***I don't own the Ronin Warriors or Mia***
CHAPTER ONE
Sage awoke from a deep sleep with a gasp, cold sweat matting his blond hair to his forehead. Something's wrong, he thought to himself. Looking around his tiny dorm room, he saw his roommate, Timothy, snoring peacefully. After a quick glance revealing that nothing appeared out of place, Sage relaxed slightly. He lay back down on his pillow, trying to slow his breathing back to a regular rhythm. He closed his eyes, attempting to fall back asleep since, looking at the clock, he noted that it was only a little after three in the morning. As he started to doze, it felt as if ice cold tendrils were wrapping around his chest, sending chills deep into his body. His blue eyes flew open again and the chills receded. He sat up, cursing as he smacked his forehead, his loft bed being only a few feet from the ceiling. He ran his hands through his tousled blond hair and rubbed his eyes. Deciding that sleep was impossible, he did a quick calculation figuring that it would be evening in Japan. He slipped out of bed and grabbed his cell phone. Sneaking outside, he quickly dialed Rowen.
"Sage, man, how the hell are you!" the blue-haired warrior greeted as he picked up the other end. "How's U-Dub?" Learning a lot? How's the weather? Is it raining? Dating any hot Americans?"
Sage smiled and closed his eyes as he leaned against the brick building. He stood partially obscured behind a large bush in case anyone should look out their window. How good it was to hear his best friend's voice, speaking his native tongue. While Sage's English was excellent, it was still nice to not have to think about every word before speaking. "I'm good, Rowen. How is everybody there? How're Kento and Mia?"
"Great! We miss all you guys! It sucks that you, Cye, and Ryo decided to go so far away to study, and you left all of us behind."
Sage grinned. He remembered the day that he had received his acceptance letter in the mail, informing him that he was indeed able to go to the University of Washington.
"Why do you have to go so far away?" Rowen asked.
Sage had laid a hand on his shoulder. "I think it's good for all of us to grow up a little. You know, away from each other. Cye and Ryo are leaving too and you're not complaining about that."
"I know," Rowen wailed. "But they're not my best friend!"
"I'll be back before you know it."
"That's fine. I'll just have to get a new best friend while you're gone."
Sage just laughed, knowing that he would miss Strata horribly while he was away studying in a foreign country.
"I'm sure you've been keeping plenty busy," Sage chuckled, shivering slightly as the cool fall breeze cut through his t-shirt. "But there is actually a reason I called you at three in the morning."
"It's seven at night here."
"Yes, I know that. It's three in the morning here!"
"Oh, right."
Sage cut off his teasing friend. "Rowen, has the Dynasty been up to something?"
Instantly his friend was all business. "Why? What's going on?"
Sage shook his head, well aware that Rowen couldn't see him anyway. "Nothing yet. It's just...something feels off. Not sure what it is. I woke up and when I tried to go back to sleep, it felt like-I don't know-like something was grabbing at me. Something cold. Can you just talk to Mia and see what she can find? I assume you still hang out with her?"
"Of course, man. I'll go over there as soon as we hang up."
"Thanks. I better go, because people are going to think I'm a whack-job, standing outside in the dark in my pajamas, talking on the phone."
"Just tell them it's an old Japanese tradition," Rowen teased.
"No way, everybody already thinks I'm a little off my rocker."
Rowen laughed. "All right, I'll let you go then. And Sage," he called out as Sage was ending the call. "It's good to hear from you."
"Yeah, you too, " Sage mumbled as hung up his cell phone. Taking a quick glance around, he didn't see anything out of the ordinary. The heavy night fog of Washington had settled comfortably over the city, not ready to leave until the morning sun came out and burned it away. Even then, on some days it persisted, leaving the weather cold and damp. Shivering again as the wind picked up, he let himself back in the dorm and settled down in his computer chair, debating whether to try and get more sleep before his 8am Geography class. Remembering the cold chill in his chest the last time he closed his eyes, he flicked on his computer to begin research on a History paper.
After a few minutes of internet surfing on the War of 1812, he heard groaning from the other side of the room. "Sage, man," his roommate protested from his lofted bed. "Turn off the light!"
Sage murmured an apology and turned off the bright monitor. He really wasn't ready to try and sleep again, but wasn't sure what to do. He paced the room for a few minutes until Timothy threw a pillow at his head. He finally decided to meditate quietly, deciding that his roommate couldn't find a reason to complain about that. He perched on his bed, legs crossed, hands held palms up.
