Revenance
By S. Arallion
Based on "Ronin Warriors"
(the English version of the anime series "Yoroiden Samurai Troopers")
Disclaimer: All characters in this story are owned by their respective copyright holders—namely, not myself. Anything you don't recognize is my fault. I make absolutely no profit from my use of these characters. ~~Arallion
Part 2: Meetings~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Sage, where have you been? You're soaked!" Mia scolded as the blond Ronin slammed the front door closed and locked it behind him, breathing hard. His eyes were closed as he leaned back against the door.
"Again," Ryo murmured, having heard the tale of Sage's sparring defeat from Kento. Everyone was gathered in the entryway, having been preparing to go out and search for him.
"Guys, you're not going to believe this."
"Try us," Kento grinned. "What is it this time? More Dynasty soldiers? A new Warlord that dumps water on your head?"
"Ha. Ha." Sage shook the water from his hair. "I saw Anubis."
The chuckling that was echoing through the room after Kento's comments went abruptly silent. They all looked at each other, and then back at Sage.
"Are you sure?" Ryo asked seriously.
"Of course I'm sure," Sage snapped, beginning to feel a little silly. "He even looked irritated when I saw him—you know that expression he gets. Er—got," he finished lamely. "Look, I was at the shrine when it happened. I'm sure it wasn't just a trick of the mist."
Mia was frowning pensively. "Until now, you've only been able to see or hear him in dreams. If you're correct, Sage, there may be something dreadfully wrong. Perhaps he was trying to tell us something."
Sage blinked. "I don't think so… he just seemed to be—well, watching me."
"Yeah, if he was there," Rowan raised an eyebrow.
"Hey, look, I'm more of a skeptic than you are. I know what I saw." Sage's grey eyes were flashing, and Mia looked at Ryo desperately. He grinned at her and stepped in to defuse an impending argument..
"Okay, okay. Let's drop it, guys. How about some food?" The boys dashed for the kitchen again, leaving Mia to stand in the entryway, blinking in bemusement.
She stood for a moment longer, listening to the lively noises coming from down the hall. With a thoughtful glance at the front door, she suddenly unlocked it and stepped out onto the porch.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The opening door startled him more than it should have. A great deal of concentration and energy was required to hang onto that blasted umbrella, he realized. Setting the item down gently on the step, he looked up at the door.
"Mia," he breathed softly. Her pert, open face was troubled, unusually solemn— an expression that she had not worn for quite some time, as far as he knew. He felt a strange twinge of sadness at that, watching her look around the darkening driveway searchingly.
Her gaze suddenly sharpened, and she moved to come down the stairs. Anubis tensed, but realized that she was looking at the umbrella, carefully placed on the last step. She bent down to pick it up, looking up and down the drive again as she did so. Her gaze passed right by him, although he was now close enough to feel the lash of her flowing hair on his cheek. If I could feel it, he reminded himself wryly.
"Anubis," she whispered.
He almost fell over in shock, but it was obvious that she didn't actually sense his presence. She gave a soft sigh, and picked up the umbrella, rising to go back up the stairs. He watched her go, fighting off the sudden, overpowering wave of loneliness.
It was at that moment that the shakujo chose to chime. Anubis hissed in dismay and grasped the rings on the ornately wrought staff with shaking hands. Damn, damn, damn….
Mia's head whipped around and she stared out into the rain, but the familiar sound was gone. Her eyes seemed to glimmer sadly. "Anubis, if you're out there," she said faintly, "we miss you." She turned and gently closed the door behind her.
Anubis held his form on the front step for several moments more, clutching the now-silent shakujo with trembling hands. They missed him? Then his energy faded, and he let the Spirit Realm pull him limply away.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"My umbrella," Sage noted with surprise as he passed through the entry on his way to the living room after dinner. "How did that get in here?"
"I picked it up off the front step where you left it," Mia replied in a light tone, watching Sage closely. He looked at her incredulously.
"But I dropped it while I was running—er, I mean, walking!" The Ronin of Halo seemed a little unnerved.
"You're sure?" Ryo stepped up beside Mia, looking quizzically at the umbrella in question.
Sage looked a little embarrassed. "Ryo, would I say something like that if it didn't actually happen?"
Mia looked at them both with a worried expression. "That would seem to indicate that there really was someone there at the shrine. And returning the lost umbrella—well, it doesn't seem like that would be the first thing to occur to a Dynasty creature. Perhaps it was Anubis that Sage saw."
"In which case, there's going to be something bad happening not far behind," Ryo sighed. "But meanwhile, I think we should all sit down together and relax. I think Rowan rented a silly movie from America, and we've got popcorn…."
Soothed by the gentle prattling of his friend, Sage trudged morosely into the living room. Mia grinned at Ryo as they followed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ryo slept fitfully that night, half-expecting to wake and see the pale, ethereal form of Anubis standing in the corner of his room. At the very least, he expected to dream of him.
Finally at 3 a.m., he realized the futility of the situation. How could he possibly dream if he wasn't even able to sleep? He attempted to clear his mind in meditation at last, because it was better than nothing.
After long moments of silence, he began to relax into the meditative state that he'd practiced when trying to get "in tune" with his armor. To his relief, it appeared to be working. He saw the peaceful sky of his meditation place, the moss covered rocks and scraggly trees on the cliff overlooking a wide green valley… and suddenly he saw a faint, familiar outline. Its back was to him, standing at the edge of the cliff, looking out over the world.
"Anubis?" he called. The figure turned its head slowly, looking weary, but the eyes brightened as they focused on Ryo.
"Wildfire—how did you find me?" The voice in his mind was tinged with exhaustion.
