Started: November 2000
Updated: June 13, 2003
Authors note:
Kaylee- Hi all! Just gotta pop in and tell everyone that the Ronin Warriors do not belong to us.
Mew- they belong to sunrise inc. but don't worry! We'll return them! Maybe…
Noin- What do you mean by that?
Kaylee- these are my friends Rowin's fan (Crazy mew) and Cadet noin. They helped me write this fic too.
Mew- HIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!
Noin- ::sweatdrop:: hi everyone!
Kaylee- our characters, Kat, Irene, and Alexis belong to us, as well as their armors.
Mew- So don't steal them!!!!!!
Noin- Uh, Mew. Settle down.
Kaylee- Don't wreck my house!!!!
Mew- ok! ^.^ I'm psycho!
Kaylee- Don't tell them about the fic now!
Noin- I don't think she is…
Kaylee- O.O*
Noin- o.0
Mew- ^.~ o
Kaylee- hey look! Sage in a Speedo! ::drool:: No! don't delete it! Noooo!!!
Mew- : )
Noin- Oy… (/(_^*
************************
Light of Mind
By: Snow Angel (Kaylee)
In light of mind
I find no sorrow.
The armor of nine
I will face tomorrow.
I'll give my life,
To the world I protect.
You may stab me through
To my very soul,
With the sword of darkness in hand,
But I will not die.
In light of mind.
*******************
Prolog
"NOOOOOOOO!!!!! Kiyra!!!" Sehkment cried out as Kiyra fell to the ground beneath the onslaught of sword play from the invaders. He ran to her side and cradled her lifeless body. The other Warlords jumped to protect him as the onslaught continued without lul.
They, the three warlords and Kiyra, had stayed in the dynasty to protect against another evil tyranny. The invaders had been pressing them for only a few days and they were already down to just themselves. They had not been able to contact the Ronins, Bademon had seen to that. Somehow the evil spirit had survived, and come with thousands of nether soldiers and spirits to reclaim the dynasty.
Sehkment lay Kiyra back on the ground softly and rose with flames in his eyes. Taking up a battle stance between the other two Warlords he faced the on coming invaders. Screaming out in fury, he ran at them full speed, his swords of venom drawn to take out anything standing in his way. Sehkment had taken out several before turning around to a soldier holding a spear just over his head and ready to bring it down on him when Kale stepped in the way taking the blow for him. Time moved in slow for him as he watched his friend fall, then he and Dais were separated in the wave of madness. His last thoughts were of emptiness. They'd never be able to hold off Bademons forces…
Chapter One (Kat)
Kat sat staring at the small bubbles floating up the side of her glass of Pepsi. She didn't feel like doing anything but sitting there in her little Nevada house, staring at her soda glass.
"Boring!" she murmured to herself, but made no move to get up. She didn't understand why she was so tired. "Must have been that race yesterday."
"What race?" asked her mom as she walked into the room. "And why are you just sitting there?"
"Mom! I ran a race yesterday with the kids at school, OK?" Actually, it had been a race home, them behind her, thankfully, the whole way. She was pretty popular in school, except when it came to this one group of really stuck up kids. They seemed to hate her just because she was there.
She sighed. "I'm going upstairs." She pushed herself from her chair, grabbed her almost flat soda, and trudged up to her room.
Chapter Two (Alexis)
Alexis tore open the box packed full of her many candle holders and candles. Boxes still piled high in her spacious room. She growled angrily at the cold that permeated the large space. She was certain she would never forgive her parents for moving her to Ohio after she had lived her entire life in California. Not to mention they had moved her in the middle of winter!
Alexis gently placed her little lanterns onto the glass shelf above her bed. A week and she still had so much unpacking to do. The only thing she could come up with that quelled her anger was the fact that her room was huge and had a private bathroom and walkin closet.
There was a nock on the door and her stepfathers voice came from the other side. "I'm leaving your display rack and sword case out here!"
"Fine." She waited for the footsteps to disappear down the hall before opening the door and bringing in her pride and joy. Her swords were her trophies. Every time she won a match in her kendo class, her sensai would buy her a new sword. She missed him a lot. Sensai Kudo was like a father to her, seeing as how her stepfather wasn't much of one.
