Disclaimer: You know the drill, I don't own the Ronin Warriors or any of that jazz. Don't sue, I'm in college…

AN: It's been a LONG time since I updated this story. I got two reviews… yay… But I feel the need to get more of this story out there. Enjoy!

Introductions

Ryo moaned as he stirred from his 3-hour nap.

"Uhn… where am I?" he croaked, groggily. His neck was throbbing. "'M I dead?" Slowly, he pushed himself upright despite the protests of his battered body. The blue and silver warrior looked up from his seat nearby.

"Oh good, you're awake. Your friend was very worried about you."

"Rowen?" All drowsiness vanished. "Where is he? Is he ok?" The other warrior giggled. Ryo blinked, staring at him.

"One question at a time, hero! He's fine, don't worry. He only had a mild concussion. And he's currently outside… er… using the potty…"

"Oh…" Ryo let out a sigh of relief, noticing an itchy feeling around his neck as he shifted. "What the…?"

"You got your throat slashed open…" said the blue and silver Ronin quietly. "I still can't believe you didn't notice that."

"I… what? My throat was slashed?" Granted, his throat felt like it was on fire every time he so much as took a breath, but Ryo had assumed that he was just thirsty. A hand drifted up to feel the bandages wound about his neck; how had he missed that?

"Yes, but it wasn't too deep. Don't worry, you'll be singing in no time!" The little warrior giggled again; Ryo wished that he would stop doing that. He opened his mouth to say something, but the thought left his mind as the sound of footsteps heralded Rowen's return.

"Hey, Ryo, you're awake!" exclaimed the young man, a smile lighting his features. Despite the smile, Ryo felt his heart clench at the sight of the bandage wound about Rowen's head.

"Rowen…" The warrior of Wildfire rose and approached his friend cautiously, eyes the bandage anxiously. "Are you alright? You scared the crap outta me! What happened to you?" Rowen reached up and scratched at his bandage, chuckling.

"I, uh, I couldn't really tell you. I don't actually know myself." Ryo and Rowen both glanced back as the white and silver armored warrior interjected from behind Rowen.

"He took a bad hit to the head by a Dynasty soldier… And you!" He turned to Rowen, his eyes showing disapproval behind his facemask. "I thought I told you not to scratch at that bandage!" Rowen grinned sheepishly and took his hand away from his head.

"Sorry… I forgot…"

"Hey!" said Ryo, suddenly. "That reminds me! Whose side are you three on?"

"Whose side does it look like we're on, dumbass?" exclaimed the tallest of the three. He shoved away from the wall he had been leaning against, looking quite intimidating in his black and orange armor.

"Would Talpa's minions actually have saved you?" demanded the shortest Ronin. "Honestly!" His voice held an edge.

"You know, if there was some sort of plot, I think he would, yes!" retorted Ryo, temper flaring. "Besides, why else would you three be out here?"

"Look, we aid those who oppose Talpa, understand?" said the shortest warrior, sighing, all signs of anger gone. He sounded weary.

"So, in other words, we're on your side!" The leader giggled again, apparently unconcerned about the tension that was building within the confines of the little cave. He always seemed to be giggling… Ryo hated it. It made him feel like the other warrior was laughing at him. Scowling, the warrior of Wildfire grabbed Rowen's elbow.

"Excuse us for a moment…" Dragging the warrior of Strata to a secluded corner of the cave, Ryo turned to him. "I don't trust them!" he hissed, jerking his head toward the others.

"I can see that," replied Rowen, calmly.

"You actually trust them, don't you?" snapped Ryo, staring at his friend in disbelief.

"Yup."

"Yup? Yup? That's it? That's your answer?" Ryo threw up his hands, forgetting to keep his voice down

"Yup."

"You're crazy!" exploded the red warrior, positively shouting now. "Completely nuts! What honestly makes you think that we can trust these guys?" The dark blue warrior let out a snort, earning a glare from the already livid Ryo.

"Well, first off, man, keep your voice down. They're staring. And second…" he trailed off, covering his mouth to hide his smile.

