"Come to me and fight alongside me! Fight everyone who wished injury
on you. They are pathetic creatures that only want to throw you down and
torture you. Fight them! Fight to survive! You want to fight. You want
to survive! They beat you so much and made you feel like nothing but they
are nothing! They are the worthless creatures. You are important and
powerful while they claw at you and scrape your skin against their harsh
cruelty. Teach them! Tell them what they truly are! Only in battle shall
the truth be revealed. They hate you and they beat you because they do not
understand you. Only in battle shall they understand your magnificence.
We need each other! We are one in our purpose!"
Shiro awoke, terrified and angry for an unknown reason. Nazaka's stern and curious face was the first thing that he saw.
The Ronin Warrior of Piety had nudged him awake and said shakily, "You were having a nightmare. I think we all were."
"Yeah, yeah," he replied quickly, sitting up. The night was ominously clear and silent, masking the evil that he experienced in his sleep. The chirping of crickets was strangely quiet and creepy like drumbeats in the far distance. All of the Ronin Warriors were awake and withdrawn into themselves. Their eyes reflected the horror of their own dreams. Yuki still slept peacefully unaware. White Blaze paced restlessly a short distance away. Shiro sighed. Two Ronin Warriors were missing. "Where's Jiguro an' Morhiko?"
"Jiguro woke up first and whatever he dreamed really disturbed him. He stormed off near the trees and Morhiko followed."
Ashura said stiffly without looking at them, "We should not allow mere dreams to scare us so easily."
Shiro agreed, "Yeah, it's not good for us ta get spooked. Well," he sighed again and stood up, "I'm gonna check on our two comrades."
After they wore their armors for the first time, the armors began to refine certain qualities of the Ronin Warriors. Mitoma Hitomaro already strived to get the most enjoyment of life and believed that other people were free to do the same within the bounds of their class yet after receiving Strata he began to realize that as a lord born into luxury his duty was to improve the lives of the less fortunate people. Dateki Shiro was already wise in the ways of hard common life and wise enough to understand the moods of the common people yet after receiving Halo he began thinking more clearly, his mind expanded, and he comprehended the political situations in the nobility. Karei Ashura never committed an injustice yet after receiving Hardrock he did more than simple kindness; he became a fanatic for justice. Mouri Morhiko always trusted his friends but never himself yet after receiving Torrent he trusted himself and saw only the truth. The others were refined in similar fashion and each day they awoke feeling reborn with a greater since of purpose.
"There were times when I thought about defying the Ancient One," Jiguro admitted sorrowfully, "Yet I never really considered going against him. My outburst the other day was unexpected. It even surprised myself." Jiguro shuddered and buried his face in his hands, "I dreamed that I was fighting him and in my dream, I was trying to kill him. Although I disagree with his decisions, I must never let my actions go to that extreme."
Morhiko sighed uneasily, "I also dreamed about fighting but we know that the Ancient One is doing everything that he can with the best of intentions."
Jiguro shouted suddenly, "What good did the Jewel of Life do for his clan? I had an older brother and he was the bearer of the Jewel. He was trained to use it and he was the most skilled yet when Talpa attacked, the Jewel failed and nothing worked against him. My brother died, still holding it tight in his hand. The Ancient One arrived days later. Some of the children like myself were cursed by the nether spirits and succumbed to the evil energy that lived inside of them. If the Jewel of Life decided to work properly, the clan would still be alive."
Hearing the conversation, Toshiten spoke up, "You are fortunate that you still have your sanity and that you are not evil like the others. I fought against those mindless creatures a few times and they almost killed me. They horrified me, really. I dreamed about every time I was threatened."
Jiguro said, "I was lost to the madness for a while. The Ancient One spent months trying to heal me. When my condition started to improve, he gave me my armor and trained me to use it. He said the virtue of the armor would counteract the curse. Before I got married, he said the curse would be passed down to my children and that they would need special training. The curse would weaken with each generation but there is always the chance that they would be born completely wicked."
They reflected silently on the new information about Jiguro. Serenity was the best trait to counteract the effects of the curse of a nether spirit, but Jiguro had natural reasons for distrusting the Ancient One.
A figure suddenly materialized stealthily out of the darkness. Uncharacteristically stoic, Shiro of Halo said stiffly, "We all dreamed about different things. Toshiten of the Spring dreamed about threats, Morhiko of Torrent dreamed about fighting, Jiguro of Autumn dreamed about killing. I thought our armors caused the dreams, but I think we caused them because the dreams are of things that the armors of ignorant of and that only we know about. I dreamed about something no one will ever understand." With that said, Shiro walked off silently.
