Abducted coauthor AnnClaire Chapter 1 |
Why Let the Stricken Deer Go Weep, - Hamlet
The blue-haired teenager stared up into the star-dusted sky. He sighed softly to himself. "Something wrong, Ro?" a quiet voice asked. Without turning around, the teenager, Rowen Hashiba, said quietly, "No. Nothings wrong, Sage." The blond stepped out onto the porch, glanced upwards in the direction Rowen was staring. "What are you looking at?" Sage Date asked quietly after a few minutes of silence. "The stars," Rowen whispered, his words soft and distant. Sage glanced at the bearer of Strata. The blue-haired archer wore a faraway look, as if thinking of something important. Sage knew better than to pester Rowen. He had been in the same position himself many times before. Rowen needed time to think. The bearer of Halo eyed his best friend. Rowen’s midnight blue eyes were fixed on the starry skies above, the stars. Light reflecting in them. His slender face was illuminated by the faint lamplight, highlighting his high cheekbones. Rowen’s shaggy dark blue hair was kept out of his face by a headband. He was dressed casually, with blue jeans, a white T-shirt, and a varsity jacket that matched his hair. His face was thoughtful, almost tired-looking. In fact, on closer inspection, Sage saw that Rowen had slight circles under his eyes, and his skin was slightly paler than usual. Rowen looked much older than the fourteen years he had under his belt. "Why are we here?" Rowen whispered, jerking Sage out of his thoughts. Sage lifted his lips in a sardonic smile and replied, "We’re here to save the world." Rowen grinned slightly, and said slowly, "I guess you’re right. "That’s why I’m Wisdom," Sage said, still sarcastic. Rowen shook his head, and the small grin widened. "Well, we world-savers have to get enough sleep to save the world. I’m going to bed," the archer sighed, stretching his long limbs. Sage let his eyes linger on the grin on the bearer of Strata’s face. Staring at Rowen, he felt blood rush to his face, and he looked away, frowning. "Sleep soundly," the bearer of Halo advised. Rowen grinned and said, "It’s nice to know you care, Sage." Sage felt his pulse suddenly quicken for no reason at all. He controlled himself, and replied evenly, "Well, whenever you don’t get enough sleep, you act like a bear when you wake up." Rowen laughed and went inside. Sage stayed out for a little while longer, staring into the sky, trying to see what Strata saw. ---------------------------------------- (The next day) Rowen opened his eyes sleepily, and rolled over. Finding himself face-to-face with the clock, he looked to see what time it was. ((1:23?)) He mentally groaned. He had missed breakfast and lunch. Again. He climbed out of bed, quickly grabbing some clothes and heading towards the bathroom to take a shower. He changed into a light blue flannel shirt and a black pair of jeans. Combing his hair, he adjusted the dark blue headband, his trademark. He grinned ruefully at his reflection. He couldn’t remember how many times his friends had teased him about the headband. Still grinning, he picked up his dirty clothes and walked out of the bathroom. Rowen dropped into a seat at the kitchen table, biting into a piece of toast he had burned slightly. Glancing around he absentmindedly wondered where everyone was. "Everyone went shopping," a familiar voice said, and Rowen looked up to see Sage leaning against the door. "Really? Even Yulie?" Rowen exclaimed. Sage frowned, and said, "He begged to go. Wanted to buy some chocolate." Rowen laughed at the disgust in Sage’s voice. Everyone knew Sage was vegetarian and hated anything with lots of chemicals in it. "I’m going to train in the woods," Sage announced. Rowen grinned and teased, "Have fun with your little deer friends." Sage made a face at him, and walked over to the counter to grab an apple. Watching Sage move, the bearer of Strata wondered how Sage managed to do everything so- gracefully. He had often wondered it before. Rowen watched as Sage nibbled on the fruit, his violet eyes staring out the window. "I’m going to do some stuff on Mia’s computer. When will everyone be back?" Rowen asked. "Five, maybe six. Since it’s Ryo’s turn to cook dinner, he’ll probably be bringing fast food home," Sage said with disgust after swallowing a bite of apple. Rowen grinned and crammed the rest of his toast into his mouth. "See you later," he mumbled through the toast, going over to the refrigerator and pulling out a nearly empty carton of orange juice. As Sage watched with disgust, Rowen drained the last of the orange juice, helping the rest of the toast down. "Pig," Sage muttered, and Rowen grinned, making a victory sign with his free hand. "See you in about five hours," Sage said, sighing as he left. Rowen waved cheerfully after him. After the bearer of Halo left, Rowen walked into the living room and sat in front