Remember, telepathic communication = Dotted line
 

Part 4

Kato looked at his pupils.  Genki and Holly were sitting in front of the tainted cat brothers, it was amazing how fast the two of them where learning.  Holly had become good at defensive techniques such as shields, mental domination, and teleporting, she had also learned how to quickly regenerate the wounds of others and her own.  Genki on the other hand had quickly learned all of the fighting techniques he had to teach.  After he learned the fighting moves he would use his abilities to improve them.  There was little he could teach them, they where in control of their powers and constantly learning new ones.  He went over two the four.

“That is enough for today.”  Kato said.

Everybody stood up, they went and got something to eat.  Kato cleared his throat to get the others attention.  The others looked up.

“I would like to say that there is not much more that I can teach Genki and Holly.  You want to stop the cleansing, bright?”

“Yes.”  Holly replied.

“Good, I can take you to a regiment of the resistance, which is an army fighting against the Cleansing.  Would you like to get your friends before you leave tomorrow?”  Asked Kato.

“Yes.”  Said Genki.

“Good.”  Said Kato.  We will sleep here tonight and return to Yosho’s cabin to get the others.”

Everyone crept off to bed to get to sleep in order to prepare for the long day ahead.  Genki smiled happily as he went to sleep.  They had been out here for three months now.  He couldn’t wait to see the others again.  He couldn’t wait to see Mocchi again.  He turned around the sleep that would come and the dreams he and Holly shared every night.

“Good night Holly.”  Genki said.

“Good night Genki, I love you.”  Replied Holly.

“Love you to.”  Genki said smiling.
He heard her settle down and did likewise as he went to sleep.
He woke up gradually, right at sunrise, as he had trained himself to do.  With out looking he knew that the others where starting to stir also.  He got up and started a fire, it was his shift to take care of breakfast.  He was a good cook and so was Holly, though he had to admit that Holly was better than he was.  They had been thought how to identify edible plants, and how to hunt and clean animals, though Holly disliked killing anything.  She was a healer but she would fight if necessary.

“Good morning Genki.”  Said Kato as he came up to the fire.  “Are you ready to leave?”

“Yes I am completely ready to go.”  Replied Genki.

“Very good.”  Said Kato as the others joined them.

They ate breakfast in silence and then set out to the cabin of Yosho likewise.  After a few hours of travel they finally arrived.  Genki reached the door and knocked, a few moments later the door was opened by Hare.

“Hiya Genki!”  He said.  He turned around and screamed into the cabin.  “Hey everyone, They’re back!”

There was a rush as a crowd of people came to the door.

“Welcome back everyone!”  Yosho said, “how did the training go?”

“I would like to know that.”  Said Tiger.

“Great to see you again Holly!”  Yelled Suezo as he rushed out of the door.

“Chi!”  Screamed Mocchi as it rushed out the door, Genki picked the small penguin-like monster up and hugged it.

Golem came lumbering around from the back.  “Hello everyone.”  He said as he dropped a pile of wood beside the door.

“We have a lot to catch up on.”  Said Yosho.  “Come inside.  We’ve added three more rooms since you left so it should be more comfortable staying here.”

Everyone went in, Golem carried in some wood.

“We also added a second fireplace in the center of the house using all the stones that you removed from the garden.  So all of the rooms are heated directly by one or two of the fireplaces, I drew up all of the plans, I am thinking of drawing up plans for a second story, and better plumbing.”  Hare said with pride in his voice.

“Sounds Great!”  Said Holly as they entered the main room, which contained the original fireplace.

They sat down by a large maple table with sturdy oak benches.

Tiger grinned.  “Thanks to Genki losing his temper we didn’t have to cut a single tree, we simply cut up the ones at the edge of the zone that was hit by his blast near the cabin.”

“At least something good came out of it.  Anyway, I’ve learned how to control most of my abilities my abilities, and I’ve learned a bunch of new ones, so has Holly.”  Said Genki.

“Yeah,” said Holly, “I learned how to heal, regenerate, teleport, and improved on my old stuff.”

