Konnichiwa, minna! I decided to give up on that three-review thing, it was really stupid anyways.

Sorry this took so long, but this is by far the longest chapter, and also the concluding one! DUN DUN DUN!

Avirilli: Um, Windy? You have an epilogue.
Windsong: -scratches head sheepishly- Oh, yeah...that...well, still, this is the climax of the story, then. DUN DUN DUN!
Avirilli: Stop with the "dun" stuff, it's annoying.
Windsong: -To Avi- Oh, shut up. -To readers- Anyways, here it is, so I won't bother you with senseless chatter—I talk too much anyway.
Avirilli: You certainly do!
Windsong: SHUT UP! For goodness sakes!
Avirilli: NO!
Windsong: JUST GO AWAY AND HELP SOMEONE ELSE!
Avirilli: THE DISCLAIMERS!!!
Windsong: OKAY! FINE! NOW SHOO! -blasts Avirilli away with a tremendous gust of wind- Jeez, someone didn't have enough coffee this morning...Anyway! I don't own Ronin Warriors. I DO own Hilaris, Halicyon, Inokian, Kionden, Serusin, Acitis, and anything else that I throw in that isn't in the original storyline. Okay?
Avirilli: -from a far distance away- OKAY!
Windsong: I TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP AND GO AWAY!
Avirilli: NO, YOU TOLD ME TO GO AWAY AND HELP SOMEONE ELSE!
Windsong: THAT TOO! SHOO! NOW! BEFORE I LOCK YOU IN MY CLOSET AGAIN! Jeez, she's even worse than Firestorm sometimes...
Firestorm: WHAT WAS THAT?!
Windsong: -gulp- nothing, nothing...on with the story! -rushes to type before Firestorm or Avirilli can interrupt again-

Fur and Field
By Windsong
Chapter 10: The Final Battle
Written April 2000

Ryo, Sage, Kento and Byakuen stood at the top of the highest building in Tokyo. The storm clouds hovered ominously overhead as the wind blew fiercely around them, cutting through their sub-armors and chilling them, and forcing them to yell to be heard over the wind's screech.

"Let's go!" Kento yelled. "If we wait out here much longer, I'm going to turn into an icicle!"

"Yeah, I know what you mean!" Sage shouted back, fighting to stay standing. "Let's call our full armors, maybe we'll be a bit warmer." They called their armors, and were pleased to see that they didn't have to fight the wind as hard, and they were a tad bit warmer.

"Um, we have a problem," Ryo informed the others. "If I can't see the North Star, how'm I supposed to point to it?"

On cue, the ancient's staff glowed slightly. The wind blew harder, nearly sweeping the ronins off their feet and clearing away the clouds that obscured the stars. Then the wind quieted slightly, just enough so they could stand easily and use their normal voice levels.

"This isn't going to last," Sage noted. "Come on, Ryo!"

The three touched the staff, and Ryo aimed the staff towards Polaris, the North Star. "Armor of Strata! Armor of Fauna! Armor of Torrent! Armor of Flora!" Wildfire yelled. The staff began to glow and the rings began to jangle, and a stream of light connected the staff to the star. The wind picked up again, but made a hurricane around them, cutting them off from the outside world. They felt themselves lifted off the ground as they whirled though a roaring tunnel of wind and bluish-white light.

------

They landed with a startling jar in front of two huge wooden doors. Getting into fighting stances, the trio looked around. They saw that they were already indoors, and in the crossroads of three large passageways. Suddenly a scream tore through the blanket of dreadful silence that hung through the building. "ROWEN!" They heard Hilaris scream, and the worried cries of Halicyon and Sai. They whirled, and realized that the sound was coming through a set of doors. That decided them, and they burst inside.

They saw Rowen about ten feet off the ground, fighting with some invisible force that seemed to be locked around his neck. Hilaris, Sai, and Halicyon were jumping up and down, trying to grab Rowen and wrench him back down. Ryo, Sage and Kento heard Rowen hiss, "No—don't—" before he started coughing. The three stopped trying to drag him back down abruptly.

