Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ Talpa Has A Sister ❯ Chapter 10 ( Chapter 10 )

"Talpa Has a Sister!"
By Wildfire

Chapter Ten

Ryo sat in his subarmor leaning against a tree. He hadn't told the guys about the white panther; he thought that they might thing he was insane. Just then Kento burst through the bushes with Rowen right on his tail, Kento turned around and threw a kick at Rowen, who easily dodged it. Rowen jumped into the air and went behind Kento, and used his momentum to push Kento down. Ryo watched in amusement as the two boys sparred; Kento was trying to use his strength on Rowen, but Rowen had sped on his side. Kento flipped up and got into a fighting stance.
"Don't you give up yet?" Rowen asked, but Ryo could tell he enjoying beating Kento into a pulp. But Ryo also knew that Kento would catch Rowen and when he did, Rowen would be sorry.
"Me, give up? Huh, that'll be the day!" Kento smirked, then charged. Rowen dodged it, but Kento was ready this time; he turned just as Rowen came down, then swiped his feet from under him. Then he brought his fist down and stopped just inches from his face. Rowen was dumbfounded for a moment. Kento stayed in his position; all was quiet for a couple of seconds. Then Ryo started cracking up. They both looked at him.
"That was great!" Ryo got out through his laughs. Kento looked at Rowen and they both smiled. Kento stood up and helped Rowen up. Then they walked towards Ryo. Ryo's eyebrow went up. "Oh, is that how it's going to be? Two against one?" Ryo stood up.
"What's the matter, Ryo? Don't think you're up to it?" Rowen asked, still walking towards him with Kento walking right behind him.
"Oh, no, I know I can beat you two; I was just going to give you the chance to turn back," Ryo said.
Kento and Rowen looked at each other, then they cracked their knuckles and ran towards him. Ryo jumped back just as Rowen made it there. Ryo jumped into the trees; once Ryo got to the top he looked around. But then he saw it, the white panther that had saved his life. But before he got a good look at it, he was knocked down by a blur of orange. He landed on the ground with a thump, and Kento landed right on top of him. Ryo could hear Rowen laughing his head off. Ryo looked at Kento, who was smiling.
"Yeah, yeah, get off!" Ryo yelled at Kento. Kento smiled even bigger but got off; he then pulled Ryo up. Once Ryo was up he jumped into the trees again, leaving a very puzzled Kento and Rowen.
Ryo got to the top of the tree and again looked around, but this time he saw no white panther.
"Hey, Ryo! What ARE you doing?" Rowen yelled up to him.
Ryo took one last look around, then jumped down. "Nothing, just thought I saw something."
"Ryo, the last time you thought you saw something, I nearly killed you! What did you see?" Rowen asked.
"It was nothing, at least nothing dangerous," Ryo finished.
"Are you sure?" Kento asked again.
"Yes, I'm very sure, Kento. Don't worry about it, okay?" Ryo said again, trying to enforce it.
"Okay," Rowen and Kento both said.
"Good." Ryo started to walk away but then turned around. "Ya know, I would've beat ya, IF I hadn't been distracted." Ryo again started to walk away but with a huge smile on his face. Kento and Rowen again looked at each other, then started after Ryo.
Ryo laughed and started running, but then the sun was covered by a dark cloud. They all stopped running. They stood totally silent, just listening, and waiting. Thunder started sounding, then came lightning. Then a drop of rain fell, and where it touched the snow melted and under that the grass died.
"It's POISON!" Ryo yelled, and they ran for cover. They found shelter in a cave nearby. And it wasn't long after that the poison rain started coming down extremely hard.
"Looks like we'll be here for a while," Kento said, sitting down.
"This is very bad!" Rowen said, looking out of the cave.
"Damn! I just hope the others found shelter," Ryo said, shaking his head. Rowen looked at Kento, then went and sat down beside him.
"What's the matter, Ronins? Don't like MY rain?" Alex came out of the bushes holding his hands out, then licked his hand. "Mmmm, it's good; why don't you come out here and try it?" Alex laughed.
"That's okay, I think we'll just stay in here, if that's okay with you," Ryo told him.
"Really? Well, it's not okay." Alex pulled out a sword.
Ryo realized what was about to happen, then turned to Sage and Kento. "PUT YOUR ARMOR ON NOW!" Ryo yelled at them. "ARMOR OF WILDFIRE!"
"ARMOR OF THE STRATA!"
"ARMOR OF THE HARDROCK!" Just as they got on their helmets, Alex slashed down the cave and the three Ronins were left in the poison rain.
"Ha, those armors of yours won't help you for long, this rain will eat right through them!" Alex laughed loudly; Ryo gritted his teeth, he knew this would have to be fast so they could find shelter again.
"Go! Leave me, I'll take him!" Ryo yelled at them.
"Ryo, there's no way..." Rowen started.
"GO! That's an order! Find some shelter! I'll find you later!" Ryo stared at them; Kento looked at Rowen, but they stood their ground. Ryo's face hardened. "When you became Ronin Warriors you took an oath that said you'd listen and obey my orders unless I was not myself! NOW GO!" Ryo screamed. Kento gritted his teeth but turned to leave; Rowen followed and they ran off.
Alex laughed. "That was a stupid thing to do, Wildfire! You know as well as I do that you can't beat me and still have time to find shelter! You just killed yourself. Why?" Alex asked.
"I won't put my team in this kind of danger, if I can help it!"
"But did they not also know when they joined the Ronin Warriors that it would be 'dangerous'?" Alex tilted his head to one side.
"Yes, but I'll try my best as a friend and a leader to keep them alive so they can destroy you once and for ALL!" Ryo told him, then jumped up and brought down his sword. Alex jumped back just seconds before Ryo hit. Ryo jumped up again and charged; Alex dodged all of his attacks. But Alex never attacked Ryo, he simply dodged, like he really didn't care. Ryo knew he was just stalling, though. Waiting for the rain to burn through his armor. But there was nothing Ryo could do except try to beat him.
Ryo then stopped dead in his tracks and grabbed his shoulder. Alex started laughing. "So it's made it through; it burns, doesn't it?" Ryo went down to one knee and gritted his teeth as it continued to burn all over his body. He tried hard not to scream; he didn't want to give that Dynasty freak the pleasure of it. He slammed his eyes shut; he tried to focus on something else, anything else, but he couldn't. He could hear Alex laughing; Ryo made himself get up. He gripped his swords and started stumbling over to Alex.
"Well, you are stronger than I thought," Alex laughed. "Are you still going to try to fight me?"
"I... shall... fight... you... tell... the... day... I... DIE!" Ryo got out through gasps.
"Which isn't that far away. Is it?" Alex pushed him down. "No one to save you, for anyone who's out here shall be facing the same fate you are. FOR I AM THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN STAND IN THIS RAIN!" Alex started laughing again.
"Wrong!" Alex whirled around to see Derek standing there. "Master Trots won't be happy to hear you're trying to kill him." Derek pointed to Ryo, who was shaking on the ground. "I suggest you report back to the castle right now and I won't tell Master Trots about this." Derek smiled; Alex sighed and glared, but disappeared. Derek smiled, turned to Ryo and waved goodbye, then said, "So long," then disappeared.
Ryo felt like his body was burning up, something he thought he'd never have to feel with his armor. He tried to get up but his body wouldn't allow it. He just laid there. "So, this is how it's going to end, huh? Well, I never thought it would end like this..." But before Ryo could think about anything else he heard a roar; Ryo already knew it wasn't White Blaze, the roar was higher-pitched than White Blaze's was, and it also wasn't as loud as White Blaze's was either.
Before he could think of anything else, the white panther appeared. Ryo stared at it; the rain just went around it like it was in a bubble. The panther or lion came and stood over him; the bubble that surrounded the panther also went around him. Ryo breathed a sigh of relief when the pain stopped. He looked at the panther; from the view he was at he could now tell it was a female. Ryo started to doze off but before he did he whispered, "Thank you"' to the panther, then blacked out. The panther looked down at him as his armor went down to his subarmor.