Yuki was confused. Shiro was happy with her and had told her jovially that she was just as important or even more important than the Ronin Warriors. Yuki doubted her older brother's words. The Ronin Warriors were the people who were supposed to save the world from evil and as her real mom said plenty of times before, she was simply a "whiny little brat who needed to be tortured and beaten like all kids." Jiguro disliked Shiro's mood and stoically avoided the group. Jiguro really confused Yuki.
Anyway, White Blaze essentially was her horse, but he was the search dog for the Ronin Warriors. For hours, they followed the trail of scents, footprints, and broken twigs. Unfortunately, the trails of all kinds ended when they reached a river so they decided to split up into groups.
"There are two major places that Hariel could arrive at first if he didn't backtrack and continued in his original direction," Idoju informed them, "The Sanada ninja clan and Senbo."
Shiro was startled, "Senbo? Are you sure? There's a lot of other villages near Senbo."
"Senbo is the biggest village in the area and has a lot of trade and commerce. If Hariel was in the area, the people of Senbo are most likely to know about it first."
"Yeah, I know," Shiro grumbled sourly.
Ashura, Morhiko, Hitomaro, Shiro, and Yuki (along with White Blaze) went to Senbo while Idoju, Jiguro, Toshiten, and Nazaka went to the Sanada ninja clan - Hariel's usual place for hiding.
The elusive Sanada ninja clan hid in the trees, or so Sasaki Idoju said. Despite the Ancient One's warning to not show off the armors (it would cause a major disturbance and upheaval because of the prophecy), the Ronin Warrior of Obedience also advised that they wear at least their sub- armor as they walked through the forest. "The Sanada clan do not welcome visitors so we need our armors to heighten our hearing in case they find us before we find them."
"And every sound is deafening," Toshiten replied in an attempt at sarcastic humor.
They were in the forest for less than five minutes when Nazaka, already paranoid at the prospect of a battle, felt a dull pain above his ankle. He glanced back idly and saw on the ground an arrow, broken on impact against his armor. Immediately, he called out to his comrades and pointed to the arrow.
Jiguro asked Idoju, "Just what you're expecting?"
"Indeed," the Ronin Warrior of Obedience sighed and then shouted out to the unseen person or people, "Ninjas of the Sanada clan! We are the Ronin Warriors! We must speak with Sanada Hariel. Is he present in your company?"
The other four Ronins scowled. They did not think Idoju would foolishly tell the clan everything.
The silence had an atmosphere of controlled fear and confusion. Then a ninja said, "If you are truly the Ronin Warriors, then no one here can slay you." The same ninja appeared on the path in front of them. "Hariel is not a Sanada and therefore I have no loyalty to him. I will guide you."
Shiro stopped them before they reached the sight of the townspeople of Senbo. "Let's go ahead and take our armors off now. Back into our drab, old clothes."
Ashura of Hardrock objected, "If Hariel is truly in there and if he has many friends in that town, those friends will be more inclined to share with us the information of his whereabouts if they see that we truly are the Ronin Warriors."
Hitomaro agreed, "Ashura is correct. Anyone can claim to be a Ronin Warrior, but the fact must be proven in order to be considered seriously. And we will have a better chance of catching Hariel if we were already in our armors."
Shiro disagreed and insisted, "If we go in with our armors, we'd shame our name as Ronin Warriors. Do you wanna shame our good name? Do you wanna make us dishoner'ble? Morhiko, am I telling the truth?"
The Ronin Warrior of Trust said nervously, "Um, yes, you are telling the truth."
"Good, and plus, the Ancient told us not to wear our armors in public!"
"Rekka! Come!" Black Blaze called out in a quiet voice.
White Blaze frowned, torn between indecision. Should he continue following the Ronin Warriors or should he speak with his 'twin'? All of his encounters with the other tiger resulted in a fight and Yuki, sitting on top of him, would be hurt if they got into another fight. White Blaze decided to follow the Ronin Warriors.
"Rekka! If the sight of Ronin armors will cause upheaval then also will the sight of us!"
Changing direction, White Blaze sighed, "What do you want, Tier Monnik?" There was a strange urgency in the other tiger's voice and not a hint of arrogance.
"Follow me. We must discuss this while we circle Senbo."
Bewildered, the Guardian of Virtue obeyed.
