SAI

I awoke in the ambulance. I sat up startled and looked around. Kento had betrayed me. Strong hands grabbed me and pulled
me back. "Where are you taking me?" I demanded.
"Relax kid, we're taking you to the hospital."
I glared up at the man that held me down. "I don't want to go to the hospital... I demand you let me go!"
"Well, that would be fine with me," a voice said from the front, a very familiar voice. I groaned as the government agent I had
last seen in Tokyo turned and looked at me. "We could go straight to police headquarters."
"What for?" I said looking around. There was only the man that held me down, the agent, and the driver. I might have a chance,
if I could catch them by surprise.
"So you could finish answering my questions..."
"I've told you everything I can," I said through clenched teeth. Then I lashed out and caught the man, who held me, in the face
with my fist. As he stumbled back, I stood. The driver slammed on the brakes throwing me off my feet and before I could
recover, the agent had me pinned.
He threw me back onto the stretcher and held my arms as the other tied my wrists down with straps. Before he climbed off me,
I managed to get a knee into a very sensitive place. He swore and slapped me across the cheek. "Kid as soon as the hospital is
done with you... me and you are going to have a go at it."
"Is that a promise?" He ignored me and took his place back in the passenger seat. On the drive to the hospital, I thought of the
young teenager I had met earlier. Could my senses have been wrong... had I been betrayed? And if not, what had happened to
Kento?
We arrived at the hospital and they kept my hands tied down as they brought me into the emergency room. We passed a young
lady dressed in a hospital uniform and I smiled up at her. She returned the smile before being called away. I was put into a
private room and the doctor insisted that they undo my wrists. I grinned at the agent as he glared at me and did what they
asked. "Kid, don't think that for a minute I'm leaving this room."
I sat up, rubbing my wrist. "You might not be... but I will," I thought to myself. Then I leaned back and let the doctor do his job.
I could wait, patience was a virtue.

KENTO

Later that night, I was checking out the last hospital in town. They had to have brought Sai here, I hoped. He had needed
medical attention. I walked in the front door and waved at the young girl behind the desk. She smiled at me and waved back.
"Hey Kento, what do you need... a few more stitches?"
"Not tonight sweetheart," I said with a laugh. "I'm looking for a friend... someone who would be having a lot of attention drawn
to himself."
"About your height, with baby blue eyes, brown hair, and killer dimples?" she asked with a smile. "No, haven't seen him. So you
won't have to go look on the fourth floor, room 413."
I smiled and leaned forward over the desk to kiss her cheek. "Thanks, Leah," I whispered.
"Hey, I owe you one. If you hadn't stopped those men that night..." she shuddered.
I gripped her shoulder. "But I did. Just watch yourself okay. I think it will be awhile until you see me again."
"Take care of yourself."
I left the front desk and headed for the steps. As I stepped out into the hall on the fourth floor, I noticed an uproar coming from
down the foyer.
"We need restraints... he's going to hurt himself."
"Him... what about the staff?"
"Where is that doctor?"
"Hold him down, it will take a few minutes to work."
The noise quieted down and I ducked into a nearby room. I held it open a crack as I watched a couple of orderlies pass by.
One had a busted lip and the other sported a black eye. I waited until they passed and started to slip out the door. "Is that my
nurse?" some old man asked behind me. "I need my bedpan!"
I put a hand over my mouth to stifle my laughter as I hurried out of the room. The hall was empty and I walked over to stand in
front of the door that had been opened during the struggle, 413. I listened but didn't hear anything. I opened the door and
slipped inside. The lights had been turned down, but I could still see Sai. His arms and legs were tied down with leather
restraints and an IV hung down, hooked into his arm. "Hey Sai, you okay?" I asked. I walked over and shook him, but he didn't
awake. I gently lifted an eyelid... he was drugged. "Dang it..." I mumbled. Just then I heard heavy footsteps outside the door. I
barely had time to duck into the closet, before the door opened.
"Did you have to knock him out? He won't be able to answer any questions now."
"If we hadn't, he could have hurt someone. Why must you keep asking him questions he has no answers to?"
"He knows the answers, we just have to jar his memories."
