started back to the house. "Come on, White Blaze. Ryo will be mad if he comes home to find you still injured," she called over her shoulder.
White Blaze gave the forest one last look before following her. Mia was right. His cub was only dealing with another human. Ryo wouldn't lose to a mortal.
xxxxx
She was running; for how long, she didn't know, but she did know that she wasn't going fast enough. Already the snapping of twigs and clanking armor rang clearly in the night behind her.
The pain in her side was growing worse; her ribs were broken and weren't going to be ignored much longer. She skidded and leaned heavily on the closest tree as she massaged the fractured bones. Running hurt, breathing hurt, but the pain of the night's failure was beyond measure.
She ripped off her mask; it was inhibiting her breathing. Panting a little easier, she looked at her reflection momentarily before tossing the useless metal away.
She closed her eyes. Exhaustion gnawed at her with whispers of the pleasures of falling away from the pain of consciousness. But it wasn't the time for that. Her eyes snapped open as footsteps approached, breaking her last moments of rest.
The air shifted, and she shoved herself off the tree right before a blade split through the trunk. She rolled to eject her extra momentum and as soon as she faced her pursuer, threw her broken sword straight for his head. But Ryo knocked it away with the wave of a katana.
She stared at his expressionless face; a smiling silver mask now framed his glazed, empty eyes, and she backed away as he slowly advanced. He brought the ends of his katana hilts together, locking them into a bladed staff; almost instantly the energy in the area escalated to the point that the air was liquefying around them and the dried leaves were smoking and crumpling into black soot.
"No! Stop!"
A bolt of electric gold pierced the air, knocking the blades from the red gauntleted hands and breaking the hilts' lock on each other. The separated katana landed a few feet from her, and the assassin let out the breath she'd been holding as the heat subsided. She glanced up towards the golden arrow's origin to see a midnight blue armor descending in a bubble of energy.
Rowen's gaze shifted warily between the two figures. Ryo was just standing in the clearing, his eyes covered by his helmet. The assassin knelt on the ground, clearly in pain but defiantly glaring at him through thick locks of ebony hair.
"Don't move," he bluntly said, cocking an arrow for emphasis. He carefully approached Ryo first. "Ryo? Are you in there?" He took another step. Too close.
"Look out!"
Rowen barely registered the assassin's warning as Ryo spun and reached out, grabbing the bow and dragging both weapon and warrior. Pressed to his knees, Rowen could only stare, open mouthed at the dull, sneering eyes of his captor.
That wasn't Ryo. Ryo's eyes weren't empty pools of stone blue. At least, they weren't supposed to be. He screamed as his wrist was twisted, and the bow wrenched from his grasp. Adding to the agony of the ruined limb was the Wildfire armor ripping away all of his energy.
The armor of Strata wasn't listening to him. With every second that passed vast amounts of power tore away in clumps, leaving only his shredded consciousness naked in his mind. He screamed through the armors' link.
xxxxx
Cye stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes widening right before he cried out in surprise. He threw his hands over his ears as Rowen's screams suddenly reverberated through his head. With them came a flood of pain and shock that threatened to drown the water warrior's mind.
Sage and Kento were instantly beside him, their faces crinkled in agony as their links were also overrun. Grabbing his companions' shoulders, Sage pushed his way into their bond, throwing up mental shields all the way.
On the blank field of the mind the three warriors, each glowing his respective color, converged. "Cye? Are you all right?"
"I'm fine now. Thank you, Sage." He rubbed his ears. "Rowen just caught me off guard is all."
"I see him." Kento jogged along the dark blue line that connected each of them to the Strata armor. "Hey, Rowen! What's all the yelling for? We couldn't understand a thing you said-" he stopped just short of Rowen's image. His grey-blue eyes widened as he took in the ravaged sight of the boy before him. Rowen's midnight blue glow was as dull as a rain cloud, and the outline of the figure was like ephemeral fog but tainted with unnatural splotches of black shadows.
"Rowen!" Kento grabbed the slighter boy and pushed his orange energy into transparent body. "Hang on, pal. I'll get you back up on your feet."
