Okay, basic disclaimer: the Samurai Troopers, Warlords, Kayura, Nasté, Jun, White Blaze, and Kaos do not belong to me; they belong to some Japanese company that makes a lot of money off of me. Anything that ain't from the show or credited to something else that appears in my stories belongs to me, that's all.
As to the story, I do hope you enjoy it. You'll notice in the story that I use (POV Shift) and (Time Skip) to signal such things. This is due to this site not allowing me to make use of the publishing industry standard of a line with three asterisks to signal a change in POV and a skipped line to signal a time skip. I put those things in, and it takes them out. So, I had to resort to the above, instead of following standard practice within the publishing industry. I apologize for that. Thanks for taking the time to read my story, by the way.
Mind, Soul, and Body:
Book One: Shadows of the Past
Chapter Nine: Serendipity
By Corlock Striker
May 5, 2001 Larchmont, NY -
He set the food on the floor in the backseat and climbed into the passenger seat. Once he was settled his dad drove down the block a ways and made a left at a light. They wound through a few back streets before turning back on to Palmer Avenue, the street they had started on. Sad shook his head and rubbed his temple, the headache was starting to fade. It had come on abruptly, almost as soon as he stepped into Ray's. His dad glanced over at him, "You feeling okay?"
He dropped the hand from his head casually, "Yeah, I'm fine, just a headache. It's already starting to go away."
His dad frowned, "You seem to be getting those a lot lately. Maybe you should go to a doctor, see if it's migraines or something."
Sad scoffed, "Dad, the last time I had a headache was on my birthday. It's no big deal. I'm fine."
His father's eyes darted over to him again before going back to the road. Sad turned his head and looked out the window. He frowned, the last time he'd gotten a sudden headache had been on his birthday, when he'd had the dream. Was this one connected to that? If so, what did Ray's Cafe have to do with it? He let out a sigh, at least the pain really was starting to fade. It was almost completely gone now.
The four of them had discussed the dream and the orbs extensively since they'd realized what they meant. They also exhausted all research possibilities to try and find some information about the orbs or the dream. All they'd been able to figure out was that the whole thing was somehow tied to Norse culture. That fox like voice in his head laughed knowingly when they reached that conclusion but offered no further insight. They were all terrified and trying not to let the others know it. They had no idea what they were doing or how they were supposed to save the world.
Sad could feel himself coming apart at the seams, but he couldn't let the others see that. After all, he had apparently been the first one picked out for this task, he had to set the example. He hoped he was doing a good job. They pulled into the driveway and he and his dad got out of the car. Sad retrieved the food and followed his father into the house, closing the garage door as he stepped into the basement. Then it was up the stairs and into the kitchen where he set the food down on the island. He pulled out three plates and set them by the bag, as his dad was pulling everything out. His mom was sitting at the kitchen table doing a crossword. Once they figured out what everything was they divvied up the food, the three of them sharing what they ordered with each other.
Sad kept up his end of the conversation during dinner, telling his parents about school, about his friends. They asked a little about Trish. Sad told them that things were good, they were just friends. They finished dinner and Sad helped clean up a little. Then he went down into the basement to goof off. After a few hours alternating between surfing the web and watching TV he made his way upstairs to bed. As he drifted off to sleep, he dreamed.
He was in the basement, sitting at his computer desk putting together a model. He heard a sound and looked up. There was a man sitting on the couch, which was completely clear of junk. So was the rest of the room, there were just the pieces of the model he was putting together on his desk. The man had his right ankle resting on his left knee, his right leg parallel to the floor. He was a handsome man, dark hair slicked back, with a narrow face. He seemed almost stereotypically slick. Sad cocked his head to the side, "Who're you?"
When the man spoke, Sad instantly recognized his voice. It was that fox voice that had been taunting him the past month. "If I told you who I was, Sad, my boy, you wouldn't believe me. I'll leave that explanation to others."
Sad blurted out, "You're that fox voice!"
The man cocked his head, closing his eyes. Sad saw his eyes flick up behind his eyelids, a frown tugged at the corner of his lips. "Ah, so that is what the fox represents in your culture. Yes, I suppose that is a fitting totem for me. So, you can call me "that fox guy" for now. Now, back to the topic at hand, you've been wondering what those orbs are for, right? What you're supposed to do with them, how you're supposed to save the world. I can tell you where to go to get answers."
Sad narrowed his eyes, "If you know where I can get answers why didn't you say anything earlier? Why should I trust you?"
