Our heroes continued their journey and soon found it to be extremely hot. The sun was shinning bright that afternoon and the three of them could hardly breathe. They where dragging themselves down the road when Mink came to a complete stop. She moved her cute little cat ears around trying to make out a strange sound.

-“Hey what’s wrong?” Jounishi asked.

            Mink continued to search for something.

-“Meow?? Be quite.”

            Ayami and Jounishi couldn’t hear anything. Ayami looked at Jounishi and Jounishi looked at Ayami. They both shook their heads. For a minute there they thought Mink had lost it. Mink then got on all fours and began to search the area.

-“Mink what are you doing?” Ayami questioned.

            Mink just ignored; it seemed as if she was in her own world. Suddenly, a small mouse no bigger than a stone came running by. Mink’s eyes grew big as she began to chase the tiny thing.

-“I guess that’s what she heard.” Jounishi said while running after Mink.

-“No kidding!” Ayami said, not far behind.

            Mink seemed to be having the time of her life. She was excited and the closer she got to the mouse, the happier she appeared to be. Ayami and Jounishi were ready to faint due to the heat and all the running. It was very difficult to keep up with Mink. Mink followed the mouse through the trees and soon after, she bounced onto the little thing and came to a stop. Ayami and Jounishi collapsed the second they reached Mink. Mink slowly turned around. She had a huge smile on her face and was holding the tiny creature in her mouth. Huge sweat drops appeared on both Ayami and Jounishi’s head.

-“Yummy…”Ayami said while looking at Mink strangely. “Well, I guess since you’re part cat, you also act like a cat.”

-“You….are….insane!” Jounishi said gasping for air.

-“Meow!” she said happily, she began to purr as she gobbled it up.

-“Well we better get going now, come on Jounishi…Jounishi?” Ayami said.

            Jounishi was just gazing over a near by cliff.

-“What’s wrong?” Ayami said while walking up to him.

-“Wa…..water…” he muttered.

            Ayami’s eyes widened with joy as she stared at the vast ocean that lay before her. The ocean was completely empty, not a soul in sight. Although there were two changing cabin: one for women and the other for men.

-“Beach!!!!!” Ayami and Jounishi shouted as they ran down the cliff. They were full of joy and happiness. What luck for them to find a beach on such a hot day. Mink didn’t budge. She was still at the very top of the cliff, frozen.

-“What’s the matter Mink?” Ayami wondered.

-“Meow! Water….I hate water!”

-“She’s a cat remember!” Jounishi said.

-“Well you can just rest on the sand.”

-“Meow….fine.”

-“Aww….but I don’t have a bathing suit.” Ayami said as her eyes began to water.

-“Meow, I can help.” Mink said as she tip toed over to Ayami and Jounishi. Mink pointed her hands at them and after one little blast, a bathing suit appeared in each of their hands.

-“Wow! That’s kewl!” Ayami exclaimed.

-“Just a little trick Baiko-sempai taught me. Meow.”

            Ayami ran into the women’s changing room and Jounishi in the men’s. Moments later, the two of them came out in their perfect fitting suits.

-“Ready.” Ayami started. “1…2…3!”

            The two of them raced each other into the water, and then plunged into the refreshingly cool water.

-“Sweet!” Jounishi shouted as he took another dive into the water. Ayami was equally happy; she swam around in circles, doing front and back flips. After Jounishi began to throw Ayami into the water, as they always did when swimming in lake or ocean.

            Mink just found a comfy spot on the sand and rested awhile. There was no way she was getting in the water. Jounishi swam deeper and deeper enjoying his swim when something caught his attention. He had seen something swimming through the corner of his eye. At first he thought it was merely a fish, but when he saw it again, he realized it was way too big to be a fish. Jounishi returned to the surface of the water and swam over to Ayami.

-“I saw something, come” he told Ayami, while dragging her to where he had just been.

            The two of them dove deeper in search for the so-called “fish” Jounishi had spotted before.

-“Please help us magic users from the surface.” An unfamiliar voice asked.

            They both turned around and there, right in front of them, was a mystical mermaid. She had long golden hair that waved in the water, a gorgeous aqua fin, which sparkled as she moved it and a blue short top. There were two starfish in her hair, which held some of her hair up in place The two of them returned to the surface to get some air and the mermaid followed.

