Memories and Promises
By Royda

Chapter Thirty One

 

The Ronins never again discussed what happened that day. There were more
attacks by
the Warlords but they never did see the two boys again. Most of them forgot
what they
had talked about and only two stood vigil. Halo and the tiger kept an eye
out for them.
Two years passed and the Dynasty was slowly conquering Japan from the top,
down to
the islands. There were very little places that the Ronins could find
shelter in and they
were forced to travel most of the time. Injury ravaged all of them and they
were all glad
that the time between attacks gave them a chance to recuperate and fight
again. The one
thing that was more scarce than shelter was food.

"Umm, guys?" Kento asked. "Can we stop and go find something to eat?"

"For once, I agree with you Kento," Cye said as he stopped.

Everybody followed suit and stopped to rest. It was a good thing there were
five of them
since nobody else was around. There was never a dull moment within the
group. Kento
and Cye went off to go look for food while the rest of them waited. It was
actually a
fairly quiet day and rather peaceful.

***

"Do you think this would ever stop, Cye?" Kento asked. They walked deeper
into the
woods, looking for anything edible.

"I hope so," he answered. "I didn't think we could have survived this long
after all they've
done."

"I want to go back to being a kid again. Have you realized that five years
have passed?
We're not teenagers anymore."

"I know. Where did all that time go?"

They walked in silence as they both contemplated the question. The woods
were silent.
Not even leaves rustled and certainly no birds or animals remained. Whatever
they could
find was subject to be eaten. They were all just surprised and relieved that
there was still
a forest at all that they could stay in.

"Do you think this is edible?" Kento asked as he held up a mushroom.

"Kento..." Cye warned. "Would you put that down? Remember the last time you
ate a
mushroom?"

"But it doesn't look like that last one."

"They all look the same to you Kento." Cye shook his head and turned away to
look for
something else.

A flash of red caught Torrent's eye and walked towards it. Kento had his
back turned
away from him and didn't notice it. Cye cautiously approached it and it
didn't move
away. He got in front of it and slowly parted the leaves and found a boy of
about five
years. The little boy had red hair and blue eyes that looked up at him with
no fear. Cye
recognized the boy from that time long ago and all came flooding back.

"Hi," the boy said. He wore a dark blue subarmor just like his.

"What are you doing here?"

***

Kento dropped the mushroom after sniffing it. He turned just as Cye walked
off on his
own. The trees rustled a bit as wind passed through. He had always admired
the woods
and preferred it from the empty towns and cities they had stayed in. The
city was too
impersonal, too rigid. Nature was more his thing.

"Hey Cye, what about this...?" He turned and stopped when he found nobody
there.
"Cye?"

His best friend was usually behind him when he wandered off somewhere. It
was really
disturbing that he didn't notice him not there. The forest was suddenly too
quiet and a tad
bit lonely.

"Uh, Cye?" he called out again. "If this is a joke, it's not very funny.
Come on, man! I
don't like this!"

"Why?" a voice said behind him. Kento stopped and slowly turned around. A
boy with
reddish-brown hair and blue-green eyes looked up at him.

"What the...?" He stepped back and looked at the kid more closely. Didn't
he look a lot
like the Warlord of Cruelty? "Aren't you...?"

"...Here to kill you?" The boy was wearing a dark blue subarmor and look
about five
years old. He would have laughed at what he said if he didn't see the look
in those eyes.

"You're kidding me, right?" Kento stepped back again as the boy stepped
forward.

"No," was all the boy said as he lunged for him.