Faerie Tales Chapter Ten By: Lazuli Mamoru leaned aganist the wall of the small hut, relieved that their journey to the Mountains was almost over. He was not sure what was going to happen after they reached their path, but he *knew* that he and Usagi would achieve their goal. He was disturbed by the dream he had the other night though. He usually did not receive dreams, and was not one to find out the meaning of them, but it dealt with his Usagi, and dark clouds that seemed to swallow her up... he was almost afraid to let her walk alone at all, and didn't want to leave her side. She was sleeping on the bed next to him at the moment, and he took a few minutes just to drink in her beauty, and thanked the Spirit that she was with him. Her long blonde hair pooled around her petite figure, and she seemed to be in a deep sleep. He sat down on the bed, and brushed a few strands out of her eyes, carressing her cheek. She stirred slightly but didn't wake up, for which he was glad for. She seemed to be reaching for something he couldn't quite feel, as if she was hearing a voice in the distance, urging her to come. She finally looked relaxed for the first time since he had seen her. He smiled sadly. If she had never come across him, she would still be living in the forest, oblivious to all that was going on beyond her dwelling, and content. "Oblivious, yes, love... but not content." Mamoru looked down at Usagi, who opened her eyes slowly, a small smile on her lips. "Don't you know that we are tied together? That I would feel every ounce of your pain? That I was not happy living all by myself, the one of my family left in a world that seemed to reject me? I love you.. never blame yourself for what I feel... it is my own choice..." Usagi said no more, for Mamoru lifted her up aganist him, and kissed her gently, trying to tell her that he believed her, that he loved her too, that he never wanted anything to happen to her now that he had just found her. She leaned into his embrace, both of them comforting the other without words, but with just emotion and touch. Raina met Usagi at the doorway, her green eyes solemn. "It will be a hard journey for you. Do not blame yourself if you fail... many have walked your path before and have not come out unharmed. I wish you the best of luck, Clan sister." Usagi nodded, and smiled, trying to keep her mind clear of thoughts of doubt. It would do no good if Mamoru happened to pick up on any of them. Their bond was slowly growing, and their thoughts and emotions becoming more attached. "Also, Usagi, be wary of traveling at night. It is the most dangerous time. Call on the Wind if need be, call on the power that you and Mamoru hold between you. It will serve you, and bring you into the light that you carry." Usagi was not quite sure what to say, but she hugged the woman in thanks, and met up with Mamoru, who was waiting for her on the last marks of the path that led out of the forest. Usagi and Mamoru were soon far away from the couple that led them here, closer to the mountain ranges that loomed at them, seeming to overpower them. Usagi stared at them, her eyes wide. "It will be okay, won't it, Mamoru?" She asked. Her eyes begged him for the truth, to not coddle her with idiot phrases meant to blind one to the truth. "I honestly don't know, Usagi. We will have to wait." He tried to quicken their pace, for night was falling fast, and they were out in the open... and about to meet one of the outer clan members of the mountain fae. Yoru looked at the travelers under the covers of the shadows, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. They were faeries... far removed from their proper setting. What were they doing on the opposite side of the forest, and in *their* territory? She thought briefly of the others that had come this way, and she wondered, for a brief second if these two were here to save them. She rolled her eyes. That was stupid. Two of the forest clan.. her eyes narrowed.... Slyph, if she wasn't mistaken... here to save the other slyphs? It was a ridiculous thought. Her clan would capture these two as well. Perhaps one day the Slyphs that they caught would be the destined pair to reclaim their rightful standing in the world. Mamoru's eyes narrowed. There was someone there.. watching. The wind could pick up the sound of someone breathing.. but his eyes could not detect anything. It was as if they were one with the dark, the night their friend... he swallowed. The Mountain Clan... it had to be.... Usagi looked up at him, sensing his emotions, sensing his unease. "Mamoru? They are here, aren't they? Watching us?" Mamoru nodded. "I believe so, Usagi." He didn't get to say more, for the night reached out to him, and he fell in darkness. Kurai looked down at the handsome man and his companion. He could be almost kin to the Night Clan, as if somewhere in his blood he could trace his lineage back to them. His hair was of the night, and his eyes, for the moment she observed them, were the indigo blue of perfect dusk. His skin though, was dark, and that denoted his tie to the Wind. Kurai smiled. This man could be part of their prophecy! She would have to wait until he revived to ask him of his heritage, though. Darkness still claimed him, and she waited paitently for it to release him. The girl however... She looked a part of the Slyph Clan, and the Dreamer's Clan. Were these people tied into every clan somehow? Was the time for them all to be united come? The girl looked to be in deep sleep, but opened her eyes seconds later to stare into Kurai's fathomless ones. To her credit, she did not scream, her instead her eyes seemed to focus more deeply on Kurai then most people dared to. "Who are you? And where are we?" She asked, her voice carrying a hint of command in it, carrying something of the power that she wielded. "I am Kurai, of the Mountain Clan of Night. You are in our Clan holding, until you had both awakened from your sleep. I am sorry if we frightened