Abducted coauthor AnnClaire Chapter 2 |
If there was one thing that Rowen hated in all his life, it was the bitter, yet annoying laughter of a very insane Cale. Especially insane Cale with very torturous and deadly weapons. Hint hint......... Rowen gasped in pain as the course strip of leather snapped harshly across his bareback. He gasped in pain, trying to hide all his emotions from Cale. "Try as you might Strata, you just can’t pull the masks SAGE can." "Damn it! Rowen, Rowen, ROWEN!" Rowen yelled, only succeeding in getting Cale to laugh even more. Rowen’s yells of simple frustration were interrupted when he was hit once more. He cringed, trying to keep the scream from escaping his lips. "Oh, Strata, am I hurting you? Do you wish me to stop?" Cale said with a wicked smile strewn across his lips. "Oh yes Cale, that’s a thinker. No, I WANT you to keep beating me." "Oh, you do? Well, I guess that I can’t say no!" Rowen couldn’t contain the scream as he felt his flesh tear under the strap’s abuse. With one final swing of the whip, Rowen was flung into the wall, as he clung to the last essence of his consciousness....... "Cale enjoys this WAY too much......" ******************** Ryo cringed as Rowen’s screams met the mental bond, anguished and pain-filled. ******************* Sage gasped as Rowen’s scream echoed through his mind like a shatter of death....... or in this case, life. Sage clutched his head in pain, the force behind the yell more then his mind could bear. With a painful gasp, he stumbled back to his feet, which had given out on him the moment Rowen’s pleas had hit him full-on. ((Rowen......!)) He called out, waiting for any sign that his comrade was OK. Unfortunately, the moment he opened his link, he was washed over by pain, causing him to fall to the ground once more. He immediately shut the link, anger collecting in him once more. What was the most startling, and the one thing that angered him most, was exactly WHAT Cale was doing to Rowen. The defiling, perverted, psychotic, INSANE, ugh! There weren’t enough words to describe the horror that his best friend was being subjected to by that awful creature! "Must kill, must kill............." The Ancient glanced at Sage with a nervous glance. If the most levelheaded, and calm member of the Ronins was taking this event this hard, then how were the others faring? ******************** Cye suddenly felt dizzy, and leaned against the car door, abruptly short of breath. He gasped for oxygen, his light-headed feeling getting worse. Someone- Rowen- SAGE- was hurt- Cye?" Mia’s worried voice cut through his bemused thoughts. Cye blinked, coming back to normal. He stared at Mia, who simply looked bewildered. "Let’s go get Sage," Cye said, his head slightly aching as he pointed in the direction of the forest. "Oh yeah. Duh. Sage in forest. No big deal there. He should be SO easy to find in such a SMALL area." "Just be quiet and drive, onna." "Cye!" "Eep........ What is this, Yelling At Cye Day?" "Yeah, and it’s also Let the Warlords Capture Your Friend Day. Oh, and Blonde Hurts Himself in Many Different Ways Day." "PLEASE be quiet......" "Fine, whatever......." Mia put the pedal to the metal and tore off into the forest, ignoring any trails at all. Cye yelped in fear as they swerved around a tree at around 100 MPH. "Sage is a better driver than you!" "Yeah, well, Sage was winning junior car competitions at age fourteen. And kendo tournaments. And- Dang it! He’s too perfect!" "Ahh, Mia, you’ll change your opinion once you see him now." ******************** "Yulie! Give me back the Hershey bars!" "Never!" "Give them back you little- you little- Dang it!" "Ha ha -mmpfh......" "NOOOO! My candy!" Kento yelled as he chased Yulie out of the kitchen. ********************* "Why should I listen to the freaking dead dude? Give me one good reason!" "Because I am a thousand years old and very intelligent?" "Okay, give me a real reason!" "Because I’m the Ancient?" "Wrong." "Because I have more experience than you in everything?" Sage rolled his eyes and didn’t