"So this girl came and the boy fell and left and that's it?" asked Zell over the phone.

     "Yeah, it was weird. One minute she was there and the next, not," said Rowen as he avoided Kento, who was being chased by Sage because he stole Sage's brush.

     "Give it back, Kento!"

     "No way."

     "Way."

     "No!"

    "Way!"

    "No!"

    "SHUT UP, WILL YOU?" yelled Sai from upstairs. He was trying to catch up on some homework before the finals in two weeks. Kento, distracted, yelped as Sage bopped him on the head and stole back his brush. Rowen just rolled his eyes.

     "Is it always so exciting there when I'm not around?" Rowen could tell she was smiling.

     "We're in our natural element, for there are no women to keep anybody in check."

     "I can tell."

     "But actually, that strange girl showing up proved a theory of mine."

     "A theory?"

     "Yeah. But its not exactly concrete, so I'm going to keep it to myself." He paused as a crash sounded on the other end.

     "Hello?" he asked after Zell cursed. He heard the phone bang against the table and ruffling from the speaker.

     "Sorry."

     "What was that?"

     "Just a bird I got."

     "When did you get a bird?"

     "Last night. It crashed into my room and hasn't left since."

     "I don't think that's natural. What kind of bird is it?"

     "A falcon. I know they're not native here."

     "True. Describe it," asked Rowen, already knowing the answer.

     "Small, looks female. Blue with silver tipped wings."

     "Thought so."

     "Huh?"

     "Remember the night with the light? Well, that is the exact description of the falcon that helped Ryo."

     "Really? Well, in any case, she's a handful. I've named her Silverwings. Kinda plain I know, but that's the only name that I get a reaction to."

     "Okay. Well, good luck. I've gotta go."

     "Okay. See ya, Rowen." For some reason neither one of them hung up the phone.

     "Um, Zell?"

     "Yeah Rowen?"

     "I just wanted to know, if, well, you were, uh, free Saturday?"

     "Free Saturday? Yeah, I am. Why do you ask?"

     "The symphony is in town for the weekend and I have tickets."

     "Oh."

     "Yeah."

     "And?"

     "Well, if you're not busy. . . wait, I've already asked that."

     "Well what?"

     "Do you, i dunno, maybe want to go?"

     "Go? With you?"

     "Okay, I thought this was a bad idea. I knew this was way too forward and that you would say..."

     "Okay. I'd love to."

     "What?"

     "Yes."

     "Really? Wow, um. . . Eight o'clock, okay?"

     "Sure. I'll meet you at your house. Makes no sense for you to drive out here and then back past your house to get to the symphony hall."

     "Right. Okay. Bye."

     "Bye." Rowen hung up the phone. He was filled with joy. He wanted to jump around like an idiot, but he was kinda embarrassed. So he started to sneak back to his room.

     "Got a date, have you?" said a voice from the kitchen. Rowen yelped and turned around. Sai stood there, a smug look on his face.

     "How long were you, uh, listening?"

     "Since you said goodbye, the first time." Rowen cursed under his breath. Sai laughed and pushed the kitchen door open.

     "Come in and lets talk, shall we?" Rowen felt like he had no choice. He walked in to the kitchen and sat down.

     "What's up?"

     "Why did you ask her out? Do you really like her?" asked Sai conversationally as he put dinner away.

     "Well, she's smart, and she's funny, and we have fun together, and a lot."

     "Head over heels, mate? Thought so."

     "That obvious?"

     "Just waiting for you to say, that's all," he said, sitting down next to him. "Just be careful. She's one of our friends, too." Rowen smiled.

     "I know exactly what you mean." As he stood and walked to the door, Sai added cooly, "Whatcha gonna wear?"

      "Oh crap!"

                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

     As they left the theater, Rowen quietly thanked Sage for having a spare tuxedo for him to borrow. It had been small on Sage, therefore nearly fit Rowen perfectly. Sai had loaned him a dark blue tie, with some advice from Sage that it matched his eyes. Rowen smiled as he and Zell walked from the hall to the park. Zell had worn a black pant suit that was flattering in a conservative kind of way. Her hair had been pushed back out of her eyes by two black barettes.

     "A penny for your thoughts," she asked politely.

     "What? How many do you have?" joked Rowen. It was nearly eleven and the lightened path they were walking on left eerie shadows to the sides.

     "Depends. What are you thinking about?"

     "The music, really," he lied.

