I do not own the Ronin Warriors obviously…
Title: The Netheran
Author: Me
Dammit… I couldn't think of a title for this fan fiction at all. I racked my brain for about a month and still haven't reached one yet… So I decided to just name it The Netheran. I'm pretty boring… Grr.
It was a pretty simple day at the Kouji manor. The five warriors were sitting around, doing their own things. A muscular boy was playing a handheld game system he'd just bought with the money he'd raised from his job at the cafe. He jumped around and yelled as he battled a ten-foot hydra, causing the blond next to him great grief as he tried to study. The blond looked over his book and then to the side at the large boy. The "chosen" one continued his battle, plopping back onto the couch next to his companion. He calmed done and then pressed a sequence of buttons quickly. He jumped up as the next stage of the final battle came and he continued his excited battling and then calmed to button mash again. There was a roar and a gurgling noise, when the boy pressed a button, "hehe… Use lighting to smoke this watery fiend…! Thunder Bolt Cut!"
The blond looked to him and sighed…
A small fanfare followed a final zapping sound and then a roar. The boy jumped to his feet and cheered, "Finally! I am victorious! Stare in awe mortals for I have completed it the day after I bought it! They say it couldn't be done, but I did it!"
The blond adolescent looked back to his text, "we're proud of you Kento, really we are... How about you get to studying now that you've achieved your goal... Exams are coming up soon and knowing you, you haven't studied yet." The blond said slowly, never lifting his eyes from the book he held.
"For your information Sage, I have been studying... I just don't do it as much as you and our wiz-kid Rowen... You see, I only study what it is I need to study... Not subjects that aren't even in the curriculum of the school and exams... You guys work way too hard." Kento closed the hand-held and turned away.
"Well excuse us for wanting to excel," a boy poked his head into their view. Kento turned back to him.
"But Rowen... You're already a sure-in when it comes to the University you want to go to... Why bother with studying all this stuff?"
"So we're prepared for college Kento. You should really look into doing the same... How about joining a cram school or something?" Rowen suggested. Kento laughed and walked away, leaving Rowen looking dumbfounded. He looked to Sage, "that wasn't a joke though."
Sage smiled and chuckled, "don't worry about it... Let's continue..."
Kento sat at the table and stared at the woman and young man working in the kitchen, "Hey Cye, Mia... Are we gonna eat soon?"
"Yes, yes we are Kento... You just have to wait for a bit," Cye said, turning away from the stove. Kento sighed and looked around...
"Hey do you know where Ryo is?" Kento asked, "and Yulie?"
"Yulie is off playing with White Blaze and Ryo is talking to Kayura and the Warlords about the Nether Realm's status..." Mia explained, looking sad. Kento and Cye both got serious. They looked to each other.
"Is this about the disturbances we all have been feeling since Tulpa's fall?" Kento questioned...
"Yes and also about what White Blaze discovered... We think the dead body might be from the Nether Realm..."
"What?" Cye and Kento questioned... Mia looked to them surprised and spoke.
"He didn't tell you about that?"
They shook their heads and then looked down. Cye finally stirred in their silence and went to the oven... "I'm sure he has a reason for not telling us. I'm sure he probably just wanted to make sure before he brought it up… You know to stop any unnecessary tension."
"Yeah. That's something Ryo would do…" Kento said slowly. They all nodded and looked as Sage and Rowen entered.
"What's something Ryo would do?" Rowen questioned...
"You know how he likes to keep things until he feels it's a good time to let it be known," Mia explained slowly.
"What do you mean?" Sage questioned, sitting down at the table with Rowen following soon after. And slowly, as if on cue, Ryo entered with Yulie and White Blaze. Yulie went up to Kento and grinned...
"Hey Kento! Can I play your game while you guys talk... Ryo says he has something important to talk to you guys about, so I figured you weren't going to be playing with it." The boy bounced about.
"Sure... Just be careful with it okay?"
Yulie nodded quickly and hurried to sit at the table. He turned it on and started playing. The six others in the kitchen looked to Ryo and he looked to them all.
"What did Kayura and the Warlords have to say?" Cye asked slowly. Ryo sat and sighed.
"They told me that there was some uprising in the Nether Realm, but it was out of their jurisdiction. I don't really know what that means, but they assured me that nothing was too serious..."
"What about the disturbances we all feel?" Sage asked.
