Disclaimer: I do not own the Ronin Warriors. But wish I did….
Author's Note: Okay, I know. I know. This doesn't go along with most of the original story line of the Ronin Warriors. But this is my view of how everything came to together before the Television show started. So, don't flame me over little things that I might have changed. It will all come together in the end.
Chapter One
The Meeting of Five
By: Lady Ava
"Ryo! Get up honey. You're going to be late for school!" A sweet voice called through a small house in the woods.
Sitting up in bed, a young teen shook his head. His shoulder-length black hair hung loosely down his back as he sat there, panting lightly. Ryo's deep tiger blue eyes looked through the darkness of his small bedroom. Reaching up, he grasped his brow with a sweaty palm. "Man, what a nightmare." He thought as he looked over at his end table.
For the past week, Ryo had the same nightmare over and over. A mysterious red orb floated in front of him. He tried to reach it every time, but each time it would slip away from his grasp. Then, the fiery circle would vanish and four outlines of four people would appear before him. They were all surrounded by different colored light. One was covered in a deep green glow, while another was showered in orange. The other two were blanketed with two different shades of blue; one light and one dark. He had no idea what his dream was trying to tell him, so it never progressed any farther than that.
His eyes wandered over the lap until finally, they came to rest on a silver picture frame. The photo inside of the frame was of three people. A man, woman, and a small child stood there smiling back at the troubled teen. Reaching over from his bed, Ryo picked up the fragile picture into his hands. "Father…Tell me…Who are those four?" He murmured, tracing the features of the man.
Ryo's father had died six years go when he went of safari in Africa. He went out late from camp to try to get some shots of the large cats hunting that night. While he was shooting, one of the cats got temperamental and attacked. The members of his crew found him early that morning, barely alive. They brought him back to camp and tried to fix him up, but it was no use. He died on the operation table, leaving his wife and eight-year-old son behide.
Shaking the memory from his head, the black haired teen stood from his bed and placed the picture back onto the table. Walking over to his closet, Ryo picked out his school soccer jersey and a pair of baggy jeans to wear out to school. Looking himself over in the mirror once, the teen grabbed his backpack and headed to the kitchen.
Upon reaching the doorway, Ryo was met with the smell of pancakes and freshly cooked bacon. "Morning, mom." He stated happily as he slumped down into his chair at the table.
Turning from the stove, a black haired and blue eyed woman greeted her son. "I'm glad to see you finally got up, dear. Quickly eat up so you can get to school on time." She said, placing a plate in front of her son.
Taking the plate from his mother, Ryo quickly ate the food in front of him. Within five minutes, the entire plate was cleaned off completely. As her son handed the empty plate back to her, Mrs. Sanada laughed. "Honestly Ryo. I don't know who eats more. You or White Blaze." She laughed, turning to place the plate into the dishwasher.
Rolling his eyes at his mother's comment, Ryo stood from the table. "Very funny mom." He stated, walking up to her. Kissing her goodbye, Ryo turned and ran towards the front door.
The warm morning September sun hit Ryo's face as he walked out onto the porch of his family's home. He smiled as he walked down the path towards the main road. The sound of the animals and the wind rushing through the trees was always Ryo's favorite part of living in the mountains. The rays of the sun shown through the small holes in between each of the leaves, making the path he walked on look as if it were spotted.
While Ryo strode down the path, he let out a high pitched whistle that echoed through the surrounding area. As he continued to walk, the sound of heavy breathing came rushing towards him. The sound of paws hitting the brush and twigs rushed past his side. Suddenly, a large white tiger leapt from the bushes and onto the path. The teen smiled as he saw the cat. "Morning White Blaze. I'll see you a bit later, okay?" Ryo asked, petting the cat's head. Letting out a deep purr, the feline nodded. Smiling, the black haired teen ran off towards the main road.
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"Rowen! Get up or you're going to miss your bus!" A husky male voice stated from at the base of the stairs.
