Part One: Something Wicked This Way Comes
Everywhere she turned she saw flames, flames so bright,
they nearly blinded her. Her eyes ached, and she squeezed them shut tightly,
trying to will the pain away. Her head pounded from the roaring sound of
the fire all around her. It was hot, and she was sweating profusely, but
for some reason, she wasn't burning.
<Ryoko...> came the breathy hiss, so like the
sound of a dying fire after it had been doused in water, <Sanada
Ryoko...>
"Where are you?!" the girl cried, looking around wildly
for the source of the voice. She saw nothing. Just those damned, endless
flames that roared and crackled with a life of their own, causing sweat to
trickle down her naked body. "Who are you...?" she asked, weaker this time.
"Why are you tormenting me...?"
<You must accept me... the fate of humanity hangs
in the balance... you hold the future in your hands...>
Fate of humanity... what was that supposed to mean?
This was beginning to get seriously creepy. She hated her dreams sometimes,
seriously hated them. They were often weird, or disturbing, but this was
by far the strangest of them yet. The blazing fire... the almost pleading
voice. It just didn't make any sense...
"I don't understand! What do you want from me?! Who
are you?! Leave me alone!" Ryoko screamed, clenching her fists at her sides
and feeling tears stinging her eyes. She'd never admit it, but she was starting
to get a little scared, and more than a bit upset.
<I am your destiny... you must fight or lose all
you hold dear...>
"Go away..." she moaned miserably, falling to her
knees.
<Hear me, young one... follow the path of
Virtue...>
"GO TO HELL!!" she howled at the top of her lungs, feeling
true fear for the first time in years. Everything began to spin, and a whirlwind
of fiery colors filled her mind. "Go to hell and... leave me..."
<Follow the path...>
"Virtue," she gasped, sitting straight up in her bed.
Her green eyes, wild with panic, darted about wildly, as if searching for
that strange fire. What she saw instead was her old, familiar off-white walls,
her soft carpet with the large tiger laying upon it, and the dresser and
night stands by the bed. She sighed in relief, the fear within her dying
down a bit. Shaking her head and taking a deep, though shaky breath, she
crossed her arms over her chest in an attempt to still her trembling. Sadly,
it wasn't successful. "It was that dream again... what does it mean?" she
mumbled, pressing her white knuckles to her mouth and biting down until she
drew blood.
The taste of copper filled her mouth, and she realized
belatedly that she had drawn blood. Quickly, she withdrew her fists. She
looked over at the tiger upon the floor, who lifted her head and stared at
her with clear blue eyes.
"Whitefire..." she whispered, patting the bed with her
trembling hand. "C'mere."
Whitefire seemed to sense her mistress' distress, and
let out a soothing purr, fluidly moving to her feet. Her body rippled in
the moonlight with a beautiful feline grace as she leapt up upon the bed.
The bed creaked a bit under her weight, and Ryoko felt her breath almost
knocked out of her as the tiger lay halfway upon her.
"Thanks," she murmured, scratching the tigress between
the ears. Whitefire purred again, laying her head on her chest, long tail
swishing contentedly.
Ryoko lay back and closed her eyes, hoping she'd get
some sleep before school started tomorrow. Last time she'd fallen asleep
in class, it hadn't been pretty. Principal Hakita was still pissed off at
her about that. Her hands stroked Whitefire's soft fur idly.
However, try as she might, sleep evaded her for a long
while, and she was awake well into the night.
*****
Sanada Mia heard her granddaughter's cry and sighed,
shaking her head. She ran a hand down her once smooth, unlined face, instead
feeling wrinkles and lines. Had so much time passed already? Was it happening
again so soon?
She'd been awake for a long while, that old feeling
deep within her bones. That crawling, chilling feeling. The sensation that
something bad was about to happen; that something dark was about to rise
once more.
Slowly, she got up from the chair she was sitting in,
wincing at the aching pain this caused her body. "You're an old woman, Mia,"
she said to herself with a wry chuckle. She walked over to the antique mahogany
desk that had belonged to her grandfather, briefly running her hand over
the smooth, hard surface. Then she pulled open a drawer and took out a small
wooden box, staring at it before snapping open the lid, and stared unblinking
at the contents. The moonlight glimmered upon the surface of the orb, and
within it, briefly flashed the familiar red kanji. Virtue.