you." Usagi shook her head. "There's something... strange about you... about your method of survival.. your exsistance..." Kurai looked towards Yoru, who shrugged. "Should we tell her?" Kurai didn't care one way or the other, but it was up to Sutaa to decide. She was the Light at the moment. She was their Clan Leader, and gave them the wisdom to make their choices. "I am sorry. I can not tell you yet. You will know in time, though. As soon as your companion awakes, we will take you to Sutaa. First, though.. tell me of yourself... your heritage..." Usagi's eyes closed and she shook her head. "I am Clan Leader of the Slyphs of the Eastern Forest at this time,and that is all you need to know. When Mamori awakes, we will tell our story together, for it is intertwined." Kurai nodded, and bowed slightly. She hadn't know who this girl was. She knew she was claimed Clan Leader, and that gave her rights of privacy, and the choice to leave. The blond smiled, though, and looked up. "My name is Usagi, since you gave me yours. I hope that I get your meet Sutaa soon." Her gaze rested on Mamoru once more, and she seemed to go into trance, her gaze far away, her body still. A small smile was on her lips, though, as her hand rested gently on Mamoru's chest, over his heart. Mamoru felt himself drifting, no light around him. As if he was in an eternal sea of darkness.. no light to lend the way. No hand to hold to lead him through to the daytime. He clamored for an opening, a flame in the darkness, when white light flowed across him and through him, calling to him. He heard Usagi's voice... her voice singing to him an old chant of the Wind, calling his spirit upwards, bringing him to the surface, to her light, and her song. He opened his eyes to see he was still covered in darkness, but a light that surronded Usagi. He covered the hand that lay on his chest, happy that she was there for him. He sat up slowly, and looked at the ones around him, the ones that blended in with the night, as Usagi shone above it. He met the eyes of the female next to him, and there was understanding in her eyes about Usagi. She didn't speak of Usagi however, but instead stood, and make a single remark. "It is now time to go to Sutaa." Yoru kept on glancing at Mamoru and Usagi. They kept sticking in her mind. They were not yet spoken to by Sutaa, but Yoru knew that their time would come. For she was certain that Usagi and Mamoru held the key to the worlds. Usagi waited nervously for Sutaa to call them in. Faint torches lit the pathway to her home, to denote the fact that she was the light in the Night Clans world. No other family had their homes marked in such a way. A noise up ahead made her look up, and was surprised to meet bright blue eyes of a young man, his coal black hair flowing around him like cape. "I understand that you request audience with me?" He asked. Usagi nodded. The power emanating off of this man was unreal, and she had to close her eyes to regain her senses. She had been unprepared for the raw power that surronded this man. Sutaa.... She found her voice, however, Mamoru beside her, lending her his strength and his patience to speak to this man. "I do... I wish to speak to you about the Slyph Clan of the Eastern Forest.. they were last seen here. We would like to speak to our remaining Clan members... and bring them back home with us." Her eyes met Sutaa's clearly, and without fear. He smiled at her, and gestured for them to follow him to his inner chambers, turning slightly to beckon Kurai and Yoru as well. "I will speak to you, young Leader of the Clans. But do not gain false hopes over a situation that you have no knowledge of, and do not makes requests that I cannot grant." Usagi swallowed uneasily, fearing the worst for her Clan, yet keeping the small flame of hope near her heart. Once they were settled in the room, Sutaa met the eyes of Mamoru and Usagi in turn. "You ask for the members of your Clan. I do not know what to say to you. It has been many years since those people had escaped to our mountain, asking for our protection, to shield them from the humans that had persucted them and hunted them down, killed their Clan. We accepted the role of protector, but at a price. They became part of our Clan. They married into the Clan, they chose not to leave the Mountains, for fear they would be caught. Their children live with us. They are no longer called to by the Wind, instead, it is the shadows that beckon them. Do you understand what I am saying? You no longer have a Clan." Usagi's eyes grew bright with tears, but Mamoru regarded Sutaa with a thoughtful look. This man could have stated that outside. There was a double meaning in his words, though, and Mamoru meant to divine it out of him. "You say we have no Clan, sir... but I know that you are part of my Clan, as is the Wind. The Clan of the Western Forest is part of us, as well. I believe that Usagi and I share the blood of all the Clans of Land and Air. Is that right?" Kurai rolled her eyes. How dare he presume so much! She was about to say something to him, when Sutaa held up a hand to silence her unspoken protest. "What you speak is true, but what is that to me? You will only be completly loathed or loved by the Clans for your mixed blood. Why should I be among to accept you? Why should I keep you here, instead of tossing you out?" It was Usagi who answered this time, her eyes gazing into Sutaa's, yet far away. "For I am Tsuki to the Mountain Clans of the Night, and Hinata to the Forest Clans of the Day." Mamoru took up his stand beside her. "I am unsure of my role, but I know my name to the night, for it is the name that I would have been given if born in this Clan. Inabikari. My name for the Day Clans is Tsuyosa," Kurai's eyes widened and met with Yoru's. These two knew the sacred names for the light of the worlds? The ones that were of all the Clans, yet of none. It was impossible, but it could be true... The Keys of the Clans had finally appeared.