Yep, I actually updated! I'm really sorry about the REALLY long wait, but I had horrible writer's block and I just had other things to do. Fortunately, I'm coming up to the last few chapters of this story, so hopefully you guys won't have to wait as long in the future. This chapter is very important, but not really action packed, so the next one should be full of action. Until then, please R & R! Thanks for your patience!

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The distance they traveled the following day was great, but as usual didn't seem to get them any closer to Mount Savage. The mountain seemed to almost move itself further away when they were in range of finally approaching its base, but due to Holly's newfound determination, the group's morale didn't wane. Hare spent the day coming up with battle and defense plans in his head as they continued on their long hike, and Tiger and Grey Wolf chimed in suggestions whether he wanted them or not. The others honed their battle skills, and Suezo spent long hours trying to perfect his teleport technique, which he knew could possibly save their lives further down the road.

Genki found his mind wandering, not to the Savage Sword and its impending presence, but to Scimitar and the mark on his chest. His own mark throbbed painfully more often now than before, but he had managed to find ways to control the pain, and looking at him, there were times that it was almost unrecognizable to an outsider that there was anything wrong at all. Once they settled down for the night, he had trouble sleeping, and as he looked up at the sky, he set his mind. He needed to talk to Scimitar. He didn't know what he would say to him, just that he needed to say something, to talk. The next day, the group's food supply dropped to a dangerously low level, and Holly said that she would find the nearest village and gather more. Tiger agreed to take her, both for speed and for fear that she might come under attack if she went alone or with someone weaker. Holly mounted his back as she turned to the others, the two of them ready to depart.

"Be careful guys." she said sternly. "We'll be back as fast as we can."

"Right back at you." Hare responded and the two nodded in turn.

Tiger glanced up at Holly.

"Ready, Holly?" he asked, and when she nodded he added: "Hang on!"

Then he shot like a bullet across the landscape, dust being kicked up in his wake. Seconds later, they were out of sight.

"Well." Suezo said. "What now?"

"Now we go back to practicing." Hare said. "If we're gonna be taking on Thunder and Scimitar, then we all need to be at our best Suezo."

The eyeball monster glared at him as he said it.

"Why are you lookin' at me when you say that?!" he yelled and Hare ignored him.

Then Genki shook his head and snapped out of the reverie he'd been in. He looked over at Grey Wolf.

"Grey." he said. "Watch after these guys. I need to do something."

"Where are you going?" the wolf-monster asked, sounding slightly suspicious.

"There's something I need to do." Genki repeated. "You and Hare take charge. I'll be back when I can."

Then, without waiting for a response, he started walking in the opposite direction, away from Mount Savage and back the way they'd come. Hare stepped up next to Grey Wolf, who had called after him in concern.

"Where's he going?" he asked.

"I don't know." Grey Wolf answered. "I don't know…"

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Genki groaned through his teeth as his chest throbbed again. He had been walking for almost 3 hours and had still found no trace of Scimitar or his troops. It had only taken him 20 minutes to realize that he really didn't know much about tracking and he never appreciated Holly ability to use the Magic Stone more than he did right then. As he reentered a small forest that they had passed through the other day, he stopped and listened closely for any sign of life. Nothing. Not even a sign that anyone had been there.

"Damn it!" Genki swore, throwing down his hat in frustration.

Running his fingers through his hair, he slumped down to the ground with his back against the nearest tree. How was he ever going to find Scimitar in time to get back before Holly and Tiger returned? He wasn't, he answered himself, unless he stumbled across them purely by luck, which given their luck lately wasn't too likely of a possibility. He sighed and picked up his hat from the ground, brushing a leaf off of it as he did so. Then a thought struck him. If Scimitar was having problems with Thunder as well as the Savage Sword, then he might go back to where Thunder had been in an effort to find something to use against him for his own benefit. The cave where Alan had been mortally wounded, Genki thought. That had to be where they were! Standing up fast, he kept running on his course, moving at a much faster pace than before.

