Kara awoke the next morning refreshed, not recalling at all the evil nightmares that had haunted her long into the night. She got up and walked over to where her clothes were laid out.
“Great. You have the choice of wearing a t-shirt with a blood-stained gash across the middle and a pair of jeans that one leg is cut off at the knee or you can just wear what you’re wearing which is your pj’s. Man, I really need to go shopping,” she said to herself, “Although, I know what I can do about these jeans.”
Kara grabbed some scissors from a nearby dresser and cut the pant leg at the knee so it would match the other one. Then, she ran downstairs to get Mia. She found her in the kitchen.
“Hey Mia, I was wondering, could I borrow a shirt?” she asked.
“Sure. They’re in the top drawer of my tall dresser. Take whichever one you like,” Mia answered.
Kara went into Mia’s room and picked out a white and red long sleeve baseball t-shirt. She put it on and then changed into her jean cutoffs. She returned downstairs to find Sai and Kento arguing.
“Kento, you ate all the cereal!”
“I did not. There’s still a little left.”
“One cheerio is not sufficient for filling my stomach, Kento! When are you gonna learn that we need to eat too?”
“Yeah well, there’s other stuff to eat. Plus, you could always cook something.”
“I don’t feel like cooking.”
Rowin reached over and put his hand on Sai’s forehead.
“No, he doesn’t have a fever. Are you feeling okay, Sai?”
“I feel fine. Just because I don’t feel like cooking doesn’t mean that I’m sick.”
“Yeah, but it means I’m going to be sick. What am I going to eat? You aren’t going to let your best friend starve now are you, Sai?”
“From the way you’ve been acting lately, Kento, I just might.”
Kento looked like he was about to cry.
“Okay, Kento, I’ll cook just not right now, all right?”
Kento’s face lit up.
“YAY!” he yelled in triumph and at the thought of food.
Kara giggled at the scene. Sai, Kento, and Rowin turned to look at her, not knowing she was there the whole time.
“Ohayo Kara, how are you feeling?” Sai asked.
“Just fine, thanks.”
She took an apple from the fruit basket sitting on the dining room table and bit into it. She chewed slowly and then went upstairs into the computer room where Mia was now, typing away at the computer.
“Mia?”
“Hm?”
“Um, I guess you kinda noticed that I need a new wardrobe. I was wondering if perhaps we could go shopping?”
Mia’s eyes lit up brighter than a Christmas tree. She let out a whoop, shut down the computer, and grabbed Kara by the hand, dragging Kara behind her as she flew down the stairs.
“All right, listen up everyone, we’re going SHOPPING!” Mia yelled.
Everybody stopped what they were doing and glared at Kara.
“What? What did I do?” she asked.
“You said the ‘S’ word around Mia and that’s a big no-no,” Sage explained.
“Hush, Sage. Come on, everyone in the car. Kara needs a new wardrobe,” Mia commanded.
And while we’re getting stuff for her, I could get a few things for myself, Mia thought.
Reluctantly, the Ronin Warriors and Uli were herded into Kento’s van. Kento drove, with Mia looking over his shoulder, telling him to go faster because there was a big sale. They pulled up in front of the mall and, to no one’s surprise, Mia was the first one out, dragging Kara with her.
“Poor kid,” Ryo said.
“Never even saw what hit her,” Rowin said, shaking his head sadly.
“I believe Mia could be described as a shop-a-holic,” Sage commented.
“Boys! Come on!” Mia exclaimed.
They followed her into the mall. Mia went straight to the popular clothing stores (Gap, Express, Abercrombie and Fitch, or whatever they have in Japan). Kento went straight to the electronics store with all the video games, with Uli tagging along and Ryo headed for the CD store. Sai headed for Natural Wonders (an environmental store) while Sage went to a place to scope out babes. Rowin went to the nearest bookstore.
Mia pulled Kara behind her from rack to rack of clothes. She kept pulling things off the rack and putting them up to Kara. If they met her approval, they would go into Kara’s hands.
“Now, let’s see, this is cute. What size is it?...Oh, it’s a little too big for you but it’s just my size,” Mia murmured while dumping another article of clothing into Kara’s hands.
Kara obediently followed Mia from shop to shop until she felt that she was going to die of fatigue. She rejoiced silently when she heard Mia say, “I’m hungry. You wanna go to the food court?”
“YES!” Kara screamed, “I mean, um, yes that would be nice.”
They made their way over to the food court where they saw Kento, Sai, Uli, and Ryo at a table. They waved and Mia and Kara walked up to them.
“Hey guys,” Mia said as she sat down next to Sai.
Kara plopped down in the last vacant seat next to Ryo and wearily put her head on the table.
“Wphat’s fwong wit per?” Kento asked with his mouth full.
“Translation: what’s wrong with her?” Sai explained.
“Looks to me like she took the phrase, ‘Shop till you drop’ a little too seriously,” Ryo joked.
Kara raised her head from the table and glared at him.
“Tsk, tsk. I just haven’t trained her yet,” Mia said, her eyes sparkling with mischief, “Kara, you want me to go get you some food?”
Kara nodded wearily.
