While Cam was working ceaselessly on his computer, Sensei and Mithrandos settled back into the cushions by the table; Mithrandos had many questions about their world and Kanoi spoke at length of Earth and the ways of the ninja, stopping just once to ask Cam to brew some tea for them.

Now back at the computer, and with the sounds of his father's soft-spoken voice in the background, Cam picked up his thought process once more.

'Okay, where was I? Oh yeah...All energy beams are comprised of particles, many of which carry a charge... So if I could measure the exact amount of positive and negative charges that made up this particular beam, I should be able to calculate a reverse formula for an inverted energy ray...´

His fingers flew over the keyboard, phasing out all details other than the energy beam from the sensor recordings before he instructed the Supercomputer to analyze every aspect of the beam in question. Meanwhile, he searched the net and every conceivable mathematical database he could think of for a fitting formula to convert the computer´s results into. He had no idea how much time had passed when he finally let out a sigh, leaned back in the chair and stared at the half dozen ridiculously complex-looking mathematical formulae his searches had whittled it down to. Now to input the computer´s results into each formula, cross his fingers and hope that at least two or three of them would be compatible with the results of the computer´s analysis.

Problem was, the computer hadn't returned any numbers yet. Even with his system's very impressive amount of resources Cam could call upon, the computer was by now virtually locked up with the sheer size of the algorithm from the dissection of the energy beam.

And with a start Cam realized that he now could do not much else other than wait for those results. He rolled his shoulders and winced when his muscles promptly protested. 'Need to stretch…'

With a groan he pushed his chair back while he took off his glasses to rub the bridge of his nose. "Man, these calculations are more complicated than I thought. This is going to take a while longer."

He made his way to the command table where Mithrandos and Sensei were still talking softly. "I'm going to get some air, clear my head. Probably head towards the beach and check on the rest of the gang while I'm out there." He turned to their visitor. "Feel like coming along?"

Mithrandos put down his tea mug. "Gladly." With a quick bow to Sensei, he rose. "Actually, I, too, should like to seek out a quiet place where I can practice my sword work. My joints are stiff and my skills are rusty after so long a sleep." He flexed his fingers. "My palms are itching to grasp my sword again. Too many a season has passed."

"You are very welcome to use our cove for practice," Cam said, "but, uh, did you leave your sword back in the woods? I don't recall seeing any weapons in the sarcophagus."

"No, I carry them on me at all times." Mithrandos indicated the nondescript leather pouch on his belt. "They are too precious to ever let them stray from my side."

He reached into the pouch and took out several different-size crystals very similar to the one he had used on Cam back in the forest.

"Daggers, shield, and...behold!" With a proud grin he held up an oblong shard. "- the Guardian Saber Crystal!"

Cam only cocked his head and regarded the crystal with what must have been such an unconvinced expression that Mithrandos suddenly gave a soft laugh.

"My weapons are not meant to be drawn indoors, but show me to the beach and you shall gaze upon a blade of beauty unequaled." He wiggled the diaphanous shard, but then suddenly grew serious and said in a lower voice, "At least in Ithrandar it was."

He stared at the crystal and Cam, sensing his visitor's impending somber mood, clapped him softly on the shoulder.

"This I gotta see. Come on, let's go."

Training time...

It was only a short trek down to the Wind Academy's concealed training cove, and before they rounded the last corner, the sounds of hand-to-hand combat were already drifting towards them.

Hunter was up against Shane; as they rounded the bend, Cam could see the two ninjas circling each other warily, eyes locked in apparent search for an opening or weakness in the other, whereas a few yards to their right, Blake and Dustin were happily exchanging punches and kicks in lightning-quick succession.

Tori was reclining against a boulder, watching her teammates, Thunderstaffs and Ninja Swords stuck into the sand next to her. When she saw Cam and Mithrandos approaching, she smiled and waved them over, her grin turning bashful when Mithrandos bowed gracefully and smiled at her before he turned to watch the sparring matches between the four teens with undisguised curiosity.

"This blade-less fighting style is very impressive," he noted after a while, causing Tori to cast him a surprised look.

"Don't tell me that there's no hand-to-hand combat where you come from," she said.

