"Ronin Warriors: The Final Victor"
By Onikage
Scroll Twelve: A Heartbeat From An Impending Doom
A cold, hard stare glared back at him through the tarnished, warped surface of the ancient, golden mirror. Bleak, pale-blue eyes. So disgustingly familiar and nostalgic that he wanted to gouge them out with his own clawed hands... As if he hadn't all ready tried. His face, though slightly scarred from years of self-inflicted punishment, was the same since the day he had been freed. Since he and his alter ego had been ordered split as light and darkness. Free from the light that blinded him and cast him into a shadow of seclusion. The light that is always seen and heard.
No one ever hears the darkness. It's quiet. Unseen. It engulfs everything that light has failed to reach. Encompassing it into a blanket of cold, secluded comfort that only he ever knew. He never had a choice. Was never asked if he wanted or needed the light. They just took it from him. Removed light from darkness and cast him away where no one would see, because light was always there. He hated them: the gods, humans, animals, and plants. Everything that light blessed itself with. Did it even bother with him?
No. Never. And he didn't care... not anymore.
They would pay. Humans, mortals and gods alike. They would pay for his exile. The exile that he never deserved. The exile that created his darkness. His prison.
His hate and evil.
"... Master Talpa?" a woman's voice softly called. He lifted his head and reached for his mask, hesitating to return it to his face. Another glance into the mirror urged him to return it to his visage, but for some reason or another he set it down on the elaborate dresser in front of the mirror. "... Aye, what is it? I summoned no one," he replied, his deep voice lacking his usual fury and authority. He shocked himself to find that it had sounded human, something that hadn't occurred in centuries. "... I... I know, my Emperor... I wish to speak with you, if it is possible." Talpa turned and sat on his bed saying nothing for the moment. "... You may enter," he replied after several moments of silence and the occasional shrill agony of the tortured somewhere within the castle's corridors. Managi emerged from behind the pale paper screen and kneeled before him, head remaining lowered and eyes to the floor. A smile curled upon his mouth as he saw who it was. "What is it, Managi? It is well past midnight..." he said. A clawed hand set itself upon her jet hair and stroked it gently.
"... Where... where do I come from, milord? I have no recollection of anything-" Talpa pulled her upward and into his lap. Her body stiffened with his touch; strangely it was warm, not cold like it usually was.
"It is as I told you... I had found you starved and nearly dead by a riverside. You were stripped from everything except for that band you wear around your finger... Other than that I know nothing of your origin..." Managi's whole body slumped ever so slightly, disappointed.
"I... I see. Forgive me." Talpa slipped a hand underneath her chin lifting her eyes and giving her a soft smile, something that was very rare when he summoned her.
"... Your memory shall return in time." He paused and stroked her long hair in one hand before continuing. "And when it does, you are free return to your homeland... Is there anything else you wish to ask of me?" Managi turned away as he leaned in to kiss her gently.
"Sire... who... who is 'Naotoki'? I fought him and the other Ronins a few days ago... I feel like I've known him from somewhere..." Talpa's face remained emotionless; he simply sighed.
"... He was one of my warlords several years ago..."
"He said he knew me... Did he?" she looked back at him with sad eyes. Tears began to fall from them as if her body knew, but her mind forgot; they were pleading. He gently wiped them from her cheeks and shook his head. "It is not important now... He is a snake demon and will say anything to spread his seed. He is the enemy. Do you understand?" Managi nodded slowly and sniffled. Talpa cupped her cheeks in his hands and gave her a deep kiss. His hands slid her kimono from her shoulders revealing almost white-scaled skin. He removed the jeweled comb from her hair; it tumbled down her shoulders like water. Managi gasped as his fingers ran over her breasts delicately. As many times as he has come to her in the night, still she was bashful. Talpa pulled his lips away and kissed her forehead. "... Just remember one thing: No matter who you were... you belong to me and only to me," he whispered and laid her body gently onto the mattress. She nodded and felt the skin of his chest upon hers. His eyes met hers slowly. He smiled, however it quickly turned to concerned as he saw tears collecting upon her lashes of her emotionless face. Very carefully he pulled her warmly into his arms and covered her inside of his kimono. Their bodies held each other entwined, as she lay motionless against him. He felt silent tears falling onto his shoulder, but not a sound of sorrow escaped her lips. Mocha and ivory skin melted into one another as hair of ice and onyx lay tangled.
