"If you want to go somewhere, I suggest you get lost quickly." –Kairi

"I can't exactly put you in my wing pack, and you're getting a bit big for me to carry you." –Kairi

"It's nice to know I'm not the only one with that opinion on cheagles." –Dark

Chapter 1.6 – A (False) Peace
Part 6

I scowled. My leg was hurting again, dammit... Now I really felt sorry for Cantabile. I definitely understood what she had to go through, at least.

Another liger jumped out of the bushes and I batted it to the side. I didn't have time for this!

I spotted the hole in the ground just before I heard a yowl behind me. Like, right behind me. So, Jade was finally catching up, huh?

I slid down into the hole and then leapt from the tree root to the ground, making sure to put more of my weight on my left leg. I didn't need my right knee buckling right now.

I spotted Ion running out with an egg, and he placed it down next to another three eggs. I smiled, realizing that they'd saved the eggs, even though I knew the liger queen would likely have to die.

"They're safe!" Ion called, not even noticing me as I scouted out the situation. Dark had something in his left arm, meaning he only had one gun, and Luke and Tear seemed tired.

"Good, because I'm finishing this," I announced, already settling into a casting stance not far from Dark. The two boys in the group froze, and Tear had to pull Luke away so he wouldn't get hurt. It was nice, the feeling of Energies and fonons flocking around me again after so long simply using Energies...

"O flames of hell, cremate mine enemies in a cage of fire! Infernal Prison!"

The liger queen roared angrily as she was enveloped in blue flames, and Dark turned around to stare wide-eyed at me.

"Kairi?!"

I smiled, my eyes locking on Luke's. He had been the one to cry out, after all.

"Impossible..."

All eyes, including mine, turned to see the man who was now standing next to Ion in the entrance to the cavern.

My heart felt like it had been smashed to pieces when I saw that expression on Jade's face. Shock, horror, hope, and pain. So much pain. I gulped, stepping forward a few steps only to end up right into his arms.

"I'm sorry..."

Jade was shaking, too. "No... Kairi... No..."

I realized then what he was worried about, and reached for his mind with my own. I hadn't used my telepathy in a while, either. Not properly at least.

*It's me, Jade... spirit Energies can't be replicated...* I told him.

I suddenly went from clutching my older brother like a lifeline to supporting him as he pulled me close and tried to bury his head in my shoulder. I was just a little short for that, but I knew neither of us cared anymore.

"Never, ever... do that to me again..." Jade whispered. I smiled and tightened my grip for a moment before I finally pulled away.

"Not planning on it, believe me, although it might be helpful in the long run if it happens once this huge mess is taken care of," I told him quickly, referring to being shot through the knee. Jade blinked a couple of times before shaking his head.

"I'm not even going to bother asking, because it will take way too long to make sense of," he decided. Then he turned to Ion. "By the way... I thought Anise and I told you not to run off again without warning us."

Ion ducked his head, and I bit my lip, my mind overlapping his image with one of Sync doing the exact same thing.

"I'm sorry."

Luke sat down next to the nest and made a face. "This left a bad taste in my mouth..."

Dark looked over and sighed. "We saved some of them, at least. And it was self-defense. We didn't provoke her. I hope Arietta will understand," he said. I frowned.

"She won't, likely. But we'll just have to deal with that hurdle when we get to it. Luke, Dark, Tear, are you three alright?" I asked.

Tear stared at me. "How do you know my name?" she asked. Jade adjusted his glasses next to me.

"She has a habit of that. She hasn't told me how she does it yet, either," he answered. "That having been said, we should leave here before the ligers decide to attack us for killing their queen."

I shook my head. "They still have to report to the cheagle elder."

Dark groaned. "You and I need to have a long talk. Now," he said, marching over, grabbing my arm with his free hand, and dragging me along out of the cavern. I winced as I put weight on my right leg, because fire shot up it the moment I did.

Once we were away from the others, Dark turned to me. "You mentioned something about game events when you told us about where you came from, and Tales of the Abyss. They've started?" he guessed. I nodded.

"Yeah. Tear broke into Fabre Manor to kill Van on Remday," I said. Dark sighed.

