Origins 3

''"Let's form a bond, Raian-san!" called out Seireitou, as he charged forward, prompting Raian to do the same, as the two boys held their guards up ready to toss blows with one another. The white-haired boy's eyes reflected a genuine flame, unlike anything ever before seen in him.''

Raian's ears also had perked up, his attention toward Seireitou's words, while continuing his dash forward.

''"I feel as though I can build a true bond with you! With somebody like you, who lives your life in pure devotion to someone, I know I definitely can!" Seireitou had answered loudly, as the two boys launched off the ground.''

They stared each other down, airborne, with their fists ready to collide.

''Raian's grin formed once more. "I agree, Sei-san. Together, we can... put an end to this war-torn era!" he responded.''

"That's... How it was supposed to be, anyways..."

---

Flames of an ominous nature lit up the surrounding areas as two beings stood in front of a burning wooden structure. It was Raian and Seireitou, the students of the Shakyaryū Dojang. A proud school of strength and honor... Now reduced to a burning pile of debris. Seireitou — now an adult and adorned with a light blue robe as opposed to the dark one he had once worn — stood with his entire body giving off small shakes. Was this fear? Shock? Worry? Not at all.

No... This was anger. Pure anger. Anger at the horrendous sight in front of him.

There stood four individuals all wearing white haori robes that reflected a faint reddish glow due to the flames surrounding the parties. And there, at the feet of a bulky man with short black hair, knelt Shōyō; the two students' beloved mentor and father figure, who had taken them in when nobody else would and tutored them in both academia and combat arts. A blade carried by said black-haired man was held precariously inwards toward the neck of Shōyō, drawing looks of both angered and fear from both of his students. Beside the two parties, lay several bodies — those of the students that had once trained together with Seireitou and Raian. They were their siblings-in-training, people that they forged bonds together with and worked together with every single day; now cast aside like trash by these four men.

Among the dead and unconscious bodies, only one appeared to still be alive and attentive; only barely. It was Mashū, Raian's brother, though he was laying there covered in blood with his elbows barely keeping himself up high enough to observe the happenings. Damaged to such a degree that Raian opted not to look upon his brother in this moment, only toward his aggressors. He knew in this moment that he would need a calm mind, and if he were to look at the damage inflicted onto his beloved brother, he knew his rage would be impossible to restrain.

But it wasn't himself he was worried about lashing out at these attackers more so than his fellow disciple, Seireitou, whose entire body shook with utter rage.

Silence had filled the air until the black-haired man, who appeared to be the leader of this... heinous gang of villains, finally decided to speak. "Time and time again, you have all chosen to go against my demands for this school to be shut down and your mentor to serve under my command with you lot as his subordinates... I will not ask this of you fledglings again. Succumb to your fate!" bellowed the man. This was the man who was feared as a sword demon in the vast reach of the districts... Shigekuni Yamamoto.

This man, together with his gang known only in name as "Balancers" and "Defenders", had went around establishing his order throughout the chaotic districts. Small village governments had been toppled, other dōjō burnt to the ground and those of opposition beheaded on the spot... These were only some of the terrible crimes orchestrated by this man. However, one man had aspired to refuse his desires. Shōyō was a man of strength rivaling even Yamamoto, and when the latter demanded that he join his gang and dismantle his school, Shōyō outright refused. After threatening the lives of his students, Shōyō had no choice but to surrender to them; sacrificing himself for the lives of his students whom were like his own children. But the students — in particular, Seireitou and Raian — would not go along with this arrangement so easily.

"We'll never go along with your plans!" roared the outraged silver-haired student, "Now let Master Shōyō go!" he demanded in response.

Yamamoto merely scoffed at his words. "How dare you... Speaking with such disrespect to me, you're nothing but a tadpole to me!" he mused.

"Yamamoto-dono..." voiced Raian, who had been — despite his own anger that was boiling inside him — arguably more calm and level-minded than his silver-haired counterpart. "There is no need for this. Release Master Shōyō... We have no desire to engage in further conflict! We desire a world of peace!" Raian shouted.

But the black-haired gang leader could only release a great resounding laughter of mockery at the words spoken by Raian. "A world of peace? Peace is only obtained through order. Through discipline! You fledglings are the ones that are standing in the way of true peace. Only those that can stain their hands with blood to acquire that order are the ones deserving of enjoying that peace!" Yamamoto had responded.

"Incorrect!" roared once more, Seireitou, in a fit of never-ending rage. "That sort of peace... is only good for murderers and criminals! Only a few will enjoy peace at the expense of millions of lives! You need love and understanding... That's the only way for peace to exist! If people live in fear and servitude, then it's just senseless!" It was then that Raian also spoke that followed his fellow disciple's words. "If we work together and help one another... Peace can actually exist without violence. We don't have to be murderers! We... We can all change. This era of war can be closed and one of peace can be ushered instead." the brown-haired man added.

These words caused Yamamoto's eyes to narrow, utterly disappointed in these naive words spoken by these two boys. These children needed to know that cruelty is the only way to live in this world. Ideals of peace and love... would get them killed in the end. It was a truth Yamamoto had known all his life. And he deemed it his duty to teach this world about that truth, after instilling order to create what he called... a true peace. A world of order was the only path to such a dream.

