Well, I felt so guilty about leaving you guys up in the air for so long with that last chapter that I decided to start writing faster... but honestly, what's the point of writing if no one's going to read it? I've only gotten seven reviews, for goodness sakes! -sigh- Oh well... I'll keep writing anyway, even if it's only because Avirilli's constantly needling me to...

And yeah, I like opening chapters with school scenes. Sue me. -Sees readers call their lawyers- Ack! NO! I didn't really mean it!

Oh yeah, the disclaimer so that you guys can't sue me -glares-... I don't own The original Ronin Warriors, but I own Hilaris and Halicyon and Kionden and Inokian and the whole AU background! It's mine! MINE! MIIIINE! (as you can see, I'm very very very VERY possesive...)

Stuff in ( ) are author's notes, as usual. You'll also notice that any unusual terms in this chapter have numbers after them. The numbers correspond to explanatory notes at the end of the chapter.

Well, enjoy!

Fur and Field
By Windsong
Chapter Seven: Entrapment
Written March 2000

Hilaris put down her pen, sighed, and stretched, relieved that she had finally finished her English final. Thank the gods that it's the last test. She quickly reviewed her answers before handing in her paper, giving the victory sign to her friend Rose, and walking out of the classroom. After grabbing her books, she walked outside to meet Rowen and wait for the others. "So, Ro, how did your test go?"

"Fine..." he said, his mind clearly elsewhere as he looked up at the sky.

"Yen for your thoughts."

"Nothing... just wondering why Mia never told us that whole story that you did last week."

"Probably because she didn't know. The History of the Legendary Armors is strictly an oral legend—it's never been written down. Her Grandfather probably didn't want to break the custom, so he never spoke of it, and he didn't want to freak out Mia with tales of other worlds."

Sai and Halicyon came up. "Hey guys!" Sai said, waving. "How did you guys do?"

"Just fine," Hilaris replied. "I didn't know some of the questions, so I just guessed... hope I'm right."

Sage, then Ryo, and finally Kento came rushing up. "Konnichiwa, minna!"

Kento groaned. "I know I got at least half the questions wrong, I justknow it..."

Ryo grinned at him. "Oh, stop griping, you always say that and then you get a good grade anyway."

"Yeah, but this time I'm sure..."

"Hey guys! We have to catch the bus!" Shouted Hilaris, getting up and running off. The others soon followed suit.

------

Rowen was outside, training his falcon when Hilaris came out. "Hey Ro! Oh, cool bird!" exclaimed Hilaris as she came over to him.

"Watch out, she's vic—" He stopped abruptly when he saw his golden eagle fly over to her, land on her outstretched arm, and start chirping. (Yes, I know—falcons don't chirp—but you know what I mean.) "Oh right, you talk to animals, don't you..." Rowen rubbed the back of his neck, not sure what to make of Hilaris for a moment. "Hey, isn't she hurting you? She's got awfully sharp claws."

Hilaris chirped back before handing the bird back to Rowen. "No, she doesn't hurt me because she knows how much pressure to put on my arm before she starts cutting my skin, plus the fact that I'm good with animals. She's beautiful, you know... mind if I help you train her?"

"No, of course not."

After about a half-hour of training, Rowen asked, "You're awfully good at falconry.(1) Had any past experience?"

Hilaris' face shadowed for a moment before she answered. "Yeah. My brother, Adari, was a falconer. He had all kinds of birds... I was his assistant, so I learned a lot about falcons. Eventually, Adari gave me my own falcon, A peregrine-gyr(2)..." She drifted off and her eyes turned dreamy, remembering. "Anyway, she said that she's getting bored with just using lures(3)—why don't you try some real game?"

"Well, I don't know where to get any."

"Well, there's always the game reserve..." (I don't know if there are game reserves in Japan, but there are now.)

------

Halicyon, Hilaris, Sai and Rowen eventually went to the game reserve on their own. Ryo was at soccer practice, Kento was sleeping, and they were going to ask Sage before they realized he was meditating... they all knew that it was not a good idea to interrupt Sage's meditation, from previous (painful) experience. Sai was driving, Hilaris was talking to Rowen about various lures and what prey different raptors hunted, Halicyon was listening to the radio, and Rowen's falcon was complaining about being in a cage and jessied.(4)

They finally got there, and all piled out. While they were training and/or watching, the clouds had gathered so gradually that they had not even noticed it until the wind suddenly picked up and lightning streaked across the sky. Rain came hurtling down, drenching everyone. The falcon was not pleased.