Midnight blue eyes fluttered weakly, half opening, then widening with shock as the slighter boy oriented himself.
Smiling with relief, Kento started to push more energy in, but Rowen roughly shoved him off. But without Kento's strong arms and energy, he fell to his knees.
"What the hell are you doing?" He raised an orange fist threateningly while glowering incredulously at his fading companion. "I'm just trying to help!" Suddenly noticing the horrified look on Rowen's face, Kento dropped his fist.
"I know you are, Kento. And sorry for the outburst, but…" Rowen wrapped his arms protectively around his body and curled into a blurred blue ball. "But…" He trailed off and stared into the empty field.
Sage knelt beside him. Cye and Kento watched silently. "Rowen…"
The sound of his name seemed to trigger his fogged mind into finishing his warning. "He'll drain you too."
Grabbing the dark blue shoulders, Sage gently shook him. "Stay with us, Rowen. You need to tell us what's going on." But Rowen didn't answer, or couldn't. His form was becoming more transparent and indistinct as he was falling into unconsciousness.
Cye also knelt beside Rowen. "Sage, what's wrong with him?"
Cursing, Sage pushed some of his essence into Rowen, ignoring Cye's question and the weak protests of Strata. "Relax, Rowen. I'm just trying to see what you see. I'll be careful, but right now, you must open your eyes."
It took every inch of willpower he could must to carry out Sage's request. His eyelids felt like a leaden black curtain that needed too much energy to push and dragged too slowly for all that effort. But finally his eyes did open only to reveal the same dark red figure looming above.
"Ryo?" Stunned, Sage nearly lost concentration, but Rowen steadied him while masking the presence of Halo's power.
Distantly Cye and Kento were whispering.
"Did he say, 'Ryo'?"
"Shut up. He needs to concentrate."
"But what about Ryo? I don't even see him around here."
"He should be over there, but there's nothing except red fog. I don't feel any part of him in there."
"What the hell's going on?"
Sage quietly hissed at them, stopping their distracting talk. As long as they were all so closely connected in the link, they were in danger of revealing their presences. Together, Halo and Strata forced Rowen's eyes to watch what would unfurl next.
Ryo had dropped the blue-clad body like an emptied sack; his glazed eyes were now on the assassin who stiffened under them. He raised the golden bow. Pulling back on the string, a flaming arrow shimmered into life between his silver fingers.
"Ryo! Stop!" Sage screamed with Rowen, but to no avail. It was taking all their energy just to keep the blue eyes open and focused.
The arrow sprang loose, charging towards the assassin. It missed as she threw herself to the dirt and out of Rowen's view. Another arrow sparked into life and took flight. Another followed. And another. Flocks of arrows were searing through the air at the unseen target.
Reluctantly, Sage pulled away from Rowen. "You'll be all right?"
The blue figure nodded before dropping away from the bond and into unconsciousness. Kento and Cye looked expectantly at Sage. "Well? Any luck?"
"Rowen will be all right. It's Ryo that I'm worried about." He quickly herded them out of the mind field. "We have to get to them now. I'll explain as we run."
Before they could even resume their sprint, a sudden spark of light in the distance drove Sage to knock Kento to the ground, yelling, "Watch it!" as they fell.
Grunting, Kento looked up from where he lay in the dirt to see a flaming arrow hiss through the spot he'd just been forcefully vacated from. "What…"
Sage got off of him. "I'm sorry about that."
"What the hell!" Kento exasperated, jumping up. "I'm going to pound Rowen for shooting those things off like a madman!"
"It's not Rowen," Sage said. He started to run towards the arrow's origin, but now his no-dachi was held protectively in front of him. Cye caught up to him first.
"What do you mean? What's going on?"
"When I was looking through Rowen's eyes, I saw that Ryo had drained the armor of Strata." He paused, sidestepping another arrow. "Ryo's the one shooting off these arrows with Rowen's bow."
"No way!" Kento whacked the next arrow with his tetsubo. "How could he? Why would he do something like that?"