Senbo was much like every other town with filthy people but also mixed accents. Foreigners from many different countries resided there to conduct business and to have fun in the tourism section of the town. Determined to stay out of taverns, the Ronin Warrior of Wisdom stubbornly refused to enter all of them. Confused at his sudden reversal in attitude towards his former place of recreation, the other Ronins entered and began asking about Hariel.
At one of the largest taverns, a man asked them, "You're friends of Shiro's, aren't you?"
"Yes," Ashura replied.
The man leaned closer to the Ronin Warriors. "My name's Kokibon and I've known him since he was a little boy. Shiro was actually born in this very building. Can I speak with him?" He grinned.
"Fight? Why fight?" Shiro asked himself, relapsing deeper into his old accent as he remembered the strange dream. "Fightin' dun't make any sense. I've been fightin' all my life and I still wanna fight."
A familiar voice interrupted his thoughts, "Shiro, you mangy coward!"
Startled, Shiro's posture straightened as he turned his head and coldly acknowledged the person, "Kokibon."
Kokibon haughtily accosted Shiro who replied in a brief, indifferent, almost detached manner, leading Hitomaro to wonder sadly about Shiro's mysterious past. The man's lengthy vulgar speeches hurt the ears. Shiro was being insulted and degraded in the most unthinkable ways yet the Ronin Warrior of Wisdom never allowed his anger to show. The Ronin Warrior of Life distrusted Kokibon and disliked his foul attitude.
"Shiro, have you finally gotten the worst level of hell for your afterlife?"
"No," he answered stoically and turned away. ~Fight everyone who wished injury on you. ~ His dream haunted him more as Kokibon asked the familiar questions.
"Well, how low can you go? Or are ya already at the lowest pit?"
~You are important and powerful while they claw at you and scrape your skin against their harsh cruelty. Teach them! ~ How strange that the old abhorrence still existed and the dream was full of it. Was the dream preparing him for this? "Kokibon, I changed a lot since I left here." Shiro warily examined the expressions of the other Ronin Warriors. Why did they bring Kokibon out to talk to him?
Kokibon finished discussing Shiro's travels and said, "You know, a few days ago I visited your mother to see why she's so popular in town, but she's the ugliest creature ever!"
"I wouldn't know," Shiro replied, isolated. ~They are pathetic creatures that only want to throw you down and torture you. Fight them! Fight to survive! ~
"Were you Talpa in a past life? There're rumors that the evil emperor died, only to be reborn worse than before and your class is really fitting for his crimes."
"Yes." Kokibon's logical words and the logical opposing dream confused him. Why was his dream so full of violence?
Hitomaro, bored with the puerile display, reminded them of the important matter at hand. "Excuse me, Kokibon? We are searching for a man who goes by the name of Sanada Hariel. He may not go by his surname because some people say he is not a true Sanada and their saying might be correct. Have you heard of him?"
Kokibon nodded. "There's a friend of Hariel waiting for you outside the town. I'll take you to him. The strange thing about him is that he never said a word but I knew what he wanted. And Shiro, he reminded me of our childhood."
Shiro scowled, lost in his own thoughts, and looked at the other Ronin Warriors. They were the total opposite of him. ~ They hate you and they beat you because they do not understand you. ~
"Tier Monnik, why are we circling Senbo?" White Blaze asked finally.
"Because there will be a battle soon. You need to set the kid down."
"How do I know you're telling the truth?"
"Because I always tell the truth!" Black Blaze shouted. "When you and your comrades were sent to the Tauragi tribe, all of you fought a creature whose strength was marginally weaker than the Inferno. You remember him?"
"Yes." White Blaze sat down, letting Yuki slide off gently. The little girl, not understanding tiger speech, tried to climb on again but White Blaze nudged her off and then she understood that she was to remain off the tiger. "How many of us are there?"
"Honestly, I don't know but there will be one less if the prophecy goes according to plan."
White Blaze frowned. What exactly did that mean? Who would die? If the Guardian of Virtue died, the rightful wearer of Wildfire might also die before being able to wear the armor.
Ashura's sudden shout brought dire urgency to the situation, "He is the same villain who attacked me two days ago!"
The tigers instantly ran towards the source of the yell. The Ronin Warriors defensively surrounded a person in human form. The aura of the creature was identical to the one who attacked White Blaze and his comrades over 500 years ago, but the appearance of the creature was not what he remembered. "How did he get that form?"
Black Blaze replied in a hushed tone, "With power surpassed only by the Inferno, he can take any form that he desires."
