Chapter 4 for you. It's not as long as the last chapter, but I'm off tomorrow and if you all are lucky, I'll have the next one up before work on Friday. Oh, keep in mind I'm a twisted little shit at times. I thought of another new twist that I'm hinting at in this chapter, but more of it will come out in chapter 5. Now on with the story!
Edited and re-posted 2/10/2012
~~~Chapter 4
Kento and Raye caught Ryo as he pitched forward, preventing him from landing in the small fire before him. Kento had been half expecting it but it still surprised him, the others hadn't. There was no warning, no real sign that he was going to collapse like that.
'Ryo?' Sage asked through their link, trying to get through to Ryo. 'It's not your fault, Ryo. If anyone has a right to be mad, it's you. Just rest now.' Sage waited quietly as Raye lie Ryo down, his head resting in her lap. Once she had Ryo settled, Sage moved forward, holding his hands out over his friend.
"Get his chest first, Sage. He kept saying he must have bruised them, but with the way he was breathing, I think it's worse than that. Then get his head," Kento said softly, looking down on Ryo as he slept. Sage only nodded and moved his hands to Ryo's chest. His right side appeared to be fine, it was his left side that made Sage pause. The pain he'd felt coming from Ryo earlier was only a fraction of what Ryo had been feeling. How could he mask that much pain?
"What is it Sage?" Rowen asked when he noticed Sage hesitating.
"Why did they do this to him?" Sage wondered. "Three broken ribs, two slightly cracked, and lots of bruising, internal and external," Sage whispered, sad eyes still on the fire ronin.
"He said their weakness was fire," Kento mumbled from Raye's other side. "Find anything else?" he asked after a minute. Sage stayed quiet as he checked Ryo for more injuries. He immediately healed the ones that would end up being fatal if not taken care of, then went back to Ryo's broken ribs as he nodded sadly to Kento's question. Kento stilled for a moment before sending a questioning gaze to Sage.
"Yeah," he replied quietly. "He has a concussion and a sprained ankle still, I'll have to get those later." He sat there a moment just watching Ryo as he slept, noticing that he appeared to be breathing easier now, then continued to talk softly. "He had some internal bleeding, but I got that already. They really tried to kill him. If he hadn't gotten away and you hadn't found him, Kento, he would have bleed to death and none of us would have known," he paused now, taking a deep breath to steady his fraying nerves. "He's going to have one hell of a headache when he wakes up, and a stiff ankle, but he should be fine now," Sage finished, looking extremely worn out now.
"You did what you could, Sage. Let's take him home, he needs to rest now," Rowen said, helping Sage up. Cye agreed with Rowen, giving Sage a pat on the back. Raye helped Kento lift Ryo onto his back so he could carry his friend piggy-back style back towards the road, and their cars.
I'm gonna have to thank Sage for that later, if he's still here… This I can handle. Ryo thought to himself. He thought he could hear the others talking around him, but he wasn't certain. His mind kept wandering off to things he so desperately wanted to be real. The voices kept fading in and out, no matter how much he tried to focus on them, so he couldn't make himself believe that he was really hearing them. After some more time had passed, he felt himself being moved around, then lifted off the ground. It wasn't until he realized they were taking him somewhere, that he tried to fight back.
Wait, where are we going? Guys? Answer me! Damn it, where are we going? Ryo demanded, not realizing he wasn't speaking aloud. Come on guys, we can't leave yet. I Haven't found them yet! Ryo slowly started to panic then. He could finally sense Ameena and White Blaze, and his friends were taking him further away from them.
"What is it, Kento?" Ryo heard Cye question.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say Ryo's trying to argue with us or something," Kento replied with a soft laugh, but the sadness was still there.
YES! Ryo's mind yelled.
"You eat too many sweets, Kento," Sage replied with a small laugh of his own.
Damn you Sage! Ryo thought somewhat harshly and fought with himself to get his eyes to obey him. I won't leave yet, not now that I'm so close! He finally managed to open his eyes and saw that his friends, were in fact, taking him back down the hill side. He fought with himself a little more, struggling to regain normal body movement, as his panic started to really set in. Suddenly he had no problem moving and wiggled until Kento practically dropped him.
"No," he said, voice still weak as he looked towards the mountains. The others looked on in surprise as Ryo jumped to his feet and took off running with strength none of them knew he still had.
"Ryo, wait!" Sage yelled, being the first to recover from his shock. "He's going to break that ankle if he doesn't watch it!" With that said, Sage took off after Ryo, surprised once again at the speed Ryo had left in him. For someone as injured as he was, Ryo ran like the devil himself were chasing him.
"I told you!" Kento accused as he and the rest of the group took off after Ryo.
"He's not going to stop," Sage said suddenly, startling the others. "His mind is clouded with panic. He's not thinking clearly."
"Why would- White Blaze!" Cye answered his own question. "He must know where they are."
"Hey Raye?" Rowen called over his shoulder. Raye sent him a questioning look before he continued. "Who is Ameena?"
Raye glanced at the four guys running with her and knew they didn't know any more than she did. Looks like they all had to ask Ryo. "I don't know, he never told me. All I know is she's important to him, I've told you this already," she yelled back. She turned her attention back to Ryo to see he was already at the base of the mountain. How the hell? He ran past the first two caves entrances, but he had hesitated before moving on to the third. Once he got to the third entrance, he ran in without looking back.
"We have to catch up with him!" Kento called out to the others, worry creeping back into his voice.
Hang on guys, I'm coming! Ryo thought frantically. Have to hurry, they're going to take Ameena soon, I can feel it. I won't loose anyone else because I wasn't fast enough. I don't have anymore time!
Ryo couldn't help but panic now. He knew it wouldn't help him in the least, but it was still there. The shape-shifters were angry, he could feel it. Ameena and White Blaze would be killed because of his damned temper if he didn't get to them first. He had to get to them first, he didn't think he could bear anyone else dying because of him. If he lost anyone else, he wouldn't be able to make himself believe his own lies anymore. His illusions that have kept him from falling apart this long, would disappear. He'd have nothing left.
He saw the sky turning a dark greenish black as he ran past the cave he'd escaped from earlier. He ran right past the second entrance as well, heading to the third without a second thought. He didn't think about where he was going, just as long as he kept moving. He suddenly felt a wave of fear from Ameena that made him hesitate briefly before entering the cave.
Ryo picked up his pace even more once he knew he was close. He knew the shape-shifters were too, he had to get there first! He reached a fork deep within the caves and went to the left as though the path to the right didn't exist. He practically flew around a corner and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw White Blaze laying on the floor, chains around his legs.
"He went in the third one," Raye called as they approached the caves.
"Come on, we have to catch up with him before something happens. He's in no condition for a fight right now," Sage said as it started to rain. As soon as the last person in their group was safely within the cave, the clouds gave way and it started pouring. That's not good. Ryo's too weak for cold rain right now. We'll have to be quick in getting back to the cars.
They had only made it half the distance Ryo had when they noticed White Blaze running towards them. Ryo was sitting on the tiger's back wrapped in a blanket he'd gotten from… Somewhere, and paler now than any of them had ever seen him. Had something happened before they'd caught up with him? And where was this Ameena person? Maybe they didn't make it in time to help her…
"Lets go," Ryo said as the tiger ran past them, his voice now absent of any emotion.
"Right," Rowen said hesitantly before they all followed him out into the rain.
