Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story, they are the sole property of their creators (Sunrise/Naogya TV/Bandai).
Summary: One-shot; a Ronin's thoughts on some of the things that have happened in his life, and worry over what might be in store for him next. 'The others had managed to go back to normal lives quite easily after Suzunagi left, and yet here he was stuck on a past that truly did not want to leave him alone.'
Key:
"text" dialogue in speaker's native or commonly preferred language (in this case Japanese)
'text ' thoughts/thought-speak; when a paragraph or more is italicized it means the scene is a flashback.
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"Idle Recollections"
By: LG
Silence covered the wood for the briefest of moments, before a young man drew in a deep breath. The cool fresh morning air entered his lungs refreshing his aching body and tired mind. This permitted him a chance, for the first time in weeks, to think clearly if only for a short while.
The Ronin Warrior slowly let the breath back out, his startling blue-eyes directed towards the horizon anticipating what was coming next. However while he was waiting, his thoughts slowly started to drift.
It had become harder and harder to sleep lately, and in response to this he had stepped up the amount of time he spent practicing. It was something he had always done in the past, as it had helped him to cope with whatever might be coming at him next.
Did the others know of this habit? No probably not, the only one who might have had a clue was Mia but that was because she kept such a hawk-eye on them all.
He let out a chuckle in amusement, that woman had put up with so much from each of them; it was a wonder to him how she had managed to stay sane. Anyone else would've gone crazy in the long run, of that he was certain.
While the others were unaware of his 'training habit,' he knew they could feel his restlessness, his worry, and discontent; the five of them were just bonded that way. Even now the other four were probably trying to figure out which one of them was upset…He paused in this thought, well not right at this minute; only one of the others would have been up this early.
A small smile graced his face recalling why he and the other four Ronin were so bonded. That was due to how many times they had to pull the world out of danger.
The armors merely strengthened that tight-nit bond and made it unbreakable; without their trust in one another, without their enduring friendship the trials they had faced would have been even harder.
He shook his head slightly, trying to reorganize his thoughts knowing his mind was straying from one topic to the other. It was even hard for him to focus!
Suddenly he snapped his attention back to the horizon, watching as the sun slowly made it's ascent into the sky. Granted, he wasn't the Warrior of Light, but he still enjoyed basking in nature's glow; he always had.
A sigh escaped his lips, as he directed his gaze to his open palm, wherein rested a small marble-sized orb. He slowly curled his fist around the object, accepting the warmth it offered on this chilly morning.
He tried to take some comfort in what his armor was offering him; it seemed to know he was upset…But what was it that was bothering him?
The Ronin closed his eyes a moment, before slipping out of the tree he had been sitting in to watch the morning's display of light.
"I don't suppose you're going to tell me why I'm so restless?" He inquired softly, once more studying the sphere.
It merely shimmered in response, before going back to giving off steady warmth.
He gave a sigh of frustration before dropping the orb into his pocket, "I didn't think you would."
Who was he kidding? He knew exactly what his problem was, he felt lost. He had lost his sense of purpose and perhaps his sense of self. It had been so easy when the others were around, but the minute they were gone he felt empty…It was more than that, he felt alone…A feeling which he hated more than any other.
Why did he feel this way? Oh it probably had something to do with the armors; they didn't seem to enjoy being separated for any great length of time. Whenever he and the other Ronins got together he could almost swear he felt joy coming from the armors. Maybe he was imagining that part, or maybe he wasn't.
There was really no telling; Suzunagi hadn't really told them how she had created the armors. So they could have come solely from her hate, but that didn't make sense to him…Because if they had been fueled by hate surely they would have tried to control their bearers by now.
Whereas the armors from Talpa had gotten discontent without having the chance to fight, these seemed all too willing to wait and bide the time with their wearers.
He suddenly let out a low moan, if the others realized he was giving human traits to inanimate objects they certainly would have started to question his mental state. A frown quickly crossed his face; did the armors (either set) really qualify as inanimate objects? No, Talpa's armor because of their desire to fight and these…Well, just because.
