"Ronin Warriors: Dark Dreams"
By Jinx&Jedi
Epilogue
He was facing Talpa again, this time without his father or
the other Warlords. His childs mind was fluttering with fear and
nervousness; but there was also pride. Alexander was taking the report of
the battle to Master Talpa. His first in what would eventually become a regular
activity.
He stops at the wide doors, waiting respectfully. Master
Talpa knew he was here, but was obviously testing his patience.
"Enter." Comes Talpas deep, gravelly voice through
the relatively thin wood. The doors swing open on their own, and Alexander
steps into the darkness of the throne room.
He walks in, careful to be respectful. Last time he had
been disrespectful; Emperor Talpa had been amused.
Last time.
He stops in front of the Dynasty Emperor and bows, keeping
his eyes trained on the floor.
"Alexander Shuten Koma. What do you have for me?"
He straightens, keeping his right fist tight against his
chest, his left hanging at his side: Like his Father and Cale had shown
him.
"Master Talpa. The Warlords send word that the Dessanin
sovereigns are ready to join you, Sire." His six-year-olds voice sounds
strange in the echoing throne room.
"Excellent!" He turns to a little girl standing beside him.
Her empty and vacuous eyes stare at him eerily. She looks up at Talpa as
if he had spoken to her. She blinks stupidly, but then Alexander sees someone
he had only heard referred to and whispered about: Lord Badamon. He points
at the girl and she vanishes in a flicker of blackness.
The Priest of Darkness stares right at Alexander and nods
at him. Alexander forces himself to bow.
"This child could be extremely useful, Emperor
Talpa."
Alexander feels the hair stand up on the back of his neck.
His rudimentary telepathic abilities pick up things he wished he hadnt
known. The air in the throne room smells dead like a tomb and all his telepathy
can pick up is a sense that reeks like rotting meat. He doesnt know
what that means, but he knows it cant be good. The paranoia that Cale
had drilled into him starts doing the multiplication tables.
Then Master Talpas attention turns back to his young
messenger. "Tell me, Child. Do you desire to join your Father in battle?
We begin our assault on the Mortal World very, very soon."
His childs face must have become flushed with excitement,
because Talpa laughs. "Then you shall!!!" The Emperor booms, still
laughing.
Master Talpa tells him of what he is to do in the assault.
There are apparently, people who would resist him; he was to hunt them down.
And kill them . . .
NOT MY FRIENDS!
Alex wakes up with a jolt, tears running down his face. He
hurts all over, but his head hurts the worst. It feels like the worst case
of migraines that could even be conceived. Hes thankful its early
morning and still dark, but the sound of Kentos snoring makes up for
it. Was it all a dream? He wonders. Hed dreamed other things
before, so why not all that pain. However, the memory of Talpa and Badamon
feels like a festering sore on the surface of his mind. He curls up into
a fetal position and breathes deep, trying to resubmerge the telepathically
enhanced memory and dull the pain. Remembering was childs play. Forgetting
was; for all intents and purposes, impossible.
A hand comes to rest on his shoulder, and his still crippled
telepathy automatically catches the persons surface thoughts. Concern,
worry, and warm-heartedness pervade his mind.
"Alex, time to get up. Weve gotta get up before Kento,
or there wont be breakfast!" Ryo whispers, offering him a water bottle
and some migraine medication.
Alex accepts them gratefully and drinks deeply to help down
the medication. "Where am I?"
"Home." Ryo keeps his voice to a dull whisper, and then pauses.
"You okay?"
Alex winces in pain as he sits up, his joints cracking from
laying for so long. "Yeah."
Alex wanders down the hall to the bathroom to get a shower and go
about his morning business. He looks at himself in the mirror and wonders
where he got the clothes hes wearing from, and when hed gotten
a haircut. Hes wearing a No Fear shirt; new from the look of it. He
likes it though: it reads "Reality is Virtual" on the back with a montage
of pictures of CAT scans, x-rays, and computer crap. He picks at the white
piping on the side of his black athletic pants, wrinkled from sleep,
thoughtfully. "Duh." He says softly and silently chides himself. Of course
Ryod taken time to get him normal clothes, so he didnt look like
a total alien - "What?"