     "The music was great and the conductor was amazing. But I just have one question for you, mister," she said in mock anger.

     "Whatever could that be?" he said in shock.

     "Did you know in advance that they were going to highlight Mozart, Tchaikovsky, and Beethoven?"

     "Well, I knew they were your favorite composers," admitted Rowen with a large grin.

     "Thank you, then. I really enjoyed tonight," said Zell, blushing slightly.

     They walked along the trail in silence. A brisk wind blew past and Zell shivered slightly.

     "You cold?"

     "Kinda." Rowen started to unbutton his jacket, when he froze. Zell turned around to ask what the matter was when Rowen slammed her to the ground.

     "What the hell was that about?" she asked angrily. Rowen was already up and in his sub armor.  Zell stood up and then realized what had happened. The tree that they were standing in front of moments ago, was cracked in half.

     "Get out of here," said Rowen. He was on full alert. In a blink of an eye, Rowen and Zell were surrounded by nearly twenty creatures. Rowen looked around. The light of a near by lamp provided him with a clear view of his opponents. They looked like ninjas, dressed in a lightweight green armor. Their eyes were white and beady black. Each of them carried either a sword, a spear, or a kusari-gama. A high pitched laugh made both of them look up. Sitting in a tree was Ardour.

     "Like them? Our master has given us new toys to play with. Do they look familiar to you, Rowen? They should. This are the updated versions of the dynasty soldiers," she looked at them affectionately. "They're faster, smarter, thinner, stronger, the best of the best, so to speak." She looked puzzled as she stared at Rowen and Zell. "Where are the rest of you?"

     "Not here, obviously," said Rowen, not taking his eye off Ardour or the soldier-ninjas. Ardour's eyes opened wide in realization.

     "Oh my gosh. You guys were on a date! That's why the others aren't here!" Zell coughed and could only shake her head.

     "I never thought she was this dumb," she whispered to Rowen. Rowen didn't even acknowledge that he heard. Ardour tilted her head to one side.

     "Ninjutsu, attack." The soldiers moved in on Rowen. He punched one in the head, leaving an opening.

     "Zell, get out of here and call the others. The odds aren't exactly in my favor!" Zell didn't respond, she just nodded, running through the gap and back toward the hall. As she ran, she pulled her cell phone out of her purse. Her eyes flickering between the phone and the path, she dialed the number.

     "Hello?" said Kento's voice full of food.

     "Kento! You and the guys need to get to the park by the symphony hall!"

     "Why? You're on your date with Rowen," he said, apparent that he had swallowed his food.

     "This is no joke! Rowen is outnumbered twenty to one with these Ninjutsu people and Ardour is here!" said Zell. She stopped running to catch her breath. It looked as though no one had followed her.

     "Where are you guys again?" She apparently had his full attention.

     "The park next to the symphony."

     "Okay. Be right. . ." Kento stopped speaking as he heard the phone crash to the ground and disconnect. He turned to the others, who had paused their movie to listen in.

     "Kento, what is going on?" asked Sage worriedly.

     "Rowen and Zell are in big trouble."

               ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

      Rowen landed on the ground. Alone, he had managed to kill one of the Ninjutsu. He cursed, for it seemed that Ardour hadn't lied.

     And she could still jump in at any moment, he thought, taking a quick glance up to the tree were she perched, enjoying the battle. I hope Zell made it okay.

     An elbow to the gut brought his attention back to where it should be.  The Ninjutsu hadn't given Rowen five seconds to change into his full armor. He dodged the spear and sword, only to be caught in a kusari-gama chain. He closed his eyes as he felt his feet rise off the ground. The wind blowing through his hair as he spun around and around gave him an idea. Opening one eye a crack, he extended his feet, using the force of the swing to kick over several Ninjutsu in his circular radiace. Again, they wised up, stepping out of his reach. The Ninjutsu that was spinning him let go of his end of the kursari-gama and Rowen flew into the arms of a waiting one. This one held his arms and Rowen, who was also extremely dizzy, couldn't break free. One of the Ninjutsu laughed loudly as he approached, tossing his sword from one hand to the other. Rowen held his breath as the one raised his sword above his head. The Ninjutsu gasped, bleeding an eerie black mist, as the strange woman removed her scythe from its back.

     "Could you tilt to the left please?" she asked. Rowen tilted the only part he could, his head, to the left. The lady then used the blunt end of her scythe to knock the head off the Ninjutsu holding him.

