Time
By Quiet Chaos
Chapter Five
A/N: Chapter five. A small warning: this chapter is somewhat more violent than the others. If you think I should upgrade the rating on this story, please say so in the reviews and I will do so. That's all for now. Enjoy!
The crystalline orb rolled lackadaisically between his clawed fingers. He hated this waiting game and everything this little, seemingly ordinary ball was putting him through, but this was all necessary.
Overhead a handful of pesky clouds had veiled the moon, blocking the vital component to his search. Below him the city had fallen into a lull, and fewer prey were lurking in the cold darkness. He hissed, but no puff of breath passed into the air.
The clouds finally rolled by, and the unobstructed pale moonlight flooded the area. He raised the orb so it could bask in it.
For a moment, nothing seemed to happen, but then the crystal began to softly glow as it absorbed the light. It pulsed, slowly at first, then quickening like a racing heartbeat until the glow was steady and solid.
He lowered his hand and held the ball before him. "Show me."
The glow became a focused beam of light that shot into the heart of the city lights. It held steady on its target.
He growled at it. "This had better be the one. My patience is running thin." The orb just continued to point, oblivious to his threatening tone. He jumped across the rooftops, following the light.
xxxxx
Kurari slowly opened her eyes, feeling the aches of the awkward journey. Her limbs were stiff and numb from the cold, and her skin felt papery and rigid. Regardless of the pain, she slid off of the tiger's back and sat on the icy ground.
The black cat had brought her to the park in the center of the city and had nuzzled her awake upon arrival. He pressed against her as she began to shiver, and she leaned into his warm fur.
No one was around at this time of night, but she still wondered how they had made it so far into the city without being seen by the late-shift workers. She eyed the tiger, but he sat still, looking out over the park, as if he were waiting for something.
She followed his gaze, but saw nothing. Sighing, she started to stand, but as soon as she did, the tiger pressed his weight on top of her, keeping her on the ground.
"Why did you bring me here?" she hissed through short, shivering breaths as she finally caught the tiger's gaze. Deep brown eyes bored in to hers. A sensation of comfort and understanding flowed from those brown eyes, and so she reluctantly relaxed a little.
"Kurari."
Startled out of the trance, she turned towards the voice. An older man dressed extremely well stood behind her, his arms folded behind his back. A wispy white beard cascaded down the front of his suit, and trails of matching white hair patched his head. She quickly bowed. "Master Kurata. What brings you here?"
He smiled, but there was no kindness beneath the folds of skin. "That's really not for you to ask. But if you must know, I had a feeling you'd be here. What happened? You were supposed to have reported in yesterday. You had me worried."
"I'm sorry, Master. I failed." She raised her head slightly to watch his reaction from beneath her bangs.
"Oh yes. I already know that, as does the customer." He continued to smile, but she could see his disappointment and something else lurking beneath his eyes.
"If the customer wills it, I will try again, free of charge," she said quickly.
"Oh no, you needn't worry about that." He stopped smiling and gazed down at her. "He only wanted to see if you could eliminate a potential problem. He expected that you would fail, seeing as you're just a pathetic mortal like the rest of the lot in this realm. Although, there was some hope that you'd succeed since you were described as the best in the business."
"What?" She sat up and stared fully into her master's face. Something wasn't right. Beside her the black tiger had turned to face Kurata and stood with muscles tensed.
"He was hoping to maintain some stealth within this world until he found the final piece for his war, but there's no point now. He'll destroy everything."
"Master, what are you saying?" Confused, she watched as he began to laugh hysterically, his eyes rolling to the back of his head. The tiger's growls were audible now, and the cat was poised for attack.
Kurata suddenly lunged at Kurari. "This is the end of the Mortal Realm!" he laughed, a crazed smile distorting his face.
Roaring, the tiger leapt in between them and brought a hard swipe down across Kurata's neck, snapping the bone. The body hit the ground with a thud, and lay at Kurari's feet. She stared at it, completely stunned as putrid smelling green-gray smoke seeped out of the mouth and dissipated in the open air.
"What? What the hell?" She backed away from the body and the tiger. She couldn't think clearly. Magical armors, black and white tigers, healing powers, fiery arrows, green smoke, and her dead master flooded her thoughts. Her chest felt too tight, and a migraine was stomping on her temples. Her simple world of life or death had fallen apart in the span of two days.
Nothing made sense anymore. Gripping her head in a feeble attempt to quell the chaos, she silently screamed at everyone and no one. Even though her world seemed to have shattered, she refused to cry.
The tiger rubbed against her as she wrapped her arms around her knees, wishing the last two days never happened. A cold nose pressed against her cheek. Numbly she looked into the tiger's eyes again. "I don't suppose you can explain things."
Again a sense of relaxation and understanding flowed from the brown eyes, but this time a wave of images followed. At first she resisted the scenes, but then she realized that there was some kind of sense to them as the days' events and information filled in the pieces.
