Origin of the Mystics: Chapter 1

Author’s Note: Hello everyone! This is the first in my Ronin Warriors stories!

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I do not own Ronin Warriors in any way. The only characters I own are my OCs.

RRRRRRRRRRRR – scene change

Italics – thoughts

~italics~ – dreams

‘italics’ – video/phone speak

………………..

~The room was dark, even darker than a night with a new moon.

He looked around as best he could. Walking in either direction did not really help either. It seemed the apparent room he was standing in was endless in its size. He wandered around a bit more. Some images from the past flashed before his eyes, reminding him of the last battle with the enemy. Then, out of nowhere, a flash of light appeared in front of him. His shout echoed as he covered his eyes with one hand.

He blinked a few times to clear the spots. His eyes adjusting slowly to the sudden brightness of the room. When he could see, he saw five separate boxes standing in a row in front of him. Each stood on its own wooden pedestal and had a small cloth underneath which hung off the edges of the pedestal’s sharp, square tops. The boxes were all colored bright silver with ivory trimming the edges. Each also possessed a gold lock on the lid.

The only difference between the boxes were the symbols which stood out on the front of them. Going from left to right the boxes had the symbols of a star, a fire, a diamond with lines in the corners as if it was shining even in the muted colors, then came a crescent moon with a circle in the middle like a crystal and the last was a heart.

He walked slowly towards the boxes, going to each one in turn to inspect it. When he finished with the last one the symbols started to glow white. A slight ringing sound began to echo throughout the room. He whirled around as another five boxes appeared, these with the symbols of the armors which his friends possessed with his own being the second from the right. He turned back to look at the new boxes again in time to see transparent images flash above the boxes in the shape of new and different armors.

Images also appeared on the original five displaying the armors of Wildfire, Strata, Halo, Torrent and Hardrock. Lights flared from the images, sparking across the gap over his head towards the opposite sides. Almost as if they were fighting each other’s powers. To his eyes only two did not seem to do so. The light coming from the Torrent armor merged with the one coming from the box with the crescent symbol. The light grew stronger and a large hand then appeared out of the darkness and enveloped the ten armors. A laugh which was all too familiar echoed through the room.~

RRRRRRRRRRRR

He shot up in bed. Breathing heavily he looked around the room. The familiar surroundings of his room which he shared with his friend slowly calming him. A slight breeze drifted in from the open window. Wiping the sweat off his forehead, he got up and walked out onto the balcony outside the room. The cool wind felt like fresh water on his heated skin, blowing his hair in front of his eyes.

What was that all about? He thought to himself. He turned back towards the room, watching his friend flip over and punch the air as he dreamed. Laughing he shook his head, his friend always seemed to have dreams which he could win every fight. While his scared the heck out of him most of the time. The dreams about being captured and held in the dungeons of the dynasty by Talpa still came to haunt him some nights. But this time the dreams had left him for this one. As much of a relief as it raised questions. He sighed and climbed back into bed to try and get some sleep before sunrise.

RRRRRRRRRRRR

Mia sat at her desk in one of the upstairs rooms typing furiously at her computer. It had been over a month since the defeat of Talpa. For one thing she was glad it was over. The Ronins could finally at least try to live normal lives. The Warlords could as well, though they had gone with Kayura to the Dynasty to try and clean up the mess Talpa had made and to see if Kayura could use some power with the staff of the Ancient One for something. She wasn’t sure what it was and they weren’t very divulging about it.

Yuli had gone back to live with his parents. The captured people had been returned soon after the final battle. He still found time to stop by and see her and the Ronins whenever he could. Mia and the others loved when the kid came by, the house just seemed so empty without him.

She sighed.