"He was asleep, he doesn't remember an explosion... nothing but waking up in the forest surrounded by dead people. Give the
kid a break, he lost his parents in that crash."
"He knows something, he's got to. Too many people are breathing down my neck for answers. You inform the doctor I want to
be notified as soon as he wakes up, okay?"
The voices died off as they exited the room. I hurried back to Sai's side and began to loosen the straps. The IV was next and I
did remember the alarms that could go off. I unplugged the machine first then tore a strip from his sheet. I slowly pulled the feed
out of his arm and tied the puncture off with the cloth. I was lifting him up when the door opened. I turned around ready to fight,
then pulled up, it was Leah. She pushed a wheelchair in front of her.
"Quick, put him in this and put this on." She handed me an orderly's coat after I set Sai in the chair. I shrugged it on. "What did
they do to him?" she asked.
"Drugged him," I said taking the chair from her. She opened the door and then nodded her head, beckoning for me to follow.
We hurried to the elevator and pushed the button for the ground floor. The ride to the bottom took forever it seemed and when
the door opened finally, I came face to face with the same cop from this afternoon. Luckily, he was looking the other way. I
pushed Sai out with Leah blocking his face from the officer. I quickly followed them off the elevator and let out a sigh. I let my
guard down too soon.
"Hey, wait!" the officer cried out from behind me. "I know that kid!"
I turned and our eyes met. He had his hand on the door stopping the elevator from closing. I kicked him in the chest causing him
to fly into the other police officers inside. The door slid shut and started its trip up.
"Here..." Leah pushed a set of keys into my hand. "My car is parked out front, take it! Just leave it somewhere and call me
when it is safe. I'll find it... go!"
I gave her another quick smile and then hurried out into the night. The first place I went to was back to the church to retrieve
Sai's bags. They seemed to be important to him and I didn't think we would be able to return for them. I snuck up the fire
escape on the side of the building and then into the attic. His bags were where I had left them. In one of the pockets was an
envelope, which hadn't been there before. I tore it open and money fell out, along with a note of well wishes from the nuns. I
smiled and hurried back to the car where I had left Sai sleeping. From there, I dropped the car off next to a train station and
then carried Sai back to the bridge where I had met him the first time. It was quite a hike, but he weighed hardly anything. His
bags were more of a burden then he was.
Once at the bridge, I opened his bags looking for something he could wear instead of the thin hospital gown. Sai was definitely
the artist, one bag was filled with art supplies but the other had the clothes I was searching for. I pulled out a shirt, it was huge.
These clothes weren't Sai's. I found some clothes that looked more his size and quickly dressed him in a sweater, jeans, and
pulled a jacket over his shoulders. We spent the night huddled up on the supports out of view from anyone. About the time Sai
started to wake up from his drug-induced sleep, we had company. A couple of local cops were checking out the ground below
us. Their flashlights found Sai's pictures. "Look at these," one of them said. "That kid we're looking for was in the circus, wasn't
he?"
Just then Sai let out a moan as he forced himself awake. I slammed a hand over his mouth, but he had been heard. "What's
that?" The flashlight danced on the wall in front of us.
"It's just the wind," his partner chided.
I choked back a moan of my own as Sai's teeth bit into my hand. I tightened my grip on him and whispered in his ear, "Lay still
or you're jail bait."
Finally the pressure on my hand let up and I took it off his mouth. Down below us a problem arose. "Hey, that kid has been
here before, maybe he'll come back. Why don't we stake this place out and see what unfolds?"
They disappeared into the darkness. I looked up at the sky. It was only a couple hours until sunrise and then they would see us
for sure. "We can't stay here," I whispered. Sai voiced his agreement. I scaled down the wall first and then caught the bags as
Sai dropped them. He then lowered himself over the ledge. His arms gave out, but I caught him before he fell. We hurried away
in the opposite direction the officers had gone, staying in the shadows.
We followed the river away from town. After about an hour of running, we felt safe enough to sit for a minute. As we caught our
breath, Sai looked over at me. "Why did you break me out?" he asked.
"Because I promised you," I answered, "that you would be safe and I failed."
Sai shook his head, "I wondered what had happened when I woke up in the ambulance. I thought... you had betrayed me."
