Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ Pitch Black ❯ Kidnapping ( Chapter 10 )

Pitch Black

 

Chapter Ten: Kidnapping

By: Demon Priestess Saturn

 

Ryo, Rowen, Kento, and Cye walked through the forest leading to the place where Sage's armor came from. As the walked down the dirt path they four felt restless. Ever since yesterday they had this lingering feeling of dread. Almost like the dead was watching them from every angle in the lush greenery. And as time passed the feeling seemed to get worse. Rowen however seemed to be feeling it the most. What made it worse was the guilt that plagued his mind. He shouldn't have let Sage go off by himself. He felt it that morning and as the day wore on he felt even more afraid. As they reached a small clearing they could see the small entrance to the caverns.

 

“Is everyone ready?” Ryo stopped for a moment and looked back at the group. The four nodded solemnly as the entered the blackness. None of them had said much to each other since yesterday. It was almost as if they all had been shaken by yesterday's declaration. So instead of talking about it they preferred to not mention it at all. As Ryo lead them through the dark cold wet cave, they reached a wooden door at the back of the cave. Ryo nodded to the others while Kento stepped forward. After preparing himself for a few minutes the ronin of hardrock broke down the door. As they entered the large square torch lit room, they felt as if something in the darkness was watching them. Like a panther stalking her prey. The room was built with dark stone blocks that looked orange red near the small torches. As the four boys spread out about the room they found two doors, one to the right, and one directly in front of them.

 

“So which door first?” Ryo glanced over his shoulder at his three friends.

“How about me and Cye take the door on the right and you and Rowen take that door.” Kento said suddenly.

“Fair enough.” Ryo agreed.

“Just be careful. We don't know where Cale is hiding.” Rowen said as he headed towards the door.

“We'll be okay.” Cye said calmly.

“We'll yell if we find Sage first.” Kento said with a smirk before heading over to the door on the right with Cye.

“Hey remember to do the same if you find Cale. I don't want you taking all the credit for kicking his ass.” Ryo smirked before turning and following Rowen through the small wooden door.

“I have a bad feeling.” Rowen said as he glanced around the mildew covered walls.

“You've been saying that since yesterday.” Ryo looked over at him.

“Yeah I know and it just keeps getting worse. Something isn't right, it too quiet.” Rowen continued to glanced around as they walked down a long narrow corridor. As they walked they could hear slight tapping noises coming from the walls. Rowen shivered and his heart started to pound.

“Rowen you look scared.” Ryo looked over at him with a worried expression.

“That's because I am.” Rowen replied as they turned to walk down a corridor to the left.

“That's unusual for you.” Ryo said as they reached a door on the left at the end of the corridor. Ryo stopped just short of the door and glanced around. His heart was starting to race and he suddenly felt scared. “Now you're rubbing off on me.” Ryo said as he reached for the doorknob. He tried to turn the knob but soon found that it was locked.

“What's up?” Rowen asked.

“The door's locked.” Ryo said as he fettled with the doorknob.

“Then let's break down the door.” Rowen said.

“I can't. This door is metal.” Ryo said while glancing over at Rowen.

“Do you know how to pick locks?” Rowen asked.

“No… Do you?” Ryo looked at him. Rowen examined the door for a minute and paced in front of it. The door was most certainly made of metal. Most likely steal. It had an old fashion lock that looked as if it needed a skeleton key to open it. The hinges were also old fashion, which made Rowen smirk. “What's up?”

“Watch out.” Rowen said as he stepped to the other side of Ryo. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his pocketknife. Carefully he slipped it under one of the pins holding the door in place. A minute went by and he soon pulled out the pin and then went for the other one. After both pins were removed he slowly pushed open the door. Blackness met his eyes and a horrible smell reached his nose.

“I can't see anything.” Ryo said as he and Rowen stepped into the dark room.

“It's smells in here too.” Rowen said. “Why don't you grab one of those torches from outside?”

“Okay.” Ryo said as he headed back out the door. Rowen walked about the room trying to make out anything in the shadows around the room. As he walked closer to the center of the room he felt something cold a caress his cheek.

“Ah!” Rowen screamed as he smacked the hard object and it made a loud clanging sound.

“What happened?” Ryo was suddenly standing in the doorway.

“It's nothing I just bumped into a chain or something.” Rowen said as he felt the chain with his hands.

“Okay. I'll get a torch.” Ryo said as he once again disappeared from the doorway.

