Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ Where Am I and What Am I Doing Here?! ❯ In Which There is a Lot of Talking OR In Which There is Much Technical Shit ( Chapter 5 )

Where Am I and What Am I Doing Here?!

 

KuroTsubasaNoTenshi

 

This chapter is rated: PG-13 for language and violence

 

Author's Notes: In this chapter there's a lot of technical stuff thrown around, such as locations and what not. I tried to be as accurate as possible in finding where they're supposed to be, and I actually found a few websites to help those who may be confused. This chapter will be somewhat shorter than the others, and at the end I'll tack on what information and sites I can find that may be helpful.

 

Chapter five: In Which There is a Lot of Talking OR In Which There is Much Technical Shit

 

 

The Sun was starting to set when Kate finally decided on a car. It was a 2001 Firebird, deep red with a fiery orange phoenix on the hood. A long flaming tail disappeared under the driver-side door, coming up again on the other side of the body. It ended at the bumper with a burst of sparkling flame.

 

Kate fell for it instantly. She paced around it, examining the headlights, bumpers, tires, everything. Until she found the door unlocked, that is. Then she was inside, exploring the soft leather interior with a look of glee on her grinning face. “There isn't much trunk space, but it'll do,” she said, turning to the wheel and scanning the gauges.

 

“You lucked out,” Amber commented, looking at the car.

Ryo was staring up into the darkening sky. “You guys think we should find a place to sleep for the night?” He looked around at the girls.

 

“Well, I say we scavenge some burnables, eatables, and some blankets. I'm sleeping in my car,” Caryn said, placing her hands on her hips.

 

“Why burnables?” asked Angsty—Ryo, I mean. Asked Ryo.

 

…I really need to stop doing that.

 

Anyway. Kate looked at him like he was an idiot. “So we can start a fire and, you know, like….cook food? Come on, you aren't that stupid, are you?”

 

Ryo huffed. “No…”

 

Amber sighed. “Alright, Caryn, you and Kate go find us some food. Angsty and I will find something to start a fire with.”

 

Kate and Caryn wandered off to scavenge while Amber and Ryo walked around, picking up anything flammable that they could.

 

“Why don't we just find some place with a kitchen and cook there?” Ryo asked.

 

“Ryo, the power has been out for god knows how long. That means that no electric stoves will work,” Amber explained patiently. “And I don't think any of us really wants to try our luck with a gas stove. I mean, I don't know about you, but I'd rather not die right now.”

 

Approximately fifteen minutes later, the four of them met back at where they had left the cars, each carrying an armload of things.

 

Kate began sorting through the food she and Caryn had found as Caryn instructed the others on the fine art of making a fire from very sparse supplies.

 

“Well, I hope no one will look for these books when we save the world,” the older girl muttered, tearing pages from a book (the reading kind) and crumpling it into balls, which she placed into the pitifully small pile of wood they had managed to harvest from trees carefully planted on the street sides.

 

“Hey, I don't plan on sticking around that long,” Kate called over. “Canned baked beans with your canned ham, or canned cranberry sauce?”

 

“Beans.”

 

“Beans.”

 

“I'll take the sauce.”

 

“Shut up, Ryo. You're out voted. Beans it is.” Kate went back to opening the cans (they're easy to cook in, what can I say?).

 

Caryn dug around in her bag and pulled out an electric match. “Now, light the kindling first. That's the paper.” She clicked the match and a small flame sprung into existence, and she held it carefully to the paper. When it had caught and was burning sufficiently, she began to carefully pile the wood on, waiting to let it all catch before adding the next piece. “Doing that makes sure that you don't smother the fire inadvertently,” she explained, clearing away the rest of the wood for later use. “Where's the food?”

 

“It's coming,” Kate said, heading over to the fire with four open cans; two each of ham and beans. She and Caryn placed them strategically amidst the flames, handing out Styrofoam bowls and plastic silverware while the food heated.

 

“So what do we do now?” Ryo asked as Caryn tested the beans.

 

“I don't know,” Amber replied. She pointed to Kate. “Talk to her, she seems to know what she's talking about.”

 

“…” They all stared expectantly at the resident Ronins expert as the food was passed around.

 

“Well,” Kate said around a mouthful of beans, “What do you want to know?”

 

“Who do we look for next?”

 

“Where at?”

 

“Mmfscrnch.”

 

“Amber, don't speak with your mouth full.”

 

Kate sighed. “Well, let's see. Next is…Sage at the Akiyoshi-dai Plateau.”

 

“…” Amber stared at her friend. “How do you remember that?”

 

“It's `cause I'm Special with a capital `s'.”

 

Caryn rolled her eyes. “Riiiiiiiiiight…”

 

“No, wait. Really, how do you know that?” Ryo asked.

 

Amber and Caryn glared at the other girl, daring her to mess this up.

 

“Um..” Kate had to figure out how to phrase it without confusing the poor boy. “Well, uh…it's an…ancient…prophecy! Yes, it's a prophecy from a very, very long time ago.”

 

“Really?” Oh good, Ryo was buying her bullshit story. “What does it say?”

 

Kate sighed. “Here goes.

“Torch of Spirit sought through five,

Drinking strength from immortal fire.

Darkest prison sheds the light,

Churning beneath a swirl of salt,

Seated in a throne of rock,
Floating amongst the eyes of the ages,

Unmoored in the stream of the sky.

 

“And that's what we're following,” Kate finished, immersing herself in her food once more.

 

“…How do you know that?” Ryo asked incredulously.

