The Story Moves On…

By: Kianna Mora

Disclaimer: I do not own the Ronin Warriors, but am exerting my right to Free Speech, please don't sue.

A sun rose in the east bringing light over vast plains and then finally touched a palace towering to the sky. On one of the high parapets stood a woman dressed in a long white robe embellished with symbols along the hem. The wind whipped her long hair around her face and she greeted the sun as it rose in a blaze of glory. She breathed in the fresh air as it came off of the mountains that towered to the south. In the courtyard there were already people gathering for the Morning Devotion and she could hear the chant coming up from the breeze. A child looked up and saw her and waved, she waved back just as the mother looked up and saw who he was looking at. She smiled and her right hand covered her heart in the gesture of fealty. She put her own hand over her heart and smiled. The mother shooed her son into the courtyard and began her chant, the boy mimicking her.

The woman turned around and walked into the open double doors and started down the stairs. She stopped at the ground floor and opened the door into the Library. A man stood in front of the fire and he turned slightly as he heard the door open.

"Ah, Gjazamona, glad to see you on this beautiful morning, you will be leaving shortly, hmm?"

The woman nodded, "Yes Father, I will be leaving shortly. If anything should happen-"

"I will send word for you, don't worry, I can take care of my own country by myself. Find these Warriors and get rid of this enemy as quickly as possible. I hate to see your mother in so much pain." His eyes darkened in anger, "Especially when he comes into my home and tries to kill that which is mine and I can do nothing against it."

Gjazamona's own eyes glittered with magic that was just beneath the surface, "We all hate being so helpless, but if it means my mothers safety, I will do whatever is possible."

Gjazamona's father nodded, "Then leave and hurry back." Gjazamona nodded and left the room.

Meanwhile……….

Cale smiled a cruel smile as he lazily gazed into the bowl of water he was using to scry. He saw a woman lying on a bed trying to sleep, but was being tormented by invisible demons in her nightmares. She thrashed on the bed and finally woke with a start, sitting up and panting heavily. A woman burst into the room, rushing over to the bed.

"Mother, are you ok? Was it another nightmare?" the woman looked extremely worried.

The woman's mother nodded, "I'm fine, I think I have slept enough for one night. Aren't you supposed to be gone by now. You need to find the Ronin Warriors quickly." Cale cursed and waved the vision away. His Master would need to learn of this new development. Cale closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them, he was in the throne room.

"Master, Ash is sending someone to look for the Ronin Warriors. This could start to get complicated. When are you going to finish her off and obtain all of her power?"

Talpa raised a hand, "We do not need to worry about the Ronin Warriors. There is not a way for Ash to go through dimensions to get to them. We have all of the time in the world; do not worry my Warlord of Darkness."

Cale sighed, "She is sending her daughter, Gjazamona, to find them. She can go through dimensions, and is very powerful from what I have seen."

Talpa's eyes narrowed, "You did not say her daughter was even aware of this situation before, she was supposed to be gone for a very long time. When did she get back?"

Cale flinched, "Two days ago."

Talpa began to fume, "And you decided to not let me know about this before? We could have taken measures to eliminate her before she became a threat."

Cale smiled, "She can still be eliminated Master, all we need to do is get to her before she gets to the Ronin Warriors."

"If you think that was possible, don't you think Rimmer would have done that before now?"

Cale grimaced at the thought of the Leader of the Shadowen, he was a man that loved to stretch the truth in his favor and one could not trust a word he said. Cale wished that his Master had not struck a deal with this vermin. He knew that Rimmer had made this deal for his own purposes, none of which had included his Master gaining any power for himself. Cale had heard Rimmer talking to one of his underlings about his plans to beat Talpa at his own game. Cale had immediately told his Master and his Master had not heeded a word of it. Well, if his Master was not going to use caution he was honor bound to do it for him. Cale would find a way to eliminate Rimmer as well as this Gjazamona, even if it was without his Masters permission. Nothing was going to get in the way of his Master's plan, even his Master's own arrogance.

••••••••••

Rimmer Dall sat in his fortress at Southwatch watching Gjazamona's progress in the floor to ceiling mirror in his chambers. He was amazed how quickly she was going through the dimensions trying to find her Warriors. She had been at this for over 2 days and had already visited 50 different dimensions. What she didn't know is that Rimmer was tampering with her when she was teleporting from dimension to dimension, making it to where she was visiting the same dimensions each time, or alternate dimensions of the same one she had just visited. Rimmer knew that Gjazamona would catch on eventually, but hoped it wouldn't be for at least another day. He was stepping up his plans to gain all of Ash's power for himself. The only reason he had even made a deal with that Talpa was to make it easier to wear down Ash's immense will and then cut Talpa from the whole deal.

His brother Kemmer came into the room just as he was banishing the image from the mirror. "Messing with her again, are we?"

"Of course, she needs to be led around on a wild goose chase once in a while. What did you come for?"

Kemmer took a deep breath, "The Council does not think that you are doing what is wise with Ash. They fear you will bring the Shadowen Masters wrath upon us all if you persist. You will not even be able to keep her blind to the fact that you have a made a deal with that Talpa. They said that if you can't get Ash's power in one week, they will command you to cease or relieve you of your post."

Rimmer clenched his right gloved hand, "Meddling fools! I am their leader! I am the one that kept everyone from being obliterated by the Shadowen Master. Shadowen Master, pah! Gjazamona is nothing more than an assassin that makes surprise attacks on us. What do we do to deserve it?"

Kemmer cleared his throat, "We kill whole villages and ravage the magic in the Earth?"

Rimmer waived a hand in dismissal, "We only do that to keep ourselves alive, just like the humans strip the earth of its nutrients growing their crops."

Kemmer shook his head, "Then why do we have raids for fun? Surely you see why she comes down on us so hard. We can take what we need from plants, trees, but we kill humans instead."

Rimmer rounded on him, "Are you defending her, my only brother? Have you turned traitor?"

Kemmer backed up a step, "No, no I am not defending her." He backed up to the door, "What should I say to the Council?"

Rimmer raised his lip in distaste, "Tell them I will have it done in a week, and if I don't, don't expect me to step down."

Kemmer nodded nervously and reached for the handle, he was gone in an instant.

••••••••••

Gjazamona stood in a field that she could have sworn she was just in. She closed her eyes and traced her energy signature back through the dimensions, and found something out of place. There was a slight shift in the dimensions that she had not created. When she had last jumped dimensions, she had felt a slight nudge in a direction. She looked hard at the signature and her mouth grew hard, "Rimmer Dall, you little meddler." Her eyes still closed she felt a new signature in the dimension close to what she was in. This was the signature of what she was looking for! It was one of the Warriors, Ryo, and he was using the Inferno armor. She latched onto the signature and made a clear course and disappeared.