Konnichiwa, minna-san! Gomen for making you all wait so long! I was really bogged down with homework and stuff...but I already have all the chapters written out, so never fear! grin

Firestorm: -takes Windsong by the throat- WILL YOU JUST TYPE ALREADY!?
Windsong: -choking- You know...Firestorm...you could really get off me...I can't reach the keys... begins turning blue
Firestorm: -lets go and grins innocently- Gomen, but I really want you to type this up!
Windsong: -gasps, breathes- Oh...that's all right. Where's Avirilli, anyway? She should be here bopping me over the head with that infernal wand of hers—
Avirilli: -Appears out of nowhere and looms behind Windsong- WHAT did you say?!
Windsong: -eyes glint- WHERE WERE YOU?! -pulls out ninja-to and waves them menacingly-
Avirilli: -backs away- Just type...please...
Windsong: -sigh-

Anyways, as much as I hate it, I do not own the Ronin Warriors. However, I do own Hilaris and Halicyon and Kionden and Inokian and Serusin and everything else that my strange mind has thought up. -Grin- They're mine! MINE! MIIIIIIIIINE!

Avirilli: -bops Windsong over the head- GET ON WITH IT!
Windsong: -rubs head- ow... Well, enjoy!

Stuff in ( ) are Author's Notes.

Fur and Field
By Windsong
Chapter Eight: A Few Surprises
Written March 2000

Sage looked out the window worriedly, searching for the headlights of Sai's car. "Wonder where Ro and the others are," he thought aloud. "Ro's never been this late, not even to school, and you know how late he sleeps."

"Maybe traffic?" Ryo suggested.

"No, Sai has a cell phone—he would call to tell us that he would be late." Kento said.

Ryo stopped fiddling with his soccer ball and joined Sage at the window. "Look," Sage said as he pointed at the sky. "You can't see the stars."

"No, there are too many storm clouds in the—" Ryo's eyes widened. "You don't think...?"

"Of course not!" Kento said anxiously.

"But what if Kionden and Inokian really did attack them?" Pressed Ryo.

"Then Hilaris and Halicyon would help Ro and Sai to beat them," Sage responded camly.

"Still..." said Ryo, doubtful.

"Look, let's give them ten more minutes," Suggested Sage. "If they don't come, then we'll assume the worst has happened and we'll go check it out. Okay?"

"All right," Ryo said as Kento nodded, and the three waited anxiously.

------

Halicyon woke up on her back in full armor, on the floor of a dimly-lit, damp prison cell. Sai walked over to her, seeing that she was awake, and kneeled at her side. "Hey, bright eyes. How do you feel?"

"A little sore, but pretty much okay." She struggled to sit up and winced. Sai propped her up on the wall in a sitting position. "Arigato."

"No problem."

Halicyon scanned the small prison cell they were being held in, and caught sight of Hilaris, leaning on Rowen's shoulder, eyes closed. "Ooh, getting cozy there, Hil?" she teased, eyes dancing.

Hil opened her eyes and glared at her friend, who was grinning fiendishly. "Drop it, Sai's been harping at me for the past fifteen minutes, and I don't need you starting with me as well. It just so happens that Ro-chan's shoulder is more comfortable than the wall. And you shouldn't be talking, Hali," she added, her eyes twinkling impishly, "if those looks you were giving Sai at the game reserve mean anything."

"Shut up," Halicyon laughed, grabbing a pebble and tossing it a few inches away from Hilaris' head. Both Sai and Rowen were blushing by now.

"So...where do you think we are?" Asked Sai, trying to change the subject.

"Judging from the dead feeling of the place, my guess is that we're on Acitis," Hilaris replied. "I really hope they're not planning to keep us in here until we rot, for their sake, because Shadirya knows I'm not that patient. In fact, Halicyon, we were just waiting for you to wake up, and then we were going to decide the best way to get out of here."

"Shadirya?" Rowen inquired.

"Shadirya, Serusinian god of Animals and Forests." she explained. "He's my patron god."

"Oh."

The four's heads whipped around as the ancient door to their cell opened with screech that made them all wince. Standing outside their smallish cell stood a troop of twenty Dynasty soldiers. That's five for each of us, Sai calculated quickly. Too many for us to take on quietly; they'll sound the alarm before we can get rid of them. They all took fighting stances.

The foremost Dynasty soldier held up his hands. "We have not come to battle you," he said in a rough voice. "We have only come to bring you to the throne room."

