Courting the Jester
Chapter Eight
Hush little baby, don't say a word
Never mind that noise you heard
It's just the beasts under your bed
In your closet, in your head
-Metallica "Enter Sandman"
"Remind me to thank Ryo later for this wonderful time," Rowen muttered sourly under his breath to Sage. Sage glanced over at his friend but didn't respond. Next to him Rowen marched grumpily, a large pack of equipment swung over his shoulder. Sage too was carrying some stuff as the two men followed Mia and Nikki deeper into the forest, but his load wasn't as heavy as his friend's. Rowen grunted loudly and deliberately as he shifted his burden to his other shoulder. Ahead the girls ignored him, heads together as they hiked, whispering in low voices. The packs on their backs were much smaller than the ones the guys carried.
"And remind me to never pack like a girl," Rowen continued, raising his voice slightly. "They never know how much crap is entirely unnecessary." He was rewarded by being ignored even more completely.
"You know Rowen, you're the one that volunteered to carry all that stuff. You didn't have too, you know," Sage reminded him mildly.
"Right Sage," Rowen snorted irritably. "Like we were going to let them hike all the way up here carrying that much stuff and not help. You would have had an apoplexy. You would have been on the ground frothing at the mouth and biting your ankles, scratching the word ‘honor' over and over again in the dirt with bloody fingernails. We couldn't have that, now could we?"
"Why are you a scientist Rowen?" Sage wondered aloud. "You seem more the overboard theatrical type these days."
"Because deep down, our little blueberry here is just a born drama queen," Nikki suddenly spoke up, grinning at Rowen over her shoulder. He paused in between steps, face flushing, then his eyes narrowed angrily.
"Don't call me that," Rowen growled. Nikki turned around and gave him her most innocent face.
"Okay, Snappy."
"Don't call me that either!"
"But you're such a cute little smurfling…"
"Carry your own crap, Nik," Rowen said suddenly, sliding the pack off his shoulder and letting it drop heavily to the ground. Nikki yelped and rushed back, opening the pack at Rowen's feet and rummaging through it worriedly.
"You idiot," she snapped at him, pulling out the laptop and examining it closely. "Do you have any idea how expensive this stuff is? If the computer doesn't work right, then the rest of our instruments won't either! You out of everyone should know that!"
Rowen shrugged and continued up the trail, towards their destination. Nikki placed the computer very gently back in the pack and zipped it up, positioning the heavy load over her shoulder. She grunted when she stood but ignored Sage's offered hand. She glared at Rowen's back but said nothing about the weight.
"Let me help you with that," Sage started to say quietly but the dark haired woman shook her head curtly and started marching up the trail. Sage sighed. The stubborn expression on her face was a mirror image of Rowen's. This was going to be a long day.
They were deep in the wilderness, many miles from Mia's home. The site was supposedly so deep in that the only way to get any equipment there was to hump it on their backs. They had brought food and water, and a change of clothing since they would be there overnight. On the initial part of the trail they had met up with three colleagues of Mia's just returning from the site. They had spoke privately with Mia and had looked very concerned, but Mia had seemed to calm them and they had continued on. To Sage they had looked very strained and had given off feelings of nervousness. He had paid close attention to their surroundings ever since.
They had hiked maybe ten miles into the hills, and the trail was becoming increasingly steep. Every so often they would have to climb over fallen trees and large boulders in their way. As they continued now, the trail was getting rougher, twisting and turning to avoid natural barriers. The path had become an increasingly deeper gully, its sides rising as they walked. Nikki struggled a little under the weight of the pack, but batted away Sage's hand every time he tried to offer assistance.
"Not much farther guys," Mia called from up front, glancing down at her compass as she walked. It should be right…here." Her voice trailed off as she turned a bend and disappeared from sight, Rowen following closely. Sage and Nikki went around the bend to findMia staring upwards in dismay. The gully stretched on into the distance and both sides were difficult vertical climbs. The temple they were searching for obviously wasn't down here, so it had to be up there.