     "Thanks," muttered Rowen through deep breaths.

     "You could show it by armoring up," she said, looking at him through the eyes of her mask.

     "Right," said Rowen, standing up. "Armor of Strata, Tao Inochi!" Soon he stood there, his bow out and loaded.

     "This is more like it," said Ardour with a smile.

     "I didn't quite catch your name," said Rowen, back to back with the woman in blue.

     "I'm the Guardian of the Sky. And you may call me Sky," she responded, charging the nearest Ninjutsu. She blocked his spear with her scythe and spin-kicked him to the side. Rowen fired several shots at a section of the soldiers, managing to kill two or three.

     "Where are they?" he asked, knowing that even with the help of Sky, they were still outnumbered. As if answering his question, four armored men sliced their way towards the two.

     "Gee, Ro, I'd really hate to be Zell if this was your idea of a date," said Kento with a smile.

     "It took you guys long enough," said the girl. The guys looked at her.

     "Guys, this is Sky. She's on our side, I think," said Rowen.

     "Yeah, but what are these things?" inquired Ryo, looking around.

     "Ninjutsu," said Rowen.

     "So they're assassins," said Sage.

     "Look more like scrap metal to me," said Sai.

     "Well, since you boys will have this wrapped up, I'll deal with Miss Pink there." Before anyone could object, Sky jumped up to the tree branch Ardour was sitting on.

     "Can I help you? I'm trying to watch a fight here," she said, irritated.

     "Sure. Is your bark worse than your bite?"

     "I'm not a dog, you know," said Ardour blankly. Sky pointed her scythe at Ardour's throat. "Oh, if you insist."

     "I do."

     "Bring it on!" With that, the two women jumped into a separate clearing and began to fight.

     "Girls," said all five boys before starting to attack their small problem.

     It didn't take long for the Ronins to realize that this wasn't an ordinary battle. The Ninjutsu, as the others found out from Rowen, were new and improved dynasty soldiers. Sage was tackling three or four at one time, but to him it was the other way around. No matter how many times he tried, it seemed that he couldn't hit them.

     "No more games," he said jumping behind them. "Thunder Bolt Cut!" The massive attack slammed into the Ninjutsu, but only managed to knock them back a few feet. Sage didn't have long to gasp before they began to attack him again.

     A few feet away, Sai's fight wasn't looking any brighter. The fact that each of his four assailants had a kursari-gama while he was stuck with his trident, didn't make it any easier. He jumped back before one of the chains ensnared his weapon.

     "Want to play hardball? All right then, Super Wave Smasher!" His attack fired and smashed into all four. When the attack dispelled, Sai saw that he had only managed to get them wet. They attacked again. He could only jump back and avoid the sickle end of their weapons. Then, two of them attacked at once. Sai managed to dodge the first one only to get caught in the second. He clutched onto his weapon as the chains pulled his body tighter and tighter. In a flash, the chain was broken. Sage helped Sai pull off the remaining chains.

     "Your attack do anything?" asked Sage, keeping his eye on the four in front of him. Sai, who was back to back with him, responded,

     "Not a bloody thing. All I did was manage to cool them off. . ."

     "Of course!" said Sage, finding it hard that this idea didn't strike him before.

     "What? Oh. . . . I see," said Sai, understanding what Sage was getting at.

     "Ready?"

     "Let's go!" They jumped up onto two nearby trees. "Super Wave Smasher!" The water from his attack soaked all eight of their adversaries.

     "Thunder Bolt Cut!" Sage's attack slammed into them. This time, however, the attack was intensified. The water left on the Ninjutsu conducted the power of Sage's electric attack, making it stronger. All eight fell to the ground, black mist, seeping from their wounds.

     "Very smart idea, using my water attack to strengthen your electric one," said Sai with a smile.

     "Yeah. It looks like we need to double team these guys," said Sage. With that, they ran over to help the others. Rowen strung an arrow and shouted,

     "Arrow Shock Wave!" The arrow's energy wave damaged the Ninjutsu in its path. The one that was unlucky enough to get the arrow embedded in it exploded in a black mist. The damaged ones still approached. One threw its spear, and knocked Rowen's bow out of his hands. Rowen cursed as he landed on his back. Two more menacingly approached, swinging their kursari-gamas in the air.