of the computer. Logging onto the Internet, he quickly got into his regular chatroom. Miss Ancient: Hello Strataguy. What’s up? Surf Dude: Hi, buddy! How you doing? "Fine," he mumbled, typing the words as he spoke. Miss Ancient: Cool. How are your little friends you’ve told us about? Surf Dude: Yeah. How are your pals? "Good. They’re out shopping," he replied. Miss Ancient: Poor baby. Home alone? Surf Dude: Hope that vegetarian one doesn’t bring back carrots. Rowen laughed and replied, "Vegetarian boy is out training. He does kendo, remember?" Surf Dude: Oh yeah. So, anything new since last time you were on? "Nope. Been feeling tired though. Lots of work to do," Rowen replied. Miss Ancient: Are you all right? Maybe you should log off and go to sleep. "I just woke up," Rowen typed, laughing to himself. Surf Dude: Cool. What sort of work are you doing? Rowen frowned and thought quickly. He couldn’t tell them that he was working on saving the world. "Working on homework. Tons to do," he typed fast. Miss Ancient: Poor kid. How about you log off and talk to us tomorrow? Surf Dude: As soon as I log off, I’m hitting the bed. "Fine by me. Talk to you tomorrow," Rowen said, and logged off. He stood up and stretched. Yawning, he decided he’d go back to bed. He was unusually tired. He started up the stairs, yanking off his socks as he went. Rowen hadn’t even bothered to put shoes on. As he started to open the door to the room he and Sage shared, he felt a strange forbidding sensation. Rowen frowned. Now he was sure he really needed sleep. He was hallucinating. Shaking his head, Rowen opened the door to his room and stepped inside. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sage swung his no-datchi in a practice swing. He was in mid-thrust when he felt a strange sense of forbidding. He frowned, pausing. Shaking his head, Sage went back to practicing. He was getting paranoid. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rowen stepped into the room and found it totally ransacked. ((What the hell?)) He groaned silently to himself. His bed had been torn to shreds and turned over. The ground was littered with feathers from his pillow. "Shimatta!" he cursed, taking another step forward. His dresser drawers had been thrown against the wall, his clothes covering the ground. The mirror on the wall had been shattered. He noted with grim humor that Sage’s side of the room was perfectly neat. As always. No one had the nerve to trash SAGE’S side of the room unless they wished to bring the full wrath of Halo upon their heads. "Who the hell did this?" he yelled, clenching his fists. "That would be me," a cold and by now familiar voice sneered. Rowen spun around, his fists ready to protect himself. He had a single second to stare at the intruder’s face before something slammed into back of his head. The bearer of Strata fell forward, and felt the intruder’s arms catch him. His head swam, and he managed to yell the first thing that crossed his mind: a single word before everything faded, and he couldn’t think anymore. ((SAGE!!!!!!)) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sage dropped his sword as Rowen’s panicked cry echoed through his head. He grabbed his sword from the ground and sprinted towards Mia’s mansion. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ At a market several miles away in a nearby town, three young men cried out at the same exact time and grabbed their heads. Their companions, a young woman and a little boy who looked no older than seven, asked them what was wrong. "Rowen!" one of the men yelled in rage, his tiger blue eyes blazing with fury and fear. "Something’s wrong!" another one cried, his sea green eyes filled with worry and despair. "Shimatta! What the hell happened?" the last one roared, his dark blue eyes flashing with frustration. They looked at each other for a split second, and then all took off running for the car, leaving the rest of the store in utter confusion. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sage didn’t even both opening the door. He threw himself in through an open window, his sword ready. "Rowen!" he yelled, landing and sprinting up the stairs. The bearer of Halo raced into his bedroom, and stared around with dismay and rage. Rowen’s side of the room had been ransacked. "Rowen!" he yelled desperately. A low chuckle answered him. "You won’t find him here, Halo. Strata belongs to me now," a harsh whisper behind him made him spin around. Sage glared with hatred at the figure before him. "Cale!" he yelled, raising his sword. "You hurt Rowen and I’ll..." The warlord laughed, and sneered, "So much talk, Halo. I’ll do anything I want to Strata, and get away with it." He held his hand out, and said, "Give my greetings to the other Ronin losers." Snickering, he glowed white and Sage charged. Just as his sword was about to run Cale through, the warlord