Timothy cracked one eye open and saw his roommate in the bizarre position. Why did he get stuck with the crazy Japanese exchange student? The guy was a nut! "What a weirdo," he whispered and rolled over to go back to sleep. Little did he know, he was roomed with a Ronin Warrior with excellent hearing. Sage cocked a grin before settling into his meditations...quietly of course.
Rowen looked at his cell phone. It had been nice hearing Sage's voice again. Ever since the blond had made up his mind to study in the States, they hardly ever talked anymore. Especially after the first month he had moved. After talking a couple of times a week, they were each presented with an astronomical cell phone bill. Too bad the only reason he now called was for something bad. Sage always did have a sixth sense for danger, Rowen thought. He sat back on his broken down couch, and gazed around the apartment. He and Kento were now roommates and had managed to get an apartment off of campus, thankfully. The unfortunate side is that they were both horrible slobs and it showed all over the living room.
Dirty sweatshirts and various clothing items were strewn all over the furniture, and there were holes in the wall where their training sessions had gotten a little too rough. Still, Rowen had to admit that it was nice to be able to have a roommate you could spar with so their fighting skills never got rusty. Too bad their apartment had to take the brunt of it. They were definitely not getting their security deposit back! All in all, it wasn't so bad, the neighbors only calling the police twice due to the noise. They were both a little embarrassed the first time that had happened, the cop mistaking them for lovers in a domestic dispute. They both had stumbled over themselves to explain that they were merely exercising and that they were most definitely into women! That the cop had been a gorgeous woman hadn't made them any less embarrassed!
It was quiet in the apartment now since Kento was at work at his parent's restaurant. Rowen looked at his watch, deciding that it wasn't too late to go over to Mia's and discuss the strange phone call with her. He grabbed his keys and ran out of his apartment to jump into his battered red Corolla. He sped out of the city and dialed Mia's number from the road, greeting her with "I'm coming over, we have to talk." Twenty minutes later, he pulled into the driveway of her beautiful two story lake home. She met him at the door in slippers and a pink tank top with pink and blue checkered fuzzy lounge pants. "Mia!" He jumped out of the car and raced up the stairs, gathering her into a huge hug. He picked her up and swung her around, laughing as she screamed and threw her arms around his neck. He set her down and smiled as she dizzily ushered him inside.
He pulled his shoes off and stepped into her warm-and clean, he couldn't help notice-living room. Seeing her clothes, Rowen apologized. "Were you just getting ready for bed?"
Mia shook her head in the negative. "No, I have just been feeling a little sick, so I decided to get into my pajamas a little early. I was just watching TV." Now that Rowen could see her in the light, she did look slightly feverish and her nose was bright red with the beginnings of a nasty cold. Her long auburn hair was swept up in a ponytail which made her look much younger than her 21 years. She sat on the couch and crossed her legs, looking at Rowen expectantly. "So, what's up?"
Rowen sat in the armchair across the living room, enjoying not having to move several items from it first, as he always had to do at his home. "I just got a phone call from Sage, and-"
"Oh yay!" Mia shouted, interrupting him. "How is he? Is he enjoying Seattle? I've always wanted to go there! He is so lucky!"
Rowen smiled at her enthusiasm. "Sorry, it wasn't a pleasure call. He asked if the Dynasty was up to anything. He said that he just felt 'off'."
"Off?" Mia wrinkled her nose. "What does that mean?"
The blue-haired warrior shrugged one shoulder in an offhand manner. "You got me. He said that he felt like something was grabbing him-something cold. I told him that I would ask you if you had heard anything."
"Not me," the girl answered, shaking her head. "I can find out from Ryo, I suppose."
Rowen perked up at the name, not having heard from his friend since he left for India several months ago. "You've heard from Ryo?"
Mia nodded, not catching Rowen's eye. "Yeah, he calls every couple of weeks just to check in."
Strata looked glumly at his feet. They had been so close during their months of fighting the Dynasty, that nobody had ever considered that after high school, they would go their separate ways. Rowen, Kento, and Mia were the only ones who stayed in Japan, Mia working, and Kento and Rowen studying, all three at Shinsha University. Ryo took off to India to study tigers, being so used to having a large white one sleeping next to his bed. Cye went the opposite direction and was on the Galapagos Islands, studying the various exotic sea creatures. Sage, of course, was in Seattle. Nobody was really sure why he had chosen to study there, but it was Rowen's thought that it was because he had just wanted to get away from his family for a few years, tired of always being told what to do. But it was hard for Rowen to never see any of them.
