Sage sighed slightly in boredom. Rowen nudged him. Mia had told them that the Jewel had sensed another armor in this vicinity, but all that was here was this lousy circus. Rowen stopped suddenly in his tracts. A beautiful blonde haired woman walked across his path, a huge black panther at her side. While this was not unusual at a circus, what caught his attention was the glimmering crystal that hung around her neck.

"Definitely not part of the show." Sage whispered to his companion, eyes narrowed. "Let's follow her." She and the panther went into the animal tent, and came out again with a tall brown haired boy in a clown suit. She led him away and out into the forest. The two Ronins followed them, making sure to keep their distance. Soon after the city was out of sight they met up with a third person. He had a long chestnut braid and was wearing a pitch black and bronze sub-armor. The boy greeted the panther enthusiastically, and then went to shake hands with the clown.

"Duo Maxwell, I'm glad to see that Relena got to the Terra Bearer before Zechs. Welcome to the team."

"It's lucky we found you, the four of us have been stretched pretty thin. I already lost Millardo to Jigen and the warlords were captured almost four months ago, we really can't take another loss." Relena said.

"If you would just let me go look for the Ronins…"

"Duo, we can't spare you, or anyone for that matter. Terra, Tsunami, Hellfire, Reflection, Whirlwind and Artic have been found but that still leaves three more Bearers. Terra and Tsunami are watching each other's backs; Millardo and Lucrezia are working for Jigen, which only leaves you, me, and Heero for the search. We have no way to track inactivated bearers, and we're being attacked left and right! So Ronin hunting will have to wait!"

"Ok! Ok! I get it Princess, calm down." Duo said, rubbing his head sheepishly. Terra suddenly jerked around and into a crouch, dark green and bronze sub-armor appearing. "What?" Duo asked, alarmed.

"Incoming!" A shout was heard from the direction of the circus. A small blonde boy in aqua and bronze sub-armor came running threw the woods towards them. "Artic and Corruption, 12 o'clock!"

"Shit!" Duo cursed. "Relena, take Deathscythe and hide." The blonde girl and the panther ran in the direction that the Halo and Strata Bearers were eavesdropping. Duo held out a black orb with the Kenji for hope glowing in it. "Armor of Hellfire! Ara Kuro!" Voices echoed his.

"Armor of Artic! Ara Aisu!"

"Armor of Corruption! Tao Tei!"

"Hello boys, not here to party I assume." Duo, now wearing a gleaming black Samurai Armor, whirled his scythe expertly. The two other boys didn't armor up but stood flanking Duo on either side. Both held defensive martial arts stances, and the blonde suddenly held a long slender chain.

"No," Cale sneered. "Neither are we here for the circus. Prepare to die."

"What's this Zechs? No death threats? I'm offended." The one in the light blue armor laughed.

"I think Cale said it quite nicely, Hellfire. Prepare to die." The two both attacked. In harmony the two in sub-armor jumped to intercept Cale, leaving Zechs to Duo. They fought for a minute or so before the Ronin of Halo spotted Sekhmet creeping up on the fight.

"We should interfere." He told his companion. Rowen nodded solemnly and their clothes melted into their sub-armor. Quickly they jumped forward, but were intercepted by Kayura wearing the Cruelty Armor.

"Star sword…"

"Move!" Rowen shouted, dodging to the side.

"Scream!" The Warlord finished, sure kill ripping up the ground where they were. But this distraction had let Sekhmet pounce on the two unarmored boys.

"Quatre!" The one in green shouted warning, and the blonde spun around in horror, Sekhmet descending on him with two of his swords. Quatre let out a cry, arms up to protect his head. He suddenly glowed, light pushing the Warlord back.

"Armor of Tsunami! Ara Nammu!" He shouted. The glow turned aqua as his armor formed. Then he stood in full armor, chain taunt between his fists. Blue eyes glared out from behind his face plate. Sekhmet took a step back in surprise at the ferocity, then turned to run, only to come face to face with Sage in full armor and his No-Dachi leveled. A clang was heard beyond Sage as Rowen blocked Kayura's swords with his bow. Cale hit the ground as Terra struck him with a long double-ended spear that had suddenly appeared.

"Blackfire Soul Stealer!" Duo cried, sending Zechs crashing to the ground. All four vanished. Quatre's armor and chain vanished and he looked like he was going to faint. Sage caught him and lifted him up bridal style. "Put him down." Duo demanded, scythe held out in a threaten manner.

"Now." Terra punctuated. Sage noted it was only the second time he had heard the brown haired boy speak.

"We mean no harm. The fight was unfair, and we couldn't let the Warlords just kill you." Rowen told them, armor disappearing in a dark blue glow.

"Do you think we're stupid? For all we know you're Anubis and Dais trying to get our trust. Put Tsunami down." Sage did, under threat of harm.

"Anubis?" The two Ronins shared a look. "Anubis has been dead for two years. How long have you had your armor?" Duo faltered.

"Duo! They're ok! Don't hurt them!" Relena called as she ran up to them. The crystal hanging around her neck was pulsating softly.

"Rowen, are my eyes playing tricks on me or does that look like the Jewel of Life?"

"You're Ronins, aren't you?" Terra said softly, awe in his voice.

"Ronins! That's fantastic!" Duo said, dropping his armor.

"Sage of Halo and Rowen of Strata."

"Duo of Hellfire, Trowa of Terra, and Quatre of Tsunami. This is Princess Relena and Deathscythe. That was Quatre's first go at summoning his armor. Do you guys have a safe place where he can rest and regain his strength?" Sage thought that Duo could do with some rest himself, if the bags under his eyes were any indication.

"Mia's house is protected, and Ryo should be there by now. Safest place I can think of. Anyone else we should be expecting?"

"Heero" Relena and Duo said at the same time.

"How do we contact him?"

"You… don't."

Heero scanned the crowd. Nataku is near, within a hundred yards. So many faces, he couldn't pinpoint a single person. He'd spent the last three months tracking the Nataku bearer through hazy energy trails and the flaring of auras. Duo, even Relena, couldn't track inactive bearers. In fairness neither could he, but this bearer had received his Orb, through whatever means. He had not summoned his armor, or even his sub armor yet, but coming in contact with the Nataku Orb had thrown what appeared to be a normally balanced aura totally out of control. That he could track. And through this he had found Nataku. A short young man of Chinese origin had just entered a store to Heero's left. A boy with an unbalanced aura.

Master O had trained him for when his destiny came to pass, had pressed the instrument of his Fate into his hands with an old mans dying breath. Wufei had not felt himself since then. He was still the same person, but he felt both stronger and weaker at the same time. Something was different, and it screamed at him to do something.

What? Something…changed, shifted. Suddenly Wufei knew someone powerful and important was near, following him even. This was it; this is where his path began. It was just like Master O described, the knowing, the feeling, and the surge of power that rose in response to the person behind him. Wufei turned down an alley, and then turned to face his trail. The silhouette of a man could be seen, and Wufei drew his katana. A broad sword appeared in the other person's hand. This was it.

Ack. Okay, so this isn't fantastic, but bare with me. When I get around to it I might revise this chapter. And aslo, the plot should thicken. I am always open to ideas, drop me a review.

TS