The man gave a cunning smile, "Well, because I didn't know where you could go to get them until tonight. As to why you should trust me. Well, do you really have any better ideas?" The man gave Sad a knowing smirk.
Sad sighed, "Alright, fine, you win. Where can I get these answers?"
The man smiled gregariously, "I knew you were a smart boy. Tomorrow, go back to Ray's Cafe, ask for Shu. Show him the orbs. Might as well have Mike come with you with his. Oh, and don't mention me until after you've shown him the orbs and told him about the dream. Show him the orbs first though, and ask to talk to him in private. Try not to let other people see the orbs. That'd be best."
Sad nodded and the man vanished. He turned back to the model and started working on it again. He didn't know what it was supposed to be.
(POV Shift)
May 6, 2001 Larchmont, NY -
Shu was in the back room of Ray's going over the accounts. He really hated this part of the job. He stuck the pen in his mouth and leaned back in his chair, resting his hands behind his head. There was a knock on the door. He pulled the pen out of his mouth, sitting up, scrambling to straighten his desk. "Come in."
Lin, the head waiter, stuck his head into the office, "Mr. Rei Fang, there's a boy here asking to speak with you. Says his name is Sad Smith. He has a friend with him. I tried to send them away, but they insisted that it was very important."
Shu arched an eyebrow. The boy from last night that Kayura and Jessica had asked him about was asking to see him? The boy had complained of a headache while in the restaurant. He suspected that Kayura and Jessica had experienced headaches as well, given they were lowering their hands from their temples when they asked about the boy. If he remembered right, Jessica and Kayura had given each other headaches the first time they met. Could Sad be one of the ones they were looking for? Was it really going to be that easy?
Lin gave him a worried look, "Should I send him away?"
Shu put an end to his thoughts and stood, "No, that's alright Lin, I'll go see him." Lin got out of the way as Shu stepped through the door. He made his way into the front of the restaurant, smiling at the guests eating lunch. He strode up to the small bar. Sad was standing there, as was another young man with curly brown hair down to his shoulders and a goatee. Shu stopped in front of Sad, "How can I help you, Sad?"
The boy's blue eyes pinched shut in pain as they darted around behind his glasses. He reached into his pocket and grasped something, "My friend and I would like to speak with you privately, Shu." Sad pulled the hand out of his pocket and gave Shu a strategic glimpse of a palm sized black glass orb.
Shu's eyes widened and he glanced wildly around the restaurant. His hand shot out, clamping around Sad's arm. He turned back to the boy and hissed, "Put that away, quickly. Follow me." Shu turned and walked back through the restaurant, once more smiling to all the guests. He heard the faint sound of two sets of feet following behind him on the carpeted floor. He slipped into his tiny office, Sad and the other boy followed suit. As soon as they were inside he closed the door. "Where did you get that?"
Sad seemed taken aback by the demand in his voice, "I...it was a birthday present, along with this one." Sad pulled out the black orb from before and produced a magenta one from his other pocket. Shu's eyes widened. Sad shook his head slightly, as though trying to shake out some mild pain.
"Um, I bought these at a tag sale about two months ago." The other boy produced a white orb and pink orb from his pockets. He directed a worried glance at Sad.
Shu collapsed back against the door, "Have either of you had any strange dreams lately?"
The two boys looked at each other, then Sad looked back at him, "Um, on my birthday, Mike and I, and two of our friends all had the same dream."
Shu leaned forward and grasped Sad's shoulders, "Did it feature a creature made of Viking boats and a green dragon? Did it happen on March 23?"
The color drained from both boy's faces as both nodded. Shu darted over to his phone and punched a number. He waited a few moments, someone picked up. "Toma, is Kayura with you? Good. Listen, the two of you need to come back out to Larchmont, to my restaurant. Get Anubis, Rajura and Naaza too. I'll call the others. Why? I found two of them. And they know where two more are. They have four armors. Yes, really, two of them are in my office right now, with the armors. Now, hurry up."
Shu glanced back at the two boys, Sad was pinching the bridge of his nose. He turned to the phone. He called Ryo and had almost the same conversation. Then he called Seiji, after that Shin, and finally Jessica. He hung up the phone and looked to the two boys, "I think you two should call your friends that had the dream. Tell them come here. There's a lot we need to discuss."
The boys looked at each other before each one pulled out a cell phone and dialed a number. Sad told a girl named Trish to come to the restaurant, the boy Sad called Mike told a girl, Jane, the same thing. At least he thought they were girls. Once the boys hung up, Shu let out a sigh.
