Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction / Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Warrior Children ❯ I Was So Scared ( Chapter 5 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Cousin D 
Ryo and Duo meet. Life in the Youja-Kai.
Anime/Manga: Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction / Gundam Wing Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Romance / Fantasy / Drama / Angst / Adventure / Action | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 01.27.2003 | Updated On: 01.23.2006 | Pages: 4 | Words: 5.9K | Visits: 620 | Status: Work In Progress
Ryo and Duo meet. Life in the Youja-Kai.
Anime/Manga: Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction / Gundam Wing Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Romance / Fantasy / Drama / Angst / Adventure / Action | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 01.27.2003 | Updated On: 01.23.2006 | Pages: 4 | Words: 5.9K | Visits: 620 | Status: Work In Progress
A/N: YST names are different from Ronin Warrior names. Here are the warlord translations:
Warlord = Ma-Sho
Talpa = Arago
Netherworld = Youja Kai
Dais = Rajura
Cale = Anubisu
Sekhmet = Naaza
Anubisu = Sh’ten
Earth = Ningen Sekai
Chapter 5: I Was So Scared
Ryou-
Fire.
Burning.
Ryou hadn’t meant to start the fire. “Granma!” It was an accident. He was just angry. He didn’t even know how it had started, but he knew it was his fault. “Granma! Help me!”
But Granma was screaming. Ryou could hear her even over the fire. “Ryou! Get out of the house!”
Get out? Ryou stared at the flames licking at the door of his bedroom and couldn’t move. The walls were covered in fire and it was just starting to get on the ceiling. Worse, the more fire there was, the more Ryou was afraid. The more afraid he became, the more fierce the fire burned.
Above him, the fire crackled and crawled across the ceiling. Heat and the fire filled the room, making the little boy choke from the smoke. He hugged himself, but couldn’t move. There was nowhere to go and granma keep screaming on the other side of the door. He could hear her so clearly over the sound of the fire, but he didn’t know what to do. “Granma, help me!”
There was a thud on the door so loud that it made Ryou jump. Another thud and the door splintered open. Another thud and Ryou saw the gleaming head of a metal hatchet. It was jerked out of the door and then THUD! It hit again. This time, when it was pulled away, Ryou saw his granma though the hole in the door.
“Come on!” Granma shouted. She backed away and the door started kicking it. At last, the door crashed apart and Ryou’s granma held out a hand. “Run…” She didn’t finish what she’d been about to say. The roof creaked and groaned before it fell in, crushing Ryou’s granma under dozens of massive, flaming beams.
'What have I done?' The thought felt distant. Ryou couldn’t tear his eyes away from the pile of burning wood. 'Granma’s under there. She’s dead. I didn't mean it.' The only sound was the fire as it crackled and popped, filling the cabin with smoke until Ryo couldn’t see. 'I tried to put the fire out, I really tried.' The fire was too much. Too strong and wild for him to control. He just wasn't strong enough to call it back once he'd let it loose. The fire wanted to dance and it wanted to sing, no matter what the cost.
Ryo coughed as the smoke filled his lungs after every choked sob and he knew he deserved to die. He couldn’t let granma die alone. Ryou’s granma had sent him to his room for saying a bad word and he'd gotten so angry. So terribly angry that he’d seen red and wanted something to come and eat his granma. The fire started in his room, singeing the gingham curtains, though it didn't touch him, and quickly spread to the rest of the house.
The roof started falling apart, crashing down all around him, making the Ryo fall to his knees and cry harder. 'I just got angry, I didn't want to be in trouble. Please, someone, make the fire stop!'
Later-
Ryou woke up later and the cabin was nothing but ashes around him. The fire had burned so terribly, that there was almost nothing left of the cabin. Ryou started to walk around where the remains of the cabin, tripping and stumbling over the half-burnt timbers, was but he couldn't see anyone. Ryou started to breathe very hard, the reality hitting him suddenly, when he saw it. A thin, blackened hand barely visible in the rubble. "No."
Bending down, Ryo cautiously reached out to the hand, almost touching it. 'Maybe this is all a dream. Maybe I'll wake up.' But the hand felt real and Ryo jerked away so violently that he fell down.
Ryo screamed. 'I did that. I...I killed granma. I burnt her up and I made her die.' He didn't stop screaming until he ran out of air and his throat felt like he'd swallowed a handful of razor blades. Eventually, when his voice gave away, Ryo ran into the forest, not caring where he was going. He was alone.
Alone.
St. Maxwell Orphanage-
Duo-
St. Maxwell wasn't a bad place as far as Duo was concerned. As orphanages went, St. Maxwell was a great one if you could keep away from Sister Helen's yardstick and keep away from the few bullies that liked to pick on kids smaller than themselves. Duo was intimately acquainted with sister Helen's yardstick, well, his backside was, anyway and he'd learned long ago how fast he had to run to keep away from her. As for the bullies, they were a bit harder to avoid, but fighting with them was fun.
Duo had lived there, in the antiquated building, his whole life and could never remember anywhere else or anyone taking care of him but Sister Helen and the other nuns with Father Maxwell. He knew he'd had a mother because everyone had a mother, but other than that, he might as well have been found in a cabbage patch. "You're lucky, Duo." Sister Helen had told him when he'd asked about his family. "You can choose your family to be anyone you want."
"But who was my real family? My mom and dad?" Duo had asked, insistently, until Sister Helen took him on her lap and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"The Earth is your mother and the sun is your father, you little devil. The stars are your sister and flowers are your cousins." She smiled sweetly at him. "Your family is the whole world and they all love you."
Duo listened seriously. He trusted Sister Helen more than anyone else, so what she said must be true. It was in her smile, her gentle touch. She always told the truth. "What about brothers? Do I have any brothers?"
"I think so." She let hugged him lovingly and patted his long hair. "You'll find them one day, I'm sure."
Duo was older, now, and he didn't quite believe what Sister Helen had told him long ago about his family. Not that he’d ever call her a liar, but he knew more. The Earth and sun couldn’t be his parents. It was impossible.
He'd heard the older kids talking about him and saying that he'd been found on the doorstep and Father Maxwell had taken him to see his mother's grave once. She was buried in the small cemetery out back of the orphanage. Father Maxwell had told Duo that his mom must have died just after giving birth to him and that she had died just outside of the orphanage. But Sister Helen stuck to her story, always telling Duo that his mother was the Earth and the sun was his father.
Duo didn't mind.
Truth or lie, it was far nicer to think that his family was magical, strange things than buried under a mound of dirt in a weedy graveyard.