Ryo and Rowen were both out with Yuli and White Blaze now exploring the country side and doing some training. She had sent Sage and Kento out to run some errands around the same time a few hours ago. Mostly to restock the fridge supply considering Kento’s every present bottomless stomach, and fresh cleaning supplies. She smiled, her fingers continued their flight across the keyboard, searching through her grandfather’s files. There had been a small fight yesterday in the kitchen when Kento had tried to sneak a taste of the soup Cye had been cooking. Which had resulted in a slap on the hand with said wooden spoon. Somehow the pot of food had gotten knocked off the stove in the process.

Kento had not really elaborated on what exactly happened to cause the incident. But White Blaze had been happy at getting a free and tasty meal from the soup. Never did she need a mop in the kitchen more than after the tiger went through. She did not like cleaning tiger drool, it took almost every cleaning liquid she had to make sure the stuff was gone.

A soft knock at the door startled her. Cye poked his head through the opening. “May I come in?”

Mia nodded. “Please do. You startled me for a second. I forgot you were here the house has been so quiet for once.”

Cye laughed, walking over to sit behind her on the window seat. “I didn’t really see a reason to make a lot of noise. I’m not Kento you know.”

“I know.”

Cye leaned forward, glancing over her shoulder. “What are you looking for anyway?”

She shrugged. “Just some more of Grandfather’s files. I want to see if there is anything else. But it just looks to be the same old . . . hang on.”

“What?”

“Look at this.”

Mia moved the mouse cursor over one of the file names and it changed from the little ‘I’ cursor to an arrow. Mia clicked the button and one file folder appeared on the screen with just a single word to describe what was in it, ‘Mystics’.

“Mystics? What’s that?” Cye asked.

“I don’t know. I’ve been through this computer so much I’ve lost count, I can’t believe I missed this. Let me see.” Mia replied, not bothering to hide the eagerness in her voice at finding something new.

She clicked on the file and a small video appeared first onto the screen. The background showed the old office which had been her grandfather’s before it was destroyed by Sekhmet. A few seconds into the video her grandfather moved onto the screen as he sat down in front of the computer.

‘I knew you would find this file one day Mia. So I have taken the liberty of putting a message in here for you.’ Doctor Koji stated, his voice sounded slightly animatronic when it passed through the speakers.

Mia and Cye exchanged looks of shock at seeing him again before the video started to speak again.

‘If you are seeing this then Talpa is gone. I congratulate all of you on your accomplishment. But you all still have so much work ahead of you. There are five more armors which I discovered just recently after Talpa appeared. You must find them now! If you don’t all of you, including your new friends the Warlords, will die.’

Mia pressed pause on the video. “Five more? What is grandfather talking about? I only ever knew of you five!” she exclaimed, her voice on edge from the news which predicted her and her friends’ apparent deaths.

Cye placed a hand on her shoulder. “Calm down Mia. He said he only discovered these supposed armors just after Talpa’s appearance. You were with us at the time after Ryo appeared in the city.”

“That’s true. Then what happened with Sekhmet . . .” Mia sighed.

“Besides we don’t know if anything will happen at all. Play it, I’m sure he’ll explain about the armors. He always explained stuff like this to you before didn’t he?”

She nodded solemnly and hit the play button again.

‘The armors are called the Mystics. They harness their power from aspects other than the elements like the Ronin armors do. The poem to find them begins the same as the last and the rest goes like this,

‘Torch of spirit sought through five

Gathering strength from immortal sky

Darkness shrouds the cave of light

Jewels hidden in rainbows up high

Altering orbs in a valley of peace

A loving heart in stone’s embrace’

The doctor paused for a minute. He leaned up in his chair, glancing out the window before sitting down.

‘I must hurry. I’m sorry Mia that I cannot give you the names of the five armors. But I’m sure you will figure them out once you find each one. If the ending words of the poem’s lines were not enough. You must search for the third one first, with their help you will find the others. Goodbye now my dear and good luck to you all.’

The video disappeared from the screen. Mia wiped away the silent tears which had been falling down her cheeks. The grief from her grandfather’s death she was still getting over. It was not easy seeing how she had been raised by him since she was a little girl.