Soon, five strands of wind turned forest green and touched a single point, turning into a portal which both Inokian and Kionden fell out of. "Greetings, Ronins." said Inokian, grinning wickedly at them.

"Let's go!" Yelled Rowen. "Armor of Strata!" Dao Inochi!"
"Armor of Torrent! Dao Shin!"
"Armor of Fauna! Min Leri!(5/6)"
"Armor of Flora! Min Shanae!(5/7)"

Suddenly, Inokian yelled, "go!" and both she and her brother leaped at Hilaris and Halicyon before they could finish their sentences. Halicyon was too concentrated on calling her armor to realize that Inokian was attacking her until it was too late, and she was quickly knocked out by Inokian's stave. Hilaris realized, and dodged Kionden's attack. She called out to the falcon before having to jump out of the way of the Devastation stave again. "Hil!" Rowen cried, about to come over to help.

"Don't worry about me!" Hilaris yelled back. "Call your armor and save your own skins!" Kionden yelped as the falcon attacked his face, trying to bat the screaming raptor away. Hilaris took the time to leap at Kionden and knock him on his back. Inokian, however, snuck up behind her. The falcon screamed a warning, and Hilaris whirled to face her— but too slow, and she was thwacked on her temple by the Destruction staff and dropped.

"Now that we've gotten them out of the way, let's see how the Basics do on their own!" said Inokian as she helped up her brother. The falcon tried to attack Inokian, but Kionden hit it as if it were a baseball and it crashed into the ground. "Aurata! NO!" Yelled Rowen. "SHINEEEE!(7)" Rowen leaped into the air and yelled his surekill. Sai, seeing Rowen attack, used his surekill as well. Unfortunately, the two dodged out of the way. Kionden jumped at Rowen. Rowen used his bow to block, but he wasn't that good at close hand-to-hand combat. Sai began to run over before he was stopped by Inokian. Rowen was quickly overpowered by Kionden and thrown into a tree.

Sai went into a fighting stance, eyes narrowed as he watched Inokian and Kionden circle around him. "Two against one? That doesn't seem very fair," Sai said scornfully.

Inokian smiled. "Oh, dear, we've broken the rules. What ever are we to do now? Poor little boy," Inokian continued softly and contemptuously. "All alone, and too weak to beat us—and this time, there's no one to save you once you're down."

That gave him an idea. "Ryo! Sage! Kento!" He cried out. "Help! Inokian and Kionden are back—I can't beat them alone—" He got as far as that before both Kionden and Inokian jumped him. He was able to beat them off and sock Kionden in the gut, but Inokian struck his skull and he was knocked unconcious.

"That was a good plan, Inokian," Kionden said, wiping his brow.

"Thank you, brother," Inokian said, bowing mockingly. "Now, let's get these four back to Talpa. I'm hungry."

The pair swung the unconcious Ronins onto their soldiers, opened a portal to Talpa's castle, and stepped in.

The first four were taken.

The plot thickens! -rubs hands together and grins mischeviously- Oh, but I've got another plot twist in store for you people...Anyways, I hope ya liked it!

Here's the:

GLOSSARY

(1) Falconry: the art of training falcons. Falconry, however, is also used as an umbrella term for the art of training any type of raptor-hawks, eagles, etc.

(2) Peregrine-gyr: A Peregrine-gyr is the offspring of a Peregrine Falcon and a Gyrfalcon.

(3) Lure: A lure is a device used for falcons, either to train them or to keep their skills sharp. It's basically a stuffed leather bag shaped to look like a pigeon or duck, with meat and feathers attached to trick the birds into thinking it's a real bird. It is then attached to a long string and swung in circles through the air. The falcon then attacks the lure mid swing.

(4) Jessies: Thin strips made of tanned animal hide (usually leather) that are tied around the falcon's legs. A falconer would then hold onto the jessies to stop the falcon from flying off. Jessies can also be attached to a creance, which is basically a leash.

(5) Min: No, this isn't Japanese- Since Daoism is a religion here on earth, Minqui is a corresponding religion on Serusin.

(6) Leri: Same thing here...the Serusinian word for "Determination." (I couldn't find the Japanese word for Determination. sigh)

(7) Shanae: Serusinian for "Energy" or "Vitality."

(8) Shine: Japanese word for "Die!" Pronounced "SHEEN-ey."

That was fun. Well, ja mata ne!

Windsong - windsong 137 at gmail dot com

"Oh Jesus I'm a fangirl dinosaur!" -Mari