Yeah there was a good reason for you; Rowen would kill him for handing that out as an explanation. The Ronin of Strata needed reasons, he lived off knowledge and if you couldn't give him a semi-logical explanation for your thinking…Actually, Ryo decided that he really didn't want to go there right now, his mind could work on that topic later.
The Ronin of Wildfire shook his head slightly as he continued to make the trek back to the cabin; he was probably the only one who still considered himself a warrior.
The others had managed to go back to normal lives quite easily after Suzunagi left, and yet here he was stuck on a past that truly did not want to leave him alone.
Ryo knew he didn't strike the others as that much of a deep thinker, like Sage, or even Rowen for instance, but he was just better at hiding his thoughts than they were. You could tell when those two were deep in thought, but Ryo was practiced when it came to hiding those types of emotions. He couldn't for anything hide when he was angry or worried for his friends well-beings, but he could hide his pain and when he was thinking, well enough.
"Practice makes perfect," he thought ruefully, slipping off his shoes having now entered the cabin.
'If they knew only half of what went through my head, they'd be surprised,' Wildfire's bearer thought with a small chuckle.
He paused a moment, eyes directed to the picture hanging just above the small fireplace. He quietly walked over, and gently took it off the hook so as to study it better.
It had been taken the year prior, during one of their last get-togethers for the year. The five young men, Mia, and Yulie had made it a point to get together for at least the warriors birthdays. Then about once every two months, the five young men would get together…For no particular reason other than to see one another.
They kept in contact by phone and mail, but there was just something more satisfying in being able to see the person you were talking to. Ryo sighed as his fingers lightly tracing over the photograph.
Sage had moved out of his family home, and away from the dojo. Sometime during the last year the young man had snapped, completely fed up with the undue pressure his family placed on him. Granted, it truly wasn't intentional on his family's part, they never even realized how he felt…But if Sage didn't keep to himself so much…
Ryo let out a low chuckle, he had known the man for nine years now, and the swordsman of Halo had yet to fully come out of his shell. Sage was always going to be that way though, and the Wildfire Ronin doubted very much anyone would be able to change that.
Sage had acquired an apartment, as well as a steady job at a rather nice business firm. He was also taking college classes on the side; if Ryo remembered right the swordsman was going for a business degree.
His blue-eyes focused on the next person in the picture, Kento. The Ronin of Hardrock was still living at home, and was helping out with the family business. The Chinese man had taken up all the accounting tasks for the several restaurants his family owned. Due to him, the business was even better off than before.
Nothing had changed about Kento either. He was (as always) quick with a joke, and the first person to know that something was wrong with you. He was just too good at reading people and their emotions, having so many siblings and cousins assuredly helped him there.
And if Kento was aware there was an issue, he was still the first one to try and get you to think about something other than your problem. He would try and get you to lighten up, by poking fun at things…Ryo smirked for a minute, Kento should've been a therapist; after all, heaven knew how many times the Hardrock Ronin had successfully pulled him out of a guilt-trip.
As far as the Ronin of Wildfire knew, Cye was helping out with the family pottery business in his spare time. Most of his time, however, was spent working towards a degree in the marine field. Ryo couldn't remember the specific name of the degree, all he knew for certain was that it was a fairly long title. He made a mental note to ask the Water Ronin about it the next time they spoke.
Cye continued to be undefeatable in the kitchen; no one had more skill and talent when it came to cooking than he did. Kento admitted, when the five had been living together at Mia's place, that even though his family owned a restaurant (which he sometimes did the cooking for) that Cye was undoubtedly the world's best chef.
What was even more amusing then Kento saying that was him actually trying to con the Torrent Ronin into working at the restaurant; Ryo remembered the conversation well and it still sent him laughing every time he thought about it.
Cye had become more at peace with the fact he was a Ronin Warrior…And while the Warrior of Trust dreaded the thought of another fight, Ryo knew he'd be able to handle it. The Ronin of Torrent always came through when you needed him.
Rowen was continuing his classes at Tokyo University, but still had no set major as of yet. However this fact really didn't surprise anyone. As far as the other four Ronin were concerned, Rowen was a total and complete geek (and they wouldn't have taken him any other way).
