Neko's Tale

[Nekomata]

Chapter Fifteen
Light vs. Dark

Cera’s heart was beating furiously within her chest as she was driven off once again by one of Yugito’s attacks. Her breaths were quick and shallow as she tried to create an effective strategy. If only I had the orb with me. Unfortunately, it was likely that she would never see the orb again. Her wounds from her brief clash with Neko mixed together with new ones into a hardly bearable pain.

“Why don’t you use your pretty little orb?” The Dark Nekomata sneered at Cera. “You might stand a slight chance if you use it. It would surely make things more interesting for me, at least.”

“No.” Cera tried to remain calm. “I’m pretty sure I won’t need it to deal with the likes of you. In the end, when this is all over, I will be the victor.” If her plan succeeded it would matter not who was triumphant in this single battle. One battle would not make up the entirety of the war. This was only the beginning.

“A little overconfident?” Yugito laughed. “I’ll be glad to crush your confidence along with everything else.” Once again darkness struck the light. The two were locked in a flurry of claws, teeth, and magic. Cera raked her claws down Yugito’s back, locking her claws in the dark fur. Yugito immediately turned and dug her teeth deep into the light Nekomata’s paw.

“Cera!” Yugito was forced back by some unseen force. Saia stood behind the dark ruler. His eyes were glowing with a bright white aura.

“Thanks” Cera took this moment to catch her breath. It was great to have friends that she could rely on. Being a spirit elemental, Saia had an immense range of mysterious techniques. The old Nekomata wouldn’t be able to hold Yugito with his unusual abilities for long, though. Regardless, she was glad for the seconds of time that he bought. Not only that, but his appearance meant that another stage of their plan was completed.

She turned to where Neko was. She was still out cold, though for how much longer? Wait? Where did Zera run off to? The Shadow Nekomata was not where she was when Yugito attacked.

Claws unexpectedly raked across her face leaving three stinging scratches on her cheek. “You should know better than to get distracted on the battlefield.” Yugito purred darkly. Behind Yugito two other Nekomata were fighting. Saia and Zera. “Two versus one wasn’t exactly fair, so I invited Zera to take care of your friend. It looked like she was getting bored.”

Cera growled with frustration, sending a silent prayer that the older Nekomata would be alright. True, he had managed to fight against Zera before, but that was with Riza and herself with him. Taking a blast from another of Yugito’s dark attacks snapped her back into focus. She could not allow herself to be worried about Saia. The Nekomata just had to have faith in his strength.

Her first concern was to lead the fight away from Neko. Zera was no longer watching over the fiery Nekomata leaving her vulnerable to any stray attacks from Yugito or herself. Using her elemental abilities of light, she created a quick, but blinding flash. Yugito hissed as her eyes momentarily lost vision and took time to readjust. In that tiny space of time, Cera was running.

“Decided you can’t win?” Yugito wasted no time coming in pursuit. Thankfully, what Cera lacked in physical strength she made up for in speed and agility.

“No, I just decided I wanted a change in scenery.” She laughed. “Don’t you ever think it’s boring to see the same setting over and over again?”

“Have you reconsidered telling me where you’ve hidden your precious orb?” Yugito eyed Cera with a gaze that seemed to search her mind. Surely she had figured out that Cera was not in possession of the beautiful and destructive object. If only she knew.

Thankfully adrenaline was keeping the pain of her wounds at bay while she stalled for time and tried to lure the dark Nekomata away from their starting location and the more populated areas of the battlefield. “If you want the orb, you’ll have to catch me first!” With that she sent an extra surge of energy through her legs and darted further ahead. She spotted a more-less empty area ahead.

Yugito sighed in annoyance and followed in pursuit once again. There was no doubt that Cera’s opponent was running thin on patience. “Why don’t you fight?” Yugito hissed. “You know that running won’t save your life. You are only delaying your death.”

“Your point?” A bright glow began to envelop the rebel leader. It held for several moments before floating off her as she ran. When the light finally subsided, her fur was a very light silver, almost white, with a very gentle glow to it. The young Nekomata had shifted to her light form. “You did say you wanted this to be more interesting, no?” She halted and turned to face the dark Nekomata.

With another irritated hiss, Yugito decided to change into her dark form. Her fur was coated with a dark looking aura. Her dark colors and stripes seemed more sinister than before. The only major change in her appearance was the addition of the aura, though.

“Tell me, do you really think that defeating me will also destroy the resistance against you?” Cera held Yugito with determined eyes.

“Destroying the last of the light elementals would crush the hopes of any fool that dares to oppose me.” The evil Nekomata slowly approached Cera, meeting her eyes with a deathly glare.

“Who said I was the last?” Cera grinned. “You’ve been wrong before, if you don’t recall.” She knew what she going to get herself into, but showed not the slightest trace of fear.

The dark aura around Yugito began to gleam more intensely than before. “Give me the orb and I’ll consider allowing you to live past this day.” If anything, the dark elemental hated being wrong.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t have it anymore.” Cera braced herself for Yugito’s fury. “I’ve made sure that it is somewhere that you would never find it.” With a furious and blood-chilling roar, the tiger-like Nekomata attacked. The long expected fight between light and dark had finally begun.

Neko’s ears roared as the numerous sounds of the battle slowly wove their way back to her senses. She opened her eyes to a slit and allowed the light to reach them so that they may adjust. Her entire body throbbed with a numbing pain. For a moment she wished herself in her dreams where the pain and sting of her injuries could not wish her. Most of the injuries at least.

The dream! Neko quickly jumped to her feet, sending a wave of dizziness throughout her. She spotted Zera fighting with a much older and frail Nekomata. It was a surprise that he wasn’t dead. Yet. How much does she know? Neko could feel a rage burn within her. How much of her life was built on lies?

She focused on the details of her dreams and tried to sort out truth from lie. Everything Kura told her was likely a lie, not that she ever had trusted his word to begin with. As for truth, it was a fact that Neko had no idea what she should believe at this point.

Her eyes soon singled out Kura and Scart fighting against each other not too far away. The Griffon was a pain, and Neko wouldn’t have minded watching him die, but she wanted to deal with other things first. Bursting into flames, Neko’s exhausted body managed to gather enough strength for just one more fight.

Everything around her, the fighting, the chaos, and the current situation, was obvious to her, though if she had looked around, the Dark Warriors were clearly winning. Her mind was set and nothing would have distracted her, except maybe another attack. She began her path to intercept Kura and Scart’s fight, but a large chunk of ice shot from the ground forcing her to a stop.

“Hail, what are you doing?” She hissed, remember his attack on the older Nekomata earlier, who, when she saw him fighting with Zera, had no injuries whatsoever.

“What does it look like? I’m blocking your way. I thought that would be obvious enough.” The Lion Nekomata was calm and held a strong hint of a thread in his voice despite his sarcastic response.

“May you be so kind as to tell me why?” She hissed, letting sparks of fire dance around the ice in an attempt to melt it without Hail noticing.

“Because I won’t be allowing you to kill anyone today.”

“Just whose side are you on, anyway?” Her icy rival had been acting strange recently, but never had she anticipated having to face him like this. Yes, practice fights, but as enemies?

“You should ask yourself the same thing.” The sound of thunder cracked overheard, bringing Neko’s attention to the sky, where grey clouds loomed ominously overhead. When did a storm blow in?

“You know very well that I’m a Dark Warrior, like you should be. Now get out of my way.” She growled. There was very little time to waste if she wanted to express her hatred towards Kura before the rain comes.

“Or what?” He had caught the tiny flames that were slowly melting the frozen wall and quickly extinguished them with tiny shards of ice that melted and doused the flames. “You’ll kill?”

“Precisely.”

“Sometimes I can’t help but wonder if you really have a heart or not.” He muttered. “Regardless, you won’t succeed.”

“If you haven’t noticed, most Dark Warriors don’t have hearts. Although, you may be the exception.” She whispered the last part under her breath.

“I can’t be the exception because I’m no Dark Warrior.” He growled. “I never was.”

“So, you’re saying that you are on their side.” The fiery Nekomata flexed her claws and felt the earth scorch beneath her paws.

“If you mean the side that is fighting against Yugito, then yes.” He met Neko’s eyes.

“You know what that means then.” Hail said nothing. “You are a traitor. Treason. There is only one punishment for it under Yugito’s rules.” She hissed. “Death. You will be hunted until you die. There will be no escape. You will live the rest of your life fleeing from one of the Dark Warriors, or Yugito herself.”

“Who said I would die running? I think I’d rather die fighting. All because no one has successfully escaped from Yugito’s slaves in the past, does not mean that it a task that cannot be accomplished.” Hail retorted. “Nothing in this world is impossible.”

“Nothing?” She scoffed. “You really are an naïve idiot. There is plenty that cannot be achieved. These foolish beliefs will be what kill you in the end. You know very well that you cannot face Yugito and expect to survive.” She hissed.

“Like Aros?” Hail seemed rather calm. “You remember who is, right? The former Rebel leader.”

“yes, like him. Pity that the rebels couldn’t learn their lesson the first time.” Neko recalled the stories she heard about his death a little over a year ago. The Phoenix had died under Zera’s claws. Unfortunately for the rebels, Phoenixes were incapable of being reincarnated from their ashes, despite what many ancient myths say.

“I never said he was dead.” Neko narrowed her eyes. Was he playing around with her now?

“Stop messing around. Zera killed him. If he was still living to this day, he’d be fighting alongside his followers.” She could not imagine that a leader would abandon his followers in such a dire time.

“You don’t understand.” Hail’s frosty white fur shimmered as the flames reflected of the ice. “His spirit still lives in the memories of those fighting here today. You can kill one’s body, but never kill the Spirit. That is why the rebels didn’t back down after his death.”

“He’s still dead.” Neko’s ears twitched with annoyance. “Just like all of the rebels will be at one point or another.”

“Even your sister.”

“I don’t have a family, let alone a sister.” What does he know?

“Are you sure?” Neko resisted the urge to end the conversation by lashing out with her molten hot claws. Once again, curiosity held her back.

“You would know no more than I do. Your memory of life before the Dark Warriors is just as good as mine.”

“True.” A low growl escaped her throat. “We both remember much more than we did a few weeks ago.” He remembers too?

“Look, Hail. I don’t care. Just get out of my way.” Her patience from before was slowly dwindling.

“I know about your past because Saia told me, Neko.” He spoke calmly, taking note of the impatience growing in Neko. “It’s all true. How you came to be at the Dark Castle… all of it is true.”

“What makes you think you can trust him?” The Dark Warriors hissed, ready to strike at Hail. “The rebels are our enemies. He probably wants to trick you. Fool you into switching over to the other side so that you can tell them secrets of the Dark Castle.”

“No, the rebels aren’t our enemies.” Then who did they come here to fight? “Yugito is. I’ve known Saia for years, I trust him.” A spy?

“Alright then.” She knew that Hail was soft, but she never imagined that he would have been a spy for the rebels. Did he even know he was a spy until recently? “You may not see yourself as their enemy, but I still am.”

“Not in the eyes of the rebel leader, Cera. In other words, your sister.” Neko knew that at one point in her distant past, within the memories she could hardly recall. Despite that, she was not entirely sure what her connection with the light Nekomata was.

“I’m going to ask one more time.” Neko growled, not wanting to listen to the frost covered Nekomata any longer. “Get out of my way.”

“Neko, listen-“

“Hail!” A screech from above cut him off. Looking up, a golden eagle was flying in a irregular pattern overhead, it’s large wings casting a shadow over Neko and Hail. “Cera is in trouble.” Without any further words, Hail followed the large bird towards what looked like a very dark cloud of smoke. Somewhere near the center of the cloud was a dim light.

The fiery Nekomata considered returning to her previous focus and attempt to murder Kura and frame Scart for it. Although, Neko was sure that Yugito would not be surprised if either one of them ended up killing each other sooner or later. It was clear that Neko and Kura had made several attempts to do so in the past.

Neko then looked back at the plumes of darkness that loomed eerily overhead. They almost blended in perfectly with the clouds that had begun to empty their stores of water in the form of a light shower. It did not look like things were going very well for the rebel leader at the moment. Perhaps she should go check out what was going on.

The rain steadily turned into a downpour, washing away blood and turning the earth and debris into a muddy solution that coated the ground. There was no point in trying to fight in this weather, so she might as well follow Hail. She broke into a steady jog towards Yugito and Cera’s fight. The flames around her faded away slowly as she wove through the chaos. There was no need to stick out and draw attention to herself.

She soon caught up to Hail who was looking at the fight. It was only moment before it ended, but time seemed to slow down as the dark Nekomata made one last blow, a swipe with blackened claws. The heavy swipe knocked the light Nekomata to the ground. Lightning struck the ground and left in the blink of the eye. The light that had earlier shone off of Cera had left in that same moment.

Thunder drummed in the sky like drums being pounded with all of one’s might. “We’re too late.” The old Nekomata had appeared from behind. “Cera is dead.”

End of Part One

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[Nekomata]

Part Two
Prologue

<sub>Lights, almost like thousands of Fireflies, danced around a clear pond. Each speck was reflected on the water’s surface giving off a radiant scene. One by one they began to fade away as a blob of darkness began to swallow them up, destroying all in it’s path. All except one.

A shimmering light shone in the distance. Paw steps raced towards it. “Follow the light.” A faded voice echoed through the halls of darkness. No matter how far I run, it won’t get any closer! Saia pushed his old body and aching limbs to keep moving. “The light shall lead you out of the darkness.” His breathing became rapid as he began to tire out. Just a little longer!

He was running through a tunnel that seemed to consist of pure darkness. The only light seemed to be far off in the distance, well beyond his reach. His eyes could pick up nothing except that tiny spark, not even his whiskers could be seen. Have I been swallowed by the darkness too? He closed his eyes and continued on. He extended his other senses forward. Silence. No smells. Nothing to feel. Emptiness.

He opened his eyes and halted to a stop. Before him the light had been replaced by another figure. “Cera.” He whispered. Her amber eyes closed gently. “You were the last.” He whispered. “How can this end without you?” He blinked and she, and the light, had vanished. She was the last of the light. “What do we do?” He was standing in complete darkness. “Only one born with light is capable of defeating Yugito.” Unfortunately, all Light elementals had now been killed.

Saia’s head dropped. Perhaps the war was really over. Cera was dead. All other Light elementals were dead. What hope was there to cling to? The only thing that could pierce darkness was light. There was nothing now. Just darkness. Saia stood for a moment. He had known that Cera was doomed to die, but part of him had expected another Light warrior to arise to fill her place. “Nonsense.” He muttered to himself. No one could possibly replace the cheerful young Nekomata who had fought so hard to the bitter end.

A rush of heat blew in his face. He looked up in surprise. A flickering light was growing in the place of where Cera had stood. Water rushed along his feet. He could locate the scent of plants. “Light comes in different forms.” Saia’s ears pricked up as he finally recognized the voice. It had been over two years since he had last heard the voice. Aros.

Saia began to jog at a steady pace towards the flickering light. He could now feel and sense other things around him within the darkness. It took him very little time to reach the light. A small flickering flame that was striking against wisps of darkness stood before him. “Fire can be a destructive force, but it can also shine with a fierce intensity.” Aros’ words echoed in Saia’s mind. Fire is Light.

Cera’s light appeared beside the flame and slowly merged with the flame. The darkness around the fire slowly vanished as the flame grew in intensity at a quickening rate. “So this was your plan?” The fire soon erupted into an inferno that destroyed the darkness around Saia.

Saia woke up with a start. Another dream. “Playing with fire is dangerous, Cera… I hope you knew what you were doing.”</sub>

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[Nekomata]

Chapter One
Light in the Dark

<sub>It had been several days since the rebels and Yugito’s forces clashed in the town of Kurori. It was unmistakable that the rebels, after the death of their leader, and Neko’s supposed sister, were crushed. Without a leader they had quickly fallen apart and abandoned Kurori. Many of the Dark Warriors had said that most of the rebels had disbanded and given up after the huge defeat. This, however, had not yet been confirmed.