"I hope your memory is good enough to allow for the variations we both know you've caused..." he muttered. I shrugged, spotting Anise slipping into the cavern and then back out.

"Come on, let's go see what kind of trouble they're getting into."

We stepped back into the cavern to see Ion apologizing to Jade again.

"And you've involved civilians as well," I heard my brother say. Luke groaned.

"Hey, old man, he's apologizing, right? Give him a break."

I giggled, and they turned to look at me. "Sorry, just hearing someone other than Sync call Jade an old man..." Dark sighed, and Jade shook his head.

"Well, we don't have much time anyway. I'll stop the lecture at that," my brother said. Ion looked up at him.

"The letter arrived, didn't it?" he guessed. Jade nodded.

"We'll report to the cheagles and then return to the Tartarus," he said. Then he turned to me. "You'll come with us, won't you?"

I nodded. "I have to get Asch back, but I'll get the chance along the way, I know. No reason to shortchange the fighters you have on hand, right?" Jade smiled a bit and nodded. I turned and started out of the ligers' den, Dark right on my heels with what I was now sure was a baby liger in his arms.

"Where did he come from, anyway?" I asked. Dark chuckled.

"'She,' Kairi. Also, something seems to be up between the eastern and southern liger clans... Oh hell. Please tell me I'm going to have a chance to take her home," he groaned. I cringed.

"If you want to go somewhere, I suggest you get lost quickly."

"I'm not going anywhere until I've got that pendant back," he said bluntly. I smiled, realizing what pendant he had to be talking about. It was quiet for a few moments, until Luke caught up to us, Mieu settled in on his shoulder. I raised an eyebrow at the sight, and Luke looked a little sheepish.

"He kept falling behind, and then he kept falling off of Tear's shoulder," he said by way of an explanation. I glanced at Dark, wondering if the personality change had been a product of his involvement. He raised an eyebrow, subtly asking if I really minded. I smiled, and Luke groaned.

"If you two are going to have a conversation, could you at least have it out loud?" he complained. I grinned, glancing at Dark.

*Aw, but it's so much fun when he has no idea what we're saying...*

Dark elbowed me in the side and I hissed a little as I stumbled over onto my right leg. He looked at me worriedly, and I shook my head. "I'm fine," I said, brushing it off. "Your brother isn't exactly gentle," I added when Dark didn't look convinced.

Luke cringed. "You're gonna be okay though, right? No more letting us think you've died?" he asked. I smiled.

"Believe me, I'm not disappearing like that again. Not if I have any say in it at all. And the asshole who killed one of my best friends and locked the other up is going to be regretting it very soon, I'm sure," I said.

"Just out of curiosity, who would that be?" Ion asked. I blinked.

"Believe me, you don't want to know," I stated, hopping up onto one of the tree bridges and walking across carefully. I didn't want to use my right leg much right now, but...

I sighed quietly in relief when I made it across, then stepped to the side where I'd be out of the way. Jade was the next across, and he pulled me a little further away, gently.

"Are you sure you're alright?" he asked. "You've been limping since you stepped into the hollow. I can tell you're trying to hide it, but you're in pain." I sighed, unable to look Jade in the eye. How the hell was I supposed to tell him that I was as crippled as Cantabile, if not worse? "Do you want me to carry you for a little while? You've been running for hours, you must have been."

I rolled my eyes, about to tell Jade off for pretty much calling me weak, when I made the mistake of shifting my weight onto my right knee.

I hissed, Jade catching me before I could tumbled into the creek.

"Kairi?!"

I chuckled, looking up at Luke as another kind of fire shot through my body. "I'll be fine..." I said, managing to stand up again. Then I grimaced, looking back up at Jade. "But I'm worried I might have to take you up on that offer... Damn... I hope Danté rots in a pit..."

Jade's lips quirked up at that, and he finally let out a chuckle, turning around and bending slightly so I could wrap my arms and legs around him. I noted how careful he was with the hand supporting my right leg, and smiled, muttering my thanks into the back of his uniform.

"Are you hurt?" Tear asked, obviously ready to heal me if necessary. I tried to smile, but it was strained, as another wave of fire ripped through my veins.

"Healing artes won't help, unfortunately. I'll have to sit down and patch myself back together later," I admitted. "In the meantime, we should get going before my weight ruins my older brother's back."