Soon, the forest turned to grassland, then to a rocky slope, and then back to a forest again and it was then that Genki realized how far he still had to go and how far he would have to go back. It was nearly dark out already, and Holly and Tiger were probably just getting back from their own side quest by now. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea, he thought. After all, there was no guarantee at all that what he was attempting was even going to work, let alone help him. Suddenly, he heard a noise and listening closer realized that it was voices. They were very faint, but close enough for him to hear them even without the heightened senses of some of his friends. Moving quietly, he slid around the trees towards where he thought it was coming from. The closer he got, the more it sounded like he was hearing a large group, and that got him excited. The voices got loud enough to make out words as he rounded a small clump of trees, and as he did, he finally got a look at their owners. Genki felt a small rush of fear and triumph go through him as he saw a group of baddies, tigers, zuums, dinos, katos, and others, all sitting around in bunches, talking to or yelling at each other, or even fighting in some cases. They were so preoccupied that none of them saw him, and he silently thanked his changing luck. Maybe he would pull this off after all. But where was Scimitar? Looking around, he realized that he didn't see him anywhere, and clenched his fist in frustration. Where was he?! Suddenly, he felt something sharp press into his neck, and thinking it was a branch from one of the trees, was about to pull away when he heard:

"I've seen you do stupid things before, rebel, but this one has to set some kind of record."

Genki froze on the spot. He felt breath hot on his neck and a furred body pressed almost gently to his back.

"Put your hands out in front of you on the ground." the voice said coldly. "Make a move for that sword, and I get to watch your impression of your friend Alan's final moments, understand?"

It took effort for Genki to ignore the comment about Alan, but he pushed back his anger and turned his head slightly. He knew that voice anywhere.

"I need to talk to you, Scimitar."

The evil tiger moved around to his front so he was facing him, keeping his claw on his captive's neck. Then he sat down in front of him.

"Could it be about this perhaps?" he asked, sounding almost serpent-like as he moved his claw from Genki's throat and slid it almost casually down the middle of the young man's chest, right over the imprint of the sword there.

Genki didn't miss a beat.

"Yes." he said. "And we both know that it's a common problem for us."

Scimitar glared at him intensely, then moved his paw to his own furred chest and raked it slowly with his claws, never taking his eyes off Genki's. Then he nodded at the human and turned and began walking away silently through the trees, away from his own group. Genki knew that he was supposed to follow and he did just that, vanishing into the trees after him, wondering how their next conversation would go.

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"He WHAT?!" Tiger barked in anger.

"He walked off." Grey Wolf responded and Hare nodded from next to him. "We figured he would be back hours ago."

"And you just let him go alone?" Tiger asked in annoyance, looking more at Hare than his brother. "You didn't follow him?"

"It didn't sound like he wanted anyone to." Hare retorted, looking at Tiger challengingly. "And besides, I assumed he just wanted to be alone for awhile to think about things. You know, Tiger, the way you used to always do?"

Tiger and Holly had arrived back only minutes before, carrying enough food to last them hopefully until they got to Mount Savage or found another source, and had immediately distributed some of it to the hungry group. Then, however, they had noticed that Genki was not there and Grey Wolf and Hare had explained about the young man's sudden disappearance. Holly was worried, but Tiger was angry on top of that. Grey Wolf already knew that Tiger was just overprotective of Genki, so he wasn't cross with his older brother for yelling at him and Hare, but he too was worried about his companion, who could've gone anywhere for all they knew.

"We have to spread out and go look for him." Holly said quickly. "If we hurry, we can find him by the time it gets really dark."

"There's no need." Tiger growled and when they all looked at him curiously, he added: "I know exactly where he's going…and why."

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"Let me get this straight." Scimitar said, sounding half angry and half sarcastic. "You want to convince the Savage Sword to free us both from this…this curse it's put on us?"

Genki nodded emphatically.

"Yes." he said.

"And how do you suggest we do that?" the tiger asked, sounding more threatening than amused at all.

"I have an idea." Genki answered, not explaining it to him any further.

"And?"

"And you're going to have to trust me."

Scimitar suddenly moved with blinding speed and knocked Genki flat onto his back, making the young man let out an 'Oof!' as he landed with the tiger on top of him, snarling down into his face.