Then the trio saw Talpa look directly at Hilaris. "Join me, or Strata dies," he informed her.

She opened her mouth in outrage, but hesitated when she saw Rowen gasping for air. She hesitated.

"I think we missed something..." Sage began worriedly. Halicyon heard him and whirled around to look at the three newcomers. Through the bond that she shared with them through their armors, she sent them a quick flurry of sights/visions and sounds to tell them what they had missed. The three were left reeling for a moment, unused to such a quick flood of information. "Woah." Sage whispered, massaging his temples.

As Byakuen, Wildfire, Hard Rock, and Halo walked forward to meet their friends, Hilaris was weighing her options. "Come on dearest, it shouldn't take this long to decide," Inokian mocked. Hilaris glared at Calamity before continuing to think.

Then her face grew resolute, and slowly, hesitantly, reluctantly, she stepped forward. "Fauna, what the hell are you doing?!" Kento yelled.

"Shut up, Hard Rock!" Hilaris snapped.

"You can't—"

"I said SHUT UP!" Her words hung in the air, ringing for a moment. Then she continued in her normal volume, though her voice showed that she was strained to nearly her limit, and it wouldn't take much for her to snap again—and maybe follow that up with a physical blow. "When we took on the Reserved Armors, we were told that we had two things, which we were to do above all costs—one, guard Serusin and if need be Earth; and two, keep the Basic Armors, and the Bearers of the Basic Holders, safe. We were told to do this at all costs. I already failed to complete one of those things; now, I will do this to fulfill the second." She made another step forward. "Talpa Gazun, I have changed my mind. I will join you if you let the Bearer of the Armor Strata go."

None but Halicyon, who was there when the two had accepted the Reserved Armors, knew that Hilaris was lying through her teeth...but couldn't tell what Hilaris was planning.

"So, the master still has a few tricks up his sleeve." Talpa was taunting her. "How I warned you against falling in love, because that could be used against you! And you disobeyed me. How sad. As agreed, Strata will be freed—if you repeat after me." Hilaris nodded, her face white. "I, Hilaris Monoceros, will join the Dynasty and take my place at my father's side," Talpa said slowly. "Now repeat."

"Free Strata first."

"All right." Strata dropped to the ground with a crash. Sage, Ryo, and Kento all ran towards him, checking to see how much damage was done to him. Luckily, it wasn't much, and coupled with the healing powers of the Halo Armor, Rowen was "all better" in a few moments. As Rowen got to his feet, Sai was about to move forward and try to stop Hilaris when Halicyon kicked him hard and shook her head. Confused, Sai moved past her anyway, but Halicyon grabbed his arm and yanked him back, shaking her head more firmly. "I hope you know what you're doing," Sai muttered, but only looked at Hilaris, not moving any closer.

"I, Hilaris Monoceros," she said in a slightly trembling voice, "will join the Dynasty..." her voice drifted off. She gave Sai and the others barely a moment of warning before a wild, savage, elated smile spread over her face. "I will join the Dynasty," she said in a ringing voice, "When the North Star dies!" Then, before her father could fully register the trick, she pulled out both her Ninja-to and yelled out her attack. "Armor of Fauna! BEAST RAGE SCREAM!" A bolt of silver-purple light errupted from her swords and—what? Ryo thought confusedly.Was her aim off or something? For instead of aiming the blast at Talpa, she has aimed it a little below him, towards the wall.

