Note: I no own the Ronins but I own Akira and his mother. –Kurama's Wildfire
Ryo's Secret
Part 1
"Can I go with you daddy?" An 8-year-old Ryo asked, his eyes sparkled as he stared admiringly at his father.
"No, not this time Ryo. I have to be as quiet as I can to get these shots of the zebras. You just stay here and I'll be back in a minute." Ryo's father told him. His father smiled and messed up his hair. Ryo nodded and went to playing with a toy he'd brought with him. His father left and slowly walked toward the zebras. Suddenly he screamed and Ryo jumped out of the car running toward his screams without thinking. Ryo stopped just as he ran out of some tall grass to a clear spot staring in horror at the sight before him. His father's camera lay at his feet, Ryo stared at it for a minute but then his thoughts were torn from the glaring lens to across the clearing. A huge lion was on top of his father biting and clawing at his body. "Ryo! Run! Get away!" His father screamed but was suddenly silenced when the lion bit into his throat. As the struggle from his father stopped Ryo stood frozen watching. Finished with this one the lion started to come after Ryo but just as the lion jumped something tackled it. Ryo was knocked to the ground; he caught the sight of something huge and white protecting him before he slipped into darkness. When he woke up a white tiger was at his side keeping him warm from the cold night.
"Who are you?" Ryo whispered as he moved closer to the tiger.
"My master calls me White Blaze." The tiger told him through his mind.
"You saved my life. Thank you. B-but… what will happen to me now? My father is dead and my mother to. I'm alone." Ryo thought knowing now the tiger could hear his them.
"Yes, but I have been ordered to take you back to Japan in 2 years. In 2 years you will be 10 years old. For the years until then my master wants to train you. He has chosen you to be very special and you will soon learn more. After that I will stay close by but you will have to go back to the city. You can go to the orphanage…" White Blaze explained.
"No! I am Ryo Sanada and the Sanada's do not except charity. I will die on the streets before I except charity." Ryo yelled.
"I understand. Let's go Ryo. My master is waiting; you can ride on my back and sleep until we get there. I know you have been through a lot so rest now little flame." White Blaze told him quietly as Ryo climbed on and he started the long journey.
"Wake up young one." A voice said. Ryo slowly opened his eyes to find himself surrounded by trees and a temple. The voice came from a monk. A monk who wore traditional robes and a large straw hat. Ryo couldn't see under that hat but he could see silver-blue hair hanging down, in his right hand he held a golden staff.
"Who are you and why did White Blaze bring me here?" Ryo asked as he got down from White Blaze's back.
"I am the Ancient. How did you know my tiger's name?" The Ancient questioned.
"He told me. White Blaze is a very nice tiger. He also told me that you had many great plans for me." Ryo told him.
"So you have made your choice White Blaze. Are you sure?" The Ancient asked. White Blaze walked up and purred then walked behind him looking at Ryo. Ryo was thinking they both were nuts but he didn't show it. He showed nothing but respect the way he'd been taught.
"It seems you have been chosen by White Blaze to carry a armor in the up coming battle for this world. But now it's the armors that have to chose you." The Ancient explained as he held out five different colored orbs. The light blue glowed with the kanji of Trust; the green one had the kanji for Wisdom. An orange orb shown the kanji of Justice, and the dark blue one had the kanji of Life. But the one that caught Ryo's eye was the red one.
"Jin…Virtue." Ryo whispered. The red orb lifted out of the Ancient's hand and floated over to Ryo. Ryo took it in his hand and then watched the Ancient.
"Ah… you have been chosen by the Wildfire armor. This armor comes with great responsibility. You will be known as a leader among the Ronin Warriors." The Ancient told him. Ryo nodded. "I will start your training now. You will be taught to use special kanata's and what attacks go with them, fighting moves, and strategic moves that you will need in battle. Also I will help you with your studies, you can't be a leader if your not smart." The Ancient explained as he walked Ryo through his temple showing him where he would sleep, eat and train. Ryo watched in fascination when he saw the swords and other weapons. "Do you know how to use weapons such as these?" The Ancient asked.
"My father has been teaching me for three years until he died. He once told me that the Sanada's were once a great ninja clan and won many battles. We are a proud bloodline and must keep our honor no matter what." Ryo replied.