"Listen you little shit!" Scimitar hissed. "You may think we're somehow allies because we're both cursed with this, but I'm telling you right now that we're not! If it would help me at all, I would kill you right now! Your friends would never find what was left of you."

"If you really wanted to kill me, Scimitar, you would've done it before." Genki retorted fiercely, matching the tiger's anger with his own determination. "And whether you like it or not, we're in the same boat now. And let me tell you, it's sinking fast."

Scimitar looked furious, but didn't do anything to act on it. He whirled and leapt away a few feet, facing in the other direction.

"If it kills me than let it." he said, sounding almost slightly defeated to Genki. "I don't care anymore. It's not my concern."

Genki picked himself up and stared at the tiger's back.

"Do you want to die?" he asked quietly and Scimitar snorted.

"Like I said, I don't care anymore." he responded.

"Why?" Genki said simply.

Scimitar had no answer to that and simply stared up at the evening sky.

"What are you fighting for now, Scimitar?" Genki asked. "It's not Thunder. We both know that he's never done one thing that's gotten you anywhere worth a damn and I know you're smart enough to know that. So… What are you really fighting for?"

Genki half expected Scimitar to respond with "Because it's fun" or something, but the baddie lowered his head a little, staring intently at the ground.

"I…don't know." he said slowly.

"Then doesn't it make sense to fight for the one thing you have left?" Genki continued. "Your life?"

Scimitar finally turned and looked at him.

"Why do you care if I come anyway, rebel?" he asked. "If you have an idea as to how to get this accursed sword out of us then why do you want me there? Why not just use it to free yourself?"

"Because I don't think it will listen unless we're both there." Genki answered sincerely. "And I don't want to die. So Scimitar, please, for the sake of both of our lives. Come with me."

"I don't care about my own life, Genki." Scimitar said, using the human's name for one of the first times since they'd met so long ago now. "What makes you think I'd give a damn about yours?"

Genki almost panicked for a second, then saw a way out of his corner.

"If not for us," he said. "Don't you want to thwart Thunder? Turn the sword's draining power towards him as revenge for all he's done to you, to us?"

Scimitar looked away and stared at the ground again. After what seemed like an eternity to Genki, he looked back up and almost smirked at him.

"I'd like nothing more." Scimitar said. "Revenge is my specialty."

Then he walked up to Genki and smiled brutally.

"What did you have in mind?"

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No one said a word. Holly looked both not surprised and horrified at the same time, Hare and Suezo looked shocked, and Grey Wolf and Golem mimicked their stunned expressions.

"He's…it's connected to him? Are you sure, Tiger?" Holly asked softly.

Tiger nodded at her apologetically.

"I saw the mark on his chest." he said. "More importantly, I also saw the same mark on someone else's chest too."

"Scimitar's" Hare said in realization before he could and Tiger nodded at him too.

"Yeah. I'm not sure Genki knew that I saw it on Scimitar too, but I know that the only place he would be going right now would be to see Scimitar."

"Why?" Grey Wolf asked from where he lay next to Golem. "For what purpose?"

"I don't know." Tiger said truthfully, "But we need to go after him to make sure he doesn't get himself hurt."

"I agree." Holly said and Hare and Grey Wolf nodded.

"You don't trust he can handle himself?" Suezo said and Tiger turned his attention to him.

"I don't trust Scimitar." he said. "And it'll be a cold day in hell before I let one of my best friends face him alone."

"He's done it before." Golem pointed out and Grey Wolf looked up at him.

"That doesn't make it any safer." he countered. "I agree with Tiger. We should go and search for him."

"So we agree." Holly said, ending the discussion once and for all. "Now which way did he –"

"You don't need to look for me." came a voice and they all whirled to see its source.

Standing by a tree, looking tired but unhurt, was Genki and the group yelled out his name in surprise and relief.

"Genki, are you okay?" Holly asked him and took a few steps towards him, but stopped when he held up a hand.

"Hopefully, I will be." he said. "But I'm going to need you guys to trust me on something."

"What is it, kid?" Suezo asked, getting up from his prone position.

