Toshi Sensei and I will be honored by the UCH central command. We're going to receive special commendations for saving everyone. I feel a little overwhelmed by the gratitude everyone has shown me. After all, we are all here to learn to be heroes. The greatest honor the UCH has given me is friendship. In the past day and a half most of the students who took part in teasing me have come to apologize and thank me.
“Wake up.” Snow’s soft, soothing voice broke the dream that was filling Bark’s mind.
Bark did not open his eyes; he knew that she would usually wake him with a kiss if she couldn’t get him up. He liked that method best and would always encourage it. But, something was odd. He felt grass against his back, warm gentle winds blowing around him, and maybe even the sun overhead.
He opened his eyes and did in fact find himself lying on a hill in the middle of the most pleasant pasture he had ever seen. It was a beautiful day and the world seemed perfect, maybe a little too perfect.
He looked over to find Snow sitting on the ground right next to him, giving him a happy smile. The sunlight was glowing against her perfect golden hair. He blinked a few times and made sure he wasn’t still dreaming. “Snow? Where am I?”
She grinned at him and brushed her soft, cool hand down his furry chest. “You're in the holo-simulator room, number eight if that matters.”
He laid back with his hands supporting his head. With a deep breath he said, “Oooh, this is so comfortable. When did I get moved here?”
Snow enjoyed petting his body. “You were still out with that sleeping pill the doctor gave you last night and there was this strange robot nurse that seemed far too interested in you, so I decided to make you more comfortable.”
Bark was as complacent as he had ever been. “How did you get me here?”
“Spark carried you. Said something about returning the favor.” She found that a little humorous. Bark laughed.
Snow stopped petting him and leaned over to be nearer to his face. “Bark.”
He opened his eyes and smiled at her serious face. “What?”
She reached up and brushed her hands through his short hair. “When you jumped in front of that gun, did you know that you would survive?”
He shook his head. “I had no idea what would happen. I just knew I couldn't let him hurt you.”
Snow looked at him with the softest, most beautiful eyes a man could gaze into. “When you fell, the last thing you said to me was….I love you. Did you mean it?”
Bark brushed his fingers through her hair. “I didn’t realize that my voice translator had said that. When I was lying there I thought that I was going to die. The deepest, most pure feeling in me came to the surface. I did not question risking my life; I only wanted to protect you because I love you. What I said then was just my heart speaking.”
She ran the back of her hand down his face. “I owe you my life. And, yes, I love you too.”
He smiled at her and took her hand off of his cheek. He kissed it while his voice box said, “I owe you so much. You do not need to repay me for anything.”
Without warning, she got right on top of him, saddling his stomach and looking at him with an eager, sultry gaze. “So, you don’t want me to show you my gratitude?” His shocked face was soon replaced with an equally eager smile. She did not let him respond. Leaning over, she pressed herself against him, and gave him the deepest kiss she could muster. This was not resisted, but returned in kind.
***
“Where is he?” The general walked with Dr. Stone and Spark.
Spark smiled nervously. “Uh, we took him to the simulator. Number eight.”
Josiah grumbled. “You should know better than to remove a patient from the infirmary until I have officially discharged him.”
Spark cautiously asked, “Is his health in any danger?”
Dr. Stone shook his head. “No. In fact, I was ready to send him back to his quarters this morning. But, I don’t like missing a patient.”
The general stopped and looked at Spark with a critical gaze. “Remember to ask before taking. Got it? I don’t like anyone on this station breaking rules.”
Spark nodded quickly.
The general started off again toward the simulators. “Spark, come with me. Dr. Stone, you go and tell Toshi Sensei that the award ceremony will be at 1300 hours.”
“Got it.” Josiah turned and headed toward the dojo.
The general and Spark walked down the simulator corridor and found the room where Spark had left Bark and Snow earlier that morning. The general pressed the open button and waited, but the door did not open. He tried again, but again it did not open. He did not like anything disobeying orders here, even inanimate objects.
“Sir, let me. Snow told me to lock it and I have the code to open it.”
The general stepped back. “Why didn’t you say so? Open it.”
Spark punched in the code and the door started to open. Suddenly his eyes widened and he hit the close button quickly, without giving the General the chance to see inside.
The general was now ready to boil over. “Well!? Why’d you stop? What are they doing in there?”
Spark was attempting to contain his boyish smile and blushing face. All he could respond with was, “Breaking rules.”
Portents
Toshi sipped a hot cup of green tea and admired the medal that she had been given. It was not her way to accept such honors and she would not display this, but it was a well-crafted item and she respected the genuine gratitude behind the award itself.
She carried the medal back into the main room of the dojo along with her tea. Placing it nicely in a little drawer with a few other awards, she put it away. It would disrespectful to discard these awards, they were all given out of honest respect. But, she would never display them, or talk about them for that matter.
Satisfied, she knelt down in front of a small table and picked up an ancient book she would read tonight. Something to calm her nerves. Outside, in the holographic garden, the even skies were picturesque as usual. The artificial scent of lilies wafted in as she opened the book.
Suddenly, the room fell dark and the skies outside were strangely ominous. “That cannot be. It’s a fake sky, and I didn’t program it to look like that?” She peered outside. Then came a rumbling sound. Turning with a slow motion, she looked back at the antique dragon statue resting on a table in the far corner of the room. It rattled twice again.
Approaching the statue slowly, she stopped when a candle beside it lit on its own. The smoke of the candle was much thicker than a normal tiny flame. Toshi bowed low when the face of a dragon appeared in the smoke.
She spoke in ancient Japanese, “Watatsumi-sama.”
A deep, otherworldly voice answered. “The time approaches. Soon, the past must be kept safe or the present will unravel.”
“I too have felt the ripples in time. I knew this day would come soon.”
“What of him? Is he ready?”
Toshi looked up at the smoke dragon, “He grows stronger each day. His talents amaze me above almost any student I have trained in all these centuries. However, I feel he still has yet to reach his true potential.”
“He will be ready. He must be. If he is not ready when the time comes, this world will cease to exist and the past will fail to save the future.”
Toshi bowed her head to him, “I have great faith in my student. Bark will fulfill his destiny.”
“Be sure that he is worthy to receive Jikan no Ishi.” The Dragon commanded.
Toshi slowly pulled out her pendant and looked at it. “Master Watatsumi, how will I know he is ready?”
“A time will come soon, that Jikan no Ishi will call to him, his life will be connected to it. The moment will arrive and you will place it on him. Only then, will you realize the fulfillment of prophecy has come. Until then, I shall be watching.” The smoke lifted up and became nothing but a tendril off of a single candle.
Toshi looked down at her magic pendant. Truly, a day will arrive when this will save Barks life, but it will then start him on a new journey. “Oh, Inu-chan, I am afraid for you.”
About the author
Daniel Peyton was born in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and now resides near the Smokey Mountains in East Tennessee. He is an honorary member of the Sigma Alpha Iota, professional performer with the Miygai Ryu Nosho Kai, and a longtime member of the Embroiderers Guild of America. Daniel is an award winning stitcher, graphic artist, stage performer, and cook. The verities of experiences have helped him develop rich worlds and characters for his fiction works. Since the fourth grade he has never stopped penning stories for the entertainment of others.
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MORE BOOKS FROM
DANIEL PEYTON
BARK episode I
BARK episode III
www.cosbymediaproductions.com
Enemies and Allies Page 10
