Purified Water

Rowan was cleaning up the lounge room since he was no longer ill enough to sleep on the couch without being disturbed by one of the others wanting to watch TV or talk to him. He had folded and stacked all the blankets away and decided to sit down and watch the sports channel. Good old sports channel. Always there when he needed it. yay, ice hockey.

That was about when he noticed the shrivled black shinny little thing above the mantle place. He sat looking at it from where he was for a few moments, puzzled as to why it would have caught his attention in the first place, then where it came from in the second. He had never noticed it before. When did it get there? Could not have been more than a day. He rubbed his face with his hands. This was distracting him from the ice hockey, damn it!! He stood and picked it up. It was icy in his palm, about the size of his thumb nail, so he let it drop back to the mantle. it made a noise when it hit the wood. Just like an ordinary pebble would. For some reason he knew it was wrong. This was not an ordinary pebble, therefore it should not sound like one.

Kento chose that moment to parade down the stairs declaring to the world in song that he was going to eat.

"Kento?" Rowan caught his attention.

"Yeah?" He wandered up to him. "how'ya feeling this bright and sunny day?"

Rowan shrugged. "Fine. I was wondering if you knew what this was?" He pointed to the black 'rock'. "I don't know why I've never seen it before, that's all."

Kento looked at it blankly for a few moments. "Oh yeah!" He said finally. "That was that funky thing that seeped out of Sai's palm when he first came back and touched your head. Then you got better. It was really cool to watch! First it started off like a blob of goo, then it started to steam and shrink into that!"

Rowan gave him a look that suggested he needed psychiatric treatment. "This. It's a rock."

"It's true! Just ask Sai!" He looked around. "Where is he any way? I was going to get him to make me some lunch."

"Maybe he is still sparing with Seiji?" Rowan suggested.

"Naah. They finished ages ago. Seiji's upstairs now nursing his wounded pride." He snickered at that.

"what happened?!"

"You should have seen it! Sai beat the crap out of him with out Seiji even getting one touch on him." Rowan was aghast, the hockey game forgotten now.

Suddenly Rowan was filled with an urgent need to find Sai. "Where is he now?!" He demanded, grabbing Kento's shirt, dragging their faces in close together. Kento was shocked, and just mutely pointed out the back door. Rowan was by the door and pulling his shoes on in seconds.

"What's wrong?" Kento asked well and truly concerned. He knew that Rowan was the only one Sai still chose to share his link with, and was ready to go full battle armor if Rowan said the word.

Rowan paused, uncertainty obvious on his face. "...Nothing." He said. "I just... I don't know. I just need to see him."

"If you're looking for Sai, he's down at the lake." That was Ryo just coming in through the door.

"Thanks." Rowan said slipping past and out.

"So you were waiting for me, were you Torrent?" Sekhmet asked casually approaching the still figure. "Waiting for me to kill you!" He threw his hands around Sai's throat with an angry growl and squeezed. It irritated him that Sai made no move to stop him, and in fact, did not seem phased at all. Sai just looked up at him with perfectly calm eyes, and an amused smile. His pulse did not even quicken one beat under Sekhmet’s fingers. When Sai refused to react to the fact that he was being strangled, Sekhmet swang him around and slammed his back against a tree hard enough to cause it to shake and topple branches and leaves onto them. Sai's eyes shuttered slightly at that, but he still remained calm.

"Well... Are you going to kill me or what?" Sai asked casually. Sekhmet stared at him open mouthed. "No? Well that means it's my turn to... play." He reached up with one hand, grasped Sekhmet’s wrist, and easily pulled himself free from the larger man's grasp. Sekhmet growled at himself for not being able keep his hands where he wanted them, struggling to reach back at Torrent's throat. Sai calmly raised a palm at Sekhmet’s chest level. Sekhmet was barely able to register the faint blue glow in the teenager's eyes before the air before him exploded invisibly and he was flung back with such force that he crashed through several tree trunks, tumbled along the ground, and skidded- leaving a trench behind him- before dropping ungracefully into the lake with a loud "SPLUSH!"

It was rather shocking to be standing one second, then have one's head immersed in water the next. Fairly cold water too. For a few seconds he was too dazed to do any thing. Then the wet coldness seeped into his awareness, and he began to struggle to break the surface for air. For some reason he couldn't seem to reach the air. Suddenly strong hands grabbed him by the front and dragged him out, face close to a smirking Torrent. Sekhmet gasped urgently for air, pain radiating through his body as Sai dragged him from the water onto the bank, then dropped him.

"Tell me, Warlord..." Sai asked quietly, kneeling at Sekhmet’s side. "Is there any reason you can give me why I should let you live?"

Sekhmet’s eyes widened with a split second of panic, but then narrowed dangerously. Slowly, so not to bring attention to himself, he slid his arm down his side to grip his sword. he lashed out with his blade...

