Vamps and Ronins
Chapter Eighteen: In the Red
Written by: Tiasha
I am fading in and out
What are you gonna do to save me now
From all of this danger you don't know how
I'll find my way out
When I'm in the red
Listening to strangers inside my head
The darkening angels beneath the bed
I still see what you said
What are you gonna do
No way for you to save me
What are you gonna do
Everything that you gave me
Is painted in red
"Red" by Sara Bareilles
"We need to move now," her companion whispered in her ear, their close proximity doing nothing for her anxiety. She nodded her head, eyes trained on the shadow before her as he slowly snaked his head around the corner to see if anyone was coming. She also felt his sub-armor pulse twice, as if he were searching through the shadows in the catacombs for enemies.
After a moment, he lifted a hand and waved for her to move. She did so, her steps light and soundless as she darted past him and down the corridor. Her hands twitched at her sides, ready to grab her weapons should she need them. All was eerily quiet in the corridor and she slowed to a stop as she neared a corner, her back against the wall. She felt a body stop behind her, leaning against the wall next to her as she strained to hear anything out of the ordinary.
Again her companion leaned down to her, whispering in her ear; "There are four just ahead." She again nodded, taking a soft, deep breath.
"Leave it to me," she felt him whisper but she ignored him, pushing away from the wall and turning the corner before he could move. He hissed her name, but she ignored that too, eyes now trained on the four soldiers in front of her as she walked towards them.
*Halt!* one said to her, his spirit only capable of psychic speech. Her eyes narrowed as the Dynasty soldiers brandished their spears at her. How foolish. She knew all their moves inside and out, and they were threatening her? Her lips quirked upward in a confident smile as she continued towards them, eyes still narrowed and calculating each move they made.
*I said, Halt!*
"You really think you can best me?" she asked, her voice drifting on the air around them as if it were a haunting melody. At their hesitant step backwards, she increased her pace, now running at them and her hands quickly moved to grasp the hilts of the two swords at her back.
Before the four could even call for reinforcement, her blades had penetrated their armor and gray smoke spilled forth from the holes in the ghastly green armor. The spirits quickly returned from whence they came on the smoke tendrils, and she did not pay them a second glance. Instead she sheathed her weapons and glared at her companion as he rounded the corner and grabbed her arm somewhat roughly.
"Don't do that again," he growled at her and she yanked her arm free.
"I'll do what I have to do, and you would have done the same thing I did. I just got to doing it first," she replied scathingly, not allowing his hard eyes to intimidate her. After all, none of the warlords intimidated her; they never had, and that was why they had despised her…in the beginning at least.
"Kayura…" he growled in warning but quickly thought better of it, his armor picking up on more soldiers heading to where they had just come from. With a frown, he grabbed her arm and pulled her down the hallway, her easily keeping pace with him.
"We need to—" she began but was cut off.
"I know!" he snapped, his frustration at their situation becoming evident in his tone, "we need to regroup and figure out what's going on."
"It's a coup, that's what," Kayura replied haughtily, ignoring the dark look her companion sent her.
"That's not what I meant."
"Well, you did say—"
"Kayura, so help me, if you start pulling this shit again—now of all times, I'll—"
"You'll what, Cale?" she retorted, calling his bluff.
"I'll leave you here to fend for yourself, which considering how rusty you've gotten—"
"Oh, bite me," she quipped.
"Don't tempt me," he answered in a non-amused tone.
She couldn't keep the satisfied smile from creeping onto her face; sometimes it was too easy to tease them. Her smile quickly fell though when the warlord skidded to a stop and pulled her against the wall next to him with a soft, but painful thud. She whimpered and pouted the rough-handling she was getting. Honestly, she could have stopped in time, no need to throw her against the wall.
"Dais and Sehkmet are heading to the grotto, that much I can tell, but it's just as slow for them as it has been for us," he told her, tone serious and face troubled.
"It figures," she answered just as seriously, no hint of teasing or condescending in her voice at all now. "This Dragon really did stage an effective coup d'etat. But regardless of that, we need to hurry."
"I know; the whole realm is at stake."
"Not just ours, all the realms, Cale. If Totoyami wins, we're all doomed."
"Hey, you know what we should do…" came Kento's 'plotting' voice and she could only imagine who he was plotting with; but she just KNEW that it was her he was plotting against. She could just sense it…
A frown pulled at her face as she burrowed deeper into the lightweight quilt and wondered if this was a sign that she should just sleep the day away. At the continued murmurs of plotting, she realized that, yes it probably was a sign. But sleeping would not protect her from whatever Kento had planned. Well, she'd better put a stop to it before it got too out of hand.
"Don't even—" her grumble was cut off when something cold and wet was placed against the exposed portion of her neck. With a squeal of surprise, she shot up from her spot on the floor to glare at Kento and Ryo, who were both smiling at her cheekily. In Kento's hand sat the culprit of the coldness and wetness: an ice cube.
"Heh. Good Morning Sunshine!" Kento teased with that cheeky smile still on his face.
"Morning, Robyn!" Ryo sang, as if he'd had no part in the wake-up call, which she knew he had because he wasn't hiding it very well. His happy mood was grating on her nerves ever so slightly. Her good morning mood was seemingly far from obtainable thanks to those smiling idiots and she spotted Sage rolling his eyes at their method of waking everyone else up.
A quick glance at Rowen told her that a mere ice cube was not going to get him up. There was a small wet spot on his neck that was dripping onto the pillow below, making it look like he'd drooled or something. With a sigh, she put as bright of a smile as she could on her face and greeted them good morning. They took it as a peace offering. The sorry saps. Payback was only fair, right?
Taking advantage of their inattention, she grabbed the ice cube from Kento's hand and shoved it down the back of Ryo's shirt; since Kento had already started moving to grab it back from her, placing it down his shirt would not be a good tactical decision. Or so she would say when asked for an explanation…if she survived their payback, that is.
Ryo's startled yelp was her cue to run for it. And run she did, leaping up from the blankets on the floor and squeezing between the two boys as she dashed for the kitchen. Hopefully Cye would offer her sanctuary and/or amnesty, since he would inevitably be drawn into it…
"I can't get it out!" came Ryo's plea for help. Robyn just snickered and ran behind Cye as he blinked at her and the pursuing bearer of Hardrock in mild surprise.
She stayed hidden behind him as Kento continued to advance towards her, not seeming to care if his friend was in the way or not. She peeked over Cye's shoulder just in time to see Ryo enter the kitchen with a pout on his face, clearly unhappy that Robyn had shoved the ice down his shirt and not Kento's. With a muffled squeak, she ducked back down and tried to think of a way to escape to the safety of either her room or the bathroom.
"Robyn," Ryo said, still giving her a pout, "that was mean! I wasn't even the one who did it!"
"What?! You little snitch! You were all for it a moment ago!" Kento shouted and turned, pulling Ryo into a headlock.
Robyn smiled at her luck, muttering that she was going to take advantage of the opening. As she peeked over Cye's shoulder one more time, she felt something thick and wet plop onto her nose. She blinked a few times before her brain registered that Cye had indeed swiped pancake batter onto her nose and had intentionally done it. And he gave her an innocent smile too. Innocent her butt.
"Cye!" she cried out in mock anger, reaching for a dish towel to wipe her nose with. Kento and Ryo looked up from their wrestling to see what had happened and started laughing as Robyn began wiping the batter from her face.
"Good one, Cye!" Kento laughed, giving his friend a thumbs up.
The bearer of Torrent just shrugged before turning to look at the pouty redhead behind him. "Why don't you go change?" he suggested, innocent smile still on his face.
Robyn nodded, taking in the fact that aside from her and Rowen (who was still asleep), everyone else was dressed for the day.
"Fine," she agreed, dropping the dish towel on the counter and dashing out of the kitchen and up the stairs before Kento could come up with any other "bright ideas."