St. Maxwell was old, but the sisters who took care of the boys kept it in as good condition as possible. It was a fair distance from the city and surrounded by a thick forest. Unlike most orphanages, this one wasn't surrounded by a high iron fence; a fact that Duo took advantage of when he chose to take a midnight wander into town.
On one windy morning, when everyone was let outside for playtime, Duo didn’t play. He sat on the front steps of Saint Maxwell’s and watched everyone else run and yell and generally go crazy. He, however, didn’t feel like playing. Instead, he felt like watching.
Sometimes, moods like this struck him. It was fun to watch people. To see their expressions and the way they moved. It was fun to hear how they spoke to each other. Duo pulled his knees up to his chest and hugged them when he saw the big, black car pull around the corner of the dirt road that led directly to Saint Maxwell’s. Everything stopped and the front yard went still as a graveyard. Everyone stared at the black car slowly rolling towards them, the loud engine making the only disturbance in the silence. Mouths hung open, some of the kids had never seen a car so magnificent. It was even polished enough to shine. It certainly didn’t look like it belonged out in the forest.
Duo knew it belonged to someone from the state. Few people came all the way out here to adopt kids, so it must be someone dropping off a new orphan. His first guess had been that maybe someone really rich wanted to adopt a kid, but that wasn’t very likely. Rich people would go to one of the better orphanages in the city. Besides, proof was the license plate. All government cars had that type of license plate. Duo had seen enough of them over the years. Every year or so, some official would come to speak with Father Maxwell or do an inspection of the building. That thought made Duo believe that they might all be called in quickly to straighten up themselves and their beds, but when Sister Helen stepped out of the front door and only watched the approaching car grimly, Duo knew that wasn’t the case. No inspection, but she didn’t look happy to see the car.
When the black car finally parked, the kids drew close to look at their reflections in the polish, but not close enough to touch. They were all well aware that anyone from the government could cause serious trouble for them. Even Duo stood up so he could see better over the heads of the kids.
“Get away. Little urchins. Don’t even breathe on my car!”
Duo didn’t like him at once.
The man who’d gotten out of the driver's side was tall and dressed in a very expensive suit. He walked to the passenger side and opened the door, allowing a small boy to get out. Duo watched boy, who was probably about his age, but looked smaller. He walked funny, in a reluctant kind of shuffle. His shoulders were hunched tighter, tense as a bow, and he kept his eyes on his feet, though he walked obediently when the man gave him a shove on the shoulder. The boy was dressed very shabbily with unkempt black hair.
Duo felt a surge of familiar pity and decided that he would try to be friends. ’Bet his folks just died. Or maybe they gave him up.’ Seeing as how he had never known his parents, Duo had never really felt very sad about not having any. He thought that it must be awful to have them and then lose them. Duo hopped down the stairs and ran to the quiet boy.
There was an ulterior motive to Duo’s Duo wanted to have a new friend. Although Duo had a very open and friendly disposition, he had no close friends. Mainly, this was due to the fact that he wasn’t Japanese and most of the other kids were. It just wasn’t fair. It wasn’t as if he was the only foreigner. Even Sister Helen was from England and Father Maxwell was French. None of the other kids were ever disrespectful to them.
"Hi!" Duo said pleasantly, getting into step with the sad looking boy. "I'm Duo, what's your name?"
The boy didn't answer, didn't even look up at Duo, and kept walking. It was as if he hadn’t heard Duo.
Duo poked the new kid on his skinny arm. "What's wrong? Cat got your tongue? You don't have to be afraid of me, I'm real nice. Why won't you talk to me? I'm very friendly and I'll tell you everything that goes on around here. You can borrow my yo-yo if it makes you feel better, but it's my only toy so you have to take good care of it and..." Before he knew what he was doing Duo had started to ramble again. He had a nasty habit of speaking very quickly and nonstop about what ever popped into his head and, since no one was telling him to stop, Duo was gradually building up speed.
"Duo, why don’t you go play?" Sister Helen suggested. She always said it like that. Never told, always suggested. “This is business.” She was looking, not at Duo, but at the new kid with shaggy black hair.
Of course, Duo didn't do as she said, but just walked about two steps away before watching the scene unfold. He loved Sister Helen and tried to please her, but he was far too curious about this quiet newcomer to just leave. Besides, nearly everyone else was watching, so why shouldn’t Duo?
Sister Helen looked down at the still silent boy at the rich man's side and gave her usual kind smile. "Good morning, dear. Can you tell me your name?"
The government man who was frowning at her rudely interrupted sister. "Ryou doesn't speak, as I all ready told you over the phone. He's been practically catatonic since the fire. He won't answer you. His name is Sanada Ryou and he's nine."
"Do you know exactly what happened?" Sister Helen, though she had a very sweet temper, looked decidedly annoyed at being interrupted.
"No. He was found by the side of a highway, the police managed to track down where he lived and found out that the fire had consumed the house. The remains of his grandmother were found in the remains of the house." The man shrugged coldly ignoring that the boy was right next to him and could hear everything being said. "Old biddy was probably smoking and fell asleep with her cigarette or something. I understand they used candles and oil lanterns for light and they had a wood fireplace, so God knows what happened, it could have been anything."
Sister's eyes narrowed dangerously, not liking how the man was speaking in front of her newest child, but she managed to hold her temper and be civil as she put a hand on Ryou's shoulder. "Thank you for delivering him, but I can take it from here. Where are his belongings?"
"He doesn't have anything, everything was lost in the fire. What he's wearing now is from the charity box they keep at the child welfare department. Even his own clothes were nearly destroyed from the fire."
The man turned and walked away without another word. Ryou never acknowledged that anyone had spoke to him or about him, just stood there with a blank look on his face and stared at his shoes.
Sister Helen knelt down to look at Ryou's face. "Ryou? Would you like to see where you'll be sleeping?"
Ryou stayed quiet.
"Are you hungry? Would you like to eat?"
Still, Ryou didn't make a sound or show that he knew he was being spoken to.
Sister Helen thought for a moment, biting her lip the way she always did when she was thinking hard. Finally, an idea seemed to hit her and she spoke to Duo. "Duo, this is Sanada Ryou and he's going to be living here now. Will you show him around, please?"
Duo nodded, always happy to help. "Sure." He started to walk away, but stopped when he noticed Ryou didn't follow him.
Almost sadly, Sister Helen took Ryou's hand and led him over to Duo. "You'll have to lead him, I'm afraid."
Duo took Ryou's hand and found that Ryou would follow wherever he was led, but still wouldn't talk. Duo led Ryou around the large brick building and introduced him to most of the kids. Showed Ryou where the bathrooms were and the schoolroom, though Duo didn't care much for that place. He took Ryou to the dormitory where all the boys slept in the narrow cots and had footlockers to keep their meager belongings in.