Genki looked half apologetically at them and then glanced over his shoulder at something. Almost on cue, someone walked up and stood next to him and the group let out almost simultaneous screams and shouts of alarm.

"Scimitar!" Holly screamed and Tiger snarled from where he was.

"Get away from him!" he yelled and lunged at his fellow tiger.

"Tiger, wait!" Genki shouted and grabbed him around the midsection in midair, making them both crash unceremoniously to the ground.

Tiger pushed himself up a little off the ground and looked back over his shoulder at his friend angrily.

"Genki, what are you doing?!" he growled and Genki looked him in the eye.

"He's here because I asked him to be!" he said and everything came to an abrupt halt.

The others all looked at him like he wasn't in his right mind and Suezo voiced what they were obviously all thinking.

"Genki," he said. "ARE YOU INSANE?!"

"Genki, why would you ask him to come here?" Holly asked. "He's a baddie. He's crazy!"

"I could say the same about you considering what you've done thus far, the opponents you've taken on." Scimitar shot back, speaking for the first time. "But sadly, I'm not here to fight."

"Kid, you can't trust him!" Tiger insisted and Genki shook his head.

"I don't trust him." he said and he and Scimitar looked at each other. "I trust his motives. And they're the same as mine."

"What does that mean?" Hare asked in confusion and Scimitar rubbed at his chest with a paw.

Slowly, a shape appeared and they all saw the clear outline of a sword imprinted there. Genki then lifted up his shirt and they saw the same sword, darker than ever and looking now like a severe burn, on his chest. Several of them gasped.

"Oh my god…" Holly said, remembering what Tiger had said but only fully believing it now. "Genki, how long have you had this?"

"A while." he said. "But I think you might be able to help me."

"How?" she asked.

"By making contact with the Savage Sword." he answered.

Holly looked taken aback.

"Genki, how-…How am I supposed to do that?"

"With the Magic Stone." he said. "Can you use it not just to find it, but to contact it?"

"I…don't know." she answered truthfully, but Hare spoke up.

"Theoretically it is possible." he said. "But the sword is so powerful that doing it would destroy the stone. It would burst, like the fake one we used to fool Thunder when we rescued Drifter's family."

"But it can be done?" Genki asked and Hare nodded.

"But Genki, I wouldn't even know how." Holly said, thinking back to her dream and remembering how scared of the sword's mutant form she had been then.

"You can try, Holly." Genki said. "You can do it, I know you can!"

"Wait! Back up!" Suezo said loudly then pointed at Scimitar with his tongue. "Why is he here?"

"To watch you all squirm." the tiger answered with an evil grin and Genki cut off Tiger's responding growl.

"He's here because I think the Savage Sword won't listen unless both the people it's possessing are there to convince it otherwise." he said.

"You guys are acting like it'll talk back to you somehow." Suezo said, narrowing his eyes at them both. "It's not like the thing is alive. It's a sword!"

"Actually, Suezo…" Holly said slowly before either one could answer. "It can respond to them."

They all looked at her in surprise.

"How do you know, Holly?" Golem asked and she looked down in shame.

"Because it spoke to me before." She answered softly.

"It…spoke to you?" Genki asked, as caught off guard as the rest of them. "What did it say?"

She sighed.

"It doesn't matter." she said. "What matters is that it can be done…but I don't know how."

Genki rested a hand on her shoulder.

"Holly, please." he said softly. "Please try."

She hesitated for a moment, and then nodded. Walking over to the center of the group, she stood and took the Magic Stone in her hands. Trying to ignore the presence of Scimitar directly to her left, she concentrated hard and the stone started to glow.

'Please let this work.' she thought. 'Let us talk to the Savage Sword.'

The red glow surrounding the stone spread to her and then one by one to the others, all of whom closed their eyes and let it enfold them. Slowly the world faded to the same pitch black that she remembered from her dream and suddenly they all found themselves seemingly floating in it, standing solidly on nothing as she had. The others looked both fascinated and confused.

"Is this it, Holly?" Suezo asked in awe. "Is this what it was like when it spoke to you before?"

"Yes." she answered.

