Chapter Four

Night had crept upon them exceedingly fast, though maybe it had been nothing more than a trick of the imagination.

'Then again,' Rowen dryly thought to himself, 'With all the heavy conversations I've had to sit through, it's no surprise.'

He was lounging in a chair, the one closest to the window, his eyes might have appeared to be watching the television screen, but they were focused on the wall behind it. The Strata Ronin's logical mind was trying to wrap around everything he'd been told, but nothing wanted to register.

There were times Rowen just couldn't accept things. It had taken him long enough to accept the fact that there was such a thing as mystical armor. Every now and then, he had trouble accommodating all the "oddities" that went along with it.

"Working yourself into a corner, again?" Dais asked in an amused tone.

That was enough to bring the blue-haired archer back to the world around him. He looked up, and over to the Summer Seasonal.

Dais walked further into the room, and plopped down on the sofa, commenting about the piece of furniture, "I still think this is the best thing they invented." He turned to Strata, waiting for an answer, "So?"

"Sorta," the young man finally admitted. "Everything that landed on our plates today, well, it's giving me indigestion."

"Sure you didn't eat something Serena cooked?" Lita lilted, taking the other available spot on the couch.

Rowen gave a light chuckle, "No, and aren't you her friend?"

"Course I am," the Senshi of Jupiter gave a slight snort, "She's like a sister to me, and she is the princess I'm sworn to protect. But, that doesn't mean I can't point out how bad her cooking skills are. Every now and then she can pull it off, most times, she can't."

"Such kind words from an adoring comrade," Cale chuckled in mirth, taking up his normal position on the floor. Unlike the other Seasonals, the Warrior of Winter wasn't much impressed by the addition of furniture to the modern world.

This, like most other things, had become routine for them. Those that liked staying up past eleven would congregate in the living room. They'd toss around idle talk, and at other times the discussions were more serious. Rowen wasn't a very social person, he had never been that great with people, but he had to admit it was nice to have someone to talk to outside the other Ronins and the few 'normal' friends he had.

It was also far better than pondering over everything by his self, though he still did that anyway. Tonight was one of those nights that the Strata Ronin was in a fairly talkative mood, because he was quick to broach what was on his mind

"I'm bugged by the fact that we're having such a hard time actually finding Raikken," He sighed through his nose; it really didn't make any sense to him at all.

"Yeah," Lita gave a nod in agreement, "I mean, we're all practically experts on sensing them now. But, the minute they pop up, they're gone not more than five minutes later."

"Disappointed by the lack of action are we?" Dais queried with a slight chuckle.

"No!" the Senshi of Jupiter swatted at the Summer Seasonal, glowering at him. "Concerned about what they may be waiting for. They have to be doing this on purpose; it doesn't sit well with me."

"Or with me," Rowen mumbled withholding a frustrated sigh.

"If the texts are to be believed, they're waiting on the Inferno armor," Cale finally brought his opinion into the conversation. He turned his head to look at those he was speaking to, "I happen to think we can trust the readings."

Rowen went deathly pale, "I hope they're wrong, and even if they are true…There's no way we're going to summon that armor. Not just because they might benefit from it, but because of what it is."

"Yes, that I can understand, however," the white-haired man paused then, before saying, "No offense Rowen, but with as uncontrollable as it was in the past…It had the habit of forming of its own accord."

"I know…We all know," Rowen clenched his fist, steadying his breathing which had become erratic. He wasn't scared of the armor; no, he was more terrified of what it could do to Ryo…Just like Sage, Kento, and Cye were. "There's no way we're going to give that thing a chance to come through. Not a chance. Ryo's the leader and he may call the shots, but we're going to fight him tooth and nail when it comes to this."

"I wish you luck in that endeavor," Cale commented quietly, "I'd hate to see what that armor is capable of now."

