Chapter Eight
Cold…That was all she could feel right now. That unshakable cold that came from being stuck in a situation she had tried so desperately to avoid. The past three days had gone all right, but anytime she looked at the blue-haired archer she could sense his growing unease and anger.
Everyone could tell something was up as even the Senshi were steering clear of the Ronins. It was just strange. It really didn't suit Rowen to be this way. Or, that was what Kayura had been led to believe. Of course, someone should have realized it was actually the Strata armor causing the restlessness in its bearer.
As luck would have it the only one who knew the armors, as well as Kaosu did, happened to be trying to recover from the past few months. It pretty much looked like no one would ever know the 'reason behind the madness…' Well, almost.
With the way things always seemed to go awry, some good tended to come out of the negative...Even if no one would realize it until much later.
Kayura let out a loose breath; it had finally come down to this. Once again Ryo had collapsed, and it had just been one time too many. There was no getting out of the shouting match that was soon to start…So she wasn't going to fight fate.
Her eyes calmly stared at the angry Strata Ronin, whom had confronted her in the hall next to the base of the stairs…He had her, more or less, pinned in that spot. Yet, Kayura saw no need to flee as she was anything but a coward.
Besides if this didn't happen today it could happen later at an even more inappropriate time and she simply couldn't afford to take that chance. She had charges to worry about now she had never had that before, and she wasn't going to let something like this get in her way.
Rowen hadn't spoken, the blue-haired archer had stalked after the Lady Ancient, but it seemed as though he was going to let her make the first move. So, she took the opportunity he gave her.
"Problem Rowen?" Her eyes narrowed just a little, and some emotion seeped into her calm cool tone.
"I think you know the answer to that," the anger in his voice was too clearly present, too real and too harsh.
Kayura's gut gave an uneasy lurch, but she kept her outward appearance calm. She was going to hold her ground; she would not permit the Ronin of Air to rattle her.
She gave a soft snort, "Oh, so you are still looking for someone to blame."
"Blame?!" Rowen cried out, eyes dangerously flashing. He took a step towards her, his voice cut through her like a sword, "Who do you think you are kidding? Huh? I'm not buying your goody two-shoes act, Kayura."
Now that temper of hers decided to shine through, the statement had irritated her quite a deal. Her eyes went to thin slits; her lips went into a feral snarl, "How dare you! I went to you, Rowen…To talk about the past like the others did. You received them, but avoided me, so I fail to see how it's my problem."
She let out a low growl as she continued, "I am not acting. I am doing the best I can at following my clan's will as well as respecting you at the same time. I apologized for what I did, and you were no more than mute about it."
Kayura's voice wavered a little, the temper having gone out, "I can't change what I did, or negate who I used to be…Those were things I had no control of. And, I-I know it means so little coming from me, but I am sorry for what I did to you and the others…"
"Sure you are," Rowen's tone had gone bitter…He had not forgotten what Kayura had dealt him…The scars the Ronins had were not many as the armors got rid of most of the damage, but he had a few.
The x-shaped mark on his chest, where the skin was slightly paler than all the rest had come from Kayura's twin blades and it was something he could not forget. Even now, he was still haunted by those memories not unwilling to forget, just unable to.
Rowen's midnight blue-eyes swiveled to the wall, before he leveled his gaze back on Kayura somehow managing to keep his anger, "Real sorry for almost killing us. Oh, and having a good time doing it."
That was all it took…Kayura's calm façade shattered in an instant, her face went deathly pale and her breathing became uneven. She tried to shake her head to clear the images that had sprang up from his comment, but she could do nothing to stop them.
Tears spilled from her lashes, though she wasn't actually crying, just caught there trying to make her head stop replaying the battles in her head. She didn't want to see them! Didn't need to remember how sickening they truly were, but they were there and she couldn't block them out.
Rowen took actual pause for a moment, confused by the reaction and then took a step back when someone appeared on the scene…A very annoyed Sekhmet.
The Seasonal of Fall, like most everyone else in the house, had heard the altercation occur, and had been willing to leave it alone up until that point. Strata had gone way too far for his tastes.
Just as he made move to strike out at the archer, Cale grabbed the irate man by his shoulders…Cye, having come from the other direction, latched onto Rowen's arm and jerked him back.