“Stupid.” Rowen muttered as he looked around again. Something caught the corner of his eye. There was a large rectangular object in the center of the room. Rowen stayed where he was and reached over with his arm until his found the wall. As he felt up the wall he soon found an unlit torch. “Ryo! I found a torch.” Rowen yelled as he pulled out a match and lit the torch. When he looked back at the rectangular object he screamed out.

“What!” Ryo ran up to the doorway and looked inside. He gasped and stared wide-eyed at the gruesome scene in front of him. Rowen was leaning against the wall with a look of horror on his face as he stared back at his best friend strapped down to the wooden table. Sage lay on the table with his rib cage ripped open, his heart and lungs exposed, and he had been disemboweled. Part of his skin you could still see had been cut off exposing the bare muscle underneath and parts of it looked burned. Blood was everywhere, on his face, on the table, but most of it was in a giant puddle on the floor. Ryo felt his stomach turned and he looked away. He emptied the contents of his stomach and coughed lightly. “Oh my god.”

“Sage…” Rowen slid down the wall as he stared in shock. “No…” After a few minutes Ryo walked over to Rowen and grabbed his arm.

“Rowen come on. Let's get out of here.” Ryo tugged on his arm.

“No…” Rowen stared.

“Rowen come on. He's dead there's nothing we can do.” Ryo pulled on his arm again.

“How could he do this?” Rowen shook his head and started to cry.

“Rowen staying here isn't going to help.” Ryo tried to snap Rowen out of his shock.

“Look! What he did!” Rowen shouted as he looked at Ryo.

“Rowen. Calm down. I'm upset too but we need to get out of here and find Kento and Cye before Cale does.” Ryo looked him in the eyes. “Rowen please… They're in danger.”

“Okay.” Rowen nodded softly and let Ryo pull him back to his feet. Ryo lead him to the door and gave one last glance at Sage before he walked out the door.

 

………………….

 

As Kento and Cye walked through the door on the right they entered a room with a large rectangular shape hall lined with tall round pillars. There was another door at the end of this hall that looked like the one they had just passed through. They walked down the long hallway, their feet stepping on the long red carpet lined with gold. When they reached the door Kento glanced back at Cye before turning the doorknob. This room looked exactly like the one they first entered, with its black block walls and low lighting. The only difference was there was one door to the right. Kento promptly walked over to it and turned the doorknob. This door lead to a long dark corridor that seemed to go on forever.

 

“How did they have time to do this?” Cye looked over at Kento as they stepped through the door.

“I don't know.” Kento said as he started to walk down the passage.

“It's dark down here. And where is Cale?” Cye said calmly as they turned down a corridor to the right.

“I don't know.” Kento shrugged. The two were quiet for a moment and began to notice the slight tapping on the walls. They both shivered simultaneously as a chill ran up their spines.

“Kento… I think we should go back.” Cye looked over at his friend.

“You have the same feeling I do?” Kento looked into his aquamarine eyes.

“Yes.” Cye nodded. That was when they heard it. It was a scream off in the distance from where they came. It was muffled but nonetheless Kento and Cye looked at each other before they bolted back down the corridor.

“Cale must have found them.” Cye said as they quickly ran around the corner. Soon the door at the end of the hall came into view and they bolted through it only to be greeted by Cale on the other side. Cye stopped dead as he spotted Cale standing in front of the door they needed to exit. Kento stopped next to him and glared at the warlord of corruption.

“Cale.” Kento glared harshly. “What did you do to Ryo and Rowen?”

“Did to them? I have done nothing to them… Yet.” Cale smirked.

“Where's Sage.” Cye glared. Cale looked over and him and smiled like a madman.

“Why don't you ask Ryo and Rowen? They can tell you. After all they did find him.” Cale laughed suddenly which caused a chill to run up Cye's back.

“Cale! I've had enough of your games!” Kento leapt at him.

“Kento don't!” Cye yelled as he remembered what happened to Sage the last time they tried to fight Cale.

“Armor of Hardrock!” Kento yelled as he charged at Cale. As Kento swung his punch as his orange sub armor appeared on his body. After noticing Cale had dodged his attack the ronin of hardrock continued his assault with a series of kicks and punches.

“Kento!” Cye yelled again but Kento wasn't listening. “Damn it… Armor of Torrent!” Cye called for his armor.

“You are too weak.” Cale knocked Kento back into the wall.