He loved nothing more than to learn, the archer thrived on it…And when he couldn't figure something out? Oh it drove the blue-haired man up the wall, which in turn resulted in all of them desiring to tape the Strata Ronin's mouth closed.
Ryo was smirking again, Rowen just didn't know when to quit and let a matter drop. Then again, Ryo wasn't exactly a saint when it came to that either…But at least he knew when to shut-up because he was getting on the others' nerves.
The last time he had seen Strata's bearer, was about a week ago. Ryo had needed to go into Tokyo for something, and Rowen had been there on his way back from the bookstore (not like that was such a big surprise). They had decided to drop what they were doing and have lunch together; it had been good to catch up.
Absolutely nothing could erase from Ryo's mind the priceless look on Rowen's face, when he told the blue-haired genius that he had dropped out of college. Wildfire's bearer had been sure that the archer's heart briefly stopped due to the shock; Ryo's reasons for dropping out were due to a couple of factors.
He just hadn't had the desire to stay in school, and his grades had been okay, but nowhere near as good as he wanted them to be. His slipping grades were possibly due to his unhappiness, and his inability to concentrate on the work. He just felt so uneasy, so restless…Ryo had picked up a job that wasn't too far from where he lived; it was a two-mile walk at the most. So at least he still had something to do, besides…Brooding? Yes, he suspected it could be termed that.
A sigh escaped from his lips, trying to recall why it was he walked two miles to work, and two miles back every day. Suddenly it came to him, and Ryo could only shake his head in belated amusement. Though he had his father's car, the thing was ancient, and undoubtedly on it's "last set of wheels."
Riding White Blaze back and forth was out of the question; firstly he didn't want to impose himself upon the tiger. Secondly, he didn't wish to freak out his employer (who was skittish enough).
Ryo mused over his bond with the majestic white tiger for a moment or two. He was thinking about everyone else, so why not him too?
To the Ronin of Wildfire, they had never had a master-pet relationship; he just didn't consider Blaze a thing to be owned. The only way that type of relationship even remotely existed between them, was in the fact White Blaze seemed very much convinced that he owned Ryo.
White Blaze was Ryo's companion and friend, as well as his family…The only family he had right now with the other Ronins so far away.
Oh sure, he had his father…the Wildfire Ronin's eyes abruptly narrowed and hardened. At one point in time, Ryo had very much thought he had lost the only parent he had left. It had happened some years ago, when the elder Sanada had been out in Africa.
He was out on a safari shoot with one or two other photographers, as well as a guide. Something had happened to rile the lions (and to this day no one was sure what), and the men had been attacked…Another group happened across them, and quickly transported them to the nearest hospital. Amidst all this chaos, identifications had been mixed up and with no one conscious to rectify mistakes, Ryo had been told his father was dead.
Ryo still remembered the phone slipping from his fingers, and how time seemed to have stopped altogether. He really didn't remember too much after those few moments when his world had come crashing down upon him, all he did recall was running…Without ceasing and without looking back.
He had already met the Ancient One a month before that point, so he had run to their normal meeting place and thrown himself even harder into the training. All this to defeat an enemy he had never met or seen, but it was an enemy that he knew (deep down inside) was all-too real and would be coming far too quickly.
That's how he had been living up until he met the others, burying his sorrows and troubles with training and fighting…And even after meeting them and getting to know them to the point that he did; well, this morning had proved the fact that 'fighting it off' had become a habit.
The Wildfire Ronin had long ago replaced the picture, and was currently sitting in an old beat-up recliner while he poured over everything on his mind. He crossed his arms in-front of his chest, and closed his eyes tightly.
It had been perhaps a month after defeating Talpa the first time, and not that long after their skirmish with Saberstryke, when Ryo had found out that his father was indeed still amongst the world of the living. He had gone home to briefly check on things, and tend to the cabin so it wouldn't fall into complete disrepair.
Wildfire's bearer had been in the final stages of cleaning up, when the phone had rang. Figuring it was one of the others checking up on him, he had dropped what he was doing. Nothing could have prepared him to hear his father's voice on the other end of that line. He had been shocked and dumbfounded for several minutes, until it finally clicked and he started to ask questions.
