Summary – It's been just two and a half months since Ryo Sanada's untimely death, and as the other Ronins are trying to return to normal lives, they are interrupted by two unearthly beings who are not yet ready to be forgotten and set aside.

Disclaimer I do not own Ronin Warriors and their related universe. I am simply borrowing them from Sunrise Inc. to fulfill my desire to write. Chances are, any names that you don't recognize belong to me.

Unfinished Business

Chapter 4: The Big Engine That Did

By: Marie Kenobi

Failure.

Hard.

Crack!

Splash!

Cold, wet, dark.

Gasp.

Air.

Suffocation.

Air!

Cye.

Ryo?

Cye, find Sage. Help Sage!

Ryo? Why are you still here? Who is the other spirit? Ryo!

Find him; help Sage, Cye!

AIR!

Cye's eyes snapped open, giving him the momentary appearance of a deer caught in the headlights. Confusion covered his face. Of all people, why had he, Cye of the Torrent, had a dream of drowning? Not only that, but Ryo had been in the dream as well. But why? A warning to convince him that not even he was invincible in water? No, that didn't seem right. Ryo had said something about helping Sage. Why would Sage need help?

Sea-green eyes swept their surroundings to determine where they were. A couch, two recliners, a coffee table –

"Aw man!"

And Kento playing his newest video game. Yes, just as he'd thought: He was in the den, relaxing on the love seat. What time was it? He couldn't see the VCR's clock for a fluffy, blue-ash colored animal. Wait, that was Kento's mop of hair... "Hey, Kento?"

"Welcome back to the world of the living, Sleeping Beauty."

"What time is it?"

"12:30. Why? Oh, by the way, when is lunch?"

Cye rolled his eyes. "I'll fix some in a moment, but first I want to ask Sage's opinion of something. Where is he?" he asked, already moving towards the stairs.

Kento responded without missing a beat. The game controller bobbed furiously in his hands. "Duh, he isn't back yet. If you had been awake and cooking something you would have known that."

Ignoring Kento's remark, Cye hurried up the stairs and stopped at the first closed door on his right. He knocked twice. "Hello? Anyone home?"

"Yeah, it's open. Come on in."

The door swung smoothly on its hinges when Cye turned the knob and pushed. Rowen was bent over his desk, concentrating on a letter he was writing to his pen pal that lived near Tokyo. Cye leaned over his friend's shoulder curiously. "How's Yasuo?" he asked.

"He's fine."

"Oh. That's good." Silence hung heavy in the air and Cye realized that Rowen didn't really want to be bothered. He decided to quickly get to the point. "Rowen—"

"Yes Cye?"

"Rowen, I have a feeling that something bad might have happened to Sage."

There was no forth-coming response from the younger boy, leaving Cye to wonder if he had even heard. A slight stiffening in Rowen's posture and his failure to continue writing alerted the bearer of Torrent that he had. Hearing no objections, Cye pushed on. "He's been gone for almost three hours, and I just woke up from a nightmare where I was drowning in icy cold water. Ryo told me to find Sage and help him." Cye waited patiently for Rowen's response, wondering after a moment of silence if the other teen had zoned out. As he turned towards the door to leave, however, and search for the blonde by himself, someone took hold of his wrist.

"It was a warning. Sage is, or was, in danger. I felt something wrong pass through me earlier as well. We need to go look for him."

"It's about time. Thank heavens Fish Boy and Mr. Obvious aren't the ones leading the Ronin Warriors, or else our world would have been doomed a long time ago!"

"Oh, and you knew something fishy was going on around here, Kento? Pardon the pun, Cye," Rowen added. The bearer of Torrent waved it off good-naturedly.

"Well, of cour-r-rse," Kento retorted. He grinned cockily at them from the bathroom where he had been hiding.

"Sure you did, Kento," Rowen teased. "Sure you did." He snatched a jacket off his chair and hurried quickly after Cye, who had already descended the stairs.

