The dragon feeling a little scared squeaked when it sat up, straightening itself in a taller manor.
"What did he do?" Rio asked.
Poal walked up to Rio with a sour expression on his face. He sighed as he dragged his walking stick behind him. He said, "That little pest…."
"And what did he get into this time?" Frik asked. He was just as surprised at the little dragon as the little beastie was at the girls. He watched as the little beastie started to walk around in order to see if the girls were friendly or not.
"Was the dragon in trouble?" Renee asked. She stared at the dragon as it started to walk towards Rio. It felt Rio's present. It knew she was going to be nice.
"And what makes you do these things?" Rio said as she rolled her eyes at the beast.
The dragon growled a little as it began to sniff the ground. It sensed something sweet on Rio's skin. She rarely used any skin softener during the summer. The dragon noticed Rio's feet. She had been wearing just plain tennis shoes. They were gathering up a great deal of leaves as she tried to make her way through to poal's house. She felt the hot breath of the dragon as she tried to stand still. What was it thinking of.
"Stop that!" she hissed.
The dragon started to purr like a cat. It must have inhaled something like cat nip. Rio bent down out of habit to take the dragon into her arms. She noticed how heavy it was. It squirmed a little bit as it wanted to stay on the ground. Rio chided it in the Green river folk tongue.
"Can we go see Miss Kathlena?" Hotura asked very quietly. She did not want anyone to be out if sorts because of a shortened trip to Poal's house.
"In a few minutes?" Poal said, nodding his head. He knew she was not use to being in a place like this. He could relate on how her reactions. He could tell when the girls had enough.
"I hope you can see your way through when you are charring that dragon!" Poal eyed Rio with a smile. He knew Rio had a kind, gentle nature.
"And why not…I have been hoping to the dragon was not too heavy!" Rio said as she felt the dragon squirming in her arms.
"You were going to take a dragon from the farm?" Poal asked.
"Yes…I am going to the other side of Sweet Heaven. You remember there was a doorway linking this world to ours. It's very much a neutral area…"
"You are going to visit, Granmps and Grandmere!" Stephanie asked. She knew Rio had to visit the elder of the clan.
Rio told the others they were going to follow Poal to his house. She had to get the dragon back to its home before too long. She also wanted to show Reenie, Sasami and Hotura at least a little bit of her home world.
The trip to Poal's home was not too far out from Sweet Haven. Rio placed the dragon in a holding pen. She made sure it was not going to leave any time soon. Then, she went to the big barn which was down the road from Poal's house. She heard Reenie and Sasami running down the road as fast as they could. They had just spotted a fairy. It was sunning itself on a very rare break. It wanted to be alone from the rest of the world. He decided to go and hide out in plain sight in weed garden at Katkeena's. It was quickly discovered by Reenie as she went exploring for wild strawberries.
The fairies stopped at the pen where Rio was finally placing there last of the pegs in the holder. She had to make sure the locks were tight in the bolts.
He noticed Rio standing there, looking over her work. He cried out in his loudest voice, "Your highness...your highness!"
Rio stood still for just a second. She swung around to see who was calling her. She noticed the fairie flying at an inscribable speed. It appeared surprised shock as it flew past her. She quickly held out both hands to catch the fairie. She cupped one hand as a net when the fairie came into view. Then, very quickly she placed the other hand, lacing the fingers together with a fast sweep. She held very gingerly, but with a care hold on the fairie, she held it up to study.
The fairie was trembling so much that his wings shook hard in the sun, managed to squeak out, "I'm begging your pardon."
Rio remained calm as she questioned him, "What's your name…"
"Shamus…Shamus MacDugloo, your highness!" then, he bowed his head for just a minute.
Reenie noticed Rio talking to Shamus. She quietly walked up to Rio.
"Are you taking stock of the forest?" Rio asked.
"Yes…until some pink haired child nearly smothered me with her hands!" Shamus sighed mournfully. He was just about to tell the horrific tale of his capture by Reenie, when he was interpreted by a boggle. The boggle had a long leafy coat and matted hair. He popped out of a rotting tree. He stood up about three feet high. Reenie let out a loud gasp when she noticed him. Reenie stood with her eyes on the ready to bug out even more. She did a double take at the sight.
"Why are you being chased? I thought you lot were in the deeper part of the forest. You know...near the connecting door Acarida and Earth!" she sighed. Then, she closed her eyes for just a second. She could sense Reenie's presence. She sighed, "Hey Pinkie...what are you doing?"
Hotura and Sasami were close to where Rio and Renee were. Hotura began to call out Rennie's name. She hoped Reenie did not get lost in the forest. Hotura walked up very quietly to Reenie. She said, "Reenie?"
Then, she waved her right hand in front of Reenie's face.
No response.
