A/N: Another chapter. It's up pretty quickly, wouldn't you say? Thank you to all my reviewers! You people are amazing. I wouldn't keep writing as vigorously as I do now without your support. So, thanks, and keep 'em coming. Hmm, I don't want to ruin what's coming up in this chapter with too much foreshadowing, so read on.

Disclaimer: The Ronin Warriors aren't mine, but characters created by me for this story are. Have a nice day.

Katsuro awoke slowly. His eyes fluttered open like butterflies as he inhaled sweet, smoky air. He immediately recognized it as incense. The celebration had begun.

He sat up slowly, stretching his back muscles as he sat upright in bed. The pain was dull, but he predicted it would be a painful day. He yawned, not caring whether he disturbed those still sleeping beside him. He gave a nonchalant glance towards the two sleeping women, who now cuddled together under the covers. They had been very satisfying. Perhaps he would keep them, if he felt like it later.

He got out of bed quickly, wanting to speak with his father. Katsuro winced as his stood up, feeling the pain of yesterday's battle in his joints. He retrieved his black robe from his bureau and made way to his bathhouse. He signaled to a slave girl who sat hunched on a bench to wash him. She was young, maybe only fourteen years of age, but she was already showing signs of womanish beauty. With a grace that was rare for a day after battle, he slid into the stone tub, feeling his muscles relax after a moment. He waited for the girl to began washing his back with a sponge. She scrubbed him and then dumped warm water over his head to begin washing his hair.

Half an hour later, he was out of the tub, kissing the slave girl out of curiosity, wanting to satisfy his morning lust. She had been surprised when he had grabbed her, but soon relaxed, allowing Katsuro to express his passion. He grew tired of the kiss and released her, pleased by the dazed expression on her face. All the women did that after his kisses.

He dressed with the assistance of another slave; this time it was a young male. Katsuro had no lust for males, so he merely waited for the slave to dress him. He wore a loose black long-sleeved shirt that clung to his lean, but muscular frame, and baggy black pants, embellished with a gold belt that matched the color of his eyes. He hung his sword loosely on his hips, the scabbard covered with gold and black metal.

He left his chambers, annoyed by the fact that the women in his bed had not stirred yet. He would send for one of the guards to remove them from his quarters. The young man moved with arrogance around the palace, his steps placed confidently as he strode to his father's conference room. He knew his father would be preoccupied with his advisors, but surely he had time for his son.

The guards at the door quickly moved out of the way, too intimidated to protest against Katsuro. Their eyes gleamed with fear and respect as they scanned him quickly before setting their eyes upon the floor and opening the twin doors.

Katsuro observed that his father was meeting with his top advisors, all of which were at least twice Katsuro's age. Each was robed in rich attire, gold hanging from their necks and wrists, their hair twisted up perfectly. They were all circled around the table, scanning and discussing a piece of parchment, which Katsuro assumed was a treaty.

"Father, I must speak with you. Ah, good morning, advisors," Katsuro said loudly, his voice interrupting the conference.

All four advisors looked up upon his demand, their eyes gleaming with distrust and dislike. It was obvious they did not like Katsuro as a person. His opinion was favored over theirs, even though he was not an advisor, and not even an experienced general yet. His decisions about battle strategies and laws concerning the kingdom were always correct, which created another reason in which he was loathed by the advisors.

Katsuro' father looked up from the parchment, his face covered by the crimson mask he always wore, which concealed a long old wound from battle. His face had been horribly scared and disfigured by a fire long ago. Katsuro had never been allowed to see it; his father had been very adamant about hiding his disfigurement, and had once even struck Katsuro so hard for trying to remove the mask that he had flown across the room, breaking two ribs. His father was a powerful man and warrior, but Katsuro still trusted him like a father.

"Advisors," Katsuro's father said, his deep voice booming as he nodded at the men, who were squinting their eyes, sizing up the young general, "I will speak with you later."

The four men left, all glaring at Katsuro, who still stood and smiled slyly as they left.

"Katsuro," his father began, rolling up the parchment, "What news is so urgent for the morning?"

