Disclaimer: Hasn't changed. And really, no one thinks it would.

A.N: Well, I wasn't originally going to post this today, but hey…I figured I might as well.

Chapter 7

"I would think that I should be the one asking you that," the Observer replied, all signs of surprise long gone. "I believe you said you were leaving to help a brother you don't have, and here I find you with not one but three strangers, none of whom could possibly be any relative of yours."

"Ah, well…" smiling a bit nervously, Oishi rubbed the back of his neck with one hand, "um…I…"

"Who're you, nyah?" the redhead cut in impatiently, seeing as the healer didn't look like he was going to complete his thought anytime soon. Releasing his stranglehold on Momo, he bounded over to stare wide-eyed at Inui's almost opaque square glasses. "You look scary nyah! How do you see through those?"

"You know," Momo muttered, rubbing his neck and glaring warily at the inquisitive redhead, "I've actually been wondering the same thing…"

"My name is Sadaharu Inui," the Observer replied, eyeing the redhead from behind his thick glasses. "I am a friend of Oishi's. And you would be?"

"Eiji Kikumaru nyah. So you can see?"

"Indeed," Inui replied, a slight frown flitting across his face as he reached up with one hand to adjust his glasses. More than you realize. "I simply wish to…keep my eyes clear."

"Clear?" Momo repeated disbelievingly. "First time I ever heard of using opaque lenses to keep one's eyes clear…"

Rolling his eyes, Ryoma stepped forward, gaze sweeping over the horses and disheveled clothes before turning to award the strangers a hard, accusing glare, "You are running from something. I demand to know what."

Instant silence greeted his words as the tension skyrocketed once more.

"Ah, um…" Oishi glanced nervously around at the tense faces, straining his ears for the possible, dreaded sound of pursuit—he had almost forgotten about the Elite band in the shock of meeting the Observer and his companions, "c—can we…talk about this somewhere else?"

x-X-x

"Come on now, careful nyah, you don't want to leave a trail do you?" Eiji crooned softly to the horses as he led them slowly through the screen of massive ferns that served as a shield from prying eyes for the cave behind them. "Good job nyah, now just a few more steps—oh, don't step on that! Whew, and we're through!"

Snorting softly, Finiko flipped an ear at the redhead before turning slightly and lowering her head to start nibbling on the grass by her feet. Eiji chuckled and patted the mare on the neck before announcing to Triad that he should do the same.

"You don't know when we're going to have time to just settle down and eat again nyah," he reminded them before ducking back into the cave.

The two horses traded knowing looks, flicking their ears before returning to the serious business of eating.

Inside the cave itself the atmosphere was rather more on the tense side as wary eyes regarded still unfamiliar faces made even less trust-inspiring by the thick shadows now layered over them. It didn't help that the cave was not exactly what one would define as spacious—or even dry for that matter. Indeed, the uneven, rocky walls were slightly slimy, and the dirt floor was damp at best.

Eiji wrinkled his nose as he settled down between Oishi and the loudmouth with the purple eyes and prickly looking head of hair. He wasn't squeamish, seeing as he had lived practically all his life outdoors, but the closed in, musty air combined with the unpleasant wetness and staring faces was…not appealing—to put it mildly…very mildly…

"So what's going on nyah?" he demanded of the cave at large, deciding that he would rather it not sink into restless silence. He hated restless silence. It was always so boring and uncomfortable.

"And I think you strange people should talk first nyah," he added, jabbing a finger at the weirdest one—the one with the too-dense glasses, "since you were the ones who attacked us."

"We were just making sure you weren't guards from that stupid city," the violet eyed Momochiro—no wait, it was Momoshiro, Eiji snickered.

"Idiot," the one with the snake eyes hissed darkly and the redhead blinked several times.

That was…but…it couldn't be…but his ears were excellent and they had never yet told him wrong…

Bouncing to his hands and knees, Eiji leaned across the circle to stare in astonishment at the other youth—who drew back hurriedly before their noses could collide, a confused look on his face, "You're a Speaker too nyah! Why didn't you say something? This is so cool nyah!"

The other youth didn't answer, and Eiji leaned forward a little more, trying to hear if he was saying something quietly. Nearby, Momo could be heard muttering 'What's a Speaker?', but no one answered him.

"Uh K—Kikumaru…" Oishi stammered.

Eiji blinked and turned to stare inquisitively at his once-enemy, "Nyah?"

"Ah…well..."

"I think what he means to say, Eiji, is that you're making our new companions uncomfortable," Fuji supplied, chuckling.