All of a sudden, a bright light blinded us. It was a search light from the top of a jeep that barreled down toward us. "You kids,
stay where you are!" someone barked over a loud speaker.
Sai's and my eyes locked. We each grabbed one of his sacks and took off running. Our path in front was blocked by another
approaching truck. "Kento," Sai cried. "Over here!"
I ran over to where he was standing. He was already walking out onto a thin drainage pipe that stretched over the river. He
turned around balancing. "Come on, it's easy."
I looked down at the raging water underneath and felt my blood turn cold. "I can't swim," I said through clenched teeth.
"Then we won't get wet," Sai said urging me on. He held out a hand and said, "Take my hand... trust me."
I clasped his hand and followed him out onto the pipe. We kept the balancing act up until we were about halfway across and
then I slipped. Sai's bag dropped from my grasp as I fell. He lunged for it and in a second, I found myself in a real predicament.
One of my arms was wrapped around the pole, the other clutched onto Sai's outstretched hand. His other hand grasped his two
bags. We hung there for a second and then I yelled, "Drop the bags and drag yourself up."
"Let go, I can swim good enough for both of us," Sai begged.
"Come on, it's just stuff. Let them go." He let go... of my arm, but my fingers were still locked around his wrist. "Damn it,
whatever is in those bags ain't worth our lives. But if you go down, we both do."
Sai's eyes and mine found each other in the early morning light. I could see the tears brimmed in his eyes. "Damn you," he
whispered as he released his bags. The hungry water quickly tore them underneath the swells. His free hand locked around my
arm and he swung himself up so his legs locked around the pipe. Then he let go of my arm and pulled himself up to straddle the
duct. I quickly followed his example and pulled myself up in front of him. My arms shook in tired spasms.
"Good going, kids," someone said from behind me. I looked over my shoulder, on the ledge behind us stood the man from the
hospital room. Across the stream on the other end of the pipe, a couple more officers stood.
"I already told you everything," Sai pleaded with the man behind me.
"Then why do you keep running away, unless you have something to hide?"
"Because I'm being called somewhere else," Sai said.
"Not more of that crap about dreams and an old man?" the man said with a smile.
I pulled up startled and looked over at the tired youth in front of me. "You, too?" I asked.
Sai looked at me. "What do you mean... you too?"
"The Ancient," I whispered.
I could see the light of recognition in his eyes. "How.... what..."
"Hey, you two," the man said impatiently.
Sai lowered his head dejectedly. He slowly stood and said, "I'm coming, don't lose your shirt."
He started toward the other edge. I stood up and my feet shook. Casting a look down at the swirling water, I took a deep
breath. "I hope you weren't lying, Sai." He turned to look at me as I reached up and caught his hand, pulling us both off our
perch.
I hit the swirling water hard enough to knock the breath out of me. As I struggled to the surface, a strong arm wrapped around
me and began to pull me down stream. We were going with the current, so all we had to do was keep our heads above water.
The river was swift and we soon outdistanced the people chasing us. After what seemed like an eternity, Sai finally grabbed a
hold of a low branch and I reached up to seize it as well. It was lucky that I did, because Sai was exhausted and his hold gave
out. I grabbed him and dragged both of us to safety.
I dropped him down onto the shore and fell to my knees. "You were right, you swim like a fish."
"Yeah, but you sink like a rock and weigh as if you're made out of granite," Sai answered. I looked over at him. He was
breathing hard and his eyes were closed.
In a few minutes, his breathing slowed and I knew he had fallen asleep. I let out a small laugh and looked around. A dense
forest surrounded the river on both sides. They wouldn't be able to track us in jeeps or from the air. We could afford a few
minutes of sleep. I propped myself up against a tree. "One of us should stay awake," I thought aloud. But the strain of the day's
events wore on me. I had helped save three kids from a fire, helped a wanted man escape from custody, and then almost
drowned... needless to say I didn't stay awake. I dozed off and never saw the attack coming.

SAI

I awoke with a start. Something was wrong. I sat up and looked around. Kento laid sprawled on the ground, a trail of blood
ran down his face. "Kento!" I cried out.
"He'll be okay," a voice said from behind me.