"You can have the one next to me." Duo offered, pointing to the bed just under the window. "Hiroshi used to have it, but he got adopted a few weeks ago. Go on, have a seat." Duo motioned to the bed.
Ryou obediently sat, but offered no reaction otherwise.
"If you're lucky maybe you'll get adopted, too. I'm cuter so I'll probably go first, but you're not ugly, either. Maybe if you talk more someone will want you." Duo stopped himself just after he said it and looked at Ryou, horrified. "I didn't mean it, Ryo." Duo sat next to Ryou, who was acted as if he hadn't heard, and put an arm around his shoulder. "I didn't mean that no one will want you. Forgive me?"
Ryou didn't speak, but he did look up at Duo with hurting eyes.
"Ha!"
Duo and Ryou both turned at the new voice, the mocking laughter of an older boy. "You're a foreigner, Duo. No one's going to want an ugly American! You'll be here forever and probably die here, too."
"Shut up, Akira!" Duo snarled. "You don't know what you're talking about! You're three years older than I am and no one wants an old kid! You're not even cute so you'll be here forever. Unless even the sisters decide they doesn't want you and they kick you out!" Duo really hated the older kid, so arrogant and snotty, but Akira was probably right. Duo had been here his whole life and not one of the Japanese couples who'd come in looking for children had ever even spared him a second glance.
Akira managed to grabbed a hold of Duo's shoulder length braid and gave it a tug. "Maybe if you cut this thing off and at least tried to look a little normal, you might have a chance. This is a boy's home, no girls allowed!" His tone was nasty and he pulled the braid hard as payment for Duo's remarks.
"Normal is boring and I'm NOT a girl!" Duo bit back the cry of pain and reached over his shoulder to punch Akira in the face, but missed and ended up only getting Akira's arm. "Lemme go!"
"Stupid brat!" Akira taunted. "You can't even fight right for all you..." Akira suddenly cried out and fell to his knees, releasing Duo.
Duo blinked, surprised to see that Akira had fallen to his knees and Ryou was now standing with his fist raised and furious eyes.
As Akira made his way to his feet again, he threatened, "I'm gonna tell Sister Helen!" Akira made his way to his feet. "I'm gonna tell her your friend attacked me!" With that Akira ran out of the dormitory like the coward he was.
Duo's eyes finally went to Ryou who's fists had lowered to his sides and, for the first time, there was emotion in his eyes other than sadness. He was angry and Duo could almost swear he saw fire in Ryou's eyes. Then, all of a sudden, the anger faded and Ryou's eyes turned back to normal blue, the tension went out of Ryou's body and he turned, walking out of the room slowly.
Duo was stunned. He blinked and let a smile spread across his face. If Ryou could get angry then maybe he would be all right. Duo firmly believed that he worst thing for a person was to keep all their emotions bottled up inside. He believed this because sister Helen told him so. That Ryou had gotten angry meant that maybe he would start talking. Hopeful, Duo ran after Ryou to find him outside, sitting under the old pear tree near the surrounding forest. Duo sat next to Ryou, and opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say anything, Ryou spoke.
"I was angry." His voice was soft, barely a whisper. Strangely, he sounded frightened. "I was so angry and I burnt granma up in the fire." Ryou swallowed hard, burying his face in his arms. "I made the fire and I heard granma screaming, but I couldn't stop it. The fire was all around me, but I it didn't hurt. I didn't help her. My granma died and I didn't help." Ryou looked at Duo with tears in his eyes. "I can't get angry, Duo. It was my fault and if I get angry again, it might happen again. I might kill people. You shouldn’t be my friend. I’m evil."
Duo's eyes were wide as full moons. He really didn't think that Ryou would say anything like that and he wasn't quiet sure what to say. "How did you make fire?"
"I don't know. I just wanted to hurt her for making me go to bed without supper and the fire was there. I didn't mean it. I really didn't mean it."
Duo inched closer to Ryou. "That's weird. You shouldn't tell sister Helen, Ryou. If other people find out they might get scared of you for no reason. I won't tell anyone, I promise. Maybe you can find a way to control it."
"I already have. I just won't get angry anymore."
"But you can't always be happy. You can't just say you won't ever get angry. You were angry at Akira just a minute ago and you hit him. What if you lost control and set him on fire, too? Sister Helen doesn't like hitting and if she finds out you were fighting she'll make you scrub the bathroom." Duo's expression said that he'd faced this punishment more than once himself. “She’s gonna think setting fires is MUCH worse than hitting!”
Ryou looked doubtful and then back at his hands. "I don't know what to do. I just don't want to use the fire again. It hurts people too much. I don't want to tell anyone, they'll send me to jail or something. That's why I don't talk to the grown-ups."
Duo patted Ryou on the shoulder. "Don't be afraid. I'll take care of you. After all, you beat up Akira for me, so now you're my best friend."
Ryou blinked at Duo. He hadn't seen the situation in that light. "I am?"
"Yep. It's a rule. You stood up for me now I'll stand up for you." Duo smiled with all the sincerity in the world. He'd given his word and he'd stand by it.
“You can’t be my friend.” Ryou shifted away from Duo, putting more space between them. “I’m evil. I kill people.”
“Evil is in intentions.” Duo said, quoting sister Helen. “Did you want to kill your granma?”
“No!” Ryou’s eyes narrowed at the idea.
“Well, then it was an accident. A horrible accident, but an accident all the same. Besides, evil or not, I can be friends with anyone I want.”
Many weeks passed and Ryou slowly got more used to the orphanage. For a good many days, he refused to speak to anyone but Duo, but gradually, Duo persuaded him otherwise. Ryou would speak quietly and only rarely, but that was alright because Duo made up for him. Their friendship was nearly exclusive. No one but Ryou wanted to be Duo’s friend and Duo was the only one who didn’t ignore Ryou from fear of the bully, Akira, who was still nursing his injured pride. They spent all their time together from classes to meals and then sleeping next to each other at night. Careful arranging had allowed Duo to move his bed next to Ryou’s.
No one really objected to Duo moving his bed, not after the first night when Ryou had a nightmare.
There was a scream of abject terror and it woke Duo out of a very nice dream about flying. The scream went on and on and it wasn’t for a few minutes until Duo realized he wasn’t dreaming anymore. Someone turned on the lights and Duo’s eyes fell to the one making all the noise. Ryou was stiff as a board in his bed with his hands clenched around his bed sheets in tight fists, his mouth wide with the scream. He showed no signs of letting up. No one seemed to know what to do, they just stared at Ryou when he kept screaming and a few of the younger children began to cry in fear. When Ryou’s whole body began shaking and jerking as if he were having a seizure, Duo jumped out of bed and ran to Ryou’s side.
