Disclaimer: I don't own Ronin Warriors. If I did The Legend of the Kikoutei never would have been made. Who would think it would be cool if our boys lost their armors?
RME: its official, I'm no good at writing chase scenes…
Chapter 14
Hide and Seek
Mia was several steps ahead of her boys when she noticed that they weren't with her and Jason. She turned to find that Sage, Kento, Cye and Rowen had stopped running. It was as if they had frozen in mid-step. She didn't know if the same thing had happened to Ryo since Kento was carrying him in his arms.
"Guys, what's wrong?" Mia worriedly asked.
Rowen forced his jaw to move. "She stopped us from moving," he managed to say.
Mia felt icy fear run inside her. She knew that if they didn't start moving again, they'd be discovered and taken back to their prison.
"Jason, something's wrong with them!" Mia frantically called.
The sorcerer came back to the teenagers. He touched each of their Sealing Marks. Ryo and the others felt something being taken away from inside them.
"I've given you some time to get out of her reach before she can take control of your Sealing Marks again," Jason informed them. "But I wasn't able to give you all of the time that I wanted, though."
"Then we need to move faster," Sage told everyone.
"Then lets carry them as well," Rowen suggested.
Sage picked up Mia and Rowen picked up Jason.
"Ready?" Sage asked.
"Let's do this!" Kento responded.
Sage, Kento, Rowen and Cye took off. They ran as fast as possible to get away from Mason's estate before people could find them. Everything was a blur as Mia had to hold her hair away from her face. Jason seemed to be enjoying himself though.
As they got close to the edge of the estate, thunder began. Jason looked at the sky in surprise. There wasn't any clouds in the sky when we came here, Jason thought.
"Told you it was going to rain," Rowen stated as if he could read the sorcerer's mind.
The rain started out light but quickly began to be a downpour. Kento, Sage, Cye and Rowen quickly found that their visibility was becoming worse. It wasn't long before any of them could barely make out where they were going.
There were noises of people running behind them. Only the teenagers could hear their pursuers though. Sage and Rowen made sure that Mia and Jason stayed hidden in front of them as they ran.
"Their trackers are nearby!" A voice came from behind them.
Ryo fingered his tracking bracelet. The 5 Ronin Warriors remembered that Mason and the Sorceress had put tracking chips in their bracelets. This isn't good, Ryo thought.
"Mia, Jason!" Cye yelled over the thunder, "Mason put tracking chips in our bracelets!"
Mia looked in Jason's general direction. "Can you do anything about it, Jason?" She yelled.
Jason shook his head before remembering that they couldn't see each other. "I can't do anything about it!" He yelled back. "They'll have to get out of range of the devices that those pursuers are most likely using!"
The Ronins reached the streets of the city. There weren't as many people outside as usual in the storm so the 4 running teenagers had an easier time running down the street.
"They're over there!" Someone yelled behind them.
Sage yelled "we need to lose them!"
"How do you suggest we do that?" Rowen yelled back.
"Turn here!" Sage loudly responded.
The teenagers turned down a side street. They continued running even as they heard the ones behind them tell each other that they had turned. They continued to silently run past many streets.
"Turn right!" Sage yelled.
Jason was about to protest that it was impossible to do so when he saw them jump over the small street. He felt Rowen crouch as he landed before they took off again. He couldn't believe what the 4 of them had done. It was impossible for a person to jump that high and jump that far. How were they able to do that? Jason wondered.
"Turn left!" Sage yelled.
They went down a side street. Jason noticed that people were staring at them as they ran past them. From the looks on their faces, none of them could make out the 4 teenagers running while carrying people in their arms.
"Over here!" Someone yelled behind them.
"Jump onto the roof!" Sage yelled.
"Wai-" Jason wasn't able to finish before the 4 jumped onto the roofs high above them. He was silent as they easily jumped from rooftop to rooftop. The part that surprised him the most – if that was even possible – was the fact that they could jump over the streets between the buildings. No one's going to believe this if I tell them, Jason randomly thought.
They continued to silently jump across the city as the people pursuing them started to lag behind. They couldn't keep up when Sage, Kento, Rowen and Cye weren't jumping in a straight line. The voices of Mason's people became softer the longer they were jumping between rooftops. When the 4 of them stopped, Rowen was the first to speak.
"Where are we going?" Strata asked.
"I've rented an apartment for you 7 to stay at until you can go back home," Jason responded.
The rain had almost stopped by now. The visibility was clear so Jason could clearly make out the city below them.
