Legend of the Kokoro

by Dreamcatcher

Episode #6: My Pen Pal

It was Wednesday morning, yet another school day. Sage
and Sandra were waiting at their street corner for
their friends. Sage was leaning against the signpost,
and Sandra was reading a book. “Hey, guys!” they heard
Ryo shout to them. Sandra put her book in her
backpack and Sage stood up as Ryo, Cye, Kento, Clara,
Rita, and Kim joined them. “Hey, where’s Rowen?” Kento
asked as he took a quick look down their street. “You
couldn’t wake him up this time?” “No, that’s not it,”
Sage replied. “The problem was Rowen wasn’t there to
begin with,” Sandra added. “What are you saying?” an
astonished Cye asked. “You’re not gonna believe
this...but Rowen already left for school,” Sandra
explained.

Ryo, Cye, and Kento were in shock. “No way!” Kento
blurted out. “Afraid so, Kento,” Sage replied as they
all started down the main road to Han`a High. “I don’t
get it,” Kim muttered out loud. “What’s the big deal?”
“Kim, we have known Rowen for a few years,” Cye
explained, referring to Ryo, Sage, Kento, and himself.
“He has this annoying little habit of forgetting to
set his alarm clock. He always ends up being late for
school. Since Sage lives on the same street, he’s like
Rowen’s backup. If Rowen was not awake, Sage would go
to his house and wake him up, which is almost every
day. This was a bit of a surprise for us today. Rowen
never wakes up early for school, or on time for that
matter.”

“Rowen used to make up all of these stupid excuses,”
Kento added. “Like, ‘I was up late studying,’ or ‘My
alarm clock’s broken,’ but we knew he was lying about
it. Rowen always forgets to set his alarm.” “Well, he
obviously didn’t forget to last night,” Kim pointed
out. “Yeah, that’s true,” Kento muttered. “Something
must be going on at school, something important.”
“We’ll find out soon enough, Kento,” Ryo interrupted.
“We’re almost at the school now.” As Han`a High School
came into view, Clara exclaimed, “Look! There he is!”
She pointed at a wooden bench near the front entrance.
There was Rowen, looking a bit nervous about something
as he looked down at the concrete pathway.

To everyone’s surprise, particularly the guys, Rowen
wasn’t wearing his typical wardrobe, which normally
consisted of blue jeans and a bright blue shirt with
the raised lime green collar. He was dressed very
conservatively today. Rowen was wearing a nice pair of
pale blue stonewashed jeans, a cobalt blue dress
shirt, and a pale blue stonewashed denim jacket with
the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. “Good morning,
Rowen,” Rita greeted him. Startled by the unexpected
greeting, Rowen jumped up like a nervous rabbit. “Oh,
umm...hi, guys,” he stuttered as he attempted to
compose himself. He noticed that Ryo, Sage, Kento, and
Cye were looking at him strangely. “What is it? Why
are you looking at me like that?” Rowen asked
curiously.

“Rowen, can we talk to you, privately?” Sage asked.
“Sure, I guess,” Rowen replied. Sage, along with Ryo,
Kento, and Cye, entered the school, with Rowen
following behind. Sage was looking around the halls
when he found what he was looking for: a wooden door
marked MEN’S ROOM. “Right in here,” he announced as he
entered the bathroom, followed by the others. Rowen
closed the door behind him and looked at his friends.
“What’s going on?” he asked as he stood next to Sage.
“You’re all behaving rather strangely.” “We’re acting
strange, Rowen?” Sage exclaimed. “What about you? You
actually remembered to set your alarm, you leave for
school early, and you’re dressed up like we’re having
a school dance or something.”

“So? What’s wrong with dressing up a bit?” Rowen
defended himself. “Nothing,” Sage admitted. “It’s just
that you never dress up for anything, not even for the
yearbook photos.” Kento suddenly approached the window
and opened it up as wide as he could. “Come on,
Kento,” Cye retorted. “It doesn’t smell that bad in
here.” Kento turned to Sage and retorted, “Next time,
could you ease up on the cologne? It reeks!” “I’m not
wearing any, Kento,” Sage replied. All eyes fell on
Rowen, who was just standing there with his hands in
his pockets. When he noticed the accusing stares, he
smiled nervously and turned on the water at the sink.
“You’re wearing cologne, Rowen?” Kento blurted out as
Rowen washed his face.

“Yeah, so?” he replied as he grabbed a paper towel and
dried his face. “Okay, that does it!” Kento exclaimed.
“Who are you, and what have you done with our friend?”
Rowen chuckled a bit at his friend’s antics. “Kento,
it’s really me,” he assured him. “I’m the one and only
Rowen Hashiba.” “There’s gotta be a reason why you’re
dressed up, and you’re not leaving until we find out!”
Kento declared loudly. “Well, you’re going to have to
make an educated guess about it, because I don’t plan
on telling you,” Rowen proclaimed with his arms
crossed. Kento was obviously thinking long and hard
about it. A big smirk came to his face as he looked up
at Rowen. “Okay,” he muttered as he approached Rowen.
“You’re gonna challenge Sage for the title of
‘Flirting King!’ ”

Everyone, including Rowen, laughed at Kento’s
suggestion. “Yeah, right, Kento,” Rowen managed to get
out in between laughing. “Are they having the yearbook
photos done earlier this year?” Cye asked. “No way,
Cye,” Ryo replied. “Yearbook pictures are always in
mid-October, and everyone would have known if they
changed the date. Besides, Rowen never dressed up for
that.” “You got any better ideas, Ryo?” Kento
retorted. Ryo thought about it for a moment. “Do
you...have a crush on a teacher?” he asked
uncertainly. Rowen laughed abruptly. “I don’t think
so,” he replied. “I only have two female teachers.
One’s married, and both are well over twice my age.”
Ryo groaned out of frustration. “Your turn,” he told
Sage, who was leaning against the pale blue
tile-covered windowsill.

Sage’s eyes were closed, as though he was mediating. A
small smile formed on his face as he opened his eyes.
“I think I know,” Sage announced. “This ought to be
good,” Rowen retorted as he looked at Sage. “It has
something to do with a girl, right?” Sage asked. Rowen
felt his cheeks turning red. He tried to turn away
before anyone could see, but it was too late. “Look,
he’s blushing!” Sage pointed out. “I knew it! I knew
it had to be a girl!” Ryo, Kento, and Cye were shocked
beyond belief. “You have a crush on a girl? At this
school?” Kento blurted out. “I thought you said a
while back, that you’re not interested in someone who
had to carry around a dictionary in order to
understand you,” Cye reminded him.

“Well, that’s still true,” Rowen admitted, “and it’s
not a crush, Kento! We’re just friends.” “Care to tell
us about this ‘friend’ of yours?” Sage asked. “Do we
know her?” “Well, odds are you don’t know her,” Rowen
started. “She lives in Los Angeles.” “And how would
you know a girl from L.A.?” Kento asked, slightly
confused. “We were pen pals since the second grade,”
Rowen explained. “Well, what are you waiting for?”
Sage exclaimed. “Tell us about her!” “Well, to start
off, her name is Roxanna Rodriguez,” Rowen started.
“Her father’s originally from Mexico, and her mother’s
American. Surprisingly, Roxanna and I have a lot in
common with each other.” “Oh, really?” Ryo asked.
“Like what?”