Neko had spent most of the days since the battle lying around her room and avoiding Rayne. His mentor, Hail, had been branded as a traitor to the Dark Warriors leaving him with no one to pester. It was very likely that a assassin had already been dispatched to eliminate the icy Nekomata. What Neko could not understand is why he would choose to go to the other side with the rebels knowing the consequences that would await him.

“Idiot” she muttered under her breath. It was hard not to think about the battle, her weird dreams, and what Cera and Hail had told her in that time. At the moment, Neko wanted badly to shove it all to the furthest reaches of her mind. Unfortunately, most of what she learned did make sense and seemed reasonably true, which only irritated her further.

Neko remembered the time where she had listened in on one of Kura’s conversations with another Dark Warrior that Neko had not yet met. He spoke of an orb that was located in the small village of Marua, where Cera and Neko lived before the Dragon had come and taken Neko away. If the orb really was there, and Neko’s unusually dreams led her to believe so, then it was probably the same orb that Cera had in her possession. However, where the Light Nekomata stowed it away remained unknown.

Her mind replayed the conversations with Hail and Cera over and over, although they only created more unanswered questions and more confusion in her thoughts. Part of her wanted to go hunt down Hail herself so that he may answer her questions before he we would be permanently silenced by on of Yugito’s assassins.

What am I fighting for? Up until the battle, Neko had blindly followed Yugito’s orders, but now she was not sure why. For what purpose was Yugito using her and the other Dark Warriors? Even the rebels knew what they were fighting for. Each and every one of them had a cause, lost or not, but Yugito had never once told the Dark Warriors, at least that Neko was aware of, of her plans or intentions.

Another fact seemed to loom over Neko- Yugito had wiped her memory. Was it so that she would be less likely to change sides or was it just easier to train obedient slaves who knew no other lives? Neko shook her head in an attempt to clear her mind. This is where I belong. She sighed. Isn’t it? She got up and stretched. Perhaps a short walk would help.

She quietly walked the dark and desolate corridors of the castle making no sound except for the very light padding of her paws as they hit the stone. Her flaming fur did well to illuminate the halls, more so than the torches that were almost always lit with ominous looking flames. The Dark Castle seemed darker than ever before.

The eerie peace was short-lived however. The shadow of a Dragon appeared just around the next corner. There was only one Dragon who would roam this part of the castle. Neko considered turning around before she was noticed, but however tempting it was, it seemed like it was too late for that.

“It’s been a while since our last chat, hasn’t it?” Kura’s claws made a faint scratching sound every time they made contact with the stone. He seemed to have gotten out of the battle unscathed with the exception of a few mere scratches.

“I wonder why.” Neko retorted dryly. She usually made an exceptional effort to avoid Kura.

“Because you’re a coward?” He grinned as the flames on the torches suddenly went out.

“No.” She growled. “I’m no coward. Being around you just so happens to give me this strong urge to kill.”

“You couldn’t kill me if you tried.” His eyes had a malicious glint.

“If I managed to make you half blind on my first day with fire abilities when I was probably half the size I am now, I think I could kill you now.” If there was anything that Kura hated, it was the fact that Neko had made him half blind when she was still his apprentice.

“At least I didn’t leave the battle before it was over.” It was true that Neko had left the battle after watching Cera die, but it was not because she was afraid. It was because she knew that the battle was over.

“Are you completely sure about that? With only one good eye, I’m sure you didn’t see properly.” Kura lunged. “Did I say something?” She laughed as she avoided another lash of his claws. “Temper, temper.” This only made him more furious than before. Neko rather enjoyed taunting her former mentor.

Neko allowed the flames over her fur to die out so the corridor was pitch black. Fortunately for her, Dragons were not as able in the dark as cats were. A stream of flames struck one of the walls. “Can’t see at all now, can you? Want me to make that permanent?” Even if he did strike her with fire, her fire abilities would protect her.

Two yellow eyes then appeared next to Kura. “Enough.” Neko returned the fire to the torches. Zera was standing in Kura’s shadow, immobilizing him for the time being. “I’d rather have both of you alive. Yugito wouldn’t like hearing that one of her warriors is dead.” She stepped out of Kura’s shadow. “I don’t really enjoy reporting such insignificant things to her either. Save us all the trouble, alright?” Then she vanished.

“You should really consider listening to Zera.” Neko began to walk past Kura. “I’d just hate to kill you, but I won’t hold back if you want to continue your little rampage.” Kura growled but said nothing.

Further down the hall Zera was waiting for Neko. “You really need to stop provoking Kura.” She muttered. “One of these days one of you will end up killing each other.” I think I’d prefer that. Anything is fine, as long as I don’t have to put up with him.

“He started it.” Neko replied coolly. “He started it the moment he brought me here.”

Zera narrowed her eyes. “He saved your life. You wouldn’t be breathing if it weren’t for him.” Did Zera know the truth? “You should be grateful to him.”

“For all the crap he’s put me through? No thanks.” Neko realized this was her first, and possible last, conversation with the Shadow Nekomata. If she wanted to ask questions about her past, now was the time. “Zera? May I ask you something?”

“Depends.”

“What do you know about Marua?”

“It was a rebel base. Kura destroyed it. Why do you ask?” Did she know about what was hidden there?

“I just heard the name somewhere. It sounded familiar.” Neko tried to seem less interested than she really was. “Was it where I was from?”

“Kura found you on his way back from Marua, not in it.” She began to fade into the shadows. “Just a warning for the future- be careful what you say and do. There are some things that are better left unanswered.”

Neko watched the shadow Nekomata vanish. She definitely knew more than she was letting on, and her warning implied that Neko might be looking into something that either Yugito or Zera wanted to keep a secret. This, of course, only made Neko’s interest in the subject even stronger.

She was sure about one thing at least. It was in Marua where Kura had taken her. Deep inside her mind, Neko knew what Zera had told her was a mere lie. Either the shadow Nekomata was hiding the truth, or Kura had given Yugito and Zera a lie about where he found Neko.

Neko shrugged and began to walk back to her room the long way to kill time. When she arrived her eyes rested on her bag. Neko had not removed anything from it since the battle. It had just been lying there for the last few days gathering dust. Perhaps it was time to finally unpack all the extra stuff so that she would be ready to go if she got an assignment soon. Maybe a better job of patching up the damage it took in Kalm would help too.

Neko opened it up and reached her paw inside and immediately pulled it out when she felt something warm. Had Cera put something in it, rather than try to steal from it as Neko had originally suspected? A strange uneasiness crept over the Dark Warrior. Was it a trap?

Gingerly she pushed the bag onto it’s side and slightly tilted it to allow everything to come out. Out came all of the usual objects followed by the orb from Neko’s dreams. What the-!? The fiery warrior could not believe her eyes.

Either Cera accidentally dropped it in her bag, was crazy, or really intended for Neko to take the beautiful object. Why? Did Cera really trust her this much because she was her sister? Maybe at one point Neko would have quickly turned the orb over to Yugito, but now she was not sure what to do with it. Neko only had limited knowledge on the orbs, mostly what she had learned from listening to Kura and her dreams.

Resting one paw on the orb’s smooth surface triggered a feeling of warmth, warmer than any flame, through Neko’s body. The orb began to glow and release a strong surge of power that made Neko draw her paw back. If Yugito got a hold of this orb, who knew what she would be capable? To think that there were more like it, and Yugito was after them all. She carefully rolled it back into her bag and sealed it closed so no one would find it.

One thing bothered Neko though. She remembered Kura’s conversation with the Griffon. He had said that Yugito probably would not be able to use it. Why was that? Surely it would be understandable if the orb was of the light element rather than fire, for unlike light, fire was far more destructive.</sub>

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[Nekomata]

Chapter Two
Vritra

“Neko?” The feline-like creature opened her drowsy eyes to see Rayne standing before her. Oh great, just what I need. She got up and stretched letting out a big yawn, half expecting Rayne to bounce all around her and create intense irritation by doing so. At last she turned to face the young Wolf.

What she saw, however, was not what she had expected, and was definitely not something Neko was accustomed to. Rayne’s eyes were dull, lacking the usual shine that not a single threat by Neko could have destroyed in the past. His head and tail were held low and his fur was a mess. He looked horrible. “Rayne, is everything alright?” Maybe Neko had made a mistake avoiding him for the last few days.

“I’m fine.” He muttered. “Zera wants to talk to you.” Zera? Hopefully the shadow Nekomata had not found out about the orb. It was impossible to tell where she was most of the time due to her tendency to lurk in the shadows. For all Neko knew, she had been there when the orb was discovered in her bag.

Neko was about to leave Rayne behind, but decided otherwise. With a sigh she turned to face the Wolf. “I can see very clearly that you aren’t fine. What’s wrong?”

“I miss Hail.” Neko felt stupid for not having realized that Rayne, unlike most Dark Warriors, was neither cold hearted or solitary and was more likely to the feel the weight of Hail’s absence than anyone else. Perhaps it was because Rayne is of a species of canine that is far more social than most.

“I know, I miss him too.” Not even Neko could determine if she was speaking the truth or a mere lie to help Rayne feel better. “But you’ve got to realize he won’t be coming back. He can’t. You know what would happen to him should he run into another Dark Warrior, yet alone a group of them hanging around the castle. Rayne nodded slowly. “If I see him, I’ll be sure to say hello for you, alright?” Of course, that would have to take place before killing him.

“Thanks.” Rayne seemed a little bit better than before.

“I’ll also talk to Zera about resuming your training. I must be insane. A small little piece of Neko, deep down amidst all of the fire, held a soft spot for Rayne. He was very different than most of the Dark Warriors. In fact, he did not belong in a place where they trained murders. He was too young and too innocent. Neko was glad to see a slight wag of his tail before she headed off in search of Zera.

It did not take long however, as the shadow Nekomata had been waiting down the corridor. “Took you long enough.” She muttered.

“Sorry.”

“Anyway, I have an assignment for you.” Already? At least it was a chance to get away from the Dark Castle so she could think undisturbed for a little while. “Rebels are thought to be hiding in Vritra. Go there and destroy everything. Leave no survivors.” They aren’t sure? Why destroy a town if there was a chance that they were attacking the wrong creatures- innocents who were of minimal threat to Yugito and her rule.

Neko dipped her head in acknowledgement. “May I ask something?”

“What did I warn you?”

“It’s nothing like that.” Neko assured. There was without a doubt something Zera did not want Neko to know. “I was just wondering about Rayne. Since Hail had turned traitor, he’s been left without a mentor and-“

“I’ll think about it.” Zera vanished. She really needs to stop doing that.

“Thanks.” She muttered to herself. Neko retraced her steps back to her room to get her stuff. Rayne had already left. It was now clear to Neko that the bag was heavier than usual. How did I not realize sooner?

The travel to Vritra took only a little over a day. It was bold for the rebels, if they truly in Vritra, to hide out so close to the Dark Castle. Perhaps if they had been planning an attack it would have made more sense, but after their devastating defeat in Kurori, the chances of them retaliating anytime soon was slim. In no time at all Neko saw the silhouette of the town. As she approached the entrance she allowed her flames to vanish.

It was quiet, as if everyone was hiding. They probably were expecting her, or perhaps it was just the fact that they were so close to Yugito’s domain and fear of Yugito’s wrath kept them silent. Neko extended her senses and focused her hears to find any trace of sound. There was definitely others in the area.

A metallic feather shot from a nearby building and landed by her right paw. “Nice to see you too.” Neko muttered sarcastically. There was no mistaking who had sent the feather. Why can’t Scart find someone else to bother?

“You won’t be getting away this time.” The Griffon stepped forward. “You are well outnumbered.”

“Wasn’t that the case last time as well, in Kalm?” Neko showed no anger, aggression, or worry. Somehow she knew that nothing would erupt, at least for now. “And for the record, I didn’t spare your lives so you could irritate me wherever I go. A little piece would be nice every so often.” From the corner of her eye’s she spotted a number of other creatures creeping out of hiding, all poised to attack. “Can we just get this over with?”

Scart was about to attack when a voice stopped the Griffon in his tracks. “Enough. There will be no violence here today.”

“Saia!” Scart growled as the old Nekomata that had been fighting Zera at the battle stepped forward. “She’s the Dark Warrior who had destroyed Thunara, Kalm, and Orre.”

“I am well aware of that.” Behind Saia Neko could see the figure of a Lion Nekomata. Hail. “I knew she would be sent here today and I know that there shall be no bloodshed today.” Somehow, none of this surprised Neko anymore. The Dark Warrior had already gone through enough weird events that nothing seemed to be quite as shocking as before. “Come with me.” He motioned to Neko.

Scart began to follow. “Saia, don’t trust her.”

“For once could you stubborn young fighters not worry about me? I may be old, but my strength has not yet left me. I am more than capable of fending for myself.” Neko believe him, especially since he had survived a fight with Zera.

He led her into a small building at one end of town. “I had been expecting you.”

Neko did not waste time getting to the questions that had been nagging her from the back of her mind for quite a while. “Care to explain the… gift, Cera gave me? She still longed for a sensible reason why the former rebel leader would give Neko, a Dark Warrior, one of the very objects that Yugito was after.

“Your sister had some crazy ideas, I admit that much. This one had to be her most insane and reckless plan of all.” The fact that Neko had a sister was still a bit much for her to take in. “She knew she was going to die in that battle, but she refused to pass the orb to anyone except those who were born in the village that was given the task to guard it and keep it from the wrong hands.”

“Why me, then? I am aware that she and I were not the only two to survive.”

“Yes, but only someone with the fire element would be able to properly use it’s strength to it’s maximum potential. Cera was able to use the orb fairly well do to how closely related the fire and light elements are.”

“Again, why me? I’m a Dark Warrior. I could have given it to Yugito for all she knew.” Neko could feel the orb’s strange warmth, even through the bag.

“But you didn’t, which means Cera was right to have faith in you. Aros, Riza, and I had all called her insane for what she had suggested, but alas, here we are. It’s a shame that her time had to come so soon.”

“Another thing.” Neko turned to glare at Hail. If the look she had given the icy Nekomata did not blast him to smithereens, then nothing could. “Care to explain what is going on?”

“Am I in trouble?” He joked.

“No.” Neko placed as much sarcasm as she could. “You only have all the Dark Warriors under order to kill you, possibly have a few assassins looking for you. No trouble at all.”

“Sorry about that.” How the icy Nekomata managed to stay calm and annoyingly cheerful was beyond Neko.

“I suppose I’ll explain that part as well.” Neko turned to face Saia again. “Sometime around the attack on Marua we received information of young creatures being taken away and being raised as Dark Warriors.” At least Neko now knew she was not the only one to receive that fate.

“Did you know about me this entire time?” Neko dared to ask.

“No, your sister did not tell us until later on.” Saia replied. “Anyway, after that, we decided to try getting a spy in.”

“Aros chose Hail for the job, as he had an immense amount of potential despite his young age.”

“I’m flattered.” Hail grinned.

Saia ignored the comment and resumed with his explanation. “With some luck, the Dark Warriors did not kill Hail and took him in.”

“You know, I still don’t’ remember the part where you told me I might die before I could even get in.”

Both Saia and Neko ignored Hail again, though he found it rather amusing. “We found out very quickly that his memories had been wiped, so it took a while for us to reach him. Once he did recover a majority of his memories-”

“Except for those where you warn me that I could have died at a very young age to help a cause that I probably didn’t understand”

“-he did a rather excellent job of helping us out.”

“How long did it take to get him to remember?” Neko could imagine how difficult it would be to get anything through Hail’s thick skull.

