Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ The Legend Of the Solar Whip ❯ Chapter three ( Chapter 3 )

The Legend Of the Solar Whip

By Wildfire
Chapter Three

Two weeks later:

Sage sat in his living room; he was reading a book and Ryo was sitting in the chair across from him. He was trying to catch up on some of his homework that he hadn't been able to do cause of his foster parents. Sage sighed and looked over his book. "You need any more painkillers?"
"SAGE! It's been like two weeks now, I'm pretty much good! Stop worrying about me!" Ryo laughed a little to himself.
"You're NOT fine; your back is still awful and that wound on your side could easily break open again!" Sage stared at Ryo. "Are you sure you don't want to stay here? We have room!"
"Don't worry about me, Sage. I'll be fine at Rowen's; I'm SURE he'll fuss over me just as well as you do! Plus, that girl is coming over TODAY! This house would be WAY too crowded with seven people in it!"
Sage nodded. "All right! Just be careful!"
Ryo got an irritated look on his face. "Yes, MOTHER!"
"RYO! I'm serious! You always try to push yourself too FAR!"
"SAGE! Guess what! I'm a BIG boy, I can take care of myself! I swear, sometimes I wish you guys never found out! You've all been treating me like a baby!"
Sage sighed and looked at Ryo. "I'm sorry, Ryo. It's just I feel bad..."
"WELL, DON'T! You or any of the other guys had NO way of knowing! Let's just let it go!" Ryo said hopefully, then turned back to his homework. Sage started to read his book again.

*****

Mr. Date pulled into his driveway, then into the garage. He looked at Chessica; she was sitting there just staring out the window. "Well, this is it... would you like to go in?"
Chessica looked at him like he was the most stupid man on this planet. "Well, I guess that would be the SMART thing to do! BUT hey, if you want you can stay in here; you could even close the garage and turn the car back on!"
"YOUNG LADY! I do NOT appreciate your attitude! I have to deal with MANY suicides, and I don't like people teasing about it!" Mr Date got out of his car without another word; he opened the trunk of his car and pulled out a small suitcase and walked into the house.
Chessica sat in the car for a second then got out as well and walked into the house. The first thing she saw was the two young men sitting in the living room. There was one with blond hair; he was sitting up very straight and reading a book. The other one had shoulder-length black hair and was typing on a calculator and frowning.
Mr. Date walked down the stairs and looked at Ryo. "How you feeling, Ryo?"
"Fine; hey, Mr. Date? Have you had any luck on finding Alen?" Ryo asked hopefully.
"I'm sorry, Ryo, but it's like the man has completely disappeared!" Mr. Date sighed. "Are you sure you don't want to stay here?"
"With all due respect, Mr. Date, I'm just as safe at Rowen's house as I am here. Just as long as I'm able to fight back, I don't think this guy stands much of a chance anyway."
Mr. Date smiled. "Of course!" He turned to Chessica. "I put your stuff in your room, would you like to get comfortable now?"
Chessica glared at Mr. Date. "Actually, I'd like to go for a walk... THAT is, if it's all right with YOU!"
"Of course, just don't wander to far off. It's easy to get lost up here!" Mr. Date said as nice as possible.
Chessica looked at him for a second. "Yeah, sure, whatever." Then she walked out the door.
Sage just stared at the door for a second. "Well, I guess she isn't really a sweet girl!" Sage stared at his father.
"It'll work, Sage." Mr. Date looked at his watch. "Look, I gotta get going; Sage, try to make her comfortable."
"Okay, Dad; hey, when's Grandfather getting back?" Sage asked his dad but didn't really take his eyes off his book.
"He should be back in about a hour. Ryo, when are you going over Rowen's? Will you be staying for dinner?" Mr. Date asked.
"I dunno, I guess it kinda depends on what Rowen wants to do."
"All right, you boys, give me a call when you know what's going on, though, kay?"
Both Sage and Ryo nodded their heads; Mr. Date smiled and grabbed his keys, then walked outside again. Sage turned to Ryo. "Can you say 'bitch'? Man, I don't think that girl could have been any ruder!"
Ryo shook his head. "Good luck with this one, Sage! I think you'll need it. But I must say she IS hot. Hey, I think I'm going to call Rowen and see what he wants to do for tonight."
"That's cool, why don't you tell him to come on over?" Sage said then turned back to his book, and Ryo walked over to the phone.