"What?" demanded Ryo, scowling. "What's so damn funny? What?" Rowen held up a finger, indicating that he needed a moment to compose himself. Finally, he calmed himself enough to speak.

"Ryo, heh heh heh, I they're, ha ha, I think they're girls!" Ryo froze where he stood, his face blank with shock.

"Wh-what?" Rowne chuckled again.

"Well, sure! Didn't you notice how small they are and how high their voices are?"

"I… um…" Ryo fumbled over his words, unsure of what to say. He had never considered the possibility of female Ronin Warriors.

"Dinner!" called the blue and silver warrior, brightly. He- no SHE- was stirring a pot of something that was giving off a mouth-watering aroma.

"Mmm! Smells great!" said Rowen, abandoning Ryo and heading back to the others. "Is this stew?"

"Yup!" replied the tallest warrior, reaching for it. "Is your friend ok?"

"Who, Ryo? I'm sure he's fine," said Rowen, dismissively. "I just don't think he realized you three were girls." Ryo cringed over in his corner, expecting an enraged outburst from the girls. It never came. Instead, he heard the leader burst out giggling again.

"Yeah, it is kinda hard to tell with our armor on, huh?" Her voice was still bright and cheery. "Are you going to eat with us?" With a jolt, Ryo realized that she was talking to him.

"Oh… sure, I guess…" Shaking off his shock, Ryo left the corner and headed over to the others. The leader offered him a bowl and moved aside to give him room to sit.

They all ate in silence for a while before Rowen made a realization; while he and Ryo had stripped down to their under-armor when they realized that the girls weren't a threat, the other three were still fully armored. Abruptly, he was slightly uneasy and more than slightly curious.

"So," he began, conversationally, "is there a reason you're still armored? I mean, we're all friends here, right?" Without pausing, the leader nodded.

"Yeah, we're all friends! We can be BEST friends!" She completely ignored Rowen's first question. He tried again, frowning slightly.

"So, do you, like, sleep in that armor?" The shortest shrugged, not looking up.

"Sometimes, why?" Rowen shrugged, his suspicions growing. Perhaps Ryo had been right not to trust these three… Of course, they had seemed alright to Rowen…

"Oh, no reason… It's just, you know, doesn't that armor get pretty heavy? And besides, no one can see what you look like if you hide behind a facemask all the time. Don't your friends wonder?"

"Our friends don't have to wonder," said the tallest warrior, curtly. "Obviously we don't walk around fully armored at home."

"Yeah," interjected the leader, "we just keep our facemasks up so the bad guys don't know what we look like!" Ryo and Rowen exchanged a look. Had she really just said 'bad guys'? After a moment, Ryo spoke.

"Are we the, uh, 'bad guys'?"

"No, silly!" The leader laughed again; Ryo was beginning to think of her as an idiot.

"Then why are you still hiding behind your armor?" The bite of annoyance was obvious in Ryo's voice. The leader pondered his question, cocking her head to one side in thought. It was, however the shortest warrior who finally answered.

"Very well, if it's that important to you, we'll remove our armor."

"Ooo! Ooo! Me first! Pleeeeease?" The blue and silver leader jumped up, and, after a sigh and gesture from the tallest warrior, quickly shed her armor.

Beneath the bulky armor was a lovely girl of about 15. The blue and silver under-armor hugged her small body, but even with its added bulk, it was obvious that she had a slight frame. She actually looked almost fragile; not at all as a warrior would typically look. Her hair was reddish-brown streaked through with seemingly natural reddish hi-lights, and wildly curly. It bounced cheerfully around her shoulders, framing her face nicely. Her large eyes were a rich chocolate brown; a black ring around the irises gave her an exotic look. Those eyes seemed to hold a sweet innocence unlike anything Ryo had ever seen before… he was intrigued. She was smiling cheerfully, shaking her head to and fro.

"Ah, that's better… that helmet always squishes my hair!" She looked over at Ryo, who was closest, and held out her hand, grinning. "My name's Aseku!" Cautiously, the warrior of Wildfire took her hand and shook it.