Evidently, it was not an accident, because Flora had unfastened her staff and leaped to stand next to her best friend, yelling out her surekill. "Armor of Flora! VINE," she held her staff pointed towards the ceiling, scimitar side up, "TRIUMPH," she held the staff across with both hands horizontally across her body at arm's length, scimitar pointing to the right, "SONG!" She did a twirl and pointed towards the door, scimitar side pointing forward. Out of her staff, hundreds of golden vines made of light shot out, solidifying into a blast of pure golden energy that also blasted into the wall. From where they stood, the Ronins could suddenly see a small door, now slightly bent with the force of the blasts. Talpa seemed to shimmer.

"What on earth are you doing?" Ryo yelled.

"Ever seen The Wizard of Oz?" Hilaris shouted back. "You know, how the wizard was really this little person who manipulated a big illusion so that people would think that he was all-mighty and follow him? That's what's happening here!"

"You mean that the big floating head is just an illusion?!" Kento gasped.

"You got it. Armor of Fauna! BEAST RAGE SCREAM!" She threw her surekill at the door again, trying to destroy it.

"Armor of Flora! VINE TRIUMPH SONG!" Flora followed up her attack quickly. The door disintegrated, and the floating head disappeared. Out of the door stepped a man.

He wore brown sub-armor, with amber underlay, and held a chain sickle in his hand. His eyes were silver, like Hilaris', but they were charcoal grey, instead of the light, silvery grey that Hilaris' eyes were. His hair was black and fell to just below his shoulders. As Kionden and Inokian moved to stand behind him, he glared at Hilaris. "So, you figured it out, you little wench. Took you long enough." He sneered. Then he, Kionden, and Inokian flew at the Ronins. The three knew enough to leave the Reserved Armors alone, and instead Kionden attacked Sage and Rowen, Inokian jumped at Sai and Kento, and Ryo and Byakuen were left facing Talpa Gazun himself. "Leader against leader," Talpa smiled, as the three groups circled each other. Then he whirled the chain sickle over his head. "Armor of the Dynasty! Ultimate Planet Submission!" He yelled. The sickle was suddenly outlined with an eerie amber glow, and from it hundreds of little beams shot out, trying to entangle him. He dodged, too slowly—but Byakuen leaped across, grabbed the chain sickle in his teeth, and tossed it aside, canceling the attack. "Smart kitty." He growled.

All of a sudden, the Ronin Warriors were surrounded by a white glow which glowed brilliantly around them. They could feel power, raw, vibrant, tingling, rushing through their veins. As the looked around for the source, it was Sai who found it—Hilaris and Halicyon sitting on the floor, back-to-back, eyes closed, with six (Byakuen counts) streams of power flowing from them. "What are you doing?" Rowen asked.

"That's another power of the Reserved Armors—the Basic Armors can draw upon the power of our armors," Halicyon informed the surprised Ronins. "Now get 'em!"

Fired with this new energy, Sai, Kento, Sage, and Rowen quickly overpowered Kionden and Inokian, knocking them out. Kento slammed his bo into Inokian's stomach. "That's for being an all-around pain in the butt," he informed her. As Hilaris and Halicyon felt the Ronins defeat their adversaries, they drew the streams of power that connected them to the Ronins back into themselves, saving their power. However, even while boosted with Hilaris' and Halicyon's power, Ryo and Byakuen could not defeat Talpa—he was too powerful—and the other Ronins were too exhausted from all the extra energy that had been running through their veins to help their leader. Hilaris and Halicyon then took matters into their own hands. Getting up, Halicyon still lending power to Ryo and Hilaris feeding Byakuen strength, they joined Ryo and Byakuen's battle as the other Ronins watched wearily.

Ryo just barely dodged being wrapped by the chain as Byakuen jumped on Gazun's back. The chain kept going, heading towards Hilaris. She calmly grabbed it and a tug-of-war ensued. Halicyon meanwhile tried to cut off his legs with her scimitar. Talpa jumped over Flora's weapon—but while he was concentrating on jumping, Hilaris gave a mighty tug and wrenched the chain sickle out of his hand. Talpa hissed and, harnessing his armor's power directly, threw Byakuen off his back. The tiger smashed into the wall with a sickening crack, and dropped to the floor unconscious. As Sage made his way towards the tiger, Halicyon tackled Sage and pinned him down, shielding Sage from a blast of crackling brown energy that zapped the place where Sage's head would have been. Hilaris held her father in place with her Ninja-to. Halicyon quickly got up and also held him in place with her Dagmitaff. "Ryo, GO! Use your surekill!" Both Hilaris and Halicyon ordered him.