Mike put a hand on Sad's shoulder, "You okay? Another headache?"
Sad nodded and brushed Mike's hand off his shoulder, "Yeah. It's fine, this one isn't nearly as bad as the others."
Mike directed his questions at Shu, in a polite tone, "Um, I'm sorry, but what the hell is going on? What did you mean we have four armors? All we've got are glass orbs."
Shu smiled, "I'm not very good at explaining this kind of thing. It all goes a little over my head. Wait until my friends get here. They're much better at this sort of thing. Are you hungry?" The boys nodded and Shu called one of the cooks over. He studied the boys and told the chef what to make. He turned to Sad, he wished understood what the boy's headaches had to do with all of this, they seemed related.
(POV Shift)
It started out as a dull, mild ache with just Shu there, then as each of his friends showed up, it got progressively worse. First was a guy with wild black hair and blue eyes they said was named Ryo, like the guy from Street Fighter. Then a guy with well-kept brown hair who was Shin, he wondered if he knew his name was a part of someone's leg in English. After that was a blond guy whose hair covered one of his eyes, name was Hadji, Sad thought, like that kid from Jonny Quest. He came with a woman whose name he couldn't remember. Sad was horrible with names. She was the only one of Shu's friends whose presence didn't seem to intensify his headache. Trish and Jane showed up next.
Shu's little office was getting very crowded. He told the staff a while ago to finish serving the remaining customers, and not seat anyone else. Once the last of the customers left, he moved them out onto the floor of the restaurant. Then three really weird guys showed up. One of them had like navy blue hair and a cross shaped scar around his left eye, his name was Anubis, Egyptian god, easy enough to remember. Along with him came a guy with green hair and like bug eyes, named Nala, maybe? The last of the trio was a guy with white hair and one eye, they called him Raja? All three of them looked completely uncomfortable in their clothing, oxfords and chinos.
When the guy with the white hair walked in he put a hand to his head for a moment. He caused the greatest increase in the intensity of Sad's headache. Mike was the first to greet him, "Ar, ahoy there, matey!" The guy narrowed his single eye at Mike. Shu and his friends looked at Mike horrified. Sad genuinely laughed for a second before the pain got too bad. Mike looked around at everyone puzzled, "What? He's a pirate, isn't he? I mean, he looks like a pirate." Mike looked a little embarrassed.
With that comment everyone but Raja broke out laughing. Raja snorted, "I am most certainly not a pirate. You would do well to remember that." He glared at Mike, before the effect was ruined by his hand going to his temple once more, very briefly. Then a guy with blue hair walked in, Sad needed to ask him where he got the dye, he'd been wanting to do his tips blue for a while. A woman with really long black hair, and another woman with shorter, but still long black hair accompanied the second blue haired guy. The two women's hands went to their heads as soon as they saw Sad and they stumbled back a few steps. Raja's hand went to his temple briefly.
It felt like fifteen bombs went off in Sad's head all at once. His brain splintered, the fragments stabbing at the inside of his skull. He let out a short lived but, extremely loud cry and his vision went black. The three new comers hadn't even gotten a chance to introduce themselves.
(POV Shift)
Ryo's eyes widened as the boy passed out as soon as Kayura and Jessica entered the restaurant, and that they staggered back upon seeing him. Plus Rajura seemed to get a headache simultaneously. The boy Mike, and the girl Trish both rushed over to their friend to check on him, the girl Jane following slowly after, offering a minimal amount of assistance. Ryo turned back to Jess and Kayura, "Okay, what the hell is with all these headaches?"
The boy Mike chimed in, "Yeah, why is Sad getting so many headaches lately?"
Rajura recovered first, "Your friend, this Sad," Rajura frowned as he said the name, as though it left a bad taste in his mouth, "he puts off an incredibly strong magical aura and he has no control over it. Jessica, Kayura and I are sensitive to such things, and so his presence gives us headaches. He is also sensitive to the auras of others, and without control and the ability to handle that perception, sensing these auras causes headaches. Everyone in this room, minus the three of you and her," Rajura pointed to the boy Mike, and the two girls, Trish and Jane, and finally Nasté, "have auras, due to our armors. Except for Jessica, she doesn't have an armor, but she has an aura that is only slightly less powerful than your friend's. Kayura and myself also have auras that are stronger than those of the others, though mine only slightly more so, and Kayura's halfway between mine and Jessica's."
Mike gave Rajura a bewildered look, "Okay, that's the second time someone has mentioned armors. What the hell are you talking about? Sad and I don't have any armors. All we've got are four glass orbs. And what the hell are you talking about, magical auras? Magic isn't real."
