"I can't!" Rumiya whispered. "I can't do it!"
"Don't give me that, girl!" a deep voice hissed.
{Wha . . . what's going on?} Sage thought groggily, trying to focus his mind, not to mention his eyes. He suddenly realized his hands were bound above his head. {No. No, please, not again.}
"I'm trying! I'm trying!" Rumiya snapped. "It's not working!"
"Try harder!" the other voice snapped back.
Sage managed to blink his eyes open. He saw, blurrily, Rumiya half-sitting, half-kneeling on the floor, concentrating fiercely. At random intervals, the kanji of Wisdom flashed briefly on her forehead. A hulking shadow stood menacingly over her. Sage blinked, trying to focus. He groaned slightly at the headache.
Rumiya abandoned her task and flew to his side. "Sage? Sage, please, just--just stay still!" she pleaded. Sage looked down at her, frowning.
"Ru?" he whispered. In some corner of his mind, he registered that she was wearing a traditional, formal three-layered kimono, but what he was really worried about were the tear streaks on her face and the smudge of a bruise on her cheek. "He hit you."
"Enough of this! You, wench, if you don't summon up the Halo armor, you'll both pay!" the shadow said.
"I told you, I can't!" Rumiya cried. "I tried and tried, and I just . . . I just can't!" Fresh tears slipped silently down her cheeks.
The shadow considered for a moment. "What will it take to get that armor?" it asked in a professional tone. Sage frowned.
{It's like he expects Ru to tell him--just like that!} he thought.
"The kanji orb," Rumiya said quietly. "If I had that, I could summon the Halo armor."
"Ru!" Sage gasped softly, shocked. Rumiya avoided his eyes.
The shadow grunted thoughtfully. "I'll see to it," it said. Then, with lightning speed, it captured Rumiya's arm. "Until then, wench, you can stay in your own little room!"
Rumiya cast a despairing look over her shoulder as she was dragged bodily from the room.
Ryo woke. Not that he had been sleeping much; with Sage missing, they were all losing sleep. {Wha . . . what woke me?} he thought. He sat up, looking around. He was just about to lie back down when there was a yell and a loud crash from Rowen's room.
"Guys!" Rowen yelled. "Get in here!"
Ryo streaked down the hall, bare feet flashing, his kanji orb clutched in his hand. Kento and Sai stumbled over each other from the opposite direction, already in their lower armor. Ryo threw Rowen's door open.
"It can't be!" Sai gasped.
"It--it is!" Kento whispered.
"A little help here, guys!" Rowen shouted at them. He was very busy fighting off a Dynasty soldier. His pajama top hung half-off his shoulders, and he strained to keep the thing away from the kanji orbs on his bedside table. Their stunned hesitation broken, the other three raced to his aid.
It was a matter of a few seconds to finish off the soldier with Sai, Kento, and Ryo in sub-armor. They pushed it out the window, watching as the greasy smoke that was its spirit dissipated into the night air. Rowen sat heavily on his bed, burying his face in one hand. "What a way to wake up!" he muttered.
"What happened, Ro? We couldn't--we couldn't feel a thing from in here!" Ryo said.
"I just . . . I heard something and woke up. I saw Ugly out there--" Rowen jerked his thumb at the window. "--reaching for Sage's kanji orb and tackled it. I dunno how it got in or anything, but . . . "
"Sage's orb!?" Ryo said.
Rowen nodded. "It bothers me that that thing knew Sage was missing . . . and Rumiya, too."
"They were probably together," Sai said suddenly.
"Alone," Kento drawled gleefully, making Sai blush.
"Kento!" he wailed.
"Admit it, Sai, that is what you meant!"
"Duh they were together," Ryo said sarcastically. "Would you two grow up!?" Sai and Kento stared at him, hurt. "Look, we don't have time for stupid games! We gotta find Sage, and we've got no idea where to look!"
"Ryo's right," Miya said. The boys glanced up sharply to see her standing in the doorway, wrapped in a white Chinese silk robe and bare of foot. "For once," she added dryly. Ryo flushed angrily.
"We got no time for your domestic squabbles, either, Ryo," Rowen pointed out firmly. "And there's one other thing bothering me . . . why didn't we all feel the goon when he first got here, and why can't we feel Sage--at all?"