"Oh…really?" the redhead looked around the circle of faces with surprise—they were all staring—or glaring, depending on the source—at him. Well, maybe not all, but he was certainly what they were all looking at.

"Um…hehe," he scratched the back of his head, grinning sheepishly at them, before returning to his seat. Really, why was everyone so uptight these days? It was an amazing occasion! Worth celebrating! And here they were, looking at him like he had sprouted antlers or something equally weird.

Beside him, Oishi sighed and glanced at Inui's glinting glasses—it was all he could really see of the Observer who was sitting near the back of the cave, "What happened? Were you guys running from the guards?"

"Ah, nothing of particular interest," was the nonchalant reply. "It was simply a little misunderstanding. But they did not take too kindly to our taking our leave of their jail cells, so we were not in a great hurry to meet them again. There would have been a seventy-three out of a hundred chance that they would have wished us to return, and that would not have befitted our plans."

Eiji shot the tall speaker a dubious look. Talk about your weird people…

"That wasn't what we were here to talk about," the little one who had introduced himself as Ryoma Echizen snapped. "What were you saying about the Elite?"

"We have recently encountered one of their squads," Tezuka replied, his calm voice filling the little cave with ease. "We were leaving their camp when you ambushed us."

"Leaving their—" Momo cut himself off as he leaped to his feet—only the low ceiling had other ideas and he was back on the ground a moment later—his jaw hitting the floor. "You—you're not—"

"No, we are not members of the Elite," the bespectacled sorcerer said evenly, casting a look at Fuji out of the corner of his eye.

"Oh," Momo rubbed the back of his head where he could now feel a growing bump, calming a bit, "okay then…"

Ryoma sighed, shaking his head. Really, it was an extremely good thing that his often less-than-properly-careful friend had an extremely hard head. If he hadn't, the sorcerer was sure that something irrevocably unpleasant would have happened by now—though his father had always said one had to wonder if there was that much to damage…but seeing as he had long since decided not to believe anything the old man said it was a bit of a moot point.

Eyeing the strangers warily, the young sorcerer wondered… He could sense that at least two of them were magic wielders—the same ones he had sensed before in the city—a skill he had picked up quite early in life, but what he couldn't understand was that their powers felt…different somehow, more so than the usual variation from sorcerer to sorcerer. But perhaps it was just his imagination.

"What about you?" the brunette who had given no more a name than just 'Fuji' inquired, tilting his head slightly to one side in a curious manner—he didn't seem at all effected by the somewhat less-than-relaxed atmosphere.

Ryoma stiffened, "We having nothing to do with the Elite. We were sent by the Sorcerien."

"The Sorcerien?" Oishi repeated, glancing at Inui in confusion. "But isn't that the name of the old sorcerers' branch of the Alliance that the Elite destroyed?"

"Destroyed?" Momo repeated, bewildered. "What do you mean destroyed?"

Inui cleared his throat with a cough and adjusted his glasses, "That would be the one, however the Elite did not actually destroy the Sorcerien, though they thought they had—an assumption I believe they have only recently begun to realize is incorrect."

"Whoa," Eiji whistled, "not very smart were they!"

The Observer gave him an odd look, "I would not be so quick to say if I were you, however, it is true that they were a bit careless."

"You mean slow on the uptake nyah!"

"So what do you mean when you say you were sent?" Fuji asked, gazing intently at Ryoma—though how Ryoma knew that the former was looking his way when said sorcerer kept his eyes disobligingly closed was a mystery that Ryoma didn't feel like solving. Maybe he had just gotten used to people whose eyes he couldn't see after spending the past few days in Inui's company.

"The Masters sent us out to look for renegade magic wielders," he explained finally, realizing that they were all looking at him and that Momo probably wasn't going to be answering. "They didn't tell us why."

"They never explain anything to anyone," Momo added, grimacing at the thought. "You'd think they'd at least try to make an exception when they want you to do something for them, but no. Not even a word!"

"Fshuuu," the youth with the bandana hissed under his breath and Eiji laughed. Momoshiro glared at them in bewildered anger, standing up again, only to be reminded of the cave's low ceiling. Groaning at his misfortune he sank back to the floor—just as one of the small stalactites protruding from said ceiling suddenly fell to land point down in the soft earth just in front of him.

He stared at it for a long moment, violet eyes wide and mouth slightly agape, "Th—that just…it just…"

"That's one hard head!" the redhead quipped before bursting out laughing again and bouncing up and down where he sat. These people were amusing, he decided, definitely worth getting to know!

"Um, Momoshiro," Oishi cut in, looking anxiously from the still giggling Eiji to the swordsman, "a—are you all right?"

