Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ Raising the Past ❯ Chapter 4

A/N: Hi there! We're here with the next chapter of RTP! I, JC, have taken over Jennifer's duty of helping Kathrine with the sequel because Jennifer is very pissed at her at the moment. Instead of punishing her like usual she found a more effective way of getting back at her.

Kathrine: I didn't even do anything!

Catherine: You tried to feed her fish to her German shepard!

Kathrine: Prince looked hungry!

Catherine: You don't feed a dog fish!

JC: See what happens when we leave her alone for a day.

Catherine: That's why she's been locked from control of the brain for a week too.

Kathrine: What?!!

JC: Hehehehehe ^_^

Catherine: Well, I hope you enjoy this.

Disclaimer: Already said it and won't say it again.

Warning: THINGS GET COMPLICATED AND A POSSIBLE CHARACTER DEATH. I WON'T TELL YOU IF IT ACTUALLY HAPPENS OR NOT. ^_^

Raising the Past

By JC and Kathrine

" Hey guys, how are we supposed to get out of here with the spell up?" Everyone in the room looked at Shu and the Troopers realized they did have a predicament. They had agreed to keep Makuyo's soldiers occupied the day before and they were eager to get to work, but now found another obstacle in their way.

" We have been working on that," Naaza assured them from his position in the doorway. " Follow me." The young boys complied and accompanied him to the outer area of the castle.

Outside they found a strange factory line of labor going on outside. Youja seemed to be toiling diligently as two at a time would disappear beneath the ground near the door. Then they would return a few minutes later covered in dirt. A pulley system seemed to be leading in the same direction and pulling dirt from the place they descended.

" What's with the whole they're digging?" Touma questioned. " Are we planning on crawling under the enemy troops?"

" Precisely," Naaza replied. " If we can't go over or through without breaching the barrier, all we can do is go under."

" A little outdated, but sounds highly effective," Shin nodded. " Is it safe?"

" That's the risk," Naaza sighed. " It has been constructed in merely a few days of urgency and might not be completely stable. They've set up beams through it to hold it up, but that might not be enough."

" Lord Doku!" someone called. The five warriors turned to see a gray uniformed youja coming towards them. He looked to be wearing one of the soldier emblems on his chest and bowed to Naaza with the utmost respect intended.

" What is it Captain Jai?" Naaza asked his subordinate. He knew every youja in his military unit of the Youjakai Guardian Army. He preferred to speak to them as if they were truly youja beings instead of just soldiers.

" The tunnel is ready," he stated proudly. " It was a quick work and not of my squads usual best, but I believe it will still hold."

" Very good captain," Naaza nodded. " Remove the digging machine and we shall proceed." The soldier bowed to him once again and turned to give the orders to those under him.

" Guess it comes down to this," Ryo wore a look of determination. " We can't turn back now."

" Agreed," Shin nodded. He knew that he didn't like to fight, and yet was worried about Seiji and even the missing Rajura. This Makuyo had to be stopped and he wouldn't hide from this battle.

" Let's kick us some sorcerer ass, find Seiji, get out Gen Masho, and then go home and eat!" Shu cracked his knuckles enthusiastically.

" Good ol' Shu," Touma patted his shoulder. " Always thinking with his stomach."

" I wouldn't say that," Ryo snickered. " I don't Shin would either." The Suiko Bearer flushed and then turned bright red before hitting Ryo as hard as he could in the head. The other warrior grimaced in pain and bent over to allow his vision to come back to him.

" Now is not the time for that!" Shin growled. Naaza just stared at the two with slightly widened eyes.

" At least it's not me this time," he mumbled.

" Did you say something?" Shin shot a vicious glare in Doku's direction.

" No," Naaza shook his head before turning around. Touma and Shu stayed in the background forcing themselves not to laugh at the scene before them.

" Quit giggling and get ready to go," Shin ordered the two when he turned to them. " We have work to do and as I said, now is not the time to start acting like your normal selves!"

" Hai Shin!" the two nodded.

Naaza just shook his head at them as Captain Jai walked up to him. " We're ready sir," he informed him.

" Very well, and captain?" Naaza looked at him.

" Hai, Lord Doku?"

" If you are having problems with your squadron ask Suiko no Shin for advice," Naaza replied. " He seems to know how to keep others in line."

" All right sir," he nodded before walking away, a strange smirk covering his face.

" Everything is ready!" the green-haired yelled to the Troopers, who Shin seemed to have right under his thumb.

" Good," Ryo winced at the fading pain in the back of his head. He didn't believe anything hurt worse than Shin hitting him with the frying pan when he had blew up the microwave once, but he was wrong. Shin hitting him with a sub-armored hand when he was embarrassed and angry hurt more.

