Leokoni could see what was happening. His keen eyes could well see past the dirt, cables, pipes, buried bones, and more. They flared the moment Halo was seen. How the hell did he get well all of the sudden? His power had been far too grand for any mortal to suddenly heal themselves. No, something else was going on here. And now that Halo was there, both Rowen and Ryo were as soon as free from his grasp. Oh no. That was not going to happen.

He raised his arms and closed his eyes and began to chant. “Omi dosu cantori desu!” Above ground, the skies began to turn pitch dark with gargantuan black clouds forming. Faster and faster they grew, rising more and more. Lightning flashed all around a few times and then a terrible wind began to blow.

The Ronins were suddenly shocked to see the instant change in weather. Just moments ago it had been a clear night, but now the forces of nature had turned deadly it seemed. Kayura frowned at the weather and in her heart knew immediately something wasn’t right.

“Kayura!” Mia shouted to her, daring to let her presence be known. “What’s going on here?!”

Kayura looked startled to see Mia. At first the priestess wanted to ask what she was doing there and how could she have let Sage come after them in his condition. But she decided against it though. There was no time for arguments.

“This windstorm!” Kayura answered as the wind picked up most ferociously. “It is unlike any I’ve ever seen. There’s a undesirable darkness in the midst of this!”

“Well, that‘s terrific!” Firestorm snorted sarcastically. She flinched when a loud crack of thunder sounded overhead.

It was more than terrific. As Leokoni continued to pour his power into the storm, the two cursed Ronins began to glow. They did not glow their respective colors, but rather they glowed a dark gold color.

Rowen threw his head back and howled in terrible pain while Ryo arched his back, roaring in agony. This caught the others attention immediately. Horror came upon their faces as the sudden realization came upon them. This storm was to bring more evil into the heart of their friends.

“Ryo!” Sage cried out in alarm as he dared to step closer. “Fight it!”

Ryo did not answer him, but only continued to arch his back, his roar piercing the night time sky. Cye covered his ears as he winced. This was not right. They were not suppose to be fighting their friends. He could see what Sage was doing, but he had a bad feeling. And that feeling was growing stronger.

Kento frowned deeply as he watched as Rowen continued to howl in pain. Sympathy and concern were laced in his features as he dared to take a step closer toward his friend. He kept his eyes on the poor disfigured creature as Rowen thrashed about on the ground. Never before had he seen his friends go through such pain, not since Ryo had suffered at the hands of Sarenbou. He wanted it to end, wanted his friends to be back to normal. Why did this happen? For what reason? Had they not suffered enough? It just wasn’t fair.

He bit his lip, hoping that maybe if he let Rowen peer into his eyes some recognition could be seen within them. He continued to keep his eyes on Rowen, watching for any sudden changes of movement or behavior. So far, the cursed Ronin was still howling in pain. It hurt Kento’s ears, but he didn’t care.. Maybe the Ronin power could take away his pain and fear.

Sage was still trying to reach through Ryo, but his audible voice did not seem to reach through to his friend. He decided to try the link again. It had worked once before, perhaps it would work again. ‘Ryo, please… fight it! Leokoni is doing everything in his power to corrupt you! Don’t let him do that!’

Ryo did not answer. He could feel the evil crushing his being and it frightened him. What was happening to him? He was once a Ronin of Wildfire, but was now a terrifying wild cat creature. Pain laced through him like nothing he ever felt before. His entire body convulsed violently as if his very soul were being ripped from him. He wanted to roar in agony, but suddenly he was without a voice. He tried to open his mouth, but the pain laced through him like poisoned fire. He mentally screamed, but when he did, the pain became unbearable.

Cye wanted to scream as well. He could not stand the thought of his friends suffering so terribly that there was nothing any of them could do. How could they help Ryo and Rowen, when the Ancient One was long gone? Not even Kayura seemed to know what to do. There had to be a way this could all end without shedding more pain.

But there seemed to be no way whatsoever. And why not? Why did his two friends have to suffer? Ryo had suffered so much with the Inferno armor, and Rowen…. ‘I hope things don’t get any worse than they are now,’ Cye thought to himself fearfully.

Star turned frantically to Kayura as the tears raced down her cheeks. She couldn’t understand why nothing was being done. Why wasn’t Kayura using her Ancient Powers to help the two Ronins? She turned to the older woman and practically demanded, “Kayura! Why can’t you help them?!”