bother to reply to that lame reason. "Oh dear," the Ancient suddenly said, no longer giving any reasons. Sage followed the Ancient’s gaze over his shoulder and groaned. "Great. I can’t walk, my ankle is twisted, some psychotic warlord has come to get me, and the only one to protect me is some dead guy!" "Oh, but psychotic is such a GOOD thing......" "Could’ve fooled me......." "You don’t seem very happy to see me, Halo." "Have I EVER been happy to see you?" "Let me think about that for a moment........." "Here, let me help. No. Well, that wasn’t too hard, was it?" "It will be a pleasure to knock that attitude out of you, Halo." "Try me." "With pleasure. After I’m done with Strata, of course." The Ancient cringed as he watched Sage’s eyes flare. "And to think, Cale, that for a moment I was going to spare your life." "Oh yes, Halo, you and your little twisted ankle and still facing the after effects from what I did to Strata. You are so going to beat me." "Exactly." With a smooth movement, surprisingly graceful for someone with a twisted ankle, he did a forward handspring, landing balanced on one foot. "Only one problem, Halo. You don’t have your little no-datchi to save you." "Little?" The Ancient coughed with disbelief. Was Cale THAT much of an idiot? Boy, he sure had gotten the smarter five of the bunch. Except for that Kento fellow....... If only he’d swapped Kento for Sekhmet. And maybe if Rowen would stop being so dense, he’d have the best team of them all. Then the Ancient winced as a kick from Cale sent Sage tumbling as he cursed from the pain. Or maybe if Sage could manage to keep himself from being killed by the warlord of Darkness right then and there. Then he thought over the situation carefully. Nah, Cale wouldn’t kill Sage. He’d just enjoy having two play toys at once. The Ancient shuddered. This was one of the rare times he was actually thankful he was dead. At least Cale couldn’t touch him. Unfortunately, the Ronins weren’t as lucky. The Ancient finally turned his attention back to the fight in time to see Sage being pinned to the ground by a grinning Cale. What a wonderful picture. He shuddered. Poor, poor Halo, er, SAGE of Halo. They really did bitch a lot about that. The Ancient sighed again and again as Sage was pounded into the earth. Everyone except for Cale and maybe Dais seemed to be having a bad day. Especially Strata, but Halo came in a close second. "Now look who’s sparing whose life," Cale sneered, and the Ancient groaned. Great, now Sage was going to get taken too. Perfect. Suddenly- "SUPER............WAVE..............SMASHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Sage felt Cale being flung off him as they both were drenched with water. "Damn it Cye! You know I hate getting wet!" "Hey! I worked so hard to get here in time to save you, and keep you from going through the same torture as Rowen is, and how do you repay me? You yell at me for getting you WET! I give up! There is no way to please you!" Cye threw up his hands in exasperation as Sage slowly got to his good foot, then immediately collapsed back on the ground. "Do you enjoy collapsing or something? You’ve been doing it a lot lately." "It’s become a habit," Sage said dryly. "Well, I have an appointment to keep with Strata, so ta ta for now, Ronin brats," Cale said, smirking. A flash of light, and suddenly Cye and Sage were yanked off their feet, or in Sage’s case, ass. They both managed startled yells before landing hard on the stone floor of the Dynasty castle. "Oops......" Cale said nervously, eyeing the two figures at his feet. "That wasn’t supposed to happen." Sekhmet walked into the room, nose in a book. "Hey Cale. Hey Halo. Hey Torrent." He started to walk back out of the room, then froze. Wait............. HALO? TORRENT?" The last word was said rather gleefully. "I’d run, Cye, if I were you," Sage whispered into the bearer of Torrent’s ear. With a slightly scared look at the smirking warlord of Venom, Cye dashed down the corridor, Sekhmet following behind him, the book deserted on the