Disclaimer: …
Warnings: …
A/N: Wee! Another chapter! *dances* Er…not that it's surprising or anything, all things considered. ^^; Here, enjoy! Eh...nearly forgot to put this stupid thing up. -_- Anyway. Stay tuned for the Note from Bailey-chan at the bottom!
Telepathic speech is in those little squiggly things. ~telepathy~
Thoughts are in italics.
~*~ means a change in POV
Chapter Nine: In Which They Have Their First Fight
Neither the Ronins, Troopers, nor Warlords had time to even think before they all rushed blindly forward through the open doorway. The scene that met their eyes did nothing to calm their worst fears.
Amanda lay unmoving in a pool of blood on the floor only a few feet away from a pedestal holding ten armor robs. Denice appeared unscathed as she hovered above her. Between the two girls and the orbs, four evil-looking warriors stood, their faces covered by their hideous helmets.
The two Mizuchaki's and the Tsukishimo's, Rajura thought grimly to himself.
Cale's sharp gasp broke the tense silence as he ran forward to Amanda's side.
One of the Tsukishimo's shook his head slightly from side to side as he pulled back on his thick bow and released the thick arrow.
It caught Cale in the shoulder, pushing him down just as he moved forward to protect the white-winged girl's still form. As he glanced at the arrow deeply embedded in him, he heard himself gasp and felt his eyes struggle to remain focused. Forcing himself to crawl again to his position as protector, in front of Amanda, he waited for the next arrow he knew would come. It did.
An angry growl from deep in Sekhmet's chest reached his eyes as he leaped forward with a snarl. At the same time, Rajura attacked from beside him. Another fierce battle cry resounded from the air as the attack became threefold.
As he watched, Rowen was held back only by the thought that without his armor, he would just be in the way. So did the rest of the Ronins and Troopers.
Both Mizuchaki's braced themselves for Denice's slicing katanas, while the Tsukishimo's both knocked new arrows to meet their own attackers.
But Sekhmet and Rajura were already too close. Their blades pierced the evil warriors' armors, but they couldn't tell if any real damage had been done. Their opponents both pulled identical knives out of small, hidden sheaths and began to slash down on the Warlord/Masho duo. Their fight became desperate.
Above them, Denice was sharing their frustration as her skillful blows fell with no success on the Mizuchaki's. There was no way they would be defeated by just the three of them.
Rowen was now frantic! He knew that their three charges couldn't stand a chance against the four impenetrable warriors of Tobraea. And without his and the other Ronins' and Troopers' armor orbs , they could do nothing to help.
The orbs! That's it! He almost jumped for joy. With the orbs' guardians occupied, he swiftly and quietly reached the pedestal.
Reaching for his orb, he quickly motioned the others over. They caught onto his plan and raced over.
Within seconds, they would all have their orbs, Rowen thought happily, if only—
"Ahhhh!" A Mizuchaki's bellow filled the air as they saw him crash into the pedestal. It crashed to the ground, throwing the orbs to the ground underneath the rubble.
"No!" Ryo yelled, desperately trying to find his orb, hoping that somehow they were unbroken. All the Ronins and Troopers were now searching through the rubble for their orbs, oblivious to the battle around them.
In the confusion, they heard the whack of the other Mizuchaki's powerful trident as it slammed Denice into the wall. With a cry, she slid to the floor.
Rowen, who had managed to hold tight to his orb, ran to her.
Sekhmet paused in his own battle as the thought of contacting Dais and the other Masho came to his mind.
~Dais!~
~What now, Sek? Not a spin-the-bottle game?~
~DAIS!~ Sekhmet thought-spoke, blushing.
~What's going on?~ At least now they were getting back on topic.
~They're too strong for us, and Amanda and Denice are both hurt and Cale too, and we can't keep fighting them and they're all looking for the orbs since he knocked them over—~
~Whoa. Hold on there. I can't understand a thing you just said. Start over.~ Dais attempted to calm the flustered boy.
~I can't! We're battling! You have to find us and help!~
~Okay, look, no matter what, we'll find you guys. Just hold on.~
Sekhmet didn't respond.
~*~
"What's wrong?" Kayura frowned at him.
"I'm not really sure. All I know is that they're in a battle that they're losing and something about looking for the orbs that got knocked over. Oh, and Amanda, Denice, and Cale are hurt."
Her glare intensified. "Well, in case you haven't noticed, we can't exactly run next door to help them. We don't even know where we are! How can we find them?"
"We will somehow. We just have to work our way backwards until we find the dungeons, since that's where they probably are." Dais was already walking back the way they had come.
"But Dais," Anubisu exclaimed, "this maze is constantly changing! Every time we turn, a wall changes behind us! It seems as if we're going in circles."
"We have to try."
The group sighed, recognizing the grim, determined look they so often saw on Rajura's face.
"Okay. Let's go." Kayura raised her hands in defeat.
~*~
Even as he raised one of his blades to block a stunning blow, Sekhmet knew their time was running out. He doubted if they had even ten minutes before their hour ended. How stupid we were to think we could escape, he thought as he blocked another of the Tsukishimo's powerful thrusts. He turned his head just in time to see Rajura thrown against the floor, hard, by his foe. They were in big trouble if the Ronins and Troopers didn't find those orbs. Only Rowen and Kay, besides himself, were fighting, just barely keeping the demon warriors at bay.
Suddenly, a bright light flashed behind him.
The Ronins and Troopers were up! In full armor with their weapons flashing, they charged into the fight.