Sage tugged absently at the chains that bound him. It never did any good, but it was a way to pass time. So was thinking, and what Sage thought about the most was Rumiya. He hadn't seen her in what had to be two days. He was worried about her--very worried.
The door to the cell swung open, admitting Rumiya. Sage brought his head up sharply. "Ru!" he exclaimed. "Ru, are you all right?"
"I'm fine," Rumiya responded in a subdued tone. Then the smells from the tray she carried washed over Sage, making his stomach growl, and she smiled. "Hungry?
"Just a little," Sage replied dryly. Rumiya smiled again and set the tray on the floor.
"Well, they absolutely refused to let you loose to eat, so I'll have to feed you," she said, offering a bite of rice with her chopsticks. Sage ate it greedily. "Not too fast, or you'll get cramps," Rumiya cautioned.
"I know," Sage responded, his eyes on the rice. Rumiya laughed, for the first time in days, from the rusty sound of it, and offered another bite. Sage didn't even chew.
"You act like--like Kento!" Rumiya said. Sage winced.
"Ugh! What a terrible thing to be told!" he said.
"But not to be doing, hmm?" Rumiya teased. Sage smiled and shook his head.
"Well, at least I'm not constantly fighting these," he replied, rattling the chains slightly. "That's just plain beyond stupid."
Rumiya lost her smile. "They want you alive, you know," she said softly. "So no one else can claim the armor before me." She lowered the chopsticks.
"Why are you helping them?" Sage asked gently. Rumiya dropped her eyes and made no response. Sage smiled slightly. "Could it be you actually care for me . . . just a bit?"
Rumiya moved away quickly, almost spilling the rice. "Sage, please, this isn't the time or place for this," she said sternly.
"What better time and place? We may both die any moment--how can we waste our time?" Sage urged. "Ru--"
"No, Sage. I can't tell you what you want to hear," Rumiya said, tears in her voice and her eyes. She was silent for a long moment before she continued. "H-How could you ever be sure . . . sure it wasn't the adrenaline, the--the danger of the situation?"
Sage sighed. "Rumiya, I won't stop saying I love you," he warned. "Because I do. I love you, with all my heart and soul. That won't ever change."
"Please, Sage, I--I can't bear this! Stop it!" Rumiya sobbed, covering her ears childishly. She fled then, leaving the tray behind, slamming the heavy door behind her.
Sage stared after her, and sighed.
The second attempt on Sage's kanji orb occurred two days later. This time, it was Sai who was attacked, while he was taking a walk in the forest. He managed to call for help, and Ryo, Rowen, and Kento went to his aide immediately.
When it was over, six Dynasty armors lay, empty, on the grass, and they all took a moment to catch their breath. Sai frowned suddenly. "That wasn't much of a fight," he said.
"They went down way too easy," Ryo agreed.
"It was like they were barely trying!" Kento complained.
Rowen's eyes widened suddenly. "Shit!" he cursed, drawing incredulous stares from his friends. "Sage's kanji orb!" He fled back towards the house. Ryo, Kento, and Sai, after a stunned instant, followed on his heels.
As they neared the house, they heard Miya scream. Ryo put on an extra burst of speed, passing even Rowen. He vanished into the house just as the others arrived on the scene.
Fully a dozen Dynasty armors lay on the lawn, with White Blaze cornering another, and Okamiko riding the back of likely her fifth or sixth victim. Even as they watched, Okamiko's victim fell to her wickedly sharp fangs. White Blaze tore up the other, and both animals collapsed, panting.
On a level the humans could not hear, White Blaze said, :Good fight, little sister.: Okamiko laid her head on her paws and let her tongue hang out in a canine grin. Sai came over to pamper them both a bit, while Rowen and Kento went inside.
Ryo was just taking care of the final Dynasty soldier when they arrived at Miya's den. He immediately turned to Miya. "Are you okay?" he demanded.
Miya climbed to her feet. "Of course I'm all right!" she spat. "But it would have been nice if someone had been here to protect me!"
"Well, excuse me for living!" Ryo yelled back. "You are not the only reason for our existence, you know! We do have other obligations!"
"So you run off without even taking Sage's kanji orb, which is what they were after--" Miya shouted.
"Aaahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!" she and Ryo both screamed as Kento tossed a bucket of cold water over them.
