By: Marie Kenobi

It was quick, sudden, unexpected.

An innocent night out on the town, the need for a breath of fresh air, a mysterious appearance by two men, then descending darkness.

Ryo Sanada was never given the time to think, only surrender. Even still, it was cut short and when he awoke again, he was in a small room. No words could describe the throbbing pain in his head. With slow, jerky movements that were the result of his agonizing bones and muscles, he tried to sit up, but annoyingly discovered his hands bound at the wrist. Upon feeling a presence, he looked up into the face of a middle-aged woman.

"It is fortunate for us that you are awake, Ryo Sanada. However, for you it is not. Ninki, bring me the whip."

Sage Date stepped out of the restaurant and into the inky blackness that was night. "Ryo? Are you out here?" When no response came and the blond never found the raven-haired boy - despite the sense of danger he felt - he ran back into the restaurant. Seconds later, Sage appeared outside again, running alongside his best friend Rowen Hashiba. Behind them were Cye Mouri and Kento Rei Faun.

Ryo grit his teeth and held the chain tighter in his hand. He was being held vertical to a wall whose paint was beginning to peel. And the pain – only his encounters with Talpa seemed to surpass it. For what had seemed like hours, his kidnappers had beat him, furling and unfurling the whip across his bare chest and stomach. The welts on his upper body had begun to bleed and the cut on his temple dripped blood into his mouth. With eyes half-lidded and waning strength, he shakily raised his head to stare eye to eye with one of his captors.

"Are you sorry yet?"

"You…. I still don't understand –"

"Hush boy, you have not been given permission to speak."

Suumiwa Hazuki was a middle-aged woman with graying hair. During her younger days, before the devastating war with the Sanada Clan, she had been a very revered, jubilant person, now her face was marred with stress and worry. But when presented with the chance for revenge, she was not willing to give it up.

Behind her stood Ninki Hazuki, a 14-year-old girl with long, jet-black hair and deep brown eyes. Her childhood had been cut short by the death of her parents and two older brothers, whom she had been very fond of. Ryo had yet to see her smile.

And in the far corner of the room were Toshi and Yoshio, two boys with the eyes of men, but the hearts and minds of teenage boys who had been forced to grow up too soon and in fact, that's what they were: Teenage boys. These unlikely four were Ryo's captors and the remaining survivors of the Ninja Clan Hazuki.

Yoshio, with his one sightless eye and his one brown one, walked slowly towards Ryo, scowling and glaring hatefully. The crack of the whip in his hand made Ryo bite his lip in an attempt not to scream. Instead, it came out in a meager whimper as he inspected the new blood trickling through a slash in his jeans.

"When Toshiue no Suumiwa speaks, you do not."

"But I don't understand!" Ryo explained, exasperated and weary.

"A year ago, the honorable Hazuki Clan became engaged in a war with the detestable Sanada Clan in an attempt to conquer them. The leader and eldest of your clan had recently died, and we took this opportunity to heart. The war lasted almost a year. In this time, the scum that is your blood slowly defeated our clan. Suumiwa's husband, mother, son, and his three children were killed. Ninki's entire family was wiped out, as well as Toshi's and mine. Now it is just us; there are but four more Hazukis." Yoshio paused, stepped forward and put his face close enough to Ryo's for him to feel the ragged breath of their prisoner.

"Being the heir to the Sanada Clan, we have decided it is you we will kill for solace, even if it will be but a small victory. You are responsible for the deaths of our loved ones!"

"I didn't do anything!" Ryo exclaimed. "How could the Ninja Clans still be in existence? I thought they were all wiped out! And I'm not the heir, my father left the clan before I was even born!"

Yoshio stepped away. He cocked his arm forward, sharply, and let the whip stop only a few centimeters from Ryo's face. "May this be a lesson for you," he sneered before leaving.

Ninki came up next and narrowed her eyes. "Don't worry, if you didn't find today's lesson exhilarating enough, because I sure didn't, you have the assurance that there will be many more."

"So she speaks," Ryo whispered hoarsely.

The enraged girl prepared to strike him, but Suumiwa stopped her. "Save it for later," she hissed.

When the two had left, leaving only Ryo and Toshi, the latter came forward with a key. Before unlocking the chains that held Ryo vertical to the wall, he pulled a few slices of moldy bread from his pocket and threw them to the ground.

"Enjoy," Toshi told him dryly, releasing the boy before him from his restraints and leaving. Ryo collapsed to the ground. With no strength what so ever, he remained where he had fallen.

In a nearby room, the four Hazukis discussed the small marble-like object they had found with Ryo.