"She couldn't give me a definite answer, but she knows that it has been because of the uprising... She told me that some of the people of the Nether Realm are coming into the Human Realm, but it shou-..."
"Wh-what?!" Mia questioned quickly, "isn't that bad... Why are you so calm?"
"Kayura told me that in the Nether Realm... There are the Nether Realm spirits, the creatures, and then the Netherans... Netherans are people with an animalistic demeanor, and sometimes without such a spirit. Those less hostile are the ones who wish to reside in the Human Realm to escape what the Nether Realm has- danger and death. When we went to the Nether Realm, we went through a path that was blocked, but we got through. The seal was broken when we went in and so Netherans escape now. Kayura told me that it was probably just Netherans escaping to the Human Realm because of the uprising. She said that generally we will feel a slight disturbance, but it shouldn't effect us at all."
"But... How do they distinguish between the good and bad?" Rowen questioned.
"I asked the same thing and she said that you can usually tell who is bad or not because they have a different look. Generally golden hair, or silver... Sometimes they are the black-haired dominant of the Nether Realm, but possess no animalistic characteristics." Ryo explained.
"When we went... Why didn't we see any of these people?"
"We weren't in that part of the Nether Realm. Tulpa ruled over the part we were in and it was mostly where the Nether Relam spirits reside... Netherans are much harder to control than the Spirits." Ryo said slowly.
"So what the other parts like?" Rowen questioned, "is it like where we were?"
"The Nether Realm is apparently just a mirror of Earth with some differences. And it's separated into unnamed nations ruled by their own lords, who are all under one Netheran. She told me this Netheran is pretty evil, but he doesn't do much," Ryo explained slowly... "Kayura says that he's a very powerful man and has two sons who are equally as sadistic."
"Do we have to worry about him pulling a Tulpa thing?" Kento asked. Ryo shook his head.
"Kayura says he has no interest in the Human Realm... He generally pays attention when Netherans escape without proper checks... He finds it amusing when the bad ones get out and cause trouble."
"What kind f trouble?" Mia questioned.
"Mass-murder and sometimes messes with nature, causing natural disasters." Ryo said slowly...
"But... If they escape all the time, why aren't there alot of deaths?" Cye questioned...
"A weird task-force like things is dispatched and takes them out before they can cause that kind of trouble," Ryo explained.
"Wow... Seems they have it all under control," Mia said, returning to the cooking.
"Yeah. That's what Kayura said too," Ryo said, "she told me that we didn't need to worry so much. That she'd contact us if anything happens and we have to act."
The boys before him all looked relieved. He sighed... "looks like the Ronin Warriors can be laid to rest."
"Yeah. Looks like we're pretty much useless now..." Kento said slowly.
"Hey! Don't talk like that!" Yulie scolded them, "you may not have to use the armor, but you're not useless!"
"We know, Yulie..." Ryo said. He pulled out his red orb and stared at the Kanji in the middle as it flickered softly and then to the others. He set it on the table and they stared. Slowly Cye pulled his out and stared at it and stared at his flickering Kanji... What he followed and stood for. Trust... Should he trust what he was thinking...? He closed his eyes and then set it on the table with Ryo's orb.
Soon Kento pulled his out and then Sage and Rowen. They looked at the orbs as they began to dim. They were all uncertain... They set them down in the middle of the table and stared at them.
"Mia... do you have somewhere to put these...?" Ryo asked.
"Are you...?" Mia stopped. Ryo stood.
"We... have all been on edge, feeling that something is going to happen soon. But the fact of the matter is that we are humans before Ronin Warriors and we can't live normally if we hold onto something that is not human. The armors are from the Nether Realm and we no longer need them."
Yulie looked to him and then to Mia. "But..."
"When the time comes... We'll know where they are..." Ryo explained to Yulie, "but for now... We should be worrying about our futures... As normal men."
Mia nodded once and then dug around for a small chest her grandfather once gave her when she was a young girl. She picked up the orbs and set them down softly on the velvet cushion that lined the bottom of the small jewelry box. She closed it and looked to the rest.
"Where should we put them?" She questioned. Ryo looked around and then up.
"We'll keep them in the attic and then when the time comes... We'll know where they are," Ryo explained, picking them up. He carried them to a closet on the upstairs and climbed the ladder into the attic. He set them down softly and then got out... "I guess we should eat now and then study..."
