AUTHOR NOTE: There is nudity in this chapter. I don't describe it if you're worried about that. The chapter may be shorter than the others but the next chapter is really long. I have the whole thing, except for the editing and adding, down on paper. So I know where I'm going; don't worry.

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The Test of Strength

Chapter 7: Message in the Night

The next two days were full of nothing but training, eating, sleeping, and taking care of an unconscious Ryo. Mia, for the most part, was the one to give Ryo his painkillers and feed him the drinks the doctor had given her. She also cleaned his wounds and re-bandaged them. The one on his left side didn't look like it was healing, and it bled every time someone touched it or Ryo moved too much. Other than taking care of Ryo, Mia also did research on her computer and fixed the others their meals.

The Ronins and the Warlords had spent the last two days meditating and sparring with each other. Every now and then Kento and Sai would start to goof around. Rowen and Sage would ignore them, since they were use to their friends doing stuff like this, but the Warlords would stop whatever they were doing and watch the two chase each other.

"Now what!" Sekhmet shouted in frustration. Kento was chasing Sai, yet again.

"Sai, dude, you better give me that back!" the bigger boy of the two shouted as he ran after his friend.

Sai quickened his pace and ran between Kale and Sekhmet. "Excuse me!" he shouted and continued running.

This time Sage and Rowen stopped sparring and watched the other two Ronins run around the backyard.

"Wha'd ya do this time, Sai?" Rowen asked the auburn haired boy as he ran by.

The Ronin of Torrent just held up a half eaten sandwich as his answer and continued running with Kento right behind him.

"SAI!" Kento warned.

Sage and Rowen laughed and watched to see who would win. More than likely Kento would; he'd do anything for food, probably even beat the hell out of his best friend to get some.

Sai ran pass Dais and tossed him Kento's sandwich. The Warlord caught it without thinking. He looked at it, then at the teen heading straight for him. "DAIS!" was all he heard as the Ronin of Hardrock rammed into him, but didn't knock him down. Dais threw the boy off him, only to have Kento charge again.

The Ronin of Torrent ran over to Sage and Rowen and bent over, trying to get more air into his lungs and to cool off. The other two boys looked at him then at the Warlord who was still holding the sandwich and trying to fight off Hardrock.

"What happened, Sai?" Sage asked as he watched the scene before him.

"He snuck into the house again and got a sandwich; two actually. I told him he was a pig and he shouldn't scarf it all."

"And ya took his sandwich?" Rowen asked. "Are ya crazy? Ya know how he is wif food."

"Just look at what he's doing to Dais," Sage suggested.

Sai looked over at the two. Dais was on the ground, still holding the sandwich, and Kento was trying to get Dais's foot out of his stomach, while reaching for the sandwich at the same time. "Yeah, I know. But now he knows not to mess with Kento when food's in the area!" Sai laughed.

"Think we should tell 'im t' just give Kento the sandwich?" Rowen asked after they had watched the pair for a few more minutes.

The other two looked at him, then back at Dais. "I think he's had enough," Sai agreed.

"Dais!" Rowen called. "Just give 'im the sandwich!"

Dais looked at the sandwich, and then tossed it towards Hardrock. Kento stopped his attack and grabbed it in mid-air. He didn't even chew as he swallowed it. He smiled at the Warlord on the ground before walking off.

Kale and Sekhmet approached their friend, along with Kayura. They helped him up off the ground, looked him over, and began to smile. He was a mess; his hair was covered with grass and dirt. "Not one word!" he snapped and walked away from them as they fell over laughing.

stststst

That night everyone went to bed early; it had been a long day. Mia and Kayura shared Mia's room again since they were the only girls. They talked for a while about how training had gone that day before they turned in. The three Warlords shared a room, Dais and Kale got the beds, while Sekhmet slept on the floor. They had fallen asleep the moment their heads hit the pillows. Sai listened to Kento snore for a while before he fell asleep. He was use to his friend's sleeping habit, but every now and then it got too loud and he would try to turn Kento over or just hit him with a pillow. Luckily, this time Kento was snoring softly so it really didn't bother him. Rowen read one of his books while Sage meditated by the window. They finally decided to call it a night after a couple hours and fell asleep after they climbed into their beds.