*****

Kento and Rowen paced in a cave; both of them kept looking out into that rain. Kento punched the cave wall. "WHAT WERE WE THINKING? HOW COULD WE HAVE LEFT HIM!" Kento again punched the wall.
"That... that jerk didn't give as a choice. You know we took an 'oath'." Rowen turned around again. "DAMN! If he does survive I'll KILL him myself!" Rowen paced some more.
"Well, you stop pacing! You are driving me crazy!" Kento yelled. Rowen looked at him but then sat down. Rowen then put his head in his hands.
"AHhh," Rowen said as he pounded the ground. He then turned to Kento, who was watching him. "You think he found shelter?" Rowen asked.
"I hope so." Kento didn't even look at Rowen, he just stared at the rain, and how everything outside was either dead or dying. "So, you think the others found shelter?"
Rowen continued to look at the rain as well. "Don't know, I was kinda hoping it didn't hit them." Rowen turned to Kento "Do you think the rain went that far over?"
Kento turned to Rowen. "I guess that depends on what Alex wanted to do. I hope he just wanted to get us, and didn't go near the guys, I really hope." Kento turned back towards the rain. His eyes widened, as did Rowen's, as the rain started slowing down until it completely stopped. Both of them ran out of the cave, and towards where they left Ryo.

*****

Ryo woke feeling something wet against his face; he opened his eyes to see the white panther in front of him. Ryo pushed the cat away, as he did with White Blaze, but it came right back. Ryo stared at it. "What do you want?" he asked the cat. The panther nudged at him, trying to get him to sit up. Ryo slowly sat up; he was about to fall back down but the panther put her nose on his chest and pushed him up, so he was sitting on his knees. The panther then put one of its paws on Ryo's knee, then lifted itself up so she was above his head.
Ryo's eyes got big. "What is she doing?" The panther lowered her head so she looked like she was going to bite him, but then gently took something out of his hair. The panther lowered herself back down and dropped a stick on the ground. Ryo looked at the stick, then at the panther; he was totally puzzled.
"What, it's a twig? You've got some too," Ryo said, taking a stick out of the panther's fur. The panther looked at the twig, sniffed it, then snorted. She then turned back to the one that was in his hair; she growled, then stomped on it. As soon as it broke a dark cloud rose from it. Ryo's eyes went big. "What was that?" Ryo asked the panther, then laughed to himself. "Now I'm talking to a cat, that I don't even know what it is. Tell me, are you a lion or a panther?" Ryo laughed, then patted the cat on its head. The cat stood up and scratched, she then shook her whole body, ruffling her fur. She looked back at Ryo one last time before she ran off. Ryo watched her run off.
"Ryo! Ryo!" Rowen yelled, with his bow and arrow out.
"Ryo! Oh man, please be alive! Ryo!" Kento yelled out.
Ryo weakly yelled out, "Over here!" Kento and Rowen both ran over to him.
"How did you live through that rain?" Kento asked.
"I got some help," Ryo said, looking at where the panther had run off to. He had decided it was a panther, just for the fact that he hated lions.
"By who?" Rowen asked as he stepped closer to Ryo and kneeled down. "Can you stand?"
"I think so." Ryo started to stand up, but his legs buckled and he started to fall, but Kento caught him and picked him up. Ryo tried to push out of his arms.
"Don't give me that, Ryo, I'm pissed enough at you. DON'T PUSH I! You can't walk and I'm not going to wait three hours for you to feel up to it," Kento said and started to walk. Ryo stopped struggling. Ryo sighed, then relaxed as Kento started a light trot towards camp with Rowen coming right up beside him. Ryo soon found himself dozing off, until he finally just fell asleep in Kento's arms.
About ten minutes later, Kento and Rowen stopped, and looked around. It had snow on the ground, and for the most part everything was still alive. "Well, I guess that means the others are still okay," Rowen said, looking around.
"Yeah, thank goodness." Kento shifted Ryo's weight around a little.
Rowen looked at him. "You want me to take him for a while?" Rowen asked him.
Kento raised an eyebrow. "Please, I'm the warrior of strength! I'm fine," Kento told him. "Come on, the others must be worried by now."
