Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ Raising the Past ❯ Chapter 7

A/N: Hey guys! We're not dead!! I know we said we would post yesterday, but unfortunately we weren't allowed near a computer until now. Not to mention the chapter got way too long so we had to cut it in half.

Kathrine: Guess we will be having another two chapters after this one. (Sighs.)

JC: We don't mind, just didn't think it would be so long.

Kathrine: Now we hope that you guys don't get confused by this.

JC: The last few pages are a little vague, but we make it up with the next chapter that should be coming out fairly soon.

Kathrine: Now, p[lease don't kill us for not posting in so long. We shall make amends and try to get out as much as w can in these two wonderful weeks.

JC: That is unless our family deems is it right to interfere, AGAIN!! GRRR!!!!

Disclaimer: 2 depressing 2 repeat for anymore ANYMORE!!

Warning: Please don't act like you haven't read the others and try to flame us.

Raising the Past

BY JC and Kathrine

Chapter 7

" C'mon, keep moving!" Ryo order as he thrust forward and lifted his opposing sword to block a jab from his opponent. " Keep working with it. We don't have enough time left for you to slack off!"

" Okay," Touma sighed tiredly. He continued to dodge the attacks thrown at him, but he knew he was getting fatigued fast. He couldn't keep up with the speed and pressure Ryo was enforcing. No one could say he only wielded the Rekka ken for his heart alone. They indeed were deadly weapons in his skilled hands.

Taking a noticeable opening, Touma struck out and hit his leader in the side with his wooden katana. The shot was dead on, but he was on his back instantly before he could revel in his small victory. A wooden sword was at his throat, his breath was coming out in pants, and a small smile was still on his lips.

" I'm getting better," Touma stated as Ryo helped him to his feet.

" Better isn't gonna beat Makuyo," Ryo replied. " He is said to be a very good swordsman despite his magic."

" You're not gonna give me a break are you?" Touma sighed.

" You're the one that asked me to train you," the dark-haired boy pointed out. " You could have asked Naaza."

" He would have used his real katana," Touma remarked. " Even if his training is lighter, yours keeps me alive."

" Please, you know damn well that Seiji has a worst training program then I do," Ryo pouted.

" Hai, he does," Touma smiled and sighed at the thought. He remembered when he had asked Seiji to help him train for a school fitness challenge. The blonde forced him up before dawn for three weeks and made him eat healthy food instead of his usual junk and sugar diet. He'd been ready to kill his lover by the end of the program, but he had ended up getting high rankings in the challenge for his class.

" Remember the fitness challenge?" Ryo asked as his mind drifted toward similar thoughts.

" I was on the verge of shoving Korin ken up his ass," Touma chuckled. " He was so gung ho on getting me in tiptop shape and yet I lost anyway."

" You got second place!" Ryo pointed out.

" I didn't have a chance to begin with," Touma laughed. " That little blonde sneak had secretly signed up for the challenge, too. Only reason why he was helping me was so he could improve. Then he took first place from me!"

" I remember the look on your face," Ryo thought back. " You were so mad at him."

" But I got even," Touma snickered evilly.

" I don't even want to know what ya did 'cause I remember the outcome," the fire warrior shook his head. " You looked so depressed when you weren't gettin' any."

" Yeah," Touma sighed again. " He wouldn't talk to me for two weeks."

" So in the end you still went back begging for forgiveness," Ryo finished up with a big grin. " You were so whipped it wasn't even funny and now you're even worse."

" Only for him," Touma could feel a weight increasing in his chest. " Look Ryo, I appreciate you helping me and all, but people do need rest and we Troopers are no different."

" Yeah, ya get a little rest because we have a lot of practicing to do in the morning before the duel at sundown," Ryo patted him on the shoulder and allowed him to leave to clean up.

C'mon, Touma, Ryo prayed in his mind. I know you can do this. Just try to stay focused on the duel and we'll have a chance. There's too much riding on this thing for us to lose. I know you miss Seiji a lot, but if this goes wrong you'll probably never see him again.

*****

That night Touma sat in the fairly well sized garden on the grounds within the twilight barrier and stared up at the moon and sun. He knew it was close to midnight and yet he couldn't sleep in the room with the others. It pained him to see Shin and Shu curled up in each others' arms and even being near Ryo, though Nasutei was nowhere close by, knowing he was certain his lover was safe made him want to cry.

So he quietly crept from his futon in the room and stole down the hall and out the nearest exit. It was by luck he ended up in the ethereal garden. And it was there he sat, self-loathing and remorse on his mind, not fully sure he could accomplish all that he had set out to do. But what he hated most of all, was the promise he'd broken.