Robyn had just finished getting ready for the day and was heading down the stairs when the phone rang, and she heard Mrs. Mouri answer it. Not thinking much of it, she continued on her way, heading down the stairs and had just turned to go to the kitchen when Mrs. Mouri called to her from the pottery room.
"Yeah?" Robyn questioned, entering the room that used to be part of the garage. It had been converted not long after the Mouri family had moved in years ago. It had a pleasant feel to it, setting one at ease.
"The phone is for you," the elder woman said. "It's that young man who was helping you with your applications."
Robyn stiffened at the description but took the cordless phone anyway. She took a deep breath, unsure of what reaction or words to expect from the young man. After all, he'd been irrationally upset at her for spending time with Arain; so how upset was he that she didn't stay for the beating? Like she would have anyway. One man beating her up once in her life was more than enough for her; she wouldn't stand for a second one. Never again.
"Hello?" she said as casually as she could, despite her stomach twisting in anxiety. Mariko's words were running through her head as Jayzen greeted her somewhat nervously.
"Listen…about the other day… I just want to apologize. I was way outta line and I just want you to know that it will never happen again. So, we're cool, right?"
Robyn blinked twice before answering with a flat, "No, we're not." She could almost hear the surprise and confusion from him on the other side of the line as he floundered for something to say in response. It took him a few moments and she waited patiently.
"We're—we're not? But—but I didn't mean to—you gotta believe me, I didn't mean to hit you!"
"But you did. There are no second chances. Sorry."
He was silent as he absorbed this and she gave him the time he need. He probably wasn't used to getting turned down after an apology. A normal girl would have stayed with him…possibly. But then she wasn't exactly "normal" anyway…
"Okay. I guess I can live with that," he acquiesced after a few minutes. "I mean, it does make sense. Still, I am really sorry."
"I understand," she answered, happy that he wasn't taking it the wrong way. "I'd still like to be friends, but—"
"Nah, I totally understand. No worries, Princess."
She felt her cheeks grow warm at the nickname, not used to such terms of endearment. "Okay, no worries then."
"I still got some of your application stuff though. I gotta go downtown today, but did you want to meet at the park or something? You know, just pick it up and go kind of thing?"
She bit her lower lip as she moved to sit on the stairs outside of the little pottery room. Not that Mrs. Mouri would eavesdrop but she didn't want her to overhear and tell the guys that she was going out later. And she especially didn't want them to know who she was meeting up with. They'd flip! And then they'd insist on going with her and that would just make things more awkward for everyone.
"Um, sure I guess. What time did you want to try and meet?" she asked, squelching the uneasy feeling that was curling in the pit of her stomach. Why was she so nervous? They were just friends and he now knew that she wouldn't stand for him hitting her, so why did she have such a bad feeling about all this? Why?
"Hey, you still there?"
She shook her head to bring herself back to attention, "Yeah, sorry. I kinda spaced there."
"Okay… Anyway, I got a client at two, but I should be done at three-thirty. Wanna meet at four?"
"Sure, for is good. At the park?"
"Yup."
"All right, see ya then."
"Bye." And he hung up.
She heaved a large sigh as she turned the cordless phone off and returned it to Mrs. Mouri, reassuring the woman that all was fine. The older woman stared at her and for a moment, Robyn began to wonder just how much Mrs. Mouri had actually heard of the conversation. But then a smile spread across the woman's face and Robyn sighed in relief, smiling as well. No questions were going to be asked apparently and she was thankful for that.
Now she needed to figure out how to leave the house without the guys noticing…
"Has anyone seen Robyn? Cye asked as he entered the living room to find Sage reading, Rowen watching TV and Ryo and Kento looking for something to eat in the adjoining kitchen. No Robyn in sight. She wasn't in her room, wasn't with Mrs. Mouri and wasn't in the bathroom… The twins were supposed to be showing up soon too, since Mariko had called only fifteen minutes ago…
"Nope, not since breakfast," supplied Rowen, not even looking away from the television. Cye didn't bother to look and see what had Rowen's attention—probably cartoons or a sitcom or something.
"Why? What's up?" Ryo asked from the kitchen, looking at Cye curiously.
"Just wondering…" Cye murmured, giving Kento a reproachful look. "Kento, you can wait another hour, you know!"
"Why?" the bearer of Hardrock questioned, looking up out of the fridge in surprise.
"Because I said so."
"Oh yeah?" Kento turned away from the fridge and stalked towards Cye, fully intent to rough up his best friend. Cye was no fool and was preparing to take on Kento's assault; it was all in good fun, after all.
"No rough housing today, please," came the motherly remark from the entrance of the kitchen. The two boys stopped immediately, looking sheepish and laughing nervously.
"Mrs. Mouri," Ryo said, grabbing the older woman's attention. "Do you know where Robyn is?"
Mrs. Mouri looked at him in surprise, "You don't know? That's odd… I thought she would have said something… Well, in any case, she went out to meet that young man, Jason I think his name was—"
"Jayzen?" Cye asked staring at his mother in shock.
"Yes, him. They were meeting at the park."
"Why?" Ryo asked.
"She was getting some of her stuff from him. I have a feeling she's ending it with him. Shame though, he seemed nice…"
"Right…" Cye said, swallowing the lump in his throat; his mother didn't seem to notice their discomfort, or if she did, she didn't say anything. She simply left the room, telling them to behave as she did so.
"I thought she said she wasn't going to see him again," Kento commented, a frown on his face and an apple in his hand, now forgotten.
"So did I… so what are we going to do?" Ryo asked, looking into the living room to see that Rowen was now looking at them, deep in thought. Apparently he and Sage had heard too.
"We could go after her and make sure she's okay," Rowen suggested, still looking thoughtful.
"We should let her do this on her own," Sage said, still reading his book. "She obviously felt she needed to go alone."
"She felt that way with her old house and we all know how that went," Ryo commented, obviously preferring Rowen's suggestion over Sage's.
"This is different. No supernatural powers and all that," Cye said, grudgingly agreeing with Sage. He knew Robyn well enough to know that she would be hurt if they showed up; she would see it as them not trusting in her.
"I think it just became a supernatural deal, guys," Kento interrupted, pointing to the television. The others looked to the appliance, curious as to why Kento would say such a thing, and watched the news pop on and cover a mysterious occurrence in the park.
'Our news chopper is unable to get any closer but we are coming to you live from…'
"Oh man, please tell me this is not happening," Ryo muttered as they all watched the news camera zoom in on the all too familiar green, smoky fog that had encased the perimeter of the public park.
The Nether Realm had entered their realm once again. And their instincts told them that Robyn was right in the middle of the Nether Realm infested park. This was so not good…
Robyn felt her breath catch in her throat as Jayzen stared at her blankly, his eyes glazed over as if he was merely a shell. Jayzen had been working for Dragon all along… She felt so betrayed, but at the same time, she was hardly surprised at her luck. She seemed to have poor luck when it came to choosing boyfriends, but something had drawn her to the young man. He had reminded her of Scott with his gentle doting and concern for her, as well as his humor, and perhaps that was why she had wanted to be around the young man. But now knowing that he had been working for Dragon, she felt the betrayal twice as heavily.
"Are you coming, Pet?" Dragon asked her in an inquisitive tone. Robyn gave him an odd look when she realized that he genuinely believed that he was in complete control of the situation. He apparently hadn't learned since the last time he'd kidnapped her: she did not respond well to authority figures.
"You really think that I'm just going to pack up and run off to the Netherworld with you? Just like that? Like, poof! All easy and stuff?" she asked, laughing as she watched the confident expression on the man's face falter slightly. He really had! Oh the poor sap…
She bit her lower lip as she searched within herself for that little storehouse of power that she hadn't even known she'd had before this entire incident. A moment later she felt that odd little thrum—the one that kept a lid on her power, on her strength. She tapped into it slightly, knowing very well that she would need it if she wanted to escape. It had taken her power last time to knock Dragon off his feet for a few weeks and she had few doubts that it would be needed again.
