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Of those so close behind me,
which are you?
God bless the ground!
I shall walk softly there,
And learn by going where
I have to go.

~~Theodore Roethke~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"  The scream of the young man pierced through the silent dynasty corridors as he screamed in agony (yet again...) from the massive torture he was experiencing. It hurt so much...it was worse than when..
"That is enough."
"What?! Lord Cale?!" Shinosuke stuttered, surprised by the Warlord's sudden visit."What are you doing here?!"
"I came to check on your progress with this boy. I see you have made none."
"My lord..he is quite stubborn and refuses to allow us any victory! I...I have tried everything to--"
"It no longer matters. If he shall not tell us through speech...then he shall help us through actions." Cale said simply, grinning evily as he approached Sage.

"This is taking forever! We'll never be able to stop those Warlord wusses if we keep getting caught up in fights with these bozos!!!" Shiro yelled as the battle began to intensify in the enclosed area of the courtyard.
"This isn't good...if we keep fighting these guys..we won't have enough energy left for the real battle!!!" Taro answered. "We must find the other Ronins and stop the Warlords!!!"
"Well I'm open to suggestions!!!" Shiro yelled back.
"I'm sick and tired of fighting these pathetic soldiers...when are we gonna get to the real fight??? I'm hungry enough as it is!!!" Joe yelled, interrupting Taro and Shiro's conversation.
"Is food the only thing you think about?!" Shiro yelled, trying his best to sound leader like. It's my duty and responsibility to be their leader. To protect them, to make sure that they defeated the Dynasty. To bring forth victory and peace, as my father Ryo had done before me. Guardian told me that I'm the spitting image of my father, in looks and personality. Even though they told me these things, and showed me what my father had showed them, I don't feel like a leader.
"Hey!!!" Joe yelled, interrupting his thoughts."I may be hungry..but first I wanna beat the freakin' crap out o' those freakin' Dark Dimwits!!! They think that they can just up and disappear into the freakin' past then they got another thing coming, the cowards!!" He yelled as he stopped in midfight and looked up into the dark dynasty sky. "C'mon ya yellow bellied wusses!! I DARE ya to come and fight us!!" he screamed. The Ronins, past and future, stopped and stared as the the dynasty soldiers stopped their ambush and slowly began to draw back from the warriors. For the first time future and past ronins faced each other.
"Rowen?" Ryo said silently as he watched his friend slowly regain consciousness.
"Unh...what happened?" Rowen asked groggily as he put his hand to his head. He heard muffled laughter from the other guys as he tried to focus his eyes. He slowly began to raise himself up. He turned around to see Kayura, sitting on the ground behind him, blushing slightly. He jumped to his feet, his hand going straight to the back of his head as he laughed nervously. He was blushing furiously and he knew it. Oh why did this always have to happen?! "K-Kayura...." he mumbled nervously as the others broke out into uncontrollable laughter. He turned, trying to hide his face from Kayura. I can't believe this!!! I was resting my head on her lap and they didn't do nothing?! At least Sage wasn't here to add to the laughter....He looked up and noticed a bunch of other teenagers snickering at the scene. "..oh great.."

"Wait a sec!!! How the bloody hell can you be my son?! I haven't even had a real girlfriend yet!!!" Cye yelled as he stared at the small boy. How strange this is...This boy saved me using the waters element, by calling forth the tidal waves of the seven seas of the Torrent. Yet...aren't I the only one capable of wielding such power? Only through the armor of Torrent could one call forth such power, such energy. How could such a small boy do it?
"Well...it's a real long story and..um.." Cye watched as the boy began to glance around, looking for an escape from the question.
"We got time." Cye said simply, flopping down on the ground and removing his helmet to scan for injuries. He'd been hit in the head hard a few times and wanted to make sure he hadn't been hurt. He'd heard the soldiers move out and was worried for his friends. He was about to try and contact them when he felt a slight mental nudge. "Kento." he whispered as he heard his friends voice in his head.
'Cye?? Cye?!'
'I'm right here Kento.'
'What happened to ya man??? Ya disappeared in midfight!!'
'So you noticed..'
'Hey!'
'Sorry Kento...I was saved by a young boy. I'm trying to figure out who he is now...I'll be back soon...is that alright? No one's hurt I hope!' Cye asked, feeling worried.
'Nah...well do what ya gotta do and get back!'
'Sure thing Kento!'
'...english brat..'
'Hey! What was that for!?'
"Um..da..er, I mean..um..Torrent...uh.." Cye looked up to see the boy blushing bright red, clearly embarrassed.  He sighed, knowing this was gonna be long.