He moves his head suddenly and there it was again. A sparkle
coming from one of his ear lobes. He leans in close to the mirror to get
a look at the earring. It was little more than a loop of wire that barely
made it around his ear with a miniature hematite bead on it, with Dessanin
symbols written on it. The symbols simply said: "Quake with Fear."
Then his shirt brushes his forearms, and his arms sting. He
looks down at them in astonishment. Running from wrist to elbow on the inside
of his arms arm two long, wide scabbed cuts.
"Um, Ryo?" Alex calls, unable to tear his gaze away from the
cuts.
Ryo pokes his head in the door, his toothbrush still jammed
in his mouth. "Huh?"
"Whered I get these?" Alex asks, holding up his arms
for the older boy to see and then points to his earring.
Ryo walks over and spits the mouthful of frothy toothpaste
out of his mouth. "I thought you knew, you were awake."
"I dont remember." Alex turns back around and washes
his hands.
Ryo shrugs and rinses his mouth out from his own water bottle.
"You were sick, and apparently the cuts were part of the treatment. Cale
said youd have short term memory problems for a few weeks. Nothing
bad. He said by the end of the month, you should be back to normal. And you
got the jewelry a couple days ago."
"Uh-huh."
"By the way . . . Kento was wondering. How old are you, anyway?"
Alex snags his own toothbrush and shrugs, "Turned thirteen
a few months ago."
Ryo knits his eyebrows together; he would have to have a serious
talk to the guys. They had thought that Alex was fourteen, but he was a whole
year younger than Cye whos still fourteen. "You look older than that.
Cale first said you were fourteen."
"He forgets a lot. Hes too used to immortals."
Ryo leaves Alex to his shower and puts his slippers on, taking
the steps two at a time down to fix breakfast.
After his shower, Alex takes the steps at a breakneck speed,
his still damp hair slicked back so it would dry right. Kento was waking
up! Ryo told him that hed have to make it downstairs before Kento to
get any breakfast! Ryo, Rahne, and most of the guys (except Rowen) are already
down there, busy shoveling food into their mouths.
Ryo hands him his plate and fills it with a large omelet and
a side of bacon. Alex sits beside Sage and begins to eat. He never realized
how hungry he was, until now.
Suddenly the earthquake hits: Kento comes barreling through
the door.
"AWWW YEAH!!! FOOD - FOOD!!!!!!! I AM STARVIN!!!!" He
bellows as Ryo hands him the largest plate in the kitchen, absolutely heaped
with food.
Alex gets halfway through his breakfast when Yuli comes in.
He sees Alex and immediately takes a seat next to him. Ryo shoves a plate
in front of Yuli, complete with a sticky bun that Yuli tears into with gusto.
The kid stares at him, watching his every move. Alex shifts nervously in
his seat, and covers up a blush by getting a drink and blinking as if hed
just got that rush from drinking the cold milk after eating the hot eggs.
"Im gonna get an earring when I get older." Yuli says,
reaching up in an attempt to play with the small ring in Alexs ear.
Alex leans his head away from the rug-rats sticky hands.
"Please dont. Your handsre a mess." Alex says quietly,
trying not to let his shyness embarrass him. That pierce was still fresh,
and that couldnt be good for it. Yuli looks at his fingers and sticks
them one by one in his mouth to clean them. Alex looks at him in panic. Sage
chuckles at him.
"Keep your hands to yourself, Yuli." Sage tells him, swatting
his hands away from Alex.
"Yeah. Cmon, Yuli, youre being rude." Cye adds,
intercepting Yulis next attempt.
Yuli immediately tries again. Kento abandons his food momentarily
and pulls Yulis chair away to the end of the table.
The guys were mildly amused at the situation.
Alex reaches out to Sages mind to figure out what happened.
