New Blood
by Saber Alexander McConnell
Rated PG13

CHAPTER 33: Tainted Lands

The Nether Realm was creepy in the extreme. There was soil and there were trees—though small and sparse. There were mountains and rock and sky and a sun...but none of it was as it was on earth. The sky was dark and the sun dim, and the constellations were alien. Even the ground itself had a strange, otherworldly appearance to it, strange and dark in color, stark and bleak. There seemed to be no life except for the five Ronin.

"I suppose we should be camping out soon," said Suisei as the group walked. He'd spent at least an hour of their trip craning his neck to gaze at the sky, tripping over rocks and dips in the ground. He'd finally come back to Earth...so to speak...when he groaned and announced his neck had an evil crick in it.

"This place, it is not right," said Rashida, looking gloomily up at the sun. It was bigger than Earth's sun, and gave off almost no light. Heat, but not light, and Nohano had no idea how that worked! "It is difficult, to get energy for my armor here."

"I believe it," said Xander. "I guess I should be all right...if day and night work the same here. I assume there's a twilight here."

Nohano snorted. "This whole place is twilight. Hell, you might be able to armor up the entire day."

"I'll try that!" said Xan thoughtfully, laughing a little. "It would be useful, especially if we get attacked, if I can energy up more often."

"Have you figured out how you got your shield-weapon?" asked Suisei. "That's how you took out Shuang, isn't it?"

Xander nodded. "Yeah, I nailed him with a sort of spear. I could already put up little shield walls to trip people up, but never had thought of actually making a shield I could hold. It was really weird. But yeah, I can make—well, look." Xander stopped for a moment, forming a small ball of energy in his hands. The other Ronin stopped, watching in fascination, as Xander sort of grasped the energy and made it into a figure of Suisei.

Nohano laughed delightedly. "You just have to think, and that's the shape it makes?"

Xan grinned. "Didn't know I could do that...but yeah, that's about it." He pulled the figurine by its ends, elongating it into a wicked looking spear, which he hurled away from the group. It struck the ground in a flash of light.

Nohano winced slightly. "Might not wanna do that again," he said. "We don't wanna attract attention." Xander nodded agreeably enough. Nohano did not voice is worry that Talpa and his creeps already knew they were there.

"We really should probably camp soon," said Amaya, looking around. "And have a watcher in case of trouble."

That was something Nohano had never thought of: posting a guard. "That's a good idea," he said. "Comet, you wanna take first watch? That way you can be insane and watch the stars while the sun sets."

Suisei laughed, taking the teasing good-naturedly, and shrugged. "Sure," he said. "Where are we gonna settle down, then?"

Nohano sighed, stopping for a moment and sweeping the landscape with his gaze. There was not a whole lot there in the way of cover, and he shrugged. "Doesn't matter, really. If I saw some place that was better than where we are now, I'd head that way, but I don't. As it is, let's just set up camp here."

No one protested, and the five youths shed their packs, sitting wearily on the ground. Nohano banished his armor, leaving the riot gear, and suggested that no one remove their sub-armor. "It's at least some protection," he said, "and flexible enough to sleep in."

"Should we eat anything?" asked Rashida.

Nohano nodded. "A little bit, yeah. We don't wanna skip meals unless we have to; our energy level needs to stay as level as possible in case we run across anything nasty. And in this place I'm sure we will." Amaya nodded and opened her pack, and Nohano frowned in concern. "Do you think Talpa knows we're here?"

Amaya sighed. "This is his realm," she said. "It belongs to him. I think that he knows everything."

That was not what Nohano wanted to hear! "I wonder why he doesn't send his goons to try and bring us in."

"Maybe he will tonight," said Rashida with a shrug.

"Either that," said Suisei, "or he's waiting for us to exhaust ourselves looking for Tarun and the others. We can't exactly leave. All he has to do is wait for us to come to him."

Nohano gazed at Suisei a moment before nodding grimly. "Terrific." He shook his head and opened his own pack, rummaging for a pack of jerky he'd put inside. There had been a large store of it at the shelter, and he'd not been able to resist taking some.

At least they'd been able to plan and to pack traveling gear. Everyone had a week's worth of light rations, full of fat and nutrients for maximum nourishment. Everyone brought several portions of water, in case there was none they could use there, and a bottle of water purifying tablets in case they did find a water supply there. Everyone brought a personal first aid kit, a spoon and fork, a change of clothing they'd gotten on their apartment raid, and one or two trinkets for entertainment.

