Here's a story i wrote back when Ronin Warriors was still popular 0_0. It was pretty creative (at least i thought so at the time), so i decided to post it on here and see what you all think. I might even finish it and put it in the 'done' binder finally.

I DO NOT own any of the characters or Armors you may recognize from the series, I just modified them a bit. I DO, however own Natayla, Sukaru, Acacia Hashiba, Alexandra date, the Pentic armors, and anything else of my creation.

Chapter 1 - The New Ronins (Strata and Halo, Sky and Flash)

As the digital clock that lay on an empty cardboard box struck 2:56 AM, a 16-year-old girl was working furiously on some summer homework she had assighned herself. Natayla Hashiba’s blue hair was strung back in a loose ponytail and she had a tired look in her eyes.

“Nearly done with this section…� She exclaimed happily to herself, curling up to the warmth of the chair she was sitting in. Suddenly the phone started ringing, causing Natayla to get up quickly off the chair and trip over a not-so-empty cardboard box.

“Oww…� she muttered, having her leg hurt from tripping over the box. She got up and picked up the phone.

“Hello?� She said to whomever had decided to call her. To her surprise a very familiar voice answered her.

“Hey Natayla!� Sukaru Date said happily over the phone.

“Why are you so awake this late at night. Shouldn’t you be sleeping?� Natayla managed to say through a yawn.

Sukaru was Natayla’s best friend and sister. She was a major tomboy and kept her hair in a guy’s style. In fact, the way she dressed most people though Sukaru was, in fact, a boy. She had blonde hair that had violet streaks in it, which were, surprisingly, natural. She also had grayish violet eyes that, just like her fathers, were very piercing, and sometimes even scary. She wore her hair in a style similar to her dad, with her bangs covering one eye. Her personality was the only thing that really separated her and her father according to Natayla.

“Just woke up, actually, and I knew you wouldn’t have gone to bed yet, so I decided to call you and see how the moving is coming along.�

Natayla smiled, “It’s coming along nicely. I got my Living room and Bedroom unpacked and set up now thanks to you and Uncle Sage.�

“Yeah, dad did help a lot, didn’t he? Anyway, I was wondering though if you wanted to go to this new park that just opened up. I got free tickets as a promo, and dad suggested you go along.�

Natayla thought on it for a moment, then said “Okay, but I’m planning on setting up the Kitchen tomorrow, because I do need to have food here, or else I’ll starve. So we could probably meet up around four?�

“Maybe Dad could help you set up before we go?�

Natayla paused and thought for a moment again “He can help unpack all the supplies, but I want the fridge and stuff running before then so it gets a chance to cool, How about I set up before we leave, and he helps us after?�

“Sounds good, but doesn’t the basic set up only take like an hour?�

“Yeah, but I’m planning on waking up at around 1:00, and after that I need to get ready.�

“Should’ve known, you’ll never get normal sleeping habits.�

Natayla laughed “I’ll get normal sleeping habits when you do. Oh, and don’t forget to tell Uncle Sage thank you for telling me about this place.�

“No prob, and don’t think too much on it. After all, It does rightfully belong to you, and has since...well, a long time ago.�

“That is true. One last thing before I go though, I know it’s been bothering him, so please tell Uncle Sage, and yourself, that I won’t forget about you guys now that I’ve moved here.�

“Good to know,� Sukaru said, laughing, “And I will pass the message along to Dad.�

Natayla smiled “Thanks. Well, I’ll se you at four.�

“See ya,� Sukaru said, and with that hung up the phone.

Setting down the phone, Natayla took that moment to take a good look at her now house. The thought of being on her own was still very new to her, but she was doing her best to cope. Her house had the barren just-moved-in look and tarps were scattered all over the floor. The only two useable rooms at the moment were the living room and her bedroom.

Several months earlier, Her Uncle Sage had told her that as she was 16, she was no longer obligated to stay with them, and could legally move into her own place if she wanted. She was also old enough to obtain the sizeable inheritance her father had left her. He told her that it was her decision, and if she decided to get her own place he would help the best he could with finances, and should Natayla ever need advice or help, he was just a phone call away. It’s not that Natayla didn’t love Her Uncle Sage, Sukaru, and her late Aunt Alexandra to death, but she needed some independence. And also, what sane 16 year old would refuse to have their own place? This is how she came to be living on her own in her father’s old house.

As for her biological parents...Acacia Hashiba had died the day after childbirth. Not due to any complications during the pregnancy, but an allergic reaction to one of the painkillers that she had been given. To this day no one is exactly sure why she reacted almost instantly to a mild dose of Tylenol, but she did. By the time the doctors figured it out it was too late.