"Have you reconsidered?" came an unearthly sounding voice and they all turned to its source and saw the same mutant looking creature from Holly's dream, with the body of a human but the head and tail of a tiger, formed from parts of the bodies of those it was connected to.

The others looked shocked and even a little sickened by its appearance, but Holly immediately answered.

"No. We came for another reason."

"Why?"

Genki stepped forward with Scimitar right next to him, the former looking uneasy.

"Because I want you to relinquish your hold on us." he said, looking the creature right in the eye.

"You come to destroy me." it said, repeating exactly what it had said to Holly. "I can't allow that."

"But there's an even greater danger than us." Genki insisted. "Surely with your power you must know this."

"I have felt his presence." the Sword said.

"Then you must know that he's a greater threat to you then we are!" Genki said in turn.

"Is he a greater threat than you?" came the answer. "He comes to possess me, not to destroy like you."

"Once he gets you, he's going to find a way to transfer your power into him and then he'll destroy you." Scimitar spoke up, much to Tiger and the others' shock. "So either way you're going to die."

"The question is," Genki added. "How much destruction do you want caused just because of you?"

"Why should it matter to me?"

"Because the only legacy you'll have are the stories that are told about you." Genki said. "Even if we destroy you, you'll have that. If Thunder gets you, there will be no world left for stories to exist in. So please... You weren't created for evil. Let us go. Take him instead."

The creature that was the Savage Sword was silent for a long time. Then it looked at the group one by one and let its vacant gaze linger on Scimitar and Genki.

"It will do you no good." it said softly. "Even if I must cease to exist, before this is over, so must one of you."

Then it raised its arms out in front of it and a blinding light was emitted from its hands. Everyone covered their eyes or looked away and the next thing any of them knew, they were all on the ground back in the real world, shaking their heads to clear them and looking around at each other. When he'd regained his senses, Genki quickly lifted up his shirt and looked at his chest. The mark of the Savage Sword was gone. Glancing over at Scimitar, he saw that the mark on the tiger's chest was gone as well and he sighed deeply in relief, feeling as if a great weight had been lifted from him.

"Oh no…" Holly said and when he turned, he saw what she was looking at.

Lying on the ground, shattered into a million small pieces, was the Magic Stone. Holly reached her hand out and picked up the lanyard that had held it around her neck, looking sad, and Genki rested a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Holly." he said, knowing what the stone had meant to her.

She stood and threw her arms around his neck.

"I'm glad you're okay." she said and he returned the embrace, though only half-heartedly, as he was thinking uneasily about the Savage Sword's cryptic final words.

As they broke apart, Genki felt a nudge at his leg and saw Tiger when he looked down.

"Are you sure you're okay now, kid?" he asked.

Genki nodded.

"Yeah, Tiger." he answered with a reassuring smile. "I think I am now."

Then he glanced over and saw Scimitar, who was staring at him strangely, looking almost unsure of himself.

"What now, Scimitar?" he asked as Tiger bared his teeth warningly at his fellow monster.

Scimitar turned and walked to the tree line. The he glanced back.

"I don't know." he said.

Then the Warrior of Fire turned and vanished into the dark, and none of them dared follow him. Genki turned to the others after he was sure the tiger was gone.

"We should get some sleep." he said. "We should reach Mount Savage by tomorrow."

The others agreed with him and as they all lay down to sleep, Genki wondered if he would finally get a good night's rest, or lie awake and worry about the sword's warning, and what might happen to them tomorrow.

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Thunder roared as he had never roared before. Some of the ear-splitting noise was pain, but most of it was sheer rage. The mark of a sword had burned into his chest only moments before and he had known instantly what it meant.

'So even this fucking sword is daring to defy me!' he thought. 'How dare it!'

He roared again and fired an attack out of his clawed hand that hit one of his guards and made him explode in a shower of blood and gore. Thunder paid no heed.

'It doesn't matter.' he thought. 'One day. That's all I need: one day. Then that damn sword and its power will be mine and nothing will stand in my way. And this world and everything in it…will burn.'

Out the window of his floating lair, Mount Savage loomed closer and closer.