*****

Rowen sat in front of his computer; he had been on it all night long. This Solar Whip thing was driving him nuts. He had been trying to find anything new on it, and he just kept getting the same thing over and over again.
Rowen sighed as the phone rang. He stood up and picked up the phone. "Hello? ...Ryo? I don't know, what do you want to do..." Rowen looked at his watch. "I can be over in about forty minutes. Will that work? ...Yeah, I'm kinda researching something interesting; I'll bring it over so you and Sage can read it. Cause I'm fresh out of ideas... YES, Ryo, it IS possible for ME to be fresh out of ideas! ...Okay, see you guys soon... yeah, yeah, whatever, BYE!"
He hung up the phone and sighed, then went over to the computer and printed out the stuff on it. Rowen went into the bathroom and started up the shower; he looked awful. And he needed to freshen up.

*****

Chessica ran through the front door, scaring Sage and Ryo out of their wits. Ryo stared at her. "WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM!"
"Sorry! I... ahh... got to... ahh... GO!" Chessica ran upstairs into the room that she's now staying in.
"Well, that was interesting; this girl is going to BE interesting!" Sage said, staring at the stairs; he then turned to Ryo. "When's Rowen coming over?"
Ryo looked at his watch. "In about ten more minutes, but we all know that Rowen isn't always on time, and really so when he gets involved with something."
"What did he get into this time?"
"I dunno, but he said he was fresh out of ideas and was going to bring it over here."
"ROWEN? Rowen's fresh out of ideas? Dang, must be some problem!"
Chessica came back down the stairs with a smile on her face; she then looked at Sage and Ryo and frowned. "I hope you don't mind me getting something to eat?" she asked Sage.
"Not at all, help yourself!" Sage said with a smile. "If you need any help finding something just ask."
"Sure, whatever." Chessica went into the kitchen.
The front door opens and in walked Sage's grandfather. Sage jumped up and bowed to his grandfather. "Grandfather-san, you're home early."
"Yes, is that a wrong thing to be home early?"
"No, sir."
Chessica walked through the door with a sandwich in one hand and a pop in the other. "You must be Susan's pop! How do you do?"
"Hm, this young lady speaks as bad as your friend Kento. I am fine, thank you. And how are you this fine afternoon?"
Chessica looked at him for moment then shrugged her shoulders. "Fine, I guess. Hey, is there anything to do around here?"
Sage looked up. "You could read, we have tons of books."
"I MEANT anything FUN to do!"
"Well, I'm sure my grandson would be honored to give you some kendo lessons. If you think that would be fun," Sage's grandfather told her.
Sage jumped up. "BUT Grandfather!"
"No buts, Sage; if this young lady wants some lessons you will give them to her! Plus, you need practice; someday you will take over the dojo, and you will need to know how to teach people."
Sage sat back down, glaring at the ground. Chessica smiled at him. "I'd love to learn kendo," she said in a smug voice.
"Good!" Grandfather Date turned to Sage. "Lighten up, boy! Maybe your friend Ryo will help you? No matter to me; I will be in my room if you need anything. I expect you to start as soon as this young lady is ready." Grandfather Date walked upstairs and into his room.
"Okay, I'm ready NOW, let's go!" Chessica walked outside and headed towards the dojo.
Sage looked at Ryo. "You don't have to help if you don't want to."
"No, I'd love to! It will give me a chance to train a little and still take it easy. I'll leave a note on the door telling Rowen we're in the dojo. You go on in."