Late into the night, Whiteblaze looked up to see Ryo tossing and turning in his sleep. He heard soft moans every once in a while as Ryo's breathing became unsteady. Soon, Ryo's hair and skin were covered with sweat, and the blankets were also soaked in it. The tiger got up and placed his paws on the bed. He saw his friend's face was filled with fear and pain. He nuzzled his friend in an attempt to wake him.

kjkjkjkj

Lightning struck down from the sky, illuminating a dark building. Inside one of the rooms, an armor-clad Ryo laid on his stomach, not moving. Ever so slowly, the young teens eyes drifted open. He couldn't see anything, for everything was pitch black. He couldn't hear nor smell anything. He felt as if he were somewhere, yet nowhere at all.

"HELP, RYO!"

His head suddenly jerked up, eyes searching the darkness. Ryo knew it was Sai; he would know that British accent anywhere. He pushed himself to his feet, only to regret it electricity coarsed through his body. Ryo fell back to his knees in pain.

"Ryo! Where are you!" Sage yelled in agony.

"We need your help, Ryo!" Kento echoed.

"Ryo! Ahhhh!" Rowen shouted.

"I'm coming! Hold on!" Ryo answered. He pushed himself up and ran towards his friends' voices as they continued to call his name. Pain shot through his body with every step but he ignored it. He had to help them; they were his responsibility. Plus, he couldn't let them down again; so he ran for all he was worth.

Four different colors of light suddenly shown down upon four figures, which were hanging from chains that were attached to the ceiling in the middle of the room. They were all in the same position Ryo had been when he had been captured; their arms and legs were pulled out away from their bodies. The baby-blue beam fell down on Sai, who had scratches all over his armor and was bleeding from several wounds all over his body. Kento was under the orange light. He was bleeding all over, had a black eye, and pieces of his armor had been ripped off. The green light shown down upon Sage. His once blond hair was now a dark red; blood ran down his face and over his armor, which had several holes in it; and his helmet was below him on the ground in pieces. The dark blue light fell upon Rowen, who had the horns of his helmet broken off, and his armor was covered with cracks, holes, and scratches. One of his arms was unarmored, and the flesh looked as if the armor had been ripped off by some wild animal.

Ryo froze, not believing his friends were covered in blood and hung out to die. Pain shot through him and he fell to the ground. Tears fell from his eyes as he realized he had failed them again. Why? Why had they chosen him to be the leader when all he did was screw up? Why? Rowen was smarter and always had a plan; Sage could figure out any trick that was thrown their way faster than any of them; Sai was rational; and Kento, even for all his thick headedness, was strong enough to protect them. He rarely had any of those things, so why had they chosen to put all their faith, and lives, in him? Why did they follow him in battle? He just didn't understand it.

He looked up, forgetting his self-loathing, to see a figure standing behind the chained Ronins. It had blood red eyes that gleamed with evil. It moved out of the shadows and into the light. Fire flared within Ryo as he saw Soylaberst smile wickedly at him. The Ronin of Wildfire pushed himself to his hands and knees when the evil eyes turned to his friends. Pain coarsed throughout his body but he ignored it. Soylaberst moved to Sage, put his hand on the Ronin's chest, and began to send electricity into him.

Ryo pushed himself to his feet and was going to run to help his friend, but something grabbed his arms and jerked him backwards. Ryo looked up to see Ky and Zual, each, holding an arm, keeping him from interfering. He struggled to get loose as he heard Sage's screams of agony as the blood red armor shocked him.

Fire replaced the pain that shot through Ryo's body. He jerked away from the armors and ran towards his friends. He tackled Soylaberst, who grabbed him around the throat and threw him into a wall. Ryo fell to the ground, and looked up in time to see all three armors remove Sai, Kento, and Rowen's helmets. The armors threw them on the ground, then Ky grabbed Sai's hair, Zual grabbed Rowen's, and Soylaberst grabbed Kento's and Sage's. With one quick jerk, they pulled the Ronin's heads off from the rest of their bodies.

"NOOOOOO!" Ryo screamed.

Soylaberst turned to him, dropping the heads he held, and raised one of his hands. It began to glow as he said, "Oh, yes, Wildfire!" He released his lightning, which plunged into Ryo's armor and going out the other side. Ryo released another cry of agony, more for his friends than himself, and fell into permanent darkness.

jkjkjkjk

It was two-seventeen a.m. when the Koji mansion was filled with a blood-filled scream. Everyone bolted awake and ran for their bedroom doors. They all reached the hall at the same time.

"Ryo!" Sai shouted and ran for his friend's room. The other Ronins and Mia quickly followed, but the Warlords hesitated before doing the same. Sai and the others entered the room to find Ryo covered in sweat, his blankets on the floor, and his body tossing and turning. His face made them feel as if someone had stabbed them in their hearts, it was filled with such agony and grief.

