Dream a Little Dream: Book 1: Prologue
To Crys it was an ordinary day. Go to work, come home go back to work for the second half of her split shift and come home to go to sleep. All in all a normal day and definitely normal weather for the town she was living in.
Going to bed she curled up around her body pillow in her bra and flannel night pants. She had watered and talked to her plants, locked the door, taken a shower and checked her e-mail. The day was done and now it was time for her to get 6 hours of sleep before she was due back to work the next day.
Drifting off she had a strange feeling that tonight was going to be a restless night. She had no idea just how restless that night was going to be.
As the dreams started she found herself in the familiar dream scene of the Ronin warriors. As she watched the scene unfold she found that she was going to be a part of the story that night. Running from Sekhmet she realized that she wasn't able to run as far as she usually could in her dreams. She was getting tired and fast.
Sekhmet was hot on her heels when she felt another force change her path of flight. Looking up she saw Cye with his arm around her middle as they were practically flying through the air. When Cye landed she could only gasp in disbelief as she felt a welt growing on her back. Had the poison actually touched her?
"You'll be safe here." He spoke to her. It was Japanese but to her surprise she understood him.
This was getting stranger and stranger for her until she looked into the alley and saw Mia and Yulie looking out and seeing her with the guys. "Eh, gomen." She apologized haltingly knowing that where she was, was in the middle of one of the later battles with Talpa's goons and the demon lord himself.
Looking behind Mia she shoved the two out of the way and acted. A sharp uppercut took the guard off his guard as she kicked him at the knee joints while taking his spear for balance. Looking back at Mia and Yulie she saw that they were ok from her rough treatment and were looking at her trying to figure out who she was.
Looking back at the guard she gave a yelp of surprise as she skittered backwards out of the tin monster's grasp before impaling the guard with a sharp yell and the spear she had taken from him just a moment before.
Looking at the now soulless armor before her she could feel the rush of adrenaline hit her, as she knew what was coming up next. "Com'on, We gotta get out of here. If this is what I think it is then we're about to get split up."
Crys could only be amazed at the calm that she somehow managed to produce for the two. Mia stepped forward and started the introductions. "You saved our lives that time, thank you. My name is Mia Koji."
Crys nodded and smiled. "Then you must be Yulie." She said looking down at the young boy who could only nod. Looking back up at Mia her face took on a grave look as she explained a little of their current situation. "Look, I don't know how much is going to be affected by me telling you this. But you are about to get separated from the other Ronin."
She noted the look of surprise on the other woman's face before she continued. "Don't worry, Ryo, Sage, Rowen, Kento and Cye will pull through, mostly, but you need to have that faith in them. Instinctively they know more about their armor than they realize. They will keep you safe."
Crys knew that she hadn't told them everything, but if she stuck around she would be required to answer for herself and how she got there. She thought it still a part of the dream sequence and that at any moment she would wake up so she kept loose and just did what came natural to her.
As the Ronin were getting to that desperate point where they were going to need to head for the subways again Crys had stayed with Mia and Yulie, defending them with her meager skills. Her hand already hurt from the first punch she had planted, but fortunately she was running on enough adrenaline that it was going to not matter for a while.
She took up the spear again and kept tabs on Yulie and Mia from behind. She had gotten some strange looks from the other Ronin, she could only guess that Cye had barely had the time to relay that there was another human running around the mortal realm.
~Damn, Yulie wasn't kidding when he said this place was getting demolished. I just hope that Moral doesn't sink as low as I thought it did when Kento gets mind fucked by Dais.~ She thought to herself.
The occasional guard got through the Ronin and Crys, tired and beaten as she was after running through the subways with Mia and Yulie after having to discard the spear, was still fighting to the best of her now severely overtaxed abilities. It was survival now. Cye, Kento and Ryo had just saved them from the parking garage and though there was no time for questions, they were still asked.
"Who are you?" Was the only question Ryo asked as he picked her up to carry her for a short time even as she struggled to be put down.
"Until there is a calm within this storm of troopers I am not answering any questions. You have a long way to go yet Ryo of Wildfire before this run is over." Crys was pert and impertinent with her answers as she felt she could be. She figured that Talpa was keeping an eye on this newest development in her dream and so stayed as neutral as possible to avoid any repercussions that would deal with anything more than the killing of a few of the soul soldiers.
Running was hard for her now. She could only admire the stamina Mia and Yulie possessed While running from the foot soldiers. True to form they seemed to be everywhere. There were no other Ronin around and there was a train coming. Mia barely heard the words spoken softly by Crys just before they were all picked up and were hanging by Sage's sub armor. "Tag Sage, Your it now"
"Yulie, you ok?" Crys looked at Mia and saw that she was ok. Looking over at Sage she smiled. "Thank you Sage. I knew that you wouldn't let them go."
Dropping to the ground she and the others in the newly reunited group looked about. What she was pointedly oblivious to was the look that Sage, Mia and Yulie all shared. It was an odd comment coming from the stranger and she seemed to know quite a bit about them all. They were going to have to get some answers soon.
Letting them talk while listening to their conversation she found that they were just as interested in getting out of the subway as they had been before. Sage noticed the air first and as they headed up the shaft for the surface Sage had Crys stay ahead of him with Mia and Yulie behind him.
She didn't think it was a very good idea at the time, but could only understand as he reinforced the order. She hadn't told them anything and with the way she was dressed it was going to be hard to listen to her or trust her until she got some decent clothes on.
It hurt to move up the shaft and her body definitely didn't want to cooperate on that level. Muttering to herself she bit her lip and continued to move, as she knew that they were being followed. Sage was the last person she wanted to irritate at this moment and with the battle he had just faced with Cale it was probably a good idea if they would just for the moment get along.
They got to the top faster after Yulie chivvied them all along with the news that the tin goons were after them in the tunnel. The problem was that Crys couldn't move much faster. Poking their heads above the surface they were glad to see the surface, and Sage was less than pleased to see the circle of tin goons that were guarding that exit. With Sage armoring up, Crys had the chance to pull Mia and Yulie out of the shaft and out of harms way.
They turned to watch as Sage using the No-Datchi Bushido technique for a circle of enemies sliced the soldiers to their deaths. In that time Yulie had run to the amusement park as his memories led him back to another place where he had been happy at one point in time.
Crys looked at him sadly even as Mia and Sage looked at her oddly. They all took refuge in the park to rest and as they had a moment Sage asked. "Ok, you are a part of the Dynasty right?"
"Always to the point Sage?" Crys sighed as she winced in pain. She had taken some nasty knocks in the last battles with the Soldiers of Talpa. "No, I am not a part of Talpa or his Evil Dynasty. He and his Warlords, Cale, Sekhmet, Dais and Anubis can kiss my ass for all I care."
Mia looked surprised that Crys was able to name all of the Warlords and the Overlord himself. "Who are you that you know so much about the Dynasty then?"
It was at this point that Crys's mind had wound down to the point where she realized that she shouldn't still be asleep. There had been just way too much adrenaline in her system for her to be asleep and as she looked at the others she asked as she slid into unconsciousness from her wounds. "You mean this isn't a dream?"