Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ Pitch Black ❯ Torrent’s Return ( Chapter 5 )

Pitch Black

 

Chapter Five: Torrent's Return

By: Demon Priestess Saturn

 

Rowen drove down the empty mountain road on his way to the place where he first found his armor. The sun was setting on the horizon and the slight breeze had disappeared. Rowen glanced to the side of the road and noticed how eerie the usually calm serine forest looked. Normally the forest looked lively with the beautifully colored green trees and assortment of wild animals. But for some reason it appeared to be dark and dead. Not even the birds were chirping which in previous times had not been a good sign. “The forest looks gloomy.” He thought to himself as her continued down the long stretch of road. “Something doesn't feel right.” Rowen glanced around quickly. As he continued down the road he watched it slowly get darker. He turned on his headlights and kept his eyes on the road. He turned on a sharp corner and spotted something shine off his headlights in the middle of the road. “Shit!” Rowen yelled and hit the brakes. He turned the steering wheel to avoid hitting the object and spun the car on the road. When the car came to a stop, Rowen hit his back against his seat. Breathing heavily he turned and looked out his rearview window. To his surprise he could see nothing in the road nor did he feel the car hit anything. Turning back in his seat he sat there for a moment trying to calm his shaky nerves before getting out of the car. He walked around his car and looked around the area but still didn't see anything. “I am sure there was something in the road.” Rowen said out loud. After a few minutes of investigating he found nothing that indicated there was something in the road. “Either it was a very big animal or I have one wild imagination.” Rowen sighed and walked back to the driver's side of the car. As he stepped back into his car and started the engine, he slowly turned the car back around and continued down the road.

 

Confusion swept throughout Rowen's mind. What had just happened back there? As he slowly came off the mountain road and onto an overpass he felt a strange feeling. The scenery around him was still dark and desolate, almost as if he were in a graveyard. His mind wondered and he heard a small whisper in the back of his mind. “Come to me Rowen of Strata…” As Rowen pulled off the overpass he felt the voice tug at the back of his mind. Rowen pulled over to the side of the road and parked the car. He stepped out of the car and started to walk back to the overpass. That was when he heard it. It was a shrill scream of a young woman under the overpass. “Help me!!!” Rowen started to run. As he reached the edge of the overpass he quickly started to head down the side of the overpass. When he finally reached the spot under the overpass he looked around breathing heavily.

 

“Hello!” Rowen said in a short-winded voice. “Is anyone here?” He walked under the overpass, passing the concrete columns that held up it up. Rowen glanced around but could see nothing in the darkening area around him. “That's strange I could have swore…” That's when the warrior of strata spotted a young woman strung up on one of the concrete columns. Chains were wrapped around her ankles and her wrists stringing her up like a puppet in a puppet show. Her shirt was missing exposing her bosom, which had two large gashes crossing like an X on her chest. Her long dark hair fell around her pale face exposing her widened dark eyes. Blood dripped off her body and covered the column and continued down dousing the green grass, turning it a deep red. Rowen covered his mouth and backed away as his eyes fixed on the woman's slit throat. As he glanced up into the woman's wide eyes she suddenly turned into a rotting skeleton and started laughing. “It's about time. Rowen of Strata!” The skeleton grinned as Rowen backed into one of the concrete columns.

 

“Red Thunder Strike!” A voice from behind the column yelled. Rowen quickly pushed himself off the concrete column but it was too late. Thin red lights surrounded him and wrapped around his body. When the red lights disappeared they quickly turned into thick black chains. As they wrapped around the ronin of strata they pulled him tightly against the concrete column.

 

“What the hell?” Rowen gasped as a chain wrapped around his neck. The helpless ronin looked in front of him and realized that the once bloody column was no longer bloody and the woman was gone.

“Rowen of Strata… You are so gullible.” A cold voice said as some of the darkness around receded. Rowen stared in front of him and could see someone in full clad armor approaching.

“Who are you?” Rowen said in a labored breath.

“You don't remember? How strange.” The man smirked. “I think it would be obvious.”

“Stop being a smart ass and answer the question.” Rowen snapped.

“You know… You and your friends without your armors make you very easy targets. You know Halo didn't stand a chance against me; especially without his armor. I guess you could say my rival is now in his grave.”

“Sage…” Rowen's eyes widened.

“Don't worry ronin. You will quickly be joining him. That was why we set this trap just for you.” The man said with a sadistic grin. Reaching up with his right hand he pulled a long sword from his back. “Say your prayers strata!” The man began to charge. Suddenly a light lit up the place. The man stopped running and looked over to the side. “What the?”

“Cale?” Rowen said with a shocked expression on his face. Rowen could see in front of him a very familiar set of brown and red armor. In Cale's right hand he held his golden long sword and on his left he wore a large cat claw. Draped on his back was his long red cape. He wore his helmet with the faceplate down which meant only one thing to the ronin of strata.