Rowen Hashiba, Natayla’s father, used to be a world-renowned CIA agent. The American government, due to his IQ and obvious potential, had hired him. He had been killed during a flight heading, with Natayla, back to Japan. There had been a shooting on board, and he had been one of the main targets. Natayla could still remember him, right before he passed away, telling her he loved her, and then handing her a blue marble. He had told her that it was his most prized possession besides her, and to never loose it.

Shortly after, other agents on board had taken down the shooters, and they made an emergency landing into a remote town just outside of Tokyo. In all the panic to get off the plane, nobody noticed a very lost three-year-old with bit of spatter on her dress and clutching a blue marble with her life.

Natayla had wandered for two days straight, trying to find some way to get back home, and not really understanding why her dad wasn’t there. She had received food and water from pitying strangers, which had sustained her during her journey.

On the third day of wandering the streets, Natayla, who was indeed very lucky nobody had kidnapped or hurt her, came across another little girl who was about her age. The blonde-haired girl she had encountered was carrying a bundle of yen, which Natayla knew she needed to get food. She attempted to take the money from the blonde haired girl, who nobody expected to be good at defending herself. Fortunately for both of them, the girl was good at defending herself.

She was also very forgiving. When She asked Natayla why she had tried to take the money from her, and Natayla explained that she was hungry and wanted to eat, she decided to invite the poor girl over for dinner.

The blonde-haired girl turned out to be Sukaru Date. Sukaru’s parents, Sage and Alexandra Date, were just as kind as their daughter. When Sukaru asked if Natayla could eat at their house, as she hadn’t had a proper meal for days, they agreed readily, even though they didn’t even know her last name. Natayla didn’t remember it either, she only remembered her first name.

Sage had a strange feeling about the blue-haired girl, and asked what she was doing all alone. This prompted Natayla to explain how she didn’t have a mom and how the “bad men on the airplane� had taken her dad away.

Sage, after the meal was over, looked up the lasted news events online. The latest headline that had anything to do with a plane crash or hijacking read ~Top CIA agent killed in airplane crash ~ and when he read a bit into the article, he discovered, to his shock, that the CIA agent was none other than his old best friend Rowen Hashiba. After asking Natayla if that was her last name, and getting a positive confirmation, Sage realized that by some divine intervention, Natayla had been sent into his care.

Years before Natayla was born, after the final battle with the nether realm and after the permanently gave up their armors, the ronins had started to loose touch. The final step in the process was when Kento, who was the only one really trying to hold the group together, moved back to “discover his roots� in China.

After Acacia died, however, Rowen had made a surprise visit to see Sage, who was the only one that hadn’t moved locations, as he had to run the family Dojo. Rowen had asked Sage during that visit to take care of Natayla if anything should happen to him, and to tell her that he wanted nothing but the best for her, and would always be proud of her, no matter what. Sage agreed to Rowen's odd request, and they had spent the rest of the night catching up. That was the last time Sage had ever spoken to Rowen, but he still remembered the request, and now that he knew Natayla needed to be taken care of, as Rowen was gone, he was ready to step up to the plate.

A month later Sage adopted Natayla, after winning a fierce custody battle against her grandfather. The main reason Sage won was because Rowen had specifically listed Sage as Natayla’s next legal guardian if anything were to happen to him.

From that moment on Natayla was a part of the Date household, complete with chores, training in agility, Kendo, and other martial arts. Sage wasn’t surprised in the least when Natayla claimed she preferred the bow, as well as when Sukaru claimed she liked the sword better, not with who their respective fathers were.

When Natayla and Sukaru turned 15 (within 6 months of each other) Sage offered to teach them both how to drive. Sukaru, who absolutely hated technology and claimed it made people “Lazy�, refused to learn, but Natayla was taught by Sage how to drive, and eventually got her license when she turned 16.

After all that, here Natayla was, living in the house her dad left her, and having arrived in the navy blue Subaru her Uncle Sage had gotten her for her 16th birthday along with a brand new bow and arrow set. (Sukaru had received a full set of beautiful collectors crystals, as well as several meditation mats and training pieces, and a brand new no-dachi sword. In Sukaru’s opinion she got the better gifts – They were just as expensive and more practical by far for her.)

“I have so much to unpack,� Natayla groaned, “But I’ll do it all tomorrow,� She said as she headed up the stairs to her room and activated the alarm on Boko-Chan, a “robot� she had taken five years to build and program after she had found the base design. Boko-Chan was the only thing that could wake her up from slumber besides cold water and her panther Strata.

‘Speaking of Strata,’ Natayla thought, ‘Where is that lazy cat?’