The blue haired teen sat up in his bed. Looking around, he noticed that his blinds had been opened up to there widest, revealing his messy room. There were stacks of papers with notes, equations, and questions everywhere. Textbooks covered his desk, window seat, and floor, all of with were highlighted, torn, and folded. Yawning, Rowen reached down onto the floor, trying to find his alarm clock. He had thrown it there earlier, in an attempt to get more sleep.
Finally, he grasped onto the small digital clock. Looking down at the numbers, Rowen suddenly became wide-eyed. "AHH! It's 6:50! I gonna miss the bus!" He shouted, jumping out of bed.
Running over to his closet, the panic stricken teen grabbed a pair of baggy jeans, his student council shirt, and his jacket. Throwing his school clothes on, Rowan ran over to his desk and scooped up a small stack of exam review packets and three of the largest textbooks on the desk. Quickly looking at the binding, the boy read aloud, "College Calculus, Advanced Aerodynamics, and Advanced English Literature." Nodding in agreement, Rowen grabbed his backpack from his desk chair and rushed from his room.
Jumping down the last three stairs, Rowen slid on the wooden floor and into the kitchen. "Morning Dad!" He shouted as he caught the counter for support. Throwing his books and papers onto the counter, the adolescent grabbed his glasses from next to the small television. "I was looking for these." He stated, hurrying over to the table to grab a bagel from the plate in the center.
"Rowen, you need to learn not to stay up so late studying or else you're going to keep missing the bus to school." His father scolded. Rowen's father was a skilled scientist who was known all over the world for his research. Breakfast was pretty much the only time the two people got to see each other.
Rowen rolled his eyes. "Dad, I would love to stay and chat, but I got a bus to catch." The blue haired teen stated, throwing the food into his bag. Lugging the heavy backpack over his shoulder, Rowen grabbed the remaining books from the counter. "I'll see you after school!" He called from the doorway. Before his father could say anything, Rowen slammed the door shut and he was gone.
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An old gentleman walked through the corridors of an old Japanese Kendo dojo. He was completely silent, except for his sandals shuffling across the wooden floor. As he walked, he would stop to open a sliding door that let the sunlight shine inside.
Reaching the end of the hallway, the man opened the final door in front of him. The room before him was a dimly lit one with the smell of incense hanging in the air. In the center of the room, a young teen sat cross-legged in the center of a small circle of the sweet smelling herbs. He was already dressed in his school clothes, which were a pair of khakis, a green t-shirt with a short sleeved flannel shirt over it. His brown hair was spiked in the way he wanted it and his books and backpack sat next to the door neatly.
The older man walked inside and cleared his throat loudly. "Good morning, Grandfather." The teen said, standing from the floor.
"Good morning Sage. I'm glad to see that you have completed your morning meditation." The man stated as he moved to open the doors to let the light into the room.
Sage lived in the dojo with his grandfather. His parents and younger sibling, Setine, lived in the main house next door. Although the teen slept and ate in the main house, he spent all his extra time inside the dojo, training to learn how to run it.
"Have you seen anything interesting in your visions?" The man asked as he helped the teen put out the remaining sticks of incense.
Placing the herbs into a bowl of water, Sage averted his gaze to the floor. "I saw four teens. They were dressed in ancient armor." He started. "They seemed very familiar to me. But I don't know why."
"You will find out soon enough. Do not let it rest on your mind for the rest of the day." The old man stated calmly.
Nodding, Sage smiled. "I better get going. I don't want to be late." He told his elder, moving to pick up his books and school Kendo jacket.
"Go out the back way today." His grandfather stated calmly, opening the garden doors.
The warm light flooded the room, causing Sage to squint a bit. "Why? I always go out the front." He questioned.
"Because Cindy, Leona, and Katherine are waiting outside for you." Grandfather Date told his grandson with a smile.