On the black screen a picture appeared which showed five separate boxes. Each possessed a different symbol like the boxes of the Ronin armors. But these were not red. They were silver. Cye couldn’t look away from the screen. Images from the dream he had just last night flashed before his eyes on the computer. This time though he could hear the sounds of the power and energy emanating from the armors clashing with one another. While there was a softer, almost more musical tone which spread out from the two armors whose powers seemed to merge together.

“Cye . . .”

The voice was faint, hardly piercing through the other sounds which filled his ears.

“Cye!”

“Wha . . . what?” he said, snapping his eyes away from the computer to look down at Mia’s worried filled expression.

“Are you alright? You spaced out there for a second.”

He nodded, smiling slightly. “Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry.”

Mia nodded. She was still a bit unconvinced but she decided to let it go for now. It bothered her though at the fact the image on the screen seemed to jolt a memory of recognition in her friend. Like he had seen them before somewhere. There was the other fact that he was continuously leaning closer and closer to the computer, almost as if he could hear some kind of sound coming from it. Almost like a siren song pulling in a stranded sailor.

“You might want to call the others Mia. They’ll want to hear about this.” Cye said, interrupting her thoughts.

She nodded and picked up the phone to contact the receiving end in her car. Hoping either Sage or Kento would hear it and pick up, even over that music they liked to blast.

RRRRRRRRRRRR

Mia brought in some drinks from the kitchen for the boys. Sage and Kento had returned after the call. They had just finished the errands and swung by to get Rowen and Ryo. Now the five were just waiting on Ryo and White Blaze to get back as they’d volunteered to take Yuli home. Despite the young boy’s protests. If this was something which required a fight, none of them were willing to put him through that again. Cye picked up a glass of juice, sipping it slowly as the others grabbed their own drinks and sat around the room. Kento opted for the floor, seeing as how the last time some surprising news came through he had fallen off the back of the couch, which ended up knocking a hole in the wall.

“So what is this about? You said you found something Mia, what is it?” Sage inquired as he sat on the opposite couch next to Rowen.

Mia sat. “I’ll explain once Ryo gets back. There’s not need to start since I don’t feel like repeating any of this.”

“Tadaima! I’m back!” Ryo called from the front door. White Blaze padded into the room, plopping down in front of the fire as his master followed him in. Ryo grabbed the last soda and sat down on the floor opposite Kento.

Mia nodded. “Well then, this is what we discovered . . .”

She paused and the guys leaned in.

“I was searching through my grandfather’s files. I wanted to see if there was anything new just in case. So far I had found nothing and when I looked over a file we found a hidden one on the computer hard drive labeled ‘Mystics’. I thought I had found all of the files before. It was almost as if this one had popped out of thin air. Anyway I clicked on it and we found a video of my grandfather. He explained that he had found just after Talpa’s appearance, a total of five more armors called the Mystics and we need to find them before a possible new evil arises.” She carefully left out the part about their apparent deaths.

Silence followed for a few moments as the other Ronins swallowed this new information. Glances were exchanged between the others before Ryo started to speak up.

“Five other armors? How is that even possible?”

Mia leaned forward. “I don’t know. When Talpa appeared and then you did on the TV screen I rushed out of there without giving it a second thought. I have a hunch even then that my grandfather knew something. I do not think he believed Sekmet would go after him and he’d have a chance to tell us both once I returned with you.”

She stopped and wiped the tears which had started falling again. Cye put a hand on her shoulder, leveling a slight glare at Ryo.

He had the grace to look embarrassed. “Sorry . . .” he whispered.

Mia managed a small smile before throwing the tissue she had in her hand away. Rowen leaned forward from his seat on the couch and picked up the printout of the poem which had been encased in the files. He glanced between it and the papers which held individual pictures of the silver boxes. Sage leaned over and looked at the papers over Rowen’s shoulder.

“So what do we do?” Kento asked, placing his hands behind his head.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ryo asked.

