Author's Note: Introductions are so tedious. If any part of this seems confusing or redundant, please tell me. I have rewritten this section five or six times, so I'm not even sure what I'm reading anymore.
One more thing, the reason I don't have the Warlords wearing helmets is because they're good now, even if the Knights don't know it. It makes sense to me, sorry if it bothers you.
Knights and Warlords
"We have your precious Princess. We'll take good care of her, don't worry. But if you wish to reclaim her, you'll have to overcome the obstacles we present to you. I am Cale, Warlord of Corruption. We are here to see if you Bronze Knights are as tough as we've heard, so four of you will fight the four of us. I'm afraid one of you is going to be left all alone, but at least you'll have you're health. And, I brought a little surprise for you as well." The challenge was closer to a wolf's growl than any human voice the boys had heard. When they located where it was coming from, they found a strange man in what looked to be brown armor with a long, flowing crimson cape. Beneath a mop of blue hair, he sported a cross-shaped scar over his left eye, which made him uncomfortably close to Ikki in description. But any further comparison of the two was halted by the huge sword slung across the stranger's back. As stunning as his entrance had been, his exit was a bit anticlimactic. He simply vanished! The Knights left behind a sputtering Tatsumi as they raced to their cloths, donning them post haste and exiting the mansion through the closest available window or door. They hit the ground running in the direction they sensed their goddess to be, but of course, simply finding her wasn't going to be their only problem.
"First, we need to determine who's doing this and why. They aren't Knights, those aren't cloths, and I don't think any of us has ever heard of these Warlords, so let's just focus on finding out what's going on. We may be able to settle this peacefully." Andromeda pleaded once everyone was outside and moving in Sienna's direction.
"Is it me, or is he getting bossier?" Seiya asked.
"Watch it!" Ikki called as he leapt out of the way of a very nasty beam of light that tore through the ground where they'd been running a moment before. Shiryu, a step behind the blue haired boy, dragged a fuming Seiya with him as he, too, dodged the attack. Seiya had misunderstood Ikki's growl, thinking it a response to his question. Shun, being a little ways behind the others, had plenty of time to avoid it. Hyoga, too, though he had been in the lead, had easily evaded the attack.
"Good call." Pegasus said by way of apology.
The blast, they noticed, had scorched the ground, evaporating the snow. A large, circular clearing had emerged around a moss haired man in green and red armor. The clearing was warm and had an unpleasant, dead smell.
"So, you boys are fast. You just escaped my Snake Fang Strike. Even the Ronins have trouble doing that at times. I am Sekhmet, Warlord of Venom. If you want your goddess, one of you will have to face me. The rest must find their opponents elsewhere." The Warlord was rather unsettling to look at as one eye was bigger than the other, and neither contained an iris. Not to mention the six wicked looking katanas he was already starting to string together into a whip!
"I got this one. You guys go on." Shiryu told his friends.
"Noble Dragon, let us see if you deserve the name of the god of serpents. Will you taste my poison for your princess? SNAKE FANG STRIKE!" The new comer hissed.
"Wait, why are you. . ." But Shun was cut off as the Warlord's swords snaked out with lightning speed, biting at Shiryu as he barely avoided the attack.
"This is not your affair, gentle Andromeda. Dais has his eye set on you." Sekhmet cackled maniacally.
"Dude, what a nut job. And he fights dirty!" Hyoga shivered.
"Get going, guys. Focus on Sienna." Shiryu called.
"Yes, yes, run along, boys. I only want to play with you're little friend. I'm not going to hurt him. Much." The Warlord's words were once again followed by evil laughter.
"Be careful, Shiryu." Seiya called as he reluctantly followed Hyoga and Ikki away, Shun in tow.
They hadn't gone ten yards before they were once again halted. "Well, well. What have we here? Little Knights without a princess to protect. What a shame. Athena is in no danger. We just want to know that her power can be kept safe from the wrong hands. If you can't protect her. . . well, your loss, our gain." The speaker was hard to locate, his voice seeming to come from everywhere at once. When they found him, he was a young man with long, white hair. His armor was purple, and his left eye was covered by a black eye patch. Though, the truly striking part of his appearance was the strange, six bladed scythe that made him look like a spider. This resemblance was aided by the fact that he was hanging upside down, suspended by a translucent purple energy web! "I am Dais, Warlord of Illusion."
"I take it he's mine. Those wrong hands wouldn't happen to be yours, would they?" Shun said softly, moving into a defensive position. He couldn't help thinking to himself. 'Why. . . Why haven't my Nebula Chains reacted to these guys? Perhaps. . . but that's too much to hope for.'
"Ah, Andromeda. I was hoping you'd choose me. I've been looking forward to this. Let us see if you are stronger than I've heard." Dais cooed, ignoring Shun's question as he casually righted himself, and in the same smooth motion grabbed his weapon.
"There's an invitation I could refuse." The slight boy muttered beneath his breath, but his attention was focused on his opponent's eye. 'What am I seeing? What is it. . .'
