by Takeshi Kimari 23rd March 2017, 05:52
Origins:
Ronin was brought up in a small town in the middle of the country. The cities name was Masami and it sat on the edge of civilization. Any further south and you’d be on uncharted territory, and the closest city is an hour north. The only thing that put the small town of Masami on the map was the Sanders Part Shop.
This store was the Sanders family’s pride and joy and only source of income. Ronin’s grandfather opened the shop and passed it down to Ronin’s father when he passed away. The Sanders Part Shop was a used Zoids part store. The parts would be refurbished and resold at an affordable price. They would also do repairs and tune ups for pilots at an affordable rate.
Because of this Ronin grew up surrounded by these mechanical beasts. As Ronin grew up his dad would teach him what he knew. Because of this Ronin has an extensive knowledge of Zoids and how to repair them. But fixing Zoids wasn’t the life Ronin wanted, and he openly expressed this. His wide brown eyes would sparkle as the child admired the accomplished pilots who came in for repairs. The heroes would tell their stories to the young boy. Stories of fights and of adventures. Impossible victories against all odds. Ronin didn’t just admire these stories of adventure, he craved them. He had to be a pilot.
His father encouraged this, and eventually his mother came around to it too. Father Sanders had a Burning Striker who he had named Brigid. She was a little old but she was strong. The bird had spent years just living at the shop, almost like a pet, never really getting to see the battle field. But the Striker always took a liking to Ronin, helping the child keep out of trouble. Father Sanders knew that his time as a pilot was over and chose to pass the bird down to Ronin when the boy was just 14.
Ronin caught on quickly. He had known the bird all his life, Brigid watched the child grow up. The bond between the Zoid and the pilot only added to their power. After three years of practice Ronin followed his dreams and applied to join the High Guard. His application had been accepted despite his young age of 17 and Ronin couldn’t be happier. For a time everything was perfect. Ronin had a loving family, a Zoid whom was his best friend, and a team he was willing to die for.
Until that point Ronin had never known true heart ache. The boy was very innocent and never really felt any real pain. Then came that fateful summer day when everything changed. Ronin was on vacation from the Guard visiting his mother and father in his home town of Masami. His father wanted some help in the shop. Just a routine tune up of a Dibison. Nothing out of the ordinary.
Ronin promised he would be there at noon to help his father a few days before the incident. Ronin’s father had even reminded him the night before. But Ronin had forgotten all about his commitment and instead visited with an old childhood friend of his. The girl’s name was Saria, and Ronin hadn’t seen her since he was a child. They ate lunch and even took a ride in the cockpit of Brigid and saw the town. It was a great day, that was until he heard it. The explosion echoed throughout all of Masami and Ronin’s heart sank.
Ronin returned home only to find that the Sanders Part Shop was engulphed in flames. Ronin tried desperately to search through the rubble trying to save his father. Instead all he could carry out was his father’s burnt remains. The investigators said that something must’ve went wrong while restocking the Dibison’s missile launcher and it must have set off all the explosives in the shop. They labeled the incident as an accident and left the family with no income and no father.
Ronin broke. He hid away and didn’t talk to anyone. His mother had to call the Guard and tell them Ronin would have to take some time off. The damage done to Ronin’s heart and mind was extensive and the boy fell into darkness. “If only I had been there, I could’ve helped, I could’ve prevented it. If only I wasn’t so useless. If only I had remembered.” Not only was his father dead but their entire lively hood was gone. The widowed mother now had no income and inherited debt.
Ronin worked through his guilt by labor. He would use his Zoid for transportation working from morning until night transporting goods and doing odd jobs to support his mother. Sometimes these jobs were mundane, others were completely unethical. Ronin didn’t care at this point. He needed his mother to be provided for. He needed to make his mistakes right. For a time his mother accepted his help. But the work Ronin was doing was draining on the boy. He would come home with all sorts of soars and bruises looking even more depressed by the day.