Hardrock shrugged. “Well obviously we have to find these armors. Apparently the good doctor believes if we don’t we will all be doomed or something. I think that is motivation enough to get moving.”

“Wow Kento, you’re actually making sense for once.” Cye teased his friend.

“Watch it fishy.”

“Enough!” Rowen said. Both of them fell silent and looked towards him.

“What do you think?” Mia asked.

Rowen turned the paper over. “The poem for these armors sounds a lot like ours. Did you grandfather say how we can find them? Does this poem work the same way?”

Sage nodded, straightening from his slouched position. “Yeah, each line is the location of the armor. That just might work don’t you think?”

The others nodded.

“Slight difference.” Mia popped in.

“What?”

“My grandfather specifically said to find the third armor first. He explained this is the person who could help us find the other four afterwards.”

“Okay, then what’s the third line?” Ryo asked.

Rowen looked at the paper. “The third line is, ‘Jewels hidden in rainbows up high.’ What does that sound like?”

“Rainbow’s up high? We only see those after rainstorms.” Kento stated.

Sage shook his head. “No. Think for a minute Kento. When I was up north with Mia looking for you; there was an Aurora Borealis up there shining in the sky like a rainbow. Could this poem line mean that?”

A thoughtful look crossed Mia’s face. “It’s possible. Grandfather said we would know the names of the armors when we find them. The poem’s lines hold them, he said. It’s possible this person is also the leader of the group.”

“Maybe . . .” Sage said.

“So this person has armor called the Armor of Aurora Borealis?” Kento joked.

Mia shrugged. “Who knows? But we have to figure this out before we get there. I have a feeling the only way to get the person down is with the armor’s true name.”

“True name?” Cye asked.

“Yes. Grandfather had said once to me that some armors or other mystic items were trapped or being held by some force which ‘represents’ them. But this is not their true name. Such as this armor, it could be Aurora Borealis or something completely different.”

“Only one way to find out.” Ryo said, standing.

RRRRRRRRRRRR

Ryo folded the map, looking at the scenery which started to change from grass and hills to rocks and cliffs. Slight touches of snow could be seen and no doubt felt by Kento who had so graciously volunteered to hold onto the roof as the jeep only held five. White Blaze rode in a trailer which Mia had bought to attach to her Jeep. It was much easier to transport the tiger over long distances and be able to hide him if they had to go through a city.

Cye looked over to Sage and Rowen who were glancing through the printouts from the computer with a fine tooth comb to see if an answer to the armor’s true name could be found. He returned his gaze to the landscape outside. Spots of white snow sparkled on the ground. Wisps of cold air came through the window, brushing his hair from his face.

“Take the next turn up here.” Ryo pointed out the window.

Mia nodded and turned onto a paved off-road with potholes filled with small gravel which crunched loudly under the tires. A large pothole tossed the car’s back wheels off the ground. Papers flew everywhere while the three in the back smacked their heads on the roof of the car. Somehow Kento managed to lean over enough to poke his head into Ryo’s open window.

“You all alright down there? Nearly flew off myself.”

Rowen rubbed his head, shuffling papers with his feet. “Fine as long as we don’t crack our skulls open back here.”

“Sorry.” Mia whispered.

“It’s alright, we’re fine.” Sage replied.

“Yeah.” Cye groaned, leaning his head against the window. He blinked spots from his eyes, keeping them off the sunlit snow. The spots slowly formed into a box which floated above the ground. He blinked but the box did not disappear. The silver box had the sparkling diamond symbol on it which warped and changed into the form of an armor.

The armor sat on an invisible chair. The helmet curved in tiers down to the neck with thin curved metal outlining the face. The silver face mask stretched over the chin and came to a diamond shape at the center. The upper piece over the top half also curved over the nose the same way with light blue shielding the eyes. The armor’s chest plate was slightly broad in shoulder and curved down to a slim waist with small gems creating a swirled design, almost like an aurora on the armor, which like the helmet was a deep sapphire blue with hints of majestic purple for the trim.