"Well, they said it wasn't easy to get to," Mia muttered, standing with her hands planted on her hips, pursing her mouth thoughtfully. "The others said that they had to get one person up and then drop down ropes for the equipment."
Nikki approached behind her, a concerned look in her eyes, sagging slightly underneath the load she bore.
"We have to be careful about that, Mia," Nikki said, "The equipment in here is a lot more delicate than thethings they were hauling around. One wrong jar and a hundred thousand dollars worth of analytical instruments are going to be worthless. We need this stuff to survive the trip."
"I know, Nik, I know. How about-" Mia had just started when Rowen and Sage solved the problem for her. Sage secured the pack on his shoulders before jumping lightly on the largest boulder. He scanned the walls for any good grips or outcroppings. Finding none, Sage took a deep breath and crouched down, hands resting lightly on the rock underneath him. Then with a strong push, he leapt up in the air, angling so that he came in contact with the wall about halfway up. Sage smoothly shifted in the air so that his feet hit flat, allowing him to push off again. This time he topped the gully and landed lightly on the balls of his feet. He looked around and called down.
"Wrong side, Rowen. Come up the other way." Rowen nodded and wrapped an arm around Mia's waist securely. Startled at the suddenness of it, Mia gasped as she was suddenly rushing through the air and bouncing off rocky walls. Rowen grunted and pushed off the wall the same way Sage had, only landing on the opposite side of the gully. They hit the ground with a slight jar, and Rowen grinned at her, shrugging. Mia just shook her head and tried to get her bearings. Sage appeared next to them, obviously having jumped the distance. He pointed to the west and they all saw a smooth rock sticking out of a bunch of vegetation. The rock looked too smooth and even to be natural. Mia immediately made a beeline for it.
"Hey, did you guys forget something?" a voice called from below, sounding a bit petulant. Rowen looked at Sage, a mischievous grin splitting his face. Sage gave his friend a stern look.
"No Touma."
"But Seiji-"
"No."
Rowen sighed and followed Sage back down into the gully. Instead of looking amazed at them for their ability to jump so high, Nikki looked irritated. Sage grabbed the pack she'd set down before Rowen had a chance to. He gave his friend a quick smirk before jumping back up top. Rowen mentally sighed and turned to look at Nikki.
"You better not drop me," she said menacingly. Rowen came up and put one arm around her waist, shaking his head.
"Trust me, sweetheart, if I was going to be responsible for putting you out of your misery, I'd do it in a much more emotionally satisfying way. Like running you over with a mack-truck or something."
"Out of my misery?" Nikki yelped indignantly, followed by a breath of surprise as she was suddenly flying through the air without warning.
"Maybe my misery," Rowen muttered as he pushed off the wall halfway up. The rock slipped underneath his foot, killing his momentum and causing them to land heavily. Rowen stepped back to regain his balance, drawing Nikki with him.
He stepped back, regaining his balance, pulling her with him. She yelped in surprise, clinging to him in fear. She saw that nothing was underneath their feet and cried out, clenching her eyes shut and waiting to feel the rocks beneath them crush her to death upon impact. Then she heard him chuckle slightly and she hesitantly opened her eyes. They were floating, drifting slowly away from where he'd stepped off. They were floating. He grinned down at her. She thumped his arm painfully and glared at him.
"Showoff," she muttered.
Rowen stepped back in surprise as the sudden memory took hold of him.
"Showoff," Nikki grunted irritably, pulling away from him and turning her back on him. Rowen watched her walk away towards the remaining pack, shaking her head and muttering to herself. Rowen shook his own head followed uncertainly. He said nothing as he stepped past Nikki, grabbing up her heavy pack as he went, and followed Sage and Mia through the vegetation. He pretended to ignore Nikki's eyes on him, but was eerily aware of them.