A blood-curdling scream suddenly pierced through the night air, breaking the silence. Kurari turned away from the tiger, giving Kurata's body one last glance. Then tiger and girl looked out to the city and waited.
xxxxx
The woman's corpse crumpled to the ground as the light dissolved. He loomed over the body, clenching the orb within his gauntlet. Thirteen. Thirteen people this orb had him seek out, only to kill them in the end. His frustration was getting the better of him as he further tightened his grip on the sphere, nearly crushing it. Was there no one in this world worthy enough for this thing?
People were converging all around the alley, searching for the scream. Using a fraction of his power, he floated to the nearby rooftop and held the offending orb to light.
"I tire of this. If you will not make a decision, then I have no use for you." He expected the orb to continue its oblivious attitude as it had done for all his twelve threats before, but this time, it flared in the moonlight and, using its energy, floated in his palm. "What's this?"
It spun in the air as if it were looking around. Suddenly it bolted away, leaving him standing stunned on the rooftop. He was inclined to let it disappear, but knew better. Already the orb's aura had disappeared from his senses, and anger began to boil within him.
"YOU DARE MOCK ME?" he roared in the direction that the orb had flown in. Green storm clouds supernaturally gathered around him as he let his power seep out into the world. There was no point in stealth now.
Below him the people were pointing and staring at his cloaked and shadowed figure. He glared at them. It was their fault! Insects! None were worthy, so it didn't matter anymore that he would start his path of destruction now.
On his silent command red lightning leapt through the sky, striking the nearby rooftops and slashing at the people on the ground, incinerating several in a flash of crimson. Everywhere screams were filling the air, and with each new cry of terror he unleashed another blast of lethal electricity. They would all pay for his frustration and anger.
The orb. He seethed, calming himself long enough to formulate a new plan. No doubt the guardians of this realm would be arriving soon, and he needed to find that vile crystal again.
Raising his clawed gauntlet, he called forth a gate. It erupted in the heart of the city, toppling buildings and heaving streets. Now he could begin his search again without the Ronin Warriors interfering too much.
The gates swung wide open and a seemingly endless army of silver Dynasty soldiers marched out. "Destroy everything!" he ordered before storming away in the direction of the crystal.
xxxxx
Four heads snapped up as the wave of Nether World energy rolled over the house. Sage instinctively grabbed his orb and switched into his subarmor. He turned to call on Ryo, but found the other boy still soundly asleep. Cye, Rowen, and Kento appeared at his door, already wearing their subarmors.
"Something's up!" Kento clapped his fists together excitedly.
"Why isn't Ryo awake?" Rowen stepped into the room.
"I don't know, and right now that doesn't really matter. I don't want him fighting in his state anyway." Sage moved them out of the room so as not to wake the black-haired boy.
"So what do you propose? We can't leave him here alone." Cye looked down. "You remember what happened when we did that before."
There was a tense silence as each warrior remembered when Saranbo had jumped on their unprotected friend and nearly killed them all. Sage broke the silence first.
"That's not going to happen this time. Kento, I want you to stay here and keep an eye on Ryo and the girl."
"No way, man!" he protested, raising his fists. "I'm the strongest of the four of us. If there's a new enemy, then you're going to need my strength!"
"It's precisely because you're the strongest that I'm asking you to stay behind." Sage glared at the warrior of justice.
Cye placed a reassuring hand on Kento's shoulder. "Calm down, Kento."
"If this new power gets through the three of us, then it will be just you defending the fort." Rowen also held Kento's shoulder. "We'll be relying on that hard head of yours to hold out alone."
Sighing in understanding, Kento lowered his fists. "All right. But you guys had better take care of yourselves."
"We'll be back!" Cye called over his shoulder as the three warriors ran out of the house. Kento dejectedly settled himself on Sage's empty bed. If it came to just him defending Ryo, he would not let his friends down.
A/N: Oooh, big cliffhanger because of three story lines, and I'll be leaving you there until mid December! Oh, I hope I don't lose any of you because in the next update, as said before, there will be a link to a piece of RW fanart! And an early warning for that link: it will only be up for one week maximum because I want only my reviewers to enjoy it. Yay for fanart! Boo for cliffhangers, right?
Anyway, shout outs again!
MorganRay: Yeah, talking-head chapters aren't fun, but they're necessary in passing along information, especially because I'm trying to fill in a good chunk of Ronin Warrior history and whatnot. Oh yeah, and Kayura and the ex-Warlords do make an appearance! They'll be in the next chapter, so look for that!
TeahLeafs: Ooops, no Ryo-Sage time in this chapter. So sorry, but it's more exciting, right? And fanart in the next update! Fanart! Wooo! Again and again and again, hearts and glomps to you for support!
Naikia: Yay! New reader! I hope this story keeps you hooked, as I'm trying my best to write it well!
Artimis: Oh I am definitely having fun with this, and a big part of that comes from the reviews. Thank you for enjoying this story, and I will endeavor to continue!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Please don't overdose on tryptophan and forget me or the three storylines!