*****

Chessica sat in the dojo watching Sage trying to show her how to throw a punch.
Sage looked at her. "Do you get it? Why don't you try?" Chessica stood up, then did a punch and kinda jerked her arm. "NO! Don't jerk your arm. Just do it slow. Watch me." Sage got in a fighting stance again. "Now you see how my fist is facing me, then I rotate it out so my knuckles are facing whoever I'm trying to hit, then I push forward, NOT jerking. Now you try."
Chessica again jerked her arm forward. Sage growled. "DO it SLOW!" Chessica tried to do it slow, but bent her wrist, and, keeping her elbow bent, threw the whole thing. "What is THAT! Are you trying to make a shadow puppet of an ostrich?"
Chessica smiled. "You really should be MORE patient!" Chessica looked at her nails. "I AM new at this!"
"You're new at it all! But at least try to take it seriously! Kendo is a form of honor and respect!"
Chessica smiled and played with her hair. "And I'm a form of beauty and love. SO what's your point!"
Ryo walked into the dojo. "Hey, Sage, you having any luck with her?" Sage just glared at him; Ryo grimaced.
"So, did you leave the note for Rowen?"
"Didn't need to, he showed up right as I started putting it on the door."
Sage looked around. "Really? And he would be..."
"In the bathroom. So, what are you trying to teach her?" Ryo asked, looking at Chessica as she fluffed up her hair.
"A simple PUNCH! But can she do it? NO!!" Sage rubbed his temples; Chessica smiled and winked at Ryo. Ryo's eyes widened and he quickly looked away.
"So, are we gonna train, or are you two just going to sit there looking cute?" Chessica smiled.
Rowen walked into the dojo, drying his hands on his pants. "Hey, Sage, you don't have any more towels in your bathroom." He stopped talking as he saw Chessica standing there. His jaw dropped open as he saw her body. "Wow," he said quietly to himself
Ryo smiled to himself. "Rowen, this is Chessica."
Rowen smiled, then blushed sightly as he realized he was staring at her. "Glad to meet you, Chessica, I'm Rowen!"
Chessica raised an eyebrow at him. "I would care why?" She then looked at Sage. "Are you going to teach or just stand there?"
"Of course I'm going to!" Sage turned to Rowen. "We never said the meeting was going to be FUN!" Rowen just stood there, not believing this girl could be SO rude.
Sage tried to teach her how to fight for another ten minutes before he gave up and told her to just watch him and the others fight and see if she could learn anything THAT way. Sage fought Rowen because he didn't want the chance of maybe hurting Ryo again. He and Ryo usually got REALLY into it, and one of them would usually come out a little injured. And in Ryo's condition, it would be him.
Ryo sat next to Chessica watching Rowen and Sage fight. He hated having to sit out like this, but he knew Sage was right; he couldn't fight.
Chessica looked at him. "Hey, you look upset. What's your problem?"
"Nothing, just a had a rough couple of weeks. What's your excuse?"
Chessica raised an eyebrow at him, then did a half smile. "Guess you could say I've had a rough couple of weeks as well."
"Yeah, so I've heard." Ryo looked at her for a couple of seconds. "What's it like? To NOT be able to remember, I mean. What does it feel like?"
"I dunno, it's just like nothing there. It's strange... it's just... gone!" Chessica stared off into space.
Ryo smiled at her. "You try to be all mean and tough, but you aren't!! You are just lost!"
Chessica glared at him. "I AM not lost! And I don't need anyone!"
Ryo sighed. "You don't think you need anyone, but you do. I lost both of my parents when I was little; I told everyone I didn't need anyone. And I thought I was fine, that is until I met the guys and I realized just how lonely I was."
Chessica glared at him. "OH, that's so sweet! Did you get it out of a book?"
"Nope! I am an orphan! And I was alone the majority of my life!"
"Well, that's really SAD! Thanks for making me depressed tonight," she said in a sarcastic voice.
Ryo smiled. "Anytime."

*****

Alen sat watching Ryo. He was going to kill him, and he was going to do it tonight! He would attack him and his little blue friend. Alen had NO concern with the other boy; he would just knock him out. But Sanada would DIE!

*****

Sage smiled at Rowen and wiped his brow. "So, you guys going to stay for dinner?"
Rowen looked at Chessica, then at Sage. "I think we'll just get going. I need to finish my research anyway." Sage nodded; if he could get away from this girl he would.
"So, you ready, Rowen? If so, just give me one second to grab my bag," Ryo asked, and Rowen nodded. Ryo ran off.
"Well, have fun doing your research!" Sage said, smiling; Rowen smiled back.
"Have fun with the bitch!" Rowen said and started to walked out the door, but then stopped and turned around. "I almost forgot!" He picked up his backpack and pulled out several pieces of paper and handed them to Sage. "Read them over and tell me if you can come up with anything!!" Rowen then ran out the door to find Ryo.
Sage sighed, then looked at Chessica. "You ready to try again?" Chessica looked at him, then got up and nodded, with no emotion.