The bulky teen chuckled softly to himself as he hurried to catch up with his companions.

Outside, the weather was a frigid 29 degrees. White, fluffy snow had finally burst from its prison in the clouds and was falling rapidly. Already sticking to the ground, it didn't take long for the holes created by their boots to be filled in. White Blaze appeared and leapt playfully around them, accidentally bumping into Cye before disappearing again into their white surroundings. The boy was sent crashing to the ground with an expression of surprise. Cye shook it off with a laugh: if he couldn't have rain, snow was the next best thing. Kento attempted to help him back up, but was promptly pulled down to join his best friend. With an agitated grunt, Rowen jerked Cye to his feet. The look on his face spoke words. 'Knock it off,' he was saying. Cye sobered, remembering why they were out in the cold to begin with, and waited as Rowen helped Kento back up before they continued towards Sage's favorite meditating spot, the area they had chosen to begin their searching at.

While walking past the pond, Cye felt an odd shiver run up his spine. At the same time he felt a burning sensation course throughout his body in warning. That could only mean one thing: Sage was nearby. The question was, where? His muscles tensed then released just as quickly when he sprinted away from the others and ran along the pond's edge. He could follow it to a chain of hills that eventually led to the clearing. It was a shortcut they used when in a hurry to find Sage—

Up ahead he spotted one of the taller hills on Mia's property. Cye turned towards it, preparing to scale the large mound of earth when he noticed a rather large break in the ice that covered the pond on his right. Curious, he slowed, waiting for Kento and Rowen to join him before moving tentatively towards the break. It was abnormally large looking...

Failure. Hard. Crack! Splash! Cold, wet, dark—

"Sage!" the three teens exclaimed simultaneously. Cye's remembrance of his dream had been transferred from his thought lines to the others via their mental links. The lightweight Ronin wasted no time in calling upon his armor. In a flash of intense blue light he had transformed, thrown his yari down, and dived into the murky, cold water, calling his faceplate back as he did so. Rowen's face grew pale as one thought repeatedly ran through his mind: Another of his best friends had been snatched away from him for absolutely no reason...Why hadn't he gone looking for Sage when he had first felt something was wrong!

Down below, Cye pushed himself through the murky water with ease, but even with his faceplate in use, the freezing water still managed to numb his exposed skin. What was Sage even doing down by the pond? he wondered absently, passing a small school of fish that managed to survive in the chilly temperatures. Something dark caught his attention and as he turned, something else, this time pale, caused his breath to leave him. He froze, gently treading water where he was.

Snap out of it!

The unexpected voice jerked him out of his reverie. Cye didn't stop to think who the voice might belong to, although it did sound familiar. With a strong thrust from his legs against a rock, he kicked his way towards the still figure drifting freely at the bottom of the pond. Cye grabbed his friend around the waist and pushed against the ground, letting his feet propel them towards the hole in the ice.

It was Sage's helmeted head that surfaced first, quickly followed by Cye's. The latter drew in a deep, frantic breath when his facemask disappeared, although he had been able to breathe perfectly well under water. Kento, kneeling at the edge of the pond, reached out for the unconscious Ronin. Rowen helped Cye out and the two hurried over to their companions whom were already halfway up one of the smaller hills.

Rowen fell to his knees, eyes wide and mouth gaping. He couldn't believe what he was seeing; he refused to believe it. Sage looked so...vulnerable... When had Sage ever looked vulnerable?

He tried to speak the name of his best friend, but his chapped, numb lips would not let the word slide past them. Rowen reached a trembling hand out to touch Sage's cheek and instantly recoiled. His skin was so cold...The youngest of the Ronins suddenly felt like he had been dropped into his five year old body again and was reliving the pain of his grandfather's death: a man of which he had been particularly fond of. But this time, he could not go to his loveable St. Bernard for comfort; he could not crawl into a corner and draw his knees up to his chest and cry. At least not in the way he currently felt like doing

Gingerly plucking the Halo helmet from where it had been set aside by Cye, Rowen slipped to the ground and cradled it against his chest, a look of pure terror and distress plastered across his features.