"How considerate..." Jade muttered sarcastically. I flicked him in the head, lightly.

"Keep it up, I'll make Luke carry me. Then you'll be short your only two short-range fighters."

Needless to say, he shut up quickly.

"You're a martial artist, then?" Ion guessed, not having seen my sword after I'd put it away. I shook my head, then poked the wing pack at my hip.

"I prefer using it as a last resort. No reason to be carrying my sword around all the time, especially in a small town like Engeve. It's nice to simplify things..."

"Meow."

"Ah, there you are. I was wondering when you were going to catch up," I commented. The white kitten gave me the nastiest look she could before turning around and following Ion, after a moment of consideration. I giggled. "Sorry. I can't exactly put you in my wing pack, and you're getting a bit big for me to carry you."

Valkyria flicked her tail, but otherwise didn't respond.

"Is that... an Aegis cat? ...kitten..." Tear corrected herself. Jade sighed.

"Courtesy of Emperor Peony, yes..."

"Should I be worried that you don't exactly sound thrilled about that?" Dark asked. Jade turned to him and raised an eyebrow, and the former assassin rolled his eyes.

It made me smile, watching the two of them interact, given that Jade knew who my kidnapper was. At least he'd gotten his facts straight with these two.

"Wait... Let me get this straight," Tear started. "You've met Emperor Peony."

"I've been drug around Grand Chokmah in a Malkuth military officer's uniform by him before," I supplied.

"You are apparently friends with Emperor Peony..."

"Not as close as Jade, but yes."

"So he gave you a cat."

"Pretty much."

Tear put a hand to her forehead, and Dark and I smiled.

"Tear, don't stress yourself. You have to meet Emperor Peony to understand the man. He's very..."

"Eccentric?"

"Thank you, Jade, but I was thinking a little more along the lines of 'unpredictable,'" Dark said. Jade chuckled.

"I suppose that works too."

Ion watched us with wide eyes. "I'm not sure whether to be glad I was in the palace for business or a little disturbed..." he said. I smiled, then yawned.

"If you fall asleep I will have no reservations about dropping you on the ground," Jade warned me. I smiled.

"It can wait until we get to the Tartarus..." I said. "But then I'm falling asleep, and fuck anyone who says I can't."

Luke cringed. "How long have you been on the move?" he asked. I frowned.

"Eight hours, running about a third of that," I answered. "On only four hours of sleep, to boot, although I did spend an hour after I woke up trying to take care of my knee."

Jade was very silent for a few moments. "I was teasing about dropping you, you know..."

I smiled at his veiled apology. "Meh. I'm gonna do a little more for my knee while these guys are dealing with the fluffballs of doom."

Note that the last few words were muffled from me burying my face in Jade's back as he jumped down from the second tree-bridge.

"You okay?" Dark asked. I nodded, fighting the pain back out of my expression. Then I spotted the smirk on the former assassin's face. "It's nice to know I'm not the only one with that opinion on cheagles," he added, more quietly. I couldn't help but giggle. Yes, I could see Dark not appreciating cheagles, given the fact that he did grow up with a liger.

"Almost there," Ion announced. Sure enough, it wasn't two minutes later and we were standing outside the tree.

"Put me down," I ordered Jade. My brother glanced at me over his shoulder before gently letting my legs go, left one first so I wouldn't land hard on the right.

Once I was on the ground again, I sat down and stretched my leg out, closing my eyes and reaching around me.

"What's she doing?"

"This is her form of healing. Come on. Let's get finished with the cheagles," Jade prompted, subtly getting Tear off my back. I wasn't in the mood to deal with explaining Energies right then.

Reaching out onto the second plane was a blessing, and I carefully started guiding Energies toward my knee, hissing in pain as the water Energies started swirling around it. I clenched my jaw and bowed my head, forcing earth Energies in next to strengthen the joint. It was all I could really do at that point.

I barely even noticed Jade and the others coming out of the tree before I passed out.

Fun Fact: I can make Tea curse. See? 'Spirit Energies can't be replicated... But this sentence can: Replace the less-than/greater-than signs with asterisks before you upload, dammit!' Oops...