She'd known when it had mysteriously reappeared again
ten years ago, that it was going to happen again. She hadn't known when,
nor had Ryo, her late husband. But now she knew. It had begun once more.
How long have you been waiting in your darkness, Talpa? How long have
you been back? she thought darkly, biting down hard upon her lip. Ryoko
had told Mia of her strange dreams, of the flames, and what the strange voice
had said to her. That was unusual of her granddaughter, usually so closed
off and private about her problems. She felt a brief pain at the thought
of the tragic incident that had made her eldest grandchild the way she was
now. Ryoko must truly have been anxious about the dreams to have come to
her grandmother.
Mia had desperately wanted to believe that Ryoko's dreams
were merely dreams, and not premonitions of the future. But she knew that
he was coming, and deep inside she also knew that Ryoko and the next generation
of Ronin Warriors would be called forth to face Talpa someday soon. Very
soon.
She bowed her head and sighed again, pressing a hand
to her aching temples. "Ryo..." she murmured wearily, her voice strangely
choked up. "What do I do...?"
*****
Ryoko groaned as a shrill, piercing noise filled her
bedroom, jerking her unwillingly from her deep slumber. She covered her head
with her pillow. "Shut up..." she muttered. When the thick, fluffy pillow
failed to block out that horrible sound of doom, she snarled, and picked
up the alarm clock, then threw it at the wall.
It made solid contact. There was a faint crashing noise,
then a thud. And then blissful, wonderful silence. Happily, she sighed, snuggling
deeper under the blankets. A triumphant grin quirked her lips. Then the bliss
was shattered. "Hey, 'Yoko! C'mon, it's time to get up!" Damn. Junko.
She hated her sister at that moment, and repressed the
urge to greet her with a certain finger of her hand. Sobo wouldn't be happy
about that. But it was so tempting...
"Go 'way..." she mumbled. "Silence is golden, kid. Learn
from that."
The eight year-old in the doorway stomped her foot,
her slanted tiger blue eyes narrowing in aggravation. She herself was already
dressed in her uniform, her straight fire and ice hair brushed to a nice
sheen. But her sister lay there in bed, wild hair tousled and tangled, dressed
in a rumpled black nightshirt and a pair of plaid boxer shorts.
"Ryoko! You're gonna be late!"
"Who cares..."
"Get up!" Junko pulled the blanket off of her
older sister, nearly dislodging her from the bed in the process.. Ryoko didn't
even stir. The child snarled in frustration, stomping her foot again, harder
this time. Then, she smiled evilly and raced from the room. "'Yoko... want
a cold shower?"
There was a muffled mumbling from beneath the pillow.
Her sister took that as an affirmative and lifted the object in her hand
up, focusing upon her target skillfully.
"Ready... last chance... aim... I mean it... FIRE!!"
An instant later, a stream of freezing cold water shot out of the squirt
gun and shot the slumbering Ryoko right in the rear.
The older girl yelped in shock and sat straight up,
glaring furiously at her only sibling. "What the fu--heck did you do that
for?!"
"To get you out of bed." Junko blinked, looking not
so innocent. She snickered quietly. Ryoko mimicked the sound mockingly, reaching
out to thump Junko on the head. "Junko Pádraigín, you are one
royal pain in the butt in the morning."
Junko glared at her, face flushing a bit at the sound
of her middle name, given to her by their Irish mother. "Don't use
my middle name like that, Ryoko Siobhán."
This caused Ryoko to smirk. She had no problem with
her middle name.
"Breakfast is ready!" came the most welcome call from
downstairs. Junko's ears perked up and she grinned, listening to her stomach
growling.
"Better get downstairs if you want anything to eat,"
she cried, flinging her squirt gun at Ryoko's wall absently. The plastic
toy clattered down by the remains of the unfortunate alarm clock as the little
girl raced out of the room.
Ryoko rolled her eyes and reluctantly climbed out of
bed, yawning and grumbling about the horrors school inflicted upon sleeping
students. The dream the night before had been forgotten for the time being,
and in the deep recesses of her mind, she was relieved.
"Another day, another horror."
*****
Mouri Yoshio knocked at the door of his best friends
home idly, pushing up the sleeve of his school uniform to check his watch.
