The Ronin Warriors' Dilemma: Part Two

by SAW458

Sage quietly shut the house door behind him, careful not to let it bang. It was two in the morning; he had stayed out in the woods grieving for the last couple of hours. However, it had done nothing to ease his pain. If anything, he felt worse than before, but he didn't feel that he had any tears left in him to shed. Sage was drained and weary, and all he wanted was to fall into bed and rest. To let blissful sleep take his sorrow away and let him forget, at least for a while. Still, it was only a temporary escape. When he woke up, he'd have to face reality once again.

Tiptoeing up the stairs, Sage silently made his way to the bedroom he shared with Rowen. Had shared, but he did not think of it in that sense. Something in his heart refused to let his mind think of his friend in past tense. However, it was so agonizingly quiet without Rowen in adjacent bed. Not that the archer had been a noisy roommate; Rowen was always peaceful as a mouse when he was sleeping. But just the lack of his presence was enough to make the entire room seem empty and lonely.

Sage was about to turn the doorknob when he heard a noise from inside the room. He paused and put his ear to the wood, listening. A burglar was not what he needed at this point. Tentatively, he cracked open the door and peered through the narrow slit. The lights weren't on, but the moonlight streamed in through the window and illuminated the darkness. Cye was sitting on Rowen's bed, leaning his elbows on his knees while his head was lowered. To the stunned surprise of Sage, he was crying miserably. The English boy seemed so small and lost at that moment that Sage wasn't sure what he should do. Finally, he pushed the door open and stepped into the room, flipping up the light switch on the wall. "Cye?"

Cye's head bolted upright and he gasped in shock. "Oh, Sage!" He quickly straightened up and rubbed at his eyes, forcing a faint smile. "I didn't know you were home."

"I just got back."

"Well," Cye said with false cheerfulness, "I should go and let you get some sleep, then." He stood and headed for the door when Sage stopped him.

"Cye, are you okay?" Sage sat down on his bed and regarded Cye in a confused manner. "It sounded like you were...crying." Though Cye's back was toward him, Sage swore he saw his friend's shoulders sag visibly. He watched as Cye slowly went over to the window, staring out into the night.

"Kento was wrong to blame you. It wasn't your fault," he said quietly.

"No, he was just upset. Besides..." Sage started to argue when Cye cut him off abruptly. "It was my fault."

Sage gaped at Cye's back in astonishment for a few moments. Then he shook himself and asked incredulously, "Whatever gave you the idea that what happened was in any way your fault? You nearly killed yourself trying to rescue Rowen!"

"So?" Cye answered, turning to face Sage. His eyes were filled with helpless frustration. "That doesn't make any difference to me. And it certainly didn't make any to Rowen."

"Cye..."

"It's true!" Cye became almost angry, his voice trembling as he spoke. "Don't you see? When Rowen fell into the ocean, I went after him because I thought it would be easy for me to save him. The water is supposed to be my element, isn't it?!" He stopped himself and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to calm down. Cye walked back over to Rowen's bed and sat on the mattress heavily, giving a weak, half-hearted chuckle. "My element...well, a lot of bloody good that did." Sighing, he covered his face with his hands, not wanting to let Sage see the fresh tears that had just sprang up. "I just couldn't find him. And now he's gone." Cye paused, then uttered a very faint, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I let Rowen die."

"Don't say that."

Cye looked up in surprise at Sage. He was to the right of the blond, so that tuft of hair was concealing his expression from the English boy. Something fell from Sage's cheek and soaked into the bedspread. Several other drops were soon to follow. Cye realized that tears were flooding Sage's eyes, flowing like small rivers down his face. But when he spoke, his voice was remarkably calm and steady.

"You didn't let Rowen die. You tried your best to find him. No one can blame you for that. Besides, I was the one who hit Rowen with my attack. If I hadn't been so stupid and careless, Rowen wouldn't be..." Sage stopped. He couldn't do it; he couldn't bring himself to say the word `dead`. A sudden, intense wave of grief slammed into his chest, crushing his heart. He was so empty inside that he felt like it was going to kill him. Sage literally wanted that; he wanted to die, if it would let him escape from his pain. But he was too afraid to actually go through with that. "Why?" he whispered, hurting terribly from the agony he was feeling.

"Sage?" Cye forgot his grief and stood up. He quickly went over and sat down next to the blond boy. He tried to put his hand on Sage's shoulder to console him, but the other boy recoiled from Cye's touch.

"Get away from me!" he snapped sharply, shaking off Cye's hand.

Cye shrank back from Sage, his expression like that of a hurt child. "I...I didn't mean..."