Rowen nodded. "Yeah." They both started off again, oblivious to the pair of panther eyes watching them from afar. The panther's eyes stayed on Ryo the whole time. As soon as Rowen and Kento started moving again, the panther jumped down from the tree's. She sniffed a little, then walked in the opposite direction.

*****

"Okay, where are they? I think we should go look for them!" Sage told Cye. "You girls stay here in case they come back."
"No, there are more girls here than guys; you guys stay here, we'll go look for them. And Sage, if they do show up, tell Rowen to shoot an arrow up and we'll come back," Kat told them. Sage was about to argue but Kat held up a hand. "We're leaving, let's go." The other girls followed Kat as they left.
Sage looked at White Blaze sleeping. What's wrong with that tiger, it's like he doesn't even care about Ryo anymore! First Yesterday when Rowen almost killed him! Then White Blaze didn't even follow Ryo when he ran off. They've always been the closest of friends, what changed? Sage frowned at his thoughts. He then looked at Cye. "Looks as if we aren't in charge anymore. What happened?" Sage asked, and Cye shrugged his shoulders.
Sage and Cye started talking about various things. A couple minutes later they heard the patting of feet coming closer; they both stood up, and waited for whatever it was to get there. Soon Rowen emerged, followed by Kento holding a sleeping Ryo.
"What happened, is he all right?" Cye yelled at them.
"Hey, calm down, buddy, he's fine, just tired. He had a hard day," Kento told him.
"Here, I'll put him in our tent," Rowen said as he took Ryo from Kento and walked over to their tent.
"What happened?" Sage asked.
"Huh! Alex is back and even more powerful. I don't even want to see Daller and Ryan."
"That bad; what he do?" Sage asked.
"Let's just say Sekhmet isn't the only poison warlord," Kento said, leaning against a tree.
"Great! The new warlords are getting the same powers as the old ones! I just can't wait to see who has the same power as Dais, that'll be lot's of fun," Cye said, looking up, remembering the fights they had with the warlords. He grimaced just as Rowen came out of the tent.
Sage looked at Rowen. "Oh, Rowen, I almost forgot! Shoot an arrow up in the air so the girls know to come back."
Rowen nodded his head; he pulled an arrow out, strung it, and shot it straight up into the air. He fired two more arrows into the air.
"So, Ryo's okay, right? What happened?" Sage asked.
"Ryo's a jerk," Kento said simply. Cye and Sage looked at him with confusion in their eyes.
"Why?" Sage asked.
Rowen stepped up. "Why? Why? Okay, think about this, if you will. You're sparring, then some warlord comes up and tells you if you stay in this rain he made that you'll die, but he ruined your shelter. The only chance you have is to beat him and then find shelter again. BUT THEN your leader and best friend tells you to run AWAY and let him handle it! And you knows there's no chance if he tries to do it by himself, but he throws in your face that you have to obey him, with the oath we took when we became Ronins, and you have to leave him. Knowing he'll die," Rowen said, glaring at the ground.
Sage sighed and pursed his lips in a frown. "He did that? So how'd he survive?"
"Don't know, he said he got help, but that's all he said," Kento told them, tossing a rock into the air.
Everyone was silent for a moment, then a thought crossed Cye's mind. "You think it was Kayura?" Cye asked with his right eyebrow lifted a little.
"I dunno, maybe, I thought about that myself, but I don't think so. It was just the way he said it." Kento shook his head. "I don't think it was Kayura, OR the Warlords."
Cye looked at Kento. "Then who?" Cye asked.
"I dunno," Kento said, shrugging his shoulders, "how should I know?"
"WAIT!" Rowen turned to Kento. "Kento, do you remember when we were sparring with Ryo and he went into the trees?" Rowen waited for Kento to nod. When he did, he continued, "Well, wasn't he looking at something up there?"
"HEY! You're right, and then he was in a hurry to get back up there. I wonder what it was." Kento looked up at the sky.
Sage looked at Cye; he stepped closer to him and whispered, "Do you know what they're talking about?" Cye shook his head.
"It's something that happened earlier," Kento said, shaking his hands around.
Rowen looked at the tent that Ryo was in. "I wonder what happened after we left," Rowen said to no one in particular.

