June 2000 (Normal disclaimers -which I keep forgeting to put in- apply. Please don't think that any of these characters are mine. They're not. I'm just borrowing them for a while.)

"Ryo?"

Ryo jumped at the sound of that soft voice, but he covered his surprise with a smile. "Hey Sai. How are you?" He patted the step on the back varanda next to him. Sai sat where he was directed and stared off into the distance.

"I've been thinking." He started.

"Yeah?"

Sai paused, tilting his head slightly like he was listening to something off in the distance.

"Sai?"

"..."

"Sai?" Ryo was getting concerned. He waved his hand infront of Sai's face. "Hello-o?" Slowly, ever so slowly, Sai turned his head to look at Ryo. His eyes were wide, but he still wore that bland expression. Ryo was speechless. Finally Sai spoke.

"If I were to defeat a warlord, would you want him brought to you alive for questioning, or dead?"

Ryo was not exactly sure what to say. Sai's expression told him that he was being perfectly serious. "...Alive." He decided.

"Okay." Sai shrugged looking a little disappointed. "I'll remember that." He stood to leave. Ryo caught his wrist causing him to look back at him.

"Wait a second..." Ryo's eyes narrowed as he quietly asked: "Why are you asking me this? What are you planning?"

Sai gave him a smile of complete innocence. "My, whatever do you mean?"

"It's not like you to ask these kind of questions."

Sai laughed shortly and pulled his hand away. "Dear Ryo. How would you know what is like me or not when you never make any attempt to get to know me in the first place?"

"Look, I'm sorry about that okay. I just want to know if you are going to try to do something to prove yourself to me. Because you don't have to. Over the last few days we all came to really appreciate you and every thing you have done for us. We never realized how important you are to us until you were gone, and that's OUR fault not yours. I sure as hell don't want to have to lose you again."

"Oh... I never knew you cared."

"That's part of the problem, Sai. I DO care. We all care. And I don't want the stupid things I said to drive you into danger, okay? You are too important to us."

Sai smiled and patted Ryo's head. "Don't worry about me, great leader." He moved away again. "Oh yeah. Where would you want the Warlord taken... Theoretically."

Ryo eyed the red head, feeling slightly irritated that he had just opened up in an attempt to make things right, only to be ignored. And he *knew* he was being ignored. In one ear and out the other. He tried to swallow his anger, not wanting to drive his friend away again. "I'm not sure. I'll have to think about it."

Sai shrugged noncommittally, and walked away.

"Sai!"

"Uh-yes?" He looked back over his shoulder.

"Where are you going now?"

A broad smile spread over his face. "The lake. See ya Ryo."

A set of beady eyes watched from the shadows of the trees as Sai walked down the peer and sat on the end of it. A dangerous smile spread across lips of the owner of those eyes as Sai dived into the water fully clothed. Silent as a snake on a hunt, the owner of the eyes slipped through the foliage and made his way closer to the lake. He watched Sai swim around and round, basking in his element, hair slicked back looking almost dark brown from the wetness, and clothes clinging to his slender frame as he swam free style.

/Well, well, well.../ Came the thought. /Torrent is once again...ALONE... What an interesting situation.../ The owner of the eyes licked his lips in anticipation, eyes never leaving the swimmer. The rest of the beady eyed mans body was poised, ready to spring into action the split second his mind told it to move. /Come to me, Torrent. Come to me, and we'll see how long you can hold your breath under water... With my hands clasped around your throat!!! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!/

He imagined clamping his large hands around the slender red head's warm throat and forcing his head under the freezing water, while kneeling on his chest. The pulse under his fingers would be fast and urgent. Limbs flying about, frantically trying to get free, but too weak from what ever beating he had received previously to be effective. Bubbles stream from his nose and mouth as his screams attempt to reach his ears. Eyes wide with terror as he realized that this time his element would not save him. In fact his element would kill him. He wanted to see that look in Torrent's eyes more than anything. That realization that he was going to die, and there was nothing he or anyone else could do about it. /Mmmmm... Yes.../ He felt himself suddenly aroused by that thought. /Or...Maybe I will kill him after I have finished torturing him in OTHER ways... heh heh heh.../

Unbeknownst to that particular Warlord, Sai was watching that very spot from the corner of his eye, and was also smiling dangerously. He ducked under the water not leaving a single ripple behind to tell of his existence.

The beady eyed Warlord swore to himself. /Damn it! I've lost him!/ He leaned forward through the bushes in an attempt to see. He scanned the top of the water and the shoreline, but could find no trace of his target. He growled to himself and rose to his feet, eyes still flicking around for any movement, and not finding any. /Where the hell is he! He can't possibly hold his breath for this long. Can he?/ He was so intent upon the search that he did not notice the figure slowly rising up through the ground like there was nothing there at all, a small distance behind him.

"Hello, Sekhmet." Came the perfectly calm British voice that caused the Warlord to spin.

"Torrent!" He growled falling into a defensive stance. The teen standing there just regarded him coldly, still dressed only in the clothes he had dived into the lake in. Sekhmet noticed that he was also perfectly dry now.

A wicked smile spread across the red head's lips. "I've been waiting for you."

To be continued...