"As a child I heard of a legend," Suumiwa began, "of five, inseparable boys who possess the power to summon mystical armor in order to protect the human world. There had always been a rumor that one of them was a Sanada. This boy, I am sure, is one of them."

Toshi glanced up. "He was with four other boys."

"And when we spied on him the day of his capture, Toshi and I saw one of them in a strange, tight body armor."

Ninki looked at Yoshio, then Suumiwa. "Surely we aren't going to let him go now that we have him!"

"Of course not!" Yoshio exclaimed. "But this – marble – must be returned to his friends."

"With a note enclosed telling them that he no longer wishes to be of their rank," Suumiwa concluded. "The legend says the five boys' bond is unbreakable and nothing else will convince them."

Many miles away, Rowen and Sage emerged from the police station after having filed a 'missing person' report. Sage's father, an officer at the station, waved sadly at their backs from the building's steps; he had a vague idea on how the absence of Ryo affected them. Upon arriving home Rowen and Sage discovered Cye and Kento bent captivated over a small letter.

"Sage, Ro, look at this," Cye breathed.

The two boys walked over to their friends, immediately spotting the red kanji ball held between them, before the auburn-haired boy began to read.

Rowen's jaw dropped when Cye finished reading the letter. "But-but," he stuttered.

"It's a fraud," Sage said suddenly, then with more anger. "Someone has set us up! Ryo has been captured, I'm sure of it! This letter sounds like it was written by a politic running for office, not Ryo! 'Relinquishing?' 'Profoundly?' 'Warrior for justice?!' He never used those words!"

"And he never used 'Ronin' in there at all," Rowen murmured.

Kento was catching on. "Since when did he call the armor 'yoroi'?"

Cye's eyes lit up. "Sage is right. Someone did kidnap Ryo! But how do we begin to know where to look?"

Four pairs of eyes – sea green, violet, and two sets of blue – focused intently on the kanji ball blinking at them.

The rumbling of Ryo's food deprived stomach woke him from the troubled sleep he had fallen into. He considered the distraction from his nightmares pleasing until discovering his food, as small as it was, had been taken by rats. With a muttered curse, he sat up and rubbed the bruises on his wrists from the shackles. "I'm never going back to that part of town or that restaurant again," he joked dryly.

At that moment his cell door opened and Yoshio stepped forward with the whip, a sinister grin on his face. "I hope you're looking forward to today's lesson as much as I am."

Down the hall, Ninki, Suumiwa, and Toshi all smiled at the blood-curdling, tormented scream that erupted from their prisoner's cell. Nearly two hours later, the remaining Hazukis joined Yoshio in Ryo's dungeon of hell.

"Are you finding your stay enjoyable? I hope so because you won't be for long," Suumiwa told him.

"My friends will discover something's wrong and will come looking for me. It's only a matter of time." The effort it took Ryo to say that little amount taxed him and before he knew it, he was coughing up little drops of blood.

"You're right you know."

Ryo glanced up into the sneering face of Toshi. "Your execution is in two days."

And just like a scene from a horror movie, the door closed, leaving the Ronin Warrior of Virtue alone with his worst nightmare.

Sage shifted his position behind the steering wheel and gently massaged the hand that was on the wheel.

"Hey Man, are you OK?" Rowen asked.

"Yeah," he replied, looking back briefly to the back seat where his blue-haired friend sat. "My right hand is bothering me that's all."

"What did you do to it?"

"That's just it, I don't know. It started about-"

"You know, that's weird," Kento interrupted. "My knee started hurting a few days ago."

Cye looked up. "My hand's been bothering me lately too…."

"What about you Rowen?" Sage asked.

"My knee hurts too." Rowen paused a moment before glancing at Sage via the rear-view mirror. "What were you going to say before Kento so rudely interrupted?" The mentioned boy growled softly but was ignored.

"Just that the pain started about 3 or 4 days ago."

"Me too," Cye said.

"Ditto," was Kento's only response, his ego still smarting from Rowen's remark.

"Me four," Rowen mumbled. "Guys, do you realize Ryo turned up missing only a little before the pain started?"

Sage frowned. "Are you saying this is his pain we're feeling?"

Rowen nodded. "It's happened before – during our battle with Saranbo, 'member? And as much as I hate to admit it, I think the armor is channeling his pain to us again."

Although the other Ronins' faces were unreadable, they could sense what each other were thinking and feeling. Time seemed to pass excruciatingly slow after this realization, but after a while, there came a muffled chanting from the back seat. "Tree. Tree. Tree. Tree. House. Tree. Tree. Tr-Hamburger!"

