Disclaimer: I do not own Yoroiden Samurai Troopers/Ronin Warriors. But, you knew that. If I did own YST/RW there would be some serious issues about the dubbing of the second episode.
- To Find Love
The sky was dotted with pink clouds at sunrise, a young man in samurai armor peered out at the river from a cliff. It wouldn't be that hard to cross, considering the things his armor could do. After the river was a long stretch of flatland, then it gave way to a forest that hid the fortress he was headed too. He looked back to his companions, they were sitting 'round a low fire.
"How long do you think it'll take, Shin?" he asked a young man with brown hair.
"Well, you and I won't have that much trouble crossing. Byakuen might be able to carry the others, if he doesn't mind. At best it should take fifteen minutes." Shin smiled at the man with blue hair.
A man with black hair scratched Byakuen behind the ears, "Byakuen, how does that sound?" in response the tiger gave out a loud roar.
"Should we take that as a yes, Ryo?"
"Of course you should, Touma. Byakuen wants to help save her as much as we do." Ryo said, looking off into the distance. Touma nodded, saving her was all that mattered to him right now.
"Seiji, Shuu! How are the canteens?" Touma looked to the last members of the companionship.
"All of them could use to be refilled. Right, Seiji?" Shuu asked.
"It's true, and it seems like we won't have water for awhile in the flatlands. I suggest we fill every canteen up, as well as the extra barrel we carry for Byakuen." Seiji said; as he absentmindedly reflected the sunlight off his No-datchi. Touma nodded approvingly at his friend's good sense.
"All right then, we leave at sundown. That way the sun will not burn the sands hotter as we travel. Seiji would be fine in the sun, but not the rest of us." Touma touched his headband, the one she gave to him when they were young.
"Don't worry Touma. Arago cannot keep her from you for long, she will remember if she sees you. Then Arago will have no power over her." Ryo tried to console his friend.
"I want to believe that Ryo! But Arago has proven to be cunning more times then I wish to remember! Ryo, she means so much to me…" Touma shut his eyes tight as he failed to hold back tears. Ryo laid his hand on Touma's shoulder before joining the others.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Deep within Arago's fortress, one of his warlords paced his barracks. Arago had given him power. Power greater than he ever dreamed of having, but power always comes with a price. He took a look at his armor in disgust; this was the price. If ever he wanted to leave, Arago would have his soul along with the armor. For the wearer lives for the armor, the armor does not live for the wearer. He never wanted to take the girl from that village, but his life would have been over if he didn't. Fairness was not something Arago's warlords thought of. Naaza would have poisoned the village well before capturing the girl. Anubis would have made sure that wolves had their fill that night. Rajura would have turned the villagers against one another, with illusions that would fool even the greatest of eyes. But not him, he quietly took the girl away at night. Without disturbing a single villager.
"Shuten, open the door." Anubis's voice came through the door, full of deceit and trickery.
"I'm busy, Anubis. Go away!" Shuten yelled back. "Do not bother me unless it is on Arago's orders!"
"That's Master Arago, Shuten. You may be our leader, but that won't be for long." Anubis hissed before leaving.
It didn't feel right to be in this position. The girl wasn't a threat to any of them then, and still isn't now. Why did Arago continue to keep her under lock and key? Shuten slammed his fist against the wall, the decision was made: he was going to visit the girl that night.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Anubis called a meeting with Naaza and Rajura after his run in with Shuten earlier. Rajura shook his head in disgust.
"I say we bring this to Master Arago's attention. He'll see that Shuten isn't the proper leader he once was." Rajura suggested, trying to keep a level head.
"Rajura's right, Master Arago will appoint a new leader, and then we won't have to deal with his weak plans of attack or his 'fairness' any longer." Naaza said.
