Chapter Seven – Rules of the War Game
It was almost a week later before Anubis called the informal meeting of the Ronin Warriors together around the expansive dining room table. Mia and Yuli were on hand too along with White Blaze, lending eager yet frightened ears to the conversation. The Ancient One stood at the head of the table, his reed hat dipped lower over his face than usual. Before him stretched a mountain of maps and charts as well as the five colorful soldiers.
"The time has come," he began with an ominous tremble to his old voice. "Anubis has informed me that Talpa is amassing his forces for invasion, with his remaining two Warlords as the generals. He has also told me of a new warrior, the Dynasty's secret weapon: a young Japanese woman. I know nothing of her and have heard nothing of her myself, but Anubis assures me that his sources are reliable. According to these sources, Talpa has given her almost unimaginable power, and she is a very skillful fighter already. The blood of many a great soldier runs through her veins. If what he says is indeed a truth, then the world is once again in great peril, and it is your job once again to save it. I have a feeling this woman will prove to be a great obstacle for you five on your path to triumph, but I know you can do it.
"Now we must plan your attack. For us to be successful we must be on the offensive instead of waiting to be on the defensive. We simply do not have the time to waste on fighting huge armies of Dynasty soldiers as well as the Warlords. If we go for the jugular – this new female general – and successfully eliminate her before she becomes troublesome, then we will surely win. If we do not plan this battle carefully, and you, Ronin Warriors, go charging into the fight without a thought in your heads, then you will fail, most assuredly."
The Ancient stopped talking long enough for the Ronin Warriors to assimilate all the words he had spoken to them. They looked nervously between each other, all wishing they did not carry this immense burden upon their shoulders. "What we need is the element of surprise," Kento offered.
Cye rolled his eyes though. "Oh yeah, that worked so well last time."
"Do not start bickering, warriors, for there is no time for such trivial things. Both of you are right. We will most certainly need to organize an ambush, but when we execute the plan, this time we will have to remain aware of our surroundings," the old man's companion informed.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Ryo shouted. "Hold up for just a second here. Did Anubis say 'we,' as in including himself in the battle?"
"That he did, Ryo of Wildfire. With Anubis' new knowledge of the Ancient clan's ways as well as his experience in war and contact with the Dynasty, he might be the key to winning this fight with Talpa once and for all."
"But he's still a Warlord," Mia protested adamantly. "Isn't there a danger for him to revert back to evil once he's immersed in it? After all, the Nether Realm will be present all around them, so what happens if he turns back to serve Talpa?"
Anubis bowed his head in shame, hiding his sad eyes from the others. His past would forever be tied to the present no matter what good he would do. No one but the Ancient would ever trust him. "It will not happen, Mia," the old man assured, resting his withered hand on the former Warlord's shoulder. "Anubis is good for life; he always has been underneath, he just needed someone to chisel beneath his armored surface.
"Now I think we need to talk about including one other person in this fight…"
Mia straightened uneasily in her chair, twirling a lock of hair around her finger in anticipation of whom the Ancient would speak. "If you're gonna mention whom I think you are, I'm leaving this room."
"I am sorry, Mia. You will probably have to leave, if that is the way you feel. It is my belief that Mirichu should accompany you five along on your journey."
Rowen bolted up from his chair in unison with Ryo and Sage. His eyes widened in surprise and a bit of anger. Had the old man finally gone crazy after all these years? "Uh-uh, Ancient One. No way, no how. Miri isn't ready for a battle of this caliber, and I think she never will be.
"She hasn't trained," Ryo objected.
"And she could make us vulnerable to Talpa should she be captured," Sage agreed.
"Besides," Rowen insisted, glaring angrily at the Ancient, "Miri's a woman, not a warrior."
"That is where you are wrong, my young Ronin. I'm afraid we have been keeping a secret from you five young men. For the past several months now, I have been training innocent Mirichu Tenku without your knowledge. She had me swear to keep our lessons a secret because she, as well as I, knew that you would object to her learning the ways of the samurai."
Jaws dropped across the room. Even Anubis was amazed that the Ancient had never told him of this, or that he had never noticed his late night escapes. Most of all though, Rowen was disturbed. She had never told him, never even thought to. How could Mirichu! A spark lit within him. "I wondered why it was that you two seemed to know each other so well."
"Although Mirichu handles herself capably in battle, incredibly capably, I do not believe she has realized her full potential as a warrior. She has a hidden power that only she can uncover, and when she does, I believe you had better step back because her power will be unimaginable."
Cye shook his head. This petite, simple girl had unimaginable power? Not possible. "How great is this power, Ancient One?"
"That, Cye of Torrent, I do not know for sure. All I know is that, in my meditations the previous day, I saw her cloaked in brilliant yellow, the color of the afternoon sun, and prismatic light sprayed out all around her, scorching the scene with its invisible fire."