 

“Most of it is common sense,” Amber replied. “The armors are based on elements, right? Fire, light, water, earth, and air.”

 

Caryn picked up. “Each line of the `prophecy' refers to a different armor. `Immortal fire' for you, Ryo; `the light' is Sage; `swirl of salt' refers to the ocean or a large body of salt water; `throne of rock' is obvious; the last one I don't get though.”

 

“The last one is about the Strata armor,” Kate explained. “Now think. In our atmosphere, there are a couple of layers, right? Name the first one that comes to mind.”

 

“Thermosphere.”

 

“Stratosphere.”

 

“Right. Stratosphere, Strata…see? We don't usually call that big blue mass of nothing up there the atmosphere though…we call it the sky, or space. Get it now? The last two lines refer to the Armor of Strata.”

 

“But how do you know where to look?” Ryo asked, still curious.

 

“The Akiyoshi Plateau is home to Akiyoshi-dai Cave, which was once a refuge and place of meditation for religious types. It's also the darkest place in Toyama, am I right? `Darkest prison sheds the light'…See? Sage is in Akiyoshi-dai Cave at the Akiyoshi-dai Plateau!”

 

Ryo stared. “You're smart.”

 

“Only when it doesn't matter,” Caryn threw in, smirking at Kate.

 

“Yeah, I'm full of useless information,” laughed the younger girl. “But not all of it is useless. If you didn't have me, you'd all be lost now.”

 

“If we didn't have you,” Amber muttered, “we probably wouldn't be here in the first place.”

 

The three girls laughed, leaving Ryo to look confused. He stopped, blinked, and looked around. “Hey…where's Whiteblaze?”

 

“Probably off hunting somewhere. We'll see him again eventually.”

 

“…” Kate had stopped eating and was staring at her firebird (lovingly named “Fawkes”) in despair. Caryn noticed the look and waved a hand in front of her face.

 

“Kate? Yoohoo? You in there?”

 

“I…can't have Fawkes….” The girl murmured.

 

Ryo looked at her curiously. “But you're in love with that car. Why not?”

 

“To get to Sage, and Kento as well, we need to do some off-roading. And while Pontiacs are good for doing stupid shit like I pulled in Bobit, I don't want to take a Firebird where we have to go. I need an SUV.”

 

“…” Caryn stared at her friend and then began to laugh. “Hahahahaha….sucks to be you, doesn't it?”

 

“Shut up, bitch,” Kate pouted. “I'll take the SUV and get Kento in Hokkaido, but you have to get Cye in the Naruto Strait and deal with Crack Baby.”

 

“I thought he was the fag?” Amber asked.

 

“Well, yeah, but he looks like he's high on something,” Caryn replied, leaving Ryo even more confused.

 

“Whatever…” Ryo sighed. “I'm going to sleep.”

 

“Back seat of Bobit,” Caryn replied instantly. I'm reclining the front.”

 

“Amber, you're with me in Fawkes. Tomorrow I'll look for something else,” Kate sighed, gathering the dishes and cans and stowing them in a plastic bag to be thrown away later. She was strongly against littering, even if it was a semi-post-apocalyptic world where no one really cared.

 

Caryn put the fire out carefully and they all retired to the cars for a fitful night of sleep.

 

~*~*~

 

Alrighty. Now, for those of you that are probably SO confused right now, I offer what information I could find. All notes are listed in order of appearance.

 

-General information-

http://www.theria.net/yst

 

-Ryo's Resting Place (in reference to chapter 4)-

It only makes sense that Ryo's armor, being of the fire element, would go to a volcano to rest and recharge. In the original Japanese series, the Wildfire is called Rekka, and yes, the two series are different. Anyway, in Yoroiden Samurai Troopers (Japanese), Rekka is hidden away in Mt. Fuji. I'm reasonably sure that in Ronin Warriors Ryo's resting place is never really mentioned, which is why I never specified. But, for those of you wondering, Ryo is actually in Mt. Fuji. It's his armor that makes it active again.

 

-Akiyoshi-dai Cave and Plateau-

Now, let's get this straight. A lot of Ronins sites have the cave where Sage is as Akiko Cave, which isn't correct. It's Akiyoshi-dai. The Akiyoshi-dai Plateau is a real place, and so is the cave, located in central Yamaguchi, in southwestern Japan. It's a popular tourist spot.

http://www.imaginarie.com/LibraryofLegends/Atlas/akiyoshida icave.htm

 

-Kento in Hokkaido?-

I can't seem to find any information on where exactly in Hokkaido Kento is. All I can seem to find is that he's in some mountains somewhere. The rock that he's encased in is called the “Seat of God”. The lack of specific information on this is saddening.

 

-Naruto Strait and the Whirlpools-

Cye is sitting pretty in the middle of the Great Whirlpool of Meimon, which is in the Naruto Strait between the islands of Awaji and Shikoku. The whirlpool effect only occurs four times a day, however, with the changing of the tides rather than all the time. I'm reasonably sure there's only one whirlpool, though. This is also another popular tourist spot. I managed to get some pictures, and the third website has pictures of Awaji Island, as well as the Strait and two bridges that connect Awaji to Shikoku. I'm not sure which bridge is used in Ronins.

http://www.anan-nct.ac.jp/english/Images/eddy.gif

http://www.geocities.jp/general_sasaki/kirishima-jingu-sho/ naruto-uzushio-a.jpg

http://www.bms.sanken.osaka-u.ac.jp/~tashiro/photo/2001_05_ 05/awaji.html