"Nice to meet you…" Ryo found himself wondering what her virtue was. She was such an odd creature! Her eyes were… captivating, to say the least. And then she was gone. As quickly as Ryo had been entranced by her, he was released from the spell. He thought he felt the black and orange armored warrior's eyes on him, but when he turned to look at her, she was concentrating on her food. Aseku had turned to Rowen and was cheerfully shaking his hand. Judging by Rowen's expression, he, too, was experiencing the odd sensations. Aseku seemed to take no notice.

Then it was the shortest one's turn. Beneath her armor lay a short, stocky body; one much more suited, in Ryo's opinion, to a warrior. Long, frizzy blond hair was caught in a loose, messy ponytail atop the head, sticking up crazily in all different directions. Steely blue eyes peeked out from the mop of hair around her face, but they didn't seem to have the same odd qualities as Aseku's. The girl appeared to be somewhere around 18 or 19, and stood somewhere around 5'2". She smiled pleasantly at Ryo and Rowen.

"Hello, my name is Kiyaki." She, too, shook both men's hands. After those introductions were done, Ryo and Rowen turned expectantly to the last and tallest of the warriors. When she seemed in no hurry to shed armor, Ryo asked her about it.

"Are you… going to take off your armor as well?"

"I wasn't planning on it," she said, looking over at him.

"Oh… I just thought since Kiyaki sai you would…" Ryo trailed off, not quite sure what to make of this girl.

"Oh… very well." The girl sounded slightly exasperated. "If it's a big deal, I'll take it off…" And, with a sigh, she shed her armor.

Beneath it was a beautiful girl of about 16 or 17 with long, straight brown hair and large hazel eyes. She was tall and willowy, standing at a solid 5'7" with a slim, strong body. She was not as bulky as little Kiyaki, but she was certainly more substantial looking than tiny little Aseku. She has a calm, if slightly exasperated look on her face, but her voice and handshake were sincerely friendly. Like Kiyaki, her eyes seemed to hold no special power in them.

"My name is Sheyna. It's a pleasure meeting you." Ryo and Rowen offered the proper pleasantries and returned to their food, considerably more relaxed.

When the meal was finished, Aseku gathered all the dishes and headed out of the cave to wash them at a nearby stream. When she was gone, Sheyna sidled up next to Ryo.

"She confuses you, doesn't she?" Ryo jumped and looked back at the black and orange warrior. Her face was serious.

"I'm not sure what you mean… who confuses me?"

"Aseku," said Sheyna, looking at him closely. "She confuses you, doesn't she? It's her eyes, it's always her eyes…" Ryo wasn't sure what to say.

"I… uh… yeah…" Sheyna smiled almost sympathetically.

"Don't try to understand her, no one does. Kiyaki and I figure it must have something to do with her virtue, but we don't know what that is…"

"Slap-happiness?" suggested Ryo, chuckling, "Hyper-activity?" Sheyna's eyes narrowed.

"Don't make fun of her." Ryo's laughter ceased at once. 'Fool!' he chided himself, 'Don't insult their leader!'

"I'm sorry," he lowered his head contritely, "that was in poor taste… I apologize, it won't happen again." Sheyna nodded, but her hazel eyes still held some odd emotion in them.

"It's alright… I just tend to be a little overprotective. She's only 15…"

"Is she really" Ryo's voice held a note of admiration. "The youngest of my team is only 16… We all tend to worry about him sometimes…"

"Team?" asked Sheyna, "There are more of you?" Ryo flushed suddenly, feeling that he had said too much.

"I'm tired, I think I'm going to sleep."

"But you didn't answer my question," said Sheyna, frowning. "Ryo, if we're going to help you, you have to trust us. How many more of you are there?" The black-haired warrior hesitated, then sighed.

"Our three friends have been captured by Talpa… We're trying to rescue them…"

"I see…" said Sheyna, sensing, somehow, that Ryo needed to talk. She was right. Emotions broke forth in Ryo as though spilling through a dam.