The pierce was a conversation piece for everyone else, even though he
didnt remember when he got it. Miss Koji mustve been spitting
nails though, if what he was picking up from the guys was correct.
Ryo, Rahne, and himself had gone shopping for clothes for him,
and hed gotten the pierce as a spur of the moment thing. Hed
come home and had managed to sneak in without Mia noticing. Then shed
come in with a note from his Uncle and he hadnt been quick enough to
hide it.
Now Yuli idolized him even more because hed broken the
rules.
Alex whispers a "thank you" to Kento and looks down at his
plate.
"You look a lot like your Dad. Can you teach me Go? He said
he would, but then the Dynasty started doing these bad things and we had
to go recue the guys when . . ."
"Umm, I dont know how. That was my Dad, not me. Ask Rowen,
he was trying to teach me last night." Alex murmurs, picking at his food.
"You dont know how!?" Yuli cries out, almost climbing
onto the table.
Sage rolls his eyes as Alex leaps to his feet as Rahne leaves
her seat down by the opposite end of the table to get away from Yuli. Shes
barely gotten up, before Alex slips into the seat she just vacated.
Rahne puts her dishes away and leans over her brothers
shoulder. She rolls her long braid up into a bun and sticks a pencil through
it. "We still on for practice? Remember, no White Blaze this time."
Her twin brother nods, shoveling food quickly into his
mouth. His eyes are sparkling in anticipation. "Dont worry, hell
be out playing with Yuli."
"Hed better. Im not letting you cheat this time."
Ryo gives her a hurt look. "Me? Cheat? Never, what sort of
a brother youd take me for?"
Rahne rolls her eyes expressively, "Mine. Who I know too well."
Ryo grins and chugs his milk. He wipes his mouth and eats his
last few bites.
They run out of the house, summoning their sub-armors. Rahne
still couldnt summon her full armor, nor did she know its sure
kill. She needed a lot of practice before she could do that. They decided
last night on doing this by the lake on the higher bank on the opposite side
of the lake from the house. Ryo warms up opposite his sister, watching her
fluid movements. He couldnt wait!
They stand opposite each other like they did the first time
when Ryod won. They bow to each other and take up fighting stances.
"Careful. Waters deep here, remember." Rahne advises
him.
Ryo whips his foot out in a high kick. She blocks it easily,
never taking her eyes off his face. He tries several punches and kicks, and
each time she either dodges or blocks.
When Rahne tries a punch, Ryo catches her arm and gently flips
her over his head.
She rolls with the fall, laughing a little in surprise.
Ryo lashes out with a round kick.
Rahne steps sideways and forward. She strikes the inside of
his thigh, causing his momentum to spin him around in the opposite direction
he wanted.
He stumbles to a stop and laughs at her, feeling a little nervous,
given the proximity to the area where it really would have hurt.
She smiles at him, her eyes sparkling from his reaction.
~ Dont go there, please. ~ Ryo signs, hurriedly stepping
out of the way of her next punch. He blocks her next volley of punches playfully.
"Wouldnt dream of it, Bro." She replies with a laugh.
She gives him a large raspberry and performs cartwheel out of his way.
Ryo laughs, lunging at her in an attempt to tackle her. A large
streak of white and black flashes out of nowhere with an excited roar, knocking
both of them into the drink.
White Blaze immediately turns and swims back to shore, looking
very smug for a tiger. The Twins surface and begin treading water.
"What was that about him playing?" Rahne asks, parting the black
curtain of saturated hair with her hands.
"Oh, shut up." Ryo mumbles through his own mess of wet hair.
"Will not."
"You better."
"Make me!"
Ryo splashes a small wave at her.
Rahne returns it with a funny, sideways look.
They turn away from each other. And swim closer to the more
gradual shoreline. When their feet finally tough the bottom, Ryo splashes
Rahne again. Rahne gasps in mock anger, and splashes him back. Then, Ryo
and Rahne start splashing each other; their laughter filling the air.
The End