Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ Sorrow's Light ❯ Betrayal ( Chapter 9 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Well now, I should probably be honest. I'm currently working on rewriting the earlier stories, and perhaps this one as well. I had some wonderful reviews that really gave me some objective criticism, and alerted me to things I hadn't seen previously. In truth? It looks like I need a really good beta reader who can pick these things out for me. *nods* Well, it's all good. Nonetheless, I'll get this one out, and then worry about the other stories. I figure I should probably amuse you, eh? Well, thanks for being patient with me!

Sorrow's Light

Chapter 9: Betrayal.

& nbsp; “Oh god….this isn't good!” Ryo's eyes widened as they all spotted his estates begin to go up in flames. Looking between each other, they nodded, knowing what they had to do.

& nbsp; “We have to get those people out of there!” Rowen called out as Ryo and Sehkmet nodded, surging forth to try their best to help in the problems that were before them. Kneeing their mounts, they galloped from the street up to the main house, leaping off as the horses spooked.

& nbsp; Ryo immediately took charge, “Ro! Go that way and keep your eyes open for anyone in need of help…”

& nbsp; Rowen nodded as Sehkmet added to it, “I'll go this way. Keep your selves together, runts.”

& nbsp; Ryo gave Sehkmet a look as the now armored warrior darted off as Rowen did the same in the opposite direction. Ryo sighed, sub armor lining his body once more as he headed down the opposite direction, rushing down the hall, determined to help those who were caught in the fire.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

& nbsp; Sehkmet merely shook his head as he ran forth, trying to keep up with the pace that he had set for himself. The man had always been alert, and even more so as time increased his chances to keep it up. Lives where in the balance, and strangely enough, he had opted to help a Ronin, rather then be against them. The feelings each of the warlords had experienced were so different from when they were under Talpa. They all felt it, the strengths they gained following natures that had become more apart of them, rather then against.

& nbsp; His eyes switching this way and that, he snapped out of his reverie as a large rock was thrown into his path. Widening his eyes a bit, he turned in surprise to see a familiar form, “….You did this?!”

& nbsp; Out of the shadows, stood Shu, who was leaning against the wall, looking almost forlorn, “Naaza? How can this be? You're part of this corrupt lord's staff?”

& nbsp; “Hardly. I'm of no one's staff, and I thought you would have figured that out. I'm here trying to get others out of here,” Sehkmet spoke, “However, how could you do this?”

& nbsp; “It's my last job for a while, once it's complete, I can go help out with Shin's and Mia's place. This is hardly my style,” Shu spoke.

& nbsp; “I can't let you do this,” Sehkmet spoke, trying to figure out how he was going to take this Ronin down without hurting him too much. He was, after all, part of the group they had to revive.

“Then we have nothing more to say on the matter, do we?” Shu spoke, and then sighed, “Heh. I always like a good fight. Can you keep it up, Doc?”

& nbsp; Sehkmet frowned, leaning down, ready to fight. This wasn't going to be easy, particularly since he didn't want to kill this man….

~*~*~*~**~*~

& nbsp; Rowen darted down the hall, his eagle eyes hardly an advantage in the smoke that had surrounded the area. Covering his mouth, he forced himself to continue, letting his ears be his guide. Wisdom was his guiding force; he would just have to follow through this with that. Sighing, he kept pushing forward, holding nothing back. He had already gotten two of the staff out of the building as others tried to save their home….but he was sure their was more.

& nbsp; Shifting his attention, he heard it. A familiar laugh, the evil tones he never thought he would hear again. Something that had almost haunted him nightly in his dreams for a year, once more presenting itself as he turned to look and meet the horror. Standing before him was a woman. Large eyes, beautiful face, dark hair tied above her head in a flowing pony tail as it once had been under another's evil reign.

& nbsp; “No….” Rowen blinked in shock as the woman laughed, the fork like Sai's in hand.

& nbsp; “So, you must be amongst the Sanada staff, yes? I'm Lady Kayura. ” The woman tilted her head with a grin, “I'm afraid I can't let you go further….Lord Taiki wouldn't like it…”

& nbsp; Rowen widened his eyes as he felt a twinge of shock remove itself, “Kayura! What are you doing?!”

