Yes, FINALLY Chapter 6 is here! Sorry it took so long. I think I finally have all the bugs worked out of my compie now (YAY!) so their should be no more delays... provided the boys decide to talk to me. *pokes Ryo and Sage in the side* So, with no ado whatsoever, I give you Chapter 6. (Oh, and by the way, a Yamazakura is a Japanese cherry tree... who said fics aren't educational? ^__^)

I realized recently that I haven't been putting in disclaimers, so here you go: I DO NOT OWN RONIN WARRIORS/YOROIDEN SAMURAI TROOPERS IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM! (But don't I just wish!) There, are you happy now? Ok, now without further ado...

Roku

It was a cool morning, but the breeze held the promise of warmth. Birds sang out to the sun, flying nimbly from tree to tree. A more perfect morning could never be.

Ryo was preparing to move. He had asked the clan to give him four days; if he had not returned by then, they would take him for dead. He had until dusk.

He pulled the cloth he had used as a mask the night before from a pocket, and, folding it into a strip, used it to pull back his hair. Best to travel as a peasant: they got asked less questions. He gazed around as he unwound his sash from the limbs of the Arakashi, looking and listening for the hordes of samurai he knew would come after him. It was time.

Seiji slid the no-datchi into his obi. It was time. The red aura was beginning to waver in his mind's eye. 'I won't lose him. He won't get away.' "Protect Sendai, Heishi. Evil bears down on us from the North."

Heishi narrowed his eyes. "The Sasaki?"

"The same."

The lieutenant nodded grimly and bowed. "Take care, my Lord."

Seiji bowed in return before setting out into the Western forest. 'Prepare yourself,' he said mentally. 'I'm coming for you.'

Ryo looked up. The wind, from the east and suddenly chilly, had spoken to him, whispering a warning: 'I'm coming for you.'

'What's wrong with me?' he thought angrily. 'Why am I so nervous? I have nothing to worry about.'

He leapt silently to the ground and glanced back toward the castle. 'Still…' The young lord had really gotten to him. There was something about him… that blonde hair and gray eyes. And that feeling of familiarity… Ryo couldn't shake it. It was as if he should know that samurai.

'Eh, snap out of it,' he thought, mentally slapping himself. It made no sense, so there was no use brooding over it.

* * *

Something was following him. He could almost feel its presence. It was coming: neither fast nor close, but gaining. Ryo cursed his luck. 'Damn! Of all the…' He jumped and grabbed an overhanging branch of a nearby Yamazakura—un-peasant-like behavior, he knew—and waited. He nearly fell out of the tree when he caught sight of his pursuer. 'How the hell?'

Seiji's eyes narrowed. The ninja's aura was intensifying—a sure sign he was gaining on him—but where was he? He slowed his pace gradually, his eyes whipping from one side of the forest path to the other. He finally stopped next to a large cherry tree. He was here; Seiji could feel his presence. It was as if they were standing right next to each other. He carefully scanned the forest around him and drew his no-datchi. That ninja was hiding somewhere. But where could he be?

'He's above!' Seiji leapt back as soon as the thought struck him, holding his sword in a defensive position, and looked up at the overhanging branch.

It was empty.

'Damn it, where is he?' The red aura was everywhere. He was here somewhere. He sighed and scanned the area with his mind, searching every crevice. It was the only way he saw the shuriken star flying toward him. He jumped out of the way before facing the place where the star had appeared. "Come out! I know you're there!"

"Is something amiss, My Lord?"

Seiji looked up the path to see a peasant boy about his age standing there, head lowered out of respect. His pants were dark as the moonless night, but his haori was snow white. It contrasted greatly against the boy's sun-browned skin and midnight hair, which had been tied back. The young lord's eyes narrowed. 'I know that voice.' "No," he said slowly, sheathing his sword. "No trouble. Trying to flush out a cowardly ninja."

Ryo bit his tongue to keep from gritting his teeth in anger. 'Pampered noble dog! I oughta…' "The ninja are dangerous, Lord. Stealthy. Secretive. I would advise, with all due respect, utmost caution."

"And how do you know so much about ninja?"

'Shit!' He'd said too much and now was being watched carefully. He could feel the young noble's eyes boring into him. Time for some quick thinking. "They often raid my village," he said. "They remain unheard and unseen until it is too late."

"I see." Seiji knew that voice. The more the other man talked, the more familiar he sounded. "Very much like walking shadows, murdering in the night."

Ryo inconspicuously slipped the hilt of a jitte out of his sash. He was beginning to be recognized. The young lord's life needed to end quickly. "'Murder' is such a harsh word, milord."

"Would you not call it murder?"

"No. I'd call it 'survival.'" He had barely finished speaking before launching himself at Seiji, pulling the jitte free and lifting the blade for the kill.

Seiji drew his no-datchi quickly, using the force and momentum of the draw to knock the dagger from the other's grip. Blue eyes flashed with angry fire as he drew a well-concealed katana. A katana that Seiji recognized as one of his own. Blue eyes…and that voice. "You!"

