Disclaimer: I do not own the Ronin Warriors or anything relating to them. I do, however, own my original characters. Use them without my permission and face my wrath.

Author's Note: This is kind of an odd story, and it's probably overdone. One of the characters may seem a bit like a Mary-Sue, but I'm trying my very hardest to keep this character's personality unchanged without turning this character into a Mary Sue.

New Warriors Appear

Rowen sighed, glancing behind surreptitiously behind him, then raking a hand nervously through his blue hair.

"Ryo…" he said, turning to the young man next to him, "They're back again…"

"I know." replied the black-haired warrior. "They've been following us for two days now. I don't know what to do about them…"

"So who d'you think they are?" The warrior of the Strata glanced behind them again, but the three figures that were following them seemed untroubled and made no attempt to conceal themselves. Ryo shrugged, tossing his long, ebony locks over his shoulder.

"Well it's obvious that they're Ronin Warriors. The problem is, I don't know if they're on our side or Talpa's…" He stopped suddenly and turned around, crossing his arms across his chest and frowning at the three fully armored warriors behind them. As if to mock him, the warrior who seemed to be the leader of the small group folded his own arms and cocked his hips to one side tauntingly. "Hmph!" snorted Ryo, tossing his hair behind him angrily. "Cocky little punk! I bet they ARE working for Talpa!"

"Now Ryo…" said Rowen, reasonably, "they haven't tried to hurt us yet…" Wildfire snorted again and started walking once more.

"Yeah, well I'm just saying Talpa's definitely into the trapping thing, and this might be his latest ploy." Rowen opened his mouth to reply, but instead merely stared off into the distance for a moment, squinting. Slowly, a horrified expression stole over his features.

"Ryo! Look!" Ryo followed his friend's horrified gaze and saw a large force of Dynasty soldiers coming up fast.

"Whoa! Let's armor up!" And, slightly frantic, the two men donned their colorful armor and turned to face the onslaught.

About twenty minutes into the battle, Ryo and Rowen were weakening, and the soldiers showed no signs of stopping.

"I don't…" panted Ryo, "I don't know if we can hold 'em, Ro…" Sweat was pouring from his helmet, making his tanned face glisten with the flash of his bloody sword.

"I… know." replied the archer, a lock of his blue hair plastered to his forehead. Sweat made it almost black. "I'm exhausted, man… I don't know how much longer I'm gonna last."

Then, without warning, an icy blast flew by Ryo's cheek and several of the Dynasty soldiers fell, impaled by large icicles. The soldiers around them scattered, fleeing back towards Talpa's fortress. Ryo's head snapped around and he caught sight of the three warriors who had been following them for so long.

"Who are you?" he demanded, "Why are you helping us?"

One of the warriors, the tallest one in the black and orange armor that seemed to be the fiercest, turned to him.

"That's not important right now. We've got to get you two out of here." Ryo glanced around, confused, as the three mysterious Ronins formed a triangle around him and the now-unconscious Rowen. Wait… Rowen was unconscious?!

"ROWEN!" he screamed, "Rowen, wake up!" Then there was a brilliant, blinding flash of light and Ryo found himself blinking as his eyes struggled to adjust to the dim lighting of his new surroundings. When his vision cleared, Ryo found that he was holding Rowen's bloody body very tightly. "Rowen, talk to me, man!" he said, tears welling in his eyes. "Rowen! Don't you dare leave me!" Another of the new Ronins appeared out of the gloom and squatted next to the warriors of Wildfire and Strata. This one was the smallest of the bunch, decked in white and silver armor.

"Move, I need to heal him." It was not an offer, but a command. Ryo's eyes flicked towards him, but he remained where he was.

"Can I trust you?" he asked. The third new warrior came into his line of view. He was smaller than the black and orange armored one, but a bit taller than the white and silver armored one.

"Do you really have a choice?" Ryo's face fell as the blue and white warrior moved out of his view to give the white and silver warrior more room.

"Please…" he said, almost pleadingly, "Please, just help him." The white and silver warrior nodded and bent over Rowen's still form.

"Looks like you need some help too, tough guy." said a voice from behind him. The red warrior snapped his head around only to discover a sharp pain in his neck that seared white-hot as he did.

"Uhh…" with a groan, Ryo slid into unconscious bliss.

Ok guys, I've got more but that's all that I'm going to put into the first chapter. I'm testing the waters with this one... let me know if I'm on the right track, kay? Yes, you have met all of the new characters that I am going to introduce in this story. They just might not be exactly what you think they are... That's all for now! R&R!