Chapter 012

Approaching Storms

At the same time Miura watches as the ship disappears in the distance and he says

“Just in time” Miura and Hokama turn around as Hironaka and Matsuno are standing behind them and Hironaka says

“How are they?” Miura says

“Gyomei,Saigo,and Kenshin can’t even stand on their own two feet” Hironaka says

“And the others?” Miura looks at Hokama as Hokama says

“Dai,Itsuki,and Riku are all exhausted and can barely move there own bodies and Kenji is already injured” Matsuno says

“I don’t understand why we are doing this, I can kill them all right now!” Hironaka says

“Because we're past the deadline and Tahara is missing, if we don’t show up with something besides information we’ll be killed for sure” Miura says

“The most important one you have to take is Kenji, he’s Kingsman son. Showing a prize like him should guarantee your survival, everyone else can die but leave Gyomei alive. I want to see him lose everything and have to go back to the village and tell Kaito and Kingsman about his failure” Matsuno says

“How will we catch up to them there already gone?” Miura says

“Don’t worry the moment all of them are sleeping Okada will stop the ship and let you all catch up to them” Matsuno says

“Then they all die, good plan” Hironaka *sighs* as he says

“At least try and control yourself somewhat, at the very most we’ll only need two of them alive but we only need to capture one” Matsuno says

“As long as I don’t see them, they get to live. But if I see them there as good as dead”

At the same time Kenji is sitting on the front of the ship and looking out at the water and Okada notices he’s not moving and he starts to slow down but Kenji turns around and says

“Okada, are we ok? Why are you slowing down?” Okada says

“No problem at all, the ship is just a little old sometimes I can’t keep pushing it that hard for long periods of time” Kenji says

“That’s fine, just try and keep it going as well as you can” Kenji walks to the back of the ship and stands next to Okada as he says

“Okada, do you think you can teach me how to sail a ship?” Okada is *confused* as he says

“Why do you want to learn how to sail a ship?” Kenji says

“Well when we get to the Fujiwara region and finish our mission we’ll need a way back and I want to impress my team and my Father. Plus when we get back to the Yahoku village I’ll repay you for your kindness” Okada says

“There’s no need to, I’m just following orders” Kenji says

“Even though you are just following orders your still helping us out immensely” Okada *sighs* as he says

“All right then kid, come over here and I'll show you how everything works” Kenji stands behind Okada as Okada shows Kenji how to sail the ship and Okada says

“There you go kid, you know everything I do now it just comes down to experience” Kenji says

“All right now move over” Okada says

"For what?" Kenji says

“So you can take a break” Okada says

“Why are you so worried about me? This is my job” Kenji says

“Were friends, whether it's your job or not. You need a break” Okada says

“We just met a couple hours ago and you know nothing about me in the slightest, how could we be friends?” Kenji says

“You're right I know nothing about you, but all of us are putting our lives in your hands and that means we have some level of trust between us right?” Okada *smiles* and says

“You're…Just like my son, always so trusting of everyone. Never knowing the real malice in people, I truly admired that about you both” Okada let's go off the wheel and steps back as Kenji grabs the wheel and says

“Where is your son?” Okada closes his eyes as he looks into the air and says

“He died a few years ago, he was in a hard battle with an unknown disease and because no one could figure out what it was, there was no cure for it. So we just watched him slowly lose himself to the illness” Okada starts to *tear up* as he opens his eyes but Kenji hugs Okada as he says

“I'm so sorry, but hey think about it he’s always watching over you and making sure your safe” Okada *smiles* as he says

“Thank you Kenji, you two are exact replicas of each other. You truly could have been brothers” Kenji grabs the wheel again but Okada grabs his shoulder and Kenji lets go of the wheel and steps back as Okada retakes the wheel and says

“Kenji…You truly are a friend of mine” Kenji *smiles* as he says

“Of course, if you ever need to talk I'm here for you. Until then I'm going to sleep” Kenji walks over to the lower deck door but as he's about to open the door he looks over at Okada and *smiles* as he says