Ryo linked his katana together and leapt into the air, calling his surekill. "Armor of Wildfire! FLARE UP NOW!" a huge blast of energy shot out off his katana to collide with Talpa's body.

"Armor of Fauna! BEAST RAGE SCREAM!"

"Armor of Flora! VINE TRIUMPH SONG!"

Together, the three attacks were enough to kill Talpa.

In his last dying moments, Hilaris' silver eyes met her father's charcoal grey ones, and The Storm Falcon saw rage and hate in them. "If you would join me in life," her one-time father snarled, reaching out to grab her arm, "Then you will join me in death!" And from his armor a million brown ropes of crackling energy lashed out of his hand to wrap around her arms and advance over her body until she was covered with the brown strands. Hilaris felt her life being drained away by her father, following his life-force into the dark abyss of death. She screamed in horror and fear, stronger then she had ever known, before she collapsed.

------

Rowen had just finished helping Sage revive Byakuen when he heard a terrified shriek—Hilaris! he realized—and heard Halicyon scream. The five guys whirled to see a million thin brown-but-quickly-turning-purple strands of glowing fire draining from Hilaris and into her father's dying form. Touching it with his armor's power, he felt the pulsing life that flowed through the strands—Hilaris' life—and the life-force draining out of Hilaris' body.

"Hil!" he shouted along with the other guys.

------

Sai watched the scene through horrified, disbelieving eyes. Halicyon's still form suddenly caught his eye. "Hali's glowing again?! What the HELL is going ON?!"

Sure enough, Halicyon's figure was glowing, a bright cheery gold that matched her armor. "Shanae!" she yelled, and suddenly the glow solidified into hundreds of golden, glowing, leafy vines of light that wrapped around the streams of fire.

"What on earth are you doing?!" Sai yelled.

"Trying to stop the flow of life!" Halicyon shouted back.

Ryo rounded on Rowen. "Ro, your kanji's life-force! DO SOMETHING!"

"But...what can I do?!" Ro answered frantically.

"Remember what we did before, how we drew upon Fauna's and Flora's armor-energy to defeat Calamity and Pestilence?" Sage answered hurriedly, pointing towards Inokian and Kionden. "Try drawing upon our energy and do the same thing that Halicyon's doing!"

"But what if it doesn't work?" Rowen asked fearfully.

"BUT WHAT IF IT DOES?!" Sai roared, losing patience. "Come on Ro, don't be a moron! You like her, don't you?"

Rowen shot a look at Sai, who glared desperately back. Then he looked at Hilaris' and Halicyon's still forms. He nodded and concentrated, closing his eyes.

He gently searched for his armor's power, trying not to rush it, and found it abruptly, a pillar of navy-blue energy in the shape of a tower of wind. Using his armor, he reached towards his friends and felt them each as a similar pillar of energy, in different forms—Sai's was a tower of water, for example—harnessed the energy carefully, and tied them so that they would feed into his own power. He gasped and his eyes flew open at the electric jolt that ran through his body, stronger then the jolt he had felt when Hilaris and Halicyon had fed their power into him. Looking around, he saw that his armor, as well as the armors of his friends, was glowing, and that hundreds of energy-lines connected him to the other Ronins. Then he focused on Hilaris' dying body, and yelled "Inochi!"

Rainbow-colored beams of energy leaped from him, joining with Halicyon's power-strands to become a pure white. Rowen felt Halicyon trying desperately to hold on, and saw that Hilaris' life strands, "greased" by the brown energy of her dying father, kept slipping out of her drasp. Flora screamed in frustration.