disappeared. "Shimatta!" Sage screamed in rage, seeing red. Rowen was gone. Captured by the psychotic warlord of Darkness. Rowen. His best friend. The only one he could joke around with. The only one he could talk to besides Ryo (and Ryo didn’t even understand him). The only one who completely understood him. For the first time in his life, Sage Date threw back his head and howled with despair, his cry echoing through the empty mansion. "ROWEN!" ---------------------------------------- (Fifteen minutes later) The three young men poured out of car and sprinted for the mansion. The tiger-blue eyed young man, also known as Ryo Sanada, was the first out, and threw open the door to the mansion. The sea green eyed man, or Cye Mouri, was close on his heels. Kento Rei Fuan, the dark blue haired man, shoved past them both and raced up the stairs. They raced down the hallways and into Sage and Rowen’s room. The scene they saw shocked them. Half the room was completely torn apart. Sage, his no-datchi still in his limp hand, was on his knees, staring blankly at the wall, motionless. His face, completely ashen, was a mixture of shock and bewilderment. His eyes, now a dull violet, didn’t even blink. "Sage?" Cye asked hesitantly. Sage didn’t even twitch. Ryo moved closer, and called louder, "Sage?" No reaction. Ryo took another step. Suddenly Sage’s sword was pricking Ryo’s throat. Everyone stared at Sage in shock. His face was contorted with rage, his eyes blazing bright blue. Ryo swallowed hard. "Sage?" Cye whispered, his voice suddenly gentle. Sage was gasping, his lips drawn back in a snarl. "Leave me alone!" Sage spat through bared teeth. "Sage? What happened to Rowen?" Cye continued, his voice soft. Sage didn’t reply, but turned his burning gaze upon the bearer of Torrent. Cye didn’t flinch, but stared back steadily. The other two Ronins held their breaths. "Sage? Where’s Rowen?" Cye persisted. Sage’s frozen mask suddenly twitched and he dropped his sword, nearly slicing Ryo down the middle. "Rowen’s gone," he muttered, his eyes suddenly vacant and violet. "Gone?" all three echoed. "Cale took him," Sage said, his voice expressionless, eyes completely dull. Kento swore loudly. "How the hell did Cale managed to take Rowen while YOU were in the damn forest?" Kento roared. Sage flinched, and some light flickered in his eyes. "I was too far away," Sage muttered. "What kind of lame excuse is that?" Kento yelled in frustration. "I was too far away to help him," Sage repeated, softer. "Kento..." Cye began softly, but Kento ignored the British brat’s warning. Kento shoved Ryo aside and grabbed the front of Sage’s shirt. Leaning in Sage’s face, he growled, "Why didn’t you stop him!" The small light that had been flickering in the blonde’s eyes blazed up bright blue, and he yelled, giving the bearer of Hardrock a shove that sent him flying across the room, "I COULDN’T!" Before anyone could stop him, the bearer of Halo turned and threw himself from the room, shoving aside the woman, Mia, who had appeared in the doorway. "Good job, Kento," Ryo growled, clenching his fists in frustration. Kento glared helplessly back, and muttered, "He should have helped Rowen." Suddenly Cye exploded. "He couldn’t!" Cye yelled, "He wasn’t here! It isn’t his FAULT! He’s even more upset over this then you are! Rowen was HIS best friend!" Turning, Cye bolted after Sage. The last two Ronins stood in silence for a moment, and then Ryo sighed. "Go see if you can help Mia and Yulie with the groceries. I’ll try to contact Rowen," he said softly. Kento clenched his fist and said, his voice harsh with frustration, "Can’t we do ANYTHING?" "Nothing," Ryo said, struggling to keep his voice neutral. The bearer of Wildfire turned and walked out of the room. Kento stared after him for a moment, then his shoulders slumped in defeat. ((I’m sorry I wasn’t there to help you, Rowen,)) he thought silently, then went to help Mia and Yulie with the groceries. ********************* The bearer of Strata was slowly aware of the cold. The freezing presence seemed to seep into his bones; making them ache in places he never even knew there were bones. His face hurt, his fingers hurt, his chest hurt, his ears hurt. Then he was slowly aware that he was on his back on something cold and made of stone. Rowen slowly opened his eyes. He was in a faintly lit room, empty of any windows. He slowly sat up, wincing as the movement made his head pound. The blue-haired Ronin gently touched the back of his head and flinched at the pain. Pulling his hand away and staring at it, he could faintly see drops of red liquid that was most likely blood. Rowen cursed silently, and struggled to stand up. He was halfway to his feet when then metal door opened wide and he was blinded by a bright light. Throwing up his hands in a futile attempt to protect his eyes, the bearer of Strata flinched away from the