& nbsp; The woman smiled, “I'm not Kayura. I am the lady Kaira, ready to take you down, didn't you hear me?”

& nbsp; Rowen growled, frustrated at the moment. First off, why in the world was this a continual thing? Where they would appear and have their original name once, then switch to another? It's like playing a game of Guess Who with limited resources. You only had once chance to hear it, and if you missed it? Well your assertive powers of guessing just failed. To top that off, just now, when another of their number was made known, she had to be with the dark side. Wonderful, definitely seemed like something that belonged on one of those American tapes Lena owned…what was it called? Star Wars…something like that. “I heard you, Kaira. But why are you attacking a place without any reason?”

& nbsp; Kaira smiled, looking down at the man, “Hmm….money, power….I'm getting paid well to do this, you know. Once it's over? I can rely on myself. I'll have my own house, not having to suffer from the whims of a husband….You know full well what it means to be woman in this world. I gotta get my way some how…”

& nbsp; Rowen blinked. This wasn't like the fair Kayura he had known…however, they were placed in different scenarios, it made sense that they act differently then expected, didn't it?

& nbsp; “Enough talk, dear. Have to earn my money,” Kaira grinned, beginning to rush forward to meet the blue haired man in battle, her laugh echoingly like that of when she fought with Talpa.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~~*

& nbsp; Ryo felt it, something was wrong. It seemed like the very fabric of the world they stood on was contorting….changing again. Looking up, he sighed, understanding very little of the situation, only that he had to hurry in finding his friends and bringing them together. Shifting down another corridor, he let yet another panicked person out of their room, hoping to give them a bit of release.

& nbsp; The feeling within him surged, calling him forth to try and beat the very thing that seemed to be setting everything about their ears. Glancing around, he heard a familiar laugh, drawing his attention before him, “So…..Wildfire. Having luck with our bet? I hope so…It wouldn't be fun if there wasn't a challenge…”

& nbsp; “Taiki!” Ryo blinked, looking to the side, spotting the dark being.

& nbsp; Taiki gave a sadistic grin, jumping down to Ryo's level, “I couldn't very well leave you to your own devices. You were getting along far too well…besides…if I can't play in the game, what fun is that? You have to have a challenge.”

& nbsp;“As if trying to find my friends when they go by different names isn't hard enough,” Ryo glared, his temper flaring. Things were difficult enough without him having to battle someone like Taiki, which was for sure. Taiki merely laughed, “Aww….what? Should I extend the time frame? I made it so you could hear their actual names just once as confirmation before they went to their other forms. Isn't that nice of me? Besides, extending the time would hardly be fair to the original bet we made. After all, that would destroy the chances you had at getting them out of this….and I mean the bet. I think I was fair in letting you have a chance at this game in the first place…”

& nbsp; Ryo bit back a laugh, “Fair would have been a head on battle, all of us against you. That much I could understand you trying to do.”

& nbsp; “Then I wouldn't have gotten what I wanted…” Taiki stood there.

& nbsp; “And what is that?” Ryo asked.

& nbsp; Taiki grinned, malicious to the core, “That I can't tell you…at least not yet. Would ruin all our fun that way, and I'd be sorely put to give up my amusement. I like this too much.”

& nbsp; “You shouldn't be interfering as a game master, isn't that how it works in that game, Dungeons and whatever?” Ryo narrowed his eyes before leaping forward, armor appearing around his body, “Dao Jin!”

& nbsp; Swords in hand, they began to duel, Ryo desperate to end this so he could get the members of his crew back together, and to get their lives back to normal.

~*~*~*~*~*

Short, I know! Excuse me as I sob, but I really have to get my thoughts put together on this one before I start on the next chapter, and begin the rewrites of the other stories. Hope I can do a credible job of it! Well, thanks for reading. I suppose I should go study for my tests now, whoopy. Full college load this summer. -_-; Well, I'll get over it.

Hikaru

Special Thanks:

Inda: For continually checking up on me to make sure I didn't give up on this story.