The discussion tapered off to one of a more idle and random nature, not long afterwards. The night wore on, and by the time an hour had passed Rowen had tuned everyone out. He was worried and slightly upset by the information he'd received that day. The air around him provided him with a small comfort, and he was thankful for the safety net his armor provided him.

It always seemed to know just when he was upset, and set about trying to give him some sort of reassurance. Rowen found solace in the wind and air around him, and slightly relaxed.

Then, all of a sudden, he felt a shift in the air currents and the archer let out a low chuckle.

All form of talk died down immediately, as eyes turned to stare at the blue-haired archer who had been completely silent for so long. The Ronin of Strata got to his feet and walked to the window pulling back the curtain

He sniggered, and shook his head in amusement, "Ryo's going to be pissed."

Cale was probably the only one who wasn't staring at the archer wondering what on earth was going through the young man's head. The Winter Seasonal had his eyes glued to the television screen, though he wasn't even paying attention to what was on.

Dais raised a fine-white eyebrow and chose to break the silence, "Okay, I'll take the bait. Why?"

"It's snowing," the archer let the curtain fall back and turned to face them.

"Again?" Lita blinked several times in disbelief.

Cale cleared his throat, causing them to look at him; he gave a nod, "Yes. You're right, Ryo will not be happy with that. I've noticed he's already irritated just by the cold temperatures." Being the Seasonal of Winter meant, not only did Cale absolutely love cold weather and snow, but he could very well tell when it was snowing. He had no need to see with his eyes, he could simply tell through his armor.

"Yeah, Wildfire does not like the temperatures to be below fifteen degrees Celsius. Any colder than that and Ryo gets rather cranky," the archer sniggered, "Snow, of course, is the epitome of all evil." That was his last remark before resuming his spot in the chair.

For a brief moment the thought flitted across his brain that Dais or Cale might know what was wrong with Ryo. Kayura knew, but was withholding the information, a point of irritation for him. Then again, with as short as his temper had become the past few months it wasn't taking much to irritate him.

The brief break had helped to settle his nerves a little, but that underlying anger was still there. Eventually, it would boil over; it wasn't a matter of how, it was simply a matter of when now.

Rowen opened his mouth to voice his question, but before the words could leave, the front door opened fully catching his attention. He raised his blue-eyebrows, and tried hard not to smirk at the person.

Elayne shivered from the cold, hastily closing the door behind her. She shook the flurries from her jacket and head, before hanging the coat up on a peg.

"My luck, I swear…" she darkly grumbled slipping off her shoes, and stepping into her pair of slippers.

"Okarie," Dais greeted the girl as she stepped into the living room.

"Ungh," Elayne frowned as she looked them all over, "Don't you people ever sleep? It's almost one-thirty!"

"Like you've room to talk?" Rowen playfully rebutted a smirk on his face. The conversations from earlier were still fresh in his mind, but he refused to let that come into play now…He knew how much the girl disliked sympathy.

Elayne heard the challenge, and dished it right back, "Like, I have a job, geek?" She strode over to him, effortlessly noogieing him since he was sitting, "Mr. Too-Cool-Too-Get-a-Job."

"I work!" the blue-haired archer protested, pushing her hands away, "I'm a pain in your ass, aren't I?"

"Not quite," Elayne admitted, before her smile turned maniacal, "But, I bet you'd love to be Kayura's."

"Elayne!" Rowen growled at her, making move to grab her, but she darted away lightly laughing at the look on his face. He was totally oblivious to the fact that the others in the room were sniggering at him…Elayne didn't miss that though.

"Good night kids, see ya later, don't stay up too much longer," she joked, before quietly (and quickly) making her way up the stairs, lest Rowen actually throttle her.

The Strata Ronin gave a pout and sunk further into his chair to sulk. Then he muttered dark words underneath his breath, before rolling his eyes and going back to watching the television.

Later That Morning

The bed was soft and warm…He was sleeping soundly quite content in his dreams, and he could have stayed that way forever. Yet, it was not meant to be.