"REENIE!" Hotura shouted. Her voice made everyone turned to look at the shy young girl with purple eyes.
Reenie jumped about ten feet. She turned to see her best friend staring back at her. "What are you doing?" she cried out.
"Are you spacing out like Serena?" Hotura asked. She had to know what got Reenie into a staring into space like she was.
"No!" Reenie said, trying to not being attention to her. She was surprised to see the Boggle in the first place. The boggle had his attention drawn to the girls. "I just saw something…"
He stood up a little, tipped its left head dress at Reenie and Hotura before saying, "Begging your pardon, young miss!"
Hotura thought she was seeing things. Her heart skipped a beat for just split second. Then, she uttered loudly, "It talked."
Then, she passed out on a leafy clump. Reenie started to freak out by saying, "HOTURA!"
Hotura passed out for a couple of minutes. She was completely startled at the sight of a boggle. She felt Reenie trying to hold her up before sinking down onto the ground.
"Great...balls of gobby-gook interne snook," Rio gasped.
"What?" Shamus asked. He was a little puzzled by Rio's statement.
"Nothing!" Rio gasped. "It's something I made up years ago. It means nothing!"
Sasami and Stephanie were in the barn when they heard the screaming. They bolted out of the barn to see what had happen to Hotura, Rio and Reenie. Rio told the other two about what had happened to Reenie and Hotura. Hotura quickly woke up and stared at Reenie. Rio sighed, she had forgotten about earthbound human never seeing a boggle or even a fair. It seemed too plausible for the farie folk to be discovered that beasties as the earth was on a constraint change.
She quickly apologized to Hotura. She said with a concerned glance, "Sorry…there are more to my home world than meets the eye."
"I'm sure that I would be surprised a little less when I saw a moving heap of leaves the next time!" Hotura said as she blushed. She slowly stood up with some help from Reenie. She watched the boggle for any possible strange movements.
The boggle was a little taken aback by Hotura's statement, "A moving heap of leaves?"
"Hush!" Rio chided. She glanced at the boggle. She had unwrapped her hands from Shamus. Shamus excused himself from the crowd.
Stephanie and Sasami came up to the group. Stephanie noticed Hotura brushing the leaves off of her. She asked, "Did you get a shock…Hotura?"
"Yes, I did!" Hotura swallowed hard. She dared not to move away from the spot she was standing.
"There is nothing to hurt you here!" Rio said.
"You promise no one is going to hunt me down, like that big pink haired kid over there," Shamus barked out, pointing to Reenie.
Feeling a little ashamed, Reenie quipped, "Hey...I'm not that big!"
"Oh...to you...you are still small Lady!" Stephanie said as she glanced at Reenie. Then, she glanced at Rio, "But, to them...we are giants."
"To whom?" Hotura asked. She glanced at Reenie who felt a little surprised.
"I am big to the fairs….I guess!" Reenie blushed. She realized she was not only growing up, but there were things a lot smaller than she was.
"Look…I have to go and see Joe-Casey and Hiram in few minutes. Then, we get to see my grandparents after that. In fact, Serena and the three Lights are supposed to show with Ayeaka and Royko," Rio said as she glanced at her watch. She told both Shamus and the boggle to stay hidden for just a little while. After the outburst from Hotura and the staring contest with Reenie, Rio hoped that nothing else could not go wrong.
Reenie and Hotura stared wildly at Rio for just a minute, before staring at each other. They did not want her to leave so suddenly. Then, grabbing Rio by each hand, Reenie said, "Please don't go…"
Then, Hotura added, "It's so lonely without you!"
"What?" Rio said as she glanced at the two with a surprised look. She drew them close when she said, "It's just over the hill, a little past this area. I will be here in still."
Stephanie noticed that Sasami was not all that frightened. She was very much calm and cool while her friends were having a panic attack. Stephanie asked Sasami, "This place is not giving the willies?"
Somehow, Sasami was used to the fairies and other creatures. It seemed like home back in Jurai. She said as she turned to face Stephanie, "I've gotten use to a lot of strange things before. So, I might as well to just relax and as Jerry says, 'enjoy the ride!'"
"Yea…this place is not like home back in Tokyo…" Hotura sighed, feeling the dull ache of homesickness.
Rio was surprised and tried to save face at the same time, asked, "Would you to like to go?"
At first the two girls who were begging her not to leave, were now thinking about the idea of going to another world. With being sailor senshi, both girls wondered about taking such a possible risky trip. Rio said, reassuringly, "You don't need to worry about anything..."
"Are we going to be safe?" Renee asked. She heard stories of the Great War still raging on between the trolls and the rest of Acarida. She knew Rio was a strong fighter.