“Oy, there’s so much,” Rowen muttered to himself. “To
start off, our parents are divorced. We both live with
our mothers and both of our fathers left us. As you
know, my dad high-tailed it back to Australia. Her
father went back to Mexico. We both excel in school,
and we both have remarkably high IQs.” “How smart is
she, anyway?” Kento prodded. Rowen hesitated for a
moment. He muttered something under his breath, but he
said it too quickly for anyone to understand. “What?”
Kento asked. “217,” Rowen muttered a little louder.
“Did you say 217?” Cye asked. Rowen hesitantly nodded
his head. Kento gave a low whistle. “Whoa, that’s
high! Isn’t yours, like, forty points higher or
something?”

“Thirty-three points higher, to be precise,” Rowen
corrected him. “Good thing Roxanna doesn’t go to this
school,” Ryo joked. “She’d probably give you a run for
your money.” Rowen smiled a bit before replying,
“Well, Ryo, things are going to change, starting
today.” “Hold on!” Sage interrupted. “Are you saying
she’s coming here?” “Yes, she is,” Rowen replied. “In
a letter from last week, she wrote that her mother got
an executive position at a major business corporation
located in Tokyo. Roxanna also mentioned that they
already purchased a home right here in Toyama. Plus,
her new home is right on my street! She’s even going
to our school! Today’s gonna be her first day.” “Well,
you’re obviously excited about it,” Sage pointed out.

“Anyway, I’m supposed to meet her outside today,
before school starts,” Rowen added. “That’s why I came
here earlier than usual.” “So, what does she look
like?” Kento asked impatiently. “Honestly, I haven’t
the faintest idea,” Rowen admitted. “You don’t even
know what she looks like?” Cye asked out of shock.
“Don’t you send each other pictures?” “Well, the only
pictures we have of each other are from the second
grade,” he confessed. “You see, you’re probably not
aware of this, but there’s a law here in Japan
requiring that all photographs be sent via Federal
Express. It was a new law around the time we started
writing to each other.” “Do you at least have an idea
what she looks like?” Ryo asked. “Roxanna has tan
skin, dark frizzy hair, blue eyes...” Rowen started to
describe.

“Blue eyes?” Sage repeated. “Hard to believe, but it’s
true,” Rowen admitted. “Let’s see,” he muttered to
himself. “Her braces should be gone by now...” Just
then, the first bell rang. “Oh, no!” Rowen cried out
as he ran straight out of the bathroom. By the time
Ryo and the others caught up with Rowen, he was
frantically searching the crowd of students that
entered Han`a High School. He groaned out of
frustration when he spotted Rita and Clara walking
away. “Rita! Clara!” Rowen shouted as he made his way
toward them. Rita stopped and turned around, followed
by Clara. “What is it, Rowen?” Rita asked. “Have you
seen a girl around your age, tan, dark frizzy hair,
blue eyes?” Rowen asked.

“No, I haven’t seen anyone like that,” she replied.
“Me, neither, Rowen,” Clara added. “Why do you ask?”
Rowen sighed out of disappointment. “Never mind,” he
muttered. “Well, if I do see a girl fitting that
description, I’ll let you know. Okay?” Rita reassured
him. “Fine,” he muttered before Rita left with Ryo.
Rowen walked down the hallway to his homeroom, along
with Cye and Clara. “Don’t be so sad, Rowen,” Clara
told him. “Don’t worry about Roxanna,” Cye assured
him. “You’ll see her today. I’m sure of it.” “Why are
you so sure, Cye?” Rowen asked. “Well, think about it.
If Roxanna is as smart as you say she is, odds are
she’ll end up in at least one of your classes.” “Yeah,
you’re right,” Rowen agreed cheerfully as they
continued down the hall...

Rowen was sitting quietly at his desk for his first
period class: Calculus. While he was reading over his
notes, everyone else was talking to their friends and
goofing off. When the door opened and their teacher, a
fifty-year-old woman wearing a white blouse and long
navy blue dress pants, entered the room, everyone
quickly quieted down and got back to their seats.
“Good morning, Mrs. Elberg,” the class chorused. “Good
morning everyone,” Mrs. Elberg replied pleasantly as
she took her seat and put her portfolio on top of her
desk. She opened the portfolio, put on a pair of
gold-rimmed reading glasses, and looked through a pile
of papers in her portfolio. “Okay,” she muttered
quietly as she pulled out a small pile of papers and
got up.

“I have your tests from last week,” Mrs. Elberg
announced. As she began to pass them out, there were
some groans as some students saw their grades. “I’m
afraid that some of you will have to study better for
the next test.” As she approached Rowen, she added,
“However, a few of you have done exceptional on this
test.” When Mrs. Elberg handed Rowen his test, she
whispered, “Excellent job, Rowen. Keep up the good
work.” Rowen looked at the 100 written in red on the
right corner of his test and smiled a bit. “Teacher’s
pet,” he heard a student sitting behind him murmur.
“Now, there will be none of that!” Mrs. Elberg snapped
at the student. He kept his mouth shut as Mrs. Elberg
sat back down.

“Now that everyone has their tests back...” Mrs.
Elberg was interrupted by the door being opened. A
young boy, possibly a freshman or a sophomore, stood
in the open doorway, completely exhausted from
running. “Is there something wrong?” Mrs. Elberg asked
as she stood up. “There’s...a fight...outside, Mrs.
Elberg,” the boy managed to get out between gulps of
air. “Show me where,” she told the boy as she started
to follow him out into the hall. Before she left, Mrs.
Elberg looked at Rowen and asked, “Would you mind
keeping an eye on the class for me, Rowen?” “No
problem, Mrs. Elberg,” he replied. With that, Mrs.
Elberg and the boy left the room. All of her students,
except for Rowen, immediately got up and crowded
around the window.

The chattering got so mingled that only a few things
could be heard clearly now and then. “Hey, watch it!”
“I can’t see!” “Stop pushing!” “Don’t I know that
kid?” “Get outta the way!” “Make me!” Rowen shook his
head as he put his test away in a pocket folder. He
heard the still open door squeak a bit, and he looked
up to see a young Hispanic girl trying to close the
door with her arms full. A thin navy blue head wrap
kept most of her curly dark brown hair out of her
face. She was dressed quite properly, in a traditional
schoolgirl look. She was wearing a short-sleeved white
blouse, a navy blue pleated skirt with a matching
sweater tied around her shoulders, white knee socks,
and black Mary Jane shoes.

When he first saw the new girl, one thought
immediately came to Rowen’s mind: “Roxanna?” He got
out of his seat and approached the girl, whose back
was still facing him. Just then, the young girl turned
around. Startled by seeing him standing there, she
gasped slightly and dropped her binder, notebook,
folder, and pencil case. Her sparkling blue eyes
looked into Rowen’s calm blue eyes for a few moments.
Then, she quickly looked down at the floor and bent
down to pick up her stuff. “Here, let me help you,
Roxanna,” Rowen offered as he bent down to help her.
She froze when Rowen called her “Roxanna.” She looked
at him and asked with a slight Hispanic accent, “How
did you know my name?” “Isn’t it a bit obvious?” Rowen
asked her.

