In the plains of Rohan, a small group of twelve travelers could be seen sitting
beside another group that was composed of eight. When the Fellowship heard the
tidings that quest was successful, they were overjoyed, but their happiness
ended when they saw their serious faces.

The others, Legolas noticed, were being cheerful, as if nothing happened. Kyra,
however, was quiet and spoke not a word. They ate their dinner quietly and said
nothing. After that they started to prepare smores to roast on the fire.

As they roasted their smores in silence, all was quiet. The silence was so
deafening that Gimli slammed a copper pot against another, making it clang while
saying; “Why, pray tell, are you all quiet?!?! None of you have told us what
happened back at the mountain, and when we asked you, you changed the subject.
WHY?!?!?!?!?!”

Legolas bit on a smore that had an apple slice in it before adding; “Gimli’s
right. You haven’t told us anything yet.” “Well, I guess there’s no point hiding
it, bro.” Signed Kyra. Anubis nodded solemnly to her.

Kyra took a deep breath and told them of the incident, how she and Anubis knew
Julien, what he meant, and why he was there. After she finished, Dais said; “So
that’s why he tried to kill Rowan, and kidnap you. Just who does he think he is,
anyway, he can’t just walk up to you and kidnap you just like that!”

He said, snapping his fingers. “Should we post sentry tonight?” Asked Boromir.
“Yes, but not for him. According to them, he’s probably far away from here, in
another realm as we speak.”

Said Aragorn. Anubis stood up and stood guard while the others settled in for a
good night’s rest. He looked at the starlit sky and pondered about the mysteries
of the universe.

Chapter Fifty-Three: Back in Toyama

“Ah, we’re here.” Signed Cale as they walked towards the place they called home.
They dropped their stuff in their rooms and did whatever they wanted to do. For
Rowan, that was lying in his bed and staring at the roof.

The bedroom he shared with Sage was a bit odd. At least his side was. Because
his side of the wall was outer space. And pretty good, too. The wall used to be
white before he moved in.

And when he did, one of the first things he did was paint it black with dark
shades of blue, adding splashes, sprays, dots here and there. The Warlords had
done something similar, though each of them had to share a wall for that.

They had painted what their armors represented and stuff they liked to do. Kyra
and Andrea did the same thing, though their walls looked more like murals than
walls showing artistic taste. He turned back to the wall and traced a comet with
his finger.

He had always traced that particular comet with the green tail when something
was bothering him. He thought about Kyra’s face when she told them about Julien.
It had very pale, even in the dark he could see the sharp, wary glow.

He swore that he would make that man pay for all the pain he caused if he did
cause it. Julien would—no, will pay a deadly price.

Chapter Fifty-Four: Horses, Swords, and a Shooting Match

On Monday was Sports Day, meaning that there was no school on Hana High. It was
a day for games &Sports. Only it didn’t just include the usual sports fan order
of the day. Speaking of which— “I heard that Kyra brought some horses for the
races and competitions.”

Snickered Alison Henway, Kyra’s self-appointed main arch-nemesis at school.
“Like she is so lame-o!” Agreed Jessica Van Goth, her right-hand man, er woman.
“Hey look, your man’s alone.” Said Eve Conner, pointing to Rowan, who was having
a conversation with Sage and Ryo.

“Watch me.” She said, and slid over to Rowan. “Hey Rowan, wanna go somewhere,
hang out, you know to get away from all the noise?” She said in a voice that was
filled with angelic innocence and sweetness.

Rowan looked down at her. “Listen, Alison, I’m kinda busy right now, you know.”
“Oh sure, see ya.” She stalked off. “Okay Rowan, what’s wrong with your face?”
“Ryo, the look on her face was so angelic I thought I was gonna get sick.”

“Hey guys.” “Hey Andrea.” “Have you seen Kyra?” “You’ll find her in the stable.”
All three headed to a stable that was kept for horses. Rowan saw Kyra grooming
Estel and Predak, two of the horses they brought from Rivendell.

Unlike Estel’s quiet dark beauty, Predak had a fierce look about her. She was an
Arabian, tall and dark with silver streaks on her mane and tail. Anubis came in
just then with two horse twins, Matthias and Mattimeo.

They were very unusual as they had streaks of blue-black. Rowan dragged a tall
Arabian inside. He was browner than coffee and his mane and tail where like
ribbons of soy sauce.

He had a small imprint of a flower and a blade crossed together, giving him the
name ‘DannFlor.’

They finally dragged all the horses inside, and waited for the other schools to
arrive. In this specific week, Hana High and the surrounding schools gave off a
huge all-around-sports-tournament.

Hana hadn’t claimed the cup in several of the sports affliliations for a long
time. Among these were Martial Arts, Swimming, Archery, Horseback Riding,
Battlefield, Sniping, and last but not least, Omega Obstacle Course.

This was the most complicated event. When schools set out to work on ‘the most
challenging obstacle course made by man’, they came up with this beauty.

It had the usual you would expect from military academies, but also complex
puzzles and brainteasers that were sure to give you a migraine or more.

Of course, the tournament would go for several days, and it would take a very
long time to tell you, but they signed up for those affliliations, including the
course.

At first, people thought they were crazy, but they realized that they were on
first place and cheered them on. It wasn’t until Battledome that the gang
started to freak.

The people they were up against had put some odds on them. A gang from Rekka
Academy had set their odds 15 to 1. Which made Rowan go nuts, as Kyra was the
one fighting!

But lo and behold, she beat them and delivered the first gold Tournament
10-streak-battle-Cup to Hana High. And after the tournament, the Ronins partied
all night long. Kyra smiled to herself. Winning never felt this good.