“The longer one’s memories have been sealed, the harder they are to release. We managed to get to Hail within a few months while he was still an apprentice.” Satisfied with the answer, Neko thought up more things she wished to know.

“Alright then.” Neko yawned. “Next question-“

“No more for now.” Saia interrupted. “It’s my turn.” The fiery Nekomata could only wonder what she knew that the ancient spirit elemental did not. “Leave the Dark Warriors and join us.”

“That’s not a question.” She replied dryly.

“Fine, will you please leave the Dark Warriors and join us?” Hail was getting on her nerves. Why again did Rayne miss him?

“The answer is the same as last time. No.” She growled.

“But I said please!” As if that would have made a difference. “There is nothing there for you. There is absolutely no reason for you to stay. They are just using you. To Yugito, all you are is a tool to help her get to what you want. Once you are no longer of any use, you’re dead to the Dark Warriors.” Neko had thought over this many times in the past.

“I said no.” Neko got to her paws. “Last time I checked, I came here on an assignment to destroy this place and kill everyone here, not to have a lovely chat with a traitor.” She hisses. Why was Hail always so persistent?

“Fine, go back, but leave Vritra alone.” Hail looked at Saia who showed no sign of worry or concern.

“Do you have any idea what would happen if I failed to complete my task?”

“Actually, yes I do.” Hail laughed. “Do you really need to ask that?”

“Fine.” Neko began to head towards the exit.

“Hold on.” The older Nekomata stopped her. Now what? “The orb has a spell cast on it to hide it’s presence.” That would explain why no one had noticed it before, as something so powerful would be easy to sense, or one would think. “The spell will only last until you use the orb’s power. I wouldn’t recommend using it unless you are left with no other choice.”

“Alright.” Neko paused. “Hail?”

“Changed your mind so soon?” He joked.

“Rayne says hello. He misses you.” Neko muttered and continued to walk.

“That makes one. Promise me you won’t let him get killed, alright?”

“Whatever.”

[/sub]

[Nekomata]

Chapter Three
Doubts

Neko was back in the Dark Castle navigating the dim halls and passages. After her conversation with Hail and the old Nekomata, Saia, she had been able to leave with no resistance. It had been clear that some, namely Scart and possibly others present at Kalm, had not been pleased that Neko was allowed to leave unscathed.

The fiery Nekomata could not help but wonder why Saia and Hail would think she would swap sides and join the rebels. She had already declined the offer before and yet they still persisted. Only Saia and Hail though. She had far too much blood on her paws to ever be accepted anywhere except the Dark Castle. They did however make one good point- there was nothing for Neko at the Dark Castle.

She soon made it to Yugito’s chamber. “Permission to enter?”

“Come in.” Neko slowly walked in and dipped her head in respect.

“I’ve completed my task.” Neko lied. “Vritra and it’s inhabitants have been destroyed.”

“Was it a rebel base as we suspected?”

Neko saw very little reason to lie about this part. “Yes.”

Yugito remained silent for a few moments. “Was Hail there?”

The Dark Warrior hesitated. If she said yes, then Yugito would call off the hunt on Hail, but if she got caught lying, it may as well be a death sentence. “Yes, Hail is dead.” Neko decided that one more lie would not make much of a difference.

“Good.” The Dark Nekomata met Neko’s eyes. “I may have another task for you in a few days. Be ready to be sent out again.”

“Alright.”

“Dismissed.”

Neko was walking back to her room when Zera appeared from no where. She really needs to stop doing that. “I believe you’re expected out on the training fields.” As quickly as the shadow Nekomata had appeared, she was gone.

“Okay, thanks.” Neko muttered and changed her course to the training fields. She was only a bit curious on why she would be summoned out to the fields. It was dull and gloomy as usual due to the thin layer of fog that blocked most of the sun’s light for the better part of the year.

“Neko!” The Dark Warrior turned to see a very jumpy Rayne bounding over the scorched earth in her direction. He seemed much more like his usual self again, which Neko considered to be both good and bad. “Zera said you’re gonna be my mentor!”

“Yay!” Neko’s excitement rivaled that of a dead tree stump as she remembered why she was summoned to the training fields. Why did I ask for this again? Despite some minor, or rather major, concerns, Neko was glad that Rayne was acting hyper again. There were too many unusual things going on, and the familiarity of Rayne’s irritating behavior seemed to make things feel a little less odd. “So, how far in your training are you?” It occurred to her that she did know what Rayne was capable of. She didn’t even know his element.

“Umm…” The Wolf spent a minute trying to think of what to say, but to no success.

Neko sighed. “Fine, show me what you can do then.” Within moments of speaking a large ball of water crashed into Neko from behind. “What the-“ There was no one behind her. “You’re a water elemental, aren’t you?” Rayne nodded. Just what kind of disaster did I get myself into? The fire elemental shook her fur dry remembering that her magic shell was on the ground in her room somewhere. “I think we should have a practice fight. No claws, teeth, or strong abilities.”

Rayne nodded and started charging at Neko. Was he always this quick and eager? The fiery Nekomata would have never imagined that the Wolf could be so calm and focused. Neko shot forward several small fireballs at Rayne who dodged them all with ease. Who would have known that Rayne, the same clumsy Rayne that she had known all of this time, could be so agile?

Neko tried to grab him with her front paws as he got close, but his fur was wet and slippery and without her claws she was unable to get a firm grip on the Wolf. In only a quick second he had slipped past her and was on her back. The Nekomata rolled over to shake the smaller creature off, but it did little, if anything, to slow him down.

She turned to pursue him as he tried to create distance from Neko, but several small orbs or water shot at Neko. Pressurized water stung more than Neko had originally thought. The thought of shifting into her fire form crossed her mind only a mere second before she realized how wet she was. With the blink of an eye, Rayne was gone.

Out of nowhere Rayne rammed into her side with all the force his smaller body could gather. While Neko recovered her balance she saw his tail materialize from a thin mist that seemed almost invisible. Clever. She swatted a paw at him but he ducked and jumped onto Neko’s neck, clinging with all four paws. “Did I win?”

Never underestimate the ferocity of a fluffy wet Wolf cub. Neko tore Rayne off with one paw and swatted him to the ground. Had Rayne grabbed an opponent like that, he could have easily ended the fight with an attack to the throat. “Surprisingly, yes.” Rayne could barely contain his excitement.

“I should have given Hail more credit.” Neko muttered. Rayne had excellent control of his abilities and knew exactly how to use his size and speed to his advantage. The only thing that concerned Neko was how he had reacted in the face of a real battle. With his skills he could have easily taken larger opponents down with his tactics.

“Rayne, what do you remember about your past? You know, from before you ended up here.” Neko suddenly spoke, already anticipating his answer.

“Nothing.” He tilted his head with curiosity. “Why?”

“No reason. Just wondering.” The fire Nekomata muttered. “What happened at the battle the other day?”

Rayne’s cheerfulness vanished in an instant. “What do you mean?”

“You know very well what I meant. You did very well in that practice fight just now, but when we were fighting the rebels you didn’t lift a paw.” Rayne was silent. “I know you could have handled them after today. You are capable of far more than I think you realize.”

“I got scared.” Rayne spoke quietly in a voice that was hardly above a whisper.

“Have you ever fought anyone before?”

“With Hail, yes.”

“With anyone besides Hail, and not just a practice fight.”

“No.” Neko sighed. Despite his age and size he was very talented but he did not seem to know his true potential or have much faith in himself. Above all, Neko knew he was not fond of fighting. His practice with Neko was no more than just practice, it was almost like play for him. He shouldn’t be here. He doesn’t belong here. He’s not a killer.

“You need to learn how to defend yourself, Rayne.” The canine was still giving Neko a pathetic look. “We are in a war right now, and regardless of whose side you are fighting on, you will be dragged into a fight and you won’t always be able to run and there won’t always be someone there to pull your tail out of trouble whenever you get yourself in a tight spot.”

“I’m sorry.” He whimpered.

“Don’t be.” The fiery Dark Warrior patted Rayne’s head with one paw. “I’m just glad I managed to get to you on time.” Perhaps there was truth in those words. “I’d never hear the end of it if I let Scart kill you.”

“Scart?”

“The Griffon.” Neko silently prayed that Rayne would not speak Scart’s name to any of the other Dark Warriors as they might become suspicious.

“Oh.”

Neko pawed his head again. “You aren’t in any trouble. Cheer up.” Seeing Rayne with any expression that was not clearly some sort of hyper or happy just felt strange and wrong to Neko. Rayne’s tail twitched a little. “Will it make you feel better if I told you a secret?”

Rayne’s eyes lit up in an instant. “Maybe.” There was a clear note of mischief in his high-pitched bark.

“You’ll have to wait until tomorrow.” Neko got up and began to run back to the castle.

“Hey!” Rayne scampered off in pursuit. “I want to know the secret now!”

“You called for me, Yugito?” A figure waited in the shadows of the Dark Ruler’s chamber. She was in her usual spot, lying down comfortably as the Dark Warrior arrived.

“Yes, I did.” Her eyes narrowed. “Although you will find that the task I have for you is not quite what you are used to.” She stretched her claws. “I hope you don’t mind.” If the newcomer in the shadows did mind, he dared not to risk angering Yugito by saying so.

“Not a assassination job then? Pity.” He muttered. “We haven’t gotten many interesting ones in a while.”

Yugito ignored the Dark Warrior’s comment. “Sorry, not yet.” She laughed. “I may have one for you if you finish this next assignment though.” The creature in the shadows seemed to gain interest. “I want you to go to Vritra, but do not destroy it or reveal your identity.”

“May I ask the reason why?” It was not often that Yugito sent someone to a village, town, or city with orders not to destroy it.

“I had already sent a Dark Warrior to destroy Vritra, but I’m not quite sure the report I received was accurate.” Normally, Yugito would send Zera on such errands, not an assassin, but most of the Dark Warriors were occupied with… other things. “So, I’d like you to double check and tell me whatever you can find out about Vritra.”

The Dark Warrior nodded. “If Vritra still stands?”

“Do nothing and report straight back to me.” Yugito grinned. “If Vritra still stands, I promise that you may get another far more interesting assignment for you, Gale.”

[/sub]

[Nekomata]

Chapter Four
Treason

<sub>It had been a mere four days since Neko began working with her new overly energetic apprentice, Rayne. Before she had been assigned to train the Wolf she had thought of him as a irritating and easily distracted pup. Within a few days of training she had been surprised by his attentiveness and obedience. All the troubles she had anticipated when she asked to resume his training before her trip to Vritra had proven to be non-existent. The annoying part of Rayne apparently showed only when he was bored- which was any time he was not out in the fields practicing or being lectured by Neko.

Neko stretched her sleep stiffened limbs and opened her jaws in a wide yawn. She had quickly learned that Rayne was far more focused early in the morning before temperatures began to rise. The fiery Nekomata, however, found getting up early troublesome. Whatever works. If it meant Rayne was going to be even the slightest bit easier to handle, it was worth it. She slipped her bag over her shoulder after making sure it was properly closed. Neko fared not to leave the bag out of her sight for the risk of someone accidentally discovering what lie within the worn out fabrics of her bag.

Neko began her walk to the training fields when Kura blocked her path. “What now?” It was clear that Neko was in no mood to deal with the arrogant Dragon. Not waiting for a response, she shoved him aside and proceeded.

“You’re even more irritable in the morning.” She heard him mutter as she walked away, not turning to respond. Neko did not want to deal with Kura and did not care for what he had to say.

When she arrived out in the training fields, Rayne was already there waiting for her to arrive. “That makes three to zero.” He barked happily.

“What?” Neko had no idea what the young apprentice was talking about.

“I’ve beaten you here three days in a row.” His tail was thumping on the ground as it wagged side to side. If he used that much force in his attacks, he’d be unstoppable.

“I had no idea we were competing.” Neko muttered, slightly amused. She stopped in front of the young Wolf and drew twelve symbols in the scorched soil. “Alright, let’s get started.” The Dark Warrior did not want to waste time playing around. “Let’s see if you can name all of the elements. I drew their symbols to help you.” It was important to know all of the elements and how to counter them with one’s own abilities. Every element had a weakness, it was just a matter of figuring out how to use your abilities to get to that weakness.

“There are the four main elements- Fire, water, earth, and wind.” He pointed to the symbols as he said them.

“You got wind and water mixed up.” The symbols for wind and water were quite similar. The symbol for water was two vertical lines, while wind was three horizontal lines. “Just remember for Water, rain comes down. For wind, remember that wind goes from side to side.” Rayne nodded. “Continue.”

“Nature, Steel-“

“Metal.” Neko corrected him. The metal element had once been called the steel element, but it had been changed since steel was just one type of metal.

“Metal, ice, thunder, shadow, light and dark.”

“You missed one.”

“What?” He studied the symbols again. Neko pointed to the one next to the shadow symbol. This one resembled a swirl.

“Oh- Sprit!”

“Right.” Neko scratched out the scribbles with her claws. “Most creatures have their own element that they are born with. What is yours?”

“Water.”

“Your vulnerabilities?”

“What?” Neko sighed.

“What elements would give you the most trouble if you had to fight against them.” It was important that one knew their weaknesses and strengths, not only those of their foes.

“Umm… Water, nature, metal, ice, and thunder?”

Neko nodded. “Why?”

“Two water abilities would cancel each other out. Whatever might hit would do minimal damage.” He yawned. “Nature users can summon plants that absorb the water. Water can’t pierce through most metals.”

“Unless it is very high pressured water.” Neko added.

“Ice can freeze water, and water conducts electricity so thunder elementals would use the water as a way to attack.” Before these last few days, Neko would have never suspected this from Rayne.

“Okay. Next question.” Rayne was thankfully a quick learner. His biggest weakness was his fear. He was too afraid to fight at the battle with the rebels at Kurori. If he could overcome that, he would make an excellent ally. “What is my element?”

“That’s easy!” He barked. “Fire!”

Neko nodded. “How would you deal with a fire user?”

“Douse the flames with water.” He grinned.

“What about if you don’t have any water available?” Fortunately, Rayne would not have to worry about that.

“Fire needs air to survive… so…” He thought for a moment. “Try finding a way to cover the flames so they can’t breath?”

“Close enough.” Neko drew a very questionable map of the Dark Castle and the surrounding territories. Clearly, drawing was not something Neko was good at. “Most elementals live together in a general area. For example-“ She pointed to the area she believed to be where Marua was. “This area rarely gets rain, so fire elementals like to live in that area.”

“Is that where you are from?” Rayne looked up at Neko.

“I don’t know.” She gave him a sharp look. “Pay attention. Now, where would a water elemental like yourself feel most at home?”

“Um…” Rayne studied the map for a few moments then pointed to a giant blob on the map. “Is that water?” Neko’s amazingly horrible artistic skills made it difficult to tell what was what on the map.

“Yes.” Neko scribbled in the blob to try making a difference between water and land on the map, but the result was even more chaos and confusion in the scribbles.

“Here?” He pointed to the blob of scribbled in water, which happened to be the ocean.

“Exactly.” Neko said. “Fire elementals would keep well away from there because we aren’t particularly fond of water.”

“Really?” The look on Rayne’s face told Neko that he was up to something. This isn’t going to end well. The mischievous glint in his eyes said everything.

“Really.” She lowered her head to Rayne’s level and stared him in the eye.

“Well then, say hi to the ocean!” He flashed one paw over the drawn map, sending dirt and dust from the sloppily drawn ocean towards Neko’s face. The fiery cat could not help but laugh at Rayne’s joke as he ran off towards the castle. When was the last time I had fun? Have I ever been given the opportunity to do things like this? Neko could not even begin to imagine how different her life may have been if she had not ended up at the Dark Castle and became a Dark Warrior.

Neko darted after Rayne in her flameless form and managed to pin him down before he could get away.