“Believe me, I want to!” Kayura shouted back. She was frustrated because she felt so much at a loss. What could she do? Any other time she would have been able to figure it out, but not even the Staff of the Ancients seemed to be able to undo the curse. But why though?

“But why not?!” Star was almost on the verge of sobbing, even as the wind was still going strong. By now tree branches were breaking off and were tumbling across the area. The Ronins were contending with trying to keep from being hit by flying objects, and trying to deal with their two friends. It was not an easy task.

“I’m not sure why not!” Kayura yelled back, so she could be heard. The wind was now stronger, the roar of it; above her own voice. She did want to know why she couldn’t help the two Ronins. She had always thought, after seeing the power of the Ancient Staff, that it should’ve been able to turn things around. Why not this time? What was she missing from here? She wanted to beseech the Ancient; her ancestor, for his wisdom and advice… wait.. Wisdom…. Sage!

Kayura turned her head toward the Ronin of Halo. He was struggling with Ryo, trying to reach out to him. So far it seemed to be working because Ryo wasn’t attacking him. Then again, with the pain Ryo looked like he was in, it was doubtful he wanted to attack. But what about Rowen? Kayura briefed a quick glance toward him. It was amazing and sadder still how he could be in all that pain and still attack his friends. Firestorm and Cye were now wrestling against him as she could see. It had to have been the curse.

Thinking of the curse, she cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted at Sage. “SAGE! FIND A WAY TO BREAK THE SPELL! USE HALO!”

Sage could barely hear Kayura so he shouted back for her to repeat what she said. He listened carefully, straining his ears so he could hear better. Again her voice shouted back to him, and this time he made out what she said. Use Halo. He immediately drew his nodatchi. The glow of the sword was a sharp welcome sight to the darkness surrounding them.

He held it straight up, his eyes closed. The light glowed intensely, breaking through darkness as if fog were being driven away. His armor began to glow as well, making him stand out against the eternal darkness..

The darkness seemed to shriek in terror. It would come closer, then back off. It would break into separate particles before coming back together for another vicious attack. It was as if there was a stalemate and it was hard to determine who the victor would be. Sage: or the darkness of hell.

 Rowen shrieked from the intense light as he ducked his head down. Even the rapid wind did not bother him so much as this atrocity. He wanted to flee from it, yet wanted to attack as his master had ordered. He could sense that something was about to happen, and he didn’t know what exactly. Even if the wind was not strong enough to blow them all away, it was still frightening to his cursed mind. He howled into the air and made yapping sounds.

Star winced as she covered her ears. Such an awful sound. It was high pitched and piercing. Looking toward Rowen she could see his head tilted toward the sky while the lower half of his body cowered against the windstorm. Never before had she seen him afraid, except when he was dealing with losing a loved one or when he was dealing with the abuse from his father. Her heart was torn in anguish for him and she knew that there was one being responsible for this entire mess. And already Sage was working on it to break the spell.

Glancing toward Kayura, Star shouted as loud as she could, “Kayura, I think Leokoni is doing this!”

Kayura could barely hear her, but when Star’s voice came again, she made out her words and replied back the same way. “I believe you are right! We have to find out where he is to stop him!”

Kento was beside Kayura so he could hear her just fine. Looking at her with disbelief, he asked, “How do you suppose we do that? We’re like sitting ducks here!” He kept his eyes on both Ryo and Rowen who now seemed more interested in themselves and the wind storm. If Rowen wasn’t cursed he could have easily taken control of this storm.

“Sage is seeking a way now,” Kayura replied as she glanced from Kento toward Sage. The battle between light and darkness was still underway and neither seemed relenting. Each time Sage struck out the light, the darkness would back off, then retaliate. But Sage was not giving up. He had a fierce look of determination on his face and his kanji was flashing wildly upon his forehead. Kayura was proud of the fact that he was trying so hard and she believed he would pull it off.

Leokoni could see this as well and his eyes narrowed. He knew Sage had escaped him once, but this time he would not. He would have to come up with an alternative to stop the Ronin of Light in his tracks. But to knock down Halo, he would first have to take over Ryo’s mind again and quench Rowen’s fear of the wind. This was going to be relatively easy for him. But he would need to keep the other Ronins out of his way before he could put his full plan into action.

Turning toward Ryo, he could see the cursed Wildfire struggling against himself. He looked as if he did not know whether to fight against the storm, his friends, or just cower there within the confides of his confused mind.