*****

Daller, Alex, and Ryan sat in a room that was completely dark except for a few candles spread across the room. Daller threw a sword across the room. He then turned to Alex. "You lost! How could you lose!"
"I didn't lose, Daller," Alex said calmly while using a dagger as a toothpick.
"Yeah? And how do you figure that one?!" Daller yelled. Ryan started at his two fighting comrades; he leaned back and relaxed.
"What you and they don't know is, that rain that poured on them does more than burn them." Ryan sat up and Daller moved closer; Alex continued. "You see, once the rain started to burn Wildfire's skin, he became trapped. He is now my personal dummy."
"How do you figure? Does that mean you can make him join our side?" Ryan asked.
"No, not yet, anyway, he is still too strong. But later, once I wear him down a little... probably," Alex told them.
"Well, what good does that do for us NOW?" Daller asked, throwing his arms into the air.
"I shall show you! Ryan, would you please go down and start a fight with the Ronins?" Ryan nodded then disappeared.
Alex walked over to one of the walls in the room; he motioned Daller to follow. Daller rolled his eyes but followed nonetheless. Alex threw this powder on the wall, and the wall became black and dark, then it flashed! Daller turned his head away from the light. Alex smiled, then cleared his throat to get Daller's attention. Daller turned back around, he looked at the wall and was surprised to see the Ronins' camp! The Ronins were all talking to themselves, but they didn't look happy!
"What's going on?" Daller asked Alex.
"Hell if I know! Derek chased me out of there before I could do anymore damage." Alex glared at the wall/Ronin camp. Daller looked at Alex, then started watching the scene in front of him.
"Where's Ryan? He should have been there by now."
Alex shrugged his shoulders. "You know, Ryan never goes anywhere too fast." Alex and Daller both did a fake laugh, then continued watching.

*****

"Where are the girls? Shouldn't they be here by now?" Kento said, trying to change the subject. He was getting a little tired of talking about how Ryo made them leave, they had gone over it like ten times.
"How should we know, Kento?" Sage asked him, then continued, "But what were Ryo's exact words when he told you guys to leave?"
"Well, he said..."
"COME ON, WE'VE BEEN OVER THIS LIKE A THOUSAND TIMES!" Kento yelled, throwing a rock a Sage's foot. "Are you that stupid you can't get it the first five times!" Sage glared at Kento, and started to move towards him.
"Come on, guys, we aren't here to fight amongst ourselves. We ARE here to fight and destory the Dynasty! Remember?" Cye said, getting in between the two.
"Torrent's right, you are here to fight us, are you not?" Ryan said, jumping down from a tree.
"Why, hello, Ryan, how are you?" Rowen said, a little relieved he'd showed up. It broke the fight up.
"Peachy! Where's your leader? Or did he try to go out on his own again? WE all know how that works. I do hope he did?" Ryan laughed.
Kento gritted his teeth together. "SORRY, Ryan, but he didn't! We're a team!" Kento said through clamped teeth.
"Oh, yes, I can tell! Especially when you boys last fought with Alex. Right!" Ryan laughed, then walked a little closer to them. "Don't you love it? The way your leader leaves you, can't depend on you?" Ryan laughed even harder.
"HA HA HA," came a bleak laugh; they turned around to see Ryo standing there. "That is so funny," Ryo said with no emotion.
"Yah, Wildfire, so nice of you to join us," Ryan said with a huge smile on his face.
"Yeah, I bet!" Ryo stumbed to a tree; Rowen went to help him but Ryo held his hand out, stopping him.
"You see! He won't even let you help him keep his balance! It's to laugh!" Ryan snickered.
"It's to laugh? What kind of saying is THAT!" Ryo curled his upper lip, then smiled. "Oh! And, Ryan, what is the reason you came down here? Just to fight? OR is it because Alex thinks he has power over me?" Ryo smiled as Ryan's eyes got as big as a bugs.

*****

"What! He knows! How does he know?" Alex screamed.
"Looks like your fool proof plain didn't work! Did it?" Daller said, crossing his arms.
"We'll see! We SHALL SEE!" Alex slammed his fists against the wall. He then turned around. "He may know, but that doesn't mean he can stop it!" Daller smiled at these words.