"Not again," Kento said in a panic. He ran over to the bed, planning on trying to wake the struggling boy up. Whiteblaze quickly moved out of Kento's way, so the Chinese boy would have enough room. However, when Kento grabbed Ryo's arm, Ryo flung his arm back and hit Kento in his face. The Ronin of Hardrock fell flat of his butt.

The other Ronins moved in to help stop Ryo from moving so they could wake him up. Sai and Rowen grabbed his arms, while Sage grabbed his legs. Ryo struggled to free himself, and he finally put everything he had into the arm Sai was holding. The Warrior of Trust went flying into Sage, causing the Warrior of Courtesy to release his grip and they both went crashing to the floor. Rowen desperately tried to hold on, but a second later Ryo flung him over the bed, into Kale and Kayura. All three of them went to the floor.

Dais and Sekhmet ran to the boy, and started to reach for him when Ryo let out another scream and bolted awake. They watched his eyes snap open and seen they were filled with horror. Then Ryo's eyes rolled back in his head as he fainted; his body falling forwards. Sekhmet caught him before his head hit the bed between his legs. The Warlord of Venom eased Wildfire back to his pillow, before he looked at the others. They were all standing, still shocked at what they had seen in Ryo's eyes when he had awaken.

"What the hell happened?" Sekhmet demanded.

"It was a nightma'ah," Rowen replied as he stepped forward.

"A nightmare caused all that?" Dais asked incredulously.

"They usually don't," Sage answered.

"After they first created the Inferno, and Ryo was unconscious for a week, he had nightmares. But they weren't like this," Mia contributed.

"So the nightmare's are nothing new?" Kale asked.

"No, but we don't know what they're about. Ryo never says anything about them afterwards," Sage explained.

"The throwin' us 'round the room, though, that's new," Rowen added.

"I suggest we shouldn't try to wake him again," Sekhmet said aloud. "That had to have taken a lot out of him. We can't afford it, not if we want him to get better." He looked around the room to see everyone was in shock to hear him say such a thing. "Am I wrong?"

Sai put his hands up in response. "No. We agree with you. It's just…" he trailed off.

"Just what?"

"Nothing," Kento chuckled, and everyone started to laugh, except for Sekhmet anyway.

Whiteblaze made his way over to Ryo's side, and found blood seeping through the bandage on his left side. The tiger whined, which drew everyone's attention. Mia was the first to reach the sleeping boy, and bent down to inspect the wound.

"It's bleeding pretty bad," she said as she looked at his side. "Someone go get the med-kit."

Sai ran out of the room, down the hall, and into the bathroom. He grabbed the kit and ran back to Ryo's room. "Here you go," he said as he handed it to Mia.

Mia sat on the bed next to Ryo's hip. She gently cleaned the wound and replaced the bandage, carefully noting that it was opened a little from all his struggling and was still bleeding a little, even though it had slowed down. Mia also gave him another painkiller to ease the pain he was sure to be feeling. "You'll have to give him a bath tomorrow," she said.

"NANI!" the four Ronins exclaimed.

"We can't give 'im a bath!" Rowen yelled.

"Don't look at us!" a blushing Sage warned at the same time as his blue haired friend.

"We're close, but not that close!" Kento replied.

"You can't be serious!" Sai echoed.

"Guys!" Mia shouted. "You're like brothers! It's not like it'll kill you!"

"Yes it will!" they all yelled back.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Dais ordered.

The four teenagers stopped arguing and looked at the Warlord in confusion.

"We'll give him a bath," Sekhmet said, pointing at Dais and himself.

"You?" the Ronins asked.

"Yes, us." Sekhmet hissed.

"What's wrong with that?" Dais demanded.

"Don't you think you're a little old for that?" Kento questioned, with a smirk and lifting of an eyebrow.

"Kento!" Mia shouted.

"Look, Hardrock, I use to have to help bathe my younger brothers. They were around Wildfire's age, so this is nothing new," Dais explained.

"My brother was paralyzed, and I had to give him baths," Sekhmet added.

The Ronins nodded; besides, they didn't want to have to bathe Ryo. If he found out he would blow his top. Plus, they would be uneasy around each other afterwards, and they didn't want that, so they were happy it was Dais and Sekhmet who were going to do it.

"Thanks," they all replied in unison.

"We understand," Dais said as they exited the room.