Nodding, Sage blushed. "Thanks. I'll take the back way." Jumping outside into the garden, Sage bowed. "See you after school." And with that, he ran off towards the back gate.
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"Sai! Kento's here!" A woman's voice called through a loft apartment. Looking up from the counter in the kitchen, a brown haired teen smiled. His features were very boyish for someone the age of fourteen. His hair came down to about his shoulders and eyes matched his locks perfectly. He wore a pair of loose jeans, his swim team long sleeve shirt and a watch hooked onto one of the belt loops.
"Hey Sai! How's it going?" Another boy stated, walking into the kitchen. He had ash colored hair his violet eyes. His outfit consisted of baggy jeans, a skater tee, a leather jacket, and his backpack.
Sai smiled as he watched his friend walk in and sit at the kitchen table. "Hello Kento. I'll be there in one second." The teen told his friend in a light Australian accent.
Sniffing the air, Kento licked his lips. "Man, something smells great in here. What are you cooking?" He asked, hoping that he could get a piece of whatever it was.
"Sorry Kento. I'm not the one who cooked it. That would be my mother's handy work." Sai told his friend, causing his built friend to sulk. Rolling his eyes, the teenager picked up his bag and jacket. Walking into the family room, he called over towards the bedrooms. "Mom! We're leaving! See ya after school!" Sai called as he and Kento exited into the hallway.
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Rowen rushed towards the bus stop, trying to hold onto the mountain of papers in his arms. As he ran, he saw the final people boarding the mass transit. "Hey! Hold that bus!" He shouted down the street. Breaking into a full out sprint, the teen tried to catch the bus.
Suddenly, the doors to the bus closed and the massive car began to speed away, blowing black smoke from its tailpipe. Rowen ran right into the small cloud of carbon dioxide, causing him to cough wildly. As he hacked, his books and papers flew from his arms and onto the street. "Come…back!" He coughed out.
While the smoke began to clear a bit, a small breeze blew, causing the papers to fly everywhere. "Aw man!" Rowen shouted, trying to catch his homework.
Bending down, he began to recollect his papers. "Hey, did you loose this?" A voice said from above him. Looking up, Rowen came face to face with a boy his age. He had brown hair that covered one of his light blue eyes. He was holding out his review packet for Advanced Aerodynamics.
"Yea, thanks for catching it. I would be dead without it." Rowen stated, rising to his feet.
The teen's eyes met directly as Rowen stood. "Hey, I know you. You're Rowen Hashiba. You're in my English class." The youth stated.
It took Rowen a moment, but finally, he remembered. "Yea. And you're Sage Date, the school's Kendo Team captain."
"Yup, that's me." Sage laughed. Looking down at Rowen's arms, he saw all the different review packets and notes. "Man, finals aren't for another eight months, what's with all the review work?"
Rowen looked down at his armload of books. "I wanted to get a head start. Besides, I finished the required work for freshmen and I'm moving onto the sophomore stuff." He explained.
"Ah, I got ya." Sage stated sweatdroping. "Hey, I know a shortcut to school from here. Care to join me, considering you missed your bus?"
Rowen looked down the busy street and sighed. "Sure. I can't wait here for the next one. Let's go."
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Upon arriving at their school, Sage and Rowen walked up the stone steps towards the main doors. The school was one of the older ones in the city. It was made completely from fine stone and it was larger than other schools. Its large clock tower still had an open belfry and there was a large open courtyard where all the students hung out before their first period class began.
While the two teens sat on the stone wall, Rowen scanned the area, looking as if he were searching for something.
"Hey, who ya lookin' for?" Sage asked.
Smiling, Rowen began to wave his arm in the air. "Hey Sai! Kento! Over here!"
As the blue haired teen rested his hand on the wall again, two other boys came walking over. One had brown hair and brown eyes, while the other one had ash colored hair and violet eyes. "Hey, morning Rowen." The brown haired teen stated, his accent very noticeable.