"Rowen look!" Mia suddenly exclaimed. Rowen hurried forward and saw what had made Mia so excited. She had reached the smooth rock and had pulled aside the heavy vines that grew draped all around it. Strange linear marking ran all over one side of the rock, twisting and turning until your eye got lost in the pattern. But that wasn't what had Mia so excited. Beyond the rock, guarded by two more of those same strange marked rocks, sat a cave. And in front of the cave, sat Kayura.
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Kento strained against the heavy tree that had fallen over into Mia's yard, grunting with exertion. Finally he heard a loud crack deep within the wood and about half of its thirty-foot height snapped off. Kento cursed and lost his balance, tilting under the lighter weight of the shortened tree. He straightened and hoisted the length over his shoulders, carrying it towards a huge pile he'd made on the beach of Mia's lake. He'd wanted to get the whole overturned tree out with one big yank, and therefore would have had more leverage to get the roots to come too. Now it would be twice as hard. Kento aimed for the existing brush pile and heaved the partial tree. It landed on top with a resounding crunch. Brushing his hands off on his jeans, Kento squatted down to take a quick rest.
Kento had worked all day to get Mia's place looking better, and thus far it felt as if he hadn't made much progress. When that shockwave had hit, it had not just downed trees; it had weakened existing ones. Some looked ready to come down at any minute, and Kento didn't think that was very safe. The last thing he wanted was to have a tree trunk come crashing through Mia's wall in the middle of the night. She had enough to worry about without that.
"Hey buddy, do you need any help?" Ryo suddenly asked from right behind Kento. Kento jumped, slightly startled, then grinned over his shoulder at his friend.
"Man, I'm getting jumpy," he laughed. "I didn't hear you coming. Sure, help would be great. I don't seem to be making too much progress so far."
Ryo sat down in the grass next to Kento, looking at the huge pile of brush and timber. A gleam came to his eyes.
"Hey, Kento…you planning on burning all that?" he asked, trying to mask his eagerness.
"Yeah, and go for it pyro." Kento laughed again and reached over to clap Ryo on the shoulder brotherly. Ryo grinned and stood up, walking towards the wood. The smile was starting to slip off of Kento's face, becoming confusion and concern.
Up at the house White Blaze started to growl.
"Umm…Ryo? My hand just went through you dude." Ryo seemed to not be paying attention. He kept his back to Kento, and slowly stretched out his hand. Cupped in his palm was a tiny little flame, flickering uncertainly in the protection of his fingers.
"So small," Ryo whispered, raising his hand slightly. The tone of his voice was almost reverent. "So small but so powerful. They don't deserve you, do they? They don't appreciate you."
"Ryo…? Are you talking to your hand?" Kento took a hesitant step forward.
"They don't know what strength you possess." The flicker started to grow into a decent sized flame.
"Ryo! That's fire , man! Isn't it burning you?" Kento asked, astonished. It was one thing for Ryo to play in fire with his armor on, but he'd never done something like this before, to the best of Kento's knowledge.
"Would you like to teach them little one?" Ryo asked in a sultry whisper. His hand burst into flames. Tendrils of fire rolled down his forearm, wrapping around his bicep. Ryo started laughing, a wild laugh that sounded off in Kento's mind. Suddenly Kento understood and jumped back, gear snapping in place around his body.
"Okay dude, I don't know who you are, but I know you definitely aren't Ryo. Ryo threw his head back and continued laughing, raising his arms up, letting the fire sweep across his chest to the other arm.
"What are you, some kind of fire-demon?" Kento demanded angrily. "Huh? Well I don't care. But I'm going to kick your ass for whatever it is you guys did to Mia last night!" Ryo turned around, an expression of wonder and exhilaration on his face. His eyes reflected the flame, making Kento shiver.
"Look at it Kento!" Ryo cried out loud. "Isn't it beautiful? Isn't it perfect ?"
"Kento!" From the house Kento heard Cye calling his name, but he kept his eyes trained on the creature in front of him.
"Okay buddy, time to lose the Ryo shape, cause it's not working anymore." Kento lunged out at the figure, his fist connecting with Ryo's chest. Kento watched in shock as his arm disappeared up to his elbow in his friend's chest. Through his friend's chest. Into his chest cavity. Into him.