"Oh, goody," Sai muttered under his breath.

"Now, will you come peacefully, or will we have to restrain you?"

The group conversed quickly before Halicyon replied, "We will not fight. However, move to harm us and you shall not survive long enough to regret it."

Silently, with Hilaris mentally mumbling that they should have trashed at least one of them, they walked through the castle's twisted passageways and winding stairs to the throne room. Once there, the leader of the Dynasty soldiers knocked on the door. Inokian opened it, saw the four captives, and smiled sweetly. "Greetings, Ronins. Woud you like something to eat? Something to drink? Or maybe a nice bout of torture?" She giggled. Hilaris' eyes flashed and she was about to start forward when Halicyon put a hand on her arm and shook her head. Hilaris relaxed slightly, still glowering.

Meanwhile, Calamity looked over to the Dynasty Soldiers, her expression turning scornfully aloof in a moment. "You are dismissed," she snapped. Ushering the Ronins in, she slammed the door in the soldier's faces.

When she turned around, she was all jeering sweetness again. She bowed mockingly to the Ronins, and then skipped—yes, skipped—to Talpa's side, where her brother awaited.

Halicyon, looking around, was astounded by the immense size of the room. It was built out of dark grey stone, with bronze torch- and candle- holders spaced evenly around the room, all of which were lit—however the flame that rose from them was mint green, and gave no heat, only light. The eerieness of the candles, and the depressed atmosphere of the room, made her shiver. Talpa, of course, dominated the room, with Inokian and Kionden standing on his right.

Then her attention was caught by Lady Calamity, who was speaking again. "Will you not bow to Master Talpa?" Inokian asked them in a tauntingly sweet voice. "Surely your training masters taught you that it is proper to bow to your host."

"Why would be bow to a floating head?" Demanded Hilaris pointedly.

Inokian's eyes turned cold, and they could see her body freeze in anger. "Because if you do not bow, I will make you bow." She snarled.

"That is enough, my pet. You have had quite enough fun for one day," said Talpa, speaking for the first time in a voice that would have shaken the floor—if the floor was the kind of floor that shook. Inokian instantly quieted, the coldness vanishing from her manner and leaving only humility behind. Hilaris muttered some—ahem—choice words in Serusinian.

If Talpa understood or heard Hilaris, he chose to ignore her, but turned his attention to the Sai and Rowen. "So, I meet you again, Torrent, Strata." His attention turned to Hilaris and Halicyon. "And you two are the Reserved Armors." It was not a question. "I finally get to meet the ones who caused so much trouble for me on Serusin."

Sai's eyes narrowed. "We'll never give in to you, you Dynasty filth!"

Talpa laughed, a laugh that filled the room so completely that it drowned out all thought. "Who ever said that I would ask you to give in to me? I could just kill you and take your armors."

The Storm Falcon stepped forward tauntingly. "But you won't, will you? We're too valuable. You'd rather try to make us allies. Plus the fact that if you were going to kill us, you would have done it already, before you even threw us in that prison cell."

Talpa looked at Hilaris, and Rowen could sense amusement and—affection?—emanating from him. Does Talpa know Hilaris? Rowen wondered.

"Really, Fauna? Tell me the reason why I will not kill you."

Hilaris sighed heavily, and when she spoke it was as if she were explaining something to a five-year old. "Well, first of all you wouldn't have wasted your time holding us in a cell, you would have killed us when we were still unconcious, because you know from past experience that we go down fighting. And second of all, my father has a very high position in the Dynasty, and he would take special pains not to kill me or my allies." She glared at Talpa.

"Very well met, my daughter," Talpa replied. "I have taught you well."

"No, the Pencanan school taught me well, not you, Sire," She sneered, "and my knowledge will be your undoing."

Talpa laughed again.

Rowen's jaw dropped. He turned to Hilaris startled. "Talpa's your father?!" he yelled.

The Storm Falcon faced him, face calm. "He is my Sire," she corrected him, icy anger and disgust clear in her voice.

"Oh, did Master Talpa's little girl forget to tell you?" Inokian said in a taunting voice. "Hilaris Monoceros, the Storm Falcon, Bearer of the Fauna Armor and the Beast Swords, is the heir to the dynasty."

Nice little twist, ne? -Evil grin- Oh, how I love writing this...

Ja ne!

Windsong/Windy-chan - windsong 137 at gmail dot com

"I had a friend once. But then the rope broke and he ran away." -Danica