“I really can’t heal.”  Said Genki.  “But along with all the other stuff she said, I learned how to integrate all my abilities with physical attacks.”

“Cool!  Said Suezo.  “Could you help me with my teleport?”

“I’ll try” Said Holly.

“We found out a bunch of weird stuff to, for example, we actually share dreams.”  Chuckled Genki.

“Uhm. . . “  Said Hare.

“We can control all of our brain, though that is really the only messing with the basic functions we do.”  Said Holly quickly.

“Sheesh!”  Said Suezo.  “That had me worried.”

“What do you mean?  Chi?”  Mocchi asked innocently.

“I don’t understand either.”  Added Golem.

“I’m sure someone will tell you when you’re older.”  Chortled Tiger.

This caused wide spread laughter around the table, except for Mocchi and Golem who sat there looking puzzled.

Yosho arrived with bowls and a kettle of stew.  “I wasn’t prepared for your arrival, but Suezo saw you coming when he made Golem angry.  So I made a bit extra.”  He said chuckling.

They ate and then talked about the things that had happened in the last three months.  There had been people looking for the platoon form the army of the cleansing that had disappeared but all they ever found was the completely flat area in front of the cabin which was hidden under a camouflage net made by tiger and Mocchi, using plans Hare had made.

“How did you know how to train Holly and Genki?”  Yosho asked.

“I have spent most of my life training others and to control their abilities.  After a while, I learned to recognize other people abilities and teach them how to use and control them.”  Replied Kato.

“Makes sense.”  Holly father said.

 Not much else could be said about the training.  Kato finished and put down his spoon.

“I would like to ask you if you would like to come with me to join an opposition against the cleansing.”  Asked Kato.  “Holly and Genki will be going with me to meet up with them in around a month, we would like to know if you want to join us.”

There was a hushed discussion between the others, and there was an anonymous decision to join them.  They would help add to the cabin before leaving though and Yosho would stay behind, so they would have a place to return to when it was over.  They finished and went off to continue preparing for winter.

Holly went to a nearby village with Genki through the woods.  They both went and got jobs to earn money in order to pay for winter clothes and seeds to plant in the Garden the next year.  They both found jobs in a store, helping stock the shelves and various other small things.  After a while they all worked themselves into a daily routine.

The month was over in very little time, and they went to meet the army.  They traveled for a week when they finally met up with them.  Half of the army consisted of monsters and they saw many old friends there.  Kato lead them to the center where they met up with a tall man whom bowed to Kato.

“Greeting commander.”  Said the man gravely.  “We were beginning to wonder if you would even return.”

“I can see why colonel.  However I have found two people who would be a great help to our cause.  Did you hear about the platoon of the cleansing that disappeared?”  Kato asked.

“Yes.”  Said the colonel.

“Allow me to demonstrate what happened.”  Come everyone.

He led the colonel and many other officers, including pixie and some others they had met on their Journey.  They went to boulder around the size of a two-story building a bit away from the army.

“Holly, Genki, shield us and pick up that boulder, Genki I want you to blast it once it is in the air.”  Kato commanded.

Holly and Genki complied, the boulder was obliterated as Genki telekinetic blast rammed into it, the shield the two had created rippled as it repelled shards of stone that hit it.

“That is where it went.”  Kato said calmly as the last bits of rock settled around the shield.

Genki and Holly dropped the shield and stood still.

“Impressive,” Pixie said, “why did you destroy them?”

Genki blushed as he looked down embarrassed.  “They tried to force me to join and they made a comment about Holly coming in handy along with other girls to help low morale, I thought about it a second and then I lost it.  I let my rage fly at them and kind of wasted everything for around half a mile in front of me.  They where in the way.”

Kato chuckled.  “He luckily realized he had to learn to control hi abilities and so did Holly.  He is very good at fighting, and she has strong defensive and healing abilities.  Not only that, they are psychically linked and therefore work very well as a team.”  Kato said.