Meanwhile, Cye was growling deep in his throat. Dang you, Sage, don't leave us. Not now. Not so soon after Ryo... He glanced briefly at the blue tinted lips of his blonde friend before checking his pulse. It was there, but as he placed his ear against Sage's armored chest, he couldn't help but wonder if the beating heart he heard was his own and not Sage's. Cye's eyes roamed back to the pale face as he pinched the warrior of wisdom's nose, vaguely feeling the sure indication of a broken bone, and began to blow into his mouth. He watched the forced rise and fall of his friend's chest through the corner of his eye before he motioned Kento to begin CPR. Rowen whimpered and backed into a tree.

Inside Kento, anger began to swell. Rowen and Sage were supposed to be best friends. Why wasn't he helping? And who was good enough to do this to Sage while he was fully armored up? He had to have been fighting someone; nothing else could explain the many cuts and bruises, or the blood on Sage's face. A simple training exercise would not have caused this. Finally, through the bulk of the green Halo armor, he felt the tensing of muscles in Sage's stomach, indicating that he was about to spit up water. Kento helped him to roll over.

Behind them, Rowen lurched forward onto his hands and knees. He watched as Sage vomited all of the offending water that he could and slipped lifelessly into Kento's awaiting arms. Cye pried one of the blonde warrior's eyes open and noted the dilated pupils. "Come on Kento, let's get him back to the house and under some blankets. I'd say he was under for at least two hours. I'm amazed his armor could sustain him that long."

Kento lifted the limp body with ease; after all, it was fair to say he'd had plenty of practice. Almost immediately the Halo armor disappeared, wrenching Sage's helmet with it and away from Rowen's smothering grip. He looked up in shock when Kento kicked him rather hard in his side.

"Get up," was the curt command.

Cye and Kento were a good 20 feet ahead of Rowen before his mind cleared and he became himself again. "Cye!"

The bearer of Torrent turned ever so slightly. "Yes?"

Rowen broke into a sprint. "Shed your armor and come with me to the house. I'll get the first aid kit and you make a bed on the couch. Make sure you get lots of blankets so we can gradually warm him. If we do it too soon, we'll only make things worse."

With a final glance at Sage's limp body, Rowen took off towards the house. Cye shrugged at his best friend, referring to Rowen's sudden change of attitude, and the larger of the two frowned deeply. He didn't like Rowen's bossy attitude. Not one bit...

The clearing was quiet, devoid of the songs of birds that had stayed for winter or the whispering of wind through the ancient trees. The snow was beginning to grow steadily thicker when three figures walked up.

"It's beautiful here."

"It sure is."

"Oh! Honored One!"

"Honored One, how are you?"

"Hello!"

"Hello, children," a fourth figure greeted as she strolled calmly to the others' sides. "Thank you for asking, I am fine. But we have more important things to worry about. The friends of Sanada are still in great danger. Hideyo believes the one in green is dead, but it won't take him long to find out the truth."

"What about the tiger?"

"And the one with orange armor? He hasn't attempted anything towards them yet."

The elder figure sighed deeply. "I do not know Hideyo's intentions for the tiger. We will have to be patient and see what transpires."

"But the boy? What about him?"

The elder sent a disproving look at her youngest 'child.' "Please do not interrupt."

"Ah, sorry, Honored One."

"He is with the other Ronin Warriors. Hideyo isn't cocky enough to go after all four at once, but we should keep a watchful eye on them. And Hideyo. We must be ever watchful for our opportunity."

"Right, of course. Good idea."

"Come children, let us go."

Back inside Mia Koji's house, Sage had been carefully laid out upon the couch. Cye had done most of the bandaging while Rowen paced nervously back and forth along the den's perimeters.