“Cale!” Cye shouted and gave the warlord a glare of absolute hatred. “I don't know what happened to all of you but… this has to stop.”

“And what do you plan to do about it Torrent?” Cale snapped. Cye raised his hands in the air.

“Simple I'm not going to mess around. ARMOR OF TORRENT DOU SHIN!” Cye called forth his full armor.

“Good.” Cale smirked. “I wouldn't have it any other way.”

 

………………….

 

Ryo lead Rowen down the corridor neither of them saying a word. Ryo glanced back at Rowen with a worried expression on his face. He had never seen Rowen flip out like this before. In fact he had flipped out so much that he wasn't walking very well. Rowen seemed to stare off into nothing. His eyes were distant and his was trembling slightly.

 

“Rowen…” Ryo said calmly. “Are you okay?” When Ryo didn't get an answer his worry increased and so did his anger. He couldn't wait until he found Cale. He felt like ripping him in two at that very second. Soon the two boys were back in the room they had started in. Ryo walked over to the wall and sat Rowen down in front of it. He rested his hands on Rowen's shoulders and knelt down in front of him. “Rowen… Come on buddy you need to snap out of it.”

“He's dead…” Rowen mumbled suddenly. “He murdered him… I should have stopped him.”

“Rowen you couldn't have stopped him.” Ryo looked back at him sympathetically.

“Yes I could have.” Rowen looked into Ryo's tiger blue eyes. “I shouldn't have let Sage go alone. I should have gone with him to his parent's house. I shouldn't have let him talk me into staying.” Tears streamed down Rowen's cheeks. “It's all my fault.”

“Rowen... Don't say that. This isn't your fault.” Ryo tried to console him.

“It is my fault! He would be alive if I hadn't let him go alone!” Rowen raised his voice.

“If you had been with him what's to say you wouldn't be dead now too?” Ryo looked upset. “It's not your fault.”

“I could have done something! I should have realized Dais' illusion and gone to help him. I should have jumped the bridge and stopped Cale from taking him! I should've…” Rowen hung his head and started crying.

“Oh Rowen.” Ryo let go of his fellow ronin shoulders and looked at the ground.

“Armor of Hardrock!” Ryo and Rowen heard Kento's muffled voice on the other side of door he and Cye had gone through. Ryo's eyes went wide and he jumped to his feet.

“Cale!” Ryo bolted for the door and opened it. He ran down the hall and quickly reached the door on the other side. He yanked open the door and could see Cye barely pushing himself up off the floor. A few feet away stood Cale. He had picked Kento up off the floor by the neck and was holding him in the air. He glanced over his shoulder at Ryo and smirked. Ryo's eyes flashed with anger. “Cale! You son of a bitch!” Ryo charged at him.

“ARMOR OF WILDFIRE DOU GI!” Ryo quickly switched from his sub armor to his full armor.

“Ryo… Don't…” Kento choked as Cale suddenly threw the ronin of hardrock at Ryo.

“Kento! Ryo!” Cye yelled as Kento smacked into Ryo and the two tumbled to the floor.

“Kento are you okay?” Ryo pushed himself up.

“He's really juiced up.” Kento said as Ryo helped him up. “I'm having a hard time.”

“Have you all had enough?” Cale smirked.

“I don't care if he's juiced up or not. I'm pissed off at him and I will kill him if it's the last thing I do.” Ryo got to his feet and pulled his twin katana's. He connected his swords at the hilts and jumped in the air. Holding his connected swords in the air he yelled. “FURY OF WILDFIRE!” He swung his swords downward and a stream of fire came from the blades and went flying at Cale.

“DARKNESS STRIKE!” Cale pulled his long sword and held it above his head. He brought it down quickly and swung it in Ryo's direction. From the blades came several black lighting bolts. It smacked into Ryo's fire attack and caused a giant explosion, which shook the entire cavern.

“Damn it!” Ryo cursed as he landed softly on the ground.

“I'll get him.” Kento jumped to his feet and held his three part staff above his head. He swung the staff in circles like nun chunks above his head. He glared harshly at Cale and suddenly brought them downward. “IRON ROCK CRUSHER!” Kento slammed his staff onto the ground. The ground around them seemed to crumble as an earthquake cracked the floor heading toward Cale.

“Is that all you got?” Cale dodged off to the side so the attack hit the wall. “Keep it up and this whole place might cave in on you all.”