light. He remained half-crouched, shielding his face. "Is that any way to treat your host, Strata? Not stand in their presence?" a coldly amused voice asked, breaking the silence. Rowen twitched at the familiar voice. "What do you want?" he growled, his voice full of loathing, as he blinked, trying to regain his sight. The voice chuckled nastily. "Not even going to say hello?" the voice mocked. "What do you want, warlord?" Rowen demanded, his voice sharp. "I want to talk to you of course," the voice said innocently, "Now be polite and say thank you." "I’m not polite to scum!" the bearer of Strata snarled, his vision starting to clear. Rowen didn’t even see the fist coming until it was too late. The blow sent him flying backwards into the wall. "Scum?" the voice hissed, vibrating with rage, "Strata, I think you need to learn to keep your mouth shut!" Rowen touched his aching jaw with light fingers as he replied coldly, "I don’t." The second blow sent him sprawling on the stone ground, his head spinning. The bearer of Strata bit his lip to keep from cursing in pain. He wouldn’t give the warlord that satisfaction. "Being brave, oh valiant boy?" the voice sneered. Rowen ignored him, struggling to his feet, blinking as his vision slowly focused. First he could see colors. The brown of the walls. The white of the light. The blue of... "Answer me when I speak to you, boy!" the warlord hissed, emphasizing the order with a hard slap. Rowen winced slightly, and glared at the warlord. "I don’t speak to worthless minions," the bearer of Strata stated proudly. He knew the blow was coming, and ducked. The warlord’s fist whistled over his head. His slight smile vanished as the warlord’s second fist slammed into his stomach. He doubled over, gasping. "Think you’re smart, Ronin babe?" the warlord seethed, planting another blow on Rowen’s cheek. "My name... is Rowen Hashiba. Remember that, warlord!" Rowen gasped out, glaring up at his tormentor. "Names are worthless, boy. They’re just a word you use to symbolize yourself," the warlord sneered. "Rowen. Cale. They’re both words. They don’t tell what you’re like or even what you look like. If you said our names to someone who’s never heard of us, they might say YOUR name sounds like YOU were the warlord, and I the Ronin." "You’re mad," Rowen gasped, staring at Cale. "Mad? I think not," Cale sneered, "Perhaps it is you who is mad, boy, for thinking you could ever defeat Talpa." "We will defeat Talpa!" Rowen spat, managing to stand as straight as he could, still clutching his stomach. Cale smirked, and snarled, "Never, boy. You and your pathetic band of rugrats will never defeat Master Talpa." "Cale!" a voice called from behind the warlord. Cale turned to look at the speaker, and Rowen lunged desperately at him. He slammed into the blue-haired warlord, sending them both crashing to the ground. Rowen and Cale rolled around the floor, Rowen scratching and kicking, Cale bellowing in pain and attempting to choke the archer. Rowen straddled the warlord, pinning him to the ground as he pummeled the warlord’s face and shoulders. Suddenly someone grabbed Rowen by the back of the neck and dragged him off the gasping warlord. The captor held Rowen off the ground as Cale scrambled to his feet, panting. The bearer of Strata kicked out desperately, but his captor tightened his grip, making him gasp in pain. "Strata, you really should learn to control your temper," a voice sneered. "Sekhmet! You didn’t need to interfere!" Cale growled, glaring at Rowen. Rowen glared defiantly back. "Master Talpa wants a word with you, Cale," Sekhmet said. Cale turned his burning gaze away from the archer and nodded. Turning, the warlord of Darkness made his exit, calling over his shoulder, "Do what you like with Strata. Just don’t kill him." "Decisions, decisions, what to do to Strata. Hmm... let me think." Sekhmet paused for a brief moment, contemplating what to do to Rowen. Rowen, still hanging in Sekhmet’s grip, glared at the warlord of Poison. "Now if you were Torrent, then maybe I’d care about you. But your worst enemy is Kayura. Perhaps I’ll let her have some fun with you." Rowen glared, and said through clenched teeth, "It’s nice to have someone here who doesn’t care whether I live or die. From the manner of Cale, he’d like to have my head on a platter." "I could care less. If you aren’t Torrent, you’re no use to me," Sekhmet said matter-of-factly. "Now, why Cale chose to capture you instead of his sworn enemy Halo goes beyond me, but oh well. Watch me not care." With that final sentence, Sekhmet gave his wrist a flick and let go, sending Rowen flying across the room, crashing with a painful thump into the wall. As Sekhmet started to stalk off, Rowen muttered, "Man, am I going to need serious Halo healing when I get out of here." "If you ever do," Sekhmet called from beyond the doorway. The bearer of Strata struggled to get up in vain, failing miserably. With a barely contained grunt of pain, he rested in a half sitting, and curled position, hoping desperately that someone- anyone- would be there to help him. Even if it was YULIE. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sage dashed headlong through the forest, heedless of Cye’s shouts. He had long since called on his sub armor in an attempt to outrun the bearer of Torrent, but to no avail. Cye had doggedly followed him over briars and bristles, through streams and mud. "Leave me alone, Cye!" Sage yelled over his shoulder, going even faster. The bearer of Torrent paid no attention to his order, if anything, going faster. Sage turned to yell once more at the British brat, but was unaware of the tree root looming up in front of him. His pounding foot caught and made him lurch forward and fall to the ground, twisting his ankle in the process. "Kuso! I’m the bearer of a mystical armor, destined to save the world, and a damn tree root twists my ankle?" Sage growled, struggling to attempt to put pressure on his foot. This attempt wasn’t helped by Cye throwing himself at him and pinning him to the ground. "Cye. Get. Off!" he muttered through a mouthful of mud. "Not until you promise to not run off," Cye declared. Sage nodded, thinking, ((Man, Cye needs to go on a diet.)) His shell-shocked brain found that thought extremely funny, and he began to laugh. Cye was so shocked that he fell off the swordsman, landing with a squish in the mud. Sage rolled out of the mud, laughing his head off. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cye eyed Sage warily. Perhaps Sage had finally lost it. He had always seemed like a bit of a schizophrenic to him. His worry increased as he watched the swordsman pick up his no-datchi and lean on it heavily, favoring his left ankle. "What do you think you’re doing?" the bearer of Torrent demanded as Sage started to limp away. "Getting away from you," Sage stated. "You promised!" Cye whined, getting up. "No. I promised to not RUN away. I cannot run away like this," gesturing to himself, "and I highly doubt you can do anything to stop me." Which left Cye blinking at the calm statement. "Now, if you excuse me, I’ll go and curse the world to hell and back by myself," Sage stated, limping off. Cye only started to react by the time Sage was almost out of eyesight. "Hey!" he yelled, but the swordsman was gone. "What am I gonna tell Ryo?" Cye muttered to himself, slapping his forehead. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sage stumbled through the forest, cursing everything, including the DEER. He cursed everything he knew, had known, or would ever know. "This world is damned anyway. Stupid spineless mortals," Sage spat, hobbling along. "Having an uplifting conversation with the world, Halo?" a smug voice asked. Sage’s face went white, then red with rage. Turning to face the blue-haired warlord, he let out the longest string of profanity he had ever heard, or rather said. The warlord raised an eyebrow, and commented, "My, my, what language." Sage moved onto cursing him in German. Then French. Then Russian. Then American. He was halfway through Italian when Cale interrupted him. "Wow, Halo. I didn’t realize you goody-goods knew so many curse words," Cale said, smirking. "Virare inferno, tu madre..." Sage stopped in mid-sentence, his eyes still blazing. "Is something bothering you, Halo?" Cale asked innocently. "No shit Sherlock," Sage said sarcastically. "Dig deeper Watson." "How the hell did someone your age hear about that saying? It’s practically brand new in YOUR standards." "I have my ways, Halo." "Oh, stop with the damn Halo. My name is not my armor, it is Sage Date. Seiji Date. I don’t give a shit about how you say it, just say it and not Halo!" the swordsman growled, rolling his eyes. "What is with the problem with your damn names? First Strata and now you, bitching about that," Cale said, looking slightly annoyed. "It’s a Ronin thing," Sage said sarcastically. His eyes narrowed to slits, and he asked quietly, almost menacingly, "What have you done with Rowen?" "Strata has been... enjoying Sekhmet’s company," the warlord said, smirking. He seemed to be enjoying infuriating the blonde. But then, it was a rarity to see Sage in such a state; being so infuriated, he was almost unable to resist the urge to jump Cale and decapitate him with his no-datchi. Which wasn’t such a bad idea, come to think of it. Sage took a menacing step forward, and said lightly, "Oh Cale......." The warlord immediately backed up, eyes full of distrust and wariness. "Oh no. You’ll stay away from me with that tone of voice, Halo. You sound like someone about to go on a killing spree," Cale growled. Sage smiled lightly, as if the thought amused him. "Maybe I am," he said, grinning widely. Cale narrowed his eyes and said sarcastically, "Be a dear and