“Wake up!” Duo shouted, shaking Ryou’s arms. “Ryou! It’s only a dream, wake up! Wake up!”
Ryou gasped, a sudden intake of breath as if he’d been drowning, and his eyes opened very wide. It seemed like he was still in his dream because Ryou didn’t look at Duo, he just stared at the ceiling and kept shaking. The shaking stopped very abruptly and Ryou ’s whole body went limp. Very slowly, his eyes focused on Duo and he blinked, confused. “What’s going on?”
“You had a nightmare.” Sister Helen must have been woken from her sleep and Duo wondered if father Maxwell had been woken up, too. Sister Helen, in her nightdress and robe, walked to them, gracefully and squatted down by Ryou’s bedside. “Are you alright?”
Only then did Ryou noticed how many people were watching him. He blushed deeply and pulled the sheets up a little closer to his face. Duo knew that Ryou hated being watched more than anything else. “I’m okay.”
Sister Helen considered for a moment. “Do you need to get up and walk around for a bit?”
“No.” Ryou shook his head, no doubt hoping everyone would just go back to bed and stop looking at him. “I’m okay. Really. Sorry.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry about. If you’re sure you’re alright, when don’t you go back to sleep. That goes for everyone. It’s the middle of the night. Everyone to your beds. You’ve all had nightmares before, Hurry now.” She clapped her hands lightly and, as usual, everyone dashed to do what she said. Everyone except Duo who stayed stubbornly at Ryou’s side. He had the sneaking suspicion that the nightmare was about the fire. Since Duo had told Ryou not to tell sister Helen about it, that left no one for Ryou to confide in but Duo and Duo didn’t want to abandon Ryou. “Duo?” Sister Helen gave him a curious look when he didn’t do as he was told. “What’s up?”
“I’m going to stay with Ryou, tonight.”
Sister Helen was not known for being indulgent or for reacting well went children forgot to say please, but this time she conceded, for whatever reason. She decided that there was enough room to move Duo’s bed in next to Ryou’s. Duo wondered if she saw Ryou’s grateful expression when she helped Duo to move the bed.
Ryou had another nightmare that night, but when Duo woken up and touched his arm, Ryou stopped screaming and settled into a peaceful sleep for the rest of the night. Everyone agreed that it was for the best to have Duo next to Ryou at night. Even if Akira did nastily tell Duo that he was sister’s pet, even he had to admit that it was worth it for Ryou not to keep waking everyone up at night.
Duo found himself becoming protective of Ryou who seemed at once to be so vulnerable and innocent, but could also be very strong, temperamental, and rash. Like the time he'd stood up against Akira, Ryou would stand up to any bully that happened to cross his path. He had once climbed a tree to help one of the little kids out who'd gotten stuck up there and Ryou had even chased a rat out of the kitchen for the sisters.
Ryou was, in Duo's eyes, very brave. He feared nothing except fire. Ryou couldn't stand to be near fire. He would start to shake and sweat, cowering behind anyone and anything just to hide himself from the fire, usually Duo. Ryou admitted to Duo that the fire frightened him because he liked it too much.
"I feel like I could just watch it forever and like it would do anything I wanted it to do and that I'm apart of it." Ryou told him. Ryou didn't want to feel like this, like he was apart of the thing that had killed his granma. “That makes me evil, too. How could any good person like what kill someone so important as their own granma?”
For once, Duo didn’t know what to say. He crawled into Ryou’s bed and lay next to him, thankful that they were both small enough to squeeze in together, and put an arm around Ryou. There was nothing he could say that would give Ryou any comfort or peace. The only one way to do that was to have Ryou forgive himself and that wasn’t very likely.
The most Duo could do was to just be there for Ryou and that, he promised himself, was just what he would do. No matter what happened, he’d always be near just incase Ryou needed him.
Youja Kai-
Naaza-
They were summoned in the middle of bathing which was why they were all dripping wet and why Anubisu was in such a foul temper. He hated having wet hair dripping down his back. It was luck for them all that Emperor Aragon had no interest in their physical state, he didn’t notice that they were all soaking wet when they came to kneel before him in the throne room.
WHAT’S THIS ABOUT? Naaza thought, letting his three brothers hear the question. IS IT TIME? The anticipation of the war had been building recently. Small hints Arago had either deliberately or accidentally dropped when he spoke to them showed that the war was getting closer by the minute.
Sh‘ten, the baby of their odd little family, with his face still lowered to the ground, said, I HOPE SO. The eagerness in his mind’s voice was echoed by Anubisu’s. Both of them were impatient for the war to conquer humanity. IT’S BEEN SUCH A LONG WAIT. I’M TIRED OF DOING NOTHING! STUCK IN THIS ENDLESS NOWHERE!
Their thirst for battle was something Naaza was accustomed to, but that didn’t mean he understood it. Sh’ten always called him a lazy creature and perhaps that was right. Naaza was good at battle, he had been trained well, but that didn’t mean he enjoyed it or looked forward to it. Where Sh’ten and Anubisu dreamed of glorious battle and the thrill of near death, Naaza would dream of warm sunny rocks to sleep on.
“My generals,“ Arago began, his deep voice filling the room with dread. “You who have served me so faithfully, your time of triumph rolls nearer. The bearers of the yoroi, opposites of your own, are beginning to appear.” The ghostly mask that served as Emperor Arago’s face looked down upon his four generals and it was impossible to guess what he was thinking.. "One of the yoroi bearers has been made vulnerable. Retrieve him, my Ma-Sho. Bring the child, Rekka, to me. You will raise him to serve me and when the yoroi comes to him, he will fight along side you for the greater glory my empire!"
The Ma-Sho bowed their heads solemnly as they knelt before their master.
Sh'ten, letting them all feel his irritation that this was nothing more than an errand, elbowed Rajura who was kneeling next to him. YOU GO THIS TIME. I WENT ON THE LAST ERRAND FOR OLD BAGGY EYES. IT'S YOUR TURN.
NO, Rajura replied. I'M BABYSITTING KAY THIS WEEK. He directed his thoughts to Anubisu. YOU GO GET THE KID.
NOT ME. I'M INTERVIEWING FOR A JOB AT ONE OF THOSE NEW MILITARY COLONIES IN SPACE. SOME KID NEEDS SPECIAL TRAINING TO BE A SOLDIER. Anubisu looked at Naaza. YOU GO GET HIM.