“ ‘k,” Mia said, enthusiastically and left to go get some food.
“Where the hell does she get all that energy? I mean, one minute, she’s a zombie in front of the computer and the next, she’s running around, all hyper like she’s high or something,” Kara stated.
“That’s Mysterious Mia,” Sai said, smiling.
“Where’s Sage and Rowin?” Kara asked.
“Sage is over there,” Ryo said, gesturing to a nearby table, “surrounded by all those girls.”
“Rowin’s still at the bookstore although I think I saw him around here somewhere,” Uli said, looking around.
Rowin got his food and saw Sage surrounded by girls at a table. He saw the rest of the gang at another table but all the seats were taken so he wandered over to where Sage was.
“Hey Rowin, take a seat,” Sage said, indicating to the seat next to him. Rowin sat down and quietly ate his food while Sage talked to the surrounding girls about himself. Suddenly, a Hispanic-looking girl about Rowin’s age sat down next to him.
“Hi,” she said and giggled in a high pitch voice that made Rowin’s head throb.
“Um, hi,” he replied.
“What’s your name?” she asked in her annoying-I’m-high-on-helium- voice.
“Hashiba Rowin,” he answered.
“Hashiba?” another giggle, “That’s a weird first name!”
“Um, actually in Japan, our last name goes first so that’s really my last name,” he explained.
“Oh, that’s silly!” the girl said before bursting into a fit of hysterical giggles.
“Um, yeah, what’s your name?” Rowin asked.
“Paula Sanchez,” she replied, “although I like the name Rowin much better!”
“Um, thanks, I think,” by this time, all Rowin wanted to do was finish his lunch in peace and have this girl leave him alone.
“So, what’s your sign?” Paula asked in that nasally voice of hers.
“Excuse me?” Rowin asked.
“You know, your, like, Zantac sign or whatever,” she replied.
“Oh, you mean my Zodiac sign?” he asked.
“Yeah! I’m an Aries,” Paula exclaimed.
“Well, I use to know but I forgot,” he answered.
“Oh well, I’m sure it’s completely compatible with an Aries!” she said and giggled.
Rowin fought off the urge to rub his temples and forced a smile at the annoying girl. Kara saw his uncomfortable situation and waved to him.
“Hey Rowin! Come over here for a sec, would ya?” she yelled.
Rowin gratefully left Paula and came to Kara’s table.
“Thanks,’ he said.
“No problem,” Kara stood up, “Here, take my seat, I’m finished.”
Rowin sat down. Kara walked over to the trash can and threw out her garbage. She was walking back when someone pushed her from behind and she fell flat on her face.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Are you okay?” a male voice asked as he helped her up.
“Yeah, I’m fi—“ she trailed off as she saw that when she fell, her left sleeve had come up over her elbow, revealing to the whole world what she had been trying to keep hidden.
The man who bumped into her saw this too and his eyes narrowed evilly.
“You won’t be fine for long, princess,” he sneered as his grip tightened on her arm.
She quickly wretched away from his clutch and began running in the direction of the tables where the Ronin Warriors sat. Whizzing by them, she grabbed Uli’s skateboard from his hands.
“Hey!” he cried out in protest.
“Sorry, Ul, but I need this a lot more than you do right now,” Kara called over her shoulder as she began riding the skateboard.
“Get her!” the man yelled.
Dynasty-looking soldiers jumped out from various places and began chasing after Kara.
“We must not let her escape!” the man yelled as he ran by the Ronin Warriors.
Ryo and the others jumped up and ran after them. Rowin wrestled Sage away from his flock of girls and dragged him along.
Kara was picking up speed, so much in fact that she was making little old ladies dive out of the way.
“Excuse me, pardon me! Get out of the way!” she yelled as she blew past people, the soldiers hot on her tail.
Kara made her way through the mall and finally out to the parking lot with both the Ronin Warriors in their sub armors and the soldiers right behind her. She glanced back and, upon seeing how close they were, sped up.
“Kara, look out!” Ryo yelled a warning.
Kara turned back around to find herself facing a car. Quickly, she jumped off the skateboard and put her hands on the hood of the car, propelling herself upward to the roof of the car, She performed a flip off of the roof and landed back on the skateboard, which had come out from under the car. The soldiers just plowed through, completely destroying the car, but not the people inside who, thankfully, had enough sense to abandon the car. Kara took another quick look behind her and saw the soldiers smash through the car. Then, she ran into something and fell on her butt. She felt a sharp point at her neck.
“Now you shall die, you royal brat,” the soldier that held the sword at her neck.
Before he could slit her throat though, Ryo kicked his head off. The tortured soul was released from the armor and it disintegrated. Ryo helped Kara up.
“Thanks,” she said.
“You’re welcome,” he replied and smiled at her.
She smiled back until she looked past Ryo.
“Ryo, behind you!” Kara yelled a warning.
Ryo quickly did a flip over the soldier behind him and punched him in the back. The soul was released. Meanwhile, another soldier attacked Kara. She dodged his sword and kicked him in the face. He dropped, lifeless, to the ground. The rest of the Ronin Warriors quickly took care of the remaining soldiers. They looked at Kara expectantly.