But first she'd try to escape without using it.
"And what can you do to stop me, Pet?" he asked, his cocky tone causing her to roll her eyes.
"I'm not a damsel, ya know," she said, pouting for a moment before turning and racing towards the nearest exit of the park. Unfortunately, Dragon had anticipated this and to Robyn's horror, strange suits of armor suddenly fell from the dark, rolling clouds above the city. As if that strange sight wasn't frightening enough, the armors moved to block the exit with weapons drawn and pointed at her in a menacing manner.
A squeak of surprise escaped her as she tried to stop her headlong rush to the exit by veering off to her left, causing her feet to skid on the gravel path and she nearly lost her balance in the process. The armors did not move to pursue her as she initially thought they would, but she was quickly distracted by the fact that there were more armors guarding the other exit she was now heading for. And more of them were dropping from the sky. What were these things?!
She quickly skidded to a stop and stared at the armors in anger, her breathing labored from all the running around. A quick glance told her that these creatures were everywhere…and she wasn't going to get past them any time soon. Well damn…
"If you're quite done, Pet…" drawled the man behind the whole kidnapping and Robyn swung her head around just in time to see him approaching her…with Jayzen in tow.
"Why don't you let him go?" she asked, hoping that distracting the sinister man would buy her some time to figure out a better escape plan. Dragon paused in his approach, face taking on a surprised expression as if he was not sure what she was talking about. Realization dawned on him a moment later and he laughed aloud, the sound sending shivers down her spine in fearful anticipation.
"You mean him?" he asked, pointing at the dazed body following him. "You mean you don't recognize him? Well, I can't say I'm not surprised. He does look different from when you last saw him, which means my spell worked, of course."
Robyn's brows knitted together in confusion as she stared at the two men, the man in sub-armor still laughing and the dazed one doubling over as if in pain. To her dismay, Jayzen's body began to shimmer as if he were merely a reflection on water—and was replaced with Scott's body when the flickering ceased.
Her mouth fell open as a new wave of betrayal swept through her. Scott's eyes were still dazed, as if he wasn't really in control of himself anymore and she shook her head at the image he presented. He looked just like his victims…
"What—what did you do to him?!" she screamed, her heart aching at the realization that Jayzen had really been Scott the entire time. No wonder she'd felt so at ease around the young man, as if she had known him or met him before. No wonder he had reminded her of Scott…
"Hmm? Nothing," replied the amber-haired man, "Well, nothing against his will anyway. I mean, I do own his soul, after all."
Robyn stared at Dragon, utterly appalled at how casually the man spoke of the situation. How heartless could he truly be? Did he have no soul?
Her fists clenched at her sides, her disgust for the man in front of her growing by the minute. He deserved any pain she or the boys would dish out to him. The bastard…
"Now, come along, Pet. It's time to go. We have a schedule to keep."
She narrowed her eyes at him as she tapped further into that now familiar thrum of energy within her. She needed to escape…now! When she felt a spike in the power she was collecting, she fixed her gaze on Dragon, her lips pulling back into a sneer as she spoke. "Go to Hell."
And then she threw that energy at both men, knowing that Scott would only pursue if she spared him. Robyn didn't even pause to see if they could dodge the shock-wave before she turned and raced away from them. As she approached one of the gates, she threw another shockwave of power at the armors guarding it and watched as the power hit them full-force. The armors contorted and crumpled in on themselves and she expected to hear screams of pain or something of the sort, but instead she was met with a hissing sound as greenish-gray smoke leaked out of the cracked and broken armors.
But she wasn't going to stop and question that. At least not at the moment.
She had just crossed the threshold of the exit, its iron gates and archway a welcoming sight to her when a headache struck her full-force. It was as if something was picking at her brain—a presence shifting through her mind—before it was miraculously gone. Her eyes widened momentarily in panic as she realized what was happening. The sensation of lead flowing through her veins struck her almost immediately after her headache disappeared. Her movements began to slow as her limbs grew heavy and unresponsive to her brain's commands.
Desperate, she again drew her energy into a shock-wave and searched for that invading presence that was lurking just beneath the lead-like sensations. Finding it, she concentrated and rammed the presence with the energy, catching it by surprise. The presence retreated, stunned and dazed at the attack.
She heard a startled yelp from behind her but she paid it no heed as her limbs began to regain their rhythm and she took off down the street. She dared not look over her shoulder in fear of slowing down and not reaching her destination in time…although she had no clue where her destination was exactly.
The guys were all at the Mouri house and she dared not be chased there, not with Mrs. Mouri being home and the guys unprepared to fight. Besides, she didn't really want to involve them anyway…though it was looking like she might have to… Mia's was way too far to run to and she had no clue if anyone was home at Mariko's apartment. Yasalia and the New Age store were in the other direction, so she'd have to back-track somehow…and if she was lucky, Robyn would not involve any bystanders. 'Great Robyn,' she silently chastised herself, 'You gonna run around in circles 'till they get tired or something?'
"Robyn?" a familiar voice called out ahead of her and the redhead looked up to see the surprised face of her friend, Kami.
"Kami! Call Cye! Tell him I'm at Yasalia's! Please!" she shouted as she closed the distance between the two. The girl had come to halt, assuming that Robyn was going to stop and speak with her; however, Robyn had no intentions of doing that, not unless she wanted to be dragged to another realm and be held prisoner—which she did not.
"Wha—? Why? What's going on? Robyn?!" the girl cried in worry as Robyn raced by her and showed no signs of stopping or turning back.
"Please! Just call him! Hurry!" Robyn desperately threw over her shoulder, but she did not take the time to see if Kami would comply. She had to get out of sight before she could double-back and head towards the soul-gaki's store.
She quickly cut the corner down an alley that she knew was a shortcut and continued running. She cut another corner and ran as fast as her feet would carry her, using the city's alleyways as a means to muddy her trail. It seemed to be working too, much to her relief and satisfaction, but she dared not slow her pace for fear of her being outsmarted or just plain wrong.
She quickly cut another corner and gasped as hands grabbed her roughly, the grip on her upper-arms almost bruising. Looking up into the shadows that lay in front of her, she stared into a lavender eye. Most of the figure was still enshrouded in the darkness of the alleyway but the way that eye twinkled told Robyn all she needed to know.
"Sage? Oh thank God! We have to get out of here! Dragon's after me!" she pleaded, pulling on his grip so that they could run away. A deep rumble of a chuckle silenced her voice and her struggles to get them moving. She stared at the eye in fear and confusion, not understanding why Sage would keep her in harm's way and why he would laugh at her like that. And how did he know that she was here? Oh no…
The figure shifted, moving out of the shadows to stand illuminated in what little light there was between the large buildings surrounding them and the ominous clouds above. Robyn's breath hitched in her throat and tears burned her eyes as she recognized who stood before her. The single kind lavender eye had turned into a pair of cold, calculative and hostile lavender ones, framed by amber-colored wisps of hair. A cold smirk adorned the handsome face as she stared up at it helplessly and fearfully.
She shivered as the figure spoke icily to her; "I know, Pet," was all that the figure said before a hand clamped over her mouth from behind and everything went black.
The large gate doors opened slowly, their ancient hinges creaking and causing him to shudder in wary anticipation. He already had an idea of who was going to step through that gate; he just hoped he was wrong. It was too soon in his mind, much too soon for the dragon to be returning to the Nether Realm. His return meant that the Mother Empress had been successfully captured but he desperately prayed that his little sister had taken all the necessary precautions in keeping the Empress safe. She should have at least; he didn't think Kayura could express the brevity of the situation enough to the bearer of Phoenix when the two last spoke with one another.