"Who're you!?" Ryo asked, gawking at the six warriors that stood on the other side of the courtyard. All of them were dressed in bright capes, so long that he couldn't make out what the were wearing beneath them. A few of them held daggers or katanas in their hands, but nothing larger than that. The hoods of their capes concealed their faces in dark shadows so that he couldn't make out any of their facial features above the mouth. He watched as two of them stepped forward, most likely the leaders of the band.
"Ohayo, Ryo of the Wildfire." the taller one said. He seemed to be the eldest and bore two katanas at his waist. He was obviously japanese and the swords he bore seemed ancient. Part of his clothes were revealed from under the cloak, showing a pure white cloth, almost like a training doji.
"Who are you?" Ryo repeated, trying to make out the young man's face.
"I am Guardian, protector of these warriors. We have come here to help you against the Warlords of the Dynasty."
"Help us? Why?" Rowen asked, suddenly very interested. This was mainly Rowen's one weakness...he was too curious for his own good. He thought instead of fought. It was a weakness that had been used against him before. Though it was also an advantage that he always used to it's full potential.
"Let's just say these ain't your normal warlords." The other man said calmly. He was beginning to get on Ryo's nerves..he was waaay too calm. His secretiveness wasn't helping Ryo's temper either.
"We are the warriors of the new order, of the new Earth. These warlords are not those of this place nor time. You must be wary of them. Their power is much greater than those that you know already." Guardian explained.
"How is that?" Kento and Ryo watched as Guardian and Rowen began a very confusing theoretical conversation. Though Ryo stopped listening after a while...
"Will you give us a straight answer already?!" Ryo burst out. Patience wasn't his strong point, and his temper was twice as worse. Guardian and Rowen both looked up at him in surprise. If he didn't know any better...he would have thought he saw a smile on Guardian's face...

"So...what you're basically saying...." Cye began. He'd been right...it had been a long story.... "..is that you, and your friends, are our future children as well as the next line of Ronin Warriors."
"Yes!!" Kei said, exasperated. He flopped to the ground, clearly exhausted. It had been a long 24 hours and he was anxious to return home. Don't take it wrong, he had always wanted to meet his father...he'd been a toddler when the final battle had begun and his father had been forced to leave with the other Ronins. Though he was now face to face with his father..the face of his father..the one he had had before life had taken everything from him. Kei remembered for a minute as he let his mind drift back to to the world he knew. Back to the world of gods and goddesses, magic and witches...and Warlords and Ronins. He remembered the first time he had sneeked into the Chamber of Silence..where he had met Krystal for the first time...and then the punishment for having disobeyed Guardian...--
"Kei?"
"Hunh?? Wha?..Oh I'm sorry...please forgive my--"
"No need to apoligize...you did nothing wrong." Kei looked up to see Cye smiling down at him, his arm outstretched to help him to his feet. Kei stared at it a moment and then, smiling, happily accepted his future father's hand.