When she finally realized who he was, a small smile
formed on her face. “Rowen?” she asked with a hint of
excitement in her voice. “That’s me,” he admitted. To
his surprise, Roxanna embraced him. “This is so great,
to finally meet you face-to-face after all these years
of writing to each other!” Roxanna blurted out. “Same
here, Roxanna,” Rowen admitted as she let go of him.
As they stood up, Rowen asked, “What happened earlier?
We were supposed to meet outside before school
started.” Roxanna looked down shamefully. “Lo siento.
I overslept this morning. Mi madre had to drive me to
school. I was up late last night unpacking my stuff,
and I was so excited about meeting you the next day
that I forgot to set my alarm.”

“It’s all right, Roxanna,” Rowen told her. “Stuff like
this happens all the time. Take myself, for example. I
forget to set my alarm on a regular basis.” Roxanna
giggled and added, “Si, I remember you mentioned that
in one of your letters.” She looked over Rowen’s
shoulder at the crowd of students at the window. “What
are they doing?” she asked. Rowen turned his head and
replied, “Oh, they’re just watching some fight
outside. Our teacher, Mrs. Elberg, went outside to
break it up.” “Aww, man!” one of the students
complained. “The fight’s over!” Several of the
students groaned as they returned to their seats.
Rowen returned to his seat as well, and Roxanna took
the empty desk right next to him.

A few minutes later, Mrs. Elberg returned to the
classroom. “You totally kicked butt out there, Mrs.
Elberg!” one student exclaimed as everyone applauded
her. “Well, I guess those self-defense classes did
come in handy,” Mrs. Elberg admitted. She added
jokingly, “If anyone gets out of line in this class,
you better watch out!” A majority of the students
groaned as she took her seat. “Now, where was I? Oh
yes.” Mrs. Elberg looked up and spotted Roxanna.
“Excuse me, but are you Miss Rodriguez?” she asked.
“Yes,” Roxanna replied, nodding her head. “Why don’t
you come up here?” Roxanna got up from her desk and
approached Mrs. Elberg’s desk. “Class, this is our new
student, Ms. Roxanna Rodriguez, from Los Angeles,
California. Please give her a warm welcome to our
school.”

Scattered applause was heard for less than a minute.
“Here you are, Ms. Rodriguez,” Mrs. Elberg said as she
handed Roxanna a textbook. “Take good care of it. Just
so you know, you missed our first test. I won’t let
that one count toward your grade. However, you will
need to get notes from one of your classmates. Will
that be a problem at all?” “No, Mrs. Elberg,” Roxanna
replied, holding the textbook against her chest.
“That’s all,” Mrs. Elberg told her. “You can return to
your seat.” “Gracias. I mean, thank you.” Roxanna
turned around and went back to her desk. Mrs. Elberg
got up and stepped up to the chalkboard. “I would like
everyone to turn to page 73 in your textbooks,” she
started as she wrote on the chalkboard...

Rowen and Roxanna were heading down the hall to
Rowen’s locker during the five-minute break before
second period. “Ahh, here we go,” Rowen muttered as he
approached his locker and unlocked it. While he was
putting his Calculus book away, Roxanna was looking at
him curiously. “Why are you dressed like that?” she
asked abruptly. “What do you mean?” Rowen asked, not
bothering to face her. “I mean, why are you dressed
this way? I thought you dress casual, just a T-shirt
and jeans. Is it because of me?” The last question
caught Rowen by surprise. “Umm...well, you see,
I...yeah,” he admitted reluctantly. Rowen pulled a
textbook out of his locker, closed it, and looked at
Roxanna.

“You did that for me? How sweet of you,” Roxanna
admitted, smiling a bit as they walked down the hall.
“I must admit, you look muy guapo today.” Rowen
blushed a bit from her compliment. “So, uh…where’s
your next class, Roxanna?” he asked. “First of all,
Rowen,” Roxanna replied, “since we’re friends, you can
call me by my nickname, Roxie.” “Okay…Roxie.” “My next
class is ‘Criminal Justice’ with Mr. Lobello,” Roxie
continued. “ ‘Criminal Justice,’ with Mr. Lobello?”
Rowen repeated. “Si. Do you know him?” Roxie asked.
“Yeah, I know him,” Rowen admitted. “Matter of fact,”
he added a bit smugly, “I have that same class next
period.” “Really? Bueno!” Roxie exclaimed as they
continued down the hall...

It was almost time for fifth period to begin. Ryo,
Sage, Kento, and Cye were sitting at a table in Study
Hall, waiting for Rowen to show up. “Come on, Sandra!”
Sage pleaded with the redhead girl, who was sitting at
a table across from the guys, along with Rita, Clara,
and Kim. “There’s an extra seat right here.” He
indicted an empty seat right next to him. Sandra
looked up from her book for a moment and retorted,
“Sorry, Sage, but I trust you ‘bout as far as she can
kick you.” She jerked her thumb at Kim, who snickered
a bit at Sandra’s cruel remark. “Leave it alone, Sage.
For the last time, she’s not interested in you,” Ryo
reminded him. “That’s not entirely true,” Sandra
reluctantly admitted.

Sage immediately perked up when he heard this. “Ha! I
knew it,” he admitted proudly. “I am interested in
you...as a friend!” Sandra added. “Aww,” Sage groaned.
Ryo, Kento, and Cye snickered over Sage’s situation.
“Hey, there’s Rowen!” Ryo pointed out as they watched
Rowen enter the room with a big grin on his face.
“He’s sure happy about something,” Ryo told Cye,
Kento, and Sage. “Perhaps he finally met his pen pal,
Roxanna,” Cye suggested. “If that’s true, he obviously
wasn’t disappointed with what he saw!” Kento added
smugly. Rowen arrived at their table and sat down next
to Kento. “How are you all doing today?” Rowen asked
cheerfully, which caught his friends a bit by
surprise.

“We’re doing all right, Rowen,” Sage replied as Rowen
opened up a textbook and started to read. “You seem to
be in higher spirits now,” Cye mentioned. “Does this
mean you ran into Roxanna earlier today?” “As a matter
of fact, I did meet Roxanna,” Rowen admitted openly.
“So, which class of yours is she in?” Cye asked. “All
of them.” “Get outta here!” Sage exclaimed. “I’m
serious!” Rowen told him. “I saw her schedule, and
it’s like someone handed her an exact copy of my own
schedule!” Kento decided to get a little personal.
“So, spill it, Rowen! Is Roxanna hot or what?” “Excuse
me, what?” Rowen asked, a bit surprised. “Is Roxanna
hot?” Kento repeated. “You know! Is she a babe, a
knockout, a hottie?”

Rowen flushed a bit with Kento continually egging him.
He was at a loss for words. “Come on, Rowen. Details!
I wanna know...Hey!” Kento exclaimed when a crumpled
ball of paper hit him on the head. “What did you do
that for?” he asked Kim. “Why don’t you stop bugging
him, dude?” Kim told him. “Leave him alone. Rowen
don’t need to tell you nothin’. Anyway, you’ll see for
yourself if she’s a babe or not. Okay?” Kento kept his
mouth shut after that. Just then, Ryo looked up and
spotted Roxanna entering the room. “Hey, Rowen, is
that her?” he asked. Rowen turned his head to see for
himself. “Yeah, that’s her,” he admitted. “Whoa,”
Kento exclaimed in a low whisper. “That’s all I can
say, man. Whoa.”