     "Iron Rock Crusher!" Rocks and boulders along with massive energy slammed into the weakened Ninjutsu, causing their life-giving mist to leave their bodies. Kento gave Rowen a hand as he got up. "I think I deserve a little thanks, what do you say, buddy?"

     "Thanks," said Rowen, grabbing his bow. There were only four left, and they were easily beating Ryo.

     "Maybe we should led him a hand?" asked Sage as he and Sai approached them.

     "You think?" added Sai sarcastically.

     "WILL YOU GUYS STOP STANDING THERE AND GIVE ME A HAND ALREADY!" yelled Ryo as he blocked yet another attack.

     "You heard the man," said Kento with a thumbs up.

     "Let's do this!" yelled Rowen as all four of them started to glow. Their powers merged with Ryo. The Ninjutsu backed away as Ryo's armor began to change to the Inferno. He now held the Soul Swords of Fervor and as he jumped into the air, he connected the hilts together.

     "Rage of Inferno!" A huge fiery blast smashed into the remaining Ninjutsu, destroying them. Ryo dispersed the power back to the others. "About time, you know," he criticized.

     "Ryo, how many times do I have to tell you not to use your fire attacks near flammable material?" scolded Sai, using his sure kill to put out several fires that had sprouted on nearby trees. Ryo laughed it off, a sweat drop falling down his face.

     "Sorry?"

               ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

     Ardour and Sky faced off, each starting to show signs of tiring. Ardour held her whip loosely. Every few moments she would move it, as if hesitant to attack. Sky was also holding back on her sure kill. She realized that she didn't even know how to use it.

     "Okay. Now you're going to die," said Ardour with a smile.

     "Really? Then this would be the fifth time I'm going to die," said Sky, who was also smiling.

     "I really mean it this time, though!"

     "Sure you do."

     "Don't make me angry!"

     "Whatcha gonna do?"

     "I'm gonna use my attack," she said, standing tall. Sky didn't falter, but felt the sweat drip down her back.

     "Yeah right. A wimp like you is gonna use an attack? Please." Ardour decided that she had had enough.

     "We'll see who's laughing now," she said, grabbing her whip with both hands and pulling it taunt. "Fire Quake!" She thrashed her whip and slammed it into the ground. Sky stood there for a few moments as nothing happened. She started to relax when the ground began to shake. Sky watched as a small crack ran from the tip of Ardour's whip between her legs and behind her. A rumbling reached her ears. Without warning, a blast of white fiery energy blasted out of the crack. Sky was hurled into the sky and landed hard on her back a few yards away. She turned over and coughed a few times. Her scythe had landed just out of her reach.

     "Blast it," she said, slowly getting to her knees. She ached all over and felt like collapsing there and then. I can't let her win, she thought angrily.

      "Yeah! I did it! Ha! Who's laughing now?" said Ardour, walking up to Sky. She swiftly kicked Sky in the gut, causing her to curl into a ball on the ground. Ardour noticed the scythe and picked it up, placing her whip on her belt. "Nice weapon. It has lots of pretty jewels..." Ardour looked hard at the jewels. They looked familiar to her and she couldn't place where she saw them before.

      "Give that back," said Sky, on her hands and knees again, refusing to give in. Ardour put the scythe down, grabbed Sky by the neck, and jumped into a tree. She held Sky by her neck, letting her feet dangle in the air.

     "Gonna tell me who you are? I could just squeeze the life out of you, but that would be no fun. Plus," she said looking at the struggling girl, "I would be punished because you might have something Arashi wants anyway and then I would be yelled at by her and that would be bad."

     "Did anyone tell you that you're annoying? Or did you get that from your mother?" asked Sky, barely breathing. Ardour began to squeeze harder.

     "Don't talk about my mother," she said softly but sternly. Sky's vision began to go hazy. Suddenly, Ardour screamed in pain and let go of her captive. She looked at her arm, which had a golden arrow sticking out. She pulled it out and looked at the blue Ronin with rage. The green one caught Sky and placed her on the ground next to her weapon. He checked for a pulse.

     "Don't you know that suffocation isn't a pleasant way to die?" asked Sai sternly.

     "What do you want?" asked Ardour, angry that they had interrupted her fun.

     Ryo walked out, back in his Inferno armor. Ardour jumped down. She looked at him closely.

     "Aren't you supposed to be wearing red armor?"

     "Okay, where have you been?" asked Ryo with a quizzical look on his face.

    "Um, at my Master's place which is in the Makai, which you're not supposed to know," she said, determined not to tell. Ryo smiled.