He watched as a figure stepped through the gate and headed confidently towards the castle that laid a good distance away from the gate. His hope sank as he watched the man turn and wait expectantly for something…or someone. Another man soon appeared and he was carrying what looked to be a body over one shoulder…a body with red hair…
Damn… The dragon had gotten his claws on the Empress after all.
With a sigh of defeat, he waited for a few more moments before turning and heading back to the underground headquarters that the others were waiting for him at. A fair number of Nether Soldiers had exited the gate as well, but nothing out of the ordinary there. He'd seen that same number exit the realm to begin with—no wait, there were less now… Did that mean that there'd actually been a fight?
His beady eyes turned back to the redhead that was slung over the shoulder of Dragon's lackey. Had she put up that much of a fight? Had she been able to destroy creatures such as Nether Soldiers on her first encounter with them? If so, then he was duly impressed. Perhaps there was a chance of survival for them after all.
The gate doors slowly swung closed, the locks slipping into place causing a large boom to reverberate throughout the area. With a frown, he detached himself from the tall grass he had been crouching in and turned west, still using the grass as cover. He needed to get back to let the others know that the Empress had arrived a little earlier than expected. A surprise that he, Sehkmet, did not care for at all.
"She's here," he said as soon as he entered the grotto. The three occupants looked up at him in surprise, eyes wide and mouths agape. He knew exactly what they were thinking and he couldn't blame them. The same thoughts had crossed his mind the moment he'd seen her body carried into the Nether Realm, and the one thought that had been swimming around his head the entire way back to the grotto was probably going through theirs right now too: They weren't ready.
"What?!" Kayura screeched, shooting up from her seat on the stone floor by the modest little fire. "How can that be?! Mariko swore to us that she'd keep the girl safe!"
Sehkmet shrugged his shoulders; "Doesn't matter now does it. She's here. One of us needs to go get the others."
Dais snorted in derision, "As if they'd believe us anyway."
"Trust will be the issue, Dais. Not belief," Cale corrected, stoking the fire. It was giving off a pitiful amount of heat, but then again, they had just started it. It would take awhile for it to get going and put out enough heat to keep the stone room warm.
"Same thing," Dais remarked, shrugging his shoulders.
"Regardless," Kayura broke in, her tone still attesting to her annoyance at how fast things were moving. "Someone needs to tell the Ronins."
"I nominate Dais," Cale quickly said, smirking as the man's eye widened in shock.
"What?! No fair! I nominate you then!"
Sehkmet shook his head, his gaze catching Kayura's before nodding in understanding. He would be needed here, along with Dais and her. And that meant that Cale would end up being the one to go and inform the Ronins that they were needed once more. Hopefully he and Halo wouldn't go at it right off the bat. If they were lucky, the Ronins would only be a day behind them at the most. If not… somehow Cale was going to have to drag them to the Nether Realm, or have Mariko talk to the brats.
"Cale," Kayura interrupted the two arguing Warlords. They both paused to look at her, Cale's eyes pleading her not to send him. "You're going to the Mortal Realm and gathering the Ronins."
"But—"
"The rest of us will free the Empress and bring her here to wait for your return with them."
"You'd be better suited for convincing them to come," Cale interjected, crossing his arms and giving her a challenging look. Sehkmet wasn't entirely sure what had happened when the two were escaping capture from Dragon, but Sehkmet was not all that surprised that they were butting heads. They all did when it came to Kayura. None of them had gotten along too well under Talpa's rule; at least not after Mariko had left. And some habits die hard…
"You'll manage. Besides, Mariko should be there to help," Kayura replied, unfazed by the verbal push.
Cale opened his mouth as if to argue more before thinking better of it and just sighing in defeat. Sometimes it really wasn't worth arguing with the young woman, especially when there was no way to win against her.
"Fine," he conceded, frowning slightly…as if pouting. "But don't say I didn't warn you."
"Agreed," Kayura said, acknowledging the comment before continuing with their battle strategy. They would need to act quickly if they wanted to get the girl out before any damage was done to her…physically or mentally.
She wasn't sure how long it had been since those overly sluggish green armors dropped her unceremoniously on the floor in what looked to be a bedroom. It was a nice room, well-furnished with expensive hand-carved furniture and draped with expensive-looking fabrics and silks. The bed was larger than she had ever seen and the fact that this room was to be her "prison cell" was beyond weird to her. She was a captive, not a guest. This prison cell was so deceptive that she surmised its purpose was to cause her guard to slip.
Well, call her crazy, but if she was going to be a prisoner, then she'd rather be treated like one. Even her room at the mental institute in the States hadn't been this luxurious.
Her captors however, ignored her protests and wishes to be in a different room. Nowhere else was befitting for a person of her caliber, they said. Bull. Complete and utter bull. Well, she'd remind them of the caliber she was. She'd make a run for it. Maybe not the most thought out plan but it was a plan and it beat sitting around doing nothing.
Might as well use her energy for something…constructive.
With that thought in mind, she subtly gathered energy into her arm and allowed it to flow downward to the palm of her hand. She watched the cream-colored energy swirl about her arm and hand, concentrating it into a dense sphere. Despite what she was about to do, the sphere of swirling energy was quite beautiful, little works of art in their own way. It was as if she were watching the birth of a small planet…absolutely stunning…
The sphere had grown to the size of a softball and with a last glance towards the door, she threw the ball at the single window of her room. The impact rocked the entire room, probably the entire side of the building, but it had fulfilled its purpose. Where there had once been a wall with a small window ensconced in it, was a now-crumbling opening. Hearing concerned shouts and alarms being raised on the other side of the door, she raced to the edge of her handiwork and looked down.
Well damn, she didn't know it was that far of a drop…
"Suck," she muttered, gauging how injured she was going to be when she finally did jump. Realizing that she was most likely going to break a leg, she groaned in dismay and backed up. Maybe taking a running leap would minimize her chances…and if she rolled when she landed…
"What is going on?!" an angry bellow sounded from the other side of the door. There was a jingle of metal, like keys clanking on a key ring of sorts and then the sound of a key scraping into a lock.
Robyn took that as her cue to jump. Running full tilt to the edge, she resisted the urge to scream as she leaped out of the building and fell downwards. She forced herself to pay attention and prepare tuck and roll when the time came. The ground came up too fast for her and she landed roughly on her feet before rolling downhill. She hadn't realized there was a hill…
When she rolled to a stop, she laid in the tall grass for a moment catching her breath. It had worked. She hadn't broken her neck with that jump when she should have. Maybe the demon had something to do with it—it didn't matter. She had made it out alive. That was what mattered.
"Find her! I want her alive and unharmed!"
Growling in frustration, she quickly pushed herself up off the ground and turned to run away from the palace. Only she did not get that far. White-hot pain radiated from her ankle and she bit her lip to stifle her cry of pain. She had sprained her ankle, or at the worst broken it. Great, what was she to do now?
"I've got to hide," she muttered to herself and began to crawl on her hands and knees since she couldn't stand and run. Yet where was she to hide? She couldn't stay out in the tall grasses forever. There had to be somewhere that she could go! She just had to find it…
A soft yip came from her left, just past her elbow and she paused, glancing in that direction. She found herself staring into the golden feline gaze of a creature she had seen only once before. The last time she had seen the feline looking creature had been when she was trying to find the armor orb of Apollo in her room. Why was it here? Did it live here? Was she near its home or den? And most importantly…would it help her?
"Hello there," she whispered and was delighted that it seemed to remember her. It raced forward, rubbing its head against her arm, mewling in happiness. "Can you help me?"
To her surprise and relieve, the creature mewed once before bouncing off to her right. Robyn watched the creature pause after a few hops and look back at her expectantly. She followed, crawling fast but cautiously through the grass, not wanting to give away her position to her enemies. When she had reached the little animal, it bounded off again, paused and waited for her to catch up.