Rowen looked suspiciously at Sage, who was obviously
checking out Roxanna. “Don’t even think about it,”
Rowen whispered harshly. “What?” Sage asked
innocently. “I know what you’re thinking,” Rowen
warned him accusingly. “It’s like clockwork with you,
Sage. You just have to flirt with every pretty girl
that comes along...” “So...you think she’s pretty?”
Kento interrupted. “Well, I...” Rowen stuttered as he
turned red a bit. “Hola!” Roxie greeted him. “Hi,
Roxie,” Rowen replied. “Mind if I sit here?” she
asked, pointing at the empty seat between him and
Sage. “Sure,” Rowen replied a bit hesitantly. Roxie
sat down at the table and placed her notebooks and
pencil case down.

“Roxie, these are my friends,” Rowen started. “This is
Ryo Sanada, Cye Mouri, Kento Rei Fuan, and Sage Date.”
“Pleasure to meet you,” Roxie replied. “And over
here,” Rowen continued as he turned around, “this is
Rita Niitsu, Clara Garson, Sandra O’Brien, and Kim
Ashe.” “Wow, Rowen,” Roxie admitted. “You have a lot
of friends.” Just then, Mr. Stein entered the room and
sat at the desk in the center of the room. “Remember,
people,” he stated dully. “This is Study Hall, so keep
the talking down to a whisper.” The talking quieted
down and Mr. Stein removed some papers from his
briefcase. “Rowen, could I borrow your notes for
Calculus and Criminal Justice, por favor?” Roxie asked
in a whisper.

“Sure,” Rowen whispered as he handed a notebook to
Roxie. She opened one of her notebooks and started to
copy Rowen’s notes. “What about everything else?”
Rowen asked. “We do have all the same classes
together.” “We have lunch next, right?” Roxie asked as
she was jotting down notes. “Yeah, we do,” Rowen
replied. “I can get the other notes then.” “Well, I
had plans to go to the library next period,” Rowen
explained. “That’s fine by me. I haven’t been to the
library yet,” Roxie whispered. “All right, then,”
Rowen whispered back. He looked up and noticed that
Sage was checking her out again. When Sage looked up
for a moment, Rowen gave him a warning in the form of
a dirty look.

Sensing the tension in the air, Cye decided to strike
up some conversation. “So, Roxie, right?” he started.
“Yes?” Roxie replied. “Rowen told us that you’re from
Los Angeles?” Cye asked. “Well, not entirely,” Roxie
admitted. “I’m originally from San Gabriel. It’s a
small suburb in Los Angeles.” As she continued
writing, Sage confessed openly, “You know, I used to
live in California.” “Really? Where did you live?”
Roxie asked, not even bothering to look up. “Villa
Park,” Sage replied. “Villa Park,” Roxie muttered out
loud. “That would be located outside of Anaheim. How
long have you lived here in Toyama?” “It’s been around
seven years, more or less,” he admitted.

Suddenly, a series of loud tones sounded off. “Remain
calm, everyone,” Mr. Stein announced as he stood up.
“This is just a drill.” “What the hell’s going on?”
Kim asked. “Just a fire drill,” Kento replied as they
all got up from their seats. “What’s the big deal?” “I
ain’t used to no tones. I’m used to them big, old,
clanging bells.” Mr. Stein approached the classroom
door and opened it. “You know the routine,” he told
the students. “Everyone, line up single file.” He
waited patiently as everyone got up from the tables
and formed a line by the open door. Just to make sure
Sage didn’t get the chance to flirt with Roxie on the
way out, Rowen intentionally cut between the two of
them before they left the room...

The school day had finally come to an end. Ryo, Kento,
Cye, Sage, Kim, Clara, Rita, and Sandra were waiting
under the oak tree for Rowen and Roxie. “Here he
comes,” Cye announced to the others when he saw Rowen
heading their way. “Roxie will be out in a few
minutes,” Rowen told his friends. “She needed to get
something from her locker.” “That’s good, because we
need to talk to you about something important,” Ryo
admitted. “Maybe you should sit down,” Sage suggested,
indicating a nearby picnic table. Rowen sighed before
he reluctantly headed to the table, with the guys
following behind. As he sat down on top of the table,
Rowen asked a bit hesitantly, “What is it now?”

“It’s about your friend, Roxie,” Ryo started. “We’ve
been talking, and we think that she could possibly be
the kokoro of air.” “Get out of here!” Rowen
exclaimed. “You got to admit, it all adds up when you
look at what has happened so far,” Cye pointed out. “I
don’t know about Roxie being the kokoro of air,” Rowen
muttered out loud. “I’ve been around her most of the
day, and this blasted ring hasn’t reacted at all.”
“That doesn’t matter, Rowen,” Sage explained.
“Remember, the rings only react when they’re in some
sort of danger. That’s how it worked so far.” Rowen
was quietly thinking to himself for a moment. “I’ll
talk to her about this matter privately,” he finally
replied. “It’d be easier on Roxie if it was just me
explaining the situation.”

“Well, here she comes now,” Cye remarked. Rowen got up
from the table as Roxie approached them. She had a
backpack strapped over her shoulders and was carrying
a book in her arms. “Okay, I’m ready to leave now,”
she announced. “Great, let’s get outta here,” Kento
retorted. As the group of ten left the school, Roxie
whispered to Rowen, “Is there something wrong with
your friend, Kento?” “No, he just has a thing about
school,” Rowen whispered back. “And what’s that?” she
asked. “He hates it,” Rowen whispered. Roxie giggled a
bit. Rowen smiled a little, thinking about how Roxie
looked when she giggled. There was some silence
between them as they lagged behind everyone else.

“So, what did you think about the library?” Rowen
asked, trying to strike up conversation. “Muy grande,”
Roxie replied. Rowen eyed the book she was carrying in
her arms. “What’s that book you checked out?” he
asked. “I don’t believe I read that one before.” Roxie
looked down at her library book. “It’s an assortment
of haiku, poems, and short stories,” she replied. “I
found it very interesting. I was especially intrigued
by one poem in particular.” “Do you mind telling me
about this poem?” Rowen asked. “Sure, no problem,”
Roxie replied. “It goes something like this: ‘Torch of
spirit sought through five: Drinking strength from
immortal fire, The darkest prison sheds the light,
Churning beneath a swirl of salt, Burning within a
throne of rock, Floating amongst the eyes of the
ages...’ ”

“ ‘Unmourned in the stream of the sky,’ ” Rowen
finished. “You know this poem?” Roxie asked with a
hint of excitement in her voice. “Umm...yes, I do,”
Rowen admitted. “Then, would you happen to know the
legend of the Ronin Warriors?” Roxie asked. “The Ronin
Warriors? Well, I umm...” he stuttered. “Sorry to
interrupt, but we’re at our street now,” Sage
announced. Rowen and Roxie looked up and noticed that
Sage was right. “We’ll see you guys later,” Ryo said
as he, Cye, Kento, Clara, Rita, and Kim continued down
the road. “Bye, Ryo. Bye, guys,” Rowen shouted as he,
Sage, Sandra, and Roxie started down their street.
Sage and Sandra walked ahead, while Rowen and Roxie
lagged behind.