Talpa's arms tightened around Managi as she continued to weep. Something strange was happening to him. Normally he would just ignore her distress and continue business, but tonight he felt the stab of remorse and could not. He actually felt guilty for lying to her and felt that she was entitled to the truth. He frowned and simply stroked her hair and back, wanting her to just stop those silent tears. "... Sire?"
"Aye?..." She lifted her head and slipped her hands into his white hair.
"... Do you love me?"
Love? Could he even fathom that worthless human emotion? The expression that shone in her eyes within the dim room sent a shiver down his spine and he found himself nodding.
*****
Zeal glared into the vision flame at her former lover. How could he? After all of those years that they had shared... The auburn haired man watched a sleeping form unknown to Zeal. She snarled angrily and banished the flame away feeling the years long sorrow and betrayal blur her vision. She collapsed to her knees and hugged her arms to halt her shaking. "Why? Why did you betray me, Anubis?" A shuffling of feet and the stir of dust and ash upon the stone floor caused her to startle from her simpering position.
"... Zeal. This is so unlike you..." She scrambled to her feet, fearing the ten thousand lashes she would receive if caught with any thought of treason, be it espionage or attraction to the enemy. "Raiko I-"
"Now, now pet... I understand how hard it is to forget... someone..." Raiko said with a sigh as he calmly stepped toward her. Snaking a sturdy arm around her waist, he summoned the previous flame again as he peered deep into her thoughts and aura. He smiled, "... Ah... I see. No wonder he is still within your thoughts," he purred and gazed into the flame hungrily. "Quite the prize you had... I envy you, Zeal." She looked away from him and nodded slowly.
"... It is like trying to breathe without the air. He is... was my air. I feel like I am suffocating on sorrow. Why did he betray me?" she felt her voice give way. Another heavy sigh left his lips and called yet another scene from her past.
"Are you sure about this, milady? If hears word of this-"
"Shh, shh, shh. He shall not," she giggled and removed her robe. "Now, my demon of venom," she ordered. "Take me to where not even Cruelty has pleasured me." Sekhmet chuckled deeply and sank his fangs into her neck, releasing a desirable gasp from her lips.
He banished the flame and called more until all of the former warlords had been viewed. Zeal fell silent. "Was Lord Anubis not pleasing enough for you?" Zeal tore herself away from him and snatched a wine goblet before hurling it against the wall of stone. "Gods!" she cried. "Not pleasing?! The man was bewitched with treacherous thoughts! He duped me first with some... child he snatched from one of his raids!! A mere girl of sixteen!! Only then did I betray him!" she screeched, breath ragged and heavy. Hair tangled and knotted in rage. "... I felt so much better with them. They all hated him like I did...". She caught her breath and leaned her face against the cold stone wall. "He duped me. And... when I find the little bitch... she shall wish she had burned to death with that swine she addressed as 'mother'..." Her claws sunk into the stone as tears of red coursed down her cheeks.
Raiko snuck behind her and slid his hands beneath her robe. "... There, there now Zeal. All is not lost," he whispered and touched her gently. Zeal closed her eyes and continued to silently weep.
"Shh... Look here." For the last time he called the flame. A girl who could have been her twin appeared. She was sleeping as Anubis watched her carefully. Zeal turned and gasped. Raiko pointed to the young girl, "... Is this-"
"Bitch."
He smiled darkly and turned her. "... The Emperor has a mission for us. Care to listen?" Zeal shrugged out of her kimono and turned in his arms wiping away her tears. He smiled as she nodded slowly, "... What does he wish?"
"If you wish to gain the heart of one, you must gain the hearts of all..."
*****
"Got any fours, Hardrock?"