Considering all, it was definitely to Sage's advantage that he wore the Halo armor. During the time he had been underwater, his armor had not only kept him alive, but also healed many of his various wounds. Kento had claimed first watch over him while Cye dragged an apprehensive Rowen into the kitchen.

Twenty minutes later, Cye still sipped at the same cold tea, occasionally looking at the newspaper. Dimly he noted that nothing had changed since he'd looked at it that morning. The small clinking of Rowen's teacup as he put it on the table caused him to squirm slightly in his seat, but besides this, he gave no indications that he had even heard it.

"Cye."

Cye looked over the rim of his own cup. Rowen's face slowly tilted up to stare him in the eye. His midnight blue orbs wavered slightly, then returned to face the sea-green eyes again. Cye saw tears spring forth and threaten to overflow like too much water behind a dam.

"Cye, I don't think Sage is going to make it." He struggled to keep his gaze level with the boy sitting across from him. His hands were shaking so badly by now that it truly was a good thing that he had already set his teacup on the table. Otherwise, its shattered remains would most likely be strewn across the floor.

"Whatever, or whoever, fought with Sage injured him badly and probably did more damage than Sage realized." Rowen swallowed hard, trying to dislodge the lump that had settled in his throat. "The amount of energy it must have taken to keep his armor and stay alive taxed whatever strength he may still have had after the battle. Not only that, but it took even more energy for his armor to heal him the little bit that it did. Hypothermia has set in; who knows how much water he swallowed. He might have pneumonia by now...and it only takes a tablespoon of water in the lungsto kill someone. Even if we'd taken him to the hospital when we first found him, I don't think it would have helped. Whatever attacked the two of us is out to get us all."

Rowen looked away, no longer able to hold his companion's gaze. A tear slid down his ruddy cheek. "Sage's life is slipping away even as we speak and there's nothing that can be done about—"

"Rowen! Your kanji!" Cye sprang to his feet and pointed to the blue symbol of 'Life' on his friend's forehead. Rowen's eyes grew wide.

"Yours is glowing too!" Both boys turned nervously towards the den just as Kento's frightened call reached their ears.

"His heart's stopped!"

Rowen felt instinct kick in and pointed to Cye. "Call 911! Kento, help me perform CPR!"

The two boys ran their separate ways. Rowen informed Kento to help him lay Sage on the floor and with the former at Sage's head and the latter at his chest, they began what they hoped would be a life-saving procedure.

"One, two, three, four, five, breathe!"

"Don't get any funny ideas," Rowen murmured to the still face of his best friend before he gently pinched Sage's bruised nose and tried to transfer what he hoped would be the desperately needed breath of life. He attempted it another time before rocking back on his knees and refilling his own lungs. Kento continued with his duty.

"One, two, three—"

"The ambulance is on its way!" Cye announced, running in from the kitchen.

"—Four, five, breathe!"

Rowen leaned over his best friend again and blew out a lung full of air. Sage wasn't responding. With every attempt made to call the bearer of Halo back to them, he seemed to drift further away. His lips were turning blue and his face was growing white, until finally, when Rowen leaned down for the umpteenth time to administer air, a single, desperate tear fell from his cheek to that of the unconscious warrior's. In the next instant, Sage's eyes flew open and the urgent squealing of a siren was heard in the distance, coming closer and closer, but still sounding so far away to Sage, even as it pulled into the driveway and Cye hurried to let them in.

Noises were muffled and amplified all at the same time. His vision was blurred. Why was everyone so far away? Where was Rowen? Where was Ryo? Why had he left him, pushed him away? So many questions, he thought, so many. The light: it had been beautiful, and the blonde teen had relished in all its silent glory as it had suffused him in it. The rays had been as golden as his hair and as brilliant as the full moon. But no, Ryo had forced him away from the peace and serenity that he had found in the light. Now, the only thing he could find was pain and cold. It was everywhere, traveling from the tips of his hair to the end of his toes and it was numbing, to a degree that he wasn't sure he'd ever felt before. He wanted so badly to sleep...