She should be out of bed by now, and dressed. Currently eating breakfast,
most likely.
When it came to early mornings, Ryoko was quite predictable.
Alarm thrown at wall, possibly a semi-fight with Junko that involved the
use of name calling, then to the shower and down to the breakfast table.
It was like clockwork.
The door squeaked open, and he pulled his sleeve back
down, giving Ryoko's grandmother a respectful nod when she greeted him. "Good
morning, Sanada-san."
She smiled at him, and he couldn't help noticing the
circles under her eyes. Briefly, he frowned, wondering if something was wrong.
She'd been looking quite tired as of late. Could she be sick? He hoped not,
for not only did he care about her like family, Mia was Ryoko and Junko's
only living relative in Japan. If she died before Ryoko turned eighteen,
they'd be shipped off to family in Ireland, most likely. "She's finishing
her breakfast right now. Won't you come in?" Mia smiled again, a bit puzzled
by the melancholy look upon his handsome face.
"Yeah, thanks," he grinned, shaking himself free of
those depressing thoughts.
When he made it to the kitchen, Ryoko lifted a hand
to him in greeting from the breakfast table. She was hunched over an almost
empty plate of bacon and what looked like the remainder of a portion of scrambled
eggs. He smirked and waved back. At that moment, a human blur in the form
of an eight-year old came racing past. He stumbled, nearly losing his balance.
After a moment, he was able to catch himself on a nearby cabinet. "Hi, 'Shio!"
Junko called.
"Where's the fire, kid?" he answered back.
"Don't run, Junko," Mia told her. "You might hurt
yourself!"
"Sorry..." the child mumbled, as she stopped just outside
the kitchen. She settled for skipping instead, which took considerably more
time, but still suited her perky mood.
"I never knew anyone so eager to get to school," Ryoko
muttered after guzzling down the last of her juice. She picked up her dirty
dishes and took them over to the sink, still mumbling about how strange her
little sister was. Yoshio knew it was just her typical morning moodiness.
A morning person his best friend was not.
"Ready to go?" he asked her, after she had rinsed off
her dishes and put them in the dishwasher.
"As ready as I'll ever be," she answered, grabbing him
by the collar and playfully pulling him behind her.
"Hey, quit it!" he growled. She snickered and kept on
going. "'Yoko!"
"Wait!" Mia caught her grandaughter's arm in a grip
that was surprisingly strong for someone of her advanced age. Ryoko released
Yoshio's collar and the two stared at her silently, sensing the seriousness
of the situation.
"What is it? What's wrong?" she asked, bewildered by
the barely concealed fear she heard in Mia's voice. Suddenly, she remembered
her dream from the previous night, and felt a chill. Then she shook it off.
It was only a dream. Yeah... just like the rest of your dreams, her
inner voice whispered. She told it to shut up.
"I-- I have something for you."
Ryoko frowned. Why was she acting so seriously? Yoshio
looked at her and shrugged. He too thought Mia was acting a bit odd.
"It belonged to your grandfather... he wanted you to
have it when he died," she said hesitantly, tears glimmering in her eyes
briefly at the memory of Ryo's death. She reached into her pocket and took
out the precious object, slowly opening the fist it was clenched tightly
in.
It was a round, silver orb, that shone and glittered
enticingly in the light. Inside, she could see a flash of something red.
Yoshio stared at it in surprise, feeling the small round object within his
own pocket. Bloody hell, he thought to himself, using one of his grandpa's
old expressions.
Squinting, Ryoko read, "Jin." Ryoko's eyes widened.
Virtue...
<Follow the path...>
Yoshio saw her pale as she took the crystal from her
grandmother's wrinkled hand. She raised her gaze to meet her grandmother's,
startled by the intensity within her soft blue green eyes. "Sobo..."
"Promise me. Promise me you won't go anywhere without
it."
"I... promise," she murmured, glancing at her best friend.
He only shrugged, he was as confused as she was by the whole situation. Perhaps
more so.
Mia's face relaxed a bit, and a small smile graced her
lips. The tension in the air dissolved somewhat. "Now you'd best hurry, else
you'll be late for school."
"Right," Yoshio stated, this time grabbing Ryoko by
her collar. He smirked, giving her a knuckle sandwich with his other hand.
