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 5: Sights For Sore Eyes
By: Marie Kenobi
So much for eating breakfast that morning.
Just like he thought: you were still capable of dying even after eating such a nutritious and fulfilling meal such as Cye's had been. What he wouldn't give for a nice, warm cup of misoshiru at that moment. Just the thought of it brought a smile to his face and set his mouth to watering, but it was a feeling that was quickly replaced by pain. By the gods did his hand ever hurt! A simple twitch of the fingers was enough to send shockwaves of hot furry through his veins. He didn't think it was broken—he knew well enough from the armor war what broken bones felt like—but neither did it feel like a simple sprain. It was just that he had landed on it so hard when leaping out of the SUV; and he hadn't called his armor by that point, either, so there had been no extra support for his one hand to uphold his large build.
Up ahead he could see the hospital staring mundanely back at him with all its depressingly gloomy power. How he hated that place. Hated it with a vengeance. But it was within that building that he would find his three remaining comrades-in-arms.
Or was it two by now?Sage hadn't looked too hot upon leaving in the screaming ambulance.
No, best not to think like that...With a shake of his head, an act that immediately set the world to spinning, the onlooker stumbled to a dark, sheltered corner of the hospital and promptly slipped to the ground. He was exhausted and looked much too...unusual at the moment to be waltzing into any public place. Especially a hospital.
So, the armor-clad boy did the next best thing that came to mind.
Cye? Buddy, are you there? I could use some help out here. Rowen?
The two boys waiting dejectedly together in the lobby of the hospital for any news of their friends snapped to attention.
"Rowen?"
"Cye?"
"Did you just hear the same thing I think I just heard?"
"I'm not sure. Did it sound to you like a bulk of a teenager who's known to wear orange armor from time to time and complain of hunger while doing battle against an evil spirit bent on conquering our worthless mortal planet we so ignorantly and ungraciously reside on?"
Cye blinked repeatedly. He could feel his head spinning as he attempted to follow Rowen's insane logic. Finally he gave up trying, mumbled a quick, "Sure, if you say so," and dragged the other boy swiftly down three flights of stairs and out of the toasty hospital by a personal-restricted doorway.
Rowen, for his part, went along without another word.
Cye reached deep within his mind to establish a firmer connection with their teammate. He began to murmur quietly to no one particular. "Now where is that bulk of a teenager who's known to wear orange armor from time to time and complain of hunger while doing battle against an evil spirit bent on conquering our worthless mortal planet we so ignorantly and ungraciously reside on?"
Rowen naturally, again, did not say anything.
"The bulk of a teenager who's known to wear orange armor from time to time and complain of hunger while doing battle against an evil spirit bent on conquering our worthless mortal planet we so ignorantly and ungraciously reside on is right here," a voice from the shadows announced; and while Cye rushed to the spot, Rowen remained dumbfounded where he was...until Cye returned to retrieve him, that is.
"How did you two do that?" he asked incredulously as he was pulled along. "How did you memorize what I said so quickly!"
His curiosity was met with two unimpressed stares. The bearer of Strata wisely chose to leave the subject alone.
Relief washed over the mental connection Kento shared with his teammates as Cye pulled him eagerly into a hug. "Woah! Woah, there Bud, take it easy on me, would you?" Cye quickly released his hold and leaned back.
"You're hurt!" he exclaimed, taking notice of the bruises and cuts that were most apparent.
"Yeah," was the quiet response. Kento's eyelids drifted shut as he released a deep breath, sending his orange and white subarmor with it. "I, uh, kinda ran into a train on the way here. Literally." He flinched and swatted at the hand attempting to prod a deep cut above his eyebrow. Rowen pouted momentarily, then dug into his back pocket to reveal his blue headband. With this now in hand, he placed a fistful of snow into it and began to rub the material rapidly between his gloves.
"What are you doing?" Cye asked in confused interest.
"Well," Rowan began, his tongue unconsciously poking out between his teeth as he concentrated, "if I can melt the ice, we'll have something to clean Kento here up with. As I'm sure he doesn't want to walk in there looking like he does now." He jerked his head in the direction of the hospital. He'd chosen to leave out the part of how much easier it would have been to melt the ice had one of them been the bearer of the Wildfire armor.
"Oh, well that's easily enough done," Cye interrupted. "Why didn't you say so?" He took the snow-filled bandana and held it between his palms, occasionally squinting in that general direction and twisting one hand or the other. In seconds the ice had melted and dampened the gloves that stood between it and the boy's cool skin.
"How—?" Rowen started to ask, but chose to stop. Cye was the bearer of Torrent, thus allowing him control of water.
And snow, as every Einstein should wisely know, was water.
The auburn haired boy had simply been able to take the powers he'd inherited from his armor and put them to a slightly different use.
