| Before Kye-Ren could answer there was a loud crash the the sounds of shouting. Kye-Ren ran to the door and locked it, hoping that it would hold against the three elders. Then she heard her brother's voice rise above the others, and then the sounds of stomping boots, and the slamming of the kitchen door. Everything was silent for a minute, then Aja's deep voice was outside the door, asking Kye-Ren to unlock it. She did so, standing back next to the bewildered Ryo, who was now sitting up. Aja entered the room, clearly upset. "Bringing him here was a bad idea," Aja said. "Why, brother? We are healers. We are supposed to help anyone who needs it." "Yes, but he is not from this realm, and they want to get rid of him. They think he is one of the demon-spawn." "Ryo is no demon!" Kye-Ren exclaimed. "We know that, but they don't. At any rate, those three will be coming back with reenforcements, and I don't want you or him here when they return." "Meaning what, brother?" Kye-Ren asked. "Take Ryo and get out of here. Find a different Realm to hide in, for we know they will not stop searching Ayriss until they find you. Go on Big Black. I already got supplies ready, incase something like this happened. Now get going." Aja left no room for Kye-Ren to argue, for he was laready helping Ryo out of the bed and tying his fur cloak around Ryo's shoulders. Kye-Ren got boots for Ryo to wear, and then picked up her sword from the corner of the fireplace. She was as good a soldier as she was a healer, and she might need it. Aja then led them to the stables, where a large black horse had been sadled and stood waiting. Another horse whickered from its stall, and peeked its grey face from the stall door. "Two horses would be better," Kye-Ren stated. "We'll take Naaki, too. I can ride bareback." "Yes, but can Ryo ride on his own?" Aja asked. "I can," Ryo told him, and mounted Big Black without any help. Kye-Ren took Naaki out of her stall and vaulted to the horse's back, and both left the stable at a slow walk that turned into a run as soon as they were outside. Neither of them looked back at Aja, just kept riding foreward into the woods. Neither of them knew that they would never see him again. Talpa watched in smug satisfaction as Ryo and the girl road deeper and deeper into the woods, soon finding themselves lost. He was happy that the Ronin Warrior had no idea who he was, and therefore could not help his friends when he, Talpa, Ruler of the Dynasty, attacked the earth. Without Ryo, the other Ronins would fall quickly. Nothing could possibly get in his way. He had already recaptured the Warlords and erased their memories, so as far as they knew, nothing had ever happened, and they had never been good. The only exception to that was Lady Kayura, who had escaped. No matter, she could do little without the fifth Ronin. And he was lost in another realm with no memories of his own. "Soon the Earth will be mine, and I will have my revenge," Talpa hissed. "And this time the Ronin Warriors will be unable to stop me." "That may not be true," came a soft hiss from the shadows. A spirit emerged from the shadows, her face covered with a black veil so that only her grey eyes could be seen. This was Shymal, and she had the abilty to see the future. Talpa had discovered her recently, and she had agreed quite willingly to help Talpa. Now she was gliding across the stone floor towards Talpa, her eyes gravely serious. "What do you mean, witch?" Talpa demanded. "I see a dark future for this realm... Ryo and this girl will bear a child, a girl," Shymal said, her voice as soft as a whisper of wind, but very clear. "This child will have great powers, powers that have been hidden in Ryo by his armor. And power that lies within the girl as well, great magic and understanding. If this child is born and is allowed to grow, then the Dynasty will fall..." "Then I will destroy them all!" Talpa roared. Shymal cackled in a high-pitched, disconcerting voice. Talpa's eyes glowed red with anger, but he didn't scare her. She was older than he was by far, and nothing could frighten her, except, perhaps, this unborn child. "You cannot harm them. They have already moved into a realm outside of you reach. Now you must wait until they come back to the Earth, and hope that the child has not yet been born. Or better yet, that the other Ronins follow him and get lost, unable to return to the earth. Either way, you must wait." Shymal cackled again and vanished into a whisp of smoke. The rain had turned to cold mist and neither Ryo nor Kye-Ren could really see where they were going. They knew that they were in a forest, and that they were traveling on a path, since the trees grew on either side, and nowhere in the middle. But it was a stange path, completely smooth, without so much as one stick or leaf on it. Even the mist didn't seem to settle on it as it did everything else. It unnerved Ryo, and he suggested that they leave it and move along the trees instead. Kye-Ren was reluctant to do so, but agreed when Big Black started off the path, and Naaki turned to follow. They kept moving until they reached a river that was too swift moving and too wide to cross safely. "We'll rest for a bit," Kye-Ren said, sliding down from Naaki's back. Ryo dismounted as well, a soft groan escaping from his lips. The riding had been tough for him, he was barely healed from the crash. So Kye-Ren laid her cloak out of the ground and told Ryo to sit so she could change his bandages again. He shivered in the cold ari, for he had had to take off his shirt and cloak so she could put the medicine and clean bandages on his chest wounds. She finished quickly, for she didn't want Ryo to catch a cold. She didn't worry about herself, she'd been in colder places without a cloak or fire. And she didn't think a fire would be a good idea right now, either. They were in a strange realm, one she didn't know, and who knew what kind of creatures lived here. That was one question they would soon find out. They were first alerted to the creature's movement when the two horses began to shift nervously. Kye-Ren pulled out her sword and took hold of both horses' reigns, Knowing full well that Ryo wouldn't be able to hold Big Black if the horse panicked. They waited, and soon they could hear what the horses had, large thudding footsteps coming through the forest. Before long they could see an outline of something, a human-like thing with a very shaggy head... "Who is there?" It called out in a deep booming voice. Both horses reared, and it was all Kye-Ren could do to hold them still! Ryo grabbed her fallen sword and held it up in a stance that was odd to Kye-Ren, but it was clear he had some experience in fighting. The creature moved closer until they could see it, and it was harder to say who was more startled, the beast, the horses, or the humans. The 'creature' was neither human nor animal, but something in between, and it stared at Ryo and Kye-Ren as a cat would eye a mouse. It didn't seem phased by the sword Ryo held, nor Kye-Ren's statement that she could use magic. |