-“Who….are you?” Ayami questioned, still unsure whether she was only seeing things or not.

-“My name is Juri. I am guardian of this water realm. Although, I fear that I have failed my duties.”

-“What do you mean?” Jounishi wondered.

-“In other words, the whole realm is in danger unless you help me. Please, I beg of you!”

-“We’ll help you, but what about Mink?” Ayami said.

-“I doubt she wants to come along, but lets just tell her we’ll be gone for awhile.” Jounishi concluded.

            The three of them went to shore and while Juri waited, the other two went up to Mink.

-“Mink get up, me and Jounishi are going to help Juri, a mermaid who needs our help. Okay…Bye!” Ayami was about to leave when Mink jumped up onto her feet.

-“Meow!?!?! Wha..Wha..What!?!?!”

-“Don’t worry, you don’t have to come.” Jounishi explained.

-“Okay...meow.” she then went back to napping.

            The three of them returned to the water and followed Juri.

-“Juri, how are we supposed to go to your realm if we can’t breathe under water?” Ayami questioned.

-“No need to worry.” Juri took a starfish, which was resting in her hair and within it was a special dust. She placed a small pile in each of her hands and they began to glow. She then threw the dust on Ayami and Jounishi. ”There you go.”

-“That’s it?” Jounishi asked.

-“Why of course.”

            Juri led the two of them deep into the ocean where you could hardly see anything. She stopped right in front an enormous patch of seaweed. She placed her hands together then slowly moved them apart. The patch of seaweed began to separate and it allowed a passageway for our heroes to go through. When they reached the other side, they were staring into a gorgeous underwater fantasy. The realm sparkled with beauty.

-“Wow!” Ayami started. “How could anything be wrong with a place like this?”

-“Seriously” Jounishi finished.

-“You’ll see.” Juri said in a somewhat depressing voice. “See this huge boulder” she said while pointing to her right.

-Ya, what about it?” Jounishi asked.

-“Behind it is where my kingdom is and it is inside my kingdom that I keep all the healing potions and remedies. Although it’s not just a matter of removing the boulder, behind this boulder is also a dangerous creature. It is part squid and also part stingray. It was summoned and placed there by the five Oni Ryuu Senshis. Without the remedies, many sick mermaids will die, but by removing the boulder, I am guaranteeing the death of everyone in this realm.”

-“Don’t worry, we’ll destroy that monster for you!” Ayami exclaimed.

-“Oh thank you my dear friends.”

            Ayami and Jounishi approached the boulder and began to move it. The moment it opened a crack, the creature charged at the boulder, shattering it. It was heading towards the mermaids when Ayami fired a small blast to get it’s attention. It immediately charged towards them. Ayami and Jounishi swam to the surface as fast as they could to get the creature away from the realm.

-“Oh dear!” Juri thought to herself. ”Now that they have returned to the surface, the magic has worn off. They won’t be able to breathe under water anymore. I must try to help.”

            Juri quickly swam to the surface to tell Ayami and Jounishi.

-“Ayami, Jounishi! You’re no longer……” Juri was cut off as she was hit by one of the monster’s tentacles. Juri’s injured body glide across the water. When she came to a stop she struggled to swim back to the monster. She put her two hands in front of her and shot a rainbow colour beam out of her hand. The monster, furious about the damage she had done, charged towards her and blasted a powerful water beam. Juri was sent under water and never returned to the surface.

-“Juri!!!!!” Ayami and Jounishi yelled.

            They were ready to go and help her but the hideous creature was not about to let them leave. He charged towards them again.

-“I’ve had enough of you!!!” Jounishi shouted.

            He began to run towards the creature and a navy blue energy blast formed in the palm of his hand. He closed his fist and the blast surrounded it. He jumped forward and punched the monster in the side. The creature seemed unaffected and he hit Jounishi with all it’s might. Jounishi fell into the water and tried to breathe. Water rushed into his mouth and he began to choke. He swam to the surface and tried to breathe.

-“Jounishi!!!!!” Ayami shouted in a worried tone.

            She dove into the water immediately. She rushed to Jounishi’s aid but when she was half-way there, she was stopped by the monster.

-“Get out of the way you bastard!!!!!!” she cried.

