* 10 Years Later *
-A boy runs though the woods. Periodically looking behind him. He ran weaving in and out of the trees. Finally he came to a stop in a clearing. He was wearing a red armor and saw 4 other people wearing armors, dark blue, light blue, green and orange.
"Rowen, Cye, Sage, Kento I'm so glad you're here. Something's chasing me! Get ready to fight" he yelled. Then out of the darkness of the woods came a woman wearing white. She held a sword over her head aimed at the boy's friends.
"NOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!" he yelled just as the woman's sword came down on Sage killing him. 3 more attacks followed killing his other friends. When she was finish she turned to face him.
"She's me!! Ryo of the Wildfire, she's me!!" he yelled at the top of his lungs "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"-
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!" Ryo yelled as he awoke jerking upright. He was breathing hard and covered in sweat. White Blaze was at his side in a flash.
"Blaze it was that dream again. That's the third time this week. Do you think something's up again," he said while stroking the cat. He purred back answering to his suggestion.
Ryo got out of bed and started to make his way downstairs for breakfast. As he passed the calendar he noticed the date.
"Today is the day we all found each other. The day we all united and became friends forever. And we're not even together to celebrate. I guess it's just you and me again today, Blaze."
Ryo poured himself a cup of tea and sat down. A little later the door bell rang.
"Rowen!!!!"
"Ryo, it's been awhile." he said coming in the door.
"Yeah, 2 years is a long while considering how close we all used to be. How are you?"
"Fine I guess. You do know what today is right?"
"Yeah, oh course!! I didn't think anyone would come considering we all went our ways and didn't celebrate it last year."
"Well this year is going to be different. I need to go to pick up some stuff but I'll be back. I just wanted to let you know that I was going to be staying awhile." Rowen left on his motorcycle and Ryo went to clean up the house.
"Hey Blaze, I don't think I'm gonna tell them about my dream yet. Not until tomorrow at least. Today is a day to celebrate." Ryo went about cleaning up the place that was already kept immaculate.
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A little later the phone rang. Ryo picked it up.
"Hello...."
"Ryo, this is Cye. I need to tell you something important and I think you might want to sit down."
"Cye is something wrong?"
"Ryo....." he stuttered, "Mia and Uli died early this morning. The apartment complex they lived in caught fire. They didn't get out in time."
Ryo fell silent.
"I sent Rowen there a little earlier so that you could have someone to talk to. The rest of us will be there tomorrow."
"This isn't right. The day we all met and save Mia and Uli for the first time can't be the same day they die. I shouldn't have pressured Mia to take that job. Then she wouldn't have moved to America and she and Uli wouldn't have died." he said with a grim expression on his face.
"Ryo this isn't your fault. Mia told me before she left that she wanted that job. She told me that she didn't want to leave but the job was the only way she could support Uli after his parents had died. Ryo it's not your fault she and Uli are dead. Don't blame yourself."
"How can I not do that. The same thing that saved them exactly 3 years ago was the fire from my flare. And now it killed them on the anniversery that it saved them!!!! I should have been there to get them out of the building!!!" he paused and his voice showed how much he force his tears back. "I should have been there, Cye."
"Is Rowen there I need to talk to him."
"No, he went out to pick up some stuff. He said he'd be back soon."
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~*~Rowen~*~
*I hope Cye hasn't called yet. This stupid traffic jam is holding me up too long.* Rowen's cell phone rings.
"Hello..."
"Rowen, I just told him. I didn't know you were there."
"Oh great. Now I havta get home now before Ryo does something he'll regret. Thanks, Cye, for telling me."
"I'll be there tomorrow at noon. My plane leaves in a couple of hours. I need to go. Hang in there Rowen."
"Thanks buddy." He hung up the phone and turned onto a side street. *I gotta get home now. I havta be there for Ryo.* He raced through the forest road on his motorcycle and finally turned onto the familiar dirt driveway.
"Ryo I'm back!!" he yelled loud enough for someone in the house to hear it. He walked in the door to see Ryo sitting in the living room on the floor in the far corner. His face was covered with tears and his body was shaking.
"Ryo?! Are you OK?"
"Why didn't you tell me?" he said without looking up knowing that it was Rowen, "Cye said you already knew when you got here. Why didn't you tell me?"
Rowen's face went grim from seeing and hearing Ryo's anger. "Because I knew that if I told you...... you would have gone crazy. I didn't want you to think that their death was the only reason I came to visit you."
"Well is it? I don't need anybody to be here to comfort me. I don't need sympathy right now. Right now I need a friend I can depend on."
"That's why I'm here. Ryo, Cye told me you would blame yourself for their deaths. It's not your fault. Cye tried to put out the fire and he couldn't, even with his armor he couldn't stop the blaze." Rowen went over and sat by Ryo. He knew that if he said something wrong that his anger would flare up from the current situation. "Ryo the others will be here tomorrow. We can discuss this then."
"I want to tell you something Rowen, I need to tell the others too, but I want to tell you first."
"You know you can tell me anything Ryo."
"It's this dream I've been having for the past week. I think we have a new enemy. See in the dream I'm running in the woods and I come to a clearing. You guys are all there in your armors. This lady comes out of the woods where I came from. She starts killing you guys with this weird looking sword. First Sage, then Kento and Cye, and then you. She left me though. When she turned around she was me, in my Wildfire armor. That's where I always wake up."
"Ryo, I think you should tell Sage this. When I talked to him he told me through these past two years his powers have increased. He can now figure out some dreams."
"Really?"
"Yeah. But I've been having a dream too. I'm standing in the city. It's night and the city lights are so bright you can't see the sky. Suddenly all the lights go out and the night sky can be clearly seen. I look up and stare at it for a while. Then a golden beam of light shoots out from the brightest star and surrounds me. When the light is gone I'm standing in clothes similar to the ancients and I have a staff with a huge star at the top of it."
"I think we should wait for Sage and the others to get here so we can talk about this. Our dreams might somehow be connected." The rest of the night they talked about what they had done in the past two years. They talked until it got dark and then turned in for the night.
-"What's wrong with me!? This sword looks so familiar."
"Ryo, come on over here." yelled Kento from the clearing where the others stood.
"I'm coming." He jumped into the air with the sword held above his head headed to where Kento's voice had come from. He jumped into a clearing still in the air. The sword came down on Sage, killing him. Then came Kento and Cye, and finally Rowen.
"What have I done." he said looking at the fresh blood on the sword. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Rowen had gone upstairs to his old room and slept peacefully. Ryo's dream awoke him when it merged into his......
-"Ryo........ where are you? Ryo!! RYO!!!" he yelled as he heard Ryo scream in the distant woods.-
"Ryo!!" he yelled as he jerked upright, "It was a dream. I gotta go see if he's alright."
-"Rowen?! Rowen you're alive. Rowen where are you?!"-
Rowen ran into Ryo's room and waited. Finally he decided to wake him before things got worse.
"Ryo!! Ryo wake up. I'm right here, wake up!!" he yelled and shook Ryo until he awoke. Ryo sat up straight in bed with his hands clenched together over his face. He turned to face Rowen with tears in his eyes.
"I killed all of you. I killed you out of my own free will. I killed you!"
"No you didn't! I'm right here. I'll always be here. Nothing will change that. Ryo we're all alive."
Ryo wept while Rowen held on to him. He had been through so much in one day. For fear that he might decide to run off throughout the night he slept in a sleeping bag on the floor.
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