As if answering her silent question, Strata came down the hall to her, rubbing her head against Natayla’s waist. Her father had given Strata, Natayla’s pet panther since the age of zero, to her. He had rescued her from the zoo the day Natayla was born. The zoo had thrown her to the streets because they couldn’t afford to feed another panther. Rowen rescued her and named her Strata, and then gave her as a gift to Natayla.

“Time for bed Strata,� Natayla said plopping down onto her double bed and seeing Strata curl up on the rug on the floor.

Natayla was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, falling into strange dreams about armors.

Kiogawa Park

Sukaru Date could be an extremely patient person when she wanted to be. She could wait in line for hours, as long as she believed the wait was worth it and she was able to keep her mind on something. This patience stemmed from long hours of meditation and training her father had given her.

This is the reason she had been sitting in Kiogawa Park since 2:00 PM, waiting for her best friend and practical sister. That, and she also enjoyed listening to music and simply watching the scenery with no one else around.

She was sitting on the floor near a park bench as always (One of Sukaru’s quirks), listening to her headphones and blasting RENT, a Broadway musical Natayla had discovered one day while online. They had gone to see it and were instantly hooked. It had become one of their favorite CDs in no time.

Since Sukaru had her headphones on, she didn’t notice someone sneaking up behind her while she was waiting.

“BOO!� Natayla shouted, while grabbing Sukaru’s shoulders to startle her.

Sukaru, not one to normally be frightened, calmly took off her headphones and looked at her friend, asking her, “Nat, when did you get here?�

“Just now, it's 4:00,� She said, sitting on the bench beside Sukaru.

“Well, now that your here, what do you want to do first?� asked Sukaru, standing up and putting her headphones, “There are a lot of activities offered here.�


“Tell me about it!� Natayla said exasperated, “It took me forever to find where you were waiting!�

“How did you find me?� Sukaru asked, curious.

“Easy – once I got near enough I could hear the music, and before then I asked the people working if they had seen someone that looked like a boy with blonde hair in the park. What took forever was finding this place.�

Sukaru laughed, “Kind of hard to hide in a crowd, aren’t we? Were quite easy to pick out, what with our odd hair and all�

“Yeah, still to this day I can’t figure out how I got blue hair,� Natayla said.

“Genetics? I know your mom and dad both had blue hair, but I don’t know where they got it from. I’m a quarter American on my dad’s side, and my mom was blonde too with purple tones, though I don’t know what ethnicity she was.� Sukaru shrugged it off, “That’s where the blonde comes from. The purple comes from my mom, though.�

“Yeah, but oddly enough blue hair is more common in Japan, it’s just that most of it is dyed blue.�

“True, true, but it just makes me all the more unique,� Sukaru said in routine, as if this discussion happened often.

“Anyway, I think we should visit the new concert stage and see if there is anything going on there. What do you think?� She asked, looking over at Sukaru.

“Sure, I think it’s an ok idea,� She said, “Lemme finish packing up my stuff first, though.�

As Sukaru was packing up, Natayla decided to have a look around the clearing. When she looked up at the sky she saw, strangely enough, a blue shooting star. A few seconds later it was gone.

Sukaru, having finished, came up to Natayla, who was still staring into space, and asked, “What’s wrong?�

“Just looking at the sky,� Natayla said, giving the bright sun a quick glare. “Sun’s too bright though.�

“The Sun’s always too bright for you.� Sukaru said in a matter-of-fact voice

“Says miss I-could-pass-for-a-Californian-I’m-so-tan,� Natayla laughed, “I can’t help it if I like nighttime and cloudy days better!�

“True, and I can’t help it if I love the sun,� Sukaru said, “But let’s go to the stage.�

With that they headed over to the theatre area, which is where the concert stage
was. After about ten minutes, they came upon the stage.

“Nothing good going on,� Sukaru said, clearly disappointed in the lack of entertainment, “Just a cooking show.�

“I like cooking…� Natayla said, “But I guess your right, the show would be kind of boring,� Natayla said, looking over at the crowd. Two people in the back row in particular had caught her attention. A red-haired boy and a boy with light brown hair sitting next to each other and laughing hysterically at something someone said, and getting looks because of it. The man on stage didn’t even seem to notice, or react at all, because they were so far back, though he may have been ignoring them, as he looked related to the teen with light-brown hair, and also looked quite peeved.

Sukaru noticed where Natayla was looking and smirked. “Am I going to have to play matchmaker?� She said in a mock accusing tone, causing Natayla to blush.

“No...I...I was just looking,� She said, “I think the speaker is some famous cook, but I can’t remember the name.�

Sukaru laughed, “Sure you were. Personally I think the red head is kind of cute.�

Natayla looked back at the two boys, “If you say so, I can’t see their faces from here.�

“Well, now that we’ve seen there’s no concert going on where do you want to go
next?� Sukaru asked, looking at a map of the park.