"Aw man! This is taking forever...." Kento complained as he dropped to the ground and sat cross legged, resting his head in his palm. "If Rowen and Ryo would quit yappin'..."
"Oh stop complaining Kento!"
"Hunh?! Cye? Cye!!" he yelled as he got up to greet his friend, but tripped over his own naginta.( his dual speared staff for those of you who havent read the japanese character guide..)
"Kento, can't you do anything right?" Cye said as he laughed at his friend.
"Haha...very funny." he said as he picked himself up and brushed the dirt off of him. "Who's the kid?" he asked as he noticed the small boy hiding behind Cye.
"Kei!" Cye and Kento turned to see another boy running towards them.
They watched as he ran, yelled, and tripped over Kento's naginta. Kei burst out laughing at the sight of this and Kento and Cye tried desperately to hide snickers. It WAS funny...
"HEY!!!" the three of them turned to look at the other boy on the ground. He was beginning to lift himself up as his hood came off, falling on his shoulders, revealing his face. Kento and Cye stood there gaping. The boy looked almost exactly like Kento! (except for the fact that he wasn't chubby...actually he was quite well built....) The boy wore the same yellow bandana as Kento, with short locks of deep ash blue hair falling over it. His round blue eyes were full of annoyance with them for having laughed and he had a bit of a natural tan. In all cases, if there'd been a girl around, other than Mia and Kayura, she'd be grabbing on to him tighter than Ayako suffocated Sage.
"Jeez Joe! Don't you know how to look where you're going?!" Kei asked as he began to stop laughing. Kei looked down at Joe. He was clearly pissed off, but what else was new?
"Where the freakin' hell ya been ya english brat?! We been lookin' all over fer ya!" Joe yelled. That's when it hit Cye. The looks, the american accent...was he Kento's son? He had to be!
"Well....um.....I have a good excuse!"
"You better have one since Guardian's about to blow a freakin' gasket!"
"Y'know Joe..you should really get that fixed. You say the word freakin' in every sentence!!." Kei said smiling. "Where's Krys? I don't see her..." Kei said glancing around.
"Arren sent her to check out where the Warlords were hiding...she hasn't come back yet."
"Guardian?" Kei said as he began to approach him. "I told Cye of the Torrent who we were."
"WHAT?! I told you not too!! We have to be careful not to damage the timeline!"
"But..if they aren't gonna remember us then why bother making sure we don't tell them!? We have to trust them and they have to trust us!" Kei answered back. "The timeline's already been damaged...so what do we have to lose?"
"We--" Guardian stopped in midsentence and whirled around. He stared into nothing for a few minutes and thn turned to Arren. "D..do you feel that?"
"Yeah....but where's it comin' from?" Arren asked. While Guardian had an expression of surprise mixed with fear, Arren held an expression of determination, almost as if he was waiting for the evil presence...daring it to show its face, and it did.