"I understand. Come and show me what he taught you." The Ancient said. Ryo bowed and went over the swords. Ryo went through the moves that father had taught him while the Ancient watched. Once done he bowed again. "Very good. I'm impressed." The Ancient told him. As much as he tried to hide it the Ancient could see that he was tired. "Come now, if you are to learn all this you must get your rest. I will show you where you may sleep." Ryo nodded and followed the Ancient through many corridors to a sliding door. The Ancient opened the door to a fairly large room that had a bed, coffee table and one floor mat by it. A place to make the fire had a few burning coals in it.
"This is to be my room?" Ryo asked walking around.
"Yes, now sleep well. We start your training tomorrow. Uh! White Blaze! You are sleeping here? Ah I see you feel he's needs your protection now more than I. Alright my friend watch over him." The Ancient explained and then left closing the door. Ryo listened as the Ancient's staff jingled as he walked back down the halls. Ryo fell asleep on his bed with White Blaze at his side. For the next two years the Ancient did as he said he would and trained Ryo. On Ryo's 10th birthday the Ancient bid him farewell knowing that not all learning must come from being taught but also by experience.
"Thank you for all you have done for me Ancient. I don't think I can ever repay you." Ryo said as he got ready to leave for Tokyo.
"No need. Just protect this world, do not let the evil one called Talpa destroy it. White Blaze will go as far as the woods and mountains outside of Tokyo but then you are on your own in the city. If ever you are in trouble you can always return to White Blaze and he will care for you." The Ancient explained.
"Have the others been chosen Ancient One?" Ryo asked.
"Yes. But you will not meet them until your first battle. However you will know of each other. Would you like to see them?" The Ancient questioned. Ryo nodded with a smile. The Ancient created a small bubble in front of him that showed the image of the first of the other armor bearers.
"This is Sage Date, he bears the armor of Halo. Cye Mouri bearer of the armor of Torrent. Kento Rei Fuan bears the armor of Hardrock and last, Rowen Hasiba, he bears the armor of Strata." The Ancient told him while the bubble showed Ryo a picture of each of the guys at about 9 years old.
"Thank you Ancient and goodbye." Ryo called as he and White Blaze ran off into the woods. The Ancient smiled; Ryo would not let him down. He would sooner die. Ryo and White Blaze stood on a hill just above Tokyo looking down at the busy city. Ryo had only his belongings rapped up in a small blanket slung over his shoulder. "Well White Blaze I guess this goodbye for now. I'll see you in a few days." Ryo told him and he started walking down the hill into the town. Once there he stared in wonder at sights before his eyes. A nice looking woman is standing outside the orphanage watching some kids play in the yard when she looks up and sees Ryo walking by looking in.
"Konnichiwa, genki desu ka?" The woman asked.
"Daijobu." Ryo replied.
"My name is Nani. I'm new in Japan, are you thinking of staying with us?" Nani questioned him.
"No. I'm am Ryo Sanada. And anyone of the Sanada bloodline does not except charity. Thank you anyway, it looks very nice." Ryo told her.
"You're going to live on the streets?" Nani asked shocked.
"Yes. I will not except charity. I may be only 10 years old but I know the meaning of honor." Ryo answered. Nani watched as he walked off into the crowd. 4 long years passed and Ryo grew into a tall, handsome but skinny 14-year-old. He spent most of his time down by the riverbanks taking on anyone who would fight him and learning anything they would teach and show him. Then one night after he'd beaten the best fighter in Tokyo, of course it was an unofficial match so no one would know of it. He was walking toward the woods where White Blaze stayed when someone's cold hands grabbed him and pulled him into an alleyway. He tried to fight but they slammed him up against the brick wall and he fell slowly to the ground as the darkness closed in on him. Later that night or morning he wasn't sure which Ryo woke up, White Blaze licking his face. "Ah… White Blaze…what happened?" Ryo whispered and then realized that he was cold. White Blaze slowly helped him stand and that was when his pants were at his feet. He couldn't believe what had happened and then leaned against White Blaze for support. "My honor…it's…it's been taken away from me… I must fight to regain it." Ryo thought. A few months later Ryo had fallen asleep leaning up against the wall of a store with a raggy old torn blanket as a cover. Pretty much the only way to ignore his stomach pains was to sleep them off but now he was so hungry that it really didn't work. An elderly man found himself walking down a street looking into store windows when he came to a small candle shop he stopped. Homeless people usually didn't sleep on the sidewalks during the day and this one really seemed to bug him, it was a young boy.