The colonel smiled and put out his hand.  “I for one would like to be the first one to welcome you."” He said.
 

*****

Holly, Genki, Mocchi, Suezo, Golem, Tiger, and Hare marched together.  Every now and then others would join them for a while but left again.  Every night Genki and Holly would go to Kato to train with weaponry.  Holly turned out very good with throwing knives and Genki average at everything that was being taught.  Everyone had been issued a small tent but when they went through a Genki and Holly sold both of theirs to get one big one.  There was a meeting among the officers and they decided to stay near the city.  That night they where allowed to go onto town.

“Genki! You coming?”  Yelled Hare as the others headed to the city.

“Yeah, I’ll catch up.”  Genki went into the tent to get his money, Holly was already in there, she was putting two more sheaths on the belt that held her dagger and put two throwing knives on it.  She let Genki pass and he got everything he needed.  They got out of the tent.

“Let’s try teleporting.”  Holly suggested.

“Sounds good.”  Genki agreed.

Holly concentrated until she saw where the others where by reading Suezo’s mind. She sent the image to Genki and they teleported there.

“Don’t do that!”  Tiger yelled angrily as the two appeared right beside him.

“Sorry.”  Said Holly.

“You have to admit though it is more efficient.”  Genki added.

“You’re starting to sound like Hare.”  Growled Tiger angrily.

“At least I’m not starting to look like him.”  Chuckled Genki.

“Shut up!” shouted Hare having overheard much of the conversation.

“I have to agree with Hare on this one.”  Said Suezo.  “All we need is two of him, and we’re doomed.”

Hare turned around.  “You too!”  He screamed.

“You want to make something of it?”  Suezo screamed.

Just as the two where about to tear each other to shreds Holly lifted them both up using telekinesis and spun them around until they where to dizzy to walk, let alone fight.  They reached the town, and everyone scattered.  Holly and Genki where left to wander around.

“What do you think we should do now?”  Holly asked Genki.

“Let’s go to that outdoor Café we saw in the middle of the square when we came for the tent.”  Replied Genki.

They went across the square and sat down outside the Café, they faced the square and waited for someone to appear to take their order.

“You know what’s funny Genki?”  Asked Holly before answering immediately.  “We’re at a café and I hate coffee.”

“So order something that doesn’t have coffee in it.”  Genki replied.

A waiter came outside.  “What would you like?”  He asked

“I would like A cappacino and a piece of spice cake.”  Said Genki.

“And I’ll have a cup of apple cider and a piece of coffee cake.”  Added Holly.

The waiter repeated their order and left to get it.

“I thought you didn’t like coffee.”  Genki said.

“I don’t.”  Holly retorted.  “But I do like coffee cake.”

“Whatever.”  Genki muttered.

Their orders arrived and they sat talking while eating and drinking, when they finished they paid and walked off.

“What now?”  Asked Genki.

“I’m not sure.”  Holly replied.  “There’s a lot more to do in places like this in summer and winter, but really nothing in fall.”

“If there isn’t much of anything else to do we might as well head back.”  Said Genki.

They went across the square again, when they came across a group of people blocking their way.

“Hey you!   Are you part of the army camped outside of town?”  Asked their leader.

“Yes.”  Holly replied.

“Well, you aren’t welcome here, armies like yours cause to much trouble.”  Said the man.

“We were leaving.”  Genki replied.  “So get out of our way.”

All of the sudden there was a bang and the air in front of them rippled signaling the presence of a shield.  Genki looked over at Holly who was looking into a dark alley near the edge of town.  “Assassin.”  Genki calmly stated.

“From the Cleansing.”  Asked Holly.

Yes.

“Incase him in a shield so he can’t use any weapons.”  Genki said to Holly telepathically.

“Righto.”  Replied Holly.

A man came floating out of the alley, unfortunately for Holly and Genki He was resourceful and pressed a gun he was holding into the shield until he had forced the tip through and pulled the trigger.