“Hmm…I think they have an area here where you can get food, so let’s go check that out,� Natayla said.

“Sounds like a plan,� Sukaru said, putting the map away.

For the next couple of hours, the two teens went around the park, seeing what it had, and even got a free tour from one of the guides there.

When they were almost done touring the park, Sukaru, who was looking thoughtful, went up to Natayla and asked, “Do you think dad’s at your place already, waiting to help you set up the kitchen?�

“Yeah, he probably is, and we don’t want to keep Uncle Sage waiting for that long, or else who knows what he’ll do to my house!� Natayla laughed as they left the tour group and headed to the exit.

Once they reached the exit, Natayla shouted, “Race you!� and then headed off full throttle toward her house, which was only three blocks away.

“Your on, cheater!� Sukaru said, breaking into a run after Natayla.

As they approached Natayla’s new house Sukaru (who was losing the race) noticed her dad’s car was in the driveway. The distance between Sukaru’s house and the park was six blocks, which was enough to walk, but the 9 to Natayla’s house just took too much time and effort to walk, so Sage preferred to drive.

“Yes! I Won!� Natayla shouted as she slapped the front door. While she did this, Sukaru was coming up the driveway, shaking her head and laughing.

“Ya know what really bothers me?� Sukaru said.

“What?� Natayla said, curious.

“The fact that I run everywhere, so I should have better running speed, and yet you still beat me.�

“Natural speed – or something like that,� Natayla shrugged it off, “Don’t think anything of it.�

“Lucky,� Sukaru smiled, “But I’m still healthier. Let’s not keep my dad waiting though.�

“Kay,� Natayla said, shaking her head at Sukaru’s antics and following her into the room that was allotted to be the kitchen. Sage was already there standing near several boxes of supplies.

“About time you guys came back!� He said, looking at them, “I was about ready to set it up myself.�

“Sorry Uncle Sage,� Natayla said, “What do you want help with?�

“Just take these boxes and sort through them, setting what you want in what drawers.�

“Okay,� Natayla said. Grabbing a cardboard box and starting to sort through all the supplies in it.

Over the next three hours they managed to sort through all the supplies and organize them into drawers. After the kitchen was set up and running fully, Natayla decided to cook dinner for the three of them, as they were all quite hungry by that point.

“Natayla, you’re a great cook, you know that?� Sukaru said, eating the fried rice and other foods set before them.

“I’ve been told that many times. I mean really, how many times have I experimented with cooking all sorts of food?�

“Too many,� Sage said, remembering all too well some of the messes he had come home to. “But Sukaru’s right, you cook almost as well as Cye used to.�

“Cye?� Natayla said, having stopped eating, and looked up at Sage. “As in Cye Mouri, the famous gourmet chef?� She said, amazed. “I think he was doing a cooking show in the park today,� she mumbled to herself, “I though I knew who it was.�

“No…well…yes, sort of. You cook like he did when I knew him, not like he does now,� Sage said.

“Wow, I highly doubt that I’m that good!� Natayla said, “I think you just think my food is that good because you’re hungry.�

“Well, my taste buds say that the food was great,� Sukaru said, “And my stomach says I’m stuffed full!� She said, putting the chopsticks she was eating with down on the empty plate.

“Me too,� Sage said as he finished his plate.

“Are you guys going to stay or not?� Natayla said, finishing her own plate and then gathering up the dishes from the table and putting them in the sink.

“I’ll be going,� Sage said, “I have a beginner class to teach at the dojo� He smirked “It should be fun - they’re the first experience level class.�

Both Sukaru and Natayla laughed, having been through those classes already and knowing how bad some of the students were.

“Those classes are always fun to teach,� Natayla said, remembering when she watched some of the classes and saw how many mistakes they made. The reason the classes were fun though, was because the students, while not the most talented, were eager to learn something new.

Sukaru was grinning “And I get to help teach today!� She said “My first official class!�

“You’ll do great,� Natayla said, “You’re better with a nodachi, or any other sword for that matter, than anyone I know besides Uncle Sage.�

“I don’t know…� Sage said, “I’m getting pretty up there in age, she might just prove to be better than me.�

“Oh…stop it,� Sukaru said, “But thanks for the support anyway.�

“We have to get going really soon though, as we don’t want to be late,� Sage said,
gathering up his things and putting his shoes on.

“Right, you want to set a good example of discipline and punctuality,� Sukaru and Natayla said in unison, having memorized that particular mantra.

“Bye you guys!� Natayla said, waving them out the door.