She must have followed the creature for at least half an hour before it finally seemed to stop. When she reached it, it mewed again with its little head held high, apparently proud of itself. Robyn looked past the little creature and found herself staring into a small ditch with an overhang, only it was rock and not dirt. If she stayed there and did not move or make a lot of sound, then any search parties would likely overlook the place…and her.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Robyn eased herself into the little ditch and curled up on her side, staring out at the lowering sun and the little creature that had saved her.
"Thank you," she whispered to it and it mewed happily before jumping into the crevice and curling up next to her in a little ball of fur. Robyn happily buried her face into the little body, its warmth a comfort in the cool, damp area she was hiding in. It was consoling to have another warm body, even a small one, near her with all the stuff that was going on.
Maybe the guys would find her soon…if they managed to get to wherever she was.
"We're too late!" Rowen called over to his teammates as he dispatched his two Nether soldiers. The others were doing the same, finishing the last of the soldiers that had been left behind in the local park. They had left as soon as they had seen the newscast on the television, calling their subarmor and racing downtown.
"We have to go after her!" Cye shouted, punching the last of his enemies in the helmet. Gray smoke spilled out of the openings as the green armor crashed to the ground, empty and unmoving. Kento ran up to his best friend as did Ryo. Rowen approached them as Sage fell in step next to him.
"Yeah but, how?" Kento agreed, giving his friend a curious look.
"We should find Mariko and Cody," Sage suggested, surveying their handiwork. "She should know how to reach the Nether Realm without a gate."
"Uh…guys," Ryo began looking past their group and into the distance. "We won't need to."
Rowen looked up and his eyes widen at the sight of the towering gate. Never would he have thought to see such a sight in Toyama again so soon. There at the edge of the park was a gate to the Nether Realm and as they all stood there staring in disbelief and surprise, the gates opened.
They all jumped backward into a defensive stance, waiting for a sign of attack. Nothing happened. There was no sign of attack and no sign of Nether soldiers, but Rowen could hear sounds of struggle some ways away and he realized that it was coming from the direction of the gate. Someone was fighting by the gate, which meant that more Nether soldiers had made their way into the Mortal Realm.
As if they needed this right now.
"Let's go!" Ryo shouted and raced towards the gate before Rowen could warn him about the soldiers. Cye and Kento were quick to follow and Sage glanced at him briefly before taking off after his teammates. Rowen just shrugged and followed, racing down the path into the trees of the park.
As he raced toward the gate, he heard the shouts of surprise and alarm; some came from Ryo and Kento, but the others were from someone else. He couldn't remember who exactly that voice belonged to but it was someone familiar. Rowen rounded a corner and burst through the brush and trees to find at least fifty soldiers surrounding the Warlord of Corruption. Now why the warlord was even there to begin with was beyond him, but with the way things were going, it was hard to be surprised about anything nowadays.
"About damn time you five showed up!" Cale shouted at them in what Rowen could only describe as exasperation. He had been expecting them? Well, that was new. And he was not entirely sure what to think of that either.
The soldiers were easily finished off between the six of them. However, when the last soldier fell, Sage immediately pinned the warlord with a dark look, demanding to know why he was there in the first place. Well, it was a valid question, though Sage sounded the least enthusiastic about the warlord's presence; and Rowen had half-expected Sage to be a bit bitter towards the Warlord of Corruption.
"I came to get you five," Cale said sounding a bit put out. That only made the others edgy and the warlord seemed to notice it for he started muttering something about having told her so. Told who? Kayura? Robyn?
"Why?" Ryo asked, watching the warlord carefully. Cale sighed heavily and crossed his arms, giving them all a look that said it should have been obvious.
"You really have to ask that?" he asked them.
"Why should we trust you?" Sage countered, still glaring at the warlord.
"Do you really have any other choice?"
"Sage is right, why should we trust you?" Ryo asked, slowly easing into a defensive stance. Kento and Sage did the same, but Rowen and Cye did not. Rowen had a suspicion that they were all going to have to work together to win this fight, especially if they wanted Robyn alive and safe. Now he couldn't say the same for Cye since the young man's fists were clenched at his sides and he seemed to be having an internal debate on whether to trust the warlord.
"I told her you five wouldn't believe me," Cale growled, throwing his hands up in the air. It seemed that the 'normal' gesture eased the tension ever so slightly. "Do you want to go after your friend or not?"
That got all of their attention and Ryo immediately dropped his stance. "Where is she? Is she with you? Did you guys get her back?"
Cale dropped his gaze, obviously not comfortable with answering that question, "No…she is still Dragon's captive."
"Did you guys even bother trying to get her?" Cye accused, fists still clenched at his sides. Rowen suddenly wondered if this was going to turn into a free-for-all, what with the way Sage, Cye and even Ryo were acting towards Cale. Were he and Kento going to have to pull them apart? Although, knowing Kento, he'd join Cye in the pounding and it would be up to Rowen to mend everything. Strange…usually Sage was the voice of reason.
"Acutally, yes," Cale said, smiling confidently. "The others should be going about their rescue mission as we speak."
There was something in the grass.
Biting her lip, she curled up tighter in a fetal position and watched the grass outside her hiding place with wide green eyes. She waited with baited breath for any sign of a creature…or even more soldiers. Yet if it were a soldier, she should have seen its hulking form in the distance by now. Oh she so hoped it wasn't some rabid wild animal.
"Mew," the little creature murmured, rubbing its head underneath her chin. It seemed to sense her unease and she was grateful for the small gesture; but it did not ease her anxiety one bit.
Just what was out there?
"Why are we just standing around here? Why aren't we going after Robyn right now?"
"Are they supposed to meet us here?"
"Is she okay?"
Cale resisted the urge to growl at the numerous questions the ronins were asking him. Honestly, it was like babysitting a bunch of kids…oh wait, that was what he was supposed to be doing… Why couldn't it have been Kayura who was watching these brats?
"We can't move until its dark, otherwise we'll be spotted," he explained as patiently as he could. He couldn't believe how difficult it was to keep these guys still, let alone in one place. Kids…
"Who cares? Let's go find her!" the bearer of Hardrock grumbled, cracking his knuckles. The bearer of Wildfire nodded in agreement, as did Torrent. Halo was still watching him skeptically and Strata…he seemed to be trying to figure out the best tactic and then get his teammates to agree upon it. Well, at least there was one sane guy in the bunch.
"I just said that if we move now, we'll be spotted. Surprising the enemy is our best option right now."
"As much as I hate to say it, he's right," Sage spoke up, looking anywhere but at the Warlord of Corruption. Rowen nodded in agreement and that seemed to cause the other three Ronins to slowly and reluctantly approve of the decision to stay put. Finally, maybe his job would be a little easier now, although Cale knew better than to hold his breath.
"So what do you expect us to do while we wait then?" Torrent asked, his tone poorly concealing his agitation. Cale did not fault him for that; the bearer of Torrent felt the girl was his responsibility, and now she had been kidnapped. His irritation was completely understandable, although unwanted on Cale's part. It just made things more difficult for him…
"We plan."
She stayed huddled further into the crevice, her heart pounding her ears as she watched various armored feet pound against the ground not a few feet from her. Silence would be her saving grace and so she shut her eyes tightly, hoping that if she didn't see those guards rushing past her, then she wouldn't whimper and give away her position. How had they come so close to her hiding place anyway? Hadn't she traveled far enough from the castle that they would give up on her?
'Obviously not,' she thought to herself as a horse neighed in the distance and the footfalls of soldiers grew further and further away. She released a soft sigh and relaxed her body, the tension in her back causing her to grimace slightly. How much longer was she going to have to do this? She was tired of hiding…but there was nowhere else for her to go. She didn't know anyone here that she could run to.
Night had finally fallen in the Nether Realm and they were all getting antsy to move. Cale had yet to say anything about moving out to meet the other warlords and Robyn; Sage was still giving the warlord the cold shoulder and Cye looked about ready to lay into the man. Ryo was frustrated, that could be seen from the way he paced and frowned at nothing in particular, and Kento was shifting restlessly from foot to foot. Rowen appeared to be the only one doing what Cale had told them to do, which was wait.