"I don't think it is Ryo. I think we're dealing with the Wildfire armor!" Sage was yelling now, hoping Cye and Kento could hear him over the hissing and crackling flames. 'It could even be the Inferno that we're dealing with,' he warily thought to himself.
More arrows were raining down on them now, and they couldn't run anymore. It was hard enough to just defend, let alone advance. It was like pushing against a living wall of fire.
"We're almost there!" someone yelled.
The onslaught of fire suddenly subsided, and the warriors took the opportunity to breathe the empty air and orient themselves. All around them trees were broken, burned, pierced, and shattered; a few were on fire. 'I wonder if that assassin is still alive.' They pushed on with even more determination.
The trees abruptly gave way, and the three warriors stood on the edge of the clearing, frozen in place as they took in the sight. The assassin was using the pair of Wildfire katana to deflect the stream of arrows flying at her. More parts of her clothes were shredded from arrows that had made it too close; two were solidified and lodged in her shoulder and leg, and the twin katana trembled in her tired hands as she sloppily, but effectively, knocked the shafts of fire away.
Ryo stood in a cloud of burning arrows; Rowen's form lay dull and motionless at his feet. The one arrow cocked on the bow was multiplying around them, filling the air with sparkling flames and burning heat. As soon as Ryo released the arrow between his fingers, the rest followed: a golden cloud of death.
The assassin's knees gave out as the energy plowed towards her. There was no way to dodge or block now.
Cye didn't hesitate as he jumped in front of her, and threw his yari into the storm. "SUPER WAVE SMASHER!"
Gold and blue energies collided, boiling and roaring. The power momentarily blazed; then faded, hissing as it dissolved away, cheated of its prey, cancelled out.
Cye sighed with relief. If he'd been any slower, she would have been incinerated. He glanced over his shoulder to the girl at his feet. Her breathing was heavy, sweat and blood ran freely along her exposed skin, and she leaned heavily on the swords for support.
"Stay behind me, okay?" Sea-green eyes met with a mismatched pair of clear blue and gold. The intensity behind the uneven gaze momentarily took him aback, but then it fell as the girl's youthful face turned away. This was no time to stare. He looked back to Ryo and watched as Kento charged the red armor.
Hardrock slammed his tetsubo down on the bow, knocking it from Ryo's grasp. From there, he grabbed hold of the red shoulder guards and roughly shook the smaller boy. "Ryo, Snap out of it! It's us! Your friends!"
The red helmet swung up to stare at the orange-clad offender. Kento opened his mouth to speak again only to have it clasped shut by Ryo's hand. Before he knew it, Ryo had single-handedly lifted him off the ground and was now tugging at the power of Hardrock. All energy was suddenly tearing away from him, ignoring his protests and eagerly answering the call of Wildfire. He let out a strangled yell and started to kick and thrash like a fish caught on a hook. It was to no avail. Ryo's grip did not loosen.
His limbs were growing cold, numbing with every passing second as all traces of energy were stolen away. As his armor grew heavier and duller, it became horrifyingly clear to the stubborn warrior of justice that his efforts were futile. The world was spinning now, fading from focus. His power was slipping so easily away, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
"Let him go!" A flash of green filled his blurred vision just before Kento felt his body drop to the ground like a broken toy. He was barely aware of Sage dragging him up to a kneeling position. "Kento! Take off your armor!"
The order was the only clear sound in his exhausted mind, and he followed it without second thought. As soon as the armor was dispelled, he blinked, feeling his mind clear and the energy drain fade, but now he sat on the ground in little more than his sleeping clothes. Sage smiled from above him and gave a quick nod. Kento quickly got out of the way.
Sage gave the red armor as wide a berth as he could as he made his way to Rowen. He knelt beside the prone body, never taking his eyes off of Wildfire. Focusing on the link between Strata and Halo, he commanded the blue armor to dispel. It fell away quickly, leaving Rowen in his boxers and a thin tank top.
Gently, Sage began to lift the thinner boy. But it was a bad move. His kindness quickly became a double-edged blade as Wildfire, irritated by the loss of Hardrock and Strata's power sources, locked his cold, angry eyes on the defenseless warriors and charged.