“Bye Natayla!� Sukaru said, “I’ll be over tomorrow.� With that, Her and Her father walked down the street and were out of sight.

Natayla, after cleaning up the dishes in the sink and putting them away, started to write more of the program she was working on. An hour later Strata came down and lay near her feet like an overgrown housecat.

Around three her eyes started to droop, so she decided to call it a night and get some sleep. She set Boko-Chan to wake her up the next morning, and them drifted into a deep sleep.

She had no idea how much her dreams that night would cause her life to change

__________________________________________________ ____________________________

END CHAPTER 1
__________________________________________________ ____________________________

Again, I have nothing to do with the invention of the Ronin Warriors, I just play of the plotline. I DO however, own Sukaru and Natayla. You can use their characters IF YOU GET MY PERMISION, otherwise it is plagerism and can get you banned of most fanfiction websites.

Chapter two- Discovery

Dream sequence

“Natayla�

Natayla looked around her wildly in search of the voice that had spoken to her, but all she found was stars and blackness. It seemed as though she were floating in orbit around the earth and looking into space.

Gathering up her courage Natayla decided to get some answers

“Who… whose there� She asked, cringing as she looked down and realized she was, in fact, floating above the earth in orbit. She could see the vastness of the planet stretched out before her. Floating out in space unprotected scared her to no end.

“Natayla of the Strata�

By this time Natayla was terrified, not to mention confused, so she decided once again to ask this mysterious voice what was going on.

“Who are you, what are you?� She called out, clearly frustrated “And where are you?�

The voice, it seemed, decided to answer her questions. “I am a person, so you need not worry. My real name is Anubis, but many call me “The Ancient One.� As for my location, you will find that I am right behind you.�

Natayla whirled around so fast that, if she were not in a dream, she would have had whiplash. Sure enough, Anubis was standing there. He was dresses in what looked like ancient Japanese monks robes, a straw hat, and sandals. He was carrying an ornate staff that radiated importance.

“Wha… I know I must be dreaming,� She said under her breath “How old are you?�

“Over 500 years old,� He said nonchalantly, “But I did not call you here so I could be questioned�

This statement peaked Natayla’s curiosity so that it won out over her fear of this man and also her fear of the height she was at.

“What do you mean, called me here? Are you saying I’m actually here, in space, and you’re the reason?� Natayla boldly said, refusing to look down at the planet beneath her.

“No, that it not at all correct� He said, looking amused at her confusion. “I called you here to meet me so that I could tell you important information. The only way to do that would be when you are dreaming and are not able to run before I tell you. Your mind, for whatever reason, chose this as the location.

Natayla, calming down rapidly and accepting this, asked, “So what is this important information you needed to tell me?� She had by this point convinced herself not to be afraid and that, because it was a dream, nothing could happen to her.

“The information I had to tell you is your fate�

“My…fate?� Natayla asked, confused.

“Yes, Natayla of the Strata, your fate� Anubis said, for the first time since they met lifting his head so she could see his face. “The fate that will not only affect you, but others as well�

“If it effects others, why are you telling me this?� She asked

“Because you, for some reason, were the easiest to reach.�

“Okay, so what is that difficult road� Natayla, not being as patient as Sukaru but still patient, asked calmly.

“All will be explained in due time. For now, all I will tell you is that in the next few weeks, you will be forced into a time of great trial.�

“Great, it’s the first week of school, are you telling me classes are going to be hard? That would certainly affect others too�

“Nothing as insignificant as classes, but I cannot tell you what it is.� He said, “Do you have anything that looks like this?� He asked, holding in his hand an auburn marble with the symbol for ‘loyalty’ inside it.

“Yes, I do, my dad gave it to me just before he passed away, and telling me to keep it safe. He said it was his most prized possession.�

“I see, Rowen was indeed wise to do so, then again, it is like him to remember that detail in his dying moments. Now heed my warning. Rowen gave you that orb, and you need to keep it on your person at all times.�

“Okay…I will,� She said.

“Good. For now I must leave you. Goodbye!�

“Wait!� She shouted, running toward his disappearing figure. When he fully vanished, she started to fall…

End dream sequence

“AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!� Natayla woke up screaming full force before realizing she wasn’t going to crash into the earth, like she was about to in her dream. She did, however, jump about a foot when someone put a hand on her shoulder.