I turned slowly and faced the agent that had been hunting me. "He'd better be," I told him. Kento let out a small moan, which
reassured me that he was still alive. I glanced around and could see no other people. "Are there just the three of us? Where are
your cronies?"
"The chase for you has been called off," the man said. "The plane crashed due to engine failure."
I couldn't hide the relief I felt. "See, I told you I didn't know anything."
The agent quickly pulled me to my feet and said, "Why... why you out of all those passengers?"
"I don't know.... there's more to this, isn't there?"
A tear escaped down one of the man's cheeks and suddenly he looked really old. "My wife and daughter were on that plane,"
he admitted. "They were one seat behind you... they and your parents were found together. You were found a hundred feet
away. How?" He pulled me over to the edge of the river and in the morning light, I could see one of my duffel bags. He let me
go and opened the bag, it was the one with the art supplies. He took out the tablet. The outside pages were ruined but the inside
ones were still readable. He flipped through the tablet and then showed me the picture of the old man and tiger. "There were
tiger footprints beside the place we found you," the agent said handing me the tablet. "Who is this man?"
"The Ancient," I said, finally making the connection. I looked at the picture and noticed the staff he carried. It had a series of
golden hoops that adorned the top of the pole. "That's it... that's the sound I heard," I said softly. I looked at the agent and then
quickly turned away. "That night a protective barrier surrounded me and put me into a deep sleep. While I was asleep, I heard
the sound of metal against metal. These hoops in the picture are the noises I heard. The Ancient saved me that night."
"You expect me to believe that?" the agent said with a sad smile. "Who is this Ancient? Where did you meet him? How did he
save you... and why couldn't he save my family or yours?"
"I've never met him. I have a knack of telling the future, the events usually come out as I draw. Why did he save me and no one
else... I don't know but attend to find out."
The man shook his head and then flipped over a couple more pages on my tablet. "What does this mean?"
I looked down, it was the picture of Kento and the armor. "That is our destiny," I said. "That was the reason I was spared. I'm
needed in a bigger scheme... one that a lot of people are involved in."
"Damn it, kid," the man said shaking his head. "You almost have me believing in this hocus pocus stuff." He turned away and
began to walk back toward town. "You take care of yourself while you save the world... okay?"
"I will and thank you," I told his retreating back. Kento let out another low moan and I bent to help him sit. He sat up slowly
holding his head. "Easy," I said.
"Woah, did you get the plate number of the bus that hit me?"
"Well, he was as big as a bus but it was the man that's been tracking me."
"What?!?" Kento said, suddenly fully awake. "Did you finally get rid of him?"
"In a way," I admitted. I walked over to the river to dampen my bandanna and then used the cloth to clean Kento's cut. "So
Kento of Hardrock, what now?"
Kento's hand grabbed my arm. "What did you say?"
I thought for a second and then repeated, "So Kento of Hardrock..."
"How did you know that and what is Hardrock?" Kento demanded. "Why does that name haunt my dreams and why does this
Ancient want us to come to him?"
I looked at him confused. "I have no idea what Hardrock is and no idea why the old man is calling us. Does the word Torrent
mean anything to you?"
"Other than downpour, cloudburst, deluge or flood?" Kento said with a grin. "No idea, why?" "That's the name I hear in my
dreams and it is a name of something. I'm sure of it." I tied Kento's own bandanna over the cut and then rinsed mine out. Then
after tying the cloth to my belt to dry, I walked back to Kento who was looking through the art tablet.
He looked up at me and gestured to the soaked duffel. "Where did you get this and what is this?" He held up the picture of
himself dressed in the armor.
"Hardrock," I said without thinking. "That's it! ...They're names of armors, but don't even ask how I knew that."
"I won't, but does this mean that I'll be wearing this chillin' armor?"
"Yeah, someday..." I looked through the bag... everything was ruined. I found a photograph of my parents and me dressed in
our costumes, but the water had destroyed it. I threw it down and kicked the bag in anger. "It's all ruined!"
I felt Kento's hand on my shoulder. "I'm really sorry," he said. "But there would have been no way you could have held on to
the bags and me too."
"You say that like I made the right decision," I said and then smiled a sad grin. "You were right it was just stuff, the bag would
have gotten wet no matter what. What do you say if we go find this old man?"