There was a grunt behind them as someone crumpled shoulder bleeding profusidly.  Holly went and began treating the wound, dropping the shield.  Genki reacted instantly and fired an extremely focused telekinetic blast at the man.  The man lurched in a strange manner and looked at his chest, he opened his mouth and a trickle of blood out, he fell over on his face, dead.

Genki grimly walked up to the corpse.  Genki turned him over and searched the body for identification.  All he found was a strange tattoo of 8 overlapping triangles with a circle in the center.

He got up as Holly finished treating the person who was hit and they walked out of town and headed back to the camp.

“I wonder where he got that gun.  Do they make them here?”  Asked Genki.

“Not that I know of, we’ll have to find out later.”

They came back to camp and reported what had happened.  Kato said they should be more careful because the cleansing probably knew more about them then suspected.  Then they trained for half n hour and returned to their campsites to go to bed.

*****

The next day they made good progress and started finding signs of the cleansing, when they stopped for noon, a dragon landed and told them a large section of the cleansing was resting half a mile ahead.  Genki and Holly decided to go check it out, they both teleported a bit in front of the army and scanned it to see how many there where.

“Do you feel that?”  Holly asked Genki.

“Do you mean those minor powers in the ranks?”

“Yes.”

“We should be able to deal with them, let’s return tonight and take out the minor psychics before we attack the army.”

“Good idea Genki, we should report this find to the officers though.”

They teleported back to the camp and went to the general and told him the news.  A meeting was called and it was decided to gage their strength by sending out a small force to ambush the army.  Tiger and Hare much to their dismay were sent out with a squad consisting mostly of Hare Hounds, and Genki and Holly were sent with their troops to gage the power of the power of the psychics.  They left shortly after noon and hid behind a hill.  When the army marched by they sent down a hail of arrows.  They then rushed down the hill and attacked the left flank.  Genki sensed some of the psychics aiming weak blasts at them, he replied with a huge shockwave then they retreated having suffered only minor losses, then, Holly and Genki teleported in and out taking the wounded and dead back to camp.

“How did the mission go?”  Asked Kato as Holly, Genki, Hare, and tiger came into the general’s tent.

“We suffered thirty casualties but only ten of them are deaths, the rest are minor wounds.
The cleansing is ill prepared for attacks and would probably be defeated easily.”  Tiger reported.

“What about the psychics?”  Kato asked.

“They do not have very good control over their abilities and should not present to much of a threat to us.”  Replied Genki.

“Very good, in that case it will be unnecessary for you to go eliminate them before tomorrow attack.  I want you to go rest so that you will be well rested for tomorrow’s attack.  There will be no training tonight.”  Kato said.  “You are dismissed.”

All four of them filed out.

“What do we do now?”  Asked Genki.

“Not sure.”  Replied Holly, why don’t we go do something fun.

“Like what, there really isn’t that much to do in fall.”  Genki replied.

“Well, there are those mountains in the west.  Why don’t we teleport to the foot of them, hike to the top, and have a picnic.”  Suggested Holly.

“Sure but what about the others.”  Genki pointed out.

“We have things to do, right?”  Said tiger stepping on one of Hare’s feet.

“Sure do!”  Hare hurriedly agreed.

“Great!”  Said Genki cheerily, he turned around and went to get some food to take along.
“What was that all about?”  He muttered to Holly as they walked off.
 

Hare watched then walk off.  He turned angrily to Tiger.  “I wanted to go with them!”  He yelled at him.

“To bad, you would have just ruined it, they need relaxation, not constant bickering.”  Replied Tiger.

“What makes you say I would bicker?”  Hare yelled back.

“What do you think you’re doing right now?”  Tiger replied.

Hare stalked off seething, angry at loosing the argument.

*****
A man walked into a well-lit room and came up to a desk with a squat man sitting behind it.

“Sir, I have come here to report the outcome on my mission.”

“Very good, how did the mission work out?”
 

“The decoys worked perfectly, are you ready to release the genetically engineered fighters?”

“Yes.”  Said the man smiling.  “The will teleport out tonight.”