"Go fish, Magic Man." Kento felt the chilling mist of the lake against his face and glanced over at Sakura with the giant water guardian, Suiko. He watched the dark haired girl wobble slightly upon the surface of the lake. The warm breeze lightly danced alongside her onyx locks with diamond beads of water drizzle around her as Suiko circled her slowly. Kento had to remind himself to breath a few times as he watched her silently.
"... Hardrock?"
"... Go fish."
"Hardrock?" Dais glanced over at Sakura, taking a stab at what the younger man was staring at. He sighed and shook his head. "Thinking those thoughts again, are you?" he chuckled after giving him a quick flick to the forehead with his armored hand. "OW! What the heck was that for?!" Dais pointed towards the topic of discussion, making Kento blush.
"You know you can't, Hardrock... We have too much at stake now..." Kento threw his cards down on the grass with the rest of the pile haphazardly. "... I know... I can still look, can't I?!"
"Yes, of course. There's nothing wrong with looking... It's becoming attached and desiring what you look that is dangerous. Women aren't something of which to tamper. They can make or break a man... Look what happened to Sekhmet," Dais explained softly. Kento shifted his eyes away from him. He frowned. "... Right. So basically what yer sayin' is that forget about ever having something that even resembles a relationship because we're all gonna die anyway! Great, Dais. Now that we've cleared things up, I'm going to go jump off a cliff-"
"Hardrock, that's not what I meant. What I meant was that if something should happen, we shouldn't get too attached to one another..."
"You know you can't stop something like that, man. When that happens it happens and you can't reverse it, or prevent it, or nothing!"
"Yes, I know that, Hardrock, but-"
"But nothin', man! You and the others were sent here to help defend this world, not dictate how I want to live the last few moments of my life!" Kento stood and turned to watch Sakura on the lake. "Hey, calm down. I'm only trying to warn you about things that can severely damage the entire entourage if one of us loses it because our girlfriends were slaughtered! The only way to keep control of our anger is to sever some of the bonds that we hold to this world. Some sacrifices must be made, Hardrock..." Dais said gently. Kento's fists balled up at his sides as his shoulders shook in anger. "... So, basically you want us face the end of the world with nothing but a sword at our side... no friends, no family, no last minute happiness... just empty hate?..." he said softly. He turned his head away from Dais. "... Sure man... whatever you say... Just so you know: I survived the end of the world once with everything I wanted and still we kicked your ass... Sounds to me like you don't know what yer talkin' about." Before Dais could get another syllable out of his mouth, Hardrock had all ready left for the dock.
*****
"Snake Fang Strike!" Nasake ducked and covered her head as the attack passed over her. She fell to her knees and huddled. "Geez!! That almost hit me!" she squeaked and looked up just in time to see a giant wave crashing down on her. She coughed and gasped for air after she had securely grabbed hold of a tree branch. "H-hey! Ea-easy guys!!... Don't... don't be so rough!" Sai crouched on the branch she held and looked down at her. "... You think this is rough?" he asked with a smirk. Nasake saw the glint in his eyes and panicked. "Sai, no. Wait! It's too far do-" He stood and with the blade of his yari, he severed the branch sending her crashing to the ground where Sekhmet waited for her. He caught her gracefully. "... You have yet to know the meaning of the word 'rough', my dear..." he smirked.
"... U-um... N-now just a minute. I only-"
"Torrent! Catch!!"
"Sekhmet!!"
Domo glanced briefly at her friend who had just recently become the world's first human football. For a moment she was glad that she didn't have Sekhmet for a training partner. "Pay attention!" Sage snapped and tackled her several feet into the ground.
Only for a moment.
Domo's eyes sparked with a deep emerald, before cooling energy gathered in her hands. She snarled at the Ronin atop and kicked him over her. Sage landed flat on his back and grimaced at the throbbing pain below his stomach. "Ooh... c-cheap s-shot... Oh... ohhh... god!" Domo climbed out of the ground and saw Sage face down in the grass, groaning. Cale broke off into a run towards the two warriors. Domo was kneeling down beside him. "Oh shit, Sage! I am so sorry!" she exclaimed. A very painful moan came from the ground.