Here, let me help, he thought, and together they were able to stop Fauna's life-force from streaming into the blackness of death. The purple strands bucked and wriggled, trying to escape, but then they seemed to recognize Rowen as their master and quieted.

He firmly directed the purple fire back to Hilaris' near-lifeless form, and they willingly flowed back into their original body. Rowen then began pulling on the other strands like a rope, pulling them back from the dark abyss and guiding them back into Hilaris.

Halicyon and Rowen felt Hilaris' life force spring back into existence as the last bit of life-force seeped back into her. They slowly drew their power-ropes back into themselves, Rowen releasing his friend's energies back to where they came from.

Before the glow around Rowen's body fully died, though, he sent out a strand of energy to touch Talpa Gazun's body, checking for life. He found none.

He opened his eyes to find himself on his hands and knees. His friends were on similar positions on the floor. Halicyon was slowly getting to a kneeling position, and Hilaris lay where she had collapsed on the floor, still unconcious.

Inokian groaned and Kionden tried to get up. Ryo, Sage, Kento, and Sai turned, getting into defensive stances out of habit though they knew that they couldn't hold out for long.

Inokian sat up and looked at her hands, then slowly turned them over, looking amazed. Kionden got up slowly, with an expression of pure delight on his face. "So this is what it feels like to be free again," she whispered, getting to her feet.

Ryo blinked. That wasn't what he'd been expecting. "What? What do you mean?"

"When we were very small, we were kidnapped from our home world, Feranica," Kionden explained, "and we were possesed by spirits. At the time, we were too weak to fend the spirits off, and as we grew older we became used to their dominance. Now with Master Talpa gone, the spirits have no control over us because they drew all their power from Lord Talpa."

"So, what of your armors?" Sage asked, getting out of his defensive crouch. "Are they Base or Reserve Armors?"

"Neither," Inokian replied, a very small smile quirking the corners of her mouth. "They were creations of our controlling spirits, so that they could control us easier. See? We wear no such armor now." Sure enough, they wore no sub-armor; Inokian was dressed in a spring green kimono with a white obi, and Inokian wore maroon monk's robes with white trim. The only thing kept from their armors were their staves, and those, too, were different. Inokian's was made of ivory, and Kionden's was made of white marble, which held no black or brown streaks in it. Topping Inokian's stave was a dove with its wings outstretched, cast in gold, and a silver branch from an olive tree rested on top of Kionden's stave.

"So what will you do now?" asked Sai.

"First, we are going to disband the dynasty." Inokian grinned wolfishly. "Talpa Gazun was so jealous of his position that he killed any who might have risen to take his place, lest they rebel against him and try to take over the Dynasty during his rule. Everyone except us, of course, and our controlling spirits were tied to Talpa, so he had nothing to fear there. We were Master Talpa's speakers; if we announce that he has decided to disband the Dynasty before anyone learns of his death, none will think to argue."

"And what then?" Rowen asked, slowly getting to his feet. "The Dynasty destroyed hundreds of worlds, and killed their inhabitants."

"We never really killed the people," said Kionden. "We ripped the spirits from the people's bodies and encased them in controlling armors. That's why whenever you killed a Dynasty soldier, steam came out of it—the steam was the physical embodiment of the spirit that had been trapped inside."

"So what happened to the spirits we freed?" Kento inquired.

"Oh, we trapped them again and encased them in armor once more. However, if we freed all the spirits, they would make copies of their original bodies for themselves and fill them."

"So much for the people," said Rowen, relieved. "But what of the lands themselves?"

"Together, Kionden and I hold a lot of power," Inokian explained. "That's why Talpa kidnapped us. So if we work hard, we can heal all the worlds that were destroyed and free the spirits of the inhabitants of each world as we heal them. It's a lifetime of work, but it's worth it to repay the worlds for the horrible deeds we have done."