"You."

Seiji lifted his sword and began circling the ninja, smirking a little. "I thought I recognized the smell of blood on you."

"Huh. You're like a stupid lamb: leading yourself to the slaughter!"

Seiji bristled at the insult. Without another word, he swung violently at the ninja, launching a full assault.

Ryo blocked and parried all the attacks automatically, but his mind was elsewhere. Why did he pick this fight? Why hadn't he escaped, as his ninja instincts had told him? Why hadn't he run when his surprise attack didn't work? Why, why, why? 'Damn it, I don't have time for this! Why couldn't he have been blinded by the flashbomb?' He let out a sudden yell of rage and swung in a vicious counter-attack, off-balancing the young Date for a moment.

Seiji saw the ninja swing his sword in a wide, powerful arc and barely had time to raise his own to block. Their swords met with a loud clang of metal on metal, the sound echoing through the silent woods. But something strange happened when the two blades met.

A brilliant flash of green light erupted in Ryo's mind, blocking out his senses for a moment while a symbol¾ rei¾ burned in his mind. Rei… courtesy? What could it mean?

Seiji's mind reeled from the intense flash of red and the symbol¾ jin¾ that filled his mind's eye with the blow. He staggered backward and he saw the ninja do the same. It had been so bright this time. Blinding. And the burning he felt, as if fire was licking at his mind and the skin of his face.

Ryo blinked his eyes hard against the green light, squinting at the samurai in slight confusion. He had to get more sleep. It looked like the samurai was glowing with that green light. The glow faded slowly and he rose, now wary. This one was well trained. He'd have to be more careful if he valued his life.

The two watched each other for several moments in tense, motionless silence. Seiji adjusted his grip on his no-datchi, narrowing his eyes and trying to predict the ninja's next move. Jin. Virtue. That couldn't have been correct. Ninja had no virtue. He must have seen wrong, or perhaps it was a figment of his imagination from that strange red light. Yes, that was it. That had to be it.

Rei. Courtesy. And that green light. It made no sense! It couldn't be magic—Ryo knew there was no such thing—but something strange was definitely going on. He should run; the young Date looked as stunned as he felt and now would be the perfect opportunity to escape. But Ryo knew the lord would follow him, wherever he tried to go. And besides, what if the lord was only appearing to be stunned? Suppose the he was laughing on the inside? Anger flooded the ninja warrior's veins. The knowledge that escape was the ninja's first objective in a potential fight left his brain. Suddenly, all he wanted to do was fight this young Lord Date. A fight to the death.

Without warning, Ryo pounced on the Date, falling into a ferocious offensive. He sneered at his opponent as all of his attacks were deflected, glared into gray eyes that were narrowed in calculation. 'Damn him!' The two blades locked with a loud clang and Ryo quickly shifted his balance before kicking the samurai lord viciously in the stomach with an enraged yell.

Seiji grunted in pain, backing up several paces while trying to regain his stolen breath. He lifted his no-datchi to block an attack meant to take his head and locked the blades again. Not about to be kicked a second time, he pushed on his blade with all his might, shoving the ninja back.

Ryo skidded back with the force of the blow, nearly dropping to one knee. He snarled as he reached down and grabbed a handful of the fine, loose sand, throwing it into the samurai's face with an enraged yell.

Seiji lifted a hand to his eyes too late. The sand burned his eyes as they watered painfully. "Damn it!" he cursed, swinging at where the ninja had been kneeling. All that he came into contact with, however, was air. He stopped suddenly as he felt the cold kiss of metal on his neck.

"Make one move and I slit your throat," a voice murmured in his ear.

Seiji blinked furiously, trying to wash the irritating sand from his eyes. Slowing his breathing, he relaxed. He would die prepared and with honor.

Ryo hesitated. He wouldn't kill the daimyo. He couldn't. It wasn't possible. That green light had returned, hovering around the edges of his vision and threatening to overtake him once again. Something was definitely wrong.

Seiji opened his eyes as the other boy growled and removed the dagger. He watched, surprised, as the ninja sheathed the katana before retrieving his fallen jitte and replaced it in its hidden sheath. "What are you...?"

"Leaving," came the curt reply. The ninja vanished behind the giant cherry tree before reappearing with a small pack. "Come on, Date."

"Where are we going?"

Blue eyes met gray in an icy stare. "Does it matter? You'll follow me anyway." He then turned away, heading up the path.

Seiji watched for a moment before sheathing his no-datchi and, with a mental shrug, following the black-haired boy.

Oh, doesn't this sound like it's going to be fun? They're going to travel together and yet they hate each other's guts! Oh, the possibilities... (if you think of any, let me know. I'm kinda at a loss at the moment... *waves a cattle prod threateningly at Sage and Ryo* Anyway, many apologies once again for taking so long to update. Don't flame me too much, ok?