“So, where were we, Roxie?” Rowen asked. “We were
about to discuss the legend of the Ronin Warriors,”
Roxie reminded him. “Oh, right,” he muttered. “So, do
you know anything about them?” Roxie asked. “Well,
from what I recall, over a thousand years ago, this
world was apparently attacked by an evil demon from
the Nether World called Talpa. He led an empire they
called the Evil Dynasty, full of these Dynasty
soldiers and Nether Spirits. It appeared that Talpa
would have succeeded in taking over, until there was a
face-off between him and an elderly monk.” “An elderly
monk?” Roxie interrupted. “Seems bizarre, doesn’t it?”
Rowen replied. “Anyway, the monk defeated Talpa, but
Talpa warned him that one day, by the power of his
armor, he would return to seek his revenge.”

“What did this monk do?” Roxie asked, obviously
intrigued by the story. “And when do the Ronin
Warriors come in?” “I’m about to get to that part,”
Rowen assured her. “The monk, who was also called the
Ancient, knew that as long as the armor existed, Talpa
would be able to carry out his threat, but
unfortunately, Talpa’s armor couldn’t be destroyed.
So, the Ancient melted down Talpa’s armor and created
the nine Ronin armors. Four of these armors were
imbued with the powers of the four seasons: spring,
summer, autumn, and winter. The remaining armors were
imbued with the powers of the five elements: fire,
earth, air, water, and spirit. The four seasonal
armors disappeared over time, but according to legend,
if Talpa and his Evil Dynasty ever returned to the
mortal world, the Ronin Warriors would be there to
stop him.”

Roxie was silent for a few moments. “That was an
interesting legend, Rowen,” she admitted. “Especially
the way you tell it.” “What do you mean?” Rowen asked,
blushing slightly. “Well, the way you spoke, it was as
though you believed in the legend yourself,” Roxie
explained. “It sounded muy bonito, coming from you.”
Rowen blushed even more from Roxie’s compliment. “Hate
to interrupt the chat, Romeo,” Sage retorted, “but you
passed your house.” Rowen stopped dead in his tracks.
He turned around and saw that Sage was right. He was
so into his conversation with Roxie that he walked
right passed his house. Rowen would have kept going if
Sage didn’t stop him. “Oops, my mistake,” he admitted,
chuckling nervously.

“Sage! You didn’t have to be so rude ‘bout it,” Sandra
retorted. She looked at Rowen and Roxie and smiled.
“Well, we have to be going,” Sandra announced
cheerfully. “Nice meeting you, Roxie.” “Same here,
Sandra,” Roxie replied. She and Rowen watched for a
few moments as Sandra half-dragged Sage down the
street. “Are those two a couple?” Roxie asked. Rowen
laughed out loud. “No way! In Sage’s dreams, perhaps,”
he admitted. There was a moment of silence between
them. “So, you mentioned you live on this street?
Whereabouts?” Rowen asked. Roxie started to giggle.
“What?” he asked. “You weren’t the only one to walk
pass your house,” she got out between her giggles.
“So, where is your house?” Rowen asked again.

Roxie pointed at a two-floor, white cottage-style
house. “I can’t believe it,” Rowen muttered. “What is
it?” Roxie asked. Rowen looked into her blue eyes and
replied, “We’re neighbors.” “Bueno,” Roxie replied
with a smile. Rowen decided to take a chance. “Can I
walk you to the door?” he asked quickly. Roxie was
slightly taken aback by Rowen’s offer. “Sure, Rowen,”
she finally answered. The two headed back to Roxie’s
home and walked down the small brick path to the door.
“There’s something I want to know, Roxie,” Rowen
started. “What did you think about me? You know, when
you saw me for the first time?” “Well, personally, I
wasn’t disappointed with what I saw,” Roxie admitted.

Rowen looked away so Roxie couldn’t see his face
turning red. “I’ll see you later, okay?” Roxie asked
as she started to open the door. “Wait a minute!”
Rowen exclaimed. “What is it?” she asked. “I need to
discuss something important with you, but not out
here,” Rowen explained. “Then where?” Roxie asked.
“Meet me outside around four. I’ll take you to this
place I know of where we won’t be interrupted.” “I
don’t know...” Roxie murmured a bit hesitantly. Rowen
could tell she was nervous, so he took her hand to
help calm her. “Roxie, I would never do anything to
hurt you in any way. You do believe me, right?” She
looked up into Rowen’s blue eyes and smiled a bit.
“Yes, I do,” she whispered.

“There’s one other thing I need to tell you, no, warn
you about,” Rowen continued. “I have an impostor out
there. He looks nearly identical to me; only his eyes
are different from mine. He’ll possibly try to cover
them up with sunglasses, so keep an eye out for him.”
Roxie slowly nodded her head. “Well, goodbye for now,
Roxie,” Rowen continued. “Adios, Rowen,” Roxie
replied. She gave him a quick hug before she entered
her home and closed the door. Rowen stood there
astonished for a few moments before he turned around
and headed back to his own house next door...

Meanwhile, inside a dark room, Strata was sitting on a
large velvet pillow in his sub-armor, in deep
meditation. A circle of lit candles, sitting on top of
tall wooden candleholders, surrounded him. Strata
chuckled evilly to himself. “So, you think you can
protect the kokoro from me, Rowen of Strata,” he
muttered under his breath. “Too bad you don’t know
that the two of us are psychically linked.” Strata
heard the door open from behind him. He opened his
eyes and asked in an annoyed tone, “What is it,
Devaki?” “Lady Dulcea wishes to speak with you right
now,” Devaki told him. Strata stood up and followed
Devaki down the hall to the throne room, where Dulcea
was sitting on her throne, waiting for them.

“Thank you, Devaki. You may leave now,” Dulcea
ordered, gesturing with her hand slightly toward the
hallway. Devaki bowed to her and hobbled back to the
hallway. “Lady Dulcea, you wished to speak with me?”
Strata asked as he bowed respectively to her. “Your
time has come to destroy the kokoro of air, Strata,”
Dulcea informed him. “I’ve been anticipating this
moment, Lady Dulcea,” he admitted. “So, you have a
plan?” she asked. “Yes, and it’s quite a devious one,
if I do say so myself,” Strata boasted. Dulcea raised
an eyebrow upon hearing this boast. “Don’t be so sure
of yourself, Strata,” she muttered icily. “Remember,
the others were so sure of success that it led to
their downfall. Don’t forget that.”

Strata slowly nodded his head in understanding. “Of
course, Lady Dulcea,” he muttered. “I did formulate a
backup plan,” Strata continued. “That is, if the
slight chance of the first one failing, which it
won’t, does occur. I will not fail you!” Dulcea stared
at him with her cold violet eyes. “You better not fail
me, Strata,” she uttered icily. “I had enough failures
to deal with already, and I don’t need another one.
Now, go!” Strata quickly bowed to her and teleported
out of the throne room...

Meanwhile, back at Roxie’s house, the young Hispanic
girl was heading out. “I’ll be back soon, Mama,” she
shouted as she closed the door. Roxie looked up and
saw Rowen waiting for her at the edge of the street.
“Hey, Rowen!” she shouted as she headed toward the
road. Suddenly, Rowen turned his head and Roxie
noticed that he was wearing dark sunglasses. She
stopped a few feet away. “Who are you?” Roxie asked
suspiciously. The young man chuckled as he removed his
sunglasses. Roxie took in a huge sigh of relief when
she noticed that his eyes were normal. “Why did you
scare me like that, Rowen?” she asked as she
approached him.

