Chapter 9
Midday, the next day, Cye decides to go swimming. Rahne and Kento, as typical, go with him; even though Kento still can’t swim.
Cye races his friends down to the water and dives right in. Rahne sprints after him and cannonballs off the dock. Kento throws on the breaks and goes to the water’s edge to wade.
The afternoon sun filters down through the water; the water shimmering with ripples of light. Cye shows Rahne all the fish he can call to him. He can see by the delight in her eyes that she’s enjoying this. Her dark hair, held semi-captive in a long ponytail, drifts with the slight underwater current like the long tail of a comet. While Cye’s own sandy-colored hair drifts only a little, but seems to glow auburn in the underwater light. She treads water beside him as a huge trout swims right up to Cye. Her eyes seem to sparkle with their own light.
They go up for air and then dive as deep as they can go.
Cye tries to remember that his friend can’t hold her breath as long as he can. He glances back at her. She’s keeping up okay so far.
Then something dark and shadowy flashes by his vision. His back suddenly hurts like white fire. Rahne grabs his wrist and starts kicking for the surface before he can react. Something dark looking sits on the waters surface, Rahne kicks for it. It takes Cye a moment to realize that it’s the off-shore diving platform he made. Cye gasps as he hauls himself onto it while Rahne, who’s the better climber, vaults right up onto it.
"What happened?" Rahne asks, massaging his back. Her hands feel startlingly warm against his cool skin.
"Dunno." Cye breathes, looking down at the dock; trying to catch his breath. He reaches around to feel his lower back. "Hurts like crazy though . . ."
Rahne furrows her brow, she hadn’t understood a word he just said. "Didn’t break the skin. Probably just a cramp or a pinched nerve."
‘ "Pinched nerve" . . .oh shit!’ Cye brushes Rahne’s hands away, and calls on his armor. As he pushes Rahne behind him, he hears laughing. "ZANATON! Come out you creep!"
Kento paces back and forth on shore in full armor, watching this, but unable to get out there. Neither of them are about to send Rahne across the water when there was a Dynasty dork who could drown her with just a thought. But she was right out in harm’s way out there!
Rahne can’t understand what’s being said, but she can just about taste Cye’s sudden revulsion. Cye yells something, brandishing his yari in a direction that looks empty. On shore she sees Kento suddenly the most furious that she’s ever seen him. Then a dark cloud seems to form over the water about twenty or so feet from the platform. Suddenly it shifts and then a boy’s there, floating in the air over the water.
Rahne knows it’s one of the things the guys are fighting; but he looks way too familiar. Then she remembers . . . he’d been in every nightmare she’s had recently.
The boy laughs and Rahne feels the back of her bathing suit start to rip, plunging lower and lower. The neckline of starts to strain outward, as if an invisible hand had grabbed in and was trying to rip it. Cye grabs her wrist and pulls her till she’s tight against his armor. The rip immediately stops it’s descent. Rahne wraps her arms around Cye’s neck and presses tight to him, forgetting decency.
The armor shifts as Cye takes a deep breath and yells something angrily again to the boy across the water.
Cye suddenly turns and wraps his arms around her, and pushes both of them into the water. Rahne struggles, a little as they slip underwater. She hadn't gotten a breath!! However, Cye simply presses her face tight to his armor; to her surprise she can breathe. Like a whisper in her mind that seems to come right from the water surrounding her, she can hear Cye’s voice:
(Keep your face right against my armor, I can only extend my armor’s influence just so far)
Cye looks back up to see the platform explode in a wash of orange light into thousands of little pieces. An unbelievably strong current rips him off his feet. He holds Rahne tighter as he feels her start to panic. He whispers again using his armor’s power.
(It’s okay! It's okay! It’s only Kento. He’s getting rid of our uninvited guest)
He takes both of them to shore, and carefully out of the water. Rahne’s face is pale with barely controlled fear. Cye’s armor disappears under her arms, and he rests his forehead against hers, visibly shaken. He lets go of her and helps her to shore.
"Didn’t get the bastard!" Kento rumbles, as he jogs up to them.
Kento immediately turns her around so he can check her back. With a snarl more felt than heard he wraps a bath sheet around her shoulders. He too looks shaken, his face ashen with a mixture of disgust and anger.
That had gone way too far.
The others came running in full armor, sensing the use of the armors and the Iron Rock Crusher.
"You guys okay!?!?" Sage yells when he gets within hearing distance.