            Ayami couldn’t stand seeing Jounishi, he needed her help and she couldn’t even get to him. Ayami began to punch and kick the squid-like creature as hard as she could and eventually, she managed to get it out of the way. She swam over to Jounishi who was still gasping for a little air.

-“You okay?” she worried.

-“Ya…”he said, still coughing.

            The squid was burning with anger. It returned to where Ayami and Jounishi were and smiled. It took all of it’s hundreds of tentacles and grabbed their legs. Ayami and Jounishi were plunged under water and were kept there by the creature. The two of them struggled to get loose but there were just too many tentacles. Once in awhile they would slightly reach the surface and take in a small amount of air.

            Mink, who was on the other side of the beach, woke up to the sound of screaming.

-“Meow?? What’s that?” she wondered.

            She peered at the ocean and noticed the big squid-like creature. She quickly ran around the beach until she reached the side where the monster was.

-“MEOW!! It’s Ayami and Jounishi!”

-”Ah!!” Ayami muttered.

            Mink didn’t know what to do. She was absolutely terrified of the water…but her friends were in danger. She had to help. She grabbed her shuriken and began to shake. She was so frightened of the water. She thought it was even more frightening than the monster. She heard her friends yell one last scream and then they began to drift lower and lower into the water.

-“Meow!” she panicked.

            She began to run towards the water and took one huge jump. She closed her eyes and when she entered the water she shook around in disgust. She looked at her friends and decided to ignore the water. She rushed towards the squid and threw her shuriken at it. The shuriken went right through the creature’s eye. Blood gushed down it’s face as it shook it’s head in pain. It’s tentacles slowly loosened and Ayami and Jounishi were set free. Mink dove down after them and dragged them to the surface. She was bringing them back to shore when Ayami slowly opened her eyes. She coughed out some water and turned to see what was going on.

-“M...Mink?” she mumbled.

-“Meow, yes it’s me. You’ll be okay now”

            When they reached the shore Mink placed Jounishi on his back. 

-“Jounishi??” Ayami started. “Jounishi??….Jounishi??” Ayami sounded sadder than ever. “Please get up.”

-“That….hurt” Jounishi muttered as he coughed out some water.

-“Jounishi!!!!!!!!” Ayami said while wrapping her arms around him. “You’re okay, you’re okay!!!”

-“You’re...hurting…me!”

-“Ooops, sorry. ^-^’ ” Ayami giggled.

            They all turned around and watched the creature scream in pain.

-“Time to finish it off. Meow. Here Jounishi, I brought your sword. And Ayami, here’s your staff” 

-“Thanks” they both replied.

Mink ran back in the water, made a weird face out of disgust and then rushed towards the monster. Ayami and Jounishi just stood in shock.

-“That’s right, she went in the water before too, to save us.” Ayami said.

            Mink grabbed her shuriken and pulled it out of the creature’s eye. She then sliced off most of it’s tentacles. She didn’t want it drowning them ever again.

Jounishi decided to go help. He grabbed his sword and powered it up with a magic blast. The sword began to glow and he sliced a huge chunk off the monsters left side. Ayami then followed and decided to help a bit.

-“Goodnight!” Ayami laughed. She took her staff and a soft mist came out of it and covered the creature. The creature immediately fell asleep.

-“Now you can finish it.” Ayami exclaimed.

            Mink took her shuriken once more and sliced the huge creature into two pieces. The water had now turned red from all the blood. Just then Juri came up. Her eyes were spinning.

-“You beat it! Thank you so very much. How can I ever repay you.”

-“I’d like a…..”Jounishi was cut off. Ayami put her hand on his mouth.

-“You don’t need to repay us, we’re just glad to help.” She explained.

            Jounishi sighed. Juri then used her magic to clean up the mess that they had left. They said their farewells and then Ayami, Jounishi and Mink returned to the changing rooms. Mink waited for them to get ready and when they were finished changing, they found the road again and continued their journey. They were all getting really annoyed by the five Oni Ryuu Senshis. It seems they can’t go anywhere without running into danger…caused by the Oni Ryuu Senshis.

-“Where on earth could the Oni Ryuu Senshis’ lair be? Will they ever meet up with Juri again?”

               To Be Continued…