"Those... are nothing but lies. Naive lies." spoke the composed Yamamoto. With a sudden jerk of his sword-carrying hand, the blade slashed to the side. And in the wake of its motion, a crimson eruption filled the air above him. The head of Shōyō landed onto the ground beside his body with a horrible thud.

And that was it.

Restrictions could no longer be held.

"NO!" bellowed Seireitou as he charged straight for the sword demon, a roar of tremendous volume being shouted as he ran for Yamamoto; with only the goal of crushing this man to tiny bits.

Raian's face was riddled merely in a frozen shock. It was as though his heart skipped a beat. He couldn't even breathe, his mind was still processing the situation. And as Shōyō's head finally rolled onto the ground, and the downpour of blood ceased, the forced composure etched onto his face was finally broken. If not for Seireitou's recklessness, Raian himself would've made the first move. But thanks to his friend, he could regain some small semblance of his composure; long enough to realize the futility at attempting to challenge this man. And the certainty of death that his very being represented.

"Sei, stop! You don't know what you're doing!" Raian called out, but his voice could not reach his friend's ears. "No, he can't...! If I don't do something, Yamamoto... is going to kill him...!" He snapped into action — driven solely by instinct — stretching out his arm and his extended index and middle fingers aimed right for Seireitou. An orange-hued tendril with spiraling yellow patterns erupted from his fingertips and ensnared Seireitou's waist, halting his advance.

Seireitou, in response, emitted an immense degree of spiritual pressure from his center — causing even the powerful Yamamoto to widen his eyes in amazement at the pure display of raw power. Raian himself was barely able to hold his friend through this spell. "We need to get out of here... That's the only course of action in this impossible scenario...!" Seireitou, still succumbed to the forbidden fruits of rage, merely tried to scratch his way forward so he could reach this man that took away the life of his beloved master.

Before escape was possible, Raian knew he would need to create a distraction. And to do that, he focused energy into his other hand. An orb of blue flames, with strange stripes of red and light blue surrounding the sphere, as he launched it at Yamamoto and his three supposed subordinates.

Yamamoto, in response, slashed at the sphere and destroyed it with a mere strike. "Mere child's play!" But he spoke too soon, for the hidden secrets would then reveal themselves. A blast of smoke quickly escaped the split remnants of the energy sphere, filling the air and blocking the sight of these four. Once the smoke reached a certain volume, the final step of its secrets would be revealed. The smoke immediately began to freeze into solid ice, encasing the four in a glacier-like construct of ice.

Within the same moment that this occurred, Raian put the second half of his plan into action. A surrounded Raian's body as he stomped his left foot into the ground, causing the aura to reach outwards and permeate through Mashū's body but also Seireitou's body as well. And within that instant, the three of them disappeared instantaneously.

It was right as the three departed that enormous flames erupted from within the ice construct and shattered it to pieces before melting it away. Yamamoto stood there with a look of contemplation about him as he witnessed the absence of Shōyō's two students. "That move... It was layering! An advanced skill. He set the Sōkatsui to emit the red smoke of Sekienton when the sphere's consistency had been compromised... and then set Hyōga Seiran to freeze the smoke when it reached a certain volume. And then that silver-haired boy... Such immense spiritual power. What dangerous students Shōyō had..." the black-haired sword demon had thought to himself.

"We must not allow those scoundrels to do as they please! Make haste and apprehend these criminals!" Yamamoto bellowed as the four of them had flashed away, leaving behind the dead bodies of defeated students, the burning school... and the beheaded corpse of Master Shōyō — left to decay in this horrid albeit fitting graveyard.

---

Several months passed since that day. And the event left unhealed scars on all three of the survivors, but none so much than Seireitou.

He had spent many days laying on his side and sleeping, refusing to even speak, let alone engage in training or any other activity. And this put a strain in even the friendship between him and Raian; who himself focused his stress-ridden mind on protecting his brother and friend, his only remaining connections to this world, from potential threats as they recovered from that event. The brown-haired swordmaster was not one to abandon somebody close to him over something as simple as prolonged silence. He understood what his silver-haired friend's mind and heart were dealing with, it was the same for him too.

"Sei..." Raian had once more attempted to appeal to his sorrow-drowned friend. "You can't keep going like this. I know how deeply this sits upon your heart... But you have to remember. Master Shōyō... All he did... It was so we could survive...! Even after all that, we're still here! We're still alive!" voiced Raian toward Seireitou, who was laying in silence on the tatami matted floor facing the empty darkened walls. "We're not too far gone... We're not. The promise we made to one another, the teachings left to us from Master Shōyō, who we really are on the inside...!" Raian had continued. But he would then be interrupted.

"...Shut up..." mumbled the broken Seireitou, words that caused Raian's eyes to widen in surprise. Not because of what he said, but rather the tone in which they were delivered. This was the voice of a defeated man, something he never imagined he'd hear from his friend. But he too was far too emotionally tired. This situation took its toil upon Raian. And he knew the healing would take time, for the both of them, and he would just have to give himself and his friend that time.

He had faith though. Faith that they weren't too far gone. And that this would not crush their souls.

It would just take time.

END