" Come on," a voice said behind them. The four warriors saw Kayura coming out of the castle onto the ground wearing the Yoroi no Oni.

The Troopers walked to the hole and saw the soldiers stare at them as they cleaned away the rest of the tools and parts to make them room. The hole wasn't small, but it was large either. It looked like it would only fit a person Shu's size in sub-armor and no larger. Touma swallowed hard and tried not to show his fear. His yoroi was Tenku and he was expected to be a little claustrophobic.

" It gets a little larger inside and reaches at least 100 yards behind Makuyo's soldiers in the forest," Captain Jai explained. " You shoulder be able to surprise them without any of them knowing."

" Arigato," Touma smiled, but he still felt wary about going into a hole that could collapse on him.

" It's okay," Ryo placed a hand on his shoulder. " Just think about getting Seiji back, if this guy does have him."

" Right," he agreed.

" Ten of my men and I shall be accompanying you so do not fear," Captain Jai assured him.

" That should help our odds," Shu thought as he looked at Kayura. " I just hope you two find a way to enforce that barrier."

" Have faith in us Kongo," the Ancient smiled. " We are close to securing it and your distraction will allow us to put our plan into work."

" How do you plan to do it?" Shin asked curiously.

" You let us handle that," Naaza replied. " Now get going."

Captain Jai bowed to him, before climbing down into the tunnel and waiting for the Troopers to follow him. Touma took a deep breath and climbed into the whole where he had to stay on his knees. Just as the captain had said it was quite larger that the entrance itself. He could turn around and sit up if he wanted, but continued to follow after Jai.

" Come," Kayura motioned for Naaza to follow her after the last of the soldiers was in the tunnel. " We have much work to do."

" Hai," Naaza agreed and they walked back into the castle.

*****

The tunnel seemed to go on forever for Touma, but it actually was only about fifteen minutes. They had passed the beneath the gates and under the Makuyo's soldiers. The feel of power had almost caused him to suffocate from the immensity of it and his claustrophobia was back with a vengeance. He forced himself to move on, visions of Seiji staying in his mind.

" We've reached the outskirts of the forest," Jai called to him and the others. " Beware tree roots could be sticking out anywhere." As if to prove his point a large root stuck out and then into the other wall of the tunnel before them and they were all forced climb under it. This caused Shu to have quite a few complications.

" Do you want me to help you?" Shin asked when he turned back to his lover and the five soldiers behind him.

" Go on a head," Shu told him. " We'll catch up."

" All right," the brunette nodded and hurried after the others.

" He'll be fine," Ryo smiled to him. " He just has to learn to eat less of your cooking."

" Are you saying my cooking's fattening?" Shin glared. " Are you saying my Shu is fat?!!"

" No," Ryo said quickly. " I just meant he likes your cooking so much that he eats too much of it sometimes." He turned his head back to facing front and lowered his shoulders in defeat. He could never win when Shin was in one of his moods.

Suddenly the tunnel seemed to shrink a little and Touma stopped as he stared at the numerous roots and such that stood out before him. " Just a little farther," Jai motioned a head of them. Touma continued to take in deep breaths and followed after him.

Touma's gonna freak out on us if we don't hurry, Ryo thought as he stayed a foot or two behind the archer. That's when they stopped and Ryo was curious. " There's no opening here," he replied as he looked around the end of the tunnel. It seemed to just stop underneath a large tree for the root stuck out everywhere.

" You think not," the captain smiled as he pushed against the top of the tunnel where the tree would have been. He added a small amount of force and the tree moved above him. With a quick shove he forced it off and smirked at the sunlight that was shining down onto them.

" It was fake?" Touma questioned with a raise of an eyebrow.

" No just a stump they dug of from beneath," Jai explained. " Made for good cover."

" Rajura's idea?" Ryo chuckled.

" No mine," Jai gave him a serious stare.

" My mistake," Ryo said. " But it was a good one."

" Arigato," Jai nodded courteously. " Now I shall go up first and see if there are any soldiers around." Ryo and Touma nodded to him before he climbed through the opening into the day.

" How's it going?" Shin asked as he came up behind them.

" He's checking to make sure the coast is clear," Ryo replied. " Where's Shu's?"

" He got side tracked by the large root a few minutes back," Shin pointed back the way they'd come. " I hope he's all right though."

" He's fine," Touma assured him.

" I guess," Shin sill kept his eyes behind him looking for his lover.

" There area is clear," Jai said from the opening. " You need to hurry though, I don't know when they'll sweep the forest next."

" Thank God," Touma sighed as he climbed out of the tunnel. He took in a deep breath of fresh air and looked at his surrounding area. It was the same forest he and Ryo had seen when they first came to the Youjakai five years before. Although, he had to admit it looked more like it was mourning for some reason and the light itself seemed to be dimmer than earlier that morning.