"Don't you want to congratulate me, father?" Katsuro asked, grinning as he leaned on the table.

"On your victory, my son? You know how proud I am. I need not have need for words," his father answered, his voice serious.

"I think that--"Katsuro began, before a thin bolt of pain ran through his body, making him cry out on pain, as he gripped the edges of the table.

"Katsuro!" His father cried, running over to his son.

Another wave of sharp pain came, wracking the warrior's entire body, as he could no longer maintain a grip on the table. He fell upon the floor, screaming out in agony and confusion.

The guards rushed in, their weapons raised for battle. Upon seeing Katsuro in pain, they ran into the corridor and called for a doctor.

Katsuro's father could do nothing but kneel by his son, his emotions hidden by his mask.

Katsuro felt as if his entire body had been thrown in a pit of fire, his skin sizzled, his bones cracked, as his heartbeat speed up until he could no longer hear anything but the continuous, rapid thumping of blood racing through his veins. His vision clouded, as if someone had put a veil over his eyes. After several moments, his voice grew hoarse from his screams, and his bones ached with sharp pain.

Everything he had ever been taught about hiding pain left him. His training of enduring pain with pride no longer meant anything to him as his nerves were wracked and ravaged by an unseen force.

He heard the doctor enter and kneel immediately next to him. He felt his father cradle his head in his lap, though his body began to suffer convulsions. Katsuro's hearing was muffled, as though he was just waking from a dream.

Soon, Katsuro could no longer hear, the figures around him had become ghostly. Their transparent bodies moved in slow motion, and Katsuro felt as though he had been disconnected from the world of the living.

The pain subsided a little, but a dull, throbbing pain continued to pound in his head. His bones ached, his muscled felt stretched and pulled, and his skin felt sweaty and cold. He lay there on the floor, breathing hard; his black clothed body lay limp on the floor. Silence rang in his ears, and he felt alone in the great room.

"Ryo?" A voice rang out, echoing against the stone walls, causing a sharp pain in Katsuro's head upon regaining his sense of hearing.

Katsuro raised his head slightly, his hand automatically moved towards his sword. He strained his eyes in order to determine the position of the person in the room. He could not sense anyone; frustration bloomed like a flower in his mind.

Slowly, his raised himself to a standing position, gritting his teeth, trying to ignore the waves of pain that consumed his nerves. He withdrew his sword; the metal ringing out was the only noise in the chamber.

"Show yourself, mage!" Katsuro cried out.

"Ryo, come back to us," The voice said; its cryptic message sending chills up the lone warrior's spine.

"Come, meet me and fight, if you can overcome your cowardice," Katsuro spat, frustrated. His heart beat with the anticipation of a fight. Despite the pain, he licked his lips, thirsting for a duel.

"Why must you fight us? Have we not fought alongside one another long enough?"

"Show yourself and fight me, you bastard!" Katsuro said, growing annoyed and angry.

"Yes, you should see us..."

A moment later, four shadows shone against the morning light at the far end of the chamber. They stood impossibly tall, but Katsuro could tell the sun was playing tricks on him.

"Emerge from the shadows," he commanded.

Slowly, the four figures made their way up to Katsuro. Their figures shrunk in size, and Katsuro was relieved. He had fought too many giants over the years for his liking. The four strangers' features were revealed, and somehow, they seemed familiar. Each looked about Katsuro's age, perhaps two or three rotations older. Each of them was dressed in bulky armor, their weapons at the ready. A sense of familiarity overcame Katsuro's mind, yet it was soon washed out by anger and the thirst for blood.

"Do you remember us now?" A blonde man asked, his one visible purple eye searched Katsuro.

"You are mages, playing a trick on me. Fight me and prove your worth," Katsuro retorted, snarling.

"We don't want to fight you, Ryo," A blue haired man said softly, a hint of regret and sadness in his voice.

"My name is not Ryo. I am a general of Lord Talpa!"

A small red haired boy gasped, his eyes wide, clouded with surprise and confusion. Katsuro was baffled by his expression.