Small whimpers emitted from the throat of the stiff yet sweating body next to him. Touma awoke to hear them as their volume heightened. It was true that the nightmares plagued his lover far less often, but when they came they were like the gates of hell being opened. Just as before he knew to hold him until the screams began.

Suddenly, a loud, heart-wrenching wail escaped the dry mouth and the shakes began. Touma pulled the blonde closer to him and stroked his hand through sweat-drenched locks. " Please no, no more, no, no more, no…" he could hear the incessant mumble that accompanied with the night terrors coming from the other's lips. He knew then that if he didn't wake his love now it would become far worse before he did so on his own.

" Seiji, wake up koi," he shook him gently so as to not startle him from his nightmare. That's when the blonde's eyes jerked open, white blue hue gawking at him in fear.

" Touma," tears slowly fell from red eyes as the name was repeated like a mantra to force out the swordsman's lingering demons. The blue-haired boy merely kissed the burning wetness away from his cheeks and held him even closer.

" I'm here, I won't leave you," Touma assured him.

" Neither will he," his lover cried silently. " It hurts Touma. He won't go away and it hurts so much."

" Iie, he is gone, love," Touma told him. " It's just the memories left behind that still hurt. But don't worry. I promise to be here, I won't let anyone else hurt you. I'm here forever when you need me."

Seiji only stared at him with a look of teary affection as he tried to calm his breathing. He lay his head down on the archer's bare chest and allowed him to keep him in a tight embrace. It was a silent promise of security and strength whenever he should falter. It kept him safe from his demons more often than not and the heartbeat beneath the strength slowly lulled him to sleep once again.

" I promise, I will never let anyone hurt you again," Touma vowed with conviction in his tone. " I shall protect you, my hikari."

" I failed him," he whispered as a tear fell down his cheek. " The one person in the world that I promised anything to and I failed him. I broke my word to protect him." Self-recrimination was at the forefront of his berating mind and he knew that was all that was keeping him going. The need to beg forgiveness, to see his lover's beautiful eyes and the passionate smile he would only show the archer kept him going.

I need him so badly and yet I cannot even assure myself he is out of harm's way, he swallowed a sob in his heavy chest. That's when the shadow's suddenly shifted behind him to reveal a dark figure he was too preoccupied to notice.

" It is not too unmanly to cry," a calm and quite voice stated from the background.

Touma jumped slightly at the acknowledgment of his sudden audience. He turned around immediately and midnight met deep blue. " Yami," he said with an air of shock. Naaza had told them of his love's resurfacing in the land of the living, but he still had not seen the other Masho. " I see ya have finally escaped the 'nurse's' eye."

" Naaza is merely overprotective," the other blue-haired warrior chuckled. " Though he cannot remain awake, even if he wishes it so."

" So you thought ya'd sneak out while he was out cold, eh?" Touma chuckled. " Good idea, a certain person I know would have done the same, did the same actually."

"You think of Korin when anyone brings up a subject of talk," Anubis pointed out. " I see it causes you pain. Why do that to yourself?"

" 'Cause it's good not to forget anything about him," he answered, not fully knowing why he was confiding in his lover's opposite to begin with.

Anubis seemed to give him an understanding smile at this, " It's better to remember the things he did to make you laugh, annoy you, or to play romantic, than to actually accept he's gone, isn't it?"

" What would you know of it? If you haven't noticed, your lover is the one you just crept out on."

" Did you think that we didn't mourn when we were forced to bury the body of Shuten?" he raised his eyebrow. " We are not above tears Tenku. I know Rajura cried for many nights when he was gone, as did Kayura."

" They were…?" Touma left the unfinished question hang in the air.

" Of course not," Yami chuckled at his immediate assumption. " Kayura and he were at a time, but Arago seemed to prefer it ended within its hundredth year. Rajura just looked upon him as the younger brother he'd never truly had. He trained him and pushed him to his limits when he knew it would make him a stronger leader. Those two were closer than even we would believe at times. The two seemed to come together and talk about him for hours on end. That's how they coped."

" Guess that's why they fell for each other," Touma could understand their situation perfectly. " But Seiji is not dead."

" But to be away from a lover one, knowing they are a live in enemies' territory, proves to be far worse," he pointed out. " And believe me, you are not the only one who feels this way."

" Kayura," the archer whispered in recognition. How must the final Ancient feel knowing that in less than one day she could lose a war, her people could be conquered and her love could be killed? All of that riding on one duel between a Sorcerer who could handle a sword with deadly grace and a archer who'd never lifted a blade in his life before three days prior?