Naaza couldn't think of a single excuse to get out of it, so simply nodded with resignation. IF I HAVE TO, I GUESS I CAN HANDLE IT.
"Do whatever you have must in order to get the child." Emperor Arago continued, unaware of the conversation that had gone on right in front of him. That was the way the Ma-Sho wanted it. Arago had such great control over their lives, it was only right that they keep some secrets from him.
Naaza nodded obediently.
Warlord = Ma-Sho
Talpa = Arago
Netherworld = Youja Kai
Dais = Rajura
Cale = Anubisu
Sekhmet = Naaza
Anubisu = Sh’ten
Earth = Ningen Sekai
Chapter 5: I Was So Scared
Ryou-
Fire.
Burning.
Ryou hadn’t meant to start the fire. “Granma!” It was an accident. He was just angry. He didn’t even know how it had started, but he knew it was his fault. “Granma! Help me!”
But Granma was screaming. Ryou could hear her even over the fire. “Ryou! Get out of the house!”
Get out? Ryou stared at the flames licking at the door of his bedroom and couldn’t move. The walls were covered in fire and it was just starting to get on the ceiling. Worse, the more fire there was, the more Ryou was afraid. The more afraid he became, the more fierce the fire burned.
Above him, the fire crackled and crawled across the ceiling. Heat and the fire filled the room, making the little boy choke from the smoke. He hugged himself, but couldn’t move. There was nowhere to go and granma keep screaming on the other side of the door. He could hear her so clearly over the sound of the fire, but he didn’t know what to do. “Granma, help me!”
There was a thud on the door so loud that it made Ryou jump. Another thud and the door splintered open. Another thud and Ryou saw the gleaming head of a metal hatchet. It was jerked out of the door and then THUD! It hit again. This time, when it was pulled away, Ryou saw his granma though the hole in the door.
“Come on!” Granma shouted. She backed away and the door started kicking it. At last, the door crashed apart and Ryou’s granma held out a hand. “Run…” She didn’t finish what she’d been about to say. The roof creaked and groaned before it fell in, crushing Ryou’s granma under dozens of massive, flaming beams.
'What have I done?' The thought felt distant. Ryou couldn’t tear his eyes away from the pile of burning wood. 'Granma’s under there. She’s dead. I didn't mean it.' The only sound was the fire as it crackled and popped, filling the cabin with smoke until Ryo couldn’t see. 'I tried to put the fire out, I really tried.' The fire was too much. Too strong and wild for him to control. He just wasn't strong enough to call it back once he'd let it loose. The fire wanted to dance and it wanted to sing, no matter what the cost.
Ryo coughed as the smoke filled his lungs after every choked sob and he knew he deserved to die. He couldn’t let granma die alone. Ryou’s granma had sent him to his room for saying a bad word and he'd gotten so angry. So terribly angry that he’d seen red and wanted something to come and eat his granma. The fire started in his room, singeing the gingham curtains, though it didn't touch him, and quickly spread to the rest of the house.
The roof started falling apart, crashing down all around him, making the Ryo fall to his knees and cry harder. 'I just got angry, I didn't want to be in trouble. Please, someone, make the fire stop!'
Later-
Ryou woke up later and the cabin was nothing but ashes around him. The fire had burned so terribly, that there was almost nothing left of the cabin. Ryou started to walk around where the remains of the cabin, tripping and stumbling over the half-burnt timbers, was but he couldn't see anyone. Ryou started to breathe very hard, the reality hitting him suddenly, when he saw it. A thin, blackened hand barely visible in the rubble. "No."
Bending down, Ryo cautiously reached out to the hand, almost touching it. 'Maybe this is all a dream. Maybe I'll wake up.' But the hand felt real and Ryo jerked away so violently that he fell down.
Ryo screamed. 'I did that. I...I killed granma. I burnt her up and I made her die.' He didn't stop screaming until he ran out of air and his throat felt like he'd swallowed a handful of razor blades. Eventually, when his voice gave away, Ryo ran into the forest, not caring where he was going. He was alone.
Alone.
St. Maxwell Orphanage-
Duo-
St. Maxwell wasn't a bad place as far as Duo was concerned. As orphanages went, St. Maxwell was a great one if you could keep away from Sister Helen's yardstick and keep away from the few bullies that liked to pick on kids smaller than themselves. Duo was intimately acquainted with sister Helen's yardstick, well, his backside was, anyway and he'd learned long ago how fast he had to run to keep away from her. As for the bullies, they were a bit harder to avoid, but fighting with them was fun.
Duo had lived there, in the antiquated building, his whole life and could never remember anywhere else or anyone taking care of him but Sister Helen and the other nuns with Father Maxwell. He knew he'd had a mother because everyone had a mother, but other than that, he might as well have been found in a cabbage patch. "You're lucky, Duo." Sister Helen had told him when he'd asked about his family. "You can choose your family to be anyone you want."
"But who was my real family? My mom and dad?" Duo had asked, insistently, until Sister Helen took him on her lap and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"The Earth is your mother and the sun is your father, you little devil. The stars are your sister and flowers are your cousins." She smiled sweetly at him. "Your family is the whole world and they all love you."
Duo listened seriously. He trusted Sister Helen more than anyone else, so what she said must be true. It was in her smile, her gentle touch. She always told the truth. "What about brothers? Do I have any brothers?"
"I think so." She let hugged him lovingly and patted his long hair. "You'll find them one day, I'm sure."
Duo was older, now, and he didn't quite believe what Sister Helen had told him long ago about his family. Not that he’d ever call her a liar, but he knew more. The Earth and sun couldn’t be his parents. It was impossible.
He'd heard the older kids talking about him and saying that he'd been found on the doorstep and Father Maxwell had taken him to see his mother's grave once. She was buried in the small cemetery out back of the orphanage. Father Maxwell had told Duo that his mom must have died just after giving birth to him and that she had died just outside of the orphanage. But Sister Helen stuck to her story, always telling Duo that his mother was the Earth and the sun was his father.
Duo didn't mind.
Truth or lie, it was far nicer to think that his family was magical, strange things than buried under a mound of dirt in a weedy graveyard.
St. Maxwell was old, but the sisters who took care of the boys kept it in as good condition as possible. It was a fair distance from the city and surrounded by a thick forest. Unlike most orphanages, this one wasn't surrounded by a high iron fence; a fact that Duo took advantage of when he chose to take a midnight wander into town.
On one windy morning, when everyone was let outside for playtime, Duo didn’t play. He sat on the front steps of Saint Maxwell’s and watched everyone else run and yell and generally go crazy. He, however, didn’t feel like playing. Instead, he felt like watching.