"Sorry to revert back to the original statement you made, Ancient One," Ryo interrupted with a frantic wave of his muscular hand, "but how can Mirichu discover something that is hidden deep inside her? If even Miri doesn't know of the power, which she possesses now, is it really realistic of us to think that she will ever find this incredible strength? Should we place our hopes in a such a risky assumption?"
The Ancient One peeked out from under his hat to grin widely at the dark-haired boy who had become his friend; he was surprised by his intelligent questions. They were valid and thought-out, coming from this young man so filled with love and hate, strength and fear. "You realize many things about yourself when you're in combat. You discover courage and faith in yourself and others. When your friends are in danger, you learn of sacrifice and love. All sorts of good things can come out of battle, too, you see. This experience could be what sparks Mirichu's self-discovery. What better gift could you ever give her?"
Rowen flared, his chest heaving with a barely contained rage, and the only reason it was contained was because he revered and loved the old man in the reed hat. But what he was saying was ludicrous! "How about the gift of a longer life? If we bring Miri into this war, there is a STRONG possibility that she could be injured or much worse. And just for argument's sake, if we did bring her into the fight with us, what is the likelihood that she will ever even find this latent power? Slim to none, I tell you! Why should we put our friend in unnecessary jeopardy if we can defeat Talpa without her?"
"Rowen of Strata, it is for the greater good of-"
"No, I'm sorry, but I don't buy it! Only over my dead and rotted body will Mirichu fight the new female general."
"Yeah," Kento piped up, "and only then if they mud wrestle."
"Kento!" Rowen roared, his frustration spewing out with the words he spoke. "What the hell is wrong with you? This is a serious conversation we're having, and you are making a mockery of it! It's like you don't even care about the fact that Miri could get hurt. The only things your brain thinks about are the things the hormones tell it to think about! You don't process one ounce of what goes on around you unless it has to do with beautiful women or food!"
"Sorry…" he squeaked, getting up from the table to hide his embarrassment from his fellow warriors.
Rowen whispered an apology to the chagrined boy, then added, "I need to step outside for a moment, if you'll please excuse me." He bowed to the room and escaped onto the verandah to conceal his shame for what he had foolishly said to the entire group. But right now, Rowen cared very little about what they thought of him, as he was still fuming over the way Miri had lied to him for months on end and, in doing so, betrayed their friendship. Oh sure, he could easily forgive her, but Rowen didn't believe she deserved his forgiveness yet. Mirichu covered up one lie with another until now Rowen could only see lies swirling about the image of her pretty face. And to top all of this off, the warrior had also reasons to believe she had other secrets, too.
Strata was furious with the Ancient One, with Miri, with everyone and everything. The hatred burned inside him, waiting eagerly to release itself upon the world and call forth Talpa's evil Nether spirits. It festered inside his body, wriggling disgustedly like a mountain of worms. In a flash, the warrior's blue armor snapped on, and his angry fist came screaming down on the white banister. He watched as the wood splintered then exploded, a shower of brown and white raining down upon his trembling form. Along with the shards of wood, Rowen's fury flew away on a sudden wind. The quivering man stood panting on the edge of the porch, his toes teetering precariously on the sharp corners.
"Wow, Rowen, that was unexpected," Ryo gasped incredulously, eyeing the disaster area – as well as his friend – warily.
"Go away, Ryo," he growled bitterly.
"Why do you want me to leave you at a time like this?"
"Because," he managed to choke out, turning his red and tear-streaked face toward his faithful friend, "I don't want you to see me like this." His voice was rough and wet, the strain of frustration and sorrow hanging in his throat.
"My god, Rowen, what's wrong?"
"What isn't wrong?" he sighed almost in resignation. "Mirichu has lied to me repeatedly; we still have a war to fight and win against our arch nemesis; the Ancient One's gone batty on us… What more can go wrong? Oh, I forgot! Crap, I'm not supposed to say that because every time I do something worse comes along." Rowen laughed, mocking the words Miri had once spoken to him. "What a load of horse-"
"Rowen! Calm down, would ya? What you need to do is obvious; you have to talk to Miri before your friendship turns completely sour."
"Which it already has…"
"Stop talking like that! It hasn't yet, so there's still time to save it. You have to go talk to her and tell her what's wrong. How else can you expect to mend what's broken?"
"This coming from the relationship expert of the group."
"Would you rather Sage counsel you about it because that can be arranged?"
Rowen chuckled softly. "I guess not. Sorry."
"About the railing? Hey don't talk to me about it; this is Mia's place."
"No, not about that, but about the manner in which I spoke to you. I shouldn't have snapped so harshly like that. I guess I just let my emotions take control of me, and I really shouldn't have. It's not fair to you or the other Ronins."