*****

Ryo walked outside with his bag; he instantly saw Rowen standing there and walked towards him. "Got everything?" Rowen asked, and Ryo nodded.

They both started to walk towards Rowen's house. They were about halfway to his house when they heard the whistling of leaves behind them. Both Rowen and Ryo whipped around, searching for the follower, but they saw no one. Ryo swallowed hard; he suddenly had a bad feeling. "Come on, Rowen, let's go!" Ryo turned around, then he felt something hard hit his head, then all was black.

Ryo woke up with a splitting headache; he couldn't feel his feet for some reason. Ryo forced his eyes open and the first thing he saw was a river below him; he was hanging from something and his whole foot, up to his ankle, was in the freezing water. Ryo looked up to see that he was hanging from a tree branch. Then he realized he was only in his boxers. Ryo tried to look around to get a better guess of what was going on; the river was narrow and he could see there was someone standing on the bank not three feet away.

His breath caught in his throat as he realized it was Alen. He cursed to himself when he realized his armor orb was in his pants, and he could only guess what Alen had done with those! Ryo started to think to himself of what to do. How could I have been SO stupid! I knew someone was following us... ROWEN! Oh, god, what happened to HIM! Please say Alen didn't kill him! Oh man, where could he be! Ryo tried to twist around again, but his body was stiff from cold and his head still hurt; he could see nothing. Oh god, where is he! I can't even see Alen anymore!!

"So you're awake; it's ABOUT time, I was starting to grow impatient!" Alen said from behind him. "Ever since you locked up my love, I've been searching for a place that would be most uncomfortable and I could still reach you with the whip. 'Cause I know that you loved the whip that my love made for you. Unfortunately, the police took THAT whip, but I bought one that I think you'll like VERY much. It even has little pieces of metal in it! This whip will tear your back up ten times worse than the other one did! And after that, I'll take this little shockwave thing, stick it in the water, then take it out, making it shock you every time, making you squirm like a worm on a hook. Then after that, I'll kill you! But that won't be for a LONG while!" Alen laughed. "Well then, shall we get started?"

Ryo's head snapped back as the whip made contact with his newly-healed back. Ryo bit his bottom lip trying to stifle his cries; he hated giving Alen the pleasure of hearing him cry out. But he knew he would be, soon. The whip made contact again, and again, and again; the whip tore up his back.

Ryo was soon screaming as the whip kept making contact on his back. But Ryo wasn't thinking about Alen, he was thinking about Rowen, wondering what had happened to him, and if he was all right. Oh god, he hoped he was all right! His body was shaking with pain as Alen's whipping continued on. His back was already slick with his own blood.

*****

Rowen woke up, feeling very cold. He then realized that he was laying on a sidewalk. He pushed himself up onto his knees. He held his head for a while, trying to remember what had happened; he remembered hearing Ryo make some kind of noise, and when he turned around something hit him hard in the head.. "RYO!" Rowen quickly looked around; there was no sign of him. "RYO! RYO, WHERE ARE YOU!" Rowen yelled and got no answer.
He started to stand and wished he hadn't as a splitting headache came crashing through him. Rowen gently touched his forehead to feel the dry blood plastered to his face. He groaned, then forced himself to stand up. He had to get back to Sage's house; Ryo was obviously in trouble! Rowen got up and started to run towards Sage's house; he didn't even know how long he had been out! But he did know he needed help.
Sage walked back slowly back to the house; he just couldn't take that girl anymore! That, and he had had a very uneasy feeling ever since Ryo and Rowen had left. He told himself it was just in his head, but he still couldn't chase the feeling away. He figured he'd call them and make up some stupid excuse of Ryo forgetting something. He was about to reach the door when Rowen came running up.
"SAGE, SAGE!"
"Rowen, what's wrong?" Sage saw the blood on his forehead. "ROWEN, you're hurt! WHAT HAPPENED!"
"FORGET ME! ...I can't... find RYO! ...I think... something... has happened... to HIM!" Rowen said, trying to get some air into his lungs.
"WHAT? What happened!! Who attacked you?"
Rowen looked down. "I dunno... you think it was that Alen dude?" Both Sage and Rowen remain quiet for a second, both dreading the thought of it being Alen.
"We've got to find my DAD! 'Cause he might be able to STOP Alen... Alen is, after all, human! Even though he doesn't act like it. We can't destroy him! Come on!" Sage ran into the house with Rowen right on his tail. Sage immediately picked up the phone and called his dad; he explained some stuff, then hung up. "Come on; we may not be able to kill this guy, but we can CERTAINLY hurt him!" Rowen nodded and headed out the door; Sage followed.