"Yeah! He tried . . . something, but we’re okay!" Cye yells back, shedding his armor. He feels no chill as the sub-armor warms and protects him, but Rahne shivers slightly as the water dries. She shivers a little harder, and removes the towel from her shoulders to dry herself off.
Ryo nearly bowls over his sister, and suddenly finds Rowen in between them.
"Calm down, Ryo! You could hurt her if you grabbed her like that!!" Rowen explains hurriedly, holding his hands up in a gesture of placation.
"Hey, why’s Rahne’s swimsuit torn?!" Yuli asks, squeezing between the warriors. "I can see her butt!!"
Kento’s hand seems to leap up of it’s own accord, every nerve in his body aching to slap the boy. Then with a force of will, he forces his hand down.
He had to get away . . . Kento runs, leaving everyone behind. Shouts and footsteps follow as at least two of them give chase.
Kento sheds his sub-armor as he bursts into the house, barely remembering to avoid the slippery floor rug. He runs upstairs, he needed to get away. His anger had passed the controlling point. He throws himself onto his bed and punches his pillow in a rapid barrage of powerful muscle and fists until he has that urge out of his system.
‘For God’s sake, I nearly hit Yuli!’ Kento thinks disgustedly. He stares down at his enormous hands and feels ill. He was too strong and too big to hit anyone smaller than he is. But then his temper had snapped.
Zanaton and his goons were after Rahney now. He isn’t sure what’s worse: His anger, or nausea.
Rahne means more to him than just a friend, she had passed that point a while back. She was like a sister to him. He loved that girl like he loved his own family. He would rather die than see her hurt. Zanaton had tried to satisfy some perverted fantasy out there. Only the Torrent Armor had saved her from that humiliation.
Against his will, he remembers how she had looked, unconscious and bleeding in Rowen arms. His imagination goes on overdrive on all the "What if?" questions floating through his brain. All the blood that was smeared on his arms as he carried her into the house rises unbidden to his mind. Her back had looked like raw meat, it had been torn up so badly by skidding across the gravel driveway. White Blaze had bitten Ryo as he had tried to treat his injuries. Sage and Mia had been busy, so he’d bandaged his arm. It had turned his stomach then, when he saw how deep the bite wound had gone.
Kento hiccups, his breath tasting foul and bitter, and tries to relax.
Kento’s stomach suddenly rebels against him. He rushes to the bathroom; trying to be quiet about it. He leans over the jon, shutting his eyes tight as he retches. When he’s finished, he sits on the floor; and tries to calm his upset stomach. He wishes for once that he didn’t eat so much. Blood didn’t usually bother him, but these two days had been different. He feels stupid: he was supposed to be the Warrior of Strength. That wasn’t anything close to the definition.
"Kento? It’s Cye." His best friend looks at him worriedly from the door.
"If yer wondering if I’m okay, the answer is no."
Kento gets up and brushes past Cye to get something for his stomach, avoiding the kitchen at all costs.
A week later.
The Ronin decided that it was no longer safe to leave the three armorless people at home anymore, but a counter-attack was necessary.
Dark greenish clouds blot the sky, turning the land dark looking. The land is eerily quiet and the sense of danger almost palpable. The Ronin Warriors lead the group as they walk towards the unknown danger in front of them. This time though, they have non-fighters to watch out for as well.
Rowen moves closer to Rahne, Mia, and Yuli. He doesn’t like having them here; it raised the stakes too high for his taste. Yuli reaches up and takes Kento’s hand.
‘Poor kid’s been scared out of his head since they tried to grab him.’ Kento squeezes his hand gently in reassurance. He looks ahead to see Rahne fingering the grips of the twin jitte Kayura had loaned her; very similar to the ones Kayura herself had once carried.
Kayura adjusts her grip on the Ancient’s Staff, she had felt a brief flash of truly evil intent a few minutes ago. It had felt like someone was laughing at them. They were after Rahne now, but that could only mean in addition to Yuli.
In a burst of steam and flying rock soldiers explode right out of the ground.
Kayura spears one with her Staff, while glowing webs of energy lance out in all direction from Dais.
Rahne pushes Mia and Yuli back away from the fight, slashing soldiers daring enough to attack them.
Ryo’s blades dart through the air, leaving a path of carnage in his wake. His armor sizzles as his foot encounters a small puddle.
The no-datchi shimmers in the air as Sage begins to unleash his Thunder Bolt Cut.
Rahne shields her eyes, trying to keep the light from them so she can fight. She’s surprised when Mia spins in a tight pirouette, clubbing then slashing a soldier intent on grabbing Yuli with her naginata.
