• Chapter 8 Homecoming


    I finally woke up after passing out last night. There was a cold compress on my forehead. I took it off and rubbed my head. I guess this is where Meia had taken me. I got up and started to walk around. This felt like when I was first at Kira-san’s house.

    “I see your awake warrior,” I heard someone call from behind. It was Meia-san. My wings folded behind me as I turned to face her.

    “Why did you bring me here?” I asked her.

    “Oni-san wanted to talk to you. So he sent me out to find you. Had I not found you when I did you would be dead now,” she said while picking up the blankets and pillows. She glanced back over at me.

    “And I always wondered what the warrior of the land and sky looked like. Never expected to find such cutie,” she said winking at me. I blushed slightly. I felt my tail wag behind me. I looked outside. My mind sent me on a quick trip down memory lane. A raining day, I saw myself returning to Osaka after my training. I was in my masked form. Walking through the streets. One of my old friends approached me from behind.

    “Sano-kun!!! You’re finally back!! It’s your parents!!!!” He screamed, My eyes widened as I ran for home.

    “Yuroto-kun,” I heard someone say behind me. Snapping me out of my flash back. It was the young man from last night. His long silver hair hid his face, except for his right eye. He was tall and slender. I could see scars on his arms. Clearly he had seen battle before. His eyes were a piercing light blue. He walked up to me.

    “Come with me,” He said leading the way. I followed him, wrapping myself in my cloak. We walked outside to a park. I hadn’t realized we were just in an apartment. We walked for a while. My memories flooded back to me. Back to that raining night. I saw myself running at full speed. Trying to get home. My cloak flew off in my frantic sprinting. My wings catching air, I took to the skies. Searching for home. A look of shock and horror painted on my face.

    “Yuroto-kun,” The young man ahead of me called. I looked up at him.

    “The reason I wanted to talk to you is to see if you were really the one to lead the charge against the Dragon of Chaos. And to tell the truth, I’m not impressed. You lack so much that it makes me sick just looking at what a shameless freak you are. Not only are you unworthy, but you couldn’t even beat 2 dragons at the same time,” he said talking down to me.

    “Let me get this straight, you brought me all the way out here, just so you could talk down, and insult me? What the hell is wrong with you?” I asked him back. Trying to cap my anger.

    “I brought you here to tell you I’m taking over your position as the leader of the Phoenix. And you’re not gonna stop me,” he said coldly. My anger was growing more and more. This guy was asking for it in a big way.

    “So what you just want me to roll over and give you the position?” I questioned.

    “No, I plan on killing you in order to get that power,” he said. He whipped around and rushed me with a flurry of punches and kicks. I was able to ether duck, dodge, or block all of them. He pulled off a spinning front kick. Using a circular motion, I caught his foot and spun him around. He landed on his feet. His hands began to emit black energy. He stuck his hands out and drew the kanji for dark in the air.

    “Fushicho Kaihen!” He called. It was just like Kira-san. Except when he activated his powers, darkness began to descend on us. A dark mist began to flow from the kanji. It wrapped around his body and changed him to phoenix form. Once his transformation was complete he drew his Naginata.

    “Come at me if you dare,” He said. I knew he wouldn’t back down. I had no choice.

    “Fennikkusu Kaihen,” I called. My body burst into flames. I could feel my cloak burn away as my demon form and phoenix form were in full view. My wings now dyed a deep red, my tail also a deep shade of red. I stared him down, just as he did me. I drew just my sword and held it with both hands.

    “Let’s do this,” I said. The time for words was over. We rushed each other. When our weapons clashed, flames and dark energy burst outward from the force of the collision. We struggled to get the upper hand. I pushed hard against him, as did he. We separated long enough that we could start the charge all over again. His Naginata was long enough that he could swing and still possibly hit me. He was obviously a master of Stick style (Bo style) fighting. His movements were fluid and deadly. Attacking with both ends of the Naginata. I blocked most of his attacks and countered with some of my own. My blade was in my right hand when he attempted a side slash to my left side. I blocked it with my blade upside down, my arm crossed over my body. I rushed him with my blade at my side in a Batto-jutsu style. He backed away just as I made my cross slash. He jumped back and placed his hand on the ground. Long streams of dark energy shot from his hand and raced along the ground. I jumped up into the air in an attempt to dodge them. He pulled his hand up, and the long strands of energy took to the sky after me. I blocked most of them with my blade, but there were too many to block at once. I dropped to the ground and ran. The dark strands following close behind me. I whipped around ready to block them, but he had cut me off. Swinging his naginata I had to choose between the two. I chose him as I blocked his attack. This was not looking good. The strands of energy leaped from the ground and attacked me. I couldn’t block them. The hit me hard and almost pierced my body. I rebounded back. I landed on my feet to have him about to split me in half. I blocked the attack. I struggled to maintain my defense, but he was getting stronger. His force was pushing me down more and more.

    “How pathetic, you’re too weak to be leader. And you were too weak to protect your family.”