While Cye went about cleaning off the dry, darkened blood, Rowen probed Kento's injured hand. A few grunts (on both boys' parts) and kicks (on Kento's part) later, the blue-haired boy decided that it was sprained only. A bad sprain on the verge of being broken, but a sprain nonetheless. Rowen thought miserably of how great it would be to have Sage and his healing powers here with them now. Or even the great healing powers of the five armors together.
Like that'll ever happen again. Rowen swatted angrily at an unexpected tear that traced its way down his cold-blushed check.
"Ro?"
"Fine, I'm fine. Let's go see about Sage."
"Sure, sure," Cye consoled, not affected in the least by Rowen's abrupt brush off. The two teens helped Kento to his feet and made their way back to the floor specifically designated for cold victims.
"And then it just, stalled, right on the tracks! I didn't know what to think. It was then that I noticed a dark green light in the fog and the train came barreling towards me. It was...odd."
Kento paused momentarily in his retelling to gather his thoughts. His blue eyes wandered briefly along the room before returning to meet his companions' gazes. "A red light appeared and looked to be trying to contain the green one. The train even slowed down. I became mesmerized and couldn't take my eyes off the sight...I felt so weak because of it. But then the two lights slammed into the SUV and the train started moving again. I tried opening the doors, but something was keeping them locked tight! So I started punching at the passenger window, only, nothing happened. I didn't want to use the armor," he murmured quietly. All three boys had felt the same way about it since their leader's death. "Suddenly, the green light was all around the outside of the car. But...I noticed that the red light was inside, with me. Something, somehow, bodily lifted me and literally threw me out of the car. I can't even remember if it was through the window or door. When I landed, I finally did call my subarmor and ran from the site. I imagine it was already broken when I called the armor. Guess it healed it some." Here he paused again and looked with mixed emotions at his right hand, the one he'd injured while hitting the window and during his tumble from the vehicle only seconds before the train hit. The fog must have hidden him from the conductors. It was a good thing, too. Otherwise there may have been some explaining to do concerning his subarmor.
Two, slightly smaller hands came to rest lightly on his, subsequently drawing him from his dark thoughts. Kento looked up to find Rowen and Cye staring at him, two small smiles of comfort and compassion on their faces that caused a like image to appear on his own facade.
"That's one heck of a guardian angel we have," Rowen whispered to them.
Kento winked at Cye. They all clearly remembered the previous doubt he had held concerning the origin and intentions of the lights. The bearer of Hardrock had learned his lesson. Obviously.
"You mean ghost, Bro. Guardian ghost!" was his teasing response.
"Excuse me."
Three pairs of questioning eyes focused on the nurse that came to stand before them.
"You were the ones whom arrived with Mr. Date, correct?"
"Ah, yes!" Rowen answered with a hint of nervous hesitancy as he rose to his feet. His fears were quickly smoothed away when the middle-aged woman leveled a reassuring smile at him. "Mr. Date has been stabilized and you may visit with him—briefly, mind you—if you'd like."
"We'd like that very much," Cye gushed to her as he hurried past. Rowen was already halfway down the hall. Snatching a peek at the clipboard in the nurse's hands, Kento yelled ahead with the room number. The three boys quickly disappeared from view.
"You go first, Rowen."
"Yeah, ah, okay."
Willing his trembling hand to be still, Rowen latched onto the doorknob and turned it. The door swung easily on its well-kept hinges. Inside the sparsely furnished room, the trio found their missing companion, his shock of golden hair the only color to be found in the stark white chamber. Rowen froze instantly in fear. What if Sage really wasn't stable? What if they had found him too late? What if—
A push from Cye led him forward towards the bed. The warrior of trust kept a reassuring hand on the younger boy's arm for support. "It's okay, Rowen," he soothed. "See there? The heart monitor is beeping away to its merry content. Sage will be all right."
Swallowing hard, Rowen nodded sharply once and collapsed into a chair beside the bed. He took one of Sage's cold hands in his own clammy one.
"He's very pale."
Rowen barely even noticed as he made the quiet observation. On the other side of the bed, Kento was inspecting the large pile of blankets that had been stacked onto their companion's still form.
Slowly, the three teens met each others' gazes. None of them seemed able to speak, which was, perhaps, for the best, as they could not think of anything to say anyhow.
Kento, Cye, and Rowen stayed in the room until Sage's family arrived, after which they attempted as hasty a retreat as possible. None of the three boys felt like being interrogated. They barely held answers for themselves, much less someone else. Sliding into the front seat of Cye's truck together, they made the journey home in silence, steadfastly avoiding any and all railroad tracks. Once back at home, the oldest of the warriors prepared a very late lunch for his companions and himself. The three could not find anything to say to each other and chose to avoid making eye contact lest they make the situation anymore uncomfortable.