“Night Oka!” Okada says

“Goodnight Kenji” Kenji goes into the lower deck of the ship and Okada keeps sailing for a few minutes until he stops the ship and sits on the edge of the ship staring at the water and he thinks

"What am I doing!? All of these people are going to be killed for no reason, Maro you would truly be disappointed in me if you knew of my actions. But this was a direct order from Miura, if I don't do this then there's no telling what he's going to do to us" But Okada looks up as he hears another ship approaching as the boat pulls up besides them, Okada locks eyes with Matsuno and can see how bloodthirsty he is and thinks

“I can’t...I can't let them die, I won’t let my son die a second time!” Matsuno says

“It took you long enough!” Okada says

“There not here” Hironaka is *shocked* as he says

“What!? What do you mean they're not here?” Okada says

“They all jumped over the ship and started swimming because one of the drunk ones jumped overship and I haven’t seen them in hours” Matsuno gets *angry* as he says

“Damn it! You useless piece of shit, if you can’t handle one simple task then we don’t need you!” Hironaka says

“Matsuno calm down, we still need him. He’s the only ones they trust and we know where there going to end up, so let's not waste time with this and go back to the Fujiwara region” Matsuno is still *angry* and says

“If I don’t kill them, I’ll kill you and Okada!” Hironaka says

“If I die, then the information dies with me. That means you die as well” Matsuno says nothing and Hironaka says

“I thought so, now let’s go!” Hironaka continues to sail the ship forward and Okada waits until they disappear and then he hesitantly and slowly starts going forward as well and in the morning Kenji wakes up and walks to the top of the ship, Kenji says

“Okada, you want to switch with me so you can get some sleep?” Okada says

“No I’m fine, where are the others?” Kenji walks next to him and says

“Gyomei, Saigo, and Kenshin are passed out with hangovers and Itsuki, Riku, and Dai are sleeping still. So it's just you and me for sometime” Okada says

“Kenji, I need you to tell Gyomei to abort this mission and turn back now” Kenji says

“Why? If we turn back now we’ll all be killed in an invasion” Okada says

“I-I… It's very dangerous and the people there will try to kill you” Kenji says

“You don't have to worry about us, we were trained by my Father. The greatest warrior this world has ever seen” Okada says

“Kenji, there are two–” Okada is interrupted by Dai comes out onto the top of the ship and Dai falls to his knees feeling *sea sickness* and he says

“Where the hell am I!?” Kenji says

“Dai were on the ship, are you ok?” Riku and Itsuki come to the top of the ship and see Dai on the ground and Riku says

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Itsuki *laughs* and says

“I thought you would be “perfectly fine” Dai while still on the ground holding his stomach, says

“Shut...The hell up!” Itsuki and Riku walk past Dai but Itsuki pokes Dai in the stomach with his foot as he walks past and Dai tries to punch him but Dai falls on his face and Itsuki and Riku both *laugh* as they sit on the front of the ship looking out over the water but Gyomei stumbles out and sees Dai on the ground and Gyomei walks past Dai and covers his eyes from the sunlight as he says

“Damn, that's bright! How far are we from Fujiwara?” Kenji says

“We should be there in a few minutes, we've been sailing all night” Suddenly they hit a giant wave and Riku tries to use his wind to stop the water from splashing him and Itsuki but he just *screams in pain* and falls to the ground holding his arms as there both splashed by the water and Gyomei says

“Riku, what happened?” Riku says

“It felt like my arms were being crushed when I tried to use my wind, I guess I over exerted myself in the last fight” Itsuki tries to cover his hand with his lightning but he's hurt by his lightning causing his hand to get stuck and Itsuki says

"I can’t use my lightning” Kenji says

“That fight must have took more out of all of you then you realize” Dai slowly stands up and says

“I'm fine, my fire works” Dai wraps his hand in his fire but it starts to burn his hand as he *screams in pain* and Itsuki says

“You idiot, we were all fighting how would your element work but ours wouldn’t” Riku is looking forward and says

“I see land, but there's another ship on the land” Itsuki looks forward and says

“Yeah there are two men on it, I think they are looking at us” Gyomei looks towards the land as he says