A slow and sinister smile played across Anubis's lips, thinking of what they could accomplish without their worthless leader. "We will ask an audience with our master tonight, then we'll see who will triumph this day…"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The five companions waited by the river while Byakuen took a practice jump across. Ryo nodded as the tiger bound across the river with ease. One by one Byakuen took Seiji, Shuu and Ryo across. Touma jumped in the air and was half way over the river before activating the levitation of his armor; Shin dove straight into the river and was on the other side before Byakuen could get Shuu across. The sky slowly darkened as they made their way across the still burning flatlands; they made their way as quickly as they could and stopped a few times for water. They trudged on through the night, hearing far off birds and howling wolves. Seiji scouted ahead about ten feet, checking for a spot to rest during the day. With alarm written on his face Seiji came running back to his companions.
"You guys do remember Kaos, right?" Seiji said between breaths; when they nodded he continued. "The gates to the realm of evil that he talked about…I think I found one of them."
"Show the way Seiji, we're right behind you!" Touma eyes came alight with a hope of finding her. Seiji took of at a dead run as the rest followed him to the gate. When they arrived, they stared at the gates in awe. It stood over fifty feet tall; the gate was all red and was designed in the traditional Japanese fashion.
"It's huge! How are we gonna open that?" Shuu mumbled to himself and everyone in earshot range.
"My guess is that you can." Shin smiled at his bestfriend, who looked at him with a slightly stupid expression on his face. "I know you're not that stupid…right?"
Shuu rubbed his nose and smiled, "Of course not, Shin. It was more a figure of speech then anything." Shuu walked up to the gate and folded his arms across his chest. "All right guys, brace yourselves I don't know what's going to happen.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Arago looked down upon three of his warlords, "Anubis, what do you need to speak with me about?! And why isn't Shuten here?" Naaza, Rajura and Anubis bowed at the waist to their master.
"He's who we came to speak about. As you know, Master, Shuten has been increasingly 'more cautious' as he likes to put it. I believe I speak for the rest of the warlords when I say that Shuten has lost his ability to lead." Anubis kept his head low in respect, as Naaza took the floor.
"Master Arago, we would be able to achieve much more with a better leader. You're empire would grow more profoundly if someone else was in charge." Naaza eyes glinted with evil. Rajura stepped up next to him and bowed again.
"I suggest that Anubis be appointed leader, do you agree Naaza?"
"I do."
Arago could see the truth behind their words. Shuten was becoming a problem, but there was other ways of dealing with that. For now he would let Anubis have his glory as leader, but Shuten had more potential then anyone knew. More then Shuten himself knew, for he didn't know his heritage as Arago did.
"Granted. Anubis shall lead, but find Shuten for me. I must tell him of his renounced duties myself." Naaza, Rajura and Anubis bowed again before leaving their master to his own plans.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Shuten looked from left to right, making sure it was safe to pass before doing so. This was going to be hard to explain if someone caught him sneaking around in the darkest part of Arago's fortress without proper reason. The girl was around somewhere; he didn't know how he knew only that he did. He was able to sense something in her eyes when he brought her here, something that was burning to show itself to him. As he rounded a corner he found himself facing a single door set apart from the others. It wasn't that the door itself was special in anyway, it looked like every other door in the fortress, but what it kept secret was special. Shuten knew the door wasn't locked on the outside, but it couldn't open from the inside. How was he going to get out?
Shuten smiled mockingly at himself, it wasn't as if he couldn't find a way to get out. He was the youngest of the warlords, but the strongest in magic by far. He opened the door and stepped in, as he did so a little light appeared in the back of the small cavern like room. In the middle of the light, he saw the girl; she was around sixteen and had long deep blue hair that at once was as soft as silk. Her eyes were glassy and at the same time very dull. Her expression was far away and she didn't seem to notice him. Shuten made his way closer to her, and he began to hear low mumbles coming from her. He turned his attention solely on the words she was saying, but when he did her head snapped around to meet him eye to eye. A single word fell from her lips, as Shuten stood transfixed in her gaze.
"Traitor."