"I hope you can take charge of those two," Kathlena said as she walked past the girls. She had been gathering up herbs and roots to make some teas. She heard what was going with the girls. She had stopped in front of the dragon pens.
Rio glanced at Reenie to asked, "You need to stick close to me when we get to the edge. I don't need either Hakura or Serena flipping out on me!'
"Why?" Reenie asked. She was hoping to be a little braver in Rio's home world.
Stephanie picked up on what Rio was thinking. She said with a curious glance at three figures walking up the path. "Adventures can be a messy thing!"
"I'm kinda glad you did not get started on your trip," Seyia said.
"I can't start," Rio shook her head; she had to first talk to her friends. She wondered where Joe-Casey and Hiram will have run off to.
"And what do you think about this idea of being a normal girl is?" Seyia teased.
"It's nothing...very boring," she chided as she gave Seyia a cold, playful stare.
He gave it right back at her. Then, he smirked, knowing full well, she was just teasing him.
"Seyia?" Rio asked. She noticed Seiya and Taiki walking up to the girls.
"I hope you don't mind seeing us here?" Taiki asked. He glanced at the wild flowers growing like weedy chains along the path.
"No...Who's with you lot?" Rio asked.
"Hey," Ryoko said as she and Areca were also walking up towards the group.
Seiya placed a hand up to his chin as he thought for a minute. "Hmm...let me think."
"Haven't got all day..." Taiki scolded in a teasing manor.
"How about Serena and Rei…" Seiya said as he noticed the two girls walking up to the group.
"What about Mina and Yaten…" Rio asked.
"They are checking out something new. There was talk about a new Sailor v game!" Seiya said as he bluffed his way out of any hint being a sailor senshi.
Rio could see all sides of Seiya's statement. She smirked in her wonder when she asked, "How did they manage to pull that one out and Serena ended up with you?"
"She wants to see where Reenie was," he said. Then, he looked around for any sign of Steve or Dusty. He wondered what was going between Rio and Dusty. He knew they were very close. Was it a good idea for them to be so far away?
"Dusty will be coming later. He has to see my grandfather on my mum's side anyways. Steve is going to try out a new set of alt tires. He was asking by Tinny!" Rio said. She recalled the idea of tinny's inflections on the possible sales of new tires on motorbikes by a good tire company. He knew there was nothing better than word of mouth when it came to sales.
"I thought you were dating Terri?" Ryoko asked her famous loaded question at Stephanie.
There was always talking about Stephanie's dating habits. She head always two boyfriends and she never complained. She had always wondered about if Steve and Terri had a chance to voice their options. "I do…date Terri when he is free. Then, he's busy…then, I switch off to Steve!" she blushed a little.
The girls stared at Stephanie in disbelief expect Rio. Rio knew about Stephanie for years. Rio had stuck it out with Dusty since they were at twelve.
"He will come later?" Seiya asked. He had turned to ask Rio a question about him.
"Yes," Rio said.
"And what will you two do when you see your grandparents?" Ryoko asked.
"I have some clue about seeing my grandmother...it's been a while since I have seen her!"
Then, out of the blue, Kathlena asked, "What about your Aunt?"
There was something going that Rio had a strange feeling about. She asked Kathlena, "Where's Joe-Casey and Hamrin?"
With a puzzled look on her face, Katelean said, "I think they are still with my husband, Poal at the house!"
"Can I go and see them?"
"You can...but, be careful...there are greenmen still lurking about!" Kateleana ordered as she started down a second garden path. There were wild and tame berry paths that needed to be attended to. She turned to see the young people just still standing there with the peace of the world around them. She hoped they were going be unharmed for the rest of their lives.
Rio felt like she was being babied again. She sighed, "I will!"
"Where is she going?" Serena asked as she watched Kathlena walk down the path towards a dark patch of trees.
"She's going to the grove. There are trees that need special care and Kate has the touch!" Stephanie said.
"Yes, she has rose's brushes and wild golden grackle trees," Rio added. She turned to see another dragon making its way out of the pen as if it was a snake. It was a silvery thin type with a small head and long wings. She bent down to help it out with trying to free itself from the wiring. "What are you doing, Yaten?" she sighed.
Seyia not knowing the dragon had the same first name as his brother, asked, "He's here?"
Taiki watched as Rio held the dragon on her shoulder as it was a cat. "He's on Rio's shoulder!"
A little bit surprised, Seyia asked, "What's he doing on her shoulder!"
Serena for some reason started to laugh in her usual way. She pointed at Rio asked gasped, "It's a dragon!"
"He's a what…?" he uttered in a perplexed statement. He turned to see a baby silver dragon perched on Rio's shoulder. At first he was stunned speechless as he gapped. He uttered a few mutterings.
Then, Taiki asked, "Rio, why did you name that dragon Yaten?"