They all nodded and then went to eat. Silence filled the air and for the next week, the silence remained. But by the end of the school year, they were back to normal. They took their exams and the rest of junior year was spent with no armors. They still held a part of the armors with them and could sense the disturbances, but other than that life was starting to become normal again.
Summer finally arrived and the first part of summer was filled with laughter and cheers. Most of their days were spent with each other, studying and partying. They went through normal teenaged things like getting girlfriends and losing them too. Getting a job and buying clothes and whatever they needed. Ryo occasionally got status reports from Kayura, but as always they were status quo.
But finally, the day came that Ryo got a report that was not so normal. He returned back to the manor and sat with the rest. They were all talking like usual. They always met at the kitchen table every other week around noon and every time Ryo sat down at the table, it was always the same. He would smile to them and tell them that the Nether Realm was fine. He would prolong their normalcy. But this time Ryo looked to them and sighed. They knew something was up… But what could it be?
"You guys..." he said slowly.
"What's up?" Kento asked, "is everything okay? What did Kayura say?"
"I didn't talk to Kayura... She's being treated for severe wounds..." He explained. They all looked to him in disbelief and he stared to them.
"What happened?" Sage questioned.
"A Netheran attacked them and took them by surprise... The same Netheran escaped into the Human Realm... As soon as Kayura is feeling well, they are going to come to the Human Realm to figure out what has happened And-"
Suddenly they heard the front door swing open and they all jumped up from their seats. Ryo took the lead and headed for the kitchen door when a voice rang out.
"Ronins!"
"Is that Sehkmet's voice?" Cye questioned slowly. They continued into the living room after their leader and they saw Sehkmet; Dais; Cale; and Kayura all standing there, Kayura using Cale as a crutch. He held her steady and Kayura looked to up them...
"We did not have the time to wait for me to recover from my injuries... This is a much graver matter than it made itself appear," Kayura explained as she sat down.
"What has happened...?" Mia questioned... Kayura looked to her and then to the rest. Cale stepped forward for an explanation.
"Through sources of ours, we found out that the Netheran who attacked is actually a very powerful Netheran among the ranks of the Netheran army, if you can call that bunch of vicious monsters with no order an army. Regardless of the disorder of their army, the fact of the matter is that this Netheran is much more powerful and cunning than the usual rouge that manages to get into the Human Realm..." Cale explained slowly.
"So what are we going to do?" Ryo questioned, "and what about this task force that you so highly regarded?"
"Even they do not know what this Netheran looks like and they don't necessarily have good ties with the Netherans who do know what this bastard looks like... We barely had time to get in our armors before he attacked Kayura... Seems she was the prime target. He escaped quickly… I think with only means of injuring her…" Dais explained.
"Well what do we do?" Ryo asked...
"We need you to infiltrate a boarding school..." Kayura explained...
"What?" They all questioned quickly.
"The person who tells me of these things, the man who runs the task force, tells me that one of his familiars who is inside the Netheran Army told him of the plans." Kayura explained...
"Don't you think that's kind of... Um. Stupid..." Kento said slowly. Dais looked to him...
"He has to first wait for the commotion to die down before he does anything... He was ordered to assimilate with humans in order to set his plans in motion. He would surely be taken down quickly if he just started to hack and slash humans."
"So... Why do you need us to help...?" Kento questioned...
"Well as I said... No one knows what he looks like... And since he's in hiding now... He looks like a human. We can't infiltrate because we can't infiltrate a high school; in case you haven't noticed, we do not look like high schoolers..." Cale said matter-of-factly. The Ronins all nodded in agreement and then looked to each other.
"What about our school? We don't have time to drop and then make it into this boarding school..." Rowen said quickly.
"It has already been done, Ronins..." They looked around and saw a tall man walking through the kitchen door. He let the door shut behind him before bowing to them. He stood up straight and looked to the group with silver-grey eyes. Speckles of platinum and ice danced as he looked to their faces. As he scanned, they noticed his brilliant, long mane of silver hair, which accented his height which was much taller than the boys before him. He was dazzling and Mia couldn't help but swoon a bit.
"Who are you?" Ryo questioned suspiciously. He stood up and puffed out his chest. It was time to assert his manliness… And he had to show him who was leading their group.
"Wildfire... He is not an enemy..." Sehkmet said, "he is our source among the Netherans..."