Only to find out that all that time he had thought his father was dead, the man was alive in the hospital recovering from the ordeal. No one had ever called to notify Ryo that the mistake had been made; however, even if they had the Ronin of Wildfire probably would've missed the call anyway.
Fighting an evil demon emperor hell-bent on taking over the mortal realm was rather time consuming, so he didn't have the luxury of sitting at home all day waiting. One time, he might've been able to but not with his armor, and not when he had friends out there depending on him.
A bitter chuckle escaped from his lips, "To get my father back for that short while, only to lose him again."
It had been not been long afterwards that the two of them had ended up in a heated argument and it could not have been over any worse of a topic…The other Ronins.
In the beginning, Ryo had managed to come up with some viable excuse as to how he had met the others, though he was sure the older man never bought it. Wildfire's bearer just couldn't outright lie, and coming up with excuses were never easy, but he had no real desire to concern his father with the armor.
However, he had eventually caved and told his father about the armors, and that the friends he often referred (never by name mind you) were the other bearers. Ryo wasn't quite sure as to whether or not his father had believed him, but soon he would know that the man did.
After Talpa's final defeat, and after each young man had returned to their respective homes, Ryo's father had gone on a photography trip. Luckily this time it was in country, up in the mountains of Miyagi Province; a thunderstorm had overcome the area, a lightning strike setting the forest on fire.
From what Wildfire's bearer now knew, his father had been attempting to put out the fire, when he stumbled across a shrine.
Within it had been sealed an evil spirit, but the seal had been broken and the spirit had claimed Mr. Sanada's body as his own. In the end, it had taken the five armor virtues to defeat the spirit and free Ryo's father.
So why would Mr. Sanada argue about his son's best friends, especially considering they had saved his life? Well, the argument had occurred almost three-years after the fact, plus it hadn't started out about the other four Ronin. That was just the way the old man had steered it.
Probably figuring if his son could rant and rave about a father who was never home, and one who did such a dangerous job, that he could point out the fact the apple hadn't really fallen far from the tree at all.
However, throwing the other Ronin into the mix was an unwise decision, because Mr. Sanada hadn't counted on the fact that Ryo was fiercely loyal to, and protective of his four comrades.
Ryo squeezed his eyes shut tightly, as if trying to deny the fact the argument had ever taken place. Nevertheless, the Ronin of Wildfire could not block out the sounds of their raised voices as the argument he and his father had replayed itself in his head.
"It's not like I'll be gone forever," Sanada Takumi murmured, "This job is only for a year, Ryo."
"You're never here anyway!" He angrily shouted. "You know nothing about what my life has been like! Sure, most of your trips were short and in the country when I was smaller, but the minute I turned ten you started taking more and more oversea jobs. I went weeks and even months without seeing you, so how would you know anything?"
Takumi studied his son briefly, a small frown on his face, "Are you implying that I've been a bad father?"
"No," the Wildfire Ronin said in exasperation, "I'm just saying, you think you know me but you don't. When I needed you the most I thought you were dead! The job you do is dangerous and I'm sick and tired of worrying about whether or not you'll come back alive!"
"Oh, like it's any different from what you did?" the older man raised his voice a notch, "I got you away from our clan to protect you, taught you the basics on how to fight, and you go and get yourself involved in some demonic war? That's twice as dangerous as my job and even if there were those four others, you were still children!"
"What does that have to do with anything?" Ryo demanded in annoyance.
Takumi eyed his son calmly saying, "Do you think you would've been allowed to do such a thing, if I had been aware of it?"
"You would have had to permit it," the Ronin of Wildfire stated, "I didn't have a choice, the armor chose me to bear it."
"I'm supposed to believe that?" He demanded, his tone of voice showing just how irate he was, "For all I know, one of your 'friends' could've pressured you into fighting."
"They would have never done such a thing," Ryo gritted out his fists clenched tightly, "They're not those kind of friends, they are my brothers! You obviously don't know them at all, if you think they're capable of doing such things."
"You're right I don't know them that well," Takumi admitted, "I've met them only a few times, and they seemed honest enough. However, one can never judge a person just…"
Ryo quickly interrupted saying in a growl, "It's not your place to judge anyone! Especially them, they saved your life. What gives you the right to judge or talk about them like this? You don't have one."