His mother could tell the work he was doing was unhealthy and took it upon herself to get a job. Ronin begged her not to, but Mother Sanders wouldn’t have it. She became a baker and paid for her home with her own income and told Ronin he needed to follow his dreams. He needed to return to the guard. Around six months later Ronin called the base, but there was no response.
The High Guard had left their base to fight on the front lines as tensions broke out into all-out war. A battle was raging across the world and Ronin had missed the call to fight. Sure, they had heard about fighting on the news but Ronin didn’t know it had gotten so bad.
Ronin tried to find his team mates but it was too late. Before long the war escalated and government itself began to shut down. The battle was won but the ZBC had shut down. Chaos spread over Zi. The world was riddled with freelance pilots who were pillaging. Shipments of food were being lost to bandits and his town found itself under siege. Masami was a very small town, sometimes forgotten and left off maps. No one came to help, no one even remembered them. Ronin knew what he had to do.
Ronin took the lead. Pilots were the only government now and he knew Masami needed his skills to defend it. For about five years Ronin spent all his time and energy protecting his tiny town from harm. The bandits calmed down after a year or so, but no one was delivering merchandise to Masami. Ronin had to take it upon himself to personally fly in the food and supplies his city needed because no one else would.
As time passed Ronin found he was fighting less and doing more physical labor. He hardly cared for his appearance now and never had time to train on his advance skills. There was always something to be done to keep Masami alive. He grew as a person, learned new skills and became far more responsible. But his career as a professional pilot was nonexistent. He had sold his after market parts and only used Brigid for transportation now. He was still haunted by his dying dreams of being a pilot.
It wasn’t until five years later that a helicopter landed in their small town. Ronin saw this and flew to the copter immediately. A well dressed women stepped out and introduced herself. She explained that she was a representative of the government and explained that she was reestablishing contact with forgotten cities all across the border of the uncharted territories. The government launched a campaign to rehabilitate Masami and return order to the city. After five long years, Ronin was no longer responsible for this town’s well being.
Ronin now freed from the burden of serving his community started searching once again for his long lost team. No bodies were ever found and no one knew where they had gone. Ronin wanted to believe they were still alive. He knew his friends wouldn’t die so easily, but Ronin started to have his doubts. Maybe they really were dead. Maybe his adventures with the Guard were over. These thoughts clouded the man’s head as he started to lose hope.
That is, until one of his captain’s agents found him. The Guard was alive! And they had been looking for Ronin. Ronin was so excited he packed his bags that night. He even combed his hair for once. He would have to train hard to regain his skills but he was ready for the challenge. With the reformation of High Guard, Ronin’s story continues now. There’s no telling what kind of adventure awaits him.
Sample RP:
Pulled from an old scrapped roleplay, “On the way home.”
NOT CANNON NOT A PART OF RONIN’S REVISED STORY LINE
Turbulence shook Ronin within his cockpit. Steam rose off of the bird as raindrops ran into it. They instantly evaporating off of the hot surface of the Burning Striker. The sun had already set and the clouds were blocking the little light the moon produced leaving visibility poor. Ronin had got the call earlier that week. His application had been accepted and he was welcomed back to High Guard. It takes a good 12 hours worth of non stop flying to get to the base from his house. Ronin was accustomed to long flights so he wasn’t too concerned, though flying in the rain was a different story.
His bird gave out a little moan. “Come on sweety, its just some rain, we’ll be fine.” He could tell that his bird was uncomfortable, and Ronin knew very well the reason why. A big flash of light blinded Ronin, a crash of thunder echoed throughout the sky. Thankfully it didn’t hit the bird, but it might as well have being her reaction. Brigid cried as she instantly dropped in altitude. Ronin tried to pull up but she wouldn’t listen. Ronin could feel himself lift a little bit off of his seat.
It was one of her few weaknesses, Brigid had always been completely terrified of lightning. Ronin recalls being told a story of her being struck while with his dad many years ago, she had been afraid ever since. “Whoa there! Calm down!” Ronin shouted as loud as he could. She got so low towards the barren landscape that a cloud of dirt followed her.