kill the other Ronins for me. It’ll make my day go by so much easier." "How about I kill the warlords instead? How about starting with the bearer of the armor of Darkness?" Sage said in the same strange tone, his eyes very bright. With one quick move he took a quick step towards the warlord. Cale yelped in fright, and took another step backwards. Suddenly the nervous warlord came to his senses and glared at the swordsman. "Did you really think you were frightening me?" Cale spat. "Nah, not really," Sage replied as jovial as before, "Just having some fun." "Lovely," the warlord of Darkness sneered. Suddenly a tremor shook the earth slightly. "Oh Cale...." a voice wailed in the same tone Sage had used. Cale winced at the high-pitched shriek. Sage’s grin widened. "Master Talpa wants to talk to you." The voice became a chant, "You’re getting in trouble. You’re getting in trouble. You’re getting in..." "Enough Kayura! Stop acting like a child!" Cale snapped. "I’m only twelve! I can act like a child." "You’re four hundred years old." "Well, I’m sorry I managed to obtain my youth, unlike you guys." A low whisper followed. "Old farts." "Kayura!" Cale barked as Sage’s grin stretched from ear to ear. The voice laughed, and the malicious laughter slowly faded away. Cale turned to the blonde, glaring at him. "Until later, Halo. I’ll give Strata a hello for you," Cale said coldly, the smile on his lips not reaching his eyes. Sage’s grin disappeared instantly, rage filling his eyes once more. Eyes like hard blue stones, he advanced on Cale, ignoring the throbbing pain in his ankle. "I’ll kill you, bastard," he hissed, his voice filled with venomous loathing. Cale’s smirk stayed firm, and he replied, "We’ll see, Halo." With that he was gone, leaving the injured Sage to wonder what the hell was going on. Was Cale really that stupid, or had he let the injured and defenseless swordsman walk away unharmed for a reason? Sage shook his head. Things were going way too fast. Either Cale was an idiot, or he had something stupid up his sleeve. Either way he was a loser. Sage shook the thoughts out of his head as he limped deeper into the depths of the forest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pain coursed through the azure archer’s body, as he struggled to sit up fully, and failed miserably. Finally, he decided that his futile attempts were getting him nowhere, as he laid down on the icy floor. No matter how much he tried, he wasn’t going to get out of this situation, without observing what was happening. Closing his eyes, he tried to push the pain out of his mind, and focus on what he was to do. After a few attempts, he gave up, well aware that calm thinking was Sage’s area, not his. ((Why didn’t Sage do anything when I was captured? He was close enough, I think,)) Rowen thought to himself, as a harsh voice spoke from the doorway. "Well, that encounter with Halo was rather amusing. Did you know how many curse words your friend knows in a variety of languages?" Rowen glared at the warlord, who laughed in response. "I’m still having Dais look up half of them." Rowen had to suppress his grin. It was that moment Kayura skipped into the room, kimono flaring around her. She smiled sweetly to Cale, and Rowen immediately couldn’t control his grin. "Oh Cale!" Kayura exclaimed, scampering over to the warlord. Rowen watched in amusement as Cale cringed. "Master Talpa wishes to speak with you, he he he." Cale sighed. "Hey, lady, what did he do?" Kayura turned to Rowen and waltzed over to him, kneeling on the ground. "He was stupid," she confided to him. "He let Halo get away, even though Halo was hurt. But, shhh. You don’t know that." Rowen nodded slightly as she leapt to her feet. "Come on Cale-kun! Time to go see Daddy!" Cale looked at her furiously. "Daddy! What the heck..." He didn’t get to finish as Kayura pranced out of the room. Grumbling, Cale stalked off after the Ancient. Rowen watched the man go, slightly worried at the news he had recently received. "Sage? Hurt? Not good..." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sage came to a halt as an idea struck him. "Wait a minute. Where was the Ancient during all of this? Why didn’t he help Rowen?" Sage turned to face the waterfall he had almost lost Mia in. "Why am I here?" Sage asked, unsure of what had possessed him to come here. Shrugging, yet another idea struck him. He made his way over to the cascade of water, sitting at the edge of the water. He slipped his shoe off of his foot, wincing slightly at the pain emitting from the swollen member. Slowly, he slipped his ankle into the water, letting the cooling sensations run through his throbbing ankle, the pain subsiding slightly. "Sage of the Halo, I sense something is bothering more then you wish it to be, could the disappearance of Rowen of the Strata be what is ailing you?" Sage glared up angrily at the old man.