*****

Ryo screamed again and again, his voice growing hoarse. He felt himself getting weaker and weaker as he kept losing more blood. The whipping suddenly stopped; it took Ryo a minute to realize the pain had stopped and was now only a throbbing pain. Alen laughed.
"Now here comes the SHOCKING part." Alen picked up a little box with two fork-like things on the top. He pressed the bottom and little lightning bolts lit up between the two fork-like things. "This might hurt, a LITTLE." Alen jammed the top of the box into the water; Ryo screamed as the electricity ran through his body and then he passed out. "Did you not like that? Would you like another one? They're quite fun, are they not?" Alen stuck the box thing in the water again, waking him up; Ryo screamed again.
Sage ran up and kicked Alen in the face, then caught the box-like thing before it fell into the water. Rowen climbed up the tree and pulled Ryo (who was out cold again) up, then untied him. Sage helped Rowen lower him down.
"How is he?" Rowen asked as he jumped down from the tree.
Sage laid Ryo down as gently as possible. "Not good, in fact he's barely alive!"
"What do we do? We're too far away from the house!"
Sage bit his bottom lip. "I... I don't know if we can... do anything!"
"We... we have to do SOMETHING! He's DYING!!" Rowen looked at Ryo's face; it was strained.
"I... I know!" Sage looked away from Ryo, not being able to look at him anymore.
Rowen shook his head back and forth. "NO! HE CAN'T DIE! We've been through too much for him to die now by the hands..."
Alen slowly got up; he reached behind him and slowly took out the gun that was tucked inside his pants. He started to aim the gun at Rowen's head, but before he could shoot two other shouts came from the woods.
Sage twirled around just in time to see Alen fall to the ground, dead. Sage looked around and saw his dad step out of the shadow of the trees. His dad ran to Ryo's side and checked his pulse. Two other officers ran out of the woods, then two paramedics carrying a stretcher. They immediately put Ryo on it and trotted off back towards the road.
Rowen looked up at Mr. Date. "Mr. Date...?" Rowen asked, but then left the question at that.
"I don't know, Rowen. I don't, Rowen." Mr. Date kept staring at where Ryo was carried off. "Come on, I'll take you to the hospital."

*****

Kento stretched, then turned around on his bed; he hadn't been able to sleep at all! He looked at the clock; it was twelve thirty-one and he had school tomorrow. His phone suddenly rang, making him jump out of his wits. He pushed some clothes off his phone and answered it. "Hello?" he said in a groggy voice.
"K.. Kento? Ah..." came Rowen's voice from the phone.
"Rowen? Rowen, is that you? Man, why you calling so late?"
"Kento, we're in the hospital..."
"WHAT, WHY!!" Kento sat straight up in his bed.
"Ryo..."
"WHAT, WHAT'S WRONG WITH HIM!! ROWEN! ROWEN, TELL ME!"
"Alen got him..."
"What? ...Alen? ...He's... he's all right... right?" There was no sound from the other line at first. Kento felt numb.
"He's... he's dying!" Rowen finally said. Kento couldn't move. "They're trying to save him... but... oh, god! He's so... messed up!"
Kento couldn't do anything but sit there and breathe; finally he worked up enough of his voice to say, "I'll be there as soon as I can." Kento hung up the phone, face blank.
Kento felt an arm go around his shoulders and he looked over to see his mother sitting on the bed beside him; Kento immediately feel into her embrace. He just couldn't imagine what would happen if Ryo died. He let his mom hold him as a mother cradled a sick child before he pulled away. "Can you drive me down to the hospital?"
Mama Fuan nodded and stood up and walked out the door to go get dressed into her street clothes and out of her PJs. Kento just sat there for a second, then quickly got dressed and ran downstairs to meet his mom.

