Disclaimer: I do not own the Ronin Warriors/Samurai Troopers.
Chapter Seven
Sage tapped his pencil at the desk, looking at the clock instantly. The morning had begun and there was no sign of Lea after the events of Saturday. The professors had merely frowned at her absence and went right on to teach class as if nothing happened.
He had been well enough to get up this morning to go to school, after sleep through the better part of the day before. The others had managed the same, except for Ryo, who was still out cold from using his Inferno armor.
Professor Himeto walked by, passing out assignments when two pieces of paper fell on Sage's desk. One was his homework and the other was Ryo's.
"Please take that to Mr. Sanada." The professor ordered and carried on down the line of students. Sage sighed and tucked the papers away into his case. The bells rung overhead, releasing the students to lunch.
Sage found Kento and Rowen waiting for him down the hall by Homeroom C. The three of them entered the empty classroom and shut the door behind them.
"Did anyone check on Ryo before we left this mornin'?" Rowen asked.
Halo nodded slowly. "Yes. He should be coming around sometime tonight. But I don't think he is going to be well enough for classes tomorrow." He pillowed his head on his arms and closed his eyes.
"I think I should have stayed in bed too." Kento groaned as he opened his lunch and stabbed at it with chopsticks. "I can barely stay awake…"
The door opened a crack and Amiga peaked in. "Hey, I hear Ryo isn't in class!"
Sage sighed, rolling his head to look the other way. Rowen must have answered her question because the girl broke right into her gossip. "Kinda strange when Lea also turns up missing. You think the two are playing hooky?"
"No." Rowen stated. "Ryo's home, asleep. He came down with a bad flu over the weekend."
Amiga let out a loud sigh of defeat. "Thanks for shattering a dream."
"Take your rumors somewhere else!" Kento barked, throwing his chopsticks at the girl. At once a series of giggles exploded behind the door just as Amiga dashed out and shut it. The two sticks buried themselves in a splintery mess into the door.
Kento sat there, blinking in surprise. Rowen assessed the damage before going back to eat his soup as he sat in the window with his feet on the table.
"I'd watch what I'd throw Kento," Sage mumbled, even though he had not seen the event. "You're powers aren't in check when you are that exhausted." He heard the big Ronin get up clean up the mess.
"So Lea isn't here either?" Rowen asked.
Sage finally sat up and began to open his meal. "Yes." He informed. "But I expected it."
Kento scoffed as he came back and started to eat again with slightly shorter chopsticks. "I hope we don't see her again." He muttered. "I think she is bad news."
"How so?" Rowen asked.
"Come on!" Kento barked. "We were having a pretty uneventful life until she showed up and brought the three warlords with her and that Vallen dude."
Sage stared at him. "I don't think she is in league with the new Shogun at all." He informed. "I don't know how she made a break for it in the condition she had been in."
"I'd run too if I saw that runnin' at me." Rowen pointed a stick at Kento accusingly. Hardrock just glared at him as Strata went on to explain, "Lea was helpin' Ryo. And she protected Mia and I from the soldiers that appeared."
Sage sighed as he sifted through his lunch. "The warlords have been possessed by Neither Spirits. Did anyone see Kayura?" He asked.
The two Ronins shook their heads.
"We better find out what happened to her."
"From what I understand," Cye said as he appeared in the room a moment later. "There has been a revolt in the Dynasty."
"Yeah. Lea said something about that when we were rushing back to help you guys." Rowen informed. "Somethin' about a disagreement, a radical faction…and a revolt that resulted in Kayura being overthrown."
Cye sat down and started to open his meal as they talked. "And it appears this faction is loyal to Talpa." He muttered. "So if we plan on taking off into the Dynasty…we're going to run into pockets of insurgents, no doubt, lying in wait for us to come in there and stop them."
"I don't know." Kento murmured. "If anyone was able to take down the three warlords…that's a pretty tall order there."
Rowen had paused for a moment, thinking before looking at the group. "Mia confirms the story of the Guardians being ligament. If there are in fact nine Guardian armors and Lea is the one who wears the Wildfire…where are the other four Guardians?"
The group sat there in silence as they contemplated information.