"Oh god…" Kento whispered. The gleam of exhilaration in Ryo's eyes turned to a dull look of shock, and then betrayal. Blood started to pour out of his chest, running down Kento's arm in a macabre version of the flames that Ryo had just played with. Kento felt something thud against his hand once, then once again, and then it stopped. Ryo's face went white and his eyes rolled up into his head, body collapsing.
"Ryo?" Kento cried out, watching in abject horror as the body of his friend and leader slid with a sickening noise off of the arm impaling it. Kento's arm. His arm. He killed Ryo. Oh no….
The sound that came out of Kento was one of absolute despair. He tried to scream but it caught in his throat as he held the now limp body of Ryo in his arms.
NO!
The mental scream of anguish slammed into Cye, almost knocking him down. He stumbled forward against it, and the invisible heat that sought to keep him away. Fighting, Cye made it to Kento's side to find his friend rocking back and forth, clutching something bloody to his chest, weeping openly.
"Kento!" Cye tried, falling to his knees beside Kento.
"I killed him!" Kento wept brokenly.
"Kento!"
"I…I killed him!" Kento sobbed, rocking faster and clutching the bloody mess closer. "I KILLED HIM!"
"KENTO!" Cye grabbed Kento's face and forced him to look up. "Kento! It's a blanket!"
"I…I…"
"It's a blanket Kento. A bloody blanket. There's nothing there. You didn't kill anyone." Cye grabbed the thing out of Kento's arms and held it up, shaking it. "See? See Kento?"
"I…I…" Kento stared wildly at the bloody blanket for a moment, then he started to slow his rocking. He reached out and took it from Cye, turning the mess over and over in his hands.
"No one's dead, Kento," Cye whispered. "You're okay."
"Ryo…"
"He's fine. He's right behind me. Look behind me Kento." Kento turned his tearstained face up to see that Ryo was in fact standing behind Cye, a look of confusion and concern on his face. Kento looked back down at the rag in his hand and turned it over once again. There was a small tag that signified it wasn't the blanket Cye had thought, buthad once been a piece of clothing. Something he used to know.
Bloody clothes. They were everywhere…
"Kento? Are you alright?" This time it was Ryo who knelt down next to his friend, touching him gently. Kento had gone completely still. Finally he raised dark angry eyes and scanned the land around them.
"Where are you, you son of a bitch?" Kento growled. Painfully he rose to his feet and roared furiously. "Where ARE you!"
"Kento…" Cye started but was cut off by gentle laughter.
"Poor Kento…didn't you like tearing into his chest? Didn't you like feeling him die around you? His heart stopping? One…two…buckle my shoe…three…four…sleep with that whore…five…six…rip her to bits…"
It was a different Kento that turned to where the voice was coming from, his words deadly quiet. "If you touch her again I will kill you."
The voice laughed as it dissipated.
"Too late."
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"Kento? Who did you mean back there? What ‘her' were you talking about?" Ryo leaned forward as he asked the question. Kento merely shook his head, staring down at the floor. From where he sat on the couch, a blanket wrapped tightly around his shoulders, the Ronin of Hardrock looked shaken. He adjusted the blanket closer, eyes slightly glazed.
"Kento, this is important," Cye interjected gently. "If that guy was talking about Mia or Nikki, then they might be in trouble. We'd need to find them."
Kento remained silent for a long time before raising his face to stare out the window. The brush pile remained standing tall, a disconcerting reminder of the afternoon's occurrences. His dark eyes looked troubled, and older then Ryo or Cye ever remembering them being. Finally Kento spoke, his normally boisterous voice subdued and thick.
"I think that maybe Rowen isn't going crazy." Ryo and Cye exchanged a look.
"What do you mean Kento?" Ryo asked cautiously. Tip toeing around Hardrock wasn't something he was used to doing, and Ryo found it disturbing.