The plan they had devised was hardly magnificent or intricate. They would meet up with the other warlords and Robyn, then take her back home and keep her under surveillance until they figured out a way to defeat Dragon and Totoyami. Yeah, not much of a plan but it was something, and Cale assured them that Cody and Mariko would start searching for help from other…creatures. Rowen wasn't sure what he thought of that but he was not going to complain at this point, from what Cale could tell at least.
"When are we going?" Cye finally asked.
Cale looked up at them, face pinched in slight annoyance, "When I receive the signal."
"Signal? What signal? Why didn't you mention that before?!"
"I didn't? Oops," Cale said, not really all that apologetic. His senses told him that his comment was not well-received and he prepared himself to take a few hits but he felt his armor thrum. Something was in the shadows…
He ignored the Ronins and had it not been for his concentrated look, a few of them would have decked him by now for his blatant disregard of respect for them. Ryo followed his line of sight, as did Sage, but the bearer of Wildfire saw nothing out in the vast fields around them. Nor did Sage for that matter and Rowen was a little concerned about that; after all, what could Cale sense that they couldn't?
A gust of wind rushed through their little camp and a figure suddenly appeared with a slight 'whoosh.' Cale was unsurprised at the entrance and was not moving to attack the newcomer, which probably meant it was one of the other warlords. Wonderful… Two for one deal now.
"There's been a change of plan," the newcomer said, voice light and melodious. Rowen frowned at his luck. Of course it was Kayura. Why wouldn't it be?
"How so?" Cale asked, frowning and the others quickly realized that something had gone wrong in the careful planning of saving Robyn.
"What happened?" Ryo asked, butting in and Cye was right behind him, slightly glaring at the two.
Kayura easily turned her attention to them, answering Ryo's question with hardly any hesitation. "The Empress took matters into her own hands."
"What? What do you mean?"
"Where is Robyn now? Is she okay?"
"She escaped Dragon and is now hiding. She is doing an amazing job repressing her energy. He cannot locate her but unfortunately, neither can we," she commented, seeming hardly bothered by the missing status of the redhead.
"You mean she's out there alone?!" Cye shouted at her, flinging his arm outward towards the large expanse of weeds and grassy plains of the Nether Realm. Kento followed his gesture and grimaced, frowning at the realization that their friend was by herself in a place she did not know a single thing about it, and probably scared out of her mind too. Sure Robyn was tough, but with everything that had happened so far, there was no telling when she'd completely freak out.
"Yes."
Why did Kayura have to seem so calm? This was unbelievable, Rowen thought to himself as he saw his teammates grow angry with her comment; he wasn't too happy about her answer either. Yet, before anyone could say anything else, she turned to regard Cale in a business-like manner. "You are to find her. Night is the ideal time for you to search for her."
Cale stared at her silently and grumpily as he processed the command she had given him. He suddenly gave her a smug grin and then melded out of sight, sinking into the shadows surrounding them without a word. Rowen stared perplexed at the spot where the warlord had just been; that whole melding into the shadows thing was a new trick to him. How had he managed that?
"Are we going after Robyn?" Sage turned to Kayura, fixing her with a glare.
"No. Cale will find her, retrieve her and return with her to the grotto. We shall go there and wait for their arrival."
"Why him?" Kento asked curiously.
Kayura raised a brow at the bearer of Hardrock. "Why not?"
"You just said no one could find her. How is he?"
"Cale will not be searching for an energy signature. He will be searching for an intrusion in the shadows. Wherever she is, she will be in shadow and he will find her easily."
Cye did not look convinced, nor did Ryo or Sage. Apparently, Kento and Rowen himself were the only ones really willing to buy that answer. Kayura seemed to notice it was well because she smiled at them in a manner that clashed with the way they remembered her to be. The smile was very much like a child trying to reassure adults about an imaginary friend being real.
"Do not worry. The Empress will be returned in no time. And then we can end this stupid little hissy fit of Dragon and the little spawn."
Someone was approaching her hiding spot and she quietly shuffled farther back into the crevice, clutching the creature with her to her chest in fear. She was surprised that it hadn't squeaked in protest of her grip but it was hardly worth much thought at present, what with a potential enemy approaching her hideaway. How had they figured out where she was? Or was it just bad luck that they were heading towards her and didn't even know it?
Robyn held her breath as a figure grew closer in the dark but starry night of…wherever she was. When only the legs of the solitary figure became the only visible part of the person's body, she tightly shut her eyes closed. Wishing over and over that the person would not see her, she listened with bated breath to see if the figure was moving. There was no sound. No rustling of the tall grasses or crunch of the weeds and plants beneath booted feet. She could hear the figure breathing, even and…normal.
Her eyes snapped open as she realized that this person was different than those armors that had been searching the countryside for her. Those armors did not breathe—well, not like a human did, that was for sure. Their breathing was raspy, as if the wind was passing through the eaves of a tin roof. No, this person was human and that meant one of two things: it was an ally…or it was Dragon.
She prayed it was an ally.
Robyn's eyes were wide as she watched the legs of the figure in front of her. They were covered in armor that was similar to her boys'—from what she could tell in the dark, that is; which still didn't tell her much. Dragon had armor like the boys too. Oh gods, she hoped it wasn't Dragon because if it was, her little last-minute escape plan would have been for naught. And she might actually cry if she was caught again so soon.
The legs slowly bent at the knee and she watched as the person lowered themselves into a crouching position and peered into the crevice she was squeezed into. The person wore a crooked smile as he gazed in at her and Robyn felt her breath hitch in her chest as she stared into his dark-colored eyes. A scar ran over one side of his face—over and under his eye by the looks of it. The smile put her at ease for some reason and she unconsciously relaxed her grip on the animal. Her instincts told her she could trust this man. Not that she was too reliable with trusting people lately but still… Something told her to trust him.
"So this is where you took to hiding. Not bad," he said, glancing around her little hideout. His eyes focused momentarily on the animal in her arms and he chuckled in what she could only call amusement as the creature mewed at him.
"Found yourself a Seeker too. Not bad at all."
He waited for her to speak.
Robyn chose silence, despite her desire to trust him. He seemed to realize this and shook his head in resignation. His hand then reached out towards her and she immediately shuffled away from him, not trusting anyone at that moment. He seemed to know too much about her situation to make her feel comfortable. How had he known where to find her anyway?
"It's all right Empress," he said in a soothing manner and Robyn stared at him, desperately wanting to trust him. She was tired of hiding, tired of stomping down on a hysteria that threatened to overtake her every fifteen minutes, tired of nearly passing out from lack of air every time a group of those armors passed by her spot, tired of everything to do with her situation…and her ankle was killing her.
"Empress, it's all right now. I'm here to take you back to your friends."
Her eyes narrowed slightly at that and frowned. How did he know that her friends were looking for her? Were they even able to figure out where she had been taken to? If so, had they been able to get to this place? She wanted to ask him, but didn't, too afraid of giving him any information he might not have had before.
A sigh escaped the man and she wondered if he would try to pull her out of the hideaway himself. He wouldn't really force her…would he?
"If I don't bring you back, Torrent will chew my ass out for leaving you here."
"You know Cye?" she whispered, voice slightly hoarse from disuse; after all, she had not spoken for the last six or eight hours.
He gave her a lopsided grin again, "Yes, I do. And he is worried about you, as are the other Ronins."
She looked away from his kind smile to his outstretched hand. Tentatively, she reached out and took it, allowing him to pull her up and out of the crevice. She gingerly put weight on her twisted ankle but quickly found the man pulling her closer so that she could use him as a crutch. He frowned slightly as he bent over to inspect her foot but he said nothing about how she might have twisted it.
"Let's go, Empress," he said, pulling her close again.
