Starlight Never Dies
By Lady Ava
Disclaimer: I do not own the Ronin Warriors.
Author's note: This is a Rowen and Kayura fic. Please don't flame me if you don't like the pairing. If you don't like it, then don't read it. Simple enough.
"Rowen…"
A soft airy voice called through a thick fog. It was very distant and very haunting. The young Ronin reached out towards where the sound was coming from, reaching desperately for the person that was calling him.
"Rowen…"
The voice was closer than before. It was of a woman and it was someone that he knew. Rowen tried to move towards the direction, but he was limited to only reaching out towards the voice.
"Rowen…"
Suddenly, the fog started to thin, revealing the outline of a person. Although it was only a shadow, Rowen knew who it was in an instant. "Kayura…" He mumbled under his breath.
"Please…set me free again…" Kayura whispered into the wind.
Tiring to advance a bit, Rowen felt himself be restrained by some unknown force. "I will…and then we can be together again." He called to her.
All of a sudden, the youth's bonds broke, causing him to run towards the new ancient. Kayura opened her arms and within seconds, they embraced. Rowen held the girl close to him, hoping that he would never have to let go. Her long hair felt like silk in his hands and her skin was soft to touch. He never thought that he could find true happiness, but perhaps he was wrong.
Lifting her chin up so that their eyes could meet, Kayura and Rowen closed their eyes. But before they could lock their lips together, the girl was ripped from his arms and was being pulled away back into the fog. Rowen reached out to her, but it was not to his advantage. She was being taken from his life…again.
"Kayura!" He shouted.
"Rowen!" Kayura yelled back as she vanished.
Falling to his knees, Rowen called into the empty space. "Kayura!"
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Opening his eyes slowly, Rowen shook his head lightly. He was laying on the window seat in the Koji house's family room, a copy of Ancient Myths and Legends sitting on his chest. 'I must of fallen asleep watching the snow.' Rowen thought sleepily.
Glancing out the window, the Strata warrior saw nothing but white. It was now December and for the first time in the Ronin's lives, they got to spend a quiet holiday at home with each other, Mia, and White Blaze. Since the battle with Talpa lasted for a year, they hadn't had time to worry about holidays and such. It was a week before Christmas and the first snow of the season had fallen the night before the present. It was suppost to snow for the rest of the week and on Christmas. Not to mention that it was to be their last day of school tomorrow for an entire month.
Usually, this would have made Rowen happy, but he just wasn't into the holiday spirit. For the past few days, he kept having the strangest dreams about Kayura. She was always calling for him to set her free again. But, he had no idea what she was trying to tell him. It was so unclear to him. All he knew was, he longed to see her again.
Standing from his outstretched position, the youth cracked his back. Then, bending over to pick up his book, he thought allowed, "Kayura…why are you asking me that?"
As he dusted off the cover of his book, he looked out at the frozen lake. Although a light snow covered it, he could tell that it was there. Then, sighing to himself, he headed for the library.
Rowen was extremely glad that Mia had decided to spoil herself and buy a new computer. Since it had twice as much memory, it made research go twice as fast. Turning the modem on and then the screen, Rowen's mind kept flashing back to his dream. Kayura's eyes were filled with tears. Her hair was so soft in his hands and her skin was sweet to smell. Feeling his heartache, he tried to remove the thoughts by typing them into the computer.
His fingers flew across the keyboard as he drained everything from his head. All the emotions, all the yearning that he felt for Kayura, he poured into the computer. Hours seemed to past as he sat there, trying to rid himself of his emotions. Soon his eyes started to grow heavy and sleep started to engulf him once again. But before he lost all sense of what he was doing, he saved his work and closed the file, so that if the others were to come in and find him, they wouldn't read what he wrote.
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"Rowen…Rowen…Hey. Wake up."
"He's dead to the world. Why can't we just leave him?"
"Because I know him and he wouldn't want to miss dinner."
Opening his eyes, Rowen was laying face down on the couch. He had one of Mia's blankets drawn over him and had four of his friends hovering over him. Glancing away from the pillow, the youth yawned. "What's with all the noise? What do you guys want?" He asked tiredly.
Ryo, Sage, Sai, and Kento looked down to see Rowen staring at them. "Oh, hey Ro. Do you want to sleep? Or do you want to eat?" Kento questioned quickly.
"All depends…" He started as he sat up. "Who cooked?"
"Sai did." Sage told.
Smiling as he let the blanket fall to the floor, Rowen stood. "If Sai cooked, I'm so there."
Crossing his arms over his chest and nodding approvingly, Ryo turned towards the kitchen. "I told you so Kento." He shot to his hardheaded friend.
Walking quickly after his leader, Kento had his mouth hanging opened. "Would you not gloat? It really annoys me."