In an offensive position against the human warriors was a creature with the appearance of a human male. He wore close-fitting sandals on his feet. His tunic and shorts were made of a lion's skin. His hair was orange and his yellow eyes shone with frightening intensity. In his hands, he firmly gripped a large wooden bo staff. He was the Guardian of the Soul swords of Fervor. He was Yellow Flame.
Shiro awoke, terrified and angry for an unknown reason. Nazaka's stern and curious face was the first thing that he saw.
The Ronin Warrior of Piety had nudged him awake and said shakily, "You were having a nightmare. I think we all were."
"Yeah, yeah," he replied quickly, sitting up. The night was ominously clear and silent, masking the evil that he experienced in his sleep. The chirping of crickets was strangely quiet and creepy like drumbeats in the far distance. All of the Ronin Warriors were awake and withdrawn into themselves. Their eyes reflected the horror of their own dreams. Yuki still slept peacefully unaware. White Blaze paced restlessly a short distance away. Shiro sighed. Two Ronin Warriors were missing. "Where's Jiguro an' Morhiko?"
"Jiguro woke up first and whatever he dreamed really disturbed him. He stormed off near the trees and Morhiko followed."
Ashura said stiffly without looking at them, "We should not allow mere dreams to scare us so easily."
Shiro agreed, "Yeah, it's not good for us ta get spooked. Well," he sighed again and stood up, "I'm gonna check on our two comrades."
After they wore their armors for the first time, the armors began to refine certain qualities of the Ronin Warriors. Mitoma Hitomaro already strived to get the most enjoyment of life and believed that other people were free to do the same within the bounds of their class yet after receiving Strata he began to realize that as a lord born into luxury his duty was to improve the lives of the less fortunate people. Dateki Shiro was already wise in the ways of hard common life and wise enough to understand the moods of the common people yet after receiving Halo he began thinking more clearly, his mind expanded, and he comprehended the political situations in the nobility. Karei Ashura never committed an injustice yet after receiving Hardrock he did more than simple kindness; he became a fanatic for justice. Mouri Morhiko always trusted his friends but never himself yet after receiving Torrent he trusted himself and saw only the truth. The others were refined in similar fashion and each day they awoke feeling reborn with a greater since of purpose.
"There were times when I thought about defying the Ancient One," Jiguro admitted sorrowfully, "Yet I never really considered going against him. My outburst the other day was unexpected. It even surprised myself." Jiguro shuddered and buried his face in his hands, "I dreamed that I was fighting him and in my dream, I was trying to kill him. Although I disagree with his decisions, I must never let my actions go to that extreme."
Morhiko sighed uneasily, "I also dreamed about fighting but we know that the Ancient One is doing everything that he can with the best of intentions."
Jiguro shouted suddenly, "What good did the Jewel of Life do for his clan? I had an older brother and he was the bearer of the Jewel. He was trained to use it and he was the most skilled yet when Talpa attacked, the Jewel failed and nothing worked against him. My brother died, still holding it tight in his hand. The Ancient One arrived days later. Some of the children like myself were cursed by the nether spirits and succumbed to the evil energy that lived inside of them. If the Jewel of Life decided to work properly, the clan would still be alive."
Hearing the conversation, Toshiten spoke up, "You are fortunate that you still have your sanity and that you are not evil like the others. I fought against those mindless creatures a few times and they almost killed me. They horrified me, really. I dreamed about every time I was threatened."
Jiguro said, "I was lost to the madness for a while. The Ancient One spent months trying to heal me. When my condition started to improve, he gave me my armor and trained me to use it. He said the virtue of the armor would counteract the curse. Before I got married, he said the curse would be passed down to my children and that they would need special training. The curse would weaken with each generation but there is always the chance that they would be born completely wicked."
They reflected silently on the new information about Jiguro. Serenity was the best trait to counteract the effects of the curse of a nether spirit, but Jiguro had natural reasons for distrusting the Ancient One.
A figure suddenly materialized stealthily out of the darkness. Uncharacteristically stoic, Shiro of Halo said stiffly, "We all dreamed about different things. Toshiten of the Spring dreamed about threats, Morhiko of Torrent dreamed about fighting, Jiguro of Autumn dreamed about killing. I thought our armors caused the dreams, but I think we caused them because the dreams are of things that the armors of ignorant of and that only we know about. I dreamed about something no one will ever understand." With that said, Shiro walked off silently.