"Well, there was a birth in early January and I love you lot," she said, reaching blindly over to pet the dragon on the head. Instead she patted it on the nose. "So, I named the first three after you, Seyia and Yaten…Yaten is wilder than the other three. In fact, Taiki just love to stay in the barn after the two had left. Seyia is a charmer and hangs out with the girls."
"What do the other two look like?" Taiki asked. He was curious at the idea having a dragon named after him.
"If you would like to see them after we get done with my grandparents, then we can go to the barn and check them out…I bet even Atreides would like to see you lot!" Rio said.
"Atreides?" Ryoko asked. She raised an eyebrow towards Rio. She had never heard the name Atreides before.
Rio hoped her grandmother was doing fine. She had heard about the worry spell that seemed to control her grandmother. She wanted to tell her family she was doing just fine. "Yea, I have been reading Dune by Frank Herbert and the name came to me. It's house of a waring factor!" she began to swing her arms up and down.
"About your aunts?" Seyia said.
"I'm going to see them tomorrow or the next day. Then, there are the formal intros," Rio said.
"Formal?" Ayeka asked.
"Yes," Rio rolled her eyes towards the sky. She had her own set of friends. She did not like having her aunts telling who to go out with. They could stomach Dusty and his friends. Yet, when it came to Charlie (Charlotte) there was a slight divining line. "I have to introduce you lot to my aunts. I don't know why. I only get to see them maybe three times out of the year."
"Why such a fuss," was Serena's question.
There was nothing that surprised Rio about Dragons or being other creatures of her home world. She loved them much as Luna and Artmies. Her aunts could not understand why she wanted to be around the normality of the day to day life.
"You want to go with us, little one?" she asked the dragon. Turning her face, she stared the dragon. She heard a deep purr like noise coming from the dragon.
"You need to go to your grandparents first!" Kathelena said.
"You also to be on your guard!" shamus said.
"All right…let me answer Serena's question first," Rio sighed as she place a hand up to her chin. "One…my aunts are very old school. Everything has a place and a place for everything. They need to be known about my life!"
There was a minute of complete quiet before Rio turned on her heels to walk out of that part of the forest.
"I guess we have to get started, but first..." Rio thought out loud. She glanced at the trees to see where north was. She hoped that at least one tree had moss on it. "I have to go see Joe-Casey and Hiram!"
She had the dragoon resting on her shoulder. She had to go see her other friends by herself. She walked over to Kathlena's house with her mind at peace.
She walked over to another path. She was going to another part of the yard. There were many maples and oaks nearby. She knew there was good wood to be had for cavorting. Joe-Casey was a small man with short reddish hair and brown eyes. His thin face was that of a young man who seen the world in a blink of an eye. He waited for Rio to come to him. He heard the group of others who came with Rio. He knew Rio had many friends. He was glad she was growing up in a world full of hope. His long legged jeans and long shelved shirt seemed somewhat out of place. He was not staying very long. He had to go back up north. Rio walked quietly in order to be unheard. She hoped she could be felt instead of been heard or seen. She was using many of the training tools she was given as she tried to regain her sight. She could sense the water nearby at the river which flowed past the deviling long between earth and acarida.
She closed her eyes for a second. There were so many noises she had to block out for just a minute then, she could feel a warm body. She could smell leather and salt. She stopped walking to let her mound open up. She could sense the heart beat of another living creature. She slowly opened her eyes to ask, "Joe-Casey…is you here?"
After two minutes of waiting, Joe-Casey walked over to where Rio was standing find. He had to smile at the young princess of a foreign planet. He said, "I see you have done some growing up since the last time I have seen you!"
Riot slowly turned on her heels to do a double take on Joe-Casey. She said, "I have grown up some. My Uncle another told me that he will see me in the fall."
Joe-Casey knew Rio was going to be her own person. She was just beginning her life as an adult. There was no reason of doubting her own capitablies. He asked, "He's trusts you…?"
"I hope he does…my grandfather William had stopped over last April and visited me and my cousin." She walked past him for just a minute. He noticed her looking around for his brother. It seemed like they two were inseparable. She liked being around her Uncle's housekeeper and her family. "Where's Hiram?" she wondered out loud. She felt a black fly buzzing around her.
"He's here," Joe-Casey shrugged. He turned to really stare at Rio. There was something deeply wrong with here. There was pain of fighting which surprised him. He had a gift of insight which he was inclined to believe Rio had the same gift. He could also felt a great deal of loss. He acted friendly towards as he asked, "What's wrong…little cub?"
He smiled to her as she walked up the elder.
"It's nothing really," she said with a sour look. She had a feeling he was getting into places that he should not have been. Things were in her life was getting out of hand. She wanted to be as normal as they could.
"You are the best dang liar I have known!" he chuckled.