He pulled back on the controls trying to slow her down. Finally she started to listen. “We’re okay girl, we’ll be fine.” Ronin could feel her tremble. Ronin pulled up a map. “It looks like a city isn't all that far away, just keep on going and we can land there for the night. Alright?”She gave a little nod. The rain was really coming down hard. Ronin could feel her tense up after every crash.
Ronin continued to fly, continuously talking to his Zoid trying to keep her calm as they flew towards the city. After about an hour he saw the city buildings peak over the horizon. The city didn’t look small but it wasn’t quite large either. The buildings were tall but not skyscrapers. An average city. He had seriously doubted there would be an official landing strip here so he’d probably have to park her on the outskirts of town. If he wanted to he’d probably have enough money to stay the night at a hotel, but Ronin wasn’t sure he felt comfortable leaving her out alone in this stuff. She’d probably want him there to comfort her.
He circled around the city trying to find a good place to land. He saw an empty parking lot and decided to take advantage of it. He wasn’t exactly sure how legal it was for him to park here but he hadn’t seen any signs saying he couldn’t. His bird flapped its wings as it slowly touched down, excited to finally be on the ground. “I’m going into town to get something to eat, will you be okay if I leave you here for a bit.” She gave a nod and lowered her head to the ground. Ronin pressed the button and the cockpit opened and he jumped out.
A cold chill went up and down his spine. Sometimes he forgets just how warm it is inside the Striker. He could feel each and every raindrop and a shower of coldness enveloped him. Ronin wrapped his arms around himself, he had a thin jacket overtop of his typical black tank top but it didn’t really help much. It wasn’t long before he was soaked to his core. The streets were bare, all of the cars were probably parked at home, as they should be. It doesn’t rain often in these types of wastelands, but when it does it can get pretty scary.
He wandered his way around town having no clue where he was going. The street lights were off and the windows were blank. Ronin figured the power must’ve gone out, this whether was certainly capable of such a thing. The wind was strong sending his hair flying back behind his head. Ronin was about to turn back when he stumbled upon a small shopping district. A small flame of excitement flickered in the pilot, only to be smothered moments later. All of the shops had been closed, it seemed that their power was out too. All this way for nothing. Ronin’s stomach growled but with the raging winds he figured it was too dangerous to keep going on. Brigid was probably terrified anyway. Ronin decided to turn back.
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Ronin groaned to himself in self pity. He was completely and totally soaked and the rain was coming down harder than ever. Luckily he saw the glow of his Striker peeking out from around the bend. He turned the corner and saw his pride and joy. He gave out a smile so thankful to be back with his nice and warm Zoid. He couldn’t wait to climb into her cockpit and get some sleep. Then something caught Ronin’s eye. Was that what he thought it was?
The Striker’s left wing was partially extended and beneath the steaming limb was what appeared to be a small child curled up against the machine. The young boy looked up nervously at the pilot. “Well who might you be?” Ronin asked in a confused tone. The boy had a mat of soaked brown hair clinging to his forehead. A red light from his glowing Zoid flickered in his innocent golden brown eyes. He looked as though he had been crying not to long ago, his face red and his eyes puffy. He looked beyond pitiful.
“T-Tyler.” The boy stuttered. Ronin couldn’t tell if his stutter was from the cold or from fear. Ronin bent down to the boy’s level. The bird extended her wing out a little farther allowing Ronin to sit in a dry spot located beneath her. Here Ronin could feel the bird’s warmth radiate from her surface. Ronin gave a smile as he sat beside the kid, his legs curled up against his body. “Where are your parent's Tyler?”
Moisture had started to accumulate under the young boy’s eyes. He whimpered as he answered. “I lost my mommy in the marketplace and the rain started before I could find her.” He began to cry “ Then the lights went out and everyone ran inside and and and...”The tears ran down his face as he became barely understandable. Ronin put his arm around the kid. He could feel the boy trembling beside him. Ronin rarely cries on his own but he always gets choked up when he sees the tears of others.