"Rowen keeps saying he's hearing stuff and seeing stuff. That he knows things that he shouldn't. I didn't get it, not before. But when that…that thing was out there saying that stuff, I understood what he meant. I knew why he was saying the things he was saying and showing me the things he was showing me. I was so angry…"
"What did he mean?" Cye pressed, then immediately regretted it. Kento's face darkened into an expression of fury and frustration.
"I don't know Cye! I don't know anymore! Which doesn't make any sense." Kento looked as if he wanted to punch the nearest inanimate object, but he settled for grabbing up a pillow and twisting it fiercely. "He hurt someone, that's not surprising. We all heard what he said. But when he was talking, all I felt was this overwhelming rage that he had hurt so many things that I cared about. That this sick bastard had…"
"What Kento? You need to tell us." Ryo asked, pushing his friend even more. He knew they should back off but worry for the others outweighed his concern for Kento. Hardrock was strong, and Ryo was relying on him holding it together.
"That he had done stuff that was horrible. That we all should know. That I knew. But I don't anymore. I don't get it. I don't understand, and I'm starting to sound like Rowen. Only I'm not mad at Nikki and Mia. I'm…scared for them."
"You're being vague and cryptic Kento. We need more to work with, here. Is he going after them Kento?" Cye asked his comrade. A flicker of something unrecognizable flashed in Kento's eyes; something that made Cye pull back a little.
"Not right now," Kento spat. "Right now it's more fun to screw with us."
"Fun?"
"Yeah."
"Kento, how do you know this stuff?" Ryo wondered. "Why now?" Kento didn't reply, but his mind kept racing back to the thought that had torn through his head earlier.
Bloody clothes. They were everywhere…
"I feel like we failed," Kento finally whispered, giving the pillow a twist, knuckles white.
"What do you mean?" Cye cut in confused. "We haven't even really fought this guy yet." Kento turned to stare at both of them intently.
"Are you sure?"
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"That is the freakiest thing I've ever seen."
"Rowen…"
"I mean, the original version of her was bad enough, but this is just…" Rowen shuddered. Sage gave him a look that spoke volumes. Rowen ignored it and continued to walk around the center statue in front of the cave, taking in every detail.
"It's like if you take every single aspect of Kayura and make them creepy, then here you go. Step up gentlemen and take a look. Fifty cents a shot. Try not to pee your pants."
"Rowen," Mia asked sweetly from where she knelt next to the statue, "could you hold off the diatribe until I'm finished? Please?" Rowen shrugged and stopped pacing, but continued to stare at the statue. He tilted his head to the side. Sage started mentally counting down. Three…two…one…
"But it's just so freaking scary-"
"Rowen!"
"Fine, fine, sorry, I'm shutting up." Rowen raised his hands defensively and stepped away from where Mia was examining the topic of subject. He walked past Sage and gave him a wink. Sage barely kept himself from rolling his eyes. He had to admit, though, Rowen had a point.
It was a statue. It was Kayura. But it…well wasn't. Her face was the same, her body was the same, her hair and robes were the same. The statue was life-sized and looked like marble or some other kind of pearly stone. The last of the ancients was posed serenely in a cross-legged mediation position. Across her lap she held a carved book, which was what Mia was now examining. What had Rowen's attention, all of their attentions really, was the expression on her face. They had seen Kayura angry, scared, relieved, exhausted, possessed, and determined. They had seen her rejoice in happiness and cry in despair. They had never seen her like this. This statue of the ancient looked, for lack of a better word, hungry. Her face was raised, her eyes were narrowed, and a small little grin quirked her mouth. There was nothing overtly different, but the feeling Sage got as they stood there in front of the statue was one of discomfort. Looking too long at her made the hair on back of Sage's neck rise. Hungry… Sage couldn't help himself and he too shuddered.
"Grow up," Nikki said as she passed by, throwing Rowen a condescending look. "It's just a piece of stone." Rowen didn't deign to reply, but he did move to position himself where the statue wasn't watching him, which happened to be right next to Sage.