"What?" she gapes? She was trying red in the face. She wanted to turn and hit him in the arm at least.
"And you know when brother is right…he's right!" another voice said as a large bear of a man came up to the two.
"Hiram?" Rio groaned. She had forgotten how big Hiram was.
He glanced at her for the longest time. He knew something was up in her life. He heard his brother walking up to them. Hiram was a tall man with long black hair pulled into a pony tail. His face was long and childlike. His brown eyes were always fixed in a curious glance. He said, "Little brother...has,"
Then, he stopped and stared at Rio. Rio had done some growing up in the past few years since he had seen her. She blushed as she said, "Hey, Hiram...liking time no see!"
"Little cub…" he smiled shyly as he walked around her to see she had really growl up. "You are a woman now!"
"Well," she blurted out as she blushed even more. "…I've going to send you pictures and tell you guys about me and dusty…"
"When is the confirmation of the two tribes' engagement?" Joe-Casey asked.
"It's not until after my eighteenth birthday. I have so much to be thinking about…Dusty wants everything to be right!" she said with a slight blush to her face. She felt her cheeks cooling down a little as she wondered if she was going to see Marie.
"You need to be strong then as you do now…" Joe-Casey said.
"And when will you go back to you home world?" Hiram asked. He and his brother knew that Rio had to leave earth for a little while to realm her kingdom. She knew there was a battle beyond her wildest of nightmares just waiting for her back home in Acarida.
Rio gazed at the grass at her feet. There was a look great sadness. She had never been to her homeward outside of her dreams. "It's up to Grandfather. He is the king, you know!"
"Yea…we know!" Hiram nodded.
"There is a great deal of pain in your heart…what gives…little cub?" Joe-Casey asked. His glance mixed worry and curiously. He knew Rio had a secret, but here was something more to being herself than he asked for.
"It's nothing…" Rio sighed, shrugging her shoulders. She had to leave the Sailor Senshi a well kept secret. She had also a past which was coming back to hurt her in many ways. She did tried to keep peace her past together with the help pouf her friends. Still she had no idea where this searching was going to help her out. "I have been trying to have a good life and keep all of my powers in check!"
Joe-Casey had to smile as ghee knew Rio was stretching the truth. He smirked, "What a lair you are!"
"Uh?" Rio gasped her eyes bugging out. Did Joe-Casey know she was a Sailor Senshi? Her heart nearly stopped beating. She said, "What do you mean?"
Hiram smiled shyly as he understood what Joe-Casey speaking of. He giggled a little, "It's your powers…your dream time!"
Her face relaxed into a dead pan stare. She sighed, knowing full well what was going to happen next. All the ties she had in that natural world been cut to the quick. Was there anyway of restoring it four good. She had to face up that she could be still a princess and a sailor senshi, but with one less power to use. Rio said, "I was very ill and lost it!"
Joe-Casey wanted to shake Rio into the real world of restoring her powers once again. Was the restoration like that of Serena when she grew stronger as Sailor moon? She did not have any time to be thinking of what was going on in her inner world until she patched up the void. She looked at Joe-Casey. He knew there were inroads to her broken soul. How was he going to do the repairs? He had to think first.
"I want to say, that's no excuse for you to be like that…" he huffed as he stared at her. He knew it was not her fault. He heard from his sister Marie that Rio almost went blind. He had to get hart over to the dream time before the next winter. He had a feeling there was to be a great war to end the lives of Acardia as Rio knew it.
Rio blinked for a second. Her eyes were still burning from the drops she had to take in order for the illness to leave. Terri did not want to take any chances of the illness coming back. He warned Rio on over reading until her eyes were back up to full strength. She knew she had to keep on working at her eyes. She knew the others depended on her.
"What are you thinking about…little cub?" he asked. He placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked at him for just a minute. He had no idea on how much it meant for her to be that strong.
"It's nothing…" she sighed. She looked out on the empty stillness of the forest. She retold the story of what had happened to her as best as she knew how. There were a few choice blank spots in the story, but she had to be careful.
"Little cub…what will happen to your powers?" Hiram spoke up. He was very quiet as he heard the story from Rio.
"I'm not sure…" Rio sighed once again.
"Am I!" Joe-Casey said. His face started to ease into a state of great sadness. He had been carrying a heavy pain in his heart.
There was no point of turning back on him. She had to ask what had happened to him. He died look a little pale as he stood in front of her. He looked at his brother at first and said, "I went to the doctors!"
"And?" Rio asked as she tilted her head to one side. She gave a surprised glance.
"I had some blood work done..."
Then, Hiram loomed over his brother as he walked over to the two. He knew his brother was completely sad at his fate. "Are you going to tell her or not!"