“What do–” Suddenly Okada violently and abruptly turns the ship and everyone falls over but Gyomei is thrown off balance and he hits his head on the side of the boat knocking him out and Kenji is *confused* as he says

“Okada, what are you doing!?” Okada says

“I’m sorry, I put all of you in danger!” But suddenly the ship completely stops moving and Okada is *confused* and says

“What the hell!? What's going on!” Okada runs over and looks over the back of the ship and sees Matsuno holding the ship in place with one hand and Matsuno looks up at him and says

“Traitorous pest! I knew I should have killed you sooner!” Matsuno jumps out of the water and lands on the ship and Hironaka is floating on water above the ship as he says

“Bring him back to the village when your done with the rest, don’t forget Kenji doesn’t die! Everyone else I'll leave them to you but at least try and keep another one alive” Matsuno says

“Yeah yeah, whatever” Itsuki, Riku, and Dai surround Kenji and Riku says

“Kenji run! If there after you then they won’t get you” Kenji is *shocked* and says

“But they said to kill everyone else! How could I just abandon you all?” Dai says

“If you think we'll lose to him your dumber than I thought” Itsuki says

“Enough talk, RUN!” But as Kenji turns to run, Matsuno *smirks* as he says

“Not so fast!” Matsuno punches the ship destroying the entire ship and while falling Kenji hits his head and crashes into the water disorienting him but when he’s able to focus he swims up and as he does he sees Matsuno standing on the water choking Itsuki and Dai.

Kenji jumps out of the water but as he lands on top of the water he freezes it and Kenji looks down and is *shocked* but he rushes Matsuno and Kenji creates ice gauntlets and tries to punch Matsuno but Matsuno uses Itsuki and Dai as human shields to keep Kenji from punching him and Matsuno *laughs* as he says

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

"What's wrong? Hit me!" Suddenly both of Matsuno's arms are pulled away from him and Kenji turns around and sees Riku using his wind and Riku *while in pain* screams

"KENJI, DO IT!” Kenji turns back around and hits Matsuno with a barrage of punches and Kenji unfreezes the water underneath Matsuno as Kenji jumps over him and punches him in the top of his head pushing him down into the water but as his legs drop into the water Kenji freezes the water around him holding him in place but Matsuno's able to break Riku's wind and he pulls his arms forward and Matsuno uses Itsuki and Dai body to hit Kenji from each side and he throw them both away from him and Matsuno punches Kenji and Kenji blocks it but it still pushes him back and Matsuno punches the ice around him and jumps out of the water onto the ice and he rushes Kenji and they clash but as they do Kenji’s gauntlet is destroyed and Matsuno knees Kenji in the stomach making him slide back and Kenji drops to his knees and *coughs up blood* and blood starts coming from underneath his shirt and Matsuno *laughs* and says

"So someone's gotten to you before me. Hopefully that doesn't effect our battle to much" But Kenji slowly puts his hand up but as he does water from the ocean flows across his arm and freezes around his chest but it also creates a ice blade, and it drops onto the ice and Kenji slowly gets to his feet and picks up the sword with his left hand and creates an ice gauntlet on his right hand and Kenji rushes Matsuno but Matsuno just *smiles* and doesn't move but Kenji hits Matsuno with a barrage of punches and slices but Matsuno isn’t being moved but he’s also not being effected and Kenji stabs Matsuno directly in the stomach but the blade shatters and he’s *shocked* and Kenji creates another gauntlet and punches Matsuno with his gauntlet but it also shatters and Matsuno *laughs* and Matsuno headbutts Kenji and grabs him by his neck and slams him into the ground and Matsuno *laughs* as he says

"Let's see if you can fly!" Matsuno grabs Kenji by the neck and throws him extremely high into the air but as Kenji is flying he opens up the ice underneath Matsuno and the water wraps around his feet pulling him into the water and he refreezes it but Kenji lands hard on the ice, Matsuno breaks the ice once again and Kenji slowly gets up and he's disoriented and can't see straight and Matsuno rushes up to Kenji and throws a punch but it stops mid air and Kenji fully drops Matsuno into the water and freezes it over his head and Kenji says

