He sat there on top of a cliff covered in evergreen grass. A few tiny rocks were scattered here and there; he himself was sitting on a small boulder. Next to him was a cherry blossom tree that was in bloom. Its sugar pink petals fell gracefully onto the ground and a few even landed on top of his head and backside, which he would brush away in amusement. His tail would move back and forth, thumping up and down on the boulder as if it had a mind of its own.

It was slowly rolling into evening and Byakuen gazed outward at the setting sun. Its golden rays stretched across the land like gold. The reddish-brown skies showed hints of becoming purple with faint transparent clouds floating across. A nice, pleasant breeze howled by and Byakuen closed his eyes momentarily to enjoy it as it flowed past his white fur coat.

He simply enjoyed being out here in nature. He felt truly at home where he was. Nasuti was a lucky girl to be able to live out here. There was a time when he and the Troopers lived with her; it was after they defeated Arago that they decided to reside here for a while. Together, they had gone through many adventures that tested their strength, endurance, and desire of good and evil. At times their friendships had been in danger but having the love in their hearts, they all remained together. Even after their old armors had been destroyed in Africa, they stuck together like a family--through thick and thin, that was what friendship was all about. Being there for one another.

Just then, Byakuen�s ears perked up and he opened his eyes. Growling, he turned his head over his shoulders to see who had come to disturb his peace. He blinked as he discovered it was a black tiger.

Kokuen-Oh.

Byakuen regarded him curiously. He noticed that Kokuen-Oh wasn�t wearing his white armor. Turning around, Byakuen faced him, baring his teeth.

Kokuen-Oh halted from approaching the other and stood there momentarily. He stared at him with intense yellow and black eyes. He made no move to fight or in fact, any move at all. He was as still as a statue, just looking at Byakuen.

The two cats gazed at one another for a few minutes longer before Byakuen lowered his guard. He realized that Kokuen-Oh was not going to fight him. He could tell. They shared the same bodies. Or so they thought.

Kokuen-Oh closed his eyes and a yellow aura covered his body. Moments later, his formed changed from that of a tiger to a full grown man. Lifting his head, he smirked at Byakuen, who sat there looking at him. Short black hair flowed along the wind as he stood on his two legs.

"Come now, Byakuen. Don�t be shy. Transform so I can talk to you."

There was a teasing tone in his voice but Byakuen ignored it. He lowered his head and his body also started to glow. An uncanny white aura surrounde him, filling him with such sensation. Moments later, he too had been changed into a human.

Short white hair, pale skin, thoughtful brown eyes--Byakuen rarely did this. He prefered remaining in his original form. It was what he was used to.

Stepping off of the boulder, Byakuen folded his arms across his chest and said, "All right, Kokuen. What do you want?"

Kokuen-Oh raised his brows in question. "My, my. Aren�t we acting suspicious all of a sudden? I just came here to talk to you. That�s all. Just to see how you were doing."

Byakuen scowled. He really wasn�t fond of Kokuen-Oh�s mortal attitude. He enjoyed him when he was just being a tiger and mauling him with sharp claws and teeth.

Slowly, Byakuen turned his attention back to the sun. To his surprise, the sun was still up in the sky and was now just lowering into the hillsides. He heard some movement beside him. Glancing sideways, he found Kokuen-Oh standing next to him, staring outward at the sun. Byakuen was even more suprised to find him actually doing something like this.

"Do you...?"

"Do I what?"

Byakuen shrugged. "Watch the sunrise and sunset everyday?"

Kokuen-Oh wrinkled his nose. "A waste of time, really..."

"How about in the Youjakai?" Byakuen inquired softly, his eyes focused upon the sun. "Did Kenboukyou ever stop and look at it?"

"What exactly are you gettin at?" Kokuen-Oh asked, trying to avoid answering the question. He then sighed inward. "Kenboukyou-sama and I did not do such things. We traveled. That is all. And possibly fight those who stood in our way. You know that sort of thing."

"Oh, I see." Byakuen smiled in amusement. "What did you really come here for? I seriously doubt that you want to talk--"

"The Troopers aren�t immortal."

This had totally thrown Byakuen off guard. Turning to Kokuen-Oh, he found him wearing a face of anquish. What was going on? "What...?"

"You heard me," Kokuen-Oh said in a harsh tone. "You shouldn�t be so attached to these mortals."

Byakuen turned his head away in disgust. "If you�re still upset about Ryo killing Kenboukyou--"

"Aren�t you listen, fool?!" Kokuen-Oh snapped. He grabbed Byakuen by the arm and forced him to look into his eyes. "I know how you feel about Rekka no Ryo. You helped him through a lot over the years. You took care of him when his father would leave. You�ve done a lot of stupid things for the boy--like challenging me for the Koretsu Ken."