"I suggest you get a hold on him, before I do," Sekhmet hissed out, eyes boring a hole into Rowen's skull.
"Working on it," Torrent's bearer replied in annoyance, "Not that easy. Kento, a little help would be nice!"
The Warrior of Strength had a grim look on his face, unable to believe what Rowen had done…Though, he had feared all along the archer might go this route.
Regardless of that, he quickly moved to help Cye subdue the spry archer who was putting up quite a struggle.
"Sekhmet this is the last thing we need," the Winter Seasonal gritted out, as he tightened his grip on the green-haired man's shoulders.
Sekhmet snapped his head back to glare at Cale, spitting out, "He had no right!"
"This was private you guys," Rowen growled out trying to shrug them both off. "Don't need your help."
"It's not a matter of you needing help," the Ronin of Trust snipped, "It's a matter of not feeling like cleaning blood off the walls."
Anubis watched all this warily out of the corner of his eye, since he had one arm protectively around Kayura as he tried to calm her down. His main concern was Dais, who was standing still though the anger was seeping off of him in waves.
Cale took notice that the Summer Seasonal looked fully prepared to throttle the Strata Ronin himself, and felt at a total loss…It took much to rile Dais, but once he was riled that was the end of it.
The Winter Seasonal lowered his voice, but made his tone clear…Oh he was angry sure, but he knew better than to lose his cool, "We promised Wildfire that we would not fight with his teammates, remember?"
Sekhmet let out an angry noise from his throat but stopped his struggling…Yes, they had promised it, knowing that if they were to get into any fights with the Ronin Elementals that Ryo would defend the Seasonals and take their side. They had not then, nor did they now, want to put him in such a position, it just wasn't right.
"Don't let that stop you," Rowen shot out, trying to loosen himself from Kento and Cye, but having little luck in doing so.
Sage was leaning back against the wall, arms crossed in front of his chest, in his traditional pose. Disproval was clearly written in his face, but he realized there was little he could do.
He let his gaze wander over to where Anubis and Kayura were standing, and shot the auburn haired man an apologetic look…The look was also meant for Kayura, but she did not look up.
Sage did feel terrible for her; she seemed so shaken by what had been said. Her face was still pale, and her body was slightly trembling. Anubis looked completely lost as he tried to soothe her, though somehow Sage knew the Spring Seasonal was aware how pointless it was.
Kayura had been slapped in the face, and punched in the gut at the same time. Her mind could not stop focusing on what the Ronin of Strata had said, and the truth in it.
She was at a total and complete loss, and the guilt that had been eating away at her for the past few months had now left her paralyzed.
Dais seemed to have been standing in the same spot forever before he finally moved…All he had done was taken one look and seen how badly Kayura had been affected and his mind was made up.
In a cold voice he said to Rowen's comment, "I don't plan too."
"Ugh this is ridiculous!" Ryo complained in irritation, sighing heavily through his nose.
The Ronin Leader was on his bed, unable to get up because a certain someone refused to let him move. Really, he was tired of being babied it wasn't like he was totally incapable of taking care of himself. That just seemed to be the common consensus around these parts, one he did not happen to agree with.
Brown-eyes calmly bore into his skull, 'You are not leaving this bed until Elayne says you're okay, cub, and that's final.'
"I liked it better when I couldn't understand you word for word," the Wildfire Ronin grumbled out crossing his arms in front of his chest.
White Blaze let out a chuckle and got off the bed once Elayne reentered the room, he gave a slight nod to her in acknowledgement before settling down on the floor.
The girl raised an eyebrow at the tiger and then shook her head at him, quipping, "Stop harassing my patient, boy."
'Don't feel like sharing?' the tiger taunted her.
Elayne gave a snort, "Get your mind out of the bedroom cat."
'Seeing as how I am in one…'
"Blaze, shuddup," Elayne groused at him, rolling her eyes skyward saying to Ryo, "All that time spent with you guys ruined him, he used to be sweet."
The majestic tiger let out a low growl and Ryo immediately protested, "Hey don't blame this on me! I had nothing to do with it."