"Thanks Riku" But as he turns around he's *shocked* and screams

"RIKU!" As he sees Riku pass out and falls into the water and Kenji dives into the water after Riku and he's able to grab Riku but he turns around and starts swimming up but he notices Itsuki and Dai are also passed out and sinking very fast towards the bottom of the ocean and Kenji starts swimming over to them but Matsuno comes up behind him and starts choking him causing Kenji to drop Riku and he tries to pull Matsuno arm off of his neck and as Kenji's struggling, he notices Dai opens his eyes but he can’t breath and doesn’t have the strength to swim up and he reaches for the sky but continues to sink until he hits the bottom of the ocean and then Riku also can’t breath but can’t swim up and Kenji is squirming and trying to get free but he can’t and he realizes that Dai,Riku, and Itsuki are no longer breathing and Kenji thinks

“I have to get free, I can’t let them die. Dai! Riku! Itsuki! NO!” Kenji's trying his hardest to pull Matsuno's arm away but he can't and he tries elbowing Matsuno in his stomach but he's completely unfazed by it and Kenji starts to lose consciousness but Kenji thinks

"I-I have to save them!" Kenji puts his hand out and the entire ocean starts to violently shake until the entire ocean splits open dropping all of them to the seafloor and as Matsuno and Kenji hit the ground, Matsuno lets Kenji go and as Riku, Itsuki, and Dai hit the seafloor they all start *coughing* up water and Kenji rushes over to them and says

“Are you all ok?” But none of them respond and Kenji gets *angry* and Matsuno is just looking up at the split in the ocean in *amazement* and says

“So this is the power of the son of The Fallen Angel. You’ll be an amazing sacrifice” Kenji uses the water from the ocean to pick Riku,Itsuki,and Dai up and the water cares them to the surface and Matsuno says

“Are you ready son of–” Suddenly chains latch onto Matsuno from out of the ocean and Kenji puts his hand up and pushes it down and the chains pull Matsuno to the ground, slamming Matsuno into the ground and Kenji walks up to the wall of the ocean and he touches it and water forms underneath his feet and it pushes him to the top of the ocean and Kenji looks at Itsuki,Riku, and Dai passed out but then he hears *laughing* coming from beneath him and Kenji turns around and looks down into the split and sees Matsuno *laughing* and Matsuno says

"When I get free, I'm going to kill all of them and you're going to make me a new lord!" Kenji says

"No you won't" Kenji snaps and Kenji watches as the ocean collapses and slams down onto Matsuno but as it does Matsuno spits up blood and the weight of the ocean pushes him deeper into the ground and Kenji walks up and grabs Riku, Itsuki, and Dai as there all floating in the water and he freezes some water and sits all of them on it and he kneels down next to them but before he can say anything there's a giant shockwave from under the water and as Kenji looks down he sees that Matsuno has broken one of the chains around his wrist but he also sees a red and black aura around Matsuno’s hands and Kenji water forms under Kenji's feet and Kenji floats into the air and says

“I won't let you kill the people I care about! Even if that means you have to die!” Kenji puts his hand up and lifts up a giant portion of the ocean and freezes it and Kenji says

"Die!" Kenji drops it on Matsuno but Matsuno is able to catch it with one hand stopping it and Matsuno's able to the breaks the other chain around his other wrist and he punches the ice and it shatters and Matsuno reaches down and grabs the chains around his ankles and rips them off and Matsuno jumps into the air and tries to punch Kenji but Kenji puts up a wall of ice but Matsuno breaks through it like its nothing and hits Kenji sending him flying and he lands on the ocean and Kenji slowly gets back to his feet and Kenji gets *angry* and the water starts circling around violently but then the water morphs into multiple water dragons and they rushes Matsuno and he tries to dodge them but there too faster and two of them bite down on his arms and two others bite his legs and start to drag him back but then one more starts shooting Kenji uses a icy breath right on his chest and Matsuno screams in pain as his chest starts to freeze but then the aura spreads around his legs and arms fully and Matsuno slams both of his feet down destroying both of the water dragons on his legs and he pulls his arms forward destroying both of the dragons on his arms and the fifth dragon tries to blast Matsuno with his Icy breathe but he dodges the blast and punches the dragon destroying it and Matsuno starts walking towards Kenji and Matsuno says