"Well, there's an end to it, then?" said Ryo, sheathing his katana.

"No," replied Sage. "What about the four other Base Armors, Darkness and the others?"

"Once the Dynasty is disbanded, the evil that poisons this world will lift, and with it the darkness that seized the souls of Illusion and the others will lift as well. When they 'come back to their senses', you might say, we will free them from the prisons Master Talpa threw them in." said Kionden. "Then they will be free to do as they wish."

"And how are we going to get home? For that matter, how did you guys—" Sai motioned towards Ryo, Kento, and Sage—"get here?"

"Oh, the ancient lent us this," Ryo said nonchalantly, showing them the ancient's staff.

"So we can use His staff to get home?" Halicyon asked, standing up.

"Yeah, I suppose," Ryo replied rather uncertainly.

"But how?" asked Rowen.

"Here, give me the staff," Inokian said, holding out her hand. Ryo handed over the staff to her.

Both she and Kionden held up the staff and closed their eyes in concentration. The staff's head glowed, and the rings began to clink against each other, slowly at first and then faster and faster. The siblings let go of the staff, and it floated over to rest in Ryo's hands, ringing even louder now and drowning out all thought. The Halicyon and the other Ronins circled the brilliant staff, Rowen holding the still-unconcious Hilaris in his arms. The Ronins' forehead kanji began to glow, and Kionden and Inokian both yelled "EARTH!", but the ringing was so loud that the Ronins could barely hear them. Then a brilliant flash of light flooded their eyes, and white swept over their senses before everything turned black.

------

Ryo opened his eyes to see Yuli's concerned face an inch away from his own. Ryo yelled and sat up. Yuli screamed and fled the room. As he made his hurried exit, the young boy ran smack into Sage, who laughed and shooed the boy out. "Good, you're awake," he said, relieved. "Mia's really annoyed at all of us because we wouldn't tell her what happened until you woke up. She threatened to throw us out several times...thank the gods that Halicyon's good at conflict resolution."

"That is so Mia," said Ryo, getting out of the soft bed that he was in. "Well, might as well tell her before she tries to actually hurt someone."

As the two walked down the stairs, Mia got looked towards him with a very annoyed look on her face. "What happened?" she demanded. "You're gone for hours, and suddenly there's this big flash of light and you guys fall from the ceiling of the living room."

"..." was his eloquent reply.

"Comeon, I want an answer. They wouldn't tell me—" she motioned towards the other Ronins, who were grinning— "so you better tell me."

"Well, I don't know the entire story...why don't you let Hilaris tell you? She's good at storytelling," he said hurriedly.

A very annoyed Mia turned towards Hilaris. "Spill." she ordered. Hilaris smiled and began.

"Well, first we went to the game reserve..."

Queen Hotaru (one of my best friends): And that's that, minna!
Windsong: HEY! Who ever said I was done?!
Avirilli: Hotaru-chan did, baka!
Windsong: -Turns to Avirilli- I TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP! That's it!! -grabs Avirilli, slaps some duct tape over her mouth, and forces her into her closet- There, much better.
Queen Hotaru: That's not very nice.
Windsong: She deserved that, believe me. Anyways! I'm not done! I'm going to write an epilogue, okay? And THEN I will be done! crosses arms
Firestorm: what about the sequel?! HUH?!
Windsong: oh, yeah, and I'll also consider whether I want to write a sequel or not, okay minna? But since Avirilli is not being helpful at all -glares at the closet- then it might take a while, so don't hold your breath. -Sees people start holding their breath- I SAID NOT TO! Why must I deal with bakas...!
Firestorm, Queen Hotaru, Readers: WE'RE NOT BAKAS!
Windsong: hides eep...gomen...

Ja ne!

Windsong - windsong 137 at gmail dot com

"And then you realize that ultimately, life's just a bucket of fish." -Me