"Sounds like a good plan," Kento said as he handed me the sketchbook. "But let's go back to town first, I want to pick up a
couple of things and call a girl about a car."
I thought about pitching the sketchbook, but without the photograph it would be the only pictures I had left of my family. So I
tucked the tablet under my arm and followed Kento back to the city.

KENTO

We made good time and were back in town before lunch. Sai hadn't spoken the whole trip back except to answer questions
when I asked. I looked over at him as we found our way back to the bridge, he seemed a million miles away. "Earth to Sai..." I
said waving my hand in front of his face.
He jumped back startled. "Sorry," he said with a sad smile. "I was just thinking."
"About what? You got any more bad vibes heading our way?" I asked. "How in the world do you endure knowing what's going
to happen? I mean couldn't you stop your parents from getting on the plane?"
The pain my words caused him flashed in his eyes before he looked away. "I've tried to change what I draw . . . the end results
are always the same. It doesn't alter anything! I knew we weren't going to make the show that night, but I thought it would
because of a plane delay... I didn't know." We were under the bridge. Sai leaned against the wall with his face shielded from
me. His hand slowly traced the picture of his mother. "I'm sorry... Mother, Father..." His shoulders began to tremble.
He was crying. The words of Yoshi came back, "Crying is for babies. It shows weakness." I had not seen any weakness in
Sai when he had kept me from drowning or when he had saved those kids.
"Come on, Sai. Pull it together, you're better than this."
My words went unheard to the grief stricken teen. He sank to his knees and covered his face. "I should have... I could have...
but I didn't and now they're dead. You're right, it was all my fault."
His words came out in a jumble. I dropped down in front of the weeping teen and ripped his hands from his face. His eyes
remained closed but the tears still fell. "Look at me, damn it!" His red brimmed eyes opened but then his head dropped as tears
continued to flow. I gripped his jaw and jerked his head back up. Our eyes locked. "Pull yourself together," I demanded.
"We've got places to go, we don't have time for tears." He shoved my hand away and stood. "That's more like it," I said
standing.
His fist came down suddenly and unprovoked, knocking me back and into the stream. I stood up choking in the waist high
water. "You cold-hearted... jerk!" Sai screamed. Then he turned and fled.
The beast inside of me struggled to be freed, but for the first time ever I was able to control it. I followed Sai through the park
until he fell beneath a tree next to a pond. The teen was exhausted. I came up from behind him and stood watching the ducks on
the pond. His tears had stopped and all I heard were the deep shaky breaths he struggled to take.
"I'm sorry my tears offended you, Kento," he said looking up. "But they helped me... I'm done now."
I looked down at his bloodshot eyes, he was worn out. "Hey to each their own," I said offering him my hand. "Let's go back to
the bridge and you can catch up on some Z's, while I run a couple of errands."
Sai agreed and after he was tucked away under the support of the bridge, hidden from view, I hurried into town. The first place
I went to was the bank. Yoshi and I had an account together and had been saving for a house. I cleaned the account out. From
there, I called Leah but the cops had already given the car back to her. I told her goodbye again and reassured her we were
both okay. After I hung up, I went to an art supply store and bought some of everything. I think the clerk must have thought I
was loony. I had no idea of the kind of stuff Sai worked with, so I just had the clerk fill a back pack with paint, chalk, and other
art materials. As I walked back to the park, I stopped and bought a couple of sandwiches from a vendor. Sai hadn't probably
eaten since the hospital.
I climbed below the bridge to find Sai's blankets empty. I panicked for a moment and then spotted him down by the stream
drawing. As I walked toward him, he looked up, smiled, and gave me a quick wave. He closed the tablet as I knelt beside him.
He looked ten times better than he had, the nap had revived him. The spark was back in his eyes. "Here's lunch," I said handing
him the bag. As he ate, I asked to look at his drawing.
He shrugged and opened the tablet. The drawing showed four armors with a fifth one started. I recognized one of the armors
from the sketch he had done of me. "There are five of us," Sai said. "But the fifth one isn't coming in real clear yet, must be a
while until we meet him."
