War of the Tsurekin

It was Ryukin's turn to go on the offensive. He charged his opponent, aiming to hit him with his claw. Mirage moved out of the way, but Ryukin swung his body around and hit the tiger with his tail.

They continued to exchange blows until finally Ryukin had the enemy pinned down. He shouted, "Kai, now!"

"Right!" He extinguished the wall of fire before making a run toward Akira. He held his arm out to clothesline the woman to the ground. Just when he was close enough to touch her, Akira ducked under his arm, held her leg out, and tripped him.

"The match is over," Ivy said. "Akira and Mirage wins."

Akira smiled as she kneeled down to give Kai a pat on the head. "Not bad, but you've still got a long way to go. Next time we won't be holding back as much."

Skylar smiled as Kai got up and walked over to Ryukin after saying thanks to Akira.

"Good job." Skylar smiled when Kai walked by. He smiled and nodded. But she could tell he was thinking about how he could get better.


***Sorry, I've nothing***

(I just noticed, we've been spelling Aushalten wrong for a while now. We were writing it as Aushaulten when there's supposed to be no 'u' after the second 'a'. )


They all sparred for a few more hours. Other than their match with Akira and Mirage, Kai and Ryukin won every fight that day. Throughout every fight he had somewhat of an atmosphere of determination about him. If anyone in The Aushalten were to be asked if they thought Kai was the right person for the job as leader, they're answer would be yes, no debate whatsoever.

The sun was beginning to set, marking the end of the day's training. They all went inside to find dinner waiting for them, as always. After they ate most of them went to take showers, including Skylar. There were at least five bathrooms in the entire mansion, so waiting for your turn in the shower didn't take that long. Of course, Skylar was the first one in because she could run the fastest.

Skylar went to go relax in Kai, Sean, and her living room. She was flipping through the T.V. channels with Tala on the floor beside her when Sean and Reiky came in. "Why aren't you in the games room with everyone else?" he asked.

"I just want to relax," she said. "Today's sparring was pretty intense, more so than usual."

"I know what you mean. After Kai's fight with Akira, everyone seemed to take it up to the next level."

Skylar was about to say something when the T.V. stopped on the news channel. "Later tonight we look at the bus fire that occurred at the mall last night and the strange metal creature that is believed to have been the cause. But first, we look at the story of local high school student Brittney, who three weeks ago went to school one morning and never came back home."


(Kai's still outside training, just so you know. I'm going to introduce a new character, but I need him to be alone in order to do it.)

Skylar stared at the TV for a while. "Where could have gone? Thats around when we fought her in the woods." Skylar said looking at Sean.

"I don't know, maybe they kept her hidden, who knows." Sean shrugged. "I really don't care though."

"I'm the one that should be saying that." Skylar laughed. He shrugged again and sat on the couch streching his legs out.

"Ya, well, I've got that aditude of whatever." He smiled. "So, how you hanging in?"

"Fine, just got to up our game." She replied.

(I'll try to post something later. I've had a long day and my brain is pretty much fried.)

**Sounds good to me . **

(Sorry for the delay. I was working so much on an assignment yesterday that I forgot to post. One of the assignments we have is to design a giant space station/man-made portal, to scale.)


Kai and Ryukin went back outside as soon as dinner was finished. While everyone else was ready to rest for the night, they continued their training.

"Is Sahara going to train us again tonight?" Ryukin asked.

"He wants us to try training on our own. Tomorrow night he'll train us." Something in the treeline rustled, catching Ryukin's attention. Kai noticed and asked, "What is it, Ryukin?"

"I heard something." The metal dragon began to approach the foliage with caution. Kai followed him just as cautiously.

Two figures jumped out of one of the trees and landed in front of them. One was a girl about two years younger than Kai. She had short black hair and wore what looked like a ninja costume. Beside her was her Tsurekin, a green and yellow frog that was just a little larger that Usagi, Becky's Tsurekin. The girl's eyes were hard and serious.

"Who are you?" Kai asked. Ryukin was crouched in front of him, ready to strike at a moment's notice.

"I watched your sparring matches earlier, and I was impressed. You might even be a challenge."

Kai frowned. "Are you with Tsurikansen?"

"I do not know what this Tsurikansen is that you speak of, and nor am I here to fight."

"Then why are you here?" Kai asked.

"My name is Shigure, and my Tsurekin is called Kaeru. We wish to join you."


(You can have the others come outside and see Kai and Shigure talking if you want.)

Skylar got out of the shower after dinner and pulled lose sweats and a t-shirt on. She walked outside and saw a new Tsurekin and it's master talking to Kai. Tala walked beside, and a little in front, of her.

"Whose this?" She asked stepping next to Kai as Tala moved in front of her.