Something cold, no it was freezing, was dropped onto his face and a little fell onto his exposed upper torso.

Rowen proceeded to awaken with a yowl, "COLD!"

The blue-haired archer could hear laughter, and with that more shrieks of outrage and snarls of irritation. Without much thought he leapt out of bed, tossed open the door, remarking heatedly, "I swear, when I-"

His mouth was now hanging open, as he then indignantly sputtered, "K-Kayura?"

The Lady Ancient mischievously grinned at the Ronin of Strata, jerking her thumb to Aurora who was hurriedly rushing from the room Callista was shrieking in. "It was Orey's idea. But we both agreed that it'd be best to let Elayne sleep in for a change."

Rowen gave a snort at that, the comment he was dying to express was: 'oh how noble.' Instead he raised an eyebrow at the Elemental Leader, who was gawking at him, and queried, "What?"

"Geez! Are all archers built like that? I'll convert!" The woman seemed amazed, but was quick to elbow Kayura, "You should have said something!"

All that comment got out of Rowen was another snort, though this one was barely a full one. He was not bothered at all that he was in nothing more than boxer shorts, it was going to take a lot more than that to get him to rise to the obvious baiting.

Kayura outright smirked, "What? I told you I felt muscle, but I have to say seeing is believing."

Now that? Rowen flushed pink all the way to the tips of his ears, and quickly went back into the room, slamming the door in front of their faces…Leaving the two women laughing in the hall.

When he came down some thirty minutes later, the archer was bundled up quite well. Cold really did not bother him all that much, but he wanted to avoid any more muscle-related teasing. Today was bound to be a quieter day than most; it was one of those "fend for yourself" days…Meaning breakfast was on you.

He wasn't feeling particularly hungry though, so he decided to skip this meal. His gaze wandered to the nearest window available, to see how much snow was on the ground.

Rowen's blue-eyebrows sharply went up, "No way! There's got to be at least thirty centimeters of snow out there!

"Thirty four actually," Vanessa offered by way of greeting, "I hear you got the "cold shoulder" treatment this morning."

Rowen heard the laughter in her voice and saw the mirth in her eyes, he moodily mumbled, "Shuddup."

"Oh come on Rowen, don't be crabby," Mina admonished having materialized from somewhere (most likely she had come out of a back room), "Ryo's already acting the part of the grouch."

Here the archer couldn't help but chuckle, "I expected as much. And, pray tell, where is Mr. Grouch?"

"Curled up in an afghan, next to Blaze," Hotaru supplied, having walked up out of the basement. There was a small frown on her face, "I'm starting to worry about him."

"Join the club," Rowen's tone had no sarcasm in it this time, he was being serious. "He's got the four of us near paranoid."

The Senshi of Saturn gave a lopsided grin, deep purple eyes shining, "The way An-nee-san tells it, you guys were always paranoid."

"Okay, yeah maybe we were…But he made us worse," Rowen rebutted with a grin, then tilted his head. "What has you concerned though? I've seen that look a few times before, and it isn't a happy one."

That perplexed frown was back on her face, "I gave him the blanket, noticed he was shivering. His hands were like ice that definitely isn't a good sign. The longer he's sick for the more I think this isn't a normal cold, more like something brought about due to outside circumstances. If you know what I mean?"

"Yeah, I do. That's the same thing that's been on my mind for days, but I can't snag anyone that can talk about it, or knows what I'm talking about. Ryo won't give it up, Kayura doesn't want to talk about it cause she feels like she'd be betraying him. Ugh, where is Universe when you need her?"

Hotaru threw the Strata Ronin a coy smile, "Maybe, you should ask for her. I'm sure she's around someplace. Universe-sama never strays too far, she's predictable that way." The youngest of the Senshi gave a small bow of her head before walking further into the house, leaving a slightly baffled Rowen behind her.

"How come she gets a –sama?" the archer queried to the open air, before shaking his head, grabbing his snowcap and heading outside.