*****

Cye was laying down in his bed; he couldn't sleep, so he decided to get a drink of water. He stood up and stretched, then walked to the bathroom. He was pouring his glass of water when he heard the phone ring. Cye frowned and looked at the clock; it was WAY too late for someone to be calling. The ringing stopped, and Cye figured his mom or sister had gotten it.
"CYE!! Telephone!!" came his sister's voice. "It's Sage, and he seems upset!"
Cye froze, then quickly ran and grabbed the phone. "Hello?"
"Cye? We need you down here at the hospital, Ryo's really..." Cye could hear Sage taking deep breaths, and he remained quiet, waiting for him to continue. "Alen got him... he's... he's not doing well at all."
Cye couldn't move, his body felt dead. Ryo? In the hospital, dying? Ryo? Cye forced himself to say something, ANYTHING! "How? ...Why? I'll be right down!" Cye quickly hung up the phone, then ran upstairs and opened his sister's door. "Can you give me a ride to the hospital?"
His sister sat straight up. "Why, Cye..."
"PLEASE!"
"All right, calm down, go get dressed and meet me downstairs." Cye ran off before she could say anything else. His sister sighed, then got dressed as well then went into their mom's room. "Mom, I've got to take Cye out for a while, okay?"
"All right, honey, just be careful!" her mom said, then fell back asleep.
Cye's sister quickly went downstairs where Cye was waiting; she grabbed the keys then followed Cye out the door.

*****

Sage sat in the waiting room with his knees pulled up to his chest and his head resting on his knees. Rowen was pacing; he would go to the drinking fountain, get a drink, then sit down, then go to the drinking fountain get a drink, and so on. He was driving Sage NUTS! Mr. Date was trying to work through some legal problems, and Mrs. Date was busy.

Kento came running through the double doors with Cye right on his tail. "How is he?" Kento asked, and at the same time Cye asked, "Is he all right?"

Sage stood up, and took a step forward. "We don't know yet." He then sighed heavily and sat back down. Rowen sat down as well. Kento and Cye paced and asked some more questions, then sat down as well.

Kento watched as the clock slowly ticked by. No one was saying anything! Mr. Date would show up for a couple of seconds, then disappear again.

At about eleven-thirty Kento stood up. "I'm going to go on down to the lunchroom and get something to eat, anyone want anything?" Cye and Sage shook their heads no. He looked at Rowen and sighed when he saw that Rowen was fast asleep. Kento then walked to the elevator and pressed the button for the second floor.

Sage sat up a little more and looked at Cye. "You okay?" Cye nodded but kept looking at the window. "You sure?"

"I'm not the one you should worry about right now," Cye responded, looking at Sage.
"Well, I can be worried about two people!" Sage responded.

Cye smiled a little, then looked at the door sadly. "Sage... I... what would... WHAT IF HE DIES?!"

Sage stayed quiet for a while. "I dunno... I guess we would have to deal with that then... but Ryo's strong! He'll survive, I KNOW he will!"

Mrs. Date walked through the door and Sage and Cye both sat up more. "Mom?" Sage then started to shake Rowen. "Rowen, WAKE UP...!" Rowen didn't respond. "ROWEN, WAKE UP!!"

Rowen JUMPED and glared at Sage. "What?" Sage pointed to his mom, and Rowen then stayed quiet.

"Boys, where's Kento?" Mrs. Date asked.

"He went down to get some food. You know Kento! So, how's Ryo?" Cye asked.
Mrs. Date smiled. "Ryo's not doing... as well... as I hoped!"

Sage stood up. "MOM? He's going to be all right, right?!"

"I don't know, honey! He really isn't doing well! His back is partially gone! I can CLEARLY see ALL the bones in his back! We're having a hard time stopping the bleeding! As for the bolts of electricity, well, if that was all we could easily take that! But it's making him NOT heal very well at ALL! He's dying! We're doing our best, we really are, honey... but I don't know, I really don't know!"