Ryo's form made the equivalent of a shrug. "I don't know. I didn't really expect to find you, I thought you might be trying to find us."
"Oh." The pointed face held its serene expression, but Ryo thought he saw a brief flash of uneasiness in the monk's eyes.
"We haven't seen you for a long time, it seems like." Ryo continued to prod.
Anubis looked away from his gaze. "No."
The bearer of the Armor of Wildfire sighed. Same old Anubis, reticent as ever. "You look tired," he commented finally. "Is anything wrong?"
Again the flash of uneasiness, and the sea-colored eyes clouded over. "In the grand scheme of things," he finally admitted with a wry look, "nothing is wrong at the moment."
Progress, Ryo thought. He made a complete sentence, even if it was in Ancient-ese. "You aren't trying to contact us, or warn us about anything?"
"No."
Ryo grimaced. Back to the monosyllabic answers. Time to try another approach, he decided. "So… you didn't appear to Sage in the forest, and you didn't return his umbrella?"
Anubis shot Ryo a quick glance, but relaxed. A slight chuckle escaped the former Warlord's lips. "I really didn't mean to unnerve him, Wildfire. I didn't think he could see me."
Finally an admission, Ryo smiled. His astral form stepped closer to the cliff's edge, up to Anubis' side. They looked out across the valley in silence.
"How is everyone doing?"
Ryo hid his surprise. The normally harsh timbre of Anubis' voice was softened, almost wistful. "Um. Well, we haven't seen any activity for a while, from the Nether Realm, but Lady Kayura wants us to keep prepared. So we're still training with the armors, although we're all in school again during the week. We usually go to Mia's on the weekends and hang out. We can train all we like there… Yuli comes over to Mia's a lot to play with White Blaze, of course. The kid's doing really well in school, and he's only gotten in a few fights." Ryo looked sidelong at the slightly taller man, and saw a faint smile cross his lips. He blinked, and continued.
"Sage, Rowan and I have a lot of classes together. Sage, of course, has a female fan club…" he snorted mildly. "I don't think I'm ever going to understand girls."
Anubis' head turned slightly. "If you ever do, write it down. You'll make your fortune."
Ryo's chuckle came out in a gasp at the unexpected humor. "Anyway, let's see… Kento is actually starting to get better grades, but I don't think he's eating any less. None of us are sure where he puts it all. Cye is doing great with his family, and he's taken up music—I think he's learning how to play the guitar. And Mia, well, she's still finishing her grandfather's work, I think. I'm not really sure how far along with it she is. I know she's been asked to teach at the university, and that she's given a few guest lectures on ancient history, but she's always fairly quiet about it." He sighed. "It seems like she doesn't really do things for herself anymore. When we come over, she's always making sure that we're comfortable and eating right and enjoying ourselves, and when we're not there she's carrying on with her Grandfather's life, not her own."
Ryo trailed off thoughtfully, considering what he had just said. He hadn't really thought of it that way before, but it made sense. He looked across at the still features of his companion. "You're not really interested in all this, are you?"
Anubis returned his gaze quietly. "What makes you say that?"
"You just look kind of—distant," Ryo sighed. "And, I really don't know why you would be interested in all this. It's just, well, life."
The monk's hat tipped forward, hiding the blue-green eyes. "Exactly," came the whisper, so soft that Ryo wasn't certain he heard it at all.
"Why did you come to the mortal plane today, Anubis? It looks like it took a lot out of you, " he prodded, beginning to wonder.
"Actually, I often come to the mortal plane," the former Warlord responded dully. "I do worry about all of you, you know."
The Ronin of Wildfire blinked in astonishment.
"I usually watch you when you go up the mountain to practice," Anubis continued. "Since it was raining today, I decided to try and find you elsewhere. It seems that the closer I get to inhabited places, the more difficult it is for me to remain there, however. And I didn't realize that the shrine you made for me would enhance my form—that was an interesting experience," he finished in a wry tone.
"We didn't even know you were there," Ryo said in amazement.
"You weren't meant to," Anubis responded with a slight smile, but it quickly faded.
The silence fell again as they continued to gaze out across the peaceful landscape.
"Why not?" Ryo asked, finally.
"Why not what?"
The boy ran his hands through his black hair and glared at Anubis. "Why weren't we meant to know you were there?" he said slowly and clearly. He was starting to get the distinct impression that Anubis was avoiding his questions.
The impression was supported by another tilt of the hat, effectively blocking all attempts to see the monk's expressions. "My presence could hinder your progress," the response came, somewhat stiffly.
"As if," Ryo muttered disbelievingly. "And?"
Anubis shifted his stance in irritation. "And—I'm not exactly supposed to be doing it in the first place. Leave it at that, Wildfire."
The frank admission startled Ryo, and he caught himself staring at the tense form of Anubis with an open mouth. He shut it quickly. "But—"
"Ryo, leave it!" The piercing gaze turned on him, diamond-hard in the narrow, drawn face. The boy rocked back on his heels defensively, but continued to stare at the spirit he had once called enemy, and now called friend. Anubis sighed and looked away. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay," Ryo replied quietly. The misery he had seen for a moment lurking behind the fierce glare was disturbing, and he wanted to do something to help. "I guess I don't understand. If it means anything… I'm glad you're watching us."
Anubis' eyebrows went up fractionally, and a faintly bemused smile flickered across the sharp features. "Thank you, Wildfire."
"Good night, Anubis." Ryo felt his presence being pulled back. He needed to sleep.
"Good night, Ryo of Wildfire," the ghost replied formally, not looking around.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~