“Playing around, I see.” Kura again. “Well, before you start having too much fun, Yugito would like to speak with you.” Neko glared at the Dragon. “Don’t keep her waiting.”

“Rayne, wait here. I’ll be back soon.” The Wolf nodded. For once, Neko actually trusted that Rayne would stay put. She ran back to the dark-stoned castle and kept a steady pace until she reached the entrance to Yugito’s chamber. She halted outside and slid out of view when she heard Zera talking to Yugito. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.

“Make sure that the job is finished before the day ends.” What job? Neko suspected that the job involved killing someone. Zera was quick and efficient when it came to killing, especially when there were numerous shadows for her to hide in to surprise her unsuspecting victim.

“I’ll make sure it gets done.” Zera nodded. “There shall be no more traitors in this castle by the time the sun sets tonight.” Another traitor?

“I would hope so.” Yugito then dismissed the shadow elemental.

Zera walked by Neko on her way out. “Where is he?” Neko froze for a moment as Zera was on her shadow. It was Rayne that Yugito wanted dead.

“He should be in his room.” Neko felt a strong feeling of dread wash over her. This isn’t good. Rayne was no traitor, but perhaps being the apprentice of Hail automatically marked him as one? Neko shook her head. She had to keep her visit with Yugito as short as possible. Hopefully she would be able to get to the training fields before Zera realized that he was not where Neko said he would be. Rayne’s room was on the opposite side of the castle from the training grounds, so surely Neko would have enough time to warn him before it was too late, right?

“Thank you.” Zera vanished a moment later.

Neko walked to the entrance of Yugito’s chamber. “Enter.” The Dark Nekomata was already aware of Neko’s presence. I hope this doesn’t take too long.

“You called for me?” The fire elemental dipped her head in respect and avoided eye contact with her master.

“Tell me something.” Yugito sounded less than pleased. “What exactly happened at Vritra.” Crap!

“I don’t know wh-“

“Don’t lie to me again. I am well aware that Vritra still stands.” Yugito growled.

“I saw no signs of rebels there.” Neko tried to cover her mistake, but made another in the process.

“You told me that Hail is dead. He was a rebel and a traitor.” Neko was starting to panic.

“He was the only one. I saw no reason to-“

“More lies, Neko.” Yugito stood up and approached the fire Nekomata. “Hail still lives and the rebels are hiding in Vritra.” Neko knew there was nothing she could do or say now. “Tell me, why did you lie.” She hissed.

“After you.” Neko said coldly, trying to remain calm.

“What about all of those lies you, Kura, and whoever else told me.” Neko knew she was just asking to get herself killed now.

“What lies?” Yugito’s claws flexed on the ground.

“About my past, my memories, my home.” Neko’s fur burst into flames. If she was going to die, she would at least put up a fight. “Marua. That is where Kura found me, is it not?” She hissed. “And you- you erased all of my memories, right?”

Yugito laughed. “I’m surprised that you learned of all that.” The Dark Nekomata looked Neko in the eye. “Tell you what.” She held a strong hint of a threat in her voice. “I’ll be nice today. You have two options. You can stay here as a Dark Warrior if…” She grinned.

“If what?” Neko did not like where this was going.

“If you kill the traitor’s apprentice. Rayne, you can continue living here as a Dark Warrior.” Neko remained silent. “Choice two is you leave and live the life as a traitor, just like Hail.” I’m assuming assassins and Dark Warriors trying to kill me is included.

“I’ll kill Rayne.” Neko spoke calmly.

Yugito grinned coldly. “Good. Come to me before sundown with the traitor’s body, and you can stay.” Yugito took a few steps back and sat down again. “Dismissed.”

Neko nodded and slowly walked out into the hall. Once she was out of Yugito’s sight, she broke into a full sprint. Choice two it is! There was no way Neko could kill Rayne. The Wolf had done nothing wrong and was probably the closest thing to a friend she had here. She had told Yugito she would kill Rayne just so she could buy some time to get him before fleeing the castle. Hopefully they would get a good head start before Yugito sent someone to kill them.

What am I doing? A few months ago, she would have had no trouble killing the Wolf, but now there was something else about him that made it impossible for Neko to even consider the thought. Why? So much had changed since her first dream with Cera and the orb. She was not the same Dark Warrior as before. For the better or the worst, she had been changed by the knowledge she had gained.

:Rayne?” She said between her breaths as she arrived in the training fields.

“What’s wrong?” He popped up from one side. He looked at Neko’s face and immediately felt that something was wrong. “Neko?”

“We’re leaving.” She panted.

“What?” Rayne had a bemused look on his face. “Why?”

“It’s not safe here.”

“Neko, what is going on?” The young Wolf began to look scared.

“No time to explain.” Neko hissed. “Let’s go!” With a growl of frustration she grabbed Rayne by the scruff of his neck and ran. The only thing that mattered now was getting as far away from Yugito as possible.</sub>

[/sub]

[Nekomata]

Chapter Five
Escape

Neko ran on for countless miles with no pause or break. Rayne hung limply in her grip. She had let him run for a bit, but he had become tired rather quickly so Neko decided not to waste time and carry him. The further away they got from the Dark Castle, the better. In the sky, the sun had begun to sink in the horizon and temperatures began to cool off. There was no way the fiery Nekomata was going to stick around when Yugito learned of her disappearance and sent an assassin or Dark Warrior after her.

At last she came across a location that seemed well hidden and stopped to rest. It was a large pile of rocks with a small opening that led into a cave that was just large enough for the two to rest comfortably in. While gaining distance was high up in her priority list, it would do no good if the former Dark Warrior was too exhausted to fight should they get attacked. Having worked under Yugito made them enemies to the rebels. There was no where for them to run. “Are you alright there?”

Rayne was tired and hopelessly confused on what was going on. “Yeah.” He muttered. “Neko, what happened?” At least he understood it had something to do with Neko’s chat with Yugito earlier that day. Neko decided she would avoid telling him about Yugito wanting him dead.”

“I didn’t complete my previous task, the one at Vritra. Yugito found out about that somehow.” Neko had considered heading towards Vritra, but if Yugito knew that Neko had failed to destroy it, she probably would have already sent someone else to finish the job.

“Why not?” Sometimes Neko wished that the Wolf would not be so nosy, but she had literally dragged him into the mess with her.

“Hail was there, as well as someone I needed to talk to.” Rayne’s ears pricked up.

“Is Hail alright?” Rayne, despite having been told numerous times that Hail was a traitor and should not be trusted, was still loyal to his former mentor.

“Still annoying and breathing last I saw him.” Neko muttered. Maybe she should find Hail so that he could take Rayne off her paws. He was probably safer with the rebels than with Neko anyway.

“Did you say for me?”

“Just like I promised.”

“And the rebel you wanted to talk to?” Rayne’s curiosity was never ending. “It wasn’t that Griffon, was it?”

“No, Scart was there, but I went to talk to their spirit elemental.” She was a bit annoyed that he had not answered all of her questions, but was glad that she knew a little bit more than before.

“Why?” That seemed to be the Wolf’s favorite question.

“To ask questions.” Neko dropped her bag and allowed the fire orb to slip out. The brilliant object shone brightly in the dim cave, illuminating the stones around them. A comforting warmth washed over the two. “About this and my sister.”

Rayne ignored the part about Cera as his eyes were transfixed on the mesmerizing and brilliant glow of the orb. “What is that?”

“I’m not entirely sure, to be honest.” Neko admitted. “I know that it is very powerful and that there are others like it.” Rayne prodded it with one paw and then withdrew it from the heat. “I also know that Yugito would kill anyone to get a hold of this. If she knew I had it, I’d be dead already.”

Rayne looked at Neko then back at the orb. The fire in the sphere flickered brightly, keeping the area lit despite the sun’s departure outside. “Where did you get it?”

“At the battle at Kurori. My sister slipped it into my bag.” Just what was she thinking?

“Your sister?” Rayne looked surprised. “You have a sister?”

“I had a sister.”

“Oh… I’m sorry.” Rayne had not the slightest idea what to say.

“It’s alright. I didn’t even know her, or remembered who she was until Kurori.” Rayne lied down next to the orb to keep warm. “Cera gave the orb to me sometimes before Yugito killed her. I didn’t notice-“

“What?” Rayne nearly leapt to his paws. “Your sister was Cera? As in the rebel leader?” Neko nodded.

“I regained most of my memories from when I was younger, well, at least all the negative ones.” Neko could only imagine what Rayne had been through before he was taken to the Dark Castle if it was anything like Neko’s. Maybe some things are better left forgotten.

A still silence lay itself over the area. Neko sighed and pushed the orb back into her bag so that it was out of sight. The two lay down and feel sleep, both tired from the long day. It was not long before Neko’s ears pricked up as a sudden wind swept over the rocks creating a shrill whistle-like tone. “You can’t run forever.” I must be hearing things.

“Did you say something, Neko?” Rayne had woken up. Or not.

“Must have been the wind.” She murmured.

“Neko?” The Wolf pup was not having an easy time falling back asleep. Stupid wind.

“Hmm?”

“Why did you take me with you?” Unfortunately, it was a legitimate question, one that Neko hoped he would not ask and did not want to answer.

“They were going to kill you.” Rayne seemed shocked and frightened at this. Of course he would never have suspected it since he had done nothing to anger Yugito and was not a threat to her rule.

“Why?”

“Maybe because you were Hail’s apprentice.” A stupid reason perhaps, but still a reason. “I didn’t want to leave you to die, so I took you with me. Even then, you never belonged there.”

“What do you mean?”

“You aren’t a heartless killer. You were never meant to have innocent blood on your paws.” Neko truly believed that. “You don’t like fighting either.”

“What about you? You aren’t a heartless killer either.” Rayne whimpered. I was. Not anymore. He had never seen Neko out on an assignment. He would not have seen anything violent if he had gone on tasks with Hail making it that the Wolf was never exposed to the true nature of what he would have been expected to do.

“Go to sleep. We leave again at first light.” Not once did the fiery Nekomata ever imagine having to flee the Dark Castle with a hyperactive young Wolf with a powerful relic in their possession. Of course, there was also the assassin that had probably been sent out by now. There was no question now that the road ahead of them would be filled with many obstacles. Rayne may be able to join up with the rebels, but Neko was a known Dark Warrior, so there was no where for her to go.

“Saia!” The old Nekomata lifted his head.

“Scart, what now? Can you not see how late it is?” He retorted. It had been two days since Neko came to Vritra. Saia had been busy spending most of his time trying to figure out the possible locations of some of the other orbs. So far he had no leads.

“Vritra is under attack!” This got Saia up.

“Who?” It was always a question of which Dark Warrior had been sent as it was rare for anyone not under Yugito’s rule to attack. This was a two-sided war. The rebels and Yugito’s followers.

“Kura.” Scart had encountered the dragon at the battle at Kurori and was well aware of what they were up against.

“Go help hold him off until we can evacuate. I’ll go get Hail.” Saia began to head out.

“Can we trust him?” Saia sighed with annoyance. He understood the Griffon’s distrust of Hail, but now was definitely not the time to quarrel on who could and could not be trusted.

“Can you trust me?” He ran out and saw flames from one part of town. Thankfully they had not spread too far yet. By the time Saia arrived at where the Dragon stood with Hail, the town had already taken some heavy damage in that area.

“Well now.” Kura locked eyes with Hail. “If it isn’t our traitor.” He growled. “I was hoping to run into you here.”

“How can I betray a brutish organization that I was never a part of?” Hail moved up to stand next to Scart. The Griffon’s feathers ruffled up. “I’ll take care of Kura, go help get everyone to safety.” He said quietly so that Kura would not be able to hear him. The Griffon grunted and flew off.

“Oh, that’s right.” Kura laughed. “You were the spy. I keep getting you two mixed up.” Hail narrowed his eyes. What was he talking about?

“Two?” Something was not right.

“Oh, I suppose you didn’t know.” The Dragon seemed to be enjoying this. “My apprentice was supposed to destroy this dump a little while back. Clearly, she didn’t.”

“Neko?” Saia was not liking the sounds of this.

“Who else?” Kura began to approach the two Nekomata. Hail quickly stepped in front of Saia. It’s long overdue that you join her and that obnoxious pup.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Hail growled, baring long white fangs.

“They’re dead.” Kura continued to approach Hail. That’s a lie. “You know very well what becomes of anyone who disobeys orders.” Hail growled even more fiercely.

“Don’t listen to him, Hail.” Kura was planning something. If Neko was no longer a Dark Warrior, it would make sense for Kura to want them to believe she was dead so that no one would try to get her on their side. That, or he wanted them to look for Neko and get caught in some sort of trap.

“Saia, go find Riza and get out with everyone else. I’ll hold Kura back.” The old Nekomata nodded. There was little point in arguing with Hail and his stubbornness. Regardless, he had better things to do. He needed to confirm that Kura was telling lies and would need some concentration to do so.

[/sub]

[Nekomata]

Chapter Six
The Assassin

<sub>Two days had passed since Neko and Rayne had fled from the Dark Castle. They were traveling east through the eastern forests hoping to find somewhere that the war between Yugito’s forces and the rebels had not hit. Despite the loss at Kurori, the rebels had yet to give in. It was only a matter of time before the two sides clashed again in a big battle.

Neko was glad to have trees over her head to hide her and Rayne from any flying creature that might have been sent to find and eliminate them. A while back she had nearly destroyed a large portion of the forest when she and Kura had been sent on an assignment in the area. Fortunately, most of it had grown back already.

“Neko, I’m tired.” Rayne whined after an hour or so of walking over the leafy forest floor. “Do you even know where we’re going?” Some things just could not change no matter what situation they were in. Rayne was going to be, well, Rayne.

“Stop complaining.” Neko growled. “We have to keep moving. Time is something we cannot waste.” Over the last day or so she had gotten a strong feeling that someone was following them. She had no idea how far or who, but Neko did not want to take a break to find out.

“Moving where though? We can’t run forever.” As much as Neko hated the idea, Rayne was right. Running would only get them away from the Dark Castle, but it’s inhabitants could run as well, and sooner or later, they’d be forced to stop.

“I don’t know.” She muttered. “As far away from the Dark Castle and the war as we can get.” Surely there must be some distant area that remained untouched by Yugito and the Dark Warriors? So far, they had been lucky enough not to encounter anyone that would recognized them as former Dark Warriors or someone that was ready to kill them.

“What if we get attacked?” Why did Rayne always have to ask so many questions?

“If we get in some sort of trouble, run. I’ll stay and fight if needed, but I want you to get as far away as you can.” Rayne may have impressed Neko in their practice fight, but she knew that he had never been in a real fight where claws, teeth, and harmful abilities were allowed. His encounter with Scart could hardly count since Neko had come in to save his tail when the Wolf froze up in fear.

Rayne said nothing else for the next few hours. The sun had reached its highest point in the sky marking that it was about noon. It was a warm day with no clouds in the air to hint of coming rain. Thankfully, for Rayne’s sake, that the trees blocked a lot of the sunlight and the heat that came along with it. The only part that bothered Neko was how windy it was.

A strong gust of wind blew Rayne off his paws. Surely no natural wind could be that strong? Neko’s ears pricked up. “Rayne, get down!” She hissed.

“What?”

“Just get down.” She placed one paw on his head and forced the Wolf to the ground. “Something isn’t right.” She whispered, keeping her ears open for even the slightest sound. “We aren’t alone.”

“Not bad.” A voice came from behind. “Most don’t hear me coming until it’s too late.” The newcomer was a Nekomata. A Cheetah Nekomata to be more exact. He had a very lean figure, skinny long legs, a long tail, and two rounded ears. His ears were black with a white spot in the center of both. A Cheetah Nekomata with the wind element. No wonder why he caught up with us so quickly.