Gods, she must think all of her hard work and love is about to go down the drain, he thought to himself. But it also brought him back to his problem. Would he ever see Seiji again? If he lost, what did that mean for the Nigenkai? Would his friends share in his failure? What would Seiji do in such a situation? What was Seiji doing at that very moment? Too many questions swirled around in his mind and he could feel his temples throbbing.

" You worry too much," Anubis sighed. " Believe that your instincts as a warrior will help you. I know you believe such a battle is one you cannot fight, but faith is needed as much as talent."

" If you want faith, talk to Shin," he frowned.

" He isn't the one who needs to regain faith in himself, he has too much as it is," Anubis added his last comment in an attempt to lighten the mood of their conversation. " But you feel have lost your faith and feel guilt because of something you cannot control. While Fate does not decide the way all things truly end, she does like to makes things more complicated.

" No kiddin'," Touma wanted to roll his eyes almost.

" Still," Yami pressed on. " You need to believe you can win, Korin needs you to believe that or else he will lose faith as well. Then there will be no more Korin left within him. The other shall win."

Touma's ears perked at the last piece of Anubis' statement and turned towards where the other was standing. To his dismay, the other warrior was gone, seeped back into the shadows to return to his own lover before realized gone. What did he mean by, 'The other shall win'? he wondered to himself.

Gazing up longingly at the sun in the sky, he noticed curiously that the moon was slowly beginning to bring itself in front of the orange sphere. The creamy white circle that was the Youjakai moon had been moving since three days ago and he had barely even paid attention to it. Hope it doesn't mean anything, he prayed as he stood up and stretched, tired enough to finally take up a half peaceful slumber.

*****

He stood in a dimly lit room staring about in confusion. He didn't recognize the room nor did he understand what type of dream he was having. That's when he realized that there was a small bed against the farthest wall in the room. In the bed were to sleeping figures, curled against each other underneath a warm comforter. Lovers, he thought with a smile on his lips.

That's when a loud crash could be heard from outside the closed door. It sounded as if another door had just been torn down by a tremendous force and loud cursing voices could be heard. That when one of the figures leaped out of the bed instantly and the viewer's eyes bulged from their sockets. Before him was a young man with blonde hair that fell gracefully down past his shoulders and wide blue/violet eyes. Seiji!!

" He's come for me!" the blonde cried out in despair. His lover quickly joined him and wrapped protective arms around his shoulders in an attempt to comfort him. The dreamer's eyes almost fell to the floor in disbelief as he stared at the other man. His bright blue hair was pulled back into a ponytail that fell over his shoulder and three inches down his chest, an irritating forelock lay at the edge of his nose. His sea green eyes held comfort, but also hidden fear.

" It's all right Sage," he assured his lover. " We shall face him together. I won't let him hurt you."

" He would never hurt me," the blonde shook his head as the voices grew louder. " But he will surely-" That's when the door to the room was knocked to the floor in one loud rush. The blue-haired man took his place in front of his gentle lover in hopes of shielding him.

The shadows in the doorway began to make out four figures. One was a tall muscular man with an ax in his hand, another a familiar creature that enflamed the rage all ready burning within the viewer. The demon was the one he remembered, but his features were not hideous but more like the other's. Shikaisen??! He realized, but he knew he could not touch him. It was but a dream that had to play out to the end. One of the other figures he could not fully see for he was in the far back, while the other was a form and face he had recently become very acquainted with.

" Makuyo," the blonde whispered with fear in his tone.

" So Strata Rowen?" Makuyo growled in anger. " You kidnap my lover and have the gall to stand up to me?"

" Hai," the other said without a hint of hesitation of stutter in his voice.

" Rowen, NO!" the blonde pushed his way from behind the other. He stood up against the sorcerer with conviction in his eyes. " Makuyo, you know I was the one that left on my own, he saved me. I couldn't take this anymore. Look what that monster has done to you!" He glared deadly at Shikaisen.

" Never speak of my brother, Lord Shikaisen, that way!" he snapped as his open palm came out of right field. Sage expected it and even welcomed the pain he felt as he was knocked into the wall. Blood dribbled from his broken lip and the blue-haired man stared at him in concern.

" Sage!" he moved to touch him. but a blade was immediately at his throat. Makuyo laughed as he tilted the razor edge of his sword closer to Rowen's tanned yet still pale throat.

" Stay away from him," he warned. " You mangy low rate slut. You've corrupted him."

" No please," Sage pleaded.