"I can lead you guys there if we go back to the ground," Jason told the other 6.
"Then let's go back to the streets," Ryo suggested.
Ryo's left hand and arm was cradling his injured right side. The pain from the wound was worse than before from all the running that Kento had been forced to do.
Kento, Sage, Rowen and Cye went to a deserted alley and jumped down. They put Mia and Jason down. The 7 of them left the alleyway with Jason in the lead. Mia was behind him with the other 4 walking behind them. Kento tried to not stand out with Ryo in his arms but the purple-haired teenager could tell that he was drawing people's attention. At least Ryo's injured side is against me, Hardrock thought. Ryo's face was against his friend's chest as if he was tired. From the position that Ryo had put himself in, none of the people they past saw his pained look. It hurt being jostled when his side was injured. He was just thankful that Jason and Mia hadn't rescued them right after the last time the Sorceress had taken him. He was pretty sure that he would have been making pained noises as Kento walked.
It took some time before Jason brought them to their apartment. Jason unlocked the front door and the others went in. He shut it behind himself as he went inside.
Yuli was waiting for them inside the empty living room. He ran to Sage, Kento, Rowen and Cye. "You're back!" He exclaimed.
Kento gave him a goofy grin. "Yep!"
"But why are you carrying Ryo?" Yuli asked.
"Ryo's hurt, Yuli," Rowen answered.
Jason and Mia were talking near the front door.
"There are 3 bedrooms with enough beds for all of you," Jason explained.
"Where will you be going?" Mia asked.
"My job here is done so I will leave you guys now," he replied, "I've paid enough money for you guys to stay here for a couple of months if needed."
Mia held out her hand. "Thank you for helping me rescue them," she said.
Jason smiled. "You're welcome."
He opened the door. "Goodbye, everyone," he said before walking out of the apartment. That would be the last time that any of them saw him.
After the door was shut behind Jason, Mia got down to business.
"We'll put Ryo in one of the beds," she told everyone.
Kento, who had never put Wildfire down, followed his female friend into one of the bedrooms. There were 3 beds inside it. Ryo was put on the bed nearest the door. Sage went to cover his injured friend but Mia stopped him.
"I want to check that wound that Rowen mentioned," she told the blonde.
Sage placed the blanket on the bed beside Ryo's. At this point the black-haired teenager was asleep.
"Where is he injured?" Mia asked.
Sage pointed to Ryo's right side. Mia carefully moved Ryo's shirt up. She saw the white bandages that had been wrapped around Ryo's chest. She pulled down his shirt. She didn't want to remove the bandages if there was no blood on them.
"How long has it been since he got injured?" Mia asked.
"A week," Rowen answered.
Mia nodded. She smoothed Ryo's hair and covered him up.
"Then it'll be another week before he's healed," she informed them. Thank goodness for their fast healing rate, she thought. "Let's leave him alone for now."
She and her other boys left the sleeping teenager and went back to the living room. They sat in a circle in the middle of the room. Mia's legs were to the side of her since she was still wearing her dress.
"What happened to you after you had been kidnapped?" Mia asked.
Sage and the other 3 told Mia about Mason and the Sorceress.
"Something called a Sealing Mark was put on our necks. It's impossible to wear our armor – even the subarmor – because of it," Rowen finished after they were done explaining.
"There has to be a way to remove it," Mia said.
"The Sorceress was the one who gave them to us," Sage told her.
"She must have used her supernatural power to put those on your necks."
"Is there any way to remove them without having to go to her?" Rowen asked.
"I don't know," Mia admitted, "I'll look into it after we return home. I'm sure that there is a way to remove them without having to return to her."
"I hope so," Kento said with a shudder. "After everything that's happened that's the last thing I want to do."
"What is with your bracelets though?" Mia asked.
Sage held his right wrist. "Mason and the Sorceress put a tracking chip inside them. They'll be able to find us as long as we're wearing them."
"Can they be taken off now that you're free?"
"There isn't a latch, Mia. Ryo wasn't even able to burn his off," Rowen answered.
"We'll have to have a jeweler take it off then," Mia decided.
The young woman stood. "I'm going to change back into my regular clothes," she told them. She grabbed some clothes from her suitcase and went to one of the empty bedrooms. She changed into them and then came out with her dress hanging over her arm. She carefully packed it into her suitcase then went to her boys.
"I want you guys to rest now," she informed them. "Yuli and I will go buy some food for us to eat while we're here while you're sleeping."
"How about one of us goes with you to help carry the food back?" Sage suggested.