“Who's there!” Cale yelled. Rowen glanced over to see the lone bright light. To him it looked like a headlight on a motorcycle. Then his assumption was confirmed when he heard and engine rev. Then he realized that the vehicle was coming directly at Cale at a high speed. Rowen quickly looked back at Cale. Clearly the warlord didn't have time to move because the motorcyclist, whoever it was, turned the bike sharply and skidded sideways right into the warlord of corruption, knocking him into the wall of the underpass.

“That's what you get for messing around.” The person on the bike said in an angry voice. “I see not only are you trying to kill people your telling lies as well.”

“You have no idea who you are dealing with mortal.” Cale pushed himself slowly off the ground.

“Oh believe me I know exactly what I am dealing with. A complete and utter moron.” The person on the bike said as they got off of the bike. Cale stood up and picked up his sword off the ground.

“Shall we test that theory? I'm armed and your not.” Cale sneered.

“I have a bike and that's all I need.” The person replied.

“That's it! I'll take off…” Cale began.

“Cale! That's enough!” A voice came from behind the column Rowen was tied to. It was the same voice that yelled the attack that trapped him.

“But…” Cale began to argue.

“We shouldn't stir up too much trouble. We want to keep a low profile.” The voice replied.

“As you wish.” Cale said with a sigh. “Next time you wont be so lucky strata. And if I find out who you are I will kill you!” Cale said to the person on the bike before disappearing.

“I can't believe this… What's going on?” Rowen was very confused.

“Are you alright?” The person on the bike walked over to him.

“I think but could you get me untied?” Rowen asked calmly. “I'm starting to choke.”

“Hold still.” The person said as they quickly snapped one of the chains and pulled them off Rowen.

“Thanks… Um by the way what you saw… Um…” Rowen tried to come up with an explanation.

“Don't bother. You don't need to explain anything to me.” The person replied as they picked up their motorcycle.

“Wait!” Rowen said as he ran over to the person. On closer examination Rowen could see that the person wore blue jeans and green top with a black leather jacket. On and even closer examination he figured out the person was a man. But he could see his face because he wore a green motorcycle helmet. When Rowen glanced at the motorcycle he could see that it was a green sports bike.

“What's your name?” Rowen looked at the man's visor assuming that the man was looking him in the eyes.

“My names not that important. I'm just a guy who lives around here. I spotted your car on the side of the road and heard some ruckus so I came to check it out.” The man said in a calm voice.

“So I don't even get the name of the guy who saved my life? I get it. You want to be the mysterious hero. That's fine. Thanks for saving me.” Rowen smiled.

“Anytime.” The man said.

“Your not hurt are you? Is there anything I can help you with?” Rowen asked.

“No I'm fine. You should get to wherever you were going before you get hurt.” The man said quietly and got on his bike.

“You know… Your voice sounds familiar to me. Have we met before?” Rowen really wanted to know who this guy was.

“Just watch your back.” The man replied and quickly drove off. Rowen watched as the man drove off before slowly walking back to his car. The confusion in Rowen's mind was great. As he reached his car and sat in the drivers seat a few thing lay on his mind. What was Cale doing attacking him like that? What was going on? Why were there armors back? But the one thing that was at the front of his mind was what Cale had told him. Sage was dead.

 

………………….

 

Cye walked promptly into the large garage next to his mother's home. Glancing around he spotted Ryuusake digging in a large box of diving gear. Cye narrowed his eyes at his future brother in law and quickly walked over to him with Kento following in his wake. As Cye walked past the randomly placed boxes he noticed a little pile of gear off to the side. On closer examination he could see that it was a set of scuba gear in top condition.

 

“What do you think?” Ryuusake smiled as he glanced over at the two boys.

“Is this yours?” Cye asked with a hint of interest in his voice.

“Yes it is.” Ryuusake smiled.

“So I guess he does have a certificate.” Kento mumbled.

“Of course I do.” Ryuusake said with a strange tone in his voice. “Do you want to see it?”

“Yeah… Actually I do.” Cye said with a hint of interest in his voice.

“Hold on a sec.” Ryuusake said as he went back into digging in the large box. “No that's not it… Maybe this… No… Ah! Here it is!”

“That's a nice frame.” Kento said as he stared at the beautiful golden frame around the certificate. Cye reached out and grabbed the framed certificate gently out of Ryuusake's hands and read every line word for word in his head.

“Wow… I'm amazed.” Cye replied as he handed the certificate back.

“It's nothing too amazing.” Ryuusake said as he put the certificate back in the box. “My family comes from a long line of scuba divers. So it's a tradition in my family to learn how to scuba dive. Much like your family.”

“Wow… So how did you meet Sayoko?” Kento asked.

“I meet her at the beach. We both were out diving that day.” Ryuusake smiled proudly.

“I should ask.” Kento said rolling his eyes.

“So Cye do you have your stuff ready to go?” Ryuusake looked at Cye.

“Give me a few minutes and I'll have it ready. I have to pull it out of the cabinet over there.” Cye said quietly.

“You okay?” Kento looked over at Cye.

“Oh me? I'm fine. Just thinking about something.” Cye said warmly.