Makuyo turned his gaze to him for one moment before turning to the only figure still in the shadows. " Naotoki," he called. " Restrain my lord and mate." The figure moved from the shadows and the viewer believed that he had truly gone insane.

Green hair and a familiar muscular form stalked towards the young blonde who remained on the floor. His emerald green eyes showed a blanket of pity for the two they had found in the room. He grabbed the blonde by the arms and lifted him easily, though he still struggled.

" As I said brother," Shikaisen pointed to the blue-haired boy. " He has poisoned the mind of our young lord and now tempts to make himself a martyr for love."

" Sage does not love you," Makuyo stated to the boy with a jealous fire within his eyes. " Sage is mine and shall forever be. You are nothing compared to the lives we shall live and those we shall lead."

" Please don't My lord, please!" the blonde begged from within the iron grip on the green-haired man. " Don't kill him! We can go home, this will never have happened. I will never leave you again, I swear to it."

" You denounce him?" the sorcerer questioned.

The blonde's eyes widened as he seemed to choke on the words in his throat. He turned his sight to the pleading eyes of the other and then to the floor. " H-hai," he nodded. " I denounce Strata Rowen and all we have had. My heart is still with you my lord."

The blade a Rowen's throat lowered and his glare somewhat softened, but it did not lose its threatening air. " He has forsaken you," he told the blue-haired man. " For that alone I shall spare your miserable life. Leave the land and those surrounding it. I do not wish to ever see you again."

" Sage," the young man couldn't believe what he was hearing.

" No, Rowen, you knew that we could never truly be together," the blonde stated. " Gomen nasai for leading you on like this, but return to the castle with Lord Makuyo."

" Take him out of here," Makuyo commanded. Naotoki complied by lifting the boy in his arms even more and carrying him out of the room with the ax holder behind him..

" No!" Sage squirmed and attempted escape. " Lord, don't do this!" His cried went unheard by all but his holder and Rowen. The blue-haired man stared at him with despair, love, pity, compassion, and forced betrayal. Once he could tell that the boy was no longer near the room or door Makuyo glared at the other before backhanding him into the bed.

" How dare you even think you could seduce the lover of your lord!" he shouted. " To use such an innocent being."

" Use him?!" Rowen seemed livid. " If not for me, his body would be trapped with in the rages of the river!"

" So you take his body as reward?" Shikaisen tried to seem appalled.

Rowen stood away from the bed with a stand of defiance and determination. " He needed someone who would care for him and love him for him alone," Rowen stated. " I gave him that and more!"

" You betrayed the mind of a being who would not understand your deceit," Makuyo growled.

" I loved a man who had been forced by his first lover to witness such atrocities in life that he almost wanted to kill himself to amends for it," the other stated with cut eyes and a calm tone. " You believe he is yours when his is a free spirit to be admired from afar, not caged like some nightingale. He loves all life and yet you wish to kill many and destroy souls."

" You know nothing!" Makuyo yelled.

" I know that I revived a soul that was reluctant to return," Rowen countered. " If you truly love him as you say than do not kill it again."

Makuyo stared at him for a moment as if taking in all that had been said between them. Then he turned around swiftly and walked towards the door. " You have 'til sundown to be gone," he warned. " Do not mistake this charity as recurring stupidity."

Shikaisen stared at him in confusion. He had wanted his brother to kill the boy, but he'd shown mercy. It was the first sign that the little blonde was actually changing him from what he had worked so hard to make him. Then he glared at the boy, Rowen, who had his eyes glued to the demon that was about to leave. In a sudden act of defiance against his younger brother's wishes, Shikaisen wrenched the blade from his Makuyo's hand and plunged it into the chest of the blue-haired boy.

Rowen's eyes widened as Makuyo spun around to stare in confusion. All he could see was his blade protruding from the younger man's chest. Shikaisen gave one last harsh thrust before he allowed the boy to fall to the floor in a rapidly growing puddle of his own blood. NO!!! the dreamer screamed silently.

" What have you done?!" Makuyo was shocked and enraged.

" He was about to attack you," Shikaisen swore. " I watched him step towards you and I acted before he could hurt you."

" I swore to Sage he would not be harmed," Makuyo reminded him as he watched the other boy's life slowly fade from his body. He knew he could not do anything to save him now. That's when someone's figure came into the doorway.

" Rowen!" Sage screamed as tears streamed down his eyes. In his hand he held a bloody dagger and his lips trembled with the sight of Makuyo's blade in his lover's body. He rushed into the room and kneeled next to the boy.

" Oh G-gods, R-rowen please d-don't d-d-die," he stuttered as his hand trembled. He could tell that the wound was too far in its course for him to heal.