"Sage, can you hear me? Keep your eyes open, Buddy."

"Rowen?"

"Yeah, it's me—"

"Excuse us, Son. We'll take over from here."

Sage's half-lidded eyes turned drearily to their right. He could just barely make out a shock of blue hair that poked out from behind a wall of hustling white uniforms. He cursed the EMTs who blocked his friend from view. They were here to bring him back to good health, to life. What if he didn't want to live? His near-death experience had spoken seductive words to his wise, caring heart that made him doubt what he had at one time been so sure of. In his current state of mind, he longed for death, for peace. But perhaps there was a reason for him to still live. Could the Ronins truly handle the death of another team member so soon?

A door slammed and something was strapped over his nose and mouth. Then something sharp became embedded in his hand, and whatever he was lying on accelerated. No, he thought when the sirens reached his ears: the ambulance was speeding away and he was stuck on a one-way trip back to recovery.

Not far behind the speeding ambulance was a blue Ford F-150. Cye was behind the wheel, fumbling around with the radio and searching for the 'off' button. Rowen leaned forward and turned the volume down. He readjusted his seat belt, leaned his head back, and closed his dark blue eyes. He'd never been much of a religious person, never really needing prayer in his short life. Not even the day Ryo had died: That had happened so quickly. Now, however, he lifted his pleas to whatever god would listen.

Please, oh please, don't let him die!

Meanwhile, back at the house, Kento blew his breath out in one large rush. It lingered visibly before him for a few seconds before disappearing from view. That pestering tiger would surely kill him before he reached the legal age to drink. He'd been extremely obstinate and uncooperative since Ryo's death, and the past half-hour had reassured the agitated warrior off this observation. The pesky tiger was nowhere to be found, and even with his subarmor on, he had been chilled. Oh well, Blaze would be okay. He thrived in the snow, didn't he?

With a sigh, Kento released his subarmor, letting it be replaced instead with his clothes from earlier. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he walked to the house, locked the door, and headed back to the dirty, white SUV he had rented for the winter. His own vehicle was in the shop, although the simple van wouldn't have done him any good in this weather even if it had been running right.

Turning the key once, Kento listened to the motor scratch and die. Most likely the car was still cold. Turning it again, the SUV's 'heart' revved to life and he sped off towards the hospital.

Just ten minutes into the drive he came upon a pair of well-traversed railroad tracks. Strange, he thought distractedly, the bell's going off...

Kento stopped a safe distance from the first track and glanced to his left, then right. There was a locomotive followed by a string of cars on the second track, but it was stopped. Kento looked around. It was strange, what with the lights blinking, the bells ringing...and the odd fact that he appeared to be the only person on the usually busy road. But better yet, why weren't the arms coming down to block the tracks since the trigger had obviously been switched on? Oh well, the teen finally decided, and started forward slowly. Without warning the arms dropped, banging against the hood and breaking in the back. The SUV stalled on the tracks and in that instant, Kento saw it. A dark green mist had strangely grown to cover the entire area and through this light came a terrifying sight to behold: The train was headed straight for him. In another few seconds, it hit full force.

"NBRC News, at the top of the hour, every hour; and now for your host, Midori Sansui!"

"Hello, and welcome to NBRC News. Our top story today involves a collision earlier this afternoon between an SUV and a train, but first, let's go to Korematsu Takamoto."

"Thank you, Sansui. Today in soccer..."

Rowen sighed and shifted his chin from one hand to the other. Beside him, Cye mumbled something incoherent. They'd been sitting in a stark white hospital waiting room for nearly 45 minutes. Nothing had been heard about Sage thus far, and as of yet they had not been able to get a hold of his family or Kento.

"—And now for our top story. Earlier today, a white SUV stalled on a pair of train tracks leading into town. It became stuck between the red and white arm rails, before being struck by a locomotive. Experts are entirely unsure of what to make of this particular case. Currently, no blame is being placed on the train's conductors for this tragedy, as their shift only began 10 minutes prior to the accident and they are not believed to have fallen asleep. The conductors' families' fears were confirmed just a short while ago when the two bodies of the train operators were pulled from the locomotive.