“Sukaru! Don’t scare me like that,� She said, thoroughly shaken up by her dream. “Why are you in here?� She asked

“I was coming over to check on you. We were supposed to meet over at my place at eleven o’clock, and it's noon now. I was getting worried. When I came in you were screaming bloody murder, so I came up here.�

“Oh, sorry to scare you� Natayla said

“It’s fine, but are you okay?� She asked, full of concern for her friends well being

“Yes, but I just had the weirdest dream�

“…About?�

“Some guy named Anubis. He told me that I was going to have very difficult ahead the next couple of weeks. Five others, and me that is. He also told me to keep this orb on me all the time,� She said, grabbing her dad’s crystal from her bedside table and holding it up to the light, seeing the shining kanji for life inside of it.

“That sounds to me like this guy knows something is going to happen and contacted you through a dream. If my knowledge on the subject is right, that takes an incredible amount of power. Is this guy alive or dead?�

“He said 500 years old, so I would assume dead�

“That requires less power, as they are already in the spirit realm, but someone able to contact another person through dreams on their own merit is not someone to be taken lightly.�

Natayla looked at her friend “I never knew any of that was possible�

“It is, trust me� Sukaru said, “I’ve spent a lot of time doing research on mental abilities I come across in meditation books. I find them interesting�

“None of the books describe the process of doing this stuff?�

“No, because true psychics are very rare, so they can’t test the process of how to use these abilities�

“There is one other thing in my dream though…� She said, “When Anubis said my name, he didn’t just say ‘Natayla’ or even ‘Natayla Hashiba’, he said ‘Natayla of the Strata’�

“But isn’t Strata your pet panther?� Sukaru asked, trying to make sense out of the name.

“Yeah… I think it might have had something to do with my dad though�

“Why is that?� Sukaru asked, no following her friends train of thought

“The orb my dad gave me is what Anubis told me to keep, and he actually mentioned him a few times as though he knew him and his habits. Also, my dad is the one who gave Strata her name.�

“It makes sense, and is probably very true. We cannot rule out the possibility of Anubis simply knowing these things because he is dead. His is over 500, after all. As for the orb, it could have simply been in his possession. The name is more concrete, because it shows he at least knew about the name Strata. What we need is his journals.�

“I think I might know where they are hidden,� Natayla said after Sukaru was done

“How do you?� Sukaru asked

“When I was clearing out the kitchen yesterday to make room for the new appliances, I came across his study. If they are anywhere, it is either his study or his room.�

“I see� Sukaru said. She then exclaimed, “We can look through your father’s journals, and if we don’t find anything related to Strata, we can always look through my father’s journals as well. He always knows about obscure subjects like this� She said “plus, he never really mentions it, but I’m sure he knew your father pretty well, so maybe your dad mentioned Strata to my dad.�

“Sounds okay to me� Natayla said

With some sort of plan decided, they headed downstairs to where Rowen’s old study was. In there were journals, all sorts of important documentation, and a very outdated computer.

“How about we start with the earliest ones?� Natayla said, “People usually keep journals when they are going through a particularly difficult or confusing time and need something to vent to, or keep track of things. Whatever Strata is, it should be mentioned in some of the original journals, because I’m willing to bet anything that if he has something to do with Strata, it caused him the same frustration it’s causing me right now� She said.

“Makes sense� Sukaru agreed taking the two journals with the earliest dates on them, and handing the first to Natayla. “After all, what better place to start then the beginning?�

“Lets get reading then.� Natayla said taking the journal she had been handed and opening it to the beginning page.

With that, they started reading the journals, stopping only to make the occasional comment. They quickly learned how to decipher Rowen’s note taking style. His notebooks were divided into two sections, theory section and the actual journal part. The only thing was that it wasn’t cleanly split into two, no, two pages would be dedicated to the journal and the next would be theories, and then the next one would be journal again, and so on. Natayla was going slowly, absorbing whatever was written down.

“Whoa… look at some of these physics equations, they’re nuts!� Natayla said, “I think he made these himself!� She was fascinated, but she knew that they were skipping those two sections in favor of narrowing down the search.

“Natayla…� Sukaru said, looking up from her journal

“Yeah, Sukaru?� Natayla said, also looking up.

“I think I found it…only…� She trailed off, not sure what to say, “It’s kind of weird…just take a look�

“Lemme see� Natayla said, taking the book from Sukaru and reading the entry.

Sometimes I hate the fact that I was chosen by both The Ancient and Strata. I mean, what can one person do to make a difference in the world? No matter what gifts they have. And The Ancient doesn’t even really tell what the hell to do, just leaves cryptic messages. Sage thinks he knows the answer, but I’m not so sure, as he says he’ll have to meditate on it. I never understood why he always does that, but we all have our ways of venting frustration, I guess his is meditating. I just want to live my life and get into a good college, but it’s just so frustrating that I have “better and more important� things to concentrate on. Anyway, I think I should take a leaf out of Sage’s book and calm down; otherwise I’ll make some mistake in an equation or something. If I do that then I face the wrath of Mrs. Yanoko, who’s worse than Talpa!�

Natayla tried to look at the rest of the page, but most of it was waterlogged, and therefore unable to be read. Now she had more questions and less answers in hr head then before. Who or what was Strata? The two phrases ‘Natayla of the Strata’ And ‘Strata chose me’ didn’t seem to have the same context of the word. One was a title, the other seemed to be a name, as if Strata had it’s own personality, could make choices, and was human. But that didn’t make sense… ‘None of this does’ Natayla Thought to herself as she stared at the rest of the page, which she was sure held the answer to her questions.