*****

Ryo stood, the best he could, against a tree. And he was laughing! Ryan gritted his teeth together, then yelled, "AND JUST WHAT IS SO FUNNY?" Ryo just laughed harder
"You are! You are quite funny, Ryan!" Ryo said; his right arm started shaking a little but he made it stop before anyone really noticed. Ryo gritted his teeth. Alex, I know you're trying to control me, but it won't work! I'll fight you till the day I die! Ryo thought to himself. I just hope that the day I die isn't that close! Ryo's arm starting shaking again and this time he couldn't stop it. Ryan laughed
"So I see Alex's little spell worked better than you'd like!" Ryan stopped laughing, then put on a serious face. "NOW you die!" Ryan charged at Ryo; Ryo just stood there! When Sage saw that Ryo wasn't going to move he jumped at Ryan, knocking him down. Ryan gasped as he hit the ground; Sage jumped off of him before Ryan had a chance to get the upper hand. Ryan stood up and Sage took a fighting stance right in front of Ryo. Kento looked at Ryo; he was breathing really heavy and his arm was shaking quite hard. Ryo cradled his shaking arm; he put his head back and gritted his teeth. Kento's eyes narrowed; he HATED to see any of his friends in any kind of pain.
Ryan looked at Sage, then at Ryo, he then looked at the other Ronins; they were staring at Ryo, most had pity in their eyes, but Hardrock had anger in his eyes. Ryan wondered about this for a second, but then Hardrock charged him. Ryan had no time to react and was soon tackled to the ground; a fist came down on his face that was soon followed by another one.
Kento punched Ryan madly, with anger filled in his eyes. Sage's eyes were huge he looked back at Ryo, who was standing more upright. His arm had stopped shaking and he had a light smile on his face. Sage looked back at Kento; he had slowed dow a little but not much. Ryan put his feet under Hardrock and pushed him off. Kento went flying backwards, but landed on his feet. Ryan stood up, his head was spinning.
"I'll... I'll be back!" Ryan disappeared, and Ryo laughed quietly to himself.
Sage turned around and looked at Ryo. "Okay, Ryo, time to explian! Why did you make Kento and Rowen run off? Why aren't you trusting us? Why is your arm shaking? What was Ryan babbling about? Why...?"
"SAGE! Slow down! I can only answer one question at a time! MAN!" Ryo was about to continue when a female voice came in.
"We saw the arrow! Is he all..." Tina stopped in mid-sentence, when she saw Ryo leaning against a tree, waving at her. She put on a cheesy smile. "Ha, hi, Ryo. Were you standing there the whole time?" Tina felt really stupid for not seeing him in the first place. Cye smiled to himself, knowing exacly what she felt like.
Then came another female voice, one that they had not heard in a while. "Hello, Ronins," came Kayura's kind voice, a voice that kinda scared Rowen. "I have come to talk to the cousins, but I'll start with just Tina." Kayura turned to Tina. "Tina, if you could please follow me."
Tina looked at Cye; Cye nodded, saying go ahead. So Tina followed Kayura into the trees; Cye watched until they were both out of sight.

*****

Kayura walked for about a mile before she turned around and faced Tina. "Tina, I know you've noticed that your power is somewhat slipping?" Kayura smiled as Tina bit back her lip and a tear ran down. Kayura put a hand on Tina's shoulder. "Don't worry, this is happening to Chi Chi and Brittney too."
Tina's face shot up. "Wh... what, why?!"
Kayura smiled again. "Because it has to. You three were chosen to hold these powers for a while, then they would be passed on to another."
"Another? Why? Why didn't this person just take the power in the beginning? WHY did we have to have them, love them! Then lose them? It's not fair," she said in a quiet voice.
"Because you got your powers when you were born; the powers were tiny, like you, but as you grow they grew. But if you had all the powers in you as they grew, you would go insane. So we took you three girls to hold these powers for a greater use. Yours will go so this 'person' can talk to big cats, or so it says in the scrolls. Chi Chi and Brittney will be going through this too. In fact, Chi Chi's power is almost gone, and Brittney's is leaving her fast. Their powers will go towards this 'person' being able to control her weapon. This weapon is known as the Solar Whip; it is supposed to be the most powerful weapon. The Dynasty will be after this 'person' as soon as they find out the power has surfaced. And this is why I must warn you, if the Dynasty finds out you are losing your powers this person will be in serious trouble! And if we don't find this 'person' first, the world as we know it is doomed!" Kayura finished.
"Doomed?" Tina shook her head. "If this person is SO powerful, then why can't 'it' just defeat the Dynasty by itself?"
"Because when this 'person' first gets its powers, it won't know how to use it. This 'person' will be extremely weak, this 'person' will not know how to use these powers or the Solar Whip," Kayura explained.
"So this 'person' will be able to use all of our powers?" Tina confirmed.
"No! This 'person' will only be able to talk to big cats and that's all; the others will just be to control the whip, and that's all," Kayura told her. Tina looked confused; Kayura frowned. "Look, all you need to know is that your powers are leaving and they ain't coming back! To put it plainly. All right?"
Tina put her head down. "They're never coming back?"
Kayura shook her head. "No, they are gone forever. You are now normal, and your cousins will be too, very soon. But you must understand this has to happen! For the sake of this planet, it was meant to happen! And it is; do not worry, you will learn to get along without them! As will your cousins." Kayura put her hand on Tina's shoulder again. "Now I must go and talk to your cousins; come, we must return to camp."
Kayura turned and started walking back to camp. Tina just stood there for a moment; she sighed, then followed Kayura back to camp.