He spoke to Ryo’s mind, making it seem as if Mia was struggling against her own inner thoughts. Using another’s voice as his own was quite easy for him, and he knew that if Mia‘s thoughts were heard by Ryo, he would believe anything that was said. Even though in his beast form, Ryo seemed to harbor some feelings toward the girl as she was the only one so far he hadn’t thought of attacking. This would work well in Leokoni’s favor.

Ryo frowned as his ears twitched. He could hear someone familiar and female within his mind. Glancing about he studied each person, seemingly forgetting about the wind, even though it continued to blow in fierceness. His eyes came upon Kayura, but she was busy watching Sage. He looked toward Star, but she had her ears covered as she stood near a howling Rowen who had by now stopped attacking. He looked toward Firestorm, but she was clutching Cye’s arm and seemed genuinely afraid of what was happening. Finally his eyes rested upon Mia. She was standing there between Kento and Cye, with White Blaze nearby, eyes wide with fear and horror. She looked frozen and even seemed trouble. Then he realized what he was hearing was her voice.

Ryo struggled within his mind. Why did Mia look so interested in what was happening before their very eyes, but sounded troubled in her mind? Even if he was no longer his usual self, something didn’t make sense to him.

Leokoni could sense this and he refused to allow it to stop him. He narrowed his eyes and made it seem as if Mia was occasionally glancing worriedly toward one particular Ronin Warrior. Again, he caused Ryo to hear Mia’s voice within his head.

Ryo frowned as he could see a shift in her look of direction. What was she talking about? His human mind struggled to comprehend this dilemma as his animal side struggled against the wind. It was still going full force at the same rate as before. Would it ever die down? He roared a little as he shook his head somewhat violently. His claws retracted again and again as confusion and despair swirled around in his head. Again he could hear Mia’s voice.

That was all it took. In one great explosion of anger, the cursed form of Wildfire had forgotten what was happening around him. In a ferocious roar, he leapt from his position and immediately came down upon Cye, causing the Ronin to fall backward several feet with a cry coming from the back of his throat. Kento turned immediately and his eyes widened with horror as Firestorm stared in shock. She could not believe this was happening as Cye fought to get the beast off him. “RYO!” Cye cried in desperation, hoping his voice would bring Ryo back to his senses. But it did not work. Ryo was snarling angrily and his fangs were glistening above Cye’s throat. He would make the boy pay for touching Mia in such an unwanted way.

Kento and Firestorm immediately charged for the two, determined to stop Ryo from killing Cye. However Leokoni had other plans for those two. Calling upon the ancient language from the Vikings who worshipped the Norse gods, he summoned two leviathan anacondas. Both Ronins stopped dead in their tracks and stared in amazement and fear as the snakes blocked their way.

“Oh crap,” Kento said.

Firestorm made no reply, but remained frozen in place. Cye was in danger and they were blocked. How would they ever get past them to save Cye before Ryo killed him? Wasn’t there any hope at all?

At the same time, Star and Kayura and Mia were watching everything with horror. Rowen was still struggling against the windstorm, Sage was still fighting the darkness, Kento and Firestorm were facing anacondas, and now Cye was struggling to the death against Ryo. Could anything else go wrong?

No, this wasn’t right! Mia refused to believe they were beaten so easily just like. Tears came down her cheeks as she shook from dread and incredulity. None of this should even be happening! The Ronins should have been enjoying life like school and games and going to clubs. But no, they were reduced to fighting! Was that the only life they truly had?

Leokoni was chuckling to himself. Now that things were starting to come together, he had one order of business left. Setting his eyes upon Rowen, he spoke to his mind, using a gentle and concerned voice. ‘The wind will not harm you, my dear one. It is against our enemies. You are not an enemy of mine, but rather of me. You abide in me, and I within you. We will not let our enemies partake in our goal. They want to destroy you, my beloved. You must stand against them. You must show them you are not to be used, nor lied to. They will hurt you. You cannot trust them. You can trust me.’

Rowen stopped howling and lowered his head as his lower form straightened to a standing position. He looked this way and that way for the voice, but could see no one. Yet, he could feel a powerful voice communicating to him. He listened carefully, cocking his head as the words continued to reach his mind. Was he truly loved? In his life that was all he ever wanted. To be loved by someone and accepted for who he was. But what about this cursed form he was in? He could still feel his human side as it desperately wanted to fight against this madness.