“Thank you sir.”

*****

Genki smiled to himself as he looked down the mountain.  He looked at Holly who was standing ahead of him on a trail they had found leading up the mountain.

“Race you to the top!” Holly shouted down to him.

He smiled to himself, it was nice to spend time alone with her.  He began running up the slope, she was still far ahead of him so he used his abilities to make himself seem lighter and jumped up the mountain toward her, he closed the distance quickly and finally caught up, he ran in front of her and grabbed her arm.

“Gotcha!” He said.

“No fair!”  She said mock indignantly.

“Relax.”  He grinned.  “Anyway, I was carrying the food.”

“Okay, we’re almost at a good spot.”  Said Holly.

Genki looked up.  There was a meadow full of late blooming flowers on the side of the mountain facing the valley, it was surrounded by conifer trees and had a small stream flowing down at the edge of the meadow.  They broke out of the forest and into the meadow.  Genki smiled.

“Wow, this is a really nice spot!”  Said Holly as they came near the center.

“Sure is.”  Said Genki as he lay out a blanket and started getting some of the food they had packed out.  He sat down and was soon joined by Holly.  They ate and then sat looking at the beautiful view.  Genki put an arm around Holly.  She moved closer to him and fell asleep.  He lay back on the blanket and also dozed off.

Holly shivered in her sleep and woke up, she looked around and saw that they where sleeping outside on a mountain.  She woke up Genki he looked up at her sleepily.

“What is it?”  He asked.

“We’re still on the mountain.”  Holly replied.

“Oh.”  Said Genki.  He helped her pack everything up and they teleported back to camp.  They went into their tent and crept into their sleeping bags and fell asleep.

*****

 Two men disappeared and then reappeared with eight soldiers.  The commander smiled, the plan was working perfectly.

*****

Genki woke up with a start, he looked over at Holly and saw that she had just woken up to.

“What do you think is wrong?”  Genki inquired.

“I’m not sure.”  She replied.  “But I think that we should check the enemy camp.”

“Good idea.”  Said Genki.

They both disappeared and reappeared at the edge of the enemy camp, just in time to see ten men appear out of thin air.

“We’d better report this.”  Holly whispered.

They both teleported to Kato’s tent to tell him, only to find a throng of people already there.

“So I take it you’ve also figured out that the troops we saw where decoys?”  Genki asked.

“Yes we have, we are going to retreat before we are attacked by the gathering troops.”  Pixie informed them gravely.

“Let Holly and I do something to slow them down.”  Genki said turning to Kato.

“What are you planning to do?”  Kato asked.

“We could take out a huge chunk of their troops to make them have to regroup and then teleport to join you.”  Holly said.

“Very well, but Tiger of the Winds and Pixie will stay to gourd you until you are finished.”  Kato beckoned for them to leave the tent.

Genki and Holly packed their thing and went to a hill overlooking the valley where the cleansing had camped, they both sat down beside each other and began accessing as much of their power as possible.

“Genki, you hit them with the strongest blast you can make and I will make a shield around them to contain it.”  Suggested Holly.

“That sounds like a good plan.”  Genki agreed.  “Let’s prepare both the blast and the shield.

They both sat there for hours just when the sun began to rise, Genki gave the signal he was ready, there was a whoosh as the shockwave pushed all the air in front of it along with it, the force hit the enemy camp.  A clap of thunder sounded as air rushed into the resulting vacuum, Holly formed a shield she had been preparing for hours around it, they formed a brightly glowing dome, as the shield gave way, Genki put his hand on Tiger and Holly held Pixies hand and they teleported away.

They both landed in front of Golem, Suezo, Mocchi, and Hare.  Genki and Holly smiled wanly and then both passed out.

*****

A man surveyed they crater around him that was once a quarter of his army.  How could two children have done this?  He had sent his two most elite, best-trained soldiers with psychic abilities.  He cursed and disappeared.