Yuki was confused. Shiro was happy with her and had told her jovially that she was just as important or even more important than the Ronin Warriors. Yuki doubted her older brother's words. The Ronin Warriors were the people who were supposed to save the world from evil and as her real mom said plenty of times before, she was simply a "whiny little brat who needed to be tortured and beaten like all kids." Jiguro disliked Shiro's mood and stoically avoided the group. Jiguro really confused Yuki.
Anyway, White Blaze essentially was her horse, but he was the search dog for the Ronin Warriors. For hours, they followed the trail of scents, footprints, and broken twigs. Unfortunately, the trails of all kinds ended when they reached a river so they decided to split up into groups.
"There are two major places that Hariel could arrive at first if he didn't backtrack and continued in his original direction," Idoju informed them, "The Sanada ninja clan and Senbo."
Shiro was startled, "Senbo? Are you sure? There's a lot of other villages near Senbo."
"Senbo is the biggest village in the area and has a lot of trade and commerce. If Hariel was in the area, the people of Senbo are most likely to know about it first."
"Yeah, I know," Shiro grumbled sourly.
Ashura, Morhiko, Hitomaro, Shiro, and Yuki (along with White Blaze) went to Senbo while Idoju, Jiguro, Toshiten, and Nazaka went to the Sanada ninja clan - Hariel's usual place for hiding.
The elusive Sanada ninja clan hid in the trees, or so Sasaki Idoju said. Despite the Ancient One's warning to not show off the armors (it would cause a major disturbance and upheaval because of the prophecy), the Ronin Warrior of Obedience also advised that they wear at least their sub- armor as they walked through the forest. "The Sanada clan do not welcome visitors so we need our armors to heighten our hearing in case they find us before we find them."
"And every sound is deafening," Toshiten replied in an attempt at sarcastic humor.
They were in the forest for less than five minutes when Nazaka, already paranoid at the prospect of a battle, felt a dull pain above his ankle. He glanced back idly and saw on the ground an arrow, broken on impact against his armor. Immediately, he called out to his comrades and pointed to the arrow.
Jiguro asked Idoju, "Just what you're expecting?"
"Indeed," the Ronin Warrior of Obedience sighed and then shouted out to the unseen person or people, "Ninjas of the Sanada clan! We are the Ronin Warriors! We must speak with Sanada Hariel. Is he present in your company?"
The other four Ronins scowled. They did not think Idoju would foolishly tell the clan everything.
The silence had an atmosphere of controlled fear and confusion. Then a ninja said, "If you are truly the Ronin Warriors, then no one here can slay you." The same ninja appeared on the path in front of them. "Hariel is not a Sanada and therefore I have no loyalty to him. I will guide you."
Shiro stopped them before they reached the sight of the townspeople of Senbo. "Let's go ahead and take our armors off now. Back into our drab, old clothes."
Ashura of Hardrock objected, "If Hariel is truly in there and if he has many friends in that town, those friends will be more inclined to share with us the information of his whereabouts if they see that we truly are the Ronin Warriors."
Hitomaro agreed, "Ashura is correct. Anyone can claim to be a Ronin Warrior, but the fact must be proven in order to be considered seriously. And we will have a better chance of catching Hariel if we were already in our armors."
Shiro disagreed and insisted, "If we go in with our armors, we'd shame our name as Ronin Warriors. Do you wanna shame our good name? Do you wanna make us dishoner'ble? Morhiko, am I telling the truth?"
The Ronin Warrior of Trust said nervously, "Um, yes, you are telling the truth."
"Good, and plus, the Ancient told us not to wear our armors in public!"
"Rekka! Come!" Black Blaze called out in a quiet voice.
White Blaze frowned, torn between indecision. Should he continue following the Ronin Warriors or should he speak with his 'twin'? All of his encounters with the other tiger resulted in a fight and Yuki, sitting on top of him, would be hurt if they got into another fight. White Blaze decided to follow the Ronin Warriors.
"Rekka! If the sight of Ronin armors will cause upheaval then also will the sight of us!"
Changing direction, White Blaze sighed, "What do you want, Tier Monnik?" There was a strange urgency in the other tiger's voice and not a hint of arrogance.
"Follow me. We must discuss this while we circle Senbo."
Bewildered, the Guardian of Virtue obeyed.
Senbo was much like every other town with filthy people but also mixed accents. Foreigners from many different countries resided there to conduct business and to have fun in the tourism section of the town. Determined to stay out of taverns, the Ronin Warrior of Wisdom stubbornly refused to enter all of them. Confused at his sudden reversal in attitude towards his former place of recreation, the other Ronins entered and began asking about Hariel.