"Which one are you?" Sai looked over my shoulder and pointed to the one with a single horn down the middle of the helmet. In
its hand was a trident with three blades. "Looks like a dorsal fin," I said pointing to the horn. Then I tossed the bag I carried
onto his lap. "This is for you."
Sai opened the backpack and his mouth dropped in shock. I watched as he began to inspect the supply. "Kento... how could
you afford all of this? Thank you!"
"I had money stashed away and I did ruin all of your other things."
Sai found the colored pencils and pulled them out. He began to add color to the picture he had started. I watched silently. The
first one was an emerald green, the next was royal blue, and then he started mine. He reached for the orange pencil. "What,
orange!?" I said.
Sai looked up and smiled. "Hey orange ain't that bad, you could have been pink." Sai's armor was a light blue and the next one
he added a few stokes of red but stopped. "I'm not sure how it looks... yet."
"Who are we? What are we supposed to be doing?"
Sai shrugged his shoulders and looked over at me then said, "Why don't we go ask an old man?"

SAI

We headed out of town walking into the setting sun. When asked, Kento had pointed in the same direction I had on which way
we should go. It was like we both could feel a homing beacon pulling us. As evening neared, Kento who was leading, suddenly
stopped. He turned and grabbed my arm pulling me into some bushes alongside the road.
"What the..." My words were cut off as Kento's hand slammed shut over my mouth. I could still feel the marks on his palm from
the last time he had tried to silence me. This time though I didn't struggle and looked to where he pointed.
On the edge of the road we had been walking on, a taxi had pulled over. The driver got out of the car to open the back door.
He yanked out a struggling teenager. The blond-haired teen slammed a fist into the driver stunning him. Before the older man
could recover, the teen flipped him over his shoulder and onto the ground. The boy was dusting himself off when from the
woods stepped a group of men.
"Pretty good, kid," one of the men said. "Masao radioed us and said he had an easy mark." The men began to surround the
teen. "He also said you're a little rich kid. If you empty your pockets, then turn and walk away, we'll let you live."
The teen turned toward us to face the one talking. I jerked Kento's hand from my mouth and turned to face him. "We got to
help him..." I whispered.
"Why? He looks like he could use a few knocks... little rich boy..."
"Kento, he's one of us!"
"One of us... us, as in armor-covered us?" Kento asked looking the teen over again.
I pulled away from Kento and walked out onto the road. "Good evening, gentlemen," I said.
"Whatcha' doing wandering these roads at night, little one?" one of the men asked. "You just keep on going and leave us to our
games."
"I'm afraid I can't do that..." I said setting down my bag. "You see, Halo there is a friend of mine."
The fair-haired teen looked over at me in shock. Then a smile crossed his lips and he nodded his head.
"Hey, ten to three... anyone want to place a bet on who's going to win?" Kento said stepping out of the shadows.
"Who in the heck are you?!" someone called out.
"You can call me Kento... of Hardrock!" he cried, launching himself at the nearest foe. I was so busy watching Kento I almost
didn't see the man until it was too late. His fist barely missed me as I ducked and rolled. My foot caught him in the gut as I
tumbled.
"Duck, Halo!" Kento shouted. I turned to see Kento throw someone over Halo. The unfortunate man collided into a couple of
guys who had the teen cornered. All three went down in a jumbled heap. Halo gave Kento a wave of thanks. Then he launched
a stone that he had been holding over Kento's shoulder and struck an attacker who had gotten behind him. The blow knocked
the man out cold.
"Let's get out of here!" the driver of the cab yelled. A couple of his cronies crowded into the car, while the others ran into the
woods. They left the unconscious man lying on the ground.
"Wait!" the blond screamed as the car took off.
I ran over to where he stood and laid a hand on his shoulder. "What is it?" I asked.
"My stuff is still in the trunk," the teen said disgustedly. Just then the car did a U-turn and headed back our way. I was blinded
by the glare of their lights and froze in fear.
One minute I was about to become a hood ornament. And the next second, I was slammed in the side by what felt like a freight
train and knocked out of harm's way. I watched the taillights disappear around the curve. Then I turned and looked at Kento
who laid where he had fallen. One arm encircled me and the other was wrapped around the blond teen.