Jessica spoke, "No, Mike, magic is very real, as I've recently learned. And those glass orbs you have, they're the armors we're talking about." She looked around at the others. She looked to Ryo last, holding his gaze as she spoke, "Show them."
The nine of them each pulled out a different colored palm sized glass orb. The eyes of Mike, Trish and Jessica all widened. Trish managed to speak, after working some moisture back into her mouth, "Those look like the orbs I gave Sad, and that Mike bought."
Shu spoke up, "Yeah, we know. That's why I pulled Mike and Sad into my office and called everyone here."
Ryo spoke, "The four you have are part of a larger set. There are only fifteen of these orbs in the entire world. They are grouped into two sets within the whole set. One set of nine, which is then grouped into two smaller sets of five and four. Those are the nine we have. Then there's a set of six, of which Sad and Mike have four. We don't know where the remaining two are. We were hoping you four might have some idea about that."
Jane broke in, a little annoyed, "Alright, fine, so you guys have orbs that look like the ones that Mike and Sad have, great, wonderful even! Why the hell do you keep calling them armors?! They're just glass orbs!"
All ten of them sighed, Ryo looked to Shu, "It okay if we do it in here?"
Shu paled a little and looked around the restaurant, "Um, let's push all the tables against the walls."
Ryo nodded. Shin spoke up, "Don't you think we should wake up Sad first. That way we don't have to explain it a second time."
Kayura and Jessica looked at each other and nodded, both walked over to Sad. Trish was kneeling by him, his head resting on her thighs. Mike edged closer to her, making room for Jessica on the left side of Sad. Jessica and Kayura knelt down on either side of Sad, each placing a hand in the middle of his chest, Kayura's on top of Jessica's.
Mike looked at them, his brow knotting, "Um, what are you doing?"
Ryo, Toma and Rajura all snapped their heads towards the boy and hissed for him to be quiet. He pulled back and snapped his mouth shut with a soft click. Kayura and Jessica closed their eyes. A soft white glow emanated from their hands and seemed to infuse Sad. It gradually spread over his entire body. As it did he let out a soft moan and rolled his head from side to side. His eyes fluttered open, darting around the room. He tried to push himself up, Jessica and Kayura each put a hand to a shoulder and stopped him.
"Don't." A simple command from Kayura as she got to her feet. She looked to Jessica, "You can keep him from passing out again." It was almost a question, but more of an order.
Jessica nodded and turned her attention to Sad, "You need some time to recover. It's best you lay down for a little longer." Ryo smiled, at least she had a decent bedside manner.
Kayura looked to Rajura, "One of us will have to train him."
The one eyed warlord nodded.
Sad burst out, pointing at Rajura, "Him, Raja. Ow!" Sad rubbed at the back of his head like he'd just been smacked. Kayura glared at Rajura, he looked at her in surprise. His wide eyed stare professing his innocence. "Sorry, Rajura, not Raja. I'm horrible with names. Rajura's supposed to train me."
Kayura looked down at Sad, arching an eyebrow, "And what makes you think you know anything about this sort of thing?"
Sad gave her a wide eyed stare, and spoke, embarassed, "I don't, but the fox guy in my head, he says he knows plenty about this stuff. He says that Rajura's specialty is illusions and that's what I need to learn. What I'm going to be best at."
Everyone gave Sad a worried look. Ryo really hoped the kid wasn't crazy, that would be problematic. Kayura was the first to give voice to the common question, "Fox guy?"
A flush came to Sad's cheeks and he looked off to his right before answering, "Yeah, I don't know his name. His voice sounds like what I imagine a fox would sound like, and he looks slick. Like a really good used car salesman or something. He didn't tell me his actual name, but he said that "That Fox Guy" would do." Sad shrugged, "Said the fox was a fitting totem for him. Whatever that means. He's the one who told me to come down here with Mike and the orbs and ask to talk to Shu. Said we'd be able to get answers about them and what we were supposed to do."
Jessica looked up at Kayura, comprehension seeming to dawn in her eyes, she spoke a single word, "Loki."
Kayura tossed back her head, looking to the ceiling, letting out a sigh. "Right, of course. You told us he'd been reborn and just come into his power. That's who this kid is. He's Loki."
Sad's friends and Sad looked at them in disbelief. Trish spoke up, "What the hell are you talking about? Who's Loki? And Sad is Sad, not anyone else."