Sage stood up and walked to the front of the room, looking around the professor's desk. The others watched him as he leafed through papers sitting on the countertop. He let out a triumphant cry as he held up a handful of index cards.
He put them back and returned to his friends. "I'm going back to the room to find out where she lives. I'll be right back."
Kento watched him take off, leaving his lunch unguarded on the table. He was well through his already. The warrior of Justice started to reach out with his sticks to nab the unwanted food when Cye's let out a snap and hit the back of his hand.
"Hands off." He ordered. "Sage needs that as much as you do." He went back to drinking his iced tea, all the while listening to Kento's whimpering and Rowen soft chuckle of amusement.
Sage reappeared after five minutes with a scrap of paper in his hands. "I have it." He informed.
Rowen frowned, putting down his empty dish. "It's amazin' what teachers leave out." He muttered as he took the paper from Sage, who went back to eating his saved meal.
He handed the paper to Cye and Kento to examine. "It looks like it's just a walk down the street from here."
Rowen looked down at the paper, making sure the numbers were right to the apartment. He took a moment to glace at the others, just in time to see Kento palm his armor orb into his hands and hold ready. Paranoia ran thick in that man's veins. He sighed in dismay and started to knock on the door.
There was no answer.
"She must be out cold." Cye said quietly. He got a strange look from Kento. Torrent sighed in defeat. "Kento, she's a woman! If the Inferno armor can put Ryo down for a week, who the hell knows what it would do to her!" he hissed.
"Shush!" Rowen ordered, testing the door knob. It turned a little, but only so far. He looked at Sage and flashed him a grin as he produced a paperclip from his uniform pocket and proceeded to pick the lock.
Cye blinked at him in surprise. "Jesus Christ! Rowen!"
"I said, Shush!" He ordered again as he twisted the length of metal around in the dead bolt. There came a slight click and the triumphant fist pump as Rowen got up again and turned the knob. The door started to open and came to a sudden stop.
Rowen glared at the chain that held the door from opening.
Kento reached in and snapped a link between two of his fingers. It shattered and hit the floor.
The door opened with ease at this point, allowing the four young men entrance.
"We are in so much trouble if Ryo finds out!" Cye hissed.
"He already went behind our backs and tried something like this!" Kento pointed out. "Tip for tap." He informed and walked into the living room as if he owned the place. He stood there and examined the furniture and the TV.
"You'd think her parents are here?" Rowen asked.
Sage shook his head. "No. She is here alone. And I don't think she is staying with a family…as hard as it might sound."
Rowen surveyed the room and turned to the open air kitchen to the left of the door. Cye stood behind him, thoroughly aggravated with the breaking and entering of the apartment. He turned as he heard Kento make a curious noise and hold up a picture from on top of the TV. "Hey, check this out!" He whispered to the others, calling them over.
"We're looking for the other four Guardians, right?" He said, holding up the picture. "Look at these girls!"
Sage and Rowen leaned in with Cye over looking them. The image was of Lea with four friends all collected together for a fast picture. There was a short haired blonde with beached highlights, a girl with the same black blue hair as Kento with an Asian appearance, a bright red head with a bow in her hair, and a blue haired girl with a braid hanging over her shoulder. Lea was the most obvious one to pick out from the group.
"Hey, isn't that the Empire State building?" Kento asked, pointing at the image's background.
"Yeah. It's taken in New York City." Sage informed. He pulled back as Kento flipped the frame over and gave it a long and hard look.
"It's been a while since I've been to my Uncle Chin's restaurant…but I swear to god I've seen this girl before." Kento stopped short before a strange look twisted his face and he set the picture down.
"You alright?" Cye asked, hoping he could get an excuse to make them all leave this place.
Kento nodded. "Yeah. I just…I just thought I might have…oh forget it." He swatted Torrent away and went around the room again with the others. Sage turned from the coffee table with a paper in his hands.
"There's the money." Rowen declared as his hawk eye vision picked up what was written on the document from the balcony door. "A medical bill."
Sage nodded as he leaned on the couch and looked it over. "It says she went to the hospital Saturday night…and was discharged in the morning." He skimmed it again. "Light concussion…but considering how long she was in armor, it might have been mild."