Alexis looked out her window and noticed the sun was already setting. Sunday was ending and she had school tomorrow. She shivered visibly. She hated school. Nobody liked her, everyone she wanted to be friends with thought she was a snobbish rich kid and the ones that did want to be her friends only wanted it because they were snobbish people who wanted to be rich.
It was all hopeless, she was stuck until she could move out.
Chapter Three (Irene)
The sun was setting. Irene thumped her books down on the table. She walked over to the open window feeling the cool breeze, and realized with frustration it was too late to go anywhere now. " Just great I finally get my homework done and-"
"LOOKY!!!" shouted a voice. she turned around and to her annoyance found Rosalie, Mama Marie's daughter who was like a little (and extremely annoying) sister. She began parading around shoving a little furry gray thing into her face.
It turned out to be a tiny bunny.
"Mama says I can keep it! Isn't it precious?"
Then it really began to get worse when she started with the baby talk... "Awww dorabale yes you are! yes you are! Hello bunny wunny!"
"Rose!" she found herself shouting, "Go away! Leave me alone!" the little girl's eyes grew wide and then cried,
"Fine Emeris be that way! you're, you're such a meanie!" she stormed out of the room banging the door as she left.
Irene turned back to the window, now angry at herself for not controlling her temper better. The sun was now disappearing behind the red roofs that spread all over Rome, her home. She had lived in Italy for six years. Ever since her mother and father died when they had lived in America, she had lived with her Aunt Marie. It hadn't been easy at first, getting used to it all from America to Italy, but she had, and had even become quite fluent in the Italian language. She wrapped her arms about herself, her dark green eyes staring out to the horizon.
Was she content? No. Although she loved it here with the old buildings, museums, and libraries. She was solitary and didn't have much in the way of friends, she supposed it was mostly her fault being cynical and careful of most people. She wanted some adventure like in the books she read. Though the chance of a fairy godmother appearing and giving her magical powers; or sending her to a far off exotic place, were far from her favor.
She smirked remembering what Rosalie had called her, "Emeris." She had gotten the nickname once when she had been in a museum with Rosalie. They had been looking at a painting by a man named Anthony Emeris, and Rosalie had exclaimed "Wow! He draws as good as you! I'm gonna call you Emeris!" and she always had after that.
The smell of tomato sauce and garlic wafted up to her room. Looks like Mama Marie was making spaghetti. Again!
Chapter Four (Armors)
The fire shifted between blue and green as the netherspirits hummed and mumbled their incantations. Bademon hung above the floor behind the four armors, fully assembled. The Venom, Illusion, Darkness, and Cruelty armors glowed in the dim light. As the spells reached their peak, the glow around the armors grew, and the armors began to meld together. Bademon's own voice grew louder, his eyes glowing, as he pulled the armors apart again, reforming them into three more powerful armors. Windstorm, Snowstorm, and Deep forest stood glowing in the center of the room as the roaring chants subsided into silence.
Bademon stared at them, taking in every detail, so that he could find them once more. Then he sent the armors away. The glowing orbs disappeared into a portal to the mortal realm, to find the ones best suited to their Kanji's.
Bademon turned to his nether spirits. "Go out and find them! Be quick!" the netherspirits flew screeching into the mortal realm, following the path of each of the glowing orbs.
Chapter Five (Ronins)
"Rowin! Hi!" exclaimed Mia as she held open the door for him. He stepped in and looked around as if he hadn't seen the mansion in a long time, which was true. For the past year all the Ronins had been at different colleges around the world. Ryo had been in America, Cye was with his family in Australia. Kento had been attending in France, probably for the French food. Sage continued helping in his fathers dojo part time while attending a college in Japan. Rowin had just arrived from Hartford University in Britan to spend one week with his friends and fellow Ronins. They gathered in the Nevada mansion where Mia had moved after adopting Yuli.
"Hey guys!" he called as he walked into the dinning room.
"Hey! Rowin!" Ryo slapped him on the back. "How's it been?"
"Hey guys, nice to see ya." He said as he sat down. Cye wrestled a sandwich from Kento in time to save it.