"Gods! What happened?!" Cale demanded. He saw Halo's pathetic form and winced. "... Ooh..."
"I didn't mean to! It was a reaction! I couldn't help it! God, Sage, I'm so so so sorry!!" Sage rolled over onto his back, face dazed in pain. "... Must have been some kick if he felt that through the armor..." Cale muttered. Sage whimpered.
"... Not... a word about... this to anyone, o... shrouded one."
"Sage, do you want me to get some ice?! Some water?"
"Kill me pleeeease..." he pleaded. "... Oh, and I really wanted to have kids..."
"Well, Halo... Look at it this way: you can always adopt," Cale said reassuringly.
"... Which would you rather do:... make babies or buy them with a coupon for half price at the frozen food section in the supermarket?" Sage grunted and tried to sit up. Domo removed his helmet. Cale's bugged in utter disgust, "You can do that?! That's... sick!!"
"Ohhnn... Domo? Find me something sharp and pointy or large and blunt... Seiji-kun's gonna take a lil' nap..." Halo said in a half daze. "Oh maaan..."
"Oh boy... This is gettin' heavy..." Megami murmured under her breath. Her arms were beginning to ache from the fifth hour of holding a giant boulder over her head.
"... So, I says 'if you think that's great wait 'til later tonight'..." Rowen gave Kayura a sly grin. "... And, and, and-"
"Yep, did it 'til dawn!"
"Oh my!"
"What kind of training is this?! I hold a frickin' two ton rock over my head for a couple of hours, and you guys are sittin' on yer asses... talking about... that?! Oh, god this is heavy!!" Megami whimpered pitifully, arms becoming more and more numb. "Quit yer belly-achin'! It's not that heavy..." he said and lifted the giant rock from her with ease. Megami crumpled to the ground and laughed nervously. "Haaa." Her face then quickly shifted to angry. "My arms are what ache, dummy!!" she snarled. "Oh... man... I'm gonna die..." She closed her eyes and breathed hard. She then felt a swift blast of air to her face, then a low growl that wasn't at all human. She opened her eyes and saw Kongo's long bull like nose and his golden eyes leering down upon her in a most vexed way. His horns and claws looked very sharp suddenly. She quickly attempted to scramble to her feet, but failed miserably as the behemoth minotaur snagged her by an ankle and dangled her; he found her squirming a bit annoying and shook her rather roughly. "A-aa-aaa-a-a-ah!! Stop!! Eek!" He then dropped her abruptly to the grass.
"Work now. No complaining."
Lady Kayura swallowed hard and helped Megami to her feet as the giant beast trotted away to speculate from a distance. "... Man... who crawled up in his ass?" Megami muttered.
*****
Tori rubbed the back of her head as she followed Ryo and Anubis into the woods. She glared darkly at the back of the older Ronin who had recently given her an unpleasant and painful whap to the side of the head. That incident occurred at least an hour prior. "... Stupid, red-headed, mother... grr... Not my fault that you tripped... Grumpy old man." Rekka was perched cheerfully on her armored shoulder and happily singing. Tori turned her head and glared at the bird. "Are you always so happy? Don't you ever get angry?" she asked in a grumble. Rekka stopped singing and cocked his head.
"Only when I am provoked," he replied. "... Sulking about what happened won't make the pain go away, you know."
"... I know that!" she snapped. She glared at Anubis and balled up her fist tightly until it began to burn. "Don't even think about it."
"Come on! Pllleeaase? I won't hurt him... much."
"I said no! Now hurry up we are falling behind!" Rekka took flight and went on ahead of her as she started to catch up.