“I was just giving you a little test, Roxie,” Rowen
explained. “I didn’t mean to scare you.” “That’s
okay,” Roxie admitted. “So, where are we going?”
“There’s this place I know of, located in the woods
down the street,” Rowen explained as the two walked
down the street toward Sage and Sandra’s homes. “Up
there, we won’t be disturbed by anyone.” “Oh, really?”
Roxie asked, suspecting that Rowen had an alternate
purpose for wanting to speak to her alone...

Unbeknownst to Roxie, the real Rowen had just arrived
at her house. He waited around for a couple of
minutes. “She’s probably not ready yet,” Rowen
concluded. He decided to take a quick walk to pass the
time, and he headed in the opposite direction toward
the main road leading to Han`a High. A gentle breeze
was blowing, causing the lock of hair on Rowen’s
forehead to twitch around. He took in a deep breath.
“This is possibly the best thing that’s ever happened
to me,” Rowen thought to himself as he walked down the
street. “Finally, someone I can talk to at an
intellectual level. Roxie has changed so much since
the second grade. She used to be so shy and timid.
Now, she’s more open-minded, outgoing, pretty...”

Rowen suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. “What was I
thinking?” he muttered to himself. Rowen was a bit
confused, since he never felt attracted to a girl
before. He jerked his head back and muttered, “I best
be heading back. Roxie might be out waiting for me by
now.” Rowen turned around and started to head back to
Roxie’s house. The gentle breeze had just kicked up a
notch, but it didn’t seem to bother him much. He
pulled his jacket collar up as he continued heading
back. “What the...?” Rowen exclaimed. The once gentle
breeze was now a very powerful, roaring gust, bending
the trees alongside the road and blowing dust and sand
up in the air. He covered his eyes so the sand
wouldn’t get in them.

Suddenly, the wind abruptly stopped. Rowen brought
down his hands, opened his eyes, and gasped. The ring
of Life, restrained only by Rowen’s chain necklace,
was hovering right in front of his face. A small orb
of dark blue light surrounded the ring. Rowen quickly
snatched the ring from the air in his fist.
“Hmm...could it be possible that this ring was
responsible for the abrupt changes in the barometric
pressure?” he asked himself thoughtfully as he opened
his hand and looked cautiously at the glowing ring of
Life. Suddenly, a beam of dark blue light came out
from the ring. The beam projected a flat dark blue
oval in front of Rowen. Through the oval, he saw
several images, all in various shades of dark blue.

The first image he saw was of Roxie and himself, or
someone that looked completely identical to him,
heading towards a path on the side of the street
leading into the woods. The next image was of Roxie
looking over the edge of a small cliff. The last image
was of his look-alike pushing Roxie off of the cliff.
The flat oval disappeared, and the ring of Life
stopped glowing. Rowen stood there for a moment,
thinking quietly to himself. “Hey, I recognize that
cliff!” he exclaimed. “It’s in the woods, right past
Sage’s house. I remember the two of us going up there
to meditate...I can reminisce later. Now’s definitely
not the time!”

Rowen took a small crystal orb out of his pocket,
closed his eyes, and concentrated. In the blink of an
eye, his clothes were instantly replaced with his
sub-armor. As soon as the transformation was complete,
Rowen ran as fast as he could down the street. “I just
hope I can get to her in time,” he thought to himself
as he sped past his house...

“How much further is it, Rowen?” Roxie asked. The two
have been climbing up a steep trail in the woods for
quite a while. “Almost there,” Rowen assured her. A
few moments later, they reached the end of the trail.
The trail emptied into a small, narrow cliff
overlooking the forests and distant mountains. Roxie
gasped in astonishment at the amazing view. “How
marvelous!” she exclaimed. “You like it?” Rowen asked.
“Of course, I do. It’s absolutely breathtaking!” Roxie
exclaimed. “I’m going to take a closer look.”

As she headed toward the edge of the cliff, Rowen
announced, “Just watch your step, Roxie.” A small
smirk appeared on his face. “You might end up falling
off,” he muttered to himself. Rowen chuckled evilly to
himself as he headed toward the cliff’s edge. He was
slowly sneaking up on Roxie. Rowen had his arms
stretched out and was about to push Roxie when a
familiar voice shouted, “Roxie! Get away from that
cliff!”

Roxie looked up and was surprised to see a second
Rowen, only he was wearing some sort of metal
sub-armor colored blue and white. “Rowen?” she
exclaimed questionably as she looked over at the Rowen
standing next to her. He had a stern, aggravated look
on his face. To Roxie’s surprise, Rowen turned toward
her and pushed her hard, sending Roxie off the cliff.
“Ahhhhhh!” she screamed as she fell further down
toward the dense forest below. Roxie kept her eyes
closed, not wanting to see herself make contact with
the ground.

Suddenly, Roxie gasped when she felt something wrap
itself around her waist. She opened her eyes and
noticed that it was an arm coated in blue and white
armor. “Rowen?” she asked, looking up in the face of
her friend. “Don’t worry, Roxie. I got you,” Rowen
told her. He dug his fingers deep into the nearby
cliff wall. Rowen’s fingers left long thin trails in
the rock wall until they finally came to a stop. He
pulled himself up on a thin ledge, never letting go of
Roxie.

“Do you mind telling me what’s happening?” Roxie asked
fearfully. “Not to be rude, but now’s not exactly the
best time,” Rowen explained as he crouched down. “Hold
onto me,” he instructed Roxie. “Why? What are you
going to do?” Roxie asked nervously. “Just trust me on
this, Roxie,” Rowen told her. Roxie hesitantly wrapped
her arms around Rowen’s neck. “Hang on,” he reminded
her. With all his strength, Rowen propelled himself
off of the ledge. Roxie held on tighter as they
accelerated higher back toward the cliff.

When Rowen and Roxie landed back on the cliff, they
both saw Rowen’s impostor standing there, with his
back towards them. “So...you survived, eh?” the
impostor muttered out loud. “You can’t destroy a Ronin
Warrior that easily,” Rowen retorted. “Mind telling me
how you managed to pull this off?” “It’s quite simple,
really,” the impostor replied as he turned around.
Rowen and Roxie gasped when they noticed his eyes. One
was a normal looking blue eye, while the other eye was
a deeper blue, with no pupil.

“Contacts,” Rowen muttered out loud. “That’s correct,
Rowen of Strata,” the impostor retorted as he
levitated off of the ground. When he was about six
feet in the air, he spun around rapidly, forming what
appeared to be a small blue tornado. When he finally
stopped spinning, Strata was in his full armor. “Stay
behind me,” Rowen told Roxie as Strata landed on the
ground. “Armor of Strata! DAO INOCHI!” Roxie gasped as
she witnessed her friend transforming into blue and
white samurai-style armor. When the transformation was
complete, Rowen withdrew his bow and stood ready for
battle.

“Do you really believe that you can protect the girl
from me, Rowen of Strata?” Strata asked sarcastically
as he withdrew his own bow. Rowen could tell what his
evil twin was about to do as Strata removed an arrow
from his quiver and loaded it in his bow. “ARROW SHOCK
WAVE!” Strata shouted. Rowen stood his ground as the
blazing arrow headed straight towards him and Roxie.
“Life!” he thought as his kanji glowed on his
forehead. To Roxie’s surprise, a blue light emerged
from Rowen’s armor, creating a large hollow sphere
around the two of them. Acting as a shield, the blue
sphere deflected Strata’s attack.

