Ronin Warriors are the property of Sunrise. No copyright 
infringement is intended, no profit is being made. This story is 
the property of the author.

________

Stargazing


The stars were bright out here, far from the city lights. They 
shone down upon the earth, their light joining that of the 
crescent moon, draping a gauze of silver light across the 
peaceful mountainside.

Cye Mouri lay on his back, hands beneath his head, gazing up 
at the stars. The dwindling embers of the campfire were just 
enough to send up a few soft tendrils of smoke and to warm 
the side of his face closest to the fire. The soft breathing - or in 
Kento's case, snoring - of his companions was out of place 
with the nighttime wilderness that surrounded them, but Cye 
was glad for it. How long had it been since he'd willingly spent 
a night without at least one of these friends nearby? It was 
getting to the point where he doubted he could sleep without 
Kento snoring away beside him. Speaking of... Cye prodded 
the boy lying curled beside him. He got no response and poked 
again, harder. Kento grumbled, but one eye opened and peered 
at him. "Wha-?"

"You're hogging the blanket," Cye whispered, "fork it over. I'm 
freezing." He tugged at the sleeping bag Kento had cocooned 
himself in. Kento yawned, but untangled himself, spreading the 
cover over both of them. "Happy?"

"Ecstatic. Go back to sleep." A soft snore was the only reply. 
He shook his head, smiling fondly at his sleeping friend. God, 
he was lucky to have him... to have them all...

If the occasion had ever presented it self when someone asked 
Cye to choose a word that best defined himself and his friends, 
he would have been hard pressed to come up with an answer. 
Loyal, was a word that immediately came to mind. The loyalty 
they each felt toward each other was sometimes the only thing 
that allowed them to survive. Their willingness to surrender 
and sacrifice everything to keep one another safe was an 
intrinsic part of their friendship. But that didn't come close to 
capturing everything.

Then there was brave. Courageous. Maybe they were the same, 
maybe not, but he knew he'd feel safer with only one of his 
teammates at his back than he would with an entire troop of 
soldiers. His four friends contained a bravery that gave them 
the ability to stand against the greatest threats Talpa could 
throw against them.

Strong. Definitely strong. How else could they all have 
survived this long? Kento and Ryo had the physical strength 
that made them so successful on the battlefield, but all of them 
had the internal strength, the strength of heart and mind, that 
allowed them to face each day, to get out of bed every 
morning. The strength to resist the strongest of the Dark 
Lord's temptations and remain true to what they felt in their 
hearts.

Faith. They had that in abundance. Faith that they were doing 
the right thing, that the battle they fought was the only one that 
could save mankind, that all the pain they lived through would 
one day be worth it if Talpa was defeated - *when* Talpa was 
defeated. They believed that they would win, and that believe 
fed them hope.

They were warriors, fighting a great evil; soldiers, fighting a 
dangerous and deadly enemy.

They were boys who had grown into men.

And even all that wasn't enough to capture the essence of all 
that they were.

They had been five strangers, each lost in their own way, each 
facing loneliness in their true hearts. They had been five pieces 
of a whole, not knowing that a great piece of themselves was 
missing.

Now, they were united. Five minds, five souls, five hearts, 
linked eternally, completing and complementing each other so 
perfectly that it was easy to believe they had been meant to 
meet each other. Cye couldn't conceive what his life would be 
like now if he had never been chosen to be a Ronin, if he had 
never met the four other boys who had somehow become parts 
of himself.

God, he didn't know what he'd do without them.

Beside him, Kento squirmed, once more pulling the covers 
away. Cye tugged back, smacking Kento's hand as he did so. 
The larger boy grumbled in his sleep and subsided as Cye 
dragged the covers back over himself with a fond smile aimed 
at the stars.

Well, maybe he'd get a little more sleep…


end