Her ankle was throbbing so badly that she didn't have the energy to blush at how close they were, but she managed to pout at him. She really didn't like that title.
"It's Robyn."
He seemed to understand what she was saying because he simply nodded. "Hold on tight, Robyn. And try not to scream."
Before she could inquire about his comment, she felt herself being sucked downward through some sort of black vortex. Floating through an inky blackness that made her skin tingle in anticipation, she kept a firm grip on the arm that was helping support her. As they traveled through this odd blackness (which felt as if she were falling while sleeping), she saw pinpoints of light in the distance. In fact, they were surrounded by these gray and deep indigo pinpoints.
"Here we are," the man murmured and she watched as they approached a gray point, the pinprick sized dot growing larger and larger. It slowly gained color and warmed to a rich fiery-orange hue. Soon they were surrounded by the warm color and a stone cave slowly materialized around them. She gasped in shock and stumbled backwards, still holding onto the man's arm. He quickly steadied her since he would tumble down with her if he didn't.
"Easy there," he murmured to her, making sure she was balanced again.
"Nice entrance, as always."
Robyn turned to look at the owner of the voice and found another man in the cave. He was crouched in front of a nice looking fire. His hair was long and flowed down his back in gentle white waves, and when he turned to look at them, she saw that he wore a patch over one eye. One eye. White hair. Dais.
Recognizing one of the Warlords that the boys had spoken of and described to her, she looked up at the man who had come to rescue her. His deep blue hair seemed to want to defy gravity…much like Sage's and his deep blue eyes were cautious with a glint of savagery in them—but it was of an animalistic nature, as if that hostility was from a hard life of simply surviving; because along with that calculating savagery, there was gentleness and loyalty in his eyes. He was a dangerous man, but reliable and a good ally. This man, she realized, was Cale.
Letting go of Cale's arm, she glanced around for the other two members of the group. The other man would be Sehkmet and the girl would be Kayura. They were nowhere in sight and she frowned slightly at that. She looked back at Cale in question.
"Where are the others?" she asked him, voice still a little raspy.
"Sehkmet is on patrol, and Kayura went to get the others," the other man—Dais answered, poking at the fire.
Robyn slowly nodded, limping towards the fire when Cale made his way to Dais's side to take the stick from the other man and throw it on the fire. The two glared at each other challengingly and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes at their antics. She barely knew them and she could tell that she was safe with them. Strange.
She hissed slightly in pain as she lowered herself to sit by the fire pit, her ankle throbbing even more than before. She then pulled her pant leg up to look at the swollen appendage and grimaced at how badly mangled it looked. Had she broken it? No, she'd be in a lot more pain if she had, but still, it looked pretty bad. As she examined her ankle, she felt someone shift near her and looked over her shoulder.
"Whoa, gave yourself a nice twist there," Dais said, his eyebrows raised in surprise as he moved to examine her bruising ankle. He gently picked it up and looked at it, slowly moving it this way and that to see how badly she'd injured herself. She hissed and yelped a few times but other than that, she resisted tugging her foot out of his hands. That would have only made it hurt more and she could tell that he was only trying to help. Once done checking her injured appendage, he moved to grab two sticks and some cloth strips, fashioning a crude but effective splint for her twisted ankle with them.
Muttering a thank you, she busied herself with—rearranging her pant leg around the splint as best she could. When the material would not cooperate, she huffed in annoyance before squeaking in surprise. From out of nowhere, Dais had produced a small dagger and split the side of her jeans upwards, allowing the denim to fall loosely around the splint.
"Those were my favorite jeans, you know," she informed him as the dagger disappeared from sight. She crossed her arms and looked up at him with a definite pout.
"You can get more," was the nonchalant reply. The jerk.
She decided to ignore him and wait for the others. The only problem was… She had nothing to do while waiting for the boys to show up. Damn. She was going to be so bored…
A ceramic jug was suddenly thrust in front of her face. Robyn blinked a few times before looking at the person who was holding the jug. Dais had a strange grin on his face and because of that, she refused to immediately take the jug. He was up to something. His smile reminded her of Kento when he was plotting something…like that whole ice cube incident earlier that day. Jeez, had the really been just that morning?
"It's sake, not poison. It'll help dull the ache," he laughed, as if her frown of consternation was amusing to him. It probably was too.
"But I don't—" she began to protest, lightly pushing the jug away from her face.
"Trust me, it'll help."
"He's right," Cale spoke as he reappeared with his arms full of sticks and timber. He had left? She had not even noticed his absence a few moments ago. Maybe the pain was distracting her more than she would have cared for. She should have noticed his absence…
Reluctantly, she took the jug and drank a small sip of sake. It was warm and smooth as it went down and after she got over the initial alcohol taste…it wasn't too bad. She would relent and take a few more sips to dull the throb of her ankle, but not too much sake of course. If she did have too much then she would be of little use to anyone.
As they entered the stone grotto, he heard laughter and singing that reverberated in the depths of the stone structure. Had it not been for the desperate race to save Robyn and get her out of Dragon's clutches, Cye would dare say that it was a warm and inviting laughter. It was one that would be found in a restaurant with a happy atmosphere…or a pub, especially the pub with all of that…singing. But that was not the case at the moment, and he frowned at it. How could they be laughing and having fun when Robyn was in danger? And had Cale gotten Robyn back safely?
A giggle that could only belong to Robyn resonated not too long after the male laughter and he felt a weight ease of his shoulders and the vice around his chest lessened. Just from that giggle, he could tell that she was safe and unharmed. But he needed to see. So he hurried past Kayura, who did not seem the least perturbed by his action, into the grotto, and came to a grounding halt.
She was safe.
He noticed one pant leg was ripped and draped rather oddly over her ankle. He frowned when she shifted it and he saw one sturdy stick poking out of the split pant leg.
But she was harmed.
"Robyn!" Kento and Ryo shouted behind him, causing the drunken singing to immediately stop, and he watched her turn to look at all them before grinning and waving at them. She nearly smacked Dais in the face (who was sitting on one side of her) and tilted backwards into Cale as she attempted to get up but found that bending her bound leg was not going to cooperate. Her cheeks were rosy and Cye had a feeling that it was not because of the fire she was sitting next to. Her eyes were a little glassy too. Was she drunk?
"Hey guys! Took you long enough!" she laughed, smiling as they all made their way to the fire and she was leaning against Dais now, whose eye seemed just as glassy. The Warlord of Illusion leaned in close and whispered something to her that made her snort with laughter before doubling over and laughing until she could barely breathe. Dais quickly followed her, laughing until he too had trouble breathing. Cale was successfully keeping his laughter at a lower decibel than the other two, but still laughing almost as uncontrollably as them.
Cye frowned as he noted the sake jug next to her and that Dais had a full one in his hand. There were a few other empty jugs scattered around the three of them too. He pointed down at the one next to her. "What is that?"
She looked at it with a slight frown before picking it up to look at it more closely. Oh he hoped she wasn't too drunk to remember that she had been drinking. And she wasn't even legal yet! She shouldn't have been drinking sake to begin with!
"It's sake, Cye. Um…it was… Now its empty…I think…"
She tipped the jug over and yelped when sake poured out onto Cale's lap, since he'd had the unfortunate luck of being underneath the container when she tilted it. Dais was quick to reach over and take the jug from her, laughing as he did so. Cale stood up long enough to wipe the sake off of his subarmor before sitting back to the floor, Dais having poked the back of his knee hard enough for the Warlord of Corruption to come crashing back down.
Robyn ignored the warlord who found himself unceremoniously on the floor again in favor of retrieving her sake jug, or at least attempting to. Dais was having none of it and kept stretching his arm farther away, until Robyn fell across his lap and huffed in frustration.
"If I didn't know better, I'd think that this was where you wanted me all along," she said while continuing to sprawl across the warlord's lap. His look of surprise was enough to tell Cye that he had not expected that comment.