Knowing his brother was bigger, but childlike in some ways, Joe-Casey said, "wait..I'll tell her in a minute!"
"Tell me what?" she asked.
Joe-Casey looked Rio. She looked like Marie, his sister when they were talking about his results. There was a pause before he told her. "It's very difficult for me to get my head wrapped around the idea!"
"I hear you!" Rio reasoned with Joe-Casey. She still had to be under Terri's care as she took the summer off from school.
"I had some blood tests done!"
"And?"
There was a slight tension in the air. Where this idea was coming from, Rio wondered. "What's the testing for?" she asked as she heard a bird fly past them. Hiram placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. He smiled little as he said, "Look...little brother...we are behind you all the way!"
"Are you sure...?" Joe-Casey asked.
"What did the test results end up telling you?" Rio questioned her friend.
"I've got cancer!" he uttered as he knew she was going to be shocked.
Rio shook her head. The idea was the bolt of blue that hit Rio nearly off of her feet. She had wondered if he was making something up. It was like having the rug pulled right from under her. She felt a little strange. What was going on with Joe-Casey? "Are you sure...?" she asked.
"You look like how I feel at first, little cub!" he said.
"There were a lot of papers that came with his results!" Hiram added.
"About doctors?" Rio asked. A minute or two of complete stillness seemed to fall like a ton of bricks. She had to look at Joe Casey with a stunned gaze. There were a few thousand questions that buzzed in her mind. What was gouging on with him.
"What think you have cancer?" she questioned him.
"I had a cough...!" he said. He had been through before with his sister and his other family members. "I thought I had a cold...it wouldn't go away!"
She had to think about the past. She was very young when she first met Marie. She nearly grew up with the idea of having more than one aunt. Although, Marie was a housekeeper, she was more like a mother to Rio than anything.
"Little cub...don't worry about me," Joe-Casey said. He recalled about how early the results were. Yet, there was something inside that needed a new host body, a power that even surprised Joe-Casey.
"I need to sit down..." Rio said. She felt the ground shifting very quickly from her feet. She walked over to a stump with an unsteady gate. She cleaned off the stump as best as she could before sit down. She turned to see her friends walking over to her. Her soda, "I got a letter from my uncle I haven't read yet and now this…"
"It's not you that has the cancer!" Joe-Casey huffed. He knew it was hard idea to take in for Rio, but he was the one had who to live with it.
Rio breathed slowly as she gave her friend a concerned look. There was nothing that she could do to help stop his cancer. She uttered, "You have it…but it effects everyone around you…don't you understand?"
"Yes…" he said. He had been told by his doctors that cancer even hurts those closest to the victim.
Then, Hiram asked, "What are you thinking about…little cub?"
"Are you thinking about what is going on with Bobbie McGee?" he asked. There was a point where Rio had to think about her past. She wondered if he was asking her what was going on with the people back home in London.
"I haven't heard nothing...I hope he's O.K!" she said quietly.
This was a friend from Rio's past. He was neither one of her uncle's many friendships. She had to contact him in the near future, but fate had something else planned for her and her Uncle Ziegfeld.
"What are you going to do…fight it out?" she asked. She glared at him with anger. She knew that he was telling her the whole story. She just did not like the idea of being the last one to know.
"Like you…I will fight," he huffed as he folded his arms over his chest. He knew she was leading up her own illness.
"Sorry…I should have told you sooner than now!" Rio uttered.
"You have your own life to live…little cub!" he shrugged.
She stopped herself from yelling at Joe-Casey. She wanted to be very posed as she handled the situation. She uttered at her friend, "What are you going to do with Marie...you two are close!"
"Yea...I haven't told her yet...I talked it over with mom and daddy...they at first were not happy," he said.
"And me too!" Hiram smiled as he added himself to the conversion.
Joe-Casey knew his brother was doing no harm. He said, "I had to tell you first...and why are you smiling...this is serious!"
"Because I have to…" he shrugged as he stared at his brother with a surprised look. "At least some has to!"
"I wish there was a way going back to complete restart of I found out!" Joy-Casey said. He could hear a male voice calling out for Rio. She was no longer a little girl who just simply climbed trees and ran with the dragons to avoid people.
Rio heard her name being called out for a second time. She had wondered if her aunts needed her. She said, "Stop at the house...there is something I need to go through."
"Don't take too long. I have caught a flight to JFK...then, to London!" Joe-Casey said.
Rio knew that Joe-Casey still had a wild sense of humor. She smirked, "I have friends who are looking at for me. Beside don't been so pushy. We have a ton to talk about!"
"I can see you are starting to be a grown woman little cub…you will come back before I and my bother take off?" he asked. He knew he had to speak to her quickly. There was something he wanted to give her to restore her powers once again.