"No, just stop! I don't want your sympathy!" Sage jumped up, his voice was filled with rage. He wasn't mad at Cye, not directly. It was just that he did not feel that he deserved that type of kindness and compassion from Cye, or from anyone. Then he saw the injured look on Cye's face. His own features softened with guilt. "I'm sorry," he apologized hurriedly, taking a seat next to his friend again. "But, please, I don't want you to try and make me feel better about this. I'm the one who caused it."

"But it was an accident!" Cye protested. "You didn't know Rowen was there."

"Maybe it was. But..." Sage had to force himself to get his next words out. "When I saw that he was in the way, I...I froze. I didn't warn him right away. If I had, then maybe..." He was finally becoming aware of his tears which were spilling down his cheeks, but he didn't care. "God. Why didn't I say something sooner?!" Sage was so ashamed of himself. He started to cry quietly, wishing that Cye hadn't been there to see. Then he felt two arms wrap around him, and realized that Cye was hugging him and resting his forehead on Sage's shoulder. The English boy began weeping, and Sage let his tears come as well; maybe it would do them some both good. The two of them sat there, absorbing each other's pain. It was the only thing that they could think to do.

No, not here again. Rowen found himself on that same cliff, with that wind that howled threateningly. The sky was so black and furious it seemed that it might come crashing down upon him. He was afraid; he wasn't sure what was coming, but he could sense a presence. A twig snapped behind him, and he whirled around, his eyes widening in horror. The blond boy was standing there, his pale eyes sad and steady. "No, please. Don't do it, Sage," Rowen pleaded, trying to back up but finding that his body was frozen in place. "You're my friend!"

Sage sadly shook his head, clutching his no-datchi as it materialized in his hand. "I'm sorry, Rowen. I didn't mean for this to happen." Then his eyes glimmered with a dark green light and he launched the electricity at Rowen...

Rowen woke with a start, breathing hard. He winced slightly, his muscles still protesting to him. He was covered in sweat, and a few drops slid down his bare back. When his vision cleared, he realized he was in that same small bedroom as before. Rowen looked over at the rocking chair where the old lady had been, but it was unoccupied now.

Putting a hand to his head, he closed his eyes and took a shaking breath. "Not again..." he whispered. That dream...it had changed slightly, but it was still haunting him. Why? What was the connection? He thought of the blond boy in the nightmare. He had a name now; Rowen remembered calling him something this time around. What was that name? "Sa...Sage," he finally whispered slowly to himself. Yes, that was it; he was sure. It seemed familiar, but he just couldn't place it. This loss of memory was really starting to get to Rowen.

Sighing, he swung his feet over the side of the bed, carefully not to aggravate what injuries he had. He felt that he could move around now. Rowen carefully got up and headed into the bathroom. He found a modest shower stall in the corner and decided to make use of it. He took off the pair of baggy pants he was wearing and stepped into the shower. The warm water felt good on his body, though he still had a chill in his bones. He took some time to check himself for wounds. He could feel that he must have several tender spots on his back; the water pounding on his skin was a bit painful. His arms and legs were dotted with dark bruises. Someone, or something, whichever it was, had done a real number on him.

After Rowen was finished, he stepped onto the cool tile floor and wrapped a towel around himself. Grabbing another towel, he rubbed his damp hair to remove the moisture from it. He paused in front of the mirror to observe his reflection. A solemn face with dark sapphire- colored eyes looked back at him. Surprisingly, his hair was the same shade of deep blue. It appeared to be his natural color, and he wondered briefly where he had inherited it from, among other things. So that's what I look like, he mused. Well, I look okay, I guess. He gingerly touched a finger to a scrape on his cheek, grimacing a little.

Lowering his hand, he stared at the mirror, and all he saw was a stranger, a person he didn't know. "Who?" he murmured to his reflection as if expecting an answer. "Who am I?" He made a frustrated noise in his throat and finally gave up looking for answers here. Rowen padded out of the bathroom and glanced around. Now, where was he going to find something to wear?

Rowen caught sight of some neatly folded clothes on the dresser. He went over and picked up the shirt on top. It was dark blue with a high, green collar that could be zipped up. The pants were simple blue jeans. Shrugging, he figured they were better than nothing so he slipped them on. He didn't think it would be right to go through another person's drawers without permission anyway.