"I miss them all too," Mia's soft voice broke into his thoughts. He looked up and marveled at her ability to read his mind. He hadn't even been out to see Mia much lately, mostly just seeing her around campus while he was at school.
"It just sucks, you know," he grumbled, picking invisible lint off of his jeans.
"I know. But," she said brightly, "I do have some good news. Ryo did say that he was going to be home for Christmas. We'll all have to plan a get together here for the holidays. "
Rowen smiled as he looked at her shining face. "That will be great! I'll have to call Sage and Cye, and make sure they're going to be here too. I really miss Cye's cooking. Kento and I can cook, but it's not exactly gourmet." He frowned. "Actually, you would think, for a guy who works in a restaurant that he would be a better cook. Our meals usually involve some form of mac'n'cheese. Maybe with some hamburger. Or pizza."
Mia smiled as he jumped out of the chair, excited by the prospect of seeing his other three best friends again. "I'll call Sage, since I want to talk to him about his 'off' feeling. Do you think he's still awake?"
"It's pretty early in the morning there. You should probably wait until tomorrow." Rowen stood up, stretching and yawning. "I better get going. Got an early class in the morning. Call me tomorrow after you talk to Sage!" He gave her shoulders a quick squeeze, and headed out the door to his car. As he opened his driver's door, he changed his mind at the last second and took a slight detour to the lake next to Mia's house. He had missed the peace and quiet of the beautiful location, and decided to take a few moments to enjoy it before heading back to the bustle of the city. He sat down on the rocks next to the shoreline and leaned back on his hands, quietly watching the stars and breathing the fresh night air. Realizing suddenly that it was only about four in the morning in the Galapagos Islands, Rowen got a wicked look on his face and whipped out his cell phone to punch in Cye's number.
"Hello?" a sleepy voice answered after several rings.
"Hey, buddy, it's Rowen! Thought I'd call and say hi!"
There was a pause on the other line. "Do you have any freakin' idea what time it is here?"
"Yep. Did it on purpose."
Another pause. "You are such a jerk."
Rowen laughed. "Aren't I though? So how's it going?" All thoughts of Sage's bad feelings were forgotten as Strata happily talked to his friend, whom he hadn't spoken with for several months.
Cye let out a huge yawn. "Not too bad. The weather's been great! And you wouldn't believe all of the animals here!"
"That's awesome, glad you're having fun," Rowen responded. "Are you coming home for Christmas?"
"Of course, why?"
Rowen grinned. "Ryo's going to be here too, so that will be nice to have everyone home at the same time!"
"Sage will be there too?" the sandy-haired warrior asked.
"Mia's calling him tomorrow about that, but I'm sure he'll be here. His parents would never forgive him if he didn't come home for Christmas." Sage's mother was American, so their family was always sure to celebrate Christmas as she had done when she was younger.
"I never thought I would say this, but it will be nice to sleep in a bed that doesn't float. Even I can get a little seasick after a while."
Rowen smiled at the disgruntled voice. Hotels weren't exactly a mainstay of the Galapagos, so Cye was staying on a sailboat offshore with his professor and a group of interns. "I can't believe you have cell phone service!"
"It's a satellite phone," came the sleepy reply.
"Oh," Rowen answered. "Well, I'm getting pretty tired, so I better go. It's really late here, maybe seven or so. Good night!"
"You son-of-a-"
Rowen snapped the cell phone shut before Cye could finish his tirade. Chuckling, he stood up and walked back to his car. He stopped suddenly as he felt a strange, cold sensation travel though his body, feeling as if hands were clutching at his ribs and trying to pull him to the ground. "What the hell was that?" he asked out loud. A piercing pain stabbed into his temples, bringing him to his knees. He shouted in agony and grabbed his head with his hands, dropping his forehead to the cold ground. White flashes appeared behind his eyelids and he fought back a bout of nausea. Then as suddenly as the pain had begun, it stopped. Breathing a few times to calm himself, he slowly got to his feet, legs unsteady. He scanned the darkness, crouched at the ready to defend himself, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. Lights still danced merrily in the windows of Mia's house, so it wasn't the Dynasty. They were usually accompanied by power outages. "Who's out there?" he called, head still sore from the previous pain.
"Rowen?" Mia called from the window. "Are you talking to someone?"
Rowen turned to her, eyes wide. "I think Sage is right. Something weird is going on."
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