At the shoulders the armor separated into two pieces with the upper condensing into a point and the bottom curving gracefully over the shoulders. The gauntlets were also diamond shaped though enlarged enough to wrap around the arm with small plates which covered the back of the hand. The waist was thin and had four separated sections one in front and back and one on each side with the same tiered design as the back of the helmet.

The legs were made up of overlapping oval, rectangle and diamond shapes almost like scales of a lizard. His gaze traveled to the shin guards and found them the same design as the gauntlets. While the armored boots curved up at the ankle to come to a point just like the shoulder guards. What made a difference was the gem design which carried from the chest plate to the shoulders, waist and thighs.

“You see something?”

Cye jumped, blinking as he looked at Sage. The armor disappeared.

“No, thought I did but there’s nothing.”

Sage nodded and turned back to Rowen. Cye shook his head before looking back out at the landscape. The car bounced again which was followed by a loud, BANG, from the roof followed by “OW!” after another bump. Mia pulled the car to the stop.

“Better to go on foot from here.” She said, stepping out of the jeep.

Kento slid off the roof. “Agreed.”

“The road wasn’t this bad the first time.” Sage stated.

“Yeah well, there wasn’t really anyone looking after it for a while after then was there?” Kento groaned, rubbing his head.

Ryo looked back at the map. “The northernmost point is this way. Come on.”

Mia heightened the collar of her jacket when the wind started to pick up. The snow was deep and hard to move through but she wasn’t about to be carried around like last time. She had been working on her balance and muscle strength to keep up with the boys this time. They were all in sub-armor in case of trouble. The roar of the waterfall sounded in the distance, newly free from ice too heavy to stick on the cliff side.

The group passed the split boulder and climbed higher towards the flat peak above it. Even in the broad sunlight the aurora was visible in the sky swirling back and forth. The colors changed from red to green to blue and back to yellow then purple. The shockingly visible stars creating a sparkling backdrop like the aurora was a celestial scarf to the sky with sparkling diamonds sewn in. The six of them could only stare in amazement.

RRRRRRRRRRRR

Dark clouds the same gray green which first appeared a few months before seemed to grow out of the sky like mushrooms. Smaller clouds joined the larger once which followed in a slow overtaking of the clear sky. A single armor-clad figure stood on top of the clouds watching the progress just outside the city of Toyama. The supposed “easily conquered” city his elder brother Talpa had tried to take over but failed due to the Ronin Warriors. No matter for him, as those elemental abilities had no effect on him, unlike Talpa who had never conquered that particular field of study.

“How goes the progress Shadow?”

A warrior in jet black armor appeared from the cloud mist.

“Very well my lord. The clouds are appearing as planned and will overtake the city only by your order.”

He nodded. “Good. What of the other matter?”

The warrior bowed their head. “The Ronins know of the Mystics. Even now they are at the aurora borealis site.”

“Then you had better pray that is the only one they know of Shadow. Still I want you to find the Mystics’ leader as soon as possible. They have the key to a warrior I wish to recruit.”

“At once my lord.” Shadow bowed and disappeared back into the cloud.

Another warrior, this one in dark violet armor appeared. “Are you sure you wish to leave this all to Shadow my lord?”

“Yes Rajura. Shadow is a perfectly capable warrior and will find who we need.”

Rajura shivered as his master turned cold eyes on him. “I only inquire due to the possibility of the leader being found first. If that happens you’ll lose Shadow.”

“Maybe, maybe not. But enough of this talk. Keep an eye on Shadow if you wish, just don’t get in the way. Shadow will know and will not hesitate to kill you.”

“Yes Lord Arago.” Rajura replied and disappeared.

RRRRRRRRRRRR

“So how do we find this armor exactly?” Kento asked as he watched the changing colors. “Would it be in an orb like Rowen was?”

