Legends Die Hard

By: Bindy Kitty

Ch. 1: Adela

When angry, count four; when very angry, swear.

Mark Twain

The worst part of it all was that she had no idea where she was. Adela used the words "cursed" and "dammed" quite often, just about every time she passed the same tree. It seemed to her that she was going in one big circle and that she would never get out of the stupid forest.

"Why am I even out here?" She thought to herself. For some reason, ever since the earthquake yesterday, she had this undying urge to go into the forest in Toyama. After 5 hours of wandering in the forest, she was getting really tired.

"The only thing to eat around here is the really good looking mushroom. And those hemlock berries. I think I'll pass on both." Adela wandered around the forest for another few minutes, but with each step she felt more and more drained. She walked closer to a large waterfall and looked down into it. There was nothing to her interest and she continued to walk through the forest. She moseyed through the woods for a little longer to find nothing.

"There is nothing in this whole forest but trees and birds and ……."

*~*~*~*

"Rowen! Were going into the city! Do you need anything?" Mia called up to Rowen. He, as usual, was pouring over his schoolbooks, trying to soak up every fact and detail. All of the other Ronin's were going to the city to pick up some groceries. Kento had eaten half of the ones they had, and the other half had gotten cracked or broken in the earthquake yesterday. It wasn't a very bad one, only about 4.3 on the Rickter scale. But for some reason, Rowen couldn't shake this feeling that something bigger, and more dangerous was about to happen. The other Ronins agreed, and strangely enough, Mia said that she could feel something also.

Another queer thing was, that ever since the earthquake, he would frequently space out and daydream about other Ronins, ones they had never met before. And those Ronins happened to be girls! One certain girl seemed to stick out in his mind, one with chestnut colored hair that came down to about mid-back, and emerald green eyes. She was beautiful! She seemed to have this grace about her, and even though she wore and armor, you could tell she was a girl. Even if certain things weren't as prominent, the way she shook her hips when she walked was a clear indication she was a girl. No man alive could walk with a sway of the hips like a girl can.

" I wonder who they could be? If they are even real. I would really like to meet them. If I could." He thought to himself. Just then, Whiteblaze came into the room. "What's up 'Blaze?" Rowen said to him. The tiger began to pull on the sleeve of his blue shirt, and Rowen stood up so that the tiger would not rip his shirt. "What is it boy? Man, did that ever sound like a bad Lassie episode" The tiger continued to pull on his sleeve, and Rowen walked along with the huge animal. When the tiger began to run, Rowen did also. He started to get a feeling that something was really wrong. Finally, after running a few moments, they reached the forest next to the lake. Still running, they came to the denser part of the wood, and up ahead, Whiteblaze stopped to let Rowen know to.

"So this is what 'Blaze wanted me to see" He said aloud. As they got closer, he began to see more details. It was the hole they had dug a few months ago for training. None of the others were dumb enough to fall into it, but it looked like someone had. Rowen looked down into the pit and could see a girl. She was small, but it was obvious she was full-grown.

"Oh my god! It can't be!" Rowen thought. The girl had chestnut colored hair that came to about her mid-back. Could this really be the girl? Whiteblaze jumped into the pit and nuzzled her face with his muzzle.

"Leave her 'lone Whiteblaze. Let me see her." He jumped into the pit and brushed away her hair so he could see her face. It looked almost identical to the one in his daydream. If only he could see her eyes. That would settle it. " What do you want me to do with her?" He asked the tiger. Whiteblaze pushed the girl toward Rowen, and he bent down to scoop her up. As he did, somewhere in the vault of his mind, he could hear a faint but audible click and a dry voice saying

"Done."

"What does that mean?" Rowen said in his head, thinking maybe that he could talk to the voice. But they presence of the voice was gone. "Why don't we get this girl home, whom ever she is."

Back at the mansion, Rowen climbed the stairs to his room he now no longer shared with Sage. Mia had decided that they could have their own rooms after Cye had almost killed Kento for snoring so loud. He placed the girl on his bed and gently covered her up with the sheets. Whiteblaze came into his room and climbed onto the bed also, and laid down at the foot of the bed. The girl was curled in almost a ball, and her lips were slightly parted.