*****

Holly woke up, to be hit with a wave of pain, she sat up, moaning.  She surveyed herself, she was wearing some kind of robe, and she could feel that she was wearing underclothes underneath, but nothing else, she found nothing wrong.  She looked around and saw that she was in the tent where the wounded and sick where treated.  She was on a bed that was around waist high, and narrow.  She saw that it was pretty much empty except for herself, Genki and five soldiers who had not recovered from the wounds that they had gotten in the raid she and Genki had been part of earlier.  She saw that the flap covering the entrance was moving.  Kato, Suezo, and Mocchi came in.

“You’re finally up!”  Suezo exclaimed.

“Keep it down, we don’t want to disturb anyone.”  Kato said.

“Sorry.”  Suezo said, a bit put aback.

Holly looked at them tiredly as they walked up to her.

“How do you feel?”  Kato asked gently.

“I can’t find anything wrong, but I’m hurting like crazy anyway, and I’m exhausted.”  Replied Holly as she slid off of the bed, the sterile white sheet that had covered her slid to the floor with a soft whoosh.

“That’s understandable, both of you used up almost all of your energy one week ago when you took out a quarter of the cleansing’s army out.  You recovered faster because you focus more on the part of the brain that deals with repairing damage to the body, also you used less energy.”  Kato said.

Holly cringed as her bare feet touched the floor.  She began walking toward Genki’s bed where Mocchi already was, when she heard Genki whimper.  A wave of pain hit her and she was brought to her knees by it.  Suezo was at her side in an instant as she got down on her hands and knees and hung her head in pain.

“What’s wrong?”  Suezo asked.

“I’m not sure.”  Said Holly, the pain faded and she got back up.

“You should get back to bed.  You are still weak.”  Kato said as he helped her up and escorted her to bed.  He helped her into her bed and she lay down.  She listened as they all said good-bye and returned them, and then lay back down.  She turned her head, and looked over at Genki, she wanted to go to him.  She got out of bed after she was sure that everyone had left and went over to Genki’s bed.  A man came in and saw her.

“What are you doing up?”  The man asked.

“What do you think?  Why don’t you just get me a chair, that would be a lot more helpful.”  Holly retorted.

“No you should be in bed.”  The attendant said.

“What are you going to do?  Tie me up?  Just get a chair.  It’s not like you’re going to stop me anyway.”  Holly said firmly.

The attendant shrugged in resignation and went to carry out her orders.  He came back to see her leaning on Genki’s bed wincing as if in pain, though nothing was visibly wrong with her.  He put the chair down behind her, she looked up at him and smiled.

“Thanks.”  She said as he went to check on the other people.

Holly sat down on the chair, got back up, moved the chair closer, and sat back down.  She looked at him, he was lying on the bed, a small frown permanently on his face.  A white sheet was tucked up to the middle of his chest.  His arms where lying limply at his sides, his fists where clenched at his sides.  Holly reached down and took one of his hands.  She gently started to uncurl his tightly clenched fist and put her hand in his.  She felt a pain in her hand and she felt Genki’s hand begin to cramp.  She looked at him with concern.  She felt his hand clench hers tightly but then relax again.  It was hard to believe that it had taken so big of a toll on him.  She hated to see him hurt like that, she was too tired and weak to do anything to help yet, she knew she would have to recover more.  She felt very tired.  She put her head on Genki’s chest and closed her eyes.  She listened to the quiet beating of his heart and then almost without knowing drifted of to sleep.

*****

Pixie walked toward the tent where Genki and Holly where.  She had been surprised when she had learned that they had elected to stay behind and try to stop the enemy army.  It was also hard to believe that nor the two had so much power and how much of it they had used despite the consequences.  She walked in to check on them.  She saw that it was pretty much empty except for Genki, Holly, five wounded soldiers, and a man making rounds ensuring that everything stayed clean.  Pixie looked over where Holly was supposed to be, she started.  Holly was somehow gone.  She searched the room for Genki and found Holly sitting at his bedside sleeping, with her head on his chest.  Pixie shook her head in amazement.  She was surprised that Holly had been able to make it in her condition.