"Hey! Don't mess up my hair! Leggo!" she protested,
resisting as he dragged her from the room by it. "Sobo! Help!"
The old woman chuckled at the sight. Then the two were
gone, and her amusement faded. She stood there, alone in the middle of the
kitchen before sighing wearily. Then, she got down on her knees as best she
could, right then and there, and did something she hadn't done since her
son and daughter-in-law had died.
Mia prayed.
*****
Ryoko and Yoshio stared at the closed door for a moment,
then turned away. She gave him a thump upside the head, then took off running
for the motorcycle with a snicker. He growled at her and rubbed the aching
spot, refusing to rise to the occasion.
For a second, he stopped walking. "Hey, 'Yoko?"
She leaned against the side of his black motorcycle
and ran her hands through her hair briefly. "What?"
He began walking again, then put one hand in his pocket.
"About that weird crystal... where do you think your grandfather got it?"
"Beats the hell out of me. Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why do you want to know where my grandfather got that
crystal?"
He pulled his hand out of his pocket, then clutched
the round object he'd removed with it between two fingers, holding it up
to the light. She gazed at it in surprise. A crystal like the one Sobo had
just given her. But when the light touched it, Shin glimmered in pale blue.
Trust.
"Where'd you get this?" she asked, touching it with
one slender finger. It was smooth beneath her fingertip, and soothingly cool,
almost like water.
"My grandfather gave it to me just before he died. He
made me promise to keep it with me always, then he told me that I'd know
the right time to use it. Weird, huh?" He tossed a motorcycle helmet to Ryoko,
then mounted the bike with a practiced grace.
"Definitely weird." Ryoko climbed behind him on the
bike. "Hey, 'Shio?"
"Hmm?"
"Did you ever get the feeling that you were being watched?"
"Yeah, actually. You know, those funny men in the military
uniforms? They say they're going to help me get back to my home planet."
"Don't be a smartass," she snapped. Yoshio just grinned
as he revved up his bike and drove off with a loud roar from the engine.
Upon the roof, the armored figure chuckled to itself, narrowing blood red
eyes and lingering upon the two figures rapidly speeding away down the street.
*****
Date Akira raced through the hallways of Han`a High
School, the case he was holding tightly in one hand flying behind him in
his rush. He'd mistakenly trusted his brothers to get him up for school today,
since his alarm clock was broken. Trust Korin and Seiji to get him out of
bed? That was smart.
He sighed to himself. Damn, I'm gonna be late. I'll
be getting detention from Hotosama-sensei for sure this time. He's always
had it in for me. Just because I corrected him that one time in class...
His train of thought was interrupted when he slammed into someone. His books
went flying, as did the person's he slammed into. He stumbled backwards,
but managed to catch himself before he could fall.
"Sorry! I'm so sorry," he apologized, as he bent to
pick up their books. Hopefully, it wasn't some bully, who would try and stuff
him into a locker or something. Or one of Korin and Seiji's friends. Hoping
he wouldn't regret it, he glanced up. Then he found himself looking into
the most beautiful pair of silver grey eyes he'd ever seen.
It was Rei Fuan Hiroko. In his opinion, the prettiest
girl in school. Also, one of the more popular ones. "Don't be. I should have
been watching where I was going." To his surprise, she smiled at Akira and
started helping him gather up the scattered schoolbooks. "You always run
through the halls like that?
" He flushed and put a hand to the back of his head.
"N--no. I was running late, and... my brothers were supposed to wake me up..."
He handed her the books he had picked up, then looked down at the floor.
"Er, sorry..."
"No, really, it's okay." She peered at him closely,
and he could feel his face going from pink to bright red. "You're Akira,
aren't you?"
He was stunned that Rei Fuan Hiroko even knew he existed,
much less knew his name. Despite the fact that his brothers were the stars
of the football and baseball team, no one ever really paid much attention
to him. He just seemed to fade into the background. "Yeah... I'm Akira..."
he parroted back. Gods, he sounded like a total moron.
She smiled, then stooped over. "Looks like you dropped
something." Her fingers closed around a small, marble-shaped object. She
got a good look at it and froze. It's almost exactly like mine! "Where'd
you get this?"