"Whatever you say flirt," the girl waved him off as she kneeled down next to the bed.
"F-flirt?" Ryo indignantly sputtered looking at her in disbelief, he was so busy gaping at Elayne he missed the needle she easily placed into his arm. However, he did notice when she withdrew it; his eyes got saucer like as he stared at her.
"Got ya," Elayne cheerfully commented, saying, "Wasn't so bad, now was it?"
Ryo rubbed at the spot with a scowl, "You're evil, did you know that?"
"I do now," she quipped and then chuckled at the glare she was getting. "Come on Ryo, it was necessary and distracting a patient that doesn't like needles always helps. You guys are lucky Talpa didn't find out about this weakness of yours."
"Ha ha, very funny," the Wildfire Ronin grumbled as he leaned back into the bed, sighing heavily. "What's your diagnosis doc?"
"Mm," the girl went quiet for a moment as she tried to put it together in her head. "Well, you're definitely starting to recover from whatever it was, but your body is still pretty worn out. Whenever you try and do something too strenuous you cave in on yourself, meaning you pass out due to the strain."
"That's just great," the Ronin Leader huffed in complaint. "How am I going to fight, if I can barely stay conscious during my warm-ups?"
Elayne had disposed of the needle and returned to her position by the bed. Now, she gently fingered the jewel around her neck as if trying to decide on something. Without a word she leaned forward and brushed her lips against Ryo's forehead.
Ryo felt warmth rush to his cheeks from embarrassment. He blinked at the girl when she pulled back, and he tilted his head to study her. Wildfire's bearer had no idea what that had been for.
"There," she sighed out rubbing at her own forehead. "That should stop it from happening again, but you have to be careful Ryo. If you push yourself too hard too fast, there's no telling the damage you will do to your body."
"Thanks Elayne," he paused a moment, then sucked in a breath as he placed a hand to his forehead.
The girl gave a wince as she felt a sharp tug at one of the lines, and she might have turned her attention there…However, she, like Ryo, could hear all too clearly what was going on downstairs.
"Oh no, Rowen's…" the Ronin of Wildfire made move to get up, and let out a slight yelp when she gently pushed him back down.
"No Ryo," she quietly murmured as she settled her eyes onto his. "You and I had a deal, if such a fight were to happen and I deemed you unfit, I'd deal with it."
"You'd say I was unable to anyway Elayne," Ryo said with a snort, studying her out of the corner of his eyes. He was trying to be serious with her, hence his reason to avoid eye contact.
"You're right," the girl admitted quietly, smiling when he turned his attention back to her. She took his hand and grasped it in between hers, "Ryo, they are you're brothers…The Seasonals are your friends…Both groups are your responsibility, but you can't put yourself in a position where in order to defend the other you alienate the ones provoking."
"Elayne," Ryo began in protest but she silenced him with a shake of her head.
"You know I'm right," Elayne had a grim look on her face. "The guys won't know what to make of it, and Rowen would lash out at you. You're not well enough to deal with the added stress the consequences of that action would have, and you know it."
The Wildfire Ronin sighed through his nose, sure she had made the wording difficult but he got the point. "Like you can?"
"No, I can't," the girl admitted. "However, it won't debilitate me, like it would you. Ryo, please, just let me do this, okay? Stop trying to do everything by yourself."
"All right An-chan," he finally relented. "But, please, don't get hurt."
Elayne gave a wry grin, knowing that he was referring to the emotional hurt that would be possible, "Sorry, Ryo, that's unavoidable at this point."
Without another word, she left the room not bothering to close the door behind her…Knowing he would simply get up and open it anyway.
"Dais!" Cale and Anubis both snapped in the same breath. The two of them were angered by it sure, but they knew better than to let emotions get control of a situation…Something the Summer Seasonal also knew but was obviously ignoring.
"Cye, Kento let me go!" Rowen bellowed at them, "This was a private matter!"
"You took it over the line," The Seasonal of Summer coldly stated, advancing another step, his eye narrowed at the archer in challenge.
Anubis sighed through his nose, this was great. The normally well too-composed Dais had lost his temper. That more or less meant Rowen was a dead Ronin.