Mia shook her head. "I don't want you to leave the apartment for now. Because of your tracking chips, I think it'd be better if you don't move around much until we can get them off." The brunette woman went to the bedroom where Ryo was sleeping. Yuli was lying on the bed next to Wildfire's. She went to the boy. "Yuli," she whispered. "Let's leave Ryo alone for now."
"But-" Yuli protested.
"Ryo needs to rest. I'd like you to go with me to the supermarket. I don't want the others coming because they need to rest." Mia didn't mention anything about the tracking chip that was in their bracelets – she didn't want the boy to worry.
Yuli got off the bed. He looked at Ryo then followed Mia out of the room. Mia noticed that her boys hadn't moved from where they had sat when they had been talking. "Get some rest," she reminded them. Mia and Yuli left the apartment without the teenagers giving her an answer.
After the young woman and boy left, the 4 teenagers went to check on their injured friend. Ryo hadn't moved from the position he had fallen asleep in. It was only logical as his right side was injured. Sage put his hand on his friend's forehead.
"He doesn't have a fever," he told the others.
"That's good," Rowen said.
"Let's go back to the living room to wait for Mia and Yuli," Cye suggested. "I don't know about you guys but I don't think I can sleep until they come back."
The other 3 followed the brunette out the door. Kento shut it and sat against a wall. Sage was standing with his back against another wall while Rowen was sitting against the opposite one with his left arm on his raised knee. Cye was sitting cross legged near Strata. They sat there as they waited for Mia and Yuli to return.
…
Mia and Yuli entered the supermarket with the young woman pushing a shopping cart. Yuli was walking beside Mia.
"Now remember, Yuli. We need to get enough food for Kento's big appetite," Mia reminded the boy.
"Okay," Yuli replied.
They went through the store filling up the cart. When it was completely full, Mia bought the groceries. After she paid for it they brought the bags home.
They walked inside the apartment only to find Sage, Kento, Rowen and Cye waiting for them. She and Yuli put the bags on the counter. Then she went back to the living room and put her hands on her hips.
"I thought I told you guys to rest," she pointed out.
"We couldn't sleep until you got back," Cye explained for everyone.
"Well, we're back now. Get some sleep, guys."
Sage stood straight. "Come on," he told them.
Sage and Rowen went into the bedroom where Ryo was sleeping. Cye and Kento went to the second bedroom. They had left the last one for Mia and Yuli. When both doors had shut, Mia turned to the boy who had come into the living room after her.
"Let's put the groceries away," she told the boy. "I'll make dinner after they wake up."
"What about Ryo?" Yuli asked.
Mia shook her head. "Let's let him sleep."
…
Mason and the Sorceress were standing in Mason's rooms.
"How could they escape after you stopped them!?" Mason almost yelled at the woman.
"I already told you it's not my fault!" The Sorceress almost yelled back.
"Then why are they gone!?"
"Mason, I already explained five times! Something had happened after I had stopped them!"
"Then it's your fault!"
"If it's anyone's fault then take the blame! It happened during your last party!"
"That has nothing to do with this!"
"That has everything to do with 'this'!"
"Why are you pointing fingers at me!?"
"Because you were stupid enough to keep throwing parties here after kidnapping them!"
"Are you saying this is my fault!"
"This is your fault!"
"Then are you saying that you're completely innocent! They still were able to leave after you had stopped them!"
"Don't keep using something that I had no control over!"
"Then what do we do!?"
"Do you think I know!? Los Angeles is a big city! Even with the tracking devices, it'll take time to find them!"
"I want them back now! Isn't there anything you can do to speed it up!?"
"There's nothing I can right now!"
"I want them back now! I can't keep using them to make money without having them!"
"If you're men had been more able, they would have been found before they could somehow disappear!"
"How could they escape in the first place when you had promised they would never be able to!?"
"I'm not the only one with supernatural powers, Mason! A person with supernatural powers must have helped them escape. That's the only way I could have lost my connection with the Ronin Warriors' Sealing Marks for 20 minutes!"
"Why would someone of your own kind take away my money-makers!?"
"I don't know who would dare to go against me! I'm surprised they even had the courage to make an attempt in the first place!"
"That isn't an excuse! You failed your side of the contract!"
"YOU FOOL! Having a person with supernatural powers help them escape changes everything! All of us can interrupt another person's use of their powers!"
"Then what did that person do to make it where they could escape!?"
"That person had canceled my hold on them so they could still move after I forced them to stop!"