"That's not hamburger, Kento, that's a cow. There's a difference-Cows are alive; hamburgers aren't." Rowen furrowed his brow and leaned back in his seat to ponder what he had just said.

"Well, they look the same to me…." Kento murmured. "Hey you guys! Beef! It's what's for dinner!" Kento laughed and faked a smile in an attempt to cheer everyone up, but he was not given so much as a glance. Hoping to show his worry off in the form of boredom, he pressed his nose to the glass and once again began to recite what he saw. "Tree. Tree. Car. Tree. Tree…."

In the front seat, Cye twirled the Wildfire orb between his thumb and index finger. For a day and a half, he and Sage had been switching back and forth the job of driving. For a brief moment he considered closing his eyes for a quick nap….

"Ryo, bud, where'd ya go?"

Cye's eyes popped open. With a twinge of regret, he realized he had gone to sleep. Above them the sun was setting, causing the sky to turn orange – Cye looked behind him into the back seat. Kento was now staring mournfully through the windshield. "Don't worry Kento, we'll find him."

The other boy turned dead eyes to Cye. "I'm sure we'll find him. But will it be in time?"

The British boy was about to ask what his friend meant when, suddenly, the red kanji orb glowed a bright, blinding white. Sage slammed on the brakes and looked first at the orb, then at an abandoned-looking building on his left. Something told him, however, that the building was not abandoned.

Ninki, with her young, devious mind had concocted a way to help break the spirit of their prisoner, and with false pleasure, she turned half-lidded eyes to Ryo. "Ryo, I love….the thought of watching you die! Your sacrifice will be but a small one compared to that of my brothers, which both died in the war you inevitably began!"

"Ninki, that will be enough! Leave!" Suumiwa reproached the rebellious teen before her.

Angered because she had barely gotten a fourth of the way through with her plan, she stood up in a beautiful but deadly way. With a final, bone-chilling glare to Ryo, Ninki replaced to her belt the dagger that had suddenly appeared at Ryo's throat, and stalked off. But as she passed, she let her fingernail slide across his already bruised cheek.

Not long before, the black-headed girl had pulled him from unconsciousness. She had caressed his face in her hands and talked sweetly to him. However, in the end, he realized slowly, it turned out to be nothing more than a joke, destroying any remaining hope he had to befriend one of his captors and thus provide himself with a chance of escape. Even as Ninki mindlessly cut his pale face, Ryo refused to flinch. But when the cell door closed, leaving him alone once more, he slid out of his chair and to the floor where he wept bitterly for the lives lost, beginning to think it was indeed his fault. To him, nothing mattered, because in an hour's time, he would be dead.

Rowen and the others climbed out of the car and slowly headed towards the building. No light could be seen through the windows, but the sound of voices was evident. With firm holds on their armor orbs, the four boys burst through the door and were surprised to find such an odd-looking group before them. Two boys only a few years older than themselves, a young girl, and an older woman stared, their mouths hanging open.

"We know you have Ryo-" Kento was interrupted when one of the boys leapt out of his chair and ran through a doorway. "Come back coward!" Kento screamed at the retreating figure. Cye held him back when the other tried to pursue and turned to the three remaining kidnappers who had finally stood.

"We're here to get our friend back. Bring him to us and we won't be forced to hurt you."

Despite what she knew about the four boys and their "legendary armor," Suumiwa stepped forward to challenge them.

"Tell us why you have him first." Sage's reasoning voice broke suddenly from the crowd before Suumiwa could reply.

With a frown, she did explain, but the scowl soon turned to a smile. "It doesn't matter now anyway for I am afraid it is too late. Toshi has taken care of –"

"Suumi! Suumiwa!" The teen that had disappeared so quickly at first, came running back towards them. "It's Hideyo," he panted. "He's back and attacking!"

Ryo looked to the door and ceased his crying when it opened. He was shocked to see someone new.

"Hello Ryo Sanada."

"How is it everyone knows my name, but I don't know theirs?"

The other young man grinned evilly. "So you still have that dry sense of humor, eh? Don't worry, I'll fix that real soon. I am Hideyo Hazuki, the former future heir to the Hazuki Ninja Clan. Now you have ruined that. Therefore, you must die."

Hideyo Hazuki was tall for being 17 years old and unlike other Japanese boys, his hair was long and white. He had been 15 when the war started, meaning he was old enough to fight. But his father, then the leader of the Hazuki Ninja Clan, had forbid his only son to involve himself in the war, fearing that if both he and his son were killed, the Hazukis would be no more. To a certain degree he had been right, but he had also been wrong: The Hazuki Clan was no more, yet Hideyo still lived.