floor. "Ummm...... so....... Cale, uh, how ya doing?" Sage said nervously, glancing up at the warlord from the floor. Cale grinned down at Sage. "Well, my day just got even better...." "Hmmmmm, that’s really not a good thing, is it?" "Not for you at least." Sage nodded. "Thought so." Sage glanced around the room for any means of a quick, easy, and efficient escape route. Unfortunately, none came. "Hey! Cale! Wow! Kayura’s over there topless." Cale jerked to where Sage was pointing. "Idiot......" Sage muttered as he kicked Cale in the groin. He watched with laughter twinkling in his eyes as Cale keeled over. "Well, you won’t be needing that for awhile, now will you?" Sage said with a short laugh, as he ran, well, half walked half ran, of to where he had felt Rowen’s presence upon their arrival. He ran down a corridor and opened each door, hoping that he’d eventually come upon Cale’s room. Slowly, he slid open one door, to see Dais, on his hands and knees, cooing to his pet spiders. Sage shuddered. Did he forget to mention that he had slight arachnophobia? Quickly, he slammed the door shut, and went on to the next. Upon opening it, and seeing a TON of scaly green creatures, which he had never been fond of either, he shut the door quickly. The second to last room, which he decided to be safe and open with supreme caution, turned out to be the safest of them all. It was filled with dolls, and loads of stuffed animals spread across pink covers. "What the.......?" he murmured, as he realized that the room belonged to Kayura. He shuddered as he reached out, his curiosity getting the better of him. He picked up the closest toy, a small, hand-sown rabbit, and smiled as he placed it in his pocket. Good blackmail for later. Slowly, he crept back out of the room, and made his way to the last one. With a deep breath, he turned the doors handle........ ******************** "What Mia?" Mia gasped for breath as she spoke rapidly. "Cye and I went out to find Sage, and we found him in a fight with Cale and Cye used ‘Super Wave Smasher.’ And then Cale teleported back, and accidentally took them too, and you have to go help them!" Mia took a deep gulp of air, as Ryo patted her back. "KENTO!" Ryo yelled out, waiting for a reply. "Yeah?" Kento asked as he entered the room, sandwich in hand. "Ummmmm........ Cye and Sage got teleported to the dynasty, we have to go get them back before Cale molests them." Ryo ignored the nervous glances that he got from Mia and Kento, as he whistled loudly. Within moments, White Blaze dashed over to Ryo’s side. "Well, come on, lets go!" ******************** "SHIT!" And indeed, Sage was not lying when he said the word. Rowen was a sight for sore eyes. Blood matted his azure locks, plastering the strands to his cheeks and forehead. His lower lip was still bleeding from a fresh wound, his arm in a contorted, and obviously broken, position. Blood was smeared across his arms, his back shredded in a mass of torn flesh and blood. "Oh god Ro........" Sage whispered, in too much of a state of shock to go to his friend. He was too busy observing the wounds to notice that not only was Rowen a mass of abused and mangled flesh, he was a NUDE mass of abused and mangled flesh. Finally, Sage regained his motor functions, and ran over to Rowen. "I’m going to kill him DEAD!" Sage growled, as he gently scooped Rowen’s torn spirit and body into his arms. Slowly, he rose, barely able to stabilize himself and keep from falling with Rowen. "So, Halo, admiring my handy work?" Sage jerked his face up to meet Cale’s, pulling Rowen closer to him in a protective manner. "Come near Rowen, you die," Sage growled as Cale laughed. "Well, does that mean I can come near you?" "Not in this lifetime. Or the next one, or the next one, or the- well, you get the picture. NEVER!" It was that exact moment that Cye dashed by the door, followed by Sekhmet. "Uhhh....... no comment," Sage muttered as Cale nodded in agreement. "Well, where were we Halo?" "Umm, no where?" Sage glanced around the room, noting that the only exit was the one