"So, fun trip so far, huh?" Rowen asked him. Sage crossed his arms. Rowen grinned. "That means, ‘I hate being here, I'd rather be at home playing Parcheesi, and I blame you even though I have too much class to say it.' See, I know you better than you know yourself."
"It actually means, ‘I have no problem not responding because you talk enough for all four of us. And I blame you for being here, because you insist on picking fights with little girls and I have to baby-sit you because of it. And I hate Parcheesi." Sage said lightly. Rowen's eyes widened.
"Little girl? You've got to be kidding me! Don't let her short stature lull you into a false sense of security, Sage. She's the scientific American equivalent of a viper." Rowen made several hissing noises and imitated a snake striking with his hand. "And don't lie. You do too like Parcheesi."
This time Sage couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Sure Rowen."
"Not that there's anything wrong with Parcheesi. I mean, personally I think it's a stupid game, but hey, whatever floats your boat my friend."
"Rowen…" Sage sighed the sigh of one who knows that they will never be able to escape some travesty in their life. He moved towards Mia and Nikki, both of which were examining some etchings at the bottom of the statue. Rowen followed.
"I prefer Yatzee myself. Much more satisfying game. Or Euchre. Can't go wrong with a good game of Euchre."
"Doesn't he ever shut up?" Nikki asked grumpily.
"Rarely," Sage replied, kneeling down next to Mia. Rowen gave him a hurt look.
"Et tu Brute?" he asked dramatically.
"Go ahead and give yourself a good push," Nikki told Rowen. He glared at her and walked off, muttering. Sage gave her an amused look.
"You two never stop do you?" he asked her. Nikki blushed slightly, then shrugged.
"He makes me mad."
"He shouldn't. He hasn't done anything," Sage gently admonished her. Nikki met his gaze for a moment then dropped her eyes, lips thinning irritably.
"Okay Mia, did you make anything of any of this?" Nikki asked her friend. Mia sat back on her heels and brushed a strand of red hair back from her face.
"Not really. I need more time. But I think whatever book it is that the ancient is holding is important. Hopefully it's somewhere in there." Mia gestured to the dark cave behind them.
"Why do you think that they have a statue of her here, Mia?" Sage asked, running a hand over the stone. Something vibrated in his mind and Sage pulled his hand away quickly.
"I'm not sure, Sage," Mia answered truthfully. "But at least the time period seems to be right. I need Nikki to verify it more precisely. I think it's more important to find out why they have the ancient depicted in this way. That's the biggest mystery to me." Mia stood and brushed the dirt off of her jeans, looking around. She seemed puzzled.
"You know, I really didn't expect the site to look like this," she said. "I thought it would be different. I thought there would be more here."
"Like what?" Nikki asked, also rising.
"Like more civilization. More buildings. They could be buried, but…I just expected more." Mia shrugged and started gathering up her stuff. "Oh well, we make due with what we have. The others said that they didn't go very far into the cave. They spent their time on the entrance and the first part of the cave. They think it's some kind of temple. I think maybe they're right. Anything that has the ancient guarding it..."
Mia pulled out a large flashlight and flipped it on, shouldering her pack and headed into the cave. Nikki followed her, digging through her things to find her own flashlight.
"Hey, blueberry, did you take my light?" Nikki demanded. Rowen retorted and the two of them began arguing again as they disappeared into the cave as well. Sage remained where he was for a moment, looking down at the statue. Kayura. He placed his hand once more on the statue and this time it vibrated deeper. Sage closed his eyes, letting himself sink into the feeling of it.
"Stop it! Stop it, you're hurting him! Stop it! You guys are friends! This isn't right!"
"Friends don't do this…friends…They don't do THIS!"
"Oh god, he's killing him! Stop!"
Snap!
"Oh god, I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!"
"Pick one! Pick or they both die!"
"I can't! I CAN'T!"
"…I can…"
"NO!"