"Identify yourselves to me, for you are intruders in my father's kingdom!"

"F-father? Are you crazy? What the hell are you talking about? He's your enemy! He tried to kill you! He's not your father! He's messing with your mind, and from the looks of it, he's doing a pretty damn good job!" A hulky boy with short, grayish-brown hair exclaimed, anger igniting his eyes as he stepped forward.

"Kento, calm yourself. He doesn't know all this yet. His mind believes that this life is his," The blonde hair said, stepping forward to hold the short- tempered warrior back.

"You insult my father after trespassing into the palace?" Katsuro asked, raising his sword and stepping forward.

"Ryo, please," The red haired man said, stepping forward slowly, while holding his hands up in a sign of peace, "Don't you remember me? I'm Cye."

"I'm Rowen," the blue haired man said.

"Sage," the blonde hair man said, looking Katsuro straight in the eyes.

"And I'm Kento, your buddy," The last man said.

"I have no memory of you. You speak lies, and you have used sorcery." Katsuro stated.

"Guys," Sage said quietly, although Katsuro could hear him perfectly, "He honestly doesn't remember us, I can tell. That isn't Ryo, but he's inside of him. Look at his eyes. They're not blue anymore."

"They're... gold!" Rowen said.

"Well, what should we do?" Kento asked.

"We may have to weaken his current state here, and therefore, his state in the real world would be weakened. Remember how we pushed through to talk to him before? He was different then; he even looked different. He keeps changing realities. We have to weaken him here, in this reality, but if we fail, he'll switch realities again. Then, we'll have to start all over," Rowen said, matter-of-factly.

While he was waiting, Katsuro slowly built up his energy, anticipating a fight. He ignored what the strange warriors said about Ryo and how he was similar to him. The others seemed surprised by his golden eyes, but Katsuro did not allow this disturbance to interfere with his preparation for the upcoming battle. He maintained his honor by waiting for his opponents to signal they were ready to fight.

"A brawl, you mean?" Kento asked, grinning.

"Yes, Kento, a brawl," Rowen replied.

"Shotgun, baby!"

"Kento, remember, we should only weaken him. I don't know what the effects of killing him here would mean in the real world," Cye said, looking over towards the lone warrior who appeared to be in a state of meditation.

"Yeah, yeah, I would never seriously hurt him, guys. You know that. Well, when I'm finished, you just lead the way, guys."

Katsuro waited for them to finish their discussion, calmed by his mind exercises. His gripped his sword in his hand, feeling the power of the Netherworld pulsing within it. It had been his father's sword, and upon Katsuro's first battle, which had been a victory, his father had presented him with the ancient sword. Its black metal shone with strength and confidence. He could smell the blood of fallen warriors upon the weapon, and he smiled; he would not fail.

"You are ready then?" Katsuro asked, the corners of his mouth turning up slowly in a small smile. How he loved the moment before a battle began. He could sense the other warriors' apprehension, and it was calming to him. He was not nervous; the idea of a battle was soothing to him, as though he was quenching a thirst.

Kento stepped forward, his staff gripped by both of his hands. The other warriors stepped back into the shadows, wanting to give both of the fighters more room, even though the hall was large enough to hold a small army.

Both fighters waited, assessing one another. Kento looked physically stronger, but he was obviously less stealthy because of his weight. Katsuro was not wearing armor, but he was glad because of it. He did not expect to be wounded and his lack of armor proved that he would be even more stealthy.

Kento knew he possessed more brute force, but this so-called Katsuro looked faster. He looked like Ryo; his limbs were longer and more limber, but his eyes were the most intimidating part. They glowed gold, like a wolf's. Kento wondered if he still possessed the same power as before, and whether or not he could call upon Wildfire.

Katsuro charged without warning, moving stealthily across the room towards Kento. Kento cried out, and barely had time to block the attack. The two of them struck and blocked for several moments, and it was obvious that Kento was growing tired, while Katsuro smiled, mostly to himself. He was allowing Kento to stay in the battle because he was curious about him. He quickly assessed the warrior's fighting style- strengths and weaknesses.