As Sai followed behind his best friend, his hands rubbing his temples a bit, Sage turned to Rowen. "Rowen, can I ask you something?"
"Sure. What do you need?" The blue-haired boy asked happily as he folded the blanket.
Shoving his hands into his jeans pockets, Sage cleared his throat a bit. "I was just wondering. Why have you been staying up so late lately?"
Rowen froze at his friend's question. He had been up extremely late and for good reasons. He just couldn't stand to have Kayura taken from him over and over again. That it was like having his heart stomped on every night. But he couldn't tell Sage that. None of the others knew that he and Kayura loved each other. That on the day she left to go back to the Dynasty, he was actually tearing. He never admitted it and said that it was just something in his eyes. But they couldn't have known. The other guys wouldn't have understood.
"I…just can't sleep…that's all." He simply answered, his voice trailing off in the end.
Shrugging, Sage turned and headed off into the kitchen, leaving Rowen and his thoughts alone in the room.
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Later that night, Rowen sat on his bed cross-legged, going over star charts for Astrology class. Out of all the other Ronin, the genius of the group had the most work to complete over their one-month break. His teachers had given him three reports, two essays, and tons of reading to do. But, it was a light workload compared to most of the stuff he was used to doing.
Sage was quietly meditating on the window seat of their room. Rowen never understood what he liked about sitting still for hours, on end, in a trance like state. The last time that he had meditated, he had fallen asleep. Needless to say, that metal exercise did not serve its purpose in Rowen's case. But it made Sage extremely alert in battle, so it worked.
While Rowen sat there, pouring needless energy into his work, the stars slowly began to swirl into a blur of whites, reds, and blacks. His eyelids were very heavy and his arms and legs felt as if they weighed more than needed. Yawning, the youth shoved his things out of the way and flopped backwards onto his bed.
Before he could drift off into sleep, a soft knock came at his door. "Come in…" He mumbled in a disgruntled fashion.
"Rowen?" Mia's soft voice questioned as she stepped into the room. She was dressed in a blue silk kimono with matching color slippers. Her hair was in a low-slung ponytail that was tied with a blue hair ribbon. In Rowen's mind, she looked ready to go to a festival rather than to bed. "Are you alright?" She asked, gliding across the wooden floor and to his bed.
Pushing his school papers onto the floor, Rowen made room on his bed for her to sit down, in which she took the offer and sat down. "I'm fine. Why do you ask?"
Mia adjusted the collar to her outfit. "Well, you haven't been eating a lot lately. And you look exhausted. You have big bags under your eyes and your skin has started to loose its tan color. Are you not feeling well?"
Turning over so that his back was to Mia, Rowen sighed. "I fine. Really I am."
"For some reason, I don't believe you." The girl said firmly, causing Rowen to sit up quickly and stare at her. "I mean, you just aren't yourself. Your whole personality has taken a major spin ever since a few weeks ago. Rowen…I'm worried about you."
Feeling his heart sink, Rowen flopped back against his pillows. "I'm just a little…pre-occupied with something that's all." He said softly, stifling a yawn.
Smiling her charming soft grin, Mia stood. "Alright Rowen. I believe you. But if you need to talk, come to me okay?" She told him softly as she turned to leave.
"I will. Thanks Mia." Rowen said as she left the room.
Sliding down under his covers, Rowen sighed. 'I wish I could tell you Mia. I really wish I could. But you just wouldn't understand.' And with that, he fell into an uneasy sleep.
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The next morning at breakfast was indeed exciting for the young men of the house. They sat at the kitchen table in their school uniforms, chatting away about what they had planned to do that day in their classes. That's when the disagreement came up.
"Kento, they would never let us do that in gym class." Sai stated from the stove as he and Mia put the finishing touches on the waffles.
Rolling his eyes, the built Ronin slid down in his chair with his arms crossed across his chest. "I think that is extremely possible to do with all the snow we should have on the field by now."
Sipping his cup of freshly brewed green tea, Sage sighed. "Kento, I don't think that they allow dog sled races in school."
"Ya never know." Hard Rock fired back at break neck speed. "It isn't in the school rulebook, is it Rowen?"
But no answer came from where Rowen sat. The blue haired strategist had his vision hidden from sight by an Astrology book that was placed up against the milk container. The entire table was silent as they waited for one of Rowen's snappy comebacks that he was so good at delivering, but it never came.
"Rowen? Earth to Rowen! Come in Rowen!" Kento shouted as he ripped the book away from in front of the teen's face.
The sight was something that the Ronin Warriors never expected to see from Rowen of all people. He had his head buried in his folded arms that rested on the wooden table. The only thing that was truly visible was his blue hair. (But that was something that no one could ever miss.) And the thing that got the rest of the group was that he was snoring softly into his sleeve.