Ryo stopped short and stared. He felt his whole body go numb as a shiver ran up his spine at the sight before him.
"Hmp...personally...I think it's an improvement." Sage replied, grinning. He watched as the other Ronins mouths dropped at the sight of the pitch black armor he wore. It glissened a deep jade green in certain areas as he raised the matching pitch black sword. The handle was gruesomely carved out of a deep emerald stone. Sage's golden blond hair and light skin contrasted immensely against the new armor, giving him a ghostlike appearence.
"Sage...???" Cye said quietly as he looked his friend up and down. "Is..is that really you?" he whispered.
"It is."
"Wha..what have they done to you?!" Rowen blurted out, complete confusion and disbelief written all over his face. He looked up at Sage's face and his eyes grew as wide as saucers at what he saw. Sage's violet eyes had become blood red.
"Nothing I didn't truly want." He said. They watched as he slowly raised his sword and began to look at the reflections of the Ronins. "..and Ryo.." he said quietly, a small smile appearing at the corner of his lips. "I must repay you for everything you've done..."
"What..?!" Ryo said as he felt the urge to run from that place. For some reason, every one of his senses was telling him to run, to hide, to abandon his friends and run in terror from Sage.
"...everything you've done.." Sage continued. "..and I must repay you in full...LIKE THIS!!!" he yelled as he lunged at Ryo.He knocked Ryo to the ground with a terrifing strength and speed that was more than human. Then..before the others had the time to blink, he stabbed Ryo through with the sword and disappeared into thin air, leaving the others to stand there, gawking at Ryo's lifeless body and the large gap that was now part of his chest.
"...R..Ryo....no....how can this be happening?" Cye said, his voice was shaking as fierce as his body was. He turned to look at the others. Kento seemed to be in some state of shock, Mia was crying in Rowen's arms. Rowen was staring at Ryo's body in disbelief. Cye didn't blame him. Rowen had just watched his best friend appear and kill Ryo. What was going on?!  He turned and stared at the other young warriors. They weren't moving. It was as if they didn't even care...or were in some state of shock. That's strange...Didn't they say that they were created because of us? Aren't they even concerned about-- His thoughts were cut off as he saw one of the younger warriors slump to the ground. Cye watched as his hood fell of from the sudden movement to show long jet black hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. His bangs fell loosely around his bright blue eyes...almost like those of a tiger. His skin was slightly tanned and seemed to be about their age.
"R-R-RYO?!" Cye stammered shocked. The others turned to see what he was talking about and found themselves as shocked as him. There, on the ground, sat what might have been Ryo...if it hadn't been for how young he was. Cye quickly turned to Kei, his eyes said everything for him.
"Ronin warriors...th..this is Shiranoi.." Kei began as he watched Shiro. "..Senada."
"But..how can that be...Ryo doesn't have a kid and if he just died...." Rowen began, staring at Shiro and then at Ryo's bloodied body. He was fighting back tears and he knew that Cye was allowing the tears to slip down his face unchecked.
"Ryo wasn't supposed to die..this never happened...." They turned to see Guardian. His long brown hair was a bit messed. His bue eyes were full of sorrow. In fact...if his hair had been shorter, Rowen would have thought him to be....no. It couldn't be...could it?!
"I believe it's time I told you the whole truth. Like I said, we're from the future, past the year two thousand. We are more than just the next line of Ronin Warriors, we are your descendants. They are your children that you left in my care."
"Our...children?!"
"Yes...as you've seen they all have a great ressemblance to each of you. Taro..." He said and one of the warriors in a dark blue cloak stepped forward. "Taro here is the son of Rowen Hashiba or Rowen of Strata ..." he continued as Rowen stared as the boy removed the cloak. His long blue locks of hair were gently picked up by the wind giving the allure of something familiar...something Rowen had seen before. His eyes were the same sky-blue color as Rowen's and he had the same skin tone. "..and Lady Kayura of the Dynasty."
"WHAT?!" the two of them yelled in unison. "Y-you...mean I..we...um..." Rowen blurted, trying to find the words. He would marry Kayura...wow.
"Joe here.." Guardian continued as a tall boy about the age of sixteen stepped forward. His short blue locks, a bit messed, were falling over the bright canary yellow bandana. He was quite muscular and it was obvious that he worked out quite abit...though his face gave the same allure of being the class clown that Kento's did. "..is Joe Rei Faun, Kento's son." They watched the boy. He looked at them calmly, as if he'd known them his whole life.
"This.." Guardian said, indicating a small young boy. He was quite skinny, though he was slightly built. His hair was a bright reddish brown with two white locks falling over his face. His large sea blue eyes reflected trust, so strong and bright that it almost seemed to dig into the soul of a person. "is Kei Mouri. Cye's son. He's only thirteen and the youngest of them."
"And finally is Shiro...." Guardian said, waving his hand at Shiro. He had mainly pulled himself togethor but his head was hung low, as if in disgrace "like Kei said, Shiro is, was, Ryo's son. But unless we can fix this time and stop Ryo from ever being killed, he will never exist."
"What..." Cye began then stopped, a little embarrassed." ..what about Sage? Where's his son? "
"Sage didn't have a son." Guardian said. "He had a daughter. I sent her on a mission..she should be back shortly, I'll introduce her to you then. But her name is Krystallin. She's usually called Krystal or Krys for short."
"We've covered who they are...what about you two?" Rowen asked indicating Arren and Guardian.
"I...I am exactly what my name is. A guardian to these children. The five of you left them in my care when you left for the final battle. You never returned, I'm afraid."
"Why would we leave them in your care? Why not Mia? or someone else we knew?" Kento shot. He wanted to know this guy's name and it showed.
"Because...I was once called Yulie."
"WHAT?! You...you're Yulie?!"
"I'm a future version of him that could be. Arren here is the reincarnation of the body of Helios...making him in ways, a semigod." Kei watched them talk and explain things... Where was Krys? she would love this! Especially how they kept dragging Arren into the converstaion despite his constant attempts of escape.
'Kei...' hunh?? Kei turned and looked around. No one had called his name yet he'd heard it...inside his mind?! Krystal!
"Kei..run! Now!'
'Run? why?' Kei asked confused. Why was she telling him to run? Where was she?? That's when he heard her voice, for real this time.
"KEI!!!!" Krystal yelled as Cale dived towards the small boy. "Kei! Move it!!" she yelled. There was no way that she would make it to him in time! She was already pushing the limits of her power...She watched in horror as Cale began the incantation to his Sure-kill...
"Black Lightning Strike!!!!" he yelled. Though it was the same attack that he had used against the first line of Ronins, it had become ten times more powerful as the decades had progressed.
"NO!!!" Krys yelled as she watched the lightning head straight for Kei...he wouldn't survive if he was hit by that thing! She had to do something..anything!! But she was helpless..He was too far away...It hit it's target dead-one...A crater forming in the ground from the back lash of energy. All the while, Cale chuckling like a maniac.
He watched as the girl flew down to where the boy had been..watched her search desperately for the young Torrent.
"Kei? KEI?" she yelled, becoming more and more worried. Until she saw them. Kei hadn't been hit. Kei hadn't been hit since one of the former Ronin Warriors had taken the blow for him. "The timeline...has changed." she said quietly as she looked at the two of them.
"Krystal....???" Kei voiced the question with his eyes. He felt his eyes begin to well up with tears as she gave him the answer by turning to Cale once more.
"Bastard." she said as she flew into the air and floated in front of Cale. "We finish this now." She said as she drew the halo sword and began a fight in which only one would come out of...