""Shiguare, and her Tsurekin Kaeru." Kai replied. "They want to join Aushalten."

(You misspelled her name. It's Shigure, not Shiguare. Also, her Tsurekin his a he.)


Skylar smiled and offered her hand. "Nice to meet you, Shigure. My name's Skylar, and my Tsurekin is Tala."

Shigure stared at her for a moment with hard eyes, but didn't move to shake her hand. "Nice to meet you, too." There was no emotion in her words. She turned back to Kai and asked, "Is The Aushalten the name of your group?"

Kai nodded. "And I'm its leader."

"How many of you are there?"

"Well, there's nine of us with Tsurekin in total."

"I only saw eight of you when you were sparring."

"One of them is a girl named Becky. She's ten years old, so she's a little young to be training the way we are."

"I see..." Shigure seemed to be lost in thought for a moment.

Skylar noticed and asked, "Is something wrong, Shigure?"

She went back to her previous emotionless state. She did it so easily, like flipping a switch. "Will you show me inside?" she asked.

Kai said, "Sure. I'm sure Ivy would like to meet you."


(Just so you know, Shigure is going to be asking everyone a lot of questions.)

(((And Skylar won't like it. )))

Skylar took a deep breath and kept from showing her annoyance with the girl. "I'm going to go for a run, I'll see you later, Kai. It was nice meeting you, Shigure."

"Why don't you stick around?" Kai said looking at her. "I'm sure Ivy will want us all to stay close." Skylar kept from biting her lip.

"I'll be back before you knew I was gone." She replied turning and taking off at full speed. Tala took a few minutes to catch up but she did soon. When she stopped in the middle of the woods she rubbed her face.

"You don't like anyone knew that is a girl." Tala laughed.

"She's to cold, and she is asking way to many questions for my liking." Tala replied as she looked around. "We should probably go back, even if I don't want to. I told Kai I would and I don't want him to get to mad at me sense I ignored what he wanted me to do. But just cause he is the leader doesn't mean I'm going to let him boss me around when it doesn't make any sense at all."

"Skylar." Tala said.

"Don't fret, I'll listen to him, I just didn't want to get mad at that girl." She smiled. "Lets go."

By the time Skylar got back everyone had gathered in the main hall to meet Shigure, the newest member of The Aushalten. They were asking a lot of questions, but most of them she avoided giving a straight answer.

"Why are you dressed like a ninja?" Elise asked.

"Does it matter how I dress?" Shigure asked in her cold, emotionless voice.

"I... guess not."

Akira stepped forward and said, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're from Japan."

"That's because I am."

"Hontou? So am I!" Akira started talking in Japanese, as if to spark a conversation.

Shigure simply looked at her and said, "Yakkai na."

Akira frowned. "Chottou, don't call me annoying. It's been so long since I've met someone who can speak Japanese, too."

"What brings you all the way here from Japan?" Ty asked.

"That's my business."

Kai sighed. "You know, if you're going to be a part of The Aushalten then you're going to have to start acting a little nicer toward everyone."

"He's right," Skylar said as she came over. "We're a team, and if we're going to work together we're going to need to get along."

"On the battlefield, people who are nice are the ones who die first."

"Not true. People who are nice to everyone will die first. But those who are nice with their companions and can trust their companions survive the longest. If I can't trust you, there is no way I'll risk my life or Tala's life for you." Skylar replied her eyes cold her arms crossed. Skylar wasn't going to be treated like an annoying tagalong when they didn't have to let her stay. "Why should we let you stay if you insult us?" She demanded meeting the girls gaze without flinching or backing down. She refused to be stared down.



**Sorry, all I had**

Shigure stared back at Skylar for a moment, before turning to Kai and asking, "Do you always let you subordinates speak this freely?"

"They're not my subordinates," Kai said, "they're my friends. And if you plan on staying here, then I suggest you give them the respect they deserve." His voice was more stern than usual.

Shigure seemed to think for a moment. She nodded and said, "Very well. I will follow your orders because you are the leader." She turned to Skylar and added, "However, respect has to be earned."

Ivy piped in before anymore words could be exchanged. "I think it's about time for everyone to get ready for bed. Akira, could you show Shigure and Kaeru to their room?"

"All right, but when I get back we're going out for drinks. You're buying this time."

Skylar clenched her fists as she watched Akira lead Shigure out of the room.

"That goes both ways." She hissed as she turned and started for the door. "Night, y'all." Tala walked along side her and she heard everyone else leaving too. When she got the living room of her area she plopped on the couch and threw a dart at the dart board as Shaun and Kai walked in.




**Sorry, my brain is a little dead at the moment. **

(I know the feeling.)


"Looks like you like Shigure even less than Elise when she first showed up," Sean said.