Cye ran to intercept as Sage, determined to protect Rowen, leapt out of the way. Torrent swung his yari with the blunt side down, like a giant flyswatter. But Wildfire easily blocked it. Holding that same arm against the staff, he pushed forward towards Cye.
Forced to retreat, Torrent leapt back, trying to keep as far away as possible from Ryo's advance while countering with another thrust. There was no choice; he had to use the blades. Shifting his weight, he drove the spear towards the red stomach plate. But at the last second Ryo twisted around the staff and grabbed the light blue armor.
There was no hesitation as the red-clad figure hurled the slighter boy across the clearing and into a tree. The narrow armored body crumpled on the splintered trunk only a few feet from where Kento, Rowen, and Sage were.
Wild blue eyes turned on the three figures, focusing on the one still armored, the one in green, and dared him to approach. Rowen was still unconscious and only stood with Kento's support. Sage knelt by Cye, who was beginning to show signs of consciousness. None of them dared to move. Like deer under headlights, they stiffened as Ryo advanced.
"What do we do now?" Kento shifted under Rowen's weight.
Groaning, Cye shook his head. "I think we might have to make a run for it."
"No way! We can't just leave Ryo like this!" He looked desperately between Halo and Torrent, hoping for an answer to appear on their defeated expressions.
"I don't want to leave like this either," Sage stood, stepping slowly back, pulling Cye with him. "But right now we can't w-." He didn't have the chance to finish, as a shadowed blur leapt into the air behind Wildfire. They had forgotten about the assassin, who was on the attack again.
It was like watching a slow motion train wreck, as the girl, using her jump's momentum, plunged Wildfire's own katana through the vulnerable red shoulder joint.
The force behind the blow merely spun Ryo around to face the girl still in midair. Not even noticing the blade protruding from his shoulder, he moved to retaliate while the assassin swung the second katana at the helmet. The blows struck at the same time: a blade to the head, a punch to already broken ribs.
An inhuman howl of pain reverberated in the air as the red helmet flew off, crashing to the ground several feet away.
The girl gasped as she slammed into the ground. Tears welled up in her eyes as the full force of all her wounds trampled her. Ryo had struck her fractured ribs, shattering them, and sending a piece into her lung, piercing and deflating it, driving out all breath. The arrows had been ripped out by the rush of the ground, widening the punctures for more blood to escape through. Still, she struggled to sit up. She had to know. She had to see if it was over. She knew that behind her, he still stood. But everything in her protested any movement. She rolled over to take the weight off of her broken body, and then lay still. She didn't move after that.
Ryo staggered a few steps before opening his eyes to find Sage's violet eye watching his every move. "S-Sage…" he croaked out as the armor of Wildfire and its weapons dissolved away. He felt his knees weaken as a wave of vertigo darkened his vision.
Sage rushed in, catching Ryo's unconscious form before it hit the ground. He breathed a small sigh of relief. It was over. The nightmare was done with for now. It was dawn.
A/N: No, that's not the end of the story, just the chapter. A big thanks to my reviewers!
Soiel- Thank you for reading and encouraging me to keep writing. I hope you continue to read and review, and I hope that "Time" will fulfill the potential you believe it has.
MorganRay- Thanks for checking out this revised version and for the compliment. I did debate for a while whether or not I should just post the revisions in the old story. But in the end, as you can see, I decided to make a whole new story because I wanted to give the old readers a chance to review the revisions. Plus, things aren't lining up like before, so I would've had to take down the later chapters anyway.
TeahLeafs- Thanks so much for the boost of confidence, though I'm a little nervous about your expectations now. I apologize to you for this chapter. I had told you that I'd reveal more about the girl, but I ran out of time. I swear she has a name! She really does! You'll find that out and more about her in chapter three!
Just so everyone knows, I intend on updating this story on the 11th and 26th of every month. If you don't see an update on those dates, check back the next day. As you can tell with this chapter, I barely made the deadline. Please continue to read and review. Constructive criticism welcomed and requested!
Reposted 10/12/05 with x's added for scene separation (apparently doesn't like the tilde mark or asterisks. Huh. Oh well.