" Man good to have some air," Ryo sighed as he stood next to him. " I think only Shu could appreciate being stuck under ground for so long." The soldiers were stretching their limbs for the time on their knees and awaiting orders.

Shin smiled at Ryo's comment before descending back into the tunnel. He could see Shu and the other five soldiers five yards away and called to them. " Hurry up," he said. " We have to get moving."

" Hurrying," Shu called back just as the ground around them began to shake.

Ryo was taking in the scenery just as the 6the ground around them shook fiercely. Touma grabbed a hold of the nearest tree he could find and waited for it to end, but it didn't. It seemed that the ground was trying to shake itself apart, but couldn't and would increase its force instead.

Rekka knew something was wrong and could feel the negative energy swarming around the area. That's when he noticed that Shin and Shu weren't with them on the surface. He tried to walk to the tunnel, but ended up loosing his balance and falling to his knees. He continued to crawl the rest of the way to the tunnel, where he found Shin yelling down the long crawlway.

" Shu, hurry it's gonna collapse!" he yelled to his lover, who seemed to be trapped against a tree that was sinking into the ground.

" Go Shin!" Shu yelled to him. " Get outta here!"

" Shu!" Shin yelled with tears in his eyes. He reached out his hand , but Shu shook his head.

" GO NOW!" he ordered. Shin shook his head and was about to go back when he felt someone grabbed his arm. He was pulled out of the opening just as he saw the roof of the tunnel collapse on his lover and the soldiers. That's when the earthquake suddenly stopped just as it had started.

" SHU!" Shin cried. Tears fell freely now and he turned immediately to glare at the person who had had the audacity to save him. Blue green met tiger blue and Shin growled angrily.

" How could you do that?!" he yelled as he pulled his arm from Ryo's grip. " I could have save him!!"

" He told you to go because he knew it would have collapsed on you too!" Ryo replied.

" But you left him there!" Shin cried.

" He wouldn't have wanted you to join him!" Ryo shouted back.

" Guys put on your armor now!" Touma yelled to them. They turned to look at him and saw his eyes wide with fear. The two looked where his eyes were locked and saw the strange red and black gust coming towards them.

Instinctively, all three of them called their armors just before it over came them. The winds blew and the dust hit them with solidarity as if it was anything but a gas. Touma was knocked back, but never hit a tree. The screams of the soldiers around them as their spirits were taken from their forms and into the mist were agonizing.

He covered his ears and waited as the mist dissipated quickly. He opened his eyes and found himself laying in a barren land of dead life and dirt. No tree stood and no plant grew where it once flourished. He couldn't help but gasp at the destruction. That's when he looked up to a hill not far away from them and saw a man standing on his horse.

He couldn't see the person clearly, but knew that they meant trouble. He looked around and saw Ryo and Shin slowly getting to their feet. " Uh guys," Touma called.

" Nani?" Shin groaned with the aching in his back.

" More bad news," he pointed to the hill.

" Kuso," Ryo hissed under his breath as he pulled his katana from his back. That's when the man raised a sword in the air and it seemed that hundreds of small figures came up from behind him.

" Oh bloody hell," Shin whispered. A loud war cry rang out across the wasteland and the soldiers descended upon them immediately.

*****

Sage sat in his room reading quietly and sighed. Makuyo had left the day before and he had been left alone in his room. For some reason he felt something bad was going to happen that day. His heart told him that a shift in power was at play and soon the war was going to end in a very bloody way.

His head began to hurt and the blonde stood and walked to his table. He prepared his usual potion brew and sat it down on the table. What happened to Gen Masho? Sage wondered to himself. When he had awoken late the night before the enemy warrior had been gone and he couldn't find him. He was worried that something had happened to him when he had tried to escape. Sage knew that Makuyo was very cruel to escapees before killing them.

" I hope you are safe," he whispered his prayer once again before picking up his glass. That's when he felt a pain in his chest. It felt to him as if he heart had just stopped and he grasped his chest in an attempt to force it away.

" Master Sage…" a voice called to him as the door opened. Nio looked around and then noticed the blonde near the table. " What's wrong Master Sage?"

" I can't breathe," Sage whispered hoarsely. " My heart…" He could say no more as the glass dropped from his hand and fell to the floor. The boy's lavender/blue eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed to the floor.

" Master Sage!" Nio cried and rushed to his side.

A/N: How was that? Like it? Needs work? I need reviews people! Come on and tell me what you think. Kathrine accepts flames even. But we all know why. ^_^

Kathrine: Come Flamers if you dare. Mwahahahahahaha!!!!!!

JC: *~~*