"No shit Sherlock. You lose your best friend to a complete ass, and then we’ll see if anything’s bothering you?" Sage spat, causing the Ancient to wince at the venom filling the blonde’s voice.
"Sage, you can’t go on blaming yourself for this mishap. There is no way that you could have prevented Rowen of the Strata’s abduction." Sage gave the Ancient a glare.
"What am I doing taking advice from a dead guy’s spirit?" With a roll of his violet eyes, Sage struggled to his feet, grabbed his shoe, and then proceeded to walk away from the Ancient.
"Halo, don’t walk away from your fears! The longer you run, the more Strata will pay!" With those words, Sage jerked around, eyes meeting the elder man’s.
"What do you mean the longer I wait, the more Strata will pay? Do you know what’s happening to Rowen? What are you not telling me? Damn it!" Sage stamped his good foot on the rocks beneath him, causing him to fall to the ground from lack of foot support.
"Kuso!" he cursed, grabbing his ankle. He gazed up at the Ancient, the anger draining from his face.
"What are they doing to Ro-chan?" Sage muttered, so softly that it could only be considered a concerned whisper. The Ancient stood still, his silence confirming Sage’s worst fears. With a defeated sigh, Sage buried his face in his palms.
********************
"Hello......... Strata...." Sekhmet muttered, as he rolled his eyes towards the azure boy.
"Glad to see you too, snake-boy."
"Snake-boy? With an IQ of 250, you’d think that you could think up a better insult then THAT."
"Ahem! Pain! Me in! Can’t think! Pain causes...... blackness..... in..... brain....." It was that moment that the archer fake-collapsed to the ground, immediately bounding back up, despite the fact that pain coursed through his body. Sekhmet shook his head at the boy before him, and sat in a chair in the corner of the cell, pulling out a book.
"Wait! Aren’t you supposed to be watching me?"
"Like you’re a big enough threat for me to have to watch." Sekhmet turned back to his book once more, as Rowen glared up at him. It was that moment that Dais wandered into the room, nose buried in a dictionary. "Hey Sekhmet, guess what?" "You’re an idiot?" "Not that...... Dang it! I always fall for that one!" Rowen glanced up. "Don’t feel bad, Sage does the exact same thing to me, and I have yet to catch on too." Dais grinned at the Ronin. "Well, anyway, Sekhmet, did you know that Shise is the German word for Shit?" Sekhmet rolled his eyes. "Why no Dais, I didn’t." "I didn’t either!" Rowen exclaimed, causing Sekhmet to hang his head, shaking it slightly. "Who said that?" Rowen asked as Dais smiled wickedly. "Sage of the Halo." Rowen’s eyes went wide as he burst out laughing. "Sage!? Swear words!? Too.... hard.... to .... resist....!" Rowen gasped, as he fell over laughing, along with Dais. Sekhmet slowly inched his chair away from the two laughing maniacs. He stood up slowly, turning towards the door. "Dais, watch Strata." And with those last words, he waltzed out of the room. ******************** "Umm....... Ryo....... I kinda...... umm....... lost Sage again......" Cye murmured slightly, head hung as he stood in front of the fearless leader. "Damn it Cye! I give you ONE thing to do, and you can’t even do that?" "Now Ryo, why don’t you calm down and think about the situation...." "Shut up Mia!" "Eep........" Cye and Mia muttered at the same moment. "So, Mia, I do believe that I’m going to go try to find Sage....heh heh heh. Care to join me?" Mia looked at Ryo, who’s face was red with anger and began to nod. "Umm....... yeah, let’s go do that." Both quickly ran out of the room, trying to get as much distance as possible between Ryo and themselves. Ryo shook his head as he sat next to the fire place. Slowly, he shut his eyes, and focused his energy on either a green or blue presence. "Ryo, get the HELL out of my head!" Ryo mentally covered his ears. Pissed blondes with big swords were not a force he wished to reckon with. "Come on Sage, come back to the world of the non-depressed psychotic people." "Don’t mess with me Rekka." Sage spat, causing Ryo to wince. How could Rowen stand sharing a room with the moody swordsman? "I heard that!" Uh oh......... "Uh oh’s right!"