Cale seemed to be thinking the same thing as he let go of Sekhmet, and gave a very hard 'yank' on the Summer Seasonal's mental line causing the man to stop in his advancing.
Dais turned a hateful glare to Cale, before returning his attention to the Ronin of Strata, only to be halted by a mild warning.
"Don't Dais," Kento could see the anger there, and knew he had to try and stop this from going into a brawl. However, if it was unavoidable, well he wasn't going to sit idly by. "I don't want to fight you, but so help me…"
"Anyone," a clipped voice announced. "Fights with anybody, and my foot is going to be inserted into them in a very painful way."
Most eyes went upward spotting the girl who was leaning over the railing, a prominent scowl etched into her features. Sage didn't bother to glance up, knowing she would have ended up on the scene eventually. He knew she would have sensed the fluctuating anger even if she didn't hear the shouting.
"Who invited you?" the Water Ronin demanded sounding irked. Cye really didn't like these sort of confrontations and just did not want to deal with anymore antics.
"I did," Elayne flatly stated, jumping over the railing and landing on the floor. "If you have a problem with that, then you can leave, Cye."
The Seasonals could only look at the girl with mild astonishment, never before had they seen her snap at the Torrent Ronin. They didn't happen to be the only ones surprised at her attitude, Kento blinked several times, Rowen actually raised an eyebrow, and the graceful Sage came close to losing that perfect balance of his.
Cye frowned at her, his tone lost the edge it had held, "Everything all right?"
"No, Ryo's up there sicker than what he should be," the girl's tone remained clipped and irritated. "And things are loud enough down here for people back in the States to hear it. What's going on?"
"Mei mei, don't worry about it," the Hardrock Ronin reassured her, "Everything is fine."
Sekhmet gave a derisive snort to this, slipping into an older form of the Japanese language he said, "Oh yeah, not if you count the fact Strata's being an ass."
"He normally is one," Elayne replied in kind, trying to ignore the raised eyebrows she got from the older men. "Hey if I can read the old dialect writing, I can speak it."
"Ah," Cale murmured, he had forgotten about that. "Hardrock is right though, please do not concern yourself with this."
"It's too late for that Cale, just tell me what's going on," the girl responded calmly, saying to the Elementals, "Unless one of you want to cough up what this is all about."
Silence was all she got in return from the young men, even Rowen seemed uninterested in having her become involved in this. The way he saw it, it was personal and everyone else was intruding and needed to back off.
He wasn't about to let anyone else get into this, especially Elayne who knew how to win arguments against him all too well. Not that he didn't know a few things that would punch a hole in her fight and get her to back off.
"Elayne, it wouldn't be prudent," Dais brought in now, still silently steaming. He didn't want her to get in the middle of this either, he and the others could handle this themselves.
"Anubis," Elayne walked out of the middle she had placed herself in to get closer to the Spring Seasonal. She knew full well that he would cough up the information, "Please tell me what happened."
The Seasonal of Spring let out a heavy sigh through his nose, not caring to say it aloud he merely told her mentally what transpired. The look on her face went from surprise to anger, and then back to neutral before she gave a bow of her head in thanks.
The girl calmly walked back to where she had landed, eyes narrowing at the Strata Ronin, "You said what?"
"You deaf now, An?" the archer felt anger rising up within him again. Oh, he had known it, known all along she would go and stick her nose in where it didn't belong. Kento still had a hold on the archer, and frowned when he caught Sage giving him a hard shake of his head.
'What?' the Ronin of Hardrock queried.
Sage gave an exasperated sigh, 'Let him go, and stay out of it.'
Kento did so, but raised both is eyebrows, 'Dude are you tripping? This isn't Elayne's problem it's ours.'
'No, it's Rowen's problem,' the bearer of Halo corrected him. 'We're getting in the way of something we shouldn't have, granted Rowen had no need to be so harsh, but us getting involved like this is merely making the situation worse.'
'And you're going to let Elayne diffuse it?' Cye cried across the mental line.
The corner's of Sage's lips twitched upward in amusement, 'If I remember correctly your response was to deck him when he pushed the wrong button. I think she can do far better.' He soon became serious, 'Besides, Kayura is her friend and this is her house. I've noticed that Elayne is good at diffusing these types of situations. I think it mainly has something to do with the Cimmerian Crystal.'
