Tigergirl: Hello, everyone! In the spirit of Memorial Day, I have decided to post the first chapter to a new story I started working on a couple of months ago.

Ronins: YEAH!

Tigergirl: Also, due to lack of inspiration, I shall be discontinuing my work on To Help or Not to Help.

Ronins: AWW!

Yuli: BOO!

Tigergirl: *glare* Oh, shush! Besides, I just started another fic a couple of days ago and am already on chapter three. That one should start appearing soon, too.

Ronins: YEAH!

Title: Spirit of the Armors: Spirit's Awakening

Author: Tigergirl

Rated: T (just for safety's sake)

Disclaimer: I do not own anything of the Ronin Warriors. Just own the original character starring in this fan fic.

Summary: One lost fight and a break in concentration lands him somewhere unfamiliar. He thought his life was in order and he was content with serving in the dynasty, but then everything changed. This is the story of how a warlord learned to find his heart and care for another.

CHAPTER ONE

He let out a low groan as he leaned his back against a tree. He felt the stinging pain shoot through his back as the tree bark touched the burns on his back through his shirt. The warlord had willed his armor and subarmor away to lie in normal mortal clothes against the tree.

I can't believe I lost to that…child, the warlord growled to himself.

The fight had been going in his favor with him quickly overpowering the Wildfire bearer. However, just when he had been about to deal the final blow, Wildfire had struck back with a power beyond his capabilities. The fire had burned only partially through his armor, but it reminded the Dark Warlord of Talpa's fire pits.

He glanced down at his arms where there were first degree burns spread out from close to his shoulders down to his wrists. The tides had changed in the battle so quickly that he had willed himself away without focusing on his destination. He wasn't even sure where he was. A quick glance around did nothing to aid him in determining his location.

He was lying against a large oak tree that shaded him very well. There was a mini waterfall and stream not too far from where he was. The position of the sun told him the time was close to seven in the morning.

That can't be right. It was night time when I attacked Wildfire, he thought.

Exhaustion was starting to seep in as he allowed himself to rest all of his weight against the tree. His armor would heal the burns in a short time. He could hear a faint calling from the dynasty, but he chose to ignore it. He had been shamed by the ronin whelp beating him and he could already picture the smug faces of his fellow warlords.

I will rest and renew my strength before returning to the dynasty, he said to himself.

He closed his eyes and allowed himself to drift off to sleep.

/…/

Only an hour later, someone came walking through the woods in the direction of the wounded warlord. She moved slowly with a backpack bumping gently against her back. She brought her hands up to pull the straps of the backpack out, pulling it closer to her back. She walked through an opening in the trees to reach her favorite spot.

Very few people could find the spot, which is why she was surprised to find someone there. It should have made her angry, but she was actually happy to find someone there. She approached him carefully with a small smile on her face. However, her smile fell when she stopped next to him. She knelt down beside him and stared at the burns on his arms.

"How did this happen?" she whispered.

Careful not to lay a hand on the burns, she gave the stranger a once over to see if there were any other injuries. Not seeing any other injuries, she dropped her backpack gently next to the stranger before dashing back through the trees. She ran down the pathway she had walked down just before. She passed by the O'Donnell's House and continued on to a front yard with a large, two-story home.

She slowed to a short jog up the porch steps and opened the door carefully so it didn't bang closed behind her. She walked upstairs to the bathroom Cecilia and Marla shared. There were still some gauze and bandaging sitting out on the bathroom counter; Marla had burned her hand yesterday while trying to cook lunch for the family. She grabbed those items up and a few cold compresses. She moved slower back along the path to the strange man.

She knelt down quietly beside the injured man and cooled down the burns with the cold compresses. She nearly jumped back away from him when the initial contact made him jerk slightly. She was surprised he didn't wake, but she thought that maybe he was just very tired. She started murmuring a song Cecilia had been singing lately.

"Come stop your crying

It will be all right

Just take my hand

Hold it tight."

Her voice was quiet and soft, only loud enough for her and her sleeping companion to hear.

"I will protect you

From all around you

I will be here

Don't you cry."

She placed the cold compresses down. She pulled one arm carefully towards her and laid it in her lap. She placed gauze down on his arm and wrapped his arm with bandaging. She remembered that the bandaging needed to be tight, but not too tight. She fumbled for the next words. All she could remember now was the chorus.

"You'll be in my heart

Yes, you'll be in my heart.

From this day on

Now and forever more."

Cecilia had been singing that song in chorus class for the last month and had sung it while they washed the dishes. It was a catchy little tune that had parts she could easily remember. She finished bandaging both arms and laid them both down in the man's lap.