Katsuro soon grew bored of Kento; he had figured out the warrior's style. The golden-eyed warrior grinned and sped up his movements. He blocked a blow from the staff and delivered a blow to Kento's face with his left fist. He spun in the air with smooth movements and struck the warrior across the face with a high kick.

Kento cried out, and fell to the ground. Katsuro could hear the other warrior's gasp out of concern, and perhaps even awe of his movements. Slowly, Kento got up, anger shown within his eyes.

"Okay, dude, I've had it. Sorry about this, it's gonna hurt, man. Take two pills and call me in the morning," Kento said, beginning to slowly spin his staff. He held out his other hand and curled it into a fist, "Iron...Rock...Crusherrrrr!"

The floor began to shake and tear, large pieces of stone flying across the makeshift battlefield. Soon, all the stone in the room was swirling about, spreading dust and debris in the air. Pieces of rock fell from the high ceiling, raining down on Katsuro. But, he did not scream in fear or surprise, he merely stood there, his gold eyes locked on Kento. The earthquake lasted only a moment, but Kento was drained. He leaned on his staff, breathing heavily, but grinning.

"I...hope...he's...not too badly... hurt," He said between huffing.

All the warriors waited for the dust to settle before they began to move in where the rocks were piled, which created the illusion of a small mountain.

To their dismay, they heard a voice laughing, echoing in the room. Katsuro's light laughter made chills crawl up all their spines.

"How?" Cye asked quietly, disturbed by the laughter.

"Man, there's no way!" Kento exclaimed.

Out of the dust, emerged Katsuro, who didn't even appear to be tired or hurt. The only sign that Kento's attack had affected Katsuro was the light layer of dust that had settled on his black clothing. A menacing smile plagued his handsome features.

"Come, come!" He shouted, clapping his hands in appreciation, "Was that it? You insult me!" Katsuro cried.

"How did you...?" Rowen began.

"A general trained under Lord Talpa is the strongest of any warrior. He has no use for games," Katsuro answered, anticipating Rowen's question.

"All at once?" Cye asked quietly.

"It may be the only way, but Kento's obviously spent," Sage said, his voice serious.

Katsuro raised his eyebrows, excited by the mention of an uneven fight. The odds were against him, and he liked it that way.

"I'll wait for you to drag him to sit against the wall. I don't want him getting in the way," Katsuro said, grinning like a demon.

"Why, you..." Kento began, before being escorted to the wall by Cye, "I can still..."

"No, Kento. You need to build up your strength. If we need you, you have to be ready," Cye answered, worry in his voice.

"What? You'll be fine, dudes. I just... didn't expect him to fight like that. He fought differently, you know? Ryo was good, but he was more hesitant, unless he was really pissed off. This guy... he moves like a cat, but he's strong too."

"I can still see Ryo in there," Cye said sadly.

"We'll get him back, man," Kento said, trying to reassure Cye, even though he wasn't even sure.

Cye nodded, and held Kento's shoulder for a moment before turning around and joining the others.

Rowen nodded at Cye as he stood beside him. They both looked to Sage, who had unofficially taken Ryo's place as leader both in and out of battle.

"We don't have the energy or skill to keep up with him without the power of our armors. I say we just go in for the kill with our main attacks," Sage said under his breath, not wanting Katsuro to catch wind of his plan.

"So, combine all three? Will that work?" Cye asked, apprehensive.

"Yeah, it'll work, but it's basically an all-or-nothing deal. If we don't put all we have into the attack, we'll drain ourselves and Katsuro will take us down. If we do put all we have into the attack, we'll still drain ourselves, but we can weaken him," Rowen said.

"So, basically, a lose-lose situation?" Cye asked.

"If you want to look at it that way, sure," Rowen answered, attempting to keep his nerves steady.

"Wonderful."

A/N: Another cliffhanger. You love it, don't you? Don't be angry- be a reviewer! Okay, nice plug, huh? I'll put the next chapter up as soon as I can.