"He'll be fine," Ryoma muttered, rolling his eyes, before raising his voice back to speaking levels. "So will you be coming with us then?"

Eiji fell abruptly silent as he looked suddenly anxious, glancing over to where Fuji was still smiling like he did every hour of every day. Beside him Oishi traded glances with Tezuka, green eyes uncertain. But none of them had time to answer before Momo spoke up suddenly.

"Hey, Ryoma, you can't be serious about going back now?" he demanded incredulously. "I mean, there's gotta be more than just two sorcerers wandering around the Empire!"

"We have to start somewhere, don't we?"

"Oh, well…I guess…"

Blinking, Ryoma arced an eyebrow at him, "Why? Don't you want to go back?"

But Momo just shook his head and laughed nervously, picking up the piece of stalactite and turning it over in his hands, "Ah, it's nothing…"

There was a momentary pause in the conversation where no one seemed to know what to do next, then Fuji leaned forward slightly, eyes opening to reveal sharp, ocean blue orbs.

"This Sorcerien," he said in his quiet, almost lulling voice, "you said they have been around for a long time? Might they know anything about…say…the Ancients?"

"There are a few books in our library about them," Ryoma replied slowly, now somewhat confused, "probably more than most people know about. But no one knows anything about the Ancients anymore that isn't just myth."

"Hmm…" the brunette sat back and smiled serenely, his eyes sliding shut again, "I would like a look at those books, if your people would allow."

Ryoma narrowed his eyes slightly—he had the impression that the older sorcerer would be having a look at those books even if someone told him no—but seeing as the request implied a willingness to go and meet the Council he decided not to care. It wasn't his problem anyway.

"I…guess we'll be coming too then…" Oishi murmured, looking kind of lost.

"Hey, you guys," Momo said suddenly, holding up the piece of statute and pointing at the base where it had once been connected to the ceiling above, "weren't these things supposed to grow over time with the dripping of water or something?"

The others stared at him.

"That would be correct," Inui said finally, adjusting his glasses. "They form as water seeping through earth gather minerals and deposit them on the rock."

"But," the swordsman frowned, "look at this. The base part was all covered in mud so I kind of cleaned it off and it's kind of smooth underneath. I think it was the mud holding it up there."

"Really?" looking rather interested, Kikumaru scrambled to his knees and grabbed the nearest rocky protrusion in the cave's ceiling. Giving it a hard yank with all his weight put behind it he toppled backwards with a yelp, said piece of ceiling still firmly in hand. Shaking his head vigorously, he stared at the thing he was holding, then looked up at the others' interested faces. "What do you know nya! He's right! Wow, someone must have been really bored! But—"

Throughout his excited series of exclamations Eiji had been pulling more and more of the false statutes off of the ceiling, getting more and more enthusiastic by the rock, but he was cut off abruptly as the ninth rocky protrusion he attacked—which had been resisting with a little more determination than the previous eight—suddenly came away with a deafening snap. The redhead fell backwards with a yelp, crashing into Oishi just as a thin beam of white light lanced from the circular patch of something shiny he had revealed.

The healer felt his back hit the ground hard as all the air was knocked out of his lungs—just as the entire floor beneath him gave way. He would have exclaimed in shock at the unwelcome—not to mention highly unexpected—turn of events, but by then he was falling, surrounded on all sides by pieces of crumbling earth and accompanied by the horrified cry of a certain redhead. It seemed Eiji had no problems at all with finding time to express his shock.

Seeing the two disappear, Momoshiro had dove forward to snatch at one of the many flailing limbs making their departure, but yet another chunk of what they had all assumed was solid ground cracked and began to fall and all he could do was frantically grab and hang on to the nearest solid object—which turned out to be the arm of his long time sorcerer friend who, unfortunately, was nowhere near heavy enough to anchor him. Not that it mattered in the long run as Ryoma let out a most undignified squawk for the floor of the cave continued to fall away, the crevice racing from the front all the way to the back where the Snake and the Observer had nowhere to run to.

Fuji sat for a moment, blinking at the gaping ravine that had opened up inches away from where he was sitting to swallow the majority of his companions—Tezuka had been the only one quick enough and near enough the exit to leap out of the way—mildliy astonished.

"Well," he said after a moment's pause, "that was unexpected."

TBC

A.N: So not the most interesting part in the world U But yes there is a reason for this! It wasn't just random, mostly… Anyways, I'm getting slightly confused so I may end up writing some of the pre-stories to remind me what I'm doing. Again, comments and suggestions appreciated.