Ryo wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked up at the sun shining through the trees. "... Man, crazy weather we've been having. It's gotta be like a hundred degrees out here!" Anubis nodded and removed his shirt as Ryo had done earlier; the heat finally getting to him. "Aye... " He looked over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow. "... Heh heh. Look at her back there. Sulking like a pigeon. I didn't even hit her that hard," Anubis chuckled. Ryo shook his head with a grin. "You're not one to hit girls, Anubis. If you're not careful, you can really hurt her," he informed and glanced back at her. Anubis frowned,
"She's not a girl... She's more like a rabid shrew-"
"I heard that you jerk!!" Ryo winced.
"I'd watch my back if I were you. She won't let that one go, I can tell." Anubis looked back at Tori as she was catching up with them. She looked like a very pissed off cat at first glance. Anubis just shrugged and smiled smugly as she joined them.
"So, uh... how's your head feelin', Tori?" Ryo asked as he stepped in front of her line of vision with Anubis; he hoped that she would stop glaring at him. "... Painful."
"Well, hope you feel better later. Me an' Sai were gonna go swimming after we get through at the volcano. We were hopin' that you and the other girls will wanna join us," he said with a smile. Tori's anger melted and she flushed. "... That'd be nice, Ryo. Thank you."
"Heavens, Tori! Should we head back to the house? You are looking awfully flushed," Anubis pointed out with a grin. Tori growled and trekked on ahead of the three. "Do you want to be castrated before you meet middle age?!" Rekka settled gracefully on Ryo's shoulder. Anubis chuckled. "I've all ready reached middle age!" he laughed. "Several hundred years ago!"
"I hate you!" she called angrily. Rekka sighed heavily.
"You shouldn't be so harsh towards your peers, Anubis... Remember that Talpa and Kurai are your enemies, not her."
"I know, I know..." he smirked as he watched her disappear over a part of the volcano that towered before them. "I was just having a bit of fun, Lord Rekka. You know how hard it is to find in difficult times like these."
"Still man. You should be a little nicer to her. She's still a teenager..." Ryo said as he started climbing the rocky hill. Anubis laughed, "Talk about calling the kettle black, Wildfire. You're barely old enough to drink responsibly!" Ryo frowned. He opened his mouth to say something in return but was cut off by an explosion above them on the ledge.
"What the devil was that?!" Anubis demanded.
"Is the volcano erupting?!" Rekka looked upward and frowned.
"... No."
*****
"... Sage?" Domo mumbled softly. "Sage? Are you okay now?" She kneeled down next to the seemingly sleeping Ronin in the grass. The gentle, heated breeze blew his wispy, feather blonde hair across his cheek. He had been there for at least an hour and Cale has fallen asleep in the tree while Domo practiced the kata that he taught her. For over an hour she had eyed the injured Ronin carefully, nearly terrified that she may have seriously hurt him. She lightly roused him by his shoulder. "Sage? Wake up. You fell asleep." Halo groaned softly as he sat up, barely remembering what had happened earlier; however the slight throbbing between his legs gave him the unwanted reminder. He smirked slightly with one eye closed. "... You could be an all star kicker for those American football teams," he laughed softly with a yawn. Domo felt the blush of guilt and embarrassment creep across her cheeks. She wasn't sure if it was a compliment or otherwise; she didn't care as he had obviously forgiven her with a small smile. "I-I didn't mean to kick you so hard... Sorry..."
"S'okay... I'll think twice about tackling you now... Mnn. Ow... Where's Cale?" Domo pointed upward at the tree branches.
"ZzZzZzzz... ZZZzzZZ...."
His snoring could be heard a hundred feet below him. Sage rolled his eyes, yawning again. "... Sometimes I wonder about our former warlord friends..." Domo smirked before standing and helping Sage to his feet. He grimaced and tried standing straight. "I am really sorry, Sage..." she repeated.
"Ugh, it's okay... I just need to be more careful." She helped Sage over to a giant stone to sit, then took a place beside him. "You know I don't know a lot about you and you've been here almost a few months," Sage said.
"Well, I've lived in Tokyo all my life. I never knew my dad 'cuz my mother was raped when she was barely out of high school, but she had my brother after she got married. I met the other girls when I got to junior high," she replied softly. She felt his eyes on her and turned a little red when she realized that she had told all of that to someone she barely knew. "... Sounds like you had a pleasant childhood," he noted with sarcasm, making her chuckle bitterly.