"Yes…I am just plain curious to hear what you have to say about everything…"
"You want to have supper with me and Hiram?"
Rio glanced at her firmed, then at the ground. There was more to her than met the eye. She said, "I will maybe tomorrow. I have been living with some friends in tow, it really nice to be in as group like them!"
"Oh…" he tilted his head to one side. He wondered if Rio was still a little girl in some ways, still playing house.
"Don't worry about me…I am learning a ton with being on my own. There was so much I had no idea until I came here," Rio said as she smiled weakly.
"I hope you are learning more than just simple house work!" Hiram said.
"Yea…" Rio shrugged.
Rio retraced her steps back to where the others where. She noticed the others were not there. She wondered if they had gone to riverside near the entrance way to Acarida. She noticed a Green-man standing on a tree branch. She asked in her native tongue where the others had gone. He told her that they were going to the riverside as soon as she came back. She knew they were in safe hands as she had to leave them for little while. She asked the Green-man where the group went to when she had left. He told her they were following Kateleana to the edge of the forest. She knew a little of where the edge was. Yet, she wanted to be sure that he was not pulling a fast one on her. They were not known for their playful nature like other faire folk, but Rio had to be careful for there was still a great war raging in her home world and there were spies in ever little hidey-hole.
He sat on her shoulder as she walked along the path leading to the edge of the forest. They spoke of many things including her needlework. She was a very fine needle worker with the many color threads and flosses when she was at home in England. She kind of slacked off when she came to American. She had to get back into the swing of things if she was going to have a wedding trunk. She had to make her own special table linens for her and Dusty.
She wondered if her eyes were still strong even to see the holes in the cloth. She could read some small print, but she wondered about her eyes given up as she sewed.
"What are you going to do if you can't see the things you are making…" the Greenman asked. He was tall with long thin branches for limbs. As he walked he squeaked. He had been dressed in long thin grasses which covered his body like a hairy suit.
"There is other things I can make, but I do like doing the stitching," Rio sighed. Then, she heard a voiced singing. It was like the wind blowing in a tree. She could sense everything that was all good and green about the song. She felt herself being very much drawn into the music. She glanced around to see hazy landscape. The forest was a cool, dark green as bugs flew in and out of tree tops.
She knew who did the singing, one of many aunts who were not really part of her family. She called her aunt Enid by most of the children of Acarida. Enid was a fairy and was unable to have children of her own. It was due to a curse placed on her by the troll king. She was also known as the quiet queen of the fairies. Yet, when she sang she brought light until the world of Acarida.
Rio looked around for any other path which could lead in to danger.
There were floating balls of lights coming towards her in a sort of greeting. She sensed they were furies who were part of the trooping fairies that guarded the area near the gateway. She could feel their power. She asked them if they had seen Reenie or Sasami. One of the braver souls came up and said, "You have your mother's eyes."
"Thank you," she nodded. She felt the song pulling her in. she said to the Greenman, "Look...to see if there is anything that would trip us up?"
The Greenman was fast in his thinking. He knew off hand there was nothing to be alarmed about. He said, "There is no enemy nearby. Come…my child…you need to be here right now!"
His pale brown eyes seemed to be very truthful as he spoke.
"And what will I find here?" she asked as she started to come towards a clearing in the woods.
What she had met up with was a sight that she had not seen since she was twelve. She noticed a large ring of elves sitting on circle of leaves and they were singing. They stopped when they noticed her. They all stood up and greeted her. She swallowed hard, feeling her heart beating hard. Was she dreaming this or not? She came close to one who was nearest to her. On asking, Rio said, "I have some friends here. Where are they?"
The one who was closest to her was dressed in dark brown. It was a male elf who knew who she was. He spoke, "Milady…your friends are with your aunt. They are quite safe and comfortable."
Her heart slowed to a more normal pace as she heard the news. The elves were not with the Troll king. She asked, "Where are they now?"
"Come with me…" the make elf nodded. He held out a hand to lead Rio down one more path. There were lighting bugs dancing the air. She held her breath as she followed him. The feeling of entrapment was not there. "I have seen you have been growing in your role of a mother…" he said.
"Mother?" she asked. Thinking of what she was still. She was a high school student with a long way before even getting married. Then, she remembered Wolfs bane her adopted elven son. She smiled shyly, "Yes…I haven't seen my cub for a long time…"
"It has…we had word that he is going very well," the male elf said. The two stopped at a large ringlet of trees. Inside of the ringlet was a throne of sorts made out of large rocks.
When Rio came close, she was surprised to see her aunt Ciria sitting on the throne of stone. She said in a timid little girl voice, "Auntie?"
The young Faire Queen looked up from her hands when she weaving a simple spider like thread together into a neckline. She noticed Rio standing before her.; she smiled as she asked, "Are you seeking my audience?"
