This is my first Ronin Warriors fic. I've only seen from where Ryo gets the soul swords of fervor to the last episode and then the first episodes up to where Cartoon Network cut it off, so forgive me for some mistakes. If I do make them, please tell me in your review. I never check my email so don't bother sending flames. If I get them I'll just pass them on to my crazy cat so she can shred them.
Disclaimer: I do not own or have any rights to what belongs to the creators of RW or YST.
My Guardian and Rogue Elementals are my own, though elementals not a completely original concept. People or creatures that lean towards one element or another are like unicorns and dragons. No one can claim rights to them, so I'm not trying. However, what is not in either RW or YST is mine and mine only as is the plot other than the basic Dynasty vs. Ronins stuff.
Chapter One
Blue-green eyes followed the action playing out on the field of battle before her. From her vantage point high in a tree, Deception could see every detail of the battle between her imitation Dynasty soldiers and the Ronin warriors. No, the visibility was not the problem. Deception was simply unable to concentrate on the whole of the battle. Time and time again her gaze returned to the one called Halo. Something about him was frighteningly familiar.
Banishing that thought from her mind, the spy turned warrior decided she'd learned enough of the Ronins' fighting styles to take them on herself. Grinning evilly she waved a hand at the soldiers causing them to revert to their original shapes. The five boys gasped as their opponents changed back into the metal trash cans Deception had created them from.
"What!" yelled the one in red armor. Who is he again? Ah, yes, the Ronin leader, Wildfire.
The one with the blue armor (Strata perhaps?) poked gingerly at the can nearest to him. "These trash cans are definitely real. The Dynasty soldiers were too. I don't think this can be an illusion."
Smart boy, she thought.
"I don't know about that. Dais' illusions seemed pretty real when they attacked," said the orange warrior.
Grrrr! How DARE they compare me to that traitor! Illusions indeed! I'll show them! Deception nearly exploded with rage. She leapt to her feet and opened her mouth to speak. She didn't see the branch above her and was not wearing a helmet. As a result the branch, or rather her head's collision with it, made her head throb and she suddenly felt dizzy. She took a step backwards—into midair. With a dull thump she impacted with the hard ground and lost consciousness.
The Ronins heard the noise and came running to investigate. They stared in disbelief at the motionless armored figure.
Cye's jaw dropped, "We've had a strange day, but this is the strangest. It seems our enemy has defeated herself!"
"Maybe she drained herself of power doing whatever she did to those trash cans?" suggested Rowen.
As he spoke the girl moaned almost inaudibly as her sub armor faded away to reveal remarkably average clothing. What caught the attention of the Ronins though, was the kanji that glowed briefly on her forehead, though it vanished too fast for them to read it.
Ryo broke the shocked silence. "Is it possible she's one of us?" he wondered aloud.
Sage moved silently toward the girl with the obvious intention of helping her.
Kento grabbed his arm, "Wait! She's probably one of the enemy! Didn't you see her armor?"
"Kento," said Rowen, "she could be like the Seasonals. Besides, she's human. We can't just leave her."
Ryo looked curiously at Sage. The eyes of the Warrior of Wisdom held an expression of shocked recognition. "Sage?"
Sage blinked, "Yeah, Ryo?"
"Do you know her?"
"If I do…" he sighed and shook his head. "I haven't seen her for six years, so I can't be sure."
"You think you know her?" asked Cye.
"Can we take her back to the house? There are more than enough of us to knock her out again if she is an enemy," Kento said.
Sage felt the girl's head. "She should be out for a while. I wonder what hit her?"
"We can ask her that when she wakes up," said Ryo. "Let's go."
Brrrrriiiiiiiiiiiinnnnng! Brrrrriiiiiiiiiiiinnnnng!
"Hello?"
Unintelligible speech from phone.
"Yeah, he's here. One moment," Kento covered the receiver with one hand and yelled upstairs. "SAGE!"
There was the sound of running feet.
"Some guy at the hospital wants to talk to you!"
Sage sped down the stairs and snatched the phone from his friend. "Hello? I'm Sage Date."
More unintelligible speech.
"Yeah, I have a cousin with that name."
More unintelligible speech.
"She's what!"
More unintelligible speech.
"Yes, I do know what that means."
More unintelligible speech.
"Okay, bye."
Ten minutes later the Ronins and Mia were gathered in the kitchen. Cye frowned helplessly as Kento raided the refrigerator.
"So," began Mia, "why did the hospital call Sage?"
Ryo looked down, expecting her to be upset that they had kept the story to themselves. "Yesterday," he said, "we found an unconscious girl lying in the woods after a skirmish with Dynasty soldiers. Sage's healing powers didn't seem to work on her and we didn't want to bother you, so we took her to the hospital."
"Sage thought he knew her from somewhere," contributed Cye.
"And?" prompted Mia.
"She has amnesia," Sage said. "She can't remember anything that's happened in the past four years and before that seems hazy too. The doctors don't know if it's permanent. It does seem selective to them. She may only fully recover if she wants to or if something she considers important triggers it."
"And this concerns us how?" asked Kento.
Mia glared at him, "If she doesn't remember anything she has no place to go! Also, she may be a victim of the Dynasty and you did find her."