"Ryo," Takumi said this in a warning tone, but his son would hear none of it.
"Go on your trip Dad," he said coolly, "I don't care anymore. However, I refuse to listen to you talk about my friends like this. They were there for me, and you weren't."
This stated the young man immediately turned around and walked out of the cabin, not waiting around for his father to get another word in edge-wise.
The phone rang abruptly; jerking Ryo from the memory…He let out a low sigh, got up and answered in a quiet voice, "Hello?"
"What's wrong?" the caller on the other end asked, worry evident in his tone.
Ryo let out a low chuckle, "What happened to the formal etiquette you so often employ Sage?"
"I got tired of listening to Cye telling me to act normal," the blonde replied, inquiring again, "What's the matter?"
"What makes you think anything is wrong?" the Wildfire Ronin murmured, wiping at his eyes with his free hand…He'd only realized now that he had been silently crying before.
"Ryo," Sage said in a stern voice, "I can feel through the armor bond that someone is upset. You're the only other person I know that gets up this early. Normally it's when something is bothering you, so you're up and that feeling is there. Therefore…"
"Okay, I get the picture," he grumbled, trying to figure out why everyone thought Cye was the mother hen. True Torrent's bearer did have a habit of mothering, but he was nowhere near as bad as the blonde swordsman could be (especially when it concerned the Wildfire Ronin).
"I…I was just thinking," Ryo said quietly, "I've also been a little wound-up lately, and I can't figure out why."
Sage was frowning thoughtfully to himself, almost instantly knowing what Ryo had been thinking about…Though he really hadn't touched his new armor since Suzunagi gave it to him, he could still get the general impressions of everyone's feelings. Sometimes, Halo would even give him a glimpse at what had caused the feeling to occur.
"Sage?" Ryo asked, eyebrows arched in confusion at the silence on the other end of the line.
"Mmm? Oh sorry," the blonde shook his head, "Your not the only one who has been impatient, I've talked to the others and they have said something about being 'wound-up' as well. I figure it's just because we haven't seen each other in a while."
"You think it's the armors acting up?"
Sage sighed, as he signed one of some twenty-or-so papers he had yet to get through for his job, "I never said that, but I wouldn't rule it out. I was thinking about inviting you all up here next weekend. Mother has expressed a desire to see you all again."
"She has?" Ryo grinned a little, then inquired with a frown, "Wait, what about your Grandfather?"
"He's going out of town on Friday and will not return till the next Saturday," the swordsman answered, putting down his pen, "That is why Mother suggested I invite you all up. She's willing to let us stay at the house, instead of my apartment. Do you think you can make it?"
"That's awfully nice of her," Ryo murmured, saying, "I'll be there, Sage."
The blonde allowed himself a grin, "Good. Just let me know what day you can come up; I'll call and check with the others later. It'll be good to see all of you again."
"Mhm, it will. I'll talk to you later then," Ryo made move to hang up the phone, but before he did…
"And Ryo?"
"Yes?" the Wildfire Ronin put the phone back to his ear.
"We're still a team, if you need to talk, we are all willing to listen," Sage murmured quietly.
"Thanks Sage," Ryo hung up, a smile now present on his face.
He reached into his pocket and dug out the glowing sphere, "I don't know what the future has in store for any of us. But whatever comes our way, I know we can handle it."
The sphere holding the Wildfire armor glowed brightly for a brief moment, agreeing with its wearer whole-heartedly.
END
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A/N: I have no idea as to what Sanada-san's first name is. If you do please tell me and I'll give you a cookie :-) I went with Takumi, since it means "artisan".
I figured I needed to get into Ryo's head for a little bit, so that's why I wrote this. I did take the famous fanfic cliché (that he's an orphan because his father died in a lion attack out in Africa), and decided to do something slightly different with it. I also felt it would be a good idea to include a brief overview of the events that happened in Cassette Book Volume 3. It helped give this one-shot a bit more depth, I think. This was started months ago, but finished on the August 15th just in time for Pyro's birthday.