Sage jerked away from the statue, head reeling. His hand hurt where he'd placed it on the stone. He realized he was breathing heavily and his head was starting to hurt.
"Hey Sage!" he heard Rowen yell. "Stop staring at the ancient and get in here! You have to see this stuff!" Sage stepped back and raised a hand to his friend, indicating he was coming. He leaned down and grabbed his own pack eyes scanning the area around them. As he stepped away, he couldn't shake the feeling that he wasn't the only one watching the woods.
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Ryo sat against the side of Mia's study, looking at the walls and trying to see what it was that the others were seeing. To him everything was the same. Everything felt the same. In the doorway crouched his tiger, tail flicking. The big animal refused to step into the room, despite coaxing from his owner. Every once in a while he would growl and stare at the ceiling, then his eyes would flicker back and forth about the room. Ryo shook his head. Even White Blaze was going crazy on him.
Everything was changing. Everyone was changing. Mia was aloof and withdrawn. Rowen was angry and delusional. Cye was reading people's minds and emotions and didn't seem aware he was doing it. Kento was seeing things that neither him nor Cye could see. Cye and Sage were seeing thing only Mia and Nikki could see. And White Blaze looked like he was ready to attack the wall that Ryo was leaning against. His world was crashing around him. Oddly enough instead of upsetting him greatly, Ryo simply kept getting feelings of déjà vu, like this had all happened to him before. He guessed that it had. Every time they had to go off and fight evil, things changed. They developed new strengths and weaknesses. The stress from fighting so much was eventually going to take its toll on them all.
Ryo was worried about Mia. Deep in his gut he had the feeling that something very bad was going to happen soon, and he was regretting sending her out there with only two of them for protection. He thought about what she had said before they left.
"…there's nothing in my grandfather's files about this thing. We need information. We have to go."
"You never bothered to look Mia," Ryo whispered. White Blaze started to growl again, deeper this time. Blaze stared right at Ryo, tail flicking back and forth rapidly.
"That's because she has looked, little one." He settled down in front of Ryo, sitting crossed legged and making himself comfortable.
"Even you don't know everything in all those databases. You might have forgotten something," Ryo shook his head.
He laughed and cracked his knuckles. "She searched and searched, but to no avail. You kept asking her, sweeting, but she couldn't find what she knew wasn't there. Too bad, so sad."
Ryo shook his head, unaware that the action smeared a chunk of mostly dried blood into his hair.
He grinned and leaned over, gingerly picking the gristle out of Ryo's hair, before settling back.
In the doorway White Blaze's growl turned into a vicious snarl and the tiger bared his teeth.
"Blaze!" Ryo said sternly. "Nothing's here! Calm down buddy."
He turned around and made a face at the tiger. The tiger fixed a death glare on him.
"Anyways White Blaze, try to relax okay? Mia's going into that cave and she's going to find something to help us
fight this thing. So don't worry." Ryo stood and left the room, not hearing the crunching underneath his feet. Ryo
passed by White Blaze and ran his hand soothingly down the animal's back, flicking the light off. The tiger remained
where he was crouched, snarling into the darkness. As Ryo did, He turned around and watched Ryo go. Then
He crawled on all fours, gingerly picking his way through the mess on the floor until He was face to face with the huge animal. White Blaze showed his long sharp teeth. His face split in a huge grin and He did the same. The tiger shivered but held his ground.
"Come on Blaze, let's go to bed." Ryo reached over Him and grabbed the doorknob, pulling the door closed.
He waved his fingers goodbye at the tiger until the door was almost closed. Then He blew Blaze a kiss before being shut up in darkness. The tiger shivered more visibly this time but rose and followed Ryo to the bedroom. There was nothing White Blaze could do but stay by his master's side, and to try to get Ryo to understand that He was watching. And waiting. Even now.
The tiger growled at the ceiling over Ryo's bed the entire night long until the tired and irritable Ronin of Wildfire finally kicked him out. Ryo slept peacefully after that. He found it all very amusing.