'Sage,' Kento sounded exasperated himself, 'What's the real reason?'
'She just told me to stay out of it; I thought I'd pass the message along.'
"Hasn't anyone told you," Elayne's voice was calm, and she kept her face that way with some effort. "That if you don't use that head in conjunction with that mouth of yours, that you're going to get into a world of trouble?"
Oh Rowen so did not appreciate that comment, for he was quick to retort, "You know about it well enough to lecture, personal experience comes in handy."
"You've got a lot of nerve," the anger was just starting to come through in her now. "Who do you think you are, anyway? What gives you the right to talk to people, like that?"
"I am Hashiba Touma," He answered coolly, "And I had every right to say what I did. You don't like it? Leave, nobody is asking you to stay."
Elayne shook her head in bitter amusement, "You really can be a stuck-up bastard Rowen. I can't say that I'm impressed."
"You're not supposed to be impressed," the archer's voice was flat as he spoke. "This was a private matter. It did not require more than half the house getting involved. It also has nothing to do with you."
The girl was inwardly frowning; she and Rowen had argued and fought when they were younger, but he had never been this angry. There was no reason for this almost pointless and persistent anger of his. It just didn't make any sense, what was really going on here?
"You're wrong," Elayne said in a cool tone, "It has everything to do with me. I gave you a place to stay when you had nowhere to go. You're here under my invitation. These are my friends, and I'm not going to tolerate this kind of fighting in MY house."
Rowen looked almost surprised to see her taking such an approach with him, "That another idle threat?"
"It's a promise," the girl flatly announced, "And you know I will have no qualms in going through with it."
The archer let out a chuckle, "So the perfect little girl that has had such a perfect life is going to lecture me? Cute."
Elayne froze for a moment, tilted her head just a fraction, "What are you talking about?"
"Don't play dumb," the Ronin of Strata narrowed his midnight blue-eyes. "You know what I'm talking about. Question is when were you going to come clean?"
They knew?! Elayne's eyes widened just a fraction, and she almost took a step back but refrained. No, don't show any shock over it…It might be nothing. He was just angry; for what reason she still didn't know…Rowen was talking just to talk, or was he?
"Rowen," Sage snapped in irritation, immediately knowing where this was going.
"You stay out of it," the archer spat back, before returning his sights to the girl. She had wanted to get involved in this, fine that was her decision. Rowen was not going to go easy on her, or anyone else that felt the need to lecture him like he was a spoiled little child. "Were you ever going to bother telling us the truth about you Elayne? That you don't even belong here? That you were more or less placed into this time?"
Kayura was listening and her eyes widened as her stomach churned…She had been the one to tell them, and now Rowen was using it against Elayne.
"So taking that into consideration," his midnight blue-eyes were flickering, "Who would you choose, huh? Us or them?"
Her head had immediately gone down upon hearing the earlier questions, but the minute he made his last comment her head sharply came up and her eyes narrowed. "If you treat your allies the way you do the Seasonals," her voice came out in a growl. "And treat your 'other' friends the way you treat me...Then I'm a hell of a lot better off with them than I am with you!"
Everything seemed to stop as those words left her mouth, and Elayne did her best to hide the fact she was shaking. Her eyes closed a minute and then she reopened them, letting out a loose breath but she would not back down.
Rowen could only stare at her in helplessness, it had been the slap in the face he needed. Disbelief tinted his features at hearing her words; it was just something his mind could not wrap around.
Kento also looked rather stunned, and Cye's eyes were wide in surprise…Sage was also staring at the girl shock present in his face.
"E-Elayne," Kayura nervously began, she had come out of her shell upon hearing Rowen's raised voice to the girl. "You-"
"Mean it," the girl was looking directly at the Ronin of Strata as she spoke. "You think I don't get it, that I have no way of understanding. I get it, you were hurt, and they damn near killed you. But I also understand the fact that they were lied to, or forced into working for that ass against their own will to begin with."
She paused taking a breath and glanced at the other three, "You're the ones who told me that a person's past actions, no matter how heinous, did not define their true character. That I shouldn't hold something against someone just because I didn't understand them, and that I couldn't base my assumptions on people simply because of what someone told me."