There was no doubt on who this newcomer was. This was who Yugito had sent to finish off Neko and Rayne. “Leave.” Neko growled even though she knew that there was no hope of avoiding a fight. This was definitely someone she, nor Rayne, could outrun.

“You should know very well that I cannot do that.” The thin Nekomata began to walk in circles around Neko and Rayne. “You know why I’m here, correct?” Neko nodded. “Good.” He vanished.

Immediately Neko burst into flames, accidentally scorching the tip of Rayne’s tail and possibly setting a few nearby trees on fire. Rayne jumped back a bit with a startled yelp. “And I hope you’re aware that I’m not going down without a fight.” A strong gust of wind blasted at Neko’s side, blowing away a large portion of flames. That can’t be good.

“How impolite of me.” The Nekomata’s voice was carried by the wind, making him difficult to locate. “I forgot to introduce myself.” Neko scanned the area and noted that the leaves were being blown in a large circular course around her and Rayne. “My name is Gale.” Ignoring the wind Nekomata’s words, Neko sent flames into the wind until it looked like there were lights dancing around them. This made it easier for Neko to track the motion of the wind, at least until the flames died out.

There! Neko leapt at one point of the current that seemed to be leading the rest of the wind. She crashed into Gale, leaving several burn marks on his side. “You can still give up and leave.” Neko warned, hoping that she could end the fight before she, or Rayne, got injured.

“Not going to happen.” He chuckled and vanished again. Neko once again struck at the rush of wind but missed. Gale continually reappeared and vanished multiple times before Neko could make a move. “Over here!” He called.

Neko turned around and realized to late what Gale had been doing. Every time she had spotted him she had tried to get close enough to strike. He had merely lured her away from where Rayne was crouching down in the grass, not even ten feet away from the assassin. “Rayne, Run!” The former Dark Warrior broke into a sprint, frustrated that she had been fooled into leaving the Wolf unprotected.

She reached the water elemental just in time to intercept an attack directed at the young Wolf. “Neko!” He barked in alarm as razor sharp blades of wind sliced into her side, making her stagger a few steps back. Crap. “Neko, are you okay?” The cuts stung fiercely, but Neko nodded.

“Rayne, run.” Neko growled. The cuts were more painful than claws or teeth would have been. “Get as far away from here as you can. Run and hide. If you find a town, that’d be even better. I’ll buy you some time.” Rayne nodded and scrambled away into the forest. “Now it’s just us.” Neko glared at Gale. With any luck, she would make it out alive and meet up with Rayne soon.

“For now.” He had a very smug grin on his face. The Wind Nekomata had intended for Neko to take the hit for Rayne. “Once I’m done with you, it will be just me and that runt.”

Gale sent another barrage of piercing winds towards the fiery Nekomata. She created a wall of flames in an attempt to shield herself, but the blades of air simply sliced right through the fire and hit her head on. This isn’t good. I have to give Rayne enough time to get away. Neko’s body was already aching and she needed some time to formulate some sort of plan.

“Tired already?” Gale walked up to Neko as one would approach someone who was a friend. He could see that Neko had taken damage as her flames burned a slightly different color where the cuts had been made. “And here I was thinking that the last fire elemental of Marua would be a challenge.” Neko narrowed her eyes.

“What do you know about Marua?” She growled.

“Plenty more than you do, it seems.” He seemed to be enjoying himself. “I suppose it’d be fair to tell you about where you were from before I kill you. After all, Marua had a very proud history before Kura destroyed it.” Neko’s only response was silence. “Marua was well known for its powerful fire elementals. So powerful that rumors said that even the sun would offer it’s strength to them.”

“How do you know if I’m really from Marua or not?” Neko tried to focus on getting a small ring of fire around the area without being noticed. Several trees were already burning making it a little easier to connect the flames.

“I went there not long before Kura was assigned to destroy the miserable village. Perhaps a month or two sooner.” Neko could not help but wonder if he had seen the orb or not. “You have the same eyes as the one I was ordered to eliminate that day. Strong with a fierce fire. I’ve yet to meet someone more stubborn.” He studied Neko’s eyes. “That one proved bothersome to get rid of. He and his mate persistently clung to life, even when they knew it was hopeless.”

“Marua might have stood for a few more years had I not seen the orb that the fire clan so adamantly defended.” Neko moved her shoulder some to check that the bag was still there. “If they had handed it over peacefully, you might still be living there.” Neko doubted that. “Instead, they chose to send someone to escape with the orb and hide it before Kura could come to take it by force.” No, Cera took it the very day Kura destroyed the village. Apparently, Kura did not tell Yugito the truth regarding the orb, or so it seemed.

“Orb?” Just a little longer and Neko would be able to complete the ring of flames and hopefully defeat, or even kill, Gale.

“I’m not surprised you don’t know.” Part of Neko wanted to laugh. “The orb is a powerful artifact. It seemed as if Marua existed for the sole purpose to defend it. They must have known that Yugito was after it. Without the orb, Marua was easy to bring down.” Neko felt a twinge of satisfaction knowing that the orb was there that day but Kura had been too afraid of the orb’s strength. If only they knew.

“So, I take it Yugito has no idea where the orb is now? What a shame.” She grinned.

“We do know that the troublesome leader of the rebels hid it before she died at Kurori.” Yup. She hid it in the one place that no Dark Warrior would ever think of looking.

“Too bad for you then.” Neko laughed as she completed the ring. It had taken her longer than she had intended since Gale’s story about Marua had distracted her slightly. The flames rose up and created a small dome over them. Neko could not tell if it would work, but it seemed like her best option. This was a move that was better used for large areas, not a small confined area where the walls of the dome could easily be attacked. “Our little fight is just about over.” She panted. This is taking more out of me than I remember.

“Indeed it is.” Gale laughed. If this doesn’t work, I’m dead.</sub>

[/sub]

[Nekomata]

Chapter Seven
Rayne's Plea

<sub>Hail walked along silently next to Saia. Kura had managed to destroy Vritra, but not nearly quickly enough as most of the residents of Vritra managed to escape. Hail and Scart had received a few wounds from keeping Kura busy, but nothing serious. Thankfully everything had worked out fairly well in the end.

The rebels that were in Vritra had split up and headed to different areas to try getting help for their cause. Against all odds, there was still enough support against Yugito for them to continue their cause. Hail was traveling with Saia, Riza, and Scart. The group was heading east in hopes of finding Neko, except for Scart who had no idea what they were up to. If he was aware of Saia’s current goal things would have ended up with an argument.

The eastern regions were known to be very dry past the forests. That made it a reasonable place for the group to look for a fire elemental like Neko. “See anything, Riza?” The Eagle was flying just above the trees for any suspicious activity. So far, things had been very quiet in the forest. Almost too quiet.

“Nope. Just trees and wind.” She dove through the branches to glide just over the group. “Everything seems pretty peaceful over here.” The eastern forest area had been rather quiet as of late with no reports of attacks or skirmishes.

“That’s new.” Scart muttered. The brown-feathered creature was in a rather bad mood since Vritra. He was convinced that Neko had given away their location in Vritra. It did not quite surprise anyone though that he thought so.

“Hey, Saia?” Hail noted that the older Nekomata was unusually quiet. While it was normal for him not to say much, but something was off.

“Yes?” It seemed as if Saia’s mind was in another place.

“I know I shouldn’t be asking this because it’s a bit soon, but got any idea who will lead the rebels next?” It had not been very long since the battle at Kurori and Cera was killed by Yugito, but they could not continue without a leader forever. Hail could see Scart tense up. Good.

“I’m going to go scout ahead.” Scart spoke almost immediately in a harsh tone. He was not particularly fond of Hail nor the topic that the icy Nekomata had brought up. Within a few mere moments he was out of sight into the trees.

“You should know better than to ask that in front of Scart.” Riza scolded. “You know that he was close friends with Cera and that he’s still grieving over her death.”

“What?” Hail laughed lightly. “I had to get rid of him somehow.” He did not want the Griffon overhearing what he had to say. “There are other topics I’m sure he’d love to hear that I’d rather discuss. Though for my safety, it’s best he not listen.”

“No one has stepped up, Hail.” Saia said. “Something tells me it’ll be a while before anyone does.”

“I know, I know.” Did Saia hear a thing that Hail had said to Riza. “I just asked because I knew Scart wouldn’t want to be a part of it.”

“Sorry.” The old Nekomata muttered.

“Is something wrong?” Hail asked as a strong breeze pulled at his mane. “You’re awfully distracted. If there is something bothering you-“

“I’m fine.” He snapped. “I’m just getting far too old for this.”

Hail grinned. “Well, we’re all glad to have you around.”

Said smiled gently. “Anyway, what was it you wanted to discuss again?”

“Neko.” Hail looked ahead to make sure Scart was not in earshot. He still had no idea about anything that had been going on recently. Hail could only imagine the chaos that would break loose if the Griffon learned that Neko had possession of the fire orb. As far as he, and almost everyone else, was aware, Cera had hidden the orb somewhere safe so that it would not be found by Yugito or any Dark Warrior.

“Kura said that she had been killed.” Saia responded.

“Do you believe that?” It was not a completely absurd story, but Hail knew Kura well enough to suspect a lie.

“To be honest, not at all.” Saia responded. “I do, however, believe that she’s probably in some sort of trouble. Yugito would not allow any of her followers to leave without sending someone out to kill them before important information was leaked.”

“She’ll be fine. Some of us are far too stubborn to die.” The Lion Nekomata joked.

“Too stubborn indeed. It must run in the family.” Hail and Riza laughed. How many times had they tried to convince the fiery Nekomata to join the rebels in the last few weeks only to be put down.

“Think she might change her mind now that she’s been forced out of the Dark Castle?” A warm breeze carried stray leaves across the ground around their paws. “Actually, scratch that. She’ll want to kill me first. It’s technically my fault that she was forced to leave.” He chuckled. “She’s probably not too happy about that.”

“Is that the only reason?” Saia joked. “I get the impression she already wanted to kill you back in Vritra. What did you do before then?”

“Oh, I’m sure there are probably a few dozen reasons for her to kill me.” In all the time he spent with Neko at the Dark Castle he had made sure to find ways to kill time. “At least things won’t get too boring.”

“Care to explain?” Riza shifted over to hover over Hail so that she may hear him better. “Sounds like you were up to no good over there.” She teased.

“I just tried to get her to lighten up a bit every now and then.”

“Sounds more like you never left her in peace.” Saia shook his head.

“You could say that.” Hail had made numerous attempts to pull pranks on Neko from the moment they met as mere apprentices. Any other Dark Warrior would probably have killed him for some of the things he had done. “The Dark Castle was a bit boring, alright?”

“With you there? Nonsense!” Saia laughed. “Hail, do you really think she’d help us though?” He tried to get back to the real subject on hand.

“Who knows.” Hail looked ahead for any sign of Scart. Hopefully the Griffon had not gone too far ahead. “If I were in her position, I’d be pretty confused myself. I’m lucky to have regained most of me memories pretty early on.” He muttered. “It’s not everyday you learn that your biggest enemy is actually your sister and that your real enemy is the one you’ve been working for since as long as you can remember.” Hail looked up at the sun through the trees. The temperature had gone up a bit much to the ice elemental’s dislike. “I do know that she isn’t quite like the other Dark Warriors.”

“Cera had faith in her. Most would call her crazy for it, I know because I did, but now look.” Saia looked at Hail. “Neko has the orb, and just like Cera predicted, did not give it over to Yugito straight away. Now she’s an enemy of Yugito. Kura probably told us that she was dead so that we would not try to find her and bring her to our side.”

“You know, it probably would have been smarter of him not to say anything of all.” It was either that the Dragon was an idiot, or had some sort of magnificent plan in store for them. The latter, however, seemed far less likely.

“That Dragon was never the brightest of the bunch. Had he any brain, he’d have gotten the fire orb ages ago, but chose not to.”

“Too bad for him.” Hail yawned. How long have they been traveling? A thought suddenly crossed his mind. “Hey, I’ve got an idea that is sure to work!”

“Well, let’s hear it then.” Riza was still gliding above, avoiding low branches and fighting against the gentle breeze.

“If there is anything, or anyone, that Neko hates more than anything else it’s-“

“You?”

“Hey!” Hail growled playfully. “That’s not nice, Riza. It’s Kura! She considers him at least twice as irritating as I am!”

“I didn’t think that was possible.” Teasing Hail was just too fun sometimes. It made the icy Nekomata glad that there was at least one other, aside from Saia, that did not hate him for having been a Dark Warrior despite actually being a spy.

“Very funny.” Hail smirked. “When we find Neko, we can tell her that if she joins up with us, we’ll let her kill Kura!”

“If she refuses again?” Saia seemed to be a bit amused.

“Then we kill him first!”

“Oh yes, that’ll make her happy.”

“Oh, then I suppose you have a better idea, Riza?” Hail swatted gently at the large bird.

“There is something called trust out there. Blackmailing her or bribing her isn’t going to help us get that from her.”

“Hmm… I like my idea better. It sounds more fun.” Hail saw Saia shake his head out of the corner of his eye. “What? You don’t like it either?”

“You two can be quite troublesome, you know that?” Saia was silent for a moment. “Anyway, we should be patient- and glad that she isn’t our enemy even if she isn’t our ally. If she were our enemy, things in Vritra would have gotten much differently.” We may not have the time to be patient though. Hail could not help but feel that time was something they could no longer afford to use.

“Riza!” Saia’s voice became urgent. “I think something is going on up ahead. Sounds like Scart ran into something.” I didn’t hear anything… I thought your hearing was supposed to get worse as you age!

The large bird swooped ahead under the trees and returned a few minutes later. “Scart is going after a Dark Warrior.”

“Do you know who?” Hail quickened his pace. Dark Warriors do not flee from fights. It was either a trap or…

“No, but it’s definitely not a fire elemental, thankfully, or the forest would be in flames by now.” That could possibly be a reason why the Dark Warrior was fleeing, but the chances of a minion of Yugito actually care about setting a forest on fire was pretty slim.

“Help!” Hail instantly recognized the voice and broke into a full sprint. I knew it! Scart finally came into view.

“Scart! Stop!” The Griffon turned and glared at the Nekomata.

“The Dark Warrior went in there.” He growled and gestured to a burrow in the ground. “He’s trapped, now is our chance to-“

“No, don’t.” Scart looked at Hail, his distrust of the Nekomata clear in his eyes. “He isn’t a Dark Warrior and is definitely of little threat to us.” Hail spoke Calmly and approached the hole in the ground. “Rayne?” He whispered. “It’s alright, you can come out now.”

“Hail?” A terrified looking Wolf face came into view. “Is that you?”

“Who else could I be?” He laughed as the Wolf pup scrambled out of the burrow and hid behind Hail.

“Hail, care to explain?” Scart did not look very pleased. Then again, when did he ever look pleased?

“This is Rayne. He’s a friend.” Rayne did not seem comfortable around Scart. This was the second time that the Griffon had nearly killed him.

“A Dark Warrior friend of yours?” The Wolf tried to get out of Scart’s view by putting Hail between him and the half-bird creature. Does he really seem like a Dark Warrior? The Lion Nekomata thought that Scart’s aggression was completely wasted and pointless.

“A friend, yes, but not a Dark Warrior.” He turned to face Rayne as Saia and Riza came in. He lowered his head so he could whisper in the Wolf’s ear. “Where’s Neko?” He had assumed that he had been with the fiery Nekomata up until that moment.

“Fighting.” Rayne whimpered. Oh crud.

“Hey, Saia.” Hail called out to the older Nekomata. “There’s trouble. Looks like another Dark Warrior beat us to Neko.”