"Give and take the healing properties our armors already come with." Cye said coolly. "Was she hurt pretty bad?"
Halo frowned. "She took a bad hit to the head. That with the drain from her white armor, she going to need a lot of rest."
"And I can't do that with the four of you breaking into my home!"
Cye whipped around as he heard a gun hammer kick back. He lurched away from the door he was standing in front of as Lea walked out, holding the weapon ready.
Sage and Rowen threw their hands in the air along with Kento.
"Oi! Calm down!" Kento barked. "We didn't mean you any harm!"
Lea scoffed. "You broke into my apartment! What am I suppose to think?"
"Lea…put the gun down." Rowen ordered.
She sighed in dismay and motioned to the door. "Get the hell out."
Cye nodded. "Sorry for bothering you." He said, backing away and grabbing Kento as they made their getaway. Rowen and Sage skirted around the couch and made for the door in their wake as ordered, followed quickly by Lea. She slammed the door shut behind them.
She sighed again, looking at the broken chain. She was just starting to wonder away when the door opened again a crack.
Rowen and Sage lurched back as a plastic pellet hit the frame. It bounced to the floor at their feet.
Strata smirked a little. "It's a toy." He laughed under is breath. He had almost been sure that the gun she had been waving around was the real thing until he saw the orange ring around the barrel.
Sage leaned in, carefully to avoid getting pelted with plastic rounds. Lea was standing there, glaring at him.
"Hey…" He tried to get in further. "I'm sorry we broke in. We just came to see if you where okay."
Lea lifted an eye brow in speculation. "Oh really? And you consider going through my stuff a way of 'seeing if I was okay'?"
Sage handed her the discharge paper. "I can help you out a little."
The Guardian sighed and shoved him out the door. "Just leave me alone." She said quietly and shut the door in his face.
"She chased you out with a toy gun?"
Rowen nodded. "Yeah. One of those pump action guns that fires the plastic pellets. I have one of them in my room."
Mia shook her head. "You boys don't need to go harassing her!"
"We went to see if she was alright." Kento protested.
"No. You went to snoop." Cye said motherly, coming from the kitchen with another dish. "You went to see what you could find out about her, because you think she's on the Dynasty's pay roll."
Mia looked over to Kento, slightly surprised. "How could she? She was helping you fight…as a Guardian should…"
"If she really was a Guardian, then she wouldn't be kicking us out of her house and she would be devoting her loyalties to us right?" Hardrock barked as he spooned himself some more dinner. "I saw you working on that stuff tonight. A Guardian is to pledge their service of the sword to the Ronin Warrior of their corresponding armor and freely give their life to protect him!"
Cye sat down across from Kento just as Sage cut in. "It's the 20th Century, Kento. We don't deal or define the whole devotion/slavery in those terms anymore. Lea is an independent person and should not be forced to follow an ancient law and or code that is over 600 years old."
"I agree." Rowen spoke up. "For all we know there might be some bad blood runnin' between the Guardians and the Ronin Warriors. I mean…why the hell are they on the other side of world…if we assume those other girls we saw in the picture are also Guardians…instead of here in Japan?" He snatched a roll as the bowl crossed the table from Cye to Sage.
Mia nodded. "That might be the reason she is avoiding us." She looked up as the stairs creaked. Whiteblaze came down and found a soft spot on the floor to sleep on. She sighed a little in dismay. "I do want to talk to her again. If it is at all possible for one of you to convince her to come and see me, that would be a great help."
"Mia, she pulled a gun on us!"
"It was a toy, Kento." Rowen interjected.
"It was still a gun. I don't want Mia near her with out proper protection—"
"In case she is in league with the Dynasty." Cye finished for him, slamming the spoon for the rice back into the bowl with a loud crack. "If you don't stop with this 'in league' comment I'm going to take you outside and beat you senseless!"
Kento lowered his head and pouted. "But—"
"Lea is not part of the Dynasty. End of Story." Torrent finished.
The air was thick with humidity. Ryo found the trees to be unfamiliar to him, a completely different species surround him in the clearing. From where he stood, the canopy dropped just enough for him to see mountains he had never seen before in his whole life.