"I expected better, this isn't as fun as I expected" Kenji gets *angry* as he says

"You think this is a game! YOU THINK THERE LIVES ARE A GAME!" Kenji puts his hand up but Matsuno grabs his face and Kenji is *shocked* by his speed and he can’t react as Matsuno slams him into the ice and then Matsuno punches Kenji into the water but it freezes around him, causing Kenji to get stuck in the ice. Matsuno says

“You can’t die…But they can!” Matsuno turns away from the hole and starts walking towards his unconscious teammates but as Matsuno takes a few steps he drops into the water and before he can move it instantly refreezes but as he looks up he sees Kenji is standing above him but as they lock eyes Matsuno can see the anger in Kenji's eyes but Matsuno starts moving making the ice crack and Kenji flips back and the ice explodes and Matsuno jumps out of it and Dai ,Riku ,and Itsuki wake up and Dai *weakly* says

“Damn it” Dai clutches his back in pain and Itsuki is just coughing and Riku looks up and *coughs* and *weakly* says

“Kenji!” Dai and Itsuki looks up and see Kenji and Matsuno standing in front of each other and Dai tries to stand up but Kenji says

“Don’t! This is my fight, all of you are to weak to step in, let me handle this” Matsuno says

“Watch as you lose the ones you care about” Itsuki *weakly* says

“If you lose this battle i'll kill you!” Kenji puts his hand in the air and the ice there on floats into the air and Kenji and Matsuno are just staring at each other and they both swing at each other but neither one of them can hit each other and Kenji thinks

“How the hell could he become so much better in a matter of a few minutes? He went from tanking all of my hits to dodging every attack perfectly” But Matsuno slips Kenji's punch and he's about to hit Kenji in the face but Kenji freezes him in place right before Matsuno's punch can land and Kenji is still just barely able to move as Matsuno breaks out of the ice around him and Kenji creates one of his ice gauntlets and tries to punch Matsuno but Matsuno catches his fist and Matsuno tries to punch Kenji but Kenji creates another ice gauntlet around his hand and Kenji blocks the strike but the force from the punch breaks Kenji's arm and Matsuno throws Kenji back and Kenji holds his arm while *screaming in pain* and Itsuki is *shocked* as he screams

“KENJI!” Matsuno starts to walk towards Kenji but then lightning strikes Matsuno stopping him from moving and Itsuki is *screaming in pain* as he’s blasting Matsuno with his lightning and Kenji slowly gets up and uppercuts him and it sends him flying into the air and as Matsuno's about to land on the ice, Kenji opens it up but he also splits the ocean again making Matsuno slam into the ocean floor and Kenji thinks

"I have to end this quickly, I don't think my body can handle anymore strain" Kenji floats back up into the air and he looks down on Matsuno but as he looks at Matsuno he becomes extremely *angry* and Kenji screams and the water starts to flow towards Kenji and it wraps around his arm and snaps it back in place but it freezes his arm instantly but as the water continues to flow around Kenji, eight arms form on his back and his extra arms stretch down and start striking Matsuno relentlessly all over his but Matsuno only blocks his stomach blocks and Kenji's arms start striking faster but blue veins are starting to appear on Kenji’s real arms and legs but he keeps swinging his extra arms and the more he swings the more the blue veins raise over his body but as he's hitting Matsuno, Matsuno still blocking his stomach with one hand tries to grab a wall of the ocean to lift himself off the ground but Kenji puts up his real arm and the oceans around Matsuno becomes a violet tornado and Kenji keeps punching him making Matsuno slam back into the ground but Kenji's punches start to slow but as Kenji's strikes starts to slow down, the aura around Matsuno spreads around his entire body and Matsuno punches the air towards Kenji but there's so much force it destroys all of his arms and Matsuno stands up and screams