“Wait, what?” Scart glared at Hail, not knowing what was going on. Whoops, I forgot about him. Hail, Saia, and Riza tried to explain everything as quickly as possible about how Neko had fled the castle and Kura’s lies. Neither of the three said anything about the orb or her connection to Cera, however. “Saia, this could be a trap.” What would it take to get the Griffon to listen and stop being so stubborn?

“It’s not a trap!” Rayne barked. “Neko’s hurt and needs help!”

Hail patted Rayne’s head to calm him down some. For whatever reason, that always seemed to relax the young Wolf. “Scart, does this furball look capable of laying out a trap?” Hail turned to face the forest. “Which way?”

“So, you’re going to go help that murderer?” Scart challenged.

“That’s the plan.”

The Griffon positioned himself in front of Hail. “I won’t allow that.”

“Scart-“ Saia began.

“Silence, Saia.” The metal elemental was clearly in a foul mood. “We have no reason to save that killer.” Can we argue about this later? We don’t have the time for this! “Have you forgotten what she did at Thunara? What she did to Kalm and Orre? How she gave us away at Vritra?”

“Scart, her orders were to destroy Vritra and kill everyone, not to go visit and then get another Dark Warrior to do it.” Hail growled. “Now get out of my way!”

“Give me one good reason to.” Scart’s wings were spread out and he was poised to attack.

“Because-“ Hail hesitated. “Because she is Cera’s sister.” He said in a low voice.

“Lies.” The Nekomata dug his claws into the soil, trying to refrain from attacking. His patience was growing thinner by the moment. “You don’t have one, then?”

“I do.” Rayne barked in a very shaky voice. Everyone turned to face the Wolf. He was shaking and lay low to the ground.

“What was that?” Scart said sarcastically.

“I have a reason.” Rayne growled in a louder tone. “Because she saved my life!” He approached the Griffon. “Not just once.” His body was still shaking, but he glared up at Scart who was now within striking distance from the Wolf. “If she hadn’t saved me, she wouldn’t be in trouble right now. So please.” Hail had never seen Rayne look so determined before. “Please help!”</sub>

[/sub]

[Nekomata]

Chapter Eight
The Orb’s Strength

“Impressive.” Gale muttered as the dome sealed itself around them. Any attempt to break through it would be rather painful. “So this is all you’ve got?”

“Not at all.” Neko could feel her heart racing in her chest. The dome was really all she had left. She became keenly aware that she could not hold it for too long despite how small it was compared to what she had accomplished in the past. What’s happening to me? Surely her strength could not be failing her now of all times? She saw Gale studying the dome. With any luck, he would not attack before the heat and lack of oxygen lowered his strength.

“I can tell a lie when I see one.” The wind elemental turned to face Neko again. “So, what happens if I attack it?” Neko felt the wind tug at the flames. Concentrate! Letting the flames collapse on top of them was not a bad idea, but letting the wind take the flames away would not help at all. Neko took a few steps away from Gale.

Suddenly the wind elemental lunged forward at Neko. The fiery Nekomata jumped out of the way and tried to make distance between the two. All I need to do is stall for time. She was already breathing heavily while Gale still seemed pretty comfortable. “Fine, if you want to play like that.” A strong gust of wind struck the flames. Neko struggled to hold the fire together, but at last the barrier fell apart and the flames were carried by the wind into the forest.

The forest quickly caught fire and would spread in no time at all. “That might work.” Neko staggered a bit but fled into the flames, encouraging them to grow larger so that it would be difficult for Gale to follow. Careful not to trip on any fallen branches or be hit by anything that came down from above, Neko raced through the burning trees. Behind her she could hear the crunch of paws following her. Thankfully Gale was too busy weaving through trees and debris to run at full speed.

Neko took a quick glance behind her through the flames and saw Gale using his wind abilities to blow away some of the flames in his path. At last she began to think that Gale might be falling behind. All that was left to do was outlast him. Thankfully, Cheetahs were not much for endurance. Sooner or later, Gale would tire out. A distant crack from another direction stole away Neko’s focus causing her to trip on the roots of a tree.

Dammit! Neko growled to herself in frustration. She lay on the forest floor too exhausted to fight or run any longer. The fire dome she had created took far more energy than she had anticipated. The part that angered her most was that it did little to aid her against Gale. Neko considered if the outcome if this fight would have been different if she had not taken the attack that the wind Nekomata sent at Gale. The truth was that she did not regret it.

“Tired already?” Gale was standing over her only moments after she lost focus and tripped, casting a shadow over her face. “I was hoping that would last a little longer.” Neko glared back at the Dark Warrior. If only looks could kill, then maybe she would be in a better position. Neko burst into flames again only to have a strong rush of wind scatter the fire into tiny embers. “How many times must I remind you that your fire cannot help you.”

“Anyway, I suppose I’ll make this quick. I’m expected back at the castle tomorrow and if I don’t leave soon, I’ll be late.” Gale moved his claws over Neko’s throat. “Bye.” He whispered quietly. It can’t end like this! She closed her eyes shut and braced herself for the final slash. Nothing happened.

Opening her eyes she saw that Gale was no longer standing over her. Right next to her nose was a metallic feather that was lodged into the ground. “Impossible.” She murmured. The former Dark Warrior slowly forced herself to her paws and was shocked at what she saw. Okay, maybe I am dead.

Gale had been tossed away by a large brown Griffon. Scart. “Something is seriously wrong with this picture.” Neko muttered. “Well, unless you are just getting rid of him so you can take the credit for my death?”

“Wrong.” Neko grimaced when she heard Hail’s voice. “Well… alright, not entirely wrong.” Was there even a slight chance that the Lion Nekomata would ever leave her alone?

“Can’t you just stay out of my life for more than a week?”

“Is that how you say thanks? Anyway, how can I stay out of your life if you don’t have a life to stay out of?” Hail was now at her side. “Anyway, you made it pretty easy for me to find you. Have you seen how many trees you set on fire already?”

“I don’t recall asking for your help.” Neko kept her eyes on Gale who was now slowly circling around Scart. If anything, he was not pleased that the Griffon had intervened with his fight.

“No, but I did.” Rayne stepped up from behind Hail.

“I thought I told you to get your tail out of here!” She hissed in an attempt to be angry at Rayne. A rather horrid attempt at that. Sometimes it was just too hard to remain upset with Rayne, especially when he came back to help her.

“No need to be upset.” Hail teased and turned to watch Scart. Gale was trying to find a way to attack the Griffon, but the Griffon had hardened his feathers and fur making him resistant to most attacks.

Neko summoned up some flames and readied herself to fight. “Take it easy.” Hail warned. “Scart may not be our best friend, but he’s got this.” Neko was about to ignore Hail and run after Gale, but with only one step she realized how sore and work out she was. “Saia will be here in a few moments. He’ll check your wounds.” The older Nekomata was normally the last to arrive in such situations due to his age and slower speed, but in the middle of a fight he seemed quite agile.

Scart was shaken up by a few strong gusts of wind, but managed to hold his ground. Before the wind Nekomata could knock the Griffon off-balance, a pillar of water slammed into Gale. “Rayne!” Hail seemed alarmed. “What are you doing?” Rayne charged forward despite Hail’s attempts to grab his tail and drag him back to the sidelines. It was clear that the Wolf was scared, but he continued onward regardless.

At that moment Saia arrived with Riza flying overhead. “Good timing.” Hail muttered. “Take care of Neko, I’m going to try getting Rayne away from there before he gets himself, or Scart, hurt.”

Saia laughed but sat down next to Neko. “Feeling alright?” The older feline spoke calmly.

“I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?” Neko said dryly. Part of her wanted to rejoin the fight, but she knew that in her condition she would only get in the way.

“If you say so.” Saia responded as Rayne dodged out of the way of some blades of wind that had missed Scart. The Wolf skidded to a halt and leapt into the air in an attempt to get on Gale’s back, but the Cheetah Nekomata managed to sidestep the lunge as he dodged some more metallic feathers sent by Scart that almost hit Rayne.

“I thought you rebels liked playing fair?” He laughed as he dodged another attempted strike from Hail. “Three versus one and you still can’t beat me?” His body was built to be agile which made it difficult for any of the three to land a successful attack. “Pathetic.”

“No point in playing fair.” Scart growled. The four were standing all poised for an attack. “Especially when the other side can’t play fair.”

“Well then.” Gale took a few steps back. “I guess I was wrong about you rebels.” He grinned. “You all are far more like us than I had originally concluded. It’s such a pity how two groups of creatures so alike have to war against each other.”

“Don’t you dare compare us you murderers.” Scart growled with a furious intensity. Neko looked at Gale. It was not like assassins to stop and chat much. Either Gale is being overconfident, or he is plotting something.

“You’ve killed some of our own.” Gale looked at Scart. “Does that not make you a murderer as well?”

Scart’s golden eyes flared with rage. “At least we do not kill in cold blood.”

“There is no such thing as killing in cold blood when you are at war.” Gale paused so that Scart may speak but continued when the Griffon remained silent. “What of Neko, then? You know she has killed many before. She’s killed some of your friends, correct?” Rayne slowly began to creep to one side out of Gale’s sight. “Why defend her?” Scart clearly had no answer to that. “If you allow me to complete my task here, I shall leave the rest of you be.”

“Scart, don’t listen to him.” Hail growled as the Griffon backed off. There was a long silence that settled over the group. Ash was blown into the air by a light breeze.

“What exactly is your task?” Scart kept his eyes fixated on the wind elemental.

“To kill the Dark Warrior, or rather, former Dark Warrior, that stands behind you.” Scart’s golden eyes studied the situation. “So, please, will you move aside so that I can finish what I came here to do?”

Neko flattened her ears against her head as Scart backed away from Gale and closer to her. “Not a chance.” With a flap of his heavy wings he sent an array of metallic feathers towards the assassin.

“That wasn’t quite what I was expecting.” Neko was almost sure that the Griffon would have turned on her. Gale had a very good point. Neko did kill some of Scart’s friends and he really had no reason to help.

“To be honest, I’m rather surprised that he agreed to help.” Saia spoke calmly as Gale and Scart began to fight again. Hail stood to one side in case Scart needed some help. Joining in the fight might cause some accidental friendly fire that neither Scart nor Hail needed at the moment.

“How exactly did you manage to convince him?” Neko could recall his several attempts to kill her at their previous encounters. She was sure this would end up no different when, or if, they managed to drive Gale away. “I’m sure you’ve noticed, but we are quite far from being friends.”

“It wasn’t me.”

“Hail?” Neko guessed.

“No.” The fiery Nekomata looked at Rayne who was slowly creeping around to stand where Gale would not be able to spot him.

“Don’t tell me it was Rayne?” Saia nodded. “I guess I should stop underestimating that furball.” Anyone with even the smallest bit of heart would be unable to go out against the full force of Rayne’s unparalleled innocence.

“Be sure to thank him later.” The Wolf was now in the perfect spot for a surprise attack. He peeked out from behind a tree and looked at Hail waiting for his chance to strike. So far, Scart had been doing very well on his own and did not need assistance.

Hail gave a very subtle signal to Rayne. The Wolf slid out from his hiding spot and created several balls of water. Just as they started heading in Gale’s direction the blobs of water froze over and turned into giant chunks of ice. The balls of ice shattered as they hit the assassin, sending frozen splinters in all directions. Gale hissed in frustration as Scart tried to attack him while he gazed around to find where Rayne had vanished to.

Neko’s ears twitched as they picked up the whistling sound of fast moving wind. “That can’t be good.” Hail had also noticed the sound.

“For you at least.” Gale replied. Blood was dripping down from a slash wound on his cheek. Rayne and Hail had given Scart the opportunity to lash out with his talons. Around the group was a barrier of high speed winds. “Now then, I dare you to try going through that.” Neko could see many scratches appear on the trees that were on the wind’s path. The trees could very well be cut through if the wind continued for too long.

“I’d rather take you down.” Scart muttered, not caring much for the barrier. It seemed as if Gale was attempting to trap them even though fleeing was the last thing on their minds. This doesn’t make sense. Rayne was silently walking over the leafy forest floor as he approached the wind elemental.

The leaves on the ground began to life slightly off the ground. A tornado? The Wolf suddenly broke off into a dash at Gale, using the floating leaves to help conceal himself. Just as Rayne leapt off the ground, Gale spun around and struck at the Wolf pup. Within a few short moments Gale had Rayne pinned to the forest flow with one paw. “One down.” He grinned.

Hail and Scart froze. Neko knew that Hail would not risk attacking with Rayne in the way, but she was not entirely sure what Scart would do. No one moved or spoke. The only sound was that of the whirlwind that was slowly growing stronger around them.

Rayne struggled to slip free, but the Cheetah Nekomata had him firmly held against the ground. “Let me go.” He barked in a panicked voice.

“I will.” Gale grinned. “Eventually.”

Scart prepared to attack. “Wait.” Hail spoke. The ice elemental looked steadily at Gale. “Let him go.” Since when did asking ever work? The wind around them was slowly growing stronger.

“Why should I?” The assassin laughed. “My orders were to kill all of-“ Gale froze. What’s going on?

“Go.” It took Neko a moment to realize that Saia was holding Gale with his odd abilities. Her body was still sore, but the few minutes of rest she had helped a great deal. Flames flickered on Neko’s fur as her paws carried her towards Gale. The fire steadily grew as she approached, despite the wind around them.

Her burning body crashed into Gale, forcing him to release Rayne. “I didn’t take Rayne along with me so you can kill him.” She growled.

“Fine, I’ll finish you off first, since you seem so eager to fight some more.” He lunged at Neko with his claws outstretched. Before his claws could tear into her fur, Rayne leapt in the way and took the attack.

“Rayne!” Hail rushed to the Wolf who miraculously landed on his paws. “Are you alright?” The Wolf nodded. Blood was soaking his fur on his flank, but aside from that he seemed perfectly fine.

“You want to fight me?” Gale glared at Rayne.

“Your opponent is right here, Gale.” There was no more playing around. Even Gale seemed to be taking the four versus one situation seriously now.

“Haven’t you learned already?” Gale turned to face Neko. “You can’t win with your fire. It’s useless.”

“We’ll see about that.” Neko could feel a surge of heat around her, more so than usual. “Hail, get Rayne and everyone else somewhere safe.” Unfortunately, there was no where that was completely safe within the small area Gale had trapped them in. Neko focused on keeping the flames alive as she sent them into the whirlwind.

“You’re insane! Are you trying to kill us all?” Neko heard Hail call out from behind. She could feel the heat intensify as the winds slowly grew more and more powerful. All of a sudden an explosion of fire mixed with the whirlwind. Around them was a burning vortex that threatened to burn them all. Neko tried to control the fire, but it raged on well out of her reach.

“What are you doing?” Hail yelled, but his voice was almost completely drowned out by the roar of the burning tornado. Why can’t I control it?

“Stop it! I give up!” Hail called out in a panicked voice. The wind Nekomata valued his life and knew that he was beat. “Just stop it!”

“I can’t!” Neko yelled back as flames began to envelop her body with a scorching heat like never before. She could no longer see anything but fire. Nothing but flames, then darkness.

[Nekomata]

Chapter Nine
Cera's Request

Neko woke up to a throbbing headache. I passed out again, didn’t I? She opened her eyes slowly and sighed. Her body protested when she got to her paws. There was no where that did not ache. “Take it easy.” Saia came up from behind the drowsy Nekomata. “You’ve been out since yesterday afternoon.” Neko tried to ignore how dizzy and sore she felt.

“What happened?” She slowly glanced around for Hail, Scart, Rayne, or Riza. It seemed as if it was just her and Saia. I hope I didn’t kill them. The last thing Neko could remember was Gale’s tornado catching on fire and a burning sensation at her side- which was not normal for a fire elemental.

“It seems like you activated the orb’s power.” Neko looked at her side while Saia spoke. No burn marks or anything, just a lot of cuts and bruises. “You made quite a mess. The fire elemental noticed that the trees around them were completely scorched without a single green tree in sight.