...Only to meet nothing. Torrent wasn't there. Sekhmet jumped to his feet (although shakily), and span around, wildly searching for the ronin.

Nothing.

No sounds.

Only the gentle lapping at the shore line and a few bird calls. Where the hell WAS he?!?

"Stop playing and fight like a man!" Sekhmet screamed out his challenge.

"But I haven't *finished* playing with you yet." The calm voice said from behind him. The warlord spun to find the teen standing right there, hand open at his face.

Sekhmet didn't have time to think before the air rippled in front of him again and he was knocked backwards in an explosion.

Rowan watched from behind a tree as Sai faced the Warlord of Venom. He was about to jump to full armor when it occurred to him that Sai was not in armor. In fact he was only wearing casual clothes. This struck him as very odd, especially since the Warlord was in full armor and was trying his damnedest to run Sai through. Or slash him open. Or just nick him in any way. Fortunately Sai was very skilled in acrobatics and dodged every strike. It was a strange scene. From the way things looked, Rowan expected to hear laughter coming from Sai, but instead there was only cries of frustration from the warlord when ever he failed to make contact.

Finally the Warlord paused in his attack, breathing heavily and quite obviously exhausted. Sai stood calmly, only a few meters away, hands in his pockets.

Then came something that was completely unexpected to Rowan... The Warlord gathered his strength and made one final attack, sword raised above his head with a cry. Sai just stood there as the sword swung down with the power to cleave a person neatly in two without them realizing it, only to have it and the warlord thrown back to the earth. Hard. The snake-sword slammed into the base of a tree, vibrating. Sai yawned in a bored manner, covering his mouth with his hand. The warlord lay gasping, struggling to sit up as Sai took his time to approach. Then the air around Sai shimmered and swirled, starting at his feet and running up his body like living water. It was like the air had opened up and swallowed Sai whole. But then he appeared again beside the warlord, towering over him. Sai said something to the warlord, who tried to scramble back away from him. Then the warlord began to scream. Rowan had never heard anything like it. Pure primal fear. Sai's hand was glowing a faint blue. Then the blue began to expand. As Rowan watched, a ball of clear-blue grew out of Sai's hand. Growing bigger and bigger. All the while the warlord writhed around on the ground screaming. As the ball of clear-blue grew larger, the warlord's cries began to lessen. When the ball was about the size of a basket ball, it stopped growing, and the warlord fell back totally silent and unmoving. Sai lifted the ball with both hands to his lips and closed his eyes. Rowan's eyes widened when he swore he saw that Sai was sucking the clear-blueness inside him. Like he was drinking through a straw. The ball shrunk too until it was gone. Sai just stood there for a few moments, eyes still closed, hands still open like he was holding the ball. Then slowly he let his hands fall and his attention fell back to the warlord at his feet.

Rowan didn't know if he should run back to the house in a fit of screams (think the 'Home Alone' run), or go up to Sai and pat him on the back.

THINKS:

HE: Gee Sai, I saw you take down that warlord with out laying a finger on him! Wow! That was great! By the way, what was that blue ball you were holding, and was it my imagination or what, but did you really...I don't know... SWALLOW it?

SAI: Yep! I sure did! I just sucked the life (or what ever it really was) out of him, and now I'm going to do the same to you! HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!!!

/Naah.../ Rowan shook his head, and stepped forward, hopefully quietly.

"Hello Rowan." Came that soft British voice, with out Sai even looking up at him. "I was wondering when you would step out of those shadows."

Rowan waited until he was beside his friend before he bent over to examine the fallen warlord. Sekhmet’s green hair was flung around wildly, and his eyes were tightly closed. His armor was glowing slightly, showing that he was injured. He was breathing heavily, but he was BREATHING. He also appeared to be a whole lot smaller than Rowan remembered. May have been that he never saw a fallen warlord up close before, but he was sure that the pale skin seemed to have a... shrunken appearance? He turned to look at the sword that was still buried to the hilt in the base of a tree, then he turned back to Sai, who was watching him with an empty expression. He decided not to say anything about what he saw. Rowan took a deep breath and smiled. "Yep! That's a Warlord all right! Just wait until Ryo hears about this!" Sai flinched when he heard Ryo's name. Rowan slapped Sai on the back. "Any reason why he's still alive though? I mean I know he's unconscious, but..."

Sai turned away from him, and in a small voice said: "Ryo said that he wanted one alive for questioning. And what ever Ryo want's Ryo gets."

/Riiiight./ Rowan thought. /No grudges still evident here./ "How long will he stay unconscious, do you think?"

"Until I decide that he can wake up." Came the reply. "Or he dies." There was an awkward silence for a few moments, then Sai suddenly beamed at him. "Help me take him back?" He pleaded at Rowan with those puppy-dog eyes.

Rowan inwardly groaned, then agreed.

To be continued...