Sukaru coughed, grabbing Natayla’s attention from her ponderings.

“What is it?� Natayla asked

“What is bothering me is that a lot of these notebooks seem to be waterlogged, making them impossible to read. The reason this bothers me is that the only time these would have been waterlogged would be sometime during the last thirteen years, but nothing else in the room shows that kind of water damage.�

Natayla looked at Sukaru “Who says he couldn’t have moved them after the water damage and before the plane incident?�

“Because When I came here earlier I looked around and saw that this house doesn’t have much of a basement. It is barley high enough for ME to stand up in, and I know that no one in his or her right mind would store stuff down there. Plus it looks as though it hasn’t been used in more than twenty years, not thirteen.�

Natayla looked at Sukaru “I think it’s time we went and looked at Uncle Sage’s journals�

Sukaru nodded “Don’t worry though, we’ll find something eventually�

Natayla sighed, “Hope your right about that,� She said as she got up off the chair she was sitting on and grabbed her keys from the counter. They then headed out the door to head over to Sukaru’s house.

Ten minutes later (Natayla having convinced Sukaru to go in the car) they arrived at Sukaru’s house, and went inside. After taking off their shoes they headed straight for the den, which is where they both knew Sage kept his immaculate journals, though they had never tried to read them until now.

“Start at the beginning again?� Natayla asked, hoping to have better results with these journals then her father’s journals.

“Yup� Sukaru agreed, grabbing the topmost notebook, since they were already in chronological order, and giving Natayla the second one.

“What the hell!� Sukaru shouted after opening her father’s journal to a page in the middle. “These are waterlogged too!� She said, evidently frustrated at their lack of success.

Natayla frowned and opened her own journal, seeing that they were, in fact, in the same condition as her father’s. She began leafing through the pages anyway, since they were, surprisingly, not stuck together.

Eventually she shouted out “Wait, I found something that’s not ruined!�

Sukaru came running over to where Natayla was and they both read

This whole thing is for nothing; at least that’s how I feel. Talpa is up to something, I know it, but I’m not sure what. The other guys think I’m just frustrated and that I’m loosing hope, but I really don’t see any other option. Rowen is the only one we have left to find, as he’s practically in space, and we have no way of getting to him. As a kendo champion and the future owner of a dojo, I have a lot more practice at being patient that someone like Ryo, and I think it worries the guys that I’m becoming restless. If only Cale could see me now, Sage of the Halo writing down his concerns in a journal. But nevertheless, I’m going to help my father teach his class today, and I need to be focused.

“Halo?� They both asked at the same time, clearly confused at this new term

“My dad and you have very similar titles, ‘Natayla of the Strata’ and “Sage of the Halo’.� Sukaru said, thinking.

“More Like My dad and Uncle Sage had very similar titles. I have a feeling that the title ‘of the Strata’ belonged to him long before it belonged to me.� Natayla said, still wondering on what the terms were. It implied in Sage’s journal that they were in the process of tying to find Rowen, and the way it was written sounded like he was part of a team and they had all been split up.

“What’s with the space reference though?� Sukaru asked, reading through the passage again.

“Might have something to do with Strata, and yet it might also be completely metaphorical. ‘in space’ might mean ‘minds well be in space’ or ‘unable to contact and is really far away’

“Or it might be literal.� Sukaru suggested

“That’s true, though I don’t see how that’s possible.�

“Or it might just mean all three� Suggested a voice no one expected to hear from the doorway

“Uncle Sage!� Natayla said, “You scared me.�

“What do you mean ‘all three’?� Sukaru asked, while trying to hide the journal
behind her back.

“Depends – what are you girls doing going through my journals?� Sage asked, leaning on the doorway in his typical manner and holding a cup of tea.

“We...um…� Natayla stuttered, looking to Sukaru to help explain.

“He probably knows something� She said to Natayla in a language their mother taught them, motioning to her father, who was sipping his tea waiting for a response from either his daughter or his adopted daughter, as he never was good with languages and never really picked up on it. “It would make sense to ask him.�

Natayla nodded “Uncle Sage, we wanted to ask you something important� She said, gathering up her courage.