"Hey! You're here!" Everyone looked up as Yuli bounded down the stairs yelling. "You're here! You're here!"
"Yuli! Whats up man?" Rowin grinned as the boy tackled him in playfull reminder of when he would try to spar with them.
"See Ryo!" he crowed, "He calls me a man! I'm almost a teenager, i'm growing up!"
"Right Yuli, whatever." Ryo shook his head and grinned, thinking of where the birthday present was safely hidden from the soon-to-be thirteen year old.
A few hours later they were all togther again, for the first time in almost four years. They spent the day remembering the past and telling eachother about all the things they'd done while they'd been gone.
Chapter 6 (Worlord-esses)
The torches flared blue along the walls of the room as the three appeared in a dark shimmer. Two armored women holding the arms of another to her back. They dropped her on the floor.
"Welcome to the nether realm." Said the one in white and pale blue armor.
"I will never join you." Mumbled she in the pale pink armor, a small trickle of blood running from the corner of her mouth. She was just able to raise her arm enough to wipe the blood away.
Bademon looked down upon her from Tulpa's previous throne room. "You will think differently soon." Four dynasty soldiers walked into the large, shadowed area. Two of them picked up the mutilated girl from the floor while the other two soldiers followed behind.
"Throw her into the dimmest cell. We'll see how some time in complete darkness alone makes her think differently about joining us." Bademon laughed evilly as the young girl was dragged out of the room, too weak to fight.
The other two armored females stood at attention, waiting for orders from their leader. With a distracted wave of his hand he dismissed them, and they bowed and teleported to their quarters.
"I don't see why she won't join us." Stated Kat as she allowed her armor to dissipate to a pale blue sub-armor.
"She's just stubborn. She'll see the light eventually." Laughed Irene, who also powered down to a deep green sub-armor.
"No kidding she'll see the light, when she gets out of the cell, maybe!" They both laughed wickedly.
Chapter 7 (Darkness Awaiting)
Alexis sat crouched in the corner of the cold, dank cell. Betrayed by those who she thought she could call friends. Banishing her armor to the sub- armor she stared blankly into the darkness. The only light from a small crack not even big enough to see through. "I'll never join them, I'll never join them…" She kept repeating to herself.
A shiver crept down her spine as a nether spirit entered the cell. The almost unseen form advanced on her, and she cringed away from it. It's eyes were glowing red and evil as it reached out to touch her. Alexis felt herself become immersed in the evilness of the dynasty and felt her mind lose all consciousness as if her soul were drowning in an eternal well of emptiness. For a moment she fought, before being completely over taken and forced into the depths of her own body. Her eyes shone red as she stood and confidently walked to the cell door and watched it open.
Bademon stood waiting expectantly as she stepped out.
"So glad you could join us." He murmured. "Please follow me to your quarters. I will inform you of your mission after you have rested." Alexis smiled as she turned to follow him. Her eyes returned to their normal Hazel color as they disappeared down the dimly lit hall.
Chapter 8 (Undercover)
Alexis stood behind the large, scarlet gym curtain (which was pulled back and tied) watching some boys playing basketball. In the midst was the one she was watching. A young man by the name of Kento. The basketball came flying out of bounds and in her direction. She caught it with ease and held it as the young man stood about, waiting for her to throw it back. She smiled and tossed it with all her might, hitting Kento square in the gut. Kento just took it and walked back to the game.
Kat followed discreetly behind the boys as they pretended to punch and kick each other as they walked down the sidewalk. Ryo and Rowen laughed as they went, not knowing they were being followed, being watched. Kat would follow them right to their house, to find out exactly were they slept. After all, they would be weakest when they were asleep.
Irene sat on the park bench watching Cye and Sage playing Frisbee with White Blaze. She sat starring over her book. It was almost time to report back to Bademon. She wondered what the others had discovered, if it had been as easy for them to find the Ronins. She stood and made her way down the path until she was hidden by the branches of a large willow tree, then transported to the nether realm.