Where on earth was he?
He looked up through the branches to the stars, hoping they would make sense. Yes, they were familiar. He could make out the directions he needed to go through this dense wood and around these mountains. But it still bothered the Ronin leader.
He knew he had never been here before…but something…someone else, had though.
"Run!" A voice that was hard to discern screamed at him, the Ronin Warrior of Strata coming out of the thicket with a horde of soldiers in his wake. Ryo lurched back, turning as his comrade at arms caught up to him. The Ronin leader had been completely unaware of the fact he was dressed his armor.
They took off at a neck breaking paced down the mountain, narrowly avoiding out cropping of rocks that would have dumped them off into a serious fall. Ryo hurried up next to his friend, drawing arms.
"What's going on!" He demanded. "Where are we!?"
"There is a ravine on the northeast slope! We'll lose them there!" Rowen informed, as if he knew the answer and had been here before. He took off down the rapidly descending slope as if it was nothing, leaving Ryo to stumble and slide after him.
"Rowen!" Ryo yelped as he felt the ground give way under him and he went down the steep slope. He managed to catch himself with a sword, just as the trees thinned out behind him…and a great scar in the face of the earth exposed itself through the trees.
Where the hell am I!? Ryo thought. He had known in the first dream that he was running through the forest near Fuji. But he swore he had never seen trees like this before…nor mountains like these.
"MOVE!" Rowen ordered, lunging through the air and letting his armor create a sphere of energy. Ryo let go of the slope with his sword and began a steady slide down it's face as Rowen drifted down through the air after him, all the while firing arrows into the trees and killing soldiers.
Rowen landed lightly on the ground beside Ryo, his eyes darkening under the pale moon light and his helmet. He looked back up the slope as they neared the lip of the ravine.
"That should buy us some time." He panted.
Ryo nodded in agreement as he surveyed the area. "Rowen…where the hell are we."
"Didn't think the Radicals would follow us this far into the Adirondacks." Rowen muttered, keeling over a little as he caught his breath. "You alright?"
The Ronin leader looked down at his friend in utter confusion. Where the hell did he say they where? Was that even in Japan? He looked around again, trying his damnest to remember all the maps he had seen with mountain ranges.
He heard something roar in the distance.
Rowen looked up, his eyes widening in horror. "Oh damn—"
The ridge in front of them exploded.
The two Ronin Warriors went flying back over the cliff into the ravine. Ryo recalled the dream he had had before…when he actually lunging into it. This time he had the chance to save himself. He swung his sword bearing fist through the air and buried it into the face of the cliff, stopping his decent. With the raining of rocks from the slide of the mountain, Rowen failed to power up his armor's sphere.
Ryo reached out as Rowen started to grab for the air and locked their hands around each other's wrists.
"Augh…thanks." Rowen winced as he felt some small rock hit his helmet. Ryo smiled down at him, regardless of the rain of stone and earth.
Rowen was about to throw in some witty comment when he looked pass his leader to the ridge above them. Ryo whipped his head around, seeing a whole battalion of Dynasty soldiers standing there. Directly above them through was a man dressed in black armor and silver accents.
"Vallen!" Ryo whispered in shock.
Vallen smirked at them. "You thought you could out run me? You are both fools, Ronins." He reached to his belt and drew the whip from his waist. Ryo felt Rowen's grip slacken, and nearly fall.
"Ryo! Let go!" Rowen ordered. "I can take care of myself! Let go now!"
Ryo shook his head as he saw the soldiers around them load bows and take aim. If he let go, Rowen would be shot out of the air. He looked back to Vallen as he heard the whip snap. The length of leather came flying through the air, lashing itself around his wrist that clutched to the sword buried into the rock face.
"All that weight…you might need to let go." Vallen challenge as he tightened his grip. Ryo's eyes widen in surprise as he smelt acid. Acid burning into armor…his wrist!
Rowen tried to pull free. "Let go Ryo!"
Ryo winced as he felt the last of the armor give out around the underside of his wrist. It was starting to burn into his skin. "NO! I'm not letting go!" Ryo shouted, wincing as he tried to look pass Rowen to the ground below. He could see nothing but darkness. There might be trees, there might not be…but there was no way he was letting go.