“Go ahead, ask it� Sage said, taking another sip of his tea.

“We wanted to know…we wanted to know what exactly ‘Strata’ is�
Sage nearly spit out his tea at that comment

“I thought it might be related to that� He said, sighing in defeat “But hearing you ask the question…caught me by surprise.� He said, looking at the two. “Now Natayla, where did you first her that word not used in reference to you panther?� He asked

“I had a dream last night after you guys left� Natayla said, “This guy, I believe he said his name was Anubis but others call him ‘The Ancient One’. Anyway, Anubis told me that me and five others would be having a difficult road ahead. Then he told me to keep the crystal my father gave me with me at all times, though I don’t know what it has to do with anything, only that is has a part to play.� She stopped for a second, and then said “What made me curious is that he called me ‘Natayla of the Strata’ and that he called dad Rowen, as though he knew him�

Sage looked sad, but then gained his composure. “Never though I would hear those words after anyone’s name but Rowen’s� He stopped for a second “Anything else you want to ask, so I know what I need to explain?�

Sukaru took up the task “We also came across some other terms we would like to know about, if you would care to tell us dad, or would you prefer to be called Sage of the Halo?� Sukaru said, both sad and shocked that her father would keep something from her. It was obvious that it was an important part of his life too. They were fairly close and usually told each other everything, which is why this upset her so much.

Sage winced at the bitterness behind the comment “I guess I have a lot of explaining to do, I just hope you can understand afterwards� He said “I can only assume you came across that term in my journals�

“What’s left of them anyway� Sukaru said, less upset now knowing everything would be explained. “They’re all waterlogged.�

To the surprise of both Sukaru and Natayla, Sage laughed after he heard that. “I forgot about that little charm.� He looked at both of their confused faces. “Cye’s work…quite useful for keeping information hidden.�

“Dad…� Sukaru said, her temper threatening to flare up again “Please explain before you get us even more confused�

Sage sighed, giving up on the fruitless argument before it even began. He knew from the second Natayla started her explanation that he was going to have to explain.

“Get comfortable,� He said, sitting down in a chair an indicating for them to do the same “It’s going to be a very long story.�

“Start with how you hid the information,� Natayla said, clearly bothered by the fact that she didn’t understand how something worked, “And why you needed to keep it hidden.�

“I guess that would be a good place to start,� Sage said, chuckling slightly and looking at Natayla, “After all, I can see how curious you are about that.�

“It’s true,� Natayla said, which caused Sukaru to laugh.

Sage put on a serious face “As I said before, that was Cye’s work. His specialty, as you may have guessed by the appearance of the notebooks, is water. He made it so that anyone who read the journals and didn’t already know the information written down in them would just see them as being waterlogged. To make it seem more realistic, he made it so that some of the writing is visible and remained readable, but he made sure the information was unimportant. He also made it so you only had to know specific information to read them. The most important things.�

“But how did he make that work, and what do you mean his ‘specialty’ is water?� Natayla asked.

“Even if I don’t understand how, I still think it’s a great idea, as locks can be broken� Sukaru added.

“Cye did the charm, but the whole think of using it to hide what we wrote own was Rowen’s idea� Sage said, “As were so many other thing we did. For example, if you looked through all the journals you would notice that after a certain date they are completely readable to anybody. This is because that is the last day Cye did the charm, the journals after that weren’t charmed. We decided that we would write all the important information down in our journals before that date, and just not write about it afterward. This helped a lot because it saved Cye the trouble of redoing the charm every few years.�

“But you still are avoiding the questions� Sukaru said, “What information are you keeping hidden, and what in the world do Strata and Halo mean?�

Natayla nodded, wanting to know as well.

“Patience is a virtue.� Sage said, laughing at their frustrated faces “I’m getting there� he said. “The reason Cye had to go through so much trouble to hide the information we wrote about in our journals. Well, I guess that’s the long part of the story. I guess it all starts over 1,000 years ago with a battle between a Guy named Talpa and The original Ancient one…�

Over the next several hours Natayla and Sukaru Were told the full story of the Ronin warriors. They were told about their struggles, their triumphs, and the defeat of Talpa, and the fall of the Dynasty. They were also told about the warlord and the armors that gave them their titles…

“Wow…� Sukaru said “And I though I knew everything…�

“So did I at your age� Sage said, smiling at what his daughter said, and earning a glare in return

“Not what I meant� She said

Natayla, meanwhile, was at a loss for words. Her mind was working overtime and, considering she was the Daughter of Rowen, that wa0s saying something. If Sage wasn’t so trustworthy, and if she didn’t know his so well, she would have sworn he was lying about the whole thing.