"TIME TO END THIS!" Matsuno jumps into the air towards Kenji but Kenji pulls in more water from the ocean and his arms reform on his back but as they fly towards Matsuno he punches the air again destroying them instantly and as he get closer Kenji makes a ice gauntlet but as he tries to make another one he can feel his hand start to freeze and he *screams in pain* and Kenji makes a dagger and as Matsuno and Kenji clash but Matsuno is able to push through Kenji's punch but before Matsuno punches Kenji, Kenji is able to stab him with the dagger but it pierces Matsuno deep in his stomach but before Kenji can do anything else Matsuno punches Kenji across the face knocking him out and sending him flying and Matsuno lands on the ice and says

“You bastard!” Matsuno tries to pull out the blade but he falls to his knees and he *cries out in pain* but Matsuno pulls the dagger out and crushes it but as Matsuno makes it back to his feet he *spits up blood* and says

“You little…Your lucky I can’t kill you!” Matsuno holds his wound and slowly walks over to Kenji and picks Kenji up and walks across the water and onto the island Fujiwara region and Itsuki *weakly* says

“Kenji, No!” Itsuki covers his hand in lightning but he *screams in pain* as he passes out and Riku just barely is able to flip over on his stomach and he slowly pulls his self over to Itsuki and Dai as the ice there on starts to collapses and he grabs Itsuki but as he looks at Dai, he sees Dai is looking sick and is barely conscious Riku *weakly* says

“Dai...Let's go!” But Dai doesn't move and Riku *weakly* says

“Damn it!” Riku reaches for Dai but as he's about to grab him the ice fully collapses but as there falling through the air Riku is able to pull Dai to him with his wind and they crash into the water but as there in the water the ice shards start to fall all around them but Riku puts Dai and Itsuki on his shoulder and swims up and Riku *weakly* says

“Where the hell is Gyomei and the others?” But then Riku sees a giant dome of ice floating on the side of them and as it starts to fall apart Riku sees Gyomei,Saigo,Kenshin,and Okada and Riku *chuckles* and says

“So that's where all of you were! Kenji must have sealed you all in there the moment he started fighting. He’s always worried about everyone else” Riku uses his wind to pull them towards him even though he is in *incredible pain* and he pulls all of them off of the ice and puts them on the debris with him, Itsuki and Dai and as there all laying there Riku tries to stand up but Riku passes out.

But when he wakes up there all washed up on a beach as Riku stands up he looks at over and burned down buildings and destroyed houses and Riku is *shocked* and says

“What is this place? It looks like hell!” Gyomei slowly sits up and says

“Where am I?” Riku says

“I think we’ve made it to the Fujiwara region” Gyomei stands up and says

“What happened?” Riku says

“Two men stopped our ship, one man jumped on and the other one told him take Kenji and kill the rest of us. But Kenji was the only one who’s element still worked and he fought him, but he lost and was taken” Gyomei grabs his head and says

“Damn it, where did they go?” Riku says

“I don’t know, but i’m sure it's probably the only village left standing here” Gyomei walks up next to Riku and sees the burned down villages and destroyed homes and says

“It’s worse than I ever thought” Riku says

“We have to get Kenji back, no matter what” Gyomei says

“Riku!” Gyomei grabs his shoulder and Riku turns around in anger and grabs Gyomei's hand and says

“You won’t stop me! I won’t lose another person I care about” Riku pushes Gyomei's hand away and starts walking back towards Dai and Itsuki but Gyomei says

“I’m not going to stop you Riku, but we can’t rush in with no thought” Riku says

“Why not? Were strong enough and we definitely have what it takes'' Gyomei says

“There sacrificing people, if we rush in then they might kill Kenji'' Riku stops in his tracks and he turns around and Gyomei says

“Please calm down and think about this. What will happen if we rush in and all of us are captured? They could use us as leverage to get to Kingsman or even Lord Kaito'' Riku says

“Fine…What's the plan?” Gyomei says

“We need to get to the village where they are holding Kenji and we can finish our recon, then we can see how we could get him out and to safety and then we’ll go back and inform Lord Kaito about what’s going on” Riku says