"Ryo…"
Ryo opened his eyes from a wince, hissing in pain as the acid burned deeper. He looked down at Strata as he once again pressed the issue. Rowen looked up, smiling at him. That complete look of trust and faith in his eyes as he reasoned with his leader.
"Let go." He said.
The Ronin leader swore something strange had happened in that moment when he cried out in pain and suddenly released the warrior of wisdom's wrist. He didn't mean to let go. Ryo reached out into the air, regardless of the pain and his own personal safety. His grab fell short of Rowen's hand as it pulled away.
"NO!" Ryo yelled as he saw the Ronin power up the sphere to fly and was instantly shot down. He watched in horror as the bearer of Strata was speared from all directions with arrows and staffs…and sent plummeting to his death at the bottom of the ravine.
"ROWEN!" The Ronin leader screamed, feeling Vallen's whip slacken and let go. Leaving him there.
"ROSE!"
Ryo flinched, hearing the second scream. It wasn't his.
The ground rushed up revealing a stream in the valley below. It was like a mirror from the bottom of the ravine, dissolving the two falling Stratas into each other and bringing the two Wildfires face to face.
Ryo and Lea passed a look of recognition between each other as their outstretched hands met, and passed right through each other. And then they simply faded way into the night.
"Ryo?"
Ryo opened his eyes to see Rowen and Sage standing over him. He took a carefully breath as the two Ronins leaned back to give their leader some space. Ryo sat up and brushed some hair from his face.
"You alright?" Sage asked.
The Ronin leader nodded slowly. "I think so." He murmured.
"You were makin a lot of noise." Rowen said carefully. "Are you sure you're okay?"
Ryo brushed his hand along his fore head, wiping away some sweat when he felt the hot/cold touch of his virtue. He looked up at the two of them in surprise just as Cye and Kento peaked in.
"It was just…a nightmare." Ryo whispered.
"This is one of the first times your virtue has glowed like that." Sage pointed out, just as it started to fade. He took a glass as Cye handed it to him and then offered it to Ryo. "What was it?"
Ryo shook his head as he held the cold glass of water in his hands. He frowned for a moment. "Rowen, where are the Adirondacks?"
Strata looked at him, confused. "Mountains?" He blurted out.
"Those are mountains in New York." Kento informed. "My Uncle and his family took me and my brothers up there for a hike once when we were little." His brow knitted together as he reasoned this out. "We don't even have American Geography in class…where the hell did you come up with this?"
Ryo looked up. "I just had one of Lea's nightmares." He stated. "No, not just a nightmare…it really happened!" He looked over at Rowen as he came to reason. "She and the Guardian of Strata, they were running from Vallen in the middle of the mountains…and he killed Strata!"
Lea sat up, listening to the sound of the curtains blowing the in breeze from the opened window. She sighed a little as she brushed her bangs back, at the same time pulling a bandage from around her temple free and tossing it aside. She ignored the virtue that faded from her forehead.
She pulled her hand back and looked at it in the pale light.
Her fingers flexed as she moved her wrist around.
Lea stopped and pulled her hand towards her to see in the dim light, gently running her fingers over the small scar, going around her wrist. It looked as if the sun hadn't seen skin under a watch band.
The Guardian pulled the covered back up and went back to lying down.
But she couldn't bring herself to go back to sleep.
Ryo looked at the paper in his hands before knocking on the door. He stepped back as the door opened, putting some distance between himself and the person who answered.
Lea leaned against the frame, watching him.
"Hi." Ryo smiled at her.
She seemed surprised. "Hello."
"I was um…in town and I thought maybe I'd drop by…" Ryo held up the paper in his hand. "I saw this on the kitchen table."
"Came to find out what trouble your friends have been getting themselves into?" The Guardian asked coldly. She stood there, contemplating her next move when she stepped back and opened the door. "You can come in. The gun wasn't real."
Ryo nodded as he walked into the apartment. "So I heard." He laughed nervously as he looked around the living room.
Lea came back from the kitchen with a glass in each hand. "Ice tea?" She offered.