Once there he got sucked into a rather amusing conversation…Well, it was more amusing to listen to then be a part of. The Seasonals were on the porch talking about old times, and older foes which was probably not the smartest idea in the world, because the Ronins were right there.

Now Rowen didn't care all that much about their gabbing, and Kento was too busy trying to figure out a way to catch Cye off guard. One rule all of them had learned early on, was you could not start a snow war with Cye knowing what was coming. Simply because the Water Ronin could easily take them to town and back, so it was best to be sneaky about it.

Cye was passively listening to the conversation, throwing an irritated glare at Sekhmet every now and then. The green-haired man would merely smirk and then add in something just to further irritate Torrent's bearer. Then, of course, there was Sage who was cool, calm, and collected…Or, maybe that was just an act and he always got inebriated. Rowen never could quite figure out the blonde swordsman and had long ago stopped trying.

Ryo had abandoned his attempted hibernation long enough to come see what everyone was doing; he now sat in one of the benches, White Blaze resting at his feet. The tiger seemed to be overly protective of his cub, knowing how ill he was. Kayura was sitting on the porch railing, having pushed off some snow so she could sit there; she too was throwing warning glances at the Seasonals…But, was getting ignored.

Anubis was barely listening to his comrades as they carried on, not really in the mood to join in the banter…Like Ryo, he did not like winter…And he liked snow even less. He was in a grumpy mood himself, so the others were letting him be.

Dais was just talking to talk, or trying to see how long it would take for one of the Ronins to crack. It was probably the latter, Rowen had quickly come to realize that Dais was as much of a mischief maker as Kento, he was just better at getting away with it.

Finally, Cale…Now the archer gave a snort, and then blinked as the Seasonal of Winter proceeded to go on this exceptionally long winded monologue.

"I don't know, I prefer the old days when there were actually decent opponents around," the man said in a bored tone, "Fighting for the glory, for the homeland, for the honor of the family. It all meant something back then, and they were stronger too. Nothing like the weaklings of today, rather pathetic when you stop and think about it. Can't get a fight to last longer than fifteen minutes, it's very dull."

Yeah everyone heard that, and knew the challenge in there…The Winter Seasonal was taking a stab at the blond swordsman. Everybody knew it, and everybody expected Sage to do what he did best, ignore it. So imagine their surprise, when violet eyes looked over to Cale with a glint in them.

"Fine, then," the Ronin of Halo calmly remarked, "I challenge you."

"Sage!" Ryo protested, sending his comrade a look that went ignored. Kento and Cye both let out a low moan, not really counting on it to happen, but knowing the results would not be pretty. Rowen let out a groan himself, shaking his head in disbelief.

The Winter Seasonal scoffed, "It would be unfair of me to fight you, you realize? Foolish of you to issue such a challenge, Halo. However, seeing as how you appear to be −"

SMACK

Cale blinked through the mass of white on his face, and took his hand wiping most of the snow from his face.

Sage was getting even more surprised looks now, and he simply smirked at the attention with another snowball waiting in his palm. "Yes, I am intent, so spare me the speeches, old man." He tossed again, but this time Cale was prepared and deflected it.

There was a wolfish grin on the Winter Seasonal's face, "This, you realize, Sage, means war."

"I know," the blond swordsman quipped, before causing an all out fight to erupt on the porch, which then spread to the front lawn.

Sage had purposely started this for a bit of fun, the more he hung around these people the more that rebellious steak of his seemed to come out. His grandfather would have had a heart attack…The other four Ronin probably were already.

A/N: Thirty centimeters would translate to about one foot. Why not just say one foot? Well, the Japanese happen to use the metric system, so it would be far more likely for him to spew out that sentence in metric. And admit it I so got you with the snow thing; you all expected it to be a knockdown dragout fight x-p

Working on NaNo currently at 40K and still going. :-) Enjoy your update

-LG