"They're only kids, all three of them!" Water pooled in Ryo's eyes threatening to spill over. "Not one of them more than 19 years old… Why couldn't he have captured Rowen or me? We're adults, we could have handled it… but those three? They're just innocent kids…" His knees buckled suddenly and Ryo found himself leaning against a wall weakly.

"We'll get them out," said Sheyna, firmly, her voice full of determination. "He won't hurt them. He won't."

Suddenly, a shriek sounded from outside. Eyes widening, Sheyna raced towards the mouth of the cave and bolted out behind Kiyaki. Ryo followed on her heels. Standing outside, a short distance from the cave, was a tall, dark figure. Even at a distance, in the dim light, Ryo recognized the other warrior.

"Cale…" hissed Rowen, next to Ryo. He started to call up his armor, but Kiyaki stopped him.

"No," she said, pointing, "Look… he has Aseku." Sure enough, as Rowen and Ryo squinted in the failing light, they could make out Aseku's lithe form clutched tightly in Cale's arms. She didn't seem to be moving…

"Good evening, Ronin Warriors!" called Cale, mockingly. "How rude of you not to invite me to dinner! Perhaps you would like to join us for dinner instead? Your little friend has decided to come…" He laughed jeeringly and shook Aseku at them. Her body flailed limply and Sheyna had to be restrained. "And Halo, Torrent, and Hardrock are simply dying to see you!" This time it was Ryo who had to be restrained.

"Easy, Ryo, easy buddy!" said Rowen, struggling to keep the other man from rushing Cale headfirst. "He's just shootin off his mouth, don't let him get to you. You know as well as I do that they wouldn't kill Sage, Cye, or Kento. He's just tryin to rile you up."

"Well he's done a damn good job!" spat Ryo, his teeth clenched. Cale's laughter floated towards them.

"What, not coming? That truly is a shame, but we really must be going. Goodbye Ronin Warriors, I'll be seeing you again soon!" He started to turn, but paused and looked back. "Oh yes, I'll give your regards to Halo, Torrent, and Hardrock!" And, laughing, he disappeared into the distance with Aseku. Ryo, Rowen, and Sheyna all shouted curses at his back, but words, sadly, cause no damage.

"We've got to go after him!" growled Sheyna, starting after Cale. "We can't just let him hurt Aseku!"

"I agree, time is of the essence," concurred Ryo, starting with her. "We act now!"

"Now hold on!" said Kiyaki, crossly. "We need a plan! We can't just charge right in there guns blazing!"

"She's right," agreed, Rowen, "Let's stop and think about this for a minute."

"No! Strike now, strike hard!" argued Ryo, frowning at his friend.

"But that's what they're counting on!" exclaimed Kiyaki. "We'd be walking into a trap!"

"Not necessarily!" objected Sheyna, "They could be planning on us doing exactly what we're doing right now!"

"They're not telepathic," said Rowen, frowning. "They don't know what we're thinking or anything."

"Which means we've still got the element of surprise!" said Ryo, shifting uneasily. "Let's go, c'mon!"

"Are you suggesting that 4 warriors try to sack the entire Dynasty?" asked Kiyaki, her voice flat. "We'd be captured in a matter of minutes, and THEN where would we be?"

"Then what do YOU propose we do?" snapped Sheyna, realizing too late that her voice held too sharp a tone. "I'm sorry…" she murmured, looking down. "I'm just… worried about her…"

"I know," said Kiyaki, laying a hand on her shoulder. "We're all stressed…"

"Maybe we should go inside," said Rowen, motioning towards the cave. "We can sit down and gather our thoughts, then determine our course of action." Nodding in agreement, the others followed him inside, beginning their discussion.

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Yeah, it was a lot longer, wasn't it? Haha, that's more like the normal length for my chapters, the other was only an introduction. I hope you liked it! And yes, there IS a reason Aseku's eyes made the guys feel strangely; I wasn't just favoring her for some odd reason. Let me know how you liked it!