Elayne's eyes went back to Rowen now, "Are you trying to tell me that what you taught me was wrong? That I should hate, or be afraid of Kayura-tachi, simply because of the things you told me and the things you left me to assume?"
"So a case of the student coming back to beat the teacher over the head is it?" Strata's bearer snorted out. Oh he did remember telling her things like that when she was little, but he wasn't about to let this diversionary tactic of hers work.
Rowen took a step forward, "That's fine by me; I've got no problem with you siding with them."
Elayne shook her head, "It's not about sides Rowen! It's about what's right and what's wrong. Keeping up with this, trying to start a fist-fight? It's wrong and you know it."
"Would love to know where you come up with this stuff, and where you get off," He began taking another step, but he did not get a chance to finish.
Elayne moved forward, grasped the sweater he was wearing in her hands and gently pushed him back against the wall. Her resolve was starting to crack, she couldn't keep doing this. It was tearing her up inside.
"Please just stop it, Rowen," the girl murmured quietly. "I don't get it. I don't know if it's the armors pushing at you or your unresolved issues with your current past or the ones you can't remember. I don't know."
Her voice wavered a little, "All I know is I've never seen you, any of you, like this before. You're agitated and the anger is just getting the better of you. I'd rather deal with you guys back under that spell than like this."
It was Strata. The girl could all too keenly sense the growing unease in the armor. The agitation was merely leaking through and affecting Rowen. Looks like her offhanded guess had been relatively close to the truth.
Rowen took a pause then, shook his head a little as he felt whatever anger within him dispel, "Elayne…"
She pulled back, having done what she needed to do…The girl stepped back several more steps so that she was completely away from them, and closer to the Seasonals. Her shoulders were nowhere near as square as they had been, in fact it looked as if most of the breath had been taken right out of her.
Elayne looked up finally, eyes once again hard, "I meant what I said. Anymore of these types of arguments, ANY, from anyone and the invitation is gone. You'll have to find somewhere else to stay. No exceptions."
"Understood," a grim-faced Cye broke in, grasping the archer by the shoulder and tugging him back. That was the only comment he made to her, understanding that the tongue lashing had not simply been directed at Rowen, but at anyone within in ear shot. And, most of the house had been within ear shot.
Sage moved from his spot against the wall to cast a glance at the girl, their eyes locked for the briefest of moments before he gave a slight bow in acknowledgement and then walked off. The simple action was enough to put some color back into her face, and a bit of relief into her stance.
Kento had absolutely no emotion on his face at all, and Elayne briefly closed her eyes knowing what that meant.
She let out a loose breath, and reopened them noting he had turned to walk off, "Gege, where's the justice in it?"
The Ronin of Hardrock let a wry grin cross his face and he turned his head back to look at her, "That doesn't even deserve an answer, mei mei. Stick with your gut instincts; they haven't let you down yet." He disappeared further down the hall.
Elayne's breath came out in a whoosh and she sank back against the wall, slightly shaking her head to clear it. She could feel her tattered nerves, and the lingering adrenaline that was pumping in her veins.
She was not used to standing up to anyone like that, let alone the Ronin Warriors, and the fact that she had…Well, she took in a few slow deliberate breaths to calm herself down. What was done, was done there was no changing it.
"Why?" the white-haired Summer Seasonal spoke up now, eyeing her in confusion. It made no sense to him at all; there should be no reason for her doing what she had.
"You got in the middle of something you shouldn't have," the girl began slowly, strength starting to return to her now. "Rowen did go too far, but you egged him on. It was all Strata needed to further influence him."
"What?" Kayura queried in a soft tone, eyes slightly wide. She had thought she had sensed the armor's power, but she was so emotionally distraught…
Elayne pinched the bridge of her nose, "It's restless, agitated…All of them are actually, but Strata is exceedingly uptight. It's starting to frighten me, to be honest…They know something is coming."
She turned her head and her eyes landed on the Lady Ancient, "I am sorry, Kayura. Rowen's anger was real yes, but fueled from an outside source. And yes, he did mean every word of what he said."