Feeling a sweat drop run down the side of his face, Ryo reached over and gently started to shake his friend's shoulder. "Rowen? Rowen? Wake up."
Moaning slightly, the Strata warrior lifted his head slightly and stared at Ryo and then at the rest of the table. "What is it? What's wrong?" He asked, as if the scene wasn't already strange enough.
"You were asleep." Sage told his best friend softly.
Sitting up straight, the groggy youth rubbed his eyes. "I was? All I did was rest my…head on my…arms…and…" But he couldn't continue. He just kept yawning widely.
Mia and Sai looked at each other and then at Rowen. Their mother detection was turned on to full power. "Rowen, did you get any sleep last night?" Sai questioned.
Chuckling at the question a bit, Rowen rested his head in his palm. "Of course I did. A full hour's worth."
"An hour? Rowen, I can't let you go to school. You're too exhausted to get through your classes in the state that you're in." Mia stated firmly, taking control of the situation that was placed before her.
Sliding his chair away from the table, Rowen let out another coo of tired laughter. "I can't afford to miss a day of school. Too much work to do. No matter what I have to do, I will go to school." Standing from a now quieted table, Rowen turned and walked towards the doorway of the kitchen. As he reached the doorframe, he grabbed it with a hand. "I'm going to…go…and…sit down in the…family…room."
Rowen's body couldn't say up any longer. His weak and aching knees finally gave and he fell to the cool tile floor, leaning still against the doorway. He heard the sounds of chairs moving across the floor and the muffle sound of slippered feet coming over to him. 'I don't care anymore.' He thought to himself. 'That dream keeps me up all night and if I fall asleep, I see it. I can't stand loosing her all over again every time I close my eyes.'
Looking up, Rowen's blue eyes met a pair of even more graceful light blue ones. They were the eyes of Sage. "Hey, you okay?" He asked.
"'m okay. I just tripped that's all." The youth lied.
Raising a questioning eyebrow, Sage shook his head. "Here. Let's get you into the family room." As he lifted the tired blue haired warrior to his feet, he turned his vision back into the kitchen. "Mia, can you make a strong cup of coffee for him? I think he needs it."
"Sure. Coming right up." Mia's worried but still sweet voice called back.
Rowen didn't want to fight back and insist that he was okay. He let Sage drag him over to the couch and throw him down into an upright position. The youth just wanted to cripple over into a flat position and fall asleep but he knew that he couldn't. If he did, then the dream would come back to him. He would see Kayura get pulled from his arms again. There was so much that Rowen could stand. His parents fighting when he was little, Kento's bad jokes, and Sage's cooking were things he learned to tolerate over the years. But loosing Kayura over and over again was something that could drive him to the breaking point.
Suddenly, a hot mug of black coffee was shoved into his hands. "Drink up Rowen." Sai's voice said from above.
Placing the cup to his lips, Rowen drank the hot liquid. It was just the way he liked it: hot enough to keep Ryo from drinking but black enough to keep Kento away, who always drank his coffee with at least ten sugars and ten creams. "Thanks." He managed to muster out.
"Rowen? Are you alright?" Mia questioned as she sat down next to him.
Yawning a bit, Rowen averted his gaze to the floor. "I'm fine. Just a little tired."
"I would be too if I only got an hour's worth of sleep last night." Ryo stated as he sat down in the armchair that was next to the couch.
"Are you feeling okay?" Sai questioned.
Rowen didn't answer the question. He just kept his heavy eyes to the floor, hoping that they wouldn't try to do anything. All he wanted was to just be left alone and could have time to think. His dreams were more than dreams. They were so real. Kayura's soft skin and sweet smell were like she was almost there in his arms once again. 'My dreams…they're not just dreams…'
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Rowen felt himself starting to lose awareness of his surroundings. The others were talking about something, but it just sounded like mumbling. A cold feeling rushed over his entire body as he sat there, his eyelids growing heavier. Suddenly, Mia's family room vanished into a thick white fog. A very familiar white fog. The cold feeling was becoming stronger as he sat in the void of mist.
'Rowen…'
Looking up, he saw the figure in the mists once more. Her long flowing hair blew gently in the breeze that caused him to shiver. He could see his breath as he panted.
'Rowen…'
The air was becoming colder by the minute. He felt as if he was going to freeze to death at any moment. But she was so close to him….
Suddenly, a scream echoed through his mind that could have shattered glass…
********************
Opening his eyes, Rowen was met with five sets of different colored eyes. The other Ronins and Mia were looking at him with concern written all over their faces. "What's wrong?" He asked tiredly.