"Sage, I'd like you to meet two friends of mine. This is Sai Mouri and Kento Rei Fuan." Rowen introduced.
Kento and Sai bowed and Sage returned the gesture. "Sorry we're late, Ro. But Kento insisted that he stop to get some breakfast." Sai explained, rolling his eyes at his large friend.
"I can't help it if I'm into food, dude." Kento quickly shot back in his defense.
Raising an eyebrow, Sage studied Sai. "I haven't seen you before. Did you just move here or something?" He asked.
"I used to go to school across town. But since the district borders we're redone, I was transferred here."
Kento looked at his friend in question. "So then, how do you know Rowen?"
Rowen lowered his head and blushed. "Although I'm great when it comes to Math, English, World Cultures and Science, I suck when it comes to cooking. Sai helped me pass home economics."
Flashback
Rowen sat in home economics his eight grade year, trying desperately to follow the recipe in front of him. He sat there next to the stove, scratching his head in question. "I'm not getting this at all." He shouted to himself, slumping down on the stool.
"What don't you get? Maybe I can help you?" A voice asked from above. Looking up, Rowen came face to face with a pair of brown eyes and a smiling face. The teen had a slight Australian accent and had very brown long hair. "What do you need help on?" He asked.
Standing up, Rowen pointed over to all of the supplies. "I have no idea what I'm going. The only thing I know how to cook is a mircowaveable dinner. And even those always taste nasty when I cook them." He told the other teen.
Smiling, the youth walked past Rowen and into his little kitchen. "I'll be your partner and help ya out so that you can help you pass." The teen offered grinning.
"You will? My god, thank you so much…" Rowen started, but paused because he didn't know the teen's name.
"I'm Sai. Sai Mouri. And you are?" He asked, extending a hand out to Rowen.
Smiling, Rowen accepted the hand. "I'm Rowen Hashiba."
End Flashback
Pretending to be shocked, Kento fell off of the wall and into the bushes. "Oh dear god! The all mighty Rowen can't cook! He is NOT perfect!" He laughed, trying to pull himself from the brush.
"Very funny." The blue hair teen mumbled.
"Yea, I thought it was." The teen stated, climbing back over the wall.
Rolling his eyes, Sage looked over at Kento. "Where do you know Rowen from?"
As he sat back onto the wall, Kento curled his upper lip in thought. "Um…where did I meet blue boy here? That is a good question. Well, he was tutoring me."
"In almost every subject." Rowen added.
The ash haired teen glared over at the teen. "Do you want to take a trip into the bushes?" He asked in a joking treating tone.
Suddenly, there was a loud crash from the center of the courtyard, causing everyone to look over to see what was happening. A large teenage boy, maybe about seventeen years old had thrown a garbage can onto the stairs. He was a built boy, with very wide shoulders. His crew cut hair made him look like an army reject.
"Sanada! How dare you show your face around here after what you did yesterday!" He called angrily.
As he moved to the side a bit, the four teens saw a much shorter boy standing in front of him, with his arms crossed in front of his chest. His tiger blue eyes shot a dangerous stare in the older boy's direction. His shoulder length black hair was messed a bit. "What the hell are you talking about?" He asked.
"You passed me in soccer and got captain! No one beats me in soccer. NO ONE!" The teen shouted even louder.
The younger teen rolled his eyes. "Well, I guess I did." He stated calmly.
"That's it!" The older boy made a lunge at the tiger eyed stranger. Sanada leapt into the air and jumped on top of the older teen's head. Then, running down his back, he kicked him over into a pile of leaves and landed perfectly on the top step of the stairs.
Snuffing at the teen, the black haired boy looked around to see that he had brought a large amount of attention to himself. Blushing madly, he turned on his and rushed inside the school
As the doors to the school closed behind him, the courtyard burst out into conversation about what had just occurred. "Man, all that just because of soccer. Damn…" Kento began, his eyes still wide.