Ryo rolled his eyes and tried to remain optimistic – He had a feeling of safety beginning to surround him like help was nearby. "How many times are you guys going to say that? You all sound like a bunch of hypocrites to me."

Hideyo laughed. "Oh really? We'll just see about that." With a toss of his head, his straight hair fell behind his shoulders and with a flick of his wrist, he produced a razor-sharp sword from the sheath tied around his waist. "Shall we dance?"

The look of desperation and longing for his friends was evident on Ryo's face. Yet he met Hideyo's challenge with a renewed sense of strength. Dodging, ducking, spinning, and kicking were the only things keeping him alive and away from the sharp blade as eventually, their battle moved out of the cell, through a back passage and outside under an orchard of half-alive cherry trees.

"Where?" Cye exclaimed.

"Under the cherry trees," Toshi told them without thinking.

Sage turned and ran out the door, trying to remember what the orchard had looked like and where it had been. Only a few strides behind him was Cye. Ryo's armor orb was held tightly in his hand, ready to be reunited with its owner quickly. Next to him were Kento and Rowen – the former angry and the latter becoming pale with an impending sense of doom. Further behind was the Hazukis.

It wasn't long before they spotted their friend, using his skills in agility for all they were worth. "It wasn't my fault! I didn't do it!" they heard him yell. Then, almost like he had been called, Ryo turned, saw his friends and smiled . . .making the worst mistake of his young, meaningful life. Without hesitation, Hideyo plunged the sword into Ryo's back, the blade running completely through him to show from the front.

Ryo' eyes and mouth opened wide as he looked down and grabbed the sword. Its sharp blade easily cut his hands and he raised them in astonishment, turning them over and over again to look at the blood and quickly becoming hypnotized by it.

Hideyo's madman laughter filled the air. After pulling his sword from Ryo's body, the younger boy collapsed to his knees and then his side. Suddenly, the horrified scream of Hideyo replaced his evil cackling, cutting his victory short and snapping everyone out of their trances. Apparently, he had not known of a large watering trench behind him and upon falling in, his sword had found its mark, bringing about his untimely death.

The Ronins, however, had eyes only for Ryo. They approached at a dead run, hoping for the best, but seeing the last thing they had ever wanted to: A teammate bleeding to death. Sage, unusually panicking, yanked his kanji orb from his pocket and prepared to armor up and heal his friend. His shaking hands dropped it twice before he could stand.

"No….!" The voice was soft and weak, nothing like it used to be, and it brought Cye to tears.

"No, Sage, please…." Ryo struggled to sit up and found he was paralyzed. "He's hit my spine….There's no hope…."

Through the armors' bond, the other Ronins could feel weakened amounts of the pain their leader was experiencing. Kento, usually the tough one, was breaking up. His face wrinkled as he tried to prevent the tears from coming. It didn't work, for when he grasped Ryo's hand in his own, a single tear fell on top of it. "You'll get through this Bro. Nothing Talpa ever did could stop you. This won't either! I'm sure that once we get you to the hospital, the doctors can fix your spine right up again….Good as new…."

Kento looked up at Rowen, their very own Einstein, and waited for a confirmation from the blue-headed boy. But Rowen was struggling to contain his own grief.

When the connection with their injured teammate began to wane, they turned their attention back to his dull eyes and pale face. With great effort he opened his mouth to speak. "I want to tell you-" He coughed up blood. Sage blanched; there seemed to be nothing but blood on Ryo. "You guys….are the most….important….thing….in the world…..to…." Ryo took one last, shuddering breath and slowly closed his eyes, giving into the sleep he had longed for so often during their battles with Talpa.

Cye turned away as his friend's face, formerly contorted with pain, finally relaxed and his head lolled to the side. Behind them, lying near Hideyo's unsightly form, he discovered the other four Hazukis had all taken their honorless lives.

The following day, Ryo Sanada, Warrior of Virtue, leader of the Ronin Warriors, and bearer of the Wildfire and Inferno armors, was laid to rest at the base of Mt. Fuji. He was 16 years old.

Hope you enjoyed my little story and if you did, please tell me! I want to thank all of those who reviewed this story; it really means a lot to me. I've thought of becoming a writer when I'm older so any comments from other authors helps! And don't forget, I still want to hear from you if I made you cry! The sequel for this is coming along fairly well; the first chapter is almost ready to be typed. I really think you're going to like what I have in store – It's something no one's ever done before (Or at least I hope not! ^_^ LOL). My friend Hana Teric (a.k.a. my fanfic reviewer) read the first two pages and said it was sad. :-) That's exactly what I was hoping for. LOL Thanks and tootles!

May the Force be with you! --Marie Kenobi