“Possibly, try and see if you can spot it.” Rowen stepped forward.

Eyes glued themselves to the swirling colors. Carefully combing for any sign of an orb either flowing within the colors or just above or beneath. Mia looked above the aurora, seeing as the swirls came from the magnetic sphere in space. That would most likely be the place. Her eyes spotted a pulsing light floating just above a ribbon of blue. It moved along the ribbon up and down as if on a river. Then the orb turned and shot towards the ground.

“Watch it!” Mia shouted.

The orb crashed towards them, traveling just above the ground. It shot past, throwing the Ronins onto the ground. It rose up in the air and shot back down again, causing the color in the orb to strip away like a tail and reveal the armor inside. The armor stood within the orb with the faceplate glowing like eyes as it went past again.

“What the heck?!” Kento shouted. He and Cye ducked for cover.

“Your grandfather never said anything of an armor dive bombing us!” Rowen cried, dodging another pass.

“Well it could be like the cave Sage was in! It’s some kind of defense mechanism built into the armor!” Mia shouted back from her place behind a boulder. “Duck behind something and we’ll see what it does!”

The others quickly complied and ducked behind some resident large boulders. The orb stopped and hovered over the ground. Turning as the phantom eyes in the armor scanned the area before moving to another spot, looking for them.

“How do we stop it?” Sage shouted, ducking back again when the armor swiftly turned around.

Mia thought back to what her grandfather said about the lines of the poem giving the name of the armor. But what was it? She closed her eyes and thought back, her grandfather had said: “Jewels hidden in rainbows up high,” but what was the name? Was it the armor or was the armor possibly called ‘Aurora’ or ‘Prism’? She shook her head, no, that couldn’t be right. But the only way was to try and call out any name she could think of.

She carefully climbed up onto her rock, it had a flat surface to lie on and she could easily grip the edge. Lifting her head she stared at the armor while it floated around. Could it sense their presence still? Maybe even sense the other armors? She lifted her head over the edge and called.

“Aurora!” then she ducked back down, keeping her eyes on the armor.

The orb glowed as if in response but just moved along.

“Hey Borealis!” she heard Kento call and then his shocked cry as the armor flew over. But there was no other reaction.

“Try the name together Kento!” Rowen yelled.

“You do it! It’s too close to me!”

“Us you mean.” Cye stated.

Sage lifted himself from behind the rock he and Ryo had chosen. “Aurora Borealis.”

The orb spun and bounced on the snow crating half circles like the cut-outs on a golf ball. Mia watched the armor with fascination. She had no doubt they were close to the actual name. The aurora was key but not the main factor. The aurora was the floating rainbow up high. The stars were like jewels but so was the orb the armor was in. It sparkled like it was covered in gems on the outside. Some beams of sunlight even glanced off the armor within like the armor itself was even covered in them.

Mia raised her head quickly. She picked up a loose pebble and threw it into the stones at the base of her rock. The armor shot over the outside rainbow spreading back so the armor could scan. Mia looked carefully at the armor and saw on the chest plate the little gems which crated a design like the aurora itself. The armor started to back away and began to rise up, heading back to its orbit. Mia jumped off the rock and ran after it, stopping just behind the orb when it started its arc upwards.

“Jewels!”

The orb stopped and spun.

“Mia watch it!” Ryo shouted.

But the warning was not needed. The orb slowly descended and then the orb itself began to spin and twist around the armor. The colors became bright and beams of light left the orb in a compass pattern as the sphere shape turned into a diamond. The top then split and dissolved into millions of pieces like confetti glass, leaving the armor floating in front of them. The armor slowly lowered itself into the snow.

The group approached but jumped back when the armor moved. The helmet slowly raised and a pair of non-glowing eyes could be seen behind the visor which covered the face. The warrior within looked over the group from one side to the other. Then paused and tilted slightly when the gaze returned to Mia.

“Hello?” Mia asked gently.