You'd think someone had died, Cye thought to himself. The careless thought caused him to quickly wince. Someone had died as a matter-of-fact, and someone else had very nearly done so just recently.
Sitting beside him at the table, Kento didn't notice his best friend's behavior. Rather, he was too preoccupied with his own thoughts to do much more than lightly pick at his food. An attempt had been made at all of their lives by now. Thankfully, nothing more serious had occurred than a few injuries and a trip to the hospital. Sounds like old times, he thought sarcastically. And while they had yet to discover absolute proof, it appeared that it was the dark green spirit light that was out to get them—whoever it might belong to—and not the soft red light of Ryo's spirit.
Or aura, or whatever you want to call it.
White Blaze knew something bad had happened. He'd seen the vehicle that screamed come roaring to the house. Within moments of arriving, it departed, taking with it the warrior of light. Confusion had flitted across the tiger's noble features and he lifted his nose to the wind briefly. The large cat knew what death smelt like. Sage did not smell like death. So why did Cye and Rowen leave so abruptly? Didn't they realize there was nothing they could do for the downed warrior while he was in the company of the men in white? Didn't they know their brother-in-arms wasn't dead and wasn't going to die?
Obviously not...
Humans could be so dense at times.
White Blaze was preparing to head back to the house when the same scent of rotting flesh from earlier assaulted his senses once more. Determined to discover its origins this time around, he bounded off into the woods in pursuit, ignoring even Kento when the boy came calling for him.
The woods were strangely quiet by the time White Blaze finally heard Kento give up on him. The Siberian tiger did not hear the chatter of other wildlife that usual greeted him. There had been so many animals out earlier that morning. Where had they all gone? Or perhaps they were still around. Perhaps they just didn't want their presences to be known, for one reason or another. Whatever the reason, it left him feeling curious and slightly apprehensive. Slowing his steps, he lifted one large paw to place ahead of him and stopped completely. Something that felt oddly like a body was pressing against him.
Step back, Blaze.
The tiger did as he was told.
Unexpectedly, a small branch fell from one of the surrounding trees. It landed in the place White Blaze had been preparing to step into. The wood promptly unleashed a jaw of sparkling silver, a trap large enough to easily bring down and hold a creature of his size. The tiger felt his hair rise and bristle. He looked about him threatening. White teeth appeared in warning, but there was no one to be found, no one to pin the blame on. Still angry, White Blaze turned to leave when a familiar voice touched his large ears.
It seems that even if I can't arrive soon enough to help the guys, I can at least help you, Boy. Be careful, okay?
Pausing, White Blaze looked over his shoulder. A cat 'grin' appeared on his face, wiggling his whiskers slightly. A look of true excitement overcame his black and white face.
The ringing of the telephone brought the three boys out of the stupor they had fallen into. Rowen answered it on the second ring. He nodded a few times to the "Yes, yes, of course's" that slipped from his tongue, before just as swiftly replacing the phone on its holder.
"That was Yayoi," he told the two other boys. "Sage's family has asked that we return to the hospital as soon as we can. Yayoi said," he swallowed, finding his mouth suddenly very dry and his tongue hard to maneuver. "Yayoi said that Sage has been calling for us. All of us." It took only the look on Rowen's face to explain to the others what was meant by that statement.
But...why would Sage be calling for Ryo instead of simply the other three remaining boys? Rowen did not like the implications that were set off in his head because of that one thought and in his growing anxiety, he grew extremely foul of mood and began to bark orders at the others. Cye complied easily enough: his improving attitude and shared empathy of nearly losing his own best friend persuaded him not to raise an argument.
Kento, however, was an entirely different story. Not only was he sporting a fierce headache from his run-in with near death, but his entire body also ached quite terribly. His nerves were quickly growing frazzled from the occurrences of the past couple of days, and his patience was growing thin from the numerous stresses they were all feeling. Rowen attempting to boss him around now when he could easily think for himself finally turned out to be the last straw. With a slight grunt, he pushed away from the table and straightened rather awkwardly from his seat. One calloused hand angrily slapped the table when he spoke, not really thinking about the six words that rolled all too eagerly off his tongue.
"Who died and made you leader!"
A sharp intake of air from Cye preceded the voice of someone new.
"I guess that would be me, Kento. Hi guys..."
Wow....can you believe it? I've actually posted a new chapter! A new, new chapter! And it only took how long? Three years? LOL Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed it. Sorry if it was a bit short, but the next chapter will be longer. The next chapter is also the last chapter, so even though I know it's been a short ride, I hope it was a good one. Let me know what you think about it. I'd like to know I did a pretty good job after waiting three years to actually do it!
--Marie K.
Completed 7/27/2004