    I felt myself snap. Another flash back to that day. I saw myself make it to my home. A pill of ash was all that remained. My anger raged as I slammed my hands to the ground. Flames bursting from every pour of my body. All that rage, all that frustration, all that anger came rushing back to me in a single instance.

    “You,” I said. Flames began to radiate off my body. My strength increasing steadily. I got back to my feet. His look was not one of a superior fighter, but of a scared man. My eyes now full of rage, and tears about to fall just stare at him.

    “YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” I scream. The flames fueled by my rage grew more and more intense. I pushed him back. He stared at me wide eyed as the flames of my anger grew more and more. I looked back at him. I swung my sword, unleashing waves of fire. He jumped to avoid them, but didn’t see me right behind him. He blocked about as much as he could, but I still broke through his guard. I pinned him to the ground. My blade pointed at his throat. I was lost in my anger. I stabbed. I looked down to see that I had just stabbed the ground next to his neck. I got up and sat beside a tree. I could feel myself crying. I buried my head in my knees. A hand touched my shoulder. It was him. He smiled down at me and sat down next to me. Both of us transformed back.

    “Is today that day?” he asked. I nodded.

    “The day of my parent’s death. Yes,” I said. He looked over at me with a smile.

    “I’m sorry about that. I needed to see if you were the leader that I could put my faith in. You are the strongest of us all. You have my blade to aid you,” He said. I smiled and shook his hand.

    “You know my name, yet I still don’t know yours. What is it?” I asked him.

    “It’s Kimari. Wataro Kimari,” he said. Twitch. My head snapped to the side. Kimari-san followed suit. We both jumped out of the way of 2 stone spears. We instantly transformed back into Phoenix form. We drew our weapons and prepared for combat. My ears were straining to hear even the slightest of movement. My eyes constantly scanning for the next attack.

    “Over here,” a voice called out from behind me. I whipped around to see Jonuku, holding a spear, strike at me. I blocked the attack with my shield and began to repel him. To my right Ruki had began to charge me with her battle axes. I wasn’t gonna be able to block them in time. I felt Kimari-san roll over my back and block her axes with his naginata. I relinquished my shield and went after Jonuku with just my sword. We went back and forth, his spear vs. my sword. I went for an over head slash. He went to block me with just the shaft of his spear. Bad move on his part. I cut straight through, causing him to lose his balance. With the same amount of power I pushed him back with my shoulder and unleashed a flurry of slashes. Each one hitting their mark on his body. Kimari was also serving up some grade-A a** kicking on Ruki as well. His naginata cutting through her vines and landing hit after hit. The two of them jumped back. They holstered their weapons. Jonuku struck the ground with his fist, causing a massive wave of rocks to jut out of the ground. We jumped out of the way in time to be caught by Ruki’s vine trap. My wings were caught in the vines and forced me to the ground again. Kimari was also tied up, but seemingly liquefied into dark mass. Sliding out of the vines and cutting me free. I dropped to the ground next to him. Our turn.

    “Think we can merge our attacks?” I asked him.

    “Worth a shot,” he said back. We both focused our powers into raging auras. My flames began to mix and mingle with his black haze. We both crouched into a horse stance, then moving our legs in sync with each other assumed an attack possession. With a mighty punch from both of us, the fierce fire and darkness combination flew towards Ruki and Jonuku. Just as it was about to hit, a massive creature’s hand blocked the attack.

    “Father!” Ruki shouted in amazement. My heart seemed to stop. This was the enemy. The creature continued to rise from the ground. The head of a dragon now present. I could feel my blood run cold, then boil with anger. The one, who ordered the death of my family, was now in front of me. The massive dragon head peered at Kimari and I.

    “If you are the one who is to defeat me, then there is nothing for me to worry about,” it called to me. My rage grew out of control.

    “b*****d!!!!!!!!” I screamed unleashing all the energy I could. I literally burned everything in my sight. I rushed at the dragon. I didn’t care what happened to me, I just wanted his blood. Swinging I cleaved his head in half. I was on the other side of him when he regenerated.
    “Relax Hybrid-Demon. This is a mere illusion. When it comes to the real fight, it won’t be that easy,” he said to me chuckling. He proceeded to drag Ruki and Jonuku down into the depths of the earth. I couldn’t do anything to stop him this time. Kimari put his hand on my shoulder.

    “Come on. I’ll take you home,” he said.

    “before that. There is somewhere I need to go,” I told him. I flapped my wings hard and took to the skies. I flew for a while, my memories began to rush back to me once more. I saw myself land and run to a burning building. Using my premature phoenix powers I was able to quell the blaze. I seacrched the chard remains of my home. Until I discovered what no child should ever see. The bodies of my parents, burned to a crisp. Their hands were clasped together till the very end. My rage, anger, and sadness rushed to the surface as my powers went wild. Destroying all the trees and buildings in the area. Back to the present, I landed and walked to the grave I had made for my parents.

    “Yuroto Kiruki, Yuroto Minami. May their souls remain intertwined in the after life.” I placed a pair of roses on the grave. And took to the skies one more time.

    End of chapter 8