"Oh, there is," the Guardian replied, a twinkle in his eyes. "It is called brawling."

Tori laughed, and even Cam had to chuckle.

"Yeah, well, we've got plenty of that around here, too," the technician grinned. "Believe me!"

The sounds of their voices must have alerted the practicing ninjas to their presence, for Cam saw some heads turning in their direction. A moment later, Hunter, Shane, Dustin and Blake ceased their sparring and sauntered over to join the little group.

They nodded greetings, and Hunter grabbed a water bottle. "So, have you made any headway with your idea yet, Cam?" he asked between gulps.

The technician gave a half-shrug. "Yeah, but it's more complicated than I thought. The system's running some more calculations right now, so it's too early to say anything definitive yet. I mean, we're talking about breaking this bolt down into every single atom and then re-calculating them all into the reverse formula for the return beam. And the calculations must be a hundred percent accurate for Mithandos to end up in his own world again. So it's going to be a while longer until the computer will come up with something, I'm sure." He looked from Mithrandos to his team members. "In the meantime, Mithrandos wanted to get some practice in with his sword."

"If it does not interfere with your exercises," the Guardian chimed in.

"No, man, no problem at all, but..." Shane cocked his head. "If you're here to practice your sword skills, shouldn't you have brought a sword?" he observed.

"I have."

Dustin quirked an eyebrow. "You hid it pretty good, then," he said, looking Mithrandos up and down, then around his back.

A small smile played across the Guardian's mouth. "My blade is not drawn, Dustin, but summoned." He tugged open his leather pouch and withdrew the Guardian Saber crystal.

"That's your sword?" Dustin regarded the odd-shaped, clear fragment in the guardian's hand with a skeptical expression. "Looks to me like a broken piece of my mother's crystal vase."

Mithrandos' smile grew slightly wry. "If this were a piece of a vase, it would cut through any table it was placed upon." And with that he extended his arm, the shard loosely in his palm. A bright flash of light engulfed his hand and an instant later, he was holding a full-size sword. Astonished grins appeared on all of the faces around him.

Mithrandos' sword was not that different from those of the ninjas; the blade was about the same length, but slightly wider, and the steel shone with a light that seemed to radiate from within rather than from the sun reflecting off it. Elegant yet foreign symbols were etched into the blade from the hilt to the tip. The hilt itself was made of a silvery material, and Mithrandos had wrapped the handle with strips of dark leather for an obviously better grip.

It was indeed a beautiful weapon; Cam couldn't deny that as he gazed at the sword, nodding his appreciation at the craftsmanship. Mithrandos had every reason to be proud of his blade.

"Wow, do all Guardians have weapons like this?" Hunter wanted to know and Mithrandos nodded.

"Aye. The bond between a Guardian and his saber is a lifelong one." The tall warrior raised his weapon, smiling at it. "A deciding part of every guardian-novice's apprenticeship is his Crystal Quest."

"You mean you actually have to go out and look for these crystals?" Blake inquired.

"Yes, every novice must undertake the Crystal Quest before he can become a full-fledged Guardian of The Light," Mithrandos confirmed, "for a Guardian cannot be without his weapon. It is a long and arduous journey, for the crystals are scattered throughout Ithrandar and one cannot simply pick up any crystal he happens to come across." At the ninjas' quizzical expressions, the warrior elaborated. "One does not choose his crystal; the crystal chooses him. I myself uncovered three before I finally came upon the right one."

"And how did you know this one was it?" Cam asked.

Mithrandos' eyes took on a faraway look for a brief moment before he gave a slight shrug. "I just...knew. It was a feeling of instant bonding, a connection I could feel right here," he said, tapping his chest over his heart before he scanned his hosts with a quick, wary look. To his relief, their faces showed only understanding and not the mocking expressions he had feared.

"I hear you, man, and hey, if you need a practice partner - I'm down for it," Shane offered.

One of Mithrandos' eyebrows shot up, but then he gave a quick bow. "It would be an honor to try my skills against yours, leader of ninjas." He regarded Shane and there was a flicker of amusement in those magnetic green eyes. "I cannot hope to match the talent of your hands and legs, but with the blade I might stand a chance."