     "Who is your master?"

     "I can't tell you that my master's name is Arashi. If I did, I would be severely punished. Hey!" yelled Ardour angrily. Ryo had tricked her.

     "Thank you for your information," he said sweetly.

     "Now you'll pay for getting me in trouble! Fire Quake!" She yelled. Kento, Sai, and Rowen jumped out of the way. Ryo stayed put. The energy surrounded him and he barely felt it. Ardour stared in shock.

     "Little cold. We need to turn up the heat. Rage of Inferno!" Ryo blasted his most powerful attack at Ardour. She didn't have time to dodge it. As the dust settled, Ardour still stood, but badly injured. A portal appeared, and Fox stepped through it.

     "Ardour, master is waiting . . . Ardour!" he shouted in shock as he saw her condition. He started to run to her aide, but was blocked by Sage and the others. Ryo stayed in his place, anger and hate pulsing through his body at the sight of Fox. No one noticed Sky get up. She picked up her scythe and looked at the jewels before closing her eyes. I need your help, Mary. What is my sure kill?

    The wind blew softly and she could hear the words in the breeze. She held the scythe diagonally in front of her. A small silver energy began to build between the tips of the blades. When she felt that the energy was strong enough, she shouted,

    "Star Storm!" She swung the scythe through the air, causing a silver energy wave to slam into Ardour. Ardour screamed in pain before collapsing to the ground. The Ronins looked at Sky before she ran into the woods. Sai followed her, returning to his normal clothes. Fox ran to Ardour, holding the dying body in his arms.

     "Ardour, you gotta hold on. You're going to be fine," Fox said, his plum eyes search her dulling magenta ones.

     "Please, tell my mother something for me," she said, taking deep breaths. Fox looked at her, confused. "Tell her I"m sorry for being a bad girl and that I wanted to come home. Ask her if she was ever proud of me, will you?"

     "I . . . alright," he said, brushing stray hairs out of her face. She smiled at him.

     "I have a secret that I want to tell you, Fox," she said, struggling to catch her breath. Fox leaned in so that she wouldn't have to waste energy talking. The guys left, dispersing their armor once they were far enough away. Each of them hung their heads. Fox blinked a few times after Ardour told him what she wanted to. Fox could only look into her eyes. He closed his eyes, and a single tear fell down his face. He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek.

     Ardour died with a smile on her face. He stood, picked her up, and opened another portal. When he stepped out the other side, he found himself facing eight graves. On the far left, an empty grave lay. He placed Ardour's body in it, and covered the body. The tombstone already had her name engraved. He went back to the center one, which stood the tallest.

     "Miss, Ardour would like me to tell you that she's sorry. She didn't mean for this to happen to you when she converted to our side. She just wanted to make you happy and that you would notice her instead of her brother and sisters. She also wanted me to tell you that she hoped that you might have been proud of her, even if only once." He turned to go, but stopped and looked back at the grave. "It's just a shame you didn't get to see how beautiful she became." With that, he enter the portal once more.

              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

     Sai looked around the woods. He knew that Sky couldn't have gotten far in her condition. He found her shortly after that, resting in some bushes. She looked up at him, gulped, and asked,

     "Can I help you, sir?"

     "My name's Sai, but I think you already know that," he said, searching the mask for her eyes.

     "What do you mean?" she asked, anxiety creeping on her voice.

     "I know that's you under there, Zell."

     "What?" she said in shock. He smiled. "How did you know?"

     "I can just tell things about people."

     "You won't tell them, will you?" she asked, her voice full of concern.

     "No, not even Rowen. Scouts honor," he said, holding up his hand. Zell nodded, and dispersed her armor. Sai cringed. She looked pretty beat up, not to mention exhausted.

     "How the heck am I supposed to see Rowen again now that I'm in this condition?"

     "I have an idea," he said, removing her cell phone from her purse. He dialed Rowen's number.

     "Hey Ro. This is Sai. I found Zell near the theater and I'm gonna take her home in my car. Can you take the guys home in yours? Great. See you there." He hung up and gave Zell a hand.

     "This is really gonna help me out," she said with a smile. When they reached her home half an hour later, Sai had to carry her to her room. No one was home at her house and he was thankful he didn't have to explain why their daughter was being carried into their house, asleep, by a total stranger.

     He tucked her in and left, thinking the whole time about how she was going to keep this a secret much longer.