"Looks like she saw right through you!" Cale laughed, pointing at Dais in amusement. Dais grumbled at the Warlord of Corruption and moved to shove the dark-haired man, which forced Robyn to sit up and fall backwards into Cale. The unexpected move caused Cale to fall flat on his back with Robyn now draped over him. Instead of being embarrassed or indignant, she was laughing again and Cale was quick to join her.
Oh god. She was drunk…along with the two warlords.
"Like you're any better!" Dais groused, crossing his arms and almost pouting. Robyn appeared to find this even more hilarious and was laughing like crazy.
"Haha! You guys are too much! We need more sake!" she laughed, completely missing the conspiratorial look Dais gave Cale and the disapproving look everyone else was giving her.
"I can't believe you two! I leave to bring the Ronins here and you make the Empress join you in a three-way drinking contest!" Kayura yelled in a display of anger that the Ronins had never seen from her before. "I've never been so ashamed of knowing you in my life!"
Robyn could have cared less about Kayura's outburst though, seeming to focus on one part of the girl's lecture. "Haha! Three-way! She's so right! We make a great threesome!"
"Threesome?!" Ryo sputtered, eyeing the group as if they were now a six-headed demon. Kento was regarding them in much the same manner and Cye could only shake his head. Sage heaved a large sigh as Kayura sputtered in disbelief, and Rowen snorted in derision.
"You and your threesomes, Robyn. I'm hurt, you know. Are Sage and I not good enough now?" he asked the tipsy girl who was leaning heavily against Cale for support. She stared at him bleary-eyed for a moment before giggling, the bearer of Strata's words finally registering.
"Pff. Nah! We'll always have our own threesome!"
Sage rolled his eyes at that and Rowen shook his head laughing.
"Why'd you give her sake anyway?" Kento questioned, frowning as he crossed his arms, waiting for an answer. Cye knelt down to look Robyn straight in the eyes. She seemed to be aware enough, understanding that they weren't happy with her being drunk.
"Because I hurt myself. I twisted my ankle…we think…" she explained, pulling up the ripped the pant leg to show off her rustically put-together splint. Well, the warlords had attempted to take care of her, Cye would give them that. But the alcohol…
"The pain was bothering her so we thought a little sake would help take the edge off. How were we to know that she hadn't eaten in the last six hours and was such a light-weight," Cale defended as he braced the slightly swaying girl in front of him.
"I am not!" Cye watched her protest, turning to face the Warlord of Corruption with a petulant look. "Just cause—"
"You're a lightweight. Get over it," Rowen joined in, teasing the poor girl and laughing when she turned to look at him in dismay.
"I am not!"
When no one seemed to back her up, she pouted and crossed her arms, harrumphing in a childish manner. Yes, Cye concluded that she had had a little more sake than she should have. Wonderful. Just wonderful. He had no idea how to deal with an intoxicated Robyn…and he hoped that this would be the only time he'd have to.
"But you're funny when you're drunk," Dais laughed, poking her shoulder, which oddly made her burst out laughing. It must have been an inside joke between the three of them because soon all three were laughing aloud again.
Cye just watched in slight disbelief.
Despite the history of the warlords and the warnings Cye and the others had given her, Robyn had somehow wiggled her way into the warlords' good graces. The two men seemed to have had no qualms in taking care of and watching over Robyn; in fact, they seemed to be almost enjoying it, as if it was nothing more than a get-together between friends…with alcohol.
Needless to say, Cye didn't really know what to make of it.
"You twisted your ankle?" Sage asked, quickly refocusing everyone's attention to different topic. He approached Robyn and Cye moved to crouch next to the redhead, allowing the bearer of Halo room to work. Sage was careful as he undid the splint and examined her ankle, hands glowing slightly as he probed with his armor's energy.
He frowned as he placed her foot down and began to heal the injured appendage. "You did more than twist it," he said, hands glowing as he held one hand over her ankle and the other just above it on her lower shin.
"I broke it?"
"Not quite. Hairline fracture. I can heal it, but we should keep it in the splint for the rest of the night, to be on the safe side."
"Okay," she chirped, smiling. She was definitely too bubbly.
There were footsteps echoing in the entrance of the grotto and Cye stood quickly, moving into a defensive stance. Ryo was quick to mirror his movement and Kento slowly moved toward the entrance, wanting to be the first the enemy met. Rowen his arms loose at his side, ready but not really. Sage was still working on Robyn's ankle.
And the warlords were not moving at all. It was then that Cye noticed that one of the warlords was missing. His least favorite warlord was probably the person entering the grotto at that very moment.
Sure enough, Sehkemt came into view and took one look around the cave, momentarily focused on the trio of drunks before pinning Kayura with a slight frown. "I told you Dais should have gone on patrol."
Kayura let out a sigh of frustration, "Yes, but you were better suited—"
"I wouldn't have gotten the Empress drunk."
"Hey! It's not my fault!" Dais protested, waving his hands in front of him in a defensive gesture.
"Oh?" Sehkmet questioned, tone obviously doubting his innocence.
"Yes, we didn't know she was a lightweight," Cale chimed in from where he was sitting next to said girl.
"You couldn't tell just by looking at her?"
"Hey!" Robyn cried out in protest, glaring at the newcomer in an affronted manner. "What crawled up your butt, huh?"
Sehkmet was slightly taken aback by Robyn's bluntness and Cye silently congratulated his friend for the barb. Even though they were all on the same side, Cye still did not care for the warlord all that much…or any of them for that matter.
"What?" the warlord asked her and Robyn waved off his affronted look.
"Is he always so uptight?" she asked the warlords on either side of her. Cale wisely kept silent while Dais nodded enthusiastically.
"And he's always blaming others, especially me," Dais complained.
"That's because you make it too easy," Cale muttered, earning a laugh from Robyn and a glare from the Warlord of Illusion.
"Indeed," Sehkmet agreed, clearly hearing Cale's muttering though he was still by entrance of the grotto.
"Hey! Why you little—"
"Come on now, be nice," Kayura tried to intervene before the warlords began squabbling. It did not look like it was going to work, however, since Cale was quick to move Robyn closer to the fire and away from the indignant Dais as he and Sehkmet started spouting insults at one another.
Cye joined Robyn, sitting next to her and letting her lean against him since she was still swaying a bit. She smiled at him, one of her true happy smiles that he hadn't seen for a while; not since before this whole mess had started. Perhaps it wasn't surprising to see it, since she was tipsy, but still.
"Well Cale isn't any better! He's just as—" one of the two bickering warlords began to shout over the other and Kayura again tried to intercede.
"Don't bring him into your argument! He's got nothing to do with what you're talking—"
"Of course he's got everything to do with what we're talking about—"
"Says who?! You?! Since when do you get to pick my battles, huh?" Cale yelled in annoyance and before they all knew it, the three warlords were squabbling in one corner of the cave and Kayura was trying to intervene as peacekeeper. And it was apparent that she was not succeeding very well.
"Bah! I give up!" Kayura finally said as the warlords ignored her and the rest of them. She threw her hands up in the air before stalking past Kento and Rowen to plop down by the fire, cross-legged. She looked at Cye from across the fire and sighed.
"They'll be at it for at least twenty minutes now," she explained, noting that Robyn was giving the girl a curious look.
"You really can't stop them?" she asked Kayura, who gave her a curious look back.
"Do I look stupid enough to actually jump into an argument between obstinate men? Placating them is one thing, trying to break it up? Nah-huh."
Robyn seemed to give this some serious thought before shaking her head and bursting into a fit of giggles again. "Yeah, you're right."
Cye looked between his friend and the girl across from them. Robyn barely knew Kayura for five minutes and the two were chattering as if they'd known each other for years. It was very weird to him and as Robyn dissolved into another fit of giggles, he realized two very important things.
It was going to be a very long night.
And Robyn was never allowed to drink again.