"Who ever she is, she's dazzling. Don't you think Whiteblaze?" The big tiger purred his agreement and laid his massive head down onto the bed. "Well, now all we have to do is wait for the others to get home with the food."

*~*~*~*

"Rowen, were home!" Mia called up to the boy. "Come help us get the groceries inside!"

"Alright!"

For about 10 hours now, Mia had felt strange. It was like there was a new part of her brain that had just then woken up. Periodically she would get glimpses of things, like 5 girls in armor, and then the 14 children, and then the Ancient One. It was strange. It was almost like she was having a major Dejavoo. Even more strange than that, was one of them looked just like her. But she had been with the Ronin Warriors for more than 5 years, and they would have been able to tell if she was Ronin or not. Now even more than ever, she could see one particular girl in her mind. She had chestnut colored hair, and emerald green eyes. Rowen came running out side and grabbed a few bags and then ran back in. By then, all of the bags were gone. Mia walked into the house, and if on cue, the buzzer on the clothes dryer went off.

"Can you guys put the food away? I have to fold the clothes."

"Okay Mia!" As Mia started to fold a pair of socks, her minded started to wander again. This time instead of seeing 5 girls, he saw one of them before an army of thousands. She had black hair that was so dark that it had a faint blue cast. She raised her hands above head and a large tornado formed in front her. But instead of destroying the army, she demolished a huge castle that was beside the army. The army cheered and then departed.

"What could I be seeing, the future, the past, or maybe both?" she thought. She picked up the basket of clothes and walked up the steps to put them in their respected rooms. Whiteblaze walked out of Rowen's room when she got to the top of the stairs and went down them. But when she walked into Rowen's room, something was anomalous. There was a girl in his bed!

"Oh my god! ROWEN GET UP HERE!"

"What's wrong Mia?" Ryo asked her. He then noticed the girl on Rowen's bed, and he laughed. "Woah. Rowen, what were you doing while we were gone?" He asked him. All the Ronins were now up stairs and making fun Rowen. With every word, he grew even more and more red.

"Come on guys, leave him alone." Mia chided. "Who is she Rowen?" Rowen looked at her and could see that she recognized the girl too.

"Woah man, she looks like the girl in my dream." Kento whispered. The 4 other guys looked at her, and looks of recognition crossed their faces also. With out warning, the girl moaned and turned in the bed. All of them turned to look at her as she sat up slightly and stretched, but then grabbed at her leg and yelped.

"Ow! My leg!" She whimpered. Rowen reached towards he, and if suddenly noticing where she was the girl shot up and curled into a ball close to the head of the bed. She grabbed her leg again, and at the same time tried to get farther away from them.

"Who are you?" she demanded. "What do you want? I'm not that kind of girl I hope you know!"

"What? Oh, no! We don't mean that. I found you in the woods, in the pit me and my friends dug and I brought you back here so you wouldn't have to stay down in the hole." Rowen told to her.

"Oh. I guess I should thank you. What your names?"

"Well my name is Rowen."

"My name is Ryo. And the tiger over there's name is Whiteblaze"

"I'm Cye"

"They call me Kento"

"That's cause it's your name stupid. My name is Sage."

"And my name is Mia."

The girls eyes grew very wide, then narrowed, and then widened and she stared at them like they were ghosts. "Are you guys the Ronin Warriors?" she breathed. They gasped and looked at her.

"How would you know?" Ryo demanded of her.

"I know all of you, Ryo of Wildfire, Sage of Halo, Cye of Torrent, Kento of Hardrock, Rowen of Strata and Mia of Dawn."

"Mia of Dawn?" Ryo yelled.

"Mia's not a Ronin!" Kento told her.

"We could have been able to tell." Sage explained.

"She couldn't possibly be. Talpa would have tried to take her armor too." Cye mused.

"It just isn't logical. There are only 9 armors. Not 10." Rowen informed her.

"Your wrong there. Mia has an armor. It's the armor of Dawn. I also have an armor, the sunlight, and their isn't 9 armors, there are 14."

"14? That's impossible!" Sage scoffed at her.

"How old are you Sage?' She asked him, a sly look crossing her face. He glared at her suspiciously,

"19." He told her.