Nohano's pack contained a small tool kit, some soap and toothpaste, and a coil of rope. Rashida's had a larger first aid kit, with far more supplies for the whole group, and things for use with more serious injuries. She could heal, yes, but it was always good to have a backup. She also had Demetrius's glasses and a lightweight tarpaulin. Amaya carried a supply of toilet paper and Xander had a compass (assuming it would even work), a pan for boiling water in, and a pair of binoculars. Suisei carried an extra coil of rope, a flashlight and insect repellant. Everyone had a blanket to lie on.

Nohano spread his on the ground, lying down and gnawing on his jerky and looking up into the frightening, fascinating alien sky. Suisei did have a point; the sky was beautiful, no matter what the rest of the realm was like. But very creepy. He wondered of Tarun got the opportunity to see any of the realm before being taken prisoner. He liked creepy things...he'd probably love the place.

Sleep was not easy to achieve, even as tired as Nohano was. In fact everyone seemed too tired to talk much once they were camped out, but everyone seemed to be lying awake. He didn't blame them; it wasn't like they had any experience in traveling into other dimensions! He glanced up at Suisei, who'd finished his small meal and was walking around the campsite, his gaze sweeping the desolate landscape in between gazing up at the sky. Nohano could almost see his friend mentally mapping the sky, perhaps locating the planets and naming the constellations. Nohano chuckled and rolled over, wishing he had a pillow, and closed his eyes.

Suisei woke him a couple of hours later to take second watch, and Nohano grumbled and complained as he sat up, rubbing his eyes, then wincing at the metal gauntlets. He scowled down at them as Suisei settled down onto his blanket. Nohano sighed, and stood, knowing that if he didn't, he'd just fall back asleep. He wondered just exactly how Suisei had known how long he'd been on watch; it wasn't as if they could take a watch. Amaya had said the Nether realm, like on Earth when the Dynasty was present, would have stopped the timepieces.

So Nohano simply kept watch until he couldn't keep his eyes open, pacing the camp and watching for trouble. He decided to wake Amaya, whose sleep seemed a bit troubled anyway, and she willingly took the next watch.

The next morning...if one could call it a morning...Nohano woke feeling surly. His dreams had been strange, and the Nether Realm seemed to be having a dampening effect on his spirits. Wordlessly he got some dried fruit out of his pack and chewed on it, noting no one either seemed to be saying a lot, either. Everyone was a little tired, unused to waking for watches.

"You look less than thrilled," said Xan, yawning, and blinking his eyes to clear them.

Nohano scowled down at his fruit. "I dreamed that Dais joined No Quarter," he grouched.

Xan stared at Nohano for a moment before he began to laugh, rolling back on his blanket and cackling. A rush of irritation came over Nohano then, especially when the others chuckled as well, and he scowled down at his food. He supposed he understood why it would be amusing—it really was a very strange image to see Illusion belting out the lyrics to What Do We Do With a Drunken Sailor—but the dream had not been amusing. It had been sickening, standing side by side with a man he hated, doing something that he loved.

Not to mention that Dais couldn't sing to save his life.

He glanced sideways over at Xan, who was still laughing, and reluctantly chuckled. He really must have caught Xan by surprise. "Don't wet yourself, Xan—it'll rust your riot gear." That provoked a fresh bout of laughter, but not before Xan flipped him off. Nohano finally laughed and took a swig of his water. "You're a freak, Xan."

Xan snorted, sitting up and finishing his own ration of dried fruit in one gulp. "You're one to talk. Your mind is the one that came up with Dais singing pirate songs."

Nohano had to admit it was a valid point.

Fifteen minutes later, after everyone had had a bathroom break, they were traveling once more. Nohano ended up being glad for the morning's levity, because there was not a whole lot of humor to be had in this horrid place.

For hours on end, there was nothing but the clank of their riot gear on the flat stone and the faint, sick glow of the Nether Realm's sun. Suisei could amuse himself by giving names to constellations and planets for a while, but even that could grow thin after a while.

And as the day wore on, Nohano began to worry more and more about his friends...his family. He tried to keep the horrible images of Killian being tortured, or Tarun injured, or Demetrius fighting for his life out of his head and didn't have a whole lot of success. The images swam to the front of his mind no matter how many times he shook them away. It had been three days, now; his friends had been in the hands of the enemy now for three days. Who knew what they were going through?

"I hate walking," Xan grouched as the sun began to dip towards the far horizon. Nohano wondered idly if east and west were the same here, or if there was even such a thing as east and west.

"I know what you mean," said Suisei. "Tiring and boring—not my favorite activity."

"And slow," said Nohano quietly. Impatience thrummed through his body like an electrical current, the desire to DO something intensifying with every hour that passed. Frustration rose along with the impatience, making him surly and taciturn. By the time they were ready to make camp, he'd not spoken once for the last hour.