The voice suddenly came again. ‘Rowen, the form you have now, is your true form. You were my faithful creature, designed by me. I have allowed you to roam freely within my castle walls, and you guarded it quite well. But sixteen years ago, you were stolen from me. A monk came and forced you away. With his dark magic he turned you from a were dog into a human, to fight in the so called war against Talpa and his dynasty.’

Rowen whimpered as he looked for the voice. Could this indeed be true? If it was, was that why he had experienced so much grief throughout his life? It seemed to make sense to him, and it was the only explanation he could come up with. Perhaps even his once so called friends had been used. Or maybe they were a part of his misery?

Leokoni grinned to himself. Things were working out better then he had expected. He knew at any time now, Rowen would settle with his words and rejoin him as a faithful dog. Now it was time to tend to other matters.

Kayura could not stand there and allow Ryo to kill Cye. He knew if that happened, Ryo would regret it for the rest of his life once he was normal. Leaping to her feet, she rushed toward the two. She could still hear Cye fighting against Ryo, yelling for him to stop. But his words fell upon deaf ears.

‘If I do not hurry, Cye may very well lose his life. Then Ryo will be torn by guilt, and we may never get him back in his true form,’ Kayura thought to herself as she struggled to run even faster. However she noticed she wasn’t running as fast as she would have liked. She seemed to be going slow, as if her body was weighed down with iron. Why was it so? What was preventing her from getting to the Ronins? But then she realized it. ‘This wind.. Leokoni’s doing. I cannot let him stop me! Armor of Cruelty! Help me!’

Gaining some strength from the armor she proceeded to go even faster, but then suddenly, it was too late. Able to see ahead of her, her eyes watched in horror as the cursed form of Ryo suddenly sank his fangs into soft flesh. A loud scream pierced through the air, catching everyone’s attention.

“CYE!” Kento screamed as he took away his attention from the anacondas. The anaconda before him took this opportunity to strike at him, and he barely dodged from it in time.

Firestorm dodged as well, but ended up tripping over her own feet. Grunting with pain, she looked up and immediately rolled out of the way, as the other anaconda snapped down at her.

Star was beyond horrified as she struggled to look away from Rowen. She turned and began to run toward the site of where Cye laid unconscious on the ground, with Ryo standing directly over him. Her heart was pounding with fear as everything seemed to be falling apart. She asked the same question of why over and over again. None of this should have been happening to any of them.

Rowen raised his head just in time to see Star running. His eyes flashed and immediately he charged after her. In his cursed form he was quite fast, and in no time, he leapt into the air and upon her back. Star screamed and tried to fight him off, but that only aggravated him more. Tears flew from her eyes as she whispered, begging him not to kill her. “Please, Rowen…”

Rowen growled at her, but he made no move to bite her. He stared down at her, struggling within himself.

Hearing the screams of his friends, Sage snapped open his eyes. He was horrified to see that Kento and Firestorm were battling anacondas, Rowen was pinning down Star, Kayura was fighting against wind, Mia was frozen stiff with fear, and Cye was lying in a pool of blood with Ryo whose muzzle was covered in blood standing over him, and White Blaze staring sadly at his former master from a distance as he stood protectively next to Mia.

No, this should have never happened. He began to shake violently as the tears flew from his eyes. His throat burned and his heart beat fast and hard against his chest. His kanji was now flashing wildly against his forehead. His lips quivered and he wanted this all to be a nightmare, a horrible dream that he would wake up from any time. But it was more than a nightmare. He threw his head back and screamed in anguish. “NOOOOOOO!!!!

Leokoni stopped dead in his tracks and turned to look toward Halo. Immediately his mouth dropped and he began to curse loudly. This could not be happening! His plan would be totally ruined! He had to find a way to stop him. But as he continued to stare in anger toward the Ronin, the immense light pouring from Halo was overwhelming and it struck through the darkness like lightning strikes a tree.

A/N: Well, I hope this chapter didn’t seem too rushed. I tried to keep it from being that way as best I could. I’m actually coming close to the end of the story line. .By the way, did you know even in the Ronin Warrior version, though his symbol is called Wisdom, his kanji is actually REI, which means courtesy? And Rowen’s is actually Chi, which means wisdom. But since the Ronin Warrior version has Sage’s to be wisdom, and Rowen’s to be life, we’ll just leave it at that for now. Just remember to use the proper kanjis if you’re writing the YST version. ^^