Sometimes, moods like this struck him. It was fun to watch people. To see their expressions and the way they moved. It was fun to hear how they spoke to each other. Duo pulled his knees up to his chest and hugged them when he saw the big, black car pull around the corner of the dirt road that led directly to Saint Maxwell’s. Everything stopped and the front yard went still as a graveyard. Everyone stared at the black car slowly rolling towards them, the loud engine making the only disturbance in the silence. Mouths hung open, some of the kids had never seen a car so magnificent. It was even polished enough to shine. It certainly didn’t look like it belonged out in the forest.
Duo knew it belonged to someone from the state. Few people came all the way out here to adopt kids, so it must be someone dropping off a new orphan. His first guess had been that maybe someone really rich wanted to adopt a kid, but that wasn’t very likely. Rich people would go to one of the better orphanages in the city. Besides, proof was the license plate. All government cars had that type of license plate. Duo had seen enough of them over the years. Every year or so, some official would come to speak with Father Maxwell or do an inspection of the building. That thought made Duo believe that they might all be called in quickly to straighten up themselves and their beds, but when Sister Helen stepped out of the front door and only watched the approaching car grimly, Duo knew that wasn’t the case. No inspection, but she didn’t look happy to see the car.
When the black car finally parked, the kids drew close to look at their reflections in the polish, but not close enough to touch. They were all well aware that anyone from the government could cause serious trouble for them. Even Duo stood up so he could see better over the heads of the kids.
“Get away. Little urchins. Don’t even breathe on my car!”
Duo didn’t like him at once.
The man who’d gotten out of the driver's side was tall and dressed in a very expensive suit. He walked to the passenger side and opened the door, allowing a small boy to get out. Duo watched boy, who was probably about his age, but looked smaller. He walked funny, in a reluctant kind of shuffle. His shoulders were hunched tighter, tense as a bow, and he kept his eyes on his feet, though he walked obediently when the man gave him a shove on the shoulder. The boy was dressed very shabbily with unkempt black hair.
Duo felt a surge of familiar pity and decided that he would try to be friends. ’Bet his folks just died. Or maybe they gave him up.’ Seeing as how he had never known his parents, Duo had never really felt very sad about not having any. He thought that it must be awful to have them and then lose them. Duo hopped down the stairs and ran to the quiet boy.
There was an ulterior motive to Duo’s Duo wanted to have a new friend. Although Duo had a very open and friendly disposition, he had no close friends. Mainly, this was due to the fact that he wasn’t Japanese and most of the other kids were. It just wasn’t fair. It wasn’t as if he was the only foreigner. Even Sister Helen was from England and Father Maxwell was French. None of the other kids were ever disrespectful to them.
"Hi!" Duo said pleasantly, getting into step with the sad looking boy. "I'm Duo, what's your name?"
The boy didn't answer, didn't even look up at Duo, and kept walking. It was as if he hadn’t heard Duo.
Duo poked the new kid on his skinny arm. "What's wrong? Cat got your tongue? You don't have to be afraid of me, I'm real nice. Why won't you talk to me? I'm very friendly and I'll tell you everything that goes on around here. You can borrow my yo-yo if it makes you feel better, but it's my only toy so you have to take good care of it and..." Before he knew what he was doing Duo had started to ramble again. He had a nasty habit of speaking very quickly and nonstop about what ever popped into his head and, since no one was telling him to stop, Duo was gradually building up speed.
"Duo, why don’t you go play?" Sister Helen suggested. She always said it like that. Never told, always suggested. “This is business.” She was looking, not at Duo, but at the new kid with shaggy black hair.
Of course, Duo didn't do as she said, but just walked about two steps away before watching the scene unfold. He loved Sister Helen and tried to please her, but he was far too curious about this quiet newcomer to just leave. Besides, nearly everyone else was watching, so why shouldn’t Duo?
Sister Helen looked down at the still silent boy at the rich man's side and gave her usual kind smile. "Good morning, dear. Can you tell me your name?"
The government man who was frowning at her rudely interrupted sister. "Ryou doesn't speak, as I all ready told you over the phone. He's been practically catatonic since the fire. He won't answer you. His name is Sanada Ryou and he's nine."
"Do you know exactly what happened?" Sister Helen, though she had a very sweet temper, looked decidedly annoyed at being interrupted.
"No. He was found by the side of a highway, the police managed to track down where he lived and found out that the fire had consumed the house. The remains of his grandmother were found in the remains of the house." The man shrugged coldly ignoring that the boy was right next to him and could hear everything being said. "Old biddy was probably smoking and fell asleep with her cigarette or something. I understand they used candles and oil lanterns for light and they had a wood fireplace, so God knows what happened, it could have been anything."
Sister's eyes narrowed dangerously, not liking how the man was speaking in front of her newest child, but she managed to hold her temper and be civil as she put a hand on Ryou's shoulder. "Thank you for delivering him, but I can take it from here. Where are his belongings?"
"He doesn't have anything, everything was lost in the fire. What he's wearing now is from the charity box they keep at the child welfare department. Even his own clothes were nearly destroyed from the fire."
The man turned and walked away without another word. Ryou never acknowledged that anyone had spoke to him or about him, just stood there with a blank look on his face and stared at his shoes.
Sister Helen knelt down to look at Ryou's face. "Ryou? Would you like to see where you'll be sleeping?"
Ryou stayed quiet.
"Are you hungry? Would you like to eat?"
Still, Ryou didn't make a sound or show that he knew he was being spoken to.
Sister Helen thought for a moment, biting her lip the way she always did when she was thinking hard. Finally, an idea seemed to hit her and she spoke to Duo. "Duo, this is Sanada Ryou and he's going to be living here now. Will you show him around, please?"
Duo nodded, always happy to help. "Sure." He started to walk away, but stopped when he noticed Ryou didn't follow him.
Almost sadly, Sister Helen took Ryou's hand and led him over to Duo. "You'll have to lead him, I'm afraid."
Duo took Ryou's hand and found that Ryou would follow wherever he was led, but still wouldn't talk. Duo led Ryou around the large brick building and introduced him to most of the kids. Showed Ryou where the bathrooms were and the schoolroom, though Duo didn't care much for that place. He took Ryou to the dormitory where all the boys slept in the narrow cots and had footlockers to keep their meager belongings in.
"You can have the one next to me." Duo offered, pointing to the bed just under the window. "Hiroshi used to have it, but he got adopted a few weeks ago. Go on, have a seat." Duo motioned to the bed.
Ryou obediently sat, but offered no reaction otherwise.
