Disclaimer: I don't own the Ronin Warriors or any of the characters that I've added into this story.

Chapter Ten: Escape from Danger

Kagome screamed as she jumped back. The glaive just missed her face! Zachary went for her again and again. "Kayura!" Kagome called. When she could look Kayura was already holding Harper off. "Well, Herial. Looks like it's show time." The little redhead was incased in the pillar of light and became Herial.

Zachary charged the original Ronin Warrior with rage. "I'll enjoy your final screams!!" He swung his weapon.

"Strata!" The orb turned into a golden bow that blocked Zachary. She pushed him off and flipped back to help Kayura. She pulled the string taunt as a golden arrow appeared.

"You know I could let you live if you come back to the Dynasty. Talpa would be forgiving." Harpar offered.

"Never!" Kayura crossed her blades as water spouts soared for the sky above. "Star Storm Scream!!" Purple lightning surrounded the witch. Harpar didn't flinch as she held up her hand to form a force field. Her concentration was quickly broken as something wizzed by her face.

"What the?" she screamed as Kayura's attack hit her. Then Kayura turned to see Herial. She saw the bow and knew that the armor she didn't know before was Strata. Zachary leaped into the air and fell towards Herial.

"Herial! Above you!"

"Time to die!" Zachary threatened.

"Not quite yet." Herial jumped out of the way and let Zachary hit the ground sending up a cloud of dust. She fired an arrow at his glaive and made the entire blade crack.

Morisato heard a crash. He hurried to the source and found Zachary just barely missing Herial. "That warlord!" He said to himself. He unsheathed his sword and kept his balance with the scabbard. "I can't charge him in my state. I'll just have to catch him off guard."

"You wench!!" Zachary tightened his grip on his weapon. He bent his legs a little and got ready to pounce. Herial loaded another arrow and pulled the string so taunt it creaked. For a minute neither of them moved while they glared at each other.

Morisato saw his chance and threw his sword between them. Both were surprised at the whirling blade that passed by. Herial only glanced for a millisecond and fired the golden arrow. Zachary turned to see the arrow and dodged it. He made it but the staff of his glaive was broken.

He throw the rest of the staff away and decided to use the other part as an axe. "Impressive. Let's just see how you measure up against my attack!" He raised his "axe" above his head and slashed the air sending a wave of darkness!

Herial just scowled and gathered power in the tip of the arrow. "Arrow Shock Wave!!" She let it fly! The two waves stopped at each other and were at a standstill. Then she fired another Shock Wave towards Harpar and grabbed Kayura's wrist. "We don't have anytime to waste!"

Kayura picked up the sword and recognized it as Morisato's. Herial pulled her off and saw Morisato. She put his arm over her back and helped him run all the way to the plane.

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"No really. If you hadn't distracted that guy I don't think that battle would have ended." Kayura said to Morisato when the plane landed in Nigeria.

The swordmaster was modest. "I didn't do anything. I missed. That's all."

"Yeah right." Kagome giggled. Then she turned to Kayura. "Hey, is it true that the Dynasty Gates will open in 2½ months?" Kayura nodded and Kagome sighed. "I don't know if that's enough time to find the other four."

"You've done good progress without me so far. You have five armors already, and you don't have to worry about losing them." She pointed to the child's new emerauld bracelet on her right wrist.

"I guess." Kagome mumbled. "But it's so hard to keep moving with them always trying to kill us everywhere we go. I hate it."

Kayura thought. She hated it as well. Now she knew how Ryo and Rowen felt when they were in the Dynasty to save the others. An idea lit up in her mind as a smile spread across her face. Morisato sat up and beat her to it.

"Why don't you take a day off? You can look for the armors tomorrow."

"Just what I was thinking. No searching, no training." she looked at the injured man next to her. "We'll just go shopping instead." She jingled a leather bag of coins.

Morisato's jaw dropped. "Lady Kayura!" he stuttered unable to say anything more. He couldn't believe she would go shopping like a normal mortal woman. Finally he cleared his throat and spoke. "You are actually thinking of shopping?"

"No. I am going shopping. You can come if you want. Afterall, where's the fun in leaving you alone now that you can walk?" Kayura teased.

"No, that's fine." He sat back in his seat. White Blaze got up and turned from them before laying down again. He didn't want to go either. Kagome laughed at that.

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Kento grunted and groaned as he strained to pull the bars of his cage apart. He had been at it for at least an hour. Cye just sat there timing him, wondering when Kento would either give up or make some progress. He smirked while he waited.

Kento sighed and inhaled deeply. "I can't believe this is so hard! The gates weren't as hard as this. Whew!" he wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Take a break. You deserve it after doing that for 87 minutes straight." Cye said. "Fifteen minutes."

"Who said anything about a break?" Hardrock took a hold of the bars again. "I'm not stopping until I get us out of here!"

"All right. Just don't blame me when you're too exhausted to walk. 'Cause I ain't carrying you." Cye retorted.

"Whatever. Just shut up and let me concentrate!" Kento strained.

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The women walked out of the latest store they went to. So far Kagome had bought three new outfits, a traditional African robe, and a mythology book. Kayura had four new outfits, two hats, a pendant, and a couple of books.

"I've never had so much fun! This is so great!" Kagome laughed and twirled on her heels. "I can't wait to show my mom all this stuff!"

Kayura grinned. "I can't wait to take the Ronins back to Africa. They had an adventure here and they said they'd never come back." The two women laughed and continued down the street.

Just as they were about to enter another store they heard screaming from down the street. People came running faster than was normal for humans. "What's going on?" Kagome asked.

"I don't know. Let's check it out." Kayura walked down stream or people with Kagome following close behind. When they got to where the street was completely deserted all they found were pieces of paper blowing around in the wind.

'Something doesn't feel right here.' Kagome thought looking around slightly shaking. She had a really bad feeling about all this. She wasn't far off since the shadows had eyes. Eyes that glowed red.

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Ryo finally got the lock picked. He opened the cage door with a creak. He didn't wait for anyone to come. He broke down the door and ran down the hall. At a corner he saw the shadows of a few soldiers. Ryo stopped and looked above.

As the soldiers rounded the corner one of them thought the flame of a torch flickered. He looked up and saw nothing. He just shrugged it off and continued his walking.

Ryo watched them go and once he couldn't hear their droning march anymore he jumped down from the rafter and continued his escape. It wasn't long 'til he leaped before he looked. Right smack into a soldier's back!

Ryo stepped back and rubbed his nose. "That smarts!" Ryo sounded like he had a cold. The soldier swung his weapon as Ryo looked. Wildfire ducked in time and punched him in the face! Two more soldiers turned and charged him. Ryo flipped over them and kicked them both. They landed on the floor about 20 feet away.

"The armor did a lot of good for me." Ryo smirked. He dashed down the hall before any other trouble found him. He managed to get himself lost somewhere two floors down. He did manage to avoid more soldiers. Despite the fact that there were a lot more soldiers now that they knew he was on the loose.

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A/N: Sorry it took me so long to get this up. I hope I still have some readers out there who'll be willing to send me reviews.