A/N This is just a oneshot I wrote for fun. Don't feel like you have to give feedback if you don't want to. I don't own Ronin Warriors.

Grounded

It was so far late that it was almost early, and there was absolutely no reason why he should be up.

He wasn't Sage or Rowen. His armor didn't crave the touch of the morning rays upon his face, or the vastness of the infinite stars laying like a blanket over him. He didn't prowl around at all times of the day and night to satisfy these odd and unnatural urges. He wasn't Ryo. He wasn't so silently obsessed with fire that he would find himself waiting on a hilltop right before dawn, holding his breath until that first flare burst into the sky and heat radiated across the world he had tried so hard to protect. He might understand these obscure behaviors of his friends, but he would never embrace them as his own.

Just like swimming in the nude. Sorry, Cye. That just wasn't him either.

So it was late, on the border of being early, and he was as wide awake now as he had been five hours ago when he'd flopped himself down on his small bed. No manner of writhing and flopping and scrunching of blankets and pillows could relax his muscles, and he was above Mia's nightly glass (or two to three if he was being honest) of wine to lure him into slumber. No, tonight Hardrock was all on his own, for the earth paid no heed to human habits and was not inclined to cater to even him.

Was it odd to be in tune with the very earth itself? It had never occurred to him to feel anything different. When Sage turned his face to the sky and Cye's eyes were lost at sea, it was easy not to notice the man in the back letting the loose ground fall between thick fingertips. Ryo flipped matches and watched them burn down until his flesh should have scorched, absently repeating himself for hours. Rowen would sit and play with the wind…did any one else notice that breezes liked to flirt with Strata even on the calmest of days? Or that his flesh was constantly covered in goosebumps that he seemed oblivious to? In the face of those seductions, what was placing your hand flat on the ground, what was the pulse of the land underneath your feet?

The earth was alive and he could feel it. The blood coursing through his veins paced itself in that steady rhythm and left every finger tingling, every muscle flushed full of life. Ryo was obsessed with the heat. But had he ever felt himself grow hotter and hotter until the very core of who he was burst into flame, flowing magma that changed with every breath? Did the sea ever shatter and rip itself in two, did the light have any idea what it was to be entombed in such dense darkness, did the wind ever silently scream in agony as it was worn and whittled down by touch, by drip, by breath? Did they know what it was to be tangible and solid and yet so violent? Did they mourn and weep as they were slowly poisoned by those they gave life to?

Did they crumble into dust until there was nothing left?

Kento grunted, a shiver going through his body as he shifted onto his side. The dark night sky was lightening. Would sleep ever come? Or was there so much more important things his armor was forcing him through that denied even a moment's respite? For what was time to the earth? What was sleep? What was change? Growling at himself and his armor, Kento wadded his pillow underneath his head and turned.

Up on the tall hill that overlooked Mia's home, a black haired youth shivered in the cold early morning air. He was perched on his favorite rock silently awaiting his morning ritual. It had been a long night; his armor had reacted to one of his comrade's, making it difficult to sleep. He felt more than heard the other Ronin approach.

"How's Kento?" Ryo asked Sage softly as the blonde man settled down next to him on the rock. Sage shook his head.

"He's…alive right now. The earth is a harsh element, it takes its toll on him."

"He'll be okay though," Ryo stated. "He always is."

"Yeah." Sage might have said more, but just then first tendril of sunlight licked the horizon and a deep shudder went through both young men. For many long moments, everything else was forgotten. Finally, when the sun had warmed their faces enough, and their eyes had filled with a serenity missed this long night, they headed back to the large manor.

Cye had already risen and was sitting at the table holding a cup of hot tea in his hands, staring out the window at the lake below. The far away look in his eyes was familiar enough that they said nothing, letting Cye have this morning his own way. Heavy snores echoed from upstairs where it was possible that Rowen had just fallen asleep. Sage gave his leader a small smile and drifted off to take a shower. Ryo found that his footsteps were taking him to his comrade's room, where his restlessness had carried over all night long.

Ryo opened Kento's door as quietly as he could and peeked in. Kento had finally fallen asleep, his large muscled body curled up on the small bed in an oddly vulnerable position. His face was slightly flushed but deep slow breaths expanded his chest regularly. Ryo went to Kento's bedside and touched his hand lightly to his friend's forehead. It was cool. At the touch Kento shifted and rolled over, one arm falling to the side.

Something dropped on the floor.

Ryo knelt down and picked it up from where it had rolled partially underneath the bed. It was a stone, smooth and shiny as if it had been polished over and over again. Ryo held it in his hand and stared at it, finding that his armor was holding his focus on the thing. Kento muttered and shifted in his sleep. Finally Ryo understood and stood up, leaning over and placing the stone back into his friend's hand. The large rough fingers instantly closed, the thumb rolling the stone back and forth against the palm. Ryo smiled and backed away. Just before he closed the door, Ryo took one last look at his friend. A peaceful smile had touched Hardrock's face and he had begun to snore.

What was the earth compared to the fires that ripped through his daily life or the burning that constantly echoed in his brain? But the ground was his constant, all of their constants, and what affected him affected them all. Ryo closed Kento's door with a soft click. Then, even as his other friends gathered to eat breakfast and go on about their days, Ryo went back into the hills to find his friend the one thing that mattered the least to the rest of them. He went to find Kento another rock.