No one said much during supper, and Nohano's tension began to melt into plain unhappiness. He wished that he could have met his new family without becoming a Ronin. He didn't want the responsibility, he didn't want to fear and the pain, and he didn't want to have to worry that someone of his family could be taken from him at any time. It threatened to consume his mind, drowning it.

Nohano was not very hungry, and put his ration away half-finished, standing up and offering to take first watch.

"Sounds good to me, man," said Xan, stretching out on his blanket and yawning. "I'm beat. Hey, wake me in a coupla hours, willya?"

Nohano nodded and stood up, watching the others settle into their less-than-comfortable sleeping pallets. Too bad air mattresses would have been far too bulky to take along.

When the breathing of his companions began to even out into sleep, Nohano gazed forlornly at the mountains that took up half the horizon. There were a few different ranges, it looked like, but he knew which one they needed to head towards. It was exactly like his nightmare, and he would never, ever forget that dream. He peered across miles of stone and straggly trees to the spiky peaks. "What a jerk," he uttered.

What happened next took Nohano completely by surprise. A low, bone-chilling chuckle reverberated through the air, setting the hairs on Nohano's body on end and sending gooseflesh spreading over his skin. He stopped short and spun around, seeing nothing but empty stone. And then the voice sounded, a soft voice that might have been only in Nohano's head: So, young Wildfire. You seek me in my realm.

Nohano's hands begin to shake as he realized immediately who it was. It was Talpa—Arago—the demon from Nohano's nightmare. This was the one who had caused so much death in San Francisco, who had taken his friends from him and sicced his warlords on innocent people. Nohano was appalled at the malice, the foulness of the voice. He looked slowly to his friends, who still slept deeply, then around himself once more. No one. Wherever Talpa was, he was able to communicate with him from a distance. And he knew they were there.

He took a deep breath and held it for several seconds, gathering his nerve before speaking softly. "I do," he answered. "And you'd better watch out when I get there because if you've hurt my friends..."

The voice laughed again, a sound of genuine amusement, and Nohano bristled. Just like those miserable warlords—this demon jerk was not about to take a fifteen year old seriously. 'Just like any mortal adult,' he thought wonderingly.

I look forward to our meeting, Wildfire. It was still very strange to Nohano to be called Wildfire, as if it were his true name...and maybe it was. I await you within my palace. As for your friends...you might be surprised when you arrive here. You may find that they no longer fight on your side.

Nohano stood very still, his eyes widening in fury. "What the hell are you talking about?" he hissed, waking Xan and Amaya. "They'd never fight by your side, you foul—you evil bastard!"

We shall see. The malicious laughter sounded once more, echoing in the air around him, and then all sense of the bastard's presence was gone. Nohano stood, his fists clenched, as Xan sat up with his eyes wide.

"What in the hell was that?" he demanded. He'd obviously heard the laughter, if nothing else.

Nohano turned to him, his teeth clenched, and realized everyone was awake now. "That bloody demon, Talpa," he snarled.

Amaya stared. "Arago? He...spoke to you?"

"If you wanna call it that," said Nohano disgustedly, unclenching his fists abruptly, and kicking a nearby stone. It skittered away across the rocky ground and landed with a clunk. "Asshole. He pretty much said to bring it on, and that Killian and the others might be fighting on his side. Like hell!"

Amaya frowned, the concern on her face worrying Nohano. If he already knows we're here—and if he has any way at all to make our friends turn on us--

"They'd never!" said Nohano furiously, clenching his fists once more as he faced Amaya.

Amaya scowled, narrowing her blue eyes. I suppose they'd be immune to mind-altering drugs? she asked sarcastically. Or hallucinations, or telekinesis, or any other of the dozens of forms of mind control Talpa might have at his disposal?

Nohano's face began to warm, feeling foolish at not having thought of it. Amaya sometime had an unpleasant talent for making him feel like an idiot. He supposed in all fairness he'd snapped at her first, but wasn't in any mood to be reasonable.

Luckily, Rashida was. Stop, she said. We must not fight here, of all places. It is bad enough, this place, without adding to it our anger and enmity.

Nohano's indignant anger shifted to shame, and he took a big breath. "Okay, okay..." he said quietly. "Sorry, Amaya. Guess I'm on edge."

"It's all right," said Amaya a little stiffly. "I am sorry as well. I am worried, also."

Nohano blinked—reacting so much on emotion, more than anything else, he didn't always think of why another person might be acting the way they did. He felt a little sheepish, and he ran his hand through his hair, adjusting his headband. "Well. Let's try and get some more sleep, I guess. I have this sneaking suspicion we're really gonna need it. Who's taking next watch?"

Rashida said that she would, and Nohano spread out his blanket. Scowling again in irritation at Talpa's little message, he closed his eyes, and fervently hoped he didn't dream about Dais again.