“Excuse me, is there something you need?”  Asked the man who had been checking on the patients.

“Yes, could you help me move the empty bed over there?”  She asked.

“You’re the second person asking me to move furniture today, why do you need it done?”
Replied the man.

“Well, Holly is about to fall off of the chair, so we might as well put her on something else.”  Pixie said.

“You mean the girl over there?”  The man inquired, pointing at Holly.

“Yes.”  Pixie answered.

“Okay.”  The man said once again knowing that if he didn’t help the person would do what they where asking him to help him do anyway.  They slid the bed over just behind Holly and Pixie lifted her off the chair.  The attendant moved the chair and then pushed the bed underneath Holly, and against Genki’s.  Amazingly, Holly had kept a tight grip on Genki’s hand throughout the process.  Pixie left the two and the attendant left also after making one more round.

*****

Genki tried to move, but nothing would respond.  He was cold.  He could feel a source of heat right next to him, but he couldn’t get close to it.  He couldn’t feel his body, he struggled to try to cut through the smothering fog that seemed to cover his mind.  All of the sudden he could feel his body.  He tried to open his eyes, but just the movement of those small muscles brought a wave of pain washing over him as every muscle that would have been used protested the movement.  He stopped moving for a short time and then tried moving his limbs.  The pain was immense, he felt terrified at his inability, to do anything.  He resigned to lying there cold, trying to draw comfort from the presence he felt close to him.

*****

Genki woke again.  He was not sure how much time had passed since he had last been awake.  He debated whether or not to attempt to move again, but the question was answered as he shivered with cold, the shiver accompanied by a wave of pain.  He concentrated and was finally able to open his eyes, he blinked and felt the muscles that he had used begin to loosen.  He began moving his arms and legs.  He moved his protesting neck to look down at himself.  He was wearing a pair of boxers, and a loose T-shirt. Outside of the muscle pain nothing else was wrong.  He saw that his left hand was clutching tightly on to one of Holly’s hands.  He looked at Holly’s face and saw a pained expression on it, he saw her lower lip shake, as if she where cold.  He moved closer to her and put an arm around her while clutching the hand he was holding on to close to his chest.  He slipped his blanket on top of hers and then pulled her close. He wriggled underneath both blankets and next to her warmth.  He released her hand, which she put, against his chest.  He held her lightly shivering body close to his own and felt her shaking stop.  A wave of exhaustion swept over him and he fell asleep.

*****

Holly opened her eyes and for the first time in over a week saw Genki looking back into hers.  She took her hand off of his chest and touched his cheek.  He smiled back at her.

“Good morning, or whatever it is right now.”  Said Genki.

“Same to you.”  Holly replied smiling.

“How long have I been here?”  Genki asked.

“Not sure.”  Holly replied.  “At least a week is all I know.”

“Why don’t you know?”  Genki asked.

“I just woke up a while ago, after I woke up I came to see you and I must have fallen asleep.  When I woke up, here I was.”  Holly asked.

“Oh, how are you feeling?”  Genki asked.

“I’m feeling fine, are you feeling better?”  Inquired Holly.

“I felt pretty crappy for a while but I feel great now.”  Answered Genki.

“You used to much energy, and that’s why you felt so bad, but the good news is that you wiped out a quarter of the cleansing’s army.”  Holly said.

“That would take a lot of energy.  Why didn’t it effect you as much, you made that shield.”

“I didn’t put as much energy into the shield, though it did contain most of the blast it shattered near the end.  Said Holly.  Plus, I spend more time using the part of the brain that does healing and things like that so I healed faster.  At least that’s what Kato told me.  She added.

“That would make sense.”

They where silent for a while, simply drawing energy from each other’s presence, after a while Genki’s stomach began audibly growling.

“Let’s get something to eat, I’m hungry.”  Genki suggested.

“Sounds good to me.”  Said Holly.

Genki pushed off the blankets and got up, he helped Holly down and they walked out of the tent they had been in.