Ryo glanced into the dining room at the old man in the reed hat. He stood solemnly in the corner, tapping his foot impatiently while letting Anubis handle that rest of the war plans. "Maybe I'm still not the one you should be apologizing to…"
"You're right," Rowen said. "Thanks for the advice."
"Don't mention it. I won't charge you this time, but next time I will." Ryo slapped him on the back and sent him inside. Poor guy, he mused. I guess I'm not the only one who bit off more than I could chew when I took this job.
@~~`~~~
As they settled into their beds for the night, the Ronins exchanged cheery goodnights like they always did and then slipped under their bedcovers, a chorus of rustling sheets accompanying them. Each warrior pretended to be asleep, but none of them was. They were too busy thinking about the battles they would fight, or whose ass they would have the pleasure of kicking, or whose life they might have to save. Nervous and excited at the same time, their emotions won over their need for rest, and they lay shaking under each layer of sheets.
The clouds had rolled in and overtaken the once glimmering night sky, bringing on the first rain since almost two weeks ago. Rowen listened quietly to the low bellowing of the thunder and the high fizz of the lightning bolts. Drops of water splattered against the floor through the open window, a tiny whistling sound following them, so quiet that only the warrior from the sky could hear it. It was a lullaby to Strata's ears. The sky he loved tried to sing him to sleep with its watery voice, and Rowen, through his Awakening, could actually hear the song. Magically, it sounded like his mother's voice, singing a poem she had set to music for him whenever she wasn't traveling and had the time to sing him goodnight.
"Rest, my little love,
Sleep, my little dove.
When the dawn does break,
Then shall you awake."
The sweet melody played on and on repetitively, soothing his jagged nerves with its soft chords. It echoed in every corner of the room, his mother's voice calm and hushed. Rowen could feel her smooth hand caress his burning cheek, and he could feel her unblemished lips press briefly against his forehead. He was home again – at last – in his familiar bed, with no worries about him.
With that, Rowen's eyes closed, a drop of rain spattering on the spot where he imagined the kiss was planted – a silent tear of pain or fear, no one could tell.
@~~`~~~
The sky cried for the Ronins all night, big, slanting tears dripping from the sorrowful heaven's eyes. Every time he sniffled, the thunder buckled the clouds, and every time he wailed in anguish, the lightning cracked the ground. Ryo watched throughout the night with mysticism gleaming in his cobalt eyes. The sky felt his son Strata's torment and suffering. His friend did have a connection with empyrean after all.
Anxiously, Wildfire awaited for the sunrise, hoping that, although this might possibly be the last (if not the first) one he would ever see, it might be the most glorious. But it was not fated to be. The sun appeared to never rise from her bed over the edge of Japan; the black clouds swallowed her greedily up before she could even open her sleep-fogged eyes.
Elsewhere in the house, Ryo heard a small stirring – the pitter-patter of feet on the wooden floor. It was coming from next door, and if he had had the money to bet, he believed it to be Rowen who was making the tiny commotion.
Sure enough, when the door to Wildfire's room croaked open, it was his blue-haired friend standing motionlessly in the frame. "You're awake, I see," he observed groggily.
"For once in my life, yes, I am – at four o'clock, too."
"She will not come up this morning. It is a bad luck for her to shine on such a black day. Today the evil storm shall rule until some light can be found underneath the mayhem."
It took Ryo a few minutes to realize that Rowen meant the sun. It all sounded so sinister, so foreboding. "And how do you know all of this?"
"She whispered it to the moon last night, and before he disappeared he enlightened the rain, which in turn informed me as I drifted off to sleep. Understand that we are linked as one through the great chain of the sky. Mother tells father; father tells one son; one brother tells the other. You see, a chain – one big, unending loop. Like you and Earth and Fire."
Ryo had never thought of it that way. His forehead creased as he trained his eyes on his friend. He knew Rowen was intelligent, he simply never knew he was so wise. For there is a fine line between intelligence and wisdom, as Ryo had just discovered, one that is rarely noticed or acknowledged. Wisdom comes with experience, and intelligence you are merely born with; you cannot attain intelligence, but you can attain wisdom. "I understand," Wildfire admitted, and he truly did for the first time.
@~~`~~~
The rest of the boys awoke to the familiar smell of toasted bread and eggs. Quickly the stretched their weary legs and scrambled down the stairs into the kitchen for what could be their final meal. After this breakfast the Ronin Warriors would be heading out into their first battle in over a week. Instead of worrying about last minute strategies and tactics, the five sat down for a meal they would not soon forget. It was a feast by all means, for it would have to sustain them throughout the rest of the day, especially Kento. Everyone indulged himself in Mia's fantastic cooking without so much as a thought about war dancing in his head; there was merely pleasant conversation until the conclusion of the fine meal.
After that, everything changed, everyone changed.