Mason stood there as he tried to get his breath back. The Sorceress did the same thing. Once they had done so, Mason returned to the conversation using a normal tone.
"I want them back," he told the Sorceress.
"I agree. You've been paying me well for my services," the Sorceress said in a normal tone.
Now that Mason's temper had calmed down, he was able to start thinking clearly again. "I have many contacts here in this city. I can use them to find the Ronin Warriors."
"Very well, then. I will wait for when they find them," the Sorceress told the mercenary.
…
Mia woke Ryo the next afternoon. He had been sleeping for 24 hours now and she wanted to get his bracelet off of his wrist as soon as possible. Once that happened it would be almost impossible for Mason and the Sorceress to find any of her boys.
"Are you sure you can walk right now?" Sage asked Ryo.
"I'll be fine as long as I'm careful," Ryo answered.
"I still don't like it," Rowen told them. "It'd be better if Kento at least carried him on his back."
"I'm not a 2 year old, Rowen," Ryo flatly told his friend. "I can walk on my own just fine."
"Why doesn't one of us walk on Ryo's right side? It'll protect it from people accidently touching it as they walk by."
"That's a good idea," Mia chimed in.
"Another one of us can walk on Ryo's left side," Kento suggested. "Then if Ryo needs help we've got another one of us to help him."
Ryo rolled his eyes. "Guys, I'm fine. It's been over a week since the Sorceress had injured me."
"It's been 8 days," Cye reminded Ryo. "It's basically still one week after you got injured."
"He's got a point," Sage told Ryo. "Even though we heal much faster than normal, it still takes a while."
The blonde could just picture Ryo folding his arms with a huff like a child. "I'll be fine walking on my own," Ryo reiterated.
Kento smiled and carefully patted his back. "Sure you are, Ryo."
The black-haired teenager brushed his friend's hand off. "Look, if it will make you feel better I'll hold onto one of your arms while I'm walking."
"What do you say guys? Do we let him have what he wants?" Rowen asked the others.
Halo nodded. "He won't change his mind anyways," he reminded the others.
"Then let's go," Mia said by the door. "I looked up a jeweler near here to help us."
Everyone left the apartment. When they reached the streets, Rowen moved to Ryo's left side and Kento went to his right. The black-haired teenager put his arm around Kento's own. They walked down the street with Mia leading them. Ryo's left hand was holding his injured side as he walked. He wasn't about to tell anyone but it hurt walking right now. The only thing that was keeping him on his feet was his stubbornness. He was not going to ask for help no matter what.
Rowen noticed Ryo's left hand holding Wildfire's injured side. He was about to point it out when Ryo gave him the don't you dare glare. Strata decided that since it wasn't harming anything, he would just it go.
An automatic door opened when they came to the place. Mia went in first then Ryo and his 'escort' followed. The others filed in after them.
Mia walked to the counter where an old man was waiting for them.
"Hello," she said. "My friends have some bracelets that they would like removed. We can't seem to get them off ourselves."
The jeweler nodded. He moved to another spot behind the counter. He took out the tools needed to do as the young woman had requested.
Ryo tried to not react to the sharp object on the counter. It's okay. She isn't here to hurt me with it, he tried to convince himself.
Rowen saw Ryo's small reaction when the jeweler had taken out his tools. What is going through Ryo's head? Rowen wondered. His friend had never seemed afraid of normal objects. Is it because of what the Sorceress had done to him at Mason's estate? He could see that Ryo's hold of his right side was tighter.
"Which will be first?" The old man asked.
Rowen decided that the best thing was for Ryo to watch Strata's bracelet being taken off. He whispered to Kento his idea and Hardrock nodded. The purple-haired teenager led Ryo to a spot where he could watch Rowen's bracelet be cut off. Strata went to the counter.
"I'll be first," the blue-haired teenager said.
Rowen put his arm on the counter in front of him. The jeweler took the tool and placed it on Rowen's bracelet.
Nothing happened.
Mia felt her heart drop. She didn't know what to do now. If the bracelets could not be removed than Mason would have an easier time finding her boys. She knew that Ryo and the other teenagers were also thinking the same thing. She was pretty sure Yuli didn't know the full extent of the consequences this would bring.
The old man removed the tool from the bracelet and fingered the metal. "Who ever made this bracelet used a metal that I can't cut through."
Mia mentally shook herself out of her thoughts. She forced a smile on her face and thanked the man for his help. She left with the others following her. Everyone was silent on the way back to their temporary apartment. When they reached it, everyone sat on the floor. Ryo took the longest because he was careful of his injured side. He didn't want to aggravate it more than it had been from walking.