Whiteblaze watched as everyone filed out of the room. Sage was the last, since he was the one who put Ryo's blanket back over him. The tiger jumped up on the bed and curled around his charge then fell asleep a few minutes later.

stststst

It was ten-thirty the following morning when everyone, except Rowen, got out of bed. Sai went down stairs to cook breakfast for everyone, while Dais and Sekhmet were giving Ryo his bath. Mia and Kayura changed Ryo's bed sheets and straightened his room. Mia moved his kanji orb back onto the table by his bed. Kento, Sage, and Kale were in the living room cleaning. Kale dusted everything, and in doing so, he accidentally knocked the letter from Soylaberst under the cabinet the TV was set on. He never even noticed, because he was watching Kento push the vacuum around. After a few seconds he went back to watching what he was doing. Kento, meanwhile, was vacuuming backwards. He bumped into Sage, who bumped into the TV, causing the tape of Ryo's torture to fall to the ground.

"Kento! Watch where you're going!" Sage exclaimed then went back to whipping the TV screen with a cloth. Kento butted him again, making Sage stumble, and his foot kicked the tape under the cabinet with the letter. Sage turned around and hit Kento upside his head. "You baka! I said to stop it!" Sage hissed.

Kento turned and rubbed his head. "Well, you didn't have to hit me," he retorted. After glaring at each other, they went back to work on cleaning the living room without any more butts from Kento.

stststst

Dais, who was only in a pair of wind pants, was in the bathtub with Ryo so he could hold the boy under the spraying water. His arms were gently wrapped around Ryo's chest, with Ryo's arms dangling over them. The unconscious boy's head was lent back on Dais' bare, left shoulder. They had left the bandage on so the soap wouldn't get into the wound. Aside from that, nothing else was on the Warrior of Virtue's body.

Once they finished washing his hair, Sekhmet applied some soap to a rag and ran it over the boy's bruises and cuts. Ryo groaned and flinched occasionally, but never woke up. Sekhmet washed Ryo's arms, legs, between his legs, chest, stomach, and face. Dais moved Ryo around under the water so the spray could wash the soap off.

"I need to get his backside," Sekhmet said as he put the rag and soap down. He helped Dais turn Ryo around. Ryo's head fell to the left and rested on Dais' right shoulder. The Warlord of Illusion had to be careful with his arms around Ryo's upper rib cage; the boy's bones weren't fully healed yet. Sekhmet grabbed the soap and rag again, lathered the soap into the rag, then began to wash Ryo's back. "They did a number on him, didn't they?"

"I would say so," Dais agreed.

"To think a few weeks ago I was trying to kill him and Torrent."

"I know. I was trying to kill Hardrock, Kale was trying to kill Halo, and Kayura was after Strata."

"We're pathetic. We couldn't even take care of them separately."

"I wouldn't say that. I got into Hardrock's mind pretty well."

"Don't rub it in, Dais," Sekhmet scold.

Dais smiled, and shifted his weight. Unfortunately, he lost his footing and slid backwards, taking Wildfire with him. He had tightened his grip around Ryo as he fell, and Ryo's arms went up as if to block his face. Now Dais lay on his back, arms still around Wildfire, his right knee bent and between Ryo's legs, and his left leg was straight-at an angle with his body-up to the wall. Water continued to pour down upon the two. Ryo groaned and shifted in the arms holding him.

"Dais!" Sekhmet hissed. He could hear someone running towards the bathroom, and he could also hear the tiger growling on the other side of the door. It turned out he was right when someone banged on the door.

"Hey! Is everythin' okay in the'ah?" Rowen demanded. The crash had obviously woken him. "Is Ryo okay?" He tried the handle, but it was locked. "Open the do'ah!"

"No!" Dais shouted back. "We're fine. Sekhmet just dropped the soap okay?"

"Soap doesn't make that loud of a noise!" Rowen insisted.

"It does if I say it does!"

"Just let me in!"

"Look, we have everything under control. I just slipped on the soap. Now go away!" Sekhmet hissed.

"So Ryo didn't fall?"

"Would you go away already? Wildfire's fine. I fell, it's no big deal!" he shouted as he grabbed Ryo and lifted him off Dais.

"Okay, okay. Ah'm leavin'," Rowen said and left to go down stairs.

Dais stood and looked at Sekhmet. The Warlord of Venom didn't say anything, just handed Wildfire back to the Warlord of Illusion. "Why did you say you fell?" Dais asked as his friend ran his hand through Ryo's hair, helping the water get the soap out.

"If he knew you'd let Wildfire fall, we'd never hear the end of it."

