Konnichiwa minna-san! Well, here I am, writing when I should be doing homework…oh well. Enjoy the fic, peoples!

Oh yeah, I don't own the Ronin Warriors. Some other very lucky people do. I wish I owned them, though. However, the new stuff is mine! MINE! MUAHAHAHA!

Fur and Field
By Windsong
Chapter Two: Contact
Written January 2000

Midterms passed. Thanks to the twenty cups of tea that Sage drank that morning, he was able to stay awake long enough to finish his exams. Even so, caffeine does wear off, and Sage fell asleep on the bus, missed his stop, and had to walk back to Mia's.

The dreams persisted for two more days, then left as suddenly as they had come. Sage slept for about 24 hours or so, and woke up feeling much better.
A few weeks later, Mia was invited to a party, and dragged the guys along. When they arrived at the party, Kento immediately flew to the buffet table. The rest of the guys pretty much sat at a table and looked uncomfortable.

Mia buzzed around and talked with other people. "I didn't know Mia was that talkative and outgoing," said Ryo.

"What, afraid that your koi might find another man?" teased Rowen, then yelped and winced when Ryo kicked him under the table.

Kento came up, a filled plate in his hand. "You guys should try the food here. It's great." The other Ronins took Kento's advice.

As they were finishing up their meal, Mia began to talk to two other ladies. Soon Mia gestured to the table where the guys were sitting, and Mia led the two young women to the table. The guys stood up.

"Guys, I'd like you to meet two acquaintances of mine. They're foreign exchange students from the kingdom of Rankalia. They're names are Hilaris Monoceros and Halicyon Pericolas." Rowen looked up.

The two women were young, but older than any of the guys-they were in their early 20's. The older of the two was talking to the younger in a low voice with her head down. Rowen was able to hear what they were saying—not like it did him much good, because they were talking in a language Rowen couldn't understand. Obviously the other understood the strange language, and answered in like. Then the older one looked up and said in Japanese, "I'm very pleased to meet you." Rowen was surprised; there was no sign of any accent. She spoke Japanese as if she had lived in Tokyo all her life. Rowen heard Sage gasp and looked at him. Sage looked like he was going to have a heart attack. He staggered a few steps back.

"Sage, are you all right? What's wrong? Asked Mia, hurrying over to him.

Sage was still short of breath. "Those eyes…" he gasped. "Those eyes are from my dream!"

Rowen looked again at the two women and saw within their faces the eyes Sage had described the night before the finals. The eyes of the younger lady were green, and you could see the warmth in them, and also her worry over Sage, and lying beneath that was a deep sadness. The eyes of the older one were much more striking. Her eyes were grey, and showed that her spirit was wild and fierce. There seemed to be an eternal fire lit in their depths. Rowen thought, I could see why Sage was startled, even if he hadn't recognized them. "Who are you?" Rowen demanded.

"I believe Mia has already told you," replied the older one in a calm voice. "My name is Hilaris. My friend's name is Halicyon. We're very pleased to meet you all. Is your friend all right?" She asked worriedly.

"Should I go for help?" Halicyon asked of Sage. Her voice was sweet and gentle, with a detectable accent that gave her a strange, rolling inflection. "You're very pale."

"No, I'll be fine," Rowen heard Sage say, but he still looked as if he had seen a ghost. Two ghosts.

"Hilaris and Halicyon are going to stay with us for a while, because they haven't been able to find a room. Is that all right?" Mia asked, looking worriedly at Sage.

"That's fine," said Ryo quickly.

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On the way home, Sage thought, Who are you, Hilaris Monoceros? Who are you, Halicyon Pericolas? Are you friend or foe? Can you be trusted? You're not like the rest of us, are you? Are you normal? Are you from the Dynasty? What are you dong here?

Well, that's chapter two, minna! Hope you've enjoyed it! My writing spirit Avirilli has possessed me once again, so here I am at midnight, typing away madly. Oh well…not like I don't have a good relationship with my writing spirit. It's just that she possesses me at the worst possible times…

Ja ne!

Windsong - windsong 137 at gmail dot com

"If you could see my brain right now, it would be smiling. I have a huge brain-smile on right now. From end to end." -Dad