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Awww....poor little Ryo..he's gonna be having some chest pains for quite some time.... but don't worry! He'll be recieving some company up there in the next dimension....BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Oh..sorry about that...got a little carried away.

(= she gets it from me...=*)...*snif*...I'm so proud!! =)

^_^ So what do you guys think? Maybe I'll just leave these guys dead.... any of you figure out who the mysterious ronin is yet?

(= teehee!! ooh!! ohh!! I know!! I know!! But then...I know the next chapter too... =)

Listen up guys, you better mail me (at X Yuzuriha@.aol.com ... try saying that three times fast...) some feedback or I may just leave those two dead...Oh it's sooo fun to play god.... Don'tcha think Minako?

(= teehee!! Now what on earth gave you the idea that I would know anything about being God?!?!?! =)

And Kyone..Sae-chan...Minako? YOU THREE DON'T COUNT SINCE YOU ALREADY KNOW!!! so there.

(= Hey!! I happen to <I>like</I> dead Ronins!! =)

And see Sae-chan? I made it eight pages just for you!!! You better appreciate this chapter...see I had a reason for it taking so long for once!

Ja ne and until next chapter!!!

Ami Mizuno (I'd say something witty like Minako but she might sue me for plagarism.)

(= hon...it's plagiarism...and I might just sue you for using my name without going through the proper system of patents...aren't sisters wonderful!!! =)

I despise her. She did this without my knowledge. Ignore all comments By Minako Aino. She plans to warp your minds to her doing. Run..run for your lives!!!

It's too late for me! Go on!!! =(