Healing Wounds

This time, Amber awoke on a pallet on Teefa's floor. Teefa too was lying on a mat, while the more seriously injured Lufia was on the bed. She bet - - correctly as it would later turn out - - that the boys were all in Donnie's room. Her mother, Lena, and Tiara were standing there, extremely worried about their current state. But the second Amber began to sit up, Sophie's eyes were filled with joy she'd never known before.

"Thank the Throne of Yord!" the woman exclaimed, "You're alive Amber! I was so worried when we found you all passed out and injured. But now, now that you're ok, I feel so much better." She cried tears of joy, weeping into the handkerchief that Tiara had lent her. Sophie realized that scolding her daughter for running off to fight the Mihan wasn't appropriate at the moment. After all, the girl was getting over a bad case of exhaustion. But once she had fully recovered, they could have a nice long talk about what went on.

However, Tiara was less forgiving than Sophie. "I can't believe you deliberately disobeyed me Teefa! You were supposed to stay inside when the Mihan were out in force, not go and hunt them down. And not only did you go out without my permission, but you took your brother and friends along for the ride as well. I'll talk it over with your father later, so we can decide how to punish you two," she scolded when the young girl had woken up. Teefa was used to it, she had little regard for rules and regulations. That had gotten her in trouble before, sneaking off to do battle in the night when she should have been sleeping in her bed.

When Lufia woke up, Lena said, "I hope you know how much we worried about you. Please,, don't do that again Young Lady. Your father and I haven't quite worked out your punishment yet, but we will speak about it after you tell us the full story. No matter what happened, you still have to pay for ignoring us and going out there. After all, if we didn't use discipline on you, what would happen when you're out on your own? The Elder isn't as forgiving as myself and your father." She mentally swept under the rug about how the group had gotten off lightly after the Throne of Yord incident. That was a strange exception to the rule.

Of course, Teefa hadn't forgotten about that story. "But when Amber's dad stole the Throne of Yord he didn't get in too much trouble. He was allowed to see his sister with guards around, and could live out his life the way he wanted. How much of a plea deal was worked out between them with that incident?"

"That was an exception," Tiara informed her daughter, "Because of our antics, the Throne of Yord gained new strength, because Sara was able to take control of the will of the painting. Thus, our home is now better protected than it was before. So it was almost like we had intentionally done such a thing, on the Elder's orders. Let people think it was something like that, and his standing with our people goes up."

"We killed a Ryaimi Chimera. What else could we do that would increase world security?" Lufia questioned. Yup, she was a pyro through and through. Not only in her words, but in her temper as well.

S...S

As the worst hurt, Donnie was allowed to sleep in his own bed. Meanwhile, the two Partners were on the floor in the young man's room. Graham, Kagetsu, and Leon were all watching over them; with Leon keeping the other two apart. Although they'd put aside their differences, and could maintain a working relationship, they still didn't get along too well. Graham was mad about how Kagetsu had treated Tiara in the past. At the same time, Kagetsu was mad at Graham for trying to stop him from saving Sara. He didn't even help after hearing it, unlike Tiara who was torn once the information reached her ears. If Graham had told him to wait for Tiara, that she might have an idea as to how to help, he wouldn't have had to kill him.

Leon and Graham had no intentions of punishing Rooks and Max; that was their daughters' jobs. Besides, the two had only done what they would have done in that place; help their Princess to fight against the Mihan Demons. If it had been Tiara saying they needed to go whether the others liked it or not, Graham would have been the first out the door, bloodlust in his eyes and a hunger filling his soul like a cheeseburger.

Donnie asked, "Is it morning already? I feel like a ton of bricks hit me." He looked up to his father and the other men, and smiled. Then, the already tired boy fell back asleep. It was luck that saved the young man's life; that and a little intelligence. Learning the young men could heal wounds, Kagetsu had borrowed Rooks and Max's abilities for a short time to take care of all the accumulated injuries. Luckily, the only wounds they suffered were physical. No harm had come to their energy reserves in that terrible battle.

S...S

They all rested for that day, and the next. Once the whole group recovered, Kagetsu and Sophie took Amber home. Lena and Leon also helped Lufia and Max return to their place. Teefa, Donnie, Rooks, and Sky were fine where they were; after all it was their house. Time to accept their punishments.

The adults mutually decided on grounding the kids for a week; which was how long the doctor said they should remain in bed. Once that was over, they were forbidden to go on any hunts for another month. That wouldn't stop them from practicing, but they would be forced to keep out of trouble at all times. To ensure that none of them stepped out of bounds, Alan and Japolo would be following them everywhere they went. That made Teefa and Lufia groan, Japolo never let anyone have any fun when he was babysitting.

But surprisingly, the month passed by quickly. When it ended, they were all out hunting the stray Mihan Demons again. By this time, Teefa had fully ordained Donnie and Amber as members of the Youth Alliance. The only person missing was Donnie's Partner, but he wasn't yet ready to attempt a Summoning just yet. Although able to control the orb, his regular magic still fizzled. In the event he called on a Shadow Demon, it would often go out of control. Thus, Teefa continued to train him by using that scare tactic again.

She would look at him with a stern look on her face when he complained about this. "You need to call upon a Shadow to protect yourself. If this is the only way to do this, then I will continue. When you no longer have problems, I will stop. Heck, at least you can summon the Sword of Earth without me doing it."

"Yeah right Teefa," he'd mutter back, "I think you enjoy this." That led to an argument, and Lufia had to get into the middle in order to stop it. Amber let out a small giggle as she watched. Even though she'd moved to a new home, and had to adjust to a new life, she'd found some irreplaceable friends. They were fun to be around, willing to do anything for one another, and were trying their best to accomplish a goal. Working together, they made miracles come true.

- - - -

Teefa's Last Words...

Ok, I've got a few things that need clearing up; and some people I've gotta mention since I borrowed ideas from them. Teefa and Lufia's tiger bodies are based on the Woren Clan from Breath of Fire, while the wings on Teefa are from the Winged Clan from the same. Sky's forms arebased onthat of an original Digimon;created for a crazy x-over fic. Here they are broken up into a nutshell. . .

Tora: based on her Rookie form, Toranmon. Tora is tiger in Japanese. The form she usually uses.

Katt: based on her Champion form, Kattmon. Katt was a Woren in Breath of Fire II. The one looking like a small child.

Rei: based on her Ultimate form, Reimon. Rei was a Woren in Breath of Fire III, the word also means zero in Japanese. This is the form she needs to be in to merge.

Slyph: based on her Bio-Merge Mega, Slyphmon. Slyph was the Wind Spirit in Arcana, as well as other places. This is hers and Teefa's merged form. Normally, with a Digivice, Skysplitter here can be in any form. But since they use magic instead, she has to be Rei in order to transform.

More little disclaimer ideas. The scare tactics is a joke based on Tamora Pierce's "Circle of Magic" quartet. Didn't realize that until later on. One of the characters, the weather manipulater named Tris, only uses her full power when afraid. She later is able to control it much better. Well, that's enough for gags. Until next fanfic...