“Thinking is good, especially when your scuba diving. Cos if your not thinking you could get yourself in real trouble.” Ryuusake smiled.

“Yeah.” Cye said quietly as he walked over to the cabinet and pulled out his scuba gear. The next few minutes were a blur to Cye he was one minute pulling down his gear, vaguely hearing a conversation Kento and Ryuusake were having, and then before he knew it they were on his dad's boat and driving out to the diving spot.

“Well here we are. Are we all ready?” Ryuusake said as he fettled a little with his diving suit.

“I'm ready.” Cye said with a determined look on his face.

“Okay then lets get our air tanks on.” Ryuusake said seriously. Once Cye and Ryuusake set up their tanks they both stood side by side at the edge of the boat.

“Okay… Um… I guess this is how it will work. You two will get into the water and when I say go whoever reaches the bottom first wins. Fair?” Kento looked between the two boys. The two boys nodded and then looked at each other. Ryuusake waved his hand suggesting Cye go first. Cye nodded jumped off the boat and into the cold murky water. Ryuusake soon followed him and once the two boys were afloat they looked up at Kento. “1…2…3…Go!”

 

As Kento waved his hand downward on the go, Cye quickly dived under the water and started to head straight down. Holding tightly onto his diving light Cye quickly pushed himself down. He glanced to his side but he couldn't see Ryuusake anywhere. Glancing back down in the direction he was going he caught a glimpse of light blue a little ways off in the distance. Cye stopped swimming and looked at the glowing object and wondered what it could possibly be. Abandoning his goal he started swimming in the direction of the glowing object. When he finally reached the little crevice he reached his hand in and wrapped his fingers around the small orb. Pulling it out he looked at it closely and realized that the kanji of trust was at the center of the light blue orb. Cye in shock dropped almost dropped his mouthpiece. Cye quickly pulled up his diving bag and put his armor into the bag.

 

Cye felt a slight tap on his shoulder. Turning around Cye could see Ryuusake looking at him with a confused expression. Cye pointed up and Ryuusake nodded. Ryuusake's eyes wandered behind Cye for a moment. Cye could see Ryuusake's eyes widened and the next thing he knew Ryuusake had pulled him behind him. Cye glanced over Ryuusake's shoulder to see Suiko swimming up to them. The large orca, which Cye had grown to love, was simply coming over to say hi. Cye grabbed Ryuusake's shoulder causing him to look Cye in the eye. Cye raised his hand and swam past Ryuusake and gave Suiko a big hug. The worried look on Ryuusake's face disappeared as he realized that Cye was friends with the Orca. Cye signaled for Ryuusake to come over to him and Suiko, but just as Ryuusake moved a shimmer went past him. Suiko grabbed Cye and went up a little bit to dodge the object. Cye looked at Suiko and then back down and Ryuusake who now had his right hand covering his left upper arm. Cye gabbed onto Suiko and had him swim down. Cye grabbed Ryuusake and pulled him onto Suiko's back with him. Cye patted Suiko on the back and quickly went up to the surface. When the boys broke the surface Kento quickly helped them back onto the boat. Cye yanked his mouthpiece out of him mouth and looked at Ryuusake.

 

“Ryuu! Are you okay?” Cye asked. Ryuusake pulling his mouthpiece winced in pain.

“May arm stings…” Ryuusake replied.

“What the hell happened? He's bleeding!” Kento said as he applied pressure to Ryuusake's cut.

“I'm not sure.” Cye replied.

“I think it's okay. It's just a cut.” Ryuusake said looking at his cut.

“Yeah but how did it happen?” Kento asked.

“I don't know. It felt like a spear hit my arm.” Ryuusake said quietly.

“I did see a shimmer. But then Suiko got me out of the way of whatever it was.” Cye said calmly.

“That's weird.” Kento stated as he wrapped a handkerchief on Ryuusake's cut.

“Not as weird as what I found down there.” Cye retorted and looked Kento firmly in the eyes.

“What did you find?” Kento asked. Cye pulled up his diving bag and opened it. Reaching into the bag he pulled out the shimmering light blue orb. Kento gasped and stared at the orb in Cye's hand.

“That's a pretty marble.” Ryuusake said. “Looks like you found buried treasure.”

“Yeah I sure can say I did.” Cye smiled. “You know Ryuu. You're not so bad. Let's go back home so I can finish dinner.”

“And not to mention get this nasty looking wound treated.” Kento said.

“I agree.” Ryuusake smiled.

“Okay. I'll drive us back.” Cye stood up quickly and ran over to the steering wheel and started the engine. Soon after that they were back home and Cye continued to wonder.

 

End Chapter Five

 

Okay I tried my hardest to fix the confusion of who's speaking. I'm not even sure if I was successful at all. So how did you all like this chapter? I must admit I finally am getting somewhere good. Of course it only took me FIVE chapters to get there! But hey I guess that's okay. I look forward to all your wonderful reviews. Once again thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the chap.

 

~Priestess~