“I guess it’s explaining time again,” she mumbled.
Back at Mia’s mansion, Mia handed everyone a cup of tea. Kara stirred hers slowly and stared out of the window before sighing and turning back to the group.
“Well, princess, are you going to tell us what the hell what that was all about?” Ryo asked sarcastically.
“Yeah, what’s with this whole princess thing, anyway, Kara?” Kento asked.
“Well, actually it’s Princess Kariana,” she replied, “Not like I use that stupid title.”
“What was that on your arm, anyway?” Rowin asked.
Kara pulled up the sleeve of her left arm and right below her elbow, they saw a symbol that looked like this:
“It’s the symbol of the royal family of Kamejisin, which was an ancient kingdom. It fell apart after about five hundred years but for some reason, my very odd and perhaps mental descendants kept thinking of themselves as rulers and their titles as kings and queens and so forth, which they passed on to their children. My mother was Princess Sarina so when I was born, I was dubbed Princess Kariana. I like the name Kara better though, so I use it instead of Kariana.”
“Then why did you keep the symbol hidden with your long sleeve shirts?” Sage asked.
“Because some of my enemies, such as Sagri, knew that I was a princess of Kamejisin and they could use this stupid tattoo to find me.”
“But, Sagri’s dead, Why would you still keep it hidden?” Sai asked.
Kara shrugged.
“Old habit, I guess.”
“Well, is there anything else that you need to tell us?” Ryo asked.
“Well...” Kara began but then she heard a voice in her head.
“Do not tell them that yet, Kariana.”
“But why not, Grandfather?”
“It is not yet the appropriate time.”
“All right.”
“Kara, earth to Kara. Connection terminated,” Kento joked.
“Huh?” Kara snapped out of her trance and glared at Kento.
“No, there’s nothing else,” she stated.
The Ronin warriors seemed satisfied with this. The rest of the day was uneventful and soon the moon hung low in the sky. Ryo was suddenly awakened by a small burning point in his chest. He sat up in his bed and felt the spot. It seemed to be right in the middle of his breast bone. He noticed that when he laid down, the burning became stronger than when he sat up. Ryo didn’t think it was heartburn because it was only a small point that seemed to be on fire. He got out of bed and felt the burning grow less. Quietly, he walked to his bedroom door and opened it.
To his surprise, he saw the other guys peeking out of their doors. He pointed at the burning spot in his chest and the others nodded. Ryo walked a ways down the hallway and noticed it was not as strong. He beckoned the others to follow. Ryo walked all the way down the hallway, the burning melting away a little bit more with each step he took. He walked by Kara’s room but the burning flared up again so he walked back and quietly opened her bedroom door. Ryo walked in and his friends followed.
Kara was sleeping on her back in her bed. Her amulet hung rested on her chest on the exact spot that the Ronin Warriors felt the burning! Suddenly, the amulet began to glow and the room was filled with light. When the Ronin Warriors’ eyes adjusted to the brightness, they saw the Ancient One standing before them.
“Ancient!” they cried in awe at different intervals.
“Yes it is I,” he replied.
“But...but you’re dead!” Kento exclaimed.
“Only in body. I stand before you in spirit form which is quite like a hologram. I came to thank you for protecting my granddaughter and to tell you some things that she did not tell you.”
“But she said that there was nothing left to tell,” Ryo stated.
“This child holds many secrets,” the Ancient replied, looking down on Kara’s sleeping form, “ some of which she is not ready to share with you but she will in time. Do not accuse her or she will keep silent even longer.
I came to tell you that she lied to you when she said that Sagri was the evil he fought two thousand years ago. He was one of them but there were others. The evil that I came to warn you, Ronins, and her about is Gavin, an evil magician that Kara battled two thousand years ago. He was the main evil; Sagri served under him. Kara banished him to the Netherworld but he has come back.
I must go now, Ronins, but know that I will be guiding you. Do not let the amulet, the Jewel of Life, or the Book of the Ancients fall into the wrong hands. Gavin desperately needs these to conquer the mortal world and rule over all. He is ruthless and will do anything to get them. But the most important thing that I have to tell you, Ronin Warriors, is this: Protect Kara. She is the key that Gavin needs to hold all the power of both worlds. Farewell,” and with that, the Ancient vanished.
Quietly, the Ronins left Kara’s room.
“Tomorrow, we keep a close eye on Kara,” Rowin said.
“Right,” Sage agreed.
“We don’t let her out of our sight,” Kento added.
“I propose that we don’t let her out of the house,” Sai suggested.
“Good idea, Sai. That’s the plan, everyone,” Ryo said, “ Oyasumi.”
“Oyasumi.” The Ronins departed to their rooms.
Ryo waited until he heard the rest of the guys go to sleep. Quickly but quietly, he opened his door and walked down the hallway. Carefully, he opened Kara’s door. He walked over to her bed. She was now sleeping on her side. A lock of stray hair came loose from her braid and fell in her face. Ryo gently tucked it back behind her ear and tenderly kissed her forehead.
“I’ll protect you, no matter what. I promise,” he whispered.
He crept back to his room and fell fast asleep.