The teen pushed Kento's arm off him and groaned. "Man... I bet you just gave me one heck of a bruise, Goliath."
"Well, it was either that or you would have become a permanent part of the grill of that car," Kento said pushing himself off the
ground. "Hey, you okay?" he asked offering me a hand.
I took it and let him pull me to my feet. I rubbed my side and smiled. "Nothin' broken." I looked over at the blond teen, who
stood looking down at the unconscious man. "You're welcome," I said sarcastically as I walked over to retrieve my pack.
The teen ignored me. Kento walked over and said, "are you sure he's one of us?" I opened my pack and showed him the
picture I had drawn earlier. It was a drawing of the teen in the dark green armor. "Damn..." Kento mumbled, "Halo, huh?"
I nodded and then walked over to where the one in question was kneeling down beside the fallen crook. I noticed he was
checking for a pulse. "He dead?"
"No... but he could have been. I've really got to be more careful." The teen stood and extended his hand. "You already know
me, but please call me Sage. Can you explain how you know me and what my dreams are?"
"My name is Sai... of the Torrent," I added. "I can't tell you what the dreams mean."
"Then how did you know about Halo?" Sage asked.
"Well, that's going to take awhile to explain," Kento said breaking his silence.
"Well," Sage said looking around, "It doesn't look like I have any other pressing business to attend to... now would be a good
time to elucidate what you do know."
"Elucidate?" Kento said raising an eyebrow. "How about if I just explain?"
I interrupted the duo and reminded them that we had to find a place to camp for the night. Dusk was almost upon us. We left
the road, afraid the others might return, and headed up the mountain. We stopped at a shallow stream.
"Well, this looks like a good place," Kento said throwing down the duffel he had been carrying. We had packed it with the bare
essentials before leaving Toyama.
"I'll go gather some wood for a fire... Sage, why don't you clear out the rocks and twigs underneath that tree for our blankets," I
said walking into the woods.
"Man, this will be a new experience for me," Sage said as he started. "But hey, I wanted adventure."
That evening we explained about my talents and what had led us to the mountains. Sage listened and added a few ideas of his
own, before we bedded down for the night.
"Well, there are two more of us out there somewhere," I whispered as I watched the dying fire. I received no answer and soon
faded off to sleep.

KENTO

We continued up the mountain the next morning. Sage seemed to accept the loss of his material items pretty easily for a rich
boy. Seems his father was some kind of industrialist in the land down under, Australia. He had been dreaming or 'called to' for
about a week, before he left on his father's private jet... go figure. So our team consisted of a circus performer, a street rat, and
the million-dollar boy. "Who else..." I wondered. "Perhaps an axe murder or maybe even a... female?!"
"Hey, Kento," Sage yelled back. "We have a problem."
I hurried to catch up to him and Sai. Then groaned when I saw the problem. A huge ravine was between us and the top of the
mountain. "Are you guys sure we have to go up there?"
"Yep," they answered together. We walked over and looked down the chasm, far below a mountain stream snaked through.
"Look over there," Sai said pointing, "a bridge!"
We headed to the bridge. However the closer we got, I realized bridge was too good of a word for it. It looked like twine with
a few rotten planks of wood. When we finally reached it that was exactly what it was. Sai took an unsteady step out onto the
bridge. It shifted slightly but the board held. I reached up and pulled him back. "I'm the heaviest... I'll go first." Before he could
object, I stepped out onto the bridge. The planks held as I worked my way across. It took all my dignity not to kiss the ground
after I reached the other side.
The other two decided to cross together, Sage went first while Sai followed. I had been carrying the packs so they had both
hands to steady themselves. We were so concerned about the plank's sturdiness that we failed to check the ropes. I looked
down in time to see the rope on the left side break. "Sai! Sage!" I screamed.
They had quick reflexes though and both had grabbed the remaining rope as the boards gave out. Sai swung himself up onto the
rope and crossed his legs so he dangled upside down. Sage followed his movements and soon they were inching their way
closer. However, they were still about five feet away when the rope they clung to came undone on the far side. They
disappeared out of my view as they fell. Neither made a sound. I hurried to the edge and looked down, afraid to see what had
happened. I let out a cry of surprise. About eight feet down, Sai was hanging upside down with one of his legs twisted in the
rope, in his outstretched hands hung Sage.