Akira took the kanji crystal from her." My grandfather
gave it to me." Suddenly remembering that the bell was going to ring any
second, he quickly gathered up his schoolbooks and case, and tucked the kanji
crystal into his pocket. "I've got to get to class," he said quickly, giving
her a shy smile. "It was... nice talking to you."
And at that, he took off down the hallway. Hiroko withdrew
the strange crystal that her 'Jiji-san had given her last week from the pocket
of her skirt, remembering his warning never to go anywhere without it. He'd
been more serious than she'd seen him in a long time. She stared at it
thoughtfully for a moment, then slipped it back into her pocket. and headed
for class. Luckily, she slid into her seat just before the bell rang.
*****
C'mon, you stupid bell! Ring already Ring! Arrgh!
Hashiba Kenji stared at the clock hanging on the wall miserably. He was dimly
aware of Kai-sensei's nasal voice droning on and on, giving some kind of
boring lecture on the life cycle of the muskrat or something like that. Whatever
it was, he didn't care. He'd stopped caring after the first five minutes
of the lecture. Too bad Cindi, Bambi, and Candi weren't in this class...
then it would be more entertaining.
He grinned to himself at the thought, perking up slightly.
"Kenji? Are you paying attention?" Kai-sensei stopped in front of his desk,
slamming his hand down upon the hard, flat surface.
Kenji jumped, gasping in surprise. "Uh... yes, Sensei."
"Really?" Kai-sensei smirked. "Well then, since you
were paying such close attention, I'm sure you wouldn't mind answering a
few questions, now would you?"
"Uh... okay. Sure." Aw, crap. Now I'm in for it!
I'll get it wrong, and he'll call my parents... He winced at the thought
of what they might do. Why won't that goddamn bell just hurry up and ring
already?!
"Would you care to tell me what the muskrat's staple
food supply is?"
"Uhhh... the muskrat's staple food supply is the..."
He tapped his fingers upon the desk, trying to look as if he was considering,
hoping to buy himself some time. He was literally saved by the bell when
it rang an instant later, signaling the end of the school day. Yes! Thank
you, God! Damn, I'm good! Kenji jumped out of his seat and walked from
the classroom, flashing the glaring Kai-sensei a dazzling smile.
As he walked down the hallway, he put a hand in his
pocket and withdrew a small orb made of crystal. Gramps had given it to him
yesterday. He had been very insistent that Kenji keep the crystal with him
at all times, saying that he would need it soon. I don't see why he made
such a big deal about this thing. It's just a stupid marble with some writing
in it! He shrugged, then put it back in his pant pocket as he brushed
past the other students trying to crowd their way through the front doors
of the school, at the same time.
With a wink at the nearest cute girl, and the sound
of a giggle in his ears, he headed for his most prized possession. The dark
blue sports car Gramps had given him on his sixteenth birthday. The only
present he'd gotten that year.
His expression darkened slightly. Not long after he
reached the parking lot, a motorcycle came barreling past, missing him by
mere inches. A brown-haired young man was driving, and a girl wearing a
motorcycle helmet was riding behind him. Mouri Yoshio and Sanada Ryoko. "Watch
it!" he yelled after them, then winced. He hoped Yoshio hadn't heard him,
or else there might be some kind of scene. He didn't seem to, or didn't care,
luckily. Sighing in relief, he headed over to his car, laying his hand upon
the shiny blue surface lovingly.
"Tell me, Strata, are you ready to die?"
What the hell? Kenji slowly turned around and
saw a man in a bluish-black armor charging towards him with what looked like...
a mace?
His eyes went wide and he stumbled back. Every instinct
was screaming at him to run, to get the hell away. Yet he just stood there,
frozen in place, mesmerized like a rabbit by the approach of a snarling tiger.
*waves* Hello! I was reading back over my earlier chapters...(been a while,
ne? ^-^) and said to myself, "Dude. I SUCKED." So here I am revising. ^-^
Hopefully this'll make my earlier chapters a bit better.
If you're interested in doing a spinoff, email me at
ngspinoff@hotmail.com
Basic fanmail is newgenfan@hotmail.com
And if you're interested in being updated on my fics
(though I can't imagine why you would be), you can join my mailing list at
SheRoninFanfic@onelist.com
Also, thanks to all of you who stayed with my fic this
long!
Sharra