"You fell asleep again." Kento stated as he sat back down onto the couch.
Placing a sweaty palm to his brow, the blue hair boy closed his eyes. "I'm sorry."
Mia smiled sweetly at him as she sat down on the edge of the coffee table. "You're not going to school today Rowen." She told him flatly.
"But Mia-" Rowen quickly started but quickly silenced by a finger to his lips.
"No buts, Rowen." Mia said, more firmly than before. "You can barley stay awake now. How can you get through an entire nine period day and manage to stay awake?"
Opening his mouth to fight back, Rowen was only silenced. He knew she was right. Besides, what would happen if he woke up screaming in the middle of class? They already thought he was weird, but that would just add onto it. Finally, after a few moments of uneasy silence, he finally gave in. "You win."
Nodding, the rest of the group smiled. "Maybe you should see a doctor. This can't be very healthy." Sage told his best friend.
"Maybe your blood pressure has dropped again." Sai added, starting to agree with what Sage was getting at. "You remember the last time it went down. You slept for god only knows how long and then you were as weak as a kitten for three weeks."
Studying Sai for a moment, Rowen couldn't help but think. 'Maybe Sai's right. It could be my blood pressure. I always dream the strangest things when I have a blood sugar problem.' Then, nodding, the youth cleared throat. "That might it."
**************************
Kayura let out a scream of pain as she fell to the cold stone floor of the Dynasty's prisons. Her arms were covered with bloody opened scars that gushed with the red fluid. Her once beautiful shinning hair was now dull and longer than before.
As she lay here in her torch lit cell, the young woman moaned and cried slightly in agony. Her graceful prayer robes were now in shreds and her armor under protected her torso slightly. But she still had been beaten to the point of death. She wanted to scream, but had no energy to do so.
Suddenly, a shrill laughter filled the room as a shadow appeared above Kayura in the torchlight. "You are truly pathetic Kayura. You had it all when you severed under Talpa." A deep woman's voice scoffed from the shadows. "And you gave it up and for what? To become the new Ancient One? To help the Ronin Warriors?"
Trying to sit up, Kayura panted heavily. "No…you're wrong Arai."
"Of course…I remember why you gave it up." Arai stated coldly. Stepping from the darkness, a woman on 26 appeared. Her long silver hair hung to the backs of her knees and was held back with a black rose. She wore armor that greatly resembled Kale's, dark red and blacks.
Reaching down, Arai gave a swift kick to Kayura's stomach, causing her to fly into one of the stonewalls. "You gave up all the riches of the dynasty for that damn Ronin!"
"Leave her alone." Dais' voice shouted. He, along with the other remaining warlords were chained against the farthest wall. They had been stripped of their armors and were left long with Kayura to rot in the prisons of the Dynasty until the day of their executions. "She hasn't done anything."
Laughing, Arai glared over at the three former servants of Talpa. "Hasn't done anything. She's is the last of the Ancients. She once fought for the winning side. And now look at her." She told, scowling at Kayura, who was trying to get into a sitting position. "A fool who is in love with a Ronin! Which one is it Kayura? Ryo of the Wildfire? Or maybe Sai of the Torrent? Perhaps it's Sage of the Halo or Kento of hard Rock? No, I know."
As she headed towards the door of the cell, she stared back at the four people. "It is most dangerous Ronin. The one they call Strata. The one who is so quick on his feet that he is able to seduce any woman he wants."
"You bitch…" Kayura mustered out weakly.
Turning quickly on her heels, Arai stormed back over to Kayura. "What did you call me?" She screamed as she prepared to strike the girl down.
"That is enough Arai. Return to me." Talpa's cold voice echoed.
Withdrawing her hand, the white haired warrior stood straight up. "Very well. You escaped for now. But I will get you for that remark." And with that, she vanished into the depths of the castle.
Their bonds vanishing as soon as Arai vanished, the three men rushed to Kayura's side. Dais picked the girl up into his arms and started to help her heal her wounds. Because all three of the warlords had been cleansed with the power of the Staff of the Ancients, they, along with Kayura, had the power to heal.
"Kayura, are you alright?" Kale asked as he and Sekmet hovered over her as well, helping in the healing process as well.
Panting lighter than before, the girl nodded. "I need to reach…Rowen…" She told them weakly.
"Not in your current state. You hardly have any energy left as it is." Dais said softly. Ever since they had been cleansed, the warlords acted as three fathers to Kayura.
Closing her eyes, Kayura let a few sparkling tears fall. "Rowen…please help me…" She muttered as she fell into a void of darkness.
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~ What do you people think? I know, it may not be that good, but when one is bored at Band Camp and has free time and a laptop with them, strange things intend to happen. Please Read and Review.