"Oh crap, you’re going to kill me later aren’t you?" Ryo could feel Sage’s nod in reply. Slowly, Ryo backed away from the other warrior. ******************** Dais and Rowen were still chuckling, wiping tears of laughter from their eyes. "That was so funny I think I’m gonna puke," Rowen groaned, holding his stomach. "Do you want me to get you some medicine?" "Dais! No giving medicine to the enemy!" "Awwwwww....... Cale’s back........." Rowen rolled his eyes. He knew the fun would end as soon the warlord of Darkness came back. And so the fun had ended as Cale threw the still giggling Dais out of the room. Cale turned to face Rowen with a mocking smirk. "So........ did you have fun with Master Talpa?" Rowen was so going to get beaten up, but might as well now then later and get it over with. Oh great. That sounded so-so Sage-like. Now he KNEW he was doomed or delirious. One or the other. "Your little ‘happy time’ with Dais is over. While he goes and calms himself down and takes some medication, you get to feel the wrath of the..." "Man, I could think of a lot of things to put in there." "Strata! You ruined my moment." "Your problem? It was ruined as soon as you started talking." "Aren’t you a barrel of laughs, Strata dear? Well, that’s going to change by the time I’m through with you." "Wow, that sounded SCARY....." "Shut up!" "Awwww....... am I getting on the... Dang it! I can’t call you blonde!" "My hair IS blue." "Yeah, but so is MINE, and I’m smart enough not to diss myself." "Really? Could’ve fooled me." "Wow, you actually cracked a DECENT joke! Give the man a round of applause." "Oh, why Strata, that was so funny I forgot to laugh." "Yes that WAS funny, wasn’t it?" "Oh, extremely." "I’m so proud of myself!" "This is getting old, Strata. Who says we get down to business?" "Not me!" Rowen raised his hand. "Shut up, Strata." "Oh, great comeback Cale. I never would have thought of THAT one." "SHUT UP Strata, and I might be easier on you." "Might? The odds don’t sound good." "Believe me, they aren’t." "Eep....... I was hoping you’d say the exact opposite......." "Sorry to disappoint you, Strata. But your time’s up." "One last thing before you do whatever the heck you’re gonna do." "Oh what’s that?" "Say my REAL name." "What?! What the hell are you talking about?" "You called Sage by his real name once! Why can’t you call me by my real name? Am I not special like he is?" "Too...... many....... answers...... must....... control....... laughter....... oh what the hell....." Cale doubled over with laughter. Rowen glanced at the figure, collapsed on the floor, and finally, a clear thought ran through his head. He had one chance, and he had to do this quick. (( SAGE! GET YOUR BLONDE ASS UP AND HELP ME!!!!!!!!!!)) he yelled, at the moment Cale’s laughter faded. Rowen’s stomach clenched in fear, as he glanced at the expression written across Cale’s face. And after a fleeting moment, he figured it out. "Ummmm......heh heh heh..... you heard that, didn’t you?" Cale nodded slightly. "Shit......" ******************** Sage’s head jerked up as he heard Rowen’s pleading cries for help. He attempted to scramble to his feet and wheel around to face the direction of the cries, but failed as his bad ankle gave out and he collapsed. "Damn it, this is becoming a very bad habit," he said, cursing at his ankle. The Ancient watched without expression as Sage cursed once more and climbed awkwardly to his good foot. The two figures, one ghostly and the other golden, stared in the direction the helpless cries had come from. The Dynasty.
To be continued.... |
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