Dais thought for a minute, and then said, "Arigato."

"For what?"

"Well, now they'll be teasing you for slipping on a bar of soap!"

"Don't even start it!" Sekhmet hissed. When he looked at the bandage he noticed blood was soaking it. "Shit!"

"Nani?"

"I think the fall reopened it."

"Don't panic. Once we get through with this part, we'll handle that one. Torrent put the med-kit in here, somewhere," Dais said calmly.

They finished Ryo's shower quickly, then toweled his hair and dried him off. Dais then laid him on the floor on top of some other towels, and also covered the boy's lower half. While Dais dried himself off, Sekhmet got the med-kit and began to take the bandage off. As he did, blood poured onto the towels. "Dammit!" he hissed. He put his hand to the wound and applied pressure.

"That bad?" Dais asked as he went over and knelt down.

"It reopened. It's like the damned thing won't heal!"

"It…won't," a weak voice agreed.

Dais turned and looked at Ryo, whose eyes were half open. The Warlord could tell he felt the pain; by the look on Wildfire's face it was a lot. "Wildfire, are you alright?" he asked.

"D-Da-Dais?" Ryo asked weakly. His vision was blurry and he couldn't really tell if it was him or not. He didn't know where he was or why the Warlords were with him.

"It's me. Are you okay?"

"Where…?"

"You are in the bathroom."

"Sekhmet!" Dais hissed, looking at the other who had spoken too harshly. He then turned back to Ryo and saw that the young boy was confused. "We gave you a shower."

Ryo nodded but then groaned as his side shot pain through his body. He tried to pinch his side but the Warlords wouldn't let him. They held him so his body remained straight.

"Easy, Wildfire. We reopened the wound when we fell. Gomen, but Sekhmet is fixing it," Dais said as he tried to get Ryo to lay still.

"Why won't this fucking thing heal already!" Sekhmet hissed in frustration. He was using a needle and some wire to try to stitch the wound close again.

"Ky…"Ryo gasped.

"Nani?" both Warlords asked.

"Ky…did…some…thing…"

"The armor at the hospital? His name is Ky?" Sekhmet asked as he finished closing the wound.

"Ky,…he…he…" Before he could finish Ryo passed out.

"Wildfire!" Sekhmet exclaimed and reached for Ryo's face, but Dais stopped him.

"He's okay; just exhausted," Dais smiled as he let go of Sekhmet's hand. "Besides, you'll be the one who holds him if we have to bathe him again."

Sekhmet looked at his hand to see it was covered with blood. Then he looked at Dais who was smiling down upon the unconscious Ronin. "Why have you changed so much towards him?"

"I no longer have Talpa's hatred telling me to hate him," he replied looking at his friend. "Why do you act like you don't care?"

"Because I don't."

"Please. I saw you panic when he passed out. You can't fool the Warlord of Illusion."

Sekhmet looked away. "Maybe I do care, and maybe I care about Torrent and the others, but…"

"They don't have to know?"

"Exactly. It would ruin my image."

Dais just chuckled.

Once they finished cleaning up their mess, and Ryo, the two Warlords changed Ryo into a pair of dark blue boxers. Dais picked the boy up gently in his arms, with Ryo's head rested on the Warlord's right shoulder. As the three of them left the bathroom, Whiteblaze followed close behind until they went into Ryo's room. He watched them put Ryo back in his bed and cover him up, then as the Warlords left the room. The tiger walked over and nuzzled Ryo's hair, which was still wet. He pushed the locks out of his friend's face and nuzzled his bruised cheek.

The door reopened and Whiteblaze's head whipped around to see who the intruder was. Sekhmet entered, holding Ryo's painkiller. The tiger watched as the Warlord poked his charge's arm with the needle, and pushed the medicine in. He purred and rubbed up his head against Sekhmet's hand to show his gratitude. In return, the Warlord patted the tiger's head.

Whiteblaze watched him as he left the room, and then turned his attention back to Ryo. He laid his head near Ryo's on the pillow. When Ryo turned his head it touched the tiger's and the huge cat purred again. Whiteblaze closed his eyes and drifted of to sleep.

TBC

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Yes, I know. Not very much action in this chapter. But the nightmare spiced it up a bit, don't you think? And sorry about the bathroom scene. And NO the boy's are not homophobe's; it was just that they didn't really want to bathe one of their best friends. That's all. Remember, I am a BIG yaoi fan. Why do you think I had Sage blushing? We know he wants to give Ryo a bath! (For non-yaoi fans, just ignore that last remark.)