Sad closed his eyes for a moment, banging the back of his head lightly against Trish's thighs, "Loki is the Norse god of mischief. No wonder the guy sounds like a fox and looks so slick. Ugh, it makes so much sense now. Well, at least who he is makes sense. What he's doing in my head, not so much."
Jessica sighed, "It's a long story. We'll explain it later. First we're going to show you why we keep calling those orbs armors."
Shu broke in hurriedly, "Yeah, but before we do that, you guys push the tables out of the way. I'm going to tell the staff to go home and have them use the back door." Shu rushed off. The rest of them started pushing the tables out of the way, Kayura supervised. Mike and Trish stayed close to Sad, Jane close to Mike. Once the tables were out of the way, Shu returned. Everyone pulled out their orb again. Kayura, Anubis, Naaza and Rajura all gripped theirs tightly, shutting their eyes. A brief flash of light and they were standing in their sub-armors.
Ryo, and the others held back their snickers as best they could. The other four glared at them. Then they all summoned their armors. Ryo started, "Armament: Wildfire!"
Next came Toma, "Armament: Heavens!"
Seiji, "Armament: Nimbus!"
Shin, "Armament: Torrent!"
Shu, "Armament: Stone!"
A flash of light engulfed each of them as they called out for their armors. When it faded they were revealed standing in mostly white armors with slight accents of color, each had a different color. Ryo's was red, Seiji's green, Toma's a dark blue, Shin's a light blue and Shu's orange. Their armor designs seemed drawn from traditional samurai armor. Kayura and the others looked at their armors a little confused. Ryo smirked, he'd forgotten that they hadn't seen the armors that Suzunagi reforged after she destroyed their old ones. Getting over their momentary shock, the four summoned their armors as well.
Kayura was first, "Armament: Oni!"
Then Anubis, "Armament: Black Jackal!"
Naaza, "Armament: Spitting Cobra!"
Rajura, "Armament: Phantom!"
After a flash of light, the four were revealed in their armors, the same ones they had used both for and against Arago. Ryo and the others couldn't help but snicker.
Anubis narrowed his eyes at the five of them, "What is so funny?"
Toma answered for them, "Sorry, it's just that your armors look like they're straight out of a bad 80's anime."
Kayura and the Mashou glared at Toma and the other troopers.
Mike interrupted, "What the hell? Where did those come from?"
Sad let out a groan and closed his eyes, "The orbs, Mike, the orbs. That's what they're for. Apparently, we've got armors too. I guess that means we're supposed to fight someone or something to help save the world."
Ryo smirked and leaned forward slightly, resting his hands on the top of one of his twin swords, "How very astute of you! Someone get the boy a prize!" He looked around at the others, grinning widely. They were all laughing.
Jessica smiled, slightly amused before shooting him a disapproving look.
Jane and Trish glared at him, the smile faded from his face. Jane spat out, "You mind explaining everything now?"
Ryo opened his mouth, but Jessica cleared her throat, "It would be best if I did it." Jessica then proceeded to give the four the history lesson she had given the others earlier about Odin. She also threw in a short overview of the fight with Arago.
Once Jessica finished, Ryo got down to business, "So, now that that's out of the way, do any of you know how to fight?"
Sad looked up at him, "Well, I took boxing lessons for a few years, so I know how to throw a punch with my body weight behind it. I was never very good in the spars though, kinda froze up. Trish can attest to that." Ryo's demeanor started off rather enthused but quickly darkened as Sad continued. So did the demeanor of the others in the room.
"Yeah, he, uh, got into an altercation with this kid at school. Guy broke one of his arms, one of his legs, and a few ribs. Sad didn't really fight back." Trish's words demoralized Ryo even further.
"I fence, started out with saber, which is the slashing weapon. But when I switched schools I had to switch to foil, a thrusting weapon, RCDS only teaches foil. Other than that, Mike and I have fooled around with staffs and swords in my backyard all our lives. So, we kinda know how to do flashy stuff, like twirls and shit, but nothing really practical, I'd say. Right?"
Mike nodded, "Yeah, I mean, I took karate lessons when I was eight or nine for a few years, but didn't keep it up for very long. I have two brothers, one older, one younger, so we occasionally wrestle and shit, but not that often. I wouldn't say I have much practice with that." Ryo's demeanor went up and down with Mike's statement, ending on a rather low note.
"Um, I did gymnastics for most of my life, up until seventh grade about, and I still take dance classes. So, I mean I guess I'm pretty agile and flexible, but I've never taken any martial arts classes or anything." Trish's statements sent Ryo and the others deeper into their funk.