Growling, Byakuen yanked his arm free and narrowed his eyes. "Just what are you getting at?"

Kokuen-Oh snorted, wearing a cruel expression on his face. He folded his arms across his chest and sighed. "Listen, I helped bring you back to life after what I had done to you. I should�ve done more to you for what you�ve done to Kenboukyou-sama... but I realized that what he fought for was noble but he proceeded it the wrong way. I suspected that you weren�t going to give the Shiroi Kikoutei up that easily but I couldn�t tell Kenboukyou-sama that, could I? I was loyal to him like any ally was... or perhaps like any was friend."

Turning away, he stared off at the forest covered mountains and continued. "You and Ryo share a deep friendship bond like what I had with my master. I... am just here to warn you that Ryo can�t be with you forever. One day he�s going to leave you and there�s nothing you can do to stop him. You�ll have to carry on like the way I have been doing for these past years now."

Byakuen bit his lower lip. He knew what Kokuen-Oh was talking about: death. The ultimate killer. Once it struck, you go down and never get back up. Why was Kokuen-Oh telling him this? Were they finally going to go on peaceful terms? After all, they were counter-parts of one another. Black and white; fire and ice; good and evil--both of them represented these things.

Smiling to himself, Byakuen remembered when he first met Ryo. It was several years ago, when Ryo was just a little boy. He was living in a forest region with his father, who was a wildlife photographer. He and Kaosu arrived upon gathering the legendary Samurai Troopers. The upcoming evil would be arriving soon and they wanted to start training right away. However, they didn�t realize that it was too early. Ryo was never frightened of Byakuen. In fact, he had actually went up to him and petted him. A quick friendship had formed from that point on. Later, Kaosu and Byakuen would come back ever few years to see how Ryo was doing. Both of them could sense the change within the young boy and knew that it would be time soon enough. At last, the time came when Ryo was left alone in the world. Somebody had to take care of him and that somebody, he declared, would be him. Kaosu must have realized it because when the time came to choose, Byakuen chose to stay with Ryo. From that point on, the two were nearly inseparable.

"I�m aware of the average human lifespan," Byakuen stated coolly. He lowered his gaze onto the grass and murmured, "And I will be there for him when he goes."

Kokuen-Oh muttered, "Hmph, just like a noble pet..."

"I am NOT a pet," Byakuen stated firmly. He didn�t bother looking at the other man-tiger. Instead, he turned away and went over to the edge of the cliff. It was indeed a long way down. Below were just more treetops and darkness. The temperature began to drop drastically.

Kokuen-Oh frowned and winced as he said those words. The sun was gone, now only soon to be replaced by thousands, millions of tiny stars. It reminded him so much of the Youjakai. Whenever he would take the time, he would just sit there and stare up at them, wondering how the skies could just stretch on for miles and miles. The universe was such a big place...

"Kokuen?"

Shaking his head out of his dream-like state, Kokuen-Oh found Byakuen staring at him. Sniffing, he asked, "I suppose I�m telling you this because I have been... nerv--no, uneasy. Yes, that is the word. Uneasy. Ever since that Suzunagi gave the Troopers their new armors."

"The new armors are indeed very powerful," Kokuen-Oh explained, "but will it be enough for their new challenge for so whomever is to come and try to consume this planet?"

Byakuen blinked in confusion. "But of course it will be," he replied softly. "How did you know this? I--we haven�t seen you since the old armors had been destroyed in Africa."

Kokuen-Oh shrugged. "We shared a body, remember? Not to mention a mind as well. Even though we are separated physically, it doesn�t mean we are parted mentally. I can probe into your thoughts as you could into mine. Basically, what I�m asking is that are the Troopers ready to face the unknown? You know that they were supposingly heavily burdened because of the pain and grieve the armors have caused each of them."

Byakuen opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out. He quickly closed it and thought, Maybe he does have a point. They have yet to use these new armors and learn of their powers.

"See?"

"Huh?" Byakuen lifted his head and found Kokuen-Oh smirking at him. "Don�t do that! You can�t read my mind without permission!" He blushed lightly and turned away, scowling at him.

"Heh, seems like we�ve got the human persona inside you yet, Byakuen!"

Kokuen-Oh laughed momentarily before turning serious once again. "The only true way to make sure that nothing happens is to prepare the next generation of Samurai Troopers."