"I guess the bracelets won't come off as easily as we had thought," Mia said once everyone was seated in a circle in the middle of the empty living room.
"What are we going to do now since they can't be removed?" Ryo asked.
"I'll do some research for a way to take them off," Mia answered.
"Will that work?" Rowen asked. "How can we take them off when the jeweler couldn't cut through the metal it's made of?"
"It's never impossible to remove something, Rowen," Mia reminded Strata. "There has to be a way to take them off. I'll find the way to do so."
Ryo smiled at Mia. He had faith in her. She had never let them down before. He knew she'd eventually find a way. The only question was if Mia could find it before Mason and the Sorceress found the Ronin Warriors.
"But what will we do now, Mia?" Yuli asked from beside her.
"We'll have to wait for Ryo's side to heal before going back home. Since it's already been a week-" 8 days Ryo silently corrected her. "-Ryo should be completely healed a week from now."
"What will Ryo and the others do now though?"
Mia looked around the circle. "They won't be able to leave the apartment until we go home," she answered.
"Hey! Wait a minute-" Kento began to protest.
Sage dug his elbow into Hardrock's side. "It's too risky for us to go outside right now."
"Sage is right, Kento," Ryo told the purple-haired teenager, "it'll be easier to find us if we walk around the city."
"Yuli and I will get the things we need while we're here," Mia decided. She frowned when saw her boys' reaction. "Relax," she commanded, "nothing will happen to us if we leave this apartment."
They sat and talked as outside began to grow dark. When it was finally night time, Mia left the others to cook dinner. She brought it to the living room and everyone ate where they sat. After dinner, Sage and Rowen helped Mia clean up while Ryo went back to bed. That night the sleeping arrangements were the same as before.
The next week was spent with the teenagers never leaving the apartment while Ryo healed. Mia and Yuli only left when it was necessary. It eventually came time to buy the plane tickets to go back home. Mia took Yuli with her while the teenagers stayed inside.
Then the day came for their flight back home.
…
The Ronin Warriors, Mia and Yuli arrived at the airport 2 hours before their plane took off. As they walked through the airport, Mia quickly noticed that her boys were edgy.
"Relax," she whispered. "Don't draw attention to us. We want to leave here without catching someone's attention."
Ryo tried to force his body to obey Mia's words. It wouldn't have been so bad if the fear that Mason and the Sorceress being there wasn't so overwhelming. He didn't have to ask the others; he could tell that they were feeling the same way. He tried to stop turning his head as he walked through the airport but found that his eyes were roaming the place instead. Have they really impacted me so much? Ryo asked himself. He hadn't been with them for long, right? So why was he so afraid they had already found him and his friends?
They reached their gate eventually. They waited in the seats for their plane to arrive. Ryo felt his attention being strained from being so vigilant. He swore he felt eyes watching him but when he looked he couldn't find the person watching him. I'm getting paranoid, he decided, that's all this is.
…
A man was watching a black-haired teenager and his friends. Mason had given him the description of his prisoners earlier and had promised to pay anyone who could give him information.
Mason's prisoners stood when the plane came. The man who was watching them waited until they had boarded the plane before walking away. He pulled out his phone and speed-dialed a specific number. He waited impatiently for the other end to answer.
"Hello?"
"It's me," the man said with excitement. "I found them at the airport. They're heading to Japan."
RME: I'm pretty sure that some of you are thinking "what the heck is wrong with Ryo!?" right now. It probably seems stupid but after being cut 3 times by one person, I'm pretty sure anyone would have reacted like that.
Zorra Reed: I feel so special right now. You are the first to give me a long review. I even asked my sister if she's ever gotten a review that was long and she told me she hadn't. The funny part to this is that she's been posting stories on this sight for years while I've only started recently. The question about the length of time I had purposely left to the readers' imagination but I will say that it's been some time since Ryo had been kidnapped. I'm one of those writers who like leaving some things up to the readers' imagination. In an earlier chapter I had mentioned that Ryo didn't have much to do in his prison – it's basically a gilded cage with nothing to do. By the way, Ryo is also my favorite character; you can tell because I only pick on my favorite characters. I'm happy to say that the story hasn't come close to ending yet so you won't have to wait for a sequel. I wouldn't mind if you ran with your ideas. All I ask is that you give credit where credit is due. To tell you the truth, I was happy that you asked. In my opinion the best complement that a writer is given is when another asks to write a story based on theirs. Wow…I think that was the longest reply I've ever given.