"Yeah, I'm in the same boat as Trish," Jane was perched on a chair legs crossed, inspecting her nails.
Seiji piped in with a question, a marginal note of hope in his voice, "Do any of you know how to meditate at least?"
"No," a flat reply from Trish.
"Nope," Jane's completely disinterested reply.
"Nah," Mike's dejected reply.
"Nyet," that was Sad.
Ryo's shoulders were nearly level with the bottom of his ribcage. He looked up towards the ceiling and let out a deep sigh. The others all groaned, Ryo gave voice to their common thought, "We are so fucked."
Jane looked over to Seiji, seeming to just now to fully register his question, "Wait, what does meditation even have to do with this?"
Seiji shrugged with his eyebrows and he tilted his head to the side, "The ability to achieve the inner calm of a meditative state is necessary in order to summon your armor. It seems like we have a lot of work to do. I hope we have enough time."
Ryo nodded, "Um, do any of you four go to school together?"
Sad nodded, "Yeah, Trish and I are in the same grade at Rye Country Day School. And Mike and Jane are in the same grade at Mamaroneck High School." The three nodded in agreement.
Ryo let out a relieved sigh, "Okay, that makes things a little easier. Um, Kayura, Anubis, Naaza, Rajura, I'm going to ask the four of you to watch these four 24/7 since you have the availability for that. Rajura, since you're supposed to train Sad, you're on him, and, uh, I don't know..." Ryo looked at Trish, "Anubis, you've got Trish." Ryo turned to the two remaining Mashou. He definitely couldn't give Naaza to Jane, he'd just freak her out, so he was with Mike. That left Kayura for Jane. Yeah, that should work. "Alright, Kayura, you've got Jane, and Naaza, you've got Mike."
Jessica chimed in, "Um, I don't mean to interrupt, but I think maybe we should figure out which armor belongs to who. Don't you?"
Ryo was caught off guard, "Uh, yeah, that's a good idea. Let's do that then." He paused for a moment and scratched his head, "Uh, how do we do that?"
Jessica smiled, "Allow me." She turned to Sad, "Sad, may I please see those orbs you have?"
Sad nodded and handed her a black orb and a magenta orb. Jessica took them, she held the magenta one to his forehead first and frowned. Then she held the black one to his forehead, a smile forming, "This one is yours." She handed it to Sad. As Trish was the closest to her, she held the magenta orb to her forehead, another smile. Ryo loved her smile. She handed the orb to Trish, "This belongs to you."
Jessica turned to face Mike, without her needing to ask he handed her two orbs, one white the other a light pink. Jessica smirked and held the white one to his forehead, "This one belongs with you." She handed it to him. She got up and walked over to Jane and held the pink one to her forehead, "And as I thought, this one is yours."
Jane took the orb from Jessica and looked at Trish's, "Of course the girls get the pink ones." She rolled her eyes in disgust.
Jessica smiled and chuckled, "You'll have to forgive Kaos. The armors were created a few hundred years ago. He wouldn't have seen anything sexist about the color choice."
"Yeah, whatever," Jane huffed, slipping the orb into her purse.
Ryo took over the conversation again, "Uh, yeah, those of you watching these four, I guess you should try and teach them whatever you can. We'll try and help out with that in the evenings too. Hell, I guess we could start training them today. I suppose we start with meditation, and hand to hand, since we don't know what their weapons are yet." The others nodded, "So, who wants who?" Sad, Trish, Mike and Jane gave the nine of them very worried glances.
Author's Note:
I'd appreciate any feedback anyone is willing to give. Just contact me by e-mail or through the site. My only request is that you put something in the subject line about your e-mail being in response to my Ronin fanfic. I get a lot of spam, and I tend to delete mail from SNs I do not recognize. If you put something about your e-mail being about my writing, I won't delete it and then I will respond to you; if you don't do that I can't guarantee anything. My e-mail address is in my profile.
I told you the troopers would be in this chapter. Plus, the chapters are coming out a lot faster now, aren't they? I apologize for the horrendous typos in the latest chapters. I felt guilty about how long there had been between chapter five and six being posted, so I put the most recent chapters up immediately after I finished them. I have since gone back and edited them. I do that for all the chapters actually, they're all continually being revised, so mistakes will be corrected, eventually.
Anyway things are really starting to take off. Everything is about to come to a head. I hope you've been enjoying the story so far and that it delivers on your expectations. Chapter 10 is called Impact.
Thanks for reading.
- Corlock Striker