The girl walked over to the woman, placed a hand on her shoulder, and murmured, "He just didn't mean for it to come out that way."
"Okay, first off," Sekhmet was obviously irritated that Elayne had started to put blame on them.
Kayura glared at the Fall Seasonal, "Shut up, she's right. He went too far, and you got involved, thus forcing the other Ronin to take part as well. This escalated more than what it should have. I realize you were trying to defend me, minna, but you didn't have to."
"Of course we don't," Cale said with a snort, rolling his eyes. "That does not mean we won't, should the need arise for it. However-" His attention had gone over to the girl, now, and Elayne knew that.
"Just stop it," Elayne's voice had taken on a flat tone to it now, her eyes had narrowed. "I was not putting blame on ANYONE, only pointing out that it takes two to fight and two to forgive. The blame is equal, the way I see it. And, if I recall right, I just sided with you guys."
She gave an irritated huff, taking pause when Anubis spoke, "Yes, and that doesn't answer why you let yourself get in the middle."
"I had to," the girl sighed out, having taken up her spot back by the wall; she leaned against it once more. "Number one, I consider you my friends. Number two, there's no way in hell I was going to let Ryo put himself in that position."
"Clever girl," Dais murmured in acknowledgement, "If it were to come from him, that could put a horrible strain on their friendship, potentially break it. However, it seems you neglected to think about yours."
Elayne laughed lightly and shook her head, "No, Dais, I thought about it. I was planted into this lifetime, I got to know each of the Ronin and became so close to them we considered one another family. I also realize it has been a very long time since those days, and I'm not the same person. They made me who I am, I don't deny that, but I am still my own person. Push comes to shove and I think they are wrong, I'm going to tell them so."
She gave a sad smile, "So tell me how am I ruining a friendship that probably never existed before? That is barely existing now, and probably won't ever be the same anyway? Besides, I do consider you more than just acquaintances. What are friends for?"
"An-chan," Sekhmet began to lament, but she merely shook her head.
"You don't treat me like I'm someone that needs constant protecting, and even after all this time they still do," the girl murmured with a small grin. "I'm not helpless they know that, but won't admit it. You treat me as you would any other individual, and you've been nothing but kind to me. You have my respect for that and other things."
"Thank-you," Cale commented in acknowledgement of her words.
Elayne gave a bow of her head in respect, murmuring, "I tried to push Strata back, but I have no way of knowing how long it'll last. I am sorry for what happened, and wish you luck with whatever comes next. I will do my best to stay out of the way."
Anubis watched the girl retreat up the stairs, noting how she held her posture even until she vanished from their line of sight. He shook his head in belated amusement, "The girl was more shaped by them then even she realizes."
"Yes," Cale gave a slight inclination of his head signaling he agreed, "They taught her quite well."
"Mhm," the Lady Ancient gave a nod, a small frown on her face. Her mind was still reeling from the things Rowen had said to her, but also at the way Elayne defended them.
Dais seemed to be thinking along Kayura's lines, "I happen to think Universe's memories have influenced her as well. Are you all right Kayura?"
The woman gave a curt nod, "I'll be fine, thank-you all for your concern. However, if there is ever a next time, stay out of it. I do not want a repeat, especially if she, or Wildfire, has to get in the middle in order to end it."
The four Seasonals all nodded in agreement to this, and the five made their way down to the basement. While it might have been a rift in the day, there were still some things that needed to be taken care of.
A/N: Hope you had a Merry Christmas or Happy Holiday, and a Happy New Year! Here is your present from me; four chapters of Book 2 for you to read through. :-)
A/N about the chapter: I feel it is exceedingly important that I make this note. I did my best to portray this, but just so it is absolutely clear: Rowen is in no way the badguy in this situation. The Ronin of Strata is more than entitled to feel the way he does; he had every right to be upset and angry. Kayura was his rival, and out of the others he'd faced (excluding the head honcho Talpa {yes that was pun intended}), she put him the closest to death he'd ever been. He might not be carrying a grudge per se, but it's very hard to forget that kind of trauma let alone willingly forgive it. Especially for someone like Rowen who learned how to socialize from books (or my version of Ro, anyway. His parents were never really around, so I figure what he learned, he learned from reading).