Byakuen felt his heart stop. Did he say next generation? Why not Ryo and the others? They were still much capable of fighting! After this, he said these thoughts aloud to Kokuen-Oh.

Frowning, Kokuen-Oh said, "This probably won�t occur until maybe, oh, I don�t know... a hundred years from now or so! Still, you can�t send Ryo and the Troopers when they are dead and buried! What the world needs is younger, more vital warriors who will wear the mystical armors to protect our world. That is the nature of the armor: to help its wearers fight on and to give them power. It�s been like this for centuries, Byaku. You must understand that although the Troopers were given powers, they were not granted immortality."

Closing his eyes, he added, "I know you want to be with Ryo and all... but maybe you�re right. You can just stay with him by his death bed as this world slowly obliterates into nothingness. The evil WILL come, Byakuen, and when it does, YOU will have to help them. You and Kayura."

"Me and... Kayura? What about you?" Byakuen asked.

"Me? Train inexperienced teenaged warriors? I don�t think so. That would be Kayura�s job. Besides, I wouldn�t be too fond of them as they would be of me."

"Now what are you saying?"

Kokuen-Oh opened his eyes and took a step towards the edge of the cliff. Byauken watched him wordlessly as his counter-part knelt down and simply watched as a few crumbles of the earth fell from behind his foot and tumbled down into the darkness below. "I guess I�m saying... I won�t be with you. I�ll be leaving this place soon enough."

"Don�t know, really." He shrugged indifferently. "Perhaps it�s because I feel as though I don�t have a place in this world anymore. It�s changed so much since the last time I really stayed here--which was a couple hundred years ago. Guess you could say I can�t keep up with the time. I�m sounding old, huh?"

Byakuen shook his head. "No, you don�t. You sound very wise. I glad you were with us when we were in trouble."

Slowly, he lifted his hand. Kokuen-Oh stared at it stupidly as if it were to bite him. After a few moments passed, he raised his hand and the two shook. He was aware of this gesture that the humans did to one another--one of gratification, as to say "thank you" or "good-bye".

Drawing his hand back, Kokuen-Oh sighed. "Promise me something then."

Byakuen hesitated but then nodded. "Anything."

"Take care of the boy and his friends. Until the end. They will be requiring your guidance throughout their lives. Or until you find the new warriors, of course. They will have found the armors sure enough for the were never the destroyed--the armors I mean. Kaos� power is great, no? You and Kayura will know when the time comes. Your new enemy will indeed be quite a challenge and who knows how this new generation will fair in battle."

"I.. will, Kokuen. Thank you for everything. Farewell."

Kokuen-Oh couldn�t help but smile warmly at the other. "Farewell, Byakuen. And... thank you."

With that, he turned around and took one step forward off of the cliff. Byakuen watched in mute horror as Kokuen-Oh fell off of the cliff. He didn�t look over the cliff to try and stop him. He did however, hear the wild cries of a tiger. It echoed throughout the forest and mountains until they simply disappeared. Byakuen closed his eyes and concentrated.

He couldn�t hear Kokuen-Oh�s thoughts anymore.

Kokuen-Oh was gone.

Or was he?

Silently, Byakuen transformed back into his original form. Lifting his head, he found that the skies were now a dark shade of blue and the stars twinkled one by one. A full moon was out, its lunar rays beaming down upon the cliff. Byakuen stepped up onto where beam burnished and roared.

~*~

"Where can he be?" Ryo asked himself as he wandered into his bedroom. Collapsing onto his bed, he stared up at the ceiling, thinking where Byakuen had gone off too.

Just then, a familiar fuzzy faced creature laid his head on top of Ryo�s chest.

"Byakuen!" Ryo cried happily as he hugged the huge white tiger. "Where�ve you been?"

Byakuen licked Ryo�s face in response. Ryo released him and patted his head. "Geez, you had me worried for a while. Don�t you ever leave me without saying something, okay?"

The tiger licked his face once more as if to say, "yes". Ryo, I promise I will always be there for you. We are friends.

"Friends until the end."

Ryo�s eyes widen. He looked down at Byakuen, who was looking back at him with equal interest. Shaking his head, Ryo chuckled. "Whoa, for a mintue there, I thought you said something, Yaku."

Byakuen rubbed his face against Ryo. The two enjoyed each other�s company for the rest of the night.

~*~

"Don�t let him down, Byakuen. He will always be counting on you."

An animal shaped figure, wearing white armor, stood on top of a building, simply watching Ryo and Byakuen. He envied them in a way. Shaking his head, he turned around and began walking, his white armor making no sound as he moved. Moments later, he vanished, the sound of a tiger's roar echoed throughout the night.