“Let’s be quick with it” Riku walks over to Itsuki and Dai and crutches down next to them and he turns back to Gyomei and says

“Let’s hurry up and find somewhere to go. There not getting up anytime soon” Gyomei says

“All right, let’s go” Gyomei walks over to Saigo and Kenshin and picks them both up and Riku picks up Dai and Itsuki and they both start to walk away and Riku looks back and sees Okada on the ground and says

“What about him?” Gyomei turns around and sees Okada and says

“He’ll find his own way” Riku says

“No, we need to help him” Gyomei says

"If you can find us a good hide out with enough space to hide all of them, and you can comeback and get him, be my guest" Riku *sighs* and says

"Can we really just leave him here?" Gyomei says

"As warriors we have to make drastic decisions, even some that feel unethical. We don't know if we will have space in the hideout and plus we're carrying just barely enough for both our bodies to handle" Riku says

"Your right, I just feel bad" Gyomei says

"As long as he stays away from main roads and the villages, he'll be fine" Riku says

"All right, but where are we going?" Gyomei says

"To the nearest village" Riku is *shocked* and says

"Didn't you just say as long as he avoids the villages he'll be fine, why the hell are we going to the villages then?" Gyomei says

"We're warriors, we can defend ourselves and besides I don't want to be out in the cold. We should be able to find a building that's still at least partially standing" Riku *sighs* but Gyomei says

"Do you have a better idea?" Riku says

"Let's just get some place where I can sleep" Gyomei and Riku starts walking until they see an almost entirely burned down village and as they start walking through the village, they notice how destroyed everything is around them and Riku says

“What happened here?” Gyomei says

“One of the four sons of the former leader claims to have had a god come down and speak to him, and enlighten him in true divine ways, after that the son started to see all others as “disgusting lowly creatures'' that needed to be saved and he convinced his brother there father was the reason for the unholiness in the entire region. The brothers came together, killed their father and took the throne and started what they called the “cleansing” of the entire region. Burning down and destroying the homes of those who were demanded impure and the only ones who survived are the ones they saw as fit. Basically anyone who accepted there god as law” Riku says

“That’s terrible, they killed people for not believing in the same thing, then forcing the scarred into submission as “loyal followers”. Even forcing them into being warriors and forcing them into a war they do not want to be apart of” Gyomei says

“Then let’s stop the war before it starts and save the innocent people” Riku says

“Yeah, people don’t need to be killed. Especially not for something they don’t believe in” Gyomei says

“There!” Gyomei walks over to a burnt out house but its still standing half way and Gyomei walks over to it moves the curtain and crouches under a fallen pillar and puts Saigo and Kenshin down inside and Riku follows and moves the curtain aside and crouches under the fallen pillar and Riku says

“This is fine I guess, but will this hold up?” Gyomei says

“I don’t know, but we’ll just have to wait and see” Riku sits Dai and Itsuki up against a wall and sits down next to them and Riku *sighs* and says

“Gyomei, the hard part hasn’t started has it?'' Gyomei says

“No, I can't say it has Riku. This is simply the calm before the storm, we don’t know what is ahead of us. But we can only face whatever is out there with everything we’ve got and hope for the best'' Riku says

“I guess you're right” Riku leans his head back and falls to sleep and Gyomei does the same but in the middle of the night Riku is awoken by the sound of footsteps marching through the burned village and Riku peaks through a hole in the building and sees an Army outside carrying Okada away while he's tied to a post and Riku quiely rushes over and shakes Gyomei awake and whispers

“There outside! They have Okada, we have to follow them” Gyomei whispers

“What!? Who’s outside?” Riku whispers

“The army were hunting down, we have to follow them now” Gyomei whispers

“No, we can track them in the morning when we have everyone up and ready” Riku whispers

“Fine, I’ll do it by myself” Riku runs out of the burned out house and Gyomei whispers

“No Riku wait!” But as Gyomei makes it outside Riku and the soldiers are completely gone and Gyomei is *frustrated* as he says

“Damn it, Riku!”