“Roxie, listen to me,” Rowen whispered loud enough for
Roxie to hear. “This shield won’t last much longer.
I’m gonna distract Strata, and I want you to make a
run for it.” “But, Rowen, I don’t want to leave you
here alone...” Roxie started to argue. “Roxie, don’t
worry,” Rowen told her. “I’m more concerned with your
safety than my own.” He looked up and noticed that
the shield was starting to fade away. “Get ready,”
Rowen warned Roxie as he held up his bow.

As soon as the protective shield disappeared, Rowen
charged toward Strata and swung his bow down at him.
Strata managed to block the blow with his bow. While
the two warriors were locked in combat, Strata noticed
in the corner of his eye Roxie running past them
towards the trail in the woods. “You’re only delaying
the inevitable, Rowen of Strata,” he muttered
sinisterly. Strata suddenly knocked Rowen off of him
with a powerful kick. After Strata stood up, he swung
his bow down at the fallen Ronin Warrior. Rowen
quickly rolled out of the way and Strata’s bow made
contact with the hard packed earth, leaving a narrow
hole. Strata swung his bow down at Rowen again, but he
used his bow to block his clone’s second swing...

Meanwhile, Roxie was running as fast as she could down
the path. “Ahh!” she screamed as she tripped over a
root in the trail and fell to the ground. As she sat
up, Roxie saw something on the side of the trail
glowing with a bright blue light. From taking a closer
look, Roxie realized that the glowing object was a
ring. She reached out her hand to pick it up, but she
stopped short. “What am I doing?” Roxie asked herself
as she stood up. “I need to get help for Rowen.” She
continued running as fast as she dared down the steep
trail. “I doubt that anyone would believe me, but I
can’t let Rowen fight that impostor by himself,” Roxie
thought.

Out of the corner of her eye, Roxie saw a small sphere
of glowing blue light fly right past her. “What was
that?” she gasped as she stopped running. The glowing
blue orb was hovering in front of her face. Roxie
noticed that the same ring she found earlier floating
within the glowing orb of blue light. She willingly
opened her hand, and the ring dropped right in her
open hand. Suddenly, a narrow beam of blue light
emerged from the ring and connected with her forehead.
Slowly, the kanji of Life appeared on Roxie’s
forehead. As she stood there, Shuno appeared at her
side. ”Roxanna Rodriguez,” he said, “I am Shuno, ruler
of the kokoro. You, my dear, are the kokoro of air
reborn, destined to help the Ronin Warriors defend the
mortal world from evil. Rowen is one of the Ronin
Warriors. He wears the armor of Strata. You must open
up your eyes and your mind to what’s really happening
around you.”

Roxie quickly opened her eyes and looked around, but
the mysterious Shuno was nowhere in sight. “Huh? Where
did he go?” she asked herself. “What was that nonsense
he was going on about?” Roxie thought over what Shuno
told her for a moment. “Well, I guess some of it makes
sense. Shuno did know about that strange armor that
Rowen was wearing and...” She was interrupted by a
loud crash from the cliff. “Oh, no! Rowen!” Roxie
cried as she hesitantly made her way back to the
cliff...

Meanwhile, unknown to Roxie, Rowen was losing the
battle with Strata. His evil twin knocked him to the
ground with a low roundhouse kick. By grabbing the
handles on Rowen’s armored boots, Strata flung the
Ronin Warrior right into a massive tree. The force of
the impact knocked Rowen unconscious and snapped the
tree in half. “That must have hurt,” Strata retorted
with a hint of venom as he approached the unconscious
Rowen, slung him over his shoulder, and headed for the
edge of the cliff. “It’s time to end this, Rowen of
Strata,” he muttered sinisterly.

“Let him go,” Strata heard Roxie order him. He looked
over his shoulder and smirked at the girl standing at
the border between the forest and the cliff. “If you
insist,” he retorted as he quickly dumped Rowen’s
unconscious body over the edge of the cliff. Strata
looked back at Roxie, but to his surprise, she wasn’t
scared or panicked, which was what he was expecting.
Roxie closed her eyes and concentrated. The ring of
Life on her right ring finger reacted by radiating a
blue glow. Strata could feel powerful gusts of wind
coming from the edge of the cliff. He turned around
and gasped, “It’s...not possible!”

To Strata’s utter shock, he saw Rowen being lifted
back up to the cliff by the powerful winds. The Ronin
Warrior was carried over Strata’s head by the winds
and was gently laid down by Roxie’s feet. The girl
slowly opened her eyes and looked down at her injured
blue-haired friend. She kneeled down and delicately
touched Rowen’s cheek. “Come on, Rowen. Please wake
up,” she whispered concernly. Strata decided to take
advantage of this opportunity. He loaded one of his
golden arrows in his bow, took careful aim at Roxie’s
heart, and released the arrow.

To Strata’s complete surprise, Roxie instinctively
reached up with her hand and grabbed the arrow, with
the sharp arrowhead just two inches away from her
heart. “Enough with these games, kokoro,” Strata
muttered icily as he held up his bow. “You die now!”
he yelled angrily as he charged toward her. Roxie
looked up at him with anger burning in her bright blue
eyes. “WHIRLWIND!” she shouted. A severe blast of
incredibly powerful winds knocked Strata down to the
bare ground. He could feel the powerful winds pushing
him toward the edge of the cliff.

Before he went over the cliff, Strata reached out and
grabbed onto the edge with his hand. As the evil Ronin
Warrior swayed on the cliff’s edge, he looked up at
Roxie, who was slowly approaching him. Her dark brown
hair was being tossed about wildly by the gusts of
wind. Roxie stood and watched as Strata lost his grip
and plummeted down to the forest below. She was about
to look over the edge of the cliff to make sure that
Strata was gone when she heard Rowen take in a loud
gasp of air. Roxie immediately hurried back to his
side. Rowen slowly opened his eyes and wearily looked
up at his friend. “Roxie?” he whispered a bit weakly.
“Rowen? How are you feeling?” Roxie asked.

“Like I told that creep earlier, you can’t destroy a
Ronin Warrior that easily,” Rowen reminded her as he
struggled to stand up. “Here, let me help you,” Roxie
offered as she helped Rowen stand up. “Thanks, Roxie,”
he replied with a small, weak smile on his face. “Hey,
Rowen!” they heard a familiar voice shout. Rowen and
Roxie turned around and saw Sage running towards them,
wearing his green and white sub-armor. Following right
behind him were Ryo, Cye, and Kento, all in their
sub-armors as well. “Hey, guys,” Rowen greeted. “How
did you know we were up here?” “I saw you running down
the street in your sub-armor earlier,” Sage explained.
“I figured that something was up, so I called the guys
and let them know what was going on.”

“Hey, you guys!” they heard Sandra shout. The five
Ronin Warriors and Roxie looked toward the woods.
Standing there was Sandra, taking in several deep
breaths of air. Rita, Kim, and Clara were standing
behind her, also showing signs of exhaustion. “Are
you all right, Sandra?” Cye asked. “Give me a minute,”
Sandra replied between gasps of air. “You dudes don’t
realize how fast y’all run with that damn armor on,”
Kim retorted. “What happened, Rowen?” Ryo asked.
“Well, to sum it all up: Strata, posing as me, tricked
Roxie into coming up here, and pushed her off that
cliff over there,” Rowen explained. “I caught Roxie,
brought her back up to the cliff, and fought Strata
while she made a run for it. Strata overpowered me,
threw me into what used to be a tree over there, and I
passed out.”