Still sobbing the boy struggled to speak, “I’m sorry I got near your Zoid Mr. Pilot Sir but I saw it fly over head and I was so cold and and and…” Ronin grabbed the boys hands and looked down at him. “It’ll be okay Tyler. You can stay here with me, I’ll protect you so you don’t have to worry alright? So please stop crying.” The boy continued to whimper as he forced out a “Really?” to Ronin.
Ronin looked into the boy’s red puffy eyes. The boy strangely resembled Ronin as a child and the pilot couldn’t help but feel a connection with the kid. “ Of course. I’ll help you find your mom when the rain calms down. In the meantime you can stay here. Oh and by the way, the name’s not Mr. Pilot Sir, its Ronin.” Ronin managed to get just the smallest shimmer of a smile from the boy. So small you could easily miss it if you weren’t paying close attention.
It looked like Ronin was gonna be doing some babysitting for a while. He had honestly no clue how he was going to find the mother. He could only imagine what was going on in his mom’s mind right now. She could very well still be out there in this rain looking for him. He pictured a grown woman filled with grief desperately trying to find her child. Ronin considered going back out there to look for her but decided against it.
The bird served as a glowing beacon, it’s very possible that she might spot the light from the bird like Tyler did and may come to take a look. Regardless it was too dangerous to go out in this stuff right now. Looking for his mom would have to wait until the weather calmed down. He just hoped it wouldn’t delay him too much, the homecoming was tomorrow and he’d hate to be late to his very first meeting.
After a little while the boy finally calmed down enough to engage in some intelligent conversation.“ How old are you Tyler?” The boy looked up at the pilot before replying, “Seven…” Ronin smiled. Seven was a nice age. Old enough to comprehend what was going on yet still innocent enough to be care free. Ronin was gawking at Zoids when he was seven. Watching the pilots come into his father’s shop with amazement. Good times, good times.
“You’re seven? I’m 21, I’ve been around three times longer then you have.” Ronin gave a small laugh and looked over at the kid to find that he had been staring at him. The boy dashed his eyes away avoiding eye contact for some reason. He seemed pretty nervous still. Ronin wanted to do whatever he could to make him feel comfortable. Chances were good that he’d be staying the night with Tyler so he figured he needed to eliminate the awkwardness.
“Is being a pilot fun?” The boy asked the question out of no where. Ronin nodded his head. “Yeah it is. I love her and love flying in her.”
“What’s her name?” Thankfully it seems like the boy is opening up. That was easier than Ronin thought it would.
“Brigid. My dad named her before he passed her down to me.”
“So your dad was a pilot too?”
“Yeah he was, but he decided to retire and gave her to me when I was 14.”
The boy’s face lit up, “Wow! When you were just 14.You’re so lucky, I wish I had a dad like that.”
Ronin’s smile turned faint. He wished he had a dad like that too. He missed him so much, and he has no one else to blame but himself. If he were to have just went and helped him in the shop the accident wouldn’t have happened and his dad would still be here today. He shook his head, he couldn’t think that way right now. He had a kid he needed to take care of and he had to stay positive.“Yeah I was pretty lucky I suppose. But you should be lucky too, I bet you have a good dad too. Some people don’t even have a dad so you should feel grateful.”
The boy looked down at the ground in awkwardness. Ronin could tell immediately that he had said something wrong. “Actually my dad left us when I was little, I don’t really remember him.”
“Oh no I’m sorry.That must have be awful, I’m sure your mom must’ve had a hard time raising you by herself.”
The boy nodded, “I suppose so.” The boy grew quiet. Ronin really didn’t know where to take the conversation from here so they just sat in silence. The rain was heavy and the wind was harsh. He could feel the young boy shiver beside him. Ronin took off his jacket and wrapped it around the kid. “Here it might be light but its better than nothing right.” Ronin smiled at the boy. The kid murmured a thank you and a nod before returning to silence. Ronin could feel the boy breathing slower then before, the kid seemed to have passed out right there.
Ronin moved up against his Zoid. She was always so warm. The cold wind was bearable with the heat she gave off. He slowly drifted away while resting up against his Zoid. Peace finally came to him as he closed his eyes and entered a deep sleep.