"Why hasn't someone taken him to the orphanage yet?" The man wondered and he walked up to the boy. He moved Ryo's leg to wake him up and slowly Ryo looked up at him. "Are you alright son?" The man asked.
"Yes, I'm sorry Sir. I didn't mean to fall asleep here…I just did. Please forgive me. I just haven't eaten in a few days." Ryo pleaded thinking he was the owner of the shop.
"You don't have to apologize to me. Now I usually don't do this but for some reason I want to. Here take this ten dollars and buy yourself something to eat." The man said offering Ryo money. Ryo stared at him for a minute and then looked away.
"I can't take your money Sir it's not honorable." Ryo said quietly. Sir was quiet surprised by this answer.
"That's good because I hate giving charity." Sir replied putting his money away. Ryo looked back at him and smiled more to himself than the man. It was then that Sir came to a decision. "Well then since you are to proud to take my money and I don't like giving it, how would you like to come work for me. I'm getting old and could use the company. I'll give you food and a home for work and your company." Sir offered. Ryo glared at him to see if he was lying or not. When he saw that Sir was serious Ryo slowly pushed himself up and stood straight.
"Thank you Sir. I'll never be able to repay you for this." Ryo told him.
"Don't worry about it. Now come, here's my driver." Sir said as a real nice car pulled up and a man got out to open the door for them. As it turned out Sir lived in a great big house on the other side of town. He gave Ryo a room to live in and food to eat. In return Ryo worked as hard as he could to repay him for his kindness but knew he never could. One day Ryo was practicing with his Wildfire swords in the back yard when a maid saw him and ran to tell Sir. He came back with her and watching from the window for a few minutes. Then he walked out the door to find out what this was about. "Ryo? Could we talk for a moment?" Sir asked. Ryo stopped training and made his swords vanish into thin air. This surprised Sir and he stopped walking towards Ryo.
"I guess you want to know about those swords?" Ryo questioned.
"Yes." Was all Sir could say.
"Well…my name is Rekka No Ryo Sanada. At the age of 8 I was in Africa with my father on assignment for his job taking wildlife pictures when he was attacked by a lion and killed. After that a monk took me in and told me that I was destined to fight for the fate of this world when something called the Evil Dynasty attacks. I am the warrior of Wildfire and bear a powerful armor. He taught me how to further increase my skills using those swords. You see the Sanada bloodline is very proud and honorable. Many of my ancestors were Samurai and Ninja's. Everyone in my family knows at least a little of how to use katana's. My father was training me when he died and then the monk took over for him, I must keep up my skills. I hope I didn't scare you to bad." Ryo explained.
"Wow. I'm glad you finally opened up to me. I am impressed with your past and encourage you to work as hard as you can." Sir answered smiling. About a month later Ryo had been with Sir for a whole year and he was happy. But this happiness wasn't to last. One day the doorbell rang and Ryo answered it. Outside on the door step there is a baby in a basket with a note. Ryo read the note.
Ryo-
Well you ruined my life. Thanks a lot! Here he is your son. I carried him so you can take care of him! Have Fun!
Screw You!
R.G.
Ryo read the note horrified. He checked yes there indeed was a baby there. Ryo cursed under his breath. He went to find Sir and found him in the library. "Sir…I've done something horrible and now some really dangerous people are after me. I must leave so you won't get hurt. You've been so great to me and I just couldn't bear it if something happened to you." Ryo told him.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Sir asked worried. Ryo shook his head.
"No, I have to leave. But don't worry I'll write as soon as I can." Ryo replied then bowed and ran to get his things. Sir and his maids saw Ryo off at the door, all of which were crying as they watched him leave never to return to that house.
"Good luck Ryo and keep safe." Sir whispered after Ryo had disappeared. Ryo made his way to the woods where White Blaze was; then they left to live in the mountains until Talpa attacked. All the while keeping Ryo's little boy Akira a secret.
*Stay tuned for Part 2!!!!!!! Please R&R!!!!! –Alkvingiel aka Kuramas_Wildfire*