"I am Tesaiga... A pleasure," the man said, tucking his silver hair behind his ear. He bowed to them again and then looked to Kayura and shook his head, "do you need healing?"
"No. I will be fine, Lord Tesaiga..." Kayura said slowly. The man sighed and then looked back up.
"Sunao was killed after she told me about the Netheran's whereabouts... Seems they knew she was there. They are just toying with us, Kayura. I think HE wanted us to know... HE and his sons are challenging us..." Tesaiga explained.
"So... why don't we just not play their game?" Kento questioned...
"We can't just ignore him... Sunao was killed before she could give me his description, but told me that it wasn't good... I don't know what she meant by that, but we have to stop this... My student will be infiltrating the school as well."
"Will we be meeting him?" Sage questioned.
"I am going to let you find my student and I am going to make my student find you five as a test. If you can find my Student, you can find the Netheran... And by the way... The Netheran is a shape-shifter... Man or woman. Animal... It has no real form... at least not that Sunao could see."
"Okay..." Ryo said slowly... "So you're basically sending us in blind?"
"It will be difficult until you find my student... And there is one more obstacle standing in your way... Half of the school is full of Netherans disguised as humans..."
"What the fuck!? Can't we get a break?!" Kento yelled, "how in the hell are we supposed to find a certain Netheran among Netherans? We don't even know anything about Netherans..."
"The Netherans who are there just to live will be docile and mostly keep to themselves... Because they are not human and do not want to stand out, they will usually be alone. They are well mannered, and tend to be straight A students. You also have to realize that there are humans too... So don't go about just accusing people like I know my student might end up doing once they've gotten frustrated... Due to incidents I can't speak of... My student has lost abilities that would make it quite easy to locate this Netheran. They still retain their fighting skills… This student of mine is the strongest of my students."
"Lord Tesaiga... This is too hard..." Kayura said slowly, "I don't know... This is way too much for them to handle... You're sending them into the shark-pit."
"I have faith in their abilities... they are sharp men Kayura... They took out Tulpa... It will be hard for them, but they can handle this... They're just in there to locate. My student will take care of the Netheran…" Tesaiga said.
"Hehe… You know... We're still sitting here... Generally you talk about uncertainties when you are not in the room with the people you're talking about..." Cye said slowly, chuckling.
"Forgive me..." Kayura said slowly.
"This is a very challenging thing we have to pull off... You say that everything is already prepared...?" Ryo questioned, "how?"
"Lord Tesaiga is very good at manipulating documents and people... Like what do you call those people in that movie... Like a... A Jedi?"
"He can do a Jedi mind trick?" Kento questioned, skeptical. He began to laugh and looked to Tesaiga, "he's too pretty to be a Jedi..."
Tesaiga smiled and then leaned over, whispering into Kento's ear. Kento stopped and suddenly stood, going upstairs. Tesaiga took a seat in Kento's vacant chair and looked to the rest. He smiled to them and waited. They all watched as Kento came back, dropping the box that held their orbs over the railing..
"Kento!" they yelled. Tesaiga held up his hand and caught it. Kento wobbled and shook his head...
"What the-? How'd I get up here?" He questioned.
"That doesn't matter anymore... Thank you for retrieving these," Tesaiga smiled to him and opened the box... He held up the green orb and stared at it... He turned it and held it out to the blond, "you are Sage of Halo, yes?"
Sage nodded and then took his orb. Tesaiga repeated until he knew their names and armors. He looked to them and smiled softly... "I thought I should tell you that my student has an armor too...But is not aware of it..."
"Is it... Made from Tulpa too?" Mia questioned.
"Oh heavens no... It is much different from yours and is one of a pair... I have no clue who has the other. In Human they roughly translate to Alpha and Omega. They were created from another being's armor... Together they are a tremendous power, but separate they are not so powerful... As a safeguard. Alpha is a holy armor, while Omega is a damned armor."
"So your student is unaware of this armor they possess?" Kayura questioned.
"Yes, but they have the orb already... They just don't know how to activate it. My student keeps it as one of their many earrings. My student has many piercing -quite an oddball."
"Well then that makes it easier to find them... Look for many piercing... And one of them- wait! How are they wearing it as an earring?!" Kento questioned quickly. Tesaiga chuckled.