"Well, we'll find out," Shane grinned, plucked his ninja sword from the sand and made a hand motion towards the beach. "Pick a spot."

They arranged themselves across from each other. Mithrandos raised his weapon and pointed it towards the Air ninja in a two-handed en garde posture.

Shane attacked, but Mithrandos nimbly dodged most of his thrusts, whereas the ones he couldn't he met with a strong and steady sword hand. Shane struck low, but the Guardian leapt over the Air ninja's swipe in a backwards somersault, swinging his own blade in a wide arch that forced Shane to duck and roll under it.

For the next few minutes they traded slashes, parries and thrusts with ever-increasing speed as they developed a feel for each other's styles. Mithrandos was agile and focused, yet he kept his distance, and Shane had to remind himself to keep his usual ninja-style of combining kicks with his sword strikes to a minimum. The few kicks he did dish out, though, Mithrandos evaded with ease.

"Do not hold back on my account."

Shane smirked. "Same goes for you, dude. Knock yourself out."

"I do not believe that should be the point of the exercise," the blond warrior replied with a grin as he dodged yet another slash from the ninja leader's sword by leaping over his head. While airborne, however, Mithrandos turned and thrust out his hand. A bolt of bright energy caught Shane in the back and promptly flung him facedown into the sand. Shane's cry was that of surprise rather than pain, though; obviously, the beam had not been meant to hurt but merely to unbalance him.

Ignoring the snickers from the rest of the team, Shane immediately scrambled back to his feet again, eyes glowering at first, then widening when they fell onto the spot where Mithrandos hovered - six feet off the ground.

"Hey, not fair!" he exclaimed, covering up his embarrassment with indignation.

Mithrandos merely inclined his head and grinned while he looked down at his sparring partner. "In my world it is."

Shane brushed a few kernels of sand from his sleeve and made a show of straightening his jacket. "All right, since you obviously wanna take this to a higher level..." His eyes narrowed - and then he took a sudden flying leap of his own. "AIR GALLOP!"

And before Mithrandos could react in any way, the breath was knocked from his lungs and he was driven backwards through the air with Shane's boots firmly implanted in his chest. Mithrandos' head whirled around; only a few yards behind him loomed the rock wall of the cliff that marked the perimeter of the training cove and Shane was steering them right towards it with a smug grin on his face.

A moment later they were barely a foot away from the rock façade. Just before Mithrandos' back would have connected with the cliff behind him, however, he suddenly vanished into thin air with a flick of his wrist, only to reappear an instant later on the beach almost directly below Shane. The Air ninja's boots thumped onto the bare rock of the wall instead, but Shane immediately catapulted himself backwards in a reverse somersault to land smoothly on the sand a yard away from where Mithrandos was now crouched. At once he raised his sword again, but the blond warrior chuckled and held up a hand.

"Peace, leader of ninjas. I seek a respite."

Shane joined in the grinning and lowered his weapon while Mithrandos stood, his Guardian saber already converting back to crystal form.

"Impressive!" The Guardian bowed. "The air magic is strong within you; I can sense a close bond between you and your element. You are a skilled warrior, Shane leader of ninjas, both with the blade and your elemental powers."

Shane shrugged, looking slightly self-conscious from the unexpected compliment. "With Lothor around, I have to be," he said as they made their way back towards the boulder where the rest of the team was waiting.

"Not bad, you guys," Cam greeted them. "But what do you say we wrap it up for today. It's almost dinnertime anyway." His eyes strayed to the horizon where the low sun was just starting to take on a slight orange tint.

Shane promptly rubbed his stomach. "Dude, you said the magic word!"

They all picked up their weapons and other assorted gear and made their way across the sand, out of the cove and back into the woods. Cam cast a side-glance at Mithrandos who was quietly talking with Tori.

"What kind of food would a warrior-wizard from a parallel dimension like?" he wondered aloud, asking himself rather than anyone within ear shot.

But Dustin apparently heard him anyways and clapped him on the shoulder with a grin. "Pizza!" The Earth ninja decreed promptly.

TBC…

A/N: Short chapter this time, but the next one will be longer!