The Ronin leader took the drink that was offered. He took a sip and looked around the room again, finding nothing out of the ordinary. "So, you didn't go to school either?" He noted.
The Guardian sat down at the couch, were the local paper and some books were sitting. "Don't want to go back looking like I got mugged." She pointed out. Ryo took a moment to notice that there was still a fairly decent sized cut on her temple and a reddish welt around her neck.
Ryo sat down in a chair nearby. "You should see Sage."
"I've said no." Lea informed, sipping at her tea. "I'm fine. I've already seen a doctor." She put down her glass and crossed her arms. "Why are you still out?"
The Warrior of Virtue scoffed a little. "Yeah…well…I haven't worn my white armor in almost a year…so it was a bit of a shock to my system."
Lea smiled in amusement. "So you guys are a little rusty."
"Didn't expect the Dynasty to sudden show up and attack us." Ryo sighed, rubbing the side of his head. "I'm real sorry for all this chaos."
The Guardian shook her head as she stood up. "It's not you." She said, taking her glass and walking to the kitchen. Ryo frowned as he watched her leave. There was a moment where he saw the picture sitting on top of the TV. He was getting up to check it out when Lea started talking again.
"Here." Lea said as she came back. Ryo suddenly found a package of crackers in his lap. He watched her sit back down.
He considered his words before looking up at the Guardian. "Lea, the other night—"
"I'm sorry." Lea said quickly, avoiding his eyes.
Ryo frowned. "Listen…we're all really curious to know if there are other Guard—"
"There is." Lea murmured. "There were…" She tightened her hand around the glass she held, the one with the scar around it. Ryo drew a breath of surprise, seeing first hand the result of Vallen's torture. He started to get up when Lea shot him a glare.
"I don't want your sympathy. I don't want your comfort or pity." She said quickly, though it seemed to pain her to do it. Lea looked down at the glass. "There were other Guardians. Eight in all." She put the glass down before she broke it in her hands. "They're all dead."
Ryo blinked in horror. "How—"
"You know who did it." Lea said coolly.
The Ronin leader started to walk over when Lea stood up and planted her hand hard against his chest, keeping him back. He had no idea truly what he was suppose to do. Lea didn't look like a person who would break down under so much stress and pressure. Even if she wanted to give in to those emotions, she wouldn't dare do it in front of him or anyone else. Ryo backed off, raising his hands in defeat.
Lea sighed as she twisted a piece of her shirt's hem in her hands. "I…I think you should leave."
"You need help." Ryo said quickly. "You shouldn't be fighting Vallen and the Dynasty by yourself."
"I'm not fighting them. I'm trying to survive." Lea shot back quickly. "I don't stand a snowball's chance in hell of taking them down single handedly. All I can do as the last of the Guardians is to keep my head above the water and out of the Dynasty's hands."
Ryo nodded slowly as he heard her out. Lea walked over to the door and held it opened for him. "Please. Just go home." She said. "You're friends need their leader more that I need a friend right now. Their security comes first before some lowly Guardian does."
Ryo opened his mouth to protest her statement when she made a swipe with her hand towards the door. The Ronin leader sighed in defeat and marched out as ordered. He stopped the door from slamming shut, holding a piece of paper in his hands. It was the same one with her address on it.
"Take this." He ordered.
Lea looked at it, noting that it was reversed with another addressed on the other side.
"We live in the Koji Manor just out of town." Ryo informed. "If you change you mind and come see us…Mia would really like to see you…we've got room over there for another. The Dynasty hasn't been able to lay a finger on it."
Lea took the paper. "Alright. Good bye."
Ryo stepped back as the door shut in his face. He sighed as he turned and left.
Lea leaned against the door, looking down at the paper in her hands. She read the address several times before walking back into the living room and throwing it in the trash.
"Hey!" Cye cried out as Kento snatched the bowl of popcorn out of his hands before he made it through the door of the kitchen. Hardrock took off like a deer through the dinning room into the living room where the others were sitting around the couches, waiting for the arrival of snacks.
"Don't forget to share." Sage said as he risked his hand and reached into the towering mountain of buttered popcorn. He came back with all his fingers accounted for.
