Warriors' Sacrifice
From Dusk Till Dawn

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I wake to sleep, and take my
waking slow.
I feel my fate in what I cannot
fear.
I learn by going where I have
to go.

---Theodore Roethke

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"Hurry up Sa-chan! If you don't hurry you'll be late for school again!" the boy yelled behind him. Sage turned to see the other boy , who was standing outside the school gates. He was at least a block behind the other boy. He stood up and waved. Then, putting his hand to his mouth yelled in answer to the other boy.
"Don't worry! I've got plenty of --" He was interrupted as the school bells rang, indicating that classes were to begin. "...time..." He finished, looking exasperated.He broke out inot a sprint trying to reach the gates before they closed. But, like always, he made it a moment too late. He cursed under his breath as he watched the other boy run into the school, the teacher yelling at him to get to classes. Sage let his head drop as the teacher approuched the gates.
"Late again, I see." The man sighed heavily, clearly annoyed." I must admit though ...that was an impressive run you just performed..." Sage looked up at his teacher. "...perhaps you should try out for track." he finished, looking at Sage. "You already run like the wind. It's as if you were running away from something."

Sage awoke with a gasp,instinctively looking around even though his eyes were still of little use to him. He'd retrieved some use of his eyes, but everything was still foggy and distorted.He sighed heavily, closing his eyes. Now what do I do?

"I can't stand this anymore! We can't just sit here and do nothing! We gotta help him! " Ryo yelled, slamming his fists against the table.
"I totally agree with Ryo! I say we go rock their world right now!" Kento yelled, standing up.A loud thump was heard as his chair crashed to the ground. "Oops..."
"Kento! Calm down! What do the two of you plan to do once you get in the Dynasty?!" Cye exclaimed, trying his best to give a look of anger, though failing.
"Save Sage, of course!"
"It won't do you any good to go in there, half cocked. We have to come up with a plan..." Rowen said.
"They're probably waiting for us...."Rowen said, keeping his gaze outside. A storm was coming, bringing bad tidings. "We have to contact the dark warlords and Kayura...maybe they know where Sage is."
"We've tried that..." Cye said, sighing out of frustration.
" And it worked." They all turned to see Lady Kayura of the Dynasty standing in the doorway. "I'm afraid you won't like what I have to say."

"Are you sure you're up to this Taro? This is a very taxing spell." The young man said as he walked out side with the blue haired teenager.
"That's why he's not doing it alone." The man turned to see Krystal leaning against a tree. She was already suited up in her sub armor, a jade green bag was hanging off of her shoulder.
"She'll be the one to hold the door while I turn the key." Taro said, smiling.
"Are you sure she's up to this? That dream shook her up alot...I'd never seen her like that..." The young man said.
"She claims to be fine now..and won't take no for an answer. She seems to be back to her old self though she's still shaken..she just won't admit it." Taro said, looking at her.
"You have to keep in mind as to how powerful she really is...she's almost as powerful as the white armor."
"Yes, I know...I still don't see how Arren survives their training sessions."
"His name does mean sword...and the fact of his own relation to her and the armors..." Taro said thoughtfully. "But that's beside the point, shall we begin?"
"Yes." The young man said. He turned around and with one hand gesture, called the other Ronins to him. "Are you all ready? Then let's go." He said as he pulled out the jewel of life from under his shirt. "Take your places." They ran into different corners of the yard until they formed a star. In the center stood the young man and Arren. "Begin."
"Armor of the Torrent! Trust."
"Armor of the Hardrock! Justice."
"Armor of Wildfire! Virtue."
"Armor of the Strata! Life."
"Armor of the Halo! Wisdom."
The two young men watched from the center of the star as the colored energy beams shot up from the teenagers, their hair flying up from the discharge of energy.
"Tochi ...Hi...Umi...Sora...Tamashii...Taiyoo..." The encantation trailed of as the wind began to whip around Taro. The other teenagers concentrated hard as the energy began to increase more and more. That was the cue. The young man closed his eyes as the jewel of life began to twirl around it's cord. Arren watched as the young man began to speak forgotten words of a forgotten clan. He turned to look at Krystal. Her body was emanating a soft green energy as she spoke the encantations that had been passed down from generation to generation. They had almost lost those spells, Though they had been found. He turned towards the sky as the energy began to meld and the gate to past was created. "Here we go!" he yelled as the were engulfed by the multicolored light.

"So how do we get to the Dynasty to save Sage?" Ryo asked as they listened to Kayura. The watched as she walked towards them, the Ancient's staff clanging from the movement.
"I now know how to handle the Ancient's staff. It shall take us there."
"Then let's go!" Cye said as the others grabbed their armor orbs and suited up in their sub armors.They stood in front of her as she stated the encantation.They looked at each other as they were engulfed by a bright light and transported to the Dynasty.
"There is a disturbance in the time space plane...I do not know who is causing this disturbance...or why this is happening. But you can be sure that it has something to do with the disappearence of your friend!" Kayura said as they arrived outside of the Dynasty gates. "As you can see they--" Kayura stopped and looked around. "Ronin Warriors? Where..."She turned to see the Ronin Warriors piled on top of each other, each one glaring at her. She stared as she counted each Ronin. Mia and Yulie sat on top of White Blaze who was crushing Ryo, who was on top of Kento, who was lying on Rowen, all of who were sitting on a very crushed Cye.
"..thought..you..said..you..had..figured..that thing..out..." Cye said as he tried to move out from under the pile.
"I did, it's just.." She winced as the leaning tower of Ronins fell over and slammed into the ground." ..it always seems to do that when I transport the lot of you..."
"So now what?" Cye asked as he got up, dusting himself off.
"Now we go and find your friend." She said as a large crash sounded behind her. The group of heroes turned to see yet another pile of teenagers a few meters behind Kayura.