“We’ve got to find our backpacks, I would like to wear actual clothes.”  Genki said.
Holly agreed and they mentally searched the camp until they found Suezo, they teleported there and found him with the others.

“You wouldn’t happen to be able to show us where are backpacks are?”  Inquired Genki.

Everyone stared at them in silence.  Then a cheer broke out and everyone rushed to meet them.

*****

Holly and Genki sat on a bench in front of a huge blaze as they packed away plate after plate of food.  Everyone looked at them trying not to laugh.

“Man I feel like I haven’t eaten in a week!”  Genki explained as he shoveled down a bowl of rice.

“Same here!”  Added Holly, who was matching his speed despite the fact that she was usually a slow eater.

“Funny that you would say that.”  Hare said.

“Why is that?”  Asked Genki between mouthfuls.

“Well. . .”  Hare trailed off.

“Why are you guys looking at us so funny?”  Asked Holly as she finished off some cake and sat back contented.

“The truth is you haven’t eaten for a week.  But I’m still surprised that you could pack away that much food in such a short time.”  Tiger said.

“What!?  We didn’t eat that whole time?!”  Exclaimed Holly.

“When you came back you both went into a coma-like state and all we really could do was give you a place to lie down.”  Said Hare.

“Oh” Holly said.

All of the sudden someone came rushing into the campsite.

“Have you seen Genki or Holly?”  Asked a nervous Centaur.  “They just disappeared, Kato sent a few other people and I out to find them.”

“We’re right here, what’s wrong?”  Asked Genki looking up from huge sub sandwich he had made and had half eaten.

“Oh, there you are.  Why didn’t you tell us you where well again?”  The Centaur asked.

“We wanted to get some real clothes on and something to eat, so this is where we came first.”  Holly said.

Genki finished the sandwich and grinned.  “That’s much better.”  He looked at the Centaur.  “We’ll go to Kato now.”

They got up and walked to the commander’s tent.  After Holly and Genki had walked in the Centaur left.

Kato looked up from the table that was set up in front of him.  He saw Genki and Holly well and smiled.

“Hello it is good to see both of you up again.”  He exclaimed.

“Hello.”  Holly and Genki replied.

You did a great job when you went to stop that portion of the cleansing’s army.  Not only has the cleansing lost a quarter of its forces, it has been forced to pull back and regroup.  You will still be weak for a while and I think that you and your friends should go and get some rest while you have the chance.  Go somewhere that you know you will be safe at because likelihood is that the cleansing will increase its efforts to get rid of you.  I will call you with special mission for you and your friends when I need you.”  Kato said.

“Thank you sir.”  Replied Holly happily.

“Yes, thank you.”  Genki Added.

“You are welcome.  When I need you to do something, I will send Pixie as a messenger.  She will deliver the message and then return here.  You are dismissed.”

Holly and Genki went and told Mocchi, Suezo, Hare, Tiger, and Golem the news.  They packed, said their good byes and left for home.

*****

The evil, which had taken control of Moo, walked out of the planning room in Edwards’s body.  Edward had been a weakling but his body served its purpose.  It grinned.  Holly and Genki where weak now, he would have to redouble his efforts to swat the pests while he could.  He smiled as he thought to himself.  The underground lab under the pendant city they had found was the perfect center of operation.  He could create a powerful weapon that looked like a human but had the strength of an entire army within the course of three months using just one of the many specialized machines down here.  He looked at the glass tube that contained the tiny blob of tissue, which was integrating itself into a framework of cybernetic modifications as it grew.  In three months his ultimate weapon would be ready, and then he would make more, and more.  If those idiots at the resistance thought that they where winning he would soon prove them wrong, but first, Holly and Genki had to die.

End of chapter

Whew, that was a doozy, and I still have a lot more to add, hope that you like it so far.  Write me with flames, fanmail, or anything else that you want to send at hanielg@hotmail.com Thanx.

Next chapter: Hey, it’s Winter!!!-  Find out what to do with a bunch of dead assassins.  Plus Christmas in the monster rancher world.