“Whoops.” She had not intended to set the forest on fire. Then again, she did not intend to create a giant unstoppable tornado of fire. However, she did consider figuring out how to create that without having a wind elemental around. It’s destructive power could come in handy if she were fighting alone.

“Rayne and Hail spent quite some time trying to get the fires out after you passed out.” Well, that was two more accounted for, and the only two Neko actually cared for. As far as she was concerned, Scart could vanish and never return.

“What about Scart and-“ Neko just realized that she did not know the Eagle’s name.

“Riza?” Saia laughed. “Don’t worry. We all made it out alive- with quite a fur burns of course.” Neko spotted a few patches of singed fur on the old Nekomata’s body.

“Sorry about that.” Neko actually expected him to be far more burnt than he was, though it sounded as if the fight ended shortly after she passed out.

“Don’t worry, Gale was on the receiving end of the full force of that tornado.” Good. “He won’t be back for quite a while after that, I suspect.”

“I’d hope so.” Neko yawned, wanting to go back to sleep. The last thing she wanted to worry about at the moment was dealing with another attack from Gale or some other Dark Warrior.

“You’ll be a little bit sore for a while. I probably should have warned you earlier, but using the orb takes up a lot of your strength afterward.” I wish he had given me that warning sooner. Even after being out for nearly an entire day, she felt exhausted and worn out.

“I didn’t exactly intend on using the orb.” Neko recalled feeling it’s heat through her bag, but she did not even consider using it during the fight. She did not even know how to use the fire orb’s strength even if she had wanted to. “It just happened.”

“You’ll learn how to control it sooner or later.” Sooner would be nice. “I recast the spell on the orb to keep it hidden, so do not use it unless you have to.” Not like Neko knew how to use it in the first place. Had Gale figured out that she had the orb, or did he think she just had a random burst of strength? That was probably a question that would be answered at a later time.

“Why are you helping me?” Neko blurted out. Her sister may have had reason to help her, but Cera was dead which left no reason for Saia, Hail, and especially Scart, to help her. Saia and Hail had been friendly to her even when she was still their enemy, but even now it just felt too strange.

“I’m helping you because Aros, Riza, and I made a promise a long while back.” Saia responded. “To Cera.”

“Cera is dead now, though.” Not too long ago, she might have killed Saia or one of the others that saved her had they crossed paths with Neko at the wrong time.

“First of all- Cera isn’t dead. No one dies until all memory of them has faded from this world.” Under the logic, Yugito would never die either. No one would be able to forget the dark Nekomata and her reign of terror, even long after the sun sets on her rule. “Second- a promise is a promise. All because the one I made the promise to no longer walks amongst us, I still have to follow it. Anyway, if I did break the promise, your sister would surely come and haunt me for the rest of whatever remains of my life.”

“Cera was crazy, but it was her wish that we help you.” Saia continued. “She believed that we could bring you back from the Dark Castle.”

“She was right, though, wasn’t she?” Neko muttered. It still made little sense to her how the leader of the rebels would have faith in a Dark Warrior of everyone in the world.

“However unlikely it was, she was correct. You standing here with us is proof of that.” Neko gazed up at the sky. Clouds were moving gently along over the ash and soot that the forest fire had created. It was peaceful despite the war that plagued the land. “Helping you remember was the hard part.”

“Wait…” Neko turned her head to face Saia again. “You had something to do with that?”

“No. You just had some random dreams and got some of your memories back because you hit your head against a rock one too many times.” Saia muttered sarcastically.

“I don’t remember hitting my head against a rock.” The fire elemental had no memory of receiving such an injury before any of her dreams.

“It’s called sarcasm.” Saia muttered. “Of course I had something to do with it.” He laughed. “I couldn’t bring back all of your memories, regretfully. Only those of Marua.”

“Why not?” Most of her childhood was still unknown to her, save for the final hours of Marua’s existence. Even then, she only began to remember it clearly in the last few days. Before then, she knew only what had been shown in her strange dreams that Saia had apparently created. Neko had been trying to help a friend when she passed out in the burning building. She was the one who let me go at Kalm.

“The longer one’s memories are sealed away, the harder it becomes to recover them.” Saia explained. “I managed to get to Hail shortly after his arrival at the Dark Castle, but you had been there for a few years before Cera told us everything that happened at Marua and guilt-tripped us into getting what she wanted.”

That made sense. Sort of. Neko’s ears picked up the sound of footsteps heading in their direction. “Hey, Saia!” It was Hail. That’s my cue to leave. “Is she awake yet?”

Before Neko could go anywhere Saia had to respond. “See for yourself.” Hail noticed the fiery Nekomata trying to escape.

“Nice to see your up and about again.” He teased. “If you were out cold for too much longer, I would have had to get Rayne to dump some nice cold water on you.”

“You wouldn’t dare.” Neko muttered. Hail made it far too easy to think about killing him sometimes. “Where is Rayne anyway?”

“He’s out patrolling the area with Scart and Riza.” Oh dear.

“Is that really a good idea?”

“Don’t worry, Rayne will be fine. Scart may hate you, and maybe me, but he doesn’t have anything against Rayne.” That’s nice to know.

“Actually, it’s not Rayne I was worried about.” Neko could only imagine the horrors the young overly energetic Wolf was putting them through. It was a miracle that he had not driven anyone to insanity. Yet.

Hail laughed. “well, let’s hope for the best then.” Neko shook her head. How could Hail be so light hearted all of the time? Like Neko, he had Yugito after his life. “Feeling better now?”

“I’m fine.” Neko yawned again. “Just tired.”

“Still?” Hail looked over at Saia who was silently studying the sky. “You’ve already been asleep for the last twenty-four hours or so.”

“I’m well aware of that, thanks.” Neko spoke under her breath.

“So, have you reconsidered?” Hail looked expectantly at Neko. Neko stared blankly back.

“Reconsidered what?”

“Joining us, of course.” Neko sighed with irritation.

“My answer is still no.” The fiery Nekomata could not see herself amongst the rebels. Especially after some of the things she had done in the past such as her visits to Thunara, Kalm, and Orre.

“Come on, Neko.” Hail pressed. “You’ve got no where to go. You can’t go back to the Dark Castle, and you won’t exactly be welcomed with open arms anywhere, especially with Yugito on your tails.”

“I know.” Neko growled at the ice elemental. He could be far too persistent at times.

“Then where will you go? What will you do?” Hail was pushing Neko’s patience, which was already thin after the chaos over the last few days.

“I don’t know.” Neko growled. “Some where- anywhere away from this stupid war.”

“It’s not that simple!” Hail rose his voice. “Yugito won’t just let you walk away and wander wherever you want. You will be hunted down. You may have escaped from Gale, but she’s bound to send more Dark Warriors after you.” Neko unsheathed her claws. “The only reason either of us have survived so far was because we’ve had help. You won’t always get lucky and have someone to show up and save your tails every time you get in a tight spot.”

“Hail, enough.” Saia rasped. “She’s well aware of the position she put herself in by taking Rayne and leaving the Dark Warriors.”

“But, Saia, what about Cera?”

“Cera wanted us to show her the truth and help her if we could.” Hail did not look very pleased. “Getting Neko to join the rebels was not what she wanted us to do.”

“Thank you.” Neko muttered.

“Saia-“

“Enough, Hail.” Saia snapped. “If we force her to join us, that would make us no better than Yugito.” I wouldn’t go that far.

“Fine.” Hail sighed. “If you change you mind, try to find us.” Don’t count on it.

Neko stretched her sore limbs and started to walk off. “Well, I’m leaving now. Thanks.”

“What?” Hail sounded surprised. “Shouldn’t you at least rest up a bit before you leave? You’re wounds can’t have healed already.”

“I’ll be fine.” In truth, Neko was still very tired and not feeling too great, but she did not want to stay put for much longer. Getting away from Yugito and her followers was her main concern at the moment, and staying in one location for too long would only give them more time to locate her and strike again. The sooner she left, the better.

It looked as if Hail was about to argue, but a sharp look from Saia kept him silent. Finally someone who can keep him quiet. At last he had given up. “Be careful.” He murmured.

“You don’t have to remind me about that.” Neko began to head out into the forest. “Hail?”

“What?”

“Take care of Rayne, alright?” Part of the reason she wanted to leave as soon as possible was Rayne. There was no chance of being able to escape without having to explain to the Wolf pup why she was leaving and dealing with his whining. If there was anyone who might actually be able to convince Neko to stay, it was Rayne.

“Alright.” Hail seemed to loosen up again. “So, why exactly did you leave?” Is Hail going to let me go or not?

“Rayne didn’t tell you?”

“He told us that you did it to save him and that you got in trouble for letting us go at Vritra, but there is more to it, right?” Neko had to decide if Hail should know what really happened.

“When Yugito found out about Vritra, she called me in.” The fiery Nekomata decided that their was no harm in telling the rest of the story. “I was given two choices. The first was to kill Rayne and stay, or leave and be in the same position as you. I took Rayne along because he would have been killed if I left him.”

“Thanks for that. I’ll keep an eye on him.” He grinned. “Also, I’m sorry. I was wrong about you.”

“About what?” Neko turned in confusion.

“For calling you heartless back at Kurori.” Neko grinned. “I realized that you do have a heart. It’s just frozen over with the coldest ice imaginable.” I should have seen that coming.

“Thanks.”

With that, Neko walked into the forest. She had no idea where she was going or where she should go, so her only option was to wander aimlessly in some randomly selected direction. The only thing she did know was that she needed to get away from Yugito and the rebels if she ever wanted to have any peace and quiet. She wanted no part in the war, not anymore at least.

She walked on for several minutes. The air was warm and choked with the smell of burnt wood. Thankfully there was no wind. Clouds were scattered high across the sky. There were a few that seemed to be carrying rain as they were much darker than most of the other clouds. I hope it doesn’t rain soon. Shortly after she finally got out of the charred part of the forest, she heard a sharp crack from behind.

“Who’s there?” Neko spun around prepared to attack, but relaxed when she saw Scart. “Oh. It’s you.”

“Nice to see you too.” The Griffon eyed her suspiciously. The Griffon was clearly alone.

“Where is Rayne? Hail told me that he was with you.”

“I sent him back with Riza.” Neko said nothing but kept her eyes focused on the Griffon.

After a few moments of silence the fire elemental finally spoke. “Thanks for helping me out yesterday.” She muttered. “But I don’t quite understand something. Why did you? Of everyone here, you have the most reason to leave me to die.”

“I don’t quite know myself.” The Griffon admitted. “I don’t agree with what Saia is doing, but if this is really what Cera wanted, I won’t argue.” Well, that was a surprise.

“I don’t understand most of what has been going on myself.” Neko turned and began to head out on her way again.

“Leaving so soon?”

“Yeah. I have no reason to stick around.” If there were any reasons, Neko did not want to acknowledge them.

“Just know one thing.” Neko paused again. “Saia might trust you with the orb and I know that he was hoping you’d stay, but know that I can’t trust you.” Neko shrugged. “I can’t forgive you for what happened at Thunara.”

“I never expected you to.” She called back and continued to walk away. “Tell Rayne I said bye.” The Griffon watched as the fiery Nekomata vanished deeper into the forest.

[Nekomata]

Chapter Ten
Yugito’s Plans

Night had fallen over the Dark Castle, laying a thick blanket of eerie silence over the black corridors. Within the main chamber near the entrance, Yugito lied in wait for Gale’s return with Zera sitting silently at her side. “He’s late.” Zera said flatly. The two Nekomata had expected him to return well before nightfall and was quickly growing impatient.

The dark Nekomata replied with silence, acknowledging Zera’s words with a flick of her ear. She was already planning her next strike against the rebels. Yugito had hoped that the battle at Kurori would put down the rebellion against her, but it seemed as if she had failed to notice who was pulling the strings behind the scenes of the rebellion. Cera and Aros had both been faces to give hope. It was clear now that the mastermind behind everything was the old Nekomata named Saia. Taking him out was what she had to do.

“Yugito?” It was Gale.

“I trust you have something to report?” Yugito’s voice was void of all warmth or emotion. Gale easily spotted Zera’s striking yellow eyes in the dark room.

Gale bowed his head. “Forgive my tardiness.” The wind Nekomata had told Yugito that he would return before nightfall but had not anticipated the trouble he had with the rebel group and Neko. The dark ruler instantly knew that Gale had not succeeded with his task when she saw the wounds her bore. The heavy burn marks proved that both Gale and Yugito had underestimated Neko’s strength. “I caught up with Rayne and Neko, but a small group of rebel fighters interfered with the fight before I could finish Neko off.”

“Who?” Zera narrowed her eyes. It was unusual for a small group to wander around, let alone defend a known Dark Warrior from an assassin.

“Saia, Hail, and a Griffon. I believe they called the Griffon ‘Scart’” Yugito growled softly at the mention of the spirit Nekomata. At least Gale’s failure brought news of Saia’s location.

“Where are they?” Saia had been a thorn in her side since the war started six years ago. It had only recently occurred to her that whenever one of her plans failed, the old Nekomata was at the scene. Despite his age, he had proven able to evade death thus far. Killing Saia was high on her list of things that had to be done.

“In the eastern forests- not too far from Midveil.” Gale was surprised, and slightly suspicious, that Yugito had not been upset about his failure to eliminate the fire Nekomata or Rayne. “I believe Neko split up from the rebel group.” Perfect.

“Dismissed.” The assassin nodded and silently left into the pitch black corridors of the castle.

“Would you like me to pursue Neko?” Zera offered coolly.

“No, I’ve already come to a decision on who I should send next.” The dark Nekomata had already prepared another plan in the event that Gale failed.

“Alright then.” Zera was hardly visible in the dim room. “Then what did you wish to discuss with me then?” Yugito had called for Zera, but had decided to wait for Gale’s return before saying anything on why she had summoned the Dark Warrior. The shadow Nekomata merely assumed that it was a topic that Yugito did not want the assassin to accidentally overhear.

“I believe that I’ve pinpointed the location of one of the orbs.” Zera’s interest grew much stronger.

“Which one?”

“The water orb.” Zera nodded. She would have preferred hearing that it was either the Dark or Shadow orb, but this was still good news for them.

“So that is why you’ve called me?” The closest Zera had gotten to one of the ancient relics was when she had chased Cera down near Mt. Valline and ended up being on the receiving end of the orb’s strength. It was clearly not a force to underestimate.

“Partially. I’ve already sent one of the other Dark Warriors to go fetch the orb.” Zera assumed immediately that a water elemental had been sent out. “Speaking of water, I sent Talon out to take care of Rayne and Hail.”

“You think he’ll be able to finish them off if they are with the rebel group that beat Gale?” Talon was one of the strongest of Yugito’s forces, but it was still doubtful that he could take on too many at once. Zera herself was familiar with the strength of Saia and Hail and knew that those two alone would be handful, but add another Griffon and Rayne and that would prove difficult if Talon did not take them seriously.

“Worst case scenario, I’ll end up dealing the problem myself.” Yugito purred. She actually fancied the idea some. She had not fought in a fight since Kurori and kind of liked the idea of getting to spill some blood. “Anyway, I’d like you to head out towards some old ruins that we recently located.”

“Ruins?” It was not exactly what Zera had expected. She did often find looking at old architecture interesting, but this was not what Yugito would normally send her out to do.

“Arth found the ruins recently. He managed to decipher some of the writing there that led us to the possible location of the water orb. Unfortunately, he couldn’t figure much else out.” While Yugito wanted to send Zera after the rebel group, she decided that getting the orbs was of a higher priority. “You are more familiar with the ancient writings than most, so I want you to go investigate.”