*****

Derek sat in his room on a chair, he sat starring at his bed where Kit sat with her arms folded, and wore a frown. "Please, talk to me, my dearling. If we are to be wed we must at the least talk," Derek said, standing up.
"I will NEVER marry you! Not know not ever! I will kill myself before I'll marry you!" Kit spat back.
"Now, now, you can't kill yourself, I won't have it! Now, I know you will grow to love me in time, once you give me a chance, that is," Derek said and then got right in her face.
Kit pushed him away. "How can I LIKE someone, let alone love someone who keeps me and my sisters as prisoners, and tries to kill everyone I love?" Kit asked.
"I do not wish to kill anyone you love." Then Derek grumbled, "Except maybe Wildfire." Kit laughed at this, bringing Derek's attention back to her. "What?" he asked.
"You are truly threatened by him!" Kit smiled, but then got a sober face.
"I am threatened by anyone who looks at you!" Derek said.
"You are not truly evil, are you? I mean, if you changed quite a bit then maybe it would work between us," Kit said, thinking out loud, then clasped her hands over her mouth, realizing what she had said.
Derek smiled. "It will work, I will change as soon as I'm Emp..."
"NO! I don't want you to be Emperor. It's too much power and too much temptation to be evil; if even for a moment I don't think you've changed and this is just a trick I'll kill you, I swear I will," Kit tossed back to him.
"I swear this is no trick, but if I can't be Emperor then at least let me kill Wildfire!" Derek said, and Kit glared at him. "All right so I won't kill him, but I want a promise that you will never look at him the way you used to!" Derek said, pointing a finger at her.
"I'm not sure how I'm looking at him, but I will try to 'look' at him in a different way, will that work?" Kit asked him.
"Yes, I suppose." Derek looked down, then back up. "Are you sure I can't just kill him?" Kit slapped him; Derek put his arms up. "All right, all right."
"Now go free my little sis!" Kit said, pointing.

*****

Ryo watched in wonderment as each of the cousins left in high spirit then came back almost in tears; Ryo had no idea what Kayura was telling them but he planned to find out. When finally Brittney came back, he figured that Kayura would leave, but she didn't. She turned to Mariah and said that she had to talk to her! Ryo's eyebrow went up at that. Then his eyes narrowed; he didn't like this, secrets on his team was a bad thing. As Kayura and Mariah left, Ryo followed quietly behind. Ryo didn't know what was going on, but he was going to find out right now!
Kayura and Mariah stopped by a little lake; Mariah bent down and sat on a rock, she put her fingers on the icy lake. "Mariah, do you have any idea why I asked to talk to you?" Kayura asked her, looking directly in her eyes.
"No," Mariah said simply, not even bothering to look up.
Kayura frowned. "Mariah! Please at least look like you're paying attention to me!" Mariah looked up with a start. "Mariah, you have a major choice to make."
Mariah just looked at Kayura, confused. "What kind of a choice?"
Kayura sighed. "Mariah, tell me why are you afraid of fire." Kayura's eyes got a cold look to them as she stared at Mariah.
"Because," Mariah looked around nervously, "because my parents died in a fire!" Mariah's eyes filled with tears.
Kayura put a hand on Mariah's shoulder, and looked into her eyes. "Mariah, what if I told you that your parents aren't dead?"
Mariah jumped at that. "What...? What, what do you mean?" Mariah searched Kayura's face for any clues on what she was talking about, but she found none.
Kayura sighed again. "Mariah, do you remember that night at all?" Kayura asked.
"Not really," Mariah paused. "I remember being in a cave and hearing screams and seeing fire! Then there was an explosion that knocked me out; when I awoke no one was there! I was alone." Mariah looked down at the snow-covered ground.
"Mariah, long before you were born the Dynasty was a peaceful place ruled by your people, everyone was happy! But then an evil came into this world and took it over. Your people tried to keep things peaceful, but couldn't. So they went off to their own part of the Dynasty. Now the evil ruler knew that these people had great power, so he left them be but watched them carefully, and that's how it went for many years. But then that evil one died and he son took over; his son was a power hungry monster, he tolerated your people for a while trying to see how much power they really had.
"No one really took it as much, but about ten years later a child was born that had true power. The evil emperor wanted this child more than anything, so he sent troops out to get it. Your people put up a mighty good fight, though, and fought back; they hid the child in a cave and put a magic shield around the entrance of the cave. They prepared to leave the Dynasty, and take you with. But because of the shield you didn't go with them! It was an accident! But once they were gone they couldn't come back; it was a one way trip, I guess you could say!" Kayura finished off.
Mariah did an annoyed sigh. "So, what does that mean to me! They're still gone, except this time I find out they left ME!" Mariah stood up and started pacing.
"They didn't leave you, it was a mistake that they couldn't fix, but I can."
Mariah looked up at Kayura. "What do you mean?" she asked, staring at her.
"With this staff," Kayura held up the staff, "I can send you to wherever they went." Kayura sighed as she saw Mariah's face fall, but she put on a small smile. "It is a tough choice: leave the home you've known for years and find a family you do not know, or stay here and never know your true past, your people's past. The choice is yours; I will be back tomorrow night for your answer." Kayura smiled, then tapped her staff and disappeared.
Mariah turned around and sighed. "Well, you can come out now." Ryo smiled and stepped out. "What do you think I should do?" Mariah asked him.
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME! Go; I would give anything to find out my parents weren't dead, and that they never meant to leave me." Ryo looked at Mariah, and grabbed her hands. "Mariah, this may be the only chance you'll ever get; don't let it go, don't you dare let it go! Family is something I've always wanted, and the guys, they try to be my family but it's not the same; I'll never feel the joy of a mother's arms hugging me just 'cause she wants to hug. You know, people take those things for granted but it's something I've always wanted. Now you take your chance to get those things, you understand me!" Ryo finished, looking her right in the eyes.
Mariah smiled back. "All right! I'll go, but don't forget me, you understand me, don't you forget me."
"I promise, I will never forget you; why don't we go tell the others?" Ryo smiled at her again.
"All right! But let me tell them in my own way, kay?" Mariah said.