"Excuse me," Rowen said coldly. "But we do not have time for this. Give me Sage's kanji orb, Miya." He held his hand out imperiously. Miya, wide-eyed, handed over the kanji orb. "Now, we're all sick and tired of listening to the pair of you squabbling like five-year- olds. If you wanna tear each other apart, use swords. It's quieter." With that, Rowen spun on his heel and stalked out of the room.
"Uh . . . y'know, even Sai and I aren't as bad as you two," Kento said into the stunned silence. "You really oughta calm it down. You used to be friends--what happened?" With those words, Kento followed Rowen, though more quietly.
Ryo and Miya stared at each other, open-mouthed and wide-eyed.
Sage was dozing when he heard voices arguing just beyond the door. He raised his head, frowning, when he recognized one as Rumiya's. {What the . . . ?}
" . . . not working, Sharad! And it's your fault! Tasu will not be pleased with you!" Rumiya said sharply.
"You were the one who claimed you would be able to recall the armor!" the voice of the shadow from the first day of Sage's captor snapped back.
"I'll be able to--as soon as you get me that kanji orb!" Rumiya cried, her voice angry and frustrated.
"Why didn't he have it on him!?" Sharad replied.
"How am I supposed to know!?" Rumiya shot back stridently. "Maybe he forgot to pick it up that morning!"
"Our whole plan was based on his having it! Now my troops are being destroyed to fetch your precious artifact!"
"I cannot be useful to Tasu without the Halo armor! And you know his plans will fail without it!"
A slap echoed. "Speak no more such blasphemy, wench!"
"Strike me again, and I will take you apart with my bare hands," Rumiya purred dangerously. "I've played the part of the frightened prisoner long enough! I'm tired of your petty attempts to dominate me!"
"You'll do as you're told and you'll do it silently!" Another blow sounded. Several seconds later, there was a sharp groan from Sharad.
The door to the cell swung open, and Rumiya walked in, holding a well-laden tray in her hands. Sage briefly wondered, in some corner of his stunned mind, how she had stricken Sharad without even messing up the tray. Rumiya narrowed her eyes at him.
"So . . . you heard," she murmured. Sage was too shocked to pretend otherwise. He nodded. Rumiya drew herself up proudly. "Well, then . . . there's nothing more to be said about it." She fed Sage deftly. Sage ate automatically, trying to comprehend the enormity of Rumiya's defection.
Rumiya emptied the tray and turned to leave. Sage called out to her as she reached the door. "Ru . . . why?" His lavender eyes begged for some logical reason, some denial of the truth.
Rumiya looked over her shoulder and smiled cruelly. "Why not?" Then, she left Sage alone, his dreams turned to ashes, the bitterest of tears stinging in his throat and eyes.
Okamiko sat watching the dawn, her thoughts melancholy. She remembered times when she and Rumiya had run together through such a forest, Rumiya laughing, and herself playful and happy. She suddenly lifted her muzzle and howled mournfully.
Rowen rolled out of bed with a yelp as the mournful cry poured through the open windows. He heard other muffled cries of shock and alarm. He snatched up his robe and headed for the stairs, knowing they'd all meet in the dining room.
"What was that?" Miya breathed fearfully, her eyes wide. Ryo shook his head, his own eyes just as wide.
"It sounded like . . . Okamiko?" Sai said, frowning slightly. "But why would she be crying like that?"
"Maybe because Rumiya's missing," Kento offered, shrugging slightly.
"Whatever reason, that was a blood- chilling cry!" Rowen said, shivering theatrically. "Brought me out of a sound sleep!"
"'Bout the only thing that could," Ryo teased. Rowen rolled his eyes. Ryo turned to Sai. "Since we're all up, what's for breakfast, Sai?"
"Waffles!" Kento cheered, his eyes brightening. Sai rolled his eyes and headed for the kitchen.
"All right, all right," he sighed, muttering almost inaudibly as he left the room.
Miya sighed heavily. "Why does this sort of thing always have to happen to me?" she complained. "Why couldn't I have a nice normal life like other people?"
"You'd be bored out of your mind in no time, Miya," Ryo said. "What would you do for excitement and stuff?"
Miya narrowed her eyes, but a frigid glance from Rowen froze her before she could start in on Ryo. It also froze Ryo's superior snicker. {Well! I guess Rowen is serious about this!} Miya thought.