"If you're lucky maybe you'll get adopted, too. I'm cuter so I'll probably go first, but you're not ugly, either. Maybe if you talk more someone will want you." Duo stopped himself just after he said it and looked at Ryou, horrified. "I didn't mean it, Ryo." Duo sat next to Ryou, who was acted as if he hadn't heard, and put an arm around his shoulder. "I didn't mean that no one will want you. Forgive me?"
Ryou didn't speak, but he did look up at Duo with hurting eyes.
"Ha!"
Duo and Ryou both turned at the new voice, the mocking laughter of an older boy. "You're a foreigner, Duo. No one's going to want an ugly American! You'll be here forever and probably die here, too."
"Shut up, Akira!" Duo snarled. "You don't know what you're talking about! You're three years older than I am and no one wants an old kid! You're not even cute so you'll be here forever. Unless even the sisters decide they doesn't want you and they kick you out!" Duo really hated the older kid, so arrogant and snotty, but Akira was probably right. Duo had been here his whole life and not one of the Japanese couples who'd come in looking for children had ever even spared him a second glance.
Akira managed to grabbed a hold of Duo's shoulder length braid and gave it a tug. "Maybe if you cut this thing off and at least tried to look a little normal, you might have a chance. This is a boy's home, no girls allowed!" His tone was nasty and he pulled the braid hard as payment for Duo's remarks.
"Normal is boring and I'm NOT a girl!" Duo bit back the cry of pain and reached over his shoulder to punch Akira in the face, but missed and ended up only getting Akira's arm. "Lemme go!"
"Stupid brat!" Akira taunted. "You can't even fight right for all you..." Akira suddenly cried out and fell to his knees, releasing Duo.
Duo blinked, surprised to see that Akira had fallen to his knees and Ryou was now standing with his fist raised and furious eyes.
As Akira made his way to his feet again, he threatened, "I'm gonna tell Sister Helen!" Akira made his way to his feet. "I'm gonna tell her your friend attacked me!" With that Akira ran out of the dormitory like the coward he was.
Duo's eyes finally went to Ryou who's fists had lowered to his sides and, for the first time, there was emotion in his eyes other than sadness. He was angry and Duo could almost swear he saw fire in Ryou's eyes. Then, all of a sudden, the anger faded and Ryou's eyes turned back to normal blue, the tension went out of Ryou's body and he turned, walking out of the room slowly.
Duo was stunned. He blinked and let a smile spread across his face. If Ryou could get angry then maybe he would be all right. Duo firmly believed that he worst thing for a person was to keep all their emotions bottled up inside. He believed this because sister Helen told him so. That Ryou had gotten angry meant that maybe he would start talking. Hopeful, Duo ran after Ryou to find him outside, sitting under the old pear tree near the surrounding forest. Duo sat next to Ryou, and opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say anything, Ryou spoke.
"I was angry." His voice was soft, barely a whisper. Strangely, he sounded frightened. "I was so angry and I burnt granma up in the fire." Ryou swallowed hard, burying his face in his arms. "I made the fire and I heard granma screaming, but I couldn't stop it. The fire was all around me, but I it didn't hurt. I didn't help her. My granma died and I didn't help." Ryou looked at Duo with tears in his eyes. "I can't get angry, Duo. It was my fault and if I get angry again, it might happen again. I might kill people. You shouldn’t be my friend. I’m evil."
Duo's eyes were wide as full moons. He really didn't think that Ryou would say anything like that and he wasn't quiet sure what to say. "How did you make fire?"
"I don't know. I just wanted to hurt her for making me go to bed without supper and the fire was there. I didn't mean it. I really didn't mean it."
Duo inched closer to Ryou. "That's weird. You shouldn't tell sister Helen, Ryou. If other people find out they might get scared of you for no reason. I won't tell anyone, I promise. Maybe you can find a way to control it."
"I already have. I just won't get angry anymore."
"But you can't always be happy. You can't just say you won't ever get angry. You were angry at Akira just a minute ago and you hit him. What if you lost control and set him on fire, too? Sister Helen doesn't like hitting and if she finds out you were fighting she'll make you scrub the bathroom." Duo's expression said that he'd faced this punishment more than once himself. “She’s gonna think setting fires is MUCH worse than hitting!”
Ryou looked doubtful and then back at his hands. "I don't know what to do. I just don't want to use the fire again. It hurts people too much. I don't want to tell anyone, they'll send me to jail or something. That's why I don't talk to the grown-ups."
Duo patted Ryou on the shoulder. "Don't be afraid. I'll take care of you. After all, you beat up Akira for me, so now you're my best friend."
Ryou blinked at Duo. He hadn't seen the situation in that light. "I am?"
"Yep. It's a rule. You stood up for me now I'll stand up for you." Duo smiled with all the sincerity in the world. He'd given his word and he'd stand by it.
“You can’t be my friend.” Ryou shifted away from Duo, putting more space between them. “I’m evil. I kill people.”
“Evil is in intentions.” Duo said, quoting sister Helen. “Did you want to kill your granma?”
“No!” Ryou’s eyes narrowed at the idea.
“Well, then it was an accident. A horrible accident, but an accident all the same. Besides, evil or not, I can be friends with anyone I want.”
Many weeks passed and Ryou slowly got more used to the orphanage. For a good many days, he refused to speak to anyone but Duo, but gradually, Duo persuaded him otherwise. Ryou would speak quietly and only rarely, but that was alright because Duo made up for him. Their friendship was nearly exclusive. No one but Ryou wanted to be Duo’s friend and Duo was the only one who didn’t ignore Ryou from fear of the bully, Akira, who was still nursing his injured pride. They spent all their time together from classes to meals and then sleeping next to each other at night. Careful arranging had allowed Duo to move his bed next to Ryou’s.
No one really objected to Duo moving his bed, not after the first night when Ryou had a nightmare.
There was a scream of abject terror and it woke Duo out of a very nice dream about flying. The scream went on and on and it wasn’t for a few minutes until Duo realized he wasn’t dreaming anymore. Someone turned on the lights and Duo’s eyes fell to the one making all the noise. Ryou was stiff as a board in his bed with his hands clenched around his bed sheets in tight fists, his mouth wide with the scream. He showed no signs of letting up. No one seemed to know what to do, they just stared at Ryou when he kept screaming and a few of the younger children began to cry in fear. When Ryou’s whole body began shaking and jerking as if he were having a seizure, Duo jumped out of bed and ran to Ryou’s side.
“Wake up!” Duo shouted, shaking Ryou’s arms. “Ryou! It’s only a dream, wake up! Wake up!”