*****

Trots stood in one of the hallways in the castle, pacing. The end is coming! The end of this stupid battle is coming! What shall I do first! I know I'll kill that annoying Kit; Derek is getting to close to her! Trots started to walk down the hall towards the room where Kit and Ally stayed. She busted the door open, only to find no one in there. Derek, she cursed to herself.
She stormed down the hallways to Derek's room. She swung open the door to find Derek kissing that witch! Derek stood up and stared Trots right in the eye. "How dare you! KISSING the enemy! How low can you go!" Trots spat at him.
"Well, I'd say the apple doesn't fall far to the ground! MASTER!" Derek said with a slight bow, and a glare.
"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO ME IN SUCH A WAY!" Trots flung her fist at Derek; Derek ducked and then kicked upward into her gut. Trots grabbed her stomach for a second, then regained her pose. "You want to fight? Do you really think you can beat me?" Trots said with a smirk.
"I know I can! Your power is useless! If you have any. I let you think you were in control, but you never were! Do you think I would really bow down to you for long?" Derek said, standing up.
Trots started laughing. "Have you forgotten who I am?" Trots looked at Derek for a second, then continued, "My father was one of the most powerful beings ever to walk this Dynasty! He had two children! ME and Talpa, my brother..."
"Yeah, and it looks like Talpa got all the power! And even he was defeated by the Ronins! Did you really think you could win? Did you honestly think you had control? Ha, you are more stupid than I thought!"
"Wrong! I was always in charge! But I allowed you to think you were. Talpa had lots of power, but I always had more! But Father said, 'Let your brother think he is better; if he becomes Emperor, GREAT, then he'll get rid of your enemies for you! And when one comes along that he can't beat, you will become Empress and defeat them too. BUT you must always remember to mask your true power! Because you are a girl, your enemies will underestimate you. Remember that.' Yes, he told me that every day! So that's what I did. And now I shall rid myself of you and that brat!" Trots said. She put her hands together, then pulled them apart; a light glow came from them and the glow started to get brighter.
Derek, seeing what she was about to do, grabbed Kit's arm and transported them elsewhere. "Derek, what was that? What was she doing?" Kit asked.
"It's a powerful attack; if she can master that attack... she's a lot more powerful than I thought she was." Derek shook his head. "She did that trick like it was nothing. If she can do much more, your friends don't stand a chance." Kit looked down; Derek brushed her cheek. "Come on, she'll be after us soon. We need to get your sister and get out of here." He started to turn, then looked at her again, then sighed. "I'm just glad we hid your sister. Otherwise..."
Kit put a finger to his lips. "Come on, let's go get my sister." Kit smiled at Derek. She grabbed his hand and they disappeared.

*****

Ryo stood in front, Sage and Rowen stood behind him one on each side. Behind them stood Cye and Kento, all in full armor. The girls stood to the side and backed away. Ryo took out his twin katanas, frowned and said, "It ends now!" The other Ronins took out their weapons and shook theire heads in agreement.