Chapter 9 (attack)
Mia and Yuli left the house in the care of the five young men.(authors note- Kaylee: When will Mia learn?) Mia had volunteered as part of a red cross group going to Africa to help disaster relief efforts after a recent earthquake. Ryo had also insisted that Whiteblaze be taken along, both as protection and becasue he could find people trapped in rubble and dig them out.
The Ronins were sparring in the front yard as the sun was setting, hours after they had seen the trio off at the airport. Ryo charged Cye in an effort to knock him over as Sage and Rowen watched. Kento was demolishing a large sandwich while he awaited his turn at the victor.
Ryo barely avoided the spear as it buried its large, deadly point where he had been standing. Instantly, the five were alert.
They were unprepaired for the attack from the enemy they had thought long gone. Spears and swords, tridents and arrows flashed as the wave of nether soldiers converged on the Ronins. They were forced to armor up completely and found that four years of not having to wear the armors wore them out rather quickly. Twenty soldiers each almost overwhelmed them.
Kento yellped in pain as a soldier's axeblade struck his shoulder from behind. Though it didn't penetrate the armor, the soldiers were stronger than they'd been under Tulpa's reign, and the energy smashed him with intense pain. Rowin jabbed an arrow through the soldiers back before it could strike Kento again, and suddenly the battle was over. Soulless armors lay strewn over the grass.
The Ronin Warriors powered down to their sub-armors, breathing hard at the intense workout they had just recieved.
"How could Talpa be back?" Ryo said, out of breath from the fight.
"Tulpa? Those were way stronger than any Tulpa ever employed, man. They're packing real power now." Kento rubbed his shoulder and winced.
"I thought we killed Tulpa, guys. What if it's someone else?" Rowin kicked at an empty helmet near his foot and continued more quietly. "What happened to the Warlords and Kiyura in the Neather relm?"
"I don't know, but we need to find out, and quick before the next attack." Sage replied.
Chapter 10 (Enemies Revealed)
"WIND OF FURY!!" A Wave of energy gusted over them, blowing them all over each other and causing there skin to burn.
"SNOW STORM BLAST!!" A burst of snow washed over them, almost freezing them to the places where they stood, as the trees and animals turned a pearly white and froze around them.
"FOREST VINE LASH!!" Thorned vines lept from the icy ground and curled painfully around their arms, legs, and chests.
The dust thrown up from the first attack cleared from their vision and what appeared to be three young women became visible, standing magestically in the sky above them. One of them had great metal wings spreading from her back, and her armor shone a faint blue. She laughed at them and sneared.
"Nice try. You did Destroy Talpa, but you made one key mistake."
"Can you guess what it is, though?" taunted one who's armor was deep green. "Here's a hint, you never really destroyed Bademon."
"That doesn't explain who you are…" Kento started.
"Or how you have armors." Rowen finished.
"Our armors are made from the four Warlord armors." the third girl's pale pink armor was shining in the setting sun. She smiled mockingly.
"What did you do to the Warlords?!" screamed Ryo, struggling hard against the thorny bounds. The other Ronins cursed under their breath and tried desperately against their bindings.
"Fool, they were killed, of course." The second crossed her arms and glared down at them, thinking it should have been obvious.
By now the sun had set completely. The snow still covered the surrounding area even through the heat of summer. The only light glowed wickedly from the armors of the trio as they watched the Ronins struggle.
"I think you will remember this well." the winged one jeered. "If you don't it will be your end."
Into the air around them came the sudden, hideous cackling of Bademon's voice. The projected presence of the spirit floated above the armored trio, grinning maliciously, full of power.
"I think they've gotten the message, my Warlordesses. Return so they may lick their wounds. You may beat them down another day."
"Can't we kill them now and be done wi-"
"No! Do not disobay my orders!" His anger rang in sharp reprieve to the first warrior's protests, and with the faintest shimmer, they vanished. The snow and vines fell away with their departure, but the cold still lingered in the skin of the battered Ronins.
As they stood and turned toward the house, their spirits fell more. Part of the house had been demolished during the raging battle with the nether soldiers.
"Dude, it's bad enough we have to deal with new enemies..." Whined Kento.
"But we'll suffer worse if Mia finds out her house was demolished again." Finished Cye with a groan.