“You believe that these ruins may be able to tell us where the orbs are?” Zera was doubtful. The orbs were created so long ago that most living beings no longer knew of their existence. That, and Arth had proven to bring false information in the past. The orbs could have easily been relocated several times over the many years since their creation.

“Perhaps. Even if the ruins fail to reveal the information we seek, I’m sure you will find something worthwhile out there.” There was only one way to find out. “The ruins are located in the northern mountains. Not too far from where Kalm was.”

Neko sighed as the forest continued on before her. She had been walking, and partially limping, for days and had let to see no end to the trees. After so long of seeing nothing but the forest it began to feel as if she had been going in circles. Turning her gaze upward, she tried to find a suitable tree to climb. One large tree with large dark green leaves stood out amongst the rest.

Bunching up her muscles, she leapt onto the tree and pulled herself up onto a low hanging branch and leapt again. Eventually, despite the aches of her wounds, she managed to get to the highest branches. Careful to maintain her balance, she slowly inched towards the edge of the branch so that she may look out past the leaves for a better view of the forest.

Neko was surprised to see how far up she had gone and how tall the tree was in comparison to most of those around her. An ocean of green leaves lay out around her. The only area that seemed out of place was a blackened area that was the result of her fight with Gale. Did I really do all of that? The fiery Nekomata was aware that she had destroyed a part of the forest, but not an area that large.

The tabby Nekomata mapped out the area she saw in her mind before slowly making her way back down. Fortunately she had been traveling away from the charred area which assured her that she was not going in the wrong direction. Just before she could make it to the ground, the branch she was on snapped and sent her crashing down to the leaf-littered earth. Neko quickly scrambled to her paws, wincing in pain as she realized one of her paws had been injured in the fall. Great. Looking up at the tree, she saw her bag hanging off the branch next to the one that had broken.

The fire elemental hissed in annoyance. This was not turning out to be an exceptionally great day. I really need a new bag. Ever since it first tore in Kalm, the straps of the bag had snapped apart time and time again and she had to constantly patch it back up.

Ignoring the sharp pain in her paw and her many cuts from her fight with Gale Neko leapt for the bag and managed to snag it with one of her claws. The branch, unable to support her weight, snapped and sent her straight down- again. Her back slammed against the ground. Sometimes it seemed like a far better idea to simply finish what she started and burn the forest down.

“And here I thought cats always landed on their paws.” Neko, still laying with her paws in the air, tilted her head back to see the face of a silver fox.

“It’s not as easy as it looks.” She tried to make up an excuse for her fall.

“Not your lucky day, I take it?” The canine had taken note of not one, but two, broken branches.

“Not at all.” She rolled over and got to her paws. The silver fox, upon closer inspection, was not really a fox. It was a Kitsune- a fox-like creature capable of having anywhere from one to nine tails. The more tails, the stronger they were, or so Neko had heard. The tips of his five tails and his underbelly where white and his eyes were a light blue. “More of a bad week, actually.”

The fox-like creature laughed. “The name’s Storm.” He seemed friendly enough, well, friendlier than many of the others Neko had bumped into since she had fled the Dark Castle. Having a reputation as a Dark Warrior definitely did not help her at all. “Let me have a look at that paw.” Neko was hesitant, but eventually held it out for the Kitsune to see. “Looks like you just twisted it. It’ll hurt for a few days, but it’s nothing to worry about.” I don’t quite recall being worried about it in the first place.

“Thanks.” Neko flexed her paws, allowing her claws to snag a few leaves in the process. It ached but not so much that she could not put pressure on it.

“So what brings you here?” The Kitsune’s bright blue eyes shone with curiosity.

“Trying to get away from the stupid war between the Dark Castle and the rebels.” Neither side of the fighting seemed to want to leave her alone. “I just need to get somewhere peaceful enough to think for a while.” Neko was not quite sure what she wanted to do yet. She had considered Saia’s offer of joining with the rebels, since going back to Yugito was out of the question, but imagining herself being welcomed by the rest of the rebel forces, especially those who she had fought with in the past, was difficult.

“Don’t want to join up with the rebels?” Neko laughed. “What’s so funny?”

“It’s a long story.”

“I’ve got time.” The silver-furred Kitsune seemed friendly enough. Neko began to explain how she had been a Dark Warrior, why she was exiled, and her encounter with Gale. She was careful to leave out anything related to the orb, Cera, and how Saia and Hail had invited her over to their side.

“So you’re basically trying to find somewhere peaceful to hide out where neither side will find you?” Storm’s tails gently waved in the wind.

“Yeah, but it isn’t easy seeing how I’ve been bumping into both Yugito’s forces and the rebels almost every day.” In the time since she had split off from Hail, Neko had bumped into a few other creatures that had recognized her as a Dark Warrior and were not too welcoming. She could not blame them for hating her though.

“Perhaps I can be of assistance, then.” Neko looked at the Kitsune with curiosity. “I’ve traveled quite a bit in my time. I believe there is somewhere that may yet to be reached by the war- or Yugito even.”

Neko became far more interested. “Where wound that be?”

“If I recall correctly, it’s quite a way from here. North-east beyond the mountains.” Neko’s heart sank.

“Over the mountains?” Storm nodded. The idea of heading north through the snow did not sound fun. She remembered her time near Kalm where her fire abilities had melted the ice, rendering her flames useless with the water. Since then she had been careful not to be in her fire form unless necessary, but the thought of the risks were hard to forget.

“Why? Is that a problem?” The Kitsune looked at the sky. I thin layer of soft grey clouds had blown in over the forest. I hope it doesn’t rain.

“You can say I’m not particularly fond of snow.”

“Well, it would make it harder for anyone to find you.” It would also make it easier for anyone to kill me. “How many Dark Warriors or rebels would think to find you in the mountains if you don’t like snow?

Neko thought about it for a moment. “I guess you have a point there.” She admitted.

“How about I lead you there myself?” Storm suggested. Neko knew it would be helpful to have someone who knew the area with her, especially one that was not trying to kill her, but she was used to traveling on her own thus far.

“I don’t know.” She muttered doubtfully. “Remember that I’ve got Yugito after me, and if you are with me, you’ll likely be targeted as well.” Neko had been careful not to kill anyone. If anything, the fiery Nekomata wanted to leave that part of her life behind.

“You were a Dark Warrior yourself, no?” Neko nodded. “That would mean you must be pretty strong.” Neko could only wish that were true. If she had the strength to fight off other Dark Warriors, she would not had to have Hail, Scart, and Rayne come to save her tails. The fiery Nekomata was still concerned on how easily she had tired out in her last fight and how easily she lost control of her abilities.

“If you get caught with me, you realize that both sides will immediately mark you as their enemy as well.” Neko felt a small drop of water hit her nose. It was drizzling. “After all, I did kill a good number of rebels and betrayed the Dark Warriors.”

“I don’t mind much.” Storm yawned and moved closer to the tree in an attempt to stay dry. “We all have our histories. It’s who you are now that matters though. There’s little point in fretting over things that are long past.”

“It hasn’t been that long actually. Just a week or so.” Storm laughed.

“Well, do you want me to come with you or not? It’s not trouble at all really.” Neko paused for a moment. “I’m just a wanderer, It’s not like I was heading anywhere to begin with.”

“I guess that would be helpful.” Neko was glad to have her odd feather-shaped shell charm with her as the drizzle strengthened to a light rain.

“Great!” He barked. “Let’s head out when the rain clears, alright?”

[Nekomata]

Chapter Eleven
Ally or Enemy

“It would be easiest if we went a little further east before attempting to cross the mountains.” Storm was leading Neko eastward to find an easier way to cross over the mountains. After the rain they had set off again until nightfall came. If they wanted to evade any unfriendly visitors it was best that the two did not waste any daylight.

The sun was shining over the trees again as brightly as ever. The humidity n the air was barely tolerable in the afternoon heat. “About how long do you think it will take to cross over the mountains? Neko spoke to break the silence. “It depends on where you choose to ho over.” The mountains had at last come into view that morning. “I plan to cross between those two mountains over there.” Neko saw a gap between two rather large mountains. “It’ll take most of a day to cross there, but it looks like that way would be the easiest.”

“How far have you traveled?” Neko asked. She was curious about the Kitsune. Amidst the war there were very few that were brave enough to travel on their own. Most wanderers did not make it far before getting into some sort of trouble.

“I’ve been to too many places to count.” Storm responded. “Though I do have a few favorite locations. The southern shores were rather pleasant. It’s beautiful there if the weather is good.”

“You’ve been to the southern region and came out alive?” Most of the fighting between Yugito’s forces and the resistance had been in the south since the war began. Some of the stories the Nekomata had heard of the violence where so gruesome that even Neko had a hard time imagining the chaos there. Fortunately in her time as a Dark Warrior she was never sent there.

“I was there before the war. It’s not exactly a great idea to visit these days is it?” The Kitsune had to be older than Neko originally thought if he had been able to visit the southern areas before Yugito’s rise to power and the bloodshed began. “I decided to leave when the light elementals began to be killed. Back in those days the light elementals were quite common. Yugito saw them as a threat though, so she ordered that they all be killed.”

“Are you a light elemental?”

“No, but I didn’t want to stick around and fight.” His five tails gently hovered over the ground. “It wasn’t easy to watch the world you grew up in change completely in a matter of days and be completely powerless to do anything about it.”

“I would imagine so.” Neko muttered. “What was it like?”

“What was what like?” Storm responded.

“Before Yugito came along. I know that the south was where the rebels first started to fight back so they got the worst of the punishment. They still are, actually.” Neko had heard many stories of current events, but rarely anything of before the dark Nekomata’s appearance.

“Peaceful.” Storm murmured. “There was very little to worry about. It was a huge shock when Yugito came up from out of nowhere and turned everything upside down. It wasn’t exactly bad at first, but then someone tried to resist the new laws and killed one of Yugito’s Dark Warriors in the process. It wasn’t until then that blood began to be spilled.”

“Do you know who it was?”

“A Nekomata, the founder of the rebels.” Storm continued. “Saia, a spirit elemental.”

“Wait, I thought Aros was the founder of the rebels.” All of the tales she had heard led her to believe that Aros was the one who rose up against the dark Nekomata. She had never even heard of Saia until she saw him at Kurori.

“Aros was just a face to lead those who wanted to go against Yugito. Having an old creature as your leader doesn’t do much for recruiting.” Storm explained. “Saia has been the one pulling all of the strings since the beginning though.”

“I guess that doesn’t quite surprise me.” Neko muttered. Storm seemed have become distracted. “Storm?”

“Be quiet.” He whispered and sniffed the air. “I smell trouble.” Storm kept walking casually with Neko. The fire elemental tilted her ears in different angles to listen for any sounds.

“I hear it.” It was not just one creature either. “Not too far from here.” Something tells me it isn’t Hail or Saia. Neko’s ears picked up sounds from another direction than the first ones. “Sounds like we’re surrounded.”

“I suppose this means you weren’t kidding about how trouble seems to be following you around.” The two stopped walking and positioned themselves to face opposite directions.

Neko laughed. “No I wasn’t.” Several creatures appeared one by one out of the trees. Three for each of us. Fun. The creatures attacked without a word. Within moments Neko could see that they were not Dark Warriors. “After sending Gale back with half of his fur burnt off, you’d think Yugito would take me more seriously than this.”

Three of them, a Wolf, a Panther, and a large Eagle, were fighting Neko while the other three, a pygmy Dragon, another Wolf, and a rather small Falcon faced off with Storm. The Nekomata successfully sent the first Wolf flying with a strong burst of fire and swatted the Eagle away with her un-injured paw. What is Yugito up to? Had Yugito sent six Dark Warriors instead, she would be as good as dead.

Their attackers were just blindly attacking. No strategy or thought whatsoever involved. At least that made them rather predictable and easy to fight. “Neko, watch out!” The Kitsune pushed her out of the way of a water elemental’s attack.

“Thanks.” Even with her special feather-shaped shell, Neko did not want to get hit by any water attacks. A few more minutes of fighting continued before the six attackers gave up and fled back into the forest. “Are you alright?” Neko was sore, but not from any injuries she had obtained in the small skirmish that had just taken place.

“Yeah, just a few scratches.” Storm licked a wound that was just above his paw. “What about you?”

“A little sore, but I’ll be fine.” She stretched and felt her limbs protest as her older bruises and scratches ached. Thankfully, it was very bearable. “It looks like we’ll have to move a little faster before we run into some more of Yugito’s minions.” It had not taken long for them to get into the skirmish and it was likely that if there were anymore on their way, they would not be as surprised by Storm’s presence.

“So, those were some of Yugito’s followers?” Storm’s blue eyes gazed in the direction that the group had fled.

“I think so.” Who else would openly attack her?

“Are you sure?”

“Who else could they be?” As far as Neko was aware, Yugito was the only one making orders for Neko to be killed. Any rebels that may want her killed would probably not go out of their way to hunt her down.

“The rebels?” Storm suggested.

“Alright, I know I’m a former Dark Warrior and all and I’m not exactly on the good side of anyone involved with the war right now, but some of the rebels have helped me out and saved my life before.”

“Thank about it for a moment.” The Kitsune shook some dirt off of his fur. “They want you to join their side now that you’re being chased by Yugito, correct?”

“Yeah, but how does attacking me have anything to do with that? Wouldn’t that make me less likely to join up with them?”

“If they frame the Dark Warriors for the attack, you or anyone else would get upset and dislike the Dark Warriors for it.” Storm explained. “Then the rebels could come in and ask you to join them against Yugito with the promise of protection, revenge, or whatever they might be seeking to gain out of it.”

“I don’t think Saia and the others would do that.” Would they? The attack had come rather soon after Gale’s strike. There was no way that an ambush group that weak could have made it so far from the castle since Gale had fled.

“This is a war, Neko.” I can see that, thanks. “Both sides are willing to do anything to gain power and win. In the end, it is one evil against another.”

“The rebels aren’t evil.” Neko said dryly.

“Maybe not in your eyes- but that is what they want.” Neko listened to what Storm was saying. “The rebels have attacked innocent towns and put the blame on the Dark Warriors before just to rouse up anger against them.”

“How do you know this?” Neko was having slight difficulty believing the Kitsune’s words.

“I was once part of the rebels.” Storm continued. “They ordered me to attack and destroy my own hometown with some others.” He turned to one side and showed Neko one of his tails. There was a nasty looking scar that had been concealed when it was in line with the other four. “When I refused, this is what happened.”

Neko stared at the scar for a moment. It looked as if it had been created by someone with very sharp fangs. “I was just a disposable tool for them. Once I was no longer of any use, they tried to kill me.” The fiery Nekomata had no idea how to respond. “Clearly, I managed to escape.”

“Is that why you are heading in this direction as well?” Neko did not want to automatically assume the Kitsune’s story, but most of it made sense. The only way to learn the truth was to confront Saia, but she was not about to turn back after having traveled so far.

“Exactly.” Storm answered. “Just like you, I don’t want to be involved with the war any longer.” His words seemed rather honest.

The two silently traveled until nightfall. Nothing else occurred after the small skirmish and their brief discussion. Neko was glad to be heading away from the war plagued territories, though she was slightly bemused about what Storm had said. Surely Saia meant well? Or maybe the Kitsune was right that it was just a huge fight over two sides that wanted the same thing- power.

He’s from the southern reaches of the war though. Maybe things are just worst over there. Saia could not see what was going on in a location far from where the main rebel bases were usually established. Perhaps Saia, Aros, and Cera did not have a full grasp of the situation in the more violent areas of the war.

“I think we should stop and rest now. It’s getting late and it looks like we’ve got more rain on the way.” Storm interrupted her thoughts.

“Alright.” Neko noted that they were just about out of the forest with the mountains less than a day’s journey away. Neko made a small fire for warmth with some pieces of wood she managed to find. Within moments the fire elemental fell asleep. Storm, however, remained awake.