*****

Daller, Alex, and Ryan stood at the doors of the Dynasty castle; hundreds of Dynasty soldiers were there too, all ready to fight, just waiting for the Ronins to appear. Ryo came over the hill; the other Ronins, and Kat stepped up behind him. The Dynasty soldiers started grumbling. The warlord stood there calmly though. "Should we attack now or wait?" Daller asked.
Alex looked around. "ATTACK!" As soon as that word left his mouth, then the Dynasty soldiers came running at Ryo.
Ryo swallowed hard. He turned to the other Ronins and Kat. "Remember, we make a path for the girls to follow; Kat, you try to focus on finding your sisters. Fight strong."
The first Dynasty soldier came running at Ryo; Ryo slashed right through him. Soon everyone with an armor on was fighting. Ryo turned to the guys, slashing another soldier down as he did. He was going to say one more thing before they got separated. "DON'T BE A HERO!" Ryo shouted over the noise.
Sage looked up from for a second, then smiled. Take your own advice, Ryo, take your own advice. Sage quickly stopped himself from thinking about other things and started focusing only on the battle. The battle seemed to go on forever. When finally they had killed off enough of the soldiers they saw the new warlords standing there smug, and proud.
"It's over," Ryo said, pointing one of his twin katanas at Daller.
"Is it now?" Daller asked, smiling. Ryo was about to respond when he felt a sudden blast hit him in the chest. The Ronins watched as Ryo flew off the ground and landed with a thump. Kento was about to run to his side, but Daller jumped in front of him, blocking his way. Kento started the fight with Daller, and just hoped that Ryo was either okay or that one of the other guys had gotten to him. He pushed at Daller's sword with all his might and Daller was forced to jump back.
Kento quickly looked around; all the guys were busy with their own fights, Cye was held up with Ryan, and both Rowen and Sage were trying to fight off Alex. Daller came crashing back onto him; Kento only had a second to react. The battle raged on, and every chance he got he looked for Ryo, but never found him.
Daller slashed his sword under Kento's weapon, and Kento went flying. Kento rammed right into Sage, Sage screamed as he was knocked form his feet. Kento started to get off of Sage but before he could Daller came flying down at him, his sword ready to kill. Kento blocked it with his staff, he could hear Sage groan at the extra wait. There was nothing Kento could do except block.
Rowen took an arrow, strung it, and shouted, "Arrow Shock Wave!" The arrow hit Alex head on. Alex flew backwards; Rowen knew it wouldn't buy him much time, but he had to help Sage and Kento. Rowen turned around, strung another arrow and again shouted, "Arrow Shock Wave!" The arrow struck Daller just as Alex came running back; Rowen used his bow as a block, and knocked Alex back. Alex frowned and came charging at Rowen head-on.
Rowen readied himself for the blow, but at the last moment Alex jumped into the air and landed behind him. Alex kicked Rowen down; Rowen lost his bow in the process. Alex raised his sword over his head and then started to send it back down on Rowen. Rowen looked up in fear. He couldn't block or anything. Rowen slammed his eyes shut, waiting for the blow; when it didn't hit he opened his eyes to see Cye standing over him, using his trident to block the sword. Rowen looked around; Kento was now fighting Ryan, and Sage was fighting Daller.
Cye looked down at Rowen, who was still on the ground. "You want to HELP!" Cye asked and pushed harder against Alex's sword. Rowen nodded; even though Cye was no longer looking, Rowen started to crawl under Cye's legs; he started to stand up but soon saw something red come flying at him. Rowen rolled out of the way to see RYO crouching there, his twin katanas stuck into the ground where Rowen had stood. Everyone stopped fighting. Ryo stood up; his mask was down, so they could not clearly see his eyes.
Daller started to laugh, "And so it starts." The warlords all jumped back, onto a roof, and watched.
Sage came forward. "Who are you?" he said in a deep voice.
"Well, I'm your leader, of course! Or at least I'm in his body, so here's where the choice comes in. I am less powerful in this body and you could probably defeat me, if you combine your powers. But if you defeat me, your leader will also be dead! The choice is yours," Ryo's body said.
"There's no choice in it! We have to kill him to beat you, or we all die and so does our world!" Cye said with a snarl. "You truly are evil; it is you, isn't it, Trots?"
"Well, yes, it is. So come, come and kill your leader! Your friend! Your brother of truth! Come. Time waits for no one!" Trots said.
Sage swallowed hard, he didn't know if he could do it destroy Trots, and destroy Ryo?
A tear ran down Kento's face. "Come on, you know this is what he'd want us to do, so let's do it." Kento connected his weapon up so it was just a staff. "Iron Rock Crusher!" Kento shouted. Rowen followed, doing his sure kill; soon all the Ronins had done theirs, then came two female voices shouting. Vines and leaves came shooting at Ryo. Sage looked up, the tears ran freely down his face; there stood Kit and Kat. Sage looked back at were Ryo had once stood.
The dust cloud started to lift; Ryo lay there in his armor, he slowly started to get up. The other Ronins got on guard. He shook as he stood and used one of his katanas as a cane to steady himself.
"Well, I'll be, I never thought you would really do it, and especially not so soon. You must really want to get rid of Wildfire, don't you," Trots said in a shaking voice.
"We would never want to even hurt Ryo, but he has trained us to do what we have to do. Never try to be a hero, when putting the whole world in danger," Rowen said, glaring at her/him.
"Really, well then, come finish me off! If you can," he laughed.
It sounded so wrong coming from Ryo's voice, Sage thought. "Why do you want us to kill you so quickly? You think you will survive?"
"No, but after me there will only come another leader! And without the Ronins to worry about, that leader WILL survive and will rule your world just as my brother always wanted. I will die for such a cause any day," she finished off.
"Why? If you wanted him dead, and you willing to die too. Why not just kill him and you when you're in his body?" Kento questioned.
"Because it's all the more painful for you if you have to do it!" she said, his voice cracking.
"NO!" Kento screamed. "No, it's just not fair! You can't do this." This was the first time Kento had felt totally lost. When he had to kill Talpa and knew it would kill Ryo, it was different; he was staring at Talpa, but now he was staring at Ryo! He couldn't do it.
"All's fair in love and war!" Trots said with a smirk.
"Is that so?" came a female voice. Kayura stood there, her two swords she used to fight with were strapped to her back and in her hand she held the staff. "Well, then this must be fair too." The circles on the staff started to chime as they hit one another. She jumps down and aims the staff at Ryo's head stopping an inch before it hit him."OUT!"
Trots screamed; at first it was Ryo's voice, but then it turned to Trot's voice; a form of black left Ryo's body and he fell limp. Trot's body landed to the side with a thump.
Daller jumped down and scooped her up "You may have won the battle, but the war is far from over! So long, Ronins." Daller threw down a ball; it exploded and black smoke rose.
Sage waved his hands in front of his face, trying to clear the smoke. When he did clear it Sage realized they were no longer at the castle. "Where are we?" Sage asked no one.
The chiming of the staff startled them all. "You are home; Daller knew they were beat and forced you home. The Dynasty is no longer a threat. For a while, you may rest easy. But always be prepared. THEY WILL BE BACK," Kayura explained.
Sekhmet and Cale came up behind her, then came Dais holding a limp body. Sage gasped, realizing it was Ryo. The other Ronins made other noises when they realized who it was. Dais gently set down the limp body in front of the Ronins.
Dais looked up. "He is still breathing. He is lucky, and very strong. Stronger than before. I am glad we are no longer enemies!" Dais stood up and stood by Kayura.
Kayura tapped the staff and it started chiming. "Wait," Rowen shouted. "Where are the girls?"
Kayura smiled. "At their own homes." With that Kayura and the warlords disappeared. Sage went over to the limp Ryo; his armor had already gone down to his subarmor.