"Yes…" Rio said as she bowed slightly. She looked a little shy as she waitlisted for Queen Ciria to speak once again. She knew the true power behind these beautiful fairies.
Queen Ciria was a pale creature with large brown eyes and a short brownish black hair style... Her face was very much delicately drawn out with high cheek bones and medium chin and lips. She was thin and willowy which complemented her long white dress. Her wings were that of dragon fly wings which glowed in the moonlight.
Rio tried to look aunt for her friends. She could not find them after a minute of looking. She asked, "What's happened to me mates?"
Queen Ciria stood up from her stone throne. Her long white dressed spilled over to the ground in one large light fall of fabric. She asked one of the glowing balls of light who were floating rotund the area to found Rio's friends. The ball floated over to be Rio stood. Queen Ciria said, "You follow it and you will see your friends."
Rio knew she was not going to cross the gentle queen as she said, "Yes…ma'am!"
"One more thing…" the queen said as she pointed out to the young princess, "You need to be very careful. The Troll king doesn't know who you are just yet!"
Rio started to walk down the path that the male elf had pointed out to her. Then, he gave a low whistle to the elves that were paroling on the tree branches. She followed the ball of light until she noticed a large camp fire roaring away near the stone throne house of the queen. Rio had her ears peeked up at very minute she followed the light.
Serena was the first to see Rio. She called out, "Rio...is that you?"
"Yea..." Rio nodded. She drew close to the camp fire. She noticed how cool it really was.
"Who did you talk to?" Seiya's voice asked.
"I think it's my aunt…" she said.
"I wondered if Gramps is here…" Stephanie wondered out loud. She and the others were sitting on a few logs, trying to keep warm. The heat of the day was drowned out by the trees. The forest was indeed dense.
Rio walked over where Step hone was. She took a seat on a log. She had wondered why she not saw anyone else. She wondered if she was tricked. Then, step-in heard her name being called out. She asked, "Is that Steve?"
"Sounds lisle him?" Seiya said.
Serena hoped it was not far for her to walk to the edge. She had never seen another planet in her present day life outside of the moon and the kingdoms. She had noticed that placenta of Acarida was so different, she wonder she if she was awake.
"Steve was working on his bike…wasn't he?" Taiki asked.
"When I saw him earlier in the day….I was certain that he was going to stay in town all day!" Rook said.
"I hope he did over board with the repairers. He's such a tool boy!" Stephanie sighed.
The others outside possible of Rio knew what Stephanie was talking about.
"Don't you mean a cool boy?" Sasami asked with her innocent vice.
Stephaney smiled as she said, "No…tool boy…he loves to tinker!"
"That sounds like me…with a needle and thread, if I get start up again!" Rio said as she looked up at the trees.
All seemed a little quiet as the fire popped on. Then, a young Leprechaun flew past on a large bird with a couple fairies chasing him.
The group near leapt out of their skins from the sight. Rio gasped as she placed a hand up to her heart, "That's something you don't see every day!"
"Yea...this place is certainly different..." TAiki breathed hard.
Rio had to think there were forces she did not know about who were trying to smoke them out. Was there a way of finding out with very little help from Serena or other friends?
Seiya looked at Rio and wondered what was on Rio's mind. She had to see if she was being lead on by the Troll. She had never met up with the Troll king before. She had witnessed different henchmen from the Dark Moon forces. Yet, once or twice she had with her family when they were attacked by the Troll Kingdom. She knew who he was by the stories she had heard from her Uncles. Was this the first time she was going to met up with him. Rio stood up as the wind started to pick up just a little.
"Rio?" Seiya asked as he noticed her staring into another part of the forest. This was a part which was the most dark. He and Serena noticed Rio began to walk towards the path. It was like she was under a spell.
"Where is she's going?" Serena asked Stephanie.
"Nuts?" the red head gasped. She knew Rio was caught in a darker web of the dream time. She wondered if the others knew the spell could not be broken. As if she had to stop Rio from walking into a trap, Stephanie got up and started to walk towards the same direction.
Serena asked when she noticed Stephanie getting up from the log, "Where are you going?"
"To follow Rio… I have a bad feeling about this?" Stephanie said as she tried to follow her cousins.
Taiki had another feeling where Rio was headed for. He said to Seiya and Serena, "You two follow Stephanie…I will get the others!"
Ryoko asked, "You want one of us to stay here?"
Serena knew Reenie or Hour were not safe in the forest by themselves. She ordered Reenie to go back to where Paol had his cabin. Reenie at first protested at the order. She knew that Serena was going to have all the fun in fighting for right. Yet, this was not Earth. This was a strange planet with even more stingers creatures. Serene did nap want to take any chances.
Hotura asked, "Can we use our celphone?"