"What makes this story so peculiar, however, is that, despite the fact that the railroad tracks intersect with one of the busiest roads in town, there were no reported eyewitnesses to the accident. Another twist involves the concerns of local paramedics: No one was found in the struck SUV. Dogs have been sent out to try and track the vehicle's owner, for it is believed the person or persons could be in dire need of medical attention. The only evidence that has yet to show up are a few, foot-shaped indentations that appear to have been made by something metal, as well as a few scratches of orange along the car's paint. If you have any information concerning the location of this SUV's owner or this accident, please contact us. We will have information to pass to you as soon as it is made available."

Cye's jaw hit the ground, his eyes bulging from his head. He hadn't paid close attention to the news broadcast until near the end when 'metal' footprints and orange colored scratches had been noted in the report. One glance at the television monitor had brought his world tumbling down.

Rowen, on the other hand, had seen the whole thing. No matter the situation he was in, he liked to be up-to-date, especially on the day's top news story. But this, this wasn't what he had wanted to see! From the moment he laid eyes on the crumpled, demolished white SUV, he'd known whom it belonged to; and it was a horrid realization: one that Cye had just figured out.

It began quietly at first, and then began rising in intensity until the sound reflected that of sandpaper rubbing against skin.

Rowen, whom had previously stood and had begun pacing as he nervously watched the TV screen, stumbled and was forced to steady himself against a wall.

The reason: Cye.

He'd thought the noise he'd heard was just the labored breathing of a patient. But it was not a patient. It was the terrified bearer of Torrent.

Cye yelled his best friend's name in a raspy voice, earning a confused look from one of the floor's many receptionists. Rowen noticed the older teen was breaking out into a cold sweat, his eyes glazed over as he retreated into a corner of his mind, his thin, fragile body shaking as he struggled to breath. Finally making his way over to the auburn haired boy, Rowen found him hyperventilating at his best. He took the slender shoulders and shook them roughly. A sign of recognition flickered briefly through Cye's eyes before he was overwhelmed and blinded by tears. A passerby looked curiously at them, opening his mouth as though to offer assistance should it be desired. Rowen waved them off before the question could be spoken. "We're fine, we're fine," he mumbled aggravated before half-dragging, half-carrying Cye to the bathroom.

Once inside, he slapped the elder teen. The stormy eyes returned questioning, and willingness to listen to whatever the deep blue orbs had to tell them shone deep inside. A storm waited on the horizon, ready to flood and destroy anything in its path without so much as a warning. Rowen's heart melted at the sight and he suddenly remembered what it was like to lose a best friend. The thought of losing another, possibly even two more, was almost enough to send him down a path of tears as well. Was it just him? Or were the Ronin Warriors falling apart?

"Cye," Rowen finally said after a moment, wrapping the other boy comfortingly in his arms. Kento can't be dead; we would have felt it. Neither of our kanjis have made themselves known and no body was found. Have faith; Hardrock has never gone down that easily.

A toilet flushed, quickly followed by the exiting of an elderly man with a crooked, wooden cane in his hands. He looked at them strangely before making a hasty retreat. When he was gone, Cye pushed away, blushing slightly. "I'm sorry Ro. Now everyone is going to think we're gay."

The blue-haired boy waved it off. "Who cares what everyone else thinks? They're naïve, Cye; they don't even know who saved this world's butt...twice! That is, if the world has a butt. I'm beginning to think those Americans make up the Earth's butt; you know what I mean? They're just so—"

Cye chuckled softly between his hiccups. "Rowen?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it. Now what do you say to going back to the waiting room and...waiting?"

COMPLETELY REVISED 7/25/2004

A brand new, never posted before chapter is coming next week! Check back often! Thanks minasan!

--Marie K.