"Who was the shorter of the two? Do you know?" Sai questioned.
Rowen shrugged. "Never seen him before. Have you Kento?"
"Nope. Have you Sage?" The teen asked.
"I've never seen him before." Sage stated. Looking up at the doors, he sighed. 'But for some strange reason, I feel as if I should.' He thought to himself.
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The morning seemed to fly by. The four teens pasted each other in the hallway on their way to their classes and some of them even had classes together. The last class before lunch, World Cultures, all four of the teens had together. They sat at the same table of desks, so that they could work together on the in-class assignment that their teacher had given them to do on Ancient Samurai.
"Man, this is so boring. Why do we even have to study this? Its not like we haven't studied them before." Kento complained, rocking back in his chair.
The others laughed at the teen's bluntness. That's when they heard one of the girls across the room shout. "Mr. Fuji! Can we interview Ryo for our project?" She asked loudly.
"Ms. Lily, what ever for?" Mr. Fuji asked angrily.
Smiling, the girl pointed down at the boy in her group. "Because he's from a Samurai family and knows about all the rituals they perform."
Looking over at Lily's table, the four teens saw whom she was pointing to. "Hey, it's that guy from this morning." Sai whispered.
But he didn't seem tough while he had all his attention brought upon himself. He was sitting low in his chair, his face as bright red as his soccer jersey. His black hair hung over his eyes as he tried to avoid eye contact with any other the other teens. Quietly, the teen looked up and asked, "Could you stop drawing so much attention to us?"
"Oh Ryo. Loosen up a bit. My god." Lily told the teen sternly.
Finally, the bell rang for lunch. Gathering his belongings quickly, Ryo stood from his desk and sprinted out the door.
The four teens sat there wide-eyed. "Man, he moves fast." Rowen told, stating the well known.
Grabbing their positions, the teens headed for the courtyard where everyone ate their lunches. Walking out into the warm October sun, Kento sighed. "This is great! I love it when it's warm out." He said happily.
As the others continued to talk to each other about homework that they had received already, Sage stopped in his tracks. Looking over by one of the largest trees, he saw Ryo sitting there, eating his lunch alone. He was reading a thick book and seemed as if he had forgotten what had happened during class. "Guys, I'll catch up with up." The teen said suddenly, causing the others to look behind them at their friend.
Sage turned and headed over to where Ryo was stretched out. "Sage, where are you going?" Sai asked.
"To talk to someone." He stated simply. 'Ryo, huh? If my meditation is correct, than we will be friends…and allies.'
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Ryo looked up from his book and sighed. 'Man, when will people learn that I'm not a big group kinda guy. Lily can be so annoying sometimes.' He thought as he looked up through the branches of the tree.
"Hey." A voice stated from next to him. Looking over, Ryo saw Sage standing there, smiling. "I'm Sage Date. And you are…" He asked, extending a hand towards Ryo.
Looking at Sage's hand, Ryo grinned. "Ryo…Ryo Sanada. It's nice to meet ya, Sage." He told him as he grasped Sage's hand and shook it.
"Ya mind if I sit here? This is the only place in the entire courtyard that has a decent amount of shade." Sage asked, grinning even wider than before.
Nodding, Ryo moved his books and other papers to the side. Looking past Sage as he sat, Ryo saw three of Sage's friends still standing there, wondering what their friend was doing. "Ya know, your friends can come and sit as well." Ryo offered.
"Okay. Hey guys! Come on over." Sage called over to the others.
As the three other teens sat, they exchanged introductions with Ryo. That lunch period would be the start of the guys' friendship and alliance, just as Sage predicted.
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While they sat, ate, and laughed their lunch away, a man stood on top of the school's bell tower. He smiled as he saw the bond being formed. "The warriors have met. Now, it is only a matter of time until the powers being to emerge." He stated into the wind.
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~ What do you think so far? I hope you are enjoying my first Ronin Warriors story in over six long months. Please Read and Review ~