Rowen deliberately turned to Kento and started a conversation about some inconsequential topic until breakfast was ready, pointedly ignoring Ryo and Miya.
Okamiko raced across the thick, silent loam of the forest floor. Her paws barely seemed to touch the earth as she flew through the trees.
:Traitor!: An angry snarl was her only warning before White Blaze leapt from the shadows. Okamiko used her momentum to leap clear. :Traitorous bitch!:
:My loyalty lies with my mistress!: Okamiko shot back. White Blaze snarled again and pounced at her. Okamiko again leapt clear, springing free against the trunk of a large tree.
:You have no right!: White Blaze protested furiously.
:I have every right!: Okamiko returned. :I will do as my mistress needs me to do!:
White Blaze let out a furious roar and struck out. Okamiko barely managed to clear his claws. She dropped the Halo kanji orb and rushed in. White Blaze, unprepared for such insanity, was bitten before he knew what was going on. He reared back, letting out a pained cry.
Blood dripped from the tiger's foreleg. There was no way for him to put any weight on it at all. Okamiko, satisfied, snatched up the kanji orb and fled as fast as her paws could carry her.
White Blaze limped back to the house to have his hurt tended. As he nosed the door aside and slunk inside, Ryo came in from the living room. "White Blaze! Aw, you're hurt, boy!" Ryo fussed. He herded White Blaze into the dining room and tended to the wound.
"Ryo! Ryo, Sage's kanji orb is gone!" Rowen cried frantically, racing down the stairs. Ryo looked up sharply, then frowned over White Blaze's hurt.
White Blaze hung his head shamefully, knowing he had failed where he was most needed. Ryo inspected the wound closely, then looked up at Rowen. "Ro . . . this looks like Blaze was in a fight . . . "
"Okamiko!" Rowen spat, connecting all the parts at once. "And Rumiya's the traitor!"
"What was that I just heard?" Miya asked incredulously, entering with Sai and Kento and a load of groceries. She stared, wide-eyed, at Rowen and Ryo.
"Rumiya . . . she got that wolf of hers to steal Sage's kanji orb," Ryo said grimly.
"Then, that would mean . . . Rumiya's with the Dynasty!" Sai exclaimed, eyes widening. Rowen nodded grimly.
"And Sage is with her," he said softly.
Rumiya held up the kanji orb triumphantly. "At last!" she murmured. Sharad nodded impatiently. Both of them ignored Sage completely.
Sage watched bitterly. {This was all she ever wanted from me,} he thought caustically. {My armor. The bitch.} He narrowed his eyes at her.
A new, dark presence appeared beyond Sharad. Rumiya bowed deeply to it. "My lord Tasu," she murmured, a slight smile on her face. The shadowy figure inclined its head slightly. "Now, Sharad, witness what I can do with this!"
Rumiya focused all her concentration on the kanji orb. At first it was sluggish, not wanting to respond. Then, all at once, as if the armor itself had suddenly given in, Rumiya gained complete control. She summoned the lower armor with a thought.
"The Halo armor!" Sharad demanded. "Summon the full armor!"
"Patience, Sharad. Patience," Rumiya drawled in a desultory voice. She savored the feel of the armor around her. Sage glared with all the bitter pain he felt. Rumiya didn't even glance at him.
"Now, Rumiya! Do not try our lord's patience!" Sharad snapped. Rumiya cast a look that told him she would do just as she pleased. Sharad's grip tightened on his sword. A quick motion from Tasu stopped him.
"Armor of the Halo . . . Tao Chi!" Rumiya cried, excitement sparkling in her eyes. The Halo armor formed up around her. Rumiya held the Halo sword out before her, a slight smile on her lips, her eyes half- closed and dreamy.
"Excellent!" Sharad applauded. "Now, kill the boy!"
Rumiya looked up, startled. "W-What?"
"The boy! Kill him! You must have no challengers for the armor!" Sharad said impatiently, gesturing at Sage. Rumiya shot a quick look at Tasu. Tasu nodded slightly.
Rumiya turned to face Sage. Sage raised his head, determined to die with his pride intact. He locked emotionless grey-lavender eyes with Rumiya's maliciously-sparkling brown ones and stared at her.
Rumiya raised the Halo blade high, light gleaming dully along its length, and smiled a tiny smile.