“Yeah and you'll go down with us you bastard!” Ryo jumped at him and they crossed swords.

“You are really angry with me Wildfire… This wouldn't happen to have anything to do with Sage of Halo would it?” Cale teased. Ryo's eyes flashed with anger as he knocked Cale back into the wall. “Tell me Wildfire. Have you told Torrent and Hardrock? Have you told them why Strata isn't in here standing at your side?”

“Shut up.” Ryo glared.

“Where is Rowen? What happened?” Kento looked at Ryo. “What's he talking about?”

“Rowen's in the other room.” Ryo said while still eyeing Cale.

“Is he okay? We heard screaming earlier so we were coming to check on you two. But then Cale got in the way.” Cye stood up and held his staff out in front of him.

“We can talk about this later.” Ryo said coldly. “Right now I have a warlord I want dead.”

“Ryo is Rowen okay?” Kento sounded scared. Ryo sighed in frustration but continued to stare at Cale.

“Rowen is fine. He's just in no mental condition to fight at the moment.” Ryo said as calmly as he could. Cale grinned from ear to ear and continued his banters.

“Go on tell them why.” Cale stared Ryo in the eyes.

“You disgust me… How can you be so proud of what you did? That was our friend.” Ryo charged at him again. Cale smirked and countered once again with his sword.

“Maybe because I enjoyed being able to crack open his chest. His heart was just so frail in my hands and his screaming was music to my ears.” Cale smirked.

“You bastard!” Ryo started slamming his swords against Cale's. He wanted to hit him. He wanted to kill him. Cale smirked again and used the fact that Ryo was distracted to his advantage. When Ryo swung downward with his swords Cale struck his hand with his hilt of his own sword. In the same motion he stepped forward and knocked Ryo's other sword out of his other hand. Cale then turned his body and charged at Ryo. He slammed into Ryo knocking him into the wall. With the wind knocked out of him Ryo slid to the floor and hung his head. Cale picked up one of the ronin of wildfire's swords and stabbed it through the boy's shoulder pinning him to the wall. Ryo screamed out as the blood splattered a crossed his face.

“Ryo!” Kento lunged forward. Cale grabbed Ryo's other sword and spun around. He slashed in an x motion using both his sword and Ryo's to hit Kento a crossed the chest. Kento screamed and fell backwards while blood gushed out of his wounds.

“Kento!” Cye yelled as Kento fell on his back. Cale smirked and turned back to Ryo. Holding his long sword at Ryo's throat he grinned.

“Tell them both Wildfire. Tell Torrent and Hardrock what you and Strata discovered in the dungeon.” Cale grinned. “Tell them!”

“Ryo?” Cye looked at him with a confused expression as he helped Kento up slightly. Kento also stared back at Ryo with confused eyes. Ryo stared up at Cale and tears fell from his eyes.

“Sage is dead.” Ryo forced himself to say what he was avoiding admitting to himself. “That's why Rowen isn't here. He's falling apart because of this jack ass.”

“Very good.” Cale grinned and turned back to Cye and Kento.

“I killed him with my own bare hands. I cracked open his chest and pulled out his intestines. I cut off his skin and burned the soft muscle underneath. And I enjoyed every minute of it… Even his screams of agony.” Cale stopped just short of Kento and Cye. Cye stared at the wall in front of him without saying a word. His eyes were blank and his mouth was slightly open. Tears fell from his eyes and he didn't move. Kento clenched his fists and forced himself to his feet. He glared back at Cale with murderous intentions.

“Cale… I'll kill you!” Kento charged at him again. Cale grinned as he dodged every klutzy move the ronin made in an attempt to hurt him. Suddenly Cale tripped Kento and slammed his knee into the boy's chest. Kento screamed out and coughed up blood. Cale swung the hilt of his sword downward and struck Kento on the back of the neck. Knocking the ronin out.

“Kento!” Ryo shouted as he grabbed the hilt of his sword and attempted to pull it out of the wall and out of his shoulder.

“I'm done playing this game.” Cale snapped. He picked up Kento's limp form and tossed him over his shoulder.

“Cale! Put him down!” Ryo yelled and tried his hardest to pull out the sword.

“Let's just say two down three to go.” Cale laughed and disappeared into the darkness taking Kento of Hardrock with him.

“KENTO!!!!!”

 

End Chapter Ten

 

^_^

 

Do you all want to kill me yet?

 

~Priestess~