"And in 19 years you've been able to decipher possible from impossible? You're an amazing boy."

"I just mean…" his voice trailed off. He looked up sheepishly and laughed. "Your right. I could be possible."

"That's right. It is possible and it'strue. There are 14 armors, and they all came from Talpa's one armor. I don't know the whole story, or how I even know this much, but I do know something is going to happen, and it's going to be big. I also know that there are going to be more of us coming. But I don't know when…." Her voice trailed off into a whimper as she clutched at her leg.

"Adela! Are you alright?" Rowen asked her, stepping toward her. The girl bent forward and her head laid on the bed and she groaned louder. Rowen pulled back the covers that were on her, and he could see that blood had started to soak her pants. She drew back from it and turned around covering his mouth. Sage looked at her and watched her head sag. He checked for her pulse and then told them:

"She's unconscious. That might be better than if she was awake. She'll be fine. Mia, help her get into a nightgown or some sort of dress were I can look at her leg without taking off her pants. Ryo, get some ice. Cye, get fresh sheets these are soiled. Kento, get the first aid kit. Rowen, was their blood on her when you picked her up?"

With his back still turned, he replied, "I don't think so. If there was, there wasn't very much. When I found her in the pit, her leg was bent backwards, and there was a lump on her leg, but not enough blood for me to notice."

"Rowen, get over it. Adela needs our help. That lump could be a bone that's sticking out of her leg. You should have told us before."

"Oh Sage, don't be so hard on him. Just because he doesn't like to see blood doesn't mean that you can yell at him," Cye chided. Rowen was grateful he stood up for him, but he really didn't like being spoken for.

"Will this work Sage?" Mia asked him. She had come from her room with a light pink sleeveless cotton nightgown. Sage nodded and the boys started to leave.

"Rowen, stay here. I need someone to help me hold her up." He looked at her with a fruitless look and sighed, but he stayed. Mia started to take off Adela's shirt, and Rowen blush a deep crimson, and quickly turned around.

"Rowen, you have to help me hold her up. You can't do that if you're across the room hiding your face."

"Okay." He murmured and turned back around.

"Hold her up while I pull off her pants." He obeyed and she yanked them off. The wound on her leg was crusted with blood, and a small while lump was jutting from it.

"Oh my…. Rowen, keep hold her arms up." He did and Mia slipped the nightgown over her head and then down around her waist. He gently laid her down and turned to call the guys back in.

"Did you see any goods?" Kento whispered to him while he walked back in.

"No stupid. She was wearing under-clothes."

"Were they frilly?"

"Well, when she wakes up, why don't you ask her yourself."?

"No, I think I'll pass"

"Mia, I think we should take her to the ER." Ryo suggested to her, but Sage was already checking out the lesion.

"We won't need to do that. I can heal it. It will still be broken, but we can concoct a more believe able story for the health center. I don't think they will believe us when we say, 'She fell into our pit and our white tiger saved her and brought my friend to get her.' That's not something those people hear every day."

"I get your point. Okay, lets do it that way." Ryo told them in his most leader-like voice.

"After you heal her though, we need to get the bone break checked out by a real doctor."

"Okay, what ever you say." Sage replied, his voice painted with sarcasm. Before Ryo could send back a retort, Sage closed his eyes and covered the blood stained wound with his hands. His hands began to glow a green color and under his hands you could see movement. In a matter of seconds, he removed his hands and the wound was gone, and only a small scar remained.

Adela stirred and looked down at where the slash was and grinned. She looked then at Sage and threw herself at him, catching him in an affectionate embrace. Looking slightly embarrassed, Sage hugged her back and smoothed her hair. Rowen felt a small pang of jealousy, but he shrugged it off. If Adela liked Sage, and he liked her back, then he wasn't going to do anything about it. Sage was his friend, and he didn't want to hurt him.

"Okay, let's get Adela of Sunlight to the hospital, and when we get back, we'll discuss this whole 2 new Ronin's thing." Ryo told the rest of them. Adela released Sage and nodded her head and reached toward Rowen with her arms outstretched.

"Carry me?" She asked him.

Chapter Two