“So, what happened to Strata?” Sage asked. “No need to
worry about him,” Roxie replied. “I don’t think he’ll
be coming back anytime soon.” “That’s what you think!”
a familiar voice shouted from behind them. The Ronin
Warriors and the five girls looked up and were
surprised to see Strata floating in the air right in
front of them. “Give it up, Strata!” Rowen shouted.
“In case you haven’t noticed, you’re outnumbered
here!” Sage added. Strata stared down at them and
snickered evilly. “That’s where you’re wrong, Rowen of
Strata and Sage of Halo.” “Just what do you mean?” Ryo
demanded. “I could always...even the odds,” Strata
replied sinisterly as he snapped his fingers.

Instantly, Wildfire, Halo, Torrent, and Hardrock
appeared in the air next to Strata, all in their full
armor. “Told you we’d be back,” Wildfire muttered
sinisterly. “Stay behind us,” Ryo instructed Rita,
Sandra, Clara, and Kim. “You, too, Roxie,” Rowen told
her. Roxie willingly stepped behind the Ronin Warriors
as they formed a line in front of the girls and stood
their ground. “How ironic this is,” Strata sneered.
“The Ronin Warriors will end up losing their lives
protecting the ones we were sent to destroy.” “You
guys ready?” Rowen asked his friends. “Hey, we’ve been
ready,” Kento retorted. “Let’s do it,” Ryo muttered
out loud. “Armor of Wildfire! DAO JIN!” “Armor of
Halo! DAO CHI!” “Armor of Torrent! DAO SHIN!” “Armor
of Hardrock! DAO GI!”

After the transformations were complete, the four
remaining Ronin Warriors withdrew their weapons and
stood ready for battle with their evil clones.
“Ready?” Strata asked the other Ronin clones. “You bet
we are,” Hardrock agreed as he withdrew his naginata.
At the same time, Wildfire withdrew his katanas, Halo
withdrew his sword, and Torrent withdrew his trident.
The five Ronin clones yelled out simultaneously as
they all charged toward the Ronin Warriors and the
girls. Unexpectedly, to the Ronin Warriors’ surprise,
the Ronin clones’ bodies became engulfed in some sort
of purple electricity. They screamed out in pain as
the bolts of purple electricity coursed through their
armor straight to their bodies.

Suddenly, a brilliant flash of light engulfed the evil
Ronin Warriors. The real Ronin Warriors and the girls
shielded their eyes from the bright light. When they
opened their eyes, the Ronin clones were nowhere to be
seen. “Where the hell did they go?” Kim asked as she
looked around. “Perhaps that light destroyed them,”
Cye suggested. “That could be possible, but if that’s
true, then who did it?” Rowen asked. “Maybe it was
that guy, Shuno,” Rita suggested. “I don’t think he
did,” Ryo admitted. “If he had the power to destroy
those clones of us, when we couldn’t even do it
ourselves, then Shuno could take on Dulcea by himself
and wouldn’t have asked for our help. Besides, I have
a feeling that those clones are not dead. They’re
still out there, and so is Dulcea.”

“You’re right, Ryo,” Rowen admitted. “We have to stop
them from taking over this world. Together, we can do
this.” Ryo, Sage, Cye, and Kento nodded in approval.
“Well, you can definitely count me in,” Kim boasted as
she joined them. “Yeah, me, too,” Rita announced. “Me,
three,” Sandra admitted. “Don’t forget me,” Clara
added. Rowen looked at Roxie was now standing all
alone, thinking quietly to herself. “Hey, Roxie!” he
shouted. Roxie looked up at him questionably. “You
with us?” Rowen asked. Roxie hesitated for a moment
before she replied with a small smile, “You bet I am.”
She quickly joined the group at the edge of the cliff
as the sun was starting to set overhead...

Meanwhile, unknown to the Ronin Warriors and the
girls, Dulcea was watching them on the cliff via her
mirror in the throne room. “Enjoy your victory while
you can, Ronin Warriors,” she stated coldly. “You may
have won this battle, but the war is far from over.”
Just then, Dulcea heard several footsteps approaching
from the hall. She waved her hand over the mirror,
causing the images to disappear as her Ronin clones
entered the throne room, all back in their sub-armor.
They were obviously enraged about something, and it
showed. The five clones stopped just a few feet away
from Dulcea, whose back was facing them. “We almost
had them!” Strata reported angrily. “Why did you stop
us?” Torrent asked.

“May I remind you that you were supposed to destroy
the kokoro before they discovered their true powers,
and you all failed,” Dulcea stated coldly. “The Ronin
Warriors are another matter. You will destroy them
when I decide.” “Oh, yeah?” Hardrock shouted angrily
as he stepped in front of Torrent and Strata. “And
when will that be?” As Kento’s evil clone spoke, bolts
of purple electricity could be seen running down
Dulcea’s left arm down to her hand, where they
gathered into a small ball of electricity. She quickly
turned around and zapped Hardrock with the ball of
purple electricity. The force of the attack was so
powerful that it knocked Hardrock to the floor, along
with Strata and Torrent.

“Remember your place,” Dulcea reminded them bitterly.
“I’ll tell you as much as I decide to tell you. Now,
leave!” Hardrock, Strata, and Torrent quickly got up
from the floor and headed back toward the hallway,
along with Halo and Wildfire. “As you wish...”
Wildfire addressed to Dulcea. “...For now,” he
muttered to himself as he left the throne room. Dulcea
sat back down in her throne as Devaki, who was
watching everything from the back of the room, quickly
hobbled to her side. “Pardon me for asking, Lady
Dulcea, but why didn’t you let our evil ‘Ronin
Warriors’ destroy the real Ronin Warriors when they
had the chance?” “I have bigger plans for them,“
Dulcea replied. “I can’t afford to lose any of them,
now that all five kokoro have been revived.”

She stared at Devaki with her menacing violet eyes
before continuing. “Don’t forget, Devaki. If we wish
to succeed in conquering this planet, we need to
gather a massive amount of dark, negative energy, and
Black Chi energy is just the resource we need. Devaki,
I want you to devise a plan right away for gathering
the energy we need.” “Right away, Lady Dulcea,” Devaki
agreed as he quickly bowed to her and hobbled out of
the throne room. After he left, Dulcea’s deep violet
eyes focused on an unusually large tapestry hanging on
the wall to her left. She got up from her throne,
approached the large tapestry, and pulled an antique
gold-colored velvet rope that was dangling from the
right side of the tapestry.

Like a stage curtain, the massive tapestry separated
in the middle and the two halves were pulled away from
each other. Concealed behind the tapestry was a large
glass picture window that touched the floor and was
twice as tall as she was. Dulcea stepped closer to the
window and looked through it. Spread out in front of
her was nothing but the darkness of outer space,
heavily peppered with shining white stars. Dulcea’s
violet eyes then focused on the planet Earth, which
was floating right below her feet. She narrowed her
eyes as she stared at the main island of Japan. “This
world will eventually fall under my control, but
first, those Ronin Warriors will pay for what they’ve
done,” Dulcea muttered coldly. She chuckled sinisterly
to herself as she closed the tapestry curtain and
headed back to her throne...

TO BE CONTINUED

Back | Next

Ronin Warriors Fanfiction A-M
Ronin Warriors Fanfiction N-Z
dans l'ombre des arcanes