" He's not yet lost, Sage," the other whispered as blood began to run down his cheek from his mouth. " Ai shiteru, my Hikari." The words came out as no more than a whisper as his hand lay stiffly at his side and Death covered his eyes with glass and mist.

" No, no, NO!!" Sage was shaking his head as if in a seizure and his hand was on Rowen's cheek. " No. He's not dead. He's NOT dead!!"

" Sage, he is gone," Makuyo whispered, but he didn't expect his eyes to meet the pained and hateful gaze of blue/violet.

" You said he would live, why?" he asked. " Why did you kill him? He was so beautiful, so lively and strong. He only wanted to love me, but that is enough to condemn him to death? How could you destroy the last of what we had by destroying such a soul?" Makuyo could only watch in confusion without words to speak. Never before had his lover glared at him in hatred. Even after all the things he'd done in his life.

" Sir?" the voice was full of confusion. The green-haired man walked to the doorway with a dingy gray rag wrapped around his forearm. It was easy to define the long red stain that ran from his elbow to his wrist on the cloth, but that was not the concern of the moment.

By staring at the man Sage seemed to be reminded of the dagger in his left hand. He gazed at it for a moment as his hand shook uncontrollably. He could barely hold it. That's when he slowly lifted the blade into the air. The dreamer watched the seen with a look of knowing. Please don't do it, he begged to the blonde, but to not avail.

" Sage?" Makuyo questioned.

" Goodbye my love," he whispered. " Though you may still hold my heart in you blood-soaked hands, my soul belongs with him." With that he thrust the dagger into his chest right where his heart would be. A gasp emitted from his throat, but he should no other signs of discomfort. Then he pulled the blade out of his body and allowed it to clang onto the floor.

Makuyo just watched with blank eyes and an expression of shock as the blonde collapsed upon the body next to him. His eyes were open and yet they were no longer blue/violet but a clouded white/blue hue. Naotoki seemed completely shocked by the entire scene that played out before him and slowly backed away from the door before leaving the room.

" This was for the best," Shikaisen stated with a forged air of sadness. " They both were traitors."

" H-hai," Makuyo still couldn't seem to tear his gaze away from the lifeless corpses on the floor. One his rival in love, the other the love of his life. " I'm returning to the castle. Bring both bodies when you come." With his blank stare still intact, he disappeared.

As soon as his brother had left Shikaisen's feature transformed into a vicious smile. He kneeled next to the bodies and pulled the sword from the blue-haired man's chest. " All is now well," he murmured with a smile.

That was when the room was filled with a blinding light. It was a mixture of green and blue as one that scorched the demon within the room with their purity. When the light faded Shikaisen was not as he was. To the dream watcher he had finally transformed into the hideous monster he remembered.

" Hello, Tenku, Korin," he greeted with a smug grin. The two armors merely stared at him, but the dreamer could feel their hatred and contempt for the other.

" You have taken them both before their time," the blue yoroi's metallic voice could not hide his sorrow as he gazed down at the two bodies before him and his mate.

" Now you and the other three must wait until new bearers can be found," he replied. " You know you are the ones that must be united together as do the seasons."

" Then why not kill young Naotoki?" Korin questioned.

" He's been dealt with accordingly," he smirked. " Arago shall take care of him as was our agreement."

" You shall not win," Tenku swore. " Kaosu is proving so as we speak. The war shall not go on without them." Then Korin slowly kneeled to the floor and lifted Sage's limp body its position above the other.

" They shall in deed be ready to battle you both," Korin held the bloody blonde close to his chest plate as Tenku picked up Rowen and did the same. " We do not need new bearers, they shall do just fine."

" Nani?" he questioned.

" You shall see Shikaisen, you shall see," Tenku whispered as they disappeared in another flash of light.

Suddenly, the room darkened and everything disappeared. The dreamer stood in a black abyss and stared out at nothing. But then he heard a familiar voice that sounded much like his own.

" Call on me. When the time is right, call on me."

What are you talking about? Who are you?

" You know who I am," the voice answered. " I know why you mourn, the battle is near. Call on me when the time is right. I shall free your mind."

You're not making sense! The dreamer declared.

" Call on me…" the voice began to fade away into the nothingness. " To save them both we must join again. When the time is right, call on me." The voice gone the other could do nothing more but forcefully wrench himself out of the dream world…

A/N: Hope that wasn't as bore and helps out some. As we did say in the last chapter, trying to figure out what they do until the duel.

JC: Well, now we must leave to continue our work. Many more chapters to stories to write and other things to post.

Kathrine: Ja ne, real soon. PROMISE!!