Sekhmet breathed a sigh of relief. It appeared that Tobraea's evil warriors were unsure of how to deal with this new onslaught. They glanced at each other once before vanishing.(1)
Sekhmet collapsed to the floor, his whole body aching. Other than a few cuts, he appeared to be all right. Glancing around, he saw that the others hadn't faired as well.
Rowen carried the moaning Denice in his arms and laid her beside her twin.
Amanda was leaning against the wall clutching her side, her hand red with blood.
Cale lay next to her, muttering incoherently. Sekhmet winced at the sight of the three black arrows protruding from his friend's shuddering body.
Rajura was slowly getting up, holding his head and talking to Kay in Japanese.
Sekhmet turned back to Rowen as he began to speak.
"Amanda, you healed me?" he asked the white-winged demoness. The hazy memories of his recovery after his first fight with Tobraea were becoming clearer.
Slowly, she turned to look at him.
"Yes," she replied.
"You must heal Denice. Now." Rowen could hardly keep from shouting.
Wearily, she nodded. "Give me a moment."
Sekhmet watched the pale girl breath deep and close her eyes in concentration.
"Save your strength," a weak voice spoke.
Rowen sat up suddenly as if hit by lightning.
"Denice?" he cried, almost to afraid to hope.
"Yeah. It's me." Her eyes fluttered open as his hand grasped hers.
"But I thought…I mean, you…I…" stuttered the blue-haired boy in surprise.
"I just hit my head. It's not that bad. I'll be fine. Help me sit up." Rowen gladly assisted her. "That's better," she continued, "Now, once I stop seeing three of you, be ready to go. Do you think we have about five minutes left?"
Her question caught them all by surprise.
"I forgot about that!" Rajura smacked his head, causing him to wince with the new pain.
At the Ronins and Troopers confused glances, Kayura explained. "Now all we have to do is find the exit and we're free."
"If we can trust Tobraea to keep a promise that is," Sage muttered to Kento.
"Wait."
They all glanced at Amanda expectantly.
"I…I have to heal him." Her gaze looked on Cale.
"Amanda," Denice frowned in protest. "Even healing at full health leaves you weak. You're in no cond—"
"It doesn't matter. He may not last much longer." She stubbornly glared back at her other half.
Rajura and Kay exchanged amused glances.
"Okay, just hurry," Denice agreed, smiling.
With an attempt to smile back, she closed her eyes and reached for Cale's forehead.
A brilliant flash blinded everyone. When they could see again, Cale's wounds had been closed and the arrows that had once pierced him lay at his side.
He stared down at the now unconscious girl beside him before gently picking her up in his arms.
"Which way to the exit?" he finally spoke.
Denice just pointed as they all stumbled out of the room.
A/N: Yup. And...all the little notes I might like to add to her little note will be in italics….
Note from Bailey-chan:
Um…greetings my fellow fanfic readers… (she's a writer, but never mind….) This is "Bailey-chan" as D calls me. (Hey, what can I say, it's better than some nicknames I've been called….) Anyways, after reading through some of the chapters I've written, I've come to the conclusion that (drumroll please) (*does a really bad drumroll*) I suck as a writer! *sniffles* However, I have a few really good excuses as to why all my chapters are so sappy and crappy:
1. This is the first fanfic I've EVER written,
2. I wrote most of these chapters like two years ago,
3. I was held at gunpoint by D and ordered to write the chapters or ELSE (you doubt this?) (I doubt this. I don't have a gun. …I do have a katana, though. *grins evilly*)
4. I've never read a fanfic before (Well, actually, she has…but it was a one-shot and doesn't really count)
5. I've never seen one single Ronin Warriors episode EVER!!! (I'm trying to remedy that…but I don't have enough money for the DVDs, and I've only ever managed to download one episode on my computer…. Say, anyone care to donate some money for me to buy the DVDs?)
So there, are you all satisfied? (I'd also like to add that she can't spell. Satisfyed. Haha.)
Good. I guess that's it. Farwell.
~Bailey-chan
So, yeah. Did ya'll get all that? Good. I'm off to find something else to type up. ^-^ Maybe I should get back to finishing the first chapter of the sequel….
(1) Has anyone else noticed that fighting scenes are really hard to write? *glares at them* At least Bailey-chan got stuck writing all of them. *grins* B-c: *glares at QS* Yeah. Thanks a lot. You're just jealous because you got all the "walking and discovering" chapters. QS: Dream on.
Thanks to:
AnimegirlH- Woo! New reader! *huggles* And I'd like to repeat what I put in the A/N of the first chapter: this fic is usually a once a week update, either on Friday or Saturday…Sunday, if I don't remember those two days. But I'm glad you like it. ^-^
Wildfire Dreams- Sekhmet rules, even if he does pretend to be an idiot half the time. ^-^ And keep hoping, you'll see what happens. *refuses to give anything away…mainly because the sequel isn't done, which means she doesn't really know*
Harry2- Yes, he did. Can you believe it? I think it was one of my chibis. And I hope you do find them…maybe you'll be willing to…er…do something to him that I would never do. ^^ Heh. And I'm glad you like the pairing…I've been living in fear that I've been making Mary Sues and was going to be flamed for it. I know most Ronin fans are really tough on the whole Mary Sue thing. ^^ Anyway. Enough rambling, I need to get back to writing.
Hm…aren't I missing someone? Oh, wait. NELL! WHY DIDN'T YOU REVIEW!? (Haha, I can get away with yelling at her, since she's my friend.)