The group began to pick themselves up from one another while trying to figure where they were.It was clear that the spell had worked since they found themselves just outside the Dynasty gates, moaning and groaning.
"Will you guys PLEASE get offa me?!" Arren sat at the very bottom of the pile ...tapping his fingers in annoyance against the ground. He looked up to see that none of them had paid attention to him except for Krystal (who was floating in the air at this point...) "Oh well." he said as he smiled evilly. Krystal watched as Arren's body began to glow a bright yellowish white color. She winced as everyone who was still in the pile yelped in pain and scrambled off of Arren...Jo trying to stop the bottom of his pants from smoking.
"Hey! What the hell did you do that for?!" Jo yelled as he turned and glared at Arren.
"To get you offa me." Arren said as the light began to fade.
"Stupid freakin' frackin'....I don't care if yer some kinda fire god, I'm gonna--"
"What? Do tell...I am really bored."
"Why you--"
"Excuse us..." The group turned to stare straight at Lady Kayura of the Dynasty, the Ronins behind her. "..but how were you able to enter the Dynasty?" She watched as all of their eyes got wide and the all began to look at one another.
"Well, um, ya see...it's, um, a very long story that takes a lot of time to tell...something that we don't have at the moment so...seeya!" Arren said as he turned around and signaled for the others to follow him. Lady Kayura and the Ronin Warriors were left behind, eyes wide, in a cloud of smoke.

"My lord." The man said as he bowed before his Masters. His long green locks brushed against the ground as he awaited his Masters orders. He glimpsed out of the corner of his eye at the younger girl and boy who mimicked his movements. They were his soldiers, and he was their leader. It was his duty to lead them to whatever battles their Masters ordered them to.
"Rakata."
"We have come at your request, my Lord." he answered. Quickly standing to face his first Master, Lord Cale of Darkness.
"The Ronins of our time have followed us here. They must be...disposed...of."
"Of course my Lord.We shall take care of them immediatly." Rakata answered. He turned his back to his Lord and quickly shouted commands to the two soldiers behind him. "Vesta and Azrael shall aid me. The one called Krystal is tricky. I do not wish to lose another good soldier." he said to his Lord as he watched the other two leave.
"Yes. Listen to me carefully Rakata. They Ronin's of the past must not be allowed to come into contact with those of our time. If they were to team up, the effects could be disastrous."
"Yes my Lord. Do not worry. I myself shall go on this mission."
"Do not disapoint us Rakata, unless you wish the same fate as Koran."

He screamed in agony,the pain too much to bear. He tasted the blood in his mouth where he had ben hit with the dull side of his own sword. His golden blond hair was now soaked with blood and he could no longer feel his legs. His vision blurred a bit as he looked up at his torturer. The young man was about the same age as him, only there was a dark shadow cast over his soul. The man's hair was the same color as his, a golden blond the color of the sun. Though for some reason, he could never make out the mans eyes, they were always hidden by shadows that seemed to move around him.
"So you are awake at last." the young man said, walking towards his prisoner.  He advanced until they could feel each others breath. "Now are you going to tell us what we want to know ormust we continue?" the man said, firmly holding Sage's chin between his thumb and index finger.
"...b...bastard..."Sage answered in slurred speach.His body was still shaking from the energy blast that had been sent through his body.
"Now, now, Sage...is that any way to talk to your elder brother?" the man answered.
" ...y..you are...NOT...Shinosuke...how dare you disgrace his name...by claiming to be him..."Sage retorted, blood dribbling down the side of his face from an earlier blow to the head.
"You are as stubborn as ever..." Shinosuke said, turning away from Sage as he slapped his hand with Sage's sword. "If you wish to stay in this prison forever, hten that is your choice. Personally..I prefer the room given to me by the Warlords."
"...m..my..friends...will come for me...." Sage said between gasps of pain.
"Really? and what makes you think that they will come at all? or that they are even still alive?" The man said leaving his prisoner alone in the cold dark.
"They WILL come...they have to .."Sage whispered to himself as a single tear roll down his cheek.

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Konnichi wa!!! Here it is! Chapter three all finished and ready for you to read! I hope you're happy now Saendie!!! Geez...I'm just a little late....
Well anyway...sorry for the delay! You have no idea how much trouble I went through with this chapter! And now I have to start chapter four! Hear are, like always, my recommendations and thank yous and all that....

1. I'd like to thank all of you who took the time to write to me about my story and thanks for the words of encouragement! ( Keep it up guys! I'm finally getting some feedback!!) I always write back!!!

2. Thank you everyone who has my story on their page, especially Sara Faith Wright...and of course Saendie...who helps me to organize my ideas!

3. Don't worry...you may not get the plot right away..(I've been told by a certain person that there is no plot at all...) ..but it will become more defined as the story continues.

Until then...I'm gonna kick back, relax, and read a few chapters of As Sane As Can Be.

Till next time!

Ami Mizuno

^_~