Cye and Kento take on a whole group of soldiers hacking their way through them like they were mowing grass.
Arrows rain down all around. Rowen turns and uses his bow to take down an approaching soldier. He lunges over to his girlfriend and yells: "Get ‘em outta here! GO!" He could see the overwhelm tactic at work here again.
She pushes Mia and Yuli towards the empty area Cale just cleared for them with his Black Lightning Slash.
This was getting bad! Soldiers pour after them. The ground quakes a little as bolts of golden energy flash from Kayura’s Staff.
Rahne pushes Mia and Yuli faster. Close quarters combat wasn’t what she needed right now.
She brushes her pinkies across the jittes’ small pommels. The blades flash, then jump to their full length.
There’s that sense of danger again.
Rahne lunges forward to meet the soldier head on. She leaps, her blades slashing under her body in a figure eight pattern. There’s a burst of dark steam and the soldier collapses.
The ground suddenly leaps up to meet her as sparks from something fly. Kayura half lands on her; thrown backward by the axes downswing.
The girls climb to their feet, never taking their eyes off the soldiers.
The soldier wielding the huge battle axe circles them perniciously. Kayura makes a sweeping gesture to Rahne.
They charge, Kayura ducks under the youja’s guard, while Rahne leaps over him.
He falls to the ground in pieces.
Abruptly, all Kayura can see is sky. She hears Rahne shriek with surprise and fear.
A strange looking net looms in front of them. They hit with enough force to knock the wind out of them. It starts to give. The ground begins to rush towards them.
"Go limp! I have you!"
Dais. Kayura relaxes, noting that Rahne does the same.
He lowers them to the ground. Rahne hits the ground running, screaming something.
YULI.
Kayura vaults to her feet, following the other girl.
Rahne sprints down the alley, following the soldier who grabbed Yuli.
From out of nowhere, something strikes her like a massive torpedo, knocking her momentarily senseless. Hands close around her upper arm in a grip stronger than steel. With a shrill scream of anger, she fights as viciously as she can.
Somehow; impossibly, as her strength wears out, Rahne twists free. She feels a white-hot line of pain across the back of her neck, then a snap that jars her body.
The ground rushes up, Rahne’s feet skid on the pavement as she tries to run.
The person suddenly changes tactics and the arm snaps around her throat in a choke hold. Almost instantly, splotches of color stain her vision. With a great effort Rahne forces herself to calm down and turn her head to her assailants elbow. Before she can do anything, however, blackness creeps around the edges of her vision.
Then the death-grip releases; Rahne falls to her knees, gasping in huge lungfulls of air; feeling dizzy and sick. Her wrists are bound behind her.
Rahne looks back down the alley to see Yuli running to Kayura. She’s laying in a pool of blood, not moving. Then Kayura moves a little; Rahne can see her armor shifting a little as she breathes.
The Warriors and two Warlords rush down the alley they saw Rahne and Kayura duck down.
Yuli’s kneeling by an unconscious Kayura, he looks up at them in terror.
"GUYS!!! HE’S GOT RAHNE!!!"
Zanaton steps out of the shadows; using Rahne as a human shield, a knife pressed to her throat. "Your weapons; on the ground." He snarls, pressing the knife tight enough to draw blood. "Do it, or she's dead."
They put their weapons on the pavement watching him. Rahne was only half-conscious.
"Let my sister go!" Ryo bellows, his face tight with anger.
"Surrender. Then she’ll go free." Zanaton states, his face mocking.
Ryo sees Rowen slowly moving in the direction of his bow. He had to distract the creep. "First let me know she’s alright."
Zanaton grabs a handful of Rahne’s long, black hair and pulls viciously.
Rahne suddenly gasps with pain, coming fully aware. "R - Ryo!?"
Rowen flies against the wall of the alley as Zanaton sees him reach for his bow. He moves closer to their piled weapons, driving them back.
Ryo catches a glimpse as Rahne tries to move one of his katanas closer to her with her toes. He forces himself to ignore her so she can get a chance to free herself.
"No tricks now, or I give her a fatal smile." Zanaton draws the knife in a slashing motion near her throat. He moves just a little closer.
Rahne stomps on the handle of his katana like she was launching one of her batons for Gymnastics. It grazes Zanaton’s calf. He howls with pain, dropping the knife.
Rahne tries to make a run for her friends, but vanishes in a burst of light.
"RAHNE!!!!!!!!" Ryo screams futilely, seizing his katana as he rushes the warlord with murderous intent.
Zanaton fades away too, back to the where ever he came, leaving the Warriors standing in an empty alley.