At one of the largest taverns, a man asked them, "You're friends of Shiro's, aren't you?"
"Yes," Ashura replied.
The man leaned closer to the Ronin Warriors. "My name's Kokibon and I've known him since he was a little boy. Shiro was actually born in this very building. Can I speak with him?" He grinned.
"Fight? Why fight?" Shiro asked himself, relapsing deeper into his old accent as he remembered the strange dream. "Fightin' dun't make any sense. I've been fightin' all my life and I still wanna fight."
A familiar voice interrupted his thoughts, "Shiro, you mangy coward!"
Startled, Shiro's posture straightened as he turned his head and coldly acknowledged the person, "Kokibon."
Kokibon haughtily accosted Shiro who replied in a brief, indifferent, almost detached manner, leading Hitomaro to wonder sadly about Shiro's mysterious past. The man's lengthy vulgar speeches hurt the ears. Shiro was being insulted and degraded in the most unthinkable ways yet the Ronin Warrior of Wisdom never allowed his anger to show. The Ronin Warrior of Life distrusted Kokibon and disliked his foul attitude.
"Shiro, have you finally gotten the worst level of hell for your afterlife?"
"No," he answered stoically and turned away. ~Fight everyone who wished injury on you. ~ His dream haunted him more as Kokibon asked the familiar questions.
"Well, how low can you go? Or are ya already at the lowest pit?"
~You are important and powerful while they claw at you and scrape your skin against their harsh cruelty. Teach them! ~ How strange that the old abhorrence still existed and the dream was full of it. Was the dream preparing him for this? "Kokibon, I changed a lot since I left here." Shiro warily examined the expressions of the other Ronin Warriors. Why did they bring Kokibon out to talk to him?
Kokibon finished discussing Shiro's travels and said, "You know, a few days ago I visited your mother to see why she's so popular in town, but she's the ugliest creature ever!"
"I wouldn't know," Shiro replied, isolated. ~They are pathetic creatures that only want to throw you down and torture you. Fight them! Fight to survive! ~
"Were you Talpa in a past life? There're rumors that the evil emperor died, only to be reborn worse than before and your class is really fitting for his crimes."
"Yes." Kokibon's logical words and the logical opposing dream confused him. Why was his dream so full of violence?
Hitomaro, bored with the puerile display, reminded them of the important matter at hand. "Excuse me, Kokibon? We are searching for a man who goes by the name of Sanada Hariel. He may not go by his surname because some people say he is not a true Sanada and their saying might be correct. Have you heard of him?"
Kokibon nodded. "There's a friend of Hariel waiting for you outside the town. I'll take you to him. The strange thing about him is that he never said a word but I knew what he wanted. And Shiro, he reminded me of our childhood."
Shiro scowled, lost in his own thoughts, and looked at the other Ronin Warriors. They were the total opposite of him. ~ They hate you and they beat you because they do not understand you. ~
"Tier Monnik, why are we circling Senbo?" White Blaze asked finally.
"Because there will be a battle soon. You need to set the kid down."
"How do I know you're telling the truth?"
"Because I always tell the truth!" Black Blaze shouted. "When you and your comrades were sent to the Tauragi tribe, all of you fought a creature whose strength was marginally weaker than the Inferno. You remember him?"
"Yes." White Blaze sat down, letting Yuki slide off gently. The little girl, not understanding tiger speech, tried to climb on again but White Blaze nudged her off and then she understood that she was to remain off the tiger. "How many of us are there?"
"Honestly, I don't know but there will be one less if the prophecy goes according to plan."
White Blaze frowned. What exactly did that mean? Who would die? If the Guardian of Virtue died, the rightful wearer of Wildfire might also die before being able to wear the armor.
Ashura's sudden shout brought dire urgency to the situation, "He is the same villain who attacked me two days ago!"
The tigers instantly ran towards the source of the yell. The Ronin Warriors defensively surrounded a person in human form. The aura of the creature was identical to the one who attacked White Blaze and his comrades over 500 years ago, but the appearance of the creature was not what he remembered. "How did he get that form?"
Black Blaze replied in a hushed tone, "With power surpassed only by the Inferno, he can take any form that he desires."
In an offensive position against the human warriors was a creature with the appearance of a human male. He wore close-fitting sandals on his feet. His tunic and shorts were made of a lion's skin. His hair was orange and his yellow eyes shone with frightening intensity. In his hands, he firmly gripped a large wooden bo staff. He was the Guardian of the Soul swords of Fervor. He was Yellow Flame.