"Hey....hey.....Aluric....ALURIC, get up its morning", the guy sitting next to Aluric, in the boat said, the blue locs of hair falling across his face as he stirred. Aluric rolled over and looked out at the water, it was covered in a thick fog, before he could see the bank of the main island and the shore of the smaller one they were watching, but now he could only see the boat and his companion, he got up steadying himself as the small boat rocked back and forth adjusting to his movements, he folded his arms in front of his chest a slight grin formed on his face, his skin was a soft brown, causing his face to appear very youthful, his pure white long sleeved trench coat almost blended in with the thick fog but the golden crosses on it were shining though barely, his boots were red and stood out the most in what he was wearing, and all you could really see was his bright red hair, that was braided in a long ponytail running all the way down to his lower back,

"Pix, row us to the island, it's time to have a chat with an old friend of mine", Aluric said, the grin on his face widening as his eyes filled with excitement,

“how are you this excited, when you just woke up”, Pix said, grabbing the two oars from either side of the boat, he pulled both of his hands back in sync with each other,

“Out of all of the people we were looking int, she took a special interest in these four, she has an eye for talent”, Aluric said,

“still doesn’t explain your excitement”, pix said, his arms going back and forth in a steady rhythm now,

“really, someone of your kin, should know what it feels like to have a strong opponent on your hands”, Aluric said,

“Aluric, I enjoy a good fight just as much as you, but it’s four of them, plus her, I didn’t come all this way for you to die and for our plan to go up in smoke”, Pix said,

“your always such a worry wart”, aluric responded,

“just stay on the boat, I’ll signal you if I need help”, Aluric said,

Back on the island

Polaris sat on the ledge of a rock that sprang out of the ground over looking the water, he wasn’t to far off from where they found Levant sitting last night, he looked over the water, the fog was thick this morning, at the top of the fog, it lit up like fire dancing in the middle of the sky, but out on the water it seemed cold and grey, he listened as the waves crashed onto the island, they were again providing him with a sense of calmness, he stretched out his hand and a small stream of water rose out of the ocean below him and danced in his palm,

As he coiled the water around his fingers, memories began to flicker in mind, a conversation with his mother and zaraar, he learned that zaraar wasn’t his true father, that it was zaraar’s closest friend who had perished in battle a few months before he was born, another one flashed, the first time he failed to carry out a mission, the pain of the whip as it drew across his back, how he beaten when he expressed his thoughts of freedom, zaraar saying how he had stepped up so that his mother wouldn’t be widowed, and to help raise him to be a leader in the clan.

He remembered a specific day, that day his basic training for using his blessing had finished, and the elders informed him that he was now able to accompany the senior members on enforcer missions, Polaris was no more than ten years old at the time, he was a little excited at the thought, as months prior Barak had done his, and excelled to the point that he was given minor missions to handle on his own, he also remembered the look on zaraar’s face, that wicked grin that was painted on his face,

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That same day, he had been ushered into Zaraar’s dungeon, an all to familiar sight, only this time he was brought to the lower levels, as he entered this room, in which he had never been, inside of it stood a tree, one that was alive, it trunk was thick, and it sat in a circle of dirt with a golden shimmering rope circling around it, it‘s root dug well into it, and far beyond it as they had burst through the ground below the altar it stood on and began climbing onto the walls, the tree itself had a golden circle, a halo, etched into it, and the room itself smelled of iron, Polaris, approached the the altar, Zaraar instructing him to get on his knees on the steps of the altar, Polaris looked down at in front of him were dried stains, dyed red, all over the altar, when he noticed a mask, a white one designed to only cover the lover half of the face, and in the middle a golden circle, he could here the pleas, the cries and pleading of the poor soul that entered, no, that had been dragged into the room by zaraar, dragged to the top of the altar, he handed Polaris a familiar sword, the one he had on his hip to this day, when the next thing he knew was the the sword was driven into the back of this poor soul, as he stood over them, Polaris’ hands on the sword as Zaraar stood at the bottom of the Altar, with that familiar wicked grin,the mask stood underneath the limp corpse, covered in blood, the blood flowed into the dirt, Zaraar stood behind him now, affixing the blood covered mask to his face.

Polaris came back to the present, he had been sitting there for what seemed like hours to him, but were mere seconds, the water in his hands now turned to small icicles, when he felt it, small disturbances in the water, ripples flowed towards him, he looked down the shoreline, and there it was, the boat he had seen last night, and on the beach a figure in white, hair red and flowing as though it was drenched in blood, making their way towards him,

He got up, standing on the rock, he placed his hand on his sword, the person walked up to the where the rock formation began, his eyes looking straight up at Polaris,

Smiling he said ,"ahh, I wasn't expecting to meet someone so soon, I'm looking for my friend",

Polaris gripped his sword tighter, and who is you friend ?",pol asked,

"She's about yay tall, dark skinned, loud mouthed", he said, gesturing slightly below his chest,

"And she goes by the name yumi", he concluded,

"Oh.....her", Polaris answered reluctantly , slowly lowering his guard and letting go of his sword,

“she didn’t mention that she was here with anyone else”, Polaris said, making his way down from where he stood, as he got closer he began to grip his sword once more, the closer he got, he could tell, whoever this was in front of him was strong,

“ahh figures”, the stranger said,

"Well follow me, I'll take you to her", Polaris said, gesturing with his hand to follow him,

“well I’m surprised you’re so trusting of a stranger, you must’ve lead quite the easy life”, Aluric mentioned walking up to Polaris,

“hardly”, Polaris scoffed under his breath,

The two headed towards the trees in the direction of the hideout,

The walk towards the hideout was quiet, Polaris walking a cautious distance away from the unknown person, with every step Polaris grew even more cautious, as something felt off about this whole situation, he slowly placed his hand back on his sword, he felt as though this man behind him was impossible to beat on his own

Suddenly Polaris' jolted up, he saw levant walking in his direction, Polaris sighed with relief, feeling as though a weight was lifted off his chest,

"Ohh, Polaris I was just looking for...." Levant stopped what he was saying,

"Pol who is that, behind you ?" Levant asked,

"He said he's a ‘FRIEND’ of yumi's from the boat", Polaris answered, coming to a complete halt, the stranger behind him took note, as he too came to a stop, slowly taking his hands out of his jacket pockets, a devilish smile peeled its way across his face,

“and you believed him just like that”, Levant questioned, slamming his palm against his forehead,

“yeah sure I believed him”, Polaris answered, raising the fingers he had on his sword in fast repeating motion, hoping levant would take notice, and sure enough, it caught his eye,

"Ohhh, okay then", levant stated, throwing his hands behind his back reaching for his guns,

“POL DUCK” Levant shouted, pulling out both of his pistols,