"No, I was just intimidated by her charming personality," Skylar remarked sarcastically.

Reiky climbed up onto Sean's shoulder and said, "Kaeru is creepy. He did nothing but stare at everyone the whole time."

"Be nice, Reiky," Sean said.

Skylar looked at Kai and asked, "Are you sure it's a good idea to be letting her into The Aushalten?"

"We're still short on people compared to Tsurikansen. We need all the help we can get," Kai said. "Besides, she's probably just as new to everything as we were when Ivy found us. She probably just needs time to warm up to everyone."
________________________

Akira brought Shigure to her room. It was a medium sized room with a bunk bed.

"Why is there a bunk bed?" she asked.

"When Ivy was still in charge of Tsurikansen there were fifty rooms, but over fifty members. We plan to gather even more people this time around, so you may be having a roommate to look forward to in the future."

Shigure scanned over the entire room, as if picking out every little detail that she could with her eyes.

"What, you don't like it?" Akira asked.

"No, this will be fine."

Akira smiled. "That's good to hear. Be sure to get plenty of rest, training starts at nine o'clock sharp. Oyasumi." Akira left the room, closing the door behind her.

Shigure listened to her footsteps. When she couldn't hear them anymore, she turned to Kaeru and said, "Keep watch, make sure nobody comes in."

Shigure opened the window and climbed outside. She kept a close eye on her surroundings so as not to be seen as she made her way to the edge of the property. She climbed up the side of the wall with the greatest of ease. There was a small forest right on the other side. She entered the forest with caution.

When she came to a particular clearing she stopped and waiting. A few moments later the bushes began to rustle. Fang, the Tsurekin Kai and Skylar had fought the other night, emerged from the foliage. His master, Harry, soon followed.

"It's about time you showed up," he said.

"We've been waiting for hours, what took you so long?" another voice said. Shigure turned to see Brittney leaning against a tree. Her Tsurekin, Arachna, hung beside her, suspended upside down from a web attached to a tree branch.

"I couldn't leave until I was sure nobody would see me," Shigure answered.

"I still don't see why the boss wouldn't just show up and take care of them himself," Brittney said.

"Hey, hey," Harry said in a leasurely voice. "You should trust his judgement a little more. You don't want to get punished, do you? By the way, don't you miss your family? You haven't seen them for a while now."

Brittney smiled. "I couldn't care less about them. I was getting tired of them telling me not to stay out all night anyway."

"Looks like you've gotten famous, too," Harry said. "Your face is on the T.V. more than your boyfriend's was."

"Like I could ever fall for a twerp like him. I was only using him to gain information."

"And yet, he defeated you."

Brittney pushed off of the tree. She didn't look too happy. "Watch your mouth, Harry." Arachna had moved to the ground, ready to strike at a moment's notice."

Fang moved in front of his master, ready to fight as well. Harry smiled. "Do you really think you can take me, Sweetcakes?"

"That's enough," a third voice said. Alex and his Tsurekin, Mantia, emerged from behind another set of trees. "If you two want to fight, then at least wait until we get somewhere that nobody will be able to see. We have more important matters to discuss." He turned to Shigure, who had been standing paciently the whole time. "Now, what have you learned?"

"They call themselves The Aushalten, and Kai is its leader."

"The Aushalten?" Brittney said. "That's a dumb name."

Both Shigure and Alex ignored her comment. "Anything else?" Alex asked.

Shigure nodded. "They have a member that we didn't know about, a girl named Becky. She's ten years old and her Tsurekin is a rabbit. Including Ivy Stone and Akira, their total number is nine."

"Technically it's ten," Harry said. "You forgot to count yourself."

Again, she ignored the comment.

"Anything else?" Alex asked again.

"Nothing that would prove useful to Tsurikansen. I will notify you the moment I learn anything else."

Alex nodded. "You have done good work today, Shigure. Jirran will be pleased."

Harry piped in. "You'd better keep up the good work, though. You wouldn't want anything to happen to your brother, would you?"

For the first time, Shigure flinched.

"Harry," Alex said in a sharp tone, as if warning him to watch his mouth.

"Hey, I said I would behave myself tonight. I'm not hurting anyone, am I?" he asked with a smile.

Alex ignored him once again. "We're leaving. You'd better get back before they notice you're gone, Shigure."

"I know how to do my job," she said with a slightly sharp tone.

Alex smiled. "Of course you do, that's why Jirran picked you for this job." He turned and began to walk away with Mantia in tow. Brittney, Harry, and their Tsurekin soon followed him. A few moments later, Shigure was standing alone in the clearing once again.


(Wasn't expecting a plot twist like this, were ya? It's important to the story that nobody finds out why Shigure is there until later. She's basically a fully trained ninja, so they won't be able to notice her moving around unless she wants them to.)