"Pull yourself up, Sage," I cried. I knew Sai wouldn't be able to hold the teen too long. Sage got a foothold in the tangled ropes
and then, with Sai's help, worked himself over the snarled teen. Sage slipped once and grabbed a hold of Sai's waist to steady
himself. Only I could see the silent scream Sai held in as Sage regained his footing. I reached down in a moment and pulled
Sage the remaining few feet. He fell to the ground exhausted. I let him lay and leaned back over the ledge. Sai hadn't moved.
"Come on, Torrent, move your butt!" I yelled.
"Kento, the rope!!" Sage yelled leaping up. He caught the end of the remaining rope as it unraveled itself from the pole that held
it. I reached over and added my own strength to keep Sai from falling. The rope was flimsy and I felt it cutting into my hands.
"Sai!" I yelled as the rope slipped. "I can't hang on!"
"But I can." A bright blue armored-covered hand enclosed over the rope. I turned to face the hero, who held onto the rope
easily with one hand. He looked a little older than I did and had the weirdest colored hair . . . it was silver but looked almost
blue. He was dressed in blue and white metal body armor that covered him from the neck on down. He started to pull the rope
hand over hand pulling Sai to the top. All of the sudden the rope jarred to a stop and Sai let out a scream. I ran over and
looked down, Sai still hadn't pulled himself up and now the broken bridge was tangled in a tree that had grown out of the rock.
The newcomer pulled again and once more Sai let out a yell of pain. "Stop it!" I cried at the blue-haired teen. Then looking
down, I yelled, "Sai pull yourself up... you can do it!"
"Sor... ry... can't..."
I started thinking of a way to reach the trapped teen when the newcomer tied the rope he had been holding a few times around
a sturdy tree and then walked over to the ledge. "Well, if he can't come to us," the teen said with a smile. "Then I'll go to him."
Before I could do anything, he jumped... over the edge. Sage met me as we both looked over the ledge of the ravine. We
watched in awe as the teen reached out and grabbed hold of the wall of the cliff. He had fallen almost twenty feet below Sai. He
flipped from one side of the cliff to the other making inhuman length jumps. He landed behind Sai and slowly sat him up. Sai
came to and grabbed a hold of the rope, as the other worked on untangling his leg. When the teen finished, I could see them
talking but Sai's head kept shaking no.
"Sai's leg is cut up pretty bad from the rope," Sage said. "How is he going to be able to climb up?"
We watched as Sai let go of the rope and wrapped his arm around the neck of the armored-covered teen. With a little more
prompting, Sai unwrapped his remaining arm so the other supported his full weight. "Clear out ... we're coming up!" the teen
warned.
We barely had time to roll out of the way before he catapulted out of the gorge. He crashed to the ground absorbing most of
the shock. I hurried over and pulled Sai off. His one leg was cut and bleeding from where the rope had dug into him.
"Quick, we need to stop the bleeding," the teen said standing. "Do you have any blankets... he could go into shock."
Sage tore through the pack and dragged out a couple of blankets. We used one to cover the leg, the other we wrapped around
my dazed friend. I went to pick him up, when the other stopped me. "I can carry him easier than you can."
"Where?" I asked looking around.
"There's a temple over that ridge there," he said pointing. "And someone who can treat his wounds." He bent down to pick Sai
up.
"Wait," I said stopping him again, "who are you?"
"Strata..." Sai mumbled.
"Another one of us?" I asked.
"Strata is the name of the armor I'm wearing, please call me Rowen." He picked Sai up and headed into the woods. "Come on,
our destiny awaits."
I looked over at Sage, who just shrugged his shoulders and bent down to pick up Sai's bag. I retrieved the other one and
followed Rowen of the Strata to the temple of the Ancient.
"So tell me, why didn't you use the wooden bridge down by the road?" Rowen asked over his shoulder. "I wouldn't have used
that death trap."
"Sorry, we left our road map at home," I said. Sage stopped suddenly and I ran into his back. Looking over his shoulder, I saw
a large stone yamadera, or mountain temple, in the distance. "Well," I said to myself, "time to see exactly what fate has planned
for me."
 

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