"Was there more, Sage?" inquired Rowen.
"She thinks her name is Cera. I have an adopted cousin called Cera about her age."
Dead silence.
"Maybe she's a Ronin warrior," said Ryo.
"Why would you think that?" asked Mia.
The boys explained in as much detail as they could the odd occurrences of the previous day.
"I still think she's one of the what-ever-they-call-themselves. Dee-quarts or something," said Kento after the story was told.
"Demoness Quartet," corrected Cye and Rowen.
"Even if she is, "said Sage, "she wouldn't remember that. She couldn't be dangerous without her memories."
Understanding the unspoken request Mia smiled, "Okay, she can stay here. There are too many boys already. I'll go pick her up. Who's coming?"
"I am!" said Sage and Cye as they followed her out of the room.
One week later, Cera thoroughly surprised everyone by offering to cook on Rowen's turn. Her real reason for saving them from the blue archer's infamously bad food became clear when Kento snuck into the kitchen to 'check on things' later. The moment he stepped through the door the blond girl pounced on him.
"Why do you avoid me, Kento? What do you have against me?" she demanded.
The Ronin Warrior of Justice didn't know how to answer her. How could he tell her he thought she might be a Dynasty spy? She might not even know about the Dynasty!
Kento was saved by the pot on the stove as it started to boil. Cera released him and started a panicked search for some ingredient. He watched in horrified fascination as she added chunks of fresh pineapple (where did that come from?) and finely chopped celery to whatever she had cooking. Suddenly recognizing her air of careless confidence as a symptom of Rowen-style cooking Kento fled, nearly knocking over Cye in his haste to escape.
"I hope Kento hasn't been bothering you…" began Cye after he recovered his balance.
Cera doubled over in helpless laughter. Cye looked on in confusion. "Cera?"
"Ha ha ha! I'm s-sorry, Cye… It's just… He he he!" she choked on her laughter. "I'm assuming Kento has never seen pineapple and celery cooked together before?"
"Probably not," confirmed the boy. "Where did you find pineapple? What do they go together in?" He walked over to look in the bubbling pot. It was filled with a pale cranberry colored fruit mixture. With celery! "You do know what you're doing, right?" he asked nervously.
The girl raised her head form checking on the oven temperature. Her turquoise eyes were filled with confusion and terror when they met Cye's sea green ones. "No," she said quietly. "I don't know how half those ingredients just happened to show up, and I really don't know what this is that I'm cooking."
Cye stared at her, and glanced surreptitiously around the kitchen. What was going on here? "Are you sure some of this just appeared from nowhere?"
She nodded, "If you want an example, there's some really nice rose-petal jam that seems to have replaced this morning's leftovers." She indicated the counter.
Cye remained frozen in place, "There… There were leftovers this morning!"
Cera's expression cleared for a moment as she began to resemble the happy and friendly girl who had laughed so hard at Kento's rushed departure. Then her eyes darkened again, "Yes, there were. I know it's hard to believe, but Kento showed remarkable restraint this morning at breakfast. He acted like he thought I might have poisoned the food." The bubbling noise interrupted her again and Cera stepped over to stir it. About three stirs later Cye and Cera both felt an odd tingle at the back of their minds.
With feelings akin to dread Cye opened the oven. Cera came and peered over his shoulder inside. The two exchanged looks, "Green bean casserole?" questioned Cye.
The blond girl laughed shakily, "Not quite what I had in mind, but it'll have to do. It was going to be roast potatoes…" she trailed off.
Cye closed the oven door, "It should be done in about half an hour. I'll come back to help you then. See you in a bit, Cera." Since when to potatoes turn into a casserole half way through the cooking time? He thought. I have to tell someone about this. Mia and maybe Lady Kayura?
"—so that's what's happening," Cye finished. "What do you think?"
Mia finished her search on the computer and sat back in her chair. "I don't know, Cye. There's no information about anything like it I can find."
"Do we know how to contact Kayura?" he asked hopefully.
Mia's eyes lit up, "Yes! I have the phone number of the place they're staying."
"Okay, can you call her? I promised Cera I'd help her finish dinner," Cye said, looking at the clock.
"Don't worry, I can handle it. But I don't think anyone should eat until I've talked to Kayura," Mia said.
The moment the Ronin of Trust entered the kitchen he knew something was wrong. Even if the fact that Cera was crumpled unconscious on the floor holding the refrigerator door handle had somehow escaped his notice, the large concrete flower pot sitting where the refrigerator had been would have told him.
Where are the others? he wondered. Surely they would have heard or sensed something… Then he remembered that Sage and Rowen were out training away from the house (Cera didn't know about the armors), Kento had fled after seeing Cera cooking (who knew where he was now), and Ryo had just left with White Blaze to find Sage and Rowen for dinner. Mia was still chatting with Kayura on the phone. He picked the girl up carefully and moved her to the couch in the other room. She seemed to have collapsed from exhaustion. Somehow the memory of Ryo collapsing after using Inferno's power jumped into his mind. He shook the thought out of his head and went to check on the food.
Somehow the casserole was perfect. The fruit mixture had apparently been deprived of sugar, so he added some. He set the table silently and sat down in a chair to wait for the others.