"My student is very capable of shrinking things... Not to mention it's not really an orb. I call it an orb because that's the norm. You five have orbs, so not to confuse, I just called it an orb. It's more in the shape of a crystal..."
"I see... Well. Where is this boarding school?" Ryo questioned.
"Wales..." Tesaiga said.
"You mean by England, Wales?" Cye questioned, smiling.
"Yes... Do you have family in England?" Tesaiga questioned. Cye nodded and looked to the others.
"I might get to see my mum... Wait." Cye looked to Kayura and the rest... "I can't see her... Can I?"
"It could quite possibly compromise the infiltration… But, I have no problem with you visiting her..." Tesaiga said, smiling to the boy, "as long as you do it after you find my student..."
Cye grinned and looked to the rest. They all smiled and watched Cye as he disappeared into the kitchen. He started cooking. Tesaiga watched, blinking. He looked to the boys.
"Is this really the time to start cooking?" Tesaiga questioned.
"He's happy... He cooks when he's overjoyed," Mia smiled, "keep going. We'll fill him in later."
Ryo looked to Mia... "What about Mia...? Is she coming with us?"
Mia looked to Ryo... "I can't... I have to work in order to keep you five in this place..."
"I have already procured a job as a first-year teacher at the school for her... She will live on campus with the teachers..." Tesaiga explained...
"Wait... What?!" Mia questioned quickly, "I have a job here!"
"Do you wish to stay here alone?" Tesaiga questioned, looking at her.
"No... I guess I don't... But I can't just up and leave the job..." She explained. Tesaiga smiled to her softly.
"Mia... You do not know who you are talking to... This man. Netheran... Being... Can do anything," Cale stopped her, "he can easily get your job back with a thought. He is incredibly powerful and insanely annoying..."
"I'm sorry I planned all of this without your knowledge, " Tesaiga bowed low, "but I wanted this to go all according to plan..."
"How do you have so much power?" Sage questioned.
"Let's not go into that... I will undo all of this if you all wish not to do this... It is quite hard and if the Netheran finds out that you are the Ronins... In my student's words... It's "game over"... This is very dangerous. My student could probably handle this, but the more of us there is, the easier it is to track down this Netheran. You have the choice to back out and you will never see me again and you will not remember ever meeting me."
The five looked to each other. They had started to enjoy their life without the armors... Without having to worry about another uprising. Kayura had assured them that this wouldn't happen. She was overconfident... as were they. They should have known that they couldn't forget something like the armors and the Nether Realm. There was going to be a time when they were going to be needed. Good thing they had just hidden them away, and not thrown them away.
"I'll let you think about it... Please. I will return in a week... I will need an answer... It is hard thinking about going back to certain danger and I am sorry that we could not prevent this from happening. I was over confident, always assuring Kayura that I could stop this from happening... and she got injured for my arrogance..." Tesaiga got on his knees and bowed before them, "I plead you to help, but I will not fight if you decide to stay out... I do not want to rush you, but I have to insist that should you decide quickly to infiltrate... You will need to train. And the more you train, the stronger you get."
Ryo looked around to the five with him. Each boy looked to him and then nodded once. He wasn't sure if he wanted to do this... He didn't want his friends to get hurt... Not anymore. He looked to Tesaiga. They wanted to do it, he had no choice but to do it too. "We'll do it..." Ryo said.
"Wildfire..." Tesaiga looked to him... "I see uncertainty in your eyes that is not present in the others... Do not think that you have to go, just because the rest want to... If even one person doesn't want to be there, the team is unstable... Talk amongst yourselves for a week and give me an answer later... Anyone who does not want to help can decide to drop out. You are not a coward..."
Ryo looked to him and then swallowed hard... He nodded and then looked to the rest. They were watching him. They would understand, wouldn't they? If he didn't want to return to that life? Was it wrong that he wanted them to be safe? Was it wrong that he didn't want to watch people die anymore? He looked down... "We'll do it..."
Tesaiga looked pained. He felt guilty... They were still just children compared to him... They were so young. They still saw themselves as invincible. They still believed that as long as the people who care about them are with them, they can survive anything. They had a taste of that and the white armor depends on it... They had been reassured that as long as they had each other, everything would be alright... But that wasn't the case all the time. Tesaiga looked to Kayura and the Warlords... They knew what he was thinking. What he was worried about. They knew what had happened...