To his surprise, the clothes were perfect fits. He stepped in front of the mirror on the dresser and zipped his collar up all the way. Then he stopped and frowned; that didn't look right. Rowen pulled the zipper back down and left the collar partially open. He checked himself over and decided he seemed presentable, except for a thin, annoying lock of his blue hair that fell over his face and tickled his nose. He brushed it aside, but it kept dropping back into place. Rowen was about ready to get a pair of scissors and hack the dumb thing off when he noticed another item he had missed. A navy-colored head band. After pausing a moment, he plucked it off the bureau top. He slipped it over his head and under his bangs, pushing the hair out of his eyes. He looked at the image in the glass and smiled faintly.

"Yeah..." he whispered, satisfied. As he started to leave the room, something sparkled out of the corner of his eye. He turned toward the night stand next to the bed and saw a small, round crystal resting on the surface. A blue symbol was in the center; Rowen immediately recognized that it stood for Life, but he didn't have the faintest clue as to how he knew that. He picked it up and for a brief second, he thought he saw the kanji light up. But when he looked closer, the glow was gone. Rowen stared intently at the orb, then shook his head with a small sigh. I must be seeing things, he thought. He went to replace the crystal on the night stand, then stopped and, after thinking about it, drew back and pocketed it. Then he left the room, a small smile upon his lips.

Unbeknownst to Rowen, someone materialized in the bedroom when he left. "So," he said, disgust lacing his tone, "Strata has survived." He closed his eyes and sighed; what a nuisance that boy was. Now he would have to tell Master Talpa that he had failed in killing one of the Ronins. Then again, Strata did not seem to remember about his powers. That could work my favor, he thought wickedly...

Kento groggily opened his eyes, yawning wearily. Blindly, he groped with his arm to grab his alarm clock, groaning unhappily when he saw the time; 6:00. It was too early to be awake at all. But Kento hadn't gotten a good night's rest anyway. And now he just couldn't get back to sleep. Sighing, he lay on his back and stared at the ceiling. Rowen, he thought. Are you actually alive? Should I really keep believing that you're all right? It seemed like such a useless thing to wish for. But he couldn't bring himself to abandon his faith that the archer would somehow return. Kento's nature refused to let him give up hope. Rowen would come back. He had to.

After debating in his mind about it, he rolled over on his mattress in the direction of Cye's bed and whispered, "Hey, Cye?" Cye would probably not appreciate being woken up at this hour, but Kento was hungry and hoping that his friend might take pity on him and make breakfast. Then he saw that the bed wasn't occupied; it hadn't even been slept in. He sat up, confused. Where was Cye? The English boy always stayed asleep until at least eight.

Kento got up and padded across the room to the door. He stepped out into the hall and looked back and forth. The house was quiet, and he didn't want to wake everyone else. He noticed a light downstairs and tiptoed down the stairs. The illumination was coming from the kitchen. Kento relaxed slightly; perhaps Cye had gotten up early after all. Then a shattering noise broke the silence, followed by a furious, "Dammit!" Kento rushed into the room and skidded to an abrupt halt, surprised.

Sage looked rather startled as he stood there, broken china shards scattered on the floor at his feet. "Kento?"

"Sage? What happened?"

Sage's expression became angry and embarrassed. "I wasn't watching what I was doing and I dropped a glass," he replied curtly, stooping down to pick up the mess.

"Okay..." Kento watched that for a moment, not really knowing what else to do. Sage didn't seem to appreciate his presence at the moment, so Kento stayed where he was. Sage quickly began gathering the remainders of the glass together. Suddenly, he hissed sharply and snatched his hand back like he'd been burned. "What's wrong? Are you all right?" Kento asked worriedly, coming over.

Sage gripped his right wrist, his hand in a tight fist. "I'm fine," he said. But he winced painfully, giving himself away. Before he knew what was happening, Kento grabbed Sage's arm and forcefully opened his fingers up.

Kento's eyes widened at the sight before him. Sage had somehow managed to get a piece of glass embedded into his palm. "Geez, Sage. That looks really bad." Kento carefully grasped the glass between his fingers and as gently as he could, yanked it out. Sage let out a small cry as the shard was removed. Tossing the sharp object into the trash can, Kento stood and pulled Sage to his feet. "Come on. We better get that bandaged."

"I can do it myself," Sage protested indignantly, even though he had to maneuver his hand to prevent blood from dripping onto the floor. But Kento had a tight grip on his wrist and proceeded to drag the unwilling blond boy to the bathroom.

Once there, Kento steered Sage to the toilet and sat him down onto the lid. "Sit there."

"Honestly, Kento! You're making a big fuss over nothing," Sage said in annoyance, getting back to his feet. After all, he had the ability to heal injuries. He didn't see the need for the concern the other boy was displaying.

Kento's hand landed on his shoulder and shoved him back down. "Sit," he ordered in one stern word. It was clear that he wasn't letting Sage go.