Ryou gasped, a sudden intake of breath as if he’d been drowning, and his eyes opened very wide. It seemed like he was still in his dream because Ryou didn’t look at Duo, he just stared at the ceiling and kept shaking. The shaking stopped very abruptly and Ryou ’s whole body went limp. Very slowly, his eyes focused on Duo and he blinked, confused. “What’s going on?”
“You had a nightmare.” Sister Helen must have been woken from her sleep and Duo wondered if father Maxwell had been woken up, too. Sister Helen, in her nightdress and robe, walked to them, gracefully and squatted down by Ryou’s bedside. “Are you alright?”
Only then did Ryou noticed how many people were watching him. He blushed deeply and pulled the sheets up a little closer to his face. Duo knew that Ryou hated being watched more than anything else. “I’m okay.”
Sister Helen considered for a moment. “Do you need to get up and walk around for a bit?”
“No.” Ryou shook his head, no doubt hoping everyone would just go back to bed and stop looking at him. “I’m okay. Really. Sorry.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry about. If you’re sure you’re alright, when don’t you go back to sleep. That goes for everyone. It’s the middle of the night. Everyone to your beds. You’ve all had nightmares before, Hurry now.” She clapped her hands lightly and, as usual, everyone dashed to do what she said. Everyone except Duo who stayed stubbornly at Ryou’s side. He had the sneaking suspicion that the nightmare was about the fire. Since Duo had told Ryou not to tell sister Helen about it, that left no one for Ryou to confide in but Duo and Duo didn’t want to abandon Ryou. “Duo?” Sister Helen gave him a curious look when he didn’t do as he was told. “What’s up?”
“I’m going to stay with Ryou, tonight.”
Sister Helen was not known for being indulgent or for reacting well went children forgot to say please, but this time she conceded, for whatever reason. She decided that there was enough room to move Duo’s bed in next to Ryou’s. Duo wondered if she saw Ryou’s grateful expression when she helped Duo to move the bed.
Ryou had another nightmare that night, but when Duo woken up and touched his arm, Ryou stopped screaming and settled into a peaceful sleep for the rest of the night. Everyone agreed that it was for the best to have Duo next to Ryou at night. Even if Akira did nastily tell Duo that he was sister’s pet, even he had to admit that it was worth it for Ryou not to keep waking everyone up at night.
Duo found himself becoming protective of Ryou who seemed at once to be so vulnerable and innocent, but could also be very strong, temperamental, and rash. Like the time he'd stood up against Akira, Ryou would stand up to any bully that happened to cross his path. He had once climbed a tree to help one of the little kids out who'd gotten stuck up there and Ryou had even chased a rat out of the kitchen for the sisters.
Ryou was, in Duo's eyes, very brave. He feared nothing except fire. Ryou couldn't stand to be near fire. He would start to shake and sweat, cowering behind anyone and anything just to hide himself from the fire, usually Duo. Ryou admitted to Duo that the fire frightened him because he liked it too much.
"I feel like I could just watch it forever and like it would do anything I wanted it to do and that I'm apart of it." Ryou told him. Ryou didn't want to feel like this, like he was apart of the thing that had killed his granma. “That makes me evil, too. How could any good person like what kill someone so important as their own granma?”
For once, Duo didn’t know what to say. He crawled into Ryou’s bed and lay next to him, thankful that they were both small enough to squeeze in together, and put an arm around Ryou. There was nothing he could say that would give Ryou any comfort or peace. The only one way to do that was to have Ryou forgive himself and that wasn’t very likely.
The most Duo could do was to just be there for Ryou and that, he promised himself, was just what he would do. No matter what happened, he’d always be near just incase Ryou needed him.
Youja Kai-
Naaza-
They were summoned in the middle of bathing which was why they were all dripping wet and why Anubisu was in such a foul temper. He hated having wet hair dripping down his back. It was luck for them all that Emperor Aragon had no interest in their physical state, he didn’t notice that they were all soaking wet when they came to kneel before him in the throne room.
WHAT’S THIS ABOUT? Naaza thought, letting his three brothers hear the question. IS IT TIME? The anticipation of the war had been building recently. Small hints Arago had either deliberately or accidentally dropped when he spoke to them showed that the war was getting closer by the minute.
Sh‘ten, the baby of their odd little family, with his face still lowered to the ground, said, I HOPE SO. The eagerness in his mind’s voice was echoed by Anubisu’s. Both of them were impatient for the war to conquer humanity. IT’S BEEN SUCH A LONG WAIT. I’M TIRED OF DOING NOTHING! STUCK IN THIS ENDLESS NOWHERE!
Their thirst for battle was something Naaza was accustomed to, but that didn’t mean he understood it. Sh’ten always called him a lazy creature and perhaps that was right. Naaza was good at battle, he had been trained well, but that didn’t mean he enjoyed it or looked forward to it. Where Sh’ten and Anubisu dreamed of glorious battle and the thrill of near death, Naaza would dream of warm sunny rocks to sleep on.
“My generals,“ Arago began, his deep voice filling the room with dread. “You who have served me so faithfully, your time of triumph rolls nearer. The bearers of the yoroi, opposites of your own, are beginning to appear.” The ghostly mask that served as Emperor Arago’s face looked down upon his four generals and it was impossible to guess what he was thinking.. "One of the yoroi bearers has been made vulnerable. Retrieve him, my Ma-Sho. Bring the child, Rekka, to me. You will raise him to serve me and when the yoroi comes to him, he will fight along side you for the greater glory my empire!"
The Ma-Sho bowed their heads solemnly as they knelt before their master.
Sh'ten, letting them all feel his irritation that this was nothing more than an errand, elbowed Rajura who was kneeling next to him. YOU GO THIS TIME. I WENT ON THE LAST ERRAND FOR OLD BAGGY EYES. IT'S YOUR TURN.
NO, Rajura replied. I'M BABYSITTING KAY THIS WEEK. He directed his thoughts to Anubisu. YOU GO GET THE KID.
NOT ME. I'M INTERVIEWING FOR A JOB AT ONE OF THOSE NEW MILITARY COLONIES IN SPACE. SOME KID NEEDS SPECIAL TRAINING TO BE A SOLDIER. Anubisu looked at Naaza. YOU GO GET HIM.
Naaza couldn't think of a single excuse to get out of it, so simply nodded with resignation. IF I HAVE TO, I GUESS I CAN HANDLE IT.
"Do whatever you have must in order to get the child." Emperor Arago continued, unaware of the conversation that had gone on right in front of him. That was the way the Ma-Sho wanted it. Arago had such great control over their lives, it was only right that they keep some secrets from him.
Naaza nodded obediently.