Stir of Shadows
by Queen of Sarab
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Chapter One

"You called, Great One?"

The kneeling girl did not lift her eyes from the ground as she spoke. To do so without first being told would be insolent- and insolence meant death...or worse. She did not move until a booming voice sounded out of the enclosing darkness.

"RAISE YOUR EYES BEFORE YOU, GIRL."

The girl obeyed, her long, jet-black hair cascading back over her shoulders.
The voice spoke again.

"KNOW YOU WERE CHOSEN, KURAI -BUT IF YOU FAIL, YOU MUST SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCE OF ALL WHO FAIL OUR PEOPLE." Kurai allowed herself a small, malicious smile, her cat-like green eyes shining in the light of a softly glowing green amulet hung about her neck. "I will not fail," she answered softly.

Green light filled everything...it shone with a brightness that hurt Rowen's eyes, yet illuminated nothing... the light was everything, and yet nothing, held in place by a dull buzzing that slowly crescendoed into laughter...bad laughter...it hurt....and then came the pictures, spinning into view and then disappearing just as fast...a black-haired girl...Ryo in subarmor, running at full speed across a field...a garden full of white roses...a black cat...in full armor, Sage, his blond hair falling in his eyes as he fought an unseen enemy...beautiful birds singing...the girl laughed...a green amulet...a boy with shaggy red-brown hair and blue eyes--Sai?...white roses....darkness...Kento,fighting off hundreds of headless soldiers, blue hair plastered down with sweat..a place of utter black...roses...roses...and now the roses were changing, molding into people in black robes...chanting....chanting..."I can't understand..." Rowen screamed....no one hears...or cares....chanting.... chanting....and three words became audible "Shuzoku no mayonaka...Shuzoku no mayonaka..."

Rowen sat up suddenly out of sleep, his dream still fresh in his mind.

Groaning, he brushed a stray strand of dark blue hair out of his eyes and tumbled off his bed, realizing that it was the sun glaring in his eyes that had awoken him.

"Just a dream," he muttered to himself, fumbling around for clean clothes just as a knock sounded on his door. "Hey, Rowen, hurry and get up or you'll miss breakfast!" a voice called through the door.

"Ya know, the world doesn't revolve around food, Kento," he called back, grinning. "Welcome back to reality..."he laughed to himself as he threw open the door and headed down the stairs.

"Morning, Ro!" Sai called in his light british accent as Rowen walked into the kitchen.

"Mornin', guys," Rowen muttered, sliding into an empty seat at the table.

Besides his four friends Sage,Kento, Sai, and Ryo, 2 others sat at the table- Mia, her long brown hair and clothes immaculate, and Yuli,whose dark hair and disheveled appearance was just the opposite. "Sleep well, Rowen?" Mia asked lightly.

Sighing, Rowen leaned back in his chair. "Not exactly...I had this really weird dream...But I couldn' understan' any of it except three words, so I don' know if it was some kinda premonition or sumthing."

Looking up at him, Ryo raised an eyebrow thoughtfully. “What were the words you understood?"

"Umm..." Squinting, Rowen thought for a minute. "Shuzoku no mayonaka, I think..."

Sai stopped in the middle of buttering a piece of toast."Shuzoku no mayonaka?" he repeated."Tribe of Midnight?"

"Do you know what it means, Sai?" Ryo broke in.

"Not exactly...I just think I've heard it somewhere before." Sai went back to
the toast. "But I could be wrong."

"I'll look it up if it eases your mind any, Rowen," stated Mia, passing around a pot of tea. "But for now, just forget it and eat something."

"Ye'a... guess you're right," Rowen stared at his food.

"Hey, Ro, gonna eat that?" asked Kento.

That was when the knock sounded.

Author's note- Hi! I hope you like my first chapter....this is my first attempt at a fanfic of any kind(by myself, at least...) so,um, feel free to e-mail me with comments...but if you decide to just be plain mean and not be constructive, I might just have to hurt you... my e-mail address is [email protected]. Thanks!