The warrior smiled. “Well, good morning to you too.” They said in a female voice.

She fully turned her body towards Mia. “So you figured out the name. I was starting to wonder when someone would finally get it right. ‘Aurora Borealis’ . . . really? The clue’s not what I was trapped in but the beginning of the line. I’m glad to see you, miss, have brains at least.”

“Well excuse us!” Kento growled. “The poem to find you is a little more confusing than ours.”

“That’s to be expected.” The warrior replied. “Besides you are a little too thickheaded anyway to think too critically about it.”

“That’s tru . . . HEY!” Kento shouted.

Everyone laughed.

“Could you let us see who you are?” Mia asked.

“Oh, sure. Easier to discuss things that way.”

The armor glowed and dispelled in a flurry of cherry blossoms. The sub-armor was dark sapphire with the dark purple where white stood out on the Ronin sub-armor. The helmet was left on which the warrior reached for next. When the helmet was pulled away long, dark sapphire hair cascaded down to just above her knees. Deep violet eyes stared at them as the helmet went the way of the armor. She had a heart shaped face, narrow chin with a slightly wider jaw and medium cheekbones. A small but full mouth sat over a stubborn chin and below a small but gracefully curved nose.

“Hello.” She smiled again.

“My name’s Mia and these are the Ronins. Ryo of Wildfire, Rowen of Strata, Sage of Halo, Cye of Torrent, and last but not least Kento of Hardrock. And you are?”

“H . . . Hinome?!” Kento choked.

The slight howl of the wind was the only sound to be heard for a few minutes. The other Ronins stared at Kento, his mouth agape and eyes wide in shock.

Hinome stared at Kento. “Kento?!”

The pair of them gaped at each other for a few minutes. They circled each other slowly, never turning their backs on each other. Slowly both returned to their original positions before speaking at once.

“What are you . . .?”

“I can ask you the same thing!” Hinome shot back.

Mia stepped forward. “You two know each other?”

Hinome nodded slowly, glancing at Mia. “Yes. Kento’s my brother. Twin to be exact.”

“What?!”

Kento laughed. “Yeah. Well now I know where the heck you disappeared to! Why didn’t you tell me an armor came to you?”

“You weren’t exactly forward with the fact one had come to you!” Hinome snorted.

The two growled at each other, standing face to face.

Mia cleared her throat. “Excuse me. I’m sure you two have a lot to discuss but could we possibly find somewhere warmer? We have a lot of questions for you Hinome.”

The Jewels armor bearer sighed, backing away from her brother. “I’m sure you do. Where do you propose we go?”

“We have a car not too far from here. I’d like to take you back to my house if that’s okay.”

Hinome nodded. “Alright, lead the way. I can answer some questions as we go. But before that.”

She raised two fingers to her lips and whistled. The echo slowly faced away. Mia and the boys exchanged looks. Almost immediately a roar sounded in the distance. White Blaze lifted his head and roared back in answer. A few seconds later a tiger came bounding over the hill and ran right at Hinome. The tiger walked over and paused for a minute, gazing calmly at White Blaze. Blue-green eyes looked into brown. The tigers were the same size. The newest one had smoother fur around the face and the stripes ended in a diamond shape on each one. Similar markings were on the tiger’s forehead above the eyes with a large diamond in the center flanked by two smaller, tilted diamonds. But the more noticeable difference was the color of fur. The new one had fur colored like Hinome’s hair but darker and the stripes were light amethyst. White Blaze purred softly at the newcomer who replied in a similar fashion before going to stand by Hinome.

“What the?” Ryo stated.

“This is Xoia. She’s my partner, like White Blaze is yours.” Hinome replied. “Let’s go, before we freeze eh?” she walked past, Xoia following.

Mia nodded and took off after her. The Ronins took a moment to get rid of their shock before they did the same.

Author’s Note: Hope you enjoyed! Please review, I take both comments and criticism! Ja ne!