"You don't know the half of it..." she murmured. Sage sighed and scratched his hair.
"Well, at least your parents didn't want a girl so much that they dressed you up as one when you were in grade school..." Laughter met his ears as Domo fell off the rock she shared with Sage into loud convulsions. "Y-you... girl!? Funny!" He flushed,
"I didn't think it was so funny... Glad that chapter in my life ended early before I met the guys... If they knew about that, I would never live it down." Domo, after some time, climbed back onto the rock and wiped her eyes. "I-I'm sorry, Sage... My childhood wasn't that bad... It was in high school when it got really bad," she finished softly. Sage laid back across the rock in the sun and closed his eyes. "What happened?"
"... Well... I don't like to talk about it much, but... I was also raped like my mother. I was late coming home from school and I had to walk home... Before I knew it... the sun had gone down and... it happened. Luckily, Mom made me take birth control as a precaution. Things were down hill for a while until I met Ryu..." Sage's whole body jerked ever so slightly, but not enough for her to notice. He sat up slowly. "He's you're boy friend?" He received a nod and a small smile. "... I feel a lot better when I'm around him..." She stood slowly and faced Sage. "Well, we should wake up Cale, shouldn't we?" Sage nodded slowly and stood. He thought better not to ask further about Ryu. Something in her voice made it very clear that she did not like to talk about her current beau. He winced as he stood again and looked down his jeans eyeing himself with worry. "... I hope it doesn't bruise," he murmured, flushing when he realized that he had definitely had thought out loud again. Domo's eyebrows raised in surprise and amusement. "Wow, Sage... That was more information than I needed to know," she laughed.
"It'll be your fault if I can't have children," he chuckled then winced as he laughed too hard.
"Apocalyptic Terror!" A blur of sapphire flames rocketed in between Sage and Domo, knocking both to the ground. The burning blast soared high into the air, then descended into the earth at an amazing speed. The impact caused the ground to quake massively as the burning figure erupted from the ground, snatching Domo by her throat as it took to the air once more. "Domo!" Sage scrambled to his feet, the forest green sub armor forming around him. As soon as he had gotten to his feet, his body was thrown into electrical convulsions, draining his strength.
A hideous laugh met his ears and the blue flames dispersed, revealing Zeal still dangling an unconscious Domo by her neck. "... Let her... GO!" he choked as loud as the attack would let him. Zeal's laughter continued and she threw Domo into the ground. "Now, why would I want to do that, Halo?" she sneered and picked Domo's body out of the earth. "Pathetic..." Zeal summoned several large thorns of stone and turned her head towards Sage. "Don't let him go," she ordered. Sage turned his head and saw that he was surrounded by four others clothed in solid black, shredded robes that covered every part of their bodies. Their hands, however, were a ghastly white. What are they?... Dark Priests? But... they're-
"Get the fuck off of me!!!" Domo lashed out and swiped Zeal's face with her nails. The warlord shrieked and drove one of the stone thorns into her shoulder, pinning her to the earth. Zeal continued to drive the other stakes into her limbs until Domo could no longer move, only scream. Tears flowed from her eyes almost as quickly as her blood drained to the earth. Sage thrashed about and opened his mouth to cry out her name, but his words were quickly gargled by the blood that he began to cough up. "Only you are left, Korin. Then Kurai shall truly be free..." Zeal with a shout, she thrust a clawed hand into Domo's breast and tore her beating heart from her in one swift motion. Domo fell silent and gasped helplessly.
With a shriek, Sage pulled his weak body to his feet and struggled to stand. The field intensified, but Sage held firm. His eyes fell onto Zeal who stood holding the still beating heart.
"... Armor of Halo... Tao..." he fell to one knee before he could finish. Zeal sank her foot into his stomach and cackled. "Fool... I am much stronger that Raiko or Managi." Sage pulled his palms together and threw his head back, shrieking, "CHI!!"