She kept singing the song as she cleaned up everything and scooped it into her backpack. She didn't notice as the clasp on her bracelet released and it fell off her wrist. She was unaware of its lack of presence due to its light weight and her long sleeves that came down over her hands.

A cool breeze picked up that rustled her long black hair. She brought the back of her hand up to the man's face and momentarily jerked it back. His cheek was freezing! She decided to go back to the house for a blanket for the man to use while he slept.

As she stood up, she put a hand up to her chest due to the sudden tightness. She started wheezing as she walked away. She decided not to run to the house this time and also chose to leave her backpack beside the man again. It felt like it took forever for her to get back to the house.

Unfortunately, Aunt Clarice was home for an early lunch when she spotted her. She ran upstairs and came rushing back down with a small inhaler. The older female wouldn't allow her out of the house until she had taken two puffs on the inhaler and eaten something. That and she had to take the inhaler with her.

Stupid Aunt Clarice, she thought.

She walked in a calmer manner on the path which took her down the street and through the woods. To her surprise, the strange man was gone when she arrived. The only thing still lying against the tree was her backpack. She deeply frowned as she plopped down onto the grass.

"Why did he leave?" she mumbled.

/…/

The warlord sat on the ground of his room and leaned his back against the wall. He slowly peeled away the bandages wrapped around his arms. He couldn't even fathom who had put them on him, let alone why.

What foolish mortal would help someone they didn't know, he snarled to himself.

A clock nearby told him it was a little after midnight. He snorted. He had to have been in another country to experience such a jump in time. In a way, the time jump was in his favor. The others would surely be fast asleep.

He finished taking the bandages off and banished them away with the wave of his hand. Not surprisingly, the burns were healed so much that there were no signs the burns had ever been there. He decided to get something to eat and more rest before he endured the repercussions of not immediately returning to the dynasty after his [failed] mission.

The warlord stood up to leave his room when he heard something drop to the ground. His gaze fell downward where a small bracelet lay on the ground. He knelt down to pick it up and inspect it.

The bracelet was a common piece of jewelry. There was a thin, rectangular plate attached onto a chain-like band. There was a weird symbol and writing on the outside part of the plate. He flipped the plate over to find more writing on the inside part.

This must have fallen off my "savior," he thought.

It was even more obvious that a female had aided him. No man, mortal or immortal, would wear such a trinket. With a shrug, the warlord dropped the bracelet into a desk drawer and shut it before leaving his room. While walking down the hall towards the kitchen, the warlord used the power of his armor to sense where the others were.

He was momentarily surprised to find all three apparently fast asleep in their respective rooms.

Weird. Usually, two of them are quite the night owls, he thought.

He wandered into the kitchen and built himself a simple sandwich. As he sat eating his sandwich, he couldn't get something out of his head.

Just take my hand

Hold it tight

/…/

"It's dinner time!"

"I'm not hungry!"

She wanted so badly to close and lock the bedroom door, but there was a rule in the house. A rule she downright hated. She turned back around and leaned over the paper she was drawing on. She put down the royal blue colored pencil and ran her fingers over a few colors before selecting the brown.

If anyone were to walk by, they would see a strong look of concentration on her face. She was carefully drawing a picture of her and her new friend with great detail. The brown went down and the purple was picked up. She started sketching a rainbow across the top of the paper in the sky.

A loud rap on her door caused her to jerk upwards and her eyes flew to the doorway. Cecilia stood there with a pissed look on her face.

"You're expected downstairs for dinner…now," Cecilia told her.

She stubbornly shook her head. "I have to finish this."

Cecilia huffed as she stomped closer to peer over the other female's shoulder. She had to admit that she seemed to be very talented in art, particularly drawing.

"Fine, but don't expect to come down for anything later. You know what Uncle Maurice says about not joining the rest of us for dinner," Cecilia said before turning around and leaving.

She listened for Cecilia's footsteps to start down the staircase before bending down to her bottom desk drawer and opening it. She pulled out a packet of Oreos she had kept hidden in the desk for a few days. She picked up an Oreo and started munching on it before she continued working on her drawing. She didn't care about missing dinner; she had eaten a late and heavy lunch.

She finally put down her colored pencil and sat back to look at her drawing. In the picture, the man was sleeping against the tree with a sad smile on his face and his eyes drawn closed with two small smiles where the eyes should have been. She had drawn herself a few feet away leaning up against another tree sleeping but with a smile on her face. The small waterfall was in the background and the rainbow was across the top of the page.

"I wish I knew your name," she whispered.

END OF CHAPTER ONE

I hope you have all enjoyed this first chapter and I look forward to reading your reviews. Happy Memorial Day!