However, he was not allowed to think long as the Warlord suddenly swung his scythes, yelling. "WEB OF DECEPTION!" Sticky white webs encompassed Shun. Finally, his Nebula Chains were forced to form a shell around their bearer to keep the opposing threads away from their target.
"I can handle this, Ikki. It's all right. Keep going." Andromeda stopped his brother mid-stride. "I think this is a test, of some sort. The only way we'll get Athena back is if we prove that we can. We have to play by their rules, but I think we can beat them at their own game." Shun's tone was harder than usual, and if they'd been able to see his eyes, they would have seen a striking confidence rarely displayed by their kindly friend.
"Ookaay. Well then. I guess we'll be going now. Then. Yep." Seiya sputtered, unsure how to react to this latest turn of events, but doing his best to drag a still unmoving Ikki with him.
Just then, his efforts were halted as sakura petals floated all around them.
"What, leaving so soon Pegasus? I don't think so. I am Lady Kayura, and one of you has a date with my Star Light Swords!" This time, it was a woman's voice. She materialized from thin air, holding a pair of long sai with gold and red tassels on the handle. As she spoke, the blades extended into twin jitte. She had long, flowing, dark blue hair, looked to be younger than Seiya, and seemed completely out of place.
"Huh? Look missy, we're YIKES!" Seiya barely had time to yelp as he leapt out of the way of one of her blades, which she easily retrieved, since the tassels also extended.
"Function and fashion. That is one lethal lady!" Hyoga marveled.
"You don't know the half of it, Swanie." Kayura laughed. "Come, which of you brave fellows wants to be beaten by a girl?"
"Why you!"
"Seiya!" Ikki cut off his ranting leader. "You should take this one, but get a hold of yourself first!"
"Huh?" Hyoga and Seiya couldn't help asking, confused.
"Simply put, he has the most experience fighting women. Swan and I aren't as fond of the female fighters." Ikki chuckled harshly.
"I'm not sure I want to know what that's supposed to mean, but I agree this chick needs to learn some manners!" Pegasus smirked, barely containing his short temper.
"I take it you're not what you appear to be, either." Shun stated calmly, staring now at Kayura and drawing the attention of all present.
"My, you're quite the quick one." The cobalt-locked lass replied. "Indeed, none of us are, are we? Come, Seiya, since you seem the most eager to make the acquaintance of my blades. It is terribly one sided for me fight you all by yourself, but I don't want you if you can't hit a woman, because believe me, I can hit a boy. Hard." And with that the petals swirled and faded into the crisp air, and both Seiya and Kayura were gone!
"Where. . ."
"Patience, Swan, they've not gone far. Kayura likes to play rough, so she needs a lot of room. She'll return him when she's done, though I can't guaranty he won't be worse for wear. She has a distinct tendency to abuse new toys." Dais soothed.
"Cale and Sienna are still to the North. In case you haven't noticed yet, Seiya can generally take care of himself. We have to do the same." Shun checked any further complaints from his companions. The two Knights started in that direction abashed and speechless.
Once they were out of earshot, Hyoga couldn't help but comment. "Dude, I think Seiya's actually right about the bossy thing."
"I'm not sure which surprises me more. Seiya being right, or Shun being bossy." Ikki replied before he could stop himself.
Any further banter was halted by a chorus of howls.
"Wolves?! What are they doing here?"" Phoenix asked, coming to a halt.
"Those aren't normal wolves." Swan cautioned.
"Naturally. It would be awfully boring to fight something normal, don't you think?" Ikki joked.
"You're quite perceptive. These are my pets." Cale called as he materialized between them and a pack of about twenty very large, black furred, red eyed, sharp toothed canines. "But I'm afraid I haven't fed them in a while. Sometimes it slips my mind. I was hoping one of you would be kind enough to assist me."
"I'll take the beasts if you take the bastard." Ikki growled conversationally.
"Sorry, man, but I got this. Those monsters are a mockery of nature." Hyoga responded coldly.
"And here I was expecting Swan to be my opponent. Very well, fire against ice, the most primordial battle! Let us see the god of the South's power!" Cale crowed as darkness seeped from the blue-haired Warlord and enveloped the blue-haired warrior. As this shadow was washed from the land by the first appearance of the blazing sun all day, it took with it both combatants!
Hyoga stood amid a frozen wasteland unable even to sense his the other Knights. It seemed the whole world had just died, leaving him as the sole survivor. Well, not quite sole. He always had the wolves.
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Well, considering there are only three living Warlords and Kayura, either two of the Knights had to fight one of the Dynasty people, or someone had to be left out in the cold. Yes, I should have found a better use for Hyoga's talents, but at least he's in his element this way.
Inda: I rewrote some of the dialogue, but from what I have seen, the Seiya in "Knights of the Zodiac" is a little different from Saint Seiya. Thus, I think Knight Seiya is in character here. If I'm wrong, correct me, by all means.