Sage glared at Kento, but he stayed put. It wouldn't be any use to resist; Kento could just as soon clock him and wrap his hand while he was unconscious. Either way, Sage didn't want to push it. Eyeing him warily, he watched as Kento rummaged around the cabinets until he located the first aid kit. "Do you even know what you're doing?"

Kento chuckled as he set the container on the sink and opened the lid. "You don't live with four younger brothers and sisters without learning how to fix a couple bruises and scrapes." He frowned as he viewed the contents. "Sorry, Sage," he warned as he pulled out a bottle and plucked a Kleenex from its box, "it doesn't look like we've got any hydrogen peroxide, so I'm gonna have to use alcohol." He let the tissue soak up some of the liquid from the bottle. Then Kento stepped over to Sage and took a hold on his wrist, turning his injured palm face up. "This is gonna hurt. Ready?"

Sage nodded, not really caring about a little stinging. He quickly retracted that notion when the wet cloth was pressed onto his hand. Sage jerked back unintentionally, but Kento had a firm grip on him. Clenching his teeth, the blond boy sucked in a sharp breath, his eyes watering. It didn't just sting, it hurt like hell.

"I told ya. You cut yourself pretty deep." Kento tsked, taking the tissue off and throwing it in the trash.

Sage scoffed through his pain. "Is that how you were with your siblings?"

"Of course not." Kento grinned and gave Sage a friendly pat on the knee. "But you're a big boy. I figured that you wouldn't want me to sugar-coat the truth."

"Whatever," Sage said indifferently.

Kento put a bandage onto the wound and began winding the gauze around it to hold it in place. As he worked, he asked Sage, "Do you know where Cye is? I don't think he went to bed last night."

"He did. He's still asleep."

Kento looked up in surprise. "He is? Where?"

"My room."

"Why is he in your room?" Kento asked.

Sage's eyes were focused away from him as he spoke. "I got home last night and Cye was in there. He was upset, so we talked for a while. He was tired afterwards, so I let him sleep in Rowen's bed."

"Oh." Kento fell silent. Cye was upset? Then why didn't he talk to me about it? I'm his best friend, aren't I? Never mind, he thought. He shouldn't be thinking like that. "Um, Sage?"

"What?"

Kento fumbled for the right words to say. "I just wanted to say that I'm...I'm sorry. You know, about what I said yesterday."

Sage blinked, stunned and puzzled. "You are?"

"Yeah." Kento finished and sat back on the bathroom tile, rubbing the back of head sheepishly. "I know it wasn't your fault. It was just an accident. I didn't mean to get on your case."

Glancing down at his now bandaged hand, Sage had a sudden clarity on things. Okay, so Kento wasn't the wisest person he had ever known, and often did things without thinking about them first. But Sage suddenly realized that Kento had not just offered to fix his injury on the spur of the moment. He had a definite reason for doing it. Not that he wouldn't have done it anyway; Kento was a friend, after all. But he wouldn't have been so insistent about it in other situations. This had been his way of apologizing for the harsh words that had passed between them. Sage finally smiled and put his good hand on Kento's shoulder. "Thank you," he said gratefully, standing up. "For everything."

Kento stood too, looking relieved. "Great!" His stomach emitted a loud growl and he glanced down in embarrassment. "Uh, could we get some breakfast now?"

Sage chuckled and motioned with his thumb. "Sure. Let's see what we can dig up." As they exited the bathroom, he had the realization that he felt a little bit better than he had for a long time. His heart had begun to heal, but it still had a long way to go.

"Master Talpa." Several torches lit up with green flames as Cale knelt before a large throne. The prone figure of his leader reclined in it, silent and foreboding.

"Yes, Cale?" The raspy, low voice of Talpa sounded as he sat motionlessly in front of the warlord.

Cale lowered his head respectfully. "I'm afraid that the Ronin Warrior, Rowen of the Strata, is still alive."

"What?!" The Warlord of Corruption cringed slightly as Talpa bellowed furiously. "How?! He is supposed to be dead!"

"I do not know how, but somehow he has survived." Then Cale smiled cunningly and said, "But, it appears that he has lost his memories. He does not know that he is a Ronin Warrior, or about the Dynasty. This would be the perfect opportunity to finish him off."

Talpa contemplated this for a moment, then nodded. "Very well. I shall leave the eradication of this problem to you."

"As you wish." Cale stood and bowed once before disappearing. He knew now that he could not afford to fail. The Warlord of Corruption would kill Rowen of the Strata, no matter what...

Well, the second part is finally done! I'm happy with how this is coming. So anyway, see ya!