Ryo laughed as he tossed Rowen the remote and went back to reclining on the floor with Whiteblaze. Strata passed by the TV and shoved a tape into the VCR.
"The teachers are frowning at this." Cye said as he walked in and handed off the rest of the snacks around to the others. "And I heard from your coach that you better be back in school soon before you miss more practices."
Ryo nodded as he was given a soda. "I should be alright tomorrow."
"Hey, movie is on." Kento mumbled through the food crammed into his mouth.
Mia smiled as she came to the doorway and looked in. The guys were collected in the living room. She sighed a little as she watched them laugh and eat with content, regardless of the impending danger of the Dynasty attacking them again. She closed the door as she pulled back and listened to the laughter that exploded in the other side of the walls.
They are such good friends. They are all like family to each other. Mia thought as she walked to the stairs and started going up.
Ryo had gone out that morning to find Lea. She had doing research when he came home again, a little annoyed with himself. He told her everything he had found out. And it troubled her tremendously.
Mia stopped in the doorway of her study, looking at the collection of arms and armors sitting on the mantle of a small book self. The computer sat quietly by itself on her desk, still on and waiting for her.
I hope Lea will come around to his offer. Mia thought as she walked up to the desk and picked up a book. If she really is the last of the Guardians…she can't be left to defend herself with the Dynasty on the verge of massing another war. She stopped at an image of the nine Ronin armors drawn onto the page. The illustrations had come from the mural in the old Ancient's temple at the bottom of the lake they had found the Jewel of Life in.
She had seen Lea's armor. A perfect duplicate of Ryo's Wildfire armor. She tried to envision the details the others had given her about the four missing Guardians. But there wasn't much for her to work with.
Mia put the book down and opened one of the sliding glass doors to the balcony. She crossed her arms and sighed a little as she remembered the night Anubis had been standing watch outside her window.
It had been a long time since she had thought about him.
I hope you are planning to look over them again.
Lea rolled over in bed, listening to the wind blow the curtains around the window. She looked at the clock and knew it was still rather early for her to be in bed. But for the life of her, she couldn't get any sleep.
She sat up and turned on a light. She pulled away from the nightstand with a book in her hands and started to read a page or two when there came a loud clatter in the living room.
Lea sat there, listening for it again. She was greeted by the noise once more.
The Guardian threw back the sheets, holding the thick book in her hand and pulling the pellet gun out of the top shelf of the bedside desk and made her way to the door. As an after though, she snatched her armor crystal off the desk and powered up.
Lea held her ear to the door, listening. There was the sound of someone bumping up against the coffee table. She threw open the door and fired off a shot. The pellet struck the wall across the room.
She stood there, blinking in surprise and confusion. Where the hell was all the noise coming from? The Guardian took a careful step into the room, making her way along the wall with the windows and the sliding glass door to the balcony.
"Is anybody there?" She called.
"We came to pay you a visit." Dais's voice whispered into her ear.
Lea lurched back, throwing her book into the warlord as he came from the direction of the balcony. She tossed the gun into the shadows and only managed to break the toy against his chest plate. She was backed up away from the exits as Sekhmet came walking through of the doorway of the apartment.
"You've been living on borrowed time long enough." Cale said darkly, his eyes starting to glow blue. "Vallen has decided to hammer the final nail in your coffin."
Lea felt her back hit the wall by the TV. She reached for the first object she could throw, the picture on top of the machine. She let it fly at Dais, making him duck as shards of glass flew into his face. She made a mad dash between the two warlords, going for the balcony windows as weapons were pulled. The Guardian went crashing through the windows as she leaped over the couch and snagged the rail.
"Get her!" Sekhmet roared.
Lea swung her legs over the rail and plummeted to the ground with three warlords behind her.
AN: Let me apologizes for this year's lack of updating…and I hope some of my fellow readers are still around! I've been working on my new fan based story, Jak and Daxter: Aetas and building my website…Immortal Phoenix Studios. The site is beginning to incorporate the RW fanfiction I have written...and to make it up for my slacking off…DeviantArt (found in my profile) has a cover sketch sample for chapter 9….which I finished last night. Pop over there to get a taste of things to come!
-Meg