Cale was presently standing in front of. "Ugh...... no more...... please....." Sage glared awkwardly down at Rowen, but said nothing to the sleeping boy. "See Cale? Look what you did to him! Now he’s going to be scarred for life. Bastard." Cale laughed as Sage glared at him. "Do you see something funny about this situation? Is this making you laugh!? Is Rowen’s pain AMUSING!?" Sage yelled, anger once again getting the better of him. "Well, yes, but you fretting over him is FAR more amusing. Who knew that little Halo cared so much?" Sage gritted his teeth to keep from exploding with rage. Cale was going to burn in hell for this. ******************* "Mia! Next time I drive!" Ryo yelled as he slammed into Kento, sending them both flying backwards over the seat. White Blaze cowered in passenger seat, his paws over his eyes. "Never!" Mia growled, her eyes gleaming. "But WHITE BLAZE drives better than you do!" Kento yelled. "And Yulie......... bops............" "Too late now, let’s leave the little maggot at home!" "Mia!" "What? He’s an annoying little pest that I’d had kicked out a long time ago except for somebody- RYO- making me promise not to!" ********************* "You can’t catch me, I’m the Gingerbread Man. Mwahahahaha!" Cye laughed as he darted down the corridors, Sekhmet following hot on his heels. "Gingerbread Man, my ass! And stop with the laughter! That’s reserved for EVIL guys!" "Who says? La la la, Gingerbread man......" "EVERYONE!" "Not me! That means not everyone.... he he he. Mwahahahaha!" "Stupid Torrent! Stealing OUR evil laugh!" "The Gingerbread Man can do whatever he wants, la la la la la........" "You’re not the freaking Gingerbread Man! But if you are........ then I’m the fox........" "Pervert!" "Ha, no more evil laughter and Gingerbread Man crap from you. Mwahahahaha....." "What kind of laugh is that, loser?" "Oh yeah, Torrent? You were doing that a few seconds ago!" "I did it better!" "Did not!" "Did to!" Did not!" "You both laugh the same stupid way!" "Noooooooooo....." Both groaned simultaneously. "Not.......... HER......." "Tee hee hee hee hee hee..........." Sekhmet and Cye looked at each other and nodded in silent agreement. In an instant they were both down the hallway, far, far away from LADY Kayura who was still laughing her evil little laugh. "Hey, why’d they leave?" ********************** Mia pulled to an abrupt stop in front of the bridge created by the Ancient. The brake nearly sent the two Ronins flying through the windshield. "I hate cars!" Kento nodded agreement, his face slightly green. Ryo could almost swear even White Blaze’s white fur was slightly off-color. "Come on! Let’s go!" Mia snapped, grabbing Ryo and yanking him out of the car. "Man, today has to be the suckiest day in history......" "Definitely....." "Rrrrrroooooarrrrrrr....." "Shut up, you three!" "Yes Mia." "Yes Mia." "Grrrrrrrrrr......" ******************** "You do know I will devise the most painful torture imaginable for your death, correct?" Sage said, his voice sugary sweet. Sugar filled with poison, that is. "Like you could kill me." "Baka. I’ve nearly killed you at least four times." "Four? Are you keeping track?" "No.............. I’ve probably nearly killed you more times than that." "Whatever........" Cale smirked as Rowen shuddered suddenly in Sage’s grip. For a few anxious seconds, it looked like Rowen was going to wake up, but he stayed unconscious. For the better. If Rowen woke up now, he’d be delirious from pain. At least the power of Halo could heal him later. After he dealt with Cale. "Awwwww......... Poor Ronin babe’s having nightmares." Sage tensed, being careful to keep his hold on Rowen gentle, yet firm. "Do you want to die slowly and painfully, or quick and painless?" Cale shrugged, smirking. "Since neither is going to happen anytime soon, I think I won’t answer." "I’ll be the judge of that," Sage retorted. But before he could put action to words, a very breathless Ryo came skidding into the room. "Hi!" he panted. His greeting was echoed by a loud scream, and Mia ran into the room, nearly running into Ryo. "Too..... many..... dolls...." she whimpered. "They’re all watching me!" Ryo slowly patted her back, as she continued whining. "Ummmm..... now that you’re here, you can help me, hint hint hint," Sage stated, as he inched away from Cale and closer to Ryo, Rowen held firmly in his grip. "You need help?" Ryo muttered as he glanced over at Rowen, his eyes widening. "Ewwww........ you don’t look too hot....." "Well DUH!" Sage growled, glaring. "Remind me to kill you later. And if I forget, remind me, Mia." "Yes sir!" Mia saluted as Sage gave her an odd glance. "Have no worries! The Gingerbread Man is here!" "What the hell?" Mia muttered as Sekhmet ran in after Cye. "What did you do to Cye?" Sekhmet slowly shook his head. "Don’t ask." It was that moment that Dais came bounding into the room, high off his medication. "HIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!! Gingerbread? I LIKE gingerbread....." Cye gave Dais an odd look before hiding behind Sekhmet. "Wait, you’re the one that wants to eat me...." So saying, Cye bolted away from Sekhmet, hiding behind Ryo and Mia. "I AM BATMAN!!!!!!!" Kento screamed, running into the room. "O.K., who gave Kento the dope?" "Kento! How dare you let Cye have some!" "I didn’t do it! For I am....... BATMAN!!!!!! TO THE BAT MOBILE, ROBIN!" "Yes Batman!" Cye yelled in response. "I am now Robin, the GINGERBREAD MAN!!!!!!!!! MWAHAHAHAHA!" Sekhmet sighed. "How many times do I have to tell you Torrent? That is the BAD laugh. Not good laugh, BAD!!!!!!!" "Who is Torrent?" "You, idiot." "I am not Torrent. I am ROBIN, the Gingerbread MAN!!!!!!!" "Oh oh oh! I am Peter Parker. SPIDERMAN!!!!!!!!! My spider senses are going off." Dais suddenly leapt to the ceiling, crawling around. "Mary Jane! You are in danger of, of, of............ CARNAGE!!!!!!!!" It was then he leapt at Ryo, knocking him to the ground. He then wrapped his arms around Mia’s waist, and leapt to the ceiling again. "I am BIRDMAN!!!!!" Rowen exclaimed, Sage barely keeping him stable in his arms. "I must get to the sun!" Rowen screamed, struggling in Sage’s arms. "Stop struggling, you delirious idiot. Your wounds are bad enough, you don’t need to make them worse," Sage scolded the delirious archer. "But........... but........... the sun........" Sage sighed as he called on his armor. "There’s your light." "LIGHT!!!!!!! THE SUN!!!!!!!" Sage shook his head as Rowen clung to him. Could his day really get any worse? And then, to add fuel to the fire, Kayura burst through the door, laughing evilly. "NOT THE EVIL LAUGH!!!!!" Cye and Sekhmet screamed, both falling to the ground. Kayura laughed harder, and Sage watched as Rowen covered his ears, whimpering. "Scary woman has an evil laugh...." Rowen muttered. "That she does," Sage sighed, shaking his head. Suddenly an idea struck him, and he grinned. "Rowen, do you want to make her stop?" The blue haired boy nodded rapidly. "Then go into my pocket, and grab the stuffed animal out of it." Sage called off his armor as Rowen grabbed the stuffed rabbit. "KAYURA!!!!!!!! LOOKIE!!!!!!!!" He held up the rabbit as Kayura shrieked. "MR. BUNNY!!!!!!!!!!!" she screamed, charging at the two boys. Sage laughed, jumping out of her path. He watched as she continued running...... right into Cale. "GO KAYURA!!!!!" Sage and Rowen cheered. "Well guys, I’m sorry to say, but I really must be going. Rowen needs to get back home and go to sleep." He glanced at Cale to make sure he was still down, before bolting out of the door. "Crap...." He muttered as he realized that he was without Rowen’s yoroi. "One of these days, I will really kill Cale for all that he has put me, and Rowen, through," Sage growled, as he closed his eyes and located where Tenku was. "Kuso!" He cursed when he realized that the orb was inside....... the spider room. "Cale, you are SO dead for this," he growled as he made his way to the bearer of the armor of Illusion’s room. Slowly he kicked open the door, and made his way past the spiders that ran freely. "Don’t open your eyes, don’t open your eyes, don’t open your eyes......." Sage muttered as he reached over to the dresser, and realized that he was touching something VERY hairy. Slowly he opened his eyes, and couldn’t stop himself from screaming at the tarantula that his hand was presently on. "DAIS!!!!!! CALE!!!! YOU’RE DEAD!!!!!!!!" he screamed as he yanked open the drawer, grabbed the kanji orb and bolted, ignoring the fact that he stepped on more then one spider. He slammed the door shut and panted, eyes shut. "Kuso......" he muttered. "Spider lovers............ should DIE........ especially Dais..........." Grumbled Sage as he carried Rowen away towards where he prayed he could escape from this hellhole. As he carried the limp archer in his arms, he could hear shrieks of outrage and horror from the room he had left a few minutes before. "I WANT MR. BUNNY!" "KAYURA, GET OFF!" That last cry was most likely from the warlord of darkness or corruption or..... whatever. Had Kayura ever gotten off him? Sage smirked. He well deserved having Kayura sitting atop him. Sage shuddered at the image his mind had presented him. But for some reason, he didn’t think the warlord minded as much as he wanted everyone to believe. Shrugging off the most vulgar idea he could muster, which was not a pretty picture, mind you, he made his way to where he hoped to could escape. And then he saw him. The shimmering figure that stood before him, as he groaned in annoyance. "K, now where were you 10 minutes ago?" The Ancient smiled sweetly. "Well, that doesn’t matter right now, now does it?" "Sounds to me like you’re trying to divert the subject." The Ancient said nothing, as he reached out for Rowen. Sage pulled Rowen protectively closer to him, as the Ancient’s brow rose in question. "Sorry, force of habit." The Ancient nodded. "Well, how about you sacrifice yourself again?" "I’m already dead, nit-wit." "Nice words. Well, why don’t you use a mortal? Now, lets think of someone no one would miss. Well, I can think of two. One is the name of a leafy vegetable, and the other begins with a Y." "Cale and Yulie?" The Ancient asked as Sage grinned. "Right on the money!" "Well, actually, Cale’s not mortal." "Yulie it is then." The Ancient shook his head. "No human sacrifices." "Aww..." Sage muttered, ignoring the glare that he received from the spirit. "Ma, I don’t want to go to school today..." Rowen murmured as Sage and the Ancient cast each other weary glances. "No comment." Sage stated as the other man nodded. "Well, Strata doesn’t seem to be in very good condition, and I think that you better get him away and healed to make sure that there is no permanent damage." Sage nodded. "I agree." The Ancient held out his slender hand, which showed no signs that he had aged at all, even in his 1000 years. Slowly, his fingertips began to glow, as iridescent light formed. "Halo, I am going to teleport you two back. I may be dead, but that does not mean that I am any weaker or stronger then I was as a mortal. Do not worry about the others though, I will make sure that they get home in one piece." "How can I ever thank you?" "Make sure that Rowen of the Strata pulls through. And I want you to heal him more then just his body. A wounded soul is in need of just as much tending." "But, I can only heal physical wounds. If you need mental wounds healed, you go to Cye." White locks shook from side to side, and Sage could sense the disliking of his words in the other man. "You underestimate yourself. When the time comes, you will understand what I mean. But until then, I want you to take him home. The lady and the tiger will be there." With a flash of pure, virgin light, the two figures dissipated from view as the elderly man sighed. "Why do you all underestimate yourselves? Second-guessing does you no good, and without the trust in yourselves, pure strength and the power of you alone will not get you through. They will take you all only so far without the help of another. Except help, young ones, for that is the only way."
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